Sleeping Cetra
Chapter 9
One Winged Angel
Cid veered hard to the starboard, trying his best to keep his ship from being swallowed by the explosion. Yet, to his dismay, the ship was hit on the edge of the port side, sending the ship down towards the sea. The passengers braced themselves as Cid tried his best to regain control. Yuffie wailed loudly as she held onto Barret's arm in fear. The lights on the ship were flashing insanelyas the alarms kept going off. It was all to warn Cid that the ship took as critical hit. Cid pulled hard on the ship's controls and was able to bring it up, skidding along the top of the water.
When the ship finally leveled, he sailed toward the continent where the Kingdom of the Cetra was. On the side screen, the group noticed that the creature was coming after them, and he was not alone: standing on the top of its head was Sephiroth. Cloud glared venomously at the one-winged man.
"SON OF A BITCH!" Cid's voice boomed.
Yuffie lurched forward, grabbing her stomach and covering her mouth. Tifa noticed and placed a hand on the girl's back. Tifa noticed her friend's face looked green but before she could offer comfort, Yuffie vomited.
"Ugh, that's disgusting," Cait Sith remarked.
Yuffie wobbled on her feet and then fell to her knees before she threw up whatever was left in her stomach. Tifa gently rubbed her back.
The continent was coming into view, yet Sephiroth was right behind them. The creature he summoned was known as Bahamut. It was a powerful spirit that resided in the red materia. It was said that the powerful creature once lived amongst the humans of the planet, but his destructive powers brought terror. In a way to control him, the wise people of the planet found a way to trap him using materia, thus sealing his powers inside the orb. How it managed to get into Spehiroth's hands was beyond them.
"LOOK OUT!" Vincent warned. "He's going to fire again!"
On the view screen, the group saw Bahamut charging all the energy into a massive ball. Cid pushed the accelerating gears to max power and began switching the switches to change the flow of energy to the engines to get to maximum speed. The ship was now moving at an alarming rate that none of the passengers, including Cid, were ready.
Sephiroth motioned for Bahamut to fire, directing the ball of energy at the ship. Bahamut released it and it flew toward the ship; however, this time, it dodged it completely. Sephiroth growled and demanded another blast at them. Bahamut began sending balls of energy at the ship at a rapid speed.
"Son of a bitch," Cid cursed again.
The dodging of the attacks became increasingly difficult. Sephiroth was determined not to let them get to the Princess. Suddenly, an energy ball knocked into the ship, causing it to do a three-sixty before plummeting again towards the ground. The ship alarms were screaming loudly in all their ears, red lights flashing. Yuffie who was gripping tightly to a handrail was now vomiting even worse than before, though it was only saliva and stomach acid now.
Cid, holding tightly to the wheel to keep it in control, gritted his teeth. He began flipping switches and pulling down levers. Another of Bahamut's energy balls hit the ship, causing the damage to erupt in flames. Smoke filled the deck of the ship, but amidst all the screaming, cursing, and vomiting, Cid ignored it all. The ship was going into a nosedive into the ground. If he crashed like that, they would be dead.
"Come on…" he urged the ship. "Come on!"
The ground neared closer and closer when finally, he was able to pull the ship up. The body of the ship crashed against the ground. It tore up the ship and the passengers were thrown all about. The ship skidded and collided into trees and large rock arrangements, causing the ship to fall apart. When it finally came to a stop, the ship had torn in half, was on fire, and no longer able to fly.
From atop Bahamut's head Sephiroth grinned cruelly. Bahamut let out a loud screech, flapping its enormous wings in triumph.
From inside the wreckage, Cid stood up from his position, still gripping onto the controls. He looked at his airship and cursed insanely. After years of hard work, his ship was now destroyed. He slumped to his knees and shook his head. The tiny bursts of fire and electrical bursting did not startle him. His dream was up in smoke, literally.
Barret stood up, holding Tifa and Yuffie in his strong arms. During the tumbling of the ship, he managed to get to his two good friends and protect them. Tifa thanked him and Yuffie was about to when she hunched over and threw up again. When she finished, she landed on her rear and held onto her stomach. Never had the girl felt sicker in her life. All three of them were covered in cuts and bruises, but nothing too severe.
"I never want to do this again," she said, still feeling nauseated.
Nanaki had dug his claws into the ship, which kept him from flying all around. He held onto Cait Sith who was now on the bigger beast's back. Vincent pushed a large piece of rubble off him and stood up. His red cloak was singed and now torn. He searched around and looked over to see Cloud crouched over something. Cloud's leather sleeve had been torn off him, as well as his belts and his half trench coat. His arm was bleeding horribly. As he approached him, he saw the golden Chocobo lying with his head in its lap. Choco squawked pathetically, looking sadly at his master.
"Choco," Cloud whispered.
Vincent looked over and saw feathers and blood: all the other Chocobos were dead. One was now slowly dying. The young Prince stroked his pet gently, trying to comfort him. Vincent kneeled next to the Prince and held out a cracked healing materia. Cloud grabbed it and held it out to his Chocobo, healing the wounds of the golden bird.
"Cloud," Vincent said as the bird got back up. "Your arm is injured."
Cloud tore off what was left of his sleeve. Then he wrapped it around his wound. Vincent watched as the young prince took his sword back and mounted his bird.
"Where do you think you are going?" Vincent asked, also gaining the other passengers' attentions.
"I'm going to the castle," Cloud said.
Tifa ran in front of him. "Are you nuts? Sephiroth is probably hovering over us right now. If you go out there he'll shoot you in a heartbeat!"
"If we stay in here," he began as a minor explosion went off near them, "We're dead anyway!"
"I'll give you a head start," Vincent said.
He closed his eyes, and his body began to transform into the beast that he had only earlier transformed into, Chaos. Cloud watched, not at all disturbed by the creature. Cloud had seen this form of Vincent before, at least enough to become accustomed to it. Vincent was about to head out when Tifa placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm going too!" she said firmly.
"ME TOO!" Yuffie said jumping up and down.
"Count me in!" Barret said. "We've started this and I am not letting you go at it without me."
Nanaki let out a low growl. "Of course I'll help. Aerith needs all our help."
"Agreed," Cait Sith said, jumping up and down on Nanaki's back.
Everyone looked back at Cid who was still staring at his broken down ship in pieces. Yuffie walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Suddenly, the older man let out a growl and pulled out a long spear from under some rubble.
"I'M GOING TO GET THAT BASTARD!" he yelled out.
Without waiting, the old man ran out of his ship. Yuffie let out a cheer and pulled out her shuriken. She ran after him followed by Barret, Nanaki and Cait Sith. Vincent spread his gargoyle wings and flew out from a hole in the ceiling. Tifa looked at Cloud and gave him a smile.
"Go get Aerith," she said, before running out after the gang.
Cloud smiled; he snapped the reins gently and sent Choco flying forward. The bird ran toward the Kingdom of the Cetra.
In the air, Sephiroth was looking triumphant when he saw a barrage of bullets come after him. Barret was firing like crazy. Sephiroth shielded himself by using Bahamut, who in turn shrieked in pain. Sephiroth ordered the beast to send a blast at the man but before he could, Yuffie sent her shuriken at him. The weapons scraped against his eyes, blinding him. Bahamut cried out but before it could do anything; bolts of lightening came crashing from the sky, onto it forcing him to descend to the ground. Tifa smiled and pocketed her thunder materia. Sephiroth jumped off Bahamut's head and disappeared into the wooded area, watching the group attack Bahamut relentlessly.
Cid himself jammed his spear into its snout, keeping it from being able to attack with its energy blasts. Nanaki sent several blast of fire at it from its mouth before retreating as it blindly began to wave is claws. Vincent floated in the air and suddenly, a burst of energy exploded from him and hit Bahamut. The beast let out a cry as if begging for someone to help him. Slowly his body began to disintegrate. Yet, when it was completely gone, its cry still echoed.
Sephiroth could not believe that they survived the crash, and killed Bahamut no less. He growled but when he took a good look at them, he noticed the prince was not among them. A sudden panic filled him. He looked over them and then turned his head toward the field near the Cetra kingdom. His eyes narrowed as he saw Prince Cloud head straight for the kingdom.
The silver haired man took out a materia and pointed it straight at the kingdom. Suddenly thorny vines erupted from the ground. Cloud tugged hard on the reins forcing his Chocobo to stop moving. Cloud jumped off Choco, realizing the only way through now was on foot. Taking his sword, he began hacking his way through the vines.
Sephiroth growled. He stood straight up and let out a tremendous cry of anger. Suddenly, a large black wing appeared from his back. Black feathers floated to the ground and dissolved into smoke. Sephiroth launched himself into the air and flew quickly toward Cloud.
"LOOK!" Yuffie cried, spotting Sephiroth flying toward the prince.
"We have to help him!" Vincent shouted.
Just as Vincent said that, he felt something punch him hard in the back, sending electricity throughout his body. Vincent crashed to the ground, his monstrous appearance dissolving back to his normal one. Everyone rushed to his side to see if he was hurt.
"You aren't going anywhere," a voice spoke out.
The gang looked up to see Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz standing on tree branches. Loz had been the one to attack Vincent with Duel Hound, the electricity still crackling around it. The gang all took defensive stances as both Yazoo and Kadaj pulled out their weapons. Kadaj held out a long sword while Yazoo himself pulled out two guns. The three villains stared at their enemies and vise versa. Then at the same time, the three jumped out of the tree and began their assault.
X, X, X,
Cloud finally managed to break through the thorns and stood before the gates of the kingdom, when a black feather floated down in front of him. Cloud's eyes widened and he quickly jumped away just as Sephiroth came crashing down, his long sword stabbing into the ground where Cloud had stood, moments before. He slowly pulled his sword out of the ground and spun around, his silver hair whipping behind him. His piercing eyes glared at Cloud.
"If you want to save your precious princess," he spoke venomously. "You will have to… defeat me!"
Cloud held out his sword, eyes narrowing. The two men ran straight at each other, weapons drawn and ready to fight. Their swords met with a loud clank as they began to fight. Cloud jumped away as Sephiroth moved with lightening speed to thrust at him. He then came back with his own attack but Sephiroth jumped away and landed gracefully on the ground. He then went for a quick slash and jumped away, but Cloud blocked it. Cloud ran at him but instead of taking his attack head on, Sephiroth jumped over him and then used his sword to slash at Cloud. Cloud narrowly missed the attack. He turned around to see his enemy smirk.
Cloud launched himself at Sephiroth and began swinging wildly. The silver haired man moved back but at the same time was blocking each one of Cloud's swings. Sephiroth smirked again, in a sense taunting Cloud. Cloud growled and did a swipe attack. Yet Sephiroth jumped, his body horizontal in the air, missing Cloud's attack completely. Cloud swore and tried again but this time Sephiroth landed on Cloud's weapon. He ran up the blade and kicked Cloud in the face.
X, X, X,
Tifa launched herself at Loz, sending punches and kicks at him, all of which he dodged. He slammed his fist into her, which forced her back. As she was pushed back, she found him ready to strike again when out of nowhere Nanaki pounced on him, forcing him to the ground. Cait Sith stuck his tongue out at Loz, greatly aggravating the lackey. However, before he could react, Tifa punched him in the face. Loz growled and then, without warning, hit Tifa, so fast that she went flying into Nanaki and Cait Sith. The three slumped to the ground as Loz stood over them, smirking.
Barret was firing rapidly at Yazoo, who emotionlessly was dodging his attacks with ease. Yuffie even threw her shuriken at him but he simply stepped out of the way and dodged it. He pulled out both of his guns and fired rapidly at the two. Yuffie threw her weapon at him again. This time Yazoo jumped on top of it and then used that to push himself straight at Yuffie and Barret. He fired his gun at Barret's arm, causing it to malfunction. Shocked, the tall man looked at his gun, which proved a great mistake as he was hit hard with the gun barrel straight into both his and Yuffie's faces respectively. Yazoo grinned as he watched the two on the ground.
Cid used his spear to fight Kadaj head-on while Vincent, this time used his claw and close range skills. Kadaj used his sword to block Cid's spear, while twisting his body such in a way as to avoid Vincent. Kadaj then used his sword to swipe at Vincent, while at the same time kicking Cid away from him. Vincent slashed at Kadaj, tearing his coat, but the silver haired man simply smirked. He then jumped out of the way. Vincent watched him in the air as the same time felt Cid colliding right into him.
The three men stared down at their targets with smirks. Yazoo pulled out his gun and pointed at Tifa. Tifa groaned as Yazoo placed his hand on the trigger.
X, X, X,
The young prince staggered backwards, against the walls of the kingdom. Sephiroth thrust his sword at Cloud, but the young Prince managed a backflip up onto the wall. Sephiroth stared at him from below and then he too launched himself onto the wall. The two began to sword fight on the wall, Sephiroth with the upper hand. Sephiroth swung his sword in vertical motion forcing Cloud to jump off the wall and onto the roof of a building. Sephiroth followed him, relentlessly attacking, forcing Cloud on the defensive.
"Just give up," Sephiroth spat. "You cannot defeat me!"
"SHUT UP!" Cloud yelled.
Anger filled the young Prince as he tried to swing at Sephiroth. Sephiroth used his sword to deflect the attack while at the same time knocking it out of his hand. Cloud gasped as is sword went flying into a wall. Sephiroth lunged at Cloud who rolled out of the way while sliding down the roof. He jumped off the roof to another building where his sword was stuck. He grabbed onto his sword and swung himself up onto the roof the building, at the same time freeing his sword. Quickly, he spun around to deflect Sephiroth's attack but at the same time found himself flying into a wall.
Cloud groaned as the wind was knocked out of him. His sword lay at his side. Before he could reach his sword, Sephiroth stabbed his arm, causing Cloud to cry out in pain. He pushed his sword into Cloud's arm, forcing it to go right through it. Cloud screams of agony echoed into the night as blood spurted out.
X, X, X,
A gunshot erupted and a cry of pain echoed. Tifa felt the bullet fly into her shoulder. Kadaj laughed insanely as he ordered Yazoo to fire again. As he did, this time the bullet did not hit Tifa, but instead hit Barret. Then another gun shot, this time hitting Yuffie.
"This is for all the trouble you caused us!" Kadaj said, as Yazoo fired at Yuffie again.
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Vincent shouted, lunging at them.
Loz blocked him and grabbed him by the neck. Vincent was forced to his knees as he was being choked. Kadaj moved around Vincent this time and then took out his sword and stabbed him in the back. Blood gushed out of his wound, and Loz dropped him to the ground.
"We'll deal with you later, captain of the guard!" Kadaj hissed. "But first, I'm going to kill her!"
Kadaj lunged at Tifa and grabbed her by the hair. His pressed his blade to her neck, a thing line of blood appearing. Tifa cried out as she felt it slowly sink in.
X, X, X,
Sephiroth pulled his sword out of Cloud and slowly sent his sword into his stomach. Cloud let out another agonizing cry, momentarily choking on some saliva. The silver haired man stared sadistically at him.
"I told you to surrender," he spoke. "Such a pathetic prince; you can't even save your princess. Now when you die, she will sleep forever. You failed her. You allowed her to die!"
The words cut through Cloud like a knife. In his mind, all he could think about was Aerith. Pictures of her filled his mind and the time they spent together. She meant so much to him, and he failed her. He could not save her. He failed the woman he loved. Her smiled plagued his mind as he felt the blade push deeper into him. Blood gushed out as Sephiroth pulled out and stabbed Cloud again, slowly inching his way to his heart.
"I'll stab you in the heart," he exclaimed, "and I'll save you from your heartache!"
He pulled out and plunged his sword again into Cloud. Cloud looked up at him. He could not reach his sword, or even move to defend himself. He had truly failed Aerith. He could do nothing. Cloud felt the sword plunge into him again but as he cried out in pain again, yet his voiced echoed her name.
"AERITH!"
Cloud felt the sword plunge into him, inches from his heart. He was going to die without seeing Aerith, without seeing her smile. Sephiroth pulled the sword out one more time, laughing insanely when he saw a raindrop hit Cloud. He looked up and saw several more drops of rain hitting him. Sephiroth readied his sword again, this time to kill Cloud.
Cloud looked up at the sky. How perfect for him to die in the rain like this. Cloud closed his eyes, ready to die and yet it never came. He felt his body become warm, as though the water was washing away all his pain. Cloud opened his eyes and looked at his arm. The blood had stopped, and the rain was washing away the wounds. He looked at Sephiroth, who stared in horror. Quickly, Sephiroth went for the deathblow, but instead his sword was repelled, causing him to stagger backwards.
The warmth Cloud felt inside him was the same warmth he felt with Aerith. It made him feel strong inside. Slowly he grabbed his sword and rose to his feet. Sephiroth stared in horror as Cloud pointed his sword at Sephiroth.
"Let's end this!"
X, X, X,
The rain fell down over Tifa, the wound in her shoulder and neck vanishing completely. The same thing happened with all of them. Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz looked around, wondering what was going on. Tifa, feeling her strength returning, pushed Kadaj away form her, knocking the sword out of his hand. Next, she flung him over her, straight into Loz and Yazoo. The three men collided to the ground.
"What happened to us?" Yuffie asked, feeling better than ever.
"The planet…" Vincent spoke. "The Cetra are known for being close to the planet."
"You think… Aerith did this?" Tifa questioned.
Kadaj stood up growling. "Who cares? Once we kill you, I'll kill that princess with my sword!"
The group glared at them and readied their weapons.
"Over my dead body!" Tifa shouted, lunging at them.
"Believe me," Kadaj said, running at her with his sword, "THAT CAN BE ARRANGED!"
The two collided, with Tifa dodging his sword. She punched and kicked him several times in succession. Kadaj could not even touch her. Was this the cause of the rain? Yazoo, seeing that his brother was in trouble, aimed his gun at Tifa when a gunshot rang out. Yazoo clutched his hand, which was now spouting blood. Vincent held out his gun, glaring at Yazoo.
"BROTHER!" Loz cried. He growled and ran at Vincent but before he could even reach him, Barret moved in the way and slammed his gun-hand into his face. Barret knocked him back and then charged his gun at him.
"LEAVE… US… ALONE!" Barret shouted, sending out a massive blast at Loz.
Loz received the full impact of the blast in his chest. The man with the shortest silver hair went sailing before skidding across the ground. Kadaj saw this, jumped away from Tifa, and ran to his brother. Yazoo did the same. Yet, as the knelt down to his side, it was too late. Loz was dead.
Yazoo rushed forward out of anger, which proved to be fatal. Nanaki jumped in the way and opened his mouth sending out a tremendous blast straight* at Yazoo. Yazoo screamed in pain as the attack hit him. Kadaj's eyes widened as he saw his brother fall to his knees, barely breathing.
Cait Sith who was on Nanaki's back grinned and said, "Bye, bye," just before he threw seven dice which exploded, killing Yazoo for good.
Kadaj found himself surrounded by the group. Both of his brothers were dead. His enemies had their weapons pointed directly at him. He held out his sword even though it was now a futile effort. Kadaj began to laugh insanely as he lunged at Tifa one last time, but he got nowhere as each attack hit Kadaj; he was dead before he even hit the ground. The group stared and then noticed the sun began to peer over the horizon.
"Let's go help Cloud!" Tifa said. The group nodded and began running toward the kingdom.
X, X, X,
Cloud and Sephiroth began to battle across the rooftops of the kingdom; this time, though, Cloud was on the offensive. Sephiroth found himself beaten back by Cloud, who he just now had in his grasp. Suddenly, Cloud leapt into the air and came crashing down, a burst of energy coming from his sword. Sephiroth moved out of his way and rose into the air using his black wing. Cloud jumped up into the air and brought his sword down at him. Sephiroth blocked it and the two became locked in a power struggle.
Sephiroth pushed him off of himself with all his strength, sending Cloud crashing into a rooftop. Sephiroth floated in the air, cackling maliciously.
"Even with a second chance, you fail," he said.
Sephiroth looked over at the highest tower of the castle and pointed toward it. Cloud looked up at him and growled.
"She's up there," he said. "Perhaps I should just finish her off now!"
"NO!" Cloud yelled, jumping into the air. He flew at Sephiroth and slashed him. Sephiroth gasped as the pain from the attack hit him. Cloud began to glow as all his power went toward his sword.
"I won't let you hurt Aerith ever again!" he stated.
Suddenly, Cloud began rapidly attacking Sephiroth. Cloud hit him once and returned with another, slashing and tearing away at Sephiroth. Unable to move, Sephiroth found himself floating in air with Cloud hovering on top of him. Then with all his energy in his sword, he flew down at him slashing him for the final time.
Sephiroth fell to the ground, his black wing limp. Cloud turned to face him as the man kneeled, gasping for air.
"I won't die like this…" he choked. "I won't… lose…"
Suddenly, his wing began to dissolve. The feathers fell on top of Sephiroth, destroying his body. Sephiroth let out a loud cry as his body became nothing but dust in the wind. Cloud stood for a moment before he collapsed to knees in exhaustion. Yet, he noticed the sun was slowly rising from the horizon. Breathing heavily he got up, strapping the sword to his back. Cloud looked up at the Cetra Castle. Aerith was there waiting for him.
X, X, X,
Author Note- Listening to One Winged Angel during this really got me into this chapter. Can you just hear it playing in the background if this were a movie or something? Then again what else would you hear in a battle with Sephiroth? Anyway, there is one more chapter on the way. Oh, and please leave a review, thanks!
Revised: thanks for my beta for editing this chapter for me!
