-Chapter Twenty-Three-

His Host

Present.

Alex had thrown her phone across the room and ran into her en-suite, locked the door, and gazed into the mirror. Tifa was in an utter frenzy, looking at her as though she was completely mad.

"You have to call Charles, Savina, Shaun, anyone! You can't just let this slide you can't!" She shouted at her, making Alex grab her head in pain again. Tifa seemed to have resigned to the fact that Alex was not going to give in and let her take over. "Alex please listen to reason, he may be your best friend but…"

"I am not going to call them…I can't…not yet…" Tears were running freely down her face, "he won't know that I know…so surely there is no immediate threat?"

"That makes no difference, Alex this could give us the edge in this battle, we could have the distinct advantage needed to turn the tables sitting on your bedroom floor!" She was referring of course to the collage. Tifa looked as though she was determined. "But Alex, we cannot fight him alone, we need the others!"

"I told you…" She whispered, talking telepathically just seemed like too much effort at the moment, "…we are not calling them."

Alex then suddenly realised that she would be seeing Josh tonight at their fencing practice. She didn't know if she could go, or if it would be wise to go. Would she be able to face her best friend knowing this terrible secret that he has kept from her.

"Oh god…" Alex said, suddenly realising the gravity of the situation, "…all those people, he has just been letting him…"

"You don't know that!" Tifa said, which surprised Alex. This did not stop her vomiting into the sink before her though, the thought of all those murders played through her head like a film stuck on an infinite repeat. "Alex…god forbid I can't believe I'm saying this…go along to fencing tonight, but use extreme caution. Have your phone ready, see if he knows what you know…"

Alex looked up at Tifa in surprise. She was not sure if she meant well by this or not. She was glad that Tifa had stopped persisting that she call the others, but at the same time still worried, what would happen tonight? Maybe the whole thing was some kind of mistake, a hallucination caused from all the chaos in the world.

Splashing her face with cold water, Alex then proceeded to unlock the door and head back into her room. Tentatively she walked over to the a2 collage on the floor and looked at the centremost print, the print that should have contained a photo of her best friend. She looked at it for a good five minutes in complete silence. There was no getting away from it, the figure in the photo was not going to change.

X

"Oh but this is just glorious!" Sephiroth said delighted in Josh's head. "The most powerful summon magic embedded in our arm and now this, the day can't get much better!" He sounded the happiest Josh had ever heard him.

Josh said absolutely nothing. He kept expecting to wake up from this nightmare, it couldn't be real. Sephiroth was still gloating in his head, but Josh was so out of focus at the moment he could not register anything that he was saying, it was like someone was talking to him through a very badly tuned walkie-talkie.

"Oh tonight is going to be most enjoyable…" He finally made out.

"We aren't going…" Josh replied, finding the energy to pick up his phone and pocket it. He suddenly got it straight back out however and began to text Alex.

Alex xD

Run, get as far away from here as you can, he knows who you are and he

His hand suddenly constricted and crushed the phone into a crunched up mess. Josh had known this would be a foolish attempt, Sephiroth's power over him had been growing stronger and stronger ever since his suicide effort. It was as though he was dedicating more of his time to learning how to take over effectively. It was this therefore that surprised Josh, why had he not taken over now?

"Oh the time is not right just yet, let's just let this pan out the way things have already been planned…" Sephiroth said in answer to the unasked question.

Josh threw the destroyed phone at the wall. He wanted to scream, but shock seemed to be constricting his throat. He looked at the clock, there were two long hours between now and the fencing class. What could he do in those two hours to prevent things from happening…?

X

The girls changing rooms were filled with the always eager fencing students getting ready for their upcoming lesson. Alex had always been at the centre of attention since she made the wager with their teacher.

"The nationals though, you could be representing our country in your category!" One of her fellow classmates said to her in awe, obviously not noticing that Alex was not completely with it, "And you would soooo win!"

Alex had just finished zipping up her white top. "Well, you never know…" She replied in a half-hearted manner, "…we'll have to wait and see." She picked up her mask, sword, and walked out of the changing rooms towards the sports hall.

Only a handful of people were there at the moment, Alex had decided to leave early thinking her nerves would get the better of her if she didn't. She looked around for Josh, mercifully he wasn't there yet. "Or maybe he isn't going to show…" She suggested to Tifa, though this was wishful thinking.

She walked over to the benches where people were sitting talking. As usual people started questioning her about her hopes for the nationals, which she really did not feel like answering. Her phone began to vibrate in her pocket, though she did not answer it. As Tifa had instructed she had kept it on her just in case.

Their instructed Sophie walked into the hall. "Evening everyone." She greeted. Everybody returned the greeting.

"He isn't here…" Alex said in relief, "…he must have…"

At that moment however, Josh walked in through the sports hall doors and walked over to the benches, apologising for his lateness on the way over. He looked at Alex, and she couldn't help but think he looked a little bit nervous. Hoping beyond hope that she was going to wake up soon, she shifted over and allowed him to take a seat next to her.

"Fall asleep?" She asked, a slight quaver in her voice. Josh did not seem to pick up on this however.

"No just got talking to someone." He replied, somewhat ironically. "Haven't missed anything have I?"

"Nope." Alex replied, mastering the nerves in her voice. Her phone continued to vibrate in her pocket, whoever it was had to be desperate to get hold of her.

"Ok so nothing to fanciful today, get yourselves into pairs for some warm-up rounds and we'll take it from there." Sophie instructed, everybody got up and started pairing up.

"Hope you don't mind I said I'd go with Joanne…" Alex said suddenly to Josh.

"Oh no not at all…" Josh replied, fighting the urge to be violently sick, "…I'll find someone." He was somewhat relieved her wasn't against Alex.

However the warm-up rounds came and went faster than the both of them would have liked. Before they knew it, Sophie was talking animatedly about a tournament which was coming up in London which she wanted to put several people down for. To everyone's surprise she did not suggest Alex, but this may have been down to her being put forward for the nationals.

Alex looked over at Josh and was surprised to see him already looking her way out of the corner of her eye. "Hang in there Alex…it doesn't look like he knows, but hang in there…" Tifa encouraged her, regretting that she had allowed Alex to come here alone.

Sophie proceeded to ask for volunteers to demonstrate new techniques and go over old ones, then asked them to pair up again and practice them. Much to Alex's delight she again was not paired with Josh but with a new started she had never met before. Alex obviously went extremely easy on her, trying to help the newcomer even though her mind was not completely in the game.

"He doesn't know, he can't, if he did then he would have done something by now surely?" Alex asked Tifa nervously, there was no reply and Alex did not feel like searching her mind for an answer.

How she managed to get through the class without getting paired up with Josh she never knew. The long hour and a half lesson passed as slowly as an ant could push a brick across a desert. Several of the students opted to stay behind for extra practice after Sophie had left, including the new starter.

"So Alex…" Josh began, walking over to her before she had chance to leave the hall, "…do I get that rematch against you?"

Alex almost dropped her mask which she had held under her arm. "Well I'm kind of tired at the moment mate I wanted to head home."

"Oh come on!" Josh said, obviously rather keen for it, "What harm can it do, I won't hold it against you if I beat you whilst you're tired nationals girl!"

Josh could not stop the words coming out of his mouth. Sephiroth's control over him was just far too great now, he was being merely used as a puppet. Alex looked at him, considering the situation, then was struck by an idea.

"I just need to make a call to my parents to let them know I will be late, then we can ok?" Josh nodded at her. Alex's phone had been vibrating in her pocket all through the lesson.

She checked her phone and saw that it was Charles who had been calling her, she waited a couple of moments and sure enough it began to ring again, she walked away from Josh. "Alex speaking." She said as she answered.

"Alex what the hell have you been doing! We have the location of the bl…"

"Reeve listen, I need you and everyone at the sports hall at my college now!" Alex cut him off, " 'He' is here, if you catch my drift…"

Reeve went extremely silent. "Hold out for half an hour, we'll be there." He hung up. Alex walked back into the hall, thinking of delay tactics.

"Right let me get a drink from the water cooler then we can go." She said to Josh, noticing how funny it must have looked for her to not simply do that before returning.

"Tifa what the hell do we do!" Alex asked on the verge of tears, "I can't do this…"

"Yes you can, just hold out for a few minutes and the others will be here!" She assured her. Alex downed a cold cup of water, turned round, and re-entered the hall…

"Ready?" Josh said as she approached, donning his mask.

"Always…" Alex replied, putting on her mask as well. She considered for a moment how lucky it was she would be concealing her face.

They both walked slowly over to the long blue mat, each going to either end. Several of the students that had stayed behind stopped practicing and looked over at the both of them, knowing that they were two good fighters.

"Someone begin the match, we'll make it best of seven…" Alex called out, to which the newcomer came over.

"Ready…" She said. Alex put her right foot in front of her left. "Begin play…en-guard."

Alex raised her sword to fighting stance and began to edge forward towards her opponent. The point which followed was utterly spectacular, the two of them seemed to be able to read each other's movements perfectly, blocking and dodging beyond the skill the likes that the spectators had never seen.

The point lasted for roughly a minute, which in fencing terms was a very long time indeed. Alex landed a hit on Josh's torso in the end though. There was applause from the students who were spectating. They walked back to their starting ends and the newcomer set the next point in motion.

It went on for even longer than the first point, at one stage Alex made a block where the tips of the two swords met, causing them both to curve inwards, a move which nobody had seen used before. A minute and a half of tense fighting passed before Josh finally landed a blow on Alex's shoulder. One all, not that either of them cared about the score. More applause from the students.

Both of them looked as though they were feeling the burn already. "Two minute break?" Alex suggested, removing her mask, Josh followed suit.

"Suits me…" He replied simply, walking over to the benches and sitting down.

"At least now we know why he is so good…" Tifa pointed out, "He must be holding back, we shouldn't be any match for him."

The two minutes passed quicker than hoped. Alex kept looking over at the door, hoping someone would run through it any second. Josh got back to his feet and put his mask back on. Alex returned to her starting position.

The fight resumed, and as if following a pattern the point went on for even longer. It did not end as anybody had expected however, Josh had made an extremely odd move which had resulted in his sword slicing a light cut in the back of Alex's hand, causing her to drop her sword. The fight stopped for a few moments as she looked at it, then she picked her sword back up and returned to fighting stance.

Josh did not apologise for the attack. "Right…" Tifa began, and then an overwhelming sensation overtook Alex. Tifa had taken control, the mask was the only thing keeping her from peoples view. "Time to play dirty…"

Without waiting for next point to be set in motion she lunged at Josh, breaking the correct footing which you were meant to keep during fencing, something which the spectators were quick to point out. Josh did not seem to care however, he blocked her attacks with ease.

Both of them swung blow after blow at each other, moving off of the designated mat and using all of the space the hall granted them. Tifa knew she would not be able to do him any serious damage with the fencing sword but continued a relentless assault none the less.

Josh began to back up towards the stacked rows of seating as they fought, stepping onto them. Tifa followed suit, being sure not to let him gain a distinct height advantage. The crowd who were at first shocked by the lack of dignified fighting were now watching with great interest, some of them cheering them on.

Josh had just deflected a swipe of Alex's and then made a violent kick at her chest, knocking her backwards and almost off of her feet. The crowd went silent for a moment, wondering what could have caused such a violent move. Tifa was not at all put off, she continued her attack.

The both of them jumped down off of the benches, still showing swordplay the likes of which nobody had ever seen. Tifa grabbed Josh's sword hand, as did Josh with her. The two of them were locked in a grapple. Josh then head-butted her with all the force he could muster, dazing her for a few seconds.

With a force unlike any she had been able to find before Tifa swung at Josh's sword knocking it out of his hands. Josh did an incredible jumping kick which disarmed Tifa as well. It was now a fist fight. One of the students had ran to get Sophie who was still in the changing rooms.

"What the hell is going on!" She shouted as she saw the two fighting, and then it happened.

Tifa made an almighty punch at Josh's mask, knocking it clean off of his head, and revealing not Josh, but the cruel face of Sephiroth. Silence from the crowd as they took in the impossible nature of the situation. Moments later the fight resumed, and Sephiroth made a kick at Tifa's face, knocking her mask clean off also and revealing her to all present.

There were a few tense moments where the two parasites looked at each other. Two mortal enemies sharing the bodies of two best friends, the cruelty of the situation seemed to sink in to both of them. The cat was out of the bag now, the parasites had been seen.

Tifa extended her materia arm and made a jet of flame burst at Sephiroth. Several of the onlookers screamed, others fainted. Sephiroth was knocked back, but managed to stay on his feet.

"Well if that's the way you want to play…" He said smugly. His arm glowed a vivid green and the floor around Tifa began to tremble. Knowing what was about to happen she jumped out of the way, just as from the earth a huge stalagmite erupted. It would have killed her. Sephiroth repeated the magic, and it wasn't until Tifa managed to land a punch on him that his concentration was broken.

His power in this world did seem considerably weaker than on Gaia, though his use of magic was still formidable. Tifa shot another jet of flame at him, this time he was ready however, he had created a barrier which reflected the spell straight back at her, knocking her off her feet.

Sephiroth walked over to her and prepared to use the earth magic once more. "Pathetic…" He muttered.

At that precise moment the door to the hall burst open and the sound of gunfire riddled the air. Sephiroth was hit straight in his materia bearing arm before erecting another barrier to protect himself. In the doorway stood both Reeve and Yuffie, Reeve with a gun pointing straight at Sephiroth.

"So I only get the pleasure of killing three of you tonight…no matter…" Sephiroth began as a green aura repaired his arm, "…I shall hunt you all one by one." He extracted from his arm a red orb, and then did something very strange.

He tossed it into the air where it hovered for a moment. Then from it shot thirteen red beams of light in a perfect circle at the floor. Tifa got to her feet and ran over to her companions, the rest of the onlookers had long since scarpered.

"Just as useless here as you were there…goodbye, companions of Cloud…" Sephiroth made a break for it through the street door at the back of the hall. All three made to go after him, but at that precise moment thirteen armour clad knights burst forth from the ground. The knights of the round now stood in formation before the three of them.

"There is no way we can take on all of them…" Reeve said, the knights were ominously standing still, "we need to destroy the materia." The red orb was wildly spinning and emitting an eerie glow.

Reeve took a step forward, and the Knights all readied their weapons. "Just avoid getting hit…" Tifa said, walking next to Reeve, "…that's our main priority." She fired two jets of flames at the knights, knocking two of them backwards, the others began to strike.

Even before they started they knew it was a one way fight. It was all they could do to duck, jump and dodge all of the knights attacks, it was impossible for them to get close to the materia. Reeve tried firing some bullets at it when he had the chance, but it had no impact.

Tifa was kicked to the floor by who looked to be the head knight, he then raised his sword ready to strike, this was the end. Suddenly however, miraculously, the nights went completely still, a second passed…and then the fell to the floor, clearly dead.

Standing below the point where the materia had been hovering was a fourth person, a person who had amazingly just shattered the summon materia, had saved all of them from certain death…

A/N- Next chapter up soon, let us know what you thought of this one! Criticism as always is taken on board as long as it is constructive!

R&A