When he runs into the reactor proper, the steel door still hangs open from when he and Sephiroth investigated a week prior. He looks over at Brian's lifeless body, strewn across the metal grates, and he feels the bile rising up his throat. It takes him a moment, but he swallows thickly before running past him and after Tifa.
Once inside, he sees Tifa charging up the stairs toward the Sephiroth, katana in hand to attack the SOLDIER general. But he stops her with relative ease, lifting her off the ground by the katana's blade. Cloud watches as Tifa struggles, her grip tight on the sword's hilt. Then, in one fell swoop, Sephiroth tosses her off and slashes the blade before him.
Cold steel rips Tifa's flesh open as she falls backward, tumbling and rolling to the foot of the stairs. As much as Cloud wills his body to move, it remains frozen in shock as the events quickly unfold before him.
When he comes to his senses, Sephiroth no longer stands at the top of the stairs, and a pool of blood begins forming around Tifa. He runs to her, kneeling by her side. Then he feels it, the painful throb, a searing pain the cuts through his mind, almost causing him to black. He shuts his eyes, only for a moment, and when he opens them once more, Tifa is gone.]
You know that I killed her.
[Cloud feels a breath at his ear. But before he could react, Tifa's lifeless body appears before him. Her skin is pale, near sheet-white, and she lies unmoving. Cloud grips his chest, his shirt bunching up in his fist.
He's too late.
Sephiroth's taunting continues:]
So who is she? Or rather... what is she?
[The world began to spin, his head pounding, sharp and heavy. Sephiroth was right. He had had failed Tifa. Her body lying before him was living proof of that. But she disappeared once more when he had looked away.]
Tifa? Tifa!
[He whips around, turning on his heel, hoping to find a glimpse of her somewhere, somehow. Was she still alive? Was Sephiroth playing tricks on him? She couldn't be—he couldn't even bear to finish the thought.
closed to tifa
When he runs into the reactor proper, the steel door still hangs open from when he and Sephiroth investigated a week prior. He looks over at Brian's lifeless body, strewn across the metal grates, and he feels the bile rising up his throat. It takes him a moment, but he swallows thickly before running past him and after Tifa.
Once inside, he sees Tifa charging up the stairs toward the Sephiroth, katana in hand to attack the SOLDIER general. But he stops her with relative ease, lifting her off the ground by the katana's blade. Cloud watches as Tifa struggles, her grip tight on the sword's hilt. Then, in one fell swoop, Sephiroth tosses her off and slashes the blade before him.
Cold steel rips Tifa's flesh open as she falls backward, tumbling and rolling to the foot of the stairs. As much as Cloud wills his body to move, it remains frozen in shock as the events quickly unfold before him.
When he comes to his senses, Sephiroth no longer stands at the top of the stairs, and a pool of blood begins forming around Tifa. He runs to her, kneeling by her side. Then he feels it, the painful throb, a searing pain the cuts through his mind, almost causing him to black. He shuts his eyes, only for a moment, and when he opens them once more, Tifa is gone.]
You know that I killed her.
[Cloud feels a breath at his ear. But before he could react, Tifa's lifeless body appears before him. Her skin is pale, near sheet-white, and she lies unmoving. Cloud grips his chest, his shirt bunching up in his fist.
He's too late.
Sephiroth's taunting continues:]
So who is she? Or rather... what is she?
[The world began to spin, his head pounding, sharp and heavy. Sephiroth was right. He had had failed Tifa. Her body lying before him was living proof of that. But she disappeared once more when he had looked away.]
Tifa? Tifa!
[He whips around, turning on his heel, hoping to find a glimpse of her somewhere, somehow. Was she still alive? Was Sephiroth playing tricks on him? She couldn't be—he couldn't even bear to finish the thought.
But one question rang in his mind. What is real?]