At first Cloud didn't respond. This strange person was dressed in an oversized black cloak that would've hanged to the ankles had he been standing. The collar was raised so high as to nearly cover the man's chin. The overall impression Cloud got was not too dissimilar from Vincent as far as clothing was concerned. Judging from the voice, though, Cloud assumed he was no older than his late teens or early twenties.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked coolly.

"What did you do that for?!" Tifa shouted suddenly. "If you had to kill it, fine, but...why'd you have to take its head off, too?"

"Tifa, be quiet!" Cloud commanded abruptly. Returning his gaze to the stranger he repeated, "Who are you? What is your name?"

"My name?" the man smiled. He slowly made his way down to Cloud's level and approached smoothly. "The name my father gave me was Kether. Kether Elyon."

Now he was standing face to face with Cloud, but neither man backed down. For her part, Tifa moved some distance away. Something about that man made her extremely uncomfortable in such a way as to instill a sense of fear in the pit of her stomach. This man, like Cloud, was way out of her league.

"But my friends just call me Kether," he continued without missing a beat.

"What are you doing here?" Cloud demanded without raising his voice.

"I merely came to observe you," Kether bowed regally. "I hope you don't mind, but you are simply the most fascinating person I've ever met. And a good teacher, too, I might add," he said, indicating Tifa.

"Watch what you say, Kether," Cloud replied evenly. "I don't like being observed any more than I like intrusions. Once my business with Tifa is finished she will leave."

Kether merely shook his head. "As cold as ever, I see. Then will you permit me to stay until you deem she is ready?"

"No," Cloud said flatly. "I don't want intrusions of any kind. The fact that you knew where to find me makes it evident to me that you already know more than you should."

"Your words are harsh," Kether commented. Looking around the area they were standing in, he commented: "Where is your legendary sword? Did you throw it away as easily as you did your friends?"

"That's none of your concern," Cloud replied with an icy glare. His eyes narrowed threateningly. "Your welcome has officially worn out. If you aren't gone in five seconds I will kill you."

"Please, calm down," Kether replied softly. "I did not come here for a confrontation."

"Then leave."

"I'm afraid that's not possible," came the swift answer. "I came to see you, and to speak with you, and I will not leave until I have done that."

"Cloud," Tifa said cautiously, "why not just let him stay for a bit? What's the harm in it?"

"The harm," Cloud replied coldly, "is that this man knew where to find me. He also seems to know an awful lot about me for someone I've never met. Also, I don't have time for intrusions from anyone. Why do you think I agreed to let you stay only for a short while?"

"You should have more respect towards a woman," Kether chided.

Cloud reached out and grabbed Kether's oversized collar in his hand. "You had your chance."

With his free hand, he reached back and swung towards Kether's face.

Incredibly, Kether reached up to catch Cloud's hand in his own. Using Cloud's brief surprise to his advantage, Kether brought his left hand up and smashed it into Cloud's rib cage, sending the man sailing back towards the cliff's plateau.

"Cloud!" Tifa cried as she ran after him. Before she'd even arrived, Cloud was back on his feet and staring intently at his opponent. "Cloud, are you all right?" she gushed.

Cloud ignored her, all but shoving her to the side as he made his way towards Kether once more.

"What are you?" Cloud said in a dangerously low voice.

Kether regarded Cloud silently for a moment before he answered. "It was not my intention to hurt you, Cloud," he said in an equally severe tone, "but you left me no other option."

"Don't lie to me!" Cloud said angrily. "I can sense the murderous intent in your heart!"

Kether's eyes hardened, but then he threw back his head and laughed wildly at Cloud's response. "Cannot even enemies share a moment of civility before the inevitable conflict?" he posed. "But if you are so eager to die, then come at me!"

"W-Wait a minute!" Tifa interrupted. "Guys, don't fight! Can't we try to talk this over?"

"It's you, isn't it?" Cloud stated, ignoring Tifa's comment. "You're the danger I've been sensing."

"Am I the true danger?" Kether countered. "Perhaps you should do a little more searching before you so erroneously place blame on someone."

"I can't think of any other reason why you would come here," Cloud replied with a snarl. "Tell me, then- if you aren't, then who is?"

Kether closed his eyes and lowered his head. "One of us," he said so lowly that Tifa could barely hear him, "is the true savior of this planet. It is because of your actions that this is necessary, for by saving the planet all you have done is ensure its destruction. Is it not safe to assume, then, that you are the danger to this planet?"

"W-What?!" Cloud huffed. "That's insane! I've been fighting to save the planet!"

"As I said before, all you have done is ensure its destruction."

Now Cloud was thoroughly enraged. After all the pain and hardship he'd gone through, he wasn't about to let someone label him as some sort of villain- much less someone whom he'd never met before. "If that's the case," he shouted, "then what good were all of our struggles from two years ago?!"

Kether seemed not to hear him, as he continued speaking. "Surely you realize that there can only be one savior, for whenever two opposing forces battle, one is right and the other is wrong. It is for this reason that we must fight- to determine who will become the true savior of this planet."

Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing. This conversation was like something out of a dream. On the one hand was Cloud, who for all intents and purposes had become nothing short of a hermit in her eyes, and on the other was a young man accusing the champion of humanity as being nothing but a desperado. Something like this could not be allowed to continue!

"You're wrong!" Tifa shouted at Kether. "People fight because of a difference in opinions. While it's true that one side may be wrong, it's also a possibility that each side truly wants what is best for everyone!"

"But look at what Cloud has won for this planet," Kether replied coolly. "Entire cities lay in ruins; families are dying of starvation every day; the children of this world cry out for help, but their pleas fall on deaf ears!"

"That's a lie!" Tifa yelled back. "I've never seen any of the things you're talking about!"

Kether turned and regarded Tifa with a piteous look on his face. "You do not see merely because you do not want to see," he explained gently. "I know that in the area of Midgar where you live there are none suffering; however, Tifa, you must understand that this world is vast. There are towns you have not yet been to, people you have not seen- and all of these that you are unaware of- but just because you do not know of them doesn't mean that they aren't there. People are suffering, Tifa. People are dying."

Over the course of their dialogue, Cloud's face steadily became a mixture of anger and utter bewilderment. "No! I fought for this planet! I nearly sacrificed my life for this planet! I won't believe that everything I strived for was in vain!"

"Believe it," Kether smiled. "Look at reality as it is now and see for yourself."

"But...what other choice did I have?" Cloud whispered mostly to himself. "How could I not have...? Was it...was my life wasted on some meaningless undertaking?"

"Cloud, no!" Tifa countered his self-deprecating statement. "Think of what would've happened if you hadn't done anything at all! Sephiroth would've destroyed this planet!"

Once again, Cloud ignored her comment. His face was now brimming with fury as he looked towards Kether with a malicious glare. "I don't care what you say!" he shouted defiantly. "I know the reasons why I did what I did, and for me they were good ones! If what I did was so wrong, what would you have done in my stead? What do you intend to do for the planet that I couldn't?!"

Kether raised his arms dramatically and looked towards the distant sky. "I will guide humanity through its next evolutionary phase. I will heal this broken world and rejuvenate its peoples in a way that can only be described in the flight of the imagination!"

"You think you're some kind of god?!" Cloud growled viciously. "Who are you to determine what path humanity takes?"

Kether lowered his arms and regarded Cloud seriously. "Do not forget that it is not for my sake that I do all of this."

"You bastard!" Cloud bellowed loudly. Without a sound, he instantly closed the distance between him and his new opponent, leaping into the air only to come crashing down with his fist extended.

Kether merely stepped to the side and avoided the attack entirely.

The surprised look in Cloud's face quickly vanished as he narrowed his eyes in concentration. This was no ordinary human being. Not unlike himself, Kether seemed to possess abnormal agility.

Hand to hand combat seemed to be having no effect at all. For every attack Cloud made, Kether either blocked or dodged it entirely. Unfortunately, his martial arts skills were somewhat lacking. Maybe throwing away his sword hadn't been such a good idea after all...

"How boring," Kether said jadedly. He reached out and caught Cloud's fist midair. "If you're going to fight me, you'll have to try harder than this."

So saying, he wrenched Cloud's wrist painfully to the side, eliciting a startled cry from him.

Sensing a second presence behind him, Kether turned to see Tifa charging him wildly. He briefly considered ignoring her all together, for even though she hadn't laid a finger on him he could tell that she was pathetically weak. Nevertheless, an attack bared against him could not go unnoticed. With a mere flick of his wrist, he sent her soaring backwards where she landed unceremoniously on the rocky ground.

With a swift knee to Cloud's gut, Kether released the defeated man and walked over to the fallen woman.

"Tifa," he said with a hint of amusement, "your skills are so pathetically insignificant as to be laughable."

She looked up at him and tried to speak, but her throat choked as she coughed up blood.

"However," he continued, "I must applaud your spirit. It's unfortunate that you associated with Cloud, though, because now I will have to kill you as well."

"Guilty by association, eh?" Tifa thought sardonically.

Moving his hand inside of his coat, Kether withdrew an intricately carved sword of a make that Tifa had never seen before. Wherever he'd gotten it from, the blade radiated energy unlike anything she'd ever felt before- almost as if the sword were...alive.

"I promise you won't feel a thing," he said as he thrust towards Tifa's heart with his weapon.

Tifa closed her eyes tightly and waited for the pain of the sword as it would pierce her. She briefly recalled that being stabbed with Sephiroth's sword had been the most painful experience in her life. With any luck, Kether would be true to his word and make it quick.

After a few moments without feeling anything, however, Tifa slowly opened her eyes. Now, standing in front of her, was Cloud, stationed between her and Kether's blade.

"Cloud, no!" Tifa screamed.

Cloud's eyes were brimming with wrath, even as blood trickled from his mouth along with the wound Kether had given him. "I'm not...gonna let you kill her!" Cloud hissed between clenched teeth.

Looking down, he grasped the sword with his hands and, grunting slightly, jerked it from his body.

He valiantly tried to raise his arms to continue the fight, but his vision began to grow dim.

"No..." Cloud ground his teeth together. "No, I can't...die here! I won't!" he whispered even as he collapsed onto the ground. Cloud could tell that no amount of strength or willpower could save him now. He was dying, and that's all there was to it.

"I'm afraid you have no other choice," Kether laughed wildly. "It appears that you care for your friends more than you thought, but once you die I will kill her, too. So, Cloud, die knowing that your sacrifice will have been for nothing!"

"Damn...you..." Cloud said heavily.

"Please!" Tifa managed with a slight gurgle as Kether raised his sword to plunge it into Cloud's back.

Kether turned his head to look at her silently for a moment, but then he closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. "It is my father's will!" he replied desperately.

With one final motion, he raised his sword and plunged it towards his unconscious foe. Just as he was about to penetrate Cloud's body, though, Kether's right arm exploded into a bloody mixture of flesh and sinew that splattered onto anything nearby. Crying out in pain, he dropped the sword and fell to his knees, clutching his injured arm.

Tifa looked past Kether and saw something that almost made her shout for joy. There, racing toward them in the distance, was the Highwind.

Kether glanced down at the still conscious Cloud and managed a slight grin. "It seems our battle will have to be postponed. Until then, farewell."

He quickly reached over for his sword, closed his eyes, and chanted a spell that Tifa had never heard before. Its purpose became clear, however, when the light around him shifted unnaturally before he vanished from sight.

Not two minutes later and the Highwind pulled up toward the cliff face. Vincent leapt off of the balcony and ran over toward where Cloud and Tifa both lay.

"I'm all right," Tifa said weakly, "but Cloud's been stabbed! Please, take care of him first!"

Vincent nodded as he picked up Cloud's limp body and swiftly boarded the Highwind. Soon, Cid emerged from the door that Vincent had entered and made his way to Tifa.

"Hey there, sport, long time no see," he said halfheartedly as he lifted her into his arms. "Seeing you injured wasn't exactly what I had in mind for our next reunion."

"He bleeds red," Tifa said absent-mindedly.

"Huh?"

"Kether- he bleeds red. He's only a human. The next time I see him..." she trailed off to inhale deeply, "...I'm going to kill him for sure."

Cid didn't reply. Instead, he merely brought her aboard the Highwind and placed her on a small cot that lay just outside the cockpit. "Stay here," he said firmly. "I'm gonna go help Vincent with Cloud."

"Don't let him die," Tifa begged even as her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell unconscious.

The last thing she heard was Cid's affirmative response before she blacked out completely.