Final Fantasy VII : A Past Life ♥

♥ Chapter II

"Sit." Laralaine demanded of Sephiroth as she gestured to a wooden chair at the round table. He took his seat, and folded his arms on the table. "I'll get my mother. Don't touch anything." As Laralaine ran off, Sephiroth looked around, his deep emerald eyes taking in the surroundings.

It was a small cozy house. There was an old wooden piano in the living room that seemed not to be touched in a few years. The kitchen was across that room, and was next to the dining room; where he sat. There was an upstairs as well, perhaps for the bedrooms. Laralaine came back down those stairs, trotting. "You didn't touch anything did you?" She asked suspiciously as she sat at the table with him.

"No."

"Good."

"Where's Amaria?"

"She's coming. I told her to change."

"Oh…" There was a long pause between them for a moment, and he spoke, "Do you play the piano?"

Laralaine glanced into the living room. Obviously he had seen it. She looked down at the table, "I used to. But, I left Nibelheim three years ago. I came back after I heard that my mother was ill."

"Why don't you play anymore?" He cocked his head to the side, curiosity getting to him.

"It was my father's piano. He got into a fight with my mother and me. He caught a disease, and soon it killed him. I felt somewhat responsible for hating him. I still do. And I rather not think of him."

Sephiroth just nodded. Amaria slowly came down stairs and walked into the kitchen. "Would you like some cookies? Sephiroth was it?" He found this odd and was somewhat odd stricken.

"He'll have some." Laralaine replied for the man.

Sephiroth sighed. Normally he wouldn't stand for this. He just wanted information. But there was something about this girl. He sort of…well, felt badly for her. He tried not to show it though. "Can we discuss this thing you summoned, Amaria?"

She placed a batch of cookies into the oven, and slid over to the table. She took a seat, and folded her hands while clearing her throat. "This thing has a name. He is called Sitanist. He says he is a serpent of the Devil. He is an evil spirit and likes to be looked upon as a God. I called unto him after the Mako Reactor was put up."

"Why?" Sephiroth nudged, leaning in closer.

"Simple. Shinra is a horrible, corrupted incorporation. They do stuff for their own greed. And, eventually these Mako Reactors will eat up the planet. I tried to tell the other here in Nibelheim, but no one seems to listen or pay respect to their elders anymore."

"Get to the point, how can we destroy it?"

Laralaine looked to her mother with pleading eyes, as if trying to stop her from saying anymore.

Amaria sighed. "I'm sorry Laralaine. I have to. Even though I've summoned him for our purpose, he has been threatening everyone who resides in Nibelheim." She spoke, and then turned to Sephiroth. He seemed utterly confused at this point, but allowed the old woman to continue. "Like I said, Sitanist is an evil spirit. He does not listen to anyone, not even the summoner. He may take recognition for my words, but that's it. When I summoned him, the only way I could make him listen to half of what I say was by giving him a piece of my soul." Laralaine placed her head in her hands. Sephiroth sat intently, glancing at Laralaine every now and then. "So if you are to kill him, I would have to die too. He only comes out once every week, to feed, and only at midnight. What ever you do, do not attempt at slicing off his head. In doing so, more will regenerate."

"So how do I kill him?"

"That, you'll have to figure out on your own. Because honestly, I do not know." Suddenly the oven buzzed. Amaria stood up and retrieved the cookies. Walking back over to the table, she set them down. "They're still hot, so don't burn yourself." Laralaine looked up, tears welling in the corner of her eyes. She pushed them back. It wasn't a time to cry. She had to be strong. If Sitanist was to be destroyed, then this might be the last time she was to taste some of her mother's cooking. "I hate to be burned." Amaria commented, trying to relieve the negative energy that her daughter was giving off.

"If you gave him part of your soul, doesn't that mean that some weakness you have, might be a weakness he has?"

Laralaine stared at him. He was smart. It made perfect sense. But, she didn't want anything to happen to her mother.

"Yes. That may be possible." She looked back at Laralaine, and continued to talk to Sephiroth, "I've always had a weakness and fear of fire. Sitanist may as well."

Sephiroth nodded. "I'll be back. I should tell the others about this." He stood up, and headed towards the door. He hastily spun back around and added, "When is the next time he'll be back?"

"Five days." Amaria and Laralaine responded. Sephiroth nodded once more, and closed the door behind him.

'So, I have five days to prepare for this thing. Sitanist. I probably won't need anyone else's help. I mine as well fill them in though. And Hojo would probably want to know of this damned being.' He thought to himself. He stopped before the inn and headed inside, walking up the room that the SOLDIERs were staying in.

"Lumar." Sephiroth said, to one of them as he stepped into the room. "Where is Piveht?"

Lumar was not in his uniform since he was just about to get some sleep again. He had dark black hair and hazel eyes. "I think went to stock up on some stuff."

"I don't want you to think. I wanna know where he is. You know what, you can just tell him."

"Alright."

Sephiroth sat in a chair next to a small desk with a lamp, "The thing, known as Sitanist is supposedly a serpent of the Devil. It has the ability to regenerate with more heads, if one is sliced off. We have a strong theory that Sitanist is weak against fire, but not completely positive. He has pieces of a human soul in him. That's how he was summoned." As he continued to speak of Sitanist, Lumar wrote everything down on a small pad. "Sitanist only comes out at midnight, every week. He will be returning in five days. Got that?"

"Yep!" Lumar said with a childish smile. "I'll be getting some sleep now. There's nothing else better to do."

The silver-haired man didn't say anything. Instead he just left the room. Being as to how there were no more beds, did that mean he would be sleeping at Amaria's?

Back to the house he walked. People on the streets looked at him with wonder. He raised his hand, to knock on the door, when he heard the two women speaking. Being an eavesdropper was rude, but he needed to know what they were discussing. What if they were making everything up? He leaned in closer to the door, and listened carefully. He even held his breath so the sound of his breathing wouldn't muffle their voices.

"It's better this way Laralaine." Amaria said.

"And how's that?" The girl exclaimed. Her voice was a bit muffled already, and scratchy. Constant sounds of sniffing resonated from the room. Perhaps she was crying.

"Because, you know I'm already caught with that same disease your father had. Eventually I'll die withering away slowly. I'll forget your face, your voice. I'll lose my own voice, my hearing. My insides will be eaten alive slowly. I'll try to call to you in agony, but my voice won't reach you. Everything will go black and I'll be trapped within myself forever in a rotting corpse."

There was a long pause. Did one of them realize that he was at the door? He heard footsteps that ran to the second floor, and softer ones that were slowly making their way to the door. Sephiroth backed away a few feet, as if too look like he was just walking up the house.

Amaria opened up the door, and peered outside. "Ah, Sephiroth. I'm guessing you'll be staying her tonight. You can stay in Laralaine's room. She'll sleep in the living room." He simply nodded even though he wanted to reject the offer.

Laralaine came back down the steps, rubbing her eyes, as if trying to hide her tears. "My room is ready for you." She informed, walking past him without taking a glance. He stared at her as she walked by. He sighed, and headed up the stairs. A door was open. Obviously that was Laralaine's room. He stepped inside and placed his head on the pillow as he climbed onto the bed.

'Five days…' He thought to himself closing his eyes, 'I have to wait here five days to kill that damn thing. And if I don't do it on that night, I'll have to stay another week. I don't think I'll survive being bottled up in this small town with nothing to do. Maybe I'll go train a bit tomorrow…'

As he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts slowly faded away. He had a quick glimpse of Laralaine's face before he hit the dream world.

Aeris stared at Sephiroth somewhat flabbergasted. "You didn't feel bad at all for making her sleep on the couch?"

Sephiroth practically jumped to his feet, surprised by the level of her voice. And the question. Out of everything he had told her, that was her question? "I felt a little bad. I wanted to reject the offer and sleep on the couch, but a bed sounded so nice at the moment, and I didn't want to make a hassle.

"Why didn't you say anything to Laralaine when you saw her crying?" The brunette cocked her head and looked at him with innocent, beautiful green eyes. "If you heard about what happened to her, why didn't you show any compassion?"

"I was never learned to show compassion. Besides, its not like I didn't lead a hard life either. But I did feel bad for her."

"Well, did they lie? About Sitanist? Was he real? Did you kill him? Did he ever come in those five days? Did--"

"I'm getting to that." Sephiroth smiled at Aeris again. At times she seemed so naïve, so innocent.

"Alright then. So what happened?" Aeris looked up at the white eternity. It was beginning to fade to a gray. Within a few moments it would be pitch black. The flowers around Aeris were beginning to die as well.

"Well." Sephiroth began, "That night…well morning I should say, I got up nice and early while it was still dark out to do some training. I didn't look to see if Laralaine was up, but--"

"She was?"

"Yes. When I got outside, and closed the door behind me. She soon followed. I didn't notice at first. She was watching me for some time. I caught her in the corner of the eye. That's when she walked up to me and started yelling at me and accusing me of things, though she did it quietly, not to make a ruckus."

"Did you yell back?" Aeris wondered, clearing her throat.

Sephiroth shook his head, "No. I let her yell at me, and shrugged it off. She found it annoying. It was quite amusing."