The story's about to end! What will happen now?

Chapter 10: Return to the City of the Ancients

Cloud looked around quickly. He knew that the Dark Sephiroth would not be far behind this one.

"Where is he?" Aeris asked as he walked over and helped the Light Sephiroth stand up.

The sound of Cloud unsheathing his sword filled their ears. "I can feel him approaching."

Sephiroth and Aeris just looked at Cloud. But then they saw it. A black dot in the sky. It rapidly approached, and finally landed not too far from Cloud.

Cloud brought his sword into battle position. "What do you want!" Cloud asked him.

The Dark Sephiroth smiled. He quickly brought his sword up, and pointed it at Cloud.

"You want some of this?"

Cloud's eyes narrowed.

The Dark Sephiroth raced at Cloud, and swung his sword. Cloud blocked the attack, and counter swung. It hit air. Cloud glanced around, then heard Aeris shrike. A chill went down his back as he turned around and saw the Dark Sephiroth's sword impaling the Light Sephiroth. The Dark Sephiroth withdrew his sword, smiling at Aeris.

"So. You're back." Sephiroth brought his sword behind him, and easily blocked Cloud's surprise attack. He spun around, hitting Cloud in the waist with his sword.

Cloud grabbed his waist, and glared at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth, on the other hand, continued to smile at Aeris. He walked over to her.
"Aeris! Run!" Cloud yelled.

But Aeris stood still, as if in a trance. She just looked in horror into the Dark Sephiroth's eyes.

Sephiroth walked up to her, then brushed his hand against her face. "So lovely. Isn't she Cloud?" Sephiroth looked back at Cloud and the other Sephiroth. "You'd do anything for her, wouldn't you?"

Cloud just glared at him in anger.

Sephiroth smiled. "Yes... you would." Sephiroth suddenly grabbed Aeris, and picked her up under his arm, and flew up into the sky. "If you want to see her again, come to the City of the Ancients. And if you hurry..." Sephiroth smiled. "You might see her alive." Sephiroth then took Aeris and flew away.
"CCCLLLOOOUUUUDDD!" Aeris yelled as she disappeared with Sephiroth.

Cloud just watched her, feeling totally helpless as she and Sephiroth disappeared into the sky. "Aeris..." He said softly.

"Cloud..."

Cloud turned his attention to the voice, which came out of the Light Sephiroth. Cloud was amazed he was still alive. "How..."

Sephiroth smiled. "He won't kill me. If he does, he'll also die." Sephiroth wiped the saliva from his lips. "And we don't have blood like you. Right now... we are beings of pure Will."

Cloud looked at Sephiroth's wound, and was surprised to see it was almost totally healed.

Sephiroth shook himself, then looked at Cloud's wound. He held his hand up, and suddenly, the pain was gone. Cloud looked at his wound, and found it was totally healed.

"Come on." Sephiroth said. "We've got to catch up to them."

Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's shoulders, and held on tight, as Sephiroth rose into the sky, following the other Sephiroth to the City of the Ancients.

Tifa ran quickly, but she wasn't fast enough to catch Cloud and Sephiroth. She cursed as she saw them fly off, towards the north.

Tifa looked around, and found someone was tinkering with a plane of some type. She quickly ran over to the man.

"Excuse me, but I need to borrow your plane." Tifa said as she jumped in.

"Hey! You can't do that!" The old man replied. "She cost me a bundle, and I'm not letting some hotshot young woman take off in it!"

Tifa took a deep breath to calm herself. "Listen... I HAVE to borrow it so I can catch up to my friends and save the world!"

The old man smiled. "He he he... such youth. So... you think you're gonna save the world, huh?" the old man laughed. "Who do you think you are! Tifa Lockheart!" The man laughed at her.

Tifa looked at him. "Actually, I AM Tifa Lockheart!"
The old man blinked at her. "Huh?" The old man put on his glasses, and took a look at her. He was shocked when he realized that she WAS her! "AAHHHH! I'm SO sorry Miss Lockheart! Go ahead and use my plane! Here's the keys!" The old man tossed her the keys, and she started the plane.

She slowly taxied it onto the road, and revved it up. It'd been a long time since she'd ever flown a plane...

Tifa punched it, and took off down the street. Slowly, the plane gained speed. Tifa looked ahead, and noticed that she was about to go off the plate. She pushed the plane's engine, unsure if she would make it.

Finally, the end of the plate was before her. She closed her eyes, and pulled on the stick, but the plane didn't rise. No time to turn around! What am I going to do! Tifa thought.
Suddenly, the plate disappeared from under her, and she was sure she was going to fall. But to her surprise, the plane continued flying straight.

Tifa smiled as she pulled the stick back, and rose into the air. She quickly turned and went after Sephiroth and Cloud.

She had almost cleared Midgar, when she got a call on the PHS.

"Tifa! Did you see the plane that just took off from the top plate?" Barret's voice asked though the PHS.

Tifa smiled. "Yeah Barret. In fact, I'm flying that plane." Tifa knew that silence over the PHS was Barret gawking. "I saw Sephiroth... the... uh... good one, I think... I saw him and Cloud fly off, heading north. I'm following them."

"Tifa! Don't go and do something stupid! Wait for us!" Barret yelled through the PHS.

Tifa smiled. "Sorry Barret. This is something I just got to do. Meet us at the City of the Ancients. That looks like where they are going." With that, Tifa turned off the PHS and flew after Cloud and Sephiroth.

Barret turned to Vincent, Reeve and Cait Sith. "Damn that woman!" Barret cursed. "She's gonna go after Cloud and Sephiroth alone. We need to get everyone." Barret looked around in confusion. "Hey has anyone seen Reno or Rude?"

Vincent and Reeve looked at each other.

"No." Reeve responded. "We thought you knew."

"Damn." Barret said. He punched in a few numbers on the PHS, and waited. Finally, someone picked it up. "Hey! Is Reno or Rude with you guys?" He asked.

"No Barret." Yuffie replied. "But we did find Zack and Red. Why?"

Barret sighed. "Tifa just took off the top plate in a plane after Cloud and Sephiroth. She said it looked like they where heading towards the City of the Ancients. We're all gonna meet up in the Highwind in 5 minutes and go after them."

"Ok." Yuffie answered. "What about the Turks?" She asked.

Barret thought about it. "We're gonna leave them. We don't have time to look for them too. We'll meet you on the Highwind in 5 minutes."

The bar's atmosphere was a musky one. People scattered among the dark tables; most just taking a drink once in a while. Very few people talked. And the ones that did were either ordering a drink, or were performing.

Men watched the current act transfixed. The dancer wore only a G-string, and a flimsy top, which barely covered anything. The dancer moved seductively around most of the men and a few of the women too.

Elena shook her head in disgust as she looked into her drink. She had taken one of the booths in the far corner of the bar. A particularly dark corner.

If there was one thing she could count on, it was bar gossip. Although she seemed self-absorbed in her drink and her problems, Elena was listening carefully to all the conversations in the room. But so far, no one had said one word about Sephiroth.

Elena finished her drink, and ordered another one. She sighed. It had been a long time since she had a real good drink. She got her glass, and took a good sip from it. She then turned her attention to the past few days.

Mark's death... That damn Talon... The WEAPON Materia... Destroying Wutai, which she was against... Discovering her brother was alive...

Elena took another big swig.

Suddenly the doors of the bar opened, flooding the place with light. Everything went dead quiet. Elena covered her eyes and strained to make out who had opened the doors.

Two figures stood outlined by the light. Both were male, and one appeared to be bald. Both around the same height...
Ahh... they finally found me. Elena thought. She turned back to her drink.

The bald man saw her first, and nudged the other man. They walked in, closing the doors behind them. As they did so, every pair of eyes watched them.

They walked over to the bar, and looked at the bartender.

"Wutai Firewater." Reno's voice said.

The bartender visibly shook as he looked at Rude, who promptly raised two fingers, indicating he wanted the same. Reno smiled as the bartender gave them their drinks.
Reno and Rude walked over and sat in the corner booth next to Elena's. When they sat down, everything became normal again.

Reno took a sip, and leaned back far enough that Elena could hear him. "Any luck?"

Elena looked at her drink. "No." She said softly. "But you really should try the house scotch. It's very relaxing." Elena took another sip of her drink. When she put her drink back down, Rude was sitting across from her. She almost jumped. "Damn it Rude!" She said softly. "Don't do that!"

Rude simply took a round, silver orb out of his coat, and placed it on the table before Elena.

Elena blinked. She HAD to be seeing things. "Rude... is that...?"

Rude nodded his head. He put the orb back in his coat, and took a sip from his drink.

Cloud and Sephiroth landed not too far from the entrance to the City of the Ancients.

He took out his sword, and started for the entrance to the city when Sephiroth stopped him. He looked at him confused. "What is it?" he asked.

"Cloud... This Sephiroth we are about to face... he is like the one you last fought, but he's much faster, and much stronger. We must stop him no matter what. Even if it means you must kill me, we must stop him."

Cloud nodded his head. "I understand."

"And Cloud..." Sephiroth added. "It's been good to fight with you again, instead of against you."

Cloud smiled, and they both ran down into the City of the Ancients.

It was dark in the City of the Ancients... Eerily so.

Aeris looked around cautiously... Her eyes then turned to her captor. He simply smiled at her.

"Don't worry. They'll come for you." Sephiroth increased the size of his smile. "Cloud always comes for you." Sephiroth pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against, and walked over to her.

Aeris curled into a defensive position, as he got closer. She turned her head away in disgust as he brought his head near hers.

Sephiroth leaned close to her, and placed his mouth only a few inches from her ear. "And when he does... I'll cut him into a thousand little pieces." He whispered into her ear.

Sephiroth's hot breath sent a chill down Aeris' spine.

Suddenly, Sephiroth gave her a seductive kiss on the cheek. He stood up and laughed devilishly.

When Sephiroth had his back turned, Aeris quickly wiped her cheek where Sephiroth had kissed her. It disgusted her how much this... creature torture her. "You big jerk." She said softly.

Sephiroth turned around, and glared at her. "What!"

Suddenly, Aeris was filled with all the courage she needed. "You big jerk!" She yelled at him. She got up, and walked over to him, and looked him in the eye. "Why are you doing this! Is it because you're a sick monster, or because it's some sort of sick revenge for all the torment you've gotten in your life! How can you stand there, tell me what you're going to do to the man I love, then give me a kiss! How sick can you get!"

Rage boiled in Sephiroth. He was about to release it, when something she said brought on his curiosity. "Love?" He asked, with a raise of his eyebrows.

Aeris looked confused for a moment. She quickly recalled what she said. Suddenly, it dawned on her. She smiled at Sephiroth. "Yes. Love. The man I love is Cloud. And when he gets here, you'll be nothing but a puddle on the floor for him to sweep up!"

The rage brimmed. Sephiroth quickly grabbed her arm, and tossed her onto the floor.

"Listen to me you little bitch! You may be a Cetra, and you may be the love of Cloud's life, but the one thing you are NOT is immortal! I would kill you right now, if I wanted to. In fact, I've very close to doing it. The only reason I don't, is because I want to see the look on Cloud's face, as I run you through, just like I did before!" Sephiroth stopped, and walked back a few steps. Suddenly, he felt something. Sephiroth turned to Aeris and smiled. "Speaking of which... you love has arrived."

Sephiroth unsheathed his sword, and waited for the door to the room they where in to open.

Men and women quickly crossed the street as they saw the trio walk down the road.

Reno just enjoyed the fact that people still remembered who and what they where. He took a deep breath, and smiled. "It feels good to be back in Midgar. And this time, we're on leave. We can do what we want. We don't have to take orders, and we don't have to do a thing, except enjoy life!"

"What about getting a place to stay?" Elena asked. "Do you think you can simply live in the streets? Sleep in the parks? Even WE have to have standards."

"Yeah, but who cares? We can do anything, live where we want, and do just about everything we ever dreamed!" Reno exclaimed. "And now that we have both the WEAPON materia, and the Materia of Destiny we can have anything we want!"
Elena thought for a bit as they walked down the street. Finally, they stopped at a crosswalk.

"Reno? Rude?" Elena started. "Do you ever... think about doing something else with your life?"

"Like what?" Reno asked. "Being a simple TV repairman? I've been that girl."

"No..." She said. "Like... being everything you've ever wanted to be. What about your dreams? Haven't you ever had a dream job that didn't include killing, stealing, or hurting anyone?"

A long, silent moment passed between the three of them.

"Yes." Rude finally said.

Both of them turned to him. They were surprised that possibly the best Turk ever, would want to be something else...

Rude turned to both of them, and looked at them. "But right now, I think Elena has a point. We need a place to stay."

Cloud looked at the door.

He knew the other Sephiroth and Aeris was on the other side of it. But what where the conditions like? Was Aeris hurt? Could Sephiroth be hurting her now? Could she already be dead?

Cloud shook the thought from his head. No. He thought. She's not dead. And she won't be! Not again! Not by his hands!

Cloud looked at the other Sephiroth, and nodded. He was ready.

The Light Sephiroth nodded back, and press the hidden switch.

The door opened up, and Cloud walked through it.

The Dark Sephiroth had his sword out, and was smiling at Cloud.

Cloud looked behind him, and saw Aeris. Her eyes where wide with fear, happiness, and pride.

Cloud unsheathed his sword, and stood in his battle stance. "Will you let her go?" He asked. "Or do I have to take you apart piece by piece?"

The Dark Sephiroth smiled as he looked at Cloud. "Why Cloud... I thought you'd be smarter than to come alone. What's the matter? Is that weak coward too chicken to come in and face me? Or is he just sick of fighting me, and wants someone else to die in his place?"

"Maybe I just had a plan!" The Light Sephiroth exclaimed.

The Dark Sephiroth spun around to see the Light Sephiroth help Aeris up. "What the? How?"

The Light Sephiroth smiled. "Awww... what's the matter? Did I ruin all your pretty plans?" The Light Sephiroth withdrew his sword, and aimed it at the Dark Sephiroth.

"Now... You will pay for every person you've ever hurt!"

The Light Sephiroth, and the Dark Sephiroth began to fight, faster than Cloud could follow. He saw sparks fly, and heard sword clang. Every once in a while, he'd hear the sound of a sword hitting flesh. All he could do is hope that it was the Light Sephiroth hitting the Dark one.

Finally, the two began to slow down, and Cloud could easily follow the two.

But it didn't look good. Cloud could see several cuts on the Light Sephiroth, while the Dark Sephiroth looked almost untouched.

Cloud looked at Aeris, and suddenly, he was filled with hope, and determination.

Cloud joined the fray. He slashed at the Dark Sephiroth, and hit almost every time! But it did not last long. Suddenly, the Dark Sephiroth delivered a devastating blow to the Light Sephiroth, and forced him out of battle.

Now the Dark Sephiroth could concentrate on this little pest, known as Cloud.

The Dark Sephiroth slashed at Cloud several times, but Cloud was able to block them. A few of the major hits, were blocked to become minor cuts, but every cut only pushed Cloud's determination farther.

There was a fury building within Cloud, and it only got stronger with each attack the Dark Sephiroth made. Cloud could feel it was almost at the point where he would not be able to control it.

Their swords clashed, and sent a vibration throughout the entire city. The Dark Sephiroth looked at Cloud, while their swords where locked.

"Not bad. You've improved since we last fought. But you still are no match for me!" The Dark Sephiroth withdrew his sword, and charged Cloud, faster then Cloud thought possible.

Pain exploded through Cloud's body, as the sword skewered him in his right shoulder. Cloud screamed out in pain.

It was a sound that Aeris would hope she would never hear. Unable to control herself, she stood up. Suddenly, she felt a burst of energy flow through her body, and she suddenly knew what to do.

In one, quick move, Aeris ran over to the Dark Sephiroth, kicked him hard in the head, withdrew his sword from Cloud's shoulder, and used it to cut off the Dark Sephiroth's leg!
He winced in pain as his leg parted from his body. He did his best not to yell out, but it was obvious that he wanted to.

Breathing hard, Aeris looked at what she had done, wide eyed. She could hardly believe what she had done... She dropped the sword, and backed away. Had she really done it?

She looked at the man sitting before her in pain. She looked down, and saw that he was missing everything below his knee on his left leg.

Aeris shook her head in denial. She turned away, and went over to Cloud. She used some of her magic to help heal him. "Are you ok?"

Cloud smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

Suddenly, the Light Sephiroth popped up. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I must say Aeris, that you did a wonderful job of buying us some time."

Aeris' face became confused. "What do you mean? He doesn't have a leg! He's not much of a threat right now."

Suddenly, a sword appeared around her neck, and a black arm covered her waist.

"The problem, girly, is that I can regenerate body parts." The Dark Sephiroth stated.

Cloud and the Light Sephiroth began to move towards him.

"Don't even think about it!" The Dark Sephiroth said, shaking his head. "One more step, and this pretty little flower looses her head."

The Dark Sephiroth and Aeris took a few steps back.

Cloud looked around. There wasn't much he could do... Suddenly, a thought struck him.

Something the Light Sephiroth had told him...

Cloud grabbed his sword, and put it around the Light Sephiroth's neck. "Let her go! Or Else!"

"Cloud? What are you doing!" The Light Sephiroth whispered.

Cloud smiled. "Trust me." He whispered back.

The Dark Sephiroth smiled. "Oh... I'm scared..." the Dark Sephiroth began to laugh. "You don't have it in you to kill him Cloud!"

"Oh yeah? Are you sure about that!" Cloud began to sink his sword into the Light Sephiroth's neck. If he had blood, it would have trickled down.

The Dark Sephiroth's eye grew big. "Ok! Ok..." He removed his sword from around Aeris' throat. "You want her? You want her!" The Dark Sephiroth smiled. With a toss of his arm, he threw Aeris into the hole that surrounded the main platform.

"NOOO!" Cloud yelled. Cloud released the Light Sephiroth, and sank to his knees.

"Nooo..."
The Light Sephiroth did not waist anytime. He quickly charged the Dark Sephiroth, sending them both over the edge...

And into the oblivion that awaited them below...