Previously...
It had seemed like i was flying above Shinra long enough to figure the mission was going very smoothly. I had been traveling for what seemed like several hours with no word of bad news from Mother, which was good. Little had i known, what was to come would be the worst news id be given.
Chapter 4: Narrow Escape
I had suddenly heard Mother speak to me telepathically, and she said "Sephieroth, i hate to be the bearer of bad news but Tifa and Cloud Strife have gotten the general grasp of the mission. Even worse, Cloud is on his way trying to locate you and your brothers." I then paused briefly and said "Uh oh... Can you slow him down or stop him in any way, Mother?" I heard Mother sigh and say "I tried to already, my child. I used my powers project an image of myself above his hometown and manipulate him to the greatest extreme i could, and it worked until Tifa knew i was doing that and snapped out of my control, also doing the same to pull Cloud from my grasp." I then replied "I cant believe it... How does he always break free like that?!" Mother sighed and said "we can talk about that later, Sephie. But for now i need you to locate Yazoo and Loz and tell them to head back home. You must fly at full speed--if you arent quick enough they may not be able to turn back on time with Cloud on our tail. I will signal you their exact coordinates--fly there as fast as you can before Cloud can get to any of you!" I then replied "Understood, Mother. Im on my way!" After receiving Mother's intel on my brothers location, i used the power of my JENOVA cells to maximize my flying speed and made way for them. I seemed to reach them after what I thought was just three minutes, and Yazoo was the first to see me. Both of them cried in surprise, and Yazoo said "Little Sister? What are you doing here?" My expression grew firm, and i said "Theres no time to talk about it. Mother told me tl instruct you guys to head back to territory!" Loz nodded and said "Got it. This sounds like an emergency, Yazoo... I dont think we have any time to talk." Yazoo nodded and said "Right, we're going home, Little Sister!" I nodded in agreement and fly back up to the skies, and said "Theyre on their way, Mother." Mother seemed a bit happier and said "Good, good. Theres just one problem left though..." I sighed, feeling exasperated and said "What is it?" Mother then replied "Given the current circumstances i dont see how we can finish this mission safely.... You may have to turn around as well, Sephieroth..." Then i said "but isnt there some way? There has to be something we can do... even if it isn't much..." Mother paused briefly, and said "The only thing that can certainly grind Cloud's traveling to a hault is the power of the black materia, which grants the user Meteor--just one of its many powers, but by far the most destructive it gives on a very catastrophic scale.... Your oldest brother Sephiroth bore and harnessed its power soon before his final battle with Cloud Strife, where he was unfortunately defeated..." I suddenly had a flashback in my mind where i remembered infusing a black colored materia that had some dark purple lines on it into myself. It had just come back to me that i now held its power, and i said "Mother, i have it now! I can stop him!" Mother then replied "You do?! Thats great! However... if you do use Meteor, it will allow you to prevent him from getting far, but if you arent careful casting it your strength could completely exhaust which would mean you would have to come back anyway and try again tomorrow with the mission..." Then i paused and said "Which means i might die..." Mother said "You shouldn't, but if you arent experienced using the black materia's powers, you might.. Especially with this one." Then i said "Is there any way we can use it without me exhausting, Mother?" Mother seemed silent as though trying to think, and suddenly i sensed something below that seemed behind me, and i turned and gasped in shock at who was before my eyes: Cloud Strife. Oh no, i suddenly thought with worry. Now what am i supposed to do..? I suddenly felt as if i was in danger, and flew in place trying not to show it. Out of nowhere, i suddenly felt intense pain all over my body and my power inside me multiply within seconds. Not even thinking, i said with pure determination "I wont lose like that..! Not THIS time!!" I felt as though my physical form began to change as the pain continued and my power peaked within seconds. I noticed Cloud was gazing at me in shock, not believing what he saw. Not even thinking any further, i directed my JENOVA cells all over my body and prepared to hit him as hard as possible to make sure he cant fight back. Once my attack was fully charged, i released a powerful swarm of JENOVA cells at him. The force was so overpowering, he seemed unable to move in the blast or even escape it. Without hesitation, i drew my katana which was also charged with my JENOVA cells and flew towards him landing the hit perfectly. Suddenly, it was as though he was never even nearby; as though i sent him somewhere else i didn't know about. After that, for some strange reason i felt like id had all my life sucked out of me; as though id used all my strength. I suddenly was unable to stay in the air and fell to the ground, struggling to stay awake. I also noticed i was back to my natural form, this was easy for me to know. I then said as best i could "Mother... I need you... Help me..." Suddenly, i had no idea what i did or what had just happened. I just knew i was very weakened and struggled to hang on. Before much time passed, i noticed Mother was right in front of me, and she smiled at me. This put me at ease despite losing memory of whatever had happened, when Mother smiled like that it meant that everything would be ok and me and my brothers knew that very well. I reached my arm towards her as best i could, and felt her pick me up and carry me in her arms. She said "Lets get you home, my child." I suddenly remembered the mission my gang i were assigned and said "But Mother, the mission..." She smiled and said "Dont worry, we can try again tomorrow." Shortly after, Mother had used her powers to bring us to a time-space dimension, most likely to ensure safe travel. This was another one of Mother's powers: to travel through time-space dimensions in order to reach places at a blindingly fast pace. I never knew anyone else who had the power to do this anywhere like she could. It wasnt long before she left the dimension and i found us back at the Mako Reactor in front of my brothers, Yazoo and Loz. Both of them were very confused, and Yazoo noticed my condition and said "Sister! What happened?!" I looked up at Mother, and said "I dont know what happened either... I just feel horribly exhausted..." Mother then turned to Yazoo and said "Your sister fused her strength with mine when she encountered Cloud Strife and felt endangered... Unfortunately, this often leaves her very exhausted due to how powerful this fusion is and how much strength it uses..." Yazoo and Loz both cried in surprise, and Loz said "But how? Even Big Brother never did that!" Mother replied and said "I will explain later, my children. For now we need to focus on helping her recover." Yazoo and Loz nodded in agreement, and Mother said to me "Dont worry about Cloud Strife for now... when we merged with each other after you encountered him, you used my powers to send him elsewhere. I dont think he'll be finding you or your brothers anytime soon, so just stay calm for now and rest." I then said "But how? I don't get it... Didn't he try to fight back? He wouldn't just stand there..." Mother had gently laid me down on my bed and said "He couldn't fight back, Sephieroth... The presence of my cells was too intense and powerful for him to have sufficient mobility to attack. Mine combined with yours, this would inevitably kill a human being who doesn't have any of my cells. The amount he had was just enough to keep him alive, but not enough to defy the blows you landed on him during the fusion." Suddenly feeling rather excited, i said "So next time i find him we can fuse with each other and defeat him with no problem, right?" Mother then said "No, my child... It doesn't work like that. Its not something you can force to occur, im afraid. Even if you could, if we're merged for too long a fight you wont make it alive... Its too powerful, even for you, young Sephie..." Then i paused and said "Sooo... How long can we merge completely before my life runs out..?" Mother appeared a bit sad, and said "Not even five minutes... Even as little as seconds beyond three minutes and you wont make it..." I sighed and said "Aww man... I was so sure thats the key..." Mother giggled a bit, smiling at me and said "Dont worry, my child. I know you can still beat him. But for now, just rest up for the next attempt at the mission."
To be continued....
It had seemed like i was flying above Shinra long enough to figure the mission was going very smoothly. I had been traveling for what seemed like several hours with no word of bad news from Mother, which was good. Little had i known, what was to come would be the worst news id be given.
Chapter 4: Narrow Escape
I had suddenly heard Mother speak to me telepathically, and she said "Sephieroth, i hate to be the bearer of bad news but Tifa and Cloud Strife have gotten the general grasp of the mission. Even worse, Cloud is on his way trying to locate you and your brothers." I then paused briefly and said "Uh oh... Can you slow him down or stop him in any way, Mother?" I heard Mother sigh and say "I tried to already, my child. I used my powers project an image of myself above his hometown and manipulate him to the greatest extreme i could, and it worked until Tifa knew i was doing that and snapped out of my control, also doing the same to pull Cloud from my grasp." I then replied "I cant believe it... How does he always break free like that?!" Mother sighed and said "we can talk about that later, Sephie. But for now i need you to locate Yazoo and Loz and tell them to head back home. You must fly at full speed--if you arent quick enough they may not be able to turn back on time with Cloud on our tail. I will signal you their exact coordinates--fly there as fast as you can before Cloud can get to any of you!" I then replied "Understood, Mother. Im on my way!" After receiving Mother's intel on my brothers location, i used the power of my JENOVA cells to maximize my flying speed and made way for them. I seemed to reach them after what I thought was just three minutes, and Yazoo was the first to see me. Both of them cried in surprise, and Yazoo said "Little Sister? What are you doing here?" My expression grew firm, and i said "Theres no time to talk about it. Mother told me tl instruct you guys to head back to territory!" Loz nodded and said "Got it. This sounds like an emergency, Yazoo... I dont think we have any time to talk." Yazoo nodded and said "Right, we're going home, Little Sister!" I nodded in agreement and fly back up to the skies, and said "Theyre on their way, Mother." Mother seemed a bit happier and said "Good, good. Theres just one problem left though..." I sighed, feeling exasperated and said "What is it?" Mother then replied "Given the current circumstances i dont see how we can finish this mission safely.... You may have to turn around as well, Sephieroth..." Then i said "but isnt there some way? There has to be something we can do... even if it isn't much..." Mother paused briefly, and said "The only thing that can certainly grind Cloud's traveling to a hault is the power of the black materia, which grants the user Meteor--just one of its many powers, but by far the most destructive it gives on a very catastrophic scale.... Your oldest brother Sephiroth bore and harnessed its power soon before his final battle with Cloud Strife, where he was unfortunately defeated..." I suddenly had a flashback in my mind where i remembered infusing a black colored materia that had some dark purple lines on it into myself. It had just come back to me that i now held its power, and i said "Mother, i have it now! I can stop him!" Mother then replied "You do?! Thats great! However... if you do use Meteor, it will allow you to prevent him from getting far, but if you arent careful casting it your strength could completely exhaust which would mean you would have to come back anyway and try again tomorrow with the mission..." Then i paused and said "Which means i might die..." Mother said "You shouldn't, but if you arent experienced using the black materia's powers, you might.. Especially with this one." Then i said "Is there any way we can use it without me exhausting, Mother?" Mother seemed silent as though trying to think, and suddenly i sensed something below that seemed behind me, and i turned and gasped in shock at who was before my eyes: Cloud Strife. Oh no, i suddenly thought with worry. Now what am i supposed to do..? I suddenly felt as if i was in danger, and flew in place trying not to show it. Out of nowhere, i suddenly felt intense pain all over my body and my power inside me multiply within seconds. Not even thinking, i said with pure determination "I wont lose like that..! Not THIS time!!" I felt as though my physical form began to change as the pain continued and my power peaked within seconds. I noticed Cloud was gazing at me in shock, not believing what he saw. Not even thinking any further, i directed my JENOVA cells all over my body and prepared to hit him as hard as possible to make sure he cant fight back. Once my attack was fully charged, i released a powerful swarm of JENOVA cells at him. The force was so overpowering, he seemed unable to move in the blast or even escape it. Without hesitation, i drew my katana which was also charged with my JENOVA cells and flew towards him landing the hit perfectly. Suddenly, it was as though he was never even nearby; as though i sent him somewhere else i didn't know about. After that, for some strange reason i felt like id had all my life sucked out of me; as though id used all my strength. I suddenly was unable to stay in the air and fell to the ground, struggling to stay awake. I also noticed i was back to my natural form, this was easy for me to know. I then said as best i could "Mother... I need you... Help me..." Suddenly, i had no idea what i did or what had just happened. I just knew i was very weakened and struggled to hang on. Before much time passed, i noticed Mother was right in front of me, and she smiled at me. This put me at ease despite losing memory of whatever had happened, when Mother smiled like that it meant that everything would be ok and me and my brothers knew that very well. I reached my arm towards her as best i could, and felt her pick me up and carry me in her arms. She said "Lets get you home, my child." I suddenly remembered the mission my gang i were assigned and said "But Mother, the mission..." She smiled and said "Dont worry, we can try again tomorrow." Shortly after, Mother had used her powers to bring us to a time-space dimension, most likely to ensure safe travel. This was another one of Mother's powers: to travel through time-space dimensions in order to reach places at a blindingly fast pace. I never knew anyone else who had the power to do this anywhere like she could. It wasnt long before she left the dimension and i found us back at the Mako Reactor in front of my brothers, Yazoo and Loz. Both of them were very confused, and Yazoo noticed my condition and said "Sister! What happened?!" I looked up at Mother, and said "I dont know what happened either... I just feel horribly exhausted..." Mother then turned to Yazoo and said "Your sister fused her strength with mine when she encountered Cloud Strife and felt endangered... Unfortunately, this often leaves her very exhausted due to how powerful this fusion is and how much strength it uses..." Yazoo and Loz both cried in surprise, and Loz said "But how? Even Big Brother never did that!" Mother replied and said "I will explain later, my children. For now we need to focus on helping her recover." Yazoo and Loz nodded in agreement, and Mother said to me "Dont worry about Cloud Strife for now... when we merged with each other after you encountered him, you used my powers to send him elsewhere. I dont think he'll be finding you or your brothers anytime soon, so just stay calm for now and rest." I then said "But how? I don't get it... Didn't he try to fight back? He wouldn't just stand there..." Mother had gently laid me down on my bed and said "He couldn't fight back, Sephieroth... The presence of my cells was too intense and powerful for him to have sufficient mobility to attack. Mine combined with yours, this would inevitably kill a human being who doesn't have any of my cells. The amount he had was just enough to keep him alive, but not enough to defy the blows you landed on him during the fusion." Suddenly feeling rather excited, i said "So next time i find him we can fuse with each other and defeat him with no problem, right?" Mother then said "No, my child... It doesn't work like that. Its not something you can force to occur, im afraid. Even if you could, if we're merged for too long a fight you wont make it alive... Its too powerful, even for you, young Sephie..." Then i paused and said "Sooo... How long can we merge completely before my life runs out..?" Mother appeared a bit sad, and said "Not even five minutes... Even as little as seconds beyond three minutes and you wont make it..." I sighed and said "Aww man... I was so sure thats the key..." Mother giggled a bit, smiling at me and said "Dont worry, my child. I know you can still beat him. But for now, just rest up for the next attempt at the mission."
To be continued....
