Chapter Four Trail of Dead
Three days had passed in a blur. The NMCs in the current years had were usually hit-and-wait types who attacked and then didn't do anything for a week or so. Not that Aya cared, it gave her some peace and quiet.
It was midday on a Thursday and Aya was bored beyond belief. Since she was the main enforcer in MIST she usually wasn't called to the office unless she needed special equipment or something. She was sitting on the couch wearing a button-up shirt and flipping through the channels.
"God, there's not a damn thing on in the midday."
Aya turned off the TV and went over her stereo, putting a CD in.
"Let's see, ah, there's Battle of Evermore."
Aya turned the stereo up, but not enough to annoy the neighbors. She hummed to the music and moved her fingers like she was playing a piano. Just then, her cell phone rang.
"Son of a-!"
Aya turned off her stereo and picked up her phone, looking at the display.
"That's weird, no number I know."
Aya pressed the talk button on the phone.
"Hello?" she said.
"Good afternoon Miss Brea, I trust you're well."
Aya immediately dropped her phone and her eyes widened to their very limits. The voice on her phone was Sephiroth's.
"Hello, did I surprise you?" Sephiroth's voice said from the phone.
Aya picked up the dropped phone and held it to her ear.
"How the hell do you know this number?" she questioned.
"You'd be shocked to how insecure MIST's systems are."
"You hacked into the system?"
"Correct."
"I'm surprised that the FBI isn't down your throat right now."
"Your systems are very mediocre compared to the ones where I come from. It wasn't difficult for me to mask my intrusion even with the little amount of technology I have."
"So you're a swordsman, a sorcerer, and a hacker. What else are you?"
"You seem to have listed them fully. In my previous line of work I had to be extremely versatile."
"I bet you were an assassin."
"Something of that nature."
Aya began looking out the windows of her apartment, hoping to see Sephiroth somewhere.
"Don't bother, you wouldn't see me." he said.
"Then how did you know I was looking?"
"I have ways."
"Where are you?"
"In the sewers."
"Why are you down there?"
"I happened to follow one of those biomechanical soldiers down here, I believe you called them GOLEMs."
"Yeah, what about them?"
"It seems there is a substantial amount of them in the sewers. I was considering destroying them by myself but I decided to let you have a bit of fun as well."
"I knew the peace couldn't last."
"Yes, the fact that MIST waits until these blasted things attack is rather careless."
"Alright, just where are you?"
"I'm sending you the address I entered."
Aya looked at the display on her phone and wrote the address down.
"I'll be there and if this is a lie then I'll make you a eunuch so fast." she warned.
"I am many things but a liar I am not."
"How do I know where to find you?"
"Just follow the dead bodies."
Sephiroth hung up and Aya began dressing. She put on a black shirt and blue jeans and finished it off with her leather jacket. Aya put her repaired gunblade in a bag and slung it over her shoulder before going out. As Aya walked down the hall she entered a few numbers into her phone and then held the receiver to her head.
"Hello?" said Pierce's voice on the other end.
"It's Aya."
"Yo, what's up?"
"I happen to be going over to a nest of GOLEMs right now and I'm sending you the info."
"Okay, seriously, make a better joke next time."
"It's not a joke Pierce, here's the address."
Aya then waited as Pierce checked on something.
"Aya, the computer detects activity in this area, where did you get the info?" he asked.
"From a certain, silver-haired man that's been driving me nuts."
"Oh, I see. How'd he get your number?"
"He somehow hacked into the MIST database and got my personal data."
"Bullshit, there's no record of that happening."
"Believe what you will but he did it. I'm heading over to where he is right now so get everyone ready."
"Alright, if you insist."
Aya hung up her phone just as she got into her car and started it. She turned on an emergency light to get through traffic faster to where Sephiroth was and see if what he said was true. She eventually came to an abandoned building that looked like it was redy to collapse.
"Looks like a good place to go unnoticed."
Aya got out of her car and looked around, seeing an opened manhole. She noticed that the lid had indentations of fingers on it which implied that someone had removed the lid with their bare hands."
"Sephiroth."
Aya looked down into the sewer.
"Why do I always have to crawl through these damn things?"
Aya slid down the ladder and eventually touched down on the concrete. She wrinkled her nose at the stench permeating throughout the tunnels and looked around, seeing nothing but black.
"Follow the dead bodies. Doesn't do me much good unless I can see them."
Aya turned on a flashlight she had and put in on her gunblade. She looked around until she saw something red on the walls.
"Looks fresh."
Aya went over to it and saw that the red substance was freshly wet.
"Alright, I've found the trail."
Aya looked ahead with her flashlight and wasn't so sure she wanted to find that trail.
"Holy…"
Apparently Sephiroth had been more than a bit playful this time around. GOLEMs had been embedded into the walls by a powerful force and their bodies had been broken by the same thing. Some of the GOLEMs had actually been smashed into the ceiling, causing blood to drip down and make the filthy water red. Many of the soldiers had their heads sliced off and their bodies in pieces. Aya just swallowed as she looked at this.
"He tells me to come and it looks like he can handle things by himself."
Aya pressed forward into the sewers, following the corpses like bread crumbs. She turned a corner and heard sounds in the distance. The scrape of metal, the electric sound of a laser-blade, the crashing of concrete, and the firing of guns.
"Sounds like he's in full swing."
Aya ran full speed into the sewers, heading right towards the sound of carnage. She turned a corner, sliding on the concrete, and saw Sephiroth fighting at least five GOLEMs. He was countering their attacks perfectly and felling them in as few blows as possible.
Aya was looking at this while a GOLEM was sneaking up behind her. Had Aya not heard the sound of its laser-blade activating then she would have been the one that was dead. Aya quickly turned around and sliced the creature's head clean off, sending it into the muck of the sewers. Her heart racing, Aya ran to where Sephiroth was and was going to assist him when she noticed that the path was too narrow to help. Sephiroth slid backwards from the blow a GOLEM had dealt him and stood tall. Aya was about to go forward when Sephiroth stopped her.
"I'll handle these." he said.
Sephiroth got into a stance, knees bent and sword pointed forward. He charged with full speed at the GOLEMs.
"Chitotsu!"
Sephiroth pivoted on his right leg, making full motion with his shoulders and waist and pierced the GOLEMs. The thrust was actually so powerful that it caused a shockwave that struck every GOLEM and tore them to shreds. Some concrete fell loose, collapsing the tunnel and blocking the path. Aya rolled her eyes.
"Great, you destroyed the tunnel." she commented.
"Feh, a simple matter."
Sephiroth extended his fingers.
"Blizzaga."
The area in front of Sephiroth froze immediately, rock and polluted water becoming ice. Aya stared in amazement as Sephiroth shattered the frozen substance with a single kick.
"Now we can move forward." he said.
Sephiroth sheathed and shouldered his nodachi and then ran forward, merely a black blur in darkness. Aya ran as well though she couldn't hope to match Sephiroth's pace. All she could do was listen to the sound of his footsteps as she followed.
Eventually the tunnels began to widen and Aya heard more sounds of battle. Sephiroth was at a four-way intersection, fighting some very sinister looking GOLEMs. He spun on his left leg, slicing several in half with a single stroke and then stabbed upward, impaling a spider-like creature through its mouth. Sephiroth swung his sword downward, removing the arachnid from his blade while simultaneously splitting it in two.
"Behind you." he said to Aya.
Aya acted more on reflex than anything and swung her blade, feeling it slice through something. She looked at the ground and saw a Knight GOLEM split in two. Aya looked at Sephiroth as he seemed to be in a trance.
"Did he know that thing was behind me by noise alone?"
Sephiroth looked to his right and followed down the path, Aya following shortly after. Sephiroth slashed at something Aya couldn't see and then saw that he had left a couple of GOLEM corpses in his wake. Aya stepped over the bodies and continued onward. Aya took out a Rook GOLEM that Sephiroth had missed and kept following him.
Aya then found herself in a wide area with Sephiroth staring down eight GOLEMs. Aya put her finger on her gunblade's trigger.
"Deal with those things before you go on to these beasts." Sephiroth said to her.
Aya saw a practical army of NMCs bearing down on her. Taking action immediately, her legs drove her forward. She first took on a snake, immediately separating its head from its body with a slash. The second thing she encountered was a bat about to shriek when she sliced it in two. A toad came up behind Aya but she pointed the barrel of her gunblade at its head without looking and pulled the trigger, blowing its head to pieces.
Aya seemed to be moving faster than she ever had before. She seemed to be able to see, smell, hear, and feel everything in the battle around her. She swung in a wide arc, slicing three snakes into ribbons. She breathed more rapidly and her eyes became wider and wider the more she fought. She struck a toad's head with her bare hand, injuring the knuckles but somehow splitting the thing's skull open. Before she realized what happened, she had decimated the entire entourage of NMCs. She looked at Sephiroth's fight and noticed that he was still taking on all eight GOLEMs.
Sephiroth seemed to be having a bit more trouble because of the fact that he was fighting eight of the creatures at once. He blocked a strike from one with a laser blade, pressing his hand against the back of his blade to increase pressure on his opponent. He had to change his position because of a GOLEM sneaking up behind him. Sephiroth whirled around and blocked the GOLEMs blow with the flat of his blade and then did a kick to the jaw to send the thing flying upward.
Sephiroth then blocked a blow aimed for his back and kicked behind him to strike his opponent. He then brought his blade up in an upward strike and split a GOLEM's face in two. His next blow pierced the throat of another. Sephiroth backed away a bit, assessing his situation.
"They're all in close proximity of one another." he thought "Perfect."
Sephiroth brought his sword to his side, tip pointing to the right and then placed the flat on the back of his neck.
"Kazekatsu"
Sephiroth swung his blade at incredible speed, cutting the very air itself. Every GOLEM was then sliced clean in two. Blood flowed over the concrete, bathing it in red. Sephiroth sheathed his blade and then looked to Aya.
Aya was currently on her knees, breathing harshly and appearing very pale. Sephiroth walked over to her calmly, assessing her.
"What is wrong? You don't seem to be one who would be experiencing battle-shock by this point." he said.
"I-I killed those things, and…"
"What?"
"I-I enjoyed it."
Sephiroth looked at Aya's hand, noticing the wound was still bleeding. He took Aya's smaller hand in his own.
"There's no shame in enjoying killing." he said.
Sephiroth then licked Aya's wound, being rewarded with a slap on the right side of his face for doing such. Aya was furious at the man's actions.
"Don't you ever fucking touch me!" she roared.
Sephiroth wrinkled his nose a bit and brushed his fingers over his cheek.
"Well, that was a rather strong blow." he said "If I'm not mistaken, a bit more powerful than any of your previous attempts."
"My next one will rip your head clean off!"
Aya took a swing with her gunblade and Sephiroth narrowly dodged the strike. His shirt tore open, revealing his alabaster chest. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm, impressive." he commented.
Aya brandished her gunblade.
"Draw that slab you call a sword." she ordered.
"If you insist, milady."
Sephiroth drew his blade and raised it to eye-level. Aya had hers in front of her, the tip pointing at an angle to Sephiroth's forehead. Not wasting any more time, Aya charged and went for a side-slash. Sephiroth was surprised at the speed and had to block instead, pressing his hand against the back of his blade. Sephiroth could have shaken off the hold but instead he struck the back of his sword with his fist and added force to it.
An explosion of sparks erupted and the combatants stepped away from each other for a bit. Aya went for a single-handed swing at Sephiroth's head but he managed to only step away enough just to get a cut on his cheek right below his eye. She went for a blow again, this time at his legs. Sephiroth hopped over the blow and then went to strike Aya with his long blade. Aya ducked the blow and righted herself, going for a downward strike with her gunblade. Not having time to dodge or parry with his sword, Sephiroth grabbed the blade with his bare hand and held it in place. The edge dug into his palm slightly but he held the blade.
"That's impossible, his hand should be sliced in half." Aya thought.
Sephiroth smirked, though not arrogantly or proudly.
"You've grown quite a bit, Aya." he congratulated.
Sephiroth promptly let go of the gunblade and then took out Aya's legs. Aya landed on her back, the wind being knocked out of her lungs and then Sephiroth grabbed both her hand and pinned them to either side of her. Aya tried to squirm out of Sephiroth's grip but he was far too powerful.
"Well, you're rather spirited." he commented.
"Screw you!"
Sephiroth chuckled and sighed a bit. The hand that Aya had injured by punching an NMC was on the one of Sephiroth's that was cut. Their blood was mingling but Aya didn't notice. Sephiroth got a bit closer and looked at Aya's face.
"You're seraphic, flawless, a diamond amongst a world of coal." he said.
"Don't try and flatter me."
Aya turned her head to the side and Sephiroth grabbed both her arms with one hand then he pinned them above her head. Sephiroth stroked Aya's face with his free hand, making her struggle to get out of his grip.
"Settle down," Sephiroth growled "let's enjoy this while we're alone."
Sephiroth then bent his neck own and kissed Aya's lips. Sephiroth looked like he was enjoying it very much but Aya looked, well, it was very hard to tell what her opinion of it was. She didn't look pleased with it but not necessarily disgusted either. She felt something in the back of her mind responding but she couldn't tell what it was. Eventually the other parts of her mind responded and she gave Sephiroth a head butt. Sephiroth reeled back and let go of Aya. Aya grabbed her gunblade and went into a stance. Sephiroth merely shook his head a bit to regain himself.
"Well, that was interesting." he commented.
"Shut the hell up!"
"You sound as if you didn't enjoy that."
"Damn straight!"
Aya then heard the click of a hammer being pulled back and then a gun being fired. Sephiroth merely heard it and then Aya saw his body flying forward from the impact of the bullet. Aya saw a spurt of blood come out of the back of Sephiroth's head. She saw a MIST squad behind him and Rupert was at the front, smoke pouring from the barrel of his gun.
"Good riddance." Aya thought of Sephiroth.
However, Sephiroth's foot stepped forward to catch himself. Sephiroth then stood tall and everyone's jaws dropped. Sephiroth turned towards Rupert, looking bored. Aya saw the bloody spot amongst Sephiroth's white hair and saw that no blood dripped from it anymore. Sephiroth dug his fingers into the hole and pulled out a metallic object covered in blood. He then put the thing into his mouth and sucked on it like a candy drop. His last action with it was spitting it at the floor and somehow putting a hole in the concrete. Everyone just stared.
"Bullets won't work, even if I'm shot in the head." Sephiroth said to everyone.
Aya watched as the hole in the back of Sephiroth's head closed. The bloody hole was now replaced by Sephiroth's lustrous silver hair.
"Tch, how boring." he commented.
Sephiroth looked to Aya.
"We'll continue this later."
Sephiroth then retreated and Aya followed him.
"Stop, dammit!" Aya yelled.
Aya could barely see Sephiroth due to his speed and the lack of light but she kept up enough to not lose him. Sweat dripped down Aya's brow as she ran behind Sephiroth. Aya turned a corner and saw Sephiroth merely standing, looking at her.
"I regret to say that we must stop this little game for the moment." he said.
"Shut up!"
Aya began to run forward but then she noticed that the next step hit nothing. Aya barely managed to catch herself before she fell into a deep chasm. Aya looked and noticed that there was a gap at least fifty feet wide separating her from Sephiroth.
"Damn." she cursed.
"My apologies for having to flee but I rather we be by ourselves if we discuss anything."
"You're just running away."
"I'm very accustomed to having insults such as that shot at me by this point."
Sephiroth turned on his heel and began walking away. However, he stopped for a moment.
"Aya, do try to tolerate the little trial ahead." he said to Aya.
"Trial?"
"You'll see and feel soon enough."
Sephiroth then disappeared into the dark sewers. Aya shouldered her weapon and sighed.
"God, he is the weirdest bastard in the entire world."
Aya began walking down the tunnel when suddenly a surge of…something hit her. Aya's knees buckled and struck the floor with a hard force. Aya cupped her hand around her mouth and expected to vomit but nothing came forth. She began to shake and her body began to feel like it was burning.
"N-not again." she thought.
Aya began burning up and she saw some kind of electric sparks popping all over her skin.
"D-dammit, I suppressed my powers, why is this happening now?"
Aya looked at her hand and noticed that the wound on it was healing at an extremely high rate.
"Wh-what the…?"
Then Aya remembered Sephiroth touching her hands and how he was also cut.
"I-is that why? Is this him doing this?"
Aya felt a heat inside her chest that resembled the flames of Hell.
"AAAAAAGGGRGHGHGHGHGHGH!!!!"
Aya began writhing on the ground in incredible pain and screaming. Sweat no longer dripped on Aya, it poured like a fountain. She heard footsteps coming.
"Hey, Aya!" she heard Rupert say.
"N-no, k-keep away, y-you can't."
She saw several dark shapes through her blurred vision. Aya felt like shit inside and out.
"Hey, Aya, what the hell happened?" Rupert asked.
"St-stay away, don't come any closer."
"What are you talkin' about?"
Rupert took a step forward, noticing the intense heat that seemed to radiate.
"What the fu-?"
Rupert's arm then burst into flames and he began flapping it around to put it out. Aya grabbed her head and screamed as six wings of light came from her back. Aya then gave a final shudder and collapsed onto the floor. Rupert finally put his arm out and looked at the minor burns. Then he noticed the collapsed Aya.
"Aya! Ayaaaaaaaaa!!!!"
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Sephiroth popped open a manhole after about half an hour of trudging through the sewer and was once again in the streets of New York City. The man dusted his coat free of any sort of filth on it. He looked at the sky, seeing that he had spent barely two hours in the sewers.
"That was quite fast."
Sephiroth looked at where his hand had been cut by Aya, seeing that the cut was completely healed. He chuckled a bit.
"Aya's trial should be interesting. I wonder what she'll dream of."
Sephiroth went into the streets, signing a tune and looked at the cold surroundings.
"As cold as my eyes. How I love the winter."
Sephiroth walked down the sidewalk, humming as though he was at the height of his life.
