Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VII : Atonement ❯ Chapter 18 - New Information ( Chapter 18 )

Disclaimer: Gah, I'm sick of telling people that I don't own these characters, so this is my last disclaimer. I don't own Sephy, Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, etc… for the rest of my damn story. There.

Author's Note: Now that that's out, Sephy-chan is going to continue his lovely rendition of his days in hell. Hope you like his wonderful point of view. This chapter should be longer than most of my other ones.

Chapter 18 - New Information

"Jenova's name is a curse. Her evil power is nearly limitless. She spreads destruction and chaos wherever she goes. And she also isn't what she seems.

"I learned a lot during my time in the lifestream. You see, because the Ancients, or the Cetra if you prefer, have the ability to speak and work with the planet. They have a certain power over the lifestream. This is why they are especially skilled with the use of materia. When a Cetra dies, they can choose to remain in the lifestream and give themselves a sort of physical form to speak with each other and the recently deceased that have not yet been reborn. The Cetra can also control where the lifestream goes while they are within it, to a certain extent at least.

"When I was killed in the Northern Crater, the Cetra within the lifestream, including Aeris, took pity on me and allowed me to stay as well, giving me a physical form. They needed information on Jenova, who I was told was still alive. I was amazed that they knew of Jenova and of me, and after I told them all I knew, they filled me in on a few more interesting details.

"Jenova is not an Ancient, like it says in the books. It is also rumored that Jenova is what some call, "A terror from the skies." This is partly true. Many years ago, a comet punctured the planet, creating the Northern Crater, near an old Cetra Village. The comet carried a virus that traveled to the Cetra village and began infecting the Ancients that lived there. Although there were no immediate symptoms, the Cetra living near where the comet struck began to evolve at a much faster rate than the others of their kind because of this virus. These Ancients acquired different skills and powers at a faster rate, and therefore, they believed that they were superior to the Cetra and the humans. They became a new species, and they called themselves the Bactra. These were Jenova's ancestors, and the threat against the planet of the time.

"It is said that long ago, a crisis hit the planet, and that the world was saved by sacrificing the Cetra. This is very true. The Bactra did not die naturally. They were rapidly reproducing, and had some power of mind control over humans if they infected their blood streams with their cells. Because they had no power over the Cetra unless they were in an incredibly weakened state, the Bactra began killing them off one by one.

"However, because of their rapid evolution, the Bactra never gained the ability to work with and manipulate the lifestream. The humans were defenseless against the Bactra, so the Cetra had no choice but to contain the new species.

"Over 90% of the Cetra sacrificed themselves to the lifestream. From there, the Cetra manipulated the lifestream to seek out each and every Bactra and freeze them within a shell of lifestream Mako. One of these Bactra was Jenova herself. Jenova was young at the time, a teenager by Bactra standards. She remained frozen, deep within the planet, until ShinRa uncovered her while they were mining for Mako.

"ShinRa assumed she was an Ancient. Today's society has very little information on the Cetra, because their species is near extinction. The Bactra have the ability to look very similar to the Cetra in appearance, and the two species' DNA codes are nearly identical. ShinRa knew the Ancient's once held incredible power and, using Jenova, they attempted to recreate the powers of the Ancients in humans. They called this the Jenova Project. I am what was produced.

"In truth, I am half human, and half Bactra. I am aware that both my parents were human, but while I was still in my mother's womb, Professor Hojo injected me with Jenova's cells, infecting me. Because I was still forming, my body accepted her cells and joined with them to become one. When I was born, I was infused with Mako, the mark of SOLDIER, to give me more strength and stamina. From my birth, I was destined to fight. From my birth, I was cursed.

"They didn't know about the Bactra. They didn't know they could control humans through their cells. They thought they could control their power and mold me into the perfect SOLDIER. They made me a skilled warrior, but when Jenova awoke, their control over me was gone. She was in control.

"She awoke that night, 8 years ago in Nibelheim. She awoke as I was learning my past in those books, and she called out to me. She called me son; a word never used with endearment towards me before. She reached me, filled my ears with her soothing, chilling voice. I took her words in gladly. I thought she loved me. She whispered softly, coaxing me to come and release her. She filled my head with hopes of revenge, and I drank them in. I left the mansion and she led me to her.

"Outside the mansion, however, I began to have second thoughts. But by now her hold on me was strong. For a moment, Jenova took control of my body. Without my command, my lips and tongue were speaking, calling upon my materia's power.

"Fire 3," my voice proclaimed, and I watched Nibelheim burst into flames.

"To me, I wasn't watching Nibelheim burn. I was watching ShinRa burn. They had sent me to this hell of fake existence. Villagers rushed at me with homemade weapons, but I saw them as ShinRa executive in their fancy suits. They mocked me, laughed at me, and I cut them down with Masamune and allowed their blood to soak the streets.

"Looking around, I saw Zack running out of the mansion and Cloud laying on the ground in the Town Square. I was destroying ShinRa, and it made me smile. I was crazy. I had lost my mind.

"I climbed Mt. Nibel, fully aware that the remaining villagers were following me. I didn't care. They and their ShinRa ideals were no match for me. I could feel Jenova's presence, and it filled me with hope. I had only read the books. I thought Jenova was an Ancient who could destroy the evil of the world and find the Promised Land where I could be free. I reached the Mako Reactor with high hopes, and she welcomed me.

"A villager had reached me. He was vaguely familiar, and when he attacked me, I defended myself, leaving him bleeding on the catwalk. I believe that man was Tifa's father. In a daze of insanity, I moved on, and left my sword lying next to his cold body.

"I reached the room with the metal pods. I could hear a young girl screaming behind me, but I ignored her. I climbed the metal stairs toward Jenova's door and heard the sound of small footsteps on the stairs. I spun around to see Tifa behind me, Masamune in her hand. She screamed at me for the death of her father, then raised my long sword to attack me.

"Her young body held my blade clumsily, and as she move to slash me, I grappled with her grip and easily took the sword from her small, fragile hands. With deadly precision, I swung. She looked up at me in the last moment and my mind froze as my body continued. Her frightened, hateful eyes gazed into mine for a brief instant and then my blade tore thought the front of her shirt and into her young flesh. I watched her fall down the stairs as my body refused to obey me. I began to awaken from my internal daze to find my body no longer belonged to myself alone. I was too close, and she had caught me in my weakest moment.

"My body turned and Jenova's door slid open. I slipped through and walked forward as Zack reached me. He also attacked me, but Jenova responded by making me throw him out of the room with a shove form the hilt of my sword to his chest.

"As I heard his body hit the metal pods, I began to resist her. Her bloodthirsty slaughter was out of control and unfocused. Zack had been a SOLDIER for ShinRa, but he was my comrade, my partner. He was not to blame for my problems. Him and Tifa and the villagers, they were not those who had betrayed me, but it was too late for me. I couldn't go against my own existence. I couldn't possibly hope to fight the cells that gave me life. I was a puppet.

"Jenova began to speak through my mouth, speaking of ShinRa and the Promised Land and how she should rule the planet as if it had been stolen from her. My hands reached out ahead of me. A lard tube was set up in the center of the chamber. A giant metal statue had been constructed around the tube to hide its contents from sight. The statue of the metal angel stared at me with silver, liquid eyes and I reached out to grasp it. With little effort, I ripped the fallen angel from its place, and oil spewed forth from broken tubes like blood. As the pulse of the oil slowed, I looked up and saw her.

"Her icy blue face looked like death itself, frozen solid beneath the ice within her glass cage. Although she didn't move, her voice sang in my mind and my arms raised in triumph - her triumph. She was free and I was to be her protector.

"It was then that Cloud revealed himself. He was standing just inside the entrance of the chamber, and even with his helmet on, I could feel his glare boring holes into my skin. He was still dressed in his ShinRa uniform, armed bravely with Zack's sword. He screamed a terrible curse at me, and as Jenova spun my body to face him, I felt cold steel bury itself in my side. I hadn't felt physical pain in years, and it numbed the pain I felt inside. I fell to my knees. Cloud backed away from me before removing his helmet and racing into the adjacent room.

"I wanted to die right there, but Jenova wasn't about to let me off that easy. I was healing quickly, as the Mako and her cursed cells began to do their work. Only a truly fatal wound would kill me now, and only Mako could bind me. As the little mental strength left in me disappeared, Jenova gained reign over my body, and my soul.

"I stood and walked out of the room. Jenova was furious, but she was attempting to get me to a safe haven where I could finish healing. I remember walking past the pods where Zack lay bleeding and Cloud held Tifa in his lap. My lips were smiling, but inside I was screaming.

"I walked out onto the catwalk towards the exit. I could hear the Mako rushing below me, and I could also hear footsteps behind me. As if she had been controlling my body since my birth, Jenova spun me around and unsheathed Masamune with blinding speed and a SOLDIER's skill, impaling Cloud through his right breast near his shoulder on Masamune's shining blade.

"My mind screamed. I screamed for Nibelheim. I screamed for Tifa and her father. I screamed for Zack and Cloud and I screamed for death. I wanted it to claim me and take me from this hellish nightmare. My wish came true, but death would not be the end of my suffering.

"As Cloud began lifting me in the air by the blade of my sword that was buried in his own flesh, I used every reserve of strength I had left to prevent Jenova from letting go of the hilt. I succeeded, and Cloud forced me over the metal rail and Jenova couldn't prevent me from falling to my death in the Mako below. I welcomed death with open arms. I thought I was free.

"I was wrong. God dammit, I was so very wrong."