Epiphany
is a Final Fantasy VII fanfic by Fenrir4life and The_Story_Maker, though it follows more the events of Remake.
Sephiroth finds himself caught in a time loop that has him repeating the events of Final Fantasy VII over and over again. Finding no way to release himself from the loop, he sets out to find out why he is caught in it, and determines that the only one who might be able to tell him is the one who can commune with the planet itself.
As such, he goes and makes contact with Aerith Gainsborough, the girl whose fate he has sealed in previous loops, a fact that she turns out to be aware of, and is none too happy to see him.
Tropes in this story
- Affably Evil: Sephiroth is still evil, but he's impeccably polite and even willing to help Aerith out...if he has nothing better to do.
- Asshole Victim:
- Corneo is unceremoniously dumped down his own trapdoor once Sephiroth and Leslie have finished interrogating him, but few in the slums will be sad to see him go.
- Hojo is impaled after unwisely bringing up his plans to breed Aerith and Sephiroth...right in front of them. He survives, however.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: When he comes for Aerith's things in the Turks' office, Reno hops to assist, since he doesn't have a death wish, which he tells Sephiroth quite plainly. Sephiroth just says he wouldn't destroy something that might prove useful later.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The entire board of Shinra to no one's surprise. Practically every one of them is embezzling. Except Scarlett, for some reason, but that only makes Tseng more suspicious.
- D-Cup Distress: Tifa explains that she has trouble with certain tops because she tends to spill out of them.
- Deal with the Devil: Sephiroth asks Aerith a question: what would she be willing to do to save the people in Sector 7? Just as the plate is about to collapse, she calls out, "I'll do anything!" Sephiroth accepts.
- Death by Adaptation: Corneo is still alive come the end of Remake, but here he dies after Sephiroth and Lelsie decide he's no longer of use.
- Double Take: As Sephiroth is standing outside Aerith's church just before Cloud drops in, Reno comes up with an entourage of troopers. Sephiroth, who everyone thinks is dead, greets him amiably enough.
- Dramatic Irony: When Cloud's party is trying to figure out what they should be doing, they decide to go after Sephiroth, believing he abducted Aerith. Cloud even makes the point that it isn't like he took her back to her mother, unaware that he actually did just that!
- The Dreaded:
- Sephiroth of course, his presence still causes fear in those who recognize him.
- A tonberry is dangerous enough that Sephiroth feels the need to personally intervene to keep it from killing Aerith.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Overwhelmed by the knowledge that tens of thousands of people will die in a matter of days, Sephiroth's own evil plans, and the Arbiters blocking her attempts to stop all of it, Aerith copes with it all by downing Elmyra's cooking sherry and baking brandy that night.
- Faux Affably Evil: Hojo tries very hard to convince Aerith he actually cares about her well-being, but it only serves to make him even more revolting.
- Fluffy Tamer: When one of their opponents in the coliseum turns out to be a tonberry, Sephiroth is ready to intervene. Aerith calmly walks over and pats it on the head, and then it rolls over and lets her rub its belly.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: Sephiroth finds himself reliving the events of FFVII over and over again. He's gone through the original game, the Remake, and now we're somewhere past that.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Corneo is dumped down his own trapdoor and is fed to the creature he keeps at the bottom to deal with unwanted guests.
- Hypocrisy Nod: When Sephiroth attempts to get Aerith to tell him what her dream was about, pointing out that since it was about him, that would make it her business, she acknowledges the point, but still refuses to tell him.Sephiroth: Your acknowledgment of your hypocrisy is refreshing.
Aerith: Yup! I’m just a bundle of contradictions and deceptions! I try to keep a realistic image of my flaws. - Hypocritical Humor: In the first chapter, Sephiroth dismisses Cloud's flip to dismount the train as wasteful showmanship. Fortunately, he is above such self-indulgent theatrics. He then begins pondering a suitably dramatic way to reveal himself this time.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Sephiroth does this, of course, and Hojo is his unfortunate target.
- Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Cloud discovers Zack's voice in his head. Zack then proceeds to annoy Cloud by being...well...Zack.
- Oh, Crap!: Reno has this moment when he sees Sephiroth standing outside Aerith's church.
- Open Mouth, Insert Foot: After having an erotic dream about Sephiroth, Aerith finds him and accuses him of infiltrating her dreams only to quickly realize he has no idea what she's talking about, and her evasive answers about the nature of the dream only make him more intrigued.
- Pinned to the Wall: Or rather the side of Aerith's containment cell. After an ill-advised comment about wanting to see what Aerith and Sephiroth's offspring would be like, Hojo finds himself pinned to the side of the cell with the Masamune run through his torso.
- Refuge in Audacity: Mentioned by Biggs as a typical part of Jessie's ploys, just keep BS'ing as far as you can.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Sephiroth remembers each of the loops he's been through so far.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: As soon as Reno sees Sephiroth, he scrubs his mission and hightails it back to Shinra Tower.
- Screw Destiny: Sephiroth's whole schtick; as he says, “Fate accepts no equals. Either you submit or are its master.”
- Shout-Out:
- When Cait Sith appears before Cloud's group, he says, "Come with me if you want tae live!"
- Upon encountering a newly-minted SOLDIER who seems to think he can take on Sephiroth single-handedly, Sephiroth asks if he even knows how to use his sword. The guy responds, "Of Course. Pointy end goes in the other guy."
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Much of Aerith and Sephiroth's conversations turn into this, something that Sephiroth finds refreshing, having someone with the wit to carry on in such a way.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Biggs, Wedge and Jessie survive the encounter at the plate support. While Biggs is shown to survive in Remake, Jessie's and to an extent Wedge's fates are a bit more ambiguous. And, of course, the population of Sector 7.
- Stepford Smiler: Sephiroth notes that Aerith's sunny beaming smile makes an excellent mask for whatever her true emotions are.
- Trauma Button: Sephiroth unexpectedly hits one when he comes to the labs in search of Aerith and encounters Hojo. She's surprised at how he reacts, defensive and hesitant, until she realizes that through all the loops he's been through and all the people he's slaughtered, random villagers, troopers, herself, on up to the president of Shinra himself, Hojo has always been untouchable, something that is still ingrained in him. It takes Hojo talking about breeding the two of them together to get a reaction from him, namely running Hojo straight through.
- Villain Protagonist: Sephiroth is a villain; he's also the main character of the story.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Sephiroth and Leslie decide Corneo is of no further use, they feed him to his own monster.
