Calming Thunder

This is my first offical non-short story fanfic. This will be an eventual SephOC, but it will take a few chapters until that happens, or even until they meet again, so be patient.

Mia- do they eat pickles in this story? cause i like pickles. pickles are gooooood...

Kelana-ti- Mia, if you are going to say something, say something creative. Like, of VALUE.

Mia- that was of value! everyone wants to know if they eat pickles in this story, right guys?!

Seph- Who cares about pickles? Just start the story and shut up.

Mia-'who cares about pickles?' hellllooooooo! EVERYBODY CARES ABOUT PICKLES. and get that sword away from me!

Kilana-ti- gags sister

I do not own FF7 or Sephiroth.

Prologue

000

Cherise Autumn were in the Shinra Building training room when the alarm went off.

"Aarin?" She looked at her brother. "What is going on?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe AVALANCE escaped?" He picked up his gunblade, which he called Talon, from the table. "Let's go see."

Grapping her sword and pistol, Cherise followed Aarin out into the corridor. It was strangely quiet, except for the blaring alarm. Then, for some reason, it turned off. The siblings exchanged glances, and then started down the corridor, past the elevator, then to the door that opened to the stairs. As everyone knows, elevators are not used in emergencies. Aarin was about to step in when five MPs came jogging down the hallway. The one leading, a sergeant, saw that Aarin and Cherise were Turks, and saluted.

"Do you know what's going on?" Aarin asked.

"No sir," the sergeant answered. "We were going to go see."

The older Turk nodded, then said, "Carry on." He stepped aside to let them down the stairs. Brother and sister followed.

"They must think something major is going on as well, since they are taking the stairs," Cherise whispered.

Aarin nodded. "Be ready."

When the sergeant opened the door to the next floor down, they all went out to see if anyone was on the floor. It seemed empty, until some one screamed.

The MPs ran down the corridor, with the Turks close behind. They turned a corner, and then skidded to a stop. Several employees lay on the ground, dead, their blood staining the white floor that was so hard to keep clean.

In the middle of the bodies stood Sephiroth.

For a split second, it was quiet. Cherise was stunned. She had known Sephiroth, had been friends with him. After the Nibelhiem incident, Shinra had said that he was dead. Aarin had done some hacking, and found out that Sephiroth had gone insane and had killed the towns' people, and was stopped only when Zack and Cloud killed him. Cherise hadn't believed her brother…but apparently he had been right.

But Sephiroth had been killed! He was standing right in front of her, his 6-foot long Masamune stained with blood, and his mako-green eyes staring right though her.

"Sephiroth!" Cherise cried. "What-"

He charged.

The MPs started firing, and Cherise and Aarin followed suit. Sephiroth smirked, deflecting the bullets with apparent ease. He jumped, and was among the MPs, killing two in one second, another the next. Soon, only the Turk siblings were left.

Holding her sword with her right hand, Cherise holstered her pistol with her right. She had been a Turk for seven years, and was a good fighter, but that did not mean she would survive the next few minutes. Sephiroth swung Masamune at Cherise. For the next few seconds, Cherise and Aarin fought Sephiroth. Cherise dodged a blow, only to have her sword knocked out of her hands. She jumped back. Behind Sephiroth, she could see more MPs coming. But they made no difference.

Cherise watched in horror as Sephiroth stabbed Aarin in the chest, then turned to the other MPs, letting her brother fall to the floor. Ignoring the danger, Cherise ran to him and dragged him away from the fight.

"Aarin!" Cherise gasped. His jacket was stained with blood, and the stain was moving too fast. "Aarin."

He looked up at her, his eyes clouded in pain. "Cherise…" he winced as he tried to draw a breath. "If …you live…"

"Yes?"

He gripped her hand. "Don't give up. E-everyone… has …responsibilities…don't-don't let go…of yours."

Cherise nodded. "I won't," she said softly. It hurt to see him like this. "You hold on. You'll be fine…"

He shook his head and winced. "I…thought we …taught you…better. Here."

Slowly, he reached with the hand that still held his gunblade, and brought it to her hand. "Keep it."

"I will" she said, gripping it in her free hand.

"Cherise…don't…give up. Hope…" Aarin's voice cut off. His brown eyes dimmed, and his hand fell to the floor.

"No," Cherise whispered. "No, Aarin!" He was gone. She stared at him, tears blearing her vision. She could not believe her brother was gone. But he was. Her hand shaking, Cherise gently closed his eyes, softly saying, "Good bye."

The Turk picked up Aarin's gunblade and stood, grief welling up until she couldn't take it. Cherise looked over her shoulder. Sephiroth had killed the so-called reinforcements, and was coming for her. She knew she was going to die, but first she wanted to know…

"Why?" Cherise asked, her voice shaking. "Why are you doing this?"

"I am ridding the Planet of the traitors who would destroy it," Sephiroth answered. "Those on the floors below are dead." He charged.

Cherise jumped back against the window and ducked. The Masamune swung above her head, shattering the window. She parried his next two strikes, but then he slashed down her side, from mid-ribcage to her hip. Cherise screamed, then fell, out into the open air.

As she fell, she watched the ground approach. It was funny how death brought everything into perspective. The Shinra Building was surrounded by SOLDIER and infantry. She felt a materia spell catch her, and that was when she would not die after all.

000

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