Fipp: Not much to say this update, so enjoy.

Beta Reader: Reading Chick.

It's All so Clear

The Emperor appeared in his throne room, the Top Floor of Pandemonium.

While he would have liked to watch exactly how the Summoner's 'happy ending' would end, he still needed to prepare for the next Cycle.

Laughing to himself, he looked towards his throne to the unconscious, unexpected boon he had managed to acquire; the fallen former Warrior of Cosmos, Jecht.

He still couldn't believe just how lucky he was! In all the Cycles he had been forced to fight in, he had tried everything he could think of to usurp Chaos from his throne and escape these meaningless wars. He had even been forced to conspire with several of his 'allies' in past Cycles, such as Ultimecia, Enuo and Dysley, only to meet with failure after failure each time.

Rubbing his eyes, he thought back to how at the start of this particular Cycle, he had began to give up on escape, and resign himself to being a slave to Chaos.

But this! With the power of Cosmos inside Jecht, he would certainly be able to not only escape, but destroy both gods.

The Emperor had been enthralled in his own plans, that he hadn't noticed the presence of the other warrior in the room.

"Hm?" The Emperor looked to the front of the room to see the back of someone he hadn't seen for the entire war.

"Sephiroth?" the Emperor asked, approaching the man.

"Hm?" Sephiroth looked away from the heavens above, and turned to face the Emperor. "Oh, it's only you."

"And what brings you to my domain, Sephiroth?" the Emperor asked, disdain in his voice.

"So, this your area?"

"That is correct. In my world, I had managed to raise from the deepest bowels of Hell the Castle Pandemonium." He raised his hand and gestured to the entire room. "This chamber served as my throne room during my brief time as ruler of the world."

Sephiroth chuckled. "Brief time?"

The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "I ask again, what is it that brings you here?"

Sephiroth turned away. "I didn't realize this area was yours. But I felt drawn to this place." He looked back up to the stars. "I have regained many of my memories, and looking towards that stars that are here make me wish I could travel them. Just as Mother did, long ago."

'Mother?' the Emperor thoughts to himself. Just who was Sephiroth referring to?

Sephiroth began to chuckle. "But, there are still things I have yet to remember. It is a shame Cloud is gone, and that girl has more than likely fallen to the Manikins. There was so much I needed to know." He raised his arms. "The Manikins, oh, how our puppets have served us so well in this war. Their performances were perfect. It was almost as though we ourselves were performing these actions.

"I then came up with a thought. These Manikins, with the exception of their skin, are perfect replicas of us in almost every way. No one here, regardless on how long they've been here, have any memories of exactly how we arrived to this world. This made me wonder how we came here, and how similar we are to the puppets.

"What if we're just like them? What if everyone in this realm was simply a Manikin given false memories as a motivation to fight? Or what if the memories are real, and we're just based on actual people?"

The Emperor narrowed his eyes. 'He thinks that we are manikins?'

Sephiroth gave another disturbing laugh. "Yes. It's all so clear now!" His laughs began to devolve into something more maniacal. "Now, let's see just how correct I am."

Masamune appeared in Sephiroth's hand, and the Emperor gripped his scepter tightly in his hand.

One of the greater reasons he hated Sephiroth was on how unpredictable the man could be. It was because of this, he viewed Sephiroth as one of the few Warriors of Chaos he had to be truly cautious around.

There was a flash of light, and the sound of his sword being swung.

In the brief instant the flash came, it faded away.

"I will never be a memory."

And with that, Sephiroth's body dissipated into smoking shadows.

For the first time in so long, the Emperor was truly surprised by what he had just witnessed.

"He took his own life?" He then gave an amused smile. "How interesting, Sephiroth. I wonder just what you'll remember in the next Cycle?"

The Emperor then turned around and began to make his final preparations.

000

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