Fate (Final Fantsy VII and VIII)

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Cloud's Point of Veiw

As I hurry down the hallway, I stop by the bathroom.

"Tifa?" I called. She didn't answer. If she was in there, she would've.

Something isn't right... I confirmed to myself, then I let my instincts kick in. Before I could tell myself to, I was running down the hallway where my room was. I quickly unlocked the door, slammed it open, then rushed in to get something.

A sword. I didn't remember how I got this, but they trusted me to have it in my room. It was a large sword that would probably be heavy, but I carried it around a lot, so I was used to it.

I grabbed the sword, then let my instincts lead me to Tifa.

I ran down multiple corridors until I found the one that she was in.

For an odd reason, the Garden had a false copy of a creature that fell onto the Planet. It, I mean she, was called Jenovah. I didn't know where the real Jenovah was, and I didn't know why the Garden had a false copy.

Maybe to protect the real one, I guessed.

Our copy was kept in a room that was found in the hallway I was in now. And lying on the floor in that hallway was Tifa, with a scar across her chest.

The door to where they kept the false Jenovah was open, and deep voice was echoing from the room. I looked around for something to cover my face. I don't know why I did so. I found an old military helmet and decided to use that. I put it on, then rushed into the room with "Jenovah".

"Ah, Mother," the voice said. "For some odd reason, I don't believe you are my mother."

I walked into the room, and when I saw the voice's owner, I couldn't believe my eyes.

And I... I...

"Let's see if you are the real Mother," he said.

Protecting "Jenovah" was a glass tube full of a strange liquid, just so it would look like the real Jenovah. He leaned against that glass tube, and put pressure onto it. Now was my chance. I pointed the sword at his back, and charged, sending it through his body. The sword went through him, and cracked the glass, causing some of the liquid to seep out.

"Who... are you?" he asked. Not like I was going to tell him.

"I... I respected you and... and admired you... but...!"

"Y-you... you bastard..." he muttered. I pulled the sword out of his body, and he collapsed. I looked down at him, breathing heavily as I thought about what I had just done. But then I remembered who I was fighting for.

"Tifa!" I said, then ran out of the room. I ran to Tifa, throwing off the helmet as I ran, the I picked her up and moved her out of the doorway. I rested her against the wall and brushed the hair from her face. Her deep brown eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at me.

"Cloud... you really came for me...

So you... kept your... promise, huh?" she asked slowly. "You... really did come... when I was in a pinch. Even... if it meant breaking rules."

"Yeah," I whispered back. "I'm sorry. I was a little late getting here."

"Not at all," she smiled warmly. "It's fine... Cloud."

Then a loud noice came from the room he was in. I looked up, and saw that he had completely shattered the glass.

"Now we will see," he said, the using the long sword he owned to cut off "Jenovah's" head. Then he carried it out of the room.

"By the likes of you..." he muttered, "By the likes of you... by the likes of you humans."

Full of anger at him for hurting my loved one, I charged at him again, screaming his name.

"SEPHIROTH!"

"Don't push it, kid!" Sephiroth bellowed as he lifted his sword in frot of him to block my attack.

"Finish him off... Cloud..." Tifa murmured, then she fell unconscious.

"Right," I said to no one, then charged at him once more.

This time, I had pissed him off. He stuck his sword right through me. I cried out in pain as he swung his sword, throwing me off. I landed on a nearby terrace. But Sephiroth wasn't done. Once again, he stuck his sword through me, almost the same place in my body he did before. He then swung his sword lightly, now holding me over the edge of the terrace. I barely had any strength left. I weakly looked over my shoulder, and looked down. The ground... it was so far down that...

I had two choices now. To either die due to Sephiroth's fury, or fall to my death.

"You know what..." I muttered quietly to myself, "I... I chose neither!"

I lifted up my shaky hands, and used them to grab the sword. My blood trickled down the blade as I pushed it farther into my body, moving my body to a place where my feet could feel the sturdy floor of the Garden under me. Then I swung my entire body so hard that it threw Sephiroth away from his own sword. He hit the wall with a hard impact. He looked up at me, and I fell to the ground.

"Impossible," he said.

I was breathing heavily, holding onto my life. Sephiroth continued to stare at me, then he asked, "What the hell are you?"

I didn't answer. Didn't he mean to ask who I was, not what I was?

He laughed, then grabbed "Jenovah's" head.

"You're not the real Mother," he sighed, "but I'll use you to find her!"

Then he jumped off the terrace.

"Sephir...oth..." I breathed, then fell unconcious.

Quitsis' Point of Veiw

I heard a student scream. I heard two students scream. A girl first, then a young man. Who the hell was in the Garden? And did he know how much hell I was going to put him through for hurting some of my students? Usually, I wasn't like this. I was usally really kind to others. But this man had gone to far. Breaking into the Garden and injuring two students? I couldn't stand that. But I was too late getting to the area he was. I ran down the corridor I heard the screams from, and when I arrived, he was jumping off the terrace.

Suicide? I wondered. I brushed the thought away. Students now, thinking later. There was an unconscious girl leaning against one of the walls. As I hoisted her onto my back, I spoke into an earpiece that Headmaster Cid had given to me. He had given an earpiece to every instructor.

"The intruder left," I said, "but he has injured two students." I looked over my shoulder at the girl. I knew this girl. She was in my classroom before the Code Red. She left to go to the bathroom minutes before the intercom came on. "The students were Tifa Lockhart," I confirmed, "and..."

I walked out onto the terrace where another body lied. This one was the young man. This one was in my classroom when I left. How did he get out? I swear I locked the door!

"And Cloud Strife," I said. "Cloud's injuries may be fatal. I need help in the Jenovah hallway."

I could do nothing for Cloud, so I took Tifa back to her room. Another SeeD came down the hall to get Cloud.