Darkness Falls Chapter 37
By Gemini83
Cloud and Sephiroth fought like demons possessed. They were cold, calculating,
killing machines. Each had been trained from young ages to be weapons, and
now they fought each other, old confidantes, for the fate of the
Planet.
“You know Sephiroth,” speculated Cloud between parries, “you
are such a monster now, I almost forget the honorable commander I knew back
before the Nibelheim reactor incident.”
“That was a long time ago,” replied Sephiroth, “the weakling
you knew then has evolved into something more.”
Cloud slashed and cut his way, trying to break a defense that had no weaknesses.
Surprising even himself, Cloud seemed to have none either.
“It seems we’ve both moved beyond our old limitations,” conceded
Sephiroth, “unfortunately, it is time I put you out of your misery.
There is no place for your kind in a world such as this.”
Sephiroth raised his sword in a wide, sweeping arc, forcing Cloud to jump
back. That was all the time Sephiroth needed to fire a blast of green energy
at his enemy.
Cloud crossed his arms before his, absorbing the blast. It raged its way
through him, threatening to tear his apart, but still he did not fall. When
it was over, Cloud was still standing, panting for breath.
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, “you don’t disappoint Cloud, but I
seriously doubt you can withstand another.”
The Horseman of Death let loose another blast of energy at his foe. Cloud
looked at the attack with a detached feeling of calmness. He knew he probably
should flee, but there was no place to go. There was no turning back
now...
A strange force rose within Cloud. He felt...energized, filled with a strange
presence that he’d never felt before. Yet somehow, he knew what it was...the
Lifestream. It was lending it’s power to him now...aware that he was
one of it’s Guardians.
‘Is this what it feels like for Aeris?’ wondered
Cloud.
There was no time to ponder, Sephiroth’s attack brought Cloud’s
thoughts back to reality. But strangely, time seemed to stop to a crawl,
Cloud felt as if he had all the time he needed to think of an escape. Almost
without thinking, Cloud brought his hand up, knocking the blast away. Then
time came crashing back to its normal pace.
Sephiroth watched this display with no small amount of wonder. Here was an
enemy, standing, who should have been dead by all rights. Instead, he seemed
to have found a second wind.
Cloud smiled fiercely at Sephiroth, “that trick is getting old, let’s
see how you like mine...”
Red and Vincent were the first to reach the summit of the stairs, the others
not far behind. What they saw took away their reason and left them numb with
amazement...
Cloud thrust his palm outward, summoning an ice spell.
Sephiroth felt the magic being summoned, and laughed, “ice? Do you really
think you can beat me with simple ice magic?”
Cloud simply stared calmly back, and cast the spell. The attack hit Sephiroth
with all the fury of a hurricane, forcing him back. Something was wrong,
this was no ordinary spell. Sephiroth shrugged off the ice blast, landing
onto the marble floor. But the ice spell followed him, hitting him in the
back. It circled around yet again, and Sephiroth drew his sword.
The blue streak of energy twisted and convulsed, beginning to change shape.
As it neared Sephiroth, it began to look...almost animal in nature. Sephiroth
grunted as the ice blast began to push him back inch by inch. Then, for the
first time in a long time, Sephiroth felt a strange taste in the back of
his mouth, a bitter taste, and he knew what it was...it was fear. Then he
took one look at the ice blast and knew why...
...For the attack had been no mere ice spell, it was deadlier, worse. The
Blue energy changed shape again, this time into the shape of a mouth, with
large, sharp teeth and scaly gums. Eyes began to form, and slowly, Sephiroth
realized what this was...what his enemy had wrought...
...Cloud had summoned a dragon to attack him, a dragon of
ice...
The blue energy screamed as it fought to devour Sephiroth, thrusting his
backwards in its rage. He yelled out in pain as he was thrown against a wall.
His insides were freezing, his joints felt numb, and he could hardly even
move.
The dragon made of icy blue energy looked down at the reeling Sephiroth,
growled, then turned away, looking for another target.
Barret and the others walked up behind Cloud, completely lost for
words.
“What the hell just-?” started Reno.
“Don’t ask,” replied Cloud, “I really don’t know.
That was...”
“...Different,” finished Vincent.
The others nodded their assent.
Methos jumped out of the way as Kaede brought his sword down hard. The
Planeswalker’s blade embedded itself in the marble. Methos floored Kaede
with a roundhouse. The Planeswalker landed with a thud, then rolled away
as his brother skewered the ground he had once occupied.
Kaede slowly stood up, fists clenched.
Methos shook his head, “disarmed, and still fighting me
brother?”
“Weapons make not the warrior,” Kaede replied.
“I beg to differ,” answered Methos, rushing at Kaede with his sword
outstretched.
Kaede jumped over the attack, then landed behind Methos. He brought his foot
around, catching Methos along the side of the face as the Drahk lord turned
around. Methos fell to the floor, and Kaede ran for his sword.
With a grunt, Methos got to his feet and ran to follow.
Kaede grabbed his sword by the hilt, but knew there was not enough time to
pull it out before Methos attacked, so he didn’t draw. Instead, Kaede
used the sword as a brace, propelling his feet upwards in an improvised
cartwheel, as he held on to the hilt. Methos staggered back as his
brother’s feet slammed into his chin.
Kaede landed on his feet, and using the force of his attack, drew his sword
from the floor. Swiping upwards in one fluid motion, Kaede slashed a deep
cut through Methos’ chest.
The Horseman fell backwards, completely unprepared for the attack. He landed
hard on his back, hugging himself tightly.
Methos coughed out blood, “ugh, not bad Kaede.”
Kaede nodded emotionlessly, “I have a few tricks left.”
He paused for breath as his brother stood slowly back up, and patiently waited
for the battle to begin once more...
Author’s Note: Now there’s a couple of fight scenes I can be proud of! Okay, so maybe this was a short chapter, and the big surprise hasn’t come yet. Just wait for it, it’ll come next chapter, I hope. I also hope it catches you all by surprise too. If not, you know me better than I know myself, since I hadn’t thought of it until recently. Anyway, as always, comments are welcome.
.