"Nooooo!!!" Aeris screamed at the top of her lungs. She rushes to Cloud's side and craddles his nearly lifeless body in her arms, "Please Cloud-san, say something." Tears roll down her cheeks and land softly onto Cloud's face, making him regain consciousness slightly.
"A....Aeris?" came a faint reply.
She holds him tightly, "You'll be alright, I promise. He will pay for what he has done to us." she gently kisses his forehead and lets him rest on the floor.
"Sephiroth," she says glaring angrily, "first you took my life and now you try to take away Cloud's? You're such a heartless monster.....I will never forgive you!"
Sephiroth tilts his head back and laughs with a flair of superiority in tone, "You amuse me greatly Cetra. I find it entertaining watching you let your emotions control your mind."
Aeris sheds even more tears, "How dare you.....say such things......you wouldn't know what it is like to feel the same emotions as I do. You're too cold to know what it is like."
"Y...yeah.....you tell 'em girl....." Cid utters nearby, he too on the floor and badly injured.
"We're here for ya Aeris." says Barrett.
"This isn't good.......we can pull through I know it," mutters Yuffie
"Be strong Aeris, we believe in you." the voice of Red XIII so comforting despite his current circumstance.
"Fight with all your heart and soul Aeris, the fate of the world rests on you now." adds Vincent.
"Right......we're all here for you Aeris...." Cloud says, trying to smile.
Aeris looks at each of her companions.They all are counting on me, she thinks.I can't let them or the Planet down. I must defeat Sephiroth.
Meanwhile, Sephiroth roars with taunting laughter. "Oh such futile words of comfort. Just lay there and let your souls become one with the Planet. The power shall become one with me and I will be the all mighty god of the Planet. Ha! Ha! Ha!"
This enraged the Ancient greatly, not the venegence type of anger, but righteous fury the swelled up like a hurricane within her. It is her destiny to protect the Planet at all costs. It was fated in the stars of what road both her heritage and her responsibilities would lead her. This is the day the Ancients of old times had prepared her for.
"You.....you have cruel and twisted soul." Aeris begins, feeling the magic within her rising to amazing levels,"such evil, the Planet does not deserve it. You will pay for what you have done to me and my friends!!"
Sephiroth dances his wrist that holds his great masamune blade, listening half-heartedly, "You impress me Ancient, you have grown in confidence over the years, so death the first time wasn't enough for you isn't that right?" he shrugs, "It does not matter anyhow. The energy of this Planet shall become one with me. Fear not, for I am the Savior of this dying world."
Her anger as well as her power greatly rises, inside she is shocked at her own potential. She hides her amazement from Sephiroth though.
"You only want power. You don't care about anyone but yourself. You will destroy to get what you want. I've had enough!!...." and with that her body is surrounded by an emerald green aura. Her long and soft brown hair waves as though a large wind just passed through her body.
"I killed you once before Ancient," growls Sephiroth, "and I won't hesitate do it again!" With that he charges towards her, masamune blade pointed directly for her heart.
The blade never reaches Aeris. Sephiroth's momentum and speed drove him directly into her magic barrier, which sends both the sword and Sephiroth in different directions. He clenches his fists and grits his teeth tightly as he rises.
"For my mother," says Aeris in a chant," for my father, for my friends, and for all the inhabitants of the Planet......and by the power of the Ancients, may all the evil that plague this world vanquish for all time."
She spins her staff in her hands, in its blur it appeared to be a grey shield. Her magic that she harnesses from within her gather at the centermost point of the staff. They gather and glow with increasing strength. Sephiroth, seeing the strength in this not-so-ordinary woman, he too begins powering his own magic. Aeris continues the beginning of her spell, until it reaches to the point where she knows she is ready.
"You won't defeat me Cetra" cries Sephiroth as he glows with a blue aura, "my power is much greater than yours."
"Maybe so," Aeris replied,"but there are powers I have that you could never possess. The power of love, friendship, and compassion. Without it you could never rule this world. " her tone heightens to a yell at the top of her lungs, "Sayonara Sephiroth!!!"
At last Aeris releases her magic, by this time it gathered in her staff so greatly that when she unleashed it onto Sephiroth it came to him as a huge green beam of pure magic. Sephiroth's eyes widen in shock, this woman, this Ancient, had remarkable strength that he was never truly aware of. He ignored this thought as he too fires his own blast at the oncoming attack. Both energies clashed, neither one taking over the other. Aeris winces as she tries to hold on to her strength trying to force her attack through, Sephiroth does likewise.
"Give........up.........Cetra......" mutters Sephiroth, trying to keep up against Aeris' attack.
The last of the Ancients felt her power slipping, this didn't look good, if she were to fail the world is doomed and she will certainly die once again. No, she wouldn't let it happen. Yet somewhere she slowly begins to doubt herself and her purpose.
It is at this moment that Aeris takes a quick glance over her fallen companions. They all look pretty weak and beaten up, but they somehow pulled every ounce of their own strength to keep themselves conscious to witness Sephiroth's downfall. A thin smile comes across her face as memories of the good times float in her mind. The laughs, the tears, the joys, the pains, so many things that made her life worth while. She flashes a broad grin at her allies just before looking at Sephiroth sternly.
"Never," and with every bit of energy within her she forces all of it into the blast. Her jade magic beam miraculously overtakes Sephiroth's blue energy cannon, but most importantly, it took out Sephiroth himself. He lets out a shrill cry of pain as his body is totally engulfed by the attack, his body burns up in its heat and his soul vanishes into nothingness.
Feeling dizzy and very weakened Aeris drops to her knees and says softly, "We are safe now," just before slumping down on the floor, unconscious.
Three nights later Aeris opens her eyes to find that she's in her house. Turning her head to the side she smiles and says in a low whisper, "Hey guys."
"You finally came around Aeris," replies Red XIII.
"We were almost gettin' worried 'bout ya," says Barrett.
"Oh, Lady Luck sure smiled down us huh?" adds Cid jokingly, "you certainly did some mean butt-whuppin didn't ya Aeris?"
With that they all laughed, filling the room with its pleasantness. Even as the laughter faded, the smiles on all of their faces didn't. They knew what happened and felt very much like heroes and heroines for their great accomplishment. Aeris' destiny was now fulfilled, but there was someting she wanted for herself in her second lifetime. Something she could've had the first time around, but could only possibly be achieved now.
After a long conversation with her good friends, they left the room to let her rest. Cloud walks in just a few mintues after their departure, looking at her very happily.
"I'm glad you're alright, you were out of it for sometime, I got scared." he said.
"Oh don't you worry about me. I feel good as new already." she gives him a smile of reassurance.
Cloud returns the smile, "that is very good news to hear." he sits down on the edge of the bed, taking her hands in his.
She can't help but to blush just slightly, "Cloud-san.......I.........I......"
"Ssshh," Cloud replies gently placing two fingers to her lips.
As the lights in the room grew dim and the night even darker, both Cloud and Aeris realized how much in love they really were. As the night faded and the morning drew near, Aeris could almost hear her ancestors singing throughout the heavens. At last she was fully content with herself, for the one thing she wanted in life has now come to pass.
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