Shards of Memory

"Terra: "You want answers, I can't agree with you more. All I'm saying is that, maybe we can help each other.""

Shards of Memory is a Final Fantasy fanfiction written by Drake Clawfang. Set in the world of Dissidia Final Fantasy, the core of the story is that it follows Terra and Cloud on their quests for their Crystals. While they travel together and come to trust each other, the various Warriors of Chaos are still plotting against their respective heroic counterparts, Sephiroth and Kefka being those chosen to oppose Cloud and Terra. Thus Cloud deals with nightly Mind Rape courtesy of Sephiroth inflicting Laser-Guided Amnesia on him in his sleep to erase his memories of Aerith, with the ultimate intent of seizing control of Cloud's mind. Meanwhile Kefka uses his Crystal to play havoc with Terra's control over her powers. As a result the two are forced to confront their Dark And Troubled Pasts, which they keep hidden from the other. This only causes problems down the road as Sephiroth and Kefka try to turn them against each other.

Besides the titular protagonists and their rivals, the story also focuses heavily on Golbez, Jecht, and Emperor Mateus, the latter It's also a Pragmatic Adaptation--the timeline and events are redone, the backstories for the Crystals, Chaos, and the Warrior of Light are completely different, and several new concepts that have no basis for the actual canon are introduced. While it is intended as a shipping fic, there's not as much romance as good friendship between Cloud and Terra, though deeper feelings are hinted at and remarked on by other characters.

At over 275,000 words and 40 chapters with an epilogue, the story is completed and is currently the longest Dissidia fanfiction on Fanfiction.net. Can be read here.

""Cloud and Sephy need some alone time to work out their issues.""
 * Anti-Villain: Golbez and Jecht.
 * Arc Words: Every chapter begins with a historical quote relevant to the events about to unfold.
 * The Atoner:
 * Back from the Dead: All the villains were dead in their respective worlds before Chaos revived them prior to the story's events.
 * Later invoked by
 * And then by
 * Battle Couple: Cloud and Terra, eventually.
 * Berserk Button: Kefka loses it when someone actually manages to hurt him.
 * : Chapter 19.
 * Bigger Bad: Shinryu is foreshadowed as such..
 * Bloodless Carnage: Gradually subverted. Earlier battles use minimal blood, but the characters began getting more and more battered as time went on. The battles Sephiroth is involved in are particularly brutal for Cloud.
 * Brought Down to Normal: loses  powers in Chapter 25.
 * The Cameo: Numerous other characters appear in flashbacks or are mentioned in passing.
 * is mentioned as Hikari's predecessor as the leader of the heroes in Chapter 33.
 * appears to Terra in a vision in Chapter 30, though Terra doesn't know who it is.
 * appear as former Champions of Light in Chapter 39, though unnamed.
 * Character Development
 * Cloud: Heartbroken Badass-->The Determinator
 * Terra: Shrinking Violet-->Plucky Girl
 * Character Rerailment: In-universe. In earlier chapters Mateus was loud and pompous, and was regarded as a joke by the other villains for trying to order them around. After English footage of him was released, he was tweaked to be more in-line with the Smug Snake personality seen in the game, and his earlier characterization was given a Hand Wave as an act to Golbez's role and characterization also began to shift around the same point.
 * Chekhov's Gun: It's mentioned early on that Cloud has Fire, Cure and Lightning Materia. The latter two don't come into use until Chapter 21.
 * Chekhov's Skill: See under Combination Attack.
 * The Chessmaster: Golbez and
 * Combination Attack: Terra and Cloud combine their Holy Combo-Ultima and Omnislash Version 5 to defeat . The same attack is later upgraded with Cloud's fusion swords to take down.
 * Counterpart Comparison: In-universe. A major part in Cloud's character arc in the first part of the story is his confusion over recognizing Terra due to her similarities to Aerith.
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: In Chapter 28
 * Deadpan Snarker: Sephiroth slips into this on occasion when Kefka is the topic of discussion. Cloud and Terra get their turns too.
 * Dramatic Irony: It's revealed the reason Sephiroth's spirit can survive dissolution in death is because through the Sephiroth cells in Cloud, a part of his original body is still alive..
 * Dropped a Bridge on Him: The fic opens with news of Exdeath's death, and Ultimecia is already dead. The deaths of occur unseen and are announced to the other villains after the fact.
 * Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Subverted with The Emperor and the Warrior of Light, who are called Mateus and Hikari, though their official titles are still used frequently. Played straight with Onion Knight--Terra mentions he has a proper name, but he hasn't told anyone.
 * Face Death with Dignity:.
 * Fate Worse Than Death:.
 * Fighting Your Friend:
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning:
 * Foe Yay/Ho Yay: Lampshaded by Kefka.
 * Fighting Your Friend:
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning:
 * Foe Yay/Ho Yay: Lampshaded by Kefka.

"Sephiroth: "So that's it. You want me to be your attack dog to leash in a stray. I've other matters to concern myself with. Find another to be your hound.""
 * Foreshadowing: Chapter 27 is titled "Descend Heartless Angel", and the Arc Words are a translation of the Ominous Latin Chanting in Sephiroth's theme. You know, One-Winged Angel...
 * : Golbez and Jecht
 * He's Back:
 * "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Terra to
 * Killed Off for Real:
 * And then later,.
 * Lampshade Hanging: Cloud and Terra both demonstrate some degree of Genre Savviness with regards to their quests and their archenemies. Cloud for example is completely unsurprised when
 * Light'Em Up:
 * Magic Knight: Terra prefers her magic but uses her sword on occasion..
 * Mythology Gag: In the spirit of the source game, numerous Final Fantasy references are dropped, some more subtle than others. Many are to Dissidia itself, such as various attacks used in fight scenes being based on attacks in the game, there snippets of dialogue are taken from the rest of the series, and many locations, though not directly named, are based on some location from a Final Fantasy game. Various other franchises get nods too.
 * In Chapter 9, Terra remarks "There's so many worlds...and they all share the same sky...". Chapter 25 is called "A World Without Light" after Marluxia's attack call.
 * In Chapter 6, Kefka asks Kuja "Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
 * An unintentional one that came full circle, the Manikins are called "Crystelle", since they hadn't been given an English name yet when the story started. Crystelle is the name of a Crystal-like enemy encountered in the depths of the Interdimensional Rift in Final Fantasy V. Then came Dissidia 012, and look at the origin story they created for the Manikins.
 * No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: issues one to Cloud and Terra after
 * Not So Different: says such about him and Terra. A major part of the earlier chapters is Terra and Cloud thinking the other has experienced similar hardships to theirs.
 * One-Winged Angel: It's Final Fantasy, after all.
 * Sephiroth sprouts his black wing before all his battles,
 * Kefka shifts into his God Form for the final moments of his battle with Terra.
 * for the battle with at the end of Chapter 31.  invokes this for himself in the next chapter.
 * Chaos.
 * Out of the Inferno:
 * Plot Tumor: Golbez wasn't intended to have such a large role in earlier chapters, which were written shortly after the Japanese release of the original game. Then English translations of the story began to come forward, and
 * Power Floats: Terra begins to fly on a regular basis as she becomes more confident in her control of her powers.
 * Precision F-Strike: Kefka specializes in them.
 * Purple Prose: Kuja, though Mateus, Sephiroth and Golbez slip into it occasionally.
 * Purple Prose: Kuja, though Mateus, Sephiroth and Golbez slip into it occasionally.

""Your delusions of victory will be shattered, and the shards of memory crumbling around you shall be the only fragments left of your final fantasy.""
 * Say My Name: Used profusely.
 * Scenery Gorn: The sight of Kefka's Tower and the area surrounding it are given a more detailed description of just how bad the World of Ruin really was compared to the World of Balance.
 * Sealed Evil in a Can:.
 * Shoo Out the Clowns: Aside from the occasional one-liner, a lot of the comic relief in the story ended once.
 * Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate: Discussed, some characters believe in destiny, others don't.
 * Taking You with Me:
 * Take Up My Sword:
 * Title Drop: "Shards of memory" is used several times. Pulled double-time by Sephiroth in Chapter 21.


 * Took a Level in Badass: Terra after, and Cloud after
 * Villainous Breakdown: Mateus doesn't take it well when
 * Kefka at the climax of his battle with Terra goes outright berserk.
 * Sephiroth gets his turn when.
 * What Could Have Been: In-universe, Terra tells Cloud that
 * Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him: Cloud lampshades Sephiroth's tendency to not finish him off whenever he has the chance during their many battles.
 * World of Cardboard Speech: Terra delivers one in Chapter 21 to Kefka. However, he's expecting one, so she combines it with Shut UP, Hannibal to explain her revelations about him too.
 * Worthy Opponent: Sephiroth admits Cloud is one in Chapter 38.
 * Wrecked Weapon: Cloud caps off the battle with Sephiroth by slicing through and shattering the Masamune.
 * You Have Failed Me.../You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
 * You Shall Not Pass: in Chapter 38.