Wow...already chapter 9! Thanks for the reviews you guys gave me. It really helped. (looks away, face blushing)...oh...AHEM. Now, on to the next chapter!
Chapter 9: The Hunt
Cloud looked at the man before him. He looked exactly as the Sephiroth he knew, except that he wore white instead of black.
Sephiroth wasted no time. "Come Cloud. We must hurry, or he'll get away!" Sephiroth ran out of the room, after his other self.
Cloud looked at Aeris in confusion. "What?"
Aeris looked at him and opened her mouth to reply, but then thought better of it. "I'll explain later."
Sephiroth, the Dark One, looked around the land. Not much had changed. At least as far as he knew. Not that it mattered. There looked to be plenty of Lifestream left.
And for what he wanted, that was a good thing.
He turned around, as his acute senses picked up the sounds of Cloud's friends catching up with him. He quickly took to the sky, and flew straight up.
"What to do... Where to go..." He thought.
On a whim, he turned to the South East, and headed straight for Midgar. He could feel a strange power emanating from there. One such as he had never felt before. With a smile, he decided to check it out.
He smirked as he looked back and saw Cloud's friends watch him disappear.
Elena yawned as she rolled over. She didn't want to get up.
But that damn noise wouldn't let her go back to sleep. Angry, she sat up, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she looked at the commotion.
In an instant, she was awake, her mouth hung wide open at what she saw.
She saw Sephiroth!
"No... that's impossible." She told herself. She rubbed some more sleep out of her eyes, and took another look. He was gone.
She looked around, but paused when she heard something. She looked up, and saw Sephiroth flying into the air, just as AVALANCH came running out of the city.
She punched Reno and Rude to wake them. "Get up guys! They're here!"
Reno gave a big yawn as he stretched himself awake.
Rude simply sat up.
"What's wrong!" Reno asked when he saw the look of worry in Elena's eyes.
Elena turned to him and said one word.
Sephiroth
"Damnit!" Barret yelled as Sephiroth flew off into the distance. "We almost had him!"
Tifa sighed. "It won't matter. I have a feeling he has something planned for us."
Barret suddenly grabbed his head. "Oh my god! My dream! What if it comes true!"
A light appeared over Tifa's as she remembered Barret's description of his dream. "Oh shit! You're right! I almost forgot about it!"
Zack turned and looked at them as if they where crazy. "What dream? Can someone fill me in?"
The rest of the group also listened in as Barret told them about his dream. About Cloud being separated and killed by Sephiroth, then of him killing all of them, destroying the planet with Meteor, and becoming a god, just as he had originally intended.
He finished his brief story just as the other Sephiroth emerged from behind them. They all immediately readied themselves for battle, as they saw someone in the shadows move.
But Sephiroth lowered his weapon, and held his hands up. "I'm not your enemy." He said calmly, as he emerged from the shadows.
Everyone did a double take. Slowly, they turned around and looked where the other Sephiroth had disappeared. Then they turned back to face this Sephiroth.
"My eyes must be playing tricks on me!" Barret stated. "I'm seeing two Sephiroths!"
Cloud and Aeris ran up to the other group, then stopped to catch their breath.
Did I see that right? Tifa thought. She could have sworn that they where holding hands. Tifa just shook the thought from her head.
"Aeris?" Yuffie asked. She took another look. "Aeris!" Yuffie ran up and gave Aeris a hug. No one could blame her. Even Vincent felt like hugging their newly returned friend.
The group spent about a minute welcoming their friend back, telling her that they were glad to see her, etc. After all the pleasantries have been said, Aeris went over and gave Cid a hug.
"I hope my advice helped." She said.
Cid smiled. "It sure did. Doctors say I may get the full use of my legs back within 3 months at this rate. And Shera's been at my side all the way. I don't know what I would ever do without her."
Sephiroth politely coughed. Apparently, they had forgotten him.
Aeris turned to him. "Everyone... This, I guess, is Sephiroth. And he's on our side."
Again, everyone did a double take.
"I am not Sephiroth, per say. I am but a manifestation of his more human side." Sephiroth told them.
Barret's mouth just gaped open. "Then who the hell was that!" He pointed to where the other Sephiroth had disappeared.
"That..." Sephiroth said, "Is the manifestation of the pure evil side of Sephiroth. He is the truly insane one. He is the one you all battled last year."
Aeris turned to face them all. "And now that he is free, there is almost no chance to stop him."
"Hey come on! We beat him once! How hard could it be to do it again?" Yuffie asked.
Sephiroth turned his piercing glare to her. "There are only two people on this planet who even have a remote chance of stopping him."
Vincent smiled. "Let me guess. You and Cloud are those two."
Sephiroth nodded at Vincent. "You are correct." His expression turned stone cold. "But even so... I doubt that we will be in time to stop him from whatever he plans to do. And I doubt that anyone will survive that plan."
"My God! Another Sephiroth!" Reno's mouth gaped as he peered over the bushes. "This is just getting worse."
Elena turned to him, and frowned. "Well... what's the plan now?"
Reno lowered his head as he thought. And unfortunately, he could only think of one thing. "We join them."
Rude and Elena looked at Reno in shock, as Reno stood up, and began walking towards AVALANCH.
Reeve was the first to notice him. "Uh... guys?"
The group turned to see Reno walking towards them, closely followed by Rude and Elena.
Cloud held his sword ready. "Reno. What do you want now!" He demanded.
Reno stopped at the end of Cloud's sword, and stared at him. His eyes never wavered. "I saw both of them. You need help. We're offering our services."
Cloud glared at him warily. "What's the catch?"
Reno rolled his eyes. "There is a mad Sephiroth loose on this planet, you guys won't be able to defeat him by yourselves, and now your turning down help! I thought higher of you Cloud."
Cloud continued to glare at him. "What... is... the... catch?" He asked again, emphasizing each word.
Reno chuckled as he remembered doing the very same thing to Cloud. "No catch. I just don't want the world to be destroyed like it nearly was last time."
Cloud lowered his sword. I can't believe I'm doing this. "Ok. A truce... For now." Cloud stuck his hand out.
Rude and Elena exchanged looks as Reno grabbed Cloud's hand and shook it.
They had just formed a wary alliance.
Cloud, Zack, Red, Elena and the Light Sephiroth walked by the spot, almost without recognizing it. Cloud almost tripped over himself trying to stop.
Slowly, he walked over to the little outcropping, and looked out over the city of Midgar.
"This is the spot." He said with a slight laugh. Zack walked up to him, and put his hand on Cloud's shoulder.
"Cloud. It's ok. It happened over a year ago." Zack said, trying to comfort his disturbed friend.
"I know... but the memories are so vivid..." Cloud walked over to the edge, where, over a year ago, Cloud saw Zack shot in the chest. He could almost see the soldiers walk up and shoot him full of bullets.
Elena walked over to Red, and looked at him. "What happened there? I don't understand."
Red sighed before he spoke. "Over a year ago, before Cloud joined AVALANCH, he and Zack escaped from a science lab. They traveled to this spot, before soldiers caught up with them. From what Cloud remembers, Zack put him on the ground, then attacked the soldiers. But they shot him. They proceeded to fire several rounds into Zack's chest, then left Cloud for dead."
A tear ran down Elena's cheek. "Th... They shot Zack?"
Red simply nodded. "Yes. By all accounts, he should be dead. It wasn't until the beginning of this adventure that we found out that Zack was alive. Somehow, maybe by divine intervention, or just pure luck, he survived. I'm baffled as to how exactly he survived. Not even a normal member of SOLDIER should have been able to live."
Another tear traced down Elena's cheek. She broke into a smile. "Well... Zack was never the type to give up."
Red looked at her, then back at Cloud and Zack. "Perhaps. But there's something fishy about the story he gave us. I don't think he could have survived the way he told us he did. But... I have no real proof."
Elena gave him a sharp look, as she forced back some more tears. "Does it matter! He's alive! I don't care how, but he's alive. As much as I loathe him, I still don't want to see my only brother dead."
Red decided not to say anything more on the subject. Instead, he simply waited for Cloud and Zack to come back, so they could continue on their mission.
"Well, there's no sign of him here." Barret said into the PHS. He, Rude, Cait Sith, and Reeve had been asking people all over Kalm. However, he hadn't seen Aeris since they where dropped off. "Rude is still asking a few people, but I doubt that he'll get any bites."
"Yeah, I was afraid of that." Cid said though the PHS. "The Choco-farm was closed, and there was no sign of a break in. I met up with Reno, Tifa, Vincent and Yuffie at Fort Condor this morning. They didn't find anything at Junon, and no one here saw a thing."
Barret shook his head. "You know what that means, don't you?"
Cid's worry came through loud and clear. "Yeah. We'll meet you at Midgar."
Cloud looked around at Midgar. In a lot of ways, it was worse than when he last saw it.
There where at least 3 porn shops in every sector, more buildings had deteriorated beyond repair, and prostitutes of both sexes littered the streets. There was a few parts of some sectors that looked better. In fact, one of the sectors had a nice, clean park in the center of it.
They had determined early on that they would be noticed if Red talked or walked free on his own, so they devised that Zack would act blind, and Red would act like his eye-dog.
Before they began this act, Red could be heard to say "This is humiliating." Cloud simply grinned, and opened the doors to the city.
As they walked through Sector 6, they came across Aeris' church. Cloud wanted to stop, and see the flowers. The others decided to stay outside.
Cloud was surprised when he walked in and found Aeris was tending to them. He had to do a double take. "Aeris?"
Aeris turned around, and smiled at Cloud. "Hello. Want a flower? They're only one Gil each."
Cloud laughed at Aeris' re-enacted their first meeting. He decided to play along. "Sure."
He paid for the flower, then handed it back to her. "Here miss. A gorgeous flower for a gorgeous flower."
Aeris giggled. "So what took you so long to get here Cloud?"
Cloud shook his head. "I was about to ask you how you got here so fast! We walked straight from Kalm, where you should be."
"Well..." Aeris started. "It's been a year, and I needed to see how my flowers where doing. I ran most the way here."
Cloud smiled and looked at the flowers. "Looks like they survived here pretty well."
Aeris smiled and brought her attention back to the flowers. "Yes. They are quite resilient." She spent another minute tending to the flowers.
Cloud seemed content to watch her. When Aeris finished, she turned to Cloud and smiled. "Well... Let's get going. We have a lot of work to do."
Cloud returned her smile, and they walked outside together to meet up with their friends.
Sephiroth, the Light One, slowly paced back and forth outside of Midgar. They had decided he should wait outside, since he was almost as infamous as Hitler. The less he was seen, the better.
Sephiroth looked at the city and sighed again. They where taking far too long.
Suddenly, Sephiroth knew. He knew the Dark One was in this city. And he knew he was waiting for something.
Without thinking, Sephiroth flung himself into the air, and began an overhead search for the Dark One. Somehow, for some reason... Sephiroth had a really bad feeling about what was going to happen...
Aeris held Cloud's hand tightly, for deep inside, she feared what this place had become. She was afraid that someone would grab her, and run off with her. Even though she knew Cloud wouldn't let that happen.
They where in the more populated areas of Midgar now, where sex and the one with the fastest gun ruled. They had asked a few people, but no one had seen anything. After about an hour or two, a few prostitutes started to ask them things.
"Hey honey!"
Cloud was shocked to suddenly see a prostitute pushing herself against him.
"Oh! What a fine, strong, young man." The prostitute gave Aeris a dirty look, then turned back to Cloud. "Hey baby. Ditch the pansy, and I'll show you a REAL good time. For cheap too."
"I... uhh..." Cloud started to mumble as he tried to think of something to say.
Aeris' eyes narrowed. With a strange anger, she grabbed the prostitute's shoulder and swung her in her direction. "Stay away from my man, you fucking bitch!" Aeris' arm swung around hard, and the prostitute fell to the ground.
Everyone looked at Aeris in complete shock. She held her aching hand for a moment before she realized everyone was staring at her. "You know... I always wanted to do that to someone." Aeris was pleased to note that most of the prostitutes stayed away from herself and Cloud.
After about a hour of asking around, the group still had no leads. They got fed up, and decided to split into three groups. Aeris and Cloud would be one group and search the upper parts of Midgar. Zack and Red would continue to look around the slums, and Elena would ask around the parts of town that still feared the name Turks.
After they had split up, Zack and Red continued down what was referred to as Prostitute Alley. Still playing the part of a blind man, Zack began to ask all sorts of people if they had seen anyone matching Sephiroth's description.
After 15 minutes of asking, three prostitutes came up to him.
"Hey big guy. Got anything good under the hood?" A girl named Karin asked him. She was wearing a long fur coat, and it didn't look like she was wearing anything else.
Zack, really tired of fending himself off, decided to have some fun with these three. "I'm sorry. I don't own a car."
Karin smiled her work smile. "That's not what I mean, sugar." She moved towards him, when she bumped into Red. When she saw him, she instantly jumped back 3 feet. "Wow. That quite a big... uh... dog... err... cat... uhh... animal you got there."
Red was about to correct her, when Zack started to scratch him behind his ears. "Yeah. He the best pet I've ever had. I hear he has red fur, and a beautiful mane. Quite a babe magnet, don't you agree?"
"I guess... He's your pet?" She asked.
"Yeah. But, he's my best friend. We talk a lot. Sports, women, the state of the world, the meaning of life, women, beer... all sorts of thing."
Karin looked at him funny. "He talks to you?"
"Yeah, he does." Zack leaned closer to Red. "Come on boy! Speak. Speak!"
Red was about to say something, when he realized what Zack was doing. Red repressed a giggle, and decided that this could be fun. "Woof, woof!"
Zack smiled and scratched him behind the ears some more. "That's nice of you to say! Good boy Red!"
"What did he say?"
"Didn't you understand him?" Zack asked puzzled.
Karin looked at her friends, and turned back to him. "Well... no."
"He said for you to leave me alone. He thinks you'll just rob me or do something else terrible to me."
Karin face showed her resentment. "Why that no-good, flea-ridden-"
Red began to grow very ominously, and very angrily. Karin and her two friends back off a foot or two.
"He's very protective of me. But he does like some people. Hold out your hand, and let him sniff it." Zack said encouragingly.
Karin carefully extended her hand. Red was unsure of what to do, but decided to play along. He sniffed it. Red almost passed out. The smell was intoxicating. In reaction, Red began to growl the most ferocious growl he could. He tried to sound demonic.
Instantly, Karin pulled her hand away. "He... He doesn't bite... does he?"
Zack shrugged. "He does sometimes. He must of smelled something he didn't like. Here, let me smell." Karin extended her hand. Zack groped for her hand, then felt it. The skin was nice and soft. He brought it to his nose, and took a whiff. If he didn't have such a strong stomach, he felt as if he was going to throw up. The smell was nauseating. He could only imagined what it smelled like to Red, who had a better sense of smell.
"Oh! Now I understand. It smells terrible." He ran his hand up her arm, until he felt the fur. "That's what wrong. The fur. It feels just like his. He must think you're a killer."
"Well... he's wrong. Tell him to stop growling at me!" Karin replied.
"I can't. You'll have to get rid of that coat for him to stop growling." Red increased his growling, and began to advance on Karin. But Zack held him back. "Hurry! I don't think I can hold him much longer!"
Karin suddenly began to panic. "But... But I'm not wearing anything underneath this!"
Red tried to squirm out of Zack's grip.
"Then RUN! He's got the scent of your kind! I won't be able to stop him! He'll kill you all!"
Karin and her friend quickly ran away, as fast as they could.
When they where out of sight, both Zack and Red fell down laughing.
Barret sighed with impatience as he waited for the Highwind to set down, so they could get off.
Finally, after another full minute, the Highwind finally set down, and Barret jumped off, followed soon after by everyone else.
"Ok people! Listen up!" Barret said. "We'll split up into 3 teams. Half of us will search the Slums. The other half will search the top of the plate, and the Turks will..." Barret sighed as he realized he had separated the two groups again. He couldn't help it too much.
He simply didn't trust those Turks. "Ok. New plan. Half of us will check the slums, and the other half will check the top of the plate. Now LET'S GO!"
Reno and Rude exchanged glances. Then Rude nodded.
Reno smiled, as he lead the way into the city of Midgar.
Aeris and Cloud walked down on of the remaining suburban areas of Midgar. At first, they had asked door-to-door, but soon found out that it lead to too many dead ends, and they where running out of time. So they walked down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand, enjoying each other's company, looking for someone who might have seen something.
Aeris lifted her head from it's spot on Cloud's shoulder. "Cloud?"
Cloud looked her way with a curious glance. "Yeah?"
Aeris tore her eyes away from Cloud's, and she steadied herself. "What's happened between you and Tifa since I've been gone?"
Cloud's mind raced to find a suitable answer, but he couldn't think of one. His heart was now so screwed up, he wasn't sure of what he truly felt at all. He loved Aeris without a doubt... But he had known Tifa since they where children. He'd always sort of had a crush on her, and that had developed into true love. But wasn't what he felt now, with Aeris, also true love?
Uncertain, he made a choice. He took a deep steadying breath before be began. "Aeris... Tifa and I have grown up together. After you died, it felt like I lost a part of myself. But through out all the hardships, all the pain, all the suffering, Tifa has been there." Cloud could feel Aeris begin to pull away from him a bit, but he pushed on. "After we defeated Sephiroth, we moved in together, and helped to rebuild our hometown. We've grown to discover our true feelings for each other, and I wouldn't do anything to ruin that. Just before we began this adventure..." Cloud hesitated. He wasn't sure he wanted to tell Aeris this. "I... was going to ask her to marry me." Cloud finished.
Aeris stopped and pulled away from Cloud. He turned around and looked at her. She held her arms across her chest in a defensive posture, and her shoulders where twitching. It didn't take Cloud long to hear the sobbing, or sense the tears rolling down her eyes.
"I'm..." Aeris began. "I'm... sorry. I'm sorry I ruined your life with her..." Aeris' tears rolled down her face like a dam had been released. Cloud walked towards her and put his hands on her shoulders, but Aeris just tore away from him.
Cloud didn't advance. Instead, he just stood there, thinking carefully about what he was about to say. "Aeris... It doesn't matter anymore." Cloud took a step forward. "It doesn't matter because-"
"Cloud!"
Cloud turned at the sound of his name. Behind him, the Light Sephiroth landed, and looked at him. Sephiroth was a little out of breath. "What is it?" Cloud asked. Aeris, curious, had also turned at the mention of Cloud's name.
"He... He's coming!" Sephiroth was finally able to get out.
Confusion cloaked Cloud's face. "Who? Who is coming?"
Sephiroth brought his eyes up to meet Cloud's. "The Dark Sephiroth." He said. "And he's ready... to kill you... Both of you!"
