Sephya was smiling to herself as she walked out of the elevator and stepped for the first time into floor 49 of the Shinra building. The SOLDIER floor.
Having passed all the necessary tests, she was a newly appointed SOLDIER 3rd class on her way to her first mission briefing. After spending the previous day and half of today stuck in a meeting room, getting earful after earful about her responsibilities as a member of SOLDIER and all kinds of crap she barely cared about but kind of needed to care about, Sephya was looking forward to heading out and hopefully getting some exercise. She'd joined SOLDIER to put her skills to use, and a few other things, not sit around all day talking.
With all the confidence someone walking around the place for the first time shouldn't have, Sephya easily found her way to the briefing room since she'd made it a point to memorize the floor plan beforehand. She was frowning for most of the way, thanks to having been forced to leave her extendable, double-bladed scythe behind, only to have it replaced by a standard-issue sword she cared for about as much as she cared for the dust sticking to the bottom of her black, lace-up boots. At least they'd let her keep her normal battle clothes, for the time being, until her goddam uniform was ready. She was tiny for a SOLDIER, yeah, sure, but did they have to point that out on her first day? Because she needed custom made, tiny uniforms? Damn lady at the front desk of the building was taller than her, for God's sake, and she had just been assigned to a military group comprised mostly of big, bulky men. Big, bulky men like Sephiroth, the hero no one seemed capable of shutting up about. She was feeling tiny enough as it was, thank you very much.
Still, confidence in her strength wasn't a problem for Sephya, never had been, as evidenced by her easily showing the mako infusion who's boss, stopping it from assaulting her senses in record time and passing the test that had worried her the most. She kind of missed her previously jade green eyes though. As unbelievable as it sounded, they had changed to the familiar green-blue, eerily glowing color common in mako infused soldiers, in less than a day. But she had no regrets, she couldn't afford to have any.
Knocking three times on the door adorned with a metal plaque that read "briefing room", Sephya got busy waiting for someone call her in. If possible, she wanted to avoid walking in on private conversations on her first day, especially after giving everyone the stink eye for taking her weapon of choice away.
"Come in." A deep male voice called from the other side of the door shortly after the knock.
Putting on the best smile she could find at the moment, she opened the door and walked in, closing up after herself.
"Excuse me." She said as she looked around the room, sparsely decorated with a long metal table full of monitors and a console and large monitor in the back. "SOLDIER 3rd class, Sephya Innes, reporting for duty."
The two men in the room looked her over from top to bottom, quite blatantly too, before the blond one wearing glasses and a prim stripped blazer stepped forward. She recognized him thanks to a photo she had seen during one of her earfuls the previous day. He was the director of SOLDIER, Lazard Deusericus. The other guy, with spiky black hair and mako eyes she didn't recognize, but he was definitely a SOLDIER like her.
"Sephya, it's nice to meet you. I'm Lazard, director of SOLDIER, and this here is Zack, SOLDIER 2nd class. We've been waiting for you."
Lazard motioned to the young SOLDIER as he introduced him, and Zack stepped forward, holding a hand out to Sephya.
"Zack Fair, nice to meet you Sephya."
Sephya smiled for real for the first time in a while as she shook Zack's hand. He had a bright, genuine smile that reached his eyes, the kind of smile Sephya rarely saw directed at her person, and despite being one rank above her, Zack looked like an easy to get along with nice guy.
"Nice to meet you too, umm…. Can I call you Zack?" She asked as she let go of Zack's hand and stepped back.
Zack chuckled and put his hands on his hips, looking confident. "Ahah, please do, I'm still pretty new around here too, and formalities aren't really my thing."
Zack made a funny face after saying "my thing", and Sephya couldn't help laughing.
"Well, looks like we already agree on something."
As Sephya and Zack hit it off without issue, the director cleared his throat, and Sephya straightened so fast she almost pulled a muscle. She might not like formalities, but SOLDIER was still a military group, so she had to be formal to a certain level, or risk getting kicked out. Her tendency to get sidetracked was going to be an issue.
"Well, I see you two will have no problems getting along." Lazard said with a smile. "Good thing too, because you're going on a mission together."
"Oh, really?" Sephya asked, unable to hide her surprise but still standing to attention with both hands linked behind her back. She hadn't expected to have company on her first mission, but if the company was Zack, she was cool with it. He didn't seem to be a pushover either.
Lazard nodded. "Yes, I thought it would be a good experience for both of you. Zack can teach you a few things and learn to deal with new recruits, and Sephya…" Director Lazard's piercing blue eyes focused on Sephya, seeming to examine her as a whole. "You had problems with teamwork during your exams, right?"
Busted, of course he would know. "… Yes, sir."
"Hey, no need to look so troubled. You passed the exams fair and square, and I'm not about to lecture you now. Just try to work together with Zack for now. That said, I have to ask…" Lazard brought a hand to his chin, rubbing it lightly before continuing. "Why aren't you in uniform?"
Busted, again. "Right, about that…" Sephya looked down at herself before answering, examining her outfit of choice. Her short black dress, with gold buttons running down the right side, leading to one of two side slits that revealed the black shorts she wore underneath, looked nothing like the SOLDIER uniform. But it was comfortable, and easy to move around in, and she was too tiny for her uniform… "My uniform is taking a bit longer to prepare, because I'm… small…"
Sephya looked away from Lazard as she spoke, feeling kind of self-conscious about the whole ordeal, but she still noticed his surprised, slightly uncomfortable expression.
"Oh, is that what happened… It can't be helped I guess, but now I'm a bit reluctant to send you on a mission without proper gear."
Director Lazard looked troubled as he pondered the situation, and Sephya started fidgeting with the leather sword scabbard around her waist, wondering if it was alright to say she didn't mind. She was strong, now even more thanks to the mako and harsh training, and she was fast too, the fastest out of everyone in the group she had been examined with. It might not be a sure thing, but she was confident in her abilities, and not about to chicken out of her first mission because of a possible scratch or two. That said, she didn't know how much would be too much if she started talking back at the moment.
"Director, it'll be fine. Let Sephya go on the mission, and I'll make sure she doesn't get hurt."
Sephya, who had been about to speak, looked at Zack with surprise as he spoke, completely confident in his ability to look out for her and himself.
All of a sudden, she felt herself blush, and when Zack looked at her, she immediately looked away, trying to hide her cheeks with the strawberry blond bangs slipping out of her tied hair. A long time, too long really, had passed since someone had tried to help her, much less someone she had just met. Sephya wasn't used to people being that nice and it felt… weird.
"That's nice of you to say Zack, but I can't risk—"
"I can handle myself director, you know I can."
Sephya's stare was unwavering as she looked the director in the eyes, sure he knew what she was referring to. She was the most capable out of all of the new recruits they had just hired, standing out quite a bit from the rest, and she was proud of it. Her strength was something she had worked hard to hone, and she'd be damned if someone denied one of the few good things she had. Especially after the sacrifice she'd made to join SOLDIER…
"I know Sephya, but that is why I don't want to risk it."
Sephya crossed her arms, still staring the director down. "I won't be so easily killed, or hurt, director."
Lazard sighed after a while of holding Sephya's stare, then sat on a chair close to the head of the table and turned on the monitor. "Fine then, but get that uniform sorted as soon as possible, alright?" Lazard said as he motioned for Sephya and Zack to stand closer to him.
"Yes, sir." Sephya said as she went to stand beside the director's chair, exchanging a smile with Zack along the way.
The briefing didn't take long, which was great because Sephya was itching to put stuffy meeting rooms in her past and get started on her first mission. As it turned out, she and Zack were teaming up to take on a weapon in development by Shinra. It was supposed to be a powerful machine, meant to support SOLDIER units out on field missions, but it was new and in need of testing before getting any real use. It sounded like a boring enough assignment at first, but the battle was for real and the machine wasn't pulling any punches, so Sephya was excited to see what would come of it.
As they exited the briefing room, headed to the testing area, Sephya and Zack crossed paths with Sephiroth, who greeted them with a curt nod on his way to the elevator. Sephya couldn't help following the SOLDIER hero with her eyes for a moment, surprised by how imposing he was in person. She'd seen him before on TV and photos in the newspaper and even magazines, but nothing could compare to the presence he had in the flesh. He was an attractive man, but that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to him. He had an eerie aura around him, and his eyes, they were the weirdest out of everyone at SOLDIER. Out of everyone Sephya had ever met. Sephiroth had cat-like pupils on top of the usual mako eyes, and that made his stare unnervingly piercing. Maybe downright threatening.
"You okay, Sephya?" Zack asked, probably noticing her wandering eyes.
Snapping out of her gawking at Shinra's hero, Sephya focused on Zack, falling back into step with him after slowing down to stare at their coworker.
"Ah, yeah, sorry, it's just…"
"First time seeing Sephiroth?" Zack asked in a slightly amused tone.
Sephya nodded while adjusting the black ribbon holding her hair in a low ponytail. "Yeah… he has a lot of presence. Not surprising though, with how big he is."
Zack chuckled as he pushed open the door to the testing area. "Yeah, this place is full of big guys, but that particular big guy has a tendency to stand out. Have you heard about the fan clubs?"
Sephya stepped into the testing area after Zack, frowning as she closed the heavy metal door behind herself. "Fan clubs? Here?"
Zack nodded as he waved to a man in a lab coat, waiting all the way across the room. "Yeah, here… There's one for Sephiroth, one for Genesis and one for my mentor, Angeal. Needless to say, Sephiroth has a lot of fans, even outside of SOLDIER and Shinra. I'm surprised you didn't know."
Sephya chuckled uncomfortably, looking around at the room to avoid meeting Zack's eyes. "Ahah… yeah, those things have a tendency to pass me by…"
Zack glanced at her, looking unconvinced, but didn't press for information and their conversation came to an end.
In silence, the temporary partners approached the man wearing a lab coat and received further information concerning their mission. The man talking to them was part of the team developing the machine they would be testing, and told the pair about the specs of the enemy they were about to face, among other useful things. He also told them they shouldn't hold back, because the machine certainly wouldn't care and they could land themselves in hot water, since it took time to deactivate the thing in case of emergency. The information only served to increase Sephya's eagerness to start the mission, and thankfully the talking part of things was done pretty fast.
Stepping through a heavy, reinforced door into the area where the fighting would actually be taking place, both Zack and Sephya unsheathed their weapons, getting ready after seeing their massive, mechanical opponent. The thing was still inactive, and while they waited for the tech on the other side of a reinforced glass window to fire it up, Sephya swung her sword around, first with two hands, then one with a lot of effort, trying to get a feel for the foreign weapon. It didn't feel right, as usual, but she would make do. She had to, or Lazard would be right in doubting her skills.
"Damn… I want my scythe back." She whispered, eyes focused on the sword identical to Zack's.
Zack looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Scythe?"
"Uh?" Sephya met Zack's confused gaze, snapping out of her grumpy thoughts. "Oh, yeah, it's the weapon I'm used to, but they said I have to use this sword now."
She held up the sword in her hand, just slightly, and Zack looked even more confused.
"Weapon you're used to? So you didn't train with a sword?" Sephya nodded, and Zack's expression changed to one of concern. "Then, will you be alright? Fighting with that I mean."
Sephya sighed and figured she might as well come clean to the person whose skills she might soon need to fall back on.
Concentrating, she took a deep breath, focusing her mind on the sword. In seconds, the heavy object was floating in front of her, blade pointed at the metallic floor. Zack gasped and Sephya grabbed the sword, then swung it around with one hand like it weighed nothing, her strikes as fast as ever. Zack just stared for a bit, probably surprised since even a big guy like him wielded the sword with both hands.
"What the hell was that?"
Just as Zack was finishing his question, the machine they were about to fight sprung to life, the eerie red light at the center of its gunmetal gray body focusing on the two of them.
"Tell you later, we've got work to do. Back me up Zack, I'll create an opening."
Before Zack had a chance to say no, Sephya took off running in the direction of the machine towering over her. Making her sword light with her magic, she slashed at the machine's thick metal legs, swiftly striking all four and making the thing lose its balance for a moment. Sure she had the enemy's attention, she jumped over it and it turned with her, facing away from Zack.
"Zack!" She called while parrying heavy blows from the recovering machine, and countering when she could.
Her SOLDIER partner immediately sprung to action, rushing the machine's back and dealing heavy damage with slashes a lot stronger than Sephya's. Which was good, strength was the shortcoming she was trying to make up for by teaming up, especially without her scythe. Sephya was fast, but being fast was her specialty, and it cost her blows the strength a stronger, slightly slower man like Zack could use. That also meant she had a harder time dealing with heavily armored enemies, like her current opponent.
Thanks to Zack's heavy blows, and despite Sephya's best efforts to hold the machine's attention with a flurry of fast slashes, the giant pile of metal ended up turning its attention to Zack. Just as Sephya was thinking the battle was under control and they could end it fast, the machine spun at high speed, throwing her back with a shock wave she parried, and using the momentum of the spin to land a heavy blow on Zack.
Despite blocking the attack at the last minute, Zack was still sent stumbling back by the force of the impact, and before he had a chance to fully recover, the machine was already striking again, forcing him to stay on the defensive to avoid getting struck down with one blow.
Still recovering from her own shitty situation, Sephya bit into her bottom lip as she got to her feet, watching her partner struggle by himself against the onslaught of heavy blows.
"Tch, this is more troublesome than I thought it would be…" She muttered, tasting blood after cutting her lip with her canines. "Zack! Can you keep that thing contained for 1 more minute?!" She called out as she sheathed her sword and held out both hands, palms forward.
Zack blocked yet another blow, gritting his teeth as he did and getting pushed back a bit more. His back was getting dangerously close to a wall. "I can try, probably! But…" Another heavy blow, spreading the sound of metal hitting metal around the empty testing room. The echoing clash was enough to make the ears ring. "What are you doing without your sword?!"
Zack's strained voice echoed around the room along with another metal clash, and Sephya winced, trying to stop the noise from breaking her focus. She couldn't answer Zack's loud question, not now at least, and not if they wanted to finish the mission with no serious injuries. As for light injuries, Zack would definitely be feeling his arms in a few hours, and Sephya, well she would just have to wait and see…