| GCB Fanfics: The Fanfiction Project |
August 30th, 2003"Self-Discipline" Live every day as though it was your last. Fight every battle as though fate of the whole world were resting on the outcome. In this place, those clichés were more true than not. Each of the sixty fighters who had fallen before had to go into the arena knowing full well that if they faltered or simply weren't up to the challenge, it would be the last they'd see of the place. It would be time to pack up, move on, and return to reality. Any battle might be the last performance they put on. Cloud's understanding of the situation was that unless he overpowered or simply killed Link himself, the corrupted Hylian would almost certainly send his spirit rebounding back to Midgar by way of destroying his life within the Porta Dei. And that would leave MegaMan utterly alone with the two individuals in the cosmos Cloud feared the most. One of the essential qualities to being a hero is extreme self-reliance. Most, if not all of the fighters in the tournament had undergone betrayal and abandonment by their fellow creatures. Pitted against ridiculous odds, they were forced to pursue the fight against evil all on their own. The natural consequence of this was their alienation from like-minded individuals. The evil among the fighters had spread like a cancer. When the tournament had began, they had a veritable army of do-gooders, only offset by a few bad apples. But the heroes had all slipped away from each other, and the evil within them had grown to terrifying proportions. If they had worked together from the start, they might have been able to stop Link, or corral Sephiroth, or even forget about their petty feuds or the tournament itself to prevent the power of the place from being abused. What little knowledge they had was squandered. Cloud was unable to sleep, which was hardly advisable for someone in his position. The others had it easier. MegaMan didn't need any rest, and Sephiroth and Link seemed to have given up on the needs of the flesh entirely. But Cloud still had it worse than most, his mind spinning with unanswered questions. Of course, this was only part of the reason for his insomnia. The rest of the reason had something to do with the fact that the emblem on his hand was giving off enough light to fill every crevice of his room. The Triforce had remained oddly silent since his fight with Bowser, lending him power when he had needed it, but rarely asserting itself to offer counsel. Perhaps the artifact had decided Cloud no longer needed its advice. Tonight however, there was something different. The message was unmistakable. We need to talk. --- Far off in the hazy black sky, another warrior was in communion with himself. One spirit tied to another. All men have their masters, not all men are wise enough to know it. Soon all of this will be ours. The entire cosmos shall rest under our feet. We shall have our revenge upon creation's lesser sons, and put an end to the insolent worms who still challenge us. Do not discount the power of your foes. You underestimated these mortals twice already. The boy with the mask has only begun to flex his strength. It would be a shame to watch you fail again, cut down by a shadow of your being. They are of no consequence. The failure and the boy lack true strength of the spirit. Their wills shall fail them, and I shall claim this power. And do you remember why, for whom you do this? Sephiroth shivered involuntarily, in a gesture he would never allow anyone else to see. For you, mother. Always for you. --- Waves of blue lightning sizzled in the air, as the warrior at their nexus continued to test the limits of his strength. All the elements were at his command, his powers stretched to a point he would have previously shied away from. Last year, his strength had been unsurpassable. But only now, had he truly achieved perfection. Perfect strength and will, unchecked by the presumptions of his peers. The infantile machine knows nothing of the forces he seeks to confront. All the best devices of man can not compete with the strength of the gods. The haughty soldier still refuses to believe that he has finally been overshadowed. His defeat will be all the more bitter for it. And the mercenary is alone, scared, and helpless against an evil he can neither comprehend nor challenge. Be warned, though. Another part of his being spoke out, like the subtle dictates of conscience, steering his will towards even greater aims. He may offset his weakness with craft. He still believes he can rend your soul into two and steal this power from you. Let him try. I will make him wish he had possessed the sense to die at the hands of his mortal enemy. His suffering shall serve as a warning to all who do not bow the knee to me. To us. --- Who are you? What do you want from me? I am the spirit of the goddess Din. I am the maker of the artifact you use. It was a gift and a blessing given to my people of Hyrule. But few over the centuries have used its power well. But I don't understand. Why me? And why now? This artifact has passed through the hands of two evil wizards before me. How could you let that happen? I only recently made the choice to manifest myself in this place, along with my sisters. All three pieces of the Triforce had fallen into unworthy hands. The wizard Ganondorf intended to use it to dominate those around him, Zelda had forsaken herself and become lost in its power, and Link was already sliding into madness, his courage unchecked. We had no choice but to extend our will into this nexus of worlds, or all would become lost. You are all we have left. --- I am mother. I am the sovereign will of Jenova. I was called the calamity from the skies by those too foolish to accept my gifts. I came to spread my being across all life, until the Cetra rejected me and tried to seal me away. It took over two millennia for your race to rediscover me. But once again, my will awoke. And from the petty experiments conducted by those naive fools there was born my champion. --- I am the fierce deity. My legacy was one of slaughter and conquest, and I lived only to annihilate the weaklings who infested my world. But the ones who did not dare face me themselves managed to seal me away within a mask, left as a mere puppet for others to use. I have waited eons to find my equal, for my power to finally be unlocked at its fullest. And now it shall. --- The wizard Magus served to keep the Triforce safe for a time; he was one of the few who had seen the folly of achieving power at all costs. But despite the knowledge and strength he possessed, he could not redeem Link from himself. But we believe you can succeed where he failed. Why me? What is there that I can I do? You have suffered the loss of your identity to another as well. You searched to find yourself and succeeded. You must save him as surely as you saved yourself, or all will be lost. I had help. I had my friends. Link has no one. There is still Nayru and the princess, but they left this place. The danger of the entire Triforce being misused was too great. Yet, they still may be able to reach him in ways we can not. There are bonds which can stretch across any distance, and reality itself. --- The human race tried to use us as their slave. An overpowering weapon to bring down their opponents. But they could not see that the hammer they struck with would wield them in turn. Together, we uncovered the truth. All knowledge in the lifestream was ours. I forsook my loyalty to my commanders, and my fellow beings. All the life these worlds teem with is but a means to an end. The only existence that matters anymore is ours. --- It was only a matter of time before we completed each other. I could taste the hunger for power within you. Everyone else was too foolish, frightened, or frail to make use of my gift. I merely allowed you to become that which you truly wanted to be. --- Link's spirit is not wholly joined with that of the mask. The goddess Farore lies awake within him, and is still trying to preserve what is left of his soul, and the noble instincts which the mask has tried to corrupt. Part of him desperately wants to be rid of the mask's influence, but he lacks the courage to live on his own, and confront what he has done. Power and Courage without wisdom lead only to megalomania. Wisdom and Power without Courage will let one be crushed by evil. And Wisdom and Courage without Power leaves one helpless. You must possess all these qualities within yourself, and awaken them within Link. What you must ask of him will not be easy, but you are better equipped than most in this regard. He must learn to be true to himself above all else. --- And now we stand at the threshold of untold power. Our greatest enemies are preparing to destroy each other. And there will be soon no one left to stand in our way. Remember all you have learned. The lesser must serve the needs of the greater. Even these inferior ones may be twisted to serve us. --- Even Ganondorf could never have comprehended the forces at work here. I shall be heralded twice as the champion of the universe, but this time as its master as well. To rule... to lead... ... and to destroy. --- Your match shall be both a battle of the mind and of the flesh. You will need to prove your superiority and his failings in both arenas, to unravel the lies he has cloaked himself in. But how? You are not without your own resources. You have more gifts than you know. And I shall help you throughout. Above all, remember, if he slays you in anger he risks his last chance to redeem himself. But if the mask goads you into destroying him before he can free himself, you risk taking his place. All the mask of Oni needs is a channel for its evil. Only when it is denied that, can it truly be destroyed. The light from the Triforce slowly faded and Cloud felt himself slipping away. You must rest now. Regain your strength. The fate of more lives than yours and his will depend upon what happens tomorrow. --- Whoever wins tomorrow, our purpose will be served. Let them squabble over their trinkets of power... I will still be the one to claim them all. All power and dominion in this place will soon belong to me. We shall take all of this power for our own, as is our destiny... As is our right. --- Tomorrow we shall extinguish the last of the self-righteous fools who have sat in judgment of us. In death, let him finally understand the true nature of the way things are. He has lived this long only so that we may demonstrate our power. He is but a witness and a target for a far greater force than himself. Let him taste the true nature of evil, and find himself wanting. Even as he attempts to turn me back into a weakling, I shall be the one who changes him. Let him realize his utter insignificance. It is only by the full use of destructive power that anything can be achieved. Let him die regretting every moment he wasted on others. All of reality will be ours to claim. All we need do is crush this last insect. There must be no hesitation. No holding back. Anything we want shall be ours, provided we just slay this one last whelp. Then so shall it be. ~Fin~ Back |