Rebirth
By animeshounen
I felt the undying loneliness of the abyss. Falling, falling, the heat was unbearable. What is this? Why am I here? No. I remember. I remember now. The pain, the suffering. Yes. Cloud. Cloud. Cloud! Curse him! He's destroyed me. This is why I'm falling. Cloud. So many questions. So little answers.
"I cannot afford to die!"
~ chapter 1~
I am still falling. I cannot see my own hand in front of my face. I thought I saw a light, but that cannot be. No, wait, that is a light. It's getting bigger and bigger by the second! The brilliant bright light engulfed me. Now, there was nothing but white. Now, I find that ironic because I spent my entire life denying the light. But my life was over now. I find it hard to believe that I have a sense of self after death. Maybe I'm not as dead as I think I am…
The white light was unbearably bright. I could see my ragged clothes and bloodied body. Yet I feel no cold, nor pain. Although I did feel that I was not the only one in this light. That feeling, that tingling of your spine, that was the only feeling.
During this whole time, I had not yet attempted to move. I realized I could, but it was not necessary. Suddenly, I stopped falling. Now I knew that I could not be alone.
"Hello, Sephiroth."
"Who is this?"
"I am not anyone you would know, or come to know."
"Where am I?"
"What, in relation to your world? You are not in your world anymore."
"Am I dead?"
He laughed. Well, I'm not sure even until now if this being was a man.
"Dead? I would certainly think not. More like, dimensionally displaced to give it a rough explanation."
I was disgusted by the lightness of his voice. He couldn't be serious, how am I not dead? I most certainly did not survive. That old fool is playing mind games.
"Old fool, I think not, son. Not that you are my son, it is a figure of speech. Not that you would know humor if it kicked you in the arse. Another figure of speech."
"Who do you think you are, old man? I could kill you in an instant!"
I realized that this man could read my thoughts. He must know everything about me, I thought. So many thoughts running through my head. Maybe I should have died, to save myself the agony of wondering what would happen if I did.
"You really want to die that much? I can arrange that if that's what you want. Unless you would like to hear my offer first."
"…Offer…?"
"Yes. An offer. You must know by now that you devoted your life to evil, unless you call it something else. Anyway, I'm offering to bring you back to your world if you never turn over to evil again."
"I realize now, old man, that evil will never triumph over good. I accept your offer unless there is more to it."
"There is more, my dear Sepphy. I shall give you powers beyond imagination as long as you promise me one thing."
"Yes, old man?"
"You must never take the soul of the living, as good or evil as they may be."
Surely he must be joking, ultimate power does not come without bloodshed!
"I am not joking, son. And by the way, stop calling me Shirley, that's not my name. So, do you take it, or leave it?"
I realized that this decision could affect the rest of my life. I also realized that I really don't have a life. I will do it.
"Ah, yes. Wise decision, Sephiroth. Well, sit back and enjoy the ride. Oh, by the way, when you get into your world again, you might have to change your name to avoid suspicion. I'm thinking something along the lines of a nice magical name, something with three letters in it. Like Xen, well that's three letters, but do what you can."
Xen…a whole new identity. A whole new power. Too many changes, too little time…
"Dear God, do you ever stop thinking?"
~chapter 2~
Aeris woke up in a cold sweat. She had been having this dream for a few days now. She didn't know why she was waking up, because she didn't remember the dream. All she remembered was a man dressed in white and her father. I probably need something that'll make me sleep, she thought. Of course, she could have put herself to sleep if she learned the sleep spell she had been practicing. Who was that man in white? Why is he in my dreams? She remembered that he had a name. Yes, what was that name? Sephri…Sepher….Seifer…Sephrihoth?
~
"Forward men!"
"Yes sir!"
The rumbling of Chocobo feet filled the air. At the back, was Clif, King of the Riders of the Plains. They had been riding for a few days now, they had been trying to reach their kingdom after a great battle in the west. One of the riders from the front turned around and headed towards him. Damn, there must be something wrong. "Umm, sir, I think that you may want to see this, Sir."
He handed me the binoculars and he reluctantly took them. "What the…"
About a mile up, there was a man dressed in a white summoners gown just standing there. I shouted out directions in the language of the Riders. "Ee droydius interius im nooj plethr!" Basically translated, the king and his guards will go ahead. Clif and his most trusted group of about 15 people rode ahead while the other 120 stayed behind.
Clif now could see the man without the binoculars. He hadn't moved from his spot. How could he have gotten here, it is nothing but desert! The beasts and the lack of food would kill you! Yet he was there. Maybe he was a mirage. Wait, no, the other man saw it too. We stopped right in front of him. He still hadn't moved. One of the leading officers rode up to him. "You! State your name!"
"
Xen.""
Why are you here?""I came here."
"Are you carrying any weapons?"
"Yes."
"Do you plan to use them on us?"
"Do you want me to?"
The officer realized that he wasn't going anywhere with this man. He rode off. Clif found something very strange about this man. He seemed very familiar. Xen spoke again. "Who are you?" He was talking to Clif. "I am Clif of the Riders of the Plains."
"State your real name."
My real name? I've spent too much time trying to forget it. He must know me. Who is he?
"What is your real name?"
"Clif."
"Fine. If you do not tell me I will have to kill you."
Kill me? He couldn't. I am much stronger than him. After all, I was the one who destroyed Sephiroth. He couldn't kill me.
"You cannot kill me, Wanderer."
"You are quite right. I cannot."
What is with this guy? There's something so familiar about him, but I can't find it. Maybe if he took off his hood…
"Remove your hood"
He took off his hood, and long purple hair came out of it. Purple hair! Why couldn't I remember him? That hair…surely I could remember someone with that hair color. Unless…no. That's impossible, I killed him 30 years ago!
"S…Se…Sephiroth?"
"Hello. Cloud Strife."
~chapter 3~
Cloud Strife. The cause of all my suffering. Standing here in front of me. How I wish I could killed him. Tasted the blood of him. So close…so close…
"Its been a while, hasn't it, Cloud. Since you killed me. Well, looks like I'm as dead as you think I am." Cloud twitched. I could smell the fear in him. I knew he was staring at a ghost. A ghost of the past. I hope he is scared and he should be. He couldn't even speak.
"Lets go, men, we don't want to waste any more time." Yes. Leave. He is weaker than he was 30 years ago. Not in the aspect of strength, though. He was mentally weaker. Obviously he is denying his past. I laughed. I haven't laughed like that in a long time. I didn't want to say anything to Cloud, I wanted to baste in my own victory. Sephiroth is reborn. The old Sephiroth is gone to make way for the new. There would be nothing that could stop me now. Not even Cloud Strife.
"I am invincible!"
~
"And then it ended." Aeris said in a trembling voice. She had never told her dreams to anybody except now. Probably because she couldn't remember them as vividly as she did now.
"That's a very interesting story, Aeris." Cid said. Cid. He was one of Aeris's best friends. It seemed to her that Cid was the only one she could open up to. Even though he was older than her father. He was more of a father figure to her than her own father, Clif Strife. "Do you know who Sephiroth was, Aeris?" No. She didn't. She wasn't even sure if her father's real name was Clif.
"Are you telling me that Sephiroth is a real person, Cid?"
"Yes. He was a person all right. A very evil person at that. Of course, he wasn't always evil. He was partnered up with your dad for a while when he was in SOLIDER. He betrayed Cloud and destroyed his hometown, Old Nibelhelm. Your father eventually killed him."
"So, it was just a dream, he's not really reborn, is he?"
"The world works in strange ways, Aeris, you can't be too sure about anything these days. Say, do you know why your father named you Aeris?"
She didn't know that either. It seems that she doesn't know a lot of things about her father's past, even though she was turning 18 in a few weeks.
"It looks like I haven't been informed of a lot of things, Cid."
"Your father met a woman named Aeris 30 years ago. At the time, she was a flower merchant in Midgar. She joined Cloud in his attempts to destroy the Shinra Corporation. She was in a love triangle with your father, and a woman named Tifa. Unfortunately, Aeris was killed by Sephiroth, and Cloud vowed revenge."
Wow. There is so much I don't know about my father. Or my mother, for that matter.
"What about my mother? Who was she?"
"Tifa."
This is frustrating. I don't know my mother's name. I'll ask father when he comes back I suppose. Aeris fixed her long brown hair into a ponytail. The hair falling on her head was bothering her.
"You know, Aeris, I can see why your father named you that. You are the spitting image of her."
"You knew Aeris?"
"Of course I did. I fought alongside Cloud faithfully until he started denying his own past. That's why he changed his name. The name Cloud brought him too much pain and sorrow."
When was my father going to tell me this? Why was Cid the one that was telling me all this? She got up from the bed she was sitting on.
"I'm going to wait for my father's return, Cid. Thank you for listening to me."
"Anytime, kid."
She walked down the empty hallway to the front door of the house. She looked down and could see the whole city of New Nibelhelm. She wondered why her father became a member of SOLIDER. She wondered why he now commanded the riders. Still too many questions.
~chapter 4~
It can't be. Sephiroth is not back. It is impossible. Clif could see his town of New Nibelhelm in the distance. The Chocobos kicked up a lot of dust, he thought. And the frequent craps that they have aren't great either. Why did Sephiroth identify himself as Xen? This didn't make any sense at all.
The Riders stabled the Chocobos and Clif headed for his house. When he got there, his daughter, Aeris, was sitting in front of the house. Is there something wrong? The look on her face was fear. I must look like that too. "Hello, Aeris, how are you?" I tried to be as happy as I could, but she wasn't buying it.
"Hello, daddy…"
There is something wrong. I could sense it in her voice.
"Dad, did you meet anyone on the way here?"
She couldn't mean…
"Why yes, actually I did."
"Why didn't you give him your real name?"
She knows. But how? "Aeris, how do you know?"
"I've been having these dreams about a man named Sephiroth. You know him. You destroyed him."
"Who told you this?"
"Cid."
That figures. She can get anything out of that old man. I guess she had to know sometime.
"Why didn't you tell me about Aeris and Tifa?"
She was getting angry at me. I don't blame her. I would have been mad at me too. "How much do you know about my past?"
"More than enough. So, how do you plan on stopping Sephiroth, dad?"
That was a good question. Sephiroth, or Xen, must be destroyed. Clif clutched his necklace hard. He must be after this, he thought. Inside this necklace was the only piece of black materia left. He thought of what would happen if it ever got in the hands of Sephiroth again. He trembled at the thought.
"Father, are you all right?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. Come inside, Aeris, it's getting cold."
The warmth of the fire was comforting after many days of travel. Cid was talking to Aeris again. It seems all she can talk to is Cid now. She must not have known how he was back when I knew him. He smiled. Always ranting and raving, swearing, fighting. He has settled down quite a bit since then. So have I, I suppose. He saw his reflection in a mirror across the room. His hair was still the same as ever. If there was one thing he liked about himself, it was his hair. He was growing stubble, which he found a nuisance. The light of the fire reflected on something near him. He turned toward it and saw his sword hanging on the wall. I didn't put that up there, it must have been Cid. He examined it for a while. He couldn't believe that he used to fight with something so enormous.
He looked under his sword. At that exact moment, he could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. Right under it, lay Sephiroth's Masamune Blade. This couldn't be a coincidence, I don't ever recall having that. And I would remember having something like that, considering that it was over seven feet long and red. Wait, it wasn't red. That was the fire reflection dripping…dripping? Was that…
Clif stood up and walked over to the sword. He touched the long, slender blade. It was wet. Wet with blood. It was blood pouring from the sword. Blood all over the walls. Blood everywhere. Clif passed out.
~chapter 5~
Old Nibelhelm. My home. Sephiroth walked toward the Shinra Mansion, which he spent much time in his past life. He groaned. It had been turned into a tourist attraction. Maybe they haven't discovered the secret basement. He entered the mansion and to his surprise, found that the library was still intact. Excellent. It was just how he remembered it. Well, well, well, what do we have here? That voice! The old man! But this time he is in my head. Wonderful. Um, you are gonna have to change your name again. They already know who you are. Good. I hated the name Xen anyway. A name came into his head. Vincent. Yes, I remember him. Hmm, Vincent is okay I guess. I don't even see why it is necessary to change my name. So no one knows who you are. Anyway, "Vincent", I have another offer for you. I will let you kill again. Is he joking? Is he even real? Maybe I'm imagining this. Heavens, no. I am most certainly not imaginary. You can kill again but only if you become the "good guy". Ugh…a catch. I suppose I could try it. Well I hope you like wearing white. Cause you are gonna have to. Goodbye, Vincent. Wait! Before you go, what is your name? Silence. Damn. He got away.
It just occurred to him that since he was resurrected, he had become more soft. Not coldhearted like he used to be. This might take some getting used to.
~
I must leave here. I must get out. I ran quickly out of the chamber and was quickly met by guards at the gate. "Stay close, Aeris, I don't want to lose you."
One of the guards pulled out katanas. They glistened in the moonlight from the hole in the ceiling. He came at me and struck. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough for my blade. He was dead before he even felt the sword on his body. One guard with an eye patch had a sword, too. He started running toward the alarm. That wasn't going to happen. I pointed my hand in his direction, palm facing him. Graviga was a particularly hard spell. I'm too strong for it to bother me. The spell lifted him off of the ground. My hand closed and his body convulsed and ripped into pieces. The mere sight of that made the remaining guards run away in fear. I smiled. "Cowards."
"Umm, Vincent, you did tear that guy into pieces. If I was them, I would run, too."
Maybe she was right. "But if you were them, then they would be you, and I'd rip you into pieces." Aeris obviously didn't understand my logic, or just didn't care.
I think instead of going outside, we were in fact, going farther in. We approached an ominous looking door. It looked out of place for where we were.
"Should we go in there, Vincent?"
"Yes, lets go," I said reluctantly. "We have nothing left to lose."
The door was very heavy, like it was made to protect something. This obviously worried Aeris by the look on her face. Maybe she was worried because I probably look scared, too. We entered the room very slowly. By the echo of our footsteps it seemed like an extremely large place. I drew my sword, just in case. But it didn't matter. As soon as I saw what was in that room, I dropped it.
~
It is impossible.
Aeris ran down the hallway to her father's room. The door was still open, which was unlike him, he always liked privacy. She ran into the room but he was not sleeping. He was on the floor, passed out. "Oh, God." What happened? He was holding something to his neck, and there was blood on his hands. She removed his cold hands from what he was holding and saw that it was his necklace. The one with the black stone in it. Come on, he has to wake up, I have to tell him about my dream. What happened here? Every time questions are answered, more came up. Too many…