TWISTED

Slowly, he opened his eyes again, finding the room stable and calm. It was night time, he could tell by the moonlight shining through the single window to his right. The room wasn't very large, and made smaller by the several beds lined up against one wall. The walls seemed to be made of logs and a cautious touch confirmed that. Sephiroth slowly sat up to survey the rest of the room. There was a doorway at the far-left end of the room and from under the closed door light shone in. A gentle breeze touched the light curtains at the window and Sephiroth realized the window was open and the bugs he heard were outside. He pushed the light sheet from him and carefully set his feet on the floor, finding himself to be only covered by a strange gown that was completely open in the back.

Sephiroth frowned at his situation and stood, moving over to the window. Pushing the curtains aside, he looked out to see trees, a small town, and the most frustrating of all things, bars over the window. The air was warm and moist, the bugs loudly singing in the darkness. The sky above was almost black with the half-moon shining brightly in the sky, the stars twinkled like jewels and Sephiroth judged it to be about midnight.

Turning, he looked around for any semblance of clothing, he found none. He felt strange, different somehow. Lifting a hand, he went to push his hair back from his shoulders- and found that it had been cut. His hair had been cut to about shoulder length, his bangs had been left alone, but the rest of his hair was gone. That had been what hadn't felt right, the weight gone from the back of his head.

His eyes glowed brightly in the darkness as he stalked toward the door at the end of the room, completely forgetting his lack of clothing. Slamming the door open, he completely startled the young man sitting at a desk facing the front door. "WHO CUT MY HAIR!?" Sephiroth snarled, picking the boy up by the collar of his white shirt that seemed like a uniform. "WHO CUT MY HAIR!?" Sephiroth repeated louder this time, shaking the brown haired young man so that he almost got whiplash.

"I- it was too long to wash!" he sobbed, gripping Sephiroth's wrist, "Please! Don't hurt me!! It was too long to wash while you were sick!"

Sephiroth threw the young man back down into his chair in disgust. "Where's my clothes?"

"C-clothes?"

Sephiroth's eyes flashed with brilliant green light, "Yes, clothes! THINGS YOU WEAR! Where are mine?"

"Y-you diddn't have any! Tthey found you on the beach!" The young man cowered, his brown eyes wide in fright. His tiny snub nose twitching and his pale lips trembling.

Sephiroth noticed a name tag on the boy's shirt and read it quickly, 'Harold' it said. "Well, Harold, I suggest you get me something to wear before I break your neck."

"Yes sir!!" Harold scrambled out of his chair and out the front door, leaving it open.

Sephiroth watched as Harold ran to a house nearby, banging frantically on the door until it opened and babbling at the person who opened the door. An elderly man exited that house moments later wearing a hastily donned medical uniform like Harold was wearing. Sephiroth clasped his hands behind him, watching the old man come up the cobblestone pathway at a somewhat hurried pace as Harold continued down the other way.

The old man stepped through the door, receiving the full brunt of Sephiroth's suspicious gaze. "This is absolutely amazing!" the old man said, rubbing his hands together, "You seem to have recovered fully from both your sickness and severe Mako Poisoning!"

"I want clothes. Now." Sephiroth growled, showing his teeth somewhat.

"Complete recovery!" the old man said enthusiastically, "Please, sir, let me examine you-"

"NO!" Sephiroth snapped, not liking the thought of anyone examining him. "I want clothes."

The old man wrung his hands, "Harold and Layla should be coming soon with clothing for you, but please sir, I'd like to know how it is that you've recovered-"

"NO!" Sephiroth repeated. "You may have gotten away with examining me while I was 'sick' but you will not get the chance again."

The old man's eyes widened, the glow of Sephiroth's eyes reflecting in his glasses. "I was right- you are afraid of doctors!"

"I fear nothing," Sephiroth snapped, irritated that anyone found out about his one phobia.

"Perhaps I should tell you how we found you, Joseph?" the man said, taking a seat behind the desk. Sephiroth took a moment to look at his surroundings once again, finding the room almost as small as the one he'd woken up in, the walls made of logs. The desk was made of wood and there was a simple bookshelf behind the desk and chair with what looked like files.

Sephiroth realized then what the old man had called him, "Joseph?"

The old man smiled, pushing his glasses up, "Layla named you that. No one else knew who you were and we certainly didn't expect you to recover enough to ever tell us your true name."

Sephiroth realized that the man didn't recognize him at all and apparently neither had Harold or Layla. He considered telling who he really was, then declined. The old man was silent, as if expecting Sephiroth to solve the enigma, but Sephiroth stayed silent as well.

"I suppose you don't remember your name, hmm?" the old man asked softly, disappointed.

Sephiroth pondered a moment, Joseph wasn't that bad of a name and certainly would allow him some form of secrecy in this new town. "No. I don't," he lied, his face not changing expression at all.

"A sad fate to not know who you are," the old man shook his head, "In any case, we found you on the beach three months ago, completely naked. We brought you hear and I diagnosed you with extremely severe Mako Poisoning, you were very close to dying, Joseph- you don't mind being called that, do you?" At the shake of Sephiroth's head, the old man continued. "You then caught the flu which lasted for far longer then normal-"

Layla dashed in, her eyes wide and watering. Sephiroth saw that her hair was not snakes, but simply braided into many tiny braids underneath and left free on top. She had blue eyes like the sky just after a storm and a round face. Her nose was small and slightly upturned, her hair a deep chocolate brown and from the looks of it, hung down to her mid back. "Oh Joseph!" she cried and threw herself on Sephiroth, her arms going around his waist and her head resting on his chest. "I'm so glad you're better! The Doctor said you'd never get better but I had hope! I'm so happy that my care has brought you back to yourself!"

Sephiroth straightened, trying to push the girl off him without hurting her but she hung on tenaciously. Looking down, he noticed that she had the rest of his hair braided and hanging from her waist like a belt. Her form was somewhat plump with wide hips and chest, an hourglass figure, but not exactly the most attractive of specimens. Finally, Sephiroth detached her from his waist and he glowered at her.

"Wearing my hair..." he growled softly.

Layla blushed deeply, fingering the braid, "I just didn't think it was right to throw it away..."

Sephiroth calmed his anger, "Fine, keep it," he said stiffly and turned his eyes toward Harold. The young man could only be around seventeen and was built like a bean poll. His head seemed far too large for his body because of his wild brown hair and Sephiroth saw that he was carrying some clothing.

Sephiroth reached over and snatched the clothes from Harold's arms and started by pulling the way too loose pants on under his half-dress thing. Once he'd belted his pants, he removed the white hospital gown and threw it into Layla's face, pulling on a shirt, his hands moving to pull his hair out of the collar and remembering that he didn't have as much as he used to. He tucked his shirt into his pants and looked at Harold, who'd forgotten to bring shoes of any sort.

"Um.. I couldn't find any that even looked like they'd fit, sir..." Harold said, tapping the ends of his fingers together nervously.

Sephiroth grunted in acceptance of that excuse. He did happen to have rather large feet. Layla stared at him with wide adoring eyes. "I'll have to cut your hair again to even it out, Joseph, now that you're better, you can't just go around with it like that." Sephiroth couldn't help his expression, and the old doctor laughed softly.

"Don't worry Joseph, she does a good job at whatever she puts her mind to. She can be very stubborn as well."

That's what I'm afraid of! Sephiroth thought to himself as he looked at Layla, almost recoiling in terror at the worshiping glimmer in her eyes. HELP!!