"How much more longer? This is killing my hair!" Zax whined as he and Cloud crawled through the air vent of the reactor.
"Shut up...we're almost there. Can't you hear it?" muttered Cloud, leading the way. "Just be glad we aren't blowing up Shinra instead of the piddely Section 4 reactor."
"Blowing up?" Zax paused in the vent. "We're blowing it up?"
"Yeah. Don't you have the explosives?"
"I was supposed to bring them?! I thought you grabbed them!"
Cloud glanced over his shoulder to glare at Zax. "You stupid piece of shit! I told you to bring them with us!"
"Hey don't worry man!" grinned Zax. "Its not like we're completely helpless. We'll just make do without. Maybe build a better bomb from scrap or something..."
"Fine..." Cloud mumbled. "For once you come up with a halfway decent plan."
"I kind of wish Sephy were with us," Zax sighed out of the blue.
"What?!" Cloud stopped and turned to Zax as he screeched, shooting a dark glare at his dark-haired comrade. "Are you fucking nuts?!"
Zax shrugged. "We'd be in and out by now...Sephy could have gotten us in a quick way and out even quicker. He'd enjoy an adventure like this. Sephiroth was a great guy until that Hojo dude fucked up his mind." Again Zax sighed. "A shame you had to kill Sephy...He could have been changed to normal."
Cloud turned to lead once more, but paused. "I...I didn't kill him..."
The dark-haired ex-SOLDIER perked in curiosity. "You didn't? But you told everyone..."
"I lied!" snapped the blonde, continuing down the airshaft. "I rather not talk about it...not now."
Sensing a piercing emotion radiate from his ally, Zax bit his bottom lip to hold back his curiosity and questions for later. The two continued through the vent, crawling closer to the reactor's center. Soon the smell of both ancient and fresh Mako energy caught up with them.
"We're getting closer," Cloud muttered darkly.
Finally, they reached the vent opening and crawled out. Leaving the vent first, Cloud went to the main reactor, inspecting it. Behind him, Zax gathered random trinkets in attempts to build a better bomb, which failed miserably. "Fuck this!" Zax exclaimed, throwing down the metal box. "Can't we just use a Materia or something?"
Muttering, Cloud drew Ultimate Weapon from his back, Zax following suit with his recovered Buster Sword he got back from Cloud. The two glanced at each other and nodded their heads, thinking the same thing. Without warning, the two let out a shout as they attacked the metal reactor. Within seconds, what had once been the reactor core was now nothing more than a pile of destroyed metal. As they finished, the ground shook beneath them.
"Shit!" Zax cursed. "The reactor is building up pressure. It's going to blow!"
"At least it'll explode," Cloud mumbled to himself, turning to run out of the building. "C'mon! Lets jet before any Shinra dogs notice anything!"
With that, the two men ran from the room and left the reactor, escaping from the Section 4 area and towards the edge of Midgar. It wasn't until after they left the dark, dismal city did they stop. In the distance, they could hear the explosion of the erupted reactor, a yellow spot of a fireball appearing on the black city.
"That's the last one in Midgar..." sighed Cloud.
"Sure is..." replied Zax. "Now for the fun part. Getting the ones that aren't clustered together. Anywhere in particular you want to start?"
"Nibelheim," Cloud answered coldly. "I want to get rid of that one first. It brings back memories I want gone..."
"Speaking of memories...how 'bout you tell me why you lied to the world when you said you 'killed' Sephiroth." For once, Zax had shed his carefree and cheerful mask and replaced it with a serious aura.
Cloud turned his back to Zax, looking towards the village of Kalm. "Maybe after I say good-bye to Tifa and the others..."
"Maybe now." Zax placed a strong hand on Cloud's shoulder as the blonde moved to walk away. "You can't run forever Cloud. Not from me, not from Tifa, not from yourself." Cloud turned to face Zax with wide sapphire eyes. "You would have told Aeris as soon as she asked, wouldn't you?"
His friend's words slapped him hard, the truth in them leaving a burning sting. Unable to speak, Cloud weakly nodded his head.
"Then why do you hesitate when I ask? I'm like a brother to you Cloud..."
"Because its wrong!" Cloud shouted, wiggling out of his comrade's grip. "Feeling pity for the enemy is wrong!" Tears of many emotions burned in his eyes as he shook violently, turning his back to Zax.
"There was more than just pity..." Zax's voice held a deep understanding Cloud couldn't believe came from such a slacker. "Cloud what happened?"
***
"Omnislash!" Cloud shouted, raising the sword over his head and leaping for the attack.
Sephiroth's dodge came late, but the attack still missed. Both he and Cloud were obviously weary and worn from the long battle. Cloud sustained a few minor injuries, though he bled heavily from a side wound and was blinded in his left eye as blood slowly trickled from a cut on his forehead. Sephiroth's sword arm bled at its bicep from a deep slash, the man appearing much weaker than his opponent. His left leg also appeared wounded. He had unfolded his single wing to help keep his balance and dodge.
The silver-haired swordsman took a chance-shot at Cloud, but his sword was deflected by the blonde's blade. With a quick flick of his wrist, Cloud flung Masamune from Sephiroth's hand. Taking the opportunity, Cloud moved to slash at Sephiroth, but stopped in mid-attack.
His eyes pierced Cloud's as Sephiroth stood his ground, arms open to embrace the attack and death. "Do it..." Sephiroth muttered in a tired voice. "You know you want to...Kill me now..."
Cloud's surprise faded into anger once more as he charged at Sephiroth, slicing his chest diagonally from his heart to his right hip. The angel fell back from the attack and collapsed onto the ground, barely alive. He bled heavily from the wound, staring at the ceiling as his breathing slowed. Sephiroth's glowing teal eyes showed no pain or fear, only reflections of the light all around.
***
"And then what happened?" Zax asked, the two sitting on a hill looking over Kalm.
Cloud ran a hand through his hair. "He just laid there...I could barely hear him breath, and I know he was waiting for me to kill him. But..."
"You couldn't..." finished Zax.
The blonde nodded his head. "There was just something about him...I know this sounds weird...But he looked...beautiful...laying bathed in both his and my blood...black feathers all around him...silver hair glowing like a metallic aura..." He shook the thought from his head. "So I used a sleeping spell to knock him out and took him to the Mt. Nibel reactor. I had a feeling the Mako in those pods would help him recover..."
"You saved the life of your mortal enemy..." A sudden thought hit Zax. "If Sephy's there...then why do you want to destroy the Mt. Nibel reactor first?"
"If I get lucky, he'll get caught in the blast and it would be like I never lied."
There was a false truth hidden in Cloud's words, Zax could hear it. He said nothing though as the blonde stood and dusted himself off, turning to go. Standing also, Zax silently followed Cloud away from Kalm and towards Junon.