Cloud felt his consciousness slipping away as his lungs received less and less air with each breath. Sephiroth had an iron grip on the blonds throat and the madness filled green piercing eyes never blinked as they watched the blond lose his life. Just before Cloud fell unconscious, his sword fell from his hand, and images flew through his mind.
Pictures of Nibleheim, that night on the water tower with Tifa, Nibleheim in flames, Zack's death. The deaths of Biggs, Wedge, Jesse, and everyone under and on the plate of Sector 7 of Midgar. Aerith's death, the summoning of Meteor, the deaths of countless people in Midgar's destruction, the outbreak of Geostigma. Next were just thoughts of what Lightning had told Cloud. The Purge of Bodhum, the disaster of a resistance in the Hanging Edge, all of Cocoon erupting in panic. Most recently, the utter destruction of Bodhum.
The one thing that hurt Cloud the most of all, even more than watching two of his close friends and far too many people die, was how Sephiroth had been able to manipulate all of them. That single thought made Cloud feel far more powerless than being strangled by his nemesis. Giving up hope was Cloud's final conscious thought.
The others stood and watched Cloud's sword fall to the ground. They knew Sephiroth was choking the life out of Cloud and they knew their blond leader was going to die soon if they did not take action. However, only Lightning had the same thought as Cloud. A tear rolled down Lightning's cheek as she let her false hope float away like a balloon.
A blue-green light erupted from Cloud's left arm without warning, removing all traces of the stigma from the blond which would go unnoticed for a time. A moment after, behind Sephiroth, a large robotic wolf quickly materialized out of thin air. Strange blue-green tendrils wove around each other and solidified into the wolf's rear half as it dove through the air. It grabbed onto the large gold symbol behind Sephiroth and sunk its steel teeth into the silver haired monstrosity's left shoulder. Sephiroth cried out and waved his wing like arm, sending out a shock wave that knocked the wolf and Cloud to the ground.
Lightning sprinted over to her unconscious fiance, the wolf leaped back at Sephiroth, and the group resumed attacking Sephiroth to the best of their abilities. Lightning quickly checked Cloud's pulse and began performing C.P.R. After the second round of chest compressions, Cloud's glowing blue eyes opened and Lightning helped him to his feet. In almost three seconds flat, Cloud had his sword in his hands again, but the moment Cloud retrieved the large weapon Sephiroth forced the robotic wolf into the air and sent a blade of energy at it. The air blade hit the wolf and dissipated. Landing on its feet, the wolf looked to Sephiroth and growled loudly.
Cloud and Lightning jumped at Sephiroth, renewed hope filling them both. With a quick swing of the large black wing arm, Cloud was thrown back and Lightning's sword was caught by Sephiroth's normal arm. The seven winged being twisted Blaze Edge out of Lightning's grasp and before she could blink, she was also flying downwards.
The large gold symbol behind Sephiroth glowed bright, then flashed. After the flash, everyone's feet left the ground as gravity started to abandon them. Without any ground beneath their feet, it would be impossible to fight the fake Seraph. Knowing that fact, Aerith used the Earth materia in the bracelet she always had stocked with materia.
The ground cracked and broke forming several large chunks that began rising, faster than the group. With some ground at their feet, everyone jumped to different pieces to ensure their safety through this battle. After they spread out, the ground stopped ascending and began to orbit around Sephiroth. With altered gravity, makeshift ground beneath their feet, and the enemy in the center of the fractured orb, the fight truly began.
Vincent, Sazh, Barret, Tifa, Aerith, Vanille, Nanaki and Yuffie used their weapons and materia to distract Sephiroth while Cloud, Lightning, Cid, Fang, and the wolf moved in close. The only flaw in this strategy was Sephiroth had this exact strategy used on him three previous times. He knew it as well as they did. The silver haired dark angel easily repelled every attack. The wolf ceased attacking which grabbed Cloud's attention.
The wolf glowed and pushed itself onto its hind legs. As the glow subsided in its place stood a tall, young, black haired man, wearing a black uniform that was identical to the one Cloud had worn for a long time. The young man placed his hands around a non-existent hilt and a moment later, the Buster Sword appeared in his hands. Only one word slipped though Cloud's lips at the sight.
"Zack?" the blond yelled out so his old friend could hear.
"No time to talk," The black haired man shouted back "Sephiroth!" The Seraph turned to look at Zack, who now looked ready to remove all seven wings "This ends here and now!"
Zack lunged towards Sephiroth with Cloud and Lightning following suit. The large black wing arm repelled the three warriors sending them back to the pieces of ground they jumped from. Zack landed on his feet, as did Lightning, but Cloud landed on his left shoulder and he felt it pop out of the socket.
The blond knew that there was no way he could fight with his sword while his shoulder was dislocated. So he sheathed the blade and resorted to his materia and made his way to the outermost layer of orbiting earth platforms.
Slowly Sephiroth once again worked his way through the group, defeating each person. He had succeeded in shattering Cid's spear but was unable to to defeat the middle aged pilot because Cid had fled immediately. Fang's lance had been launched out of the range of the altered gravity, same with Yuffie's shuriken. The bullets from Cerberus, Vincent's triple barreled revolver, had no visible effect on Sephiroth. Soon it came down to only Sephiroth and Zack, the others were being healed by Aerith and Vanille.
"So, it comes down to just me and the SOLDIER puppy," Sephiroth said with a sneer.
"I defeated both Genesis and Angeal, you're not going to be any more difficult," Zack said back with rage in his voice.
"Well if you have such confidence in your powers, kill me."
Zack jumped at Sephiroth and was blindsided by a chunk of earth twice his size. The force at which Zack was launched through three other chunks and away from the altered gravity. On the other hand, the Buster Sword was embedded in one of the chunks Zack had broken through. Moments later Zack was back on the earth platforms with the others.
Everyone looked over to Zack, who just gave a quick nod back. The SOLDIER's clothes had been torn in countless spots, his hair was messy and dirty, his lip was bleeding along with his nose and several cuts all over his body. Through many close together holes in his shirt, Lightning saw a mark similar to the pulse l'Cie brand, but much more complicated. She knew she had seen it before, two years ago, on the Fal'Cie Anima, the being that had cursed her. Lightning's eyes grew wide when she realized that this dark haired man, was a Fal'Cie and he was being beaten by Sephiroth.
Zack leaped over to the Buster Sword and ripped it out of the earth platform. A moment later, two large fireballs converged on him and violently exploded. Before the smoke cleared, Sephiroth sent six icicles the size of spears at Zack, they disappeared into the smoke and close behind them several bolts of lightning. When the smoke finally cleared, the sight of Zack severely burned and unable to stand was unsurprising.
The dark haired warrior looked 'up' at the group and extended his left arm. Lightning and Cloud felt power surge through their bodies, but only Lightning recognized the power. It was l'Cie power. Both warriors felt their fatigue vanish and the pain from their wounds fade. A very brief vision crossed their minds, a vision of the gold symbol behind Sephiroth shattering and the platforms falling to the ground; Cloud and Lightning had just received their focus.
"Lightning," Cloud said to get her attention.
The two warriors nodded to each other as the l'Cie power flooded through them. As the power grew in their veins the air around them began glow. A soft blue appeared around Cloud and his sword, and soft pink seeped into the air around Lightning and her sword. Cloud joined his right hand with Lightning's left and together they leaped towards Sephiroth.
"It's time to end this battle," Sephiroth said with blood lust as the two sword users flew towards him. The floating platforms of earth began to fall as Sephiroth stopped the power flow to them.
Cloud and Lightning let go of each others hand and threw their swords. Cloud's Fusion Blade split into the six individual swords and formed a circle with Blaze Edge and the Buster Sword, around Sephiroth. Surprise caught Sephiroth as each sword had a blue aura and held their position in the air. The blue and pink air around Cloud and Lightning intensified until it was visible from where the rest of the group stood. Cloud and Lightning vanished from their place in the air and appeared at opposite sides of the circle. Sephiroth glanced from side to side and looked genuinely worried.
Streaks of blue and pink raced through the air and passed through Sephiroth. After passing through Sephiroth, there was a ghost image of of Cloud and Lightning holding one of the many swords, facing the direction the color streaks traveled. Countless more times from every direction, the streaks of light passed through Sephiroth making the Seraph grunt and move sharply with each hit. Sephiroth's wings were being broken and shredded, cuts opened across his torso and arms, and the gold symbol was being dented and cracked.
To finish the attack, Cloud and Lightning appeared above Sephiroth their swords in hand, Blaze Edge and the base Fusion Blade. They both flew down at Sephiroth, blasted through him and shattered the gold symbol. They flipped over to land on their feet and looked up at the brutalized Seraph as Cloud's swords landed point down in the ground in a circle around them.
"Stay where you belong," Cloud sound loudly.
"In our memories," Lightning finished for Cloud.
"And don't you dare come back!" Zack, who was using the Buster Sword as a crutch, shouted.
Beams of light erupted from Seraph Sephiroth shortly before he exploded into a large cloud of the dusty-smoke that was Sephiroth's signature. Cloud turned to Lightning and looked into her ice-blue eyes for moment, before her hand flew across Cloud's cheek making a loud slap noise and leaving a red handprint.
"That's for leaving," Lightning said with a glare. She could hear a couple of others snickering at the slap.
"I deserve that," Cloud said with an apologetic tone as a different thought came to the front of his mind "Zack," he said, turning to the dark haired warrior.
"To save time, I was made a Fal'Cie by Pulse so I could make you a l'Cie so you could kill Sephiroth. That also explains how I'm here standing, well mostly standing, in front of you," Zack explained.
"Guys," Everyone turned at the young voice. A young man with silver hair and a black leather outfit stood behind them with no weapon in his hands.
"Kadaj?" Vanille said quietly. Vincent pointed Cerberus at the young man.
"Hey, wait," Kadaj said quickly as he put his hands in the air "Listen, I was being controlled by ..." Kadaj looked past the group and his expression went from fear to disbelief which made the entire group spin back around. The sight was truly stunning.
Once again, Sephiroth was standing in front of them, but there were many differences. There were cuts all over his body ranging from minor scrapes to major slashes, no dusty-smoke was rising from the wounds like usual but actual blood. His breathing was labored, coughing was constant along with blood spattering with every cough. The large black wing was broken, tattered and laying on the ground. The Masamune was in his hand but it was shaking due to Sephiroth trembling.
"Goddammit! Do you ever give up?" Cid shouted.
"I will never be a memory," Sephiroth shouted, intense rage in his voice "I had power that made Fal'Cie look like insects. So how could mere humans beat me?" Sephiroth started stumbling towards the group, dropping the Masamune after two steps "I killed thousands with my sword and thousands more with with meteor and my plague. But how did you people survive?" Sephiroth fell on to his hands and knees and vomited up a torrent of blood. He climbed back to his feet and continued stumbling towards to the group "If I am going to die here," a coughing fit overcame Sephiroth and his wing started to glow and lift into the air "You will all burn in Hell with me!"
Kadaj sprinted through the group, grabbed Lightning's knife and flipped it open. He ran straight up to Sephiroth used the well maintained knife to slice open the nightmares throat and used both hands to push the knife into his heart. Sephiroth's wing flapped violently as his life was slipping away, but it was still glowing brightly.
Snow stood with Serah as they looked towards where the battle was taking place. Gadot, Yuj, and Maqui stood watching as well, but they were fifteen feet away from the couple. Lebreau was in the care of field medics and the entire military was standing by in case a threat presented itself.
"Do you think they're okay?" Serah asked Snow as she held onto his hands. Snow looked down at his wife before speaking with a smile.
"They're fine. There is nothing Cloud and Lightning can't handle," As Snow looked back towards the battle sight a bright light filled the horizon and was quickly followed by the deafening sound of an explosion.
"Lightning," Serah nearly whispered as a tear escaped her eye.
So sorry about how long this took. I know i said Christmas at the latest but I've had the worst writers block of my life, had a job for a bit, and some other stuff.
I already have most of the final chapter typed, on the bright side. So a week more at the longest, I promise.
Please leave a Review.