Chapter 11: Dance of Death

"Zack, are you still in Nibelheim? It's been six days since you deployed." Enyo said over the phone.

"Yes, we are, but we already dealt with the problem that caused the reactor to malfunction."

"Sephiroth hasn't given any order of retreat to the HQ?" she asked worried.

"No, he's been locked inside the Shinra Mansion for days."

"What?! Zack, I'll head over there now."

Enyo had just arrived to her dorm, feeling exhausted and ill after six laborious days of inspecting reactors. Not only did she go to the Gongaga reactor, the Corel reactor, the one at Fort Condor, and the underwater reactor at Junon. During the latter days, she began to feel dizzy, tired and nauseous. Back at the dorm, she still felt that way, but she couldn't stop herself from going to Nibelheim. A spark of worry ran through her when Zack told her Sephiroth had stayed in Shinra Mansion. The nausea returned again, this time becoming unbearable. Enyo dragged herself towards the bathroom, hurling her guts into the toilet. A thought ran through her mind, questioning it at first. Nevertheless, it was something she had to confirm. Minutes later, Enyo decided she had to tell Sephiroth.

...

"Zack, is Sephiroth still at the Mansion?"

"Yes, he still hasn't come out." Zack said worried.

"Damn! What's wrong with him?"

"Well, something happened…"

-Begin Flashback-

"You average SOLDIERs are mako-infused humans. You're enhanced, but you're still human." Sephiroth said seriously, looking at the creature inside the capsule. "But then, what are those things? Their mako energy levels are exponentially higher than yours."

"Are they monsters?" Zack asked.

Sephiroth walked away from the capsule and remained in silence for a short moment. "Yes. Hojo, the Shinra scientist, was the one who created them. They are abominations bred by mako. Monsters."

"Sephiroth...you said average members. What about you?" Zack asked.

As he began to think about it, Sephiroth felt a sharp pain on his. His body suddenly felt weak as distorted memories blurred on his mind.

"Sephiroth?! H-hey!" Zack tried to help him up as he stumbled, but Destruction's Right pushed him away. "Could it...be? That I...was created the same way? Am I the same as these abominations?"

"Sephiroth..."

"I knew...ever since I was a child...I was not like the others. Mine was a special existence. Just like Enyo's. But this...is not what I meant." Sephiroth said as he looked at the monster released from the capsule. He switched his view to look at his hands suddenly doubting his existence. "Am I...a human being?"

"No such luck. You are a monster." A voice said from the shadows. Sephiroth turned to block a Fira attack, which in turn hit Zack. Genesis was back.

"Sephiroth...You were the greatest monster created by the Jenova Project."

Zack tried to recover as he listened to Genesis. "So you are alive!"

"If you can call this living, then I suppose I am." He said looking at himself. His degradation was in a very advanced state.

Sephiroth, absorbed in his own thoughts asked: "What is the Jenova Project?"

"She should know...why don't you ask her?" Genesis said with a sly smile. Sephiroth however, could not understand his reply. "The Jenova Project was the term used for all the experiments related to the use of Jenova's cells."

"My mother's cells?..."Sephiroth could not understand the twisted events that took place before his birth.

"Poor little Sephiroth. You actually never met your mother. They just told you her name, didn't they? I don't know what images you've conjured up in your head, but..."

Zack had suspected it. Yet he didn't want Spehiroth to know the truth. "Genesis, no!"

"Jenova was excavated from a 2000-year-old rock layer. She's monster...just as you are."

This made Sephiroth panic. He could not believe Genesis words. He did not want to believe that after all these years of fame and glory, the thing he longed for the most was ultimately away from his grasp.

"Sephiroth, I need your help. My body continues to degrade. But you can save me." Said Genesis to him. Sephiroth didn't answer. "SOLDIER 1st Class Sephiroth!" Those words brought him to reality. "Jenova Project G gave birth to Angeal and monsters like myself. Now, Jenova Project S used the remains of countless failed experiments to create a perfect monster. Well, two monsters, for that matter."

Feeling that all was lost, Sephiroth only asked: "What do you want of me?" He could not look at Genesis.

"Your traits cannot be copied unto others. Your genes cannot be diffused. Therefore, your body cannot degrade."Genesis stood next to Sephiroth, holding a Banora White Apple. "Share your cells with me."

"My friend, your desire

Is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess."

Sephiroth turned to look at Genesis, and then at the sealed door adorned with the word JENOVA embossed on top of it. His strength and pride suddenly returned to him. "Whether your words... are lies created to deceive me...or the truth that I have sought all my life...it makes no difference." He got closer to Genesis, pushing away his Banora White. "You will rot." His words were uttered with newly-experienced hatred. Confused, betrayed and raged, Sephiroth left the Mako reactor. Now with the desire to look for answers, Sepiroth headed into Shinra Manor's library. He was determined to find out the truth, even if it meant never leaving that place.

-End Flashback-

"What? No! T-this can't be! Damn!" Enyo started to feel dizzy.

"Sephiroth didn't seem to believe him, but I think that's why he's in there. Investigating. Genesis told him to ask HER. That SHE knew. Is it you? Enyo, you knew about the Jenova Project?"

"Yes…do you remember when Lazard sent us to the Mansion so that I could get some files?...They were concerning the Jenova Project. I didn't know anything about it until then. I never understood why he wanted me to see those files, other than torturing me psychologically."

"You never told Sephiroth?" Zack asked.

"No…I was afraid of what could happen….to tell you the truth, Zack, I am afraid of the consequences now more than ever."

"Let's go get him."

Once inside the basement library, Enyo and Zack saw dozens of books and files lying about the floor. At the end of the hallway was Sephiroth leaning against a wall, reading a book.

"Sephiroth…" When he looked up to Enyo, she saw that his eyes were different. They expressed anger, madness, confusion...The same emotions Enyo felt on that day.

He took her hand and said: "Sister, we are finally together. Now we can finally take revenge on the people that destroyed our Mother."

Enyo's heart beat increased upon hearing his words. "Sephiroth, I am not your sister."

Zack was only able to watch and listen to them in shock.

"You do not understand. Our Mother, Jenova, is a Cetra, an Ancient. A superior being that humans tried to suppress. We can save her and punish these inferior humans; together we will create a shining future and reach the Promised Land."

"No! Sephiroth, you're wrong. Jenova isn't a Cetra. I was a product of Project S, but I am not your Sister. We weren't born from the same womb. Jenova is an alien matter...a calamity that fell from the sky that almost destroyed the whole Cetra civilization. Jenova is but a monster...And we, we are merely genetically engineered humans."

Sephiroth looked at Enyo in anger, letting go of her hand. She spoke her words with such assurance, he asked himself if she already knew, if she had accomplice with Genesis. She should know...why don't you ask her? His words resonated on his mind, now understanding what he meant. Sephiroth...there's something I need to tell you once we complete this mission...it's important.He remembered her words before departing. "Can you listen, Mother? Such ignorance." Without a word, Sephiroth pushed Enyo and Zack to the side, making his way out of the Shinra Mansion library. "Out of my way. I'm going to see my Mother."

Enyo was holding back her tears; the nightmare was indeed happening. She felt panicked and overwhelmed by how twisted the events had turned out. She was wrong to kept the truth about the project to herself. She knew she would pay the price. So many thoughts overcame her that Enyo could not conjure any words, and not even stand up.

"You okay?" Zack asked offering his hand. Enyo grabbed it instinctively and got up on her feet. She nodded and stood there, unaware of what to do.

"Let's go after Sephiroth." Zack said worried.

"Yes."

Outside, chaos was spreading about. The town of Nibelheim was covered in flames, and its soil was stained with blood. Many of its people had been killed by Sephiroth himself. Walking through the flames, the two SOLDIERs spotted Sephiroth at the limits of the city taking yet another life. Before making his way to the Mt. Nibel reactor, he looked at his lover seriously. At first Zack and Enyo tended to the people that hadn't been killed, but the young man told Enyo to head to the reactor.

Enyo found Sephiroth inside the room where Jenova was kept.

"Enough, Sephiroth! You misunderstood what you read; Jenova is not a Cetra. It was later confirmed in further investigations. Yes, we may be an abomination, but that does not mean we can't live a normal life. Please, just stop this madness and come back with me to Midgar."

Sephiroth turned to Enyo and looked at her expressing no emotion. "You knew."

"I know...it was wrong of me to keep it. Lazard, he made me see the truth...and I was threatened if I spoke. I...wanted to tell you...Sephiroth, please. Forget about Jenova and the details of our past. Whatever happened, it won't change who we are now or what we will do. What matters now is our present life. Do it for the sake of your child….our child. I am expecting, Sephiroth." She could not stop the tears anymore.

He approached her silently and made a movement as if to kiss her. She got near him and closed her eyes, ready to kiss him. However, the event took another turn. Sephiroth thrust his blade into Enyo's chest. The blade pierced through her but she reacted quickly and took a step back. With the wound open and pain spreading through her whole being, Enyo took out her blades and adopted her battle position. The tears kept flowing for she loved him deeply, but she knew that she had to stop him before things turned for the worst. It was a battle to the death now, and they both attacked each other mercilessly. However, Enyo was weakened due to the wound and the conditions of her pregnancy giving Sephiroth a wide advantage. He slashed at her two times, throwing one final thrust through her stomach, before he lifted her into the air and threw her back down.

"Ahhhh!"

"You said you loved me, Minerva, but you knew about Mother all along. You're nothing but a traitor. You don't deserve to share Mother's cells. You are nothing but an inferior scum. "

"I…I do, Sephiroth. I love you….I…forgive me." Enyo said weak.

"Humph. Traitor."

Sephiroth took the Masamune and thrust it into her neck, making sure she died slowly and painfully.

"Tck! S-s….Se…phiroth." She whispered with the remains of her strength before she closed her eyes.

"NO!" Zack made it to the chamber, witnessing how Sephiroth killed his lover. Zack battled Sephiroth, but he too was defeated. When Sephiroth approached Jenova, a person thrust him using Zack's Buster Sword. It was Cloud Strife, the infantryman that had become close to Zack, and used to live in Nibelheim.

"Return my mother, Tifa and my village! I…respected you. I admired you! You bastard!"

The boy removed the sword from his victim and ran to tend his friend Tifa, who had been attacked by Sephiroth inside the chamber. Sephiroth cut off Jenova's head and walked out the chamber. With his remaining strength, Zack told Cloud to finish Sephiroth off, and the boy took the Buster Sword again and followed Sephiroth into the reactor. The boy attacked and even though Sephiroth was wounded, he reacted quickly and thrust his sword into Cloud's chest. The boy did not give up and with an unknown strength he grabbed the sword thrust into him and lifted Sephiroth in the air, throwing him into the lifestream, at the bottom of the reactor. Once the battle ended, the boy collapsed. Hours later, the Shinra Science Department arrived to the scene, led by Professor Hojo. He analyzed the scene and the subjects involved, deciding to take the two defeated SOLDIERs and the infantryman into the lab, to being experimentations on them. Once he saw the amount of blood around Enyo, he figured out her condition.

"Ha! Be extra careful with this one; she is with child. Perfect for my experiments!" He knew the fetus was the key. There was no stopping for making the next Sephiroth.

Inside Enyo's mind she could hear the muffled cackle of the scientist, and a weak voice pleaded for mercy. A voice that also pleaded and longed for a return to the past. To her life and her love. Yet, she knew the outcome of it all; such was the irony of her title. She was merely a tool of destruction, and Destruction has no mercy for anything, not even its own mind.