The end is coming, the players are all entering the final area. The final battle is just around the corner. Sorry this has taken so long to get out! I swear I haven't forgotten this or any of my other stories! It's just my brothers have classwork to do online and while they usually have their own laptops from school to work on, their's were having issues so they had to use the laptop I usually use for writing to do their work! But now that the problems are solved I have the laptop back again and hopefully, soon I will have my own computer ready to be used to write stories on!

Also as a side note my birthday was April 19 and my older brother got me more books for a series I am really loving and enjoying and when I finally got the books like 8 or 9 days ago at the time of this posting, I kinda reread the books I already had and then the new ones without stopping for anything other than food, drinks, and sleep. So that was another factor in the 'not writing anything for my stories for a while' problem. but I'm done all 8 books now so I'm able to put everything back into writing the stories you all seem to enjoy!

Chapter 9

Cloud felt tired beyond reason, but he still had to keep watch over Zack as he slept and regained his strength, to wait for his chance to save them both. He knew Sephiroth was coming, the bastards had basically told him so. He had to act before Sephiroth reached them, had to get him and Zack out of the danger zone. He had to-

"Why are we supposed to be keeping the girl alive?" Came the muffled voice from behind one of the walls. "She's not our God's child. She is the child of a lost man."

The response was too quiet to hear but it seemed like the conversation was over. And Cloud finally got that bad feeling back, that one that said he had forgotten something major that could only be because of blunt force trauma to his head.

And then he remembered what happened. The explosion that blew him back hard enough to put him out of commission long enough for his attackers to kidnap him and beat his friends so they couldn't follow him. But they also had taken his daughter as well, his beautiful baby girl that those bastards were probably going to hurt. His daughter was somewhere in this place and now he had to find her, had to save her. Gaia, he had to free his baby girl!

Cloud tugged again at the chains holding him to the floor in this big hall. He growled as they didn't even budge. All his strength meant nothing to these chains. If he had his sword then he could have cut the damn chains, but no! They had either left them behind when he was kidnapped or they took it when they got here.

Cloud sighed as he started rubbing Zack's back and running his other hand through his hair. Who was he trying to kid? He couldn't get out of this situation without help and Zack was still way too weak to even try to help him. He needed help, he needed to be saved like some stupid damsel in distress.

"Cloud what are we going to do about this situation?" Came the sudden but soft question from Zack, his head curling closer to Cloud's shoulders. "I don't think I can help you with an escape plan. I can barely even feel my legs let alone think about fighting. My arms tremble just by lifting them up an inch."

"We can't escape right now, Zack," Cloud sighed, curling his arms around Zack tighter. For all his strength and will, even he had to admit that it was going to be impossible for them to escape on their own. "I can't break the chains and even if I could, I don't have my weapons. I could put up a small fight hand-to-hand, but not a huge one. We wouldn't make it very far on our own. You're also in no condition to even support your own weight right now, so that would hold me back even more, making escape impossible."

"Nothing is impossible," Zack snorted out. "Impossible just says I'm possible but I'm extremely hard to do. Life motto, Spike."

"I can't get out of the chains," Cloud repeated, ignoring Zack's pout. "So escape is impossible unless you want to leave and try to find the key to the locks so we can unlock them. You wouldn't get off the sofa without my help, and if you fall you are staying on the floor where I can nudge you with my foot."

"How were you captured and chained up anyway?" Zack asked, tilting his head and looking at Cloud's wrists. "Like what transpired to have you in such a vulnerable state?"

"A very well placed explosion."

Zack blinked, then shoved his head back into Cloud's shoulder, clearly unable to even start thinking about his precious Spike being blown up with an explosion. Cloud snorted slightly when Zack groaned.

"Please, it wasn't even the first time. At least this time I managed to get away with my legs mostly intact so they were easier to heal than the last time."

FINAL FANTASY 7

Sephiroth had to admit, Genesis was really good at melting and exploding metal. He was so good it was almost worrying actually. Of course, in true Genesis fashion, when asked he just went on a Loveless rant that Seph ignored as soon as Gen opened his mouth and the first word came out with that poetic tilt.

Doesn't mean he's ignoring Genesis completely, Sephiroth just learned to listen to the inflections and tilts to Genesis' voice so he could tell when Genesis was quoting and when he's not. Sephiroth had also learned to tune in and out to listen when the change occurred. Angeal had acquired the same skill because he was also Genesis' friend, but honestly who wouldn't gain the skill when faced with Genesis quoting Loveless every day of your lives?

Of course, they were trying to be as stealthy as possible and take out their enemies quickly so they could save Zack as quickly as possible and get out, but they hadn't seen anyone around on the way to the control room, aka where the terminal he could hack into was located. It was eerily quiet and it was putting them all on edge.

So the sudden burn from the materia around his neck when they passed by a very large and very sealed door was very startling. Hence why he had a feeling the others would never let him live down the very girly shriek that was ripped from his lips from the sudden unbearable pain coming from the materia. It hurt and he hated it. But he also realized instantly why this was happening. Sephiroth was glaring death at the door as he tried to lead them on.

Though the big door was quite much for such a small girl…

And of course, in true form of the passionate pyromaniac, Genesis had already thrown the door Sephiroth was death glaring open, a chuckle escaping him, undoubtedly because of the startled and pain-filled shriek that he had released. Sephiroth only sighed as he pushed the burning pain aside. It wasn't like he was going to die or have any limitations in fights while the materia burned, but it was still painful to keep on his neck, though he knew if he took it off he would lose it, and she would kick his ass for that.

Though the pain wasn't too much for Sephiroth to understand that yes, the burning was caused by something beyond that door, but even he knew that door was way too big for the reason he had for the burning pain. So either the source is much bigger than he thought, or something huge was lying in wait between him and the source. Besides, who needs a door five times his size? He was only around six feet tall, why someone would need a door around thirty feet tall was beyond him.

Sephiroth sighed again and followed Genesis and Angeal as they entered the giant hall like chamber. It really did look like one of the boss rooms from those video games that Zack had tried to make him play one time. It was empty, it was huge, and a very bone vibrating and ground-shaking bass-filled music filled the air from speakers hanging on the walls and ceiling.

"Zack would be warning us against sudden giant monster attacks right about now," Angeal stated, turning around to look at the entire room. "I mean, I understand the high ceilings and supports because this is literally in a mountain, but do they really need this huge hall? It's completely empty. What's the point?"

"Boss monsters clearly," Sephiroth replied, rubbing the materia that was starting to grow into a very uncomfortable heat against his skin. It was actually starting to hurt worse now like someone was trying to burn a hole into his flesh and was succeeding in the most painful and slow way possible.

"All boss rooms have a huge monster in them," Genesis stated matter-of-factly like he was the video game expert. "If it's not at the end of the hall, it's on the ceiling or coming in through a hole high in the wall. But I see none of those. Think maybe we found the boss room before the boss was put into place?"

Sephiroth raised a brow at Genesis while Angeal just stared blankly at him. Genesis looked back at them with his own brow raised, his hand gesturing for one of them to talk.

"Who are you and what have you done to our poetry-loving General?" Angeal stuttered out. Sephiroth didn't know if Genesis just listened more to the puppy then they did when he talked about the games he loved playing and wanted to play with them, or if he was a video game fan himself and he played just as much as Zack when he wasn't terrorizing people and hunting monsters.

"Just because I took Zack up on offers of dinner and games when you guys didn't, doesn't mean that I've changed that much," Genesis scoffed, clearly offended. "There is only so much a man can do to amuse himself after all when his friends all have other plans that don't include him."

After Genesis finished speaking, he did a very dramatic twirl and started stalking towards the door. "Clearly nothing is here. We're leaving." Of course, after Genesis had made it half towards the door it had slammed shut and was covered up in what looked like molten stone and slime.

"Something is here with us," Angeal groaned, shifting to reach the Buster Sword on his back. "Bad day to leave the other sword behind. Something tells me we're going to have to pull out all the stops for this one."

"Nothing too difficult will be here," Genesis responded, getting his rapier ready.

Seph sighed again and pulled out his Masamune.

Though if he knew he would look back on this moment and want to hit Genesis multiple times for that stupid comment, he would not hold back. The thing that rose from the floor was more a monster in power than even him when he was going all out.

FINAL FANTASY 7

Her cage was burning. It was starting to really become uncomfortable how close that bastard was to setting her on fire, but she had to hold strong and keep fighting it. Sephiroth didn't deserve this pain because of the golden bastard. She had to hold strong, even though it hurt like a bitch. Even her advanced mastery with water materia and magic was being overcome by the flames that were constantly being sent into her prison. The only reason she was still in this fight was because that man wasn't able to enter her domain and kill her without being stuck himself.

That was her role in this endeavor. She was sent here to this prison, by Minerva herself, to protect this world from the disaster that destroyed her world and left her the only living thing left on the planet. Nothing was growing anymore, so after Gaia showed her how to make her own world, she made sure she filled it with as much living life as she could, but human's she couldn't add. And it was all thanks to that bastard that was currently hunting Sephiroth and Cloud.

She knew he would catch on to her sooner rather than later, he could feel her link and connection to the planet even though she wasn't from this time. Though he was a creature of the planet so time didn't really matter to him. She knew he would hunt her as best as he could trying to eliminate her before she could get a physical body here to stop him.

She was the only one able to destroy the damn demon god, as she had proved in her time. She was the only one to ever stand a chance. She was the one that ended him with her own two blades and extensive, almost limitless magic prowess and abilities.

But all that meant nothing the moment she saw the monster raise from the ground.

See, her original plan was to plant the materia around Sephiroth's neck into her younger counterpart so she would have a physical form here, even if it was a small one, and let herself become her younger self. She would let all her knowledge flow to the younger bit by bit so she could become a fighting force early on her in life. She would be able to fight the golden demon and stop him before he even stepped foot off his reincarnation throne. Except they were so much closer to freeing him then in her time.

So that is why, when the monster rose from the ground before the three outside the materia, she knew she had to act now, even if her materia would shatter in the process and her current body would exist in this world, even if she could no longer find the happiness Minerva and Gaia told her she could find. She had to act now instead of later.

She didn't want to see her favorite uncles die and her father get dragged into a life of servitude to the bastard currently trying to deep fry her inside her materia after all.

She'll just have to hope he forgives her for letting the full force of the flames hit him when she escapes her materia.

"Forgive me," She whispered to no one. Before she shut her eyes and concentrated harder than ever.

FINAL FANTASY 7

Sephiroth was really getting annoyed at the ever-increasing burning from the materia around his neck. It was a horrible distraction against an opponent that needed his full attention so he could keep dodging its attacks and slowly chip away at its life. Now Sephiroth understood why Zack always made sure he was stocked with items and equipment as strong as he could get in his games before entering a boss room. These things were annoyingly strong and terribly hard to actually hit.

So if the damn burn would stop getting worse, maybe he could have a better chance at defeating this monstrous thing!

The monstrous 'boss' that they were fighting was very twisted. It was shaped like a Malboro and could move like one, except it was made from metal and stone. It still had the dreaded bad breath attack that Malboro's were known for, except it also had control over metal, as we found out when it created a wall and spikes using the floor and walls when we stood still too long.

Genesis almost lost his arm when the first spikes shot out of the ground, Angeal just about became a permanent fixture to the ceiling when it created the first wall, and he was almost swatted into the monster's body when it showed it could move the damn walls to slap us around. All in all, this was a fight he was more than ready to be done with, he was also done with the burning and cracking sounds coming from the materia around his neck.

Wait? Cracking sounds?

Sephiroth jumped backwards towards where Genesis was trying to catch his breath and gulp down another potion. The materia was burning and was clearly cracking. Genesis knew more about materia then he did, logically Genesis should know what was happening to the materia around his neck.

"It's cracking," was how he greeted Genesis. His free hand waved to the materia around his neck. Genesis looked down at the materia, squinted at it, then yelped.

"It's not just cracking Sephiroth!" Genesis yelled, ripping the cord that was holding the materia around his neck. "It's about to explode!"

Sephiroth blinked, and in that moment, Genesis threw the materia at the monster still fighting Angeal with a shout for Angeal to get back, and the materia landed on the monster's head. Sephiroth finished blinking in time to see the materia burst on the monster's head, flames engulfing it, and melting the metal part of the monster's body, and then the flames raced outwards towards the three SOLDIERs who had jumped back to the still-sealed door. They had nowhere to go and a wall of fire was rapidly approaching, a fire so hot that it made Genesis' flames look like a small spark.

"Alright you fucker," came a very familiar female voice from within the flames.

Sephiroth almost collapsed to his knees along with Angeal and Genesis when he realized that the flames had stopped going forward and were raging a foot from their faces.

"You wanna play with fire?" Came the voice again, before the fire started receding. "Then we'll play with fire."

Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis could only stand back and look on with awe as the flames that were once running free and rampaging in the room were brought towards the monster in the middle of the flames. They were slowly starting to see the monster through all the flames, but it was melting and burning alive at the same time. The flames were so hot that the metal plating was puddling on the floor, that the stone that made up the rest of its body was also melting and puddling on the floor as well.

When the monster was dead, because it was melted puddles on the ground at this point that was also being evaporated and hardened as the flames died down, the only thing left standing was the silhouette of a person, a person that was walking into the middle of the flames. The person didn't seem to care at all about the flames surrounding them, nor did they seem to be affected by the flames in the slightest.

"Maybe next time we met," the person said again, her voice ringing clear as the flames were seemingly blown away by nothing. "Don't try to deep fry me in a materia I can escape from, bastard. Or you'll lose what makes you a man before I take your life." A loud shattering crunch was heard before the flames disappeared completely, and the person was seen clearer.

The female standing in the center of the room was dressed in a skin-tight ridged black shirt with a zipper that ran the entire length from top to bottom, her pants were also black and tight, but baggy enough to not restrict movement. She was wearing a belt with the symbol of a tiger and a wolf circling each other, the same symbol appearing on each of her shoulder guards. Her long and free-flowing hair a beautiful light golden color so light it's almost pure silver, while her eyes are a brighter blue than the sky, and are glowing brighter than the sun itself. Sephiroth knew this girl, and he knew her well. He had been pulled into her world and shown her memories many times already. He knew her better than he probably knew himself.

"Rain," he found himself whispering, taking a hesitant step towards the girl before him.

Genesis grabbed his arm and dragged him back towards the door.

"Who are you?" Angeal demanded.

"Seph stay back," Genesis said, standing in front of him. "I don't know who this girl is, but anything in here is bad news."

Sephiroth opened his mouth to protest when the young woman turned towards them, her eyes catching his. She smiled and tilted her head while holding a finger to her lips.

"Hush now," She called out. "I just got out of a prison, mind being just a tad bit quieter?"

Angeal and Genesis rushed her, and Sephiroth heard himself cry out, but what he said was lost to even him, as Genesis and Angeal found themselves blown backwards before they got close to her.

"I said be quiet," She snapped. Her hands were twitching, her eyes were flaring. She looked about ready to snap. "What part of being quiet means fight?"

"Where are your manners, Little Bird?" Sephiroth growled out, moving to stand before the smaller warrior in the room. "You may have just escaped the materia, but you have no right to be a mannerless barbarian about it."

She flinched under his gaze, her eyes dulling back to normal, her hands moving to fold in front of her, she looked like a subdued child who was used to being treated harshly. It didn't make Sephiroth happier, it didn't calm him down, it pissed him off. Where was the warrior who was willing to joke and fight with him in the air even after he had scolded her like this?

"Sorry," She muttered, closing her eyes. "I guess actually having this body instead of the one I was prepared to have is kinda throwing me off my game. It just feels wrong to be in two places at once… I wasn't prepared for it."

"Two places at once?" Sephiroth asked, watching her closely. He could hear Genesis and Angeal getting closer, and one of them had their sword out and ready to attack with. "You mean you can feel where your infant self is?"

Her eyes snapped open and burned brightly. It seemed she was pissed at something again. "No! I can feel what she feels! I can see what she sees! I am her and she is me! I don't physically belong in this world, Dad! And if nothing is done to bring us together so I can get inside the body that belongs in this world, then one of us will disappear forever. And I would much rather go through life in a new world as an infant, then as the monster I am now."

Sephiroth blinked. He didn't even think that was a possibility. He was trying to figure out a way to free her from the materia and bring her here, but he didn't think that having her here would affect anyone else enough to make them stop existing.

"Did she just call you dad?" Genesis asked, blinking, and looking between both Sephiroth and the girl.

"The hair is the same," Angeal added.

They both looked completely lost looking at the girl and then back to him.

"Of course I did," She merrily sang, before wrapping her arms around him to rest against his chest. "He is my dad after all."

"Genesis, Angeal," Sephiroth began, sighing heavily. "This is my daughter from another time, her name is Rain Cresent Strife."

He had a long explanation ahead of him, and they hadn't even gotten close to finding Zack yet. From a near-impossible fight to near impossible conversations. How many curve balls will he be thrown until this mission is over?

FINAL FANTASY 7

Cloud had to admit once again that Zack was never one to stay down for long. It had only taken him maybe three hours of resting and not moving for his body to recover enough for him to be bouncing back onto his feet and running around. Which was a very good thing it turned out because as soon as Zack went off to try to find something to unlock the chains around his wrists, the door opened to show the fuckers who had hurt Zack once coming in with equipment covered in blood that made Cloud furious that they were going to hurt him more.

"Where did the sacrifice go?" The biggest and buffest one growled out, moving to probably try to hurt him instead.

"Who?" Cloud asked, tilting his head to the side to imitate confusion. He was trying to lure the bastards in, they had tools he could use, and if he could get them close enough he could end them and free himself.

The man who seemed to be in charge grabbed Cloud by his hair and yanked him up, the sudden pain enough to make Cloud hiss. Fuck he wasn't prepared for that.

"Don't act dumb!" The bastard growled. "You know exactly who I'm talking about. Where is the black-haired man?"

"Like hell I'd tell you!" Cloud growled before he flipped and used the chains to choke the man who had grabbed his hair. He glared at the others as he pulled the chains tighter and tighter until he heard the crack and then the sickening sound of blunt metal tearing through flesh. The chains went slack as the headless body dropped to the floor behind him. "Unlock them, or you're next."

The smallest one, who looked to be the youngest as well, quickly approached and started to unlock the chains, the other one protested but made no move to stop the younger from freeing him. He was out of the chains quickly, with the younger-looking up at him, and the others fidgeting in place. He didn't care about them, if they got in his way he would kill them. Simple as that.

"A young girl, toddler aged, was brought here with me," Cloud said, watching them closely. "Bring me to her."

The others hesitated and looked between themselves, clearly trying to have a conversation with their eyes about what they should do. Cloud didn't have time for this. He was about to move to smash another head in to make them listen when a tug on his belt had him looking down at the small one next to him.

"I take you."

Cloud nodded and turned to face the child, ignoring the very loud and very angry protests as he followed the child that was quite possibly going against his people by helping him.

"Thank you."

As he was led down corridor after corridor, he eventually ran into Zack who was carrying two large swords, both swords Cloud was very intimate with.

"I found your sword, and this really cool looking one," Zack reported, before handing First Tsurgi to Cloud, keeping the other one for himself. "I saw other blades, but I only grabbed your blade, and then this one because it called to me, ya know?"

Cloud nodded to Zack and put his sword on his back, shifting so he was finally comfortable again. "The Ultima weapon would call out to you. It's a blade only meant to be wielded by heroes after all."

It might not be true by any stretch of the truth, but to see Zack light up and smile so brightly it was worth it.

It was the only thing keeping him going after seeing Zack and his daughter caved into a part of the facility he couldn't reach without upsetting more of the now fragile section after everything went wrong so fast.

Cloud felt the world fading in and out, he felt the pain of having been too close to the explosion, too close to the tumbling rocks. The only thing Cloud knew for sure was that he was being carried by a man with pure golden eyes that made Cloud terrified that he was too late to do anything.

It was that fear that he really was about to lose everything that stayed with Cloud, even when his world went black once again.