*** Story Update #2 ***
(Squall, Cloud, and Sephiroth in a deserted arena.)




-Cloud (to Squall): "Ok, I think I missed something. Would you mind telling me who you are and what just happened?"
-Squall: "It's an awful lot to explain. Basically it appears that we've all been tricked into participating in some kind of deathmatch. That creature you just saw is the one behind it all."
-Cloud: "You mean Sephiroth? He's behind this?"
-Squall: "No, that wasn't exactly Sephiroth you saw. It was kind of like a turbo-charged version of him."
-Cloud: "Whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. I need a second to think."
(Cloud crouches against the wall for a few minutes staring off into space. Squall waits patiently.)
-Cloud: "Now that I think about it, I do remember coming here without any kind of self control. All I could think was kill, kill kill."
-Squall: "That was because of the spell he had on us."
-Cloud: "So you're saying it's worn off now?"
-Squall: "Yes. If I'm not mistaken, we've regained control of ourselves."
-Cloud: "But how did we get here in the first place? I'm still lost."
-Squall: "It has a lot to do with that woman Ultimecia and Neo-Sephiroth."
-Cloud: "And Neo-Sephiroth was that scary ass monster thing we just saw?"
-Squall: "Yes."
-Cloud: "Give me another minute to think."
(Cloud thinks some more.)
-Cloud: "I remember..."
-Squall: "Yes."
-Cloud: "I remember killing Sephiroth. Yes, that's it."
-Squall: "Go on."
-Cloud: "Me and my friends defeated him and used Cid's airship to escape from the crater. I think we flew to Midgar."
-Squall: "Keep going. Try to remember up to the moment you were snatched."
-Cloud: "There was light....everywhere. I think it was the lifestream. It had something to do with Holy magic. The light was....attacking...Midgar! Yes that's it!"
-Squall: "?"
-Cloud: "The light began to move in on Midgar and then suddenly there was a flash of light and...Aeris....!"
-Squall: "Aeris?"
-Cloud: "She was one of my friends before Sephiroth killed her. I thought she was gone forever, but I swear I saw her face just before I was snatched!"
-Squall: "Sephiroth killed your friend?"
-Cloud: "Sephiroth is the source of all evil! I only wish I could kill him a thousand times for what he's done to me!"
(Sephiroth steps from the shadows.)
-Sephiroth: "Well then, if you like, we can go for Round 2 right now."
-Cloud: "!!!!!!! You're alive!? How can you....nevermind! Die again!!!!"
(Cloud rushes Sephiroth in a blind fury and the two clash blades time after time for what seems like an eternity. Both eventually tire and Squall is able to get them separated long enough to get a few words in.)
-Squall: "Both of you stop!"
-Cloud: "Never! You have no idea what he's done! If you're on his side then we are mortal enemies forever!"
-Squall: "I'm not on anyone's side right now! I just want to get home! And I'm sure that if one of you kills the other that will never happen!"
(Sephiroth and Cloud circle around each other slowly.)
-Cloud: "You killed Aeris! You killed my family! I will never forgive you!"
(Sephiroth shrugs his shoulders.)
-Sephiroth: "Your family I apoligize for. I was in the midst of a mindless rage at the time and was not thinking correctly."
-Cloud: "That's it!? You just expect to just utter a few words and have me forgive you!? I will never forget your crimes! I will destroy you for Aeris!"
-Sephiroth: "Ahhh, but you assume I murdered Aeris."
-Cloud: "You will deny it!? We all saw you!"
-Sephiroth: "It is not murder if the subject is willing to go."
-Cloud: "What the hell are you saying!? Are you trying to tell me Aeris wanted you to kill her!?"
-Sephiroth: "She knew what had to be done. She knew that she had to enter the lifestream and activate Holy to save the planet. That is why she came to the Ancient City, knowing I'd be there."
-Cloud: "What!? Do you think I buy that? Your goal was to summon Meteor, and you're saying you helped Aeris thwart it?"
-Sephiroth: "My goal was to summon Meteor in order to unlock the power of the planet for myself. I was not too keen on letting the Meteor destroy what I intended to rule. That's where Aeris came in."
-Cloud: "....you wanted her to summon Holy?"
-Sephiroth: "Aeris and I had a mutual understanding. She knew there was only one way to truly enter the lifestream. And she knew that she was the only one who could do it. I assumed that when she summoned Holy it would stop the Meteor from destroying the planet. I realized that it would also attempt to erradicate me, but I assumed that by then I would have drawn enough power from the planet to withstand it. However, I had failed to include your interference in my calculations. That is why I was overcome and defeated."
-Cloud: "Yes, you were defeated, but apparently not killed."
-Sephiroth: "I was mortally wounded in any case. Holy would have certainly finished the job had we all not been snatched."
-Cloud: "But how can you be sure? This is all our fault. If my friends and I had killed you proper, then this would have never taken place."
-Sephiroth: "On the contrary..."
-Cloud: "?"
-Sephiroth (to Squall): "Should I bother to explain?"
-Squall: "Yes, he needs to know just as much as I do."
-Sephiroth: "Very well. It begins like this..."
-Sephiroth: "Holy did kill me. I did perish and cease all conciousness. However, the sentient cells inside of me refused to be destroyed. Apparently, a small, undifferentiated group of them escaped the rotting corpse of my body and made their way to a lost and dark corner of the planet."
-Cloud: "So, part of you lived on?"
-Sephiroth: "Exactly. Those same cells progressed through generation after generation, all the time evolving into higher and more superior building blocks. They remained apart for almost six and half millenia, their collective mutations equaling a power the planet had never known before. At the end of the fourth millenia, the planet realized something was very wrong, but it was too late. The developing cells had created defenses so elaborate that nothing could prevent them from carrying through with their plans."
-Cloud: "How many generations are we talking about?"
-Sephiroth: "Over 2,000,000,000. Because they stayed as individual organisms, they were able to selectively reproduce much faster than they would have if they had gone ahead and formed a complex creature."
-Cloud: "So what happened after 6,500 years?"
-Sephiroth: "They decided they had evolved enough. It had come time for them to fuse into the ultimate entity."
-Sephiroth: "For the next 500 years they worked themselves into a lifeform very much like that of their origin, which would be myself. Over time, the cells surrendered their individual intelligence in favor of a collective conciousness that far surpassed anything that had previously been engineered. This would be Neo."
-Cloud: "Neo? I assumed that is short for Neo-Sephiroth."
-Sephiroth: "Yes. But do not be fooled. We may be similar in appearance and we may have similar personalities, but we are VERY different. Comparing our collective powers to him would be like comparing a fly to the king of dragons.
-Cloud: "Oh, so let me guess. You want me to forget your crimes so we can attempt to defeat this monstrosity? What a load of shit. I don't care if Aeris intended to join the lifestream or not, the fact remains that you drove a sword through her back. If she is dead, then I will dedicate my entire existence to helping you join her. Draw your sword and let us finish this here and now."
-Sephiroth: "....."
-Sephiroth: "Aeris is not dead."
-Cloud: "Save your lies! I have no desire to listen to them!"
-Sephiroth: "It is no lie and you know it."
-Cloud: "And how would that be? Your prescence is offending me more by the moment."
-Squall: "Cloud, wait a minute. Think about what you just said a few minutes ago. Do you remember the last thing you said you saw before you were snatched? Didn't you say...?"
-Cloud: "....Aeris."
-Sephiroth (with a grin and a flourish): "You see? Her purpose in the lifestream was complete. She was riding the light back into the world of the living."
-Cloud: "Lies!"
-Sephiroth: "It is truth you fool! Weren't you yourself lost in the lifestream at one time? Did you not find your way out!?"
-Cloud: "But my body was still alive! I had not suffered my mortal death yet!"
-Sephiroth: "It is of no consequence. While in the lifestream you did not inhabit your body. Your spirit became a free agent, drifting from one reality to another."
-Sephiroth: "It is the same with everyone from our dimension. Your body, in actuallity, is merely another of life's limitations. When you die your soul is released of this limitation and the planet draws you back into the lifestream. The reason this happens is because death is a chaotic and uncontrolled thing; the spirit ends up not having a purpose once it has departed from its shell and therefore is recovered by the planet."
-Cloud: "But Aeris had a purpose!"
-Sephiroth: "Not only that; At the time of her death she had sealed her life-force inside the White Materia. When it found it's way into the core of the stream, so did Aeris' will. She was then able to perform the neccessary actions to summon the Holy."
-Sephiroth: "After this, her spirit was still a focused entity, for it had not dispersed as most others do. I'm sure it would not have been a problem for her to ride the light of Holy back into the land of the living, using the lifestream's energies to form a new body."
-Cloud: "Then are you saying that I really did see her before...?"
-Sephiroth: "Yes, you saw her. And you will see her again if you can control your foolishness."
-Cloud: "I can still never forgive you. I will never forget the suffering you brought upon our world in your selfishness."
-Sephiroth: "No one is asking you to. However, I personally do not care to die and end up becoming fuel to create Neo. I had planned greater things for myself."
-Squall: "Cloud, don't forgive him. Just let us work together for the time being to escape this deathtrap. If you kill Sephiroth now, then you will only be fulfilling Neo-Sephiroth's plot."
-Cloud: "Fine. I will cooperate in the intrests of getting back to my world and my friends. Only after this is over will I attempt to finish what I already have finished once before."
-Sephiroth: "That is all I ask."
-Squall: "Then perhaps we should come to some understanding of how to tackle the actual problem of escape."
-Cloud: "What? Neither of you has a plan?!"
-Sephiroth: "Not exactly."
-Cloud: "I don't believe this. Is there no way for us to just leave? I'm sure there is an exit around here somewhere."
-Sephiroth: "There is no exit. This is an entirely different dimension Neo has constructed. I am not even fully sure that there is a way out."
-Squall: "Bummer."
-Cloud: "You're not suggesting we actually meet up with this guy in a couple of hours!?"
-Sephiroth: "What choice do we have?"


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