Chapter 2: The End?
Common sense kicked in as the wall bore down on Xanien and he hurriedly cast Big Guard. The wave of rocks was getting dangerously close, but the magical wall could be seen in pink and yellow as it built up around the hero. He knew that wouldn't be enough, so he followed up with Shield. A huge, green blast shield surrounded Xanien in a force field and looked sturdy enough to ward off any type of damage. But just for good measure, Xanien cast a Wall on the outside of his first spell. The man now looked like a miniature planet himself, his body being at the core of the multilayered environment he had created. There was a slim hope that all this protection would shrug off the mountain of earth and energy careening towards him, but that hope was soon squashed. It was all done in vain . . .
The first shockwave hit Xanien with a force stronger than a hundred Supernovas combined. The blast whipped around him in all directions, eating away at the surface of the planet and leaving Xanien standing on nothing more than a sinking island of rock. He stood his ground for as long as he could hold out, but eventually the continuing shockwaves and loosened his stance on the ground and he gave up, letting it overtake his body. Millions of rocks slammed into his barriers with incredible power. Xanien might have been the strongest person in the universe, but he wasn't invulnerable. He watched with increasing anxiety as smaller rocks tore though his Big Guard, leaving good sized holes in it. Anything that got through would be absorbed harmlessly into the Wall spell, but it was still unsettling. It just wouldn't stop coming . . .
Another barrage of earth and the moon swept over Xanien, and all he could do was take it. Bigger chunks of the planet were hitting him now, and with each shock his Wall wore thinner and thinner. It began flickering, fading ever so slightly with each passing second. An object flying well over the speed of sound pierced the Wall and left a gaping void in it. That was all it could take and the spell faltered soon after, shattering like glass. It was very evident at this point that Xanien most likely wasn't going to live through this. A mountainous boulder rolling along the landscape with the waves of destruction put those fears to rest. It closed in on the hero and dwarfed anything they had ever seen before, gaining speed the farther it went.
It hit him so hard that it split Xanien back into Cloud and Squall. As the reeled from the impact, another shockwave shattered the Shield around the heroes and carried them off the surface of the planet and through the air. The pain they now felt was excruciating. Even with their armor and skills, it hurt like hell to pass through what was left of the atmosphere. Gravity still had something of a hold on them, causing friction on their backs constantly. Above them pieces of the earth were burning out, but their pain seemed to be wearing off. What pained them even more was the fact that Sephiroth's hysterical laugh could still be heard above everything else. Squall and Cloud cast Reflect as a final resort, but they could still feel the intense heat. As their last lines of defense were draining away, Sephiroth's laugh stopped. Was he dead? Had he killed himself to destroy them? Squall and Cloud would never know.
They could hear it now. It was a deafening roar of the planet screaming in pain. In a couple seconds its pain would be over, for the planet was disintegrating all around the heroes. Its death thralls were horrendous, indescribable with words alone. It was so sad . . . so alone. It would die without being mourned by anybody.
Their Reflects were almost depleted. Cloud felt dejected as the impact wave carried him and Squall along its predetermined path. He felt awful and woeful that he would never be able to fulfill what he had wished so much for. He was going to propose to Tifa in hopes that he might finally be happy, but most importantly, he was going to find a way to finally say goodbye to Aeris. He was going to find the Promised Land so he could say goodbye to her physical self, and to the memories of her. Squall had no such ideals, but this all hurt him the same.
Suddenly, there was silence all around. The heroes had been launched into space and were floating helplessly. Cloud and Squall were floating closer and closer to oblivion with each loathsome second. The world was gone, and their air was exhausted.
Squall desperately squirmed to get back to the planet, waving his arms wildly, but gave up as he saw that it wasn't there anymore. It was completely destroyed. Whatever was left of it was now floating past them into the far reaches of the infinite void. This only served to intensify his feeling of loneliness. He was alone, alone to drift endlessly into the empty abyss that was outer space. He screamed out in agony because of his failure.
"NNNNNOOOOOooooooo . . ."
An even greater silence surrounded Cloud now.
Squall had expelled his last breath of air. Cloud looked over and saw his body go limp, stuck in a slow rotation going backwards. Cloud had never prepared for this type of event. Who would have thought he'd be the last human alive, lasting longer than all others on the planet. He grabbed a rock of the planet that was floating by him. A small ounce of Lifestream clung to it and still held its green glow. It caused him to smile knowing that life would continue on somewhere as long as that stuff existed. The smile turned to a frown as the glow subsided and the rock became as lifeless as Squall. Cloud could feel his lungs burning as they tried desperately to breathe in air, but he knew better. He was doing best to deny his body that breath, because it would kill him. Cloud ran out of air after that. He gave up, and with his remaining strength he murmured,
"We've failed . . ."
The world's last hopes were gone.
Evil had triumphed.
Common sense kicked in as the wall bore down on Xanien and he hurriedly cast Big Guard. The wave of rocks was getting dangerously close, but the magical wall could be seen in pink and yellow as it built up around the hero. He knew that wouldn't be enough, so he followed up with Shield. A huge, green blast shield surrounded Xanien in a force field and looked sturdy enough to ward off any type of damage. But just for good measure, Xanien cast a Wall on the outside of his first spell. The man now looked like a miniature planet himself, his body being at the core of the multilayered environment he had created. There was a slim hope that all this protection would shrug off the mountain of earth and energy careening towards him, but that hope was soon squashed. It was all done in vain . . .
The first shockwave hit Xanien with a force stronger than a hundred Supernovas combined. The blast whipped around him in all directions, eating away at the surface of the planet and leaving Xanien standing on nothing more than a sinking island of rock. He stood his ground for as long as he could hold out, but eventually the continuing shockwaves and loosened his stance on the ground and he gave up, letting it overtake his body. Millions of rocks slammed into his barriers with incredible power. Xanien might have been the strongest person in the universe, but he wasn't invulnerable. He watched with increasing anxiety as smaller rocks tore though his Big Guard, leaving good sized holes in it. Anything that got through would be absorbed harmlessly into the Wall spell, but it was still unsettling. It just wouldn't stop coming . . .
Another barrage of earth and the moon swept over Xanien, and all he could do was take it. Bigger chunks of the planet were hitting him now, and with each shock his Wall wore thinner and thinner. It began flickering, fading ever so slightly with each passing second. An object flying well over the speed of sound pierced the Wall and left a gaping void in it. That was all it could take and the spell faltered soon after, shattering like glass. It was very evident at this point that Xanien most likely wasn't going to live through this. A mountainous boulder rolling along the landscape with the waves of destruction put those fears to rest. It closed in on the hero and dwarfed anything they had ever seen before, gaining speed the farther it went.
It hit him so hard that it split Xanien back into Cloud and Squall. As the reeled from the impact, another shockwave shattered the Shield around the heroes and carried them off the surface of the planet and through the air. The pain they now felt was excruciating. Even with their armor and skills, it hurt like hell to pass through what was left of the atmosphere. Gravity still had something of a hold on them, causing friction on their backs constantly. Above them pieces of the earth were burning out, but their pain seemed to be wearing off. What pained them even more was the fact that Sephiroth's hysterical laugh could still be heard above everything else. Squall and Cloud cast Reflect as a final resort, but they could still feel the intense heat. As their last lines of defense were draining away, Sephiroth's laugh stopped. Was he dead? Had he killed himself to destroy them? Squall and Cloud would never know.
They could hear it now. It was a deafening roar of the planet screaming in pain. In a couple seconds its pain would be over, for the planet was disintegrating all around the heroes. Its death thralls were horrendous, indescribable with words alone. It was so sad . . . so alone. It would die without being mourned by anybody.
Their Reflects were almost depleted. Cloud felt dejected as the impact wave carried him and Squall along its predetermined path. He felt awful and woeful that he would never be able to fulfill what he had wished so much for. He was going to propose to Tifa in hopes that he might finally be happy, but most importantly, he was going to find a way to finally say goodbye to Aeris. He was going to find the Promised Land so he could say goodbye to her physical self, and to the memories of her. Squall had no such ideals, but this all hurt him the same.
Suddenly, there was silence all around. The heroes had been launched into space and were floating helplessly. Cloud and Squall were floating closer and closer to oblivion with each loathsome second. The world was gone, and their air was exhausted.
Squall desperately squirmed to get back to the planet, waving his arms wildly, but gave up as he saw that it wasn't there anymore. It was completely destroyed. Whatever was left of it was now floating past them into the far reaches of the infinite void. This only served to intensify his feeling of loneliness. He was alone, alone to drift endlessly into the empty abyss that was outer space. He screamed out in agony because of his failure.
"NNNNNOOOOOooooooo . . ."
An even greater silence surrounded Cloud now.
Squall had expelled his last breath of air. Cloud looked over and saw his body go limp, stuck in a slow rotation going backwards. Cloud had never prepared for this type of event. Who would have thought he'd be the last human alive, lasting longer than all others on the planet. He grabbed a rock of the planet that was floating by him. A small ounce of Lifestream clung to it and still held its green glow. It caused him to smile knowing that life would continue on somewhere as long as that stuff existed. The smile turned to a frown as the glow subsided and the rock became as lifeless as Squall. Cloud could feel his lungs burning as they tried desperately to breathe in air, but he knew better. He was doing best to deny his body that breath, because it would kill him. Cloud ran out of air after that. He gave up, and with his remaining strength he murmured,
"We've failed . . ."
The world's last hopes were gone.
Evil had triumphed.
