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Cloud fell to his knees, clutching onto his blade for support. Head was spinning, vision was blurry, skin was searing from the fires of the sun-- The sun?! He heaved, and lifted himself up, stumbling to keep straight. The blinding light from above stung his eyes, and he struggled to keep them open.
As painful as it was, Cloud forced himself to look up at its source. He blinked several times before his eyes, welled and burning, could focus.
Halo framing his darkened face, his silver hair splayed behind him and three pairs of wings sprouting from his pelvic region, Sephiroth stared at him apathetically. The fire from his eyes was gone, and he didn't even flinch when Cloud sprung at him, blade in hand.
Cloud fell to the ground-- Where the ground should've been, in a gasping pile. He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, bracing himself himself for an attack.
It didn't come.
Even as he lay there, limp and defenseless, reeling from the exertion, nothing happened but the pulsating of the purple clouds around them. He opened his eyes and sat up, but his jaw remained clenched. Now that his eyes were adjusted, he could see the expression on the face of his most hated.
Sephiroth's posture was relaxed, and his green eyes were looking down upon him, lidded. The corners of his mouth had sunken just that little bit, and his bottom lip was slightly taut.
Pity.
Well if the bastard wasn't going to attack, then he would.
Cloud tightened every muscle in his body, and swung.
Pity indeed-- Where was it when he burned Nibelheim to the ground and left a mountain of corpses in his wake?
He thrust the sword into Sephiroth's chest, and yanked it out in a spray of light.
Where was that when he sent that... parasite to kill Aerith, sweet, bubbly, fiery, beautiful Aerith, at her most vulnerable, and left him to pick up the pieces.
And with all the strength he could muster, he raised the blade above his head, gripping as tightly as he could, and brought it down--
He fell back. He couldn't do it, his arms buckled behind him under the weight of the sword. He couldn't lift it. Cloud frantically turned around and tried to lift the blade up that way, but froze upon seeing the crumpled bodies of his companions.
His friends.
"That's enough." Sephiroth's voice was soft; gentle, even.
Cloud found himself unable to move as he felt an arm wrap gingerly around him and lift him up. He went limp as he was placed in the cloud where Sephiroth's lap should've been, and as the now-demigod's wing curled around him and a feather brushed against his cheek.
"Put... me... down..." Cloud said, trying to push away the perpetrator. "I-It's your fault they're... they're..."
"They chose to face me." Sephiroth ran a hand through Cloud's matted hair, greasy with blood and sweat, ignoring his protests.
"What other choice did they have?! To sit around and wait for Meteor to come crashing over their heads?!" With a surprising amount of strength, Cloud yanked Sephiroth's hand from his hair and shoved it away. "If you're going to kill me, at least let me get down there to fight like they did!"
A toothy grin crept across Sephiroth's lips, though it did not touch his eyes, and he let out a small laugh. Cloud flinched, his eyes wide open.
"Kill you? Dear, dear Cloud, why would I do that?"
"Why wouldn't you?!" His stomach sank.
"What kind of a mother would I be if I slaughtered my own child?"
Cloud's blood froze. What in Sephiroth's sick, twisted mind could've possibly brought about this?
"My mother is dead."
Sephiroth brushed a tear from the boy's eye, and pressed a kiss to Cloud's nigh-feverish forehead. He enveloped the boy with his limbs, and half-lay with his chin on the boy pressed to his chest.
"Believe me, I am aware of the passing of your birth mother--"
"You killed her with your own two hands!" Cloud choked, as tears spilled out of his eyes.
Sephiroth cooed and kissed him, clutching Cloud to his chest. The seraph's heart beat slow, steady, powerful. The sky pulsed with it. Such a minor detail, and yet it filled Cloud with dread; like he was in some gargantuan beast. An extra flare to the dreamlike hellscape of what should've been a battle deciding the fate of the world itself. Meteor was about to hit at any moment, doom was upon them all-- he should be scared, frantic to stop Sephiroth or die trying.
But at this point... Cloud was wondering if this was all a dream.
Applying to SOLDIER, losing Zack, moving to Midgar, joining an environmentalist-terrorist group lead by a man with a gun-arm and a filthy mouth, Tifa running a bar, meeting an actual Cetra-- coming across Nanaki, for sure, especially with what Hojo had... intended to do. He winced. Honestly, it all seemed very dreamlike. Maybe when Meteor finally hit, he'd wake up in his room like always. And mom would be there, and... and...
To think that back then he idolised Sephiroth, worshipped the ground he walked on, aspired to be just like him. In all honesty, he'd have probably killed to have Sephiroth cuddle him, and coo at him, and run his hands through his hair...
To feel his heart beating beneath his head.
"...When I say 'mother', I'm not mistaken in thinking I've given birth to you. I mean like how I see my own mother, Jenova--"
"So you're not convinced that thing is your real mother, then?" Cloud sneered.
"Oh she's real enough. She played a vital role in my creation-- there's more to being a mother than who carries you. I was given her cells, fused with them, and I am as much her child as the scientists who conceived me."
Sephiroth tilted Cloud's head up so their eyes met. Despite the differing hues, their eyes held the same unearthly glow that all SOLDIERs did. Zack had it too, as hazy as Cloud's memory was about him. They were warm, he recalled, and held a certain tenderness that even now made Cloud feel safe and secure.
The look in Sephiroth's eyes was an uncanny perversion of that.
"When Hojo took you, he injected you with my cells. Blinded by ignorance in his attempt to remake me, he failed to see how he created something so much more... Precious." Sephiroth's voice dropped to a murmur, as he brushed his thumb around Cloud's eyelids. "I didn't feel it then, but now... I realise just how much I missed you... all of you... how much it hurts..."
Cloud's breath hitched, and he swallowed back the lump in his throat nervously.
"...It saddens me to know you've killed so many of your brothers, so many of my babies," For a moment, Sephiroth's grip on his face became hard as steel, and his eyes just as cold. "...and that I've done much the same."
His lip quivered, and his eyes began to gloss over. Oh for the love of Gaia, please no, this was bad enough already.
"You're all I have left,"
His voiced echoed through the endless sky.
"And I'm not letting you go."
Without warning, he grabbed Cloud by the waist, and held him right where his groin should've been.
"What are you doing?!" Cloud cried, snapping out of his haze.
"Doing what I should've done when I first saw you. You have no idea how much I regret it."
He wasn't going to, he wouldn't--
Sephiroth laughed, and cocked his head.
"I assure you, Cloud, incest isn't my thing,"
Cloud was not wholly convinced.
"It'd do you some good to relax a little, make things easier."
That was Cloud's cue to start kicking, punching, and had Sephiroth's grip allowed it, biting.
For once during this entire debacle, Sephiroth looked genuinely pissed. Without hesitation, he plunged Cloud headfirst into his cloud. Cloud's vision was filled with thick mist, before his face pressed against something wet. He yelped, and desperately tried to loosen Sephiroth's grip. However, it seemed all his attempts were futile, as he could only feel himself slide deeper. This was aided with the seraph leaning back further, allowing gravity to do most of the work. Still, Cloud thought he could hear him grunt and even yelp at one point. Seemed like his resistance was doing something.
"Ungrateful little shit! Can't you see I'm trying to help you?"
If Cloud could speak, he would let him know that no, he did not see how being shoved up Sephiroth's ass was of any use to him. A kick would have to suffice, but even that was becoming difficult. He was up to his calves in this, and air was seriously starting to become a concern.
Is this how he was going to die? Shoved up the pussy of some lunatic with a god-complex and serious mommy-issues? If there was anything, anything good about Barret and Tifa being fucking dead or very close to it, it was that they didn't have to witness this.
This was humiliating. And the worst part? Had he still been a a naive, wide-eyed preteen, he probably would've loved this. The sheer proximity, the intimacy about it all. The warm, wet walls pulsating against his rough, calloused skin. The powerful, omnipresent beating of Sephiroth's heart, reminding him at all times that he was inside him.
He was his.
And with that, he slipped into a slightly more spacious area, although that wasn't saying much. As his feet made it in, the entrance sealed off.
It was wet, dark, and cramped. He couldn't breathe. His heart was racing, as he realised he was truly and utterly trapped. He could hear the heaving of lungs and the gurgling of organs, feel the slickness of the fleshy walls and how tight they felt around him, and the smell of his little place was almost unbearably strong.
Without a doubt, this chamber was alive.
And he could feel it caressing him from outside, its booming yet exhausted voice unbearably affectionate.
"There... there you are..." his tone was ravenous, maniacal, even.
"Air!" Cloud managed to choke out, the phrase alone expelling nearly all he had.
"You won't need it down there."
Cloud felt something slick creep under his shirt, and before he could do anything he felt a sharp pain in his navel. He grasped at it, trying to pull it off, finding it was a thick cord that came right out of the womb wall.
"Easy, dear. That cord's the one thing keeping you alive. From now on, you get all your food and all your oxygen from me-- Isn't it wonderful?"
No, no it wasn't.
Sephiroth rubbed where Cloud's head was. For a moment, Cloud leaned, before backing away.
"Look at you, already so eager to be touched by momma!" he giggled, his voice deep and husky.
No, no he wasn't. And the way Sephiroth said 'momma' gave him the creeps. He hit the womb wall, causing Sephiroth to go into a giggling fit. He felt a hand running up and down the entirety of his little world, accompanied by a gentle sigh.
Cloud's eyes were beginning to droop, and he was up to his shoulders in amniotic fluid. The need for air was gone, and it not been so cramped it would've been the perfect place to sleep. That, and the fact he was inside Sephiroth.
"You've been quite the handful, I'll admit, but this more than makes up for it."
What the hell did Cloud have to make up for, defending all of mankind?
"I can feel your thoughts, dearest. Still angry at me?" Cloud could taste the mockery at the last statement, and it caught him off guard.
He didn't even have his mind to himself. No different than every other part of him, apparently.
"Oh trust me, you'll be grateful for it after awhile," Sephiroth sneered.
No, no he wouldn't.
"You'll be in here for eons, for as long as it takes to find another planet from which to feed off of,"
And suddenly, it hit him.
This cycle had possibly been done hundreds, if not thousands of times over. Dread pitted in his stomach. Who else was going to have to fight the same blights they did, watch as their world crumbled around them? And even if they fought against all odds and made it to Sephiroth, what's stopping him from taking them too?
"Cloud, do you know how long it takes to make it to another star, let alone one with a fertile planet?"
His stomach sank deeper. Nausea was bubbling. This wasn't happening, this was all just a dream, it had to be!
"Centuries, and even travelling at the speed of light it takes years to get anywhere. And that's in the best case scenario if there are planets like ours around, who's to say it won't be longer if not?"
And all of that, in this dank, musty sack.
"Thankfully for you, my child, you'll be blissfully asleep through all of this. In a constant state of deep sleep, unaware of the world outside,"
Asleep, when all his fears could catch up to him. Being unable to wake up for years on end, only be greeted with Sephiroth's condescending tone, the squelching of organs, the claustrophobic vice of his walls when he succeeded.
He felt a firm touch against the underside of the womb, as if he were being cradled. Cloud relaxed. It was getting harder by the second to resist, to put up a fight.
"You'll warm up to me soon enough," his tone was soothing again. "I'll ensure your rest shall be peaceful, don't you worry."
He closed his eyes, though he was only resting them!
"You must be so tired. Isn't it exhausting having the weight of the world on your shoulders?"
...It really was. Come to think of it, when was the last time he'd slept? When was the last time he could just relax?
"Awhile ago, I can imagine. It's been a stressful couple of years, hasn't it?"
Mmph, yeah...
He blinked. He couldn't let Sephiroth get to his head! The last couple of years would've been completely fine if it weren't for him. He kicked, but it barely made a dent. His legs felt like jelly, unable to move. Sephiroth laughed, and groped at Cloud's foot cocooned in plush, tight skin.
"Ahh, had I only been a few years earlier. Granted, the squeeze would've been much tighter, but you'd have been absolutely delighted! I should've ignored the orders given to me, and snatched you up then and there. I should've left Shinra--"
He stopped. Cloud was intrigued. Even with all the memories Zack had left him, he never knew that Sephiroth, revered war-hero and Shinra's pride and joy, had considered retirement. He paused, and gave a little press to urge him on.
"That isn't important."
And yet, there was a hint at unease. It seemed that underneath this grandiose delusion, there was a part of Sephiroth that wished things had gone differently. Maybe a chance to get away from all the fame, all the expectations, to just fall off the face of the earth and live a simpler life.
Maybe he too, was tired of this neverending battle.
"I left, anyway."
But was it the way you wanted?
"The way I needed, the way that allowed me to achieve godhood-- To subdue this planet, and all who walk it."
But why?
"To finish what mother started, to carry on her legacy. To fulfill the role your kind took away from her."
And then what?
"Well, won't I have to find out?"
So you don't know? Even now, as far along as you are?
"And you didn't know you weren't actually a cold, stoic mercenary-- Funny how that works."
He was getting defensive. He'd clearly hit a nerve. He continued to prod and poke at the walls- his hand slipped, and slid long and deep against the soft, slick flesh. Sephiroth gasped. Cloud slowly repeated the action.
"Stop that."
You mean that? He rubbed again, pressing deeper-- And found his hand shoved back. Sephiroth remained silent, but the frantic beating of his heart right over Cloud's head betrayed him. Cloud grinned, and began running his hands up and down, lingering in places where the seraph's breath hitched.
This was nice, wasn't it?
"It's weird, stop it!"
Imagine that, but you're in a nice, warm house. You've retired, and taken me away just like you wanted--
Sephiroth growled, low and gurgling. Cloud felt him keeling over and the grip against him tightening.
Like you want.
"I have you already," Sephiroth blurted, his voice animalistic. "I have this."
Do you, though? Because last time I checked I'm not fawning over you, pressing myself against your every touch, completely in love with my dear mama--
"You will be, whether it takes a day or a hundred years," he possessively dragged his hand along his gravid belly, mirroring Cloud's movements underneath. "I can wait, I have all the time in the world. You'll crack sooner or later--" He breathed heavily. "--And when you do, you'll be mine, all mine."
Shinra doesn't treat its children very well, I assume? Even Sephiroth, the most treasured fruit of their labours, is left hungry for affection, looking for love only to find none behind cold, piercing eyes as they look over him, only gazing to test or take samples to make more like him--
"And I'm stronger for it." Cloud rubbed again, but softer, slower, taking time to caress him lovingly. Sephiroth's throat tightened, stifling a whine.
Shoving your worst enemy up your eager, gaping cunt and being undone by the slightest touch is strong? Clinging onto an abomination and carrying out its will because it's the only vaguely parental figure in your life is strong?
Sephiroth, you're a pawn!
"And you're projecting!"
Am I? Weren't you the one who told me that, put those doubts in my head? Do you really want this? To hop from one planet to the next, draining each of its lifeforce, or is that what Jenova wants?
Silence.
Cloud pulled away, and lay back. Sephiroth's breathing crashed like thunder above his head, his heart pounding like a great hammer.
"This is all I've ever wanted, even before I knew what it was. As far as I remember."
What is 'this', Sephiroth?
No answer.
Mama?
Silence, and a sharp breath.
Wouldn't this have been so much better if you simply retired, maybe became a mentor? Met me that way? You'd be cold and uptight as always, and I'd be running into your arms everytime we met. You'd be hesitant, maybe even push me away, but I'd grow on you-- Wouldn't I? You'd realise just how much you missed me, how happy this made you. You'd worry about going too far, but everytime you'd slip over what you thought was a line, I'd only want you more.
You'd hold me tight, run your hands through my hair and it would feel all so familiar, like a part of you had been put back in place. But it wouldn't be enough. You'd wonder, what was missing, what was that itch that couldn't be scratched? You didn't want to do anything illicit... or at least nothing that would be considered illicit. Maybe you'd find your solution, and put me back where I belonged, or maybe we would just... be.
Cloud's whole world started to jolt, and in between rattling breaths and stifled chokes, he heard a whine. The whine kept getting swallowed back and strangled, shoved down where no one could hear it, but it kept coming back. Kept bubbling from the depths of a red, sore throat. He'd made Sephiroth cry. He wasn't sure whether to feel impressed, to cringe or be disturbed. It was an odd combination of the three, and he somehow felt absolutely nothing at the same time. It was a bit of a shock, you know? Didn't exactly expect to witness Sephiroth crying when he woke up last week or whenever he last had a decent sleep.
He was tired. Really tired.
He barely touched the walls before something slammed into him, before Sephiroth was bawling.
"F-Fucking hell I wish I had my other hand," he blurted out in between sobs that wracked his whole body. "Instead I got this bloody wing!"
Cloud was rocked back and forth, and he couldn't help but melt under the firm pressure that accompanied it. The sensation was soothing, and oddly familiar. He wondered if his own mother held him like this--
--If she'd been crying as she did.
Dammit, he must be really tired.
"Baby... my baby..." Sephiroth whispered, most of the sobbing having subsided.
And oddly enough, Cloud couldn't help but pity him.
He decided to be kind, and lean into those gentle caresses. He didn't think the bastard deserved it. Still, it was nice to ease up and play along for awhile, to enjoy the slick walls up against his calloused skin. To pretend he was that naive, wide-eyed boy again, and that he'd gotten everything he wanted. He allowed his mind to completely melt away, as Sephiroth cooed and sighed.
"Little bastard," Sephiroth snickered, his voice still cracking. "You must feel awfully clever bringing me to such a state, don't you? Then again, what else can you do, trapped within my womb, awaiting the subjugation of this world?"
Cloud's blood froze.
"You know, Cloud, Meteor's getting awfully close. I'd consider birthing you, cold and wet though you'd be, to witness it, but I'd fear you slipping away from my arms to join the rest of your kind in their annihilation."
The veil of lethargy rose, and Cloud felt a surge of adrenaline course through his veins. He had to get out of here; find a way, any way! Sephiroth's low laughter boomed around him, and the womb was just that much more cramped. His hands dug frantically around the slick fleshy sack, causing ripples in Sephiroth's swollen belly. He let out a long, drawn out moan.
"You know what, Cloud? I think I might let you out this once,"
Oh thank fuck, please--
"If you promise me one thing,"
Fine. What choice was there?
And for the first time in awhile, Sephiroth lifted his hand from his belly. He sighed, and Cloud could hear him swallow something. He tensed; maybe he'd made a severe mistake in agreeing to this.
"Well, I thought this would happen later. It seems that my chest has become engourged; it's painful to touch, and leaking milk,"
Oh. Oh no.
"I ask that you... how should I put it? Have your first meal from me?"
Cloud... Cloud was seriously beginning to have reservations. At least in here he didn't see Sephiroth performing all those acts, moaning like a queen in heat. This meant he'd have to suck off Sephiroth's tit, and not only that but swallow!
"Too late to back out now. I assure you, you'll enjoy this." Cloud could hear the smirk.
And with that, the walls suddenly contracted. The entrance opened up, and Cloud was pushed through it headfirst. It was so tight, Cloud couldn't move at all, no matter how hard he tried! Sephiroth drew in a deep breath, as another wave of contractions began. It was crushing him on all sides, and it hurt! After what felt like forever, his head was forced out into the mist that he'd been so unceremoniously shoved into a mere hour ago. As his torso slid out, Sephiroth clasped him firmly, yet tenderly around the waist, and freed his legs from the canal.
The light burned his eyes, causing Cloud to squeeze them shut. He drew a sharp breath of cold, fresh air, as it bit his wet, blood-stained skin. Something warm pressed against him. He nuzzled his head deep into it, burying his face it its pillowy softness. A large hand ran through his hair. It guided him to a sweet smelling spot...
He shouldn't be doing this. He shouldn't want this.
And yet he opened his mouth, and suckled on his mama's teat. Warm, sweet, creamy milk filled his mouth, and soothed his sore throat. This was all he ever wanted. He'd dreamt of this ever since he was fourteen. To be Sephiroth's darling baby. A chill ran down his spine as his mama cooed at him, with utmost sincerity:
"I love you."
He melted, completely and utterly. He drank deeper, fuller, taking in as much as he could. The cord continued to pump blood into his abdomen, continued to connect them. He let out a high-pitched mewl as Sephiroth tugged at one of his wings-- Wait. Sephiroth let out a soft laugh.
"Oh dear, I was beginning to wonder if you'd even noticed while you were down there. Apparently not."
Cloud ceased his suckling, and rested his head against Sephiroth's pale bosom. He opened his eyes a little, and though his vision was blurred, he could just barely make out the gentle smile on his mama's grey lips. He reached out his tiny, slimy hand to touch it, and his mama brought him closer. He kissed Cloud's little fingers as they clumsily poked past his lips. Weakly, he flitted his strange new wings, the down still wet with amniotic fluid and ichor.
"Look at you, my little cherub, barely bigger than my hand!"
Cloud's glossy, round mako-blue eyes widened. With a chuckle, Sephiroth planted a kiss on his chubby, rosy little cheek.
"See? It's not so bad after all, now is it?" He crooned, holding his baby close to his heart.
Cloud burst into tears.
Sephiroth jolted. He bounced Cloud up and down, shushing and whispering words of affection constantly. He failed to console him. His forlorn wails rang throughout the sky like a bell.
"My, my, pumpkin! Once we're done, this place'll be but a far-off dream. The cosmos is vast and full of wonder. What possibly could you want here?"
One loose, garbled, barely intelligible word rang from Cloud's tiny throat:
"Home!"
Everything and everyone he'd ever known. Every field he'd wandered, every blade of grass that brushed against his ankle. The sun, the sky, the open air where the birds would fly. The fire that warmed houses for miles around, and the running, reed-choked rivers that quenched them. Every laugh, every breath, every cat he'd ever pet.
Every child that took its first breath.
But to all, Sephiroth was rendered deaf.