~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~
This is it. The one thing we had been fighting towards is now right in front of us. Very soon, Cocoon will be in the hands of the people just as it should be. Nothing will stop us from completing this mission. It's both astounding and relieving to know that very soon, this will be over. We won't complete our focus but we will be doing more for Cocoon than anyone ever has before.
We all walked down the ramps in silence, all mentally preparing for our final battle I guess. I glanced to my sides and noticed Sephiroth on my left and his bangs were blocking his face from where I was. Fang was on my right and she had an amused smirk on her face, I am curious as to what she finds amusing but whatever it is, she had better get focused on our coming battle. We all stopped just in front of the door to the control center of the Palamecia.
I turned and looked at everyone, making eye contact. Everyone had the same fire in their eyes, fire born from the simple fact of knowing who was on the other side of this door. Only the Primarch's guard was in our way now, although judging by how many bodies littered the corridors behind us, there couldn't possibly be that many troops in the control center.
"Ready?" I asked no one specifically.
"My friend, the fates are cruel. There are no dreams, no honor remains. The arrow has left the bow of the goddess," Genesis said to the room. Why did he say that? It is rather fitting though.
"Let's finish this," Sephiroth said with no emotion.
I turned back to the door, hit the button to open it, and within moments of the door opening we all had our weapons in hand and were charging in. First thing I noticed was both PSICOM commanders standing and waiting for us. The next thing that caught my attention was the Primarch sitting on a, for lack of a better word, throne that was fairly high off the deck. Something raced forward in my mind, as it most likely did for everyone else. How is Yaag Rosch here? I know I saw him lying on the ground in Palumpolum, he had been gunned down with the rest of the squad that had been with him. Oh well, all I can do now is make sure he is dead this time.
"Been looking for you Nabaat!" I heard Sazh shout. I swear I saw an arrogant smile appear on Jihl's face.
Jihl drew, and extended her long baton weapon and Yaag drew his rapier. We were all about to fight when Dysley spoke.
"Humans have no business here," he said calmly before lifting his staff and rising off his throne, into the air.
Several spells appeared around the head of his staff as he ascended. He swept his staff through the air and the spells flew off, towards the crew around the room, killing them all. Three spells flew down towards us and I watched them without meaning to. The three spells hit Zack, Angeal, and Genesis, none of which died, as far as I know, but they were all launched backwards. Sephiroth spun around at the sound of them getting hit.
"Magic?" Sazh shouted, panicked. I was pretty freaked out too.
"Focus on them!" Angeal shouted. I glanced over and saw him on his knees with one hand over his heart "We're fine!"
"Dysley!" Snow shouted in anger.
Primarch Dysley sent several more spells at the roof. When the spells impacted, the spots glowed brightly before the entire roof began to glow. After glowing for a moment, the roof disolved, allowing a view of the sky and the side of Cocoon opposite of us.
"Monster! People are not yours to use!" Snow growled. I wanted to join the ranting but my lips were sealed shut by some emotion I hadn't quite figured out.
"What else does one do with tools?" Dysley said calmly as he descended and landed silently on the floor in front of us. Snow charged forward to attack Dysley but both Jihl and Yaag poined their weapons at him "Cocoon is a factory, run by fal'Cie."
"A factory for the mass production of human thralls," Jihl continued for Dysley. Her calm tone sent chills down my spine, I'm unsure why though.
"Not anymore, it's not!" Snow shouted.
"What can mere men do?" Yaaq asked, he sounded almost depressed. Now that I'm closer to him, Yaaq looks like a more militarized version of Sephiroth.
"Without our help, death is all of which you're capable. You saw the fools. A mindless mob drunk on fear of a few l'Cie," All I want right now, is to drive my sword straight through his heart. But I'm going to have to get rid of his two lackeys first.
"If only they knew the truth," Jihl said with a slight chuckle.
"If they only knew a l'Cie was the one filling their glasses!" I growled at Dysley as I lifted Blaze Edge up just below my eye level, extended over my left arm. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sephiroth in a near mirror image of my stance.
"L'Cie?" Dysley chuckled after responding "You mean me?" Dysley asked with a laugh "Oh child, perish the thought. I am more than that!" Dysley shouted and half growled the last part.
He glowed blindingly bright and when the light vanished… I'm not even sure how to begin describing what was there after but Jihl and Yaag still stood facing us, weapons at the ready.
"I am fal'Cie," the huge thing said "My name is Barthandelus. Voice of the Sanctum, and Lord-Sovereign of the Cocoon fal'Cie," as the thing spoke I felt my eyes widen, my jaw drop slightly and my hands fall to my sides, I'm certain everyone else felt the same "Your kind feared the darkness, so we gave you light. You begged us for the Purge, and did it not come to pass? Now you spurn our counsel? You must learn your place!"
"Think what you want, monster," Sephiroth said, his tone was somewhere between amused and furious "But in death, all are equal."
~~~~Aerith's POV~~~~
I was stunned. I had been since we all stopped running at the center of the room. Jenova is right there in front of us and only one person in the group knows how to fight her merely because he is her son. But he's not reacting to her! Why isn't he doing anything! You would think that the son of Jenova would be able to know exactly where she is at all times if a half Cetra like me can sort of do it! Why isn't Sephiroth attacking her! Or-or running away from her! Or… Something! It almost like he can't… That's it. It all makes sense now.
When we were sent here by the lifestream, I was told Sephiroth was cut off from his power. Sephiroth was cut off from Jenova. All his power came from her and that's how he could sense her or control her cells. That's how he was able to control Cloud. But now, he can't sense Jenova and she is right in front of him.
It's so obvious, it was intended for us to join this group of people and Sephiroth has to save Cocoon from Jenova. And if Sephiroth was still connected to Jenova, she would have taken control of him and used for… Something terrible, I'm sure.
"-rith!" Hope yelling snapped me out of my thoughts and I felt something slam into my side and shove me aside just before a fire spell hit me in the face.
I was able to stop myself from falling and saw that it was Hope that just shoved me out of the way of a spell. I nodded and smiled at him to let him know I was okay and looked around for Zack. I saw him, Angeal, and Genesis against the back wall. I started towards them and Zack spotted me.
"No! Help them! We're fine! Help them!" Zack sounded badly injured and I wanted to heal them but I had to help fight Jenova and that huge thing that... Wait! Where did that huge metal thing come from?
I got an idea of how I could do both. I closed my eyes and focused on summoning Valkyrie. I felt my l'Cie brand burn and the white orb appeared in my hand. I threw it against the ground and watched the big white symbols appear and disappear and once Valkyrie was finally there I commanded her.
"Go help the others! I'll be there in a sec!" I pointed over to Lightning, Sephiroth, and the others. Valkyrie nodded before flying over and joining in the fight by spell casting.
I rushed over to Zack and the other two, fell to my knees, and started to charge a couple of healing spells. It didn't take long for the pure, warm, and rejuvenating feeling of the healing spells to build up in my arms. Healing spells had always been my specialty. As I was leaning over to heal Zack, he grabbed my my hand and looked me in the eye.
"Help Angeal first… He can help you heal us," Zack's voice was so strained, I felt bad for listening to him and leaning the other way to heal Angeal.
"Odin!"
"Zalera!"
"Brynhildr!"
"Shiva!"
I heard Lightning, Sephiroth, Sazh, and Snow shout. I looked over my shoulder and instantly knew which Summon – er – Eidolon belonged to Sephiroth. Focusing back on healing, I tried as hard as I could to make myself forget that we, actually, they are fighting Jenova.
~~~~Fang's POV~~~~
I was more than a little surprised to learn that Jihl and Rosch were l'Cie. But at the same time it was something I had been fully expecting, I hate that particular contradiction. Doesn't matter though, not the first time I've fought a Cocoon l'Cie. I remember fighting them before I become a l'Cie myself and I know I fought many more after becoming one.
Not sure as to when the battle changed but it had become Jihl and Rosch against me, Sunshine, Pretty Boy, and Muscle Head. And just a little ways to my right it was Eidolons, Kid, Vanille, and Oldy against the fal'Cie. Although the fight with Jihl and Rosch was more like me and Sunshine against Jihl and Pretty Boy and Muscle Head against Rosch.
I tried to fight Jihl head on but she was too damn fast. None of my attacks even came close to hitting her, which surprised me because it is hard to believe that a girl can be so agile in heels and a dress. What makes things worse is she never missed me and her long thin baton thing stung like a bitch, it's really more like a chocobo whip. And the damn tip of the thing is very sharp and has a tendency to cut where she whips. So I pulled back and let Sunshine have a go with her.
While Sunshine Ms. Bitch fought, I took a quick look around at the others. Pretty Boy looked to be overpowering Rosch with the help of Snow throwing spells. Vanille, Hope, Sazh and the five Eidolons were busy with fighting the Big Guy. I didn't see Aerith at all. She must be helping the other three that were hurt before the fight even began.
"Zack, Genesis, Aerith! Fight Barthandelus!" Angeal shouted. A few moments later he was beside me "Looks like you and Lightning could use some assistance," He said with a smile before an orb on his armlet glowed bright green. In an instant all my wounds from the Bitch healed.
"Thanks for that," I said to him. Knowing Angeal (I have to think of or find a name that annoys him) would be supporting us, I charged in to join Sunshine.
I charged in behind Sunshine with my lance ready. Sunshine jumped into a back flip and I ducked low to run right underneath her and she fired her gun when she was right above me. Jihl just stepped out of the way of the shots and charged at me. She forced me into a defensive stance which I didn't mind, just means I'll be hit by that baton less. Sunshine attacked from the side but Jihl was able to evade the attack which in itself was unbelievable, they both were moving incredibly fast. Lightning sure did live up to her name.
"All together!" Oldy shouted. I knew I shouldn't look away but Jihl has her hands full with Sunshine so I took the risk.
Vanille, Kid, Oldy, Genesis, and the Eidolons were charging spells. Puppy was holding the Big Guy's attention to keep the non-Eidolons breathing. All at once, the Eidolons and the others released their spells and they all slammed into the Big Guy, creating the most colorful explosion that was both very hot and freezing. When the haze cleared the Big Guy had his head laying on the floor and his hands were limp. He started to fade away like a mirage almost right away.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosch look over at the now dead Big Guy and Sephiroth stab him. The long white blade was pushed right through Rosch's heart. Pretty Boy pulled his sword free and swiftly swung it, cutting Rosch's throat. Cutting is a little bit of an understatement. Pretty Boy damn near decapitated Rosch. After Rosch's body thudded to the floor, me and Pretty Boy turned to face Jihl. The blond had stopped fighting and had Sunshine's weapon in gun form pointed at her temple.
Jihl took one look around and let out a sigh. She tossed her baton far out of her reach and raised her hands in surrender. The Eidolons vanished as well. Odin in a rain of rose petals, Zalera in a swarm of black feathers, the Shiva sisters in a swirl of snowflakes, and Brynhildr in a flash of flame.
"A fal'Cie running the Sanctum," Muscle Head said with quite the level of disbelief.
"Then..." Kid panted "I guess it wasn't Eden controlling things after all."
"As I said," Barthandelus' voice cut through the air but I refused to take my eyes off of Jihl "I am Lord-Sovereign," He reappeared, in Dysley form, in the air and gently floated down to the ground. I knew everyone, other than me and Sunshine, had their weapons on Bart in an instant.
"Guess fal'Cie don't go down as easy as the rest of us," Oldy quipped.
"Ease is not the issue," Jihl said calmly, she creeps me out "You did not fight to win," Suddenly she just wasn't there in front of me anymore. Sunshine and I looked at each other than over to Bart and saw Jihl standing to the side and a little bit behind him "Barthandelus, you may leave," Bart just vanished after she spoke.
"What are you?" Oldy sounded terrified. I was fairly scared as well but I'll never admit that to anyone.
Jihl slowly took off her glasses and tossed them aside. She really did enjoy being dramatic didn't sh- I was more than surprised when six black-feathered wings grew out of her back.
~~~~Sephiroth's POV~~~~
"What am I?" 'Jihl' laughed "I am the omniscient queen and almighty architect of Cocoon. I allow you humans to live on Cocoon, I provide everything you need and want. Every fal'Cie on this hollow rock relies on me to provide their power, even Barthandelus," She is lying. Somehow I know, that she is lying. Not to mention, there is something… Frightening about her. That can't be right, I don't feel fear.
"Who are you?" Sazh growled. 'Jihl' laughed at him.
"Here, on Cocoon, you know me as Orphan. On Gran Pulse, I am known as Lindzei. I am responsible for ending the war the War of Transgression," 'Jihl started to laugh again "And causing it."
"What?" Fang and Vanille shouted. Fang had an intense amount of hatred and agony in her voice while Vanille just had agony.
"You were all getting too comfortable and I was getting bored with small scale disasters. I needed something to entertain me for a few decades. And there is very little that causes as much hatred, misery, and bloodshed than all out war between religious fanatics," 'Jihl' seemed like she was speaking of pleasant times times past, not a war.
"You started a war because you were bored?" Snow shouted with outrage. This didn't bother me at all, Shinra once started a small war to increase their profits for that year. I had lead that army "You have no right to use people like that!" 'Jihl' sent a very dark glare at Snow.
"You dare to try and tell ME what I am entitled to? Every being has a place in the natural order and a purpose to fulfill. The place of humans is just above vermin and below fal'Cie. Your purpose is to serve the fal'Cie and me until you draw your final breath. The reason I even allow your pitiful species to exist is because you are amusing. Other than that, there is nothing humans can accomplish without the aid of a much more powerful being, such as me," 'Jihl' extended an arm towards Yaag's body which promptly faded away, even the puddle of blood. 'Jihl' extended both her arms out to her sides and two crystal swords formed, they were both made of dark, nearly opaque, crystal and had no design I recognized "L'Cie are a prime example of such weakness," 'Jihl raised one sword and pointed it at us "And if you even think you can defeat me, you have already chosen death. This is my world and there is zero chance of it becoming anything else."
The ship suddenly shook violently as if something huge had run into it, or a large explosion had just occurred. Without warning, an explosion sounded below us and the floor started to sink. I heard a sound similar to to the sound of a gravity spell being used and the floor was ripped out from under us, a secondary effect of the spell was we were all immediately falling at terminal velocity. Several other explosions erupted from the giant airship and a ship nearly identical to the one that we flew over to the Palamecia, this ship had a gold color with silver detail, came flying out of the smoke.
It raced past us then slowed down greatly. The door on the rear end of the ship opened for us and a few of us exchanged a look. Knowing that our only alternatives were to either fall to our deaths or call upon our resting Eidolons, we chose to board the strange ship. Once we were all inside, and holding onto something for dear life, the door closed and the ship pulled out of its nose dive impossibly fast at an impossible angle, making all the non-SOLDIER's lose their grip. Zack held Aerith tightly so she would be fine. We quickly got to our feet and hurried into the cabin to get into secure seats. Upon entering, we all noticed the same thing, there is no pilot. This ship is flying itself, and that would have surprised me if I had never known what is was like to have telekinetic abilities. Obviously, there is a powerful being controlling this from afar, a being that opposes 'Jihl'.
"Is this thing flying itself?" Sazh shouted, panic clearly present in his tone.
"Do you see someone driving it?" Lightning snapped at him.
We all strapped into the seats, Sazh taking the seat that the pilot would have used if there was one. An alarm went wild to notify us about an approaching enemy. I looked out the massive clear canopy and saw a very strange gray ship launch a volley of missiles at us. Our ship turned unnaturally sharply, rolled, and dove to avoid the missiles. Next thing I knew, we were behind the gray ship and our ship started to fire at it. Unfortunately, the gray ship flipped back up above us and launched more missiles. This volley was heading straight for us. What I can only describe as crystal armor appeared the instant before the missiles hit us and vanished very shortly after.
"The hell kind of ship is this? Fighting on its own?" Sazh sounded irritated.
"That's the part that bothers you?" Fang shouted.
"Can't we do something?" Hope sounded absolutely terrified.
"Got me! I give up!" Sazh shouted back.
We were flying right towards what looked to be a floating city. Something that was bright blue appeared and my instinct said it was a shield. Several large light-blue symbols appeared and the ship flew right through them. It was almost as if we were being welcomed into the city. I'm assuming the gray ship didn't get through the shield as it was no longer shooting at us. Our ship slowed to a peaceful cruising speed and we all unbuckled our selves to look around. I will admit, this is an impressive city. Far more advanced and highly populated than Midgar ever was, or could have been.
"Sazh, look out!" Vanille yelped. We all looked out the front and saw that we were heading straight for a very solid looking building.
Most of the others started to panic. I heard a strange electric sound and barely noticed the orange glow that had started to build. Just before the ship slammed into the side of the building, it went dark. The ship was quiet and nothing was on.
"What just happened?" Snow asked us all.
"I'm willing to bet that that question won't be answered in here," Zack replied to him.
We cautiously made our way out of the airship, Lightning and I at the front just in case we met some hostile resistance. Once we determined the area was clear we allowed everyone else of the ship. The airship glow slightly and faded out of existence and once they were done trading nervous glances, the others chose to spread out and check the area themselves. The area looked like a train station, so much so, I couldn't be wrong about that.
"Where are we?" Lightning asked the room.
"Looks like a piece of Pulse," Vanille mused.
"Looks like a piece of Midgar," Angeal whispered to me.
"Pulse? What, you mean like the Bodhum Vestige?" Sazh sounded confused "Something like that, this close to Eden..."
"Yeah, well, what I don't understand is, after the Purge, and all that l'Cie paranoia, why keep a chunk of Pulse under the floorboards?" Fang had an interesting point. Just interesting, didn't mean anything to me.
"I'm more interested in why we're here," Zack announced "I mean, what possible use does this place have?"
"It's a place for l'Cie to accept their fate," Lightning just barely muttered, her voice amplified by the room.
"Do you think our Focus is really to destroy Cocoon?" Hope asked us. I had no words to respond with.
"No," Aerith stated in a rather commanding tone, it was surprising to hear from Aerith and it made us all look at her "Our Focus is to destroy that Queen of Cocoon. By doing that we will be saving Cocoon. Just like Serah told us to do," the mention of that name made Snow smile widely.
"We've defeated two fal'Cie already. How hard of a fight can she be?" Snow sounded as if we had already beat her. I just scoffed and shook my head.
"That's the spirit!" Angeal walked to Snow and slung an arm around the blond's shoulders as he spoke "But don't get too far ahead of yourself," Everyone had a smile on their face, Genesis, Lightning and I were the exceptions, I noticed Aerith's smile was forced and was instantly curious about that "We need to find our way out here first. Any ideas?" I couldn't restrain myself any longer.
"Doesn't it bother anyone else that the vision we had was of Cocoon falling? That doesn't exactly strike as saving it," I was frustrated by them choosing ignorance but I refused to let my frustration show in my voice "It's either we destroy Cocoon and go into crystal stasis or go on a fools quest to destroy Orphan and become Cie'th."
"Well Orphan did say she was the source of power for all fal'Cie on Cocoon, right?" Zack asked me, I nodded in response "We kill her, the fal'Cie go away, and we successfully destroy the world as they know it," I wanted to retort but I couldn't argue with Zack's logic.
"I doubt our Focus will be accomplished by a technicality," Lightning snapped back.
"Legend shall speak, of sacrifice at world's end. The wind sails over the water's surface, quietly, but surely," Genesis quoted Loveless yet again, although he has a talent for knowing exactly when a line of it fits our situation "Our predicament is a choice between the needs of the many and the needs of the few. Whatever we choose, we will still be remembered for what we did."
"So, back to square one," Sazh stated "Out of luck."
"What's the plan then?" Vanille asked the group.
"Find our way out of here. After that, we'll see," Angeal replied calmly. We all started walking towards the only clear tunnel.
"Don't worry Serah! Your Hero will save Cocoon!" I stopped walking when Snow spoke. Since I was in front of everyone else, they stopped as well.
"Snow," I found myself saying before I could stop it "Don't try so hard to be a hero. Real heroes either die young and end up being known as martyrs or live to become… Something much worse than what they had been fighting," I continued walking after speaking.
~~~~Lightning's POV~~~~
Sephiroth's words had rooted me to the spot. Could that have been sincerity in his tone? I'm not sure about that but there was definitely wisdom and something else. There had been a hint of nostalgia when he said "Real heroes" but at the end it was as if he had been recalling some very unpleasant memories. Just who is Sephiroth?
Without knowing why, I glanced over at Fang. She gave me a look that told me she had thought everything I had. And we both wanted to know what he is hiding.
I hope that was a good place to end this chapter. I was thinking about making this chapter much longer but I thought I would leave you all hanging. To be honest, I was actually thinking about ending this story with this chapter. But then I remembered how much I have planned for Gran Pulse.
Also, I am fully aware that Jenova made no attempt to do anything really. There is a reason for that and that will be revealed in time.
Please leave a review and let me know if there is anything I need to correct/edit/fix.