Killer Instinct - Chapter 1: Birth
By Chibi Nataku

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts nor any of the characters associated with the games or concepts. All characters and relations to Kingdom Hearts is owned by Square-Enix, who keeps stealing my money.

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Perfection.

Was that such a difficult endeavor to attain? It appeared to be for Ansem and the apprentices that followed the little silver-haired faker about the castle, but he was reminded that patience was a virtue for the strong. Despite his 'virtue' of patience, he was not certain why this process took so long, though the fruits of his labours were plain to see in some regard, but it really was the same fruits he had been staring at for the last two months.

He had been assured of success this time though, but he trusted Ansem – the fake – about as much as he could verify the gravity dynamics that entrenched the man's silver hair. His patience was wearing thin, which was very dangerous, especially since he had nearly lost what he had come so far to attain. Ansem had proved to be incompetent when knowledge and power came into the mix, but he had thankfully been around to salvage his precious creation before any damage could occur to its fragile exterior.

A small smile graced the corner of his lips as he swirled the dark brandy in his glass, his glowing green eyes settling on the object laid on the middle of room surrounded by soft pillows and blankets. The smooth curve was only marred with the natural dimples that occurred on such an exterior, the white shell hiding that which lay so precious beneath. The large egg had been so carefully deposited on the pillows to rest under the moon's light until the time of Coming was upon them both.

Climbing to his feet slowly, silver hair gently swished to and fro with each step, bringing him closer and closer to the unmoving object until he could reach out and touch it. There was a radiated warmth from it, one that had been steadily growing since its first creation. He walked around the white object, admiring it even as he extended a leather-clad finger to stroke a line around the entire circumference of the large egg.

His patience was wearing very thin. No movement, no shift of anything inside, no recognition that damage had taken place. Too many long nights and days had he spent watching and waiting for his perfection to appear.

What form would it take? He would not know until it appeared, but it would be a being much like himself, apart from humanity and with attributes beyond any mortal. Would it be male or female? Would there any marks or damage to the little being when and if it emerged?

The simple thought of 'if' made his temper flare. The ingredients for this spell had not been easy to find and twice as difficult to bring to one place for the scientists to create. Phoenix bones, a demi-god's blood, unicorn's horn, mermaid flesh and scales, star-dust of the gods… it had taken him too long to gather only a small handful of the ingredients, twice as long for every thing else. Spells had been required, tasking amounts of them, which only he was determined to provide to engrain some amount of recognition on whatever stepped from the egg to greet him. He had put in too much time, effort, and pain for Ansem – faker he reminded himself – to screw this up.

This was his last chance.

Slowly, he lowered his head and pressed his ear against the hard shell, stroking his gloved hands down the sides. It was one of the only items in his current possession that he was silently protective of. He could hear nothing inside, and he reigned in any thought of shaking the egg in hopes for a response or perhaps a final dash to his hopes.

"How long do you plan to take, precious…" he whispered. While the question should have been accented with some form of annoyance and demand, he only spoke with curiosity and a strange hopefulness. "I do not like waiting, little one… let me see you."

There was no response to his gentle spoken prodding for awareness of it anything inhabited the egg at all. He pulled his head back and soon after, his hands as well. He stepped back and began to pace, his hands folded behind his back as he allowed his thoughts to drift elsewhere to when the Heartless would arrive on this section of the world. When that happened, he would be forced to once again move his precious cargo to a safer location, if there would be anywhere left safe on Hollow Bastion. Ansem had done a wonderful job making things difficult for everyone, including himself who was normally free to move as he liked.

But with the fragile egg, he was stuck as protector to the white object. He could not move it off world for fear that it would break under the pressure, and that hope would be lost to him forever. With the Heartless roaming free and unchecked, he kept at a constant vigil over the ivory object, having nearly already lost it once to the Heartless before he moved it the first time. The black splotches that had tainted its surface were gone thankfully, but it made him more protective over the object.

Simply give me my perfect half, and never again will I bother with other things was all he could think. Too long had he waited in anticipation, the brashness of youth having faded away to an unspoken desperate need to fulfill this last duty.

Walking to the window, he stared out over the lands and forests beyond. He flexed his shoulders in agitation, considering removing his leather overcoat to allow his wing freedom. The night air was warm, and he could do with the loss of the heavy layer of clothing even if the heat never did bother him. He considered a while longer before his left hand flexed, wanting to grab his blade and make use of its steady weight in his grip. To do so meant he would have to leave the abandoned mansion and the white egg that was protected in it.

Sighing, he bowed his head and closed his eyes a moment, considering what he would do if this failed. Kill, of course, was the first thought that came to mind for him. Perhaps spilling a little blood would make him feel better about the loss of perfection, and at least he could take some comfort in Masamune's whispering in his ears.

His head snapped up at a sound from behind him, and he immediately turned to regard the large egg placed in the middle of the room. It had not moved, and his eyes darted around room for any sign of intruder, stalking over to stand next to the egg as he carefully investigated the room. His left hand flexed, but he could not determine the source of the sound, probably his mind playing deceiving tricks on him.

His glowing green eyes darted down when another sound echoed softly, fixing on the precious creation next to him. Could it be? He stepped over to it cautiously, stopping dead from making another step when there was a definite subtle shift of the egg followed by that same sound, like a weak squeaking call. He responded with a silent resonance of his being, waiting for a reciprocation… one that never came, just another squeaking call.

Despite himself, he was instantly over at the ivory egg, laying his hands on the surface and listening, his eyes fluttering shut at that same weak call. "Yes… my precious perfection, I feel you," he said softly, stroking his hands down the sides. He resonated again, pouring out a fraction of his power towards whatever lay beneath the shell's surface, and he was left to wait for a response of power that never came.

What was wrong with the little one? Perhaps injured? Perhaps the shell blocked their contact?

The urge to smash the shell open grew when there was a distinct shifting, like a creature struggling to make a way out. He lifted a hand and then paused, dropping it again to simply stroke the surface. If he helped to break it free, the little one on the inside could never learn to be independent of his strengths or perhaps would be too faulty to be useful to him. No, his perfect other would have to break out as he had so many years before.

Another soft squeaking noise brought a smile to the corner of his lips, and he leaned over, his silver hair pooling down one side of the egg as he looked for cracks. He could not see any, but he rocked with the shift of the egg, curling his fingers against the surface and resonated his being outwards to the one under the ivory shell. "Come to me, precious…"

Whatever lay beneath only squeaked in weak desperation, the roll of the egg going a bit more violent as the creature shifted about. He took a step back and pulled off his gloves, tossing them on the chair that he had been seated on, stepping aside as he slipped out of his leather overcoat. He dropped it down to the ground as his eyes remained fixed on the swaying egg in front of him, seemingly transfixed with it with the entirety of his being.

This was what he had waited so long for.

"Ansem… maybe you are not such a useless doppelganger." He approached the egg again, walking around it and counting each of the small cries coming from within it. The creature sounded to be having trouble, and, while his pacing had taken up a darker impatience, he kept to himself to allow this possible perfection to emerge without his aid.

He thought he would have burned a hole in the carpet with his intensity as he paced and circled the egg, too long passing with the struggles of his creation faltering the longer time went on. Each time he resonated his power in hopes of encouraging the little one out to him, he received no response from whatever lay within. He snarled and spat a curse, no longer approaching the egg and simply pacing around it.

A crack finally appeared, thin and marring the egg's surface. There was a soft squeaking call in response, the sound of clawing at the side where the crack had appeared. He tried not to grow excited as the crack grew and bits of shell fell away, revealing the softly fading struggles of what lay underneath the surface. The squeaking noise grew louder with the cracks growing larger and flecks of shell falling away.

He resonated his power again, and he stopped his pacing when the struggling creature paused, obviously feeling the push of his presence. It took a tense moment, but there was a tentative resonating back to him. Just after, he could have sworn that he had seen a flash of blue eyes peering out of the small holes in the shell, but it might have been the moonlight as the struggles took up a new ferocity, possibly because the end was in sight for the perfect being.

Walking like a dream over to the chair, he seated himself on the edge and simply watched as the little being cracked open the eggshell more and more. As more of the creature began to appear, he only then came to realize just how b not /b this creature was. There was a full-grown humanoid shape in that egg, a tight fit for sure, and the moonlight accented pale skin. A flash of the occasion black caused a pleased noise to leave his throat, having always enjoyed the look of dark hair.

The eggshell cracked under the brutal assault of the little creature held inside, and it was quite the shock when the ivory flecks finally gave way and dropped a wet, shivering and exhausted mass of disoriented limbs upon the floor. It took him by such surprise that he did not climb to his feet right away to gather up the squirming being to recover in a more comfortable place. No, his gaze was locked elsewhere.

There, those flashes of black were not hair at all, but… a wing? His green eyes focused down as the leathery demonic appendage flopped about uselessly, attempting to help in the process of righting the weak being. It stretched out and dragged itself back to pale shoulder, the claw making a vain attempt to cling in the carpet to push upwards but failing every time. The only feature that offset the wing was a clawed demonic hand, clutching and pushing in the same manner as the wing.

It was not right. The wing was supposed to be white and full of a crown of feathers. His perfection had been tainted by that lone encounter with the Heartless, he concluded after watching the pathetic struggles awhile longer. It was useless to him like this.

Drawing himself to his feet, his Masamune came to his hand as he felt coldness running through his entire being. Someone would pay for this, would pay for the fact he now had to put this one chance out of its misery and count his losses. Such a tainted creature had no place in this world, least of all his world.

He drew the blade up, aiming to swipe the being's head clean from shaking shoulders. His blade came down and stopped suddenly when blurry blue eyes turned to regard him, eyes that reminded him of home, a place he had not been to in so very long. Blonde lashes stuck together even as the creature blinked and flopped over, equally unruly blonde hair wet from the yolky contents of the egg and clinging to a pale neck. Eyes like the blue skies of home, hair like the sun, black wing like the nightmares of children. Unable to defend itself, there was only one thing he could call this being…

"Perfect," he whispered, the word escaping him as he found himself staring into a pretty young face, features lax and disoriented. Sharp rounded jaw and fine features from the high cheekbones and perfect set of the eyes… it was all simply perfect.

The being flopped about in the remnant of clear fluid from the egg, unable to get up, and it was obviously tolling on the creature's reserves. He walked over, resonating his power and finding it instantly resonated back to him, a welcome to his approach. He stopped and fell into a crouch, only then realizing that the being before him was a male, not a female as he had first thought. He should have been able to tell by the strong compact shoulders and lean chest, but he admitted to be taken too much with the glowing blue eyes that stared back at him.

"…" It was obvious the blonde male tried to utter a word, but it came out as a pathetic noise.

Silver hair slipping over his shoulder, he made no fuss over reaching out and dragging the struggling being closer to him, pulling the blonde over by wet hair when the other fought him out of instinct. He scooped up the mess of limbs and body into his arms and stood, looking down at the young male that resonated his people's power.

"…"

"Call me Sephiroth," he said simply when the attempt to speak was failed again. He cradled the hopelessly awkward blonde in his arms, feeling the gentle shiver of muscles under his grip, and he knew the smaller male must have been getting cold. "We eclipse each other, little one. You and I… are the last, two sides to one coin."

The blonde just stared blankly up at him, obviously not understanding a word he said. He did not mind in the least, and simply walked them to the bathroom of the mansion, kicking open the door and looking into the bathtub. He smirked and set his precious package down, quirking an eyebrow when the blonde pitched backwards in a complete show of helplessness. He would have worried with the loud noise that the smaller male might have hurt something in the pathetic dump, but the blonde was doing a wonderful job showing pure stubborn resilience in the attempt to sit up again.

Instead of helping, Sephiroth simply leaned forward and plugged the tub before turning the water on. It was too hot, and the blonde made a loud protesting noise to tell him so. He heeded to the squeaking twisting of pale flesh after taking in the roll of muscles, rise of long legs, and flailing arms. He turned on some of the cold water and splashed it at the blonde, receiving an indignant wordless cry along with the flapping of the demonic wing.

As the water began to rise, it became obvious to him that, despite the blonde's efforts, the smaller male would not sit back up without aid. The blonde was sticky with yolk and amniotic fluids, and some of it had smeared on himself when he had transported his precious goods over to a safer place. He doubted he would stay long in this place, not with the Heartless about to cause trouble, so the stronger he managed to get the smaller male, the better the situation would be.

Sephiroth stripped himself of his boots and pants quickly before the water level rose too high, and then he stepped into the bathtub with the blonde who thrashed in the water. It was obvious the perfect creature was spirited, refusing to give up despite exhaustion. He bend and scooped the blonde up under the arms, pulling the smaller male up to sit before he stepped in behind and seated himself. The blonde swayed a moment before pitching backwards again but into his chest this time.

"…"

"Sephiroth," he said simply. If he could engrain his name in with the blonde, he would have less problems later on. He patted the smaller male's sticky hair when it appeared that the blonde was becoming distressed. "Sephiroth is here, little one."

It did not settle the blonde much, and Sephiroth leaned back to regard the smaller male propped up thanks only to him. It would be silly to wander around calling the blonde 'little one' all the time, the use of a proper name required. He eyed the blonde now sitting quietly in front of him, looking completely miserable without the ability to be anything but helpless.

He splashed some water onto the blonde, receiving a soft hiss of disapproval. He ignored the noise and rubbed off the remnant sticky amniotic fluid from the blonde's legs and chest, pulling the smaller male back hard against him before the blonde could pitch forward in struggles to escape him. He seized the blonde's hair hard when the struggles persisted, jerking the smaller male's head back and issuing his own snarl along with a strong resonating of his power into a fine point against the blonde's spine.

The response was almost instantaneous, the clear show of his dominance for this situation forcing the blonde's struggles to subside. That business taken care of, he began to wash the new addition to his life down, issuing his name every time the blonde attempted to speak. They managed to get along for that moment of bathing until he simply pushed the blonde forward and dunked the smaller male's head into the water with the obvious drowning situation arising and bringing with it a new set of struggles and thrashing. He reminded himself that treating this little one as he would a grown member of his race was not the wisest idea until the blonde had recovered enough strength to realize his actual motivations.

The blonde still hissing and snarling at him, Sephiroth climbed to his feet and left the bathtub still full of water. He silently padded over to the unmade bed and unceremoniously dumped the blonde upon it, grabbing the covers and wrapping the blonde in them both to subdue the smaller male and keep the blonde warm.

He knew that he would have to clean up the left behind shell shards, but for now, he stared down at the shivering and miserable blonde. The smaller male was no less disoriented or strong than the first spill out onto the floor, obviously needing some form of protection for a little longer before he dumped the blonde out into the world to learn.

Reaching out, he seized the blonde's chin and tilted the pretty face up towards himself. He stared into the glowing pools that still reminded him of home, droplets of water making the blonde much darker. He ran a callused thumb over the blonde's cheek, smearing the water there as he regarded the smaller male with the tiniest hint of outward fondness.

This was what he had been waiting so long for, a being just like this.

"Cloud," he murmured softly, regarding the blonde a bit more seriously, trying to decide if the named fit. The blonde did not attempt to make a sound towards him, and he slowly nodded his head. He had been thinking about it the entire time during bathing the blonde. "Yes, Cloud… your eyes are the colour of the deep evening sky and hair the colour of the sun… you are a drifter?"

The blonde still made no response towards the name, and Sephiroth took that as a silent sign of acceptance to the name. He smirked a little and gently pushed the blonde backward to lie on the bed, leaning over and tucking Cloud in more to limit any struggling. "Sleep here for a little while, and then I will move you to a safer place. You are my charge now, blessed to me by the skies… rest and regain your strengths."

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Author's Comments
It sure took me long enough to get a fic going that I could actually post. Actually, there were many fics that I could have posted here, but I decided not to... because I'm a brainiac or something. The other fics were just one-shots anyway. I wasn't sure about writing another Kingdom Hearts fic either, but this idea came to me and couldn't be passed up. So, here we go again with epic Kingdom Hearts ficcies.

Any comments or suggestions are always welcomed. I love hearing from those who read my work.