I own nothing from this story. Only Jeanne, Jena, Sienna, Renee/Yuie, Zeke and Claire are mine. Unfortunately.
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Chapter Twenty
Mother
Jeanne awoke to fire and screams. Claire was gone, and she didn't find Zack of Cloud in the other room. Fear was beginning to strangle her as she threw her clothes on and grabbed her sword on her way out the door. She glanced around the burning village.
Were the people dead, too?
Glancing towards the mountain she saw Zack standing over Cloud and Claire and hurried to them.
"Sienna…and…Sephiroth." They were mumbling.
Jeanne's heart froze. There was no way that Sienna and Sephiroth did this, is there? There couldn't be. Sienna couldn't do this, never. And she wouldn't let Sephiroth either. What had happened?
Jeanne put two things together though. The bad feeling she had had in her stomach their entire time they were here had just happened.
"Are they going to be okay?" Jeanne asked Zack.
He stood up, nodding. "Yeah. They should be. What happened?"
Jeanne went to respond when she felt eyes on her back. She whipped around, her own eyes growing large.
Before the stairs leading into the mountain, Sephiroth stood sword in hand with Sienna visible just over his shoulder.
"We're coming to get you…" Sephiroth whispered, staring at the ground.
Jeanne got a feeling that he wasn't talking to them.
Then, with the fire surrounding and outlining them, Sephiroth a slowly glanced up at Zack and Jeanne as Sienna gazed over his shoulder. Both wore the same looks of enraged murder as they glared at the two of them before they both turned and walked away through the flames. (DAMN HE'S SSSSSSSSOOOOOOOO SEXY WITH THAT LOOK!)
Jeanne's heart froze. The look on their faces…It made her blood freeze. She had never seen those looks on anyone before. Genesis and Angeal may have held the looks of rage, but they were nothing like these.
Sienna, the woman that had taken care of her, her Mother, real or not, had found something about her past that she had not like. And in revenge, they had slaughtered Nibelheim.
"How could you?" Zack growled as he looked over the Village. "Sephiroth, Sienna, how could you…"
"What did you discover?" Jeanne whispered, staring after her mother. "What drove you to do this?" She went to run after her but Zack grabbed her arm.
"No!" Zack told her. "We can't just leave the village burning like this! Use your Materia!"
Jeanne, unable to contemplate on her own, nodded and did as her partner said. Her mind was still raving over what Sienna had found to make her destroy this village…to destroy so many lives.
The flames settled, leaving tones of burnt houses and people. Jeanne bit her lip. She didn't want to leave these people here like this as others still safe helped the wounded, but she wanted…no, needed…to go after Sienna. She had to know what had happened.
She turned and took up the mountain, Zack following her.
Reaching the Mako Reactor, refusing to even stop to fight off the monsters that attacked them, Zack and Jeanne burst right into the building just to stop in their tracks at the foot of the stairs, taking in the sight of the two bodies there.
Tifa and her father.
"Sephiroth and Sienna did this…didn't they?" Zack asked, kneeling beside Tifa.
Tifa glanced at him. He held his hand and she turned away, holding herself in fear. Jeanne watched in fear. Jeanne watched Zack clench his hands before following him up the stairs.
"I hate you! I hate ShinRa, I hate SOLDIER! I hate you all!" Tifa's voice followed them.
Zack pulled out his sword and with a yell slashed the Jenova door apart.
The room was full of wires and tubes, hooked up to a large metal figure behind two statues that Jeanne couldn't see behind.
"Mother, let's take back the planet together." The voice made Jeanne pause. "I…had an epiphany." That was when she realized that the two figures weren't statues. They were Sienna and Sephiroth. Sephiroth was standing before what seemed to be a female, human form encrusted in metal while Sienna stood next to him, leaning on the wall as she watched.
"Let's go to the Promised Land," Sienna added, finally pushing herself off the wall.
"Mother…"They echoed each other.
"Sephiroth!" Zack cried as Jeanne called Sienna's name. "Why did you kill the townspeople? Why did you hurt Tifa? Answer me, Sephiroth!"
"What did you find that made you do this?" Jeanne demanded.
They weren't even looked at as Sephiroth began to chuckle.
"Mother, they're here again. You should have ruled this planter. You were stronger, smarter."
"But then they came," Sienna's gaze finally turned to Zack and Jeanne, glaring.
"Those inferior dullards…" Sephiroth said. "They came and took this planet away from you."
"But don't be sad, Mother," Sienna turned back to the metal figure.
"We are with you, now…" Sephiroth reached up to the metal form and began to rip it away. Cords snapped and some kind of liquid began to drain from the eyes and mouth. As Sephiroth tossed it away, Sienna raised a hand and froze the destroyed cords so a fire wouldn't start. Both turned back to the tube behind the metal figure, looks of joy and relief on their faces.
"We meet at least, mother…"
Jeanne glanced at the figure with glowing, magenta eyes. Besides the large tubes in the woman's body and the helmet on her head, Jeanne had thought that she was just floating there but that's when she realized that it all wasn't tubes. This woman had things sticking out of her. It looked like her insides; her heart, her intestines, and everything else. She knew that it wasn't but she didn't have a better explanation and she sure as hell wasn't getting a better look.
She barely noticed Zack run up the Red Cord and throw his blade up next to Sephiroth's face. Neither he nor Sienna moved. Jeanne didn't either.
"Sephiroth!" Zack cried. "Have the two of you completely lost your minds?"
Neither of them moved for a second until Sephiroth whipped around d with his own sword, knocking Zack back.
"Sephiroth…Sienna…I trusted you!" Zack growled.
"Sienna let out a 'Pah'. "Trust," She mumbled. "Foolish little boy.
He growled and jumped at her but Sephiroth got in his path with his sword and knocked him away.
Jeanne only had a few seconds to watch Zack fall to the floor below, Sephiroth following him before a pair of boots knocked her down after them.
With a look of surprise, Jeanne watched Sienna trailing after her. She hadn't expected for a fight to evolve between the two of them. This woman was practically her mother. Would Jeanne be able to lift her blade against her? She would be finding out soon, she was sure.
Zack caught Jeanne and placed her gently on the large glass floor as Sienna slowly landed next to Sephiroth.
Both of them wore a smirk on their faces as they pushed forward to attack.
Jeanne and Zack dodged separate ways; Sephiroth going after Zack with Sienna went after Jeanne. She had been hoping that Sienna would go after Zack, but either way she was sure that she was going to get pounded.
While Zack was getting his ass kicked by Sephiroth's Octaslash, Jeanne was having her own problems with Sienna's Eminent Peril. Jeanne would dodge the ice spikes as best as she could but she got caught in the cage of them several times resulting in the sword stabs coming in through the small holes by the ice blades that Sienna would make before crashing them all down in the blade of her own.
"Sienna, stop this!" Jeanne growled, dodging another ice spike. "You don't have to do this! Tell me what you found down in that lab and we can work this all out! We can fix it"
Sienna dispersed into air before appearing behind Jeanne, pinning her to the wall by her throat. "No you can't," Her voice was cold, fierce, and full of anger. "You can't fix me. I was never…human. You can't turn a monster human, Jeanne!"
Jeanne clawed at her hand, struggling to breath but her nails slipped on Sienna's leather glove.
Sienna's grip tightened for a moment before she threw Jeanne over her shoulder.
Jeanne crashed onto the floor beside Zack, both bleeding and breathing hard. Sienna and Sephiroth looked normal. Not one scratch or ruffle on either of them. Jeanne knew it would be hard to fight her teacher, but she hadn't thought it would be this hard.
"No," Zack stood up. "You're not…You're not the Sephiroth I once knew!"
"Sienna…" Jeanne called out, clutch her bleeding arm. "Mother! Don't do this!" Jeanne felt a glimmer of hope as she watched Sienna's face soften for a moment. Maybe, just maybe, she could stop her. And Sephiroth.
Sephiroth raised his arms. "I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to rule this planet." Sephiroth flipped his sword and shoved it into the glass floor as his stare moved to Jeanne. "And Sienna will be coming with me."
Zack blocked the attack but the glass shattered, leaving only a bar like platform they all stood on.
Jeanne watched Sienna create more large, Ice spikes on the walls around them, jumping away to leave Sephiroth and Zack to their battle again. Jeanne followed. This fight was harder than the other ones. Trying to keep your balance on slick ice spikes while jumping around was unnerving. But it seemed that Sienna had lots of practice doing things like this for she had no problem.
Jeanne couldn't take it too much longer as more cuts were on her and so she turned and run, jumping from spike to spike until she reached the top floor again. Sienna followed her, of course.
Jeanne turned just in time and held up a hand. "Wait! Mom, please!" Sienna paused, that look of softness on her face again as she looked at the bleeding woman across from her."Why are you doing this?" Jeanne demanded, taking her chance. "What did you find?"
Sienna lowered her blade for a moment, staring into her student's eyes. That's when Jeanne realized that those weren't her teacher's eyes. Not anymore. Sure, they looked the same, but there was just something about them that Jeanne could tell that they weren't hers.
"Down below, in the lab beneath Shinra Manor." Sienna announced, lifting her blade back up. She lunged at Jeanne, starting the battle again. "Hidden behind the sixth bookshelf."
"What's there?" Jeanne demanded, blocking her attack. "What did you hide?"
Sienna opened her mouth but Sephiroth and Zack joined them again, breaking their conversation.
"Zack!" Jeanne cried, watching her partner be flung back into the pod-room by Sephiroth's blow.
Jeanne went to chase after him but Sienna moved first, swinging her blade. Jeanne blocked it just in time, though it resulted in her being flung through the air and crash into the wall. Then all she could do was watch as Sienna, with a cold, hateful look on her face, created more ice spikes and thrusted them at her, penetrating her body. She was now left hanging to the wall. She could no longer move, her sword left behind on the platform with Zack's. All she could do now was bleed…and watch as the two – crazed SOLDEIR members returned to Jenova.
Sienna pressed her forehead against the glass. "You'll be free soon, Mother…and then…we'll make them pay. We'll make ShinRa pay!"
ShinRa was the reason for all this? It was their fault! Jeanne had to find out that they found. What Sienna had hidden behind the bookshelf under ShinRa Manor. That might just explain everything.
At the sound of running footsteps, Jeanne turned her head and saw two figures run towards Sephiroth and Sienna with her and Zack's swords.
The one holding Zack's sword stabbed though Sephiroth, cracking the tube Jenova was in. Sienna turned just in time though and blocked the other sword.
Sephiroth turned, surprise on his face. Cloud pulled Zack's sword back and Sephiroth fell to his knees, his hand sliding down the tube.
Jeanne watched Sienna's eyes turn to fear as she kicked Claire away and went back to Sephiroth.
Claire paused for a moment, thinking before she turned and went to Jeanne. Jeanne could see the tears in her eyes. "Are you all right?" She then scoffed. "Stupid question." Clinging to the cords on the wall, Claire climbed up like a monkey and carefully began to pull out the spikes. Jeanne wasn't that far from the ground so the fall wasn't too bad. It still hurt like hell, though.
Claire crawled back down and pulled Claire's arm over her shoulder and began to lead her out of the room.
"Zack," Jeanne moaned as she saw him lying on the stairs.
His eyes on her seemed to mimic her pain. "Oh, Jeanne…"
"Is Tifa okay?" Claire called down to her brother.
Jeanne turned her head to see Cloud looking up at her, Tifa in his arms. "Yes…she's just knocked out." He took another look over Jeanne as she tried to stop her bleeding by ripping the jacket up that Claire had given her. "Are you going to be okay?"
Jeanne gave him a thumbs up. "Of course. You forget. I've had bombs exploded three feet away from me. This is nothing compared to that." She winced as Claire tightened one of the strips on her arms.
Cloud gave her a sigh and opened his mouth to speak but footsteps beat him.
Sephiroth came walking out with Sienna beside him. He was slightly hunched over with Masamune in his left hand and Jenova's head cradled in his right. He stared down at Cloud with immeasurable hatred.
"How dare you…!" He growled.
"Cloud…finish Sephiroth off." Zack called from his place on the stairs.
Cloud nodded as he set Tifa back down.
Claire was still holding Jeanne, but she pushed her away, taking a firm grip on her sword.
"Jeanne, no!" Claire argued, grabbing her shoulders. "You can't! You're too wounded. Any more fighting and you'll die."
"Jeanne shoved Claire away, taking a step towards the other two SOLDEIRs. "The only one…that will…finish Sienna off…is me." She struggled to breath.
Sienna smirked. "If you can."
"Sephiroth!" Cloud screamed, running up the stairs.
Jeanne struggled to follow him but her sword fell from her hands as she went to her knees. Sienna took this chance and dove forward. She grabbed the front of Jeanne's shirt and flung her back into the other room, Cloud following from Sephiroth's attack.
Jeanne couldn't get back up this time. She had lost too much blood. She felt her consciousness fading but struggled to hang on as she watched Cloud be stabbed and hoisted into the air by Sephiroth.
"Don't…test me!" The silver-haired man snarled.
"Cloud!" Claire screamed as she ran towards Sephiroth, Jeanne's sword in her hands again. Sienna turned though, stabbing her blade in Claire's chest.
Jeanne felt as if her blood froze. "No! Claire! Stop it, Sienna!" She couldn't do anything to save her friend. She was stuck, bleeding on the floor. If she moved anymore she was afraid that…
Cloud lifted his head and grabbed Sephiroth's sword and began to drag himself closer until his feet were on the floor again. He lifted Sephiroth up off the ground now as he still gripped his blade.
"No…! Impossible!" Sephiroth said as he was the one w now hanging in the air.
With a growl, Cloud flung Sephiroth to the side. Jeanne watched Sienna jump in the way to catch Sephiroth before hitting the wall, taking the blunt of the explosion. She wrapped her arms around the man she loved, leaving them to fall below together.
"Sienna!" Jeanne wanted to get up and grab the woman before she fell, but she couldn't move. Tears swelled up in her eyes as pain continued to roll through her body. And the fact that she couldn't do anything made it all feel worse.
"Jeanne…" The woman looked up to see that Zack had crawled to her from the other room as Cloud was kneeling beside his sister. "Don't worry…" He told her with a weak grin.
"Zack…" She cried softly, reaching for his hand. She felt so weak…so helpless.
Zack grabbed her hand, still with that weak smile. "Everything…will be…all right."
She slowly nodded, resting her head back down on the floor. She couldn't hold on any more. She had lost too much blood. She just hoped that this wasn't the last time she would see Zack. She hoped that this wouldn't be the last time she saw anybody.
If…if only she had gotten to talk to Jena again…to apologize for yelling at her…