Chapter 11: Second Chance
(This section will focus on Yazoo as the speaker) After a long time of walking, we ended up killing a couple monsters we encountered to use for dinner. Me, Loz, and Kadaj had to do the fighting though because Sephiroth had to keep Mother from danger since she was still asleep. I really wanted to see what Big Brother could do in a fight, but we couldn’t just endanger our own Mother for the sake of seeing Sephiroth’s elite fighting potential. I figured we would probably be fighting alongside him later on, anyway. Me and Loz ended up doing the taking apart after we killed two monsters, and Kadaj was gathering the wood for the fire we needed. Loz grumbled “Ugh! Why do we gotta do the gut pulling? No fair! Sister should have to do it too!” I slapped him and turned firm “Would you just knock it off and stop complaining about everything? You know girls don’t like doing this kind of work. Just be a man and stop whining already.” He groaned but didn’t argue, and we got back to work. We were in a forest clearing at the current time, getting ready to rest for the night and call it a day. While working, I remembered what Hojo said about me being reborn and losing my memories. I didn’t understand any of that at all, but I just couldn’t get it out of my head. The flashback almost stuck like glue, and it was hard to focus completely. I sighed, hoping I would just forget about it and the thoughts would just fade away. When we finished, I turned to Sephiroth and asked “Any idea how we can get a fire going? We cant just eat this stuff raw.” Sephiroth replied “That should be easy for you. You do remember you took the black materia from the Nibelheim mountains, don’t you?” I sighed, remembering how bad I felt about it, and what Sephiroth said about needing its power to help Mother “Yeah, I do… but you said I’d die if I tried to use its full power, right?” Sephiroth shook his head “You don’t need to use its full potential just to start a simple fire. Do what you did when you and your siblings got caught by the enemy, when you freed Kadaj and Loz. Try that same thing here.” I aimed my hand at the pile of wood Kadaj gathered, and the ground beneath the pile became molten brimstone. It grew bright, and then a pillar of lava spewed up from it, quickly settling down; after it vanished, I saw we had the fire we needed. I lowered my arm, and gasped for air. Loz came to my side “Are you ok?” I nodded “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired…” Sephiroth worried “Oh my… you couldn’t even handle that? You’re going to need an awful lot of practice, my young Brother.” I looked up, and saw the lava pillar had burned a hole where thick foliage was before I used that power. I also noticed nothing else had been ignited besides the wood pile “Holy cow…” Loz followed my gaze “Whoa! Dang, Yazoo! You’re lucky you got that thing.” Sephiroth understood “That may be so, Loz, but if he lacks sufficient JENOVA cells to use it safely and effectively, even the lesser powers of it are too great for him to handle using. If he uses too much of his strength, he will die. No different than the rest of us. When your JENOVA cells exhaust too much, that’s what happens.” Kadaj replied “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But if it’s too strong for him, how is he supposed to handle using it? We cant let him get sacrificed just from trying to use his materia like that…” Sephiroth answered “He’ll just have to keep it as a last resort. It’s the only way to keep him from using all his strength with it. Unless his JENOVA cell mass increases enough as he gets older, that’s the only way to keep him from dying of exertion here. I’ll start the fire next time for his sake.” After that, we used the fire and had dinner together. Even Sephiroth ate with us that night. We didn’t have a conversation while eating, though. We ended up eating quietly, since there wasn’t much to talk about. When we were all done, I remembered what Hojo talked about and decided to ask Sephiroth about it “Big Brother, what was Hojo talking about when he said I was back but lost my memories?” Sephiroth took Mother back into his arms and replied “Well, I cant keep the truth from you three forever… You’ll find out at some point, so I suppose it’s only right of me to explain.” All three of us began listening carefully as Sephiroth explained “Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo… this isnt your first time existing on this Planet. Yazoo, before you and Loz woke up in the what you described as the shiny blue forest, you and your Sister Kadaj fought a desperate struggle against Cloud that ended in defeat. The place you and Loz woke in is known as the Forgotten City, and was also the former hideout to the three of you. Kadaj was reborn a few days after you two were, resting inside the Nibelheim reactor that was also once home to our Mother. The dream you had before you awakened in the Forgotten City, Yazoo… was not a dream. It was real.” I was shocked “Whoa, no way..! All of that actually happened?” Sephiroth nodded “Unfortunately, yes. That was what happened before you three were reborn. That is how Hojo knows about you three; he remembers your activities before you were all defeated. No different than Reno, the red-haired man you encountered while rescuing Kadaj, also recognizing each of you. All three of you fought him before your final battle against Cloud Strife. That is why he knows you.” Loz asked “But why were we reborn? Why did Mother bring us back without our memories?” Sephiroth continued “I’m sorry to disappoint you, my Little Brother, but I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that. She brought each of you back because she wanted to give you a second chance to defeat Shinra and reclaim the Planet. The moment Shinra is completely destroyed, the rest of the mission will be easy except for dealing with Cloud and taking him out. His friends on their own arent strong enough to defeat you three. Especially you, Kadaj. I cannot answer why your memories were erased, however. Only Mother herself has the answer to that. What she has in store for you, my young siblings, I also cannot answer. What I know is not much; I only know she has a special plan for each of you, and that she wants to give you three a chance to try again.” Kadaj asked “But if we already lost to him once, how are we going to beat him this time? I’m only 6 years old, and he’s big and strong! Way bigger than I am…” Sephiroth replied “That’s something you and your Brothers have to decide. Only you and your gang can figure choose how to defeat him.” I asked “But Sephiroth, arent you going to help us beat him too? What about you, and Mother?” His expression hardened, and he looked down, but he wouldn’t answer. Loz was worried “What’s wrong? What is it?” Sephiroth shook his head “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Let’s go to sleep. It’s getting late, my young siblings.” We each laid down and focused on going to sleep. That was the end of the conversation, I guess. I wondered why Sephiroth looked upset when I asked about him and Mother helping us get the Planet back for her. I feared he was hiding something that he didn’t want us to hear, but I drifted off to sleep, hoping I was wrong and that he would make it to the end with us.
To Be Continued…
(This section will focus on Yazoo as the speaker) After a long time of walking, we ended up killing a couple monsters we encountered to use for dinner. Me, Loz, and Kadaj had to do the fighting though because Sephiroth had to keep Mother from danger since she was still asleep. I really wanted to see what Big Brother could do in a fight, but we couldn’t just endanger our own Mother for the sake of seeing Sephiroth’s elite fighting potential. I figured we would probably be fighting alongside him later on, anyway. Me and Loz ended up doing the taking apart after we killed two monsters, and Kadaj was gathering the wood for the fire we needed. Loz grumbled “Ugh! Why do we gotta do the gut pulling? No fair! Sister should have to do it too!” I slapped him and turned firm “Would you just knock it off and stop complaining about everything? You know girls don’t like doing this kind of work. Just be a man and stop whining already.” He groaned but didn’t argue, and we got back to work. We were in a forest clearing at the current time, getting ready to rest for the night and call it a day. While working, I remembered what Hojo said about me being reborn and losing my memories. I didn’t understand any of that at all, but I just couldn’t get it out of my head. The flashback almost stuck like glue, and it was hard to focus completely. I sighed, hoping I would just forget about it and the thoughts would just fade away. When we finished, I turned to Sephiroth and asked “Any idea how we can get a fire going? We cant just eat this stuff raw.” Sephiroth replied “That should be easy for you. You do remember you took the black materia from the Nibelheim mountains, don’t you?” I sighed, remembering how bad I felt about it, and what Sephiroth said about needing its power to help Mother “Yeah, I do… but you said I’d die if I tried to use its full power, right?” Sephiroth shook his head “You don’t need to use its full potential just to start a simple fire. Do what you did when you and your siblings got caught by the enemy, when you freed Kadaj and Loz. Try that same thing here.” I aimed my hand at the pile of wood Kadaj gathered, and the ground beneath the pile became molten brimstone. It grew bright, and then a pillar of lava spewed up from it, quickly settling down; after it vanished, I saw we had the fire we needed. I lowered my arm, and gasped for air. Loz came to my side “Are you ok?” I nodded “Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired…” Sephiroth worried “Oh my… you couldn’t even handle that? You’re going to need an awful lot of practice, my young Brother.” I looked up, and saw the lava pillar had burned a hole where thick foliage was before I used that power. I also noticed nothing else had been ignited besides the wood pile “Holy cow…” Loz followed my gaze “Whoa! Dang, Yazoo! You’re lucky you got that thing.” Sephiroth understood “That may be so, Loz, but if he lacks sufficient JENOVA cells to use it safely and effectively, even the lesser powers of it are too great for him to handle using. If he uses too much of his strength, he will die. No different than the rest of us. When your JENOVA cells exhaust too much, that’s what happens.” Kadaj replied “Yeah, I guess that makes sense. But if it’s too strong for him, how is he supposed to handle using it? We cant let him get sacrificed just from trying to use his materia like that…” Sephiroth answered “He’ll just have to keep it as a last resort. It’s the only way to keep him from using all his strength with it. Unless his JENOVA cell mass increases enough as he gets older, that’s the only way to keep him from dying of exertion here. I’ll start the fire next time for his sake.” After that, we used the fire and had dinner together. Even Sephiroth ate with us that night. We didn’t have a conversation while eating, though. We ended up eating quietly, since there wasn’t much to talk about. When we were all done, I remembered what Hojo talked about and decided to ask Sephiroth about it “Big Brother, what was Hojo talking about when he said I was back but lost my memories?” Sephiroth took Mother back into his arms and replied “Well, I cant keep the truth from you three forever… You’ll find out at some point, so I suppose it’s only right of me to explain.” All three of us began listening carefully as Sephiroth explained “Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo… this isnt your first time existing on this Planet. Yazoo, before you and Loz woke up in the what you described as the shiny blue forest, you and your Sister Kadaj fought a desperate struggle against Cloud that ended in defeat. The place you and Loz woke in is known as the Forgotten City, and was also the former hideout to the three of you. Kadaj was reborn a few days after you two were, resting inside the Nibelheim reactor that was also once home to our Mother. The dream you had before you awakened in the Forgotten City, Yazoo… was not a dream. It was real.” I was shocked “Whoa, no way..! All of that actually happened?” Sephiroth nodded “Unfortunately, yes. That was what happened before you three were reborn. That is how Hojo knows about you three; he remembers your activities before you were all defeated. No different than Reno, the red-haired man you encountered while rescuing Kadaj, also recognizing each of you. All three of you fought him before your final battle against Cloud Strife. That is why he knows you.” Loz asked “But why were we reborn? Why did Mother bring us back without our memories?” Sephiroth continued “I’m sorry to disappoint you, my Little Brother, but I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that. She brought each of you back because she wanted to give you a second chance to defeat Shinra and reclaim the Planet. The moment Shinra is completely destroyed, the rest of the mission will be easy except for dealing with Cloud and taking him out. His friends on their own arent strong enough to defeat you three. Especially you, Kadaj. I cannot answer why your memories were erased, however. Only Mother herself has the answer to that. What she has in store for you, my young siblings, I also cannot answer. What I know is not much; I only know she has a special plan for each of you, and that she wants to give you three a chance to try again.” Kadaj asked “But if we already lost to him once, how are we going to beat him this time? I’m only 6 years old, and he’s big and strong! Way bigger than I am…” Sephiroth replied “That’s something you and your Brothers have to decide. Only you and your gang can figure choose how to defeat him.” I asked “But Sephiroth, arent you going to help us beat him too? What about you, and Mother?” His expression hardened, and he looked down, but he wouldn’t answer. Loz was worried “What’s wrong? What is it?” Sephiroth shook his head “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. Let’s go to sleep. It’s getting late, my young siblings.” We each laid down and focused on going to sleep. That was the end of the conversation, I guess. I wondered why Sephiroth looked upset when I asked about him and Mother helping us get the Planet back for her. I feared he was hiding something that he didn’t want us to hear, but I drifted off to sleep, hoping I was wrong and that he would make it to the end with us.
To Be Continued…
