Travel
Act 1
When Sether came out of the shower, he was feeling slightly better. His body's exceptionally fast healing rate made it possible for him to be up in a day, where otherwise, he would have been bedridden for weeks. Most of the cuts and bruises on his body were nothing more than red marks, and his fractures left arm was sore, but totally usable.
Still feeling too weak and ill all over, Sether couldn't bring himself to wrap the bandages around his chest and leg, so he simply threw a black shirt on, letting what bleeding remained seep into the dark cloth. He figured it would hurt when he'll take the shirt off, but didn't care at the moment.
Hearing a knock on the door, Sether gathered his hair in a loose ponytail. Katai, in her distress, probably forgot something. He smiled faintly at the thought of her.
With a towel around his shoulders and rubbing his hair to dry it, he went and opened the door.
His faint smile faded at the sight in front of him, and he took a step back into the room.
"H… Hello."
In the door way loomed the mayor of Corel;
Barrett Wallace.
His wide frame blocking all the way out of the room. He was neatly shaven, and his white hair was cut in a crew-cut. Creases of worry and old age decorated his face, giving him an even gruffer appearance that usual.
Behind him, Marlene could be seen. She was looking at Sether with narrow eyes.
With them were two armed soldiers.
Sether gulped hard.
Without words, they entered the room. Sether stepped aside, not wanting to show any signs of resistance. Marlene stayed outside, a smug look on her face.
"Who are you?" Barrett demanded as the soldiers cornered Sether and pointed their guns at him.
Sether raised his hands in surrender, his face neutral,
"My name's Sether, Mr. Wallace, Sether Valentine."
Barrett's brows twitched,
"…Valentine?"
"I am the son of a man you once knew; Vincent Valentine."
Barrett frowned deeper, scrutinizing Sether from the corner of his eye.
"How can I know you're telling de truth, boy?"
Sether was silent. He simply looked at Barrett, hoping his red eyes will save him.
Barrett couldn't help but see the similarities, but was still skeptic,
"I can't have a damn Sephiroth walking around my city and not do a damn thing."
"I beg your pardon, sir," Sether was still looking at Barrett, even though the later was looking aside, "I am not Sephiroth. My name is Sether. I have done nothing to harm your fair city, nor do I have any intentions in the directions, I assure you."
Barrett locked stares with Sether,
"You did cause damage. Quite a damn ruckus you caused."
Sether smiled his lopsided grin. A cold one.
"That is correct, however, It was not I who started it, but…" He figured accusing the big man's daughter wasn't going to gain his favor, "People who mistook me for Sephiroth."
Barrett narrowed his eyes slightly. Sether knew the mayor understood what he meant, and was not sure it was a good thing. He continued,
"I can assure you I will not let that happen again."
Barrett raised his chin, giving Sether a condescending, if somewhat troubled look,
"I can assure you the same."
He then turned around and murmured,
"Kill him."
Sether's face twitched with surprise and he gave the two soldiers in front of him a steady glare, waiting for their next move.
The two, uncertain of what they should do, exchanged a worried glance before looking back at Sether.
They fired.
Act 2His moves were faster than lightning as he moved. The soldiers tried to hit him as he flipped through the room. One moment he was there, but when the bullets came looking for him, they found only air.
Bullets seemed just too slow to hit him. The towel he previously had around his shoulders was sprayed, but he himself could not be so easily hit.
Both soldiers cried out in surprise as they sprayed the room after the slippery demon, but could not hit him. Furniture was holed, the wall was dotted and lamps broke. Still, not the wished splash of blood. They stopped abruptly when Sether had positioned himself strategically behind Barrett. Two fingers were placed across Barrett's throat before he could even react.
"You make me move," Sether hissed, his eyes shadowed by his bangs, his tone unreadable, "and his windpipe is yesterday."
Sweat beads appeared on Barrett's forehead,
"Damn you…" He whispered, voice paralyzed with anger.
"I am truly sorry." Sether said in a cold voice, "In any other day I would have let you kill me, believe me. But I am on a mission for my family…" He looked at the two soldiers, as if daring them to move. He continued, "I will make you a deal. I will leave this town right now, and you will leave me alone. Is it acceptable?" He pressed the two fingers ever so slightly against Barrett's throat, and the big man nodded, gesturing to the soldiers to lower their guns.
Sether removed his hand slowly,
"Now get." Sether pointed to the door, "And do not forget to pay for the damage you have caused." Barrett and his men retreated and closed the door behind them.
The moment the door was closed Sether collapsed to his knees, holding his head. He moved quicker than he thought possible, even for himself. Now, though, he was paying the price.
After a short while the pain stopped, and Sether could let go of his head and unclench his teeth.
"Dammit." He hissed. Now this, too, had become another mess to his extensive list of messes he was in.
Mentally perusing the list, he remembered that Mr. Highwind was going to beat him…
A pang of mixed emotion made him bite his lower lip. What was this emotion?
He thought about it a moment.
Another moment.
Then he felt utterly silly for giving it so much thought because he had neither the time, nor the doubt.
He knew what it was.
"Dammit."
Act 3Sether was just getting out of the hotel when Katai came running.
She noticed he was wearing his travel gear; Black trenchcoat, black glasses and the broad rimmed hat. She noticed with some surprise that it had what looked like a bullet hole in the side. She could have sworn it wasn't there last night.
"Seth! Hey, Sether!" She caught up with him, panting, "What are you doing?"
He blinked down at her, though she could not see it from behind his glasses. She did see his brows rising in wonder, though.
"I am leaving." He said, as if it was not obvious.
Katai straitened,
"You were just going to leave me here?! You were going to wait for me, weren't you?!" The question's tone suggested pain if answered wrong.
"I…" Sether fumbled. Katai never saw him fumble, and looked at him with curiosity. He looked aside as he said in a soft voice, "…I was not… really expecting you to return."
Katai frowned,
"Well, I'm here, Baka!" She then added with sadness disguised as anger, "I don't have anyplace to go."
Sether looked back at her, blinking a few more times before recalling the recent events. He had so much on his mind; he found it hard keeping track of all the chaos.
"I know of a good place in which you will be safe. I will drop you there and continue on my way. Is that okay with you?"
Katai was still frowning at him. It made him nervous when she stared at him,
"What?" He looked over himself, trying to figure if there was something wrong with the way he looked. Something wrong besides looking like someone who doesn't want people to know how he looks, and being a head taller than almost everyone, and wearing sunglasses in a cloudy, sunless day, and…
"You're talking all farsty again!" She whined, poking him accusingly in the chest and causing him to flinch. He wasn't totally healed yet. Katai continued to complain,
"It took me ages to get you to talk like a normal person!"
He rolled his eyes and started walking. She followed him,
"I leave you for an hour, and you fall all the way back! Honestly, I gotta take you to 'fartsis anonymous'!"
He gave her a what-are-you-babbling-about look, but she was too busy whining to notice.
"Took me ages!" she threw her hands in the air, "Ages I tell ya! All that fine work, down the drain! The investment of hours- gone! The fartsy times are here again! No matter how much I tried, to no avail… No one will understand how I suffered! I'll—"
Sether, looking ahead with his cold determination look, smiled his awkward grin,
"It's no problem for me to talk 'normally', you know. It just stuck to me from earlier, that's all."
She wouldn't believe how happy he was that she was there with him. To babble and clog his already clogged brain with her yammering and whining and annoyances.
"Oh."
Katai forgot how taxing it was to walk by Sether. She constantly had to skip to keep up.
"Did you pay my bill, too?" She asked with some timidity. Sether shook his head, still not looking at her,
"Barrett had kindly agreed to do that. We didn't have to pay a Gil."
"Barrett?" She seemed genuinely surprised with the news.
"Yes." Was all Sether said.
Katai smiled to herself,
"That's nice of him." Sether's smile grew wider at this, but he said nothing.
"You know," Katai started, seeming to remember something, "My dad told me Barrett really hated Mr. Valentine."
"Really?" Sether raised his brows with surprise.
"Yeah. My dad told me that because Mr. Valentine used to be a Turk, Barrett never trusted him. Even after Mr. Valentine saved his life on several occasions."
"Hatred is a strange thing." Sether mused out loud.
Katai only nodded, suddenly looking distressed.
They made their way hastily through the bustling streets. People in white, green and pink laughed through them, buying things from various stalls and booths. Many kids were playing in the small amusement park Marlene erected the evening before. Tomorrow was Holy Day.
After a while Katai hesitantly asked,
"How…" She looked down at her feet, "How do you feel?"
He paused, looking at the green fields in front of him.
They were on the outskirts of the city by now. The inn was not far from the southwestern edge of the city. The only way in or out of the city that didn't go through the mountains.
Corel, after all, was surrounded almost completely by cliffs that were both traitorous and monster packed.
After just a moment of contemplation, Sether started walking again, heading southwest.
"I'm fine." He lied, "How are you holding on?"
Katai nodded her head, trying to look strong and failing miserably in Sether's eyes.
They walked.
Katai noticed that she didn't have to skip or run this time. Wondering why, she looked at Sether.
She then smiled an adorable smile when she noticed Sether glancing at her from the corner of his eye, most noticeably trying to walk slower, but also trying to make it look like he was just feeling like it. His hands were stuck in his trenchcoat pockets, and his strides gave the feeling he wasn't comfortable at all.
She laughed, and he didn't understand why he felt so embarrassed.
"Cute!" She announced, hugging his arm.
"W… What?" He gave her a strange look and tried to look innocent, but didn't try to shake her off. She didn't answer him, only looked up at him and smiled wider.
"Really!" She said, "You can be so adorable when you're not a total jerk…!"
He pouted,
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not cute, I'm intimidating." He mumbled in a petty tone.
