It had been almost two months since Emma had joined Rill in controlling the mad antics of the Shinra company, usually Reno and Zack as they were her specialities.
"You have to build your own repertoire. Reno and Zack are the most extreme examples, but they're far from the only ones that I've handled."
"But everything else seems so tame in comparison..."
"Precisely." Rill was once again pulling off a flawless polite mask while a sobbing Zack clung to her waist and wouldn't be pried away for anything. She absently patted his head, then continued to sign her paper work without seeming that bothered. Emma shook her head.
"I understand how you work even less now than I did before I started this." The younger woman shot her a quick smile.
"Once you learn to act, Emma, the rest is easy."
"The rest?" The blond asked dubiously, leaning forward on the desk. "Rill, you've averted social disaster for the company no less than nine times in the last month alone, saved the company almost five million in property damage, hush money and insurance rates, all while your guy is on the frontlines of a bloody war!" Rill barely restrained a flinch and an aggravated sigh.
"I say it again, I am not in a relationship of any kind." The talk about her and Genesis had been active, more so than she expected, but repeated and firm denials were starting to take their toll. But apparently the commander's interest was legendary enough that people were still talking about it.
"I'll bet you my paycheck he asks you out when he comes back." Even the time Rill had had to wrestle her emotions into submission couldn't stop the brief pang she felt. Once again the unseen pressure she felt at knowing...knowing that Genesis intended to desert the company and stand as an active enemy stabbed into her.
Not for the corporation, oh no, far from it. But for Sephiroth and Angeal. The ones that would truly miss their friend and want to scream at him for being an idiot. For forcing them to fight him as an enemy...
"Irrelevant, Emma. I'm not interested in any kind of relationship." The conniving blond was looking at her again with a glint in her eye that Rill had learned to recognize.
"With all due respect, Rill: That's bull. You care about him."
"It is called being a friend, Emma."
"You're friendzoning the most eligible bachelor in the city." The blond Turk repeated as if she hadn't quite heard her correctly. Zack piped up, calming down somewhat and listening with a slight frown.
"Did Gen seriously say something to you Rill? 'Cause, If he did then I won the bet that he'd fess up before he went out!" Rill gave the 2nd Class SOLDIER a hard look and he fell silent instantly. She was aware of the betting pools that were running at the moment. Somehow she had ended up holding the pot for most of them! But that was still a sore spot that she didn't feel like having people poke at even if they didn't realize just how much it was hurting her.
"Commander Rhapsodos did not mention anything of the kind." Rill lied, keeping her face as composed as she could. She beat back her reflex to grimace as the falsehood came from her lips. She hated lying even if she had become rather good at it over the course of her life.
"And even if he had, it would be something to be kept in confidence and not broadcast throughout the entire company." Rill put a definitive end of the subject in her voice and forced herself to not look at her calendar. Genesis was due back in just two more days and she hadn't stopped praying the entire time that he would see sense and not go through with his plan...
"What's wrong?" Sephiroth's voice sounded just behind her and Rill started out of her brown study. She looked up at the silver haired man with somewhat distracted eyes.
"I beg your pardon?" A finger gently poked her temple in chastisement and she rolled her eyes. "Sorry Sephiroth, but the professional face is easier to hold onto if I don't have to keep switching personalities whenever there isn't any work to do."
"There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a work face." Sephiroth said, leaning against her desk, somehow managing to not loom over her in spite of his height and girth. "You know I have one too. But I'd still rather see the real you whenever I can." Sephiroth's SOLDIER face was something to behold. Rill would describe it as simply, utterly terrifying. The kind of paralyzing terror you might feel when you saw a wrathful god in battle, mixed with the inevitable horror of a dragon bearing down on you. She had never yet seen this face in person, only in recordings, and she hoped very much it would stay that way. She much preferred the socially impaired dork with a sweet tooth as big as his reputation.
There was no other way to describe the way Sephiroth interacted with her family. He was a giant dork! He stole cookie dough and tasted dinner before it was done. He gave all three of the women flowers and other small gifts, and usually initiated dirt fights when they showed him how to tend plants. And that was without even touching on what he did with the hose!
She honestly wondered what it would take for her to fear Sephiroth now that she had really gotten to know him.
"Your first experience with the real me came when I was delirious." She pointed out. "Are you sure your opinion isn't somewhat skewed by that?" This drew a smirk from the man that Rill was quick to avert her eyes from. For all that she had admitted to herself, and Aeris, that she was attracted to Genesis, she wasn't blind either and Sephiroth was a very attractive man. And it was much harder to not blush when she wasn't wearing the secretary persona.
"Oh yes. You know, Auntie told me something rather interesting..." Rill felt a thrill of horror shoot up her spine.
"Whatever you are about to say, I deny." Sephiroth simply leaned down a little, continuing as if she hadn't spoken.
"She said that whenever you get delirious, or are on medication, you become very honest. Somewhat similar to an honest drunk." Oh Goddess. What in the world did I say that still has him this amused almost three months after the fact? This was something he had only started doing after he got to know Elmyra and Aeris. But him actively teasing her without playing off of her aunt and cousin was a new and uncomfortable feeling. Rill groaned and hid her face in her arms so she didn't have to see his face. Just made ignoring his good looks easier.
My reputation! Alas, where art thou...?
"I must say, considering your apparent lack of reaction. I was starting to wonder if you preferred women." She felt her face burn. What life do I have where my boss teases me about my sexual preference?
Going by what I know? A fairly normal one.
That wasn't directed at you, dearest cousin.
"Are you almost done?" She mumbled into her arms, trying very hard not to fall into complete despair. There came a beat of silence.
"...does it bother you that much?" Rill smiled, her expression safely hidden. Zack and Reno would have kept on teasing her, the former accidentally and the latter very, very deliberately. But not Sephiroth, no. Sephiroth reacted almost instantly and backed off the moment she showed discomfort. She sat up, rubbing the bridge of her nose under her glasses.
"It's still rather new to have my boss tease me in general, let alone about my sexual orientation."
"Why do you wear the glasses?" The complete change in topic almost made Rill stumble. Almost.
"They make me look older and most of the people I have to deal with won't listen to a teenager." She answered promptly and simply. Sephiroth carefully lifted the frames off of her face and looked through them critically.
"These are real glasses though?" She smiled faintly and shook her head.
"They're good fakes. They've got to look authentic." Catlike green eyes gazed down at her with a note of disapproval.
"That isn't good for your eyes."
"If I were wearing someone else's prescription frames, yes. But these are custom made for me, Sephiroth. I'm not gonna wreck my eyes." The general contemplated the frames in his hand once again..then he put them on.
In his work attire, the frames added a certain human like quality to him, even if the new emphasis on his eyes might unnerve some people. Rill hummed as she looked him over, more interested in noting the changes.
"Huh. If SOLDIER didn't already have 20-20 vision, I'd recommend the look."
"You think so?" Sephiroth tilted his head questioningly.
"Well if you're going for something a little more approachable than usual, absolutely." Rill considered his appearance for a moment... "Maybe a tinted pair, the Mako glow looks weird from this side."
"It's also reflecting off the lens in the wrong direction." Sephiroth absently picked up a cookie, pumpkin spice in line with the season, as he checked his image Rill's window. "Makes me look a little nerdy."
"Exactly. I already said it makes you more approachable." The conversation was halted by Rill's PHS ringing. She only glanced at the number before it felt like her heart had stopped.
Genesis. The Planet was silent as Sephiroth leaned over her shoulder to take a look at the ID. His brows rose slightly.
"He's back early." He sounded a little strange to her, but that was probably due to her pulse suddenly roaring in her ears.
"I know." Rill forced her heart to remain still as she glanced up at her boss and friend. He waved her on, stealing another five cookies and ambling back into his office. The privacy was appreciated as Rill answered the call.
"Genesis?" There came a soft sigh from the other end of the phone.
"It is wonderful to hear your voice again." She swallowed and licked her lips nervously. What did one say to someone who had essentially asked you to elope with him? Especially if you had turned him down!?
"I didn't think you'd be back in service range for another two days." What are you doing? This was your chance...
"There have been too many casualties and prisoners taken in the last few skirmishes. They're calling me back to rest up." Casualties could be real, but Rill would bet that almost all of the prisoners were preliminary deserters who were scattering and going to ground until...something. Some signal for action took place.
"How far away are you?" She asked, casting her senses about for some sign of him. He wasn't anywhere in the building...
"We're just over Kalm now. Be landing in about three hours. Are you busy tonight?" Rill felt a shiver crawl down her back. Please say he isn't going to ask me again...
"Pending an unforeseen disaster, no."
"Meet me on Loveless Avenue." Rill felt a spark of...something.
"It's generally good manners to ask instead of demand." She said dryly. She was rewarded by a brief chuckle.
"Alright. Rill, would you do me the honor of meeting me on Loveless Avenue tonight at five?"
"Much better. I'll message you if something comes up, but hopefully I'll see you tonight."
"'There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess.'." It made her the tiniest bit uncomfortable that Genesis made this sound as though he was referring to himself, and that she was the goddess. But it also made her blush in spite of herself. It proved to be Genesis's farewell as he hung up there after. Rill had only just regained her composure and started thumbing through a novel Emma had recommended when she realized that her newest friend had been right:
Genesis had asked her out when he came back.
And she had just said yes.
Hell's Bells, why...?
Rill then began to very fervently pray that some unmitigated disaster would take place that would let her skip out on meeting up with her friend without outright standing him up.
There wasn't. Rill managed to keep her evening's plans a secret in spite of Zack enthusiastically asking if she wanted to come hang out with him and some of his peers who had returned safely to celebrate those who had come back, and those who would never leave Wutai again. It was a tradition for any and every member of the army who could be off duty for the night.
She begged off and went to the prearranged meeting place after catching herself and changing out of her work clothes and into something more casual. Strictly casual. Not dating him. Not dressing to impress.
Genesis was still in his red leather coat.
"You don't do inconspicuous that well, do you?" She asked as she approached the bench where he waited for her. His head whipped around towards her, promptly fixating her with a SOLDIER's eerie stare. Rill hid a grimace as she tried to walk normally. Her own steps crashed like a behemoth's in her own ears whenever she used her Tremor-sense materia. So she had gotten into the habit of stepping as lightly as she could when using the materia, if only to spare herself a headache. Apparently it was enough for a distracted SOLDIER to not hear her coming.
"Rill."
Before she could move, he had risen, crossed the distance between them and hugged her. The breath whooshed out of her as he pulled her into him. He seemed to be trying to fold himself around her. Once she managed to get her arms situated, she returned the embrace. Carefully because when she was this close, she could sense that his shoulder was paining him.
She almost didn't want to ask why he was here when he had told her himself that he was going to desert. It felt like it would shatter the moment of peace. Rill knew she would have to ask, eventually, but for now...
"Genesis." She said a little weakly after he didn't let her go for a while. "Unenhanced human. Kinda need to breathe...!"
"Breathing is overrated." He said, his face buried in her hair.
"Then why are you sniffing my hair?" She sassed, shifting and stepping back. Or trying to. He didn't let go right away so she thought she would actually have to squirm free. But he did loosen his grip eventually, though a hand stayed on her shoulder as he looked her over carefully. Rill resisted the urge to roll her eyes...
Actually, no she didn't. She did roll her eyes.
"I'm not going to fall sick and die right in front of you. Honestly, why does everyone do that now?"
"Because I worry about you." He replied, lifting her glasses away from her face. She gave him a flat look.
"You're giving those back to me."
"I will not deprive myself of seeing your eyes unhindered." He said, the new lines on his face smoothing into something more recognizable. Typical Genesis. She thought, holding out her hand for her glasses.
"Then I won't wear them, but I'll take them back all the same. The last pair I took off and left in someone else's possession ended up inside Dark Nation." His eyes glittered with interest and amusement.
"Oh? Do tell. It sounds as though you've been busy while I was gone."
Genesis never did give her back her glasses as they walked together. He just kept on plying her for stories about what had transpired while he was in Wutai. They were both ignoring the elephant in the room in favor of pretending that everything was normal.
She had just finished telling him about what would thereafter be referred to as the Otter Incident when a quartet of SOLDIER and their company for the evening hailed Genesis. There also came a wolf whistle from one of them that was hastily cut off with a pained yelp, one of the not too bright man's friends kicking his shin. It still served to sour Genesis's mood and make him glare bright blue daggers at the man.
"Let it go, Gen." Rill said soothingly, placing her hand over his arm where she could sense his bangle was. The heat died away almost instantly.
"It's disgraceful..." He said grouchily.
"It will be hilarious tomorrow once Tom realizes that it was me." Rill said pertly, reaching out with her aura to soothe Genesis ruffled feathers instinctively. She was repelled by the Calamity in his system but she reached beyond it and touched Genesis directly. The tension melted away fro his shoulders and his eyes flicked over to her, much more like a relaxed cat than the nervous, irritable tiger he had been before.
"Are you aware that you do that?"
"I'm aware that do something." She admitted. "The technical terms escape me though."
"Very little about that is technical." Genesis breathed, his hand finding hers and suddenly making her very uncertain. Did she let him hold it or not? Was he being friendly or flirty right now?
She twisted her wrist gently and freed it from his reluctant grasp.
"Genesis...?" She began. "Why did you come back?"
It was as if the whole world had suddenly gotten louder in the following silence.
Rill felt a faint prickle of warning from the Planet but she ignored it. Genesis halted in the street, gazing up at the various posters and advertisements around the street.
"I'm still going through with it, Rill." She would deny that she felt a pang of disappointment at the admission.
"I hadn't thought you'd changed your mind." She whispered very, very quietly. "I just hoped that you had..." Genesis looked at her abruptly, something akin to hope in his eyes. She ignored his silent demand for her to elaborate. Not going there.
"That doesn't answer my question though: Why did you come back to Midgar?" As far as she could see, if he wanted to desert, he had the means and plans set to do so. Why bother coming back and causing himself more pain?
"Rill...Do you want me to tell you?" He asked her, their conversation never rising above a murmur. "There are things I can't speak of, but I will tell you what I can." She gently pulled her hand back when he tried to take it again. Her answer was unchanged in that regard and she saw the same let down look that she had seen before.
"I do and I don't." She admitted. "I want to understand why you're doing what you are, but I also don't want to have to lie if anyone asks me once you go." Genesis was silent for a moment, slowing to a stop.
"There's someone I still need to collect before I can leave." Rill's heart started racing and her body tensed. He's not talking about me, is he? "And I wanted to see you again." Probably not her though.
"It won't be quiet when you go then." She stated. Genesis shook his head, not looking at her.
"Not in the least. Very messy, very dangerous. There isn't time to be delicate about this." The light was fading, people were already heading inside as autumn nipped the air, even in the city. Then there came a sudden flash and Rill suddenly saw/heard/felt something/somewhere else.
The tall glittering building glittering in an October orange evening sky. The echo of a final bell's toll rang through the air. There came a few scattered crashes from the city and an animalistic roar and smoke began to rise from various places in the city along with screams. A few brief minutes later, something erupted from the side of Shinra's HQ, only a few floors from the top. It was a small explosion, but a burst of fire nonetheless and a shock wave that shattered the glass in most of the windows on that side of the building and alarms began to wail.
MIdgar was being attacked.
She came back to reality to realize that she had staggered and was currently being held by an extremely worried commander.
"-can you hear me!? Rill, say something!" The young woman had rarely ever sounded so young, or despairing as she did then. Because this was another iron clad certainty. But unlike the first such image Rill had received, there was no altering this one. Because it was already upon them.
"Genesis..." She looked at him, seeing relief on his face as he held her closer to him.
"Rill, are you alright?" She ignored him as a tear fell from her eye.
"Genesis...what are you doing...?" There came a soft chime from one of the stubborn old churches that Shinra hadn't been able to plow over. Seven o'clock. The relief vanished from Genesis eyes, replaced with horror as his head snapped up.
Then the air rent itself in a roar and then Rill heard someone scream.
"That pompous dramatic fool...!" Genesis seethed under his breath, gathering Rill up in his arms without letting her get to her feet and starting to run. "He said he was leaving quietly...!"
Aeris was pressing on Rill's thoughts, having heard the initial echo of the cry.
Rill! Rill what was that noise!?
I don't know yet. My head's spinning too much to understand anything the Planet is trying to tell me, I think I blacked out for a moment. You try and make some sense of it. The Planet was screaming, desperately warning her to get away from where she was because she was in very, very great danger. Rill's head throbbed and she reached for her Cure materia in her bangle to try and give her some relief and let her think. Genesis was covering ground quickly, running away from the conflict and it was conflict. She heard the shouts of fighting men and the shrieks of monsters. Rill's PHS was vibrating madly against her leg, silenced since she had been planning on spending time with Genesis.
"Genesis, what did you do...?" She found herself repeating in a tone that was very near breaking. His hands tightened on her, pulling her closer.
"I didn't want it like this." He said fervently. "I didn't want to come back only to have to leave you again. I'm sorry Rill, I'm so sorry..." He sounded like he was on the verge of babbling. Something made of steel in a forge flared to life inside Rill, new strength and clarity flooding her thoughts. There was a crisis at hand. And what Nerilka Thomas did when faced with such issues was get to the bottom of it and fix it.
Monsters have been let loose inside the city, upper plate only. Aeris reported through the panicked warbling from the Planet that filled Rill's mind. She says it's a distraction from something, but she won't say more, only that you're in trouble. Rill, get out of there!
"Genesis Rhapsodos." Her voice came out much stronger and sharper than before. "You will put me down. Right now." To her surprise, he did so, gazing down at her with a strange sort of soft yet heated look on his face.
Rill stood up to her inches and glared him in the eye.
"You will either explain yourself, get back there and fight off those monsters or I will run back there myself." She had more than enough magic to help at the very least. The infuriating man had the nerve to smile at her, though it was a strained expression.
"I came back for Hollander." He ran a hand down the side of her face. "I'd much rather be taking you than him, but he's the one who can cure me. He wants something from inside the building, something from the archives and the main lab, but he was supposed to get them quietly. I don't know what he's thinking." Rill batted his hand aside with a furious shake of her head, starting back the way he had come.
"Alright, so you're going to be on the run with a deranged lunatic of a scientist." Sarcasm dripped from her words. She didn't have much to do with Hollander, but she didn't like him. It had very little to do with the Planet murmuring of caution, she just didn't like the guy! He was more than laid back, he was outright disgusting in some of his habits! Hojo usually got so involved in his work that he occasionally neglected himself. Hollander was just a slob and a jealous one at that!
Her first order of business to was to oversee that the civilians were out of harm's' way then to see about the security breach in the building.
Rill had just barely pulled her PHS from her pocket and flipped it open when she felt a wave of magic wash over her that she recognized. It was telling her soft, gentle things of sweet dreams and peace... Her muscles relaxed as she swayed, her grip on her phone loosening and letting it fall to the asphalt with a clatter that was lost in the clamor of sirens and monster cries.
Sleep spell. Rill focused, blowing through the materia induced suggestion and whirling on Genesis who was steadily approaching her.
"What are you doing!?" She demanded of him even as the force that was trying to render her unconscious became more powerful. Rill drew on her inner strength to fight against the hypnotic command, her materia bangle starting to give off new power.
"You can't get involved." Genesis said simply, gaze boring into her own. "I won't have you be in any more danger."
"You have noticed the guardhounds and sundry other monsters? The ones that had been scheduled for euthanization and are now running amuck in the city?" Rill scoffed. "It's not any safer here than anywhere else in the city right now." Genesis brows furrowed as she continued to resist his spell.
"How are you still awake?"
"Why are you trying to put me to sleep in the first place?!" Her patience was rapidly running out with this whole situation. She had only a Cure, her Tremor-sense and an Ice in her bangle right now, but she could still help.
Genesis took hold of her wrists in a grip that she couldn't free herself from.
"I don't want you to get involved." He repeated. "I will likely have to fight...people that you know. And you won't be able to bear that and would try and defend them."
"Of course I would! What are you doing!? Let go of me, Genesis!"
"I could not live with myself if I harmed you, Rill..." Genesis's voice shook only slightly. She felt him power up the Sleep materia again, this time at point blank range. Defiance and anger ripped through her. It was strange, for all that she cared for him deeply, would even say that she loved him, Rill could never recall being this furious at anyone ever before in her life.
Ponder that later. She gritted her teeth against the first invasion of power. She had to get free. She was exhausting herself resisting his spells and had to build some range if she was to have a chance at getting away.
Rill wrenched her wrists against Genesis's grip until she was certain she had bruised them, then channeled her Cure materia to mend the damage.
Even though it was only a minor boost when compared to a SOLDIER's strength, the extra energy in her limbs still let her wrench free from his grasp as she twisted her wrists just so and stumbled away from him. Even before her wrists were free, Rill poured power into her Ice materia, but carefully controlling what she wanted it to do. She blew a stream of frigid magic onto Genesis's face, freezing his eyes shut which caused him to flinch away with a grunt as he tried to claw his vision free. Then she altered her intent almost completely. Cool, but not ice, and not set and solid. Not crystal...
Using materia was a matter of intent. The generalized Cetra memories were of a basic element, or concept, and usually the user could only operate around that one concept. The further away one got from that core, the more skill it took to use it. Rill hadn't even known she was this proficient with her power, operating mostly on instinct.
Plumes of mist spouted into the air rapidly thickening into a nigh impenetrable barrier as Rill encouraged it to become thicker and thicker. Breaking line of sight on a target made it much more difficult to cast magic on them specifically. Once Rill had her cover, she put power into her Tremor-sense materia and instantly became aware of where Genesis was, even though she couldn't see a thing. He still hadn't cleared his sight completely and there was plenty of noise.
She could hear the Planet now, it was calmer, a little. Repeatedly telling her that she had to get away from Genesis. And for once she agreed. She knew what Hollander was after, and right now she was a witness...And right now she wished that she had said something about Genesis's intentions to leave. She had thought he would slip away quietly and not cause any damage to the citizens of Midgar...
She started to move away, towards an ally mouth that had plenty of turns, twists and double backs. If she were in the slums, she could have gotten away within five minutes. But above the Plate...
"Rill!?" Genesis called out. He had stopped moving and was listening intently. Rill froze where she was, still pumping more and more mist into the air, sweat forming on her brow along with condensation from the water vapor. Her wrists still ached slightly from where Genesis had held them and her heart raced with equal parts fear and anger. But her mind was calm and serene and that was what was controlling her magic right now.
"Simply amazing..." The 1st Class SOLDIER marvelled. "To think you were this skilled in materia all along..." Rill moved as he did, taking steps only when he was speaking. He was casting about carefully. She could hear the humming of the materia in his bangle-
Then there came an explosion that rocked the world and felt like it tore Rill's ears to shreds. She cried out, clapping her hands over her ears and she tried to stay awake. She released her extra sensory materia and just ran, blundering as her head rang with phantom explosions in her mind. It was all in her head, the human ear couldn't be extended that far, but it was still jarring to say the least.
She had barely gone a few steps before Genesis caught her and the last thing he saw was him looking down at her and saying something that she couldn't hear even as he finally managed to spell her unconscious.
Sephiroth heard the first cries as he finished up work for the day. Rill had gone home a little early so he had stayed behind to organize her desk for her. A bit of a reversal in roles, but something he was glad to do nonetheless. Rill worked too hard for her own good.
He had to restrain himself from looking into the drawer in her desk where she kept a stock of sweets for anyone who came back from the labs in need of a sugary snack. She had not been pleased when he had cleaned the whole thing out and started taking her desk apart in search for more during his last Mako high.
The peace of the evening was abruptly shattered when he heard roars from outside. Sephiroth was at the window in an instant, seeing and hearing evidence of fighting. He scanned the areas that he could pinpoint.
Four locations in sectors 7, 8, 2, 3.
Rill's apartment was in Sector 3.
His first instinct was to call her and make sure she was alright. But he had his duty too...
A text from Angeal made him relax marginally.
To: Seph
From: Angeal
"I got this."
The black haired 1st Class didn't have to spell out what he expected Sephiroth to do. The silverette thanked his friend profusely in his mind as he hit his first speed dial number to check up on Rill. It was all he could do to not race out and check on her in person and he reminded himself that the fighting was nowhere near her apartment building.
He was just going to warn her to stay inside then he was going to get back to work. She was a big girl, and tougher than he probably knew from her childhood below the Plate. There was no reason for him to panic over her. She was probably already aware of the situation and ensuring that other civilians made it to safety while giving commands to men that outweighed her three times over and obeyed her without hesitation.
Sephiroth ground his teeth as the line just kept ringing...
She's going to call me overprotective and a worrier. Everything is going to be fine. She can take care of herself and will likely tell me that in no uncertain terms. Just as soon as she picks up...!
It went to her messages.
Rill never failed to pick up her phone. She usually answered after the first ring, like she was expecting whoever was calling.
Sephiroth tried again, rooted to the spot as he stared over the city. He had never been frozen like this before. Never been this afraid...
When it went to her messages the second time, Sephiroth punched a few commands into his phone to turn on the tracker in her PHS even as he headed for the stairwell and a brisk walk. Rill had had them installed in all of the company-issued phones. It was usually a precaution that she used to track down errant personnel, usually Zack, occasionally Reno. But the same software that transmitted their information to her also let her location be seen by Sephiroth, who had the same program on his device. Something she knew about and didn't mind.
When her location appeared on the map, Sephiroth broke into an outright run, jumping down the stairs a flight at a time.
Rill wasn't at home. She was in Sector 8. On Loveless Avenue. Less than two hundred feet from combat that he had seen from the window. And it was heading her way.
He didn't care who saw him as he ran, or what would be said as he continually called Rill as he made his way closer to where she was, moving with the speed only a SOLDIER of his caliber could. Sephiroth intent was simple:
Rill was not going to get hurt. That would be unacceptable. The height of betrayal to her friendship and trust and to the family that had welcomed him into their life.
Finally, she picked up.
"Rill-!" He cut off abruptly when there came the sound of clattering and his mind realized what had happened.
Rill had dropped her phone.
No... He corrected himself, moving faster and this time, in complete silence. Something made her drop her phone. He deliberately silenced his phone so no sound from his end would make it through the connection and betray that someone was listening. Rill was in danger and the most important thing in the world right now was to get to her as fast as he possibly could.
"What are you doing!?" Rill's voice sounded clear and angry, a combination of his sharp senses and the good quality speaker she possessed. But Sephiroth just listened with every fiber of concentration that wasn't being devoted towards running.
"You can't get involved. I won't have you be in any more danger." That voice...
"You have noticed the guardhounds and sundry other monsters? The ones that had been scheduled for euthanization and are now running amuck in the streets? It's not any safer here than anywhere else in the city right now!" She was truly rattled, completely and utterly in her actual mind. The calm secretary was only there in token effort for composure's sake.
There came a brief pause and he heard Rill gasp once and he held his breath but heard no cry of pain.
Sephiroth was getting closer to Loveless Avenue. He veered to avoid a burning street where infantry and civilians were handling a bucket brigade until the fire department arrived.
"How are you still awake?"
"Why are you trying to put me to sleep in the first place?!"
Sephiroth didn't think it was possible for him to move any faster, but he abruptly found that he had been wrong. Why was Genesis trying to put Rill to sleep? Why was he with her in the first place? Unless he was the reason she had left work early... That was likely it. There came the sound of a scuffle.
"I don't want you to get involved. I will likely have to fight...people that you know. And you won't be able to bear that and would try and defend them."
"Of course I would! What are you doing!? Let go of me, Genesis!"
Purpose and determination flowed through Sephiroth as he ran. He might have been jumping the gun, but it sounded as though Genesis may have been behind this attack on the city. If he attacked Genesis while trying to retrieve Rill, there would be quite a bit of blow back if he was wrong, but if he was right...
"I could not live with myself if I harmed you, Rill..."
The wrenching pain of betrayal ripped into him but he beat it back.
Save Rill. He thought clearly and purposefully. He would be angry later. He would ask why later. None of that mattered right now.
There came the sound of a scuffle and a soft hissing noise then soft footfalls that he could barely hear through the small speaker. Rill was likely trying to escape.
"Rill!?" Genesis's voice came through Sephiroth's phone alarmed, but not overly concerned. "Simply amazing...To think you were this skilled in materia all along..." So she had used some kind of magical trick to make her escape. Clever girl.
Then Sephiroth heard a sound from two places. He whipped his head around for an instant to see that a floor in the Shinra building had exploded in a burst of crimson fire and the screech of shattering glass as hundred of windows broke into glittering fragments. But that lost priority dramatically when he heard Rill scream in pain, and not through the phone.
"Rill...!" Sephiroth was barely two streets away, taking the swiftest, most direct route that he could. It was as though the device was welded to his hand, he couldn't stop listening for some sign, something that told him if she was alright...
"I'm sorry..." Genesis sounded truly and deeply regretful. There was the sound of movement and cloth on stone. "You must stay safe until I can come back for you. Wait for me, my goddess..." Sephiroth's pulse was roaring in his ears as he grasped Masamune's hilt as the last words echoed in his ears.
"I love you."
There was mist in the air as he rounded the bend and cast his phone aside, trusting to the sturdy casing to protect it from the fall. He needed both hands for this. The white vapor in the air tasted magical, but he could barely see a thing in it's depths. Sephiroth cleared it with a burst of fire, evaporating and clearing the fog. Before he could even see clearly what was in before him, he had pushed himself, casting Haste on himself and blitzing over the ground at impossible speeds. He swept past the red blur, bashing Masamune's hilt into it's shoulder to force it, him, to release what he held. He slowed as soon as he had Rill in his possession, her fragile body not being suited to moving at that velocity. Not without her also being under Haste's influence. He reflexively checked her over and found, thank the merciful Goddess, that she was only asleep. He then turned a cold, unblinking gaze onto Genesis. There was no mirth in his friend's bitter smile as he lifted his head to look at Sephiroth.
"I'll have to leave her to you, my friend." The last words dripped with poison that Sephiroth had never heard in Genesis before.
"You're deserting the company."
"Obviously." He said mockingly. "It's plain to see that Shinra will never want anyone to dethrone their poster child. There's no way of beating you so long as we're on the same side!"
"What do you want with Rill then?" Sephiroth shifted Masamune in his grasp so that he could easily block any attack that might come at his precious cargo. He was skilled, likely the best in the world. But if Genesis wanted to fight, then he would be hard pressed to keep Rill unharmed, helpless as she was.
This seemed to break something in the red haired man.
His head was bowed and his shoulders shook even as he clutched the one where Sephiroth had struck him. The general paused, trying to determine in his friend was crying or in pain...
That's when Genesis started to laugh. Not the controlled chuckles or sounds of genuine amusement he had given before, but a deranged, broken laugh. The composure Genesis usually embodied in his conduct was gone.
Genesis was gone.
"It's not something that I want with her! It's her I want! But I suppose that the great General Sephiroth doesn't concern himself with the trivial feelings of us, lesser beings!" There was a venomous gleam in the glow that Genesis's eyes gave off. But that wasn't what made Sephiroth's shoulders tense.
What unsettled him was the fact that his friend's eyes had changed.
The same vivid green, cat slit eyes that greeted him in the mirror every morning stared back at him out of his friend's face. But in his eyes, there was malice and hate. There was an unquenchable desire for pain.
"I'll kill you..." Genesis all but hissed, pupils narrowing. Rapier came up, already glimmering with magic. Sephiroth usually could catch him in this and interrupt him and avoid the half charged spell easily. But he had more than just himself to think about.
He half turned into his usual stance, straight and tall with one shoulder facing his opponent, placing himself between Rill and Genesis. He called up every ounce of magic he could, channeling it into a Barrier materia and erecting as dense and perfect a protection around Rill as he could, for magic and physical attacks alike.
It wouldn't take long for people to notice this fight, judging by how their last few bouts had gone. And this was with far greater stakes. Genesis wouldn't try to control himself, he wanted to win and wouldn't care what it cost it took on their surroundings.
The tense assessment of each other, mere seconds before they were about to begin fighting, ended abruptly when Rill stirred, a soft, sleepy sound coming from her. Sephiroth didn't take his eyes off of his opponent, so he caught when Genesis's eyes flicked to Rill.
And just like that, he was back. His eyes were their normal bright, SOLDIER blue again.
Rill's hand took hold of Sephiroth's coat, tightening as she very obviously forced herself into wakefulness. I had no idea your magic resistance was this high... Sephiroth thought, impressed despite the tense situation.
Genesis seemed poised on the edge of a knife. He wanted to fight, but didn't want to hurt Rill. His gaze focused back on Sephiroth and he all but snarled, lowering his sword.
"When the war of the beast's brings about the world's end..." With this as a parting remark and with a final glare at Sephiroth he disappeared into the growing darkness of evening at a run. Sephiroth didn't lower his guard until he was certain that he wasn't trying to come at him from the side. The noise behind him was dying down. The monsters had been handled. Even the sirens had stopped wailing.
It left no other noise loud enough to drown out the almost silent crying of the girl he held.