Chapter 109 - Serums and Systems

Cloud tilted his head and passed through her, realising he was still sitting, but his soul was standing, not just his, but of everyone inside him.

"You don't think that only the ones who merged with a portion of your soul are here, right?"

Cloud screwed his eyebrows and looked over his shoulder to Zack and Angeal, who nodded their head, and he followed after Sephiroth. He floated by, passing through the walls, up the elevator shaft, and came out where his mansion should have been, but, "What is this place?"

Cloud found himself on a barrel land, near a starry void, and asked Sephiroth.

"This is…the Edge of Creation. I was supposed to show you, but we were pulled into this world."

"Technically, I was."

"Oh, Cloud," Sephiroth smiled, walking in front of him, "Our connection is stronger than you think. As long as you exist, so do I."

"And I am supposed to believe that? If you were truly alive, then you wouldn't be sitting silently for so long."

"You'll understand," Sephiroth smiled, reaching the end of the barren land, "For now. You should worry more about this."

"About what?"

"Putting Space and Time together. That was a bad idea."

"If it was so bad, why did none of you stop me?"

"They didn't realise it, and I? I was curious what it would lead to," Sephiroth stepped off the barren rock into the voice, and the starry void shone, and light formed a path from each one of them, connecting to the barren land, expanding, forming bridges, infinite ones.

"Don't tell me…."

"Yes. You connected Jenova to every possibility in our Universe. There might only be a few cells left in your body from the purge, but you managed to open a part for them to become a Multiversal Entity."

Cloud closed his eyes to hide the painful look and sat down at the edge, gazing at the infinite stars.

"You don't seem surprised?"

"I am," Cloud muttered, "Since they are possibilities, unobserved…."

"They do not exist yet," Sephiroth started walking down a path, "But don't worry. I'll explore them for you."

"I'd rather you don't," Cloud said, and Sephiroth's footsteps stopped.

A smile appeared on his lips, and Masamune appeared in his palm, "You will lose Cloud."

Cloud got on his feet, summoning the Keyblade in the shape of Buster Sword, and Sephiroth stepped towards him with a smile on his lips.

"You, who are embarrassed by the blades and their natural form. How can you possibly wield their powers?"

"Embarrassed? Maybe before," Cloud looked towards the Keyblade and summoned Fenrir as they took their proper shape.

"The only problem is, they don't have the range that I am used to," He dropped them, and they pierced through the ground.

"You will fight without a weapon?"

"These are my weapons…but I can't use them, so yeah," Cloud made a fighting stance, much akin to the one that Tifa made, "Come."

"Very well," Sephiroth took a step forward and disappeared, passing from beside Cloud, and swung the seven-foot-long sword thirteen times. He appeared behind Cloud as cuts appeared on Cloud's body, and blood spurted out of them.

Sephiroth turned, realising the destructive force coming toward him, and he blocked it with Masamune's blade, realising it was a punch. He narrowed his eyes, "And here I thought you only learned novice-level stuff."

"Yeah?" Cloud cocked his head to the side and rushed forward, throwing thirteen punches that hit Sephiroth's body, which diagonally slashed Masamune up, but by that time, he had pulled away. Yet, the shockwave from the slash hit him, and both he and Sephiroth were pushed backwards, their feet gorged the barren ground, coming to a stop.

"Impressive," Sephiroth's feet left the ground, and he rushed up, and Cloud followed suit, the two met at the centre, and the blade met with the first, causing a moment of silence before a shockwave spread through the barren ground. The two of them disappeared, appearing elsewhere on the barren rock, and this time, Cloud's feet smashed against the blade.

They met above in the air, holding each other at bay, "I know what you are thinking, Cloud. Do you wish to bend those blades to your Will?"

'Bend them to my Will?' Cloud glanced towards the blades, and Sephiroth used this opportunity to use Firaga on his face, yet he managed to dodge it, but not the kick that came next. He rotated in the air and landed on the ground, looking up at Sephiroth and keeping his eyes on him.

"You are reminding me more and more of that girl. Those eyes of yours…they have the same stubbornness as her."

"Thank you," Cloud stood straight, retaking the stance, but his Keyblades appeared in his hand, and he dropped them again.

'I am sorry…sorry about ignoring you for so long. It's…true that I was embarrassed by the appearance…and there was the problem with range too.'

He blitzed towards Sephiroth to exchange blows when the Keyblades appeared in his palms again. The two blades clashed, and he could have hit Sephiroth with Fenrir, but he chose to let them go.

'Sorry…if it were anyone else, then I wouldn't mind fighting alongside you, but against Sephiroth, the instances where I need to change your shape will only get in the way. It's too slow.'

He stepped forward when pillars of fire came out from the ground, one surrounding Sephiroth. At the same time, others came out randomly, and he dodged them, moving towards Sephiroth, until she reached the pillar with Sephiroth, punching forward. His fist hit the fire, creating a vacuum, and destroying the fire, but Sephiroth wasn't at the centre.

He kicked back against the sword coming towards him, "Predictable."

"I know," Sephiroth said as his illusion disappeared, and Cloud felt intense heat on his back. His body got hurled forward, rotating in mid-air, out of his control, and he saw Sephiroth standing there.

When his body was about to regain control, Sephiroth teleported in front of him, his palm on Cloud's face, and he came to a stop, "You cannot win."

A pillar of fire came out of his palm, about to envelop Cloud, when the Keyblades appeared in front of him, crisscrossed, defending him from the attack. He got pushed back, took the blades, turned, and landed on the ground.

'Stubborn…but thank you,' Cloud swivelled, and the Keyblades stuck against Masamune when Sephiroth decided to sneak attack.

But, the blades cracked, and both Cloud and Sephiroth stepped away, looking at the cracked Keyblades.

"That is not possible," It wasn't Cloud who denied such an unexpected change in the blades, but Sephiroth; he narrowed his eyes, watching the blades.

"…?" Cloud abruptly looked up, finding the whole realm shaking, and Sephiroth followed suit, seeing a crack appear, and Time Stones energy created a way outside.

He smiled, and Masamune disappeared, "You can stay here with me. Fight this battle forever, or you can go back to them."

Cloud watched the crack and let go of Keyblades that turned to dust and passed by Sephiroth, "I'll always choose them."

"Hm," Sephiroth smiled, walking towards the bridge, while Cloud's body got pulled towards the crack, disappearing in it.

Underground Lab,

Cloud opened his eyes, finding Tifa's and Aerith's faces in front of his eyes, though they didn't seem worried. No, their eyes looked as if they couldn't understand.

"What?"

Aerith pointed her finger toward the ground, created a panel of ice that could be used as a mirror, and Cloud saw himself. On his body was a flowing red cape, also acting as the scarf around his neck, and there was a metal claw in his left hand. His SOLDIER uniform, black pants, sleeveless turtleneck, and dark brown tool belts alongside the pauldron on his left shoulder were with them.

He glanced at his gloves and the buster sword in front of him, wrapped in bandages. He raised his right hand, seeing the keychain around his wrist, with the two Keyblades hanging by the chain, "And here I thought it was the time stone that opened the path."

"Did you evolve Cloud?" Aerith poked his cheek, seeing if there was any difference.

"Evolve? No. I'd say…I am whole again," Cloud muttered.

Tifa smiled, stopped bending to look at him closely, and raised her hand to shake him, "Then…it's nice to meet you, Cloud Strife."

Cloud looked at her palm, and he got on his feet; he swivelled the Buster Sword with his left hand, putting it on his back while shaking her hand, "We meet again, Tifa Lockhart."

"My…turn to introduce?" Aerith blinked, stopping her hand in midair as she saw Cloud's clothes and sword disappear, and he stood naked in front of them. She took her hand back, running her eyes from top to bottom, "I am guessing you didn't mean to do that?"

Cloud pressed his lips, ignoring the sheer embarrassment while summoning the clothes and sword again, "Right. Gotta work on that."

Aerith nodded, looking down, suppressing her laugh as she ticked her hands behind her back. She turned when he walked past her to hide his face and looked over to Tifa, resting her elbow on her left hand's palm, her finger curled in front of her lips to hide her laugh.

"Still Cloud?"

Tifa lovingly looked at his back and watched him with a relieved expression, "Definitely."