Author's note: I'll do my best for more action in this chapter, since sadly I still have problems with it, but I try. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the 31st of January was the 20th Anniversary of FFVII and a new KH3 pic was shown of Sora using Cloud's pose from the original FFVII game's cover as well.
Let's continue on and please remember these notes.
The Bold is the Author's Notes.
The Italic is both memories, thoughts and dreams.
The Bold & Italic are the names of the worlds.
The Brackets (-and Bold-) are the BGM(which will never happen, but one can dream, right?).
I hold no rights to Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy VII, Pokemon or Sailor Moon.
CHAPTER 12: Shocking Truth.
"...On top of that, I don't think Jenova even is a mother at all." Zack concluded after he explained what has happened since his departure, before adding, "To either you or the other Sephiroth. You both were probably been told lies for a long time." and he mentally hoped that this was enough to prevent the Sephiroth in front of him from doing anything foolish.
There was a somewhat tensed moment of pause, until Sephiroth, thinking through and absorbing on what he had heard from the younger man for the past half an hour, only stated, "I knew it."
"Huh?" Zack asked, confused, though he had a bad feeling about this and felt that he didn't want to know, but knew that he really should know anyway.
"That explains why I was able to recongise you, from the day we first met." Sephiroth continued, gazing firmly at Zack, explaining, "For eight years, I could never understand it clearly. Like you Zack, I too have been having these dreams."
Zack's eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief, "What!?"
"It all began, when I met a man..." Sephiroth began, as was having a flash-back of his own at the same time.
(Sephiroth's Flash-Back: During the events of Sailor Moon 0: Birth By Sleep)
(~Xehanort's Theme-KH:BBS~)
Sephiroth was gazing at the sky late in the afternoon when an unfamiliar elder man with no hair, unusual golden eyes, gray goatee, a black coat with white and black clothes underneath, and white gloves with black boots approached him, his hands behind his back. When the younger man noticed the arrival, immediately the appearence of the elder made him suspicious. The old man reminded him of someone he once knew, but couldn't understand why, and at the moment, immediately decided not to worry about the strange deja vu, as people would say.
"I thought I'd find you here." The older man said in a gruff voice.
"Who are you?" Sephiroth questioned, eyes narrowing.
"Someone who can give you a better purpose in life." The elder man said, while ignoring the question, as he continued, "Deep down, there is a purpose so many times was thrawd by meddling people who wish nothing more than things to remain the same. Wishing for the darkness to end." as he secretly grinned, using what he was saying to his advantage while secretly plotting a more sinister goal.
The silver-haired man felt even more distrust in the man in front of him, not quite certain what the latter was talking about in a way of darkness, before questioning, "What is it do you want of me?"
The elder man shook his head while walking past Sephiroth as he answered, "Darkness is nothing to fear. It will only make you stronger. And you, Sephiroth, are connected with it more than anyone in all of Space and Time!" while he stopped at the fork in the road and spread his hands out to the sky as though he was saying something grand to an audience.
"Your power is still sleeping in you, and someday when you are truly ready, let it awaken and you should embrace it." He continued as he faced Sephiroth once more. To his mental disappointment, however, Sephiroth's expression didn't change, nor did the latter look even interested in his words.
"Whether your words are lies created to deceive me... or the truth, that I have sought all my life... it makes no difference." Sephiroth spoke, after some deep thoughts as he considered the words, before walking off, saying for the final time to the stranger, "I am not interested in your so called "power"."
(~End Xehanort's Theme~)
(End of Flash-Back)
Now that Sephiroth remembered that meeting all those years ago as he told Zack about that meeting, something seemed quite...shocking and overwhelming now about this, combined with what the younger man in front of him just told him, before answering the unasked question, "He didn't say who he was, but..."
He turned away, slowly becoming troubled. What could this mean? He ignored Zack speaking his name, while muttering to himself, as though he wanted to know the answers that he knew weren't going to come to him immediately, but at the same time, it was starting to leave him on edge. "Could this mean...these dreams are not dreams at all? I knew, ever since I was a child... I was not like the others. I knew that I was a special existance. But this...This was not what I meant. Am I...connected to this other Sephiroth?"
(~Shaded Truths-KH:BBS~)
"That Sephiroth is you." A familiar voice spoke, which alerted both Sephiroth and Zack, and as the two turned towards the sea, a firaga spell was flown straight towards them. Sephiroth side-stepped with ease, but Zack wasn't so lucky as he ended up being hit in the stomach and thrown backwards onto the hard ground. The owner of the fire spell was none other than Genesis who hovered onto the wooden platform, dismissing his black single wing, and didn't look even sorry at the moment.
"Sephiroth. You are the great Sephiroth reborn." Genesis continued at the silver-haired man who, long, long ago, was once his friend.
Zack shut his eyes as he hissed at the burns he rechieved from his arch enemy, grunting, "You-You knew about this!"
"I suppose you could say that." Genesis replied to Zack, not taking his eyes off Sephiroth who narrowed his own at the red-haired man in the crimson coat.
Still...as much as he hated to admit it, Sephiroth felt that it was making some sort of sense, before questioning at the man who felt strongly familiar to him, and not in the most pleasent way, "What do you mean, I am reborn?"
"There are no two people with the same looks, same feelings, same names, same memories, but with new ones with a new life." Genesis explained, as though he was some sort of theatre tradegy show or something, "Rebirth is part of nature, though it is very rare. Your dreams are not dreams, but rather, powerful links to the long forgotten past. The past that belongs to both you and Zack, Sephiroth, and those who are reborn as well, those you saw in your dreams."
Genesis ignored Zack's cry to stop and continued, "And those who were reborn, invision the past differently, the sense of "Deja vu" if you like."
"Invision?" Zack asked, also feeling that it was starting to make sense, but he didn't want to believe that monster of a man who was the one responsible for the death of Angeal and the invasions of the Heartless in the other worlds he visited during his journey, though the Heartless were surprisingly absent in Midgar.
"Or else, history is about to be repeated in a different way." Genesis continued.
Like with the man he met years ago, Sephiroth questioned, "What do you want of me?" and Zack couldn't help but realise that this was almost exactly the same as what he saw in his recent dreams before coming back here to Olympus Coliseum. Though this time, it was a little different.
"Nothing much, except for you to understand the truth." Genesis answered, walking past the silver-haired man before stopping to stand behind him, continuing, "You can no longer just look straight into the future, Sephiroth." before once again quoting, "My friend, your desire is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess."
"LOVELESS...Humph." Sephiroth automactially said, before stating, "If I am truly the other Sephiroth, then I am no longer interested in what I sought out before." though something deep within his heart was saying something different.
Genesis noticed the slight change, commenting, "No longer the monster...but, some things never change." before opening up a corridor of darkness and stepped through to leave for now as the door to darkness closed behind him, leaving both Sephiroth and Zack on their own once more. (~End Shaded Truths~)
Panting while getting a hold of himself, Zack finally pushed himself back up after a bit of struggle and immediately told Sephiroth, still slightly in pain, "Sephiroth...don't...don't listen to him." getting the older man's attention once more.
"So you're simply suggesting I should ignore him?" Sephiroth questioned, a little harshly.
Zack was taken back of at the harsh tone, but hoped that it was just annoyance than the first step of falling into darkness, and replied, "Whatever your thinking isn't gonna help. It'll only make things worse." and he knew it would only make things worse.
"Hmph." Sephiroth muttered, before saying, "I will think about that." and with a short farewell, he walked off to his own thoughts, possibly to find his own answers one way or another. He knew that he had to find it sooner or later, whether Genesis' words were true or not.
As the raven-haired swordsman watched Sephiroth leave, he only hoped that it wasn't too late and that the silver-haired man wasn't going to fall into the same mad path that Angeal was led by Genesis. But then, Zack couldn't help but wonder if Genesis's words were true. He wished he knew the answers. If only he had the right answers when he had just arrived at his original destination-
This thought immediately brought Zack to another memory, a more recent one, the advice Hercules gave him the day before he left on his journey that practically changed everything in his life.
"I have idea, Zack. Why don't you go and visit the Temple of Zeus and get information there. I'm sure you'll get answers there."
That's it!
"Yeah. It's about time I'd do that." Zack nodded to himself, with determination. This time he was going to the Temple of Zeus to seek some sort of information there once and for all. He delayed his appointment long enough and now was the time to get to it.
However, he also realised that he couldn't catch a boat there, and he didn't want to confront his friends about the situation, let alone see him the way he is now. But then another thought occurred to him.
The Starshard. It'll get him to the Temple...at least that's what Zack hoped.
Thankfully, it didn't take him off to another world and instead did as he requested deep from his heart. So now Zack found himself in the mainly deserted but grassy hill, and on the very top of the hill was the temple he was looking for. The front had no door, but Zack wasn't fazed by this. He knew that Herc' had visited this place more often to visit to statue of his father Zeus. Zack had once tempted to visit this place himself but never really had the right time to do so, until now.
At the far end of the temple was the massive statue that was exactly like the King of the Gods he met about a year ago when he and Mickey helped Herc to rescue him and the other Gods from both Hades and the stupid Titans whose brains were the size of a walnut. Zack still remembered how Zeus used his lightning bolts to smash the Rock Titan's heads off after Herc' freed him. Time sure flew.
Sighing and while knowing that speaking directly to Zeus was slim, Zack still hoped that it would at least help him a little bit. As he stood to a stop right in front of the towering statue, he took a deep breath before speaking as wisely as he could, "Great God, Zeus. Please, I need your help."
Just then, just about 2 seconds after he said those words, the winds picked up, blowing quite strangely. From the ceiling window or whatever you call it, a lightning bolt shot out from the sky and engulfed the Zeus statue. Zack had to shield his eyes with his arms as the flaming torches suddenly lit up to life. When Zack unshielded himself, he did a double-take as the Zeus statue actually moved, revealing his eyes.
Gazing his sight at the dumbfounded young man, and taking notice the slight different appearnce, Zeus, in his statue form after hearing his son's friend's request for help, commented, "Zack...You've changed."
Zack was speechless, awestruck and, well, confused. Hercules never told him about this before. "Uh...Zeus? I didn't know you could...well, you know." The raven-haired man shrugged a little sheepishly, unable to come up with a good word with how Zeus managed to do this.
Realising that this was why Zack was puzzled, Zeus shrugged sheepishly himself, "Even gods forget a few details."
(~Cosmos's Theme*Keeping the Peace-Dissidia Final Fantasy*~)
Sighing at what the god told him, Zack couldn't help but mutter in sadness, "Not as bad as people." before explaining, "Anyway, I've been having a lot of trouble lately."
He then explained to Zeus on his situation, including his dreams of his otherself, believing that it may be one of the reasons why Zack's appearence changed, how meeting those who were in his dreams in reality made things worse, finally concluding in referring to Genesis, "And only...this other guy who is the cause of the whole situation really knows what's going on, but I don't understand the half of it."
"They're not dreams, Zack." Zeus said immediately after Zack told him what was going on, and deep down, knew that the day to reveal the young man's past had finally come.
"Huh?" Zack asked, puzzled. Did this mean...even Zeus really knew the whole truth?
Sensing the slight confusion, the King of the Gods explained to him wisely, "Long ago, even in the ancient times, before what happened 8,000 years ago, rebirth was a new thing to gods. Only certain people who have proven themselves very worthy to see the future world thousands of years ahead of them or have died in an unclean death are allowed to be reborn into the new world, reborn as infants to grow up again. But, the cost is, their memories of their previous life are lost."
"Previous life?" Zack blinked, suddenly feeling that what Genesis had told him lately and had told him and Sephiroth earlier was suddenly making sense, but still didn't understand why, though. So he allowed Zeus to continue.
"In their place, the memories of their new lives will be there, and will always be, even when the old memories start to return when something unusual happens." Zeus explained.
Zack considered this. But he still didn't quite get the clear picture, so he had to quiry, "What does that have to do with me?"
Zeus continued, "Something unusual happens that connects to the reborn person's heart and those who connect to that same heart. Sometimes the lost memories return in forms of dreams or visions." he sighed, bracing himself to say this that he knew was going to send the young mortal into complete shock than he already was right now. "I didn't think this would happen, Zack, but you, are one of those destined people to be reborn."
"I am...reborn!?" Zack exclaimed, once he absorbed the words into his mind and couldn't believe the pieces of the puzzle that fit in that made sense but still didn't make any sense. Was this what Genesis and Angeal had been trying to tell him? "But that's crazy! Even Cloud, Sephiroth and-"
(~End Cosmos's Theme*Keeping the Peace*~)
He immediately cuts himself off and gasped. No...Sephiroth was reborn as well...not only that...
"I've been having them a lot lately. About myself, or at least, a guy who looks like me in the ghost town of Nibelhiem which is his home...it was...being burnt to the ground by Sephiroth...the hero." Cloud told him back when they first met, back when they, Tseng and Reno were nearing Modeohiem.
So Cloud was reborn as well. And not just him, but everyone else Zack met that were in his dreams; Aerith, Yuffie, the Turks...and Zack suddenly felt his stomach drop. That also explained why Reno knew him immediately, and even Elena's puzzlement on findinge clues relating to the past. And now Genesis was attempting to repeat history, not from dreams, but from the past.
"I gotta stop Sephiroth from doing anything crazy!" Zack exclaimed, thanking Zeus before turning to race out to find the silver-haired man and former general of SOLDIER.
"Zack!" Zeus called out, making Zack stop in his tracks, before the former told him, more cautionly and softly this time, "Be very careful."
"You got it." Zack promised, racing out of the door as Zeus left his statue body via lightning and returned to Mount Olympus and everything was once again silent in the temple, save for Zack's rapid footsteps.
But just as he just stopped at the entrance to use the Starshard to find Sephiroth, Zack felt the familiar painful jolt he felt so many times in many weeks, and shut his eyes tight, holding his head as he felt dizzy, his vision darkening. He knew what this meant, and it came at such a bad time as well.
"Ugh!...not...now!" Zack grunted, before his world end black before he even hit the ground, once again brought into his dreams. Only this time, they were no longer be called dreams; they were painful flash-backs of his previous life.
(Fragments from Zack's Dreams/Memories)
(~The Key of Darkness-KH:BBS~)
Fragment 51: From that day, Sephiroth shut himself inside Shinra Manor... and proceeded to review document after document, like a man possessed. The lights in the basement never went off... And on the seventh day...Zack decided that he should find out what was really going on, the awful gut feeling in his stomach steadily growing worse. Cloud somewhat shared the concern and so did Tifa.
So, the young 1st Class SOLDIER ventured back into the Library of the Manor, only to find himself more concerned as Sephiroth was strangely laughing and even called him a traitor. Zack asked why, and Sephiroth told him.
"Long ago, catastrophe struck this planet." Sephiroth spoke, a completely changed man, somewhat glaring at Zack, continuning, "Your ancestors survived by scurrying about and hiding in fear. The planet escaped certain doom through the sacrifice of the Cetra. After which, your kind would multiply and assume control over the planet as if nothing had happened."
Zack didn't understand what his friend was talking about, believing that Sephiroth was finally going nuts, "So what does that have to do with you?"
"Don't you see?" Sephiroth snapped calmly, glaring at Zack as though he just became one of his most hated enemies in his life, "There is Jenova, an Ancient unearthed from a 2000-year-old stratum. And then, there is the Jenova Project.
The aim of the project was to create a human being with the powers of a Cetra."
The silver-haired General turned his back to Zack, concluding, "Thus, they created me."
"Created...?" Zack gapped, shocked and horrified. No...it couldn't be true. Even Sephiroth was an experiment from ShinRa? Just like both Angeal and Genesis? What kind of dark secrets did the Company he worked for really hold? Zack then thought he heard three other voices in his head, one that sounded strangely like Cloud's, another that sounded a little high-pitched, and the third sounded like a teenaged girl's, all sharing the same horrified feeling he was feeling.
Did that mean, behind his back, Zack himself, along with the other SOLDIERs who joined, Kunzel and such, Sebastion and Essai who both lost their lives to the AVALANCHE terrorists that were giving the Turks a devstating hard time, were all implanted not mako cells but secretly used as weapons for evil purposes? Were the Wutaiin troopers right all along?
Fragment 52: When Zack chased after Sephiroth who pushed him out of the way, what he arrived in sank his heart and filled him with sheer horror. Nibelhiem was engulfed and swallowed in the burning flames. He found Cloud crippled on the ground as the young trooper had been knocked down but was thankfully still alive.
"Cloud! Are you okay?" Zack cried out, worriedly.
"Y-Yeah...but...Sephiroth..." Cloud muttered, panting as though he couldn't believe what was going on either, and Zack couldn't blame him. Now he felt slightly relieved to have warned his younger friend not to join SOLDIER.
As Zack gazed up a little, his eyes widened in further horror. Many people, the innocent citizens of the village...all lying in pools of blood and burning in the heat of the flames. One of them was an older woman close to her 40's, having blond hair that was just like Cloud's, dead as well. Zack correctly guessed that the woman was Cloud's mother.
"How could you...?" Zack grunted, breathing heavily as he stood up, tears forming his eyes. He turned around and saw the very man whom he once admired had caused all of this. Sephiroth smiled almost evilly, his cat-like eyes gleaming, his long sword in hand, and the flames were strangely not effecting him, stood there. If anything, it was as if the fires weren't there at all, when Sephiroth turned and calmly walked away...leaving the town to be destroyed by the fires and most of the town's population left to die.
"Sephiroth...how could you...?" Zack asked, his fists shaking. This was all Genesis's and AVALANCHE's fault! First Angeal, then Sebastion and Essai, and now Sephiroth!
Tears threatening to escape, Zack knew he had to stop Sephiroth, there and now. He immediately made to follow, but to his shock, both the Mayor of the town followed, and then to his further shock, Tifa, in anger herself, went up the hill.
"Tifa, wait!" Zack called out, racing to follow, fearing for her safety.
Fragment 53: Zack had made it to the Mako Reactor, but was too late to stop Sephiroth from killing Tifa's father who was the Mayor, and injuring Tifa, who had been crying and was consumed by anger for the loss of her father and her village, blindlessly blamed ShinRa for everything. Zack felt guilt, knowing that he had been just as gullible as Tifa had been all this time, wishing he never joined SOLDIER in the beginning. But more than anything, he wished he could've stopped Sephiroth from killing so many innocent lives.
He attempted to reason with him at first, but Sephiroth was now long gone, replaced by a madman that was inside Sephiroth's body, ranting about going to some Promised Land, calling a very terrifying alien-like woman in a tank Jenova, his mother. Another dark secret he never knew. With no choice and having lost another friend, Zack attempted to fight him, but after a fierce battle, failed and was knocked back out of Jenova's room.
Zack had lost his grip at the Buster Sword, but felt it leave him as he weakly realised that Cloud had caught him and in blind anger, stabbed Sephiroth right through the stomach. But Sephiroth survived, even as Cloud tended to Tifa's wounds, now without his helmet. Zack told him to finish him off, so Cloud, in anger for the loss of almost everything he knew, and with incredible strength he never knew, fought against the Silver-Haired General, and despite being fatally wounded, knocked him into the Mako Pool below. Despite this, both Cloud and Zack passed out.
Fragment 54: Against their will and against the wishes of Tseng, Reno and Rude, Hojo had arrived and used Zack, Cloud and the survivors of Nibelhiem as experiments, never allowed to leave. Unknowinlgy to Zack, four years later, he awoke and decided to leave SOLDIER behind, managing to escape with an unconscious Cloud, escaping the manor with changing Cloud's mako-poisoned clothes for a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform he found, which suited his friend.
The two then escaped, with the aid of Cissnei who told Zack that he and Cloud were not longer considered as people, but experiments. Despite this, she allowed them to leave with a motorbike after she realised what happened to him and Cloud. Remembering his parting words to Aerith, Zack decided to head back to Midgar to see her, while having come to terms that, despite not having gone against the Company, he wasn't human to them anymore, but a traitor, an experiment subject, and a rouge SOLDIER, and Cloud was just an unconscious running corpse. This didn't stop Zack, however.
(~End The Key of Darkness~)
Groaning as Zack finally came back to his senses, the young man pushed himself up, and after shaking his head to rid the dizzy spells, he sighed in rejection and finally accepting the answers that had been brought to him all this time, but had been too stubborn to accept it, until now.
He finally discovered the truth.
"I get it now. This is what Genesis, Yen Sid and Zeus have been trying to tell me all this time." Zack told himself. He was in the adapted Midgar 8,000 years ago, where Kingdom Hearts was the heart of the original world. He really was the Zack in his dreams; the same person-SOLDIER 1st Class. Everyone else he met on this journey, Aerith, Yuffie, Cloud, the Turks, and Sephiroth, and even Angeal, they were reborn too, just like him. But none of them had any memories...until now. At least, Zack, Cloud and Sephiroth were regaining their memories.
He gazed up at the now night sky, the stars lit up. "Angeal...I wish I knew sooner. My dreams-no, my memories, they're my key." Zack soberly spoke up, hoping that his deceased friend was hearing him.
He knew now, he had to stop Sephiroth before history does repeat itself. Zack once again used the Starshard to take him to the former crazed general, hoping that at least he wouldn't fall into the same path of darkness as he did back in their previous lives. He felt himself being wisked away once more.
(~The Key-KH:BBS~)
Unfortunately, as Zack reappeared from the Starshard, at first he thought he was seeing the same dream of Nibelhiem burning again, but it was too real to be a memory. In the engulfing flames of a village that was burning right before his eyes, he felt the intensed heat all around him, Zack felt his heart freeze, his blood frozen cold. There in the middle of the fire that destroyed everything in the village he quickly realised to his horror was his home town of the present, the very person he feared would go berserk once again had fallen into darkness.
Zack failed to stop him again.
"What a coincedince." Sephiroth spoke darkly, having sensed Zack's arrival as he turned to face him. "Too late to stop me, just like in Cloud's hometown of Nibelhiem."
This couldn't be happening. It can't be happening! Not again!
"Sephiroth! What'd you do!?" Zack exclaimed, his fists shaking as he tightened them.
"Doing something to ease myself." Sephiroth answered, as though it was a mere conversation and wasn't even sorry at all. He then grinned a sinister grin that Zack recongised in their past lives, "I'm not done yet. Cloud is part of me, and I am part of him. His darkness is me, therefore, he is mine." as darkness covered his clothes, changing into a black darker version of his coat, red strapes, dark wags that symbolized darkness before the dark mist faded.
"Cloud!?" Zack gasped. Did this mean Sephiroth, now that he has his memories back, had truly fallen into darkness and now was going to get his revenge on the very spiky-blonde haired young man whom now was in grave danger? "What are you going to do to him!?" He demanded, standing to fight if he had to.
"To show him his realself." Sephiroth simply answered, extending his right arm and like on Genesis and Angeal, a single black wing appeared, before lifting himself off the ground and took off, before Zack could catch him.
"Sephiroth!" Zack shouted, but cursed loudly at himself for his failure. If only he was faster. Damn it! It really was Genesis's fault! And despite not knowing who the elder man was, it was his fault as well for approaching Sephiroth and ranted about darkness. Just Zack quickly remembered what Yen Sid told him about the fates of Terra, Ven and Aqua, and Sephiroth's meeting took place eight years ago, around the same time as the trio had vanished to horrible fates.
Before Zack could pounder more into this, another one of his archenemies appeared, saying cockingly, "Oh, things are burning up-just the way I like it."
"Shut up, Hades!" Zack snapped, while trying to hold in his anger, since he didn't want to end up falling into darkness. "I don't have time for you!"
Hades ignored him, and mocked the young swordsman, enjoying the utter despair and anger that was developing, "How can you be a hero if you can't even save your own home town, kid?"
"Shut up!" Zack shouted this time.
"Face it, you're nothing more than(Zack shouted in the middle of the mockery, "SHUT UP! I'm Warning you!") a loser, with a capital "L"." Hades continued, ignoring Zack's yells and warning, grinning evilly.
Zack breathed heavily, lowering his head down in guilt, despair, anger, hate and humilation. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Hades was right. Zack failed at so many things, both in his past and in his current life. Despite helping his friends in doing the right thing, he finally accepted that he was no good in being a hero as much as anyone else. Worse part is, he was feeling so much of the feelings in his heart, it was drawing him into darkness. The darkness in his heart was growing, and Zack couldn't do a thing about it.
But at the same time, Zack still refused to let his darkness control him just as it had controlled Sephiroth. And now, Cloud was in serious danger of falling into darkness. Zack had to try and save his friend, who lost so much in his past life. He had to go back to Midgar. Now.
"This isn't about my childhood dream anymore." Zack finally spoke up, which puzzled Hades, while continuing, "This is about my friends. About who I really am."
He looked up to glare at Hades, grunting, "You don't know half of what's going on, Hades; God or not." taking a few steps back before saying for the final time, slowly coming to accept his upcoming fate and he didn't care if he had to die in order to protect his remaining friends, "If I don't come back here alive, then I guess I'll be seeing you in the Underworld."
With that, Zack once again used the power of the Starshard, and by his wishes, the item wisked him away back to where his very beginning had started and now he was going to attempt to end the 8,000 year old curse.
While a little surprised at this unusual event, Hades sighed and grumbled to himself. "What's with guys these days? Jeez louise." (~End The Key~)
Little did Hades know, that despite Zack's words, he wouldn't even be seeing the mortal's soul in the Underworld what so ever. Not even when Zack's fate was already sealed, along with Cloud's destiny.
By the time Zack had arrived back in the world of the Midgar Fragment, he found that Sephiroth had already caused some damage even to the Midgar Ruins. It was late at night, and some buildings were damaged, which evidence of sword slashes done by the masamune, and near the blocked road leading to the ruins, Zack spotted a familiar young woman with long back hair in a very loose ponytail, wearing a white tank top with straps, black shorts with matching boots, and boxing fingerless red gloves.
And she was crippled.
Horrified and disbelieved, Zack immediately rushed over to the young woman who looked no older than nineteen years old, and he knew, upon seeing her tear-soaked face with red-brown eyes, it was another one of those chosen to be reborn and now had suffered something she most likely didn't remember yet.
'Tifa...' Zack thought with guilt, as he knelt down, asking with grave concern, "Are you okay!?" before noticing a deep slash wound in her stomach that was still bleeding.
Tifa, having came to Edge to visit Cloud, but instead had been attacked by a raging silver-haired man whom haunted her in her dreams lately for the last couple of weeks, looked up to see a strangely familiar young man gazing at her, tears falling freely from her eyes, as she slightly sobbed.
"Stay down. Take it easy." Zack told her, giving her as much comfort as he could, and even pulled out some bandages the Turks gave him on his last visit just in case and thanked his lucky stars that they did that. He quickly bandaged Tifa's wound as best as he could to stop the bleeding, before settling her to lean against a building, hoping to come back to her to get her off to the hospital.
Right now, he had to stop Sephiroth. With that in mind, Zack once again took off, but didn't have to look far. He found him in the middle of an abandoned street, standing there alone and not fazed by Zack's sudden appearence.
"Cloud will arrive. Soon, his true purpose will be revealed." Sephiroth spoke evilly, as though he had an ability to foresee the future.
"NO!" Zack cried out, "Sephiroth, don't do this! Cloud doesn't deserve this!"
(~The World's Enemy-CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTASY VII~)
"Then prove it to me." Sephiroth challenged, raising his sword into a fighting position, with the same crazed and mind-lost gaze in his eyes.
Zack couldn't believe this was happening again. He finally came to realise that words no longer reached to the man in front of him, and forced himself to steel up and draw forth the Buster Sword, grunting in dismay, "What has the Darkness done to you!?"
Zack then quickly blocked Sephiroth's fast attacks before forcing himself to back off and leap out the way before he ended up a kabab on masumune and had to only keep on leaping out of the way to avoid in getting killed. Even as Zack saw his chance once Sephiroth got close, he attempted to thrust at him with the blunt-side of the Buster Sword, but ended up missing, before he was kicked in the stomach and collasped to the ground. However, Zack managed to get to his feet and avoided the sword once more, as Sephiroth brought down the masumune whirling arc-hits that crash-locked up with the big sword. Zack drove back with the rage in his eyes.
Sephiroth wound for a single-slash, but Zack knew his technique now. He jerked forward into his own slash that cancelled out the masamune's in a ringing echo. He dove to get even footing but Sephiroth blocked him. That thin steel tip whirled in slitting whips. Whizzing hot steel sliced Zack's cheek, and his hand flew to his face as he leapt back. Zack then attempted to use his wind spell that he mastered through training, and then held a tight grip on the hilt of his sword, and then spun around three times, which created his tornado spell that surprisingly caught Sephiroth. Zack then conjoured up his Thunder spell to add to the effects in hopes to keep Sephiroth occupied.
However, Sephiroth easily sliced through the attack and launched himself forward, attempting to slice Zack into millions of pieces, but the younger man blocked each attack as hard as he could before dodge-rolling out of the way. He then blasted a fire spell at Sephiroth arm. While it did cause some burns, that only made the crazed man even more furious before he suddenly disappeared in feathers, and as Zack searched around for him, the silver-haired man reappearing above him, mumuring words, "Meteor." as a rift opened above him. Out of the rift of space and time several small chunks of flaming rocks rained down that were the size of Mickey, hurling towards Zack who ended up running to avoid the crashing large rocks of fire that caused vibrations on the ground which made cracks.
Sephiroth then made a Quadruple Slash at Zack who had trouble blocking it, even by using his new barrier spell he learned from both Merlin and via Materia use from Reno, before screaming out in agony as his enemy used another powerful move Octaslash that gave Zack deep severe wounds in his chest, arms, legs and stomach, knocking him back once more to the ground. He only had time to roll out of the way but realised he was getting slower and weaker, as Sephiroth teleported to get to him and Zack only had enough time to block the masamune before he ended up losing his head all together. Zack quickly used a healing potion to at least get half of his health and strength back before deciding to use his special attack when he first fought the Heartless in Traverse Town and fighting against Genesis in Modeohiem.
"Here we go! Go! Go! Go!" Zack yelled as he striked at him, upwards, downwards, left, right, corner-right down, corner-left down, corner-right up, and corner-left down, finishing off with a final single line strike, this time successfully knocking a slightly stunned Sephiroth back.
None the less, Sephiroth wasn't fazed by this and counterparted by using a combination of Firaga and Blizzaga that caused both burns and painful ice freezes at Zack who didn't have time to block them, before he quickly blocked Sephiroth's masamune once more as the silver-haired man teleported in front of him. The two clashed again from side, to up, to down, to side again, and tried to stab each other, but kept on blocking each other's attacks, though Zack was having serious trouble as he ended up having yet more cuts to his body which were still bleeding.
Zack jumped out of the way and blocked the second attempt before dodge-rolling. He then thrusted his sword in a powerful downward thrust at Sephiroth who leaped away before he could even get a scratch on him. Once again Zack was caught off-guard as Sephiroth suddenly appeared behind him and just as Zack turned around, again he was too slow as Sephiroth slashed and sliced at him several times in high speed before knocking him back several feet.
(~End The World's Enemy~)
Screaming out in agony, Zack crashed onto the ground after having rolled and slid to a stop on the hard road, back to where he left Tifa. He lost his grip on the Buster Sword which landed next to him, scattered. He was out to count, exhausted, bleeding and his vision started to go all dark.
Just as Cloud arrived. When he had noticed something unusal from his hotel room he'd been staying at for the last weeks, he immediately followed it after having a terrible feeling that made him fear for the worse. When he arrived, his eyes widened in sheer horror at the sight before him. Cloud gasped, before kneeling at the wounded and now unconscious Tifa, muttering her name, before catching glimpse at another friend and horror grew higher, seeing a defeated and weakened Zack on the ground. Immediately he felt that this scene was familiar, something he'd seen in his dreams last week.
"Zack..." Cloud muttered, unable to say anything else.
(~Dread of Night-KH:DDD~)
"So you finally arrived, Cloud." Sephiroth spoke as he paused just five feet from the trio, as Cloud looked up, his eyes widening in horror and disbelief, recongising the man from his nightmares, and unable to believe that the horrors of Sephiroth's wrath had actually come true. How could this be? "Perfect timing."
'No...how could...how could he do this!?' Cloud thought furiously, blaming himself for being unable to protect Tifa like his promised, and that Zack had lost the fight against the madman.
Zack noticed his friend, and despite feeling guilty for having to put Cloud who was oblivious to his past at the moment, knowing that it was very unfair that Cloud had to put up with facing Sephiroth all over again, grunted weakly, "Cloud...finish Sephiroth off..." using those words he said to his friend 8,000 years ago.
Gazing at his friend in shock, Cloud realised that Zack was asking him to finish off Sephiroth. He didn't know why, but suddenly Cloud wanted vengence, revenge and make Sephiroth pay for his crimes. So without hesitation, he stood up and rushed over to grab the Buster Sword, surprisingly feeling as though he used this weapon before, and the sword did feel strangely light, before he leaped over to the silver-haired man, screaming in fury, "SEPHIROTH!"
Cloud leaped up before thrusting the Buster Sword down at him, but was blocked by Sephiroth's fast movement, clinging against the masamune with sparks that lasted for a few seconds, before the latter simply thrusted and knocked Cloud behind him as the younger man cried out before landing ten feet away as he rolled to a stop, fortunately with the Buster Sword still in his hand.
'Damn!' Cloud cursed to himself. Just then, sensing movement, he quickly rolled out of the way before Sephiroth could skewer him like a pathetic scrap of meat with the ridiculously long sword. Cloud struggled to stand, having been easily outmatched by the now former hero who had turned into some kind of monster, especially with the unusual black wing, just like Genesis had.
"You should know better, Cloud, than to test me." Sephiroth warned darkly. At least, he would get his revenge, draw his enemy crippled before him into never-ending darkness. Cloud will see what it's like to live in darkness.
"How could you do this!?" Cloud shouted, finding unusual strength grow inside him, as though something within his heart was calling out to him, to use some sort of power. Without any thoughts of his own safety, Cloud raced foward and clashed against Sephiroth who was shocked by the sudden recovery as Cloud slashed and clashed against him as though he remembered how to fight.
Unknown to everyone, Tifa, in her unconscious form, must've cried out to her friend as though she sensed Cloud was in trouble, because her body began to glow in light, which somehow connected to Cloud's heart, as his body now glowed in the same light as he and Sephiroth fought. Cloud gave another yell and pushed on his sword. Sephiroth pushed back, and then his eyes widened in surprise as the masamune was suddenly wrenched from his hands. The blade went flying through the air and out of his reach.
Cloud did not hesitate. He darted forward, breaking through Sephiroth's defences, and swung his sword. The Buster Sword glowed as he struck; landing blows again and again without pause or respite. Sephiroth cried out as each blow hit home, unable to defend himself from Cloud's attack.
For the final blow, Cloud leaped into the air and raised his sword above his head. The tip glowed brightly as all the energy within the blade gathered at that one point. Cloud descended and brought the blade crashing down upon Sephiroth. (~End Dreaed of Night~)
Sephiroth stepped back, moving shakily and clutching at his wounded chest. Blood poured down his face and chest, spilling through his closed fingers and dripping onto the floor. Sephiroth coughed, and the movement caused him to drop his masamune, which clattered onto the floor. Sephiroth took a deep, shaky breath and slowly raised his head.
Cloud panted, before collasping to one knee, holding one hand onto the hilt of the Buster Sword, using the weapon as support, while Sephiroth stared at him with reanewed shock and hatred.
"Impossible! How could...how could you have that kind of power again?" Sephiroth exclaimed. Without waiting for an answer, he warned to his enemy, "Do not think this is over, Cloud. Someday...someday...I will return, and you will give into the darkness!" and with that, he vanished in mixture of light and darkness, away from this world for now.
Cloud only stared at the spot where Sephiroth had disappeared from. He didn't understand what the latter was talking about or how he knew his name, and at the moment, didn't care. He was too exhausted to even consider the man's words right now. At the moment, his mind returned to the injured forms of both Zack and Tifa, and Cloud knew, he had to get back to them, hoping and praying that they weren't dying. If they died now, or if even because of Sephiroth, Cloud would never forgive himself.
But by the time he had slowly managed to get back to his friends, Cloud's strength finally gave way, as the Buster Sword slid from his weak grasp and clattered on the ground, before he collasped right next to Zack on his stomach, losing consciousness from exhaustion.
Zack, only having enough strength to weakly reach out, as he realised that his friend had won the battle for now, and whispered a croak, "Cloud...you did it..." before his hand went limp and his world went black once more.
All three of them were left lying on the ground, unconscious and bleeding.
A little while later...
"I'm tellin' ya, boss! Sephiroth's back and is still as nuts as he was before!" Reno continued to try and have Tseng believe him on what happened a short time ago, which was only about half an hour ago. He and Rude had arrived to investigate more on their enemy, an Organization known as Militas Ultra who had been causing them and the ShinRa Company problems for the past six years, when Sephiroth had arrived and knocked the two Turks unconsious. Now Reno and his partner were reunited with Tseng and Elena who both caught up with them and were on their way to find whatever caused mysterious clashes they heard earlier.
"Are you certain it was Sephiroth and not Genesis?" Tseng questioned.
Reno rolled his eyes, "Pfft! Please, how many guys can wield a ridiculously seven-foot long friggin' sword that can be used as a skewer that'll turn you into a shish-kabob?" referring to the masamune.
"There's no mistaking of Sephiroth's sword." Rude commented in agreement.
Elena held a slightly terrified and concerned expression, questioning, "Can Sephiroth...really do that?"
"'Lena, as far as memories go, that silver-haired twit can kill a behemoth in just a single hit." Reno told the rookie. He was about to continue when, as he and his companions reached at the abandoned street, all four of them froze in their tracks as they saw the crippled forms of Zack, Cloud and Tifa, unconscious and barely even moving.
In shock and fearing for the worst, the four Turks immediately rushed over and checked over on how seriously injured the unconscious trio were, grimly discovering that Tifa's bleeding was being held by a bandage, Zack had cuts all over his body, and Cloud surprisingly suffered minor injuries but practically exhausted. Immediately the Turks knew, that Sephiroth was the case of this.
"Damn! They don't look so good." Reno muttered, quickly fearing for the worst.
Rude had checked their pulses-still active but slowly dimming. "They're still alive, but just barely."
"Will they be able to make it?" Elena asked, worriedly as she checked up on Tifa.
Reno shook his head as he knelt next to Cloud's unconscious form, sighing, "Not if we don't get them to a hospital." as this sight gave him a horrible image that he knew was a memory, one that made him close his eyes and forced himself to calm down. That was the past, he told himself. ShinRa was not the way they used to be anymore. But still, now that he slowly started to remember, the guilt that he most likely held in his previous life was making it's way into his heart.
Sensing the dread in his subordinates, Tseng quickly ordered in his best calm tone, despite that he too was feeling the familiar guilt upon seeing the unconscious forms of the trio, one of them actually being his friend, "Alright. I'll call for the hospital. Reno, Rude, Elena, take the three of them to the chopper and tend to their wounds until we reach the emergancy room."
"Yes, sir!" The three Turks quickly obeyed without hesitation, and while Rude carried Zack by the arms, Reno did the same with Cloud(while mentally grumbling, "Damn, I forgot how heavy you are, spike."), and Elena did the same with Tifa, all of them, with occasional help from Tseng who made the phone call to the Edge hospital, slowly making their way back to their Helicopter, hoping that it wasn't too late.
(Fragments from Zack's Dreams/Memories)
(~Forgotten Tears-DIRGE OF CERBERUS FINAL FANTASY VII~)
Fragment 55: Zack had drove the motorbike with the comatose Cloud in the passenger seat, before they were attacked by the still alive but still degrading Genesis who used his copies to hold Zack captive, and to the younger man's shock, not only he now had part of Jenova inside his system due to the experiments Hojo did to him, but one of the copies pulled out some of Zack's hair and ate it, as Genesis thought his cells would be the cure for the degradation before leaving with his other copies, except the one who had ate Zack's hair and had turned into a monster, which Zack defeated.
Fragment 56: Still travelling towards Midgar as Zack knew, on foot or by driving, it would take a year, he and Cloud had arrived at his hometown of Gongaga, but hesitated and decided that it was a bad idea to visit his parents, especially with the situation going on. He met up with Cissnei again who told him that Angeal was sighted, and that she wasn't in the mood in being on the job right now, also telling him that his parents are alright, just worried, and that she found that they were very nice people, and when asked about her parents, she replied that she's an orphan, raised by ShinRa, before taking her leave, but not before admitting that "Cissnei" isn't her real name.
Fragment 57: Zack was once again confronted by Genesis and Hollander who, in order to prevent himself from getting killed, injected himself with Genesis' cells despite now suffering the same degradation. The villians then took off and attempted to use Cloud's cells, before Zack and Cloud were aided by Angeal who is later revealed to be another Angeal copy, while Genesis left, and Zack finally killed Hollander.
The copy that saved Zack and Cloud was actually Lazard who had injected himself with Angeal's cells and had admitted that he was wrong, and decided now that he wants and needs to save the world from Genesis's wrath. The two decide that they need to stop Genesis once and for all, and after some thinking, Zack finally realised, as Genesis is always carrying a Dumbapple with him, he knew where to look for the man. With that, the trio joined and took off for the final showdown against Genesis.
(~End Forgotten Tears~)
A/N: The only reason why I've written the flash-backs as a sort of narration is because I'm now focusing on the main dialogue and fights and such in the present-day, since everyone knows how the original Crisis Core went despite that I changed a few things earlier on, and future final past memories of Zack will also be altered. In the meantime, we're almost at the ending of this story!