Aurora of Ethereality
After the events of Meteor, Cloud and his friends aim to rebuild Midgar and restore it to a beautiful place free of the oppression of Shinra and the squalid poverty the citizens under the Plate had to deal with. But no one envisaged that what once was dead could ever be alive again. Little did they know that they were soon to be engaged in a battle of many sides; a battle of deception, bloodshed, and revelation. Little did they know that they were once again in the middle of an epic struggle to determine the Planet's fate...
~Chapter 1: Prelude to Fate~
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet
He sought justification for his life on the earth. He wanted to show the world that he was not a mutation, a test subject, a toy to be played with. He threatened the world with his plot, a plot to bring the world to its knees. He craved destruction. He wished to absorb the energy that effused from the Planet. He wanted to become a God. He was Sephiroth. He stood tall, with glorious plans to conquer the world. But he was thwarted. Cloud and his band of friends annihilated him, sending his tattered body deep into the abyss of the Lifestream under the North Crater. Chaos ensued.
Cloud kneeled over the bare patch of earth, working it with his hands to soften it. Next to him was a pack of assorted flower seeds. He worked in the Sector 5 Slums, planting the seeds in the soil with great care and love, as if the flowers would stand as an eternal monument to the deceased Aeris. The flowers in the church still bloomed beautifully, and the flowers at Aeris' house were as beautiful as ever. Cloud poured the seeds into the dirt and shuffled them under the soil. He covered them up with more dirt and padded it into place. He stood up and sighed. Then, he quietly walked away, as if contemplating something deeply.
Sephiroth awoke, and stood up. Looking around, he found himself surrounded by ruins. He ran his hands through his silver hair and sheathed his sword, which was still drawn from the battle he had lost before. He was silent as he slowly climbed up the rocks of the ruined Crater. Blood dripped down the sides of his face, but he wiped it off his face as he ascended. Finally, he reached the top of the ruins. Sephiroth stood high above the North Crater once again, looking upon the world with eyes of fire.
Fate of the Planet...in your hands...
"Huh?" Cloud said, looking around. A strange voice had spoken to him, but he could see no one.
Meet me...in the church...
"What? The church?" said Cloud out loud, mystified. "Who are you? Who is saying that?"
No answer.
Cloud decided to follow the voice's lead, so he walked toward the church and pulled the wooden doors open. He glanced around. The two children who usually occupied the church were unusually absent. The voice beckoned him to sit, and he sat on a pew in the back row, looking to the front of the room intently. Suddenly, a figure appeared from the back of the church. As the figure walked closer, Cloud could make out long wavy hair and a pink dress. Suddenly he discerned who the figure was, and his eyes widened, glowing with the Mako that ran inside of him. He was watching Aeris Gainsborough, last of the Cetra, whom he himself had laid to rest in the City of the Ancients not long before.
The dark one, Sephiroth, began his descent down the side of the Crater. As he glanced into the sky, he saw the looming Meteor was absent. It had been destroyed by the power of Holy. He clenched his fists, and laughed as he walked. Laughed at the irony of the situation, laughed at his own failure, laughed in spite of himself. He glanced slowly at the horizon. His goal was to reach Midgar. His goal was to find Cloud Strife and settle the score with him for leading the group that caused him so much pain. His eyes burned with a flaming inferno, and the wind howled in fear of him. Sephiroth aimed to kill Cloud Strife. And he resolved to let nothing stand in his way.