Wings

Act 1

They exchanged blows. Sether's agility seemed to have doubled itself only because of the weapon, but that was just because he was totally confident with the use of it.

The Masamune, created eons ago by L. Valentine, was the finest killing blade in the world. No one knew it's creator's full name, but the signature was carved into the base of the blade in ancient runes that few could still read. It was the only decoration on the 5"6' long blade.

It was the most perfect weapon ever created on Planet.

It was made to kill whatever stood before you with one swoop. It never needed to fight against anything. It could slice through armor, scales, helmets and even other metallic weapons. The creator took his own life with it just after it's creation, thus sealing forever the bond between the Valentine blood and the majestic weapon.

However, the perfect sword was not meant to be used for fencing, it was never created for exchanging blows for a long time. It was never meant to be wielded in a battle by someone didn't want to kill his opponent.

And so, Sether was having a very hard time. He kept receiving gashed and slashes. Nothing lethal, but each cut made it harder to maintain the speed he needed in order for Jenova's attention to be on him alone.

Her sword was only a little longer than an arm's length, and so, if she came too close to Sether, his much longer sword offered little defense. They closed the distance between each other again and again, each time parting with a clang, and sometimes with a draw of blood.

The Masamune was never built to cut through the strange biological weapon that was Sakura's right hand. Jenova probably learned a lot about the sword's weaknesses while Sephiroth carried her. This was another disadvantage that Sether didn't want to think about, and by doing so, did think about it.

Not only didn't the Masamune cut the hand-blade, the later also absorbed most of the shock that would have crushed any normal arm.

"I call this blade 'Mavet'." Jenova smiled wickedly after another round, when they both paused a short moment, "In the Ancient's language it means 'death'. And your sword is helpless against it. Let me… Demonstrate."

She leapt at Sether, surprising him as she struck in a new angle. He tried to jump back. Jenova's blow went exactly to the Masamune's tip.

Sether cried out through tightly clenched teeth and gripped the handle with both hands.

Barrett blinked,

"What was that?"

Katai was near despair. She could only find one solution, and it wasn't a good one. It was an impossibility. She looked at Sether; closing his eyes hard and gripping the sword with all his might.

"Vibrations." She breathed, "By hitting the tip of the sword with her own, she caused strong vibrations all across the sword. It must hurt a lot to keep holding it."

Jenova leapt and slashed at the immobile Sether in this moment of weakness. He managed to dodge the otherwise crippling attack at the price of a deep gash in his leg. He stabilized himself by bringing his sword hand to the ground briefly. His eyes flashed.

His hands screamed with pain. One of the first rules of the warrior is to never let go of his weapon. Jenova was watching him with an evil smile on Sakura's otherwise pretty face. She looked so much like Ryuto sometimes. Sether didn't see her for at least three years…

He snapped out of his brooding- just a little longer, and he hoped Katai would provide him with something. Anything!

"I dare you to try that again. It won't work twice!" There was a mischievous tone to his voice.

"Really?!" Jenova attacked again, angered by his insolence and stubbornness. She came just barely outside the range of the Masamune. No matter how Sether tried to move his sword, hers was slightly faster, and connected with the tip, sending another mighty vibe.

Sether smiled and smacked the tip of the sword into the ground. Sakura's attack left her open, and Sether positioned his sword just below Sakura's chin as it bounced back up.

Any movement and she would have cut her own throat open.

"How did he do that?!" Marlene shouted. She wasn't on Sether's side, but she sure as Meteor wasn't on Jenova's side.

Katai sat down, mentally exhausted. Her only solution was really bad.

"The ground absorbed the vibrations and stabilized the sword, what more, it probably made the metal of the sword bounce slightly, giving Sether some more speed in bringing it back up."

Sether was breathing hard. Jenova stayed still, glaring at Sether with cold eyes.

They both knew that although he had the upper hand, he would not strike the final blow.

Yet.

"Katai." He panted, "Any bright ideas?"

Katai lowered her head in shame, trying to force back tears. This was no time to be weak! "One." She said.

"What is it?"

"If Jenova could be transferred to another body, and then that body would be killed, it will kill Jenova. Finding an expendable body isn't going to be hard." She got up, "I'll do it." She announced.

"Are you insane?!" Barrett grabbed her arm, but she shrugged him off.

"You mustn't give in to the forced of evil!" Marlene cried in alarm.

Sether stared at her a few blinks. He was amazed at this sudden act of bravery. He never imagined this side of Katai. He stared at her a little longer, eyes wide, before barking,

"Moron! That would never work!!" His face contorted with anger.

Katai drew back in surprise, then took a step forward in annoyance,

"It will! We just need to find a way to transfer h-"

"You moron!" Sether barked again, "You're supposed to be smart, aren't you?! If I can't kill her, do you think I could ever kill you, when I l-"

Sether was interrupted. It came in the form of Sakura's blade through his right shoulder.

He tried to stiffen a cry of pain through clenched teeth and he was thrown backwards.

He couldn't allow Katai's sacrifice.

Never.

He skidded to a halt on unsteady feet, holding his left hand to his newly wounded shoulder. After but a few moments his legs gave in and he fell to his knees. His extremities don't like him very much any more, he gathered.

"To me it sounds like a good idea." Jenova said, taking a step towards Katai, "I think it's a marvelous idea. That way I can gain the knowledge inside this head…"

Katai stood her ground bravely, looking Jenova in the eye and trying to give her the meanest, most dirty glare she could muster. Jenova was only a step away from Katai now; her normal hand was extended in order to touch Katai's forehead when she half turned to the fallen Sether.

"Unless, of course, you would like to step in her heroic place." She smiled her vicious smile again, "This woman knows that her will would be crushed instantly when I transfer. And it's not like I need her head like I want Sakura's memories of you… do I? I will destroy her utterly, and then attack you with this body and all it's wisdom.

She took another step and her hand was less than an inch from Katai's head when Katai said,

"Sether. Kill me afterward, okay?" She tried to say it happily, like she didn't care. She smiled and closed her eyes.

She didn't want to die, but she finally understood Sether. She understood how come he could do those things he did when he fights for someone else.

It's because of emotions, and more correctly, the strongest emotion of them all.

"…I understand now."

That was Sether.

Jenova stopped a few strands of hair away from Katai.

"What was that?"

What made Jenova hesitate were not the words as much as the tone. It was the tone she wanted to hear all along.

Defeat.

Act 2

Sether got to both feet. His head was hung low.

He struck a pretty beaten figure there. Various slashed all over his torso and legs, both of his shoulders were bleeding and one of his legs couldn't support his weight any more.

Both hands were fisted at his side, the right still gripping the Masamune with passion. Blood dripped down both his arms, darkening the dead ground under them when drops of it fell.

"I was a fool." He spat. His tone was infinitely sad and soft, but carried a bitterness in it, "I was living a lie."

Janova smiled and stepped away from Katai and back towards him. Katai herself was shaking all over. Not only because what had almost happened, but also because of Sether's tone.

He mustn't give up…!

"I…" He shook his head, "I understand now. I understand everything. I believed that it was possible for me to lead a normal life in spite being Sephiroth's brother. I thought that my fate could be different."

Jenova was becoming more and more pleased with herself as Sether continued,

"I did all that I could to prevent other people from getting hurt all my life, but it always turned out to just hurt them more." He looked up at Jenova, his expression unreadable, "I wanted to live my life peacefully, believing that I could fulfill my dreams. But I was wrong. Even now, Katai was willing to help fix the mess that I caused with her own life. I will not allow anyone else to hurt instead of me." His voice cracked, and he looked back down, fighting the turmoil of emotions inside of him. Jenova was slowly walking towards him.

"My life was never mine to begin with… My parents were mistaken as well, to think I would not bring destruction. All I ever did was bring them pain…" His bangs shadowed his eyes, and the ground under him darkened from a single drop of liquid that was not blood.

Katai wanted to say something, but found herself speechless.

Sether looked back at Jenova, this time there was resolve in his eyes,

"I understand now what I must do. It was foolish of me to think that there was any other way… This will be my punishment and penance."

Jenova was only a step away from him, a smug smile on her face,

"I see you finally came to your senses."

"You want me?" Sether hissed, "Take me, then."

Katai started running towards him, but it was too late.

"Sether, no~~~!!!"

He roared with pain as the contact was made.

Wind raised and whipped violently around the two, stopping Katai in her tracks. Sether's head snapped up with immense pain, and Jenova laughed maniacally, her laugh only half heard over the gale.

With a clap of thunder, it was over.

The wind settled.

Sakura's body fell to the ground lifelessly, and Sether's body was shaking.

The earth was shaking as well.

Power flowed from within him; so much power the ground beneath him gave in, creating a crater ten feet across. But he wasn't touching the ground anymore.

Katai could do nothing but stare helplessly. Barrett and Marlene found themselves in the same situation.

There was no way to resist the sheer power of will that emitted from what was, only moments before, Sether.

He hung a few inches above the ground. From his back unfolded wings. But they weren't really there. If you looked at him too long, you saw them, but when you blinked, they vanished… Only to appear again. It wasn't only one pair, either, it was hundreds… No, millions of wings…

An infinite amount of them, big and flapping, spread around his figure like a giant halo. But when you blinked, there were actually none at all. Wings that were transperant, but were lines with darkness, more than two but less than three… more than infinity and yet not even one…

He raised a little higher, the wings perhaps carrying him.

Angel-like wings, they were, more than you could ever count, and in the same time, not even one.

He glowed with power beyond imagination. This was the power unleashed from within him by Jenova. This was his "true potential". This was the world's end.

Sether's forth limit break: Zero Wing.

Act 3

Somewhere inside the pain he still existed. He felt the power. It was in him all along. Locked away with all the terrible things that he feared will happen if he looses control of himself. This power could destroy the world.

No flashy Materia was needed, no fancy spells or rituals. The mere will that was unleashed now was enough.

His soul was being torn to pieces, and his will could do little against it.

He didn't want to die!

If his plan was to succeed, though, his will must give him one second of control.

Jenova was not pleased to discover that he was struggling against her, and tried to fend his will back, tried to close it in a corner of the mind.

He wouldn't let it. Not without a fight.

He swam against the violent currents of emotions and power, struggled for one breath of air, one was all he needed…

Jenova was forcing him down, forcing him back. She was tearing at his very being; two mighty wills struggling for the domination of the same body.

Sether had a plan. He wasn't going to give up! This will make everything okay again… Everyone will be safe if he could just… Just…

Jenova was sending him through pain he could only imagine that existed, but that pain also gave him clarity, it gave him the power he needed to seize the moment of control.

No swords were wielded here, no metal weapons were needed.

Only the power of the spirit.

Jenova was ruthless, Sether was relentless.

He did it.

Sether had one second, within the pain and turmoil and Jenova's insane ravaging of his mind, he got one second in which he was himself.

All he wanted to do, in that tiny speck of time, was to make sure that the last thing he'll ever do as himself will be his last.

Katai screamed.

Sether blinked and plopped back to the ground on his feet.

He was holding the Masamune.

It was clear through his stomach, all the way up to the hilt.

Katai rushed to him.

He coughed once, surprised at himself. He intended to do it; he didn't intend it to feel so… pleasant.

Compared to what Jenova was doing to him, this was bliss.

Jenova herself was screaming, fading out from the back of his mind. He had won, if you could call suicide winning.

"It's… Cold." He uttered with mild surprise. The Masamune felt icy to his grip and cold to his entrails. He felt that chill spreading through him, numbing him softly.

He remembered how Sensai Yuffie always told him that if someone gets stabbed, never to take out the sword: it might kill him.

He took it out with a violent motion, without a sound but with a splatter of blood trailing down his mouth.

He let go of the sword, and it disappeared before reaching the ground.

His hands were smeared with his own blood as he held them to the wound.

It wasn't big, just a slit, but it was done with the Masamune, and when it went through you in sensitive places, you were dead.

"Sether! Oh my holy… Sether!" Katai reached and grabbed him just he started falling backwards.

His breathing was shallow, but he was still conscious.

"Sether!"

"I… heard… you the… first time… you called…" He muttered, looking at her through half closed eyes. His bangs hung sadly in front of his pale face, the silver bang dirty and the black one disheveled.

She couldn't help but say his name again. How could he…

"You're going to be alright!" She said, trying to smile.

"Then… What was the point… of me stabbing… myself? No, I'm dead…"

"Don't…!" She shook her head, and a few drops flew from her tear-filled eyes, "Don't die, Sether!"

He looked up at her face.

He was on his back, with her holding his head and putting a hand over his on his stomach. He was lying limply in her embrace, both hands over his stomach and he didn't even feel his legs anymore.

How did he get to this position…? He forgot already…

She was beautiful. Her eyes were so blue… They were blue like the morning when it was summer… Blue like the sea when it was calm… though they looked hysterical right now. How come he never noticed it before?

Sether also never noticed that one of the lens' of her glasses was cracked. When did that happen?

"…Why not?" He asked in a whisper, "…Jenova will… die with me."

Katai could feel his life slipping through her fingers.

"Because…!" What could she say? "Because… People need you here…! Please, Sether…!"

He smiled at her one last time. It wasn't the answer he was hoping for, now was it?

Sether then reached up with one weak hand and caressed her cheek, thumbing the stray strands of her once luxurious hair. She didn't mind his blood on her cheek.

"I'm… Sorry." He breathed, "I made you… cry again…" He took in another ragged breath before saying, "…How I wanted… to make… you laugh…"

Devoid of strength, his hand landed beside him and he closed his eyes lightly.

It was 5:09 in the afternoon when Sether died.

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All I can say is: Don't worry!