"Nightmare's Reverence"
FFVII Fan Fiction
What was she to me?
She was just a regular person. Nothing special.
She was one of them. One of those idiots. Traveling around with them, claiming that they were going to save the world by putting a stop to my plans. I'll show them. I'll show them they can't escape the fires of Hell.
Especially her.
Especially Aerith. My toy. My plaything. My angel. My woman. My only escape.
We had met many years ago, before my untimely secretion in Nibleheim's mako reactor. Zack Fair had introduced us one Sunday morning, deciding it would be fun to make me the third wheel on one of their dates.
The idiot.
Had he known what chain he linked together around Aerith, he wouldn't have let us ever meet. The fates were unkind, and on my favor. The minute our eyes met, I felt a strange stirring between us. Her eyes upon mine, we clicked. She was a Cetra. I could feel it in my blood that she was a Cetra. I'm not sure how I came to understand that, but that little link made it near impossible for me to turn away from her. To shut her out.
I loathe her entire being. That innocence surrounding her was water to my fire. What I hated most were her eyes. The eyes that held the door open to Eden's Garden. The eyes that held truth and naivety. The eyes that would one day be my undoing.
"Sephiroth," My name on her tongue was sickeningly sweet. I turned to look at her, drowning in those green eyes of hers. "Would you like half of my cake?"
"No, thanks." I replied callously.
"Why not?" Aerith tilted her head, stubborn curls brushing against her bared skin and face. She always had to know everything behind my words and actions. Always asking me 'why' and 'how'. I thought it annoying at first, but soon grew used to it, always expecting it to my answers to her questions. Call it a sort of game I came up with.
"I don't like sweet things." I held back a smirk. Her eyes flashed with an understanding and she shrank into her chair, asking Zack instead if he'd like half of her cake. She knew what I had meant. I don't like sweet things, and she was sweet. Put two and two together. What she heard was, "I don't like you."
It was the start of a seemingly beautiful friendship.
While Zack was busy at work, she would come in and drop off his lunch. Then, Zack would show her off to his comrades. One particular day, after the usual delivery and boasting was made, Aerith decided to come into my office uninvited and without knocking. She hadn't thought about the important work I was currently under.
"Knock knock." Said a cheerful voice. "Hello, Sephiroth."
I looked up and took note of her garb. Today, she was wearing a knee-cut yellow dress with a flowing skirt. It looked good on her, except for that stupid ribbon in her hair. She always wore a pink ribbon in her hair! I never understood why and felt it my place to not bother asking.
"Good after morning, Miss Gainsborough." I said rather indifferently.
"Never heard that greeting before." Aerith mused, entering my office fully. She was holding a thin box in her hands. "Is it new or old?"
"What do you think?" I asked, bored. "What are you doing in my office?"
"Hm? Oh, I made some extra rice cakes and thought you'd like some?" She tilted her head and smiled sweetly. I suspected that she purposely made extra just to annoy me.
"I told you I don't like sweet things." I replied, waiting for the 'why'.
"Why not?" As expected, she asked it. "I thought everyone liked homemade things."
"Sweet things hurt my teeth." I dropped my pen and rested my head on my hand, simply watching her with my enhanced mako-green eyes. "Apparently, Miss Gainsborough, you thought wrong."
"The thought always counts." She said cheerfully. "Just take it. You can give it to the dogs if you don't like it. I made it with red bean paste."
She was tempting me like she would a horse to meat. I simply wasn't moved to take her offer. The more I refused, the more she pursued. Eventually, she ended up sitting on my desk and stubbornly refusing to move until I took a bite of one cake. With her sitting on my desk, on my work, no doubt, I couldn't simply ignore her by doing another task. She had me cornered, basically.
Of course, I always found a loophole to escape through. Standing, I walked casually over to my bookshelf, finding a particular book that had caught my eye the other day. She saw my move and rushed in between the bookcase and myself.
"One." Aerith's eyes had a mischievous gleam to them. "Just one, Sephiroth."
"Miss Gainsborough-" She cut me off.
"Please."
I found myself staring into her eyes. Her hands were still gripping the box tightly. In that moment, she looked so desperate, pleading with her eyes. It was as if my refusal to her cakes would bring about her very death.
"Please, Sephiroth…" Her eyes sparkled with what looked like the premonition of tears. I choked. If I refused again and made her cry, I would be known as a much more heartless man than I already am. Further more, Zack would hate me. I couldn't afford to lose Zack's friendship. The thought of losing him was frightening. He was the only friend I had. "Please…"
I closed my eyes in defeat. "Alright." I said, taking a deep breath afterwards. "Just one."
Her eyes in that moment had rammed my heart and snapped the heart strings. To think a pair of green could disarm me so easily. She had no idea the pain her eyes would bring.
"Zack's been overworked lately." I said to Aerith one fine afternoon. I had found her at her home in the Sector 5 slums. The slums, themselves, were disgusting and wretched, but her home was, actually, very nice. Compared to the norm many neighborhoods were, Aerith's home stood out just as easily as a lit candle in a dark room does. Just as easily as Aerith did. "I thought I'd give him the time to take a nap."
"I see." Aerith leaned on one of the fences that surrounded the small garden around her home. They were fake flowers, naturally. You never found real flowers or grass in Midgar. It was the lack of life stream in the crust. The flowers were yellow and white. "So, you wanted to hang out with me by yourself?" She asked with an amused grin.
"No." I mentally rolled my eyes. "I just came by to tell you, so you wouldn't worry if he missed your date. Besides, he told me to."
There was a small pause between us. Then, Aerith broke it with a thought. "You know what I think?"
"No. What do you think?" I just had to ask.
"I think you purposely overworked him so you can spend time with me and try to woo me." She had that girlish grin on her face again.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at her. "Miss Gainsborough-"
"Geez, we've known each other for how long and you're still addressing me formally?" She scolded softly, ignoring my glare. "Just call me Aerith."
I was silent for a long while, simply staring at her, trying to make her afraid of me. It wasn't working. Was this girl afraid of anything? Nothing I did worked for her, like they did regular people. Just hearing my name would strike fear or reverence. Some didn't even speak my name, afraid that I would pop out of thin air and kill them for misuse. This girl… was different.
Clearing my throat, I began by addressing her properly. "Miss Gainsborough-" The broad interrupted me again! This was starting to infuriate me.
"Aerith."
"Miss-"
"A-e-r-i-t-h."
I took a long pause again. She wasn't going to drop it. If I started to call her by first name, then it'd open a door to friendly banter. I was not ready to open that door. She was too much like Zack, yet not like Zack at all. I was beginning to kill her in my mind.
"… Aerith."
"There!" She smiled brightly, putting her hands together in a pleasing manner. "See? I knew you could do it!"
"May I speak without being interrupted?" I asked coldly.
"Of course." Her hands hid behind her. "What was it you were saying?"
"I didn't overwork Zack just to spend time with you." I finished, still glaring at her, irritated. There was just no end to this girl. "I was just delivering a message. Now, if you'll excuse me."
I turned to leave when I felt one of my arms pulled back. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw her holding me back. Holding my hand with both hers, she looked up at me seriously with those eyes. There wasn't any playfulness in her being, which surprised me.
"Yes?" I wanted to get this over and done with, so I could get back to my work. Shinra had just recently given me another assignment and I wanted to get it done quickly.
"You want to hang out with me today?" Aerith asked, tilting her head slightly with a small smile. I hadn't seen her with a small smile before. It was very enchanting.
We had grown unintentionally close. In fact, we were so close I never wanted her away and fought time with all I had to keep her near. My chest was burning with an unimaginable pain, my mind felt like it couldn't take anymore of this agony. What was this warmth she was surrounding me with? I wanted to push her away, wanted to get away from this strange, new feeling. But, no matter how hard I pushed, I intentionally pulled back. I wanted her like a newborn wanted his mother.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted out. I wanted to escape from this wretched world. She would not have it. She would take my hand gently and run her thumbs over my knuckles gingerly. I always liked the attention she gave me. It made me feel good.
Her attention was all on me. Her eyes were mine, and mine alone, to gaze upon.
I grew jealous of Zack steadily through out our relationship. He did not deserver to put his arm around her shoulders, to laugh with her, to make her laugh, to make her smile, to receive her kisses on his cheek. He didn't deserve any of it. He wasn't under constant survey, or continually prodded and pricked with needles. He wasn't injected with Jenova Cells and made into a proud and isolated warrior.
He knew what love was.