BROTHERS IN ARMS
by Digintegrated - Hunter Bill
Disclaimer : Almost everything here belongs to Squaresoft. That's all.
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CHAPTER 12
THE EXTREME
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"The Lifestream... The energy of the Planet...", Squall wondered. "You're fighting in order to protect this, aren't you?"
"Yeah... As long as Sephiroth exists we will keep on fighting.", Cloud replied, more than ever determined. "We have to do it for us, for Aeris, and the rest of the world..."
"I'm afraid your fight will end along with your miserable lives, Cloud!", a voice came from nowhere...
The four fighters took a look around them. They had been through a space-time breach from the library to return to Ultimecia's Castle again. "At last, we're back...", Squall thought. They were at the clock tower, near the clock, still stopped, and its monster statues with threatening looks. They had landed upon a square stone platform. One of the walls of the tower were on their right, the other sides of the platform were leading to the void. An opening was carved through this wall, and Cloud's arch-enemy had appeared, once more, in this opening.
"Sephiroth...", Cloud growled. The swordsman was trying to contain his rage as well as he could.
The black-caped man was giving a sharp look and a provocative smile to the team. His hand was clinging to the hilt of his long sword.
"You can't escape your fate, Cloud.", Sephiroth continued. "You can't even save your own friends, how could you save your own life?"
"Aeris...", Cloud muttered. The girl's speech was still echoing in his head: "No, Cloud. This isn't your fault. You couldn't predict I was about to leave this world...". "This isn't my fault... This isn't my fault...", he went on repeating to himself.
"No... it's pointless to talk about it now, Sephiroth.", he retorted, drawing his sword. "I'm no longer feeling guilty now. Aeris did what she had to do, and it's up to us to finish the work she had started!"
"Really? You surprise me again, Cloud...", Sephiroth went on, taunting. "I didn't think a puppet like you could have such a will and such initiative..."
"Ignore him, Cloud. Whatever happens, I'll always believe in you.", Tifa said to him.
"Listen...", Squall broke in, with his same usual coldness in his voice. "I don't know who you exactly are, but if Ultimecia has indeed hired you to kill us, know that you won't take us over with words."
"So SeeDs are getting angry too... Besides I still don't understand why you had to interfere in the business between Ultimecia and myself...", Sephiroth continued.
"Better say that for yourself!", Rinoa countered, angry. "Ultimecia is our enemy, and do you really imagine she will achieve her time compression without anybody doing anything against it?"
"You might not be able to do anything soon, girl...", Sephiroth said. "Before leaving you, let me introduce my new friend. It's one of those spirit entities you call Guardian Forces, aren't I mistaken? Ultimecia had kept him especially for me. Tiamat ! This way!"
Sephiroth disappeared into the opening, inside the tower. A rustling of wings could be heard a second after. A dragon-like creature, almost exactly resembling Guardian Force Bahamut had turned up. However, his body colours differed from the legendary dragon Squall and his mates had successfully befriended in the upper level of Deep Sea Research Facility.
"Tiamat... the last barrier before the finale.", Cloud firmly said. "He won't be the one to stop us... Sephiroth, prepare to live your last hours!"
He ran to the dragon to slash his left wing with his sword. Tiamat only had a scratch, but the dragon plunged towards the swordsman, who just had time to crouch and dodge the claw swing. Squall took the opportunity to strike Tiamat in the body. The dragon was a bit rocked by the blowing explosion of the Gunblade, but quickly regained balance before declaring:
"I expected more from you, warriors. Are you planning to take me down with this?"
"And how about this, then?", Rinoa said as she sent a Blizzaga.
This seemed to be efficient. Tiamat could hardly resist against cold. Nevertheless he recovered from it and dived to Rinoa. Squall panicked and stood between Rinoa and the dragon, to take a serious claw swipe before falling down. Tifa got scratched too, but Cloud counter-attacked with his sword to hit the dragon's tail, which knocked him down two seconds later. The swordsman had no problem to stand back up and protected his friends with a Wall-All.
Rinoa had an idea:
"Squall... try to hold your Gunblade straight, I'm about to try something..."
The SeeD got up and brandished his weapon vertically. Rinoa concentrated, put her hands upon the back of the blue-shaded blade and cast a Blizzaga. Squall felt a chilling wave inside his body, but it didn't matter for him. He saw his blade crystallizing itself, like ice. As he understood what Rinoa intended to do, he rushed to the dragon and twirled his Gunblade across the creature's body. Hundreds of ice particles, sharp as razor blades, burst from the blade and shattered the monster when the SeeD pulled the trigger of his Gunblade. Tiamat gave out a hoarse roar and got hit by Cloud, then by Tifa, but promptly straightened up and nastily clawed the two swordsmen. Cloud and Squall could see their opponent gathering a mass of energy in his mouth.
"Just like Bahamut did...", Squall thought, observing the orange energy ball getting bigger and bigger. He shouted at his team mates: "LAY DOWN!"
So the four people did. The energy ball turned from orange to blue before the dragon spat it and made it explode at the four fighters with a deafening noise.
Squall, Rinoa, Cloud and Tifa were heavily wounded by Tiamat's Dark Flare.
"We're done for...", Cloud muttered.
"No!", Squall said. "It's not over. We will call for one of our Guardian Forces to gain some time."
Squall got up. Tiamat frowned, apparently looking surprised by the words "Guardian Force".
"Bahamut!", Squall shouted. "Come to our rescue!"
"How dare you...!", Tiamat retorted, looking appalled. "How dare you saying the name!"
Squall didn't listen. He fell again on the ground because the summoning had drained his strength, but he could at least watch the materialization of the legendary Bahamut.
"Twins?", Tifa said.
"Not really...", Rinoa precised. She was correct. At first sight, Bahamut and Tiamat looked like each other, but Bahamut's body was less dark than his opponent's. Bahamut watched him for a while, then turned to the four exhausted fighters.
"We have a common enemy, Master.", Bahamut roared.
"'Master'?", Tiamat mocked. "So you fell lower than I thought... I've been longing to see you again. How could you call 'Masters' such weaklings?"
"I'll force you to talk about them with respect!", Bahamut roared. "Master, you and your companions shall leave this place. Let me take care of my rival during your recovery."
"All right.", Squall nodded, before limping to the clock tower, followed by his friends.
Bahamut and Tiamat stared at each other then started to fight, with more roars.
Angelo was inside the tower. The dog gave a plaintive yap as he saw her mistress in such a dreadful state.
"I guess we need help from the others.", Squall announced, leaning against a wall.
"Yeah, but don't count on me to search for them...", Cloud replied dryly. "This monster showed no mercy when he spat his fireball."
"How about Angelo then? He can do it very well!", Rinoa suggested. "Right, Angelo?"
The dog answered with a brief barking.
"Hold on...", Squall said, pointing his hand to the pet. "Haste!". Angelo started to emit bright rays of light.
"Now go and fetch our friends, Angelo. Fetch them!", Rinoa encouraged.
The dog ran with incredible speed down the spiral passage leading to the bottom of the tower.
"We only have to wait and hope our companions will come quickly...", Rinoa sighed, while the battle between the two dragons was raging higher.
~~
In no less than a minute, Angelo, faster and braver than ever, arrived at the bottom of the tower. He crossed a small wooden bridge, overlooking the moat in which Irvine had found the key to the arsenal, then went downstairs to the chapel. Its gate was still open. Angelo ran as fast as his paws could carry him, outside to the fountain, then started to sniff the ground. After a minute spent on searching, the dog hurried to the ramparts on the right side, where Irvine, Selphie and Barrett still were. Barrett was surprised to see the dog turning in so fast.
"Hey, what...", the juggernaut said and got interrupted by some brief yaps.
Angelo was running and barking around the group in excitation, and almost made Selphie trip and fall.
"Hey, calm down Angelo! What's the matter?", Selphie said.
Angelo went down the stairs and barked again, then headed to the chapel's entrance.
"Maybe he wants to lead us somewhere...", Irvine supposed, adjusting the brim of his hat.
"Let's go then!", Barrett said.
Angelo led them to the base of the tower, then went inside of it again.
"A staircase to climb again? That's too much this time...", Barrett growled.
"Hey, Barrett! Look up!", Selphie shrieked.
The three saw explosions resulting from the fight between the two dragons at the top of the tower. Barrett realized the emergency of the situation.
"Rinoa has sent this dog to look for help... Cloud and Squall must be in danger!", he shouted before hurrying to the spiral pass, followed by Irvine and Selphie.
Once they reached the heights of the platform (Selphie had cast some Hastes on the team in the mean time), Cloud, still weak, greeted them. Angelo had came back near Rinoa, who had given him a bone-shaped dog biscuit as a reward.
"Glad to see you again... we've got trouble with Ultimecia's last servant."
"What kind of trouble?", Barrett questioned.
"Check it by yourselves...", Squall answered, showing them the exit to the platform.
Barrett, Irvine and Selphie were thunderstruck as they saw the two dragons fighting.
"Bahamut versus his rival Tiamat... I summoned Bahamut to gain some time, I'm going to call him back so that you could hit the right dragon."
"Right.", Barrett said.
Squall limped outside, and shouted as loud as he could:
"Bahamut! Come back!"
"What do you mean, come back?", Tiamat roared, surprised to see his opponent obeying to Squall's orders to the letter. "We haven't finished yet!"
Tiamat was speaking a bit too much. He couldn't see the three friends turning up on the platform and perform very explosive and devastating attacks. Selphie started it up with a Blizzaga, Irvine shot around fifty Fast Bullets, and Barrett finished with a burst of AP Bullets especially made for his machinegun. The dragon tottered and landed on the platform, but lifted his head up.
"It's up to you now, Bahamut.", Squall announced. "Show them your Mega Flare!"
"Right, Master!", the dragon proudly replied, before gathering a energy ball in his mouth, turning bigger and bigger and glowing. The fighters hid their eyes...
The Mega Flare landed upon Tiamat and banged. The dragon could be heard groaning and howling... When the explosion ended, Tiamat was nothing but a pile of black ashes. Bahamut gave a victorious roar before he vanished.
"The twelve are no more...", Squall told the other people. "Ultimecia's seal is completely broken by now."
"Woohoo! We won against the twelve!", Selphie said.
"Wow man, that was a damn cool explosion!", a voice said.
Cid was on the platform, smoking a cigarette, with Quistis and Zell by his side.
"Cid? How did you find us here?", Squall asked.
"I know, we were supposed to meet each other near the fountain but when we saw this dragon on the top of the tower, we decided to follow Barrett's group and this dog.", Cid said.
"I was wondering how Rinoa had taught her pet, now...", Barrett went on, caressing Angelo. "I have my answers..."
"Tell me Barrett... you were really in a hurry to go up this tower.", Irvine told the machine-gunner.
"This is normal.", the juggernaut answered. "Squall and Cloud saved our lives in this cursed cell, haven't you forgotten? I really had to help them back..."
"He's absolutely right.", Squall thought before he thanked Barrett.
"Yeah, you're welcome", the machine-gunner went on, "but I think we have to thank the dog and Bahamut too. They've been very helpful, haven't they?"
~~
After passing through the machinery of the Citadel big clock, the ten fighters and Angelo found themselves in the famous passageway linking the two towers. The Imps and Blue Dragons statues decorating this passage seemed less threatening from a closer distance. The corridor was about 200 yards long and was towering above the entire Citadel. The infinitely dark ocean, dark as the sky, could also be seen from this point. On the opposite side, the group noticed the one and only entrance to the right-side tower, a double door at the end of the corridor.
"What should we do now?", Squall asked. "Should we go there right now?"
"No...", Cloud refused. "We must recover. Tiamat showed us no mercy, remember?"
"It was just a suggestion.", Squall went on.
"In fact, I wouldn't appreciate to fight Ultimecia right now... I'd like a little rest, just to regain confidence before the final battle.", Rinoa said.
"Yeah, me too!", Selphie added.
"It's my opinion too.", Tifa said. "I'm sure Sephiroth is in there too."
"Don't think I chicken out...", Cid finally said, "Honestly, I need some rest too."
The other team members approved in turn.
"Good.", Squall went on. "Rendezvous is given on this threshold."
The team mates parted, leaving Squall and Rinoa (and Angelo) alone.
"Rinoa...", Squall started. "I'm feeling weird..."
"Really?", she said in a smile.
"Seriously... It's been like this since we explored this library."
"I see... you must be talking about this half-human, half-Guardian Force girl... Cloud and Tifa's former friend, right?"
"Yeah, I think so...", Squall replied. "This very moment where Cloud and Tifa rushed towards her..."
"Don't worry about this, it's normal.", Rinoa went on. "Everybody's got the right to have emotions... And... how could I explain this... this moment... it reminded me of the Sorceress Memorial, when you came to save me..."
Squall was remembering this moment too... he had just slashed, with a swing of his Gunblade, the pipe system of the anti-magic prison in which Rinoa was imprisoned, and a few seconds later, Rinoa had thrown herself in his arms. This moment had become unforgettable for him.
"Me too.", he said, hesitating.
Rinoa laughed.
"Come on, you don't have to be ashamed about this!"
"If you say so...", Squall thought.
"Moreover...", she went on. "thanks to you and the others, I will finally meet Ultimecia, face to face. A Sorceress versus Sorceress fight... We will win, I'm sure about this..."
"Why?"
"Because... I'm trusting you.", she said, almost in a whisper.
"Her survival depends on me...", he said to himself.
"You're right...", he replied.
"How about Sephiroth?", Rinoa asked, worried. "He's a bit scary... I thought I was facing Adel when I saw him..."
"Cloud and his friends will take care of him, and we will help them if they're not up to it. Now, let's have a rest.", Squall finished, as he took Rinoa's hand.
~~
In the mean time, Cloud and Tifa were observing the horizon from the clock tower.
"You know Tifa... what I find awesome is being still alive after all that happened to us..."
"I know what you mean.", Tifa answered.
"But I'm shocked because..." the ex-Soldier continued, "because I couldn't take Sephiroth down when he was right in front of us..."
"Calm down, Cloud...", Tifa interrupted. "We will soon have another opportunity to take revenge. I also want to make him suffer. I will never forget the great fire he started in Nibelheim..."
Tifa looked at the sky.
"This darkness... it looks like Midgar.", she went on. "I'm eager to get out of this place and return home..."
"Home? Where? Nibelheim doesn't welcome us anymore."
"I mean: in our time..."
"I know what you mean, but where exactly do you want to go? What place do you think we could call 'home'?"
Tifa lowered her eyes.
"I don't know... but Rinoa told me not to lose hope. Maybe one day, we will find our 'Promised Land'."
"She really said this?"
"Yeah... exactly what Aeris was saying."
"A coincidence, for sure...", Cloud said at last.
A moment later, the swordsman continued:
"Nevertheless, I'm worried about them..."
"Who?"
"Squall and Rinoa. I hope they will be able to get home once this time compression will have ceased."
"I hope it too.", Tifa said. "We have to help them till the end. We four really make an awesome team!"
"Yeah... I do agree.", Cloud said. "We will vanquish Ultimecia and Sephiroth together."
~~
Later...
"Tifa, are you ready?"
"Yes, Cloud. Let's go now."
The two headed to the corridor linking the towers. The rest of the team was assembled near the double door.
"Right..." Squall started to say, as Cloud came by his side. "Now, it's Ultimecia and Sephiroth. Are you all ready?"
"Yes.", Cloud and Tifa answered.
"Yes.", Rinoa answered.
"Always ready!", Zell replied, giving punches in the air.
"Ready!", Irvine and Barrett said, pointing their fire weapons upwards.
"Booyaka!", Selphie answered.
"Ready!", Quistis confirmed, gripping her whip.
"Ready!", Cid replied, throwing his cigarette away with a flick.
Cloud and Squall opened the double door and the entire team went inside...
All of them arrived, not in a room as they thought they were going to, but outside. The infinite darkness was replaced by the daylight, even the white and cloudy sky could be seen. Many walls and stone pillars were delimiting this zone, forming a round shape. A second series of columns, higher than the outer one, was supporting a big stone ring. Then, at the centre of this circular structure was a pedestal, upon which were planted four torches, set around a red throne. On this throne... a woman wearing a sort of red robe with a black fur collar. Her body and face were striped of blue and purple. Her long white hair were done like horns, and two black wings were spreading from her back.
Ultimecia in person!
She stared at the team with disgust.
"SeeD...", she said.
Nobody reacted.
"SeeD... SeeD...", Ultimecia went on with more and more anger.
The ten fighters didn't say a word. Angelo came closer to Rinoa. Squall could hardly contain his excitement. He was hanging on to the grip of his Gunblade.
"SeeD, SeeD, SEED!", Ultimecia shouted. "Kurse all SeeDs... Kurse ALL of you! The world was on the brink of this ever-elusive 'time compression'. But your vain krusade ends here!"
"I'm afraid it will not, Sorceress.", Rinoa broke in with a determined tone.
"As long as we're alive, we will not abandon.", Cloud went on, resolute to terminate anyone who could gain Sephiroth's favours to destroy the world.
"You will certainly not live that long", Ultimecia continued, threatening. "But I do accept to answer this question that concerns you..."
"Why do you let Sephiroth destroy this world since you are coming from the future? Our existence will be out, but yours too!", Squall replied.
"You're totally wrong on this point, insignificant people. I am not from your future as you may have thought, I have been sent there by force.", the Sorceress yelled. "Those infamous Cetras had kondemned me before they started to look after the one with who I was planning to rule this world... JENOVA!"
"No... that's impossible!", Cloud said, almost speechless. "Jenova... Sephiroth's so-called mother..."
"Jenova had been killed after my exile but as I started the time compression, I realized that her spirit had survived in some way. This is how Sephiroth came by my side. But you had to meddle!"
"So you limited yourself to continue the project that was interrupted by the Cetras...", Squall sighed. "How pathetic..."
"I'll teach you not to be insolent with me!", Ultimecia raged. "You will be my slaves for eternity... even together, you have no chance to defeat me!"
Ultimecia raised from her throne and landed at the bottom of the central pillar, spreading her wings.
"Sephiroth!", she called.
The black-caped man came from the nothingness and marched to the Sorceress, pointing his long sword to the group.
"Take this, puppet!", he shouted as he ran to Cloud to give him the first blow. The swordsman blocked the blade with his Ultima Weapon and faced Sephiroth's staring look.
Ultimecia noticed Cloud was defending himself with fervour and cast a Blizzaga upon the young blonde man. Cloud collapsed.
"Damn! I'm too cold...", he shouted.
Ultimecia focused all her attention upon the ex-Soldier, but it was a mistake. She couldn't see Quistis attacking her with her whip. Sephiroth wanted to retaliate, but Barrett prevented him to do so with a burst of his machinegun. The Sorceress calmed the juggernaut down with a Thundaga. Barrett got struck by the electroshock and remained still. So Angelo ran towards Ultimecia and bit her right leg.
"Ouch... will you let go off me, you stupid animal?", she raged before sending Angelo to the other side of the room with a Firaga. Her spell wasn't finished to be cast when a bright Holy went through her body. Rinoa, who had called for that spell, was remaining in front of her, with her hand tightly extended.
"That's what you get for saying Angelo is stupid.", she thought.
Squall was battling with Sephiroth. The SeeD was doing everything he could to prevent Sephiroth to reach Cloud. He knew that the man in black didn't have the same fighting style as his archrival Seifer. Nevertheless he was more experienced: Squall could hardly divert his endless succession of sword slashes. Suddenly, Zell and Tifa, who had stayed behind since the start of the battle, struck Sephiroth from each side.
"Thank you.", Cloud declared as he got up. "Regen has taken effect upon me. I'm taking over."
Squall gave his place to him and decided to assist Rinoa who was exchanging many various spells with Ultimecia. The battle between the two Sorceresses had turned the room into a series of fireworks. The Fires, Blizzards and Thunders were following one another with a dreadful noise.
"Much too basic art...", Squall thought. "...but I can cast spells as well."
He raised his hand to the Sorceress and declaimed: "Flare!". The spell was more powerful than usual. The orange flare wrapped Ultimecia.
"You miserable...", she started before a critical Gunblade blow interrupted her.
Zell forgot about his fists as he noticed the fighters were using magic to one another, so he used a Quake to help his team mates. A violent shake later, Quistis went on with a Bio. Big green and toxic bubbles surrounded Ultimecia and poisoned her, but the Sorceress recovered quickly with an Esuna, before she countered with Gravija. The ten fighters got trapped in a contracting and dilating gravity field. All of them were knocked down except Cloud, still facing Sephiroth. The swordsman abandoned his fight against his arch-enemy.
"Cloud..." Aeris' voice sounded in his head. "Cloud, use your new powers!"
He could feel this energy boiling inside of him. An energy that wasn't that intense while they were battling against Tiamat, but was growing in power as his duel against Sephiroth raged higher and higher. Cloud closed his eyes and shouted: "Total Regen!"
Many strands of energy emerged from Cloud, went across the room and penetrated the fighters' bodies. In a moment, the entire squad got restored.
"No... that's impossible!", Ultimecia yelled.
Sephiroth didn't say anything, but his look couldn't hide his amazement.
"And now, Sorceress...", Rinoa said in a low voice, heading to Squall as he raised his Gunblade.
"You too, Cloud.", she said to the other swordsman.
Cloud joined the girl. She put each hand on one of their blades and cast some of her magic powers upon them. The Gunblade, then the Ultima Weapon turned from white to light green. The two swordsmen rushed with an incredible speed to their enemies, Squall to Ultimecia, Cloud to Sephiroth, and struck them as hard as they could with their weapons. Ultimecia and Sephiroth were then caught in the emerald green flare of an Ultima spell! The entire room shook because of the double spell. Rinoa was sitting on the ground. Summoning the two Ultima had drained her forces, but not her determination. She stayed there, sitting, giving a challenging look to the one that had formerly bewitched her. As for Sephiroth and Ultimecia, none of them both could stand. The man in black was the first one to fall down after saying to Cloud: "Really outstanding...". Sephiroth vaporized immediately after. However, Ultimecia got back up and began to float in the air, with her black wings still outstretched.
"I'm able to summon the supreme creature... the creature from your nightmares...", she declared. "The most powerful Guardian Force... You shall... SUFFER!".
After a demented laugh, Ultimecia disappeared too. The ground quaked. The walls, the columns and the pillars shattered as a gaping crack opened near the fighter's feet. A nightmare creature, just as Ultimecia had mentioned, emerged from the crack, while the entire castle disappeared. The ten people were now upon a big piece of rock, floating in the void, with this creature in front of them. This monster was a purple-coloured humanoid with a lion's head, a white mane, red horns, a long tail and white wings. As he saw this creature, Squall grabbed his lion-head-shaped medallion.
"Griever!", he thought.
"Hey, Cloud!", Barrett said. "I'm really feeling on form thanks to your trick. How did you do that?"
"I promise you to explain if we make it back alive.", Cloud answered. Indeed it wasn't the appropriate moment to explain this. Time, even compressed, was playing against them all. They had to act quickly and find a way to defeat this... animal.
"Okay!", Barrett approved. "I'm taking care of it. Selphie, Quistis, Irvine and Cid, come with me!"
The gigantic man started the first assault with Irvine and hit Griever in his left arm, but the Guardian Force used his right arm to claw at the sniper who rocked for a while before collapsing. Selphie, horror-struck, electrified the monster with a successful Thundaga, then ran to her friend to give him a healing spell. Cid dodged another claw swipe and leaped high enough in the air to hit the creature's body. Griever roared, but retaliated soon after. Quistis sacrificed herself to take the claw scratch.
"Hey, Quistis!", Cid said in surprise. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, everything's okay. We should help each other after all, shouldn't we?", the SeeD instructor replied. She could bear the scratch, but Cid was right: Quistis' eyes were turning white.
"Seriously, Quistis. Something's wrong with you..."
He quickly realized what it was all about. Quistis turned to Griever and cast a Laser Eye that pierced their opponent's body.
"Selphie, try your wind blows!", Barrett suggested. So the girl did immediately. A Tornado wrapped the Guardian Force, totally confused by the wind. Satisfied by the result, Barrett and Irvine reloaded their weapons with Air Ammo and caused a real hurricane as they shot their bullets. Selphie was almost blown away by the wind but was caught right on time by Cid et Quistis. Griever, raving mad, knocked the two gunners out with his claws. This attack made Cid raving mad as well. The spearman grabbed his spear like a pole and vaulted so high in the air that he went over the Guardian Force's head. He dropped some dynamite that exploded upon Griever's face and blew him to the ground, then Cid landed, planting his spear as deep as he could into the monster's chest. Griever yelled and writhed in pain.
"At last... we made it!", Cid declared once he landed, rubbing his forehead.
He was speaking too much. The monster recovered, spread his wings again and hovered above the group.
"Damn it!", Barrett roared, hitting the ground with his fist.
Ultimecia's voice resumed:
"It is not over... Allow me to show you... The true power of the Guardian Force. Griever, make them bleed! Shockwave Pulsar!"
Hearing the words, Quistis went into a trance. Squall rushed to her.
"Quistis! Answer me!", Cid shouted in panic.
She didn't answer. She was floating in the air and let herself get wrapped into a sphere that brought her higher into the sky. The SeeD instructor found herself in the heart of the Pulsar. She stiffened and yelled:
"COUNTERSPACE!"
She had activated the counter Blue Magic she had learned in the cellar some time ago. A huge black sphere, which size almost looked like Diablos' gravity balls, took form around the Pulsar and made it shrink more and more. However, Quistis didn't change in size. The sphere became smaller and smaller. Quistis went out of the Pulsar, still floating in the air but slowly went down to face the monster. The black sphere had the size of a materia and could be held in her hand. The SeeD instructor hurled it as fast as she could upon Griever before she fell back to the ground. When the sphere hit the monster, it dilated and the Pulsar took his original shape, imprisoning Griever within it! Then the Pulsar flared up. The bright light caused by the remarkable disintegration almost blinded the ten fighters. As it ceased, they saw their opponent writhing in pain, roaring, wriggling, flaring and losing white feathers from his wings. Griever emanated a green smoke from his mouth and shrivelled into a black ball too. Ultimecia's voice resumed after this.
"Griever! Let's junction."
"That is impossible...", a deep voice growled. "Counterspace has exhausted my strength. You haven't foreseen such an attack, have you?"
"Griever! It's an order!"
"I refuse to do it. Our ethereal links have been corrupted by the explosion. I must unfortunately leave this... 'enslavement' you forced me in for years and years."
"How could...!", Ultimecia wanted to say. But the Guardian Force stopped her.
"Exactly. I was waiting impatiently for someone to learn the Counterspace magic to free myself from your grasp, Ultimecia. My long waiting time has been rewarded. Now, do not rely upon me anymore."
Griever took a more thankful voice.
"Thanks to all of you, warriors, and especially to you, Quistis."
The black sphere vanished in a flash. Ultimecia went on speaking.
"Kursed warriors! If you want it like this... I'm going to junction... to Sephiroth!"
Two entities appeared, one was shining, the other one was pure darkness. The two bodies were about to make contact, emitting an electric field as they came closer to each other. Then they melted and became one. The resulting entity expanded and gradually transformed into an unimaginable creature... except for Cloud's team.
"Sephiroth as we met him when time compression started...", the swordsman declared. "But it seems Ultimecia's been added on..."
He wasn't wrong about this. Sephiroth had taken a fearful form: his body had doubled in volume, one of his arms had become a huge wing, and his legs had disappeared. In place of the legs were four dangling tentacles, making him floating in the air. Moreover, Ultimecia's head was embedded into his torso.
"That's horrible!", Rinoa said.
The SeeDs were thinking so, as they watched this new thing with apprehension. Barrett, on the other hand, wasn't surprised.
"I'm not impressed by this gizmo... Irvine, this way!", the juggernaut shouted at Irvine.
The sharpshooter regained his confidence and the two gunners were the first ones to hit, with a hundred Fast Bullets. Sephiroth's wing nearly lost all of its feathers because of the burst. He raised higher in the air.
"Damn! He's impossible to reach!", Zell complained.
"We still have magic.", Quistis said and cast Ultra Waves. Her cerebral waves hit the two enemies. Ultimecia retorted with a Tornado. The ten got wrapped into the eye of the cyclone and hardly landed on the flying rock. Then an avalanche of spells took place. Cloud was spending his time to protect the team with Walls and other healing spells. Squall and Zell were calling for their Thundagas, Firagas and Blizzagas, while Rinoa and Selphie, more experienced in magic, were relentlessly summoning Flares and Tornadoes. On the other hand, Ultimecia was attacking with Quakes, and Sephiroth with Bios, quickly cured by Tifa as she was retaliating with her best Fire spells. Barrett and Irvine were shooting all of their remaining AP Bullets. Cid showed his skilfulness and dexterity as he successfully planted his spear into Sephiroth's body, at the very time he was diving back towards the team. As for Quistis, she had trouble with her Blue Magics since she summoned her Counterspace. She was tired because of the very powerful spell and was hardly standing. She could at least cast some Laser Eyes, hitting Ultimecia's face head on. The two enemies were resisting. Both Sephiroth and Ultimecia were watching over the group with hatred. Both of them had a machiavellian smile.
"Shadow Flare!", they said in unison.
"Uh oh...", Cid muttered.
A white light came upon the group. In a moment, dark magic bolts sledge-hammered the whole team. Quistis couldn't take anymore and fainted. Selphie succumbed too. Despite his wounds, Irvine went totally berserk as he saw that.
"SELPHIE!", he bellowed. He pointed his gun to Sephiroth. Barrett, raging too, reloaded his machinegun quickly. Two energy balls were growing at the extremity of their guns. Five seconds later, Barrett and Irvine released a big white-shaded beam that went through Sephiroth-Ultimecia's body, exactly where the head of the Sorceress was. The two gunners had just used their last resources, their ultimate bullets: Pulse Ammo. It was worth seeing. Sephiroth wasn't linked to Ultimecia anymore: the Sorceress head had disappeared. There was only this one-winged angel in front of the team. Barrett and Irvine collapsed, wounded but content.
Zell was wounded as well, but he managed to hit Sephiroth with the devastating attack he used against the Giga Bug Queen: the Meteor Barret. Tifa resisted another Thunder spell and hit their opponent with an uppercut. Cid went on with Stilva's spell, also known as Magic Breath. Sephiroth got frozen, burnt and electrified at the same time, but was still floating, even though he seemed to be in a bad state.
"This world will be doomed...", he growled. "And you will be the first... ULTIMA!"
Cid swore. Cloud and Squall crouched with Rinoa and Zell. They were now used to face this category of spell. When the green light faded, none of them could get up, but Squall and Cloud could see Sephiroth rooting to the spot and gradually breaking up: first the dangling tentacles went into dust, then his torso, then his head... A moment later, all that was left of Sephiroth was the name.
"Now we're done, right?", Cloud asked, still lying on the ground. "Is it over?"
"Not... yet...", Rinoa muttered. "Ultimecia... still alive."
"How could she...", Squall answered.
"Non...", Tifa said.
The four fighters had more than enough.
"Look there!", Squall said. "Our comrades!"
The bodies of Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Barrett and Cid had vanished.
"Squall...", a voice sounded.
"Quistis? Where are you?", the SeeD asked.
"Don't worry about us. We are surprised, just like you, to know that Ultimecia is still alive. We would have liked to help you but we could just be a burden for you four."
"Time is consuming us. You'd better make it quick.", Barrett's voice said.
"We're counting on you, guys!", Cid's voice said.
"We're all with you, I know you're gonna win!", Zell's voice concluded. After that, silence...
Squall called for his friends, but no reply came. Time had taken them away.
The two swordsmen made an effort to get back up and rejuvenated Rinoa, Tifa and themselves with many healing spells.
"Now, Ultimecia...", Squall thought as he grabbed his blue-shaded Gunblade. "We will finally put an end to the time compression. For the whole world... For Balamb Garden... For our Matron... and for Rinoa."
A circle-shaped explosion filled the sky which went darker. Night fell on the battlefield... but it seemed that the stars were all gathering to something placed below their floating rock. A complete darkness surrounded the team, and an extremely ugly creature turned out of the nothingness. It was four times taller than our heroes, with four pairs of arms, a misshapen body and two sort-of wings going from its hollow skull. The inside of the skull was filled by a small white sphere that was faintly glowing. Under the creature's big red robe, an armless Ultimecia's body was hanging upside down. The time and space were absorbed from this point.
"I am Ultimecia...", the creature said. "Time shall compress... all existence denied..."
"You should deny our existence first...", Squall retorted.
"This Sorceress has many cards in her hand. Well...", Cloud declared. "Let's show her our hand!"
Tifa prepared herself for an attack. Her fists started to radiate. Squall and Cloud made a powerful blow right in the middle of Ultimecia's body. Rinoa shot her Blaster Edge after putting a spell on it. The Edge hit the upper head of the Sorceress with another Ultima to illuminate the battlefield.
Ultimecia called for a Meteor rain upon them... the four fighters, wounded, didn't intend to give up. Tifa proved it as she released her attack: an energetic beam, looking like Bahamut's Flare sprang from her fists and burnt down the Sorceress' lower head. She had indeed, as Cloud mentioned earlier, many cards in her hand... as she saw the Meteors were rather insufficient, she summoned...
"Doomsday!"
Cloud, Tifa, Squall and Rinoa were wrapped in a Shockwave-Pulsar-like spell and were heavily injured. But... Rinoa was feeling something strange in her body... Aeris' power... she had to unleash this power at once!
The girl called Angelo. The dog rushed and leaped in the air with his mistress. Rinoa and her dog took an impossible speed, that could even overtake the Ragnarok... to reach the speed of a shooting star! They crashed into Ultimecia together with a thrilling noise. Less than a second later came a second crash, then a third, a fourth, a fifth... Rinoa and Angelo were moving so fast that Squall, Cloud and Tifa could only see a succession of rays of light piercing through Ultimecia. Twelve hits later, they came back to the ground and Rinoa, extremely tired but proud of her dog, rewarded him with a bone-shaped dog biscuit, and collapsed. Tifa performed her big beam attack again, then Cloud and Squall started a sword slash combo. Ultimecia yelled with pain as she tried to chase them away with her numerous arms, but it was useless. Cloud was striking from everywhere, Squall twirled his Gunblade with a blind rage... until Ultimecia shouted to them:
"Apocalypse!"
Squall had a bad feeling about this... he put his hand inside his jacket. A pentagram appeared around the four people and a disintegration happened inside of it. That was too much for them all... they fell into unconsciousness. Squall removed his hand from his jacket and let something out of it, before succumbing too...
This something was glowing and radiating with the colours of the rainbow... It was a Phoenix Pinion!
Flames outlined the silhouette of the legendary bird, then Phoenix itself came in.
"The battle is not over yet, Ultimecia!", the bird squawked as he sprayed some magnificent multicoloured flames upon the fighters and the Sorceress, who suffocated.
They regained consciousness one by one.
"What happened?", Cloud asked.
"Look behind!", Rinoa told them.
The four had the time to take a glimpse at the red bird before it vanished into darkness.
Realizing how she was turning disadvantaged, Ultimecia told the team:
"Reflect on your... childhood... Your sensations... your words... your emotions..."
"You don't fool me!", Tifa shouted, before punching and kicking the Sorceress.
Ultimecia was going on...
"Time... it will not wait..."
Ultimecia's speech could apparently discourage the whole team. Squall and Cloud had dropped their weapons.
"Shut up!", Rinoa replied angrily, and she cast another Ultima.
"No matter...", the Sorceress continued.
Squall couldn't resist the gloom-marked speech of Ultimecia. It was against his habits to crack under stress and discouragement... Cloud was trying to think about something else... something that was reassuring... he turned to Tifa.
"...how hard you hold on..."
The SeeD was trembling. What could he do in order to silence Ultimecia for ever? Nothing... he was trapped. Cloud remained there, petrified...
"...it escapes you..."
"Squall! Cloud! Do something!", Rinoa and Tifa shouted in despair.
"Rinoa..." Squall thought. Edea's discourse about Sorceresses and their Knights was replaying in his mind. He was feeling Rinoa's distress. He had to do something to soothe this distress at the moment... Being a Sorceress' Knight implied this... or did it not? He had no time to reflect upon this, but just thinking about Rinoa multiplied his strength. Tifa's voice stimulated Cloud the same way. Moreover, the two swordsmen had a common thought: Aeris... Sephiroth's former victim had become their link, their common reason to fight. They both gathered their powers, with a green aura surrounding them.
Ultimecia had just the time to say "And...", because Squall and Cloud dashed to her and struck her body with more and more sword slashes. The two blades were cutting through the air at incredible speed and shredding the Sorceress' body. Squall and Cloud froze in mid-air, brandishing their weapons above their heads, concentrating all their energy before falling back on Ultimecia. The resulting explosion could trap her entire body within. The swordsmen got up and observed their opponent with Rinoa and Tifa, and Angelo. Ultimecia had turned to be a very tough enemy, but she had taken a bit too much wounds... maybe far too much. Her body was wriggling. The glowing ball inside her upper head exploded. Many strands of light came from Ultimecia and blinded the four fighters. Flares, explosions and disintegrations succeeded one another. The upper head was reduced to dust. The eight arms follower after, with a deafening noise. Then the lower part of the Sorceress' body... And all of a sudden, when Ultimecia got totally disintegrated, silence came, and everything turned white...
Infinitely white...
~~
Irvine was in the middle of nowhere. He got up.
"Is... Is it over?", he asked to anyone who could hear him. "Let's go! Let's go back to our time!"
"Shut up. Just calm down and think where we have to go.", Zell said after.
"Careful guys!" Selphie shouted. "Don't pick up the wrong time."
"Sure. We don't want to fall by your place too.", Tifa added.
"In that case... I think it's time to say farewell.", Quistis said casually.
Cid and Barrett came.
"Wow... so we made it?", the juggernaut said, scratching his head.
"Looks like we did it...", Cid answered, as he searched for his pack of cigarettes. "You're right, Quistis... It's time to part now."
"But... where is Squall?", Rinoa asked. "He was with us a minute ago."
"Cloud is missing too.", Tifa noticed.
"Hmmm. No good...", Barrett grunted. "But I hope they're still alive. If you ever see Squall, let him know we all want to thank him."
"Okay.", Selphie replied. "Say goodbye to Cloud from us too!"
"We promise.", Tifa confirmed. "Farewell and good luck to all of you."
The fighters shook hands, then Tifa, Barrett and Cid went to some direction, the SeeD team took the opposite.
The SeeDs were feeling like they were lost... Selphie broke the silence and said:
"Tell me people... do you remember what Laguna told us?"
"Yeah, I do.", Irvine replied. "We have to think about some place... Some place we like to be."
Rinoa heard the words and ran away.
"Rinoa! Where are you going to?", Quistis shouted.
The girl in blue didn't listen. She was running she was gasping for breath. "Time... place... Who I wanna be with?", she thought. "I wanna go there! Where Squall and I promised!"
"Squall! Squall! Where are you?", she called, looking around her.
~~
Some place else... a place bathed in darkness...
Cloud was standing. His gigantic sword was on the ground. He took it back, hung it behind his back and walked. He heard his friends calling his name, Tifa in particular.
"Tifa?", he answered "Tifa, is that you?"
Nobody was coming.
"Squall...", a voice said.
"That voice... Rinoa's voice.", Cloud thought. "Does that mean that... that Squall is lost as I am?"
The young man started to run.
"Damn!", he shouted. "If Squall doesn't make it..."
He was reliving the tragic scene he was forced to see. This scene involving Aeris... He failed to save a life... He didn't wanted it to occur a second time.
"Tifa?... Squall?", he called. "Where are you?"
Suddenly, a familiar place appeared. He looked around him... he was in a house... HIS house, in Nibelheim. He looked outside... it was indeed Nibelheim, with its pit at the centre of the town square. The cry of a newborn child could be heard in the house. He rushed to the living room...
There were two people in the room. None of them paid attention to Cloud.
"What the...", he said.
No reaction. Cloud was invisible to them... he was watching the whole scene like a ghost. He came closer, and saw a man getting on in years, in a white overall, and a young blonde-haired woman, lying on a couch, holding a baby in her arms.
"Calm down, Cloud...", she was saying in a soft voice.
"My... mother!", Cloud thought. "And this... this is me?"
"I'm sure he'll be a strong man.", the man in white said. "He's quite vigorous, for sure."
Cloud understood... He had been sent 21 years before his time, to be sure about one thing: he had been fathered, not created as Sephiroth made him believe. All of his life in Nibelheim was real, his childhood memories with Tifa were real as well. As the landscape, the house and the three people disappeared, Cloud felt relieved.
He had finally found the truth about his past.
But Squall, Tifa and his mates were still impossible to find...
~~
"Squall! Let's go home! Where are you?"
"Where am I?", Squall was thinking. He was in a complete darkness as well.
"Squall... where are you going?", another voice said.
"I'm gonna find Sis!".
From the darkness came a dark-haired boy, who passed near Squall.
"Squall!"
A long-black-haired woman in a long black dress followed after. Then darkness faded... and turned out to be the Orphanage, in the past!
"Matron...", Squall said to himself.
The entrance of Edea's ancient home was splendid. Ivy was growing upon the white stone pillars...
Edea faced the young SeeD.
"Excuse-me... Have you seen a little boy?", she asked in a soft voice.
"You don't have to worry...", Squall told her, with a bit of surprise. "The boy won't go anywhere."
"I think so, too. Poor thing...", Edea replied.
Then, suddenly, a purple-shaded smoke emerged at the entrance of the Orphanage, and Ultimecia went out of it.
"She's still alive?", he shouted as he drew his Gunblade.
"The Sorceress?", Edea asked.
"Yes, Matron... We had defeated her... Matron, stand back!", Squall answered.
"It's ok. There's no more need to fight. The Sorceress is just looking for someone to pass her powers on to. In order to die in peace, a Sorceress must be free of all her powers. I know... for I am one too. I shall take over that Sorceress' powers. I do not want one of the children to become one."
Edea slowly marched towards Ultimecia. Squall sheathed his Gunblade. He could hear the Sorceress moaning: "I... can't... disappear yet!"
"Matron..."
Purple flares sprayed from Ultimecia's body and penetrated Edea's. As Ultimecia vanished, this time for good, Edea fell to her knees.
"So, is this... the end?", she asked.
"Most likely...", Squall said.
Edea looked up and observed Squall with a questioning look.
"You called me Matron, but who are you?"
"A SeeD. A SeeD from Balamb Garden.", Squall naturally replied.
Edea's surprise was growing.
"SeeD? Garden?"
"Both Garden and SeeD were your ideas.", Squall explained. "Garden trains SeeDs. SeeDs are trained to defeat the Sorceress."
Edea got up, and took a closer look to Squall...
"What are you saying? You're... that boy from the future?", she finally asked.
Squall looked down and whispered:
"Matron..."
"Please return. You do not belong here.", she fearfully told her.
The little boy, who was nobody else but Squall himself, came back to the Orphanage's entrance.
"I can't find Sis... Am I... all alone?", he sadly asked Edea. Then, seeing his double: "Who's he?"
"Just an adult you don't need to know.", Edea said to the little Squall.
The Matron turned to the taller one and asked him in a murmur:
"Do you know where to go back to? Do you know how? Will you be all right by yourself?"
Squall saluted and answered:
"I'll be all right, Matron..."
The Orphanage, then Edea and the little Squall faded into darkness.
"...because I'm not alone.", Squall said to himself. "I'm not alone. If I call out, they will answer."
"Where's everyone?", he called out. "Rinoa! Where are you? Zell! Selphie! Quistis! Irvine!... Barrett? Cid? Tifa! Cloud!"
No reply.
"Rinoa!"
Still no reply.
"Am I... alone?"
Squall started to run desperately in the darkness.
"Rinoa... I want to hear your voice!", he was thinking. "Which way do I go? I can't make it back alone!"
"RINOA!!!", he yelled.
Nothing...
"Am I... all alone again? Where... am I?"
Squall felt he was falling...
~~
...to land, some time later. The landscape waved, then stabilized. Squall found himself in some rocky desert plains. The sky was cloudy and green, and the plains were looking infinite... "Whatever...", Squall thought, shrugging and sighing.
He went on walking... he walked...
Aimlessly...
Endlessly...
For minutes... for hours... How long?
The sky went darker and darker... Squall could hardly make a single pace.
He reached the edge of an abyss, and looked around him... he was on a floating piece of rock in the middle of nowhere! Overcome by tiredness and despair, Squall let himself fall on the ground, sitting.
~~
Somewhere else, in a grassy land, Rinoa was running and calling for Squall. The girl searched everywhere... Squall was still out of sight.
As she was on the verge of crying, she took the two rings attached to her necklace, hers and Squall's, with the lion's head, and hold them in her hand.
~~
Alone on his rock, Squall had no clue about what to do. He saw something falling from the sky. It was a white feather.
"Rinoa...", he said. He saw the feather floating in the air and making a spiral fall to him. He was keeping his eyes on it. The feather descended near his face and gently landed in his hand. Squall closed his fingers on it...
He was immediately transported to a flower field. Rinoa was there! He was right behind her. He saw, as a fleeting glimpse, two white wings spreading from the girl's back, then vanishing. He called her.
"Rinoa!"
She didn't answer nor move. He repeated her name, with a begging voice. She slowly turned her... distorting face to him...
"What...!", he thought.
...
Squall was reliving the ball scene, the very moment when he met her. He could hear a waltz being played. Rinoa was in her formal suit. She looked at him, smiled and raised her index in the air.
The scene replayed, but Rinoa's face distorted.
The same scene went once again. Rinoa had a blurred face.
The scene replayed, with wrong notes played in the waltz. Squall saw Rinoa's head warping more and more... blurring... disappearing. Rinoa was vanishing, coming back... Her features were unrecognisable...
Squall didn't have a clue about what was going on. He glimpsed Rinoa in a space suit, at the time he had saved her in outer space. Then came the two rings, floating in the air, then Rinoa for a short time, then the X-ATM092 machine dashing right to him! A machinegun appeared after, Quistis was firing it. Squall saw Zell waving at him to jump, Rinoa frightened by Edea's Ice Strikes, Selphie and Irvine... the machinegun burst continued, it was the Ragnarok's... then Barrett's... The juggernaut's head appeared, followed by Cid, smoking a cigarette, then Tifa, then Cloud, waving his sword the same way Squall retorted to Seifer, causing him a scar as well. Rinoa appeared upon Balamb Garden's balcony, her hair in the wind, but her face horribly scrambled... then a glimpse of Seifer and Rinoa in front of Adel's prison... then Dollet's Comm Tower...
An explosion later, Squall felt hurled from Deling City's merry-go-round to the Arc where the SeeD team once ambushed Edea. But the Arc turned into Balamb's Garden's ball room. Rinoa came to him, still hidden by a blur. She raised her finger in the air, the waltz music started over, then the ball room started to whirl. Rinoa disappeared and reappeared... All of the souvenirs of Squall appeared as the room was whirling faster... Cloud's team was also part of those souvenirs... Ultimecia's face popped up, quickly replaced by Rinoa's face, then Edea, Aeris, Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Rinoa, Edea, Aeris, Sephiroth, faster and faster, while the waltz turned to be a unbearable noise. He saw Sephiroth raising his sword and holding it blade down... then Rinoa, still blurred and deformed, was leaping to Squall as in the Sorceress Memorial... then everything was replaced by the outer space scene... Rinoa's space suit helmet shattered, revealing Rinoa, fairly distinguishable... but DEAD!
Squall wanted to yell... but a hoarse gasp was all that could get out of his mouth, while, maybe for the first time in years, a tear rolled down his cheek. He fell hard on the ground, while a bright white light blinded him and absorbed him.
The feather he was holding in his hand slowly fell, then immobilized itself on the ground...
~~
Later... but when?... Footsteps were sounding in the darkness. The feather was still there. A gloved hand picked it up... It was Cloud's.
"A white feather... Hey... Rinoa's cape thing has got two white wings painted on the back...", he thought.. "No... something must be wrong there..."
His deepest fears were confirmed: he met Squall lying on the ground, unconscious.
"Squall?", Cloud shouted. "Squall? You hear me?"
He knelt down to the SeeD and attempted to get him up, but at the time he touched him, Squall's head, void and hollow as a black hole came to him as a fleeting glimpse. Cloud backed down, scared.
Squall slowly opened his eyes and moaned: "Rinoa left me..."
"Squall... you got to pull yourself together!", Cloud said. Hearing the words, Squall looked at his comrade.
"Is this you... Cloud?", he muttered. "You're... still here?"
"Yes, I am really here, and Rinoa must be somewhere too... She was keeping on calling your name some time ago."
This piece of news perked Squall's morale up. He could finally sit.
"So... this was a dream?", he said
"What?"
"I thought Rinoa had... abandoned me."
"It must be an illusion caused by time compression... or by something else.", Cloud tried to explain.
The swordsman had like a jolt. "And I think who's responsible... Sephiroth."
"No! That's impossible!", Squall protested.
"It is possible... I'm feeling him... he's still alive... he's laughing at me. He's laughing at US!"
The machiavellian laugh of Sephiroth echoed in the dark. The man with long white hair came in, bare-chest, only wearing his black pants. He was still carrying his long sword. Squall got up in a flash and grabbed his Gunblade. Cloud drew his weapon too.
Both of them were staring at Sephiroth with their eyes filled with hatred. Their opponent was staying there, impassive, returning the same dark look. However, Cloud and Squall knew they couldn't remain calm for long, as they were shaking... Their rage was too strong... Mixed with Aeris' gift, it was impossible to contain. So they dashed to Sephiroth and assailed him with multiple sword slashes, hitting him along with a lot of pyrotechnical effects.
"Up to you, Cloud!", Squall declared.
Cloud leaped high in the air, landed hardly upon Sephiroth and caused an outstanding explosion where his sword hit.
Sephiroth staggered. His hatred was replaced by pure amazement. He stood there for a while, gaping at Cloud, with blood in his face. He wasn't smiling anymore...
"Why did I consider you... as a puppet?", he muttered. Then came from his body many strands of green and red light that disintegrated him.
It was all over for the two brothers in arms...
"And now? What shall we do?", Cloud asked.
"You return to your respective times.", a voice said, making Squall jump.
"Griever?", he asked.
"It's the name Ultimecia gave to me, though I have neither name nor own appearance. This single thing about me is true: I am a Guardian Force, as Eden is, and my mission is to watch over the flow of time, also called the Timestream. I was with you since the very start, since Ultimecia made her leap through time that condemned her in the future. Besides, the Cetras summoned for my help to do this. But Ultimecia corrupted my powers... and spread chaos and mayhem in your time, Squall. My power, combined with this time machine this Doctor Odine has or will have created, was sufficient to go back through time and bring Sephiroth in her time. She could have continued what she planned to do with Jenova, but you triumphed over them both. Thanks to you, I'm now free from Ultimecia's grasp. Thank you very much."
"Although time compression had ceased and your friends are safe, your minds are both stuck in a space-time warp. I can nevertheless take you out of it without problem, and without pain. This won't be too long for you, Cloud. As for you, Squall, you'll have to wait until you'll find your body back in your time. Don't worry, I'll try to be quick..."
"Well, then... thanks for everything, Squall.", Cloud said, shaking his hand. "Good luck to you for the rest of your life."
"You too.", Squall replied, almost smiling.
"Farewell, brave warriors, and thanks again...", Griever went on.
Cloud saw Squall freezing and vanishing. Time had taken him away. Squall felt himself moving so fast that he fell unconscious again.
Author's note : it's not over...
~~ Digintegrated Hunter Bill ~~