Five Years After Meteor: A Cold Splash of Reality

The Return of Sephiroth

Chapter One: The Return Of Sephiroth

Cloud Strife was sitting in the kitchen of his cabin near the North Crater, and thinking about his past, as always. A blur of thoughts passed through his head as he angsted quietly to himself. Sephiroth. JENOVA. Meteor. Aerith's death. Watching his hometown be burned down by the one man he had looked up to. The words echoing through his head,

"You're nothing but a puppet... Cloud."

He didn't know what had gone wrong, but it felt like something was amiss since the incident. It wasn't his usual angst, rather that he had began to feel strange.

"Cloud?"

And he wanted to know why.

"Oh, excuse me... you never had a name."

He stood up at the sight of his best friend and his only company nowadays, Tifa Lockhart. "Tifa!" he called, making eye contact with the back of her head. "What's going on? You look upset."

Tifa just sighed. "I've been hearing... voices... just like Aerith did, before..." Her voice trailed off. "It's Sephiroth."

Cloud felt a jolt of anger at the sound of the name. "What about him?"

She bit her lip, then managed to get out, "He... I have a very strong feeling he might still be alive. I've been hearing... his voice. Talking to me."

Her, too!? "Sephiroth, still alive? Impossible! I, I killed him myself! I mean--" he stammered, in a mixture of confusion and rage. "Th-they're just voices, though, right?"

"Unfortunately, no." She shook her head, her long brown hair rustling with her movement. "It sounds like he's getting in my head himself. He said something about you... joining him."

"W-where is he?" Cloud's eyes narrowed, but he was still unable to hold in his fear.

"He's..." Tifa scratched her head, thinking hard. Just then, the door knocked. "I'll get it!" She opened the door carefully.

"Cloud... he's right at the front door."

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"He's right at the front door."

Tifa couldn't possibly be serious... could she? At least, that's what Cloud was thinking when he had heard Tifa announce the arrival of the man who had destroyed his hometown. Sephiroth.

"Yes, my puppet."

The voice sent cold chills of fear through Cloud's spine, who then proceeded to hide behind the sofa.

"She was being very, very serious." Sephiroth's silver hair swayed in the breeze tauntingly. "I believe we have a few things to... settle." He chuckled, with a mocking grin on his face.

Cloud shivered at his next words. "I know where you are hiding, little chocobo." He walked up to the sofa, seeing a few tufts of Cloud's golden hair poke up behind it. "You can come out now. Don't worry Cloud... I don't bite."

Cloud's still-childish face popped up from his hiding place. "I, uh, well, you, I... the, five years... WHAT THE CRAP ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" He suddenly leaped up, landing on the cushions. "I killed you! I SAW you die! You --" He drew his sword, breaking a nearby table in the process.

"--Cloud."

"You little... ooh... I'm gonna just kill you again then, oh yes, and I'll enjoy it, you bas--"