Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII. SE does. Just a non-profit fan-work here.

"Cold Reality"

"What I have shown you is reality. What you remember- that is the illusion."—Sephiroth, FFVII

This was getting way out of hand, Cloud realized, once Sephiroth had slammed him into the crumbling ruins of the ShinRa building for the second time. White hot tension coursed through each nerve and muscle, expanding out from him in a fiery blue blaze of excited spirit energy. Holding First Tsurugi firmly out to his right, he charged at Sephiroth, who was already coming for him. There was no time to catch his breath in this fight; if he let it drag out any longer, Cloud knew his stamina would give out. He'd try to take him down just like he had before. Omnislash was surely too fast; too improvised and wild for him to block completely.

But Sephiroth did parry that first slash. And then he dodged the next few, and parried again, and again. With all his might, Cloud swung and slashed at Sephiroth, but not a single one seemed to want to connect. Infuriated, he reared back, and leapt high in the air, raising his sword for the final blow. He tried to gauge where the blade would fall, hoping that if nothing else, he might cripple the man's left arm, leaving him at a severe disadvantage. If he was really lucky, he'd simply cleave Sephiroth in twain, and that would be the end of it, but he knew that was wishful thinking.

Cloud was wrong-dead wrong. His war cry was cut short as Masamune's cold, sharp point skewered him on the way down, just below his rib cage, suspending him in mid-air. Sephiroth had perfectly nestled it right next to his right lung in front, and his spine in back. All it would take was one small turn of his blade, and Cloud knew he would be gone. Shocked; his body wracked with unbelievable, ripping agony, Cloud gripped it, waiting for exactly that to happen. But he continued to dangle, grunting and groaning helplessly.

"Is this the pain you felt before, Cloud?" Sephiroth glared upward, cruelly taunting him. "Let me remind you. This time, you won't forget."

A single, black, menacing wing deployed from Sephiroth's back, and Cloud sharply inhaled, startled, agitating the already blistering pain of his wound. Cloud was certain he was about to be finished off, but instead, he was ejected upwards from Masamune's end, flailing uncontrollably. Cold air and flying dust sprayed him in the vortex winds on the way up, pelting the gaping hole in his abdomen with sharp debris.

Before he could become too engrossed in that, Sephiroth flew up to meet him, stabbing and slashing violently. Cloud somehow managed to block the first two, amazed that he'd managed to keep a hold of his sword at all, but everything that followed afterward met its mark with frightening precision. Sephiroth was quite intentionally torturing him; leaving an array of deep punctures in his torso that wouldn't instantly kill him, but for time and heavy bleeding. His foot and knee were completely run through, leaving him with no chance of recovering from the attack. Panicking in survival instinct, only wanting Sephiroth's macabre, gruesome onslaught to end, Cloud clung desperately to the blade as it raked across his left cheek.

His death grip on Masamune's business end only deepened the cuts. The sharp edge sunk deeper, through more bruised skin and tender muscle; severing vital tendons, depriving him further of much-needed mobility. At last, Sephiroth growled in finishing, flinging him off of his weapon. Powerless to break his fall, Cloud screamed on the way back down, watching huge globs of his own blood spurt freely upward, and fall back down to chase after him.

With a thunderous crash, he collided with the concrete ground, hearing and feeling hot liquid rush from the freshly created punctures all over his body. He struggled to get up, grasping desperately at his weapon, but to no avail. His punctured knee immediately gave out beneath him, and a sickening crunch confirmed that its cap had been severed. Panting, using the sword as a makeshift crutch, he only managed to prop himself up partially.

"Tell me what you cherish most." Sephiroth commanded darkly, pleased with his handiwork, knowing full well that Cloud's throat was probably too overwhelmed with blood and sheer pain to retort. "Give me the pleasure of taking it away."

In his critically injured state, Cloud could withhold nothing from Sephiroth, and mental images of his most precious loved ones flashed before his eyes. He'd go after them next, Cloud had no doubt. Smirking maliciously, Sephiroth swooped down on him, viciously driving Masamune through his right lung. Cloud instantly gagged and coughed; rich streams of crimson fluid bubbled up through his mouth and nose. He couldn't scream. He couldn't cry. He couldn't breathe. It was over for him.

But Sephiroth was still not quite satisfied.

Towering over the bleeding, dying husk that was left of Cloud, he slowly thread blade all the way through him, up to the hilt. "Watch closely, Cloud." Sephiroth sadistically purred, yanking his body up off the asphalt by his hair, almost making him stand, all while holding Masamune steady in its gory place.

Forced to gaze skyward as he struggled to draw his last breaths, Cloud's eyes widened, seeing innumerable, knotted, black vortexes surrounding the Shera. The airship maneuvered every way it could, looking desperately for an escape route, but the twisters closed in on it. Fuselage shredded off as scrap metal; rotors and turbines were ripped away and twisted into useless bits. Finally, the engines failed, catching fire, and the ship, along with all her passengers, were lost in a massive explosion. Flaming chunks of the airship came crashing down, indistinguishable from the remains of his friends.

A fresh gush of blood overflowed from Cloud's mouth, as he was unable to suppress one last, defeated, anguished cry. Strained, heavy tears leaked from his eyes, even as oxygen and blood loss ushered him closer and closer to unconsciousness.

Quiet, malicious laughter resounded in the aftermath of his mournful wail, mocking Cloud's every loss. "Is that all you have to say, Cloud? How unfortunate."

With a swift flick of his wrist, Sephiroth sharply twisted Masamune, instantly drowning Cloud in his own blood.

"But do not fear. For it is through death that a new spirit energy is born. Soon, you will live again as a part of me."