Setting: A month after "Almost Closure" takes place
Disclaimer: I own what Squaresoft doesn't.
Note: I am so sorry that this took so long. Thanks for the reviews. Next chapter will have both FF7/8 characters.
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"The Meeting"
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'Life is good.' thought Cloud as he walked through the Wall Market. It was nearly a month after he had saved the Planet, and things were finally calming down. Avalanche was rewarded, he and his friends were hailed as heroes, and the Mako reactors had all been shut down. He was in the Wall Market to buy Tifa an engagement ring. He had obtained most of the gil from battling monsters that still ravaged the country. However, there were considerably less than there were a month ago. Sometimes he wondered what he would do when there were no more monsters to kill. Still, he did not dwell on this thought. It was better to live in the present than the future, or the past. 'Where can I get a nice ring?' he wondered. As he pondered this he was pushed in the back, and he fell. "Hey! Watch it!" he said to no one in particular as he scoured the crowd for his assailant. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a swift motion, and on impulse he turned his head to see a black cloaked figure striding through the crowd. Strapped to his back was a long sword. Cloud stopped breathing. Only one person could wield a sword that long. 'Sephiroth!' his mind yelled. Cloud ran to catch up with the black cloaked man, but could not reach him because of the densely packed crowd.
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"Daddy! Look at me!" yelled Marlene performing a series of cartwheels. Barret looked up from the plane engine he was fixing to watch her from across the yard.
"That's great." he said and turned his attention back to the engine.
"How's it going over there?" asked Cid who was aligning the tail of the Tiny Bronco.
"Not too bad." said Barret. 'Everything's great.' he thought. After defeating Sephiroth a month ago he had moved to Rocket Town with Marlene. Midgar was no place for Marlene to grow up in, and neither was North Corel, especially for them. He was grateful that Cid had invited him to move in with him and Shera. In Rocket Town Marlene was receiving an education and Shera looked after her as if she were her own daughter. For the first time in years Barret felt at peace. If only he could find out what was wrong with this engine.
"Yo! You're missing a part over here." said Barret to Cid.
"Where?" asked Cid coming over to the work table.
"Right here." said Barret pointing to a piece of metal that had evidently had a piece sheared off.
"Well I'll be a son of a gun." said Cid.
"Daddy, what's a son of a gun?" asked Marlene innocently.
"Something that Uncle Cid shouldn't say honey." said Barret scowling at Cid.
"Sorry, your Uncle Cid's a stupid ass." said Cid without thinking. His mind was somewhere else. Probably on the engine.
"Daddy, what's a stupid ass?" asked Marlene.
"Er, nothing honey." said Barret glaring at Cid. "You jus' run along and.." Barret said.
"What?" asked Cid looking up apologetically at Barret and following his line of vision. "Pardon my lang.."he started to say when he saw what Barret had seen.
'Holy goddamn fuck. It's Sephiroth.' he thought seeing the familiar black cloaked figure of the man who had nearly destroyed the Planet.
'What the hell is he doing here? He's dead.' thought Barret frantically. 'Oh my God, Marlene.' he realized. She was on the other side of the yard where He was.
Sephiroth looked at Cid and Barret and then turned and walked away. Ten seconds later he was gone.
"We have a problem." said Barret to Cid still looking at the place where Sephiroth had stood.
"No shit Sherlock. We better tell Cloud." said Cid going into the house to contact Cloud.
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"Vincent!" yelled Lucrecia into the darkness.
"What?" asked Vincent. Something had been wrong with Lucrecia for some time. Ever since Sephiroth had been killed, she had woken up screaming that Sephiroth was coming. Despite Vincent's continuous reassurance that Sephiroth was dead, she insisted that he was alive. Vincent worried about her.
"It's Sephiroth!" cried Lucrecia. "He's here, outside."
"Lucrecia, Sephiroth is dead." said Vincent for the millionth time.
"Please, just, just check outside." said Lucrecia.
"All right, but this is the last time." said Vincent sighing. He did not know what to do. Sometimes he wondered whether he should take her to see a doctor, but after Hojo, he didn't trust any doctor. Besides, who would know how to treat her? However, now he didn't seem to have a choice. 'Tomorrow morning I will ride to Mideel on Nightwing.' he thought walking out of the cave. Nightwing was the black chocobo that he was given by Cloud after he had recovered..
Vincent scrutinized the terrain around the cave and the lake in the middle. It was the middle of the night, but he could see fine. This was one of the good parts about being altered. Still, he missed his old body.
A rustling movement caused him to turn his head towards the other end of the lake. What he saw made his blood, or what was left of it, run cold. A black cloaked figure was staring across the river at him. When the figure saw him look it turned around, and Vincent saw the silver blade that confirmed his worst fears. It was Sephiroth, and he was alive.
'Now what?' he wondered, his mind spinning. 'Cloud, I have to tell Cloud.' he concluded. Cloud would know what to do, or at least he hoped so.
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Across the lake, Sephiroth smiled inwardly. His plan was working so far.
'The old standbys of hate and fear will never fail.' he thought walking away from the lake towards his next location.
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"Run you god damned son of a gun!" yelled Cait Sith to Quickstream his blue chocobo as he zoomed past the final marker in the race. Quickstream was the best racer out of the special chocobos that Cloud had bred. Cait Sith had the utmost respect for Cloud for many reasons. First and foremost, Cloud had trusted him. Second, Cloud was fair, and when he divided the items up after his recovery he had maintained that quality. That's what made Cloud a good leader.
"Come on, come on, you're almost there!" screamed Cait Sith as Quickstream pulled ahead of Mike's black chocobo Teioh just as he passed the finish line.
"Yes!" yelled Cait Sith jumping up and down.
"Another victory?" asked the attendant at the prize desk noticing Cait Sith's antics.
"Yeah, Quickstream did it again." said Cait Sith collecting his prize.
Cait Sith then went to the Chocobo stables to see Quickstream.
"Good job, Quick." said Cait Sith petting the exhausted chocobo. Quickstrike cheeped happily, and then suddenly froze.
"What is it Quick?" asked Cait Sith turning his head to see Sephiroth looking at him across the stables.
'No way, no way.' thought Cait Sith frantically. 'Sephiroth is dead, he's dead. We killed him.'
Sephiroth turned and walked out of the stables.
'Cloud, I've got to tell Cloud." Thought Cait Sith.
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"Sir, what is the Lifestream?" asked Satu, one of Nanaki's students.
"That's an excellent question." said Nanaki to his inquisitive students. "Unfortunately, not much is known about the Lifestream. All that we know is that most of the Planet's energy is stored there and that several of the Planet's secrets might be revealed from there. That is why several of the researchers from Cosmo Canyon have gone to Mideel to study it. All right, that's all the time we have for today. Class dismissed."
Nanaki smiled as the children and cubs ran out of the classroom. As Bugenhagen's grandson, he had taken over educating Cosmo Canyon's children. It was a job that he loved.
"Hey, Nanaki!" yelled Ed, one of the researchers. "Can you get a core sample from the ground near the Ancient Forest?"
"Sure." said Nanaki running to the quartermaster to get the supplies.
Five minutes later Nanaki was at the Ancient Forest. 'I wonder why Ed needs another core sample so soon.' he wondered. He wasn't complaining. He liked the tranquility of the Ancient Forest. Then, a soft breeze started to blow, and he sensed something in it. Something familiar. Sephiroth.
Nanaki stared at the source of the smell. It was Sephiroth all right. He charged at him, but Sephiroth disappeared into the forest. Grabbing the sample, Nanaki ran towards Cosmo Canyon to contact Cloud.
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"Hey Cloud." said Tifa as he walked into her bar 7th Heaven two days after he had gone to the Wall Market.
Cloud nodded in her direction.
"What's wrong?" asked Tifa sensing something was wrong.
"Sephiroth is back." said Cloud.
"Impossible." said Tifa. "You killed him, remember?"
"I know." said Cloud. "I wouldn't believe it, but saw him in the Wall Market two days ago."
"Oh." said Tifa. "You're sure that it just wasn't someone who looked like him?" she asked hopefully.
"It was him." said Cloud. "Besides, Barret, Cid, Vincent, Cait Sith, and Nanaki have all called me to say that they've seen him."
"What about Yuffie?" asked Tifa.
"No word from her yet." said Cloud shaking his head. "You haven't seen him?"
"No, I haven't." said Tifa.
"Be on the lookout anyway." said Cloud. "I've just called Yuffie to warn her."
"Has he attacked anyone?" asked Tifa.
"No." said Cloud. "According to everyone he just appears and then leaves. I've called a meeting for today in here. Is that okay?"
"Of course." said Tifa. 'Now what?' she wondered.
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'The view from here is wonderful.' thought Yuffie as she sat breathing the air on the summit of the Dao-chao Mountains. Cloud had given her the group's materia, and Wutai had been changed. She had fulfilled her dream, and was content with her life. Sadly, she knew that this tranquility would not last. Cloud had just called her to say that Sephiroth was back, and to ask her to come to a meeting on it. She had considered refusing, but accepted the invitation. Yuffie didn't believe that Sephiroth could be alive, but then she remembered that no one had checked to make sure he was dead.
'Here we go again.' sighed Yuffie as she climbed down the mountain. Then she saw Sephiroth. He was looking down on her from a high ledge. Without thinking, she threw her shuriken up at him. Her aim was perfect, and the weapon flew straight at his face. Then, he suddenly snapped out his hand and caught her shuriken in midair, and tossed it down at her. It thudded next to her feet. Yuffie stared. She had never seen anyone even attempt to do that. For him to catch a circle of spinning blades in midair took superhuman reflexes and hand eye coordination. Any hopeful doubts that this was not Sephiroth were destroyed, and she picked up her weapon and ran down the mountain.
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'Well, here we are again.' thought Tifa as she shooed the last customer out of her bar. Her friends had shown up in drips and drabs. Looking at the group brought back memories. 'When was the last time we were all together?' she wondered as they seated themselves around a large table.
Greetings were spread around the table, and the group members whispered to each other for a couple minutes until Cloud cleared his throat and stood up.
"Thank you all for coming." he began. "I assume that you all know why we're here. Without a doubt, Sephiroth is back. I don't know how, but did anyone check him to make sure he was dead before they left?"
Everyone in the group looked away from him guiltily. They were ashamed that they had not verified Sephiroth's death. Only Cid voiced his thoughts.
"Er, he uh, looked dead." said Cid apologetically.
"I see." said Cloud. "Well, that's good in a way. At least he wasn't brought back from the dead. That means he can be killed."
"I dunno." said Barret. "He could have been a mirage or somethin'."
"No." said Yuffie. "I threw my shuriken at him and he caught it and tossed it back. He's solid."
"But he's not the same as he was the last time we met him. The sightings were recorded over a period of two days. If he were his old self, he could have just flew from one place to the other." mused Cait Sith.
"Hm." said Cloud thoughtfully. "Well, I for one am not going to let him go onto another rampage. He must be stopped."
"How do we do that?" asked Tifa. "We don't know where he is, or what he wants."
"Let's start with what we know." said Vincent. "First of all, Sephiroth is back, and he wants us to know. Second, we have to take care of him."
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'And so it begins.' thought Sephiroth as he listened to the group through an open window. He had taken special care in picking a spot to eavesdrop because he knew that the cat would be able to smell him.
"Good job." said a familiar voice. It was Guide.
"Shh." said Sephiroth motioning towards the open window.
"Don't worry, they can't hear us." said Guide.
"Now what do I do?" asked Sephiroth.
"I need you to lure them to the Lifestream." said Guide.
"How can I do that?" asked Sephiroth. "I can't fly anymore, they'll catch me before I get there."
"Make them an offer they can't refuse." said Guide. "Now this is what you'll need to do..."
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"What could his motives be?" asked Cloud. "You'd think he'd want to lie low for a while. Unless he thinks he can win."
"Win what?" asked Tifa. "Jenova is definitely dead, Holy could not have beaten Meteor if she were alive."
"I thought it was Sephiroth that was blocking Holy." said Yuffie.
"But Sephiroth got his power from Jenova." reminded Nanaki.
"So does that mean Sephiroth is powerless?" asked Barret.
"You'd think it would." said Cloud. "Still, Sephiroth has obviously retained some power. The question remains, what will he do with it?"
Everyone thought about this for a minute. Suddenly there was a bang on the door.
"What was that?" asked Cait Sith.
"Do you think it's HIM?" asked Yuffie.
"Who gives a damn?" asked Cid. "I'm checking it out."
"Wait!" said Cloud, but he was too late. Cid opened the door, but there was no one there. Instead a piece of paper hung on the door pinned by a dagger.
"What's it say?" asked Tifa.
"It says, 'If you want to know, go to Mideel tomorrow at noon.' It's signed with an 'S'." read Cid.
"One guess who that it." said Yuffie.
"Sephiroth." said Cloud going over to the door to pull out the dagger. It took him several yanks to pull it out. Inspecting it, he noticed that the blade had been warped on impact. He also recognized the dagger. It was Sephiroth's. He had bought it in Nibelheim.
"Are we going?" asked Tifa.
"Do we have a choice?" asked Cloud.