This was withheld...due to the fact that I was drawing this out way too much....but since everyone wanted me to have Sephy get Ansem back, here it is!! But not in the way that you hope... Chapter 15 will knock yer bleedin' socks off!!
Foundering Hearts
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Kiriel made sure that her items were up to par. She only had a few healing potions left... and that wasn't enough to keep her prepared for any of the Heartless.
In the distance, she heard the rumble of engines. The sound made her cringe. What could machines do against the deathless ones? It was laughable... the Northerners were fools if they thought simple guns and bullets could do a thing to them. Perhaps they could release the stolen hearts... but as long as the scourge kept coming, they couldn't be able to win.
And this damned sword... she found herself caressing the steel as she held it in her lap, feeling it hum softly at her touch. What was she going to do about this sword?
"Where did you come from...? I know you're enchanted... and I know you can speak. You just don't speak to *me*," she hissed at it, staring at the reflection of her eyes in the stainless blade. "Tell me your secrets. Are we going to win this war?"
The weapon's strength waned a moment. It seemed... indecisive. It was more of an echo of its will in her thoughts, what it meant to do, what it did not. Suddenly it thrummed to life.
(They are coming.)
"What?"
(Humans.)
She lifted her head, rising to her feet slowly as the sword hung at her side by her fingers. "Where?"
(They're walking on their feet. They appear to be afraid.)
Kiriel saw them creep from beyond the brush, their feet making little sound. They wore the remains of military attire, their armor stained and in some cases, even broken. There were nearly half a dozen. Less than a match for her magic. Yet--
They saw her and the leader motioned to stop. He wore a gun at his hip, but in his hand was a blade, twelve inches long and an inch wide, tapering to a wicked point. He brandished it, before dropping it to his side. He had dark eyes, with unfathomable depths, and a wary countenance that reminded her of a wounded, dangerous predator.
"Are you a deathless one?" he demanded, tensing his legs. He was the most ragged out of most of them, but she saw the commander button on the lapel of his coat.
"No. I am Kiriel of South Tarbina. I am an agent trying to discover the true source of the demons."
The man seemed to hesitate. Then he sheathed the knife, his posture relaxing. "I am Commander Radu... my small regiment was destroyed by the demons. We... are all that is left." He walked toward her, taking in her attire. "You *do* look like a Southerner... you look no older than my own son."
"We don't have time for idle banter. I have an ally in the city as we speak, trying to gather information. I can't go beyond the capital's borders, for my magic is dampened from their technology. Basically, I can't do jack there. I'm waiting for him to return."
Radu seemed to consider this quietly. Then he lifted his head, gazing at her with cold determination. "As we were posted in Sateli, we discovered something that may prove... interesting.
"When we were fighting the deathless ones, we started to notice something about them. About where they were coming from. The ground underneath the Sateli springs seemed to be darkened by some sort of liquid. It was pumping out of the ground near the temple. And the demons were coming out of the damn temple itself!"
"Sateli? But what about the priestesses? What happened to them?"
"We assume they're all dead. Their spirits stolen to give the monsters power. But we're not sure... we also learned that there was another sort of 'spring' coming from... what appears to be the capital itself. I fear that we are all in very grave danger."
Kiriel felt the chill in her chest growing. "So what do you want my help for?"
"We'll help you get into town if you show us the way to your friend." Radu held out his hand. "An alliance between the North and South. Together, we can crush the demons and save this planet."
~~~~~
The man responsible for the dismarmament of the army was the same man who was seduced by the Darkness. Sephiroth and Dion learned the tale from a talkative soldier on their way to the one sanctuary of the army and villagers. It was a distant district of the capital, outside the town where the trees still grew.
He went missing shortly before the darkness came. It was said he was acting strangely around his soldiers before he finally disappeared, neglecting to arrive at an important military meeting concerning rebels from the east.
"His name is Feld Marsonis and we believe he's at the center of the infestation here in the city. We've reason to believe he's stationed near the city center... but why we're not going to investigate, is beyond me. There's no monsters there to block the way..."
"Gathering their forces elsewhere, maybe?" Dion said softly. "I don't know. But if you think he's there, then that's where I'm going to go. I have a responsibility to protect... some friends of mine."
The soldier looked over at him, sitting beside them in the vehicle as it jounced along the roads toward the hidden human city. He grinned, his hair sticking to his forehead underneath his helmet. "You're a good kid. Someday you'll make a good soldier if you want to join."
"Oh," Dion laughed, blushing slightly. "I-I don't intend to... I just want to protect the people I care about. Like my brother..."
"Where is he now?"
"He's at the hideout with the other kids. Hopefully, he's helping them... he... he believed that there was still hope..." Dion trailed off, silenced. He didn't want to talk about his heart-wrenching failure at leadership. The result of the brothers' altercation was still fresh in his mind.
It was a touchy subject. He didn't want to discuss it with strangers.
He laughed shortly. "Never mind."
In a matter of minutes, they arrived at a deep-cleaved tunnel in a hill. It was of solid steel - the doors opened by mechanical means, leading down an electric lit tunnelway, wide and tall enough for the armored vehicles to pass through. Down they went, several feet, until they reached a large, wide room that appeared to be a parking area.
Dion climbed down first, starting to walk off to stare at the other things before a heavy hand knotted itself into his jacket and yanked him back, leading him roughly around toward the rear of the machine. The boy glared over his shoulder.
"Let go of me, you lousy jerk," he mumbled, and wriggled out of his jacket. Down here, it was quite warm so he wasn't sore about letting Sephiroth watch his coat dangle uselessly, absent of boy.
"You're going to get into trouble, child," Sephiroth returned softly, a coddling tone to his voice as he reached over to pinch his cheek. "Don't get smart... and don't go places where you shouldn't."
"How long are we going to stay here?"
"As long as it takes to raise some courage into these cringing dogs."
Dion narrowed his eyes. "And how do you intend to do that?" He rubbed his cheek, and growled. "Don't touch me like that again."
"With my charismatic charms, boy." Sephiroth stepped around him, dropping his jacket over his head.
"Come on," a soldier said. "I'll show you to your rooms before we can commence your interrogation. I can't gaurantee anything brief, but it should only take no more than an hour."
* * * * *
Sephiroth was unable to take his eyes from the boy as he answered the few questions he could. How his voice strained to keep steady... how he tried so hard to stay calm. He marveled at his success, because Dion never faltered once. He was clear, concise in his reasoning. When it was his turn to answer questions, Sephiroth did so in the same manner.
The entire time, Sephiroth's eyes flickered toward the secret lying beneath Dion's shirt. He followed his hand with his gaze to the necklace each time the boy looked worried or unsure. Gaining some sort of strength from the unseen relic, Dion would continue with his words with renewed vigor.
The interrogation ended. Information was scrutinized. As the meeting came to a close, he stood up slowly and regarded the gathering of men around him with a hardened stare.
"We're not staying here forever. I have my own business... hopefully with what you know, you can defend yourselves and these innocent people you want to protect. Personally, though, you disgust me. You are all but a sad waste of my time. You pollute the natural wellsprings of this world with your blatant prejudice against your wise elders of magic and that, I think, is why you will fail."
"What?" Dion blinked, looking up sharply. "I thought you said--"
"Forget what I said," Sephiroth interrupted sharply, and turned to leave the room and step outside into the cool shade of the enclosed forest. He didn't need to look behind him to know that Dion was following him, but he kept walking. The young boy continued to follow, just as he had hoped. He manuevered through the trees, the scent of pine and fresh air reminding him with a heart-thudding sting Ansem's words that fell so close to his ears, pressing close to him...
How foolish he had been.
He had only wanted to be close to him... The man needed comfort, needed him, and Sephiroth had time again denied him because of his own foolish reasons. And now he was gone.
"Sephiroth!" Dion called, and ran up to him, reaching to grab hold of his arm. "Stop! Please... tell me what's wrong? You're acting so weird!"
He did stop. His arm burned where the kid had grasped him. He turned his head slowly, his eyes fixating on his face, then lowering to his throat. Tugging his arm free, his hand reached out, snatching at the string that dangled against his skin. Dion's face flushed slightly, but he didn't move.
"What is this?" Sephiroth asked him with more sharpness than he intended. The thin string seemed to vibrate slightly at his touch.
"N-Nothing imp-portant," Dion said raspily.
"Then you don't mind if--" The man pulled the string from his throat, lifting the weighty object from under his shirt. Dion gasped; Sephiroth's eyes came alive at once with the glow of the crystal.
"I-I found it!! Well...my brother found it and he didn't want it so he gave it to me," the boy hissed, his hands trembling at his sides, unable to move himself to defend the gift that came from his brother.
Cool oceans of blue turned to ominous stormy, choppy green. "You found this...?" he whispered hoarsely. His voice wouldn't work. His quivering fingers slid down the length of the string to take hold of the warm stone, staring into it and forgetting all else. It flashed and pulsed softly like a star, thrumming desperately as though to be freed. The voice came as clear as a distant bell on a crisp ocean sea.
Sephiroth. Sephiroth, free me!
Dion bit his lip suddenly. His eyes twitched. "It's talking to me," he said. "Get it off me... get it off! It doesn't want me to keep it!"
Without hesitation, Sephiroth snapped the string as he yanked the stone from around his neck. He clutched it, stepping back several steps unsteadily - nearly tumbled over against a birch tree - keeping the object against his chest. "Ansem!" he breathed out loud, sinking down onto a broad tree stump.
Dion's relief was evident. He frowned in deepening concern as he followed his path to the stump. "Ansem...? Is that.... is that a heart?!"
"Yes..." Sephiroth answered. "Ansem's heart... I lost it... I didn't think it would be so easy to find it again." He tore his gaze away long enough to give the boy a measured look. "Thank you."
Thank him...? For what?
"I didn't really do anything... I just...I just had it, that's all."
"You took care of it... it was a gift from your brother, wasn't it?"
"Yeah..." It sort of was... but Vax was more disgusted by it than anything. He didn't think he would consider as gift-giving material.
"And do you love him?"
"Well, yes, I do! If anything were to happen to him, I don't know... what I would do!"
"Then it meant something. Your unconditional love protected Ansem's heart from diminishing. It kept him safe. So I'm thanking you... and apologizing from the way I've been treating you."
"It's alright... I guess he's your... boyfriend, right?" Dion shook his head, feeling his face redden as he looked down at the pine needles. "So... what do you think will happen now that you've got him?"
"I don't know..." the man said after a decidedly long pause. "I... honestly don't know, Dion." His face was a mixture of pain and uncertainty, but it softened slightly when he stared into his hands where the gem glowed like a reassuring beacon.
"You're going to stop the darkness, right?"
Sephiroth closed his eyes, closing his fingers about the light of his heart. His thoughts whirled and buzzed like a whirlwind. He heard Ansem's essence in his thoughts, clinging to his own and keeping himself there for safekeeping. It was no mystery that Sephiroth had to destroy the darkness himself. But how?
Hopeless. It was hopeless. How was he to undo the damage that these demons had wrought? When not long ago, his own heart was poisoned with dreams of death and godly ambition, regardless of the price of millions to reach his goal?
But the voice breezed like a cool autumn wind: I'm here. I have always been. Darkness holds no power. We are free.
"Are we free?" He shivered. Beneath the weight of all that had happened, he realized Ansem was not totally gone. He had him with him all the time... but that didn't make them free. They were already chained to this world, fate driving them to save it whether they wanted to or not.
* * * * *
His warmth felt wonderful to have again. And it was shameless for him to enjoy it. The press of their bodies together, in spite of the shirts that kept their skin apart was something the silver-haired man would never take for granted. He knew this was a dream... a wonderful dream, but he didn't care.
Ansem was with him.
He tangled his fingers gently in his hair, watching his chest rise and fall with his light, even breathing. They weren't asleep, but they didn't need to speak. A small smile touched the corners of Ansem's mouth before he opened his eyes and met his gaze. He shifted underneath his arm, and leaned up to kiss his mouth.
"You're falling," Ansem said, his lips pausing over his throat. A warning bell rang, and suddenly the pair was wrenched apart, Sephiroth yanked one way and Ansem another.
His voice screamed his name, but the growing darkness consumed it in the chaotic maelstrom of sound that followed. He couldn't see him.
He woke in a cold sweat. He felt at his throat, felt the stone and tears burned in his eyes. It was still there. It was still warm, but the dream made him wonder how long that would last. What had Ansem said...? Memories failed him, one tumbling into the next...
The army told him that the darkness was coming from somewhere around the city's central square. The one where the large statue rose like a blackened, tainted monument to a man long forgotten. If that was the beginning, then to the beginning he would go. It was a start: find the source. Evaluate. And take care of the problem.
Where Sephiroth would seek the ultimate end.