'Wake up!'
Sea green eyes opened to stare up at the perfectly blue sky. He could feel the grass under him as well, like a cushion. He sat up and looked around him, surveying the surroundings. Was this the lifestream? Possibly the Promised Land? No, there was no way it could be. He was sure that whatever was in store for him in the afterlife was not pleasant.
The expanse of land was completely bare, except for a single willow tree. The grass was a lush green, and looked very healthy. Obviously this ruled out the possibility of still being in the crater. Also, there was a very noticeable lack of monsters.
He looked around himself and frowned. Where was his sword? Had someone taken it when they moved him? His frown deepened as he looked around again. Where the hell was he? He had never seen this place before. He wasn't in the middle of a plain, either, because there was a road behind him.
Then, suddenly, there was a house in front of him. He took a step back, his suspicions flaring. Was someone messing with him, now? He checked his wrists for his armlet, but there was nothing. He cursed angrily. Someone had not only taken his sword, but they had also taken away his ring, his armlet, AND all his mastered materia! Someone was going to die for this!
He stared at the house in anger for some time, before he thought about how stupid he would look if someone came walking by.
"Hey, are you all right?"
He turned around in surprise to find a teenager standing behind him in a bright yellow outfit, holding a bag of newspapers. "You! Where am I?!"
The delivery girl looked nervous and took a step backwards. "Are you ok, sir?"
"Just tell me!" He snapped, wishing he had Masamune on hand so he could run the useless delivery girl through for ignoring his question.
"You're in Crystal Valley!" She said quickly, probably noticing the way his hands were clenched. "I need to deliver my papers!"
He watched the girl run away, scowling darkly. When she was gone, he picked up his paper and opened it. There was nothing strange about it, just an ordinary paper… He turned back to the house and went inside cautiously.
There was some beaten up old furniture, a stained and probably broken refrigerator, and a bookshelf made of some old wooden planks and a few cinder blocks.
"What the hell is this?!" He demanded out loud to no one in particular. "Who is messing with me?!" Irritated by the lack of people to answer his questions, he put the paper down on the ugly table and went into the next room. It was a bathroom. The shower was one of those horrible communal ones he had used when he was in SOLDIER. They broke all the time. Instead of ripping it out of the wall, like he had taken a step forward to do, he stopped and lowered his arms. Maybe if he just had a shower and relaxed, the answer would come to him. After all, he didn't have the Black Materia to just destroy… wherever he was.
Two hours later he was sitting on the uncomfortable old couch, reading a book, when the doorbell rang. His eyes narrowed. This was probably the idiot who had stolen his things, come back to taunt him about it. Well, he would show them that he didn't need materia to be powerful. He got up, tossing the book onto the floor, and stalked across the room. He threw open the door and swung a punch at the person standing there, only to stop with his fist half an inch from the face of a girl with wide, horrified eyes.
"S-Sephiroth?" She managed to squeak.
"Who are you, and why do you know my name?" He demanded, lowering his fist. "Why am I here?"
"I… I brought you here…" She said, her voice nervous. Her eyes darted to his fist again, which was still clenched, and she gave him a nervous smile. "You were dead in your other world… I thought I'd do you a favour…"
"Where are my things?!" He snarled. "My sword?! My materia?!"
"I took them!" She squeaked again, and flinched backwards as he took a menacing step towards her.
"He's not as pleasant as you always made him out to be." Said another girl, who was standing near the sidewalk. "In fact, he's pretty much an ass. This is the thanks you're getting for bringing him back from the dead."
"Sami, be quiet!" Hissed the first girl. "He might kill us if you start being rude!"
"I might just kill you anyway, because I'm not in a very good mood! Now give me back my Masamune!"
"I can't do that!" The first girl said, and then yelped as he punched the wall next to her head. "Why would I give you back a weapon when you're trying to kill me?!" She jumped down off the porch and took a few steps away from Sephiroth. "Besides, this world has some different rules than your old world. Magic doesn't exist here. Weapons don't really exist either!"
"Well send me back, then!"
"You want to go back to your world, where you can just be dead?" The girl asked, an irritated tone in her voice. "Don't be such a baby!"
"What did you say to me?!" Sephiroth snarled, coming down the porch after her. "Say it again! Go on!"
The first girl hid behind the one she had called Sami, looking terrified.
"She said you're being a baby." Sami said, crossing her arms and staring him down. "She's right, I agree. You need to stop acting like a baby and think about it. Amanda just gave you a second chance at life. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Sephiroth stopped advancing and crossed his arms. "I want my sword back. You can keep the materia, but not Masamune."
"Amanda, just give him back his sword."
"No! He'll stab me in the face with it!"
"Amanda, get real. He's obviously over his anger now."
Amanda peeked out from behind Sami and looked at Sephiroth. "He still looks pretty mad to me!"
"I just want my sword."
"Promise you won't kill me?" Amanda asked anxiously.
"Fine. I promise."
"Pinky swear it!" Amanda demanded, offering her hand from around Sami with her pinky finger stuck out.
"What the hell is a 'pinky swear'?! Give me my damn sword, or I'll kill you with my bare hands!"
"No!"
"Amanda…"
"Fine! Stupid jerks…" Amanda snapped her fingers, and Masamune appeared on the ground next to them. "If you stab me even once, I'll make you regret it! I have a glass box I could put you into! You'd be so dead in there."
"Yeah, yeah." Sephiroth lifted Masamune with relief. "Now are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?"
"I'm such a genius!" Amanda said, coming out from behind Sami with shining eyes. "I created a way to transport the consciousnesses of my favourite characters ever into these simulated bodies for me to enjoy whenever I want!"
Sephiroth blinked at her.
"What she means is that she can bring people from their worlds into this one, so she can be friends with them. And sleep with them."
"SAMI!"
"Well it's true!"
"What world is this?" Sephiroth asked, looking around again. The area was still pretty empty. "And where the hell did you come from? There aren't any other houses near here."
"Oh, you just can't see my house from here." Amanda said. "I live pretty far away. It took us most of the day to get down here to see how you're doing in your new place."
"I hate it." Sephiroth snapped. "It's full of shitty furniture, and it's too small! I want you to fix it right now."
Amanda laughed, and snorted. She paused to look embarrassed, and then smiled. "Well, if you want a bigger house, or a car, or nicer things, then you'll have to get a job!"
"Why?"
"Because I can't just control how much money you have. I'm not a god or anything."
Sephiroth surveyed the two girls and frowned again. Something about them told him that she was lying to him about that. "Ok, what are your jobs then?"
"I happen to run a successful business." Amanda said, in an offended tone. "So don't look at me like I can just zap up money whenever I want!"
"What kind of business is it?" Sephiroth pressed, taking a step closer. "What do you sell?"
Amanda swallowed heavily and bit her lip. "I sell… Robots."
"Robots."
"Yeah, that's what I said! Big ones that get you food, and clean your house…"
"Well I don't think I believe you."
"Well that's too bad for you. I guess I just won't give you a discount when you come to my robot store!" Amanda crossed her arms and put her nose in the air.
"And you?" Sephiroth asked Sami, ignoring Amanda's reply.
"I sell paintings." Sami said, crossing her arms. "Good ones, before you can say anything about them. She doesn't build robots, either."
"SAMI!"
"Well it's true!"
"Wow, I think I just got deja-vu or something."
"So do you have a job, or were you just lying to me?" Sephiroth asked, putting his free hand on his hip and glaring.
"I DO have a job!" Amanda said angrily. "I'm… A florist!"
"Liar!" Sami said gleefully. "She's a mad scientist!"
"I'm not mad, ok?! How many times do I have to tell you? That last experiment was a MISTAKE!"
"What last experiment?"
"Don't ask." Amanda and Sami replied at the same time, both of them looking disgusted.
"Ok then…" Sephiroth gave them both a puzzled look, and decided to drop the subject. "What exactly does a Mad Scientist do?"
"I'm not mad!" Amanda snapped, looking very angry.
"You know Hojo…?" Sami asked.
Sephiroth shuddered.
"Yeah, she's kinda like that. But, you know… Slightly less creepy."
"Slightly?! Hey!"
"So she experiments on people?"
"I can hear you, you know! I'm standing right here!"
"What do you think you are?" Sami said, raising an eyebrow. "I thought the answer was obvious."
"Excuse me!"
"I'm just an experiment, then?" Sephiroth asked, a harsh note in his voice. "After all this time, I'm only just an experiment again?"
"No! You're much more than that!" Amanda butted back into the conversation by stepping in front of Sami and patting Sephiroth on the arm. "You're here, and you're alive! Now you get a second chance to live a normal life!"
Sephiroth glared at her. "Take your hand off of my arm right now."
Amanda dropped her hand and smiled nervously. "Oh, sorry… I just thought you looked like you could use some comfort…"
"I don't need anything from you."
"Do you hate me now?" Amanda asked, pouting. "I'm the one who brought you back, you know. You should like me, at the very least."
"You just want to sleep with him."
"SAMI!"
"What?"
"You're not supposed to TELL him that!"
"Why not?"
"Because you keep making me sound like some kind of skank!"
"Aren't you?"
Sephiroth watched as the two girls got into a slapping fight, and sighed in irritation. This was going to be a long day.
Two weeks.
Two weeks.
Two weeks, and still he was sitting on his couch, bored out of his mind. He had listened to the two girls after he had run out of food and gotten himself a job. Even after that, however, he barely had enough money for anything interesting. His house had recieved a couple small upgrades... A better shower... A stereo... A television... But it was nothing like the grandeur he was used to. Half of him was wishing he was still dead, rather than be stuck in this endless loop of boredom.
Ding-dong!
Sephiroth looked at the door in irritation. He hated everything about the doorbell, especially how cheerful it sounded when he was trying to forget how angry and bored he was. He made the decision to ignore the bell and stretched out on the couch. He sat there for five more minutes, and then the bell rang again. He got up angrily and walked over to the door, pulling it open so hard the it smashed into the interior wall, the knob lodging itself into the drywall. "What?!" He snarled.
There was an old woman standing on the doorstep, holding a crystal ball in her hand. She was wearing thick makeup, probably to conceal all the wrinkles, yet only succeeded in making her look ten years older than she probably was. She frowned. "Hello, my good sir. I am a wandering gypsy fortune-teller, and matchmaker extrordinare. I could sense an aura of anger and loneliness around this house and I-"
"Spare me all the crazy know-all crap and get to the point, woman. I was busy."
Her frown deepened. "I offer my services to anyone who may need them, and I offer them for whatever you're willing to pay. If you hand me a dollar, I can find someone for you... But beware! You will get your money's worth. No more, no less. I also sell Vamprocillin-D, and Love Potions."
"Let me get this straight," Sephiroth said, putting a hand to his forehead and closing his eyes. "You basically send people out on blind dates, and some some weird potion crap that supposedly makes people fall in love at first sight."
Now she was scowling. "Yes, sir."
"Not interested." He tried to shut his door, but the woman got in the way, pushing her way partially into the house.
"Love can solve all your problems, sir," she continued, apparently unaware that he was about to get Masamune and solve all HER problems by killing her. "One single date could change your life for the better. Look around you. This small house, with it's unpainted walls and it's uncovered floors... The second-hand furniture... I know how unhappy you must be, living in a place like this. You look like a man who is used to the finer things in life. Living here, all alone, you can only focus on the things that you do not have. However, with someone else... A lover... Your home will no longer seem inadequate, because you will not be focusing on the things you have not, but on what you do have."
Sephiroth glared at her. "Finished?"
The old woman's scowl returned, darker than ever. "Quite."
"Get out." He pointed to the sidewalk, and watched her retreat.
She turned around at the bottom of the stairs to speak again, only to find the door slamming shut. "Very well!" She yelled in irritation. "You will never know the true meaning of love!" She stepped back as the door opened again, and her smile returned. "Sir! You have seen the light?"
"No, but you will be!" Sephiroth snarled, brandishing Masamune at her. "I'm giving you five seconds to get off my property before I attack! One!"
"Sir, I'm only trying to save your immortal soul!"
"Two!"
"Sir! A date would do you good! You obviously have some anger issues..."
"Three!"
"Sir, please don't do this. I only want to help!"
"Four!"
"I'll let you buy a potion at a discount-URK!"
"Five." Sephiroth said, pulling the Masamune out of the woman's stomach and walking back into his house. He sat down on the couch and started cleaning his sword, his baby, so the blood wouldn't get all crusty on the end of it. He hated when that happened. He paused for a moment, wondering if maybe he was going to get into trouble for murdering a gypsy. Then he decided he didn't really care and went back to the care of his sword.
An hour later, his phone started to ring. He hadn't even really wanted one, since people were irritating, but Amanda and Sami had both insisted on it. Plus, when it came down to it, he didn't want to have a kitchen fire like he had last week and lose everything he had managed to buy so far. So a phone had been installed, but was so far unused. Now he picked up the reciever. "What do you want?"
"Now that's a rude way to answer your phone!" It was Amanda. 'She was the one with the brown hair... I think...' Sephiroth thought to himself.
"So what? I was busy."
"Sitting on your couch alone, staring at the wall? You've been 'busy' doing that all week. Now it's time to actually find something to do! Sami and I are going down to Club Neon, and we wanted to know if you felt like joining us!"
"Club Neon?"
"It's a dance club slash bar. There's some fun things there... Dancing, drinking, socializing, riding the electro dance sphere... Oh, and there's a photobooth too!"
"Basically there's a bunch of shit that I hate, and drinking." Sephiroth simplified for her. He opened his mouth to tell her no, but was surprised to find himself saying, "Whatever. Fine. Come and pick me up in an hour. I still don't have a car."
"Really?! I thought for sure you'd tell me no and threaten to kill me! I'll be over in an hour, like you said! See you then!"
Sephiroth frowned and hung up the phone. Why the hell had he agreed to go out to a club with those two annoying brats? He the hell had he agreed to anything at all? He stretched out on his couch again and stared at the blank TV screen, like he had been doing all week.
'Maybe I am just a little bored...'
"Welcome to Club Neon!" Amanda said, holding out her arms in presentation. "The best club in all of Crystal Valley!"
"The only club in Crystal Valley." Sami corrected, rolling her eyes. "It would be better if there was a gothic club that served absinthe."
"Well I like the raver clubs better!" Amanda argued, hands on her hips. "And since I..." She trailed off and glanced at Sephiroth, then smiled nervously. "Let's go dancing!"
"What were you going to say?" Sephiroth demanded, following the girls into the club. "Since you what?"
"Since I... Err... Don't have the money to build a gothic club, then this will have to remain the only club in town." Amanda said, then pointed to the bar. "You said you like drinking, right? Let's go get drinks!" She changed directions and headed towards the bar.
Sephiroth followed, frowning. "That's not what you were going to say. I know it wasn't. It was going to be something about owning the town, wasn't it? You own the town, don't you?"
"Of course not!" Amanda replied, but there was a break in her voice that suggested she was lying to him. "One of those tropical drinks with the little umbrellas, please!" She said to the bartender.
"Sure thing, Miss. H!" He replied, and immediately began mixing the drink.
"Miss. H? Why does this random bartender know you as Miss. H if you don't own the town?"
"I have a drinking problem." Amanda said quickly, beginning to look like she was going to run away. "Now stop asking questions and get yourself a drink too!"
"Oh! Are you with this gentleman tonight?" The bartender asked, passing Amanda her drink.
"Gentleman my ass... and no, we're only friends."
"We're not friends, I just felt like getting drunk." Sephiroth corrected. "I don't have any friends."
"Sounds pretty depressing." The bartender said.
"No. I hate people. Give me something straight, please. Without the stupid umbrella."
The bartender swallowed heavily and went about pouring Sephiroth's drink without another word of sympathy.
"You know, you really need to learn how to be nice. I saw that tombstone out front of your house when we came to pick you up. Who was it?"
"You don't care?"
Amanda shrugged and sipped her drink. "I expected it a lot sooner, that's for sure. I'm surprised you managed to hold back this long. You're evil, after all."
"It was some stupid gypsy. She kept going on about true love, and she was screaming at me through my door... I gave her five seconds to get out, though. I'm not completely evil."
"Well, still. You need to be a little nicer to people. Everyone here only wants to help you, you know? I wanted to give you a second chance at life... And everyone here just wants to be your friend."
Sephiroth took his drink from the bar and drank in quickly until it was gone, then motioned for another one. "That being said; I don't need friends. I don't want friends. I just want to be left alone."
Amanda sighed and drank another sip of her drink. "I feel bad for you... I wish I knew how to get you to trust people again..."
Sephiroth was silent as he waited for his next drink.
"I wish I knew how to take back everything that's happened to you... You know? I might be a scientist, but I can't erase your bad memories. I just want you to know that I really am sorry for everything you've gone through..." She finished her drink and got up. "I'm going out there to dance now. You can come and join me later, if you want. Or you can finish drinking and go back home... I don't mind, either way. I'm not going to force you to like me."
He watched her walk away out of the corner of his eye, then picked up his new drink and finished that one just as quickly as the last.
"She's a great girl, huh?" The bartender said, looking smitten. "I know her pretty well, you know. She comes in here all the time to dance. I've known her since before she had that nice house on the hill... Money hasn't changed her a bit."
"Just shut up and get me another drink." Sephiroth snapped. "I'm not here to listen to you go on about your little school-boy crush on a girl who will probably never even know you as more than 'bartender'."
The bartender's lip trembled slightly as he was pouring Sephiroth's new drink, and he didn't say another word afterwards.
"Give me another drink." Sephiroth said, aware that he was slurring his words together until they were almost unintelligible. So far nothing interesting had happened at the club, and an almost overwhelming sense of loneliness was coming over him. Maybe the gypsy had been right. Too bad she was dead now.
"I think you've had enough." The bartender said, taking away the empty glass that, moments before, had been Sephiroth's tenth drink of the night. "Normally a guy would be passed out on the floor by now after all that... I should have cut you off a while ago."
"I'll tell you when I've had enough!" Sephiroth snapped, pounding his fist onto the top of the bar to accentuate his point. "Now give me another drink!"
"Look, giving yourself alcohol poisoning isn't worth me losing my job. If you want another drink, I suggest you go out to the store and buy yourself something else."
Sephiroth cursed at him, but the guy just turned away to serve a different customer. He rested his head against the table, to stop the room from tilting like it had been doing only seconds before.
"Hey... Are you feeling all right?" Asked a pleasant voice. It was soft and sweet, with a hint of amusement.
"...'m fine..." He mumbled, not bothering to look up at the owner of the voice. What was the point? Everyone ran away when he looked at them anyhow. That was probably why he was progressing at work so quickly.
"Had a bit too much to drink?" The owner of the voice must have taken the empty spot next to him, because her voice had changed locations. "I'd just like an appletini, please."
"Coming right up!" Said the bartender, in his irritatingly cheerful voice.
"Are you here with someone?"
"...yeah. She's dancing." Sephiroth still didn't raise his head from the bar. He was starting to think maybe he had gotten a little too drunk.
"Oh... Why are you over here, then?" She sounded a little confused, and a bit scolding.
Sephiroth finally managed to sit up, shaking his head. "It's not like that. I barely know her... She wants to be my friend, so she invited me to come here... I don't like dancing, though... So I just thought... I needed something to do to pass the time..." He looked over at the owner of the voice, and she looked as pleasant as she sounded. She had fiery red hair pulled up into an elaborate style, and bright green eyes. Her makeup was bright and cheerful and her clothes were bright as well. Her face wasn't model-gorgeous, but she was definitely pretty. He could tell even through the alcohol.
"Oh, I see. I don't think getting drunk is really the best way to do it." Her voice was mostly amused this time, and she seemed to be trying to keep from laughing. She accepted her drink from the bartender and sipped it casually. "It's a good way to end up spending the night sick to your stomach, though. Maybe you think that's a good, fun night?"
Sephiroth shrugged. "There's nothing else to do."
"You could have taken your friend out to dinner, you know. We have a really good restaurant in town. Or you could have gone to the park. Or to the pool. There's a lot of things to do besides coming to the club and getting drunk."
"I guess."
The girl sipped her drink again, then turned to face him. "Do you want to dance?"
Sephiroth shook his head, then grabbed the bar to prevent himself from ending up on the floor. It was a close call.
She laughed out loud that time, her eyes sparkling. "You're right, it might not be such a good idea. Do you want to go home? I could drive you, you know. I was just about to leave anyhow."
"Yeah, sure... that would be nice."
She finished her drink and got up from her seat, then helped Sephiroth from his. "Are you going to tell your friend that you're leaving?"
Sephiroth only shrugged again. "Don't think she cares. We only just met two weeks ago."
"All right, it's your funeral."
Sephiroth allowed her to help him outside to her car that was parked on the street. The good thing about being drunk was that it prevented him from wondering what people would think about someone like him practically being carried out of the club. Then again, maybe no one would see. He got into her car and managed to buckle his belt. The car wasn't anything special, just the average 'first car' kind of deal. It was clean inside, though, and smelled like flowers.
She got into the driver's seat and started the car up. "Good thing it decided to work. I hate getting stranded because this peice of crap decides to break down at the worst times. Where do you live?"
Sephiroth thought for a moment, then sighed. "I don't know. I haven't even gone out before..."
"All right, describe your house to me. I jog, so I know most of the places in town."
"It's the shittiest house in the town." Sephiroth admitted without hesitating. "It's practically a one room shack. You know it?"
The girl was grinning, and she nodded. "Yeah, the new one. I know where it is." She pulled away from the curb and soon they were driving in silence towards his house. "I'm Angela, by the way."
"Sephiroth."
"That's an interesting name. I can't say I've heard it before."
Sephiroth didn't reply, because the truth of his 'second chance' was starting to really hit him. In his own world, this girl would have run screaming from him as soon as she had seen him. If not then, she would have pulled over the car when he told her his name. In his world, everyone knew him. Everyone hated him. He leaned up against the door and rested his head on the closed window. This really was his chance to live his life normally, without ending up the enemy of everyone in the world.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah..."
"You look kind of sad. To tell you the truth, that was why I came over to talk to you." She glanced at him for a moment before turning her eyes back to the road. "I was just thinking; What does a guy like you have to be so down about?"
Sephiroth thought about that for a few seconds, and finally replied. "I don't know how to live, I guess... I want to... but I don't know how."
"I think that sometimes that happens to people who haven't really known a lot of kindness." Angela said, her voice holding a melancholy note. "In those cases, it's most important to figure out who you really are... And then just go from there." The car pulled to a stop, and Angela put it into park. "Here we are; Shittiest house in town. You're home."
Sephiroth nodded and took off his seatbelt. "Thanks..." He opened the door and got out, managing to keep his footing and not make an ass of himself. He turned to shut the door, and paused. "Do you want to come in?"
Angela also paused for a moment, and she was staring into his eyes. She didn't look afraid at all to see his cat-like pupils, or the strange way his eyes seemed to shine even though they weren't reflecting any light. "Do you want me to?" She finally replied, "Or is that just the alcohol talking? I don't do one-night things, Sephiroth."
Sephiroth frowned.
She shook her head, and smiled. "Let me tell you what I think, ok? I think you're lonely... but I don't think I'm the answer to that. You're drunk, so you're feeling things a lot more than you normally would. I think you need someone who is going to be special for you, not someone who just happened to be here when you felt alone."
Sephiroth stared at her for a few seconds, then sighed. "I guess that's a no."
"I guess it is."
"Good night, Angela. Thanks for bringing me back home."
"You're welcome, Sephiroth... And hopefully tomorrow you remember what I told you. I think it will help."
"I hope so." He shut the door and watched her drive off into the night before going up the steps into his house. He stumbled to his bed in the corner of the house and fell into it. He was asleep in seconds.