~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~
Blaze Edge had been in my hand since the large figure appeared. I was still stunned by what I had heard from Sephiroth. He was usually the one telling us to keep moving and to never give up. I had no idea what had been going on in his head but I did know that the large figure must be the same type of thing as Odin.
The large hovering figure lifted its hand towards Sephiroth. It moved its claw-like fingers apart and a large purplish-black fireball appeared between them. I knew that the fireball was meant to kill Sephiroth. Mainly because of what he had said to the figure. I would not allow any ally of mine to die just yet.
Before I fully knew what was happening, I had Blaze Edge in gun mode. I centred the sights on the right eye hole of the figure and squeezed the trigger. Blaze Edge jumped in my hand, pushed into my shoulder and moved sharply upward as the bullet exploded out of the barrel.
The head of the thing snapped back as the bullet slammed into the eye socket. The figure looked like it stumbled back and regained its balance, which is just odd to say because the thing was permanently in the air. It shook its head before looking directly at me.
The large thing lifted its hand towards me and moments later a fireball was flying at me. I jumped to the side and the fireball exploded right where I had been standing. I heard several strikes of lightning and knew that Hope was trying to get the things attention so I could get back on my feet.
I stood up and looked over to Hope. He was getting ready to hit the thing with another spell. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the thing open its mouth. It let out an earsplitting shriek that took me to my knees, I couldn't even begin to imagine what this was like to Hope. Or Sephiroth for that matter.
With my hands over my ears I looked over and saw Sephiroth still on his knees, looking at the ground directly in front of him. When the thing stopped screeching, it was still echoing in my ears, I knew that I was going to be deaf for awhile. I might as well use that to my advantage.
~~~~Genesis' POV~~~~
I realized I had drifted to sleep when I was being shook to be awakened. I pushed my self into a sitting position as I slowly opened my eyes and looked over at Angeal.
"I'll admit it's good to see you again, Genesis," Angeal said in his classic joking way with a smirk "But where in Gaia are we?" I knew exactly where we were, but I chose to keep that to myself.
"I think a more important question is why are we here?" I asked back to my old friend. He helped me to my feet and we began to look around the area. I was feigning interest in the cybernetic forest.
"I don't even think we're on Gaia," Angeal commented to me.
"What makes-" I was cut off by an exceptionally loud screeching noise.
Angeal and I knew the direction of the source and started off towards it. Since there was no lift to take us down the next set of path ways, we had to leap from branch to branch. I felt unusually cheerful towards the thought of using my rapier again.
~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~
I have no idea about how much time had passed since the thing screamed at me and Hope. All I knew was I had recovered my hearing and the thing was relentless.
It was using a rather obvious tactic against me and Hope; fight fire with fire. Every time I charged at it, it would meet me with its own set of melee attacks; Every time Hope attacked it, it countered with its own spell. I had also noticed an odd scent when I came close to it. Death, was the only way to describe the smell. It made me feel sick to my stomach, made me want to gag, felt like it was sapping my strength, and made the smallest movements many times more difficult.
After what felt like hours, I could no longer fight the thing. Its debilitating aura was too much to handle. However, I refused to fall to the ground, I stayed standing and started to assist Hope with the limited healing spells I knew. I could see that Hope was beginning to feel drained, I could see it in his stance.
Sephiroth was still on his knees. He still hadn't even moved from the spot he started in. His sword was easily within his reach but he didn't move, he wasn't even reacting to the fact that the thing was about to kill his companions.
I was about to summon Odin when something caught my attention. It was a small flash of a dark colour, purple most likely. I looked at it and saw that it was indeed purple, but it was around the fist of a man careening towards the flying thing. When the mans fist connected with the torso of the thing, a large purple orb appeared and yanked the thing to the ground.
The man landed near Sephiroth and I quickly examined him. He had the same dimensions as Snow, albeit a bit larger muscle-wise. Straight shoulder length black hair, black clothing and black leather spaulders, brown gloves, boots, and something that held the large midriff belt.
A moment after, a second man landed, compared to the first, he was scrawny. The second man had a red coat that hung to half way down his shins and black shoulders. Reddish-brown hair that fell to his jaw, I guess the true word for his hair colour is Auburn. His boots had a three inch heel, which I thought was fairly strange. He had a long red sword in his right hand pointed towards the thing.
~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~
I saw the one winged being fall to the ground but didn't move from my spot. I still couldn't believe Lightning and Hope were able to knock it down, much less fight the thing. I didn't care though. A . . . monster such as me doesn't deserve another opportunity at life. If Lightning and Hope were intending to defend me to the death, they would get their wish.
I couldn't even begin to imagine what Angeal or Genesis would say if they saw me like this. But, again, I wouldn't care what they said. There are too many crimes on my list to let me remain in the world of the living.
"Since when do you give up?" A voice said to me. At first I didn't know who it belonged to, but my subconscious did. It sent one memory to the surface of my mind. Angeal.
I looked to where the voice came from and saw exactly what I thought I'd see. My old friend Angeal was standing there, battle stance up, and looking down at me. I knew he was standing right there, but my mind was refusing to accept it as real.
"We don't have time for this," I heard another voice say. There is only one person who has a voice that sounds like it is permanently saying poetry, Genesis.
I looked to my other side where Genesis was standing and back at Angeal. I switched back and forth a few times before grabbing the Masamune and pushing myself to my feet.
"I guess we have to wait for the cheerful part of this," Angeal commented as the large being pushed itself off the ground and back into the air.
I felt a surge of power and, what could only be described as, happiness. I looked between Angeal and Genesis one more time and took note of the armbands they had on their left arms. The small glowing orbs in the armbands were obviously materia.
Once the large being was back in the air, we charged. With the combined overall power of Angeal, Genesis and myself, the being didn't stand a chance. The three of us were to fast for the being and Angeal constantly hitting it with gravity spells made our task easy.
However, Angeal's gravity materia was limited. It needed to recharge after the sixth cast. The aura around the being was starting to take its toll on us. But we were able to push the being back.
It wrapped its wing around itself and I thought that it was going to attack again. I knew that everyone else thought the same thing. Angeal and Genesis were anticipating another attack, as were I and Lightning.
The being exploded into a flurry of black feathers. I knew that we were all surprised by what in place of the being. A large black horse with black feathered wings, the horse though was smaller than Odin but still large.
The head of the horse was a horned skull still. The wings were still slightly mechanical looking, the feathers looked to be made of a type of steel. The mane and tail of it were made of black feathers and the hooves had a small perpetual black flame on them.
"I am Zalera," A voice in my mind said, it sounded like someone forcing air out of their lungs to speak which made it lack gender "The Abyss is yours to command."
In a flash of dark purple, Zalera disappeared. All that remained was an amethyst sphere the size of Hope's fist. The amethyst was so dark, it was almost black. I assumed that this object was supposed to be reference to the Black Materia, which I had stored in the Masamune.
"Is this supposed to be a joke?" I asked myself under my breath.
"What?" Angeal asked, having heard my mumbling. Also reminding me that he was there.
I turned to face Angeal and Genesis and saw them standing, waiting for me. Waiting the same way soldiers wait for orders from the General. I guess this situation wasn't too far away from that.
"What are you two doing here?" I asked them, forcing my voice and expression to remain neutral.
"As much as we'd like to explain," Genesis said without breaking the stoic stance "This is not the time or place for talk. We must keep moving," Genesis started to walk towards me. He passed by me then stopped "Oh yeah," He said as he turned towards me "Just in case you want travel to be easier," He said as he reached into his coat and handed me a yellow materia. I attached the materia to the metal band at the end of my sleeve.
~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~
It was obvious that Sephiroth knew these two men, but I wanted to know how. I had a feeling that they wouldn't explain even if I asked, but I might as well try.
"Who are you two?" I asked in my most commanding tone. All three turned to me and I noticed they had the same symbol on their belts.
"Angeal Hewley," The man in black said.
"Genesis Rhapsodos," The man in red said "May I ask yours?" He asked me and Hope.
"Lightning," I replied.
"Hope Estheim," Hope answered "Why should we trust you guys?" I was surprised that Hope had asked that, and that I hadn't.
"They are my old friends," Sephiroth answered "And I trust them with my life," He said as he glanced at them both.
"Not to mention that he would easily beat us both in a fight," Angeal said with a half smile.
"As I said before, we should not linger here," Genesis said to all of us. The way he spoke annoyed me slightly, I really have no idea why. But it made me think of poetry for reason.
I saw Sephiroth's sword glow yellow for a moment before it vanished. I blinked several times before confirming that that had really happened.
"What did you just do?" Hope asked Sephiroth.
"I don't have time to explain. But trust me when I say, don't worry," With that said, we all started off.
I was rather glad to have two more allies, but something seemed off about them. First off, Angeal's and Genesis' eyes seemed to glow a bright blue. Second, something about Genesis just didn't seem right, didn't seem natural. Lastly, them showing up to help us was way too convenient for my liking.
I knew that now there was five of us, the odds of being killed had decreased. But the odds of being found had increased which in the long run, had increased the chances of being killed.
I didn't know whether to see these new people as a blessing or a curse.
Happy New Year! Even if that is a bit late.
I kind of rushed that chapter, so sorry about any errors that I may have over looked. Also if any part of it seems under par, let me know so I can improve it.
As usual, Please Review.