Chapter 7: Slipping Away
Disclaimer: I do not own ff7… Just incase everyone forgot.
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The helicopter ride lasted through most of the night and the air had acquired a frigidness to it that froze my limbs. Ropes bound my hands tightly together behind my back and rubbed sores onto my wrists. I sat quietly in my corner shivering as the chopper continued on. Would this ever end?
Scarlet checked her watch and said something to the pilot. Afterwards she produced a needle from her bag and handed it to Evan. "Give this to her, she'll be easier to handle that way."
Evan nodded and took the needle while I sat up nervously watching the narrow tube of clear liquid travel from one hand to another.
Someone grabbed me and shoved me forward towards Evan. He thrust the needle into my arm painfully and inserted the liquid it contained. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth fighting the urge to cry out. Finally the needle was removed, but before I could feel relieved my head started to spin and I was hit with a massive dizzy spell.
Minutes turned to hours and I could scarcely remember where I was and what was happening. Somewhere along the lines we stopped and I was hauled out of the chopper and into a cave. They put me on a blanket and left me there in a semi-conscious state. I managed to burrow beneath the blanket and keep in what little heat I had left.
Sleep would have been a blessing, but the drug kept me awake. An hour seemed like a day as I lay there my head throbbing and my teeth chattering. I was too lost to realize that I was even hungry. Someone approached and spoke to me, but the words only came out as a scrambled nothing.
I couldn't answer. I couldn't even stand or spell my own name if I tried. My eyes closed in hope that just maybe my mind would fall to a light doze at least, but the drug screamed in my head. I've never had a migraine headache before, but I'd guess that this was somewhere along the lines of what it felt like.
Something heavy and warm was draped over me, another blanket I presume. The sound of fleeting footsteps and hushed voices in the distance echoed off the walls.
As time passed the drug began to wear off and I was able to finally get some rest.
When morning came around I awoke to Evan's grotesque smile of glee staring at me. I would have liked to punch him right then, but the ropes kept me from doing so.
"Sleep well princess?" He asked.
My eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Don't you dare call me princess!" I spat. I swung my leg up from under the blankets and the metal toe of my boot slammed into the side of his face. Seeing him hit the ground made me smile. It would be a very short-lived moment of course for punishment would no doubt follow, but I couldn't stand the arrogant bastard's grin. Just the thought of it made me want to hurt him.
He glared at me furiously while pushing himself to his knees. "Bitch." He hissed. "Someone needs to tame that wild side of yours."
In an instant the back of his hand had struck me across the face. The blow snapped my head to one side and caused me serious pain. I slowly turned back around to face him holding back the tears that wanted to fall. He'd not see me give in so easily.
"Time to go." He said and stood to his feet. Three thieves were standing by waiting for an order. "Bring her to the choppers. Now." With that he turned and headed out.
The three approached and wrenched me off the ground. Sunlight blinded me upon leaving the shade of the caves. After looking about me a bit I concluded that we were at a fairly high elevation. There were no trees as far as I could see. We were up in the mountains in the Thieves hideout.
Again I was put back on the horribly stuffy chopper that was carrying too many people. No calming drugs appeared the whole while, not even when we were about to land. For this I was thankful. Last night had been absolutely dreadful and I had no wish of experiencing that again.
The helicopter settled its wheels down onto the landing pad and I was shoved out just barely holding my balance on the landing. It looked like a real landing pad this time. No more hiding out in caves it seemed. I realized as my gaze fell upon the piles of rubble and debris before me that we were in the ruins of Midgar. This didn't surprise me at all. Sure, most of the place was a disaster, but there were plenty of nooks and crannies where people could hide out unnoticed.
We started off through a cleared off path and wound up standing before the Old Shin-Ra building. It appeared to have taken the most damage of everything for there was barely anything left of it. There was nothing here as far as I could see, where would we go?
My question was soon answered as we entered a secret trap door and descended down a large flight of stairs that lead to an area I didn't even know existed. At the bottom of the stairs there were two halls both lit by ceiling lamps. They had power here?
The men holding me let go and went to stand guard on either side of the stairs. As we continued on Evan dropped back beside me and took hold of my arm.
"This is Hojo's secret lab." He spoke suddenly. "His most important research was carried out here and was preserved when the rest of Midgar was destroyed. Professor Lorse has continued Hojo's unfinished work, but we're missing a valuable piece." He tilted his head towards me with a smirk. "Which you know the location of."
"I've no intention of telling you." I growled. "And you can remove your hand from my arm, I'm not going anywhere."
"No, you're not." He grinned. "But I like it much better this way princess, it's too bad Lorse won't let me have you for myself."
The word princess danced off his tongue in a velvety tone that disgusted me on a multitude of levels and made me want to rip his throat out. I shuddered and yanked my arm out of his grasp. "What a pity." I muttered.
"Yes indeed." He sighed. "But, I haven't lost hope yet."
"I hope Sephiroth kills you slowly." I hissed.
Evan scowled. "Do you? I doubt he'll even come. Last time I heard he was good at using women out of boredom and nothing more. You don't really think it's possible for him to actually love you, do you? Hojo raised him with the idea in mind that Sephiroth would be a brutal son of a bitch who could love no one and wouldn't want to."
If it weren't for my binds I would have murdered him right there, but the fact was the words had cut like a knife into my very soul. What surprised me was how uncertain I was. I admit I'd doubted it too before, but surely I was not just another woman around to use out of boredom? No, it couldn't be and it wasn't. Maybe he didn't love me, but he cared. I know he cared and I wasn't going to let this jealous bastard manipulate me!
"I'd choose him over you any day." I answered. "At least he doesn't hit me."
Evan's eyes flared with hatred. "You're nothing but a whore anyways. I can find much better." He snarled and dropped back behind me.
Scarlet came to a stop at one of the many doors and knocked. There was a muffled reply and she opened it beckoning me inside. I came forward hesitantly entering the small office like room. A man was standing beside a file box searching eagerly for something. He was tall and thin with dark brown hair that was combed back with the help of hair gel and had olive green eyes. He appeared to be in his 30's.
His eyes lit up upon our arrival. "Well, well, well!" He cried with excitement slamming the drawer shut and coming to stand in front of me. "So the famous Tifa Lockheart has finally fallen into our hands. Well done!" He exclaimed to Scarlet.
"She wasn't easy to catch mind you." Scarlet said narrowly. "And the rumors are indeed true. Sephiroth is still alive. He was with her."
"Really?" He beamed. "Excellent! What better test for my specimens than the world's greatest? If I cannot beat Hojo's creation than we must work harder. Will he come for her?"
"How the hell should I know?" Scarlet snapped. "He seemed to be in her favor though. He might."
"Even better!" He grinned and turned to me. "I am Professor Donov Lorse and you are the key to my success I'm certain."
So this was Scarlet's boss.
He examined me carefully from head to foot. His eyes closed and for a split second I felt a strange sort of energy wave pass through me. "It's already been done!" He gasped his eyes snapping open.
"What!" Scarlet asked.
"The materia has been split." Lorse replied.
"You mean it's already formed two separate pieces?" Evan asked confusedly.
"That's exactly what I mean." He stated loudly. "The split must have occurred after Sephiroth's defeat." He mumbled in deep thought. "You only have one piece though." He frowned.
The blood drained from my face. So he knew, but how could he? "H-h-how did you know that?"
His head shot up. "What?" He asked in bewilderment. "Oh, that." He chuckled. "My dear I was born with a gift you see. I have visions and am somewhat psychic, but the visions come only when they wish making my power limited. What you just experienced was one of them and what it showed my was the black materia that you have wrapped in that lovely black ribbon of yours."
"Oh." I stated blankly.
"That doesn't matter however for you and I both know that it's almost completely useless unless…" He trailed off.
"Unless?" I prodded. Perhaps he could tell me something.
"Unless you use it appropriately of course!" He answered. "You see, once the materia splits the type of power it has depends on its user. What it does and how powerful it is depends on what kind of person you are and what your intentions are. However, as to using it I'm not sure. It does not work on command of course, only on very rare occasions will its power reveal itself."
Great.
"It is a very mysterious piece." He stated. "Since this is the first time it has split as far as we know, there is no record that tells you what it does because no one knows. We simply have to answer the questions on our own and for me to do that I need the other piece."
"Why don't you just take mine?" I asked.
He scowled. "What do you take me for, a fool? I know very well what it will do if I try to take it. Once it has chosen a master it will resist all others and kill them if it comes to that. You can keep it for the time being, but don't doubt that I will be keeping an eye on you."
"What about the other piece?" Scarlet interrupted.
"We must find it." Lorse replied.
Scarlet ground her teeth together in agitation. "We don't just simply go out and find it. We need leads! Something!"
"Ask her." Lorse commanded.
Evan turned to me. "Well?"
"It'll be a cold day in hell before I tell you anything that I know." I retorted angrily.
"Perhaps this might convince you." Lorse said. "Come this way." He led us through another door and into yet another hall. People walked back and forth about us, many of them wearing white lab coats. Here and there you might see one of the silver suited Turk like people guarding a door.
We entered a small room and stopped. There was a large window looking into a neighboring room that contained an operation table with straps. Beside it was a cart that held several instruments. Awful pictures infested my mind at the sight of the blades and hooks that lay there. I didn't want to know what they did here.
A woman in a lab coat entered behind us. "Shall I bring him inside then?" She asked.
"Yes." Lorse answered.
The woman entered the room and disappeared through a door in the back.
I could feel my heart pounding against my rib cage as I waited fearfully. Minutes passed and the door opened. The woman appeared and behind here were two men carrying Vincent. My blood went cold and I shuddered. What were they going to do to him?
He looked up at me and his eyes widened in surprise then looked away almost shamefully. I'd never seen him in such a weak state.
Lorse turned to me. "This is a most curious piece of work. Another example of Hojo's intelligence! The man was certainly a genius! He had a gift. What he did to this man was exceptionally amazing. There is in truth, only two ways to kill him and one is to hit his heart the other is to behead him, other wise he'll continue to live forever. This allows one to do untold things of torture, however that is not the reason for our tampering with his body. We simply wish to learn more about him and how Hojo managed to accomplish this."
"That's hideous." I whispered in disbelief.
"We've already done plenty of experimenting on him and it is quite painful. It's amazing how such a quiet man can scream so loud." Lorse laughed. "The hardest thing is keeping Chaos from coming out. If that were to happen we'd have a madman on our hands, which is why I developed this solution to keep that from happening. It seems to be hurting him rather badly though and I'm not certain why. Shall we continue?"
I wanted to cry. "You wouldn't!" I shouted.
"Why not?" Lorse asked. "It's science and we learn more about this specimen every time we do this. However I'll be willing to spare him today's confrontation if you give us the information you have."
"I don't know much." I said quietly.
"But you do know something." Lorse stated. "Even the littlest thing will be of help especially to your friend here."
I stared into the room as the woman pulled off Vincent's shirt revealing horrible scars. I held my breath.
"You see those are what was left from yesterday. Isn't it marvelous how quickly he rejuvenates?" Lorse asked with excitement. "With his abilities they will have disappeared completely in the next day or two."
"You're sick." I choked.
"I've heard that from quite a few people." He answered. "I call it open minded towards human experimenting. Sure there will be a few casualties and pain will be felt, but the things that people will gain once we've mastered transforming them!"
I shivered. "Stop. Don't hurt him." I said softly.
"You will speak than?" He asked.
"Yes!" I snapped angrily.
"Good!" He grinned and knocked on the window.
The woman looked up and nodded her head in acknowledgment. Vincent was removed from the table and taken back through the door.
"Now, tell me what you know." Lorse demanded.
"After Sephiroth's defeat the materia split in half as you already know. We were able to get the one piece, but the life stream consumed the other. It could be anywhere." I answered.
Lorse nodded. "Perfect!" He exclaimed turning to Evan. "Gather some search parties. We've got work to do." He headed for the door and stopped just before leaving. "Oh, and get her something to eat and put her in with the others."
"Alright." Evan answered.
Lorse disappeared out the door leaving the three of us alone in the room.
"Well, maybe this isn't a lost cause after all." Scarlet grinned. "I'll get the search parties. You can deal with her." She said to Evan and left.
Two Turks entered the room as Scalret disappeared. From there they escorted me to my prison where the others were kept. My hands were untied and I was shoved into the room. A single light lit the dark, musty room. At least they had the courtesy to put some beds in to sleep on.
"Who the &#?" Barret bellowed from a dark corner of the room.
The door slammed shut and I pushed myself to my feet. "Hello everybody." I sighed observing the tender rubs on my wrists. The ropes sure had done a job on them.
"Tifa!" Barret cried in disbelief. "They got you too?" He asked.
Cid came up behind the burly black man. "They didn't do nothing to ya did they?" He asked his eyes narrowing.
"No, I'm fine." I answered tiredly. "Just a little hungry."
"They'll bring you something to eat. The food isn't all that bad, at least it's more than scraps." Cid sighed. "But this place itself is enough to make me go insane."
I looked around the two men for Shera and found her kneeling down beside Vincent. Reeve was standing just a few feet away. "How long has this been going on?" I asked softly.
Cid shook his head slowly. "Only two days, but yesterday they did it for hours. We could hear him screaming. Stupid mother #&$!" Cid growled and punched his one hand with the other.
"Were gonna have to get outa here." Barret mumbled. "Vincent ain't gonna last much longer."
I slipped passed the two and kneeled down beside Shera.
"Hello Tifa." Reeve said. "I'd like to say it's good to see you, but considering the present situation…"
"I know what you mean." I replied averting my gaze to Vincent's pale face. He shivered violently. "How long has he been like this?" I asked.
"It comes and goes. Ever since yesterday it has gotten worse." Shera said quietly. "They gave him some kind of drug to prevent Chaos from coming out. Chaos fights it now inside him and his body suffers. It is weakening him."
I placed a hesitant hand on his forehead. It was burning. "My god." I whispered. "Vincent?"
His eyes opened for a short moment and he tilted his head my direction. "You….shouldn't……have told him." He gasped and started to cough up blood.
"Vincent, you know I had to." I said.
"It wouldn't have killed me today" He breathed.
"You'd welcome death over what they're doing to you, wouldn't you?" I asked.
Vincent forced a sigh. "Yes." He answered. "You're right." He went silent for a long time and lay there, his breathing long and slow.
"There's no guarantee they'll find it." I assured him and the others too. "They can't take the one we have. The piece chose me as its holder and will take no other so it is safe. It's the other one that they're after."
Vincent gave a short nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you." He whispered. "For sparing me today."
My eyes filled with tears. "I could never stand by and watch anyone of my friends suffer when I have the ability to stop it. I'm sorry for you Vincent." I smiled weakly.
"You needn't worry about me, it's chaos that you should be worrying about." He said. "I fear that my life will end soon."
"But they said-"
"They know nothing!" Vincent snarled suddenly. "Chaos will eventually have my soul and I will be no more."
"But then Chaos would…" I trailed off as the horrible conclusion pictured itself in my mind. "Oh no."
"Yes." Vincent groaned. "The only solution is that I die before Chaos kills me."
Shera stood up and turned away. "Hope is dwindling away it seems." She said softly. "And the girls…" Shera began to sob.
"Wait!" I said jumping to my feet. "Melony and Marlene ok!"
Everyone's attention was automatically on me and Shera stopped.
"Ya mean they don't have'em anymore?" Barret asked.
"Yes, both of them are fine. They escaped when I was captured." I answered. Do I tell them the rest?
"But, who's taking care of them?" Shera asked while stepping up beside me her eyes filled with urgency.
I bit my lip. "Yuffie and…" His name was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't seem to voice it. I could imagine an all out brawl breaking out at the mention of it.
Barret's eyes narrowed. "And?"
Cid watched me intently waiting for me to answer. He knew at least partly what I was talking about. "Well Tif, you might as well break it to us now."
"We might not be alive tomorrow." Reeve put in with a smirk.
Thank you Reeve for that lovely reminder I thought bitterly.
"Yuffie and Sephiroth are taking care of the girls." I groaned and stirred dust up from the floor with my shoe nervously. Here it comes.
The room fell completely silent. The sound of rustling clothing on the ground caught my attention and I shifted my gaze to Vincent. He had pushed himself to a sitting position. "Sephiroth…is alive?" He asked.
I nodded silently. For a moment I wondered in bewilderment why Vincent was so interested, then it came to me. Sephiroth was his love's child and he'd vowed to Lucrecia to take care of him, but failed. It made perfect sense for him to be interested.
"You !#$ kidden me right?" Barret exclaimed.
Cid was wearing a very displeased scowl, but kept his mouth shut for the time being. He seemed to be thinking over the news rather critically.
Reeve stared at me blankly appearing to have no answer. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dirt-covered pants and sighed.
"No." I answered. "I'm not kidding."
"How the #&$ is he still alive?" Barret growled. "What's goin on? Have you lost yer mind?"
I clenched my teeth holding back the angry reply that waited in the back of my throat. No, I'd have to stay calm. Besides, Barret was one of my closest friends. It was expected that he would be a little outraged at hearing about Sephiroth taking care of his child. After all, they didn't know him like I did.
"Cool it Barret." Cid broke in. "Let her explain for gods sake. You don't think Tifa would actually purposely put the girls in danger do ya?"
Barret shrugged. "No, but…"
I cleared my throat. "I don't expect any of you to trust me or agree that it was a good idea, but I had no other choice. Sephiroth is the only person who's strong enough to resist Lorse's men successfully. I believe the girls are the safest under his protection and Yuffie is with them too." I explained. The two of them were probably going at each other's throat at the moment. What a combination. Poor Yuffie doesn't even know what's going on. "Twice he's come to my rescue at his own will. He's not the same man we fought. You'd understand if you saw him."
Shera took my hand in hers and smiled. "I trust you." She said and turned to the others. "Tifa will do anything and everything in her power to keep those girls safe. If she believes they are safe with him then so do I."
Cid smirked and trudged over beside me too. "I told you once that I'd trust ya no matter what. I'm not about to break that promise now."
Barret frowned his mind obviously in turmoil. "Aww shit!" He groaned and scratched his head. "I'm sorry Tif, but this is all weird ya know?" He said. "Yer like a mother ta Marlene. I can't imagine you doin anything to hurt her."
Reeves smirked. "I'm not sure what to say or to even feel at the moment, but I'm not going to go against your opinions so I'm with you too I guess." He sighed. "This is just really strange that's all."
"I know it is and I'm sorry, but thank you all anyways for believing in me." I smiled and turned towards Vincent.
"There's no need to ask." He said before I could speak. "If he's changed as you say than I'm on his side."
"Alright then, now that this is settled." I sighed. "We must wait."
"Well, since we don't have anything else to do, why don't you tell us your story?" Shera suggested.
"Ok." I answered and took a seat on the floor. I would have liked to go to sleep, but they had a right to know.
When I'd finished telling my story Shera wore a bright smile on her face and Cid was grinning like a drunken fool. My face flushed red with embarrassment. I had of course left out the kiss that had occurred, but everyone had a hint of what was going on between Sephiroth and myself..
It was surprising how well they'd taken all of this. Even Barret had settled down a bit. It just goes to show how close our friendships really were. They trusted me even when I asked for them to believe the impossible. I smiled to myself and leaned against the cold stonewall.
Food was finally brought and I was able to quench my hunger for the time being. Rest came next and I welcomed it gladly. A day passed and nothing happened. I sat by Vincent's side from time to time as his body was forced to fight against Chaos and continued to lose.
That evening the scientists came and took him away again and for the next two hours we were forced to listen to his agonizing screams. It was a horrifying sound that made your very soul shudder with fear.
When they returned with him he was out cold and bleeding from several wounds. The torture had finally ended.
"What are they doing to him?" I murmured. Sweat covered his face and body, and he trembled violently. "He doesn't have much time." I said quietly holding the medal claw that had been surgically applied to his arm.
"Who knows?" Shera answered. "I'd rather not find out."
"This is awful." I choked. Tears ran down my cheeks. "Haven't they figured out enough already?"
"Those damn foo's never gonna let up." Barret growled waving his hand in disgust at the door. "They'll kill'em sooner or later. That's what they doin. They're drawen Chaos right outa him and they don't even know it."
"There too stupid to realize it." Reeves muttered.
"Aw #$ it!" Cid punched the wall. "Stupid sons a bitches! Chaos will kill every damn one of us if Vincent ain't around to control him. Another day of this shit and there won't be anything left of him."
Sephiroth, please hurry… He'd come wouldn't he? He said he would. I shook my head sadly. There was no hope for Vincent though. His soul was being devoured by a bloodthirsty demon because of these wretched scientists. Couldn't we have normal scientists for a change? Did they all have to be mentally unbalanced and psychotic?
We were fed again, but Vincent would not eat. Not a word ever escaped his pale lips, only a nod and a headshake. As the hours passed everyone had fallen asleep except for myself. I sat only a few feet away watching my friend as he suffered. I would have stayed awake for the entire night, but my body wouldn't have it.
Vincent's agonizing groan snapped me out of my sleep hours later. I crawled over to his side immediately. His eyes were glazed over and his body convulsed as he let out a short moan. A battle raged in his unconscious mind.
Again he screamed and I flinched. "Vincent?" I spoke trying in vain to reach him, but he was much too far away.
"What's wrong?" Came Shera's voice from behind me.
"I'm not sure." I shook my head. "He's in a great deal of pain though, I know that."
Shera walked up and kneeled beside me. "How horrible." She whispered.
"He's going to die." I whimpered and started to cry. Every sound he made was like a needle stabbing my heart. No one should have to suffer this way especially not him. Always so caught up in atoning for his sins when in all reality he was innocent. He paid someone else's price and did it willingly. Such an unhappy soul with a great deal to bear on his shoulders and a curse that he didn't deserve.
"I'm sorry." Shera said and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
"What's goin on?" Barret grumbled.
"Yeah! Who's makin all that damn racket?" Cid added
Cid walked up beside where I kneeled. "Holy shit."
"What?" Barret asked and appeared on the other side of Shera. "Damn. He ain't looking so good."
"Yo Vince? You in there?" Cid hollered.
Vincent gave no hint of acknowledging Cid's call.
"He can't hear us." I sighed. "He's not even conscious."
Another hour went by and everyone was wide-awake including Reeve. Cid paced back and forth rubbing the back of his neck while Shera did her best to comfort him. Barret sat in a shady corner of the room watching Vincent, and Reeve was leaning against the wall with a dazed expression.
The sound of footsteps approaching our door put everyone on alert and I got to my feet. The door burst open and in came in 4 Turks, Lorse and 2 scientists. "Step aside Lockheart." Lorse ordered.
"What for?" I demanded standing my ground.
"If you want your friend to live, I'd do as you're told." He snapped and I was shoved aside.
Two of the Turks brushed past me and lifted Vincent's body off the ground.
"We'll keep him alive for a while longer so that we can finish the rest of our tests." Lorse added as Vincent was carried out.
"You son of a bitch!" Cid yelled and started forward. Shera grabbed his arm and tried to hold him back as the remaining two Turks came to stand in front of him. Barret walked up beside Cid his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Get yer useless ass's outa here." He growled.
"Don't worry, the tests won't start till later." Lorse smiled. "His body is much too weak to withstand them at a time like this. Come on the rest of you. Don't want to hurt any of my precious specimens."
The two Turks nodded and followed the scientists out. The door slammed behind them and the room went quiet.
"You know, we really need Cloud right now." Cid said finally breaking the silence. "We don't have shit without him. I think you can pretty much say that we are #$&!"
"Hey!" I snapped and turned away from the door to stare at my friends. I looked at each one of them trying to find even the smallest bit of hope, but there was none. They just simply stared back at me speechless. "So this is it then? You're all just going to give up because Cloud isn't here?" I asked bitterly. "What happened to all of you? You never used to give up like this."
Cid looked away shamefully. "I'm sorry Tif but-"
"No buts!" I shouted angrily. "At least try for Vincent's sake and for the others who are trying to helps us! After all I've gone through in life I've always kept hope by my side. I haven't given up yet and I don't plan to."
"Yo, Tif's right!" Barret stated. "This ain't gonna get us nowhere."
"Yeah, yeah I know." Cid answered shaking his head. "I was being stupid. You're right Tifa, we've got to stick together. Thanks for knockin some sense into me."
"That's more like it." I smiled.
Reeve took a step forward. "We may not have Cloud, but we have Sephiroth don't we? He's just as good of a replacement, maybe better." He smirked. "It's something."
"That's right." Shera said nodding sternly.
Once again I'd succeeded in bringing up the spirits of my friends. It was good to see that I hadn't lost my touch. Someone needed to step up now and I was more than willing to do so. After all it had also been me to step up back when Cloud disappeared. That was one of the hardest things I'd ever done. I'm not a leader. I never will be, but I do have a place here. It was my job to keep everyone together and that's exactly what I planned to do.
My friends looked up to me even though I was younger than almost all of them, I was smart though and I knew a lot about fighting. I wouldn't call myself a military strategist, but I could probably do better than Cid whose main intelligence rested in mechanics. I smiled, sorry Cid. Maybe I was being a little harsh. I owed them all so much for believing in me.
Sephiroth was Clouds replacement… It sounded funny. Would Sephiroth also disappear just like Cloud had? Probably. He'd run from the world and live in a concealed area where no one would ever find him. He'd run from me too.
I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes tiredly. Sleep had not been easy to obtain in the last few days and I was exhausted. My mind was plagued by worries and I missed Sephiroth more than anything. It was hard to sleep with so many things to think about, but I managed to anyways.
I was awakened again hours later, by the sound of the door opening.
Three scientists, two Turks, Lorse, Evan and Insada came inside.
I got to my feet looking between the 8 people in confusion. What is it this time?
Cid scowled and took a step forward. "What the &# do you want now?" He growled crossing his arms in a threatening manner.
The others came up beside him with fierce determination shining in their eyes. They were ready to face anything it seemed and somehow I was not. The feeling that had rooted itself in my stomach was not pleasant. Something was about to happen and I had the distinct feeling that I was not going to like it.
I froze as Insada and Evan approached and took hold of my biceps. "What's going on?" I demanded as they drug me towards the door.
Lorse smiled. "I've decided to make you my next test specimen. The strongest so far I'd say. You should be excited, you may become the next Sephiroth only in female version." He explained.
The blood drained from my face and my skin went cold.
"Ya damn #& !" Barret bellowed and went to attack him.
A Turk held him at bay with the tip of his sword.
"You better say your goodbyes while you have the chance." Lorse chuckled. "After she's been injected with my physical enhancement solution all of her memories will be erased and the Tifa Lockheart you know will cease to exist."
"Oh I'm gonna love killen you!" Cid snarled.
Lorse frowned. "It's quite unlikely you'll ever get that chance." He said. "Come along now."
"No!" I cried and tried to pull away.
Evan quickly drew Insada's dagger and held it at my neck. Insada shot him a nasty glare upon seeing his dagger in Evan's hand.
"Any one of you move and she's dead." Evan growled. "Come on Insada."
Everyone slumped in defeat and watched with helpless eyes as I was taken away. Would this be the last time I'd ever see them again? "Don't give up." I whispered as the door shut.
"Thank you Evan." Lorse muttered.
Evan twisted my arm behind my back causing me to cry out. "Are we going now?" He asked. His head lingered over my shoulder and he breathed down my neck a grin touching his lips.
"Yes." Lorse replied.
"Come princess." Evan whispered his lips brushing against my skin.
I jerked away in response and the cold blade of the dagger pressed harder against my neck.
"Naughty, naughty." He scolded.
Insada glared at him with animosity and hate. In an instant his hand curved around the dagger and twisted it out of Evan's grasp. "We're going Evan." He hissed shoving the dagger back into its scabbard. "This isn't play time."
Evan's eyes narrowed on the man standing next to him. No word escaped his mouth though I suspected he had something to say. Instead he pushed me forward down the hall.
I was taken into a room where an empty table with straps sat. There were 4 Turks standing by and several scientists bustling about. Evan released me and gave me a hard shove towards two other men. "Are we free to go?" He asked.
"Yes." Lorse responded.
Evan and Insada disappeared at the door and my two new captors started to drag me towards the dreadful table. Overcome with desperation I gave one last try at escaped if only to prevent the inevitable and was punched in the stomach by Lorse himself. I crumpled from the blow.
"Bring her to the table." He ordered.
The men dragged me across the floor and lifted me onto the table effortlessly. I screamed flailing about madly as they applied the straps. Tears slid down my cheeks and tickled my ears as my sobs echoed off the walls. "You can't do this." I whispered. My struggle proved worthless. Both my arms and legs were held by the binds now.
This was it. After the experiment was finished I would no longer exist. My memories would be taken away and so would the friends that I loved so much. Cloud, Aeris, my parents, everything that was my life would be erased.
My eyes finally closed and I relaxed against the table. There was no point in fighting back now…it was over. I've never been so afraid in my life. There were so many things I wished to do and had yet to experience, why now? I drifted into my subconscious mind no longer aware of the outside world and held close to me everything that I cherished.
Sephiroth…
Author's Notes: I'm so evil! What a cliffhanger… I can imagine that there are some very anxious people out there who'd very much like to throttle me after cutting the chapter off at such a climactic part of the story. Don't worry though the next chapter will be up very soon(I think). You won't have to wait long to find out what happens next! I hope I'm living up to expectations with this new installation! Don't forget to review! I appreciate it very much! Thank you again everyone, I'm glad that you all have enjoyed my story so far!
Happy Holidays!