Previously...
After returning to our gang territory, the Mako Reactor, Mother had realized that my plan to convince Cloud to join her cause was successful. However, we knew just as Mother had that we weren't about to just continue the quest to reclaim the planet for her simply because id apparently convinced him; we all knew everything he had done to hamper our efforts to reclaim the planet for Mother, and this was exactly where we decided to give Cloud a few "trials" before making our judgement final here. This was a direct order from Mother, and my brothers and i agreed that prevention was better than disaster here. So we once again prepared to carry out our next mission: testing Cloud. This trial, however, was focused on establishing trust: the most important of elements when doing anything together on a quest as dangerous as working for Mother.
Chapter 7: Establishing Trust
For this part of the mission, i lead my brothers and Cloud to our formally abandoned territory: the Forgotten City. Once we arrived there, we each got off our motorbikes and i lead us towards the body of water towards the deeper parts of the area. We stopped once we arrived to it. Cloud seemed to gaze and wander elsewhere a bit, then turned to me and said as though confused "What are we doing here?" Yazoo came behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and said "You didn't honestly think youd instantly win our trust like that, right?" Loz then followed and said "Look, Brother. If you wanna work with us, you have to act like us. None of this betrayal." Cloud then paused briefly and said "So what do i do?" Yazoo gestured to me and said "Play with Little Sister for starters. Don't worry, she's easy to please. The two of us will leave the area. If youre gone or we find Little Sister hurt or even dead when we return, youre history. Got it?" Cloud seemed to nod despite seeming a bit nervous, and Yazoo giggled a bit and said "Good. Make her happy, ok? If we find her laughing when we come back, Mother will be very pleased with the report. If she's happy enough you may even earn a good amount of Mother's approval if youre lucky." I sensed Cloud had smiled a bit, then Yazoo and Loz left the area, leaving me and Cloud here. Cloud turned back to me and said "Umm... What do you wanna do?" I then turned to face the water and said "Come..." I then strolled into the water, quickly causing it to turn black in reaction to my JENOVA cells. After i was a little ways across, i turned back and noticed Cloud had yet to step in. He seemed a bit uncomfortable. I then said "Its ok, it wont hurt you. You recovered from Geo Stigma, remember?" He paused for a while, then nodded. He still seemed uneasy a bit, but he slowly stepped into the water and carefully approached me. I gazed closely at his eyes, and noticed they seemed to flare up with even the lesser amount of JENOVA cells he had than me. Based on how he had moved, it was clear he wasnt used to this many of them though. It seemed to overwhelm him a tad despite his efforts to hide it. He stopped some ways ahead of me, and i drew closer to him and said "Youve grown weaker, haven't you? Youre reacting to the water like that because youve feared Mother your whole life, and so her cells inside of you have weakened as a result... How sad..." I seemed to surface guilt in him after i said that, but then i continued and said "Even if that is true, theres always hope, even with just a little bit of her cells left in you. I was always very strong in Mother, my entire life... even in my early larva state... She was always what kept me really living, just as i am now..." Cloud paused then said "Where are you going with this?" I then said "Im saying that you can regain your lost strength by doing what i always did: trust Mother with all your heart, know she wont let you down as you wont her.... and most of all, love Mother for the beautiful and beloved one she is. I was born as her direct offspring, so... it was much easier and came more naturally for me. It might not come so easy for you, but never give up. Theres always hope, especially when you keep trying and try again anytime you fail." I then cupped my hands and got some of the water in them, then poured the water over Cloud's head. He shook his head a bit, trying to get off some of the wetness. He then said "What does this water do?" Then i said "This water, the black water... acts a healing agent for Mother's children. My brothers and i use this place to help recover from intense battles and regain our strength. You see, it replenishes our JENOVA cells, which are our core strength and vitality. Without them, we cant exist or have any life. Just like the life force in humans, Mother's cells keep us alive. If we use too many of them, we can die. If the Infinite Reunion were to one day be activated, that would not only make everyone on this planet as us, but prevent our JENOVA cells from exhausting--forever." After a brief moment of silence, Cloud said "The Infinite Reunion... wasnt that inscribed on the JENOVA Stone Tablet somewhere?" I nodded and said "It was... Mother wrote the instructions for activating the Infinite Reunion on it. Though me and my brothers, Yazoo and Loz, are alive and have the powers needed to activate it, we're missing one thing thats also required: Big Brother." Cloud then said "Uh oh... and i killed him several years ago..." I then replied "I know, but we're trying to find a way to bring him back without having to sacrifice each other." He then said "How are you gonna do that?" I then sighed and shrugged, and said "We dont know... But we cant give up. This is Mother's third time around, and i promised her i would make it count and finish the mission. I intend to hold true to that no matter what happens." Cloud then said "Youre sure devoted to her, arent you?" I then smiled and playfully shoved him "Dont be silly, you know the answer to that!" Cloud and smiled back at me after he stumbled a bit. I then took some more of the water and approached him, offering the water to him and smiling. Suddenly, he seemed a little hesitant, and i said "Dont be afraid, Cloud. If you fear Mother, she wont trust you as much. Be loving to her, embrace her for who she is... and remember who you are." Lifting more of the black water up to his face, i managed to convince him to drink it from my hands. After he swallowed it, i noticed he seemed to calm down some more. Suddenly, his gaze locked on the side of my neck and he said "What about that mark? Can the water get rid of that?" Remembering it was there, i touched it with one hand and exerted some of my JENOVA cells into it for a bit. After enough time passed, i asked Cloud "Is it gone?" He gasped in surprise and said "Its disappearing! Keep doing that!" I obeyed, and saw Cloud drink some more of the water in surprising amounts, then he followed my lead and we both used our JENOVA cells to heal me. He signalled me to stop, and continued to help me recover on his own. After what felt like forever had passed, he stopped and said "Sephie... Your form changed... I didn't do something wrong, did i...?" I saw my reflection in the water and knew what he was talking about: i had reverted to my larval form, my black wing was not there or anything else; my hair was also short once again as well, and i had my outfit on i always wore during my larva state. However, the mark on my neck was also gone which was a good thing. Mysteriously though, i had retained my increased power i had before i reverted to my larva state. I knew i had not grown weaker. Somehow, i also felt much more free in every way and as though all mental scars were no more. Without thinking any further, i turned back to face Cloud and felt tears stream from my eyes. Not saying another word, i playfully jumped at him saying thank you more times than i could count. He held me against himself, shocked but seeming happy and that he did a very good thing even though he couldn't understand what. I had finally felt free; free from all of the tragedies id experienced and endured during my entire life. Aftetr a while, i got off him and faced him with a smile. He then said "so... You were Kadaj in the form of a woman?" I nodded and said "I was, before id advanced and fully bloomed, anyways..." He then said "Can you still fly?" I then tried to bolt my wing, and after a few times of trying i had felt it come out. Then i tried to fly like normal, and i was successful. After flying around a bit, i returned to the water and landed. I had seen Cloud was smiling with a pure heart at my increased health. He was very proud of what he did to help me. I then said "Im not sure how you did it, Cloud... But you used the power of Mother's cells to exploit that curse mark on me and free me completely as a result. Thank you so much..." He continued smiling and said "what would JENOVA say if she knew that?" I laughed and said "Mother will be very pleased, i can assure you of that. As to what exactly she will do, that remains shrouded in mystery for now. But regardless, you have my thanks for freeing me." I had seen a tear fall from Cloud's eye as he continued smiling at me. I laughed, then playfully jumped at him, knocking him into the water. He quickly got up and smiled and said "Hey.." Laughing some more, i pushed him back in the water. We went back to back for a while, playfully trying to knock each other down, then we just started splashing each other in a water fight, both of us laughing the entire time. I had secretly noticed Cloud's eyes go from his previous blue to a green cat-like color that my brothers and i had since birth. I didn't make it obvious id seen this, i didn't want to risk spooking him and spoiling the playful moment this was. It took both of us several minutes after some time passed to notice Yazoo and Loz were back, when we'd suddenly stopped and had noticed them. Loz had smiled and said "Wow, look at her! When was Little Sister this happy last?" Yazoo followed, approaching Cloud and said "I dont know, Brother. What did you do to make her so happy, New Brother?" Cloud puased briefly and said "I don't know how, but there was this weird mark on her neck, and i got rid of it, and then somehow--" Yazoo had hushed him by signal and walked towards me, then said "Is this true, Little Sister?" Before i could respond, Yazoo had brushed my short hair aside a tad and noticed the mark Cloud mentioned truly was gone. He was very shocked about this, and said "He really did heal you... I cant believe it!" I had noticed Loz was also surprised, clearly both of my beothers did not expect this to go as perfectly as it really had. Yazoo shook his head in disbelief, still gazing at the place the curse mark had previously been, and said "Mother will not believe this report... But theres no gain lying to our own Mother. Let's go home, everyone!"
To be continued...
After returning to our gang territory, the Mako Reactor, Mother had realized that my plan to convince Cloud to join her cause was successful. However, we knew just as Mother had that we weren't about to just continue the quest to reclaim the planet for her simply because id apparently convinced him; we all knew everything he had done to hamper our efforts to reclaim the planet for Mother, and this was exactly where we decided to give Cloud a few "trials" before making our judgement final here. This was a direct order from Mother, and my brothers and i agreed that prevention was better than disaster here. So we once again prepared to carry out our next mission: testing Cloud. This trial, however, was focused on establishing trust: the most important of elements when doing anything together on a quest as dangerous as working for Mother.
Chapter 7: Establishing Trust
For this part of the mission, i lead my brothers and Cloud to our formally abandoned territory: the Forgotten City. Once we arrived there, we each got off our motorbikes and i lead us towards the body of water towards the deeper parts of the area. We stopped once we arrived to it. Cloud seemed to gaze and wander elsewhere a bit, then turned to me and said as though confused "What are we doing here?" Yazoo came behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and said "You didn't honestly think youd instantly win our trust like that, right?" Loz then followed and said "Look, Brother. If you wanna work with us, you have to act like us. None of this betrayal." Cloud then paused briefly and said "So what do i do?" Yazoo gestured to me and said "Play with Little Sister for starters. Don't worry, she's easy to please. The two of us will leave the area. If youre gone or we find Little Sister hurt or even dead when we return, youre history. Got it?" Cloud seemed to nod despite seeming a bit nervous, and Yazoo giggled a bit and said "Good. Make her happy, ok? If we find her laughing when we come back, Mother will be very pleased with the report. If she's happy enough you may even earn a good amount of Mother's approval if youre lucky." I sensed Cloud had smiled a bit, then Yazoo and Loz left the area, leaving me and Cloud here. Cloud turned back to me and said "Umm... What do you wanna do?" I then turned to face the water and said "Come..." I then strolled into the water, quickly causing it to turn black in reaction to my JENOVA cells. After i was a little ways across, i turned back and noticed Cloud had yet to step in. He seemed a bit uncomfortable. I then said "Its ok, it wont hurt you. You recovered from Geo Stigma, remember?" He paused for a while, then nodded. He still seemed uneasy a bit, but he slowly stepped into the water and carefully approached me. I gazed closely at his eyes, and noticed they seemed to flare up with even the lesser amount of JENOVA cells he had than me. Based on how he had moved, it was clear he wasnt used to this many of them though. It seemed to overwhelm him a tad despite his efforts to hide it. He stopped some ways ahead of me, and i drew closer to him and said "Youve grown weaker, haven't you? Youre reacting to the water like that because youve feared Mother your whole life, and so her cells inside of you have weakened as a result... How sad..." I seemed to surface guilt in him after i said that, but then i continued and said "Even if that is true, theres always hope, even with just a little bit of her cells left in you. I was always very strong in Mother, my entire life... even in my early larva state... She was always what kept me really living, just as i am now..." Cloud paused then said "Where are you going with this?" I then said "Im saying that you can regain your lost strength by doing what i always did: trust Mother with all your heart, know she wont let you down as you wont her.... and most of all, love Mother for the beautiful and beloved one she is. I was born as her direct offspring, so... it was much easier and came more naturally for me. It might not come so easy for you, but never give up. Theres always hope, especially when you keep trying and try again anytime you fail." I then cupped my hands and got some of the water in them, then poured the water over Cloud's head. He shook his head a bit, trying to get off some of the wetness. He then said "What does this water do?" Then i said "This water, the black water... acts a healing agent for Mother's children. My brothers and i use this place to help recover from intense battles and regain our strength. You see, it replenishes our JENOVA cells, which are our core strength and vitality. Without them, we cant exist or have any life. Just like the life force in humans, Mother's cells keep us alive. If we use too many of them, we can die. If the Infinite Reunion were to one day be activated, that would not only make everyone on this planet as us, but prevent our JENOVA cells from exhausting--forever." After a brief moment of silence, Cloud said "The Infinite Reunion... wasnt that inscribed on the JENOVA Stone Tablet somewhere?" I nodded and said "It was... Mother wrote the instructions for activating the Infinite Reunion on it. Though me and my brothers, Yazoo and Loz, are alive and have the powers needed to activate it, we're missing one thing thats also required: Big Brother." Cloud then said "Uh oh... and i killed him several years ago..." I then replied "I know, but we're trying to find a way to bring him back without having to sacrifice each other." He then said "How are you gonna do that?" I then sighed and shrugged, and said "We dont know... But we cant give up. This is Mother's third time around, and i promised her i would make it count and finish the mission. I intend to hold true to that no matter what happens." Cloud then said "Youre sure devoted to her, arent you?" I then smiled and playfully shoved him "Dont be silly, you know the answer to that!" Cloud and smiled back at me after he stumbled a bit. I then took some more of the water and approached him, offering the water to him and smiling. Suddenly, he seemed a little hesitant, and i said "Dont be afraid, Cloud. If you fear Mother, she wont trust you as much. Be loving to her, embrace her for who she is... and remember who you are." Lifting more of the black water up to his face, i managed to convince him to drink it from my hands. After he swallowed it, i noticed he seemed to calm down some more. Suddenly, his gaze locked on the side of my neck and he said "What about that mark? Can the water get rid of that?" Remembering it was there, i touched it with one hand and exerted some of my JENOVA cells into it for a bit. After enough time passed, i asked Cloud "Is it gone?" He gasped in surprise and said "Its disappearing! Keep doing that!" I obeyed, and saw Cloud drink some more of the water in surprising amounts, then he followed my lead and we both used our JENOVA cells to heal me. He signalled me to stop, and continued to help me recover on his own. After what felt like forever had passed, he stopped and said "Sephie... Your form changed... I didn't do something wrong, did i...?" I saw my reflection in the water and knew what he was talking about: i had reverted to my larval form, my black wing was not there or anything else; my hair was also short once again as well, and i had my outfit on i always wore during my larva state. However, the mark on my neck was also gone which was a good thing. Mysteriously though, i had retained my increased power i had before i reverted to my larva state. I knew i had not grown weaker. Somehow, i also felt much more free in every way and as though all mental scars were no more. Without thinking any further, i turned back to face Cloud and felt tears stream from my eyes. Not saying another word, i playfully jumped at him saying thank you more times than i could count. He held me against himself, shocked but seeming happy and that he did a very good thing even though he couldn't understand what. I had finally felt free; free from all of the tragedies id experienced and endured during my entire life. Aftetr a while, i got off him and faced him with a smile. He then said "so... You were Kadaj in the form of a woman?" I nodded and said "I was, before id advanced and fully bloomed, anyways..." He then said "Can you still fly?" I then tried to bolt my wing, and after a few times of trying i had felt it come out. Then i tried to fly like normal, and i was successful. After flying around a bit, i returned to the water and landed. I had seen Cloud was smiling with a pure heart at my increased health. He was very proud of what he did to help me. I then said "Im not sure how you did it, Cloud... But you used the power of Mother's cells to exploit that curse mark on me and free me completely as a result. Thank you so much..." He continued smiling and said "what would JENOVA say if she knew that?" I laughed and said "Mother will be very pleased, i can assure you of that. As to what exactly she will do, that remains shrouded in mystery for now. But regardless, you have my thanks for freeing me." I had seen a tear fall from Cloud's eye as he continued smiling at me. I laughed, then playfully jumped at him, knocking him into the water. He quickly got up and smiled and said "Hey.." Laughing some more, i pushed him back in the water. We went back to back for a while, playfully trying to knock each other down, then we just started splashing each other in a water fight, both of us laughing the entire time. I had secretly noticed Cloud's eyes go from his previous blue to a green cat-like color that my brothers and i had since birth. I didn't make it obvious id seen this, i didn't want to risk spooking him and spoiling the playful moment this was. It took both of us several minutes after some time passed to notice Yazoo and Loz were back, when we'd suddenly stopped and had noticed them. Loz had smiled and said "Wow, look at her! When was Little Sister this happy last?" Yazoo followed, approaching Cloud and said "I dont know, Brother. What did you do to make her so happy, New Brother?" Cloud puased briefly and said "I don't know how, but there was this weird mark on her neck, and i got rid of it, and then somehow--" Yazoo had hushed him by signal and walked towards me, then said "Is this true, Little Sister?" Before i could respond, Yazoo had brushed my short hair aside a tad and noticed the mark Cloud mentioned truly was gone. He was very shocked about this, and said "He really did heal you... I cant believe it!" I had noticed Loz was also surprised, clearly both of my beothers did not expect this to go as perfectly as it really had. Yazoo shook his head in disbelief, still gazing at the place the curse mark had previously been, and said "Mother will not believe this report... But theres no gain lying to our own Mother. Let's go home, everyone!"
To be continued...
