11 - The Element of Prosperity

[Sephiroth X]

*As X walked closer to the exit of Crono’s mysterious house of mirrors he pulled the reflective blood stained shard from his pocket again. Still his reflection was not present and he gazed into the mysterious artifact. Never breaking his stare, Sephiroth X stepped through the exit and suddenly someone slammed into him with an emphatic BAM!. Both X and this other person fell down to the ground momentarily stunned. X shook cobwebs out of his head and looked to the person whom ran into him. Seph quickly saw the blond spiked hair, it was Zack!

Sephiroth X- Zack!?

*X pocketed the mirror shard again and quickly looked around, Crono apparently decided to drop him off in Midgar.

Zack- SEPH!? Were did you come from! I was just running through here and it was like WHOOSH you came right out from that wall!

*Zack pointed to were he claimed Seph just appeared from.

Sephiroth X- Hard to explain, lets just say that…

Zack- Well at least its good to see you again, but I need to tell you something! V-V-Valtiel he’s doing something and and and its potentially bad and-

Sephiroth X- I know… Valtiel… Fallen… Just, right now you could say… my priorities are elsewhere.

Zack- But he’s walking around dressed like a normal person! He could be up to something really bad! Said something about a plan, it’s gotta be serious!

*Both Zack and Seph stood up dusting off their clothes.

Sephiroth X- Listen, Zack, I… well, the only thing I could potentially say to you that would help would be that you should tell anyone you see or know to get out of Midgar… You think Valtiel is up to something, if that’s so… then being here for it might not be the safest thing… I have other things I honestly am concerned about right now though Zack, and I need to attend to them… I’m sorry I cant help further…

*Zack slowly nodded.

Zack- I know Seph… and I’ll try to warn people and get out of the city myself… But… where should I go?

Sephiroth X- I don’t know… out of Midgar… perhaps even off this continent even…

Zack- The… Super City?

*Sephiroth X nodded.

Sephiroth X- One of the few places out of the reaches of the Senate and hopefully Valtiel.

*Zack nodded again.

Zack- Like I said Seph, I’ll try… Well, if I’m going to try I should get going then!

*Zack stepped past Seph and began jogging down the course he was currently on. Then the bulking weight of X’s find in Zion reminded him of what he needed to give Zack.

Sephiroth X- ZACK! Wait one moment!

*Zack stopped and quickly turned around for a moment to look back at Seph.

Zack- Yeah? What is it, Seph?

Sephiroth X- I found this in Zion.

*X reached over his shoulder and pulled out the new prototype Buster Sword from its magnetic sheath and held it out to Zack.

Sephiroth X- It’s a prototype advancement of the weapon you carry, it was called something like “BFS Advent Model Multi-Purpose Buster Sword” so and so. It did come with a shorter codename though… Fenrir.

*Zack reached out slowly and wrapped a hand around the handle of this new weapon. It was relatively the same size as his current sword but felt slightly lighter for some reason, Zack then examined the sharpness of the blade and then the multiple buttons on the handle discovering the multi-blade functions of the weapon. The slight grin that grew on Zack’s face indicated that he liked it.

Zack- Fenrir… I like it…

*Seph handed Zack the magnetic sheath that came with the sword, Zack strapped it on and placed Fenrir on his back.

Zack- Thank you Seph.

*X nodded.

Sephiroth X- You’re welcome Zack. Now go, hurry.

Zack- Good luck, Seph.

*Zack nodded once more, and turned off and resumed his sprint to wherever he was off to. Seph meanwhile pulled out the broken piece of mirror and looked at it again, observing the lone spot of blood and the shape of the shard overall. X let Crono’s words run through his mind again, recapping what he was told.

Sephiroth X- Graveyards…

*X looked around at his surroundings trying to gather approximately where he was within Midgar. Judging by the deterioration of the buildings around him and the fact that Zack was in the vicinity made X believe he was potentially in the slums area of Midgar.

Sephiroth X- There aren’t many graveyards in Midgar at all…

*Such things like graveyards required open ground, something that wasn’t very plentiful in the metropolis of Midgar. The only places he knew of that had graveyards were churches in Midgar, and there were only two places that had a church and graveyard combined. One of those places was closed down long ago and apparently burnt to the ground not long ago… Then an invisible light bulb clicked on in X’s mind, he knew his starting point.

Sephiroth X- That abandoned church was around the slums area… Azriel’s got to be there.

*Dots connected to show that answer to X. An abandoned holy ground that was never visited by anybody except by ghosts of the dead, Azriel’s almost gothic nature, and X remembered that the area of that old church was were X momentarily sensed Azriel’s power shortly after his apparent demise trying to purge Fallen.

*X pocketed the shard again and looked at the two buildings around him that constituted the alleyway he was in. X ran up one of the walls a few steps and kicked off to the other wall, and from there spring boarded himself up onto the roof of this building to get a higher vantage point of the area. X gazed around and got a better idea of his exact location in Midgar. Despite the repetitive style of trashy buildings around him, he knew his hometown far too well. Seph turned a little further towards his east and gazed off in that direction for a few moments.

Sephiroth X- The church shouldn’t be far from here… maybe a half mile at the most.

*Seph gave himself a short running start and leapt onto the next building, and then to another building, and continued on in the direction of the church hoping to find Azriel and the first key to opening the Valley.

[Sephiroth X]

*X landed on the rooftop of a Midgar building and approached the ledge as he looked down. Below him there was a small open area with burnt rubble everywhere, next to which stood the remnants of an old graveyard. Barely a graveyard at that either, barely any blades of grass came out from the blackened dirt and broken and burnt crosses stood from the ground as faint symbols of the souls that were put to rest there.

Sephiroth X- This is the place…

*X bent his knees slightly and jumped off the ledge of the building he was on and floated down about a two stories to the ground below. As Seph landed he went to one knee and rolled to soften the landing on the ground before standing up and observing everything closer. From what Seph could tell about a third of this church as still standing after the fire it suffered, everything else was nothing more then charred rubble. Ironically the one part of the church left standing was the area around the alter.

Sephiroth X- Alright Azriel… were are you….

*Seph slowly stepped over pieces of burnt wood as his mako eyes slowly gazed around the burn remnants of this holy place. Chunks of stained glass mirror crunched under his feet along with the cracking of wood chips. Along with the main alter area a couple wooden pillars still partially stood, almost making Seph feel like he was walking through the skeleton of some fallen beast.

*X then approached the remnants of the alter and looked up at the one wall that was still firmly in place, mounted onto the wall was a burnt and breaking apart crucifix. X looked at it in a somewhat perplexed gaze, after such a fire and such catastrophic damage an object as heavy as that crucifix should have made that wall buckle and collapse long ago. Seph guessed it must be some kind of sign or something. As Seph’s eyes lowered back down to the main floor area, X observed that the alter area was casting a few ominous shadows around it and in the immediate area… perhaps this is were Azriel was hiding.

Sephiroth X- Azriel?

*Something inside of X just knew that this was the place to look for The Archangel Zero… He knew Azriel was still alive, and he knew that if Azriel was amongst the ‘living’ that he wouldn’t be far from Valtiel... and as much as X didn’t like to admit it, Dark Crono never was the one to give false information. And besides all of that, X could just feel something near him causing the hair on the back of his neck to rise… he was being watched.

Sephiroth X- AZRIEL! … … … Hmm…

*Seph then remembered the shattered mirror fragment that he had just gotten from his encounter with Dark Crono. He reached into his pocket and held the fragment in his hand looking at in remembering the unique traits Crono said this piece of mirror had. X moved into an area that was illuminated well and held the piece of mirror above him causing a beam of light to reflect off of the mirror and light up the darkened areas of the church and graveyard. X slowly moved the mirror around lighting up darkened area after darkened area around him, hoping to find Azriel standing there waiting for him in one of those areas… but to no avail.

*X brought the mirror down out of direct light and looked into it again, like before Seph could not see even his own reflection in the mirror. All he could see was the Midgar environment behind him and the one speckle of Crono’s blood on the mirror.

*Suddenly a single sound echoed briefly and it caught the ear of Seph, the sound of something moving even if it was just a single quick movement. X quickly raised the mirror back up into the light and cast the beam of light into the darkened area where he believed the sound came from. Seph looked around for a few moments moving the light and his eyes around slightly… but there was nothing. X lowered the mirror again and began moving it to look at his lack-of-reflection.

Sephiroth X- … Damnit …

*As Seph looked at the mirror he expected to see the same Midgar backdrop as a few moments before. Instead all he saw in the reflection was a black silhouette and two vivid red eyes.

Azriel- Welcome to the devil’s playground…

*Seph sharply spun around on his heel to turn and face Azriel, momentarily shocked by his sudden appearance. As Seph looked at Azriel the black silhouette faded away and a large red cape flowed out from around Azriel and grew progressively larger and nearly surrounded both he and Seph, almost as if it was living… a part of Azriel.

Sephiroth X- Hello Azriel…

Azriel- You have been looking for me…

Sephiroth X- That I have… a common… acquaintance told me that I needed to find you. And I had a feeling you’d still be alive anyway…

Azriel- I couldn’t allow myself to die… I have unfinished business…

Sephiroth X- One of those bits of unfinished business involves myself, I’m sure you’ve been made aware of it.

*Azriel faintly smirked.

Azriel- Yes, the darkness and light weave into the key that unlocks your… valley.

Sephiroth X- That line sounds shockingly familiar… guess Crono has been chatting with you. So Azriel, what role do you play in this?

Azriel- I am the key bearer, I have become pivot point between yourself and your hooded nemesis.

Sephiroth X- And how did you earn such an... honor?

Azriel- Who knows… Perhaps I am karma’s answer to the extremes that are dubbed you and Crono, or perhaps I simply inherited this privilege since I am the last ‘living’ blood relative of the last person whom held the Element…

Sephiroth X- Whatever the reason may be I need you to take me there, to the Valley of the Promised.

*Azriel laughed quietly at Seph’s comment. Azriel’s flowing red cape then glided through the air back towards Azriel and draped over his body.

Azriel- You desire the Element’s power the most, it’s ironic you are the last…

Sephiroth X- The last?

Azriel- You’ve been given the clues and the map is already in your possession… We will see you when you finally arrive there…

*Azriel’s cape erupted with life once again as it flared up into the air before descending down around its master, the cape twirled around his body almost like a shell or cocoon. Then as the cape encompassed Azriel completely the bodily outline of Azriel seemed to fade away and the red cape vanished into thin air with it. Then just like that Sephiroth X stood alone in the remains of the church, Azriel was gone.

[Sephiroth X]

(Note: This last section of this chapter is supposed to be rather fast paced. A good audio reference for this would be 'The Birth of God' from the FF7 Soundtrack)

*Sephiroth X was standing there for a few minutes rethinking things through his head. He found Azriel, he told informed Azriel of what he was there for, Azriel responded with a comment which was perplexing to Seph, now what? Seph felt like an idiot for some reason, he knew something obvious was missing and he couldn’t pinpoint it.

Sephiroth X- The last…?

*Seph paced around in the church’s rubble staring downward into space thinking things over and over and over assembling the absolute last pieces of this grand puzzle was part of. Obviously he knew it involved the Valley, The Element, himself, Crono, and Azriel… but it was like having the pieces to a puzzle but no picture of what it’s supposed to be.

Sephiroth X- Azriel wouldn’t take me directly to the Valley… but why… he said I was the last… He was talking as if…

*X’s head shot back up from staring downward indicating something big inside of his head just clicked on. As everything exponentially fell together within X’s mind quotes from the past recited themselves over and over connecting dot after dot.

…The eyes cannot see all that lay outside the balance of nature…
…The Valley weaves into a single line of darkness…
…You’ve been given the clues and the map is already in your possession… We will see you when you finally arrive there…
…Nature is determined to keep the element concealed
…Only after you bring the required pieces together can you understand the truth…

*Slowly Sephiroth X reached back into his pocket and pulled out the broken piece of mirror that he received from Dark Crono’s ‘house of mirrors’. He looked at it carefully as he once again observed its shape, the shape was distinctly familiar and as he slowly rotated it in his hand he saw that the mirror took the exact same shape as the Alpha Continent. The one unique feature of this was the spot of Dark Crono’s blood that lay on this mirror.

*Seph placed his index finger on the upper right region of the broken mirror right were Midgar would be if it was a traditional map. Slowly his finger traced from his location towards the spot of Dark Crono’s blood, this spot was located near no city or any populous location and it would be in the barrens of the Desert of the Dead.

*The mirror that X held in his hand… was a map to the Valley of the Promised… And Crono’s blood marked the location…

*Everything came together in that instant as X connected all of the dots and understood what picture this puzzle was beginning to portray. X held down the mirror for a moment looking off into space again.

Sephiroth X- He knows…

*X looked at the mirror one more time as he read his map one more time. Seph looked around and up into the sky as he recalibrated his sense of direction, and while doing so directed his body in the appropriate direction according to were he was on his ‘map’. X looked at the mirror one last time before slowly slipping it down back into his pocket and looking up into the sky again, his facial expression becoming more intense and focused.

Sephiroth X- … Crono’s known were it is this entire time …

*He clenched his fists in anger, the wind around him swirled momentarily.

Sephiroth X- And even if that bastard needs me to open up the Valley for him… he… he sure as hell isn’t going to get it… that goddamn easy! I wont let everything I worked for… all this time… all this searching… or Catrina’s death… be lost so goddamn easily!

*The mako green eyes of Sephiroth X flared a vivid luminous green for a moment as he bent his knees, the air around him swirled and small splinters of wood pushed away from him. His silver hair and black coat flared upwards from the small air currents. Then like a bullet firing out from a gun, X flew into the air and was gone… heading for the Valley of the Promised.

- - - - -

*In the top floor office of the Senate Command building, the Senator looked out his window down at the military metropolis he commanded. He was alone in the building and had minimal lighting turned on in the room. The Senator looked like he has thinking over something in his mind, he seemed very preoccupied. But his attention deviated as he heard footsteps approach him from the other side of the room. The Senator looked over his shoulder momentarily, he saw a familiar hooded man approach him from the shadows.

The Senator- High Priest Revan… it seems we’re seeing each other quite frequently, my friend.

Revan- Hmph…

The Senator- So I was informed that you let Sephiroth X escape.

Revan- Well I assumed that your subordinates would at least be able to hold him off until we were properly equipped to regain control of the situation.

The Senator- Interesting you say that… I had people in place outside of your slime hole of a front door and none of them ever saw X.

Revan- Please… must we resort to derogatory remarks?…

*Revan reached under his robe and pulled out a few pieces of paper holding photos on them.

Revan- Can you also explain to me this?

*Revan dropped the pictures on the table next to the Senator, each picture held a different angle of when The Senator talked to Sephiroth X in the Zion Archives not long ago.

The Senator- So first you use us to cover up for your mishaps… now you’re using our very own surveillance systems against us for blackmail? If you would think a little more before acting perhaps you would understand that perhaps ‘letting him get away’ would be a good idea regardless if I had anything to do with it, which I did not let me remind you. My friend, you’re constantly forgetting that he could potentially bring us The Element on a silver platter.

*Revan smirked.

Revan- But you and I both know that what you want and what I want in regards to the Element are two completely separate things from that point on. I’ll … give you the benefit of the doubt on this one Mr. Senator, but if you interfere with the Holy Order’s plans for the Element of Prosperity again I will see to it that your Apprentice Leon will get a jump start on his reign over Zion is that clear?

*The Senator looked at Revan with a cold stare.

Revan- Your quest for the Element of Prosperity closed a long time ago as far as we are concerned, you best close that book as well.

*Revan turned around and slowly walked out of the Senator’s office. Upon hearing the door close behind him, The Senator walked over to a communications set and clicked a series of buttons. A few moments later the voice of the Senator’s apprentice, Leon, could be heard over a speaker.

Apprentice Leon- Yes, my lord?

The Senator- Leon, awaken the Zion Council and get the General here as well.

Apprentice Leon- Might I ask what this is for, my lord? In case they ask why they’re being summoned?

The Senator- When they ask, just tell them we are in need of some purification. They will understand.

Apprentice Leon- Yes, my lord.

*The Senator hit one more button on the communicator cutting off the signal as he gazed back out over Zion.

- - - -

*In the Desert of the Dead everything remained silent and undisturbed for a brief moment. But that peace and tranquility was harshly cut off as Sephiroth X flew through the desert at high speeds about 10 feet above the ground, the wake of his flight cuasing sand, dirt, and stone to fly into the air behind him. X himself kept his eyes focused dead ahead of him, locked onto some object far off in the distance as he rapidly drew closer and closer.

- - - - -

*Far off in the Desert of the Dead stood a tall semi circular landmass that had mountain top styled peaks to it. The exterior of this was rigid and nearly straight upwards, impossible for any man to scale himself, behind this completely enclosed in by these unclimbable cliffs was something that hadn’t been seen in a hundred years… The Valley of the Promised.

*Just outside the Valley, a red piece of clothing appeared from what seemed to be an invisible hole in the air. This red cloth continued to come from thin air and as more and more of it progressively appeared, the entire cloth seemed to circle itself and wrap itself into a humanoid figure. As the massive jagged red clothing finally ceased growing larger, the red cloth unwrapped itself and a physical body draped in dark clothing revealed itself as Azriel.

*Azriel took a few steps forward and he looked around observing the giant landmass that stood before him. His head slowly raised itself higher and higher as he observed the very peek of this legendary place.

Azriel- So my brother… this is what you found…

*As Azriel lowered his head back to ground level, directly in front of him stood Dark Crono staring straight at him. Azriel himself made no indication that the sudden appearance of Crono startled him, he simply acknowledged his presence as Crono did Azriel’s.

Dark Crono- Your presence here indicates one thing.

Azriel- Yes… He contacted me. X should be on his way.

*Crono turned and observed the Valley of the Promised as well, his gaze though was slightly different from the type of gaze Azriel had moments ago. Instead of awe it was more a gaze that awaited something.

Azriel- How long will we have to wait here… when will we know that the Valley has been opened?

*From the darkness of his hood a small grin crossed Crono’s face.

Dark Crono- We will know…

- - - - -

*Sephiroth X’s flight over the Desert of the Dead continued onward as his wake of sand and stone grew larger behind him as his haste increased. X reached down into his pocket and pulled out the mirror fragment once again and observed the ‘map’ it made out. He calculated the time he had been flying and the speed at which he was traveling and roughly estimated his location to the Valley of the Promised. Although Sephiroth had been to the Valley once before, he was under a type of educed brainwashing from the Senate and couldn’t remember the finite details but he did know things around him weren’t looking familiar, perhaps it was the Elements form of camouflaging itself. But after figuring out his approximate location he knew his flight was almost complete.

Sephiroth X- Almost there…

*X then conjured a little bit more of his power and with an emphatic surge of energy his speed increased dramatically as the air around him crackled leaving sand and stone high in the air in his wake.

*A few moments later X looked at the mirror again. According to his calculations he was essentially right smack dab on the dot of blood that marked the Valley’s location. So Seph abruptly stopped his flight and hovered in place looking into the mirror with the sand and dirt behind him catching up to him and circling him from his wake. Seph’s eyes looked into the mirror and then back around on the horizon around him, slowly as he hovered he turned as he continued to look into the mirrors reflection.

Sephiroth X- It’s around here someplace…

*As X rotated in place, gazing into the mirror, he saw something in the mirrors reflection. Something just off the horizon that protruded out from the ground. Looked slightly mountainous. Seph spun around and looked out into the horizon with his own eyes… and he saw nothing. He turned back to look into the mirror and once again he saw the land mass protruding out from the ground. Once again, the mirror was serving its purpose for him. X gazed into the reflection of the land mass in the mirror, staring at it and looking at the finite details of it as well. As he stared at it for a little while longer, a small green light flickered on the mirror right were that land masses location was. After the small green light faded away Seph turned back around, and to his surprise he could now see the land mass with his own eyes… it was the Valley of the Promised. Seph turned and looked back into the mirror, the reflection of the Valley was no longer visible in the mirror and now Seph could see his own reflection… the mirror had served its purpose. X spun himself around once again, still holding the mirror in his hand as he gazed at the Valley of the Promised in the distance.

Sephiroth X- … There is no turning back …

*X looked into the mirror one last time before his hand closed around it and shattered the mysterious map into pieces. Seph hovered there with both fists firmly clenched and before a single piece of the shattered mirror ever touched the ground Seph bolted off once again directly to the Valley of the Promised.

- - - - -

*Azriel and Crono stood by the Valley of the Promised for a few moments in silence, awaiting their silver haired companions arrival. Their thoughts were quickly cut off as they felt a small rumble come from near them. A few small and large pieces of rock fell off of the main wall of the Valley of the Promised and as they did so a bright green light glared from were the rocks once stood and slowly faded away revealing an opening in the Valley with a glowing green luminous hue from inside… The Valley had opened.

Dark Crono- He’s here.

*Azriel looked around for a moment.

Azriel- Where is he…?

*Crono calmly crossed his arms behind his back and walked towards the opening into the Valley. The dark one paused momentarily to address Azriel’s question.

Dark Crono- Another door…

*Crono then stepped through the crevasse that opened before him and stepped into the Valley of the Promised. Azriel’s flowing red cape surrounded its wearer completely and faded away into nothingness as Azriel left the Valley, feeling his presence was no longer necessary.

- - - - -

*Sephiroth X knew he had very little time since Crono had to be here so he made as much haste as he could to get to the Valley. Rapidly the Valley grew closer and closer to him yet there was no sign of Azriel or Dark Crono. Were they already inside? Or perhaps there was another way in? The idea of a second entrance sounded logical to Seph considering how big the Valley itself was. Then as Seph grew even close he could see a small green glow on the side of the Valley’s desert colored exterior. An entrance Seph thought to himself as he quickened his flight again to reach this opening in the Valley. It was definitely large enough for a person to fit through and it appeared that X could even fly clear through it and enter the Valley never breaking his stride. Seph then promptly pressed his arms flat against his body to streamline himself even further as he darted directly for the Valley’s entrance. As he grew closer every fraction of a second he could feel his stomach knot up for a moment in the nervous anticipation for what awaited him, but he had no time for prolonged thoughts as he reached the entrance a split second later.

*X flew through the hole in the Valley with room to spare, but the moment he flew through he felt all of his momentum promptly stop and gravity took immediate effect as he slammed into the ground and rolled down a small hill. After finally stopping his fall X shook some dirt out of his hair and off of his clothes as he stood up. Seph attempted to jump up and try to hover like he did earlier but it came to no avail. As a matter of fact he didn’t seem to be able to jump as high as he normally could either.

Sephiroth X- … Interesting.

*Apparently, the interior of the Valley of the Promised stripped him of his powers and reduced him back down to a simple human being, probably another safeguard method for the Element of Prosperity… if you wanted the Element you apparently had to earn it the old fashioned way. This was good though, that meant that the same effect was happening to Crono if he was in here.

*X then took a moment to observe the Valley of the Promised. It seemed fitting that a place so rarely seen by human eyes should at least get recognition. The interior of the Valley was a massive temperate styled oasis, large thriving tropical trees that looked like they were just through a nice summer rainstorm. There were puddles of water, grass, insects, you name it… essentially nothing would make you think the Desert of the Dead was about ten feet behind him. The shape of the land inside of the Valley all seemed to slope downward slightly, like a giant funnel effect to one location in the center of the Valley. And as Seph looked towards the center of the Valley he could see something far off in the distance a few hundred yards away glowing in a small green hue… it had to be the Element of Prosperity.

*However, it did seem that Seph did not lose his ‘sixth sense’… the ability that allowed him to sense the presence of others. The one power he still had essentially was useless any other time Dark Crono was around… he could never sense him. For whatever reason though, X decided to ‘make sure’ and attempted to sense for any other presence of life around him. What was strange was that X was definitely getting a feedback signal, but it wasn’t like anything he sensed before… Seph sensed a strong presence, a presence full of wonder, awe, and anticipation. Wait a minute… this isn’t right Seph thought to himself… there was a reason he had never sensed a presence like this from anyone else before, because the presence he was sensing was his own. Seph attempted to use his sixth sense again and got a similar feedback as before.

Sephiroth X- Interesting… The walls of the Valley seem to reflect my own sixth sense… like shining a flashlight on a mirror and I only sense myself in whatever direction I project my sixth sense towards specifically…

*Then Seph had an idea… It was crazy but it could possibly work…

*Sephiroth X closed his eyes for a moment and tried to calm himself, and upon doing so he utilized his power once again sending out a single pulse of his sixth sense in all directions like a submarine would ‘ping’ underwater. He kept his eyes closed and sensed his own presence feeding back to him from all directions, then Seph noticed that he didn’t get feedback from a very specific direction. The ‘hole’ in his feedback came from a very precise location, directly ahead of him from a far away distance… on the very other side of the Valley. Seph could even make ‘shape’ of his void in his ping, it was just shorter then him and he could even make out the hood and cloak… X’s eyes opened up slowly and they were locked onto a specific figure hundreds of yards away… he found Crono.

Sephiroth X- Got you…

*Dark Crono stood on the other end of the Valley of the Promised and smirked slightly underneath his hood knowing that Sephiroth X’s improvisational technique had detected him.

Dark Crono- Impressive…

*Sephiroth X and Dark Crono stood still gazing at each other across the few hundreds of yards of the Valley almost in a standoff…

*Simultaneously both X and Crono then took off into dead sprints towards the Element of Prosperity, both running at about equal speed. Both had to weave through the Valley’s forestry as fast as they could not allowing the other to get any kind of lead. Seph drew the Masamune and used his trusty sword to cut through thicker batches of trees and brush that lay before him before sliding down a small mudslide of a hill and then rolling upon reaching the bottom to keep as much momentum as he could while resuming his sprint. Dark Crono used his Rainbow Katana to slash through some brush and branches in similar fashion to what X was doing on the opposite side of the Valley. Crono jumped over a fallen tree branch and grabbed hold of a tree branch in mid air to swing him further as he landed back on the ground, continuing his sprint towards the Element.

*Closer and closer both came to the Element of Prosperity. Neither one of them closer then the other. Both Crono and X sliced and dashed through all of the forestry that the Valley could provide and it wasn’t going to stop the two men who were hell-bent on claiming the most legendary creation on the planet as their own.

*Sephiroth X and Dark Crono both entered an open expanse in the center of the Valley continuing their all out dash. And in the very center of this expanse they could both see their goal clearly in sight… Hovering above a 4 foot tall circular pedestal hovered a glowing green object that bared resemblance to a segmented kind of sea shell yet also to a vivid emerald jewel… The Element of Prosperity.

*Crono and X were both running at it full boar, it was no more then 50 yards away from the two of them. Neither one was gaining on the other, neither one was giving way. Seph was so close that he wasn’t going to let Crono get to it first by any means necessary. Closer and closer they came to the Element, both men reached out for it with their arms and as they came almost within reach of it they both leapt into the air after the it causing X’s hair and coat to flare in the air and causing Crono’s hood to fly back off of his head showing his red hair and paled skin.

*As both outstretched hands came within millimeters of the Element of Prosperity everything seemed to freeze in mid air. Both X and Crono hovered their in their mid-air poses reaching for the Element. Neither of them could move, but could still motion their eyes to look around the immediate vicinity. A rumble shook the Valley of the Promised for a moment and the rumble progressively grew stronger. The Element of Prosperity itself grew brighter and brighter and then a single bright green beam of light shot high up into the sky between X and Crono. The Valley rumbled and quaked severely as rocks from the exterior walls rolled out of place and trees began to break and fall over.

*Sephiroth X’s eyes looked back to the Element of Prosperity for a moment trying to figure out what is happening. Then X shifted his eyes to Dark Crono, whom was staring directly at X the entire time with a slight smirk on his face for whatever reason may have provoked it.

*The Valley was rumbling apart around them as they both continued to be stuck in mid air and the light resonating off of the Element of Prosperity grew brighter and brighter. The Element then gave off a weird high pitched humming noise that drew the attention of X and Crono’s eyes. The hum from the Element grew higher and higher pitched as the Element it grew visually brighter and brighter. Sephiroth X and Dark Crono then both saw a massive crack split directly down the Element of Prosperity. In the very moment when the crack split the Element into two pieces, the two halves grew almost blindly bright colored and then some kind of explosion or mysterious force rocketed Sephiroth X and Dark Crono out of the Valley of the Promised at hundreds of miles an hour in opposite directions.

*The green luminance of the Valley of the Promised immediately vanished along with the Element and the two whom pursued it. And quickly the Valley completely collapsed and was engulfed by the planet.

*The Valley of the Promised and the Element of Prosperity were gone.