Synthia had opened her eyes to see Sephiroth approaching Sandra. What was happening? How had Sephiroth turned so fast? The others were too stunned to be of much help as Sephiroth circled Sandra, an evil glint in his eye. As he lifted his sword, Synthia sent out a fireball to stop him. She didn't know what else to do and felt like there was nothing that she could do.
Pray. The command was soft yet forceful. Pray. Synthia got to her knees and clasped her hands together unsure of what to say. She simply started to think of what she wanted. She wanted her friends to be safe, for all this to be over. She could feel Aeris with her with Zack close by. They wanted this to end as well.
Vincent shook himself off and looked up just as Sephiroth leapt into the air. Glancing around he saw Synthia kneeling with hands clasped. "Synthia, don't!" he shouted, " Cloud, hurry." Cloud looked up and a cold terror crept into his eyes. No…he thought Please not again. He got up and started to run toward her just as Sephiroth came down, plunging his sword into her chest. Synthia's eyes opened wide as she stared at them and her arms fell limp at her sides. Everyone had got up by then and stared in horror at the scene. Sephiroth looked up at them and smiled as he pulled out his sword. The long blade seemed to take forever to be free from Synthia's body.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her eyes losing their brightness, "I tried." Vincent was the first one to reach her as Sephiroth stepped back, his eyes bright with triumph. This could not be, Dr. Hojo had said that she was resilient. How could a simple sword wound kill her? True she had used a lot of magic but…there was something not right with the situation. "It figures you would kill your own daughter," he muttered. There was a commotion in front of him and he looked up to find Sephiroth casting spells on himself.
"What's going on?" asked Tifa. She knew no one had cast any spells but here was one of the greatest members of Soldier acting like he had been hit with a basic spell to cause confusion. For a split second, Sephiroth's demeanor changed. "Please," he said, his eyes full of anguish, "destroy me before I cause any more pain." Then the cold look was back though the spells continued. Cloud and the others took up their arms and attacked. Vincent reluctantly lay Synthia's body down. Anger overtook him and he turned into Chaos. With a roar of rage, he joined the fight.
With the many hits he was taking, it didn't take long for Sephiroth to be backed into a corner. Deep inside, the Sephiroth who was a father was relieved that this would all end soon. He couldn't stop the killer in him from slaying his daughter, but he could at least make sure that all was done to destroy him. "I will not meet my end in this way!" shouted a dark voice. There was a black ball of energy and Sephiroth the killer had taken over again. Cloud and the others had been thrown back but remained standing. Chaos roared and attacked but was held back with another blast of black energy.
"I will not be destroyed by the likes of you!" Sephiroth shouted raising his sword. His attacks were quick and hard to block. The group barely had a chance to go on the offense. All they could do was continuously block while another tried to attack. This was not boding well for them. They were tiring and it was all Sandra could do to keep casting restorative spells for all the status effects and hits that the team was taking. Finally exhausted, she had collapsed where she stood, ashamed that she had stood frozen in fear for so long as the others had fought. If only she had helped sooner. The others started fall quickly, kneeling or leaning against a wall all the while trying to fend off Sephiroth. Chaos had sustained the most damage though, he had been the one who kept attacking Sephiroth the whole entire time, even if it meant sustaining an injury in the process. Weakened, the others looked on helplessly as Sephiroth started to laugh.
"How pathetic," he was saying, "especially you Vincent." Turning to Chaos who was nearly bent over in exhaustion, he circled him, "How people have you not been able to save? You must be in agony over the sins you have yet to suffer for. To not be able to save the granddaughter of the woman you had loved…tsk tsk. All you bring to those you care about is pain and death." Chaos transformed back into Vincent who fell to his knees. His heart was filled with anguish. He couldn't help but see the truth in Sephiroth's words.
"Pain, death," said a voice, "that is not his gift but yours." Everyone looked up to see Synthia standing, a green glow about her. To everyone's surprise, Aeris and Zack were behind her, a hand on each of her shoulders. "Father," said Synthia, "forgive me." With that she extended her hand the green glow flowed from it and started to envelop Sephiroth. It was the Lifestream, the others realized. Anger glowed in Sephiroth's eyes as he tried to fight it off but to no avail. Before the Lifestream consumed him, his eyes grew gentler and again his demeanor changed. "I'm sorry that I could not be a better man…a better father," he said before he completely disappeard, "please forgive me for all the heartache I have caused you."
"I forgive you," whispered Synthia. As Sephiroth disappeared, Aeris and Zack faded away and Synthia collapsed to the floor.