Bright Seraphim
Three

The snow was nearly too deep to drive through by the time that Jaz pulled into the hotel's parking garage. She skidded slightly turning on to the ramp. "...Glad there's nowhere else I need to go for a while," she said out loud as she searched for a parking space. Sephiroth did not respond; he'd been asleep since before she'd come out of the Wal-Mart.

Jaz was in luck; she found a parking space near a hall that led to the lobby. She pulled in and shut the car down, then sat and stared openly at her passenger for a few minutes. Finally and with great reluctance she tapped him on the shoulder. "Umm... Hello? Sephiroth? We're here."

He gave a start as he awoke, but immediately recognized his surroundings and favored her with a small, somewhat apologetic smile. Jaz smiled back shyly and quickly turned away to open the door. "Just wait here for a moment and I'll go check in," she said quickly, closing the door and nearly running for the glass entrance to the lobby.

In a few minutes she returned, pulling a dolly behind her and brandishing a pair of key cards. "This'll let us use the garage elevator entrance as well as the suite," she said as she popped the trunk. "Cool, huh?"

He still had no idea of what she was saying, but he helped her to stack her boxes and luggage on the flatbed dolly. Lastly, Masamune and his armor were placed on top, wrapped in the blanket.

The reached the elevator at the same time as another woman with a dolly. They gave each other only a polite nod of greeting, then entered the lift.

On the way up, the other woman kept glancing at Sephiroth. With a strategic toss of her blonde head, she finally asked, "You guys here for the convention too?" She was looking directly at Sephiroth, expecting him to answer.

Jaz panicked, but fell back on her four college years in the Drama department. "Yep, Dealers' Room," she said easily. "Dragonthorn Books and Costumes." She was inwardly satisfied by the vaguely disgusted look that the blonde woman shot at her.

The elevator came to a stop and chimed as the doors opened, rescuing Jaz from further danger.

"I'll have to stop by," the woman said, beaming a brilliant smile at Sephiroth, who politely bared his teeth. Jaz tugged at his sleeve as she wheeled the dolly out; he followed a little more quickly than she expected and gave an audible sigh of relief as soon as the lift doors shut.

Jaz giggled, then rolled her eyes. Jeez, now I'm giggling, she mentally snapped at herself. Next I'll have little pink and red hearts popping over my head like in the cartoons...

It didn't take long to unload and return the dolly, once they found the suite. Jaz timidly approached Sephiroth and handed him the Wal-Mart bags. "These should fit all right," she declared, putting on her best costume-business face. She held up a finger and turned to search one of the boxes, then returned and handed him a pair of scissors she'd found. "That's for the tags... I didn't know if you liked boxers or briefs better, so I got both..."

She realized that she was babbling and that he had no idea of what she was saying anyhow (thank goodness), and shrugged.

She turned him around and gave him a shove toward the bathroom, which opened off of the bedroom. He paused only to glance into the bags, then nodded and proceeded in that direction.

At least he seems familiar enough with this culture to know what's going on, Jaz thought.

She stood staring at the closed bathroom door for a moment, wringing her hands, then made a dash for the phone on the bedside stand. It was the upright cordless kind that rested on a base.

She dialed for the front desk. "Hello...? Could you tell me the number for Katie Sanderson's suite? Is she there yet? ...Thanks."

She dialed again. "Hullo, Katie? Yeah, I finally made it... I, um, ran into some trouble on the road... Yep, it's snowing to beat the band, but that's not all. I'll have to show you... No, the Pontiac's fine..."

The bathroom door opened. Jaz looked up and smiled, instantly distracted as Sephiroth emerged - luckily he wasn't looking in her direction, so he didn't see the dangerously dreamy expression on her face. He was wearing what she'd gotten him: a thick dark gray sweater and black pants, and comfortable black and gray sneakers.

Somehow, Wal-Mart clothing looked no less dramatic on him than his costume had. It's the hair. Nobody has hair like that...

Jaz found her voice again. "Um, Katie? Which suite are you in? ...hey, that's right down the hall... We'll be right there."

The telephone screeched "WE?!" as her thumb switched it off.

Jaz walked to the closet, motioning Sephiroth along, and took his coat from his arm to hang it up. Her garments were already hung, including the gown she'd made for the masquerade ball that would be held on Saturday night. It was currently Thursday.

Sephiroth tapped her shoulder; when she looked, he made a motion of tying his hair back. "Oh..." Jaz began to search through her costumery boxes again, and this time produced a length of leather thong. "Will this do?"

He nodded as he took it and bound his hair into a loose ponytail, leaving his long bangs free. "~~ Much better, thank you, ~~" he said, knowing that the girl would understand the purpose of the phrase.

She said something else, then indicated that he should follow her as she left the room.


Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII, its story, and characters (particularly Sephiroth) are the property, copyright and trademark of Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., and no ownership or claim on said property, copyright or trademark is made or implied by their use in the work(s) of fan fiction presented here. This fan fiction constitutes a personal comment on the aforesaid properties pursuant to doctrines of fair use and fair comment. This fan fiction is non-commercial, not for sale or profit, and may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. The same goes for Clock Tower, Tekken 2, Soul Blade, Star Trek, Dark Shadows, Lost in Space, Pepsi, and any other games, television shows, movies, etc. mentioned in this fanfic: all belong to their respective owners. Clock Tower, its story, and characters (particularly Scissorman) are the property, copyright, and trademark of Ascii Entertainment.