Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VII ❯ Chapter 21 Taking Control ( Chapter 21 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Tifa woke up still curled in Reno's arms. She tirdly shook him awake. He mumbled and then slowly opened his eyes to look at her. The clock nearby said ti was noonish. They had slept the whole morning away. Tifa stopped moving for a moment to check and see if she could hear sounds from downstairs, there were none. She got up off the bed and opened the door and went to peer over the banister and looked downstairs. The house was silent. No one made a noise, except for Reno as he followed after her and stood next to her.
"Looks like they left us here," he said.
"Yeah...but, where did they go?" she questioned and ran down the stairs into the kitchen.
Reno followed after her, finding her rushing around the kitchen looking at every cabnent and drawer and shelf. He stopped where he was standing in the doorway and watched her scurry around the kitchen with utter amusment. She stopped and looked at him, putting a hand on her hip.
"Can you help me?" Tifa asked.
He shrugged. "What do you want me to help with?" he asked.
"I'm looking for a note, an anything, that Cloud may have left or Aeris," she replied dashing around again.
Reno looked around the kitchen and then looked behind him at the front door. "Doesn't seem to be one," he said turning back to her.
She sat at the table in deep puzzlement. If Cloud left, why didn't he leave a note? Or Aeris? Dread raked over her and made a dark cloud form over her head. Something terrible had happened, she could feel it. Something that made Cloud rush off in a hurry. The question was, what could've happened that morning while they were sleeping? Or had it happened last night, during Reno and her's extreme make out session? She sat thinking about all this and still couldn't rake up an answer.
Earlier that moring Aeris and Cloud had been sitting at the ktchen table, chatting happily with each other. When all of a sudden Aeris stood and ran out the front door. Panicing, Cloud ran after her without thinking to tell Tifa that he had left. He followed her to the church. Aeris stopped and stood in the light circle that was her garden. Once again her silver hair gleamed like a gem and her green eyes looked like polished emeralds. Cloud stopped and stared in awe of her beauty. There was a zip of silver light and Sephiroth floated down from the hole in the roof of the church and landed beside Aeris, matching her in beauty. Cloud snapped out of his gaze and started toward Sephiroth but he grabbed Aeris, which made him stop in his tracks.
"Aeris, you and I are connected and you and I share the same genes," he said looking at her.
"No! Let me go!" she refused pulling away from him, to be honest she had no idea why she had come here.
"Behold!" Sephiroth exclaimed and he started to glow a soft green color. Aeris' eyes settled on the green and she stopped struggling against him. Then her body and mind seemed to drift from each other. She could no longer feel her movments as she turned her head to look at Cloud. It was as if she was watching it all through a window, or was watching a movie of someone who was her. She had absolutely no control over her body. She ordered herself to move away from Sephiroth, but her body didn't respond.
"Cl-Cloud I can't.....control my body," she choked out the words with great difficulty.
Cloud wanted to charge at them and get Aeris away from Sephiroth but knew that if he made a move, then it would be over quickly for her. He stood glaring at Sephiroth, who stood gloating silently at Cloud. Sephiroth turned his gaze to look at Aeris. She turned to look back at him and in that moment the light shifted. Aeris began to glow a soft green color, just like Sephiroth. Cloud's glare dropped into a surprised look as he watched Aeris glow. Sephiroth took his sword from his side and then raised it up so it reflected in the light. Cloud had to sheild his eyes from the reflection of the long silver blade. Then he held out his arm and cut a thin cut across his forearm. After replacing the sword Sephrioth held out his bleeding arm to Aeris.
"I have combined Mother's DNA with mine, take this and you will become what you were supposed to," he said.
Aeris wanted to protest, she wanted to push Sephiroth away and run to Cloud but her body wouldn't budge. Instead she found herself taking Sephiroth's bleeding arm to her mouth. She clentched her eyes closed as she felt his blood trickle down her throat. In the next moment her eyes flickered open with no control, her pupils shifted into the cat like ones Kadaj used to have. Now Aeris could feel herself fully loosing control over her body, the only thing she could do was hear her thoughts. After a long moment she dropped his arm and looked at Cloud with a grin that matched Sephiroth's.
"I have finally a movable body. A body that can speak and feel, I can take over the planet now," she said.
"Mother..." Sephiroth said lowering his arm.
"Yes that's right, I am Jenova," Aeris said still looking at Cloud.
"No! You can't! Aeris!!!" Cloud called.
"That's right, you're Cloud. I can still hear Aeris's thoughts, she wanted to flee with you, she wanted to live the rest of her life with you," Jenova said.
Cloud dropped to his knees looking at the ground. Sephiroth had taken control over Aeris' body. He had combined her DNA with Jenova's and Jenova was winning. There was nothing he could do. He knew that Aeris was still somewhere deep inside of the body that stood beside Sephiroth, but he couldn't reach her, Jenova was too powerfull.
"Come now Sephiroth, there is much to do," Jenova said looking over at Sephiroth and then she looked back at Cloud. "He will not harm this body, he loves it too much."
"Of course," Sephiroth said with a small bow and then he followed Jenova as she walked past Cloud and out of the buliding. Sephiroth stopped in the door way and looked over his shoulder, smiling at Cloud. "Until we meet again." Then he left.