He sat in his chair with one knee raised, delicate fingers interlaced on top and leaned over to rest his tired head them. In the darkness of his chamber, crystal tears had glimmered as they rolled off his porcelain cheek and fell into the ringlets of his long silver hair that spilled over his legs. Today was the day, the day that his life starts to fall apart officially.

He looks over to the deck of the tarot cards that laid open in front him. The source that had lead him to shed tears. He had known what was to come out of this whole trip to the other side of the world from the start, but he had thought just maybe, somewhere in the depths of his misfortune, that the cards would tell him otherwise. To maybe just give him some kind of hope and be able to live long enough just to be able to see his dear brother for one last time. But there, among the intricately designed drawings of the cards, was the one that every tarot reader had dreaded.

The death card.

Not always used in terms of actual death, but he didn't need to finish the rest of the reading to know what the position of the card had meant. He curled up in his chair and wrapped his arms around himself. Wishing that the soldier would just finish him already if he still had the intentions to.

Moments later and after many attempts of composing himself, he gritted his teeth and allowed for the other genomes to carry off his belongings out to where the General of SOLDIER stood talking on his cell phone, waiting. Kuja took one last look at himself in the mirror hidden under carvings of the moon phases and brought his hood up in mourning. Enjoying being shrouded in darkness, just like the angel of death itself.

Well after all…that was exactly what he was made out to be.

His purpose of being…

He sighs to himself, dreading the long trip ahead and the new home that awaited him. He knew of the dangers and miseries that will come later. He had seen them in visions and dreams and now in the tarot cards themselves. He was a mage, he could've easily escaped his captor's heinous plans. But when he held his life in his hands, Kuja had no choice but to obey him, and maybe then he could be able to live a little longer than intended. He sat back down in his chair and brought his cloak of black crushed velvet tighter around himself, feeling very alone in the world.

He sat up again with a slight gasp as a flutter of wings had caught his attention from his window. But he smiled genuinely when he had recognized the raven with a note tied around it's leg. Kuja nearly ran over to the bird and scooped his hood back, allowing for his silver locks to hang free over his shoulders again. He quickly untied the letter and recognized the royal Alexandrian crest, emblazed in red candle wax at the seal. He bit his lip and immediately went for his quill and parchment papers.

This was important.

The soldier would have to wait.

~*~

Sephiroth finished getting off the phone with Zack and shifted his weight on his other leg impatiently. He checked his watch again and again then finally growled in frustration. As a highly respected SOLDIER in Shinra, he was always big on patience and tardiness.

"Where the hell is he? We're behind schedule!" he barked and his men all shrugged unknowingly. A moment later and the sound of light footsteps came from behind them.

"Pull that stick out of your ass soldier, I'm right here" the mage announced and trotted up to Sephiroth innocently, black robe flowing at his ankles with the sway of his hips. A nerve twitched in Sephiroth's forehead as he acknowledged him.

"You're late…" he grumbled and if they were able to be seen, Kuja's cold blue eyes had narrowed from under his hood.

"My apologies there, soldier. I was writing a letter to a dear friend telling him about my new whereabouts. It was important, and you can't seem to go anywhere without me anyway" Kuja mocked. Sephiroth just repressed his rage and sighed.

"Fine!… let's get going then" his emerald eyes then caught sight of a large black creature at the mage's side and his brows shot up in disbelief.

"What the hell is that??" he yelled as he pointed to it. Kuja looked down at his 'kitty' and gave it pat on its head.

"This is my pet, is that a problem?" Sephiroth felt a headache coming on.

"That thing better be tame or I'll throw it over board" the mage grinned evilly.

"Luna? Don't worry she's quite the good kitty, unless someone manages to anger me, then she can revert to her wild instincts in a heartbeat, and she obeys only me" he said dangerously and the black panther had licked its lips to emphasize its master's point. Sephiroth shook his head again and turned on his heels towards the ship muttering to himself. Kuja smiled to himself victoriously.

He was going to love pissing off the soldier.

Once settled in, Sephiroth took one look at the enormous feline and shook his head again.

"Luna…"

"It even has a name…"

~*~

Half a day later, the group had finally reached Midgar bases and the General couldn't have been any happier. A familiar, cheery face popped up from among the groups of SOLDIERs and Zack came running out to greet him. He was able to see the forlorn look on his General's face and sensed that he didn't have much of a good time.

"Yo!"

"What a sight for sore eyes…"

"What's up? You look like shit…" Sephiroth's eyes narrowed.

"Thanks for the comfort... Listen, do me a favor? Things aren't looking to good with this guy and he's stuck at my place the entire time he's here…"

"Damn, he's staying at your place?? Why?" Sephiroth sighed and massaged his throbbing temples.

"I don't know, but I need a few good drinks and I mean something really hard…preferably something that can knock me out for a few days" Zack blinked in amazement.

"…and speaking of hard, think you could ditch Cloud tonight?" Zack blinked again, but this time, a huge grin spread widely on his face as a juicy thought had hit him.

"Can't he join us?" Sephiroth thought for a moment then closed his eyes, tiredly.

"Even better…"

~*~

"Oh my…oh how marvelous"

"Quite the work of art, is he not?"

"Oh yes, I must commend you on your achievement, and what a beauty he is…" Sephiroth watched the shadows of the two scientists from the security room with much disdain. They wandered about, examining the mage with interest. Touching him and probing him all over with their gloved hands. The feeling of rubber against skin…touching, poking, hitting…pinching…slapping…

Hurting…

Just the sight of them at work sprung up all kinds of repressed memories of being a personal play toy for Hojo in his youth. He remembered the hours he spent under that blinding white light, and how dizzy it had always made him feel afterwards. Then the nauseating feeling of the mako in his system for the first time. He was only 7 years-old...

He planted one hand on the door frame for balance and used his other to rub his eyes. Trying to erase the memory of that irritating white light that drilled into his head like a laser beam. Just when he felt his stomach turn on itself, a gentle hand squeezed his shoulder and a pair of mako blue eyes met his.

"Cloud…"

"You okay there?" Sephiroth cleared his throat and straightened himself up.

"Fine, where's Zack?"

"Getting dinner. Here, drink some of this then" Cloud handed him a steaming mug, half full of an amber colored tea. Sephiroth studied him for a moment before taking in the herbal aroma of the drink.

"Its green tea with honey" he says with a little bounce. Sephiroth eyed him strangely, but Cloud only smiled sweetly.

"It helps the after effects of the mako go away, and its good for you" his General gave him a small smile. A kind of smile that was only meant for him, and accepted the drink. He really liked the blonde, he was the hardest working recruit they've had. Showing a lot of potential for SOLDIER.

Sephiroth took a little sip out of the mug all the while his eyes never leaving the blond youth. Thoughts of how he ever got mixed up with his loud and charismatic friend ran through his mind. Cloud was a quiet kid, and he deserved someone quiet like him.

"Waaaah! Damn Seph!! You didn't tell me he was hot!!" the General's eyes narrowed as Zack came in whistling and waving bags of take out around.

"What are you talking about ?"

"Our freaky old guy, the loon you have to look after… he's cute!!" Sephiroth ran gloved fingers through his hair.

"A cute old man… Zack what the hell are you on?" Zack shook his head.

"Old? You mean you've never actually seen him? Look what you're missing out on…" he pointed to over where the two professors had departed, revealing a white bed with a partially naked mage on it. They pushed aside the curtains and left to get their share of the dinner.

Sephiroth watched carefully as the mage sat up slowly but gracefully, as if time had purposely stopped for everyone to acknowledge his beauty. Long silvery hair, maybe a tad darker than his own, spilled down the flawless skin of his lean back. He watches the beauty fan out his hair, his body clear of any wrinkles or other deformities, just pure milky white, well toned body with a frame prettier than that of a girl's. The mage rubbed his arms from the cold lab around him, then pulled on his black cloak over him, all the while his back facing the soldiers. Sephiroth turned to find the other two watching him in awe with the expressions matching his own.

Come to think of it now, Sephiroth had never seen how he looked like without the heavy cloaks that he wore all the time. But seeing him now, he was breathless and was some what relieved. Okay…so his new roommate was beautiful, that doesn't change the fact that he's still a black mage. Capable of all sorts of evil hocus pocus. Zack leaned back in his chair and bit into an egg roll, snickering.

"Nice, huh?…and you've got him all to yourself you lucky dog"

Sephiroth let out a sigh as he sat down slowly to try and register everything. He then drank the entire container of nearby sake in one gulp.

~*~

They both walked down the hall of a beautifully furnished building where most SOLDIERS of the first class lived. Sephiroth's special place was on the last floor up and had the entire floor to himself. These halls weren't too familiar to him because he rarely ever stayed at his own place. He never sleeps much and when he did, it'll just be nodding off at his desk in his office or in nights spent with Zack.

He would usually use his extra time for training or to get paper work done, and his private locker room provided showers for him. They reached the elevator, and Sephiroth swiped his card into the slot.

"This is it…" he said, but the other had barely made a noise. There were so many floors to get through, and the silence between them was almost unnerving. So Sephiroth took the chance to steal a glance at him.

He had his hood down for once and his hair fell freely over his shoulders and back. He had his color lined eyes closed and downcast. Allowing for his long lashes to stand out against his porcelain face. Sephiroth had only one chance to see his eyes before they had left the lab. But they were beautiful, just like the rest of him. That made Sephiroth frown. What was he doing with a guy like Garland?

Speaking of which…he was going to bet that Hojo's mako happy experiments were going to destroy the beautiful mage, and that had almost made him feel bad. Someone with such exotic looks should just be put on display. Locked behind a glass case and not to be tampered with ever. But Sephiroth wasn't exactly innocent himself.

He secretly wanted to tamper with him too. He denies it, but he felt his blood boil for him when he saw the mage in his entirety. He was beautiful, almost impossibly so.

The elevator had stopped and opened up to reveal a sophisticatedly designed penthouse. Which surprises even Sephiroth himself every time he sees it. He hardly ever came up here, and when he did, no one usually accompanies him. It was truly a waste.

Kuja took a few steps in and stopped to examine the place.

"Splendid…for someone like you"

"Yeah…maybe I should start coming up here more often" he went to one of the extra rooms and pushed the door open.

"I guess this would be your room then" Kuja nodded slowly then watched his kitty come out to greet him.

"Luna" she licked his face affectionately, making Sephiroth glare at it.

"I hope that thing is house broken" Kuja heard him say and sighed to himself.

"This won't do at all, she's a panther… She'll be needing more room than this…"

"Well this is my house, I won't turn it into a zoo for it" the mage fell quiet then started scratching the panther's head.

"Well then girl, I guess I'm going to have to do something to fix this. It'll be for your own good" Sephiroth watched him roll up his sleeves and waved his hands over his pet. He then watched the panther shrink in size and turned into a regular house cat. Kuja smiled and picked his new cat up.

"Satisfied…?"

"Great… I'll just get the litter box then…"

"No need…"

"Hey I don't want her marking her essence all over the place"

"She won't do that, remember she's my pet"

"So?"

"So that would make her have some kind of magical qualities about her as well, wouldn't you think?"

"Excellent, that thing knows magic too…" Kuja rolled his eyes at him and walked into his room, slamming the door shut in his face in frustration.

Sephiroth sighed then threw himself on the couch tiredly. Thinking how interesting this was going to be. He then turned his as the door opened again.

"And another thing…I like my eggs scrambled, muffins crisped but not burned, no meat of any kind I hate it, and a glass of wine with butter and Lindblum's finest strawberry jam on the side. I expect to have those ready for breakfast in the morning!" Kuja slammed the door shut, but opened yet again.

"And Luna likes freshwater salmon, she won't settle for anything less!!"

SLAM!

Yeah…Sephiroth had thought.

This was going to be… something else…

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A/N: sorry its been a while guys, but I still want to finish this for you. So don't fret. A warm thanks for Kalli and that wonderful Riku/Sora fic from Kingdom Hearts. It made me so happy ^_^