Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VII: The Fallout ❯ Everything Points to the Truth ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

Everything Points to the Truth

 

 

Sephiroth sat on the edge of the helipad, looking out on to the city. `One step at a time' he thought to himself and soon, the world as he knew it would be nothing more than a figment of his own imagination. Nothing was real anymore in his mind, he fought for a false cause, a cause he thought in his heart was right, but that wasn't the case and he lost because of it and wondered how he'd fair this time that his cause is right.

 

He'd noticed several changes in Marlene as she adjusted to her new life, he noticed she would prepare herself for a meeting the night before, than throw away her note cards and show up the next day naked and clueless. Sephiroth thought it was an ingenious plot to get taken out of power, but everyone else felt Marlene had snapped, but she did own Shinra, thus could not be `taken' out of power and she couldn't ask to be taken out of power because of Sephiroth's threat. So everyone said “yes” to her face and did whatever they wanted anyway. Since Marlene was unreliable, the real person running Shinra was Vincent.

 

After the first fall of Shinra, Vincent took over the Turks when Reno and Rude became outlaws and brought them to prominence as bounty hunters. Shinra re-enlisted the Turks help about a month ago at the behest of one of Marlene's top advisors, Cid. It was a double-cross Sephiroth found out about while rummaging through a few desks. But, Marlene is still clueless.

 

Sephiroth basically had the run of the place at night as long as he didn't alert anyone. It had been about three months and already Marlene had started to turn for the worse. She was becoming almost unusable and completely irrational. Sephiroth could understand sort of with the death of her father, then her boyfriend, then the most powerful company in the world just being handed to you would make you have a screw loose, or maybe she was just acting. In any event, the stage was set and he needed to set his plan in motion tonight before it was too late. On the ground, people were murmuring of a revolution to get her out of power and if Marlene caught wind of this, she might bargain to step down and still live here, and that's something Sephiroth didn't want.

 

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Marlene shot up in bed and put her cold hands across her breasts, looking at the door. She put her feet on the floor over the side of the bed and felt something grip the back of her neck. A chill ran down her spine as she listened to the calm voice.

 

“I see you got a profile on me. How complete was it?”

“Very, why? Does it intimidate you?”

“No, because I've read it and heard it all before. … You don't want to be in power, do you?”

“What gives you that idea?”

“The way you act unprofessional; showing up to meeting unprepared and barely dressed, if at all, when I see you preparing yourself the night before.”

“I just don't care.”

“Well, you better start. I know you're smarter then this and I also know you aren't psychotic, although it's an ingenious alibi. Now you listen to me. I'm actually on the good side of things for once.”
”Then why'd you kill my boyfriend and make me your pawn?”

“Because, I needed Rufus's power, but he was too stupid and predictable, so the one shot I have, comes down to you.”

“Again, why would I help you?”

“Not now, if you want to go away. Get Cloud here.”
”How do I do that?”
”Ask Vincent to bring him, he knows where he is. … Wait a minute, it all becomes clear.”

“What?”

“You knew he left you the company and you knew they wouldn't let you leave. I didn't think it went back that far, but you going to the shower naked and packing your bags three months ago … brilliant. You had this set up in your head back then.”

“Yeah, and every night I think I'll honor Rufus's memory by running the company right, and every night I chicken out.”

“You can do anything you want, after you get Cloud here, cause after that. It won't matter.”

“Not until you tell me why.”

“Fifteen years ago, my … mother, Jenova wanted me to cleanse the planet to find the Promised Land. Or so I thought. After Cloud sent me to the lifestream …”

“So it's for revenge?”

“No … after he sent me to the lifestream, I started to gather knowledge. All of the Cetra were Jenova … too an extent. Jenova was a … a genetic defect. A defect that once activated could cut a person off from the lifestream and die. They thought it was a plague sent by their god; a “Catastrophe from the sky, but it wasn't... Cetra can do many things and are stronger, faster, and more in tune with the lifestream. Many people believe that most of the Cetra died from this” plague” because they reached too high a plateau in spiritual attunement, and that that is what triggers it. They believe that Jenova is the planet's way of defending itself.”

“What's that got to do with Cloud?”

“Everything. Jehova cells are cells Professor Gast manufactured by splicing parts of Ifalna's DNA, the bad parts. Sure, it enables people to become superheroes, but at what cost?”

“I still don't understand. I've seen pictures of Jenova.”

“The pictures are of a dead ancient, nothing more. He was trying to cover up that he had an affair with Ifalna that produced me for his assistant Hojo. He knew Hojo would double-cross him eventually and he did. Killing him for his research.”

“How do you know all this?”

“The lifestream holds the consciousness of everyone that's ever lived, if you can focus, you can pick up on what you want.”

“Ok, but that still doesn't answer me about Cloud…”

“He's the last one with Jenova's cells in him; he's the last with the plague. If he procreates and they procreate, the cycle will continue until the plague is uncontrolled once again and wipes out your race.”

“So, if I can kill him …?”
”I'll kill him, just get him here.”

“And then you'll disappear? What about you? Don't you have the plague too?”

“Once I kill Cloud, I'll take care of myself.”

 

With that, she felt the pressure disappear and plopped back onto her bed, sleeping.