XXV
CHAPTER XXV
THE DARK HARBINGER
Cloud's heart stopped as the furious blast of crisp warm air assaulted his skin, a muffled cry escaping his lips as he saw the inferno of orange flames climbing into the night sky above the town. He staggered down the garden path of the manor's grounds towards the mangled gate of hewed iron that clung despairingly to the redbrick wall, at last breaking onto the rocky dirt trail. The hurt of his injuries vanished instantly as the agony of the sight sent adrenaline streaming through his blood, driving him forward in the direction of the burning Nibelheim.
Terrible…Sephiroth, this is too terrible…
Past the orchard and cottages of the town's border he scrambled, coughing and gasping for air, feeling the searing heat of the fires inside each home as he fought his way through the dense smoke that billowed from windows and doorways. His thoughts were a whirlwind as he witnessed the flames creeping over the shingled rooftops of the houses, charring their sandstone walls, and melting the hanging wind chimes. The image of his mother's face flashed in his mind, forcing him to run faster, panicked by the fear of a fate she may already have met. The trail had already broadened to form the declining paved street before an eerie realisation seized Cloud.
Where the hell are the villagers? Where are the screams? Where is the help?
He charged on through the blaze, almost losing his balance as he came to the wide concrete stairs at the edge of the town square. Through the black clouds, he could make out the smouldering shops on the precinct's circumference, and the crumbling and futile water tower at its centre. The bedroom annex of Gramps' Inn had completely collapsed around the building's entrance, exposing its disintegrated interior. Darting down the steps, he reeled to a halt, faced by a scene he had hoped not to find.
More than a dozen townspeople lay slaughtered across the ground, dark blood oozing from the multiple sword wounds. They had been shown no mercy, their corpses left in the same sadistic positions as they had fallen. Dread enveloped him again, and he started towards the eastern boulevard, his legs heavy and unwilling to carry him to his old home. Swaying drunkenly as he moved, intoxicated by his inability to compute what was happening, he weaved among the silent bodies, yanking the Buster Sword from across his shoulder as a figure burst from the smog of the street before him.
"Cloud!" whimpered the young soldier, his quivering voice filling with sorrow as he saw his friend. "I tried to save her…I tried…but she…"
"Who?" Cloud asked desolately, but closed his eyes, for he already knew the answer.
"Your mother…"
"No!" he roared, instinctively snatching the handle of his blade.
Cloud gulped hard, the beads of cold sweat trickling down his forehead, ignoring the gaping stares of the others in the Buggy who had been so unexpectedly interrupted from their discussion. Releasing his fierce grip on the weapon and allowing it to drop to the floor by his side again, he exhaled deeply, lying back on the mattress of the bunk. He listened to the gentle rumble of the vehicle's engine, and the rapid pounding of his own chest, all the while unable to see beyond the haunting memory of Nibelheim ablaze.
"Hey?" called Yuffie from the seat nearest the door, her bandanna stuffed with Materia orbs. "You okay?"
"Sephiroth…" Cloud croaked in response as he gave a tired gesture of affirmation, confident that he would not need to explain further.
The Buggy's cabin shuddered as its tyres bounced along the old highway of the Gehenna Rainforest, illuminated by the eternal flicker of broken sunlight as it breached the lofty canopy. The golden hue washed over Aerith as she returned to the ancient pages of the Great Gospel, quietly debating some of the texts with the curious Red XIII. Up front, Barret was at the helm while Tifa and Cait Sith navigated, mulling over Kimaira's map and its proposed routes towards the bluffs that bound the grand River Acrophies.
Restocked with preserved foods and gasoline canisters, the company had set off west from Gongaga, following the direction the Turks had unwittingly revealed that Sephiroth was headed. Three days had come and gone on the journey from Diablo's Rock to the southernmost stretches of the Valron Plains, and eventually tropical country, itself the gateway to the Valley of the Fallen Star. The huge fiery sierras of the Cosmo Mountains had been a perpetual target destination on the horizon, much to the eager delight of the native Red XIII, finally disappearing from view as their road was overcome by dense jungle.
The Gehenna region was unfamiliar to Cloud, though he recognised the name from the reconstructed landscapes of the Shinra Army virtual reality training. Yuffie, on the other hand, claimed to be well acquainted with the topography here, having spent so much time as a nomadic Ninja on this part of the Continent. It was she who had suggested the hilltop trails that wound alongside the Acrophies as the best way to negotiate the verdant but perilous terrain.
"I've been there," the girl had observed, prodding the map at the site of an abandoned outpost which marked the Pass of Lature-Dano. "Yeah, I'm sure of it…"
"When?" quizzed Cloud, unconvinced by the outburst.
"About a year ago, I think," Yuffie had replied absently, scrutinising the detailed drawings of its surroundings for some definitive proof. "Not long after I ran away from home. This is where I met that SOLDIER guy."
"What SOLDIER?" Barret had growled suspiciously.
"Gimme a break, gramps," she had retorted, scowling at him defensively. "So what? I've met SOLDIERs before. Big deal. I saw quite a few durin' the War. That's how I recognised Cloud's belt. This dude was just lucky I didn't kick his ass."
"What was his name?" probed Cloud, glancing at Aerith and Tifa as he recalled the uncomfortable interrogation by Zack's parents.
"I dunno," Yuffie had shrugged. "I never asked. I snuck up on him near the ruins one day while he was lookin' for food. He told me we'd crossed paths durin' a raid on Fort Tamblin, but I didn't remember him. All those Shinra punks look the same to me. Said he didn't work for the Company no more an' agreed to help me hunt for treasure in exchange for some of the water I'd collected. Nice guy. Pretty cute too. He even gave me some Materia."
"Really?" Cait Sith was surprised.
"Yeah, look," she had boasted, producing an amber Command type from within her armguard. "It's Throw Materia, to improve the accuracy of my shuriken. As if I need it, though…I'm the greatest Ninja of all Wutai."
"Then, why'd ya keep it?" frowned Barret.
"You crazy?" Yuffie had spluttered in disbelief. "I ain't gonna give it up that easy. Materia is Materia, y'know!"
The towering ramparts of the rainforest's exotic vegetation had marched onwards after that at a steady incline, the highway narrowing to single lanes and flanked by weaving vines and foliage more wild and richly coloured than any Cloud had ever encountered. The animal life here was also plentiful - as could be anticipated in a fertile province without a Mako Reactor to suck dry its natural resources - and the party had been in awe of the diversity of the flora and fauna.
Slimy beige touchmes sang a cacophony of frog songs while rotund bagrisks dug trenches in the soil by the side of the track with their hideous horned heads, cooling their scales from the soaring temperatures. Intermittently, they spotted impressively patterned scarab bugs scuttling in the underbrush, beating their wings and disturbing the plethora of birds of paradise which roosted above.
Despite the intimate chat he and Aerith had shared beneath the stars at Gongaga, Cloud had deliberately regressed to his lone wolf persona. She had made several attempts to raise the topic again, all without success, for he was determined to suppress the emotions that had flared that night, and convince himself they were trivial. He had been punished for this moment of weakness by the barrage of mental torment that had accompanied his inexplicable feelings of guilt and desire, and isolation was his greatest ally in his battle not to succumb to them.
Fragmented memories whirred through his mind in a torturous blur, never lingering long enough to let him focus. Faces were a haze and experiences melted together, as if his past life had become nothing more than a damaged movie reel. Only the tragedy at Nibelheim seemed to have been wholly salvaged from his amnesia, and it was the one thing he could not bear to remember.
"This is it," boomed Barret as he drew the Buggy to a standstill, dragging Cloud from his wandering thoughts. "We've arrived…an' y'all might wanna see this…"
Groaning, the leader swung his legs from the cramped bed and pulled himself up, using the bulbous furry fist of the toysaurus for support. The others were already huddled around the driver's terminal as he approached, peering at the scenery through the holograms on the dusty windshield. Cait Sith darted back and forth across the dashboard to admire the backdrop from various angles, his tiny boots pattering on the plastic, clearly excited by the mesmeric vista.
The Pass of Lature-Dano was one of the oldest known pioneer trails of the Western Continent, dating back centuries to when the earliest human settlers had traversed these parts. The humid climate here, coupled with the vast wildernesses that bordered Gehenna, meant that there was little in the way of civilisation for hundreds of miles. The few outposts that dotted the archaic routes had once been considered an essential haven for weary travellers, but the industrial revolution and the advancements in technology it brought had seen a rapid decline in their use. Had the stone foundations of the former cabins not remained on the site, it would have been impossible to tell a station had existed here.
The outpost was situated high on a promontory that overlooked the turquoise currents of the River Acrophies, and offered a spectacular panorama of the everglades and massifs beyond the ravine. A glorious sun would soon be setting, and its rays lit up the network of smaller waterways around the mangroves like the honeycombs of a beehive. Flocks of needlekiss swept across the marshlands, ducking and diving in droves of thousands, their spontaneous directional changes as hypnotic as they were incredible to behold.
The Acrophies itself originated from the springs in the uppermost forested summits of the Cosmo Mountains, snaking through the territory like the Leviathan until eventually merging with the ocean at the southern coast. Clean and untainted by waste, the river would swell tremendously during monsoon season, flooding the region and reshaping the environment. To the northwest, the immense red granite batholiths loomed over the remote landscape, tall and proud, and worthy of their title as domain guardians of the Valley of the Fallen Star.
"This is where we're camping tonight?" asked Cloud, inspecting the grassy clearing from behind a side window, the area cast in dazzling clementine as the sun began its final descent.
"It's getting late," Tifa answered, her nose still buried in the map. "It would be too dangerous to negotiate the pass in the dark."
He turned abruptly as he felt a soft hand brush the skin of his bicep, and discovered Aerith squeezing against him in a subtle effort to investigate the view for herself. A mischievous smile curled on her lips as her striking jade eyes fleetingly met his and, for the brief second their gazes locked, his heart fluttered again with the strange sensation that their connection went far deeper than they realised.
"How was your nap?" she enquired casually, leaning forward to see through the glass.
"Had better…" he grumbled, blinking as Sephiroth's leering features flashed before him.
"It's so beautiful here," Aerith breathed in amazement, her expression glowing with wonder as she ogled the blooming orchids at the unkempt perimeter of the outpost. "I wish mum could be here with me. She would love this. She always enjoyed having the flowers from the church around our house, but I don't think she could ever imagine how big these ones are! I wonder if she's still tending to the lilies I left in the baskets at home."
"Doubt it," said Barret, distractedly tapping his fingers on the defective fuel gauge.
"That's so mean!" snapped Yuffie from beside him, kicking him hard on the shin.
"Ow!" he bellowed, clasping his leg in pain. "The hell? I only meant 'cause Elmyra took Marlene to Kalm is all. Dammit, kid."
"Whoops…" Yuffie gulped sheepishly, her cheeks burning pink. "Sorry…"
"Kalm, eh?" chimed Cait Sith, hopping down from the dashboard. "I like that town. I hear it's magical this time o' year."
"Yeah," grimaced Barret. "Elmyra promised to get my daughter outta Midgar. Said she had a sister there or somethin'. Maybe Marlene made her take the flowers with 'em, huh?"
"Maybe…" Aerith responded quietly, her voice tinged once more with the loneliness that her companions would never understand.
Even after the stars emerged en mass above the everglades like a twinkling canvass, so brilliant that they seemed close enough to reach out and grab, the air remained hot and sticky. The natural sounds of the Gehenna Rainforest enveloped the clifftop glade, from droning insects to a melodic chorus of birds in the trees, and the whistle of what scarce gusts swished through the leafy branches. Fireflies danced their merry dance all about, their sparkling azure bodies floating in groups of dozens to create majestic designs against the shadowy surroundings.
The party had found a trio of hollowed logs arranged around a dried patch of dirt perfect for building a campfire, and enjoyed a meal of flatbread and beans, constantly swatting away curious mosquitoes. The moonlit mangroves in the swamps far below were a stunning sight and source of conversation, relieving the tensions that still hung between Cloud and Barret in the wake of their damning row at the Gongaga Reactor.
Red XIII had also spoken of the so-called Ancient Forest that survived in the plateaus on the ridges of the Cosmo Mountains. The sacred Materia Pillar at its core was one of his tribe's hidden treasures, erected by the Cetra in bygone millennia and dedicated to Typhon the Disintegrator. The deity was often depicted in the modern day as a hideous dual-headed fiend, but this was derived from a misinterpreted name of a constellation. Typhon's original powers were in fact attributed to death and rebirth, thus representing the seasons and the continual cycle of life.
Seeing the border of his homeland with his own eye sparked a characteristic of the beast that his comrades had rarely witnessed; for anyone who would lend an ear, Red XIII made no secret of his impatience to return to his village high in the ranges of Cosmo Canyon. Although Barret had previously discussed at length his own personal yearning to visit the famous settlement, it was now only Yuffie who encouraged the fiery feline's childlike enthusiasm. The girl sat with him by the edge of the gorge, stroking his mane as he reminisced on his youth as a cub around the local spiritual bonfire, for she did not realise as the others did that his homecoming would signal the end of his journey with them.
It was late that night, after the group had retired to their bunks or tents, when Tifa approached Cloud. As was the norm, he had been the last to surrender to drowsiness, staring distantly into the crackling flames, and listening to the rustle of the Great Gospel's pages as they flapped in the breeze where Aerith had left the book on the neighbouring log. His senses were roused suddenly by a presence behind him, his focus instantly sharpening. Motionless on the hewn trunk on which he was hunched, his back to the Buggy, he honed in on the tell-tale sounds as an individual neared.
"Can't sleep?" he asked without interest.
"There's been something on my mind," Tifa replied tentatively. He felt her eyes move over his bare back, dwelling on the oval scar at his waist.
"Oh…" muttered Cloud.
"Can I join you?"
Do I have a choice? he mused, frustrated.
With a sigh, he shuffled along the log, his combat trousers tearing shreds of dead bark as he went, and offered her a place to sit. Tifa squatted into the vacant position, tossing a thin blanket across her legs. She said nothing for a long time, noiselessly watching the fire as Cloud stoked it with small pieces of bracken. She had tied her hair back in its usual dolphin-tail style and allowed it to rest on her lap, dreamily running her fingers through the silken locks. The lack of interaction bothered Cloud, and he was again stricken by an overwhelming emotion that swiftly bubbled up inside; it was as if his very soul craved the company of another. It was while struggling to repel these confusing sentiments that Tifa finally spoke.
"Campfires are funny, aren't they?" she remarked softly, her chest rising with each lasting inhalation. "They make you remember all kinds of things…"
"Like what?" he probed, matching her gaze as she turned her body towards him.
"I usually think of my childhood," she answered, forcing a weak smile. "Our childhood."
"What about it?"
"Hmm…lots of things I suppose," she shrugged, wrinkling her nose and tilting her head as if to summon specific recollections. "My parents…my cat…our friends. Do you remember the kids I used to hang out with? Dan, Wel, Meiday…I never saw them again after they left for Midgar, though some did write me letters. What about you? I know they had regular get-togethers."
"I wasn't really that close to them," said Cloud.
"I often wonder where they are now," Tifa continued regardless. "Y'know, what they did with their lives. All the boys from Nibelheim seemed to leave at once. It was quite surreal. One by one they called me out to the water tower to tell me their big plans. Move to Midgar, move to Junon, start a business, find some work…always the same. It was pretty uninventive. Every one of them said the same thing. Except you; you were…different."
"Different?" Cloud frowned at her. She glanced away, her beauty reflecting the flickering flames, radiant amidst the darkness that had crept over them as she pulled her blanket tighter.
"You wanted to join SOLDIER."
"What's your point?" he posed bluntly.
"You were the only one whose choice made any sense," Tifa explained, sweeping the loose strands from her face. "Some boys like Rick Fergus wanted to stay at home and carry on their family's trade, while most of the others hoped to try their luck in the city at anything they could get their hands on. But, you seemed to have taken your time considering joining the Army. SOLDIER was a perfect way for you to get what you needed."
"Meaning?"
"Well, at school you were always pretty isolated from everyone else, or getting yourself into fights. It wasn't even like you were an angry kid, it was as if…as if you were fighting to test your strength. That's why the challenge of SOLDIER suited you. Some of the boys really hated how you acted, but I never felt that way. I saw through it all. I think you started behaving like that when I was about seven; you would've been eight. That was the year…the year mama died…"
"I try to forget these things," Cloud exhaled. "It only reminds me of how weak I was back then."
"You should embrace your memories," advocated Tifa, reaching out and touching his shoulder. The caress of her fingertips was like a spark on his skin, and his heart skipped a beat. "It's the experiences from your past that define who you are. Promise me you'll try."
"I…" Cloud stammered, looking up to find her deep brown eyes burning into his. He spun away at once, his chest thumping faster.
What's happening to me?
"Y'know, I was really proud of you," she added earnestly, "as if it had been me. Just the thought of you joining SOLDIER made me beam with pride. And your efforts paid off; you achieved what you set out to do."
"I was just lucky," mumbled Cloud, composing himself. "It takes more than hard work to make it as a SOLDIER."
"It's not like you be so humble," she joked, poking him playfully. "What was it like to be a SOLDIER?"
"All I remember is how much I wanted to be the best," he said pensively. "SOLDIER was my life. And then…"
"Yeah…" Tifa nodded slowly, comprehending.
A heavy silence descended between them for a few seconds, the horror of the Nibelheim incident seeping into their consciousness. Cloud could still see the slain corpses from his nightmares, scattered like insects over the smouldering town square. He tried to conquer it, tried to seal the memory away, but it would not retreat. He knew he had to say something - anything - to grant himself reprieve, but as he opened his mouth, he heard Tifa's voice.
"Cloud?" she began, her tone reserved and wary. "Five years ago…"
"Yeah?"
"No…" gulped Tifa, nervously scratching at her blanket, shirking away from him, "it's nothing. Forget it."
"Huh?" his brows furrowed, perplexed.
"There's something I don't understand, but…I'm afraid to ask."
"What is it?" he pried, surprising himself as the words came out mild and reassuring. "Tifa, if it's about what happened at Nibelheim…I'd like to know."
"I don't know how to explain it," she responded timidly, her lips trembling as her features were overcome with sadness and uncertainty. Shifting unexpectedly along the log, she was suddenly upon Cloud, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling her face against his shoulder. Paralyzed with bewilderment, Cloud did not move, allowing her to cuddle more closely into him. "It's just…it feels like I'm losing you…"
"Tifa…"
"Promise me," she bade without lifting her head. "You really, really are…you…right…?"
"I-"
"Just give me a little time," she yawned sleepily.
As Tifa snuggled cosily, he strove to focus on the warmth of her body pressing against him rather than the unsettling questions she had left him with. Am I really me? What does that even mean? He listened to the steady rhythm of her breathing, all the while aware of his growing desire for her to stay exactly where she was.
"I'll always be me," he replied eventually.
"I know," she sighed, drawing the blanket over them. "Cloud, thanks for caring. Maybe there's hope for you after all…"
'Your answers are drawing nearer…' whispered the eerie voice. 'Soon-'
"Can't you say something useful for once?"
'What you pursue will be yours, but it will take from you something dear...'
Cloud woke with a jolt, his muscles tense and pulse racing as Cait Sith's prophecy echoed in his mind. He had dozed off in an upright position, Tifa still nestled by his side, but he could not tell how long he had been asleep. The campfire was all but spluttering embers now, the scorched bracken glowing red as the flames slithered beneath, sending an ethereal veil of wispy smoke out over the ravine and the River Acrophies far below.
Groaning as he dislodged his arm to relieve the cramp, he paused, his gaze falling upon the adjacent log. Where Aerith's Great Gospel had been resting, there was now only a pile of fine ash, encircled by a slender ring of pale magic residue like light shining through dust. His eyes darted apprehensively back and forth across the glade, the knot in his stomach tightening with each passing second as a grim realisation dawned on him.
Someone's been here…
A rustle of leaves to his left snatched Cloud's attention, and he peered around in time to see a shadowy leather boot vanish into the foliage. It took a few moments to groggily register the movement, but when he did, the alarm that sped through his veins was immense. He clambered to his feet, hastily leaning Tifa on the joint of the trunk for support, and grabbed the Buster Sword from the grass.
His thoughts were a hurtling carousel as he stumbled towards the treeline; he saw only the lingering silhouette of the figure amid the bushes that swayed in the cool breeze. He intuitively knew who the intruder was; he was drawn like a magnet by loathing and vengeance and the enduring hunger to gain retribution for the only family he ever had. Wrath blinded him as he hacked his way through the gnarled vegetation, ignoring the thorns that pierced his bare torso, savouring the anguish that tore at his heartstrings.
Cloud emerged abruptly at another small clifftop plateau that was handsomely illuminated by fierce moonlight. The only sound was the gentle whistle of the wind as it drifted among a vibrant carpet of lengthy weeds, and the aged creaking of the perimeter branches that were entwined like a lattice of ivy. At the edge of the ridge waited the man in the black cloak, his face hidden by his hooded mantle, calmly reading from the pages of the Great Gospel.
"Ah, there it is…" he said, his voice low and full of malice, tracing a finger over a specific paragraph.
"You!" snarled Cloud.
"So, you're still following me?" Sephiroth sneered derisively, slowly closing the antiquated tome and tossing it aside. "You obviously did not learn from our encounter on the cargo ship."
He regarded Cloud ominously through dark and sunken Mako eyes, his jade green irises glimmering in the midnight radiance. Leisurely pulling back his hood, his famous silver hair cascaded elegantly over armoured shoulders and down his spine, flirting with his sharp features and thin wry smile. Sephiroth's athletic physique and impressive height were as Cloud recalled, dominating the glade, yet there was no sign of the Masamune.
"This ends tonight!" spat Cloud, raising his own greatsword and adopting a combat stance.
"But, I still have so much to show you," he chortled, unperturbed.
"Show me?" Cloud hesitated.
"There is yet so much to be revealed," smirked Sephiroth, cold and calculating. "Are you going to take part in the Reunion?"
"The Reunion?" he frowned, baffled. "I…I don't even know what it is."
"Jenova will be at the Reunion," Sephiroth elucidated, his expression glazed with insanity.
"What are you talking about?"
"Jenova will be there," he repeated as if entranced. "She will join the Reunion and once more become the Calamity from the Skies."
"From…the sky?" stammered Cloud, his legs growing heavy as the he fought to comprehend the words. "You mean…she wasn't an Ancient?"
"Very good, Cloud," Sephiroth grinned wickedly, "you worked it out far quicker than that old fool, Gast."
"Professor Gast? Didn't you admire him?"
"I see," he scoffed, his amusement fading. "Perhaps you don't have the right to participate."
"Sephiroth, I don't understand," barked Cloud. "What does the Reunion have to do with the Ancients? Why are you searching for the Promised Land? Does it even exist?"
"The Promised Land exists if you want it to," he replied vaguely. "Philosophers will tell you how to find it, but scientists will brand it a myth. What I seek is far more than that."
"You mean the Black Materia?"
"Asking too many questions will cause you to lose sight of yourself, Cloud…of who you really are."
"I know who I am!" he retorted defensively.
"Is that so?" chuckled Sephiroth, all too aware of the disconcerting effect he was having. "Then, tell me, how did you come by that scar on your gut? How did you survive that night in Nibelheim?"
"I…I can't remember…"
"Well, I want you to remember," Sephiroth hissed with perverse delight. "I want you to remember when I took your mother's life. Claudia, wasn't it? Yes, that was her name; she begged me for mercy. Not for herself, but for you…her little soldier-"
"Enough!" roared Cloud, gripped by fury as he charged forward, preparing to swing the Buster Sword at his former Captain.
Sephiroth snorted with mocking laughter, lifting his arm as an effervescent haze of pale green developed around it, and a great pulse of energy blasted from his gloved palm. Cloud cried out as the Gravira spell ripped him from the ground, slamming him into the broad trunk of a nearby tree. Slumping to the grass, he felt his strength sap, battling ineffectively with his brain but not his body. As he dragged himself to his feet, he glanced dazedly towards the advancing Sephiroth, and clutched doggedly at the Buster Sword.
Sephiroth leapt nimbly aside as Cloud heaved his weapon through the air, the blade crackling with electricity as the Lightning Materia activated. Blinding bolts of Thundara magic exploded between them as the greatsword scythed the earth, driving his foe back towards the ravine. The leather tails of his trenchcoat sizzling with the ferocious current, he skilfully evaded each of Cloud's vigorous and hate-filled slashes, as graceful as a gazelle and powerful as a diceratops. Sephiroth ducked and weaved with incredible reflexes, keeping his distance as he sought an opening to attack.
"Didn't you ever wonder why I killed President Shinra that night?" he persisted as he dodged, shooting fireballs at the younger SOLDIER with every flick of his wrist. "The repulsive glutton of a man."
"Revenge, right?" Cloud snapped as he blocked the scorching barrage. "For producing you?"
"Now, now," Sephiroth teased, feigning insult. "Five years have passed since I discovered the truth of my birth. I could have slain the President anytime I wished, so why that night? Why did I choose to do it while you were at Shinra Headquarters?"
"I…"
Cloud's mind was throbbing with the blurred pain of his knock, like a malfunctioning cog in a machine, but also with fragments of information that presented neither rhyme nor reason. Everything about that night in late December had happened so fast: breaking out of prison; the missing Jenova specimen; finding President Shinra murdered; the encounter with Rufus; escaping Midgar. He realised he had never considered Sephiroth's reappearance as more than a coincidence.
"The answer is simple:" he continued, the moonlight gleaming in his menacing gaze, "your role in this is not done-"
"Shut up!" growled Cloud. "My only role is to stop you…to bring you the same suffering that you brought me."
Shifting one way and then the other, the long-haired villain sprang over a lunging thrust of the Buster Sword, and vaulted high into the air. Cloud spun to see his nemesis linger above him for a number of seconds, his eyes maddened and his mouth contorted in gleeful malevolence as he primed to discharge a flurry of magic. Beckoning forth all his might and spellcasting technique, Cloud unleashed a devastating bladebeam skyward like an electrocuting missile.
A protective sphere materialised around Sephiroth in the instant before the bladebeam struck him; the Shield barrier repelled the assault, but was unable to prevent the impact smashing him from his elevated stance. As his opponent dropped awkwardly into the reeds, Cloud seized his opportunity to go on the offensive. Surging across the glade, his greatsword poised to deliver the fatal blow, every muscle in the young warrior's body suddenly convulsed, helpless as he was raised from the ground in suspended animation.
"Looks like you're not as weak as I presumed," jeered Sephiroth, his arm held aloft as he manipulated Cloud like a puppet.
"I'm going to kill you!" croaked the boy, straining against the unrelenting Gravity.
"Not before I destroy-"
Cloud plummeted to the earth as Sephiroth's focus was abruptly stolen by the shuriken that zipped through the air towards him. Deflecting the spinning steel points, the Silver SOLDIER howled angrily, his Shield forming again as he was bombarded by a hail of thirty-five-millimetre bullets. The shots sparked and hissed as they battered the globe, forcing Sephiroth backwards. The gap between him and the dire plunge into the Acrophies shortened with each second, the sphere waning against the stress of the gatling-gun's onslaught: twenty feet; fifteen feet; ten feet. With a desperate and violent retaliation, Sephiroth unexpectedly released an inferno of Dark Fira in the direction that Yuffie and Barret's attacks had come from.
Cloud watched the duo launch themselves from the treeline as their concealed recess exploded in a blaze of hellfire, scrambling to regain their bearings. From opposite sides of the clearing, Tifa and Red XIII simultaneously rushed into view, careering towards the enemy with studded fists and borne fangs respectively. Sephiroth twisted to engage them but, as he readied his defence, his leering smile vanished, for his movement was being restricted by someone on the edge of the site.
Determined to seal his evil intentions, Aerith wrestled with all her magical prowess to remotely limit Sephiroth's abilities. Bellowing in frustration, he fought against the stifling effects of her Time Materia as Red XIII loomed, throwing up a parrying manoeuvre while the beast sank his teeth into his thigh. Weighed down by the creature, Sephiroth was unguarded as Tifa sped at him, flipping herself in a somersault and hurling him in a bone-shattering kick to the brink of the promontory.
Hauled up by Cait Sith's toysaurus, Cloud snatched his Buster Sword from the grass, striding urgently across the plateau side by side with the mechanical moogle, Barret, Yuffie and Aerith in haste to join the others by the ridge. Sephiroth glared sinisterly at the seven as they established a crescent barricade around him, clutching his chest and wiping the blood from his mouth. Cloud stepped forward to confront his wounded adversary, his blade aimed at the man in the black cloak's throat.
"You took everything from me," he said, his jaw stern and uncompromising. "Now you'll pay the price."
"Overconfidence doesn't suit you," retorted Sephiroth, gliding upward as he cracked a warning burst of electricity from his fingertips, but hesitating as the atmosphere around began to change.
The party observed with frightened fascination as a window to another dimension appeared to engulf the fiend, its shimmering borders awash with primordial runes that were spiralling faster and faster. Aerith's concentration was set firmly on the throbbing portal as it rippled like water on the surface of a lake, raising her arm as the alluring crimson glow within her flesh deepened. Heavy gusts swirled about the company from the power generated by the summoning, each of them captivated by what was to unfold.
Temporarily disconnected from the real world, Sephiroth was trapped amid a wild frozen landscape; they could see him through the glassy celestial threshold, but he was very much secluded as if it acted like a one-way mirror. As frost rapidly gathered on his features, he was oblivious to the graceful female figure descending from the heavens behind him, a fearsome glower on her beautiful face.
Shiva the Ice Queen was stunning to behold, her twinkling crystalline skin pallid blue in colour, clothed in thin veils of purple that covered her modesty and no more. Sephiroth gradually turned to where the Aeon floated above the winter wasteland, her lengthy turquoise hair tossing in the snowstorm. Drawing back an elegant hand like an extraordinary beacon to assemble her Diamond Dust, the blizzard converged in her palm until it was a dense orb of glistening ice.
With a tremendous surge of energy, a torrent of serrated icicles blasted towards Sephiroth like frozen thunderbolts. Once more, he activated his Shield Materia, but something was different; Shiva's rime shards were piercing the sphere, embedding themselves in the faltering protective shell. Fractures formed on its exterior, creeping and merging and thickening. In a frantic bid to defend himself, he unleashed his Shadow Flare, the same style of terrible Dark Firaga that had decimated Nibelheim. The two phenomenal magnitudes of opposing elements collided in a catastrophic display, their wielders tearing at the very fabric of that world until they were both consumed by it.
In a thunderous detonation, the portal to the Aeon's dimension collapsed, and Sephiroth crashed back into the clearing with a sickening crunch. Panting hard, he stumbled clumsily on the ground, his Shield well and truly destroyed. Detecting Cloud's swift and sword-brandished approach, he staggered to his feet, his forehead matted with dishevelled strands of silver as a pale green mist encircled him.
"No!" Cloud screamed as Sephiroth prepared to take flight, breaking into a run to thwart his escape.
"This is only the beginning," he goaded as he stared contemptuously at the young ex-SOLDIER. "You know where to find me: back where it all started…"
Cloud's legs pumped harder than he ever thought possible, hurtling across the plateau at the speed of a freight train, but it was too late. Clenching his fists and flexing his muscles, Sephiroth shot into the night sky in an eruption of dirt, the tails of his black cloak fluttering after him as he vanished over the Gehenna Everglades. Cloud slumped dejectedly to his knees as the entire forest was enveloped in a chilling silence, exhausted and sore and distraught that the villain from his nightmares had slipped through his grasp, and all he could see in his mind was the fading image of a single red eye.
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