Eternal Fall

Final Fantasy and its characters belong to Square Enix.
Warnings: Violence

Eternal Fall: part X: Angelic


"IT HURTS! Shit... it burns.... What the hell is wrong with me?! There's someone... someone in my head...! I don't wanna die here Sephiroth.... AGH! Shit... shit it burns...."

Sephy held the soldier’s hand tightly. They had been fighting the day before, and he had collapsed suddenly.

"What the hell is it?! What's wrong with me? A... a biological weapon? Poison? Tell me... tell me it's something in the water. NO! No no no.... Shut up! Shut up! Tell her to shut up!"

"There is no one here," Sephy whispered softly.

"No... she's in my head! In my head! I'm not crazy! It won't stop! She won't stop!"

"I know how you feel," Sephy softly replied, looking around for the doctor, who was busy with many patients.

"No, you don't understand. I really hear someone, Seph! It's not like... AGH!!!! Stop... stop.... It's not like... my consciousness…no… it‘s… it‘s not unconscious either…. No, it's someone. This has to be some fucking Wutai trick... like the demons! SHIT! She keeps telling me to die! No! I'm not... I'm not some vile creature you can kill off you stupid bitch! Shut the fuck up!!!!"

Sephy narrowed his eyes as he heard his self-proclaimed guardian angel laughing. The nurses returned and told him he hand to leave, but he needed to speak with the voice in his head anyway. He gently touched the soldier's shoulder and walked out of the tent. He quickly made his way to a secluded area and sat on a large rock.

"Would you mind telling me what's so funny?"

Why did you leave him? she laughed. Wasn't that all very funny?

"It was not funny! That man is dying! And from the sounds of things, you won't let him rest."

What makes you think it's me in his head?

"I just know. And I know I'm the only one who hears you. If other people get a guardian angel, it doesn't speak with them as you speak with me. I've known that for years. My question is why? Why won't you leave me alone? You're silent for so long... sometimes months. And then when I think I've been released from you, you return!"

Perhaps I act as the guardian angel for many people.

Sephy heard the soldier screaming. "What have you ever done that was ever of any benefit to anyone?! Stop torturing him!"

Suddenly Sephy heard the nurses cry out, and he ran to see what the problem was. To his shock, he found the soldier lying there, dead. But it wasn't as though the nurses had never seen death before. The soldier looked as though he had mutated. His eyes were still open wide, and there was something about him that wasn't human anymore. It was as though he was in the beginning stages of a transformation into a monster. Sephy began to wonder if it had anything to do with the monsters in this area. They were easy to fight, but sometimes people had complications if they received a bite from one. But it was never this bad.

After everyone had calmed down, they began to treat the body as they always did. Sephy walked out silently. He thought it was sad, because that soldier was very nice to him. He had refused to let Sephy scout alone. And now he was gone. It was the way of life. He was fragile.



About a week after the incident, Sephiroth awoke to people hovering over him. He nearly fell out of his cot when he saw the Turks standing there.

"Sephiroth. You haven't changed a bit. How old are you now? Seventeen? We had hoped you were a late bloomer, but it seems you'll never be a man."

Sephiroth stood up and stretched slowly. "Why are you here?" he asked, not intending to speak to them for long.

"We are here to give you a new dress code."

"Dress code?"

"Yes. From now on you must cover your body with a much stronger material. You must be very careful not to let your blood come into contact with people. In fact, try not to bleed at all," the man grinned.

Sephy sighed. "We're at war. I'm not trying to get hurt."

"That soldier died because of you. I‘m guessing he tried to treat an open wound of yours?"

Sephy froze and turned to look at the four Turks who stood there. "What?"

"Sephiroth, there is something in your blood that will kill many of the soldiers outside of your class. As you know, first class members of SOLDIER get certain treatments. You are no different."

"I'm not a first class soldier."

The man laughed lowly. "You've been a first class soldier since you were brought here. In fact, you were moved up to first class a year after you were transferred to Midgar. Of course, it wouldn't do to tell you that and make you think you no longer had to try hard. You're actually the superior of many of the people stationed here."

Sephy blinked and lowered his eyes, calculating this in his head. Calculating everything he was made to do.

"So," the Turk said. "First of all, you will need a change of uniform altogether. Get out of that low rank uniform. Second, cover up more."

"Since when is Mako radiation treatment contagious?"

"It isn't the Mako. Let's just say that a few of the SOLDIER members have a little something extra that we've been testing. A few of them, like the soldier in that tent have odd reactions. You have been the most successful with the treatment. But since you have, and since your body is stronger in every way, the cells in your blood can invade and attack the cells of another person if there is a bodily fluid transfer. Of course, there are very low odds that this will happen again. That soldiers body is among the weakest we've seen."

Sephy tried to process everything they were saying to him. He didn't recall ever receiving any new treatment. He thought about the tests he'd been through all his life, but couldn't think of anything inside of him that could possibly kill someone. The Turks assured him that the odds were about as good as being struck by lightning, but he never wanted to see anyone die that way again.

"I'll wear something heavier," Sephy said finally. "I'm sure there is strong material somew--"

"The first class SOLDIER uniform isn't much stronger. You'll have to wear gloves, and taller boots wouldn't hurt."

Sephy nodded slowly. It was almost overwhelming. Not only could he kill people with his very blood, even if the odds made it nearly impossible, but he had been a first class member of SOLDIER for most of his life, and he never knew it.

One of his superiors dropped off a new uniform for him, and the Turks left shortly after. He watched as his old blue uniform and his old camouflage uniform were taken away. He stared at his knew uniform for a long while before getting dressed. It was actually very comfortable, and it almost looked like casual wear. The pants and the shirt were a dark gray color, and the shirt was sleeveless. Sephy found that he was provided with a shirt with longer sleeves, and he changed into that instead. Changing clothes was almost comical to him. He was actually given options. He put on the metal shoulder guards and some black gloves and boots. Now he was covered and ready to go.

As soon as he stepped out into the open, he received many stares from those around him. Now people really didn't know how to act. A few other members of first class SOLDIER were present, and they yelled words of encouragement and congratulations. Sephy gave them a calm nod of appreciation, and they waved him over.

"You're with us now," one of them said. "We're moving into Wutai's main town soon."

Sephy nodded and looked around at the eyes that glowed much like his own. He wondered if they had received the new treatment the Turks had spoken of. He had no idea how far the studies of Jenova had come since Hojo had experimented on his body. He had no idea that all members of the first class branch, rather than a select few, were now injected with Jenova cells.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sephy had no trouble adjusting to a higher position. Now, instead of simply following orders, he also gave them to people of a lower rank. He had very few superiors on the field with him now, and when he did, they had no trouble leaving him in charge of important missions. The other members of first class began to comment on his good fortune when it came to receiving so many missions to command.

Sephy also noticed something else while he was fighting in the same battles with the other first class members. They all had strength and speed that the other soldiers seemed to lack. None of them were as strong as him, but they were all stronger than the average human. And it was only recently that Sephy found that he was stronger than most people... if not everyone he came into contact with. It wasn't until this war that he could truly test that fact, and now he knew it was true. But he could never figure out why.

Sephy had many thoughts racing through his head as he made his way to high ground to take a look at the land around him. Wutai was so close now, and he could actually see people moving around within the city. He watched them all as they ran around in a panic.

"Sephiroth!" someone called to him from a distance. "Look out!"

Sephy blinked and turned around quickly. He saw a group of soldiers pointing... but at what? He looked around and saw a young woman in the distance. She was staring straight at him, but appeared to be unarmed.

"Run!" he heard the soldiers yelling. "She's a s...ner! She's a sum...r!"

He couldn't hear them... the wind carried off the last of their sentences. He turned to her, assuming they were saying she was a soldier. But she made no move to attack, and she was so far from him that he would see any action coming. Or so he thought....

Sephy blinked as light burst from her body. Water started to pool at her feet and wet the sand there, but it seemed to come out of no where. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. Then, it was as though water appeared out of no where, creating an eerie mist around her body. Sephy kept his attention her, and he finally realized what the others were yelling.

"She's a summoner!"

He suddenly drew in a sharp breath when he realized that she wanted to attack him. And if that was the case, running would do him no good. If she was a strong summoner, he was already dead, because the attack from a summon creature was nearly impossible to survive if the creature was brought forth from someone very powerful. Sephy stood there, glancing around and calculating all possible options and their consequences. He threw his pack to the ground and reached inside, finding heavily protected and bound grenades. But other than those, and his gun, he was defenseless against a summon attack. Finally he remembered his magic, which he often decided against using since it didn't seem justified most of the time. He didn't like people dying slowly, so he usually used a weapon that made death quick and painless. He decided that it wasn't the time to worry about that. He focused his energy, just as the woman had a thin wall of water surround her entire body.

Sephy stood there, his eyes wide as the summon creature seemed to form and appear from a simple mass of water. It grew scales, a tail, a mouth, fangs, and claws... all from the water. Soon Sephy found himself looking at a blue dragon, and it uncoiled itself from around the woman it was protecting. It was the largest creature Sephy had ever seen. It hissed at him as it rose into the air.

"Run!" the soldiers called to Sephy. He realized they were still there, and he turned to see them grabbing what weapons they could.

Something rolled out of Sephy's bag and tapped his boot. Sephy looked down to see his red materia there. It was the one Dr. Gast had given to him long ago. Sephy couldn't remember even putting it into his pack. As far as he could tell all these years, it didn't have an element that could be used. It only gave him knowledge of how to use the elements. Sephy picked it up while keeping his eyes on the dragon. Suddenly it charged at them. Sephy heard the soldiers behind him yelling, and he knew the camps weren't far behind them. This creature would destroy the camps and everyone in them if something wasn't done about it. He quickly let his eyes fall on the woman who controlled the creature and saw that her hand appeared to be glowing red. But she was quickly hidden from view by a massive tidal wave of water that burst from behind the creature. It was impossible. The wave started in front of the woman and dragged across the dry, rocky land. It followed the creatures movements, and it was headed straight for them.

I have to remove that woman from the situation somehow, Sephy thought to himself. Wait.... Her hand was... red!

Sephy quickly held up the red materia in his hand. Within a second, he closed his eyes and searched it. He became one with the powers inside, and he combined all of the elements and secrets it contained.

"I know your secret!" Sephy said softly. "I realize it now!" Light burst from Sephy's body suddenly. "Come out, Kjata!"

By now, a massive group of soldiers was making their way to Sephy, while another group scrambled to protect the camps. The few first class SOLDIER members that were there burst ahead of the others to get to Sephy, but soon they were all blown back by a massive burst of energy. Everyone looked up to see Sephy glowing with power. At first they thought he was being attacked as lightning and ice and fire all danced around his body. But they realized that it was a much different situation when the dragon stopped and backed away. The giant wave that followed it also seemed to freeze in time. Something began to form in front of Sephy. It looked like an extremely large multi-horned wild boar, except for its knowing eyes. It was so big that it cast a shadow over Sephy as the energy surrounded them both.

Sephy opened his eyes and looked at the summoner who stood in the distance. He could see her smirking at him, telling him that her summon creature was more powerful by far. He let his eyes fall on his fully formed summon and slowly made his way to it.

"Thank you," Sephy whispered, "For all you've taught me."

The giant boat seemed to understand, for it nodded gently before looking at the dragon in front of it.

Sephy nodded. "Let's get him. It's the only way."

Sephy poured as much energy as he could into his summon, just as the dragon charged with a burst of speed, the tidal wave behind it following. It would reach Sephy within seconds, and within those seconds, Sephy would have to counter somehow.

"Heavy lightning for the entire target, concentrate the majority of ice to the wave's base and the majority of fire to the dragon itself," Sephy said to both Kjata and himself. And Kjata obeyed instantly, though Sephy had spoken to him through a bond that did not require words.

The soldiers watched as the boar charged forward a split second after the dragon did. Sephy stood there watching and concentrating on directing his energy to Kjata. All of this happened in a manner of seconds, and in the blink of an eye, the dragon was upon Kjata, and it's wave slammed against the boar. To Sephy's quick eyes, it had seemed as though he lost. But again, in a split second, the base of the wave turned to ice, but not before a mammoth amount of electricity could pulsate throughout the wave and the dragon itself. Soon the dragon halted completely, it's wave a solid block of ice. The dragon fell from the sky as Kjata's fire began to burn, and the woman who summoned it immediately dismissed it and drew it back into the materia, wave and all.

Now her eyes were filled with disbelief. She ran away in fear, but Sephy made no attempt to stop her. Neither did any of the other ShinRa soldiers, who stood there in shock.

Sephy walked over to Kjata slowly. "Thank you. I owe you so much. All these years you've been there without me knowing."

The Kjata looked at him with gentle eyes before Sephy dismissed him to sleep in the materia once more. The silver-haired young man smiled as he held the red materia close. He turned around, only to see hundreds of eyes on him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sephy awoke in the middle of the night. They were sleeping in short shifts, but he found that he couldn't sleep. He knew he wasn't nervous, even though Wutai had managed to push back their forces and keep them away from the city. But something wouldn't let him rest.

~Come to me........~ he heard a voice call.

"Was that you?" he asked his so-called guardian angel. But there was no answer. It wasn't her.

~Come........~ it said again. The voice was neither a man's nor a woman's. It was simply something Sephy understood.

He slid off of his cot and made his way out of the tent. He crept past the soldier on duty, who was taking the time to eat.

He walked and walked for a long time. No one saw him, even though the moonlight was shining on his silver hair. He walked across sand and rock, and there came a point where he had to climb over a steep rocky hillside. His foot caught some loose rock when he looked up at the beautiful moon, and before he knew it he had tumbled all the way down to the other side of the rocky hill. He simply stood up and dusted himself off. When he looked up, there was a cave in front of him. But it was obvious that the entrance was perfectly carved by humans.

Drawn to the cave, Sephy slowly walked in. It was actually lit and he walked inside quietly, thinking that someone might be there. He had come unarmed, but hadn't realized it until now. He walked for a short while before coming to the main room inside. He didn't see any people, but something else caught his eye.

~You found me........~

Sephy blinked and made his way to the center of the room. There was a long crystal coffin there. He felt no fear as he walked up to it. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw what lay inside. It was a katana sword, with a blade that was probably longer than he was tall. The blade seemed to glow with a light of its own.

~Take me with you........~

Sephy removed the crystal lid from the coffin and reached down, wrapping his hand around the handle of the katana that rested there. As soon as he touched it, he knew it had brought him here. There was energy running through it, and he couldn't explain why or how.

"Who goes there?!" someone yelled.

Sephy turned around and stood, still holding the katana. A group of Wutai men stood there, daggers drawn. They all gasped when they saw him with the sword.

"I mean you no harm," Sephy said softly. "I only wanted to see--"

"The Masamune! This boy has lifted the Masamune!" yelled one of the men. "Kill him!"

Sephy's eyes widened. "I am not here to harm you. Please do not make me take unnecessary action."

The men charged at Sephy and he automatically brought the blade in front of him. The men stopped when he extended the blade. Sephy looked at it in awe as the long blade extended far in front of him. The men were clearly afraid. No… more like horrified.

"You can wield it," one of the men whispered. "You are the pure one. But it cannot be. The ShinRa must not win this war! You heart his pure, but you must forgive us for this. Our families are in Wutai! We must kill you!"

"Stop," Sephy said. And that was it. He walked past the men unharmed. They stood there frozen in time. Sephy had put a temporary stop spell on them even though he didn't have the necessary materia. It took more energy to perform a spell without materia, but Sephy could do it. He was a powerful mage now, though he was usually against using spells that altered people's actions. It didn't seem fair. But in this case, he couldn't bring himself to use this sword on those men. By the time the spell wore off, Sephy was already halfway back to camp.



"Fire! Put it out! Put it out now!"

Sephy heard the voices and broke into a run. He made his way over the last rocky hill and found the camp on fire. Wutai had moved on to its last resort, and it had brought out the materia that it had been working so hard to hide. Sephy saw the Wutai army coming closer, beams of light extending from them as they used the materia to cast spells directed at the camp. Sephy had never seen so many spells being cast at once. The ShinRa hadn't authorized the use of the Mako weapons until further tests could be made. But Sephy knew his army had those weapons, and he knew they would use them now. The materia for spells and the deadly Mako weapons would no longer be given to chosen members of the ShinRa military. Now they would be handed out to all in order to win this war. As soon as Sephy realized this, he saw the troops from the camp assembling with the weapons.

The first class soldiers who were present tried to put out the fires with water materia. It took a lot of energy out of them. Sephy realized how much more energy he had for casting.

"Don't worry about the fires," he said, running up to them. "I'll take care of them."

Before they could protest he easily manipulated a water spell. The fires were out in a matter of seconds. He then ran past them. They blinked as they finally registered the katana and it's incredibly long blade. Sephy held it in his left hand and ran with that arm behind his back, the blade pointing up into the air behind him so that no one would get hurt.

A hail of fire and ice rained down on the east end of the camp, and Sephy could hear screaming as soldiers were either burned to death or buried beneath the large spheres of ice that fell. Then came the lightning, and it struck the lines of soldiers who were making their way towards the Wutai to fight. Sephy watched as the men jolted with the electricity, blood pouring from their bodies and eyeballs popping out.

Then came the odd gunshots. No, they were more like lasers. The ShinRa soldiers were using the Mako weapons. Bullets of elemental energy were being fired with incredible accuracy. Once a Wutai was hit, the energy would penetrate their bodies. They would either melt or burn or freeze from the inside out. Their faces contorted in pain and they saw their deaths coming slowly and painfully.

Far in the distance Wutai soldiers had their way with one of the ShinRa nurses. They used her one by one, spreading her legs open like a wishbone. When she finally managed to run, she was stabbed through the back and left to die.

Sephy analyzed the situation. Where would he be of the most help? He started forward towards a mass of ShinRa soldiers who were holding off the Wutai with Mako weapons. But then came the attack that he didn't see coming. Sephy looked down to see blood seeping through his uniform. He had been stabbed from behind, and the blade had passed through him. He dropped the katana at his side and turned slowly, expecting a Wutai soldier, but seeing a ShinRa soldier instead.

"If I can kill at least some of you bastards, I can die happy!" the soldier said.

"A traitor..." Sephy gasped softly. "All this time, you've been on the other side."

"My family is from Wutai!" the soldier yelled. "You bastards think you can do whatever you want! You think you can take whatever you want! I had to be among you for years, but my time has come!"

Then a gunshot. Another soldier shot Sephy from behind, and the bullet passed through his chest. This time the person who fired was obviously Wutai. He had found a way to break through. The first soldier smirked and punched the surprised Sephy in the face. The second cast a stop spell, and Sephy stood there, still as stone.

"He has the Masamune!" yelled the soldier. He knelt by Sephy's side and grabbed the handle. But he found he couldn't lift it.

"What's w?!"?!" called the other as he ran to him.

"It's impossible. I can't lift it! It weighs too much. Help me!"

Both boys tried to lift the Masamune sword, but found that they couldn't even budge it from the ground. A shadow shifted on the ground, and they looked up to see Sephy staring at them with glowing green eyes. They both jumped back, startled that the stop spell couldn't hold him. He had been faking it! Sephy knelt down and lifted the Masamune from the ground with ease.

"This belongs to me," he said calmly.

The Wutai man in front of him roared and shot Sephy three more times, hitting him in the chest. But Sephy glowed with the green light of cure energy and the bullets slowly moved out of his body. The only problem was that it would take Sephy’s full concentration to find his way around his body and heal himself internally, and he didn't have time for that. Blood slowly poured out of him.

You are dying! his so-called guardian yelled in his head. You must escape and heal!

"I thought you wanted me to kill," Sephy said. But he didn't say it in his head alone. He kept his eyes on the two men in front of him as he spoke aloud. "I thought all you cared about was destruction and death."

You must not die!

Sephy winced, the glow flickering in his eyes. "I'm tired of running. I'm tired of killing. I'm tired of this war. The glow of those weapons and the way the elements are being used displeases me." He took a step towards the two men. "It is time to end it."

The two growled and charged at him, but didn't know how fast he could move. They died quickly and painlessly, their heads cleanly sliced from their bodies with one pass of the Masamune. Sephy felt the warmth of the sword in his hand as he wielded it. It was his, for as long as he lived.
t hit his injuries were taking a toll on him. He felt the intense wish to fight building.

"Stop it!" he yelled at his so-called guardian. "Stop twisting me! I will fight if I feel the need. I do not need you pouring your own rage into me!"

You said you wanted to stop the war. So stop it!

Sephy looked out over the battle field. "Only to put an end to this."

Sephy suddenly charged out to the battle field with a burst of inhuman speed. He seemed to disappear because he was so fast, and so no one saw him until he had appeared behind the Wutai forces. Someone saw him suddenly and cried out.

"A ShinRa soldier!" the man yelled.

The Wutai forces turned around. Most of them seemed indifferent about a lone soldier... until they saw the Masamune in his hand.

"Kill him!" people yelled again and again.

Sephy only walked forward, straight for the Wutai forces. They opened fire immediately, but grew frightened when he suddenly seemed to disappear from view. He reappeared not far from his previous location, walking calmly towards the heart of their force. Every time they opened fire, he seemed to disappear. Was he moving at random? Or could he detect the bullets faster than they could fire them?

"He is nothing but a boy!" yelled a soldier. "Kill him!"

"If Godo Kisaragi does not surrender immediately," Sephy yelled. "I will be forced to cut down the forces of Wutai. I do not want a blood bath. This war must end now."

"Wutai will never surrender!" yelled the Wutai soldiers.

Sephy looked around at all the eyes that were hungry for this death. It bothered him to see those eyes. They were more hateful than the eyes of the ShinRa. Was it because the ShinRa were doing what they thought was best? Sephy didn't know, but this war had to end. He could see there would be no surrender.

He continued forward, and now instead of bullets, there came fire and ice and lightning. But he made no attempt to dodge. They hit him again and again, but he continued forward. No one could tell if anything was affecting him or not. As soon as the got close to the first line of Wutai soldiers, they were ready to fight him. But anyone who got close to him found themselves being pulled towards the ground. Hundreds of soldiers were pulled to the ground, kneeling as Sephy passed them. He was using a high level gravity spell to draw them to the earth. But its force was not crushing. He made his way through them until he stood in the center of a their large group. Then, he released them from the gravity spell. He stood ready with the Masamune.

"Come," he said.

And they did. They charged at him, thinking their sheer numbers would overwhelm him. But they underestimated Sephy's skills with the sword. Within a few seconds, the first wave who dove at him was dead. Sephy made sure their deaths were fast and painless. He was already accustomed to the length of the sword due to his sharp eyes and quick reflexes. And since he was in the center, they couldn't fire at him for risk of shooting someone behind him.

No one survived him if they came close enough. Sephy didn't go after those who did not attack, however.

Off in the distance, Sephy saw a burst of light, and the water dragon summon appeared. Wutai had called it again, and it was up to Sephy to stop it once more. But Kjata wasn't with him! Knowing he had to do something anyway, he made up his mind.

"Surrender, or hundreds of you will lie dead! Don't bring me to that!"

Again, they charged at him. But deep down Sephy knew it couldn't be any different than this. They wanted to win, just as the ShinRa did. They both thought it was for the best.

"Time to die," Sephy whispered.

Flames seemed to burst around him from no where. The flames burned hot enough to sweep through the bodies of the Wutai soldiers and kill them instantly. The flames spread and spread, killing at least two-hundred before Sephy put a halt to his flames. And when the remaining soldiers looked up, he was gone.

Sephy ran as fast as he could, the Masamune held behind him safely. He saw his target, and ran to her. The woman controlling the dragon was in his sights, and soon, he was right behind her. She jumped and nearly screamed as he dropped the Masamune to the ground and gently wrapped his arms around her from behind, grabbing her wrists and pulling them against her body. Her concentration was broken, and the dragon's energy was depleted. It hung in the air, waiting.

"Stop this," Sephy whispered in her ear. "Go back to Wutai. Go see your family. Do not die out here, because if you continue this I have no choice but to kill you. I can't let this dragon be summoned again, by you or anyone in Wutai."

Sephy didn’t want to take the materia from her until she had safely separated her life force from it.

"I don't care what you do to me!" she yelled. "You will never have Leviathan!"

Her breathing was heavy, and Sephy could feel it against his chest as he held her immobile.

"I will take the summon materia. Separate your life force. You can't stop me from taking it."

That was when she started crying. "You're no better than a rapist. Taking whatever you want. You're no better!"

Sephy put his hand on the summon materia she held. "I'm taking this to save others, and you. I promise you that after this is all over, it will return to Wutai."

After a long while, the dragon disappeared, fading into dew. Sephy gently took the summon materia from the woman, and she took a path away from the fighting to get back to Wutai.

It was only now that Sephy realized how bad things were for him. He looked down at his blood soaked uniform with wide eyes. The soldier had had stabbed him before used a poisoned blade, and the one who had shot him was using bio elemental bullets. The poison running through Sephy's body was powerful, and unlike any he'd ever encountered. He was usually immune to weapons of that sort, but the Wutai had obviously come up with something that was hard for him to handle. Despite the pain, he ran to the heart of another large group of Wutai soldiers. He intended to take them out quickly as he did to the other group, but found that the poison was getting worse.

The soldiers saw him and closed in. He suddenly realized that he might die, and a sudden shock ran through him. He saw the blood-thirsty look in the eyes of the Wutai soldiers as they drew near. Sephy was faltering, but he quickly tried to regain composure and stood ready. He started to see patches of black, and his vision blurred.

"I can't," he said to himself. "I can't die here. I have to keep going."

Sephy fell to one knee, feeling sick and weak. And then came the intense desperation to live. He felt as though he would do anything. The last of his energy rose up in him in an immense burst of will, and he felt it boiling inside of him. It hit his every nerve, and he winced as it gushed out of him like a waterfall. He gasped as he felt the wave of energy leave him, and when he opened his eyes, all of the soldiers around him collapsed. Red swirling halos of energy appeared above their heads. They weren't dead, but they hardly had enough energy to move. Sephy was safe from them, but the poison was taking its toll. He collapsed also, and he stared at the sky as he activated his healing power. He closed his eyes slowly as he let his consciousness sink in and feel around his body internally. He could practically see his injuries, and he began to heal himself the best he could. But the damage was too far along, and soon he ceased to move.

Sephy's lifeless body lie next to the Masamune in the center of countless bodies. His long silver hair spread out on the ground, taking on the shape of wings as it reflected the moonlight.


~*~*~*To Be Continued*~*~*~

(A couple familiar faces, coming soon!)