A/n: This is just a short story, probably only going to be two chapters.
I'm growing quite fond of just sitting down and writing whatever comes into
my head. So enjoy, or not, it's your call.
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I don't know when I passed out, but it was the intense heat that woke me. Even with my eyes closed, I could see a flickering orange light. I moved one arm, then the other, finally opening my eyes.
All I could see were flames. They hungrily consumed the shops, the houses, the bodies of the slain people. My neighbors. My home. Nibelheim.
"Hey, it's you!" A man said next to me, making me jump. He was the only other person I could see who was still alive. At first I thought he was talking to me, and a cold sweat broke out on my forehead despite the heat. I had kept my helmet on the entire time, no one in Nibelheim had seen I was there. So why was he talking to me?
Turning around, I saw another living person. Zack, First Class member of SOLDIER, was running out of the old Shin-Ra mansion. The man must be talking to him, I decided. Zack stopped, surveying the destruction around him, then looked from me to the old man.
"You're still sane, right?" The man asked Zack, who nodded in reply. Even though he'd been nice to me on the ride here, asking about my motion sickness, making small talk, I hated him. To me, he represented everything I couldn't be. He was strong, I was weak. He had made it into SOLDIER, risen to the top, where I was stuck at the bottom, doomed to live out the rest of my life as a lowly Shin-Ra MP. Zack jumped over some flames, watching as the man ran into a house to look for survivors. That's when I heard it. The sound of a blade being unsheathed, metal cutting into flesh. The screams of the villagers, dying. Zack and I both looked toward the stairs leading to the mansion.
Sephiroth was there, mercilessly cutting down people left and right. His laugh blended with their screams. He looked up at me through a curtain of silver hair, green mako eyes penetrating into mine. Then, without a word, he turned and left, walking through the fire as if impervious to it. He was the great General Sephiroth, so for all I knew, he really was impervious to it.
"Sephiroth . . .you've gone too far." I heard Zack say. Then he too disappeared through the flames, chasing after the black-caped man.
My thoughts then went to my own house, where I knew my mother still lived, though I hadn't mustered up the courage to visit her. I had left two years ago to join SOLDIER, and I had failed. I didn't want to see the disappointed look on her face as I told her. She would have told me to come back home, trapping me in Nibelheim forever. As bad as spending the rest of my life in Shin-Ra would be, spending it here would be worse. Except now, I didn't even have a home to come back to.
Running into the house, the place I had spent fourteen years of my life, I struggled to see through the smoke. A burning rafter crashed to the floor on my left, and I prayed my mother wasn't somewhere behind it. Heading into the kitchen, I coughed as caustic smoke filled my lungs and eyes, burning my chest as I tried to breathe. There, on the floor, was my mother.
I knelt down, turned her over onto her back, but she wasn't moving. Her hair, blond like mine, covered her face. She seemed almost tranquil. But I couldn't believe it. This woman, perfectly healthy a few days ago, was now dead.
::Sephiroth,:: I thought, my mind filling with anger and hate. ::You did this. You will pay.::
Before I knew it, I was out of the burning door, the collapsing village, and on my way to the mako reactor at Mt. Nibel. I knew that was where Sephiroth was headed, and I was going to make sure he didn't come out alive.
I don't know when I passed out, but it was the intense heat that woke me. Even with my eyes closed, I could see a flickering orange light. I moved one arm, then the other, finally opening my eyes.
All I could see were flames. They hungrily consumed the shops, the houses, the bodies of the slain people. My neighbors. My home. Nibelheim.
"Hey, it's you!" A man said next to me, making me jump. He was the only other person I could see who was still alive. At first I thought he was talking to me, and a cold sweat broke out on my forehead despite the heat. I had kept my helmet on the entire time, no one in Nibelheim had seen I was there. So why was he talking to me?
Turning around, I saw another living person. Zack, First Class member of SOLDIER, was running out of the old Shin-Ra mansion. The man must be talking to him, I decided. Zack stopped, surveying the destruction around him, then looked from me to the old man.
"You're still sane, right?" The man asked Zack, who nodded in reply. Even though he'd been nice to me on the ride here, asking about my motion sickness, making small talk, I hated him. To me, he represented everything I couldn't be. He was strong, I was weak. He had made it into SOLDIER, risen to the top, where I was stuck at the bottom, doomed to live out the rest of my life as a lowly Shin-Ra MP. Zack jumped over some flames, watching as the man ran into a house to look for survivors. That's when I heard it. The sound of a blade being unsheathed, metal cutting into flesh. The screams of the villagers, dying. Zack and I both looked toward the stairs leading to the mansion.
Sephiroth was there, mercilessly cutting down people left and right. His laugh blended with their screams. He looked up at me through a curtain of silver hair, green mako eyes penetrating into mine. Then, without a word, he turned and left, walking through the fire as if impervious to it. He was the great General Sephiroth, so for all I knew, he really was impervious to it.
"Sephiroth . . .you've gone too far." I heard Zack say. Then he too disappeared through the flames, chasing after the black-caped man.
My thoughts then went to my own house, where I knew my mother still lived, though I hadn't mustered up the courage to visit her. I had left two years ago to join SOLDIER, and I had failed. I didn't want to see the disappointed look on her face as I told her. She would have told me to come back home, trapping me in Nibelheim forever. As bad as spending the rest of my life in Shin-Ra would be, spending it here would be worse. Except now, I didn't even have a home to come back to.
Running into the house, the place I had spent fourteen years of my life, I struggled to see through the smoke. A burning rafter crashed to the floor on my left, and I prayed my mother wasn't somewhere behind it. Heading into the kitchen, I coughed as caustic smoke filled my lungs and eyes, burning my chest as I tried to breathe. There, on the floor, was my mother.
I knelt down, turned her over onto her back, but she wasn't moving. Her hair, blond like mine, covered her face. She seemed almost tranquil. But I couldn't believe it. This woman, perfectly healthy a few days ago, was now dead.
::Sephiroth,:: I thought, my mind filling with anger and hate. ::You did this. You will pay.::
Before I knew it, I was out of the burning door, the collapsing village, and on my way to the mako reactor at Mt. Nibel. I knew that was where Sephiroth was headed, and I was going to make sure he didn't come out alive.