Chapter 5: Clouded memories.

"H-Hey, slow down a bit!" said Sephiroth as Thomas dragged him by his arm

through the Mall. "I need to catch a breather." His lungs couldn't keep up with Thomas' running speed. His sleeve was released from his grip, but it wasn't exactly intact. Sephiroth's suit was all wrinkled with a small tear in the left shoulder area.
"Oh, sorry Sid. I just get excited sometimes." a nervous chuckle.

A bit TOO excited as far as Sephiroth was concerned. The guy nearly tore his arm off with that iron grip of his. You'd think Thomas was desperate for friends or something.

Thomas pointed him in the direction of the main entrance doors. "C'mon, let's get to the stage." he said, anxiously waiting for Sephiroth to follow.
(Well, looks like there's no stopping him.) Sephiroth thought. He sat down near the slide doors, giving Thomas the 'just a moment' sign with his hand, allowing him to give himself some much needed air to breathe.

This feeling of exhaustion was quite alien to Sephiroth. For so long he could accomplish incredible feats with little effort, but now something as simple as running exhausted him greatly. Why? (Don't tell me Alterna did this to me as well.) he thought to himself. Finally he regained his stamina and stood back up, ready to join Thomas near the stage in the parking lot.

"Ready?" asked an eager Thomas.
"Yeah. Ready."
"Great!"

The portable stage they were told to go to wasn't anywhere in sight. The two friends searched everywhere for something that should stand out, but no luck was had. Maybe the stage was at another side of the mall? The two have asked around for a good 30 minutes, and were running out of time for the cosplay contest. And while they were asking around, Sephiroth spotted something that almost made him flinch.

It was a normal person, cosplaying as Cloud Strife.

Here he was. Just standing there as if to mock him. Yellow spiky hair, the shoulder pads, oversized Buster Sword, everything about that costume negatively resonated with Sephiroth as he simply stared at the cosplayer. (Cloud...) he thought to himself.
"You alright, bud? You look like you've seen a ghost." Thomas asked him.

In a way, he did. Only until now he had forgotten all about Alterna, the spell that brought him here. But Thomas had no knowledge about such things. And frankly, Sephiroth wanted to keep it that way. "I-I'm okay. It's nothing." Sephiroth said. "Should we ask around? For directions?" he asked Thomas.

"Yeah, sure!"

Really, that was just an excuse for Sephiroth to be by himself for a bit. When the two friends split up, Sephiroth made his way to an empty lot behind the mall with a single tin can resting on the ground.

"'Fire." he said outstretching his arm to cast a spell. Nothing happened. The tin can didn't burst into flames.

Sephiroth couldn't believe it. He really lost his powers. Did Alterna strip away his very being as well? Was he even himself now that he was transported here? Sephiroth slowly sat down on the pavement to further contemplate his 'existence.'

"So..." he said to himself quietly. "They think they can just parade around as my greatest rival." The mere concept of dressing up as Cloud greatly insulted Sephiroth's psyche.
It was as if the people were taunting him.

Ha, Ha, Ha. Poor you. You lost everything. Oh how sad for you.

Face it Sephiroth. Your life is worthless. Just give up. You're not special. You don't even qualify as a Nobody. You don't even exist. Why don't you just...

"HEY! SID! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Thomas' voice shouted out, shattering Sephiroth's nihilism break. "Oh, there you are." he said casually approaching Sephiroth, noticing him on the ground. "Hey, uh... You alright, Sid?" he asked wanting to offer help if needed.

"Yeah. Just... bummed out." he said weakly.
"How so?"
"I'm essentially homeless... broke... And I can't go back home." Sephiroth turned his head to face Thomas. "Do you have any idea what it's like to lose everything?"

As far as Sephiroth was concerned, Thomas didn't share any similar pain to his. He might have lied about where he came from, but he wasn't lying about the face that he lost... something.

What was that something? Was it empathy? His magic? His identity? The mother he yearned for?
Sephiroth at first thought that Alterna was the spell that made him lose everything, and he wasn't wrong. He did lose his magic and his strength.
But, there was something else that was missing. Something that was missing long before Alterna sent him to this other world.

Thomas sat down next to Sephiroth on the pavement to his surprise. "Well, I kinda do. I lost my dad, my dog, and I even had some of my stuff stolen."
"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss." Said Sephiroth for the first time in what felt like forever. At the same time, Sephiroth tried to imagine what Cloud felt after he killed Aerith.
"Nah man, it's okay. You know, there are some things that can never be replaced. But, it's okay to lose something, y'know?"

It's okay to lose something? Why would anybody say that? Isn't losing something bad?
Thomas continued. "Losing my dad to cancer sucked. Hard. I always used to cling to him and depend on him for everything."
"Were you able to... live without him?" Sephiroth asked Thomas.

"At first, no. I had to do all the cooking myself, because he would always make food for mom and I." he answered. "But, after a while, I began to finally cook for myself. I started to get better at school. I got my driver's license, and I learned how to live on my own."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Basically, if you don't let go, you'll never move on."

Never move on... Perhaps that's how Cloud and the others were able to defeat him. Not by strength, but perhaps will.
"You need to have the will to move on, if you want to succeed in life." Thomas added.

After hearing this, Sephiroth started to stand back up, along with Thomas. This talk made him feel a little bit better about himself. "Thanks, Thomas. I needed this."
"No prob, Sid. Now. Let's go find that stage. I think it's right around that corner!" he said, pointing to the right of Sephiroth. Afterwards, without any warning, Thomas sprinted in that very direction. "C'mon, we're gonna be late!"
"He sure is easily excited." Sephiroth said to himself.