Chapter 14: The Fall of Hollow Bastion - Lady Luck
"Zack, get out of my way before I really hurt you."
Aerith ran at the Soldier again trying to force her way past.
"You know I can't let you." Zack stumbled back a bit but managed to grab hold of her arms as she tried to push by. "Cloud made me promise not to let you come after him."
"But what if he gets hurt? Or even worse killed?"
"Then you won't be much help to him." He pulled her away from the stairs, lifting her up off the ground.
"So what are we going to do?" Yuffie asked as Zack walked by her.
"I don't know, he told me to wait ten minutes and if he doesn't show up then I'm suppose to take you guys to some place called Zanarkand." He chuckled to himself. "How I'm supposed to do that I don't know."
"We already have a way." Squall said as he helped Cid carry supplies on board the ship.
"Huh? What do you, whoa.."
Cid grinned as Zack gawked at the huge ship docked across in the next room.
"Big ship." He walked over a little stunned, as he did his grip on Aerith loosened a little. The young Cetra took advantage of this and made a break from the stairs only to be tackled to the floor.
"G-get off of me!"
"W-why must you... make my job so.. difficult?" Zack struggled to keep the girl from escaping.
"Why.. won't.. you... just let me... go?"
"Apart from the fact I don't want you to get killed, Cloud would also kill me if I let you go."
"He has good logic." Yuffie added.
After a few more moments of struggling Aerith finally gave in. "Fine. I won't go."
Zack stood up and watched her carefully. "Ok? No more running?"
The flower girl nodded and walked over to the ship. "Don't think we're going to leave with out him though."
Zack grinned while scratching the back of his head. "She always been like this?" He looked over at Cid who had the same expression.
"Ha, this is nothing. Just wait until she really gets wound up."
______________________
Cloud pushed open the huge doors leading to the castle. Along his arm a thick trickle of blood dripped down on to the floor.
'Idiot. You absolute idiot.' He cursed a few times as he entered the main room, he knew Sephiroth was surly on his trail. From the moment the fight started Cloud had known he'd lose, Sephiroth had stopped pulling punches like before and with out any help from his 'other' self Cloud knew his only choice was to run.
He quickly sprinted up the stairs and on to the second floor when his hunter appeared in front of him.
"Leaving? I'm surprised at you Cloud." The one winged menace leapt forward and slashed at Cloud missing his chest by a mere inch.
"Yeah well," Cloud returned the attack again hitting nothing. "I have plans made already." As they turned to see each other a small earthquake shook the room but the two ignored it.
Sephiroth laughed but he wasn't really amused by this anymore. "You should have taken me up on my offer."
The blond Soldier ran straight ahead swinging his blade knowing what action his opponent would take. "Go to hell." As he reached him his target disappeared into another rift. Cloud grinned slightly and carried on running down the corridor now Sephiroth had left.
Behind him Sephiroth appeared again and cursed himself after realizing Cloud's trick.
_______________________
"Is that the last of em?"
"Yeah." Squall handed over the last create to Cid. "Now what?"
"Now," Cid looked down the ramp at the others, especially Aerith. "Now we can go any time."
A small silence followed before Zack tried to break it. "You think Ansem is going to let us take off with this thing?"
"Heh, what he doesn't know won't kill him. Besides, I'm the one who built it."
Zack shrugged at the pilot's logic. "Meh, suits me."
"So what are we going to do?" Yuffie looked at her watch. "It's been ten minutes, do you think he's coming?"
Another small silence.
"Of course he will." Zack slowly walk up the ramp.
"But he doesn't even know we have a ship." Aerith began to pace back and forth. "He just thinks we're going to leave the city."
"Stay here too long and we might loose our chance. Those quakes are becoming worse"
Aerith looked at Squall and tried to find a reason to argue. 'If it wasn't for Cloud we wouldn't even know we had to leave, that's one easy.' She clenched her fists feeling helpless. 'Why did he have to stay and fight?'
The room shook again, this time loosening some of the stone from the roof. Dust and a few small rocks fell to the floor covering it in a thin layer of dirt.
"We should at least get in side the ship, if these quakes loosen up anything bigger it could be dangerous."
Yuffie agreed with Cid and ran up the ramp of the ship. "Come on Aerith. Won't be much good if you get knocked unconscious will it?"
Aerith nodded and slowly walked up the ramp as she kept glancing at the stairs in the other room.
__________________________
"Come on you stupid thing go faster."
Cloud looked over the side of the lift not seeing anything below. He had never been past the library before so he was just hoping on some back way out of the castle to show up.
He paced around the small lift again still keeping his alertness on full. Sephiroth had disappeared not long after he reached the first lift, but that didn't mean he'd stopped chasing him.
The floating platform then came to a halt and Cloud was sent out side onto the next floor. "Finally." He walked round the balcony and realized just how far up the lift had taken him.
Down below he could make out the entire city, even in the darkness of night. He sighed slightly knowing that down there it wasn't as peaceful as it looked from where he was standing. Another one of the small quakes caused him to stumble, except this time it didn't stay small. The ground continued to shake and Cloud stared in disbelief as the huge white castle he was standing on changed. The white stones began to turn a dark red colour and grow out, leaving the still normal parts alone.
The shaking continued and Cloud was thrown to the floor, he pulled himself to the side of the balcony and looked down into the city below. His disbelief grew even further as the city began to shift and crack. The buildings in each area crumbled under the force of the quake. And if just to finish the job, it started at the base of the castle, a wave of darkness hit and spread over the entire area surrounding.
Cloud lifted him self up and tried to walk over to the wall of the castle, he push his back up against it to keep from falling over again. After a few more moments the shaking stopped and he was able to support himself with out aid of the castle wall. He pushed off and walked up to the edge, staring down at the emptiness below.
Now where the city had once been was an endless abyss of water. This stretched out to all sides of the horizon, the only land in sight was what Cloud was already stood on. He turned round to look at that too, the once pure white castle was now spilt in two, on one side the white stone still remained and the other a dark twin reaching out to take control.
"Now what?"
The blond Soldier looked down at the water again. 'What about the others? Did they make it?' He doubted that they could have out run the wave of darkness that hit the city, it just seemed impossible. Cloud clenched his fists and turn to the stone wall, he stuck the solid stone with his fist, then again and again until he felt the heat in his fingers raise to a painful burn.
As he stopped he felt a light touch on his shoulder. He turned his head to look and saw the small black feather that had landed there. He instantly looked straight up, seeing the balcony on the next floor. A dark figure was stood at the edge for only a moment before walking away.
"You."
Cloud clenched his fists again ignoring the pain that came with it.
"This is all your fault."
He sprinted into the next corridor and punched the lift call sphere. On the ride up to the next floor he drew his sword and stood waiting for his chance for revenge.
___________________
"Look, we have to go now. If we wait any longer the whole roof is gonna collapse onto us."
Cid on a switch next to the ramp and a moment later it began to lift up.
"But we can't just leave." Aerith pleaded. She knew it was dangerous to stay but she was determined not to listen to leave.
"Look girl if I don't get this thing in the air soon then we're all gonna kick it."
She followed the pilot into the cockpit where there seemed to be a number of warning lights flashing.
Yuffie was already strapped into her seat and looking fairly nervous as she dug her nails into the seat. Squall on the other hand looked quite calm though he seemed to be in a world of his own as he stared out of the window.
"So what's the verdict?" Zack followed up behind Aerith and looked out of the window. "It's not looking to good at the moment."
Aerith watched Cid as he stood over the front panel and began to do something with all the controls, she chewed her lip harder as she moved over to one of the seats.
"Well?" Zack looked round at the crew.
Cid looked over his shoulder and sighed. "We either go now or lose our chance." He pushed another button and outside in front of the ship one of the huge over sized doors began to open. Out side a wave of fresh air came through into the half cave, half station.
Aerith sat down and tied the seat belt around her waist while saying nothing. She knew Cid was right but she just hoped he would understand her silence was the best 'ok' he was going to get.
Zack sat down next to her and placed his sword down by the side of the seat. "Don't worry, I'm sure things will turn out ok."
"How can you say that?" Aerith tilted her head while staring at the floor.
"Because, that's what I always tell Cloud on every mission we go through. And it always come true."
The flower girl stayed quite but silently hoped he was right.
Cid sat down in the pilot seat and took hold of the controls, the ship began to shake as the engines came alive. "Ok everybody, hold on to you draws and don't $%"£ in em."
Zack looked over at Squall with a confused look on his face and the SeeD member could only do the same back.
The ship lined up with the opening in the walls and began to accelerate. As soon as they neared the exit Cid flipped another switch and the thrusters kicked in practically throwing the craft into the air as it left the cave.
As they ascended into the air a thick wave of black covered the area below the ship. The crew watched as the darkness devoured the city in a single sweep.
"God dam," Cid tilted the ship sideways a bit so he could see below. "I guess he wasn't going nuts."
"Whoa, it's just.. gone." Zack dropped his jaw as he watched the darkness fade away leaving just an endless plain of water.
"Is there anything left?" Yuffie unlocked her belt and pressed up against the window.
"The castle." Aerith answered as she did the same on the other side of the cockpit.
"There's something wrong with it." Squall stood next to her. "It's changing too."
"Well, I guess it don't hurt to look." Cid turned the wheel and the ship followed its course and headed towards the castle.
______________________
Cloud parried another blow from the masamune, as the blades clashed they sent sparks into the still night air.
He carefully maneuvered himself so Sephiroth couldn't push him off of the balcony, one wrong step their and it would be a quick end to this fight. Sephiroth lunged at Cloud and disappeared from in front of the Soldier as he swung his sword, he appeared again just a few inches behind and thrust his elbow in to Cloud's back.
Cloud staggered forward feeling an overwhelming amount of pain from the blow, the muscles on his back throbbed in agony.
"I'm giving you this last chance Cloud." Sephiroth held out his arm towards the Soldier. "It's the only choice you have left."
Collapsing down onto one knee Cloud still refused to listen. "Are you deaf? I told you to go $%^& yourself." He pushed off with his leg and sprinted towards Sephiroth, their blades clashed again in the air.
The single winged Soldier pulled his sword away and took hold of Cloud's neck, he squeezed it firmly as Cloud struggled to free himself. "Why do you deny my offer? Are you looking forward to death so much?"
Cloud felt himself go light headed as the blood struggle to reach his mind, his sword loosened in his hand and fell to the floor. He still managed to let out a small laugh. "W-why not? Not like there's anything left."
Sephiroth smirked a little at Cloud's logic. "Very well, if you wish it then it's the least I can do to help."
Cloud felt the grip on his neck become tighter, his efforts to break free were useless and only exhausted him further. His vision began to blur and his face burned feeling the blood trying to force its way around. An odd wave of air blew across his face, enough for his now dimmed senses to take notice of. The gust of wind blew stronger and stronger.
Sephiroth too noticed this and tilted his head to look out towards the open plains. His eyes just caught on to the sparks of light before they hit his body, the force of the blow caused him to drop his prey and stagger forwards.
Cloud dropped to his knees taking in a deep breath, his vision cleared up and he was able to see the cause of his release. The huge flying object circled around for another attack. On the side of the ship he could just make out the painted redheaded girl dressed in a bikini. 'Lady luck? That's Cid's...'
Sephiroth spun round enraged by the interruption, he was only stunned by the sight for a split second before deciding to take care of the menace.
_______________________
"Hell yeah, bet that hurt." Zack laughed as he fired away. The ships cannons let out small bursts of fire on to the balcony of the castle.
Cid maneuvered the ship round so the cannons could keep a lock on Sephiroth. The ex-Soldier was forced to take to the air to avoid the fire.
"I can't see." Aerith ran over to the other side of the cockpit as the ship turned.
"Hey, trigger happy." Cid turned to Zack. "Keep that freak away while I move in, if he scratches my ship with that sword I'm blaming you."
Zack nodded still happy with his task, he let out another burst of fire that just missed Sephiroth as he rested on the edge of the balcony.
"Is Cloud there?" Yuffie ran around the cockpit trying to get a good view.
Squall stood next to Cid scanning the side of the castle. "He is," He pointed to the balcony Sephiroth was just on. "There, at the front."
Cid nodded and flew in closer.
_______________________
Cloud rolled over onto his back, the wind blew his hair across his face. Above him Sephiroth had taken to the air and was desperately trying to avoid the incoming fire. Even a 1st Class Soldier had difficulty avoiding 'that' type of weapon fire.
Another blast hit the walls just clipping the winged Soldiers arm, he dropped to the floor and stared coldly at the ship as it closed in. He gazed down and saw that Cloud had managed to stand up. 'Hmph, I don't think so.' He charged towards the dazed Soldier and drew his sword ready cause what he decide would be the final blow. But as he neared another blast hit just in front of him, though this time it wasn't from the ships cannons.
He looked over away from Cloud and saw the craft had lowered its cargo bay, at the end stood the fighter he had faced before and the Cetra. 'Still alive hm? Fine.' Sephiroth raised his arm and built up his strength, the tips of his fingers lit up in a blaze of fire and it soon spread along the rest of his arm.
The two had already taken notice of this attack and tried to take cover behind one of the cargo creates. Sephiroth smiled knowing that wouldn't help them, this would be enough to rid himself of those annoyances, his arm tingled in anticipation.
'One last look.' The thought of seeing Cloud's face before their end was something he wouldn't want to miss. Sephiroth turn to look but was caught off as Cloud was no longer stood at the edge of the balcony, instead the space he had been stood in was empty. 'Strange, I never thought of Cloud as a deserter. Oh well, this will do.' He turned back to finish his attack when an overwhelming pain his side.
Sephiroth looked to his side and saw a pair of blue eyes staring coldly back at him. Cloud thrust his sword deeper into Sephiroth's side running it straight through his body. The ex-Soldier looked back at him, apart from the pain showing in his face it was the look of absolute shock that satisfied Cloud. He knew Sephiroth never saw it coming, that no matter how powerful he was this was something he couldn't stop.
"Huh.. Looks like you're off your game today."
Sephiroth yelled and punched into Cloud's chest sending him across the balcony, as he was thrown back the sword pulled out of his body sending another wave of pain through the ex-generals body. He staggered backwards cursing himself for letting this happen.
Cloud landed on his back feeling the stone floor hit his body. He stared upwards at the night sky before realizing what had happened, he lifted the top part of his body just in time to see Sephiroth limping away into another rift. 'Running away? Ha ha, I never though I'd ever see that.' Cloud smiled to himself as he put his head back down, slowly the exhaustion in his body caught up and instead of fighting it he decide to just to close his eyes and let it happen.
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And that's the end of part 3. I practical wrote this chapter in one day so it means a much quicker update. As for the length of this fic I'm in two minds, I could either finish it up in another few chapters or continue it through to the end of KH which do you think?
"Zack, get out of my way before I really hurt you."
Aerith ran at the Soldier again trying to force her way past.
"You know I can't let you." Zack stumbled back a bit but managed to grab hold of her arms as she tried to push by. "Cloud made me promise not to let you come after him."
"But what if he gets hurt? Or even worse killed?"
"Then you won't be much help to him." He pulled her away from the stairs, lifting her up off the ground.
"So what are we going to do?" Yuffie asked as Zack walked by her.
"I don't know, he told me to wait ten minutes and if he doesn't show up then I'm suppose to take you guys to some place called Zanarkand." He chuckled to himself. "How I'm supposed to do that I don't know."
"We already have a way." Squall said as he helped Cid carry supplies on board the ship.
"Huh? What do you, whoa.."
Cid grinned as Zack gawked at the huge ship docked across in the next room.
"Big ship." He walked over a little stunned, as he did his grip on Aerith loosened a little. The young Cetra took advantage of this and made a break from the stairs only to be tackled to the floor.
"G-get off of me!"
"W-why must you... make my job so.. difficult?" Zack struggled to keep the girl from escaping.
"Why.. won't.. you... just let me... go?"
"Apart from the fact I don't want you to get killed, Cloud would also kill me if I let you go."
"He has good logic." Yuffie added.
After a few more moments of struggling Aerith finally gave in. "Fine. I won't go."
Zack stood up and watched her carefully. "Ok? No more running?"
The flower girl nodded and walked over to the ship. "Don't think we're going to leave with out him though."
Zack grinned while scratching the back of his head. "She always been like this?" He looked over at Cid who had the same expression.
"Ha, this is nothing. Just wait until she really gets wound up."
______________________
Cloud pushed open the huge doors leading to the castle. Along his arm a thick trickle of blood dripped down on to the floor.
'Idiot. You absolute idiot.' He cursed a few times as he entered the main room, he knew Sephiroth was surly on his trail. From the moment the fight started Cloud had known he'd lose, Sephiroth had stopped pulling punches like before and with out any help from his 'other' self Cloud knew his only choice was to run.
He quickly sprinted up the stairs and on to the second floor when his hunter appeared in front of him.
"Leaving? I'm surprised at you Cloud." The one winged menace leapt forward and slashed at Cloud missing his chest by a mere inch.
"Yeah well," Cloud returned the attack again hitting nothing. "I have plans made already." As they turned to see each other a small earthquake shook the room but the two ignored it.
Sephiroth laughed but he wasn't really amused by this anymore. "You should have taken me up on my offer."
The blond Soldier ran straight ahead swinging his blade knowing what action his opponent would take. "Go to hell." As he reached him his target disappeared into another rift. Cloud grinned slightly and carried on running down the corridor now Sephiroth had left.
Behind him Sephiroth appeared again and cursed himself after realizing Cloud's trick.
_______________________
"Is that the last of em?"
"Yeah." Squall handed over the last create to Cid. "Now what?"
"Now," Cid looked down the ramp at the others, especially Aerith. "Now we can go any time."
A small silence followed before Zack tried to break it. "You think Ansem is going to let us take off with this thing?"
"Heh, what he doesn't know won't kill him. Besides, I'm the one who built it."
Zack shrugged at the pilot's logic. "Meh, suits me."
"So what are we going to do?" Yuffie looked at her watch. "It's been ten minutes, do you think he's coming?"
Another small silence.
"Of course he will." Zack slowly walk up the ramp.
"But he doesn't even know we have a ship." Aerith began to pace back and forth. "He just thinks we're going to leave the city."
"Stay here too long and we might loose our chance. Those quakes are becoming worse"
Aerith looked at Squall and tried to find a reason to argue. 'If it wasn't for Cloud we wouldn't even know we had to leave, that's one easy.' She clenched her fists feeling helpless. 'Why did he have to stay and fight?'
The room shook again, this time loosening some of the stone from the roof. Dust and a few small rocks fell to the floor covering it in a thin layer of dirt.
"We should at least get in side the ship, if these quakes loosen up anything bigger it could be dangerous."
Yuffie agreed with Cid and ran up the ramp of the ship. "Come on Aerith. Won't be much good if you get knocked unconscious will it?"
Aerith nodded and slowly walked up the ramp as she kept glancing at the stairs in the other room.
__________________________
"Come on you stupid thing go faster."
Cloud looked over the side of the lift not seeing anything below. He had never been past the library before so he was just hoping on some back way out of the castle to show up.
He paced around the small lift again still keeping his alertness on full. Sephiroth had disappeared not long after he reached the first lift, but that didn't mean he'd stopped chasing him.
The floating platform then came to a halt and Cloud was sent out side onto the next floor. "Finally." He walked round the balcony and realized just how far up the lift had taken him.
Down below he could make out the entire city, even in the darkness of night. He sighed slightly knowing that down there it wasn't as peaceful as it looked from where he was standing. Another one of the small quakes caused him to stumble, except this time it didn't stay small. The ground continued to shake and Cloud stared in disbelief as the huge white castle he was standing on changed. The white stones began to turn a dark red colour and grow out, leaving the still normal parts alone.
The shaking continued and Cloud was thrown to the floor, he pulled himself to the side of the balcony and looked down into the city below. His disbelief grew even further as the city began to shift and crack. The buildings in each area crumbled under the force of the quake. And if just to finish the job, it started at the base of the castle, a wave of darkness hit and spread over the entire area surrounding.
Cloud lifted him self up and tried to walk over to the wall of the castle, he push his back up against it to keep from falling over again. After a few more moments the shaking stopped and he was able to support himself with out aid of the castle wall. He pushed off and walked up to the edge, staring down at the emptiness below.
Now where the city had once been was an endless abyss of water. This stretched out to all sides of the horizon, the only land in sight was what Cloud was already stood on. He turned round to look at that too, the once pure white castle was now spilt in two, on one side the white stone still remained and the other a dark twin reaching out to take control.
"Now what?"
The blond Soldier looked down at the water again. 'What about the others? Did they make it?' He doubted that they could have out run the wave of darkness that hit the city, it just seemed impossible. Cloud clenched his fists and turn to the stone wall, he stuck the solid stone with his fist, then again and again until he felt the heat in his fingers raise to a painful burn.
As he stopped he felt a light touch on his shoulder. He turned his head to look and saw the small black feather that had landed there. He instantly looked straight up, seeing the balcony on the next floor. A dark figure was stood at the edge for only a moment before walking away.
"You."
Cloud clenched his fists again ignoring the pain that came with it.
"This is all your fault."
He sprinted into the next corridor and punched the lift call sphere. On the ride up to the next floor he drew his sword and stood waiting for his chance for revenge.
___________________
"Look, we have to go now. If we wait any longer the whole roof is gonna collapse onto us."
Cid on a switch next to the ramp and a moment later it began to lift up.
"But we can't just leave." Aerith pleaded. She knew it was dangerous to stay but she was determined not to listen to leave.
"Look girl if I don't get this thing in the air soon then we're all gonna kick it."
She followed the pilot into the cockpit where there seemed to be a number of warning lights flashing.
Yuffie was already strapped into her seat and looking fairly nervous as she dug her nails into the seat. Squall on the other hand looked quite calm though he seemed to be in a world of his own as he stared out of the window.
"So what's the verdict?" Zack followed up behind Aerith and looked out of the window. "It's not looking to good at the moment."
Aerith watched Cid as he stood over the front panel and began to do something with all the controls, she chewed her lip harder as she moved over to one of the seats.
"Well?" Zack looked round at the crew.
Cid looked over his shoulder and sighed. "We either go now or lose our chance." He pushed another button and outside in front of the ship one of the huge over sized doors began to open. Out side a wave of fresh air came through into the half cave, half station.
Aerith sat down and tied the seat belt around her waist while saying nothing. She knew Cid was right but she just hoped he would understand her silence was the best 'ok' he was going to get.
Zack sat down next to her and placed his sword down by the side of the seat. "Don't worry, I'm sure things will turn out ok."
"How can you say that?" Aerith tilted her head while staring at the floor.
"Because, that's what I always tell Cloud on every mission we go through. And it always come true."
The flower girl stayed quite but silently hoped he was right.
Cid sat down in the pilot seat and took hold of the controls, the ship began to shake as the engines came alive. "Ok everybody, hold on to you draws and don't $%"£ in em."
Zack looked over at Squall with a confused look on his face and the SeeD member could only do the same back.
The ship lined up with the opening in the walls and began to accelerate. As soon as they neared the exit Cid flipped another switch and the thrusters kicked in practically throwing the craft into the air as it left the cave.
As they ascended into the air a thick wave of black covered the area below the ship. The crew watched as the darkness devoured the city in a single sweep.
"God dam," Cid tilted the ship sideways a bit so he could see below. "I guess he wasn't going nuts."
"Whoa, it's just.. gone." Zack dropped his jaw as he watched the darkness fade away leaving just an endless plain of water.
"Is there anything left?" Yuffie unlocked her belt and pressed up against the window.
"The castle." Aerith answered as she did the same on the other side of the cockpit.
"There's something wrong with it." Squall stood next to her. "It's changing too."
"Well, I guess it don't hurt to look." Cid turned the wheel and the ship followed its course and headed towards the castle.
______________________
Cloud parried another blow from the masamune, as the blades clashed they sent sparks into the still night air.
He carefully maneuvered himself so Sephiroth couldn't push him off of the balcony, one wrong step their and it would be a quick end to this fight. Sephiroth lunged at Cloud and disappeared from in front of the Soldier as he swung his sword, he appeared again just a few inches behind and thrust his elbow in to Cloud's back.
Cloud staggered forward feeling an overwhelming amount of pain from the blow, the muscles on his back throbbed in agony.
"I'm giving you this last chance Cloud." Sephiroth held out his arm towards the Soldier. "It's the only choice you have left."
Collapsing down onto one knee Cloud still refused to listen. "Are you deaf? I told you to go $%^& yourself." He pushed off with his leg and sprinted towards Sephiroth, their blades clashed again in the air.
The single winged Soldier pulled his sword away and took hold of Cloud's neck, he squeezed it firmly as Cloud struggled to free himself. "Why do you deny my offer? Are you looking forward to death so much?"
Cloud felt himself go light headed as the blood struggle to reach his mind, his sword loosened in his hand and fell to the floor. He still managed to let out a small laugh. "W-why not? Not like there's anything left."
Sephiroth smirked a little at Cloud's logic. "Very well, if you wish it then it's the least I can do to help."
Cloud felt the grip on his neck become tighter, his efforts to break free were useless and only exhausted him further. His vision began to blur and his face burned feeling the blood trying to force its way around. An odd wave of air blew across his face, enough for his now dimmed senses to take notice of. The gust of wind blew stronger and stronger.
Sephiroth too noticed this and tilted his head to look out towards the open plains. His eyes just caught on to the sparks of light before they hit his body, the force of the blow caused him to drop his prey and stagger forwards.
Cloud dropped to his knees taking in a deep breath, his vision cleared up and he was able to see the cause of his release. The huge flying object circled around for another attack. On the side of the ship he could just make out the painted redheaded girl dressed in a bikini. 'Lady luck? That's Cid's...'
Sephiroth spun round enraged by the interruption, he was only stunned by the sight for a split second before deciding to take care of the menace.
_______________________
"Hell yeah, bet that hurt." Zack laughed as he fired away. The ships cannons let out small bursts of fire on to the balcony of the castle.
Cid maneuvered the ship round so the cannons could keep a lock on Sephiroth. The ex-Soldier was forced to take to the air to avoid the fire.
"I can't see." Aerith ran over to the other side of the cockpit as the ship turned.
"Hey, trigger happy." Cid turned to Zack. "Keep that freak away while I move in, if he scratches my ship with that sword I'm blaming you."
Zack nodded still happy with his task, he let out another burst of fire that just missed Sephiroth as he rested on the edge of the balcony.
"Is Cloud there?" Yuffie ran around the cockpit trying to get a good view.
Squall stood next to Cid scanning the side of the castle. "He is," He pointed to the balcony Sephiroth was just on. "There, at the front."
Cid nodded and flew in closer.
_______________________
Cloud rolled over onto his back, the wind blew his hair across his face. Above him Sephiroth had taken to the air and was desperately trying to avoid the incoming fire. Even a 1st Class Soldier had difficulty avoiding 'that' type of weapon fire.
Another blast hit the walls just clipping the winged Soldiers arm, he dropped to the floor and stared coldly at the ship as it closed in. He gazed down and saw that Cloud had managed to stand up. 'Hmph, I don't think so.' He charged towards the dazed Soldier and drew his sword ready cause what he decide would be the final blow. But as he neared another blast hit just in front of him, though this time it wasn't from the ships cannons.
He looked over away from Cloud and saw the craft had lowered its cargo bay, at the end stood the fighter he had faced before and the Cetra. 'Still alive hm? Fine.' Sephiroth raised his arm and built up his strength, the tips of his fingers lit up in a blaze of fire and it soon spread along the rest of his arm.
The two had already taken notice of this attack and tried to take cover behind one of the cargo creates. Sephiroth smiled knowing that wouldn't help them, this would be enough to rid himself of those annoyances, his arm tingled in anticipation.
'One last look.' The thought of seeing Cloud's face before their end was something he wouldn't want to miss. Sephiroth turn to look but was caught off as Cloud was no longer stood at the edge of the balcony, instead the space he had been stood in was empty. 'Strange, I never thought of Cloud as a deserter. Oh well, this will do.' He turned back to finish his attack when an overwhelming pain his side.
Sephiroth looked to his side and saw a pair of blue eyes staring coldly back at him. Cloud thrust his sword deeper into Sephiroth's side running it straight through his body. The ex-Soldier looked back at him, apart from the pain showing in his face it was the look of absolute shock that satisfied Cloud. He knew Sephiroth never saw it coming, that no matter how powerful he was this was something he couldn't stop.
"Huh.. Looks like you're off your game today."
Sephiroth yelled and punched into Cloud's chest sending him across the balcony, as he was thrown back the sword pulled out of his body sending another wave of pain through the ex-generals body. He staggered backwards cursing himself for letting this happen.
Cloud landed on his back feeling the stone floor hit his body. He stared upwards at the night sky before realizing what had happened, he lifted the top part of his body just in time to see Sephiroth limping away into another rift. 'Running away? Ha ha, I never though I'd ever see that.' Cloud smiled to himself as he put his head back down, slowly the exhaustion in his body caught up and instead of fighting it he decide to just to close his eyes and let it happen.
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And that's the end of part 3. I practical wrote this chapter in one day so it means a much quicker update. As for the length of this fic I'm in two minds, I could either finish it up in another few chapters or continue it through to the end of KH which do you think?