Chapter 45: Escape from the Farplane (Emery County family tree)

"Oh great, this family tree gets more interesting by the second." Erik groaned, putting a hand on his forehead. "Looks like I'll be dating your aunt, Riku. Which is funny, because if I were to marry her, Akira would be going out with her own nephew!"
"What! I'm not related to you, Erik," Akirame shot back.
"Actually, you're my twin sister, but you were too young to remember when dad dragged me out of the house to leave you and mom on the island."
"I'm your sister! You'd better had just recently found that out, because you have a lot to explain about kissing me back at Balamb Garden!"
"He kissed you!" Riku joined in the fray, his expression livid.
"Never mind!" Erik and Akira both responded.
Serena groaned as the question marks and exclamation points continued to clutter the air. "Are you done arguing yet?" She shouted over them all, finally silencing them.
"Uh... lemme think... chaos, confusion and rioting... yeah, I'm done for now." Erik said, scratching the back of his head with a certain sense of accomplishment.
Suddenly, they were all silenced as a the tower shook beneath their feet, as if it were shuddering, and dust floated down onto their heads from the ceiling. "What the heck was that?" Akirame coughed out as she dusted herself off.
Another tremble ran through the earth, this one knocking them off their feet and into each other. "Hurry, we must run, the Farplane is collapsing!" Serena shouted, running to the couch to look out the window, and she watched in amazement as cracks began zig-zagging across the ground, and the once placid pyreflies began screeching and darting about. "We have to hurry to the seal, maybe we can save her!"
Riku gulped as the trembling began growing more violent, and they could all clearly feel the tower beginning to tilt. "Oh shit, what are we going to do now!"
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Erik. He quickly removed his whip from his belt and struggled to open the handle as they could hear the tower beginning to groan and creak. At last the handle opened with a snap, and the materia clattered out onto the floor. "Damn it! Come on, which one is it..." He scrambled to pick them up and sort them out, and out of the corner of his eye, under the bed, he could see the golden stone he was searching for. He slowly slid over and reached for it, when a large crack ran through the middle of the room. His heart pounding, he looked back towards the stone and quickly reached for it, then as soon as his fingers closed around it he closed his eyes and tried to focus. "Come on... focus... try to invision what you're trying to free... channel your energy... free the energy...come on..." Suddenly he sensed what was like firing a gun. The stone sharply jolted in his hands, and he opened his eyes to see a stream of bright golden light shooting out. "Woohoo, I did it!"
"Did what!" Riku shouted, clinging tightly to Akirame.
"Haha, I just used materia without using my whip!"
"That's nice, but how the heck is that helping us!"
"Check it out!" Erik smiled, pointing out the window to a large, tawny griffon hovering just outside the tower. It cawed inquiringly at him over its shoulder, its bright golden eyes showing no worry about the current seismic disaster. "Everybody, get on!" Without hesitating he jumped out the window and winced when he hit the back of the large, Chevy Blazer-sized beast with a thud.
Riku and Akira both rushed to the window, expecting to see the crazed boy splattered on the ground, but instead saw him tightly gripping the feathers of an animal that wasn't even supposed to exsist. "I'll be danged, he did it." Akirame softly said, suddenly screaming when Riku pushed her out the window before jumping out after her. "Come on Serena!"
She hesitated, looking unsure for a moment.
"Come on, hurry up!" urged Erik. All three of them were already perched atop the griffon. "Why are you waiting?"
"I haven't left this tower...in longer than I can remember," she said softly, looking about at all the familiar sights she'd be leaving behind. "I'm not sure if I can...leave everything I know...even if it is a prison."
"Come with me," said Erik, holding out his hand for her. "Even if we don't know what's out there, I'll be with you."
She smiled a little at his words, then nodded. Finally, she boarded the griffon, and they flew away from the crumbling tower.
"We gotta find the seal now and try to stop it from breaking!" Riku shouted over the ruckus of the falling rubble.
Serena quietly pointed a finger out towards the orange swirling clouds, which were now turning an angry red from the equivalent of a rising sun. Squinting, Erik could barely make out a strange blue glowing disk in the blood-colored mist. "I see it! Come on, let's go!"

The griffon powerfully winged its way through the chaotic scene of crumbling land formations and darting pyreflies, working its way up into the thick, choking mist. Suddenly, they broke through and rose above the clouds to see a small floating island, upon which was a dramatically carved arch with intricate designs, to which a young girl was bound. "Oh my god... is that... the Sacrifice?" Akirame whispered as they approached closer.
"Yes... the Maiden of the Seal... the Sacrifice... isolated from the world her entire life, to be kept completely clean so she could pure enough to keep Sin contained." Serena calmly answered.
The Maiden looked ageless, with short white hair cropped around a face that would have been perfectly beautiful if not for the pain etched into it, and she gave screams of anguish as something caused her to strain against the ropes tied around her ankles and wrists. The glowing blue light was coming from behind the archway, and it was beginning to become more and more intense. "Hurry up, Erik!" Riku shouted, then as soon as they were close enough, he leapt off the back of the griffon and landed on the edge of the island, feeling his heart pound faster in his chest, almost as if it were trying to escape his body. Slowly he approached closer and looked up at her body suspended several feet from the ground, which had suddenly fallen still. "Is...she dead?" Erik softly asked, looking to Serena.
An ominous breeze ruffled the Maiden's long white dress, then suddenly her bright red eyes snapped open and she stared directly at Riku, freezing him in place. "Riku, run!" She screamed in a heart-twisting voice.
Riku gasped, then turned just in time to see a skinny, warped black dragon breaching the clouds. "You've interfered long enough!" A deep voice shouted to them.
The dragon swooped over the island and a tall, black-cloaked figure dropped down from it in front of Riku in a kneeling position, then slowly rose up. "I've watched you since the very beginning, Riku... Seymour told me not to interfere directly... hehehe, but I'm not going to play by the rules anymore."
Riku pulled his sword out of its sheath and bravely held it out in front of him, trying to defy the man before him, whose very voice alone demanded complete respect and authority. "A brave gesture.." The voice responded, and two lightly tanned hands rose up to pull back the hood, and Riku's eyes were caught by the bright green ones staring down at him.
Serena softly gasped and her eyes widened. "Sephiroth! Erik, dive, quick!" She suddenly grabbed Erik's shoulders and forced them down, making the bird dive into the clouds as the dragon swooped in to attack.
Sephiroth tossed aside his cloak and let it fall off into the unseen, then in one dramatic motion he drew Masamune from its sheath. "No one defies me and lives to speak of it."
The sword came out so fast, Riku had no time to respond, and he was thrown down onto the ground, his sword clattering but a few feet away from him. Gasping, he rolled out of the way as the sword flew down again, and quickly grabbed the handle of Luna Luz and brought it up above him to block the next blow. The two struggled and pushed against each other, and with unexplainable strength Riku shoved upwards and hastily got up onto his feet. "You're not letting Sin out!" He roared, bringing his flaming blade up and swinging it at the silver-haired enemy's side.
Sephiroth chuckled from behind him. "Faster, Riku!"
Riku choked in disbelief and looked at the empty space in front of him, then cried out in pain as he was roughly pushed back down onto the ground. "A-Akira..." he coughed, slowly pushing himself back up into a kneeling position, only to have Sephiroth grab him by the hair and painfully yank his head back.
"No one can save you Riku... this is where your pitiful journey ends." Sephiroth whispered into the boy's ear, and the boy's struggling made his crazed grin widen.
Meanwhile, Akirame was fighting with Serena and Erik for control of the griffon, which was still being closely pursuited by Sephiroth's mount. "Damn it, I have to help Riku!" She hysterically screamed, trying to grip at anything she could to alter the creature's course.
Suddenly, the dragon gave a loud screech and pulled back, and Akirame's heart stopped. "What..."
Erik quickly pulled the griffon back up above the clouds, and everyone fell still in disbelief. Riku knelt on the ground, and Sephiroth slowly raised his sword above him, then thrust it downwards into their friend's back, making Riku loudly scream in pain. With one more rough push, the sword severed his spine and emerged in a bloody mess from his stomach, and Riku's head went limp and hung forward. Akirame let out a scream of horror and disbelief as Sephiroth withdrew his sword. . Not caring who tried to stop her, she stood and leapt towards the island, stumbling as she landed, then quickly scrambled over to the limp body of her best friend and love.
"R-Riku... no... you can't die!" She sobbed, pulling his dead body up into her arms and holding him against her chest, tears flowing uncontrollably as she looked into his vacant eyes. Gently, she pulled the hair out of his face and kissed his cold, lifeless lips one last time. "Oh, Riku..."