This has shonen-ai in it and at least the implication of yaoi. If you don't like or can't tolerate that then don't read.
Oh, and if Sephiroth seems too much OOC, just remember that he is Cloud, and that Cloud is Cloud. ^_^ hehehe! You can work it out. The other thing is, Sephiroth's Cloud would have initially been older than Cloud, otherwise the timeline doesn't work, no matter how hard you twist it. This is set after the end of the game.
:: :: Conversation happening in someone's head.
~ * ~
The Other World
By Jade Tatsu
Chapter 6 - Avalanche
"You murderers!" Tifa screamed, enraged and grief-stricken. Her emotions played across her face but her eyes burned with an anger fueled by grief. The materia in the Premium Heart reacted to her emotions and the raw jolt of power she sent coursing into them. They all glowed, giving her a set of deadly gem like bracelets she had more than enough experience to know how to use. She just couldn't decide which spell to cast first. That she wanted to wipe them from existence was taken as given but the question was on how much she wanted them to suffer first. "You killed him!"
The Turks, who had lately been cowering from Cloud, cowered now from Tifa. Behind her, taking flank was the rest of Avalanche. They didn't know exactly what had happened but something had taken Cloud away and the Turks were the obvious choice. And even if they hadn't done anything, they had been engaged in battle and were between them and Reeve.
"It wasn't us!" Elena squeaked. Cloud's sudden power had terrified her and even though she was thankful he had vanished, she had no desire to be beaten by another power for something she wasn't responsible for.
"You think we care?" Barret asked, taking a long sighting off the Missing Score. "Ya got two choices," he told her. "Either you fight and we beat you up for what ya did to Cloud then we go do the same to Reeve or ya surrender and we beat ya up for what ya done to Cloud, then go do the same to Reeve."
"What's the difference?" She asked in all seriousness.
It took Barret an instant to realise she was serious. He grinned before he answered. "We might take it a little easier on ya if ya surrender."
"Elena, don't be stupid," Reno snapped. Both he and Rude had gathered themselves in front of the ShinRa building but as far away from Avalanche as they could. He looked over the assembled terrorists. "Contrary to whatever you may want to believe, this weapon," he tapped the Electro-mag Rod in his hand, "is not strong enough to have killed your precious Cloud Strife. It would have stunned him but not killed him. Furthermore we are not in the habit of making our opponents vanish, or of doing that ourselves. It's very bad form. But since we were not engaged with you, I bid you good day." With that Reno stalked around a conveniently placed monument to Rufus ShinRa and moved into an escape hatch he wasn't supposed to know about. Rude and Elena followed and Elena even remembered to seal the hatch behind her.
For the most part, after her initial out burst Tifa had ignored the Turks and had made her way, step by trembling step to the broken remains of the Ultima Weapon. Once there her legs had given out and with a wail of grief she had fallen to her knees and gathered the hilt of the weapon to her breast, sobbing Cloud's name.
"Tifa... I..." Barret really didn't know what to say as he moved to her side. The rest of their friends followed. What did you say to a woman who has just seen the man she loves, but who did not return her love, killed when you couldn't even be sure that he was dead, when you weren't even sure what had happened and there was no body to prove or disprove anything? When the only things that did remain was a weapon that was supposed to be unbreakable and a feather that was stained in blood?
"Miss Lockheart," Vincent seemed as unemotional and uncaring as always. "While we share your concern, there is no evidence that Cloud is dead. And despite what may have happened this is the best opportunity we will have to see Reeve. He may be able to shed some light on the matter."
Tifa made some move to answer but it was Nanaki who interrupted her with an urgent call. "Wait!" He was sniffing the air experimentally. "There's something not right here." The big cat slowly padded his way to Tifa's side and carefully sniffed at the Ultima Weapon. The quills of the feather moved gently. "That's not..." he began, a look of astonishment on his face. "That's not Cloud's blood," he said finally. "But..." There was a note in his voice that did not encourage hope.
"But what?" Cid growled, biting on his cigarette.
"But this is impossible," Nanaki said through clenched teeth, the fur on his neck rising. "That's not Cloud's blood," he repeated, indicating the feather. "But if I didn't know better I'd say it was Sephiroth's."
"SEPHIROTH'S!"
Even Tifa was surprised enough to look up.
"That's impossible!"
"I know it is," Nanaki growled angrily. "But that blood is Sephiroth's. I wouldn't make a mistake with this!"
It was Vincent who eventually cut through the impending argument. "It's one more thing we must ask Reeve about. But we must also move now, before ShinRa positions their troops." He gestured towards the unguarded doors of the building as he spoke.
Tifa looked up and slowly rose to her feet, still holding the Ultima Weapon's hilt. The great blade had been reduced to a short jagged dagger, one she brandished, as her eyes flashed dangerously. "Let's go! I'll make him beg for mercy!" She stormed towards the doors, followed by the rest.
"Tifa, wait for us!" Barret called. He didn't want her getting lost in the maze of the building.
"Besides which, we should get the materia from the blade. They will be helpful against Reeve. I doubt he'll just agree with us."
Tifa nodded slightly, looking down at the weapon's hilt. Even if she used it on Reeve, she couldn't handle all the extra materia. It was better to share them. "They... They're gone!" She stammered. The linked slots where the hilt joined the blade were empty. "Cloud had materia in this, didn't he?"
"Of course he did! He had the Added Cut in there!" Cid said. "And I know the weapon was armed when Reeve visited. He used Comet on the Turks."
"Well, they aren't here now."
Vincent sighed. At this rate, they'd never get to see Reeve and he wasn't about to let the man get away but was not arrogant enough to think he could penetrate the building alone. "It is one more thing we can ask Reeve about but now I really suggest we move. We have wasted too much time here already." With that he strode past Tifa into the building's foyer.
~ * ~
"That's the last," Tifa said with some of her usual vigor as she dropped a red uniformed officer. She turned towards the large wooden doors. "And Reeve's next," she purred placing a kick in their centre, sending them flying open.
The office inside was flooded with sunlight although the glass in the windows filtered the heat, helping to keep the room at a comfortable temperature. A large desk was in front of them but the chair behind that desk was ominously pointed away from them. Classical music played softly over the room's internal speakers. A glass filled with amber fluid was on the desk.
"Please, Tifa, Avalanche, come in," Reeve's voice said. "The door was open though." Reeve spun the chair around to face them. "Make yourselves comfortable," he gestured towards several chairs and a mat which were arrayed in front of the desk. His eyes flickered over Vincent and Cid. "I guess you want an explanation," he surmised, a thin smile on his lips.
Barret leveled the Missing Score and Tifa brandished what was left of the Ultima Weapon at him. "Nice try, Reeve, but it ain't going to save you." The scene Reeve had displayed had confirmed their fears. "You been taking lessons from ShinRa?" The whole thing was very reminiscent of ShinRa Senior. Lull you enemies with feigned friendship and then stab them in the back, if you couldn't pay them off.
"Whatever you may think, I am doing this for the greater good. I have not lied to you. I may not have been there in the flesh but we have been through too much together for me to be anything less than honest. Let me show you something now, and you can draw your own conclusions on Cloud's connection to Sephiroth; continued or otherwise." Reeve pressed a small button on his desk, activating a display system.
"What the hell?"
A screen on the wall of the office lit up. It showed the entrance courtyard to the ShinRa building, as it had been a short while ago. Cloud was locked in battle against the Turks.
"Reeve, this ain't no explanation."
"Just watch," Reeve admonished, flicking the fast forward. "It will make sense soon."
The display changed and the red pillar of light once again enveloped Cloud. Reeve paused the image and rose, walking around his desk to stand before the screen. "This is what I want you to see," he said pointing. "See here, in the light with Cloud, there's someone else." Reeve indicated towards the silhouette. It was obvious and they had all seen it before at the time. The wings though, this time were even clearer.
"And this proves?"
"This is just the most recent piece of evidence," Reeve continued reasonably as his computer outlined the person. "What I want you to see is how this matches up with our data base." The picture vanished, leaving only the outline of the man traced out. Beside it photographs began flicking, running through what appeared to be hundreds of people. The progression stopped on one hauntingly familiar face. Silver hair, green eyes, and aquiline nose. Sephiroth.
"What the..?"
"Watch!"
The image turned, moving through portrait to profile and as it shifted the outline generated earlier moved, hovering over the shifting image until the image and the outline became one. A small number blinked 99% in the corner of the new image.
"You're not suggesting..?"
"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm asking you to draw your own conclusions and I assure you, no other profile matches as well. Remember also what Sephiroth said to Cloud at the Temple: 'I am always by your side.' Look at what happened. Cloud was fighting the Turks but during the fight he lost control and was on the verge of killing them, and again I hasten to assure you that he was. You saw that for yourselves. When that red light appeared around him, he disappeared, with Sephiroth." Reeve looked around at his former comrades.
Cid had a doubtful expression. Nanaki looked considering. Vincent was as unfazed as always. Reeve made a mental note to pay attention to him. He was just as likely to take independent action as say something. Tifa had two tears welling up in her eyes and Barret... This is not good. Barret was expressionless. His craggy features showed neither anger, doubt nor disbelief and on a man who let his emotions run freely their absolute lack was worrying.
"So Reeve? This is all nice speculation but since none of us actually saw the kid leave with Sephiroth, it's not proof. Whatever was in there with the kid was way too vague and this was recent, you've been sayin' the kid's Jenova's for a while. Whatcha basing that off?" Barret's voice was soft and considered, nothing at all like his usual boisterousness.
Nanaki and Vincent nodded their agreement while Tifa wiped away her tears to stare directly at Reeve. Cid also lost the quiet doubt that had been haunting his features. Once pointed out the silhouette did look a lot like Sephiroth and it had been a terrifying thing to contemplate. He liked the kid. He didn't want to have to hurt him, to have to believe Reeve, even if it was for the best. He owed him too much.
"Well Reeve?"
Reeve smiled coolly. Avalanche always did do things the hard way but he had more than enough evidence to convince them. Hojo's notes on Specimen C, while almost illegible, had been quite comprehensive. Especially when edited. "I'm basing my initial reaction from a complete and thorough reading of Hojo's notes. You may see the originals but I doubt they'd make much sense. I have a transcript though that you are quite free to read." As he spoke he moved back around his desk and pulled out several sheaf's of papers, flicking them across the table at his audience. The papers were true transcripts of selected sections of Hojo's notes and he did fully expect them to read them, even question him on them, just not immediately.
It was Vincent who took the paper and began reading. The barest flicker of emotion crossed his face after a moment and the menacing aura he carried deepened as he raised his eyes to Reeves. "You stupid, half-literate excuse for a man!" he hissed quietly.
The curse brought the attention of everyone.
"You have no idea even how to read Hojo's notes," Vincent continued, eyes boring into Reeve. "The man was twisted but in his own way he was still a genius and you think he's just going to write out clearly what his experiments were all about?" Vincent's voice turned mocking but still full of quiet anger. "You haven't broken the codes in his notes, have you?"
Valentine didn't even pause. The answer was fairly evident. "You just assumed that whatever he scribbled down was the truth, laid out where any idiot could read it."
Reeve finally managed to break in on Vincent's tirade. "We did run them through several code breakers and removed quite a bit of noise from them." Reeve was trying not to seem irritated by Vincent's accusations, although coming from him, in those words and with that much emotion they were startling. But he was sure they had removed all of Hojo's code. He was sure of it. ::Of course you have.:: He looked directly at Valentine, questioningly, challenging him. "You are trying to say we have still left codes in, codes that are obscuring the truth?"
"I'm not saying it, I'm telling you it!"
"Then perhaps you would be so kind as to point them out."
"There is only one Reeve but it is the most important," Vincent seemed calm again but the menace in his aura had not diminished. He looked down at the page, at one paragraph that had been highlighted on their copies and began to read.
"The specimen only maintains the appearance of
their own personality when in reality they are
being Jenova's tool. They can be used as such but
several easily predicted scenarios such as
prolonged use or severe emotional strain will
stretch and may twist its conditioning but it will not
cause its conditioning to shatter. In this event,
if Specimen C's conditioning was destroyed
the remaining power would be controlled by
the physical cells of Jenova that are within
Specimen C's weak personality."
"Yes, I know. It's what he would have hoped to be true mixed with what was true. Why don't you read every second line?"
It was Nanaki who read aloud what had just become obvious. His voice was crisp with his dictation. "Oh my..." he murmured as he re-read the rest of the page. Several rather disturbing notes became harmless and almost annoyed snippets detailing how Cloud had resisted Hojo's attempts to make him Jenova's perfect weapon. He knew his friend had gone through many struggles, he just hadn't thought that it could possibly be this deep.
Simultaneously Tifa, Cid and Barret took action, each of them jumping up and leveling their respective weapons at Reeve. The man gulped. He'd never been personally into fighting. He'd always had Cait for that.
"The penny's dropped, Reeve."
"And it's time to pay the price."
Nanaki belatedly bristled his fur, raising the Limited Moon bringing its blades up while Vincent drew the Death Penalty.
Reeve looked back at them, eyes still calm before they narrowed and a voice which was not his own but was startling familiar, spoke. "Avalanche always did want to do it the hard way." He rose, his hair snaking out behind him and his eyes glowing.
"Reeve..?"
"I thought I told you. They took me somewhere," Reeve's voice spoke this time. "And this is what happened. This is one of Jenova's final strikes. You have to destroy it. You have to destroy me or I will destroy you and Cloud. You have to destroy Jenova."
"But you won't be able to," Jenova spoke again as four spindly tentacles covered by exoskeleton ripped their way out of Reeve's back. His hair solidified into spikes and his eyes lost all human traces. His hands were curled into claws and dripped venom. His teeth grew pointed but beneath it all they could still see Reeve.
"I'll admit," Jenova said, looking over at them. "Before I was alone or within your enemies and you could fight me easily. This body isn't as good as Strife's but it is still one of your friends. Can you destroy me? Can you destroy me and in destroying me, destroy the man?"
A shot from the Death Penalty rang out, almost deafeningly loud in the confined space. The bullet lodged in Reeve's shoulder as Jenova twisted away from the killing shot. "You heard the man," Vincent said calmly, cocking his weapon for a second shot. "We have to destroy Jenova." He fired again.
"We have to destroy Jenova," Tifa murmured, jumping forward to land several blows on points she knew were vulnerable, at least on a human.
The rest attacked, Nanaki pausing only to cover their group with several spells. This was Jenova, they needed all the protection they could get from the poisons she almost always exhibited. Barret pulled back after the first couple of passes and wove a Wall around them. He barely had it positioned before she hit them with a combination of tentacle strikes and lightning. The barrier flared and Barret grinned at her, shaking his head slightly before he attacked again, Nanaki's Regen spell already at work to take care of the damage.
The fight was only a fight in the sense that it involved two opposing sides attacking each other. There was no finesse in their actions just the brute application of force. Any skill involved was to ensure the blows landed. But apart from that it came down to the side who could inflict the most amount of damage.
~ * ~
Tifa trembled but managed to remain upright. After everything that had happened, the revelation that Reeve was Jenova was almost too much. She spared a glance for the others. They were all fighting well but she knew that, like her, they couldn't quite escape the fact that they were fighting Reeve. Well, maybe Vincent could. Reeve was one of their old friends, one of the team, no matter what had happened, what had been said and done, especially if Jenova was controlling him.
'You have to destroy me or I will destroy you and Cloud.'
Cloud...
'You have to destroy Jenova.'
Jenova. The thing Cloud had fought against, that they had all fought against. The thing that kept taking away her friends, that had killed her father, destroyed her town. Jenova. The thing that was before them. The thing that just wouldn't die. Jenova.
"You're going to die Jenova, once and for all but you are going to suffer first. Suffer like you've made me suffer." Tifa narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists again with renewed determination, shifting the Ultima Weapon Dagger, thrusting it through her belt in a makeshift sheath. It was symbolic for her to carry the weapon Cloud used but it did hinder her movements and she was going to need all her strength for this. Reeve, I know you'll forgive me because even you know this is the only way.
Jenova, of course had seen her preparing. There was no way she could hide that but there was nothing the monster could do to stop her. Tifa's entire body glowed and in the instant before she launched her attack, she closed her eyes gathering herself slightly before leaping forward. "Final Heaven Attack Special," she just had to murmur the words.
The others fell back as she landed hit after hit. Beat Rush, Somersault, Waterkick, Meteordrive, Dolphin Blow, Meteor Strike. Jenova took them all. Tifa paused again slightly before launching the Final Heaven, allowing the energy to gather in her hands. She looked Jenova directly in the eye. "Take this bitch and once and for all, die!" Reeve, forgive me.
Jenova screamed under the barrage of blows and as the Final Heaven landed on the flesh she had made her own she felt her control slip. Even she wasn't immune to pain. She stumbled as Tifa drew back, each tentacle driving itself into the floor to keep her upright but it wasn't enough. The pain of her wounds drove her down, and she fell slowly on to her back and gasped for breath. "Stupid, weak body," she managed to wheeze before she lost control completely.
"Tifa," Reeve croaked.
Tifa whirled, looking back at the being, her friend she'd just attacked. "R... Reeve?"
"Yeah, it's me. Now that Jenova's gone."
"Nanaki! Cast a cure, quick!" Tifa almost shrieked.
"No!" Reeve interrupted. "Don't. Jenova is still within me, just for the moment you have driven her back." He smiled weakly. "Tifa, don't be sad. It had to be done but I have to tell you, while Jenova did have plans for Cloud, she doesn't know where he is. She doesn't know what that red light was. It was nothing she planned and while it looked like Sephiroth it wasn't her son." Reeve grimaced and swallowed the blood that half filled his mouth. He didn't want Tifa to see him in pain. She'd only blame herself, even if this was necessary. "I don't... I don't think Jenova has anyone else waiting for you." Reeve looked around as everyone drew in slightly. At least none of them had started with any useless platitudes. "I have to thank you," he added. "I couldn't fight Jenova. I really don't know how Cloud did." A look of admiration crossed his features. "This is really for the best. After this ShinRa will fall apart. It's too old and too corrupted to change." Reeve closed his eyes. It felt better this way and a shadow of a smile crossed his face. "I'm really happy to have known you all," he whispered. "But you should go now. Being found with the dead mutated ShinRa President would not enhance your reputations. And Tifa... Follow your heart, even if it leads away from Cloud. You and he will be happier that way." Reeve sighed. It felt like he was falling asleep. That would be good. I'm tired...
"Rest in peace, Reeve," Vincent murmured. "Jenova cannot touch you in the Promised Land."
The rest of them closed their eyes briefly. What they had believed and what they had found were two different things. Jenova was everywhere you least expected her to be.
Cid turned away. He was never one to get maudlin over his emotions. "Let's go. We've freed ShinRa and Reeve and hopefully finally gotten rid of Jenova. For now though, we need to regroup and consider where Cloud could be." He began walking towards the door. Slowly the others followed each briefly stopping at Reeve's side.
They'd almost reached the remains of the door when an odd clicking started. "And where do you think you're going?" A soft female voice hissed.
The entire team spun and stared at the abomination that had risen in Reeve's body. His body sagged but still managed to stand. The four tentacles that had emerged from his back were whipping around behind his body and he had impossibly grown an extra set of clawed arms. Jenova had lengthened the fangs and now they too dripped poison. "Now that Reeve has gone, I can make this body what I want," Jenova said, rearing up as what was left of Reeve's body was absorbed. Almost instantly a hard carapace appeared, covering the soft points and extra, wicked spikes grew.
"Now, let us begin again." Red eyes glittered viciously.
"Oh *&^%. Don't you ever die?" Cid clamped down on his cigarette, once again leveling the Venus Gospel at her. With his free hand he began petting his pockets. He had a MegaElixir somewhere, he was sure of it.
Nanaki growled softly before recasting Regen and Haste and leaping into attack with claws and the Limited Moon. Barret glared, firing a round and casting Wall again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Tifa looked down at her hands. She was physically tired but she could still fight. The destructive power of the materia she held should enable her to hold her own in the battle. She didn't want to be a liability. Even so, she redrew the Ultima Weapon Dagger. She did know how to use a knife and right now it was probably the only way she'd be able to inflict a significant amount of damage physically. Vincent fought calmly, aiming and firing the Death Penalty at several points on Jenova. He'd tried aiming for her eyes but she'd dodged those shots almost contemptuously so he had shifted targets. He was amplifying each blast with a materia and eventually he knew he'd break through her armor to the soft tissue beneath it. It was only a matter of time.
Jenova laughed and began flicking her tail in a whip like manner. One stroke for each of them. They managed to avoid most of the barbs and spike but a few drips of venomous poison slipped through. For the most part, the damage was taken care of by the Regen spell.
The battle raged back and forth much like the one with Reeve had but there was something more sinister with this battle. The stakes were higher. This was Jenova, a being who wouldn't be content with killing them but who could and probably would reanimate their bodies in an attempt to cause further pain. And her most likely target would be Cloud Strife.
"You know," Jenova hissed. "I don't think I need Strife anymore. The genetic material before me, should, when properly molded make a superior body. But I'd have to be sure. I've have to test it against him. That should be fun. I know he can fight me, can fight his enemies but could he fight you, especially if I come to him in the woman's form?" Jenova laughed as Tifa trembled with a sudden savage rage.
"You leave him alone," she cried. "No matter what path I follow, I'm gonna protect him. I won't let you near him!" With a wild cry Tifa leapt forward, the Ultima Weapon Dagger held before her. She drove the blade into Jenova's chest and would have tried for another stab wound but she was beaten back by three tentacles, relinquishing the blade, half buried in Jenova's flesh.
Tifa stumbled as she returned to her position. She would have dropped entirely with exhaustion but one thing gave her hope - Jenova's reaction to the blade piercing her flesh. The wound itself didn't seem to be discomforting Jenova but when she wrapped a tentacle around the hilt to withdraw the blade, she'd screamed and jerked back, inadvertently driving the weapon deeper.
"That's it," Cid cried, jumping forward. "Tifa, you're a genius. Drive the Ultima Weapon in deeper," he added the instruction as he slammed the hilt of the Venus Gospel against the blade's hilt. He jumped back just as an almost fountain of acidic poison gushed through the air he had been occupying. Jenova grimaced as the weapon was driven deeper.
Cid grinned. "Cloud's weapon was a part of a Weapon. A Weapon made by the Planet to destroy you. We might have destroyed that Weapon but it's still going to fulfil its purpose." He gloated at Jenova before Barret and Nanaki leapt forward.
Nanaki occupied the tentacles while Barret drove straight for the hilt. He slammed into it at full force, driving the weapon in up to its hilt. It grated with a sickly grinding noise against her carapace.
Jenova groaned, sets of pointed teeth clenching against the pain but she continued fighting, tentacles and barbs flying everywhere. She wasn't going down without a fight and she wasn't going down alone. They were exhausted. She should be able to take them with her. "You think that a part of a Weapon made by this measly Planet will be enough to kill me? I, who have endured for centuries beyond counting? I, who has power beyond your imagination? I, who could kill you as easily as you squash an insect. Do you really think?"
"Go ahead, Jenova," Cid called, stepping forward slightly. "Go ahead. Kill me as easily as I squash a bug!"
"Cid!" Tifa hissed, more than concerned.
"It will be all right Tifa," he reassured her, not looking back. "The Jenova we know is dead. We helped kill it and even then that was the memory of what was. Jenova has been dead for a very long time. This here is just a mutated memory of what should have been." As he spoke he flicked the Venus Gospel almost like a bow, warning off Jenova's increasingly frantic slashes with her barbed tentacles and tail, moving forward all the time. "It's strong, yes, but it's no where near as strong as the original. This final left over memory is going to die."
When he reached Jenova, he looked up into what passed for her face. "It's time for you to finally leave this world," he said, pulling a green Fire materia from the Venus Gospel. "Vincent, everyone, I'd appreciate it if you could cover me for a little bit."
"Cover you!" Barret choked while Vincent seemingly calm fired the Death Penalty into the tentacles attacking Cid. "At that range?" Still, he did start, carefully, shooting at Jenova while Tifa and Nanaki leapt forward and to the side to harass her sides. They didn't want to get in Vincent or Barret's shooting line. They knew they wouldn't be hit but Cid couldn't be covered then.
Cid planted the butt of the Venus Gospel beside him. It at least partially covered one side. In his hands he held a mastered Fire Materia. Seemingly slowly he reached out and gripped the slick hilt of the Ultima Weapon Dagger, drawing the blade back slightly to reveal its materia slots. With a delft move he slotted the Fire Materia in and pushed the blade back into Jenova's body. She was already straining against it and her eyes glittered with hatred, boring into him but despite her best attempts she could do nothing to stop him. "Good bye, Jenova. Have the good taste to stay dead this time," he said as he activated the Fire Materia, grabbed the Venus Gospel and threw himself backwards.
For an instant it seemed like Cid's scrambling for distance was just a frantic futile act. Nothing happened. But then slowly, a few almost imperceptible wisps of smoke rose from the Ultima Weapon's hilt. Right before Jenova's entire form seemed to explode with raging green fire that was eating her from within. She screamed and whipped flame-covered tentacles around, slapping ineffectually at the rest of her body in a vain attempt to extinguish the fire.
But this fire was not a materia's summoned elemental fire. This was the Planet's fire, cleansing itself once and for all. Within it, the Ultima Weapon could be seen glowing, channeling the Planet's power within her. Pure rage, pure mako, pure Lifestream, pure fire all channeled directly into her body.
The heat was incredible but nothing else in the room caught - the carpet, the timber desk, the papers - nothing. The only thing burning was the screaming form of Jenova.
"NO! This cannot be!... I... I curse you!" She almost laughed despite the flames. "I curse you and I curse you with this knowledge. Cloud Strife is gone. He is not here, no longer on this world. I know not where he is but he didn't pass to the next world. Perhaps he chose absolute oblivion! Where ever he is I do know that you will not be able to find him. You'll be alone forever!" The fire impossibly seemed to intensify, drowning her gloating. "Arghh!... Help me!... My son... Sephiroth... help... me..." Jenova finally fell silent and the fire burnt itself out. There was nothing left, not even ash and even the Ultima Weapon had been consumed. Only the blackened and charred hilt remained, clattering to the ground, startlingly loud in the sudden silence.
"It's over," Nanaki whispered.
"Yes, she's finally dead," Barret agreed.
"Don't ever do that to me again!" Vincent hissed into his lover's ear. "I nearly had an apoplexy. Don't ever make me have to cover you like that." His voice held surprising emotion.
"If she remains dead, you won't have to," Cid returned softly. "But it was the only way. You know that," he paused. "I won't leave you and I'm getting too old for this &^%$." He looked Vincent in the eye. "After we find the Kid, let's say we take a long holiday."
"That sounds good."
Tifa had moved to pick up the Ultima Weapon's hilt. She already knew it would be empty of the materia used to kill Jenova but she needed something, anything to give her a hold on Cloud, and his weapon was all that remained. Nanaki and Barret's words while true were not comforting. It was not over. "No, it's not. It's not over, Nanaki," Tifa said quietly. She was too tired for rage or anger or anything. "We still don't know where Cloud is, and if Jenova didn't know, how are we supposed to find him?"
At her words, the others fell silent. There wasn't much they could say. "Tifa," Barret finally said. "It's time to go. We might not be able to find Cloud, but we're gonna try and even if we can't find him, he'll find us. Ya gotta trust him. Ya gotta be willing to let him go, if ya want him to be willing to stay. He'll find us. I know he will."
Tifa nodded and rose but she couldn't help the final plaintive thought, Cloud, where are you?
To be Continued...
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