Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

The Whys of What Ifs

Chapter 6 - Variations of Truth: Breaking Point

That wasn't the way Sephiroth had imagined the battle would go. After he had defeated all of the Senshi, save for Hotaru and their leader, more monsters had appeared, forcing the general and Hotaru to work together to defeat them. Even after their defeat, however, things were not as they should be. A mirror image of himself, which a recently arrived Zack called a sefer, appeared and tried to kill them. In saving Hotaru's life, Sephiroth had taken a deadly blow and was driven unconscious by his wounds. He did not expect to be alive at all, much less where he was now.

It was a barren land of nothing. All far as one could see, it was desolate and empty. Nothing stirred in it, no birds, no beasts, no men. The sun, although not covered, shed little light and the sky was black as pitch. Yet even as he looked again, a disturbance in the land of nothingness appeared. It silhouette slowly condensed until Sephiroth could identify it, gratefully, as a man. As the man drew closer, Sephiroth could finally discern his features in the low light.

He was dressed in black pants, white shirt, and a grey trenchcoat with a crimson cross embroidered along the lower edge. His face was stern, with closely cropped blonde hair and eyes of jade that sparkled like diamonds, reflecting all light back to its source, refusing to let anything through. In his right hand, the man carried an odd, somewhat ungainly weapon comprised of an acutely shaped blade attached to a gun grip and trigger. The handle was positioned so that the man could move and mostly likely fight with his index finger causally pressed upon the trigger of the weapon.

"Who are you?" Sephiroth called out.

The man stopped, eyeing Sephiroth with an air of easy contempt. Sephiroth thought him either an extremely capable fighter or a fool. Judging from the man's eyes, the SOLDIER thought the former more likely. The pause lasted only a moment longer as the man closed his eyes, a few syllables coerced from his lips, "Seifer Almasy. But that is not the question you mean. You say 'Who are you?' but you mean 'Where am I?' or 'What is this place?' or perhaps even 'Where's that sorry son of a bitch that shoved a spear through my chest?'" The man smiled slightly, not opening his eyes.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, his hand lightly resting upon the hilt of his Masamune. "What are you?" Seifer's eyes shot open, their shine more radiant, less reflective. A deep laugh rebounded like thunder through the air. "A better question, or perhaps I should say, a question more to the heart of the matter."

Sephiroth scowled. He needed an answer, not an evasion. "What are you?!" he growled.

Seifer glowed in silvery light, his form growing fluid till it seemed almost gaseous. Sephiroth shaded his eyes as the light grew brighter. "I am merely the shadow of a beggar, the walking paradox." The glow lessened and Sephiroth looked up, and then gasped. Directly in front of him, close enough to touch, stood another look-alike. But this one was different: his eyes glinted red and attached to his back were angelic wings, the right one ending shortly after midpoint and splattered with gore, marring the purity of the white feathers. "I am the One-Winged Angel."

"So it would seem." Sephiroth replied, his voice deadpan. 'How many shocking things can happen to me today?'

"More than you would think." The being smiled cryptically. 'Did it just…?' Sephiroth thought vaguely, a sense of unease overtaking him.

"Sephiroth, is it?" The One-Winged Angel asked with a more somber expression, a more respectful tone. Down to business. Sephiroth nodded, not sure for the first time in a long time what to do. That in itself was almost as unsettling to the general himself as the mysterious creature. "Do you know where you are?"

"I believe so." Sephiroth knew where he was; the questions were why and how.

"Then know this: the same one who tore you from the Planet is the one who sent that sefer to claim your life. He is your enemy, in more than life or death, in matters more keen unto honor."

Sephiroth heart slowed for a moment, a premonition coming over him. He felt the familiar tingle creeping up his legs, along his back, and into his arms, tensing and loosening his muscles in infinitesimally small spasms. The urge to do battle. To find an opponent worth his attention and have them fall at his feet. Fear and anger and excitement coursed through him, filling him completely, practically making him shake with the power of it. But not a muscle so much as quivered, his body locked to the chain of his determination and discipline.

"Who is he?" Sephiroth asked, cool and collected, yet almost breathless.

The One-Winged Angel stepped forward, standing eye-to-eye with the SOLDIER. Faster than Sephiroth could track the movement, the demonic angel grabbed his head in an iron-hard grip. Pain surged through Sephiroth and lances of white blocked his sight, searing into his mind. Through the pain, through the light, images broiled out. And what Sephiroth saw scared him.

It was Nibelheim, but not Nibelheim. It was closer to a vision of hell. Flames ravaged the buildings, the small village's populace lying here and there, dead from the marks of what must have been an enormous curved sword upon them. Sephiroth staggered through the vision, his senses reeling as he glanced around, his eyes following the trail of death and destruction till they reached the end of it. There, on top of the hill where the old Shinra Mansionsat, stood the cause of all the blood that had been spilt in this town.

It was him. It was Sephiroth.

Sephiroth staggered again, falling to one knee and breathing hard. His mind reeled as his heart raced. 'What's going on!? This is impossible! WHAT IS THIS!?!' And through the fire, his answer came.

The One-Winged Angel appeared, walking through the scorching flames as any other creature might walk through a field of wildflowers. It paused at Sephiroth's side for a moment, as though considering something and then spoke. "This is what you would have become had you entered Nibelhiem. You know that old saying, 'You're your own worst enemy'? This applies in this case."

Sephiroth stared at the creature, his face equal parts confusion and rage as he regained his feet. "What do you mean? What could have happened to turn me into this… this…" he stabbed his finger at his self-same image on the hill, "monster?!" Sephiroth hissed in fury. He shook his head, silvery locks waving from side to side, before again facing the demonic angel. Murder brimmed in his eyes. "What!?!"

The One-Winged Angel weathered Sephiroth's verbal tempest with no visible injury, then continued, his face composed with serenity, while resolve and slight irritation replaced the usual sardonic glint in his eyes, "Jenova. Does that name ring any bells?"

Sephiroth paused in his fury, surprised. "Of course I recognize that name. It's my mother's name."

"What if I told you that your mother's name wasn't Jenova?" The irritation in its eyes disappeared, leaving only that look of keen determination.

Sephiroth paused again, considering. He glanced around the fiery landscape, thinking of all he had seen this day. He wanted to tell this thing to bugger off, but he couldn't. Everything today seemed off. Sephiroth snorted in frustration, then answered, "I'd ask you to explain yourself."

The One-Winged Angel smiled, slightly, and did so. "Lucrecia."

Sephiroth stiffened, the name and all its implications sinking into his skull. 'Lucrecia is my mother's name. Lucrecia was Hojo's wife. Hojo is my father...' Rage welled up in him again as he drew his Masamune, throwing it in a spinning arc at the demonic angel, screaming "NOOOOO!!!!!"

The One-Winged Angel smiled smugly, leaning his body sharply to the right, allowing the Sword of Destruction to continue its journey without having meet the resistance of the demonic angel's flesh. The blade whirred on out of sight. "Yeh. Sucks, don't it?"

Sephiroth clenched his fists in fury, emerald eyes shimmering with an anger that bordered on insanity. The focus of his wrath was the One-Winged Angel, and yet… it was not. The SOLDIER bit back on his fury, drawing blood from his cheek as he slowly composed himself. A question plagued his mind, and the silver-haired general needed an answer. An answer he could not obtain from himself. "Did he know?" Sephiroth asked in a tight tone, his voice rough, "Was that the reason he did this?"

The demonic angel returned his gaze, no longer even slightly mocking. If anything, its features were of fondness, or pride, touched equally with sympathy and grief. "No. (He) never knew the truth. He thought, as you did, that his mother was Jenova. In Nibelheim, he found documents that had been forged by Hojo that said that Jenova was a Cetra, an Ancient of the Planet. And, in his ignorance of the lies of Hojo, this Sephiroth believed the books."

"If she isn't my mother and she isn't an Ancient, what is Jenova?" Sephiroth asked, his fury draining from him, making him feel empty.

"Jenova is the Queen of Demons and an expert in mind games. She convinced (him) that he was the offspring of the Cetra. That he was, in fact, the true ruler of the Planet. She manipulated him into killing the last of the true Cetra and summoning the force known as Meteor to destroy the Planet."

Sephiroth felt hollow. He could not even find the dregs of his former fury. And he wanted to, he wanted to feel…something. "Why?" He asked at last.

The One-Winged Angel shrugged, in the manner of the all-important inconsequential. "The Planet was Jenova's prison; the Cetra, the ancient enemies that had imprisoned her. (He) was to be a god when Meteor had destroyed the planet. He was supposed to set things to right." The being eyed Sephiroth expectantly. "But the real question is: 'Can you set things right?'"

Sephiroth thought on this for a while: the destruction of Nibelheim, sparkling amethyst eyes staring defiance at him, Hojo, the Queen of Demons, a kind smile slipping into uncertainty, his Mother, the Cetra, innocence suspended in danger, Lucrecia, his image standing in flames, the sefer, a crystalline voice screaming at him not to fall into darkness… Sephiroth gathered himself at last and stood fully upright, returning the demonic angel's gaze as his voice hardened in resolve. "So what am I up against?"

The One-Winged Angel barked a short laugh, replying. "Quite a lot. However, at this moment, all you've got to worry about is (him), his sefers, and whatever monsters he makes. There are forces far more deadly that you'll eventually have to worry about, but they will be for another day. You'll have your plate full enough dealing with them. I wouldn't worry though."

Sephiroth eyed him with a raised eyebrow "Why's that?"

The One-Winged Angel's smile was enigmatic, unreadable even to Sephiroth's experienced eyes "Because you have helping you the Celestial Warriors, the Prince of the Earth, the Princess of the Moon, the Guardian of Time, and all the forces of the one who knows the whys of what ifs, Phobideum."

Sephiroth blinked "Uh, who are all those people again?"

The demonic angel, if one could believe it, sighed before responding, "Ask the Celestial Warrior of Darkness, Silence, Death, Destruction, Ruin, and Rebirth when you get back."

'Wow. That's one long, depressing title.' Sephiroth thought, remembering his original assessment of Hotaru's probable strength. "You mean Hotaru, don't you?"

"Clever boy. You might just survive this." The One-Winged Angel replied drolly.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. 'I don't need this.' "And how exactly do I 'get back'?"

The being held one hand out in a holding motion before continuing, somewhat exasperated. "Hold your horses. Before I send you back, I've got a gift and some advice for you. You…" It paused a moment, cocking its head to the side, as though listening. Even as the general was wondering what the strange but deadly being was doing, it moved forward, grabbing Sephiroth's elbow and dragging him swiftly to the right. Before the SOLDIER could demand an explanation, he heard the soft whir as the Sword of Destruction spun through the area he had recently vacated. It then started its second worldwide trip.

Before Sephiroth could even venture a wry quip, the One-Winged Angel beat him to it, saying with a cocky smile, "See, Sephiroth, this is what you get for throwing temper tantrums."

Sephiroth snorted. "You said you had a gift for me?"

The One-Winged Angel nodded, reaching around and touching the back of his head. Sephiroth flinched as white again stole over his sight. However, this time it was more like a fog bank than the jabbing lances of pain. Sephiroth had to say that he preferred it. When the white cleared, he was no longer in the fiery landscape of Nibelheim, but the barren desert in which he had first arrived.

"There, it's fully loaded, locked, and ready for action."

"That's great. What did you do to me?" Sephiroth replied, deadpan.

"Oh, it's a nifty little ability." The demonic angel returned, its eyes glinting wickedly, "It will allow you to transform into anyone you want, making it very useful for disguises. All you have to do to activate it is to close your eyes, picture the person you want to look like, and alongside them, imagine the most painful memories of your life. When it reaches critical mass, you will transform."

Sephiroth nodded, thinking over the advantages and disadvantages of his new ability. "Fine. What is the advice you want to give me?"

"It's in several parts: First, when you wake up, ask Hotaru what happened, and then find Zack and ask him what happened. You may notice that there is quite some difference in their tales. Second," it continued before Sephiroth could ask why there would be any difference, "take Hotaru with you when you go to find Zack. She has information about the world you are in now, the enemies you may face, and the allies you can count on. You will need this information, so keep close to her. Third, watch your back and keep your eyes and ears open. Your enemies aren't above ambushes and dirty tricks. And finally," it addressed him more somberly now, somewhat more urgently, "being inhuman, being unfeeling, was what made you into the great general that you were on the Planet, but in your struggles here, on the Earth, it will break you. No matter what your previous life may have taught you, you are human. I ask of you: act upon your emotions, for they are to be your new strength. Have an impulse and act on it. Form bonds of friendship with your new allies, for you will need them. Find someone…" The One-Winged Angel bowed its head, staring from side to side, alternately clenching and unclenching his fists, looking the very picture of uncertainty.

Sephiroth thought that the picture didn't suit the entity at all. It stood, as demonic as angelic, radiating a power Sephiroth could barely comprehend, and yet…it looked unsure of itself. 'The walking paradox…' Sephiroth suddenly remembered something unnerving.

Sephiroth ran the words of the demonic angel through his mind again. 'Have an impulse and act on it. Form bonds of friendship with your new allies, for you will need them. Find someone…' 'Someone…someone who?' A thought rose in the back of his mind, a thought inspired by the look in the One-Winged Angel's eyes, a thought that came as much from the child within him as the adult. 'A normal human is impulsive, sometimes foolish, has friends, falls in love…' The image of Hotaru in danger appeared in his mind. What had he done? He had chosen to save her life at what may have been his own death. Why had he done that? He barely knew her and they had been fighting not five minutes earlier. So again the question was, why? Again, an image of Hotaru was his answer, this one of her smiling at her, asking him if he was a general. Sephiroth clearly remembered the moment; how time seemed to slow, to still, as he looked at her. And then it clicked.

'Goddamnit. I never believed in love at first sight.' Sephiroth thought, ignoring the fact that it was actually love at fifth sight. Before he could recognize it, the raven-haired beauty had slipped past his defenses into his head and taken up residence. Sephiroth scowled mentally. It was impossible. He was thirty years old, a grown man, while she was a mere slip of a girl, at most sixteen or seventeen. It was preposterous. Yet no matter how much he denied the circumstances of his feelings for Hotaru, he could not deny the actual feelings.

As Sephiroth came out of the maze his thoughts had led him into, he saw that the One-Winged Angel was looking at him with a somewhat bemused smile on its face. Sephiroth scowled in response. "What?"

"Nothing. Do you know why I chose you out of all your Equivalents to aid?"

"No. Why?" Sephiroth asked, slightly curious.

"Hold on a second." Sephiroth almost rolled his eyes at that, until the One-Winged Angel reached out and caught the Masamune as it came around for another pass. "I think this is yours."

Sephiroth nodded absently, eyeing the Sword of Destruction briefly before resheathing it.

The demonic angel resumed in a more serious tone. "I chose you to have my aid because, out of all of your Equivalents, you are the one that is the most open. Your emotions run closer to the surface. Although you form few friendships, they are firm and unbending. You despise dishonesty, corruption, and dishonor of any and all shapes and sizes. You hold not only your honor, but also your love, as something precious, not to be sullied. I brought you here because you are the being who could stop (Sephiroth) from destroying the Earth. Well, what do you say?" The One-Winged Angel extended his hand.

Sephiroth thought a moment before he responded. "In this or any world, all I have are my name, my honor, and my sword. His presence robs me of my name and his actions and intentions rob me of my honor. All I've got left is my sword." He shrugged, "Guess I'll have to use that to get back the others. Deal." He reached out, giving the demonic angel's hand a short shake.

The One-Winged Angel's voice replied as Sephiroth felt his consciousness drifting back to reality. "It's a deal. To regaining all you've lost. And more."

With that, Sephiroth awoke just in time to hear Hotaru and her mysterious friend mention something about a being called the Omniscient. 'Whatever that is.' Sephiroth thought.

* * * * *

"Interesting." Sephiroth commented from his disguise as they walked the somewhat sparsely populated streets of Tokyo. Despite walking for half an hour (during which Sephiroth kept claiming that he knew exactly where he was going, a fact that Hotaru now severely doubted), the two had yet to reach their destination. At Sephiroth's request, and out of sheer boredom, Hotaru had been explaining the basics of who the Senshi were, just a little bit of their past, and the events leading up to the general's arrival.

Apparently, Hotaru thought somewhat sourly, he found it interesting. However, due to her increasing aggravation, she failed to notice the way Sephiroth hung onto every word she said, the way he kept shooting glances out of the corner of his eye at her whenever he thought she wasn't looking. Thus, Sephiroth's preoccupied mind was unprepared when Hotaru turned on him, grabbing his arm, and stopping him cold.

"Your lost, aren't you?" Hotaru fairly accused.

Sephiroth gaped, as though shocked by the accusation of being wrong, before composing himself. "Of course I'm not, I've got the directions written down on a piece of paper. Here." He said, handing her a somewhat draggled, oft folded piece of yellow paper. Hotaru unfolded it, examining it for a moment before raising her eyebrows. Scribbled on the parchment were a multitude of complex formulas with strange letters, drawn on various sides of what appeared to be a xy coordinate system.

"How do you read this?" Hotaru asked, her face scrunched up in an adorable way. Sephiroth chuckled.

"Simple. You read it like this." He said, taking the instructions from her hand before he began folding them, one fold in alternating directions every half-centimeter, handing the paper back to Hotaru when he finished. Hotaru was quite surprised when she read the secret message. The best booze is where blood rots.

"And that means what?" She asked expectantly.

Sephiroth smiled enigmatically before replying. "Look left."

'Look left? What's that going to prove?' Never the less, Hotaru turned her head, just to prove him wrong, and saw what at first appeared to be a small tea shop. Nothing special. That is, until you looked into the back corner of the shop. And she would be damned if sitting there at a table, amusing himself by holding an unmarked bottle of liquor and making what seemed to be a major study of the human hand, particularly the knuckles, wasn't the very man they had been looking for, Zack.

"Okay. I guess you found him." Hotaru said in a somewhat breathless, somewhat annoyed tone. 'How'd he do that?'

Sephiroth chuckled at the concession before leading Hotaru into the shop, around the somewhat unsavory customers, and to the back table where the ebon-haired man sat. At their approach, Zack looked at them critically for a moment before smiling smugly. He welcomed them with a simple, "Yo," after which he gestured for them to take a seat. They did so, Sephiroth taking the outer seat.

The mercenary eyed Sephiroth for a moment before commenting. "I love the disguise, but I think that it's safe for you to drop it. Most of the people here, up to and including the owner, are demons and they can sense your true battle strength. I can assure you," Zack said wryly, "that these beings know how to take a secret to their graves."

Hotaru and Sephiroth traded glances for a moment, somewhat surprised by Zack's statement, and it implications about Zack's hobbies, before Sephiroth shrugged and transformed.

There was only a little blur of motion, not enough to notice unless one focused upon that very spot, before the general completed the transformation less than two seconds later. Hotaru nodded with approval as she surveyed the result. Where she had expected to see a trenchcoat ripped, torn, riddled with wood shards, and burned from Mars's Flame Sniper attack, a pristine black one, trimmed in white, lay firmly anchored around his lean frame. 'It looks good on him.' Hotaru thought absently, her conscious mind not even registering the mental remark.

Sephiroth wasted no more time. "I need some information. Hotaru's told me that you identify yourself as an alternate self of my friend Zack. Judging from the fact that I knew where to find you and the fact that you're actually stronger than me, I can conclude that to be true. That's why I'm asking you this: what you see when the sefer died?"

Zack was quiet for a moment before he responded, his voice odd. "Well, that's about the last question I expected you to ask me. I expected you to ask me about my employer, the being known as Phobideum, but to be asked that? Most odd…" Zack watched Sephiroth from hooded eyes as he continued, "In any event, I saw the One-Winged Angel appear in his corporeal form and rip the sefer limb from limb. Literally. Against the untamed fury of the One-Winged Angel, no sefer, those who draw their power, like parasites, from the living husks of another being, could hope to stand. In any case, why ask that particular question? Of what possible use could the information of how a single pawn was crushed be to you? That kind of power is beyond the keen of either you or me and your dark alter ego has more sefers he can send after you. More than a dozen more. What will you do then? And, in the end, how will you defeat him?"

Sephiroth contemplated what the ebon-haired mercenary had told him behind the closed emerald-shaded shutters of his eyes for a moment before answering. "I'll figure out something."

Zack frowned slightly, his gaze thoughtful. "Maybe. In any case, I've got something for ya." He reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to Hotaru to be two green marbles before examining them briefly, nodding, and handing them to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth's eyes flickered, as though some emotion that Hotaru could not identify swam beneath the surface, but it was gone so quickly that she wondered whether she had imagined it. As he examined the two spheres, Hotaru became curious. "What are those things?" she asked.

Sephiroth looked up quickly before looking back at his gift, replying shortly. "They are materia."

"Care to elaborate? Because that explanation leaves a little something to be desired, like information." She asked, slightly irritated at what she thought was a casual brush-off.

To her slight surprise, Sephiroth smiled slightly, at what, she didn't know, before complying. "You use your henshin pen to access your powers. It acts a go-between for you and the source of your powers. Materia, I guess you could say, are somewhat like that. Each materia contains various skills, spells, or enhancements. Materia are the crystallized Mako energy of the Planet that is infused with the wisdom of the Ancients, who long ago ruled my world." As handsome general continued, Hotaru felt her mind drifting. 'The Ancients…? Could they be the Cetra that Phobideum mentioned? The ones that the Demon Queen Jenova destroyed almost to the last? If so, could we use that to our advantage to destroy Jenova?' "…though the materia are color-coded. Green materia contain magic. Blue materia are supplemental, altering the power or nature of the magical attack. Purple materia contain innate enhancements for whoever wears them. Gold materia hold special skills or techniques and red materia contains summons. Get it?"

Hotaru nodded. "I think so. So what type of magic do those two materia hold?"

Sephiroth extended his left hand, revealing a golden bracer with several slots, apparently for holding the materia so that they could be utilized, Hotaru thought. The general placed his newly acquired materia into the slots before continuing. "They are a Destruct and Gravity materia. The Gravity materia allows me to alter the atmospheric pressure that surrounds any given object. Most people can only handle one hundred kilos above normal atmospheric pressure for a while before they tire and collapse. The maximum pressure increase I can create with this sphere at its current level is around one hundred and twenty kilos. That's easily enough to hold someone down, knock them unconscious, whatever you need to do really."

"It's current power level? You mean it can become stronger?" Hotaru asked with slight incredulity.

Sephiroth grinned, "Very perceptive. The materia grows alongside the fighter who uses it. Every once in a while, the materia hits a peak in power that acts somewhat like a lock. Hidden behind these so-called 'experience locks' are abilities of even more formidable power, or, in the case of support and supplemental materia, an increase to the passive enhancements. However, like humans, materia will eventually hit a plateau of power. When they reach this level, they are called Mastered materia. Even though the materia cannot become more powerful, they produce a fresh materia, a new materia with no experience whatsoever attached to it, when they hit Mastered status. All of the materia I had were Mastered." He glared in slight disgust at his sword, where his destroyed materia still rested.

"Oh, sorry about that." The Soldier of Silence replied, thinking 'If these materia are that powerful when they are still relatively weak, it's a good thing he never used those Mastered materia of his on us.' She almost physically shivered at that thought. 'It was bad enough trying to fight him when he was only using a few incapacitating martial arts and some defensive sword maneuvers. If he had truly been serious, if he had started using his materia induced magic…I'm not sure whether we could have survived.'

Sephiroth brushed the apology off with a casual shrug. "Bah, forget it. It is better that they be destroyed then used to harm someone who is not my true enemy."

The more Hotaru listened to Sephiroth, the more a thought developed in her mind. What could have ever happened, what cruel twist in fate, which would have turned a man of such honor, nobility, and character into a maniac, bent on destroying all life on his planet in a mad quest to be a god? What kind of power did this Jenova, Queen of Demons, have that was strong enough to break the mind and soul of this man? He had saved her life, and Hotaru was determined to repay the favor. 'He's pretty cute, too.' Her inner voice added, not content to be ignored. Hotaru mentally admitted it, hoping that the concession would make the voice shut up. The ploy didn't work, of course, as the voice went into overdrive, yipping twenty different exclamations, all of them embarrassing, at once. Luckily for Hotaru, Sephiroth interrupted her thoughts of him, for which she mentally thanked him many times.

"I think it's about time we left. We've been here long enough and I do not wish to cause your friends undue worry." He stood up, allowing Hotaru to leave the table before leaning down to Zack's ear and whispering something. Whatever the general said, it caused the ebon-haired mercenary to chuckle darkly and nod before resuming his study of the human fist. Sephiroth reassumed his disguise, leading Hotaru once again around the more demonic patrons of the bar and out the door.

The two warriors walked for a few moments in silence, Hotaru thinking of their encounter with Zack, occasionally glancing at Sephiroth while the general himself seemed to be lost in thought, every once in a while looking up and around, as though making sure that they did not become lost. Many things about their meeting with the alternate self of Sephiroth's friend bothered her. "Sephiroth?"

He looked up, face set in a calm but serious cast. "Yes? What is it?" Hotaru was surprised. It may have been imaginary, she hoped it was imaginary, but for a split-moment Hotaru thought she had heard worry in his voice. 'Worry? About what? What could be wrong?' "Um… I was just wondering…how do you know that this Zack is stronger than you? You've never seen him action. None of us have."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, responding. "When Zack entered the bar and sat down, apparently one of the demons there decided to give him a rough time. It wasn't very successful. Zack shoved his hand through the demon's chest, killing it before it even had a chance to scream. After that, the rest of the bar patrons came to the conclusion that messing with him was detrimental to their life-spans." He finished wryly.

Hotaru was still confused, however. "How did you know that?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "There was a thin layer of dust on Zack's left arm, all the way up to the wrist, as well as a small pile on the floor near the table, much like the dust that formed when I killed those monsters. Just kind of figured that was what happened. Plus, the demons kept throwing dirty looks at Zack."

Before Hotaru could ask another question, Sephiroth began to act very strangely. His face contorted in fury, fists gripped so tightly that white shone out. He cast his eyes from point to point, as though following an elusive target. And then he did something that was quite unexpected. In a small flash of light and power, Sephiroth returned to his natural form. The surrounding crowd became anxious at this, an anxiety that only increased when Sephiroth drew his sword.

'What's he doing!?' Hotaru thought worriedly, unconsciously fingering the henshin pen in her subspace pocket. Sephiroth began to wave his sword around, yelling. "Everyone get out of here, NOW!" The crowd was only too happy to follow the request. Within a few minutes, the once busy street was vacant except for the two soldiers. Sephiroth moved into the middle of the road and Hotaru followed.

The Soldier of Silence faced Sephiroth, anger, confusion, and determination etched on her features and in her voice. "Sephiroth…"

The general turned to face Hotaru and she nearly started in surprise, and concern, and yes, a little fear, when he did so. Sephiroth's face was drawn in battle readiness. The tilt of his head suggested immense pride that the set of his mouth turned into arrogance. But in his eyes burned a determination that consumed all else that lay edgewise. "Transform. They are coming." Sephiroth stated succinctly. 'Whoever they are, I hope they've got funeral plans.' She thought grimly. Because this time, Sephiroth wasn't holding back. His eyes glittered with cold rage. Fog began to flow into the streets.

Drawing the henshin pen from her subspace pocket, Hotaru called out "Saturn Crystal Power, Make-Up!" As the bands of purple and black energy stole over her, Hotaru saw the cold fury in Sephiroth's face vanish, replaced by something like awe. "Wow." The general said quietly before regaining his usual composure.

'What's he going 'wow' about?' Hotaru wondered.

Any other actions, any other words, any other thoughts were postponed. The sefers had come. They arrayed themselves in a circular fashion, surrounding the two warriors. They carried a variety of energy weapons, ranging from the ordinary swords and spears, to the odd kunai and chain.

Hotaru summoned her Silence Glaive, holding it ready in defensive posture. She placed herself back to back with Sephiroth and heard his voice murmur through the mists, trying to give advice to her. "Let them make the first move and when they do, when they make the fatal mistake, smash them." Saturn nodded.

The fourteen warriors faced each other for several moments before the first move was made. Three of the sefers, armed with swords and a spear, charged at them first, the rest of the doppelgangers hanging back for the moment, considering and planning. And, back-to-back, the two soldiers met the charge.

The sefer racing towards Hotaru held its sword horizontally even in one hand, as though it was going to stab the Soldier of Silence through the heart. Saturn had other plans. "Death Ribbon Revolution!" At her command, dozens of black ribbons, each one stronger than steel, erupted from her Glaive, covering the distance in milliseconds and wrapping themselves around the sefer's legs. With a flick of her wrist, the sefer fell to the ground, losing its grip on the energy sword, and struggling madly against the black bindings.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hotaru saw Sephiroth handle the charge of the other two sefers. With a practiced ease that belied his earlier tenseness, Sephiroth parried a sword strike, pushing the sefer back before slashing out with frightening speed and slicing into its side. As the doppelganger fell back, holding his badly bleeding chest, the other one charged in with his energy spear, trying to catch Sephiroth off-guard. Sephiroth stepped up to meet the charge, swinging his Masamune around and catching the spear near the point. The sefer, now face to face, chest to chest with the general, struggled for supremacy. The struggle ended when Sephiroth brought his sword back, smashing its hilt into the sefer's face and throwing it flat on the ground with a broken and bloody nose.

Hotaru brought her Silence Glaive up, preparing her attack. "Silence Glaive Surprise!" An enormous orb of white energy formed, held in check only by her command. She brought her weapon down sharply, incinerating the sefer and causing a small explosion. Hotaru winced against the smoke, trying to see. When the dust had disappeared, the sefer had disappeared; a pile of dust and a small hole in the road were now all the evidence that it had ever existed.

Green energy began to flow from Sephiroth's armlet, surrounding him with a dim sheen, as he murmured. "Void energy without form, cause else also!" Pointing towards the recently fallen sefer, Sephiroth released the magic with a spoken word. "Death!"

Hotaru's eyes grew wide as the specter of Death, scythe in hand, rose from the ground. 'What the hell?' It paused for a moment, and then in a rush of furious movement, the specter drew back and released the scythe. A thin trace of black grew across the doppelganger's chest. Then the sefer screamed in pain and fury before exploding into dust.

Hotaru watched Sephiroth with even more amazement, even more respect, and even more questions. How could he summon the specter of Death to eliminate his enemies without sacrificing his own life to do so? Was this the kind of power that they were truly facing? Even worse, could whatever they were fighting be even stronger than this? Hotaru could not resist shivering at that thought.

A sefer who had not yet joined the battle, wielding a kunai and chain, smirked evilly and tossed its weapon in their direction. But the two warriors were not its target. The weapon spun end over end directly into the back of the wounded sefer.

'By the gods, what is it doing?' Hotaru thought in horror. The now mortally wounded sefer stared at the Senshi of Death and Destruction in mental and physical shock as the chain of the weapon wrapped itself like a snake around its body. And then the wielder of the weapon flicked its wrist. The chain tore the wounded sefer in two, blood splattering in all directions. But the sefer did not dissolve into dust after its death.

Hotaru was petrified by the atrocious act. 'Why? Why would it do something like that to its own comrade in the midst of a battle? Why?!' Hotaru closed her eyes, but then felt Sephiroth's shaking hand on her shoulder, offering consolation.

What a minute.

Shaking?

Hotaru looked around, into Sephiroth's eyes. In those emerald depths, where once shone cold fury now shimmered blazing anger and where once his prideful determination showed, now displayed determination from a more sorrowful source. 'What? What are you trying to tell me?' Hotaru pleaded mentally. She didn't know exactly, but she could guess.

Recovering her composure, Hotaru squeezed his hand lightly, thanking him for his silent support, and turned back to the battle. She could not see that Sephiroth's eyes, just for a moment, softened as his mind considered her action. However, when his mind returned to the battle, not half a second later, his eyes resumed their diamond hardness.

The remaining sefers, now nine in number, were joined by bands of black, whip-like energy. The blood of the fallen sefer drifted up in response to the power of its murderers and formed a thick miasma that presently surrounded the two, severely hindering their sight. But Hotaru could sense something forming… something coming…

Lifting her hands high, Silence Glaive in ready position, Saturn shouted: "Silence Wall!" The object, a constricting ring made of ebon energy, stopped at the barrier, pitting its energy against hers to advance. Slowly, but ever so surely, the Soldier of Silence began to weaken. Her arms were leaden, impossible to hold up. She was losing it.

"Hotaru, you can do it! Don't give up!" Sephiroth fiercely whispered to her, encouragement and belief ringing true in his words. But he was wrong. Hotaru couldn't.

She lost the barrier, her arms falling to her side.

As the constricting ring caught them, it had a most unfortunate side effect. When the ring drew tight, bringing Sephiroth and Hotaru together at the center, it also brought their two weapons, the Masamune and the Silence Glaive, into contact. Black energy began to gather, shimmering like a spark in the dark, looking for the fuel.

And, as Fate would have it, the bloody miasma was the perfect fuel for the death energies.

Black fire erupted, consuming the two soldiers.

* * * * * * *

In the Void where Phobideum resided, a demon listened impatiently. It was a baelrog of incredible power, fire spewing from its eyes and mouth, its muscles bulging with unholy, unnatural might. In its left obsidian claw, however, rested a delicate statue of jade painted porcelain.

"I don't care about your ramblings! If you want this stupid thing, give me my reward!" The mighty beast roared.

Phobideum smirked, his voice laden with contempt. "Very well, demon. What would you have in exchange for such a pretty trinket? What would be enough to recompense you for leaving the mindless drool and lusting of your kind?"

The powerful fire demon, needless to say, was incensed.

"I will not be spoken to in such a manner by one who can not even keep his body together!"

Phobideum's grin became sinister. "If you do not fear me for that reason, fear me more while your masters lay dieing."

The baelrog brought its right claw up to strike. "You worm, I will rive your head from… AAAHHHHH!" The creature screamed in horrible pain and torment as its body parts, first its right claw, then its left claw, then its left leg, then its right leg, and finally its head, were brutally torn from its body.

Phobideum chuckled slightly at the destroyer of the mighty demon. "I knew there was a reason I hired you."

The One-Winged Angel grinned wryly as it leaned down, retrieving the statue, and deftly tossing it to Phobideum, who caught it easily. It quipped, "Yeah, I'm the bouncer."

The One-Winged Angel's gaze became more serious, crimson eyes glittering. "I still want to know."

The being of the Void sighed. "You want to know why I chose this particular Sephiroth to be the Warrior of the Triad?" At the angelic demon's nod, Phobideum continued. "There are many factors, many of which are interwoven so tightly that it took me centuries to recognize them from the prophecies. But this one has a natural potential for power that I haven't seen since…" Phobideum was silent for a moment. "I think, if I had left him to his course, had I not dragged him from his Planet, that he would have become another Sephiroth-god, another one of those blessedly few damned figures."

Silence reigned for another moment, before Phobideum regained a small smile. "I believe you have house guests. I think you should greet them."

The One-Winged Angel nodded, saying. "I think I should." With that, the angelic demon vanished from the Void.

Phobideum regarded his new trinket, examining it from every angle. Finally, he raised it to the corpse of the baelrog.

"Cheers."

* * * * * * *

'Something's wrong. There is a vibe in the people that rush past the pub. And it is far more sinister than their bosses breathing down their neck. I can sense that about ten blocks from here, there is an area of…scarcity? There's only one thing that that can mean. Gotta' move.'

With that, Zack gathered his energy around him. "Teleport!" He hissed, de-materializing.

"…very serious. I think we should… WHO ARE YOU!?!?" A talking black cat yelled at him. Zack ignored her, grabbing his broadsword before turning to the their leader, the Celestial Warrior of Light, Serenity. "Our card is up and it's reading sefers. Therefore, it's now time to dance."

If they didn't like his choice of phrasing, the Celestial Warriors' faces did not show it through their shock. Zack grinned in anticipation.

Finally, a good fight.

* * * * * * *

Sephiroth awoke to a place that he had hoped that he would not see again so soon. The black wasteland still seemed empty, desolate of all life. Except for one thing.

Near him was Hotaru.

The SOLDIER was furious and frightened, not for himself, but for Hotaru. 'Why did that demonic bastard bring her into this? This is none of her concern. It's not her fight, it's mine.'

"Sephiroth?!" Hotaru raced towards him. To his great surprise, but also to his great joy, she hugged him tightly in happiness that they both were still alive. But even her joy could not survive against the brooding atmosphere of this place. "Sephiroth… where are we?" She asked anxiously.

Sephiroth was uncertain of himself. Should he tell her straight out? He concluded that he must. If he did not, the One-Winged Angel would. "Well… you see, we're in…"

"Welcome, Soldier of Death and Destruction. Welcome to Purgatory." A familiar, dreaded voice boomed out.

Hotaru's eyes grew wide at his entrance. "The One-Winged Angel?! Sephiroth," She looked at him, frightened and confused, begging for an answer, "where are we?"

The general felt part of himself break as he answered. "We are in my mind."

His answer reverberated in the darkness.

* * * * * * * *

Next Chapter: In the Mind - Differentiations