Disclaimer. Read carefully. I will bore you with this, only once.
SQUARE ENIX (Formerly SQUEAR SOFT) owns. I, sadly, do not. I'm just playing with the characters of the game (and the movie, and the -other- game, and the anime, and etc, etc, etc….) and I am not making money out of this.
Keeping with the tradition of the FF games, this story will have a theme-song, lyrics all by me (yay!), an ending, a secret ending and a -very- secret ending. But you won't have to frantically push the buttons to make it through the boss-fights, just be patient with me and read on.
For the theme song, imagine the wonderful voice of Utada Hikaru singing a tune akin Sanctuary (Kingdom Hearts 2 Theme).
With the release of 'Crisis Core' this story will probably become terribly AU. I will be toying with certain game concepts that, strictly spoken, are not canon. Hope you like anyways.
I have no beta- and I am not a native speaker of the English language. I would appreciate any constructive criticism in that regard.
And reviews. Lots. Reviews are good.
Oh- and yes, there -is- something about the title- like AC of Advent Children, BC of Before Crisis, CC of Crisis Core and DC of Dirge of Cerberus. I believe that Square Enix -has- the next game in mind with an EC- but I'm still claiming it for my little tale.
END OF CURSE
By Nan Kalle
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Prologue: Mother Dearest
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I'll fight my way back through the currents of time
Drowning in You
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"End it!"
Didn't she have any -idea- how annoying she could be at times?
"End it!" the disembodied whispering voice repeated, harsher now. "Finish him now! Kill him- there is no controlling him!"
But why? Why -was- there no controlling him? Not anymore?
How good it felt to simply -move- again, to feel the wind when he jumped higher and higher- to see the flash of the blades and hear the clear splitting clang of metal against metal.
It felt just so good to breath.
"But you're not breathing"- the soft, feather light touch upon his mind faded in and away- pulsating with the stolen heartbeat of the Planet.
And for just that one instant all went green and blue and cold- so cold-
No!
End it.
The sky had turned dark at his command. Damned spirits spiralled downward to poison the living soil and steal the breath of all that existed-
Would he not need breath to exist?
A moments hesitation, an opening given and luckily not taken- the boy still was no match for him. He switched the long blade playfully to his other hand and came again. The next blow was blocked- another- blocked. He jumped up, higher- slicing through metal and concrete- sending the rubble downward wrapped in taunting.
"Stop fooling around, child."
A caress over his shoulders and back, like a dog being patted- he arched into the ghostly touch, needing it. Needing to be reminded there was one that cared for him- out there.
But, really, would he -not- need breath to exist?
The blades met in midair, the fierceness in the blue stare belying any fear.
He should be stronger than this- but he felt as if parts of him where missing, crawling towards this 'reunion', hell-bent on joining with him. Memories that were not there, guile and strength, calm and ferociousness both- Well, he had to make do with what -was- there, even if it took longer than what Mother would have liked. He enjoyed this little post resurrection workout entirely too much. And smiled.
Gently jumping up to Shinra's former pride, he decided to deal with this bad memory and the one below for once and al. The wrecked structure could not handle the combined blow of himself touching down and Strife jamming his blade into the tower to keep himself from falling. The overhang of the top landing broke away, and the former president's office fell in one massive pile of stone and metal and god knows what else had still been up there. Expecting the avalanche, he turned and sliced through it, knowing the boy to be capable of dealing with the rubble. So he jumped down again, fell through the tonnes of disregarded debris and whacked the other man, who countered him -again-, but only just.
Riding the tide of stone, their blades met again and again, hard and brutal. He had to concentrate with all his might on dealing blows, avoiding them, avoiding concrete and dust and the -ground-! The voice in his mind whispered. "Not now, Mother!" he hissed back, angrily. There was something akin a surprised huff, and laughter, clear as a bell and inviting.
Fire crackled below, as the building collapsed in on itself. Strife hacked through yet another part of the honeycombed structure that once had been the hallways he had graced, offices he had worked in- Laboratories-
This was no longer fun, he decided. He had to be whole again- somehow. And Strife's demise was but the first steppingstone on that road. The boy was becoming weary- and exhausted. He could see him collapse, hand on his stomach and clearly in pain.
"Now.." came the low hiss in his mind.
"End it now!"
So he jumped over and sliced at him- but hit only air for Strife quickly rolled away, saved by his mako enhanced instincts. However, the lad was clearly pushed to the defence now and a hard unexpected hit with the elbow threw him. Strife rolled away, tried to pick himself up, but he was in the boy's face before Cloud could move. Another blow, a well aimed kick and Strife, the wind knocked out of him, came to sit with his back against a part of ceiling jammed in man-made rock.
Gods- he -hated- that boy. Bile rose up in him and he could taste the defeats of the past- How Strife's blade had cowardly skewered him from behind- forced his jump into the lifestream, wore him out battle after battle and just would not die! Cloud was so much the weaker in both body and spirit- never had the training that could have made him a match if one disregarded the experience gained skip-hopping all over the planet and fighting it's dangers-
Him and that motley crew of misfits and rebels-
He was -entitled- to enjoy the end.
"No- Just kill!"
Yes! But dammit, not-right-now!
First blood- he had to hand it to Strife- the boy did not cry out at the deadly kiss the Masamune planted on his shoulder. Right under the collarbone cutting through the soft tissues only. Death would -not- come quickly!
"What do you treasure most," he heard himself ask, "I want the joy of taking it from you."
Pity vengeance, perhaps- Why de hell was he so pity? If Loz had been part of him, he would simply had clobbered the boy to death already, if Yazoo had been there, he would not have taken time for this at all and finished what he had started instantly, not merely slicing through the shoulder, but directly aiming for the heart. But there was only one cruel and childish remnant of him living inside.
It had been the wrong thing to say. Something flashed behind those pain filled -glowing- eyes, and Cloud- in complete disregard of the pain, grabbed the slender blade and pulled it out, planting it him firmly in the concrete he had leant against.
He jumped away gracefully, more than a little surprised.
"How sad," the boy had the gall to say to him, "- you just don't understand at all!"
The damned thing was, that there was no fire in Cloud's answer- not the all consuming -hatred- he himself felt. There was a real sadness in that boy, who suddenly became a man-
And a cold inside the man whom to his surprise was reduced to the fears of a boy.
He chuckled, silencing what he felt, and attacked again. But the blow he was met with fell on his blade with such strength he had to jump away and retreat- The power- the power he nor his mother understood- it flared and burned and made Strife the unbeatable force of years past-
Strife narrowed his eyes while jumping up at him. "There is nothing I do -not- treasure!"
For a moment they hung in midair, frozen, staring in the eyes of the other- and he -knew- he had lost- He had lost the instant he had threatened Strife's loved-ones.
How odd.
Strife swung his blade over his head, and it started to glow with a magic al of it's own.
He knew he had to move, jump away, duck what was coming- Run, if there was nothing else left.
But he felt hypnotized by the glow within Strife, something that had -nothing- to do with mako, or his mother, or training or will- Strife was no longer fighting against- He was fighting -for-. And the young warrior had been right. He did not understand at all.
He moved the Masamune to ward off the coming attack, but Strife's Buster sword split into five hidden components that surrounded him instantly, and the sixth part Strife still held glowed.
He was amazed, mystified, the voice of his Mother clouding his mind with her continued calls for Strife's bloody demise - the parts of him that drew near reaching for him- He could not concentrate and was held motionless by the confusion within. The first bow fell.
It felt as if Cloud passed right through him- knocking the wind and energy out of him- but there was no blood-
Why was there no blood?
All living things bleed- Strife's shoulder bled-
The scream in his mind went through his soul and rattled him more than he could take.
"Mine- you are mine- you are woven out of me- you cannot die."
Then how can I live?
"He is nothing- finish him! Finish him- Before he disperses you finish him!
I want to breathe!
The second blow came to his chest and although he reeled with the impact, there still was no blood- his lungs should have collapsed by the force of it-
I want to feel!
There were more hits, to his back, his head, and he felt the strength flow out of him, as if he simply could not hold on- Hold on to what?
Cloud fell down upon him, jumped away an landed below, the parts of his blade still glowing and gathering around him. The young warrior looked up at his form.
"Stay in my memories, where you belong!"
"You have disappointed me- Perhaps I should call upon you're your brother- next time."
But I have no brothers- And I won't just fade!
He -would- return! Whole and complete. And then he -would- declare his last war on this world- And defeat it.
If there was no breath in him- if there was no -life- in him, he would know no weakening desire- next time. The old pain ripped through his soul and showed itself to the world with dark feathers, the beautiful sign of the monster within. In-blue eyes looked up at him, almost emotionless now- hiding the secret that had granted him his defeat-
Next time, he would -know- of that secret.
Next Time.
"I will never be a memory."