Final Fantasy VII: JENOVA's Will
Chapter One: Enemies.
The Buster Sword clashed with the Masamune, as quick a lightning flash, sparks flew from the blades. They clashed again and again. Each strike with more and more force as Cloud and Sephiroth duelled in the Planet's Core.
"Your friends are beaten, Cloud. Soon you will share their fate" Sephiroth laughed. To him, Cloud was still weak, an ant to be stepped on. The fighters eyes clashed, both with the same blue glow.
"To think such a weak fool could survive Mako Addiction. You impress me Cloud. But you still lack strength." Sephiroth blocked a slash with ease.
"Shut up!" Cloud shouted. Leaping into the air for a Braver attack. Sephiroth followed him into the air, parrying the downwards slice and catching him by the throat with his free hand.
"Why do you persist? He asked Cloud, before he could reply; The ex-SOLDIER first class threw him towards the ground, next to his friends, trapped in time. Cloud struck the floor and rolled, stabbing into the ground to stop him from going near JENOVA's remains. He staggered slowly to his feet, weak, unable to continue the fight. Gathering his strength, Cloud used a Blade Beam, in a desperate hope to stop Sephiroth. It hit him. Creating a blast of smoke on contact. Cloud smiled, he couldn't believe it. The smoke faded, Sephiroth was still there, not a scratch on him. Laughing once more,, he jumped in front of Cloud, Masamune raised for a deadly strike. JENOVA's voice rang through his head, rather than the usual sweet promises, this was painful demands.
"Fool! Leave him, he has yet to be of use to me" she shouted, Sephiroth backed away, his head swamped in agony.
"He is worthless, tell me what you would have him do and I will do it" Sephiroth begged in his head, he had a desire to kill, a lust to finish Cloud Strife's miserable life. He raised the giant katana again. Cloud stood, paralyzed by weakness, exhaustion and confusion. A voice whispered in his head, sweetly.
"Do not worry child, allow me the use of your body and I will end him" Cloud knew he shouldn't trust it, but he wanted revenge, for Areith and for everyone else, he looked beside him. Tifa, trapped in Sephiroth's Stop spell, her eyes fearful.
"You are a fool, Sephiroth. We may share cells but you are undeserving of them." JENOVA, Sephiroth felt was leaving his mind, and entering Cloud's, infusing him with her power. Sephiroth muttered coldly.
"So, you want a vassal? Taking his body because you couldn't control mine?" he taunted. "I'll kill him first" Sephiroth, free from JENOVA's voice, slashed at Cloud's throat, the Buster Sword blocked him with ease. With a quick move, Cloud knocked the Masamune away and cut into Sephiroth's chest. As he fell, his consciousness faded, along with he noticed, the presence of Meteor above the Planet.
Back on the Highwind, Tifa and Vincent, having been freed from the Stop spells only to find Sephiroth, unconscious and bleeding and Cloud nowhere to be seen had chosen to bring Sephiroth aboard. Tifa looked over his muscled body, bandaged where he had been cut, by she assumed Cloud. When he wasn't psychotically trying to kill everything and everyone, he had a quiet serene beauty about him.
Tifa was worried. Vincent might have thought he could contain Sephiroth now he was stripped of his Materia, but Tifa wasn't sure, yet that didn't worry her as much as why Cloud was missing. It was odd, according to Cid, Meteor had just vanished from the sky suddenly, and he saw Cloud leaving North Crater alone. He had tried to get his attention, but Cloud had ignored him.
Tifa waited, wanting Sephiroth to wake up despite herself. The practical, fearful side of her said to punch in his throat and suffocate him for what he had done, but her curiosity and brotherly love for Cloud made her stay her hand. Sephiroth was the only one who could know about what happened back in North Crater.
Vincent appeared behind her.
"Barret wants to see you." His voice was cold, distant, as it always did. "I'll keep an eye on him" Tifa didn't move. Just continued to watch Sephiroth.
"He can come here, I won't let him have a chance to escape" she nodded at the fallen angel.
"You think I will? He has no Materia, and even you should be able to see something about him has changed. Our little Planet destroyer here seems somehow at peace."
Sephiroth heard all of this, he had regained consciousness but instead pretended to be unconscious, listening to the chat between them. Oddly he found, he was more peaceful, since JENOVA left him, he even laughed to himself at being called 'Our little Planet destroyer.'
The cold practicality that remained however told him to kill them all, but something was different, he felt changed, manipulated. The genius general suddenly realised JENOVA had been tampering with his emotions once she had entered his head.
Besides, they needed to know about what Cloud had become.
The two's bickering continued, the guide, Tifa, he thought her name was steadily getting angrier and angrier while the ex-Turk rejected everything she said in a cold tone. Sephiroth opened his eyes and sat up, suppressing the desire to fight that remained.
"Having fun?"
Tifa turned to him, red faced "And you shut up!" she turned back to Vincent, having not registered who she had just shouted at. Vincent stared at him, confusion cracking his arrogant demeanor. Tifa turned slowly towards him
"You!" she ran towards him "Where's Cloud?!" she shouted as she swung with a vicious fist. Before Sephiroth reacted, the ex-Turk did, catching her hand and pulling her back from the unbothered ex-SOLDIER. He had expected someone to try to attack him, especially Cloud's lover.
"You and Cloud were together?" he asked the enraged guide. Tifa turned crimson and even Vincent let out a rare burst of laughter.
"No" she muttered, "he was like a brother to me. He loved Aerith, and you killed her!" she went to attack again, only to be restrained by the red cloaked experiment.
"Forgive me, I was not myself. You are Tifa, correct?" she nodded. "Then I should apologise for that business in the reactor five years ago. Vincent, it is good to see you again" Sephiroth smiled at him.
"What! You know each other?" Tifa looked at Vincent dumbfounded. Then at the smiling angel, he looked oddly cute. She threw the thought away immediately, she couldn't think of him like that.
"You never told them?" Sephiroth asked, getting way to comfortable for the current situation.
"They tended to lose their temper every time someone mentioned your name after you killed Aerith" was Vincent's cold reply
"I have a lot of explaining to do." Get everyone around and I'll explain, I don't like to repeat myself." He commanded Vincent, who did what he was told and quickly went to get the rest of the heroes, leaving Tifa behind.
"Tifa, I won't ask for your forgiveness, all I ask is you understand why I did what I did five years ago."
"You did it because you're a psychopath who loves to kill." She replied coldly,
"It was JENOVA, when you fought her, in North Crater, didn't she speak to you? Inside your head?" Tifa's face went a shade whiter, Sephiroth knew he was right, he always was. She nodded again. "Imagine that, only stronger, my will was weak back in Nibelheim, it was when I discovered was born from an experiment. She used that, once I walked into that Reactor, I wasn't myself, she controlled me, changed my emotions, made me kill." Somehow Tifa believed him.
"I know" she muttered "When I felt that voice, I almost jumped to JENOVA's side, it took all my will to continue fighting. I understand how she could have got in your head. But I won't, can't forgive you for what you did" she said clearly, her confidence returning
"I understand" Sephiroth replied. Tifa detected genuine guilt in his voice. An awkward silence filled the room. Vincent seemed to be taking his time. A voice over an intercom sounded,
"Everyone, get topside now. That includes you, Sephi. A Shinra helicopter is blocking us, get ready for a fight."
"You're lucky" Vincent appeared back at the door, Masamune in hand, he passed it to Sephiroth. "Time to prove yourself" Sephiroth and Tifa followed him topside.
A lone helicopter streaked the dusk horizon, it hovered above the Highwind. The black tinted windows, hid the pilot and anyone else in the chopper from view. Someone dropped out of it, a black hood and plain white mask obscuring his face. He stood alone, before the assembled crew. Tifa, Vincent, Barret, Cait Sith, Yuffie, Red XIII, Cid and of course Sephiroth.
"Who ar' you? Since you must be ugly hidin' your face, you can tell us so we don't have to rip the mask away!" shouted Cid, the vulgar tongued captain. The figure, clearly male, laughed.
"Cid, I am not ugly." The voice was cold, familiar, but oddly tainted. Sephiroth ran forward, slipping through the group towards the masked man, wanting to prove himself to AVALANCHE. In one fluid motion Sephiroth slashed downwards at the man, hoping to split him in two. The man side-stepped the attack, easily. A fist crashed into Sephiroth's chest, aggravating his injuries and winding him, he fell to his knees. The man before him held a hand in the air, lightning crackled around it.
"If only you could see the irony" A fist crashed into the masked man's face, smashing the mask. Quickly, the hooded man, now unmasked, backed away from them. Sephiroth looked to his saviour, it was Tifa, that surprised him. He had honestly expected if anyone was to save him, it would be Vincent. Tifa helped him up,
"You okay?" she asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"Yes I'm fine" he replied, ashamed he needed help to begin with. The hooded man started laughing, having backed away until he stood on the very edge of the airship.
"Tifa, you're pathetic, you all are. Helping the man you all set out to kill." He lowered his hood, blonde hair spiked up instantly, a faint blue glow came from his eyes.
"C…Cloud?" Tifa sounded astonished.
"What the fuck are you doing in a Shinra chopper boy?" Cid shouted. Cloud laughed.
"You have no idea. I am no longer Cloud," he spread his arms out "I am JENOVA!" he shouted. There was a pause, silent astonishment as his words sank in.
"I'm still goin' call you Cloud" Barret responded first.
"As you wish, now for a parting gift" Cloud jumped from the airship, a bolt of lightning struck where he was standing, tearing it's way through the airship.
"We're going down! Hold on to whatever you can!" Cid shouted, Tifa grabbed Sephiroth's arm as they braced for a crash.
"I'm sorry," Sephiroth muttered "I tried to stop her" The ship crashed into the ground, throwing everyone around, causing mass chaos around the airship, something hit Tifa on the back of her head, and all she was aware of was a blur and strong arms holding her safely. The airship slowly came to a stop. Tifa was only aware of strong arms carrying her, it reminded her of that time back in Nibelheim, where Sephiroth had slashed her.
She could never forgive him, but she could forget what was done