"Rosso, the curse is broken," Sephiroth said slowly as no-one dared to move "You don't have to continue this bitter campaign for revenge."

"I won't be satisfied until I see you ruined and broken," Rosso snarled "I would have happily left you alone if Little Miss Feminist here had rejected and left you."

Anne squeezed Sephiroth's hand tightly as she leaned her forehead on his back.

"But no, it looks like I'll have to resort to killing your little bitch instead."

She suddenly raised her hand as Angeal and Genesis braced themselves to attack but Sephiroth barked a sharp order for them to stay still. She smirked.

"Not so brave now, are we?" she sneered "Hiding behind your precious king, cowering like a pathetic little wife."

Anne snarled as her eyes flashed and Sephiroth squeezed her hand tightly.

"No, she wants you to lose control," he whispered "It'll make it easier for her to kill you."

"Yes, go on!" Rosso barked sharply "Obey your man! Become a meek obedient slave!"

Anne roared and Sephiroth turned around sharply to hug her.

"Anne, please," he hissed as he kept a close eye on Rosso "Anne, don't listen to her, you'll hurt yourself, remember the first time you transformed?"

Anne glared at Rosso, a steady growl rising her throat. Rosso smirked as she held up an empty bottle with little purple droplets. Angeal's eyes widened.

"Anne, get out of here!"

"A magic draining potion," she purred slowly as Anne stared at it "It was very effective against your little dragon."

Anne's heart stopped as Sephiroth began pulling her away, yelling at Rosso. She couldn't hear much as she kept her stance, refusing to be dragged anywhere.

"Shadow?"

She looked around, suddenly afraid and worried. She couldn't see Shadow.

"Shadow?!"

She pulled against Sephiroth as Rosso blocked oncoming spells.

"Shadow!" she shrieked "What have you done to him?! What have you done to my baby?!"

"Anne, Anne, ssh…"

"Anne, that's not my bottle, she's lying!"

"SHADOW!" Anne yelled as her eyes began to slit "SHADOW!"

She roared as she pushed Sephiroth away and launched herself at Rosso, turning into Galian Beast. Rosso smirked as she thrust her blade into Anne's chest before the transformation was complete. Anne gasped as she grasped the blade, turning back into her human form.

"ANNE!" Sephiroth cried out and crashed into the barrier that Rosso erected around them.

Screams filled the hall as Tifa joined Sephiroth to try and break through Rosso's barrier. Rosso just laughed as Sephiroth slammed his fists against her shield, throwing spell after spell as Tifa delivered futile blow after futile blow.

"Just stand there and watch!" she barked "I'll kill your precious little princess right in front of your eyes!"

"Anne! Anne!" Tifa cried out as she continued slamming her fists into the barrier "Anne, no, no! Not my sister, no! Leave my baby sister alone!"

Rosso grinned up at Anne as she looked down at her with tearful eyes. She dropped the bottle in her hand as Angeal arrived by Sephiroth's side.

"Shadow is still alive!"

Anne looked at him wearily, her head feeling dizzy.

"Shadow?"

"Yuffie has just found him, she's going to heal him up and he'll be alright, trust me!"

Rosso chuckled dryly.

"It doesn't matter," she purred "You'll be long dead."

Anne looked down at her as she licked her lips.

"Any last words?"

Anne coughed as she felt blood dripping down her legs, through her hands and out of her mouth.

"A-A-Anyg…" she hissed and Rosso tilted her head and Anne clutched the blade tighter, more blood dripping down it "MAX!"

Rosso looked down sharply as a large blue circle appeared in front of her and backed off quickly in her dome, Anne still impaled by the blade. A blinding flash of white filled the hall and Rosso shook her head to clear her vision. She peered up as everyone else that was left in the hall (the majority having run away) rubbed their eyes. Her eyes widened as a Malboro stood in front of her, looking a little confused as it looked around curiously.

"A MALBORO?!" Sephiroth barked as Tifa's eyes lit up "Max is a Malboro?!"

"You tamed a Malboro?!"

Vincent was standing by Sephiroth with a similar gobsmacked expression.

"Anne, what have I told you…?!"

"Save…it…" Anne coughed as she reached a hand out towards Max "Hey…b-boy. I m-m-missed you…"

Max crooned questioningly as it faced her and took in the scene. It was silent for a few moments before Max roared fiercely, charging at Rosso. Rosso was quick to cancel her barrier and drop Anne to run away from the oncoming beast. Sephiroth caught Anne as Tifa and Vincent ran to be with her. They watched as Max chased Rosso to the other side of the hall and unleashed his bad breath on her. Tifa gripped Anne's hand as Sephiroth kissed the puncture wound.

"It's not fatal," he said "Iyasu."

Anne choked as the hole in her body healed up and she buried her face into his shoulder.

"Ow…"

"I warned you," Sephiroth whispered as he kissed her forehead.

"When have I ever listened to you?" Anne drawled.

"You should start," Vincent snorted "Advice shouldn't be scoffed at."

Anne huffed as she sat up slowly and bore witness to Rosso hacking off one of Max's tentacles which trigged his pained roar. She snarled as she kicked off her shoes to charge across the hall barefoot.

"Not my baby, you bitch!"

Rosso turned too late as Anne delivered a right hook and nipped her finger.

"Wynt!"

"Anne, no!"

Rosso was blown away as Anne ignored Sephiroth (again) and hugged Max's tentacles that circled her body.

"Oh, Max, my poor baby," she whispered as she kissed them "I'm so sorry, here, let me look…"

Max crooned as she pressed her hand to the stump and growled as Rosso got up to her feet.

"I will severe that pretty little head off your body!" she declared as she began marching over with her blades.

"Stop!"

Rosso halted as Vincent ran between them. She dropped her blades in shock as she stared at him whilst Anne leaned on Max, watching languidly.

"Vincent?" she whispered as Vincent placed his hands on his hips.

"Time has been kind to you," he commented.

"Vincent, why are you getting in the way?" Rosso asked "He killed all your family!"

"Indeed," Vincent nodded "however, I learned to let go."

"Let go? It's unforgivable! My sisters weren't even ten years old! Your niece was pregnant! He slaughtered them all like they were expendable!"

"What good would it have done me to have lived in complete hatred of him?" Vincent asked "Yes, his mother broke my heart, killed my family and locked me up in a coffin for months but she's dead. He still has a life ahead of him to make."

Rosso narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's unforgivable," she said and Vincent sighed "How can you just lie down and say that it's alright for him to have murdered thousands! And you!"

Anne jumped as Rosso pointed at her.

"How could you love such a corrupted man?!" she snarled "And agree to marry him?! He trapped you here!"

"I stayed out of my own will!" Anne protested.

"Under the threat that he would kill your sister!"

"Can you just look past all this history?!" Anne shrieked "He's made mistakes but he's not going to up and kill more people!"

"He's a power hungry bastard!"

"No, he's not!" Anne groaned as she palmed her forehead and sighed "Not after what I nearly went through. He's learnt his lesson, we've all done our time because of your curse, can we just not move on?"

Rosso picked her blades up and Anne sighed.

"I'm getting sick and tired of this," she huffed as she batted Max's tentacles away.

"Anne, be careful with how much magic you're using."

"Yeah, yeah."

Anne closed her eyes as a mask covered her face and a chainsaw manifested in her hand. She started it up as Rosso braced herself. Sephiroth and Tifa watched with slight amusement as the two ladies began fighting, chainsaw to sword. Magic was thrown everywhere as Sephiroth braced himself to try and get a hit in. Before he could move, Rosso disarmed Anne and thrust her blade into her side

"Annulla!"

The mask disappeared from Anne's face to show it contorted in pain. She threw her hand up at Rosso.

"Wynt, zikha!"

Rosso was sent spiralling up into the ceiling, smacking into it as Anne fell once the blade was out of her body. Rosso dropped down and managed to slow her descent as Sephiroth ran for Anne and Tifa charged after Rosso.

"Iyasu," Sephiroth healed her wound and pressed a hand to her head "You're feverish."

"Tis nothing," Anne breathed.

"Tis nothing my derrière!"

Vincent stormed towards the couple, arms folded.

"I warned you!"

"You could help your other descendent," Sephiroth said pointedly as Vincent glanced at the fight between Tifa and Rosso.

"I could," he sighed "but it wouldn't be a fair fight."

"Rosso doesn't fight fair!" Sephiroth barked.

"Point taken."

Vincent disappeared and spells began shooting at Rosso from different angles. Rosso sighed as she waved her hand.

"Fantasma, stodire!"

"Ugh!"

Anne lurched as she saw Vincent stumble and fall to the floor.

"What kind of spell is that?!"

"Stay out of this," Rosso snorted as Vincent held his head, hunched over.

"Vincent!"

Tifa yelped as Rosso lunged her blade forward and cut her cheek after she dodged.

"Tifa!"

Rosso blocked Cloud's attack, who had just come back with his swords. They glared at one another before ice covered the dance floor. Pillars of ice grew for Cloud to use as Rosso's blades grew hot and began melting and burning anything near them. She hopped from pillar to pillar as Cloud erected icicles next to try and pierce her. Genesis arrived on the upper balcony, rubbing his hands together.

"Baindo!"

Rosso dodged the cords that lashed out at her and snarled up at him.

"Fuoco!"

Genesis watched unflinchingly as Angeal lobbed a bottle at the fireball sent towards him. It exploded into steam and Genesis sighed.

"That's going to ruin my hair," he pouted, watching his curls flop.

"You never look ruined, you're the god of beauty," Angeal panted as he threw another bottle.

Rosso dodged the oncoming bottle and charged towards Tifa next. Anne watched in horror as Rosso's blades cut and slashed whilst the screams of agony echoed in her ears. Max joined in the fray when Cloud and Tifa were out of range with his bad breath. Rosso dodged to settle on the centre pillar, right under the chandelier. Anne, quick as she could, sunk her teeth into her hand before Sephiroth could stop her.

"Anne, don't!"

"Diskanket!"

The chain holding the chandelier broke and Rosso didn't have time to dodge as it hurtled down towards her and crushed her into the icicles. Anne gasped as she held her arm up for a few more seconds before letting it drop.

"Anne, stay with me!"

"She's overused her magic without her dagger!"

"Tifa, get that Malboro out of here, it looks like it's going to tear His Majesty apart!"

"Angeal!"

"Genesis, get the orange bottles from the kitchen, they're labelled clearly that they're magic restoring potions!"

"On it!"

"And bring all of them!"

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!"

"She needs rest!"

"Get her to her room!"

Anne groaned as she felt being lifted up from the floor. Her vision was dimming.

"Yuffie! We need ya! Get all your healing rune stones and hop to it!"

"Aerith, where are you?!"

"She's probably got some internal damage as well, we need diagnostic spells."

"Out of the way! Get out of the way! Get back!"

"Anne, Anne, please stay with us!"

"You need to stay awake, Anne, you'll need to drink the Angelica!"

Anne's eyes rolled back as she fell into darkness.

"Anne, what have I told you about being careful with magic?"