Chapter Gaiden II
Interlude
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The pool of water glistened beautifully under the moon's light. Slow and diminutive waves were produced, offset to the ponds large body. Wave after wave, in a endless succession, struck the beach, carrying what's left of hope and love with each drop of blood stained in the sand.
'No…'
The Masamune too glistened under the moon's light. Its blood soaked surface was repugnant.
'No…'
Massacred… was an understatement. Tifa, the woman whom lay on the beach, stared toward the sky; the stench of death was no longer hinted in the crisp air.
'No…'
Cloud was still knelling before the carcass, as he did several minutes ago when he first found it. For the first time, he looked away from horrified face and into the sword that stood in the middle of her chest. A name appeared in his mind; and soon after, a searing pain on his left shoulder made him holler in pain.
"SEPHIROTH!"
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The smell of burning flesh seared in his nose. Vomiting seemed prominent, as he gazed at the smoldering village. It was too gruesome for the ex-SOLDIER.
Without warning, a house near him crumpled into the ground. Cloud stood his ground, less than meagerly surprised. His attention was elsewhere.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted, slinging his Tsurigi off his belt. His lips were curled in rage. It almost seemed impossible for him to be here in what's left of Midgar, having been killed twice.
Blood-soaked and covered in flames, he looked down at Cloud on the ruins of the 7th Heaven. The masamune he carried had a frightful glow around it, possibly due to it being engulfed in flames and soaked in blood.
"It has been a while, Cloud," Sephiroth whispered. Leaping off the roof, he hovered above Cloud. The black wing on his left shoulder flapped loudly in the air, as did the two wings on both his legs. For a split second, he resembled a black seraph in the midst of destruction- the causer, rather the savior. "It's a pleasure seeing you again."
"You bastard," Cloud shouted. "Why did you destroy this town?" He snarled in rage. "How did you come back!"
"Heh… this place is a nuisance, that's why." Landing on the ground, he held his sword in front of him, wings extended outward and all. "I'll always be alive. I'll always be here." Blue static began to fluctuate around his body. "Mother sustains my body, that's why I live. And Mother is eternal."
Cloud roared as he ran towards his antagonist, bent on killing him for the 3rd time. The swords he held began to loosen from the main blade as he twisted the hilt.
"That won't work!" Sephirtoh shouted. He readied his sword, fully expecting the same finishing blow from their prior battle.
Cloud paid no heed to his remark. He flung the swords at Sephiroth's direction. The blades soon stuck hard cement, as they were blocked with little effort.
Engulfed in a yellow aura, Cloud swung his sword at a remarkable speed.
Sephiroth however, parried the swift blow with little difficulty. By turning sideways, he easily dodged the slash and went on the offense. His blade flashed in a horizontal slice, but was meet half-way by the other sword.
Cloud was quick to defend himself. He maneuvered his body to the right and held the blade in front of him.
"Why did you kill her?" he bellowed. The memory of the bloody carcass he found in the forest still burned in his mind. "She had nothing do with this." By 'she,' he was referring to what's left of Tifa.
Sephiroth scoffed at his sudden inquiry. "There's no point in telling you now." He jumped backwards and hovered above the ground. "Behold," he yelled, raising one hand and pointed to the heavens. "This is the beginning of the end…" A gaping black-hole appeared in the bright sky. With no warning, a pillar of darkness fell from it and stuck the earth. Upon closer inspection, the pillar was made of black creatures that soon began to overrun the city. "If you wish to avenge her," Sephiroth said flying to the hole in the sky, "find and destroy me." He soon disappeared in the hole, no longer visible behind the veal of darkness.
In the distance, Cloud could hear the anguish screams of those who survived onslaught. Without a doubt, those black creatures were wreaking havoc.
Cloud, however, did nothing to help. He sunk to his knees. Anguish was clearly expressed on his face, but that was soon replaced by anger. His contempt for the SOLDIER grew with every passing second.
He felt something changed inside him. Looking up towards the sky, his sight went blurry and everything gradually became less distinctive. Before he fell unconscious, he felt as though he was flying to the sky.
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"He who soars through the air with a demon's wing would bring calamity.
He who bestrides the ground with an angel's wing would bring salvation.
Both pierced The Armor without Sacrifice.
Neither could end their vendetta with each other.
Heaven and Hell, Niwa and Hikari, Seraph, the heaven's preacher, and the Demon, the blasphemer, would forever leave their mark on this feeble planet."
Grand Maester ?.
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A foul, pungent smell emitted from the blood-soaked earth.
For miles, dismembered bodies laid writhing, groaning in contempt and agony. Children were screaming, women crying, men sobbing. Losses were abundant, misery plentiful, but not in vain.
In the center of the massacre laid Sin, burning in blue flames and shrouded in pyreflies. Slowly, ever so slowly, it writhed with a screech so terrible that even the bravest of men was forced to shield their ears. Onlookers continued to gaze with slight triumph, but fear is what they felt.
Sin was defeated…
Their blood ran cold as a man stood up from the flaming carcass.
…Not by an Aeon, nor a mass of warriors, but a single Soldier.
Multi-colored haze shrouded the warrior making his image blurry, but an outline of his form was easily seen.
In each of his hands held a single large sword, nearly tantamount to his size.
A clear outline of a wing was seen on his left shoulder, beating slowly against the wind.
In a flash, he flew upward to the never-ending blue sky.
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END
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Soon to be rewritten, leave any comments or suggestions about this story that you view as a hindrance or flaw.