Hidden Identity (Book Two)-Complete

Year Five, Day Thirty-Nine Part 2

Cloud POV

"This lab...everything went wrong here..."

Cress-I mean 'Sam'-puts a hand on my shoulder. "Cloud, you can sense him, too. He's really, really close."

She has her dual blades drawn in expectation of the worst. I wonder how she's holding up. She never told me what her past with Sephiroth was and why she hates him almost as much as I do. I won't pry, though. She'll tell me when she's ready.

"He's very close," I announce to the group. "So close that I can almost smell the blood on his hands."

I lead the way further into the lab, passing familiar dusty bookshelves and various equipment for experiments. He's so close, so very close. My whole body is tingling. Something keeps pulling me forward, closer and closer to him. And this time, I won't let him live.

This place is bigger than I remember it being. At this rate, we might miss the room he's in. "Alright, same thing as we did when we first entered the mansion. Split into groups of two, if you find him, don't engage in combat until the rest of us can join you. Unless, of course, he spots you and tries to kill you. Then, defend yourselves."

Silently and tensely, they ready their weapons and split into their pairs, heading off in various directions. Sam and I exchange a look before heading further into the maze of bookshelves and lab equipment. I can't tell what she's thinking; she's hiding her emotions well.

"You alright?" I ask her in an undertone.

She nods, not looking at me. "I'm fine. We need to focus on stopping Sephiroth. We can worry about other things after that."

"Right."

We continue in silence as we round another corner and freeze. There, standing calmly directly ahead of us, is Sephiroth. His long silver hair falling like a waterfall around his shoulders and down his back to his waist. As always, he's dressed in that black coat with its white pauldrons. It's open in the front to reveal his bare chest, which is unnaturally devoid of any hair.

"SEPHIROTH!!" I yell as loud as I can, hoping the others hear. The Buster Sword is already in my hands, ready to slice him to pieces.

Strangely, Sephiroth doesn't draw his Masamune. He just calmly looks over at us and gestures around to the towering bookshelves on either side of him. "Being here brings back memories. Are you going to participate in the Reunion?"

I scowl and lift my large blade. "I don't even know what a Reunion is!"

"Jenova will be at the Reunion, joining the Reunion, as a calamity from the skies."

Jenova...a calamity from the sky? "So, she wasn't an Ancient!?"

"I see. I don't think you have the right to participate," Sephiroth says almost condescendingly. His gaze shifts from me to Sam. "I will go north past Mt. Nibel. If you wish to know, then follow."

He holds up a green materia and throws it at me. Caught off guard, it hits me hard in the gut, and I stumble back from the impact. He smirks and lifts into the air. He flips and zooms off overhead, disappearing before we even get a chance to fight him.

At that moment, the others come rushing  around the corner. Tifa looks around, "are you two alright? Where's Sephiroth?"

"You all took your time," I mutter. Then, louder, I say, "he got away, but he was nice enough to tell us where he was going. North past Mt. Nibel to the Reunion with Jenova..."

"You let the bastard get away again!?" Barret shouts angrily.

I glare at him. "Not intentionally. In case you didn't know, he can fly, which, for a fact, is something I cannot do. He actually flew right over your heads, and you didn't even notice."