Chapter 21

Don't know the reason, stayed here all season.

"How is Aeris?" That would be the first question a true Silverfang asked. /The Child of Gaia is fine Silverfang. She is asleep, though she will probably not return to her breed form till she wakes.\ The Vampire was crouched in a pose similar to the Silverfang's on an outcropping of rock that passed for a second floor in what was left of the City of the Ancients. Alex hated to see what had happened to the city, much of it had given way beneath countless years and the strain of time. However, it was still standing with two side buildings that made passable dens.

That was more then Alex was sure would be left of any human construction if it had been so long left uninhabited. "So in other words, we're done?" /From your morose point of view Vampire yes, this hunt is finished.\ The Silver Fang took one look at the vampire, and then took a look at Alex. "Vincent go get something to eat, well drink. You're no use to me if you're weak. Whatever the hell kind of animals there are out here, bring me back the body of one once you're done with it."

Alex snorted in contempt. /I'll bring you back one of my kills, Silverfang. Eating the body of an animal after it has had the blood drained from it by a vampire is bad luck. Not to mention that eating animals without blood is akin to eating most human dishes without the 'seasonings' you are so fond of.\

The Silverfang did not appear to be in the mood for supernatural politics. He took one look at Vincent, one look at Alex, and spoke very slowly. "Alex, Vincent, both of you, leave. I haven't eaten anything in three days. I am not in a very picky mood. Whichever of you brings me something edible first, I will consume. Go." The theory was that even a Black Spiral Dancer would have no choice but to kneel before a Silver Fang Elder. Alex was soon gone from his Alpha's presence.

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After consuming what looked like a mix between a rabbit and a lizard, Sephiroth felt slightly better. Slightly was the key word, because while Alex and Vincent where gone, he had checked on Aeris. He had kept his word when it came to his meal, Alex had come back first, and with an actual example before him, he had to agree with Alex. The bloodless remains of a monster that Vincent had brought him did look decidedly unappetizing. With a slightly fuller stomach (the city had an abundance of drinkable water) he now planned an assault on the next problem they faced.

"Alex, we have a problem?" /What kind of problem do you mean Silverfang? I can already think of an abundance of them.\ Sephiroth could as well, but it was time to deal with the simplest problems first. "Alex, I visited Aeris, who seems to have reverted to her human form, to check on her wounds. Do you realize what I found?" Alex's eyes had a look that Sephiroth was used to seeing in James eyes, a recognition of the problem, but not the fact that the problem was a problem. Which left Sephiroth with the unenviable task of explaining to Alex yet another aspect of human society.

"Werewolf, take a moment to think what Aeris has lost." Thank god for auxiliary forces. Vincent somehow managed to put just the right tone in his voice that should make it clear what Sephiroth had been edging towards. A single ear quivered on Alex's face in equivalent to the human gesture with an eyebrow. /What did you expect Silverfang? The Child of Gaia's artificial coat was not dedicated to her the way mine is. What did you expect to happen? When she acquires a new artificial coat I can teach her the dedication ritual./

At least they were on the subject now, which was only a small blessing. At least Sephiroth had never found it necessary to talk with James about this kind of thing. Sephiroth took a very deep breath, as he planned how to explain this. "Alex, do you have any idea why I see this as a problem?" /Don't worry Silverfang, I located suitable materials to make sure that she will not suffer any ill effects because of the temperature.\

Maybe Sephiroth should just tell Alex to go bring him another one of whatever this thing he had brought him was. Let Aeris explain the problem to Alex personally. At least Vincent, who finally seemed to have regained his youth seemed to be enjoying the situation. "Alex... could you imagine how you look without fur?" /Yes, that' why I wear artificial coats when I lose mine in homid form.\

Still no luck, if only Mirri was here, she could have spelled this out without an ounce of hesitation. "Not in homid form. Just like you are, with no fur." Once again that twitch of the ear, Alex apparently was starting to question Sephiroth's sanity. /What does that have to do with anything?\ This was infinitely worse then trying to explain to James that he should salute with his right hand because it was military protocol, not because most people were right handed.

"Alex, you've spent a lot of time studying humans, right?" /Considerably more time then I give to any other race I don't prey on.\ Not such a reassuring answer. "Alex your father was huma... your father was a Cetra. Did he ever explain he importance of artificial coats?" /Artificial coats are necessary for protection of animals without fur against the elements.\ Apparently not.

How to proceed from here was a… mystery. "Werewolf what you don't realize is that Master is trying to get at something important to humans. You see, around a persons neck is something we vampires call is the 'zone' or the place that makes our blood boil. It's the place that vampires want to sink our teeth into. It's not just about nourishment, it's about continuation of the species. Now, around humans, it's not quite as simple, because it simply has to do with mating and personal survival doesn't come into it.

Also the 'zone' isn't located around the neck, it's between the legs. Humans, being civilized, wear high necked clothes to keep me from suddenly baring my fangs in public and draining dry every single person in sight. Humans do the same thing, to prevent each other from... when the... with the... in the... So in closing, among humans, artificial coats are necessary to prevent... because... think about it Alex... humans don't have seasons, they're always... understand?"

The miraculous thing was that Alex did. His ears instantly went up, flicked down, eyes widened slightly, narrowed, and then he cocked his head to look at Sephiroth. /Oh… oh... You should have just said so.\ Sephiroth took one long look at Alex, and then at Vincent and then he turned away from both of them who had been giving him the exact same look. "It's called self control, it's what makes humans different from animals."

/You seem to have it backwards Silver Fang, if humans could control themselves they wouldn't find it necessary to indulge themselves in every solstice, season and shape of the moon. This is of course in agreement with the fact that humans are unable to control their desires for other pleasures.\ Sephiroth had better things to do then sit there and let a vampire and wolf who could take human shape tell him how perverse his tastes were. "You two do something about this problem. I'm going to sleep."

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As Aeris woke up she clutched the blankets around her tightly, chiefly because she didn't have anything else to keep her warm. She was almost instantly aware that someone was watching her even if she couldn't see him. "Vincent?" A group of shadows on the floor materialized into the vampire over the course of a few seconds. Vincent's eyes looked Aeris up and down, however he did so with none of what she would have seen in Melkore's eyes under similar circumstances.

Once he was finished he coughed slightly before speaking. "Master will be glad to see that you are well, take this." Vincent calmly removed the red coat he was wearing, and tossed it to Aeris. The coat was hopelessly too large on Aeris, but with her back to Vincent and still clinging to the blankets she slipped it over her body and closed all of the buttons. The thing trailed down to Vincent's knees, meaning it went all the way to Aeris' feet. It smelled of old blood and grave soil, but at least it was warm and covered her whole body(although she did have to hold the top closed).

She turned back around and managed to smile at Vincent. "Thanks." "It is not needed, Master told me to deal with this problem, and at least to a slight extent it has now been dealt with. And I have lost nothing." As Vincent spoke, shadows suddenly joined together about him creating a coat just like the one he had given to Aeris, except that it was in black.

Aeris suddenly gripped her single garment with fierce determination, afraid that it might give way into the material it had been crafted from. It was obvious as soon as she took a moment to think about it. Vincent had taken in many various outfits to suit his outward appearance, how else could this be so easily possible if they where not made from something as malleable as shadow?

Vincent saw the fear and moved to allay it. "Don't worry, though my knowledge of what I can do is limited by my experience, I am a very fast learner. When mixed with Vitae, blood, shadow proves quite substantial even when exposed to sunlight. At the moment such garments are always red, and I've had limited success retaining those without Vitae. Like this one, such garments are always black. I hope eventually to be able to have them be as malleable in color as shape, but that isn't what matters. What matters is that garment should last the ages, and should... well, look."

Aeris looked down and was noticeably relieved. The red coat had "melted" or perhaps "melded" was the right word, around her. It was now in the shape of the pink dress she generally wore, except that it was in red and had long sleeves. It was more than that, it was everything beneath it; if it wasn't for the ethereal feel to it, she wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. "Thank you again."

Vincent moved with a slow grace as he went from sitting to standing. "Don't. I'm simply serving my master." There was something odd that Aeris saw in Vincent's eyes as he said that, and it triggered something in her. "You should be thanked anyway. Your far more courteous then most men would be in your situation." Once again there was that look in Vincent's red eyes, and he slowly drew close to Aeris.

"I am not a man. I a vampire." As Vincent spoke, suddenly shadows everywhere in the room began to creep forward with slow deliberateness. Vincent's eyes were transfixed on the back of Aeris' neck, her hair fanned out covering it since it was no longer concocted in a single braid, but the look in Vincent's eyes said he could see through it all the same. "I am above such petty things as uncontrollable desires. I am perfection, nourishment, reproduction, joy, can all be infused in a single liquid. For, as it has been said, 'The Blood is the Life'.

Forget the idea of one body against another in the throes of passion. Imagine if you could, instead, the cold of the dead against your warm flesh, before it extracts your exquisitely warm blood." Candles were snuffed out by an invisible force, light could not penetrate this deep shadow that now totally surrounded her, Vincent's voice echoed from all angles.

"You look almost just like her, it would be so easy. You wouldn't feel pain; only the pleasure of complete and total surrender as you fall under my sway and leave all worries behind. Ask James, I have taken his blood and he experiences feelings similar enough even without my influence. I have even experienced it myself with Mirri, even as I took her blood she was the one defiling me and not the other way around. But then, as is frequent in nature, the female is the more dangerous of the species.

But that was Mirri, you are an entirely different dish. A mimic, lacking completely in the poison that excretes from every single one of Mirri's pores. You attempt to survive by blending in, looking like something far more fearsome then you actually are. In reality, you're nothing more then a very scared little girl, and no one can hide secrets from the dead. Come to me now girl, let me ease all your fears."

Shivers ran up Aeris' spine as a cold, gloved hand slowly pushed her hair out of the way, and then a single finger traced its way vertically along her neck. "You look just like her, I bet your blood will even taste the same." Then it was over. The shadows retreated; Vincent was once again seated before her, as he had been when she had first awakened. Aeris tried to speak but words failed her. "Be grateful that one part of me has not changed in the transformation from human to vampire, I am still a blood stained knight, but a knight none the less.

You do look so like her, that I will refrain. I will tolerate in my body no pure female blood other then hers. You are pure in mind in ways that Mirri is not. Pray to whatever forces you believe in that you do not lose that purity. It is foolish in the extreme to search for a star that has long ago burnt out, but every night now that I once again am above the living I search for that star.

Good night, or good day, the choice is yours to make." With that, Vincent once again reduced himself to shadows, which quickly made there way out of the room and did not return. Aeris' breathing was ragged but slowly returned to normal.

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Sephiroth slowly entered the room, he had gone to sleep not long after Vincent and Alex had exchanged shifts, so that Vincent could guard Sephiroth as he slept. It was morning of the fourth day since they left the Temple of the Ancients, and Sephiroth knew what he had to do before they could continue. "Aeris, why?" "Because I wanted to be like you for once."

Sephiroth cast aside his usual emotionless tone; emotion seemed to work well with Aeris. Most people said that the cold fury Sephiroth normally showed was more frightening then any fire, but then most people had not seen Sephiroth truly angry. "No you didn't, you wanted to be a hero." Sephiroth threw the words in Aeris face with all the derision she deserved for her actions. "Sometimes, Aeris, you make me wonder if you don't have less common sense in your head then James does, at least he can follow orders."

He continued speaking, cutting off an attempt for her to get in edgewise. "Aeris, Jenova is a master at one strategy, divide and conquer. You played right into her hands, and if we had been a little slower, you would be dead. Dead!" "I'm sorry." It was a low pathetic whimper, but it elicited no sympathy from Sephiroth. "Don't be sorry, learn something from it! Stop trying to be some glorious hero who can expire in a bright flash of light, because believe me, you won't succeed.

A bright flash of light will only lead to darkness, heroes come and go, till they are all relegated to legend. Monsters are forever. As you told me 'we work together because we can do things that way that we can't do alone.' There's no place for a loose cannon among the people fighting for me, and you, Aeris, are a loose cannon. Do you know why?

I trust James even though he was created to kill for Shinra. I trust Mirri even though she has a history of treachery. I trust Alex implicitly regardless of how he'll kill someone at the slightest sign of Jenova corruption, even if he only imagines it. I trust Niro, even though he holds back cards from everyone. I've trust Vincent even though I don't have a clue in hell who he used to be and how he got the way he is. I trust Melkore even though he's with us only because he can't afford to be against us.

But I can't trust you, do you know why? Because you refuse to follow a pattern, you refuse to allow me to understand you. If I can't understand you, then I can't trust you. So start explaining yourself. Aeris, leaving aside why you did this, what were you trying to do?"

Aeris was properly cowed, and Sephiroth actually had to strain slightly to make sure he heard her correctly. "Sephiroth, it's because of the White Materia. It's the only thing my mother gave me, and I thought it would be powerful. It was. It was strong enough, but I wasn't strong enough to use it to summon Holy." "Holy?" "Holy."

"What is Holy?" "If I understood the Planet correctly, Holy is sort of the opposite to Meteor. It would destroy all threats to the Planet. I thought if I could summon Holy, it would do away with Jenova." White Materia, Sephiroth wanted to believe that it was as simple as Aeris said it was, but thinking about what Alex could do with his "Gifts" made him doubt it.

"ALL threats to the Planet? Congratulations Aeris, you just tried to outdo Jenova by destroying all human life on the Planet." Aeris looked stunned, hurt. Sephiroth had no time for empathy: pain was a good teacher. "Not like that, Sephiroth..." "How do you know? Even if you're right, and it wouldn't target humans, it'd still target most of our little party of the damned! James, Mirri, Niro, Vincent, Melkore… me." "Sephiroth…"

"Stop. Don't say anything, just listen. There have been two groups that bore the name Seraphim. The first was my vanguard in the Wutai war. They were the best SOLDIER had to offer. Mirri can tell you the rest, she was one of them. The other is this little band of misfits, monsters, and twits. The first band of Seraphim? There were eight to begin with, including myself. Now there are six. In the ten years since their formation, only two members have died. One was my best friend, my second in command. He played the hero, tried to save Nibelhiem, and he was killed. The other was a man more loyal to the company than to his commander. He played the fool, and tried to kill me. Heroes and fools, their motives may differ, but they share the same fate. I'll have neither among the new Seraphim. You want to help, and you have high hopes, but ambition without skill is like a sword without a hilt. It may give you an edge, but you're definitely going to bleed. Personally, I'd prefer you stayed with us, but if you do, you'll have to start working."

"Working?" "Start training, start talking, start meshing. start understanding. Fear of the people you work with is a luxury you can't afford any more, understand? War is easiest to fight when you're fighting people who are ready to die for what they believe in, like Shinra, because there's an agreement of goals. They want to die for their cause, and I want to kill them for it.

Jenova won't die for what she believes in, she'll kill for it, so we have to be able to do so as well. If we're going to protect what we have, we can't be ready to die for it, we have to be ready to kill for it. I take volunteers into the Seraphim, I don't take martyrs, do you understand?" There was a small sparkle in Aeris' eyes, a sparkle that Sephiroth had seen before, but it was more controlled then before.

"I think I do Sephiroth." "Good then, Alex has agreed to help you with your first lessons." There, that was done, now Sephiroth could rest for a while. "Sephiroth, thank you." "Thank me by excelling, you're superhuman now, too. I expect you to act like it."

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For a short time after that nothing happened. Of course there was a minor storm when the rest of the group finally caught up with the first half. To be exact, Mirri was somewhat put out by the explanation, and even more so by the way Melkore reacted to the story.

"So I get dragged along for the being shot at, fighting monsters, and life and death escapes, but not for the naked chicks. Is there no justice in the universe?" It was at that point that Mirri held Melkore underwater for a while. After that, Niro once again provided taxi service... this time to Mirri and Aeris back to Bone Village in the south. Thanks to a lunar harp that James, Mirri, and Melkore had taken their time to locate but was now solidly in Mirri's possession, travel in and out of the forest was no more difficult then any place else.

Mirri seemed slightly more agreeable when they got back and Aeris was once again dressed in something that was made of earthly fabric instead of blood and shadows. She even said she was sorry to Melkore, before she held him under for another 10 seconds. However, it was clearly not meant to last. Sephiroth knew it, Mirri could feel it in her bones, Alex in his tail, James in his ears, Vincent in his blood, and Niro behind his glasses.

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They where all gathered together finally, and Vincent asked the question that he had been holding back for so long. "Master, who was that child?" Master drew in a very deep breath, and slowly answered. "I need to explain this to all of you, because you need to know what will, and what has, happened. Five years ago , I was assigned on a mission to Nibelhiem. It should have been a routine mission, even more boring then routine, nothing but some pathetic monsters to deal with, but it didn't turn out that way. I went there, and we did some recon.

Before we even got there, one of the guards died. That only left me, my second in command, and one pathetic guard, who flunked out of SOLDIER but came from this town. We went into the reactor, found the problem and we fixed it, but something came up. Inside the reactor we found that Shinra was making monsters by dosing people with massive amounts of mako, they might have been people once, but with wave after wave of mako... Never seeing mako showers on normal human beings, you can still probably guess the results."

Mirri didn't even try to bite back language that no one cared to tell her was not in keeping with her gender. Melkore in fact was busy saying the same thing only slightly more elegantly. Vincent of course went with his traditional curse for all purpose situations. "Vlad Tepes in a forest of the impaled." Aeris was too shocked to say anything, James and Alex were oblivious (one by lack of knowledge, the other by being James) to what the results would be.

If Niro had anything to say he kept it to himself. Master nodded to their reactions and continued his story. "Yes, that about sums it up. I looked at it, and I started to wonder if that was how I had been created. Strife told me that there was a library in the bottom of the Shinra mansion, so I went and read them. They told me how I was created after the first few books, but I kept reading them. I was possessed, because I had to know everything. I had to know as much about Jenova as I could, it was too much, and it wasn't enough. At least I learned how I had been created.

I was human to start with, up until about three months after my conception. After that, my mother, whose name I still don't know, she started getting mako and Jenova cell injections directly into her womb, designed to affect me. The books make it very clear that in the end, those treatments killed her, shortly after I was born." Before Vincent could stop himself he jumped into the pause in Master's account.

"Dr. Levrae. She was a Dr. Levrae." Vincent regretted it, but it had to be said. It would have been just like Hojo to not even mention her name in his writing. Sadly this instantly caused every set of eyes present to go from Master to Vincent. "I knew her." It was enough, everyone instantly turned their attention back to Master.

"Anyway, when I finally was able to stop reading, it was too late. Because I finally knew what had happened, I was finally strong enough to shut Jenova out of my mind, at least when she wasn't right next to me. Since she couldn't have me, she chose someone else. However pathetic Strife was on his own, acting as an avatar of Jenova he was able to match me, at least back then. Before I even got out of the mansion, the entire town had been burned to ashes."

Besides the mansion, that infernal mansion, damn Hojo. It had been so close five years ago, things might have gone better if Master had found him then. Between the two of them they could have dealt with anything.

That mansion seemed destined to stand forever, as a testament to Shinra, but Vincent would make sure to burn it to the ground. "I ran to the mako reactor, and I faced Strife. I cut the catwalk underneath us, and we both fell into the reactor. I thought he died, but I was wrong. After a year, I was able to finally able to climb back into the world. I slowly made my way back to Midgar, and that's where I freed James before linking up with Mirri. Strife is incredibly dangerous, all of you understand that. He killed my last second in command, and he's damn near my equal, at least when Jenova's supporting him. He almost killed Aeris, and he doubtlessly has the Black Materia now."

"Which would be really scary… if he could use it." This time it was James' turn as the center of attention, of course, unlike Vincent he seemed happy with that position. "What? Don't you remember the book Seph? The Black Materia can only be used where Jenova first arrived and where she created it. That's why there aren't any huge rocks in the sky right now, they can't use it."

This was one of those few times that Vincent had seen his master surprised, but he clearly was. "James... I think... you're right." James beamed with pride. "Of course I am, I read the book. If the White Materia can only been used here, where the Cetra's power is greatest, the Black can probably only be used where Jenova's is, like where she first arrived. Strife got wounded by Vincent, so he probably doesn't have that much of a lead on us. If we start out we could probably catch up with him, or maybe even get there before him. If it took Aeris a lot of chanting and concentration and whatnot to use the White Materia, the same is probably true of the Black. At the very least we can interrupt him while he's trying to use it."

"James, you just earned a scratch behind the ears." If Vincent had been in James shoes he would have wanted a lot more then an ear scratch for a piece of logic like that.

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"Sephiroth?" "Yes Aeris?" "Your second in command... was his first name Zack?" "Yes, why do you ask?" "I dated a SOLDIER named Zack, he said he worked directly for General Sephiroth. That sword Cloud Strife has, it's just like Zack's." "Strife took it from Zack after he killed him." "Oh..." "What?" "It hurts to know. But thank you... because it would be worse not to know anything at all." "He died a hero." "I thought you had no patience for heroes?" "True, but facts have no place in a eulogy." "Sephiroth!"

FN: If I was trying to tell this story through movies, this would be where the first one would end. "Let's hunt some Jenova!" and all that. So give yourselves a pat ont he back, if your still reading this far, your about halfway through give or take.

End Chapter

OWAN: Not sure when we'll update again, but I can tell you all that we'll be here for a while. We've got a sequel planned, after all, so we can't fall too far behind, now can we? Oh, and, someone else came up with that last name for Lucrecia. I can't remember who off the top of my head. If you're one of my readers, just let me know and I can change it, if you want. If whoever's idea it was is not one of my readers, but one of my readers knows who it was, please let me know.