The sky glowed like a brilliant ruby embryo. Nibel Mountain stood tall like a titan. And upon the titans crown was the Mako Reactor. The structure stood tall and proud with the skies on fire overhead.

Tifa’s father lay wounded and dying inside the reactor. He had gone to the Mako Reactor to confront Sephiroth but only found the end of the Masamune Sword. Sephiroth disappeared into the dark core of the reactor leaving his sword embedded in the corpse.

“Papa!” a voiced cried in the darkness.

Tifa hurried to her deceased father. She knelt beside him.

“Sephiroth?” Tifa said sobbing, “Sephiroth did this to you, didn’t he?”

Her eyes blurred as tears flowed down her tender pink cheeks.

“Sephiroth…SOLDIER…Mako Reactors…Shinra…Everything!” Tifa yelled in a bloody cry, “I hate them all!”

She took Sephiroth’s sword and proceeded to the core where she would find her fathers’ murderer.

Sephiroth stood outside the seal door. He looked up to the glowing letters above the entrance. Seeing the word Jenova engraved across the top gave him unspeakable pleasure. It was beyond that door where he would finally realize his destiny. To rule the Planet along side his mother.

“I’ve come mother,” Sephiroth said, like a young pleading child, “I’ve thought of a great idea. Let’s go to the Promised Land.”

Upon saying that, the door opened. The smell of mechanical grease and decay filled the dark interior of the Jenova cell.

“How could you!” a voice yelled in his direction.

Tifa ran as fast as her little legs could carry her with the sword in hand. Up the inclined ramp she lunged at Sephiroth with the weapon aiming to strike him dead.

“To papa…and all the townspeople. How could you!”

With every iota of strength she swiftly attempted to slay him.

“You fool!” Sephiroth yelled as he stopped the blade with the palm of his hands. He seized the sword from the girl pushing her away. Tifa lost her balance and was about to fall backwards. As she regained her stability Sephiroth had the Masamune Sword raised above his head. A blinding white dullness immediately came down on Tifa. Her body glided down the ramp with a trail of blood flowing from her torso. She landed on the cold metal floor. Tifa didn’t feel any pain. She almost felt peaceful. An eerier sense of calm overcame her. She closed her eyes and began to breath softly. Warm blood seeped down the side of her mouth as the girl began to realize that she had reached the end of her existence.

Sephiroth slowly entered Jenova’s quarters. It was a small dim room filled with wires and white blinking lights. In front of him were pairs of enormous steel pipes leading to what seemed to be an angel. The being had a pale face and wires protruding from the back of its head with mechanical wings folding around a cylinder object. On a closer examination, Sephiroth discovered the angel to be only a statue. A seal to protect the chamber it harbored within its wings. Beyond the mechanical angel seal was the cryogenics chamber, which housed the remains of Jenova. All Sephiroth had to do was rip away the seal. He approached the angel with extreme eagerness. Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps rapidly dash into the cell.

“Sephiroth!” Zack yelled.

With his Buster Sword drawn, and on the brink to engage in battle, Zack began to ascend the path to his former commander.

Sephiroth didn’t bother turning to Zack. With a sinister grin on his face, he said, “With her superior power, Knowledge, and magic; mother was destined to become ruler of this Planet,” he dug his hands into the bust of the angel, “But they, those worthless creatures, are stealing the Planet from mother. But don’t worry because I’m here now!”

He began to tear away the angel. Sparks emitted from the mechanism as the wires attached to the head individually snapped one by one. A clear red fluid poured from the angels’ black eyes and protruding mouth. He tossed the figure down after successfully removing it. Sephiroth’s green eyes opened wide in merriment. A blue light radiated from the cryogenic chamber. The remains of Jenova were in a strange transparent indigo liquid. The being inside the chamber had a device attached to its abdomen, and head. A plaque on the head device read: JENOVA. Her hands were long and sharp like talons, and a pair of damaged red wings projected from its back. Its empty eyes looked deep into Sephiroth’s soul. It was then he knew his destiny was unfolding.

“This is where it ends, scumbag!” Zack hollered as he ran to him.

“Look, mother,” Sephiroth said laughing, “They’ve come,” he turned to Zack, “But they are no match for us.”

“Quit your talkin’!” Zack screamed.

Septhiroth put both hands his in the air. His right hand held the Masamune Sword with the blood of the entire slain village dripping down the harsh steel. A white glow filled the room and began flashing wildly. Zack held his sword tight and braced for whatever assault Sephiroth had in store.

Cloud ran across the steel bridge to the reactor core. As he entered, he saw Zack stretched across the floor next to a capsule. The young SOLDIER had lost the battle with Sephiroth. In his bloody hand was his Buster Sword. Cloud pried the broad weapon from his hand. He gripped tightly to the handle as he advanced towards his unsuspecting opponent.

Sephiroth stood hypnotized by the cryogenics chamber that housed his mother. He placed his hands on the glass and gently rubbed the chamber. A noise from behind startled Sephiroth. As he twisted around there was a sudden bright flash of a sword slitting the air. Blood splattered on the clear glass chamber. A searing pain, which ran from his shoulders to his stomach, weighed down the proud warrior. The gravity became too powerful to resist as he fell to the harden floor. His green eyes rolled up to find a figure with a dark blue uniform, and helmet holding a bloodstained weapon over him.

Cloud removed his helmet, tossing it next the fallen Sephiroth. His young round face glistened with sweat, and dried tears.

“What…” Sephiroth gasped before rolling his bright green eyes back into his sockets.

Cloud hands quivered as he held the Buster Sword. He was unable to grasp the concept that Sephiroth was dead right before him. And it was his own two hands that made it possible. Cloud wasn’t the weakling he once perceived himself to be. This fact didn’t make it any easier for him to accept his mothers’ death.

Cloud walked to Tifa dragging the sword behind him down the incline ramp. He placed the weapon next to him as he knelt to hold her in his arms. Cloud placed his left hand over Tifa’s gapping wound across her chest. His fingers tingled as her warm blood made contact with the palm. Cloud’s eyes began to burn and tears watered down his face. He pulled Tifa closer to his chest, and, with a futile prayer, wished some miracle would save her. With enduring passion, he held her warm body rocking it softly like an infant child. The boy closed his weary eyes as his cheeks landed gently on her silky black hair.

“You came,” a voice said weak and faint.

Tifa’s eyes glittered as she looked to her childhood friend. Misery and grief disappeared from Cloud’s tortured soul. Her smile was the only source of illumination in his dying world.

“You came, just… like you promised,” Tifa said. Like a butterfly, her eyes fluttered shut.

She was still alive. Cloud knew he had to get her help otherwise the girl wouldn’t make it to see another day. He picked her limp body up in his arms and began to carry her out. The boy stopped suddenly when he saw a form leaving the red-lit core. It was Sephiroth. He had past by Cloud without him noticing and was making his way over the narrow bridge. Sephiroth clenched his chest with one hand with his free hand he held the Masamune Sword. Blood dripped with each of his staggering steps.

Cloud realized he should’ve finished off his adversary when he had the chance. Placing Tifa back on the floor, he reached for the Buster Sword. This would be Sephiroth’s closing moments of existence, he thought.

Leaving Tifa injured behind, Cloud began to pursue the wounded SOLDIER.

“SEPHIROTH!” Cloud roared in a jubilant and fearsome voice.

He turned around and, with his bitter green eyes, pierced in Cloud’s direction.

Both stood centered on the steel walkway. The lack of handrails made Cloud slightly more cautious to approach Sephiroth. If they were to engage in battle on the bridge it was almost certain one of them would plummet down into the Life Stream below. Nonetheless, Cloud advanced on Sephiroth.

“My family! My hometown!” Cloud cried, “How could you do this to them?”

With a dark and wretched voice, Sephiroth said, “You parasites are stealing the Planet from mother.”

Green mist rose from the Life Stream beneath them. Cloud lowered his head in grief. “What about my sadness?” he whimpered, “My family…my friends. The sadness of my hometown taken away from.” With a scornful glare to Sephiroth, Cloud yelled, “It’s the same as your sadness!”

Sephiroth began to laugh. His sinister chuckle echoed through the Mako Reactor belittling the young boys’ loss. Cloud became enraged by Sephiroth’s cold reaction to his sorrow. His teeth clenched tighter in his mouth, as did his grip on the sword. Cloud’s heart beat rapidly in his chest while his palm began sweating from the strain he put to holding the Buster Sword. He inhaled small breathes of air focusing on how he would begin the attack.

Still laughing, Sephiroth said, “My sadness? What do I have to be sad about?” He raised his Masamune Sword above him with the blade glinting violently in the green mist, “I am the chosen one. I have been chosen to be the leader of this Planet. I have orders to take the Planet back from you unworthy beings for the Cetra. What am I supposed to be sad about?”

Cloud fixed his hazel eyes on his enemy, “Sephiroth,” he said tranquilly, “I trusted you…No!” shaking his head, “You’re the not Sephiroth I used to know!”

He raised the Buster Sword and franticly dashed to his enemy. The boys’ bitter hatred and anger blinded his good sense and he foolishly met the end of Sephiroth’s Masamune Blade. The cold steel gracefully pierced Cloud’s abdomen and protruded from his back. He felt blood become lodged in his throat and soon tasted the lead flavor of the red fluids. Unbearable pain shot through every pore of his body. But his physical pain could no way disparage the emotional pain he was suffering that very moment. He saw the pleasure in the creatures’ damned green eyes as Clouds’ feet dangled limp in the air as the blade slowly elevated its victim. Sephiroth hung the boy in the air with his weapon still embedded in him like a trophy.

“Such weak creatures,” Sephiroth said triumphantly.

Cloud placed both his hands on the blade and gripped it with all his might. He felt an unnatural surge of strength pulse through his veins. Like all the slain townspeople of Nibelheim had come to his aid to vanquish this abomination. An unexplainable feeling overcame him. The only description that could compare to it would be the love and warmth he felt when his mother held him, or the special feelings he harbored for Tifa. But where were his mother and Tifa now? They were both dead. And by whose hands? Sephiroth’s. The same villain that had him skewed like some animal from a successful hunt. A cry burst from Clouds’ lips like that unheard by any human. It wasn’t a cry of agony, but that of a warrior poised to avenge the spilled blood of the innocent. Sephiroth watched in awe and disbelief as Cloud lowered himself to the ground, and, in turn, lifted him up in the air.

“Impossible!” Sephiroth uttered.

Cloud overpowered him. With no further words, Cloud heaved the SOLDIER to the side. Down into the Life Stream he fell. Cloud buckled to the floor as Sephiroth plummeted into the emerald liquid. It was over. There was no possible way anyone could’ve survived such a high overdose of Mako Energy. Sephiroth was bound to suffer such a fate in the Life Stream. Cloud was sure with confidence that if the fall didn’t kill him then he would surly die from the terrible flesh wound inflicted to his chest.

The boy closed his drained eyes as he gradually bled to his end. He thought he’d sleep for a bit and wake up to get Tifa later. Cloud just needed some rest first. Just a little. And when he woke up, the boy assured himself everything would be fine. Just like it was before all this mess.