Disclaimer: I do not own any copyrighted characters except for those I created myself.
Chapter 13
Point of No Return
The morning light shined in through the window and near the bed where Sephiroth had the most peaceful sleep. His eyes awoke and saw to his left laid the most beautiful being sleeping. He saw her head was rested gently in the bicep of his arm and her hand on his chest. This was heaven… his very own promised land. He watched at the way her body rose up and down as she breathed so gently and slow. He loved her so much and he showed it last night… the most memorable night of his life. He felt her stirring and his eyes were met with dark emerald like eyes and a beautiful smile.
"Morning Seph…" Aerith said with a slightly broken voice from just waking up. Sephiroth smiled.
"Morning" Sephiroth replied and leaned in and kissed her lips gently and lovingly. She returned the kiss and then they broke off.
"We may as well get up… we better not annoy the others too much" Aerith said and her head perked up looking for her clothes. Sephiroth nodded in agreement and rose out of bed and proceeded to stretch out his muscles. He took the most care with stretching his wing. One wrong movement in the morning and the muscles could sprain and that he cannot deal with right now.
They both found their clothes and proceeded to put them on. They then walked out of the bedroom together and started to make their way towards the library to meet up with the others. From the moment they walked in almost everyone knew what was going on.
"Umm why do you two have smiles on your faces? Get rid of it Sephiroth, its not fitting for you…" Sora said, unaware of the situation from last night. Leon simply got out of leaning on the wall and glared at Sephiroth with his usual looks.
"Alright, now that you have rested, our fates rest on you four… do be careful out there…" Leon said with his usual seemingly emotionless voice. Yuffie looked red in the face and was having a difficult time trying to stifle her reaction from those two. Sephiroth then went into his usual hardened face still hiding his feelings inside.
"Alright… we leave in five minutes, agreed?" Sephiroth said with a strict tone… it was time to bring back the old war veteran for this situation. His Masamune stayed by his side. Sora, Donald and Goofy nodded their heads in agreement and huddled together to exchange potions to prepare. Leon simply walked out dragging Yuffie behind him and Aerith looked up at Sephiroth.
"Please be careful ok? Come back to me alive…" Aerith said, hugging Sephiroth tightly and his arms wrapped around her.
"I'll be fine… just worry about yourself and the others here…" Sephiroth said and he then let go of her and turned and walked up to Sora.
"Are you ready?" Sephiroth asked. Sora nodded and said "Yeah… let's go now…". The four of them then turned and proceeded to walk out of the library and headed towards the Gummi Ship.
"Alright, it's time to hunt down Ansem and stop him" Sora said and the Gummi Ship activated and began to rise.
"They are coming just as we predicted.." said Ansem "so what will you do now?"
"Simple" said Jenova "We separate them away from Sephiroth… you deal with the boy and his idiots, I will handle the One Winged Angel…" Ansem simply smirked.
"If you cannot control him, you will destroy him… very interesting… and what of the blond one?"
"He is mine to control as we speak… he will wait for him, Sephiroth will not resist and will fall for it and meet his end…" Jenova said in reply.
Sephiroth witnessed as the Gummi ship flew through that entire blockade of Heartless ships… it had never gotten that stron with the previous journeys, but for now he can see their destination… the Heartless must have ravaged this world badly, it looked like an old map of the Cosmos from back in his world… only it was pink and purple and surrounded… no… it was completely filled with darkness. This was where Ansem had to be, there's no other place as dark as this one.
"Lets land safely and make our way… sneaking will do no good… if who I think is there is indeed there, then they will know we are coming…" Sephiroth said with his eyes narrowed as they flew in and searched for a place to land… there were only chunks of land left but one caught their eye… it was big enough to support the Gummi ship and they have no other choice but to make their way by gliding along each of the smaller pieces of rock.
They landed on the rock and walked out of the ship. This place looked even worse on foot than on overhead view.
"Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" Asked Goofy as his eyes couldn't believe this place.
"Those worlds will be restored if we beat Ansem, right?" asked Sora towards Sephiroth. He remained silent.
"You betcha" Donald answered Sora with.
"But if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's gonna happen to this world? And to us?" Sora asked. Sephiroth didn't want to think of an answer. He looked down at the ground and saw something…
"This is a Heartless world, so maybe it'll just disappear" Goofy said, the smartest thing he said all along since they got here. Both Sora and Donald reacted immediately with exclamations.
"But no worries, even if this place goes poof, our hearts ain't going nowhere. I'm sure we'll find our pals again, yup I just know we will" Goofy continued. The two then looked relieved.
"Yeah, you're right" Sora said, holding his hand out in front of him and looking down at the charm Kairi gave to him.
"I'll return this. I promise" said Sora. Sephiroth then decided to do an experiment.
"Donald… come here for a moment…" Sephiroth said. Donald then cautiously waddled over to him.
"Yes? What do you want?" said Donald. He could never have seen what came next. Sephiroth immediately grabbed Donald by the back on his shirt and threw him over the edge of the rock, the duck 'screaming' as loud as he possibly could as he went up and started to come down.
"Sephiroth! Have you gone mad!?" Sora asked, drawing his keyblade, he feared his friend falling to his death.
"Just wait…" Sephiroth said with a stern look on his face. He saw the duck fall and then suddenly stop, as if he hit the ground. Donald laid with his face down when he landed.
"Just as I thought…" Sephiroth said as he proceeded to simply walk off the edge of the rock and didn't fall at all. He just started walking towards Donald. Sora and Goofy immediately followed. Donald got up and looked at Sephiroth with a filthy look.
"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Donald yelled, stressing at Sephiroth.
"I saw the 'gap' not showing some things consistent with what it would if nothing was truly there. I wanted to test that out and it seems I was correct… we must continue and debate about this later…" Sephiroth said, eager to get this over.
"Hmph fine!" Donald snapped and turned and took two steps forward and suddenly stopped, his bill was bent upward and his body looked like he walked into a wall.
"Hmm so there are walls as well… interesting" Sephiroth said as he saw what happened. He then looked down and saw he was standing on one of the small rock pieces… he then noticed something… He then looked to his right and saw another rock piece… they looked like arrows. He decided to test that theory out.
"Follow me…" Sephiroth said and followed in the direction the rock piece pointed and walked. He then reached the other rock piece without being harmed in any way.
"Just as I thought… these pieces are like guides… they point us in the right direction…" Sephiroth said as he continued to lead the group through.
It did not take them long to find their way through that part and then just as they reached the final rock piece Sephiroth looked up and saw a sphere of darkness falling down towards them.
"Oh great…" Sephiroth said as the four of them were engulfed in the darkness. When it faded Sephiroth and the group only had seconds to react as they saw a huge purple and white mass jumping at them. They immediately split up and scattered, making the creature miss them. Sephiroth then got a better look as recognized it… it was the same type of Heartless as back in hollow bastion in that Keyhole.
"Remember, go for the horn!" Sephiroth commanded and drew his Masamune with ease. The others drew their weapons immediately and Sora climbed up on its back as Sephiroth ran out in front of it. Sephiroth then saw it beginning to charge up and Sora immediately started hitting it. The Heartless then lowered it's head when it's charge up stopped thanks to Sora.
"Now to finish it…" Sephiroth said and aimed a single stab through it with Masamune and it pierced the Horn with ease and the heartless began to disappear and Sora landed on his feet safely.
"That was easier than last time…" Sora said.
"We know the weak point now… that's why…" Sephiroth said in reply, his face still in his hardened look. The darkness began to fade and they were brought into a new area.
"I wonder where that Ansem feller went?" Goofy asked. Sephiroth was about to reply with something until Donald said what he thought in a different set of words.
"Dive into the most dangerous place and we'll find him" Donald said. Sora looked around and saw a small glow down near the bottom of this strange set of cliffs. He leaped off and proceeded to glide down towards it. Sephiroth followed and Donald and Goofy followed after.
Sora landed near it and looked to Sephiroth as he landed gracefully.
"What you think?" Sora asked.
"Be on your guard…" Sephiroth responded and leaped in first. Sora then jumped in and the two followers came in a few seconds after.
All of them soon realized where they were… an a dark place with no solid ground to stand on, but they all seem to be flying. Sephiroth assumed it was just the power of darkness being used to their advantage as they saw what looked like a small mountain peak. Just as Sephiroth was about to fly towards it, it began to move. One piece began to rise… it looked a wing. He then saw what looked like a second wing unfold and what he saw resembled what many would call "the devil" back in his home world. He saw a pair of yellow pupil less eyes and the rest was like a giant Heartless but it didn't seem to be like one.
"Be careful, he's not a Heartless" Sephiroth said, he then dashed towards it faster than the others and aimed a slash on its face. It didn't seem to flinch but it had an evil grin on its face.
'interesting' Sephiroth thought to himself as he backed off slightly. He then saw the head begin to move, just as he expected, an attack came out.
"Look out!" Sephiroth yelled as he rose up and narrowly avoided the flames, the others managed to avoid it and began to go around it and attack the back of its head. Sephiroth proceeded to distract the creature until he looked down. It's torso was the only visible thing protruding from this mountain and around it a ring of fire began to glow. Sephiroth immediately knew what was coming.
"Sora! Get away!" Sephiroth said, backing away but it was too late. The creature had unleashed a giant fire pillar just like how Sephiroth normally does them, burning Sora and his friends badly but not killing them. He managed to see Sora use Curaga on himself then on Donald and Goofy.
Sephiroth then thought of an idea. He flew around to the back of the head and made a hand gesture to Sora to go to the front of the creature and distract him. He understood and took Donald and Goofy with him. Sora proceeded to aim blows to the front of the creatures face while Sephiroth waited for his chance… and it came. He saw the creature begin to raise its head just the same as before to do a fire breath. Sephiroth gripped Masamune and aimed a stab. Sora could see the look of pain in the creature's eyes as a long blade protruded from the back of it's mouth and can be seen gleaming from just a bit further than its teeth. He then gripped Masamune with both hands and pulled the handle of Masamune up and forward, using it like a lever to make the creature unleash its fire attack downwards. He then decided to end this by pushing Masamune down, slicing through the flesh of the creature and down its spinal cord, paralyzing it effectively. He pulled the blade out and flew up towards Sora and the others. He looked down at the creature and saw it slowly disintegrating into nothing more than ash and dust being blown away. As the remains faded he saw what looked like a hole in the mountain that leads downwards.
"Looks like that's our best bet…" Sephiroth said, flying down and entering the hollow crater with Masamune still drawn.
As he flew down he realized this was the right way. The four of them went through until they reached a room with a bright green floor. In front of them was another huge purple Heartless.
"Great…" muttered Sephiroth sarcastically as he gripped Masamune and walked towards it… he was annoyed at these things now. Sora and the others decided to let Sephiroth handle this one himself for now.
The creature lowered it's head and bellowed it's challenge, Sephiroth didn't even get phased and immediately dashed forward and stabbed his sword through the horn on it's head and through the head itself. It fell to the ground immediately and then vanished as the others did.
"He's gotten better at defeating the Heartless now…" Sora said, noticing Sephiroth's movement.
"You think he is regaining the old strength he had once?" Donald asked.
"Sephiroth simply looked to the end of the room as saw the symbol of the Heartless at the end… only a chunk of it suddenly fell off and disappeared.
'I wonder…' Sephiroth thought when he was suddenly surrounded with Heartless that just appeared. They were made of two kinds… one kind was dark blue with pink in certain tips on the body. They were armed with odd looking swords and resembled demons of some sort, while the other kind were the opposite… they looked angelic with six white wings and a glow in the center of what looked like some kind of lantern with eyes. Only the angelic kinds had the Heartless symbol on them, while the darker ones had a hole in their chests in the shape of a heart. Sephiroth simply raised his hands and summoned the fire pillar, burning a few of the Heartless surrounding him. He heard footsteps as Sora and the other two came in to give back up. As Sephiroth got into the battle and started to take out the angelic Heartless, Sora and the others focused on the darker ones. Sephiroth dispatched each of the angelic Heartless one by one and something moved in the corner of his eye. One of the darker Heartless was looking right at him and threw it's sword up and caught it in a backhanded fashion and stabbed the ground. Sephiroth looked and saw a ring of dark flames and ran at the Heartless. Before he could attack it, it suddenly vanished leaving only the sword behind. Sephiroth looked and saw a ring of dark flames starting around him. He tried to leap back but it followed him and kept him inside the ring. Sephiroth continued to try and move when the flames suddenly flashed and the ring began to close with Sephiroth in the middle of it. He leaped upwards and saw that the ring didn't follow this time but simply closed itself and was gone. Sephiroth looked around for the Heartless' sword and saw dark flames materializing around it as the Heartless began to take form again. He flew down to it and immediately slashed with Masamune. Before the Heartless could parry the blade it cut right through it and the Heartless dissolved into dark fires before it was gone. He looked behind him and saw Sora taking out the last one.
"They were tough…" said Sora to Sephiroth. Sephiroth looked back to the Heartless symbol, it then began to lose another chunk as it broke off.
"I see… so we have to keep fighting…" Sephiroth said, he turned to Sora "Don't stop fighting until that Heartless symbol is completely gone, it's our only way out of here!" Sephiroth yelled out to Sora. He nodded and readied his Keyblade. Sephiroth held Masamune as another wave of the same kinds of Heartless appeared. Wave by wave more Heartless came. The group fought together very well and helped each other out. Sephiroth became focused into the battle… it was just like the Wutai War long ago…
It didn't take too long as they became more and more adapted against these kinds of Heartless. Just as the last one was cut down the very last piece of the Heartless symbol vanished. Sephiroth sheathed Masamune and walked towards the newly opened entrance. The other followed with their weapons in hand. Sephiroth looked around once he went in and saw a simple door standing there. Sora walked up beside him and then went towards the door and stopped. He moved his head around as if he was hearing something.
"Huh?" said Sora in his usual manner.
"What's wrong?" asked Donald.
"Don't you hear something? There!" Sora replied. Sephiroth, Donald and Goofy couldn't hear any voices.
"I don't hear anything…" said Donald
"Strange... That voice was so familiar. Maybe it's just my imagination" said Sora. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at this… someone is playing with his mind…
"Maybe you'd better take a rest" suggested Donald
"He's fine… we need to press on…" said Sephiroth, nodding at Sora. Sora responded with a nod and opened the door. A light came in and the four of them were blinded by it. Sephiroth closed his eyes and lifted his right hand to protect them.
When the light faded Sephiroth lowered his hand and opened his eyes… he could see only darkness. He also noticed Sora and the other two weren't by him… they weren't there at all.
"Hmm…" Sephiroth said as he looked around… there's some lighting but not enough to make out exactly where he was.
"About time you turned up…" said a familiar voice. Sephiroth looked in front of him and saw two glowing blue eyes… he could recognize those eyes anywhere and his face hardened completely when he saw them.
"Now that you finally arrived… we can settle the score on who can be the chosen one for Mother…" said the voice as Sephiroth heard the sound of a huge sword moving.
"Strife…" Sephiroth said with a cold tone as he drew Masamune…
A/N: Hehe cliffhanger : P I hope you don't mind… what I have in store next is special… hope you all R&R
