Author's Note: Okay, so remember how I said that the whole Star Wars intro would happen this chapter? Yeah... It kinda didn't. You can blame Zack for that! But it will happen next time, I'm sure of it! Anyway, this chapter's title is directly from a line in the song Unstoppable by Rascal Flatts, which reminded me very strongly of this chapter, particularly Zack, when I heard it. I highly recommend the song. :)
EDIT: Still replacing scene dividers!
Chapter Three
Cracked a Brick When You Hit the Wall
Like Zack, the first thing that Sephiroth was aware of was darkness. And wherever he was, it was cold. He waited there for a time before he realized that he could hear… There was a quiet shuffling sound, and very distantly, the sound of dripping water.
Drip…
Drip drip…
Drip drip…
Drip…
He focused on these sounds, gradually becoming aware of a strong beat matching itself to the tempo of the dripping water. His heartbeat.
I'm alive. Amazement, wonder, gratitude.
Immediately, he took a deep breath, then another…his first real breaths since he'd fallen into madness. He refused to count any of the times he'd returned to life between then and now – he considered himself, the real Sephiroth, dead during those years.
The next sense he regained was his sense of touch. He realized that he was slumped against a wall…a very uncomfortable, rocky wall. He tried to shift to a better position, but his muscles refused to comply.
Be patient.
So he let his thoughts wander. What was expected of him now? Was there even a point to being alive, and, if so, what was it? He very much doubted that he deserved a second chance of any sort. He would have been content to stay dead and drift in the Lifestream. He was whole again, free of his insanity… There wasn't anything else he wanted.
And what of Zack? What had the demon meant when he said there was no more Zack Fair to piece him together? Had he done something to him that Sephiroth could not remember? But he possessed all the demon's memories, much as he wished he did not, and, for the life of him, he couldn't remember anything that the demon might have been referring to.
Maybe the demon had just been toying with him. That was the most likely explanation. It was what Sephiroth supposed he would have done himself in that position to make a hated enemy doubt and gain a strategic advantage. …And, technically, it had been Sephiroth doing that. But he didn't like to think about it.
…Was Zack alive, as he was? Or was he still in the Lifestream? If it was the latter, then there was no reason for Sephiroth to be alive. There was nothing on the Planet for him… ShinRa was all but dead, and even if it wasn't, Sephiroth had no intention of returning to that hated organization. Angeal was dead. Genesis… He didn't recall Genesis ever joining the Lifestream, so he must still be alive somewhere.
Well, there was always Cloud Strife. But despite his former self's obsession with the "ex-SOLDIER," Sephiroth had only known him as Zack's friend. He really had no reason to seek him out, other than, perhaps, to apologize. Cloud deserved that more than anyone, save Zack, but would visiting him really be the right decision? He'd be lucky if he didn't get a blade, or several, impaled right through him.
No, visiting an angry Cloud Strife was out of the question. In Zack's sarcastic words, that would totally go over well. Sephiroth should do them both a favor and leave him in peace.
Drip drip…
Drip…
Drip drip…
Sephiroth's breathing had now matched itself to the sound of the water. It was oddly soothing. If he wasn't careful, he might end up being lulled to sleep right here. But he needed to find out where he was, what was going on.
It was time to open his eyes.
He expected to have some trouble, but they opened fluidly. Perhaps his previous "visits" to the Planet had kept him in shape, so to speak. Things were blurry at first, but they quickly sharpened well enough for him to make out his immediate surroundings. It appeared that he was in a stone cavern. Pale, white crystals dotted the walls and floors.
So… It's the cavern beneath the City of the Ancients. But…weren't those crystals green in color, not white?
As he slowly cast his gaze about, he noticed the large crystal in the center of the room was indeed green, but it was pale rather than the brilliant emerald color that he remembered. And as his vision cleared further, he realized that it wasn't a single large crystal at all, but rather a large cluster of smaller ones. To add to the disparity, many of the crystals around the perimeter of the room were fractured and black, no longer any light shining from within.
Sephiroth stared, puzzled. What was going on? He had an excellent memory, and he distinctly remembered things being different.
Suddenly, he was distracted from his thoughts by something wet and slick on the floor some distance before him, glimpsed out of the corner of his eye. Water? He couldn't tell – there wasn't enough light from the dim crystals to really make out the color from here. He focused on it, sharpening his gaze.
It looked like something had smeared it across the room… With growing apprehension, he followed the trail with his eyes, coming to a growing puddle of the stuff pooling around the opposite wall, and lifting his gaze to see…
Drip drip…
Drip…
Drip drip dripdrip…
Zack Fair hanging limply against the wall, pinned there by the wretched form of Jenova. The liquid dripped steadily from his left boot.
Sephiroth's blood ran cold. Zack…
Jenova's bestial foreleg had driven its claws mercilessly through Zack's shoulder and chest. It was the only thing holding him off the ground. The humanoid part of her framed Zack's face in her hands; she had bowed her forehead to his, and seemed to be whispering things to him. Even as Sephiroth watched in frozen horror, Jenova paused, craning her neck to return his gaze.
"My son…you're finally awake." The voice echoed in his mind. He realized he could feel her presence crawling through his thoughts.
"Jenova…" he whispered.
"Come…" Her centaur-like form pivoted at her human waist, while her bestial half remained still. She reached a hand toward him. "We have much to do, and this one…" Sephiroth knew she meant Zack. "Will aid us."
A sudden rage burned through Sephiroth's veins, giving him power and sending him surging to his feet. "Leave him alone!" he roared. Spying the nearest available weapon, he dashed forward, seizing Zack's trusted blade, and charged the alien fiend.
Quickly, knowing full well what Sephiroth was capable of, Jenova acted to delay his advance. Pivoting, she swung away from the wall and threw Zack at him, as if he were just a rag doll, then sprung away.
Taken by surprise, Sephiroth scrambled to catch his friend before he could be further hurt. He fell back under Zack's momentum, but quickly recovered. Carefully, he lowered Zack to the ground, regretting that he couldn't tend to his friend right then, and locked his gaze on Jenova. A soft groan from the limp form reassured him that at least Zack was still alive.
Sephiroth straightened, glaring at Jenova. "Jenova. This is your Judgment Day." His voice was cold, filled with loathing for this creature who'd deceived and manipulated him.
Jenova gazed at him impassively. "My son… Don't let those lies cloud your mind. They've tried to twist your thoughts, turn you against me…your mother…"
He narrowed his eyes. "You were never my mother."
As she gazed at him, Sephiroth felt the tendrils in his mind thicken, curling around and trying to subvert his reality. He grunted. "Not this time." Hefting the Buster Sword, he leapt toward her, swinging the unfamiliar blade.
She dodged to the side, lashing out toward his unprotected flank with the razor sharp spines on her tail. Sephiroth was ready, however, and he pivoted back, bringing the blade with him to slice clean through the ends of the tail. Jenova screamed in shock and rage. She crouched, then leapt for him, reaching out to rend with her claws.
He ducked and rolled under, coming up to slash at her hind leg. She kicked out at him, sending him stumbling back, then pivoted, rearing up to drive her talons into him with her full weight. He rolled out of the way as the ground shook.
Jumping up, he quickly spun, spearing the blade toward her side…only to have a wing unexpectedly sweep up, catching the weapon and flinging it clean out of his hands. Immediately, she ducked down, seizing his coat with her human fists, and whirled, using the full force of both her human and bestial halves to send him flying across the room.
Sephiroth tucked in as he hit, easily rolling back to his feet. But now, almost the entire length of the room separated him from the sword, with Jenova in between. He cast about for some other weapon.
There. A familiar, beloved hilt. He dove for the Masamune, even as Jenova bounded swiftly for him with fluid, catlike grace. Grasping the weapon, he spun as she came upon him, fully expecting the length of the blade to slice through her torso… But there was something wrong – the sword was too light, the balance off – and for the first time since Sephiroth could remember, he completely missed. His momentum kept him turning past the resistance he expected, exposing his back to Jenova, which she gladly took advantage of.
A savage swipe of her massive paw threw Sephiroth into the ground, raking red-hot pain across his back. He rolled as she was about to ground him into the floor, catching the paw with the shortened blade of his weapon. She shrieked and leapt back, nursing the injury.
Sephiroth stood, glaring at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he examined his weapon, distraught at the broken blade. It must've happened during the last battle with Zack, though he had trouble remembering it clearly. There was now only roughly three feet of the blade remaining.
Jenova smirked. Then she offered a hand to him, once again.
"Return to my side, child, and I will forgive your transgressions."
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Give it up. You're through."
Then he dashed forward and they clashed once again. The battle took them back and forth across the room, Jenova bounding agilely to gain the advantage, and Sephiroth swiftly moving to press her from all directions. Crystals shattered as they came too close and the duelists smashed into them.
It seemed to last a small eternity, though was, in reality, only a few, tense minutes. With Jenova constantly pressing on his mind, trying to weave her way into his thoughts and nudging with her will, Sephiroth decided to try the same thing. After all, he'd done it before.
He came down upon her mind like an iron sledgehammer, halting her in her tracks. It wasn't the gradual force that he'd used in years past, but swift, relentless, and completely unexpected, taking Jenova by surprise. She choked. Her eyes widened, and she tried to fight back.
Sephiroth would have none of it. He kept her pinned there, as she had done to Zack. Then, revealing his one black wing and letting it unfurl, he took to the air. Reaching deep inside to the dark power and Mako that lay within, he raised a hand and spoke:
"Descend, Heartless Angel."
Wisps of darkness gathered around Jenova, then struck, all at once, with black energy. She screamed. A moment later, when the attack was over, she was left staggering, horribly weakened. But Sephiroth was not yet finished.
Gripping his ruined blade, he folded his wing and plummeted toward her. Calling upon the Fire materia he'd recently discovered among the slots in the hilt, he charged up the blade with searing energy. Then he struck. Again. And again. And again.
Never once pausing to allow her to recover, he inflicted multiple deadly blows from every corner. And finally, with one last flourish, he plunged the blade straight through her heart. The Fire materia flared, and Jenova erupted into a column of flame.
This time, her dying screams shook the cavern, causing the crystals to resonate in objection.
Jenova was gone.
And then the mental backlash from her death struck Sephiroth and pummeled his consciousness into oblivion.
Zack had not been completely unconscious during the battle, despite appearances, but he certainly hadn't been aware of what had been going on, either. He'd been lost in a fog that had clung to his mind, and when he could no longer hear that comforting voice whispering to him, he'd tried to reach out. But it had been in vain, for nothing would move, and the voice seemed to ignore him.
Mother… He'd been left alone again. Would she come back? He didn't want to be alone…
Why was everyone abandoning him?
But with Jenova's death, and a horrendous scream echoing in his subconscious, the fog had instantly evaporated, sending the pain of his injury coming back in full force. He gasped in agony.
Oh, Gaia… It was unbearable.
He forced blurry eyes open, and glanced down at the wound. Though he couldn't see much, it did not look good. Jerkily, he brought his other hand up to put some pressure on it, biting his lip to avoid crying out. Blood seeped through his ruined sweater and past his fingers.
Gaia… There was too much. His entire side was soaked; he was lying in a growing puddle of the precious fluid. As he slowly rolled to his uninjured side to sit up, he saw it smeared across the floor and on the wall. It was everywhere. He could taste the copper on his breath. He stared at it, drawing pained gasps. It was almost luminescent, the gleaming red bathed in the glow of the fire.
Fire? Turning his head to the side, he saw a giant bonfire, consuming a misshapen black lump. The flames crackled, bathing everything in an eerie red glow and casting dancing shadows from every obstacle, radiating heat into the chilly atmosphere of the cavern.
Summoning strength from the Mako in his blood, Zack struggled to his feet with great effort. He slowly approached the pyre, his weakness nearly sending him stumbling back to the ground on two occasions. He stared, wondering what it was. Even as he watched, the dark form shifted and something heavy slid to the side at his feet in a shower of sparks, sending a rush of heat toward his face and him hastily stumbling back. It was the blackened remains of a large wing.
Jenova? He stepped back in disgust. What had happened? Who did this? He supposed he should be grateful, but… As he moved around the side of the bonfire, broken crystal crunching beneath his boots, he suddenly came across another figure slumped on the floor. The figure was starkly illuminated by the flames, silver hair pooling around him turned to coppery blood by the light.
Sephiroth.
Oh, Gaia! Zack's heart leapt into his throat, and he backpedaled. He had to get away, find a weapon, do something…! His heels struck something hard and he toppled over, landing heavily with a yelp. The object made a metallic scraping sound as it slid a short distance. His sword! Frantically, he seized the handle with his uninjured arm and surged back to his feet to point the blade at his enemy, adrenaline pumping.
He stared, fully expecting Sephiroth to stand and laugh at his futile efforts, sending the evil sound echoing around them, to say how foolish and pathetic he was, and how Jenova's demise had not affected him in the least. He expected the cold, unyielding grip of Sephiroth's will to crash down upon his mind and smother his personality, stamp out everything except blind, puppet-like obedience.
But Sephiroth did nothing.
Cautiously, Zack circled closer, never taking his eyes off the still form. He came within blade's length of the man. Ever so slowly, he extended the weapon to prod an armored shoulder, immediately leaping back.
Still, Sephiroth did not move.
Zack frowned, the staccato beats of his heart loud in his ears. Was Sephiroth dead?
No… Even as he watched, he saw the strong rise and fall of his chest. He was alive.
Hurriedly, Zack backed away. He needed to escape while he still had the chance. He was in no condition to fight him now, not with his injury sapping his strength. Already, he was starting to feel dizzy from the blood loss.
…But wait. Zack froze in his tracks as a thought occurred to him. Sephiroth was unconscious. What if… What if Zack could end things right here, right now? It would only take a single swipe of his blade, and Sephiroth would be dead.
Zack slowly returned to Sephiroth's side as he thought. He had failed before – the memories hadn't worked. This might be his only chance to stop Sephiroth for good. …But would it really work this time? Both Zack and Sephiroth were clearly alive now, through whatever miracle had occurred. Would killing Sephiroth, sending him back to the Lifestream, do any good?
Jenova was dead, from all appearances. So that must surely have diminished Sephiroth's power. Even if he were still insane, maybe there wasn't much he could do in the Lifestream without her. Zack raised his sword in preparation to bring it down upon his enemy…the enemy he both hated and loved.
But…he hesitated, lowering the blade. It had always been Sephiroth controlling her through his will. That was what had made facing him so heartbreaking – he couldn't just blame Jenova for the things his friend had done. It had always been Sephiroth. So what if sending him back to the Lifestream didn't do anything at all? Maybe Sephiroth was actually weaker in life than in death, with limited, if any, access to the Lifestream.
But that also meant that Sephiroth would be free to walk the Planet once more, which was what he'd wanted, and which Zack had been constantly striving to prevent. Though, maybe, without access to the Lifestream, he would just be a normal man.
Yeah…a normal man with incredible strength and almost supernatural powers bent on killing every human on the Planet.
Zack scoffed at himself. He'd end up having to kill Sephiroth anyway, just to protect someone else. And if not him, then Cloud would, and he didn't want to inflict that burden on his other friend yet again.
Maybe Aerith would be able to do something from the Lifestream. Heck, maybe Zack should just follow Sephiroth back himself to keep watch. Nodding to himself, Zack hefted the sword once again, forcing his trembling arm to still, this time prepared to follow through with the kill.
He gazed down at the motionless figure, at the peaceful face, for once not twisted with madness. He'd almost forgotten what his friend looked like without the demon peering through those piercing green eyes. Sephiroth lay there, completely oblivious to his impending doom, breathing normally as if simply asleep.
Several seconds passed.
Finally, Zack stabbed the sword down with an agonized cry. The blade missed its mark, embedding its tip into the stone beside the former General's head. He just couldn't do it.
Gaia help him, he just couldn't do it!
Yanking the blade out, Zack spun away, angrily wiping at eyes that had suddenly teared up. Let him be forever condemned for his weakness, but he just couldn't bring himself to kill Sephiroth like this, with the man so helpless before him! He'd been his friend, for Gaia's sake, so, if only to honor that memory, Sephiroth didn't deserve to end like that.
Even if it could be argued that he really did deserve it.
Zack would just…he would just leave Sephiroth here, that's what he'd do. He would go and get himself fixed up, and maybe, when he felt up to it, he'd come back and deal with Sephiroth then.
If he felt up to it.
Maybe he could just not come back, and Sephiroth would disappear, and Zack would never hear from him ever again.
If only he could be that lucky. But somehow, lucky Zack Fair had died when the ShinRa army caught up to him. Heck, he had probably died way back at Nibelheim. Zack Fair was anything but lucky now.
But right now, he had to worry about himself, and the injury that threatened to make him bleed out. He'd noticed that his breathing was more difficult than it should be, loud and rasping. He coughed, tasting blood at the back of his throat. With shaking hands, he examined the hilt of his weapon. He thought he'd felt…
Materia. Thank you, Gaia. Or should I say Aerith, Angeal, and Cloud? His materia was still embedded in the slots of the hilt, his favorite ones, the ones he'd had equipped during his last few moments: Restore, Barrier, Lightning paired with an All. All mastered, save for Barrier, which he'd normally forgotten to use. And around his upper left arm, the ShinRa-issued Beta armlet, just noticed, held Osmose, Time, and his trusty Hell Blizzaga paired with an Elemental materia.
Relieved, he fingered the pale green of the Restore. Then, gripping the hilt, he poured his energy into it, activating it and eagerly awaiting the cool, soothing rush of the magic that would heal his injury.
Instead, fire blossomed through his chest and back, and he screamed in strangled agony, falling to his knees. The sword clattered to the ground as he clutched at the wound, doubling over.
W-what!
He could feel torn muscle and skin starting to knit themselves back together but, Oh Gaia, it hurts, it hurts so much…
He must've blacked out for a moment, because when he next opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the floor, shuddering. Hesitantly, fearing what he would see, he craned his neck to examine the wound as best he could, bringing up fingers to lightly prod at it.
The Restore had failed. The wound had partly come together in some areas, but left others still raw and bleeding. His fingers came away, freshly stained with the dark red fluid. He stared in confusion. …Why?
Then it hit him, something Angeal had explained ages ago. Restore knits together most damaged tissue, but regarding bone, it needs to be set before the magic can bind it back together. Otherwise, the chances of it healing improperly are high.
Zack groaned. When Jenova's talons had driven through him, they must've punched through his shoulder blade, or damaged some bone in that area in some way. How could he have been so foolish?
Stupid, stupid, stupid…
He'd have to do something else to stem the flow of blood, before it was too late. Gritting his teeth against the agony, he forced shaking hands to reach for the knife he kept in his boot, and set about cutting the fabric from his pants leg. Once he had enough, he took two strips and did his best to wrap them tightly around the area. But it was awkward with only one hand, and the position of the wound was such that it wasn't going to successfully cover it all without a lot more fabric that he didn't have. Then he wadded up another other piece and, quickly, before he lost his nerve to the pain, wedged it under the other wrappings to keep them taut and to hopefully stifle the flow of blood.
There. That would have to do for now. He couldn't reach the wound in the back to properly finish dressing it, so he'd have to hope that the strips of fabric he'd layered across would be enough.
A deep breath sent him coughing, and he doubled over a second time as pain wracked his body. When he brought his hand away from his mouth, he saw red flecks spattering the back of it. He grimaced. That couldn't be good. He resolved to breathe more carefully from now on.
And now it was time to get out of this place. He had to leave, find help, if he had any hope of living. And it was entirely up to himself to do it – there was no one else around to rely on if he collapsed here and now, certainly not the silver-haired man slumped in the corner.
Zack grabbed the Buster Sword and, propping it up, used it to carefully pull himself to his feet. He took a breath, gathering his strength, then twirled the sword around to rest on his back. It joined to the magnetic harness with a satisfying snap. Gaia, it was good to feel that solid, reassuring weight again. It seemed to impart additional strength to Zack's limbs.
Casting one last look at the still raging pyre and the man lying beside it, Zack was about to turn and leave it all behind.
But something held him back.
…Could he really just leave Sephiroth here? There was nothing preventing him from completely ditching the monster, but something about it felt…wrong. Zack shook his head. What the heck did he expect himself to do, carry the man with him? The man was a demon! He'd kill Zack just as soon as look at him, and in Zack's condition, there was nothing he could do to prevent it. He'd already done the man a favor in leaving him alive; no sense in pushing his luck.
But…there was still the question of who had killed Jenova. Someone had clearly saved him from her vile clutches and continued to kill her in what looked to be a most satisfying fashion. Had that been Sephiroth?
Impossible! Sephiroth controlled Jenova. She would have been doing exactly what he wanted!
…But what if she hadn't been? Then she was probably just disobeying and getting in his way, just like last time, he thought, bitterly.
If that were the case, then, why would Sephiroth completely kill her? It would seem like such a waste, and if Sephiroth was anything, wasteful he was not. Had he completely lost control over her? Why would she completely turn against him, if they shared the same will?
Well…maybe they hadn't shared the same will.
Maybe…maybe the memories really had worked, after all. Maybe Sephiroth was sane.
And Zack had just nearly killed his best friend.
No! It couldn't be true; how could it be true? Sephiroth tried to destroy Zack's very soul! There was nothing left of the man he once knew.
But what if there was? How could he possibly know for sure?
He couldn't, unless he took Sephiroth with him. But if Sephiroth was still insane, then that was too great a risk, and Zack would have signed his own death warrant.
However, before he realized quite was he was doing, Zack found himself approaching Sephiroth again. He couldn't help it – he just couldn't leave him here, just as he couldn't kill him in cold blood. Zack's face twisted in agony as he realized what he was going to do. He couldn't bear it if Sephiroth betrayed him yet again, but there was no helping it. The tiny part of him that clung to some fragile hope that Sephiroth might still be his friend wasn't going to let him walk away. …I guess I won't have to bear it long, anyway, if he does decide to stab me in the back.
So, with a silent plea to Gaia to forgive him, and suppressing his own pain, he bent down to help Sephiroth…General, Demon of Wutai, Calamity's Son, brother, mentor, friend, traitor…to his feet.
He gritted his teeth. His whole side burned at the effort. Somehow, he managed to sling Sephiroth's left arm across his shoulders, holding tight to his waist with his own right arm. But he still needed more leverage – he needed to anchor Sephiroth's arm somehow, so it wouldn't flop right off again. But there was no way to do that, unless Zack could grab the wrist with his left hand, the hand that, until now, had hung limply, immovable due to the horrendous wound on that side.
He had no other choice. Squeezing his eyes shut against the pain, he forced that arm to move. All his nerves screamed at the effort, but somehow, he was able to reach up and take hold of Sephiroth's wrist. It's really not so bad, he told himself. It's just like helping Cloud. You've been through worse; it's just like helping Cloud…
Repeating that mantra to himself, he stood, dragging Sephiroth up with him. He stumbled. The weight pulled back against his left arm, his injury, and he couldn't help a strangled cry of pain. He tightened his other arm around Sephiroth's waist to take off some of the weight, and attempted to move forward.
He quickly discovered that Sephiroth was too dang tall. Whereas Cloud had been shorter and lighter, malnourished from their time in the Mako tanks, Sephiroth was practically all muscle, and the added weight and height didn't help Zack any.
Ugh, and his hair. The silver locks had draped in front of him with Sephiroth's bowed head, making it all but impossible for Zack to take a step without stepping on or stumbling over them. Zack let out a rare curse. Why did everything always have to be so difficult! Did the universe enjoy tormenting him?
That was it. Zack lowered the General back to the ground. The hair would have to go. Heck, if it really was the source of all Sephiroth's powers, as he'd often joked in the past, then that would solve his problems when Sephiroth finally did come around, wouldn't it?
Once again, Zack reached for the knife in his boot. He always had wondered what his friend would look like with short hair.
But as he brought the blade up, positioning it to begin the first cut, he hesitated for the third time that day.
Sephiroth had always been proud of his hair. It set him apart from everyone else, its length was something he'd used to rebel against Hojo, who'd always found it annoying. It would be tragic to cut it off, to destroy a part of Sephiroth that had always helped to define him.
Lowering the knife in disgust and berating his own weakness, Zack cast about for something else he could do. Maybe he could tie it up…? Out of the corner of his eyes, he spied the shimmering pink ribbon tied to the Buster's hilt.
Yes! That would do! Zack grinned in amusement as he reached back to free the ribbon. Oh, if only he had a camera! Seph's expression would be priceless once he woke up and realized that, not only had he a ribbon tying up his precious hair, but that the ribbon was a very bright, very girly pink.
Zack snickered to himself as he bunched up the hair and awkwardly threaded the ribbon through it with his good hand. He'd tie a very pretty bow, just the way Aerith had worn it…
An electric shock went through him, freezing his hands. Aerith…
This was Aerith's ribbon. The one Zack had bought for her.
Sephiroth had killed Aerith. He'd almost made Zack kill Aerith. Even now, the image of Sephiroth descending from the sky, impaling her with his wicked blade, played before his eyes. Her ribbon had come loose, spilling the White Materia into the water. She had slumped forward, only to die in Cloud's arms.
Zack's hands shook. Sephiroth… He didn't deserve to wear Aerith's ribbon, let alone touch it. How could Zack have possibly defiled it by putting it in his hair? The ribbon was a symbol of kindness, love, purity, while Sephiroth was everything corrupt and black.
With an agonized cry, Zack ripped the silk from Sephiroth's hair. What was he thinking? He bent over the ribbon, fisting it in his hand while angry tears stung his eyes. He could never forgive Sephiroth. Aerith was dead because of him. He had never come to terms with it, even when they'd both been in the Lifestream. And now he was here and she was still dead. He choked back a sob of grief.
Maybe he should just leave the wretched demon here.
No. And Zack's heart ached all the more because of how much he wanted to, but couldn't, because of all the grief the man had personally inflicted upon him, but which he had to now overlook.
It wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair.
Zack stumbled back to give himself some breathing room, having to pause as a rush of dizziness and pain assailed him. Then he furiously wrapped the ribbon back around the hilt of his sword, and struggled to suppress his strangled breathing and shaking shoulders. As he did so, he caught the gleam of another object lying abandoned on the stone floor.
The broken blade and hilt of the Masamune.
Zack stifled the hysterical laughter that threatened to build in his throat. He supposed he'd have to bring that along too. Quickly, and with an utter lack of care for the blade, he snatched it from the ground and set it against Sephiroth's back, where the harness rested beneath the black coat. It clicked into place.
Zack had also spied at least two other pieces of the blade lying among the rocks and crystals. But he just left those. He had no feasible way to carry them. And frankly, he just didn't care.
Let the blade stay broken.
Zack took Sephiroth's hair in his shaking hands, almost cringing away from the touch, not wanting to be this close to the monster, and sloppily bundled it together and stuffed it down the back of his coat. Then he once again pulled Sephiroth to his feet, and stumbled to the tunnel exiting the room. They reached the perimeter, passing white crystals that made way for burnt out black ones.
Once they got out of here, he never wanted to deal with Sephiroth ever again.
With the fire still raging at their backs, the two SOLDIERs left the crystal chamber. Only bloodied footsteps were left to mark their progress.
to be continued…