Disclaimer: I still don't own Final Fantasy.

...I feel so random today. 8D

Gold Saucer - Disclosure

The next morning was the worst she'd had in a long time. Sephiroth hadn't used the Sleep spell on her the previous night, probably because he thought he'd be unable to wake her up again (or maybe because she was still dead quiet and didn't talk to him, but she doubted that was the reason). Therefore, despite getting up quite late, Mika felt very tired when they left the Inn. The little girl from yesterday had brought them some clothes that would get them into Gold Saucer. At this, however, Sephiroth was not entirely pleased. The girl had brought them clown costumes. Thus, with some difficulties, she had managed to ask the villagers if they had other clothes (if she hadn't tried, she had a vague feeling that the clown costumes would end up torn into shreds by a certain sword and its master). They didn't have any other clothes at the moment, though, but they could get some new ones. Mika thanked yes immediately, partially out of fear. Sephiroth had sent more than just a few deadly glares in the direction of those clown costumes already (she hadn't seen the glares – he still wore the cloak and the hood – but she could certainly feel them).

Therefore their stay got a little lengthy.

Mika remained as quiet as possible most of the time and helped making food some more. To her great surprise, the girl told her she didn't have to cut all the food into pieces before boiling them. Why hadn't she told her that earlier? At the girl's words, Mika had flashed a broad smile, saying through her teeth "Don't worry...", but to be frank, it had sounded more like a sinister "Yoouu little...".

After yet another night in North Corel, the little girl woke her up with good news. Or, she didn't really wake her up, because Mika was already awake, more tired than ever. At least the new disguises were better than the other ones.

They were going up there as musicians. Not both of them, though – only Mika. Sephiroth would be her 'bodyguard'.

Sephiroth wore a black suit and a white, button-up shirt. He didn't have a tie, though, and refused to use the small bow the girl offered him. Instead, he kept the upper button unbuttoned, and on top he sported a black swallow tail jacket. To hide his hair he used the black, baggy cap Mika had bought for him back in Costa del Sol. With some difficulties he managed to put it on and hide his forelocks and bangs underneath it. Even the braid was hidden – Mika thanked him mentally for not combing it out yet. What would happen if, or when, he found out that his hair was all frizzy? Finally, he wore the cheap, but big sunglasses she had bought for him earlier (in Costa del Sol). When it came to his Masamune, he covered both in his black cloak and used string to tie it all together. That way, the wrapped weapon looked more like a wrapped cane than anything else.

Mika wore a long, black dress with slits going halfway up her thighs, to her extreme horror and dismay (she found herself holding the slits closed most of the time after putting it on). It went down to her ankles and billowed around her when she walked. Speaking of walking, she had also been given high-heeled shoes, which she had cursed so vigorously (when the villagers had left) that Sephiroth gave a chuckle. Afterwards she had turned quiet again. Returning to the dress, the only thing she liked about it was that she could hide her gun in a holster on her thigh – above the slits – and it would be easy to reach and grab. The little girl had helped her styling her hair in something vaguely similar to a bun, which once again brought back certain memories: What would Sephiroth do after unbraiding the plait? His hair would be so wavy...

"...There! All done!" the girl said.

After having a little breakfast, and once they were both ready to go, they exited North Corel by taking the small path leading to Gold Saucer. It was already early afternoon by the time they left. Sephiroth walked behind her, carrying his wrapped weapons on his back with a strap hanging over his chest diagonally. He also held a cello case - in which Mika had stuffed all their items, clothes, materias - and also the Mako blade. Mika trotted behind him. Watching Sephiroth walk in front of her was really strange – he didn't look like Sephiroth at all. That bandana and the sunglasses did a good job shielding his identity. He really did look like a bodyguard.

Still, the one taking the greatest risk here was Mika, seeing as her face wasn't covered at all (sunglasses would look suspicious). But as far as she knew, no one had actually seen her face....Except for Rufus Shinra, way back in Junon during the... eh... swordsman-show? Either way, Rufus didn't know that she was the one responsible for many of the Mako reactor destructions.

Entering the lift going up to Gold Saucer, the two of them took a seat in the suspended wagon. On the way there they waited in silence. Despite her efforts, though, Mika couldn't contain her excitement. On the way she couldn't help but stare at the shiny, noisy place awaiting them. There were sparkling colors everywhere, roller coasters and attractions, fireworks, people screaming with joy and children pulling their parents along. Balloons and blinking signs, as well as loud music were all over the place and kept her eyes busy until the lift brought them safely to their destination. But even though music still played in the background, it still felt awfully quiet in the lift. Outside the windows, what she noticed the most was the people – they all seemed to be quite happy if she were to judge from the way they smiled and jumped about.

Once she and Sephiroth got off the lift, they were immediately stopped by a funny looking little man wearing a crown-like helmet and a red uniform.

"3000 Gil perr personn, or 30 000 Gil for a liffetime passs!" he said in a surprisingly low voice with a strange, rough accent. Mika tried to smile genuinely as she replied:
"Um, we were called here by the entertainers. I'm a musician for the show. I was told I'd be granted free entrance..?" she said, feeling guilty for lying.

"Ah! Musician! If dat be the caze, den come vith me!" the little man said, his voice still amazingly dark.

Mika and Sephiroth did as he said, following him inside and walking through endless halls and funny-looking doors, through rooms with games, as well as a battle arena before they finally arrived in front of a very old looking house shrouded in mist and covered with fake spider webs. There were graves and ghosts surrounding it, and green light left spooky shadows all over the place. Mika did her very best to ignore the ghost-like howls and sounds in the background.

"Dis would be de Inn. Since you are a muzician, you kan stay for free. You start playing muzic tomorrow, korrekt? ...Who is your friend?" the little man asked, looking with fascination and suspicion at Sephiroth. He was at least twice as tall as the short man.

"Ah... He's my guard. To get here, I had to travel through some areas with fiends, so I had to hire a guard. He can stay for free as well, right?" Mika asked, hopeful. The little man seemed to give it some thought.

"Vell... I'm sure he kan stay until tumorrow, but after dat, you may haf to pay..." he said hesitantly. Mika thanked him, and he waved goodbye.

Sephiroth did not like the short man. Something was not simply not right about him. Also, the Inn they were taken to did not look too inviting either. Upon entering the house, which was obviously supposed to resemble a spooky ghost mansion, they were met by a 'vampire'. The green-skinned man greeted them and after Mika explained who they were, he showed the way to a room. If they ignored the spider webs and the small pumpkins, the room was, at the very least, less spooky than the main hall. Other than that the room was quiet enough, which he appreciated. But after the landlord left, he realized something very disturbing.

Although it was one of the largest he had ever seen, there was still only one bed.

Seemingly having noticed the same, Mika tried hiding her frown with by holding one hand on her forehead. Sephiroth turned on his heel and strode to the door – he was going to give that self-proclaimed landlord some words of advice. But when he pulled down the handle...

The door was locked.

"What..?" Mika managed, and he turned to see her walk over to the only window in the room. She tried opening it, but it did not even budge.

"It seems... they find us rather suspicious. Shinra must have ordered their employees to stop anyone who tried to enter, because of what happened in Costa del Sol," he stated in a monotone voice. When she was about to answer, he held up a hand to stop her.

Then, with the efficiency that only a 1st class Soldier could manage (it would not come as a surprise if she had never seen somebody move so confidently and fast – as if knowing exactly where to look), he searched the room for what he thought was hidden there. He ended up finding several bugging devices hidden behind pictures, under the bed and above the window frame. Certain that he had found them all, he showed them to Mika, whose eyes bugged out a little more than usual.

"Are they not overreacting..?" Sephiroth asked suggestively, his voice convincing, yet unfamiliar to himself. He did it on purpose, as the least he wished for was to be recognized. Mika looked at him in question for a second, then she slowly understood.

"...Yeah, seriously! Holding us trapped like this... I'm only a musician," she said in an angry voice (not entirely feigned), but flashed a smirk as she glared at the small microphones in Sephiroth's hand. They had to act their way out of this one and then leave as soon as possible. But from where? All the emergency exits were sure to be guarded, just like the main entrance.

Sephiroth watched Mika sit down on the giant bed, thinking. Apparently, she had forgotten about her be-silent-and-lethargic policy.

They could get out through Corel Prison... The ones down there could not care less if they trespassed.

His thoughts came to a halt as somebody knocked on the door. Sephiroth moved away from it and closer to the bed. At the moment, his own sword was wrapped in the cloak (which was on his back) and the Mako blade was in the cello case. To anybody except himself and Mika, his Masamune looked like a wrapped cane. Still, even without his weapons, hand-to-hand combat would be more than enough for whoever had locked them in there. They were not worth killing with his Masamune.

The door was unlocked and a redhead walked inside at his own leisure, stopping and looking around as if he had everything worth mentioning under his control.

"Yo. Reno here... Sorry for causing you guys trouble," he said nonchalantly, and moved his eyes from Sephiroth to Mika, who narrowed her eyes visibly at the Turk.

"...Oh? Haven't we met before?" he asked, eyeing her. Sephiroth stepped away a little and watched the two of them.
"No," she responded simply.

"...Heh... Suppose you're taken, then?" the Turk said, glancing in Sephiroth's direction.
"What are your names?" he asked Sephiroth, turning serious now. For a short moment Sephiroth felt tempted to remove his sunglasses just to see the look on Reno's face, but did not. He had other matters to attend to; better, more important ones.

"I came here to perform tomorrow, but seeing as I'm no longer welcome, I will take my leave," Mika said in an overly arrogant and stiff tone – on purpose – ignoring Reno's question. The redhead looked at her in question, amused. Moving from the bedside, Mika got to her feet and walked towards the door.

That seemed to make Reno a little more disagreeable.

"Oi. You can't just leave, yo. The boss of this place is gonna throw me out if you just walk away," the redhead said, his voice a little louder than before, but Mika ignored him and passed him. Sephiroth picked up the cello case and was about to follow.

Then, right after Mika passed Reno, the redhead grabbed her shoulder firmly and forced her to turn around to face him.

"You aren't going anywhere," he said, a confident expression on his face - as if he was certain he'd caught the culprits he had been looking for.

The redhead's expression faded so quickly that he might as well have died. Sephiroth held one gloved hand around his neck, pinning the Turk to the wall with it. Not tightly, but certainly not weakly. The Turk's face was on the wall and he tried - and failed - looking over his shoulder.

"...That is hardly for you to decide, Turk. Locking us in here was a very rude thing indeed, and it is only natural for us to leave after being treated in such a manner," he said, perfectly calm. His voice was controlled, yet cold, and Reno did not move an inch while he spoke. But once Sephiroth finished, Reno picked up his weapon from a pocket in less than an instant. The metal baton sparked when the man was about to thrust it backwards.

Upon realizing it was a stun baton, Sephiroth withdrew his hand and pulled back. Reno jerked around, the baton already sparkling again in a wave of electricity that could have hit Sephiroth's hand. This situation would have been much easier without Mika, and without that stupid cello case with all their eqipment. To add to it all, he doubted Reno would wait nicely while he removed the tape and the cloak from his Masamune. Though Sephiroth himself was immune to elemental magic normally, his materia was now in the previously mentioned cello box, which only annoyed him even more.

He doubted Reno was planning to let them go, even if they didn't use weapons. Sephiroth's grip around his neck earlier had seemingly made Reno realize that Mika was not really a musician.

Which meant that this would not take long.

When Reno dashed in his direction, Sephiroth grabbed the cello case from where he had dropped it earlier and used it as a shield against Reno's baton. As Reno pulled back, Sephiroth once again dropped the case and kicked the redhead square in the stomach, sending him into the wall a second time. Once he was on his knees on the floor, Sephiroth swiftly lowered just enough to grab the baton, which had fallen to the floor as well, and hit Reno in the head with it. The sound upon impact was rather loud, but the man would live. Sephiroth glanced at the weapon in his hand. It was, if anything, handy. He should bring it along.

In one fast move he picked up the cello case with their belongings and moved out through the door. Mika was waiting for him in the hall, right outside the room, and together they ran down the stairs. The landlord looked at them with wide eyes as they continued outside. As things were, they had many options as to where they could go next. Sephiroth chose the first one and Mika followed. Afterhalf a minute of running, a flashy sign told them that they had arrived at the 'Battle Arena'. Mika followed him up the long stairs that would lead them to the main hall of the arena. Sephiroth did not run too fast, as that would leave Mika far behind. Once they were on top of the stairs, however, he came to an abrupt halt.

"...This..." he started, his voice amused. Mika, breathing heavily, looked past him.

There were around twenty Shinra guards a fair distance away from them, standing in half a circle, all with their guns pointed at the two of them.

"Drop your weapons!" one of the guards ordered. Doubting that the stun baton would be of any help (since it was a short-distance weapon), Sephiroth threw it. Not to the floor, though - he aimed for the head of the person who ordered them to drop their weapons. The man was knocked out cold – fainting instantly upon being hit in the head.

How pathetically easy.

"Ho-Hold your hands where we can see them!" another one exclaimed, not quite as calm as the first one. Sephiroth smirked. They were like fiends; thinking they could take him down even after one of them was knocked out right in front of them. Only because he and Mika were outnumbered, those guards underestimated them. Then he remembered the cave between the Chocobo Ranch and Fort Condor, and how he had used his energy to frighten the fiends in there. Would the same work with these guards? Or would they somehow recognize his energy?

"I said hold your hands where we can see them!?" the guard repeated, more nervous and impatient now. In the corner of an eye he could see Mika shifting. Despite that, her face was in a determined frown. He rose his arms very slowly, watching the guards through his dark sunglasses.

At the same moment, a helicopter came from behind. That was his chance.

While raising his arms he let out massive amounts of energy, letting it all flow away from him. It instantly created a forceful pressure that left a strong, steady wind blowing away from him in all directions. He watched the guards as they covered their faces with their hands. The sound of breaking glass was heard from somewhere nearby and he watched the cello case beside him fall to the ground. If these humans were as foolish as they appeared to be, they all probably thought this phenomenon was caused by the wind from the helicopter, or somehow by the people aboard the helicopter. The men in front of them - overwhelmed - swayed before falling, one by one. He felt Mika's hand on his shoulder as she supported herself from falling. Her dress billowed around her, nearly exposing her hidden gun.

Then his sunglasses cracked.

Sephiroth instantly eased the flow of energy and grabbed the instrument case from the floor. He threw a glance sideways at Mika and before the guards could recover, or even comprehend what had happened, both of them dashed forward and ran past them. The helicopter behind them still hovered in the air.

Glancing over his shoulder as he ran, he saw Mika following him, somewhat unsteadily on her high heels. Behind her, in the helicopter, he saw some guards aiming at them with guns. Snipers? How troublesome. Once again he looked forward, his eyes fixed on the main doors leading to the 'Battle Arena' itself. Some bullets passed him and hit the large doors and the door frame in front of him, and some even hit the case he held. He did not let go, though, and opened the door once he got close enough. After making his way inside, shortly followed by a distraught and still quite amusing Mika, he came to a halt.

It pleased him to see there were no one in there and he once again moved forward. He ran past the large fighting area and tried to open the emergency exit. But it was locked. This time he did not let that fact keep him from opening it; he stepped back and kicked it open, then watched as it fell off its hinges and landed in front of him with a smash.

Behind the door there were some winding stairs awaiting them – it went down as far as they could see. He knew where they led to: Corel Prison. The prison was right below Gold Saucer and was the place where thieves and criminals were sent to if they were caught doing things they shouldn't in Gold Saucer. It was in the middle of the desert, so none of them were able to escape. Unless they were skilled, that is.

Upon hearing the guards finally coming after them through the large door behind them, he and Mika continued onwards through the small door and down the stairs.

Being Sephiroth, he did not get dizzy easily at all. Even as he walked down the spiralling stairs, he remained calm and controlled. Not once did he slow down. While still running, he opened the cello case and pulled out the Mako blade, then shut the case again. Mika would not need a sword, nor materia, as she already had a gun (or two). Thanks to their high speed, it did not take long before they arrived at the bottom of the stairs. By then, Mika was visibly dizzy, but not overly so. They were in a rather small room with only one door. Sephiroth moved forward to open it.

"Ah-" he heard and stopped dead. Then he turned around slowly, frustration already flowing in his mind.

A Turk was holding Mika in a death-grip, his arm locked around her neck. The Turk was bald and wore sunglasses that were a little smaller than his own. If he was not mistaken, this had to be Rude. Sephiroth glanced back to the door, pondering whether he should just leave Mika behind. Then again, she could spill the truth about his identity if he just left her – that is, if they had not already found out... Not all humans were as stupid as they seemed.

Then... Should he...

...kill her, too?

The thought came from Jenova. As it entered his mind, he frowned. Something told him that would be a bad idea. Before his thoughts could ponder the reason behind that, though, movement caught his eyes again. With Rude's arm still around her neck, Mika moved her hand to her thigh and found the gun she had hidden in the holster there. Then she pointed it straight at Rude's forehead. He froze.

"Can you let go? Please?" Mika said in a voice that made it clear that she did not want to shoot him at all. That was a mistake, as Rude calmed down.

But before the Turk could do anything else, Sephiroth moved up to them in an instant and put his gloved hand on top of Mika's, which held the gun. Now Mika was situated between the two of them. Seeing as both he and Mika now held the gun pointed to his head, the silent Turk froze completely, not even breathing. Sephiroth had left the large instrument case by the door, but still held onto the Mako blade with his other hand, holding it right next to Rude's throat. There they were, the two of them with a gun and a sword pointed on the Turk, and Rude with an arm around Mika's neck, ready and strong enough to break it with a simple, quick twist. Neither of them moved.

Sephiroth heard a mass of movement from above and jerked his head up to see guards running down the stairs. While doing so, they all aimed their guns at them. Sephiroth frowned as the stairs above filled with filthy guards, all whose aims were disgustingly inaccurate despite the short range. Guessing it was because they were dizzy from running around and around down the stairs, Sephiroth's annoyance only increased.

The redhead from before appeared as well, holding his stomach. He looked rather displeased and pale, but upon seeing them, he forced a grin to his face. The scene seemed to amuse Reno rather a lot and he approached the three persons with a wry grin. With countless guns pointed at the criminals in front of him, Reno did obviously not fear them. He watched Sephiroth for some long seconds, then moved his gaze to Mika and eyed her. After observing them silently for a while, he spoke.

"So... Wanna admit your mistakes before I start exaggerating them?" he asked in a triumphant way, then moved until he was only inches from Mika's face.

"...Have to admit, though, we thought you did it all on your own, little bird. Who'd have thought you had a friend? You have anything to say for your defence?" he asked, a wide smirk on his face. She only glared back.

"I'm not a bird," she growled. Reno gave a short 'hn' at this, and bent even closer. Then he tilted his head, watching her with a bored look on his face. She stared back, her vision partly blurred by some of her hair that had loosened from her braid. Reno nonchalantly took hold of her currently loose braid and combed it out in one single move, leaving her hair slightly wavy.

Then Sephiroth's sunglasses suddenly cracked completely and broke.

As the glasses fell to the floor, his burning jade orbs were revealed – his pupils jet black slits.

It seemed to take forever for the glasses to get to the ground. Sephiroth frowned deeply. As the ones surrounding them recognized him, one by one, their eyes widened in shock. Reno looked at him in disbelief and stepped back as if stung. Then, before they had a chance to recover, Mika kicked one of Reno's legs and he fell. Without stopping, her leg continued and swung back to Rude and kicked him in the knee. He did not fall, but lost his balance and let go of her.

Then she dove forward in the direction of the exit. On her way she grabbed hold of the cello case. Sephiroth, now revealed, dealed Rude a roundhouse kick when the man came too close after his fast recovery from Mika's kick. The guards seemed to be at loss of words and simply stared as the scene unfolded. Their ignorance of the recent events would eventually lead them to the mercy of his malice if they did not stop their stupidity any time soon. Without someone to yell orders at them, they were not sure what to do. Just as some of them loaded their weapons and pointed at him again, he dashed past Mika (who, for some reason, waited for him) and kicked the exit door off its hinges, not caring whether it was locked or not. On his way out, Sephiroth tore off the hat he wore – letting his forelocks and braid free – not waiting for anyone else.

R.R.

(-gasp!-) Sephiroth is revealed! (for the second time...)