Chapter Four
Zack cracked an eye open, then shut it again, not wanting to be seen. Sephiroth sat about six feet away, still as a statue, looking off towards the swamps in the early morning sunlight, in the same place and position he'd been in for the entire night. Quite frankly, it was freaking weird.
But he wasn't the only thing weird about the morning. Zack sat up and sniffed, then grimaced at the bitterly metallic smell of mako in the air. Sephiroth looked towards him with those odd glaring mako eyes, and Zack grinned. "Don't you just love the smell of rotting Mako in the morning?"
Sephiroth just stared at him quizzically, like it was actually a hard question -- before getting to his feet. "We should move."
"Hold on. I gotta wake Cloud up." Zack rotated around, and gave Cloud a little shake. "Hey, Spikes. Time to go." Cloud didn't move an inch, just like he expected -- but the kid's chest still rose and fell, surprisingly steady even despite the horrible shape he was in. Zack sighed, and then mused that Cloud really wasn't a kid anymore -- at least twenty-one, he guessed, if Cloud hadn't been lying about his age back when he'd first tried out for SOLDIER. It was impossible to know, and because it was hard to think of, Zack decided not to let it worry him. The funny thing, though, was that everything was a little hard to think about right now. He got to his feet, then lifted Cloud over his shoulder, same as always -- though his body definitely wasn't the same. Zack staggered a few steps before straightening up, mentally bracing for another arduous day.
"I hope you're not fresh out of a lab or something," he muttered in the other man's direction, "'cuz if you collapse, I don't think I've got the energy to carry this guy and you." He watched Sephiroth carefully, waiting for some kind of reaction. But his traveling partner -- or armed escort, or captor, or whatever the hell was going on here -- just looked at him with totally blank glaring eyes. If his body even felt like cooperating, Zack might have found the other man a little amusing, actually. Definitely the hard core SOLDIER type, the kind who took himself way too freaking seriously.
He didn't say much, either. He was the sort who might have been incredibly boring on a mission, all cold and quiet and all about the duty even when there was sight-seeing to be done. Then again, looking back, Zack wondered if perhaps he hadn't taken things seriously enough -- somehow, everything that had happened in Nibelheim, and everything that had happened to Cloud in Hojo's lab -- that had completely blind-sided him. On his shoulder, Cloud let out another soft muttering noise, and Zack only hoped that he didn't start thrashing again. Sometimes it seemed like some sort of seizure, but it was hard to tell. It seemed like a miracle that Cloud was still alive -- still breathing, even if Cloud's eyes looked like the other half of the Lifestream that wasn't in Sephiroth had been stuffed into him. Zack blinked and grimaced again, reminded of the stench of rotting mako around them.
"...This place is even worse than I remember. They've totally polluted the entire coastline."
Sephiroth, walking about fifteen feet ahead of them at all times, didn't respond. He seemed in a hurry, and it was understandable -- Zack would have hurried a little harder, too, but his limbs felt like lead. Maybe his nerves were frayed, too. He didn't like the silence around them, so he filled the air with the sound of his voice, while looking around with Cloud on his back, occasionally wiping sweat out of his eyes, and taking stock of their surroundings.
"...God, this place smells like shit. It smelled better last time, Cloud. Shinra's been dumping more sludge, I think. Hell, I doubt anyone's even able to live around here anymore. Never thought I'd say it, but good thing we've got so much mako in us, otherwise we'd probably be choking or something right now." His boot squelched in some mud, fetid and shit-smelling, and the effort it took to pull it free ended up drenching his pant leg past the ankle with disgusting greenish water. "Maybe we should have tried taking the mountains through or something... but cutting through the swamps would have been even worse, I bet. You know, there's this old motto, Cloud... if it ain't broken, don't fix it. Well, Shinra's is if it's broken, it doesn't matter what the hell you do, 'cuz you can't break it again. Jeez, look at all of this--"
Their surroundings did seem to be gradually improving, though. Soon they broke free of the muddy wastelands and emerged in grassy plains, silent, ghostly and leading right towards the sea beyond them. Zack didn't think much about the path they took -- he assumed they'd cut past the nearest village at some point and sweep towards the hills above Midgar, then slip down into the city, but right now, it took most of his effort to concentrate on Sephiroth's back ahead of him. If he wasn't so sure that the other man wasn't just going to arrest them when they got back to Midgar, he might have even been glad there was someone else here to focus on details, while he just focused on getting his wasted muscles to keep on moving. Five years in a tube hadn't atrophied them completely, but that was just because his cells were saturated with mako. He was definitely weaker, though, and it was hard to tell just how weak he'd get before it started improving.
"I've never been out towards the beach before, though. Guess there's a first time for everything, huh, Cloud? You know, maybe we should take Aerith once we get to Midgar and travel the world... I mean, actually enjoy it. There are a lot of neat places to go, so long as we keep away from Shinra and use pseudonyms, I guess... We could snowboard up on the North Continent, you know, past Icicle Inn... check out all those new age hippies in Cosmo Canyon... swim on the beach on Costa del Sol, and you can pick up chicks there, too, don't you think? Hey, you're... drinking age now, huh...? Maybe you wouldn't be so shy with a few drinks in you... but I bet you're a sleepy drunk, for some reason...Of course... um... with all the mako and stuff, getting drunk's probably not even possible... but hey, you could win all the bets in bars you wanted, just by going in and drinking big surfer guys under the table... whew," Zack paused to arm sweat off his forehead with his free hand, then continued trudging after Sephiroth. "...It's hot out, isn't it? Feels like Gongaga... hey, we could visit there, too. My parents would love you and Aerith, I bet... of course, if I went back, my Mom would probably make me do all the dishes again, and I'd have to get up and repair the roof and do all kinds of housework... Huh, maybe I could convince Aerith to do it..."
Talking expended energy, Zack decided, so he fell silent for a while, catching his breath. Still, he couldn't maintain it for long. "It's like a vacuum around here. You know what vacuums do, Cloud? They suck. This place sucks. Way too quiet... on humid crappy days like this, we'd always go out and catch bull frogs in Gongaga. It was fun to go splashing around in the swamps, so long as you didn't run into any leeches or ticks or something..."
To his surprise, Sephiroth came to a stop, giving him a few seconds to catch up. They were now close enough to the beach to smell the salt water, but Zack thought he caught another whiff of Mako. "Don't tell me Shinra's dumping shit out here, too."
"...It'd probably be better if you stayed silent. Why do you keep on talking to him, anyway?" Sephiroth asked, in a completely matter-of-fact tone, demonstrating little except the fact that he was about as empathetic as a brick. Zack came to a stop, placed Cloud down gently, and stood panting for a moment, hands on his knees.
"...Well, I probably have just as good a chance of getting a response from him as I do you."
Sephiroth just looked at him. Those eyes were impossible to read
"...Besides... if I keep on talking, maybe... he'll come out of it, or... he'll respond, or something. I don't know."
"Your voice carries. You might also attract unwanted attention."
"Too late." Zack muttered. "So, are we stopping for lunch?"
"...For five minutes."
"Okay. Man, you're... a real slave-driver. But I guess I understand." Zack plopped down roughly. "We're not going very quickly, I know, and there's still a long way to go."
For five minutes, he didn't see Sephiroth -- but he didn't see a whole lot else, either. Zack's vision kept on fading in and fading out, almost like he was about ready to fall asleep. It might have been mako withdrawal again, or maybe just exhaustion, from having traveled nearly twenty-four hours a day for only god knew how many days just to get this far, all without being caught by Shinra or eaten by wild animals. Sephiroth returned silently, reappearing back through the long grasses that led up to the beach. Zack jerked back into something closer to wakefulness as soon as the other SOLDIER came to stand a few feet away from them.
"...See any signs of anything? Shinra, or... monsters, something like that?" Zack asked, squinting up at Sephiroth.
"There are no monsters. No signs of Shinra, either. Cutting through the wastelands was a good decision. It threw them off the trail."
"...Yeah, it was Cloud's idea. I think... actually, I thought about cutting through the mountains instead, but I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my footing on some of those crappy old paths and carry Cloud at the same time."
Sephiroth looked at him blankly for a moment, before glancing at Cloud -- and again, Zack saw something odd there. He'd noticed it even last night, how whenever Sephiroth's eyes fell on Cloud, something strange and inscrutable seemed to pass over his face, so fleeting that Zack was sure no one else would have even noticed it -- but Zack was a grade A people-watcher, and the usual SOLDIER asshole was the usual stoic asshole, giving him even more experience with people like Sephiroth, who fit both descriptions like a glove.
"...Look..." Zack began. "...You keep on giving Cloud weird looks."
The other man's face was hard to read -- but he looked surprised at having been called on it for a fleeting second. Zack continued in a flat tone, straightening up and putting his hand to the hilt of his sword, still strapped across his back.
"Listen, if you're here to take Cloud and kill me, or... if you've got some other plan, we may as well not even go any further. I'm tired of stupid charades and not being let in on other people's plans, 'specially when they involve me. If that's what is it, let's just get this over with now. If you're going to be trouble further on down the line, I'd rather kill you now and be on my way. Or maybe you'd rather avoid a fight and be on your way, because it isn't going to be pretty." Bluffing, of course, all the while. Zack very highly doubted he could take on anyone SOLDIER level right now, let alone MP-level. Even putting up a pretense was kind of a stupid move, he supposed. The other man plainly saw right through it.
"If I really wanted to attack you right now, I could have done it while you were still standing around and bluffing."
"What are you, my drill-instructor? He said the same thing. Didn't seem to matter, though. You'd still be hard-pressed to find a SOLDIER better than me... maybe. When did you join, anyway? Sounds like you were a SOLDIER five years ago--"
"--If I were here to kill you, I would have done it already."
"Yeah, I guess." This was really exhausting, Zack decided. "...If you were out to kill me and leave him to die, or kill me in the process of killing him -- 'cuz that'd have to happen, you see -- you'd probably be the kind of sadistic guy who led me on for a while, then backstabbed me when I least expected it... okay, maybe I'm paranoid. That's just the kind of thing Hojo might send somebody to do. Did Hojo send you? Is this... don't tell me this isn't all just some kind of real world test or something. God, I am so tired of this Shinra shit..."
Sephiroth looked at him for a moment, unreadable, before turning back towards the grasses. "It's the hottest part of the day, and you're feverish. Stay in the shade for a while."
"...Huh?" Before he could question the man any further, Sephiroth abruptly slipped away through the grasses again. Zack frowned wearily, almost appalled by how tired he was -- his muscles felt like lead, the back of his throat burned, and when he shut his eyes the lids seemed to burn into them -- but almost a little amused. This Sephiroth guy either said nothing at all, or snapped everything out like an order, but always a little quietly -- and it was kinda funny, in a way. Zack pulled Cloud close to him and started drifting off, thinking that it was unwise to trust the other man this much, but he was just so tired --
-- Zack jerked awake, not even sure if time had even passed. When he looked up at the night sky, though, he scowled. A few minutes seemed to have turned into several hours, and around him, there was no sign of anyone except Cloud, lying quietly on his side and staring with unseeing eyes. Zack ruffled Cloud's hair a bit, almost unconsciously, and let out a sigh.
"Not a bad night, huh, Cloud? Much cooler than it was earlier," Zack muttered, before putting the back of his hand to Cloud's forehead on a whim. To his surprise, the skin didn't feel feverish at all, not like it'd been before. Zack touched his own forehead, then touched Cloud's again, wondering if perhaps the poor kid was finally coming out of whatever mako-induced hell he'd been in since their escape. Not that he looked any better -- his eyes revealed the same glaring sea of blue, pinprick pupils, and emptiness.
Maybe he wasn't coming out. Maybe Cloud was just a husk, and if that was the case, Zack wondered if maybe the universe, the gods, or whatever it was out there were all really just fucking sick. Groaning and trying not to think about it, Zack stumbled to his feet a little. He felt better, with some rest, and now that the air was cooler, his fever, too, seemed to have abated. His muscles still felt stringy, though, and a little rubbery in some places, definitely inconsistent. Maybe he could take the usual poorly-trained Shinra idiot in a fight, but SOLDIER, or even the Turks... it was hard to say. Then again, maybe the situation wasn't so dire, he decided. They weren't traveling alone anymore, and --
"...Where the hell is that guy, anyway?"
On the ground, Cloud let out a soft gurgling noise. Zack looked around, seeing that all signs pointed to the two of them being the only ones around. Nothing else even moved but the grasses, rippling a little and shining silver with the pale light of the moon and stars. Zack didn't dare call out, but after a while of circling around and seeing nothing, he scowled and moved Cloud in a sitting position.
"Okay, Cloud. Try to look tough for a while, like you'll beat the crap out of anyone who comes and tries to bother you. I'm going to go look around for Sephiroth, real quick. If we don't find him, I guess we'll just have to continue on our way." Zack straightened up, studying Cloud. He wondered if perhaps he was some form of crazy for a few seconds, then shrugged. Whether he was or not, it didn't really make a difference. Zack really didn't want to start with all the self-introspection nonsense right now, because if he began probing around in his subconscious, things were going to get ugly fast. Cloud didn't need that. He didn't need that.
Zack passed through the waist-high grasses and reeds, looking around in irritation. Nothing moved, and he wondered if just maybe the world had ended without him knowing about it -- but then he heard or maybe just sensed something, nearby, and began tracking down to the little valley of rocks that led towards the ocean shore, a few miles below. Zack started his way out into the open, and paused, before fading back into the tall grasses just as suddenly, keeping low. He didn't know why he had the immediate temptation to hide -- it was just Sephiroth, standing a few yards below and leaning his back against the rock wall, arms crossed, looking intensely irritated about something.
There didn't seem to be anyone else around, and maybe Sephiroth was counting on that, too -- because his frown deepened, and he actually started talking to himself. Zack cocked his head, curious and a little disturbed.
"...I told you to stop worrying." Sephiroth's voice was low and didn't carry far, barely more than a tense mutter -- and he seemed to be talking aloud without actually being aware of it. Zack wondered if there was a radio, somewhere, or a person unseen, behind where Sephiroth stood.
"...Well, if you had any real power, you'd just send me back in time to kill his mother. But you don't... and I don't think it's necessary. You want the girl protected, right? Let HIM do it. He has more than enough reason, don't you think?"
Zack froze. Sephiroth actually seemed to pause, as if listening to something, and each time the look of irritation on his face deepened -- and when he spoke again, Zack could tell he was actually purposely taunting someone.
"Thousands of generations of knowledge, and you have the patience and maturity of a three-year old sociopath."
Zack narrowed his eyes, deciding that even if he didn't understand what the hell was going on, that sounded like a pretty bad insult. Sephiroth just stood for a moment, looking a little satisfied, and a little resigned, like he'd unwittingly just stepped into the line of fire -- and Zack almost smirked, thinking about all the times he'd mouthed off right to Shinra's face, and all of their stupid little attempts at vengeance -- mostly monetary, because the higher-ups in charge of his paycheck rarely thought in terms other than money and power. But whoever Sephiroth had chosen to give the proverbial middle finger to was no petty tyrant.
The other man dropped to his knees, clutching his head in both hands, his jaw clenched, the movement so sudden it made Zack jump. Sephiroth cringed and bent over as if something kept on pressing him down, then gritted his teeth, flinching mightily though oddly silent all the while. Good for him, Zack thought -- not giving whoever it was the satisfaction of crying out. Putting caution aside, Zack leapt out of cover and sprinted towards the other man.
"Hey! Are you okay?"
Zack paused, with just enough awareness to throw his hands in the air. He'd clearly taken Sephiroth off-guard, and the other man didn't seem the type to take chances -- his sword was out, now, pointing right at Zack's throat. He was... fast, just a little fast, somehow quick enough in drawing his ridiculously large katana to take Zack by surprise. His own reflexes were nothing like they'd been, but he also marveled a little that he hadn't even seen the other draw his stupid sword. Zack looked down the razor-sharp silver of the blade, and swallowed.
"Um. It's just me. Hi."
Sephiroth lowered his sword, now expressionlessly. "I didn't see you coming."
"...It's because I'm stealthy. Like a ninja."
The other just stared at him.
"...Okay, so," Zack decided this situation could use a little levity, perhaps. "Tell me. What do the voices in your head tell you to do?"
Alarmingly, Sephiroth cringed again -- grabbing his head briefly -- before getting back to his feet, managing to look completely unaffected and looking at Zack like he was the suspicious one.
"...Well, looks like you weren't exactly getting along with them, anyway. That's a good thing, I think. Here's a good rule to live by: when in doubt, DON'T go along with the voices in your head. From what I've seen, it usually always leads to trouble."
"...We should move again," Sephiroth didn't even seem to acknowledge any of what had just happened, and Zack could see why. Still, something in Zack really wanted to pry and pry and pry until he got to the bottom of this one, because the truth was, he never wanted to be blind-sided by anything ever again.
"Look, uh, I won't judge, if you just tell me what that was all about. Who's mother's gonna die, and what's all this about evil three-year-olds again? And who's this girl you were referring to? Do you have a girlfriend--?" He already knew the answer to that question, though it was amusing to see the exceedingly flat look Sephiroth gave him. He'd pegged the other guy perfectly -- typical SOLDIER-lifer, who had apparently never been taught to take himself less-than-seriously. Before Sephiroth could respond, though, Zack heard distant footsteps and a sliding noise, like a body slipping through the grass --
"Shit, CLOUD!" He didn't need time to think. Zack turned and sprinted back towards where he'd left the kid, gritting his teeth and feeling stupid, inattentive, and maybe even a total failure for forgetting that annoying one weirdo traveling companion was much less important than protecting the main reasons he was making this journey in the first place -- Cloud, who couldn't even move on his own --
Two men in trooper uniforms were doing the dragging, while Cloud didn't move or resist -- obviously. Both men looked up as Zack leapt into the clearing, and he barely saw the whites of their eyes before the Buster Sword took them both out like a knife through butter -- disturbingly enough. Zack whirled around, seeing a line of troopers behind him, popping up from all over the place and directing rifles right at him, faces grim and pale with concentration and satisfaction -- a trap. Of course. Zack whirled around, Preparing to take a few bullets, and hoping they wouldn't slow his momentum down enough to keep him from ripping them to pieces --
-- Sephiroth struck like a silver-black-thunderbolt, something Zack barely perceived and only realized when all of the troopers limply slid over, looks on their faces making it plain they didn't even know they were dead. A few of them were still hitting the ground when Sephiroth sheathed his sword and turned to look in Zack's direction.
Zack turned, dropping to his knees in front of Cloud and looking him over -- checking for gunshot wounds first, then bruises, than scratches, then finally letting out a sigh and pulling the poor kid into a quick hug.
"Sorry, Cloud... I didn't even want to let those fuckers touch you..."
"They were aiming for you," Sephiroth remarked, and Zack straightened up, leaving Cloud in a sitting position.
"Yeah, I know. I really don't know why. Hojo did way more to Cloud than he did to me..." Zack trailed off, as Sephiroth knelt and pulled one of the trooper's helmets off. "...Hey, you know, I really am beginning to think about trusting you, even if you're crazy or something. So, uh, don't try to backstab me, because I'd really like to --" Zack spotted the face of the trooper, and paused, arching an eyebrow. "Now, THAT doesn't make a lot of sense."
"It must be Hojo's work."
The troopers Sephiroth had killed all had the same face, actually -- plain, but their open and death-glazed eyes were all the shade of mako, and though it was hard to tell in the dark, he guessed their light-colored hair had a definite silvery tint. Zack looked between Sephiroth's face and the troopers, than shrugged. "...Coloring's the same, but then, someone with really terminal mako poisoning would probably look like you, anyway. But you're right. Some byproduct of Hojo's, huh?"
Sephiroth, though, seemed to have something in mind, because he pulled one of the trooper's gloves off and looked at the back of his hand. His silvery eyebrows lowered, and Zack took a few steps towards him and saw it.
"...Ah... 'J-23,' huh? Yep, definitely Hojo. He's the only scientist that actually bothers tattooing his human subjects. Well, it makes sense that he'd send some of his own work out to get us back. These guys even showed some rudimentary intelligence and planning abilities, so I guess they're a rousing success, so far as Shinra's concerned..."
"You fell for the trick, though, didn't you?"
Zack scowled, and as he knelt to study the dead troopers with what felt like an extreme morbid interest, Sephiroth went over to the others. Suddenly, Cloud started making noises.
Whirling around, Zack stumbled in an effort to get over to the kid, who lied twitching and thrashing weakly, reaching upwards with one near-skeletally thin hand and gagging, his face twisted in an expression that was definitely terror. Zack threw himself to his knees in front of Cloud, not really having a clue what to do or what was going on now.
"Cloud? Hey, Cloud! It's all right! It's just me! Cloud!?" Behind him, someone stumbled -- and Zack looked back just in time to see Sephiroth start acting weird, too -- his hand flashed to his temple and he grimaced, before turning away abruptly and putting some distance between them. As soon as he did, Cloud fell silent -- limbs becoming limp, face going slack, and slumping right over again, like nothing had ever happened.
"...What the hell?" Zack finally muttered, holding Cloud gently, and turning to look towards Sephiroth. The other had his back turned. It occurred to him, all too plainly, that other than the occasional odd look, Sephiroth had made a pointed effort of keeping his distance from Cloud up until now. "...Is there something you're not telling me?" Zack finally asked, in Sephiroth's direction. Cloud, obviously, had no way of telling anyone what he was thinking.
"...It's nothing."
"Oh. Oooh, yeah, I'm sure, it's nothing. No, really. Want to try again? That's not a good answer."
Sephiroth had his hand on his sword hilt, for no real reason, and looked as tense as a loaded spring -- but Zack watched him forcibly relax and turn around, his eyes suddenly looking about a megawatt brighter than before, almost lantern-like in the dark.
"I should probably keep my distance from him...he doesn't react well to it."
"Yeah, that was definitely some kind of reaction... I've never even seen him do anything like that... What's the deal? I think you know something, so spit it out. Come on."
"...It could be that... he notices something familiar about me. After all... I'm Hojo's son."
Zack might have said that even the night around them fell silent in the aftershock of that particular revelation. "...Seriously? You think that's it...? I... I don't really see the family semblance, at all. Do you, uh... do you take on more after your mother?"
"...Probably."
"...You know," Zack began, after a moment. "...I'd heard that his son died when he was a kid, but... well, I guess that's not important, I'm dead on paper, too. Who'd lie about something like that? Cripes. If I had the choice between being some kind of monstrously inhuman thingy grown in a reactor core, or Hojo's son -- I'd go with the reactor every time."
Sephiroth just looked at him for a moment, almost frowning. "It doesn't bother you?"
"What? That you're Hojo's son?"
He nodded.
"Well, look..." Zack smirked. "...I'm pretty well-acquainted with Hojo myself, actually. And knowing what I know… Call me crazy, but... that's almost kind of reassuring. I've heard all the stories. There's probably no one, 'cept maybe Cloud, with a better reason for hating Hojo than you do. So, should we get moving?" Zack knelt, lifting Cloud over his shoulder again, feeling a bit of temporary adrenaline-tinged strength return to him. It probably wouldn't last, but he'd be glad to at least ride it out. "I mean, I'm… a little shocked and all… but I guess that's okay."
Sephiroth just stood and looked at him for a moment – and finally, for the first time, just the barest semblance of a smirk passed over his face, before he turned and started back towards the long grasses, leading the way. "If you think that's shocking... I'll tell you about my mother some day."
Zack arched an eyebrow, than laughed. "Ha... oh, wow, I don't even want to imagine what kind of woman would want to make it with Hojo. Whew, that's gonna give me nightmares... you must have one hell of a messed up family."
Sephiroth scoffed quietly, and Zack smirked, though for some reason his grip tightened around Cloud just a little, as a kind of subconscious uncertainty stole over him. Maybe, just maybe, he was still being too trusting -- just like he'd been with Shinra for years, and all the other things that had gone wrong with the people around him -- but then, this was the kind of weird, sick world where knowing his strange traveling companion was the son of the scientist whose lab he'd escaped from was actually a huge relief.
a/n
1. These chapters keep on getting longer than they should be, and this was supposed to be the beginning of chapter four – not the entirety of it. Oh well.
2. Stay tuned next week for something extra-special: double chapter post! It'll be an attempt to compensate for slow pacing, anyway.
3. Please leave a reviews/comment, I'd really like to read any kind of feedback you have on this. And thanks to everyone who's reviewed or otherwise expressed interest (faves, alerts, C2s, etc.) so far.