Cloud stood, staring towards the tall buildings and what glimpse you could
get of the sky. Sora spotted him and hurried over towards him.
"Cloud! Hey!" he exclaimed.
"Sora. you've come at a bad time I'm afraid, the Heartless here have grown
in power. Worse, they've taken Aeris. I swore I'd never lose her again,
but I've failed." responded Cloud.
"We'll help you. We're trying to find our way back to Kingdom Hearts,
through the Hollow Bastion."
"An interesting group you've put together here. Oh well, sign me up; I
need to find Aeris, I'll do whatever it takes to get there."
"Any idea where to start looking? We need to find a Keyblade here before
we leave."
"I'm not really sure, but two strange things have happened. Both Emerald
Weapon and Sephiroth have been revived. If these things are that powerful,
then I'd say that those two are the targets."
"Sephiroth." repeated Sora, remembering the battle he had undertaken and
barely survived. Sephiroth had been as difficult an opponent as Ansem
himself, now endowed with the awesome power of a Keyblade, he would be
nearly unstoppable. "Where cane we find them?
"Well, let's prepare for Emerald first, he should be the more beatable of
the two. We'll have to go under the ocean. Make sure that you're ready,
he's weaker of the two, but still no pushover."
So the group prepared themselves. Sora, Cloud, and Zidane were going to
battle. So they took the Highwind, the great flying ship, pride of Cid
Highwind, product of Shinra Inc. It didn't take long for them to reach
their destination. They reached Junon and took the submarine to reach the
Emerald Weapon.
"There he is!" exclaimed Cloud. "He's huge!" proclaimed Sora. The three quickly approached Emerald. He indeed wielded a Keyblade, many times increased in size. He was no longer green like one might expect of something called Emerald, but he was the black color of the Heartless. A broken heart spanned his giant chest. He swung his giant Keyblade towards the group, missing them, but sending them all sprawling from the force of the water. Sora managed to evade being flung aside like his two partners and he swung his own Keyblade at Emerald's hand. The attack was almost worthless and Sora was knocked away. When he recovered, Sora knew what he had to do. He focused his mind on Kairi in danger; suddenly, his body entered Trance Mode, amplifying his power several times. He again rushed the Emerald Weapon, striking it in the chest and sending it toppling back into the ocean bed. It rose quickly back up, swinging powerfully towards the group. All three were hit viciously. Sora and Zidane were both sent flying into the seabed. But Cloud suddenly changed, his movements quickened, he recovered almost instantly and rushed at Emerald. Sora and Zidane awoke just in time to watch Cloud unleash a fury of attacks against Emerald. The final slash sliced straight down the center of the Weapon, splitting it in two. Sora and Zidane both dropped their jaws in awe, which turned out to be a mistake as they accidentally inhaled a good deal of the water. The black color that surrounded the Emerald Weapon faded and the dark green returned to it once more. The massive Keyblade shrunk down to normal sizes and Sora, after rediscovering how to breathe, gathered up the keychain and reattached it to his blade. The power of the Keyblade was every day returning to normal.
They reboarded the submarine and rose to the surface. At Junon, they entered the Highwind. When they flew over the snowy north glacier, the sky began to darken. The ship sunk into the large crater in the ground, slowly descending into what seemed to be eternal darkness. They slowly made their way through the crater, battling off creatures of all shapes and sizes. Most of them were fairly weak, but some of the monsters that had been greatly powered up by the power of the Heartless. As they grew nearer the center, they could all sense some terrible presence anticipating their arrival. From the center of the crater, a thick black mist swirled out. "That's where he is." stated Cloud. "Let's go," commanded Sora.
"Wait, put this on first," responded Cloud, passing several small colored orbs over to the two other party members. "What is it?" he asked. "Materia, each orb holds the power of the Ancients. Just equip it. With the green you'll be able to cast all sorts of powerful magical spells. The red lets you summon creatures. Yellow allows you to use a lot of different skills. Just take one of each, they're all master Materia. It'll help," explained Cloud. "So you're telling me that if I put this on I'll just know how to do all of these things?" asked Zidane. "I don't know how it works, I just know it does. Put it on, you'll see." So they all equipped themselves with Materia. After they were properly equipped, they felt a newfound power flow through them. They were ready to take on Sephiroth. So the descended down the final pathway into the heart of the crater. When they emerged, they found themselves not at the heart of the planet, but rather in the black void where Cloud had faced Sephiroth in their final showdown. There was nothing but darkness all around them. In front of them, he stood. Sephiroth stared at the group, his green eyes piercing their very beings. His silver hair blew back with a mysterious force. His shirt was off. Around him swirled combined green and black winds of energy. At his side he wielded the Masamune, his terrible and awesome blade of destruction. It was changed, clearly endowed with the power of the Keyblade, but no less menacing or dulled. He appeared nothing less than invincible.
"You! And you!" exclaimed Sephiroth, gesturing first towards Cloud and then Sora. "At last I shall have my revenge!" "Sephiroth! I destroyed you here the last time we fought and Sora defeated you in the Coliseum. How did you come back into this world?" demanded Cloud. "It's quite simple, defying death is a simple task for me so long as that Ancient doesn't interfere. It was because of her that I was banished in the first place and now that she's been captured by the Heartless, I'm free again. So I'm here to stop your journey. Your quest ends here, without all the Keyblades, you don't stand a chance against Ansem. You won't even be able to defeat me without her help," Sephiroth stated, entering his battle stance. Sora, Cloud, and Zidane also armed themselves. Cloud rushed first, the Ultima Weapon being easily deflected by Sephiroth. Sora and Zidane joined in, swinging mercilessly at Sephiroth. He simply parried every swing, not receiving a single scratch. All three swung towards him at the same time, but the sheer length of the Masamune allowed him to defend them all. He swung it once, throwing all three to the ground and knocking their weapons away. "You should give up; just accept your deaths quietly and it will be quite painless," taunted Sephiroth. "I'll never give up! Not against you, not against anyone!" exclaimed Cloud, leaping to his feet. The attacks had forced him to his Limit Break. He charged Sephiroth with unparalleled speed, and unleashed his ultimate technique, Omnislash, slashing his opponent over and over. When the dust cleared, Cloud stood in the center, his Limit again filling while Sora and Zidane stood in glowing with the power of Trance at both of his sides. Sephiroth was leaning on his sword; clearly the Omnislash had hit its mark. But Sephiroth was far from finished, the black and green mists focused, sinking into his body. His muscles bulged and across his chest, the sign of the Heartless emerged. He stood up and raised his sword.
Sora began to rush forward, but Cloud held out his arm to stop him. "This is my fight Sora. I know that you can beat him together, so if I should fall, you and Zidane must carry on. But this is a fight that I must try alone." Cloud walked towards Sephiroth slowly, shouldering his Ultima Weapon. He swung, Sephiroth blocked. Sephiroth thrust several quick times, scoring only one blow on Cloud's side. However, Cloud was quickly back on his feet and with several sideways slashes, he knocked Sephiroth off balance. He swung quickly downward, slicing through Sephroth's chest and hurling him to the ground. It was clearly a fatal wound. But suddenly, Sephiroth rose, the gaping gash in his chest pouring out black mist. The wound quickly healed; Sephiroth was again at full strength. Sephiroth began walking towards Cloud, who fired off several Ultima spells, power that should have at least slowed him down. He just kept on coming.
Cloud was running out of options, an attack that should have destroyed Sephiroth had done nothing. His best attempt had been nothing for Sephiroth to heal. Cloud was running out of ideas. Then he realized it; he discovered the source of his opponent's power. Sephiroth practically flew towards Cloud, who could only try to defend the onslaught. The perplexing pattern of attacks began to overwhelm Cloud, who was looking for his chance to strike. When Sephiroth tried to cross-slash, Cloud swung. The swords sparked brightly, the two men pushing against each other, only a foot between them. After a few seconds, they were both thrown back. They landed on their feet, both instantly rushing back at each other as soon as they landed. Their swings were simultaneous and they landed past each other. Both stood, backs to each other and time seemed to stand still. Then suddenly, Cloud fell to a knee, grasping his stomach in pain. Sephiroth laughed. Then, suddenly, a bright light began to pour from Sephiroth's chest. Sephiroth turned to look at Cloud, who stared back at him. Cloud held out his hand, revealing a small keychain that had been cut from the base of Sephiroth's sword. Cloud's Ultima Weapon had a strange glow to it, a white and green light swirled around it. The light on the sword seemed to come from a small attached green and white orb. It was the same light that seemed to be pouring from Sephiroth. Sephiroth spoke. "Holy." he choked out. "Curse you, Cloud Strife! Curse you and that Ancient! You may think you've won, but I'll be back. The bonds of death cannot hold me!" The light encompassed his entire body, lifting him off of the ground, spreading his arms and legs. Then, it erupted in a brilliant flash that obliterated the seemingly eternal darkness in which they stood.
Cloud called out "Hey Sora!" as he tossed the silver, sword-shaped keychain. "Thanks," responded Sora, catching the keychain and attaching it to the Keyblade. The Keyblade seemed to shine more and more with every keychain. This fourth keychain along with his Keyblade meant that there was only one Keyblade left to find. Sora had gathered many fighters on this journey. Zidane, Yuna, Crono, Serge, and now Cloud accompanied the young warrior. His journey was passing quickly, but there was still much to do. They were all tired from the trials thus far, and they decided to rest for the night. They all set up tents around a campfire. It was a busy night, techniques where shared, equipment and material was passed around, many things were learned. Cloud taught Limit Breaks, shared material, Zidane demonstrated the secrets of Trance, and Serge silently gave up some of his Elements. When it was all over, they were all very prepared but very tired. It was getting late and Sora couldn't sleep. He sat by the dying campfire, staring deep into the burning embers. 'Kairi,' he thought. 'I'm coming for you Kairi. I'll find you, wherever you are.' Zidane emerged from his tent. "What're you doing Sora? It's late." "I know," Sora responded. "I was just thinking." "About her?" asked Zidane. Sora nodded. "Tell me about her. I want to hear about her, she has to be pretty special to make you travel so far to find her." "She is pretty special, but I wish that I had realized it sooner. It wasn't until I lost her that I figured out just how amazing she is." "You don't know what you've got until you don't have it anymore." "Yeah.I wish I wouldn't have been so dumb. I mean, she's perfect. Light purplish hair and the deepest blue eyes you could imagine. She's the sweetest girl that I've ever met, playful and kind. We grew up together. I don't know if she feels the same as me, but I've felt it for a long time. I'm sure that you'll love her when you meet her," said Sora, as he seemed to again fade into a dream world. "We've all got someone we're fighting for. everyone is here for that reason. That's where we have to draw our strength from. We just have to think of who we're fighting for and that's why we keep going." "You're right." He yawned. "I'm going to sleep. I've got stuff to think about. I'll see you in the morning." Sora wandered off to his tent; his sleep would be well-deserved. The keyhole was easily visible in the now white room. The next day would be a difficult one. They would travel on and soon, they would undoubtedly meet Ansem. Their journey was nearly at an end.
"There he is!" exclaimed Cloud. "He's huge!" proclaimed Sora. The three quickly approached Emerald. He indeed wielded a Keyblade, many times increased in size. He was no longer green like one might expect of something called Emerald, but he was the black color of the Heartless. A broken heart spanned his giant chest. He swung his giant Keyblade towards the group, missing them, but sending them all sprawling from the force of the water. Sora managed to evade being flung aside like his two partners and he swung his own Keyblade at Emerald's hand. The attack was almost worthless and Sora was knocked away. When he recovered, Sora knew what he had to do. He focused his mind on Kairi in danger; suddenly, his body entered Trance Mode, amplifying his power several times. He again rushed the Emerald Weapon, striking it in the chest and sending it toppling back into the ocean bed. It rose quickly back up, swinging powerfully towards the group. All three were hit viciously. Sora and Zidane were both sent flying into the seabed. But Cloud suddenly changed, his movements quickened, he recovered almost instantly and rushed at Emerald. Sora and Zidane awoke just in time to watch Cloud unleash a fury of attacks against Emerald. The final slash sliced straight down the center of the Weapon, splitting it in two. Sora and Zidane both dropped their jaws in awe, which turned out to be a mistake as they accidentally inhaled a good deal of the water. The black color that surrounded the Emerald Weapon faded and the dark green returned to it once more. The massive Keyblade shrunk down to normal sizes and Sora, after rediscovering how to breathe, gathered up the keychain and reattached it to his blade. The power of the Keyblade was every day returning to normal.
They reboarded the submarine and rose to the surface. At Junon, they entered the Highwind. When they flew over the snowy north glacier, the sky began to darken. The ship sunk into the large crater in the ground, slowly descending into what seemed to be eternal darkness. They slowly made their way through the crater, battling off creatures of all shapes and sizes. Most of them were fairly weak, but some of the monsters that had been greatly powered up by the power of the Heartless. As they grew nearer the center, they could all sense some terrible presence anticipating their arrival. From the center of the crater, a thick black mist swirled out. "That's where he is." stated Cloud. "Let's go," commanded Sora.
"Wait, put this on first," responded Cloud, passing several small colored orbs over to the two other party members. "What is it?" he asked. "Materia, each orb holds the power of the Ancients. Just equip it. With the green you'll be able to cast all sorts of powerful magical spells. The red lets you summon creatures. Yellow allows you to use a lot of different skills. Just take one of each, they're all master Materia. It'll help," explained Cloud. "So you're telling me that if I put this on I'll just know how to do all of these things?" asked Zidane. "I don't know how it works, I just know it does. Put it on, you'll see." So they all equipped themselves with Materia. After they were properly equipped, they felt a newfound power flow through them. They were ready to take on Sephiroth. So the descended down the final pathway into the heart of the crater. When they emerged, they found themselves not at the heart of the planet, but rather in the black void where Cloud had faced Sephiroth in their final showdown. There was nothing but darkness all around them. In front of them, he stood. Sephiroth stared at the group, his green eyes piercing their very beings. His silver hair blew back with a mysterious force. His shirt was off. Around him swirled combined green and black winds of energy. At his side he wielded the Masamune, his terrible and awesome blade of destruction. It was changed, clearly endowed with the power of the Keyblade, but no less menacing or dulled. He appeared nothing less than invincible.
"You! And you!" exclaimed Sephiroth, gesturing first towards Cloud and then Sora. "At last I shall have my revenge!" "Sephiroth! I destroyed you here the last time we fought and Sora defeated you in the Coliseum. How did you come back into this world?" demanded Cloud. "It's quite simple, defying death is a simple task for me so long as that Ancient doesn't interfere. It was because of her that I was banished in the first place and now that she's been captured by the Heartless, I'm free again. So I'm here to stop your journey. Your quest ends here, without all the Keyblades, you don't stand a chance against Ansem. You won't even be able to defeat me without her help," Sephiroth stated, entering his battle stance. Sora, Cloud, and Zidane also armed themselves. Cloud rushed first, the Ultima Weapon being easily deflected by Sephiroth. Sora and Zidane joined in, swinging mercilessly at Sephiroth. He simply parried every swing, not receiving a single scratch. All three swung towards him at the same time, but the sheer length of the Masamune allowed him to defend them all. He swung it once, throwing all three to the ground and knocking their weapons away. "You should give up; just accept your deaths quietly and it will be quite painless," taunted Sephiroth. "I'll never give up! Not against you, not against anyone!" exclaimed Cloud, leaping to his feet. The attacks had forced him to his Limit Break. He charged Sephiroth with unparalleled speed, and unleashed his ultimate technique, Omnislash, slashing his opponent over and over. When the dust cleared, Cloud stood in the center, his Limit again filling while Sora and Zidane stood in glowing with the power of Trance at both of his sides. Sephiroth was leaning on his sword; clearly the Omnislash had hit its mark. But Sephiroth was far from finished, the black and green mists focused, sinking into his body. His muscles bulged and across his chest, the sign of the Heartless emerged. He stood up and raised his sword.
Sora began to rush forward, but Cloud held out his arm to stop him. "This is my fight Sora. I know that you can beat him together, so if I should fall, you and Zidane must carry on. But this is a fight that I must try alone." Cloud walked towards Sephiroth slowly, shouldering his Ultima Weapon. He swung, Sephiroth blocked. Sephiroth thrust several quick times, scoring only one blow on Cloud's side. However, Cloud was quickly back on his feet and with several sideways slashes, he knocked Sephiroth off balance. He swung quickly downward, slicing through Sephroth's chest and hurling him to the ground. It was clearly a fatal wound. But suddenly, Sephiroth rose, the gaping gash in his chest pouring out black mist. The wound quickly healed; Sephiroth was again at full strength. Sephiroth began walking towards Cloud, who fired off several Ultima spells, power that should have at least slowed him down. He just kept on coming.
Cloud was running out of options, an attack that should have destroyed Sephiroth had done nothing. His best attempt had been nothing for Sephiroth to heal. Cloud was running out of ideas. Then he realized it; he discovered the source of his opponent's power. Sephiroth practically flew towards Cloud, who could only try to defend the onslaught. The perplexing pattern of attacks began to overwhelm Cloud, who was looking for his chance to strike. When Sephiroth tried to cross-slash, Cloud swung. The swords sparked brightly, the two men pushing against each other, only a foot between them. After a few seconds, they were both thrown back. They landed on their feet, both instantly rushing back at each other as soon as they landed. Their swings were simultaneous and they landed past each other. Both stood, backs to each other and time seemed to stand still. Then suddenly, Cloud fell to a knee, grasping his stomach in pain. Sephiroth laughed. Then, suddenly, a bright light began to pour from Sephiroth's chest. Sephiroth turned to look at Cloud, who stared back at him. Cloud held out his hand, revealing a small keychain that had been cut from the base of Sephiroth's sword. Cloud's Ultima Weapon had a strange glow to it, a white and green light swirled around it. The light on the sword seemed to come from a small attached green and white orb. It was the same light that seemed to be pouring from Sephiroth. Sephiroth spoke. "Holy." he choked out. "Curse you, Cloud Strife! Curse you and that Ancient! You may think you've won, but I'll be back. The bonds of death cannot hold me!" The light encompassed his entire body, lifting him off of the ground, spreading his arms and legs. Then, it erupted in a brilliant flash that obliterated the seemingly eternal darkness in which they stood.
Cloud called out "Hey Sora!" as he tossed the silver, sword-shaped keychain. "Thanks," responded Sora, catching the keychain and attaching it to the Keyblade. The Keyblade seemed to shine more and more with every keychain. This fourth keychain along with his Keyblade meant that there was only one Keyblade left to find. Sora had gathered many fighters on this journey. Zidane, Yuna, Crono, Serge, and now Cloud accompanied the young warrior. His journey was passing quickly, but there was still much to do. They were all tired from the trials thus far, and they decided to rest for the night. They all set up tents around a campfire. It was a busy night, techniques where shared, equipment and material was passed around, many things were learned. Cloud taught Limit Breaks, shared material, Zidane demonstrated the secrets of Trance, and Serge silently gave up some of his Elements. When it was all over, they were all very prepared but very tired. It was getting late and Sora couldn't sleep. He sat by the dying campfire, staring deep into the burning embers. 'Kairi,' he thought. 'I'm coming for you Kairi. I'll find you, wherever you are.' Zidane emerged from his tent. "What're you doing Sora? It's late." "I know," Sora responded. "I was just thinking." "About her?" asked Zidane. Sora nodded. "Tell me about her. I want to hear about her, she has to be pretty special to make you travel so far to find her." "She is pretty special, but I wish that I had realized it sooner. It wasn't until I lost her that I figured out just how amazing she is." "You don't know what you've got until you don't have it anymore." "Yeah.I wish I wouldn't have been so dumb. I mean, she's perfect. Light purplish hair and the deepest blue eyes you could imagine. She's the sweetest girl that I've ever met, playful and kind. We grew up together. I don't know if she feels the same as me, but I've felt it for a long time. I'm sure that you'll love her when you meet her," said Sora, as he seemed to again fade into a dream world. "We've all got someone we're fighting for. everyone is here for that reason. That's where we have to draw our strength from. We just have to think of who we're fighting for and that's why we keep going." "You're right." He yawned. "I'm going to sleep. I've got stuff to think about. I'll see you in the morning." Sora wandered off to his tent; his sleep would be well-deserved. The keyhole was easily visible in the now white room. The next day would be a difficult one. They would travel on and soon, they would undoubtedly meet Ansem. Their journey was nearly at an end.