Chapter 22: In Time

Aerith wiped the sweat off her brow and uncapped her water flask, downing the last of its contents and frowning when finding out that the water had gotten unpleasantly warm. She was no stranger to hardship and endured many during her adventures with Cloud.

"I'm stronger than I look." She would tell Cloud, however that was in part so that he would not worry for her as much as he did. He did worry for her a lot. Perhaps he took his role of her bodyguard a bit too seriously? Perhaps her payment was a little too good? Regardless, her statement to him was being put to the test as she climbed Mount Prism horribly under-prepared.

The path to the summit was rocky and dangerous, and it was not easy to get any proper footing. The gravely walkway would occasionally give way and slide down the side of the mountain, and Aerith would hold onto anything until the danger became manageable. Her leather boots were now very effectively broken-in, however they did not provide as much traction as she would like. The zigzagging pathway up the mount was seemingly endless as Aerith looked upward, watching the rising sun cast a shadow over the mountain and down below to the field at its western side.

Finally, the top of the mountain had completely flattened off for a much easier terrain. The summit was lush and green and full of life, due to a small stream of crystal clear water running across the length of it. Aerith knelt down and splashed her face with the refreshing mountain water to cool herself off, until deciding to dip herself completely in it and relaxing it the soft stream that gently ran through her hair.

Was it the sound of the running water? No.

'I can hear their voice.' Aerith realized.

As she reminisced the familiar feeling of being surrounded by water following her death, she ran her fingers along the flow until her eyes trailed upward the stream to an elevated platform where the water had sourced. She exited the stream and shook herself down, before making her way up the platform, utilizing it as a makeshift altar.

She knelt down and bent over, kissing the ground as her sign of respect, then pulled herself upright and brought her hands together. She needed to get some answers, and was prepared to do it the only way she could.

"Please, spirits of the Planet, hear my prayer. Lend me your knowledge, I ask. I need… to know..."

The palms of her hand illuminated with a bright light as she felt her consciousness fall backward in a dreamlike trance, a feeling similar to post-death state of limbo where she felt surrounded by white nothingness. It was an ethereal feeling of tranquility, floating around in the void seemingly without a care in the world.

"Why is the Black Materia here? What does it mean?" Aerith asked into the nothingness which surrounded her. If she was still an omniscient being who watched over the Planet, this lack of knowledge wouldn't be a problem, however here she found herself searching for answers where nothing exists.

She received no response.

"Please, spirits, answer me." She begged. "I can't put this all on Cloud anymore. Not this time…"

A shrill screech echoed in her ears and she felt her heartbeat rise sporadically, filling her with the familiar feeling of impending doom. The white nothingness that surrounded her drained itself, leaving her in a black empty space.

Estuans interius

Ira vehementi

Sephiroth

'A forest of some sort?

There's a light at the end. Am I supposed to head that direction?'

"Cloud, can you hear me?" she asks as she pops her head out from behind a tree.

"Yeah, I hear you. Sorry for what happened." Cloud responds automatically.

He puts his hand to his mouth, unsure of what causes him to speak involuntarily.

"Don't worry about it."

"…I can't help it…" Cloud responds again.

"Oh." She disappears behind the tree and Cloud runs after her. When he rounds the tree, she's gone.

"Then, why don't you REALLY worry about it?" She asks. Cloud turns around, and she's emerges from a tree behind him.

"…"

"…And take care of yourself..." She says.

'Why does it sound like its goodbye?'

"…So you don't have a breakdown, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Cloud asks. He tries to move closer to her to see her face, but she jumps behind a tree, and by the time Cloud gets there, she's gone.

"This must be my destiny… I now know what I must do." He hears behind him again, and turns around.

"…Wait!"

"Goodbye, Cloud."

She walks off into the light at the end of the forest.

"Stop! Don't go! I still have so many things… to ask you…" Cloud tries to run over to her, but his feet gain no traction on the ground. He desperately tries to catch up with her as she enters that bright light at the end.

"Don't leave me! Aerith!"

Cloud got up in a jolt and immediately stuck his head outside of the carriage window to vomit.

"Gods, Cloud, what's wrong?! Are you motion sick again?" yelled Chrom while patting him on the back. Cloud wiped his mouth with his sleeve and drank his entire canteen, before throwing it aside.

"I-It's happening again." Cloud remembered. "When she went off to the Forgotten Capital…"

"Forgotten— What? Get a hold of yourself, man! Are you ill? I'll call Lissa to heal you right away! ...Or is it your trauma from the war?" Chrom put his hand to his head and sighed. "I suppose I asked too much from you over these few years." Cloud completely ignored him and stared intensely at Chrom.

"Something big is going to happen soon. There's a disaster waiting for us at Mount Prism."

"W-What are you talking about, Cloud?!"

"These events parallel those that occurred three years ago! Aerith goes off on her own to pray to the Planet… and then…" Cloud wracked his brain for answers where none arose.

"Milord, we've made it to the base of the mountain." Frederick interrupted.

"Good, now we just have to wait for the rest—" Cloud swung open the carriage door and looked up at the sky. The storm clouds were already forming above.

"Chrom! The sky changed color already and we haven't even begun our ascent up Mount Prism!" Cloud yelled. "Something is happening up there right now!"

Chrom looked overhead and a nasty crimson spiral as opposed to its usual purple hue.

"Damn the Gods!" Chrom yelled, realizing the time constraints. "Forget the climbing, I'm sending everyone up one by one by Pegasus or by Wyvern! Cloud, I'm sending you up there first! Take Frederick's Wyvern and head straight up, and we'll follow you as soon as we can!"

"Right!"

"Now go! And Godspeed, Cloud!" Chrom yelled. Cloud leaped up and onto the wyvern's back, swinging onto it using its harness, then cut the rope that bound it to the wagon. Cloud smacked his heels on its side in an attempt to get it airborne, but the wyvern simply refused to move.

"Fly, damn it!" Cloud growled in frustration. Frederick gave it a shrill whistle but the dragon merely perked its head up its attention but still refused to move.

"Forgive me, Frederick!" Cloud yelled. He grabbed the paring knife from his boot and stabbed it into the rear leg of the Wyvern. It kicked and flailed around, trying to get Cloud off, until it finally it was airborne. Cloud wrestled the Wyvern's harness in midair to get it to fly upward to the summit until he finally got control of it once he was at a height where he could see the Shepherd's caravans beginning to arrive at the base of the mountain. Upon looking back up to the summit of the mountain, Cloud was attacked with a torrent of arrow fire from above

'Damn! They know we're here!' Cloud pulled the Wyvern into a hard right, rounding the circumference of the mountain, trying to dodge the arrow rain. One arrow hit its mark and pierced the Wyvern's wing. It desperately tried to flap, even smacking against the mountain wall in an attempt to gain more altitude but it simply could not ascend any further.

Cloud jumped from the Wyvern onto the mountain, anchoring his Lohengrin into a crack between the rocks, then spinning rapidly around the handle to gain momentum until he dislodged the Lohengrin during the apex of his spin to launch himself up. He made it close to the top, and climbed the rest of the distance furiously until he reached the summit, where archers surrounded the circumference, waiting for him.

The Risen Chief brought down his hand and the archers let out another flurry of arrows. Cloud fully utilize the size of his weapon, using the blade, crossguard, and even hilt to block the arrow barrage, but some stray arrows still got passed his rapid defense and pierced Cloud's thigh and shoulder.

The pain only pushed Cloud further. He ignored the fatigue that crept unto his body and the uncharacteristic immense weight he felt on his sword.

'Keep going! You cannot fail this time! You WILL not fail this time!'

Cloud's veins on his arms and neck were swollen into lightning bolts as he pushed his body to its physical limit. He tore through the archers and the reinforcements without any more care for his body. When merely slashing through the incoming horde of Risen was becoming ineffective, Cloud began picking up the weapons of the fallen Risen, and launching it at the stragglers who moved away from the horde.

'I can feel Aerith's presence! She's up that stream!'

When Cloud's legs refused to move any further, he snapped the shaft of the arrows that were sticking out of his legs like a pincushion, leaving the arrowhead in. Cloud used a quick fire cast to burn the hole closed until it stopped bleeding but instead his very skin fused together from the heat.

Finally, the first wave of Shepherds were able to make it to the top, one by one. Cloud ignored them and continued mowing through the incoming waves of Risen.

"He's on a rampage! All fighters, protect Cloud's flank! All clerics, focus on healing Cloud remotely! Keeping him alive and swinging is your priority!" Chrom ordered.

The lone figure in a sea of Risen enemy was splitting his way through and making his way forward.

Cloud could no longer feel the pain of his wounds, nor the gentle sensation of the mending. He couldn't even feel the blood that was dripping down his legs, because none of that mattered anymore.

'Save Aerith!' Every instinct in his body screamed at him. So he continued, leaving a path of destruction in his wake through anything that stood in his path to her. But his fury was interrupted by the frantic warning of a voice behind him.

"Cloud, above you!"

Cloud tried to jump out of the way, but the fatigue had worn him down enough, slowing him down for a mere half second. From the sky, the Outrealm knight fell downward and, in a plunging strike, burrowed his longsword deep into Cloud's left calf.

The Outrealm knight raised his fist up and it crackled with energy. It seemed like a relatively small bundle of energy until the very clouds that formed overhead struck the knight's hand and formed a visible shard of lightning energy that illuminated in his hands.

The sword was lodged way too deeply into Cloud's calf. It pinned him down completely, and Cloud desperately tried to remove it but it was so deep into the ground that the crossguard was already touching Cloud's leg. The blade itself must've been at least two feet deep into the ground, and it would be impossible to remove the sword without being in an standing upright position.

The knight brought down the lightning bolt in a great crash. It exploded on Cloud's back, turning his reinforced heavy steel plating armor a bright orange as it sizzled, burning Cloud's inner clothing and skin, and causing his heart to stop completely. The heartbeat returned, but Cloud screamed in agony as he was undergoing cardiac arrest.

The knight charged a second bolt, raising his right hand once again and summoning a bolt of lightning from the sky. Cloud's arms fidgeted violently as he struggled to pull the sword out of his leg. He could not find a proper grip as the electricity coursing through his veins caused his muscles to either spasm of fail completely. The knight brought down another bolt of lightning onto Cloud's back, whose heat already deformed Cloud's plated armor.

Cloud heart stopped once again and his pupils lost their azure glow, but then it pumped violently once more and he vomited blood upon returning.

Heavy internal bleeding. All of his internal organs were ruptured from the blasts. He struggled to even lift his torso but attempted to remove the sword again.

The knight brought his fist up once more, to charge a third bolt of lightning. Before allowing the lightning to strike onto his hand, the knight instead pointed his greatsword skyward and allowed the lightning to discharge the blade of his weapon instead. It crackled with electricity and the energy imbued the blade with a glowing yellow light. It illuminated the sky like a small sun and he raised it to slam it down on Cloud to finally kill him.

Cloud finally gave up on removing the sword on his leg and instead firmly grasped his leg and jerked it to the side, allowing the blade to cut through his bone, muscle, and tissue and freeing his leg. Now free from the pin, Cloud rolled onto his burning back and got onto one knee, swinging the Lohengrin overhead. The two swords collided with an eruption of power, sending a shock-wave around the area as the lightning discharged from the blade into the ground.

But then, the Lohengrin snapped. His greatsword that Emmeryn once had entrusted to him, the sword that won him countless of battles, and regretfully took countless of lives, snapped when Cloud needed it most.

Yet, through all this misfortune, Cloud simply refused to lose. He followed through the swing, and although half of the blade broke off, it meant that it was no longer pressing against the knight's greatsword. This meant that Cloud was able to continue swinging it until it was perpendicular with the knight's torso.

Now with a clear shot, Cloud rammed in forward while leaning to the right. The knight's downward swing with his greatsword cut Cloud's left arm almost completely off his shoulder, but Cloud brought all of his strength to his legs to spring forward at the knight and stab him in the chest from underneath. He knocked the knight on his back and the thrusting force still allowed the blunted blade to pierce through the knight's cloth-covered armor, pinning him to the ground. Cloud didn't care if the knight was defeated. He jumped off of him and grabbed the broken tip of the Lohengrin, stabbing it into the ground to pull himself forward.

"Aerith, I'm coming!" Cloud roared, using sheer willpower to keep his body from dying. He simply refused to die.

Cloud dodged the swarms of monsters in the Forgotten Capital. He even abandoned his friends behind him and wasted absolutely no time cutting down anything that would dare stand in his way between him and Aerith.

'I have to hurry! If I don't... Aerith... She'll-'

Finally, past that entrance, Cloud could hear the serene sound of water, gently flowing around the basin.

'She has to be there. I'm sure of it!'

He made it. There she was, praying silently on the top of the stairway.

'I made it in time...' Cloud let out a sigh of relief. He ran up the stairs but at the first step he fell to his knees in pain. He struggled to overcome it, but the bittersweet anger that Aerith would show to him once they reunited was more than enough to keep him moving.

"Stay right there, Aerith, I'm coming!" He called out to her, running up the stairs.

He watched as an angel descended from the heavens.

'...No...'

Cloud raised his hand out to her.

"AERITH!"

She opened her eyes from her prayer and greeted Cloud with a smile.

The immense blade rammed through Aerith's back, cutting directly through her and into the ground. The materia she carried from her mom fell out her hands and rolled down the stairway. Her eyes closed and her head bobbed down, losing all support from her spinal column, until finally...

Aerith was dead. Cloud did not make it in time.

Cloud's body was practically falling apart, his limbs just barely hanging on by whatever mere fibers of muscle was left. He bit down his lower lip, causing it to bleed profusely, in order to prevent himself from screaming in pain. Cloud continued to use the broken tip of his Lohengrin to stab into the ground and pull himself forward, inching closer and closer up the hill and get closer to Aerith.

The way the afternoon sun set blinded Cloud as he crawled his way to the top. Only a kneeling, shadowy figure could be seen at the top. Through the silhouette and his vision getting hazier from the blood loss, Cloud could not see her face.

He wiped the blood that dripped down his forehead and covered his eyes.

Perhaps it was just a glimpse? Cloud could just barely make out Aerith in her trance-like prayer was smiling gently, and a faint glow could be seen from the clasped palms of her hands.

Was it just his imagination? No... it couldn't be. It wasn't a smile, but more of a patient smirk that Aerith wore, as if she was waiting for Cloud to arrive.

'Almost there! You're going to make it! Just keep going!' The voice encouraged him further. It was the small boost he needed, and the pain seemed to drain from his body as he pictured himself embracing her once more.

But a lone, godforsaken voice silenced the battlefield.

"You're a persistent one, Cloud. Allow me to end your suffering."

The Masamune pierced Cloud's neck from behind, clean through his throat.

The angel who descended from the heavens removed the blade from Cloud's neck and touched the blood that dripped down his immense katana. It was warm and thick, which made him smile. Once he finished playing with the blood, he snapped his fingers and an object emerged from Cloud's pocket.

The Black Materia.

"Thank you for bringing this back to me, Cloud. I was beginning to get lonely without it."

"…S-Sephir-roth…" Cloud choked, unable to breath as the blood gushed out of his throat and mouth. With whatever ounce of his strength left, Cloud threw the blade shard that he held onto at Sephiroth, but he effortlessly caught it between his two fingers. Sephiroth bent down at Cloud, and stabbed the shard into the bottom of his jaw in order to prop his head upright, forcing Cloud's head to stare straight ahead instead of crumbling into the ground as the last, fleeting sparks of his life faded away.

"I want you to watch as I take everything from you..." Sephiroth whispered in his ear. "...and relish in your suffering as I take her away from you, once again."

Sephiroth's black wing emerged from his back as he took to the skies.

Cloud could no longer fight, move, or even breath. He lifted his hand up with the last of his strength.

"A-Aerith… I'm sorry…"

From the start, everything was pitted against Cloud. It was as if fate itself refused to let Aerith live, and did everything it could to take her back...

The one-winged angel himself, as if acting upon the will of God, descended down to the earth, in order to retrieve the heavens' lost property.

It was unjustifiably cruel. Just as the events had unfolded that happened three years ago at the Forgotten Capital. Cloud wanted nothing more than to cradle her in his arms. He wanted to tell her everything was going to be alright and that they would fight Sephiroth together. She no longer had to everything alone, and he would follow her to the ends of the world if he needed to.

But she would be taken away from him without warning. Killed right in front of his eyes. Then damned to continue to live on, forever wishing he could do something different. And the cruelest part of this was that only now…

Cloud remembered everything.

As his vision faded to black, being embraced by the cold arms of death, Cloud was forced to watch again as Sephiroth descended from above, raising the Masamune in both hands to murder Aerith in front of him all over again.

"It's looking pretty bad, huh?"

Shut up.

"Though, it's nothing I couldn't handle!"

Shut up.

"You've been slacking off again, Cloud! You haven't even accomplished the very thing you were sent here to do!"

Shut up!

"Aerith's going to die… again, Cloud."

No, she won't! Not this time.

"What makes you so sure?"

I couldn't prevent it... I was too weak... But I made a promise to myself, that I would never let that happen again!

"Oh?"

I don't ever want to feel that way again. I don't want her to suffer like that again. I just... can't lose her again.

"You seem certain."

I am certain. And I will protect her.

"That's the spirit, Cloud! Looks like you still have some fight left in you. However, if you need some help, all you have to do is ask!"

You really don't know when to shut up, do you?

"If I did, you would've given up a long time ago, wouldn't you? So much for my living legacy…"

So that annoying voice that's been pestering me this entire time… it WAS you, Zack…

"The one and only."

Then… what would you have done in my situation?

"Hmm... I would probably hold onto her ribbon that you keep tied around your arm to give me strength. I gotta say… she cares a lot for you, Cloud, it's making me a bit jealous."

…

"Anyways, on the count of three, I want you to give it everything you got. Can you do that for me, Cloud?"

Y-yeah...

"Then, go. Let's finish this."

Zack, wait! Before I go-

"One."

-I need to-

"Two."

-tell you that-

Three. Cloud sighed.

'I promise I will fulfill your legacy. I won't fail this time.'

Aerith eyes slowly opened as she awoke from her prayer, and she was greeted by Cloud's smiling face. He was standing over her, who seemed to be knocked onto her back during the prayer.

But, Cloud? And a smiling face? A rare sight indeed. She almost never saw Cloud smile. Most of the time, it was a little smirk, or a chuckle, but never ever would he smile directly at anyone. His stoic and cold personality would never falter. His iconic emotionless tendencies is what kept him so focused, and such a threat to anyone who met him on the battlefield. It was a part of him she had come to accept about him. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It just made cracking that rough exterior ever so sweeter.

But this contrasted everything Aerith had come to learn about Cloud. Now, he was genuinely smiling at her. He looked absolutely at peace, as if the entire weight of the world was finally lifted off his shoulders. And his gentle, reassuring smile seemed to speak to her as if everything was going to be alright.

"Y'know, Aerith, you left me so suddenly, I never got to tell you how I felt..." Cloud spit out some blood and dropped to his knees.

"C-Cloud?!"

Only now she saw that his body was completely ravaged. His left arm was barely hanging onto his shoulder, his leg was shredded, his throat was pierced all the way through, underneath his jaw was a large gash that drenched him in his own blood. Worse of all, he was impaled directly through the back by Sephiroth. The Masamune, which was poised to kill her a second time, was cut short by Cloud, using his own body as a shield. He would not let it get to her again. No.

But now...

Cloud finally made it in time.

'Oh god, Cloud… he's injured… As I feared, Sephiroth has returned! …I need to—' Aerith's frantic thoughts were cut short by Cloud's calm laughter.

It was so ironic. He spent so much of his life obsessing over her death, and at the moment she actually was brought back, he forgot the very thing he promised himself to never forget. The instance that changed his life forever.

But finally, it all returned. His memories: the Cloud Strife had returned. And seeing her smiling face one last time and knowing that she would live on was all he needed. That's all he ever wanted, after all...

"This time… it's my sacrifice. Thank you for everything, Aerith."

"N-no… Cloud… y-you're-"

The entirety of Cloud's life began to play backwards.

From reuniting with Aerith,

Fighting alongside the Shepherds,

Saving the world against Sephiroth,

Adventuring across the world, past the dirty walls of Midgar,

Making friends with those who shared their childish, idealistic dreams together,

Until finally, his flashback ended with meeting Aerith for the first time.

After all, this was when his life truly began.

...

"Hey, flower girl..."

"...?"

"I love you."

Sephiroth removed the Masamune from Cloud and prepared to stab Aerith who was still completely stunned.

But Cloud's irises swirled back into its deep blue and his aura awakened, bursting out of his body in a bright blue explosion.

His LIMIT returned.

Cloud turned around and grabbed Sephiroth's blade, ramming it back into his own stomach again. Sephiroth tried to remove Cloud from the sword, but Cloud held fast onto the blade, refusing to let it get to Aerith like he did three years ago. The coursing LIMIT which ran through his body seemed to fuse his body with the sword, locking it into place, and to Sephiroth's disgust.

But Cloud's injuries did their damage and he could feel himself fading away. The strength in his grip was weakening, and his life was slipping away fast. He could no longer distinguish the world around him anymore, just the lone, shapeless figure in figure in front of him, and the embodiment of salvation behind him.

'Zack, give me your strength. Just once more!'

…

A large object fell from the Outrealm portal in front of Cloud. It landed with a resounding thunk, digging into the ground, right within Cloud's reach.

'Zack, you stupid, stupid bastard… but I guess this is going to have to do.'

Cloud chuckled and smiled.

'Aerith is safe now.'

Cloud gripped the Buster sword.

The worn leather wrapping on the handle was welcoming to him, a nostalgic familiarity that he missed. He once wielded this weapon with pride, until he felt he was no longer worthy to use it when he failed to protect Aerith.

But this time, he was going to use it again: to fulfill its purpose and complete Zack's legacy.

He exploded once more with a bright blue aura. And with both hands gripping firmly onto the Buster sword, he charged at Sephiroth, going deeper into his blade, until finally he was at the hilt of the Masamune. Blood didn't even seem to gush out of his wounds anymore.

"What?!"

Cloud's body physically shouldn't be able to move anymore, much less continue to sustain even further injury, but his very essence was burning inside of him, pushing him into a state of absolute tranquil rage. His eyes were affixed with determination, however, Sephiroth immediately recognized that look in Cloud's eye. His irises were glowing in its bright blue spiral, but the pupils itself had already gone grey.

Cloud was already dead.

OMNISLASH

Cloud's blue aura blazed further as his body seemingly phased through the Masamune. He flew through Sephiroth, slashing him through the chest, then in the same motion, glided through again and again and again in quick succession from infinitely many angles at impossible levels of speed. And just when his barrage seemed over, Cloud sailed to the top of Sephiroth and slammed him into the ground, at the center of the Risen horde.

BRAVER

Cloud rose further into the air and lifted the Buster sword above his head, then in a instant, dove into Sephiroth and crashed upon his body with the Buster sword. His body, now overflowing with LIMIT, caused an explosion of energy, knocking away the rest of the Risen off the sides of the mountain and illuminating the afternoon sky into a bright blue light. The shockwave swept the swirling storm clouds away, revealing a clear twilight sky, until finally...

Sephiroth was defeated.

'…I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this... Losing another comrade.'

"How is Aerith handling it, Frederick?" Chrom asked his knight. He shook his head solemnly.

"Not good, milord. She hasn't responded to anything all day."

Chrom sighed.

"Just give her some time, I think that—" Chrom was interrupted by Aerith, who entered the tent without a sound.

"Aerith?!"

"I'm sorry… Chrom." She whispered. "I was unable to protect the Fire Emblem…"

"You weren't able to protect it?!" Frederick shouted in anger.

"Not now, Frederick! Aerith has done her best, and she's suffering enough already…"

"But with it, Validar will be able to resurrect Grima!"

"I know… I know… I said that I never believed in fate but… this was something that I feared would happen regardless of any plan that Robin and I set up."

"But milord, we're not going to make it in time to stop Validar anymore! We're halfway across the Ylissian continent!"

"I understand that! But there's just some things that—"

"Chrom… please head to the altar." Aerith let out in another whisper-like voice.

"Aerith, I don't think this is the time for—"

"There's someone waiting for you. Please… go…"

Chrom nodded his head and left the tent, making his way to the altar that was at the top of the stream. He knelt down and prayed silently.

No response.

'What I am doing here…? The world is about to come to an end soon and Grima's about to be resurrected in Plegia yet I'm wasting my time here praying?' Chrom stood up and began to walk away in frustration. Suddenly, from behind him, the altar illuminated in a bright light as Chrom's chest burned in agony. He screamed in pain, and Lucina, who was watching at a distance, ran to his side.

"Father!"

"Welcome, Awakener. Your heart has been tested and deemed worthy. Cleansed in my fire, your desire has proven to burn the stronger." The voice rang out.

"W-who?"

"Naga?" Chrom asked in disbelief.

"Yes, my child. It is I, the divine dragon Naga."

Chrom was stunned. Why would a god suddenly decide to appear in front of him and his daughter?

"You are of the exalted blood, Chrom. I deem you worthy to be baptized in fire, so that you may become my true son."

"With all due respect, Divine Naga, I do not understand what you are talking about."

"You wish to seek power to defeat Grima, no? Is that not why you have come here?"

"N-Not really, no. I came here to rescue a friend. And I believe she was the one who called me here to meet you?"

"Yes, that child, Aerith. She is not one of my children, no, yet she was still able to contact me... Even without the Fire Emblem, she was able to perceive my voice and wish for my aid."

"Not one of your children... Aerith isn't... human?" Lucina asked.

"So that's what he meant…" Chrom realized, but quickly shook his head. "...That's beside the point right now. What of this 'Baptism of Fire?'"

"I can bless you with the strength to defeat Grima, but know this: I am no god."

"But milady, you are the divine dragon?" Lucina argued.

"So do sons of man name me. But I am no creator. I possess not the powers of making or unmaking. And neither does Grima. Neither of us bears the power to destroy the other utterly."

"Then, what power can you grant me?" Chrom asked.

"With my blessing, thou may draw forth Falchion's true might. The blade of the exalts shall again strike like the dragon's fang. Your strength will then be my equal."

"…There's just one thing, milady. I no longer have the Falchion. It is with Validar now." Chrom admitted.

"But you do, do you not? Is that not the Falchion in the scabbard at your daughter's hip?"

"The Parallel Falchion? I did not think-"

"It is the same blade that you gave to your daughter in an alternate future. It is the Falchion no less."

"Father. It was your blade once, and it is yours again. Please wield it once more, and defeat Grima with your strength." Chrom nodded his head.

"I will." Lucina handed her father the blade and he held it, kneeling before Naga, offering the blade to her.

Naga's astral body placed her hands on the Falchion, and blessed it with a divine light.

"Know this, my son: Grima cannot be slain. Sleep alone can be your victory. Just as your ancestor put the fell dragon to sleep a millennium ago. But you must weaken him first. Only as the final can my power be used to bind his."

"Is there any way to destroy him for good?" Lucina asked.

"There is, perchance, a power that could end Grima. However… 'Twould be his own."

"He has to kill himself?"

"Yes. And never would he do so of his own volition. He seeks only to add to his power, and set ruin upon the world. Now go! There is little time…"

"Thank you, Naga." And with that, Chrom and Lucina left. They ran back to the camp and called immediately for a strategic meeting among all the remaining Shepherds.

"Listen, friends. I know that… these are hard time upon us once again. With the death of our two close comrades, succeeding this time... will not be easy, I'm sure. And worse, Validar has the Fire Emblem, and Grima is already set to return again."

The Shepherds gasped in horror.

"However, this will not dissuade us! We will continue in spite of this hardship. We will fight further!"

Chrom chuckled a bit in the middle of his speech.

"Cloud once told me, when I was doubting myself: 'If we run away, then not only are we insulting ourselves, we are practically spitting on the graves of our fallen brothers and sisters.' He was completely right! We haven't failed… Not yet, or ever. He was rough with his words, I'll admit, and even rougher with his blade…"

Chrom held his fist to his chest in a sign of respect for Cloud.

"…But he died as one of us. He wants us to finish this. Robin too! All of our fallen are counting on us! All it takes is a little bit more courage. Are you still all up to the challenge!?"

The Shepherds cheered. Their leader always somehow managed to drive their morale, and the Shepherds were prepared to strike down even the Fell Dragon itself.

'Thank you, Cloud, for your service to the Shepherds and for paving the way for us to finally end this conflict once and for all. Please keep Robin company in heaven, okay?' Lucina thought. But her attention was then drawn to Aerith, who was still kneeling at Cloud's grave.

'Was this how Cloud felt, when I died?' Aerith somberly realized.

"The cycle of nature and your stupid plan don't mean a thing!" Cloud yelled through his tears as he held onto her body.

"Aerith is gone! Aerith will no longer talk, no longer laugh, cry… or get angry…"

"What about us?! …What are WE supposed to do…?" He asked her lifeless body, tears dripping onto her bloody dress.

"What about my pain?! My fingers are tingling, my mouth is dry, my eyes are burning!"

Cloud cried freely over her body. He knew she was gone and could no longer keep that cool façade.

She died.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Aerith…" Lucina muttered solemnly as she stood behind the girl. She noticed that she was arranging the flowers on his grave. They left the broken Lohengrin next to his makeshift tombstone, created from the rubble of the blast. And he was fittingly buried at the bed of stream, where the flowers she planted could continue to thrive.

"It should have been me, Lucina…" Aerith whispered. Lucina wrapped herself around Aerith and embraced her tightly.

"Aerith, no, it shouldn't have been. Cloud made his sacrifice for you… he wanted you to live on for him. Just as Robin did… for me…"

"N-no, you don't understand, Lucina… it really should have been me…" Aerith clarified. "I was destined to die, just as I did before… My time was up and I am not meant to walk among you all… Sephiroth's reappearance… it was nothing more than fate taking me back once more."

Lucina shook her head.

"No, Aerith. I do understand. It's you who needs to understand that neither Cloud nor Robin believed in fate. Those men died with smiles on their faces because they knew that in their last moments, they arrogantly defied fate itself. You and I standing here, it's proof of that. We have to live on for them… because, it's what they died for, after all…" Aerith's eyes trailed away from Lucina's and back onto the grave she was tending. Her eyes seemed soulless, lacking the abundance of life they always seemed to have before.

"…I was content with my own death. It was painful enough to watch over Cloud as he suffered alone… but this… this is nothing short of torture." Aerith whispered. She fumbled over the flowers on his grave until she lost all the strength in her knees and laid down on the flower bed as her tears soaked the dirt.

"Easter lilies…" Aerith cried silently. "These were his favorite."

He bought one from her, a struggling flower girl in the slums, right after bombing a reactor. His fateful awakening in her church was on her bed of lilies as well. That cold and heartless demeanor of his always seemed to soften around her flowers.

"Cloud, I loved you too, damn it!" Aerith cried. "Did you think it was so easy for me to leave you?! I'd sooner abandon my duty as a Cetra than leave you again!"

Aerith was completely prepared to die for the sake of everyone else. Then why was she so stunned that Cloud would do the same, except only for her?

This time, she didn't leave him behind. He left her.

That empty sorrow burned her heart as she thought of Cloud's sacrifice. He was no Cetra. His presence would not remain with the Planet. His actions would not go on to save the world, nor would he watch over her like she did to him.

He was completely, and utterly gone.

Lucina held Aerith tightly and allowed her to cry on her shoulder. She didn't hold back, and continued to let her tears run forth.

"I'm here for you, Aerith. Just let it all out."

Her crying took its course, until she eventually passed out from grief. Lucina carried her back to the camp, and they made their descent by Pegasus back to the carriages and wagons, heading westbound to the Dragon's Table. Their final battle was waiting for them there.

'I'm waiting for you, Cloud. We will see each other again.'