Chapter 1

The sun rose over the northern continent, making the white snow upon the ground nearly blinding to look at. Though the temperature stayed the same, the morning cold had a sharp bite to it, which would make anyone think twice about venturing out in the snow wasteland... well almost anyone. A young woman could be seen trudging through the snow, heading north further into the continent's heart...the crater. She was far away from the crater with maybe three miles still to go, but she trudged on through the deep snow. The summer's warmth had not reached this place nor would it. Her breath plumed out between her pale lips like smoke. Though the determined look set in her pale emerald eyes showed none of her discomfort; her shaking limbs and winter burned cheeks told it all. Her leather full length coat groaned as she crossed her arms tightly to her. The snow nearly went above her thigh high boots that were covered in straps, clasps, and garters holding them up so that the gap between the black outfit hidden beneath the coat and her boots was a mere three inches. The small bit of pale skin on her thighs and face were all to be seen in the mass of black clothing and her long crimson hair whipping behind her in the wind. Nothing but the same empty landscape stretched before her eyes. To avoid thinking of the freezing snow; her mind began to wander.

She stood at the top of mount Nibel, watching to the north, as a bright light exploded from what she could sense was the crater. Her eyes reflected the bright light, as her eyes became glossy, tearing up...knowing what that meant. It meant Cloud had won...beaten down Sephiroth, and though everyone else in the world that saw that magnificent spectacle was joyous, she could not find even a smile inside of her. Her head turned quickly when Meteor rushed through the atmosphere and stopped, hovering over Midgar. She stood there in "aw" at the terrifying display. It twirled around in a massive circle over the largest city on the planet, causing tornadoes and strong winds to rip the whole city apart. Not too long after the gigantic bringer of Sephiroth's furry showed up, the ground around her in several different spots started to glow a vibrant mako green.

"What the hell?" She slowly backed up against the rock wall, watching streams of mako come out of the ground, and it did not take her long to know what it was, "life stream..."

It went up, spiraling around itself as it continued its way up into the air. The confused woman looked around from her top view of the landscape all around her, and her eyes widen, seeing this phenomenon happening all over the planet. Green lights shined up the night sky everywhere she looked then suddenly all at once they headed in the direction of the Meteor. Her teachings from Red's grandpa had helped her now to understand what was happening. "The planet is trying to save itself..." as she stood there, one of the life stream waves went right through her. She could look down and see the green glow coming out of her mid-section of her body, and it left a warm feeling that felt like she had just laid into a hot steaming bath that spread throughout her entire self. Her eyes closed slowly and as she did; she saw Aeris's face smiling at her, and she knew that the life stream flowing through her was Aeris's. Her smile was almost mischievous in the way she looked right at her, but then she was gone. Her eyes opened quickly to see the life stream had passed through her now, but the warm sensation stayed. While she was in a daze about what just happened the sky grew brighter full of green.

She moved her red hair out of her face then her eyes widened to see the wonderful sight, all the life streams were spiraling around the Meteor, then suddenly a flash of light so bright she was forced to close her eyes.

Her eyes focused back on the reality of the snow wasteland she was trudging through. Now her body was filled once again with that calming warmth, and with it her determination grew. Her pace quickened as much as it could without risking tripping over the powdery snow. An unknown amount of time passed till something urged her to look into the painful horizon. In the distance she could see the crater's broken and uneven rim.

As the time passed and the rim grew nearer and nearer; she was consumed with mixed feelings of anticipation, dread, affection, stubbornness, and anger. There hadn't been a moment that passed on her journey that she didn't second guess this decision. The doubt in her mind was swept away as her black boot stepped on the rocky rim of the crater that was barely coated in snow. The collapsed crater looked nothing like the stories brought back by the eight heroes. Snow, rock, and dirt had nearly wiped the crater from the landscape. Only the rocky rim that stood ten feet or so from the debris below told her that this was indeed what she had been seeking. At once her heart sank with the realization that this expedition might be for nothing. She gave an annoyed sigh before leaping down into the filled chasm. Her cloak like coat billowed around her in her decent, exposing a weapon with a crescent blade on her right hip. She landed with grace on one knee. She stayed in this position as she scanned the area closely before rising. Snow covered much of the area, but she could sense mako energy near. Her eyes glowed ever brighter with the sensation. She knew that within the crater's bottom there had been a pool of mako, but this was nearer.

Wind howled over the rim as she walked silently along. The more she walked; the surer she was that she was getting closer. A few drawn out minutes had gone by till suddenly a loud crack sounded out into the air; the sound of glass breaking. She rose the foot she'd just put down to see bits of green mixed in with the snow. With haste she crouched down and began wiping the snow away. The near paper thin sheet of hardened mako expanded till she could see the Masamune's blade within. Her pace only quickened as she continued to clear off and dig the snow away. A mournful smile graced her face as her eyes looked down into Sephiroth's face through the hardened mako. This woman sat there as time slowly went by staring down at him. Her voice finally cut into the emptiness of the snowy wasteland.

"Damn you, Sephiroth." Her gloved hand ran over the mako, almost caressing it. As her eyes started to shine with unshed tears; her face hardened with painful determination. In the same instance she removed her gloves and threw them to the side. "Maybe now I will be worthy in your eyes." Her pupils started to spark with electricity as her auburn locks started to float with a static charge. She was up on her feet as she glared down upon this man. Without another moment's hesitation lightning exploded forth from her hand and hit the mako surrounding him. A burned mark etched into the center of the casing as electricity jumped about within over Sephiroth.

As she started to reach down to feel, a violent explosion of green shards and energy blew her back. It had caught her off guard as she flew back ten feet. With the wind knocked out of her; she laid there in the snow grunting and gasping. Through her closed eyelids she could sense a darkness falling over her. All she managed to do before being ripped off the ground was open her eyes. Mako colored eyes stared at her from inches away. Her hands were instinctively up, grabbing his as she tried to pull herself up from his grip on her coat. Sephiroth's eyes glared upon her with pure hatred for a blink in time till he suddenly dropped her like he had been burnt. He looked down at her with an unreadable expression as she finally took a breath and stood up.

"Jazzi…" Sephiroth looked upon the woman he knew from a different life it seemed. How could this creature emitting power before him be the same simple woman he had encountered so long ago? His mind was flooded with images and memories of Jazzi Strife, the older sister of Cloud. Nibelheim… the mission to Mount Nibel. The few nights he stayed in the small town before going up the mountain had been spent with her. She had been a… talented woman. Though he had had many women in his bed before; he remembered her in vivid detail.

As he looked upon her now he noticed her fire colored hair was longer, her ever present smile was wiped away, and her eyes… Her eyes were paler. The color of mako now than the jungle green they had once been. Were the power came from was now obvious, but how she obtained it was not.

Jazzi had recited what she'd say to this man for many years, but now she stood staring up at him lost for words. The two stared upon each other for a minute that stretched eternity. Her heart was hammering in her chest till she couldn't take the silence any longer. "Well at least you remember me."

"I remember an ordinary woman with no power not the creature before me." Sephiroth turned to watch Jazzi as she looked upon the casing he had been encased in… or what was left of it. "What did you do?"

Jazzi smirked bitterly as she glanced back up at him. "Time changes us all, Sephiroth. I am not about to tell you just how much."

He glared at her. She had been a quick witted woman before, and he had even enjoyed it at the time. Now he was less than amused. "Why are you here?"

She ran her hand through her hair as she sighed. "I would assume that answer is very obvious. You're welcome by the way." Jazzi took a step closer to him. "I see you have changed very little if at all."

Sephiroth had her by the neck and off the ground in an instant. "Woman! A god does not thank an ant! He chooses not to crush it!"

Jazzi's eyes sparked with her energy as she glared at him defiantly. "I am no longer an ant!" With a quickness rivaling Sephiroth's; Jazzi brought a leg up, delivering a round house kick to his head. She carried the momentum and brought her body in the spin up and over his arm. His grip failed as he staggered back for a moment. Jazzi charged him, throwing him back onto the ground and sliding as she rode on top of him. She punched him on the same side of his face, sparks flying as her fist made contact. The blinding flash of metal in the sun hit her left side peripheral vision. Jazzi ground rolled to the right without hesitation, but her coat was slashed on her upper arm with crimson blood starting to drip down.

Sephiroth was standing once more, looking at Jazzi like he hadn't
seen her before. "What did you do to yourself?" He touched the side
of his mouth that she had hit, coming away with a small amount of
blood. Not only did she now have power… it seemed she knew how to use
it.
Jazzi gave a bitter laugh as she stood up. "What, don't you like
it? Have I not earned your respect now? Was it not you who told me
and showed me how weak and pathetic I was? Or do you not remember?"
Her eyes wavered with unshed tears that Jazzi refused to shed. Weak
people cried.
Sephiroth did remember the last words spoken between them. He had
buried himself in book after book in the ShinRa mansion's library.
Jazzi had come in to see him after a couple days. She had tried to
console him and even pleasure him, but he would have none of it. In
fact he pushed her away from him in a violent rage. A simple push
from him was powerful enough to throw Jazzi into the bookcase lined
wall on the other side of the room. After a moment she managed to
pick herself up though a bit wobbly. She held a hand to her ribs as
she tried to breathe.

He looked upon the woman with disgust. "Look at yourself. You're
pathetic and weak. All you know to do is to latch onto a stronger
person. I could destroy you with little more than a thought. Your
whole race is pathetic and a waste of life! Get out of my sight!"

Jazzi's eyes widened with terror as he flung his arm across the desk,
sending several books flying at her. She ran out of the library
crying. As Sephiroth looked into Jazzi's determined face now with the
artic winds blowing her hair about; he could see very little
resemblance to the sad shell of a woman from Nibelheim. "How did you
do it?"

Her eyes had cleared without shedding a tear; the picture of
self-control. She looked upon him for a silent moment before shaking
her head. "I'm not telling you." Jazzi turned to walk away from him.
She was down in the snow before she could react with Sephiroth on top
of her pinning her down. With a rage filled scream Jazzi leaned in to
head-butt him, but Sephiroth stiff-armed just below the throat in
between her collar bones. Jazzi glared up at him with a look of
malice cursing herself for being a fool. He had her arms pinned to
the sides of her body beneath his powerful legs. A devilish smirk
started to bloom on her face as her eyes vividly sparked. Suddenly
her body was glowing as lightning shot into Sephiroth from wherever
his body touched hers. Currents of electricity could be seen jump and
dance between here and there. Sephiroth gritted his teeth as he
grabbed her shoulders in a painful grip. Jazzi saw his hands were
immersed in fire as the flames got bigger and licked the air near her
face. The fire began to spread over him and her where they touched
while blue streaks of electricity continued to dance. She let out a
scream, feeling the heat start to sear. Sephiroth was gritting his
teeth to the point he might crack them. Between his teeth he spoke,
"We'll kill each other at this rate."

Jazzi was making mewling sounds in her attempts to not scream
further. Knowing he was right and that he'd outlast her made her
snarl at him. "I injected myself with Jenova's blood!" In an
instant the fire ceased and Sephiroth was sitting in the snow a few
feet away from her. Jazzi let her head fall back into the snow as she
concentrated on the blessed coolness of the melted snow beneath her.
Both were still in silence as their wounds began to knit themselves
back to their former perfection.

Sephiroth smirked at Jazzi as she lied there. "Ah, yes… now the pieces fall into place. Was that truly your intention, or did you run there looking for me?" He stood up as smoke stopped rolling off him in plumes.

"Oh you're so damn smart. Aren't you?" Jazzi opened her eyes to the feeling of cold steel against her throat. A large smile spread onto her face as she looked up into her former lover's face. "You aren't going to kill me.

His eyes flicked to the weapon on her hip before glaring into her grinning face. "Why didn't you draw your weapon on me?"

Her smile wilted to a small smirk. "Because I won't kill you either." Jazzi watched emotions play across Sephiroth's face with the Masamune still to her throat.

A realization slowly crept into Sephiroth's mind that she was right. He either couldn't or wouldn't kill her. His eyes glared down at her with contempt that he couldn't prove her wrong. He applied pressure to her neck till blood began to trickle down. With an audible sound of annoyance he withdrew the Masamune from her throat. He tried to ignore her look of satisfaction.

Jazzi sat up with one hand touching her neck. She looked down at the blood on her fingers with a smirk of satisfaction. As she stood up, Sephiroth started walking off. "Hey where are you going?"

"Away. Don't follow me." He could sense her drawing closer to him without hearing or seeing it. "The next time I see you… I will kill you, Jazzi Strife. You broke my prison's bars, and I chose not to kill you. We're even."

"You know where to find me, Sephiroth!" Jazzi watched him fly into the air to the south. "I'll be waiting!" The sky was beginning to turn shades of pink as the sun neared the horizon. Her hair was wet and she could feel the temperature had dropped some already. "Shit…" She began walking south, leapt over the ten foot rim of the crater, and trudged her way back home. For a moment she thought about using her superb speed, but like before she figured the snow would trip her up. When you could move fast enough to run on water; a trip could be deadly.

Sephiroth watched Jazzi once he was in the air till she became nothing but a black spec in a sea of white. A moment of hesitation passed before he flew off into the darkening horizon.

In the dark of night, Jazzi made it to the small harbor town on the southern edge of the northern continent. The snow reflected the moon's rays to make the night as bright as if there was a full moon. It took only moments upon entering the village to notice the snow was stained and splattered with blood. Corpses of all the dead people lied in the streets. At first she stopped to take in the terrifying scene. Jazzi knew that she had killed these people just assuredly as if she'd cut them down herself. Blood soaked slush splatted her boots as she silently walked through the grisly sight. No fires blazed, no screaming could be heard, and the stench of panic and fear was absent. Jazzi herself was eerily calm walking amongst the gore. She knew it should have bothered her, but it didn't. No… quite the opposite. It excited and thrilled her. The Jenova DNA inside her not only affected her physically, but mentally. Jazzi stopped at the edge of the docks with a sadistic smile. Without a look back or a second thought; she leapt into the air. She barely touched the water's surface before speeding across the ocean's waters. Jet streams arched behind to either side of her as she moved with the speed Jenova's cells had bestowed upon her.