CHAPTER NINE
On Evil Wings
The great beast ripped through the heavens with such great speed the general has never known in all of his days. If not for his magnificent strength Sephiroth wouldn't be able to hold on let alone climb the scales of the dragon. Hand over hand the general scaled up the dragon with Masamune's handle gripped tightly between his teeth. At the rate they were going, they would reach Nibelhiem within the hour, if not sooner. Sephiroth needed to slow the powerful dragon's progress.
His fingers felt numb at the altitude they were at and his digits were also raw from grabbing unto the ridged finger holds of the beast's scales. Nevertheless, the great man climbed on, riding the beast named after the King of Dragons. Taking a ride on evil wings, the general finally came between the two lowest wings of the set of six the dragon had on its back. Taking Masamune in his right hand, the general held on tightly with his other hand. With as much strength as he could, Sephiroth swung his mystical blade, cutting through the joint as if it was paper. Putting Masamune back into his mouth, he held on for dear life.
How the dragon roar with an ear piercing cry. As his lower right wing fell to the earth the great beast followed in a spiraling dive bomb. It didn't take long for ZERO to regain control of its wings, returning to the skies but it took the dragon a fair bit of time to notice the insect on its back. Reaching back with both of its claws, the dragon tried to snatch the puny human to no avail. Either ZERO's wings were in the way or the man was too much in the center of its back.
"YOU IRRITATING HUMAN! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" the great beast boomed as it took further to the heaven, spinning around to shake the man off.
It was dizzying as it was painful to hold onto the beast. He was getting cold from the height they were ascending and breathing became even more difficult to the general. Sephiroth knew what the dragon had planned. If the dragon couldn't shake the human off its back, breaking the exosphere surely would. That fact didn't stop the general from climbing.
ZERO ceased his roll, figuring he couldn't pluck the man from his back so the great beast, not of this world and didn't need air to breath, flew even faster up. The human, however, needed oxygen and once in outer space, his would body explode. The beast reached back again, futile to get a hold on the man. It wasn't important as they broke the exosphere and enter the vacuum of space.
A burning pain snapped the serpent like neck around as it saw the insect using his nasty stinger to stab into its back. The general didn't seem to be breathing while his platinum hair was crystallized, but he seemed very much alive. Using the size of the beast and its scales, Sephiroth began walking up the scaly spine; using Masamune to keep him from floating away by digging his blade between the dragon's scales. It was frustrating to the dragon, wanting nothing more than to be free of this man.
The general's head snapped back for just a moment, when an unexpected booming voice entered into his mind. But he recovered quickly, returning to his climb and walk up the dragon, passing the second set of wings without pause. It wasn't surprising to the general that he was still alive. Jenova lived through space so his alien cells must have been keeping him alive. It was also not shocking that no sounds could be heard in space. So the dragon's arrogance could only come through via telepathy.
YOU ARE FULL OF SURPRISES HUMAN! BUT IT IS OVER! AT THIS HEIGHT I CAN OBLITERATE THE TOWN!
Sephiroth shoved Masamune in deeply as the dragon straightened, keeping himself attached to the dragon. As ZERO extended his two top wings the general began to crawl around the beast. Once the second set extended out, Sephiroth reached ZERO's chest, looking up at the creature. He needed to stop the dragon before all was lost. Following the magical trail left behind by the dragon, Sphiroth entered into the beast's mind.
Stop this, now! You call me human as if I'm insignificant but so was the one that summoned you. Why? Why listen to such a creature that's below you?
The general planned on playing off the dragon's pride. It worked, for a moment. The great beast sneered, confused as what to do. It seemed as if it was battling its nature that of obeying its summoner and its new found intelligence. The general took his opening, burying Masamune into the beast's chest.
The dragon opened its maw but no sound was heard. ZERO charged its breath weapon, aiming somewhere on the planet that only it could see. Sephiroth cursed himself for missing the creature's heart. It was a desperate attempt that he just thought of but Sephiroth was out of options. He waited, waited for his chance to strike. When the beast opened its mouth even wider, Sephiroth set out a blast of lightning with his left hand and floated with a sudden burst of speed towards the creature. As cracks of white energy began to pour out its maw, the beast's jaw clamped shut as Masamune sealed its lower jaw to the roof of its mouth.
The dragon's eyes bulged and rolled down to the human, seeing its own shocks of energy barely leaving its mouth. ZERO felt the energy intensify, begging for release. Between every single scale, light began to seep through as the dragon's body swelled. Sephiroth merely smirked.
Tifa couldn't help but giggle at her friends Barret, Red, and Cid as they continued to play their game of poker by the well. Only a mile away loomed a threat as great as that of Meteor but none of them seemed worried in the least. Maybe they weren't worried because they believed in Cloud or they believed there was no point in worrying about something that they couldn't stop, even if it is their own demise. Her attention was drawn to her last friend, Vincent, whose gaze was upwards.
Tifa followed her silent friend's eyes, noticing a burning white light as bright as the sun in the sky. But it wasn't the sun as it was behind her as this light was before her. The light brightened more and more and then it slowly dimmed until only an ocean blue sky remained. Before Tifa could turn her head to see what Vincent might have thought it was, a shooting star shot out from the exact spot she was looking at. Whatever fell from the sky, landed somewhere in the Nibel mountain range and Tifa was determine to find it.