Sender: Cloud Strife
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive Dream Recording
Warnings: Death, human experimentation, deteriorating mental state

[ooc: Accompaniment music, if you so choose.]

Darkness surrounds you, as a dull pain throbs at the back of your skull. It pulsates over and over, and you can't help but squeeze your eyes shut even further. You're thankful for the silence, certain that noise would only further aggravate the pain

But that relief is short-lived as the quiet is quickly broken by screams of one, two—no, at least a dozen voices. Your eyes finally snap open.

The village is on fire, blistering as the smoke grows from the structures surrounding you where you stand. Before you stands a small, single-story home. You recognize it as your childhood home just as a sickening noise pierces through the air, accompanied by the shrill, terrified scream of a female voice within. The building lurches as a beam falls, sending smoke and cinders out the door. You take a step forward, but you can't bring yourself to know the truth.

From the corner of your eye, you see a glint of silver between the licks of fire. A single word falls from your lips. A name.

"Sephiroth."

Your legs begin moving before you take off toward where you need to go.

---

The adrenaline travels within you as you blink the sweat out of your eyes, trying to catch your breath. Sephiroth stands before you, muttering under his breath that she—that Jenova—is the true ruler of the Planet.

You unsheath your blade, large and unwieldy, grasping the hilt tightly in your hands. Though your arm shakes in despair, in anger, in mourning, your will and thirst for revenge is unwavering.

All you can see is Sephiroth, your gaze meeting his piercing green eyes, as your body moves by its own will with the intent of cutting the man down.

The world around you is silent and darkness takes you.

---


The light is blinding and you find yourself unable to fully open your eyes as you are left in a daze. The world swims around you.

But you feel it, the pain from your sides and cold metal against your back. A shiver makes its way down your spine.

There's a prick on the inside of your elbow and you move your arm, only for it to be held down against the cold surface beneath you.

You hear a mumble, a conversation between two people, but you are too out of it, unable to make out the words.

Then you feel something press against your skin, sharp as it begins to cut you open. Your mouth opens, letting out a scream before you pass out.

---

You wake and you find yourself surrounded in a sea of green.

Reaching out does nothing, and for a long time, there is nothingness.

Finally, you feel something solid, your fingertips padding against it yet somehow you only see more of the same. Suddenly a pair of eyes snap open and you withdraw your hand in shock.

The eyes continue to stare directly at you, its green irises piercing and menacing, a sickening glow surrounding its cat-like pupils pulsating. It doesn't come to you at first, at least not immediately, but as you stare back you feel your mouth go bone-dry.

Bone-chilling screams, the crackling of wood and fire, the bodies falling onto the ground. The memories come back to you in an instant. You let out a scream but no sound is heard. Instead, bubbles burst from your mouth, clouding your vision as you thrash within the green liquid surrounding you.

You gasp and the liquid fills your lungs. With arms and legs flailing, you twist and turn, trying to find some kind of escape to no avail. Whispers of those who perished claw at the edges of your mind. They take hold, their grips cold and vice-like. You know in your heart they have no intention of letting go.

All the while, those cat-like, green eyes stare back at you, mockingly reminding you of your failure.

You are trapped.

Drowning.

Helpless.

The only thing that accompanies you are the bubbles reminding you of your futile attempts and the sound of Sephiroth's maniacal laughter in your ears.

The world begins to fade, as darkness swallows you once more.

Cloud wakes, the shirt he wears damp in a cold sweat. His breath is uneven and he cradles his head between his hands, his head throbbing in the worst headache he's had in a while.

"What the hell was that…?"