Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VII : Atonement ❯ Chapter 19 - One Journey Ends, Another Begins ( Chapter 19 )

Author's Note : Sephiroth is still talking. He will be talking in the next chapter as well. Then he will be done with his speech. On with the story. Reviews please.

Chapter 19 - One Journey Ends, Another Begins

"You already know most of the rest of this story. Jenova had a firm grip on me and, even in death, I was forced to do her bidding. She took on my shape and forced my soul out of my body and into hers so that she had access to my SOLDIER instincts, training, and fighting ability. I was a prisoner without control. She made me watch as she slaughtered the innocent and left my image and memory hated by all. To everyone else, it was my fault. They thought I was responsible- that it was my bloodthirsty mind in charge. They thought I was still alive, when in reality, my body was trapped, frozen in time. Jenova took it after the Nibelheim incident. She placed it at the Northern Crater.

"Meanwhile, Hojo found the wounded Zack and Cloud in the Mako Reactor. He took them back to his Mansion. Somehow, Tifa had already been rescued, probably by a Nibelheim survivor who recognized her and decided not to help the member of ShinRa, for obvious reasons. Regardless, Hojo placed Zack and Cloud in Mako tubes to heal them and enhance their physical power. Then he made them, what he like to call, "Sephiroth clones," by injecting them with my cultured cells while the two men were in a weakened state. Because Jenova infected my cells, Jenova infected them as well, although not on a grand a scale as myself. However, as you could see, Jenova still had an incredibly controlling ability over Cloud later on.

"Zack awoke in his Mako chamber and, with his new strength, broke free from the glass tube. He then freed Cloud and they escaped by hitchhiking on a truck headed for Midgar. Cloud was still badly wounded and was out of it through the trip. As Zack told Cloud about himself, Cloud somehow absorbed Zack's history and personality into his brain, which was extremely fragile at the time. When they arrived at the outskirts of Midgar, they were caught by ShinRa cadets and, under specific orders, they shot and killed Zack, who was though of as a threat due to my `outbreak' in Nibelheim. They had been ordered to kill Cloud as well, but in his injured state, they assumed he would die anyway. Cloud took Zack's sword after the cadets left, and went to Midgar by himself, remember the recent events of his past as Zack's. Because the Mako had affected his eyes, he had even more reason to believe that he had become a member of SOLDIER. He remembered the Nibelheim incident as Zack had lived it, and his past became littered with holes. It weakened him and Jenova took advantage of this weakness often later on.

"While Jenova wrecked havoc on the planet using my appearance, she dragged Cloud along subconsciously to do the work she couldn't do herself. It was during this time that I discovered why she needed me so badly.

"I found about her plan to summon Meteor within the Temple of the Ancients, the same time you did. She wanted to destroy all life on the planet so she could rule what was left as the Bactra had intended from the beginning. But because she was a Bactra, she did not have the ability to manipulate the lifestream. This also meant that she could not use materia because it is a condensed form of lifestream. This made the black materia useless to her because she could not use it to summon Meteor by herself, even in my form. She needed my body and my soul, which she carried inside herself, so that she could revive me in the Northern Crater and force me to summon Meteor for her. I was a tool to her; a tool to be discarded and destroyed when I had no use, and I was powerless to stop her.

"Then I found out about Holy and the white materia. Aeris had the white materia, as the last known surviving Cetra. There is a reason that only Cetra can use the white materia. In order to summon Holy successfully, the caster must die. How the caster dies doesn't matter, but what actually happens is that the caster returns to the lifestream and merges with Holy. In effect, when Aeris used the white materia in the Capitol of the Ancients, she was praying for death so she could summon Holy into herself and stop Jenova and Meteor. Jenova, not knowing that death was a requirement for the summoning, thought she could prevent Holy from being summoned by killing Aeris.

"It was the worst moment of my life. I had watched Aeris from afar. She always seemed to see past Jenova's trick and understand my position. It was as if she saw behind Jenova's eyes, and knew that Jenova was simply wearing my face, while I was trapped inside. And when she died, she didn't make a sound. Her eyes widened a bit, pain can do that, but her face was peaceful, and she didn't look upset. And I found myself in love with her. With no more hope, I withdrew into the back corner of Jenova's mind. I gave up completely. I couldn't help anyone. I couldn't help myself. I couldn't even help Aeris.

"Jenova eventually got herself and Cloud, with his party, to the Northern Crater. After she weakened his mental stability through an illusion of Nibelheim and his lack of memory, Jenova manipulated Cloud into giving me the black materia. She revived my body, and forced me to summon Meteor. I must admit that, by this point, I had given up trying to stop her and did what she wanted without a fight. Although I was back in my body and alive again, I was still a prisoner. I thought that if I finally gave in, she would kill me after I summoned Meteor. I figured she would have no more use for me.

"I was wrong, again, of course.

"This time, I was required to remain alive in the bottomless pit of the Northern Crater to prevent Holy from stopping Meteor. While the WEAPON's created widespread panic and destruction across the world, Jenova was free to do whatever she wished because the ShinRa were too distracted by the attacking WEAPON's to try and break through the barrier she had built to close off the Crater. She believed she had won; Cloud had fallen into the lifestream below the crater as I summoned Meteor, and the rest of you were to be executed by the ShinRa.

"The next part is mostly your story. While you went on you search for Cloud, and then the Huge Materia, I was alone with Jenova in the Northern Crater as we waited for the day when Meteor would crash into Midgar. As you all know, after ShinRa and Midgar were destroyed by Diamond WEAPON, you were able to travel to the bottom of the Northern Crater and fight us. You wounded Jenova and killed me.

"Jenova, near death, traveled towards the Ancient City as Holy was released and I traveled to the lifestream. Then I found Aeris. She was using her Cetra powers to become Holy and guide it to Meteor. When Holy wasn't enough, I helped her send out the lifestream to protect the planet. The Ancient Cetra of the lifestream blessed me with their power and cleansed my soul of Jenova's cells by binding them with Mako. I was free from her curse forever. But my journey wasn't over.

"Aeris began to weaken in the lifestream. No one knew why. The image she created of herself would often flicker like a candle flame and I, who lover her deeply, worried I would lose her again. The Ancient Cetra confided in me, and told me they believed it was Jenova's work, whom they discovered was still alive. Using their powers, they breathed life back into me. I was a new person, and I had two missions.

"The first in obvious. I was to find Jenova and destroy her, no matter what the cost. The second was not a real mission, but Aeris requested that I look for you all and see if she had succeeded in protecting you from Meteor's blast. I agreed, assuming that the moment one of you discovered or heard I was back, you would all find me. I was correct- just after my first encounter with Vincent in the Nibelheim Mansion, Cloud was contacted by Vincent and myself. I was amazed Vincent gave thought to what I had to say and even believed me enough to allow me to contact Cloud. Whatever the reason might be, Cloud was quick to arrive, his hate for me incredibly apparent.

"Although I wasn't particularly surprised, it took all the discipline and self-control I could muster not to draw my sword when Cloud attacked and threatened me. I didn't blame him, and while I stood my ground, my sword hilt never reached my grip. I believe it was that that Vincent noticed most, and he finally convinced Cloud to back off and listen to what I had to say.

"I told them that Jenova was alive and that she was coming for Cloud. There was little else I could say. I knew I didn't have the time to tell the whole story like I am doing now, so I told the truth as simply as possible.

"Jenova showed up at that very moment. While she realized she no longer had any power over me, she immediately assaulted Cloud with a flurry of mental attacks, trying to wear down his healing defenses and bring him under her control again. Cloud, naturally, assumed that I had plotted against him and tricked him into coming here so Jenova could attack. I saw his pain and could say nothing. Jenova was burning Nibelheim as she had with me so long ago. I knew I had to earn my trust, and prove it with my actions.

"But then Jenova showed us another surprise. She had brought Aeris with her, and she was alive and active. She was helping Jenova burn down Nibelheim. Her eyes had taken on a blood red color and she stood by Jenova as her protector. It hurt. I didn't know what was going on anymore. However, I have one hypothesis.

"It was obvious that Jenova was gravely injured in the fight in the Northern Crater. I was almost sure she had died. Unfortunately, the Northern Crater is very close to the Ancient City, where Aeris' body was laid to rest. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Jenova had made it to the Ancient City, even in her injured condition. If she made it there, she could have used Aeris to heal herself.

"Because Aeris remained in the lifestream to become Holy, she wasn't reincarnated as all other living things are. Because Aeris' Cetra body was dead, Jenova could have injected her cells into her body, revived it, and used its healing capabilities to heal herself, and then control Aeris for a short time. This would have weakened Aeris' presence in the lifestream, resulting in her flickering image. The red color of her eyes would be the physical side effect of Jenova's Bactra cells contradicting Aeris' Cetra cells. Fortunately, Cetra cells can not take in Bactra cells, and the Bactra cells quickly died in Aeris' body, releasing her from Jenova's control.

Unfortunately, freeing Cloud will not be quite so easy.

Author's Note: I am going on vacation tomorrow for 8 days, so I wont be posting during that time. I will resume when I return. Until then, read and review please!