Chapter XXIII
The Plot Thickens
"Would you mind lending us a wagon to get to our ship?" Bergljot asked the next afternoon.
"Of course you may borrow one! It's the least I can do to repay you," Rhiannon replied. "Is there anything else you need?"
"No, thank you," Anselm shook his head. "We should be off soon."
"I'll send a guard to escort you."
"That would be fine. Oh, but first," Bergljot started. She looked at Rhiannon. "I think you might want to know something. Sealing the Keyhole only prevents Ansem from sending any new breeds of Heartless through. The ones already here will remain and can still make new ones. Protect the city and train your army well. We'll be returning and we'll need it to destroy Ansem once and for all."
"Understood. Your wagon will be ready in a few moments. Good luck," Rhiannon bade them. She turned and left for her room.
"We better go or else the wagon will leave without us," Gwandoya said. He left with Anselm on his heels.
"Bergljot, you coming?" Anselm asked when he realized she wasn't following.
"Give me a minute," she replied, nodding towards Sephiroth. He was staring out the window of the throne room and didn't seem to have heard any of the previous conversation.
"Hurry up."
"Hey, Sephiroth? You okay? You've been quieter than usual."
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking…" he trailed off slowly, never adverting his gaze.
"What about?" she questioned.
"Just things. People," he whispered. Sephiroth shook his head. "Never mind."
"You know you can tell me."
"I said forget it. Let's get going," he said quickly. He turned and left Bergljot standing there, more confused and concerned than she had ever been before.
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"Where to next?" Gwandoya asked. They had been in space for an hour.
"A place called Selvaggia. About two days from here," Anselm answered as he studied the map. "All of the residents are… holy crap…"
"What's wrong?" Bergljot inquired.
"Every living thing on the planet is an animal. Remember when that guy on Ogden told us about Seymour and mentioned the Ronso? There are some of those here. There are also Chocobos, whatever the hell they are, and a nameless species."
"Wow. How are we going to fit in?" Gwandoya wondered aloud.
"We don't," Anselm shook his head. "I don't know why Heartless would be interested in this place. There're no humans anywhere."
"Hey," Gwandoya spoke up. "Where's Sephiroth?"
"He went to take a nap when we got onboard," Bergljot explained as she removed the world. "I don't think he's been getting much sleep lately."
"Me neither. I heard him get up several times last night," Anselm told her.
"You think he's sick?" Gwandoya asked.
"I hope not. After my pregnancy, we can't afford to lose any more time. I say full speed ahead to Selvaggia," Bergljot added as she left the room. The men were right behind her. They didn't know that Sephiroth was indeed having trouble sleeping, and was currently struggling to escape the worst nightmare he had dreamed since he was a very young child.
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How could you let them do that to him? He's your son!
-I know…-
And you just let them run their experiments on him like an animal?
-What was I supposed to do? He was taken while he slept and I was in Nibelheim.-
(Sephiroth stands in total darkness, no light anywhere around him. A cloaked figure stands before him. No features are visible save an inch of the figure's silver bangs and the person's chin and mouth. Both men seem to glow slightly in the black. The other person speaks softly and slowly.)
He is dead, you know. All because you didn't teach him of his heritage. If you had taught him how to survive, he could have been as you: frozen for resurrection at a later date.
-My son deserves better than that. He is nothing like me. I would never wish my life or my ways unto him.-
(The cloaked person bows his head slightly and chuckles.)
That's the last thing I would have expected to hear from your mouth, even in reference to your own child.
(The figure draws a double-bladed sword)
-Who are you?-
Let's just say… an old friend.
(The 'old friend' charges to take a slice out of Sephiroth's arm. As he pulls away, Sephiroth sees a familiar looking necklace around the man's neck. After a moment's shocked hesitation, he pulls out Masamune and attempts to hit the stranger. Their blades clash and, somehow, the weapons shattered. Sephiroth ducks, but the cloaked person is not so lucky; a piece of Masamune becomes lodged in the man's stomach and he falls to the ground in pain. Sephiroth kneels next to him, gently removes the metal and necklace, and turns the pendant over in his hands.)
How could you let this happen?
-I want to know who you are.-
(Sephiroth grasps the man's shoulders to lay him against his leg as a last bit of comfort while he dies. In doing so, the hood of the cloak falls back. Sephiroth stands quickly, allowing the boy's head to hit the floor with a crack. Sephiroth stands trembling with a hand over his mouth.)
-No…-
(The teenager smiles weakly. His short, silver hair frames his face while his green eyes shine with pain before they close. He winces.)
Hell, yes… I knew you were evil, but to allow what just happened…
-This isn't happening. You're already dead. I'm dreaming.-
Yes, you're dreaming. Yes, I'm dead. No, this isn't happening. At least, not yet.
-No…-
(Sephiroth fights the tears beginning to stain his face.)
Yes. The closer you get to me here on Ruya, the worse your nightmares will become.
-No.-
You and I will fight, and one of us will die. The winner will go mad. Again, if you are the one to win.
-No!-
(Sephiroth falls to his knees and stares at the dying child.)
-Why are you doing this?-
(The boy only continues to grin.)
Soon, father. Very soon.
(The body disappears and the air becomes thick. Sephiroth has trouble breathing and hears the familiar yet forgotten sound of a child laughing. As it continues, a deeper, more adult voice joins in. Sephiroth covers his ears and shuts his eyes.)
-Stop this…-
(The laughing continues and grows louder, the child's laugh being that of joy while the elder's is that of triumph. Sephiroth knows deep down who is laughing and why. A person is going to die. A person that stands in the way of another's goal. Yes, he knows that sound very well. He has laughed that way on several occasions himself. Sephiroth begs the owner of the adult voice, although he also knows that the voices belong to the same person.)
-Stop. Please.-
All in good time, Father.
(Both voices respond in unison. A new wave of tears and nausea overtakes Sephiroth as he listens to that all too familiar child's voice again.)
All in good time…
(The floor disappears beneath Sephiroth's knees and he falls into more darkness. High above him, he sees two pairs of green cat eyes staring at him and hears the sound of laughing. He flails around, trying to find a handhold in the darkness. He screams at the boy just before he hits the hard ground.)
-No… No. NOOOO!-
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"NO!" Sephiroth sat up and cried upon waking. He shook severely. Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Sephiroth found that he was sweating even more than when he had arrived at Prapat. A loud noise filled his ears, and it took him a few seconds to realize that it was Gemini and Genesis crying. He moaned as he laid back. The door opened and Bergljot walked in.
"Holy…" she gasped when she saw Sephiroth sitting there shaking and breathing abnormally. She ran over to him and laid a hand on his forehead. "My god, are you okay? You're burning up."
"Fine. Just fine," he panted. But he wasn't fine. He was reluctant to tell her what he had dreamed. He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. "It's nothing."
"Nobody wakes up screaming for no reason."
"I had a bad dream, okay?"
"It must have been pretty bad for you to wake up like that," she said as she tended to the twins.
"I would rather not discuss it," Sephiroth said in a final tone. Bergljot sighed heavily.
"Gwandoya didn't feel like he could tell me his dreams, either. If you change your mind, I'm here," she said quietly. She hugged Sephiroth, picked up the twins and took them with her to the front of the ship.
"I'm sorry," he whispered when she was gone. "But this is something I alone must handle."
He continued to lie there for a few more minutes before he got up to wash. As he swung his legs out from under the blankets, a small object fell from the depths of the bed. He picked it up without much thought or looking at it and pocketed it. He washed his face and stood trembling at the sink for several minutes, taking deep breaths. He had forgotten the object until he slipped a hand back into the pocket. There were several objects in it: the black materia, some paper, and the object that had fallen out of the bed. Sephiroth gasped and had to grab the sink to keep from fainting when he finally took a good look at it.
It was the exact same necklace from his dream.
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"So, how much longer?" Sephiroth asked two days later.
"Should be just a couple more hours. Hey," Bergljot said with a smile. "There are animals there called Chocobo. Any idea what those are?"
"Yes. They're large birds used for transportation and racing. They are usually yellow, but they can also be several other colors, like blue, white, green, pink, red, and purple. The Chocobo that I owned for a short time was black," Sephiroth explained absent-mindedly.
His hand went into his pocket and fingered the necklace. He had kept it there since the day of the nightmare. None of the others knew details about the dream or the necklace. Each night, he took it out and gazed at it. He had no idea how it had come from the dream to real life, nor did he want to know. How can I have it? I gave it to him when he was sent to me. He should have been buried with it. How can this be?
"-front of us."
"SEPHIROTH!"
"Huh?"
"Were you even listening to Gwandoya?" Anselm asked. He was the one who yelled. "He said, 'strap in, we've got an unidentified ship in front of us.' We don't know what it is, but it's not a Heartless ship."
"Oh. Right," Sephiroth smiled, removing his hand. He sat deep in thought as the ship rattled towards the new one.
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"Phase one has begun, Ansem," Aisling grinned. "I must remember to thank Seymour for going to the Farplane and retrieving the necklace."
"How did he feel about last night's dream?" Ansem asked.
"He was horrified. He's also confused about the necklace. He has no idea how he got it."
"I think your powers of getting into people's heads will prove very, very useful."
"Thank you, Ansem. If you will excuse me, I must prepare our friend's nightmare for this evening," Aisling bowed. She was gone a moment later.
"Lord," Angra Mainyu called from the pedestal. "They will be landing in a few hours. Shall I give Enosh the order?"
"Not yet," Ansem said thoughtfully. "I think, perhaps, we will give them a chance. A hopeless chance, but a chance all the same. Besides, Enosh will not be able to harm them."
"What?" Seymour snapped. "Why did we send him, then? If he's going to die again, what was the point?"
"Patience, Lord Seymour," Ansem said as he raised a silencing hand. "You will understand in due time."
"Why not now?"
"You see, I have met and faced them. They were able to destroy my most powerful Heartless, Mukesh. You remember watching that on the pedestal. However, The fight with Sephiroth nearly killed Bergljot. We will wait until they arrive on Ruya. As they get closer, Aisling will give him more, increasingly horrible nightmares. When they arrive, he will be, 'greeted,' shall we say, by that which he has held closest to his heart. With luck, they will fight, Sephiroth will win, and he will once again go mad. With a little more luck, he will lose any feelings he has grown for the light bringers and kill them. Or, even if he still holds those feelings, he will be blinded by grief and anger and kill anyone in his way."
"But if they fight, and Aisling loses," Angra Mainyu asked slowly. "She'll die again, won't she?"
"It is a small price to pay for power. There will still be you, Seymour, the eight others, Raj, and myself. Speaking of the young prince," Ansem said suddenly. "He is en route to the collision point, correct?"
"He's already there, my lord. They will meet in a few moments," Seymour nodded. Ansem smiled, but it soon faded thoughtfully.
"My plan is working perfectly. I only hope that the next couple of phases will be successes."
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Me: Well, I'm getting back in the groove of updates.
Sephiroth: I don't get nightmares.
Me: Yeah, well SHUT UP, UGLY! (Black Mage Rules!) Ahem. Anyway, I don't have any reason to diss my prisoners today (durn), so I'll go on to replying.
Soul Vagabond: Okay, I got my trading cable hooked up, and you already sent me my pin. As promised, I give thee Seymour as payment.
Seymour: Erm… I'm not going to like this, am I?
All: BYE, GUADO BOY!
SV: SEYMOUR!
Seymour: ((gulp))
Mediciner: Okay, now I'm scared of Strike.
Master of the Dark Trio: You know you sent the same review four times? Are you trying to tell me something?
Master of the Dark Trio: You know you sent the same review four times? Are you trying to tell me something?
Master of the Dark Trio: You know you sent the same review four times? Are you trying to tell me something?
Master of the Dark Trio: You know you sent the same review four times? Are you trying to tell me something?
Kizna1200: Yes, I did!
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