The group was steadily traveling deeper into the Crater. At first, the path was the same as when they had previously made their way down but the summoning of Holy had destroyed the lower levels. Cloud shuddered to remember. He thought it was going to destroy them, too, at the time, and still wondered how they survived.

His eyes scanned the rocks and small ponds lit by the light. Even they appeared slightly menacing in the pale flickering candlelight. The air was so dense down here. It seemed to oppress the whole group. The silence was so unnerving that Cloud felt like saying something just to make noise, and yet at the same time it seemed sacrilegious to break the silence. And, for some reason, he could also swear they had through this room twice already.

He nudged Vincent. "Is it just me or have we been in this room?" he whispered.

"I don't think it's just you," said Vincent softly, frowning. "There's something eerie about this. A very strange feeling."

Cloud nodded. "But I know we haven't gone around in a circle."

Vincent opened his mouth to reply and then shut it, confused. He stared at Cloud's lantern. Slowly, Cloud turned his head. The light was pulsating. The rest of the group gathered around him. Suddenly, the light flared and Cloud dropped it. His mouth widened in dismay, as the lamp, instead of falling, levitated steadily before him.

"Cloud, what's going on?" Tifa whispered.

"I don't know," he replied slowly.

"Of course you don't know. You never did have much in the brains department."

"Sephiroth?" Aeris called, stepping forward and peering around the room.

There was a darkening in one corner of the room, and the owner of the voice appeared. "Ah, not quite, my dear."

Cloud drew his sword. "Who are you?"

The man looked at him, amused. "I would deny you that, but really I see no harm in you knowing. I am known as Phobetor." He bowed mockingly.

"Where is Sephiroth?" Aeris demanded, her voice trembling.

"Ah ah. All in good time," he smiled at her. She shivered. There was something in his smile that made her think of the way a predator looked at prey.

"Enough games. What are you doing here?" Cloud snapped, pointing his sword. He was aware of Barret and Red coming to stand next to him.

Phobetor chuckled. "You probably couldn't even get close enough to me to use that thing."

Cloud shrugged and walked forward a couple of steps. He stopped abruptly. There was a man dressed in a SOLDIER uniform standing in front of him.

"Who are you?" Barret asked suspiciously.

Cloud's jaw dropped, glancing around nervously, then back at the man. "This can't be… I can't be seeing this…"

"You pathetic loser!" the man snapped.

"N-No!" Cloud backed away. "Sir, please! Give me another chance!"

"You think you could make it to be a SOLDIER? Think again! You couldn't even learn to handle that weapon properly!"

Barret moved in front of Cloud and aimed his gunarm. "Back off," he growled.

The man shimmered and changed. A woman was standing there, her dark eyes growing wide at the gun. "Barret, no!"

Barret lowered his gun. "Elysa?" he murmured, staring.

"My love, what happened to you?" Elysa asked.

"The…the fire…but I thought…" Barret trailed off.

"It's a trick!" Aeris declared. She struck at Elysa with her staff and it passed through her seemingly solid torso. She vanished.

Cloud blinked, his eyes focusing. "What…what happened?"

"He's the one doing it! He did it!" Aeris cried, pointing at Phobetor.

"Ohhh, you shouldn't have done that," Phobetor said, his voice light but the glint in his eyes betrayed the mask on his face.

She stared at him defiantly. "You coward! You hide behind images! You pick these things from our minds and you make them seem real!"

Phobetor gestured, and Sephiroth appeared, standing next to Aeris. "Is this real? Or is this fake? Do you know? Do you dare hit him?" Phobetor asked mockingly.

Aeris stared. She didn't know what to think, or what to do. She didn't want to touch him, but to see…but if it weren't him, then what would she be accomplishing? And if it were, would he be as hesitant to hurt her? There was something unpleasant lurking in those green eyes of his.

"Is it real or not?" the voice again rang in her ears.

"I-I don't know," she stammered, backing away.

"Aww, poor Aeris. You don't know if you can trust him," Phobetor sneered.

She set her jaw. "He wouldn't hurt me."

"Ah, but didn't he kill you before?"

Aeris thought that she saw Sephiroth winced slightly at this. He is the real one, she thought. At least, I think it is. But can I trust what I think? She backed away yet another step.

Cloud approached slowly, but held his sword steady. "Why do you play with trickery? Why not just fight as you are?"

Phobetor laughed. "Though I may be superior to you in the intellectual department, I surely cannot match your fighting skills. After all, you beat Sephiroth before, twice if I interpreted that memory correctly."

Cloud frowned. "What do you want with us?"

"As you are going to die anyway, I don't see the harm in answering." Phobetor motioned to Sephiroth and the silver-haired man drew his sword and stood protectively in front of Phobetor. "You are the main threat to me, or rather, what I want."

"Which would be?" Cloud asked, eyeing the Masamune.

"Oh, the usual. World domination." Phobetor shrugged. "Isn't that what every so-called bad guy wants?"

"You're lying," Aeris said suddenly. "What do you really want?"

Phobetor turned towards her, nodding appreciatively. "You are correct."

"Then what do you really want?" Aeris persisted.

He shrugged noncommittally.

Aeris's eyes narrowed. "I see. May I fill in the blanks?"

"If you think you can."

"There is a reason you wanted Sephiroth, and perhaps that is because he is the only one who can help you with what you want. Which isn't world domination, at least, not in the sense most people would mean. You don't care to control the world; you want to own it. You want to own its resources."

Phobetor clapped lazily. "Very good indeed."

Aeris narrowed her eyes. "At least Sephiroth didn't play this cat-and-mouse game with us. When he had what he wanted he left us alone."

"Oh, but where would the fun be in that?" Phobetor inquired.

"You are different from Sephiroth." It was a statement, not a question.

"Let me see…ah, yes, you think Sephiroth was misguided and that I'm a monster. But which is worse?"

She opened her mouth, then shut it again and regarded him thoughtfully. "I see."

He sneered. "Do you now, daughter of the light? Can you see that which is evil?"

"Can you see that which is pure without flinching?" Aeris replied, her eyes flashing angrily. "I never claimed to be good."

He laughed. "No, but you do not need to claim being such. It radiates from you."

"Enough of this! I'm not about to stand here chatting while you are doing who knows what else in this world. I've heard the stories of the other people," Cloud snapped.

"Ah, yes." Phobetor regarded him, amused. "Impatient, as always."

"You don't even care. You have no feelings," Cloud said, feeling helpless anger rise in him.

"Oh, I have feelings." Phobetor withdrew back so that his face was shrouded in shadow. "Perhaps not those weak ones known as love and compassion, but... I do have feelings."

"You desire," Cloud said flatly.

"Doesn't everyone? You, yourself, have desires that are not all together 'pure.'"

Cloud tightened his grip on his sword. "This isn't about me," he spat.

"Oh, it isn't? Forgive me. I just forgot where I was," Phobetor replied mockingly. "Which, by the way, is my domain. This is my territory, Cloud, so you do not call the shots here!"

"And you should? If it were up to you we'd all go straight to the Abyss!"

Aeris stepped forward, gently but firmly pushing Cloud to the side. "These games are tiring, don't you agree? Why not just settle it here and now?"

"How do you propose to do that, my dear? By the sword? I would have someone stand in for me." Phobetor gestured towards Sephiroth. "Would you want him to get hurt?"

Aeris turned her gaze on Sephiroth. He looked away, his eyes cold. She felt her heart ache, then frowned. "If he gets hurt, it is his own fault," she replied, faintly surprised at the strength of her voice.

Phobetor looked at her approvingly. "Maybe there is a streak of uncaring in you."

She shrugged, then narrowed her eyes. "What would your terms be?"

"Why should I have any terms? I'd be perfectly happy if you went back to your little house and I could continue to make you see what's deep in your hearts… your fears…" He paused a minute, then leaned forward and looked at Aeris intensely. "Your desires."

She tensed, her green eyes flickering. "How dare you."

"How dare I? You say this after coming down into my house, quite uninvited, and make demands of me?" Phobetor laughed. "Silly, silly girl. Are you ashamed of what you feel?"

"Leave her alone!" Barret growled.

"Aw… poor Aeris. Her love is what condemns her…"

Barret fired his arm, leaving a hole near Phobetor's head. "That was a warning!"

Phobetor turned his cold gaze on him. "That's what I call bad manners." He gestured.

Barret felt a cold rush go through him, then blinked. The darkness seemed to be closing in, suffocating him. He let out a hoarse yell, collapsing to the ground.

"What did you do?" Cloud demanded, kneeling by his friend.

"Nothing that I couldn't have done to any of you," Phobetor replied mildly. "Consider it a warning of my type. I don't take kindly to threats."

"He's still alive," Cloud murmured to Aeris. She nodded, her face pale.

"What's wrong, Aeris?" Phobetor asked. "Did I get too close to the truth?"

"This is boring!" Yuffie shouted. "Let's get something done!"

Phobetor glanced at Yuffie, a trace of a smile on his lips. "Ah, yes. The impatience of youth…"

"Youth, hell!" Yuffie retorted. "You're nothing but an idiot!"

"Oh?" Phobetor sighed, then gestured.

"Knock it off!" Aeris snapped as Yuffie slumped to the floor. "That was unnecessary!"

Phobetor shrugged. "She irritated me."

"Gee, big surprise there," Cloud muttered.

"Shh!" Tifa hissed, placing her hand on his arm.

Phobetor looked amused. "I see I am not alone in my sentiments."

"Perhaps we have not always gotten along, but we never caused her any harm," Red said, his voice deep and echoing.

"Perhaps not, Nanaki."

Red looked startled, then nodded wearily. "How far in my mind have you gone?"

"Far enough." The light haired man sighed, then turned away. "I grow bored of this myself. Time for it to end."

Aeris felt the heat surround her, as if someone had suddenly lit a thousand fires. And then it was gone. She blinked.

Phobetor turned around, a smile on his lips. It died quickly when he saw Aeris. "You?!"

Her confusion only intensified when she saw the fear in his eyes. "I…" she started, then faltered.

"How can this be? I know that I…" he broke off abruptly. "It is of no matter." He gestured, and again Aeris felt the heat.

Realization burst on her as she looked down on her fallen comrades. "You cannot hurt me!" she cried, her eyes growing wide.

His face blanched, then slowly turned dark red. "I still have other ways!" he snapped. "Sephiroth!"

Aeris' joy faded as Sephiroth slowly turned his sword towards her. She stepped back hastily, bringing her staff around defensively. "Sephiroth, please, no," she pleaded.

It seemed to have no effect. His sword pointed towards her unerringly. She looked into his eyes, hoping to see just a glimpse of what had been there before. But there were cold, mirror-like, and she only saw her own reflection. She backed up another step, tripping over Cloud in her haste. With horror, she watched her staff fly to the other side of the room, landing with a loud clatter. Trembling, she looked up at Sephiroth as he advanced, aware that she had no way of escaping.

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