So this will be the first Final Fantasy fic I've posted. I wanted to do something different with a rare pairing that I've come to fall in love with. This will end up being an Angeal/Zack, but will probably have more pairings in it.
Support=love
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or the song used in this fanfiction.
The sound of the instruments playing in harmony with each other was alluring to Zack. They played with a soft intensity; like horror movie music, minus the suspense. The sound they produced as one urged Zack toward them as if they were sirens and he was the ship at sea. It was so beautiful, Zack wondered if he was controlling his legs as they propelled forward, or his hands as they grasped the gold handle of the large wooden double door that led to the auditorium and pulled it open, revealing darkness, minus a few spots highlighted by stage lights.
The large room had two levels of seats and a huge stage where one could lose himself and many could find themselves. The deep blue satin curtains were pulled back and away, held back by two elegant silver ropes and the floors of the stage were well polished, the wood shining as if it were crystalline water.
The seats of the auditorium were divided into three different sections on the bottom floor and two different balconies on either ends on the top floor. The isles were adorned with carpet matching the color of the curtains.
The ceiling was painted white, but in a creative way. Obvious, but neat, paths of the brush could be seen, and turned in every way, making it look as if it were reflecting the water the stage presumed to have on its surface.
Zack took in all these details through the dim, awestruck. Never had he'd seen something so grand. The place was so beautiful; it would have been thought that such a room was made for royalty. Yet there he was, touching the well polished wood door and golden handle. There he was entering the grand room with timid steps, being far from royalty himself.
But it wasn't the room that brought him here; it was what was going on within.
There on that very stage, was an orchestra of no more than fifteen people, each holding an elegant, wood or string instrument, all dressed in black. Each one had a silver stand positioned in front of them as they sat and practiced as one. The sight was breath-taking.
The orchestra played the song, each with concentrating but serene expressions that only musicians could make.
Zack stood there for a moment, dazed by it all, before unconsciously sliding into one of the seats in the very last row in the center section.
The music playing went on for a few more minutes, the song rising and intensifying near then end and making Zack lean forward in his seat, before all went quiet minus the noise of the group on the stage shifting about, stretching muscles and moving instruments.
"It seems you all have finally got it down pat." Someone said to the group.
Zack belatedly noticed the man sitting in the very front row, accompanied by two other people who did not speak. It was hard to tell from where he was sitting, but the man looked like he was a healthy mid twenty year old with a bald head that shined dully in the scarce light. It looked like he was clad in a black thermal shirt and dark jeans, but then again it was dark, so it was hard to tell.
His words seemed to have caused a stir through the group. While some gave triumphant 'yes'es, some whispered excitedly and clapped hands with one another. These people looked to be well acquainted with each other.
The man stood up and with a wave of his hands; the orchestra quieted. Though he could not see it, Zack could hear the smile in the man's voice.
"Now that you have it, we're moving on to the next challenge; getting you to play in sync with other types of music productions. Quickly, what are ways music can be produced, besides instruments?"
Automatically, hands shot up. Some of the people even wiggled their fingers to exaggerate that they knew the answer. The two people that were sitting down in the sections had their hands raised also.
Zack then realized that this was a class.
The man turned so that he got a wider range of all of his students before he pointed a girl in the near the back of the group on the stage. She had straight black hair and thick plastic framed glasses. Her skin was a little pale, but nothing compared to the boy who was sitting to the far left of her.
"Jackie."
"Vocally is one." She said nodding.
"Very good. Another?" The teacher said and waved his finger around as he chose his next person to answer. He chose the pale boy. His unnatural silver hair was pulled back into a French braid with a few strands hanging loosely in front of his face, which was very sharp and angular. His bright green eyes practically shone with an individual light of their own.
"Sephiroth. Go for it."
"Electronically; like the way some producers make beats for songs." His voice was smooth, deep, and slightly touched with the Midgarian accent.
"Right you are. Are there anymore?"
One girl spoke up without getting acknowledged. "Electronically is most common, and used in many diverse ways, right Daniel? Just like vocally is used two ways; a single vocalist or a choir."
Daniel chuckled lightly; Zack almost missed it. "Yes you are right Sabrina. Electronically is the most common now, and when we get into the different types of ways music is produced, when you get down to it, there are only three ways; electronically, vocally, and instrumentally. So when I throw a test at you all, I don't want see no three pages on the subject; just three words.
"Now that I've refreshed your memory on that-because I did do it for a reason-we are going to practice syncing two of the tree methods." Daniel waited to get the students in suspense. One person even gasped dramatically and caused a bit of laughter from the group.
"Those two methods are, of course, instrumental, aaand…vocal."
There were murmurs of excitement and more 'yes'es once this was announced.
"Now, because I teach instrumentally and not vocally, I don't know if any of you can sing a lick." There was some whispered protest and disagreements but nothing else. "So, I borrowed two kids from our vocal class. They're here to help you all better play while there's another element involved because I know I can't sing. Plus I figured you all would need an actual good voice.
"These two have mastered singing in sync with instruments and even play a couple themselves. So not only are they ahead of the game, they can even give you guys pointers on what to do. So I'm going to sit myself down and let them take over for the rest of the session. Why don't you two start by introducing yourselves?" Daniel advised and then sat as the two people stood.
The first one was tall and pretty thin, but muscular enough to justify himself as a boy. His hair was short and it was hard to see what color it was in the lack of light, but it seemed to be either red or brown. He was clad in a red t-shirt with a black, long sleeved one underneath it and jeans.
The second one was shorter and more muscular, but now overly so. His hair was longer and looked as if it spiked a bit in the back. The black was so deep that it looked like a silhouette against his skin. This one had on a sweater like shirt with its long sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and cargo pants.
There was a moment where the two boys gestured towards each other, ultimately deciding that the tall one would go first.
So, stuffing his hands in his pockets, he took a step forward.
"Hi everyone." There was a chorus of hi's and hellos. "My name is Genesis Rhapsodos and I am a senior here. I've been here since I was a freshman and I love it. Uh, my major is musical theatrics; I love plays. My personal favorite is Loveless. And… I hope we have fun today." Genesis' voice was smooth and held a small amount of bass to it; he sounded like he was born to sing. An accent not like the one commonly heard in Midgar flowed through with his words, proving that he wasn't from here originally.
Someone whooped and cheered and started clapping and the orchestra joined in shortly afterwards.
With a polite 'Thank you', Genesis stepped back and gestured for the other to step forward.
This boy seemed a bit less reserved than Genesis as he stepped forward and waved lightly before doing other gestures with his hands while he spoke.
"Good morning. My name's Angeal. I'm a senior here and me and him actually started at the same time, so…yeah." Angeal said, gesturing back to Genesis. He shrugged and continued "It's pretty cool here; I like it a lot. I'm majoring in musical literature and history and minoring in vocalization and instrumental. I want to teach music when I graduate. Uhh…that's it, I think." His voice was a lot more different than Genesis'. It was deeper and had a roughness to it. There was also an accent that he heard on Angeal's voice that he wasn't familiar with.
People whooped and cheered automatically, since they did it for Genesis and were ready for it this time.
Angeal just laughed a bit. Then class was back in session.
One at a time, they jumped up on the stage. Now drenched in the light, Zack could see their faces as they briefly turned to Daniel and said some things to low for Zack to hear. If he felt like he died, he had now entered heaven.
The tall one was indeed a redhead, with sharp features that were set in a surprisingly soft expression. His full, curved lips were pulled into a soft smile as he settled on the stage with his friend and light bounced off of his sky blue eyes.
The other's hair was still ink black despite being hit with light. His features were stronger and he looked as if he was a bit older than Genesis. His eyes were a deeper, darker blue than Genesis' and instead of allowing light to bounce off of them, his irises captured the light and held it captive.
They couldn't have been more different, but they looked equally beautiful. Zack felt his cheeks heat up just looking at them.
Genesis grabbed one of the microphones and blew in it a couple of times to see if it was on, while Angeal only tapped the top with his hand. When they were satisfied, they turned to the orchestra.
"Playing in sync with a singer sounds easy, right?" Genesis asked and got a substantial amount of nods. "Well it's not. And it's because you are not the singers. You don't know the exact moment I might go from soprano to alto, but you're going to have to be as accurate as a photographer taking a picture of lightning."
"Another thing that makes it hard to be in sync with a singer is the balance of presence. How many of you are competitive?" Some people raised their hands. "Well, when comes to playing in sync, this isn't a competition; the instruments can't be too loud or else they'll drown out the singer, but then the singer can't be too loud or over powering, otherwise they should have done an acapella. So be aware of how you're playing, and also be aware of how a person is singing too; multi-task." Angeal spoke up. The other students nodded in understanding.
"And no intimidating the singer. It's like twenty to two in here and that in itself makes it harder for us. Don't go playing all intense when you're not supposed to just to see if we'll fumble up." Genesis added in. Some of the orchestra laughed.
"Basically, we all have to be one with each other, just like you all are one with your instruments. Everything has to be the same from beginning to end; even the feeling that you put into playing."
"Yes. It is not cool to hear instrumentalist pouring their hearts out with their instruments and then the singers come in sounding dead, and vice versa." Genesis agreed.
Funny but true, Zack agreed from where he was. He was now fully intrigued, paying attention as if he were a student of the class who had gotten shooed to the back for bad behavior.
"Now, we've been told that you all have been practicing on a song for about a month or two now, learning about playing in sync with each other and things like that. Since you guys are familiar with the song and we are familiar with the song, and how it's sung, me and 'Geal will sing the words while you'll play. But I have to warn you, it all won't be one tone, so you have to watch out; remember what we said about feeling." Genesis advised.
All of the students nodded and set their instruments back in front of them, back in the position they were in when Zack first entered. Genesis and Angeal set their mikes back on the stand after facing their near empty audience. After some adjustment, Angeal noted Daniel.
"You can give them the go ahead. We know where to pick up from there."
"Ah. Okay." With that, the bald man stood and raised both his hands for the orchestra to see. His hands were noticed immediately and they each got into place, their face settling into those serene, yet concentrating expressions. "Orchestra, from the top. Ready, 3.2…"
Instead of one, the band of people had begun the song that had hypnotized Zack. The song started out dark and intense, strings playing an important role on that section. Then slowly, the song evened out into a calmer yet still intense beat.
Angeal and Genesis looked at each other before the redhead leaned closer to the microphone and took in a deep breath. When he sang, his voice was smooth and utterly alluring. Emotion could be read strongly through his voice. Zack could only stare in awe.
"It feels like I'm looking at life….through a telescope because I'm so high. And the ground never seemed so far away." His voice got softer as he sung the next part. "But the truth shall be told one day. I'll be underground one day."
When the chorus hit, Angeal joined in. The roughness Zack heard as he spoke shone heavily in his singing voice. It too was deeper than Genesis'.
"I've got a woman that'll put roses on my grave." They both said this twice before Angeal let Genesis finish with a soft "Roses on my grave."
Then the verse was sung again, but this time Angeal sung it, making it more intense. Then the chorus was repeated, twice more than before and with the help of Genesis who intensified his own voice to match Angeal's in pitch.
The minute Zack heard Angeal's voice alone, he was addicted. He loved how foreign it sounded and how his accent could be heard through his singing. Plus he loved the expressions that past over Angeal's face as he sung.
Then, the two of them alternated between lines on the bridge.
"Don't forget me." Angeal sung
"Don't forget me." Genesis repeated
"Please forgive me."
"Don't forget me." Genesis whispered. Zack caught Angeal's smile.
The singers went quiet and suddenly, the orchestra played that extremely intense part that Zack still leaned in to listen to. At the same time, Angeal and Genesis pulled their mikes off of the stand and went rocker mode, holding the mike close to their mouths and doing that intense movement that hardcore singers did when they were putting feeling in their songs.
"It's my redemption!"
"Time for redemption!" Genesis sung right after Angeal.
They sung that loudly and alternated turns with the two verses and sung the last part in unison.
"I'll see you on the other side! I'm waiting on the other side! I'll see on the other side! I'm waiting on the other siiide!"
The orchestra ended almost immediately after Angeal and Genesis. Once it was quiet, the two singers turned back to the orchestra.
"That was very good for your first try. But I'm not going to lie, it wasn't the best." Genesis said.
"I don't know who it was, but one of you violinists kept getting louder." Angeal said looking at them. "Remember, this isn't a competition." He reminded.
"Don't worry; you guys did well for the most part. And we'll be doing this for the next hour or so, so we've got lots of practice time." Genesis reassured. That made the small orchestra feel better about their errors.
"You two sounded very good though." Jackie said nodding. There were some hums of approval from others in the band. When Genesis and Angeal smiled at that, the poor girl turned into a beet.
"This is more about you guys though; we want you to know how to play in sync with each other and us. By the time this is over, I want it to be so you don't just hear me and Genesis; you hear yourself, the band, and us as one, yeah?" Angeal said and everyone nodded, more excited and ready to go at it again.
Zack was dumbstruck the entire time they went over it again. Every time Angeal sung, Zack felt his stomach flutter for no reason he could think of. As Angeal sung, Zack absorbed in details; like the fact that Angeal had a noticeable Adam's apple that moved up and down as he sung, and that he had a very appealing neck in general.
Little things, like the slight stubble he noticed growing on Angeal's chin and his high, defined cheekbones; even the fact that the dark grey shirt he had on made his body look very sliming. Other things, like how the waist of Angeal's pants hugged him mid hip and how his shirt covered it didn't past Zack's inspection.
Once again, it felt like something took control of him as he got up and moved closer to get a better view.
Even though he wasn't as close as he'd liked to have been, he was closer, and therefore, he could take in more details.
Something else he didn't notice was Angeal's lips. They had very little curve to them, but they were very full; kissable. A mole that Zack hadn't noticed before made itself known on the base of Angeal's neck, off to the right; that suddenly became his favorite thing to stare at.
As Angeal explained things to the orchestra, Zack noted the way the shirt's sleeves squeezed and hugged his bicep nicely when he made gestures.
Then, in the middle of their sixth trial, someone made a god-awful noise with their instrument. It was loud, louder than all of them put together, and felt as if it could be heard throughout the building.
It obviously threw everyone on stage off. Instruments faded and Angeal and Genesis were cut off mid sentence. Angeal made that a face similar to the one made when people are rudely cut off by another person. Genesis frowned and they both exchanged their looks between each other.
Zack was still trying to figure out who in the hell made that noise when Daniel suddenly stood up.
"Well that's it for today. Make sure you practice on what you've learned." The man called. "Oh. And be sure to thank Genesis and Angeal for teaching this class today. They did a very good job and so did you all."
With that, people begin packing up their stuff and exiting the stage; Zack then knew, sheepishly, that it was the bell ending class.
Zack thought about staying, and maybe introducing himself. But then again, as he looked at all the students gathered around Genesis and Angeal, he started to think against it. It didn't seem right to him since they all worked hard together. They should be able to talk about it.
Deciding to just leave, Zack made a move to get up. But as he stared at Angeal and the thought processed that he may never see him again, his body seemed to totally disagree with him and his stomach felt like it had rocks in it.
A large smile grew on Angeal's face as he talked with some of the band members, and it was beautiful. Zack suddenly yearned for that smile to be directed at him.
Zack got his wish, slightly, when he was so stuck on staring at Angeal, his foot caught on the leg of a chair in front of him and he was sent flying into the ground. Whenever Zack had fallen in his life, he made it known to anyone within the radius, involuntarily or not. His own mother chided him lovingly as a child for the habit he had. He grew up, grudidly, being called 'Timber!' by his own parents.
As Zack fell ungracefully to the carpeted floor, he made the loudest, most terrifying noise that could be thought of. His arms shot out like wet noodles and did absolutely nothing to stop his face from hitting the floor, nose first.
Zack's ears buzzed and his world spun for a quick moment. In Gongaga, Zack fell so much though, that now, he was able to lift up from that without much effort.
However, when he sat up, he remembered the few people who were still in the room and immediately snapped his head to them. All of them had gone quiet and were staring at him in surprise.
All of them.
All of them.
Even Angeal.
His eyes were a bit wider than normal, his eyebrows were slightly upwards, and his lips were pushed together; Even caught in the element of surprise, Zack thought him beautiful.
But upon remembering the situation, Zack wished he could have melted into the floor.
He picked himself up off the floor and speedy walked out of the auditorium, missing Angeal opening his mouth to ask if he was alright.
He pushed past the wooden doors and walked, eyes on the exit and nothing else.
…Which is why he missed the boy crouched down tying his shoe and tripped clean over him, tumbling to the floor and making that unbearable noise yet again.
Immediately, he stood as if nothing happened, unnerving the boy he'd tripped over.
"Wait, are you alright? You hit your head; you shouldn't be moving too much."
Zack turned to face the boy, meaning to apologize and ensure that he was fine, but froze upon seeing who it was.
One of the orchestra members.
The one with silver hair.
Sep-something.
…maybe Seth. Zack didn't quite remember.
"Oh it's you." Zack said surprised. He then noticed the cat-like pupils the other boy had when his green eyes narrowed and they dilated.
"Do I know you?" Sep-something asked, sounding suspicious. Zack remembered they were strangers.
"Oh! No. I was in there listening to you guys play; you guys were hella good by the way."
"Oh. I see." The silver haired one said and then averted his eyes. "And thank you."
"I'm Zack." He put his hand out and after a moment the other took it.
"I'm…Sephiroth." Zack nodded and committed the name to memory.
"It's nice to meet you." Zack greeted pleasantly. Sephiroth was still giving him a kind of unsure look. "And don't worry! I'm fine. I fall all the time; total klutz."
"Alright then." Sephiroth bent down and picked up the case holding his violin. Once it was in hand, he turned back to Zack. "Goodbye Zack."
Sephiroth took about two and a half steps before his name was called. He turned back to Zack and raised an eyebrow in question.
Zack pushed his index fingers together sheepishly before he continued. "Uh, funny story. I was actually supposed to go to the main building about an hour ago, but I got lost." He made his blue eyes pleading. "Can you show me where it is? I'll leave you alone after that, I promise!" Zack swore.
Not really sure as to what else to do, Sephiroth simply nodded and led the way.
Zack followed behind him, letting out a whoosh of air in relief. This had to have been the most interesting yet embarrassing first day he had ever had.
But something in his gut told him he would have even more at Midgar Institute of the Arts. Lots, lots more; especially with Angeal running around here.
A/n:
First Chapter is complete. I stayed up all night writing this and I listened to the same damned song eighty times before I changed it, so I hope you enjoy this. More will be explained in the next chapter!
And I currently have no idea where this is going so bear with me on this.
Song- Roses on my grave-Papa Roach