The End
Cloud stepped carefully around the sharp metal that protruded from the walls of the odd tunnel in every direction. How Aeris and Gohan had made the tunnel was beyond him, but he'd seen it with his own eyes. No sooner had they landed from an uneventful ride in the Highwind, Aeris had suggested that Gohan and herself try to open a path, and voila! The ground just split apart!! They kept saying it was ki and spirit energy, and Cloud had to believe them because they both had sweat to prove they'd done something, but how they had done anything was still beyond his grasp.
In any case, they would finally get to fight, and hopefully kill, Jenova. If only they could be rid of her then her puppets should go as well. Sephiroth and Hojo both in one stroke... Cloud purposely left himself and Gohan out of that list. Sacrifices were necessary if they were to save the Planet.
Tifa and Nanaki by his side, Cloud felt a deadened sense of determination as they approached the small pocket where he knew Jenova was waiting.
Voices.
Cloud gave the signal to stop and hoped the other party saw it as well. It would do no good to stumble into this fight unprepared.
"Are the preparations complete?"
"Yes, if you have the solution."
"I do."
"Then give it to me so that we can begin."
Silence. Cloud strained to hear something, anything. A glance at Nanaki told him that it wasn't just human ears that had the problem. There probably was nothing to hear.
"Very well then, Mother is ready."
"Shall I proceed?"
"Yes."
There was no mistaking those voices. Hojo and Sephiroth. What bad luck, not only would they have to fight Jenova, but now possibly both Hojo and Sephiroth simultaneously... Cloud reminded himself how sacrificing so few lives would be worth it to save the whole Planet. He just wished he didn't have to think like that. It was bad enough that his feeling about Tifa had only gotten worse the closer they came to Midgar. He didn't want to lose her after all these years, all the hard times she alone had brought him through.
Shaking his head, Cloud focused on the matter at hand again.
"This should induce a premature division."
Hojo's voice. He sounded completely absorbed in his work. Cloud knew better than to take risks with people as powerful as Sephiroth involved, but he took one anyway. Slowly moving so that he could see the happenings of the small, subterranean chamber, Cloud was thankful to see that his hopes where not in vain. Sephiroth was as absorbed as Hojo in the work being performed.
Cloud could hear the others doing the same. He was glad he had the party he did; none of these people would be easily caught. Minus Aeris, they were all masters of hiding to some degree. Watching just as intently as Cloud, none of the onlookers were ready for what was coming.
The initial shock passed quickly, but the lingering sense of frightful caution would not.
Jenova writhed upon the twisted metal that made the floor violently, sending sprays of purple blood spurting from the places she sliced herself. The curious thing that gave Cloud a sick feeling was that both Sephiroth and Hojo watched unconcerned as though nothing was happening. As a matter of fact, they almost looked pleased? But, it appeared as though Jenova was dying! How could this add up to anything good? Cloud knew it spelled disaster, but in what form was beyond him.
As sudden as the seeming death throes had seized Jenova, her flesh began to melt. Great globs of red, blue, and purple randomly fell away.
Cloud thought he would be sick.
Forcing himself not to turn away as he knew Aeris had done, Cloud continued to watch as the liquid flesh began to pool together next to the unrecognizable form that had once been Jenova. Slowly, the disgusting dripping ceased, and what was left of Jenova began to recollect into the shape Cloud had remembered from two years ago. Jenova-Synthesis.
Even after seeing what he had, Cloud still was not ready for what happened next. Hojo, a thin needle in his deft hands, leapt upon the other mass of flesh that was also beginning to take shape. Had it continued to form the same way for a few more moments, Cloud was sure it would have become what had been known as Jenova-Birth, but that was impossible! Wasn't it? It didn't matter though, because as soon as Hojo injected the contents of the needle into the oozing mass, it changed it's intentions. Or that's what it looked like. It had been trying to become Jenova-Birth, Cloud was sure of it now, but that had ended the moment the needle had made contact. Now it was forming differently.
Cloud hoped Sephiroth hadn't heard the horrified gasp that someone had let out. But how could he blame the person? The fact that the new creature was taking on definite human characteristics was enough to send his own head spinning.
Cloud shut his eyes for a moment to clear his mind.
What was happening? What where Hojo and Sephiroth doing?! None of this made sense!! Sephiroth was, in essence repeating the mistake that had created him, the one he had never forgiven Hojo for!! How could this be?!
A cold piercing laugh snapped Cloud's eyes open. It couldn't be.
"My dear sister," Sephiroth began, staring down at the naked girl that lie where she had formed, "we have guests."
Sephiroth's eyes didn't hesitate as they moved to lock on Cloud's own. He'd been a fool to think they wouldn't be discovered.
Slowly, the girl propped herself up on unsteady arms and followed Sephiroth's eyes to Cloud. Those eyes of hers, they were his eyes almost exactly. Feline-like green spheres sliced down the middle by a thin, slit pupil stared at Cloud. There was only difference that Cloud could see between those eyes and Sephiroth's; they held the warm curiosity of a child.
Aeris's was reminded of her talk with the Ancients. They had made it seem like she could change the horrible fate that they had foretold, but now was it too late?! No, she wouldn't back down! They came here to fight Jenova; that's what they would have to do. If they could defeat her, then maybe that person down there, that girl who looked to be in her twenties yet was only seconds old, could be saved. The childish innocence in those eyes gave Aeris confidence.
Aeris had been surprised at how easily telepathy had come once she'd finally understood how to manipulate spirit energy, but now, she was just grateful she'd ever figured it out.
Cloud nodded and stood up. There would be no surprise attack now that they were discovered. There was no point in continuing to hide.
"Sephiroth, what you have done is unforgivable!" Cloud shouted, drawing the Ultima sword. No turning back, he reminded himself.
"What I have done? You mean saving the life of Mother?"
Another cold laugh.
Cloud forced his eyes away from the child that lay at Sephiroth's feet. The last thing he needed to think of now was how her hair was a perfect silver representation of his own, or how her face seemed to be Aeris's all over again. He had to keep his mind clear of such frivolous coincidences if he was going to win this battle.
"What have you done?!" It was Tifa this time, and Cloud felt a stab at his heart. Why couldn't she keep quiet? Don't draw attention to yourself, Cloud thought, wishing he knew how Aeris spoke to his mind. That dread feeling, forgotten for a few moments in his surprise, returned tenfold.
"Isn't it obvious?" Sephiroth asked, turning once more to the new being at his feet. With a wave of his hand, clothes appeared on her, "Get up child."
Cloud could not believe his ears. Had he heard that right?! He shook his head. Sephiroth had sounded as though he actually cared! Never had Cloud in his wildest dreams so much as imagined that Sephiroth's voice could even be touched by the gentle warmth that he had just heard.
The slightly slanted green eyes stared up at Sephiroth as if he were the entire world as the girl shakily pushed herself up onto her feet. Almost falling in the process, her arm was caught with a firm hand as Sephiroth helped her stay upright. "There now, be careful."
Suddenly, Cloud remembered the times Sephiroth had used illusions two years ago. Reality hit him hard. Sephiroth meant to use this girl, and with his skill in illusions it would be all they could do to open her eyes, unless they could get to her first.
"I have lent a helping hand to my baby sister," Sephiroth finally answered. Turning back to Tifa only when he was certain that his "sister" could stand on her own.
"This is wrong," Aeris murmured, her eyes filled with disapproval. "This isn't natural. What have you done?"
Sephiroth laughed that deep, rich laugh of his that sent knives of ice up Cloud's spine. "Don't you think that question could be better answered by the professor?"
Hojo's eyes gleamed at what he took to be a compliment. Out of Sephiroth, Cloud guessed it was. Pride overflowed from Hojo's eyes into his voice, "It is truly magnificent is it not? So many theories proven! So many dreams attained!"
Cloud was not amused, and he knew none of the others were either, but perhaps they could get some valuable information out of Hojo if they let his ego get the better of him.
"You see, the life cycle of the WEAPON we know as Jenova is very similar to materia."
WEAPON??! What? Wasn't Jenova an Ancient! Hadn't Sephiroth said so himself?! Yes he had, Cloud recalled with quite a bit of clarity. So, what then was this about her being a WEAPON?! It was then that a few words of the elders from Cosmo Canyon came floating back to Cloud. Professor Ghast, the scientist that originally discovered Jenova had come back to Cosmo Canyon one day mumbling something about Jenova not being an Ancient, and that he'd made a terrible mistake. The mistake had been Sephiroth, and now, Cloud understood that other bit as well. Also, as Cloud recalled from the videos recovered two years ago in Icicle, that was around the same time that Professor Ghast had been murdered by Hojo, at the time a scientist working under Ghast. Cloud grimaced as the truth began to reveal itself in its entirety.
"She has puppets, carriers of her cells that can be manipulated by her will, for the greatest part of her life. However, the time comes for the Reunion, when she will join with all of those carrying her cells, adding their strengths to her own and discarding their weaknesses. Then, she divides, like a materia, passing on her new strengths to the child so that the cycle may begin again," Hojo's voice brought Cloud's mind back to the present. This was almost too much to take in.
"I have merely added some extra strengths to the child," Hojo continued, oblivious as to whether or not anyone was listening. "By injecting selected DNA to the new being during the earliest stages of development, the DNA is incorporated into the beings own as though inherited from her predecessor."
Gohan started to feel sick. This sounded like Cell all over again.
"Is she not a true work of scientific genius?" Hojo marveled.
"No," Sephiroth's reply was firm and startling. "She is my sister, and she has feelings. You will not talk of her as though she has no mind."
Cloud couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sephiroth had to be despising every word he said. She had feelings? What would Sephiroth know about feelings? He was the perfect soldier after all. Still, his act was very convincing, and that was a bad thing for Cloud. Hopefully this kid wouldn't be as powerful as Aeris had made them think, because she was already falling for Sephiroth's maneuvers.
"We have already wasted enough time on you fools," Sephiroth stated, his normal coldness creeping back into his voice. "My sister shall realize her purpose, and that does not lie in this time. Come, sister, we shall begin your training now," he commanded, displaying the large, multicolored materia in his palm. That he was casting a spell was obvious, and the thought of what that spell might be froze Cloud's heart. There was no telling what that materia was capable of. They couldn't die yet!! They couldn't die in vain like this!
To Cloud's relief, he realized the spell wasn't an attack; it was Slow? Cloud felt out the spell being cast carefully trying to decipher what it was. Yes, it was definitely Slow, although thousands of times more potent, but why was Sephiroth casting it?
Suddenly Cloud's answer leapt at him as a swirling vortex opened in front of Sephiroth. A purple haired man could be seen through it, blind with rage, but it didn't take long for the man to disappear, most likely realizing what was happening and trying to escape before it was too late. Another world? Gohan's world?! No, Sephiroth had cast a time spell. The realization came to Cloud as a shock; Gohan wasn't from another world... he was from another time...
Absorbed in his own dread thoughts, Cloud didn't notice when Sephiroth began whispering things into his "sister's" ear.
"Your first lesson is complete," Sephiroth murmured after a while. The whisper, even as quiet as it was, cut through the air and was caught by everyone in the room. "Now, show me what you can do."
The girl by Sephiroth's side nodded obediently as she took a step forward, her first step of her own, and closed her aquamarine eyes.
"You guys get out of here!" Piccolo's voice rang in Cloud's ears, but he didn't know what to do. "That's one hell of a ki she's building and I don't want to be here when she throws it!"
Gohan didn't have time to react, as he felt Piccolo's arms around him, pulling him back the way they had come faster than he knew the Namek could fly.
Only by the reflexes of his teacher had Gohan lived to see the piercing light that exploded from the small opening he'd escaped from. Pain gripped his heart. There was no way any of them could have survived that down there.
Aeris, Red XIII, Cloud, Tifa.
"Nooooo!" Gohan barely recognized his own animalistic voice as he felt the pulse of Super Saijin 2 returning to him. They couldn't be dead!!! They couldn't!!!!!! The tears rushing to his eyes blinded Gohan, but didn't struggle against Piccolo's arms that held him back. There was no point. They were either dead or alive, and nothing he could do now could change that. Gohan settled for bawling into Piccolo's fatherly embrace.