FINAL FANTASY VII

THE CHANGE OF TIME

Chapter Four

Sephiroth clone number seven dragged himself slowly towards the hidden library in the Shin-ra mansion basement. It was an old musty building that reeked horribly of something dead. The scent of Mako wafted upwards from the basement

in overwhelming strength. No.7 did not care, the great Sephiroth was calling to him. He had to anwser this call. Five years ago No.7 had been a career fisherman at Mideel, but when he came to visit a freind of his in Nibelheim it all changed. Now he no longer cared for the oceans. He no longer cared for the sea breeze, or the fish that had once overjoyed and fascinated him. He no longer cared for the lovely taste of donuts, or the feeling of success when he won fishing awards

back home. Now he wished only to please the great Sephiroth. It was the only thing that could bring him peace anymore. He could feel a horrible emptiness inside of him, an emptiness that only Sephiroth could fill.

He was distantly aware of the fact that he had a wife and daughter. He knew he should be trying to get home to them, but the overwhelming urge to go to the reunion was to strong to resist. He did'nt even know what the reunion was, he did'nt

care either. He did know that only by going to it could he find happiness again, he would do anything to be happy again.

He stepped through the door into the library and looked around as he clumsily moved forward. He did not spot Sephiroth anywhere in the first room, so he proceeded down the isle into the small enclosed office at the back of the library.

He still did'nt see anything but he felt a presence. Sinister and menacing, yet it seemed to invite him, to beckon him forward. He knew that presence as well as he once knew his own. It was the presence of the great Sephiroth, but where was he.

"He..llo...great Sephi...roth?" No.7 asked in his broken speech, unable to speak fluently as he once did.

"I have need of your body." Sephiroth's voice spoke into his mind.

"Of course...great...Sephiroth..." No.7 said.

No.7 began to change, his hair grew outwards and turned silver. His hood faded away and his eyes turned green and cat like. His clothes changed into a black leather trench coat with the bottom half open, and black leather pants. white

shoulder gaurds formed and his complexion paled considerably.

No longer did No.7 stand there. No longer did he walk the planet. A smirk spread over Sephiroth's face as his new body completed itself.

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Zack slowly opened his eyes, and quickly reclosed them as unwelcome light spilled in. He groaned slightly and re-opened his eyes. He was in a comfy yet dusty room, filled with old toys and comic books. He glanced down to see wooden floors, and across the room was a dresser that looked about the right size for a young kid. His eyes shot fully open as he realized exactly where he was, in his bedroom at his parents house in Gongaga. He looked down where his wound should

have been to see that it had been fully healed.

"Hm, guess mom did'nt forget her old medical classes." Zack said as he sat up.

The door opened then to reveal his mother who looked very tired. For a moment she just stood there with tears building in her eyes. Zack pushed down his own tears, he had'nt seen his mother in two years. "Hi mom." He said with a sheepish

smile.

She walked across the room step by step, then slapped Zack, H.A.R.D.

"HOW DARE YOU ZACK FAIR!!!!! HO DARE YOU GO TEN YEARS WITHOUT CONTACTING ME OR YOUR FATHER!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU THEN SHOW UP ON THE BRINK OF DEATH!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!. Zack took the next minute

or so trying to regain his hearing.

Once he thought his hearing had returned to something resembling normal he said. "Ten years!? Its only been two!" He was truly confused by his mothers statement, he distinctly remembered speaking with her for an hour on the telephone only a couple years ago, which was as often as he could manage considering he lived on a different continent and served in the military. Speaking of which, how the hell had he even gotten here?

The look of outrage on her face scared him, even more so when she shouted "DO"NT TRY AND PLAY THAT TRICK YOUNG MAN!!!!!!! ITS BEEN TEN YEARS AND DO"NT SAY I JUST HAVE BAD MEMORY!!!!!!!! UNLESS YOU PLAN TO
SAY THE SAME OF THE WHOLE VILLIAGE!!!!!!!!" He found himself growing more confused, and woried, by the second.

"Look mom, i remember quite clearly the last time i contacted you. It was year seventeen of the age of Shin-ra."

"YES!!!!!! TEN YEARS AGO!!!!!!!" She roared, causing him to cower slightly. She then yelled "THIS IS YEAR TWENTY-SEVEN OF THE AGE OF SHIN-RA!!!!!!!!!!!"

Before he could reply she turned and stomped out of the room, leaving Zack feeling very guilty for something he could'nt even remember doing.

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Cloud awoke to the sound of a clock ticking, He could faintly hear cheerful music in the background, though it was to faint to identify. His head ached horribly, and he did not miss the fact that Barret had his gun-arm aimed for Cloud's head.

Not what he wanted to wake up to at all. He also noted that Barret seemed to be gaurding the door.

"So which are you? Cloud, or Sephiroth." Barret spat the last bit out like it tasted bad. Cloud frowned as he delved into his memory to try and find what could cause Barret to act like this. He was not pleased at all to find a blank spot in his

memory, he could'nt remember anything that had happened in the cable car past his waving Tifa off. Something bad must have happened afterwards, or Barret was just being paranoid.

"What are you talking about?" Cloud asked siting up slowly, being careful not to make any sudden moves.

Barret lowered his weapon slightly and said "In the air cab, you turned into Sephiroth and ripped shit up. It was $& creepy! Then this whacked out light came and changed you back just before we got here. Now i wanna know, you Cloud,

or Sephiroth?"

Cloud frowned, he had turned into Sephiroth? How could something like that happen? It did'nt make any sense, but he realized he had better anwser Barret fast.

"Cloud." Cloud said with a careless shrug. Barret lowered his gun with a sigh.

"Good, the girls've been crazy about you, cept for that brat Yuffie." Barret commented. As if that were a que of some sort Tifa and Aeris burst into the room and rushed over to Cloud asking him if he was alright, and sying how glad they were

to see him as himself again.

It was the last place on the planet he wanted to be.

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Sephiroth frowned, Cloud had stopped moving towards him. He could'nt have that, all would need to come in order for the reunion to be a success. It was simple really, unless all the peices came together the reunion could never be complete.

"You had best hurry Cloud, even a puppet like you is necessary. Hurry up." Sephiroth hissed in calm, deadly, fury.

Still there was nothing he could do about it but wait. He was good at waiting. He had had five years of practice now, a few days longer would not have any real effect on his plans. Even a year would be fine, just so long as Cloud did not die

in that time. It was amazing, Sephiroth decided, that a mere puppet like Cloud could retain its identity after he had taken control. Yet Cloud had retained his identity, otherwise the being that had drove Sephiroth off would'nt have been able to do a thing. It would'nt have been able to liberate the body, because there would not have been any intruder, just Sephiroth.

It did'nt matter, he supposed. It did'nt change his plans any, nothing of significant importance had changed.

Regardless, he would have to be on his guard from now on. Whatever that being was, it was a threat, and he would have to take it very seriously. Not that he thought it could destroy him, but he had been suprised enough times to know

when to be carefull. This was one of those times where being careful could make the difference between life, and death.

Another thing he wanted to know was where that imposter had come from. He had replicated more than just looks, he had copied the fighting style, power, speed, and pretty much everything else down to the smallest detail.

Then came the mystery of Zack, he had died a couple of months ago. Yet Sephiroth had just encountered him the other day, and he had been very much alive. How many other dead people from Sephiroth's past were wandering around? It was a very unsettling question, and given recent events, a plausible one as well.

Yes, he would have to be careful.