Chapter 14: Home of Reunion Prince
(This section will focus on Hojo as the speaker) I was busy working on my computer, focused on analyzing the data i received about the JENOVA cell vortex that appeared in the sky several days ago. What Intel I had, however, wasn't much; all I could glean was what came in before its radiation destroyed my aerial equipment. Finding a way to destroy it was still a long way off from now. I ordered my staff to create replacements in case it happened to appear again, but almost a week had passed and nothing happened. I sighed "How am I supposed to do research on something that won't reopen? This is a problem." My phone rang, and I pulled it from my pocket to answer. JENOVA was on the other line "Hojo, how does it look?" I grumbled "Not great. I don't have enough recon on that thing to find a solution. In fact, far from it. If it remains a no-show, getting data on the vortex will be near impossible. The JENOVA cell readings from it however, that destroying it might be impossible. Even for our technology..." She ignored my doubt "If it won't show on its own, you have no choice but to force it to reveal itself. You're a smart man, Hojo. And you're the only one capable of creating such a thing. If Cloud can't do it, then you're my only hope, Hojo. You will need to create a weapon strong enough to destroy the vortex with one shot. If the vortex isn't destroyed, my kingdom will be flooded with WEAPON cetra; you must keep going. That's an order." I panicked "What?! How am I supposed to do that? The tech here is not nearly advanced enough for something so great! Your Majesty, please give us more time! I beg you!" But i heard static after that. I groaned and slammed my fist, dropping my phone "Goddang it, JENOVA... You think this is so easy..." I lowered my hands and paused in a long silence "Maybe I can't create a one-shot weapon for this, but I can definitely create and develop stronger and stronger specimens. That at least, I can accomplish in less time. But before I do that... what are these new types called WEAPON cetra she mentioned? Based on what she said, they sound very powerful. If they're that dangerous to the kingdom, I imagine they aren't to be trifled with... If I can evaluate just one specimen, however... here we may have a solution to the threat among us."
Meanwhile, at Meteor Monument...
(This part will focus on Kadaj as the speaker) I had been brawling with Seffi at the monument for what felt like forever. I was getting very tired, struggling to fight on and defend myself. His black bladed wings seemed indestructible; even my black materia was no use on this kid. I was in my winged form, gasping for breath and holding my masamune "No way..! You took a direct hit from meteor..! How are you so... unharmed..?!" He laughed "Don't you get it? I'm a better weapon than you are. I don't even scratch. Your katana looks ready to break... but my bladework? Hah! Not even a mark! And thats not all I can do... Look at this." His bladed wings began to glow, streams of green flowing through the black and beginning to charge power. He shifted them, pointing it at me. Seffi smiled "This is my favorite one. Wanna know what it does? It sucks all your life right out of you in a wink! Now that you're exhausted and weak, you're defenseless!" I got ready to fly out of the way "Oh boy... this is bad..!" He cackled, and black and green arrows started homing in on me. I flew out of the way, but something got me from behind, and I was knocked down. I cried out in pain, and began feeling weaker and weaker "No..! I promised Mother I wouldn't die..! I can't let him... win..!" I felt tears fall from my face "Mother... I'm so sorry..! He's just too powerful...!" I heard a woman shout something from close by, and the arrows were pulled from my body. I stopped crying and looked up, and saw Tifa had knocked him down and thrown him off guard "Sister..? How did you..." I realized I reverted to my larval form due to weakness, and my souba had fallen from my grip when I got hit by Seffi's draining attack. Seffi grew angry "What, you..?! Where did you come from?!" Cloud, Yazoo and Loz came behind her, and Seffi groaned angrily "Why you little..! I almost had her done!" Loz hurried to me and helped me up "Are you ok? Can you get up?" I felt too weak to answer, but managed to keep on my feet "I can't keep fighting him... he's too strong. If I keep on against him, I won't make it... Loz, I'm sorry." Loz shook his head "It's ok, but... whoa, what happened?! The monument, the thing in the middle, this place is ruined!" I shook my head "I had to go after him... if he got any further than this, he would've gone straight into town and killed anyone in his path... even if I can't beat him, I had to try. Forgive me." He shook his head "No, it's ok. I would have done the same thing. But the explosion we heard outside... what was that, Kadaj?" I sighed "I tried to use a blast from meteor on him, but it didn't even scratch the boy... I can't believe this thing. It's almost like nothing can hurt him." Loz grew shocked "No way! He survived that?" He ran to the others, and I followed. He told Yazoo about what I did, but Yazoo remained calm "Unbelievable... and you say he took a direct hit, Brother?" Cloud was also amazed "This kid... what is he?" Yazoo shook his head "Brother, what you're looking at is the most dangerous WEAPON cetra ever spoken of--the Reunion Prince. His bladework you see that comes from his back allows him to withstand even the most destructive blows from nearly everything. That is the source of what appears to be a form of immortality. And since magic and swords are harmless on them, taking him out is a daunting task. He can shape his bladework wings into almost anything, covering both offense and defense. There is only one way to defeat Reunion Prince." Tifa said "Well that's lovely. How are we supposed to stop him then?" Cloud turned firm "If his bladework is indestructible, we'll just have to hit his body if we want to do damage. But in order to close in enough, we have to work together and overwhelm him with numbers. Yazoo, do you know anything about his stamina in combat?" Yazoo nodded "Naturally, but I think Kadaj can explain that better than me. She knows all about the WEAPON cetra in family myth." I explained "WEAPON class cetra all have incredibly high battle stamina. Since they are born directly from the cell vortex, they're naturally strong and have overwhelming JENOVA cell concentration. But Reunion Prince specifically, was said to be the strongest of the WEAPON cetra, designed to outlast almost anything else; the greatest weapon of any cetra in existence. His very being is the embodiment of Mother's Infinite Reunion itself, making him near tireless during even the longest of battles. Trying to outlast him is a definite no-go. All of us combined can't do that." Tifa asked "But if he's a physical form of the Infinite Reunion, doesn't that make him a legacy protector?" I nodded "That is true... but the distortion in the JENOVA lifestream caused by the cell vortex has turned him hostile and dangerous to our race. He won't calm down due to the disturbance the cell vortex has caused. It is clearly Seffi himself who is oblivious to this truth... but if we calm him and explain it, there might be hope in him permanently coming to his senses." Cloud turned to Seffi "So this kid is actually supposed to be our friend?" I nodded "Yes. But if we don't keep him calm, he may never come to his senses. We need to keep him from growing hostile again for kingdom security." Cloud stepped forward, seeming determined "If he won't calm down, we'll just have to make him calm down. I'll become his wielder if that's what it takes to keep everyone else safe!" Yazoo seemed surprised "Good plan... if he chooses you, that is. But first, we have to take him down... without killing him. I'll distract him with ranged fire and try to keep him busy. Loz, Tifa, I want you two to help me and keep his attention as long as we can. While we're doing that Cloud, I need you to go in on him and attack from behind. Aim for the base of his bladework wings and we'll have him pinned in no time." Everyone agreed, and I placed my hand on Yazoo's shoulder after they went after Seffi "Just be careful, ok? He's strong... stronger than me." Yazoo smiled at me "Don't worry, I think this will work fine. I won't die on you, Kadaj... I promise you that." Then he went to help everyone else.
(This will move to Cloud as the speaker) The fight had been going as planned so far. I took the chance I had and ran behind the kid, hitting the base of his bladework from behind. However, a strange force had knocked me to the ground, and I dropped my sword "Unngh..! What the..." I realized he had caught me and knocked me down "Hmph! Think you can get me with that slow speed?" I reached for my sword, but he blocked my way by extending one of his black blades that appeared to be part of his wings. However, Loz caught him off guard, and struck him from behind. The boy screamed in pain, and a large electric burst came from behind him, his wings falling down and smoking. Loz happily shouted "Ha! Who's the strongest one now, huh?" Seffi fell down, severed of his wings, and scurried away from us to get a safe distance. He appeared to be crying "Stop it! Leave me alone! I just wanna go home! I don't wanna be in this world!" He fell to his knees and his tears fell on the ground below him. I got up and approached him, and sat down beside him "Hey, Seffi... what did you say?" He noticed me and sat "I'm not supposed to be here... this isn't my home. Yes, JENOVA is my Mother, but this isn't the realm I'm supposed to be in... I came from the Reverse World of this one. My purpose of being there is to sustain the Infinite Reunion that exists in this world and gives everyone here life, and makes the legacy eternal. But then something pulled me from the Reverse World, and I ended up in this one instead... and I can't go back to the Reverse World. I don't know this one, and if I dont go back where I belong, the JENOVA lifestream will run dry. And if that happens, none of you will survive." Loz seemed lost and confused "Uhh... what?" Yazoo came closer "Then we'd better send you back, Little Brother. We can't put the whole kingdom at risk by keeping you here." The boy shook his head "You can't do it either. I can't go back to the Reverse World with that hole in the sky. Something really bad might happen if I try to. The hole in the sky is too powerful, and if it breaks my path going back where I belong, I will get sealed away permanently from the interference. Then everyone dies. I can't control myself in this world... I haven't been myself since I got forced to come. I don't know why!" The boy had tears in his eyes. I put my arm around him and pulled him close "It's ok, kid... it's not your fault. Something bad has been going on, and it's causing weird things to happen. Things that aren't usually supposed to happen. But you're a tough and brave boy, Seffi. You held your own not once, but twice." He looked up at me in silence. I went on "Looks like you've had a rough time... Wanna stick with me? I can help, maybe we'll find a way to get you back home on the way." The boy smiled at me, and his choker began shining "Ok..." A stream of light came from it and entered my body, then pulled back out "But wait... if you don't have any JENOVA cells for me to latch onto, you can't be a wielder... how do I..?" I managed to laugh "Well, I do have some... probably plenty, after what happened that day..." I had a flashback on my encounter with JENOVA when she infected me with type 2 Geostigma, and nodded at the boy "Just search a little harder, Seffi. It's definitely there." The stream of light entered my body, and I felt a mild sting after it vanished. The boy smiled at me "Thank you..." then he lunged into me and hugged me. I remembered the fight just now and said "But what about your bladework wings? How do you get those back?" He giggled, and stood up. I kept my eyes on him, and saw a new pair of his wings grow within seconds; they were exactly like his previous pair "Now that I have a wielder, growing a new bladework set is easy. All I need is the power of my wielder's JENOVA cells to recover and fight on. Without them, I'm useless in a fight." The severed wings from the previous battle didn't vanish though; he simply had a fresh pair. Tifa shook her head "What a mess... look at this place. If we don't fix this, Mother is not going to be very pleased..." Seffi turned around and studied the area "I'm so sorry..! I didn't mean to!" He was crying. I got up and tried to comfort him "It's ok, it wasn't your fault. We'll figure something out." Kadaj came to us "It's not your fault, Little Brother. My destructive power did this too. But you couldn't control yourself during that fight. Don't blame yourself when you weren't yourself." He nodded in silence. Kadaj turned towards the monument "But for now, what matters most is cleaning this up before Mother sees this... unless she already knows about it, that is." I agreed "Right, I'll help your gang fix the mess. We have to work together if we wanna have the area back to normal before JENOVA sees it." Kadaj nodded "Very well, but don't give my Brothers a hard time. Cleaning up will take long enough as it is. I don't need your garbage at a time like this, Brother." Then she walked away, and Seffi was confused "What was that about?" I shook my head "Just ignore it... this will never end. Let's just help tidy up and move on."
To be Continued...
(This section will focus on Hojo as the speaker) I was busy working on my computer, focused on analyzing the data i received about the JENOVA cell vortex that appeared in the sky several days ago. What Intel I had, however, wasn't much; all I could glean was what came in before its radiation destroyed my aerial equipment. Finding a way to destroy it was still a long way off from now. I ordered my staff to create replacements in case it happened to appear again, but almost a week had passed and nothing happened. I sighed "How am I supposed to do research on something that won't reopen? This is a problem." My phone rang, and I pulled it from my pocket to answer. JENOVA was on the other line "Hojo, how does it look?" I grumbled "Not great. I don't have enough recon on that thing to find a solution. In fact, far from it. If it remains a no-show, getting data on the vortex will be near impossible. The JENOVA cell readings from it however, that destroying it might be impossible. Even for our technology..." She ignored my doubt "If it won't show on its own, you have no choice but to force it to reveal itself. You're a smart man, Hojo. And you're the only one capable of creating such a thing. If Cloud can't do it, then you're my only hope, Hojo. You will need to create a weapon strong enough to destroy the vortex with one shot. If the vortex isn't destroyed, my kingdom will be flooded with WEAPON cetra; you must keep going. That's an order." I panicked "What?! How am I supposed to do that? The tech here is not nearly advanced enough for something so great! Your Majesty, please give us more time! I beg you!" But i heard static after that. I groaned and slammed my fist, dropping my phone "Goddang it, JENOVA... You think this is so easy..." I lowered my hands and paused in a long silence "Maybe I can't create a one-shot weapon for this, but I can definitely create and develop stronger and stronger specimens. That at least, I can accomplish in less time. But before I do that... what are these new types called WEAPON cetra she mentioned? Based on what she said, they sound very powerful. If they're that dangerous to the kingdom, I imagine they aren't to be trifled with... If I can evaluate just one specimen, however... here we may have a solution to the threat among us."
Meanwhile, at Meteor Monument...
(This part will focus on Kadaj as the speaker) I had been brawling with Seffi at the monument for what felt like forever. I was getting very tired, struggling to fight on and defend myself. His black bladed wings seemed indestructible; even my black materia was no use on this kid. I was in my winged form, gasping for breath and holding my masamune "No way..! You took a direct hit from meteor..! How are you so... unharmed..?!" He laughed "Don't you get it? I'm a better weapon than you are. I don't even scratch. Your katana looks ready to break... but my bladework? Hah! Not even a mark! And thats not all I can do... Look at this." His bladed wings began to glow, streams of green flowing through the black and beginning to charge power. He shifted them, pointing it at me. Seffi smiled "This is my favorite one. Wanna know what it does? It sucks all your life right out of you in a wink! Now that you're exhausted and weak, you're defenseless!" I got ready to fly out of the way "Oh boy... this is bad..!" He cackled, and black and green arrows started homing in on me. I flew out of the way, but something got me from behind, and I was knocked down. I cried out in pain, and began feeling weaker and weaker "No..! I promised Mother I wouldn't die..! I can't let him... win..!" I felt tears fall from my face "Mother... I'm so sorry..! He's just too powerful...!" I heard a woman shout something from close by, and the arrows were pulled from my body. I stopped crying and looked up, and saw Tifa had knocked him down and thrown him off guard "Sister..? How did you..." I realized I reverted to my larval form due to weakness, and my souba had fallen from my grip when I got hit by Seffi's draining attack. Seffi grew angry "What, you..?! Where did you come from?!" Cloud, Yazoo and Loz came behind her, and Seffi groaned angrily "Why you little..! I almost had her done!" Loz hurried to me and helped me up "Are you ok? Can you get up?" I felt too weak to answer, but managed to keep on my feet "I can't keep fighting him... he's too strong. If I keep on against him, I won't make it... Loz, I'm sorry." Loz shook his head "It's ok, but... whoa, what happened?! The monument, the thing in the middle, this place is ruined!" I shook my head "I had to go after him... if he got any further than this, he would've gone straight into town and killed anyone in his path... even if I can't beat him, I had to try. Forgive me." He shook his head "No, it's ok. I would have done the same thing. But the explosion we heard outside... what was that, Kadaj?" I sighed "I tried to use a blast from meteor on him, but it didn't even scratch the boy... I can't believe this thing. It's almost like nothing can hurt him." Loz grew shocked "No way! He survived that?" He ran to the others, and I followed. He told Yazoo about what I did, but Yazoo remained calm "Unbelievable... and you say he took a direct hit, Brother?" Cloud was also amazed "This kid... what is he?" Yazoo shook his head "Brother, what you're looking at is the most dangerous WEAPON cetra ever spoken of--the Reunion Prince. His bladework you see that comes from his back allows him to withstand even the most destructive blows from nearly everything. That is the source of what appears to be a form of immortality. And since magic and swords are harmless on them, taking him out is a daunting task. He can shape his bladework wings into almost anything, covering both offense and defense. There is only one way to defeat Reunion Prince." Tifa said "Well that's lovely. How are we supposed to stop him then?" Cloud turned firm "If his bladework is indestructible, we'll just have to hit his body if we want to do damage. But in order to close in enough, we have to work together and overwhelm him with numbers. Yazoo, do you know anything about his stamina in combat?" Yazoo nodded "Naturally, but I think Kadaj can explain that better than me. She knows all about the WEAPON cetra in family myth." I explained "WEAPON class cetra all have incredibly high battle stamina. Since they are born directly from the cell vortex, they're naturally strong and have overwhelming JENOVA cell concentration. But Reunion Prince specifically, was said to be the strongest of the WEAPON cetra, designed to outlast almost anything else; the greatest weapon of any cetra in existence. His very being is the embodiment of Mother's Infinite Reunion itself, making him near tireless during even the longest of battles. Trying to outlast him is a definite no-go. All of us combined can't do that." Tifa asked "But if he's a physical form of the Infinite Reunion, doesn't that make him a legacy protector?" I nodded "That is true... but the distortion in the JENOVA lifestream caused by the cell vortex has turned him hostile and dangerous to our race. He won't calm down due to the disturbance the cell vortex has caused. It is clearly Seffi himself who is oblivious to this truth... but if we calm him and explain it, there might be hope in him permanently coming to his senses." Cloud turned to Seffi "So this kid is actually supposed to be our friend?" I nodded "Yes. But if we don't keep him calm, he may never come to his senses. We need to keep him from growing hostile again for kingdom security." Cloud stepped forward, seeming determined "If he won't calm down, we'll just have to make him calm down. I'll become his wielder if that's what it takes to keep everyone else safe!" Yazoo seemed surprised "Good plan... if he chooses you, that is. But first, we have to take him down... without killing him. I'll distract him with ranged fire and try to keep him busy. Loz, Tifa, I want you two to help me and keep his attention as long as we can. While we're doing that Cloud, I need you to go in on him and attack from behind. Aim for the base of his bladework wings and we'll have him pinned in no time." Everyone agreed, and I placed my hand on Yazoo's shoulder after they went after Seffi "Just be careful, ok? He's strong... stronger than me." Yazoo smiled at me "Don't worry, I think this will work fine. I won't die on you, Kadaj... I promise you that." Then he went to help everyone else.
(This will move to Cloud as the speaker) The fight had been going as planned so far. I took the chance I had and ran behind the kid, hitting the base of his bladework from behind. However, a strange force had knocked me to the ground, and I dropped my sword "Unngh..! What the..." I realized he had caught me and knocked me down "Hmph! Think you can get me with that slow speed?" I reached for my sword, but he blocked my way by extending one of his black blades that appeared to be part of his wings. However, Loz caught him off guard, and struck him from behind. The boy screamed in pain, and a large electric burst came from behind him, his wings falling down and smoking. Loz happily shouted "Ha! Who's the strongest one now, huh?" Seffi fell down, severed of his wings, and scurried away from us to get a safe distance. He appeared to be crying "Stop it! Leave me alone! I just wanna go home! I don't wanna be in this world!" He fell to his knees and his tears fell on the ground below him. I got up and approached him, and sat down beside him "Hey, Seffi... what did you say?" He noticed me and sat "I'm not supposed to be here... this isn't my home. Yes, JENOVA is my Mother, but this isn't the realm I'm supposed to be in... I came from the Reverse World of this one. My purpose of being there is to sustain the Infinite Reunion that exists in this world and gives everyone here life, and makes the legacy eternal. But then something pulled me from the Reverse World, and I ended up in this one instead... and I can't go back to the Reverse World. I don't know this one, and if I dont go back where I belong, the JENOVA lifestream will run dry. And if that happens, none of you will survive." Loz seemed lost and confused "Uhh... what?" Yazoo came closer "Then we'd better send you back, Little Brother. We can't put the whole kingdom at risk by keeping you here." The boy shook his head "You can't do it either. I can't go back to the Reverse World with that hole in the sky. Something really bad might happen if I try to. The hole in the sky is too powerful, and if it breaks my path going back where I belong, I will get sealed away permanently from the interference. Then everyone dies. I can't control myself in this world... I haven't been myself since I got forced to come. I don't know why!" The boy had tears in his eyes. I put my arm around him and pulled him close "It's ok, kid... it's not your fault. Something bad has been going on, and it's causing weird things to happen. Things that aren't usually supposed to happen. But you're a tough and brave boy, Seffi. You held your own not once, but twice." He looked up at me in silence. I went on "Looks like you've had a rough time... Wanna stick with me? I can help, maybe we'll find a way to get you back home on the way." The boy smiled at me, and his choker began shining "Ok..." A stream of light came from it and entered my body, then pulled back out "But wait... if you don't have any JENOVA cells for me to latch onto, you can't be a wielder... how do I..?" I managed to laugh "Well, I do have some... probably plenty, after what happened that day..." I had a flashback on my encounter with JENOVA when she infected me with type 2 Geostigma, and nodded at the boy "Just search a little harder, Seffi. It's definitely there." The stream of light entered my body, and I felt a mild sting after it vanished. The boy smiled at me "Thank you..." then he lunged into me and hugged me. I remembered the fight just now and said "But what about your bladework wings? How do you get those back?" He giggled, and stood up. I kept my eyes on him, and saw a new pair of his wings grow within seconds; they were exactly like his previous pair "Now that I have a wielder, growing a new bladework set is easy. All I need is the power of my wielder's JENOVA cells to recover and fight on. Without them, I'm useless in a fight." The severed wings from the previous battle didn't vanish though; he simply had a fresh pair. Tifa shook her head "What a mess... look at this place. If we don't fix this, Mother is not going to be very pleased..." Seffi turned around and studied the area "I'm so sorry..! I didn't mean to!" He was crying. I got up and tried to comfort him "It's ok, it wasn't your fault. We'll figure something out." Kadaj came to us "It's not your fault, Little Brother. My destructive power did this too. But you couldn't control yourself during that fight. Don't blame yourself when you weren't yourself." He nodded in silence. Kadaj turned towards the monument "But for now, what matters most is cleaning this up before Mother sees this... unless she already knows about it, that is." I agreed "Right, I'll help your gang fix the mess. We have to work together if we wanna have the area back to normal before JENOVA sees it." Kadaj nodded "Very well, but don't give my Brothers a hard time. Cleaning up will take long enough as it is. I don't need your garbage at a time like this, Brother." Then she walked away, and Seffi was confused "What was that about?" I shook my head "Just ignore it... this will never end. Let's just help tidy up and move on."
To be Continued...
