Chapter
11: Rise Above the Flames
Zack was rudely awakened by a shrill
buzzing sound. He flailed around until his hand found his watch, switching off
the alarm. He stumbled from the bed and walked down the hall.
"Well Cloud, any sign of him?" Zack
asked, his voice hoarse from sleep.
"Nope. Nada. I'm going to bed,"
yawned Cloud.
Zack rubbed his eyes and leaned
against the wall. His attention wandered to the gaping hole opposite where he
was standing. What was Sephiroth doing down there? Zack was dying to know. Zack
had always been very curious about things, and his curiosity had gotten the
better of him on more than a few occasions. He knew he should stay put, but he
found himself walking toward the ancient wooden stairway again. He descended
the stairs and walked down the hallway, still unnerved by the bodies in the
walls. The torchlight danced across them and created an illusion that they were
moving. Once again, Zack stared at the door at the end of the hallway. He
pushed it open and heard soft, familiar-sounding laughter from inside. There
was no mistaking that it was Sephiroth's laugh. Only this time it seemed
off-kilter somehow, slightly… demented?
Zack moved down the hall and noticed
that many of the books had been pulled off the shelves and lay in untidy stacks
on the floor. Je-sus. How much of this
did he read? Talk about speed reading, thought Zack. At the end of the hall
was another small room, in the center of which was a wooden table and red
armchair. Seated in the chair was Sephiroth, another book in his hand.
"Who is it?" Sephiroth asked
quietly, not looking up.
"It's me, sir, Zack," Zack answered,
shifting his weight nervously.
"Traitor," Sephiroth muttered,
looking at Zack for the first time. Sephiroth's eyes glowed in the dim light.
They always glowed, but now the light they emitted was different somehow.
"T-traitor?" repeated Zack, now
confused and more than a little frightened.
Sephiroth rose and tossed his hair
back. "You ignorant traitor," he snarled.
Zack took a step back. It felt like
Sephiroth's gaze was burning him alive. Something was very wrong.
"I'm sure you've heard of the Cetra,
called the Ancients in layman's terms. The Cetra were a nomadic race. They
would journey from place to place, never staying in one location for very long.
This Planet originally belonged to them. At the end of their long, hard journey
the Cetra would find the Promised Land, a place of supreme happiness.
"As their travels continued, some
Cetra grew tired of the itinerant life and deserted their fellows. They built
permanent shelters and led an easy life. These traitors took all that the true
Cetra and the Planet had suffered for and created without giving one whit in
return! Those are your ancestors," he explained, his voice
laden with derision.
Zack just stood there staring at
Sephiroth in disbelief. What had happened to the General to make him act this
way?
Sephiroth continued, pacing slow
circles around Zack. "Long ago, a great crisis struck this Planet. Your
ancestors ran away and hid like the cowards they were. The true Cetra gave
their lives to halt the crisis and protect the Planet. Once the crisis had
passed, your ancestors emerged from hiding. With the Cetra gone, they were able
to multiply like rodents. Now the Cetra are extinct; they exist only in these
scientific reports."
Zack nervously twisted his hands
together, as his head moved to follow Sephiroth. Zack couldn't help but feel
like helpless prey being circled by a creature higher up on the food chain.
"What does all that have to do with
you?" Zack blurted, once again cursing his curiosity. Why couldn't he just keep
his mouth shut.
"Don't you get it? You were spying
on me before. A Cetra, later called Jenovah, was unearthed in an archaeological
dig. My Mother's name is Jenovah. Hojo was able to extract DNA from this
fossil. He wanted to use this DNA to produce people with powers of the Cetra."
Sephiroth paused, drawing a shaky breath.
"I am what was produced," he
whispered.
Zack was appalled. He recalled
Sephiroth's words at the reactor that day. He suddenly understood why the man
had become so upset. "P-produced?" Zack ventured.
"Yes. Professor Hojo, leader of the
Jenovah Project, produced me," Sephiroth said as he turned to leave.
"What?!? How did he…? Hey Sephiroth!
Wait!" Zack called after him.
"Out of my way. I'm going to see
Mother," was the last thing Sephiroth said to Zack.
* * *
Laeryn was worried. Zack and Cloud
were not at the hotel. The receptionist said they'd stopped by earlier and then
left again, looking for Sephiroth. Tifa had gone home shortly after. At least
they were alive, but where had they gone to now? It was late and everyone in
town was asleep. Could they be at Tifa's? Zack and Cloud might be, but not
Sephiroth. A light from the north end of town caught Laeryn's eye. That big
building, the Shinra mansion. There was a light on in a room on the second
floor
When she reached the mansion, she
found the gate open. She plowed through the front yard and barged in. She ran
up the stairs and took a right, looking for the source of the light. Someone
was asleep in one of the beds. The easily recognizable spiky hair identified
the figure as Cloud.
"Cloud! Get up! What's going on?"
demanded Laeryn, shaking him.
"Whaaaaa…? Gerroffa me… sleeping,"
he mumbled.
"Cloud Strife! Get up now! Where is
Sephiroth?" she demanded again, hauling him into a sitting position.
"Laeryn? You're alive?" Cloud asked,
bewildered.
Laeryn rolled her eyes.
"Where is Sephiroth?" she asked
dangerously, tightening her grip on his lapels.
"He went down to the basement, ask
Zack," he answered drowsily.
Laeryn dropped him and ran into the
next room. She nearly collided with Zack, who was booking it upstairs.
"Zack! What's going on?" she asked.
"Laeryn! Christ, we all thought you
were dead! Glad to see you! But something's really weird with Sephiroth. When
we to the reactor he got all upset, saying stuff about how he was no different
from the monsters and how Hojo made him… freaky stuff like that. And then we
came back and he locked himself in that basement down there and read like a
zillion books. I went to check on him and he started spouting all this crap
about how we were all traitors and how he was the only true Cetra and how Hojo
made him from Cetra DNA. The he barged out of the place and ran off to see his
'Mother'. Jenovah. He's crackers if you ask me," Zack explained, wide-eyed and
white-faced.
Laeryn felt something heavy drop in
her stomach. Sephiroth's earlier fears had apparently been valid. Something
terrible had happened to him. That whole thing with his 'Mother'…
A sudden bright light from the
window caught their attention. It had awakened Cloud as well, and he came
stumbling into the room.
"What's that light… it shouldn't be
light out, it's the middle of the night!" exclaimed Zack, his voice shrill with
terror.
"Let's go outside," Laeryn said. She
tried to sound determined and in control, but she dreaded what they might find.
They stepped out side and saw
nothing but walls of fire. They heat made them sweat and they shielded their
eyes from the glare. The entire town of Nibelheim was in flames. Cloud screamed and ran
towards the blaze.
"Mom!" he cried desperately.
"Cloud wait!" Zack and Laeryn called
after him, but it was futile. Laeryn swallowed hard. This scene was a bit too
familiar for her liking. The burning flesh smell and the terrified screams of North Corel were still fresh in her mind, and now it
was like the same scene unfolding before her eyes again. She became suddenly
nauseous, and her knees nearly gave out.
"Hey Laeryn, you okay?" asked Zack.
"I'm fine. We have to get people out
of their homes," she said, forcing down the unpleasant déjà vu.
"Hey! You're still sane right? Get
over here and help me!" a man called to them. It was the same man who'd taken their
picture earlier that day.
Laeryn and Zack went running to
assist him. They leapt through burning debris until they came to a wide
intersection that the fire couldn't reach.
"You guys check that house over
there, I'll look in this one!" the man yelled.
Laeryn and Zack entered the house,
but didn't get very far before it started collapsing. They dove back outside
and beat out smoldering patches on their clothes. Zack wiped sweat from his
brow and noticed the confused and distant look on Laeryn's face. He remembered
hearing about Shinra's burning of North Corel. No doubt this was calling up some very unpleasant memories
for her. Nor was there any doubt in Zack's mind that she was in love with
Sephiroth. Chances are she was trying very hard not to think about who set the
town on fire.
Zack's thoughts were not far from
the mark. Laeryn slumped down and buried her face in her hands. Images of her
family and home burning appeared in the flames. And Sephiroth… was he all
right? Whoever had set this fire better not have hurt him. Zack knew exactly
who started the fire, but didn't tell her.
"There he is!" Zack yelled suddenly.
Sephiroth was visible through a
break in the fire, Masamune in hand. Two people ran at him, but he cut them
down long before they reached him. He turned at walked away through the flames.
"Sephiroth!" screamed Laeryn. She
jumped up and ran after him.
"Laeryn, don't! He's dangerous now,"
Zack called after her, to no avail.
Laeryn reached the bodies of the two
men Sephiroth had just killed, but was unable to go any further because of the
flames blocking her path.
Sephiroth continued walking through
the flames, barrier materia shielding him from the heat. He didn't look back.
"Good work, Sephiroth. They were all
traitors. As you now know, you and I are the true rulers of this Planet. We'll
take the Planet back from these miserable fools. We'll find the Promised Land,
Sephiroth, you and I. We'll find supreme happiness!" Jenovah exclaimed
excitedly, waving its ghostly cane in the air, "Now go on up the reactor, my
boy, and visit me!"
Sephiroth was aware that his limbs
were moving. He was aware of the blood and entrails dripping from his sword. He
remembered uttering a soft word and watching the town explode. But he didn't do
it. He hadn't wanted to. He closed his eyes, tried to force his hands to loosen
their grip on Masamune, tried to clench his jaw shut and keep from using his
materia. But he couldn't do any of it. Terror like he'd never known before
filled Sephiroth's mind as he realized he no longer had control of his own
body.
Sephiroth didn't know who it was
that suddenly controlled his limbs like he was a marionette. He didn't
understand why he had been chosen to
suffer yet another torment. Hadn't he suffered enough already? Now that the
last vestiges of control and freedom were being evicted from his life by some
strange force, Sephiroth wished he could die. He'd probably be damned to Hell
for taking the lives of all the people of Nibelheim, but whatever punishment
he'd receive in the afterlife couldn't possibly worse than what he was
experiencing now.
Terrible guilt gnawed at Sephiroth's
soul. Close to ten thousand people resided in Nibelheim. Now they were all dead
by his hand. The thought of destroying an entire town had never crossed his
mind; he heard Jenovah telling him how those people were traitors and unfit to
live, and suddenly he felt his mouth move and heard his voice casting a
powerful fire spell. Then he saw a terrible explosion and heard Jenovah's
saccharine-sweet voice whispering words of praise in his ear.
Then he had watched as his hands
defied the commands of his brain; they gripped Masamune and used the mighty
blade slaughter innocent people. Sephiroth screamed in protest, trying vainly
to regain power over his limbs. His efforts were futile as Jenovah's gentle
requests echoed in his ears… These people
deserve to die because they betrayed you, Sephiroth. So you are going to
destroy them now…do not allow any of them to escape; kill those two running at
you now. And so he had.
* * *
Laeryn stopped calling after
Sephiroth, realizing he couldn't hear her anyway over the roar of fire. Zack
ran up behind her and tapped her the shoulder.
"Where's Cloud?" he asked, brows
furrowed with worry.
"Jesus, I forgot all about him," was
Laeryn's only response as she ran past Zack.
Cloud lay among the ruins of his
house, barely conscious. His mother's body lay beside him. Fire raged all
around him. The house was collapsing, but he was too weak to get up. His only
thoughts had been of saving his mother. He tried to carry her badly burned form
out of the house, but collapsed from the heat and smoke. Now he lay gazing at
her face, twisted and distorted by burns. It dawned on him that she had died
some time ago, and that his efforts had been in vain. Tears ran down his face,
cutting channels through layers of ash on his cheeks as his consciousness left
him.
"That's his house, right there!"
Zack yelled urgently, pointing.
"It's falling apart. We'll have to
move quickly. Let's go," said Laeryn.
The two bolted through the entry and
saw Cloud lying on the ground beside a corpse. Laeryn reeled back at the site,
knowing the corpse was Cloud's mother. It looked disturbingly similar to her
own mother, after Shinra had burned her. Laeryn's memories began to take over
her rational thought as the nightmares she worked so hard to suppress rose to
the surface. She let out a muffled scream and ran out of the house.
Zack didn't try to stop her. He
grabbed Cloud and hauled him to his feet. Cloud regained consciousness, and
began sobbing incoherently. Zack pulled Cloud's arm around his shoulders and
dragged the smaller boy out of the house moments before the roof caved in. He
saw Laeryn a short distance away, staring at the sky, forcing unwanted memories
into submission.
"Are you all right?" Zack asked.
Laeryn nodded. "I'm fine. What about
him?"
"Alive, at least. Let's get out of
here," Zack murmured, "We need to find Sephiroth."
Laeryn immediately became attentive
at the mention of Sephiroth.
"Where is he? He's not still in this
town, is he?" she demanded.
"No, he left. I suspect he went up
to the reactor," Zack answered. He was not looking forward to telling Laeryn
about what happened.
Zack quickened his pace to follow
her as she ran towards the mountains.
Cloud had recovered to a point where
he could walk, but he was still not well. Shaken and grief-stricken, he was in
no shape to be attempting the dangerous climb into the mountains.
"Zack, he's not going to make it to
the top," Laeryn stated when they reached the base of the caves, "You stay here
with him and I'll find the reactor."
Zack shook his head. "You don't know
where the reactor is. You fell off the bridge. I'll have to show you the way,"
he pointed out.
Laeryn knew Zack was right. She had
no idea where the reactor was. "All right, then. Let's get going."
They made slow progress through the
mountains, making frequent stops.
"Maybe Cloud could just stay here,
by this Mako fountain. Animals won't come near it," suggested Laeryn. Cloud
wasn't looking any better.
"No…" Cloud gasped, "I must avenge
my mother's death. I must find him."
"Find who, Cloud? Do you know who
did this?" Laeryn asked intently.
Zack grated his teeth. This was
going to very hard on her. Cloud was probably the worst person to break the
news to her. He was not known for being particularly tactful.
"That… that monster… I thought he
was amazing… I wanted to be just like him, I spent my life idolizing him, until
now! I hate him!" sobbed Cloud.
Laeryn swallowed hard. She didn't
like where this was going. "Sephiroth?" she suggested carefully. Zack and Cloud
both nodded. Laeryn froze, eyes wide, completely unsure of how to react to what
she just heard.
"Are you sure? Did you actually see him set the town on fire? Or are you
just making irrational accusations?" Laeryn demanded suspiciously. Zack was
about to reply, when a stream of small rocks came tumbling down beside him. He
cursed; this was the worst possible time to be attacked by animals.
Instead of a creature, they were
quite relieved to see a familiar brown-haired girl jump down in front of them.
Laeryn's confusion was interrupted with happiness at the fact that her friend
was still alive.
"Tifa! You're safe!" she exclaimed.
Tifa nodded dumbly. "Yes, but I
couldn't save my dad… I was at my martial arts lesson when the fire started,
and I couldn't get home in time." She trailed off, bravely fighting tears that
formed in her eyes. After taking a moment to compose herself, she continued,
"Apparently, my house was near the starting point of the fire. When I got there
all that was left were some charred remains. So I fled into the mountains, the
place I know best, for safety. And I came up here to the Mako fountain because
I find it comforting somehow, because it's so pretty."
Tifa drew a deep breath and set her
jaw firmly. Her iron-studded fists clenched as she declared, "My father's death
will not go unavenged!"
She looked over at Zack. "He went to
the reactor, didn't he?" she asked.
Zack nodded. Her eyes glanced over
to Cloud, and she promptly did a double take.
"Cloud!" she exclaimed, "When did you get here?"
"I've been here all along… I was
wearing my helmet before," he admitted.
"Riiiiight. Well as glad as I am to
see you, this no time for small talk. Let's go." Tifa set off at a ferocious
pace.
Laeryn hung back a bit until she
walked beside Zack.
"Zack. Is that really true? Did he
destroy the town?" Laeryn whispered. She knew what the answer was, and it
terrified her, but she knew better than to run from the truth.
"It's true, Laeryn. Sephiroth burned
Nibelheim. Now Cloud and Tifa are hell-bent on killing him," Zack said softly.
Laeryn bit her lip. "Zack… it's not
really him, though! It can't be. He wouldn't do something like that. It's
Jenovah. Jenovah makes him do these things," Laeryn answered in an urgent
whisper.
"Laeryn, I'm sorry. I know how much
you care about him. But he killed thousands of innocent people," Zack said a
bit more firmly.
Laeryn's temper immediately flared
in defense of Sephiroth. It wasn't him; it was Jenovah. But of course no one
was going to believe her.
"Zack! Did you not understand what I
just said?!? It's not his fault! It was
Jenovah!" Laeryn retorted angrily, raising her voice.
Tifa turned and looked questioningly
at them, but quickly refocused on the path ahead.
* * *
Zack, Cloud, Tifa, and Laeryn stood
just outside the reactor.
"He's in there, I know he is,"
stated Cloud. His never-ending quest to impress Tifa had given him some extra
strength, and now he was feeling more resolute than ever. "Let's go. Zack, Cloud…" Tifa trailed
off as she looked at Laeryn. She suddenly remembered how deeply Laeryn loved
Sephiroth. Tifa felt a wave of sympathy for her friend, knowing that her pain
must easily equal theirs.
Laeryn shook her head. "I'll wait
out here. I don't care what's happened. I can't hurt him. I promised him I
would protect him. And I failed…" She turned away so that no one would see her
crying. Tifa bit her lip and sighed. She walked over to Laeryn and gave her a
quick hug.
"I'm so sorry. I wish it didn't have
to turn out this way. But I have to do this. And so does Cloud," she said.
"I know. Nothing I say will convince
you otherwise. Go," Laeryn whispered without turning around.
As Tifa, Zack, and Cloud walked into
the reactor, Laeryn broke down completely, sobbing unabashedly for the first
time since the death of her family.
* * *
Sephiroth made his way into the
heart of the reactor. He remembered where Jenovah was kept from his previous
visit there. He walked up the stairs to the black door. His mouth moved.
"Mother, I'm here. Open this door, please" were the words that came out.
Obediently the black door slid open with a hiss. The room beyond was dim and
misty. Control panels lined the walls, while glass pods filled with various
organic looking things stood below them. A giant metal statue dominated the
room. The statue was a female form, and a giant control panel monitoring life
support readings covered its chest. Two LEDs had been place in its eye sockets,
and they glowed eerily, filling the room with soft orange light. Its arms were
outspread in a twisted version of a welcoming gesture. Above its head was
inscribed the word 'Jenovah'.
The sight of the statue's orange
electric eyes caused Sephiroth to suddenly remember the black form he saw when
he first met Jenovah, back in the hotel room. Fear hit him like a tidal wave.
He took several steps back and looked around, disoriented. Why am I at the reactor again? Where's Laeryn? What's wrong with me?
He stood there confused, a strained
expression on his face as he remembered, little by little, the events that had
taken place while he was possessed by Jenovah. He remembered the library, and
reading some books about Professor Hojo and the experiments he conducted… and
the there was a fire, and a lot of innocent people died. It was his fault.
"No! Why are you making me do these
things!" Sephiroth yelled as he ran for the door. He got about halfway there
before all of muscles tensed painfully, and he collapsed in a miserable heap on
the floor.
"Don't you ever, ever, try to
disobey your Mother like that again, Sephiroth. You do exactly as I say. Now
get up, come over here, and get me out of this thing," snarled Jenovah.
Sephiroth suddenly found himself standing
in front of the statue. One of his feet braced against the base while his hands
reached up and grasped its head. Sephiroth pulled hard. With a grating,
screeching sound, the metal gave way under Sephiroth's tremendous strength. He
tossed the severed metal head aside and proceeded to tear apart the rest of the
statue.
Inside the statue stood a metal
tube. It contained a monster far more hideous than those outside. It looked
nothing like the protective statue that covered it. The monster was humanoid in
form. Its body was thin and rotted, its skin a sickly yellow shade. Each hand
had an indistinct number of fingers; some were cut off or rotted away, and
those that were left were twisted every possible direction. Its face was
hideous; a lipless mouth gaped wide to reveal row upon row of tiny sharp teeth.
It had no nose, only long slits in its face. The eyes glowed the same orange
color as the statue's, only their light was not from LEDs. Streams of thin gray
hair trailed from its skull, floating of their own will in the formaldehyde.
Numerous tubes and wires ran into its sallow skin.
"Sephiroth," Jenovah whispered,
"Please get me out, my son. I don't like it in here."
Sephiroth's arm tore the lid off the
tube, reached inside, and grabbed the stringy gray hair. He began to pull, as
he had done with the statue. It didn't take nearly as long for him to
decapitate this decaying organic monster.
Sephiroth's hands maintained a tight
grip on the gruesome head, which dripped formaldehyde and dark black blood. The
body twitched and floated, as lifeless as ever without its head.
"Thank you so much for freeing me,
Sephiroth. Now we can truly rule the Planet together. Let us begin our quest.
The usual routine; I give orders, you obey without question. It is one of the
Ten Commandments after all. That children should obey their parents," Jenovah
whispered.
* * *
Tifa leapt ahead of Zack and Cloud,
sliding down chains and bolting across the bridge.
"Hey Tifa, you shouldn't run ahead
like that. It's really dangerous. Sephiroth could be lurking around any
corner," Cloud cautioned.
Tifa glared at him. "Oh and what are
you gonna do if he is? Protect me?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Cloud's
face reddened and he gave her a very nasty look.
"Please
don't argue, you two. I understand you're both very upset and looking for
someone to take it out on. But Sephiroth is our enemy, not each other," Zack
said calmly.
Tifa looked sheepish for a moment,
then continued her mad descent to the reactor's core.
Tifa reached the entrance to the
core, noting all the open doors. Zack was
right. Either he's here, or he just left and didn't bother to close the doors,
she thought. Her speculation was
ended when she looked up and saw Sephiroth standing at the top of the stairs, a
putrid-smelling severed head in his right hand, Masamune in his left. This was
it. She couldn't screw up now.
"Sephiroth!" she called out boldly,
"You bastard! How could you do that to my father and all of the townspeople?!?
I'll kill you!"
Sephiroth's eyes regarded her
calmly, and as she ran toward him Masamune reared up and slashed across the
front of her body, from her right hip to her left shoulder. Tifa realized she
had been defeated, and as she tumbled back down the stairs her eyes glared at
Sephiroth with red hatred.
"Tifa! No!" Zack yelled as he ran
into the room. He dashed over to her, relieved to see that she was still alive.
She was rapidly losing blood, but she would live. Zack ignored Sephiroth for
the moment and concentrated hard on using his Restore materia to slow the
bleeding. After several tries he was successful. He carefully moved Tifa off to
one side, leaning her against one of the capsules, trying to make her as
comfortable as possible.
"Hang in there, Tifa. I know you
will. I'll be back soon and we'll get you to a doctor," he reassured her, even
though she was now unconscious from lack of blood.
Sephiroth had seen what had just
happened. He stared at his blood-stained sword in horror, unable to believe
that he had just done something so awful. Tifa had done nothing but help him
since he arrived. And he had repaid her by nearly killing her. Once again,
Sephiroth tried to relinquish his grip on Masamune. He wanted to drop his sword
and let Zack kill him. That would be far preferable to living as a slave and
puppet to some other being. Because his DNA and blood contained Jenovah's
cells, it was inextricably a part of him, and Jenovah could therefore control
him as if he were an extension of its own body. Jenovah was always in his mind,
supervising his every thought and action.
Sephiroth was thoroughly cowed by
this new demonstration of Jenovah's power over him. It was one thing to make
him kill people with whom he had no association, but Tifa was a friend of his,
and a friend of Laeryn's. It dawned on him that Jenovah could easily command
him to kill Laeryn, if it got the idea into its head. That is, if Laeryn wasn't
already dead among the wreckage of Nibelheim. He doubted she was; she had a
knack for getting herself out of life-threatening situations like that, and
appearing right on cue as he was about to lose hope. Well, then she ought to be showing up any time now, he thought,
sincerely hoping she would. Whatever Jenovah was, Sephiroth was fairly
confident that Laeryn could defeat it, especially if she was in one of her
violently over-protective moods. Sephiroth's body spasmed from a sudden needle
of pain in his head.
"Enough, Sephiroth. I find it very
annoying that your thoughts continually dwell on her and not on our plan. I'll
make you kill her, you know. Slowly and painfully, so you hear her voice
screaming for you to make it quick. Hmm, I can just imagine some of things
she'll be saying…" Jenovah hissed nastily. She was acting less and less like
his Mother and more like a jealous rival girl.
"Shut up, you bitch," snarled
Sephiroth. He threw the head against a wall. Part of its skin disintegrated
from the impact. Once again he turned to leave. His limbs felt like they were
being made of lead, and they were rapidly getting heavier and heavier. Was
there truly no escape from this monster's control?
"Don't think you can just walk away
from me. Ever. You disobeyed your Mother, Sephiroth. I'll see to it that you
burn in Hell for that," Jenovah screeched, "Now get over here and carry me!"
Zack just stared at Sephiroth as
this strange sight unfolded before his eyes. It appeared that Sephiroth was
fighting against his own mind. At one point Zack heard him yell something at an
opponent that wasn't there. Then Sephiroth attempted to walk toward him, only
to stop, turn around and pick up the severed head he had thrown against the
wall moments earlier. The strained, angry expression on Sephiroth's face made
it clear to Zack that he was struggling for control of something. His own body?
Surely not, that was ridiculous. Suddenly Laeryn's words flashed in his mind: It's not his fault. Jenovah makes him do it.
No longer did that seem totally far-fetched.
Sweat was beading on Sephiroth's
forehead from the strain of his brief mental battle with Jenovah, which he
ultimately ended up losing. Now he approached Zack, Masamune raised to strike.
Every cell in Sephiroth's body cried out against this; Zack was his
second-in-command in Soldier, an important person and one of the few people he
could trust. How many more of his friends would Jenovah make him kill? Zack
raised his broadsword to parry, but Masamune effortlessly knocked it aside.
Tears formed in Sephiroth's eyes at the knowledge that Zack would be forced to
die at his hand. As Masamune swept in for the killing blow, Sephiroth exerted
every ounce of strength and turned the blade so Zack was struck with blunt edge
instead. It was a powerful blow nonetheless, and Zack crumpled to the ground.
* * *
Laeryn regarded the door, carefully
weighing the decision whether or not to enter. She wanted to free Sephiroth
from whatever it was that had control of him, and then convince the others that
he was not the one to be blamed. On the other hand, she had no idea how she was
going to carry out this plan. Whatever had a hold on Sephiroth might kill her
easily, or possess her the way it had him. She would be no good to him dead.
And then there were friends whose lives were also in danger. She wanted both
them and Sephiroth out of harm's way, but knew that would be a very difficult
thing to accomplish. I guess I'll just
have to make it up as I go along, she thought and entered the reactor.
Laeryn hadn't gotten very far in
before she spotted Sephiroth. He was advancing on Cloud, Masamune raised. In
his other hand he held something unpleasant-looking. They were positioned on a
bridge that spanned a chasm that plunged to the center of the Planet. The
Lifestream, raw Mako energy, frothed below.
As
Laeryn ran towards the scene, Sephiroth lifted his sword and shoved it through
Cloud's midsection. Laeryn screamed in protest. Sephiroth heard and turned his
head to see her approaching. His eyes filled with tears again, knowing that he
would be unable to explain or apologize to her for what had happen. He was
afraid she would leave him after what he had done. He certainly deserved to be
abandoned, and he certainly wasn't worthy of Laeryn.
Sephiroth glanced up and saw Laeryn
running toward the bridge. He only had to look at her a moment to see that his
fears were unjustified; she didn't look angry at all. Her normally pale skin
was dark and smudged from soot and the clothes he bought her were dirty and
torn. On her face, he could see thin white lines of her skin showing through
the grime. She had been crying.
Sephiroth's thoughts had distracted
him; he was aware that he was being pushed backward, toward the edge of the
bridge. Cloud had somehow managed to shove him backwards. He tried to move his
feet to get a better hold, but Jenovah held them firmly in place.
"Let him push you into the
Lifestream, my son. Then you and I will grow more powerful than ever. And maybe
she will try to follow. I hope so;
all that pure Mako energy would give her quite a painful death," Jenovah
commanded. So Sephiroth's feet didn't move. As he stumbled over the edge, he
lost his grip on Masamune and the sword went spinning downward.
Laeryn saw Sephiroth lose his
balance and dove forward. She slipped on Cloud's blood and landed hard on her
stomach, barely grabbing Sephiroth's hand. She crawled up to the edge to look
down at Sephiroth. His eyes were wide with fear and confusion, his brow
furrowed, and he looked at her pleadingly. He wrestled with Jenovah's control
for a few moments and spoke to her, "Laeryn I l…"
She interrupted him. "Sephiroth,
reach up with your other hand and grab my arm. I can't hold you up for much
longer." She kept her voice calm and steady for his sake, but inside she was
bordering on panic. The Lifestream bubbled below Sephiroth, and as much Mako
energy had been injected into veins throughout the course of his life, chances
are he wouldn't survive exposure to such a high dosage.
Sephiroth's brief moment of control
was quickly squelched by Jenovah, who held his arm and jaws firmly in place. He
could do nothing but look up at her with apologetic, tear-filled eyes as his
hand slipped out of hers and he fell.
Laeryn frantically grabbed at him,
trying to gain another hold, but he was already well past her reach. She sat
back, feeling numb, the reality of what just happened still sinking in.
"No…" she murmured, "That can't
happen. Things can't work out like this…"
More
tears overtook her as she absorbed the full meaning of his departure. "I broke
my promise…" she sobbed, "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me… I love you,
Sephiroth."
In the next room, Zack groaned as he
regained consciousness. There was a sizable lump on the side of his head from
where Sephiroth had struck him. Zack rose shakily to his feet, feeling very
lucky that he would come away from this confrontation with nothing but a bump
on the head. Tifa was still slumped against one of the capsules, out cold. Zack
approached and examined her. The wound was beginning to close, but blood still
oozed slowly from several spots. Once again, Zack directed his strength toward
a cure spell for her. After he succeeded casting the spell, the wound closed
fully and Tifa came to.
"Ugggghhhh…" she moaned, "What the
hell… am I dead? What happened?"
"You're not dead. You're extremely
lucky. Sephiroth cut you with his sword, but you survived. You did pass out,
though. I'm not sure what happen to either Sephiroth or Cloud," Zack explained
to her.
"Well, let's go find them," she
said, attempting to stand. Her legs were weak and she leaned heavily against
the wall.
"Don't stand up so quickly! You lost
a lot of blood so your limbs are weak. Move slowly," Zack said.
Tifa took his advice and edged
gradually down the stairs, sometimes leaning on Zack to steady herself. Once
they reached the bridge, they were confronted with a gruesome sight. Cloud's
body lay in lake of blood and entrails, nearly cut in two. Laeryn lay curled a
short distance away, crying softly. Tifa gasped in horror and turned away from
the gore for a moment, fighting down nausea from the sight of it. Once she
composed herself, she approached the body and identified it as Cloud, his blue
eyes now dull with death and staring blankly at the ceiling. Tifa closed them
and sighed shakily. This was whole situation was becoming more and more
nightmarish.
"That's Cloud, isn't it?" Zack asked
softly.
Tifa nodded. Zack turned away in
anguish. Cloud had been one of his best friends. Tifa turned her attention to
Laeryn, who hadn't even looked up at them. She knelt beside her.
"Are you going to be all right? Can
you tell us what happened?" Tifa gently inquired of Laeryn.
"Sephiroth stabbed Cloud and then
Cloud pushed him over the edge, into the Lifestream. I grabbed his hand, but I
couldn't hold on…" she trailed off, he voice scarcely above a whisper.
"I'm sorry, Laeryn. I really am,"
Tifa whispered. She had overheard what Laeryn said earlier about Jenovah
controlling Sephiroth. After seeing the chamber inscribed with 'Jenovah', and
Sephiroth's facial expression as he sliced her, she couldn't help but wonder if
there had been some merit to Laeryn's words after all.
Zack approached them, his face
stained with tears now as well.
"Let's go," he murmured as he helped
a still-crying Laeryn to her feet.
"Where can we go?" demanded Tifa,
"You have a job to return to back in Midgar. Laeryn and I don't even have homes
anymore."
"Come with me to Midgar. I'm sure
you can find some kind of work there. And Laeryn, don't worry about Shinra
anymore; he's got much more serious things to worry about now," said Zack.
Laeryn, Tifa, and Zack slowly walked
out of the reactor, each having lost that which was most valuable to them.
"Pardon me
While I
burst into flames.
I've had
enough of this world
And its
people's mindless games.
So pardon
me while I burn
And rise
above the flames.
Pardon me,
pardon me,
But I'll
never be the same".
End Book I