SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Author's Note: Yo Yo Yo! A good ol' buddy of mine actually helped me crack the case on this one. I might finish this story in my lifetime! *Throws her arms above her head and dances* Woooooo. Anwayz, I hope none of this sounds too farfetched...that is definitely not the effect im going for here. But I also didn't want some cheesy, too good to be true ending, ya know? As always, read and tell me what you think. I may need to write multiple endings for this one, but I have a feeling that this idea will be the winner. Enjoy!
Chapter 31 - The Curse of Jenova
Cloud felt Sephiroth loosen the grip around his waist as he descended to the ground. They had quickly returned to the City of the Ancients to soothe the fears of their loved ones as soon as possible.
Tifa screamed Cloud's name when she saw him being set down onto the cobblestone pathway, and she ran to his, her arms spread for his embrace. He pulled her close, holding his love tight against his chest. Tifa began to cry.
"Is it finally over?" she sputtered through her tears.
Cloud simply nodded before leaning in for a kiss.
Sephiroth continued past the couple and found Aeris not far away. He swooped down towards the ground and, with a flash of golden light, reverted back to his original form. Salty droplets stained her face as well, betraying her excitement as Sephiroth enveloped her in his arms.
"I was so worried," she whispered.
"I know, my dear. I know."
"How did you do it?"
The silver-haired warrior chuckled. "Cloud was bait, as usual," he snickered. "A little Supernova did the trick. Jenova is no more."
The Cetra smiled, placing a gentle kiss on Sephiroth's lips. "Finally, we can be at peace."
There was silence among the AVALANCHE members as the two pairs reassured one another. They knew better than to interfere in this sort of thing.
But the silence was quickly broken as Tifa began to scream.
"Cloud! Cloud!? Cloud, wake up!"
The blond warrior's face had gone deathly pale and his eyes were bloodshot, rolling back into his head. Aeris and Sephiroth ran over to Tifa, who was trying desperately to hold Cloud up on his feet.
"What happened?" Sephiroth demanded.
Tears streamed down her face. "I don't know. He just suddenly passed out. What's going on?"
Sephiroth took the blond warrior from Tifa and laid him on the ground. Then, he put two fingers to Cloud's throat. "His pulse is weak. He needs medical attention."
"But what is wrong with him?"
"I don't know. Other than a few minor injuries from the fight with Jenova, he should be okay..."Sephiroth trailed off, his silence lingering in the air. "Oh, no..."
Aeris' face was a mask of worry. "What is wrong, Sephiroth?"
"We killed Jenova..."
"That was the point!"
Sephiroth shook his head. "You don't understand. Cloud and I need Jenova's cells to live. It is in our DNA makeup. Now her cells are dying because her body was destroyed. It will kill him," he said gravely. "It will kill me too."
"NO!" the two girls screamed together.
Sephiroth shook his head sadly. "The curse of Jenova continues. We have the cells of the damn Bactra within us."
"There has to be some sort of cure!" Tifa snapped. "We can't just let you die."
Finally, Vincent stepped forward. "Aeris cured herself, didn't she?"
The Cetra's eyes widened suddenly. "That's it!"
Sephiroth looked up at her. "What?"
The dark gunman looked over at Sephiroth. "We are going back to where everything started. We need to go to Nibelheim."
* * ** * * * * * * * * *
The trip to Nibelheim took far too long. During the trip, Sephiroth had also slipped into unconsciousness. He had screamed out his pain before the darkness had claimed him, and the imprint of his voice in the minds of the AVALANCHE members left them with grim hopes for the future. But they did arrive with both ex-SOLDIERS alive, but in very critical condition. Cloud's face was turning an awful shade of grey as the Bactra cells in his body broke down one by one. They didn't have much time.
"I still don't get why the fuck we had to come back here," Barret complained as he helped Tifa carry Cloud's body.
"We have to go the old ShinRa mansion and downstairs to Hojo's lab," Vincent replied, assisting Cid with Sephiroth.
"The hell?" Cid cursed.
The group ran as fast as they could toward the abandoned mansion, carrying the fallen warriors first up to the second floor, then down to the basement through the hidden doorway to the basement. The smell of stale air was almost overpowering as they raced down the dark hallway.
Inside Hojo's old laboratory were three large glass tubes. The middle one was broken from many years ago when Zack has forced himself out of it. Cloud's old tube was still intact, as was the one on the other side of the shattered human test tube. Shards of glass littered the floor and crunched under AVALANCHE's feet as they carried the men inside.
"Put each of them into a tube," Aeris commanded, her voice sharp and demanding. None of them had ever heard her sound so determined.
The placed Cloud in his tube from the past and Sephiroth in the other.
"I hope this thing still works," Aeris hoped aloud as she pressed the buttons on each of the tubes. To her delight, the tubes began to slowly fill with a thick, green liquid. Mako surrounded the unconscious warriors, seeping into their skin.
"Would someone like to tell me what the fuck is going on!?" Barret shouted angrily.
"Yeah!" Yuffie added.
"This is where Sephiroth was experimented on while in....Lucrecia's womb," Vincent explained with difficult slowness. "This is also where Cloud was made a Sephiroth clone and injected with Jenova's cells."
"If this is where he was injected with goddamn Bactra cells, then why the hell are we here?" Cid asked. "Wouldn't more Bactra cells just hurt them?"
"We aren't giving them Bactra cells," Aeris said suddenly. She held a large needle in her hand, and she plunged it into her arm without a thought. Blood and tissue filled the tube quickly and it wasn't long before the syringe was full. "We are giving them Cetra cells." She grabbed another needle and did the same with it.
She moved to the tubes, sliding each of the needles into small round holes in the front of each of them. They were sucked quickly into the machines and the contents of the syringes were loaded into needles that hung inside of the glass. The machines added a small amount of Mako to the solution before mechanically injecting the mixed substance into both warriors.
Everyone flinched visibly as the two men began to jerk about violently, as if attacked by a sudden fit of seizures. Their bodies vibrated with incredible intensity and their faces were a mask of pain and torture.
"They are dying!" Tifa exclaimed in panic.
"I believe they are just reacting to the cells and the Mako," Aeris said, attempting to ease the woman's fears, as well as her own.
Sure enough, within a minute, their bodies began to slow until they were once again still within the glowing, green liquid.
Red XIII flicked his tail and looked over at the Cetra. "Now what?"
"Now we wait...and pray."