~CHAPTER 7~

Taking Over on Fate's Day Off

Disclaimer: Whatever, Square Enix can have their stupid rights to their stupid characters. Hmph. You know what? I don't even like Final Fantasy anyway. (Lies, lies, lies.)

Lucrecia was sitting in the armchair that Cloud had favored. After he left, I decided that the chair was the nicest and promptly dubbed it the "Dictator Chair." She had the assigned reading for English open in front of her, but she had not turned the page for over five minutes. She was waiting.

A couple of people were already in the room. Vincnet was sitting on the floor on one side of Lucrecia's chair, Nanaki was lounging regally on one of the large sofas and Yuffie was playing my copy of Final Fantasy VI Advance with her tongue clenched in her teeth on the other side of the circle. Angel was waiting in the corner of the room. Other than the extremely catchy battle music coming from the gameboy, the room was silent.

Lucrecia looked up suddenly. She picked up her cell phone (everyone who didn't have one had gotten one this summer) looked at it for a second, then snapped it shut. "Everyone should be here by now," She said tensely.

"Yuffie?" I asked, "Can you spare a second to go get everyone who's not here?"

The Final Fantasy fanfare music played out of her game and she quickly trempsaved. "No prob." She stood and was gone a moment later.

People started trickling in slowly. Sephiroth, with his usual swagger, had apparently already been on his way down. Zack looked bleary-eyed when he arrived and when questioned he said he had been asleep. Aerith entered the room without incident or comment.

I looked around at the group. Everyone save Genesis and Angeal was either sitting or standing in a rough circle around the place where the fire had been the previous year.

The weather was not cold enough yet that fire was necessary and Cid had left with assurances that the heating systems would work and Reeve had left Cait Sith in case he was wrong. The charred patch had been covered over the summer by a rather nice Persian rug I had found on the upper floors of the manor.

Either way, Angeal was standing away from the group, respectfully trying to observe without disrupting. Angeal had told me that he didn't feel like he belonged as part of the group yet and did not want to impose his presence on us. I told him that that was idiotic and that he was more part of this decision that I had any right to be. He had shrugged and remained where he stood, between two shafts of light where boards had not fully covered the windows.

The group had shrunk a bit more than it had grown the previous summer, from a total of eleven characters to a new total of nine. Well, ten if you're going to be technical, and only seven of them were in the room.

Yuffie returned from her quest, fake panting.

"Where's Genesis?"

"He says he's not coming," she choked out between gasps.

"Very well." Lucrecia said.

"His loss…" I muttered, wondering if he had a plan.

"Then…" she looked around, counting quickly. "Everyone who is willing to be is here?"

"Yep!" Yuffie confirmed. She leapt back onto her sofa cross-legged, head cocked attentively at Lucrecia.

Lucrecia looked at Angel. "…You are sure you don't want to join us?"

He shook his head and answered respectfully. "Not yet. I'll watch. Thank you."

She nodded, then turned her attention to the waiting group. I recognized some form of stage fright on her face. It seemed to me like the kind that even seasoned actors tend to get before saying something you're not sure about.

"I've called this meeting to… to find out your opinions on what we should do about…" She swallowed. "The new arrivals… in general and specifically."

Nanaki looked confused. "Why this level of concern? Is someone else here who I do not know about? Who are all the new arrivals?"

Lucrecia took another deep breath, but I spoke for her, knowing she was a bit unwilling to.

"Zack, Genesis, Angel—you've met them—and… well, Hojo."

The attention in the room was rapt. All eyes were looking for Nanaki's response. He stepped forward, breaking the circle and speaking directly and vehemently to Lucrecia.

"Why didn't I know this?" Nanaki demanded. "What have you all done, just let your guard down!?" Nanaki asked furiously. "Hojo is here? And you… You aren't planning to do anything about it?" Nanaki's voice was even more terrifying than usual. The rolling thunder sound was not coming from his muzzle. It was coming from his lungs and resonating throughout his ribcage.

"I won't have us resorting to violence," Lucrecia said softly, not looking at him.

"Resorting!? But—after everything he's done… to me, to Aerith, to—damn, I have no idea! Vincent? Aerith? Back me up!" He roared, glaring at the two of them.

"Hey, Red, if anyone's got something against Hojo, its Lucca," I told him angrily, leaning against the arm of the chair Lucrecia was sitting in trying to be intimidating and supportive.

Nanaki looked at her curiously. She looked uncomfortable under his scrutiny and glanced at Sephiroth seemingly involuntarily for a fraction of a second. Nanaki looked at him too, but for a longer time. He seemed to recognize something and his eye widened. He looked back at Lucrecia in surprise and shame. He sat heavily on his haunches, tail stiff and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry."

Lucrecia smiled at him. "Don't be. You are right… We can't 'let out guard down,' as you said, but we also can't let ourselves get out of hand." She looked at me sternly.

"Alright, alright," I said, a bit ashamedly. "I'll stop picking fights." I turned to look at Lucrecia as I added an important caveat. "But only so long as he doesn't pick fights with me. Or you." I looked at her and she nodded, accepting my terms.

"We're here to decide… what we should do. Or… if we should do anything… about…"

Vincent was looking at her slightly darkly. "It is not a matter of whether to do anything, but what to do." He paused, looking at Lucrecia. She was silent, expression carefully clear. "To quote Nix…" He glanced at me in a faintly mocking way. "'Sanity first, safety comes second.' I think both those principles—in whatever order—would be put in jeopardy by inaction."

The speech was clean and elegant. It was very much Vincent's style in these kinds of debates to twist someone else's words to his advantage. He bowed his head in a swift nod to relinquish the floor.

I looked at Sephiroth, wondering if he was going to speak. He didn't. His hand was over his jaw thoughtfully. Normally, Sephiroth would have been next in line to voice his opinion on the topic. He was technically third, after Lucrecia and whoever had brought the decision to attention. He looked at Aerith and she hesitantly started to speak.

She lifted her chin from her hands. "I… I think Red XIII and Lucrecia might support me on this, but… I'm afraid of Hojo after what he's done."

Aerith looked at Lucrecia, who didn't look back. Lucrecia was more afraid than Aerith—more afraid than anyone—but to admit it would be to give up her pacifist stance on the issue.

Aerith looked away from Lucrecia to the rug. "I agree with Vincent; we need to do something, but I don't think we should do anything to drastic yet. We should… try to avoid a confrontation." She looked at Lucrecia again and this time Lucrecia nodded in agreement.

Zack leaned forward before a reasonable pause had been left for Sephiroth to step in if he decided to, evidently ignorant of the group's hierarchy. "You know, none of us like Hojo, right? I mean, does anyone?"

Silence. I put a hand over my mouth to keep myself from showing expression. Lucrecia was looking resolutely at the floor, her expression unreadable.

Zack nodded and folded his arms. "I think we need to... I don't know… Control him? When Shinra let him do whatever he ended up kidnapping me and Cloud and… yeah…" He looked uncomfortable. Lucrecia was glaring at him now. He fell silent, awkwardly not looking at her.

I bit my lip, partly to keep from being tempted to laugh. Politics.

Attention was tentatively, hopefully, directed towards Sephiroth. His expression was careful, subtle, close to unreadable. He seemed to be softly laughing in his head.

"Uh…" Yuffie sounded awkward, not sure if it was her turn to speak. No one stopped her, so she continued. "Well, I think he's ugly."

Silence. Lucrecia looked like she wasn't sure how to respond to the comment. Vincent looked like he was trying very hard to resist laughing. Several people glanced at Sephiroth for his response. He chuckled. Lucrecia glared at him. His mild expression in response clearly asked, "What? Did I say something?"

Now that everyone else had spoken, most of us shot furtive glances once again at Sephiroth, who was silent again, as though waiting for something. I was almost surprised as moments ticked past without a movement from him, I was almost sure he was planning to take the final move, but he was still silent now that everyone else had spoken. Suddenly, he turned his head to look at Angeal expectantly.

Angeal was silent for a moment, awkwardly trying to decide what to do.

"I… wouldn't really know," He said very slowly and carefully, "I never knew him very well. I only really knew him through… you, Sephiroth."

"Hah." Sephiroth's single laugh was cold.

Sephiroth looked at Angeal carefully, and then looked around at the rest of us with a measured smugness, as though deciding just how to play a winning hand. He folded his arms and looked at the rug in the middle of the circle.

"You are right. I knew him. I've known him… Hell, since I can remember. And I've hated him even longer." Angeal laughed quietly, acknowledging the truth of the statement. Sephiroth gave another soft laugh too. "Now I have even more reason to hate him. He lied to me my whole life. My whole life was built on those lies." Sephiroth looked at Lucrecia, deliberately and carefully engaging her in one of their silent fights.

There was a long silence. Most of us were not sure who to be looking at, Lucrecia or Sephiroth, so our eyes flicked between their faces.

Slowly, Sephiroth's face assumed a slightly contemptuous look and Lucrecia gasped, breaking eye-contact.

"Fine," she said, her words more breath than speech, "do… what you will."

The meeting broke. I didn't really understand what happened, but something significant had definitely happened. For the moment, power had passed to Sephiroth, a much more radical and violent natured leader.

Something was going to happen now.

"Nix…" Sephiroth leaned over the back of the bus seat towards me. "Start one of your fights in class today."

I looked at him, slightly disconcerted. "But..."

"Listen, Nix, I need your help. We have to do something. We'll drive him out like we did Randal even if it takes the whole year."

I folded my arms.

"I stand by Lucrecia's decision."

"Her decision was to put me in charge."

Damn it, he's right. I sighed. "Fine. If there's a good chance I'll take it up, but I won't go out of my way or anything..."

"Good." He smiled slightly, seeming to approve. He sat back in his seat casually.

I listened to him carefully, but he was completely silent, not giving away any information about his plans. I glanced back at him.

He was looking at me, smirking. "Hello, Nix."

I turned around again, slightly disconcerted to find that he had been staring at me. "Uh… Hi, Sephiroth."

"Did you want to ask me something, Nix?"

"Uh… no… I don't think." I wasn't entirely sure that was the correct answer. I stood up and moved to a seat farther up the bus, away from Sephiroth and nearer to Lucrecia.

I was sitting on the low concrete wall during the break before Science working on trying to finish my math homework.

"Did I miss much?"

I found it a strain not to start because Genesis had snuck up behind me, his soft voice spoken into my ear.

I shrugged. "Sephiroth got put in charge."

"Really?" He stepped over the wall to sit next to me on it.

"Yeah."

"And how did that occur?"

I looked over at him angrily. "You should've come, you'd've found out for yourself."

"Speaking of which…" He said, ignoring my scorn, "You didn't call for a re-vote for me."

"You weren't there. We couldn't have re-voted if we wanted to. Not without everyone there…"

"Then can we re-vote at all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hojo was not invited…"

I looked at him in mild surprise. "Well… he doesn't count."

"Why not?"

"Because… uh…"

Genesis got up, still watching me carefully. "You know what Sephiroth would have said to you earlier?" He asked, teasing.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Don't turn your back,' and all that crap. I hung out with him all summer, remember?"

Genesis laughed coldly.

"Go read Loveless or something." I said, waving my hand at him dismissively, smiling.

He chuckled softly, lightly this time, and left.

Author Note: So.... How was your weekend?