Chapter 1 - The Trial For Survival

"You're stupid and useless! You can't do anything right!"

"It's over Cloud!"

!~!

A light. No, lights. Green, yellow and blue glimmers, floating in the sky without a care on the world. They wandered around with no real destination in mind. Mindless souls of the dead, looking for a purpose. As his eyes opened they seemed to rejoice and spiral around like energetic toddlers happy to see their parents. But who was he? Cloud?

It was all coming back to Cloud now; Sephiroth, Spira, Jenova, Gaea – everything. Zack, Aerith, AVALANCHE, Yuna they were all injected back into his mind. Cloud's vision was blurry after opening his eyes and all he could see were those green yellow and blue lights as well as a red splotch standing over him.

"So, the hero wakes?" That deep voice, Cloud recognised it. It had been a while since he heard it but he had to make sure. "Auron?" Cloud's voice was croaky when he asked the question, how long had it been since he used his voice? The image his eyes were creating began to focus a little bit more and the face of the red cloaked figure began to gain facial features. It was Auron.

"You've been asleep for some time," Auron informed Cloud, "I thought your mind would never adjust to the realm of the dead when I found you, but it looks like I was wrong." Realm of the dead? That's right, it was all coming back to Cloud now. Jenova had stabbed him in the chest, but if he was in the realm of the dead did that mean…?

"Am I…?" Cloud didn't want to finish his sentence, he couldn't bring himself to ask it. Luckily Auron read him like a book "Dead? That remains to be decided. I'll explain all of it later, right now we need to get you moving again."

Auron was right, when Cloud stood up his movements were stiff and were lacking in fluency, basic movements like walking even bending his arm was a challenge. Something bothered Cloud though, why would it remain to be decided whether he was dead or not?

The two swordsmen made their way to a small hut, however there was no pace about them. Cloud didn't expect the realm of the dead to be so: tranquil. To Cloud it seemed like a field of flowers, Auron had told Cloud that the surroundings would be perceived as the most peaceful place to him, everyone would have their own perception of the realm.

As they moved closer to the hut two more figures could be seen waiting for them, they too were familiar to Cloud. One he had met briefly, the other he had only heard about. "Well you sure took your time!" The first was hotheaded and wore no shirt as well as holding a sword almost as big as Cloud's.

"I was beginning to think I would never meet the man who made Yuna so happy." This one's voice was softer and more soothing. He wore a red robe and a navy head piece, the attire fit his personality well. Cloud was still in a daze but he could remember their names.

"Jecht? Lord Braska?" It seemed as though the pair were pleased that Cloud knew who they were. Braska took him inside where he brewed some sort of herbal remedy. Upon drinking the remedy, Cloud felt his senses coming back quicker, he felt more alert and aware of his surroundings.

The remedy Braska had brewed for Cloud reminded him of hypers, only it tasted ten times worse. He tried to hide the look of disgust which only made Braska laugh. "There's no need to hide it. Everything in the realm of the dead would taste bad to the living."

"So, I'm not dead?" Cloud had still yet to be answered, however it looked like he was finally about to get some information as to what was going on. "After you delivered the final blow to Jenova all of existence was wiped out., it seems like someone with a higher power still has some use for you."

"When the living are sent here they're tested to see whether their lives are worthy enough to be spared." Jecht had continued on from Braska after entering the hut. Cloud knew it was that strange being who had sent him here, the same one he had spoken to in his dreams, the same one Jenova spoke about during their fight.

"There are four tasks layed out for you. The first is the Hall of Illusion, the second is the Forest of Fears, the third is the Valley of Death and the final one is the Champion's Arena," Auron explained to Cloud "if you want to get out of here and back to Spira, then we need that remedy to work it's magic fast. You've been asleep for two years after all."

Two years? Yuna must think that Cloud had broken his promise, that he was dead. Without a doubt Cloud had to get out of here, and fast. "How do I start these tasks?" It hadn't even occurred to Cloud that he didn't have his fusion sword.

"I'll take you where you need to go, the rest will be explained there." Cloud took another big gulp of the remedy as Auron told him about how to start the tasks.

Cloud was surprised by the nature of the tasks. Auron had said that the ruler of the realm of the dead, The Keeper as they called him, had turned the tasks into a form of entertainment for the spirits of the dead that resided here. The ex-guardians and ex-summoner weren't impressed by the lack of decency shown by this 'Keeper'.

To be honest Cloud didn't really care about who was watching him, as long as he got through the tasks he didn't care what anyone thought of him. With the last sip of the remedy Cloud felt revitalised and rejuvenated, though he did still feel a little bit slow.

"Where's my sword?" Cloud couldn't very well jump into these supposedly dangerous tasks without his weapon could he? Jecht went to the corner of the room and held up the fusion sword for Cloud to see. At least he knew he had his own weapon for these tasks.

While Cloud was preparing the tasks were broken down for him. The first would be the Hall of Illusions, next was the Forest of Fears, then the Valley of Death and finally the Champion's Arena. The Hall of Illusions required a lot of thinking he had been told, they also told him to take his time and not to rush anything. For the Forest of Fears they informed Cloud that he would have to face his biggest fear in order to progress. The Valley of Death was for the skilled fighters, there was no magic allowed, no special items, just a single weapon of your choice. For the final task, the Champion's Arena, it was a one on one fight against the strongest warrior in the realm of the dead.

"I've seen him fight a few times and on the rare occasion that a challenger makes it to the Champion's Arena, they haven't lasted to seconds against the 'Crusher'" Jecht seemed uneasy after saying the name of the champion. Cloud was too, he had to have earned a name like the 'Crusher' from some where, right?

"If I beat him and get back to Spira, what will it be like? How will I know where to find Yuna," Cloud's question wasn't answered, "you can't tell me?" Auron nodded after his follow up question. That was annoying, he would just have to wait until he was there.

!~!

Cloud was lead through the fields of flowers that only he could see and towards a long building that had two entrances, 'Spectators' and 'Competitors'. Obviously Cloud made his way to the competitors entrance where he and the old trio stood for a moment.

"This is where we leave you, unfortunately we aren't allowed to enter." Auron explained as they stood by the side of the entrance. "Make sure you concentrate, don't underestimate any of the tasks." Braska continued on. "We'll be in the crowd cheering you on, don't make a fool of yourself out there!" Jecht was already heading towards the line for the spectator entrance. Cloud didn't blame him, that was a long line just to watch a few living spirits try to prove their worth. It must've circled around at least 50 times now.

When they headed to join the ridiculously long line, Cloud was left alone to make his way inside. There weren't many competitors in the lobby. Cloud supposed that you must have to be very special to get into the realm of the dead and be able to compete. Regardless he made his way to the desk.

"I'm here to compete." The assistant seemed to sigh as Cloud approached her. "Give me your name and where you want to go if you earn your freedom." Cloud told her his name and that he wanted to go to Spira before she wrote down the information and handed him a ticket with a number on it. He guessed he was supposed to wait until the number was read out so he took a seat.

After a few minutes of waiting, some doors were burst open and two employees dragged a body out from it, there were cheers of excitement coming from the doors. "Ticket number 317! You're up!" That was Cloud. He slowly stood up and made his way to the desk where another employee was waiting to escort him to the first task.

"Our next challenger is, Cloud Strife! You all know the drill, first up is the Hall of Illusions!" Cloud was met immediately by a booming voice from over head. He could also hear the crowd but he couldn't see it. Anyway, he couldn't let his mind wander.

Cloud drew his sword, which was still equipped with the materia from his fight with Jenova; double cut, deathblow and poison combined with added effect, and looked around. His surroundings were quite strange, a shroud of black mist and an obscure purple flooring. As he made his way along the room, he could hear the faint sound of voices whistling in the air.

"Failure!"

"Pathetic!"

"Weak!"

Cloud's grip tightened. After making it a quarter to the end of the shrouded room small balls of light appeared before him, they came together and formed a familiar looking face. It was Cloud's mother. His jaw dropped and a scowl appeared on his face. We're the tasks really that unforgiving?

"Why did you leave me Cloud? Why didn't you stop Sephiroth from burning down the town? Why?" Cloud found himself unable to respond. Suddenly more balls of light appeared they swirled around the room like a snow storm. His head was starting to ache. Would he really have to face the people of his past?

It had all suddenly clicked into place, Cloud knew what this task was. He had to leave the past in the past, he had to ignore the illusions of his friends and family. Although it was difficult, Cloud walked past his mother and kept going. Rufus, the Turks, Scarlet, Heidegger, he saw almost everyone. Everyone from AVALANCHE were there as well as everyone he had met on Spira. The hardest one to walk past was Yuna.

"Why didn't you keep your promise?" Cloud closed his eyes as he walked through the illusion causing it to separate into the balls of light again. When he reopened his eyes the door to the next task was laid out before him. It was strange, Cloud had expected his geostigma to react extremely badly to those illusions but it hadn't even bothered it. The reason for this was because it wasn't there.

Before Cloud opened the door he rolled up his single sleeve and didn't seeing anything apart from the red ribbon. Maybe the realm of the dead had gotten rid of the disease, after all you can't die in the realm of the dead. Perhaps there was something about this place that prevented disease, Cloud didn't know.

He was confused, that is until it hit him. The remedy that Braska gave him. Had the high summoner just cured Cloud from the incurable disease? There was nothing to hide anymore, Cloud ripped off the sleeve and approached the door to the next task.

Cloud paused for a moment. That was too easy. He took another look around the room and noticed there were many other doors that lead to different places. Suddenly the room shrank and the doors surrounded Cloud, enclosing him into a circle of doors. He was being forced to make a choice. The room shrank again and the doors got closer. So this was the punishment for failure, either you picked the wrong door and something bad would happen to you or the room would crush you alive anyway.

Cloud had little time to think and the doors kept getting closer. He needed to choose a door but what if it was the wrong one? What if he picked a door that lead to his demise? They were getting closer and closer, would Cloud have to put his life in the hands of fate?

"Hold on," Cloud spoke to himself aloud to keep his mind from wandering, "the Hall of Illusions? That's it!" he had discovered the secret. With a smirk on his face he sheathed his sword and folded his arms. The doors got closer and closer until they were only a few inches away from Cloud. When they finally reached Cloud the doors just fazed through him, they were Illusions this entire time.

The dark shroud of mist began to dissipate and the real door revealed itself to Cloud. As he made his way to the door he noticed that the geostigma still wasn't there, maybe that wasn't an illusion after all. Cloud was feeling good and confident which was the right attitude to have right before you were about to enter a place called the 'Forest of Fears'. Cloud wasn't sure what he was going to find in there but he pushed open the door anyway and stepped inside.

"Cloud did well in figuring out the secret to the Hall of Illusions! But! Will he be able to face his fears in the Forest of Fears!?" Again, Cloud heard the voice of the commentator booming over head, the crowd were also yet to be seen.

It didn't occur to Cloud that the Forest of Fears would be an actual forest, a dark and menacing one at that. He took his first few steps and heard some rustling to his left, then his right. A black shadow made it's way in front of Cloud from the floor. It rose up and began to take form, a form of what Cloud could only assume was his greatest fear.

"My name is Cloud, SOLDIER first class." Cloud's eyes were stapled open and his grip was right. The shadow had formed into a version of himself. It was the Cloud of the last who thought he was an ex-SOLDIER, the one that was controlled by Sephiroth.

Imposter Cloud raised the Buster Sword and lunged for the real Cloud. He quickly side stepped to dodge the attack and took out the fusion sword. There was another roar from the crowd, they knew it was going to be interesting. Again the imposter swiped at Cloud who blocked and parried with his own swift attack to the legs. Normally his attack would've swept his opponent off of their feet but this time the fusion sword just went right through the form of his past self and Cloud had to use his quick reactions to block the next attack that came in. If Cloud couldn't hit the damn thing how was he supposed to beat it? It didn't seem fair that it could hit him but he could not hit it.

After a few more blows, that were blocked by Cloud, the shadow seemed to change. The facial features and clothes that it wore were transforming into a familiar looking foe. His silver hair and black attire was unmistakable. Sephiroth. Cloud wasn't surprised, this was the Forest of Fears after all.

"All you are, is an empty puppet." Cloud could've sworn Sephiroth's smirk was the very same one he gave after killing Aerith. He launched a few attacks from the sides at Sephiroth which all went through him, nothing was landing. Suddenly Sephiroth slammed his sword at Cloud who barely stopped his own sword from hitting him in the face due to how powerful the strike was. Two more came in at lightning speed. Cloud blocked the first one but the second one hit him hard.

"Argh!" Cloud was launched a few metres back where he fell flat on his back. The fusion sword had left his side as well, it flew through the air and lodged itself into one of the trees. Cloud was dazed after the ridiculously powerful strike and could barely stand up. After he did manage to get back on his feet it only resulted in him falling back down to his knees. Was this the end? Was Cloud about to fail this task and never see his friends again? No!

As Cloud panted, recovering from the damage done by this shadow of his past, he realised something. He couldn't hit the shadow because he couldn't change the past and the shadow could hit him because the past was able to mentally hurt anyone. This thing was only able to hurt Cloud because he was letting it. That was the solution.

Cloud stood up and looked at 'Sephiroth' right in the eye. As expected he launched himself at Cloud, however when he got only a few inches away from his face, Sephiroth stopped and began to fade away back into a shadow.

That was the purpose of the Forest of Fears. This shadow was able to look into your mind and pluck out your thoughts, if you cleared your mind what would it be able to look at? Nothing. And that's exactly what the shadow transformed into.

Cloud walked straights through the shadow and made his way through the dark forest aligned with grey trees that were close to death, taking the fusion sword out of one of the trees as he did. There was the door right at the end of the forest wedged in between two withered our oak trees that hung sullenly in the depressing dismal forest.

When Cloud opened the door he was enclosed in a tiny square room. There was a small box on the wall to his right for all special items that he had. Grimly he unequipped the materia from his sword and placed all of the remaining potions he had into the box along with the materia. After everything was in there he pushed a button to the side of it which sent his belongings to the end of the room Cloud presumed.

"It's been a while since we had a challenger get to the Valley of Death am I right? Cloud will now have to survive this task with just his weapon alone! Can he make it past the endless wall of fiends?" The voice seemed louder, as did the crowd. Cloud must've been getting closer to the end.

As soon as the door of the square room opened Cloud was immediately met with fiends. Small ones, big ones, they were spread out all across the valley. There was no roof this time either and Cloud could see the Arena where the Crusher was waiting for him.

The first few fiends were simple enough, Cloud cut them down with one swipe each. He noticed that they were getting progressively more difficult as he made his way through the room. It reminded him of the battle arena at the Gold Saucer, only there were no short breaks in between.

Cloud blocked one attack coming from his left then stepped to the side to dodge an attack from the right. By doing so he was able to slash upwards and drag his sword through the back of two fiends. Another attack came in which he dodged by rolling to the side, his counterattack saw the fusion sword slicing through the neck of the fiend.

Now things were getting interesting. Fiends from the Northern Cave and inside of Sin were starting to appear. Two Iron Giants has teamed up to try and take out Cloud. His speed was his advantage here, from his memory the Iron Giants were slow and clunky. He saw the first attack coming from a mile away and managed to get behind the giant before it's attack had even been launched. Cloud slashed the backs of it's legs and followed it up with a downward strike which left one giant remaining. This one's attack came in a bit faster causing Cloud to jump backwards, this actually worked to his advantage. Seeing what most couldn't see, Cloud ran to the sword and stood on top of it. When the giant threw him in the air he prepared his Braver limit break and cut the Iron Giant in half.

An average person would've given in to the fatigue by now, however Cloud had the power of mako on his side and with the geostigma gone due to Braska's remedy he felt stronger and faster than ever before. It was as though the stigma was holding Cloud back from his full potential.

Most of the fiends had been cleared now and only one was left, however it was one of the toughest fiends he had ever faced. It was a red dragon, a fire breathing death machine of destruction. When Cloud was faced by the winged beast, it roared at the sky and neared it's fangs at him. Cloud's eyes widened, he anticipated the dragon's first move and ran as fast as he could. A trail of fire followed him which came from the belly of the beast. He eyed up a large rock in the valley and dived for it. Rolling behind the rock did the trick and the fire hit the back of it which gave Cloud time to breath. After a few seconds the fire stopped, this was his chance. While the dragon was waiting for it's fire to recharge, Cloud ran at the fiend. He had to dodge a few attack that came in by it's claws before stepping back and slashing his sword diagonally upwards to the right. The attack caught the chin of the dragon and left it stunned for a few seconds. Cloud took the opportunity to run to the side of the dragon's head and jump on top of it. After recovering from the stun, the dragon started to struggle and thrash around to try and throw Cloud off, however he had a tight grip on one of it's horns and managed to stay on. Just when it looked like he was about to fall off the fusion sword was rammed into the dragon's right eye, followed by the left. Cloud propelled himself upwards and brought his sword down on the neck of the dragon as he fell to the ground, decapitating it as he did.

Cloud rested his sword on his shoulder as the dragon crumbled to the ground and begin to disperse into pyreflies. There was a big cheer coming from the Champion's Arena in the distance, the crowd must've liked that move. Cloud sighed and made his way to the arena.

Along the way, Cloud started thinking. What would've happened if Genesis had succeeded in taking away Cloud's mako? Would he be here now, fighting for his freedom? Or would he merely be a spectator, unable to compete, unable to fight? It didn't matter now though. All that did matter was getting back to Spira and keeping his promise to Yuna.

Once Cloud got there he noticed the box with his items in there was just outside of the entrance. Before he entered he equipped his materia again and put the only remaining potion in a slot on the side of his ankle.

The arena reminded Cloud of a Roman colosseum with the circular style and high seating plan for the spectators so the competitors couldn't escape. There was a sprinkle of sand all over the floor of the battlefield which made Cloud weary.

"Cloud has made it to the Champion's Arena! His display in the Valley of Death was very impressive was it not? Now, are you all ready to see him face if against our most fierce warrior!? Here he comes: The Crusher!"

As the man in black armour made his way into the arena to meet Cloud in battle, the crowd was going crazy. They both met in the middle of the colosseum and shook hands. The Crusher's grip was tight and for a moment or two they stood still staring at each other, trying to fight for dominance.

"Fight!" It was the commentator who broke their fight for mental dominance and they both returned to their corners. Cloud drew his fusion sword and the Crusher drew a sword just as big as the Buster Sword, perhaps even bigger. Normally Cloud was lunge straight at his enemy but this time he let the Crusher come at him. He didn't know what to expect and didn't want to be caught off guard.

The first attack was heavy, it was hard to over power the Crusher. Cloud rolled to the side and struck downwards, the swing was blocked and Cloud noticed a foot heading straight for his chest. A backwards roll was enough to dodge the kick however the Crusher kept coming and followed up with another heavy blow from above. Cloud raised his sword above his head to block it and their swords locked. It was unbelievable how strong his attacks were, Cloud had fallen to one knee while they locked swords. Again, Cloud rolled backwards to get away from the sword lock. An attack came in from the right then the left. He parried the one on the right and stepped back to dodge the one on the left which presented and opening. Quickly, Cloud swung his sword at the Crusher from the left and got past his defence. Under normal circumstances that would've been the fight over, but the fusion sword was lodged into the black armour of the Crusher.

Cloud eyed a backhand attack coming in and ducked down with his hand still on the hilt of the fusion sword which was still stuck in the armour. He had to take a risk and pull it out. It was very close to being game over for Cloud when he did pull it out as he almost lost his footing, however he managed to stay on his feet. With the power of the Crusher's attacks, Cloud knew he had to take an offensive approach and lunged at his opponent. Many of his attacks were too fast for the Crusher, but that armour kept deflecting the fusion sword. Once again their sword locked and Cloud was ready this time. He did the same thing he did against Jenova. Unexpectedly to the Crusher one of the smaller side blades unclipped from the fusion sword and flew through the air into Cloud's left hand. With the hilt of the side blade he hit the Crusher as hard as he could on the side of the head causing his helmet to fall off, exposing his face and neck.

The Crusher's face was full of scars and one of his eyes were completely white, without a pupil or an iris. He was bald too and bore no facial hair, he looked like your typical soldier. He didn't seem too happy about Cloud knocking his helmet off and lunged at him screaming in rage as he did. The attack came from over head which Cloud blocked, however he had to quickly move his sword down to his legs due to another quick attack coming in from low down.

Their swords were raised and they circled each other around the arena until Cloud threw the small side blade at the Crusher's face which he followed in. Easily the Crusher deflected the side blade but it wasn't so easy for him to quickly block Cloud's follow up. He barely managed to block it however he retaliated with a diagonal downward strike which Cloud dodged by side stepping. The blade got stuck in the ground and Cloud smirked. Taking his opportunity he span the fusion sword around in the air and hit the Crusher's sword with all of his might causing it to shatter into little pieces. With no hesitation Cloud quickly swung his sword at the Crusher's neck and decapitated him.

As the Crusher hit the ground the crowd went silent until the commentator intervened "We have a new champion! Cloud Strife!" after that the crowd were up on their feet and cheering. If there was any doubt that Cloud wasn't favoured by the crowd, it was now crushed.

"Cloud! Cloud! Cloud! Cloud!"

His name could be heard all around the arena, the chanting wouldn't stop. A door opened up at the far side of the colosseum. Cloud could only assume e was meant to go through the doors. Maybe he would have to talk to the Keeper and tell him where Cloud wanted to go. Freedom was his: and he was taking it. No matter what happened he was going to get to Spira, even if he had to fight the Keeper.