Sephiroth did not even raise an eyebrow as he boarded the Highwind.
He thought he saw Cid slunk when he made no noise of awe when the Highwind
came into view. How could Cid expect him to be in awe? True it was a
beautiful air ship, but he had once lead the Weapons and they were built by
masters that once ruled this world to protect the Earth.
"We will be going to Coasta De Soul first there we will have to pick up the others." Vincent explained leading him to the cock pick. Men and women in Shinra uniforms ran everywhere doing various jobs. Many stopped to gawk at him, but Sephiroth paid no attention.
"Why haven't you gone by Neblhiem and try to heal the cut?" Sephiroth asked glancing out the front window. Engines somewhere were warming up, and he could feel the lift to a small degree. Other than that, the Highwind rode smoothly up into the air.
"We have tried." A new voice said and Sephiroth turned to see Reeve staring at him blankly. "But it has changed as you will see in about half an hour as we pass over the site. It isn't what you could ever expect." Reeve explained as he ran a hand through his graying black hair. "It's harder to get into than your HQ."
Sephiroth said nothing.
A small forward thrust started and Sephiroth could feel the Highwind starting forward. "SHIT!" Cid's voice roared at a man Sephiroth thought to be a mechanic. "DO YOU FEEL THAT PULL! IT SHOULDN'T PULL SO MUCH!"
The Highwind moved quickly over the ocean, leaving Wutai far behind, and causing a blacken land to speed closer. "We call it Site B," Reeve told Sephiroth as they watched out the front viewer. "Your crater, or what was left of it, was Site A."
"What happened to the Weapons after they were destroyed?" Sephiroth interrupted. "Why have they not risen to seal this cut?"
Reeve nodded his head. "We believed them destroyed. But all trace of them vanished into the planet. Our researchers believed that they are mending."
"That is why I feel them still…" Sephiroth whispered to himself. "Why do these Jenova rejects want Cloud? Why not me again?"
Reeve motioned for him to look at a monitor on the wall. Pushing a few buttons, a figure of Cloud appeared wearing his SOLDIER uniform. "This is Cloud as you remember him. His Mako count was the closest to yours that we have ever seen. He was able to best you at the age of seventeen. Now, he is thirty-eight." Reeve touched the button and Cloud grew an inch taller, with longer hair that was slowly beginning to gray. They eyes glowed even more furious though. "He has had twenty one years of reforming the planet, not to mention that he is the trainer of the new SOLDIER. He has been classified as the most dangerous man of all time. Even higher than you, but he is on our side. So if they followed you, Cloud could easily put you down. Another reason is that since you died, the Jenova cells died in you as well. Your rebirth did not bring them back. He is the last man alive to have actual Jenova cells in him. The only one to survive the insanity."
"How about his son?" Sephiroth asked looking at the older Cloud. "Doesn't he have these Cells?"
"Engraved genetically, but not the actual cells." Reeve answered.
"Reeve!" Cid called out from behind them. "Site B is approaching!"
Sephiroth turned, his eyes going to the black land that lay before him. Shadows seem to move in the darkness, but nothing seemed alive. No one said anything as the burned cinder of Niblehiem passed in the distance.
A black film seemed to extend from the town going out several miles in all directions and engulfing the mountain that had once housed the Mako reactor.
"The black filmy shield keeps us from getting into the reactor or the town, and I don't need to tell you that there are a lot of secrets there." Reeve whispered to Sephiroth. Sephiroth nodded, as the Highwind flew on.
* * *
Ben stared out into the ocean, the Ultima Sword strapped to his back, over his black shirt. His spiky longer brown hair moved slightly in the wind, and causing his black baggy pants sway slightly. Water just reached his black boots.
"Ben?" A voice asked and he turned to see a slender girl with long red hair, wearing a red shirt, and blue jeans. A long staff was strapped to her back. "Have they come yet?"
He smiled slightly at his best friend. "Not yet, Rain. I just came out to gather my thoughts."
"Red just arrived," She announced standing next to him. "He is with your mother in your home. Barret is there too."
Ben raised an eyebrow at that. Barret, in his opinion, was quite a character. "I should start up then…" Ben knew Rain was waiting for an invitation because she was too polite to come in though they had been friend since she was born a year after him. "Would you like to come meet everyone that my parents knew?"
Rain almost toppled him over, as she leapt onto him giving him a big hug and squealing. She then grabbed his hand and dragged him at a full run to where his home was.
When they reached his house, he opened the door for her, and she entered first. Entering second, he reached for his sword as soon as he saw the first figure. Ben drew and lunged at Sephiroth, sending them tumbling and falling into the living room. Ben had of course never met the guy till now, but everyone knew his face.
A big hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him off, and a man in a red cape separated them. Barret was holding him back as he struggled forward. "WHERE IS MY DAD?" Ben demanded as he tried to surge toward Sephiroth, who stood up smoothly, dusting himself off.
"He doesn't have him," Vincent said coming eye to eye with Ben. "Sephiroth is going to help us get him back though."
"He has your speed, Vincent." Sephiroth growled. "You guys have all been training him."
"You could say he has a lot of uncles…" Barret answered relaxing his grip. "I about shot you up the first glimpse of you that I got. Your lucky that Reeve called ahead for me to meet you guys here."
Tifa came up and grabbed Ben's arm. Barret let go, and Ben was lead to the table and sat down next to Rain her eyes wide open. Tifa sat down next to Ben, and everyone else also took a seat, except Sephiroth who stood against the far wall. Finally taking his eyes of Sephiroth, Ben glanced at Red sitting across from him.
"Your Father is alive," Red announced in his husky voice. "I used my Grandfather's machine and I could feel your father though it."
"How?" Tifa asked, tears filling her eyes at the news.
Red laughed just a little. "Cloud is no normal man. He is very important to the Lifestream. Jenova has some how corrupted a part of the stream and was able to access the last working Mako reactor to brake out. But she needs her cells to grow a body she can inhabit."
"So how do we get him back?" Barret asked. "We just can't walk up and ask for him! We all saw what happened then."
"What happened?" Sephiroth asked.
Reeve turned his gaze toward Sephiroth and replied, "We sent in a troop of men and some other new machines since your rebirth, and warriors appeared out of nowhere and fought them. They took hits, were cut apart, and shot down, yet they continued on. Not even our most Material could bring them down. And the men they took seemed to have their life force sucked out."
"Am I like that?" Sephiroth asked. "I don't feel as if I'm immortal any longer."
Red shook hi head no. "I don't believe so, but you are a much different man than many others. I believe we will need you."
"Why should we trust him?" Ben asked giving Sephiroth a dirty look. "How do we know he won't go wild on us again?"
"Because he would not have followed me from the start." Vincent answered. "It wasn't him that did all those things Ben. It was him, with Jenova eating away his brain. He can't be blamed for everything he did. Before Jenova claimed him, he was a great man. And can be once again?" Vincent shot Sephiroth a look that meant for him to pay attention to it closely.
"So what do we have to do to get the spiky asshole back?" Barret asked slapping the table. "We have to take some coarse of action."
"What about the Junon Cannon?" Reeve asked Red. "It took down Sephiroth's shield when he was in the crater, and that was twenty years ago. We could hook it back to Midgar to fire off our cold fusion reactors. It might take down the shield."
Red shook his head. "This shield is made of the Lifestream. We cannot attack it or otherwise we might damage the planet permanently."
"So there is nothing you believe you can do right now?" Tifa asked. No tears showed in her eyes, but Ben noticed just the same that she was afraid. She had lived for him and Cloud, and now that Cloud was gone, she probably felt like part of her was too.
"Can we go through the Lifestream?" Ben asked and everyone in the room stared at him, their mouths hanging open.
"We could, but it would be impossible to navigate." Red answered finally. "When Tifa went down there, to get Cloud, the Lifestream formed his mind for her. The Lifestream could only be focused by the ancients, and no more ancients live."
"If I was spit out, and many others were spit out…" Sephiroth began. "Would Aeris probably come back as well? I mean she wouldn't have Jenova cells, but Jenova was an Ancient. And Aeris was an ancient...
"So Aeris may be back somewhere as well…" Vincent finished.
"We will be going to Coasta De Soul first there we will have to pick up the others." Vincent explained leading him to the cock pick. Men and women in Shinra uniforms ran everywhere doing various jobs. Many stopped to gawk at him, but Sephiroth paid no attention.
"Why haven't you gone by Neblhiem and try to heal the cut?" Sephiroth asked glancing out the front window. Engines somewhere were warming up, and he could feel the lift to a small degree. Other than that, the Highwind rode smoothly up into the air.
"We have tried." A new voice said and Sephiroth turned to see Reeve staring at him blankly. "But it has changed as you will see in about half an hour as we pass over the site. It isn't what you could ever expect." Reeve explained as he ran a hand through his graying black hair. "It's harder to get into than your HQ."
Sephiroth said nothing.
A small forward thrust started and Sephiroth could feel the Highwind starting forward. "SHIT!" Cid's voice roared at a man Sephiroth thought to be a mechanic. "DO YOU FEEL THAT PULL! IT SHOULDN'T PULL SO MUCH!"
The Highwind moved quickly over the ocean, leaving Wutai far behind, and causing a blacken land to speed closer. "We call it Site B," Reeve told Sephiroth as they watched out the front viewer. "Your crater, or what was left of it, was Site A."
"What happened to the Weapons after they were destroyed?" Sephiroth interrupted. "Why have they not risen to seal this cut?"
Reeve nodded his head. "We believed them destroyed. But all trace of them vanished into the planet. Our researchers believed that they are mending."
"That is why I feel them still…" Sephiroth whispered to himself. "Why do these Jenova rejects want Cloud? Why not me again?"
Reeve motioned for him to look at a monitor on the wall. Pushing a few buttons, a figure of Cloud appeared wearing his SOLDIER uniform. "This is Cloud as you remember him. His Mako count was the closest to yours that we have ever seen. He was able to best you at the age of seventeen. Now, he is thirty-eight." Reeve touched the button and Cloud grew an inch taller, with longer hair that was slowly beginning to gray. They eyes glowed even more furious though. "He has had twenty one years of reforming the planet, not to mention that he is the trainer of the new SOLDIER. He has been classified as the most dangerous man of all time. Even higher than you, but he is on our side. So if they followed you, Cloud could easily put you down. Another reason is that since you died, the Jenova cells died in you as well. Your rebirth did not bring them back. He is the last man alive to have actual Jenova cells in him. The only one to survive the insanity."
"How about his son?" Sephiroth asked looking at the older Cloud. "Doesn't he have these Cells?"
"Engraved genetically, but not the actual cells." Reeve answered.
"Reeve!" Cid called out from behind them. "Site B is approaching!"
Sephiroth turned, his eyes going to the black land that lay before him. Shadows seem to move in the darkness, but nothing seemed alive. No one said anything as the burned cinder of Niblehiem passed in the distance.
A black film seemed to extend from the town going out several miles in all directions and engulfing the mountain that had once housed the Mako reactor.
"The black filmy shield keeps us from getting into the reactor or the town, and I don't need to tell you that there are a lot of secrets there." Reeve whispered to Sephiroth. Sephiroth nodded, as the Highwind flew on.
* * *
Ben stared out into the ocean, the Ultima Sword strapped to his back, over his black shirt. His spiky longer brown hair moved slightly in the wind, and causing his black baggy pants sway slightly. Water just reached his black boots.
"Ben?" A voice asked and he turned to see a slender girl with long red hair, wearing a red shirt, and blue jeans. A long staff was strapped to her back. "Have they come yet?"
He smiled slightly at his best friend. "Not yet, Rain. I just came out to gather my thoughts."
"Red just arrived," She announced standing next to him. "He is with your mother in your home. Barret is there too."
Ben raised an eyebrow at that. Barret, in his opinion, was quite a character. "I should start up then…" Ben knew Rain was waiting for an invitation because she was too polite to come in though they had been friend since she was born a year after him. "Would you like to come meet everyone that my parents knew?"
Rain almost toppled him over, as she leapt onto him giving him a big hug and squealing. She then grabbed his hand and dragged him at a full run to where his home was.
When they reached his house, he opened the door for her, and she entered first. Entering second, he reached for his sword as soon as he saw the first figure. Ben drew and lunged at Sephiroth, sending them tumbling and falling into the living room. Ben had of course never met the guy till now, but everyone knew his face.
A big hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him off, and a man in a red cape separated them. Barret was holding him back as he struggled forward. "WHERE IS MY DAD?" Ben demanded as he tried to surge toward Sephiroth, who stood up smoothly, dusting himself off.
"He doesn't have him," Vincent said coming eye to eye with Ben. "Sephiroth is going to help us get him back though."
"He has your speed, Vincent." Sephiroth growled. "You guys have all been training him."
"You could say he has a lot of uncles…" Barret answered relaxing his grip. "I about shot you up the first glimpse of you that I got. Your lucky that Reeve called ahead for me to meet you guys here."
Tifa came up and grabbed Ben's arm. Barret let go, and Ben was lead to the table and sat down next to Rain her eyes wide open. Tifa sat down next to Ben, and everyone else also took a seat, except Sephiroth who stood against the far wall. Finally taking his eyes of Sephiroth, Ben glanced at Red sitting across from him.
"Your Father is alive," Red announced in his husky voice. "I used my Grandfather's machine and I could feel your father though it."
"How?" Tifa asked, tears filling her eyes at the news.
Red laughed just a little. "Cloud is no normal man. He is very important to the Lifestream. Jenova has some how corrupted a part of the stream and was able to access the last working Mako reactor to brake out. But she needs her cells to grow a body she can inhabit."
"So how do we get him back?" Barret asked. "We just can't walk up and ask for him! We all saw what happened then."
"What happened?" Sephiroth asked.
Reeve turned his gaze toward Sephiroth and replied, "We sent in a troop of men and some other new machines since your rebirth, and warriors appeared out of nowhere and fought them. They took hits, were cut apart, and shot down, yet they continued on. Not even our most Material could bring them down. And the men they took seemed to have their life force sucked out."
"Am I like that?" Sephiroth asked. "I don't feel as if I'm immortal any longer."
Red shook hi head no. "I don't believe so, but you are a much different man than many others. I believe we will need you."
"Why should we trust him?" Ben asked giving Sephiroth a dirty look. "How do we know he won't go wild on us again?"
"Because he would not have followed me from the start." Vincent answered. "It wasn't him that did all those things Ben. It was him, with Jenova eating away his brain. He can't be blamed for everything he did. Before Jenova claimed him, he was a great man. And can be once again?" Vincent shot Sephiroth a look that meant for him to pay attention to it closely.
"So what do we have to do to get the spiky asshole back?" Barret asked slapping the table. "We have to take some coarse of action."
"What about the Junon Cannon?" Reeve asked Red. "It took down Sephiroth's shield when he was in the crater, and that was twenty years ago. We could hook it back to Midgar to fire off our cold fusion reactors. It might take down the shield."
Red shook his head. "This shield is made of the Lifestream. We cannot attack it or otherwise we might damage the planet permanently."
"So there is nothing you believe you can do right now?" Tifa asked. No tears showed in her eyes, but Ben noticed just the same that she was afraid. She had lived for him and Cloud, and now that Cloud was gone, she probably felt like part of her was too.
"Can we go through the Lifestream?" Ben asked and everyone in the room stared at him, their mouths hanging open.
"We could, but it would be impossible to navigate." Red answered finally. "When Tifa went down there, to get Cloud, the Lifestream formed his mind for her. The Lifestream could only be focused by the ancients, and no more ancients live."
"If I was spit out, and many others were spit out…" Sephiroth began. "Would Aeris probably come back as well? I mean she wouldn't have Jenova cells, but Jenova was an Ancient. And Aeris was an ancient...
"So Aeris may be back somewhere as well…" Vincent finished.