I Never Let Her Die! (Aerith x Male Gamer Reader)

Disk 02: Chapter 24: Estruans Interius Ira Vehementi

The moment of truth had come. Not at the bottom of a deep dungeon, as expected, but instead on the Highwind in-flight. Everyone pulled their weapons and fell into battle-ready positions, facing Sephiroth as he floated two feet over the deck. An aura glowed and flickered around him, dark power welling up from within, from the Jenova cells stored in his body. He asked, again, "What have you done with my Mother?"

"He thinks Jenova's departure was our doing." Red realized.

"And how could that be!?" Cloud shouted at the madman. "She was down there with you, we're still up here."

"Face it you sniveling momma's boy, Mommy-dearest abandoned you!" Cid shouted.

For the briefest of moments, no more than a half-second, the look of rage on Sephiroth's face was replaced by doubt, confusion. Then his eyes narrowed again. "No. It is my destiny to rule alongside Mother, bringing death to all that lives. She would not have abandoned me. Never. Never." He looked up to the sky, where the tiny fragments of Meteor that had survived it's destruction were continuing to rain harmlessly through the atmosphere. "Meteor's loss is but a temporary setback. I will murder Gaia, and all of it's children, just as Mother wished... And I will start with the lot of you!"

Even as he was still speaking, Sephiroth lunged towards us, swinging his blade in an arc. The speed with which he moved was unreal, yet Cloud managed to put himself in the path and parry the first blow with his own sword. The two men clashed, striking, blocking, parrying, dodging, at lightning speed. Vincent and Barrett tried to join in the attack, but the speed was so great that they couldn't join in for fear of hitting Cloud instead.

Aerith ran to my side, eyes wide. "How can we help Cloud in a battle like this?" She wondered. "Both of them are fighting on a level beyond the rest of us."

"We've got to act strategically." I said. "Vincent's the only other one here who might be able to keep up with Sephiroth in a stand-up fight. The rest of us need to help out in other ways."

"Casting." Aerith said. "Maybe, between the White Materia and the powers this staff seems to have, I can make sure my spells only hit Sephiroth." She began casting, the Auroraga spell from the White Materia. As the green light of casting flowed around her, the spell struck home, slamming into Sephiroth but not Cloud. Distracted, the villain let down his guard for a brief moment, and Cloud nearly took his head off but came away with only a foot of silver hair fluttering away in the wind.

Across from Aerith and myself, Tifa was casting protective spells on Cloud; Barrière physique, Shell, Hâte, Shield. Cid leapt high into the sky, almost disappearing from view before plummeting down directly towards Sephiroth. For a moment it looked like the attack would succeed, but the with a single smooth motion of his left arm Sephiroth knocked Cid aside, nearly sending him over the edge.

Cait attacked from behind, his moogle grabbing Sephiroth in a bear-hug, though only for a moment before being cast aside just as Cid had been. Unwilling to sit out the battle due to inability to get in a shot, Vincent transformed into Chaos and joined Cloud in the melee. Together, they managed to keep Sephiroth busy enough to Slow down the speed with which the battle was moving from place to place. Barrett was able to start shooting, and Yuffie was also in the clear to attack with her boomerang.

I realized that the Turks were nowhere to be seen. For a moment I thought they had cut and run, but that didn't seem like them. I figured they must be plotting some further attack. What mattered was trying to do something more than just standing there though, so I called for Aerith to cast Aurora on my sword, then slipped in closer to the raging melee battle, looking for an opening.

As I drew closer, I heard the sound of Red and Denah casting behind me. Bright green light erupted as Ultima broiled over Sephiroth's form, then as it faded away the brilliant red of Flare followed in quick succession. Just as I swung my blade, Sephiroth pushed Cloud and Vincent back, leapt higher into the air, and began casting a rapid-Feu series of Shadowflare spells. Cloud, Vincent, Tifa, and Red were all hit. Sephiroth then turned to face me. He laughed. "Do you really think you can protect her from me? You?"