EPILOGUE

The Return of Genesis

A silver moon hung over the silent ruins of Midgar, its piercing light splitting the darkening rain clouds that drifted slowly across the sky. Much of what had remained of the Plate had been torn from its support by the ascension of the Omega Weapon, leaving only frayed stretches of uninhabitable land in its wake. Wide crevasses had formed on the surface of the Planet, dissecting the city like fatal wounds. Moonlight trickled down the jagged walls of the canyons, creeping warily into the murky caverns hundreds of feet beneath, bathing the body of Weiss in its undisturbed glow.

He lay broken and still atop a natural alter at the centre of a large rock pool, his white hair smeared across his grimy face, his lifeless fingers searching for the nearby triggers of his twin gunblades, Heaven and Earth. Black shadows of tall stalagmites were cast across the serene water around him, merging with the darkness as they reached the bank of the small lake. Above the shore, within a boundary watched over by an army of scaling stone sentinels, a prison unlike any other was concealed in the dimness.

The spherical liquid stratum rested without sound in the heavy air, its shimmering translucent shell reflecting what little light caressed the pool. A lone figure hung within, suspended with outstretched arms inside a second, smaller sphere, his wavy auburn hair falling limply on either side of his pale face. What had once been a magnificent blood-red leather jacket had become frayed down his left side, separated into thin strips that fell below his knee. Beneath the jacket, he had remained clad in his First Class SOLDIER uniform of dark blue poloneck and combat trousers, with the thick brown belt bearing the SOLDIER Crest tied around his waist. With all that the uniform had once represented gone, the outfit seemed nothing more than homage to a past era.

Suddenly, there came a flash of brilliant light around the centre of the lake, and an invisible force throbbed in the atmosphere around Weiss. Pulses of energy left his motionless body, sending ripples of current across the water and over the rock, enclosing the sphere like an electrical field. The torrent tore at its glistening exterior, surging over its surface as if searching for a weakness. Then, as abruptly as it had appeared, the energy force vanished.

Genesis slowly opened his Mako eyes, feeling the life again begin to flow through his veins. A strange sensation of warmth filled him; pleasing against the chilled walls of his confines. Brief thoughts of fragmented memory flickered in his mind, a cold smile forming on his lips as each image came and went. Sephiroth…Deepground…the Goddess…

"Even if the morrow is barren of promises,

Nothing shall forestall my return.

To become the dew that quenches the earth,

To spare the skies, the seas to sands."

…ah, how beautifully fitting.

He lingered for a moment without movement, enjoying the stillness of his cocoon. Inhaling deeply, he closed his eyes again, and saw a great blaze slowly form within. Around him, the watery shell began to bubble as he had hoped, hissing as the temperature inside soared. With a victorious grin, Genesis unleashed more rasping flames of powerful Firaga magic from his gloved fingertips, causing the spheres to glow red-hot, blinding him from the world beyond. Long cracks appeared on the hanging stalactites of the cavern as the ascending heat burst from the shell, the crumbling rock plunging into the pool as it separated from the ceiling.

As the walls of the stratum finally shattered, it sent a great blast of dust sweeping throughout the cave. Genesis allowed the fire to retract as he fell, landing softly in a crouched position on the stony bank at the water's edge. He gazed at his surroundings as he grew to his feet, frowning as he absorbed the sight of the midnight sky atop the scaling ravine above him. What has become of Midgar? How long has it been?

Following the strands of silver light, his eyes came to rest on the frozen figure of Weiss at the centre of the lake. He stood in silence, not taking his blank stare from the Immaculate Emperor. It was unexpected to see the young man lain as he had been, but the scene beckoned forth forgotten memories of the strength that resided inside his own flesh, and at once, Genesis began to understand. My time has come…

With a light pace, he started forward, a sense of purpose again washing over him. He could not help but allow the corner of his lips to curl with delight as he strode elegantly across the water's surface, his weightless footsteps causing but a faint disturbance on its gleaming face. Climbing onto the rocky alter, he towered over Weiss' perfect body, for a time studying his lifeless features. Kneeling down, Genesis took him in his arms, lifting him gently from the cold stone. Weiss seemed unnaturally limp, not stirring as Genesis cradled him. He raised his gaze to the heavens as the rain clouds gathered overhead, smothering the moonlight.

"It is not yet time for slumber." Genesis bade in a low whisper, his dark voice echoing ethereally about the cavern. "We still have much work to do…my brother…"

The sensation of tearing across his left shoulder blade was as he remembered, the enormous single black wing sprouting from his back, extending out over the pool. My time has come, he thought again as he wholeheartedly embraced what lay ahead. The seconds seemed to pass over an eternity, his eagerness to commence his new mission forbidding his escape into the night. With an almighty beat of his wing, Genesis felt his feet leave the ground as he and Weiss took flight, the shadowy confines of the cavern disappearing rapidly below.