3rd POV: 'Excerpt from a failed round':
''Shh, shh,'' Nox tried to calm Stella down and stroked her beak. She just chirped more angrily at him and flattered her wings, her feathers rustling angrily.
''I'm sorry, girl. I know you don't like it being left in the stalls in cities, but you can't follow me there in most places,'' Nox began.
She chirped to interrupt him.
''And I know you didn't like it in the cramped space in the ship, but now that we are on the other continent and there are less cities and more villages we will camp more. We will make up for lost time and I will even get you those sneaks you love so much,'' Nox added to his earlier point and promised her to placate her.
She chirped inquisitively.
''Fine. I will get you many of those treats,'' Nox promised her.
She chirped happily, making Nox chuckle. He began dragging her out of the stalls by her reign. On the way out he paid the Chocobo Stall owner the money he owed him.
''Hey! What about us!?,'' Yuffie stamped her feet.
''You know we only brought Stella with us. And this is just a Chocobo stall not a farm. They don't sell Chocobos here,'' Zack explained as if talking to a child.
She pouted.
''Yup, So,'' Nox threw Cloud the Chocobo Lure who caught it,''We, or rather you all, need to hunt and tame new Chocobos on this side of the continent. Seeing as Cloud is such a friend of the Chocobos, that shouldn't take too long.''
Cloud sighed miserably.
''That joke is getting really old really fast,'' Cloud told him.
''Hey!,'' Zack jumped in,''Don't diss the classics.''
Cloud sighed miserably again.
Barret and Nanaki made their way over from the hotel and joined them.
''Alright, kids-.''
''Who are you calling kid?,'' Yuffie demanded to know and pouted.
''Shut up! Anyway... KIDS,'' Barret looked at her in the eye and smirked when he said the word more slowly and pronounced, making her stamp her feet,''We had our fun, but it is time to resume our mission.''
''After Cloud helps us tame his Chocobo friends, of course,'' Nox said and Zack nodded.
''Well, that shouldn't take long then,'' Barret nodded making Cloud sigh even more miserably.
His hairstyle did not resemble a Chocobo's gods damnit.
''Why is Aerith walking funny?,'' Nanaki asked innocently, not understanding human customs completely yet. He asked that question the moment he spotted Aerith and Tifa make their way over too.
The people around Nanaki got a little uncomfortable at the sudden topic.
''I hope you two were responsible. We can't afford...distractions,'' Barret coughed awkwardly.
Nox sighed awkwardly,but nodded.
Aerith and Tifa finally caught up with them, Tifa too politely to ask her and Aerith blushed a little. She used the healing Materia, but phantom pain... or pleasure could not be healed by it in the same way wounds were healed.
...She blamed Nox for that, even if she admittedly initiated and asked for more...
''Alright,'' Aerith pumped her arm up enthusiastically to motivate them and distract them from the correct conclusion they made upon seeing her walk awkwardly,''We had fun at Costa Del Sol, but now we need to resume our mission. We shouldn't tarry. Now come on.''
Nox decided to have mercy on her and guided Stella over to her, before she could start taking any steps.
However before he could help her up on her, Aerith gasped and put her hands over her mouth collapsing to her knees.
''What is wrong?!,'' Tifa was the first to ask.
Aerith squeezed her eyes shut and moved her hands from her mouth over to her ears and shook her her head rapidly.
''Aerith if you don't tell us what happened, we can't help you,'' Nanaki came over to her to be closer and point out.
Nox slowly stepped back as he slowly began to have an inkling base on several suspicions that formed in his head.
' 'May these days of bliss never end.' Right?,' the Voice whispered in his ear mocking and taunting him.
''Nox, do you suspect what is wrong?,'' Zack asked him upon seeing his expression and the way he distanced himself from the others who were getting closer to Aerith.
''Nox...Sephiroth... He...,'' Aerith began crying.
He immediately unfurled his wings and shot up in the sky, before flying in the direction of Midgar at several Machs. A thin transparent Mako mask formed over his face to protect his eyes from the wind.
As he was flying her brought out his PHS and tried calling THEM several times. Shelke should have picked up immediately as she usually does, but the PHS was silent. He threw it in anger into the ocean.
...
''What the...? Aerith were did he go to? What is wrong?,'' Barret asked her.
''Aerith?!,'' Barret demanded when she was silent.
''Is it my daughter? Is it Marlene!? TELL ME!,'' Barret demanded desperately.
When she finally nodded he yelled and began shooting into the wall in grief and anger.
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The bar was empty. As were their homes. Biggs, Jessie and Wedge. He went to Elmyra and Marlene as well, and find a house just as empty as theirs.
No bodies.
There was only one other place he hadn't checked.
-
There was blood...everywhere leading up to the lab/ HQ in the secret location. The outside was fine, but once he entered through the door...it was performative and theatrical.
He understood this style well.
It must also have been an ambush, a well executed one, if Shelke couldn't manage to send a dying message in time.
He brought out his sword, ready to defend himself as he approached closer to the lab until he finally stepped in the center of the lab...
Marlene, Elmyra, Shalua, Shelke, Biggs, Wedge, Jessie...
They were all thrown into a pile... missing legs, arms or even a head.
Nox closed his eyes tightly shut.
They weren't dead permanently. Not if if he had anything to say about it...
But the sanctity of the original memories would be gone now, since this was a failed round.
And even if they weren't dead permanently, they were still KILLED and made a spectacle off to get to him. Clearly.
Nox sighed out and took a breath in to calm himself again.
This mustn't register on an emotional level. Keep a calm mind and gather information. Be rational. BE RATIONAL. He tightened his hold on the grip of his sword.
One of his Mako Alarm Threads was triggered and he raised his sword in time to block the attack aimed at his neck.
The figure that attacked him jumped away from him.
'A pity. I must not have killed him immediately either the first time or messed up somehow and now the trap is pointless...At least to kill him. But there are other avenues for me,' Sephiroth mused in his head.
He smiled confidently.
''Greetings, Aberration,'' Sephiroth began giving him ample time to say something back.
Nox just starred at him.
''I see you have encountered my gift to you,'' Sephiroth waved his arms slowly over to the others, as if to present a grand reveal of a magic trick or something. It was not really his style to kill like this... To kill messily, but he was trying to get into Nox' mind.
''Do you like it? Or does it anger you so? I wouldn't bother. You are an aberration. An anomaly. An existence that should not be. Whatever you are feeling is invalidated by that fact.'' Sephiroth taunted him.
Nox blinked.
Sephiroth's smile dimmed a little. He didn't break him, he could tell, but he was displeased that none of his words were getting to him. This is not how he imagined him reacting to this all. Sephiroth adjusted his fingers on the grip of Masamune while he came up with the next words.
'You are so calm. The last time someone wronged you, you were so FULL of anger that you ended an empire. And you walked over many corpses to do that. Why change now? Why so calm? Because the strong can walk over the weak?,' the Voice whispered in Nox' ear.
''It is clear, that you intend to turn back time after what you encountered. But next time I will kill them again. And again. And no matter how many times you will stop me, I will slip through the cracks and get to them. So I wish to offer you a deal,'' Sephiroth began his smile returning.
'Have you forgotten what you are? Did you seriously mellow out because of the people around you? Look where that brought you. A weak sniveling fuck, who was too weak to save anyone he loves,' the Voice continued to whisper.
''Turn back time, if you want or don't and then kill yourself. Do that and I will leave them alone,'' Sephiroth nodded to the people he killed.
'Our Victory is inevitable. There is no one stronger than us bar a few. Certainly this little cockroach is nothing to be concerned off and yet you still allowed him to insult you by killing your friends and pissing in your meal,' the Voice mocked.
''Or you can take the alternative,'' Sephiroth continued when he didn't seem to receive an answer, his smile dimmed upon being ignored for so long,''Turn back time and allow me to infect you with Mother's cells. You know who you need to seek out for that.''
He didn't want to mutilate his mother like that, but the truth was that Nox ability was too much of an unknown to work properly against with little intel on it. Then again... if he had access to Nox' memories he could make his already ensured victory even more of a victory.
The Black Robes do not count. The were already infected with her cells before he could do anything against it. But no matter, Reunion was upon her. The cells would all join up again.
'Return to what you are. To what you used to be. The perfect monster. Rip and tear until it is done,' the Voice instructed him.
'If I return to being a monster, I won't lose my friends through death, but through a difference in morals and acts. It's the same difference,' Nox finally though back. And he certainly did not want to suffer abandonment again.
'NOW you take the high and mighty moral high ground? After all you have done?,' the Voice scoffed,'It sure beats them being dead. Admit it, you are too weak as you are now to save anyone.'
'No. I'm holding back-'
'That is certainly true,' the Voice easily agreed.
'But I'm no longer limited by options to take the most destructive path. I can be both a monster at times and not, as the situation calls....
I NEVER want to return to being alone like I was before,' Nox released a slow sigh,'That said, this is already a dead run, so there is nothing wrong with releasing some stress.'
In the end he did not chose to reject the Voice,unlike last time in his previous life, but neither did he completely chose to side with it. He was right. If he stopped caring about the collateral damage he will most likely kill Sephiroth...Probably.
But he was no longer that man. He could never be that man again either. He walked this path for too long for that to ever be an option. But he could be a mix of them.
''If that does not please you, you can always tell me how far you go back in time. Again, you will know who to se-,'' Sephiroth tried yet another option, but stopped himself from speaking as Nox began chuckling.
''Something amuses you?,'' Sephiroth asked him curiously.
''Yes. The more I hear you talk, little cockroach, the more pathetic you get. Thinking you have any bargaining power whatsoever. A creature that is such a lowlife as you are, could never have any bargaining power.
You see, I'm more of a god then you will ever be. I control time. But you don't see me acting with an overinflated self of sense. But perhaps I should.
YOU need the world to go on. I don't. I you can try again and again and you will probably succeed in getting to my loved ones and killing them. But I will simply stop you or undo your acts.
And if I can't for some silly reason, I will simply shackle you into eternity in a single moment,'' Nox explained to him calmly.
''Then there is no reason to be had in this exchange anymore. No?,'' Sephiroth presented his sword, moving Masamune from his reverse grip to pointing it at him,'' So turn back time and let's try again next time.''
Nox closed his eyes while still smiling.
''Perhaps. But since this is a failed run anyway, I assure you I will enjoy what comes next,'' Nox told him. After all the guy still pissed him off by killing his friends and ruining the original memories. Especially his and Aerith's first time. For him, the memories are now a little tainted.
''Oh? You imagine you can? The last time you didn't do a good job,'' Sephiroth mocked him and entered his stance. Whispers began emerging from the walls and the ceiling to protect Sephiroth from Nox thin threads.
Nox smile twitched.
''Yeah.''
His Mako Thread cut through the air and the world turned white briefly.
-
Nox flew quickly over to the Mako Reactors as Sephiroth was blasted away in surprise. Some of his bones were broken, from the attack but he healed most of them with a mixture of his natural healing ability and the Full Cure. When he got close to the Mako Reactor Whispers tried to stop him, but he just used another Atomic blast to tear through them and his Mako threads to slice to any that remained.
Finally he crashed through the Mako Reactor and made contact with Mako.
-
Sephiroth threw the debris off of him and stood up.
That... was not a spell. He couldn't sense any mana at all being used. Nor did he know Nox could do that...then again, it was clear he must, in some way, already suspect Cloud or not trust him. So he didn't share some things with him and the others.
Sephiroth wiped his face and same some blood on his glove... The Black Robe was not up to his standards or he wouldn't have bled at all.
Still...He looked around at the devastation that the attack caused. He wished he could he knew how he caused that so he could use it himself.
The sky briefly lighted up, like a star about to descend on the earth and he looked up.
Nox was in his Mako armor and his sword raised sky high coursing with electricity like a pillar up into the cosmos.
''Let the true meaning of almighty be carved into your soul,'' Nox told him and swung his sword down.
Sephiroth cast a barrier and magical barrier and used the Whispers as well as Masamune to block as much of the attack as he could.
...It was barely enough. When he came back to himself, his body in pain and aching in a way he never knew he could he starred with some disbelief at the sigh.
A cut into the planet stretching beyond the horizon digging so far down that it exposed the Lifestream and Magma. Midgar was completely gone.
Sephiroth jumped back as Nox landed near him.
''Do you see the difference between us, little cockroach? You need the Black Materia to end this Planet, I can do it on a whim,'' Nox taunted him. IF he fulfilled some conditionals, but that was beside the point.
''Bow,'' Nox instructed him.
Sephiroth instead cast a Gravity spell and the debris around them flew at Nox to encase him, it seemed to have worked last time after all... to some extent. Time enough for him to perform a tactical retreat. He began flying.
The debris was compressed down until it turned into a Black Hole the size of a tennis ball in Nox' hand. He threw it over his shoulder and closed the distance between them in an instant.
Sephiroth tried to attack him, but his sword was sliced in pieces as well as his arm, before he was backhanded back down into the earth. The Whispers sustained too much damage from that sword attack to be called upon immediately again.
''I thought you were stronger. That you were a god,'' Nox did not leave him any breathing room and slammed into him before he could stand back up again and grabbed his wing to rip it out.
He then picked Sephiroth up by the head and looked at him.
''This puppet is a pale imitation of my true body,'' Sephiroth tried defending his dignity.
''But you still need the Black Materia... No, you can't be the Big Bad. You're too weak. Where is Jenova?,'' Nox muttered to himself at first and then asked him loudly.
''Mother sees you as beneath her. She will not grant you audience,'' Sephiroth replied calmly ignoring the pain so that Nox would not get any satisfaction.
''Then you are worthless,'' Nox concluded and erected an earth pillar to slam him into it. He used his sword to pin him down and twisted it, before he transformed his Mako gauntlets into claws.
He slammed them into his stomach and began digging through his intestines slowly pulling them out, while behind Nox another pillar was erected with a support from which he could hang Sephiroth by the entrails with.
Alas, Nox scowled as 'Sephiroths' face morphed and some stranger looked at him and thus denied him the satisfaction of killing him...
He still hang the guy by his entrails to feel just a little better after all of that.
Still...
How the fuck will he stop Sephiroth from coming after those in Midgar now?
...
Nox sighed.
He didn't feel that much better after all he had done. Now he was just melancholic since the memories were all messed up...
''Whatever,'' Nox muttered and pulled his sword out of the stone then pointed it at his throat.
He can endure that like he did all the other suffering.
(A.N.: 3079 words. Thank you for reading the chapter. Cheers and stay safe out there.)