Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 2: Aftermath

THIRTY-SIX

"Go to hell," I spat.

Sephiroth stretched his hand toward me, palm outward. "I've been there already. And you'll help me whether you like it or not. Allow me to provide you with a demonstration..."

Suddenly I lurched backward, my blood burning, and felt my mind yanked almost violently aside. I watched, a helpless spectator inside my own body, as my right arm rose up in front of me on its own, my hand squeezing shut so tightly my nails dug into my palm. My wrist, already sore from my injuries and how hard I'd been pushing myself, started to hurt as well. My whole forearm quivered, and as much as I tried, I just couldn't lower it or move it so much as an inch.

Then, Sephiroth lowered his hand, and I felt in control of my mind again. I instantly dropped my arm to my side, rubbing it with my other hand as I unclenched my fist. I winced in pain when I saw blood. And as I stared at the red gouges in my palm, I shivered, afraid not only for myself, but for my friends, too. Because if Sephiroth could force me to hurt myself like that, what could he make me to do them? I couldn't let it happen, but I didn't know how to stop it.

"Do you understand now?" he said. "I own you."

I glared at him. "The hell you do! I won't be your puppet!"

Sephiroth sneered. "You already are."

"Tell me something," I went on. "What did you mean the other day when you called me your agent of chaos?"

He walked around me again, his boots not leaving any tracks in the dirt. "Think of a pond, its waters still and unmoving. Unchanging, day after day. But if a pebble is thrown into it, there is a splash, and a ripple sweeps across the water, changing all in its path."

"What are you saying?" I frowned.

Sephiroth bent close to my ear. "You are the ripple."

I backed away from him. "What...?"

"You should be dead, buried beneath mountains of rubble, and yet you live," he explained, his pale green eyes tearing into me. "It was your fate. A life cut short before it could even begin. But no longer. You have a new path now, a second chance. For a time."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, suddenly afraid.

Sephiroth pointed at my heart. "Mother's legacy will consume you in the end, Jessie. Did you really believe you could change fate without a price? Your body doesn't have the strength to contain her. One day, it will simply... stop. But in the meantime, the very fact that you live will change many things. It's already begun."

I clutched my chest as a sliver of pain suddenly stabbed through it. Was he right? Was there really something else inside me, something in my blood that Cloud had unintentionally passed along which could be slowly killing me? I didn't know. Aerith hadn't found anything unusual when she'd looked me over the other day with those strange abilities of hers, but she hadn't searched too deeply, either. So she might've missed it. I didn't wanna believe Sephiroth, though.

"And how does all that help you?" I wondered.

"Because you now live when the will of the planet says you should not, you have the capacity to change how this story unfolds," Sephiroth said. "And that makes you most useful indeed."

Now I finally understood. "Cloud always beat you before, and you wanna use me to make sure that doesn't happen this time. And because he cares for me, making me turn against him and the others'll twist the knife and cause him to suffer even more."

"I see your mind is as keen as ever," Sephiroth smiled icily. "You've pieced everything together quite well."

"Not gonna happen!" I swore, my blood boiling.