Adult-FanFiction.org : Final Fantasy

Premonitions: Uncut	By : Hippo_and_Friends_with_Benefits Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 3901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, and I am not making any money of of this writing.

Chapter List
- 85
- 86
- 87
Chapter 86: The Final Battle
WEDNESDAY
TWO DAYS PRIOR TO METEORFALL
The Highwind was floating silently through the skies. It was five in afternoon, but, for ten, it felt like it was nearing midnight. They were slowly travelling southward, scanning carefully for any signs of Sephiroth. He had suddenly sprung up the crater and disappeared; nobody had seen that coming. After two hours of climbing their way out of the Northern Crater in suspense, the group apprehensively boarded the Highwind. Sephiroth could be anywhere, and not finding him was not an option.
On the bridge, everyone was restless. Yuffie was pacing around. Barret was aiming his gun-arm, even though the glass was bulletproof. Aerith sat in a corner, completely drained. It had not been the trip anyone had expected.
"Well, where is he?!" Cloud demanded, peering through the window.
"All we know is that he's somewhere on the surface," Cait Sith replied. "But nobody knows how fast this form of his can go, so his whereabouts are anyone's guess."
Meanwhile, Aerith stood up, holding Sephiroth's sword. She did not understand exactly why she chose to pick it up and take it with her. Perhaps it was because it was what he had tried to kill her with. The battle was, in a sense, at least a partial victory, as Sephiroth did retreat. She could look at the sword as a trophy, as she had no idea how to wield it.
"Did you have to bring that with you?" Cid asked.
"Well," Aerith replied, "I could use a better weapon."
"Right," Cid muttered skeptically.
"Guys!" Yuffie called suddenly. "Icicle Inn!"
Everyone looked out the window. As the Highwind passed over the village, they could see that one of the buildings was on fire.
"Did he do this?" Tifa asked.
"Let's see," Cloud replied as he reduced the altitude.
He could see the burning building; it was the house where the boy who had sold them the snowboard lived. People with hoses were rushing to put out the fire, at which they were succeeding. There was no sign of Sephiroth.
"I think we had a false alarm," Cloud suggested. "Anything could have caused that."
The Highwind crossed the sea, and was soon over the Western Continent. Shortly afterward, Cloud could see a bright red light coming from the southwest. After steering the Highwind in that direction, he could see another fire. This time, it was three buildings.
"Rocket Town, too?!" Tifa exclaimed.
"This can't be a coincidence," Yuffie pointed out.
As the Highwind approached the burning Rocket Town, Cloud could still see no sign of Sephiroth.
For another person on the bridge, Sephiroth was no longer a concern.
"Motherfucker!" Cid shouted as he frantically pulled out his cell phone, immediately calling Shera.
"Hello?" she greeted after three rings.
Cid sighed in relief.
"Thank God you're okay!" he said.
"I'm fine," Shera replied over the phone.
"Where are you?" Cid demanded.
"Rocket Town," she answered. "He only torched three houses and then took off."
"Sephiroth?" Cid asked.
"No, but it looked like him," Shera replied. "He had feathers where his legs should be, and I think he was naked, and-"
"That was Sephiroth," Cid interjected. "How he got like that is kind of complicated, but that was him."
Tifa began to stroke her lip with her thumb.
"That's not like him," she mentioned uneasily. "He usually burns whole towns down. He takes his time. Remember Nibelheim?"
"Nibelheim!" Cloud suddenly shouted, realizing which town was most likely next. "Shit! Cid, put her on speaker!"
Cid pressed the speaker button.
"Shera," Cloud shouted, "where did he go once he was done in Rocket Town?"
"Into the mountains," she replied.
"Goddammit," Cloud growled.
The Highwind traveled over the mountains before reaching Nibelheim. Both Cloud and Tifa sighed in relief simultaneously; not one building was burning.
"He skipped Nibelheim?!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"Or he hasn't arrived yet," Vincent suggested.
The Highwind hovered over Nibelheim for nearly half an hour, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did.
"Is he in the mountains?" Cloud asked rhetorically. "What would he need in there?"
And then, Cloud suddenly dropped to his knees. He clutched his head in distress, just like the previous times. The high-pitched ringing, that only he could hear, returned.
"Cloud!" exclaimed Aerith as she ran over to him and began to hold him. "Hang in there, baby," she cooed as she rocked him.
A moment later, the attack stopped, and Cloud rose to his feet. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"What happened?" Tifa asked.
"I saw him," Cloud gasped. "A-at the Nibel reactor."
"That reactor in the back mountains?" Aerith asked. "What would he want there?"
"It's where it all began," Cloud replied. "It's where he found out who he really was."
"But you said he took what he needed from there," Aerith pointed out. "Why would he go back?"
"Then it could be a trap," Tifa said. "He has a plan as much as we did."
"He might be trying to lure us somewhere," Cid added.
"We have to take that chance," Cloud insisted. "He needs to go. If he's inside the reactor, we need to take him out."
"Blow him up?" Tifa asked. "I'm confused. I thought we weren't going to kill him. Because he's more dangerous dead than alive."
"I meant petrify him," Cloud said as he pulled out the materia from his pocket.
"What's that?" Tifa asked.
"Break materia," Cloud replied. "I got it from killing Ruby Weapon. This can turn Sephiroth into stone. But it can't be dropped."
"Because it's fragile?" Tifa asked.
"Not only that," Cloud answered, "but it would create a shockwave that would petrify anything within a few yards."
"Wow," Tifa said. "I'd keep that safe, then."
"Guys," Cid interrupted, "I hate repeating myself, but did I mention that I think Sephiroth is trying to lure us somewhere? Like the reactor, maybe?"
"And what if he seals us in the reactor?" Yuffie pointed out. "What if he's trying to lure us in there, and seal us in so we can't save the world."
Everyone was silent. It seemed likely that Sephiroth had sent that message to Cloud intentionally, to get everyone inside the reactor. And yet, there was still the chance that Sephiroth was inside. They were continuing to hover over the mountains with no sign of him. His trail of destruction did not reach Nibelheim; there was really nowhere else he could be. It was not possible to save the planet by simply leaving Sephiroth as he was. It was a no-win, damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation.
"Two of us can wait outside," Cloud suddenly decided. "If the entrance seals or anything like that, they can get us out. Not to mention, they can fight off any approaching enemies."
"It's a good idea," Tifa agreed.
"Then it's decided," Cloud agreed. "Eight of us will go in, while two of us will wait outside. It's the safest way to go."
Aerith silently nodded.
OUTSIDE THE REACTOR...
The Highwind softly landed on a clearing in the mountains about a hundred yards from the reactor. The ten of them slowly disembarked, carrying their weapons with them. Before them was the reactor, where the final battle would almost certainly be fought. And yet, two would not participate.
"So how do we decide to stays outside?" Red XIII asked.
"I don't know," Cloud replied. "I didn't really think of that. I honestly didn't expect you all to agree."
"Maybe we could draw straws?" Jessie suggested.
"No need to draw any straws," Vincent insisted. "I'll stay out. I have the Death Penalty. In the unlikely event that Sephiroth is out here, I can blast him limb by limb."
"Do you have enough in that thing to protect yourself?" Jessie asked.
"One way to find out," Vincent replied after examining the Death Penalty.
"Who else?" Jessie asked.
Nobody spoke. It seemed as if everyone wanted a piece of Sephiroth. It was not something anyone wanted to miss out on.
And then, someone did speak.
"I'll stay," Aerith volunteered.
Everyone turned to the Cetra. The person who seemed afraid to be alone, the person who seemed to refused to leave Cloud's side, was agreeing to stay back. Everyone was shocked.
"Aerith?!" Cloud exclaimed. He was the most surprised of all.
"It's for the best," she insisted. "I'll be a distraction if I get attacked in there. I don't have any good weapons, so I'll be an easy target. I don't even know how to use this sword. What I do know how to do is run for the Highwind and get explosives if the reactor is sealed. At least this way, I can be the most useful."
Cloud was speechless. He could not have seen that coming from a mile away.
"Aerith…" he began. He did not feel comfortable leaving her outside. He had promised to be her bodyguard.
"I'll make sure nothing happens to her," Vincent assured him.
Aerith then walked up to the man she loved and put her hands on his shoulders.
"I'll be okay," she said, smiling. "I promise." She then wrapped her arms around his neck and began to kiss him deeply.
Cloud, despite his stronger feelings for Tifa, accepted the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist. For the moment, she was still his fiancée. He needed to show his support.
Tifa, meanwhile, showed no objection.
"Don't be gone too long, baby," Aerith said lovingly as she hugged him tightly.
INSIDE THE REACTOR...
Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Red XIII, Jessie, Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Cid entered the first room of the reactor, making their way down to the platform one by one. Scanning the room, Cloud could still see no sign of Sephiroth. All he could see was the metal bridge that crossed the chasm below. It was dead quiet inside, and it made Cloud, along with everyone else, feel greatly uneasy.
The group slowly made their way into the second room, where the twelve pods still stood; their blue lights were still running.
"What's in there?" Cid asked.
"Makonoids," Cloud replied.
"Those things are real?!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"They are," Cloud answered. "Human beings exposed to too much Mako energy. When I came here with Zack and Sephiroth, one of the pods burst. Those two nearly got themselves killed putting the makonoid back in."
"What would have happened if it had escaped?" Jessie asked.
"God only knows," Cloud replied. "They lose all sense of human morality."
The grated flight of stairs still led upward to the door, which was still wide open. The name "Jenova" was still above it.
Tifa wanted to shudder; the memory of being thrown down those stairs was still in her heart.
"Well, now that bitch is dead," Yuffie said, referring to the sign, with a tone of satisfaction in her voice.
"Unfortunately," Cait Sith added, "her legacy lives on. And he's probably behind that door."
Cloud was the first to ascend the stairs. As he reached the door, he drew his sword.
Then Cid drew his spear.
Then Barret cocked his gun-arm.
Then Yuffie drew her conformer.
"This is it, everyone," Cloud announced. With that, he passed through the doorway.
Jenova's "throne room" was as he had left it. The large wire was still leaving up to her tank, which was now shattered. But what immediately captured Cloud's attention was what was behind the shattered tank. There was a door there, which was wide open. The lights were on in the room, and they were also on beyond the door, revealing descending stairs. He had never seen this door before, but it told him that they were close.
"You never told us about this door," Cid mentioned.
"I never knew about it," Cloud replied as he carefully climbed the wire and stepped around the shattered tank.. "I was kind of occupied the last time I was here."
"Where to these stairs go?" Yuffie asked aloud.
"They go down," Cait Sith replied.
"No shit," Barret added.
"I think it's pretty obvious, but I guess Sephiroth is down there," Tifa said, cracking her knuckles.
"Then it's going to become his tomb," Cloud said as he passed through the doorway and began to descend the stairs.
Tifa, admiring the fact that he simply began walking down the stairs, could not resist tapping Cloud on the shoulder.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again," she said with a smile. "Cloud, you're so brave!"
Cloud smiled back before continuing down the stairs. He made sure his sword was drawn and ready at all times. He descended the metal stairs slowly, feeling that Sephiroth was close. He could feel his presence, and could almost hear his laughter inside. As he reached the landing, he cautiously poked his head around the corner, well aware that Sephiroth could be right there. It turned out that he was not, allowing Cloud to quickly shift, turn one hundred and eighty degrees, and resume his descent. He stepped on one stair, then another. He quickly reached the bottom of the stairwell, and he noticed that, to his left, there was a doorway leading into another room. He tightened his grip on the sword; Sephiroth had to be in that room. Carefully as before, Cloud poked his head through the doorway.
The room was about three thousand feet square. Lights hanging from the ceiling illuminated it. There were several barrels of God-knows-what lined up against each wall, but, other than that, the room had no special features.
Cloud slowly stepped into the room. He first checked the corners closest to the doorway, and saw that Sephiroth occupied neither of them. He then took a few steps forward, and scanned the opposite two corners, with the same results. He was soon in the center of the room, scanning three hundred and sixty degrees.
Back at the doorway, Tifa, Barret, Jessie, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Cid each entered the room. They scanned in a more relaxed manner, but did not find anything that Cloud did not.
Cloud, meanwhile, was scanning both the ceiling and the floor, looking for vents or gratings. There were none. The awful realization then came to him.
There's no one here! Cloud thought in horror. I strongly feel his presence, but there's no one here!
Then, without warning, the lights shut off.
"The fuck?" Barret whispered.
Everyone stood still, preparing their weapons.
"Welcome, Cloud," greeted a voice.
The voice sounded like Sephiroth's, but it was slightly higher pitched.
Then the lights slowly came back on.
A man was standing at the far wall, away from the doorway. He looked like Sephiroth, but his hair was shorter. He was dressed in black leather, and was sporting a sword.
Someone, having been to the future, recognized him immediately.
"It's nice to meet you, Kadaj," Cloud greeted sarcastically. "Two years too early."
"The feeling is mutual," Kadaj replied.
"So you were born from one of the women that Sephiroth impregnated," Tifa concluded aloud. "You weren't born from a pond this time."
"Things had to change," Kadaj insisted. "I'm well aware you've noticed. It's a new timeline now. What happened the last time we encountered each other no longer matters."
"Yeah," Cloud agreed. "You died in my arms, as I recall."
"I'm all too aware," Kadaj said. "Things will be different this time around."
"Where's Sephiroth?" Cloud demanded.
"We are all Sephiroth," Loz replied as he appeared from behind Kadaj.
"Pure human cells," Yazoo added as he appeared in the same manner. "With Sephiroth's D.N.A."
"At the expense of three innocent women," Tifa retorted. "There's a family on the Northern Continent grieving for their teenage daughter. And there's two small children in Midgar who are going to grow up without a mother."
"In any case," Yuffie began, "there's eight of us and three of you. The odds are against you."
"Are they?" taunted Kadaj as he pointed his souba at the ceiling. "Listen."
Cloud suddenly heard a popping sound above him. It was soon followed by another. And then, another.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Tifa groaned.
"Do you know what sound that is?" Yazoo asked.
"Aw, shit," Cloud muttered.
"What?" exclaimed Yuffie. "Shit's not good!"
"What is it?" Jessie asked.
"The makonoid chambers are bursting open," Cloud replied as he gripped his sword.
"Those things are getting loose?!" Cid exclaimed. "They're gonna come for us?!"
"You bet your ass," Cloud replied.
The popping sound continued, with one pop after another. Then, all was quiet.
The silence lasted for a small interval. Cloud and his friends kept their weapons armed. Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo simply stood where they were.
Then, the sound of feet running on the stairwell began. It grew louder and louder as a drop of sweat began to trickle down Cloud's neck.
Moments later, the first makonoid showed its face through the doorway. It charged for the first thing it saw: Tifa.
Tifa, already prepared, drove her foot in the creature's groin. The makonoid staggered backward, where Yuffie drove her conformer into the back of its head, killing it.
More and more makonoids passed through the doorway, causing Barret to fire his gun-arm blindly at the doorway. Some were hit, others were able to dodge the fire and enter the room.
"Where the hell is Sephiroth?!" Tifa exclaimed over the gunfire as another makonoid began to approach.
MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE REACTOR...
Vincent and Aerith were each seated on a rock several yards from the reactor entrance. Vincent sat, studying the Death Penalty. There was no place to load bullets; once they were gone, they were gone for good. He wondered if he had enough to keep himself and Aerith alive should danger present itself. There was only one way to find out.
Aerith, meanwhile, sat casually spinning "her" sword vertically. This was the same sword that killed her in the original timeline; now it was in her possession. She wondered whether she could use it if she needed to.
"Have you ever actually used a sword?" Vincent asked.
"Once," Aerith replied. "When I was fourteen."
Vincent sighed.
"You mean for a fencing class?" he asked.
"No, for a dance recital," she replied. "Latin, to be exact."
Vincent sighed again.
"I look good with it, don't I?" Aerith asked. "It makes me regret not trying modeling."
"There's always time for things like that," Vincent assured her. "Now that the timeline's changed and you have a long life ahead of you."
"No thanks," she dismissed. "I just want to be a housewife." She paused. "I wonder how everyone's doing down there. I feel kind of useless. And guilty."
"You did the right thing," Vincent assured her. "Cloud can't be distracted."
"I think I did that already," Aerith sighed.
"What do you mean?"
She took a breath.
"I know Cloud and Tifa have feelings for each other. And I told him that he could never see her again after we got married. Now I regret it. I feel like such a bitch. With a capital B."
"You can always take it back," Vincent assured her. "Sometimes-"
He could not finish. Purple lightening struck the mountain wall, causing a deafening sound, followed by chunks of rock falling.
Vincent and Aerith simultaneously looked to find Sephiroth, still in his angelic form, bearing down on them.
"He was out here the whole time?!" she exclaimed.
Sephiroth fired another bolt of purple lightening from his left index finger at their position, causing both of them to jump in opposite directions.
"Run," Vincent ordered.
"But I-" Aerith began to protest as she attempted to arm the sword.
"Forget it," he interjected. "You don't know the back end of that sword from the front!"
Sighing, she darted away.
Ignoring the fleeing Aerith, Sephiroth glared at Vincent with pride.
"Your friends are now in my trap," he announced. "And only you can save them."
"The hour is at hand," Vincent said as he aimed the Death Penalty.
"They will be sealed inside," Sephiroth replied. "They will starve to death."
"Your avatars are down there," Vincent reminded him. "I'm not stupid. Cloud could feel your presence inside. I know your avatars are down there."
"I'll create others," Sephiroth taunted. "Starting from our friend Aerith. Now I can kill her usefully. She'll die giving me another avatar."
Vincent did not respond. Instead, he aimed the Death Penalty at one of Sephiroth's lower wings.
"You really think you can protect Aerith and the others with that weapon alone?" Sephiroth taunted.
"I can try," Vincent responded.
A second later, he pulled the trigger.
The wing came off clean. Sephiroth howled in pain, shifting several yards backward. He had not expected Vincent's weapon to be so powerful.
Vincent, realizing that he had the advantage, advanced.
"This was given to me by Lucretia Crescent," he announced as he pointed the Death Penalty at another one of Sephiroth's lower wings. "Do you know who that is?"
"I...couldn't care less!" Sephiroth groaned in pain.
"It's for the best," Vincent said as he pulled the trigger again.
Another wing came off and fell to the ground, with feathers flying in all directions.
Sephiroth again howled, and shifted backwards several more yards. He was now only a few feet in front of the reactor's entrance.
"You fool," Sephiroth growled. "I...don't...die easily!"
Silently, Vincent aimed the Death Penalty straight at Sephiroth's head. He might have had wings and halos, but a brain was still a brain. One shot, and it would all be over.
"Good-bye, Sephiroth," he announced as he pulled the trigger.
The Death Penalty clicked.
Immediately panicking, he pulled the trigger again.
The Death Penalty still clicked.
"Empty," Vincent whispered as his mouth went dry.
Sephiroth began to bear down on Vincent. A purple light, that would precede the purple lightning, began to emanate from his fingertips.
A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER...
It would easily be recalled that, before Vincent made his ill-fated attempt on Sephiroth's life, he told Aerith to run, much to her disgust. Sure enough, she ran, but not away from the scene.
Instead, Aerith ran right to the reactor. Her initial intention was to enter and help Cloud, unaware of how deep the reactor's interior actually was. But once she climbed the stairs to the entrance, she noticed a quite visible passage to her right that led behind the reactor. Curiosity caused her to follow the passage, which lay between a metal fence and the reactor wall. On the other side was a metal ladder. Looking up, Aerith could see a metal-grated balcony above her. She realized that she could climb the latter and check on Vincent from the balcony. She might even be able to somehow intervene if Sephiroth, or, more importantly, Vincent, was not looking.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the Death Penalty firing, followed by a pained howl. It did not take Aerith long to find out what happened; Vincent had shot Sephiroth. She thought about how he had tried to kill her in the Forgotten Capital, and realized that she might find it satisfying to watch him die. Determined not to miss the moment, Aerith quickly climbed the ladder.
When she reached the top, she heard the Death Penalty fire again. Wasting no time, she ran around the balcony to the front of the reactor. There, she could see that Sephiroth was missing two of his lower wings, which were both laying on the ground, surrounded by detached feathers. Vincent had the Death Penalty pointed at Sephiroth. With a few more shots, he could finish him off.
Or should I let him? she thought.
Again, she remembered the time he attacked her on the altar. He had jumped down from above and stabbed her. Now, she could jump from the balcony and stab him in the exact same manner. It would be the perfect revenge, especially since he had actually killed her in the original timeline.
"Aerith, girl, you're crazy," she whispered to herself.
She had to abandon the idea. It was so far to the ground that she would have to land her feet perfectly on his shoulders. If she missed him, she would die from the fall for sure.
And then, she realized that Vincent was not firing the Death Penalty. It was clearly aimed at Sephiroth, but he was not firing. Then, the realization hit her. He was out of bullets. To make matters worse, the fingertips on Sephiroth's left hand began to illuminate. He was about to attack him with lightening.
A few more seconds, and Sephiroth will have killed Vincent.
She had to do something immediately.
She would have to take that chance.
Cautiously, Aerith bent her knees and gripped the sword. It was a risk; she would have to land on Sephiroth or fall to her death. But Vincent would die for sure if she did nothing. She thought once more about how Sephiroth had jumped from the ledge and stabbed her in the original timeline, and how she was now in the same position.
Suddenly, a grin worked its way across her face.
"This is payback, fucker," she whispered.
And she jumped.
Aerith's heart was racing the entire time she was falling. Her body was moving down faster than she could realize. Sephiroth was getting closer by the second, still oblivious to what was coming from above. She kept her feet facing downward, and her hands on the sword. Any moment now, once of them would meet their fate.
Finally, they made contact. Aerith's left foot landed perfectly on Sephiroth's left shoulder, and her right foot landed perfectly on his right.
She sighed in relief before she realized that she had to act immediately; Sephiroth had been aware of her presence the moment she had landed on him. Before he could react, Aerith raised the sword, and drove it into Sephiroth's back.
The sword sliced through, exiting through Sephiroth's chest, causing him to howl in agony.
"See how you like it!" she growled as she pulled the sword from his body.
Blood began to gush from the wound immediately.
Aerith once again thought about the original timeline. She thought about how he had killed her, and that she had never gotten a chance to move in with and get engaged to Cloud. He had taken it all away.
As anger suddenly rushed through her body, Aerith drove the sword into Sephiroth again, pulling it out and creating another wound. She then stabbed him a third time, and twisted the sword as she did so. Blood was now oozing down Sephiroth's chest.
And then, the tables began to turn.
As Aerith looked at her surroundings, she noticed that they seemed to be moving downward, which meant that Sephiroth, despite his injuries, was ascending with her on him. A wave of fear suddenly struck her; even if he was not ascending, she had not planned an escape. She quickly looked around to see if there was anything she could grab on, but there was nothing. She began to tremble as she realized what she had gotten herself into, and, without intending or even noticing, dropped the sword.
Sephiroth, with what seemed to be his final ounce of strength, thrust his upper body forward.
And then, Aerith noticed that she was no longer standing on Sephiroth's shoulders; she was flying through the air.
A pipe connected the Nibel Reactor to the ground; it started from the reactor in a horizontal manner, before turning nearly ninety degrees and disappearing into the ground.
Aerith was now being hurled at full speed towards the horizontal segment of the pipe. There was nothing she could do to stop it; a collision was inevitable. No longer wanting to deal with the terror, Aerith closed her eyes.
Seconds later, her body slammed forcefully into the pipe. She felt every rib in her chest breaking. She did not cry out, but a tear from the pain escaped her eye.
And then, Aerith lost consciousness.
She not feel the pain of her broken ribs and sternum anymore.
She did not feel her body begin to slide downward, slowly slipping off the pipe.
She did not feel herself begin to fall from the pipe, as first her feet, then her legs, then her torso, and finally her head was falling free.
She did not feel her body rotate as she fell, so that her back was facing the ground.
She did not feel the fall accelerate as she plummeted towards the terrain.
She did not feel herself hit the ground with a powerful thud.
Her white materia rolled from her pants pocket and stopped mere inches from her.
All was still.
MOMENTS LATER...
Sephiroth, meanwhile, descended to the ground. The blood continued to ooze from him as he set his remaining lower wings on the surface. Suddenly, a flash of light consumed his body. When it dissipated, the wounds were gone. The halos were gone. His legs had been restored. He was no longer as powerful as he was a few moments earlier. He was, once again, the ordinary Sephiroth.
The first thing the now-normal Sephiroth noticed was that his sword was laying a few feet away from him. He quickly grabbed it, and aimed it at Vincent.
"You're defenseless," Sephiroth announced. "You can either come with me, or I can kill you where you stand."
Vincent turned, making sure that the sword was aiming at his heart.
"I choose the latter," he said.
"Suit yourself," Sephiroth replied as he tightened his grip on his sword. "And you can die knowing this: your friends are down in the basement of the reactor. I have my three human avatars, Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj, down there. They have released twelve makonoids to take care of your friends. When I go down there, I'm going to kill the survivors myself. Unless, of course, you come with me. You may be dead, but I know you care about them. Now do what you feel is right."
Vincent stood for a moment. His existence, as far as he was concerned, did not seem significant. He thought about his future if Sephiroth allowed him to continue; he would simply roam the world for the rest of his whatever.
He then thought about Cloud and Tifa. They had actually been to the future. Defeating Sephiroth would not be the end; there would be more crises ahead. If Sephiroth killed them, however, it would be the end. And it would not be a happy ending.
Vincent, realizing the correct course of action, raised his hands.
"Let's go," Sephiroth ordered.
With Sephiroth's sword aimed at his back, Vincent silently walked up the stairs into the reactor. Without a word, he crossed the pipe bridge and into the second room, with the pods that were now open. He walked up the flight of grated stairs into the room with Jenova's shattered tank. He walked up the wire, past the tank, and to the descending stairs in the back.
When they reached the bottom, a surprising sight beheld Vincent's eyes.
Cid had just jammed his spear into the chest of one of the makonoids, mortally wounding it. The other eleven were dead. Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Jessie, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Cid were alive and well. Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo stood to the side.
Cloud was the first to spot the new visitors.
"Vincent!" he shouted.
"And Sephiroth!" Tifa added. "You were outside the whole time?!"
"It was a trap," Cid quietly muttered.
"That is correct," Sephiroth replied. "Vincent is my prisoner."
"Your plan failed," Yuffie announced. "Your makonoids didn't kill us. Cid just killed the last one. And your boys just stood and did nothing."
Sephiroth simply grinned.
"I never intended to kill you," he announced. "At least not with them. Those makonoids didn't stand a chance against you anyway. I just wanted to tire you out so I could kill you myself."
Cloud reached into his pocket, resting his fingers on the break materia. He desperately wanted to take it out, charge at Sephiroth, and turn him into stone forever. But Sephiroth would kill Vincent before he even got close enough.
"Get your hand out of your pocket!" Sephiroth demanded. "There will be no surprises!"
Cloud withdrew his hand, not wanting to get Vincent killed.
"I knew it!" Barret suddenly shouted. "You son of a bitch!" He aimed his gun-arm and pulled the trigger. His ears were greeted by a simple clicking sound. He was out of bullets.
Sephiroth simply glared.
"You will not kill me the way you killed my mother," he hissed.
"Jenova wasn't your mother!" Tifa suddenly shouted.
Sephiroth gave Tifa a look.
"Your mother was Lucrecia Crescent!" she continued. "She was the one who gave birth to you!"
Sephiroth stood in silence for a few moments. He then sat down on the floor, keeping his sword aimed at Vincent.
"Dr. Crescent and I did look alike, didn't we?" he said.
"It's true," Vincent said. "Dr. Crescent carried you, went into labor and gave birth to you. You had nothing to do with anything related to Jenova until later in life. You were born an ordinary human being. In the end, you're just a man."
Sephiroth remained silent for a few moments as everyone looked on.
"Dr. Crescent was a weak woman," Sephiroth finally said. "I heard she had tried to kill herself. I heard that she had a shadow of guilt over her her whole life. I just didn't know the reason until now." He then stood up. "And I feel guilt and weakness sometimes as well. Too often. I am imperfect."
Everyone was silent. Some were even wondering if he would change his mind and release his hold on Holy.
"My other vessels are imperfect as well," he continued, looking towards Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo. "Their mothers were all weak."
"Is he becoming a good guy?" Cid whispered.
Sephiroth lowered his sword.
Vincent cautiously walked several feet away from him.
"Therefore," Sephiroth continued, "I will create a new avatar. One whose mother will be a strong woman."
He then turned to Tifa.
"And it will be this woman, right here."
Before anyone could take in what he had just said, he made his way to Tifa, drew his sword, and aimed it at her.
"You'll be coming with me," Sephiroth announced.
Cloud, meanwhile, was not ready to allow Tifa to be taken away. Perhaps he was too far away to cast a break spell, but maybe there was another solution. He could toss his sword into Sephiroth. Then, while he was mortally wounded, Cloud could turn him into stone to prevent him from dying and getting into the Lifestream. It would be a longshot, both literally and figuratively, but he could simply not let Tifa be taken away.
She was the love of his life.
Slowly, Cloud drew his sword.
Sephiroth, upon hearing Cloud's sword being drawn, grabbed Tifa, took his own sword and held it against Tifa's neck.
"Weapons down, or she dies!" he commanded.
"Let her go!" Cloud demanded.
"You've already watched her die once, Cloud!" Sephiroth reminded him. "Turning her to dust would be too quick. I'll have her suffer."
"Put your sword down!" Tifa ordered.
"Tifa," began Cloud. This was not like her.
"Do it, please!" she pleaded.
Cloud duly lowered his sword.
"Drop it!" ordered Sephiroth.
Cloud opened his hand. The sword dropped to the ground.
Grinning, Sephiroth pulled his own sword away from Tifa's neck, but kept it aimed at her back.
Tifa then turned to Sephiroth.
"May I say good-bye to him?" she requested. "I'll go peacefully, but Cloud's been my best friend for twenty years. Please let me say good-bye."
For a few moments, there was silence.
"Make it quick," Sephiroth ordered.
Tifa looked at Cloud with her sad, chestnut eyes. She signaled for Cloud to approach her.
Slowly, Cloud did so, stopping a few inches away. He could see in her eyes that she wanted to cry.
She could see in his eyes that he wanted to cry as well.
Cloud thought about their childhood together. He thought about the time that he first met her when she was a baby. He thought about the times they played together as toddlers, and as small children. He thought about the time she hid in his room when her parents were falling about. He thought about how they went bowling for her thirteenth birthday. He thought about the promise he had made at the well. He thought about how, at this very reactor, he had kept it. He thought about the time they admitted their love for each other. Of all he had experienced, he realized that it was the happiest moment of his life.
Tears escaped his eyes.
"Cloud," Tifa began as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "This has to happen."
"What's he going to do to you?" he whispered.
"I don't know," Tifa replied as she shook her head. "He'll probably impregnate me. I'll die like those three other women. But if I refuse, I'm dead anyway. At least he'll spare your life if I go with him."
Cloud wiped a tear from his eye.
"I don't want to be without you," he pleaded.
"Look behind you, Cloud," she replied. "You have a whole group of people who want to be your friends. And there's Aerith. You have a beautiful girl who wants to spend the rest of her life with you. Yes, we were given a unique second chance. But so were you and Aerith."
Cloud had not thought of it that way, but it did not matter. His mind was made up in regards to whom he wanted to be with.
"But I want to spend the rest of my life with you," he insisted as he dried another tear.
"Cloud," Tifa replied, "I love you."
Whether she meant it as a friend or anything more, she would not say.
And before Cloud could say anything, Tifa wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him in, resting her head against his chest. It was the strangest hug he had ever received from a woman, but it was a hug nonetheless.
A moment later, the hug ended, and Tifa gave Cloud a sad smile.
"Stay strong for me," she whispered.
Cloud Strife, she thought as she willfully returned to Sephiroth. My best friend of twenty years. It breaks my heart it has to end like this.
Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo quickly surrounded her.
"Everybody, against the wall!" Sephiroth ordered. "Get well away from us! There will be no tricks, no final rescue attempts!"
Everyone did as they were told; not one of them failed to believe him.
Tifa felt the sword pointed at her.
I thought this would be a second chance to be with him; to be his wife; to be the mother of his children. But I guess even second chances don't work out sometimes.
Cloud looked on helplessly as Sephiroth threw him a malicious smirk.
I know exactly what Sephiroth is going to do to me.
Sephiroth, Yazoo, Kadaj, and Loz began to lead Tifa towards the stairs.
He's not going to do anything at all.
She reached into her skirt pocket.
I'm taking him down and he doesn't even realize it.
She withdrew her hand.
I only regret that I have to take myself with him.
She produced an orb.
Sometimes, a sacrifice has to be made.
It was the break materia. She had reached into Cloud's pocket during the hug and taken it. She had not forgotten what would happen if it was dropped too hard.
A woman who dies for the greater good is a heroine. I'm a heroine.
And before she could change her mind, Tifa threw the break materia vertically to the ground.
I'll always love you, Cloud.
"Nooooooooooo!" cried Sephiroth.
But it was too late.
The break materia hit the ground hard. It broke into countless pieces. The shockwave immediately followed, petrifying everyone in its path. Sephiroth was the first of the villains to petrify. Loz came next, followed by Kadaj and Yazoo. The villain who had summoned Meteor, the one who killed countless people, was neutralized in five seconds flat. Sephiroth was petrified with an agonizing look on his face; it was the face of defeat that he would spend eternity with.
But it was not a complete victory.
Still surrounded by the four petrified villains, Tifa was also a stone statue. Unlike Sephiroth, she was standing calmly, with a peaceful look on her face. She had accepted her fate.
To Cloud, it did not matter how she was positioned. What mattered was the fact that she was gone.
"Tifa?" he called in a broken voice as he ran over to her.
The statue did not respond.
"Tifa?" he called again. "Please! Say something!"
She remained still.
"No!" he cried as the tears returned. "Please, Tifa, don't leave me!"
But she could say nothing at all. She had sacrificed herself to defeat Sephiroth. There was no other way.
Over came Barret, Jessie, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Yuffie, Cid, and Vincent.
"Tifa," began Cloud, "I'm so sorry."
Of course, Tifa did not respond.
All he could do was break down and cry.
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