Sephiroth's Redemption
written by Kat_Aclysm
Rated PG: For violence. Lots of it. And romance. And sexual references. And more swearing from Barret and Cid. But don't ya' just love this stuff!?
DISCLAIMER: Do not think for a second that I am making money out of this, especially if you're one of those lawyer guys who go around suing people for breach of copyright, because I really hate you. Final Fantasy VII Copyright 1997, 1998 Square Co., Ltd. Final Fantasy and SquareSoft are registered trademarks of Square Co., Ltd. SO NYAH!!! (Although the plot is mine)
NOTE: This story contains spoilers. Read Sephiroth's Redemption Chapter 1, 2 and 3 before even attempting to read this one. And finish FFVII because this whole story is a continuation of where it finished. By the way, finish Final Fantasy VII anyway. You owe it to yourself.
Stuff in *'s is spoken in telepathy. Aeris and Sephiroth have conversations like this, and Jenova can also use this ability. Any other Final Fantasy character caught trying to do this should be told off.
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Chapter 4-- Conundrums and Confrontations
"Go left!"
"No, go right!"
The adventure had finally begun. After that unpleasantness with the Infirmary, and the plane refusing to start, the group was finally on their way. Tifa was trying her hardest to navigate the plane, but hadn't quite got the hang of it yet.....
"Aaaah $#!+, woman!" Cid grumbled. "Make up your damn mind!!"
"We'll never get there at this rate...." Vincent sighed.
"Why couldn't Cloud be navigator??" Yuffie grumbled. "Women can't read maps!"
"That's a rather sexist comment, don't you think?" Cloud asked.
"Well I'm a woman..." Yuffie answered. "And I can't read maps!!"
"So what??" Tifa growled. "I'm learning, so shut your face!"
"Pretty bad time to start learnin' huh?" Barret grumbled.
"Now Barret, that was uncalled for." Red XIII said in surprise. "Tifa's really putting some effort into this. We should be encouraging her, not putting her down!"
"Thankyou Red." Tifa nodded.
"Where to now, woman?!" Cid growled. "We just passed over Wutai!!"
"Wutai??" Yuffie said, full of sudden interest. "Hey, that's where I'm from!"
"Yeah, it also means we're waaay off course." Cloud sighed. "Are you sure you don't want me to navigate for a while, Tifa?"
"Yes!!" Cid barked. "Get up here now and make sure that useless woman doesn't navigate my plane ever again!!"
"Cid!" Cloud yelped. "That wasn't very nice!"
"No... he's right..." Tifa said, tears welling up in her eyes. "You navigate, Cloud.... I just.... suck at it....." she let the map flutter to the floor as she ran off down the back of the plane. Everyone watched her in silence.
"Cid!!!" Cloud barked. "You just hurt her feelings!! Thanks a lot!" Cloud stormed off in the direction Tifa had run off in.
"Dammit! Someone go after him!!" Cid yelled. "He's our best navigator!!"
"Okay..." Yuffie nodded.
"Silence!" Red XIII yelled. "No one will be going after either of them! If you just saw the look I did in Cloud's eyes just then....."
"Stupid cat..." Barret grumbled. "I'm not paying up, I tell you...."
"Not now, Barret." Red XIII said, silencing him. "I feel like a cretin betting... on this...."
"What are you betting on??" Cid asked.
"Nothing that concerns you." Red XIII said, dropping his head to the ground.
"No really! What are you betting on, Red??" Yuffie asked. "If you're betting Materia, I'll be in on it!! And then I'll win!!"
"Nothing!!" Red XIII growled. "Now drop the subject."
"Fine...." Yuffie pouted. "Be that way....."
"Hey, what was all that about??" Sephiroth said, walking casually up on the deck. "First, the girl ran past me, then the spiky haired guy...."
"The son of that beloved woman....!!" Vincent said to himself.
"Not much." Red XIII answered. "It's just our pilot here has upset both of them."
"Hey cat!" Cid roared. "I didn't do anythiii......" he stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of what Sephiroth was wearing. "Hey. those are my jeans!! And that's MY Hawaiian shirt, bastard!! Who said you could wear those?!"
"I don't know her name...." Sephiroth shrugged. "That woman you yell at?"
"Excellent description, Sephiroth." Red XIII said bitterly. "That could be any female on this ship right now...."
"Watch your mouth, cat!!" Cid hollered. "Or I'll kick you off this plane and you'll have to walk!!"
"I'd watch my mouth if I were you too, human...." Red XIII growled. "I am this close to taking a chunk out of your arm...."
"Stop arguing!!!" Yuffie yelled finally. "It's tearing us apart!! We're all in this together!!"
"You're right..." Red XIII nodded guiltily, and was silent.
Vincent raised his gun and took fire. Sephiroth only just ducked in time as the bullet sailed past him and punched a hole in the door to the cabin.
"What was that for?!" Sephiroth yelped.
"You must die now, Sephiroth!" Vincent yelled. "For all the pain and suffering you have caused me, and my darling Lucrecia.... and everyone on the entire planet!!"
"Oh no, not you too...." Sephiroth groaned. "Somebody, tell him I'm not here to kill any of you!!!"
"You're not?" Cid said in surprise.
Sephiroth slapped his forehead. "YES!!!"
* "Sephiroth!! Get the group over here now!! There isn't much time left!!"*
"Aeris?!" Sephiroth yelped. He jumped aside as another bullet sailed past him. "Will you stop doing that?!"
"So you mention the name of the Ancient you murdered....." Vincent smirked evilly. "That flaw shall be your undoing!!! I will pursue you to the death, Sephiroth!!"
"Vincent, no!" Red XIII roared, and tripped him up as Sephiroth disappeared down into the live-in area. "You don't understand! Stop this!"
"Leave me be, cat!" Vincent yelled. "Let me avenge my beloved's death!"
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but stop shooting at him!!"
*"Sephiroth!! Can you even hear me!?"*
*"This is a pretty bad time to talk to me, Chosen One!! I'm being pursued!!"*
*"I can only keep this telepathic link.... like this for..... fff...... go ..... now.....!!"*
*"The Temple of the Ancients, right??"*
*"Correct...... go......now!!"*
*"Gotcha!!"*
"Hey.... whatever your name is!!" Sephiroth yelled, poking his head out the door.
"Who are you addressing?" Red XIII asked. "Me, the man who's trying to shoot you, the gun-armed man, or the pilot??"
"The pilot!!"
"That's Cid." Red XIII answered.
"I don't care what the hell his name is!!!" Sephiroth yelled. "Aeris just said to get over to The Temple of the Ancients right this second!!"
"Will do, bastard!" Cid hollered. "Do you know your way around this ball of dirt??"
"I did bring a Meteor down in the spot where the Lifestream is the most abundant, didn't I? Do you know how long that took to work that out?" Sephiroth sighed. "I think that warrants something...."
"Just get the f**k up here now and navigate!!"
Sephiroth ran across the deck and looked out across the ocean.
"The Temple of the Ancients is that way!!" Sephiroth yelled, pointing in a south-west direction. "But you've got a long way to go!"
"Don't worry!" Cid yelled. "I'll just put this thing into hyper gear!" he flicked a switch on the control panel and laughed in glee as the engines roared into overdrive.
"Oka..... aaaaugh!!" Sephiroth moved off to the side as another bullet sailed off him. It ricocheted off the metal railing and flew off into the distance. "Stop shooting me, I said!!"
"Don't shoot the bastard, Vincent!!" Cid yelled angrily.
"Why not?!" Vincent yelled back.
"Because he's a good navigator!!" Cid laughed. "I give a rat's ass what you do with him after we land!!"
"Gee, thanks a lot." Sephiroth said sarcastically.
--------------------------------------
"Tifa!!"
"Get lost!!" Tifa yelled. "I don't want to speak to anybody!!"
"But it's just me, Tifa. It's just Cloud." Cloud sighed. "Please open this door."
"I especially don't wanna talk to you!!"
"Why not? " Cloud asked, upset. "I've done nothing wrong....."
"You've done everything wrong!!" Tifa wailed. "Now go away!!"
"What have I done? "
Tifa remained silent.
"How can I help you if I don't know what I've done?" Cloud asked. "Just let me in and we'll talk about it Tifa...."
Tifa remained silent.
"Come on...." Cloud sighed. "I'm worried about you."
"I know that...." Tifa said.
The next thing Cloud heard on the other side of the door was an angry sigh, a click as the lock was undone, and the door swung open. Tifa stood there, one hand on the doorknob, the other on the frame. Her eyes were red from crying.
"There. You got me to open the door. Are you happy now?"
"Can... can I come in?" Cloud asked cautiously.
"Whatever...." Tifa snorted.
As Cloud walked into the room, Tifa slammed the door behind him and flung herself onto the bed once more.
"Hey. This is a pretty nice room here...." Cloud said, trying to start some conversation.
"It's a spare room Shera said I could stay in for as long as we're on the ship...."
Cloud sat down on the bed, and looked at Tifa with a worried expression.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Tifa said cruelly.
"I'm concerned. I want to know what's wrong with you." Cloud said kindly. "And what I've done wrong... whatever it is, I'm really sorry I've upset you over it...."
"Oh Cloud...." Tifa said as she began to cry again. "It's not you...."
Tifa flung herself against him and began to cry on his shoulder. Cloud put an arm around her and began to comfort her.
"What's bugging you Tifa?" Cloud asked quietly.
"It's... nothing..." Tifa said through her sobs.
Cloud let Tifa calm down for a few minutes before talking again.
"You can't tell me it's nothing...." he smiled weakly. "Because I know better. No-one cries for no reason....."
"Yeah...." Tifa sobbed. "It's just..... just...."
"Just what?"
"Cid..... and Yuffie...."
"Cid and Yuffie?" Cloud wondered. "What did they do?"
"Yuffie.... said that... girls can't read maps...." Tifa sobbed. "And....Cid... he called me useless...." she broke down in tears.
"Hey hey... It's alright." Cloud said, trying to soothe her cries. "You're not useless...."
"Oh yeah??" Tifa cried softly. "Then why did.... he say I was?"
"Cid says stuff like that to everybody." Cloud sighed. "Even his own wife. But he really doesn't mean it, you know."
"Do you... think so?"
"Hey Tifa...." Cloud smiled. "I know so. Cid's actually an OK guy... when he isn't pissed off about something.... and he's an awesome snowboarder....."
"Maybe so..." Tifa sobbed. "But he still upset me...."
"I know Tifa, I know..." Cloud said rubbing her back softly. "His comments can be pretty vicious...."
"Uh-huh..." Tifa nodded.
"So, do you want to know what I do?"
"What?"
"I ignore it." Cloud said quietly. "Every damn insulting word of it. Try it, it works."
"Okay..." Tifa sighed.
"Yeah, you just do that." Cloud smiled.
"Cloud...?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks....." Tifa said, wrapping her arms around him. "You're the kindest person I know...."
Cloud smiled before wrapping his arms around her. "You're pretty sweet yourself, you know that?"
Cloud said kindly. "And thanks for this morning. I would have probably been sick all day if I had to endure eating that oatmeal...."
Tifa started giggling. "You're welcome...."
Cloud sighed happily as Tifa cuddled him.
"You had no-one's shoulder to cry on then, didn't you?"
"Huh?" Cloud said suddenly as they broke apart once more.
"When Sephiroth murdered Aeris...." Tifa sighed. "I know it really upsets you...."
".....Yeah." Cloud nodded. "And Red wonders why I hate him so much...."
"When we first came home, you used to cry in your sleep..." Tifa said quietly. "I would sit by you and try and calm you down...."
".....you did?"
"Uh-huh..." Tifa nodded. "It used to work too...."
Cloud let out a long sigh. "I wish I knew what he was up to now...."
"Who? Sephiroth?"
"Yeah. He hasn't taken any swipes at us, and claims that he speaks to Aeris.... and now Jenova......" Cloud nodded. "I don't know what to make of it all...."
"Well I'll help you...." Tifa said. "I'll ask Red about what he thinks...."
"He's even got us going to The Temple of the Ancients! What if something really big is there, and he's just trying to reel us into a trap??"
"I don't know, Cloud...." Tifa sighed. "I don't know...."
Just then, there was a loud knocking at the door.
"Yo guys!?" Yuffie yelled from the other side of the door. "We've arrived!!"
"Okay, thanks Yuffie!" Cloud yelled.
"What's going on in there??" Yuffie asked, trying the door handle. It wouldn't open. Tifa had locked it behind her when Cloud stepped into the room. "Hey, you guys doing anything personal in there, are you?!"
"NO!!!" Cloud and Tifa yelled in unison.
"Oh my god....." Yuffie said in disbelief as she began to disappear down the hall. "I hope they're not doing what I think they're doing....."
"Yuffie!!" Cloud roared, and swung the door open. "I'm going to murder you, you sick minded little...."
Yuffie screamed as Cloud ran off after her down the hall. Tifa just stood at the door entrance in shock. Just then, Shera walked past and looked at Tifa with a knowing grin on her face.
"Did you two lovebirds have fun?"
"CLOUD AND I ARE NOT AN ITEM!!! I'm gonna kill that Yuffie bitch!!" Tifa hollered, and ran off after Cloud and Yuffie.
Shera chuckled as she walked into the room and began to tidy up Tifa's bed.
"Aaahh youth......"
----------------------------------------
"Well, this is it...." Red XIII said quietly as the plane landed in the field near The Temple of the Ancients.
"Hopefully, nothing will be waiting to ambush us....." Cid leered accusingly at Sephiroth, who just shrugged in response.
"Well, lead the way...." Red XIII said.
"How can I??" Sephiroth growled. "I don't even have a sword!!"
Just then, Yuffie ran past, followed by Cloud hot on her heels and Tifa. Yuffie stopped on the deck and burst out into a fit of giggles.
"Heeee heeheeheehee!!!!" Yuffie giggled. "You two can be sooo defensive!!"
"Yuffie!" Red XIII said angrily. "You disturbed them, didn't you?"
"Lucky thing I did...." Yuffie giggled. "Or there'd be baby Clouds everywhere nine months later!!"
"Yuffie!!!" Cloud roared. "How dare you even suggest I did something like that with Tifa!! I'm not even married!!!"
"It doesn't matter..." Yuffie shrugged. "You're a man, she's a woman.... you two were alone.... fill in the blanks!"
"Yuffie!!" Tifa yelled. "Cloud and I would never do that!!"
"At least.....not yet." Red XIII said quietly.
"Red!!!" Cloud howled, turning a similar shade of red to the cat. "Don't you start now!!"
"I'm sorry." Red XIII said apologetically, and hung his head. "Please forgive me...."
"Hey!!" Sephiroth yelled, making everyone be silent. "I haven't got a weapon. So how am I supposed to lead the way into The Temple of The Ancients??"
"Yeah, that's a good question." Yuffie nodded. "Cloud? Haven't you got a whole stack of old swords somewhere on this ship? I remember you throwing them into the cupboard after you got your prized Ultima Weapon."
Cloud just grunted and shook his head. "I'm not lending Sephiroth any of those. They're like friends to me."
"Gee, you must keep some weird company then....."
"Oh, you're the one those things belong to in my cargo hold." Shera chuckled. "I was wondering whose weapons they were. You see, Cid has a whole bunch of spears in there, but I had no idea for the life of me who owned all the other things....."
"Go on Cloud." Yuffie said persuasively. "Lend him one of your swords. He'll give it back."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"I trust him." Yuffie smiled. "He'll give it back, I promise. Just let him use one of your swords, Cloud."
"No." Cloud said, shaking his head. "And why have you suddenly become one of Sephiroth's advocates?"
"I have my reasons....." Yuffie smiled wickedly. "Now lend him one of your swords."
"No."
"Pleeeezzzzeee!?"
"Oh alright, just shut up already!!" Cloud yelled angrily, reluctantly deciding to give in to Yuffie's pleading.
"Yay!"
Cloud stormed over to the cargo hold in the plane and pulled the door open. He returned a few minutes later holding a large sword.
"Take this..." Cloud grunted, tossing it to Sephiroth. He caught it neatly.
"What is this?!" Sephiroth complained. "The blade is too short..... and way too heavy! How are you supposed to slash something efficiently with this?!"
"It's a Ragnarok...." Cloud answered. "It's the weapon with the lightest blade, but it has the most cutting power besides my ultimate weapon. It was the last one I fought with before I got my Ultima Weapon...."
Just then, a loud roar followed by an deafening explosion was heard.
"What the hell was that?!" Cloud yelled.
"It sounded like it came from the Temple of the Ancients....." Tifa said quietly.
"We might be too late, you idiots!!!" Sephiroth yelled. "Whatever the Chosen One warned us about, it's happening right now!!!"
Sephiroth jumped off the deck and landed on the grass down below. He began to run off into the forest.
"Sephiroth, come back you idiot!!" Cloud demanded. "You don't know what's out there!! You could be killed!!!" he turned his back on the situation and shrugged. "Not that I care....."
"I think we should follow his lead...." Red XIII said in determination. "Whatever's out there, Aeris told us to take care of it..... even if she delivered the message to us through Sephiroth....."
"So Sephiroth was telling the truth the whole time?!" Cloud choked.
"Yes." Red XIII nodded slowly. "I've been watching him since I laid eyes on him, and in that time he has never once looked like he would pose a threat to us."
"Oh yeah??" Cloud grunted. "What makes you so sure of that??"
"I wasn't sure at first myself, but after watching him communicate telepathically with Aeris...." Red XIII shook his head and smiled. "The fact that he's with us means something. I don't know what that meaning is, but I bet Aeris may have something to do with it....."
"Yeah right...." Cloud grunted.
"You won't bring yourself to believe it, will you?" Red XIII said sadly. "Haven't you been watching him? Sephiroth's changed, Cloud, significantly. Right up to the time you pushed him over the limit with your taunts, it was as if he suddenly realised what he was about to do. Weren't you a little confused as to why he backed down?"
"Come to think of it......."
"He wouldn't have hesitated to kill you in the past....." Red XIII said quietly. "Something must have happened to him..... Do you know what he was doing when you were out cold after falling off the roof? Do you?"
"No..."
"He was sitting there, almost as if he was watching over you."
"What?!" Cloud yelled. "Is that true!?"
Yuffie nodded slowly. "I thought he was just sitting there because it was a convenient place to sit, but now that I think about it, yes, it looked like he was watching you......."
"Tifa??"
Tifa nodded. "I thought it was really strange."
"And because of your fuelled hatred towards him, we've been delayed for this mission......"
"RRRgggghhh!!!" Cloud growled. "Bastards!! I should have been warned about this!!"
"Sephiroth did warn you." Tifa nodded. "And maybe he really is here to help us...."
"I don't believe that for a second..... No matter what anyone says!!" Cloud growled. "But I do believe that something's in there, and we have to eliminate it!! Come on!!" Cloud too jumped off the airship and ran off after Sephiroth.
"Wait for meeeeee!!!" Tifa yelled, and jumped down after him.
"I'm coming too!" Red XIII yelled.
"Hey!!!" Cid yelled. "You guys all go! I'm staying here to mind the plane!"
Yuffie realised what was going on.
"Morons!!" Yuffie yelled. "Don't go anywhere without me!!"
"Ahm' gonna kill the lot of you fer' not sayin' anything!!!"
"Stay here, Barret." Cid said quietly.
"Why!?" Barret whined.
"Someone's got to hold the fort down."
Vincent just watched from the Highwind as everyone disappeared into the undergrowth.
"Sephiroth? Siding with us?" he wondered. "I don't believe one word of this. I must talk to Lucrecia about this one......"
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Sephiroth crashed through the forest with the rest of the group hot on his heels.
"You're just going to run right into the line of fire!?" Cloud hollered, now close behind him.
"Sure, why not!?" Sephiroth yelled. "Whatever's up here, The Chosen One wanted us to be here, so let's see what happens!!"
Just then, a large dark red dragon like creature flew over their heads. It concentrated a ball of raw energy in it's mouth, and promptly blasted it into the pit below.
"Is that a Weapon!?" Cloud choked. "But I thought we got rid of them all!!"
"I know, Cloud!!" Tifa yelled. "But that looks like Ruby Weapon!!"
"Weapon.....??" Sephiroth wondered. "What's that??"
"The planet's natural defence system!" Tifa answered.
"Natural defence system......" Sephiroth wondered. "This planet's natural defence system, huh? .....hmm....."
"The planet created it after your mother arrived on the planet!!" Tifa yelled. "So blame your mummy for that monolith creature of destruction up there!!"
"Oh no!!" Sephiroth yelped, suddenly realising what was happening. He ran even faster and took off into the thickest undergrowth of the forest.
"What's up with him?!" Tifa wondered.
"I think.... he's just realised something we all overlooked....." Red XIII answered, as he caught up to them.
"We all overlooked!?" Cloud yelled. "What on earth are you talking about??"
"Something provoked that Weapon to attack...." Red XIII answered. "And I think Sephiroth just realised what it was......"
Just then, Cloud clutched wildly at his head and yelled in pain.
"Cloud!!!" Tifa yelled desperately. "What's wrong?!"
"That noise.......!!" Cloud screamed. "It's.....here!!"
Cloud collapsed to the ground and said no more.
"CLOUD?!"
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Sephiroth tore across the old wooden bridge to The Temple of the Ancients and dove for cover. He crept up behind the old stone wall surrounding the area and began to catch his breath. He could feel his heart racing, both out of exhaustion and anxiety. After sitting there for a few seconds, he made his way quietly around to the archway and had a look.
"Aaaagghh!!" Sephiroth choked as he saw what was below.
In the pit where the Temple of the Ancients used to be, a large dark red creature sat defensively, roaring angrily at something buzzing rapidly around the sky. It let out a pained roar as it was shot in the back by a beam of energy. Just then, the buzzing stopped as the other creature stood still. Sephiroth ducked behind the wall very quickly when he realised what the other creature was.
"What the hell?!" Sephiroth yelped. "Mother?!"
Jenova-SYNTHESIS flew down dangerously close to the Weapon and laughed wickedly.
"Well little creature, I am more than a match for you now that I have evolved far beyond your comprehension, aren't I?" Jenova laughed, moving skilfully out of the way as the Weapon took a swipe at her. It snorted in frustration and let out another almighty roar.
"You can never defeat the Weapon, mother!!" Sephiroth yelled, jumping out in the open. "I won't let you!!"
"Boy?!" Jenova averted her attention to him and looked a little shocked. An evil grin slowly spread on her face. "Well hello there, boy! I didn't expect to see you so soon!"
"Quit it." Sephiroth said through his teeth. "This frivolous small talk does nothing!"
"No boy, the talk isn't frivolous...." Jenova grinned. "You are."
Sephiroth bared his teeth and let out an angry growl.
"That's right boy." Jenova cackled. "Get so angry, you can't control yourself. Let your Safer form awaken from the pitiful creature you really are."
"No Mother!!" Sephiroth howled. "I'm not going to take that kind of abuse from you, not now, not ever again!!"
"Fool." Jenova chuckled lightly and smiled. "You're completely defenceless, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"You can't even wield that weapon on your person...." Jenova laughed, hinting at the Ragnarok by his side. "The blade is too heavy and too short for your abilities. You'll never be able to swing it around accurately."
"Wanna watch me try?!" Sephiroth said coldly, and removed the sword from it's sheath.
"And your power...." Jenova said in mock shame. "What happened to it? Your precious Chosen One has taken it away from you, hasn't she??"
"Grrr...."
"That's right boy. Get angry." Jenova smiled. "I love my boy when he's angry."
"I'm not your son!!!" Sephiroth hollered. "I disown you!!"
"Disown me all you want, boy. You are what you are because of my genes. You can never change that."
"Shut up!" Sephiroth barked. "I don't want to have to listen to your maunderings any longer!! This planet isn't big enough for the both of us!! One of us has to go!!!"
"Well...." Jenova smiled. "I quite agree."
Jenova powered up a small ball of energy, and casually threw it at Sephiroth's feet. Sephiroth yelped as the foundations below him suddenly exploded. He tumbled down into the pit with the Weapon.
"HAAHAAA!!! How easily you fall!" Jenova chuckled.
"Ungh...." Sephiroth grunted as he climbed his way out of the rubble. "I hate you more than anything, mother....."
"You don't really mean that." Jenova said. "Like a parent with any child, you must be punished, because you disobeyed me.... You're just a wayward child hating the authority pushed over you, boy."
"Punishment?" Sephiroth smirked. "You're going to punish me? How are you gonna do that?"
"I'm glad you asked....." Jenova laughed wickedly. "Because it's feeding time for my little pet."
The Weapon turned it's head to face Sephiroth and let out a low growl. It snarled angrily as Sephiroth took a step backwards. Suddenly, it lunged forward and took a bite at Sephiroth's arm. Sephiroth quickly jumped out of the way and bounded to the other side of the pit.
"Dammit.... unarmed again!" Sephiroth growled, cursing his situation. He looked feverishly around for the sword Cloud had given him... it was nowhere to be found.
"Not so strong without your weapon, hey boy?" Jenova cackled. "I'll leave it to the creature to finish you off now.... it gives me a bit of a show to watch before I take over this world!"
"Take over the world?!" Sephiroth yelped. "Are you still trying to do that!?"
"Phase one of the final step of the masterplan....." Jenova smiled evilly. "One last chance boy... will you join me?"
Sephiroth smirked wickedly. "I'd rather die than serve you again."
"That can be arranged......" Jenova smiled. "Very well boy. You had your chance." she hissed, and blasted the monolith creature below her in the eyes, destroying the left one in a second.
"Grrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaauuuugggghh!!"
The Weapon went nuts. It lifted it's head to the sky and squealed in pain. It stood upright and fired a powerful beam of light straight at Jenova. Jenova darted aside as the beam soared past her and off into space. As it blasted the beams repeatedly, it got more and more frustrated with each near miss. The Weapon flew up into the air and decided to physically attack it's opponent.
"Foolish creature..." Jenova laughed as the Weapon snapped at her again and again. "You won't get within an inch of me! I'm too fast for you!" she flew directly above it and whacked it to the ground with one of her tentacles. The Weapon let out a cry as it hit the pit with a dull thud. Sephiroth only managed to get out of it's path in time.
"This creature is an innocent player in this game." Jenova said mockingly. "It has no real reason to begrudge me...."
"Yeah, but I do!!" Sephiroth yelled. He walked up to the Weapon and shook his head in disapproval. "C'mon...." he sighed, shaking his head at it. "You can do better than that."
"And what are you going to do without your power, boy? Yell me to death?!" Jenova teased. "I think not. Ha ha... the spirit is willing, but the mind is weak!"
"Shut up!" Sephiroth barked.
Just then, the Weapon lunged out at Sephiroth, taking a bite at his right arm.
"YAAUUGH!!!"
"Haaaa haaa!!!" Jenova burst out into a fit of laughter. "I wish this moment could last forever!!"
"Now that's quite enough, Weapon!"
The Weapon immediately let go and dropped it's head like a scolded puppy. Sephiroth fell backwards and clutched furiously at the deep wound on his right arm as it began to bleed copiously. "Who said that??"
"I did."
"What?!" Jenova choked as the small girl descended from the sky. She quickly composed herself once again as if to hide her shock. "Well well well.... a Cetra? Who are you, girl?? And why are you here??"
"My name is Aeris." the girl smiled cheekily, as she hovered in the air quietly. "And I'm here to stop you."
"Aeris!?" Sephiroth choked.
Above, Jenova laughed slightly. "And you think a mere Cetra girl like you can stop me??"
"No..." Aeris shrugged casually, shaking her head. "But he can...." she pointed to the pit below.
"What?"
Just then the Weapon surged up from below, catching Jenova off guard. It clamped it's jaws around Jenova's left tentacle and bit down for all it was worth. Shaking vigorously, the Weapon started to fly backwards and struggle for all it was worth as Jenova's tentacle began to tear away from her body.
"Owwwww!!!" Jenova yelled. "You impudent weaklings!! I'll kill you all!!"
Just then, the two beings flew apart in opposite directions. There was a sickening sound as Jenova's tentacle was torn right out of it's socket. The Weapon looked slightly confused at the turn of events and released the arm from it's mouth. It crashed down into the pit, a little distance away from where Sephiroth was.
Down below, Sephiroth just shook his head, as his clothes were splattered. "And this was such a nice shirt too........."
Meanwhile, up above, the Weapon turned on Jenova once more and lunged at her, now blinded by rage. Jenova growled angrily, powered up a large ball of energy and fired at the ever approaching weapon. There was a loud explosion as the ball hit the Weapon, ripping it's head to pieces. Parts of the head flew out in all directions as the headless corpse plunged into the pit below.
Sephiroth just groaned, feeling sick as he was splattered with the creature's blood.
"This is not my day...."
"With this, it's all over." Jenova cackled. "Now, with your planet's defence system depleted, I will be the new ruler of this world. I will leave you all now and prepare for this day. My wounds will soon heal.... and when they do, you'll be the first to know about it, impudent fools!!"
Jenova took off to the sky and disappeared into the distance like a rifle bullet. Just as she left, something long and metallic flew from her grasp and buried itself in what looked like a large round white rock half buried in the dirt below them.
"And don't think I didn't know what that miserable creature was hiding, either!!"
Aeris dropped to the ground and ran over to Sephiroth.
"Are you OK?" she asked, sounding worried.
"I'll be fine...." Sephiroth said indignantly, turning his head away from her.
"You'll be fine after a bite from Weapon?" Aeris mused. "I don't think so...." she took off her jacket and carefully wrapped it around Sephiroth's arm.
"Hmph."
"Oh don't whinge." Aeris smiled. "There you go... you can bleed on that till we get you some help...."
Just then, the others arrived on the scene. Cloud jumped down into the pit and skilfully slid down the side.
"What's the big idea running off like that, Sephiroth!?" Cloud hollered.
"Yeah..." Yuffie yelled, leaping down right next to them. "Do you wanna get yourself killed?!"
Red XIII arrived on the scene, but was not interested in yelling at Sephiroth. Something else had caught his attention.
"Aeris?" Red XIII wondered. "Is that really you?"
"What!?" Cloud jumped, and turned to face her. He had a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"But how can that be....??"
"Oh Cloud...." Aeris said pitifully. "You're confused, aren't you?"
"You're alive....." Cloud said, still dumbstruck. "But..... Sephiroth murdered you, didn't he??"
Aeris nodded. "Uh-huh. And I forgive him."
"But... how are you alive? How is Sephiroth alive?" Cloud wondered. "None of this makes sense...."
"Poor Cloud....." Aeris sighed, lightly caressing the side of his face. "I'll explain this to you.... but not now."
"Is..... is this a dream?" Cloud said shaking his head. "This is all a nightmare, isn't it?? I'll wake up tomorrow morning and none of this will have happened!!"
"Cloud......" Aeris said quietly. "You're not dreaming. This is reality, I'm really here. It's alright, really!"
Tifa slid down the pit and landed at the bottom with a bump. However, no one noticed her as she walked up to the group.
"Aeris!!" Yuffie squealed, and promptly tackled her to the ground with a hug. "It's really you!!"
Aeris let out a giggle. "Of course silly, who did you think it was? Jenova??"
"Goood eee.." Tifa said bitterly, folding her arms. "Aeris is with us once again. Isn't Cloud happy?"
Aeris chuckled as she stood up once more. "I have a story to tell, and I bet you have a million questions to ask...."
"We've got a million things we've got to catch up on....." Cloud said quietly. "Come on, we'll take you up to.... the Highwind! I can keep that promise I made after we left Junon, Aeris!!"
"Huh?"
"Remember that huge plane the Shinra had? Back in Junon when there was a ceremony for Rufus??"
"Yes, I remember that...." Aeris said, thinking. "Oh yes, I asked you if we could ride in that plane some day....."
"Well you can, Aeris!!" Cloud said happily. "We hijacked it, and now it belongs to Cid... you haven't met Cid, have you? Oh, wait, you have. He's a great guy, and then there's Vincent as well, and......."
"Quiet Cloud!" Aeris said sternly.
"Huh?" Cloud said in confusion.
Aeris walked over to the metallic object Jenova had 'dropped' before she flew off.
"What is that, Aeris??" Yuffie wondered as she bounded over to take a look.
Aeris didn't answer. She remained deep in thought as she looked the object over with curiosity. "I've seen this before....."
"Hey!!" Yuffie squealed in delight as she grasped the topmost part of the object. "If I can just....."
"Yuffie!" Tifa scorned. "Leave that alone! We don't know what that is!!"
"I do!!" Yuffie said in glee. "See this part up the top?? It's a cover, and underneath is Materia slots! And I bet there's heaps of Materia inside!!!"
"Hey wait a seco...." Sephiroth fell silent as he realised what the object was. He jumped up and ran over to it. Gripping it with his good arm, he tugged at it and wiggled it, but it wouldn't come out of the rock it was wedged in.
"What is it, Seph?" Yuffie asked.
"My sword.......gggghhh!!!" Sephiroth growled as he struggled to remove the object from the rock.
"Your sword??" Tifa asked. "Jenova had your sword?? Why??"
Sephiroth tugged at the object for all he was worth. With an angry cry, he ripped the sword right out of it's socket and fell backwards to the ground. He smiled at the object as he panted, trying to catch his breath.
"Masamune?" Cloud choked. "What's it doing here!?"
"Mother had it...." Sephiroth said angrily. "The whole time...."
"Can I have the Materia inside your sword, seeing as though I saw it first??" Yuffie asked hopefully.
"No." Sephiroth answered. "It's mine."
"Great." Cloud sighed sarcastically. "Sephiroth has his Masamune back. Now how long will it be before he impales one of us with it?"
Aeris scowled at Cloud's comment. "Hopefully no-one while I'm around, thankyou!"
Sephiroth started to fiddle with the handle.
"What are you doing?" Yuffie asked, tilting her head to one side.
"It's stuck......"
"What is?"
"The cover.... the bit the protects the Materia inside...." Sephiroth said, getting frustrated. "It won't come off!!!"
"Here, gimmie that and let me tr....."
The group fell silent as the ground began to move slightly below them. A muffled roar soon filled the air.
"Aeris?!" Tifa asked. "Just what was Weapon guarding here??"
"As long as Jenova exists, Weapon cannot vanish....."
"Huh?"
"When a Weapon is killed or dies, a new and more powerful one will soon follow..."
"So killing off Ultimate Weapon, Diamond Weapon, and Emerald Weapon was a bad idea?" Red XIII asked.
"Not exactly..." Aeris answered. "They were the planet's test runs before the real thing...."
"Before the real thing???" Cloud choked.
"Yes Cloud...." Aeris nodded. "And we're about to see it right now...." she let out a long sigh. "The Ruby Weapon that Jenova killed just now was the last of the test runs.... below us is the new generation of them, the Hyper Weapons."
"Hyper Weapons!??" Cloud choked.
"Yes. And they're just about to hatch. Sephiroth's sword wasn't buried in a rock - it was stuck in the shell of one of the new Weapons..... That's why Jenova attacked this area just now...."
"So that's what all the noise was about up here??" Red XIII asked. "We were coming, but Cloud started having another seizure, so we had to stay with him."
"Jenova must have done that so you wouldn't attack...."
"Hey, I hate to interrupt this conversation guys!!" Yuffie yelled. "But why are we standing around when a bunch of new Weapons are gonna hatch!?"
"Good question." Aeris nodded. "One that...... whoa!!!"
Just then, the ground buckled as the head of a crimson red Weapon emerged from the earth. It let out a mighty roar before shooting off into the sky.
"Coral Weapon..." Aeris said quietly.
"We have to get out of here!!" Sephiroth barked.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Sephiroth's right!" Cloud yelled. "Otherwise, we're going to die!!"
"Nobody's going to die, Cloud." Aeris said, sounding faraway.
"Are you nuts!?" Cloud yelped. "The ground's crumbling beneath us!!! We gotta get out of here, right now!!"
"No one dies today....." an intense look of concentration appeared on Aeris' face as the party rose into the air and high above the pit.
"Hey!" Yuffie squealed. "Why is the ground down there all of a sudden?!"
"Why are we stuck in mid-air?!" Tifa yelled.
"What's going on?!" Cloud struggled. "Sephiroth, stop this now!!"
"Clueless as always, eh Cloud??" Sephiroth chuckled.
"Sephiroth's not doing this, Cloud." Red XIII answered calmly. "Aeris is."
"Huh...?!"
"Just sit tight and enjoy the show, guys." Aeris smiled. "We won't be able to move anywhere until the disturbance in the Lifestream has settled once again...."
"Disturbance??" Cloud asked.
"Every time a new life is brought into the world, it is blessed with the Lifestream, or Spirit energy."
"Grandfather told us that." Red XIII smiled. "Then, when the time comes for that life to die, they once again return to the planet....."
"Return to the planet??" Sephiroth said. "No no, they either go to the Promised Land, or are imprisoned in that barren wasteland.........."
"Those are the exceptions, Sephiroth." Aeris said. "A darkened soul goes to the barren place, while a life that was full of meaning goes to the Promised Land...... a life that was neither good or bad dispels into the Lifestream once again......."
"But....."
"Quiet Sephiroth." Aeris said, silencing him. "Now Cloud, you were wondering why such a disturbance would occur?"
"Yes." Cloud nodded.
"Alright. Think of a child as a cup, and the spirit energy as a bucket of water." Aeris smiled. "Now, when the child is born, he takes his cup of the Spirit energy."
Cloud nodded.
"But what do you suppose happens if something much larger than a boy is born?" Aeris asked. "A new Weapon is also blessed with Sprit energy, but it needs a great deal more. Imagine how this poor planet is trying to cope, having to give up enough energy for all the ones below us??"
"Oh....." Cloud said, understanding.
*"Sephiroth, isn't it pretty?"*
*"What is?"*
*"Can't you see the Lifestream swelling and diverging below you? Don't you see all the pretty colours?"*
*"Sort of....."*
*"What do you mean?"*
*"I just see lights flickering every so often. I can sense a massive amount of energy being drawn onto a few spots below us, but that's about it."*
*"I guess I'm the only one......."*
*"The 'only one' what?"*
*"A Cetra. I thought because you have many of Jenova's abilities, you were able to see this..... obviously not."*
"What are they doing??" Yuffie asked, looking back and forth between Aeris and Sephiroth, who appeared to be in 'la la land' from her point of view.
"They're talking to each other." Red XIII answered. "They probably don't want us to hear."
"I hope they're not talking about me!!" Yuffie squealed.
*"Hey..... Aeris?"*
*"What's wrong?"*
*"This link.... why was it so hard to maintain when you were trying to tell me to come here?"*
*"That was Jenova's doing....... she tried to bar your mind so we couldn't communicate. Good thing you were so persistent..... if you hadn't concentrated so hard into trying to maintain the link, you would never have understood what I was trying to say. That was some good work, Sephiroth."*
*"Yeah, but it just about killed me." *
*"I know. That's why I didn't try and make you keep it up for long."*
*"So.... why is it so easy to do this now?"*
*"Jenova's probably concentrating all her energy into regenerating herself. She won't be trying to get at you for a while....."*
*"Okay...."*
*"But we must use this form of communication sparingly from now on."*
*"Why is that?"*
*"Because Jenova's probably monitoring this as we speak."*
*"She is??"*
-
*"Aeris??"*
-
-
*"Oh dammit!! You've gone again!!"*
"Heheeehee...." Aeris chuckled as she came back to reality. "Fooled you!"
Sephiroth sighed angrily.
"What?!" Yuffie squealed suddenly. "You were talking about me, weren't you!?"
"Yes, I'm quite sure...." Red XIII sighed. "They are going to focus all their efforts into the art of telepathy, just so they can talk about you."
"I knew it!"
Below them, another Weapon crawled it's way out of the earth. This new one had four legs, and was sunset yellow. After that one had flown off, the roaring had ceased. Aeris slowly lowered the party to the pit once more.
"There goes Sapphire Weapon...." Aeris smiled. "The planet sure knows how to create them....."
"Whoa, that was cool." Yuffie said, still in awe.
"Cool maybe, but I just hope we don't have to fight those things...." Tifa sighed.
"Maybe not...." Aeris shook her head. "Weapon's cause is the same as ours.... they will fight Jenova long before they start picking at us...."
Just then, a mournful whining noise was heard.
Sephiroth jumped up and looked at where it came from. "This was the 'rock' my Masamune was in!"
"The Weapon inside is injured...." Aeris sighed. "Jenova's had a go at it before it even hatched. It probably won't survive."
The poor thing!!" Tifa said, feeling deeply sorry for the creature inside. "Let's help it out!"
"Don't do that!!" Sephiroth scolded. "What if we have to fight it!? What if it beats us??"
"Well..." Cloud said in determination. "If Sephiroth says we should kill it, I say we should help the little fella out."
"Why??" Red XIII asked.
"What if Sephiroth is siding with Jenova, guys??" Cloud asked. "Of course he'll tell us to kill it, it'll present a big problem to him and his mother when they try to take over the planet!!!"
Sephiroth buried his face in his hands and groaned.
"Well what if Sephiroth is on our side??" Tifa asked.
"Then we hatch it out anyway, because it will still present a problem for Jenova." Cloud smiled.
"There is no logic in that...." Red XIII sighed, dropping his head to the ground. "Cloud just wants to openly oppose every one of Sephiroth's suggestions...."
"What do you think, Aeris??" Yuffie asked. "Sephy says you're the Chosen One.... it's your planet...."
"It's everybody's planet, and yet it belongs to no-one. That's the way it should be." Aeris smiled, looking in Sephiroth's direction.
Sephiroth raised both his eyebrows and lowered his head.
"Well what do you think!?" Tifa asked, growing impatient. "Do we hatch the Weapon, or don't we?"
"I think we should hatch him." Aeris said. "Everything deserves a decent chance at life....." she smiled in Sephiroth's direction. A faint red tinge appeared across the bridge of his nose as he looked away suddenly.
"Okay." Cloud nodded, and walked up to the large white egg half buried in the earth. He raised his Ultima Weapon above his head, ready to bring it down.
"No!!" Aeris yelped. "Not so hard!! You'll injure it even further if you do that!!"
"Oh..." Cloud said, as he dropped his Ultima Weapon so it was just a few inches above the surface of the egg. Slowly, he began to tap on it until a small crack appeared on the surface. He tapped harder until a shard of the shell flew off. He then dropped his sword, and started pulling away at the shell, cracking large chunks off it.
"C'mon!!" Cloud barked. "Help me!!"
Yuffie and Tifa ran up to join him, while Aeris stayed back to keep an eye on Sephiroth.
"Now pull!!" Cloud yelled. With their combined strength, they soon ripped a large hole in the egg, big enough for the Weapon inside to crawl out. But it didn't. It just sat there, lying in a dormant state.
"Aeris, something's wrong!" Cloud yelled over his shoulder. "I think it's a lost cause already."
"Here, give me a look...." Aeris said, walking up to it. "C'mon...." she stuck her hand inside the hole and tapped the creature roughly. It immediately began to stir. Aeris stepped back quickly.
"Get out of here." Aeris said sternly. "Weapons are vengeful creatures...."
"You don't need to tell me that!" Cloud yelped as he dove for cover.
Just then, the light blue baby Weapon emerged from it's egg like it was half-asleep. It let out a weak cry before standing up.
"It's barely alive...." Yuffie said, pitying the creature. "It's nowhere near as impressive as it's siblings...."
The light blue Weapon looked down at Aeris and tilted it's head to the side.
"What's the matter??" Aeris wondered.
The Weapon emitted a string of curious sounds. Aeris thought for a bit before responding with a string of curious sounds herself. The Weapon nodded and leaped into the air before finally flying off.
"What did it say??" Red XIII asked.
"You can speak with Weapon?!" Cloud choked. "I never knew that!!"
"Cloud, there's a lot of things you don't know about me.." Aeris smiled warmly. "And there's a lot of things I don't know about me...."
"What did the Weapon say, Aeris??" Yuffie yelped, jumping around. "I wanna know, I wanna know!!!"
"It asked me a question...." Aeris sighed sadly. "One that breaks my heart every time I hear it..."
"And that was....?"
"It asked me what happened to Ruby Weapon...." Aeris sighed. "His father."
"Hmph. Father." Sephiroth grunted. "What a useless title.... I never knew who my father was.... Whenever I asked the Professor, he'd sort of laugh a bit and then say it wasn't important."
Cloud felt a sudden twinge in his gut. "Hey Sephiroth..... I...."
"Tell him later...." Red XIII said quietly. "Now is not the time."
"Well?" Aeris said, standing up. "Shall we go?"
"Yes." Cloud nodded. "I think Barret, Cid and Vincent will be quite happy to see you."
------------------------------------------------
"Whoa!!!" Barret yelled happily. "You're kiddin'!!!"
Aeris just smiled weakly.
"Welcome back, girl." Cid laughed. "Cloud's been talking a $#!+load about you!!"
"Aeris...." Vincent said, deep in thought. "The girl that Cloud has been upset over..... and had all those dreams about......"
"Awww....." Aeris cooed, looking innocently at Cloud. "You've been dreaming about me?"
Cloud blushed, and made no response. Aeris smiled widely. Tifa made a low growl and turned her back on them. Just then, Shera walked up onto the deck.
"Did you all have a good adventure?"
"No!!" Tifa yelped. "We were nearly killed!!"
"We found Aeris though." Yuffie grinned.
"No you didn't. Sephiroth led us to her." Red XIII answered.
Tifa grunted. Sephiroth looked at her with a thoughtful expression.
"Any broken limbs?" Shera smiled.
"Not exactly..." Aeris laughed. "But check out the bite-mark on Sephy's arm. He was bitten by Ruby Weapon."
"What?!" Cloud yelped. "Why didn't it tear your arm off?!"
"The Chosen One stopped it." Sephiroth shrugged.
"The Chosen One??" Aeris raised her eyebrows.
"Isn't that your title??" Sephiroth asked. "What do you want me to call you??"
"I don't know." Aeris shrugged.
Shera quickly hurried to Sephiroth's side and quickly inspected his right arm.
"That's bleeding an awful lot...." Shera said thoughtfully. "You've lost a lot of blood, haven't you?"
"No....."
"Stop kidding yourself." Shera sighed. "Just from looking at the way that wound looks, I can tell you're going to need stitches. You know that, don't you?"
"I will need nothing of the sort." Sephiroth said indignantly, turning his back to them. "I will be quite fine, thankyou."
Shera scowled. "Someone grab him."
Cloud nodded. In the blink of an eye, he clamped one arm around the grey haired man's torso, while the other hand locked Sephiroth's arm behind his back.
"Hey!!" Sephiroth winced in pain. "Stop that!!"
"Get him down in the Infirmary, now!" Shera yelled.
"This isn't fair!!!" Sephiroth yelled, struggling to get out of Cloud's grip.
"Oh be quiet and calm down, Sephiroth." Aeris said. Sephiroth reluctantly did as he was told.
"Now come on Sephy, we'll fix you right up...."
Sephiroth groaned in annoyance. "Don't call me that......"
Tifa and just watched as Shera, Cloud and Aeris escorted a very frustrated Sephiroth down into the plane.
-----------------------------------
"So where to now??" Cid asked, as he downed the last of his tea.
"I don't know." Tifa shrugged. "But I sure wish they'd hurry up in there."
"Ahm' getting really bored..." Barret grumbled as he whacked his arm down on the table. "Next time you go off on an' adventure, don't leave me behind!!"
"I'm going to check on them...." Tifa said, getting up. "More tea, Cid?"
"OK...." Cid nodded, handing her his cup.
Tifa made her way across to the kitchen.
"You've really done this place up, Cid." Tifa smiled. "It's beautiful."
"It was Shera's idea..." Cid smiled. "She wanted to do this place up like a house. That way, whenever we go flying, we can take our home with us. I'd sell my house back in Rocket Town, but I have too much junk there that won't fit on the plane.... like my Thunderbird...."
"Thunderbird?" Tifa wondered.
"It's a car." Cid smiled proudly. "Not as fond of cars as I am planes, but that car is one of the most powerful of them.....Yessiree, the Thunderbird is as good as they come. High powered turbo...."
"Is there any cookies around here??" Tifa butted in, trying to change the subject. Cid would have bored her to tears talking about machines if she had let him.
"Oh yeah.... somewhere." Cid sighed. "I don't know where that woman keeps everything... she's too damn organised for me...."
"I guess that means she's the right sort of person for you then." Tifa smiled as she placed the tin of cookies on the bench. "You're a very disorganised person, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Cid nodded, as he picked his pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Does anyone want one?"
Just then, a very disgruntled Sephiroth slumped into the room, followed by a smiling Aeris and an amused Cloud. Shera appeared at the door, a wide smile on her face.
"Don't carry anything heavy, now." Shera smiled.
Sephiroth groaned as he slumped onto the couch.
"And don't put any undue stress on that arm until the stitches come out....."
"How are you, Sephiroth?" Tifa asked quietly.
"He doesn't want to talk to anybody. He's in a huffy mood." Aeris smiled. "But Shera's done some patching up on him. He's in pain, the poor guy." she said patting him gently on the back. Sephiroth's scowl deepened. He clutched at his upper arm and tried to look as removed as possible.
"Don't be a sooky puss, Sephy." Aeris chided.
"I told you not to call me that." Sephiroth mumbled.
"What did you guys do to him?" Tifa asked.
"Aside from the stitches, and the tetanus shot?" Cloud mused.
"Tetanus shot??"
"He was bitten by a wild animal." Shera shrugged. "It seemed the kindest thing to do."
*"Like hell is it was."*
*"Oh be quiet, Sephy."*
*"Sephy?! I resent that name!!"*
*"Well I think it's cute. It suits you."*
*"I am not 'cute'. "*
*"Yes you are!! I think you're adorable!!"*
*"Uhm... is that the real reason you resurrected me?"*
-
-
*"It is, isn't it?"*
*"Ohhhh be quiet, Sephy!!"*
"I wonder what provoked weapon to attack in the first place...." Cloud wondered.
"What doesn't provoke that f***ing monster to attack? It's bloody psycho!!" Cid said, coughing slightly. He stubbed his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "Damn menthols...."
"Cid dear, you should really give up smoking." Shera sighed. "It's not good for your health...."
"It's not good for your health if you keep hassling me, comprehendé??"
"Yes Cid." Shera sighed, taking a seat next to him. "But I don't want you to die on me...."
"I know what caused Weapon to attack...." Sephiroth spoke up. ".....my mother."
"Jenova!?" Cloud yelped. "How the hell...... I thought we killed her!!"
"She won't die easily." Sephiroth shook his head sadly. "Remember when I discovered my past? I was angry with everyone and everything.... that's when she first spoke to me. She told me of The Promised Land, but I wouldn't listen to her. So I cut off her head.... and she didn't die, did she?"
"No." Cloud sighed. "She impersonated you and had us chasing her halfway around the world..... but that was 5 years later! Why did she wait so long before attacking again?"
"She attacks only when she's fully recovered....." Sephiroth answered. "And just now, she ran off to heal because that monster ripped one of her appendages off...."
"Then we won't see her for another 5 years?"
"No." Sephiroth shook his head. "I fear that a tentacle grows back a lot faster than a head does. But she'll be back, don't you worry....."
"How long do you think we've got?"
"Maybe a month?" Sephiroth guessed. "I wouldn't know. I don't go around in my ultimate form long enough to know how long it takes to repair an injury......"
"Ultimate form??" Cloud wondered. "What are you talking about?"
"My mother.... she can adapt to suit her surroundings. You've probably seen all her forms, Jenova-BIRTH, Jenova-LIFE, Jenova-DEATH.... and her ultimate form, Jenova-SYNTHESIS."
"Yeah, now that I think about it, I kinda wondered why she looked so different every time we fought her." Cloud nodded.
"But you said you have an ultimate form as well??" Red XIII asked.
"Correct." Sephiroth nodded. "You saw that hideous monster, didn't you??"
"What monster?"
"Safer." Sephiroth sighed. "Safer was when I was at my highest..... I don't know what it is inside me.. I don't even know what triggers it off.... but something in my head yells at me to 'boost up'...."
"Boost up?"
"Uh huh." Sephiroth nodded. "It's hard for me to explain..... but I 'evolve' when my anger is at it's absolute peak..... or after being exposed to absorbing copious quantities of raw energy...... then I don't remember much. Instinct takes over...."
"Instinct??"
"It's the nature of the species. Just like birds migrate during seasonal changes and beavers build dams, Jenova's species has it's own built in instincts." Aeris answered. "They come in, take over a planet, settle in, breed, reduce the planet to dust and then move on..... The instinctive thing is to destroy anything in their path that oppose them..... which is what Jenova did to the Cetra."
"Jenova wiped out the Cetra?" Sephiroth asked. "She was the one to appear that opposed the Cetra's journey?"
Aeris nodded.
"So Sephiroth can turn into this 'Safer' thing whenever he feels like??" Cloud wondered.
"No...." Sephiroth smiled suddenly. "I seem to have lost the ability."
Aeris looked thoughtful and leaned back in her chair.
"You seem rather pleased about that." Red XIII spoke up.
Sephiroth nodded. "Of course I am! I have no real desire to take over this planet, I'm a human, aren't I?" Red XIII just nodded. "Sure, I wanted to take over this planet when Jenova manipulated me, but that was when I was under her control."
"See Cloud?" Red XIII said, nodding in his direction. "Sephiroth wishes no more than to help us."
Cloud scowled deeply and stood up. "I still don't buy that!" he yelled. "No matter what any of you say, I still think Sephiroth's up to something....."
"Oh will you just bury the hatchet, Cloud?!" Tifa barked suddenly. "Can't you see that Sephiroth's throwing himself out to us here?"
"So you're trying to say that Sephiroth is a good guy now?" Cloud leered. "Just because he shows up here, leads us to Aeris and takes a bite from a Weapon, you all buy his story!?"
"I understand what you're getting at, Cloud." Red XIII nodded thoughtfully. "But don't forget that it was only under Jenova's rule when he tried to wipe this planet out. Now he's free of all ties from her. I'm sure you can tell the difference in his personality."
"Hell no...."
Sephiroth had to chuckle at that.
"Look Cloud, you did some outrageous things when you were possessed!!" Tifa yelled. "And no-one's berating you over any of it!!"
"Alright then..." Cloud nodded. "But it was Sephiroth who made me do all those things! If I didn't have the willpower to stop him that time Aeris was praying for Holy.... I would've struck her....."
"Holy....." Sephiroth said thoughtfully.
"How do I know that Aeris isn't possessed right this moment!?"
"Cloud!!!" Aeris yelled. "I am not possessed!!"
"No one can possess that girl." Sephiroth said. "She's the Chosen One...."
"She's the Chosen One alright...." Cid spoke up. "I just chose her to take my cup out to the kitchen...."
"Cid!!" Shera yelped as she snatched the empty cup from his grasp. "Don't order around your guests!!"
"So Jenova is alive, huh?" Cloud said thoughtfully. "What are we going to do about her?"
"We can't do anything for now, not until she attacks." Aeris sighed. "Until then, we just have to bide our time......"
"There's one thing you haven't explained Aeris...." Cloud said quietly. "One thing we'd all like to know."
"Uh huh...." Aeris nodded. "What is it?"
"How are you alive? How is Sephiroth alive?! How is Jenova alive?!"
Aeris bit her lip slightly, not knowing where to start.
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To Be Continued......
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Writer's Ramblings:
Next chapter, some explaining to do. Then chaos reigns supreme as the group visits the Gold Saucer. And just when they thought it would be quiet until Jenova shows up, along comes OWARA. What does this cult stand for? Why do they exist?! Find out in Chapter 5!
written by Kat_Aclysm
Rated PG: For violence. Lots of it. And romance. And sexual references. And more swearing from Barret and Cid. But don't ya' just love this stuff!?
DISCLAIMER: Do not think for a second that I am making money out of this, especially if you're one of those lawyer guys who go around suing people for breach of copyright, because I really hate you. Final Fantasy VII Copyright 1997, 1998 Square Co., Ltd. Final Fantasy and SquareSoft are registered trademarks of Square Co., Ltd. SO NYAH!!! (Although the plot is mine)
NOTE: This story contains spoilers. Read Sephiroth's Redemption Chapter 1, 2 and 3 before even attempting to read this one. And finish FFVII because this whole story is a continuation of where it finished. By the way, finish Final Fantasy VII anyway. You owe it to yourself.
Stuff in *'s is spoken in telepathy. Aeris and Sephiroth have conversations like this, and Jenova can also use this ability. Any other Final Fantasy character caught trying to do this should be told off.
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Chapter 4-- Conundrums and Confrontations
"Go left!"
"No, go right!"
The adventure had finally begun. After that unpleasantness with the Infirmary, and the plane refusing to start, the group was finally on their way. Tifa was trying her hardest to navigate the plane, but hadn't quite got the hang of it yet.....
"Aaaah $#!+, woman!" Cid grumbled. "Make up your damn mind!!"
"We'll never get there at this rate...." Vincent sighed.
"Why couldn't Cloud be navigator??" Yuffie grumbled. "Women can't read maps!"
"That's a rather sexist comment, don't you think?" Cloud asked.
"Well I'm a woman..." Yuffie answered. "And I can't read maps!!"
"So what??" Tifa growled. "I'm learning, so shut your face!"
"Pretty bad time to start learnin' huh?" Barret grumbled.
"Now Barret, that was uncalled for." Red XIII said in surprise. "Tifa's really putting some effort into this. We should be encouraging her, not putting her down!"
"Thankyou Red." Tifa nodded.
"Where to now, woman?!" Cid growled. "We just passed over Wutai!!"
"Wutai??" Yuffie said, full of sudden interest. "Hey, that's where I'm from!"
"Yeah, it also means we're waaay off course." Cloud sighed. "Are you sure you don't want me to navigate for a while, Tifa?"
"Yes!!" Cid barked. "Get up here now and make sure that useless woman doesn't navigate my plane ever again!!"
"Cid!" Cloud yelped. "That wasn't very nice!"
"No... he's right..." Tifa said, tears welling up in her eyes. "You navigate, Cloud.... I just.... suck at it....." she let the map flutter to the floor as she ran off down the back of the plane. Everyone watched her in silence.
"Cid!!!" Cloud barked. "You just hurt her feelings!! Thanks a lot!" Cloud stormed off in the direction Tifa had run off in.
"Dammit! Someone go after him!!" Cid yelled. "He's our best navigator!!"
"Okay..." Yuffie nodded.
"Silence!" Red XIII yelled. "No one will be going after either of them! If you just saw the look I did in Cloud's eyes just then....."
"Stupid cat..." Barret grumbled. "I'm not paying up, I tell you...."
"Not now, Barret." Red XIII said, silencing him. "I feel like a cretin betting... on this...."
"What are you betting on??" Cid asked.
"Nothing that concerns you." Red XIII said, dropping his head to the ground.
"No really! What are you betting on, Red??" Yuffie asked. "If you're betting Materia, I'll be in on it!! And then I'll win!!"
"Nothing!!" Red XIII growled. "Now drop the subject."
"Fine...." Yuffie pouted. "Be that way....."
"Hey, what was all that about??" Sephiroth said, walking casually up on the deck. "First, the girl ran past me, then the spiky haired guy...."
"The son of that beloved woman....!!" Vincent said to himself.
"Not much." Red XIII answered. "It's just our pilot here has upset both of them."
"Hey cat!" Cid roared. "I didn't do anythiii......" he stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of what Sephiroth was wearing. "Hey. those are my jeans!! And that's MY Hawaiian shirt, bastard!! Who said you could wear those?!"
"I don't know her name...." Sephiroth shrugged. "That woman you yell at?"
"Excellent description, Sephiroth." Red XIII said bitterly. "That could be any female on this ship right now...."
"Watch your mouth, cat!!" Cid hollered. "Or I'll kick you off this plane and you'll have to walk!!"
"I'd watch my mouth if I were you too, human...." Red XIII growled. "I am this close to taking a chunk out of your arm...."
"Stop arguing!!!" Yuffie yelled finally. "It's tearing us apart!! We're all in this together!!"
"You're right..." Red XIII nodded guiltily, and was silent.
Vincent raised his gun and took fire. Sephiroth only just ducked in time as the bullet sailed past him and punched a hole in the door to the cabin.
"What was that for?!" Sephiroth yelped.
"You must die now, Sephiroth!" Vincent yelled. "For all the pain and suffering you have caused me, and my darling Lucrecia.... and everyone on the entire planet!!"
"Oh no, not you too...." Sephiroth groaned. "Somebody, tell him I'm not here to kill any of you!!!"
"You're not?" Cid said in surprise.
Sephiroth slapped his forehead. "YES!!!"
* "Sephiroth!! Get the group over here now!! There isn't much time left!!"*
"Aeris?!" Sephiroth yelped. He jumped aside as another bullet sailed past him. "Will you stop doing that?!"
"So you mention the name of the Ancient you murdered....." Vincent smirked evilly. "That flaw shall be your undoing!!! I will pursue you to the death, Sephiroth!!"
"Vincent, no!" Red XIII roared, and tripped him up as Sephiroth disappeared down into the live-in area. "You don't understand! Stop this!"
"Leave me be, cat!" Vincent yelled. "Let me avenge my beloved's death!"
"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but stop shooting at him!!"
*"Sephiroth!! Can you even hear me!?"*
*"This is a pretty bad time to talk to me, Chosen One!! I'm being pursued!!"*
*"I can only keep this telepathic link.... like this for..... fff...... go ..... now.....!!"*
*"The Temple of the Ancients, right??"*
*"Correct...... go......now!!"*
*"Gotcha!!"*
"Hey.... whatever your name is!!" Sephiroth yelled, poking his head out the door.
"Who are you addressing?" Red XIII asked. "Me, the man who's trying to shoot you, the gun-armed man, or the pilot??"
"The pilot!!"
"That's Cid." Red XIII answered.
"I don't care what the hell his name is!!!" Sephiroth yelled. "Aeris just said to get over to The Temple of the Ancients right this second!!"
"Will do, bastard!" Cid hollered. "Do you know your way around this ball of dirt??"
"I did bring a Meteor down in the spot where the Lifestream is the most abundant, didn't I? Do you know how long that took to work that out?" Sephiroth sighed. "I think that warrants something...."
"Just get the f**k up here now and navigate!!"
Sephiroth ran across the deck and looked out across the ocean.
"The Temple of the Ancients is that way!!" Sephiroth yelled, pointing in a south-west direction. "But you've got a long way to go!"
"Don't worry!" Cid yelled. "I'll just put this thing into hyper gear!" he flicked a switch on the control panel and laughed in glee as the engines roared into overdrive.
"Oka..... aaaaugh!!" Sephiroth moved off to the side as another bullet sailed off him. It ricocheted off the metal railing and flew off into the distance. "Stop shooting me, I said!!"
"Don't shoot the bastard, Vincent!!" Cid yelled angrily.
"Why not?!" Vincent yelled back.
"Because he's a good navigator!!" Cid laughed. "I give a rat's ass what you do with him after we land!!"
"Gee, thanks a lot." Sephiroth said sarcastically.
--------------------------------------
"Tifa!!"
"Get lost!!" Tifa yelled. "I don't want to speak to anybody!!"
"But it's just me, Tifa. It's just Cloud." Cloud sighed. "Please open this door."
"I especially don't wanna talk to you!!"
"Why not? " Cloud asked, upset. "I've done nothing wrong....."
"You've done everything wrong!!" Tifa wailed. "Now go away!!"
"What have I done? "
Tifa remained silent.
"How can I help you if I don't know what I've done?" Cloud asked. "Just let me in and we'll talk about it Tifa...."
Tifa remained silent.
"Come on...." Cloud sighed. "I'm worried about you."
"I know that...." Tifa said.
The next thing Cloud heard on the other side of the door was an angry sigh, a click as the lock was undone, and the door swung open. Tifa stood there, one hand on the doorknob, the other on the frame. Her eyes were red from crying.
"There. You got me to open the door. Are you happy now?"
"Can... can I come in?" Cloud asked cautiously.
"Whatever...." Tifa snorted.
As Cloud walked into the room, Tifa slammed the door behind him and flung herself onto the bed once more.
"Hey. This is a pretty nice room here...." Cloud said, trying to start some conversation.
"It's a spare room Shera said I could stay in for as long as we're on the ship...."
Cloud sat down on the bed, and looked at Tifa with a worried expression.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Tifa said cruelly.
"I'm concerned. I want to know what's wrong with you." Cloud said kindly. "And what I've done wrong... whatever it is, I'm really sorry I've upset you over it...."
"Oh Cloud...." Tifa said as she began to cry again. "It's not you...."
Tifa flung herself against him and began to cry on his shoulder. Cloud put an arm around her and began to comfort her.
"What's bugging you Tifa?" Cloud asked quietly.
"It's... nothing..." Tifa said through her sobs.
Cloud let Tifa calm down for a few minutes before talking again.
"You can't tell me it's nothing...." he smiled weakly. "Because I know better. No-one cries for no reason....."
"Yeah...." Tifa sobbed. "It's just..... just...."
"Just what?"
"Cid..... and Yuffie...."
"Cid and Yuffie?" Cloud wondered. "What did they do?"
"Yuffie.... said that... girls can't read maps...." Tifa sobbed. "And....Cid... he called me useless...." she broke down in tears.
"Hey hey... It's alright." Cloud said, trying to soothe her cries. "You're not useless...."
"Oh yeah??" Tifa cried softly. "Then why did.... he say I was?"
"Cid says stuff like that to everybody." Cloud sighed. "Even his own wife. But he really doesn't mean it, you know."
"Do you... think so?"
"Hey Tifa...." Cloud smiled. "I know so. Cid's actually an OK guy... when he isn't pissed off about something.... and he's an awesome snowboarder....."
"Maybe so..." Tifa sobbed. "But he still upset me...."
"I know Tifa, I know..." Cloud said rubbing her back softly. "His comments can be pretty vicious...."
"Uh-huh..." Tifa nodded.
"So, do you want to know what I do?"
"What?"
"I ignore it." Cloud said quietly. "Every damn insulting word of it. Try it, it works."
"Okay..." Tifa sighed.
"Yeah, you just do that." Cloud smiled.
"Cloud...?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks....." Tifa said, wrapping her arms around him. "You're the kindest person I know...."
Cloud smiled before wrapping his arms around her. "You're pretty sweet yourself, you know that?"
Cloud said kindly. "And thanks for this morning. I would have probably been sick all day if I had to endure eating that oatmeal...."
Tifa started giggling. "You're welcome...."
Cloud sighed happily as Tifa cuddled him.
"You had no-one's shoulder to cry on then, didn't you?"
"Huh?" Cloud said suddenly as they broke apart once more.
"When Sephiroth murdered Aeris...." Tifa sighed. "I know it really upsets you...."
".....Yeah." Cloud nodded. "And Red wonders why I hate him so much...."
"When we first came home, you used to cry in your sleep..." Tifa said quietly. "I would sit by you and try and calm you down...."
".....you did?"
"Uh-huh..." Tifa nodded. "It used to work too...."
Cloud let out a long sigh. "I wish I knew what he was up to now...."
"Who? Sephiroth?"
"Yeah. He hasn't taken any swipes at us, and claims that he speaks to Aeris.... and now Jenova......" Cloud nodded. "I don't know what to make of it all...."
"Well I'll help you...." Tifa said. "I'll ask Red about what he thinks...."
"He's even got us going to The Temple of the Ancients! What if something really big is there, and he's just trying to reel us into a trap??"
"I don't know, Cloud...." Tifa sighed. "I don't know...."
Just then, there was a loud knocking at the door.
"Yo guys!?" Yuffie yelled from the other side of the door. "We've arrived!!"
"Okay, thanks Yuffie!" Cloud yelled.
"What's going on in there??" Yuffie asked, trying the door handle. It wouldn't open. Tifa had locked it behind her when Cloud stepped into the room. "Hey, you guys doing anything personal in there, are you?!"
"NO!!!" Cloud and Tifa yelled in unison.
"Oh my god....." Yuffie said in disbelief as she began to disappear down the hall. "I hope they're not doing what I think they're doing....."
"Yuffie!!" Cloud roared, and swung the door open. "I'm going to murder you, you sick minded little...."
Yuffie screamed as Cloud ran off after her down the hall. Tifa just stood at the door entrance in shock. Just then, Shera walked past and looked at Tifa with a knowing grin on her face.
"Did you two lovebirds have fun?"
"CLOUD AND I ARE NOT AN ITEM!!! I'm gonna kill that Yuffie bitch!!" Tifa hollered, and ran off after Cloud and Yuffie.
Shera chuckled as she walked into the room and began to tidy up Tifa's bed.
"Aaahh youth......"
----------------------------------------
"Well, this is it...." Red XIII said quietly as the plane landed in the field near The Temple of the Ancients.
"Hopefully, nothing will be waiting to ambush us....." Cid leered accusingly at Sephiroth, who just shrugged in response.
"Well, lead the way...." Red XIII said.
"How can I??" Sephiroth growled. "I don't even have a sword!!"
Just then, Yuffie ran past, followed by Cloud hot on her heels and Tifa. Yuffie stopped on the deck and burst out into a fit of giggles.
"Heeee heeheeheehee!!!!" Yuffie giggled. "You two can be sooo defensive!!"
"Yuffie!" Red XIII said angrily. "You disturbed them, didn't you?"
"Lucky thing I did...." Yuffie giggled. "Or there'd be baby Clouds everywhere nine months later!!"
"Yuffie!!!" Cloud roared. "How dare you even suggest I did something like that with Tifa!! I'm not even married!!!"
"It doesn't matter..." Yuffie shrugged. "You're a man, she's a woman.... you two were alone.... fill in the blanks!"
"Yuffie!!" Tifa yelled. "Cloud and I would never do that!!"
"At least.....not yet." Red XIII said quietly.
"Red!!!" Cloud howled, turning a similar shade of red to the cat. "Don't you start now!!"
"I'm sorry." Red XIII said apologetically, and hung his head. "Please forgive me...."
"Hey!!" Sephiroth yelled, making everyone be silent. "I haven't got a weapon. So how am I supposed to lead the way into The Temple of The Ancients??"
"Yeah, that's a good question." Yuffie nodded. "Cloud? Haven't you got a whole stack of old swords somewhere on this ship? I remember you throwing them into the cupboard after you got your prized Ultima Weapon."
Cloud just grunted and shook his head. "I'm not lending Sephiroth any of those. They're like friends to me."
"Gee, you must keep some weird company then....."
"Oh, you're the one those things belong to in my cargo hold." Shera chuckled. "I was wondering whose weapons they were. You see, Cid has a whole bunch of spears in there, but I had no idea for the life of me who owned all the other things....."
"Go on Cloud." Yuffie said persuasively. "Lend him one of your swords. He'll give it back."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"I trust him." Yuffie smiled. "He'll give it back, I promise. Just let him use one of your swords, Cloud."
"No." Cloud said, shaking his head. "And why have you suddenly become one of Sephiroth's advocates?"
"I have my reasons....." Yuffie smiled wickedly. "Now lend him one of your swords."
"No."
"Pleeeezzzzeee!?"
"Oh alright, just shut up already!!" Cloud yelled angrily, reluctantly deciding to give in to Yuffie's pleading.
"Yay!"
Cloud stormed over to the cargo hold in the plane and pulled the door open. He returned a few minutes later holding a large sword.
"Take this..." Cloud grunted, tossing it to Sephiroth. He caught it neatly.
"What is this?!" Sephiroth complained. "The blade is too short..... and way too heavy! How are you supposed to slash something efficiently with this?!"
"It's a Ragnarok...." Cloud answered. "It's the weapon with the lightest blade, but it has the most cutting power besides my ultimate weapon. It was the last one I fought with before I got my Ultima Weapon...."
Just then, a loud roar followed by an deafening explosion was heard.
"What the hell was that?!" Cloud yelled.
"It sounded like it came from the Temple of the Ancients....." Tifa said quietly.
"We might be too late, you idiots!!!" Sephiroth yelled. "Whatever the Chosen One warned us about, it's happening right now!!!"
Sephiroth jumped off the deck and landed on the grass down below. He began to run off into the forest.
"Sephiroth, come back you idiot!!" Cloud demanded. "You don't know what's out there!! You could be killed!!!" he turned his back on the situation and shrugged. "Not that I care....."
"I think we should follow his lead...." Red XIII said in determination. "Whatever's out there, Aeris told us to take care of it..... even if she delivered the message to us through Sephiroth....."
"So Sephiroth was telling the truth the whole time?!" Cloud choked.
"Yes." Red XIII nodded slowly. "I've been watching him since I laid eyes on him, and in that time he has never once looked like he would pose a threat to us."
"Oh yeah??" Cloud grunted. "What makes you so sure of that??"
"I wasn't sure at first myself, but after watching him communicate telepathically with Aeris...." Red XIII shook his head and smiled. "The fact that he's with us means something. I don't know what that meaning is, but I bet Aeris may have something to do with it....."
"Yeah right...." Cloud grunted.
"You won't bring yourself to believe it, will you?" Red XIII said sadly. "Haven't you been watching him? Sephiroth's changed, Cloud, significantly. Right up to the time you pushed him over the limit with your taunts, it was as if he suddenly realised what he was about to do. Weren't you a little confused as to why he backed down?"
"Come to think of it......."
"He wouldn't have hesitated to kill you in the past....." Red XIII said quietly. "Something must have happened to him..... Do you know what he was doing when you were out cold after falling off the roof? Do you?"
"No..."
"He was sitting there, almost as if he was watching over you."
"What?!" Cloud yelled. "Is that true!?"
Yuffie nodded slowly. "I thought he was just sitting there because it was a convenient place to sit, but now that I think about it, yes, it looked like he was watching you......."
"Tifa??"
Tifa nodded. "I thought it was really strange."
"And because of your fuelled hatred towards him, we've been delayed for this mission......"
"RRRgggghhh!!!" Cloud growled. "Bastards!! I should have been warned about this!!"
"Sephiroth did warn you." Tifa nodded. "And maybe he really is here to help us...."
"I don't believe that for a second..... No matter what anyone says!!" Cloud growled. "But I do believe that something's in there, and we have to eliminate it!! Come on!!" Cloud too jumped off the airship and ran off after Sephiroth.
"Wait for meeeeee!!!" Tifa yelled, and jumped down after him.
"I'm coming too!" Red XIII yelled.
"Hey!!!" Cid yelled. "You guys all go! I'm staying here to mind the plane!"
Yuffie realised what was going on.
"Morons!!" Yuffie yelled. "Don't go anywhere without me!!"
"Ahm' gonna kill the lot of you fer' not sayin' anything!!!"
"Stay here, Barret." Cid said quietly.
"Why!?" Barret whined.
"Someone's got to hold the fort down."
Vincent just watched from the Highwind as everyone disappeared into the undergrowth.
"Sephiroth? Siding with us?" he wondered. "I don't believe one word of this. I must talk to Lucrecia about this one......"
-------------------------------------
Sephiroth crashed through the forest with the rest of the group hot on his heels.
"You're just going to run right into the line of fire!?" Cloud hollered, now close behind him.
"Sure, why not!?" Sephiroth yelled. "Whatever's up here, The Chosen One wanted us to be here, so let's see what happens!!"
Just then, a large dark red dragon like creature flew over their heads. It concentrated a ball of raw energy in it's mouth, and promptly blasted it into the pit below.
"Is that a Weapon!?" Cloud choked. "But I thought we got rid of them all!!"
"I know, Cloud!!" Tifa yelled. "But that looks like Ruby Weapon!!"
"Weapon.....??" Sephiroth wondered. "What's that??"
"The planet's natural defence system!" Tifa answered.
"Natural defence system......" Sephiroth wondered. "This planet's natural defence system, huh? .....hmm....."
"The planet created it after your mother arrived on the planet!!" Tifa yelled. "So blame your mummy for that monolith creature of destruction up there!!"
"Oh no!!" Sephiroth yelped, suddenly realising what was happening. He ran even faster and took off into the thickest undergrowth of the forest.
"What's up with him?!" Tifa wondered.
"I think.... he's just realised something we all overlooked....." Red XIII answered, as he caught up to them.
"We all overlooked!?" Cloud yelled. "What on earth are you talking about??"
"Something provoked that Weapon to attack...." Red XIII answered. "And I think Sephiroth just realised what it was......"
Just then, Cloud clutched wildly at his head and yelled in pain.
"Cloud!!!" Tifa yelled desperately. "What's wrong?!"
"That noise.......!!" Cloud screamed. "It's.....here!!"
Cloud collapsed to the ground and said no more.
"CLOUD?!"
-----------------------------------------
Sephiroth tore across the old wooden bridge to The Temple of the Ancients and dove for cover. He crept up behind the old stone wall surrounding the area and began to catch his breath. He could feel his heart racing, both out of exhaustion and anxiety. After sitting there for a few seconds, he made his way quietly around to the archway and had a look.
"Aaaagghh!!" Sephiroth choked as he saw what was below.
In the pit where the Temple of the Ancients used to be, a large dark red creature sat defensively, roaring angrily at something buzzing rapidly around the sky. It let out a pained roar as it was shot in the back by a beam of energy. Just then, the buzzing stopped as the other creature stood still. Sephiroth ducked behind the wall very quickly when he realised what the other creature was.
"What the hell?!" Sephiroth yelped. "Mother?!"
Jenova-SYNTHESIS flew down dangerously close to the Weapon and laughed wickedly.
"Well little creature, I am more than a match for you now that I have evolved far beyond your comprehension, aren't I?" Jenova laughed, moving skilfully out of the way as the Weapon took a swipe at her. It snorted in frustration and let out another almighty roar.
"You can never defeat the Weapon, mother!!" Sephiroth yelled, jumping out in the open. "I won't let you!!"
"Boy?!" Jenova averted her attention to him and looked a little shocked. An evil grin slowly spread on her face. "Well hello there, boy! I didn't expect to see you so soon!"
"Quit it." Sephiroth said through his teeth. "This frivolous small talk does nothing!"
"No boy, the talk isn't frivolous...." Jenova grinned. "You are."
Sephiroth bared his teeth and let out an angry growl.
"That's right boy." Jenova cackled. "Get so angry, you can't control yourself. Let your Safer form awaken from the pitiful creature you really are."
"No Mother!!" Sephiroth howled. "I'm not going to take that kind of abuse from you, not now, not ever again!!"
"Fool." Jenova chuckled lightly and smiled. "You're completely defenceless, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"You can't even wield that weapon on your person...." Jenova laughed, hinting at the Ragnarok by his side. "The blade is too heavy and too short for your abilities. You'll never be able to swing it around accurately."
"Wanna watch me try?!" Sephiroth said coldly, and removed the sword from it's sheath.
"And your power...." Jenova said in mock shame. "What happened to it? Your precious Chosen One has taken it away from you, hasn't she??"
"Grrr...."
"That's right boy. Get angry." Jenova smiled. "I love my boy when he's angry."
"I'm not your son!!!" Sephiroth hollered. "I disown you!!"
"Disown me all you want, boy. You are what you are because of my genes. You can never change that."
"Shut up!" Sephiroth barked. "I don't want to have to listen to your maunderings any longer!! This planet isn't big enough for the both of us!! One of us has to go!!!"
"Well...." Jenova smiled. "I quite agree."
Jenova powered up a small ball of energy, and casually threw it at Sephiroth's feet. Sephiroth yelped as the foundations below him suddenly exploded. He tumbled down into the pit with the Weapon.
"HAAHAAA!!! How easily you fall!" Jenova chuckled.
"Ungh...." Sephiroth grunted as he climbed his way out of the rubble. "I hate you more than anything, mother....."
"You don't really mean that." Jenova said. "Like a parent with any child, you must be punished, because you disobeyed me.... You're just a wayward child hating the authority pushed over you, boy."
"Punishment?" Sephiroth smirked. "You're going to punish me? How are you gonna do that?"
"I'm glad you asked....." Jenova laughed wickedly. "Because it's feeding time for my little pet."
The Weapon turned it's head to face Sephiroth and let out a low growl. It snarled angrily as Sephiroth took a step backwards. Suddenly, it lunged forward and took a bite at Sephiroth's arm. Sephiroth quickly jumped out of the way and bounded to the other side of the pit.
"Dammit.... unarmed again!" Sephiroth growled, cursing his situation. He looked feverishly around for the sword Cloud had given him... it was nowhere to be found.
"Not so strong without your weapon, hey boy?" Jenova cackled. "I'll leave it to the creature to finish you off now.... it gives me a bit of a show to watch before I take over this world!"
"Take over the world?!" Sephiroth yelped. "Are you still trying to do that!?"
"Phase one of the final step of the masterplan....." Jenova smiled evilly. "One last chance boy... will you join me?"
Sephiroth smirked wickedly. "I'd rather die than serve you again."
"That can be arranged......" Jenova smiled. "Very well boy. You had your chance." she hissed, and blasted the monolith creature below her in the eyes, destroying the left one in a second.
"Grrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaauuuugggghh!!"
The Weapon went nuts. It lifted it's head to the sky and squealed in pain. It stood upright and fired a powerful beam of light straight at Jenova. Jenova darted aside as the beam soared past her and off into space. As it blasted the beams repeatedly, it got more and more frustrated with each near miss. The Weapon flew up into the air and decided to physically attack it's opponent.
"Foolish creature..." Jenova laughed as the Weapon snapped at her again and again. "You won't get within an inch of me! I'm too fast for you!" she flew directly above it and whacked it to the ground with one of her tentacles. The Weapon let out a cry as it hit the pit with a dull thud. Sephiroth only managed to get out of it's path in time.
"This creature is an innocent player in this game." Jenova said mockingly. "It has no real reason to begrudge me...."
"Yeah, but I do!!" Sephiroth yelled. He walked up to the Weapon and shook his head in disapproval. "C'mon...." he sighed, shaking his head at it. "You can do better than that."
"And what are you going to do without your power, boy? Yell me to death?!" Jenova teased. "I think not. Ha ha... the spirit is willing, but the mind is weak!"
"Shut up!" Sephiroth barked.
Just then, the Weapon lunged out at Sephiroth, taking a bite at his right arm.
"YAAUUGH!!!"
"Haaaa haaa!!!" Jenova burst out into a fit of laughter. "I wish this moment could last forever!!"
"Now that's quite enough, Weapon!"
The Weapon immediately let go and dropped it's head like a scolded puppy. Sephiroth fell backwards and clutched furiously at the deep wound on his right arm as it began to bleed copiously. "Who said that??"
"I did."
"What?!" Jenova choked as the small girl descended from the sky. She quickly composed herself once again as if to hide her shock. "Well well well.... a Cetra? Who are you, girl?? And why are you here??"
"My name is Aeris." the girl smiled cheekily, as she hovered in the air quietly. "And I'm here to stop you."
"Aeris!?" Sephiroth choked.
Above, Jenova laughed slightly. "And you think a mere Cetra girl like you can stop me??"
"No..." Aeris shrugged casually, shaking her head. "But he can...." she pointed to the pit below.
"What?"
Just then the Weapon surged up from below, catching Jenova off guard. It clamped it's jaws around Jenova's left tentacle and bit down for all it was worth. Shaking vigorously, the Weapon started to fly backwards and struggle for all it was worth as Jenova's tentacle began to tear away from her body.
"Owwwww!!!" Jenova yelled. "You impudent weaklings!! I'll kill you all!!"
Just then, the two beings flew apart in opposite directions. There was a sickening sound as Jenova's tentacle was torn right out of it's socket. The Weapon looked slightly confused at the turn of events and released the arm from it's mouth. It crashed down into the pit, a little distance away from where Sephiroth was.
Down below, Sephiroth just shook his head, as his clothes were splattered. "And this was such a nice shirt too........."
Meanwhile, up above, the Weapon turned on Jenova once more and lunged at her, now blinded by rage. Jenova growled angrily, powered up a large ball of energy and fired at the ever approaching weapon. There was a loud explosion as the ball hit the Weapon, ripping it's head to pieces. Parts of the head flew out in all directions as the headless corpse plunged into the pit below.
Sephiroth just groaned, feeling sick as he was splattered with the creature's blood.
"This is not my day...."
"With this, it's all over." Jenova cackled. "Now, with your planet's defence system depleted, I will be the new ruler of this world. I will leave you all now and prepare for this day. My wounds will soon heal.... and when they do, you'll be the first to know about it, impudent fools!!"
Jenova took off to the sky and disappeared into the distance like a rifle bullet. Just as she left, something long and metallic flew from her grasp and buried itself in what looked like a large round white rock half buried in the dirt below them.
"And don't think I didn't know what that miserable creature was hiding, either!!"
Aeris dropped to the ground and ran over to Sephiroth.
"Are you OK?" she asked, sounding worried.
"I'll be fine...." Sephiroth said indignantly, turning his head away from her.
"You'll be fine after a bite from Weapon?" Aeris mused. "I don't think so...." she took off her jacket and carefully wrapped it around Sephiroth's arm.
"Hmph."
"Oh don't whinge." Aeris smiled. "There you go... you can bleed on that till we get you some help...."
Just then, the others arrived on the scene. Cloud jumped down into the pit and skilfully slid down the side.
"What's the big idea running off like that, Sephiroth!?" Cloud hollered.
"Yeah..." Yuffie yelled, leaping down right next to them. "Do you wanna get yourself killed?!"
Red XIII arrived on the scene, but was not interested in yelling at Sephiroth. Something else had caught his attention.
"Aeris?" Red XIII wondered. "Is that really you?"
"What!?" Cloud jumped, and turned to face her. He had a look of utter disbelief on his face.
"But how can that be....??"
"Oh Cloud...." Aeris said pitifully. "You're confused, aren't you?"
"You're alive....." Cloud said, still dumbstruck. "But..... Sephiroth murdered you, didn't he??"
Aeris nodded. "Uh-huh. And I forgive him."
"But... how are you alive? How is Sephiroth alive?" Cloud wondered. "None of this makes sense...."
"Poor Cloud....." Aeris sighed, lightly caressing the side of his face. "I'll explain this to you.... but not now."
"Is..... is this a dream?" Cloud said shaking his head. "This is all a nightmare, isn't it?? I'll wake up tomorrow morning and none of this will have happened!!"
"Cloud......" Aeris said quietly. "You're not dreaming. This is reality, I'm really here. It's alright, really!"
Tifa slid down the pit and landed at the bottom with a bump. However, no one noticed her as she walked up to the group.
"Aeris!!" Yuffie squealed, and promptly tackled her to the ground with a hug. "It's really you!!"
Aeris let out a giggle. "Of course silly, who did you think it was? Jenova??"
"Goood eee.." Tifa said bitterly, folding her arms. "Aeris is with us once again. Isn't Cloud happy?"
Aeris chuckled as she stood up once more. "I have a story to tell, and I bet you have a million questions to ask...."
"We've got a million things we've got to catch up on....." Cloud said quietly. "Come on, we'll take you up to.... the Highwind! I can keep that promise I made after we left Junon, Aeris!!"
"Huh?"
"Remember that huge plane the Shinra had? Back in Junon when there was a ceremony for Rufus??"
"Yes, I remember that...." Aeris said, thinking. "Oh yes, I asked you if we could ride in that plane some day....."
"Well you can, Aeris!!" Cloud said happily. "We hijacked it, and now it belongs to Cid... you haven't met Cid, have you? Oh, wait, you have. He's a great guy, and then there's Vincent as well, and......."
"Quiet Cloud!" Aeris said sternly.
"Huh?" Cloud said in confusion.
Aeris walked over to the metallic object Jenova had 'dropped' before she flew off.
"What is that, Aeris??" Yuffie wondered as she bounded over to take a look.
Aeris didn't answer. She remained deep in thought as she looked the object over with curiosity. "I've seen this before....."
"Hey!!" Yuffie squealed in delight as she grasped the topmost part of the object. "If I can just....."
"Yuffie!" Tifa scorned. "Leave that alone! We don't know what that is!!"
"I do!!" Yuffie said in glee. "See this part up the top?? It's a cover, and underneath is Materia slots! And I bet there's heaps of Materia inside!!!"
"Hey wait a seco...." Sephiroth fell silent as he realised what the object was. He jumped up and ran over to it. Gripping it with his good arm, he tugged at it and wiggled it, but it wouldn't come out of the rock it was wedged in.
"What is it, Seph?" Yuffie asked.
"My sword.......gggghhh!!!" Sephiroth growled as he struggled to remove the object from the rock.
"Your sword??" Tifa asked. "Jenova had your sword?? Why??"
Sephiroth tugged at the object for all he was worth. With an angry cry, he ripped the sword right out of it's socket and fell backwards to the ground. He smiled at the object as he panted, trying to catch his breath.
"Masamune?" Cloud choked. "What's it doing here!?"
"Mother had it...." Sephiroth said angrily. "The whole time...."
"Can I have the Materia inside your sword, seeing as though I saw it first??" Yuffie asked hopefully.
"No." Sephiroth answered. "It's mine."
"Great." Cloud sighed sarcastically. "Sephiroth has his Masamune back. Now how long will it be before he impales one of us with it?"
Aeris scowled at Cloud's comment. "Hopefully no-one while I'm around, thankyou!"
Sephiroth started to fiddle with the handle.
"What are you doing?" Yuffie asked, tilting her head to one side.
"It's stuck......"
"What is?"
"The cover.... the bit the protects the Materia inside...." Sephiroth said, getting frustrated. "It won't come off!!!"
"Here, gimmie that and let me tr....."
The group fell silent as the ground began to move slightly below them. A muffled roar soon filled the air.
"Aeris?!" Tifa asked. "Just what was Weapon guarding here??"
"As long as Jenova exists, Weapon cannot vanish....."
"Huh?"
"When a Weapon is killed or dies, a new and more powerful one will soon follow..."
"So killing off Ultimate Weapon, Diamond Weapon, and Emerald Weapon was a bad idea?" Red XIII asked.
"Not exactly..." Aeris answered. "They were the planet's test runs before the real thing...."
"Before the real thing???" Cloud choked.
"Yes Cloud...." Aeris nodded. "And we're about to see it right now...." she let out a long sigh. "The Ruby Weapon that Jenova killed just now was the last of the test runs.... below us is the new generation of them, the Hyper Weapons."
"Hyper Weapons!??" Cloud choked.
"Yes. And they're just about to hatch. Sephiroth's sword wasn't buried in a rock - it was stuck in the shell of one of the new Weapons..... That's why Jenova attacked this area just now...."
"So that's what all the noise was about up here??" Red XIII asked. "We were coming, but Cloud started having another seizure, so we had to stay with him."
"Jenova must have done that so you wouldn't attack...."
"Hey, I hate to interrupt this conversation guys!!" Yuffie yelled. "But why are we standing around when a bunch of new Weapons are gonna hatch!?"
"Good question." Aeris nodded. "One that...... whoa!!!"
Just then, the ground buckled as the head of a crimson red Weapon emerged from the earth. It let out a mighty roar before shooting off into the sky.
"Coral Weapon..." Aeris said quietly.
"We have to get out of here!!" Sephiroth barked.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Sephiroth's right!" Cloud yelled. "Otherwise, we're going to die!!"
"Nobody's going to die, Cloud." Aeris said, sounding faraway.
"Are you nuts!?" Cloud yelped. "The ground's crumbling beneath us!!! We gotta get out of here, right now!!"
"No one dies today....." an intense look of concentration appeared on Aeris' face as the party rose into the air and high above the pit.
"Hey!" Yuffie squealed. "Why is the ground down there all of a sudden?!"
"Why are we stuck in mid-air?!" Tifa yelled.
"What's going on?!" Cloud struggled. "Sephiroth, stop this now!!"
"Clueless as always, eh Cloud??" Sephiroth chuckled.
"Sephiroth's not doing this, Cloud." Red XIII answered calmly. "Aeris is."
"Huh...?!"
"Just sit tight and enjoy the show, guys." Aeris smiled. "We won't be able to move anywhere until the disturbance in the Lifestream has settled once again...."
"Disturbance??" Cloud asked.
"Every time a new life is brought into the world, it is blessed with the Lifestream, or Spirit energy."
"Grandfather told us that." Red XIII smiled. "Then, when the time comes for that life to die, they once again return to the planet....."
"Return to the planet??" Sephiroth said. "No no, they either go to the Promised Land, or are imprisoned in that barren wasteland.........."
"Those are the exceptions, Sephiroth." Aeris said. "A darkened soul goes to the barren place, while a life that was full of meaning goes to the Promised Land...... a life that was neither good or bad dispels into the Lifestream once again......."
"But....."
"Quiet Sephiroth." Aeris said, silencing him. "Now Cloud, you were wondering why such a disturbance would occur?"
"Yes." Cloud nodded.
"Alright. Think of a child as a cup, and the spirit energy as a bucket of water." Aeris smiled. "Now, when the child is born, he takes his cup of the Spirit energy."
Cloud nodded.
"But what do you suppose happens if something much larger than a boy is born?" Aeris asked. "A new Weapon is also blessed with Sprit energy, but it needs a great deal more. Imagine how this poor planet is trying to cope, having to give up enough energy for all the ones below us??"
"Oh....." Cloud said, understanding.
*"Sephiroth, isn't it pretty?"*
*"What is?"*
*"Can't you see the Lifestream swelling and diverging below you? Don't you see all the pretty colours?"*
*"Sort of....."*
*"What do you mean?"*
*"I just see lights flickering every so often. I can sense a massive amount of energy being drawn onto a few spots below us, but that's about it."*
*"I guess I'm the only one......."*
*"The 'only one' what?"*
*"A Cetra. I thought because you have many of Jenova's abilities, you were able to see this..... obviously not."*
"What are they doing??" Yuffie asked, looking back and forth between Aeris and Sephiroth, who appeared to be in 'la la land' from her point of view.
"They're talking to each other." Red XIII answered. "They probably don't want us to hear."
"I hope they're not talking about me!!" Yuffie squealed.
*"Hey..... Aeris?"*
*"What's wrong?"*
*"This link.... why was it so hard to maintain when you were trying to tell me to come here?"*
*"That was Jenova's doing....... she tried to bar your mind so we couldn't communicate. Good thing you were so persistent..... if you hadn't concentrated so hard into trying to maintain the link, you would never have understood what I was trying to say. That was some good work, Sephiroth."*
*"Yeah, but it just about killed me." *
*"I know. That's why I didn't try and make you keep it up for long."*
*"So.... why is it so easy to do this now?"*
*"Jenova's probably concentrating all her energy into regenerating herself. She won't be trying to get at you for a while....."*
*"Okay...."*
*"But we must use this form of communication sparingly from now on."*
*"Why is that?"*
*"Because Jenova's probably monitoring this as we speak."*
*"She is??"*
-
*"Aeris??"*
-
-
*"Oh dammit!! You've gone again!!"*
"Heheeehee...." Aeris chuckled as she came back to reality. "Fooled you!"
Sephiroth sighed angrily.
"What?!" Yuffie squealed suddenly. "You were talking about me, weren't you!?"
"Yes, I'm quite sure...." Red XIII sighed. "They are going to focus all their efforts into the art of telepathy, just so they can talk about you."
"I knew it!"
Below them, another Weapon crawled it's way out of the earth. This new one had four legs, and was sunset yellow. After that one had flown off, the roaring had ceased. Aeris slowly lowered the party to the pit once more.
"There goes Sapphire Weapon...." Aeris smiled. "The planet sure knows how to create them....."
"Whoa, that was cool." Yuffie said, still in awe.
"Cool maybe, but I just hope we don't have to fight those things...." Tifa sighed.
"Maybe not...." Aeris shook her head. "Weapon's cause is the same as ours.... they will fight Jenova long before they start picking at us...."
Just then, a mournful whining noise was heard.
Sephiroth jumped up and looked at where it came from. "This was the 'rock' my Masamune was in!"
"The Weapon inside is injured...." Aeris sighed. "Jenova's had a go at it before it even hatched. It probably won't survive."
The poor thing!!" Tifa said, feeling deeply sorry for the creature inside. "Let's help it out!"
"Don't do that!!" Sephiroth scolded. "What if we have to fight it!? What if it beats us??"
"Well..." Cloud said in determination. "If Sephiroth says we should kill it, I say we should help the little fella out."
"Why??" Red XIII asked.
"What if Sephiroth is siding with Jenova, guys??" Cloud asked. "Of course he'll tell us to kill it, it'll present a big problem to him and his mother when they try to take over the planet!!!"
Sephiroth buried his face in his hands and groaned.
"Well what if Sephiroth is on our side??" Tifa asked.
"Then we hatch it out anyway, because it will still present a problem for Jenova." Cloud smiled.
"There is no logic in that...." Red XIII sighed, dropping his head to the ground. "Cloud just wants to openly oppose every one of Sephiroth's suggestions...."
"What do you think, Aeris??" Yuffie asked. "Sephy says you're the Chosen One.... it's your planet...."
"It's everybody's planet, and yet it belongs to no-one. That's the way it should be." Aeris smiled, looking in Sephiroth's direction.
Sephiroth raised both his eyebrows and lowered his head.
"Well what do you think!?" Tifa asked, growing impatient. "Do we hatch the Weapon, or don't we?"
"I think we should hatch him." Aeris said. "Everything deserves a decent chance at life....." she smiled in Sephiroth's direction. A faint red tinge appeared across the bridge of his nose as he looked away suddenly.
"Okay." Cloud nodded, and walked up to the large white egg half buried in the earth. He raised his Ultima Weapon above his head, ready to bring it down.
"No!!" Aeris yelped. "Not so hard!! You'll injure it even further if you do that!!"
"Oh..." Cloud said, as he dropped his Ultima Weapon so it was just a few inches above the surface of the egg. Slowly, he began to tap on it until a small crack appeared on the surface. He tapped harder until a shard of the shell flew off. He then dropped his sword, and started pulling away at the shell, cracking large chunks off it.
"C'mon!!" Cloud barked. "Help me!!"
Yuffie and Tifa ran up to join him, while Aeris stayed back to keep an eye on Sephiroth.
"Now pull!!" Cloud yelled. With their combined strength, they soon ripped a large hole in the egg, big enough for the Weapon inside to crawl out. But it didn't. It just sat there, lying in a dormant state.
"Aeris, something's wrong!" Cloud yelled over his shoulder. "I think it's a lost cause already."
"Here, give me a look...." Aeris said, walking up to it. "C'mon...." she stuck her hand inside the hole and tapped the creature roughly. It immediately began to stir. Aeris stepped back quickly.
"Get out of here." Aeris said sternly. "Weapons are vengeful creatures...."
"You don't need to tell me that!" Cloud yelped as he dove for cover.
Just then, the light blue baby Weapon emerged from it's egg like it was half-asleep. It let out a weak cry before standing up.
"It's barely alive...." Yuffie said, pitying the creature. "It's nowhere near as impressive as it's siblings...."
The light blue Weapon looked down at Aeris and tilted it's head to the side.
"What's the matter??" Aeris wondered.
The Weapon emitted a string of curious sounds. Aeris thought for a bit before responding with a string of curious sounds herself. The Weapon nodded and leaped into the air before finally flying off.
"What did it say??" Red XIII asked.
"You can speak with Weapon?!" Cloud choked. "I never knew that!!"
"Cloud, there's a lot of things you don't know about me.." Aeris smiled warmly. "And there's a lot of things I don't know about me...."
"What did the Weapon say, Aeris??" Yuffie yelped, jumping around. "I wanna know, I wanna know!!!"
"It asked me a question...." Aeris sighed sadly. "One that breaks my heart every time I hear it..."
"And that was....?"
"It asked me what happened to Ruby Weapon...." Aeris sighed. "His father."
"Hmph. Father." Sephiroth grunted. "What a useless title.... I never knew who my father was.... Whenever I asked the Professor, he'd sort of laugh a bit and then say it wasn't important."
Cloud felt a sudden twinge in his gut. "Hey Sephiroth..... I...."
"Tell him later...." Red XIII said quietly. "Now is not the time."
"Well?" Aeris said, standing up. "Shall we go?"
"Yes." Cloud nodded. "I think Barret, Cid and Vincent will be quite happy to see you."
------------------------------------------------
"Whoa!!!" Barret yelled happily. "You're kiddin'!!!"
Aeris just smiled weakly.
"Welcome back, girl." Cid laughed. "Cloud's been talking a $#!+load about you!!"
"Aeris...." Vincent said, deep in thought. "The girl that Cloud has been upset over..... and had all those dreams about......"
"Awww....." Aeris cooed, looking innocently at Cloud. "You've been dreaming about me?"
Cloud blushed, and made no response. Aeris smiled widely. Tifa made a low growl and turned her back on them. Just then, Shera walked up onto the deck.
"Did you all have a good adventure?"
"No!!" Tifa yelped. "We were nearly killed!!"
"We found Aeris though." Yuffie grinned.
"No you didn't. Sephiroth led us to her." Red XIII answered.
Tifa grunted. Sephiroth looked at her with a thoughtful expression.
"Any broken limbs?" Shera smiled.
"Not exactly..." Aeris laughed. "But check out the bite-mark on Sephy's arm. He was bitten by Ruby Weapon."
"What?!" Cloud yelped. "Why didn't it tear your arm off?!"
"The Chosen One stopped it." Sephiroth shrugged.
"The Chosen One??" Aeris raised her eyebrows.
"Isn't that your title??" Sephiroth asked. "What do you want me to call you??"
"I don't know." Aeris shrugged.
Shera quickly hurried to Sephiroth's side and quickly inspected his right arm.
"That's bleeding an awful lot...." Shera said thoughtfully. "You've lost a lot of blood, haven't you?"
"No....."
"Stop kidding yourself." Shera sighed. "Just from looking at the way that wound looks, I can tell you're going to need stitches. You know that, don't you?"
"I will need nothing of the sort." Sephiroth said indignantly, turning his back to them. "I will be quite fine, thankyou."
Shera scowled. "Someone grab him."
Cloud nodded. In the blink of an eye, he clamped one arm around the grey haired man's torso, while the other hand locked Sephiroth's arm behind his back.
"Hey!!" Sephiroth winced in pain. "Stop that!!"
"Get him down in the Infirmary, now!" Shera yelled.
"This isn't fair!!!" Sephiroth yelled, struggling to get out of Cloud's grip.
"Oh be quiet and calm down, Sephiroth." Aeris said. Sephiroth reluctantly did as he was told.
"Now come on Sephy, we'll fix you right up...."
Sephiroth groaned in annoyance. "Don't call me that......"
Tifa and just watched as Shera, Cloud and Aeris escorted a very frustrated Sephiroth down into the plane.
-----------------------------------
"So where to now??" Cid asked, as he downed the last of his tea.
"I don't know." Tifa shrugged. "But I sure wish they'd hurry up in there."
"Ahm' getting really bored..." Barret grumbled as he whacked his arm down on the table. "Next time you go off on an' adventure, don't leave me behind!!"
"I'm going to check on them...." Tifa said, getting up. "More tea, Cid?"
"OK...." Cid nodded, handing her his cup.
Tifa made her way across to the kitchen.
"You've really done this place up, Cid." Tifa smiled. "It's beautiful."
"It was Shera's idea..." Cid smiled. "She wanted to do this place up like a house. That way, whenever we go flying, we can take our home with us. I'd sell my house back in Rocket Town, but I have too much junk there that won't fit on the plane.... like my Thunderbird...."
"Thunderbird?" Tifa wondered.
"It's a car." Cid smiled proudly. "Not as fond of cars as I am planes, but that car is one of the most powerful of them.....Yessiree, the Thunderbird is as good as they come. High powered turbo...."
"Is there any cookies around here??" Tifa butted in, trying to change the subject. Cid would have bored her to tears talking about machines if she had let him.
"Oh yeah.... somewhere." Cid sighed. "I don't know where that woman keeps everything... she's too damn organised for me...."
"I guess that means she's the right sort of person for you then." Tifa smiled as she placed the tin of cookies on the bench. "You're a very disorganised person, aren't you?"
"Yeah." Cid nodded, as he picked his pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "Does anyone want one?"
Just then, a very disgruntled Sephiroth slumped into the room, followed by a smiling Aeris and an amused Cloud. Shera appeared at the door, a wide smile on her face.
"Don't carry anything heavy, now." Shera smiled.
Sephiroth groaned as he slumped onto the couch.
"And don't put any undue stress on that arm until the stitches come out....."
"How are you, Sephiroth?" Tifa asked quietly.
"He doesn't want to talk to anybody. He's in a huffy mood." Aeris smiled. "But Shera's done some patching up on him. He's in pain, the poor guy." she said patting him gently on the back. Sephiroth's scowl deepened. He clutched at his upper arm and tried to look as removed as possible.
"Don't be a sooky puss, Sephy." Aeris chided.
"I told you not to call me that." Sephiroth mumbled.
"What did you guys do to him?" Tifa asked.
"Aside from the stitches, and the tetanus shot?" Cloud mused.
"Tetanus shot??"
"He was bitten by a wild animal." Shera shrugged. "It seemed the kindest thing to do."
*"Like hell is it was."*
*"Oh be quiet, Sephy."*
*"Sephy?! I resent that name!!"*
*"Well I think it's cute. It suits you."*
*"I am not 'cute'. "*
*"Yes you are!! I think you're adorable!!"*
*"Uhm... is that the real reason you resurrected me?"*
-
-
*"It is, isn't it?"*
*"Ohhhh be quiet, Sephy!!"*
"I wonder what provoked weapon to attack in the first place...." Cloud wondered.
"What doesn't provoke that f***ing monster to attack? It's bloody psycho!!" Cid said, coughing slightly. He stubbed his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "Damn menthols...."
"Cid dear, you should really give up smoking." Shera sighed. "It's not good for your health...."
"It's not good for your health if you keep hassling me, comprehendé??"
"Yes Cid." Shera sighed, taking a seat next to him. "But I don't want you to die on me...."
"I know what caused Weapon to attack...." Sephiroth spoke up. ".....my mother."
"Jenova!?" Cloud yelped. "How the hell...... I thought we killed her!!"
"She won't die easily." Sephiroth shook his head sadly. "Remember when I discovered my past? I was angry with everyone and everything.... that's when she first spoke to me. She told me of The Promised Land, but I wouldn't listen to her. So I cut off her head.... and she didn't die, did she?"
"No." Cloud sighed. "She impersonated you and had us chasing her halfway around the world..... but that was 5 years later! Why did she wait so long before attacking again?"
"She attacks only when she's fully recovered....." Sephiroth answered. "And just now, she ran off to heal because that monster ripped one of her appendages off...."
"Then we won't see her for another 5 years?"
"No." Sephiroth shook his head. "I fear that a tentacle grows back a lot faster than a head does. But she'll be back, don't you worry....."
"How long do you think we've got?"
"Maybe a month?" Sephiroth guessed. "I wouldn't know. I don't go around in my ultimate form long enough to know how long it takes to repair an injury......"
"Ultimate form??" Cloud wondered. "What are you talking about?"
"My mother.... she can adapt to suit her surroundings. You've probably seen all her forms, Jenova-BIRTH, Jenova-LIFE, Jenova-DEATH.... and her ultimate form, Jenova-SYNTHESIS."
"Yeah, now that I think about it, I kinda wondered why she looked so different every time we fought her." Cloud nodded.
"But you said you have an ultimate form as well??" Red XIII asked.
"Correct." Sephiroth nodded. "You saw that hideous monster, didn't you??"
"What monster?"
"Safer." Sephiroth sighed. "Safer was when I was at my highest..... I don't know what it is inside me.. I don't even know what triggers it off.... but something in my head yells at me to 'boost up'...."
"Boost up?"
"Uh huh." Sephiroth nodded. "It's hard for me to explain..... but I 'evolve' when my anger is at it's absolute peak..... or after being exposed to absorbing copious quantities of raw energy...... then I don't remember much. Instinct takes over...."
"Instinct??"
"It's the nature of the species. Just like birds migrate during seasonal changes and beavers build dams, Jenova's species has it's own built in instincts." Aeris answered. "They come in, take over a planet, settle in, breed, reduce the planet to dust and then move on..... The instinctive thing is to destroy anything in their path that oppose them..... which is what Jenova did to the Cetra."
"Jenova wiped out the Cetra?" Sephiroth asked. "She was the one to appear that opposed the Cetra's journey?"
Aeris nodded.
"So Sephiroth can turn into this 'Safer' thing whenever he feels like??" Cloud wondered.
"No...." Sephiroth smiled suddenly. "I seem to have lost the ability."
Aeris looked thoughtful and leaned back in her chair.
"You seem rather pleased about that." Red XIII spoke up.
Sephiroth nodded. "Of course I am! I have no real desire to take over this planet, I'm a human, aren't I?" Red XIII just nodded. "Sure, I wanted to take over this planet when Jenova manipulated me, but that was when I was under her control."
"See Cloud?" Red XIII said, nodding in his direction. "Sephiroth wishes no more than to help us."
Cloud scowled deeply and stood up. "I still don't buy that!" he yelled. "No matter what any of you say, I still think Sephiroth's up to something....."
"Oh will you just bury the hatchet, Cloud?!" Tifa barked suddenly. "Can't you see that Sephiroth's throwing himself out to us here?"
"So you're trying to say that Sephiroth is a good guy now?" Cloud leered. "Just because he shows up here, leads us to Aeris and takes a bite from a Weapon, you all buy his story!?"
"I understand what you're getting at, Cloud." Red XIII nodded thoughtfully. "But don't forget that it was only under Jenova's rule when he tried to wipe this planet out. Now he's free of all ties from her. I'm sure you can tell the difference in his personality."
"Hell no...."
Sephiroth had to chuckle at that.
"Look Cloud, you did some outrageous things when you were possessed!!" Tifa yelled. "And no-one's berating you over any of it!!"
"Alright then..." Cloud nodded. "But it was Sephiroth who made me do all those things! If I didn't have the willpower to stop him that time Aeris was praying for Holy.... I would've struck her....."
"Holy....." Sephiroth said thoughtfully.
"How do I know that Aeris isn't possessed right this moment!?"
"Cloud!!!" Aeris yelled. "I am not possessed!!"
"No one can possess that girl." Sephiroth said. "She's the Chosen One...."
"She's the Chosen One alright...." Cid spoke up. "I just chose her to take my cup out to the kitchen...."
"Cid!!" Shera yelped as she snatched the empty cup from his grasp. "Don't order around your guests!!"
"So Jenova is alive, huh?" Cloud said thoughtfully. "What are we going to do about her?"
"We can't do anything for now, not until she attacks." Aeris sighed. "Until then, we just have to bide our time......"
"There's one thing you haven't explained Aeris...." Cloud said quietly. "One thing we'd all like to know."
"Uh huh...." Aeris nodded. "What is it?"
"How are you alive? How is Sephiroth alive?! How is Jenova alive?!"
Aeris bit her lip slightly, not knowing where to start.
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To Be Continued......
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Writer's Ramblings:
Next chapter, some explaining to do. Then chaos reigns supreme as the group visits the Gold Saucer. And just when they thought it would be quiet until Jenova shows up, along comes OWARA. What does this cult stand for? Why do they exist?! Find out in Chapter 5!
