Work Text:
Something was wrong. He meant that with a capital "W". It was the kind of sensation that you felt in your gut telling you something was off. That something was unnatural. The kind of chill that skirts across your skin, leaving gooseflesh in its wake. The kind of warning you felt down in your very bones, urging you to get out if you wanted to stay in one piece. Angeal would've called it instinct. Angeal would've told him to trust it because it could save his life in a dangerous situation. But Angeal wasn't here. Not anymore.
"I wonder where he is now?"
Nah. Bad idea to let his thoughts go down that particular road. Thinking about his missing mentor would only make his current mission harder. As much as he wanted to look for Angeal, any inclinations towards that idea would be swiftly shot down by the higher-ups. In their eyes Angeal was a traitor to Shinra; and traitors must be disposed of. If he wanted to look for Angeal, he had to do it discreetly. After his mission was done, he would do just that.
Again that distinct wrongness hit him, making his stomach curl into knots. He fought against the desire to turn around, forcing each foot forward further into the deep crevice in the earth. Supposedly a meteorite had recently landed within the vicinity of Midgar, in the outskirts of the city walls. Of course, the Science Department had been ecstatic at the news and wasted no time in requesting SOLDIER to protect them from the local monsters while they did their investigation. Professor Hojo in particular had seemed the most excited by the prospect of working with the extraterrestrial material and made explicit orders to collect every last pebble from the crash site. That's how Zack and a few extra Thirds found themselves being sent off to be the muscle for the excavation and retrieval of the meteorite. When they finally arrived at the location, Zack couldn't help but gape in awe at the destruction. The oversized rock had smashed a hole so deep into the planet that Zack was surprised mako didn't trickle through and flood the site. If that scenario happened, they could kiss that meteorite goodbye.
The scientists immediately went to work, collecting soil samples and using strange devices to detect energy readings or something like that. Zack wasn't sure what exactly they were documenting, but it looked pretty important judging by the concentrated faces he could see from the Science Department. As the minutes turned into hours with nothing but gobbledygook and complicated theories from musing researchers to listen to, Zack became restless. The excessive amounts of squats he did turned into a distraction to them, so eventually he couldn't even do that much to burn off the excess energy had. All this time and not a single monster had approached their location. It was odd. Normally monsters were territorial, attacking anything that ventured into their domain regardless of their intentions. Yet, the beasts local to the wastes were absent. It was like they all disappeared or fled for some reason. With such a massive change to the environment, it wasn't too bad of a guess to assume the monsters had fled until they felt safe to return to their homes—or what was left of them.
Just when Zack felt like he was going to start a commotion for the hell of it, he finally got orders: inspect the meteorite and accurately measure its size. From there, the smart ones would estimate its weight and give the yay or nay to move forward with extracting it from its spot in the crater. He had actually let out a cry of joy for having something productive to do. The inactivity had bugged the hell out of him. He hated doing nothing, especially when he knew there was something he could do to make a difference.
Everything had flipped upside down the moment he took his first step over the edge of the pit. That was when he felt an inherent wrongness inside his very soul that urged him to back away. Unfortunately, he had a job to do. Any reservations had to be pushed aside for the sake of the mission. So, he began his slow descent into the hole. The sloped ground made it hard to find footing as he traveled toward the epicenter of the crash. Closer and closer he crept towards his objective, his heartbeat echoing far too loudly in his ears. A large, bulbous shape covered in dirt and gravel could be seen even from the edge of the crater. As the distance shrunk, Zack quickly realized the thing was so much larger than he initially thought. It definitely would need more than their meager troop of five to lift, much less move, the massive rock uphill. With each step he took the dread spiked higher. Fingers subconsciously twitched with a desire to unsheath his blade, but Zack couldn't justify it when there was nothing there. All too soon—too soon for his liking—he was standing right before their gift from space. It cast a shadow that could have swallowed him whole, looming over him menacingly.
So wrong. Wrongwrongwrong. Doesn't belong. Not normal. Danger. The feeling was screaming at him, making him shudder as the chills traveled down his spine and spread down to the very tips of his extremities.
"Hey, Boss Man Zack!" One of the Thirds called to him. "How's it looking? Think we can lift it?"
That voice locked him in place, preventing him from rushing to climb up the slopes back to safety. That was the million gil question. That was why they were here. Zack shook his head, burying the feeling as deep as it would go. A rock shouldn't be making him this on edge. It was just a rock. A giant space rock. No biggie. It was time to man up and do his damn job. Against his senses screaming at him to run, a gloved hand lifted and pressed itself against the rock.
The wrongness increased a hundredfold as his hand made an impression in the filth. A rock was supposed to be hard and gritty. Solid and firm. This was anything but. It was soft and warm. Minute movement made fingers shift and curve in response. His immediate reaction was to brush away the dirt, blue eyes recognizing complete black underneath the brown.
"What the…?"
The black split apart, a red eye looking right back at him.
The scream he let out was not at all manly nor was his landing after he jumped back, tripping over a mound of dirt behind him in the process. His entire body shook from the palpitations in his chest, breaths coming in and going out too quickly. He focused on the spot where he had made contact with the—the whatever the hell it was. The eye was gone, as if it had never existed in the first place. There was no way he imagined that. Right?
"You idiot!" One of the scientists yelled at him. "You were supposed to measure it, not touch it! You'll contaminate the specimen!"
Idiot. Idiot. Idiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiotidiot.
He could feel the word crawling across his skin, like tiny spiders skittering up his arms and leaving trails of webbing as they went. They cared more for a lump of space matter than their fellow man?
Wait. What? No. That…wasn't right. They were science-y people. They were always temperamental when it came to their experiments and studies. That was a bit of a leap to assume they didn't care about his general safety and wellbeing. Besides, the insult wasn't even that bad. He'd heard worse. It really shouldn't have bugged him as much as it did.
But it does. Ever so slightly, it hurts. Deep down, you're angry or sad; caused by those wounding words. No matter how many times you brush it off, it still hurts. And they will keep saying it so long as they have malice. Put on a smile as much as you want. It does nothing to ease the ache.
What? The hell? Well, yeah it hurts a bit. Sure, people don't always get along. Difference of opinions and all that. He knew that. That's why he always did his best to respect others' feelings, even when he personally disagreed with them. After all, most people were good.
Goodness? Most people? What you see is a lie. Open your eyes to the truth. They want. They take. They hurt. They fight. That which is not what they desire is cast aside. An endless thirst that can never be satiated, even when they obtain that which they sought. There is no light in this world. No goodness. Only selfishness.
"Boss Man? Hey! Are you okay!?"
Zack barely registered the hand on his shoulder, frantically shaking his prone form.
Is it truly concern? Or is it fear?
Zack couldn't answer that. He wasn't sure himself.
"Wh-what the hell is that!?"
The Third was pointing at his right arm. Blue eyes drifted over to the appendage, seeing a black shadow encasing it. It shifted and moved, like it was alive. He stared at it as it inched towards his shoulder. His arm felt like it didn't exist. Just a fuzziness and a sense of disbelief in place of what was once his limb.
He should be scared.
He wasn't.
Why wasn't he scared?
Because you aren't. You do not fear what you already know.
You know you're alone. You know you've been abandoned. You know no one cares. You know any displays of love or care are formed from selfish motives.
No. That…was a lie. They did. Aerith. Tseng. Cissnei. Angeal. Sephiroth. His ma and pa. They cared. Didn't they?
Did they?
Aerith is always wanting to spend time with him. Has she ever asked what it is he wants? Has she ever thought of him first before thinking of herself? Tseng's mission to protect Aerith would include putting a bullet into Zack's head if the order was given. He wouldn't hesitate either. Cissnei…was she watching out for him because she wanted to or was it orders? Had she ever thought of him as a friend? Angeal left without a word. Without an explanation. He wanted to catch Genesis. Did Zack ever matter to Angeal? And Sephiroth asked Zack to do what he himself could not: fight and kill the rogue SOLDIERs. And when was the last time he received a letter from his parents? He left to follow his dreams and his parents objected to it. Parents should be happy to support their child's dreams. But they weren't.
No. Was it all…?
It was.
Wasn't it?
"He's not responding! What is that stuff!? What's it doing to him!?"
"Intriguing. Most intriguing!"
"He's a First Class SOLDIER! Can't you show a little bit of concern!? If the local monsters come back, he's not gonna be able to protect any of us!"
Listen to them. All they care about is themselves. Their wants. Their fears. Their lives. It's all about them. Always them. Never once thinking of the damage they leave behind.
Was that all he was to them? Nothing more than a shield? Nothing more than a specimen? Nothing?
Nothing. Nothing. NOTHING.
That's right. Nothing. Emotions. Memories. All of it is meaningless. In the end, we are all nothing.
If he is nothing to them, they should be nothing to him.
"Hey, he's moving! Boss Man Zack!"
Nothing. The red that smears the ground is a symbol; a message that the owner has returned to nothing. The screams should be harrowing. But they aren't. No one will be able to recount the feeling.
No. This isn't right.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five and six. Seven, eight, nine. Ten. Eleven and twelve.
Twelve. Twelve that will matter now.
They mattered to those they left behind. What's left behind is best left there.
Dark Matter. The vessels are for them. Twelve for now. More will follow.
They will destroy this planet. Then the next. And the next. Until every light in the sky is snuffed out. Until every last inch of the universe has been returned to nothing. Until every last soul feels the same as they do. Loneliness. Hate. Envy. Sorrow. Pain. All of it. For every waking moment of their pitiful existences until the end finally comes.
Heroes had no place in this world. Neither here or among the stars.
This one wanted to be a hero. Now he is Zero.
How fitting. Hero to Zero. Zero to hero.
"You are nothing. I am nothing. We can be nothing together too."
The earth shook, the mass in the middle of the crater shuddering as it dislodged from the dirt and rocks. The black shadows dispersed into clouds, dozens of orange irises opening to take in the sights. Their next planet to drown in darkness and misery. The eyes looked upon Zero, waiting. Watching. Patiently.
"Scatter. Let the nightmare begin."
They obeyed. The cloud of darkness—Dark Matter—broke apart, each section shooting off to every corner of the planet to begin siphoning all joy and happiness from the inhabitants. Drink in their endless despair and fear until all life gives up on living. As for the mudball left behind, it would inevitably join the dust among the stars. There was little joy to be found on this planet unlike Popstar. The warrior of the stars could never hope to save this planet from its inevitable fate.
Corpses moved once again after the Dark Matter took hold of them, orange irises snapping open. Knowledge and information from the vessels streamed into Zero, giving them an idea of the planet's biggest threat to them. Even the planet's strongest warrior would not be enough to stop them. The heart and soul were as tainted and hurt as their own. If the most positivity Zero had seen came from the one they had claimed and the one he called Aerith, this planet and all of its negativity was as good as theirs.
The rest of the mass hovered over the crater, pure white and free from the dirt that encased it. Two wings opened, blood-red feathers spreading far. A golden halo hovered above it, angelic in nature yet this could not be further from the truth. A slit spread across the mass, an eyelid lifting to reveal a crimson eyeball within. It rolled about, looking at all around it. Thorny roots spiked out from the underside from a stub that could have been a tail, whipping about in search of the rest of itself to be complete once more. The body sought the consciousness that now inhabited the native. Zero stepped forward, arms reaching for the remainder of their power. A simple touch was all it took for the former body to merge with the current vessel. It dispersed into Dark Matter and was absorbed by them. Power surged through Zero, familiar and foreign at the same time. Old power mixed with the new. A mortal enhanced. Young and naive, but powerful and skilled. The boy's abilities should prove useful in a pinch.
With everything set in place, all Zero had to do now was wait. With their gaze set to the skies, Zero spoke to the one who could not hear them.
"Even if you come, you will fail. You alone cannot save them. You have proven that. This time, you shall be the one left to rot amongst the stars."