Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Where the lost ones go ❯ I ain't evil, I'm just good looking ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

26. I ain't evil, I'm just good looking...

Shock and the sheer power of the blinding ray's aura sent Cloud crashing to his knees, and he could only stare in horrified disbelief as Sephiroth was flung backwards, protected only by the thin blade of the Masamune. The blonde was unable to move or even turn his gaze away as the General was shoved through wall after wall, before coming to an abrupt halt against a brick wall so hard that blood erupted with the harsh exhale of air being knocked out of him.
And Jessie was still screaming.
The energy shooting from her in the shape of a piercingly bright ray raged against Sephiroth, the pressure threatening to crush him even if the sword somehow prevented it from tearing through him. Cloud could already see the silver haired man fighting to breathe while his arms trembled with the effort of trying to hold back the attack.
Turning to face Jessie again, Cloud fought against the urge to cover his ears against the high pitched scream of raw agony. Instead, he stumbled to his feet and carefully walked closer. "Jessie?" He realised he had to shout to have at least a faint hope that she would hear him.
"JESSIE!" Cloud was almost beside her now, wanting to reach out and touch her, but not quite daring. He tried a faint smile as he saw her eyes flicker in his direction and the blonde let the Ultima sword fall to the ground. "ENOUGH, JESSIE! PLEASE!"
Her screams died out, but just in time for Cloud to hear Sephiroth almost choking on his own blood. "Jessie, please, you have to stop this! I know it's hurting you too, and that you're scared!" The former SOLDIER inched even closer, as close as he dared with the bright aura still surrounding her and the ray racing towards his arch nemesis that he was now trying to save. "I know you can stop this, Jessie! I believe in you!"
A single tear ran from Jessie's eye, then she drew a deep breath and screamed again. This time her scream shattered the few remaining windows in Kalm, forcing everything with hearing to halt and cover it's ears.
Pressing his hands to his ears, Cloud tried to keep his eyes on her. The light was growing even brighter. It was hurting his eyes like her voice was hurting his ears. "Jessie!"
And just like that, everything stopped.
Cloud didn't gaze over as Sephiroth fell, but ran over to catch Jessie as she collapsed. Down on one knee, he held her securely in his arms as Jessie's eyes fluttered open to gaze up at him. Smiling, he brushed away a lock of hair sticking to her damp skin. "You did it, Jessie."
Returning the smile, Jessie gathered all her strength to reach up and place her hand over his. "Your voice..."
"I told you that you could do it, didn't I?" Cloud closed his eyes briefly in relief, then focused on her again with an even wider smile. "Everything is going to be fine now."
"I wouldn't count on it," a voice said, and Cloud had just enough time to lower Jessie to the ground, see her eyes widen with horror, then Joy's sword entered Cloud's back and erupted from his stomach. It was strange how it didn't hurt. Just like when Sephiroth had attacked him way back then, in Nibelheim. But if this was anything like back in Nibelheim, then the pain would arrive very shortly.
Gazing from Sephiroth's still form, to Cloud trembling barely visibly and finally at the silently sobbing Jessie, Joy suddenly yanked out the sword with a cruel laugh. "I told you I hadn't lost quite yet, didn't I, Strife? With Soldier Girl on my side, not even the great Cloud Strife and Sephiroth can defeat me!"
Cloud coughed, feeling the taste of blood spreading through his mouth, while slowly raising a hand to the bleeding wound in his stomach. This wasn't right! The good guys always won, and the bad guys got their ass kicked! Right? Things had always worked out that way, dammit! And, yes, there was the pain!
Jessie numbly reached out as Cloud fell over on his side, keening agonized at the absent look in his mako eyes. "Cl... Cloud..."
General Joy holstered his gun, placed his sword in it's sheath, and finally bent down to take a hold of Jessie's upper arm. "Let's go, Soldier Girl. Our mission here is accomplished! And as Sephiroth came solo, it would appear that General Lee took care of that damn Rufus ShinRa as well. It's been a good day!"
Her body was completely drained from the painful ordeal it had just been through, but Jessie still tugged weakly at her arm, as her eyes were capable of showing the burning defiance in her.
Laughing, Joy glanced a final time down at Cloud. Somehow the anger that he hadn't been able to defeat Cloud in fair fight eased a little when he saw the blonde breathing strained in a pool of his own blood. Finally he glanced over at the silent form of Sephiroth, and Joy was annoyed to feel a chill running down his spine. What he had seen... The wings and the halo... He had no idea that a creature could look that frightening. That thing was no angel!
Yanking Jessie with him, General Joy stalked off as he screamed for the soldiers to pull back and return to the base. Kalm was destroyed. Their mission was complete.

Cid was reduced to mental cursing as he nearly slipped, the hill side were merely semi-steep, but was in return complete with loose rocks waiting for him to place a foot on and then the damn rocks would tumble merrily downwards. Small death traps eager to send the pilot head over heels down into his most likely death.
Racing from Midgar on Cloud's motorcycle, Cid hadn't really thought about where he was supposed to go. He'd merely focused on getting the attention away from the people who were dying to protect him. And so he had travelled east, feeling lighter by each second he saw Jinrei's army unable to keep up with his pace. Then there had been a mountain in his way. A mountain wasn't going to stop Cid!
The mountain did manage to end the motorcycle though... The pilot knew he was going to catch holy hell for that later, but for the moment he was just glad his skull was still intact from when the front wheel had suddenly locked itself due to some rubble or something, and Cid was thrown along with the Fenris through the air and smashed against the ground. His ribs were aching infernally, but the bad part was how Cid had a sneaking suspicion that his ankle was more injured than a sprain. Luckily, none of the vials in the bag had been broken so Cid had decided to continue. That had been hours ago, now he had nearly reached the other side of the damn mountain, but his heart sank as he found himself in front of the remains of a swamp. The swamp where the Midgar Zolom had dwelled, in fact. A sudden stench made Cid automatically cover his mouth and nose with a hand, and he glanced over to see bird eating on the carcass of a Zolom. The huge reptiles were dependant on sliding through the slimy marsh, but the heat had caused the swamp to become more of a desert.
Swallowing hard, the pilot forced his hand away and tried to climb down the final slope. He knew he'd done a terrible mistake the second he sighed relieved, because it was then his footing slipped and the world span as he fell. Hard.
Cid landed on his stomach rather ungracefully, barely avoiding his face from hitting the ground, exhaling sharply and shutting his eyes tight. For a tiny moment, he tried to discover if he was dead or still falling, but the ground appeared to keep still. The sound of two thumps dangerously close made the pilot open his eyes abruptly and Cid froze.
He found himself staring at a pair of big army boots straight in front of his face, and he slowly moved his hands to push himself up. The boots were followed by sturdy legs, a narrow waist and a huge torso. Cid felt his jaw drop and disbelief flooded him when his gaze finally fell on a familiar face.
The blonde fought himself up into a sitting position and scrambled backwards. "Y... You..." A jolt of raging pain shot up his leg as Cid's ankle protested violently against the movements and he settled to point an accusatory finger in the direction of the person wearing the hated Jinrei uniform. "You bastard! So that's why we never heard from ya! The reason why you were too damn busy to come to Tifa's frigging wedding! You traitor!" Cid was breathing hard with anger and fear, realising he had no way of escaping this time. "I hope yer gonna get some huge prize for turnin' in one of yer former friends, 'cause you ain't gonna have any real friends left after this! Dammit, Barret, how the fuck could you join his side?"
Sighing, Barret shook his head. "You haven't changed, you foo. Still throwing that lip around and not listening to what others got ta say!"
Cid glanced around, cursing when he saw the Venus Gospel lying out of his reach. "I think that uniform says it all, buddy!"
"Will ya calm yer scrawny ass down and listen?" Barret trudged over to pick up the lance, glancing somewhat curiously at it before walking over to hand it out to Cid. "I ain't here to capture ya, ok?"
Slowly accepting the weapon, Cid clutched the Venus Gospel close and stared suspiciously at the other man. "Yeah? Then what? You out enjoying the scenery?"
Chuckling, Barret shook his head as he pulled out a Cure materia to attach it to his gun arm. "I live nearby here. Wanted to check up on them Zoloms. Lately they been wandering out of da swamp and causing a mess fer people."
Cid forced back a pained sound as Barret cast a Cure2, his swollen ankle burning under the healing spell. "But the uniform..."
"Ah, well," Barret held out a hand to help Cid up on his feet again. "Ya see, after we kicked Sephiroth's lilly ass to kingdom come, I noticed this recruiting to some underground army. Figured I'd take a look. Make sure there wasn't some crazy man eager to cause trouble again. But ya can guess my suspicion was correct, huh? After that, I knew Cloud and you guys would take up the fight, so what better advantage than someone on the inside?" He laughed at the relieved look on Cid's face, slapping the pilot's shoulder HARD before yanking him along. "Thanks a lot fer the confidence tho! C'mon. We can talk back at my place."
Stumbling after the former leader of AVALANCHE, Cid wondered how he was going to break the news. "Hey, Barret?" An acknowledging grunt. "Barret, you know Sephiroth ain't dead, right?"
"WHAT?"

"Sephiroth?"
The soft voice seemed to come from a million miles away, veiled in soft tenderness and badly hidden concern. He came to the conclusion that he liked that voice. It was a nice voice. He wished it would speak again.
"Sephiroth, are you okay? Can you hear me?"
Ah, if Sephiroth's unconsciousness could smile, it did. There was something about that voice that made him all warm and fuzzy inside. Like he wanted to wrap that voice around himself and hide forever. And it seemed oh so familiar...
"Sephiroth, please... Open your eyes... Look at me..."
And in a heartbeat, Sephiroth knew. Aeris was calling out for him. And reptile eyes opened to find the flower girl's face hovering over him, green eyes filled with worry. He wasn't really aware of how he lifted his hand to touch her cheek.
"Oh, Sephiroth! I was so worried!" Aeris placed her own hand over his, holding it against her cheek as she smiled through tears.
Slowly becoming aware of his surroundings, Sephiroth found himself lying beside a brick wall inside the remains of a house. What the...? Then his memory started to wake up as well, and he remembered. Gently prying his hand free, Sephiroth tried to sit up. "That guy..." He had to bite back a pained cry as several broken ribs protested fiercly against his movement, and the silver haired man fell back down as he gingerly placed a hand to his chest. It hurt like hell. In fact, now that he was aware of it, it hurt like hell to just breathe.
"Lie still," Aeris instructed, pulling out a Cure materia. "I don't have anything to equip it with, so I'm going to place it in Masamune. Ok?"
Nodding, Sephiroth merely held out his hand. It didn't take two seconds before the sword had broken through the rubble covering it and was firmly in it's master's hand again. He waited as Aeris equipped the materia, then threw a couple of Cure3 spells.
Aeris finally dared to relax as Sephiroth slowly sat up with a groan, even if he was still clutching his ribs. Battered and bruised, still he was going to alright!
Sephiroth yelped with pain, but embraced her too quickly for her to pull away when Aeris suddenly hugged him desperately. Smiling against her hair, he drew in the wonderful scent of flowers. "I promised that I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Carefully glancing over where he'd seen Cloud and that flaxen haired man the last, Sephiroth frowned. No sign of them. "Aeris?"
"Yes?" The brunette pulled back to gaze at him, using the opportunity to let her fingers trail over his handsome features.
"Cloud... And that guy... What happened?" The silver haired general had a nasty feeling that he should have been dead. That flash of light... It should have killed him... Such strength... He'd never felt anything like it!
Sadness flooded Aeris' eyes and she gazed down. "That man... He took Jessie... Cloud was badly injured, but he went after them..." She knew it was no use in telling Sephiroth how worried she was for Cloud. "Then the army just withdrew..."
"Not much left to fight over," Sephiroth stated drily as he gazed around. Slowly getting up, he helped Aeris on her feet as well and glanced curiously over as he saw one of the Turks talking to some ShinRa soldier. "What are the Turks doing here?"
"Reno just appeared out of nowhere, and wherever he is; Rude is." Aeris knew she hadn't completely understood the red heads explanation, she had the sneaking feeling that the promise had been made to Rufus. Placing a gentle hand on Sephiroth's shoulder, Aeris gazed sadly up at him. "I heard about Rufus..."
Turning his face away, Sephiroth clenched his jaw hard against the strange feeling that jolted through him. He'd never mourned anyone before. "Yeah..."
That was when Aeris became aware of how there was something different about Sephiroth. His aura had changed. He simply... felt different. And it sent a chill down her spine. "Sephiroth?" The flower girl gently tugged at his arm for his attention. "What happened in Junon?"
Sephiroth tensed. "Jinrei soldiers attacked, and there was still small fight. Then Yuffie called Rufus on the PHS. She told him of the underground tunnels, and he quickly realised that the attack was a decoy. That they were really after Kalm. Then some Jinrei soldier, an officer, shot down the helicopter." He remembered too clearly the sight of the burning air craft, and the sight of the soldier responsible.
Aeris fell silent, but her face failed to hide the concern spreading through her. There was a harshness in Sephiroth's eyes now. A harshness she hadn't seen in them for over a year now. What else had happened in Junon that he didn't tell her?

Cloud tried to will away the dizziness that was still blurring his vision as he followed the tracks left behind by the man ironically called Joy, and his band of mercenaries that Cloud refused to acknowledge as soldiers. They were thugs. Nothing more. Goons hired to kill for money, with nothing they fought for or wanted to protect.
Jessie.
He was going to get her back. He didn't know how or where, but he didn't care how or where. Cloud was getting her back, and that was all there was to it.
The injury Joy had delivered to Cloud could have been fatal if not a ShinRa soldier had appeared with a High Potion, but the former SOLDIER was unable to shake the picture of the flaxen haired General Joy pulling Jessie along. Taking her away. And her eyes had been filled with tears, locked on Cloud's trembling form in a pool of his own blood. She had screamed his name. That was the last thing he remembered.
Waking up to a stranger's face, asking him how he was feeling, Cloud had barely given the ShinRa soldier time to tell him what had happened. That Joy had withdrawn his army and they had travelled west. Then Cloud thanked the Planet for the chocobo standing right outside of town, unable to escape as it's bridle was tied to a small tree. He recognized the ShinRa mark on it's small saddle, but offered merely a whispered apology before he climbed up on the bird and steered it vest. Whoever had used the chocobo as transport to Kalm didn't need it as much as Cloud did.
Joy and his army had about an hours head start on him, but several of the soldiers were on foot, so he should be able to catch up with them.
How he was going to get Jessie away with him alone against almost a hundred men was a small detail that he refused to consider. Like Cid would have said; He'd just wing it!
Strange how the pain when Joy had run his sword through Cloud was nothing when compared to the feeling he got when he thought about never seeing Jessie again. The idea of never talking to her, seeing her smile or just sitting beside her... It hurt more than anything he'd ever felt before. It hurt so bad that he didn't think he could live if that happened. It didn't matter if Joy killed him, because if Cloud was never to see Jessie again then... Then he didn't care if he lived or not!
Lost in thought, he nearly failed to notice his PHS ringing. Cloud absently fumbled out the noisy device and swallowed hard as he saw the identity of the caller.
Aeris.
The last time he'd seen her, she'd been running towards the fallen form of Sephiroth. Their eyes had met briefly as she was kneeling beside the fallen General, cradling his head in her lap. Cloud had once again been breathless at her beauty, her eyes drawing his soul into them. She had said something, but the words hadn't been registered in his brain. He just taken in the sight of her one last time. His angel. Then Cloud got up on trembling legs and walked away.
He'd pushed Tifa away, rejecting the love she so openly placed at his feet. Once he'd realised that he could loose her to Rufus, it was too late.
Aeris had taken Sephiroth in under her wings. Given him his heart and soul. Cloud had been agonized to see it. Fought fiercly against it. But it was too late.
But as he'd watched Aeris kneeling beside her beloved Sephiroth in the ruined Kalm, Cloud had realised something.
Painful beyond belief, he'd lost both the women who'd been so special to him. He'd loved them both, in his way. But he had survived loosing them. Barely, but he had.
Cloud had suddenly realised that he would not survive loosing Jessie.
Swallowing hard, Cloud slowly pushed the dismiss button on his PHS before he turned off the entire thing. "I'm so sorry." He gently placed the PHS back into his pocket, forcing himself to gaze ahed. Aeris was not alone. Others were there, and no one would let anything happen to the flower girl.
Jessie was alone. Again. He was not going to let her down!
Urging the chocobo to pick up it's pace, the blonde forced away all the thoughts about his friends. Or, he tried to, anyway.
Tifa had just lost her husband, her beloved Rufus. She was probably heart broken. Cid had been slowly sauntering towards a nervous break down for some time now. Maybe the pilot had indeed fallen to pieces? Vincent was struggling hard to deal with the idea of Hojo wandering around freely. Rain was suffering under the gloomy atmosphere too. Yuffie still needed her revenge. Anger made her even more careless. Seto had been acting strangely lately. Something was on the huge beast's mind.
Shaking his head, Cloud drew a deep breath.
They were all just going to have to manage without him for a while.
"Hang on, Jessie," Cloud whispered, closing his mako eyes briefly. "I have something to tell you... Something I should have said before... Something I've never said to anyone before... So, you just hang on..."

"So let me get this straight," Barret said, as the two men were making steady progress across the dry plains. "Sephiroth ain't dead, but actually on our team now. Fighting for the good guys. Aeris ain't dead either, nor Hojo. But Rufus ShinRa got himself killed?"
"Yeah," Cid replied silently, feeling that heavy cape of guilt settling on his shoulders again. Rufus was dead because of him. Because he insisted on protecting him against that crazy Jinrei. Halting, he glanced around and scratched his neck. "Hey, I think I recognize this place. Yeah, I do!" The pilot pointed an eager finger eastwards. "The chocobo farm is thataway! How about we run over and catch a ride to yer house? My feet are KILLING me!"
Barret caught a hold of Cid's arm as he was about to walk pass him. "The farm ain't there."
"Whaddya mean?" Cid yanked his arm free, huffing offended. "I just so happen to have an excellent memory! I recognize this area, and I know the farm is over there!"
Giving a slow shake of his head, Barret held his eyes meaningfully. "Ya don't understand what I'm sayin', Cid." He took a step closer, repeating in a slow manner. "The farm. It ain't there."
Cid just about felt the colour drain from his face, hearing the unspoken word ringing in the silence that followed. He suddenly felt ice cold underneath the scorching sun. The farm weren't there anymore.
Barret sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily. "The old man wouldn't co operate. Refused to deliver chocobos. They burned the place down to nuthin'." He flinched slightly at the stream of obscenities screamed from the pilot, feeling the anger and frustration, but merely motioned for Cid to follow him. "C'mon. It ain't that far now."
The two continued in silence for a while, then eventually they found themselves in front of a small house beneath one of the looming mountains.
"Now this place, I don't remember," Cid declared, crossing his arms with a puzzled look.
"Yeah, well, that's probably cuz I just built it a few months ago," Barret muttered, sounding more than a little embarrassed. "Now shut yer face and come on in." The larger man pushed open the door and stepped inside. "Hey, it's me. Brought a buddy. He's a bit of an ass, but just humor me, yeah?"
Cid opened his mouth to ask who the hell he was talking to, when a woman stepped into the hall and he froze.
The woman was slender and undeniably pretty. Thick, wavery red hair and sparkling green eyes that made the pilot instantly think about Aeris. Her smile was like spring, warm and inviting. "Hello."
"Uhm, er, hi," Cid managed to mumble, flinching at his own clumsiness.
Barret gesticulated faintly towards the woman, unable to hide a faint smile of affection. "This here is Tarita. Tarita, this piece of tumbleweed on legs is Cid Highwind."
Laughing softly, Tarita walked over and reached out a dainty hand. "Nice to meet you, Cid."
Cid barely managed to gather himself enough to take her hand and shake it briefly, before glaring over at the grinning Barret. "Ya know he ain't rich, right?"
Tarita ignored Barret's muttered curses and merely laughed softly again. "I see you are everything Barret said you would be, Cid Highwind."
The pilot sent Barret a suspicious look, and raised a dry eyebrow. "Dunnow about that..."
Huffing, Barret stomped by them. "Are you two gonna stay out here in da hall for the rest of yer lives?" He roughly pushed open the door to the living room and tried to ignore Tarita whispering to Cid about Barret always being grumpy until he had his tea, and the pilot actually had the nerve to tell her that Barret could damn well get his own tea. Cid Highwind had obviously developed a double morale since they'd met last. Which had been in Cid's house, with Shera balancing a trey with tea after another!
A few minutes later, he figured the joy of the reunion and seeing his friend unharmed were more important than anything else, so Barret ordered Cid to take a seat.
"Ya want me to git that for ya?" Barret asked, pointing towards the small bag Cid was clutching.
"No!" Cid yelped, clutching the bag slightly tighter. The contents of the bag were the vials Hojo had given him before he'd left Midgar, and Cid knew he'd only last a few hours without them before turning into one of those horrible creatures."I mean, that's okay. I prefer hanging on to it."
Barret frowned confused, but let the matter drop. "Whatever rocks your boat, man. So, you mind telling me just how you landed yer ass here in my backyard?"
Cid hesitated, fidgeting with a strap on the bag. "Jinrei's army was attacking Midgar, so I kinda took off... With me gone, he doesn't have a reason to attack Midgar, right?"
Nodding, Barret felt there were still something else the pilot had yet to tell him. "Prolly right'bout that, but yer kinda helpless on yer own, y'know... You can hide her if ya want to?"
Sending a prayer of apology, Cid stared at the floor. "Thanks."

"Why the flying fuck hasn't anyone put out those damn fires?" Reno screamed from his position on top on some rubble. He did not like the way the flames were consuming more and more of the ruined Kalm.
A ShinRa officer glared annoyed at the Turk. "Because there isn't any water left!"
Reno jumped down to land in front of the man. "What are you talking about? Just use the sinks in the houses or something!"
"There isn't any water left!" The officer repeated, "at all! The wells have all dried up! It hasn't rained for ages, you know! The ground is completely dry!"
Cursing, the red head released the truth in the words, and quickly darted off back to Rude watching over Tifa. It was time to leave, and the faster, the better!
Aeris straightened from where she had tended to a bruised and blushing ShinRa soldier, and started slightly to find Sephiroth standing behind her. "Sephiroth! Something wrong?"
How was he supposed to tell her about the whispers in his head, the calling to search out Jenova, and not reveal what had happened? Sephiroth shifted uneasily, feeling his mind balancing on slippery ground. "Nothing is wrong." His voice sounded too harsh. Clearing his throat, Sephiroth took Aeris by the arm and lead her a small distance away from the ShinRa soldiers. "I just... I need to talk to you..."
Swallowing down the nervous feeling, Aeris reached out and caressed his cheek. "You know you can always talk to me. About anything. I love you, no matter what!"
Sephiroth closed his eyes briefly, feeling another tug, but forced himself to focus on Aeris. "Listen, everything has gone wrong, Aeris... Cloud has run off, Kalm is ruined, Yuffie hasn't even shown up, the helicopter got shot down and Cid has run away. It's out of our hands now." He saw the confusion in her eyes and hurried to continue. "What I'm saying is... It wont make any difference if we go back to Midgar or not... I mean, this isn't even really our fight! Why... Why can't we just return to Icicle town, huh? Just you and me. Like before."
Aeris took a step away, shaking her head. "Sephiroth... We can't... They need us!" She gesticulated faintly. "Tifa just lost her husband. Shera doesn't know if Cid is alive or not. Yuffie might need our help!"
"We've been fighting for everyone else for such a long time now, when are we going do something for us?" Sephiroth snapped angrily, his eyes flaring slightly with the pure colour of the Lifestream. "I'm sick of being some else's pawn!"
Slowly placing a hand over her heart, Aeris tried to calm the fear spreading through her. "Sephiroth... If we don't defeat Jinrei, there wont be any place for us to be together!"
He was over by her side in a second, arms wrapped tightly around her and his voice was trembling. "Aeris, please... Can't we just run away too? Everything is falling to pieces, and I don't want to loose you..."
Somehow Aeris knew it wasn't just the fighting alliance he was talking about. She could feel the distress radiate from him, the tension from his inner battles. "You wont loose me. I promise." She leaned back slightly to meet his eyes. "I love you no matter what."
Sephiroth drew a shivering breath, tightening his grip on her shoulders slightly. "Come with me, Aeris..."
"Aeris!" Reno called out as he stood a small distance from them, with the apathetic Tifa in his arms and Rude by his side. "I'm pulling the troops back to Midgar now. This place is burning down. You got one minute to tag along!"
Glancing from the retreating Turk to Sephiroth, Aeris felt her eyes well up with tears. "Sephiroth, we can't... We have to finish this. We have to help them, and then we can go back home. Ok?"
Closing his eyes briefly, Sephiroth felt Jenova's laughter ring through his mind, but he forced it quiet. In fact, he felt very calm himself at that moment. The silver haired man knew he wouldn't be able to change Aeris' mind, and knew he couldn't got with her to Midgar. The Ancients wouldn't allow it. And he didn't want to. He'd had it with taking orders! From ShinRa, from Jenova, and from the Cetra! Opening his eyes again, Sephiroth released Aeris and took a step away. "You'd better hurry then..."
Gasping, Aeris reached out a hand to touch his arm. "You can't leave me, Sephiroth..."
Sephiroth gazed over at a dying Jinrei soldier half covered by bricks. "You'll see me again. Now, go. There is something I have to do." And he didn't look back at her as he walked over to the unknown soldier, knowing he'd change his mind if he saw her agonized face. It didn't stop him from feeling like he was tearing his own heart out. Clenching his jaw, Sephiroth kneeled down beside the Jinrei soldier and tilted his head. "I'm going to make you a deal... You tell me the identity of a man, and I will put you out of your suffering. Refuse, and I leave you here for the flames." Smiling slightly at the terror in the soldier's eyes, the silver haired man nodded. "Good. This man I'm looking for, he killed a friend of mine. Shot down his helicopter. So I'm going to introduce him to another friend of mine; Masamune."

"What the hell happened out there?" The usually so cold Reeve had been pacing non-stop since the meeting had begun. "I don't believe this! I refuse to believe it!"
Vincent didn't comment, glancing over at the gloomy faced Yuffie. He was actually glad to see that she was alright. She'd given him quite the scare when jumping out of the ground and plowing through Jinrei soldiers like they were weed. It wasn't like the merry ninja to be that blood thirsty, but he knew these were the men who'd slaughtered her people. There was still no sign of Hawk though. Or Cid.
And then there was the news about Rufus.
One shock after another, and Vincent could feel the ShinRa alliance shattering under the pressure.
"How could you let him escape?" Seto sneered furiously at the seemingly unaffected Hojo sitting at the opposite side of the table.
The scientist shrugged. "It was very easy, I assure you."
"But what are we going to do now?" Reeve exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table. "With Rufus dead, we..."
"Shut your face!" Scarlet suddenly said, her voice dripping with venom. "If WEAPON wasn't able to kill him, you think he'd let himself die at the hands of a simple soldier?"
Reeve stuttered something, his face suddenly revealing his insecurity. "His helicopter was shot down, Scarlet. It was burned to cinder."
Getting to her feet abruptly, Scarlet delivered a stinging slap at Reeve's face before she stalked out. She wasn't crying, dammit! She wasn't!
"Amusing as this is," Hojo drawled, "I'm afraid it's not getting us anywhere."
"The half-dead geezer is right," Yuffie mumbled, staring at the table. "We should decide what to do..." She glanced over at the shell-shocked Reeve. "Can't you handle the shop for a while?"
Starting to life, Reeve stared wide-eyed at her. "I think you're thinking a little high of me. Sure, I can probably keep things floating for a little while, but we need someone who can deal with the soldiers. Someone who will gain their respect and the trust of the inhabitants of Midgar." He cleared his throat embarrassed and his eyes flickered nervously. "I'm... I'm really not good with crowds..."
"So, we'll use Cloud as a front face," Seto muttered, still glaring at Hojo's smug face.
Vincent finally made his presence known by speaking. "Reno reported in a few minutes ago. Cloud took off right after the attack on Kalm was stopped."
Reeve's eyes widened, then he slowly fell back in his chair. "Then... Sephiroth?"
Vincent shook his head.
"So this is it?" Yuffie asked silently, gazing from one to the other. "It's game over?"
No one would meet her eyes, and no one would answer.