Chapter XXVIII

The Nightmare's Ending

Sephiroth walked silently through the fog. He didn't speak, nor did his boots make any noise as he walked slowly. His face was set, stern and determined, just as he had learned to keep it when he went into battle as a member of SOLDIER. He took a different way than his friends to avoid being told off or forced to go back. I'm 'The Mighty' Sephiroth, he kept reminding himself. No one can tell me what to do. I decide how I'm going to conduct my life. As for he who calls himself Kadaj… He'd better be ready, he thought, gripping the hilt of his sword even tighter.

"I can do it," he muttered to himself to chase away the uneasy silence. "Gwandoya's right. It's not real. Whoever it is isn't really Kadaj. Whoever it is, he's not really my son," he sighed. Sephiroth stopped and stared at the ground. "And yet, why do I dread doing that which I must do to end this nightmare?"

He stood a moment, debating. When he looked up after making his decision, he saw the boy standing only a few yards away. He smiled at Sephiroth before turning and walking away.

"I was seventeen, father. Seventeen years old, and my life ended before it had really begun. You must be kicking yourself over that."

"No. I won't suffer your words anymore," Sephiroth whispered. Before the boy could turn back towards him to reply, Sephiroth ran to him and stuck his sword deep into his back. He only faded away, leaving Sephiroth to curse in frustration.

"I can't even tell what's real or imaginary anymore. Damn this place," he muttered. "Damn this place to hell." He slowly began walking towards the black center of the world, the letter he wrote to his friends echoing through his mind.

NINJAMAGEGAMAJNIN

My dearest friends---

I apologize for my leaving without a word. This will be the only time I do this, I promise. My friends, please, do not follow me. This is something I must do alone. If I am not back in half a day, go to seal the Keyhole. If I am not back by then, I am probably dead. If I am still fighting, do not help me. Use the distraction I cause to seal the hole. I need to do this by myself. I don't care what Gwandoya says; I need the closure of saying goodbye to him, even if it is another in his form.

Good-bye, my dearest and best friends.

Sephiroth

"How can he do this?" Bergljot whispered. She read the note over and over, her concern growing greater each time. She held the headset in her hands. "He could've at least taken this to tell us when to come and seal the hole."

"I think we should go now. Otherwise, we risk losing this world as we did Selvaggia," Gwandoya suggested. The others agreed quietly.

"Why didn't he tell us he had a son?" Bergljot wondered aloud.

"He was probably embarrassed," Anselm spoke up. She gave him a sideways look.

"He's got a point," Alpha said. "Think about it. Sephiroth was the youngest man ever to make it to the title of General in the army on his world. Everybody looked up to him. Despite how much he loves him and how proud of Kadaj he seems to be, what would people have thought if they knew he had an illegitimate kid?"

"He still could have told us. Maybe then we could have helped. Alpha, stay here in case he returns or something happens," Bergljot whispered. She put on her headset and led the others off of the ship in search of Sephiroth.

NINJAMAGEGAMAJNIN

The silence grew heavier and heavier in Sephiroth's ears as he looked around for the fake Kadaj. He finally began singing quietly under his breath.

"I linger in the doorway of alarm clock screaming, monsters calling my name," he muttered slowly. After a moment or two, he began to feel better, even though nothing had changed. He stopped singing when he noticed something rise up from the ground in front of him. He stared at the shadow Heartless.

"I'm not afraid of you," he said to it. The Heartless faded away as he spoke. A minute later, Kadaj was standing in front of him instead.

"We'll see who's afraid soon," he said quietly. He faded as Sephiroth reached towards him.

Without much more thought, Sephiroth walked forward, but stopped after a few steps. More Heartless of nearly every kind were surrounding the door on a glass dome that had risen up suddenly from the fog. On the other side, he saw a figure in black with silver hair watching the Keyhole. The Heartless began leaping at him and scratching his face. He only stood, waiting for the claws to go through his skin as Ansem's fist had done. He let out a scream of pain as the claws slashed open his cheek. These Heartless were for real. As he knelt on the ground, gritting his teeth in pain, he laid his fingertips on his cheek. Although his gloves were black, he could see a slightly darker spot on them. He stared at his blood; he had scarcely ever seen himself bleed. The Heartless leapt upon him, trying to dig into his chest. As he felt the claws starting to scratch into his back, reaching ever farther for his heart, he stood and threw them aside. As they flew through the air, he pulled out Masamune and destroyed them when they landed. As for those that remained, he cut them open easily with the sword. Within a few minutes, he was standing alone outside the door.

"Heal," he muttered, eyes closed. His cuts were gone instantly. He opened his eyes and stared through the door determinedly. He reached out a shaky hand and opened it as a cry rang through the area.

"Sephiroth, wait!" Bergljot yelled. She, Anselm and Gwandoya were running up behind him.

"I told you not to come," he whispered without turning. "I'm sorry, but if you follow me any further, I'll kill you," he said quietly. Without another word, he stepped through and closed the large door. Bergljot and the others tugged at the door, but it was locked tightly. They watched helplessly as Sephiroth walked to the middle of the room.

"Kadaj!" he yelled loudly. The boy disappeared and the room changed. Instead of the dome, Sephiroth looked around to find himself in a forest. Cloud was lying behind him, groaning with the pain of his amputated arm. Turning away, he watched the two figures crouched a few feet in front of him. Walking closer, he saw that the one lying on the ground was Kadaj and the one kneeling over him was himself, just as he was a thousand years ago. Kadaj's double-bladed sword was digging deeply into the side of his chest. Sephiroth watched as his image held the boy's hand and held back tears.

"Kadaj, I'm going to try to take the sword out," he heard himself whisper. The image took hold of the hilt and pulled quickly. The real Sephiroth closed his eyes and felt the unwanted tears on his face as he listened to his son's scream of pain again, the scream that had woken him up for many nights afterwards. He opened his eyes at the surprisingly real-sounding clang as the sword was thrown aside to find himself holding the dying boy and crying, the boy's face cringed in pain while he gasped for breath and moaned with pain, the blood dripping onto the ground and staining his father's clothes. The gasping was useless, the real Sephiroth knew, for he knew that the sword had severed one of Kadaj's lungs.

"Dad, run. Tifa…" he winced, "Tifa and the others… will be back."

"I'm not leaving you," the fake Sephiroth sobbed.

"You can't do anything to save me, but… you can still save yourself…" Kadaj whispered weakly. He laid his head against his father's chest and listened to his heart. Sephiroth laid a hand on the fake one's shoulder, only to have it go through. "I'm not afraid of death. Not anymore."

"Kadaj," both Sephiroths whispered, tears flowing down both faces. Kadaj closed his eyes and curled up tighter against the image.

"I love you, father," he muttered.

As both the real and imaginary Sephiroth whispered the same reply, Kadaj's hand fell limp in that of the image. The scene faded as the image laid his head against his dead son's and sobbed almost uncontrollably. On the outside of the dome, Bergljot and the others were sadly watching the same scene, Anselm explaining the events to his blind brother. Sephiroth stood almost deathly still, his shoulders and mouth the only things moving as he unsuccessfully tried to hold back more tears and a scream of pained remembrance. He stared into space and screamed, causing his friends to jump out of shock. He knelt to the ground and pounded it with his fist, his yelling growing less and less. As he did, the boy came back into focus in the place he watched.

"Yes, father. Look again at the death of your son. You have never forgotten, have you?" he said, his back facing Sephiroth. Kadaj was standing only a few feet away. He had shed his dark cloak, revealing that he wore black leather pants and a leather coat that was unzipped halfway down his chest. His gloved hands rested at his sides with a sword in a scabbard slung across his back. He turned to face the one-winged angel. "You will never forget," he whispered, his eyes glowing and hair blowing wispily across his face.

"Shut up," Sephiroth hissed, slowly and shakily standing. His hands were in fists as he stared tearfully. "Just shut up and stop this."

"No, I don't think I will," he said slowly, tauntingly.

"Shut the hell up," Sephiroth snapped, his tears flowing freely now. Kadaj glared at him and sent a large fireball in Sephiroth's direction. He stood there, his hair and coat blowing while the imaginary flames licked at him and blew harmlessly past.

"Not until you kill me or I kill you," Kadaj said as the flames dispersed.

Sephiroth shook angrily as the child walked around the dome, taunting him and reminding him of what he had done. He only stared at the place where Kadaj had begun, refusing to look at the imposter any longer. He had enough when the kid began mocking the real Kadaj.

"Oh, I love you, daddy, and I miss you so much," he cackled, laying his hands upon Sephiroth's shoulders and muttering it into his ear. Sephiroth promptly turned around and slapped the imposter hard, the noise echoing off of the glass. Kadaj stood, his face turned and staring at the ground. "You've been waiting a long time to do that, haven't you? You never struck him once when you were with him. That felt good, didn't it, holding back all that anger towards him? You really enjoyed hitting him just now, yes?"

"Only because you are not really Kadaj," Sephiroth whispered, his hand in a fist and ready to strike again.

Before he could bring the hand up, Kadaj drew his sword and charged at Sephiroth. He sidestepped the boy and drew Masamune. He's not my son, he reminded himself. He's not real. You can do this. You aren't really fighting him.

Kadaj ran back at him and brought the double-bladed weapon down on him. Sephiroth neatly blocked the attack and countered. The two blades clashed and Sephiroth winced at the noise, waiting for the blades to shatter as they had in his dream. During his hesitation, Kadaj took the opportunity to pull away and cut open his left arm.

"Ah!" Sephiroth screamed, his hand going to the wounds. He leapt back as Kadaj tried to strike again and glanced at his injury. There were two neat, deep gashes in his upper arm, both of them bleeding profusely. He stared up at the imposter with a shocked expression.

"You see? I am very real."

The two of them traded and blocked a few more blows before Kadaj made two more gashes in Sephiroth's leg.

"Come on, Sephiroth," Bergljot muttered under her breath.

The two silver-haired men continued fighting violently, Kadaj doing far more damage than Sephiroth. Only a few minutes into the battle, Kadaj caught Masamune between his two blades. Seeing an opportunity, he threw the winged man against the wall near Bergljot and the other two men, cracking the glass so it resembled a spider web. Sephiroth yelled as he tried to move, but he had so many injuries, it seemed like he would never get up. He finally stood up shakily and with a painful scream, his blood staining the wall and floor. As a last attempt, he removed the Black Materia from his pocket and stared from it to Kadaj.

"No," Bergljot gasped. She began screaming, "Sephiroth, don't do it! Don't do it! It's not worth your life! Stop!" He looked up at her yells, realizing that this was what she had screamed in her sleep on Selvaggia. "No! You don't have to die! Stop! Don't summon!" she yelled. As he put the Materia away, she remembered the dream. But… is this where I said it in the dream? It was somewhere else, wasn't it? She thought. She shook off the feeling that she had just done something wrong as Sephiroth approached Kadaj again.

Sephiroth brought his sword upon the teenager and finally made contact. Kadaj screamed as his arm was hit hard. The angel flinched at hearing that sound again. While his eyes were closed, Kadaj cut Sephiroth again, this time across the chest.

"How does it feel?" he hissed as the winged man knelt to the ground. Sephiroth brought his sword up again, but Kadaj caught it once more and this time flung it completely out of his hands and to the side. The injured man stood and tried to punch Kadaj, but he gave a swift, hard sidekick and knocked Sephiroth into the wall again.

"No," Bergljot sobbed, tears beginning to flow. "He's killing him."

Indeed, Sephiroth's blood spattered the glass and he lie motionless against it, his scarlet blood pouring onto the ground in pints. He was only able to lift his upper body after a few moments, but even then he had to use his arms for support. He coughed violently and spit up a large amount of blood. He stared up at Kadaj, his face covered in the red liquid, and Kadaj stared down at him before giving him another swift kick in the stomach, resulting in a haunting scream and more blood from the man's mouth. As Sephiroth lie there, moaning in pain, Kadaj smiled.

"Ansem was wrong. You aren't powerful at all," he said.

"Ansem?" the four heroes gasped.

"How…" Sephiroth said shakily, "How do you know Ansem?"

"I suppose there is no harm in telling you, as you will die anytime now. You see, long ago, when Ansem fell as king of Hollow Bastion, there were ten other kingdoms whose leaders became corrupt. Each of the rulers fell to a different group of heroes. Because they have refused to accept death and only one was actually given a proper Sending, they were all stuck within the Ifa Tree. About one year ago, one of the rulers broke completely free after centuries of trying to find one of his descendants that was weak-minded enough to continue his work or allow him to take over the body and mind."

"Seymour," Bergljot muttered. Sephiroth just continued to watch as he gasped for breath and coughed up blood.

"They fought their way to the top, where they began to watch a group of people who were trying to defeat the darkness. This group watched the light-bringers as they helped the descendants of those who defeated Ansem; they watched the female become pregnant and give birth to male and female twins; they watched as the heroes gained the assistance of one who held enough power to stop them; and when another soul was trapped in the tree only ten days ago, he joined the darkness soon after. Only five days ago, Ansem came to us and offered us greater power than even you hold," Kadaj whispered as he looked at Sephiroth. Sephiroth swallowed and stared up at him. "The only conditions were that we kill all of you and let the Heartless roam our world freely.

"Now, mighty Sephiroth, is your time to die. But first," he began, his voice becoming more feminine as he continued, "look into the face that has taken over your child, that has given you the horrible nightmares you have had for nearly a week."

As Sephiroth watched wide-eyed, Kadaj's body began to change. His clothes faded to a dark grey color while his skin darkened to match. His mouth seemed to melt shut and his nose shrunk until it was almost gone. His hair was pulled into his head as if someone was rolling it up in his skull while his eyes became yellow instead of the beautiful green they had been. Kadaj's chest enlarged slightly and his features became more like those of a woman. Indeed, when he finished changing, Sephiroth was looking straight into the eyes of a female doppelganger.

"My name is Aisling," she said quietly through telepathy. "And you will die now," she said, her form changing back into Kadaj's.

Kadaj stared down at the injured man before him and slowly raised his double-blade. Bergljot, Anselm, and Gwandoya began trying to break down the door and save their friend, but it was no use. They watched Sephiroth tearfully.

Sephiroth lowered his eyes and smiled weakly as the blade was about to come down. As it did, Aisling, in her disguise, gasped hoarsely. The next moment, her true voice was mixing with Kadaj's in pain.

NINJAMAGEGAMAJNININJAMAGEGAMAJNININJAMAGEGAMAJNININJAMAGEGAMAJNIN

NM: Woo! Isn't it great when a character on the edge of death has something happen to save him? You'll find out what next chapter. Reviews:

Master of the Dark Trio: But he's ba-ack!

Merielle: Hmm… Never thought about Riku. He almost got killed… but no. At least, not yet. Maybe that's a hint, maybe not.

Mediciner: And now, in reference to the last part of your review, a quote from Johnny Depp in the remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Eew. Although something along those lines happened earlier in the story, but nobody noticed. I'll give you a cookie if you can find it, Med!

NM: Review!

Kadaj: … You killed me… ((sob)) I thought you liked me! ((sob some more))

NM: Um… yeah. As I said before, review!

NINJA MAGE