So... Michelle was being held by Hojo... already changed by the bastard... but Chris wasn't ready to make his move on the tower. Not yet anyway. They were still looking for Katy and Aerith, little did they know that Katy was already out of Midgar and Aerith had simply fallen into hiding. That reminded him, he needed to get some supplies.
First of all, unlike in the game, guns did not have limitless ammo. A mere inconvenience since he'd been given a large amount of Gil and a rather nice base of operations- as well as Aerith's house to fall back on if this place got found out. However... ammo wasn't all he'd need for this endeavor. Fishing wire, duct tape, and jellybeans were among the other things on Chris's 'shopping list'. Unfortunately, this world had nothing that even came close to poptarts, so, he made do with what they did have and muttered about it under his breath as he stalked down the road.
Something caught his eye and he grinned. There, in a pile of garbage in an alley was a folding chair. Where Cloud had needed three to storm the tower, Chris would succeed with only one... and he'd beat the shit out of Hojo too while he was at it! Plodding over to the alley, Chris pulled the chair out from beneath the bags of garbage that had been thrown atop it and hoisted it over his shoulder, continuing on his way, a smug smirk upon his lips.
His mind returned to other things as he continued down the empty street on the upper plate, things like the current situation, his plans... and his ex-girlfriend's newfound abilities. How was it that she seemed to have nearly limitless MP? It made him wonder if he had such abilities, however, the only way to test would be to get some Materia of his own. If he did, it would be worth the money it would take to buy the Materia... If he didn't... he could always sell it back... Or then again, he could kill something and get some Materia. Having at least a cure would be a good idea though.
Chris stalked up the steps to his hideout and entered, closing the door behind him and setting his find down atop the other things he'd been collecting for his planned invasion on the tower. He merely wished stickman Mike were there... to come up with something stupid to at least break the silence. Or Porn King Jeff... so he could have twenty megs of porn in an hour to stare at. Or Sam... to make some sort of techno beat and gripe about how it wasn't the Metroid Prime world they'd ended up in. At least Katy had Sephiroth, though it still stung somewhat that she'd jumped from him so fast that the dust was still settling. It had been a few months, but still...
Entering the kitchen, Chris pulled out the bag of food and searched through it for something that looked even vaguely edible, finally settling on some bread and beef jerky... He hoped it was beef anyway. Outside, the night settled and left the lone young man to light a candle and eat his dinner. Funny how dark it got here.. so quickly too. Wouldn't think that the days were short from the game, but the nights were long and that made things easier for Chris. He flopped down onto the floor, chewing on the bland dried meat and falling into his thoughts.
Damn the lack of internet. He couldn't even waste time playing Diablo.
Ahh! The beach! Katy hadn't been to a beach in a long time... however... she wasn't allowed to go to it really this time either. They'd simply landed in Costa Del, then went straight to the inn to sleep. However, Katy didn't feel like sleeping. She'd slept all day on Sephiroth and was restless now though she wanted to spend more time with him.
It was midnight and Katy lay awake in her bed ... in the room she was sharing with three other men... Apparently to not give any hints that she was anything other than one of Sephiroth's men, she'd been put into the same room with them. Sephiroth had decreed that he would stand watch- or she assumed that had been what he'd said. He'd gestured for her to go into the room and closed the door behind them. Though why he would need to stand watch, Katy didn't know... and she hoped it wasn't a sign that Jenova was already affecting him.
Her eyes suddenly snapped open and she stared in shock at a pair of glowing blue-green irises... Slowly, she took a breath and relaxed. It was only Sephiroth... Gods he could move silently! His black-gloved hands moved, pulling the blankets off her and picking her up gently, probably so he didn't have to worry about her waking anyone up with her inability to walk quietly. In the darkness, he carried her out of the inn and finally set her feet down, his hands cupping her face briefly before he turned and started off down the street- as if it were broad daylight. If it hadn't been for the half moon's light shining off his hair, she never would have seen him. Adjusting her uniform a bit, she jogged after him, catching up and sliding her hand into his as he led the way... to wherever they were going.
Maybe it'd be romantic?
She could always hope at least! Though... from Sephiroth-? ... he probably wouldn't know romantic if it bit him in the ass... and then he'd probably stab it for biting him in the ass... even if he'd already managed to impress her with his imagination and sincerity. Katy finally set her thoughts aside and let him do as he wished instead of thinking ahead. Thinking ahead always ended up making the situation rather disappointing.
The sound of the waves grew closer and Sephiroth was indeed leading her towards the beach. What she could see of it was... beautiful. The waves shimmered silver in the moonlight and the white sand glowed slightly in the darkness. As she came to a stop to admire the visage, Sephiroth had begun to strip, dropping his clothes to the sand heedlessly.
It was as he was working on pulling his pants off that Katy snapped back to reality and stared at him... Skinny dipping? Or sex? Her face turned bright red as she stared, unable to look away. He WAS handsome, every last bit of him was perfect marble beauty- but there was the problem that Katy had no contraceptives available...
And no way to convey the idea to him.
And no way to forestall anything that happened without hurting his feelings.
She'd pushed her luck the first time, and she didn't even know if she had a little surprise already from that, but even if she'd dodged pregnancy that time, there was no point in tempting fate further. And unfortunately, Katy had a bad problem with being unable to deny herself the pleasures of the body- exactly the reason why she couldn't starve herself: food tasted too good... and if Seph were to start anything, she highly doubted she'd be able to stop him: sex felt too good.
He turned to her then, perfect body glowing in the moonlight, his vibrant eyes focused upon her face, as hers were focused upon a certain piece of anatomy he happened to have that was rather impressive even relaxed as it was. Which was a good sign. He padded over to her, leaving footprints in the sand as he did and placed his hands upon her shoulders... and slid them down her font, pulling the Shinra uniform down- and fondling her breasts while he was at it.
Closing her eyes, Katy tried to suppress the urge to simply go along with it- and failed. Miserably.
Chris looked over his pile of equipment, figuring he'd gotten everything he could possibly need. It was only the second day after Katy had left, and he wasn't sure when she'd be back, so... being a good boy and not upsetting her would be a good idea... considering how she got when she was upset. He shivered. He'd never known the meaning of 'bitch' till he'd dated HER, but... Now Sephiroth had her, so it hardly mattered. Giving himself a shake, Chris pushed his hair back with both his hands, making sure it was held tight with the rubber band before reaching down and began packing.
He already had his plan of attack laid out. To hell with running up the back stairs. He was going to take the elevator- and get up as high as he could before anyone noticed at that! Chris carefully swiftly finished putting everything into the knap sack he'd swiped- from a kid no less, but it was suitable to his purposes, so he felt no guilt over the deed. Just as he felt no guilt over killing the people he had. This was war after all!
...At least as far as he was concerned.
Giving a shrug to change the topic in his own thoughts, he stood, slinging the bag over his shoulder and starting out the door, padding towards the Shinra Tower.
They would rue the day they pissed Chris off. He nodded to himself. ... Sagely. (but of course. There was no OTHER way to nod!)
The trip there was uneventful. The scenery was ... dull. The air smoggy, streets crowded, and the general atmosphere seemed like that of an old movie... simply put- brown. He would likely always remember it as being in shades of brown and gray. The people were dressed in dull colors, minding their own business as they walked along. Just as Chris did. He had other things to worry about than them, thus were they ignored.
It loomed into sight after only half an hour's walk. The tower, in Chris's perverted opinion, looked rather phallic from this angle, and he gave a soft chuckle, pushing his hands over his hair once more. Getting to the doors, he paused and reached into his pocket, pulling out his sack of jellybeans, popping one into his mouth as he paced in through the doors that swished cheerfully open before him. Amazing how they could actually swish cheerfully open, but they did, and he didn't give it THAT much thought. They were only doors after all.
The attendant at the desk near the door looked up, and asked something. Perhaps about an appointment, or maybe a tour? Chris didn't know and didn't care in the least. He simply chewed on another few jellybeans and continued on past. The man at the desk stared curiously in his direction, but did not get up to follow.
Moving to join a group of people standing near one of the automobiles on display, Chris stood at the back of the group, pretending to listen. After a while, they moved on, and he followed them... and when they moved past one of the elevators, he left them. Humming to himself and swaying as he did so, he pressed the button for the top floor... and headed on upwards, a smirk upon his lips.
After a while, the elevator dinged and the doors opened upon a small lobby. He could nearly hear the battle music playing as he stepped out of the elevator and leveled his machine gun at the two guards who were standing around in the room. Having not expected it, they went down quickly and he paced over to check through their pockets... finally finding a keycard... and amazingly, both of them had one. He only needed one, so he simply ganked their other possessions.
Stepping into the new elevator, he proceeded to go to work on it. Setting his bag down, he pulled out the bar he'd managed to pry off the folding chair, using that as a leaver, he opened the console the buttons for the elevator were located on. Once inside, he proceeded to disconnect the safety mechanisms, disabling the key-card reader. In its place, he hooked up his own device; something he'd fashioned out of pieces of computers he'd found in people's garbage cans and put together into a nice package using duct tape. He grinned a bit as it began doing it's job and waited a moment before pressing the button for Hojo's floor- level 67. As the elevator went upwards, he slid a Kroger Plus card through the slot for the keycard, letting it read that code, and letting his device reset all the codes to the barcode on his utterly useless grocery store discount card.
Perfect, now he had an escape route!
Crouching again, he pulled out the things he would need for his next stage. Taking out his wad of nigh invisible fishing line and roll of duct tape, he placed his metal bar back into his bag and put it over his shoulder. The elevator dinged and he stepped out into the hall, machine gun held ready. After making sure no one was there, he proceeded to duct tape the fishing line across the hall at about shin height, then stepped over them. The walls were gray, the tape gray. He grinned... perfectly blended in! and strong too!
He paused every now and then, placing a trip wire as he went. Finally, he stepped into the lower portion of the lab, looking around... especially into the large round tank just to the left of the door... There was nothing inside. Thankfully for him. However, that meant that Jenova had to be SOMEWHERE, and that was likely in Nibelheim.
The area was empty, but Chris looked around carefully anyway... Not finding Nanaki either. Oh well. Not like he could understand the dog anyway. Or was it a cat? Oh the great mysteries of FF7! But that one hardly mattered at the moment. Chris had a girl to save. He padded along towards the specimen elevator, pressing the button to go up to the next level. This was all so easy! He suppressed his laugh of sheer sadistic enjoyment and watched as the lighted room above came into view. It was... different from the game. There were places with tables set up covered in microscopes, slides, and cleaning fluids, other things that simply looked like they belonged in a lab...
And in the back... lain upon a table- was Michelle. She was dressed in a white shirt and white pair of pants, feet bare, but it didn't look like she really COULD wear shoes any more. Her toes sported claws. Her hair had been cut shorter, a pair of dog-like ears were now folded tightly where her human ears used to be, and on top of that, her hands were clawed.
Shaking himself, Chris started forward. He'd somewhat expected Michelle to be unconscious, possibly in a Mako tank as well, and he'd known she'd been changed as well. But this... seemed a bit too easy. Reaching out, he carefully pulled her shoulders up, sliding an arm in behind her back before getting his other arm under her knees. And it was at that point... that he found her tail. "Damn," he muttered softly. She could never return to their world until she had that at least removed. The ears could be hidden well enough...
He braced himself and lifted her up, turning and heading back towards the elevator. Hopefully no one had noticed anything was wrong with the elevator. "Michelle," he said softly, shaking her a bit. "Michelle!" She didn't respond. Not even a flicker of her dark lashes, or a twitch of an ear. Carefully balancing her in his arms, he managed to press the down button and rode in silence.
Luck decided to abandon him at that moment.
He came face to face with Hojo as he stepped out of the elevator. Letting Michelle's feet go, he clung to her with his other arm and pulled the gun out, quickly firing off a shot at Hojo's legs.
The scientist went down, crying out in pain. "Naomi!" whatever that meant... however... Michelle's eyes opened and she shifted, standing on her own, looking down at Hojo with intent glowing eyes. Her tail swayed behind her. "Mimi mimimimi mimi mimimimi mimimi mimimi mimimi mimimi mimi mimimimi!" Hojo shouted, attempting to nurse his wounds, though he wasn't getting very far with that.
Chris grabbed Michelle's hand, pulling her past Hojo- or he tried to. She did not budge. Simply stared, then blinked... then turned her eyes towards him. "Michelle! Let's go!"
"No." she stated softly. "Master says to kill you."
"So..." Sephiroth looked up from where he'd been sipping some coffee at the table in the room his 'soldiers' were supposed to have slept in. Zack stood nearby, looking nervous. "So, you been able to talk to her much?" He glanced significantly towards Katy who sat at the table, drawing... and looking a bit grumpy.
Sephiroth gave a brief smile towards her as she looked up, pushing her glasses back onto her nose with one finger. "Yes." Zack quirked a brow. Sighing, Sephiroth settled back in his seat. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, where did she come from? What did she do there? How did she get here?"
Raising a hand to forestall further questions, Sephiroth cleared his throat. "She came from a world called Earth. She got here by an accident, but does not know how it happened or why. She was a student and planning on becoming a fantasy novelist."
Zack stared at him. Silently.
"You don't believe me." It was a statement of fact rather than question.
Heaving a sigh, Zack replied, folding his arms on his chest. "Considering the fact that all you two do is sleep on each other, and that she doesn't speak more than a few words of our language and I've never heard you speak hers... No, I don't believe you. Are you just taking advantage of her? How old is she anyway? Fifteen?"
Sephiroth... began to laugh softly. "Katy," he stated, getting her attention. She looked up curiously. "Mimimi mimi mimimimi mi mimimi mimi mi mimi mimimi mimimimi mimimi" After considering Sephiroth's words, she nodded, flipping to a new page in her notebook and beginning to draw tiny deformed people... they had very large heads and circles for hands. Zack blinked in confusion as she drew swiftly and turned the pad around for him to see.
There were little people- specifically, herself and Sephiroth... with a string tied between their heads it looked like. Then another picture off to the side of herself and Sephiroth, perhaps sleeping... Sephiroth was drawn drooling. Another good indicator that they were asleep was their being in bed with symbols written above their heads that looked like ... incomplete 'So' hiragana. Also above their heads was what seemed to be ... a dream bubble of herself and Sephiroth sitting and perhaps talking.
Taking a very liberal interpretation of the pictures, he asked, "So..."
"We speak in dreams," Sephiroth clarified before anything dirty could come from Zack's mouth. Once more, he got a disbelieving look. He turned back towards Katy, "Mimi mimimi mi mimi mimimimi mimimimi mimi mimimi mimimi?" it seemed to be a question anyway. Katy pondered a moment, then made marks on her paper and Sephiroth explained as she worked, "I asked her how old she was." Finally, Katy sat back and let Zack see her number... Three fives and two.
"Juu- " Katy started, and paused, then started over. "Juu-nana."
"Seventeen?" Zack looked back at Katy, skepticisms still written on his face. Giving a sigh, he shook his head and moved on.
"He didn't believe me, did he?" Katy asked a bit rhetorically and Sephiroth shrugged in response.
Katy was just a bit miffed. With how much Sephiroth was buttering her up, she was likely to turn up pregnant, and in all honesty, she didn't like that idea much. Even though it felt so good while he was doing it to her... Forcefully shaking her head, she folded her arms beneath her breasts. That morning, she'd gotten such a strong feeling... that something bad had happened in the night. She wasn't sure what. But it continued to nag at her even as they road in the van they'd picked up at Costa Del.
Once more, she bounced on the box she was seated on, feeling a little bit car-sick... and watching Strife puke into a bag in the back near the door wasn't helping much. Sephiroth was near her, taking a nap. He'd been rather active the night before after all. But he wasn't suffering that strange feeling of dread that she was, and was thus unworried. He was probably wondering where she was in the dream.
Oh well, have to let him have normal dreams from time to time. And at least she'd managed to explain to him after they'd fallen asleep that she didn't want to get pregnant. He hadn't seemed concerned, and that irritated her, adding to her general mood of displeasure. He COULD be sweet sometimes, but other times, he seemed rather dense. He was SUPPOSED to be intelligent! She sighed a bit, pursing her lips as she stared at the wall of the van opposite of her.
Zack glanced over towards her, raising a brow, but she didn't see it, too intent on her own thoughts. It was the hard thump against the side of the van that brought Sephiroth from his dreams and he blinked around, yawning. "Dragon," Katy stated helpfully, without looking at anyone. "Sephiroth, Zack." The two looked at her again and she looked back at them, lifting a brow of her own, as if waiting for them to get to it.
"Sir-" the driver of the van stated after opening the window between them. "Something hit the van, and we're stuck in the mud." For a long moment, silence broken only by the pouring rain and the country music station on the radio up front fell.
Sephiroth finally stirred, reaching down to the floor and picking up Masamune, "Let's go, Zack," he stated calmly and headed towards the back of the van. "Strife, stay here." With that, he disappeared out into the rain, and Katy's mood became obviously sourer. She muttered something under her breath as she watched the doors for a long moment, then looked forward once more.
Within a few minutes Sephiroth and Zack returned, the dark haired young man limping a bit, but seeming alright, and nearly two seconds after Sephiroth took a seat again the van was moving. And only a few moments after that, Sephiroth was asleep again, leaving Katy glowering at the side of the van again.
Their arrival at Nibelheim was... uneventful to say the least. Sephiroth had a short conversation with Cloud, probably about the boy being born here and then they moved on, Katy sticking close behind Seph, but not daring to take his hand. People were staring at them, moving out of Seph's way as he stalked down the street, seeming... preoccupied. That wasn't a good sign in Katy's estimation. But she knew she wasn't going to get him to pay any attention to her till they were in private and it irritated her that he probably wasn't going to be sleeping tonight so she couldn't warn him- or insist that he take her up the mountain.
He led the way to the inn, spoke with the keeper briefly, then led the posse upstairs, showing Katy into the room, and shut the door. Cloud disappeared, Zack disappeared... and Sephiroth meandered off somewhere, but Katy...
She tested the door, only to find it locked. Or... perhaps there was something blocking the door. It opened outwards after all. She tried knocking on the door, but got no answer. She banged a bit harder. Still no answer.
Huffing, she threw herself down on the bed and lay there on her side, curling into a ball as she felt her abdomen spasm with a cramp. "Perrrfect. Just what I need. My period, at a time like this. Stupid Evil Bloody Dot. Slowly, sleep crept up on her, though, and she was sandbagged from behind.
He hadn't taken her... Katy sat alone in the room of the inn, still dressed in the Shinra uniform she'd fallen asleep in the day before, but the helm was left on the bed beside her. She hadn't heard Zack or Cloud come in. Hadn't heard them leave either. Sure she was a heavy sleeper sometimes but those boys could wake a rock... She glowered a bit. Sephiroth... she didn't put it past him to cast a sleep spell on her- though why she was suddenly suspicious of him...? or perhaps it wasn't HIM but Jenova. She sure hoped it was just Jenova. It was nearly midday now, so there was no hope in the nine hells of catching up to them. So. She'd have to find something to do HERE...
"Something... he'll see Jenova, and those monsters up there... he'll realize what Hojo did to him... then he'll go for the mansion-"
Katy sat up, eyes wide. "The books! There IS something I can do from here!" Jumping to her feet, she dashed out of the room and down the stairs, startling the innkeeper and someone he was talking to. Katy didn't really look, but he appeared to be that martial artists teacher guy. She ignored them in favor of slamming the door open and charging down the street. She didn't know how much time she had before Seph came back, so getting it done quickly left the books time to smolder and go out. Good thing the room was underground and the fire couldn't spread to the rest of the town!
The gate came into view and Katy didn't slow her pace much when she came to it. Instead, slamming into it and swiftly pulling back to attempt to unlatch the gate. "Damn!" she snapped, finding the padlock quite solidly set in place. Stepping back, she looked at the stone wall on either side of the fence, picking a good place to start.
He'd thought that soldier looked a little too short, a little too rounded, and acted rather strangely towards the General. He'd thought it strange that the soldier would come to see Sephiroth off to the north but stay in town afterwards. The young woman that ran past him seemed a little familiar, but he couldn't place where he'd seen her before, and now it made sense as to why she'd been left... She wasn't really a soldier under Sephiroth's command. The others of the group probably knew she wasn't a soldier as well, though why Sephiroth would allow a poser to be with him- unless he'd brought her.
Mr. Lockhart's brows lifted as he watched the girl speed towards the Shinra mansion, slam into the gate and rattle it somewhat in an attempt to get it open. So the rumors that Sephiroth had fallen in love were true! He lifted his camera, still carrying it after taking a picture of Sephiroth, Zack, and Tifa. She half turned towards him, just as he took the picture, getting a good view of her face, though she didn't look particularly pleased at the moment.
She made her way over to the stone wall, taking hold of it and scrambling over. Tumbling into the overgrown yard with a thump, he saw her limping somewhat towards the front door. John Lockhart made his way to the gate, watching between the bars as she got to the door. Testing the knob, she pushed at the door, trying to get it open, then snapped out another curse word, kicking the door before turning around.
"There's a key under the flagstone," he told her, arms folded under the camera that hung from a strap around his neck. She stared at him for a moment, "Under the first flagstone," he repeated and finally she nodded, going and pulling the somewhat muddy key out of its hiding place.
"Arigato," she told him with a slight but worried smile before heading into the building, leaving the door open and the key in the lock.
"I think I'm starting to get a hand on the language," Katy mused as she made her way up the stairs, ankle hurting from the landing, but not badly enough to be worried. "I just hope Sephiroth will listen to me..." The house was dusty, with only the sounds of bugs skittering in fear of her, the sound of the house settling, and a distant ticking.
On the second floor, Katy headed right, into the bedroom with only one bed and the rounded wall. This room too was dusty, untouched in many years... nearly as dusty as her own room- except for a few things, Katy would have had a computer, and second, she could see the floor and the bed was made. Giving a snort of a laugh, she stepped up to the wall with the secret door, running her hands along it in an attempt to find a latch or something.
Unable to find anything, she pushed on it. It didn't budge. She stepped back and gave it a good roundhouse kick with the foot that wasn't currently hurting. Both attempts failed to get the wall to even rattle. Frowning, Katy thumped her shoulder against it, hearing the echo of the sound beyond the wall. Well, it was there, obviously, but still the door wouldn't budge.
Drawing back further, she put momentum behind her shoulder slamming it into the wall again- and much to her surprise, it gave way. Her scream echoed down the long dark pit as she tumbled down several steps and finally came against the wall, head downwards. Panting, and heart beating wildly, Katy slowly opened her eyes and stared out from behind slightly eschew glasses. Realizing she hadn't fallen all the way down, she moved, lifting her hands and putting her glasses back on right, she got to her feet, aware that now her shoulder, hip, and back hurt, but they felt like bruises rather than anything else, so she continued on down. Trying her hardest not to look down into the darkness below, she hugged close to the wall, limping down the spiral stairs.
When ground came into sight, she dashed down the last few steps and gave a sigh of relief- but it was short lived... for before her loomed the hallway of earth in which there were skeletal arms and spiders and stuff. Taking a deep breath and putting her arms in front of her face to ward off spider webs from her mouth and eyes... and to keep from having to see the ickyness in the walls, she ran down the hallway.
Reaching the door to the library, she grabbed the handle, then let out a yelp of fear when something on it writhed in her grip. "Ew! Ew! I hate spiders! I hate spiders!" she whimpered and forced herself to open the door. Kicking it open, she was greeted by pitch darkness that even the light from the door above couldn't penetrate. Oh well, she could create her own light. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her Fire Materia and concentrated on it...
Green light welled up around her, lighting the hallway eerily, "Fire!" she cast, throwing it to the other side of the room, towards the giant glass tubes. Glass shattered and an explosion threw bits of glass across the room. Thankfully, Katy was out of the way and didn't get hit, but as soon as things calmed down and turned into a steady glow, she stepped in and looked around. Turning towards the hall leading down to where the desk was, she started down it, aware that there were spider webs all across the books and she tried her hardest to ignore them.
Halfway down the hall, she stopped and cast again, throwing the fire spell down into the far room where it exploded and caught the whole far wall aflame. Backing out of the hall, she cast again, hitting either side of the hall. As extra measure, she threw another down the hall to land in the middle of the floor and catch the desk. Turning, she threw another spell at the walls.
By now, the smoke was getting thick and Katy backed out of the room, throwing one last spell in the center of the floor before closing the door firmly and turning around to head back down the long dark hall. Coughing somewhat, she started jogging through the darkness, unable to really see after the brightness of the flames.
Katy yelped when she slammed face first into something tall and living. Her hands lifted and touched bare chest and she sighed in relief. Sephiroth. Wrapping her arms around him, she clung tightly, aware that he hadn't moved to return her hug. He probably already knew it was her anyway, but she spoke, "Sephiroth-"
His hands snapped up and yanked her back from him, nearly giving her whiplash. "Mimi mimimi mi mimimi mimimimi mimimi mimi mimi mimi mimimimi mi mimimi?" Sephiroth growled, and though Katy couldn't understand the words, she figured he was either asking what she was doing down here or what she'd done.
"Sephiroth- I love you! Don't doubt in your humanity- what do you need that for anyway? Sephiroth," reaching up, she put her hands to his face- or tried to. He let go of her shoulders in favor of grabbing her forearms in a tight and painful grip. "Seph!" Katy yelped as his grip tightened. "I love you as you are! I don't care about anything you've done! Sephiroth!" Tears were streaming down her face as she spoke the pain getting intense in her arms- and he suddenly yanked her off her feet by them, flinging her aside into the crypt door.
He lay still... listening to Lucrecia's voice as she said strange things that really didn't make much sense. How weird his dreams were today. Vincent heard another man speak dimly through the crypt door and his coffin, and by all the explosions, he was beginning to wonder if they were really there or not. "What have you done bitch?" the man's voice demanded and Lucrecia yammered on about something... 'Sephiroth' said quite often.
A loud thump startled him, making him jump slightly in his coffin.
"Sephiroth!" Lucrecia cried in anguish. Another thump sounded against the door, then another. "I love you Sephiroth- please, remember what we have! You've had power before and has that ever made you feel better? Haven't I made you happy!" She broke off in a pain filled scream that dwindled off in faint echoes.
Lifting his hands, Vincent shoved the coffin lid off and sat up, heart beating rapidly. Softly, he could hear sobs against the door, then the knob rattled somewhat, and a thump against the door again. She was alive still... No, this was no dream. There WERE people here! Lucrecia...
Getting to his feet, he came closer to the door, putting his ear against the aged wood. Softly, he could hear her sniffling. "I can't... I can't... I'm losing him... and to a dead bitch... Seph... I don't want to do this... I don't want to lose you!" He heard a shifting against the door and the knob was rattled again, as if it had been used as way to lever herself up. "...Vincent..." she whispered. "Vincent- Vincent!" hope reentered her voice and she banged on the door, "Vincent! Vincent wake up! Wake up! Please wake up! Vincent!"
Standing and unlocking the door, he threw it open, only to have a lithe but very battered young woman fall against his chest in surprise. She gripped onto his shirt somewhat limply, "Vincent... Sephiroth..." instead of continuing, she gripped his shirt harder and pulled at him, trying to drag him out of the crypt room. When he didn't move like that, she grabbed his metal hand, pulling on him. "Sephiroth-" she tried, but fell back into strange yammering. So it hadn't been the door muffling her voice... she'd actually been speaking like that. But now he couldn't understand her though she seemed desperate... He finally moved, allowing her to pull him along, towards the fading light at the end of the tunnel.
Sunset... Things were happening too fast... Sephiroth had hurt her badly, but Katy was determined to ignore the pain that lanced through her at every breath... Was this what broken ribs felt like? She didn't like the feeling in the least. Dragging Vincent along, she desperately tried to catch up with Sephiroth, but he'd already gotten to the top and was probably out the front door by now.
Katy was aware of the stickiness that was making her hair uncomfortable, and that something wet was trailing down the back of her neck, but she couldn't stop to think about the dizziness that she was experiencing. She couldn't think about anything but what she was going to do next. She had to make an impression on Seph... had to get rid of Jenova before the monster took over his mind completely! She hadn't really thought about this part! Running without a plan left her reeling in confusion, and she hated that feeling nearly as much as she hated frustration.
The room above the stairs was just as it had always been, except there were a new set of boot prints in the dust... coming and going. Sephiroth's. Katy forced the tears away in favor of pulling Vincent along faster, dragging him down the stairs by his metal arm and out into the front yard. The gate was open now at least. ... but the town was on fire.
The tears escaped. "No-" she whimpered in a small voice and let go of Vincent's hand, instead dashing out to the street and watching as Sephiroth stalked away from several bodies, sword gleaming with blood in the lurid flames. The sun set matched the scene with bloody brilliance. Sephiroth scowled at her briefly before looking away and starting towards the mountains.
Vincent stepped out from behind the gate and stared in shock at the town before Katy turned towards him. "Go! stop Sephiroth," she told him firmly, pointing in the direction Seph had gone. "Stop him..." he stared at her... watching her tears run like rivers down her face- a face that held a sorrowfully determined expression. "Go!" she shouted, stabbing her finger towards the mountains. "Sephiroth!" Slowly, he nodded and started away, glancing back towards her as she turned towards the town.
Green light had begun to swirl around her feet as she walked towards the bodies of those slain by Masamune. Voices murmured in her head- one strong voice.. that demanded to be called upon.. Coming to a stop, she stared as one of the buildings collapsed and the glowing had begun to creep up around her, finally lifting high enough to block her vision.
SUMMON ME! I AM LEVIATHAN!
Katy's mind was yanked down into the swirling mass of voices that reassured her, comforted her and begged her to help the planet... They clamored in her mind, though they all said the same thing- that she had the power to kill the Terror from the Sky. She had the power, she was of the blood of the Cetra.
Her hands lifted, the glow expanding around her- rising up beneath those wounded and living, healing them with gentle light. "Leviathan!" fell from her lips and the green turned blue, as a great serpent sprang skywards. It writhed in the air momentarily before diving back down into the earth... A great wave of water came in a torrent down from the mountains. Washing over the town with only the merest pull of force upon those standing and gawking. The fires flickered, then went out completely, smoke and steam rising upwards as the waters receded, leaving everything soaked.
Katy let her hands drop as the voices whispered encouragement and told her to hurry. Turning, she started running towards the mountains, feeling quite soaked, but that was a small price to pay for saving the entire town.
Sephiroth... that was Lucrecia's son! Finally it had come back to him, but Lucrecia had told him to stop Sephiroth... What a cruel joke fate played. To be the one to kill his love's son. Looking back, he saw Leviathan leap above the town... then dive down again... a wall of water surging from nowhere and over the town. The smoke grew thicker, but it didn't have the lurid red glow behind it... which could only mean that the town had been saved, but what of the damage caused by the water?
And what of Lucrecia?
Almost as if summoned by his thoughts, she came jogging up the path... soaking wet- and looking a lot less pale than she had, but still she seemed wild-eyed and frightened. Perhaps even a bit dazed. Stopping, he let her catch up. When she made to pass him, he swept her up into his arms- much to her surprise- and started running. She clung to his shoulders, looking toward their destination, unconcerned by the abilities he displayed... as if she had fully expected it and hardly cared.
The reactor loomed in sight, but it stood above them on a cliff. There were many outcroppings, but Vincent could easily jump from one to the other. "Lucrecia..." he said softly, "I-"
She looked at him, and frowned slightly. "Sephiroth," she insisted, pointing up towards the reactor firmly. She wanted to get up there and didn't particularly care how to all appearances. Swallowing, Vincent nodded and made the first leap, then another, feeling her hands grip into him harder. Within moments, he'd leapt to the top of the cliff and was at the stairs leading into the reactor. Setting her down, he watched as she jogged up the steps and inside.
Reluctantly, he followed her, starting to get the feeling that Lucrecia had changed in the years he hadn't seen her... she looked younger in fact. Above, the sky was dark, and to the south was the town, no longer burning, but smoke still hung over it like a flock of dreadful birds. Returning his attention to her, Vincent found that she was already climbing down the chain to the bridge below... where a young blonde man was crouched beside a man from town.
"Mr. Lockhart!" the blonde called, shaking the man's shoulder, then looked up as Lucrecia came up behind him, grabbed the back of his shirt as he was about to get up, pulled him down onto his rear and passed him.
Stopping, she turned around, pointing a finger firmly at his face, "Stay," she growled and continued on, the hair on the back of her head still matted with blood, though much of it had been washed away.
Vincent made his way along the bridge watching as the blonde got to his feet again. "She told you to stay," he said softly.
"But- he killed them all-" Large blue eyes turned towards Vincent, "Where did you come from?"
Shaking his head, Vincent answered the first problem, "The town has been put out, no longer burning. I know not of the people. ... as for me, I have always been here." Stepping past the boy, Vincent followed Lucrecia into the main room of the reactor.
Katy entered just as Zack dashed into the Jenova chamber and challenged Sephiroth... Unable to do much in that battle, she made her way over to Tifa, crouching near the girl and calling upon the voices that sang chorus in her head to heal the girl... and this certainly explained why Tifa had survived... though Katy definitely remembered things going quite a bit differently, not to mention there not being a weird and dumpy redhead running around screwing up everything.
Vincent entered, Cloud behind him... just as Zack came flying out of the room to land on one of the tanks with a sick thump, Buster Sword clattering to the floor beneath him. Sephiroth stepped out of the chamber in all his mad glory, the head of Jenova hanging from its hair in his grasp, Masamune shimmering in the light. "Sephiroth- stop this! Stop! Think about what you're doing!" Katy begged, standing up and dashing forward to put herself in front of him. "You wanted to know why I wanted to come- well this is why! To stop you from doing this! Seph- don't leave me!"
Sephiroth's expression turned passive as he regarded her. Slowly, he paced down the steps towards her. Reaching back, he clipped Masamune to his back, though he didn't drop the head. His freed hand reached out, touching her cheek, gliding down along the line of her jaw to her neck.
"You're a fool," he whispered softly, leaning in close as his hand slid around her neck. She didn't flinch, just as she hadn't when he'd beaten her in the basement of the mansion. "What good is one person's acceptance when all others despise me?"
"Why do you care what they think? Does their opinion really matter? I've learned the hard way that in the end, it's only what you think of yourself that matters," she replied, a fresh flood of tears dripping from her chin to his wrist. She could feel his grip tightening and leaving new bruises. "Does my love for you mean nothing? What happiness has power brought you before? I know your pain... I understand-"
His grip closed suddenly, cutting off her words. Her hands snapped up to grip his wrist. "What do you know of pain!" he snarled, lifting her up off the ground easily, then throwing her aside. She landed in a pile on the floor, curling up in a ball and coughing. "Foolish slut," he told her, reaching back and drawing his sword again.
The gunshot rang deafeningly loud in the closeness of the room. Sephiroth staggered back a bit, eyes turning towards Vincent who stood in the door with his gun drawn and smoking. "Hasn't anyone told you that you never treat a lady like a dog?"
"And who are you?" Sephiroth sneered. "Another would-be hero? I'll kill you... I'll kill all of you. Damn traitors. Even the full Cetra sides with you scum. I'll cleanse the planet of your hypocritical breed." He leapt forward, swinging his sword at Vincent, but the black haired man was just as fast, diving back and towards the bridge, leading Sephiroth away from Katy who had begun to pull herself up from the floor, eyes following Sephiroth. A look of incredible sorrow- that of a breaking heart- was in her eyes, though her face was resigned. Slowly getting to her feet, she staggered over to Zack, whom she healed and helped off the specimen tank.
The sound of gunshots could be heard from the bridge and Zack swept up his sword, watching to see if Katy would stop him... but she didn't. She closed her eyes, nodding slightly, shoulders slumped and shaking. Cloud had moved near Tifa and was trying to awaken her. A brief glance in that direction reassured Katy that Cloud would stay out of the way and she followed the other three men, taking up a position on the balcony leading to the bridge... near the dead body of Tifa's father. She shivered and turned her attention towards the battle.
Zack had already joined it and was working at slicing at Sephiroth from behind when the man turned to deal with Vincent who in turn shot him, staying out of reach. The head of Jenova had fallen aside, forgotten in Sephiroth's effort to remain alive... and he would have easily ended the battle, for just as Katy finished casting Reflect on herself, he got a deep score on Zack, slicing the young man from chin to groin.
The young man fell to the side but Sephiroth was stopped from following up his move with a killing blow by Vincent's shot in the back of Seph's knee. Gathering her power, Katy threw a cure spell at Zack, bringing him back and reviving his strength. He glanced towards her, as she threw a healing spell at Vincent when Sephiroth had gotten a good score on that man.
How horrible... To have loved, then lost so tragically. Zack didn't want to do this... probably with as much aversion to the task as Katy. How much was this hurting her? She'd seemed to have known it was coming, but had held hope that she could stop it... but now- she was actively working against the one she loved... to save the world. Sephiroth probably COULD kill everyone in the world... it'd take a few years, but he could do it. He could hunt down every last living person and slay them. But he seemed to have a different idea of how to do it, and that was frightening.
Darting forward, he slashed at Sephiroth's back- the only thing he could safely get to, leaving the general to swing back and forth between Zack and the other strange man. Masamune swung around, deftly slicing his arm and causing the appendage to go limp. Zack didn't even have time to gasp before the pain left in a flash of green light. He dived in again as Sephiroth- thinking Zack was down, or at least incapacitated- turned to deal with the gun slinger.
Masamune struck forward, slicing through Vincent's thigh and swept to the side, knocking the ex-Turk to his knees, but Zack took that moment to lay into Sephiroth's back... and light glimmered around Vincent, his thigh healing swiftly and strength returning. Getting to his feet, he looked across the way to see Lucrecia throwing a healing spell on Zack several times in a row as Sephiroth nearly frantically sliced the boy.
Leveling his gun at the silver haired warrior, Vincent pulled the trigger three times in succession. The bullets slammed into Sephiroth's already bloody and shredded back, making him stagger to the side. Masamune clanked against the railing of the bridge, but Sephiroth pushed himself straight and stabbed at Zack once more, choosing to ignore Vincent for the time being. Zack was healed the moment Sephiroth removed Masamune from the boy's gut.
Several more shots rang out and slammed into Sephiroth's leading arm, causing the blade to clatter to the floor. Katy stood across the way, staring at his face. "I love you..." she whispered.
Sephiroth gazed at her in return, but hatred tainted his expression, anger dwelling deep in his eyes. "Traitorous slut," he growled, lifting a hand, "Fire!" he cast, throwing the spell at her. Closing her eyes as the flames hit her reflect spell, Katy opened them just in time to see her beloved stagger back and slump over the low railing.
Kicking herself into motion, Katy swiftly climbed onto the railing on the balcony and leaned forward, letting go-
Though the dimness creeping in on the edges of his vision, he saw her climbing the railing... framed in the tendrils of his hair. The look of devotion on her face brought him back to reality.
What have I done?
She let go of the railing and started downwards.
"no-"
He hit the water and her image was distorted- but not before he'd seen Cloud's hands snap out and Katy's descent halted.
Bile rose in her throat as she stared at the blood tainted water-Mako mix that churned beneath the bridge. The lurid glow of the Mako the same color as his eyes. Her tears slid down her nose, falling like a diamond down- down into his grave.
Hands pulled her limb body back over the railing... and she stared up at the ceiling... aware that Zack, Cloud, Vincent, and Tifa were crouched around her... Zack gently cradling her against his chest, a look of concern on his handsome features.
A wheezing gasp found its way into her chest and she realized that she hadn't been breathing, possibly for quite some time... But with the return of air the wail of misery had fuel with which to leave her body. Like a banshee, her cry split the silence and echoed around the room, trying to steal the souls of those within hearing. Zack lifted her gently, turning her to face his chest and held he close as her muscles locked up and fingers dug their nails into his skin.
Coughing sobs wracked her body, nearly to convulsions, but he held her firmly, smoothing back her hair... though he offered no soothing words.
Zack's arms were tired of carrying her, but he didn't want to waken her by handing her over to someone else... and he didn't think it would be possible to remove her fingers from where they clutched his shoulders. Sure her nails hurt, but that was minor pain compared to what Sephiroth had done... and she'd healed that. He felt sick from the rush of adrenaline that had been flowing through his veins since first going into the reactor.
The strange man that had come in with Katy still walked with them... looking slightly concerned, his gaze directed towards her. He looked so much like Sephiroth that it was nearly frightening. But he had helped in the fight, and Zack was thankful for it. Silence accompanied them on the trek back to town and from the mountain path, they could see Nibelheim by the light of the stars... and the small campfire that stood in the large space of the road before the Shinra mansion.
Tifa gave a cry and ran ahead, Cloud jogging after her... though he'd been rather ashamed to admit to Tifa that he hadn't made it to first class, he had at least been there and taken the credit for healing her and that satisfied her desire to be saved by a shining knight. Zack took his time, trying not to awaken the girl sleeping in his arms, though he thought he felt her tremble from time to time. But she hadn't moved for hours and was silent with her forehead pressed against his neck, glasses removed and stuffed into his pocket.
As they came down into the edge of town, the people of Nibelheim had already assembled... and the moment they entered the light, a cheer went up. Zack looked down, feeling no start from Katy as if she'd woken up... only to find her eyes were already open and no vague look of fatigue in them. She simply stared with eyes open and glazed.
The people of Nibelheim rushed forward, thanking them profusely for saving the town... Thanking the catatonic Cetra for healing them and saving their homes. She didn't even blink. "Please, she's not well," Zack spoke up and the strange dark haired man with red eyes moved to fend the people off.
The Zangen warrior stepped forward, "Let me see, I may be able to help."
"There's no true cure for heartbreak," Zack told him softly, "The best we can do is let her rest."
The martial artist's dark eyes met Zack's gaze and finally he nodded, turning and pointing at three people. "Go prepare a room for her."
Day had dawned hours ago and people were already up and about, trying to repair their ruined homes. Between the fire and water, there was quite a bit of damage, but the people counted themselves lucky to be alive to lament over their homes. Zack helped as much as he cloud, Cloud doing much the same. Vincent had all but disappeared. He was a strange one, but Zack didn't complain about it. After all, Seph had been strange, but a fairly good friend... an even better friend once he'd gotten Katy.
What had happened? What had made him snap like that? Zack was fairly sure Katy knew, but she wasn't speaking and he wasn't going to force her to. Not after he'd witnessed her attempt to follow Sephiroth down. That had to be devotion. Pure love overriding all common sense and self preservation instincts. Thank god for Cloud.
Talk of Cloud... Zack brought himself out of his thoughts, lowering the water bottle he'd been holding while he thought, eyes spying Cloud not that far away, nailing a board into place on Tifa's house. Making his way to the blonde, he watched a moment, letting Cloud notice him before speaking. "I just wanted to thank you."
Cloud sighed, scowling darkly at the board as he lifted another nail. "For what? I did nothing."
"You saved her. If you hadn't have been there..."
Lowering his hands from the board, Cloud turned to look at Zack, a white piece of cloth tied around his forehead. "Though I wonder if she wouldn't be better off dead. Tifa says she didn't sleep all night, hasn't eaten anything, hasn't moved or talked..."
Zack shook his head, "I know, but what good would it have done her to die now? Maybe Aerith can help her. They're both Cetra after all." He paused a moment, glancing around, "You haven't told anyone what happened... have you?" Cloud shook his head. "Good... don't. I don't think Katy would have wasted her time on someone that wasn't worth it... and though I don't know why he did that, she might. We'll just have to wait till she can talk... and probably even then, getting the answer from her will be difficult."
Cloud looked confused, "That reminds me... I could understand what she was saying the entire time. Or did I hit my head?"
Blinking, Zack thought back, "Now that you mention it... But we'll have to wait to get the answer to that as well." Reaching out, he placed a hand on Cloud's muscled shoulder. "Thanks for being there at the right moment though."
Giving a nod, Cloud turned back towards the house, returning to his work. Zack moved off to get back to what he'd been doing as well, still somewhat worried, but glad that Cloud wouldn't spread word of Sephiroth's snapping... at least not yet. He'd talk to the people of the town as well, and hopefully get their word that they wouldn't tell anyone that Sephiroth had done this... The lie that a monster had attacked the town and set fire to it would do... and that Sephiroth had died saving them.
