Ch 6

Now that Marlene's found out, will Cloud figure it out?

Going back to the City

Cloud laid in bed, Sephiroth's proposal still playing in his mind. He can't believe that he was going to be Captain! Excitement flooded through him at the thought of it. And Zack would still be First Class. Take that, Zack! he thought with unbridled glee. He heard the front door open and close. He saw Marlene heading to her room with a smile on her face, which made him raise an eyebrow. But, he shook it off and got underneath his blanket and fell asleep.

*******

Back at the city, Rufus was currently finishing off his first meal from a female prostitute. He heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Sephiroth and his group flying in. He flagged them down and they landed.

"Good evening, Mr. President," said Zack while the President shook hands with each of them.

"Hello, Zackary, everyone. I hope you guys haven't run into any trouble on the way," said Rufus.

"Well, there was—" Genesis started but Sephiroth cut him off with a glare.

"There was an incident involving a Mt. Nibel. Marlene got caught and I had no choice but to show my form. Surprisingly, she still trusted me after I fed off it. To prove it" he pulled the rose. "She told me it was the same color as my vampiric eyes," he said with a small smile.

"How sweet of her. Marlene, was it?" Rufus said as Sephiroth placed the flower back in his jacket.

"Correct, sir," replied Angeal.

"Sephiroth... could you... bring her here tomorrow?" asked the President.

Sephiroth raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Why?" he asked.

"She knows about you, right?"

Sephiroth was silent for a moment. What did the President have in store for her? Was he going to make her remain in the Tokai no Chi? Was he going to turn her? So many possibilities ran through his head. Finally, he answered.

"What do you plan to do with her?"

"... I plan to expose her to the vampire race in this city, just to see how much bloodshed she can take," replied Rufus.

"No! Mr. President, you can't! She's only—" Sephiroth stopped Sarah with a raise of his hand and spoke.

"On one condition... I will be her guardian if anything should happen," he added.

"Very well, Sephiroth. Bring her here before the next day," Rufus said before disappearing into the darkness of the night.

"Sephiroth, you can't be serious! She's only a little girl! She can't possibly—" Angeal started to argue, but Zack stopped him.

"We have no choice. It's the President's orders. I'll go get her, Seph. I'll be back soon," he said before taking off.

******

While Marlene slept, she was awakened by a quiet rap on her bedroom window. She awoke and saw the black haired vampire hovering there. She smiled and hurried to the window and opened it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Mr. President would like to meet you. Could you get ready?" he replied with a whisper.

She nodded and closed the window. She quietly got dressed and grabbing her moogle doll, he offered her hand. She took it and they flew off into the night.

"Hey. You can open your eyes, you know," he chuckled as she shut her eyes from their gaining of altitude and speed at a rapid rate.

She slowly did and was amazed at the sight below. All different kinds of lights were shining from Golden Saucer as they soared above it. She stared in awe with an ecstatic grin on her face.

"This is… this is… beautiful," she breathed, unable to contain the excitement that bubbled up inside her.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Zack said with a smile.

"This is AWESOME! What does Midgar look like at night?" she exclaimed.

"Just as beautiful," he replied.

Marlene could hardly wait to find out what was in store for her at Midgar. If only she knew what was going to unfold once she got there…

Moments later, they arrived at the ShinRa HQ's front door. He set her down and took her hand.

"Ready to meet the President?" he asked.

Marlene nodded eagerly. He took her inside and businessmen and women were bustling about, on their cell phones, meeting with one another, running certain errands for certain branches, security guards walking about, etc. All in all, to Marlene, it looked about to the busiest place she saw.

"Are they always this busy?" she asked Zack as they started towards the elevators.

"Oh yea. ShinRa's always busy around here, including Rufus himself, being the president and all. He's busy 24/7," he replied.

"Wow. How does he do it?" she asked in awe.

"He just does what he needs to do, you know?" Zack shrugged.

They got into the elevator and Zack pressed the button for the top floor. Marlene leaned against the wall as they made up to the President's floor.

*******

"Cloud, Denzel, have you seen Marlene?" asked Tifa.

"I think she went to play with her friends. Where else would she be?" Denzel replied, not taking his eyes off his handheld game as he furiously pressed the buttons.

"I just checked with her friends. She's not in none of their houses," Cloud said.

"Then... I don't know," Denzel shrugged.

Tifa began to worry. "It's not like her to just run off like this. Where could she be? I'll check Mt. Nibel and see if she's stuck somewhere," she said, grabbing her Tiger Claws and hurrying out.

"Denzel, in case she comes back, call either me or Tifa, alright?" Cloud said before jumping on Fenrir and riding off.

Denzel nodded.

"... I hope she's ok. I'll hurt the person that took Marlene if I ever see them," he silently vowed, fists clenched.

*****

With the little girl and Zack, they made it up to Rufus's office.

"Wow... this is where he is?" Marlene whispered.

"He's just up these stairs. Why don't you go on up, ok? I'll be there in a minute," Zack said, gently pushing her ahead of him.

"Ok! See ya in a bit!" she smiled before rushing up the carpeted staircase.

Zack frowned. "Rufus better not scare her to death," he muttered.

"She'll be fine. Sephiroth promised to protect her if something happens," said Angeal from behind him.

"I don't know, bud. Can she take standing in front of a bunch of vampires?" Zack asked uncertainly.

"She wasn't scared of Sephiroth when she found out and when she came to say goodbye to us," Angeal pointed out.

Upstairs, Marlene got to the landing and saw Sephiroth by Rufus's desk. She grinned and ran to him, shouting his name in excitement. He smiled and knelt down and took her into his arms as she laughed with joy.

"How was your trip? I hope it didn't scare you," he said, stroking her hair.

"It was awesome! We flew over the Golden Saucer and oh, Sephiroth, was it beautiful! There were lights everywhere and fireworks going off in the sky! It was so... amazing!" she said with unbridled glee.

Sephiroth chuckled and hugged her again.

"Sounds like you had fun flying. Oh... President Rufus will be here in a minute. He had to do something before he can come back," he said as the two stood.

"Sephiroth, what are you doing here? I thought you were done being General. Did you change your mind or something?" Marlene asked.

"In a way, yes. I made a promise to someone I would come back... and so, I did," he replied.

"I missed you being General. You used to take me around the base when I was little, remember?" Marlene pointed out.

"Of course I do. You were very energetic back then and you still are... and that makes me happy for you," he said, putting an arm around her.

"Ahem! Introducing President Rufus ShinRa!" declared Scarlett.

"And this must be Marlene Wallace. A pleasure to meet you at last," he said, offering his hand.

"Nice to finally meet you, too, Mr. President, sir," she replied, shaking his hand.

"If you'll excuse me, sir," Sephiroth said before turning to Marlene. "I'll see you later, sweet Marlene," he said before starting to head downstairs.

Suddenly, a flying dragon crashed through the window, making the girl scream. Sephiroth whipped around just in time to see Marlene get carried away, screaming. Wasting no time, the two elite vampires took to the skies, chasing after the green scaled, red eyed dragon.

"Hang on, Marlene!" Rufus shouted after her.

The dragon, realizing it was being followed, flew higher into the sky. But... clenched in her hand was an Ice3 Materia! She took it off Rufus's desk before being picked off. With a glare, she screamed out

"ICE3!!"

Ice flew up immediately up its leg that held the captured girl. The dragon screeched in agony as the freezing crystals dug into it, but did not let go of its victim.

"Where did she get that?!" Rufus gasped.

"She must've had it before she was taken. Marlene, one more time!" Sephiroth shouted after her.

Marlene nodded and casted it again, this time, it let go of her. She plummeted towards the ground, but Rufus swooped down and caught her.

"You're one, too," she whispered in awe.

"You ok?" Rufus asked with a comforting smile.

Marlene nodded and climbed carefully onto his back as they rejoined Sephiroth. She gave the vampiric General a reassuring nod, confirming that she was unharmed.

"Let's get him!" Marlene shouted, glaring at her former captor.

Sephiroth unsheathed his Masamune while Rufus cocked his handgun.

"The weak spot is its stomach. Aim there!" Sephiroth shouted over the dragon's roars.

Rufus nodded and dove underneath it. Seeing Rufus, it tried to swipe at him, but to no avail as three rounds went into it. It screeched in agony as it dove through the clouds with the pursuers hot on its tail. They saw it stop and hover above the Junon Sea, ready to fight. It reared back its head and unleashed a stream of red and blue flames. They flew off to the side to avoid it.

"President Rufus, do you think I can get one more shot into him?" Marlene asked.

"Are you sure you can do this? Ice3's a big spell. Use it too much and it can wear you out" he saw Marlene nod with confidence. "Ok then. Hold on tight. Sephiroth, distract it!" Rufus called to the General, who nodded and started firing off level 3 spells to get its attention.

Rufus and Marlene zipped underneath the dragon and with one final cry of "ICE3!", she planted the Materia into it, letting it freeze within its magic. The dragon screeched in sheer horror as the ice slowly encased it. Sephiroth caught the falling girl and they watched as it plummeted to the sea, forever entombed in a huge block of ice.

"We did it!" Marlene cheered, pumping her fists as they flew back to Midgar.

"You hit the nail on the head. We did it," Rufus said with a smile.

"But Mr. President—"

"Please... call me Rufus."

"Rufus... did Sephiroth turn you?" Marlene asked.

The guys nodded.

"I thought so" then, she saw Cloud traveling on Fenrir and her eyes widened. "Cloud's coming!" she cried.

Sephiroth only smirked.

"Just as I predicted. He and Tifa must be looking for you," he said.

"We have to get back to Midgar and quick!" she pleaded.

"No problem. Just hold on," Rufus said as she clutched onto his shoulders.

They both picked up speed as they entered the Midgar area. Cloud looked up and saw the three flying into the city, but couldn't make out who they were, but one of them, he recognized, was Marlene!

"Oh no... Marlene!" he thought as he pushed his bike to the max, now speeding towards the city.

The three entered the ShinRa HQ and Marlene was gently set down. Sephiroth watched from the tower as Cloud approached the city, Buster Sword drawn. A sinister grin slowly spread across the vampire General's lips.

"Finally... I can claim you," he said before vanishing into the darkness.

Marlene watched him go and in came Sarah.

"You ok, Marley?" she asked, kneeling next to her.

Marlene nodded, smiling. Then, she frowned as she stared back outside.

"Why did Sephiroth want Cloud to follow us?" she asked.

"Let's just say... he's interested in him," she said.

Uh oh... not good! Cloud's in the city!

Will Sephiroth make true his plan to claim Cloud?

Review please!