Crazy Timetravel / Dimensional nonsense that basically collides the Advent Children and Crisis Core worlds together catastrophically.
Pairings: Sefikura Sephiroth/Cloud, Zack/Aerith, idk
Style: I wrote this like word vomit at 10pm on a work night.
Cloud should have known that any meeting with Rufus Shinra— regardless of whatever nightmare might be going on outside— would only end in fruitless frustration.
“No.” Said Cloud. Then he paused, as he tried to figure out a polite way to phrase; “I would rather shoot myself in the foot than work for Shinra.” Again.
He couldn’t find one, so No it stayed.
Rufus just sighed. “Surely you understand the position I’m in, don’t you, Cloud?”
The way the man said his name never failed to irritate him. It wasn’t nearly as grating as Sephiroth, but it still held that same infuriatingly patronizing tone to it. As if they were both just humoring his own petty delusions.
Sephiroth…
Cloud curled his fist. He refused to look out of the window, where he knew the newly immaculate shell of Shinra tower waited for him.
Rufus drummed his fingers against the side of his chair. “If we intend to make any ground with my father, we have to meet him from a position of power. Equal ground. There’s no doubt he’ll be bringing the finest Shinra has to offer— “
He doesn’t have to say the name they’re both thinking.
“If I want any chance of negotiating, I’ll have to do the same.” He finished.
Cloud doesn’t have a response prepared for that.
“You’re his son.” He pointed out, finally. “Why should he feel threatened?”
“He’s found himself in a world that’s moved past him by more than a decade. His forces outside of his—admittedly well-equipped and well-armed— city are gone. He’s going into this blind. Perhaps I am his son, but I’m also an unknown variable at this point.”
Cloud doesn’t like this.
Well, he doesn’t like any of this.
But this in particular.
He hated to say it, but he could understand Rufus’s purview. And wasn’t that a trip in and of itself. He felt like he might be breaking out into hives over here.
He can’t believe he’s even considering this…
“What would be expected of me?”
Rufus relaxed infinitesimally into his chair. Even that little bit of satisfaction was enough to grate on Cloud’s nerves. “If all goes according to plan— nothing. You just need to show up and look the part.”
“The part of what, exactly?” He retorted sarcastically. The amnesiac infantryman who never actually made it into SOLDIER, let alone the SOLDIER First he’d always claimed to be?
“The Planet’s hero,” Rufus returned smoothly; a title that never failed to make Cloud wince.
‘Hero’ was still a title he couldn’t bear to hear directed towards him.
But it also reminded him of someone else who was waiting in that shining industrial city, returned to its former glory. His heart lurched at the thought of seeing Zack again, even if it was just a glimpse.
Rufus waited for his response in solemn silence. The air of apprehension was gone; he knew he had won, he was merely waiting for Cloud to acknowledge it.
Cloud sighed deeply.
“I have one condition.”
Rufus leaned forward. “Name it.”
“Aerith.” He met Rufus’s eyes unwaveringly. “I want her out of there. Now.”
//
The Lifestream and the workings of the Planet had never been well understood. Not even Bugenhagen and the others in Cosmo Canyon could make heads or tails of it. Perhaps not even Aerith— his Aerith— knew the intricacies of its machinations.
Nonetheless, no one was surprised to realize the events of the last couple years had a catastrophic effect on the world in which they lived. After Holy, then Geostigma, and then Omega… it was inevitable there would be consequences. The way Cloud had heard it, the Lifestream had fractured. Pieces of it had splintered off and in an attempt to fix itself back together, they were left with this new mess.
They call it the Time Displacement Phenomenon.
“From what we understand of it currently, the regions that have been affected are—
“Midgar, obviously.” Barrett interrupted with a snort, gesturing with a dip of his head to the floor-to-cieling windows off to the side of Reeve’s WRO conference room, where the Mako City had returned to its full, unnerving glory in the skyline.
“Yes, Midgar.” Reeve sighed heavily, looking resigned more than exasperated at being interrupted. “We’ve also received reports of Mideel—
“All of it?” Yuffie squawked.
“—not quite, but centered around a deadzone that formerly held a town called Banora.” Again, Reeve handled the interruption with a grace that spoke of years of practice. He turned a grave look in Yuffie’s direction. “We haven’t heard anything back about Wutai, which is not a good sign.”
Yuffie paled. She collapsed back into her chair with a dazed expression.
“All of it?” Cid echoed her, looking incredulous.
Reeve shook his head. “We don’t know.”
No one knew what to say to that. The silence was a heavy, profound thing. Full of regrets, and hopes better left unsaid.
Reeve took another breath, as if stealing himself.
“The final place identified in the time variance distortions is Nibelheim.”
Cloud… didn’t know how to feel about that. From the empty expression on Tifa’s face when they shared a glance, neither did she.
If Nibelheim was part of the regions affected by this time displacement phenomenon… then that meant his mother was still alive. All of Nibelheim was still alive. What would she think, to wake up and just find him… not there? Or perhaps he’d already left for Midgar, leaving in her memories as a young boy out to prove himself to the world, returning as a changed and bitter man. He knew the time displacement was from the year 0000, but with his memory being as spotty as it was, that was of no help.
Well, if Cloud had his way, she’d never know what happened to him at all. Knowing Nibelheim, that rural reactor town probably wasn’t even aware yet that they’d been thrust more than a decade into the future.
“As much work there is that needs to be done to settle the other regions, the worst of it is here.” Reeven concluded. “ShinRa, at the height of its power, is back. We need to come up with a coherent strategy on how to deal with that.”
“We could always just blow that fucker up again.” Cid muttered.
“Amen to that,” Barrett snorted in agreement.
Reeve smiled faintly. “That is always an option, I suppose.” He began to pace the length of the room. “The reactors are still functioning, which is a problem. That’s not even to remark upon the inhabitants of the tower itself…”
Cloud shuddered at the thought.
Hojo.
Sephiroth.
He could never just stay dead, now could he?
The members of AVALANCHE toss out a lot of ideas varying from painfully blunt to absurdly complicated. Not much headway is made. They’re all too shaken by confirmation of what they can all see on Edge’s horizon; the return of Midgar, the Mako City. And ShinRa, in all its shining, metallic glory. At first, Cloud had been dead certain it was some kind of collective mako hallucination that everyone in Edge was suffering from. But there had been a part of him, one he was unwilling to scrutinize too closely, that knew that couldn’t be the case. He could feel it, again. Feel him.
Before Cloud knew it, his friends were all shifting in their seats. Reeve had called an end to the meeting, saying they could reconvene when he had more conclusive news. He felt the brush of Vincent’s claw against his back— in solidarity, perhaps, or commiseration. Or both.
As he moved to follow his comrades out, Reeve called him back. “Cloud, actually, if you could stay for a moment.”
Cloud lingered by the doorway, meeting Vincent’s gaze before the gunmen left with a nod, closing the door behind him.
Cloud steeled himself.
Whatever Reeve wanted him alone for couldn’t be good.
He wasn’t proven wrong.
“Rufus Shinra called me.” He started without preamble.
Cloud could appreciate the directness, even if he was sure he wouldn’t like what he’ll hear.
“He intends to confront his father.”
“Confront?”
“Negotiate, perhaps.” Reeve clarified. “For all that Midgar has returned to its former glory, Shinra is in a somewhat disadvantageous position. Though the bulk of their forces and industry remains within the city, they’ve still been crippled by this. They’ve lost all their other bases, their reactors, and their place of recognition in the eyes of the population outside Midgar.”
“Doesn’t make them any less formidable.” Cloud pointed out, because while a great bulk of the army may have been stationed at various outposts, the majority of their SOLDIERs would still be in the tower.
Their Silver General among them.
“No, but it does give us some leverage.” Reeve countered. “They may have their reactors and their SOLDIERs, but this isn’t the world they know anymore. People are no longer reliant on them for their power or their safety. They’ll need to find a way to live in this strange new world, and they’ll need to make concessions for that to happen.”
Cloud snorted. “They’ve gone to war for less.”
“I believe Rufus intends to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Reeve said. “To that end, he’s asked for you.”
Cloud tensed. “What for?”
Reeve shook his head. “I think you should discuss it with him.” He deflected, instead of giving a proper answer. Which meant he already knew, and likely agreed with Rufus to some extent on the matter.
Cloud closed his eyes briefly, already tired at the very thought.
“Fine. Where is he?”
“Reno’s in the lobby waiting for you. He’ll bring you to him.”
Of course.
//
The repercussions of the Time Distortion ripple across the world.
For some, it brings nothing but sorrow. Others, untold joy. Families that never expected to see each other again were reunited as if the years passed meant nothing. Children and parents were reunited. Couples embraced after death had cruelly ripped them from each other’s arms. Siblings cried arm in arm.
Denzel watched it all with a heavy weight in his stomach.
Somewhere in that eerily glowing city, his parents must be wondering what happened to their little boy who disappeared suddenly without a trace.
Denzel could barely even remember them. They’d died so, so long ago. Then there were the years scavenging in the slums, living day by day. Then there was the plate falling, the explosions, the scorching terror lighting up the sky as Meteor fell. After that, there was Cloud. And Tifa, Marlene, and then all the other members of AVALANCHE that Denzel got to know after the Geostigma crisis. The thought of his parents somewhere in that endlessly shining steel sarcophagus made him feel nothing but a distant apathy. He couldn’t connect to it at all.
For as many people that rejoiced with the return of a loved one, there were twice as many left like Denzel, unsure of how to move forward. Further still were the people who stumbled around the city with haunted expressions, as if all their ghosts had come to roost.
The Time Displacement Phenomenon only afflicted certain areas of the world. The rumors of where they were had already circulated around Edge. Some place far away called Mideel, Midgar of course, and somewhere in Wutai. No one seems to know for sure, most of it hearsay at this point, but the members of AVALANCHE convene to Seventh Heaven nearly every night, and Denzel hears things. He’s heard Tifa and Cloud’s hushed conversations over Nibelheim, their hometown. Yuffie’s increasing worry over her home country. News trickling in from the research teams as they return to Edge about travelers weary and confused, asking about people and places that don’t exist.
When he got a chance to speak with him alone, he asked Cloud about Corel. He’d been keeping an ear out for Marlene’s sake, but hasn’t heard it come up.
He doesn’t know what would be worse. The idea that Corel is one of the Time Displaced areas, and Marlene’s parents are alive and well without her, or if it’s not and Marlene has lost the chance to ever know them. She doesn’t even remember them. She never even brings them up. To her, Cloud and Tifa and Barrett are her parents more or less, and she doesn’t need anything else. But Denzel, torn and conflicted over the idea of his own parents being alive, feels he needs to know.
“No,” Cloud answered, and he didn’t know if he was relieved or not.
They were in the bar behind the garage, Cloud doing maintenance on Fenrir as Denzel idly watched him from his spot atop a few shipping crates. He followed Cloud out after the man had announced his intention to change his oil, knowing it would be a good time to get Cloud alone.
“Oh,” Denzel said. He didn’t know what else to say.
So Marlene’s parents were still dead. She wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Cloud hesitated. Then he straightened up, fishing for the rag strewn across the front of Fenrir. As he wiped away the worst of the grease stains, he asked; “Do you want to go?”
Denzel’s head snapped up. “What?”
“To Midgar.” Cloud said.
Denzel knew what he was asking, in that blunt but roundabout way of his. Cloud wanted to know if Denzel wanted to go and see his own parents. If Denzel wanted to leave.
“I thought they were saying it’s too dangerous right now?” He asked, instead of giving that thought a proper answer.
He looked down, hands curled against his knees. The idea of going back to Midgar and seeing his parents after all this time left him feeling cold and confused. Unsure. Worried.
“Maybe for now.” Cloud conceded. He wasn’t looking at Denzel, even though he’d stopped the pretense of wiping away grease stains that weren’t there. “But not always.”
Denzel bit his lip.
“You… could, if you wanted to.” Cloud offered, voice low and hesitant. “I’ll make it happen.”
He didn’t know how he felt about his parents. But he knew how he felt about the idea of leaving.
He bolted off the stack of crates, lunging for Cloud. Cloud caught him easily, a warm hand against the back of his head.
“I don’t want to go.” He protested, voice breaking.
Cloud’s other hand dropped against his shoulder. “No one’s going to make you.” A pause. Denzel could recognize the silence. Cloud had something else he wanted to say, he just didn’t know how to say it.
“If it’s what you want, I’ll take you. If you want to live with them again, that’s okay. But if you want to stay here, that’s okay too.”
Denzel held him tighter, burying his nose into the starchy fabric of his vest. “But what about you?” He asked, plaintively. “What do you want?”
Cloud stiffened. “Denzel, I…” The hand on his shoulder tightened, almost reflexively. “It’s not about me.”
Denzel shook his head. “That’s not an answer!”
Denzel could feel it as Cloud sucked in a breath and held it. He counted long seconds where all he could hear was the thunderous beating of his own heart.
“I… don’t want you to go,” Cloud confessed. “But I also want you to be happy. I don’t want you to feel obligated to make a decision just because of what I, or Tifa, think. We’ll support you no matter what.”
Denzel swallowed thickly, feeling a burn in the back of his nose. He blinked furiously. “Okay.” He croaked out.
The hand in his hair began to rub the back of his neck soothingly. “... Okay?”
“I don’t know how I feel about it. Knowing my parents are out there, I mean.” Denzel explained, frowning deeply as he tried to put his feelings into words. “It’s been so long, and I don’t even really remember them. Maybe I’ll want to see them eventually, you know, just to see them again. But my life is here.”
His family was here. He couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving Marlene, Tifa, and Cloud.
//
Denzel could be oddly insightful, for a preteen.
His words resonate in a way Cloud didn’t think he intended. That was just the way of kids though, he supposed. They always seemed to know where to hit you the hardest. Some of the things Denzel said to him hurt more than any stab wound by Masamune ever could. It was amusing to think that an eleven year-old boy could do more damage to the Hero of the Planet than Sephiroth or Hojo ever could.
Cloud’s thoughts on his own mother had been summarily put to rest. Just like Denzel, he was uncertain as to how to handle the idea of her being alive again. But he knew the person she would remember and the person he was now may as well have been strangers. He didn’t think any good could come out of trying to see her.
Which was, in part, why he agreed to accompany Rufus into Midgar as his glorified trophy.
It was a reasonable excuse to get out of going to the Nibel reactor and dealing with Jenova, and ultimately having to see his mother again. Vincent, Shelke and Yuffie would be enough to handle that, and probably with a lot less traumatic breakdowns involved.
Still. He was well aware he was running from one problem and straight into the arms of another.
ShinRa Tower was full of walking ghosts, and he wasn’t the only one haunted by their specters.
He probably made out the best out of all of them, actually. His memory of this time period was so spotty and unreliable he could hardly remember anyone clearly, let alone put a face to a name. Reno, Tseng and Rufus did not suffer from that same problem. If Rufus or Tseng were shaken by the surprised faces that greeted them on their way up to meet the President, they handled it with applaudable stoicism. Reno was a bit easier to read; gaze skittish and posture tense.
Really though, he was no better than Reno. He’d been tense ever since they got into the transport, and his anxiety had only skyrocketed as they crossed over into Midgar proper, entered the Tower, and scaled up the side of the building in the express elevator.
The sight that greeted him was… entirely unexpected.
He’d known, intellectually, that the Time Displacement being the year 0000 meant Sephiroth likely hadn’t even stepped foot on Wutain soil yet, but acknowledging the timeline in theory and seeing his youthful visage in person was too bewildering to fully comprehend.
He was so young. Younger than Cloud had been when he became an eco-terrorist. This was the man ShinRa had thrust into their warzone? This was the hero they made through fire and blood?
Good Gaia, he’s barely any older than Yuffie, Cloud couldn’t help but think, hysterical.
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