FINAL FANTASY
PATH OF DARKNESS
Chapter Seven
End Of The Road
Squall turned raising his blade into a battle ready and snarled "Let. Her. Go." Atrum gave an amused chuckle as he said "I should think not. Not until you surrunder." Cloud stepped forward eyeing Atrum curiously. "Cloud, it might not be wise
to ask him now, it might provoke him." Aeris whispered.
Cloud did not respond, he was entirely focused on Atrum. Sephiroth on the other hand stood back a ways watching the proceedings with a keen interest. "Sephiroth? You're here to? How wonderful! Now i can destroy all my enemies at once!"
Atrum said excitedly. Squall narrowed his eyes as he thought quickly, trying hard to find a solution to this problem. "You're the one who attacked me in the forest." Sephiroth observed.
"Oh, and you have good memory to." Atrum replied mockingly. "Lower you're hood clone!!" Cloud said suddenly. "Cloud!" Aeris exclaimed.
Atrum froze for a moment, then he threw Rinoa at them. "Rinoa!!" Squall said in worry as she landed at his feet. He quickly crouched down and checked her pulse. "Is she ok?" Aeris asked in concern. "Yeah." Squall replied.
Cloud walked slowly towards Atrum who was just standing there slumped. Then he laughed, slow at first but getting stronger as he went along.
Cloud stopped moving forward and tightened his grip on his sword. Atrum raised a hand and pulled down his hood to reveal spiky blond hair and deep blue eyes. Cloud frowned as he quietly said "So it is true." Then Atrum raised his hand overhead and said "You have reached the end of the road, a road you have traveled since you first arrived known only as mystery road." Suddenly the area around them began to dissolve, seeming almost to ripple like water.
"What is this?" Sephiroth asked reaching for his sword.
"This world is an illusion created as a defense. You see the world we are in is actually the core world, that is the point where all worlds meet. Normally you would have arrived at the world source, but in the last hundred years darkness
in all the worlds has increased tremendously. In order to protect itself the source created a world of illusion around it like a sheild that caught everything trying to reach the source." Sephiroth shook his head and said "Then how did i get
here? I was going to the planet." Atrum smiled at him and replied with "You were not the one fueling the portal, that girl was. Therefore you had no say in where you went, and because she was'nt concious she could'nt choose.
As a result you went to the world with the greatest energy, this one." By now the area around them had become pitch black, yet they could still all see each other clearly.
"How do you know all this?" Cloud asked calmly.
Atrum smiled as he replied "You remember the lab where you fought Omni WEAPON? Omni WEAPON was made by a bunch of scientests who were trying to protect the source. Omni was made as a gaurdian, but i freed it before they could
remove its hostile manner and put in a more intelligent one. They wanted to make it so the beast would kill evil that tried to reach the source, but spare the good. However they needed a number of different monsters
to make it. I secretly brought them these monsters so that i could use it against you when it was ready. But thats not what you asked is it? I know all this because i spied on these scientests, and from them i learned all there is
to learn of this world, inluding how to reach the source. Which is where we are headed right now, good luck beating Omni WEAPON. I moved it there after our last encounter." With that Atrum vanished and they found themselves
standing in a palace made of crystals.
They were in a large entry hall with stair cases on either side leading up to a balcony with a large door. Cloud turned towards Sephiroth and said "Alright, normally this would be the part where i would kill you. However, i beleive we'll need you're
help if we are to survive. But the first sign of treachery from you and you're dead, understand?" Sephiroth simply nodded silently.
Suddenly a groan came from Rinoa. "She's waking up!" Aeris said. "Uh, where am i?" Rinoa asked raising a hand to her head. "Were not sure, but its not a safe place at all." Squall told her. "Squall, what happened after i was knocked out?"
Rinoa asked. Squall blinked in suprise. "You could'nt have been out the whole time." He said. "Well i must've been cause thats the last thing i remember.
Then she spotted Sephiroth and sprang to her feet. "You!" She said in alarm. "Relax, he's with us now." Cloud said, though he was keeping a close eye on Sephiroth.
Rinoa looked at him in disbeleif. "You're joking right? He tried to kill us all!" "He did kill me once, but i'm willing to give him a chance." Aeris cut in. Rinoa looked at her and asked "Who are you?" "Thats Aeris, the girl from my story." Cloud
explained.
"We should move on. The longer we remain in one place the more likely it is something unpleasant will find us." Sephiroth said.
"I agree, we can talk later." Cloud said, though he could'nt imagine why he was agreeing with Sephiroth. The group moved up the stairs and through a door which led into a long hall that seemed to go on for miles. As the group moved along
Squall explained what all had happened to Rinoa.
The hall seemed to stretch forever when they reached a door.
"Looks like we should go through." Rinoa said. Cloud nodded and pushed it open to reveal a large circular platform of crystal. On the opposite side of the platform was a path heading towards a bright light. All this was suspended in mid-air
with multi colored clouds below. Standing in the middle of the platform was Omni WEAPON.
It looked up at them and roared feircely. "That is why i decided to let you come." Cloud said to Sephiroth, who merely drew his sword and said "Then let me make it worth you're while."