Disclaimer: I in no way own any portion of the Final Fantasy franchise except the spiffy stuff I've purchased and the Squall plushie I snuggle with regularity. I also don't own any song by Linkin Park, especially not 'Shadow of the Day' which provides not only the chapter titles for this story but also the inspiration for this fic in its entirety. Please don't sue – I'm simply an E6 in the USN, therefore I have no money. Ha. Additional review replies that couldn't be made via PMs at the bottom. Enjoy the fic!
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Chapter 11
The Sun Will Set…
I… understand now that I really don't need to keep my journal.
With no Guardian Force in my head, I'm at no risk of losing my memories. As a matter of fact, they're so crystalline and clear now that it frightens me.
I remember everything – my recent past with Rinoa and my friends, every iota of detail concerning my training, every facet of my past with Seifer. I recall the day Matron turned myself and Seifer Almasy over to Garden jurisdiction. I remember the day Ellone left. My first hacking attempt, my first monster encounter, my first human kill are all splayed across my mind's eye, simply waiting for me to focus on them in order to play with brilliant detail and vivid sound.
Every horrible moment of my life erased by Shiva is there for the recollection. Every happy thought consumed by Eden has returned.
My original purpose for my journal is moot. So… why to keep writing it…?
I guess I'm writing this now because I need to straighten out my head. It doesn't help that I can remember everything I ever wanted (or didn't want, in some cases) to recall if I can't make sense of the present.
I'm limited on supplies right now. My journal is… elsewhere. I just woke up in the Medical Ward. And what's on the forefront of my mind right now is dreams.
I'm thinking, specifically, about Selphie and her profession that Guardian Forces, when permanently tethered to the brain, can bring prophetic dreams. Somehow I think she's on to something, but it barely skimming the truth.
Thing is, with Eden removed from my mind, I'm still having these dreams. The same ones I've been haunted by in recent times, just more intense and with greater detail. And… there's more.
It's like when I'm sleeping, if I want to see into the future, I can see into the future. If I want to revisit the past, all I have to do is choose a place, a time, a focal point, and I'm viewing it.
It's frightening me.
It's not like I can project myself there or anything, or like I can alter the past, but the very fact that I can view it from any focal point is terrifying. I've seen what some of my battles looked like from Zell's eyes. I've watched my duel with Seifer from his perspective. I've seen myself and Rinoa from Angelo's point of view.
It's… so real. So present. It's like it's something I can reach out and touch, harness and grasp and make my own. Except it's not, because it's the past. It's memories. Visions. Events long gone that can never be mine again.
But the very image of her… the warmth of her…
Hyne, if only I could figure out a way to harness those moments and bring them to myself again….
But that would be like making my dreams reality. Which is funny, because that seems to be what's happening in some instances.
Selphie was saying Guardian Forces make it happen – I think she's a little off the mark.
Guardian Forces are tethered to the planet itself. Some are tethered to something far above and beyond it.
Siren? Ifrit? Shiva? Clearly of the planet. Eden? Not so much.
Maybe Doomtrain is something like Eden. Something otherworldly trapped on our planet. Something with power beyond a normal Guardian Force.
But then again, he's never displayed such.
Maybe it's simply that rather than drawing his might from the planet, he draws his power from Hyne. Rather like Tonberry King and Bahamut seem to.
And maybe it's Hyne's might that gives these prophetic dreams to those with the deliverers of his power stuck in their skulls.
After all, he was the First Sorcerer, wasn't he? She? It? Whatever the heck Hyne actually is? And as we've seen via Ultimecia, Sorcery can have sway even over Time itself.
She could see the past. She knew who would align themselves with her, and where they were located. She could see when Adel would be freed of her prison and how she could expedite that process. And once she attained Odine's machine that mimicked Ellone's strange abilities to send a person's consciousness back in time to witness the Past, she used her own Sorcery to manipulate the Past that she'd previously witnessed, harnessing those she knew would side with her in her ultimate goals to maneuver her future to its desired conclusion.
She saw the past – and apparently I can see through Time as well.
Hyne, the deity who is ensnared in the moon, whose power flows through every person who's ever been bequeathed the powers of Sorcery, very likely could do the same. So it stands to reason that these future-seeing dreams are from Hyne himself rather than simply a product of the Guardian Force infusion in a human's mind.
The fact that Selphie was right in one aspect, though; that those dreams can and do come true… that in of itself is terrifying.
I never expected to see one of my dreams become reality.
Especially not the one where I fought Eden.
I'd summoned her in the Training Center. I'd gone there to blow some steam – I was frustrated, confused and antsy. Dealing with… recent events, the fact that I'm all but trapped onboard this Garden with no recourse to hunt the source of my pain, and the bewildering sensations I was feeling ever since encountering Cloud Strife had me more twisted and befuddled than I care to confess to anyone. I've always found solace in the simplicity of battle – the ease of exerting myself in either a simple training exercise or a life-or-death brawl always manages to take my mind off of whatever's bothering me, inducting me into the oblivion of action where thoughts only consist of the strategy necessary to come out on top of the confrontation. When there's no time for reflection, for self-exploration, for emotional perusing of all that my heart and mind hold, then I can find relaxation.
I had thought far enough ahead to gather my gunblade, but really wasn't focusing on the possibility of facing anything more extensive than a grat. So magic? Feh. Why bother, if all I intended to face were simple plant monsters that withered the moment a guy smacks them overly hard with a gunblade?
When I'd been pinned between three T-Rexaurs, I panicked. Maybe I could have run – I don't know. All I know is that the Headmaster's probably pissed to high hell over what I've done.
I summoned. It seemed my only recourse at the time. I was afraid – I had no viable option for fleeing, and with only my gunblade I was woefully unprepared for facing off with T-Rexaurs.
I didn't expect what happened.
When Eden was summoned, it was like she ripped herself completely free of me. Probably because that's exactly what happened.
I didn't think Guardian Forces could do that. But then again, Eden's never met any of the wickets of an ordinary Guardian Force in the first place.
She stripped her presence completely out of my mind and brought herself entirely into our reality. Then she unleashed her attack and demolished nearly the entire Training Center.
At first, I'd thought I was free and clear of the attack – after all, she didn't envelop me in her blast as she did the T-Rexaurs I'd been facing. I thought that maybe, with everything that's happened recently, my tired mind was imagining the sensations I was feeling and that the summon went off as normal, just with slightly more… drastic effects than normal. Why I thought that I have no idea. Doesn't make any sense now that I write it.
But then she blasted the Garden. Very deliberately, I might add.
My dream became absolute reality. My hand got stuck, my fingers twisted, in the hilt of my gunblade. I was hurled into the water when Garden began to violently list. My friends brought summons forth from the Ragnarok to face off with Eden. Quezacotyl was blasted right out of the sky by an errant fling of Eden's massive wings. Cloud Strife leapt to my rescue and protected me, going so far as to grab my gunblade and attempt to face off with Eden, the bringer of Apocalypse herself.
And…
The spells that I saw pulverize her in my dreams indeed came to reality.
But they were coming from me.
Before, I was wondering just where Rinoa could be in my dreams. Those spells were something only a Sorceress could hurl, power far above and beyond anything that could be channeled by an ordinary human's body even with the assistance of Guardian Forces.
I felt it. Magic coursing through my body, hot and searing in my blood, like fiery lightning racing along my nerves. But… it wasn't painful. It was… sheer ecstasy. The most intense but invigorating thing I've ever felt. It was kind of like… picking off a scab or yanking out a hangnail at first – a shock, a bright flash, and then utter relief and enjoyment. Like those nights when I would lie with Rinoa and she'd dig her nails into my back – a bite of sensation followed instantly by unmatched pleasure.
I remember everything so keenly – the sensation of magic racing through me, the brush of wings – my wings! – on my back, the soft brush of feathers on my overheated skin, the burning of Ultimas and Flares and Meteors that I didn't have junctioned pouring from Hyne himself to bleed through me and burst into reality. It was… sensational.
And as I continued to cast, the magic coming to me unabated and unhindered, the moon itself turning to look upon the one who commanded its might, I began to feel it.
Concern. Lots of concern and confusion.
And it definitely wasn't mine.
It… was Cloud. Just as the images I'd seen in my earlier imaginings had been his memories, just as his desires had been channeled to me, his emotional state was being broadcast loud and clear to me.
And unlike before, when it was something that I felt when I thought about it, it was now continuous. I didn't even want to focus on it – it was just there.
Is… this how it was for Rinoa? Could she feel me at all times, without the ability to segregate her emotions from my own? To block my worrying from her mind?
Is this what it's like to have a Knight?
Is this… what it's like to be…
Does that mean… that when we faced with him… when she begged for me to let her die….
I let her die.
I took her power.
I wasn't even aware I was doing it, but I did it anyway.
I… killed her.
But the other dream that I have, the one with Rinoa in it… does that mean that what he was saying when we fought….
I wish I could write more, but I'm out of surgical napkins.
Cloud's fingers tightly gripped the steering wheel of the vehicle as he brought it to a stop.
The road had finally come to an end.
"You're sure this is the right way?" he asked, turning his attention to the only other occupant of the vehicle.
Closing his journal with a sigh, Squall lifted his gaze from the notebook and looked out of the window. "Yeah. Keep going straight towards the lake. Ground's not so bad that this car can't take it."
A mild shrug moved Cloud's shoulders as he moved his foot away from the brake pedal and set it lightly on the accelerator.
"You drive like an old man," Squall snorted.
Scowling even as he detected a hint of amusement, Cloud gripped the wheel more tightly. "Well, excuse the hell out of me. I'm not used to wheels like this. Or cars like this. Give me a motorcycle any day."
Staring at the rough and wild land that sprawled before them, Cloud kept his speed slow and his grip firm despite the longing within him to swiftly reach his destination. After all, regardless of his desire to hurry, he also wished to arrive in one piece.
And, deep within the recesses of his heart, Cloud was harboring doubts that his desire to rush to the target of the morning's drive was truly his own. Rather he suspected the young Sorcerer who sat at his side staring moodily out of the vehicle's window was driving them both to their inevitable destination.
Cloud had his suspicions concerning what rested at the end of their journey. He felt he knew what was waiting for them, and a portion of him feared it. And while he desired perhaps to see this task ended, he was irresolute in his longing to see it approach so quickly.
The youth at his side had faced with another like him, someone swept from his world to inhabit this new and foreign land. He'd faced what sounded by all descriptions to be a clone. And the young Sorcerer had lost his battle. Given the professed prowess he was supposedly acclaimed of given the accounts of his followers on the Garden he once commanded, accompanied by the professions that he was an equal to the blond martial artist who'd put Cloud on his back when he had a weapon in his hands, the youth had either been caught completely unawares or had faced something beyond him; that something, Cloud suspected, might be equivalent to the clone he'd faced with multitudes of times before the SOLDIER General himself had been awakened – akin to the beast that killed Aerith, that hunted them with Jenova's remnants as offerings to test their might, that collapsed only when its life was stripped from it by the monstrous Jenova herself upon the awakening of Sephiroth.
Cloud frowned as he slowly piloted their vehicle and Squall stared moodily out of his window.
They were both without their companions. Perhaps if Squall had that martial artist with him, maybe the sniper Cloud had failed to notice until his shout for his friend gave his position away, he'd have a reasonable chance of emerging from the impending battle victorious. Perhaps if Cloud had any of his comrades he'd descended to the center of the Planet with, he'd have an easier time.
While he was certain he could take a clone alone, he found an inkling of fear resting firmly in his heart.
Squall would be there.
Squall would be vulnerable.
And if Cloud failed to protect him, Squall would die.
"We'll be fine," Squall's voice quietly muttered, startling Cloud straight out of his thoughts.
Cloud looked over to find himself staring into hard storm-colored eyes. "You really think so?" he asked, his voice colored in doubt.
"Yeah." Returning his view to the world outside of the passenger-side window, Squall nodded. "We're not alone. We've got each other. I'll be ready this time. And even if I'm not, you won't let me fall. I… guess that I trust you."
Swallowing hard, Cloud nodded slowly.
"Plus if things get tight, we've got recourse."
A tiny shiver ran along Cloud's spine as memories came flooding back to him; the huge feminine monster, the continual explosive bursts of Ultimas far beyond anything he'd ever seen wielded by a human, the burning of Flares and the fear in the eyes of SeeD mercenaries. The foreboding words of the brutish man who'd snarled what Cloud's ultimate duties were thanks to hefting a mantel onto his shoulders that he'd not even known existed. The weight of confirmation in the words of those who sided with the one who'd fallen from grace.
"That won't be necessary," Cloud said firmly as he focused on the bumpy ground that he was rolling his car timidly over. "You've got your gunblade. I've got my sword. We can take him."
He barely heard the sigh at his side as he eased his foot a little further off the accelerator, slowing down before barreling into what appeared to be deep and muddy ruts in the ground before them.
Cloud was positive now that the desire to hurry that rested within his being wasn't his own. The tiny sliver of doubt, the soft haze of apprehension and the buried longing to simply run were his true feelings.
Squall wasn't going to hesitate to use those very powers that could demolish his own humanity. For the sake of putting the one who'd killed his Sorceress into a premature grave, he was willing to sacrifice everything short of his own life. Perhaps if it was his only method for destroying his target, he'd throw that away as well.
Cloud realized that he couldn't allow that to occur. Not simply for the supposed sake of the world or even the sake of Squall himself, not to fulfill the obligatory duties of a Knight or to prove himself in this new land he'd been banished to by the magical energy that's ensnared him and wrenched him away from his home.
It was more for his own desires that he wouldn't desire such to pass.
The youth at his side, quiet and reserved yet fiery and passionate under the glacial shell he presented to the world, was fascinating and intriguing enough to draw Cloud's attention. And buried under that ice and the sharp words accompanied by crystalline glares was a boy who needed protection, who desired peace, whose emotional frailty verily begged for someone to hold him and never let him go.
Cloud had come to realize over the last night, through their long and halted conversations colored by emotions unintentionally felt through the bond they shared, that Squall needed him not simply as a defender and a foundation in the Present that he could rely upon to not lose himself to Sorcery, but as a companion to keep him company, and perhaps something a little more. A sidelong look to the youth beside him that encouraged Cloud's heart to patter with worry over the swiftly approaching Future settled it in his mind; he wouldn't mind filling any role the brunet would ask him to fill.
While he certainly was missing Tifa, his heart saddened by the knowledge that his chances for getting home might indeed be slender at best and his lips longing to touch hers once more, an equivalent desire to stay by his Sorcerer's side bubbled in his soul.
They both held qualities that made them immensely desirable, Cloud reasoned to himself. Tifa was strong, independent and fiercely protective, yet still had enough softness and gentleness to assure all around her of her femininity with her delicate smiles. Squall was powerful, confident and steady, yet was shy and quaking with the desire for companionship under his surprisingly sturdy shield. Tifa adored him. Squall needed him. Tifa made a home with him. Squall asked him to share his future with him. And neither one was difficult on the eyes.
Because, so far as Cloud was concerned, he'd had decided that gender didn't stand between them – only the boy's own timid nature did.
While he found it odd that morning as he drove to find himself so willing to stay by the ex-SeeD's side, he also discovered a sensation of reassurance.
If he was destined to be stuck here, surely it could be worse. Spending his days at Squall's side, defending him as his Knight, wouldn't be so bad.
But to lose him to the clone that certainly rested at the end of the road, to spend his days trapped on the alien world dominated by its massive nations and conflicts and powerful monsters, would be terrible.
Of that, he was certain.
Letting himself daydream a bit at the wheel, Cloud tried to recall all that he'd learned over the last few hours, over the course of the time he and Squall had spent together since walking away from the massive Garden and onto the first land Cloud had felt under his feet – the land of a nation apparently called Timber.
He and Squall had found the bar that Irvine had suggested they retreat to, having strolled unchallenged off of Garden via its front gate that rested level with the pier that serviced it after Irvine had seen to it that they each had a duffle bag with a change of clothing plus what they'd had when they'd been admitted to the Medical Ward and Squall had visited a young woman who was something called an 'accountant' to liquidate his assets into paper gil. While many eyes observed their passage, not a single person made any move to stop them – in fact, many wore mournful expressions and more than one offer to hook up at a later time to play cards, converse or assist were made. While Cloud was surprised at the lack of resistance, part of his mind recalled what his guards had stated – the Garden was divided and fractured, and apparently many of its personnel still supported their previous Commander despite him becoming the very antithesis of what they stood for.
The establishment the auburn-haired cowboy had directed them towards was a run down hovel. Deposited in the middle of a conglomeration of ramshackle buildings that sported cracks that Squall pronounced were caused by a powerful earthquake, it was hidden in shadows and devoid of identifying markings beyond a stylized beer stein decorating a beaten wood door. Once inside, eyes had difficulty seeing through the thick, seemingly perpetual smoky haze that permeated everything and smelled of cigarettes, cheap perfume and stale liquor.
The people looked tired and bedraggled, faces untrusting and unfriendly as they stared at the interlopers who'd dared to enter the business. A thick man behind the bar, his fingers drumming aimlessly on the thick wood as a heavy scowl turned his lips, followed them with his gaze as they walked with heavy footsteps across the unpolished floor. "No service if you don't have hard cash," he'd growled, his voice as burly as the rest of him.
Squall had shrugged. "No problem," he'd replied, his calm and professional stance downplaying any attempt of the bar's proprietor to instill discomfort in either of them. He'd had few problems from the moment he slid a couple bills of high denomination gil slips under the man's fingers, managing to procure them a single room out of the two they had available and a promise that no one would be informed of their presence and no one would disturb them.
While alone in the room they'd procured, Squall had granted Cloud the courtesy to know what was going on – he'd told his Knight a touch more about his Sorceress, of their chance encounters at Obel Lake that had lead to the summoning of the monstrous Eden, about the revisit that had terminated in the Sorceress' death. He'd quietly told Cloud of the romance between Sorceress and Knight, how they'd met, how they'd fallen in love, what they'd had planned and how it had come to a disastrous end. When Cloud brought questions, Squall answered them to the best of his ability and was rewarded with further explanations of Cloud's upbringing. Cloud had shared what he knew of himself, from his uninspired childhood with his loneliness and poverty, to his stint in the Shin-Ra Army that resulted in the experimentation that resulted in his state, concluding with descriptions of his friends and their journey to defeat the threats that terrorized the Planet. Cloud had told Squall of Sephiroth, of the remnants, of Omega Weapon and of his life after the chaos.
The two of them, once they'd finally run out of drive to speak of themselves, had decided that rest and relaxation was paramount. After Squall had spent some time silently scribing something into his journal and refusing once more to allow Cloud the opportunity to peruse it, they'd turned in for the remainder of the day.
Their first night spent off Garden was marvelous in Cloud's mind. It was the first time since he'd arrived on Squall's world that he'd gotten to lay down on a mattress and be in something other than a comatose state for the event.
While he had to share the mattress with the youth he was accompanying, it truly didn't bother him as much as he'd though it would – Squall being as private and reclusive as he was, they simply curled up on opposite sides of the bed and drifted off into slumber.
Cloud also didn't find any reason to complain when the sleeping Sorcerer had drifted in his sleep, snuggling up against Cloud's warm body with an unconscious sigh. Cloud might have arched a brow, but let it go – with Squall's proximity, the reverberating emotions in his mind powerful and quaking, he didn't want to interrupt the young brunet's freshly-discovered peace. He had simply made certain that he wormed his way out of the bed before Squall awakened, leaving him clinging to a pillow with content satisfaction dancing along the connection they shared.
The morning had been greeted with dark coffee and greasy food, a deliverance of eggs and bacon with soggy toast laden with heavy butter. The food had been eaten in silence, that silence only broken once a slender and darkly dressed man had approached them, his head hung low and his bangs covering his sharply angled face. Cloud's instantaneous reaction had been to reach for nonexistent weaponry and subsequently arm himself with a dirtied butter knife despite his Sorcerer's calm outward appearance, the connection they shared lending Squall's buried unease to him.
That unease had faded when the man had seated himself and lent the former Commander a greasy smile and thin hand in greeting, asking in a voice harsh and scratched if he'd entertain him with a game.
Cloud had watched with interest, the concept of their game simple enough for him to grasp it with observation, the rules adhered to the concept mind-boggling and devilishly devious to the point of losing his ability to comprehend what was going on completely.
Few words had passed between the two during their game – the dark-haired stranger had lamented that even with 'Random' in place Squall had managed to draw his Edea card from his deck, Squall growling softly as the man he played against had the fortune to present a highly numbered card featuring something called a Doomtrain and claimed a corner. The stranger had laughed and held his head as a low-numbered card called a Fastitocalon-F managed to flip a card of his due to a rule called 'Same Wall.' Squall had smirked when he'd placed a card with a creature he called a 'Tri-Point' on it down and flipped cards in a combo.
Finally, the dark-haired stranger had sighed and placed his last card. "I concede defeat."
"Good," Squall had muttered softly even as he took a card whose monster Cloud recognized – a Tonberry – and shuffled it into his deck. Even as the opponent he'd beaten stared at him with wide eyes, the youth shrugged. "Got a Doomtrain."
The oily smile then faded into something more genuine as the odd man picked up his remaining cards and nodded. "Alright. In thanks for answering my challenge, I suppose I can open my shop to you, Leonhart."
"Appreciated, Card Magician Joker," he'd responded, leaning close across the table. Cloud craned his neck to listen in. "We've got clothing and my gunblade. That's it. I can buy necessities in town, but we're a bit short on… other things."
"I'm all ears," the man had stated with a nod.
"Cloud needs a Claymore at the very least. I'd like it better if I could make him a Sunblade. Best if it's a Caladbolg."
"You know there's a junk shop that's still standing nearby?"
"I do now. Need some materials."
"We can do business. I'll stop by the shop and ensure they've got a base model. What do you require?"
Squall pressed a fingertip to his chin. "As I recall, four energy crystals, a handful of screws, a few dragon fangs, a mesmorize horn and at least five of those moon stones."
"Got just about all of that, as a matter of fact. Except for the mesmorize horn. But there may in fact be a CC member running around with Quezacotyl ensuring that the area's secure. One more game should get you the card refining you need. The rest of the materials will be waiting at the shop for you."
As Squall passed a few gil notes even as he frowned. "The refiner. Spade or Diamond? And any chance at any stones?"
Winking, the man had reached into the pockets of his pants. "Diamond, and perhaps. I've got three Auras and a handful of Curagas on me. For you, minimal charge."
Cloud blinked, watching as a low denomination gil note was passed and nine rocks, three of them yellow and the rest slightly pink, were given to Squall. With a shrug, Squall held them to Cloud and nodded. "Yours. Just in case."
Not knowing what else to do, Cloud had simply muttered an appreciative 'Thanks' before slipping them into his pocket.
"Now, news, Joker. If you have any."
Clearing his throat, the man had hung his head, speaking towards the table, encouraging both the Sorcerer and his Knight to move in closer to hear him. "Trouble is brewing around Garden. None who oppose you witnessed you leaving. No one will be informed that you're gone. But the stand-in Commander is under pressure from both Esthar and Delling to prove that they have the Sorcerer in custody. Esthar claims to have new methods for testing for traces of Sorcery dreamed up by Odine himself – he's determined that something in the very structure of a person's cells is altered when infused with Sorcery, and that change apparently is not erased even when the power's passed on. Delling's actually siding with their rival nation on this one."
"And they have no prisoner, and no body," Cloud had softly muttered with a scowl turning his lips. "Meaning our time being sedentary is limited."
"No matter," Squall had growled quietly. "Our business will be engaged tomorrow. We can be off the continent in a week."
"Where will you go?" the man who'd been referred to as 'Joker' questioned.
"Nowhere," Squall had roughly replied.
"Smart man," 'Joker' said with a smile. "Then please, keep me in mind when you go 'nowhere,' Squall. I'm always game for a good opponent. Plus you never know when my services will come in handy."
"No worries. Don't change your number, and I'll get in touch with you."
"Change yours," the man had said shortly.
"It'll be changed when we get gone. I've got one more task for my cell phone," Squall stated blandly.
"Suit yourself."
Folding his hands together, Squall sighed, his eyes distant and his face calm even as he stared at the door beyond the man called 'Joker.' "Then this will be our last meeting for awhile."
"Wrong, Squall," the man stated even as he had risen from his chair. "We never met at all."
The rest of their day had been spent milling around the town. Cloud had been astonished that they'd simply rented an automobile, that the world he was now inhabiting had such luxuries available for day use without proper ownership for minimal charge. When he'd commented on the oddity of being able to possess a car for a number of days and fill it with fuel on any corner, Squall had stared at him and asked quite shortly how backwards the world he was from could possibly be that Budget Rent-A-Car or a derivation thereof doesn't exist.
After stocking up with duffle bags loaded with random supplies and food, they had located a pair of SeeD women that Cloud recognized as being the pair who had stood guard outside of the Medical Ward door when he and Squall had been held prisoner there. The women had greeted them both enthusiastically, then laughed outright when challenged to a game of cards.
An hour later, Cloud was standing at Squall's side as he handed a wickedly curved blade that apparently was the horn of some monster called a mesmorize over to a man in a ramshackle store. While it had taken Cloud by surprise that the girls were both identified by the name Diamond and they could make a card turn into an item with nothing more than a few flares of purple energy granted by something called a Quezacotyl, he had been even more shocked when a fine blade was laid upon the counter he and Squall were lingering by in the run-down hovel called a 'Junk Shop.' A hesitant hand reached for it and took it up, only to further deepen Cloud's surprise as the fine craftsmanship of the weapon became evident.
It was a heavy, shining straight silver blade, approaching the length of his old Buster Blade but considerably thinner and double-edged. A thick hilt swept over his hand, nearly encasing it in a basket to protect his fingers during a fight and counteracting the weight of the enormous sword's elongated sharpened blade. Notches ran the course of its edges, tinted in a soft blue that was replicated in the bloodletting trough that highlighted the blade's middle. A heavy knob, crafted into the shape of a roaring lion's head, made up the pommel at the black-leather wrapped silvery hilt's termination. A quick swing told Cloud all he needed to know – it was perfectly balanced, heavy though not overly so, tightly manufactured and solidly constructed; it was a blade that would be able to withstand all the punishment he could put it through and readily take more.
"Almost makes my First Tsurugi feel cheap by comparison," Cloud had softly breathed even as Squall had paid for the weapon and they'd returned to their rented vehicle.
"Glad you like it," the young Sorcerer had acknowledged even as he'd crawled into the passenger seat of the car and wrestled his journal out of one of the duffle bags he'd tossed into the back seat. "If you don't mind, I'd like you to put that to use tonight."
"You intend to find your target?" Cloud had questioned softly, his eyes widened with a touch of concern and dread.
"Figured best way to seek him out is starting from square one. Rinoa and I ran into him at Obel Lake. He might still be there. If so, we finish this tonight. If not, we might be able to track him from that location."
With a sigh, Cloud had started to drive, his foot soft on the accelerator after one harsh stomp had proven the vehicle had considerable power in its massive turbine-driven engine, in the direction Squall directed him to go.
And finally, they were lumbering off the road itself, driving towards dread.
As they entered the woods and light began to swiftly fail, Cloud's eyes narrowed as he focused on the ground he was slowly inching his vehicle over even as Squall drummed his fingers on the passenger-side door.
The trees began to thin after long, long stretches of time passed in near to utter darkness. Light spilled around them in thin, shy rivets that eventually widened and strengthened in intensity.
As the vehicle emerged from the woods, pulling alongside of another abandoned car sitting perfectly still and covered in grime, Cloud put the car in park and turned the powerful engine off.
His eyes, wide in horror, couldn't tear themselves away from the scene before him.
A vast lake stretched out before them surrounded by ancient woods, a thick grassy peninsula jutting into its form. Green, sickly light danced upon soiled waves, flickering in a thin stream that sparkled from the distant heavens above and dribbled viscously into the waiting waves in heavy droplets that were widely spaced apart.
Cloud felt a shiver run along his spine – the last time he'd seen a column of green stretching into the depths of space, it had been pouring from his world into the heavens. Apparently, Obel Lake was the recipient of the energy that had been fleeing the Planet.
Swallowing harshly, he stared at the final alien addition to the land, the companion to that putrid green light that stained the otherwise picturesque landscape.
He stood tall and straight, his continence regal in the orange light of the setting sun combined with the green glow of the polluted lake. A soft breeze brushed through a long, black trench coat and soft falls of silver hair. A hideously long sword, its hilt gripped loosely in his left hand, shone in the combined coloration that flowed through the sky.
As he turned, Cloud gripped the sword he'd brought from the vehicle tightly in his hands, sweat already beading on his brow and fusing the white t-shirt he'd worn that day to his shuddering body.
"Cloud," the man upon the peninsula whispered softly, his voice deep and foreboding, his eyes narrowed and cat-slit pupils standing in stark contrast to their emerald irises. "This is most… unexpected."
"It can't be," Cloud whispered, his eyes huge as he stood by Squall's side.
"I take it you've met?" Squall blandly questioned at his side, his gunblade resting over his right shoulder, his eyes narrowed as he glowered at the man on the peninsula.
A slow nod moved Cloud's head. "He's supposed to be dead. I've put him down before."
Laughing boldly, the man turned to face Cloud and Squall with a sneer. "Ah yes. Nibelheim. North Crater. Midgar."
"If he's been defeated by you so often, how is it he's here?" Squall snarled, his glare flickering between both the man who stood before them and his Knight.
Cloud narrowed his eyes with a scowl turning his own lips. "I don't know. This shouldn't be possible. This… Sephiroth… a clone, maybe?"
Swinging his gunblade down from its resting place on his shoulder, Squall growled as he reached into his pockets and pulled free his cell phone. After glaring at it and punching at a few numbers randomly, he tossed it carelessly to the side then dug through his pockets once more. This time he produced bullets, then swung open the hefty revolving chamber of his weapon and began loading it. "Clone or not, he's going down."
Nodding slowly, his actions not at all reflecting what truly raced through his mind, Cloud grit his teeth. "You're right, Squall."
Smirking, the man chuckled. "You doubt my validity, Cloud. It is as I said in Midgar. I will not be reduced to a memory."
Cloud stared with huge eyes, what little confidence he might have felt instantly draining away.
"And so we cross swords again; fate has lead you to me once more," the silver-haired man professed with a condescending smile.
"But," Cloud began with a hesitant whisper, "you're dead. Destroyed. I saw to it myself."
"I think not." A quiet chuckle seeped from the man who stood before Cloud. "When first you faced me Cloud, your mistake of pushing me into the heart of the mako reactor, into the Lifestream itself, made possible my resurrection and induction to godhood. Your repeated errors when you faced with me at the center of the Planet fused me with the very essence of my mother and returned us to the Planet's bloodstream. Our final encounter, when you murdered the remnants of me, reunited all of my matter in the Lifestream where the rest of me was encased."
Cloud stared hard, his lips refusing to move from the frown that dominated his face. "So you're saying this is my fault?"
A chuckle shook the man's shoulders. "Hardly. With the domineering strength of the Lifestream and my mother's weakened condition, we might well have been assimilated completely given the course of Planetary time. But something interfered. When presented with a channel to another world, the Lifestream forced the remains of my mother's material along that tunnel to purge itself of what the Planet sees as Jenova's infestation. And when she was expunged from the Planet, as I am of her and serve her, so was I."
"So you ended up here. Fine. Great. Doesn't explain why you've been doing what you've been doing," Squall growled even as he snapped the revolving chamber of his weapon back into place and finally set his free hand on the base of its hefty hilt.
Lifting his sword to casually point its deadly tip at the young Sorcerer, his smile still slender and uncaring, the silver-haired man shook his head. "You can not be expected to understand."
"Then try me, Sephiroth," Cloud snarled, hefting his sword before himself and shifting his feet in preparation for leaping to either offense or defense the moment the target of his consternation moved.
Shifting his gaze to Cloud, his smile became more twisted. "There is no Lifestream here, which likely lead to this world being overlooked in Jenova's ancient journies. Without a Lifestream to harness, Jenova would have been left powerless. But there is another power that equivocates Jenova's own, a power just as antiquated as she is. And with that power, with a vessel to replace the body she lost long ago that can harness that might, she will come to rule over this world with me at her side, sharing in her divinity."
Scowling, Squall took a bold step forward. "Still. Killing random people you encounter? Burning villages to the ground?"
"Certainly a vessel capable of harnessing that ancient might my mother detected would come to stop me," Sephiroth said with a sneer.
Cloud desired more answers. Further clarification. But it was never to be forthcoming.
At that moment Squall charged, a roar soaring from him as he swung his gunblade with every ounce of his might.
The setting sun's orange glow was overpowered by the brilliant flame that shot along the glowing blue blade of Squall's weapon as he pulled the trigger and the expended round exploded from its chamber, Sephiroth's brilliant sneer dissolving into an intense grimace as he held onto Masamune's hilt with all of his strength. The ringing of the connecting blades slid viscously through the explosive bang of the gunblade's triggering, overpowering any and all sounds that would have filled the swiftly coming dusk and swallowing the land in silence once they died.
Cloud's muscles ached with longing – deep within him burned a need to interrupt, to interject himself in Squall's place, to defend him from his opponent. Yet he couldn't bring his feet to move.
Skirting on the edge of his senses, a blazing desire to put down the murderer and for Cloud not to interfere seared brilliantly into his brain.
Squall didn't want him to come between himself and his target.
Cloud begrudgingly stood by, watching the battle with careful eyes.
He saw a battle that was shockingly balanced.
Sephiroth's incredible speed and strength was matched by agility and the wickedly explosive effects of the gunblade's skillfully timed triggering, the devastating danger posed by Masamune stopped in its tracks by the heavier blade's intrinsic might. For every swipe of a blade there was a responding defensive lift of a weapon, for every fleeting moment of fancy footwork there was a responsive offensive strike.
As the blades connected again, Masamune singing painfully as the horridly sharp vibrations triggered by the explosive burst from an expertly timed strike poured up its overly exaggerated length, the SOLDIER general flung his elbow forward, knocking its sharp point right into his younger opponent's face.
Staggering back, Squall glared at his opponent and leapt back, his momentum carrying him as high into the air as humanly possibly.
Cloud saw Sephiroth sneer. Cloud noticed the bunching of muscles in his legs, the intention to follow his opponent registering clearly.
Flinging himself forward, Cloud's weapon lead him into Sephiroth's path. Their weapons collided in an array of sparks and fire, the sound of metal grinding on metal pouring through Cloud's very bones.
Seconds later, a ring of fire blasted just above Cloud's spiked hair. Nearly taken by surprise, Sephiroth managed tot tumble under the attack and land in a puff of grass and dust back on the peninsula.
Not even allowing enough time for an eye to blink, Cloud felt the desperate desire for him to move out of the way collide with his mind.
Flinging out a hand, he tossed himself to the side even as Masamune reached for his neck, slipping underneath the weapon's sharp edge and instead tumbling through the wet grass.
Even as he tumbled away, his ears rang with the cacophony of Masamune and Lionheart colliding swiftly, each strike a bare breath away from the next.
Then, suddenly, the dusk lit up with the brilliance of day.
Turning on his heel, Cloud gripped his sword tightly. He stared, his eyes huge, as the energy beam being veritably shot from the blazingly bright blue gunblade slammed into the ground, finally eliciting a cry from Sephiroth as he was caught in its blast. The silver-haired General, knocked clean off his feet, flew backwards off the peninsula even as the hot energy blast connected with the waters of the lake itself.
Steam washed the land, the enormous heat of the beam blade instantly evaporating the span of Obel Lake. As Sephiroth's body vanished off the edge of the peninsula and the sloppy sound of him sliding down the muddy slope to collide with the lake's suddenly exposed bottom slipped through the rapidly setting night, Cloud leapt after him.
Even as he slid down the insanely slippery slope that spilled down into the huge wound upon the land that once was Obel Lake, Cloud crouched and held his blade close to his body.
The second he was within range, even as Sephiroth was starting to get to his feet, he unleashed with a devastating slash that the General was incapable of blocking. A second slash followed by a third that nearly put the SOLDIER down immediately burst forth, Cloud's surprise at Cross Slasher's effectiveness with his new weapon singing along his senses.
Rolling back and regaining his footing on the slippery mud, Sephiroth's eyes narrowed coldly, the final rays of the sun finally failing and the moon's rising white light dancing over his pale face. He didn't speak a work as he charged forward, weaving around boulders long buried by Obel Lake's calm surface and the sea-life left stranded and gasping for breath.
Cloud barely got his sword up in time to defend himself from the powerful blow that came for him. With a cry, he staggered back a step.
The second immediate swipe took him completely off his feet and hurled him back into the mud.
Wincing, expecting a third to instantly come for him, Cloud's slippery grip on his weapon nearly failed as he hefted it before him.
The third blow failed to connect – Cloud heard rather than saw the gunblade that interjected itself between him and Sephiroth, the roar of Lionheart burning his ears even as the heat from the explosive triggering heated his face.
Suddenly the moon burned red.
Squall staggered back as Sephiroth's strength overtook his own, pushing the enormous length of Masamune against the gunblade and upsetting the youth's tentative stance in the mud. A breath of time later, Squall slammed solidly into the mud, blood erupting from an expertly delivered slash that raced clear across his chest and into his left arm.
As the young mercenary attempted to heft himself out of the mud and resume defending himself, Cloud rapidly leapt at Sephiroth with his blade leading the way. Still seeing stars from being pummeled against the lake's muddy bottom, he relied on his hearing more than his sight, relishing the sound of blade upon blade that assured him that he was in fact engaging his enemy.
Even as his sight returned completely, he was nearly blinded as orange burst to life above the rim of the lake.
Frightened animalistic roars filled the newly set night's sky even as the sounds of creatures fleeting on wings and feet flowed around the battle arena.
Even as Cloud crossed blades with Sephiroth once more, nearly falling backwards as he stumbled over the limb of some creature sunk into Obel Lake and barely beginning its lengthy decay, the raging light of fire danced around the edges of the pit they were trapped in, highlighting the forms of creatures fleeing the surrounding forests for survival.
Barely catching sight of Squall staggering back to his feet, Cloud grit his teeth and began to push back as mightily as he could, a tiny inkling of disappointment washing through him as his own feet struggled to maintain their grip on the slick muddy ground and Sephiroth stood statuesque before him, the only visible show of his expenditure of effort being the slight furrow of his silver brows above hard green eyes, the smirk on his lips belaying his amusement.
Thick clouds washed over the sky, eliminating the ruby light of the moon and the gentle white of the stars – all that remained to light the bottom of the sopping wet pit Cloud and Sephiroth fought in was the orange flames that lit the world above.
Suddenly, Sephiroth shoved sharply against Cloud's blade, leaping backwards as he did so as to use his opponent as a springboard to give himself additional distance in his evasive move.
Cloud's confusion was immediately alleviated when a malboro fell into the remains of the lake and nearly buried him under its mass.
Slashing with every ounce of might that he could muster, the swipe of his blade so rapid and powerful that it tore through the miniscule sliver of air that existed around it, he plowed a Blade Beam straight through the monstrosity.
He was shocked when it screamed and reeled, then focused on him with all of its miniscule eyes rather than falling over dead.
Sephiroth immediately returned to the battle, his blade singing as it slammed into Cloud's hastily upraised weapon.
The malboro screamed from before Cloud as it lurched backwards then turned.
Barely catching a glimpse of the young Sorcerer behind the monstrosity, his gunblade dripping with the odd green slime that made up the creature's blood, Cloud projected his thanks for the cover along their bond rather than focusing any further attention on him. Cloud had more important things to worry about.
Barely twisting his blade in time to catch Masamune once again, Cloud snarled liquidly. A barest catch of motion from the corner of his eye enticed him to roll to his side even as Sephiroth once again dodged backwards, narrowly avoiding the malboro as it lurched backwards.
The explosive bangs of a machine gun's rapid fire sang in the night. The malboro fell dead.
Cloud barely had time to defend himself from the oncoming onslaught even as Squall fended off a wendigo that had rolled into the lake's empty pit even as the immense black shape of the Ragnorok flew through the pitch-black sky.
Even as Squall fought his way through the small conglomeration of monsters that had slid through the mud to their doom, the roaring of dragons echoed through the night.
Cloud shuddered as recognition overtook him – the roar matched that which he'd heard on his Planet the day he'd been swept to his new reality. It sounded exactly like a Dark Dragon.
Moments later, a glance granted validity to his suspicions – a dark dragon was in fact barreling down the steep slope that lead up to the peninsula's grassy top, its jaws open and its fangs glistening in the brilliant orange light of flames.
Sephiroth used Cloud's distraction to thrust with his mighty blade, nearly disarming the blond with a skillful twist of Masamune and setting Cloud completely off his balance. With a quick reversal of the blade's momentum, he sent its flat right into Cloud's shins, knocking him into the mud once more.
Even as Cloud rolled to avoid the strike he was certain was coming, his opponent leapt away.
"Squall!" he yelled into the night.
The younger man turned sharply, barely managing to get his gunblade up in time to fend off Masamune's strike, sparks and fire bursting from both blades as they noisily collided. Squall screamed as the dark dragon's murderous dark breath roared over him moments later, Sephiroth swiftly having sidestepped the oncoming onslaught.
Hurling himself back at Sephiroth, rage burning acid and green in his blood and vision, Cloud roared and slammed his weapon against his opponent's with every ounce of might he had.
Gunfire lit the night again, this time single bursts that came as rapidly as a finger pulling a weapon's trigger could deliver them.
The dark dragon screamed as if fell, its skull riddled with holes.
Resisting the urge to shoulder his weapon, Irvine instead turned and fired into the woods, targeting as many enemies as he could see – everything from wendigos to grendles to blue dragons and T-Rexaurs to the odd dragons he didn't recognized, the blue-tinted tonberries and the skeletal draconic beasts that howled for blood.
Every creature, tinted with the poisonous green that had simmered in Obel Lake's polluted waters, screamed and roared in battle-driven fury as they burst from the flaming woods to collide with the small party that had landed on the peninsula, having leapt from the low-flying airship that had strafed the area earlier.
As Cloud and Sephiroth continued to collide, every stroke of a sword matched perfectly by a defensive block, Squall fought his way through every monster that either slid from the peninsula's top in a desperate attempt to flee the SeeDs who'd arrived or were simply pushed form their solid and dry battlefield above.
Upon the peninsula, lit by the intense fire that roared through the woods, the four SeeDs who'd arrived fought desperately against overwhelming odds.
A veritable herd of T-Rexaurs burst from the forest, a blue dragon right behind them and a pair of master tonberries leading the charge. Quistis and Selphie, hip to hip with Zell just a few feet away, began to summon.
The blonde instructor was taken by surprise when the fierce stab of a knife from the blue-tinted tonberry that reached her took her Guardian Force down to nothing in one attack, Leviathan curling up in the base of her brain and refusing to move as he nursed his wounds. So distracted was she that she failed to react beyond letting a cry of shock echo from her lips as a T-Rexaur's tail slammed into her.
Selphie had considerably greater luck – Doomtrain, swift to answer her call, barreled without mercy through the conglomeration of attackers that lined the barren lands outside of the hellishly flaming woods. Not allowing herself the moment to celebrate, she swiftly turned, her flail flying with deadly accuracy as she smacked the T-Rexaur that had attacked Quistis solidly upon its snout right before drawing a Quake from it and instantly casting it right back.
Quistis barely had time to regain her footing and dash out of the way as the spell went off, nearly collapsing as the ground roiled under her. A quick flinging of her arm hurled the end of her deadly chain whip right into the abdomen of the blue-tinted tonberry that had buried Leviathan.
As Quistis stumbled away from the T-Rexaur that reeled under the might of Selphie's instantaneously stripped and cast Quake, Zell charged into the fray, his agility and nimble steps able to keep him on his feet even as he entered the spell's area of effect. With a growl, he engaged the oversized predator, his fists slamming into it with bone-breaking punches that demolished its hard scaly skin.
Squall had nearly made it to the top of the peninsula, his desire to help his friends overriding his desire to cross blades with the silver-haired man that faced off with Cloud in the depths of Obel Lake, when a stream of thrustevaris burst from the woods. One swept and cleanly struck his shoulder as he attempted to gain a semblance of footing to avoid the attack, upsetting his balance and sending him sliding to the bottom of the mucky pit once more.
Just as he reached the bottom of the pit, a rumble shook the entire area.
Quistis screeched as she was sent to her knees by the violent shaking, her whip skillfully taking one of the blue master tonberries' head before the other cast its deadly karmic magic upon her and nearly stripped her of her life before she hit the ground. Before the second could take another step forward, it was waylaid both by fist and flail, its chest collapsing under the barrage.
As Selphie caught her flail, she screamed – a blue dragon had swiftly flown to her, its deadly claws grabbing her and its curled talons digging into her flesh. It fell moments later, bullets punching holes throughout its entire frame.
Instantly at Selphie's side, Irvine pulled her to her feet and held her tenderly, aiming his dreadfully heavy and enormous gun with his off-hand and skillfully firing, a grimace his singular display of consternation in response to absorbing the incredible recoil of Exeter with only one arm.
Even as the huge quake that rocked the area hit its peak, sending combatant and monster alike to their knees, a huge spike of solid earth erupted beneath Squall. With a shout, he managed to swipe at it with his gunblade before he could be gored by the earthen spear and held onto it for dear life as it thrust its way into the sky.
Quistis was doubled over, panting in exhaustion. Thrustevaris flew from the woods, their numbers few but their green-tinged bodies frothed with madness and rabid rage. Managing to straighten herself for a moment, she struck with her whip. The thrustevaris closest to her spiraled out of control, dead before it slammed into the ground even as she toppled back to her knees, incapable of keeping her feet despite the odds she faced.
Even as a T-Rexaur and a grendal charged towards her, their maws open and fangs sharp and slimy in the fierce orange glow of the forest fire that raged around them, she could barely bring herself to lift her head and watch as her doom approached.
In a blur of blond hair and precise motion, Zell leapt to her defense, his deadly fists flying with unerring precision to waylay everything that approached her. He barely staggered as he was enveloped in the lightning breath of the grendal and simultaneously beaen by the wild swing of the T-Rexaur's tail; with a snarl that shone white and red in the glowing light, blood pouring from now splitl ips and his teeth ground together in a manic adrenaline-driven grin, he sprang towards their attackers with a lengthy and devastating Duel.
Selphie held onto Irvine's coat to keep herself upright, holding her abdomen with her free arm, blood streaming down her yellow jumper and over the hilt of her Strange Vision flail. With a determined snarl she gripped her flail in both hands, taking one step away from Irvine's protective grasp even as she pushed the heavy weapon heavenwards – Full Cure roared over her and the other SeeDs, healing the damage they had attained in the barest of seconds.
Instantly back on her feet, Quistis found the time to reach into her deep reserves of status magic, throwing Blind onto everything within her vicinity, casting Aura on Zell and Irvine and quickly Silencing a blue dragon.
Her quick magical attack was brought to an end when a dark dragon leapt to her and downed her with one massive forepaw's swipe. She cried out as she fell back, her head bouncing off the hard ground before she rolled and attempted to escape.
The dragon found itself backpedaling rapidly, shock evident in its roar as it was pulled physically away from its chosen target by its tail, Zell hauling it back with every ounce of his impressive strength. Just as he was balling his fist to slam it into the beast he'd roped into combat using its own appendage, its head exploded in a visceral mess, decimated by a swiftly fired shot of pulse ammunition.
Irvine's auburn hair, stained ruby by blood that had previously tainted it from a scalp wound delivered during the fierce battle raging on the peninsula of Obel Lake, swiftly fired into the flame-obscured night. A plethora of monstrous screams and roars of pain lit the night as he burned through his hefty ammunition supply, the only lull in the explosive expulsions of Exeter being the bare scrap of seconds he used to reload his massive gun.
As the battles raged above, Cloud and Sephiroth continued unnoticed and uncaring, blades slamming into one another with unmatched strength and ferocity.
Suddenly a flare of white burned in the night, a brilliant star shining with the intensity of the sun in the black, cloud-coated night.
Cloud and Sephiroth came to a halt, weapons locked, both staring at the heavens. Sephiroth wore a confident smirk upon his lips even as Cloud's sea-colored mako eyes stared in confusion.
Shoving Cloud away, Sephiroth stood straight and unperturbed, staring up at the light that seemed to descend towards them through the black of the night.
Cloud took the opportunity to gasp for long-denied breath, his body finally registering its exhaustion as he stood, muscles aching and shaking under his sodden clothing, barely capable of holding his sword. Its tip resting in the mud of the bottom of the lake, he stared tiredly up to the top of the spire, barely capable of making out Squall's diminutive form atop of it.
Suddenly, Sephiroth crouched in the corner of Cloud's vision. Turning his attention, he swiftly charged, his sword instantly raised and his inflamed senses burning with acrid green touching his vision. Their swords collided even as the ground shook hard once more, Sephiroth's attempt to leap towards the Sorcerer atop the spire cleanly interrupted.
Two spires erupted from the pit, the first upon which Squall stood crumbling and falling to dust. Even as the spire collapsed, Squall repeated his trick with the newest deadly spear of earth – swinging his gunblade with frightening strength and accuracy, he sliced the top of the nearest pillar away and landed hard upon it in a blast of dust. Turning sharply, he stared.
An Ultima was bursting from the heavens, forming over the peninsula the SeeDs battled the enormous influx of monsters upon.
Swinging a hand forward, eyes flashing to gold, Squall snarled. Light burst from his palm.
A hemispheric dome of blue-tinted Shell sprang into life even as Ultima decimated the land above Obel Lake's black bottom.
The remains of the forest blasted into the air accompanied by blood and smoke and dust, pieces of monster flying in every direction.
The other spire that had erupted from the pit finally lost its top as well, the tip disintegrating into nothing.
The white light descended to the empty spire's top before the light died completely.
White wings curled around a delicate feminine frame, dark brunette hair fluttering in the gentle breeze that floats from the forest's fiery interior, brown eyes narrowing in rage carried by a face touched by sadness, the slight figure held a hand aloft, fingertips glowing with gentle white light.
As Cloud and Sephiroth crossed swords once more, the SOLDIER general sneered and allowed a brief chuckle to escape him, his smile in direct contrast to Cloud's own scowl and straining. "Behold, Cloud. The end of you and the one you seek to protect has arrived. Jenova's power will be mended. Her divinity will be restored, and so shall mine be completed."
Cloud couldn't manage a retort, pushing as hard as he could against Sephiroth's blade, his feet slipping in the muck and mire they fought in even as the silver-haired man stood statue still and smiled, his arms barely moved by Cloud's Herculean efforts.
Green eyes narrowing, his face calm with satisfaction, Sephiroth breathed, "This night will be your last. The sun will set forever on this world's future."
-to be continued-
Snowflake: Thanks for the review! :D What about Tifa, you ask? Well… this chapter should've taken care of it from Cloud's perspective. In Tifa's life? Well, assume whatever you like. XD I like to ship Refa, so I imagine a redhead hanging around a bar even more frequently. Hahahaha.