The clicking sound of their feet hitting the marble echoed off the walls as the two walked down the halls, Sephiroth leading the way. They were both amazed at how much Shinra Inc. had changed. Neither one of them had seen so much marble in one place, let alone the gold staircases everywhere, doorknobs, where there were any, were made of fine crystal, and the door frames were silver. Everything around them was highly taken care of, but Cloud was wondering why Shinra Inc. looked so much better than the rest of Midgar. The buildings in the town were made of brown wood, some wood moldy; some wood charred, but wood nonetheless. This building, made of the most precious metals and other substances, so rich, so seemingly powerful, was apparently the only building that held any wealth to it. Then again, Shinra Inc. had always looked better than the rest of Midgar, but at least before the houses had some metal within or on the building. The town looked quite bland, deserted, a ghost town. Neither of them had heard anyone, so they assumed that Midgar was completely deserted, but Sephiroth had brought up the point not to really assume anything unless you've done a thorough investigation.
Sephiroth stopped in the middle of the hallway to view a golden podium with papyrus paper on it, black ink marking out a sort of map.
Papyrus? Cloud thought to himself. Papyrus hasn't been used for ages!
"Perhaps since the usage of wood for housing has increased, the level of trees has decreased as a result, and they had to resort to using papyrus?" Sephiroth asked himself aloud, as if reading Cloud's mind, and then he continued, "Wouldn't fewer trees lead to a lack of oxygen?"
Cloud stared for a moment. To him, it seemed that with every word Sephiroth spoke, the boy was becoming smarter. He then began to wonder if it was because of the Jenova cells, if they were already put into him, the Mako, which it looked like he was free from, for the moment at least, or if it was just Sephiroth's pure intelligence. Sephiroth had always seemed so smart, but he never shared information with others unless it was absolutely necessary, and it was never necessary. He never repeated himself either. He wouldn't even tell the young Shinras and SOLDIERs what the battle plan was, claiming it was the President's duty to do so. Sephiroth believed he was only there to train his SOLDIERs, and that is what he did. He trained them until they could not have gotten any better in their skills, but everyone knew that no one would ever surpass General Sephiroth.
Sephiroth traced his small pale fingers along the path of the map, standing on his tiptoes to see. Cloud offered to lift him up, but only got a sharp dark glare in return. Clearly, no matter what, Sephiroth was never going to accept the help of others. He never did, and never would.
"The lab is up seventy-two stories."
"So they've added a couple new stories then?" Cloud asked, walking off. He grabbed Sephiroth by the arm and dragged him along, knowing Sephiroth wouldn't verbally protest as there could be guards lurking around anywhere, and that he wouldn't physically protest because Sephiroth was only bruising himself by beating on Cloud's armor. Sephiroth settled for a moody glare.
Patiently, Cloud pressed the up button for the elevator. The elevator wasn't working, so he tried the next one, but the results were the same. His azure eyes traveled to the staircase, gold again. There was no way Cloud could climb those flights. Maybe the first forty, at the very most. But if that was all Cloud could do, Sephiroth could do no more than ten.
"Let's take the stairs," Sephiroth suggested. "I don't think the elevators are going to work, and the stairs seem to be the only way." He slid out of Cloud's grip which had by now loosened, and trotted over to the staircase. It seemed to go on forever, up so many flights. It no longer seemed like a good idea, now that Sephiroth was face to face with the never ending stairs, but he wasn't about to admit that wrong to Cloud. He was slowly becoming attached to the young blonde man, but Sephiroth wasn't about to be fooled. There were plenty of adults that seemed nice on the outside, but turn your back on them, even for a moment, and they become backstabbers. Even some of the very few adults who aren't backstabbers, who in fact are truly kind, wouldn't do a thing about the way Professor Hojo treated his experiments. They saw what the professor did, they were just to afraid of the man and the consequences they might receive to actually call for help.
Cloud sighed and looked at Sephiroth, who seemed so intent on taking the stairs to the top. "Come back here, Sephiroth," he said sternly, hoping that it just might scare him enough for him to come back. Sephiroth didn't move an inch.
What was I thinking? Sephiroth wouldn't be afraid of the tone of my voice! Sephiroth was a heartless adult, so why would he be a nice warm and loving child. It rarely ever occurs that way.
Sephiroth started up the stairs, going as fast as his short little legs would take him. Almost as if running away from Cloud, but that was far from the case. Cloud quickly ran after him.
"Sephiroth!" He called uselessly, "please, come back here! I can't loose you again, because I may not be able to find you again in this building!" Cloud skid to a stop on the fifth floor as Sephiroth's footsteps had stopped. He wasn't going up the stairs. He had to be on this floor. Walking slowly as to catch his breath, he moved through the corridor quietly, searching for Sephiroth. He heard a slight noise, so Cloud very carefully pressed his ear up against the door. It seemed just plain metal. The voices inside seemed hollow. There was only one voice in fact. Cloud's eyes widened as he realized whom the voice belonged to. He was alive again. He had to be. By bringing Sephiroth into the future, everyone seemed to be revived.
"Sephiroth..." The voice said from behind the door, as if thinking. The faint sound of duct tape being ripped off human flesh could be heard, just barely. Then something thick, slim, like a whip, hitting the flesh. Cloud could just picture the blood oozing out. A scream rang out, obviously one of pain, and Cloud's heartbeat increased as he realized whose scream that was. She was in the same room with that sinister man. And where was Sephiroth? Surely not in there as well!
A/N: Once again, thanks to all of you wonderful reviews! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! I had a horrible, horrible writer's block. I think it's gone. For now anyways. - I shall do my best to update soon.
