I woke up earlier than the others and got up to strech. I had not slept well; my dreams were full of fire and screams. Lance and Seto were both sprawled out on the grass next to the fire, now nothing more than a few burning embers. Aeris...or Aeris's body I should say, still lay peacefully next to me, and only its ice-cold skin was an indication of its vacancy. Looking up the sky was tinted with red and the air seemed to be electrified somehow. It was then that I knew Meteor was falling...that the planet would not survive to see another sunrise if Lance, Seto and I were not able to do something.
I woke the others up and we practically ran all the way back to the plane. It was hard going but I insisted on carrying Aeris's body the entire way. Seto also agreed with my evaluation regarding Meteor and was all the more willing to give up even more room in the cockpit. Lance needed his entire area to himself so that he could fly the plane so yet another party was wedged into my cockpit area. Seto tucked his body into the storage compartment as tight as he could while Aeris lay on my lap.
"You remember where we're going?" I asked Lance over the comm. link.
"Southeast over Midgar and mountain range, look for another green beacon....got it," Lance replied.
"Good," I said, and settled in for a long flight.
Although I tried to get some rest, with the air literally pulled to a tense, fine line that threatened to snap at any moment, I discovered it was impossible to do anything but think. I had been thinking a lot lately, perhaps too much, about different things. I thought about my friends, about the mysterious Cloud, about Meteor and Sephiroth, but most of all, about Aeris. I also realized that if we did not accomplish what we were supposed to, none of that would exist anymore...except for Sephiroth if what Aeris had said were true, about him becoming a god. I looked down and stared into the cold dead face that had once belonged to Aeris and knew that I had to stop this evil from occurring.
Lance was really stepping on the gas because in no time at all we were flying over the giant city of Midgar.
"Hey look," said Lance over the comm. link. "There seems to be some sort of huge gun mounted over the city...reminds of the one in Junon Harbor." He was right, there was indeed a huge cannon of some sort looming over the dark shell of Midgar.
"It doesn't matter," I replied, "we have to hurry and can't stop to ask questions."
"Whatever...I was just pointing it out," said Lance in defense.
"Sorry," I replied, "I'm just a bit on the edgy side."
"We're all...how did you put it? edgy," said Seto as his head pocked out into the cockpit like a turtle's head from its shell. I nodded and we continued on our journey. We flew through the same mountains that Lance and I had gone through to escape Shinra that first time we had met. Then we were over the mountain range and flying between the edge of the mountains and a clear blue river.
"I'm gonna fly a bit lower, " called Lance, " we're not all that far from Junon Harbor and I don't want to get picked up on radar."
The Formula dipped down in the air and we began to skim near the ground. Before long a pale but intense green light flashed like it had that first time at Cosmo Canyon. This time we recognized it and set the plane down near it. I left Aeris's body propped up inside the cockpit so that we could travel faster. There was no vision of Aeris holding the beacon light this time though...only a cave opening set into the side of a mountain. Seto sniffed the air and said that it was ok, so we went in. The cave was small and the floor covered in sand. A few items sat around the room on the floor and on makeshift shelves. To the back of the cave I heard loud snoring, and so went to investigate. There was a thin old man laying there on a bed snoring away and absently mumbling in his sleep. I walked up to him and shook his shoulder.
"You've killed 43 monsters," he said without even opening his eyes.
I looked at Lance and Seto before shaking his shoulder again.
"You've killed 43 monsters," he said again and went back to sleep.
I shook him again and the same thing happened. Seto and Lance just shrugged their shoulders and motioned for me to try again.
This time when he woke to tell me that 'I'd killed 43 monsters' I shouted right in his face, "Wake Up I Need Your Help!!"
That got him up and he quickly brushed off the sand and got up from the floor where he had rolled off.
"Alright alright youngin', I'm up...I'm up for goodness sakes you didn't need to shout," he said. "Now," he said, "what's so important that you have to wake me up for it?"
"Well..." I replied, "Meteor's falling probably today or sometime tonight, I've been told I have to stop it, and I was also told you could help me."
"Hmmm," suddenly the old man didn't look so weak, "so you claim to be the 'Bearer', huh? I suppose you have the Focus Piece?"
"Focus Piece? Bearer?" I asked, "What are you talking about?"
"The Bearer," he said with a sigh, "was the person the Focus Piece was designed for. The Cetra knew that Meteor might be summoned again and so they forged the White Materia-that's a whole other story- to stop Meteor. However, they never left anything to chance and so created a second system by which Meteor might be stopped. While only a Cetra can use the White Materia, a normal human, but only one chosen by the Focus Piece, can use the Artifact when its put together. As for the Focus Piece, it's a sword of some kind....That answer your questions?" With a sigh he plopped back down onto the bed.
The room was silent for a few moments before Seto spoke up, "How do you know all this old man?"
The man laughed in a high cracked voice, "I'm what used to be called a Freemason, a Cetra half-breed entrusted with something of importance. I say 'used to be' because truth be told I am the last of my kind... but I suppose you can just call me Freemason...since I have no real name."
"Well," I said, "I do have a sword that seems to have chosen me." I pulled out Planet Edge and showed it to Freemason.
"His eyes narrowed and he looked at me square in the face, "where did you find this lad?" he asked.
"In a Cetra Temple underneath the Ancient Forest," I replied. I then gave him a brief summary of how we had come to find the sword.
"Hmmm...the story's too accurate to be totally wrong...and he does seem able to hold it," the man was apparently talking to himself. "Alright," he said suddenly, "you look like you're telling the truth but there's just one more thing."
"And what might that be?" I asked.
"The prophecy stated that the Bearer would have a marking of some kind," Freemason replied.
"What kind of marking?" I asked.
"I don't really know...do you have any special identifying marks, a birthmark or a scar perhaps?"
My heart sunk, I had no mark which meant guessed, that I wasn't the Bearer or whatever Freemason had called it. "I don't have any mark," I replied.
"Actually," said Lance, "you do."
"What?" I asked in total surprise.
"Well I never really thought about asking you about it before but...you have the Roman Numeral 2 tattooed onto the back of your neck," said Lance as he pointed to my neck.
My hand went up in a vain attempt to feel the tattoo as I turned around. "The boy's right," said Freemason, "there's a tattoo there alright." Seto only nodded. "I suppose you could be faking," Freemason said as he pulled the mattress off his bed and pulled out a wooden box beneath it. "However," he continued, "I'm inclined to believe you." He opened the simple box and pulled out a single, blood red materia orb.
"What's that?" I asked.
"This is the missing piece to the puzzle," he replied. He must have seen the confused look on my face because he continued. "I told you before that the Artifact had to be put together for it to work. The sword was the Focus Piece. And this," he lifted up the red marble, "is the second piece to the puzzle. It is a summon materia...the power of which is only rivaled three others."
"Which ones?" I cut in.
"Don't interrupt," Freemason replied. "The first is Meteor itself, the second is Holy, and the last one, which holds the souls of a long dead caste of knights, has been lost for many years." He placed the materia in my outstretched hand. "This is the Void materia," he said with great gravity. "It's holds the power to stop Meteor, but remember, it must be used in conjunction with the Focus Piece. The sword channels the great amounts of Magic Force needed to summon the Void, and makes it possible for a non-Ancient to wield the materia's power."
"Great..." I said, "but where do I use it?" I'd lost my Carbon Bangle in the fight with Guardian and the other materia slots on the Planet Edge were filled.
"Here," Freemason replied, "let me do it." He took the Void materia from my hands, and very carefully placed it into the empty space where a pommel would have been. There was a click, and then he let go. The materia stayed in place like it was meant to fit there.
"Ha!" yelled Lance, "looks like we're going to get to stop Meteor after all! Lets get going!"
"I must agree," Seto said, "we must hurry." Even as he said that the small cave began to shake a little.
"It's started," sighed Freemason, "quick! Go now!"
We wasted no time and were out and in the plane in no time. As Lance flew us above the line of the mountains we received a full view of North Crater. Although it was very far away from us we could still see the huge explosions that were tearing the area apart. The sky had gone black and now Meteor hung over Midgar like a great tiger over its prey. It moved closer and closer and I could hear the moan of the wind from inside the cockpit. The great flashes of light illuminated Aeris's face and gave a last chance to look at her before yelling over the loudspeaker, "Lets go Lance! Head for Meteor, this ends now!"
Without a reply Lance set a course for the Ball of Destruction looming before us. We closed in closer and closer on it when a new light appeared from the north. A great blue wave rolled over the land towards us in visible pulses of energy.
"Holy," Seto sucked in his breath in surprise, "so it does exist."
Even as huge flaming whirlwinds shattered the roof of Midgar, Holy swept through and pooled itself directly over Midgar.
"Yah!" cried Lance, "it's stopping it! It's stopping it!"
"No," replied Seto, "it's too late for Holy...Meteor is too strong. Its gained energy and at this rate Holy's shield won't last long."
"Then we'll just have to help won't we," I said as I pulled out the Planet Edge. I stared at the summon materia at its pommel, and made up my mind. "Ok," I said, "I'm gonna use Void."
I concentrated on the materia and could feel the force held within welling up, looking for an outlet for its power.
Then a small pale hand clasped my wrist, "No," a voice whispered, "not hear."
I was very surprised but when I looked down and saw Aeris awake and looking at me I nearly pushed the ejection button out of pure fear.
"Aeris!" I practically screamed. "You're dead!"
"Not now," she said, "I'll explain later, but if you use Void here the plane will be ripped apart and everyone will die."
Recovering myself as much as I could I called over the loudspeaker, "Ex that Lance, land somewhere and then we'll use Void."
"Sure, sure," he seemed a little rattled, "Aeris...is that you?"
Her cheeks tugged at the corners of her lips, "yes Lance...its me."
Lance swung the ship around and headed down towards the ground. As we got closer I noticed something strange standing on a small hill in front of us. Whatever it was had its arms upraised and it was facing Meteor. I could make out more and more details as we flew in for a closer look. There was a flash of white hair and black cloth. Then there was long no-dachi sword stuck in the ground...I knew who it was.
"Who is that guy down there?" asked Lance over the comm. link.
Aeris, who had been resting, raised her head up to look out the cockpit as a look or horror contorted her face.
"Sephiroth," I said, "that's Sephiroth."
By now we close enough to see his actual facial features. His eyes were closed and his mouth upturned in a look of supreme happiness...and somehow the idea of Sephiroth being happy deeply frightened me. His white hair and black cloak whipped around behind him as Meteor began to plunge through Holy to renew its destruction of Midgar. Then the emerald green eyes opened and Sephiroth turned to face us.
"He's somehow supplying Meteor with extra energy," said Aeris, "you have to stop him!"
"Alright Lance," I said, "put her down here."
Lance landed the plane and we all jumped out.
"What are you doing Sephiroth?!" I called over the howl of the wind.
He did not respond to my question right away, but instead pointed to Aeris, who was standing next to me.
"You may have foiled my plans Cetra," he yelled, "but if I can't rule as a god, then I'll make sure there's nothing left to rule." He began laughing after this and apparently increased the power he was siphoning off to Meteor because his outstretched hand began to glow.
Aeris whispered into my ear, "he's been significantly weakened Zack, if you charge him you can win. This is the last of the Sephiroth clones...it's the last chance he has. Remember, there's not much of the old Sephiroth left...poor Sephiroth." She shook her head in sadness, "you must destroy that monster Zack, for the fate of the world."
I nodded and Seto and Lance came to stand next to me. "No," I said and put out my arm, "this is my fight."
They looked at each other, nodded, and backed away. I raised Planet Edge horizontally so that could look along its razor sharp edge. I turned my head slightly, "keep Aeris safe. Don't let Sephiroth get near her." They nodded and I charged. Sephiroth was ready for me and in a blink of an eye, he had his sword, Masamune, clutched in both fists. We clashed. He fought like a whirlwind, his sword whipping about and striking like a snake, but I held him off. Then it was my turn. I pounded away at him with powerful sword strokes that bashed and broke his already weakened strength. Then I ran straight at him. The move surprised him and could not move his sword up fast enough to block me. I tackled him with all my might and both of us went down. He was fighting like a demon to get me off of him and rolled over so that he could jump to his feet. As I got to my feet I saw that we had rolled over the long blade of Masamune. I had still been laying on it when Sephiroth had jumped up and now it lay on the ground between our feet. The Wind was getting worse and I knew Holy could not last much longer. "Give up Sephiroth!" I yelled, "its over." I motioned with the point of Planet Edge to the sword laying on the ground under me. "Its not over yet," the ground began to shake around us. Suddenly a crack in the earth opened up next to me, and more of the ground was breaking up all around us. "I'll never be through with!" Sephiroth called, "Not as long as I have this body!" Suddenly washed over him as shakes racked his body. His voice lifted in a shrill screech, "Never!!!" Hands grasped at his hair and his head whirled around. "You'll never have my body monster!!!" He was lurching around as the wind whipped his hair and cloak around. Debris was flying everywhere. "I WILL NOT BE A PUPPET!!!!!!" Sephiroth screamed as he launched himself over the edge of one of the chasms. I could here his screams as he fell down, down, down into the abyss.
I stood there for a moment, completely dumbstruck, before turning around and running back to Aeris, Lance, and Seto. Aeris had fallen to the ground and was crying over the earth. "Please," she pleaded, "you can feel the hurt already. You can stop it now. Please stop it before its too late!" As she finished, sparks seemed to fly up from the ground around, and the earth literally roared. Green tendrils grew up out the ground and began to slither towards Holy, which was at the breaking point, its shield being held up by only the tiniest thread. For as far as the eye could see all I could see was a sea of green light moving towards Midgar. "Give us the strength!" Aeris called out to the wind.
It was then I knew what I had to do. Freemason had said that the Artifact needed great amounts of Magic to work. It looked to me like all the magic was being pulled into one place, Holy. The amount of energy there would easily be enough to summon Void...a Void so powerful that it could utterly destroy Meteor. I turned around to look at Seto, Lance and Aeris. It would save them, I though. I turned back around and started walking towards Midgar.
"Zack!" Lance called out, "what are you doing?!" I ignored him and kept on walking.
Zack!" Aeris yelled out over the scream of gale. I turned around and looked at her. Her cheeks were tear stained and I knew that she what I planned to do. She didn't want it...but I had to do it, at that moment I felt that I had been created for this one last task. So I took off running and I kept running as fast as I could to keep my mind off Aeris and what I was about to do. I focused instead on the materia and sword. They were melding, becoming the Artifact that I needed them to be. I could feel the energy welling up inside of me. It made my sword arm tingle. Midgar was right over me now And Meteor was just finishing its shredding of Holy. The Green Light was all around me and electrified the air. As I looked up one of the huge red tornados approached. The wind around me got stronger and stronger until my feet were literally lifted off the ground. I flew through the air towards the tornado and towards the focal point for all the energy. The Planet Edge was gorging on this power and Void was nearly powered up. I focused on this one last thing with the knowledge that was doing something special, something that would save thousands of people. I thought about Lance, Seto, my parents, but especially Aeris. As my body was flipped around like a rag doll in the wind I felt the Artifact draw the last bit of energy it needed. A light flashed around me, a light so intense that I was instantly blinded. But in those last moments before the darkness I knew I had succeeded.
******
As the huge light lit the world a giant hole rent the sky. It was a great black void, THE Void actually. The light grew so bright that a direct stare would have blinded you. In an explosion that literally rocked the world Holy used up the last of its energy and the energy given to it by Aeris to force Meteor up into the inescapable pull of the Void. Whole pieces and chunks were torn from Meteor and sucked up into the Void's great maw. Finally the main section of Meteor disappeared forever into the depths of the beyond.
The next morning a large aircraft landed next to the Formula where Seto, Lance, and Aeris slept. A tall man with blonde spiky hair stepped out of the craft and walked down to the ground. Aeris was the first to awake and she was the first to see the new arrivals. When the blonde haired man saw her his face turned white. In less than a second he was racing towards her and the two tightly embraced as tears flowed freely down their cheeks.
I woke the others up and we practically ran all the way back to the plane. It was hard going but I insisted on carrying Aeris's body the entire way. Seto also agreed with my evaluation regarding Meteor and was all the more willing to give up even more room in the cockpit. Lance needed his entire area to himself so that he could fly the plane so yet another party was wedged into my cockpit area. Seto tucked his body into the storage compartment as tight as he could while Aeris lay on my lap.
"You remember where we're going?" I asked Lance over the comm. link.
"Southeast over Midgar and mountain range, look for another green beacon....got it," Lance replied.
"Good," I said, and settled in for a long flight.
Although I tried to get some rest, with the air literally pulled to a tense, fine line that threatened to snap at any moment, I discovered it was impossible to do anything but think. I had been thinking a lot lately, perhaps too much, about different things. I thought about my friends, about the mysterious Cloud, about Meteor and Sephiroth, but most of all, about Aeris. I also realized that if we did not accomplish what we were supposed to, none of that would exist anymore...except for Sephiroth if what Aeris had said were true, about him becoming a god. I looked down and stared into the cold dead face that had once belonged to Aeris and knew that I had to stop this evil from occurring.
Lance was really stepping on the gas because in no time at all we were flying over the giant city of Midgar.
"Hey look," said Lance over the comm. link. "There seems to be some sort of huge gun mounted over the city...reminds of the one in Junon Harbor." He was right, there was indeed a huge cannon of some sort looming over the dark shell of Midgar.
"It doesn't matter," I replied, "we have to hurry and can't stop to ask questions."
"Whatever...I was just pointing it out," said Lance in defense.
"Sorry," I replied, "I'm just a bit on the edgy side."
"We're all...how did you put it? edgy," said Seto as his head pocked out into the cockpit like a turtle's head from its shell. I nodded and we continued on our journey. We flew through the same mountains that Lance and I had gone through to escape Shinra that first time we had met. Then we were over the mountain range and flying between the edge of the mountains and a clear blue river.
"I'm gonna fly a bit lower, " called Lance, " we're not all that far from Junon Harbor and I don't want to get picked up on radar."
The Formula dipped down in the air and we began to skim near the ground. Before long a pale but intense green light flashed like it had that first time at Cosmo Canyon. This time we recognized it and set the plane down near it. I left Aeris's body propped up inside the cockpit so that we could travel faster. There was no vision of Aeris holding the beacon light this time though...only a cave opening set into the side of a mountain. Seto sniffed the air and said that it was ok, so we went in. The cave was small and the floor covered in sand. A few items sat around the room on the floor and on makeshift shelves. To the back of the cave I heard loud snoring, and so went to investigate. There was a thin old man laying there on a bed snoring away and absently mumbling in his sleep. I walked up to him and shook his shoulder.
"You've killed 43 monsters," he said without even opening his eyes.
I looked at Lance and Seto before shaking his shoulder again.
"You've killed 43 monsters," he said again and went back to sleep.
I shook him again and the same thing happened. Seto and Lance just shrugged their shoulders and motioned for me to try again.
This time when he woke to tell me that 'I'd killed 43 monsters' I shouted right in his face, "Wake Up I Need Your Help!!"
That got him up and he quickly brushed off the sand and got up from the floor where he had rolled off.
"Alright alright youngin', I'm up...I'm up for goodness sakes you didn't need to shout," he said. "Now," he said, "what's so important that you have to wake me up for it?"
"Well..." I replied, "Meteor's falling probably today or sometime tonight, I've been told I have to stop it, and I was also told you could help me."
"Hmmm," suddenly the old man didn't look so weak, "so you claim to be the 'Bearer', huh? I suppose you have the Focus Piece?"
"Focus Piece? Bearer?" I asked, "What are you talking about?"
"The Bearer," he said with a sigh, "was the person the Focus Piece was designed for. The Cetra knew that Meteor might be summoned again and so they forged the White Materia-that's a whole other story- to stop Meteor. However, they never left anything to chance and so created a second system by which Meteor might be stopped. While only a Cetra can use the White Materia, a normal human, but only one chosen by the Focus Piece, can use the Artifact when its put together. As for the Focus Piece, it's a sword of some kind....That answer your questions?" With a sigh he plopped back down onto the bed.
The room was silent for a few moments before Seto spoke up, "How do you know all this old man?"
The man laughed in a high cracked voice, "I'm what used to be called a Freemason, a Cetra half-breed entrusted with something of importance. I say 'used to be' because truth be told I am the last of my kind... but I suppose you can just call me Freemason...since I have no real name."
"Well," I said, "I do have a sword that seems to have chosen me." I pulled out Planet Edge and showed it to Freemason.
"His eyes narrowed and he looked at me square in the face, "where did you find this lad?" he asked.
"In a Cetra Temple underneath the Ancient Forest," I replied. I then gave him a brief summary of how we had come to find the sword.
"Hmmm...the story's too accurate to be totally wrong...and he does seem able to hold it," the man was apparently talking to himself. "Alright," he said suddenly, "you look like you're telling the truth but there's just one more thing."
"And what might that be?" I asked.
"The prophecy stated that the Bearer would have a marking of some kind," Freemason replied.
"What kind of marking?" I asked.
"I don't really know...do you have any special identifying marks, a birthmark or a scar perhaps?"
My heart sunk, I had no mark which meant guessed, that I wasn't the Bearer or whatever Freemason had called it. "I don't have any mark," I replied.
"Actually," said Lance, "you do."
"What?" I asked in total surprise.
"Well I never really thought about asking you about it before but...you have the Roman Numeral 2 tattooed onto the back of your neck," said Lance as he pointed to my neck.
My hand went up in a vain attempt to feel the tattoo as I turned around. "The boy's right," said Freemason, "there's a tattoo there alright." Seto only nodded. "I suppose you could be faking," Freemason said as he pulled the mattress off his bed and pulled out a wooden box beneath it. "However," he continued, "I'm inclined to believe you." He opened the simple box and pulled out a single, blood red materia orb.
"What's that?" I asked.
"This is the missing piece to the puzzle," he replied. He must have seen the confused look on my face because he continued. "I told you before that the Artifact had to be put together for it to work. The sword was the Focus Piece. And this," he lifted up the red marble, "is the second piece to the puzzle. It is a summon materia...the power of which is only rivaled three others."
"Which ones?" I cut in.
"Don't interrupt," Freemason replied. "The first is Meteor itself, the second is Holy, and the last one, which holds the souls of a long dead caste of knights, has been lost for many years." He placed the materia in my outstretched hand. "This is the Void materia," he said with great gravity. "It's holds the power to stop Meteor, but remember, it must be used in conjunction with the Focus Piece. The sword channels the great amounts of Magic Force needed to summon the Void, and makes it possible for a non-Ancient to wield the materia's power."
"Great..." I said, "but where do I use it?" I'd lost my Carbon Bangle in the fight with Guardian and the other materia slots on the Planet Edge were filled.
"Here," Freemason replied, "let me do it." He took the Void materia from my hands, and very carefully placed it into the empty space where a pommel would have been. There was a click, and then he let go. The materia stayed in place like it was meant to fit there.
"Ha!" yelled Lance, "looks like we're going to get to stop Meteor after all! Lets get going!"
"I must agree," Seto said, "we must hurry." Even as he said that the small cave began to shake a little.
"It's started," sighed Freemason, "quick! Go now!"
We wasted no time and were out and in the plane in no time. As Lance flew us above the line of the mountains we received a full view of North Crater. Although it was very far away from us we could still see the huge explosions that were tearing the area apart. The sky had gone black and now Meteor hung over Midgar like a great tiger over its prey. It moved closer and closer and I could hear the moan of the wind from inside the cockpit. The great flashes of light illuminated Aeris's face and gave a last chance to look at her before yelling over the loudspeaker, "Lets go Lance! Head for Meteor, this ends now!"
Without a reply Lance set a course for the Ball of Destruction looming before us. We closed in closer and closer on it when a new light appeared from the north. A great blue wave rolled over the land towards us in visible pulses of energy.
"Holy," Seto sucked in his breath in surprise, "so it does exist."
Even as huge flaming whirlwinds shattered the roof of Midgar, Holy swept through and pooled itself directly over Midgar.
"Yah!" cried Lance, "it's stopping it! It's stopping it!"
"No," replied Seto, "it's too late for Holy...Meteor is too strong. Its gained energy and at this rate Holy's shield won't last long."
"Then we'll just have to help won't we," I said as I pulled out the Planet Edge. I stared at the summon materia at its pommel, and made up my mind. "Ok," I said, "I'm gonna use Void."
I concentrated on the materia and could feel the force held within welling up, looking for an outlet for its power.
Then a small pale hand clasped my wrist, "No," a voice whispered, "not hear."
I was very surprised but when I looked down and saw Aeris awake and looking at me I nearly pushed the ejection button out of pure fear.
"Aeris!" I practically screamed. "You're dead!"
"Not now," she said, "I'll explain later, but if you use Void here the plane will be ripped apart and everyone will die."
Recovering myself as much as I could I called over the loudspeaker, "Ex that Lance, land somewhere and then we'll use Void."
"Sure, sure," he seemed a little rattled, "Aeris...is that you?"
Her cheeks tugged at the corners of her lips, "yes Lance...its me."
Lance swung the ship around and headed down towards the ground. As we got closer I noticed something strange standing on a small hill in front of us. Whatever it was had its arms upraised and it was facing Meteor. I could make out more and more details as we flew in for a closer look. There was a flash of white hair and black cloth. Then there was long no-dachi sword stuck in the ground...I knew who it was.
"Who is that guy down there?" asked Lance over the comm. link.
Aeris, who had been resting, raised her head up to look out the cockpit as a look or horror contorted her face.
"Sephiroth," I said, "that's Sephiroth."
By now we close enough to see his actual facial features. His eyes were closed and his mouth upturned in a look of supreme happiness...and somehow the idea of Sephiroth being happy deeply frightened me. His white hair and black cloak whipped around behind him as Meteor began to plunge through Holy to renew its destruction of Midgar. Then the emerald green eyes opened and Sephiroth turned to face us.
"He's somehow supplying Meteor with extra energy," said Aeris, "you have to stop him!"
"Alright Lance," I said, "put her down here."
Lance landed the plane and we all jumped out.
"What are you doing Sephiroth?!" I called over the howl of the wind.
He did not respond to my question right away, but instead pointed to Aeris, who was standing next to me.
"You may have foiled my plans Cetra," he yelled, "but if I can't rule as a god, then I'll make sure there's nothing left to rule." He began laughing after this and apparently increased the power he was siphoning off to Meteor because his outstretched hand began to glow.
Aeris whispered into my ear, "he's been significantly weakened Zack, if you charge him you can win. This is the last of the Sephiroth clones...it's the last chance he has. Remember, there's not much of the old Sephiroth left...poor Sephiroth." She shook her head in sadness, "you must destroy that monster Zack, for the fate of the world."
I nodded and Seto and Lance came to stand next to me. "No," I said and put out my arm, "this is my fight."
They looked at each other, nodded, and backed away. I raised Planet Edge horizontally so that could look along its razor sharp edge. I turned my head slightly, "keep Aeris safe. Don't let Sephiroth get near her." They nodded and I charged. Sephiroth was ready for me and in a blink of an eye, he had his sword, Masamune, clutched in both fists. We clashed. He fought like a whirlwind, his sword whipping about and striking like a snake, but I held him off. Then it was my turn. I pounded away at him with powerful sword strokes that bashed and broke his already weakened strength. Then I ran straight at him. The move surprised him and could not move his sword up fast enough to block me. I tackled him with all my might and both of us went down. He was fighting like a demon to get me off of him and rolled over so that he could jump to his feet. As I got to my feet I saw that we had rolled over the long blade of Masamune. I had still been laying on it when Sephiroth had jumped up and now it lay on the ground between our feet. The Wind was getting worse and I knew Holy could not last much longer. "Give up Sephiroth!" I yelled, "its over." I motioned with the point of Planet Edge to the sword laying on the ground under me. "Its not over yet," the ground began to shake around us. Suddenly a crack in the earth opened up next to me, and more of the ground was breaking up all around us. "I'll never be through with!" Sephiroth called, "Not as long as I have this body!" Suddenly washed over him as shakes racked his body. His voice lifted in a shrill screech, "Never!!!" Hands grasped at his hair and his head whirled around. "You'll never have my body monster!!!" He was lurching around as the wind whipped his hair and cloak around. Debris was flying everywhere. "I WILL NOT BE A PUPPET!!!!!!" Sephiroth screamed as he launched himself over the edge of one of the chasms. I could here his screams as he fell down, down, down into the abyss.
I stood there for a moment, completely dumbstruck, before turning around and running back to Aeris, Lance, and Seto. Aeris had fallen to the ground and was crying over the earth. "Please," she pleaded, "you can feel the hurt already. You can stop it now. Please stop it before its too late!" As she finished, sparks seemed to fly up from the ground around, and the earth literally roared. Green tendrils grew up out the ground and began to slither towards Holy, which was at the breaking point, its shield being held up by only the tiniest thread. For as far as the eye could see all I could see was a sea of green light moving towards Midgar. "Give us the strength!" Aeris called out to the wind.
It was then I knew what I had to do. Freemason had said that the Artifact needed great amounts of Magic to work. It looked to me like all the magic was being pulled into one place, Holy. The amount of energy there would easily be enough to summon Void...a Void so powerful that it could utterly destroy Meteor. I turned around to look at Seto, Lance and Aeris. It would save them, I though. I turned back around and started walking towards Midgar.
"Zack!" Lance called out, "what are you doing?!" I ignored him and kept on walking.
Zack!" Aeris yelled out over the scream of gale. I turned around and looked at her. Her cheeks were tear stained and I knew that she what I planned to do. She didn't want it...but I had to do it, at that moment I felt that I had been created for this one last task. So I took off running and I kept running as fast as I could to keep my mind off Aeris and what I was about to do. I focused instead on the materia and sword. They were melding, becoming the Artifact that I needed them to be. I could feel the energy welling up inside of me. It made my sword arm tingle. Midgar was right over me now And Meteor was just finishing its shredding of Holy. The Green Light was all around me and electrified the air. As I looked up one of the huge red tornados approached. The wind around me got stronger and stronger until my feet were literally lifted off the ground. I flew through the air towards the tornado and towards the focal point for all the energy. The Planet Edge was gorging on this power and Void was nearly powered up. I focused on this one last thing with the knowledge that was doing something special, something that would save thousands of people. I thought about Lance, Seto, my parents, but especially Aeris. As my body was flipped around like a rag doll in the wind I felt the Artifact draw the last bit of energy it needed. A light flashed around me, a light so intense that I was instantly blinded. But in those last moments before the darkness I knew I had succeeded.
******
As the huge light lit the world a giant hole rent the sky. It was a great black void, THE Void actually. The light grew so bright that a direct stare would have blinded you. In an explosion that literally rocked the world Holy used up the last of its energy and the energy given to it by Aeris to force Meteor up into the inescapable pull of the Void. Whole pieces and chunks were torn from Meteor and sucked up into the Void's great maw. Finally the main section of Meteor disappeared forever into the depths of the beyond.
The next morning a large aircraft landed next to the Formula where Seto, Lance, and Aeris slept. A tall man with blonde spiky hair stepped out of the craft and walked down to the ground. Aeris was the first to awake and she was the first to see the new arrivals. When the blonde haired man saw her his face turned white. In less than a second he was racing towards her and the two tightly embraced as tears flowed freely down their cheeks.