Zack braced himself in the corridor as the thunderous galloping grew closer and closer. Angeal was busy, Genesis was officially down and he was next. He whined as Galian Beast turned the corner and spotted him, its purple tail wagging eagerly. How did it end up like this in the first place? He was certain that caring for a giant purple beast wasn't in this job description! Where was Aerith and her fancy clothes when you needed her? He began to slowly back away from Anne's eager expression, he was certain that he was going to lose a limb by dusk.
"I intend to spend some time studying on the second floor of the library," he remembered Sephiroth's words before he released Anne to rain terror upon them "Amuse her."
"Anne?" Zack squeaked and Anne snorted, shaking her snow white hair out with her body whilst digging her black claws into the carpet "Um…can't we play a little bit with you in your human form?"
Anne growled playfully, dipping her body and waving her tail around eagerly which had enough strength to smack and crack one of the walls. Zack backed away with a concerned whine. Aerith was most likely going to have to repair the castle, Anne was pretty destructive today. Zack winced when he remembered exactly why Genesis was down. Anne had dragged him around with her tail for a good half hour before hanging him up on a torch holder and giving his ears a good tug. Poor Genesis… Zack swallowed as Anne began to inch forward towards him, preparing to pounce.
"Anne, can you understand me like that?" he asked and Anne's eyes glinted "…Anne?"
There was a roar and a terrified scream as Zack tore down the corridors with Anne hot on his heels, pouncing and missing him. Plants fell from the tables, dust fell from the ceiling and the paintings jumped with every tremor Anne sent out with her pouncing. She jumped so high, Zack swore she was going to hit her head on the ceiling. He began to wish she would hit her head and knock herself out so he wouldn't be pounced on. He yelped as she pounced so close to him, the back of his shirt tore when her nail got snagged into the cloth and he began running faster.
"Your Majesty!" he cried as he past the door to the second floor library "Call her off! Tell her to transform back! This is worse than the last time! YOUR MAJESTY!"
Vincent sighed and folded his translucent arms as he watched Anne snatched up the silly Newfoundland with her paws and start chewing his ears. He whined, apparently she wasn't biting too hard, waving his legs around and demanding to be put down. He then yelled for help as she began shaking him up and down, placed him in her mouth to shake him from right to left before dangling him in front of her. She then eventually got bored of swinging him around so switched back to holding him with both hands, chewing his ears gently. Vincent smiled wistfully, if only she didn't have to take in magic to expand her core.
"Come on, Anne!" he whined "I can do magic! Just let my arms free…"
Vincent's brow twitched. This non-magical fool was irritating, using cheap street tricks to entertain his great-granddaughter whilst she's in a befuddled state, how dare he treat her like something in a circus! Vincent twisted his lips and continued watching Anne play with Zack, as if he was a doll. It was admittedly adorably the way she would cock her head to the side, stare down at Zack as if he was a recently discovered species and wagging her tail eagerly, despite the damage it was causing. Anne growled as she wagged her tail eagerly, cracking the walls with it, sniffing and licking up Zack's hair.
"Oi, oi, oi!" Zack whined "No, not the hair!"
Vincent leisurely strolled into Anne's line of sight, making her perk up and stare at him with wide, eager eyes. At least she could still see him and hopefully she'll be able to understand, listen and follow his words. Thankfully she wouldn't be able to hurt him like she had done with the red fox and this Newfoundland. He narrowed his eyes at the sparks of energy Anne's hair seemed to be giving off, this leaking magic thing made him nervous. If not controlled properly, Anne's body could become crystallised in magic and she wouldn't be able to awaken for potentially centuries. However, Vincent won't let that happen, it was time to let some of that magic loose.
"So," he said whilst unfolding his arms and smirking to himself "Anne, shall we have a little magic lesson?"
Anne snuffled and Zack yelped as the excitement made her clutch him a little tighter.
"Careful now, don't harm the subject," Vincent said calmly and Anne loosened her grip "We need to have an intact and willing body."
"Anne, you're awfully quiet but your tail is nearly knocking the walls down, are you alright?" Zack squeaked.
"We'll need an open space," Vincent hummed as he cupped his chin "The gardens might be too risky, that massive chandelier in the ballroom would be in the way, oh, I think the lobby will suffice."
"Anne, you're just staring into space, you're worrying me a little.
"Come, let's set it up."
Anne carefully set Zack in her mouth, careful not to graze him with her fangs, and carried him whilst eagerly following Vincent like a crocodile carrying her young. Zack hung from her jaws, calling for help but all his cries fell on deaf ears. He was then dumped in the centre of the lobby and Vincent managed to urge Anne to take a couple of steps back so she could start the spell. Zack sat up and didn't dare move when Anne let out a dangerous growl. He froze briefly, watching her face before plopping back down on his spot which enticed a happy rumble from the turned Wiccan.
"Now, my dear descendent," Vincent purred with a full on smirk "You won't have to spill your blood so do as you would to cast a fire spell."
Anne cocked her head to the side and Vincent's smirk wavered as Zack flattened his ears.
"Did you understand that?" Vincent asked slowly.
Anne jumped and slammed all four paws onto the floor, making the lobby shake, the dust in the ceiling fall and the floors crack. Zack bounced with the tremor and whimpered as he stared up at Anne with fearful eyes.
"Anne, can we play with you in your human form yet?" he asked.
Anne let out a roar and the room temperature skyrocketed.
BOOM!
Sephiroth snapped his head up when he smelt burnt flesh, decided that Anne had gone too far and dashed over to the lobby where he pinpointed the source of the explosion. He saw a charred body with Aerith muttering quick healing spells and Angeal pasting some sort of gel over it whilst Anne stood on the staircase, giving him a very innocent look which would remind someone of a guilty puppy. He smiled and carefully padded down to nuzzle the side of her face. Anne whimpered but nuzzled back uncertainly, welcoming the affectionate gesture. Sephiroth sighed happily, he preferred this trusting version of Anne.
"Now, what did we do?" he asked gently like a parent to a naughty child.
Anne dipped her head low, nudging the blackened carpet with her horns. Sephiroth glanced at the three servants again and shrugged.
"He'll live," he said dismissively and Aerith glared "You've never failed with your healing spells, you won't start now."
"He could have been fried to a crisp!" Aerith shrieked.
"She can't wield that amount of power yet, I assure you," Sephiroth said and suddenly Anne let out a pained roar.
Sephiroth caught her as she shrunk back into her human form, holding her head and screaming in pain.
"Hey, hey, ssh…" he soothed her "What's wrong? Did you take a strain from the magic? I told you not to use magic…unless it was your damn ancestor's idea!"
Sephiroth carefully nosed her head and received a gold plated foot into his mind.
"Do you mind?!"
"Stay out of her head!"
Sephiroth growled as he pulled back, trying to establish some form of diagnosis whilst shaking off the pain Vincent had given him. He didn't have enough time as Anne backed away from him, her body swelling up and turning grey. Everyone took a step back as she grew, broken chains shackling her buff wrists, her hair turning from black to blonde and tattered shreds covering her chest and hips. Sephiroth's eyes widened as she retreated into a dark corner, covering her hideously deformed face, as if she was ashamed. Green eyes softened, normally Anne wouldn't be like this but in her delirious state, she probably felt like a boy who had been caught putting a dead rat in a jar of cookies.
"Anne," he cooed and yelped as he was assaulted by ethereal curses.
"You're supposed to be filling her core with magic, not more Chaos!" Vincent yelled.
"It was a mixture, it'll help her grow!" Sephiroth snarled whilst healing the singe marks on his arms.
"Your Majesty?" Angeal said warily.
"Get out of here," Sephiroth snapped and the servants bustled out.
"You buffoon!" Vincent yelled in his head "She's upgraded to Death Gigas, do you want her to die?!"
"With the right training, she'll handle it."
"I'm dead! I can't give her the training that my father gave me!"
Sephiroth snorted as he beckoned Anne closer.
"Anne, come here," he cooed "It's not your fault, you're just growing."
He held out a paw and Anne peeked out from between her fat fingers to look at him. She looked hesitant, as if she was ashamed by the way she was. Sephiroth was patient as he beckoned her again, enticing her to pull one hand away from her face. Her face resembled to somewhat of an ogre's but it didn't matter to Sephiroth. Anne would probably less likely morph and experiment with this form, which was better because this form would clearly use up more energy. Plus it was hideous but Sephiroth decided to keep it to himself. She inched forward towards his offered paw as Vincent growled.
"Do you really intend to train her?" he snarled.
"I said I'd help her with her magic," Sephiroth answered simply as he took her hand "Just relax, Anne. Focus on your happy memories."
Anne squeezed her eyes tightly and began shrinking, falling to her knees and hugging herself whilst shaking. Sephiroth nosed her head tenderly, only to have a curse hit him on the nose.
"Would you stop doing that?!"
"Keep your paws off my descendent!"
Sephiroth snorted as he stepped away, only to have Anne run and hug his leg tightly. He snorted smugly and Vincent sighed irritably. Sephiroth glanced down as Anne's sweat began to turn his leg fur violet. He wrinkled his nose before muttering a cleaning spell to get rid of the sweat and the violet colouring. Anne pulled away to stare at his leg with a confused frown and licked it, turning it violet again.
"Stop doing that!" Sephiroth growled as he cleaned his leg again.
Anne whined pitifully before yawning loudly. Sephiroth smiled as he placed a hand over her shoulders.
"Bed time?" he proposed.
Anne shook her head, closed her eyes and turned into Galian Beast. Sephiroth sighed as she pulled on his paw pleadingly and he hummed.
"Come with me," he said and he led her out into the courtyard "Loz!"
A massive Gray Wolf scurried over and stood to attention before them. Anne perked up as Sephiroth nudged her forward.
"Have fun."
Loz flattened his ears as Anne's eyes glinted.
"Your Majesty?"
But the doors were closed and Yazoo and Kadaj had already retreated into their hiding places…