The Song of Eternity
Canto 3
The Return of Sephiroth
Verse 1
An End to All
The evil one returns,
His mind still warped by the taint,
And his body tainted by a new power.
His foes disappear as he builds an army,
As one sleeps, as he has done before,
To be awoke in a brave new world.
3 Years After the Meteor Incident
"Shit! We're in a lot of trouble here!" Cid's voice shouted over the intercom of the Highwind. "The engine is blown to shit, this baby ain't gonna fly no more. You maybe got another five minutes Spikey. Better find a place to put us down!" Cid shouted as deafening explosion came over the intercom, followed by intense cursing.
"Any place to land near here?" Cloud asked the pilot as the Highwind began to lose altitude.
"Sure, tons. Only problem is once we land, he'll be on us in a minute," the pilot explained as he gestured at the radar and kept the airship going at full speed.
"Great, just great," Cloud said as he went to the intercom. "Everyone, get the wounded ready for transport. We are going to be hitting the ground hard and will need to evacuate and split up once we land. Hopefully some of us can escape," he ordered as the ship rocked from another explosion. "What was that?" Cloud shouted over the intercom.
"We've been hit hard in the engine room!" Cid shouted. "The engine is gone, we need to get on the ground, this bird won't stay up for much longer," Cid's voice died as all power in the Highwind failed.
"Where are we?" Cloud asked the pilot who was furiously pulling at the controls, slowing the descent.
"Couple miles from Junon," the pilot said as he looked out the window.
"Fine, land it as close as you can. Hopefully we can lose him in the city," Cloud said as he ran from the bridge. He ran down to the meeting room which they converted into an infirmary. "We are going down people. We'll be crashing near Junon in a minute or two, so get ready," Cloud ordered as he rushed to Tifa. She was lying on the floor, bleeding from a wicked sword gash across her torso. "Tifa, are you okay?"
"She's in shock, foo," Barret explained as he cradled his own injured arm. The gun that he usually had for an arm was gone, it had been severed in the battle they were escaping from. "You go get her to a doctor when we land. We'll try to get away too, but we're a little immobilized here," Barret said as he motioned at the others.
Nanaki was bleeding profusely, but limping around. Yuffie and Elena were draped overtop of Cait Sith, who was still functioning, despite having many wires exposed and damaged. Reno was leaning heavily on Rude, both were bleeding from dozens of wounds. Reno's arm was broken.
"Okay everybody, we need to split up and lay low for a while, don't go getting yourselves killed," Cloud said as he knelt by Tifa. "How did it come to this?" Cloud said aloud.
"Simple foo. We thought we were safe and didn't need material no more," Barret grimaced before the Highwind hit the ground hard.
Six Years After the Meteor Incident
"What day is it?" a man asked the bartender.
"Friday? Yeah, that's it, Friday," the bartender replied as he struggled to think of it himself. "Friday…February 14th…..Why does that ring a bell?" The bartender shook his head as he tried to remember something. The bartender looked around his dingy place as he tried to jog his memory. There were a few patrons still there, but most of them had gone home for the night. As the sun came up he ushered the remaining patrons to the door. "You don't gotta go home, but you can't stay here," he said as he locked the door behind the drunks.
He came back into the back and went behind the bar to check his profits. "Barely enough to stay open," he said in disgust as he slammed the cash register. He turned around and looked at himself in the mirror. He was about six feet tall with long red hair tied back in a ponytail. He looked down at his right arm which was covered in black cloth and remembered what was so special about the day.
"That's it! The stiff!" he shouted as he left the main bar area. He walked to the stairs to the basement and climbed down into the darkness. "Let there be light," he joked as he flipped on a flashlight and walked to the far wall of the basement. "Here goes nothing," he said as he pried open some loose boards to reveal a strange looking coffin. He pulled on the handle until it was removed from it's hiding place in the wall. "Heavy S.O.B.," he swore as he wiped the sweat from his head. "Rise and shine," he said as he opened the coffin, getting the first glimpse of its occupant in five years.
He stepped back to look at the person in the coffin. He had long black hair and a pale face. He was covered in a red cape, except for where a metal claw that was his left hand lay uncovered. Suddenly his eyes opened, shining a dull red in the darkness. Before the bartender knew what was going on, there was a gun pointed at his head.
"Whoa, easy there dead man walking. It's been five years, it was time to wake you up, just like you wanted," the bartender explained as the man lowered his gun. "You're really him aren't you? Vincent Valentine," the bartender said in awe as it finally dawned on him.
"Yes, so what?" Vincent asked as he stood up and stretched.
"There's a ten million gil reward for you, dead or alive. Has been for the last three years," the bartender explained as he led Vincent up the stairs. "But, you did give me the bar, so I just left you alone," the bartender joked as he took a seat on a bar stool.
"Ten million? Why?" Vincent asked as he tried to make sense of everything. "I went into suspended animation again because of the demons. I've been underground for the last five years, who wants me dead?"
"Oh yeah, you were asleep when that happened too," the bartender said as he realized something. "Here, take a seat too, you might need it," he said as he offered Vincent a bottle of wine from behind the bar. After Vincent was settled down, the bartender continued. "A year after I put you down there, some guy named Sephiroth appeared in the Northern Crater. Long story short, he's in charge of everything and everyone now. He's building an army, preparing for some unknown enemy, keeping every beat down, you know , the usual. He's got prices out on your head along with half a dozen or so others."
"What do you mean Sephiroth took over. What about Avalanche?" Vincent asked as he rubbed his head.
"Oh yeah, Strife and the others. They went to fight him, but since there was no materia left, they got beat pretty bad. Those others that are wanted, rumor has it that some of those people he wants dead are from Avalanche," the bartender explained. "You can stay here as long as you want, just try not to wreck the place."
"Who are you?" Vincent asked as he absorbed all the information.
"No idea, lost my memory when the lifestream came up in Midgar. They all call me Keep here. You know, barkeep," he smiled at Vincent. "Welcome back Mr. Valentine."