Nefilim didn't feel right. For some reasons… he felt happy… with a mix of anger and evil in there. These weren't his feelings.
He suddenly realized that the feelings were emitting from Jenova. His cells were just receiving them and therefore he could sense her feelings. Yet he didn't understand why Jenova was so happy. She knew that he was no longer under her powers.
Somehow, he knew that Jenova had another plan.
-----
Cloud felt that he just needed to get away from here. He walked toward the door, about to open it. He stopped just as his hands rested on it.
Why do I need to go? He suddenly wondered.
His mind told him that he just needed to get out of here. To relieve himself of all these emotions. That surely, there was something better than here.
He quietly opened the door, and silently walked out. He still heard his friends talking, though he wasn't sure what their topic was about. Again he had doubts. Where the hell was he going?
Come on. Just open the door and get out for a while. You need a little fresh air. Some foreign part of his mind said.
Just that I'm underground and there is no fresh air. He thought dryly and reached for the front door.
He gently swung it open and without knowing why, winced as it squeaked loudly. Then quickly swung the door closed and bolted.
-----
"Aeris," he called out to the girl.
She turned. "Yeah?"
Nefilim calmed himself. He needed to tell her. "Aeris… Jenova… I can sense her feelings… she seems to be happy,"
"Happy?" Aeris looked alarmed.
He nodded. "I feel that she has another plan in motion. Even though I'm not there for her to control… she must have found someone else."
Aeris stood silent for a minute. "Who else could be under her control?"
Nefilim shrugged. "Anyone who had been injected with Jenova cells."
She had a sinking feeling in her stomach. The only person other than Sephiroth that had a history of being controlled by Jenova was… Cloud.
Oh no! Not Cloud! That's not possible! He would never…
He beat you up without hesitation.
But… he's out of Jenova's control now…
How do you know?
Aeris must have looked panicky because Nefilim said, "Aeris, you looked quite strained, what is bothering you?"
"Oh no! Nefilim! Cloud… only Cloud could be under Jenova's control. She doesn't even know about Zack and anybody else would be too weak for her to control!" Aeris cried out, her eyes filling up with tears.
Nefilim clenched his fists. He had forgotten. How could he? That weakling could be easily used, but instead of showing his anger, he said calmly, "Don't worry, Aeris. I'm sure Cloud would be stronger than that. He didn't fall under Jenova's influence easily last time… maybe he held out this time."
"We have to go check on him!" she yelled and tore down the street, leaving a stunned Nefilim.
"Damn it, Strife!" he cursed and ran after the girl.
-----
"Has Cloud stopped sulking in his room yet?" Barret asked, leaning back in his chair.
"Nope. It's silent as a cemetery near his room," Cid said, being the one who had checked on Cloud. "I didn't go into his room, but I'm pretty sure he was there, the door was still closed."
Marlene had already finished eating. Barret had shooed her off because it was "adult talk". She had walked off; dejected that she couldn't listen on AVALANCHE'S plans and that she had been excluded.
Suddenly, there was a loud slam and everyone jumped. Immediately, they all looked at the door, Nefilim and Aeris ran in.
"Look it's the lovebirds again," Yuffie muttered dully, so only Cid and Barret could hear. They snickered loudly, much to Tifa's disapproval.
"So… out alone were you?" Barret said, almost in a fatherly manner.
Cid and Yuffie were trying hard not to laugh and coughed frequently to cover it up.
"You guys! This is no time to laugh! Where's Cloud!" the expression on Aeris' face made the two stop giggling.
"He's in his room," Cid said. "Geez… what crawled up your ass and died?"
Nobody laughed. Nefilim dashed off, leaving the rest of them staring at Aeris.
"So what happened now?" Zack asked. "From the looks of it… it's pretty bad."
Aeris sighed. "Where do I even start?"
"DAMN!" came Nefilim's voice.
Everyone jumped. "Wut the hell is wrong wit' ya! Ya probably jus' woke everyone up in the effing neighborhood!" Barret yelled back.
"He's not in his room!" Nefilim called. "Where the hell did he go!"
Cid looked around and began to splutter. "No way! Not… not in his room? But… but… we… all heard him come in! We never… heard him get out!"
"Did you see him come in?" Aeris asked.
The pilot hesitated for a moment. "Well… no… but we just assumed… since we heard the door open and his room door close."
Red XIII swished his tail for a moment. "It can't be possible that he didn't come in because I smelled his scent as he came in… when we were talking… I never noticed."
"He might've escaped through the window." Yuffie said darkly.
Nefilim came walking back from Cloud's room. "Nanaki, check Cloud's room and seek out his scent to see which way he went."
The red beast nodded. "Yes I will. And you may call me Red."
The silver haired man nodded and looked away. It was the first time that he had interacted with them without being criticized or looked at strangely. "Right, Red."
Red walked off toward Cloud's room.
Yuffie looked at Sephiroth for a long time. "You don't have to be so stiff all the time you know."
"Huh?" Nefilim was caught off guard.
The young ninja almost giggled. This was the first time that she had seen Sephiroth look confused. It was almost similar to Cloud's look. "Meaning you should act normally. Be a little more humorous or something."
"I was raised to be this way," he said, not sure why he was telling a bit of his past. "H… Hojo did not want me to muddle with… emotions."
"Well hey! Who said Hojo controls your life?" Yuffie asked, cheerfully. "You're in charge of yourself now!"
She's being friendly. His mind told him and he was happy. She is trying to interact with me.
Aeris smiled. She thanked Yuffie silently for being so friendly with Nefilim. She knew that Nefilim needed to interact with other people more often.
"Nefilim…" Tifa spoke up.
"Yeah?" Nefilim said, finally changing to slang instead of using the formal 'yes'.
"What do you think made Cloud run off like this? He would usually do this if he were angry about something." Tifa said, her voice hollow.
Nefilim studied Tifa for a minute. She cares deeply for Strife. Perhaps she is in love? She just doesn't want to admit it.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "But I don't think he was angry at all. I think it was Jenova."
-----
Red sniffed the floor of Cloud's room carefully. He could smell some old tracks. There were some that were fresh that led to the cracked wall. Then he followed it out to the door.
Cloud must have went by the door. And he went so silently that none of us heard. Now why would he want to do that? He wondered.
He opened the door with his paws and followed Cloud's scent. He stopped in the middle of the street. Cloud's scent was still there, but it was jumbled with many other foreign scents.
He ran back into the house. He knew that Cloud was heading for the tunnels to get out of the underground city.
-----
"Why the hell would Cloud do that?" Zack pondered aloud. "It don't sound like him. Are you sure old man?"
Nefilim ignored Zack's nickname for him for the millionth time. "I'm not absolutely sure… but why else would Jenova be so happy? She knew that I was no longer under her control… and she was angry as hell last time I checked… and then she's happy. Now Cloud's disappeared and Jenova could control Cloud easily… if I could control Cloud and I wasn't even at my full power…"
Tifa felt worried. "But… but… Cloud was confused then. He knows the truth now."
"I'm sure he's still a bit insecure," Nefilim gave Tifa a pitying look. "I know that's not reassuring, but this is not the time to be."
Red's padded footsteps were heard. "Cloud's heading for the tunnels!"
"What!" Tifa stood up from the chair she was sitting in.
"Damn! Get yo' gear and yo' movin'!" Barret shouted, smacking his machine gun arm a few times, then checking all of his materia on his Aurora Armlet to make sure none of them were cracked or somehow damaged. When he found none, he stood up straight and ready.
Cid snapped out his Venus Gospel and stared at it for a while. "Man… I can't believe I'm going to use this… against Cloud…"
Vincent cocked his gun. In his deep, low, and mysterious voice he said, "Are you so sure that you will use it against Cloud?"
The pilot sighed and shook his head. "Well… Vincent… man ya know Cloud… with Jenova after his ass… he don't stand a chance…"
Tifa's back stiffened. "Yes he does! Just because you all don't believe in him, doesn't mean that he will fall so easily to Jenova!"
She then ran out of the room, leaving everyone silent. "Geez… someone's having her monthly visitor…" Yuffie muttered.
"Yuffie! That's no way to talk about Tifa! She's just worried about Cloud!" Aeris said sharply.
Yuffie groaned and muttered something about 'everyone being on her ass all day.'
"Do you not all see? Now that Cloud is gone… we're no longer a team. We have lost our leader and now we're all broken up." Red said. "I say that we elect a new leader immediately."
Barret cracked his neck, his boots squelching against the ground as he did so. "New leader? Nah… nobody can fill in that spot for Cloud…" He groaned in relief as his back cracked.
Nefilim thought for a while, then he smiled as a thought came to him. "Zack… maybe you can fill in Cloud's spot since he was nearly you…?" He left the question hanging in the air.
The black haired man stared back at his former commanding officer for a long time. "Man… I just can't… I ain't a leader. How about you? You were general and the best one around."
"Oh yes. I'm sure that all good leaders nearly kill their second in command and a soldier in their troop." Nefilim said sarcastically, looking away.
Cid groaned again. "Aww hell… just pick someone! Come on! First you pick the guy who Cloud was imitating and now you pick a f---in' crazy…" he stopped when he saw the look that Aeris gave him. He turned beet red and turned to Nefilim. "Sorry…"
The silver-haired man looked away. "Cid's right," his voice hoarse with pain. "Pick someone."
Zack quickly picked Nefilim. Yuffie thought of it for a while, then spoke up. "Well… since nobody else is up for it… I guess it's Nefilim…"
"Alright fine," the other man said, then paused, as if waiting for any comments. Nobody said anything. "Good… let's go then."
-----
Where am I going?
He was walking. Nothing was in his ears but the call of Mother. Only Mother. His footsteps were light on the dirt ground, and only faint signs of his footsteps were left.
Why the hell am I going this way?
Because Mother told you to find her.
That answer was good enough for him. He continued walking onward, ducking under as he came through each tunnel. Left, right, forward, left, forward, forward, right, left…
He wasn't sure where he was going anymore, but his feet went on at its own will. He could hear his own breath, going in and out, and how frantic it sounded.
With every breath, his footsteps followed, both going in a rhythmic pace. His footsteps echoed softly, and he was reminded of the first time that he saw Aeris.
Quiet, echoing footsteps were heard in the small church. He looked at Aeris, noticing how her back had stiffened.
She stood up quickly, patting the dirt off her hands. She then smoothed out her dress and pursed her lips. Her head turned slowly toward the direction of the noise.
"Cloud! Don't approach him!" she yelled as he walked toward the sound of the footsteps.
The man standing there couldn't have been more than twenty-seven or so. He had a bushel of red fiery hair upon his head. He was dressed in a nice crisp blue tux. He might've looked more—if there was a word to describe him—important if it weren't for the fact that the top of suit was unbuttoned to reveal a messy white undergarment. In his hand was a nightstick that made him look a little threatening… though not much.
The world 'Turk' and 'Reno' immediately registered in his head. The man strutted toward them, looking a bit drunk.
"Aeris! Run!" he called out to the girl, whirling around, but found that she was already many steps ahead of him. She already had her hand on the back door's doorknob.
She motioned for him to follow her. He ran after her, taking a look back. Reno was stepping through Aeris' little garden, not noticing that he had broken nearly all of the flowers' necks.
The next room was not what he had expected. It would've been dark, but a hole through the roof was the room's source of light. Broken planks of wood laid scattered all about. Wooden steps led up to a pathway… that was broken.
He grabbed Aeris' arm and began running up the steps. He looked back, Reno was coming… with Shinra soldiers.
They ran. Sound of machine gun fire roared at them. He ducked his head, pulling Aeris down with him. A bullet whizzed by his ear and he snapped his head back, gingerly touching his ear to see if it was still attached to his head. When he found that it had not been flying away with the bullet, he sighed in relief. They began running again.
As soon as he saw the broken edges of the wood, he stopped, feeling Aeris smash into his back. He lurched forward a bit, then steadied himself to a stop. "Are you ready to jump?" he whispered to Aeris.
Aeris looked at the broken edges of the wood and her eyes widened with fright. She nodded her head slowly, unsure of what to say or do.
He jumped first. His entire body was flying in the air. The exhilarating feeling lasted no more than ten seconds… and then he landed. The wood under him creaked dangerously loud, but to his relief, held firm. He slowly got up from his position and looked back at Aeris.
She stared at the hole for a minute, as if she were wondering how in the world had she gotten into this. She got ready to jump…
"Don't let the Ancient escape!"
At the harsh command, the soldiers shot once again. Bullets flew at Aeris, and she fell forward, screaming.
He screamed with her, watching helplessly as her body slipped off the side and fell into the air. Her eyes were wide and frightened.
His body wanted him to jump off and grab her, and comfort her before they both fell to their death… but his mind stopped him. He stood frozen, wanting to be sure that she had not been shot.
She looks beautiful… the sudden thought came to his mind.
And all he could do was reach out and watch her fall…
"AERIS!" he shouted out, and then realized that he was alone.
Aeris isn't here. She's with Sephiroth. Anger flashed… then it was gone and replaced by fear.
He looked back. Tunnels surrounded him and all of them looked the same. He wondered why he was even there. "What the hell is going on?" he muttered to himself.
Mother… the sudden thought came to his mind.
"Mother?" he wondered aloud… who the hell was…
"JENOVA!" he yelled.
There was a triumphant laugh, and it was not just in his mind.
"Thank you very much son… for bringing me here…"
-----
AVALANCHE had finally managed to catch up Tifa, who was already half way down the street. She looked like she was about to cry… or already had. When they had announced that Sephiroth was their leader, she gave a look that stated that she wanted to object, but she said nothing.
Nefilim thought of a plan of using two teams. One with less firepower than the other. That team would distract Jenova and fight her, though a handicapped team, they would be enough to keep her occupied. Then the other team would attack when she was vulnerable. It was a simple plan, yes… but it usually worked. He didn't want to get into all the specifics because he remembered that AVALANCHE, though pretty good… weren't professionals like his men. They would not be able to carry out a full-fledged plan without screwing up.
"Mother?"
"JENOVA!"
Whose voice was that? Strife? "Damn it Cloud…" he whispered, causing everyone to look at him.
There was the sound of laughter. "Thank you very much son… for bringing me here…"
"SHIT!" he yelled, sounding too much like Cid.
"Hey, uhh kid… that's my word…" Cid said, though everyone ignored him.
Aeris looked at him in concern. "What's wrong?"
"Strife… you idiot…" he muttered, clenching his fists, looking up at the others who had confused expressions on their faces, he said, "Cloud's given Jenova a nice view of this place… and she's here now…"
Cloud… you wouldn't… Tifa thought. No… this isn't right! Sephiroth's lying!
He knew that he had to add a little bit to the plan or it wouldn't work. Jenova would get here fast and she would destroy everyone here, and then what would be the use of fighting her anymore?
"Alright I've got a plan…" he said… immediately Yuffie groaned.
"Make this simple would you? I hate plans full of army gobbledygook that I don't understand," she gave him a hopeful look.
"Sure," he said smiling on the inside, then paused for a few seconds, trying to keep out all of the military jargon. "We'll split into two groups. Alright, one group will be composed of Zack, Vincent, Aeris, and Yuffie. Zack will be the group leader. The other group will be composed of Barret, Cid, Red, Tifa, and me. Zack, your group is a smaller party and will go first to the tunnels so you can distract Jenova. All you have to do is keep her occupied until we come. Ok, my group, we're going to stay back and evacuate every civilian here and get as many Cetra to help us fight. Aeris, since you know the tunnels well, you will be able to guide your team. Afterwards… when we meet… we'll try and separate Cloud and Jenova… and get him out of his trance. Any objections… comments?"
Red nodded his head and spoke up. "With all those Cetra… how are we ever going to get to the tunnels in time?"
Nefilim sighed, and then looked up. "Get all the men and women from ages eighteen to thirty." Then seeing all their shocked expressions, he added lowly. "It must be done… if we are to win this. None of you have seen war… have you?"
"Aahhhh!"
He whirled around and by instinct, stabbed the man charging at him with the masamune. There was a sickening noise as the blade and the man met. His colors showed that he was a soldier from Wutai and an officer.
The man groaned, blood seeping from the wound and his mouth. He fell backwards as he kicked him and drew the long sword back.
Immediately, he turned midway and stabbed the man behind him. Gunshots cracked all around him and there were screams of agony and cries of defeat.
The only thing he could smell was the scent of blood. It used to make him feel sick, but now he was immune to it, just like killing.
He charged into a group of Wutai soldiers and began mercilessly killing each of them. They surrounded him, casting spells and stabbing with weapons, some even shooting.
He quickly cast Reflect, Barrier, and M-Barrier. All of the spells the soldiers cast were flung back at them. He then focused his power on his Comet materia.
Large boulders rained down from the sky and smashed into the soldiers. Some screamed as a boulder crushed a body part or them… some never had the chance to.
Those that remained he quickly finished off with a few sword thrusts. He looked around, his soldiers were being slaughtered. He decided to issue a retreat. It would be hopeless to remain. This battle they lost.
He got ready to bellow 'retreat', when something hit him from the back. He flew forward and landed in a puddle of blood from a carcass of a man whose face was shot up so badly it didn't even look human. He looked back at what hit him. Godo.
Godo casted Trine and immediately he got up and flung himself away from the spell. He flung Matra Magic back.
The other man ducked and cast Bolt3. He was shaken badly as the spell hit. He ran forward, making sure that all his barriers were up. Then he stabbed at Godo, who dodged the attack and casted a bone-shattering spell that he wasn't sure what it was…
"Nefilim!"
He was shaken out of his thoughts. "Yes?"
"Man… this guys crazy as hell…" Barret muttered to Cid who agreed quietly.
He heard the comment but decided not to say anything. "Let's go."
Ok... sorry... I've kinda been dead this week. Um... thanks to Yuka-san because she's the only one that's been reviewing. (Cries) Man... is this story that bad that no one wants to review for it? Plz review! Reviewing motivates me! Umm... thanks for reading this... and plz review! Plz! Plz! And um... I'll be changing this story's title to Paths That Will Never Cross Again