Chapter 3: "Sepiroth's fort"

Hi guys! I'm back! Sorry for being sooooooooo damn late to update, but I had some problems with my computer and I didn't have it for over a month!  Anyway, now I'm back so enjoy the rest of the story… (I guess you'll have to take a look at the previous chapters since you've probably forgotten what's going on!)

In his sleep Kadaj saw the most horrible dream. At first, he saw a beautiful place full of flowers. There, he saw Tifa with Lilith in her arms. Next to them stood Cloud. They were all looking at him and smiling. Suddenly, a hole opened beneath Tifa's feet and sucked her and Lilith inside. All she managed to do is look at Kadaj with tearful eyes. Cloud started laughing evily and gradually he turned into Sephiroth, who laughed and laughed…and then Kadaj woke up, covered in sweat.

"I won't let Sephiroth beat me." He thought. He stood up and continued his search in the forest.

Finally, he saw a building in the distance. He left his motorbike and approached it cautiously. It was a small fort. It had tall brick walls all around so you couldn't see what was inside, and only one entrance, which was guarded by two tall and stout men. They carried guns and they looked ready to kill.

Kadaj slowly crept to the rear side of the building. He thought he could try climbing the wall. But, once he touched the wall, an alarm went off. He was almost deafened by the noise. He heard hundreds of footsteps running towards him. He ran to hide in the woods and quickly climbed the first tree he saw in front of him. He saw people running under the trees looking for him. After an hour, things calmed down. Then, Kadaj saw that one branch of the tree he was on ended on the other side of the wall. Careful not to touch the wall again, he clung to the branch and started descending towards its end. He managed to get over the wall and he landed inside. There, he saw a building almost as tall as the wall. It looked like a jail and it made him shiver. It was painted grey and it had bars on the windows. It reminded him of some mid-century castles, with ghosts crawling around in every room. He crept slowly towards the entrance, on the other side of the building. Another two evil-faced men where guarding it. He crept behind one of them and hit him on the back. The other one turned around, but Kadaj was too quick. He shoved his sword into him before he could react.

He entered the building and started walking along a long corridor. Every now and then he heard screams of pain followed by evil laughter. He heard footsteps and hid behind a statue. When the men were gone, he came out. He took a closer look at the statue and realized it was a statue of Sephiroth.

"Oh, God," he thought, "how much can he love himself?"

He continued walking down the corridor. Finally, he got to a huge golden gate. Once again, he managed to catch the guards by surprise and kill them. He stepped inside. All the walls of the room were covered with gold paint. The floor was out of stone. In the center of the room stood a tall golden throne. Kadaj looked around. Nobody was there. Then, he heard someone clapping his hands.

"Bravo, Bravo!" said Sephiroth, coming out of the shadows, "you gave a great performance out there. You managed to get into the room of the throne. Oh, how courageous and strong you are! Ha,ha,ha!

"Stop messing around with me! I can kill you just like I killed all those guards out there!" yelled Kadaj.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes! And I will do it if you don't give me my daughter back!"

Suddenly, a baby's crib came out of nowhere, and inside it lay Lilith, crying. Kadaj ran and took her in his arms.

"Shhhh… daddy's here…"

But then the baby and the crib disappeared. Kadaj looked all around, but he couldn't see here anywhere.

"Ha,ha,ha! You didn't really think I would give her to you so easily, did you? The whole thing was a hologram! Ha, ha, ha!"

Kadaj was furious. Sword in hand, he charged towards Sephiroth. Swords clashed. The battle was fierce. Sephiroth was really strong, but Kadaj's love for his daughter made him even stronger. However, it seemed like Sephiroth was going to win.

Suddenly, two men ran into the room. One of them was Cloud. Kadaj didn't know who the other one was. He was tall with black hair. He wore a dark red cloak. Both of them joined the battle, helping Kadaj.

"What are you doing here?" Kadaj asked Cloud.

"I couldn't let you do this all by yourself! I thought we were friends!"

"And who is that other guy?"

"I'll explain later. Don't worry, he is on our side. His name is Vincent Valentine."

The battle went on and on. The three of them kept attacking Sephiroth, but he wouldn't go down. Suddenly, Sephiroth ran and disappeared behind a secret door on the wall.

"This place will become your nightmare! You'll regret the moment you came in here!" he yelled at them.

Kadaj, Cloud and Vincent tried to find a way out of the room. All doors were locked. They sat down, exhausted.

"So, who exactly are you?" Kadaj asked Vincent.

"Let me explain," Cloud said," Vincent isn't really a person of words. Vincent was the person I was talking to in the woods, the one you thought was Sephiroth. He is an old friend of mine. He lives nearby. Almost a month ago, he was forced to join Sephiroth's gang. But, he couldn't obey Sephiroth. So Sephiroth tortured him and threw him in a dungeon. However, he managed to escape, but he's been hiding ever since."

"And why was he hiding from me?"

"I usually don't trust people I don't know. And especially people who used to be dictators." said Vincent.

"Those days belong to the past." answered Kadaj angrily.

"Come on guys! Don't argue now!" said Cloud.

But before he could say another word, the lights went out and the floor started breaking beneath their feet! Before they could react, they found themselves falling in the darkness…