The Future Imperfect
AN – Merry Christmas everyone! I didn't quite manage to get this out before Christmas so instead you get a Boxing Day update. I hope everyone who celebrated enjoyed yesterday. This chapter was fairly tricky to write with a lot of dialogue, but hopefully it has worked well. Let me know!
Chapter Three
Cloud had watched, still silent, while Sephiroth had paced around the outside of the space they had found themselves in looking for a way out. He didn't know how to feel. There was a healthy dose of rage brimming within him warring with confusion but at the same time he felt completely defenceless – wearing a dress that he currently wished he had never seen and without any weaponry or materia on him anywhere at all. Add to that the fact he was actually wearing Sephiroth's coat, albeit loosely hung on his shoulders. He was surrounded by the smell of leather and sweat and something else undefinable but all Sephiroth.
It didn't help that Sephiroth was waving Masamune around again, occasionally using it to test the integrity of the old brickwork or the depth of water. Cloud thought that silence was perhaps the better choice as he watched the taller man stalk around like a caged animal.
Except apparently Sephiroth didn't have that much patience, because it didn't take long for him to give up on looking for an exit and just try to blast his way out.
The first blast shook the whole room, dust and debris raining down on them. Sephiroth inspected the wall for a long time afterwards, before shaking his head and lining up another shot from some distance away.
The second blast actually brought down chunks of masonry from the ceiling, but still the wall stood strong. Sephiroth paused again, his hand coming up to rest under his chin before he tried a different approach, using several lower level spells on the same point over and over again. It still didn't entirely work, but it looked like it was beginning to have an effect. Sephiroth had just paused to fiddle with the materia in his bracer when to both of their surprise the wall blew inwards with an accompanying fireball.
"Ah I see you've finally come to join the party, Genesis." Sephiroth drawled, the corner of one lip twitching up in what might have been a small smile without even a hint of bitterness and that was an expression Cloud had never seen on his face before. Cloud blinked as he processed it, before a flash of red drew his attention to the slim figure stepping through the new exit for the room.
"Well, I couldn't sit back and let you be the hero yet again." The newcomer drawled, a slight accent colouring his tone. He looked over at Cloud, frowning a little. "And you are not quite what I expected from what I had heard." Sephiroth turned to inspect Cloud too then, his gaze curious.
"What did you expect?" The tall man asked, passing his eyes over Cloud who couldn't help the colour rising to his cheeks under the scrutiny.
"Cloud!" With relief, Cloud saw Tifa running in followed closely by Aerith. She ran right up to him, throwing her arms around him. "Are you ok? I was so worried when I heard the blasting. Was that you? How are you carrying materia?"
Cloud shook his head mutely, gesturing behind him. Tifa spun and caught sight of Sephiroth.
"No…" she gasped, falling into a combat stance even as her eyes widened with fear. "No… it can't be."
"Tifa…" Aerith placed one hand on her arm. "I think… it's ok. Please?"
Tifa dragged her eyes away to look at Aerith. "How can you say that?"
"I'll explain in a minute, but first we should give Cloud his things." Aerith held up the bag she had been carrying. Tifa nodded firmly.
"Of course, Cloud, here." The girls then formed a protective screen between Cloud and the three strangers, eyeing them warily while Cloud quickly shed the dress for his normal outfit.
Angeal had been about to follow Genesis straight through into the other room when Aerith grasped his arm and hissed at him not to move. He froze, only to realise that Aerith was guarding Tifa's privacy while she opportunistically changed her clothes. She was now wearing a short black shirt with bracers, a white crop top, black boots and some lethal looking gloves. Aerith released him with a nod as Tifa rushed past to get to the hole in the wall, Aerith following behind her closely. Angeal was the last through, seeing the girls huddled over with a third woman while Genesis and Sephiroth looked on. Both were wearing concerned frowns as they watched the girls.
"Sephiroth." Angeal greeted, getting a distracted nod from the tall man. Angeal's gaze followed Sephiroth's over to where the girls stood. Tifa stood in front of the others, fists raised with materia gleaming on her gloves.
"Tifa reacted to Sephiroth as though he was a threat." Genesis informed him quietly, watching on.
"Does she dislike Shinra, I wonder?" Sephiroth mused. "But Genesis tells me he hasn't had any problems thus far."
Angeal thought for a moment. "I don't know why she might react to you specifically, but there could be any number of reasons." He took a deep breath. "There is something I need to tell you." He murmured quietly. Both of his friends turned to look at him as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. "It's… I was talking to Aerith earlier. The girl with the lighter brown hair." He clarified for Sephiroth's sake. "She was telling me..." he paused, trying to work out how to put it into words.
"Just spit it out." Genesis huffed, ever impatient as he tapped his fingers against the hilt of Rapier.
"Right." Angeal drew himself up. "Well, she said it was sixth December. Year seven."
Sephiroth raised one eyebrow. "I see. How interesting."
"It's a simulation." Genesis scoffed. "It can be anything you want it to be. Just because no one has designed a scenario in the future doesn't mean they can't."
Angeal looked from one to the other, seeing no argument on Sephiroth's face. He sighed. "I thought that at first but… look at this sword." He held up the Buster Sword he was carrying.
"A good replica." Sephiroth noted.
"No," Angeal shook his head. "No replica or simulation is this good. This is the same sword that I am wearing on my back just… older. Slightly modified, but otherwise exactly the same."
"Of course it is." Genesis looked sceptical. "Because it is more likely that we have gone forward in time by seven years than this just being a really good simulation."
"And since when have simulations ever been this real?" Angeal continued. "The smell, Genesis! Simulations never smell. Plus I've already walked a very long way and that is virtually impossible in a simulated training environment. You just can't take that many steps before you hit a wall."
"He does have a point about the smell." Sephiroth acknowledged, turning back to see what the three women were doing.
"So it's probably something cooked up by the science department that we are testing by mistake." Genesis dismissed with a wave of his hand. Angeal opened his mouth to counter, but was interrupted by an exclamation from Sephiroth.
"Huh."
It wasn't much of a noise, but the surprised tone coming from Sephiroth might well have been a loud cry from anyone else. Both Angeal and Genesis snapped their gazes around to the object of Sephiroth's scrutiny.
The third girl had evidently just finished getting changed out of their dress. Angeal hadn't paid too much attention to it other than to notice it was dark in colour and rather lacy and frilly, looking particularly odd underneath Sephiroth's long leather coat. Not knowing anything about fashion, he really didn't have much of an opinion on it either way. However, as the other girls moved out of the way of the third, he realised what had caught Sephiroth's notice.
"Well… that's an interesting hobby you have there."
Leave it to Genesis to comment, Angeal thought with a sigh. Although, even as a boy the stranger was very pretty, with blue eyes tinged with green and bright blond hair that was sticking up in all directions.
Said bright eyes were now glaring holes into Genesis. The boy stalked over, plucked the giant Buster Sword easily out of Angeal's grasp and swung it up in front of him. Angeal was surprised, he hadn't exactly been holding it tightly but he was still a SOLDIER First Class, mako enhanced to be much stronger than any regular, un-enhanced person. Yet the blond hadn't hesitated to take the sword off him and had done so with minimal effort. It made Angeal wonder, and as he gazed back at the blond's hard expression he realised that the green tint in his eyes was just a bit too vibrant for it to be natural.
"You're a SOLDIER." Angeal said. The blond grunted in response, but Genesis narrowed his eyes.
"I don't recognise you. What class were you?"
The blond didn't answer, just held the sword up in front of him defensively and kept his eyes on them. No… not quite, Angeal realised. The blond only had eyes for Sephiroth, who watched warily back but hadn't yet reached for Masamune. The tension crackled as the two seemed to have a stand-off that only they were aware of, the blond's eyes searching for something on Sephiroth's face but Angeal had no idea what.
"Aerith says you are from seven years in the past." The boy eventually stated, his voice hard. "Which, while unbelievable, does explain a few things. So I just have one thing to ask. What happened at Nibelheim?"
Sephiroth blinked at him in response.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
No one was quite that good an actor, Cloud decided as Sephiroth looked completely flummoxed by his question. He obviously had no idea what had happened in Nibelheim five years previously and given Tifa's sharp intake of breath next to him he knew he wasn't the only one to see it.
"Nibelheim?" Sephiroth asked eventually. "I only know it's a small town somewhere on the Western continent. What is special about it?"
"How do you know about Nibelheim?" Tifa hissed to Cloud. "Shinra covered it up."
"I was there." Cloud replied curtly before slowly lowering the Buster Sword, slinging it onto his back and rubbing a hand along the nape of his neck. "Right. So. Seven years."
"Really?" The redhead wearing a similar leather coat to Sephiroth's asked incredulously. "You are just going to accept that? Time travel?"
Cloud fixed him with an impassive glare. "Who are you?"
At this the redhead spluttered almost incoherently before slipping into prose of some sort. "There are no dreams, no honour remains."
Cloud shrugged off that particular pearl of wisdom and turned to Tifa for answers. "Genesis." She supplied. "I think he may actually have saved my life."
"Right. Thanks." Cloud nodded at the redhead before taking a few steps away to check that he hadn't left anything important lying around when getting changed. He picked up the long black leather coat and threw it to Sephiroth, who put it back on immediately.
"How do you know who Sephiroth is but have never heard of us?" Genesis demanded. Cloud simply shrugged mutely. "I am SOLDIER First Class Genesis Rhapsodos. And this is-"
"I can speak for myself." The broader man with dark hair interrupted, his tone mild. "I'm Angeal, Angeal Hewley. Also a SOLDIER First Class."
The name washed over Cloud and brought with it a slew of memories. A voice calling out to Angeal. But it wasn't him… the static in his head grew louder and he fell onto one knee. Dimly he could hear Tifa calling out his name, but it was overwhelmed by the images floating through his mind. That same stern face softening; smiling at him, praising, lying faded in death.
"This… is for you. Protect your honour, always."
The same sword, being given to Cloud. A different face, but similar. Eyes of a brighter blue, spikier black hair, scarred cheek. Also lying faded on the ground, life ebbing away. "My dreams and honour. They're yours now. You'll be… my living legacy."
Blue eyes, black hair. Something – no, someone important. Why couldn't he remember… wait…
Zack.
Aerith gasped and Angeal's head shot towards him, suggesting that he had said that out loud. Before either could say anything further there was a wall of ghostly forms surrounding Cloud as he knelt on the ground. He was almost completely screened by a column of the hooded whispers, spinning around him like a windstorm. Tattered grey cloaks flew out behind them as hooded heads watched him, empty space under the cowl somehow more menacing than any face would be. The three SOLDIERs all drew their swords.
"Not these again!" Tifa cried, launching at the nearest one, having seen them before. Aerith hung back, wary. The SOLDIERs followed Tifa's lead, though they didn't seem to be able to do much to break through the barrier the ghostly forms created. But as suddenly as they arrived the shades were gone, leaving Cloud lying prone on the floor.
"Are you ok?" Tifa asked as she rushed over to his side.
"No," Cloud shook his head and climbed to his feet. "But we've wasted too much time. We need to get back to sector seven. Now."
"What, why? Wait, did Corneo tell you anything?"
"He said…" Cloud tailed off, shaking his head to try to clear it. "He said that Shinra are going to drop the plate onto sector seven."
Tifa gasped and Aerith looked shocked. But it was the voice from the other side of the room that had them all turning.
"Shinra are going to what?" Angeal looked pale and had taken a couple of steps towards them. Both Genesis and Sephiroth looked concerned but hadn't moved.
"That can't be true, can it?" Tifa asked, almost a hint of desperation in her voice. "Shinra wouldn't sacrifice a whole sector just to take out Avalanche, would they? Destroying part of the city, killing all those people just to get at us?"
"What is Avalanche?" Angeal's questions remained unanswered.
"I don't know." Cloud responded eventually. "Is Corneo the type to make up shit just to screw with you?"
"…I wouldn't put it past him." Tifa admitted.
"But…" Aerith broke in, looking concerned. "If there is a chance he was telling the truth, then we should go. If it's fine, then great. But if he wasn't lying, we may yet be able to stop it."
"Right." Tifa replied. She turned to the exit that Genesis had blown into the room. "I'm pretty sure we can use the tunnels to make our way back to sector seven. The sewers underneath Midgar are all connected. If you get in trouble, just follow the stench."
She began to make her way over to where the three SOLDIERs stood near the gap. "Is that another one of your life lessons?" Cloud asked as he followed.
"An Avalanche saying, actually. We use them to move around the undercity in emergencies."
Angeal stood with his arms crossed, blocking their way out. "You still haven't explained who or what Avalanche is. Or why you think it's remotely plausible that Shinra would drop a plate on a sector."
"We don't have time for this." Cloud grunted, pushing past them. "We need to get to sector seven. Come with us if you must or stay here if you like. But we need to go." He disappeared into the tunnel, Tifa following closely. Aerith paused before she went after them.
"Don't mind them… it's been a rough day. I think you should probably come with us, but it's really up to you." With that she disappeared with a swish of pink skirts.
The three looked between themselves. Eventually Genesis sighed. "Wings of light and dark spread afar. She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting."
Angeal shook his head. "What does that even mean?"
"It means he wants to follow them." Sephiroth stated, raising an eyebrow at Genesis as though to dare him to contradict him.
Instead the red-head smiled. "Finally, he begins to understand! The Goddess has guided us here for a reason, my friends, and put us in their path. It would seem foolish to ignore her wishes."
"Fine." Angeal sighed. "Not like we have anywhere else to go right now, we can't exactly go walking around in a future world we know nothing about." Genesis smiled and Sephiroth nodded, so Angeal rolled his shoulders and stepped out into the sewers.