Bright Seraphim
Five
Jaz led Sephiroth to her suite's bedroom, then left him there while she took her pajamas out of her luggage and went into the bathroom to change. By the time she emerged, Sephiroth was wearing only his black satin pants again, and was curled in a slightly fetal position on one side of the bed. His back was to her, and he lay on top of the blankets, his loosed hair streaming out at his back.
Jaz nearly failed in her resolve right there. It would be so easy to simply lie down next to him and put an arm over his and hug him, he looked so like he needed it...
She didn't. Instead, she took the pillow that he wasn't using and walked around the bottom of the bed. The sword - Masamune, he'd called it - rested on the dressers under the windows, still wrapped in the throw blanket. Jaz quietly removed the blanket and lay the sword down again, momentarily gazing at the stripe of snow-filtered light gleaming on the blade.
She carried the throw blanket and pillow out into the suite's common room and arranged them on the couch, preparing to sleep there. Something relentlessly tugged at her tired mind; she crept back into the bedroom.
The soft light from the window laid a pale streak across Sephiroth's shoulder as well as the sword - it was the only light in the room other than the glow from beyond the door. Jaz closed her mind so that only the thought that had brought her here slipped through: He'll get cold before long.
She pulled the other side of the bed's comforter over him, taking care not to wake him. "Sleep well," she whispered before retiring to her makeshift bed. She closed the bedroom door most of the way behind her.
Sephiroth opened his eyes; the darkness without mirrored the darkness within. He'd been dreaming. There had been a city of seashells and coral...
He stopped himself. He didn't want to know what would happen if he remembered.
"~~You're weak, boy,~~" a mocking voice purred from near the foot of the bed. "~~Worthless. Look at you.~~"
He steeled himself and looked toward the voice. "~~Go away. You're dead.~~"
Jenova chuckled, full of malice. "~~So long as you live, I live, child.~~" He could see her silhouetted in the moonlight from the window. She turned slightly and her bare skin shimmered silver-blue, her long hair gleaming white. She saw that he looked, and her eyes glowed orange-red. "~~How inappropriate, that one as worthless as you should resemble me,~~" she sighed, running her fingers through her silken hair. "~~Still, I never tire of watching you, though it was far better when I watched through your eyes...~~"
She laughed again, then turned to caress the sword lying on the dressers. "~~You have another one to watch, I see. She is pretty, in a rather... innocent fashion, is she not? Though I was enjoying that boy Cloud far more...~~"
"~~Stop it, Mother. Leave me alone,~~" Sephiroth growled through gritted teeth. Her very presence made his head hurt.
"~~You are not my son,~~" Jenova hissed, suddenly angry. "~~You are a failure. You are worthless.~~"
"~~Fine, then,~~" he snapped, forcing himself to sit up. "~~Let me be a failure. Leave me alone.~~"
"~~You don't seem to believe me,~~" Jenova spat, full of contempt for the sub-creature before her.
He could feel the pain beginning in his bones again as he freed himself of the comforter and stood. He tensed, preparing to fight it. He wouldn't let her win again. He lunged, not for Jenova, but for Masamune.
Jenova stepped calmly aside, watching her disowned son trying to face her, his body shaking with rage and pain. She shook her head. "~~Foolish boy. I'll show you how worthless you are.~~" With that, she turned and disappeared into the suite's darkened common room.
Sephiroth couldn't move fast enough.
He heard Jaz give a single strangled cry.
When he reached the room, Jenova was lying on the couch, beginning to laugh with delight. She was licking blood from her clawed fingers. Jaz - most of Jaz - was lying on the floor in a quickly spreading pool of blood.
Something flashed in his mind. A brown-haired girl - the Cetra - falling from the point of his sword.
"~~NO!~~" Sephiroth sprang forward, straddling Jenova's chest and shoving Masamune against her throat. She was still laughing. "~~There was no reason!~~" His mind was reeling with memories and the image of Jaz's torn body. His eyes stung. "~~No reason! Why - Why would -~~" He broke off, unable to speak further. Another memory flashed in his mind - the words he'd just spoken, screamed at him by someone else - Cloud, with his deep blue eyes brimming with rage.
Though she was still laughing, Jenova's body squirmed desperately underneath him. She couldn't escape. He began to press Masamune down.
The lamp on the couch's end table flicked on. Sephiroth didn't move, but momentarily clamped his eyes shut against the dazzling light.
When he opened his eyes, he was looking down into Jaz's terrified face. She was as stock still as he was, her fingers still touching the lamp switch above her head.
She watched his face, completely unable to look elsewhere. The second that she'd turned the light on, his expression had been one of incredible hatred and anger and pain. As she watched, his expression changed to one of abject horror.
The sword suddenly lifted from her throat and tumbled to the floor. An instant later he followed it, lifting himself unsteadily off of her and falling to his knees. He crawled, his face contorted in a different kind of pain, and rolled into a sitting position against the wall next to the fireplace. He pressed his face into his knees, his hands gripping the sides of his head.
Jaz lay still until her heart slowed down. She didn't dare look at him again. For the first split second that he'd pinned her, she had thought - no, she admitted, hoped - that he'd had entirely different intentions. She wasn't sure which outcome frightened her more.
She listened to the sound of his breath. It was heavy, frequently catching - almost as though he were crying.
He was going to kill me.
The thought settled over her like ice, causing her heart to pound again. It took her a few more minutes to calm down. No, she decided. That wasn't what had happened at all. Not considering the way he'd stopped as soon as he saw her. He'd been dreaming, or hallucinating, or something...
Jaz stood and pulled the blanket from the couch. The room was too cool for him to wear nothing but those pants. She took a few hesitant steps forward, then crossed the remaining distance in a rush and threw the blanket around his shoulders.
He looked up, startled, but gave no protest as she arranged the blanket to cover as much of him as possible.
Jaz backed away, then turned and picked up the sword lying next to the couch. She padded barefoot across the carpeted floor and into the bedroom, where she placed the sword on the dresser again. She then wrapped herself in the comforter from the bed and returned to the common room, completely closing the door behind her.
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.
Five
Jaz led Sephiroth to her suite's bedroom, then left him there while she took her pajamas out of her luggage and went into the bathroom to change. By the time she emerged, Sephiroth was wearing only his black satin pants again, and was curled in a slightly fetal position on one side of the bed. His back was to her, and he lay on top of the blankets, his loosed hair streaming out at his back.
Jaz nearly failed in her resolve right there. It would be so easy to simply lie down next to him and put an arm over his and hug him, he looked so like he needed it...
She didn't. Instead, she took the pillow that he wasn't using and walked around the bottom of the bed. The sword - Masamune, he'd called it - rested on the dressers under the windows, still wrapped in the throw blanket. Jaz quietly removed the blanket and lay the sword down again, momentarily gazing at the stripe of snow-filtered light gleaming on the blade.
She carried the throw blanket and pillow out into the suite's common room and arranged them on the couch, preparing to sleep there. Something relentlessly tugged at her tired mind; she crept back into the bedroom.
The soft light from the window laid a pale streak across Sephiroth's shoulder as well as the sword - it was the only light in the room other than the glow from beyond the door. Jaz closed her mind so that only the thought that had brought her here slipped through: He'll get cold before long.
She pulled the other side of the bed's comforter over him, taking care not to wake him. "Sleep well," she whispered before retiring to her makeshift bed. She closed the bedroom door most of the way behind her.
Sephiroth opened his eyes; the darkness without mirrored the darkness within. He'd been dreaming. There had been a city of seashells and coral...
He stopped himself. He didn't want to know what would happen if he remembered.
"~~You're weak, boy,~~" a mocking voice purred from near the foot of the bed. "~~Worthless. Look at you.~~"
He steeled himself and looked toward the voice. "~~Go away. You're dead.~~"
Jenova chuckled, full of malice. "~~So long as you live, I live, child.~~" He could see her silhouetted in the moonlight from the window. She turned slightly and her bare skin shimmered silver-blue, her long hair gleaming white. She saw that he looked, and her eyes glowed orange-red. "~~How inappropriate, that one as worthless as you should resemble me,~~" she sighed, running her fingers through her silken hair. "~~Still, I never tire of watching you, though it was far better when I watched through your eyes...~~"
She laughed again, then turned to caress the sword lying on the dressers. "~~You have another one to watch, I see. She is pretty, in a rather... innocent fashion, is she not? Though I was enjoying that boy Cloud far more...~~"
"~~Stop it, Mother. Leave me alone,~~" Sephiroth growled through gritted teeth. Her very presence made his head hurt.
"~~You are not my son,~~" Jenova hissed, suddenly angry. "~~You are a failure. You are worthless.~~"
"~~Fine, then,~~" he snapped, forcing himself to sit up. "~~Let me be a failure. Leave me alone.~~"
"~~You don't seem to believe me,~~" Jenova spat, full of contempt for the sub-creature before her.
He could feel the pain beginning in his bones again as he freed himself of the comforter and stood. He tensed, preparing to fight it. He wouldn't let her win again. He lunged, not for Jenova, but for Masamune.
Jenova stepped calmly aside, watching her disowned son trying to face her, his body shaking with rage and pain. She shook her head. "~~Foolish boy. I'll show you how worthless you are.~~" With that, she turned and disappeared into the suite's darkened common room.
Sephiroth couldn't move fast enough.
He heard Jaz give a single strangled cry.
When he reached the room, Jenova was lying on the couch, beginning to laugh with delight. She was licking blood from her clawed fingers. Jaz - most of Jaz - was lying on the floor in a quickly spreading pool of blood.
Something flashed in his mind. A brown-haired girl - the Cetra - falling from the point of his sword.
"~~NO!~~" Sephiroth sprang forward, straddling Jenova's chest and shoving Masamune against her throat. She was still laughing. "~~There was no reason!~~" His mind was reeling with memories and the image of Jaz's torn body. His eyes stung. "~~No reason! Why - Why would -~~" He broke off, unable to speak further. Another memory flashed in his mind - the words he'd just spoken, screamed at him by someone else - Cloud, with his deep blue eyes brimming with rage.
Though she was still laughing, Jenova's body squirmed desperately underneath him. She couldn't escape. He began to press Masamune down.
The lamp on the couch's end table flicked on. Sephiroth didn't move, but momentarily clamped his eyes shut against the dazzling light.
When he opened his eyes, he was looking down into Jaz's terrified face. She was as stock still as he was, her fingers still touching the lamp switch above her head.
She watched his face, completely unable to look elsewhere. The second that she'd turned the light on, his expression had been one of incredible hatred and anger and pain. As she watched, his expression changed to one of abject horror.
The sword suddenly lifted from her throat and tumbled to the floor. An instant later he followed it, lifting himself unsteadily off of her and falling to his knees. He crawled, his face contorted in a different kind of pain, and rolled into a sitting position against the wall next to the fireplace. He pressed his face into his knees, his hands gripping the sides of his head.
Jaz lay still until her heart slowed down. She didn't dare look at him again. For the first split second that he'd pinned her, she had thought - no, she admitted, hoped - that he'd had entirely different intentions. She wasn't sure which outcome frightened her more.
She listened to the sound of his breath. It was heavy, frequently catching - almost as though he were crying.
He was going to kill me.
The thought settled over her like ice, causing her heart to pound again. It took her a few more minutes to calm down. No, she decided. That wasn't what had happened at all. Not considering the way he'd stopped as soon as he saw her. He'd been dreaming, or hallucinating, or something...
Jaz stood and pulled the blanket from the couch. The room was too cool for him to wear nothing but those pants. She took a few hesitant steps forward, then crossed the remaining distance in a rush and threw the blanket around his shoulders.
He looked up, startled, but gave no protest as she arranged the blanket to cover as much of him as possible.
Jaz backed away, then turned and picked up the sword lying next to the couch. She padded barefoot across the carpeted floor and into the bedroom, where she placed the sword on the dresser again. She then wrapped herself in the comforter from the bed and returned to the common room, completely closing the door behind her.
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.
