Disclaimer: I hereby disavow any intent to profit, gain, or otherwise benefit from this written piece of fan fiction based on the highly acclaimed works of Square Enix and all its partners in the world of final fantasy seven.
Prolog: Reunion
Death was not the peaceful place he came too. Screams of pain filled into his heart as he sank deeper and deeper into the burning blackness. It was almost too much to bear until something twisted, arching against the cloying darkness in twisted green. It hissed and spat at the blackness that tried to rend him apart. A deathly chill twisted to life in the young man's stomach as arms wrapped tightly around him.
"Re... uni... on." it whispered. "My... re... uni... on. My... chi... ld."
It's hold shifted until he was staring up into the glowing red eyes of the Calamity. Blue eyes widened as it smiled at him with fangs peeking out from under its lips.
"Fenrir." it whispered harshly. "My... last... leg... acy."
"Avenge me." it laughed. "Take... my... place."
(Break)
The explosion rocked the foundations of Midgar late one night as Mako Reactor One went up in flames. The flash was intense and quick, leaving behind only a smoldering pile of rubble as infantry, Soldier, and Turks alike mobilized to isolate the threat. A small party of three stood out like a beacon as the military descended on them.
At the approach of the three primary commanders, the three men who attacked Reactor One drew themselves up to their full height. The man at their center was smaller than any of them, his blond hair catching the flames behind him in a macabre dance. Held easily in his right hand was a massive weapon, nearly the same height as the Buster Sword and likely just as heavy. A muffled sound whispered out his companion Angeal as the second person raised his head to stare him down.
Zack Fair stood easily at the side of the blond and their dark-haired companion, who upon their arrival had tossed back his coat to show a firearm and a lethal claw. Hands shifted as the three commanders grasped their weapons. Reaching up over his shoulder, Zack drew an exact replica to his mentor's weapon and held it before him in a silent prayer.
"Perhaps, this can be settled on even ground." An empty voice offered, his hand removing his gun in one smooth motion as Genesis drew up even with him. There was no doubt the small blond standing with ease between the two men was their 'leader' as much as Sephiroth was the General of SOLDIER.
"What do you mean by that? You just blew up a reactor." A man shouted from behind them.
Blue filled mako eyes locked on Sephiroth as the man held a hand out to silence the trooper. "Are you the ones responsible for…" Sephiroth fell silent as a familiar dark-haired form darted up front and came to a stumbling halt just between himself and Angeal. Green eyes narrowed as he took in the young face of Angeal's puppy before darting back to the other dark-haired SOLDIER.
"Who are you?"
"The future." The blond finally answered him. "We are the calamity, chaos, and discord. Icons of your destruction."
(Break)
"You want to rise above others, Genesis Rhapsodos." Vincent Valentine, the avatar to Chaos addressed the red-coated man. "You bring madness and thankless sacrifice to the lives of your men. Even going so far as to re-create the innocent into your own image without regard to their families, their loved ones, or even their freedom."
Genesis raised a brow as his sword raised before him to challenge the lithe man who challenged him. "You are certainly one to speak of sacrifice, stranger. Perhaps I shall offer thee to the Goddess?"
A thinning of his lips brought the two men into guarded positions. "By what right do you have to call upon the True Mother, scum?"
It was all that needed to be said between these two men as Genesis reciprocated the insult with a shout and a speeding dash across the battlefield. Even as he rose into the air to challenge the man, the dark-haired male followed him. Like a beacon of darkness, the stranger rose after the dark winged man with gleaming golden eyes, lengthy claws, and a shell of armor protecting him from a burst of fire.
Gasping, Genesis swooped away from the demon that Valentine had become as claws swiped at and caught his sword.
"Today you die, Jenova spawn." the demon hissed at him.
(break)
The future reputation of Zack looked down at his mentor from his perch. The blade of the Buster Sword caught the flicker of fire as he finally pushed himself down the hill. Slowly he descended much to Angeal's horror as the young man eventually came to a halt. Over his shoulder, he rested the very sword Angeal stocked all his honor in.
"What happened to you?" the man asked his student. "Why would you do something like this?"
Blue eyes made from despair met his inquiry. Finally, the young man smiled at him. "All angels wish to be human, right Angeal? So what happens when the human is forced to become a monster to survive?"
"Zack, what are you getting at?" Angeal asked, stepping backwards as the heavy sword came up off the younger man's shoulder.
"You," he answered him. "You will forget your honor." With a cry, Zack brought the heavy blade down. Metal clashed, igniting sparks as Angeal responded to the assault with battle honed instincts.
(break)
Two faces set in stone, so eerily similar to one another and so different. Cloud tilted his head as Sephiroth raised his Masamune in challenge. How could they share words when such hatred burned through the blond's very being. Interrogation of prisoners was a job left to the Turks and the regulars. On the battle field, he was more willing to remove tongues to take the victory.
Smashing their weapons together, Sephiroth grunted at the unexpected strength in the smaller man's attack. Blue eyes searched his own and for the first time, the general felt real fear. The unknown terrorist was the first man he had ever met that did not fear him. Grunting under the pressure of the attack, Sephiroth pushed with all his might against the younger male's attack.
Dust kicked up as the warrior shifted back a few inches, the blue-eyed stranger snarled in disgust at him. "You will never win." he declared, leaping away to put distance between them.
Arching a silver brow, Sephiroth tilted his head at the young man. "That will be determined at the end of this fight."
(break)
Their blades clashed as Angeal ducked and twisted to avoid one assault after another. The replica Zack snarled before sliding his Buster Sword in a sweeping crescent arc, carving the rubble beneath their feet into powder. Launching the chalky debris into the air, the man jumped back to unleash a powerful crescent of blue energy. A heart beat passed between them before Angeal cursed. The Zack look-alike had taken on a strange aura and was now preparing to unleash his assault. The bright gleam of his Limit Break fractured his safe footing, leaving Angeal wide open to the lethal energy.
Only the sweep of another limit break setting off deflected enough of the energy to help Angeal escape. The dark head of his student raised from beside him with fury burning in his eyes. "You sick freak. Who do you think you are?" Zack shouted at his older counterpart.
The counterpart blanched visibly as the younger Zack scolded him, hefting the double-edged sword in his hands to counter attack. Continuing with his earlier monologue Second Class Zack Fair of Soldier finished his speech. "Not only are you attacking Angeal, you're doing it with my face."
"You're one to talk." The elder Zack growled.
(Break)
Genesis gasped for air, fingers scrabbling on the brass claw that was slowly wringing the life out of him. The red-head attempted to blink the black spots from his vision as the golden eyed demon looked down at him with no remorse. The Rapier slipped from his weakening grip and struck the crumbling Reactor far below them. The loss of his black wing only aiding the demon's iron grip as it disintegrated into loose black feathers.
As his vision dimmed, he noticed a small trooper slither from behind a slab of upraised concrete to crouch beside a slim beam. The glint of fire off the weapon's barrel gave Genesis a moment of satisfaction. The blue clad trooper slowly raised the barrel of his firearm to aim…
At the demon…
A thin smirk touched briefly upon his lips before he fell completely limp.
(Break)
Sin…
It was a burden shared by a select few. Their innocence had been lost a long time ago. They were forged in the wrath of Hojo's insanity and turned into something their three foes could hardly comprehend. For the first time, Sephiroth faltered under the brutal onslaught of the blond leader's weapons.
His blood joined that of his foe on the crumbling heap of the Reactor's surface. The blond panted for air as even Sephiroth was forced to catch his own breath. The two men glared at one another, hatred telegraphed even in their momentary stillness. The sounds of battle echoed dully back to them over the massive expanse of Mako Reactor One as Sephiroth shifted Masamune in the grip of his hand.
"You're going to die soon." he told the blond nightmare. "Someone like you is too dangerous to leave alive."
The blond scoffed at him. "You have no right to talk."
He might have snarled back if it was in his nature, as it was, the General arched a brow at the man. "Explain yourself."
"You can't even begin to comprehend the monster you are." Cloud growled. "Countless people are dead because of you."
"Murdered?" Sephiroth repeated. "You are not referring to the war in Wutai."
The blond gave him a look of outright disgust and lunged, sparks leaped off the two blades as they clashed. Only when Sephiroth pulled back did the sparks end. A terrible glow of power formed around the blond and Sephiroth felt a flicker of apprehension.
He braced himself…
Until a loud shot rang out in the din of battle, cutting off all points of reasoning as the Blond nightmare fell to his knees. Two more shots rang out and blood pooled at the dark clothed man's feet. He fell to his knees gasping. Running feet pattered across the broken gravel as Sephiroth flicked his eyes in the direction of the shooter.
Only a pale lower face was showing as the trooper shifted his place again to target the next member of the terrorist's companions. The transformed member of the party growled loudly at the small child as he tossed Genesis to the side. The gathering scent of smoke choked the boy's throat as he shifted his grip. The heavy fall of the Red Commander's body snapped Sephiroth out of his daze.
Grasping his Masamune he made ready to charge the Demon.
(break)
Stories told once of a Goddess with wings of light and dark. That very goddess was the mother of all things, descending from a sky cursed by the ancient people who once roamed the planet. Beneath the barren earth of that Planet, life pulsed and flowed creating a new realm of existence. When these two forces clashed, the people caught between them began to change. Time flowed in many directions until one day everything in existence shattered beyond recognition and twisted.
The trooper panted heavily, watching the sky line as the monster and the General faced off. Neither of the two men seemed to even notice as the young man fumbled with his chin strap and jerked his helmet from off his head. The spikes of blond hair that shot up in all directions drawing little attention as the Soldiers cheered the commanding officer on.
Shouldering the butt of his weapon, the spiky haired teenager sank to one knee and took aim at the creature that hovered above his hero. He knew his support was likely unneeded and extremely unwelcome. The general was a cold man, capable of showing little emotion unless he was truly challenged by others. Nothing and no one could stand before him.
The trooper swallowed, sweat beading along his brow as he adjusted the scope to most magnification on his weapon. Silently, he pressed the lethal projectile weapon against his right eye and stared down the sights in the demon's direction. Men in uniforms swam swiftly out of his way as he slid his body into a place designed to give the fatal shot.
He had never taken lives before…
He had shot those men without flinching.
What was he becoming?
Cloud Strife, trooper and SOLDIER cadet took the shot, piercing the demon's chest.
He heard a man scream and the General's shout of rage as he tore through the falling creature as it morphed back into a man. Something inside of Cloud burned and echoed with the scream.
(break)
Zack Fair watched the small blond trooper from his place beside his mentor, the body of his look-alike pinned down with the heavy weight of the Buster Sword piercing him through. Horror burned its way into his abdomen as he recalled the echoing burst of a gun's report in the distance. He heard the scream, a nervous tingle rubbing it's way into his gut as his eyes flicked in the direction of Genesis.
Above the red-haired commander stood a fourth person. Wings stretched high above her and arrayed themselves like a feathery halo of white and black. Silver hair draped itself over her shoulders as she reached down to drag Genesis upwards. The commander's head lolled, taking refuge in its subconscious once more.
He vaguely recalled something about this from back home. Stories passed down through the generations at the knees of elders and grandparents of a woman with wings made of light and dark. The mother of all things was cursed by an ancient race that once roamed the barren soil. She brought with her new life and yet the people called her a calamity from the sky. They named her…
"Jenova." Zack gasped out, his hand reaching to grasp Angeal's
shoulder to get his attention. "An.. Angeal, it's Jenova."
His copy wheezed, struggling to get to his feet and with the weight of Angeal's weapon pinning him down. The copy reached out a hand, grasping the edges of the Buster Sword.
"Kill her." the copy-Zack gasped, coughing as blood ruptured into his mouth. "Before it's too late, destroy that demon."
"You are already to late." his mentor answered. "This world belongs to Mother."