Chapter Eight
'How did he survive my blow?' Sephiroth asked himself. Everyone else were in the infirmary, eating dinner. Karasu declines the offer and decided not to eat, as well as Sephiroth. Sephiroth noted that Yuffie gave him a cold glare and then followed the others reluctantly. She probably still remembered the moment. Sephiroth looked down from the pilot's deck to the dock where Karasu was standing, looking down at the sunset as the landscape flew by past the evergoing plane.
'Is that really him?' he wondered. 'Or is this another one of his shadows?' he recalled hearing Yuffie say something about a shadow not too long ago. His eyes narrowed, as if trying to see through him. But he was most definently real. The jenova inside him said so. But the question still remained.
'I will ask him myself, then.' he decided, and lept over the railing and onto the dock below.
Karasu nearly jumped, and he whirled around to face him. His eyes went extremely wide and he stepped back, against the railing. Karasu remembered who this was, no doubt about it. And he hadn't changed. Sephiroth still had the cold, mako eyes of a murderer.
"Wh...what do you want?" Karasu asked cautiously, looking as if Sephiroth had made a sudden move, he'd jump off and over the railing.
"Don't worry, boy." Sephiroth said. "I won't hurt you, yet." he stepped closer to Karasu, his face expressionless. "I just want to ask you a simple question, that is all."
"What is that?" Karasu asked, his right hand dropping to where his katana was on the strap on his back.
Sephiroth reached for his own sword, but didn't grab it. "How did you survive when I supposedly killed you?" he questioned.
"That I can not reveal to you." Karasu stated.
Sephiroth's hand gripped around the hilt of the masamune. "Tell me or I will repeat history." he threatened.
Karasu didn't make any moves, and neither did Sephiroth for the next few moments. They just stood there, glaring at each other, both ready just in case the other one decided to strike.
Suddenly, as if somone had triggered a gun, Karasu drew his katana and, in a swift movement, stiked it upwards at Sephiroth's chin. Sephiroth jumped back and drew the masamune, and he dove at Karasu. Karasu jumped out of the way and landed on the other side of Sephiroth. 'No doubt a Wutain Dragoon Knight...' he thought to himself, and dove at Karasu again. Karasu brought up his katana just in time to block Sephiroth's blow, and Sephiroth in turn pulled away and striked again, at a different angle. Karasu, using his cat-like reflexes, side stepped out of the way, and then he turned and bolted, sure to himself that he'd get some cover if he joined the others right about now.
He heard Sephiroth's footsteps behind him, and he ran faster. Then, he found himself at a dead end, and he stopped right in tracks and turned to Sephiroth, who was now walking calmly towards him, a smug grin on his face.
"There's no where for you to run now, Kisaragi." he stated.
"Fine." Karasu admitted in defeat. "What is it you want to know of?"
"I want to know why you are still alive." Sephiroth stated, putting his masamune away. Karasu put his katana away and sighed.
"Might as well tell you now..." Karasu admitted. "Okay, well... This is how I survived..."
There were screams, cries, flames everywhere. The smell of burnt flesh and blood filled the large city, and no matter where anyone turned, there was destruction on the other side. Nobody cared about the city itself anymore, that part hadn't register yet. Everyone was too busy running in fear for cover as the Dragoon Knights of Wutai charged at the SOLDIER army. This was the final battle. After five, long years the war would finally be over. Just, who was going to win this one?
Admist the battle, two little figures made their way carefully down the broken sidewalks, trying their best to ignore the chaos around them, trying to focus mainly on getting out of there alive. One of the little figures stopped and gasped, dropping to their knees next to a coarpse that lay on the ground, unmoving.
"Sis..." said the other figure, and kneeled down next to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She cried and cried, trying her best not to cry any more, but the tears kept on comming.
"M...mom..." the girl weeped.
"She's gone... We can't get her back..." the other figure said, almost sadly.
The girl nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. The other figure leaded her back into a standing position. They continued on their way through the flames of their former town.
Soon they were surrounded by cold, barren land. Bodies laid left and right, with a dead, burnt smell comming from everywhere. All the buildings were either destroyed or most likely close to it. The flames were behind them now, but they could still feel the heat and hear the cries went on and on. The boy had his eyes fixed on one place, and tried his best to focus on that place and not be distracted by everything around them. If they didn't get there quick, they'd be killed for sure.
Just then he heard the girl cry behind him. He whirled around and saw an almost dead ShinRa SOLDIER. He had grabbed onto her ankle and was yanking on it, trying to pull her down. She screamed as loud as she could, as if thinking if she did he'd let go.
"D...die....wu...tai....n...." the SOLDIER gasped.
The boy quickly came forward and raised his katana. Then he brung it down in a swift motion and the blade rendered the SOLDIER's wrist. The girl screamed in horror and lept away, shaking the detatched hand off of her ankle. The SOLDIER fell limp and didn't respond to the action. He turned to the girl and grabbed her wrist and leaded her on, but this time in more of a dart. They were almost there. Just a little farther and they would reach the forest...
They put on one last burst of speed and they reached the forest in an instant. The girl wanted to stop and rest, but he urged her on and they kept their stride. Even if they had reached their destination, that didn't mean they were safe yet. He could still feel the presence of danger and wouldn't stop running until it was gone.
He took a glance behind his shoulder. The screams and flames were gone now, but he could still smell the burning, and he quickly turned his head back towards where he was running, using his dragoon skills to not hurt himself and fall.
They flew out into the open plains. He motioned for the girl to stop, as did he. She looked at him questionably. In front of them was a short piece of land that jutted into the water towards the nearby Rocket Town, and to the south there was more burnt, broken land. The city used to have spread all across the continent, and it was hard for him to register in his mind that all of that was gone now. And in such little time, too!
He motioned for her to follow him, and she did just that. He ran to the edge of the pininsula and looked out at the ocean in front of him. Rocket Town wasn't that far away. They could swim to it, even if they were only four and a half years old. He took a couple steps closer to the edge, when suddenly he heard the crunch of grass behind him. His head spun, as did the girl behind him, and what they saw was the most scariest man they had, or would, ever see in their lives.
The man's smile turned into a twisted grin as he advanced on the two kids. The boy stepped in front of the girl in a protective manner. The man kept his pace, but the boy didn't dare risk the girl's life for his own safety. It just wasn't proper.
"Karasu-kun!" the girl pleaded, "Run! Let's run away! This man's scary!"
The boy paid no attention to her warning, of course, he didn't need it. But where were they going to run? He was blocking their only exit, and behind them was a sheer drop into the ocean, but they wouldn't make it out of the water alive. This cliff had a whole bunch of jagged rocks at the bottom of it and it would slice and dice them for sure.
"Listen to the girl, boy." the man heeded wickedly.
"S,stay back!" the boy warned. He drew his sword and stepped up to Sephiroth. Sephiroth quickly drew his sword, and before Karasu could react, he lunged at him. The next moment seemed to happen in slow motion. As Sephiroth lunged forward, Karasu dove out of the way, but Sephiroth turned on him in a second and pushed his long, six foot sword right at Karasu. It was long, and long enough to reach him. They were only a couple feet apart. The sword met his flesh and went right through his stomache, with room to spare to go out the other side. Blood trickled down from the wound, and Karasu's pupils turned to slits as the reality of death hit him hard in the gut. Sephiroth then ripped the masamune out of Karasu and let him fall limp to the ground, a small pool of blood forming on the ground under his chest.
The girl ran to his side and kneeled to him, but then there was a bright shine of light. She sheilded her eyes with her arm but squinted to see what was going on.
"Argh! What is this light???" Sephiroth demanded, sheilding his own eyes with his black caped arm.
The light disappeared as soon as it appeared, but when it was gone, so was Karasu. The only trace of him was the tiny bit of blood that his body had spilled. Sephiroth's eyes widened in shock, but then thought the better of it, and laughed triumphantly...
"So, that's what happened...." Karasu trailed off.
"Hmm..." Sephiroth mused. He stood there, thinking for the next few moments, then turned back up to face him. "How did you survive, anyhow?" he finally asked.
"I just told you." Karasu confirmed.
"You said you disappeared..." Sephiroth stated. "How and where did you disappear to?" he questioned, looking at him critically.
"Well... if you wanna know..." Karasu began...
A small, purple cat with dragon like wings was in the middle of the forest, asleep, under the shelter of a bush, nesteled against one of the large, wutain trees. It slept soundlessly, as if in a very peaceful dream. Then, its whiskers stirred and opened one of its large, yellow eyes slowly and peered around. It opened its other eye as soon as it saw there was no danger, and stretched to its full extent, getting used to its newly gained muscles. It opened its mouth and yawned sleepily, its mouth growing bigger then would be expected. It blinked a couple times and looked around, its eyes illuminating a golden glow. Then it sat back down, as if contemplating something. It slowly lifted its paws to its own eyeview, as if afraid to see them. Its eyes furrowed in disappointment and then hung its head sadly.
I had omnichanged...
The cat shook itself of the rain, only to be hit with more, and tredded through the forest numbly, looking around from left to right, as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. Of course, that could happen to something if it was almost killed by a scary man in a trench coat. As it tredded, Karasu's voice was in the background, speaking to Sephiroth.
Back then I didn't even know how I did it. I didn't believe it was possible. To tell you the truth, I didn't really think much of it. I had more important things to worry about, and I tried my best, as much as possible, to forget anything that had happened before I woke up in that forest as the gimme cat... I guess I always thought that my memories of before them were just a dream...
Apparantly they weren't, were they?
Yeah, but I'll get to that later.
The cat peeked out the last of the forest and out at the fields. But there were no fields. All that there was was burnt, dry and smokey land, smelling of death and battle. The cat recognized it and its eyes widened. This place was very familiar, but it didn't care to recall from where. It sat back down and gazed at the open field, amazed by how gray and dull it looked. It then got back up and tredded down a hill to cross the burn city of Wutai...
Answer me, now. How did you transport?
Well...
The large, red dragon reared up feircley and roared at its prey. Its prey was a boy in a teal colored cloak and a wooden katana, his hair brown and about the age of thirteen. It fell to the ground and shook the earth around it, causing its prey to stumble. This was its prey's fault, for then its neck leered back and then shot back out, snapping at its victim. He saw it comming and quickly threw himself out of the way, but was hit brutally in the shoulder. He fell too his knee, and glared back up at the dragon.
"Oh, you're going to pay for that, you unearthly giant..." he grumbled under his hoarse breath.
He raised his sword and got back to his feet, and ran at the dragon, letting out a battle cry. He then sprang up to an amazing height, using his dragoon skills to gain as much air as possible, and raised his sword above his head. As he felt himself come down, he lashed his sword down at the dragon and hit it in the forehead, lashing down across its snout and making a deep gash. He fell to the ground and with catlike reflexes, dodged the dragon's next attack. He quickly leaped out of the way as it dug its claws into the ground he was standing on just a moment ago. His eyes widened at the dragon's amazing speed and quickly pulled out a green colored orb, the size of a large marble, out from his pouch. He held it up in the air and gathered as much energy from the lifestream as possible. He had little time before the dragon did its next attack, thus this would be just a weak defense.
A shot of ice flew out of the orb, and hit the dragon in the eye as it was about to open its mouth to fire at the little human in front of it. It screamed and immediantly shut its eye. The boy took this into account and decided it was time to bolt, but the dragon did not. It recovered quickly and roared at him, this time fire sputtering in every direction. The boy felt his cloak getting hot, and he quickly tore it off before it burst into flames. He didn't have enough time to stop, drop, and roll or any of that, he had to get out of there NOW.
The dragon lunged at him with renewed vigor, finding out its prey's weakness, and the boy ran for his life in the north direction. He suddenly stopped short when he reached it, seeing it was a sheer drop down to the ocean below, but much longer down then a previous encounter. He whirled around and looked at the dragon in terror. He was trapped, and had no where to run...
I would of died if I hadn't remembered what had happened...
He did remember. The man in the trenchcoat. How he had reappeared in a totally different place, but not that far away. Surely he could use this mysterious power of his once more. He wanted to. He needed to. He concentrated hard, focusing all of his energy into being transported into any other place then where he was now. Anywhere but here. Then he felt the heat of the fire as it lashed out at him from inside the dragon's mouth...
'I'm so dead....' he thought.
Suddenly, he didn't feel the flames anymore. He opened his eyes and saw that he was behind the dragon instead! He smirked to himself and held up his katana high, and then ran at the dragon with a victorious battle cry. Before it could register what had happened, Karasu made the killing blow as he lashed down from the heavens, slicing the dragon neatly in half. He landed on the ground in front of it, and stared at it. His eyes showed no emotion, like he was looking right through it. Then he turned around, a small breeze lifted his hair from his face, and he closed his eyes, deep in thought of what just happened...
"So, this whole time you were just trying to run away from the tragic dream of your past?" Sephiroth asked.
Karasu nodded solemnly.
Sephiroth took a glance over to him. 'I've really done this much...?' he asked himself. 'But, I didn't have a reason... This was from before when all I was was a mindless ShinRa zombie....a SOLDIER....' He felt the words comming up his throat, those two words he had probably never ever said in his whole life, but he swallowed them back. His lips turned into a twisted smile. 'I am not going to ruin my reputation for this sad omni...' he told himself.
"Karasu..."
Sephiroth and Karasu turned their heads to the source of the word.
Yuffie dropped down from the rafters and landed solidly on her feet, in front of Karasu.
"Yes, Yuffie?" Karasu questioned.
"What did you mean that was just a shadow?" she asked.
"What did I mean?" he began. "Well, technically, it was a shadow." He walked towards the wall and looked up thoughtfully. "Because, before somone transports, you send half of your body, which is, your soul, to your destination. Then, you send the rest of your body there."
"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth demanded. "Your words make no sense at all!"
"You see, if your soul can survive in your destination, then so can your body. It's like a test." Karasu explained. "It doesn't take long. Only about a half a second. But, when Sephiroth slashed me, it was right in that half second. It took my body longer to transport, he had delayed me. But since my soul was already out, only my body was destroyed. However..." he paused and turned to look at them. "As Yuffie already knows, omnis have two bodies."
"I know that, too." Sephiroth commented. "Don't think I don't know my own enemies."
"Good." Karasu stated. Then, he continued. "Anyways, omnis have two bodies. Their original human forms, and their enhanced monster forms. For me, I get the lil purple gimme cat. I don't know what Yuffie gets," Yuffie glared at him, "but it doesn't really matter. You had killed my original human body, while my soul had escaped and used the data in my brain to go into my omni form."
"Whoa, whoa whoa. Back up a little." Sephiroth demanded. "How are you still human NOW?"
"I was just getting to that part!" Karasu said. "Sheesh...okay, the reason why I'm human NOW..." he glared at Sephiroth, "...is because it took me a while to grow my human form back ! I was around the age of seven when I could walk on two legs again, but, oddly, I didn't look like I did when I was killed, but as if I really were seven..." he paused, and looked up at them. "I guess there's just some things you can't really explain."
"You're telling me." Yuffie agreed.
Sephiroth looked back in forth at the Kisaragis, contemplating his actions. Should he make his move and just kill them now, or should he wait to see the information that they wished to show them...?
Footseps faltered his thoughts, and the three turned around.
"Sephiroth, what are you doing?" Cloud demanded to know.
"Nothing." Sephiroth answered. He walked past Cloud, turned the corner, and walked out of sight. Cloud watched Sephiroth, looked at Yuffie and Karasu, and then headed off after him without saying a word.
"What do we do now?" Karasu asked, looking at Yuffie.
"Follow." Yuffie replied, and walked around the corner also. Karasu shrugged and followed her.
It was dark. Very dark. A voice was calling for help. But he couldn't reach it. He could make out a hand, he took it, but then it disappeared.
His eyes widened. They had took his hand before. They had helped him out of the lifestream before. But, why had they disappeared now?
"Who are you?!" he demanded the heavens.
But he didn't get an answer.
Then, all around, the area lit up. A hellish feeling rose and he gasped as he noticed something particularly odd with the place he was in. Everywhere he looked, there was blood. He walked to the wall and put his hand on it, then took it away. The blood stook to his hand. He tried to rub it off frantically, as if it were poisonous, but it would not come off. Suddenly something overhead caught his attention. He looked up. There was no ceiling. All that he saw was darkness.
"Who am I?" a wicked voice asked.
Then, before him, a figured appeared. He looked at it. All that he could make out was a shadow. But it was right in front of him!
Two, long, slimey tentacles slumped to the ground beside it. Suddenly, as if somone had turned on a light, the creature revealed itself. Its lips were twisted into a devilish grin and its eyes were merely red and glowing.
"Je...jenova...." he gasped, and took a few steps back.
Jenova laughed evily. "Where are you going to go now, hmmm?" she asked.
He reached back for his sword, but there was nothing there. His eyes widened. "Where's my sword?!" he demanded.
Jenova shrugged, or what looked like shrugging with tentacles, and giggled bitterly. "I don't know. Besides, you can't hurt me, and, unfortunately, I can't hurt you. So, there would be no need for it anyway." she took a couple slips toward him, leaving a trail of blood behind her. He backed up against the wall, but she kept comming. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Trying to get away from me?"
She was right in front of him now, and a tentacle slipped up his neck and wrapped itself around him.
"You...I'll kill...you..." he gasped, trying to breathe. He choked and gagged. "You said you can't...hurt me..."
Jenova just giggled. "Yes I did, but..." she paused agonizingly long, "...I never said I couldn't make you suffer !!!!" she squeezed even harder. He felt like his head would snap off any minute. He actually wished it would. Then, as his nerves were on their ends, he let out a scream of pain. Jenova cackled maniacally. "Ahahahahahaha! That's right, boy! Scream! Scream until you can't take it any longer!!!!"
Then, his hands shot up and gripped her tentacles. Jenova's eyes went wide with fear. He pushed her back and ripped himself free, and then he fell into the endless darkness...
"Oh gawd, somone make him STOP screaming!!!!" Yuffie complained, covering her ears.
"What the hell's wrong with him?" Karasu asked, walking to Sephiroth's side.
"Jenova's got him, that's what." Sephiroth snarled, and kneeled down next to Cloud. He was screaming and clutching his head in pain, down on his knees. Sephiroth firmly drew back a hand, and slapped him. Cloud sprawled out across the room, finally quiet.
There was a moment of silence.
"...that shut him up..." Karasu observed.
"Shut up." Sephiroth snapped, not taking an eye off of Cloud.
He slowly opened his eyes, and in front of him he saw the dull, grey ceiling of the Highwind. He blinked, as if testing if he was fully operable of his actions. Slowly, he stood back up, and he looked around dumbly.
"S...sorry.." he appologized.
Sephiroth didn't answer, but just glared at him with stern eyes. Then, he continued on his way, walking past Cloud once more. Cloud turned around and watched him.
"Where are you going?!" he demanded.
"You're not my babysitter." Sephiroth stated. "Don't follow me around. And I don't need to tell you where I'm going, either." he stopped, and then said without even turning to look at them, "I'll give you one day to show me who my 'real' mother is, and, if in that time I do not get enough proof, then I'll have to kill you all." he declared. Then, he jumped up and disappeared from view.
She was looking down at the stars. Down at their reflection, actually. Her legs hung over the edge of a wooden bridge, and she gazed into the soft reflection of the millions upon millions of stars in the atmosphere.
"There's so many..." she said to herself in awe. "As many as..."
A shadow appeared behind her. She saw it in the water. Like a mirror.
"...that night by the well?"
Tifa turned around and smiled at seeing Cloud's face. "Yeah..." she answered.
He took a seat next to her and looked up at the stars. She looked up at them, too. At least this way the vision wasn't so blurry. Then, they noticed one of the stars was moving rapidly. Tifa's eyes lighted up at seeing this.
"A shooting star..." she stated.
"Yeah... Great, isn't it?" Cloud asked.
She turned to face him. "Let's make a wish!" she suggested.
He turned and smiled at her. "Okay." he agreed. He took her hand with his. "I wish that I'll never have to leave your side." he said.
Tifa blushed. "I....was wishing the same." she answered.
He laughed. "Ironic. Do you think fate brought us together?" he asked.
"Huh?"
"I mean... I could of DIED there when Zack was..er, 'killed'... But I wasn't..." he paused. "Neither was Zack..." he looked up at the stars again. The shooting star was nowhere in sight anymore. "Do you think Zack lived to save Aeris?" he asked.
"I...I don't know..." Tifa replied. "I hope we find out how he lived. It's sorta hard looking at a whole bunch of people who you think are dead. I hope we figure out everything soon."
"Raven said he lived because he had the power to transport...or phase..." Cloud stated.
"...'Raven'...?" Tifa questioned.
"He says it's his nick-name." he answered. "I don't think he likes being called 'Karasu' that much." he snickered, "It's sorta hard to pronounce, too!"
Tifa laughed. "Kah...ra...soo..." she tried to sound out.
"No, it sounded like he mixed an 'r' and a 'l' syllable together....like...Kah...lra..soo...." he trailed off.
Tifa giggled. "I do like the name, 'Raven', better." she agreed.
"Want me to change my name to Raven?" Cloud suggested.
"Okay, that's going beyond cute!" Tifa countered.
I'm...coming...to...get...you...
Cloud's eyes went wide. Tifa noticed this and looked at him with concerned. "....Cloud?" she ventured, frightenly. After he didn't answer, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey....Cloud?" she tried again. Still, she got no answer. She frowned. "Damnit, Cloud! Answer me!" she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, trying to snap him out of his trance.
"Help...me..."
I'm...
FLASH
"z...aa...ck....za...ck....zack..." Cloud choked. Soon after, bullets flew and Zack was now on the ground in front of him, blood flowing rapidly under him...
FLASH
...coming...
FLASH
He ran into the room. Sephiroth lashed down and Tifa fell down the stairway, blood being ripped from her chest and flying through the air. She let out a scream in pain...
FLASH
...to...
FLASH
He opened his eyes to see Tifa. He was in a hospital. In a wheelchair. She was looking at him with her frightened, wine colored eyes. He tried to speak to her, to cry for help, but his body would not comply to his demands...
FLASH
...get...
FLASH
Her emerald eyes went wide as the sword was pulled through her pink dress and through her flesh, out the other end, and the sudden shock of death ate her whole as she finally took into account what had just happened...
FLASH
...you...
FLASH
His hand went through the wall of materia and to Sephiroth, and then he let go of the Black Materia...
"Help me...Tifa, help me.." he begged. Tifa's eyes widened in fear. "Jen...o...va...Jenova...she's....got me...help...me..." he crumpled himself into a ball on the bridge, holding his head and choking back a scream, he didn't want Jenova to know she had got to him. He couldn't let her know!
"Cloud...Oh my god, Cloud, just hang in there!" she demanded. "Fight her! Fight her as best as you can!!!"
"I'm...trying..." he struggled to gasp. "I....can't....I can't....do it...." his eyes slammed shut and he got up to his knees, and then, he stood up. He opened his eyes. They were blood shot red, like they were back at the materia cave. He blinked,and then they were back to their original mako color. He struggled, fighting the force that was driving him mad.
Hehee!
Her giggle echoed throughout his whole self consiousness. It was pain. Her voice was pure pain in his head, and then he let out a gasp as he felt her claws wrap themselves around his mind and take him into her own control. "Ti...fa...run..!!!!" he warned.
She stood up instantly and started to back away from him, towards the other side of the bridge. "Cloud...." she began. He blinked once more, and his eyes were back to the blood shot red.
He lunged at her, drawing his sword in a swift motion from behind his back. Then, a blue streak flashed out and latched itself to Cloud's head. Tifa's mind jumped, and the blue creature started clawing at Cloud's head madly.
"ARGH! GET OFF ME!!" Cloud screamed. Only this wasn't his voice. It was Jenova's voice, comming out of his mouth.
"No!" the tiny voice of the gimme cat answered. "Jenova, let him go, this instant!"
"Never, you damn omni!" Jenova shreiked, and then grabbed the cat by the neck and threw the cat to the side, and Karasu let out a yowl of surprise as he was thrown into the river, which had suddenly started to pick up speed. His head hit the bottom floor of the river, and his yellow, glowing eyes slowly closed, and he lost consiousness.
"Raven!" Tifa yelled in surprise. Cloud turned back to her, Jenova's eyes twinkling with evil in place of his usual mako eyes. She brought her fist back. "....Allright, Jenova." she stated. "You want a fight so badly, then a fight you will get!" and then she lunged forward, and before Cloud could swing his sword, she struck him in the face. Jenova not having too much strength, Cloud flew across the bridge and landed on his back, his sword clattering to the ground beside him.
He quickly got up and grabbed his sword once more. Tifa spun around and kicked the sword out of his hands, and it clattered back onto the ground. He glared up at her and lunged forward at her, gripping her neck.
DIE!!!!
Tifa heard her this time. But it was inside her head. Her eyes widened. She tried to scream for help, but she couldn't get out enough air. She couldn't breath!
Suddenly, he let go of her. She gasped for air and stumbled backwards, landing onto the ground. She recollected her breath and then looked up shakily at Cloud. His eyes were full of terror, and he stepped back, panicked. His eyes were back to normal, and he was looking as if he had done something terribly awful. Then, he turned and ran the opposite direction, into the woods, and was out of sight in a matter of seconds.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled, and stood up, and dashed to edge of the bridge. "Cloud! Come back!!!" she tried again, but he didn't reply nor come back. "Oh no..." she said to herself. "He's...he's out there alone and Jenova's after him!" she then dashed into the woods and headed in after him.
I've got to find him!
Yuffie stopped short. Her eyes widened and she turned around. She listened closely to the sound she had just heard, and she was pretty sure it was a scream of terror.
"What's up?" a voice in front of her asked, but she didn't pay attention to it, she was too transfixed on finding out what that noise was.
Reno blinked and looked the direction she was looking. 'The hell is wrong with her..?' he wondered. Then he turned back to look at her. Her brow furrowed and she walked past him, heading towards the source of the sound. He blinked again and followed her, unsure of himself, but finding it he had no other choice.
She stopped again. Maybe she was just hearing an illusion. Or maybe it was just the wind? A cold shiver ran down her spine. 'Who was that?!' she thought to herself.
"Is something...wrong, Yuf?" Reno tried.
She shook her head and turned back towards him. "I heard something." she stated.
"What?"
"A scream...of terror." she replied.
He walked up to her side and looked in the direction she was looking at a moment ago. She turned to face the direction, too.
"Was it comming from this direction?" he asked.
She nodded. "Uhuh." she answered. "It sounded like...it was comming from..." she concentrated. It had been a split second, but there was one distinct feature to that voice. 'But what?' she asked herself. Over and over, she played it again and again in her head. Then, it hit her like a brick.
"Comming from...what?" Reno questioned, leaning forward to her, looking straight into her eyes, concerned.
"...Cloud..." she answered, as if not answering at all, but more like a surprised whisper. She ran past him, and he was after her in half a second.
Then, she heard the scream again. This time, Reno had heard it, too. But it wasn't Cloud this time. It was...
"That was Tifa!" Reno shouted up ahead to Yuffie.
"I know!" she replied, not slowing down, but actually running faster.
They burst out of the forest and into an open feild, surrounded by forest all around. In the middle, there stood Jenova, her many tentacles strewn across the ground. But two had gotten their mark on Cloud and Tifa, squeezing their necks hard.
"Oh my gawd!!!" Yuffie gasped.
Jenova heard her and turned to Yuffie in a split second. Her red eyes flashing, she whipped a tentacle at her in the blink of an eye. Before it could reach her, Reno pushed her out of the way, getting caught instead.
"Reno!!" she shouted.
"Go...leave..." he demanded, trying his best to breath. Jenova raised him up high up in the air, and soon he was around ten feet off the ground!
"Stop it!!!" Cloud demanded.
"You want me to stop?" Jenova questioned. "Fine." she replied to herself after a moment, and threw Tifa and Cloud across the plain, in Yuffie's direction. But, she kept Reno.
"Let go of him!" Tifa shouted at Jenova. "He has nothing to do with you!"
"If you don't let go, we'll kill you!" Cloud stated.
"You were wanting to do that anyway." Jenova said. She brought Reno closer to her. "And besides, like you could carry out such a hopeless threat?"
Cloud lunged at Jenova to punch her, but all that she did was bat him off to the side. Tifa tried the same, but was thrown into the same position.
Then, Jenova started to drain the lifestream out of him! She cackled maniacally. "Ahahahahahaha! This man has some good energy I could use to kill you all! And then, I'll kill all your little friends in a flash!" she cackled once more, long and loud, and kept draining his lifestream energy.
Yuffie looked at Jenova, horrified. "S...stop...pl....please....stop..." she begged. Jenova just ignored her. Helpless, she dropped to her knees and looked at the ground. She couldn't help but notice that a tear had leaked from her eye and down her cheek, and onto the grass below. She blinked several times. She looked back up at Jenova sadly. Wasn't there anything she could do?
Then, Jenova dropped Reno, and he fell to the ground, unconsious. "Hmm.. maybe not as much as I expected, but what the hell!" Jenova observed. "Now, time to destroy you little pests." she paid no attention to Yuffie, and turned to Cloud and Tifa and started advancing to them.
Yuffie stood back up, and walked over to where Reno lay. Her pupils completely disappeared, and she kneeled down, looking at him, as if in a trance. She shook his shoulder with one of her hands, but he didn't wake up. His breath was short, and would undoubtfully run out soon.
Why won't he wake up? Who is this man? And who did this to him?
Yuffie... You don't...remember...a thing...
Wake up...
Help the others.
Who are you?
Yuffie!
Why do you know my name?!
Snap out of it!!!
...snap out of it...
She blinked. This man knew her. He was dying. She wanted to know why he knew her. And the only way she would ever know that was if she were to save him.
Her hair flared up, an undetected swirl of energy moving the air around her frantically. She stood up from her position by him. Jenova had almost reached Cloud and Tifa, but she didn't know who they were either. But it seemed to be a factor that the sorceress had done this to him. Black, feathered wings burst out from her shoulderblades, ripping holes in the back of her shirt. Her skin slowly tinted green, and scales started spreading across her skin. Her eyes turned green, and she regrew bright, golden colored pupils. Her fingernails turned into nastily long claws and her body grew smaller then her regular build. Her clothes disappeared, and so did all the rest of her humanoid features. She looked up at the sorceress menacingly. She was her target.
Jenova felt the rise in strength from the girl she had left to kill last, and swirled around to glare at her. But she was no more. Now there stood a devilish, winged, humanoid lizard with long claws and green eyes. Her eyes widened and her face contorted with rage. "What the hell just happened?!" Jenova demanded to know. Yuffie didn't answer, but jumped at her. She was in front of Jenova in a split second, and was swiping at her front side with her claws, not taking time to think about her actions, but acting independantly on her anger.
Jenova screamed and lept back, blood trickling from the gashes in her face and chest. She lunged at Yuffie and slung her tentacles around her waist, her sharp, white teeth illuminating her mouth. She made for her neck, and bit down hard.
Yuffie screamed in pain. Jenova was getting control of her! She couldn't stop her, she was helpless, hopeless yet again!
Why can't I have any real strength for once?
She felt the cold blood trickled down her neck, and still Jenova wouldn't let go. She threw one of her clawed hands back and started gathering all of her chi energy left. Jenova's eyes widened and she let go of her neck and lept back, surprised.
Then, Yuffie slung her hand forward and threw the energy ball at Jenova. It hit her square in the stomache. She collapsed, having used all of her energy, and breathed desperately, catching her breath. Jenova towered over her, only having being scratched from Yuffie's attack. She looked up at Jenova desperately, and then she lunged upwards and slashed at Jenova's face.
Jenova screamed and lept back in horror, holding her eyes. She took her hands away and powered up her own energy beam. She fired at Yuffie, who quickly got out of the way. Then, she noticed something. Jenova's eyes were bleeding. They were split right in half.
She's completely blind!
"Alias!" Yuffie cried, and then, a whole bunch of illusional copies of herself filed around Jenova, circling her, mocking her, laughing at her. Yuffie smirked to herself. She had this one won, for sure.
Jenova blasted at all the illusions that she could, directing her hits at the sounds. But she was completely confused, and ended up hurting herself more then enough times. Finally, her tentacles shimmered blue, and she casted a cure magic on her eyes.
It was too late.
In Cloud's hand, a new kind of sword appeared. Just out of thin air! It was blue, long, and dark. Millions of designs were plastered all over it. But, it looked like it was made of pure energy, and not any kind of metal at all!
He charged at Jenova, yelling a battle cry, and slashed down at her. Tifa joined in and used her triple kick attack. Yuffie even reproduced enough energy to shine in her own attack.
"Black aqua!!!" she cried, and sent a ball of black liquid tumbling at Jenova. It englufed her, but it didn't do much damage. All that it did was stall her.
"Shimatta.." Yuffie cursed to herself. Then, she concentrated hard, and drew all of her remaining power...
Cloud lashed at Jenova again. Tifa and him then preformed a combo attack where Cloud slashed Jenova and Tifa dropped-kicked from above.
"Give back what you have taken!" Yuffie demanded, opening her eyes, and she ripped the lifestream out from Jenova's quivering and beat up body. It flowed back into Reno, who still layed on the grass not more then ten meters away. His fingers twitched, but that was the only sign he shown of life.
Jenova screamed in anger and casted Ultima on the whole field. Yuffie sheilded Reno and herself with her barrier, while Cloud and Tifa quickly countered with their own magic defenses. When the blast subsided, Jenova was in a crumpled heap on the ground. The grass was now a grayish color, burned by the Ultima's blast.
"I will...kill you all..." Jenova gasped. She then disappeared, leaving only her blood to prove that she was once really there.
Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie stood there in the field, too winded to do anything about it. Yuffie dropped to her knees and her scales and fethers fell off of her body, loosely, her clothes, skin, regular height, and features returning. Her eyes closed and she collapsed completely, unconsious.
Tifa and Cloud walked over to her and looked down warily. She was still breathing, that much was certain, but how long would it take her to regain all of her strength?
Then, a little, purple cat like monster darted out from the forest, its yellow eyes glowing like a flashlight would to help its way through the dark. It scampered to Yuffie's side and looked down at her. After a couple moments, it looked back up at Cloud and Tifa innocently, yet angry.
"What happened?" Raven asked.
"Jenova." Cloud answered.
Raven hissed and the spikes on his back flew up with rage. "Ffftt! I'm gunna hurt her surely for this!!!" he told himself.
"I'll make sure that I'll do any damage first."
They all turned to see Reno, getting up by the suppord of his knees.
"Reno, how did you cure yourself so quickly?!" Karasu demanded. He hissed at him, "And I'm going to do damage first! I'm not letting a shinra like you finish the job!"
"He's not part of Shinra anymore..." Tifa began.
"Yes he is!" Karasu snapped back, and then ran off back into the woods, not saying another word.
"He needs an aditude adjustment." Reno observed.
"No." Cloud countered. "He just needs to open his eyes..."
"I don't blame him..." Tifa began. "Shinra almost killed him once before, and they've been his enemy ever since."
Reno didn't reply. He picked Yuffie up and then looked back at them. "I suggest that we start heading back. The others will be worried." he said. He then started back into the woods, carrying Yuffie in his arms. Cloud and Tifa followed, seeing that that was the most obvious thing to do.
~~~~
I tried to make this chapter seem a little creepy, but IMHO I think I sorta failed at it x.X; Please tell me what you think! Reviews are welcome! I wanna know what you guys think I should do next or maybe some ideas, so I can make it better for you to read! Please review!
~~~~
'How did he survive my blow?' Sephiroth asked himself. Everyone else were in the infirmary, eating dinner. Karasu declines the offer and decided not to eat, as well as Sephiroth. Sephiroth noted that Yuffie gave him a cold glare and then followed the others reluctantly. She probably still remembered the moment. Sephiroth looked down from the pilot's deck to the dock where Karasu was standing, looking down at the sunset as the landscape flew by past the evergoing plane.
'Is that really him?' he wondered. 'Or is this another one of his shadows?' he recalled hearing Yuffie say something about a shadow not too long ago. His eyes narrowed, as if trying to see through him. But he was most definently real. The jenova inside him said so. But the question still remained.
'I will ask him myself, then.' he decided, and lept over the railing and onto the dock below.
Karasu nearly jumped, and he whirled around to face him. His eyes went extremely wide and he stepped back, against the railing. Karasu remembered who this was, no doubt about it. And he hadn't changed. Sephiroth still had the cold, mako eyes of a murderer.
"Wh...what do you want?" Karasu asked cautiously, looking as if Sephiroth had made a sudden move, he'd jump off and over the railing.
"Don't worry, boy." Sephiroth said. "I won't hurt you, yet." he stepped closer to Karasu, his face expressionless. "I just want to ask you a simple question, that is all."
"What is that?" Karasu asked, his right hand dropping to where his katana was on the strap on his back.
Sephiroth reached for his own sword, but didn't grab it. "How did you survive when I supposedly killed you?" he questioned.
"That I can not reveal to you." Karasu stated.
Sephiroth's hand gripped around the hilt of the masamune. "Tell me or I will repeat history." he threatened.
Karasu didn't make any moves, and neither did Sephiroth for the next few moments. They just stood there, glaring at each other, both ready just in case the other one decided to strike.
Suddenly, as if somone had triggered a gun, Karasu drew his katana and, in a swift movement, stiked it upwards at Sephiroth's chin. Sephiroth jumped back and drew the masamune, and he dove at Karasu. Karasu jumped out of the way and landed on the other side of Sephiroth. 'No doubt a Wutain Dragoon Knight...' he thought to himself, and dove at Karasu again. Karasu brought up his katana just in time to block Sephiroth's blow, and Sephiroth in turn pulled away and striked again, at a different angle. Karasu, using his cat-like reflexes, side stepped out of the way, and then he turned and bolted, sure to himself that he'd get some cover if he joined the others right about now.
He heard Sephiroth's footsteps behind him, and he ran faster. Then, he found himself at a dead end, and he stopped right in tracks and turned to Sephiroth, who was now walking calmly towards him, a smug grin on his face.
"There's no where for you to run now, Kisaragi." he stated.
"Fine." Karasu admitted in defeat. "What is it you want to know of?"
"I want to know why you are still alive." Sephiroth stated, putting his masamune away. Karasu put his katana away and sighed.
"Might as well tell you now..." Karasu admitted. "Okay, well... This is how I survived..."
There were screams, cries, flames everywhere. The smell of burnt flesh and blood filled the large city, and no matter where anyone turned, there was destruction on the other side. Nobody cared about the city itself anymore, that part hadn't register yet. Everyone was too busy running in fear for cover as the Dragoon Knights of Wutai charged at the SOLDIER army. This was the final battle. After five, long years the war would finally be over. Just, who was going to win this one?
Admist the battle, two little figures made their way carefully down the broken sidewalks, trying their best to ignore the chaos around them, trying to focus mainly on getting out of there alive. One of the little figures stopped and gasped, dropping to their knees next to a coarpse that lay on the ground, unmoving.
"Sis..." said the other figure, and kneeled down next to her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. She cried and cried, trying her best not to cry any more, but the tears kept on comming.
"M...mom..." the girl weeped.
"She's gone... We can't get her back..." the other figure said, almost sadly.
The girl nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. The other figure leaded her back into a standing position. They continued on their way through the flames of their former town.
Soon they were surrounded by cold, barren land. Bodies laid left and right, with a dead, burnt smell comming from everywhere. All the buildings were either destroyed or most likely close to it. The flames were behind them now, but they could still feel the heat and hear the cries went on and on. The boy had his eyes fixed on one place, and tried his best to focus on that place and not be distracted by everything around them. If they didn't get there quick, they'd be killed for sure.
Just then he heard the girl cry behind him. He whirled around and saw an almost dead ShinRa SOLDIER. He had grabbed onto her ankle and was yanking on it, trying to pull her down. She screamed as loud as she could, as if thinking if she did he'd let go.
"D...die....wu...tai....n...." the SOLDIER gasped.
The boy quickly came forward and raised his katana. Then he brung it down in a swift motion and the blade rendered the SOLDIER's wrist. The girl screamed in horror and lept away, shaking the detatched hand off of her ankle. The SOLDIER fell limp and didn't respond to the action. He turned to the girl and grabbed her wrist and leaded her on, but this time in more of a dart. They were almost there. Just a little farther and they would reach the forest...
They put on one last burst of speed and they reached the forest in an instant. The girl wanted to stop and rest, but he urged her on and they kept their stride. Even if they had reached their destination, that didn't mean they were safe yet. He could still feel the presence of danger and wouldn't stop running until it was gone.
He took a glance behind his shoulder. The screams and flames were gone now, but he could still smell the burning, and he quickly turned his head back towards where he was running, using his dragoon skills to not hurt himself and fall.
They flew out into the open plains. He motioned for the girl to stop, as did he. She looked at him questionably. In front of them was a short piece of land that jutted into the water towards the nearby Rocket Town, and to the south there was more burnt, broken land. The city used to have spread all across the continent, and it was hard for him to register in his mind that all of that was gone now. And in such little time, too!
He motioned for her to follow him, and she did just that. He ran to the edge of the pininsula and looked out at the ocean in front of him. Rocket Town wasn't that far away. They could swim to it, even if they were only four and a half years old. He took a couple steps closer to the edge, when suddenly he heard the crunch of grass behind him. His head spun, as did the girl behind him, and what they saw was the most scariest man they had, or would, ever see in their lives.
The man's smile turned into a twisted grin as he advanced on the two kids. The boy stepped in front of the girl in a protective manner. The man kept his pace, but the boy didn't dare risk the girl's life for his own safety. It just wasn't proper.
"Karasu-kun!" the girl pleaded, "Run! Let's run away! This man's scary!"
The boy paid no attention to her warning, of course, he didn't need it. But where were they going to run? He was blocking their only exit, and behind them was a sheer drop into the ocean, but they wouldn't make it out of the water alive. This cliff had a whole bunch of jagged rocks at the bottom of it and it would slice and dice them for sure.
"Listen to the girl, boy." the man heeded wickedly.
"S,stay back!" the boy warned. He drew his sword and stepped up to Sephiroth. Sephiroth quickly drew his sword, and before Karasu could react, he lunged at him. The next moment seemed to happen in slow motion. As Sephiroth lunged forward, Karasu dove out of the way, but Sephiroth turned on him in a second and pushed his long, six foot sword right at Karasu. It was long, and long enough to reach him. They were only a couple feet apart. The sword met his flesh and went right through his stomache, with room to spare to go out the other side. Blood trickled down from the wound, and Karasu's pupils turned to slits as the reality of death hit him hard in the gut. Sephiroth then ripped the masamune out of Karasu and let him fall limp to the ground, a small pool of blood forming on the ground under his chest.
The girl ran to his side and kneeled to him, but then there was a bright shine of light. She sheilded her eyes with her arm but squinted to see what was going on.
"Argh! What is this light???" Sephiroth demanded, sheilding his own eyes with his black caped arm.
The light disappeared as soon as it appeared, but when it was gone, so was Karasu. The only trace of him was the tiny bit of blood that his body had spilled. Sephiroth's eyes widened in shock, but then thought the better of it, and laughed triumphantly...
"So, that's what happened...." Karasu trailed off.
"Hmm..." Sephiroth mused. He stood there, thinking for the next few moments, then turned back up to face him. "How did you survive, anyhow?" he finally asked.
"I just told you." Karasu confirmed.
"You said you disappeared..." Sephiroth stated. "How and where did you disappear to?" he questioned, looking at him critically.
"Well... if you wanna know..." Karasu began...
A small, purple cat with dragon like wings was in the middle of the forest, asleep, under the shelter of a bush, nesteled against one of the large, wutain trees. It slept soundlessly, as if in a very peaceful dream. Then, its whiskers stirred and opened one of its large, yellow eyes slowly and peered around. It opened its other eye as soon as it saw there was no danger, and stretched to its full extent, getting used to its newly gained muscles. It opened its mouth and yawned sleepily, its mouth growing bigger then would be expected. It blinked a couple times and looked around, its eyes illuminating a golden glow. Then it sat back down, as if contemplating something. It slowly lifted its paws to its own eyeview, as if afraid to see them. Its eyes furrowed in disappointment and then hung its head sadly.
I had omnichanged...
The cat shook itself of the rain, only to be hit with more, and tredded through the forest numbly, looking around from left to right, as if expecting to be attacked at any moment. Of course, that could happen to something if it was almost killed by a scary man in a trench coat. As it tredded, Karasu's voice was in the background, speaking to Sephiroth.
Back then I didn't even know how I did it. I didn't believe it was possible. To tell you the truth, I didn't really think much of it. I had more important things to worry about, and I tried my best, as much as possible, to forget anything that had happened before I woke up in that forest as the gimme cat... I guess I always thought that my memories of before them were just a dream...
Apparantly they weren't, were they?
Yeah, but I'll get to that later.
The cat peeked out the last of the forest and out at the fields. But there were no fields. All that there was was burnt, dry and smokey land, smelling of death and battle. The cat recognized it and its eyes widened. This place was very familiar, but it didn't care to recall from where. It sat back down and gazed at the open field, amazed by how gray and dull it looked. It then got back up and tredded down a hill to cross the burn city of Wutai...
Answer me, now. How did you transport?
Well...
The large, red dragon reared up feircley and roared at its prey. Its prey was a boy in a teal colored cloak and a wooden katana, his hair brown and about the age of thirteen. It fell to the ground and shook the earth around it, causing its prey to stumble. This was its prey's fault, for then its neck leered back and then shot back out, snapping at its victim. He saw it comming and quickly threw himself out of the way, but was hit brutally in the shoulder. He fell too his knee, and glared back up at the dragon.
"Oh, you're going to pay for that, you unearthly giant..." he grumbled under his hoarse breath.
He raised his sword and got back to his feet, and ran at the dragon, letting out a battle cry. He then sprang up to an amazing height, using his dragoon skills to gain as much air as possible, and raised his sword above his head. As he felt himself come down, he lashed his sword down at the dragon and hit it in the forehead, lashing down across its snout and making a deep gash. He fell to the ground and with catlike reflexes, dodged the dragon's next attack. He quickly leaped out of the way as it dug its claws into the ground he was standing on just a moment ago. His eyes widened at the dragon's amazing speed and quickly pulled out a green colored orb, the size of a large marble, out from his pouch. He held it up in the air and gathered as much energy from the lifestream as possible. He had little time before the dragon did its next attack, thus this would be just a weak defense.
A shot of ice flew out of the orb, and hit the dragon in the eye as it was about to open its mouth to fire at the little human in front of it. It screamed and immediantly shut its eye. The boy took this into account and decided it was time to bolt, but the dragon did not. It recovered quickly and roared at him, this time fire sputtering in every direction. The boy felt his cloak getting hot, and he quickly tore it off before it burst into flames. He didn't have enough time to stop, drop, and roll or any of that, he had to get out of there NOW.
The dragon lunged at him with renewed vigor, finding out its prey's weakness, and the boy ran for his life in the north direction. He suddenly stopped short when he reached it, seeing it was a sheer drop down to the ocean below, but much longer down then a previous encounter. He whirled around and looked at the dragon in terror. He was trapped, and had no where to run...
I would of died if I hadn't remembered what had happened...
He did remember. The man in the trenchcoat. How he had reappeared in a totally different place, but not that far away. Surely he could use this mysterious power of his once more. He wanted to. He needed to. He concentrated hard, focusing all of his energy into being transported into any other place then where he was now. Anywhere but here. Then he felt the heat of the fire as it lashed out at him from inside the dragon's mouth...
'I'm so dead....' he thought.
Suddenly, he didn't feel the flames anymore. He opened his eyes and saw that he was behind the dragon instead! He smirked to himself and held up his katana high, and then ran at the dragon with a victorious battle cry. Before it could register what had happened, Karasu made the killing blow as he lashed down from the heavens, slicing the dragon neatly in half. He landed on the ground in front of it, and stared at it. His eyes showed no emotion, like he was looking right through it. Then he turned around, a small breeze lifted his hair from his face, and he closed his eyes, deep in thought of what just happened...
"So, this whole time you were just trying to run away from the tragic dream of your past?" Sephiroth asked.
Karasu nodded solemnly.
Sephiroth took a glance over to him. 'I've really done this much...?' he asked himself. 'But, I didn't have a reason... This was from before when all I was was a mindless ShinRa zombie....a SOLDIER....' He felt the words comming up his throat, those two words he had probably never ever said in his whole life, but he swallowed them back. His lips turned into a twisted smile. 'I am not going to ruin my reputation for this sad omni...' he told himself.
"Karasu..."
Sephiroth and Karasu turned their heads to the source of the word.
Yuffie dropped down from the rafters and landed solidly on her feet, in front of Karasu.
"Yes, Yuffie?" Karasu questioned.
"What did you mean that was just a shadow?" she asked.
"What did I mean?" he began. "Well, technically, it was a shadow." He walked towards the wall and looked up thoughtfully. "Because, before somone transports, you send half of your body, which is, your soul, to your destination. Then, you send the rest of your body there."
"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth demanded. "Your words make no sense at all!"
"You see, if your soul can survive in your destination, then so can your body. It's like a test." Karasu explained. "It doesn't take long. Only about a half a second. But, when Sephiroth slashed me, it was right in that half second. It took my body longer to transport, he had delayed me. But since my soul was already out, only my body was destroyed. However..." he paused and turned to look at them. "As Yuffie already knows, omnis have two bodies."
"I know that, too." Sephiroth commented. "Don't think I don't know my own enemies."
"Good." Karasu stated. Then, he continued. "Anyways, omnis have two bodies. Their original human forms, and their enhanced monster forms. For me, I get the lil purple gimme cat. I don't know what Yuffie gets," Yuffie glared at him, "but it doesn't really matter. You had killed my original human body, while my soul had escaped and used the data in my brain to go into my omni form."
"Whoa, whoa whoa. Back up a little." Sephiroth demanded. "How are you still human NOW?"
"I was just getting to that part!" Karasu said. "Sheesh...okay, the reason why I'm human NOW..." he glared at Sephiroth, "...is because it took me a while to grow my human form back ! I was around the age of seven when I could walk on two legs again, but, oddly, I didn't look like I did when I was killed, but as if I really were seven..." he paused, and looked up at them. "I guess there's just some things you can't really explain."
"You're telling me." Yuffie agreed.
Sephiroth looked back in forth at the Kisaragis, contemplating his actions. Should he make his move and just kill them now, or should he wait to see the information that they wished to show them...?
Footseps faltered his thoughts, and the three turned around.
"Sephiroth, what are you doing?" Cloud demanded to know.
"Nothing." Sephiroth answered. He walked past Cloud, turned the corner, and walked out of sight. Cloud watched Sephiroth, looked at Yuffie and Karasu, and then headed off after him without saying a word.
"What do we do now?" Karasu asked, looking at Yuffie.
"Follow." Yuffie replied, and walked around the corner also. Karasu shrugged and followed her.
It was dark. Very dark. A voice was calling for help. But he couldn't reach it. He could make out a hand, he took it, but then it disappeared.
His eyes widened. They had took his hand before. They had helped him out of the lifestream before. But, why had they disappeared now?
"Who are you?!" he demanded the heavens.
But he didn't get an answer.
Then, all around, the area lit up. A hellish feeling rose and he gasped as he noticed something particularly odd with the place he was in. Everywhere he looked, there was blood. He walked to the wall and put his hand on it, then took it away. The blood stook to his hand. He tried to rub it off frantically, as if it were poisonous, but it would not come off. Suddenly something overhead caught his attention. He looked up. There was no ceiling. All that he saw was darkness.
"Who am I?" a wicked voice asked.
Then, before him, a figured appeared. He looked at it. All that he could make out was a shadow. But it was right in front of him!
Two, long, slimey tentacles slumped to the ground beside it. Suddenly, as if somone had turned on a light, the creature revealed itself. Its lips were twisted into a devilish grin and its eyes were merely red and glowing.
"Je...jenova...." he gasped, and took a few steps back.
Jenova laughed evily. "Where are you going to go now, hmmm?" she asked.
He reached back for his sword, but there was nothing there. His eyes widened. "Where's my sword?!" he demanded.
Jenova shrugged, or what looked like shrugging with tentacles, and giggled bitterly. "I don't know. Besides, you can't hurt me, and, unfortunately, I can't hurt you. So, there would be no need for it anyway." she took a couple slips toward him, leaving a trail of blood behind her. He backed up against the wall, but she kept comming. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Trying to get away from me?"
She was right in front of him now, and a tentacle slipped up his neck and wrapped itself around him.
"You...I'll kill...you..." he gasped, trying to breathe. He choked and gagged. "You said you can't...hurt me..."
Jenova just giggled. "Yes I did, but..." she paused agonizingly long, "...I never said I couldn't make you suffer !!!!" she squeezed even harder. He felt like his head would snap off any minute. He actually wished it would. Then, as his nerves were on their ends, he let out a scream of pain. Jenova cackled maniacally. "Ahahahahahaha! That's right, boy! Scream! Scream until you can't take it any longer!!!!"
Then, his hands shot up and gripped her tentacles. Jenova's eyes went wide with fear. He pushed her back and ripped himself free, and then he fell into the endless darkness...
"Oh gawd, somone make him STOP screaming!!!!" Yuffie complained, covering her ears.
"What the hell's wrong with him?" Karasu asked, walking to Sephiroth's side.
"Jenova's got him, that's what." Sephiroth snarled, and kneeled down next to Cloud. He was screaming and clutching his head in pain, down on his knees. Sephiroth firmly drew back a hand, and slapped him. Cloud sprawled out across the room, finally quiet.
There was a moment of silence.
"...that shut him up..." Karasu observed.
"Shut up." Sephiroth snapped, not taking an eye off of Cloud.
He slowly opened his eyes, and in front of him he saw the dull, grey ceiling of the Highwind. He blinked, as if testing if he was fully operable of his actions. Slowly, he stood back up, and he looked around dumbly.
"S...sorry.." he appologized.
Sephiroth didn't answer, but just glared at him with stern eyes. Then, he continued on his way, walking past Cloud once more. Cloud turned around and watched him.
"Where are you going?!" he demanded.
"You're not my babysitter." Sephiroth stated. "Don't follow me around. And I don't need to tell you where I'm going, either." he stopped, and then said without even turning to look at them, "I'll give you one day to show me who my 'real' mother is, and, if in that time I do not get enough proof, then I'll have to kill you all." he declared. Then, he jumped up and disappeared from view.
She was looking down at the stars. Down at their reflection, actually. Her legs hung over the edge of a wooden bridge, and she gazed into the soft reflection of the millions upon millions of stars in the atmosphere.
"There's so many..." she said to herself in awe. "As many as..."
A shadow appeared behind her. She saw it in the water. Like a mirror.
"...that night by the well?"
Tifa turned around and smiled at seeing Cloud's face. "Yeah..." she answered.
He took a seat next to her and looked up at the stars. She looked up at them, too. At least this way the vision wasn't so blurry. Then, they noticed one of the stars was moving rapidly. Tifa's eyes lighted up at seeing this.
"A shooting star..." she stated.
"Yeah... Great, isn't it?" Cloud asked.
She turned to face him. "Let's make a wish!" she suggested.
He turned and smiled at her. "Okay." he agreed. He took her hand with his. "I wish that I'll never have to leave your side." he said.
Tifa blushed. "I....was wishing the same." she answered.
He laughed. "Ironic. Do you think fate brought us together?" he asked.
"Huh?"
"I mean... I could of DIED there when Zack was..er, 'killed'... But I wasn't..." he paused. "Neither was Zack..." he looked up at the stars again. The shooting star was nowhere in sight anymore. "Do you think Zack lived to save Aeris?" he asked.
"I...I don't know..." Tifa replied. "I hope we find out how he lived. It's sorta hard looking at a whole bunch of people who you think are dead. I hope we figure out everything soon."
"Raven said he lived because he had the power to transport...or phase..." Cloud stated.
"...'Raven'...?" Tifa questioned.
"He says it's his nick-name." he answered. "I don't think he likes being called 'Karasu' that much." he snickered, "It's sorta hard to pronounce, too!"
Tifa laughed. "Kah...ra...soo..." she tried to sound out.
"No, it sounded like he mixed an 'r' and a 'l' syllable together....like...Kah...lra..soo...." he trailed off.
Tifa giggled. "I do like the name, 'Raven', better." she agreed.
"Want me to change my name to Raven?" Cloud suggested.
"Okay, that's going beyond cute!" Tifa countered.
I'm...coming...to...get...you...
Cloud's eyes went wide. Tifa noticed this and looked at him with concerned. "....Cloud?" she ventured, frightenly. After he didn't answer, she tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey....Cloud?" she tried again. Still, she got no answer. She frowned. "Damnit, Cloud! Answer me!" she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, trying to snap him out of his trance.
"Help...me..."
I'm...
FLASH
"z...aa...ck....za...ck....zack..." Cloud choked. Soon after, bullets flew and Zack was now on the ground in front of him, blood flowing rapidly under him...
FLASH
...coming...
FLASH
He ran into the room. Sephiroth lashed down and Tifa fell down the stairway, blood being ripped from her chest and flying through the air. She let out a scream in pain...
FLASH
...to...
FLASH
He opened his eyes to see Tifa. He was in a hospital. In a wheelchair. She was looking at him with her frightened, wine colored eyes. He tried to speak to her, to cry for help, but his body would not comply to his demands...
FLASH
...get...
FLASH
Her emerald eyes went wide as the sword was pulled through her pink dress and through her flesh, out the other end, and the sudden shock of death ate her whole as she finally took into account what had just happened...
FLASH
...you...
FLASH
His hand went through the wall of materia and to Sephiroth, and then he let go of the Black Materia...
"Help me...Tifa, help me.." he begged. Tifa's eyes widened in fear. "Jen...o...va...Jenova...she's....got me...help...me..." he crumpled himself into a ball on the bridge, holding his head and choking back a scream, he didn't want Jenova to know she had got to him. He couldn't let her know!
"Cloud...Oh my god, Cloud, just hang in there!" she demanded. "Fight her! Fight her as best as you can!!!"
"I'm...trying..." he struggled to gasp. "I....can't....I can't....do it...." his eyes slammed shut and he got up to his knees, and then, he stood up. He opened his eyes. They were blood shot red, like they were back at the materia cave. He blinked,and then they were back to their original mako color. He struggled, fighting the force that was driving him mad.
Hehee!
Her giggle echoed throughout his whole self consiousness. It was pain. Her voice was pure pain in his head, and then he let out a gasp as he felt her claws wrap themselves around his mind and take him into her own control. "Ti...fa...run..!!!!" he warned.
She stood up instantly and started to back away from him, towards the other side of the bridge. "Cloud...." she began. He blinked once more, and his eyes were back to the blood shot red.
He lunged at her, drawing his sword in a swift motion from behind his back. Then, a blue streak flashed out and latched itself to Cloud's head. Tifa's mind jumped, and the blue creature started clawing at Cloud's head madly.
"ARGH! GET OFF ME!!" Cloud screamed. Only this wasn't his voice. It was Jenova's voice, comming out of his mouth.
"No!" the tiny voice of the gimme cat answered. "Jenova, let him go, this instant!"
"Never, you damn omni!" Jenova shreiked, and then grabbed the cat by the neck and threw the cat to the side, and Karasu let out a yowl of surprise as he was thrown into the river, which had suddenly started to pick up speed. His head hit the bottom floor of the river, and his yellow, glowing eyes slowly closed, and he lost consiousness.
"Raven!" Tifa yelled in surprise. Cloud turned back to her, Jenova's eyes twinkling with evil in place of his usual mako eyes. She brought her fist back. "....Allright, Jenova." she stated. "You want a fight so badly, then a fight you will get!" and then she lunged forward, and before Cloud could swing his sword, she struck him in the face. Jenova not having too much strength, Cloud flew across the bridge and landed on his back, his sword clattering to the ground beside him.
He quickly got up and grabbed his sword once more. Tifa spun around and kicked the sword out of his hands, and it clattered back onto the ground. He glared up at her and lunged forward at her, gripping her neck.
DIE!!!!
Tifa heard her this time. But it was inside her head. Her eyes widened. She tried to scream for help, but she couldn't get out enough air. She couldn't breath!
Suddenly, he let go of her. She gasped for air and stumbled backwards, landing onto the ground. She recollected her breath and then looked up shakily at Cloud. His eyes were full of terror, and he stepped back, panicked. His eyes were back to normal, and he was looking as if he had done something terribly awful. Then, he turned and ran the opposite direction, into the woods, and was out of sight in a matter of seconds.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled, and stood up, and dashed to edge of the bridge. "Cloud! Come back!!!" she tried again, but he didn't reply nor come back. "Oh no..." she said to herself. "He's...he's out there alone and Jenova's after him!" she then dashed into the woods and headed in after him.
I've got to find him!
Yuffie stopped short. Her eyes widened and she turned around. She listened closely to the sound she had just heard, and she was pretty sure it was a scream of terror.
"What's up?" a voice in front of her asked, but she didn't pay attention to it, she was too transfixed on finding out what that noise was.
Reno blinked and looked the direction she was looking. 'The hell is wrong with her..?' he wondered. Then he turned back to look at her. Her brow furrowed and she walked past him, heading towards the source of the sound. He blinked again and followed her, unsure of himself, but finding it he had no other choice.
She stopped again. Maybe she was just hearing an illusion. Or maybe it was just the wind? A cold shiver ran down her spine. 'Who was that?!' she thought to herself.
"Is something...wrong, Yuf?" Reno tried.
She shook her head and turned back towards him. "I heard something." she stated.
"What?"
"A scream...of terror." she replied.
He walked up to her side and looked in the direction she was looking at a moment ago. She turned to face the direction, too.
"Was it comming from this direction?" he asked.
She nodded. "Uhuh." she answered. "It sounded like...it was comming from..." she concentrated. It had been a split second, but there was one distinct feature to that voice. 'But what?' she asked herself. Over and over, she played it again and again in her head. Then, it hit her like a brick.
"Comming from...what?" Reno questioned, leaning forward to her, looking straight into her eyes, concerned.
"...Cloud..." she answered, as if not answering at all, but more like a surprised whisper. She ran past him, and he was after her in half a second.
Then, she heard the scream again. This time, Reno had heard it, too. But it wasn't Cloud this time. It was...
"That was Tifa!" Reno shouted up ahead to Yuffie.
"I know!" she replied, not slowing down, but actually running faster.
They burst out of the forest and into an open feild, surrounded by forest all around. In the middle, there stood Jenova, her many tentacles strewn across the ground. But two had gotten their mark on Cloud and Tifa, squeezing their necks hard.
"Oh my gawd!!!" Yuffie gasped.
Jenova heard her and turned to Yuffie in a split second. Her red eyes flashing, she whipped a tentacle at her in the blink of an eye. Before it could reach her, Reno pushed her out of the way, getting caught instead.
"Reno!!" she shouted.
"Go...leave..." he demanded, trying his best to breath. Jenova raised him up high up in the air, and soon he was around ten feet off the ground!
"Stop it!!!" Cloud demanded.
"You want me to stop?" Jenova questioned. "Fine." she replied to herself after a moment, and threw Tifa and Cloud across the plain, in Yuffie's direction. But, she kept Reno.
"Let go of him!" Tifa shouted at Jenova. "He has nothing to do with you!"
"If you don't let go, we'll kill you!" Cloud stated.
"You were wanting to do that anyway." Jenova said. She brought Reno closer to her. "And besides, like you could carry out such a hopeless threat?"
Cloud lunged at Jenova to punch her, but all that she did was bat him off to the side. Tifa tried the same, but was thrown into the same position.
Then, Jenova started to drain the lifestream out of him! She cackled maniacally. "Ahahahahahaha! This man has some good energy I could use to kill you all! And then, I'll kill all your little friends in a flash!" she cackled once more, long and loud, and kept draining his lifestream energy.
Yuffie looked at Jenova, horrified. "S...stop...pl....please....stop..." she begged. Jenova just ignored her. Helpless, she dropped to her knees and looked at the ground. She couldn't help but notice that a tear had leaked from her eye and down her cheek, and onto the grass below. She blinked several times. She looked back up at Jenova sadly. Wasn't there anything she could do?
Then, Jenova dropped Reno, and he fell to the ground, unconsious. "Hmm.. maybe not as much as I expected, but what the hell!" Jenova observed. "Now, time to destroy you little pests." she paid no attention to Yuffie, and turned to Cloud and Tifa and started advancing to them.
Yuffie stood back up, and walked over to where Reno lay. Her pupils completely disappeared, and she kneeled down, looking at him, as if in a trance. She shook his shoulder with one of her hands, but he didn't wake up. His breath was short, and would undoubtfully run out soon.
Why won't he wake up? Who is this man? And who did this to him?
Yuffie... You don't...remember...a thing...
Wake up...
Help the others.
Who are you?
Yuffie!
Why do you know my name?!
Snap out of it!!!
...snap out of it...
She blinked. This man knew her. He was dying. She wanted to know why he knew her. And the only way she would ever know that was if she were to save him.
Her hair flared up, an undetected swirl of energy moving the air around her frantically. She stood up from her position by him. Jenova had almost reached Cloud and Tifa, but she didn't know who they were either. But it seemed to be a factor that the sorceress had done this to him. Black, feathered wings burst out from her shoulderblades, ripping holes in the back of her shirt. Her skin slowly tinted green, and scales started spreading across her skin. Her eyes turned green, and she regrew bright, golden colored pupils. Her fingernails turned into nastily long claws and her body grew smaller then her regular build. Her clothes disappeared, and so did all the rest of her humanoid features. She looked up at the sorceress menacingly. She was her target.
Jenova felt the rise in strength from the girl she had left to kill last, and swirled around to glare at her. But she was no more. Now there stood a devilish, winged, humanoid lizard with long claws and green eyes. Her eyes widened and her face contorted with rage. "What the hell just happened?!" Jenova demanded to know. Yuffie didn't answer, but jumped at her. She was in front of Jenova in a split second, and was swiping at her front side with her claws, not taking time to think about her actions, but acting independantly on her anger.
Jenova screamed and lept back, blood trickling from the gashes in her face and chest. She lunged at Yuffie and slung her tentacles around her waist, her sharp, white teeth illuminating her mouth. She made for her neck, and bit down hard.
Yuffie screamed in pain. Jenova was getting control of her! She couldn't stop her, she was helpless, hopeless yet again!
Why can't I have any real strength for once?
She felt the cold blood trickled down her neck, and still Jenova wouldn't let go. She threw one of her clawed hands back and started gathering all of her chi energy left. Jenova's eyes widened and she let go of her neck and lept back, surprised.
Then, Yuffie slung her hand forward and threw the energy ball at Jenova. It hit her square in the stomache. She collapsed, having used all of her energy, and breathed desperately, catching her breath. Jenova towered over her, only having being scratched from Yuffie's attack. She looked up at Jenova desperately, and then she lunged upwards and slashed at Jenova's face.
Jenova screamed and lept back in horror, holding her eyes. She took her hands away and powered up her own energy beam. She fired at Yuffie, who quickly got out of the way. Then, she noticed something. Jenova's eyes were bleeding. They were split right in half.
She's completely blind!
"Alias!" Yuffie cried, and then, a whole bunch of illusional copies of herself filed around Jenova, circling her, mocking her, laughing at her. Yuffie smirked to herself. She had this one won, for sure.
Jenova blasted at all the illusions that she could, directing her hits at the sounds. But she was completely confused, and ended up hurting herself more then enough times. Finally, her tentacles shimmered blue, and she casted a cure magic on her eyes.
It was too late.
In Cloud's hand, a new kind of sword appeared. Just out of thin air! It was blue, long, and dark. Millions of designs were plastered all over it. But, it looked like it was made of pure energy, and not any kind of metal at all!
He charged at Jenova, yelling a battle cry, and slashed down at her. Tifa joined in and used her triple kick attack. Yuffie even reproduced enough energy to shine in her own attack.
"Black aqua!!!" she cried, and sent a ball of black liquid tumbling at Jenova. It englufed her, but it didn't do much damage. All that it did was stall her.
"Shimatta.." Yuffie cursed to herself. Then, she concentrated hard, and drew all of her remaining power...
Cloud lashed at Jenova again. Tifa and him then preformed a combo attack where Cloud slashed Jenova and Tifa dropped-kicked from above.
"Give back what you have taken!" Yuffie demanded, opening her eyes, and she ripped the lifestream out from Jenova's quivering and beat up body. It flowed back into Reno, who still layed on the grass not more then ten meters away. His fingers twitched, but that was the only sign he shown of life.
Jenova screamed in anger and casted Ultima on the whole field. Yuffie sheilded Reno and herself with her barrier, while Cloud and Tifa quickly countered with their own magic defenses. When the blast subsided, Jenova was in a crumpled heap on the ground. The grass was now a grayish color, burned by the Ultima's blast.
"I will...kill you all..." Jenova gasped. She then disappeared, leaving only her blood to prove that she was once really there.
Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie stood there in the field, too winded to do anything about it. Yuffie dropped to her knees and her scales and fethers fell off of her body, loosely, her clothes, skin, regular height, and features returning. Her eyes closed and she collapsed completely, unconsious.
Tifa and Cloud walked over to her and looked down warily. She was still breathing, that much was certain, but how long would it take her to regain all of her strength?
Then, a little, purple cat like monster darted out from the forest, its yellow eyes glowing like a flashlight would to help its way through the dark. It scampered to Yuffie's side and looked down at her. After a couple moments, it looked back up at Cloud and Tifa innocently, yet angry.
"What happened?" Raven asked.
"Jenova." Cloud answered.
Raven hissed and the spikes on his back flew up with rage. "Ffftt! I'm gunna hurt her surely for this!!!" he told himself.
"I'll make sure that I'll do any damage first."
They all turned to see Reno, getting up by the suppord of his knees.
"Reno, how did you cure yourself so quickly?!" Karasu demanded. He hissed at him, "And I'm going to do damage first! I'm not letting a shinra like you finish the job!"
"He's not part of Shinra anymore..." Tifa began.
"Yes he is!" Karasu snapped back, and then ran off back into the woods, not saying another word.
"He needs an aditude adjustment." Reno observed.
"No." Cloud countered. "He just needs to open his eyes..."
"I don't blame him..." Tifa began. "Shinra almost killed him once before, and they've been his enemy ever since."
Reno didn't reply. He picked Yuffie up and then looked back at them. "I suggest that we start heading back. The others will be worried." he said. He then started back into the woods, carrying Yuffie in his arms. Cloud and Tifa followed, seeing that that was the most obvious thing to do.
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I tried to make this chapter seem a little creepy, but IMHO I think I sorta failed at it x.X; Please tell me what you think! Reviews are welcome! I wanna know what you guys think I should do next or maybe some ideas, so I can make it better for you to read! Please review!
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