Sephiroth took Cloud’s chin in his left hand and lifted the younger man’s face to his. He put his lips on Cloud’s and forced the lips apart with his tongue. He heard Cloud make a little moan of protest and felt him try to turn his head away, but this only served to encourage him and make him increase his grip. Sephiroth leaned down to taste Cloud’s lips and the inside of his mouth. Exhaustion, hatred and grief sat in the saliva like the undertones of a rare wine. Sephiroth made a low purring sound with his throat and tasted deeper while pulling the wounded and worn body as close to him as the holds would allow. Cloud smelled deliciously of sweat and maleness and Mako. He wanted more. Sephiroth put his right hand on Cloud’s forehead and pushed his head back to reveal more of his face and open his mouth further. In the embrace, Sephiroth’s white hair fell across Cloud’s shoulders. While tasting the fluid of his body, Sephiroth drank from the wounds in Cloud’s heart.

Cloud felt Sephiroth’s tongue and lips on his face and revolted. He tried to turn away but was held in a firm grip. He couldn’t move his hands or legs either, they seemed to be stuck in something. Sephiroth breathed warmly on his cheek, smelling of the cold and clean but inhuman smell of Mako, and something else underneath, a sweet, tangy scent Cloud couldn’t place. When Sephiroth made a low sound of pleasure, Cloud tensed his muscles again in an attempt at pulling his arms and legs free from whatever was holding him, but found he was unable to move.

Sephiroth was still having his tongue in his mouth and while not wholly uncomfortable, Cloud’s mind was still bent upon defeating his enemy. He began fighting in earnest to get loose, an arm or a leg or anything, so he could push Sephiroth away. But suddenly, a memory rose to the surface of his mind: Aeris in the City of the Ancients, kneeling on top of the salt pillar with her eyes closed and her hands folded in front of her. Then the ear splitting crash from above and the dark figure falling at great height from the ceiling, his black coat swirling around him like an autumn storm. Then he saw Aeris pitching forward, blood welling up from her mouth, her eyes bulging from their sockets in shock of the impaling. And Sephiroth, his hated enemy, smiling up at him from the crouched position in which he landed, his hands already covered with Aeris’ blood flowing from her back and down the blade of his sword. Sephiroth smiling proudly, his glowing eyes sparkling with humor and mischief, showing no compassion for the pain he caused. Enraged by the memory, Cloud pulled with all his might at whatever was holding him.

Sephiroth’s mental probing shook loose another memory. This time the defeat of his old body. With his inner eye, he saw the black clad figure raise his sword above Tifa’s head, then bringing it down in a narrow arch, causing Tifa to fall backwards and tumble down the metal stairs, blood spurting from her chest. Tifa had been disarmed and yet Sephiroth had had no qualms about using his sword on her.

Cloud remembered kneeling over Tifa, inspecting her horrible and fatal looking wound, then picking her up and carrying her away from the stairs, promising he’d be back with help once he had gone after Sephiroth. Then Sephiroth limping away from him on the narrow catwalk above the reactor core, completely ignoring him and his pain, showing no remorse for the killing he had done. Then Sephiroth’s long sword impaling him in the chest and the sensation of life beginning to seep away.

Everywhere he looked there was Sephiroth, and where he was, there was pain and death. That was what Sephiroth was; pain and death. And now Sephiroth was having his tongue down his throat! And becoming more than a bit eager. Cloud could feel Sephiroth pressing his body against his and rubbing his arousal against him. Cloud squirmed and inhaled to let out a yell of protest against what was taking place.

Sephiroth felt Cloud struggle mightily in the clamps that were holding him in place on the crystal. The animal scent of fear and hatred rose from him like vapor from boiling water. Sephiroth felt Cloud inhale and violently shake his head. Cloud obviously wanted to scream. Well, why not let him, Sephiroth thought. It might be more enjoyable that way. He drew back from Cloud to observe.

Cloud let out a loud yell which ended in an angry hiss. Sephiroth thought he heard his name in it and the word “kill”, but wasn’t sure. Diction clearly wasn’t Cloud’s strongest side. When he came to think of it, in the long course of their relationship, it never had been. Cloud always seemed to end up like this; enraged, bleeding and screaming some abuse or other at him. But that was when Cloud was at his most enticing too, so Sephiroth assumed he shouldn’t complain.

The younger man glared up at him, now out of breath. His eyes glowed with the same energy swirling inside Sephiroth’s body, they were a pure, deep blue. Sephiroth allowed himself a moment’s reminiscing. Hadn’t he always loved those blue eyes, the determination, hatred and fear in them, but also the gentleness, innocence and earnestness he sensed lay behind and fueled the fear and hate? Hadn’t he always admired and loved the lithe and small body with its tight musculature and healthy looking biceps ever since the day when it had showed itself able to withstand an almost inhuman amount of pain and being able to defeat even him?

Cloud was breathing heavily, his chest going up and down. He was still hurling abuse at him, demanding to be released from the holds, but Sephiroth was too immersed in his own musings to listen. He would soon cease to exist, but until then, he intended to enjoy life to the fullest. Sephiroth undid the fastening that held his coat closed in the front and shrugged out of the black and shiny fabric. The black coat fell noiselessly to the smooth floor. Then Sephiroth drew Masamune from its sheath and held it up in front of Cloud’s face. Cloud grew silent and shifted his eyes from the blade to him. Fear flashed in his eyes, but was soon replaced by hatred.

“Kill me now and get it over with!” Cloud snarled. Sephiroth raised his eyebrows.

“Kill you?” he asked. “Oh no… not yet. You have to be cleansed before I can allow you to enter Mother.” Cloud bared his teeth in an expression of despair and disgust.

“Cleansed?” he asked, furious. “That thing you call your mother is what needs to be cleansed, removed from the surface of earth. She is infecting the planet and will destroy it! You’re sick to allow her to do this!” Sephiroth smiled.

“There is so much you simply don’t know, Cloud,” he sighed. “But I will show you and explain to you in time.” Cloud blinked at him. “But first, let’s enjoy ourselves.”

Sephiroth sheathed Masamune and stood in front of his immobilized captive. He reached out and slowly ran two fingers along the edge of Cloud’s sleeveless top. The fabric was dirty and torn here and there and not as good looking as it had been during their first encounters. But that didn’t matter now. A slight tattering was only to his advantage. Sephiroth took hold of the fabric’s edge with both hands and pulled. The top ripped down the front, exposing a muscular, well sculpted chest. Cloud fought in the clamps that were holding his arms and legs fastened to the wall and snarled. When Sephiroth began removing his broad belt and braces, Cloud threw himself from side to side like a wild animal in a trap and screamed at his captor. Cloud’s resistance made Sephiroth a bit sad. Cloud didn’t know what pleasures lay ahead and the wonderful gifts Mother would bestow on him once he was reunited with her. He’d better show him.

When belt and braces were gone, Sephiroth passed a black gloved hand across the smooth skin of Cloud’s chest. Beneath the skin, muscles moved in shock and surprise of the cold and unwelcome touch. Cloud gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut and growled in frustration. Sephiroth put both hands on Cloud’s chest and ran his palms across the skin. “Mmmm, so smooth and strong and full of life,” he muttered. “What a delight.” After some savoring, Sephiroth reached around to Cloud’s back and felt the strong ridge of muscles bordering the spine. The muscles tensed against his touch. He pushed on the fabric of what was left of Cloud’s top and ripped the back open. Then he pulled at the purple remnants to get rid of the top completely.

Cloud was panting and swallowing and looking at him with a tense expression, as if his worst nightmares were about to come true. And in many ways, Sephiroth thought, they were, and there was no getting away. He dropped the purple rags in his hands and smiled. Making sure Cloud could see what he was doing, he loosened the two leather straps that were holding the belt with the SOLDIER sigil close to his waist, undid them from the belt and threw them on the floor. Then he removed the belt itself, a broad, smooth surfaced leather band displaying the sigil in the front. The steel sigil, which once upon a time had been a source of great pride to him, but which no longer held any meaning, made a clank as it hit the floor. Cloud followed Sephiroth’s actions intently with his eyes, while occasionally struggling in the clamps.

Cloud wanted to scream but had run out of air and energy with which to do it. All he could do was fight against the holds Sephiroth had created for him and watch the horror unfold. When Sephiroth ripped his top, he had thought he would go insane from fury. What a cruel hand of fate this was. First having this beast kill his mother, his beloved, his friends and wounding him near fatally and now… Cloud stretched his neck and reached one shoulder with his forehead to wipe off some sweat. Sephiroth seemed to be intent on violating every single part of him, his mind and his body. How was he going to survive or stay sane?

Cloud watched Sephiroth undress with a tortured suspicion of what lay ahead. He fought in the shackles but that only provoked a smile and a sparkle of humor in the blue-green depths that were calmly taking him in. Sephiroth removed his short black gloves to reveal two slender hands with long fingers. Soon those hands were all over Cloud’s back and chest, while Sephiroth breathed on his face and smiled. His captor made another purring noise with his throat, which Cloud mirrored with a snarl, but there was no escaping the sensual intrusions.

Sephiroth licked Cloud’s upper lip with a warm and probing tongue. He turned his head away from the wet touch and yelled Sephiroth’s name in protest. But that only provoked more purring and a whispered utterance of his own name. Sephiroth held him close and rubbed his chest against his. Cloud gasped and shifted his body from side to side to try and wriggle loose from the holds. But all this resulted in was the clamps biting further into his wrists and ankles and making them bleed.

When Sephiroth lowered his face to his neck, Cloud turned violently in the clamps and intensely wished he could rub a depression in the crystal behind him to afford some distance to his detested enemy. Sephiroth proceeded with kissing and nipping his neck and throat and dancing his fingers along the edge of his pants. This torture went on for a long time, during which Cloud could only breathe and try to endure the humiliation. Without realizing it, tears of rage and hatred began rolling down his cheeks. He had never been so humiliated and violated in his life, not even when Sephiroth impaled him with his sword.

Sephiroth sensed something was happening. He lifted his head and saw Cloud weeping bitterly, his eyes squeezed shut and his teeth bared. Sephiroth took a step back from Cloud and then touched his face. The young man was quaking with anger. Sephiroth calmly wiped away some of the tears and stroked him across his head.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured. “I’m not going to hurt you.” But his words seemed to do little in reassuring Cloud, who only rolled his head from side to side and sobbed. Sephiroth made a sad smile. From the looks of it, he didn’t think he would be able to calm Cloud down more than he had done. In that case there wasn’t much more he or anyone else could do. He could just as well proceed with the cleansing.

He stepped close to Cloud, leaned down and slowly ran his tongue over one erect nipple. He felt Cloud stiffen beneath him and let out a gasp. Pleased, Sephiroth continued licking and sucking on the nipple. He let his hands pass back and forth across the strong obliques on Cloud’s back, kneading the long muscles. Cloud let out more gasps and his chest heaved beneath him. For the moment he had stopped struggling in the clasps.

As Sephiroth kneeled to rub his face against Cloud’s belly, he felt the young body tense again. The treatment seemed to be working. Sephiroth put the tip of his tongue onto the smooth skin and licked to sample some of the fluid that was running down Cloud’s chest and belly. The transparent drops tasted salty and sweetly at the same time, with an undertone of Mako.

“Mmm….” Sephiroth smiled and sighed. Cloud was better than he had ever imagined. Might it be time for a test? He put one hand on the front of Cloud’s pants and the little bulge there. Yes, his touch was clearly having an effect on the captive. Better up the stakes when things were going so well. Sephiroth stroked the bulge between Cloud’s leg and heard the young man let out a series of frenzied “No!”s while the bulge grew into a more definite hardness. Cloud was clearly not entirely in control of his body, even if his mind was protesting wildly. Sephiroth stood and stroked some more just to see Cloud’s further reaction. Cloud had thrown his head back and his eyes had a glazed look. Tears were streaming down his cheeks but it seemed he was no longer able to struggle much. Sephiroth rose up and kissed Cloud to taste his reluctant sensual response. He ran a finger across Cloud’s exposed throat. Cloud swallowed at the touch and his adam’s apple moved convulsively. Sephiroth bent down to kiss the hard structure and lick some more of the drops of sweat that were trickling down the neck from the hairline.