Disclaimer : I do not own the characters from Final Fantasy Advent Children. I wish I could own Yazoo but... oh well!
Hosts of the Seraphim
Sometimes it feels like it happened to someone else… Maybe it was just a story I heard… But I can't believe they're gone… They can't be… So I come here often, to the ruins of old Midgar, next to that same building that collapsed with me, Loz and big brother still on it… still fighting…Even though it makes no logical sense – that weird woman didn't throw me back here. She made the Lifestream spit me out in that Ancient city – Ajit's who's to say where she could have thrown the others?
But then again – who's to say I want to know the definite truth?
We escaped 10 years ago – just children 10,11,12 years old – from the facility beneath the Nibelheim reactor. It was cold, and we had nothing on but those silly little lab gowns that did nothing but let the freezing wind get even better access to our shivering bodies. I told Kira that it was not a good idea to get separated, but as she gave the command with her hand, her eyes fell coldly on me, saying : "You've said enough, assassin…". For what I know… I am grateful to her with my life, for she lived up to her training as a squad leader.
Many of us didn't make it to the perimeter fence. The great brains decided it would be a disaster for us to get to the outside world… So they gave the great gun-wielding chuckleheads permission to terminate on sight.
Longest goddamned night in my entire life…All I could think about was – where are the others? Is Kadaj ok? Where did Loz go? Did he beat that guard? Where are Jade, Kira, Trip and Kaisha? Somewhere along the way all of that jumbled inside my confused and exhausted mind, and it gave the big "timeout" sign to my whole body… right in the middle of the road…
Of course, the great city of Midgar wouldn't give a flying fuck about a bunch of mutant alien- clones running away from a top secret facility. But oh, how they got to care when a year ago I decided to round up their children and take off with them on the back of the truck I stole…Stupid egocentric humans…But that's what big brother Sephiroth would say. Personally, I don't give a flying fuck about them either. All that matters now is finding the others…
It always did… Our grand-master plan – find Mothers cells, receive them and initiate the call for the Reunion- all of ours would come, and we would live happily ever after, as a family… Cool fairytale, huh? Baaaaaaaaaang… Reality check- the Reunion was a hoax planted in our naïve minds by dear big brother Sephiroth, may he rot in his holiness for the rest of forever in the deepest pits of hell. Amen.
But then again the great city of Midgar knows that part of the story pretty damn well… What they probably don't know is how little old me crawled out of the lake in Ajit and made it back to Edge, for dear big brother Cloud to wonder and freak out.
And then he did the weirdest thing in the whole friggin' Universe… Maybe it's some good guy gracious and giving hero complex, I wouldn't know, but he kinda gave me a second chance…And then he left for Kalm with that gal of his and the kids. Good for him!
So now I'm kinda layin' low, stayin' off the radar and all that jazz. And since the "good" scientists back at ShinRa corp were smart enough to figure that for deep underground operations soldiers who were easily distinguishable by their silver hair and catlike eyes weren't actually good cover agents, I can now benefit from the fruit of their work. Mainly- making my hair black with the flick of my hands over it, well mostly black, my fringe seems to disagree with change. And as for the eyes, I learnt to contract my pupils into slits only when serious watching was needed. Didn't change my name though- because it means a lot to me, mostly because it marks my freedom, and besides, I don't believe anyone heard it. Had to make an adjustment though – Yazoo Dale.
- Strife Delivery service – the young man flashed the sector pass in front of the bored-out-of-his-wit guard and he grunted in reply, making room for his bike to go through.
After a short ride /thank whoever invented motorcycles/, he was entering the building he needed to deliver to. "Oh, great, it's an all-window elevator…Not that there's much to look at…They say that before the Nibelheim reactor blew up, and some other accidents occurred / mainly caused by big brother Sephiroth/, Midgar was a blossoming city, all mako wired, energized, happy… But then when that Meteor came real close and the Earth made kaboom with the Lifestream as a weapon, all of it went to ruins. So now Midgar is just another broken force, looking for handouts and wondering why…I don't care much about that though – if these people have enough time to complain, they should have enough time to set things right."
- Strife Delivery service, signature, please – well, what do you know? Another bored citizen…
As she makes do with the paperwork, he stares out the window. When he's sure she isn't looking, he tilts his head a little, much like a cat would do and the pupils in his blue-green eyes slit, until he can focus without any difficulty a shiny little statue of Shiva on the last floor of the next door building. That seemed like a lovely catch. Head still to the side, he silently receives his papers back and walks off, making sure nobody can see his pupils returning back from catlike slits to human round ones.
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- Alright, people! Trust in Real Chad to make you all rich sons of bitches. If my boy wins, you get screwed, but if he don't you all get free beers on me!
The bulky looking man with huge sunglasses /inside of a dark bar/, dark tanned skin and curly brown locks walked between the tables, bidding for bets, before returning to his seat on the bar, next to the stunning black-haired man with the silver fringe, who coldly observed the wall before him, covered in shelf after shelf of alcohol bottles.
- You in for a bet, Jimmy? – Real Chad held his gil-filled hand out before the bartender's face.
The man behind the bar felt hesitant for a moment, eyes flying from the brawny male, to the slender spaced-out creature, whose blue-green orbs looked like they were seeing right through everything. When the moment passed, the man called Jimmy placed his bet on Chad's waiting hand and snorted a bit, eyes still locked with the slimmer one in the chair right before him. Then he reached beneath the bar and picked up the stationary phone and put it on the bar, slamming it right beneath the spaced-out male's face, who by the way didn't in any way show any reaction to the movement, and pressed the redial button.
The awe-struck silence in the bar was only broken by the digital sound of the phone dialing – beep, beepbeep, beepbeepbeep, beep…
Slowly, obviously taking his sweet time, the black-haired, silver-fringed young man raised his chin in the air, long-lashed eyes closing halfway and he started:
- 0035929300646…- he stated, and his bewitching green eyes locked with Jimmy's shocked ones, who now looked like they were popping out of their sockets any time now.
The rest of the bar shook out of it's reverie and there were laughs, grunts, yells, but when the bartender pressed the display button, and the phone number checked out a 100% to what the spaced-out one offered, they exploded in a round of applause, every one of the guests shouting something like :"How the hell do you do that, man?".
- Yaz, my man, you are officially the bomb! – Real Chad laughed out, lifting his glasses to wipe some tears of mirth, staining the corners of his chocolate eyes.
- Hn, it's nothing… - the other male stated flatly, trying now almost desperately to avoid being choked by the not-so-tender embrace in which he found himself once Chad sat down next to him.
- Yazoo? – a female voice called from their right, breaking the boys' sweet moment of celebration.
The voice belonged to an incredibly beautiful petite blonde woman with large blue eyes, standing out in the whole bar like a precious peace of art would in a house, full of tasteless junk.
- Well, well, well… if it ain't the bitch who wailed… - Real Chad stood up, physically blocking his companion from the girl's view.
- I wasn't talking to you, gay boy… - her sweet voice turned venomous for a moment, before tuning back in to the gentle tones of her deep alt.- Yazoo, could we have a word?
- Like hell you could! I think you said enough the other night, even though your moth was kinda occupied with James' cock!- Chad ranted on, temper rising, and the urgency to protect his slender friend becoming more and more intense.
- Chill, Chad, - Yazoo's deep voice intervened, and with a hand to the brawny man's shoulders, he beckoned his friend to stand down from this fight. It wasn't his after all.
- Alrightey then! But you only got 5 minutes…bitch! – Chad turned on his heels and stormed out of the bar, as if the devil was after him.
The petite blonde allowed a grimace of irony to pass through her features, before they shifted back to a soft, alluring smile, and she took Chad's place next to Yazoo.
- Listen, Yazoo, I love you, you know I do… but you're so… difficult to deal with. You're beautiful as hell, people seem so naturally drawn to you, yet you are so distant… it's like you don't even care one little bit what happens around you… Like there's this deep dark thing going on behind that angel face of yours, that's like this barrier, and I just wanted so much to cross it, but…
The young man shifted a bit on his chair and turned his head to his ex-girlfriend. Tilting his neck a bit, his eyes grew wide suddenly and overdramatically when he began talking again:
- You know, Claudia, you're right! I am so glad that we're having this conversation, because now I understand that I was an insensitive jerk, who just couldn't grasp the idea of eternal love you so graciously bestowed upon my undeserving self! – he batted his lashes, further underlying his sarcastic tone.- Oh, could you ever forgive me?
- Hm… I see the perimeter defense system is still intact… Good night, Yazoo…- and in a swish of clothes and long hair, the beautiful girl was gone.
As soon as she disappeared from view, Chad came back, a sheepish grin on his face, obviously trying to read damage control from Yazoo's impassive face. Just as he was about to open his mouth and start his famous "girls-ain't-worth-it" talk however, his long-haired friend quietly asked:
- Chad, do you think I push people away?
Exhaling audibly, the brawny male slumped into the empty chair and swung his arm around his companion's slender, but strangely muscular shoulders:
- Tell ya somethin', Yaz... You're a down-ass male and a straight-up friend. And no bitchin' little whore can ever change that. She just don't deserve you, dude.
- Hn… - for a moment Yazoo let a relieved expression cross his handsome features.- So you don't think I'm this scary little sociopath, who just doesn't care about a thing?
- Not carrin' ain't always a bad thing ya know… Plus, you ain't no sociopath… more like a mystery… Which is a good thing of course! – he quickly offered.
- Of course… - Yazoo looked thoughtful for a moment, then all of a sudden, he threw his head back, shiny raven hair flying and started laughing. – Oh, you should have stayed, man…That was quite a … - beep. The long-haired young man stopped mid-sentence and pulled a phone out of his pocket. – It's me. Really now? I'll be right over.- he bolted out his chair as if struck by lightning and said to his bewildered friend.- I gotta roll. Catch you later!
- Hey, where are you going?
Yazoo turned around and stood behind Chad's chair to whisper slyly into his ear:
- It's a secret… You know us mystery guys.
With that said, he exited the bar and mounted his motorcycle. The night was beautiful, and he wasn't much of a sleeper, so he didn't mind coming home in the late-early hours. Especially when that man had called…
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This was by no means your typical private eye's office, with the Laundromat in the front, and the dim-lit excuse for a study in the back. But then again – was anything typical in this broken world?
- So if you have nothing why did you call me? – the silver-haired young man said, pacing the room with the slightest hint of annoyance. He was still comfortable enough to let the fat self-proclaimed private eye see him the way he really was, or rather – for what he really was. Or maybe it was just a psychological tactic to keep the man constantly warned about what and who he was dealing with. And naturally, what was most likely to happen to him, should he screw up this particular case.
- Well, I'm sorry, pretty boy, never heard of the Nibelheim reactor blowing up? Or the Meteor clashing with the Lifestream? The loss of energy did erase a lot of valuable information… And besides- you ain't giving me much to work with here… The other kids, I seriously doubt they are flashing silver hair in the wind and winking around with their pupils still stretched…
- And that woman?
- Nancy? Well, a last name could help for starters… Or anything more specific…
- She was nice… - the remnant's deep voice trailed off, as memories engulfed him.
That cold night, when they escaped. That one moment when he let his guard down, stressed, scared, cold and all alone. Everything was a little blurry, when he started to come to after collapsing right in the middle of the snow-covered road. He heard a voice, a female voice, that sounded soft and warm, but full of worry. He felt two slender hands picking him up and carrying him off to what looked like a pick-up truck. Yazoo remembered that number well… But what seemed to be his most vivid memory of that night, were the woman's eyes – so bright, so gentle, full of fear and … empathy. For the first time someone didn't regard him as a peace of meat to be treated, tested and indoctrinated. And what she said that night engraved itself in his young mind as the first ever kind words anyone had ever told him:
- Such a beautiful young boy… How could they do this to you?
- Nice… yeah… really helpful and descriptive, Mr. Dale… - the hoarse voice of the fat detective shook Yazoo out of his daydreaming.- But for that vague comment, I would need more clarification donations…
- Oh, you need more money do you now? – Yazoo snorted sarcastically. – Why am I not surprised to hear that?
- So we have an understanding? – after receiving an affirmative "hn" from his customer, the private eye grunted out. – Always a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Dale.
Without a word of goodbye or a second look, Yazoo turned his back to the fat detective and deep dark shadows danced around his head for a while until his hair turned almost completely black, safe for a few bangs in front of his face.
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Now the favorite part of the night for Yazoo was hunting time. And hunting time tonight was at the top floor of that building where he spotted the Shiva statuette earlier that day. He could easily fence this exquisite piece for fifteen grand, which should be more than enough to keep that rip off artist of a detective working on his case.
And because Yazoo enjoyed "hunting" very much, he had almost ritualized his preparations. He entered the building he delivered to earlier, climbed out to the very top and began strapping his ropes and climbing gear with amazing speed and precision. In a matter of minutes he was on the next building's top floor, that happened to be a rather luxurious penthouse.
Hn, strange… And what was even stranger was that apparently no security system was installed. Yazoo couldn't believe that such foolish people could still exist in these dangerous times. Oh well – it served his purpose, so he didn't give it a second thought. Snag it, bag it and tag it – that was the plan, and he did just that. However, on his way back he noticed the light in the next room to be on and he heard an all too familiar irritating voice:
- No, boss, nothing's happened, yo! We can handle this, you just let Tseng rest and tell him to take care of his overworked ass or I will come over there and fix him good, yo!
Oh, no… If irony wasn't abundant in his day already… He just had to stumble upon one of these newly arranged Turk quarters! Well, no worries, he just had to make one more turn around that wall and…
- Hey, you! – the deep masculine voice belonged to a man whose impressive built looked colossal compared to Yazoo's slender frame. He was aiming a stun gun at the young remnant, and although it was dark in the corridor and the man was wearing sunglasses, Yazoo was pretty sure he wouldn't miss.
What worked to his advantage however, was the fact that the giant was probably completely unaware that he was facing a genetically engineered half-alien killing machine, perfectly schooled and built for speed and agility far exceeding those of any human.
Yazoo let all thoughts float out of his mind as he let his body become a weapon. From his seemingly relaxed position in front of the brawny male, he leapt suddenly to the wall, made a couple of steps on it, just like an attacking cat, trying to fool her prey, and before the giant could realize what was happening, the gun had been effectively kicked out of his hand, which was now being turned behind his back, and with one final blow to the back of his neck, all went black for the dark-skinned man as he landed with a very loud thud to the floor.
This little commotion, although performed with great efficiency and style, got the attention of the other inhabitants of the penthouse. Therefore when Yazoo entered one of the nearest rooms in order to find a window to get out from, he was welcomed by a shocked shriek and barely dodged the lamp, thrown in his direction.
- It's ok, I'm just a thief… - he had no time to think over the fact that this didn't sound reassuring at all.
So the rooms weren't an option, he thought, and ran back into the corridor, aiming for the door he anticipated to be the exit. Almost there…
- Stop right there, yo! – a faint light lit behind him, barely illuminating the long corridor, but what caught his attention was the distinct click of a gun being loaded.- Well, well, well, little missy, not so hot when you're being caught, huh?
- Sorry to disappoint – Yazoo' s deep, completely male voice retorted. – However, I am just a long-haired guy… Who's in a bit of a hurry…
- Yeah, I saw that yo! Turn around – slowly! And drop that!
The young remnant obliged, letting his bag fall to the ground and reveal the statuette.
- Oh my, a thief with a taste! Hey, wait a second, - the redhead that now appeared before Yazoo, aiming a gun at him, narrowed his eyes to focus the other man better. – Rude, come here and tell me we haven't met this son of a bitch before! He looks so damn familiar, yo!
Amazing, Yazoo thought. Obviously there was a higher power at work here. A very bored one at that…Not only did he learn nothing new on his matters today, not only did he happen to stumble into a Turk hideout and have guns pointed at him, but he also happened to stumble upon the two Turks he knew all too well… The ones he and Loz fought once near that ShinRa monument. And this was the noisy one…
- Rude? Whatcha doin' , man, come here! Rude?
- If you're referring to the side of beef… - Yazoo drawled almost lazily. – He'll be fine. Give him a minute though…
The redhead's eyes shifted downwards, following the tilt of Yazoo's head and he saw his partner lying unconscious on the floor. Unconscious, not dead, because the minute the strange intruder was talking about passed, and the big guy came to with a start and found his way next to his partner.
- As I was sayin', Rude, look at this guy and tell me we didn't meet with his girly ass before!
- Listen, - Yazoo interrupted suddenly. – As much as I love to play famous pretty faces with you boys, I'm in a hurry, so…
Before the two men could react, the thief jumped above their heads and ran to the nearest window. As they swirled around instinctively, but still shocked enough not to fire, they saw him leap out of it, crushing the glass as he went...
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Well, so much for the first chapter. This is my first ever fanfic and I'm still fumbling with the site's menus and controlls, but while I'm still orientating myself here, please review.
Thanks!