Standard disclaimers apply.
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WHEN YOU WISH UPON A MATERIA
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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Two people were having a conversation over tea in a field of mushrooms and strawberries.
"It is not my place to answer that question," Vincent was saying, as he took a sip of his Earl Gray and dipped a scone in honey. A red parrot flew by and disturbed his hair. "Perhaps you should ask him again at another convenient time."
The parrot landed on Sephiroth's shoulder. The man was stirring his green tea with one hand and rolling a sushi with the other. Somewhere near his left ear, an eel swam by. "I will do just that. Thank you for availing all this information to me."
The entire scene was beyond Cloud's ability to handle logic. He turned and fled the other way. There were a lot of bubbles as he ran.
He rolled off the bed and onto the cold, hard metal flooring of the room.
There was a loud crash which Cloud did not notice. All the noise he was aware of was the ringing in his ears that sounded like a thousand toiling bells. He muttered under his breath and quickly sat up. White dots obscured his vision for a while, but they soon passed. He saw that he was in a fairly large but simple room. The metallic walls and long glass windows overlooking a city with the colour of ghoulish green told him he was still somewhere in the Shinra Building. He let out the breath he had not known he was holding.
Only to breath sharply in again when he heard a voice from behind him.
"It's about time you woke up." This was undoubtedly Sephiroth's voice. "I'm just about running out of excuses to give your sergeants."
Leviathan was curled up somewhere at the corner of the bed Cloud had just fallen out from. From the corner of his eyes, Cloud glanced at the tall, imposing figure of General Sephiroth, who was staring down at him with arms folded across his chest. A soft chirp attracted Cloud's attention, and he noticed that Phoenix was there as well, resting at the foot of the bed. He spared the bird a look, before turning around to face Sephiroth, straining his neck to look up at the taller man who appeared even taller now that Cloud was sitting on the floor.
The field of mushrooms and strawberries reentered his mind, and Cloud could feel colour draining from his face at the image.
"You passed out at the Director's office. I had to carry you here. You've been out for two days, and your cadet friends are starting to get a little suspicious. Now that you're finally awake, however, you should return to your squadron for a while, just to show your face. You'll be accompanying me on a new mission after that."
Cloud's face was blank, but he gaped after a while. "What... how... I... who... what... huh?" He managed, after a while. Vincent snickered in his head, and he realised with a jolt that he had forgotten about their telepathic link.
'Slowly, Cloud,' Vincent suggested gently. 'One thing at a time.'
"Right," the confused blond muttered under his breath, clambering to his feet at the same time. He faced Sephiroth once more and took a longer look. The General was standing at a doorway of sorts. Evidently that was the entrance and exit of the room, for the only other door led to what Cloud could see was a bathroom. Glancing elsewhere, he took stock of the other parts of the room.
Besides the bed which was in the middle, pushed against a wall, there were also furniture like tables and shelves lined up against almost every other wall. The room itself, despite only having one bed, was much larger than his shared bunk. Most probably an executive room of the Building. It looked like the owner of the room had customised it for ease of work rather than recreation. And he had a sinking feeling he knew who the owner was.
Sephiroth preempted Cloud's question by saying, "In case you're wondering, this is a room in my allocated apartment in the Shinra Building."
"Yeah, I thought so," Cloud groaned. "What am I doing here?"
"To be honest, I tried to bring you to the infirmary," Sephiroth explained. "But your pet bird was terrorising practically every moving thing we passed by on the way. Unlike Leviathan, I believe the bird can still be seen by normal people. I'd sent Zax to placate Shinra and convince him that there was no dangerous, fire-breathing bird in the house, so it was only right that I did not compound the problem by parading the very bird around in open view. That meant the infirmary was out. And that's why you're here now."
"Oh," Cloud blinked. That actually made sense. He turned around and stared at Phoenix, who stared back. "Can you do the same thing Leviathan's doing? Keeping out of sight with certain conditions and such?"
Phoenix chirped something which sounded positive. But nothing else happened that could be observed.
"What's this about a mission, though?" Cloud's attention was back on Sephiroth quickly enough. "And for goodness sake... I hope you didn't tell my bunkmates and sergeants anything funny!" It took all his self-control to resist reaching up and pulling at his hair in agony.
"Don't worry, I told them it was classified," Sephiroth reassured.
The blond thought about that for a while. Then he gasped, "You told them personally?!"
Sephiroth blinked. "Should I have sent a moogle?"
Cloud was so disturbed by the reactions he was sure he would face when he returned to his squad, that his mind now completely shut down and went blissfully blank. "Maybe you should have..."
Vincent's mental pat of consolation only made things worse.
"In any case, Vincent has provided me with much information about your actual purpose in the military and why you seem to have such affinity with the summons," Sephiroth continued, seemingly oblivious to Cloud's inner turmoil. His words, however, jolted Cloud with surprise. The blond snapped to attention. "Although I sympathise with your history, I'm afraid I have to agree with Vincent. What's done cannot be undone, so you'll just have to keep going."
There was meaningful tone to Sephiroth's words that Cloud was absolutely not getting at all. "All right..." he conceded for now, slightly thankful that the man was not about to try to put him in a spot again. Nevertheless, he made up his mind to ask Vincent what was going on, later. "So what mission were you talking about just now?" He decided to go back to a safer topic.
The General looked to a side and sighed. "We are going to Modeoheim. The apparatus that Hollander had been using have been pillaged. We are to spend a day investigating before returning to headquarters to recommend a course of action," was Sephiroth's brief explanation.
Cloud thought about it. "Why don't you ask Zax along instead?" Vague, blurry memories of his true past during the Shinra military were resurfacing. He recalled that Zax had gone to Modeoheim for a mission before at one point of time. And it was a very important mission, at that. He could not remember what it was, but he had the impression that it changed his friend's life. "I think he would know it better than I do, having gone there before."
There was a long silence, in which Sephiroth stared at Cloud strangely. "I'm sure you are aware of his reservations about that place," the man eventually said. "That was where Angeal died, after all," he unfolded his arms and turned around. "Get yourself ready. I'll meet you at the helicopter strip at 1200 hours," were his final, parting words.
Cloud waited until he could no longer hear the General's footsteps or sense him anywhere nearby, before activating the pendant materia and projecting Vincent onto the nearest wall. When he saw the familiar facade, he retreated a few steps, the back of his knees eventually bumping into the bed he had fallen from. He sat down dramatically on the sheets and sighed. "Tell me what you told him," he demanded.
"Certainly. I told him we were part of a dark, magical and reclusive clan inhabiting a secluded island northeast of Midgar. You were abandoned near a Mako pool when you were born because your parents feared the stigma of having given birth to a child with the colours of light amongst a race of darkness. When we finally discovered you seven years later, you were already a young boy who had somehow survived by yourself in an area with no food and water; and exposed to so much Mako that you were practically glowing from within.
"The chieftains tried to find out how you had supposedly done such a thing with no apparent help - to no avail. Needless to say you were put through a series of impersonal experiments that no child your age should have to. As one of the staff tasked with finding out the secret of your survival, I eventually came to realise the atrocities I was perpetrating and put my foot down by officially taking you into my custody, and then breaking free from the tribe I had known all my life. We were exiled and settled down in the quiet village of Nibelheim, where we have been ever since.
"However, as you grew, learned, and adapted, you started to long for your heritage. Your memory of the past was patchy and you wanted to see your people again at least one more time. It was not as if they were really trying to destroy your life. They just took their curious-seeking a little further than they should have. I then contacted the clan, who said they would allow the boy to step foot on the motherland he had disavowed if he could prove his physical and mental strength by entering the Shinra military and making it to 1st class SOLDIER.
"Now here's where it gets interesting. The chieftains must have thought they had given you an impossible task, for our clan had little to no physical duress. And, though a magical race, our compatibility with materia was passable at best. Unknown to the chieftains, however, you have a special affinity with summon creatures - having spent all your founding years basking in the Mako that connects to them. In fact, the summons had been taking care of you after you were abandoned. That was why you had survived.
"Because of your abnormal upbringing, you had abilities that easily resembled that of the current SOLDIERs. For example, glowing eyes and a summon tagalong that boosted your basic stats. We took pains to cover that up before sending you to Shinra. But alas, you somehow managed to catch the attention of the General himself. In a desperate attempt to appear normal, you played along when he misunderstood you to be a SOLDIER when you were actually not. But I decided enough was enough, and told him about your woeful past in order to bring you some respite from all the play-acting. Now... wasn't that a beautiful story that completely covered all your suspicious activities that Sephiroth had been observing and quietly filing away?"
"...Vincent. My head hurts," Cloud complained. "And that sounded like an unnecessarily long summary for a bad AU fic." The headache was not going away. "And did you really tell him all that...?!"
"Of course, my tone was much more convincing, my demeanour much more serious, and my choice of words much more eloquent. I couldn't very well have told him that you actually came from the future now, could I?"
"But you! And me! A dark, magical and reclusive clan! What...??"
Vincent did not seem concerned. "There is a high chance that he believes the tale," he said, "but we may never be able to know for sure. Nevertheless, you now have a reason to act skittish around him and basically everybody else. Your inability to recall specific details about your past is also well covered. For the sake of your sanity, Cloud, just play along with me until something happens to suggest that he suspects otherwise, all right?"
Cloud slumped further into himself. He knew Vincent was trying to help him, and he was grateful that the man had cooked up a tall story instead of telling Sephiroth the truth. Though, he was not sure which one was more believable at this point of time. Sephiroth had not seemed belligerent before he walked out of the room, however, and that was as good a sign as they could get for now. "So why does he want me to go with him on a mission now that he's aware I'm not really a SOLDIER?"
"I don't know, Cloud," Vincent shrugged. "He did mention Zax was unavailable. Perhaps he had no one else to ask?"
That seemed unlikely to Cloud. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to rack his brains for an answer. "I think he's probably still suspicious," he eventually mumbled.
"Tread carefully around him, Cloud, but otherwise, just let him be," said Vincent. "Remember what I told you about playing along with my story?"
"Yes... yes... all right, I will," Cloud pushed himself off the bed and stretched. "Thanks for the support, Vincent. So, he knows that I'm a cadet now, right? Just a little special because of my... 'strange' upbringing?"
"That ought to be the case."
"Did he ever ask why we could communicate in our minds?"
"Yes. I wrote it off as a special ability of our 'magical clan'."
"In that case, how did you explain why Sephiroth could hear us too?"
"I told that his magical signature was similar to yours. Which is a verifiable truth."
"You are so good at this," Cloud just had to comment.
"I was a Turk," Vincent deadpanned in reply. "More importantly, we discovered that the communication link doesn't break even when you fall unconscious, which was why I could speak with Sephiroth via the link. It is an interesting discovery. If we could expand on that and somehow find a way to cast spells that can last even after the caster is knocked out, then protective spells like Barrier and..."
"Okay, thanks, I gotta go grab my stuff, I think I've had enough of mushrooms and strawberries for today. Talk in my head another day, okay?" Cloud grabbed the pendant and terminated the spell without waiting for Vincent to reply. Once the usually quiet man got started on his thesis reports, there was no stopping him, and the last thing Cloud needed now was a dull monotone of materia-science theories droning away at the back of his mind.
The blond took one last sweeping glance around the room. It was neat and clean from underuse, and there was nothing fancy or ornamental. He wondered how often Sephiroth invited his friends over for parties - if at all. Shaking that stray thought out of his head, he proceeded to exit the room. Leviathan and Phoenix both took to the air and followed him by flanking each of his sides.
Immediately outside was a corridor which led to a large living room. The room Cloud had been in was at the end of the path, and there were two other rooms along the same hallway. He walked past the two closed rooms, curious about them but not curious enough to risk his life by poking around what could very well be Sephiroth's private quarters. There was a clock hanging on one of the walls of the living room, which told Cloud it was already eleven in the morning. He had an hour to 'show his face' at his squadron, like Sephiroth had suggested, and get ready to meet the SOLDIER for the Modeoheim mission. He sighed.
As he made his way down to the bunks in the elevator with his two surprisingly obedient summons (he was dreading having to mediate between the two if they were to get into a hissy fit with each other again), he pondered his options. He was not sure what to expect from his squadmates and bunkmates, now that there was irrefutable proof he was somehow linked to Sephiroth. Yet if he did not sound them out, younger Cloud was going to have difficulties when he eventually came back. Of course, the biggest problem at hand was Sephiroth, who now thought he was some strange creature with an agenda of sorts. Then there was Zax. Oh yes, there was Zax.
Just as Cloud thought his head was literally going to blow up, Vincent's wise words came back to him.
'One thing at a time,' Cloud repeated to himself. 'One thing at a time.'
The elevator stopped at the storey where his bunk was located, and he stepped out, not surprised to sense nobody around. At this time of the morning, all the infantrymen were supposed to be doing their morning drills. He found his bunk and went in, the lights automatically switching on when his presence was felt. He was just going to grab his standard issue pack and rifle, clean himself up (two days was a long time to go without a shower, after all), and then head down to where the squadron was doing their drills. Approaching his assigned bed, however, he saw that there was a sheet of paper on top of his made bed.
He frowned and picked the sheet up. There was handwriting on it.
'Hey Cloud! Sorry about the whole Sephiroth thing! You should've just told us it was sensitive stuff! We wouldn't have probed, you know! Thanks to you, the entire squadron got a long, drawn-out lecture from the sarg about the military definition of 'Classified' and what responsible military men not in the know ought to do when dealing with such matters. But hey, at least we got to see Sephiroth torch down the sarg's high horse before that! In any case, we swear we won't ever broach the subject with you again. Ever! So just go out there and get them for us, whatever they may be!'
The hastily scrawled letter actually put a small smile on Cloud's face. He remembered how awkward his bunkmates were when trying to show concern for him, and the letter must have taken some courage to write. Being overwhelmed by his own problems had blinded him from the current reality. Young Cloud and his bunkmates were - when all was said and done, mere teenagers who were socially inept and bad at expressing their worry for another in an environment that promoted competition above everything else. The fact that they had even tried spoke volumes, and Cloud appreciated it with warmth in his heart.
He looked around for a pen, and found one by the table nearest to his bed. Picking it up, he scribbled a big, messy 'THANK YOU' on the empty space beneath his bunkmates' message.
Cloud may not remember much about his time as a Shinra grunt, but he had a feeling it was not as horrible as his imagination wanted him to believe.
When he came out from the washroom after a quick shower, Leviathan and Phoenix were glaring at each other, hissing and snapping away. They stayed clear from each other, true, but the antagonism was frankly getting on Cloud's nerves. He wanted to find out more about Phoenix' presence, but seeing that the creature could not speak human language, he was at a loss at where to start. He gave the two summons a stern warning again, and they shrank away each from the other in contrition.
The materia pendant glowed. Cloud activated the second level of the spell to allow Vincent to speak with him in his head.
'I have a suggestion,' Vincent said immediately upon connecting to Cloud's mind.
Cloud strapped his pack onto himself, took his rifle, and exited the bunk. 'About what?' He then asked.
'Give Phoenix to Sephiroth.'
'Sure,' the blond said absent-mindedly as he trudged down the corridor towards the elevator. Then he stopped. "WHAT??!"
'Keep walking. You don't want to be late. And don't sound so surprised. You and I both know that your summons can feed on Sephiroth's MP like they can yours.'
'Yes...' Cloud admitted readily, restarting his trek towards the elevator. 'But still!'
'You fainted two days ago not because you did not have enough MP to maintain the two summons, but because your mind was unprepared for the sudden outflow of MP when Phoenix began to channel your energy for its spells. Your consciousness has since adjusted itself to accomodate both Leviathan's and Phoenix' energy requirements, but have you noticed the pattern? You keep fainting whenever the summons use energy for spells that you were not expecting them to use. And they keep using spells you don't expect them to use.'
Cloud ran through the events of the past few days, and found that he had to agree with Vincent. 'What difference does is make for me to have one or two summons on my back, then? I'm going to faint either ways, right?'
'Not really, Cloud. Remember I said that your consciousness is now able to accomodate maintaining two summons? Giving one summon away will not make it readjust itself. That will essentially give you an energy buffer of sorts, in which Leviathan will be able to cast an unexpected spell or two without knocking you out.'
Cloud entered the elevator and pressed the floor where the parade square was. 'Okay... you do have a point. So how do I convince Phoenix to leave me, and how do I convince Sephiroth to take it?'
'You'll find a way,' Vincent said pleasantly.
The elevator doors slid open just as Cloud was about to make a witty comeback, shutting his mental mouth up and exposing him to the entire floor of the parade square. All the infantrymen were there in their full uniforms, going through their drills. That the elevator doors had opened did not escape the notice of some of the people.
Cloud ignored the curious glances he was getting, and strode purposefully towards the sergeant in charge. The sergeant turned around and noticed him. He made his own movements to walk towards the blond.
"Strife!" The sergeant boomed, and Cloud straightened himself on the spot. He kept his glance carefully on a spot just above the sergeant's shoulder. The man opened his mouth to say something - most probably an insult, or a barb, or something of a negative nature, but reined his tongue in at the last moment. Instead he shoved a sealed envelope towards Cloud, and settled for, "Do your best for that mission of yours and make your squad proud!"
Again, Cloud straightened himself, this time more confidently. "Sir!" He acknowledged, as he grabbed the envelope firmly. He wondered what Sephiroth told his sergeant to make the man so pliant. Nevertheless, now that he had dutifully 'shown his face', he supposed it was time to go meet the General for the mysterious Modeoheim mission.
He quickly turned and ran towards the elevator, not once looking back. He could hear the sergeant barking at the murmuring squad, asking them to get back to whatever they were doing.
Then the elevator doors slid shut, and he could hear them no more.
The seal on the envelope was from Lazard's office, which meant that it was from Sephiroth. Cloud tore it apart. Inside, there was nothing except a keycard. Cloud stared at the card for a while, before taking it out and sliding it across the scanner in the elevator.
The elevator beeped and automatically made its way for the floor with the helicopter strip.
'I completely forgot that I needed a keycard to get there,' Cloud did a mental blink.
'Good thing for you Sephiroth is a meticulous man.'
Cloud wanted to retort, but something else popped up in his mind. 'Oh, hey. Nobody in the parade square appear to have seen Phoenix!'
Phoenix cooed. It was currently standing somewhere near Cloud's left foot. Its fiery tail was pressed so flush against the glass of the elevator, Cloud was surprised the glass was not melting away yet.
'Your instructions to it must have worked, then,' Vincent replied. The elevator made a soft chime and the doors slid open yet again.
'Well, I haven't seen this place intact for a while,' Cloud mused as he stepped out into the open. The last time he saw it was when they were scouting the Midgar ruins for anything to help with their rebuilding work. At least, that was what he could remember. There was a helicopter in the area, but no Sephiroth. Cloud figured he was probably early, so he went to lean against a railing. From his position, he could see Midgar above the plates. Out of impulse, he took a deep breath, only to choke. 'The air is horrible even at this altitude,' he sighed.
'It will be better at Modeoheim,' Vincent consoled the boy. 'They have a Mako excavation site there, but plans to utilise it were aborted at the last minute. It must have been a while since any humans stepped foot there. You can rest assured that the air is clean, if a little chilly.'
'I don't remember a Modeoheim,' Cloud frowned. 'Where was it located?'
'It is an abandoned village located somewhere in the Icicle Area. You may have run a delivery service before at some point in your life, but I am quite certain nobody sends stuff to empty villages.'
Cloud snorted. 'Vincent, you will be surprised. I've been asked to deliver live cows to graveyards before. And that wasn't even the most bizarre by any count.'
There was silence in which Cloud was sure Vincent was lifting his eyebrows. 'Really, now? I haven't heard about that one before. You must tell me more about it some time.'
Leviathan suddenly sprang up from Cloud's shoulder. It was in alert-mode, but not howling hysterically. And Cloud knew what that meant. He turned around from staring at Midgar City to see the approaching form of Sephiroth. Behind him was a man in black suit.
Cloud tried to repress his horror when he saw that it was Tseng.
"Before we go, I need to brief you on the mission," Sephiroth said without preamble. He was holding onto a folder of sorts, and he flipped through the papers that were clipped there. "We are going to Modeoheim to investigate the reports of suspicious activity at the Mako excavation site. After ascertaining the actual status of the claims, Tseng will the one deciding on our next course of action. If there are no complications, the mission shouldn't take more than one to two days, travelling time included. I have already registered this on your cadet mission schedule." Finishing his piece, Sephiroth lowered the folder and gave Tseng a square look.
"Usually, a proper investigation mission includes at least one SOLDIER and two infantrymen, but due to the classified nature of this particular mission, the brass wanted to do away with the infantrymen. They only relented when Sephiroth himself requested for you, so be sure to do a good job. This will reflect well on your progress up the ranks," Tseng stated in his usual no-nonsense tone of voice. Once the official stuff was over, however, he tilted his head to a side. "Cloud, wasn't it?" He asked, making Cloud's eyes widen comically. "You were of great help to Zax in the previous mission there, so I wasn't surprised to see you being enlisted for this one. In fact, I would have requested for you myself. Every mission beefs up an infantryman's assessment, and it would be a waste to let this mission go unaided by someone who is qualified and most definitely deserves the score." The Turk gave Cloud a small smile.
"You know each other?" Apparently, Sephiroth was surprised as well.
"He was one of the infantrymen who accompanied Zax on the last mission to Modeoheim," Tseng answered. "His quick thinking was of invaluable help."
Sephiroth gave the frozen Cloud a sidelong glance. "I see," he simply stated after the pause. "Tseng, go start the helicopter up first. I need to speak with Cloud about something in private."
The Turk simply nodded, and he was heading for the helicopter in no time. Sephiroth watched him until he was far away enough. Then he turned to look at Cloud. "So you've been to Modeoheim before?"
Cloud kept his thoughts and emotions calmly reined in, so that Sephiroth would not sense anything awry. "Yes," he said, when in actual fact he was not really sure. But if Tseng had said so, then it was most probably true.
"Why did you want me to ask Zax along instead this morning then? As if he would be the better choice due to his having gone on a mission there before when you have, as well?" The General narrowed his eyes.
The blond had to hammer his immediate reply of 'because I don't remember' back into the dark recesses of his mind. Once it surfaced to the top of his head, Sephiroth would be able to read it. He said, "Zax is more experienced, sir. His analytical abilities surely outweight mine, even if we HAVE gone on the same mission. I figured he would be of more help..." He shifted his weight awkwardly. "After all, I'm not a SOLDIER..."
The wistful regret in Cloud's voice was genuine. Sephiroth visibly relaxed, and he backpedalled hastily by saying, "I don't mean to suspect you, but this mission is critical and I need to know that I can absolutely trust you. I apologise if I have offended you."
Cloud blinked and quickly shook his head. "Don't! It's not your fault that I... err... stand out somehow. I..." he sighed and looked away. "...I'm trying not to. S'not working very well, though."
"Well, I will try to assist you to the best of my abilities," there was an amused twinkle in Sephiroth's eye. He then turned to look at the orange bird that was sitting comfortable on the floor. "Tseng did not seem to have noticed the bird," he observed.
"Neither did anybody in the parade square," Cloud said, and he, too, turned to look at the bird. The bird glanced up at the two humans with large, inquiring eyes. "Speaking of which, could you help me take care of it for a while?" Cloud asked, remembering what Vincent had suggested as a solution to his summons problem.
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Well, err... I'm not strong enough to maintain two summons without fainting every now and then from MP overuse," he said. "And since our magical signatures are similar, that means you can help me maintain one of the summons. I'll be more useful in this mission if I don't faint every other hour, don't you think?" He managed a tiny, uneasy smile.
The General considered it for a second. "Yes, I do agree," he said, surprising Cloud. "But wouldn't it be easier if you just asked one of them to go back to the Dirac Sea?"
"I want to," Cloud looked at the two creatures, "but THEY don't want to return. Remember that thing Odin mentioned about granting wishes? Seems like they haven't finished what I supposedly called them out for, so they don't want to go back yet..."
Sephiroth actually laughed slightly. "Yes, I do remember about that. Well, I don't mind helping out. I'm sure it would be an interesting experience which I can learn from. However, your pets are very attached to you. I do not see how you can convince one of them to come along with me, at any rate."
'Why don't you try asking?' Vincent's voice came into the discussion for the first time since Sephiroth's entrance. 'It won't hurt.'
"Hello, Mr. Valentine," Sephiroth greeted. "I didn't know you were there."
'I love to fuss over my son, General Sephiroth,' Vincent replied smoothly.
Cloud wanted to either burst out laughing, or hit his head repeatedly against the nearest wall, for strawberries and mushrooms had taken over his mind again. Deciding he needed to interrupt the duo before they conversed further, he turned towards Phoenix. "Phoenix, I know you're with me and all that, but I need you to do me a big favour now by switching your allegiance to Sephiroth temporarily. Please."
Phoenix gave Cloud a long, hard stare. Then it stood up and waddled over to Sephiroth. It sang a beautiful song, but nobody knew what it was trying to say, after which it took to the air with a big flap of its wings and circled Sephiroth. Cloud could literally see tendrils of raw energy evaporating from Sephiroth and streaming towards the circling bird. A few more circles later, Phoenix stopped and descended, landing on the floor near Sephiroth. It trilled.
Cloud and Sephiroth looked at each other in confusion. "So does this mean Phoenix is with me now?" Sephiroth asked.
"I don't know, I can't speak Bird," Cloud admitted. "But I guess we'll find out along the way to Modeoheim?"
Sephiroth looked at the bird who stood next to him. The bird looked up at him and cooed. "I do feel something weighing on my subconsciousness. This may take some time getting used to. In any case, we had better join Tseng," he gestured towards the helicopter, whose blades had been rotating in standby since Tseng boarded it.
"Thanks for agreeing to help with Phoenix," Cloud said with earnest sincerity.
Sephiroth smiled. And it was a warm, gentle smile. "You can buy me coffee in the canteen when we return," he offered. Then he turned and was walking towards the helicopter. "Let's go," he commanded.
"Yes, sir!" Was Cloud's hearty reply, and he chased after the General with a smile of his own on his face.
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18apr2009
cloud is starting to grow attached to the past, ignoring all the danger signs blaring in his head. be careful, cloud!!! oh, who am i kidding. go for it, cloud!!!
