Chapter 1: Family Dispute
(This section will focus on Aeris as the speaker) I arrived at the Mako Reactor to meet up with Yazoo and Sephieroth. I went inside, walking carefully through a large room that seemed very vacant except for the energy flooding around the edges of the ground inside "Hello?" I stopped and glanced around, but I didn't see anyone or get a response "Hmm... that's odd. They were supposed to be here. I'm sure of it." I drew closer to the end of the room, and looked up "That's where Sephiroth found Mother for the first time--the time and place where it all began. War has raged on this Planet ever since... what is the source of this unending violence? I'm sensing a strange distortion in the legacy... what is it?" I heard Yazoo shout from behind "Hey, Big Sister! Where have you been?" I turned around and smiled at him "Just helping to tidy things up and help a certain someone start from the beginning." Yazoo drew closer to me "You mean Cloud?" I nodded silently. He shrugged "I have no clue why Mother would let that scoundrel live, but I guess she has her reasons. As much as I would like to kill him, Mother's will is absolute... and that prohibits me from doing it unless she changes orders." I replied "I know why you want to kill him, Yazoo. You blame him for ruining your Sister." He seemed to grow sad, and stared elsewhere blankly "He did... he ruined her alright. Sephie was sweet and extremely affectionate towards us growing up. She always made us smile even though we didn't have Mother, and everyone around us wanted us dead. But when Cloud attacked us that day, on Reunion Day all those years ago... she changed. All she would think about is killing him and everyone else who stood in her way. She wouldn't laugh, wouldn't even smile... she spent a lot of time crying over our deaths and could only think about killing Cloud and finding Mother so she could get us back. Even though I was killed, her despair was so heavy I could even feel it in the Lifestream... Loz and myself worried for her. We weren't sure she'd make it. She suffered and struggled alone for years because of that monster!" His expression revealed intense anger. I began to fear he would attack Cloud in front of Sephiroth's children he was caring for. Attempting to change the subject, I asked "Are the new children here? I came to help care for them." Yazoo answered "Yes, they're upstairs. Probably sleeping, too. I kept them up there in case Cloud showed up. I can't trust him. Maybe he killed me and Loz, but he's not killing these innocent children. Mother would be furious." Then he turned and left without another word. I felt concerned "Oh dear... this won't be an easy mission." I knew everything would take a long time to return to normal. The war was over, but the storm was far from gone.
Meanwhile, above the kingdom...
(This section will focus on Sephiroth as the speaker) I was heading for the newly rebuilt JENOVA Foundation Headquarters to make sure Hojo was doing his job and not causing trouble, or doing anything sneaky. He had been running the foundation for several days, and Mother hadn't gotten word of suspicious activity, but I still couldn't trust him completely. After I learned how he abused Mother and her power, I knew to be wary of him. All he cared about was science; he had a complete disregard for life and treated both of us like his personal playthings. He didn't care about our feelings or what we desired, and he never seemed to for anyone else either. Hojo only kept tabs on me and Mother because he saw us useful for that horrible project, which he had no right performing to begin with, and to keep his crooked science department in its dirty business. Long story short, we were nothing but experiments to him. This was why I didn't like him running Mother's company. So, I decided to do what I felt was smart and make sure he isn't up to his old tricks again. If he was, I knew I was to eliminate him immediately. Mother told me to kill him if he starts causing trouble again, and I would be happy to do it after what he put us through all those years ago. Rufus was also ambitious, but not in the same way Hojo was. Hojo was simply straight-up mad; he lost his mind over that project. I landed outside the foundation building, and I heard Mother tap into me "Sephiroth, where are you?" I answered "I'm outside the foundation HQ, stopping to make sure Hojo isn't doing anything he shouldn't." Mother sounded concerned "Sephiroth, I'm sorry, but you have to go back to the JENOVA Manor. Yazoo is on his way there, and I have a strong inking he is planning to kill Cloud. You have to stop him!" I felt minor panic well up inside myself "What? I can't let him fight in front of my kids! Worse than that, the place is on the other side of the kingdom! It's too far away for me to beat him!" Mother replied "I know it's a long flight, but you know I can't send Sephieroth or Loz. They will only try to help Yazoo defeat him. The three of them won't be ideal for this; I need you to go instead. You have better self-control than the they do." I sighed and bolted my wing, then took off and flew as fast as I could, hurrying back to JENOVA Manor "Alright, then. I'll fly as fast as possible."
Sometime later, at JENOVA Manor...
(this part will focus on Cloud as the speaker) I had been playing with Sephiroth's children for a few hours, but still hadn't heard anything from him about when he might be back. The kids actually took a shine to me, and they laughed and smiled a lot for much of my time caring for them. I was holding Oruka, who seemed to like me more than the others did, and sitting on the floor instead of Sephiroth's throne. Oruka asked "When is Daddy coming back, Cloud?" I replied "Well, he sent me a message soon after he left that said 'expect me at 4pm', but its way past that now... more like 7pm." Oruka looked worried "Is he coming back?" I nodded "It's ok. He'll come back, Oruka. Daddy is... just running a little late." Oruka moaned and looked towards the stairs. I knew he was scared that something might have gone wrong. I also wondered what was going on. I heard a loud noise come from upstairs, followed by fast footsteps. It sounded like someone was coming. Oruka got off my lap, and hurried toward the stairs happily "Daddy!" I rushed to catch up to him, afraid it might be danger "Oruka, wait!" I managed to catch him before he could go upstairs, but someone came into view before I could run back to the other kids: Yazoo stood in front of me, holding his gun with an angry look on his face. Oruka seemed surprised "Brother Yazoo, where's Daddy?" Yazoo ignored him and kept his attention on me "Hey there, Brother. I thought I'd do these kids a small favor... and take the bad man out myself." I tried to change his mind so the kids wouldn't get scared "I'm not here to hurt them, Yazoo. Just go back home." Oruka slipped out of my arms and backed away, seeming nervous. Yazoo ignored my words "You're not their friend. And you never will be. You killed me, my Brother Loz, held my Sister helpless on your sword.... My beloved Sister Sephieroth, formerly named Kadaj, who used to be the sweetest and most loving sibling I've ever had... You turned her inside out! I did all I could to protect her from that fate, and you ruined her! She suffered for countless years because of the monster you are, Cloud! And now, I'm making you pay for what you did to her." Yazoo raised his gun and fired several shots at me. I fell down from injury, and tried to stop him without fighting "Yazoo, please..! These kids!" Yazoo sneered at me "I don't care what you say. You ruined my Sister's loving heart, and nothing you say can fix that! Damage has been done, Brother, and now you will suffer the same thing." He fired at me again, and I heard the kids crying behind me. I knew it would be impossible to reason with him; he wouldn't stop shooting until he killed me, which was loud and clear. I tried to stop him once more "Yazoo, what about your new siblings behind me? Do you want them to suffer the same way Kadaj did? Think about what you're doing!" His eyes widened a bit, and he lowered his gun a bit. He had a strange expression on his face, and stood in silence. Suddenly, he cried out in pain, holding his forehead with his free hand "Unngh... my head..." I was confused, watching him get on his knees, not moving his hand "Urrgh... it hurts..! What's happening to me..?" I tried to regain my strength, and managed to slide myself close to him "Yazoo, what's wrong?" His voice sounded weak "My head hurts... my chest, my reactor--something isn't right..." I reached a hand to his face, but he closed his eyes and dropped, laying motionless." I was worried now "Oh no..." Oruka hurried to my side and cried "No! Brother!" He looked at me and seemed hurt "What did you do to him?!" I tried to calm him down "I didn't do anything... he just started to hurt, and I tried to stop him without attacking. I don't know what happened." Oruka slapped me and grew angry "You liar! Daddy was right all along! You are the bad man!" Oruka ran past me and hurried upstairs without looking back. All of a sudden, I began to cry in silence. I felt bad for the kid. I felt awful for what I did to Sephieroth, too. Even after me trying to convince her Brothers, they still insisted I was lying. But I wasn't; I really did feel bad about this mess I put their family in. It was all a big and complicated misunderstanding, going back years as a very long story. I couldn't shake away my sorry anymore "What have I done...? I didn't mean for..." I heard two of the kids come up behind me, one of them was a girl with medium length silver hair, and the other a boy with short hair of the same color. The young girl asked "Are you alright, Cloud?" I nodded and forced my tears away, looking at the girl "I should be alright, but there's a long and tough road ahead of me, young miss. I have a lot of work and cleaning up to do, and only I can do it." The girl giggled "Just call me Sephora. It's my name." The boy sat down in front of me and added "My name is Spike." I nodded, and said "I see... Daddy gave you kids good names. Your Dad... he's strong. Very strong... maybe even tougher than me. He doesn't break as easily as I do..." Spike seemed worried "You've had a hard time living in JENOVA Kingdom, right?" I nodded in response. Spike went on "I know Daddy, and Brother Yazoo don't like you or believe anything you say, Cloud... but I believe you." I felt a glimmer of hope inside myself "You do?" He nodded, and Sephora sat next to him "I believe you too. You've had it bad, Cloud... I can tell. But, can we help you?" I shook my head "No, it's too dangerous, kids. Stay home with Daddy, ok? I don't want you kids to get hurt." They both pleaded "Please?" I sighed, and decided it was ok "Alright, fine. But you have to ask Daddy first. And if he says yes, you both have to stay with me, ok?" They both got up and shouted in joy. I managed a faint smile, watching them both celebrate like that. Then, I heard someone else hurrying upstairs, and saw Sephiroth come into view. I was too injured to get up from Yazoo's shots. Sephiroth seemed concerned, and got down to help Yazoo. Suspicious, he turned to me after feeling his chest "Cloud, what happened here?" I explained to him Yazoo's attacking me, and told him about how he suddenly seemed to feel some sort of intense pain that knocked him out seconds later. Sephiroth turned to Sephora and Spike "Is that the truth, my children?" They both nodded, and Sephora asked "Is he ok?" Sephiroth moved his hand over Yazoo's forehead as though to feel for a fever "He's breathing ok, but he's pretty warm. I'll take him to JENOVA Foundation so he's evaluated and fixed up, but why was Oruka crying upstairs in the living room?" I answered "He thought I hurt Yazoo, and that was when he called me the bad man and took off... I'm just glad he didn't leave the area. I'm too weak to go after him." Sephiroth picked up Yazoo's body and stood up "I'll get help for both of you, but I need someone to calm Oruka down... the poor boy must be overwhelmed from all of this." I nodded in agreement, and coughed up blood. Sephora leaned on me "Cloud!" Sephiroth stood in silence for a while. He sighed "My kids really do like you... don't they? I guess I can't be angry at you for this, at the very least. If you made me children happy, I will have to make sure you're repaid for this adequately. It's only right and fair, and it's what Mother would have wanted. But before that, I need to get help for you and my Brother." Then he walked upstairs, and I protested "Sephiroth! Don't just leave me here!" I coughed more blood after that and fell down, and my vision started to blur "Ungh... what a disaster... this day definitely didn't go as I planned..." Spike cried "Cloud, wake up!" But my consciousness began slipping again. My vision continued getting blurry, and I blacked out.
To be Continued...
(This section will focus on Aeris as the speaker) I arrived at the Mako Reactor to meet up with Yazoo and Sephieroth. I went inside, walking carefully through a large room that seemed very vacant except for the energy flooding around the edges of the ground inside "Hello?" I stopped and glanced around, but I didn't see anyone or get a response "Hmm... that's odd. They were supposed to be here. I'm sure of it." I drew closer to the end of the room, and looked up "That's where Sephiroth found Mother for the first time--the time and place where it all began. War has raged on this Planet ever since... what is the source of this unending violence? I'm sensing a strange distortion in the legacy... what is it?" I heard Yazoo shout from behind "Hey, Big Sister! Where have you been?" I turned around and smiled at him "Just helping to tidy things up and help a certain someone start from the beginning." Yazoo drew closer to me "You mean Cloud?" I nodded silently. He shrugged "I have no clue why Mother would let that scoundrel live, but I guess she has her reasons. As much as I would like to kill him, Mother's will is absolute... and that prohibits me from doing it unless she changes orders." I replied "I know why you want to kill him, Yazoo. You blame him for ruining your Sister." He seemed to grow sad, and stared elsewhere blankly "He did... he ruined her alright. Sephie was sweet and extremely affectionate towards us growing up. She always made us smile even though we didn't have Mother, and everyone around us wanted us dead. But when Cloud attacked us that day, on Reunion Day all those years ago... she changed. All she would think about is killing him and everyone else who stood in her way. She wouldn't laugh, wouldn't even smile... she spent a lot of time crying over our deaths and could only think about killing Cloud and finding Mother so she could get us back. Even though I was killed, her despair was so heavy I could even feel it in the Lifestream... Loz and myself worried for her. We weren't sure she'd make it. She suffered and struggled alone for years because of that monster!" His expression revealed intense anger. I began to fear he would attack Cloud in front of Sephiroth's children he was caring for. Attempting to change the subject, I asked "Are the new children here? I came to help care for them." Yazoo answered "Yes, they're upstairs. Probably sleeping, too. I kept them up there in case Cloud showed up. I can't trust him. Maybe he killed me and Loz, but he's not killing these innocent children. Mother would be furious." Then he turned and left without another word. I felt concerned "Oh dear... this won't be an easy mission." I knew everything would take a long time to return to normal. The war was over, but the storm was far from gone.
Meanwhile, above the kingdom...
(This section will focus on Sephiroth as the speaker) I was heading for the newly rebuilt JENOVA Foundation Headquarters to make sure Hojo was doing his job and not causing trouble, or doing anything sneaky. He had been running the foundation for several days, and Mother hadn't gotten word of suspicious activity, but I still couldn't trust him completely. After I learned how he abused Mother and her power, I knew to be wary of him. All he cared about was science; he had a complete disregard for life and treated both of us like his personal playthings. He didn't care about our feelings or what we desired, and he never seemed to for anyone else either. Hojo only kept tabs on me and Mother because he saw us useful for that horrible project, which he had no right performing to begin with, and to keep his crooked science department in its dirty business. Long story short, we were nothing but experiments to him. This was why I didn't like him running Mother's company. So, I decided to do what I felt was smart and make sure he isn't up to his old tricks again. If he was, I knew I was to eliminate him immediately. Mother told me to kill him if he starts causing trouble again, and I would be happy to do it after what he put us through all those years ago. Rufus was also ambitious, but not in the same way Hojo was. Hojo was simply straight-up mad; he lost his mind over that project. I landed outside the foundation building, and I heard Mother tap into me "Sephiroth, where are you?" I answered "I'm outside the foundation HQ, stopping to make sure Hojo isn't doing anything he shouldn't." Mother sounded concerned "Sephiroth, I'm sorry, but you have to go back to the JENOVA Manor. Yazoo is on his way there, and I have a strong inking he is planning to kill Cloud. You have to stop him!" I felt minor panic well up inside myself "What? I can't let him fight in front of my kids! Worse than that, the place is on the other side of the kingdom! It's too far away for me to beat him!" Mother replied "I know it's a long flight, but you know I can't send Sephieroth or Loz. They will only try to help Yazoo defeat him. The three of them won't be ideal for this; I need you to go instead. You have better self-control than the they do." I sighed and bolted my wing, then took off and flew as fast as I could, hurrying back to JENOVA Manor "Alright, then. I'll fly as fast as possible."
Sometime later, at JENOVA Manor...
(this part will focus on Cloud as the speaker) I had been playing with Sephiroth's children for a few hours, but still hadn't heard anything from him about when he might be back. The kids actually took a shine to me, and they laughed and smiled a lot for much of my time caring for them. I was holding Oruka, who seemed to like me more than the others did, and sitting on the floor instead of Sephiroth's throne. Oruka asked "When is Daddy coming back, Cloud?" I replied "Well, he sent me a message soon after he left that said 'expect me at 4pm', but its way past that now... more like 7pm." Oruka looked worried "Is he coming back?" I nodded "It's ok. He'll come back, Oruka. Daddy is... just running a little late." Oruka moaned and looked towards the stairs. I knew he was scared that something might have gone wrong. I also wondered what was going on. I heard a loud noise come from upstairs, followed by fast footsteps. It sounded like someone was coming. Oruka got off my lap, and hurried toward the stairs happily "Daddy!" I rushed to catch up to him, afraid it might be danger "Oruka, wait!" I managed to catch him before he could go upstairs, but someone came into view before I could run back to the other kids: Yazoo stood in front of me, holding his gun with an angry look on his face. Oruka seemed surprised "Brother Yazoo, where's Daddy?" Yazoo ignored him and kept his attention on me "Hey there, Brother. I thought I'd do these kids a small favor... and take the bad man out myself." I tried to change his mind so the kids wouldn't get scared "I'm not here to hurt them, Yazoo. Just go back home." Oruka slipped out of my arms and backed away, seeming nervous. Yazoo ignored my words "You're not their friend. And you never will be. You killed me, my Brother Loz, held my Sister helpless on your sword.... My beloved Sister Sephieroth, formerly named Kadaj, who used to be the sweetest and most loving sibling I've ever had... You turned her inside out! I did all I could to protect her from that fate, and you ruined her! She suffered for countless years because of the monster you are, Cloud! And now, I'm making you pay for what you did to her." Yazoo raised his gun and fired several shots at me. I fell down from injury, and tried to stop him without fighting "Yazoo, please..! These kids!" Yazoo sneered at me "I don't care what you say. You ruined my Sister's loving heart, and nothing you say can fix that! Damage has been done, Brother, and now you will suffer the same thing." He fired at me again, and I heard the kids crying behind me. I knew it would be impossible to reason with him; he wouldn't stop shooting until he killed me, which was loud and clear. I tried to stop him once more "Yazoo, what about your new siblings behind me? Do you want them to suffer the same way Kadaj did? Think about what you're doing!" His eyes widened a bit, and he lowered his gun a bit. He had a strange expression on his face, and stood in silence. Suddenly, he cried out in pain, holding his forehead with his free hand "Unngh... my head..." I was confused, watching him get on his knees, not moving his hand "Urrgh... it hurts..! What's happening to me..?" I tried to regain my strength, and managed to slide myself close to him "Yazoo, what's wrong?" His voice sounded weak "My head hurts... my chest, my reactor--something isn't right..." I reached a hand to his face, but he closed his eyes and dropped, laying motionless." I was worried now "Oh no..." Oruka hurried to my side and cried "No! Brother!" He looked at me and seemed hurt "What did you do to him?!" I tried to calm him down "I didn't do anything... he just started to hurt, and I tried to stop him without attacking. I don't know what happened." Oruka slapped me and grew angry "You liar! Daddy was right all along! You are the bad man!" Oruka ran past me and hurried upstairs without looking back. All of a sudden, I began to cry in silence. I felt bad for the kid. I felt awful for what I did to Sephieroth, too. Even after me trying to convince her Brothers, they still insisted I was lying. But I wasn't; I really did feel bad about this mess I put their family in. It was all a big and complicated misunderstanding, going back years as a very long story. I couldn't shake away my sorry anymore "What have I done...? I didn't mean for..." I heard two of the kids come up behind me, one of them was a girl with medium length silver hair, and the other a boy with short hair of the same color. The young girl asked "Are you alright, Cloud?" I nodded and forced my tears away, looking at the girl "I should be alright, but there's a long and tough road ahead of me, young miss. I have a lot of work and cleaning up to do, and only I can do it." The girl giggled "Just call me Sephora. It's my name." The boy sat down in front of me and added "My name is Spike." I nodded, and said "I see... Daddy gave you kids good names. Your Dad... he's strong. Very strong... maybe even tougher than me. He doesn't break as easily as I do..." Spike seemed worried "You've had a hard time living in JENOVA Kingdom, right?" I nodded in response. Spike went on "I know Daddy, and Brother Yazoo don't like you or believe anything you say, Cloud... but I believe you." I felt a glimmer of hope inside myself "You do?" He nodded, and Sephora sat next to him "I believe you too. You've had it bad, Cloud... I can tell. But, can we help you?" I shook my head "No, it's too dangerous, kids. Stay home with Daddy, ok? I don't want you kids to get hurt." They both pleaded "Please?" I sighed, and decided it was ok "Alright, fine. But you have to ask Daddy first. And if he says yes, you both have to stay with me, ok?" They both got up and shouted in joy. I managed a faint smile, watching them both celebrate like that. Then, I heard someone else hurrying upstairs, and saw Sephiroth come into view. I was too injured to get up from Yazoo's shots. Sephiroth seemed concerned, and got down to help Yazoo. Suspicious, he turned to me after feeling his chest "Cloud, what happened here?" I explained to him Yazoo's attacking me, and told him about how he suddenly seemed to feel some sort of intense pain that knocked him out seconds later. Sephiroth turned to Sephora and Spike "Is that the truth, my children?" They both nodded, and Sephora asked "Is he ok?" Sephiroth moved his hand over Yazoo's forehead as though to feel for a fever "He's breathing ok, but he's pretty warm. I'll take him to JENOVA Foundation so he's evaluated and fixed up, but why was Oruka crying upstairs in the living room?" I answered "He thought I hurt Yazoo, and that was when he called me the bad man and took off... I'm just glad he didn't leave the area. I'm too weak to go after him." Sephiroth picked up Yazoo's body and stood up "I'll get help for both of you, but I need someone to calm Oruka down... the poor boy must be overwhelmed from all of this." I nodded in agreement, and coughed up blood. Sephora leaned on me "Cloud!" Sephiroth stood in silence for a while. He sighed "My kids really do like you... don't they? I guess I can't be angry at you for this, at the very least. If you made me children happy, I will have to make sure you're repaid for this adequately. It's only right and fair, and it's what Mother would have wanted. But before that, I need to get help for you and my Brother." Then he walked upstairs, and I protested "Sephiroth! Don't just leave me here!" I coughed more blood after that and fell down, and my vision started to blur "Ungh... what a disaster... this day definitely didn't go as I planned..." Spike cried "Cloud, wake up!" But my consciousness began slipping again. My vision continued getting blurry, and I blacked out.
To be Continued...
