Inheritance (Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth)

꧁ L ꧂

A/N: Excuse my awful understanding of the dimension Zack found himself thrown into after fighting Sephiroth with Cloud. It's probably inaccurate, but let's just roll with it since this is fanfiction. Honestly, the whole Sephiroth Reborn boss fight had me a little confused. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter! Love you all!!!
~✨Celestial✨~
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Through the dark mist, Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Yuffie, Red, and Cait Sith chased after Sephiroth. They found themselves face-to-face with the abomination known as a Jenova Lifeclinger. The horrific monster was powerful, possessing strong magic that could blow the party members away and out of the area inhabited by the creature.

The group didn't hold back as they attacked. They refused to let this monster win even when it began to knock them out of the mist one by one. Cloud, Tifa, and Red were the last three remaining against the abomination.

The three dodged, blocked, and attacked the Jenova Lifeclinger, but wouldn't be coming out of the battle unscathed. Tifa and Red were the next ones to be tossed out of the battle by the monster, leaving only Cloud to face it on his lonesome.

While dodging one of the skull-faced abomination's spells, Cloud's attention was drawn to an emerald shard that began to glow. It was a fragment of Lailah's gemstone. The shard floated into the air before a powerful blast of wind magic sliced through the monster. It shrieked in pain and was hunched over, having been incapacitated by the attack.

Stunned, Cloud stared wide-eyed at the gem fragment. Lowering his sword, he reached out his hand toward the shard and could feel Lailah's warmth. A gentle smile appeared on the boy's face. "Thank you, Lailah..."

Raising his sword, Cloud jumped into the air and delivered a heavy blow to the creature's face. Mako spewed from the wound, the powerful concentration being enough to shred through the flesh-like walls and destroy them entirely. With it gone, there was nothing keeping him separated from the others any longer.

"You good?!" Barret questioned as he and the others ran over to the ex-SOLDIER.

"Yeah," Cloud answered.

The Jenova Lifeclinger's body grew in size as wing-like appendages appeared. It roared, its large form looming over the group. Although it had grown in size, the group wasn't afraid and attacked. They continued to wear down the monster by using melee attacks and their materia to target its weaknesses of ice and wind. They used synergy abilities whenever they could to do even more damage to the abomination.

The Jenova Lifeclinger managed to catch the party by surprise by knocking them all back with a single powerful spell. Just before it could strike them while they were down, another fragment of Lailah's gemstone radiated with life and soared into the air, erecting a barrier just before the monster released its powerful spell.

As the group got back to their feet and realized what happened, they stared at the gemstone fragment in disbelief.

"Lailah..." Yuffie mumbled the girl's name, feeling the familiar warmth of her magic.

"Th-This is her magic..." Tifa muttered in bewilderment.

"A small part of her is still with us," Cloud said. "Let's not waste this chance."

"Right!" Red shouted.

Once the barriers vanished and the fragment disappeared, the party continued its assault on the Jenova Lifeclinger. They weakened it more and more until the monster became desperate. It concentrated all the mako in its body into its chest and barraged the field with lasers.

Cait Sith covered his head with his megaphone. "Look out!" He was launched into the air as the lasers from the monster shattered the ground. It broke into various pieces and plummeted downward through the sanctuary, separating the party.