Chapter 8 – Fledgling
A/N: Thank you to Sassay for Beta Reading!
"Azul, that bastard has been a thorn in my side for twenty long years." The King leant forward, looking at all of the prominent war figures at the table evenly.
"Lockhart's final parting gift." The greasy, longhaired advisor, Hojo added. He pushed his large spectacles up the bridge of his nose as he leant forward on his chair, listening intently to every word.
"Father," Rufus cleared his throat. "Would it not be best to come to some sort of agreement with this Azul?"
"Azul cannot be bargained with!" The King slammed his fists on the wooden table. "He was working behind the scenes when Lockhart deserted."
"Deserted? I thought he was banished." Rufus frowned at his father.
"As if I would let that mutinous man walk!" The room grew silent. "That man was single handily responsible for the near collapse of my kingdom! To think I let that man into my ranks. General Crescent, you were the one who found Lockhart, what did he have to say?"
"He had nothing to say." Sephiroth stated calmly.
"Why did you not bring him back for questioning?" The weasel of a man named Hojo scolded his kin.
Sephiroth gave his father a level glare. "As I've said, and stated in my numerous reports, Lockhart claimed his own life as well as the life of his children."
"It is in the past," The eldest son, Lazard waved his hand. "We need to focus on the task at hand, Azul has invaded Wutai. That fact that he chose that target and not the City of Mideel or the mass shipping port Junon makes me believe that he is no longer following Lockhart's initial plans."
"Wutai is Migdar's strongest ally," Genesis interjected. "Disposing of them would tip the scales in their favour."
"Where would he get the forces to bring down the mountain city?" The King rose from his seat at the end of the table. He strolled over to the massive map hanging on the wall. His beady blue eyes scanned the map that divided kingdoms by a single line.
"Sire," Hojo began to speak in a nasally voice. "There are pockets of resistance along the country side. Over the years, Lockhart's will has gained definite notoriety."
"Lockhart sought to bring down the Shinra Empire from the inside, not start a war." Lazard said. "It wasn't until the end of the already ongoing war that his actions were brought to attention. He never rallied any troops or attempted to gain publicity."
"Then Azul acts on his own accord, not by the teachings of his superior." Genesis stated what everyone had been thinking.
"Lockhart aided Wutai, Azul seeks to destroy it." Rufus agreed.
"A decision needs to be made about the situation in Wutai. Aid them or let them die out like the rats they are?" Hojo clasped his hands together on the table. "It might be in your best interest to let their numbers dwindle a bit before stepping in. You would look like even more of a hero for stepping in and saving an entire race."
"20,000." Angeal spoke for the first time, gaining the room's attention. "He has an army of 20,000 at his disposal."
"20,000 farmers and villagers who have never seen battle." Hojo scoffed.
Angeal shook his head. "It is no longer about experience, we have less than a half of that. Their sheer numbers would overwhelm us."
"Wutai needs us as much as we do them at this point." Sephiroth spoke up as well.
"Opening up the gates to Wutai refugees would be the best approach. Arm them and we might stand a chance." Lazard said. "Send out the offensive battalions to escort them back safely. Then there's nothing to do but wait until they attack the city. What do you say, your Highness?"
The king paced about for a few moments, stroking his thick, blonde beard. "I want Azul's head on a platter. Crescent, Rhapsodos, Hewley, you leave tomorrow afternoon. The rendezvous point is the River of Nochas. Lazard, send out the word to Wutai. We will aid them if they fight alongside us."
Tifa's eyes widened in shock at the mention of her father's treason. A pale bony hand snaked around her face to cover her mouth while an arm wrapped around her waist. She shrieked into the hand as she was hauled away from the door she had been crouching by. She felt herself get pressed up against the body of someone much taller than she as they dragged her around down the hall, around the corner, and out of range of the door. She tried to throw the assailant off, hitting and slapping them, but it was to no avail.
She was spun around and pushed up against the nearby wall, a hand still on her face.
"Are you mad?!" Vincent's voice was not the usual monotone. He seemed flustered and agitated. "That little stunt could've cost you 10 years in the dungeons. Your birthright would've come to light and you would've been put in there for life."
"What the hell?! Let go of me!" Tifa managed to yank his hand off her face only to have him put it right back on when she yelled.
"Be quiet!" He whispered harshly. There were several loud voices coming from down the hall. The dark haired man grabbed Tifa's wrist and dragged her along another set of corridors. "What was going through your head?"
"What is the big deal?" The vermillion eyed woman pried his hand off her face once again. "I thought you didn't care about me or what I do."
Vincent stepped back to study her face. "I never said that."
"What did my father do?" Tifa put her hands on her hips, standing her ground.
"Your father was a man with morals, you needn't know more."
"Why won't-." Vincent held his hand up to cut her off.
"It is a long story." All agitation was gone from his voice. He returned back to his emotionless demeanour. "It has been made apparent that I cannot see you without an escort, a rule that I am currently breaking."
The voices from before sounded again, much closer than before. There wasn't time to run. He cursed under his breath. The tall man grabbed the back of her head and pressed it into his chest. He picked up her leg, holding it around waist level. Vincent pushed his hips forward against her body. Tifa fought him all the while, clawing and scratching. She had been caught by surprise and hadn't prepared to defend herself.
"I don't see how that..." A loud voice trailed off. A few men from the meeting came around the corner.
The king chuckled, his plump stomach shaking as he did. "Seeing that nanny has got everyone going, eh Valentine?"
Tifa punched him in the stomach, causing him to grunt.
The King laughed again. "Carry on m'boy." After a few moments the group left the dark haired pair, only one silver haired general stayed behind.
Vincent stepped away from Tifa. "My apologies, I didn't see any other options."
Tifa ran forward and slammed her fist into his face with all her weight. "You bastard!" Vincent stumbled backwards, attempting to regain his balance. "Don't ever touch me!" She flew at him again, trying to get another hit on him.
"Calm down Lockhart," Sephiroth restrained her. "You're going to hurt yourself."
"Fuck you! Fuck you both! Let go off me asshole!" Tifa flailed in his grip.
"He did it to protect you," Sephiroth hissed in her ear. Vincent held the bridge of his nose with one hand and his eye with the other. Blood poured out of his nostrils and dripped to the floor. The sclera on his left eye was turning crimson from a burst blood vessel, his nose hung crooked on his face.
"He tried to rape me!" Tifa cried out.
"Stop," Sephiroth commanded. She froze, that one word seeming to chill her to her bones. "Look at him, he would never rape anyone."
Tifa looked at the man leaning forward, waiting for the viscous liquid to drain. His crimson eyes rested on Tifa. He didn't seem offended. She had found out that he had a wider spectrum of emotions that he had initially displayed. He closed his eyes and sighed. The dark haired man mumbled something about the infirmary before taking long strides away from his assailant. Breathing heavily, she tried to calm herself down. Sephiroth let her shrug him off.
"Why are you defending him?" Tifa sneered, distancing herself from the silver haired General.
"Vincent and I go way back. He was the one who forged the papers about your death," Sephiroth folded his arms and rested his backside against a nearby wall.
"Why am I dead?" Tifa frowned up at him.
"Children are expected to pay for the sins of their fathers. Without your father to atone for his desertion and treason, you would endure everything in his place."
"I see," Tifa looked away. "Why hide me away and then bring me here?"
"Did you honestly think I didn't know we were being followed? You would've died if you stayed in Nibelheim."
"And it had nothing to do with me scratching you?" Tifa cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Lockhart, a petty man I would be if I let something so trivial perturb me." He began unconsciously rubbing his wrist. "It was not the first time I was cut by a fierce woman. She too thought I was a villain."
"You are a villain." Tifa stated bluntly. "Just because you do a couple of good things, it does not wash the stench of evil from you."
"I have done more for you than you can ever imagine."
"I just met you a week ago." Tifa was taken aback by his sincerity, but didn't falter in her expression.
"We've met a couple of times before then. Do you remember?"
The vermillion eyed beauty scowled. She had no recollection of a silver haired monster in her past. Shaking her head from side to side, she gave him his answer.
"That's too bad," Sephiroth began to walk away from her. "I will be gone for a little while, but I hope you take that time to properly consider my letter." Tifa's stomach contorted as her eyes widened in revulsion. So the letter belonged to Sephiroth. It took several moments for the thought to sink in. "I trust you are wise enough to escort yourself back to your chambers." He waved nonchalantly behind him. Tifa clutched her arms tightly, blood draining from her rigid hands. Her breathing stopped and if she had not been standing, she might have been mistaken for a corpse going through rigor mortis.
"Miss Tifa are you sick again?" Marlene held her hands behind her back as she skipped towards the older woman. Tifa shook her head and crouched down to meet Marlene and her brother at eye level.
"Not at all," She gave a forced smile. "Just a little tired." The small girl nodded as she accepted the woman's reply. The trio moved through hallway after hallway. The two younger ones had wanted to go for a walk, but the weather looked foreboding outside and kept them strictly to the palace. Marlene and Denzel nattered on about this and that. Tifa was only conscious of their presence and not their words or actions. Her old life seemed so distant. A month ago she was a disrespected female blacksmith living in poverty and a day ago she was a disrespected nanny on date with a pompous General. A year ago she never thought she'd be stomaching the pain of losing yet another one of her siblings at the hands of a soldier. Now she was walking hand in hand with two children of nobility in the largest city in the eastern hemisphere after a mid morning snack.
"Uncle Genny!" Marlene let go of Tifa's and ran up to a man looking over a railing. Tifa's eyes followed the girl as her short legs carried her up to a man in a burgundy ulster with onyx shoulder guards. The tall man flicked his russet head towards Marlene, focusing his pale blue eyes on the girl. His body soon followed as he turned and knelt to meet her in an embrace. He picked her up, balancing her on his hip much like a parent would their own child. Like Tifa had done with Tius. He kissed her forehead tenderly.
"Lady-Bug, you're growing everyday." Genesis spoke softly to the child with a prominent foreign accent. It wasn't Wutainese, but rather, something she hadn't heard before.
"Maybe you're just getting shorter," Marlene replied without missing a beat.
"Perhaps," He smiled softly at her. "But I don't think so. I'm not that old yet."
"Rufus says you have to go away for a while, why Uncle Genny?"
"Some people are in trouble and we're going to save them."
"Isn't it going to be dangerous?" Denzel asked when he and Tifa had caught up to them.
Genesis ruffled the boys hair. "Not to worry mister, we will be back in a fortnight." The man turned his attention to Tifa. She shifted her weight to one foot. "I have not properly introduced myself, I am Genesis Rhapsodos." He reached out for her hand and kissed it tenderly before Tifa drew back quickly and folded her arms tightly across her chest. Brushing off her brash movement, he adjusted the child on his hip. "What are you doing here?" He asked the small girl.
"We wanted to go for a walk," She replied.
"I see, well you are all in for a treat. I do believe a fight is about to start." He gestured to the training courtyard below them where Tifa had once fought against Sephiroth. The vines twisting around the railing should have clued her in sooner. The dark haired woman looked over the railing to see Sephiroth speaking to a couple of soldiers. She turned back to question him but he cut her off, "Keep watching." Cloud burst angrily into the courtyard. "And so it begins."
"Why would there be a fight?" Tifa asked sceptically.
"In the past, a General only takes on a pupil when he is ready to retire. It has been that way for many generations. Young Strife got his rank because he is the King's nephew, but he still needed to apprentice for a couple of years before he could became a full fledged General. Sephiroth was appointed to mentor Strife. Strife went through two years of apprenticing thinking he would be replacing Sephiroth. However, Sephiroth had only finished his apprenticeship a few years prior and is still far from retiring."
"Does it really matter? They're both Generals. And didn't Angeal mentor Zack?" Tifa glanced back at the General next to her.
"The Generals are divided into two categories, offensive and defensive as you may know already. Sephiroth is the leader of the offensive team. It is the hardest and most prestigious role that a General can obtain. He is the only man I think capable of fulfilling that role at the present time. As much as I myself wish to attain it, I am not even close to his calibre. Strife wants it for the glory but the foolish boy doesn't realize that he would hold the lives of thousands of men in his hands." Genesis paused for a moment. "Zack is a completely different story. He was trained under Angeal for a reason. They use the same weapons and have the same style of fighting. Zack is defensive at the moment but if Angeal slips up, Zack will move to the offensive division."
"Slip up?" Before Tifa could get her question answered, her attention was drawn back to the men below.
Sephiroth motioned for the other soldiers to clear the area. The blonde and silver haired men circled each other before each drew their weapon. Cloud unstrapped two thick swords from his back while Sephiroth drew his long masamune, discarding the black sheath off to the side.
"You bore me Strife, every time you catch wind that I'm leaving you try to best me. Are you trying to prove your superiority or are you trying to weaken me so hopefully I'll die in battle? Even if I do die in battle, Angeal is next in line."
Cloud scowled over his blade. The blonde General bounded across the courtyard towards his comrade. Sephiroth stood his ground, waiting for the impact. Cloud brought both blades crashing down on his opponent's masamune. Sephiroth forced Cloud backwards with a shove of his blade. Cloud braced himself before throwing himself back into the fray. The blonde man struck out of pure anger, not thinking of the duel tactically. He brought down his right blade then his left. Right, left, repeat. Sparks illuminated the blades upon each impact.
The older General waited for Cloud to tire himself out. Cloud drew back to catch his breath. Sephiroth dragged his blade across the marble floor, making a sickening sound. Cloud cringed as he met Sephiroth's glare.
"My turn," Sephiroth taunted. With a flick of his wrist, he positioned himself into an attack stance with his right side ahead of his left. With one quick movement, Sephiroth swept his blade against Cloud's as if to give the younger General a warning. The Silver General released a barrage of strikes unto his foe, each growing more and more forceful. It was all Cloud could do to block his attacker's blows. Fear of losing the upper hand drove the boy to shift to the offensive again. Taking advantage of Cloud's transition, Sephiroth made a shallow gouge across the bridge of Cloud's nose.
Cloud drew back with a loud hiss as he assessed the damage. It was obvious that Sephiroth was holding back.
"Your birthday's coming up, correct?" The Silver General cocked his head to the side. "I've thought of a wonderful gift for you."
"How about just fight me seriously?!" Cloud spat. "Hold nothing back."
The corners of Sephiroth's mouth twitched upwards into a cruel grin. "I'd rather not have to tell your uncle that I've sliced up his nephew like a pig."
"Don't fuck with me!" Cloud hollered. "This is the only scratch you're going to get on me." He pointed to his face.
"Very well, I accept your challenge." Sephiroth closed his eyes, exhaling slowly through his nostrils. He held his blade up, tip towards Cloud. Feet apart, he prepared himself. Cloud held his own blades in front of him, awaiting the impact. The silver haired General charged at Cloud, slashing at the boy. For such a long blade, he used it with a great deal of finesse and precision. The blonde boy had not expected such force from the other General and had to take a step back with each couple of hits.
Sephiroth movements were quick, but forceful. It wasn't long before he caught Cloud open. A cut to the arm. "One." Sephiroth said coldly. A slash across the leg. "Two." A gouge on the torso. "Three." Each cut getting progressively deeper. Fuelled solely by panic and adrenaline, Cloud slashed out blindly at Sephiroth. With a simple side step, Sephiroth moved out of the way, catching Cloud`s hip on his blade. "Four." With another side step, Sephiroth was behind a slightly disoriented General. He thrust his blade into the boys shoulder, not close enough to anything to cause serious damage. "Five." Sephiroth cooed as he twisted the blade around, widening the hole.
Cloud groaned loudly behind gritted teeth, dropping one of his swords. Thick crimson liquid ran down Sephiroth's blade. He pulled out, giving another flick of his wrist to clean the blade. A spatter trail of blood stood out prominently against the white and grey marble floor.
Double handing his remaining sword, Cloud turned to charge at Sephiroth. He brought his blade crashing down above the General's head. Sephiroth slashed Cloud across the chest once again, blood seeping out from underneath the torn fabric of his clothing. "Six." Cloud was unable to get another strike against Sephiroth. Sephiroth plunged the tip of his weapon into the boy's foot until he hit the marble on the other side. "Seven." Cloud howled in pain as he dropped to a crouch.
Sephiroth pulled out, repositioning the tip of his blade under Cloud's chin. "One thousand." He looked down at his foe through half lidded eyes. "I am a thousand times superior to you. No matter where you go, or what you do, you will always be spoiled scum." Cloud spat on Sephiroth's blade. Sephiroth withdrew his blade and cracked Cloud on the head with his fist. The blonde wobbled for a moment before passing out. "Bring him to the infirmary." He instructed the soldiers looming in the background.
Sephiroth watched as Cloud was dragged away. He pulled out a black handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his blade thoroughly. When he was finished he placed the piece of cloth back into his pocket and sheathed his sword. Tifa scanned the sword. It looked familiar. She tried to place it but forgot what she was thinking about when Sephiroth looked up directly at her. He gave the woman a quick nod before stalking off in the opposite direction of Cloud.
"He was still holding back." Genesis sighed. "His strength is terrifying. My dears, you must excuse me, I have a few matters I must attend to before my departure." The russet haired man placed Marlene back on the floor. He looked at the girl for several drawn out moments with a forlorn expression. He knelt down and whispered something in Marlene's ear. Marlene giggled and glanced back at Tifa mischievously. "Good bye, I shall return in no time at all." He waved as left the trio.
After he was out of sight, Marlene turned to Tifa with a toothy grin on her face.
"What?" Tifa smiled, playing along with the girl.
"Nothing," Marlene giggled. She whispered something into Denzel's ear who also began to giggle.
"What is it?" Tifa repeated her question.
"Nothing!" The pair said in unison after exchanging glances.
Tifa held her hands out in front of her. "Don't make me do it Marlene, because I will." Marlene shrieked as she and Denzel took off running. The dark haired woman chased after them but not too quickly that her injury would cause her pain. Ducking in and out of corridors, Tifa stalked the two children. She heard a giggle from around the bend. Creeping ever so slowly she was able to jump up and surprise the children. They cried out and tried to make a break for it, but the woman latched on to their clothing tightly, dragging them towards herself. Tifa dropped to her knees behind the children, one arm wrapped around each. She ran her hands up and down both their sides furiously. Her fingertips moving carefully between their ribs, earning squeals of delight from the children.
She continued her tickling assault on them as they contorted in her arms, desperately trying to get away from her. "Are you going to tell me now?" Tifa cooed lightly in their ears.
"Never!" Denzel said between breaths. Tifa continued until both children grew tired and stopped fidgeting. The woman then let go of the two children.
"Fine!" Marlene pouted. "Uncle Genny said, You are as resplendent as a Banoran sunrise in the midst of wintertide." She imitated his accent.
"What?" Tifa asked sceptically.
"It means he likes you Miss Tifa." Denzel chimed in. Tifa groaned inwardly. Yet another man wanted her body.
Marlene held out her hands in front of her in the same fashion Tifa had done before. "And now it's our turn." The dark eyed girl flashed her brother a fiendish smirk. The older woman quickly rose to her feet, turning on her heel, she bolted from the two children. She rounded a corner and ran face first into an extremely dense object. She and the object went tumbling down a narrow staircase. The object groaned as it hit his back against every couple of steps. Its arms snaked around to encase her in a protective embrace, keeping her from hurting herself. Eyes shut tightly; she pressed her face into the chest of the object, inhaling the leathery smell.
When they reached a natural stopping point, after what felt like eons of rolling, Tifa cracked her eyes open and pushed herself away from the object. The object dropped his hands to his sides and stared up at her. Tifa looked down to find herself straddling Angeal. Embarrassed and horrified by their position, Tifa attempted to jump backwards. The hem of her dress was caught underneath him. She discreetly tried to yank her dress out without seeming too frantic.
"Are you okay?" She asked, tugging on the dress. The man beneath her was much heavier than she had anticipated.
"Fine," He replied, his eyes never leaving her face. Tifa was just able to get the dress out when she heard a giggle and remembered instantly why she had been running in the first place. She shot upright, pushing off his chest to stand on her feet. After calling out an apology over her shoulder, she continued running. The woman didn't get very far when she was intercepted at the next corridor. Catching her off guard, the two children tackled her to the ground,
Tifa hit the ground hard, the air rushing out of her lungs. They began their own assault on her, tickling up and down her sides, from her hips to her armpits. Marlene danced her fingers behind Tifa's ears as Danzel moved around to the front of her stomach and dug into her hip bones. The dark haired woman bit her lip, a pursed smile grazing her face. Marlene and Denzel pressed onwards. Tifa was unable to contain herself. A strained choking noise erupted from her throat. The noise repeated several more times, each one sounding more and more like a normal human laugh than a dry heave. She hadn't laughed in so long that the noise was foreign and odd to her. She let it continue on its own. The children seemed to be fuelled by the strange sound and only strengthened their resolve.
Angeal, who had witnessed the scene in its entirety, dusted himself off and wandered over to the trio.
"I give up! You win! I surrender!" Tifa called out. The children backed off as the woman flipped onto her back to catch some air. She gasped in surprised when she saw Angeal above her. He had an eyebrow raised at her. Her cheeks were flushed and she was panting heavily. Her hair had fallen out of her bun and lay dishevelled across the floor. A suggestive sight indeed. He balled his hands into fists at his sides, his jaw setting slightly and his brows furrowing. Everything about him seeming to grow more rigid. He swallowed dryly before speaking, "Is everything alright here?"
Marlene nodded quickly, "Yessir! We were just playing!"
"Alright, take care." Angeal left quickly after a prolonged glance at Tifa.
"Well that was weird," Tifa said, sitting up slightly.
A/N: Finally another chapter done. Hope you Tifa/Genesis fans out there liked this chapter. Now you understand why Cloud hates Sephiroth. Poor Vincent! He was only trying to protect her. Things are definitely heating. Sorry it took so long. I still had the plan the background conflict for Tifa's father like, what did he do? Why did he do it? Why was he exiled? I had the general idea (no pun intended) but the conflict just wasn't there. It took me a while to get it sorted out. Things are coming together quite nicely.
I just moved, going to school now, making new friends, and trying to settle in. So forgive me for not updating sooner! :(
Now, time to address some concerns that were raised in reviews that more than one person may have had:
Generally men back then liked woman "huskier" for lack of a better term. Cloud, if many of you haven't noticed is what you call a black sheep. (Pun intended) The majority of the men are fawning over Tifa because she IS the IDEAL body type. Cloud wants her because Sephiroth has set his sights on her, and as we've discovered in this chapter, he hates Sephiroth and wants to sabotage him. Jumping back a bit, during Cloud's flashback, he became infatuated with Aerith but, Zack was in love with her and Cloud could not double cross the closest thing he had to a friend so he let Aerith go. But that didn't mean he stopped caring for her, in fact he was trying to change Tifa into Aerith, hence the comments he made about the flower garden and being thinner.
The Generals and a select few know about Tifa's father's past. Aerith is not one of those select few. She didn't know about Tifa's father and didn't know not to mention it. Angeal already knew her name was Lockhart when she was taken in at the beginning of the story. It is possible that there are other people with the name Lockhart out there. Though she is one of a kind, her name is not. I'm sure many of you North Americans know a couple with the name Smith. I personally know 6 unrelated Fishers. She isn't really supposed to tell anyone that she is the daughter of General Lockhart, as it would have bad repercussions on Sephiroth and Vincent who forged her death, herself when she is branded a traitor, and Angeal which we will find out why later.
Bad things happen to good people. It's just the way of life. I prefer stories where the protagonist doesn't get everything they want. A reminder, I can't reply to your reviews if you are anonymous!
Everything happens for a reason in this story! I hope you all continue to read. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love reviews, good or bad.
