A/n: This is a very different version of chapter seven than previously posted. If you are unable to review, and really want to, feel free to PM me. I realize that replacing the chapter makes it so old readers cannot re-review this. Also, if you didn't know, chapters 5 and 6 have also been replaced, so if your lost, go back and reread them.
Otherwise, thank all of you for staying interested in Otherworld! I know it's been forever since I updated last…
~(Chapter Seven)~
"They're leaving!" Elena shouted as she jumped up from the window seat, hurriedly grabbing her dark blue business jacket and her revolver. "Reno! Hurry!" She placed her revolver in its hidden holster before rushing across the dirty room. She was halfway out the door when Reno grabbed the neck of her coat and she was yanked back inside.
"Hold your Chocobos 'lena," Reno grumbled sleepily. "First of all, where's Rude?"
Elena pouted, looking towards the door. "They're getting away!"
"Where's Rude?"
The female Turk sighed, "Tseng wanted him for another mission. We tried to wake you!"
Reno let go of Elena, who smoothed down her outfit before frowning when she noticed Reno was taking his time to gather his stuff that was strewn everywhere. "We're going to lose them!" she complained.
"Relax, we'll be fine," he said, shrugging on his jacket and lazily resting his electric baton on his shoulder. "We can't be seen, remember?"
( )
"Are they following us?" The woman on Genesis's arm asked, clinging tightly to the SOLDIER. The red haired man glanced in one of the many boutique windows along the avenue, and easily recognized the pair in the reflection. They were keeping their distance, but it seemed as if they weren't trying their best to keep hidden. Only a few blocks away from Sephiroth's apartment he had first caught sight of the blonde Turk, and it wasn't long after that he noticed infamous red head, Reno.
"Yes," he said with a quirk of a smile as he looked down at the woman, hidden by an oversized hoodie. It seemed like Sephiroth's plan was working well, the woman from 8B was about Kagome's size, and with the hood pulled over her head, no one could see she had strawberry-blonde hair instead of black, or that her skin was much paler than Kagome's light tan. When the Turks found out that they had been fooled, there was going to be hell to pay, but Genesis found himself smiling at the prospect. He was always up for causing some trouble, and this time he could probably get away without any trouble.
( )
Sephiroth glanced around before motioning towards Kagome, who was dressed in an identically to her decoy in jeans and a borrowed hoodie. He led them the opposite way Genesis had gone, and towards the sector's train depot. Kagome was silent as she struggled to keep up with the SOLDIER's pace, but she wasn't upset about it. He had finally explained that Aerith, the girl waiting for them in the Sector 7 slums, was practically his little sister, and she was in danger. He didn't explain why, but Kagome knew if Souta or Shippo had been in danger, she'd be extremely anxious. In fact, she'd be raising hell, careless of the consequences. No one hurt her family and friends!
"After we board the train, we need to be on guard. The Security check will tell Shinra my whereabouts, and they'll send someone to investigate." Kagome nodded her head, both fear and excitement welling up. How long had it been since she did something like this? She really did miss her adventures in the Feudal era. Searching for the jewel fragments, getting in all kinds of danger with the Yokai and humans they met along the way.
After they reached the train station, Sephiroth flashed his SOLDIER ID at the conductor, who just stared at the man in awe, allowing Kagome to slip inside unnoticed. Sephiroth led them to the back of the train, which was practically deserted except for a sleeping homeless man. After hesitating for a moment, Kagome sat next to Sephiroth. It wasn't long until the train took off with a lurch, slowly gaining speed. At first, she was content to watch Midgar race past, but soon the train went into a tunnel as it descended from the plate.
After a long moment of silence, which Kagome tried to ignore as she fingered the Shikon jewel, surveying the small train car. It wasn't anything like the trains back home, which usually only had standing room only. It was very plush and decorated, but still shabby.
Finally, the silence was too much for Kagome to stand. "Was Aerith the young girl in the picture in your room?" She asked, looking to the man beside her. She could tell her question bothered him for some reason as he tensed a bit. "I don't mean to pry…"
Sephiroth paused before he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. My connections to Shinra have already been destroyed." Besides, he thought to himself, If she was truly with Shinra, she would have already known who Aerith and Ifalna were. "But you are correct. It's the only photograph I have of… my family. It was taken about a year before Professor Gast's death."
Kagome remembered the bespectacled man, and the woman he had been holding close. "Who was the other woman?" For a moment, she wondered if she was prying a little too much. Sephiroth had an exhausted appearance as he leaned back into the vinyl bench.
"Ifalna, Aerith's mother…" he answered as he opened his eyes. "… Shinra has her, though by now she's probably in his hands." The word was spoken with such hate, Kagome knew that whoever 'he' was, it didn't bode well for Ifalna. The look of guilt and burden on his face compelled Kagome to impulsively wrap her arms around Sephiroth, giving him a tight hug.
"After Aerith, we'll rescue her," she promised, even though she had no clue how they would do it. She didn't know barely anything about this world, but every instinct was telling her to comfort the man before her.
She was about to pull away, realizing how tense Sephiroth was, before he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. It was a bit awkward, but Kagome had to admit she liked the strong embrace. The few flings she had with Hojo and the other men she had dated always had one flaw, their hugs were too gentle, as if they were afraid they'd break her. She didn't like being treated as if she was made out of glass; especially after all she had gone through.
The embrace came to an end as the lights turned red, and an alarm sounded. "Security breech! Security breech!"
"**** it," Sephiroth muttered under his breath. Kagome stood up after he let go of her, and saw through the glass door connecting the two train cars, security officers dressed in red rushing towards them. It seemed like she was going to have to channel her powers just through her hands again, even though it wiped her out.
However, before she could begin to summon her spiritual powers, Sephiroth grabbed her attention by forcing open the sealed door behind them. The noise of the train grew ten times louder, the wind whipping both their long hair as it rushed out into the tunnel. "Come on," Sephiroth commanded.
Kagome looked at him incredulously. "What? You can't be serious!"
Instead of answering, her grabbed her by the waist and dragged her to the edge. "Roll when you hit the ground." She could barely hear his words over the sound of the train, and cursed him internally as she was partially pushed, and partially jumped.
There was nothing gentle about the landing. Her legs slammed against the ground painfully as she did a small summersault, the gravel digging into her skin through her clothes. She laid there for a moment, trying to control the achy pain throughout her body. Okay, maybe she didn't miss this part of her adventures.
A soft wind rushed by, surprising Kagome as it soothed away the aches and pains. She sat up, and looked over to Sephiroth, holding a green Materia in his hand. "Cure," he explained simply before placing the orb back into his shoulder guard.
"What are we going to do?" she asked as she climbed to her feet, looking around the enclosed tunnel. Long strips of light provided enough light to see by, but barely. Ahead of them, a pale green laser blocked their path. She wasn't sure if it was harmful or not, but she didn't exactly want to find out the hard way.
Sephiroth didn't seem interested in following the tunnel either. He walked over to the wall of the tunnel, looking closely for something. By the time Kagome reached his side, he had found the small latch. With a slight tug, the hidden vent popped open. Without a word, Sephiroth climbed into the vent, leaving Kagome to consider her options for maybe half a second before she followed him. It wasn't as if she had any other viable options, and besides, this was kinda fun, and the view wasn't that bad either.
"Quit looking at his butt!" Kagome scolded herself, glad that no one could see her bright red face. Thankfully or unfortunately as part of Kagome's mind viewed it, the ventilation shaft ended. She heard more than saw Sephiroth punch the grate out before he half slid out, head first. She hurriedly crawled to the edge, worried, only to see him standing 15 feet below her, casually brushing the dust off his leather coat.
He looked up at her, "Are you coming?" She really didn't want to. She was no acrobat, and falling 15 feet headfirst was asking for trouble. Sephiroth noticed her hesitation, and crossed his arms. "Scared?" There was a hint of teasing in his voice that made Kagome determined.
"You better catch me!" she yelled back before stealing her courage and pushed herself over the edge. For a few moments, she was sure she was going to die. She had her eyes tightly closed as the wind rushed by. This was it. She more or less committed suicide in a foreign world, away from her family and her friends. They would have no clue what…
Her mental ramble ceased as she felt two arms grab her, holding her bridal style as she came to a sudden halt. She could feel her heart pounding as she opened her eyes, surprised that he had actually caught her. He only held her about a second longer before letting her slid down to stand on her own two feet. "Thank you."
Sephiroth nodded his head distractedly, looking down at her with a strange expression on his face before he suddenly turned and walked towards the edge of the platform they were standing on. Ever curious, Kagome looked around as she casually followed him. Above them was a metal plate, while hundreds of feet below the platform they stood on, was glimmering lights.
"Are we under the city?" She asked as she came up beside him. It was kinda beautiful looking at all the lights, but on closer look revealed not the normal buildings that populate the plate, but almost complete wreckage. Discarded scrap metal and trash littered the ground, with small paths and clusters of housing the only sign of human life.
"Under Midgar," he confirmed. "It appears as if we're above the Sector 5 slums."
Kagome frowned as she looked around the platform. "How are we going to get down?" She prayed it didn't involve any more jumping.
Sephiroth had a similar frown on his face as he looked away from the slums. And smiled when he saw a pillar at the far edge. "There should be an access ladder," he said as he strode quickly towards the pillar, which in Kagome's view, had seen better days. Sephiroth noticed the mistrustful look on her face. "You're not afraid of heights, are you?"
"No!" She instantly defended. "I use to ride with Kirara, and Inuyasha loved to jump high!" It was just something about relying on worn out metal that made her a little cautious. But she didn't want to seem weak, especially when she knew he still questioned her sanity! With as much confidence as she could muster, she stormed over towards the pillar, and saw the rickety ladder. For a moment, her bravo wavered before she grabbed the rung and swung her leg over. With a defiant look towards Sephiroth, she started to climb down.
For a few moments, Sephiroth stood there, both amused and amazed by her attitude. Either she didn't know, or didn't care that he was Shinra's hero, that he was the strongest SOLDIER alive. And he liked that. Her fiery attitude was amusing, but her concern for everyone was what really struck him. Only tow people he knew were like that, Aerith and Ifalna.
Could she be a Cetra as well? He had seen her power in the VR room, with absolutely no Materia, no weapons or accessories.
"Are you coming?" She mimicked his tone from before, causing him to smirk slightly. He looked over the edge, surprised she had gotten so far.
"If I fall, will you catch me?" He teased back, his smirk growing bigger as her face turned bright red.
"No, then we'd both be dead! Who's going to rescue Aerith and Ifalna then?" She glanced below her before continuing down the ladder. Reminded of the mission they were on, Sephiroth grew serious as he climbed onto the ladder before making his way down.
( )
"I am severely disappointed in both of you," Tseng's words were colder than normal as he glared at the two Turks. Elena looked extremely embarrassed, with a few sniffs to suggest she was on the verge of tears. She couldn't even look up at Tseng, and could only stare at her shoes. Reno, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered at all. In fact, the red haired Turk had lit a cigarette, careless of the strict no-smoking policy.
"Hey, at least Seph messed up enough to get caught on the train," Reno said lazily. "Now you guys have proof he's up to no good."
"Now he and the girl are missing!" Tseng countered harshly. "Neither of them were found by security. For all we know, it could have been another diversion!"
Reno didn't seem concerned by his superior's agitation. In fact, he blew smoke right in Tseng's face before he countered, "It's not like the mighty Sephiroth can walk around Midgar unnoticed. Besides, we know he'll come for the Cetra sooner or later."
Tseng sighed, knowing it was pointless to try to argue with the red head. It seemed like only Rude could make him see reason. With a flick of his hand, he dismissed the pair as he returned to his desk. The door closed before he looked up, so it was surprising to see Elena still there, her shoulders shaking as she tried not to cry. "Elena, you're dismissed."
She suddenly looked up, surprised. "S-sir! I… I'm so sorry I failed! I should have recognized that it wasn't Kagome! If I had just paid more attention, I would have seen…"
"Elena," Tseng interrupted her tear-filled rant. "You were a junior officer. If anyone is at fault, it's Reno. However, I expect that next time you won't be so easily seen by your target."
The blonde Turk winced. Not only had she helped Kagome earlier, but she had been recognized by the SOLDIER Genesis. "Y-yes sir. I'll do my best!" With that, she quickly fled Tseng's office. He sighed once more as he leaned back in his chair. This day could not get any worse.
As a Turk and a turncoat, he should have known better to say that.
