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Neither knew when or how it happened, only that it did. It wasn't even acknowledged until others pointed it out. Even then, no words were exchanged between the two Warriors of Chaos until many cycles had passed when in one instance, the two stood closer than usual. Just shy of arm's length. An enormous show of wary trust between two destructive beings fighting on the side of discord.
The Dimensional Sorceress and the One Winged Angel watched before them the destruction of another empty world. The latest battlefield that took on the world of one of their many adversaries.
"Beautiful, is it not?" Ultimecia says.
Sephiroth grunts in distaste, "I would have preferred a more explosive method than this ." He points to the dark vacuum devouring the last of the world until all was left was the space they occupied.
The Sorceress lets out a delicate laugh, "How arrogant of you to presume to be more powerful than that ."
"I merely criticized the manner of the world's destruction, not its ability to do so. I remember having done something more devastating than that ." The One Winged Angel retorts while holding tightly onto a black crystal ball the size of a plum.
There was an arch in the Sorceress' painted brows, "You are familiar with the previous battlefield?"
Sephiroth nods, "Midgard."
"T'was a strange city of metal," she describes in recollection and crosses her arms. Fighting back a shiver. "And so cold."
"The real one is never cold because the Mako Reactors scattered around the city run hotter than a summer day."
"I cannot help but be a little jealous of you remembering something about your world." And without so much as a by your leave, the two parted ways.
The next time they spoke, Sephiroth slowly approached the Sorceress. Noticing Ultimecia's sorrowful gaze, the One Winged Angel telegraphed his approach by stepping loudly before standing beside the Sorceress. Just shy of arm's length.
“It is most fortunate that Griever tolerates you." She informs him, "If not, you would not be standing so close to me, Sephiroth.” There was no reprimand in her warning and so Sephiroth reached out to her shoulder where a part of Griever resides, and gave the familiar an appreciative stroke.
“Hello Ultimecia," he greets her with a faint smile. "And I believe the correct sentence is, Griever is fond of me.”
The two were not outwardly friendly, but it was clear to those who knew how to look that there was something between the two. Not quite friendship with how taciturn they usually are when together, but there was an understanding. A common ground in the fascination of watching worlds ending in a vacuum after every battle.
A battle with the Warriors of Cosmos had just concluded and once again the two were coincidentally grouped together with the unpleasant addition of the Mad Magician, who thankfully had already left, when Sephiroth asked the Sorceress, "Why do you stay until the worlds we battled in are erased?"
Ultimecia fiddled with her hair, after shifting her hand from sharp clawed fingers into a normal human hand. It was a sign of trust from her, which she'd begun to give as of late. It was unclear when that had happened, but it also put the One Winged Angel at ease. A state of being he hasn't had since…before Nibelheim.
There was really nothing Sephiroth could do to return that trust, other than willingly approaching Griever, who can harm him at any time.
"Has it crossed your mind where the dying world's energies go?" Ultimecia absentmindedly replies.
The One Winged Angel turned to the Sorceress with a tilt of his head, a question on the tip of tongue, but was cut off by her answer. "It is being siphoned into somewhere or someone."
The fact brings him an idea.
"You are certain?"
"Of course. As the Sorceress of Time and Space I can determine where these remnants of energy are going. In fact, I can even power my very own portal if I gather enough energy from these fading worlds."
Judging by the Sorceress' smug grin, Sephiroth knows his impassive mask had failed him. Frankly, Ultimecia's power was impressive. While he prided himself as a powerful being, he can only manipulate enough of Dissidia’s reality to create a tear, not control where it can go. Time and Space was a concept far beyond his understanding despite all the power he has and it surprises him a little that he doesn't mind not having control of this. What a strange thing trust is.
The battle with the Warriors of Cosmos: the self-proclaimed knight, the thief with a tail and the teenage soldier, took longer than usual. The group's teamwork was impeccable. Their reactions were fast and their transitions were seamless.
Faced against a group as disorganized as his, it was obvious that they only won by a thin margin. The Emperor, holding no regard for anyone other than himself, charged into battle with the full intent to overwhelm the Warriors of Cosmos. Unfortunately, power levels won't matter when the numbers are stacked against you.
He was not interested in outright losing, so he timed his attacks with some of the Emperor's and managed a powerful coordinated attack to break the opposing group's momentum.
In the final push, Ultimecia put a little effort by adding a little push to the Meteor he had casted.
Amidst the aftermath of their battle, Sephiroth now stood near the portal that would take him to an area of respite. He took a moment to look around the sandy brown stone work of the city. If he recalled correctly the tailed thief was from here. He called it Alexandria.
Sephiroth caught sight of a familiar red and black blur in his peripheral vision. He followed it into a building. Gliding through its windows, Sephiroth found himself inside a structure with high arched ceilings. Shelves almost reaching said ceiling almost covered every inch of the large hall.
"Hello Sephiroth, would you mind taking those books from your side? Unfortunately, this version of the Great Library of Alexandria does not have an index of its books." Ultimecia says from somewhere.
"Hello Ultimecia," Sephiroth greets back then shakes his head at the Sorceress' peculiar request. "Just because I can vanish my sword and make it reappear does not mean I can do the same to other objects."
His enhanced ears caught a resigned sigh from the Sorceress perusing the shelves further in. "The least you could do is pile them in the middle right there then."
That irked him for some reason, but then he had an idea and smirked.
"What.Is.This." A seething Ultimecia appeared a few minutes later. It pleased him to know that seeing him leaning on one shelf in a relaxed position next to a pile of disarrayed books caused the Sorceress to lose her composure. Ultimecia was even rattled enough to not notice she was no longer floating, but stomping towards him.
"Your books, arranged in the middle. As requested." He snarked, once Ultimecia was close enough for the manifested Griever to hover by his shoulder, fangs all out.
There was a constant twitch in one of the Sorceress' fine brows and with the way her clawed hands were fisted and shaking, it was safe to say that Ultimecia was on the verge of an explosion of sorts.
Sephiroth, ever the Calamity, fanned the flames and said unhelpfully, "I suggest rewinding the damage with your Time magic and storing them away for now. This Alexandria will not last any longer."
Unfortunately, there was no explosion of neither the emotional nor the physical type from the Sorceress. She set aside her tantrum and simply waved her hand and vanished the books. She then stepped close to Sephiroth and with a weary sigh, "Let us be off then."
Taking the request as is, Sephiroth wrapped an arm around Ultimecia's shoulders and teleported them to the quad outside, where the portal was. He was a little disappointed that the Sorceress recovered her composure too easily.
Some days when both were a little restless from being captive inside Dissidia, the two's hellos were nonverbal and of the physical clashing kind. To them, they were engaged in a friendly spar to let out pent up energy. To either Warriors of Chaos or Cosmos, they seem to be an immovable object and an unstoppable force going all out.
Once their battlespace was mostly gone and the peanut gallery had left, Ultimecia and Sephiroth both stopped and headed to a nice perch with the view of a disintegrating world.
"I do not have a home to return to." Ultimecia says forlornly. "A castle, but not a home. "
She pats her familiar who suddenly manifested on her shoulder and demanded head pats."I was young and foolish to think that power was something one simply takes. When in truth, it exacts a price. Mine was something I would have never imagined."
Not interrupting, Sephiroth reached out to pat Griever.
"My universe ." Ultimecia softly says and heavily with regret she adds when she caught the question in his gaze, "My Time magic cannot undo the action that created it."
Sephiroth hummed in acknowledgment. "This is what remains." She conjures a mirror sized image before them. In it was an intimidating castle under dark purple skies. Where lightning storms without rain constantly roared in the background. "It can only exist in the edges of reality. Outside of time. My little Castle Out of Time ." She says with equal fondness and despondence.
And in a gesture so unlike him, Sephiroth pulled the Sorceress by the waist to him. Sensing there was no protest, he draped his wing over her like a shield against the world around them and let her head rest on his shoulder.
Her sigh of relief made him feel a long forgotten warmth from where there bodies touched. It also made the inside of his chest shiver in delight. Sephiroth never knew how much he missed interactions such as these. He'd been alone for so long. So has she. He thought. Perhaps this strange bond they have could ease this empty maw of loneliness inside them.
The state of things changed abruptly one day. Cosmos and Chaos were gone. New people appeared and some of the familiar faces seemed to have misremembered a few things.
However, it wasn't the case for him and apparently for another.
"My friend, do you fly away now?
To a world that abhors you and I?" The condescendingly seductive voice of Ultimecia spoke beside him. She had compressed time to cut the distance between them and now she stood next to him with a clawed finger running a line down his wing.
"Hello, Sephiroth."
The One Winged Angel struggled not to shiver. With a faint yet genuine smile he greeted back, "Hello, Ultimecia." He was relieved to not have lost her in this strange new cycle.
They stood side by side, observing in admiration the eventual collapse of a world before them, like how one enjoys the sun setting in the ocean's horizon.
"It is peculiar how this event feels both nostalgic and unfamiliar at the same time."
There was no argument there as Sephiroth sighs. For even he finds this jumbled memory business unnerving. "Likely an effect of the disappearance of the Gods and the subsequent appearance of these two unknown beings, who seem as clueless as everyone else."
Her high pitched laugh of absolute delight is the same as he remembered. "Everyone except us, it would seem," she says with a knowing glint in her eyes. "Although, some of the Warriors of Cosmos and some from Chaos are starting to be suspicious of Materia and Spiritus."
"Oh?"
"I believe this is an opportunity for us, Sephiroth. Do you remember what we spoke of before? About the portals and the energies?"
He nods then smirks, "I distinctly remember your tantrum in Alexandria."
At Ultimecia's displeased scowl, her shoulders rippled and a black tar swiftly rose out from them and formed into a monstrous griffon-like creature with longer fangs and a gaping maw. There was a growl then a rush to attack whatever angered his master and then just as suddenly it struck, it stopped midway once it saw its target then resumed its trajectory and instead of its fangs sinking into Sephiroth's neck, Griever wrapped around his neck and shoulders in an affectionate gesture. Sephiroth huffed a laugh and patted the Sorceress' familiar.
"How dare you betray me, Griever!" She exclaimed in a fake aggrieved tone.
It didn't take long for the Warriors of Cosmos to notice what was wrong and take action. It was unprecedented as far as the previous Cycles were concerned; however there was no other way to lure the great dragon from the dimensional rift, Shinryu. Other than working together, both Warriors of Cosmos and Chaos, that is.
While waiting for the groups to gather at the agreed location, a spacious, rocky stretch of land between the two being's realms, Ultimecia was once again suddenly beside him in the piece of rock he'd decided to wait on. Surprisingly, her silver hair was flowing down past her shoulders. It fluttered around her as her magic lingered around her. "I can send you back to your Planet. To a time of your choosing," she offers.
He reached out to a lock of her hair and twirled it around his finger, not quite sure what to say except, "And you will return to your Castle Out of Time ."
With a snap of her fingers her hair shifted into the usual updo that resembled horns. He put his hand down in disappointment, but never looked away from her golden eyes, seeking something behind her offer.
"It will be quiet again, but watching events unfold is quite entertaining in its own way. Perhaps, I'll come see your world. I'm told you almost destroyed it spectacularly."
Remembering his failure in Gaia made him growl.
"No need to pout." Ultimecia laughingly said while handing him a brooch with the shape of a solitary black wing. "While passing through a portal, use this as a focus. Visualize the time and place you wish to go."
He examined the unassuming piece of jewelry on his palm. "I did not expect it to be this easy to leave this place."
"The simplest solutions are the best," the Sorceress chimed. Delighted in his skepticism and how he will be proved wrong when it works.
"I will keep it in mind."
She peered back into his eyes and said, "Farewell, Sephiroth."
Sephiroth reached out over Ultimecia's shoulder and gave Griever a pat.
With a faint smile at catching the Sorceress in surprise he responds to Ultimecia's farewell and steps into the portal.
How had he been so naive to have thought that he could change anything. In the end Cloud would always stand against him for the humans, who created him, put him on a pedestal and just as easily tore him from the spotlight, vilified. Why should this Planet that rejected his very being deserve to exist?
Sephiroth pondered these thoughts as his form destabilized after being hit by Cloud's Limit Break. Again he floated above the ruins of Midgar and returned Cloud's pitying gaze with haughty contempt.
Just as he was about to rebut Cloud with what he'd said the last time, a mocking voice broke the tense confrontation.
"Well, well," Ultimecia floats down to his level. She was dressed differently. No less elegant and menacing. Perhaps more laid back in the lighter colors and cleanly cut trail of her dress.
With a light touch to his shoulder, Sephiroth's form reverted into just before his battle with Cloud "This was not what I had expected, Sephiroth," she tsked at him playfully.
Sephiroth stretched out his wing once the Sorceress' magic settled. Eyes not even bothering to look at Cloud, who was readying to attack, Sephiroth addressed Ultimecia. "It would seem that Fate is much more stubborn than I expected."
"If this is what it takes to see you pout, I believe this was a well worth endeavor," she laughed in that high pitched laugh of hers that Sephiroth would never admit to missing. He did; however, miss this playful banter between them. He hadn’t had a decent conversation with anyone since his jump back in time to Gaia.
With a spare moment, Sephiroth turned to Cloud to see him with wide eyes. Gaping in disbelief of what he was seeing. It made Sephiroth chuckle in amusement while Ultimecia eyed him quizzically.
"Seeing things as they are now," Sephiroth gave his full attention to the Sorceress. "It would seem that I have the time to visit you, Ultimecia."
"As you should.” She says extending a hand out to him. “Perhaps you can do something about the perpetual dreary weather above my Castle."
Sephiroth took her hand, “Is this how I return the favor?”
Ultimecia smiled that malicious smile of hers when she saw the brooch hanging on his belt, “Merely a part of it. Making time travel possible for you drained much of my powers.”
“Very well,” Sephiroth smiles back. A plan to rile up the Sorceress formulating in his head. “Let us be off.”