Redemption: Delivered

A hilarious tale of delivered deliverance

(Final Fantasy VII and its characters copyrighted by Squaresoft/Enix)

The LifeStream.. with its ever flowing, always evolving essence, the source of life for the Planet and all those on it. Those that die become part of the LifeStream, until they are reincarnated elsewhere on Earth as a new creature. With its endless wisdom, the LifeStream cycles from Death and Rebirth on an ever-changing basis..

Strange then, that the LifeStream should have a sense of humor.

Enter a certain silver-haired General. After his fall at the hands of Cloud Strife, the great Sephiroth now floats aimlessly through the LifeStream. Having had it decided that he did not deserve Hell, because Jenova controlled his mind, but likewise he did not deserve Heaven, Sephiroths fate was still being decided by the Planet. Until it was, he was forced to remain in a sort of limbo, possibly for thousands of years.

At first, the reprieve from Hell was welcomed by the General. But as the weeks and months drug on with nothing to do but travel the LifeStream, Sephiroth eventually started wishing for something…ANYTHING to happen to him to make the monotony a little more beatable. Yet, he remained for what seemed like eons, just floating along, alone and cold.

That is until one fateful day, the Planet finally decided what it would do with this certain Ex-SOLIDER…

"Sephiroth.. my child.. hear me.." the Planet beckoned to him. If Sephiroth had eyes in his current form he would have rolled them. "What is it now? Another reminder that I still sit in this hellish void while you toy with me?"., he scowled. The Planet softly laughed. "No child.. your fate has been decided, and although you deserve to sit silently in Hell for eons, I have not yet given up hope for you", the Planet said gently.

Silence… then, "Well? What sort of eternal punishment awaits me?". The Planet seemed almost to be withholding laughter, "I have decided, that I will let you live yet again."

Sephiroth was floored. With all he had done, the Planet saw fit to allow him back into life after 5 years of being dead. "However", the planet continued, "You will only be allowed back to the plane of Earth if you swear to abide by the rules I have placed upon you; One, you shall not ever kill another living person save to genuinely protect your own life. Two, you will strive every day to become better than what you once were. Three, you must select line of work on Earth that puts you in servitude of others."

Sephiroth weighed his options carefully. "So.. I must go back, never kill again, try to…ahem…"better" myself, and I have to find a job that lets me serve people?", he said. The Planet made a soft noise that Sephiroth knew to be an affirmative. "Well then, forget it", he said. The Planets energy vibrated with shock. "You don't want to live once more?", it asked incredulously. Sephiroth laughed, "SERVE others? You forget I was once the great General Sephiroth of Shin-Ra, the child of Jenova, I serve no one!" he declared defiantly.

The Planet sighed in what could be a hint of frustration. "If you do not, I have no choice but to let you rot in Hell for the rest of eternity.. Your sins are too great to just overlook."

Sephiroth growled in frustration. He wanted to live so badly, but to spend life pleasing others? Several minutes of silence went by. Finally with an inward growl, Sephiroth bellowed to the Planet, "I'll do it! You hear me? I'll do it.. now send me back!" . Everything around him grew brighter suddenly. As he was engulfed completely in light, the Planet whispered, "You have made a promise.. When you awake, you need only follow the path before you to unravel your destiny".

After what seemed like an eternity, the light faded. Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes to find he was still in the clothes he was while fighting Cloud; black leather coat, black pants, boots, and to his delight, Masamune was still strapped to his back. He looked around; the Planet had dropped him in a small stream in the woods of some land he had never seen before. He knew it to be foreign, but the exact location escaped him. He sat up, water dripping from his long silver hair. His mind wandered; from the Ancient City, to Northern Crater, to Junon, Midgar, and finally the core of the Planet where he met his end at Strifes hand. "One day Cloud… I'll see you pay for that", he cursed aloud.

With a couple of groans, Sephiroth got to his feet. He was still in his superb physical condition, but achy as all hell. After he stretched the kinks from his limbs, he looked around. 'Follow the path before me…', he thought silently. Sure enough, there was a trail leading out of the woods. With a sigh of deep annoyance, Sephiroth started down the trail. After a few minutes, the woods ended and he came to a site that shocked him. A city, nearly the size of the lower level of Midgar, spanned the horizon before him. "I suppose this means my…'occupation'… is in this city", he mused aloud. No stranger to large cities, he walked across the street to the innards of the city, gathering several strange looks as he did so.

"This does not look like any city I've ever seen.." he murmured out loud to himself. 'That's because its not..', the Planet answered in his mind. "Then where the hell am I?" Sephiroth yelled. "You are in a part of the world that Shin-Ra Company has never touched. The city you are in is known by the name of Dothan", the Planet continued. 'Well that explains the strange looks', Sephiroth reasoned aloud. Sephiroth walked on for a bit, passing businesses of all sorts, some feasible (Great Gary's Giant Guns) and some laughable (Hercules Manicure and Spa).

'Follow the path before me…', he thought mentally again. "Where is this path going?", he asked aloud. No response.. "PLANET! I asked you where is this path—", he began, but was abruptly cut off by running directly into a display of sorts, a direct consequence of not paying attention. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and looked at the display he topped over. Several leaflets were scattered around, having fallen out of the display. His curiosity got the better of him, so he reached down and picked one up. "Call Now! Domino's Pizza has great specials! 505-7899". "Domino's Pizza…?", he muttered out loud. He looked the material over for a moment, figuring out this 'Domino's' sold food products and specialized in delivering them right to your door. Almost by instinct, he started to just toss it away, then he saw a heading on the leaflet that caught his attention: NOW HIRING DELIVERY DRIVERS!

Sephiroth furrowed his brows in thought.. then the realization hit him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could swear he heard the Planet giggling.

Look for Chapter 2 soon.