Final Fantasy VII [3rd Instalment]

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Fifteen

"The truth is right there," said Cloud. "We almost have the answer right in the palm of our hands."

He and Tifa were stood together on the stone path. Before them was the entrance to the memory of Nibelheim, where they had first started. The memory was incomplete, and it was only when they stepped onto the dusty path that led into the town that the memory grew and expanded, until the whole town appeared before them. The gentle breeze blew around them, carrying with it the familiar scents of home.

Tifa walked up to the town gate and laid her hand on the wooden post. She knew—they both knew—that they were so close to finding out the truth of everything that had happened. All the lies and false memories would be stripped away, leaving only the naked truth. Until now she had been filled with dread, fearful of what truth she would uncover. Now she was filled with hope and she knew that no matter what truth they found, they would go through it together.

She looked over at Cloud, and saw that same hope in his eyes. For the first time since the Northern Crater… no, before that, ever since Midgar, it felt like things were finally coming together. Hearing Tifa say that he was not just a failed experiment created by Professor Hojo had renewed his sense of hope and gave him new determination to find out the truth. Nibelheim was the key to unlocking it all, of that they were both certain. Cloud also walked up to the gate, his eyes gazing around as though he was taking everything in for the first time. Finally his eyes settled on her, and he nodded. They were ready to go in.

They entered the town. Tifa allowed Cloud to pull ahead of her, watching to see where his instincts would tell him to go. He ran past Gramps' Inn, and past the well, too. He ignored the houses, including his and Tifa's, which stood side by side at the other end of town. He ran past them all, heading for the slope that led up to Shinra Manor and the entrance to Mt. Nibel.

At the slope, Tifa stopped. "Cloud, wait!" she called. He came to a stop and turned to her. The fighter stared at him curiously. "Where are you going?" she asked.

At first Cloud seemed confused by her question, but then his face cleared as he understood. Until then he had been running almost automatically, but now that she asked him… He crossed his arms and gave the matter some thought, his foot tapping absently. Where was he going? As he asked himself this question, a single image flashed into his mind.

"……The reactor……?" he whispered. He turned away from Tifa and thought about it some more. The more he thought about it, the surer he became. He nodded. "To the reactor! The Mako reactor of five years ago!" He ran again, hurrying to the reactor.

Tifa gripped the masamune in her hands. Before her was Sephiroth, trying to wrench the blade from her hands. Tifa closed her fists as tight as she could around the hilt, refusing to relinquish her hold on it. The SOLDIER grabbed her wrists and squeezed, and the young girl cried out in pain. Unwillingly her palms opened and Sephiroth snatched the sword from her grasp. He raised it and brought it down on her.

The blade sliced into her neck and across her shoulder. The force of the blow sent Tifa flying back. Sephiroth's piercing eyes watched coldly as she fell from the platform, her mouth open in a silent cry. She hit the stairs hard, and the first blow sent her senses reeling. Her eyes rolled back and she saw the ceiling spin above her.

She hit the stairs a second time, and this time she was only vaguely aware of the pain. Through glazed eyes she saw something red fall through the air—her own blood. Her vision bounced as she slid down the remainder of the stairs until, finally, she came to a stop. She lay there, unable to move. Her vision was failing, going dark. She breathed faintly, her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Cloud and Tifa watched the events unfold before them. They watched as Tifa's past self struggled with Sephiroth, watched as he slashed her and as she lay bleeding at the foot of the stairs.

They watched as another person ran into the room, just as Tifa hit the stairs for the second time and slid down to the bottom. This person was dressed in the uniform of a SOLDIER First Class, and had spiky hair, and had blue eyes that glowed faintly with the power of mako. He skidded to a halt and stared in wide-eyed horror as he saw the young girl slide to the bottom of the steps, motionless.

"Hey! It's Cloud!" said Tifa.

Sephiroth looked down at the SOLDIER and at the girl he had just slashed, his face cold and uncaring. He then turned away and entered the chamber of Jenova.

Cloud stared long and hard at the SOLDIER who had just run in. It was not him. It was the man from before, the real SOLDIER who had come to Nibelheim that day. The spikes were not short and blond, but long and black. His eyes were brighter and full of confidence. There was the Buster Sword—his sword—strapped to his back. His head began to buzz.

Cloud placed his palm against his head. The buzz was throbbing, almost painful. The SOLDIER's name was on the tip of his tongue. What was it…?

"Za……ck. ……Zac……k."

Cloud faltered; his whole body shook from top to bottom. Of course, he knew this SOLDIER. Somewhere inside him, he had always known. This SOLDIER's face was always there in the back of his mind, but he had pushed it aside without even realising it.

Everything came back to him at that moment, the moment the SOLDIER's name left his mouth. How could he have forgotten such an important memory? Did he really forget it at all? Cloud took a deep, shaky breath and said the SOLDIER's name once more, shaking off the shackles that had chained his memory.

"Zack."

Tifa, who had seen none of this, turned to him in delight. "You remembered!!" she said, smiling broadly.

Before them, the SOLDIER called Zack reached behind him and grasped the hilt of the Buster Sword. He looked at Tifa, lying bleeding before him, and then up at the door leading into the chamber of Jenova. His eyes narrowed. He ran forward, past Tifa and up the stairs, following Sephiroth into the chamber. Cloud watched as the SOLDIER disappeared into the chamber. He heard Tifa speaking beside him.

"That's right! It was Zack who came to Nibelheim with Sephiroth! Then, where were you, Cloud?"

Cloud did not answer her. He simply stared ahead, watching the door closely. After a few moments of entering the chamber, Zack was thrown back out again. The SOLDIER slammed hard into the back of one of the mako pods. The metal dented with the force of the impact, and mako oozed out of the sides of the pod. Electricity crackled around him. Tifa stared at Cloud, and her eyes widened. He had known the SOLDIER's name. If this was indeed the true memory of what happened in Nibelheim that day, then there could be only one way Cloud would know all this. There was only one way he could possibly know that SOLDIER's name…

"Cloud… Did you… see it all?"

Cloud looked up at Zack, lying crumpled against the pod. His body twitched; he could barely move. He tried to lift the Buster Sword, but his strength failed and he sagged against the pod. Cloud tore his eyes away, knowing what was coming next.

"I saw… everything."

Another person ran into the reactor room. Tifa turned to the newcomer. It was a Shinra soldier; she recognised immediately the blue uniform and Shinra insignia on the shoulder pads. This guy was one of the soldiers who had come to Nibelheim along with Zack and Sephiroth to inspect the reactor. There had been two soldiers originally, but one was lost after falling from a cliff during the first trip to the reactor.

Tifa inspected him closely. His uniform was charred and dirty, and he was panting heavily as though he had run a long way. When he saw the scene laid out before him he seemed to freeze. He looked at Tifa and saw the blood pouring from her wounds. His fist clenched and his whole body shook. Gathering himself, he forced his body to stop shaking. He then ran over to Zack and pried the Buster Sword from his hands. Hoisting it up onto his shoulder, he into the chamber of Jenova.

Sephiroth was standing before Jenova, his arms raised in triumph. He was so fixed on Jenova that he did not notice the Shinra soldier come stalking up the pipe behind him. The soldier readied the Buster Sword, grasping it firmly. Only at the last second did Sephiroth realise that he was not alone and started to turn, but by then it was too late. The soldier thrust the sword forward, and Sephiroth cried out as the blade sliced through his gut. The blade came out the other side of the SOLDIER's body and hit the glass of the container holding Jenova. Sephiroth keeled over. He coughed, and flecks of blood dripped from his mouth. More blood dripped down the blade.

"Aaarrrgh……" Sephiroth groaned. He looked at the blade that had impaled him, and then raised his eyes to look at the soldier who had struck the blow. His green eyes blazed, not with pain but with pure rage. "Who… who are you?"

The soldier's response was brutal. He pushed the blade further, and the glass behind Sephiroth cracked. Sephiroth groaned and coughed. A broken voice spoke out from beneath the helmet. "Mom… Tifa… my town… give it back…"

The soldier then pulled on the blade. It came out of the glass, and mako fluid began to leak out of the crack. Sephiroth grunted as the blade slid out of his body, and when he was finally free he fell to his knees, clutching the wound. Blood spilled from between his fingers. Looking up he saw more of his blood on the Buster Sword's blade, dripping onto the pipe. The soldier stepped back away from Sephiroth, retreating. His breath could be heard, loud and heavy, from inside the helmet.

"I had so much respect for you…" he said as he backed off. "I admired you…"

He reached the bottom of the stairs. Lowering the bloodstained sword, he turned away from Sephiroth. His body was shaking from head to foot. He breathed deeply, calming himself. He let go of the Buster Sword, and it clattered onto the floor. Tifa stared at the soldier, and then at Cloud.

"Cloud!?"

The soldier removed his helmet. Tifa's jaw dropped open. Beneath the helmet…… was Cloud. She could scarcely believe her eyes. Cloud lowered his arms, exhaled deeply and rolled his head. The Shinra helmet that had kept his face hidden from view was in his hand. Cloud continued to breathe deeply until, gradually, the shaking stopped.

Tifa put her fingers to her lips, awestruck by what she saw. "That's what happened…" she whispered, realising the real truth.

The landscape began to shimmer and the scenery melted and changed around them. They were now standing in the depths of Mt. Nibel, where the mako fountain flowed. Tifa was there, along with Zack and Sephiroth. And there, standing with them, was a single Shinra soldier. Tifa had almost forgotten that soldier, the one who had survived the fall from the bridge that day. He was an ordinary footman; she had barely noticed him. The soldier was standing to one side, watching Tifa closely.

"…You were there. You were watching me."

The scenery shimmered and shifted again. The Nibelheim Mako Reactor came into view, and Sephiroth and Zack were just disappearing through the door. Tifa, angry at being left behind by the two SOLDIERs, approached the doors. She was stopped by the Shinra footman, who stepped in front of the stairs and blocked her path. He raised a hand and shook his head firmly. Tifa scowled and stamped her foot.

"Yeah, I remember," said Tifa, smiling. "Hmm… So it was you."

Once more the landscape changed, and a scene unfamiliar to Tifa came into being. She found herself standing inside a Shinra truck, riding along the dark dry lands towards Nibelheim. Every so often the truck shuddered as it rode over a rock. Sephiroth was sitting on a crate in front of her. His expression was cold and unreadable. The SOLDIER called Zack was here, too. He paced about the truck, full of energy, and then approached a soldier sitting miserably by the door.

"Hey, Cloud," she heard him say to the soldier. "If you're feeling sick, why don't you take that mask off?"

The soldier raised his head slightly and glanced at Zack. "Yeah……"

Cloud watched his past self as he began unclipping his helmet. "Yeah… this is… me," he said. He sighed and looked away. "I… never made it into SOLDIER. I even left my hometown telling everyone that I was going to join, but…" He shook his head. "I was so embarrassed…… I didn't want to see anybody……"

Tifa reached out and touched his arm. The truck and the people in it vanished, and they were returned once more to the entrance of Nibelheim. Tifa saw herself sitting by the gate, waiting for Shinra to arrive. Sephiroth and Zack approached the town, with Cloud and the other Shinra footman following behind. Cloud, upon seeing Tifa, stopped in his tracks and shook his head. Zack turned and watched as Cloud ran back out of the town, hurrying to replace his helmet. Once the helmet was back on he turned to the town. Zack stared at him, confused, and then shrugged.

It was at this point that Tifa raised her head and spotted the approaching soldiers. She stood up. She looked at Sephiroth and then at Zack. Seeing that neither of them was the person she had been hoping to see, she turned and ran away. She barely even gave the other soldiers a second glance.

Sephiroth had spotted the young girl sitting there, and saw her run, but he did not pay her any more attention than that. He stopped near the gate and turned to Cloud, the Shinra soldier. "How does it feel?" he asked. "It's your first time back to your hometown in a long time, right?"

The scenery changed once again. A great, burning heat rose around them, and Tifa gasped as she suddenly found herself standing inside Nibelheim. The town was ablaze, and the heat was so real she could feel it burn against her skin, making it prickle. It was smothering; she felt like she couldn't breathe.

The bodies of the victims lay scattered around her. Smoke was pouring from every building—nothing was being spared from Sephiroth's vengeful wrath. Movement caught her eye and Tifa turned towards what was once Cloud's house.

Lying on the ground beside the house was a Shinra soldier—the soldier she now knew was Cloud. He lay staring up at the choking smoke, his body twitching, barely able to move. His clothing and armour was charred. Tifa looked up at the house. The door was open, and the smoke coming from inside was so thick she couldn't see through it. He must have been trying to rescue his mother, she realised.

The blaze rose up around them, swallowing up Nibelheim and all the people in it. When the fires faded, they were standing once again inside the mako reactor. Zack lay crumpled against the mako pod; Tifa was at the bottom of the stairs, lying in a pool of blood.

Cloud came out of the chamber of Jenova. The Buster Sword was strapped to his back. He ran down the stairs and knelt by Tifa's side. Her face was pale, but she was still breathing. Gently he lifted her up in his arms and brushed her hair away from her face. At his touch Tifa stirred and her eyes slowly opened. She looked up at him, her pupils glazed. Her mouth opened and she spoke faintly. Cloud lifted her up in his arms and carried her out of the way, placing her by one of the mako pods. She sank against it and slipped into unconsciousness.

Sephiroth stepped out of the chamber. His face was as pale as Tifa's, and he staggered from the loss of blood. He held the masamune in his hands. The long, slender blade was covered in a sickening, black-green substance. He looked down at Cloud, who looked back up at him. The two of them locked gazes. An outraged fury burned in Sephiroth's green eyes, committing Cloud's face forever to his memory.

Cloud looked back at him with equal anger. His eyes were then drawn downward. Sephiroth was holding something in his other hand, something that dripped more of the black-green ooze. Cloud stared, and his eyes widened.

It was Jenova's head. Even though he was wounded and bleeding, Sephiroth had found the strength to break open the container holding the ancient calamity from the skies and, in his madness, had sliced off her head. Was this his idea of being reunited with his 'mother'?

Sephiroth tightened his grip on the tendrils of Jenova's head. "Just like you," he said, his voice deep and growling.

The SOLDIER then began to make his way down the stairs, staggering with each step. Even though he struggled, not once did he lower his head or his sword. He walked right past Zack without even looking at him. His boot splashed in the puddle of blood at the foot of the stairs, but he did not even notice. The only time he stopped was when he reached the door, where he looked down at Jenova's head. He paused, staring at the dismembered head, and then walked out of the room.

Cloud stood up as Sephiroth left, indecisive. He knew he should go after Sephiroth, to try and stop him from leaving. But Zack was injured, and Tifa was close to death. He should stay with them, and…

"Cloud…"

Cloud stopped and looked up at Zack. The SOLDIER struggled to lift his head. He grunted in pain as he looked at Cloud. When he spoke, it was with great effort.

"Kill Sephiroth…"

Zack's words sent a chill down Cloud's spine. He looked up at Zack, who looked back at him. Though his body hurt through and through, he nodded at Cloud. Cloud understood. He reached behind him and grasped the handle of the Buster Sword. Then he ran down the rest of the stairs and followed Sephiroth out the door.

Sephiroth was just about to step onto the bridge. He was still holding his sword, as well as Jenova's head. Cloud stood in the open doorway, his fingers holding the hilt of the massive Buster Sword. Looking at Sephiroth, strolling away without a care, Cloud felt his blood begin to burn. Everything Sephiroth had done here… scorching the town, killing the townspeople, attacking Tifa… Cloud's eyes narrowed in anger. Sephiroth had to pay for it all!

"Sephiroth!!" shouted Cloud. He ran forward, onto the bridge.

Sephiroth stopped and glanced around him. He turned to the side. In a single movement he flicked his twist and thrust the masamune out to his side. The silver blade flashed brightly in the light before it sliced through Cloud's clothes and through his body until it came out the other side. Cloud cried out in pain and stopped, impaled on the blade.

Slowly Sephiroth turned to look at him. His expression was dark and menacing. "Don't… push… your luck…" he warned, his voice a harsh whisper.

He pulled on the blade, but instead of pulling it out, he lifted the blade up. He lifted Cloud up off the ground. Blood dripped down the masamune's blade and dripped onto the bridge. Cloud's head fell back, and his eyes widened in pain, but he could not scream. The pain was too great—too great for him to bear.

Then he remembered Zack, who was counting on him to kill Sephiroth and end his reign of terror here and now. He remembered Tifa, who lay dying or possibly even dead in the next room. He remembered the town, a burning inferno, its innocents slaughtered in the name of Sephiroth's revenge for the Ancients who were sacrificed saving the planet from disaster.

Remembering this, Cloud realised that he could not let Sephiroth leave this place alive. He had to get revenge for everything Sephiroth had done, and he would not give up until he had his revenge.

Cloud shook his head and bit his lip, letting its pain bring back some control of his body. He raised his head and grabbed hold of the masamune's long, slender blade. Sephiroth's eyes widened as Cloud pulled on the blade and swung his legs. The extra weight caused by the movement forced Sephiroth to lower his arm, and Cloud landed back on the bridge. Still impaled on the blade, Cloud began to shift it from side to side, trying to wrench the blade from Sephiroth's grasp.

Sephiroth stared in disbelief as Cloud ignored the searing pain and struggled with the sword. He was astounded that this soldier, who was barely more than a child, could have found the strength to fight against him even in this state.

"…It can't be!" he cursed.

His face twisted in rage, and he tried to push the blade further into Cloud's body. To his astonishment he found that he could not move the sword any further. Cloud had a very firm grip on the blade, and even though the blade cut into his hands and made them bleed, he would not let go.

Cloud raised his eyes and met Sephiroth's gaze. There was so much fury and anger in his blue eyes that Sephiroth was startled. He hesitated. Cloud chose that moment to tighten his grip further on the blade and then it was his turn to pull on the blade. He lifted it up, and Sephiroth was so surprised by this sudden display of strength that he could not relinquish his grip on the sword. He was lifted up off the floor and hung suspended in the air, dangling over Cloud.

Cloud flung his body to the side with all the strength he could muster. He threw Sephiroth over the edge of the bridge. At the same time he released his hold on the masamune, and the blade was pulled out of his body as Sephiroth was thrown through the air.

The SOLDIER slammed hard into the far wall. He then dropped and fell down towards the pool of mako at the bottom of the reactor. He twisted his body round as he fell, until he was looking up at the ceiling. Still holding the masamune in one hand and Jenova's head in the other, he spread his arms wide and closed his eyes. He landed with a splash into the pool of mako, and disappeared beneath its steaming surface.

Now only Cloud alone remained on the bridge. Weakened by the effort and the loss of blood from his wounds, he sank heavily to his knees. His body was cut up inside; his internal organs were sliced up by the sharpness of Sephiroth's blade. His shirt was stained with blood, and more was pouring from the wounds on either side of his body. Cloud leaned against the railings, unable to move anymore. His strength was failing him. He breathed and coughed, feeling blood fill his mouth.

Cloud let his eyes close, and that was the last thing he would remember.

A Note from the Authoress

Happy New Year everyone!!! Hope it was a good one for you all. Did you make any New Year's resolutions?

We've now almost completed my favourite part of the game. I'm glad I was able to get back into writing, and also glad to see that people are still reading it. ^_^ Thanks to everyone who sends me e-mails, it's nice to hear from you.

I also want to remind people about the poll I have set up on my profile. You can vote for which one you want me to write next: Dirge of Cerberus or Crisis Core. So far Crisis Core is in the lead, but I'm currently taking down the script for Dirge of Cerberus, since my friend has my copy of Crisis Core at the moment. I'm currently on Chapter 8 of that. Remember to vote for which one you want me to do after this. I put up the poll now so you'd all have plenty of time to vote. ^_^