Chapter 1- The Lesser of Two Evils
The storm above raged on, never showing any signs of abatement. The wind continued to pound at his frame with full fury, allowing waves of heat to bathe and burn every inch of his exposed body. The monster within seemed to have been forgotten for the moment. Soaring like a raven, from the crumbling ledge he observed a broken place.
Midgar.
Somehow, the star in the crown of Shinra's corrupt reign, always drew him back. Even now when he lingered on the edge of oblivion and the great beyond, its pillars and glass walls called him. Even now when there was nothing left but ruins and broken ,melted ,scrap, tainted with the remnants of the fiery mako that had raged uncontrolled and unchecked across the waste of metal and stone. Even now it was beautiful and he had come back to obliterate and cauterise that memory of torment at their hands. A dive and he was perched on a tilting pillar, studded with bits of broken metal and melted rock. His wings rustled, rubbing together in sickening symphony. His wings.a flicker drew his eyes to the side. These.they were like rotting shadows that had been ripped and torn from their holdings and thrown over decaying bones. Bones that rattled and scraped across each other, flaking and tearing and crumbling in clumps and pieces, falling to scorch the earth. Sephiroth smirked " An Angel with the wings of a bat."Shortly he would walk away, spread his wings and vanish forever. But not just yet. The piercing green in his eyes, the gleaming silver of his hair, brushing grey bangs from his face. The horror that were his wings. He jerked his gaze away.
His head clicked up instantly as he wiped his eyes, reflex demanding that he be dignified and untouchable even though no mortal could see him. A rock bounced into his field of vision, skittering and rolling into the pillar he was perched upon. Surely no one was here, not here in the contaminated ruin that was Midgar. Just as he was about to dismiss the stone as nothing more than an accident of the wind, a figure strolled after it , hunched slightly against the now cool air.
Rufus dismissed Sephiroth, smiling. he raised from the shattered remnants of the headquarters to meet another monster, much like him. A titanic distance between them. His once elegant white suit stained with his blood He clenched his shotgun poising it to the warriors head.
"There is no sky." Rufus began, smirking at the black-garbed god." I never realized how the lack of a sun, of a blue sky, no matter how faded the both of them were, would disturb the setting of such a place"
Sephiroth strangely listened " I sensed your death. Why do you live?!"
"It wasn't you who did this to me. I'm dead anyway, a single potion is keeping me alive. These are pretty thoughts, thoughts that take my mind from the pain in my chest. Crimson blood flows there and leaks from me. I did not escape from the building unharmed, shrapnel fills my lungs now. The pain courses through me again, and let my mind go back to my pretty thoughts."
Sephiroth stood, towering over the flame-haired president. He manipulated the clouds above "The lack of a sky disturbs me" They seemed to speak together in an interconnected verse. The sky returned, flashing across the horizon.
Rufus fell to one knee "You are a god." Clicking the trigger hesitantly, the bullet was contorted and deflected by his blade.
Sephiroth approached the young president.
"My empire lies in ruins now, but that is a small setback. I may have been raised on money, but I know how to keep it.and how to earn it back. Not like my so-called father that you destroyed. By killing him you did me a favour. He was man who thought anyone could be bought by the little pieces of credit called Gil. I have learned that people are bought at a much cheaper price"
"Their lives" Sephiroth continued to walk.
"I know honour and what must be done to attain it. I am a devil despite that many regarded me as an angel. PR saw to that, and those who were not swayed by my PR's honey and rose words, they were convinced by the Turks weapons. Like Shinra they were once mighty. Now look what remains. Nothing."
Sephiroth was almost upon him. "Did you find my storm interesting?"
Rufus laughed "What now. I heard the rumours the other day. I am dead they say. In the crib, when I was an infant, I was fed with diamond bottles and I never cried. I have never cried! But these are pretty thoughts. I was born to diamonds and it seems diamonds will in fact, kill me. Almost poetic. Born to diamonds, Killed by Diamond."
"No, I will"
Cleaving his right arm off firstly, Rufus rolled in agony. He shuddered, feeling the walls he held so tightly around himself began to crack. Not that there was anything left to help prop them up but the fading remnants of his will. Nothing to force him to hide or put up a pretty face.nothing to save his own corrupted reflection.it didn't matter now. Sephiroth halted in front of the president . He blocked the next attack with the barrel of his shotgun. " You are .my god." There was no answer. The Masamune slashed across Shinra's stomach. He fell to his knees as his entrails spilled out. Mercifully the bright sword then clove through his neck. Rufus cried as he died. Sephiroth watched him die
"We will meet again. I promise"
The wind was turning bitter and he drew his cloak more closely about him. He felt flat now, and terribly tired. The fury of the day had spent itself. After placing the presidents body in a pool of Mako, Sephiroth head for the hills.
The storm above raged on, never showing any signs of abatement. The wind continued to pound at his frame with full fury, allowing waves of heat to bathe and burn every inch of his exposed body. The monster within seemed to have been forgotten for the moment. Soaring like a raven, from the crumbling ledge he observed a broken place.
Midgar.
Somehow, the star in the crown of Shinra's corrupt reign, always drew him back. Even now when he lingered on the edge of oblivion and the great beyond, its pillars and glass walls called him. Even now when there was nothing left but ruins and broken ,melted ,scrap, tainted with the remnants of the fiery mako that had raged uncontrolled and unchecked across the waste of metal and stone. Even now it was beautiful and he had come back to obliterate and cauterise that memory of torment at their hands. A dive and he was perched on a tilting pillar, studded with bits of broken metal and melted rock. His wings rustled, rubbing together in sickening symphony. His wings.a flicker drew his eyes to the side. These.they were like rotting shadows that had been ripped and torn from their holdings and thrown over decaying bones. Bones that rattled and scraped across each other, flaking and tearing and crumbling in clumps and pieces, falling to scorch the earth. Sephiroth smirked " An Angel with the wings of a bat."Shortly he would walk away, spread his wings and vanish forever. But not just yet. The piercing green in his eyes, the gleaming silver of his hair, brushing grey bangs from his face. The horror that were his wings. He jerked his gaze away.
His head clicked up instantly as he wiped his eyes, reflex demanding that he be dignified and untouchable even though no mortal could see him. A rock bounced into his field of vision, skittering and rolling into the pillar he was perched upon. Surely no one was here, not here in the contaminated ruin that was Midgar. Just as he was about to dismiss the stone as nothing more than an accident of the wind, a figure strolled after it , hunched slightly against the now cool air.
Rufus dismissed Sephiroth, smiling. he raised from the shattered remnants of the headquarters to meet another monster, much like him. A titanic distance between them. His once elegant white suit stained with his blood He clenched his shotgun poising it to the warriors head.
"There is no sky." Rufus began, smirking at the black-garbed god." I never realized how the lack of a sun, of a blue sky, no matter how faded the both of them were, would disturb the setting of such a place"
Sephiroth strangely listened " I sensed your death. Why do you live?!"
"It wasn't you who did this to me. I'm dead anyway, a single potion is keeping me alive. These are pretty thoughts, thoughts that take my mind from the pain in my chest. Crimson blood flows there and leaks from me. I did not escape from the building unharmed, shrapnel fills my lungs now. The pain courses through me again, and let my mind go back to my pretty thoughts."
Sephiroth stood, towering over the flame-haired president. He manipulated the clouds above "The lack of a sky disturbs me" They seemed to speak together in an interconnected verse. The sky returned, flashing across the horizon.
Rufus fell to one knee "You are a god." Clicking the trigger hesitantly, the bullet was contorted and deflected by his blade.
Sephiroth approached the young president.
"My empire lies in ruins now, but that is a small setback. I may have been raised on money, but I know how to keep it.and how to earn it back. Not like my so-called father that you destroyed. By killing him you did me a favour. He was man who thought anyone could be bought by the little pieces of credit called Gil. I have learned that people are bought at a much cheaper price"
"Their lives" Sephiroth continued to walk.
"I know honour and what must be done to attain it. I am a devil despite that many regarded me as an angel. PR saw to that, and those who were not swayed by my PR's honey and rose words, they were convinced by the Turks weapons. Like Shinra they were once mighty. Now look what remains. Nothing."
Sephiroth was almost upon him. "Did you find my storm interesting?"
Rufus laughed "What now. I heard the rumours the other day. I am dead they say. In the crib, when I was an infant, I was fed with diamond bottles and I never cried. I have never cried! But these are pretty thoughts. I was born to diamonds and it seems diamonds will in fact, kill me. Almost poetic. Born to diamonds, Killed by Diamond."
"No, I will"
Cleaving his right arm off firstly, Rufus rolled in agony. He shuddered, feeling the walls he held so tightly around himself began to crack. Not that there was anything left to help prop them up but the fading remnants of his will. Nothing to force him to hide or put up a pretty face.nothing to save his own corrupted reflection.it didn't matter now. Sephiroth halted in front of the president . He blocked the next attack with the barrel of his shotgun. " You are .my god." There was no answer. The Masamune slashed across Shinra's stomach. He fell to his knees as his entrails spilled out. Mercifully the bright sword then clove through his neck. Rufus cried as he died. Sephiroth watched him die
"We will meet again. I promise"
The wind was turning bitter and he drew his cloak more closely about him. He felt flat now, and terribly tired. The fury of the day had spent itself. After placing the presidents body in a pool of Mako, Sephiroth head for the hills.