DISCLAIMER: The characters etc. of Final Fantasy 7 belong to their creator, Squaresoft. I'm just giving the characters something to do while Squaresoft's busy. ^_^
AUTHOR'S NOTES: And so the plot thickens!! (I've always wanted to use that phrase.) Anyway: thanks to everyone who has or will review me! I love all of you!! *hugs the computer monitor* Do not fear, for the end of your waiting is near!! Enjoy the new chapter, and try not to let the flashbacks confuse you?
CHAPTER 7.
How black art thou
transformed with sin!
How strange a guilt gnaws me within!
Grief will convert this red to pale;
When every wake, and witsund-ale
Shall talk to my shame; break, break sad heart
There is no medicine for my smart,
No herb nor balm can cure my sorrow,
Unless you meet again tomorrow.
- Thomas Randolph -
A black-haired man entered the town of Kalm, holding a jade-green bladed sword in his right hand. His hazel-coloured eyes scanned the surrounding town, yet his face showed no emotion.
"You." He said coldly, grabbing the nearest person.
"W-what? W-who are you?" The man stammered, visibly frightened by the stranger who was holding him.
"I am called Zenobius, the assassin.." The stranger introduced himself. "Have you seen General Sephiroth?" He continued.
"N-no.. But I did see some other weird looking people.." The villager said, pointing to the direction of the canyon. "They went over there.." He said, a frightened tune to his voice.
"What did these strangers look like?" Zenobius asked, releasing the villager from his hold.
"One was a blonde man, about the same height as you.. Then there was a girl and a third person.. I didn't really pay much attention to them." The villager explained, taking steps back as if he was preparing to run away.
"A blonde man?" Zenobius tilted his head. "It could be Sephiroth is travelling with them.. Better safe than sorry." Zenobius smirked, and turned around, his black cape flapping in the wind.
* * * * *
Aeris watched in shock, as the sadness in Sephiroth's eyes was soon replaced with hate and contempt. "These are the 'friends' you were talking about.." His voice was so cold, she felt shivers run up her spine.
"Yes." Aeris told him in a small voice.
"You lied to me.." Sephiroth snarled at Aeris. "You only helped me so that you could destroy me.. When I was least expecting it.." He gazed at Aeris scornfully.
"My mother was right, all humans are traitors!" Sephiroth swinged his Masamune powerfully, his eyes glowing radiantly with anger.
"No, no! I didn't lie.. I would never let them--" Aeris began.
"Silence! I do not care to hear your petty excuses! You betrayed me, like--" Sephiroth closed his eyes, never finishing his sentence.
"What? I don't understand! Sephiroth please, don't.." Aeris cried out, kneeling if front of him. She clasped her hands in a prayer, hoping Cloud and the others wouldn't rush into anything. She figured they wouldn't attack Sephiroth as long as she was in the way.
Kill her. Jenova whispered to Sephiroth. He raised his sword to strike the young woman kneeled in front of him. Her eyes were staring straight up at him, shining brightly with tears.
Do it. Can't you see how pitifully weak she has rendered you? Sephiroth stared at the tip of Masamune's blade. It was trembling with hesitation, like his entire body. Can't you see? Nobody cares for a weakling. Jenova's voice was harsh and demanding.
"What have you done to me?!" Sephiroth shouted at Aeris, and ran as far away from her as he possible could, never turning back to see Aeris falling to the ground crying.
"Sephiroth.." She sobbed, "I didn't lie.."
"Dat man has got some serious problems." Barret muttered, scratching the back of his head. He was staring at the edge of the forest, where Sephiroth had just dissappeared. Cloud's eyes, on the other hand, seemed to be fixed upon Aeris, who was still crying out for the ex-SOLDIER General. He wondered, what exactly had happened between Aeris and Sephiroth during these last few days they had been travelling together.
"He just went insane again.." Cloud shrugged at Barret. "It's a miracle Aeris is still alive.." He told Aeris, who finally seemed to have calmed down.
"He's not insane.. He's like me." Aeris said quietly, and ran away from everyone. She needed to be alone for a while, and pull herself together again.
Cloud was about to walk after her, but Red stopped him. "Don't. I doubt she want's to see you right now." Red told him.
"Why? What did I do?" Cloud raised his voice at the creature.
"Red, it's not Cloud's fault Sephiroth went berserk.. That's just the way he is. He seems perfectly fine at first and then WHAM, he burns down a village and kills everyone." Tifa said, tapping Cloud's shoulder supportively.
"Aeris thought she could change him." Red sighed, understanding Tifa's point.
"Nobody can change him.. Not even her." Cloud muttered, glancing at Aeris. She was leaning against the white fence surrounding the chocobo-pen, staring at the grass sadly. He had never seen her as miserable.. And it was all Sephiroth's fault.
* * * * *
"To be forgotten is a fate worse than death.." Sephiroth whispered in the darkness of Hojo's laboratory.
After hearing the echo of his own voice, Sephiroth burst into an insane laughter. The new laboratory seemed more like a warehouse, since Hojo had not yet unpacked all the heavy machinery from the wooden crates that contained them.
"What, you missed me?" Hojo leered at Sephiroth, as he entered the room. "I have good news for you.. You are now officially a member of SOLDIER." Hojo announced.
"What, I thought I failed the entrance exam.." Sephiroth's voice lacked any interest. He had been told a person who couldn't take orders and work as a part of a team had no future in an organization such as SOLDIER.
"Yes, but I pulled some strings and made them.. shall we say, reconsider their decision." Hojo snickered.
"Oh. Great." Sephiroth answered Hojo, turning his eyes away from the man.
"You will soon learn to apprecciate everything I've done for you.. You shall learn you are superior to all of them." Hojo's voice was uncaring, as though he was offended by Sephiroth's indifferent behaviour.
"I doubt it." Sephiroth snorted.
"Oh, you are so terribly naive, Sephiroth.." Hojo laughed. "Your powers are all there is precious about you.. Everybody knows that!" He laughed cruelly, "They all know what you are.."
* * * * *
"Aeris.. Are you OK?" Tifa asked, while walking over to the pink-clad girl.
"..No." Aeris whimpered. "He thinks I lied to him, the whole time.. He must really hate me right now." She sighed deeply.
"You mean Sephiroth..?" Tifa's eyes went wide with disbelief. "He nearly killed you! Why do you care how he feels about you at all!?" Tifa asked.
"..He trusted me.. He told me things about his past.. And the whole time, I wasn't being honest with him.." Aeris' voice shivered sadly. "But the worst thing is.. Now he's convinced I was only interested in him to use the information I received against him.. He thinks I only wanted to hurt him.. like--" Aeris shook her head. "I can't blame him if he never wants to see me again." Aeris sighed deeply, throwing away the white wild flower she had just picked up.
"You should hope so!" Tifa gasped. "He's dangerous! Look at what he did to me!" Tifa raised her white shirt, revealing a section of the long white scar on her skin.
Aeris looked at Tifa apologetically. "I'm sorry.. I can't help feeling this way." She explained, a lopsided grin on her face.
"Hey you two, get over here! Mr. Leader want's so talk to ya!" Barret shouted from the main building.
"Aeris, are you coming?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah.." She answered, wiping the corners of her eyes with her hands. "But I won't be good company, right now anyway.." Aeris continued, smiling sadly at the ground.
"Com'on.." Tifa grabbed Aeris' hand. "I know you're a little.. confused at the moment, but trust me, it will be alright." She smiled at her.
"I hope so." Aeris returned the smile.
Tifa began to drag Aeris towards the building Red, Barret and Cloud were staying at. She was relieved Sephiroth had left.. Aeris probably hoped Sephiroth would've joined AVALANCHE, but for Tifa and Cloud it wasn't an option they were willing to accept. Even if they'd be able to tolerate Sephiroth's presence, they would never forgive him, nor forget the awful things he had done.. Tifa wasn't going to tell that to Aeris though, since she seemed to have an emotional overload to begin with.
Tifa and Aeris entered the building, and followed Barret to the bedroom, where Red and Cloud were already discussing what to do next.
"Oh, hi you two. Take a seat, somewhere." Cloud raised his eyes from a map that he and Red were studying.
Aeris walked over to the bed that was in the far end of the room, and glanced at the view spreading from the window located next to the bed. The yellow chocobo's were walking about happily, making 'wark' sounds at each other. They looked so cute with their brightly coloured feather's, but Aeris swallowed hard at the sight of them. The bitter lump at the back of her throat was an aching reminder of the conversations she had had with Sephiroth.. While Cloud was asking Tifa what was wrong with Aeris, she fell deeper into her memories of the last few days with Sephiroth..
* * * * *
"Apples!! I want one." Aeris turned her eyes over to Sephiroth.
"I thought you were ready to go already.." He sighed.
"Pretty please?" Aeris fluttered her eyelids, making Sephiroth chuckle at the sight of her. "Fine, which one?" He asked, raising his Masamune.
"That big red one on the right." Aeris said, and in an instant Sephiroth cut the apple loose with his sword.
"..On the other right." Aeris smiled awkwardly at him.
"Oh, I'm getting a little tired of this." Sephiroth said, and swung his sword, his entire body curved like that of a dancer. The thick apple-tree branch fell down with a thump, leaving Aeris staring at it in amazement.
"Just go ahead and pick." Sephiroth smirked, placing the Masamune back into it's sheath.
Aeris picked up the apple she had wanted, and rubbed the fruit's surface against her pink dress. As she took the first bite, she noticed Sephiroth was staring at her. "What," Aeris asked with her mouth full.
"Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you were taking a little too big of a bite for such a pretty little mouth." He said, his eyes flashing mischievously.
"You trying to sweep me off my feet?" Aeris laughed.
"The answer depends, if I'm being successful or not." Sephiroth grinned.
"Oh com'on, stop being so modest. Who could resist you.." Aeris smiled. She truly enjoyed the company of Sephiroth. They were so alike, it seemed like they shared a soul.
* * * * *
"Aeris, are you with us?" Red asked, breaking Aeris' silent reverie.
"Oh yeah, I was just thinking. Cute chocobo's." Aeris said, her voice faraway and unexcited.
"Anyway, we were just talking about what to do next.. It seems obvious Sephiroth's on the rampage again, we'd better go after him." Cloud said, getting accepting glances from everyone except Aeris. She glared at him.
"Then what. You'll kill him?" Aeris asked.
"Not if there's another way. Is there?" Cloud asked, a compassionate tune to his voice. He understood Aeris was not her usual self at the moment, after just being so close to death..
"Maybe. I think we should figure out something.." Aeris bowed her head, her voice trembling. She looked so exhausted and sad, Cloud wondered if it was wise to drag her along AVALANCHE at all. "Aeris, listen.. Things are going to get really difficult from now on. Shin-Ra has increased the amount of SOLDIER's patrolling, and.. If you think you're not up to it, you should tell us now, before anything happens." He said.
"What, you're saying you don't want me to go with you?" Aeris asked the others. "Where am I supposed to go then? I can't walk back to Midgar on my own, and I'm certainly not staying here.. I belong with AVALANCHE!" She looked at the others, who seemed have changed their behaviour towards her after the little incident with Sephiroth earlier. They were all looking at her like she was a ticking time-bomb about to go off, pity written all over their faces.
"OK, I'll take your word for it." Cloud said, breaking the tension in the air.
"Anyway, we thought Sephiroth's likely to head towards Junon.. The only way there according to this map.. is through Mythril Mines. As the owner of this ranch already told us, it's not safe to cross the marshes without a chocobo." Cloud kept talking.
Almost like the clouds on the blue sky above flowed towards the afternoon sun, Aeris' thoughts wandered back to Sephiroth. She wondered what he was doing, if he was alright.. If he was thinking about her..
"Aeris?" Cloud interrupted her thoughts. "Red told me, there's some assassin after Sephiroth?" Cloud asked her, glancing at Red a slightly worried expression on his face.
"Yeah.. The SOLDIER's in Kalm mentioned something like that.." Aeris said quietly.
"Then do you think he's a possible ally or an enemy?" Tifa joined the conversation.
"Of course he's an enemy! He's created by Shin-Ra, designed to.. assassinate!" Aeris raised her voice. Everybody looked at her, stunned by her sudden outburst.
"So is Sephiroth. I can't see your point." Cloud's voice was cold.
"Could you even pretend, that you understand how I feel! You sit there and talk about killing a man, who's.." Aeris silenced herself, realizing she had no idea what exactly Sephiroth was to her. A friend? An acquantaince? ..A soulmate?
"Aeris.." Tifa's voice was soft and caring. "We do understand, you haven't seen him at his worst.. Still you have to realize.. Sephiroth's not an innocent man. But I guarantee, if there's any way to stop him without killing him - we'll try it, won't we Cloud?" Tifa said, placing her arm on Aeris' shoulder, hugging her supportively.
"Of course.." Cloud nodded as he answered.
"But right now we have to catch some chocobo's! So let's move out, people!" Cloud told everyone, smiling at Tifa briefly as she walked out. Aeris was about to follow her, But Cloud stopped her. "You'd better rest. We'll come wake you up when we've caught enough chocobo's." He told her in a friendly manner.
"Thanks Cloud.. Sorry I'm such a nerve-wreck.." Aeris grinned sheepishly, her head bowed towards the ground. She felt ashamed of her behaviour. She'd often thought herself to be stronger than this, but now it seemed she had no control over her emotions at all. And the most disturbing thing was, she didn't really understand why Sephiroth's abrupt leaving had upset her so.
"Don't worry about it. Everybody has a bad day at times.. It's only human." Cloud finished, and walked out of the room, leaving Aeris by herself.
She sat down on one of the beds, and took her shoes off. As she streched herself on top of the bed, she noticed how tired she actually was. It didn't take longer than few minutes for her to fall asleep.
Hey, I'm actually pretty satisfied with the way this chapter turned out, though I do realize it's a little short.. That little scene from Sephiroth's past (the one at Hojo's Lab) is my personal favourite! It says so much about him.. Umm, or at least of the way I see him as a character. Sephiroth's obsession with ultimate power comes from the fact that his powers are the only things people ever apprecciated about him; ultimately he yearns for people to like him. Doesn't everyone.. *thinks very hard* Anyway, stay tuned for more ramblings! ^_^