Chapter Three: Intentions
Sephiroth sat down on the ground and put his head in his hands. "This is not going to be good," he murmered to himself, and Aeris came over and sat down next to him. "And why is that," she asked. Sephiroth looked at her angrily for a moment, then sighed. "Mother is not going to like this one bit... She knows now, that the child has it... She knows because you told her." Aeris looked confused. "Your mom? I don't know who your mom is, and I definately didn't tell her anything," Aeris said, rather smugly.
Sephiroth glared at her. "Jenova, you stupid girl. My mother... Our mother, Jenova. She heard you tell me, and now she knows. I hadn't told her I had misplaced the Black Materia, but you did, and now she is angry with me." Aeris frowned. "If everything you say is true, then it's your stupid fault Cloud has it, not mine." Sephiroth stood up, shaking his head. Aeris grabbed his ankle. "Hold on," she said, and he looked down boredly, not wanting to talk to her anymore. "Ifanala is my mother," Aeris matter-of-factly told Sephiroth, "and if you believe Jenova is your mother, then you are completely screwed up."
Sephiroth boldly laughed. "Lucretia is my earth-bound mother, I am fully aware. But, it was Jenova that made it possible to give me life. She is my spirit mother, and I love her." Aeris looked at Sephiroth, wondering if he was having mental problems. "You do know who Jenova was, right," she carefully asked, and Sephiroth harshly laughed. "Of course I know, it's all in Gast's research. She was found in a geological stratum, dating back 2000 years. It is her cells that Hojo extracted, that he injected into me from before I was born, that made me who I am. They infused, only because I am of direct linage, a perfect geneological match. So are you, but your mother, Ifanala, fought against the procedures. You could have been like me, Aeris, you could have been."
Sephiroth sighed deply and leaned against the frozen wall. Aeris walked over and stood in front of him. "So, Jenova boy," Aeris drawled out tauntingly, "How do you suppose we get the Black Materia back?" "Be creative," Sephiroth smirked, and Aeris looked up, confused. Sephiroth's smirk turned into an evil grin, and Aeris backed away from him. "This is where you come into my perfect little game," Sephiroth said, with evil dripping from his words. "We can trick the boy, easily. He loves you, I can see it. If he feels you are in danger, he will come running like a stupid dog. I've seen him do it before."
Aeris looked on, waiting for more, so Sephiroth continued. "What I think is, we wait until he comes looking for you, and stage someting so cleaver, so distracting, that his attention is fully on you, and he will never see me behind him." Aeris studied Sephiroth's eyes carefully.
"I'm not doing it," Aeris said, shaking her head. Sephiroth grinned. "Oh, I believe you will. It's a win-win situation, as far as I can see," he said, and Aeris looked back a bit interested. "And," she asked, and Sephiroth tilted his head back and smiled blissfully. "I put you in the middle of the trap, you lure the boy here, he comes running, he sees me trying to kill you, he tries to save you, I snatch the Black Materia back, and I kill him. Easy as that."
Sephiroth chuckled to himself evily, amazed at how smart he can be sometimes. Aeris looked at him like that was the dumbest thing she ever had heard. "You're insane," she flat out stated, and Sephiroth grinned down at her. "A lot goes by you, doesn't it," he asked, and Aeris looked up puzzled. "That's okay," Sephiroth said, pushing past Aeris, walking over to retrieve Masamune. "You just seemed to miss," Sephiroth explained, "the point that we are the destined ones, the children of the planet, we control everything that happens, after we obtain the knowledge. Once the Cetra... The diease... is wiped from the planet, peace can once again be obtained and we can replentish the planet, fulfilling our destiny."
Aeris looked at Sephiroth, somewhat understanding what seemed like madness. "You want me to... No, that's just wrong." Sephiroth walked back towards Aeris, Masamune in hand, and grinned. "Why else do you suppose the prophecies fortold a girl and a boy?" Aeris leaned against the wall, and sighed. "For the greater purpose, right?"
Sephiroth smiled. "Now you seem to understand. We keep the Ultimate Materias, one controlling light, and the other controlling dark, because we are the keepers of the planet. We were placed here for the purpose of taking back what belongs to us, the Seraph, what the Cetra and the Seraph's rebellers took from us. They have ruined this planet, and together, we have the power to make it right again. We can heal it Aeris, together. I can strike them down, all of them, and you can replentish the flora these vermin have wasted. My strength and your gift of healing... Can't you see it?"
Aeris giggled nervously. "And have babies, is that what you're leaving out?" Sephiroth turned away, not letting the girl see him blush. "Eventually, it would have to happen, yes." Aeris walked over to brush Sephiroth's long hair away from his face, but he grabbed her wrist. "I don't believe now is the time," he said, and pushed her away. Aeris grinned. "Aww. Poor Sephy..." Sephiroth cut her off. "We need to get this in motion, Aeris. We don't have much time left before..." He trailed off, thinking. "Before what," Aeris asked, curiously.
"Nothing, nevermind," Sephiroth said cooly, walking slowly towards the lifestream. "Aeris, could you come here," he asked as he bent over. Withought word, she walked over and placed her hand on his sholder. Sephiroth glanced over at Aeris for a moment, and gave her a somber smile. "Have you ever read poetry," he asked Aeris, and she smiled. "I love peotry, it was my favorite subject in school." Sephiroth slowly stood, keeping eye contact with her. "You've read Romeo and Juliet then," Sephiroth added, and Aeris softly smiled. "Of course, it's one of the greatest tragedies of all time. Love, hate and sacrifice... It's beautiful.
"You know, Aeris, mako has a lot in common with your basic sleeping solutions, a person can live in a suspended state forever, until someone wakes them." It took a few moments for Aeris to realize what Sepiroth was saying that for. "You... you want me to drink mako," Aeris asked sadly, and Sephiroth slowly nodded. "Not enough to kill you, I can assure you that. Just enough that you can appear to die, in front of that blonde little freak, and I can heal you with your Holy Materia later."
Aeris studied Sephiroth's face carefully, then sighed. "If you think that will work, then... I really don't have a choice, do I?" Sephiroth gently slipped his arms around Aeris's shoulders and held her to him. "I could just kill you both instead," he offered, "But that wouldn't benefit me much, now would it?" Aeris sighed. "You make everything difficult, don't you?"
Sephiroth let go of Aeris and walked away, chuckling to himself. "You would know more than me," he said, and Aeris shook her head. "Whatever," she said. "It's getting kind of late, and I'm tired, so... Mabey I should try to sleep, and you can go ahead and plot revenge on Cloud by yourself." "Hmm, not a bad idea," Sephiroth thought to himself. "Well," he said to Aeris, "Rest sounds pretty good. How do we do that?"
Aeris gave Sephiroth a funny look. "What? How do we sleep," she asked, and he nodded his head. "On the floor, silly, dont'cha know" she said, and he looked around. "I guess I've never had the chance to sleep here before. I'm sorry I couldn't have had a bed, toilet or fridge float on down the mako stream with me on my way here," Sehpiroth said, sarcastically. Aeris smiled. "That's okay. I've been in worse places."
Sephiroth watched as Aeris lay down and curled up against the rock he had been so lovingly punishing with Masamune earlier. He couldn't help but smile, but he didn't know if it was from the relief of being freed, of having a real person to talk to, or thinking about his beloved sword. Either way, he was getting tired himself, and walked over to the decided doorway of the cavern and sat down, leaning against the cold stone. Sleep came easily to Sephiroth, and visions of killing danced through his head as he blisfully slept for the first night in a long time.
