Platinum And Ebony

Part 7 In the 'End Game' Series

Brought To You By Maizoon I'Ren and Company

Disclaimer: The some of the people in this intro are mine, but the location and most of the characters are from the Japanese video game 'Final Fantasy VII', copyrighted by Squaresoft in the year 1997 (English version).

Introduction

Sephiroth's eyes grew slightly wider as he watched the troops from an opposing kingdom march forward, toward the small city of Wutai where the Imperial Family, rulers of the Wingly Empire, had made their central government. He turned to Zaiane, the Empress by blood and his lover for almost thirty years, mother of his two children.

She seemed to read his mind, saying, "I do not know why they are here or what they want.", she turned to look him in the eye. "But whatever it is they want, we will not give it to them, no matter what the price."

He grinned. "I was hoping you would say that.", he told her looking behind them to his oldest child, his son Tsuri. "I am going to need the Masa."

The young Prince nodded and headed off down the stairs to retrieve his father's legendary sword. Before he returned, there was a loud crash at the massive gate on the outer wall of Wutai. Sephiroth's eyes widened a little more before turning to his youngest child, his daughter Naquza.

"Naqu. Get the people out of here.", he ordered. "Do it in any possible way, just get them out of here. This is a war between kingdoms,not people."

She bowed as low as she could, saying, "Yes Father." before running from the tower into the streets below in Wutai just as her brother ran back with the Masamune in one hand, passing it off to him before coming to his side.

Sephiroth could hardly believe how much she had grown. Her four layers of kimono-style robes swirled about her on the ground as she ran into view, giving the illusion that she was floating. Her platinum hair was done up in a bun with a few wisps pulled loose, framing her thin face. She had dual colored eyes, her left one wreathed in fire like her mother's eyes, the other a bright aqua green like her father's, but like both, she had slit pupils. Unlike her mother and brother, she did not have two markings that were like mirror images on her face. She had three; a small line above each eyebrow and another in the middle of her forehead. The one in between the other two was an upside-down tear drop in blood red, the one above the left eyebrow was light orchid, and the one above the right was deep violet. Her eyes had narrowed out from the wide, childish eyes to the slightly slanted, more adult eyes her mother had, adding to the beauty that was Dragon, Wingly, an alien race known as Draconese, and Jenova Human. He knew she would be appealing to just about every young man her age. In his mind, she was too beautiful for her own good.

"Is there anything we can do, Emperor?"

Sephiroth turned around, seeing Reno of the Turks standing there, a mischievous smirk on his face and with the rest of the Turks behind him. He smiled.

"I wondered when you were going to get here.", he said with a small chuckle. "I was getting a little worried there for a second."

"Wherever there's trouble, we'll be there.", Reno laughed. "That and we all swore our allegiance to you after Midgar turned into the City of the Dead."

"Speaking of the City of the Dead…", Tseng looked at Zaiane. "Where is your dark side? I thought she would be out by now, ready to cause havoc amongst the enemy."

"She is finally asleep.", the Empress answered. "Let us leave it that way. Besides, these are mere Humans. They can do nothing against our forces. Should they begin to pose any threat, however, I will have her awakened and ready to decimate any force in her way."

"Uh huh.", Reno nodded before turning back to Sephiroth. "What shall we do to assist you, Emperor?"

The Emperor looked across the small force. "Elena, Rude, go help Naqu evacuate. Reno and Tseng, you will accompany me down later." He turned his attention back to his daughter, suddenly happy he had decided to send someone down to help. She had her hands full summoning Elementals, her specialty, to try and keep the front gates from crashing down. The giant hinges used on the gate had already fallen off, the large wooden door itself held up only by several Fire, Wind, and Earth Elementals.

It was not long before Elena ran into view, followed by Rude. The girl Turk tripped over her feet and was nearly crushed by the hundreds of people running toward the back of the city.

Tseng shook his head and looked to the one he served. "If it had not been for the fact that your daughter and Rude had brains in their heads, I would say, 'We are all doomed'."

The Emperor nodded. "Yes. Elena will be the death of us all…", he grinned. "But then, that would make it all the more fun, don't you think?"

"Yes it would, Seph…I mean, my Emperor." Reno answered, his mischievous smirk growing into a grin.

"During battle, I am Sephiroth or Commander. Either one, I will answer to." was the response. He looked down at Naquza, then looked around to notice the last of the inhabitants of Wutai leaving. When the back gate was closed and locked, he turned his head back toward his daughter and yelled, "Naqu. All have made it out, safely. Return up here immediately."

She looked up, told the creatures bracing the gate to stay put as long as possible, and ran up the tower. When she made it there, she was accompanied by the family's Thestral/horse hybrid, Twilight, and her Uncle Lonestrad, her mother's short, blonde, pyromaniac twin brother. The three stood next to Tsuri, who was given his grandfather's broadsword in exchange for the Masamune.

Sephiroth looked to Tseng. "Assemble the troops and get them ready in case the Elementals can no longer hold up the gate.", Tseng bowed and left. Sephiroth sighed heavily, turning around to face the small group of four. "The Empress and I have thought about what would happen if a situation as such should come upon us. We are sending the Prince and Princess with two escorts, being Lone and Twilight, to a remote planet far from here. There, you will meet up with a weyr and reside with them until one of us comes to get you, if not both. Understand?"

Naquza and Tsuri nodded, Twilight snorted in agreement, and Lonestrad saluted, saying, "Yes sir."

Zaiane turned around and opened a portal as the Elementals at the front gate could no longer hold the barrier up and dissipated, the front gates crashing to the ground. It was not long after that the sounds of weapons and bodies clashed as the two opposing armies collided. Zaiane kissed both her children on their foreheads as Lonestrad led the procession through the portal. Tsuri followed suit, then Naquza. Twilight looked at her previous mistress and nodded, jumping as the last one before the portal closed and sealed shut. With the children safe, Sephiroth began his descent down toward the battle ground with his Empress next to him, Reno taking up the rear.

In the battle itself was Tseng, shooting enemies from one spot in the center of the fight. His finger stopped halfway from pulling the trigger again when he heard the main doors of the tower slam open. Almost immediately, the entire city fell dead silent as he dared to turn around. Walking toward the battle with a long stride was Sephiroth, his body nothing more than a black silhouette with glowing aqua green eyes, the Masamune shining in one hand. Zaiane was close behind, her body silhouetted as his was, with flaming eyes and the glittering soul-eating hilts of her Moon Blades in her hands.

Sephiroth reached Tseng's side, a devious grin spreading across his face as the other half of the pair stopped, clouds of dust rising from the ground as they halted. The Emperor gazed across the quieted battlefield, his face suddenly illuminated by the sunlight, his hair billowing in the gentle breeze that swept across the armies. No one dared move a single inch, nor to speak a single word. All remained silent until Sephiroth laughed, a laugh that sent shivers up everyone's backs but his own and Zaiane's, and addressed the opposing soldiers.

"Foolish mutts. Do you honestly think your king or emperor can take on the Wingly Empire and live? Why are we here today? To fight, of course, but for what? I say it is for fun, you may say otherwise. But we are here to fight andfight we shall!" With the last three words, he drew the Masamune upward and sliced a few enemy soldiers nearby as the massive sword was swung back around in an arc. The battlefield remained just as eerily quiet as it had been while the dead fell.

Zaiane got the fighting started again as she tossed one of the hilts into a group of unsuspecting troops from the opposite side and yelled, "Feed!", the white-gray souls flying from their inhabited bodies into the hilt and an entire circle of the enemy dropped.

Sephiroth's evil cackle was heard as the battle ensued. Tseng returned to shooting targets from his spot, Reno flipped on the Electro-Mag Rod and struck everything within several hundred meters, Elena and Rude found themselves back to back, shooting anything not wearing black and silver at the same time in large amounts.

Zaiane backed up to Sephiroth and looked at him as she summoned a hilt back for the third time, saying, "Do you think they will find it safely?"

He nodded. "I do not doubt Twilight will find it and lead them there. She has always had her way with the winds. Am I correct?"

She smiled. "I trust you judgment. I just hope they will not run into any trouble on their way there."

His eyes widened slightly, suddenly remembering why it was he had not gone to the weyr near London in so long.