Boredom meant sparring. Sparring meant partners. Unfortunately, the only sparring partners available were the remnants. I chose to spar with Yazoo, as he was the lesser of three evils. Our swords clanged against one another, fiercely, stubbornly, but he eventually won. I knew what the outcome would be. Even if it was only a piece of him, I would never be able to beat Sephiroth.
Sweat dripping, I wiped my forehead on the back of my hand and set my sword away. Yazoo regarded me carefully. We were the only ones in the makeshift training, which was probably why he was openly watching me with curiosity. I sighed. "Is there something you would like to say?" I asked flatly.
"In the market," He murmured, looking up to meet my eyes. "Why did I recognize you but my brothers did not?" He asked. I started messing with my hair, first pulling on the loose strands, and then deciding to pull it all from the ponytail and re-do it.
"You resemble Sephiroth the most, before Jenova came into the picture. You and Loz, but you especially. That's my assumption as to why you recognized me. If you thought on it long enough, perhaps even memories would surface." I explained with a shrug.
"I do remember," He spoke up, his words catching me off guard. I looked up at him once more in shock. "Some things. When you smiled. A real one, not those fake ones you would give. I think it was the first time he ever saw your real smile. Even before I met you, it was burned into my memory." He said softly. My cheeks burned from his words, but I tried not to let it show, looking at the opposite side of the room.
"It's no surprise," I murmured quietly. "You would have the memories. Loz is the most likely to protect me, and Kadaj is most likely to kill me." I explained, more to myself then to him.
"Why is that?" He asked.
"Did you see the way Loz reacted in the lab? He has Sephiroth's instincts. It was in your big brother's instincts to protect me. But Kadaj...Kadaj did not exist until Nibelheim. Your brother killed long before Nibelheim but he was not cruel before then."
"I was," I stiffened at his voice. "You were just never there to see it." I whirled around, Sephiroth walking towards us. Yazoo gave a respectful bow to his brother, and then left the room. I looked to Sephiroth warily.
"What do you want?" I asked carefully. He regarded me silently for several long seconds, as if trying to read my mind.
"I've spoken with Hojo. He believes we can lengthen your lifespan by limiting your intake of Mako. He would like to try diluting it with water as well, to see if perhaps he can undo twenty-four years of intake of mako." He explained.
"It won't do any good," I responded evenly. "The goddess will not change my course of life. Not for any reason." I answered softly.
"She would allow her champion to die?" He asked. I looked up, piercing his gaze with my own.
"If her champion refuses to do her duty, then there is no need for said champion, is there?" I answered. He was quiet, once again regarding me carefully.
"She wants you to kill me." He stated. I nodded. "And you refuse?" He asked.
"I'm not capable." I responded. He raised an eyebrow at that, seeming a bit amused. I gave a confused glance.
"That is a lie." He responded, voice light, as if we were discussing current events at a friendly picnic. "As much as I would like to deny the truth, it's very possible. You are the only person capable of getting close enough," He said, a deeply troubled look now glazing over his vision.
"Cloud could," He stiffened at my words. "He did. Twice." I said with a shrug.
"That was a fluke." He answered. I quirked an eyebrow.
"Both times?" I asked. He stared deep into my eyes.
"Yes," He answered seriously. I decided to let it go. I knew this was dangerous territory, and though he claimed he would not harm me, I wasn't sure if I believed him. I could not trust this changed person. We settled into an uncomfortable silence. Another dead giveaway that he wasn't the person I remembered. Many times before, Sephiroth and I had sat in silence together, but it was never uncomfortable. How things change.
"Without the puppet, who is AVALANCHE's hero now?" He asked simply.
"There is no need for one." I explained. "You are powerful, but you are not unstoppable. They work together." I answered. He gave a questioning look.
"They? Are you not one of them?" He asked. I bit my lip and looked away.
"I...support them." I answered carefully. "But no, I am not one of them. I never belonged anywhere." He took a step closer, gripping my chin between two fingers and peering into my eyes.
"You belonged with me," He said evenly, seriously. Then, his lip quirked slightly. "If Nibelheim was any indication." I blushed red at that, and smacked his hand away. I nearly stumbled away, glaring up at him.
"You aren't allowed to look on that night as a happy one, and neither am I." I said furiously, but my blushing made the situation slightly more humorous than serious. Damn it all. He seemed to be forcing back a smirk, when the remnants appeared in the doorway and hurried over to him, whispering something fervently to him. His gaze darkened progressively. His eyes flashed to mine. He whispered to them once more and Loz approached me as the other three turned and left the room without another word.
"Brother says I am to take you back to your room and watch over you." He states simply, though he seemed a bit peeved. I peered at him curiously as we walked.
"What's going on?" I asked, attempting to keep up with his brisk pace. He didn't respond, merely glancing at me from the corner of his eye and then looked back ahead. I looked behind us, looking for any signs of what was happening. When I turned back around, I yelped and jumped a foot in the air. "Minerva!" I shouted in surprise. She was standing directly in front of me, not a foot away. She took the form of Elys this time, the only indication it was who she truly is the eyes and the fact that she is translucent. I noticed Loz had stopped walking and was watching me with a strange look, but I paid him no heed.
"Don't go any further!" She warned, voice and face both alarmed.
"Wha-" I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence as the wall not twenty feet ahead blasted away, rubble flying everywhere. That wasn't what concerned me though; it was the small grenade that rolled through afterwards. Loz and I barely had seconds to react as we turned to run the other way when it exploded. I turned, holding my hand out as I called upon the power of the lifestream in my veins, calling upon a summon. The creature had barely taken form when it was hit by the blast, knocking both Loz and myself back but effectively protecting us from anymore damage.
There was a slight ringing in my ears, but I ignored it as I sat up and looked to Loz. He was a bit worse off than I was, having taken the brute of the hit from the summon. He looked around, disoriented. I stood up, wobbly at first, and made my way towards him. I offered him a hand up. With a look of hesitation, he took it.
"You mind telling me what's going on now?" I asked with a glare.
"I really can't-"
"Someone just threw a grenade at us! You better damn well tell me what's going on!" I growled angrily. He grumbled and nodded.
"AVALANCHE is attacking." He explained. I hummed in understanding. We began to move again, this time the opposite direction. As I took time to think over this information, I started to form a plan. This was my perfect opportunity to escape. I'd have to think Tifa for this later. Well, I think it's Tifa. She was the kind to plan something like this. When Loz wasn't looking I once again held my hand out palm facing forward, and called up a summon. This time, a strong one. Leviathan, to be exact. It was a strange summon, and I wasn't quite sure why I chose Leviathan, but it worked well enough. It would keep Loz busy for at least a couple of minutes.
In his surprise, I dodged past him and the Leviathan, running past them. I cast a quick glance back at Loz, who was yelling for me to stop. "Sorry!" I called and then turned back around, continuing on my way. I didn't know the halls well, but I figured if I just kept continuing downwards, I'd eventually make my way to the exit.
Not so. Apparently, I had gone too far down and had ended up in some sort of basement, prison area. I had began to head upstairs again, but a creaking noise down the hall caught my attention. Against my better judgement, I continued down that way. My footsteps echoed against the walls, and the rustling stopped abruptly with the noise. I reached to my right, reaching for my sword, only to remember that I'd left it back at Tifa's. I mentally cursed myself.
The shuffling suddenly began again, and I stopped for a moment. Should I really continue? I'm supposed to be escaping after all. Unfortunately, my curiosity got the best of me. I took the last few steps, and turned to face whoever, or whatever, it was making all that noise. My eyes widened in disbelief, and I took a step back as if I'd been shoved. I stared in shock at the person standing behind the bars.
"G-Genesis?" I sputtered. He had been standing warily at the back of the cell, holding as much of a defensive position as possible in his predicament, When he saw me, his own eyes widened in surprise, and he took a step closer.
"Cerise? How-what are you doing here?" He asked, astonishment clear in his voice. I looked towards the exit and then back towards him. I took a step backwards and held my palm up.
"Move to the side," I ordered. He did as I said and watched in a mixture of awe and disbelief as power shot from my palm and hit into the bars, blasting them to bits. I leaned against the wall behind me and took several deep breaths of air. He stepped out, looking around and then looking back at me. His brows immediately creased in concern and he put a hand on my shoulder, leaning down to take a closer look at me.
"Are you alright?" He asked. I brushed his hand off and nodded, standing back up to my full height.
"I'm fine. Let's get going." I said and moved towards the exit. He didn't move to follow me. I looked back at him, a questioning look on my face. He studied me carefully.
"It's been years since we've seen each other and the first thing you do is break me out of a prison cell, no questions asked, and then expect me to follow you to goddess knows where?" He asked, though his voice held no surprise, nor caution. He seemed merely curious. He hadn't changed, it seemed. Nostalgia brought a wry grin to my face.
"Precisely. Shall we go?" I asked. He tried not to smile, and I would give him credit for that, but he couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face at my words. It seems nearly eight years and a bad ending to our last encounter couldn't destroy our strange friendship just yet. He didn't need any further prompting; we hurried out from the basement and back onto the main floor. We stopped just behind the wall leading to the next floor to catch a glimpse of the front entrance; it was flanked by a mixture of AVALANCHE members and Sephiroth's men. There was no way we were getting out that way without getting caught in the mix. I turned to Genesis and pointed upstairs.
"I don't think there are any other exits on this floor. We're going to have to go the next level and use a window." I told him. He quirked an eyebrow.
"Why can't you just blast a hole in the wall like you did to the bars on my cell?" He asked. I sighed.
"I'm running low on power. I need to drink more lifestream before I do that again, otherwise I'll probably die from dehydration." I answered. He nodded and we moved stealthily up the back staircase. There was fighting on this floor too, but not so much that it couldn't be avoided. I opened a random door, finding it to be a bedroom similar to mine. With a window! I grinned in success and ran towards it. I moved to pry it open, but found it stuck. I frowned and looked to Genesis.
"Not keeping up with your training?" He teased, moving past me towards the window. I huffed and crossed my arms in annoyance. He pulled at the window, but it wouldn't budge. I grinned.
"Not keeping up with your training?" I mocked. He glared at me, but went back to trying to pry it open.
"Cerise," I froze. Oh, shit. I whirled towards the door. Sephiroth stood in the door frame, watching the scene with narrowed eyes. He took a step into the room. "I see you found Genesis." He stated, and though his voice held no emotion, I felt a shiver go down my spine. He was not happy about the two of us reuniting. Genesis stopped pulling at the window and stood beside me, staring Sephiroth down, not bothering to hide his loathing.
"Sephiroth." He said coldly. Sephiroth took another step into the room. I hit Genesis' shoulder and motioned towards the window. He seemed reluctant but moved to go back to attempting to open it. Sephiroth moved with his usual grace and speed, but I somehow managed to keep up, blocking Genesis' body with my own. Sephiroth didn't strike, though the Masamune was mere inches from my face. We kept eye contact, neither of us willing to back down.
"Move," He ordered, and the amount of power in his voice almost made me do as he said. I somehow managed to stand my ground.
"No," I responded evenly. His eyes narrowed to slits. The sound of the window squeaking open was heard from behind me, and I turned around. Big mistake. Sephiroth took advantage of my distraction and moved around me, Masamune poised to strike Genesis down. Luckily, it didn't seem Genesis had lost any of his first class SOLDIER speed. He managed to maneuver himself out of the way just in time, though the edge of the masamune still managed to tear the fabric of his coat. Something needed to be done. I could see it in Sephiroth's eyes and body language; he had every intention of killing Genesis. It may have been eight years since I'd seen Genesis, and he may have turned into some kind of monster, but just like Sephiroth, I still cared about him. I didn't want him to die. Taking a deep breath I held out my palm, power building up and racing towards Sephiroth. The attack caught him off guard, just barely giving him time to dodge the bolt of thundaga racing towards him.
"Go, now!" I yelled at Genesis. He gave one look at me, and then at Sephiroth, and jumped out the window. I didn't hesitate to run after him, but just as I reached the window, Sephiroth gripped my shoulder, holding me back. I looked back at him. His face was a mask, completely unreadable, but I knew he was begging me to stay. His gaze held mine fiercely.
"If you leave, we'll be enemies." He said calmly, evenly, but I knew different. I knew, because we had always been linked. And what broke my heart, was sure to break his. A single tear slipped down my cheek as I reached up, placing a hand on the side of his face and leaning up, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. It lasted only a second, and as I pulled back I looked up to meet his eyes one more time.
"We've always been enemies." And with that, I jumped.
Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading chapter 9 of Tempest! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I'm so sorry that chapters are so far in between, but this is a complex story, and not always easy to write! Still, I really do enjoy this story and I hope you do as well! Thanks so much for all of the reviews and support I've gotten! I really appreciate it! This has not been edited, so if you see any errors that drive you crazy, go ahead and let me know and I'll fix them! If you have any time, please review, as your words of encouragement, and your helpful tips are always welcome and drive me to write faster and better! Thanks again!
Next chapter is a past chapter!