Chapter 3---Kadaj

Cloud lie there, limp as a rag. His sword was only a few feet from his hand, but he had no will to reach out and grab it. Sephiroth…how had it turned out so…wrong? Cloud's mind spun with thoughts of the past and of…Sephiroth. Using his elbow and forearm, he started stand up. Cloud reached for the handle of his blade but then a black leather boot came from above and stood on the base of the sword. He looked up. "Kadaj…?" Squatting now, Cloud pulled the sword from under Kadaj's feet and only made him step back a little.

"Big Brother…" Kadaj smirked. "How nice to meet you again!" He open up his arms in a gesture of welcoming, but Cloud had the sense he was not welcomed. "Sephiroth giving you a bit of trouble, I see?"

"Shut up!" Cloud snarled, "I'm doing fine!"

"Whatever you say…Big Brother." Kadaj spoke in a mocking voice. "I just hope you are still alive to see us welcome Mother. At that time, you can say goodbye to happiness and all you know as life. Sephiroth will see to that."

"Kadaj…." Cloud felt the hot steam of anger grow within his chest.

"Cloud! Do not think I have finished with you quite yet!" Sephiroth appeared above Cloud and Kadaj, his sword dripping blood everywhere. "I just left you there to have a little…fun, you see. I am quite disappointed in you, Cloud." Sephiroth landed on the gray asphalt, his sword barely touching the ground. "I expected you to be a bit more lively and talented in your fighting. Honestly, it's just me." He smirked and lifted his sword, prepared for battle again.

"Sephiroth…" Cloud looked coldly into Sephiroth's eyes. "I don't want to fight you. And I still…"

"Shut up!" Kadaj punched Cloud hard in the cheek and he fell to the ground while Kadaj pointed at the fallen Cloud and said, "We don't want to hear any more of your whiny slop!"

"Kadaj…you need not be so rude…" Sephiroth smirked and stepped aside. "Why don't you just finish him off now and stop playing with him?"

"Sephiroth…what a great idea. Cloud. Get up. Now you will fall under my two-bladed katana!" Kadaj rushed towards Cloud while he was only just on his knees and sliced open skin on his chest as blood spurted out. "Feel my wrath." Kadaj said slowly and coldly as he looked down at Cloud who was in shock.

"Kadaj…" Cloud stood up and held his large sword with two hands and it rested against the dull gray pavement. "I will defeat you…and then Sephiroth as well!" He charged towards Kadaj, holding his sword out straight. As he lunged his sword, Kadaj jumped up into the air in a split second and stabbed his blade through Cloud's shoulder.

Ignoring the pain, Cloud swung his sword above him in attempt to hit Kadaj, but he jumped up and with a back flip, he landed only a few feet away. In a blink of an eye, Kadaj cut five slashes into Cloud's back and landed back where he stood.

"H-how?" Cloud's eyes were fully open to reveal the whites around the blue colored eyes. The pain was like nothing he had ever experienced and Cloud fell to his knees, jabbing his sword into the pavement for support.

"Don't you see? You can never beat me, for I have been blessed by Mother. She has finally granted my wish and given me new strengths, new powers! Powers and strengths enough to rival even Sephiroth! No puny human like you can ever stop me!" Kadaj raised his two bladed sword and jumped high towards Cloud and lunged for his heart. Only seconds after Kadaj had finished his words, two cold, bloody steel blades had been driven into Cloud's chest. After Kadaj removed his sword, Cloud fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood while Kadaj stood above him, untouched.

"As I said…" Kadaj said with a twisted smile. "If only he knew…about his precious beloved Sephiroth. All this time…he was mine." Right when he turned around, Kadaj saw the face of Sephiroth coldly staring into his eyes only inches from his own face. "Sephiroth…!" he looked down at his stomach and saw Sephiroth's blade had been driven through him. "What…? But…how?" Kadaj looked back at Sephiroth who just pulled his blade from him. Clutching his wound, Kadaj fell to his knees in pain.

"Kadaj…You can never beat me." Sephiroth looked down at Kadaj with superiority and with a final swing, severed Kadaj's head from his neck. "Never."

He let Kadaj's limp body fall to the ground and let his head roll past his feet before Sephiroth walked over to Cloud. He placed a hand on Cloud's head and noticed how soaked his clothes were with blood. "Cloud…" Sephiroth said with concern as he gently rolled Cloud over so he was facing the sky.

"Cloud!" Tifa ran towards Sephiroth and Cloud, both within Cloud's pool of blood. "What did you do to him, you bastard!" Tifa had hot tears swelling in her eyes as she looked upon Cloud's bloody body. She stopped running, afraid to go any further due to Sephiroth.

"Hmph. I owe you no explanations." With that, Sephiroth picked Cloud up from his pool of blood, placing his hands under his knees and on his back. Sephiroth then walked away from a disgruntled Tifa and then flew away into the sky before any one of Cloud's comrades could stop him.

"Tifa!" Vincent had finally caught up to her. "What happened between him and Sephiroth?" Vincent looked to the sky where Sephiroth was last seen.

"That bastard…killed him!" Tifa said between sobs.

"Hm?" Vincent looked at the corpse of Kadaj. "Are you…sure Sephiroth killed him?" He nudged Tifa on the arm and gestured to the dead body with its severed head.

"Is that…Kadaj?" Yuffie appeared behind Vincent and Tifa, looking at the body with curious interest.

"Who…could've done?" Tifa asked.

"I couldn't say…" Vincent replied softly. "Between Sephiroth or Cloud? I'd have to say Sephiroth with the way the bodies and blood are positioned. Either one of them…killing Kadaj is a shock, what with the bond they share."

"What is going on…?" Tifa asked quietly, more to herself than anybody.

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Sephiroth returned to his home and set Cloud softly on the bed, not caring if the sheets get soaked in blood. "Cloud…I am so sorry…it's all because of me, isn't it? That's why you had to die…" Sephiroth collapsed on a nearby chair next to Cloud and sighed. He looked over at Cloud's limp body and quiet tears fell down his face. As Sephiroth looked down at his feet, he glimpsed Cloud's chest barely move. His eyes darted back towards Cloud's image. "Cloud…?" Sephiroth's voice resounded with hope as he quickly stood up and walked towards Cloud's body. "Don't tell me…" Sephiroth checked for a pulse on the neck of Cloud. There was a pulse, but so faint Sephiroth could understand why he didn't notice before. He rushed to the nearest closet and grabbed medical supplies to help Cloud's wounds heal. When Sephiroth returned to Cloud, he wasted no time in gently taking off Cloud's shirt and wrapping his chest with bandages that soon became drenched with blood.

"Shit!" The bleeding wont stop…!" Sephiroth added more bandages to clouds shoulder, back and chest and wrapped more tightly. Slowly, as more bandage was applied, the blood started to clot and produce closed wounds. "Cloud…" Sephiroth smiled peacefully. "Everything…will be okay…"

Sephiroth sat back down in his chair and slowly drifted off to sleep.