Chapter 18: The Struggle
(This part will focus on Hojo as the speaker) For the last several days, I had focused my attention on studying what was described to me as a ‘new type’ in the cetra race, which one employee described as a WEAPON class cetra. The very title had sparked my curiosity, and as the person in charge of securing the future of JENOVA’s kingdom and legacy, I hoped to find a way to exploit the powers of these specimens to empower future generations of the cetra race. However, what I found so far was vague, and only being described as mere legend. In these legends, a powerful being called the Reunion Prince was the overlord of the WEAPON cetra, and it is rumored that his combat abilities are so formidable they can tear the very Planet apart. This part of the text really had me interested, and despite it being legend, I insisted on sending a crew out to find and capture the Reunion Prince for me. Of course they knew exactly who I was talking about and hesitated to do as I said, but I got firm with them and decided if they were successful I would double or even triple their salary as a reward. They couldn’t resist my offer, and went out to search for the boy as I ordered. However, three days have passed, and I haven’t received any word from the team about progress. I began to think something may have gone wrong and the tasked team might have fallen short on the job. I pulled my phone from my pocket to attempt a phone call, but someone bursted through the doors behind, crying out in panic “President Hojo, it’s a crisis! The group you sent on the hunt for the Reunion Prince—theyre gone!” I shoved my phone in my pocket and turned to the man “Whats this? You mean they are dead?!” He nodded and pulled a voice recorder from his pocket “It was horrible, so gruesome! That child is a monster! I taped the encounter as long as I could before he could get me…” I was frustrated and snatched the recorder from him, then pushed the play button and listened to it “Oh my goodness, there he is! He’s real!! Come on, we have to catch him!” There were footsteps that I heard, the group was apparently running. I heard a loud noise that sounded like a massive blade, followed by dying scream from whoever got hit. A young boy’s voice could also be heard afterwards “Hmph! Is that all you’ve got, just blindly run at the most dangerous weapon in existence? And without a weapon of your own?” Another man shouted “Keep going! This might be the only chance we get!” Then another heavy blade sound, followed by another dying scream. The boy’s voice said “Do not touch me. Keep trying to catch me, and I’ll tell my wielder about you idiots.” Another man’s voice cried “Oh my god… you monster..! What are you?!” There was loud panting, and then a loud screech blotted out the rest before the recording finished. After I finished listening, I turned back to the worker, my expression hard “Is this child as powerful as this recording makes him sound?” He nodded, a fearful look on his face “I got away, but the others… they’re dead… We were powerless! Even the special materia you supplied us with was no good… not on this thing!” I angrily cried “What?! Impossible! No one has ever breached the ectoplasmic materia!” He shook his head in horror “I’m afraid its true, sir… I’m sorry, but catching the Reunion Prince is simply impossible… he’s far too powerful. There’s no way we can get close enough to use the tranquilizer guns on him… those black things on his back, theyd cut right through every shot… Hojo sir, I apologize.” I shook my head, keeping my expression firm “Then we’ll simply need a bigger team to bring him in. Even the strongest of specimens can be overwhelmed by numbers. Round up a bigger crew and try again—go after him!” He cried “Are you insane?! How could you risk so many of our lives over a stupid experiment?!” I insisted “You will bring me the Reunion Prince—no matter how many of you it takes to do it. That’s an order!” He panicked “But sir, you don’t understand what we’re up against! That child—that monster is powerful enough to wreck an entire army by himself!” I slapped him and grabbed him by his shirt “I am ordering you! Do what I say, or I’m scrapping you right now!” He backed down and mumbled “Aiyee..! Y-yes, sir..!” Then he turned around ran downstairs. I grumbled “Hmph! What a miserable disgrace he is…”
Meanwhile, Kadaj and the others were travelling about…
(This section will focus on Cloud as the speaker) We were still driving around, searching for Seffi. We’d been travelling for several hours, but he was nowhere to be found. JENOVA already told Kadaj telepathically that Seffi flew away to find me and make sure I was ok, so we didn’t go back to Mako Reactor to climb to the top and get him. Kadaj groaned “Ugh! Its no use, I cant trace him anywhere!” I asked “No… you don’t think Hojo got him, do you?” Kadaj disagreed “No way! For as strong as he is, even Hojo’s armed staff cant touch him. He can send all the men he likes to catch him, but with Seffi’s bladework wings, they’re powerless. Ranged combat is especially useless against the Reunion Prince with that at hand. I doubt they’ll get him, but as the boss of JENOVA SOLDIER, its my duty to make certain he is safe, even if the threat is minor.” I thought about him, picturing him fighting off Shinra troops with his bladework wings. I knew Kadaj had a valid point, but I still couldn’t help worrying for his safety. Out of nowhere, I heard Aeris’s voice in my head “You have to protect him, Cloud. If Hojo captures the Reunion Prince, it would mean disaster for the Planet. Don’t let that monster get him!” Yazoo agreed with Kadaj “You’re right, Sister. Not only are his bladework wings excellent in ranged combat, but they make getting close near impossible as well. Seffi wields one of the greatest weapons ever spoken of, throwing massive blades at his enemy that are capable of cutting through almost anything. It takes a great deal of overall strength to even block his attacks from those. Moreover, it took all four of us just to make progress in a fight against him. One on one, he could defeat any of us with little effort.” I remembered my conversation with JENOVA and felt amazed “Seffi… what is he? I’ve never seen such power… not even from Sephiroth. Is he really a physical embodiment of the Infinite Reunion and the lifestream of the Reverse World?” Loz cried “Whoa! Are you for real?!” Yazoo added “It would explain his overwhelming combat abilities, at least… that kind of power is the only thing equal to Mother’s—above all of us, besides the cell vortex that appeared in the sky before. To have the full power of the JENOVA Lifestream and also wield the infinite powers of the legacy on your own… its unspeakable strength. Go figures there are so many horror stories told about the boy…” Kadaj added “And why Hojo would target him, too. I’ll bet he even wants the boy more than Big Brother.” I asked “But doesn’t that make him immortal?” Kadaj laughed “Of course it does, stupid! Did you even need to ask?” Out of nowhere, I felt a powerful energy surge run through me “Ungh… what’s going on..?” Yazoo teased “What’s wrong, Brother? Are you hurt by another stigma spell?” I grumbled “Gaah..! No, it’s not that! This is different!” Kadaj spoke, seeming to respond to someone I couldn’t hear “Loud and clear. Ahh, so that’s what his problem his… thanks for the intel.” Yazoo asked “Was that Mother?” Kadaj answered “Yes. Apparently whatever is making Cloud uncomfortable is a so-called ‘wielder’s response’. Since he’s a human, he has higher susceptibility to discomfort from elevated JENOVA cell radiation levels. And since the Reunion Prince is now directly linked to him, the signal from Seffi is what’s bothering him physically, a sign that our target is close by. The worse he feels in this case, the closer we are to Seffi until he comes into direct contact with Cloud.” Yazoo said “Then we’d better stop right here and go the rest of the way by foot. I don’t want him crashing into us and making a mess because he cant control it.” We all stopped, getting off our motorbikes and walked as a group from there forward. Loud crashing noises and explosions could be heard somewhere up ahead. Yazoo said “Hmm… seems like the boy already has company ahead. We’d better hurry if we don’t want a messy city and several casualties.” Concerned, I asked “You don’t think he’s at the monument again, do you..?” Kadaj snapped at my words “He’d better not be! We just got done fixing that area days ago! If he ravages it again, we might get in serious trouble. That place is sacred to Mother.” A wave of fear ran through me and moaned in reaction, remembering how dangerous and scary JENOVA got when she was angry at me “Great…” Loz added “Uh, yeah its great! Mother gets scary dangerous if you make her mad!” Yazoo explained “And if she does get angry, guess who will get the blame for it?” I protested “What? This isn’t my fault, it was an accident!” Yazoo disregarded my words “Hmph… say what you will, but the bottom line is as the boy’s wielder, you are responsible for him and his well-being. So if something like that happens, the wielder takes the blame, not the WEAPON cetra. Whether you agree or not doesn’t mean a thing; those are the rules, Brother.” I grew angry at that “Why do I have to take the blame for everything that goes wrong around here?! Would you just cut it out?” Yazoo didn’t answer me. Kadaj and Loz also remained silent. I got ready to hit Yazoo for his remarks, but a loud blast that came from behind us stopped me; something seemed to crash, knocking all of us down. Loz cried “What the..?!” He was the first to recover, and the rest of us came after him. I saw a large blob of green and black, which appeared to be some kind of JENOVA cell bomb “What’s that? And where did it come from?” Kadaj drew closer to it and explained “This seems to be a Geostigma plant, but… these are extremely rare. Somehow, I have a feeling its from an attack by none other than Young Seffi. He’s the only one besides our Mother who is powerful enough to wield these out of thin air.” Yazoo added “But if he’s throwing stigma plants, then that means Hojo already beat us to him… I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s hurry.” I turned firm and shook my head “Hojo… he’s such a monster! Putting countless people at risk just to capture the Reunion Prince… he hasn’t changed a bit.” Loz moaned fearfully “I cant stand him… he’s so scary…” He began crying, and I went to comfort him. Yazoo shook his head “I cant call Loz a baby on this one… Hojo is a crazy man. I cant stand him myself.” Kadaj went ahead of us and lead the way, and the rest of us followed.
Sometime later, at JENOVA Kingdom Square…
We finally arrived at the kingdom city square, and the area was a complete disaster; there were bodies everywhere, the victims apparently employees of JENOVA Foundation. I worried “No! He got ahead of us…” Kadaj turned serious “I knew there was gonna be big mess! Cloud, my Brothers, I want the three of you to go after the boy. Find him as quickly as you can. While youre doing that, I will fly out and get Sephiroth’s help, just hang on!” Kadaj bolted a black wing and flew out of sight, and Yazoo turned to me “Brother, I want you to take the lead for now. You can locate him more easily than me and Loz. Just follow the vibrations you feel and we’ll find him in no time.” I nodded, and lead us through town. I felt a wave of dizziness first, then heavy static noises rang through my head. I began to gasp for breath, and my vision became distorted after a while, thick black and green lines fading in and out. I grew weak and fell down sometime thereafter, dropping my sword. Yazoo and Loz stopped someplace ahead of me, and I tried to get back up, retrieving my sword. It felt difficult just trying to stand “No, I cant let them get him… Seffi, hang on..! I’m almost there…” Loz cried “Oh wow! I don’t believe it!” Yazoo drifted “More stigma plants… theyre everywhere… we must be close.” I managed to look up, and saw Seffi high up, his black bladework wings arranged in a large circle behind him. He appeared to be sleeping, his eyes closed and his face relaxed. I shouted “Seffi, hang on! I’ve got you!” I gained sudden strength, running in his direction as fast as I could “Those powers would really help me right now… if only I could force it…” I remembered the level 2 stigma I had, and tried to force it to trigger, standing still and relaxing myself as best I could. Before I knew it, I succeeded, and took my cetra form the level 2 stigma granted me. I bolted a black wing, and flew up to help Seffi. When I reached him, I placed my hand on him to make sure he was still breathing “You’re gonna be ok, Little Brother… I promise.” I got ready to carry him, and the large circle behind him went away, his wings returning to their usual form on his back as numerous blades grouped together to resemble Sephiroth’s. I held the boy in my arms, and returned to the ground. Yazoo appeared very worried and approached me “Is he… dead?” I shook my head “No, but the poor kid is horribly exhausted… he must’ve fought so hard he was forced into sleep from exhaustion…” Yazoo nodded in understanding “Alright, well at least we got him before Hojo. That was the goal of the rescue mission.” Loz worried “But Yazoo, if he really does die from fighting too hard… what’s gonna happen to us? You said he was the body of the Infinite Reunion, right?” Yazoo shook his head “That wasn’t me; that was Brother that said it. But if it really is true… then we’re all done for.” I turned firm “No! I’m not gonna let it end like that! I said I would save JENOVA and the rest of you no matter what, and I will!” Loz appeared speechless “Huh..? But didn’t you kill us that one time..?” Yazoo was also surprised by my display “You… are an idiot… but that persistence you showed just now… You might be the one after all.” I heard someone fly overhead, and Sephiroth landed between us, Kadaj landing beside him. Sephiroth glanced at me suspiciously “You, young man… you are..?” I tried to hide my shock at him not recognizing me, and kept silent. He turned away and shook his head “No, impossible… you cant be the same man. The same man wouldn’t bother protecting the Reunion Prince, let alone be kind to my Little Sister and her precious Brothers.” Kadaj put her hand on his shoulder and said “Big Brother, that man is Cloud… even if you don’t believe it.” Sephiroth sighed and turned back to me “Hmph, so the tall tales I heard about you were true, after all… but don’t expect me to like you so easily. Your test is far from finished. But still…” He stared blankly ahead, as if thinking about something “I never would have expected a failure like you to be granted such a great blessing from Mother as the level 2 Geostigma… it seems she saw something in you that wasn’t there before. But I will continue to reserve my judgement, for Mother’s sake… and for my Sister’s, too.” I sensed that Sephiroth was feeling troubled and asked “Sephiroth, is something the matter?” He turned his attention to me “So you knew it, too… that I’m worried about something. But it’s far too dangerous for you yet… and youre the only human being left who can destroy the Divine Vortex.” I argued “But isn’t that challenge the idea? If I only get tasked with easy work, I wont get strong enough on time for that battle.” Yazoo shook his head “I gotta admit, Brother has a valid point…” Sephiroth nodded in understanding, and turned firm “You might already know it, but ever since being appointed as JENOVA Foundation President, Hojo has been causing lots of problems around the kingdom. He captured young Kadaj here a while ago, he locked up Mother’s Sister YUROVA underground in a JENOVA cell chamber that he sealed off out of panic, and this time he’s gone and made a disaster across the kingdom city area, ravaging much of it while sending one army after another to capture the Reunion Prince. Mother has ordered that two family members or trusted individuals storm the Foundation’s Headquarters in order to put an end to the corrupt President’s madness. However, I was given restrictions on the number allowed to attempt this in order to keep from drawing excessive attention. Only two may infiltrate the Foundation at a maximum, preferably one to keep things quiet and make an effective approach to the top floor to stop Hojo from raining violence across the kingdom. And here is another complication: it has to be someone he fears. You know how strong-willed Hojo is. If he is expecting to be attacked, I doubt he will go down without a fight. And since none of us have seen him fight, and he has the power of JENOVA Foundation’s technology and electronics at his hands, there’s no telling what he may have up his sleeve in a worst-case scenario. If you are to go on this mission, Cloud, I advise you to proceed with extreme caution. And I cant allow you to go by yourself, either. It’s too dangerous; none of us know what might be ahead here. Knowing all of this, are you still willing to go stop him?” I turned my expression hard and nodded “I’ll teach that monster a lesson, no matter what it takes to do it.” Sephiroth replied “Very well… now choose either me or one of my younger siblings here to go with you. Any of us will do, but the choice is yours.” I paused in silence, glancing at each of them. Loz smiled boldly at me, Yazoo pulled his gun as if to prepare; Kadaj giggled under her breath and drew her souba, giving a mischievous smile. I looked at Sephiroth, who remained still and expressionless, but kept his gaze on me. I stopped to think, and then had my choice made up “Sephiroth, I think you should go with me for this one.” He seemed a bit surprised and said “Oh, me? Wow, you have me shocked… but I’ll happily go with you. There are some things I can teach you about utilizing the level 2 Geostigma on this mission. If you don’t learn how to use it to its fullest extent, fighting will be extremely difficult on this mission. Moreover, you may even faint from the high levels of JENOVA cell radiation that are present in the building.” I asked “But what about Seffi? He needs help…” Sephiroth answered “Don’t fret; the boy is weak, but he will be fine. Kadaj, I want you and your Brothers to protect him while we storm the foundation.” Kadaj nodded and took Seffi from me. Sephiroth stepped ahead of me and said “Follow me. I’ll teach you everything you need to know from here. We’ll start with flying first. Your landings aren’t the best, are they?” I felt embarrassed and kept silent. Sephiroth smiled in a familiar way and signaled for me to follow, flying off the ground. I hurried to catch up, flying after him “Hey, wait!” I managed to catch up, and we focused on reaching the JENOVA Foundation HQ.
To Be Continued…
(This part will focus on Hojo as the speaker) For the last several days, I had focused my attention on studying what was described to me as a ‘new type’ in the cetra race, which one employee described as a WEAPON class cetra. The very title had sparked my curiosity, and as the person in charge of securing the future of JENOVA’s kingdom and legacy, I hoped to find a way to exploit the powers of these specimens to empower future generations of the cetra race. However, what I found so far was vague, and only being described as mere legend. In these legends, a powerful being called the Reunion Prince was the overlord of the WEAPON cetra, and it is rumored that his combat abilities are so formidable they can tear the very Planet apart. This part of the text really had me interested, and despite it being legend, I insisted on sending a crew out to find and capture the Reunion Prince for me. Of course they knew exactly who I was talking about and hesitated to do as I said, but I got firm with them and decided if they were successful I would double or even triple their salary as a reward. They couldn’t resist my offer, and went out to search for the boy as I ordered. However, three days have passed, and I haven’t received any word from the team about progress. I began to think something may have gone wrong and the tasked team might have fallen short on the job. I pulled my phone from my pocket to attempt a phone call, but someone bursted through the doors behind, crying out in panic “President Hojo, it’s a crisis! The group you sent on the hunt for the Reunion Prince—theyre gone!” I shoved my phone in my pocket and turned to the man “Whats this? You mean they are dead?!” He nodded and pulled a voice recorder from his pocket “It was horrible, so gruesome! That child is a monster! I taped the encounter as long as I could before he could get me…” I was frustrated and snatched the recorder from him, then pushed the play button and listened to it “Oh my goodness, there he is! He’s real!! Come on, we have to catch him!” There were footsteps that I heard, the group was apparently running. I heard a loud noise that sounded like a massive blade, followed by dying scream from whoever got hit. A young boy’s voice could also be heard afterwards “Hmph! Is that all you’ve got, just blindly run at the most dangerous weapon in existence? And without a weapon of your own?” Another man shouted “Keep going! This might be the only chance we get!” Then another heavy blade sound, followed by another dying scream. The boy’s voice said “Do not touch me. Keep trying to catch me, and I’ll tell my wielder about you idiots.” Another man’s voice cried “Oh my god… you monster..! What are you?!” There was loud panting, and then a loud screech blotted out the rest before the recording finished. After I finished listening, I turned back to the worker, my expression hard “Is this child as powerful as this recording makes him sound?” He nodded, a fearful look on his face “I got away, but the others… they’re dead… We were powerless! Even the special materia you supplied us with was no good… not on this thing!” I angrily cried “What?! Impossible! No one has ever breached the ectoplasmic materia!” He shook his head in horror “I’m afraid its true, sir… I’m sorry, but catching the Reunion Prince is simply impossible… he’s far too powerful. There’s no way we can get close enough to use the tranquilizer guns on him… those black things on his back, theyd cut right through every shot… Hojo sir, I apologize.” I shook my head, keeping my expression firm “Then we’ll simply need a bigger team to bring him in. Even the strongest of specimens can be overwhelmed by numbers. Round up a bigger crew and try again—go after him!” He cried “Are you insane?! How could you risk so many of our lives over a stupid experiment?!” I insisted “You will bring me the Reunion Prince—no matter how many of you it takes to do it. That’s an order!” He panicked “But sir, you don’t understand what we’re up against! That child—that monster is powerful enough to wreck an entire army by himself!” I slapped him and grabbed him by his shirt “I am ordering you! Do what I say, or I’m scrapping you right now!” He backed down and mumbled “Aiyee..! Y-yes, sir..!” Then he turned around ran downstairs. I grumbled “Hmph! What a miserable disgrace he is…”
Meanwhile, Kadaj and the others were travelling about…
(This section will focus on Cloud as the speaker) We were still driving around, searching for Seffi. We’d been travelling for several hours, but he was nowhere to be found. JENOVA already told Kadaj telepathically that Seffi flew away to find me and make sure I was ok, so we didn’t go back to Mako Reactor to climb to the top and get him. Kadaj groaned “Ugh! Its no use, I cant trace him anywhere!” I asked “No… you don’t think Hojo got him, do you?” Kadaj disagreed “No way! For as strong as he is, even Hojo’s armed staff cant touch him. He can send all the men he likes to catch him, but with Seffi’s bladework wings, they’re powerless. Ranged combat is especially useless against the Reunion Prince with that at hand. I doubt they’ll get him, but as the boss of JENOVA SOLDIER, its my duty to make certain he is safe, even if the threat is minor.” I thought about him, picturing him fighting off Shinra troops with his bladework wings. I knew Kadaj had a valid point, but I still couldn’t help worrying for his safety. Out of nowhere, I heard Aeris’s voice in my head “You have to protect him, Cloud. If Hojo captures the Reunion Prince, it would mean disaster for the Planet. Don’t let that monster get him!” Yazoo agreed with Kadaj “You’re right, Sister. Not only are his bladework wings excellent in ranged combat, but they make getting close near impossible as well. Seffi wields one of the greatest weapons ever spoken of, throwing massive blades at his enemy that are capable of cutting through almost anything. It takes a great deal of overall strength to even block his attacks from those. Moreover, it took all four of us just to make progress in a fight against him. One on one, he could defeat any of us with little effort.” I remembered my conversation with JENOVA and felt amazed “Seffi… what is he? I’ve never seen such power… not even from Sephiroth. Is he really a physical embodiment of the Infinite Reunion and the lifestream of the Reverse World?” Loz cried “Whoa! Are you for real?!” Yazoo added “It would explain his overwhelming combat abilities, at least… that kind of power is the only thing equal to Mother’s—above all of us, besides the cell vortex that appeared in the sky before. To have the full power of the JENOVA Lifestream and also wield the infinite powers of the legacy on your own… its unspeakable strength. Go figures there are so many horror stories told about the boy…” Kadaj added “And why Hojo would target him, too. I’ll bet he even wants the boy more than Big Brother.” I asked “But doesn’t that make him immortal?” Kadaj laughed “Of course it does, stupid! Did you even need to ask?” Out of nowhere, I felt a powerful energy surge run through me “Ungh… what’s going on..?” Yazoo teased “What’s wrong, Brother? Are you hurt by another stigma spell?” I grumbled “Gaah..! No, it’s not that! This is different!” Kadaj spoke, seeming to respond to someone I couldn’t hear “Loud and clear. Ahh, so that’s what his problem his… thanks for the intel.” Yazoo asked “Was that Mother?” Kadaj answered “Yes. Apparently whatever is making Cloud uncomfortable is a so-called ‘wielder’s response’. Since he’s a human, he has higher susceptibility to discomfort from elevated JENOVA cell radiation levels. And since the Reunion Prince is now directly linked to him, the signal from Seffi is what’s bothering him physically, a sign that our target is close by. The worse he feels in this case, the closer we are to Seffi until he comes into direct contact with Cloud.” Yazoo said “Then we’d better stop right here and go the rest of the way by foot. I don’t want him crashing into us and making a mess because he cant control it.” We all stopped, getting off our motorbikes and walked as a group from there forward. Loud crashing noises and explosions could be heard somewhere up ahead. Yazoo said “Hmm… seems like the boy already has company ahead. We’d better hurry if we don’t want a messy city and several casualties.” Concerned, I asked “You don’t think he’s at the monument again, do you..?” Kadaj snapped at my words “He’d better not be! We just got done fixing that area days ago! If he ravages it again, we might get in serious trouble. That place is sacred to Mother.” A wave of fear ran through me and moaned in reaction, remembering how dangerous and scary JENOVA got when she was angry at me “Great…” Loz added “Uh, yeah its great! Mother gets scary dangerous if you make her mad!” Yazoo explained “And if she does get angry, guess who will get the blame for it?” I protested “What? This isn’t my fault, it was an accident!” Yazoo disregarded my words “Hmph… say what you will, but the bottom line is as the boy’s wielder, you are responsible for him and his well-being. So if something like that happens, the wielder takes the blame, not the WEAPON cetra. Whether you agree or not doesn’t mean a thing; those are the rules, Brother.” I grew angry at that “Why do I have to take the blame for everything that goes wrong around here?! Would you just cut it out?” Yazoo didn’t answer me. Kadaj and Loz also remained silent. I got ready to hit Yazoo for his remarks, but a loud blast that came from behind us stopped me; something seemed to crash, knocking all of us down. Loz cried “What the..?!” He was the first to recover, and the rest of us came after him. I saw a large blob of green and black, which appeared to be some kind of JENOVA cell bomb “What’s that? And where did it come from?” Kadaj drew closer to it and explained “This seems to be a Geostigma plant, but… these are extremely rare. Somehow, I have a feeling its from an attack by none other than Young Seffi. He’s the only one besides our Mother who is powerful enough to wield these out of thin air.” Yazoo added “But if he’s throwing stigma plants, then that means Hojo already beat us to him… I have a bad feeling about this. Let’s hurry.” I turned firm and shook my head “Hojo… he’s such a monster! Putting countless people at risk just to capture the Reunion Prince… he hasn’t changed a bit.” Loz moaned fearfully “I cant stand him… he’s so scary…” He began crying, and I went to comfort him. Yazoo shook his head “I cant call Loz a baby on this one… Hojo is a crazy man. I cant stand him myself.” Kadaj went ahead of us and lead the way, and the rest of us followed.
Sometime later, at JENOVA Kingdom Square…
We finally arrived at the kingdom city square, and the area was a complete disaster; there were bodies everywhere, the victims apparently employees of JENOVA Foundation. I worried “No! He got ahead of us…” Kadaj turned serious “I knew there was gonna be big mess! Cloud, my Brothers, I want the three of you to go after the boy. Find him as quickly as you can. While youre doing that, I will fly out and get Sephiroth’s help, just hang on!” Kadaj bolted a black wing and flew out of sight, and Yazoo turned to me “Brother, I want you to take the lead for now. You can locate him more easily than me and Loz. Just follow the vibrations you feel and we’ll find him in no time.” I nodded, and lead us through town. I felt a wave of dizziness first, then heavy static noises rang through my head. I began to gasp for breath, and my vision became distorted after a while, thick black and green lines fading in and out. I grew weak and fell down sometime thereafter, dropping my sword. Yazoo and Loz stopped someplace ahead of me, and I tried to get back up, retrieving my sword. It felt difficult just trying to stand “No, I cant let them get him… Seffi, hang on..! I’m almost there…” Loz cried “Oh wow! I don’t believe it!” Yazoo drifted “More stigma plants… theyre everywhere… we must be close.” I managed to look up, and saw Seffi high up, his black bladework wings arranged in a large circle behind him. He appeared to be sleeping, his eyes closed and his face relaxed. I shouted “Seffi, hang on! I’ve got you!” I gained sudden strength, running in his direction as fast as I could “Those powers would really help me right now… if only I could force it…” I remembered the level 2 stigma I had, and tried to force it to trigger, standing still and relaxing myself as best I could. Before I knew it, I succeeded, and took my cetra form the level 2 stigma granted me. I bolted a black wing, and flew up to help Seffi. When I reached him, I placed my hand on him to make sure he was still breathing “You’re gonna be ok, Little Brother… I promise.” I got ready to carry him, and the large circle behind him went away, his wings returning to their usual form on his back as numerous blades grouped together to resemble Sephiroth’s. I held the boy in my arms, and returned to the ground. Yazoo appeared very worried and approached me “Is he… dead?” I shook my head “No, but the poor kid is horribly exhausted… he must’ve fought so hard he was forced into sleep from exhaustion…” Yazoo nodded in understanding “Alright, well at least we got him before Hojo. That was the goal of the rescue mission.” Loz worried “But Yazoo, if he really does die from fighting too hard… what’s gonna happen to us? You said he was the body of the Infinite Reunion, right?” Yazoo shook his head “That wasn’t me; that was Brother that said it. But if it really is true… then we’re all done for.” I turned firm “No! I’m not gonna let it end like that! I said I would save JENOVA and the rest of you no matter what, and I will!” Loz appeared speechless “Huh..? But didn’t you kill us that one time..?” Yazoo was also surprised by my display “You… are an idiot… but that persistence you showed just now… You might be the one after all.” I heard someone fly overhead, and Sephiroth landed between us, Kadaj landing beside him. Sephiroth glanced at me suspiciously “You, young man… you are..?” I tried to hide my shock at him not recognizing me, and kept silent. He turned away and shook his head “No, impossible… you cant be the same man. The same man wouldn’t bother protecting the Reunion Prince, let alone be kind to my Little Sister and her precious Brothers.” Kadaj put her hand on his shoulder and said “Big Brother, that man is Cloud… even if you don’t believe it.” Sephiroth sighed and turned back to me “Hmph, so the tall tales I heard about you were true, after all… but don’t expect me to like you so easily. Your test is far from finished. But still…” He stared blankly ahead, as if thinking about something “I never would have expected a failure like you to be granted such a great blessing from Mother as the level 2 Geostigma… it seems she saw something in you that wasn’t there before. But I will continue to reserve my judgement, for Mother’s sake… and for my Sister’s, too.” I sensed that Sephiroth was feeling troubled and asked “Sephiroth, is something the matter?” He turned his attention to me “So you knew it, too… that I’m worried about something. But it’s far too dangerous for you yet… and youre the only human being left who can destroy the Divine Vortex.” I argued “But isn’t that challenge the idea? If I only get tasked with easy work, I wont get strong enough on time for that battle.” Yazoo shook his head “I gotta admit, Brother has a valid point…” Sephiroth nodded in understanding, and turned firm “You might already know it, but ever since being appointed as JENOVA Foundation President, Hojo has been causing lots of problems around the kingdom. He captured young Kadaj here a while ago, he locked up Mother’s Sister YUROVA underground in a JENOVA cell chamber that he sealed off out of panic, and this time he’s gone and made a disaster across the kingdom city area, ravaging much of it while sending one army after another to capture the Reunion Prince. Mother has ordered that two family members or trusted individuals storm the Foundation’s Headquarters in order to put an end to the corrupt President’s madness. However, I was given restrictions on the number allowed to attempt this in order to keep from drawing excessive attention. Only two may infiltrate the Foundation at a maximum, preferably one to keep things quiet and make an effective approach to the top floor to stop Hojo from raining violence across the kingdom. And here is another complication: it has to be someone he fears. You know how strong-willed Hojo is. If he is expecting to be attacked, I doubt he will go down without a fight. And since none of us have seen him fight, and he has the power of JENOVA Foundation’s technology and electronics at his hands, there’s no telling what he may have up his sleeve in a worst-case scenario. If you are to go on this mission, Cloud, I advise you to proceed with extreme caution. And I cant allow you to go by yourself, either. It’s too dangerous; none of us know what might be ahead here. Knowing all of this, are you still willing to go stop him?” I turned my expression hard and nodded “I’ll teach that monster a lesson, no matter what it takes to do it.” Sephiroth replied “Very well… now choose either me or one of my younger siblings here to go with you. Any of us will do, but the choice is yours.” I paused in silence, glancing at each of them. Loz smiled boldly at me, Yazoo pulled his gun as if to prepare; Kadaj giggled under her breath and drew her souba, giving a mischievous smile. I looked at Sephiroth, who remained still and expressionless, but kept his gaze on me. I stopped to think, and then had my choice made up “Sephiroth, I think you should go with me for this one.” He seemed a bit surprised and said “Oh, me? Wow, you have me shocked… but I’ll happily go with you. There are some things I can teach you about utilizing the level 2 Geostigma on this mission. If you don’t learn how to use it to its fullest extent, fighting will be extremely difficult on this mission. Moreover, you may even faint from the high levels of JENOVA cell radiation that are present in the building.” I asked “But what about Seffi? He needs help…” Sephiroth answered “Don’t fret; the boy is weak, but he will be fine. Kadaj, I want you and your Brothers to protect him while we storm the foundation.” Kadaj nodded and took Seffi from me. Sephiroth stepped ahead of me and said “Follow me. I’ll teach you everything you need to know from here. We’ll start with flying first. Your landings aren’t the best, are they?” I felt embarrassed and kept silent. Sephiroth smiled in a familiar way and signaled for me to follow, flying off the ground. I hurried to catch up, flying after him “Hey, wait!” I managed to catch up, and we focused on reaching the JENOVA Foundation HQ.
To Be Continued…
