Altered Destiny
Chapter 2: With Mako and Determination…
Sephiroth put his foot on the railing, looking down at the coalescing energies. He shuddered at the immense power of lifestream in the area and slowly made his way back into the airship.
"It's as an ol' friend of mine used to say…"
Sephiroth grinned as he heard the man's voice, one that sounded as if he worked in a coalmine during his early years.
"There ain't no getting' offa this train we on!"
The whole cockpit erupted with various repetitions of the phrase, including the mechanical robot, Cait Sith, which shouted aloud, "This train we on ain't makin' no stops!"
Sephiroth looked to the man, who ran a hand through his slick black hair as he wiped a tear from his eye.
"I'm savin' this world… because it's what Barret would've done."
The large gun on his right arm, a reminder of what happened to him earlier in his life glistened off the faint light that poured in the cockpit from the lifestream energies in the area.
Tifa walked up to him, throwing her arms around him in a massive hug.
"I'm sure he's proud of you, Dyne."
Cloud walked to the entrance of the cockpit to greet Sephiroth, a massive sword slung on his back, a weapon of the planet, the Ultima Weapon.
"Sephiroth… all of this… everything we've done, you've helped us so much, giving up everything you had with Shinra to save the planet… I want say, on behalf of all of us… thank you."
Sephiroth grinned, shaking his head, "Please, I'm sure even if I wasn't here, you would have dealt with a similar problem with the planet…"
He looked around the room, remembering the various adventures he had with the members.
The young girl, Yuffie Kisaragi, was the assassin that had been hired from Wutai. She joined the team mostly because her botched assassination job ended up offing the President when Hojo made some kind of superhuman movement to dodge the poison shuriken she had thrown to get rid of him. Sephiroth had made some kind of elaborate plan to save her life because of an agreement he had with her father, Lord Godo.
The lion-like creature, RedXIII, who had been experimented on by Hojo, and who Sephiroth had also found in the company of Aeris, had been found early on in the adventure, during the first raid on Shinra Inc. Realizing the sick and twisted plot of Hojo made Sephiroth want to kill him even more, but the tricky mad scientist had already fled the scene while letting one of his other experiments try to finish the group of Cloud, Sephiroth, and Tifa, off.
Tifa, the guide of Mt. Nibel, and Cloud's current fiancé, was the groups main source of enthusiasm and motivation. She was one of the original founders of Avalanche, along with Sephiroth, and was surprisingly one of the best fighters on the team. It turned out that during the adventure, Tifa found out about a lost heritage of hers, that she was somewhat related to her master, Zangan, and was in fact, the direct descendant of Sabin Figaro, one of the greatest fist fighters ever to exist in the past. She even took the group to a small, secluded cabin near the Midgar mountains, where she found Zangan and successfully learned the most powerful technique of her ancestor: Bum Rush.
Cid, the illustrious pilot and mechanic, was one of the team's greatest fighters, also being the owner of the world's fastest airship, which became the group's base of operations. Supposedly, Cid was descended from the great Kain Highwind, one of the greatest Dragoons ever to exist, which perhaps accounted for Cid's prominent skill with the spear. Cid's addition to the group was one of the greatest, bringing in the Highwind, his ship, but also two sources of huge materia picked up during the adventure.
Cait Sith, the mechanical toy created by Reeve, who was supposedly next in line for the Shinra Presidency with Rufus, Hideggar, and Scarlet out of the way. The toy ended up being the reason the group was able to get the Black Materia out of the temple of the ancients, but perhaps the move was not the greatest of options, as Sephiroth saw it. Looking at the machine caused Sephiroth to flash back to the horrid event.
As the Materia was created due to the shrinking of the temple, Cloud immediately jumped down into the pit along with Aeris to check out the small globular object with Sephiroth following behind. As Sephiroth neared the object, his head began to hurt as a voice began calling him.
"No… give me the materia."
Zack's hazy form suddenly appeared out of nowhere, immediately striking Sephiroth down to the ground. As the materia was jarred out of his hands, Cloud immediately lunged for the materia, a growl escaping his lips as he sent a heated glare to Zack.
Zack chuckled, "What, you think a pathetic worm like yourself can stand up to the power that my mother has given me? You are truly a fool, Cloud Strife. You should have burned with the rest of your pathetic town."
He suddenly appeared behind Aeris, his massive sword coming dangerously close to her neck.
"Now, I wouldn't have to kill the last surviving ancient, would I? Hand me the materia if you or her boyfriend want to see her safe."
Her pleading eyes looked to Cloud and Sephiroth, brimming with tears as she realized the both of them would likely not wish to see her die.
"No, don't do it!"
Zack chuckled, "My dear, you really don't have much of a choice, it's in their hands."
Sephiroth grimaced, stepping up and snatching the materia from Cloud.
"Give me your word, Russell."
Zack grinned, "Oh, does the General have his doubts about his officer? Please, the life of this woman means nothing to me, but the materia certainly does. Give it to me, and you'll see her live."
Sephiroth threw the materia to Zack as he caught it and promptly disappeared to wherever he appeared from.
Aeris' pleading eyes stared at Sephiroth in surprise.
"He could very well destroy the world…"
Sephiroth shook his head, "Had he killed you, he would have already destroyed my world."
Her eyes filled with tears as she realized the gravity of the words he spoke, and ran into his arms, embracing him while sobbing.
Cloud shook his head, looking to Sephiroth with understanding.
"Don't feel so bad, I would've done the same for Tifa. Once you two are done, I'm going back to the Tiny Bronco, we're going to see if we can track him down or something…"
Aeris sniffed, "I know a way… the… the City of the Ancients. If I pray for Holy there, we'll surely counteract the power of the Black Materia. But we need to hurry, time is of the essence."
Cloud nodded, "Indeed, let's go."
Sephiroth shook his head slowly, as the memory played through his mind. He continued to look around the room at the various other members of the team who had been conversing about various events of the adventure.
A man wearing a business suit strode up to him, his eyes shifting between various stages of transformation.
"Sephiroth…"
Sephiroth nodded, the man before him was his real father, and such was a fact he was very glad to have found during the adventure. To him, being the son of a TURK was much better than being the son of a mad scientist who caused most of the trouble the group had to deal with.
"Father…"
Vincent Valentine, the former head of the TURKS, was the very same man who molded Tseng into what he was today. He had originally be garbed in various cloths to hide his face, in the event that he found out that his child, who had been injected by Jenova cells, would indeed become an evil that rivaled the cells in his body. Luckily, Sephiroth had been the one to free him from his long slumber, and when Vincent realized who Sephiroth was, he returned to wearing similar clothing to what he wore in the past.
"Sephiroth, I'm sorry for what Hojo did to you… if only I had been there to stop him… if only he had not left me in a state of near death for the longest time… if only…"
Sephiroth put a hand on the older man's shoulder, as he looked into a face that had not aged in years, but yet looked very much like his own.
"You should not let the sins of the past way so heavily on you, father. Clearly, you were not at fault, once again, Hojo was responsible, not a surprise considering he has been responsible for so much evil in this world, but we took care of him…"
Yes, he, Cloud, and Vincent had been there on the very top of the Sister Ray. Dyne had been backing them up near their position, using his newly acquired gun, the Missing Score, to take out various SOLDIER officers that were climbing the cannon to face the group.
Cloud, Vincent, and Sephiroth, the three lives that Hojo ruined the most had their revenge that fated day, after the barrier surrounding the north crater was demolished. And therefore, the three found peace for a short time, before dealing with the falling red rock that was coming for Midgar at a snail's pace.
"It's not your fault at all, father…"
He looked behind Vincent, noticing that Cloud had embraced Tifa, saying some sort of consoling words for the battle ahead.
Cloud, the man was truly some sort of mystery. Sephiroth found out that Cloud had very much wanted to be like himself during his earlier years, but Sephiroth realized that Cloud had some qualities that were even better than his own. Cloud was the team's prominent mage, having discovered some kind of inherit magical ability in his blood that allowed him to use Materia to an even greater degree than he or Aeris could. Sephiroth had looked up various historical records for Cloud, and found that Cloud's bloodline dated back similarly to where Tifa's had, that he was actually the descendant of the famous Treasure Hunter, Locke Cole, and his wife, Celes Chere, one of the Empire's greatest mages. Obviously, this bloodline had very much to do with Cloud's amazing ability with magic, which put him over the top of many wizards of yore, and he was truly one of the deciding factors in the battle to save the planet.
Sephiroth looked over to the man standing nearby, looking out the main window of the bridge, garbed in black, another man standing next to him garbed similarly. Along with them were two women garbed in similar black skin tight suits, one with Blond hair and of obvious Wutaitian descent, and the other with Blue hair and looked as if she was partially of Wutaitian descent.
The first man mentioned was Gyrick Standell, who had taken up studying an ancient form of Martial arts that his girlfriend's father was one of the few known practitioners of. He had taken up the use of two short swords that had been forged in the fire pits of Wutai and held various enchantments after being soaked in the lifestream energies near Mideel.
The woman standing closest to him was his girlfriend, Aurora, who Sephiroth recalled having been mentioned several times previously. She was skilled in various arts of assassination, and had distinct knowledge with various ranged weapons, with bows, guns, and throwing weapons.
The other man was the friend of his who had previously been mentioned, a powerful Sai master by the name of Edward Olorin. Though he previously worked for SOLDIER, he quickly joined the cause after hearing of the various problems in the world and became a powerful ally due to his latent abilities to influence large numbers of people due to his charismatic qualities. His Sai's, weapons not very widely used in the world, were forged similarly to Gyrick's, having been forged in the fire pits of Wutai, and soaked in lifestream to form very powerful weapons. He also possessed a keen knowledge of the use of various materia, and was known to master materia very quickly, as had been discovered when he had been the first of the group to master the spell of Ultima. It was unclear to Sephiroth exactly how strong the man was with magic, as he did not see him battle often, but it was clear that he possessed an uncanny ability.
The blue haired woman standing near him was his girlfriend, Dawn Hessen, a woman specifically skilled in throwing weapons. She had also been the first of the group to master the use of Enemy Skills, which were indeed some of the most powerful techniques available to the group. In fact, she was sent out to master several of the materia while other more dangerous missions were left to Sephiroth, Cloud, and Cid.
Sephiroth moved his gaze to the final member of the group, who had suddenly come up next to him and held him in a large embrace.
His fiancé, Aeris, the one he could attest to preventing many psychological breakdowns that he realized were the cause of Jenova. Because he had known her for most of his life due to his close proximity to her and Professor Gast during his days in SOLDIER, he soon found himself in love with her, and made sure she was close to him during many battles to make sure she was safe.
He recalled one such battle, which had almost been her death, one that happened in the Ancient City, not long after the fiasco with the Black Materia.
Her praying form made her almost look like an angel, as she kneeled at the altar hoping for Holy to come and save the planet from Meteor.
Suddenly, Sephiroth heard the sound of metal against metal, and looked up as Zack was quickly descending above, ready to cleave Aeris in two.
Sephiroth would have none of it as he roared a fierce battle cry and leapt in the air to meet the massive blade coming down to kill his love.
The blades met, and Sephiroth exerted all of his strength to throw Zack off his course, causing him to fall close to the edge of the platform where Aeris was praying. She slowly got up, her eyes brimming with tears of happiness.
"It… Holy heard my prayer! We can save the planet now!"
Zack shook his head, leaping high into the air as the gruesome form of Jenova appeared on the platform.
Sephiroth sneered as Zack flew out of his range of sight. He then pointed his sword to the monster, readying himself to fight the beast in front of him.
"Come on, Cloud, Aeris, we need to get rid of this monstrosity!"
Cloud grinned, bringing out the blade he found while going through Mt. Nibel for a second time.
"You'd have to order me not to."
Aeris agreed, bringing out an intricate staff she found in the Temple of the Ancients, a red hue surrounding her.
"Let's see how Jenova likes dealing with Ifrit…"
Sephiroth grinned, remembering the battle with Jenova, and how smooth it was, though he was quite worried that he would have not been able to save Aeris in time due to Zack's speed in his descent.
He shook his head, realizing that his doubt would be his undoing, as he just knew that he had to save her no matter what was in his way.
He looked around at the entire group, realizing all their eyes were on him.
"It looks like you're all waiting to hear me speak…"
Dyne grinned, pumping his gun in the air, "Yer damn right! Let's hear some pep talk, leader!"
Sephiroth nodded, shifting his gaze throughout the cockpit.
"From my days in SOLDIER, I never really cared about anyone other than myself. It was about the time that I was a teenager that I spent time with Aeris more and more… I realized the feeling one could get after having someone else to care about."
She smiled, continuing her embrace.
"Personally, if it wasn't for Aeris, I probably would have been on Shinra's side fighting against you, or worse… I could have been in Zack's position. I found out that I have the highest concentration of Jenova cells out of any human being, and a fated day 5 years ago was when she tried to take control of my mind through force.
I don't know what caused me to wrest my self control from Jenova's will, I think I remember thinking only about Aeris during the time to calm myself down, and actually, I am rather glad I have such an amazing person to think about to help gain focus.
What we are about to do now is risk our lives to save the planet. Let me tell you, Zack Russell is not going to be an easy adversary. He has been given much of Jenova's power, and he has been siphoning energy from the lifestream to bring himself to near godhood, and I know this next battle will probably be the most difficult battle that I have ever faced.
I will not let some stuck up pissant like Russell think that he's better than me though. I'd bet my life that the whole of this team is stronger than SOLDIER and the TURKS put together. The fact that we have the 5 best people skilled in assassination may prove helpful since we're dealing with only one target, but then again, I'm sure the art of assassination never involved going after anyone with a large amount of lifestream induced power. Also, Cloud is likely to be the best user of magic on the planet due to whom he is descended from, and Tifa has successfully mastered one of the most difficult martial arts techniques ever created in the whole of history. We have Cait Sith, yet another hook up to Shinra, which will surely help, and Vincent Valentine, my father, and the greatest of the TURKS. And then there's Cid, descended from the great Dragoon, Kain, and Dyne, who is one of the main reasons that Avalanche has gained it's reputation throughout the years. If there was any team that I would be taking against Russell to save the planet, it would definitely be this one.
Now, I ask that you go with me, on a long journey to the bottom of the crater, where Russell is gaining even more power from the previous wound given to the planet from what I assume was Meteor long ago. I ask that you all remember who you are fighting for, and the future that we strive for."
Dyne pointed his gun-arm in the air, "I'm doing this fer Barret, and my daughter Marlene!"
Cait Sith nodded, "She's safe in Kalm, ya know…"
The gun was pointed at the mechanical robot with a sneer, "You're damn lucky that it was all for the best. Otherwise I'd be cappin' yer ass, Reeve."
The others nodded, as they waited for Sephiroth to continue.
He gripped the hilt of the Masamune in anticipation.
"This is Avalanche's finest hour. Let us be the avalanche that quenches the flames. Whether we win or lose, we will always be fighting with our loved ones in our hearts. Now… I want everyone to go off in groups of three… we'll meet right at the greatest insurgence of lifestream, where the path to Zack surely lies."
Cloud nodded, "I'm going with you, Sephiroth."
Cid walked next to him, "You bet your ass I'm going with you guys."
Vincent nodded as he paired off with Edward and Gyrick. Cait Sith, Yuffie and Dawn went off in their own group, and Aurora joined with Aeris and Tifa.
Sephiroth brought a fist to the air, his eyes glowing with Mako and determination.
"Let no cloud, nor squall hinder us… the time for destiny has arrived."
Cid chuckled, "Write it down, Seph, they'll put it in a play, that's fer damn sure."
And Avalanche descended into the crater, for the battle to save the planet. Leading the group, was what could have been the planet's enemy, and instead, became its greatest hero.
And always, his eyes were filled with Mako and determination.