Paper Tiger Burning

I respectfully credit all Original Creators, namely Squaresoft, which became SquareEnix,for these characters. In this way, I pay homage to my Fandom's Original Creator, and illustrate my Community's belief that Fan Fiction is "fair use". I do not claim to own these characters. I do not make money or gil from using these protected characters, nor do I wish to make money or gil from them. In other words, I am borrowing these characters to entertain the adult fanfiction community, but I am doing so with the highest degree of respect to the engineers, game designers, music makers, and voice actors.



Hojo and I quickened our pace, running past the rows of cells and toward the shouting ahead. Suddenly, he threw out an arm, stopping me. A large, spherical room opened to our left. In the axis stood a small platform, and atop it sat a large metallic box. “A Jenova tentacle,” Hojo said grimly, “a piece of one, rather. This is why I didn’t want Sephiroth going against Havars. I even warned him that Havars had been involved in the Jenova project, carrying samples of her back to Wutai.”

“So, that shouting is Sephiroth?” I glanced down the passageway, worried. The noise seemed louder now, and a second voice joined. Cloud, I reasoned. Cloud also had enough Jenova cells to make an appropriate host. Additionally, Cloud had taken some of Sephiroth’s blood, sufficient to make him sick for a few hours; his J-cell count would be higher now.

My concern for both men spiked. Jenova would attempt to control Sephiroth first. If she failed with him she would try Cloud. Who knew how powerfully her consciousness occupied this small portion of her physical body? What could she make them do? I didn’t know if Sephiroth could resist her, and though Cloud always fought Jenova, he didn’t always win…

“I would say it’s Sephiroth we’re hearing, yes,” Hojo answered. “We’ll have to eliminate Jenova quickly, before she overpowers him.” His black eyes took on a severe, stubborn light. “I will not fight my son,” he vowed. Hojo went from abuser of Sephiroth to champion of Sephiroth, swelling up with righteous determination.

“We can’t fight him,” I snapped, suddenly bone weary with intrigue and meddling. People always had such a black and white view of the world, going from one extreme to the other. Did no one understand temperance? “Hojo, if Sephiroth is possessed by Jenova he’ll destroy the world. Not you or I or anyone else can stop him. And if Cloud is also surmounted by Jenova, it’s even worse.” I stepped into the room, dragging him with me. “How do we destroy her?”

“Her pieces are easily destroyed by fire,” Hojo answered. “We have to hurry. She feels her cells within me now, and I’ll be the next objective.” He gripped my arm tightly, swaying on his feet. Sweat broke out on his forehead and he gave a little whimper of pain. “She’s already hurting me, trying to force my feral structure.”


“Hello, Cetra!”


I screamed as white-hot pain knifed my brain.

“Little bitch.” The sibilant, victorious voice sliced through my very thoughts. “You couldn’t keep your nose out of it, could you? Just like the rest of your race, interfering and obstructing at any opportunity!” She laughed long and horribly. “How pathetic; I’ve been waiting to crush you.”

Every part of me hurt. I felt a cold sweat break out on my hot skin. My stomach seemed to detach and roll sickeningly around inside me. Fear, potent fear surged through my body, shooting adrenalin throughout. My bladder ached to empty but I held it. I would not soil myself in front of this foul creature.

Eyes glued to the harmless-looking, metallic box, I tried to remember to breathe.

“And you,” Jenova said, making Hojo drop to the ground and thrash. “You’re to blame for her, you meddling gene-splicer! Always taking my cells, spreading me around to these mewling, puking hosts!” Her energy flared and Hojo howled like an animal, shutting his eyes while his body contorted. “Out of all these ants, you’re the worst. You stopped being useful to me three decades past. Don’t you wish you’d listened to this one’s father?” Her laughter made the air tight. Even the lights dimmed with the force of her shameful glee.

“You know he’s the one who killed him, don’t you, Cetra?” Jenova asked, her voice gloating. “And here you are together, making your pitiable effort to subdue me.”

Though I felt cemented to the floor, I fought. The pain wanted to wipe me out entirely now. My every twitch caused a cascade of pure suffering, like burning alive. Time became eternal as I stood there, wavering between her grip and my determination. Beside me, Hojo began to transform. “I know what Hojo’s done,” I shouted, fighting for the air to even speak. “And I know what you’ve done, Calamity!”

I strained to lift my arm. I had fire materia. If I could only press on hard enough to direct it at her…

I could not let her win.

Slowly, I pushed against the paralysis in my body and the torture in my head. My ancestors had fought her and I could too.

But I was only half a Cetra.

“Useless,” Jenova taunted. “Only a half-breed and a scrawny one at that; your efforts against me will fail.” She held me in her agonizing grip, squeezing the life out of me. Playing with me… She had all the time in the world to obliterate me, to enjoy her supremacy.

I poured all my power into my mental shields, feeling a reduction in pain almost instantly. But she mangled me, made the very air in my lungs turn sour and dead. I would suffocate before much longer.

Don’t give up, Aerith, my mother’s voice urged. Don’t give up. Everything depends on you now, just like it did so long ago when you summoned Holy.

You can do it, Aerith, my father joined in. You can destroy her. Believe in your own power.

“She’s too strong!” I cried, feeling my determination slipping away bit by bit. I couldn’t fight this monstrosity. A new understanding for those infected by her cells made my heart ache. Jenova was a fiend. “Mother, I can’t!” My human half weakened me to Jenova, made it harder for me to fight her.

“I killed you once before,” Jenova taunted, “and I get the pleasure all over again, how delightful!” Again she laughed, and it felt like rusty screws boring into my brain. “I’ll just summon my favorite son and have him do it,” she threatened. “Then I’ll kill him too. He’s developed a disturbing sense of conscience.”

You can destroy her, Aerith. My mother’s voice soothed and strengthened, sending a flood of cool reason over my agony. You’re as powerful as any of our race. The Planet has not abandoned you. Reach for the Planet. Hurry, you don’t have much time, my girl.

I obeyed, desperate for the help of my world and ashamed it hadn’t been instinctual. I closed my eyes and stretched out my mind, seeking the love I’d depended upon for so long. Warmth entered my body, driving away the chill ice of Jenova’s grip. My shield hardened, became so strong I barely heard Jenova screeching her abhorrence and anger. Gasping, I took the moment of freedom and raised my arm. Pointing at the platform, I focused on the fire materia in my bracer. “Firaga,” I commanded, every desire for her annihilation giving force to my will.

The fireball obliterated the room. Hojo, half transformed, dragged me out of the choking flames. Jenova’s dying screams beat feebly against my shield. I lay stunned on the floor with Hojo beating flames out of my skirt.

Then, silence. All became the sound of our breathing and the crackling of fire. The smell of singed hair and something worse filled the corridor.

“Thank Shiva it was only a partial of her tentacle,” Hojo said, shrinking fully back to human form but still tinged ever so slightly green. “That is truly the last of her; Havars couldn’t get more. I remember because your father and I agreed to refuse him any more.” He slumped, breathing heavily. He laughed. “One of the few things we agreed on was hating Lucas Havars.” Shaking, he adjusted his glasses. “If that piece had been any larger…”

I rolled over on my side and vomited. If Sephiroth had suffered like this every time Jenova took his mind, I pitied him. I felt vaguely poisoned, disoriented and weak. But I struggled up, leaned against Hojo. “We have children to save,” I reminded him. I would think about this later. But I took a few seconds to bask in my mother’s approval and my father’s pride.

Hojo nodded at my prompt, taking my hand.

His hand felt not unlike his son’s now, long, strong and benevolent. I understood that with Jenova’s true destruction, all persons with her cells would find new strength.

Some good would come of this.

On down the corridor we sped, hearing the voices grow louder and louder. I halted dead. There, standing in the center of the corridor between two massive gates, stood Sephiroth. He was a sight to make an ordinary man void his bowels.

A bit of his silver hair shone here and there amidst the gore that covered him from head to foot. The Masamune gleamed in the artificial light, spotless. Eyes glowing bright beryl, he spied us.

I shivered. His anger I could have withstood, but his cold, nearly empty eyes made my heart turn to water. His gaze remained dispassionate, not one emotion flickering in his luminous, blue-green orbs.

Had I destroyed Jenova too late to save him?

Even now he could be waiting for us to get closer simply to…

From our right and his left, a man ran through a gate. Clearly, he meant to dart past Sephiroth, making it as far as just beside him. Sephiroth’s arm, a blur of movement, arced. The man’s head went one way and his body another. He was so fast he didn’t soil his sword.

More men poured from the same opening, perhaps hoping to overpower him by sheer numbers. The Masamune flashed and corpses fell in a tide of blood, but he never took his eyes from us or even moved from the spot. I spied Cloud, Vincent and Eldon standing behind him, relaxed but at the ready in case he missed one. Eldon had a camera and seemed to be filming.

The only sounds in the corridor were of death, of fabric rending, flesh splitting and agonized cries. The faces of the enemy contorted with every flare of silver. Blood pooled and ran down the slight incline of the hall. Layers upon layers of red splashed upon Sephiroth’s face and body, running down him to the floor. He didn’t even flinch. The luminous lust for slaughter in his burning eyes remained the only sign he wasn’t a machine.

It sickened me, amazed me, and held me absolutely paralyzed. My admiration for Cloud’s bravery soared to the heavens. No, I didn’t fear Sephiroth, not even now, but I had his word and affection to brace my soul. Cloud had nothing but himself when he went up against Sephiroth.

Hojo gripped my hand tightly. Now he knew. Now he’d seen his son in action.

“This is what you made,” I told him quietly. “Do you still think he’s perfect?”

Hojo made a little sound between laugher and sighing. “Yes,” he said. “Sephiroth is perfect, Cetra, even if his perfection touches brutality; our moral concern with this has no impact on his precision.”

“Spoken like a true scientist,” I murmured.

Eventually Sephiroth encountered the last guard. He ran him through, disemboweling him on the exit. Such was his confidence he stepped on and over the pile of bodies before the guard even gasped his last breath. “We’re not opening the cells until the Turks arrive,” he informed us, walking closer. That light in his eyes banked to a dim burn, as if he went on standby mode.

Cloud and Eldon followed, but Vincent hung back by the gate, gun drawn and pointedly not looking at us for even a moment.

He didn’t want to see Hojo and he felt I’d betrayed him.

His disappointment hurt, but I did not drop Hojo’s hand. My love didn’t have conditions, but I couldn’t expect a heart as human as Vincent’s to readily understand that. For now I would settle for Vincent not shooting Hojo dead in front of me.

I stepped up to Sephiroth, searching his gaze for some glimmer of the softness he usually held in there just for me. He blinked. His pupils contracted to their usual dimensions, losing the dilation of killing greed. Slowly, he wiped blood from his eyes. “What are you doing here, Aerith?” he asked quietly. His gaze flicked to Hojo. “And you, father?”

Father. He’d said it without a sneer or a jibe. I felt Hojo’s tumultuous elation beating against my shield.

“We came to help you,” I said, hearing my voice turn sharp. I raised a finger and shook it underneath his bewildered eyes. I nearly felt out of control with anger and relief. Anger that I’d been left out, relief that all my friends and the man I loved still lived. “How dare you run off and leave us!” I next whirled on Cloud, not pausing. “And you went along with it, you and Vincent! Were we not hardcore enough for this little adventure?”

All three men turned their heads, seeking each other’s eyes, united in looking for some excuse to feed me.

“I will not be ignored or patronized!” Planet energy arced through me, making sparks around my body. I was furious. Here they were, bloodily and happily saving the day without me. And if Hojo and I hadn’t faced Jenova, two of them would still be rolling around on the floor in mortal agony. Arrogance, stubbornness, and good, old-fashioned chauvinism! I was the one should feel betrayed, not Vincent!

The ground underneath us trembled, the Planet responding to the force of my anger.

“Calm down, Aerith,” Cloud began, raising his hands. “Don’t be mad. We just wanted to protect you…”

“Protect me? Who do you think delivered you from Jenova, Cloud Strife?” I stamped my foot, feeling the ground shudder once more. Dust filtered down from cracks developing in the ceiling.

“Aerith, it isn’t like that,” Vincent said. “We didn’t want you exposed to the death and the suffering down here.” He spared a moment’s glance, tearing his eyes away from the doorway just briefly. “A soul like yours should never be exposed to this.”

“Thank you, Vincent Valentine, for summarily deciding my life’s path,” I said, a red haze developing in my sight. “And another big thanks for shielding my weak, innocent little soul!”

Hojo squeezed my hand a little harder. His contact brought me down from my slow climb to the apex of wrath. I inhaled sharply, closing my eyes. Seconds later I felt the gentle slide of Sephiroth’s blood-coated finger against my cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, sincerity smoothing out his simple apology.

I opened my eyes. Softness for me lived in his gaze once more.

I let go of Hojo and fell into Sephiroth’s arms. My lips tasted the blood on him. His sword fell to the floor with a clatter. “Don’t ever leave me behind,” I whispered. “Not when I can do some good.”

“I won’t ever leave you behind again,” he promised softly, his voice deep and assuring.