Woah it's already been almost 3 months since my last update! A reviewer pointed that out and that was the kick in the bum that I needed to get me writing! Well to finish this chapter actually. Enjoy reading. PS: it is the longest one yet!
Worried emerald eyes focused on the immobile man lying in front of her. It unnerved Aeris to see him this still. His fever was getting worse even with all her many attempts at bringing it down. Oddly enough, no one had appeared on the beach, which made Aeris worry as to how far they were from the main part of Costa Del Sol. Leave it to Sephiroth to lead them to the middle of nowhere.
Aeris was well aware of her dilemma. Should she leave him to go to town and get medical supplies or stay with him and try to help with what she had? What she did have was quite pathetic: a low level restore materia in her armband and all it would do is close up Sephiroth's wounds leaving the bullets inside. And it wouldn't deal with his fever.
Dainty eyebrows frowned as she wondered why Sephiroth succumbed so easily to a few bullets. Once upon a time he wouldn't even have flinched as they hit him.
Theories aside, she quickly swung her backpack, throwing it in front of her. She dumped its contents on the sand uncaring if her belongings got dirty and got to work. But the sand was getting everywhere and it was beginning to irritate the brunette woman. Aeris tried to ignore her itchy skin and clothes but it was a lost cause.
Taking the potions and the first aid kit, she sat down beside Sephiroth. She looked at the silver haired warrior and exhaled the breath she hadn't known she was holding. Aeris knew she didn't have a reason to be scared of him, especially while he was unconscious, but old habits die hard. Even in his sleep he still seemed menacing.
And it didn't help that she was going to have to undress his leather coat so she could get to his wounds. No, that wasn't going to help her at all.
Aeris ran jittery fingers through her knotted hair in a nervous gesture wondering how she was to proceed. On top of that he was at least twice her size and she was going to have to flip him over in order to get the front buckles of his coat undone.
"Planet give me strength," she whispered into the humid air. Aeris grabbed his shoulder with her small hands and tried with all her might to push him. It felt like she was pushing a sleeping chocobo. All she managed to do was nudge him at first but then after awhile of strenuous effort and sheer willpower, she got him onto his side.
The little Cetra had to take a break in order to catch her breath. She let herself lean against his chest, not bothered in the least at such physical contact at that moment. Aeris was just too tired to care.
The sun was rising and with it brought scorching heat, getting rid of some of the humidity in the morning air. As the temperature steadily rose, Aeris's black tank top began sticking to her like a second skin, making her feel uncomfortable and sweaty. How she longed for a long and cool shower so she could get rid of all the sand.
It only took her a few more seconds to push Sephiroth onto his back. Aeris dared to look at his face and was relieved to see his eyes still closed. She took a good look at his coat and concluded that it was going to be easier to undress him than she had initially thought.
Now all she had to do was umm, well… take off his coat. Aeris's breathing quickened momentarily as she desperately looked around one final time to see if there was anyone around who could help her. As if fate was against her, no one was around, not even a seagull. Her shaky hands hovered in the air above Sephiroth for a while as if trying to will the buckles to undo themselves.
Unconsciously, Aeris lifted her hand to her cheek and realized how hot her flesh was. Was she blushing? No she couldn't be! It must be the weather, Aeris tried to convince herself, because the alternative wasn't pleasant. There was just no way Sephiroth was making her blush.
As if trying to persuade herself, Aeris quickly put her hands on his chest and undid the first buckle.
"There, that wasn't so bad," she said out loud. However she lost some of that initial nerve and rapidly glanced at Sephiroth's face, green eyes alert for any sign of movement on his part. Some of the tension in her body disappeared when she saw no sign of him coming to. Aeris didn't think she could do this while he watched.
She was clumsy at first with the multitude of metallic contraptions, but it could also be due to her unsteady hands. It was amazing how Sephiroth could make her nervous even when he wasn't conscious and glaring at her with his freaky eyes.
"Just a while longer, just a little longer," Aeris encouraged herself. "Only two more and it is done."
As she was about to undo the last one, a large hand pinned both her small ones causing her to let out a loud yelp of surprise.
Oh no!
Slowly, as if afraid of making any sudden movement, Aeris turned her head towards the owner of the rather familiar hands. To the Cetra's dismay, a pair of even more familiar glowing eyes were looking at her. His expression seemed to be a mix of pure horror and extreme amusement, something Sephiroth seemed to be able to muster flawlessly.
"Is this what you do to unconscious people? You undress them?" Sephiroth asked steadily but she noted that his voice wasn't as strong as it usually was.
Aeris's already wide eyes seemed to pop right out of her head at his words. Was he insinuating that she had been undressing him for fun?
"You… you…you!" she stuttered on the words as fury took hold of her. "I'll have you know that I was trying to clean your bullet wounds!" How could he even think such a thing? She had never been that type of girl. And she had seen plenty of them during her time living in the Midgar slums to know the difference. Aeris tried to pull her hands out of his grasp but he didn't seem to care she wanted him to let her go.
She watched him with narrow eyes, wishing he would be unconscious again but he just calmly stared back. Finally she couldn't take his mocking eyes.
"Will you let go of my hands? I'll need them to treat you," she said simply, although through clenched teeth.
Sephiroth seemed to consider her question for a moment and finally let her go. It wasn't because he needed her help but because he wanted to get up. Sephiroth tried to sit but winced as he flexed his back muscles. Slowly he got up using his elbows until finally he was sitting upright. By the end of it, his vision was spinning and he felt lightheaded but his face remained impassive like always. Sephiroth remained unmoving for a while, getting used to his body's sore muscles and weakness.
The painful burning in his back was uncomfortable but not life threatening, as always. Sephiroth began moving his shoulder but Aeris immediately protested.
"You shouldn't do that otherwise the wounds will reopen and you'll start bleeding again."
Sephiroth barely glanced her way as he continued to move his arms around.
"Didn't you hear? You'll reopen y-,"
"I heard you the first time Cetra!" Sephiroth cut her off. "I don't care if my wounds bleed because it makes no difference to me." He had already lost too much blood, which was causing him to feel weak. Sephiroth knew his limits and no little Cetra would tell him what he could or couldn't do.
"Fine faint again, see if I care," Aeris muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"What did you say?" came Sephiroth's icy reply.
"Nothing, nothing!" Aeris quickly answered, suddenly very interested in the cloud hovering above them.
Sephiroth glared at her but didn't move. He was trying to ignore the jabbing pain his movements caused but he realized normal bullets never caused him this much pain, a pain that seemed to be intensifying. He also felt the effects of the fever on his body but it would be taken care of in time.
"Aeris."
Aeris's eyes widened in surprise that he used her name but quickly recovered.
"Yes?"
Without another word Sephiroth undid the last buckle and slowly took of his coat letting it fall onto the sand around him. It angered the General that his faculties were sluggish and unreliable due to his injuries. Undressing himself never took more than a split second and now it had taken him almost a few minutes. It was simply unacceptable.
Sephiroth saw the confusion on her face and tried to explain.
"The bullets need to come out."
"But I thought you said they didn't matter," Aeris said.
"Normally they wouldn't but these aren't normal bullets. They seem to be burning through my flesh."
The healer quickly approached the half naked man, not bothered by his sculpted chest because her eyes were too busy assessing the damage.
Aeris propped herself behind him, tentatively letting her fingers touch around the gun shot wounds. There was some blood on his back so his coat must have absorbed the rest. His once perfectly silver hair was now flawed with dark red, bright evidence of his recent injuries. Aeris quickly gathered his hair and put it so it flowed over his shoulder and chest and gave her a clear view of his back.
"Now let's see," Aeris muttered to herself.
"Do you have to do that?" came a snapping reply.
"Do what?"
"Talk to yourself out loud."
Aeris rolled her eyes. Was there anything about her that didn't bother him?
She could easily tell that Sephiroth was right to think this was unusual. The bruised flesh around the holes was bloody which was normal but the veins around seemed to be an eerie fluorescent bluish color. It seemed the bullets were spreading some sort of unknown substance into his body. Suddenly Aeris was very afraid because she didn't know anything that could cause this. Mako poisoning would infect the body but it would be a bright green color, not this.Besides it wouldn't show in the blood vessels.
"What is this?" Aeris whispered to herself once again, touching his back tentatively. Sephiroth glanced sideways at her, trying to see what she was doing but flinched when she touched a painful spot.
Aeris immediately removed her hands from his flesh not wanting him to snap at her again and instead began talking to prevent him from saying anything.
"Um, you were right, the bullets seemed to have been injected with something," she said, licking her lips nervously. Would she ever stop being nervous around him? "When the bullets pierced your flesh, they fragmented and released something that is slowly seeping into your blood"
Aeris saw him close his eyes before turning away from her. Suddenly he moved forward as if to reach something and before she knew it, Sephiroth was handing her a short, slender knife.
"Here," he said, turning his upper body a little so he could face her better. "I want you to remove the bullets with this because if they are left in, I will be infected."
His tone left no room to object so Aeris took the knife from him without so much a peep.
The brunette simply nodded under his hard stare and positioned the knife over one wound when she said, "What would happen if they are left there?"
Sephiroth didn't answer for a while. Aeris thought he was purposely ignoring her which made her angry. Just as she was about to stab him with the knife, he finally answered,
"I would become one of them."
Aeris eyes snapped up from what she was doing and watched his jaw clench. She realized he was angry for some reason but couldn't imagine why. She was pretty sure she hadn't done anything to annoy him.
Aeris was quiet for a while and then spoke softlyas she mentally connected the dots, "You'd become one of the Seraphim."
The blue flame that escaped the dying man was exactly the same color as the substance that had been in the bullets. She touched one vein and gently followed it with her index finger. Immediately Aeris felt him tense under her touch, as if in a warning, so she calmly removed her hand. Refocusing her attention on the task at hand she tried to engage Sephiroth in a conversation to keep his mind off the pain.
"You never really explained to me what the Seraphim are."
"It's a long story," he replied curtly, his sigh very evident in his voice.
Aeris actually smiled a little. It was beginning to amuse her how he always tried to avoid talking too much.
"Well," she said cheerily. "We have awhile for you to answer some of my questions. So feel free to talk." While she had been talking, Aeris had positioned the knife tip to one of the bullet wounds. She was ready to do this but she wasn't sure if he was.
As if reading her thoughts, the silver haired swordsman said, "I am aware it will hurt but I don't care, it's only pain. All you have to do is go under the bullet and push it out."
Sephiroth knew very well what she was trying to do. He couldn't help but smirk at the Cetra's blatant effort to take his mind off of the pain that was to come. Sephiroth couldn't actually remember a single time when someone had tried to alleviate his pain. Not even when he was the all-powerful General of the Shinra army, their most valuable asset who had won them a war.
What was the point of being the strongest and greatest warrior when he didn't get anything out of it? He hadn't wanted that much out of life, well until Jenova crippled his mind and then he had wanted the world. Sephiroth immediately shook himself out of that train of thought because it didn't matter anymore, it shouldn't matter anymore. It had all happened a long time ago and now all he wanted to do was stop remembering. He sighed. How he longed to forget.
"The Seraphim," he began, but then realized he should probably start at the beginning. "It all started about 50 years ago. By then all of Midgar had been abandoned. Eventually scrap scavengers would be the only ones who would ever enter the polluted city to find some metal they could resell to weapon smiths."
He paused to think once more. "And criminals. Criminals go there to."
Aeris was listening intently to what he was saying, but as gently as she could she stuck the knife into one wound and tried as quickly as she could to get the bullet out. She had never removed a bullet with a knife and she was afraid she was going to make things worse. But Sephiroth barely even moved when she began. Instead he continued talking as if nothing was going on,
"Eventually rumors began circulating that whoever entered Midgar didn't come out."
By now Aeris could feel the bullet so she slowly angled the thin blade and pushed down on it. It seemed like eternity for the bullet to come out but once it did, a trickle of blood followed. Without thinking Aeris grabbed the closest piece of cloth she could find which turned out to be his coat. Aeris quickly looked at Sephiroth and was slightly relieved that he didn't realize she was using his precious leather coat.
"So the disappearances are related to the Seraphim?" she asked him, trying to fill in the silence.
"Very perceptive, Cetra," Sephiroth said. "At the time, no one knew about them, not even me. I didn't even care actually but then your Planet began pestering me." His hands clenched unconsciously as he remembered the many months that he was plagued by voices and nightmares. He even feared it was Jenova returning to enslave him once more. It had not been a pleasant experience.
Aeris recoiled slightly at his fiercely accusing tone, as if the Planet's actions were her fault. She tried not to let his words get to her and continued onto the second bullet.
"I was forced," he said through clenched teeth, his fluorescent green eyes burning. "To investigate what was happening."
Somehow Aeris got the feeling that the Planet had used the word investigate to explain to Sephiroth his task. It didn't sound like something Sephiroth would say, more like something the Planet would. If there was one thing the Planet was, it was a diplomatic entity.
The second bullet was out much quicker than the first. Aeris dropped it in the sand next to the other one and gently wiped the blood with his coat. Sephiroth hadn't noticed yet that she was using it.
Now, how to get to the third one she thought. It was just above his tailbone. He was lucky the force of the impact hadn't shattered it. Taking a deep breath, the young woman touched the wound and wondered how she was going to proceed when Sephiroth jerked violently.
Immediately, Aeris found herself trying to explain, "The last bullet is here, I have no choice."
Well he knew that, after all the bullet was in his flesh. He just hadn't anticipated her touching him would cause him to shiver.
"Umm, I need you to lie down on your stomach," Aeris said shyly, lowering her gaze to look at the sand, anywhere than at Sephiroth.
The silver haired man didn't turn to look at her because he seemed to have frozen on the spot. He was a man who was rarely caught by surprise and yet Aeris managed to do it often. Then again she wouldn't have asked if it wasn't necessary, he deduced. So without as much as a protest, Sephiroth moved so he was lying on the sand, his back facing Aeris. He put his arms under his chin and turned his face away from Aeris thus allowing his long hair to flow down his back.
In the meantime, two green eyes blinked a few times at how easily it was accomplished. No fighting, no yelling, nothing. That had been too easy.
Aeris scooted closer to him and tried not to blush too much. His pale skin was glistening in the sun, but Aeris couldn't tell if it was because of the heat or because of his fever, or even both.
Without thinking, Aeris hooked one finger under his pants so she could see the wound better. Sephiroth's mako eyes had snapped wide open. What was she doing? The small woman was too engrossed in delicately removing the bullet that she didn't notice what she was touching. Finally with a flick of her wrist, the last bullet was taken out.
Aeris examined it carefully, noting how there were pieces of glass still attached to the metal end. The substance must have been contained in the glass that shattered upon entry. This suggested an advanced weapon making knowledge held by the Seraphim.
"Ahem."
Aeris quickly looked at Sephiroth wondering what he wanted now.
"Do you mind letting go of my pants?" he asked, one silver eyebrow arched inquiringly at her.
Aeris's jaw dropped as she snatched her hands as far away from his body as she could. At once she got up, dropped the bullet and knife she held and rapidly said,
"Iamofftothebeach!"
And with that she turned and ran towards the water, her long messy braid swinging furiously behind her. She prayed there was a hole somewhere on the way there where she could hide in. Oh Planet, any hole would do.
Sephiroth watched her run away neutrally but a spark of amusement passed his handsome features only to vanish as quickly as it had appeared. Groggily he got himself up as well, picking up his coat on the way. He could already feel the fever lessening as his body's genetically engineered immune system fought whatever it was that was causing it. But the Seraphim's infection was going to be a problem. Never before had he been injected with so much of their toxic at once.
Over the years, they had tried several times to get him under their power but none had succeeded. Sephiroth barely glimpsed at the dead Seraphs around him that only a few hours ago had tried to kill him and the girl. They were the enemy, even if most hadn't become so by choice. The cult had some humans who actually wanted to join while others weren't so fortunate. He hadn't told Aeris, but most of the Seraphim were infected with the blue substance in order to be controlled by their leader, the Shinra experiment once named AS-142. Or as she called herself now, Abaddon.
I got the name Abaddon by searching on wikipedia. Turns out there are actually several Seraphs who fell from heaven, Abbadon being one of them. The name means "place of destruction" or "the realm of the dead". The most famous fallen Seraph is of course Lucifer. And Leviathan too seems to have been a fallen Seraph, well depending on the religion.
Ok didn't put in the pina coladas, AGAIN! Argh! But by god, I will put it in. Maybe not this chapter, maybe not the next, but some day. What a sad goal.