Living in Darkness

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters. I do not profit from this story.


Chapter 1
Prisoner


Sephiroth, the nightmare, his words. Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away. He had been so confident, sure he could defeat the evil bastard once again, but he had failed.....Failed everyone. He had not been able to save the planet this time, or his friends. They were all dead, he knew. Sephiroth had made him watch as he choked the planet, draining all life that inhabited it. The screams,...the terrible terror filled screams that had assaulted his ears as the world was covered in darkness and shadow.

Cloud swam back slowly into awareness, his bruised body racked with pain, his mind filled with anguish. His memories were scattered and it was hard to piece it all together. 'Why am I still alive?' he asked himself, squeezing his eyes shut, clenching his fists. 'Why?' He painfully turned his head, taking in his surroundings for the first time. The only source of light was a fire burning in a large fireplace. The room was all stone, and the only furniture was the bed he was laying on and a wooden chair. There was one exit, a black door on the other side of the large room.

Cloud tiredly sat up, holding his side with a pained hiss when a strong stabbing pain ripped through it. Placing his bare feet on the cold stone of the floor, he looked down at himself, just noticing he was missing his shirt. He was covered with cuts and bruised, but he felt much worse than what he could see. 'Probably have a few cracked ribs by the feel,' he thought, his watering blue eyes looking around the room. His sword was nowhere to be seen either, and he dimly wondered where it was.

He rose, too quickly, falling to his knees in his weakened state with a pained groan. 'I have to get out of here.' Feverish and in agony he crawled toward the door, unable to get to his feet. His body didn't want to cooperate and after painfully getting halfway to his destination he collapsed, dripping with sweat and breathing harshly. His consciousness wavered and he nearly blacked out, but he fought to stay alert and managed to keep the darkness at bay that wanted to overtake him once again. He rested for a short time as the cool stone warmed under the feverish heat of his body.

Filled with determination, he got to his knees again and found it was harder to do this time, his arms shaking as he supported his weight. The room started to spin and he closed his eyes with a soft curse. He swallowed heavily, fighting down the gorge of nausea that was threatening to rise. He was taking shallow breaths to ease the pain in his ribs when he heard the door open and the low chuckle of amusement.

"Just where do you think you're going, Cloud?" Sephiroth's voice was full of disapproval and contempt. He made himself look up at his captor and the bastard gave him a slow menacing smile. He tried to curse him, but only managed a pitifully weak croak. "Really, you shouldn't be out of bed in your condition," he said, moving gracefully toward him. Cloud clumsily tried to back away, but Sephiroth swooped down and picked up his battered body with ease.

Cloud bit back a scream of pain, clenching his teeth to keep from cursing. He was already feeling humiliation and wasn't about to give the son of a bitch the satisfaction of knowing he was putting him through more agony. Surprisingly gentle, Sephiroth lay him back on the bed, placing cool fingers on his fevered brow. He was too weak to even try to pull away from the touch.

"Get your fucking hands off me," he mumbled, earning him another amused chuckle.

"So brave, Cloud." He glared at the monster that was looking down at him, his green eyes sparkling with power.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Sephiroth took his hand away then, pulling the chair closer to the bed, sitting down and looking at him with interest. His smile returned, teasing the blonde with his silence. He moved back in, his hands moving over his screaming ribs. "Stop..." He tried to turn away and suffered for it, unable to hold back a hoarse cry as he felt the bones shift slightly.

"Still yourself. You're making your injuries worse."

"Why do you care? Just kill me and get it over with," he said through ragged intakes of breath, fighting to stay conscious.

"If I wanted you dead, you already would be," he answered, making Cloud lay back with a forceful, yet gentle push. "Now, are you going to let me heal you, or would you rather continue to suffer?" Indecision kept him silent. As excruciating as the pain was, he felt that he deserved it as punishment for his failure. He still didn't know why he was being kept, and looked at Sephiroth imploringly.

"Why?" he asked in a whisper.

"Are you so desperate for death, Cloud?"

"Please...just let me go." He knew he was begging, but didn't care. He just wanted to drift away..

"Your torment is so.....breathtaking," Sephiroth said softly with a low chuckle, his fingertips caressing Cloud's cheek. He flinched from the cold fingers, only amusing his captor further.

"Bastard!" Sephiroth's laughter was vexing and it put his teeth on edge.

"You'll not be dying, as badly as you might want to," he said, his voice strong and commanding as he placed his hands on Cloud's injured ribs. Cloud gasped as he felt his pain slowly flow away as his broken body began to heal under Sephiroth's warming hands. His hands moved to his shoulder where he had been run through with Sephiroth's blade, Masamune. He couldn't hide his relief from the suffering and sighed as his body relaxed with the alleviation.

It was over in minutes, his pain gone, but his mental torment remained, just like the scars that marred his body. His fever was gone as well, but he still felt weak and vulnerable, made worse by Sephiroth's penetrating gaze and his lingering hands on his body.

"Why didn't you kill me with the rest? Answer me, damn you!" he yelled, finding the strength to push his hands away.

"Because, I find you worthy to live, worthy to be mine."

Cloud's eyes widened with understanding and he shook his head with an humorless laugh. "Kill me now, because I won't give into you. I'll kill you first!"

"You couldn't save your world, or your friends. What makes you think you could destroy me now. I've grown more powerful with the death of your planet," Sephiroth said with menace, standing from the chair and gliding over his body in one swift motion. Cloud was powerless under his strength, still too weak to fight him off.

"No!" he growled, trying to hide the fear that was taking over as Sephiroth roughly held his wrists above his head, pinning them to the bed. His green eyes sparkled with lust as Cloud desperately tried to buck him off. "Don't!"

"I could easily take what I want, Cloud, but I don't want it to be this way. I want you willing and eventually.... you will be."

"Don't hold your fucking breath," Cloud spat, writhing under Sephiroth's hold.

"There's the Cloud I know," he laughed merrily, basking in the feel of Cloud's struggling body beneath his. Exhaustion soon took over and Cloud just couldn't fight anymore. He lay limply, panting as newly formed sweat glistened on his body.

"I hate you," he whispered as his eyes tiredly closed to block out that damn smile that hadn't left Sephiroth's face as he had struggled to get free. He started to drift to sleep, exhausted for now. Sephiroth closed the small gap between them, kissing Cloud's full lips as he fell into sleep, savoring it for a moment before rising from the bed and leaving the defeated, slumbering warrior.