(Kit Thespian, Reeve, and Yuffie enter the stage, holding fortune cookies)
Kit Thespian: How often do y'all get fortune cookies?
Yuffie: Not often. (to herself) They've got to be better than Cait Sith's fortunes.
Reeve: Hey!
Kit Thespian (leers): No fights! Or, I think you know what will happen…
(Reeve and Yuffie clam up like oysters)
Kit Thespian: Good. (opens her fortune cookie) Mine says, "Good fortune will come to you if you use your talents wisely."
Reeve and Yuffie: Oooh…
Kit Thespian: What do yours say?
Yuffie (opens hers): "Give friends your trust and they will repay in kind."
Kit Thespian and Reeve: Oooh…
Yuffie: Reeve?
Reeve: This is gonna be good, I can tell! (opens fortune cookie) It says, "Help! I'm being held hostage in a fortune cookie factory!"
Kit Thespian and Yuffie: (Silence)
Disclaimer: Kit Thespian does not own Final Fantasy VII or the characters therein. And she is not making money off of this.
Author's note: I saved an online picture from Dirge of Cerberus while looking for photos of Hojo. The one I saved has a huge picture of Vincent on it. I spied something very interesting about Vincent's claw arm, and the opportunity proved too irresistible. You'll see what I'm talking about (evil snicker).
Chapter Twenty-Five- Glaring Contest
"Can you ever forgive me?" Lucrecia tearfully asked her husband while he was writing his letter in the library of the house. It was about ten o' clock in the morning. They had alternated between Hojo's writing and conversation. They were quite alone, so she didn't worry about him feeling insecure about revealing things about himself to the others. But in the process of asking him, he had told her something she'd never heard before. And she was sure that very few others had heard it as well.
"For what?" Hojo asked, "What was your doing in the whole matter?"
"I didn't give you a chance to explain yourself! It's my fault we were separated."
"Nothing would have changed that, Lucrecia. They had planned to send you away before you lashed anything out at me. No blame is placed on you, and no blame should be."
Lucrecia sniffled and blew her nose on a kleenex that Hojo had just handed her. She then asked, "…What did Dr. Gast tell you happened to me?"
"…After you passed out, he told me that you were to be sent to a rehabilitation facility. I was not allowed to join you. A few weeks later, he told me a story that you had become depressed…and killed yourself. Was it true?"
More tears fell down Lucrecia's cheeks as she shook her head. Hojo looked away, and said, "What happened?"
"…I haven't told anyone, not even Sephiroth. I didn't want anyone to be afraid of me…"
"There is little you could say at this point that would make me afraid of you."
"…They took me to a remote place, near a waterfall. To this day, I don't know where it is. We had to go there by submarine. When I came back to life, I was near Cosmo Canyon. They tried to execute me by lethal injection, but my body rejected the poison. Then they tried to shoot me, but the bullets would come out and my body would be healed. Then one of the soldiers grabbed my shoulder, saying he was going to drown me…and there was a big flash of light, and the all of the soldiers dropped dead on the floor. I've never understood it, and I don't know why it happened. I know it was the Jenova cells, but I don't know why they did that. When they sent people to find out what had happened to the soldiers, I went and hid in the waterfall. They didn't search for me long. I waited to die, but I didn't die; for years, I didn't die. I couldn't. Eventually, Vincent and the others found the cave. I don't know what they were doing there. They obviously didn't know I was going to be there. I remember Vincent approaching me and I had to shout at him to stay back; I didn't know what would happen if he touched me, if he would die or not. And…there were the voices. I thought I was going crazy."
Hojo's eyebrows perked up, "Voices?"
"Voices would say things in my head, horrible things. Like…you never cared for me, and you were doing terrible things to Sephiroth. I never fully believed them, but for while, I…I doubted. I'm so sorry…"
Hojo looked ahead, settling back in his chair. For a moment, he didn't speak. Lucrecia bowed her head, thinking that he was perhaps upset with her. But then he spoke.
"There's nothing to forgive, Lucrecia. It wasn't you. I heard them too."
Lucrecia's jaw dropped, and she said, her voice quiet, "Jenova?"
"I think we should ask Vincent, Sephiroth, and Cloud Strife if they ever, er, 'heard the voices.' They are the only ones left alive that had the sameserum of Jenova cells that we did. Normal SOLDIERS were given a diluted serum that wouldn't link with them genetically." Lucrecia couldn't say anything for a moment, and in the meantime Hojo signed his letter and placed it in an envelope and sealed it. He thought for a moment, and then said, taking his pencil and an extra sheet of paper, "I'll have to ask Red XIII what Rosem's address is. I've forgotten." He turned back to his wife, "…Don't worry about it. Please, Lucrecia."
"…I listened to those voices for thirty years and you're asking me not to worry about it?"
"If anyone's going to worry about it, I will, all right? And it won't do us any good if you worry yourself to death. And you can do it too; I remember."
At that moment, the couple heard stomping footsteps coming down the stairs and into the hallway. Hojo still had his pencil and paper in his hands.
"…I think that's our son," Lucrecia said.
"I think so, too."
"Sounds like he's coming this way."
"I want no interference this time, Lucrecia. I can handle him…"
Right as Hojo said that, the library door opened and the silver-haired man strode in with a grimace on his face. After shutting the door behind him (surprisingly he didn't slam it), he approached his father, who had not moved from his position at the writing desk.
"I'm going to talk to you," he then said to Lucrecia, "Mother, you'd better leave."
"I'm not going!" Lucrecia stood up, "Sephiroth, there's something we…"
"Lucrecia," Hojo spoke, "please go."
"But…"
"Lucrecia," Hojo stared at his wife square in the eye, "I know what I'm doing. Go."
Hojo had been dreading confronting his son, but now had enough confidence to do so. Lucrecia having so much faith in him helped. She and Rosem had been the only people to ever have faith in him. He was no saint, and he knew it, but he was trying. Now that he had fully collected himself, he knew he could hold his own, even against Sephiroth.
Lucrecia looked back and forth between her husband and her son before reluctantly walking towards the door. After she was gone and the door was shut, Sephiroth spoke (he was clearly livid), "All right, let's get one thing straight: the only reason I'm talking to you is so Yuffie will quit pouting."
"And it upsets you to see her so; I know the feeling," Hojo straightened his glasses, "So, you've fallen in love with her? Rather ironic."
"What do you mean by 'ironic'?"
"Being of Wutainese extract, one would think that she'd harbor some resentment. Love will find a way, I suppose."
"What do you know about love?"
Hojo's eye twitched, "A little more than you think, apparently."
Sephiroth bit his tongue as he thought of something. He hadn't thought about it for a while; there really hadn't been a need to think of it. But now that it was brought back to his memory, he had to ask.
"Hojo, why did you…?" this was harder than he thought, "Why did you…?"
"Inject myself with Jenova cells?"
"No."
"Inject you and your mother?"
"No."
"Inject Vincent?"
"No."
"…Kill Dr. Gast?"
"No."
"Than what?"
"Why did you…put that chip in my brain?"
"…What chip?"
Sephiroth resisted the urge to strangle the skinny man standing before him and replied through his teeth, "The chip; the one you put in my brain to keep me from…I would get a shock whenever…"
Hojo's eyebrows raised, "Oh…that chip."
"Yes, that chip!"
"I told you why."
"But you didn't tell me that it would hurt so much!"
"…It hurt?"
"Of course, it hurt!"
"Hmm…it wasn't programmed to cause a goodly amount of pain; just a little shock, like if there's too much static electricity in one's fingers and one touches metal. You should've come to me and told me."
"I should've…what?"
"There's no need to shout. Just how much did it hurt?"
"I would get muscle spasms in my neck and headaches after a really bad episode."
Hojo spoke sincerely, with the very slightest tinge of patronizing, "You should've told me. I had no idea it hurt you that badly."
After years and years of blaming Hojo for his suffering, Sephiroth was not ready and willing to accept the fact that perhaps he could have done something about it. Because if he accepted that fact, he would also have to accept that there was no one to blame but himself. That only made Sephiroth angrier and angrier, and he showed it. However, Hojo didn't waver from his position. He stood still, with his hands behind his back, looking up at his son and waiting for a reply.
Sephiroth chose that moment to release his glare of doom. He had always wanted to give Hojo the glare, and now was as good a time as any. He glowered with all of his might, waiting for Hojo to cringe with fear. At this short range, there was no doubt about the results.
However, Sephiroth made a grave miscalculation. He forgot from which side of his gene pool that the glare of doom had sprung. Hojo's family on both sides had a long line of intimidating glares, only growing greater with the time. Now, Hojo had married Lucrecia, who, while she could give someone what-for with a blunt object, was not genetically disposed towards heinous glaring. As a result, her gentle genes had filtered into Hojo's glare genes, and, while not making Sephiroth's glare ordinary, was only half of the glory that the glare had once been. However, Hojo's glare was untouched by any genes of mildness. If Sephiroth's glare caused weak knees and bladders, Hojo's caused seizures and massive internal hemorrhaging
And Hojo had had just about enough of Sephiroth's attitude.
Sephiroth felt his own glare weaken and relax as he beheld the horror that enfolded before him. First, Hojo's yellow eyes widened a little bit and the lower lids came up to form the most horrible slits. His eyebrows furrowed, and a sneer formed and deepened on his visage. Then he straightened his back (Sephiroth could hear the vertebrae popping) and stretched to his full height, which was easily 5'10" or 5'11". He hadn't stood so straight in years, but this was a special occasion. That put his eye level uncomfortably close to Sephiroth's.
Since no one had ever had the courage to confront him in such a fashion in his life, Sephiroth never knew true terror until this moment. He tried to back away, but he was already standing against the wall. Hojo's face inched closer, and then he reached up and took Sephiroth by the chin. Sephiroth could feel a whimper forming in his throat.
Hojo growled, "Are you…sassing me?"
The reply was barely audible, "No."
"Good." Hojo then bent down and backed away and acted as if he never glared, "Sephiroth, something came up between your mother and me only a few moments ago. Have you ever heard voices?"
Sephiroth didn't answer, still looking completely horrified.
"Come now, Sephiroth," Hojo rolled his eyes, "It wasn't that terrifying."
"Yes…it was…"
Hojo had long known the power of his glare. He used it sparingly, because his trademark grimace was enough to give him the reputation of having a perpetual bad mood. He had actually practiced the glare in front of the mirror several times, perfecting it to the spotless piece of unspeakable horror that it was to this day. On one hand, he was glad he hadn't lost his touch. On the other hand, waiting for an answer from Sephiroth was becoming tiresome.
"If I promise you to let you watch me give the glare to Cloud Strife someday, will you calm down?" Hojo was speaking in a tone that sounded a bit like offering a candy bar to a five-year-old.
And Sephiroth seemed to receive it in the same fashion, though perhaps with a little less enthusiasm than a five-year-old; the thought of Cloud's reaction was more delicious than any candy bar, "All right."
"Anyway, did you ever hear any voices?"
Sephiroth, once he realized what Hojo was truly asking, narrowed his eyes.
"Voices…you mean, in my head?"
"What else?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because your mother and I heard them as well. I heard them ever since I received the injection over thirty years ago, but until I moved the Jenova creature from Nibelheim to Midgar, I didn't realize that it was the Jenova creature speaking to me. It spoke so subtly, I perceived it as my own thoughts. Did It speak to you? From what I've heard, It did."
"…I heard the voices when I went to Nibelheim…seven years ago. I heard them constantly then, until I was killed a year ago."
"And what did they say?"
"They told me I was a thing created in a laboratory…They told me that I…had a higher destiny…and so forth." The ridiculous promises made by Jenova didn't seem worth repeating.
Hojo rubbed his chin, "Why were you sent to Nibelheim in the first place?"
"Don't you know?"
"No. I wouldn't have sent you within a hundred miles of that town, considering its history. I didn't find out about your being there until I received that desperate phone call from Strife saying you'd gone insane."
"Why would he call you?"
"SOLDIERS and troopers were all secretly told to contact me if anything strange happened to you. The President thought I would have a better idea of how to handle the situation. I think he just didn't want anything to do with it. He didn't care for you very much."
A loud screech coming from the living room interrupted the conversation. It sounded like a man's screech. Father and son gave each other strange looks, and then left the library and headed for the living room. Hojo still had his pencil and paper in hand. The scream had also summoned Yuffie (she had been drying her hair after a shower), Tifa, Cloud, Vincent, and Reeve into the den, only to find Cid Highwind perched on the top of the sofa nearest the back door, in front of the fireplace. Lucrecia, Marlene, and Barrett were outside. Apparently they hadn't heard the noise.
"Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" the pilot uncharacteristically cried out.
All eyes turned to the floor, to find a small rat sitting on the wood, rubbing its face and squeaking casually. And, uncharacteristic of rats, it seemed to be oblivious to the fact that there was a rather large being pointing its finger at it and yelling in terror. Instead of taking action, the other adults in the room were staring at Cid.
"…You're scared of rats?" Cloud unnecessarily asked.
"Do something!" Cid ignored the question, "Do anything! I hate rats!"
When Cid began work on the crashed rocket in Rocket Town, he had stumbled across an old storage room infested with rats. They had crawled all over him, some had bitten him. Some had gotten in his clothes and underclothes and it was nearly an hour before he was rid of them all. He had a deep enmity towards the animals since then.
Shera, who had been in the basement, rushed into the room, saw the situation.
"Oh, Cid," she groaned, "Not again."
Yuffie chuckled and approached the rat, "It's only a little rat. It's cute."
"Don't touch it!" Cid exclaimed, "They're diseased! They bite!"
"They do not," Yuffie knelt by the rat, and scooped it up, "Why, it's perfectly tame! I wonder if it's an escaped pet. How did it get in the house?" She walked towards Cid and held the rat up in her hands, "See? It's not that bad."
"Gyaaahh!" Cid, writhing in revulsion, lost his balance and fell backwards off the couch, crumpled the floor, and did a backwards somersault straight into the unused-but-very-dirty fireplace.
"Fine, if you're going to be that squeamish!" Yuffie ignored Cid's dilemma and went to the back door and let the rat out. After she shut the door, she turned back to the fallen pilot, "There, it's gone."
"Wash your hands!" Cid was coughing from the ashes that got stuck in his mouth and he was still not quite out of his fluster, "You don't know where that thing's been!"
"Speaking of washing," Shera put her hands on her hips, "you march straight upstairs to the bathroom and get cleaned up. I'll bring you some clean clothes."
"Yeah, Cid," Reeve grinned, "you look like a perfect little chimney sweep."
Cid grimaced at Reeve, cursed under his breath, and headed for the upstairs bathroom. It was a good thing the floors were wooden, or Tifa would have had a fit about the soot everywhere. A moment after Cid disappeared in the stairwell, Red XIII entered the living room, rather nonchalantly. Cloud and Tifa went out of the living room, shaking their heads and suppressing laughter, just as he walked in. He looked at the trail of soot leading from the fireplace, and the presence of most of the household in the living room, and said, "Did I miss something?"
"You missed a most entertaining scenario in which Mr. Cid Highwind was exceedingly frightened by a small rat," Hojo said, straightening his glasses.
"Really? I was wondering what all the fuss was about."
Yuffie left the room to wash her hands in her bathroom, giving a questioning look towards Hojo and Sephiroth as she left. That left Vincent, Hojo, Sephiroth, Reeve, and Red XIII. Vincent had remained silent the entire time until now.
"You know," he said, "I almost laughed."
"Me as well," Hojo said. He turned to Red, producing his pencil and paper, "I need Rosem's address. Would you be so kind…?"
"…Sure," Red answered. If helping Hojo contact Edward Rosem was going to help them get to the bottom of the resurrections, Red was willing to help in anyway possible, as long as it didn't involve living in a laboratory again. But Hojo displayed no plans for that.
Sephiroth had gone into the foyer, heading for the front door when Yuffie emerged from her bedroom and noticed his leaving. She stopped him as he was turning the doorknob.
"Hey," she said, "I…I saw you come from the library with Hojo. Were you…talking?"
Sephiroth looked at the doorknob, "More or less."
"…It didn't go well?" Again?
"Depends on how you look at it…"
"Are you going to take a walk?" Yuffie spoke up. She could very plainly see that Sephiroth was not ready and willing to give an explanation. Perhaps once he got some fresh air he would open up.
"Yes."
Yuffie tried to look as cute as possible, "Mind if I come with you?"
"All right."
"Could you wait a moment so I can get into some clothes?"
"Sure."
Well, that was easy. Yuffie hadn't been sure that he would want her along, after their little snapping fest earlier that morning. They still hadn't reconciled that. Yuffie rushed to her room and changed into some outside clothes. She brushed the tangles out of her hair, grabbed her Conformer, and went to the foyer. She noticed Sephiroth's Masamune still leaning against the wall. She poked her head out the front door; Sephiroth was waiting on the porch.
"You may want to come get your sword," she said, "We might meet some monsters." Sephiroth complied, but didn't say anything.
After they left, Hojo put the copy of Rosem's address he had just written in his pocket, thanked Red XIII, and then turned to Vincent, "Vincent, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"No," Vincent answered. Red and Reeve waited with baited breath to see what Hojo could possibly want.
Hojo continued, "I've wondered, since I've gotten here…" He gestured towards Vincent's claw arm, "I don't remember doing anything to your arm. How did you lose it?"
Vincent looked thoughtful for a moment, and then he turned to Red and Reeve and said, "I'm afraid that this must be between me and Hojo, alone."
"…Oh," Red XIII blinked, "All right."
"Are you sure?" Reeve asked, "Because we're here for you, Vincent."
"I am quite sure, thank you," Vincent replied.
Reeve bit back a protest and went with Red XIII to the kitchen. After Vincent was sure that no one was in sight, he turned back to Hojo, put his right hand to the claw end of his left arm, and began to pull. Hojo was rendered speechless as the claw came off to reveal a perfectly normal and healthy arm.
"I didn't lose it," Vincent said, with the ghost of a grin on his face, "But it makes for a very intimidating image."
"…Why do you wear it?" Hojo asked, on the verge on laughing himself.
"I woke up with it in the coffin. I really don't know how it got there. You didn't put it there?"
"No."
"I didn't wake up in the same clothes either. I woke up in this leather and red cape ensemble… Actually, the claw's quite comfortable. I take it off to shower, but other than that, I always wear it. But, er…" Vincent indicated the kitchen door, "Let's keep it hush-hush. I have an image to maintain."
The outskirts of Kalm…
Sephiroth and Yuffie didn't speak to each other for quite a few minutes. They were near the beach now. The journey had been peaceful; in other words, no monsters.
Surprisingly enough, Sephiroth was the first to speak up.
"Hojo had something interesting to ask me," he said.
"What?"
"He asked me about the voices."
"Voices?"
"Jenova."
"Oh."
"As it turns out, he had heard such voices for years, but they spoke to him more subtly. It was difficult for him at first to distinguish what was his own mind and what was not. We both decided it was Jenova's voice, acting like our own consciousnesses. It makes sense."
"Cloud talked about the voices after Meteor was destroyed, but I don't think he was hearing Jenova, except when he thought it was you. Judging from how nutty Hojo was when we found him on the Sister Ray, the Jenova voice probably said something like, 'If you strike the crater with the Mako energy, your son will become a god!' Something like that. I don't even know if he could've answered, 'What's two plus two?' at that point."
"Hmph."
"Hey, you weren't any better while you were floating twenty feet in the air with a wing instead of a right arm…Sephiroth, I'm sorry for yelling at you this morning."
"Don't mention it. I was behaving childishly. I am sorry."
"That's all right."
By this time, they had reached the beach. It really wasn't a beach, because it was on the shore of a very wide river, but it had white sand and water gently lapping up against the coast, so it was good enough. The couple sat down, placing their weapons to the side. The sky was cloudy that day, so the sun wasn't beating down on them. Yuffie thought that some sunny day, they needed to plan some swimming, or something.
"You know," she said, "we don't get nearly enough 'us' time."
Sephiroth blinked, "'Us' time?"
"You and me. A lot of stuff has been happening, with…you know… If I didn't know that you weren't the impulsive type, I'd ask you to run away with me to Icicle Inn, or some such place. And everything else would be behind us."
"Old 'Feather-head' wouldn't be that far behind us. He'd hunt us down."
"Cloud? We could outwit him. It's not that hard."
Sephiroth hung his head, "I wish we could run away. But not now; there are too many unanswered questions, too many responsibilities."
"Well," Yuffie leaned her head on Sephiroth's shoulder, "it's so quiet here. We could pretend for a little while that we have run away together, and everything is hundreds of miles away from us, and the only cares we have in the world are getting food, shelter, and putting up with each other's antics."
"I have antics?"
"You have subtle antics," Yuffie giggled. She took Sephiroth's arm and wrapped it around her, "Just relax. Listen to the water. Listen to the wind. Nobody but you and me…"
"You sound like one of those relaxation tapes Zack had to play to cure his insomnia."
"Oh!" Yuffie playfully slapped Sephiroth's shoulder, "You're ruining the mood! Pay attention…"
Sephiroth, with a smirk on his face, wrapped his arms around Yuffie to keep her still. She struggled, but to no avail. She took it good-naturedly, performing the obligatory kicking of her feet against the sand and laughing at the same time.
"Let me go, you big oaf!" she protested.
"You wish!"
"See? Here's a good example of your antics!"
"I'll give you 'antics'." And he started to tickle her.
"You wouldn't da… Hee hee hee! Stop that!"
"You are extremely ticklish."
"Stoooopp!'
"Make me."
But Yuffie was too busy defending herself against the tickling to form any sort of formidable offense. Once Sephiroth decided that her face was red enough and her veins were bulging enough from laughing, he quit. She lay down on the ground for a moment, recovering from the ordeal.
"Just you…Just you wait…" she panted. She sat up, "I'll get you back…"
"I'm not ticklish."
"Oh, yeah?" And she started to tickle his underarms, but it seemed to have no effect. Then she tried his sides; again, he didn't flinch.
Sephiroth said, "I told you; I'm not ticklish."
"Everyone has a tickle spot; I just need to find yours."
"Your efforts would be futile."
"Oooh…You're a jerk." Yuffie had a mischievous look on her face.
"Have I told you how nice you look today?"
"Don't try to change the subject; you're still a jerk."
"I was being sincere."
"…Thanks."
"You smell nice too. What's it called?"
"Shampoo and conditioner."
"Oh."
"I can't stand perfume; it dries my throat out."
"I never cared for the stuff either."
"Well," Yuffie leaned her head back on Sephiroth's shoulder, "what else do you want to talk about?"
"Let's not talk."
"Okay…" Yuffie then lay down on the sand, "This is actually pretty relaxing; the scenery, I mean. Oh, sorry…shutting up now."
Sephiroth lay down beside her. She couldn't resist asking, "You don't mind your hair getting all sandy?"
"I'll brush it out."
Yuffie scooted next to Sephiroth and rested her head on his chest. She was actually feeling rather tired after the tickle episode. After he put an arm around her, Yuffie felt assured enough to close her eyes and rest. She thought maybe he would go to sleep too.
Actually, he was wide awake, thinking. His mind went back to what Hojo had said at the breakfast table earlier that morning. What if this Dr. Rosem had the solution to the mystery? And, of course, something else nagged at Sephiroth's mind. What if the purpose of his and his parents' resurrections was ill-intended? Up to this point, he and the others had taken for granted that the Crisis was destroyed, but was It really? What if…what if Jenova were still alive, just bidding Its time until it could take Its puppets again? Sephiroth's grip around Yuffie became tighter as he thought of it. Jenova had nearly made Cloud kill Aeris. The attempt didn't succeed, but Cloud didn't have as much Jenova cells as Sephiroth had. What if Jenova saw fit to have Sephiroth kill…?
No, it was ridiculous. Nothing could ever make him hurt Yuffie, ever. And they didn't know if Jenova was alive. He was probably thinking nonsense. AVALANCHE had destroyed Jenova, leaving Sephiroth to his own madness until his end in the Crater. That was what they believed. Sephiroth believed it.
…He had to believe it.