Final Moon VII: Advent Children.
Author's Note: Welcome back to this story. I don't own Sailor Moon or Final Fantasy VII.
Chapter six: Forgotten City.
At the Forgotten Capital, Luna was hiding behind a tree as several children, including Denzel, were on the edge of the lake, and in the middle was the huge shell by the pool where Serena gave her final farewell to Darien two years ago, and now was occupied by Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz who held onto Marlene's shoulder, preventing her from escaping, while Kadaj announces to the children infected by the Geostigma.
'Alright! What's the meaning of this?' Luna thought, 'I want to save the kids and go home!'
"Mother has given me a very special gift: the power to fight against a planet that torments humanity!" Kadaj says, as Marlene softly gasped at this, before he continued, "She gave this gift to all her children." at the children's shocked gazes, he knew that he got them.
"That's right." he continued, "You and I are brethren. Brothers and sisters chosen when we inherited Mother's memetic legacy through the Lifestream." he then began to sound angry and pained, adding, "But – the planet doesn't approve of that at all. It's doing everything it can to hold us back. That's why it's racking our bodies with pain and filling our hearts with doubt!"
The children were even more shocked by this, scared but all they wanted was to be cured and then go home, back to their normal lives. This is what Kadaj intended on. Making the children believe his words.
"Now I shall heal you. And we will go to Mother together!" Kadaj continued, as his body is covered in a mixture of black smoky stuff like when he first appeared in the Northern Cave. "We will join as a family and strike back at the planet!"
At this the kids were stunned in amazment.
Now having got them, Kadaj told them, "Do as I do." and enters the pool, the water turns black around him. He drinks the black water, and then smirks when the children, seemingly understanding what to do, all entered the water and began to drink the water themselves, unaware that they were falling for Kadaj's trap. Denzel hesitated, but he then did it, despite Marlene's cries towards him.
"Denzel!" Marlene cried, then shouted louder, "Denzel!" but she was too late.
The children now all had cat-like slit eyes, and Kadaj laughed, muttering, "See, Mother? All my new brothers and sisters! They can keep me company, just until I find you."
Behind her hiding place, Luna gasped in shock and horror, then she realised what was going on. The three men are connected to Sephiroth who, somehow in the Lifestream, is the main cause of the Geostigma, and through Kadaj and the other two, had taken hold of those infected by the Stigma in order to find 'mother'.
"I've got to get back and warn Sailor Moon!" Luna said to herself, "But how? I need to try and get to Marlene and Denzel." She knew that it was a difficult task, and that she was no match against the three dangerous men.
Meanwhile, driving through the Forgotten Capital to rescue the kids, Serena and Cloud were concentrating, though the former was having memories of when her lover, Darien, disguised as Tuxedo Mask, had sacrificed himself to save her, and died in her arms. It was a painful memory and Serena tried so hard to forget the painful past and look foward into the future.
It was surprising because she should've had the stigma, not Cloud, who only lost his mother, and he had saved Aerith, but nearly lost Zack, yet Zack was still alive. However, Cloud was the one who was suffering, and it made no sense to Serena. Lost in her thoughts, Serena suddenly felt herself being pushed and then found herself in a strange realm of nothing but bright light.
Wondering on what's going on, Serena then felt someone behind her, wrapping their arms around her upper body in a loving kind of way, and she knew, without a doubt, it was Darien, her dead lover. Feeling this touch made her heart want to explode.
"Having trouble, meat-ball head?" asked Darien.
Serena became sad, and she admitted, "I miss you so much, Darien. I tried so hard to forget the past and move on into the future, but I guess I'm meant to suffer, but Cloud's the one who has the Stigma."
"Any idea why?" Darien inquired.
Turning her head to answer, Serena suddenly found herself back on her bike driving it, back in the Forgotten Capital with Cloud on his bike. Was that her inner thoughts, or a dream? Before she could wonder about that as she looked back ahead of her, suddenly there was a gunshot, snapping her and Cloud back to reality. Both of them immediately dodged bullets which came from ahead, and they noticed two figures with guns shooting at them, with a third jumping down from the trees, landing in the middle.
Both of them immediately knew it was Kadaj and his group. Cloud immediately opened the slots of his bike and pulled out two of his fusion swords while driving at the same time, and Serena knew that she would have to stop in order to become Sailor Moon, especially since these guys knew who she was already. So she just kept driving to get closer.
Unfortunately, Kadaj pulled his double bladed katana out from its sheath on his back and twirled his hand in the air and several of the missing children, now under his spell, leaped down from the trees and in front of the trio, blocking the path for Cloud and Serena. Marlene, who just ran up to try and get Denzel to listen to her, saw the headlights and flinched.
Seeing the children, especially Denzel, caused Cloud and Serena to both sway, which made them lose control of their bikes and they fell off, screaming and rolled onto the ground before stopping. The possessed children jumped out of the way, while Serena's Usagi skids to a stop and Loz uses his foot to stop Cloud's Fenrir from hitting him. Kadaj had leaped over the incoming bikes and now approached the two blondes on the ground, while the children had them surrounded. Serena and Cloud both struggled to stand up.
"I'm glad you could make it." Kadaj said cheerfully, bending his head down to Cloud's level, chuckling.
"We only came here for the kids." Cloud answered, while Serena glared at the silver-haired enemy who just ignored them and adressed the possessed children.
"See this man?" Kadaj says, "He's our big brother! But alas...in our happy flock." he pointed his double-katana at the two blondes with a smirk, while the two continued to glare at him in fury. "He's what you call a black sheep."
Kadaj turned his attention to Serena and added, "As for this girl, she's what they say a servant for the Planet!" before turning to finish both of them off. Fortunately, Marlene's cry for Cloud and Serena gave the two a chance to quickly stand and try to slash at them, but Kadaj leaped out of the way, and the children just walked away, out of the way.
Knowing what she has to do, Serena quickly pulled out her locket and shouted, "Moon-Prism-Power!" and in a flash, her outfit changes into her familiar form, for she became Sailor Moon once again, her other-self she hasn't used in two years. She and Cloud then both blocked Yazoo's bullets, while trying to fight against the faster-than-fast Loz who was also powerful as well, which spelled bad luck.
Cloud fought against Loz while Sailor Moon decided to try her luck against Yazoo who just kicked her away before firing more shots, chuckling away. The laugh made Sailor Moon remember Hojo, and she clumzily dodged the bullets before trying out her moon kick but ended up missing. Brining out her Scepter she rechieved after the final battle against Sephiroth and used it to swipe against Yazoo while using it to block the man's attacks.
She then leaped away before summoning up her Tiara magic and threw it towards Yazoo who immediately blocked it and knocked it away.
"Hey, knocking my tiara away is cheating!" Sailor Moon shouted, assulted.
Suddenly she felt the Earth tremor and to her horror as she looked, Loz had made the ground flow like a wave towards Cloud who was still fighting against Loz himself. Acting quickly, Sailor Moon recalled her tiara and threw it towards the flying ground, causing it to explode and making the ground into harmless dirt.
As the two tried to catch their breath, Sailor Moon and Cloud were both caught off-guard again and dodged more of the remnants' attacks. Sailor Moon leaped into the air, and Yazoo went straight for Loz and Loz shot Yazoo after her, while Cloud continued to trade blows against Loz. Sailor Moon used her scepter to block multiple bullets aimed at her, before she and Cloud managed to dodge away from the two and then noticed Kadaj, then leaped towards him to fight against him now.
But Kadaj was waiting for them, because he easily blocked their attacks, no matter what Sailor Moon and Cloud tried to do, and knocked them both back, for Sailor Moon is exhausted, and Cloud is weakened due to his Stigma, giving Kadaj and his brothers full advantage.
Though just as Kadaj was about to give a final blow, a cresent beam knocks his sword off balance, and he glared to the side to see another Sailor Scout, and a red mantel floating flying in the wind. He leaped out of the way, while Sailor Moon and Cloud both fell onto the ground, unconscious, as the red mantel swallowed the two up, while the scout, which happens to be Sailor Venus, leaped down and casted her latest attack Venus-Meteor Shower to distract the three remnants before she leaped away, following the cloak and both of them, Sailor Moon and Cloud disappeared into the forest, much to Kadaj's anger.
After regaining consciousness, Sailor Moon and Cloud found that Sailor Venus(otherwise known as Mina) and Vincent Valentine had just saved them and the four of them were now alone, near a small lake within the Forgotten City. Sailor Moon and Cloud both sat on the ground, while Sailor Venus rested against a tree to their right, and Vincent leaning against another to their left.
"See? I knew I'd be no help." Cloud said, sorrowfully.
Sailor Moon sighed, before glancing at her two other friends, asking, "So, how'd you guys find us, and what do you know about this?"
"Let's just say that Vincent and I come here pretty much most of the time." Sailor Venus replied first, "Actually, I just met up with him earlier this week after two weeks ago."
"Two weeks ago?" Sailor Moon asked.
"I've seen what Kadaj's group is doing." Vincent was the one to answer this time as he approached Sailor Moon and Cloud, before grabbing Cloud's infected arm, causing the male-blonde to flinch in pain. "The stigma," Vincent continued, "It's a symptom of alien matter infesting the body. The body tries to eliminate it and overcompensates." before letting go and walked over to Mina's tree.
Sailor Venus then added, "Our bodies have currents inside them, just like the Lifestream."
"That current is what fights off any malevolent intruders." Vincent added.
"What do you mean by 'Intruder'?" Cloud asked.
"Sephiroth's gene, or Jenova's legacy." Sailor Venus answered, "Whichever way sounds easier."
Sailor Moon looked at both of them, asking, "How did you get this much info?"
"Tseng and Elena...they were brought here half-dead." Vincent answered.
"They were brutally tortured by that big guy-Loz." Sailor Venus added. "The two of us did what we could to save them...but it really depends, so we'll just have to wait." she shrugged.
"Tortured?" Cloud asked, a bit puzzled, while Sailor Moon was a bit worried. Out of all the Turks, she kinda liked Tseng, and Elena wasn't that bad either considering how much of a klutz the female Turk is, just like Serena.
Vincent glanced at them, answering, "They had it coming. They got their hands on Jenova's head."
Hearing this made Sailor Moon remember how Rufus said that the Turks didn't find anything, and once again, she grumbled with a sweatdrop, "I knew Rufus was hiding something." then she realised something else and muttered, "Wait, if that's the case, then when Kadaj and those other guys were looking for mother, that means..."
Nodding, Sailor Venus finished, "Yup, Jenova. If they wanted, they could end up bringing Sephiroth back."
"Kadaj...what is he?" Cloud asked, troubled by this, and hey, who can blame him?
Vincent gazed up little. "Hm...I'd rather not know."
Just then the bushes started to shake. Sailor Moon turned around quickly, Cloud was up with his sword in hand, and both Venus and Vincent prepared and took up defences stances, and waited in case the enemies returned. To their relief, Marlene came running out of the bushes and immediately she wrapped her small arms around a surprised Cloud's waist, as Luna and Artemis also arrived, the latter panting in exhaustion.
While Cloud ensured to Marlene that Tifa is alright, Sailor Moon rushed over to the cats and bend down to gaze at them. "Luna!" she cried out, scooping her cat up in her arms, then asked, "What were you thinking following those stupid silver-haired creeps?"
"It wasn't much of a choice." Luna began, "I followed them to try and get Denzel and Marlene out. But Kadaj has put all of the children infected with the stigma under their control."
Artemis, still exhausted and mentally grumbling about how kids are so fast and never run out of energy, added, "Mina sent me to bring Luna and Marlene here while Kadaj's gang were distracted. But from the looks of it, they're gonna use the kids to find Jenova's head."
"Yeah, Vincent and Mina just told Cloud and me on what happened." Sailor Moon nodded. "I wanna give that Kadaj creep a piece of my mind!" she added, looking determined. This only made everyone except for Marlene sweatdrop, while the little girl just looked confused.
"Two years of living with her, and she still hasn't changed even a slightest." Luna muttered to herself.
Sailor Moon heard that, because she protested, "Hey! At least I'm not like Reno or Rufus, which by the way, the latter happens to be unfortunately closer to both Evan and me than mom ever told us."
"Closer than what your mother told you!? Have you gone completely crazy!?" Luna shivered in horrified disbelief.
"Uh, excuse me," Sailor Venus interrupted carefully, "But Serena, do you have your phone on you? Marlene wants to talk to Tifa." to which Sailor Moon immediately nodded and went to search for her phone, but unfortunately, as she pulled it out, she groaned and grumbled.
Lowering her head in hopless dispair, Sailor Moon muttered, "Sorry, but the battery's flat." with a sweatdrop.
"Great, and mine's flat too, Cloud dropped his, and Vincent doesn't even have one yet." Sailor Venus sighed, shaking her head.
This caused Marlene to glance at Luna and Artemis who both shrugged, and the white cat muttered, "Don't look at us. What's use for a phone to cats?"
"Vincent," Cloud spoke up, "Will you bring Marlene to Tifa? I'm gonna go see ShinRa and get a few answers." much to everyone else's confusion and shock.
"I can't do that." Vincent started, shaking his head. He knew that ShinRa wasn't the right idea to go to, especially during this crisis. Plus, he felt very uncomfortable to handle a six year old he barely knew and always felt that Cloud was a better carer at children than himself.
Before Cloud could make up an excuse, Sailor Moon stood up and gave him a good slap on the back of the head, causing him to flinch and mutter, "Ow!"
"Good grief, Cloud, get a grip!" Sailor Moon scolded, "You're just saying that because you want to run off again, when your friends and family need you the most! For once in your lifetime, listen to us and stop crying like a baby! That's my job to whine, cry and be a total klutz, you know."
While Sailor Venus, Luna and Artemis looked surprised and shocked while being impressed by Sailor Moon's words, Marlene and Vincent had to agree with Sailor Moon on the statement. Cloud thought about what his friend just said, and looked at Marlene who held a look that also said that she wanted to scold him herself, while trying not to try. He then looked at Vincent who held an agreement and understanding look on his emotionless expression. The blonde-haired man then thought about the things that happened for the last two years.
Serena had gone through so much ever since she failed to save Darien, being the reincarnation of her past-self, and here he was, sulking like a spoiled brat when Zack and Aerith were still alive while Darien and even Serena's mother and father were dead, and all she had in her family now was her older half brother Evan, and well, Rufus didn't count despite the blood relation. So, what has Cloud have to be guilty for? He stopped Sephiroth at least twice now, and now all of the sudden he just wants to give up?
Instead of answering Sailor Moon, Cloud asked to Vincent, "Are sins, ever forgiven?"
"I've never tried." he answered honestly. He was still haunted by his own past before he spent 27 years in sleep.
"You mean...never tried." Cloud answered his own question. He then realised that despite being different people of different age, he and Vincent were both very much alike, just as Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus had some things in common.
After this thought, he realised that he knew what he had to do-no more running. Cloud looked at Sailor Moon and Marlene, and told them that they were heading back home. Sailor Moon smiled in approval, and Marlene beamed a smile of her own, and the two of them and Luna joined Cloud who added to the others, "Well, I'm gonna try. I'll phone in the verdict." while letting Marlene hold his hand.
"Thanks, guys." Sailor Moon nodded to her other friends who nodded in return. "You gonna help us out?"
"Like we're gonna say no?" Sailor Venus teased with a wink. "Be careful out there, Serena."
Sailor Moon smiled, before turning and following the others, for the end of Kadaj's group is coming and the heroes will fight hard to save the world.
Sorry that the Battle scene isn't good. I suck at battle scenes as well as romantic scenes, and well, I'm not a romantic type, unfortunately. Anyway, I'll be back in the next chapter! Happy reading!
