Final Fantasy VII Advent Children 2

Chapter 1

The Lifestream... A place of peace and renewal. The precious mako flowing through it, mending The Planet; yet at the same time aiding human kind by giving them the power to scar its ancient body. The souls of the dead, drawn here after death reside in this place, living on as being one with The Planet itself.

The Planet is being restored, and the Calamity from the Skies brought down. The Lifestream continues to mend The Planet, acting as blood and forming the scabs on its wounds that would soon become scars. Scars that would forever remind humanity of what had happened. Yet there were more scars to come...

Midgar had been in ruins for two years now, and not many chose to live there. What was left of the once great city, was now unstable from Meteor's collision.

A lone blonde haired figure chose this time to walk through the great mass of rubble, furthering himself from the people he had cared for. From those who had aided him in the battle two years ago.

Unsure of what he had done then had been the right thing; Cloud had chosen to seclude himself from almost everyone and everything. He often wandered the ruins of Midgar, as if he was searching for someone, or something... But he couldn't remember who or what. He had since decided upon living with a small group of orphaned children, along with Tifa. The children's parents had been killed following Meteor's collision, and they were now under the two's care.

Clad all in a black version of what he had worn what seemed so long ago, Cloud wandered into the church that had belonged to Aeris. Cloud knew that if he hadn't found what he had been searching for, he could at least find himself a sanctuary here. He made his was past the dirt patch on the floor that had once been the garden, casting it a quick glance. Now, the whole church had seemingly become a garden, with vines and plants growing everywhere. He stopped and smiled sadly; Aeris would have loved the way the flowers blossomed like that.

Continuing from there, he made his way up to the altar, kneeled down and stared up at the ceiling. He thought of Aeris' last moments as Sephiroth descended on her. Of Barrett, Vincent, Cid, Yuffie, and Nanaki, all of which he hadn't seen in the past two years.

Barrett had made off to go and live with his 'daughter' Marlene, and tried his hardest to give the child a happy life. Yuffie had returned to Wutai to take on her rightful place as ruler, while Nanaki had gone to wander the wilderness of the planet in search of his kind. Cid returned to Shera and Vincent had strode off to heaven knows where. And that was the last of what he could remember of them since they parted their separate ways.

He thought about Sephiroth and how he had met his demise by Cloud's hands. The man had never truly been evil, but in his insanity, and with JENOVA inside him, there was no choice but to bring him to an end. Though it saddened Cloud, it was the only way to defend The Planet... but he soon became unsure of it. He was angry with himself for bringing death to someone who truly hadn't been the enemy. He hung his head in sadness.

"I think... I just want to be forgiven..." a single tear streamed down the side of his face. "Yes... I want to be forgiven." Cloud said this softly while thinking about the death of the one he had once idolized.

"Cloud..." a voice spoke.

He looked up in shock, slightly startled by the familiar sound of the voice. It was faint though, and the person sounded weak.

"Perhaps I'm hearing voices again..." Cloud shook his head slightly, but he heard it again, a little louder this time. The person sounded like they were in a great deal of pain.

" Cloud... Come... To me..."

That voice. It sounded so familiar. It continued to faintly cry his name, and he followed it, to what was left of the upper part of the church.

"Who's there?" Cloud was looking around for the source of the voice, and his gaze fell over to a white sheet. The voice was being emitted from the sheet and he made his way over.

"Cloud..." the person under it managed to choke. The blonde noticed this person was seated in an old looking wheelchair.

"Who are you?" Cloud reached for the sheet, but the figure-to his surprise- cringed back from his hand.

"Not to be revealed... yet..." it whispered.

Cloud looked emotionless for a few moments, then he glared coldly at the person.

"What is it that you have brought me here for?"

"I... have brought you here to inform you... of danger... I wish to help you."

At this, Cloud almost laughed. How did this person expect to help him, in their condition? And who were they?

"Help me how? There's nothing more to fear in this world... I've seen it all... I've experienced everything... I even... destroyed the Great Sephiroth..."

"Cloud... It will make more sense... In the minutes to come..." at this the figure slowly got to its feet. The sheet fell from its body.

Gasping, and taking a step back, Cloud stared at the person. He was dressed in black, with a long trench coat. His silver hair cascaded to about the back of his knees, and the black he wore made the paleness of his skin and hair stand out even more.

"Sephiroth...?" Cloud stepped back a few more steps.

"Soon..." Sephiroth said softly, and his right half began to glow a brilliant blue-green colour. The entire area of what Cloud could see was engulfed in this colour, as was his left half. He watched with a look of confusion, as the glowing halves of the two of them seemed to split into fragments and switched bodies. Sephiroth's body remained the same, but he looked... empty? The ex-general collapsed into the wheelchair and Cloud felt a tingly feeling in his left side. He looked down on that side and saw his clothing had been replaced with a black trench coat, and he now had a sleeve over that arm. His armour had become smooth and black and now had a carving of a wolf biting a metal ring.

A sharp pain flew through his mind, as though something was invading. He grasped his temples and cried out. After about five minutes of excruciating pain, Cloud felt a presence in his mind.

' And so it begins...' Sephiroth said in his head, and Cloud involuntarily lifted his left arm. He looked at it for a moment, of course not noticing the cat-like pupil that had formed in his left eye. His hand flexed into a fist and his arm returned to his side. ' We have become one...'