(no subject)
Right, my chicobos, this is the end. :D Hope you had as fun as I did~
Title: Storm
Summary: Jenova isn't asleep any longer, and she wants Gaia to bow down to her. Avalanche wants ShinRa to go down in a blaze of fire. Aerith, Zack and Cloud just want Sephiroth back.
Sequel to The Golden Chocobo.
Rating: PG-13 overall, this chapter R
Pairing: S+C, Z+A (and others)
Genre: AU, drama
Type: Multi-chapter
Disclaimer: FVII's not mine, just the idea~
Notes: This has been one of the most fun chapters to write. So much in here... *grin*
Chapter eight
"I'm not waiting any more than a fucking day, then I'm out of here. Understood?!" No one acknowledged Cid's shout at their backs, but that was only because they'd realized they didn't need to.
It hadn't taken more than half the trip to grasp that if Cid was willing to come and fly them where they needed to go simply because Vincent had asked him to, then he'd wait as long as they needed, so they simply left Cid and Feather standing with his airship at the edge of a small forested area while they continued on to what appeared to be more of a camp than a town.
"Aerith? Sweetheart, I know the journey's been rather hard on you, but this isn't north enough to be the Northern Crater." Zack frowned at his girlfriend, carefully keeping the grin off his face, only starting to snicker as she rolled her eyes and tugged at a black strand.
"Very funny, Zack. I know exactly where the Northern Crater is. We're just here to... I'll show you something. So if things don't go as expected, we'll go here, and hopefully, we can prevent the tragedy that would happen..." Aerith’s fingers brushed against the two strange materia she was now carrying with her, keeping them safe.
And if things didn't go as expected... then they would hopefully still be alive, just not in possession of the black materia, which must be the reason they would have to go here... but why? Cloud shivered slightly, supposing he wouldn't know if it went that badly... because then there was the possibility that Jenova would have him...
Shaking his head, he resolutely forgot that thought and glanced around the camp-town. The ground was soft and muddy under their feet, moisture dripping from the leaves of the trees standing here and there and a faint fog creeping over the ground. It felt... sleepy. There was supposed to be a forest around here, not like the one surrounding the camp, but another; pale as breath in winter and just as bare, silent, cold, sleeping.
His mother had taken him past it, he could remember, sometime before they crossed the ocean and ran across the very same continent she had died on. She'd told him to avoid it, since the sleeping trees didn't like to be disturbed and they would lead anything that went in there astray.
"Hey! You! It's not a good idea to go into the Sleeping Forest. You'll just get lost." The man, sitting crouched by one of the first trees that glowed a pale white-blue on the other side of the camp called to them.
Cloud nodded in half-agreement since he'd been wondering over the very same thing, but Aerith must have some reason for just walking forward with not a trace of worry on her face. Maybe it had to do with her being an Ancient... Cetra.
"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine." Aerith smiled and waved at the man, before confidently walking past the first line of trees.
And just disappeared.
They could see clearly into the forest, but as she stepped into it, she had simply disappeared, leaving only undisturbed branches and glowing trees behind.
"Here... I misjudged. Take my hand, Zack, and Cloud and Vincent should hold onto you and each other. Just so we get inside the forest, then I think it's alright." Her voice was muffled, and her hand and lower arm seemed to be sticking out from thin air, nothing more than fog in that space between two trees. It was rather creepy, and the man behind them was noisily choking on his own breath in surprise.
"Almost gave me a heart attack..." With a disgruntled mutter, Zack took Aerith's slender hand, grabbed Cloud's wrist and glanced to Vincent, who calmly had a hand on Cloud's shoulder. It felt slightly ridiculous to walk like this, but when they were all inside the line of trees and surrounded by glowing trunks and branches and fog caressing the trees lovingly and let go of the various hands and shoulders they had grabbed onto, nothing happened. Seemed they just had to get past the edge of the forest with Aerith to not be led somewhere else.
"Let's go then. We shouldn't keep Mr. Highwind waiting any longer than necessary."
***
The forest was silent in a way that seemed impossible; a breath that had been held for who knew how long, and wasn't going to be released in the foreseeable future. The wind was subdued somehow, whispering through dark green patches of grass and moss as carefully as a child sneaking around their sleeping mother who has exhausted herself.
Vincent seemed to be able to almost flicker in and out of their perception flawlessly, somehow using the forest to his advantage and using his natural ability to lurk. Aerith almost seemed to glow, just like the trees, as she walked in front of them, fingers absently playing with the black and white materia, and Zack could swear Cloud's materia flickered every now and then, momentarily leaving him walking beside chocobo-Cloud instead of the human form. It was rather surreal, and he damn well wanted it over with as soon as possible.
"Aerith? Will we be there soon?" He wasn't going to admit to being uncomfortable, but a slightly strained note sneaked into his voice anyway. At least he wasn't whining like a five-year-old child who was tired of traveling after two hours. Aerith turned her face to look at him and smiled apologetically.
"Soon. Just relax, Zack."
Uh-huh.
Relax, she says.
Zack snorted but made a conscious effort to do just that; relaxing the straining muscles in his shoulders and loosening his hands from the fists they'd made. He felt slightly foolish, but it seemed the forest had heeded his mood, because almost immediately they were out in a clearing, delicate, shell-like houses spreading out before them.
They didn't stop here, though; Aerith led them to the biggest of the strange houses and down a staircase that seemed as delicate as the houses themselves, each step clear and thin like the ice that formed over small puddles when the temperature dropped in autumn.
It wound in lazy, wide arcs downwards, and Zack almost expected each step to chime like a bell as they walked down the stairs, which would have created either a cacophony of sound, or a breathless harmony. The steps kept silent though, and the further down they got, the bluer their surroundings seemed to become. Soon it looked as if they were underwater, inside a crystal bubble that broke the light and made each plane and curve shine.
***
It felt wrong, somehow, to interrupt the shining, crystal-like silence of the Cetra's forgotten capital, but at least they were disturbing it with a Cetra leading them, and not because of some curious whim.
They didn't even have any idea why Aerith had led them here.
"Here. If... If Jenova somehow gets the black materia and summons Meteor... We'll go back here and I'll activate Holy." Aerith turned around to face them where she stood in the middle of the platform she had led them to, one hand gesturing to their surroundings.
"Holy?" Cloud frowned and shifted in place, feeling the urge to wark nervously, or kick slightly to relieve the tension, small nails of ice trickling down his spine and it was hard to ignore that, but Aerith was talking again.
"The spell that the white materia can activate. What the white materia is for. It will stop Meteor if it comes to that." Aerith smiled, reassuring, bright and familiar.
~But it WILL NOT.~ The inhuman screech buckled Cloud's knees as he clutched at his head, eyes tearing up. He was aware of Zack shooting forward; a black and blue and steel blur, his Buster Sword drawn.
Vincent moving, slow, too slow, towards his gun beside him. Looking up, the echoes of the scream still squeezing his brain and muscles shaking from the shocks of it, Zack pushing Aerith out of the way, slicing the tentacle that had been heading for her in two, the Buster Sword continuing and spearing the pale blue body easily... but missing another tentacle.
The sound was like glass breaking as his ribcage was torn through, a wet disgusting sound as muscles and flesh gave away and the tentacle appeared on the other side of him.
Wrong.
All wrong.
You shouldn't have something sticking out of you like that...
Cloud's breath was non-existent as he tried to breathe, but it was not possible, because how could he breathe when Zack obviously couldn't with a tentacle through his chest like that?
"Kweh..." Breathless, hurting sound squeezing itself out of a too tight throat as the tentacle was jerked backwards, violently, slowly, letting go of the body it had so roughly entered.
The dark blue-violet eyes were wide as Zack fell backwards, the Buster Sword not following with the slack hands but being tugged out by a tentacle, and Cloud refused to think that Zack could die in such a way.
It... just... wasn't... possible...
"ZACK!"
Whoever screamed first didn't matter.
The grief and shock was too all-encompassing not to be shared.
KILL.
Cloud finally stood up, gripping Triad in shaking hands.
Tear her.. it apart with claws and beak...
Kill...
And he was frozen, immobile, as power rose. Like the crest of a giant wave, so thick it could almost be tasted and touched, holding them all in place.
Aerith.
Golden-red light and power cresting, and then descending, flooding everything and then shattered by rain. She stood just in front of him, slightly angled so he had a part-view of her face. He never wanted to see her face like that again.
Pale as if she was the one who had died, teeth clenched and snarling, tears mingling with the rain, the expression was pure fury. Aerith, a gentle, genial young woman, using a staff only to defend herself... but all have their limit, and suddenly, he had the irrational thought he would never want to face her like this, with another weapon (or even her staff) in hand.
She screamed, tearing the air asunder with something that felt wrong.
Twisted.
The underwater look disappeared to be replaced by sky and clouds, and the feeling of thousands of souls soaring around them, trying to console, to heal, to be there. Light fell like gentle rain, so unlike the first nail-hard sheet, and green sparkled like small stars, bursting into miniature supernovas.
Jenova screamed.
It was a sound both physical and mental, of pure agony as Aerith's unfocused limit break flooded everything in the vicinity with healing power. The body clawed at itself, flickering, melting almost, and writhing in pain.
Aerith collapsed on the ground, but refused to give into her exhaustion and managed to get herself over to Zack... dangerously close to Jenova.
Just as Cloud was about to launch at Jenova while she was still distracted with her body falling to pieces, corrupted by Aerith's healing power, a charge of purple power shot past, snakes of black and red writhing within it.
It impacted with Jenova's body... what was left of it, and ripped through it, accelerating and finalizing what Aerith's limit break had started. Jenova's body disappeared in a rain of agonized writhing, each piece flickering and being turned into nothing.
One part of Jenova dead.
Cloud was aware of Vincent doubling over, somehow responsible for that charge of power, but all thoughts were on Zack, and Aerith. He stumbled forward, falling to his knees beside Aerith who was clutching Zack's head and upper body to her chest, sobbing.
"A-Aerith..." The word didn't want to come out; he had to tear it from his mind and mouth, struggling, while his insides were ice and acid.
"He... He's alive, Cloud. My limit break... saved him. The Great Gospel saved him." Aerith's voice was breathless, her cheeks streaked with tears, but her eyes as she glanced up at him were shining with joy, and not with the insane fury from before. Too much to happen in such a short time.
Cloud wasn't sure what he wanted to do, start laughing or crying. His body, wracked with too many shocks in such a short time, decided to do both, intermingling the human sounds with choked off chocobo sounds. Their foreheads leaning against each others, clutching at both Zack and each other, their laughter mingled with choked tears.
"How sweet... Play nice in the Northern Crater, humans..." The faint whisper, Vincent's voice and yet not, had both jerking their heads up and staring.
Not Vincent anymore.
Brown-black skin instead of that sun-deprived pale shade, solid red eyes under the bandanna, a very toothy smile hinted at behind the collar and large, black and red bat-like wings stretching up behind him... it? They didn't get the chance to say anything as the thing spread its wings and lifted from the platform, quickly disappearing from view.
They needed to get out of here and back to Cid.
Hopefully Vincent would turn up.
***
"Chaos." The dissonant, faint whine of the air twisting in the wake of the large, dark wings had warned Her of the Thing's coming. Usually, She would have been able to feel the interloping presence through other means, but occupying a body that was only part-Her was proving to be rather cumbersome, and She had to rely on Her son's own senses.
She had not bothered with turning around to face the Thing, even if it was a part of the only being that had ever disrupted Her life and journey through space. The Thing behind Her could utterly destroy Her... had helped to destroy part-of-Her, as the healing powers of the young woman descended from the old inhabitants of this world had matured into something that actually was a threat to her...
Which was what she had wanted to prevent by attempting to kill her in that place stinking of those old inhabitants. She had failed utterly, and paid the price.
"The Nuisance from the Heavens. You can't leave... and your plans are interfering with my existence, as annoying and petty as they are." Chaos' voice seemed to tear through the world's very reality, somehow more 'real' than anything else around it, playing on the small breaks and faults in the air and earth. It was only an illusion, but a very real threat to Her, a shadow of the power of Chaos, and it scratched at Her very being, clawing inside.
"And you, trapped in a mortal, human body, have somehow gained the interests and worries of humanity?" Sephiroth's voice dropped away into something more otherworldly and intense, Jenova's voice sparks of violet in the air and carrying the echoing coldness of space.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Nuisance. You may be in command of your "son's" body, but his memories, those you have access to, are affecting you, aren't they?" Chaos murmured, even if that may not have been the right way to describe it. Vincent's partly transformed body had a human voice and all that went with it; Chaos' voice on the other hand was nothing like Vincent's, and while the human voice might murmur, it didn't exactly carry over to the being that was Chaos.
"Be quiet! Besides, the body you are trapped in is not yours to command all the time... But, if you'd let it make it part of Me, I could always set you free..." From angry shout to cajoling, false sweetness, Jenova was nothing if not adaptable, even if the feelings didn't travel well as She had to use Her son's voice, distorted into a shadow of Her real one.
Chaos snorted, a clawed hand undoing a few of the buckles of the tattered cloak Vincent wore to expose the lower part of his face, and a mouth filled with sharp teeth.
"Nuisance... If it wasn't for the friends of the other part of me, and the other part itself, he seems reluctant to kill the offspring of the female he loved, I'd get rid of you here and now, even if you are occupying a body that isn't wholly yours... yet." The red eyes glared balefully at Sephiroth's body and the being occupying it for now.
"I have no use of your promises and deals, Nuisance. I know you from before and from when you landed on this planet. You cannot seduce me, you cannot use me, and you cannot make me into yourself. Give up, Nuisance. I am patient. I will, single-handedly or with the help of the friends of the other part of me, destroy you. As we have already done with your body. If you only had stayed asleep, Conquering Angel..." Chaos grinned with Vincent's mouth, empty and full of the promise of the nothingness only Chaos' powers could bring to Jenova.
He'd tear her being apart; tear her own Order into shreds. She thrived on everything that was part-of-Her, but Chaos could make Her being sing with dissonance, render Her control of everything that was Herself void and that would make Her fold in on Herself, utterly destroy her.
"You speak empty threats, Thing." Sephiroth's face twisted in faint disgust, and Chaos grinned again, Vincent's still partly transformed body walking up to the other man, the wings curling around them both and a brown-black hand raised up to cup Sephiroth's jaw.
"We'll see, won't we, Nuisance?"
The kiss was violent and tearing, no regard for any other pleasure than their own, which brought a sort-of mutual satisfaction. Brown-black skin against too-pale, shifting into blue skin, black and silver hair contrasting, and then Jenova snarled and teleported away.
A moment later the only one left was Vincent, his soul feeling exactly as tattered as his clothes now were. Rubbing his mouth with a pensive look of faint disgust, Vincent buckled up the collar and left.
He had to get back to the others. They had probably already headed for the Northern Crater. Time was running out, and he hoped he could get to the Crater in time.
They needed to confront Jenova as quickly as possible.
***
When they finally got back to Cid and the Highwind, the pilot swore, asked where Vincent was in an off-hand manner, swore some more, and then hustled them aboard the airship, flying towards the Northern Crater with his mouth set in a grim line and as much smoking as chewing on the cigarette he had stuck in one corner of his mouth.
"Fucking suicide, that's what this is. Y'sure you don't want help? I'm sure your friends in Avalanche would help too." Cid glared at a motion-sick Cloud, who shook his head.
"No... It's better if we do this. Because if we can't, then the world is pretty much doomed anyway." Cloud was slightly pale around his cheeks, but a tranquilizer had taken care of most of his problem. Aerith and Zack were lying in one of the rooms sleeping, after having a few Cures cast on them to help them recover as quickly as possible. They just didn't have time to stop and rest properly.
Everything felt like a snowball that had been set to roll down a mountain, gaining speed and size as it went on, and was now impossible to stop.
"Morons." Cid turned his gaze back to Cloud and glowered as the young man was about to rise from his spot, leaving the cup, mostly untouched, on the floor. Cid's stare froze him.
"And sit down and drink your goddamn tea! I didn't make it so you could fucking well leave it without drinking it!"
Cloud sank down and picked up the teacup again.
***
They left Cid at the edge of the Gaia Cliffs, Feather with him even if it had been a chore and a half to convince her to stay with Cid, waiting until he had headed back to wherever he had left Avalanche before starting to walk, and it was as if all monsters had fled the area.
There was nothing around except snow and ice, and a definite feeling of hungry expectation. It only grew as they progressed through the cold surroundings, Aerith and Zack thankfully recovered fully. The only thing impeding their trek was the ominous atmosphere, the strange loss of Vincent, and the giant dark clouds looming above them now, every now and then sending flickers of green-tinted lightning between the clouds, and spatters of ice-cold rain, that somehow refused to turn to snow.
When they finally reached the Crater itself, slowly wandering through the mako-lit gloom it felt as if there were more than just them here. Not Jenova, but something else... But they didn't spot anything, even if the ground shivered a few times, like a giant stretching its bones threateningly.
A brush of snow-breathed wind blasted against their faces and announced that they were close to somewhere that was open to the air.
The heart of the Northern Crater.
Cloud's bones ached as they walked into the large, open area, the pit of mako large enough to make him want to vomit, being this close to it. Not that he would. Far above, there were snatches of the storm clouds, lightning flickering between the clouds and striking the rock with rolling echoes that vibrated through their bodies uncomfortably. There was a light drizzle of that icy rain, hitting the ground with a hissing sound.
"Cloud... Come to give me the black materia?" Sephiroth's voice. Sephiroth's body. And... yet not. Cloud gritted his teeth and drew Triad.
"No. We're here to end this, Jenova. And free Sephiroth." His voice ached with longing, but he swallowed it down as the strangely glowing eyes narrowed and the Masamune was drawn.
Another proof this was not really Sephiroth in charge, even if it looked like it; Jenova's grip was not as sure and easy as Sephiroth's, she was clearly not used to such a large weapon. And... of course, the head that was held in the crook of the right arm, silver hair and broken cables trailing down.
Zack shifted beside him and the Buster Sword appeared, held easily in one hand. Aerith back off slightly, gripping her staff but more than ready to help with spells when needed.
This was it.
"Sephiroth..." The whisper was drowned under their footfalls as three bodies were launched against each other.
***
The jarring sound of metal striking metal somehow echoed even in where Sephiroth was, Cloud's whisper a soft caress against his right now only mental ears. And she was distracted. Standing up, Sephiroth gritted his teeth and glared at the darkness. He had nothing to attack her with... he had the power, he knew, and with Jenova distracted... but all power need to be shaped into something... familiar to be used effectively.
Now, that she was not paying as much attention to him as she perhaps should, he was free to rally his mental strength, and as easy as that, he had a representation of Masamune in his hand. There was a flicker in front of him, and then she hung there, overbearing, ethereal, but not as intense as she had been before.
With a hungry smirk, he waited for just the right moment, the shivers and echoes of the physical attacks felt even in here. She was strained and he would add to it.
There.
He attacked.
***
He was close enough he could see the faint freckles on Sephiroth's otherwise flawless skin, Jenova not using Masamune's length at all, but preferring to get up close, smirking and flaunting. But he could feel it.
Making a back flip, he left enough space for Zack to make a quick lash and then back, their attacks synchronized in a dance that Jenova had problems to keep up with. And he could feel Sephiroth just under the surface, cold, fierce and finally able to fight back. What did Jenova think she was, anyway?
They would win, and destroy her. Another jarring clash of steel against steel and Cloud glared at Jenova. It was easy now to keep her apart from Sephiroth.
They simply were not the same.
***
She wasn't attacking him with any definite weapon. Instead she was flinging all mental power she could spare at him, floating mock-serenely just out of range of Masamune's reach... most of the time. He would not give up.
Simply charging through one of her attacks, his mind shivering and tearing slightly from it, the projection of Masamune fell in a beautiful and sure arc, tearing into her, and for a moment she flickered.
A few black feathers drifted to the ground where Sephiroth had stood a moment ago before he launched another attack.
***
Staggering back from a hit that had felt like it had almost torn his arm off, Cloud took a deep breath and, when he noticed Jenova paused as if momentarily frozen, both he and Zack attacked, the sound like shattering glass.
They all had several small scrapes and wounds, and he knew they should be going harder on Jenova, but it was Sephiroth's body, so how were they supposed to hurt Jenova without hurting him? They were suddenly thrown back, Cloud slamming into the rock wall and Zack sliding on the ground flesh scraping against the stone.
A flash of a grin from Jenova, Sephiroth's face looked so wrong when doing that, and then a spell was released. No idea what it was, but it was heading from not them but Aerith.
Aerith, who was in the middle of a shielding spell.
"Aerith!" Zack got up and threw himself at her, ignoring his muscles and bones moaning in protest. Time seemed to slow as he crossed the distance, his hand touching her shoulder, the two of them slamming to the ground, white light erupting from Aerith just a split second before Jenova's spell hit them.
Time sped up, and all was still. They weren't moving. Cloud wasn't sure if they had been hit or not.
Bile rose.
"Jenova..." This was it. He knew he had to do what he had promised Sephiroth he'd do. Tears clawing at the corners of his eyes, he threw himself at Jenova with all his speed behind it.
No matter what she did, she would not be able to dodge. Somewhere in the Crater there was an echoing explosion and everything shook, but Cloud couldn't care less as those strange extra presences they had felt when going in suddenly left.
I'm sorry, Sephiroth.
***
The echo of the words chimed like a bell inside his mind, shattering, tearing, and joining everything in bright light. There was only one thing left to do. See to it that Jenova was too injured to resist Cloud's attack.
He threw himself against her, finding strength from somewhere he hadn't been aware of, and green fire erupted around him but did not impede his vision, black feathers suddenly everywhere, and he tore through her.
***
Zack.
Aerith.
Sephiroth.
The names thundered like the lighting above in his head, and the violent blue-violet light that burst the same moment Triad bit into Sephiroth's side forced him to throw himself to the side.
Pressure.
Raising his head, blinking against the heavy rain that seemed to leave a solid coat of ice after it where it hit, Cloud stared up at Jenova. And not at the body of Sephiroth anymore.
Magenta, wing-like protrusions flared out from the light, the head a faint outline in the middle of it all, pale blue strands grew from the light and the throat and fused together to form hands, arms, chest and torso. Tentacles burst from her skin shifting in blue and turning violently sore-red at the ends.
She unfolded like a flower, delicate, ethereal and beautiful, but over all poisonous, the light dripping from her newly formed body like acid.
She didn't have a lower body, though. The end of her spine dangled empty, pale strands of blue working on building her lower body but not working fast enough. The wing-like extensions beat once the light flaring with it and then dying away, and Cloud jerked himself up and attacked.
Using the rock walls as leverage, he was just as much in the air as on the ground, easily keeping himself out of reach of her attacks with the help of almost impossible-seeming moves. Their fight turning more airborne as it went on, light from magic striking metal being deflected, sending mad reflections and surges of power everywhere.
A glance to the side curled Cloud's stomach. Aerith and Zack were still lying in a heap, unmoving... but he thought he saw them stir... he wasn't sure though. And then Sephiroth. The only thing he could see was a mass of soft black and silver, among the rocks and snow, but he knew that was Sephiroth.
Anger rose, undeniable like the alien presence in front of him, and he snarled, but the ending more of a wark. He couldn't care less though.
"This is OVER, Jenova!"
No more.
He'd end this here and now! She was building up for something, something big, but she would not get the chance. At the edge of his perception, he felt a familiar flicker of red and black. With a grim smile, he let the bloody red light and power surround him, going deeper, looking for more. The usual power was not enough.
And then, with a snap, he found it at the same place he'd found the power and determination to turn into a human with the help of the special materia the first time.
Power exploded, rose upwards into the clouds and then, somewhere up there, solidified. A scream of power and burnt ozone, and the three large balls of magical flame and rock fell down again, larger than they'd ever been, aiming for only one person in that enclosed space.
Purple shot through with red and black, chaos power added by Vincent, turned the meteors into a kaleidoscope of chaotic power, tearing hungrily at the air.
Cloud collapsed down on the ground as the meteors hit Jenova, crushing, tearing, and utterly destroying her very essence with the help of Chaos' power. A final explosion of magical light, and then everything went very dark. Blinking his eyes and trying to adjust them to the now relatively dark Crater, rain still falling in a soft, freezing drizzle, Cloud looked over at Sephiroth.
"Se-Sephiroth." Standing up, he staggered over to his lover, collapsing to the side of the mass of silver hair. He could hear Aerith and Zack moving behind him.
Feathers.
Lots and lots of feathers.
It took a while for him to realize that he was staring at wings, and not a dead chocobo body, torn apart by something and feathers everywhere.. Impossible to know how many there were, it was enough of a chore to brush away all the hair, move a wing or two and finally being able to hug Sephiroth to him.
Even if the man was half-naked, wet from the rain and seemed to have several black wings instead of legs, and a lone black wing growing from his right shoulder blade, it was a relief.
He had Sephiroth again. Lover, mate, owner, superior.
"Cloud..." That lone, careful whisper in his ear made everything alright, everything worth it. Well, everything except for Zack almost dying...
"I didn't have to fulfill my promise." He could feel his cheeks hurting from even just that small smile, but when Sephiroth's face softened and he gently ran a finger along a cut on Cloud's cheek, it was alright.
"No, you didn't." The kiss was soft, careful, and almost non-existent. The hesitance fell away to relieved eagerness. Cloud was aware of Vincent standing over them with his arms crossed, and was glad someone was keeping an eye on things.
Aerith was whispering something to Zack, and he had a distinct feeling it had to do with whatever Aerith had found out in Cosmo Canyon, when she had left with the girls... Zack's voice screeched in a way he thought was impossible for a male, even less a human one, and obliterated the peaceful, if cold, atmosphere.
"You're WHAT?"
"We're going to have a child, Zack." Aerith sounded as serene as Cloud felt, and Zack's gurgled choke made everything seem lighter. Then he frowned down at the mass of wings attached to Sephiroth.
"Um... Sephiroth... are these permanent?" Cloud nodded down at the wings protruding in the place of legs, six of them. He was somewhat relieved to find that while the wings had robbed his lover of his legs, he still had his equipment.
Because, really, he didn't have anything against the feathers. They were a familiar element, if growing in a slightly strange way. It was almost like having a chocobo with him, and Sephiroth somehow felt even closer than usual like this because of that...
His lover didn't seem too impressed by the feathers though. Sephiroth frowned down at himself, his green eyes darkening in frustration and, if he was pressed to admit it, nervousness.
"I have no idea... They better not be, though."
Cloud snickered silently, and then, moving slowly, he bowed his head enough to be able to catch one of Sephiroth's bangs between his teeth and tugged gently, before letting go and rubbing his nose against the hair on top of Sephiroth's skull, just in front of the topknot.
"Not a chocobo, yet, but it's starting to get close..." Cloud mumbled into the hair, amused and sounding extremely satisfied in a way. Sephiroth supposed all these feathers must be reminding Cloud of his origins, and the... greeting? Nuzzling...? Whatever it was, was obviously part of something chocobo.
Maybe these wings weren't that bad on the whole, but they better be temporary anyway. The shrill tone of Cloud's cell phone ringing interrupted any further conversation and broke the relaxed atmosphere, though, and after fumbling a bit, Cloud found it.
"Uh... Hello?"
/Cloud? It's Tifa. Are you alright?/
"Yeah... everything's just peachy." He couldn't help the silly grin that slipped over his face at Sephiroth's snort over his choice of words.
/That's good. Um. Cloud... do you know why there are giant beasts attacking Midgar? They blew away half of the city, centring from ShinRa Tower. It's... it's a mess, ShinRa Tower's totally destroyed, and I have no idea how many are dead... The beasts left after that, though and we have no idea where they are now./
"Uh... I have no idea what's going on. But don't worry, Tifa. We'll stop the beasts as soon as possible." He reassured her quietly, and terminated the call with a sigh.
Of course it wasn’t over.
But giant beasts destroying Midgar would be easy after Jenova.
***
(Because everything's easy after the final boss! Those WEAPONs better look out. xD
End~
There is a possibility, very, very slight, of some sort of AC-like sequel, but don't hold your breath, if you're interested in that.
Well, I had fun at any rate. Poor Zack. Died-almost died. Aerith's creepy when she's going apeshit. :D
Thank you, everybody~!)
Title: Storm
Summary: Jenova isn't asleep any longer, and she wants Gaia to bow down to her. Avalanche wants ShinRa to go down in a blaze of fire. Aerith, Zack and Cloud just want Sephiroth back.
Sequel to The Golden Chocobo.
Rating: PG-13 overall, this chapter R
Pairing: S+C, Z+A (and others)
Genre: AU, drama
Type: Multi-chapter
Disclaimer: FVII's not mine, just the idea~
Notes: This has been one of the most fun chapters to write. So much in here... *grin*
Chapter eight
"I'm not waiting any more than a fucking day, then I'm out of here. Understood?!" No one acknowledged Cid's shout at their backs, but that was only because they'd realized they didn't need to.
It hadn't taken more than half the trip to grasp that if Cid was willing to come and fly them where they needed to go simply because Vincent had asked him to, then he'd wait as long as they needed, so they simply left Cid and Feather standing with his airship at the edge of a small forested area while they continued on to what appeared to be more of a camp than a town.
"Aerith? Sweetheart, I know the journey's been rather hard on you, but this isn't north enough to be the Northern Crater." Zack frowned at his girlfriend, carefully keeping the grin off his face, only starting to snicker as she rolled her eyes and tugged at a black strand.
"Very funny, Zack. I know exactly where the Northern Crater is. We're just here to... I'll show you something. So if things don't go as expected, we'll go here, and hopefully, we can prevent the tragedy that would happen..." Aerith’s fingers brushed against the two strange materia she was now carrying with her, keeping them safe.
And if things didn't go as expected... then they would hopefully still be alive, just not in possession of the black materia, which must be the reason they would have to go here... but why? Cloud shivered slightly, supposing he wouldn't know if it went that badly... because then there was the possibility that Jenova would have him...
Shaking his head, he resolutely forgot that thought and glanced around the camp-town. The ground was soft and muddy under their feet, moisture dripping from the leaves of the trees standing here and there and a faint fog creeping over the ground. It felt... sleepy. There was supposed to be a forest around here, not like the one surrounding the camp, but another; pale as breath in winter and just as bare, silent, cold, sleeping.
His mother had taken him past it, he could remember, sometime before they crossed the ocean and ran across the very same continent she had died on. She'd told him to avoid it, since the sleeping trees didn't like to be disturbed and they would lead anything that went in there astray.
"Hey! You! It's not a good idea to go into the Sleeping Forest. You'll just get lost." The man, sitting crouched by one of the first trees that glowed a pale white-blue on the other side of the camp called to them.
Cloud nodded in half-agreement since he'd been wondering over the very same thing, but Aerith must have some reason for just walking forward with not a trace of worry on her face. Maybe it had to do with her being an Ancient... Cetra.
"Don't worry about us, we'll be fine." Aerith smiled and waved at the man, before confidently walking past the first line of trees.
And just disappeared.
They could see clearly into the forest, but as she stepped into it, she had simply disappeared, leaving only undisturbed branches and glowing trees behind.
"Here... I misjudged. Take my hand, Zack, and Cloud and Vincent should hold onto you and each other. Just so we get inside the forest, then I think it's alright." Her voice was muffled, and her hand and lower arm seemed to be sticking out from thin air, nothing more than fog in that space between two trees. It was rather creepy, and the man behind them was noisily choking on his own breath in surprise.
"Almost gave me a heart attack..." With a disgruntled mutter, Zack took Aerith's slender hand, grabbed Cloud's wrist and glanced to Vincent, who calmly had a hand on Cloud's shoulder. It felt slightly ridiculous to walk like this, but when they were all inside the line of trees and surrounded by glowing trunks and branches and fog caressing the trees lovingly and let go of the various hands and shoulders they had grabbed onto, nothing happened. Seemed they just had to get past the edge of the forest with Aerith to not be led somewhere else.
"Let's go then. We shouldn't keep Mr. Highwind waiting any longer than necessary."
***
The forest was silent in a way that seemed impossible; a breath that had been held for who knew how long, and wasn't going to be released in the foreseeable future. The wind was subdued somehow, whispering through dark green patches of grass and moss as carefully as a child sneaking around their sleeping mother who has exhausted herself.
Vincent seemed to be able to almost flicker in and out of their perception flawlessly, somehow using the forest to his advantage and using his natural ability to lurk. Aerith almost seemed to glow, just like the trees, as she walked in front of them, fingers absently playing with the black and white materia, and Zack could swear Cloud's materia flickered every now and then, momentarily leaving him walking beside chocobo-Cloud instead of the human form. It was rather surreal, and he damn well wanted it over with as soon as possible.
"Aerith? Will we be there soon?" He wasn't going to admit to being uncomfortable, but a slightly strained note sneaked into his voice anyway. At least he wasn't whining like a five-year-old child who was tired of traveling after two hours. Aerith turned her face to look at him and smiled apologetically.
"Soon. Just relax, Zack."
Uh-huh.
Relax, she says.
Zack snorted but made a conscious effort to do just that; relaxing the straining muscles in his shoulders and loosening his hands from the fists they'd made. He felt slightly foolish, but it seemed the forest had heeded his mood, because almost immediately they were out in a clearing, delicate, shell-like houses spreading out before them.
They didn't stop here, though; Aerith led them to the biggest of the strange houses and down a staircase that seemed as delicate as the houses themselves, each step clear and thin like the ice that formed over small puddles when the temperature dropped in autumn.
It wound in lazy, wide arcs downwards, and Zack almost expected each step to chime like a bell as they walked down the stairs, which would have created either a cacophony of sound, or a breathless harmony. The steps kept silent though, and the further down they got, the bluer their surroundings seemed to become. Soon it looked as if they were underwater, inside a crystal bubble that broke the light and made each plane and curve shine.
***
It felt wrong, somehow, to interrupt the shining, crystal-like silence of the Cetra's forgotten capital, but at least they were disturbing it with a Cetra leading them, and not because of some curious whim.
They didn't even have any idea why Aerith had led them here.
"Here. If... If Jenova somehow gets the black materia and summons Meteor... We'll go back here and I'll activate Holy." Aerith turned around to face them where she stood in the middle of the platform she had led them to, one hand gesturing to their surroundings.
"Holy?" Cloud frowned and shifted in place, feeling the urge to wark nervously, or kick slightly to relieve the tension, small nails of ice trickling down his spine and it was hard to ignore that, but Aerith was talking again.
"The spell that the white materia can activate. What the white materia is for. It will stop Meteor if it comes to that." Aerith smiled, reassuring, bright and familiar.
~But it WILL NOT.~ The inhuman screech buckled Cloud's knees as he clutched at his head, eyes tearing up. He was aware of Zack shooting forward; a black and blue and steel blur, his Buster Sword drawn.
Vincent moving, slow, too slow, towards his gun beside him. Looking up, the echoes of the scream still squeezing his brain and muscles shaking from the shocks of it, Zack pushing Aerith out of the way, slicing the tentacle that had been heading for her in two, the Buster Sword continuing and spearing the pale blue body easily... but missing another tentacle.
The sound was like glass breaking as his ribcage was torn through, a wet disgusting sound as muscles and flesh gave away and the tentacle appeared on the other side of him.
Wrong.
All wrong.
You shouldn't have something sticking out of you like that...
Cloud's breath was non-existent as he tried to breathe, but it was not possible, because how could he breathe when Zack obviously couldn't with a tentacle through his chest like that?
"Kweh..." Breathless, hurting sound squeezing itself out of a too tight throat as the tentacle was jerked backwards, violently, slowly, letting go of the body it had so roughly entered.
The dark blue-violet eyes were wide as Zack fell backwards, the Buster Sword not following with the slack hands but being tugged out by a tentacle, and Cloud refused to think that Zack could die in such a way.
It... just... wasn't... possible...
"ZACK!"
Whoever screamed first didn't matter.
The grief and shock was too all-encompassing not to be shared.
KILL.
Cloud finally stood up, gripping Triad in shaking hands.
Tear her.. it apart with claws and beak...
Kill...
And he was frozen, immobile, as power rose. Like the crest of a giant wave, so thick it could almost be tasted and touched, holding them all in place.
Aerith.
Golden-red light and power cresting, and then descending, flooding everything and then shattered by rain. She stood just in front of him, slightly angled so he had a part-view of her face. He never wanted to see her face like that again.
Pale as if she was the one who had died, teeth clenched and snarling, tears mingling with the rain, the expression was pure fury. Aerith, a gentle, genial young woman, using a staff only to defend herself... but all have their limit, and suddenly, he had the irrational thought he would never want to face her like this, with another weapon (or even her staff) in hand.
She screamed, tearing the air asunder with something that felt wrong.
Twisted.
The underwater look disappeared to be replaced by sky and clouds, and the feeling of thousands of souls soaring around them, trying to console, to heal, to be there. Light fell like gentle rain, so unlike the first nail-hard sheet, and green sparkled like small stars, bursting into miniature supernovas.
Jenova screamed.
It was a sound both physical and mental, of pure agony as Aerith's unfocused limit break flooded everything in the vicinity with healing power. The body clawed at itself, flickering, melting almost, and writhing in pain.
Aerith collapsed on the ground, but refused to give into her exhaustion and managed to get herself over to Zack... dangerously close to Jenova.
Just as Cloud was about to launch at Jenova while she was still distracted with her body falling to pieces, corrupted by Aerith's healing power, a charge of purple power shot past, snakes of black and red writhing within it.
It impacted with Jenova's body... what was left of it, and ripped through it, accelerating and finalizing what Aerith's limit break had started. Jenova's body disappeared in a rain of agonized writhing, each piece flickering and being turned into nothing.
One part of Jenova dead.
Cloud was aware of Vincent doubling over, somehow responsible for that charge of power, but all thoughts were on Zack, and Aerith. He stumbled forward, falling to his knees beside Aerith who was clutching Zack's head and upper body to her chest, sobbing.
"A-Aerith..." The word didn't want to come out; he had to tear it from his mind and mouth, struggling, while his insides were ice and acid.
"He... He's alive, Cloud. My limit break... saved him. The Great Gospel saved him." Aerith's voice was breathless, her cheeks streaked with tears, but her eyes as she glanced up at him were shining with joy, and not with the insane fury from before. Too much to happen in such a short time.
Cloud wasn't sure what he wanted to do, start laughing or crying. His body, wracked with too many shocks in such a short time, decided to do both, intermingling the human sounds with choked off chocobo sounds. Their foreheads leaning against each others, clutching at both Zack and each other, their laughter mingled with choked tears.
"How sweet... Play nice in the Northern Crater, humans..." The faint whisper, Vincent's voice and yet not, had both jerking their heads up and staring.
Not Vincent anymore.
Brown-black skin instead of that sun-deprived pale shade, solid red eyes under the bandanna, a very toothy smile hinted at behind the collar and large, black and red bat-like wings stretching up behind him... it? They didn't get the chance to say anything as the thing spread its wings and lifted from the platform, quickly disappearing from view.
They needed to get out of here and back to Cid.
Hopefully Vincent would turn up.
***
"Chaos." The dissonant, faint whine of the air twisting in the wake of the large, dark wings had warned Her of the Thing's coming. Usually, She would have been able to feel the interloping presence through other means, but occupying a body that was only part-Her was proving to be rather cumbersome, and She had to rely on Her son's own senses.
She had not bothered with turning around to face the Thing, even if it was a part of the only being that had ever disrupted Her life and journey through space. The Thing behind Her could utterly destroy Her... had helped to destroy part-of-Her, as the healing powers of the young woman descended from the old inhabitants of this world had matured into something that actually was a threat to her...
Which was what she had wanted to prevent by attempting to kill her in that place stinking of those old inhabitants. She had failed utterly, and paid the price.
"The Nuisance from the Heavens. You can't leave... and your plans are interfering with my existence, as annoying and petty as they are." Chaos' voice seemed to tear through the world's very reality, somehow more 'real' than anything else around it, playing on the small breaks and faults in the air and earth. It was only an illusion, but a very real threat to Her, a shadow of the power of Chaos, and it scratched at Her very being, clawing inside.
"And you, trapped in a mortal, human body, have somehow gained the interests and worries of humanity?" Sephiroth's voice dropped away into something more otherworldly and intense, Jenova's voice sparks of violet in the air and carrying the echoing coldness of space.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Nuisance. You may be in command of your "son's" body, but his memories, those you have access to, are affecting you, aren't they?" Chaos murmured, even if that may not have been the right way to describe it. Vincent's partly transformed body had a human voice and all that went with it; Chaos' voice on the other hand was nothing like Vincent's, and while the human voice might murmur, it didn't exactly carry over to the being that was Chaos.
"Be quiet! Besides, the body you are trapped in is not yours to command all the time... But, if you'd let it make it part of Me, I could always set you free..." From angry shout to cajoling, false sweetness, Jenova was nothing if not adaptable, even if the feelings didn't travel well as She had to use Her son's voice, distorted into a shadow of Her real one.
Chaos snorted, a clawed hand undoing a few of the buckles of the tattered cloak Vincent wore to expose the lower part of his face, and a mouth filled with sharp teeth.
"Nuisance... If it wasn't for the friends of the other part of me, and the other part itself, he seems reluctant to kill the offspring of the female he loved, I'd get rid of you here and now, even if you are occupying a body that isn't wholly yours... yet." The red eyes glared balefully at Sephiroth's body and the being occupying it for now.
"I have no use of your promises and deals, Nuisance. I know you from before and from when you landed on this planet. You cannot seduce me, you cannot use me, and you cannot make me into yourself. Give up, Nuisance. I am patient. I will, single-handedly or with the help of the friends of the other part of me, destroy you. As we have already done with your body. If you only had stayed asleep, Conquering Angel..." Chaos grinned with Vincent's mouth, empty and full of the promise of the nothingness only Chaos' powers could bring to Jenova.
He'd tear her being apart; tear her own Order into shreds. She thrived on everything that was part-of-Her, but Chaos could make Her being sing with dissonance, render Her control of everything that was Herself void and that would make Her fold in on Herself, utterly destroy her.
"You speak empty threats, Thing." Sephiroth's face twisted in faint disgust, and Chaos grinned again, Vincent's still partly transformed body walking up to the other man, the wings curling around them both and a brown-black hand raised up to cup Sephiroth's jaw.
"We'll see, won't we, Nuisance?"
The kiss was violent and tearing, no regard for any other pleasure than their own, which brought a sort-of mutual satisfaction. Brown-black skin against too-pale, shifting into blue skin, black and silver hair contrasting, and then Jenova snarled and teleported away.
A moment later the only one left was Vincent, his soul feeling exactly as tattered as his clothes now were. Rubbing his mouth with a pensive look of faint disgust, Vincent buckled up the collar and left.
He had to get back to the others. They had probably already headed for the Northern Crater. Time was running out, and he hoped he could get to the Crater in time.
They needed to confront Jenova as quickly as possible.
***
When they finally got back to Cid and the Highwind, the pilot swore, asked where Vincent was in an off-hand manner, swore some more, and then hustled them aboard the airship, flying towards the Northern Crater with his mouth set in a grim line and as much smoking as chewing on the cigarette he had stuck in one corner of his mouth.
"Fucking suicide, that's what this is. Y'sure you don't want help? I'm sure your friends in Avalanche would help too." Cid glared at a motion-sick Cloud, who shook his head.
"No... It's better if we do this. Because if we can't, then the world is pretty much doomed anyway." Cloud was slightly pale around his cheeks, but a tranquilizer had taken care of most of his problem. Aerith and Zack were lying in one of the rooms sleeping, after having a few Cures cast on them to help them recover as quickly as possible. They just didn't have time to stop and rest properly.
Everything felt like a snowball that had been set to roll down a mountain, gaining speed and size as it went on, and was now impossible to stop.
"Morons." Cid turned his gaze back to Cloud and glowered as the young man was about to rise from his spot, leaving the cup, mostly untouched, on the floor. Cid's stare froze him.
"And sit down and drink your goddamn tea! I didn't make it so you could fucking well leave it without drinking it!"
Cloud sank down and picked up the teacup again.
***
They left Cid at the edge of the Gaia Cliffs, Feather with him even if it had been a chore and a half to convince her to stay with Cid, waiting until he had headed back to wherever he had left Avalanche before starting to walk, and it was as if all monsters had fled the area.
There was nothing around except snow and ice, and a definite feeling of hungry expectation. It only grew as they progressed through the cold surroundings, Aerith and Zack thankfully recovered fully. The only thing impeding their trek was the ominous atmosphere, the strange loss of Vincent, and the giant dark clouds looming above them now, every now and then sending flickers of green-tinted lightning between the clouds, and spatters of ice-cold rain, that somehow refused to turn to snow.
When they finally reached the Crater itself, slowly wandering through the mako-lit gloom it felt as if there were more than just them here. Not Jenova, but something else... But they didn't spot anything, even if the ground shivered a few times, like a giant stretching its bones threateningly.
A brush of snow-breathed wind blasted against their faces and announced that they were close to somewhere that was open to the air.
The heart of the Northern Crater.
Cloud's bones ached as they walked into the large, open area, the pit of mako large enough to make him want to vomit, being this close to it. Not that he would. Far above, there were snatches of the storm clouds, lightning flickering between the clouds and striking the rock with rolling echoes that vibrated through their bodies uncomfortably. There was a light drizzle of that icy rain, hitting the ground with a hissing sound.
"Cloud... Come to give me the black materia?" Sephiroth's voice. Sephiroth's body. And... yet not. Cloud gritted his teeth and drew Triad.
"No. We're here to end this, Jenova. And free Sephiroth." His voice ached with longing, but he swallowed it down as the strangely glowing eyes narrowed and the Masamune was drawn.
Another proof this was not really Sephiroth in charge, even if it looked like it; Jenova's grip was not as sure and easy as Sephiroth's, she was clearly not used to such a large weapon. And... of course, the head that was held in the crook of the right arm, silver hair and broken cables trailing down.
Zack shifted beside him and the Buster Sword appeared, held easily in one hand. Aerith back off slightly, gripping her staff but more than ready to help with spells when needed.
This was it.
"Sephiroth..." The whisper was drowned under their footfalls as three bodies were launched against each other.
***
The jarring sound of metal striking metal somehow echoed even in where Sephiroth was, Cloud's whisper a soft caress against his right now only mental ears. And she was distracted. Standing up, Sephiroth gritted his teeth and glared at the darkness. He had nothing to attack her with... he had the power, he knew, and with Jenova distracted... but all power need to be shaped into something... familiar to be used effectively.
Now, that she was not paying as much attention to him as she perhaps should, he was free to rally his mental strength, and as easy as that, he had a representation of Masamune in his hand. There was a flicker in front of him, and then she hung there, overbearing, ethereal, but not as intense as she had been before.
With a hungry smirk, he waited for just the right moment, the shivers and echoes of the physical attacks felt even in here. She was strained and he would add to it.
There.
He attacked.
***
He was close enough he could see the faint freckles on Sephiroth's otherwise flawless skin, Jenova not using Masamune's length at all, but preferring to get up close, smirking and flaunting. But he could feel it.
Making a back flip, he left enough space for Zack to make a quick lash and then back, their attacks synchronized in a dance that Jenova had problems to keep up with. And he could feel Sephiroth just under the surface, cold, fierce and finally able to fight back. What did Jenova think she was, anyway?
They would win, and destroy her. Another jarring clash of steel against steel and Cloud glared at Jenova. It was easy now to keep her apart from Sephiroth.
They simply were not the same.
***
She wasn't attacking him with any definite weapon. Instead she was flinging all mental power she could spare at him, floating mock-serenely just out of range of Masamune's reach... most of the time. He would not give up.
Simply charging through one of her attacks, his mind shivering and tearing slightly from it, the projection of Masamune fell in a beautiful and sure arc, tearing into her, and for a moment she flickered.
A few black feathers drifted to the ground where Sephiroth had stood a moment ago before he launched another attack.
***
Staggering back from a hit that had felt like it had almost torn his arm off, Cloud took a deep breath and, when he noticed Jenova paused as if momentarily frozen, both he and Zack attacked, the sound like shattering glass.
They all had several small scrapes and wounds, and he knew they should be going harder on Jenova, but it was Sephiroth's body, so how were they supposed to hurt Jenova without hurting him? They were suddenly thrown back, Cloud slamming into the rock wall and Zack sliding on the ground flesh scraping against the stone.
A flash of a grin from Jenova, Sephiroth's face looked so wrong when doing that, and then a spell was released. No idea what it was, but it was heading from not them but Aerith.
Aerith, who was in the middle of a shielding spell.
"Aerith!" Zack got up and threw himself at her, ignoring his muscles and bones moaning in protest. Time seemed to slow as he crossed the distance, his hand touching her shoulder, the two of them slamming to the ground, white light erupting from Aerith just a split second before Jenova's spell hit them.
Time sped up, and all was still. They weren't moving. Cloud wasn't sure if they had been hit or not.
Bile rose.
"Jenova..." This was it. He knew he had to do what he had promised Sephiroth he'd do. Tears clawing at the corners of his eyes, he threw himself at Jenova with all his speed behind it.
No matter what she did, she would not be able to dodge. Somewhere in the Crater there was an echoing explosion and everything shook, but Cloud couldn't care less as those strange extra presences they had felt when going in suddenly left.
I'm sorry, Sephiroth.
***
The echo of the words chimed like a bell inside his mind, shattering, tearing, and joining everything in bright light. There was only one thing left to do. See to it that Jenova was too injured to resist Cloud's attack.
He threw himself against her, finding strength from somewhere he hadn't been aware of, and green fire erupted around him but did not impede his vision, black feathers suddenly everywhere, and he tore through her.
***
Zack.
Aerith.
Sephiroth.
The names thundered like the lighting above in his head, and the violent blue-violet light that burst the same moment Triad bit into Sephiroth's side forced him to throw himself to the side.
Pressure.
Raising his head, blinking against the heavy rain that seemed to leave a solid coat of ice after it where it hit, Cloud stared up at Jenova. And not at the body of Sephiroth anymore.
Magenta, wing-like protrusions flared out from the light, the head a faint outline in the middle of it all, pale blue strands grew from the light and the throat and fused together to form hands, arms, chest and torso. Tentacles burst from her skin shifting in blue and turning violently sore-red at the ends.
She unfolded like a flower, delicate, ethereal and beautiful, but over all poisonous, the light dripping from her newly formed body like acid.
She didn't have a lower body, though. The end of her spine dangled empty, pale strands of blue working on building her lower body but not working fast enough. The wing-like extensions beat once the light flaring with it and then dying away, and Cloud jerked himself up and attacked.
Using the rock walls as leverage, he was just as much in the air as on the ground, easily keeping himself out of reach of her attacks with the help of almost impossible-seeming moves. Their fight turning more airborne as it went on, light from magic striking metal being deflected, sending mad reflections and surges of power everywhere.
A glance to the side curled Cloud's stomach. Aerith and Zack were still lying in a heap, unmoving... but he thought he saw them stir... he wasn't sure though. And then Sephiroth. The only thing he could see was a mass of soft black and silver, among the rocks and snow, but he knew that was Sephiroth.
Anger rose, undeniable like the alien presence in front of him, and he snarled, but the ending more of a wark. He couldn't care less though.
"This is OVER, Jenova!"
No more.
He'd end this here and now! She was building up for something, something big, but she would not get the chance. At the edge of his perception, he felt a familiar flicker of red and black. With a grim smile, he let the bloody red light and power surround him, going deeper, looking for more. The usual power was not enough.
And then, with a snap, he found it at the same place he'd found the power and determination to turn into a human with the help of the special materia the first time.
Power exploded, rose upwards into the clouds and then, somewhere up there, solidified. A scream of power and burnt ozone, and the three large balls of magical flame and rock fell down again, larger than they'd ever been, aiming for only one person in that enclosed space.
Purple shot through with red and black, chaos power added by Vincent, turned the meteors into a kaleidoscope of chaotic power, tearing hungrily at the air.
Cloud collapsed down on the ground as the meteors hit Jenova, crushing, tearing, and utterly destroying her very essence with the help of Chaos' power. A final explosion of magical light, and then everything went very dark. Blinking his eyes and trying to adjust them to the now relatively dark Crater, rain still falling in a soft, freezing drizzle, Cloud looked over at Sephiroth.
"Se-Sephiroth." Standing up, he staggered over to his lover, collapsing to the side of the mass of silver hair. He could hear Aerith and Zack moving behind him.
Feathers.
Lots and lots of feathers.
It took a while for him to realize that he was staring at wings, and not a dead chocobo body, torn apart by something and feathers everywhere.. Impossible to know how many there were, it was enough of a chore to brush away all the hair, move a wing or two and finally being able to hug Sephiroth to him.
Even if the man was half-naked, wet from the rain and seemed to have several black wings instead of legs, and a lone black wing growing from his right shoulder blade, it was a relief.
He had Sephiroth again. Lover, mate, owner, superior.
"Cloud..." That lone, careful whisper in his ear made everything alright, everything worth it. Well, everything except for Zack almost dying...
"I didn't have to fulfill my promise." He could feel his cheeks hurting from even just that small smile, but when Sephiroth's face softened and he gently ran a finger along a cut on Cloud's cheek, it was alright.
"No, you didn't." The kiss was soft, careful, and almost non-existent. The hesitance fell away to relieved eagerness. Cloud was aware of Vincent standing over them with his arms crossed, and was glad someone was keeping an eye on things.
Aerith was whispering something to Zack, and he had a distinct feeling it had to do with whatever Aerith had found out in Cosmo Canyon, when she had left with the girls... Zack's voice screeched in a way he thought was impossible for a male, even less a human one, and obliterated the peaceful, if cold, atmosphere.
"You're WHAT?"
"We're going to have a child, Zack." Aerith sounded as serene as Cloud felt, and Zack's gurgled choke made everything seem lighter. Then he frowned down at the mass of wings attached to Sephiroth.
"Um... Sephiroth... are these permanent?" Cloud nodded down at the wings protruding in the place of legs, six of them. He was somewhat relieved to find that while the wings had robbed his lover of his legs, he still had his equipment.
Because, really, he didn't have anything against the feathers. They were a familiar element, if growing in a slightly strange way. It was almost like having a chocobo with him, and Sephiroth somehow felt even closer than usual like this because of that...
His lover didn't seem too impressed by the feathers though. Sephiroth frowned down at himself, his green eyes darkening in frustration and, if he was pressed to admit it, nervousness.
"I have no idea... They better not be, though."
Cloud snickered silently, and then, moving slowly, he bowed his head enough to be able to catch one of Sephiroth's bangs between his teeth and tugged gently, before letting go and rubbing his nose against the hair on top of Sephiroth's skull, just in front of the topknot.
"Not a chocobo, yet, but it's starting to get close..." Cloud mumbled into the hair, amused and sounding extremely satisfied in a way. Sephiroth supposed all these feathers must be reminding Cloud of his origins, and the... greeting? Nuzzling...? Whatever it was, was obviously part of something chocobo.
Maybe these wings weren't that bad on the whole, but they better be temporary anyway. The shrill tone of Cloud's cell phone ringing interrupted any further conversation and broke the relaxed atmosphere, though, and after fumbling a bit, Cloud found it.
"Uh... Hello?"
/Cloud? It's Tifa. Are you alright?/
"Yeah... everything's just peachy." He couldn't help the silly grin that slipped over his face at Sephiroth's snort over his choice of words.
/That's good. Um. Cloud... do you know why there are giant beasts attacking Midgar? They blew away half of the city, centring from ShinRa Tower. It's... it's a mess, ShinRa Tower's totally destroyed, and I have no idea how many are dead... The beasts left after that, though and we have no idea where they are now./
"Uh... I have no idea what's going on. But don't worry, Tifa. We'll stop the beasts as soon as possible." He reassured her quietly, and terminated the call with a sigh.
Of course it wasn’t over.
But giant beasts destroying Midgar would be easy after Jenova.
***
(Because everything's easy after the final boss! Those WEAPONs better look out. xD
End~
There is a possibility, very, very slight, of some sort of AC-like sequel, but don't hold your breath, if you're interested in that.
Well, I had fun at any rate. Poor Zack. Died-almost died. Aerith's creepy when she's going apeshit. :D
Thank you, everybody~!)