Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.
A/N--Angeal Valentine wished everyone to know that it was her idea to kill Sephiroth last week—it wasn't mine! I do apologize for posting this so late, however. I was still revising it two days later than normal!
Cloud glared up at Hewley—Hewley's sword was still pressed to Cloud's chin—then beyond Hewley, Cloud spotted Zack, the Buster Sword still in Zack's hand. If he could just get to it, then he could at least fight back! Cloud looked at Hewley—he didn't believe the man intended to kill him, at least not yet. While slowly straightening on his knees, Cloud moved his hands behind his back, let the sword rise to stay near his throat, and kept eye contact with Hewley.
"Why are you fighting? What are you protecting?" Hewley asked the Third Class.
"I am fighting—to protect Zack! Fire2!" Flames erupted from a green materia orb. With his rising motion, Cloud had kept Hewley's attention away from his hands while Cloud had pulled the materia from a back pocket.
Hewley put a hand by his face to protect it, stepped back, and waited for the fire to die down. What?! The Third Class wasn't where he had been moments before. Precog! The clone spun as the Buster Sword came toward him. He put up his claymore and blocked the attack.
"Do you really intend to fight me with that?" Hewley asked as he sidestepped.
Cloud lost his balance, stumbled, recovered, and pointed the sword at Hewley. "I do!"
Hewley shrugged and waited as Cloud charged again. He sidestepped yet again and slashed Cloud's back. Cloud howled in pain and staggered to the ground. "You shouldn't use something you're not ready for." Hewley kicked the fallen Third Class and broke several of his ribs. Cloud glared at the former Soldier and clenched his hands about the Buster Sword's hilt. Stand up! Keep going!
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Rufus Shinra opened his PHS. He thought he'd felt it vibrate. "Oh. Tseng." He pushed the screen button for the Turk commander. "Shinra here." Rufus always liked announcing himself in that fashion—as if all the power on Gaia were right there at the end of the line. Kamui shook her head. Pompous ass. Rufus Shinra had grudgingly pulled Argento's sword out of Kamui's abdomen and loaned her a mastered cure materia. Kamui smirked at the memory. She just bet that Shinra's president, while he might own all the materia in the world, couldn't work more than the most elementary of spells with it, if that. Argento the Silver, on the other hand, was clearly dying… Kamui didn't like Argento dying, but they'd only fight again, and who knew who would be the victor…
"Mr. President, Sir! Are you anywhere near the RV's? Dr. Romera is in labor, and Dr. Caperton says she has to be transported to a hospital immediately."
Rufus glanced at his bodyguard. Kamui wasn't doing well, but they were currently unengaged. "We can handle it."
"Mr. President, is Verdot's daughter with you?"
Rufus, annoyed, looked at his bodyguard. "Yes—much to my regret!"
"Please, have her call her father! He hasn't been able to reach her and is very concerned."
Rufus turned to the silver-haired girl, "Hey, call your father! He's worried." Rufus paused then laughed. "Tseng, please assure Verdot that his daughter is alive. He will have to buy her a new phone, however, after she gets done killing hers." Rufus smirked. "She let her battery run out! Idiot!"
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Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes and looked about—blackness. Damn. He'd always suspected it—that when he died, the Lifestream would reject him. There was nothing—just a floating-in-the-dark sensation. Tessa, my love. I'm sorry. Genesis (damn you!) will rip the baby out of you—just to keep himself alive! Sephiroth's stomach clenched at the thought. I couldn't protect you or give us "normal" lives. Vincent! Sephiroth tried reaching out to his father. You've got to protect her! Damn. There was nothing there. No response. No mind for his mind to hold to. He closed his eyes. Tessa, I had just found you…
Anger began to consume Sephiroth—anger at Genesis and at himself. If he had never met Tessa, never wanted children, would any of this have happened? Yes, he had to concede. Genesis would still have attacked Shinra, somehow, someway. Sephiroth nodded with the certainty of that realization. Next, however, came despair. Sephiroth had known despair before, but he knew now there was not even the possibility of death to ease the pain—death eased nothing… Eternity and madness loomed before him… There was no hope…
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Zack… Major Niven… the General… everyone's counting on me! Cloud pushed himself to his knees.
"It seems Zack didn't do a good job of teaching you when to stay down," Hewley kicked Cloud in the ribs again.
Cloud grunted and pressed his arm to his chest. His broken ribs hurt, but the pain receded when he thought about letting everyone down. He could feel a wave of energy—the tingle that only came when he burned mako. Cloud grasped the Buster Sword tightly in both hands and stood up. "No… he didn't!" The young Soldier charged and knocked aside Hewley's hastily raised claymore. Jump! Cloud leapt into the air and stabbed the clone, a red energy trail following him. He slashed his stab sideways. The huge Buster Sword cut Hewley nearly in two, ripped his internal organs, and fractured Hewley's bones! Blood and tissue fanned out in a wide, thick arc. The remaining halves of Hewley fell to the ground in bloody heaps, followed closely by a bloodstained Cloud. Cloud panted and clutched his chest for a moment before remembering, "Zack!" Dragging the Buster Sword behind him, Cloud ran. "ZACK!"
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What was that?! Sephiroth opened his eyes and turned his head. Had that been a sound? A voice? There was no light, but there had been a sound. He was sure of it. He rotated into what felt like an "upright" position and waited for the sound to come again… "Who's there?!"
"You're awake! Welcome!" A woman's voice said the words with a smile. Suddenly, a face shimmered and sparkled before Sephiroth's eyes—a woman's face, limned in light, shaped like his own. Long brown hair tumbled in a ponytail from a thick gathering at the top of her head. Sparks, like fireflies, danced around her and dripped from her hair. Startled, Sephiroth recognized her though he'd only seen one picture of her—Lucrecia Crescent! His mother! As Sephiroth gazed at her, a shimmering light that emanated from her pushed away the darkness, and the rest of her body appeared.
"Mother?!" Sephiroth reached a hand toward the woman, and only then realized that his hand also sparkled. She looked at his hand, smiled, and her face brightened even more. Lucrecia placed her own hand in his. Sephiroth looked at her hand; startled, he looked back at her face. Her hand was translucent within his solid one; it felt more like a breath of wind than the touch of a hand. "Mother… Is it really you? Or am I going mad? Can I finally use that word? Mother?!"
Lucrecia nodded and smiled. "Yes, I'm you're mother, and no, you're not insane… Rather, you have crossed the boundary between life and death." Lucrecia looked away from him and beckoned with her other hand. A tiny hand, just as translucent and luminous as Lucrecia's, placed itself in her hand. A tiny baby girl shimmered into view and floated into Lucrecia's arm. The baby looked shyly up at Sephiroth. Lucrecia leaned her head near the baby's ear. "Angel, darling. This is your father."
Sephiroth felt himself shake, and his eyes widened in surprise—this was the child they had lost! In the ambulance between the hospital and Shinra, Tessa and he had given her a name. Tessa would want so badly to see her! Sephiroth reached a hand toward the baby's head. She had his face—Lucrecia's face—his green, mako-enhanced, cat-slit eyes, his arching bangs and silver hair, and—his heart turned over—Tessa's smile. At least he would be able to have a tiny bit of Tessa here with him in the Lifestream! Angel reached both arms toward him, and he reached his too big hands toward the infant. Would she break? She seemed so tiny and fragile… Sephiroth took her cautiously and cradled her in the crook of his elbow. "Angel!" He kissed her silver hair and saw a tear, like a firefly, land on her head. He barely felt Lucrecia's hand brush his bangs back from his face.
"Sephiroth! My son! In this instant you have a choice. Rhapsodos did not completely separate your soul from your body. After all, no one can actually cause the Goddess' benevolence to be forsaken… As much as I might wish for you to stay here with me, if you want to go back across the boundary, you can. Remember, you have another child waiting for you there. Don't regret anything about Angel. She is here with me, and she'll always be with her sister, Lucrecia… Little Lucy. Thank you for that…"
Sephiroth's head jerked, and he stared at his mother, astonished. "Mother, I could stay here, with you? Truly?" Sephiroth sighed. He knew he couldn't stay—not if he had a choice. "Will you be all right? Will Angel, really?"
"Yes… I rather thought that would be your decision…" Lucrecia pushed back his bangs again, this time moving them behind his ear. Her touch took the pain away from Genesis' sword cut. "Until you come to join us, we'll be waiting... Angel and I, and even to some extent Lucy too, have one foot on each side of the boundary. Because of that, the Lifestream lets us go and do rather remarkable things. And therefore, just remember, you are never truly alone. Angel and I will always be with you, and with Lucy, Tessa… even…" Her voice trailed off and a look of sorrow passed over her features.
"Vincent." Sephiroth said the name quietly, then he felt a soft tug on his head. Angel had grabbed a lock of his hair and was pulling it toward her tiny mouth. Both Sephiroth and Lucrecia laughed and smiled at each other.
"Yes."
"Is there anything you want me to tell him?" Sephiroth placed another kiss on Angel's head then handed her back to Lucrecia, his hand lingering on the baby. Angel grasped his finger in a grip that was strong despite her translucency and tiny size. That grip brought a smile to Sephiroth's face.
Lucrecia smiled gently at the scene but shook her head. "No, it would tear him to pieces…" Lucrecia looked directly at her son. "There is something important I need you to do, however." Puzzled Sephiroth looked back at her. "When this is over, you and he must look for the Fountain of Chaos. It may help him understand… To find it, you and Tessa will need the information in my research notes. They're buried deep in the Shinra computer systems. The password is 'meddlesome Turk'…" She looked back at the infant cradled in her arm. "It's time for your father to go, Angel. He's got to go home to your sister and mother, sweetheart."
Lucrecia raised her eyes again to her son's; the look on her face was suddenly sad. "How do you say 'good-bye' to the son you've just met?" Tears, streams of light, ran down her face. "Hojo wouldn't even let me see you… hold you... not once…" With her empty hand she touched his cheek. "Remember, you're never alone. Until it is truly your time to come here, you have me—us—watching over you."
"And if you're watching over me, is there some way I can contact you?" It seemed to Sephiroth that there ought to be a way, especially if she straddled the "boundary."
Lucrecia nodded. "In dreams."
Sephiroth gasped. The nightmare of Lucy grown into Jenova, attacking him, and then being stopped by two infant faces had resurfaced in his mind. Sephiroth took Lucrecia's hand from his face and kissed her fingers—Angel still held a finger of his other hand.
Lucrecia looked up over Sephiroth's shoulder. "Lucy, come here, sweetheart. You can show your father the way home."
Sephiroth followed her gaze to see another infant materialize. This one was solid, like him. The baby looked him in the eye and then smiled tentatively. Lucy. His daughter, Lucrecia Valentine.
"Mother. Thank you." Sephiroth watched them fade. "I love you!" He almost hadn't said it! Sparks danced away in swirls then winked out, and the blackness returned. "Good-bye..." He turned toward Lucy. She smiled again then seemed to back away from him. He took two steps toward her then light fanned out from behind her blocking even the baby from his view.
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Niven knelt beside Zack and pulled an empty syringe of Antidote out of Zack's arm. "You should be fine now, Zack."
"How'd he do?" Zack couldn't see Cloud and Hewley very well. Niven was in the way.
Niven looked over his shoulder at the fight just ending across the field. "Considering he used a sword he's never touched before, not bad." Niven glanced at Zack. "I owe you an apology. I sent him over here to help you. I thought he'd give you an antidote, then I remembered he's not covering bio spells and poisons for another two weeks."
"It's okay. I knew as soon as I told him not to go after Angeal he would. As soon as I saw the clone use a snake-disarm, I knew Cloud would be all right, though Cloud should have been able to counter it more quickly."
"Sneaky way to train a Third Class. Did you teach him that jump-stab-slice combo?"
"Nope. Must have come up with that one on his own."
Niven looked more closely at Zack. "You've got to get up, you know. With the General gone, you're in command. You'll have to stop Genesis."
Zack closed his eyes hard in pain. Seph gone. Not possible. "I know. Have Malik join us. Then we'll go after Genesis." Niven nodded, retrieved his sword, and moved away. Was that really why, Angeal? Because Genesis was your brother, not just your oldest, best friend? How was that possible? And how was it possible that Seph could be gone? Put sorrow aside; Zack knew how to do that, or at least he'd thought he had, until he'd seen Angeal again. Push grief away… Seph!… Precog—deal with the living now—Cloud was coming. Zack turned his attention to his young friend, "Cloud, I-"
"You're okay!" Cloud smiled then added, "Sir." Suddenly Cloud began coughing violently and fell to the ground. Blood! Damn, his ribs…
"Cloud!" Zack sat up, plunged his hand into a pocket, and retrieved a mastered cure materia. "Cure3." Zack watched as Cloud's coughing slowed and his breathing eased. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm better now," he nodded. "What about you?"
Zack turned his head and looked at the disappearing form of the Hewley clone. "Angeal… I'm sorry." One of the little green sparks that had been something like Angeal Hewley approached and hovered before Zack's face, then disappeared into the sky. Zack looked over at Genesis' circle. At least Seph's body wasn't disappearing just yet, but Zack could see Genesis walking away. About a hundred feet beyond Genesis were Vincent Valentine, and, Zack's heart found its way into his throat, Tessa…
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Sephiroth's eyes snapped open, and his lungs exploded for air. Alive! He panted for a moment, sucked in more air, and regained his bearings. That was right. Genesis had killed him! Genesis had used a spell he hadn't recognized! No one can actually cause the Goddess' benevolence to be forsaken. For an instant, his mother's voice rang across his mind. Sephiroth staggered to his feet, and the Masamune thudded to the ground as he glared at Rhapsodos' form. Genesis was moving toward Tessa and Vincent! Sephiroth clenched his right hand and focused all his spirit energy into his fist. "I'm not dead yet, you piece of shit!"
Sephiroth charged and punched his wing hard through the leather of his shredded coat as Genesis turned. "SUPER NOVA!" Sephiroth's right hand burst into brilliant white light. The ex-Soldier's eyes grew wide as Sephiroth slammed his fist into Genesis' stomach and grasped Genesis' coat collar with his left. Have to get away from everyone! Sephiroth wasn't sure his wing would lift them both, so he launched them with a jump instead, then with a down stroke of the wing, propelled them higher into the air. The force of Super Nova slammed into Genesis, and ripped away first pinpricks, then bits, and finally chunks, of Rhapsodos' body. As the pieces exploded, beams of white light emerged where the bits had been. Genesis struggled, punching and kicking at the end of Sephiroth's arm. When the burning traitor attempted to fly off his fist, Sephiroth moved his left hand from Genesis' collar and reached for Genesis' black wing. Wrapping his arm around the wing's muscles and holding it tightly, Sephiroth wrenched the wing from Genesis' shoulder and flung the appendage away. Feathers scattered in a wide arc. Re-grasping Genesis' coat, Sephiroth started to remove his hand from Genesis' abdomen in preparation for letting his former friend fall to the distant ground.
Rhapsodos, still alive, glared at the General with hatred, mere inches from Sephiroth's face:
If this world seeks my destruction...
... It goes with Me
Loveless, Act V
Genesis' light-veined hands rose to Sephiroth's throat in a last attempt to strangle his former friend. His fingers, however, fell from his hands, and Sephiroth's neck, one-by-one—except for one. Genesis stuck his final finger—one wrapped with a silver hair—in his mouth before falling away from Sephiroth toward the ground.
Sephiroth let the body plummet. He shook his head and let the light about his hand fade. For a moment Sephiroth hovered in the air staring at the clouds. Jealousy. Genesis had been jealous of Sephiroth's successes and had turned Angeal against him—so much waste. Sephiroth flew to the ground and retracted his wing as he touched down. For now he had to get to, "TESSA!" He ran to the small group huddled on the ground.
"Sephiroth, my love, I thought you were dead." Tessa was lying on her left side on the ground. Behind her, Dr. Caperton was opening a small medical bag and calling for anyone who had water to bring it to him. Around them, the individual battles seemed to be ending.
"I was. I'll have to tell you about it." Sephiroth gathered her in his arms and cradled her as he had Angel in the Lifestream. "Are you alright? How's Lucy?"
Tessa looked at him slightly puzzled. Was he having her dreams too? That the babies had been twin girls? "Dr. Caperton says I'm in labor. That he has to get me to the hospital immediately." Tears came to her eyes. "Sephiroth! It's too early for the baby to be born!"
Sephiroth looked up at Dr. Caperton, who nodded. "It is too early, but Dr. Romera's water has broken. She's having contractions about eight minutes apart, and she may be bleeding internally. If we don't get her to a hospital very shortly, we may well see history repeat itself. There's supposed to be an RV on its way to take us to the hospital."
A/N--This week was my final "Conflict" chapter, but I have too many loose ends for this to be the end of the story. For example, I've only just figured out what is going to happen in Wutai and Gongaga, much less started writing it! Unfortunately, school has started for Angeal Valentine, and I must return to my "busy mom" schedule. I may not be able to continue my once-a-week posting commitment, so please bear with me. I'll try to keep going!