Carry On, Wayward Son

[07.05.01] » by Iridal

A Songfic based off of Kansas

Sephiroth stood at the edge of the mountains overlooking Midgar, the once proud demeanor of the great General now broken and defeated as he surveyed the ruined city.

Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher,
But I flew too high.

Flashes of his glorious past came to him as he stared - glimpses back to his rise through the ranks of SOLDIER. Driven by his desire to be the best - to prove to his tormentor Hojo that he was more than just a grand experiment - he became more than just a mad scientist's tool, claiming the title as the greatest warrior to ever walk the face of the planet.

Though my eyes could see
I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think
I still was a mad man.

Sephiroth held the awed appreciation of the entire Shinra empire. All little boys wanted to grow up to be him; Shinra counted him as their deadliest weapon in the war against Wutai. He realized as he reflected, though, that in his quest to be supreme, he lost somewhere along the way the ideals he held in his youth - the wistful dreams of a lonely boy to find friendship and true acceptance and.....love...

I hear the voices when I'm dreamin'
I can hear them say

In his madness, he had once heard the whispered secrets of the entity JENOVA. She played to his desire - to the long-held dreams that were the root of his adult ambitions - promising to make him a god. And now, after their simultanious fall, another voice whispered in his mind...

Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Now don't you cry no more.

She hovered behind him, unseen and unheard. Her sad eyes looked upon him with love and compassion, her pale hands stroking his long argent hair to comfort him. Unlike JENOVA, she murmured of peace that lay beyond...a true promise to wait for him on the other side.

Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man,
It surely means that I don't know.

Not noticing, his thoughts rolled on. He allowed his doubts and anger to have sway. Quoting poetic words to condone his madness, he destroyed everything he ever held dear - an innocent, peaceful town, the admiration and trust of his troops, his best friend...all in the name of his new mistress.

On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune,
But I hear the voices say.

Even after his 'disappearance', his madness still continued. His true heart buried deep within, he killed randomly and indiscriminately - any who stood in the way of JENOVA's ultimate plan was to be eliminated...even when his soul bled inside at what he was doing.

Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor.

The worst did not come until the Temple of the Ancients. JENOVA demanded the death of the last Cetra...the blood of an innocent maiden, a sweet, harmless flower girl, spilled in the holiest of places...by his hands... So much innocent blood spilt...

Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you.

The figure behind him gently kissed his brow. Did he know that this remorse what the very thing that redeemed him? That this was the very proof that underneath all of the evil alien entity's control there lay a man - one that had been hurt too many times....

Carry on my wayward son,
For there'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Now don't you cry no more.

With one last embrace, the ghostly figure behind Sephiroth disappeared. "Be well...." He turned, expecting to find the source of the barely heard whisper...but only found a single white rose.

Final Fantasy VII and all characters thereof are the property of Squaresoft.



  
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