Recommended Listening: The One-Winged Angel, of course. XD You'll know when you get to that part.
Disclaimer: I've started classes, so here's to the twelve- to fourteen-hour days of holding a piccolo on a parking lot in the rain! That's how it is, and why this wasn't as quick an update as the others. But hopefully it's worth your while! I've been waiting for this part! -types excitedly- Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy—cause Kansas is goin' bye-bye.
(LoL, I don't own The Matrix XD)
PS, I write these to be imagined in pretty Crisis Core graphics. (I say Crisis Core because Sephiroth looked creepy evil in AC, which I guess makes a lot of sense, but not necessarily in this context.) Feel free to do so if you like! This chapter in particular will be chock full of it, so…happy reading!
Alice mused as she ran how ironic it was—that she had truly switched places with the White Rabbit. Now he chased her and she ran and ran against time, not knowing exactly what direction she was headed in. The White Rabbit, however, was faster and found her—but it was alright. She was fine with being found, with losing her head if that was what he'd come for. But go, White Rabbit! If you must take my head, take it and go, for you will be late—and the queen—she'll have your head for sure!
Chapter X : Forte-Piano
Cloud was totally put out, like a kid who didn't get the toy he wanted for Christmas. The stupid airship was empty. There was no one to kill and make Sephiroth sad!
Of course, he figured, he could always just trash the airship, but that wouldn't do him much good. Sephiroth probably wouldn't be more than annoyed about it, and that wasn't what he'd come here for. He'd come to make Sephiroth wish he'd never been born…or at least wish that he'd taken up his offer to follow Mother. Anything else was a waste of time.
He exited, heaving a sigh. There had to have been a pilot, whoever it was…and they would still be wandering around, wouldn't they? Since he hadn't run into them on the way there, they must have been deeper inside the Crater….
Quickly, he ducked behind a piece of the Highwind. The pilot hadn't been just wandering around—he'd been right there this entire time! He watched as the blonde in white conversed with Vincent, flanked by a redhead and a bald man in suits... Who is that, again? Ah…yes…that's the little ShinRa brat. Perhaps he isn't entirely useless after all. I wonder how Vincent got up here so quickly…? He does seem to be a man of many mysteries and talents….
"The reading's getting stronger," Rufus noted, looking at some high-tech handheld instrument. "We're getting closer."
"Hell yeah we are," Reno whined. "None of my gadgets are working!"
"What?"
"My phone's crappin' out, my GPS, hell, even my mpS-player isn't workin', yo!"
"I thought I told you not to bring your music player on missions, Reno!" Rufus groaned. "This is serious business!"
"I know, I know! I'm sorry…."
Rufus looked back to his instrument and blinked, hitting it with the butt of his palm. "Damn. This one's out, too…."
"Guess we're headed in the right direction," Vincent observed. "Ignore it. Let's keep going."
Rufus held his tongue with some difficulty, wanting to tell Vincent he was the one who called the shots, but reminding himself that Valentine was a special case. He nodded. "Very well."
After a slight pout and a mutter that Vincent was getting better treatment than he and Rude were, Reno followed them with his companion. Cloud crept out of his hiding place as they turned to move on. There's four of them…the ShinRa dogs I can probably take in one swipe…Valentine might take more than that, but he won't be as much of a challenge as Sephiroth would be, by any means. I can take them all down right here…leave the pieces for him to find on his way….
Cloud tore his weapon out and flew at them, slicing through Reno and Rude easily and then spinning his weapon around to hit Rufus and possibly Vincent. But when he turned to assess the damage…they were all still standing there. Or…they appeared to be. Their visage fizzled a little, almost as though they were ghosts….
"What the h—" Vincent started, but his voice became broken and distorted…and they vanished.
Cloud blinked at the scene before him and stared. Sure enough, they'd left no trace that they had ever been there. But it couldn't have been a hallucination—he was a psychopath, after all, not a schizophrenic. He didn't see things that didn't exist. He just liked killing people, that's all…and people called him crazy for it. The nerve. They would all die soon, anyway, so maybe it didn't really matter what they thought he was, or what that strange vision was. It'd all be over soon.
"Did you…just see that?"
Rufus nodded in response to Vincent's question. "But…he's gone now."
"Obviously. Do you think it was caused by the disturbance?"
"It could be…" the president agreed. "If we really are coming close to a dimensional passage, it's possible that we may be able to see into the other side, like peering through a doorway but not stepping through."
"Geez, I hope not," Reno whimpered. "That version of Cloud didn't look like he was happy to see us…or maybe he was a little too happy to see us…." He shuddered.
"That weapon wasn't First Tsurugi," Vincent recalled. "It was bigger, if that's even possible. And that wing…and the fact that he…attacked us…." He shook his head. "I'm afraid…you may be right about Cloud…."
"Let's hope not," Rufus offered earnestly. "We won't know until we find the point of convergence, so let's keep looking…."
The three heroes trudged along towards the center of the Crater, pensive. Zack had started to get angry at Cloud—if I find one little chestnut hair on her head's been hurt, I'm gonna beat the goddamn crap outta that bastard! Sephiroth and Vincent pondered over something else…something that now seemed to make more sense.
"Do you think someone is working with him?" Sephiroth asked. "Not that Cloud has ever been the type to cooperate with anyone…but the Turks did say that there was someone trying to bring him back…and the Highwind doesn't exactly fly by herself."
"You have a point," Vincent agreed. "That would explain a lot. But who would be crazy enough to try something like that?"
"You think if I called her, we could hear her cell phone ringing?" Zack wondered aloud, totally off-topic. "Maybe then, at least, we could tell where she was…but that would be the first thing Cloud took from her, I guess…."
"Yazoo and Loz are still alive, aren't they?" Sephiroth suggested. "It's possible they saw some good in it…considering the connection between Kadaj and Cloud."
"Hmm…the two of them are powerful, but I wonder where they got the resources for a project like that…without Kadaj, it'd be a tricky operation, even if Cloud has a tendency to rise from the dead." Vincent shook his head. "They're like us—dirt poor, but they don't need money for most of what they do. They fight like demons, they follow orders. You think they could put this together on their own?"
"It's the only thing I've got."
Vincent noticed, with a twinge of sadness, that Sephiroth had fallen back into "mission-mode." He was no longer loose and relaxed as he had been in previous years, since Cloud's last death…then again, since Cloud had returned…. When they believed Cloud had reverted to his old self, Sephiroth had come close to smiling several times. He'd let his guard down more than he ever had before. This whole turn of events, however, was teaching him a hard and important lesson about trusting in people and hoping for better times—a lesson that Vincent didn't want him to learn. But…it was too late now; his son had been wounded.
"Dude! My…my cell phone is…fuzzy?" Zack shook it a little. "No…there's definitely something wrong with it…."
"Did you really expect to get service here?" Vincent sighed, uninterested.
"No—I mean—look! The battery's not dead, but the screen is all weird…."
Vincent glanced at it. "I'm not sure," he said honestly. "Maybe it's something about this place…it feels different from when we last came here. It feels strange…even though the situation is mostly the same."
Sephiroth nodded. "Something is off…and not just Cloud. Something else is going on here."
Still no sign of Aerith. Cloud sighed. He wondered if perhaps he'd been wrong…but then shuddered to think what might happen to Aerith if he was. He had to keep moving forward.
He'd seen Sephiroth come after the Highwind—that person-sized shape with only one black wing could only have been Sephiroth, after all—but he had managed to get away from him somehow. Still, Sephiroth wasn't far behind, he noticed—the fear-high lingered.
He heard a growl in front of him—the cry of a monster. Cloud raised his sword to fight as a bluish half-lion, half-walrus appeared and barreled toward him. The monster seemed pretty weak after fighting with Sephiroth. Cloud took down its health quickly, suffering maybe a scratch the entire battle…but when he went to make the final blow, it went straight through without actually cutting the creature, as though it was a ghost.
"H-huh?!" he gasped. The lion's form fizzled like the screen of Zack's cell phone. It turned to launch itself at Cloud again, but shuddered in midair and vanished entirely.
Cloud straightened up. …Huh…that was weird. No gil or experience, I guess….
He walked on for a good while, meeting minimal encounters…but the farther he got, the more that same thing kept happening. He actually managed to kill one of the monsters before its body melted away. This is getting old, he thought to himself. What's going on?
Finally, he stopped—there was something in front of him a little ways down the path, just laying on the ground…something pink, and—
"Aerith!!" He bolted toward her as fast as he could, diving around obstacles and smacking right through a monster on his way. Don't be dead, don't be dead!! Please!!
He came close to reaching her, but—hurried footsteps came into the area behind him. Damn being in the wrong place at the wrong time! Cloud swore, skidding to a stop before he could give them any more reason to skewer him on the spot. Damnit!!
"Aerith!!" Zack cried, rushing forward, recognizing his damsel in distress, but stopped short, pulling out his own version of First Tsurugi. "Give her back, Cloud, or I swear I'll cut you in two!!" he demanded angrily.
Cloud turned back to them to find their faces just as full of malice as he had imagined—but when he looked into Zack's face, he felt a sharp twinge of pain in his chest. Zack had never looked at him like that. In fact, he didn't remember ever seeing Zack look that way towards anyone. It was just because he loved Aerith so much, Cloud knew…but…that didn't make his hatred hurt any less.
While he was taken aback by Zack's aggression, he wasn't that surprised to see the brunette's party members join him, their weapons in hand also. Judging by the looks in their eyes, he decided telling the truth would be useless. It seemed like fighting would be, too—he had enough trouble against Sephiroth alone. But all three? He'd have to struggle just to survive…and he wasn't sure he'd be able to throw a blow at any of them. As far as he was concerned, they were still his dear friends….
Well…except Sephiroth. But…he's in a category all his own, I guess….
Well…first things first, I guess, Cloud decided, unable to face his ultimate demise just yet. "Take her," he said. "Take her home."
"Huh?" Zack blinked, stunned by the ease with which he'd said it. "You mean…you're not holding her hostage?"
Cloud shook his head, lowering his eyes. "I don't know if she's alright…I just got here."
"What? How could you not know?! You're the one who kidnapped her!" Zack accused.
Cloud scratched his head, shrugging, trying to think of something to say that made some kind of sense. "You just…assumed I did. I mean, I may be a bad guy…apparently…but you think I'm the only bad guy? You made enemies of a ton of people in your adventures. Maybe you overlooked someone."
While Zack tried to make sense of that line of reasoning, Sephiroth stepped past him, pointing Masamune straight at Cloud's face from a safe distance. "Go get her, Zack. And be quick about it," he ordered.
"Uh…yessir!" Zack replied, not needing to be told twice. He rushed past Cloud to her side, then dropped to his knees over her, turning her toward him, onto her back. Her hair flowed freely without her rose-colored ribbon—he brushed it aside and put a hand to her face. He exhaled. "Still warm…thank the gods…."
Cloud didn't move a muscle as Zack continued to check her more thoroughly for pulse, wounds, anything, but found that she was basically okay…there was just some kind of status effect on her. Since it wasn't something like Doom, Zack figured he could wait until it wore off…. "Looks like she'll be okay…" Zack informed his companions.
Vincent nodded to him and turned his attention fully to Cloud, moving to a more strategic position that complimented Sephiroth's. Now that she's safe… Cloud thought sadly as he watched, there's only one more thing for them to do. Looks like there's no chance they're just going to let me go…. In any case, I'll just try to stay alive as long as I can. I won't be able to defeat them…but I can try and live through it, at least.
Zack backed off from the immediate battlefield to take care of Aerith. Fighting two was better than fighting three, Cloud supposed, but it didn't make his chances much better. Sephiroth and Vincent both had death in their eyes much more severely than in Zack's now that Aerith was with him again. Then again, Zack would probably forgive me just for giving her back safe and sound. I think if I had a choice, I'd rather fight him….
There was another reason—he didn't think he could take down Sephiroth at all. Not now that he knew Sephiroth was innocent and pure of heart. It was hard to kill him the first time…to murder his hero…maybe even a man he loved. But now that his admiration and love was stronger than ever and even justified, trying to bring harm to him would be nearly impossible….
Sephiroth did not feel the same way.
The general leapt towards him first, giving Cloud only the time to dodge, not time to draw his sword and parry. Cloud dove around seeking some kind of break in Sephiroth's technique where he could do so, but found none—instead, he opted to take one hit to stop and draw it. Of course, unintentionally, the one time he chose to stop and just take Masamune in the arm was at the back end of his combo attack—Sephiroth landed a critical.
Cloud staggered back and took a few more rounds to get back into the rhythm of battle. Once he got on his feet, he would be alright—but he'd been caught by surprise and was already missing half of his health—and the general wasn't giving him much room to gather himself, if any at all. It was a constant struggle just to see the attacks, much less block them—and Sephiroth landed several smaller hits before crashing down on his First Tsurugi and forcing a struggle of strength.
"Why are you holding back?!" he demanded, his eyes cold and his voice harsh. "What is it that you want?!"
"I—I'm not." Cloud insisted in a low voice, short on breath. "You're crazy if you think I can fight you like this—"
"You seemed perfectly fine an hour ago," Sephiroth spat.
"Wh-what? Cloud asked, honestly taken aback. "I…was in the airship…that had nothing to do with…."
"I'm sick of your bullshit!" the general hissed back, pressing down, forcing Cloud to buckle under the force of his sword. His strength was nothing to be trifled with under normal circumstances, but under a mix of fury and berserk status, it was horrendous. "Fight me with all your being! And this time, stay dead!!"
He pushed off from Cloud and aimed another slash at him—aggressively, but surprisingly inaccurately. Cloud took the opportunity to get back into his battle groove and start to dance rather than tripping all over himself. He exchanged blows with his long-time enemy much as he always had—but unwittingly passed up several opportunities to counterattack—many of which earned him a well-deserved bullet in the arm from Vincent at range or a slash square in the chest from Sephiroth. The general, too, was making mistakes—those opportunities that Cloud wasn't taking advantage of were becoming much more frequent than would normally be acceptable to the proud hero.
At long last, a standstill came in the battle—a momentary standstill, but it was enough that Cloud might have found a way to escape. Sephiroth was fatiguing quickly in his rage, while Cloud was basically trying to get out of his reach for most of the battle. His health was suffering, true, but the blonde decided to chance it and make for the Highwind.
As he ran, he forgot about one thing—though he was out of Masamune's long reach, Cerberus didn't have much of a limit to its range. And in Vincent's hand, it had zero limit to accuracy.
The bullet hit him somewhere in the back and his body gave out. Cloud collapsed into the rock beneath him, skidding a little from his momentum. He saw blood smear behind him on the stone…and attempted not to panic when he realized who it belonged to….
The cold steel of Masamune slid up under his throat, rivaled only by the sharp, icy glare of the man who wielded it. Cloud shut his eyes. Damn. It's over. It's all over…Sephiroth is finally going to kill me. No one's here to make a daring and dramatic rescue this time. All the people who would've helped me are trying to kill me now. I don't have anything else up my sleeve…just totally at Sephiroth's mercy. Which…really isn't much mercy at all.
Then again, would it be so bad to die here? He considered it for a moment. I mean…it's not like the fate of the world hangs in the balance this time. Sephiroth is sane. He's not killing me because he wants to or because I'm in his way or anything like that…he's killing me because he thinks he's saving the world. And if he'll never believe me…there's no reason for me to try and keep living. There's no great evil psycho trying to destroy the Planet by giant astronomical objects flying into it. There's no one and nothing that can give me peace. So…why am I here?
…I think that's just slightly too long a train of thought to take place in the few seconds before I die. Or are all deaths like this? Does time slow down so you can think of everything you wanted to think of before you die?
That's another train of thought that I could take hours thinking about. Choo-choo, there it goes, moseying on down the track. Well, that's all well and good…but why am I not dead yet?
…Maybe I'm already dead?
Cloud opened his eyes and raised his eyes up the bloodstained steel of Masamune to Sephiroth's gloved hand, his 1 tattoo, up his arm, over his silver locks, and up to his face. The look in his eyes that said the general was ready to execute remained, but he still hadn't slit his throat or beheaded him or stabbed, mangled, maimed, et al, killed him yet. But why?
"Sephiroth?" Vincent ventured with a careful edge to his voice behind him, approaching slowly, so that they both came to tower over him. Sephiroth ignored him, but something in his face twitched painfully.
"Why?" he asked Cloud in a low, mourning, angry plea. He shook his head defiantly at his victim. "It's…like night and day…like two different people…I feel the high, but it's not the same…." He swallowed hard. "What is it about you?! What is it that you're trying to prove?!" Sephiroth pressed his sword closer to his skin, making a shallow cut dangerously close to his jugular vein. "Cloud—!!"
Suddenly, the pressure of the blade loosened on his neck. Sephiroth came very close to falling forward on top of him, using Masamune as stability from a shock….
"Sephiroth?" Vincent's voice only held concern this time. He stepped toward his party leader, but Sephiroth jerked back up.
"I-Impossible—!" Sephiroth stammered, but got no farther. I'm feeling Cloud's presence again…but not here?! He's here with me, but…the fear within me…I can feel it from…it's got to be just me imagining it, but…!
…No…it's not possible! There…can't be two of them!
There was a sword clash from behind them, followed by a cry of pain. Sephiroth and Vincent spun around, away from Cloud, to face where Zack kneeled with Aerith—
…No…!!
Black feathers danced around Zack. He held his own First Tsurugi in place, keeping the even larger weapon buried into his shoulder from getting any farther—without resistance, it would rip through his ribcage like paper. He struggled against that strength, shuddering heavily in pain, but keeping him from descending in all his colossal power—his assailant kept his head bowed for a moment, but then, slowly, rose up, lips curling into a smirk, cold, ghastly, pale eyes slitting in excitement as he stared into Sephiroth's ashen face across the battlefield.
"Cloud…" Sephiroth whispered, barely breathing the name in all his shock. He began to feel somewhat dizzy—and realized his breathing had halted.
Vincent's eyes widened, and then spun around to look back at the heap on the ground behind him. He looked forward once again at the Cloud with the black wing and the dark, twisted face, then back again at the Cloud with the sword and bullet wounds and the
soft, sad eyes. Sephiroth, too, turned very slowly to look at both the nemesis beneath him and before him, feeling a surreal sort of numbness set in, attaching itself to his uncertainty.
"Sephiroth…" the more sinister blonde addressed him when his face was turned, sliding his blade slowly and painfully out of Zack's shoulder. Zack gave a muffled howl as it ground out from his bones. Cloud grinned wider, enjoying his pain. "Sephiroth…" he repeated, "What would you give for their lives, hm?"
Zack huffed, trying to regain himself, but the wound in his shoulder made lifting his sword nearly impossible. He turned his head painfully to look back at Sephiroth…and noticed the yellow-and-black lump behind their feet. Wait…Cloud is…still there? Zack took a few double takes himself, then realized that there were two of them. And because of Cloud's vantage point above him, he couldn't see his kinder self behind Sephiroth and Vincent…the black-winged Cloud had no idea his counterpart even existed…yet.
"He…he really is from another worl—!" Zack began to gasp, but stopped as psycho-Cloud's head jerked down towards him. Cloud narrowed his eyes, beginning to ask just what he was talking about….
Hero-Cloud looked up at Sephiroth from behind, able to see about half his face. Though he couldn't see him, Cloud could tell by the voice, the flurry of feathers, and most of all, Sephiroth's eyes, what he was looking at. Strangely, though, the general's eyes weren't growing more tense…they were relaxing. Color was coming back into his face where he'd gone so pale earlier from the shock. He didn't seem to be worried about Zack or Aerith…or even slightly worried about fighting Cloud's other self; he wasn't strained like he'd been throughout the earlier battle….
"Fight me," Sephiroth challenged softly…calmly, even. He took a confident but small step forward, so as to keep the other one hidden.
Psycho-Cloud snapped his attention back to Sephiroth, easily distracted from Zack's misspeak. "But just to kill you would mean nothing, Sephiroth. I want to take away your friends and bring you indescribable pain—"
Sephiroth laughed suddenly. Vincent, Zack, and both Clouds jumped in surprise—Sephiroth never laughed, especially not as freely and willingly as that. Even when he was insane, he never laughed, Hero-Cloud thought with a certain amount of incredulity.
"That's cute," Sephiroth jeered at his nemesis. "You think you can kill me. I've killed you three times, Cloud. On only one of those times did I have my friends with me. It doesn't matter whether they fight with me or not—you'll still fall to me, again and again, no matter how many times you come after me. Is this what you're reduced to? Threatening the members of my party that you can defeat even with your skill because theirs is so lacking compared to mine?"
Zack made a face and started to protest painfully, "Hey, now—OOF!" Cloud shoved him aside, flying towards Sephiroth, settling after closing about half the distance. He was not amused.
Sephiroth took the hilt of Masamune with both hands and brought it to his signature stance at his cheekbone. "Come and kill me if you can!" he challenged assertively and spread his own wing, flying after his long-time enemy.
Vincent glanced back at Hero-Cloud one last time. "Stay hidden," he commanded after an awkward moment, and leapt after the two super-humans locked in battle.
Cloud blinked a little. I'm kinda still riddled with bullets and slashes, you know…but that's okay. You guys just…go fight the other me. After a moment more of staring after his friends, he made a face. Damn. My other self looks pretty awful. I guess that's kinda what happened to Sephiroth, though, right? His face got all sunken in and dark instead of fair and beautiful like it is now….
Not that this is the best time to be thinking about how beautiful he is. Not that it matters either way, since I'm too weak to do anything.
Cloud, though his vision was starting to blur, looked over to where Zack was…. Passed out. I'm not surprised. That's a pretty bad wound for just one attack, and the other me just had to throw him halfway across the…. Then he stopped. Wait…the wound is starting to heal? Sure enough, the green glow of cure material was re-attaching muscle fibers and weaving strands of skin back together…. But…if he's passed out, who…?
A small, soft hand touched Cloud's shoulder just as he realized she'd gotten up and left Zack's side. "Aer…is," Cloud managed through a mouthful of blood, not bothering to correct his pronunciation.
She looked down at him with understanding, genuinely concerned eyes. Gods, he loved those tender eyes, and did he ever need them now. "It's me…don't worry. Don't say anything, okay?" She didn't bother to correct him either.
She began healing him, but his health was totally down and it was taking quite a while. Aerith looked worriedly up at the battle in the sky. Even from a distance, it was easy to tell which way it was going. He watched Vincent drop out from the sky and out of the fight a little ways over.
"Go…to him," Cloud implored her.
"No, Cloud!" she chastised gently, turning to him again. "He'll be okay. But you have to heal!" Cloud started to speak again, but Aerith pressed a finger to his lips, keeping one green-glowing hand on his chest. "You accomplished the same things Sephiroth did, right? But you had it harder because you didn't start out with the incredible power that Sephiroth began with!"
Cloud blinked at her a few times, not quite understanding what she was getting at. It was taking him a second just to hear and comprehend each of her words, much less take her obscure meaning….
Aerith jumped and gasped as Sephiroth skidded into the ground near them, crushing rocks up from the ground and creating a wound in the landscape. He dropped to one knee and a hand just as his backward motion stopped. PsyCloud pulled up in front of him, wounded, but not nearly as ragged as Sephiroth looked.
"Next time you start mocking me, Sephiroth, you may want to consider whether or not you're going into battle with only half of your health and a bad status," Cloud sneered haughtily. "Though…for coming in to this so decidedly weak, I'll admit you've put up a delightfully fantastic fight. Why don't I repay you by giving you an equally fantastic death?"
Sephiroth glared at him with a conviction that was not the same as the last glare Hero-Cloud saw in him. This look was full, as though he had no unease in carrying out his full duty. It was as though he'd found something new to believe in, and he was ready for whatever the other Cloud could throw at him.
He's going to get himself killed! Hero-Cloud thought in a panic. He'd fallen in love all over again seeing that look in his eyes, but in this situation it was not good. Sephiroth was going to lose, and get himself killed doing it—
Cloud tried to get up, but Aerith pushed him back down. "Please, don't! You're not in any shape to fight yet, Cloud!" she pleaded with him.
He groaned, realizing at that point that he wasn't even in any shape to push back against her strength, let alone someone as powerful as Sephiroth. That was pretty bad. Still… "I—I've got to—!"
"Ohh!!" she sighed, dismayed by his tenacity. She closed her eyes, clasping her hands, trying to block out the sounds of Sephiroth struggling to keep up with his enemy behind her, concentrating within her. "Come on…come on!!"
Aerith started to glow…quite literally. Cloud recognized the glow as a limit break…but he was wondering how much good Healing Wind would do…Fury Brand might help, though. Surely Sephiroth could use a limit boost….
One might imagine Cloud's shock as a light shone down on them and three angelic creatures descended from the sky. The light began to repair even the most grievous of his wounds. He did not remember her being able to do that.
"What…is that?"
Aerith smiled at him. "This is my fourth-level limit break, Great Gospel…."
"I think…you must've died before you got around to learning that one…."
PsyCloud turned, seeing the great white light, but Sephiroth recaptured his attention with a quick swipe. His opponent merely smirked down at him and hammered him back with a series of fast, powerful attacks. Sephiroth left a single opening—and got a round slash square in the chest. He went flying back into a stone cliff, dropping down once the force of his body had made a huge crack in the natural wall. No sooner had he collided with the ground than he looked up to see Cloud closing in for one final blow….
…And Cloud dished out his first.
Sephiroth stared as a nearly identical shape crashed into his assailant and the both of them flew off to his right. After watching for a second, he could only tell which one was which because one, of course, had a darker face—but one was absolutely shocked, unsure of what hit him and unable to regain himself, while the other was unleashing a flurry of blows on him. PsyCloud struggled, having lost his balance and his form, taking more hits than he was parrying, while Hero-Cloud pressed forward, focused and strong.
The general glanced to his left as Aerith ran to him. "I'm alright," he insisted quickly. "Go…go help the other two," he stammered, still in shape enough to fight, but unable to fully grasp the situation just yet.
Aerith nodded with a look of determination that was really too cute to convey her sense of intensity. She knew that even if she could counter Cloud's stubbornness, Sephiroth would not be swayed, and her other friends did need her help.
And he'll be alright, she thought, turning to run to Vincent and Zack. I believe in Cloud. I believe he can do this.
Hero-Cloud finished his combo with a bang and then stepped back. PsyCloud flew back and then flipped back onto his feet, whipping his head up to stare at his new adversary—and his face distorted even more. "Wh—what?!" he gasped, backing up. "How—who—?!" Maybe if he threw out enough indefinite pronouns, the answer to this wild, impossible turn of events would come to him. How the hell can I be staring at—can I be fighting—myself?!
Sephiroth looked on, seeing that the importance he'd placed on the element of surprise had worked out. PsyCloud's guard was down now—they had him where they wanted him.
Hero-Cloud's body began to glow quite suddenly. PsyCloud jumped back, knowing what was coming and knowing he was not prepared for it.
"Aerith's limit break is pretty impressive," the sane one said to him. "But…I think mine is going to make a much bigger impression…."
First Tsurugi resounded with a cerulean glow and split apart, surrounding PsyCloud. The twisted blonde looked around himself wildly, not recognizing this attack, nor seeing any place to dodge when the swords converged. Hero-Cloud's glow turned gold and he propelled himself forward….
One slash for each sword and one with the entirety of First Tsurugi. Sephiroth, Aerith, and their freshly revived companions watched from below. Cloud sent himself spiraling down, his health nearly devastated with the force of Omnislash Version V.
Hero-Cloud allowed his swords to fall in a circle below, and then landed lightly, catching the base of First Tsurugi in his hand. His friends came to his side, Vincent limping, but the others ready to support him.
Sephiroth came near to him and asked softly, "…Why didn't you use that on me? You could've taken me out instantly."
"I reserve it for insane mass murderers with a mommy complex," the blonde answered.
Sephiroth couldn't help himself—he smiled slightly. "Cloud—"
"I would've attacked you, too," he cut him off gently. "Don't worry about it."
PsyCloud struggled to his feet, staring at the five of them incredulously. "Who—" he hissed at Cloud, "Who are you?!"
"Well…I guess I'm you, but not…kinda," Cloud said, shrugging and scratching the back of his head. Realizing he'd just pulled a "let's mosey," he added, "I'm…nothing like you." He raised his sword to his mirror image. "Let's end this!"
The darker Cloud glared at him, unable to lift his sword in defense, but also unable to accept defeat. He prepared to take the killing blow as Cloud powered toward him—
And with a blast of darkness and garish blue light, the blonde hero spiraled backwards through the air.
His party members yelped in surprise and dismay. Sephiroth flew back towards Cloud, taking him swiftly into his arms before he crashed into the hard rocks in his path.
Cloud gasped a little. "What—what was that?!"
"Sephiroth!!" Zack cried to him in shock, seeing what had appeared in their path.
Sephiroth and Cloud looked back to where PsyCloud was standing. Before him, another figure had appeared, cloaked in an aura of darkness and an eerie mako-blue current. The glowing subsided as the figure touched the ground lightly, and those who'd taken part in Crisis recognized him immediately—
"Genesis!" they said in unison.
"…Who…?" Cloud asked blearily. The name was familiar, but he didn't think he'd had any lasting contact with him….
Sephiroth flew back to a safe range before Genesis and PsyCloud. PsyCloud pushed himself up. Genesis raised a hand back to the revived destroyer.
"Don't worry, Cloud," Genesis assured him in a silky voice, keeping his gaze on the heroes. "There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess," he quoted. "You will be reunited with your mother soon if only you'll allow me to aid you…."
"Genesis!" Sephiroth hissed, placing Cloud on his feet. "How are you still alive?!"
"You're not…degrading?!" Zack asked. And indeed, Genesis looked almost as though he'd been fully revitalized….
"I am not," Genesis confirmed, smirking pridefully. "I have found the secret to immortality, and with it, I have found the gift of the goddess. But I have not obtained it yet," he sighed. "I must first earn this gift…. And you are going to assist…whether you mean to or not."
"What?!" Sephiroth replied in question.
"You heard what he said," Yazoo's voice traveled up from behind them.
They turned to see the two brothers, Loz with a black lump of something strapped to his back, holding it tightly as though it were precious. "We're not going to let you stop us from achieving Kadaj's dream this time!" he declared, coming up on them.
"So you were in on it, as well…" Sephiroth growled, turning back to Genesis. "You were the ones trying to bring Cloud back…."
"And we succeeded, didn't we?" Genesis asked. "Granted, we didn't count on a double finding a point of convergence by accident and traveling to this world…" he muttered, directing his thoughts to the more heroic Cloud, "but it doesn't matter. In fact, this is to our benefit. I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you all to leave. We're going to find the point of convergence here…and you're not coming with us."
Vincent narrowed his eyes. "By 'point of convergence,' do you mean the gateway to another world?"
Something fizzled near them…and suddenly, Reno appeared out of thin air. He looked around at them all, scared suddenly. "Dude! Sephiroth?! Dude! Yo, Vincent, there's two of you! And—and two of Clo—!" His voice cut out as the image of his body fizzled again and disappeared.
"Those…those visions…what are they?" Cloud wondered aloud.
"Quantum shadows," Genesis explained. "Those from another world who are affected by the point of convergence can temporarily see into this dimension, and vice versa."
"So…why do you want to get to another dimension?" Zack asked earnestly.
"That you should already know," Genesis replied darkly with a sick laugh.
The others looked confused, possibly PsyCloud most of all, who had had nothing to do with any of this before now. Hero-Cloud stepped forward, closer to Genesis than the others were. "Cut it out!" he commanded. "What are you trying to pull?!"
"Cloud, be careful! He's stronger than he was before!" Sephiroth warned. He took a single step forward.
Their surroundings rippled.
Genesis's eyes widened. "No…No!! Get back!" he shouted at Sephiroth, but it was too late.
A fierce wind kicked up around him and the backdrop around them seemed to implode, leaving them to be swallowed in darkness. Sephiroth stumbled—the others nearly lost their balance as unknown forces pulled on them from all directions. Yazoo grabbed hold of Loz just as the two of them were sucked away into some sort of dark oblivion; PsyCloud tried to cling to something, but fell back as well; Zack grabbed Aerith, but just as they started to slip away, he rammed his sword into the ground to hold their position.
Sephiroth found he could not move to help any of them and watched as the scenery was destroyed. Genesis, barely holding on, turned to the closest enemy he could—Cloud.
"Damnit! I…I won't let you pass!" he declared, drawing his thin sword.
Cloud, just barely hanging on himself, stared at him, knowing he wouldn't be able to stop the blow. Just when Genesis came forward, however, Vincent came in front of him—and took the Rapier through the chest.
"Vincent!" Cloud cried for him, but it was already done. He felt Vincent's warm blood on his face.
"Cloud…" Vincent forced out, taking hold of the Rapier in his body, "…forgive me."
Cloud blinked at him for a moment, unable to speak. Then, he said, perhaps in honor of another dear friend who passed away, "…For what?"
Vincent glanced back at him and smiled a little. He took up Cerberus and took aim at Genesis's forehead—and blew it off.
The two of them were swallowed up by the vacuum around them.
Cloud heard the others call out his name and looked back, but he already felt the vortex tugging at his body. He looked back to Sephiroth, who reached out for him, desperately, and in vain. Before he could gather himself, the darkness overwhelmed him and his sight left his eyes, pulling him into nothingness.
Sephiroth opened his eyes.
He was standing in the same place he had been before he'd triggered…whatever it was. But there was no one there.
"C-Cloud?" he asked into the silence, in barely more than a whisper. No…no, no, no!! Where is he? Where are Zack and Aerith and—
A gun cocked behind him, followed swiftly by another and a "bzzt" sound. He turned around, gripping the hilt of Masamune—but then relaxed. "Vincent…you're still here…are you alright?"
"…What…?" Vincent hissed in a low voice, pointing Cerberus straight at him, narrowing his eyes.
"…I'll take that as a yes," Sephiroth concluded, slightly confused by the harshness of his body language. He looked to his side, where Rufus and his Turks stood. "…When did you get here?"
They looked around at each other, somewhat uncertain themselves. "Nevermind," Sephiroth said. "It doesn't matter…."
Vincent took a slow step forward. "Where is Cloud…?" he asked in a low growl, still keeping Cerberus locked and loaded.
"I…I don't know," Sephiroth said, a touch of concern coming to his voice and his eyes. This only confused the others more.
"SEPHIROTH! HEY, SEPHIROTH! CLOUD! VINNY! WHERE ARE YA?"
Sephiroth turned at the sound of Zack's voice echoing and went to the edge of the cliff they stood on. A little down the path below, Zack stood with Aerith calling out.
"Up here!" Sephiroth called. "Vincent is here with me! Have you seen Cloud?"
Zack looked up at him and threw his arms in the air with a shrug. "What happened? Are you guys alright? Where's Genesis and them?"
"I don't know…but everyone here seems to be alright. Come on up."
He turned back to Vincent and Rufus. "Would you stop pointing those at me?" he asked irritably, motioning to the guns. "Genesis is gone. There's no need for that."
"Genesis…?!" Vincent asked. Sephiroth blinked at him as Zack and Aerith came up the path.
Reno, Rufus, and Rude choked at the sight of them. Vincent's gun dropped.
"Hey, guys!" Zack said. "Hey, when did you Turks get here? Dude, what's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost! Well…maybe a couple of ghosts…."
Reno stuttered, pointing, "A-a-all three of ya, yo! Y-you're all dead!"
"Come on, Reno! I thought we were past the threats!" Zack whined.
"It's not a threat!" Reno insisted. "It's a fact!"
"Huh?"
Aerith danced over to Sephiroth and clasped her hands, ignoring the boys' bickering. "Sephiroth-kun? Will you please, please, please let me heal you now?"
"Huh? Oh…well…I suppose so," Sephiroth replied, snapped out of his thoughts.
Vincent choked a little. "S-sephiroth…kun?!" he repeated, incredulous. "Aeris…did you just call him…?!"
Sephiroth looked up, holding up a hand. "Wait, wait! What…did you just call her?"
"Aeris," Rufus repeated.
"Aeris?" Zack repeated again.
"With an 's'?" Aerith asked.
Zack blinked a few times, and then grinned in recognition. "Oh, wait—you guys are from Cloud's—"
He stopped dead. "Oh…."
Vincent stepped back. "You…you must be…!"
"We must be…" Sephiroth finished, "…In Cloud's dimension…."
Cloud stumbled into Seventh Heaven. He'd never felt so awful in his life. Well…maybe except for that second time he'd fought Sephiroth. That had been pretty bad.
Tifa looked up from where she was at the bar. "Cloud!" she cried, running to him, grabbing his collar. "Where have you been?! I've been worried sick about you! And look at you, covered in wounds…oh, Cloud…."
Cloud squinted at her. "…Aren't you…?"
She looked genuinely concerned for a moment…for a moment.
Her concern quickly turned to rage and she slugged him hard in the jaw—which was no trifling matter from Tifa. Cloud stumbled back. "You—you know, you could've just told me you were gay!" she shouted, getting right to the subject.
"Wh…what…?" Cloud asked, disoriented.
"You know what I'm talking about!" she snapped. "All this time, I've been waiting for you, hoping, wishing, loving you, and you're in love with—with Sephiroth, of all people?!" She scoffed. "I can't believe you! Get over him! He isn't real! He doesn't love you! He's a guy, and he's insane, and he wants to kill you along with the rest of the Planet! Didn't you get that the first three times you fought him!?"
"He…wants to destroy the Planet…?" Cloud repeated.
"YES, Cloud!" Tifa nearly screamed at him. "I think he does, you idiot!"
Cloud blinked. "Is…that…so…?"
Tifa couldn't help herself—she started crying. "You—you deluded, stupid—!!"
He looked down at her and gasped in recognition…her tears brought forth the memories more clearly than her face. "Oh! That's right…now I remember…but…"
He took her face roughly in his hand and turned her towards him, despite her struggles. She looked up at him finally, but then stopped dead. She looked up into his eyes…and they were familiar…but those eyes…she had seen them on someone else…in Nibelheim…in the crater…when she'd lost so much….
Cloud smirked. "Didn't I…kill you?"
forte-piano 1) Playing at a huge volume and intensity and then suddenly coming back down, shifting to the opposite end of the spectrum.
: End Chapter X :
Ending Notes: So, this lengthy chapter marks the end of an era. I got sick of writing battle scenes halfway through, if you couldn't tell, hehe. But I hope you like. Thank you for reviews, faves, and just plain old reading!