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Sephiroth threw his right arm forward, the Black Materia disappearing. The scarlet-tressed man looked up, his eyes narrowing in dismay and fear as a Meteor spell came his way.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Blaze stated, annoyed. Moving away was meaningless, the spell was too large for him to avoid, whether as a human or as a dragon. The spell soon struck, a massive pillar of energy forming where it landed.

"Finite," Sephiroth remarked. He stepped over to the barely conscious form of Blaze that lay on the ground. "Now then, let's talk."

"I'm not interested in talking to you at all!" Blaze snapped, frustrated.

"It doesn't matter, because I'll be the one doing the talking, and you'll be listening," Sephiroth remarked. His emerald eyes flashed dangerously. "You're going down a self-destructive path. A path where all the ties you share with your friends will be severed. Think of Bella, how she feels. And of the others."

"I don't care!" Blaze spat out, furious.

"You do care, about Bella, about everyone, including Frost," the black-caped man answered. He stared at Blaze, a cross expression on his visage. "And I'll show you... I will show you your memories. I will unlock them, and your emotions, by taking you inside your own mind!"

Blaze clutched his head, screaming in agony as his mind was breached, and his consciousness ripped into his mind with Sephiroth. "Stop... stop it now!"

"No... you need to see this Blaze," Sephiroth sharply answered. He continued to pull the man's consciousness through the labyrinth that was Blaze's mind. "With your memories unlocked, so too will your emotions." A proverbial locked door stood in their path. "Here we are..."

With a wave of Sephiroth's hand, the lock came undone, and the door swung open to them, allowing access. As he dragged Blaze through the doorway, the scarlet-tressed man's eyes widened in wonder and awe. Realization and recollection flooded into him, and with the memories came the emotions, just as Sephiroth stated.

"There... you're perfectly fine now," Sephiroth stated. He released the two from the confines of Blaze's mind, only to find experiment on his knees, weeping.

"What... what have I done?" Blaze asked.

"Blaze... it's not your fault..." Sephiroth started, hoping to cheer the disheartened man up. He was stopped however, when Blaze lifted his head to look at Sephiroth.

"That doesn't excuse what I did... what I tried to do... what I was going to do!" Blaze raved. His breathing was ragged, every word he spoke with a cutting edge to it. "I tried to kill Frost, and I nearly did!"

"Come on... let me take you back to Edge," Sephiroth stated. He extended his hand to Blaze, offering the man to take it in his grasp.

Blaze merely shook his head in response. "No... I'm not going back to Edge. I can't go back to Edge. Not to all those people I hurt."

It was Sephiroth's turn to shake his head. "You can't move. You don't have much choice. You're coming with me." With that he hefted Blaze over his left shoulder, and flew back in the direction of Edge, his wing beating through the air.

As Sephiroth alighted upon the ground gracefully, Blaze slid off of his shoulder and fell to the ground. "Get up... you're not safe yet. People are most likely going to..." he began to say. A gathering surrounded them. "Riot. Great... just wonderful."

"There he is, it's the murderer!" a voice rang out from the mob. Jeering was omnipresent in the crowd, insults tossed at Blaze mercilessly.

"He's a beast, a monster, a freak! Just like Sephiroth!" a second voice chimed in.

"Let's kill them, before they attack anyone else!" the first voice sounded once more.

Cheers and shouts of approval sounded from the mob. They began to inch closer and closer, encircling the two in the center, their space getting smaller with each passing second.

"She's defending him!? Why is that? He's just a monster," a member of the crowd stated. That same man looked at Blaze, anger in his eyes, a gun in his hand. "Give my regards to Hojo!" Five shots rang out into the air.

"Bella... you're not the only one who fired. Look," Sephiroth grimly stated. He looked at Blaze, blood pouring from his chest and forehead, where there were bullet holes.