Aww we have to leave poor Reeve to the elevator with Scarlet... our thoughts will be with the unfortunate soul... but now we have to return to your scheduled program. Here ya go!
At the moment, all I have is a cold. This all belongs to Squaresoft, who make the best darn games ever. Yeh. The brown thing on my tongue is just chocolate, I swear! Thankees for reviews!
Chapter six: The morning after.
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Zax stifled a yawn and opened his eyes, squinting against the morning light. He was half sitting, half laying in a small nook in the Mako cave, with a clear view to the cave's mouth but still hidden from sight. The glow from the inner cave gave the whole place a greenish tint. It took him a second to remember where and why he was, but then his arms instinctively tightened around the red bundle in his arms. The movement was answered with a small groan, and the Soldier peeled the cloak off enough to see the boy's pale face. He lifted a hand to Cloud's forehead and was relieved when it wasn't hot anymore. He hadn't dared to sleep for most of the night, looking after the boy and waiting for the others.
Now it was morning, and there was still no sign of them. Something had gone wrong. Or then they had entered the cave and were sleeping in some other hiding place.
"Please let it be so..." Zax muttered and sat up carefully. Cloud squeaked in protest but quieted when the Soldier held him closer.
"You are awake."
Zax almost jumped and turned to the direction of the voice. He could have sworn that there was no one at the mouth of the cave, but when he looked closer he could just make out Sephiroth's form, leaning against the rock. The General was looking out and didn't move at all. Still, Zax was very relieved to see his friend was in one piece.
"Seph... damn, man, you scared me... where are the others?"
Sephiroth paused for a second before answering. "Kaze was killed. The assistants had some sort of control over Valentine. I do not know if they survived the fire."
"What? Uh... fire? Seph?" Zax fought down the urge to jump up, run to his friend and shake the story out of him. The silver-haired man sighed and lowered his head. The morning sun was coming up, shining straight into the cave and making it difficult for Zax to see anything. Sephiroth's quiet voice might as well have floated from nowhere.
"The assistants gained control over Valentine, and he told me to run. Then he turned into… something. A demon of sorts, and released a powerful fire spell. All of Nibelheim burned down."
The story was delivered at a deadpan tone, which made it sound all the worse to Zax. The Soldier opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, before closing his eyes and swearing under his breath. A simple mission. It had been just a simple mission to a malfunctioning reactor, and now a whole town was destroyed?
"He told me to escape, to take the boy away from here. He apparently knows what ever it was that Valentine could have told me." Sephiroth continued quietly, turned and walked stiffly to his friend. Zax shook his head, not sure if he could believe anything he'd just heard, and looked up.
"What's with the walk? Did they get you?"
"I caught a few bullets..." the General shrugged and crouched down. Zax looked him over carefully, but with the black clothes it was hard to tell how serious the injuries were. There was some blood on Sephiroth's bare chest, but he seemed to be doing well. They had both been injured before, they knew what they could take.
"The people of Nibelheim... did anyone survive?" The Soldier dared to ask after a moment of silence.
"They sounded the alarm when I was still within hearing distance. The town is gone but the people might have made it."
Zax nodded and attempted a smile. "Well then, what next, o great leader?"
"We should leave, in case the assistants survived."
"Heh, with our luck, you can bet your sweet ass on it."
"..." Sephiroth just stared at him until Zax let out a nervous laugh.
"Uhh, so, Rocket Town? We can contact Shin-Ra from there."
Sephiroth stood up and walked around quietly, deep in thought. Zax sighed and turned to look at the pale boy in his arms.
"Rocket Town seems like the obvious choice, it is close by, and if there are survivors they are probably heading there." The General finally said, frowning. "Contacting Shin-Ra... that's another thing."
"Thinking about how much they know about Hojo's little business here?" Zax suggested and Sephiroth nodded.
"Yes, Zackery. And how will they react to the fact that Nibelheim is no more. Hojo has a lot of influence, and I can imagine that old man Shin-Ra wouldn't want it publicly known that the professor has been kidnapping and torturing people here. Not to mention what we found in the reactor. How is the boy?"
"He's asleep, or out cold. I haven't figured out which. Fever went down during the night, but he's still pretty damn pale." The Soldier went unusually quiet for a while. "Vincent... did he survive?"
"...I seriously don't know. The thing he... turned into flew away. Just disappeared."
"Damn..."
"Yes."
Zax stayed in the cave with Cloud while Sephiroth went to check on Nibelheim before noon. Apart from the occasional monster there wasn't much to see or save. The whole town, except for the mansion, had burned down, and the survivors had already gathered what belongings they had and were leaving towards Rocket Town. There was no sign of the assistants or anyone associated with Shin-Ra. The news of the fire must have reached Midgar by now, and the General guessed that people would come to investigate. Perhaps the Turks...
He went to the town itself, but stayed hidden from sight, and just listened. The fact that the mansion still stood made the townsfolk blame Shin-Ra for the fire, and especially the General's little group. They had been seen entering the mansion, so Sephiroth was sure there would be no use in trying to convince the people to believe that they were innocent.
He wandered to the mansion's courtyard but there were no signs of the previous night's actions. Even Alan's body was gone, and his blood washed away. No sign of Vincent, either, but Sephiroth was sure he saw a glimpse of a white laboratory coat in one of the windows. Figuring that there wasn't much he could do now, he returned to the cave.
Zax then made him show the two bullet wounds, and the Soldier checked them to make sure the bullets had both come out. Sephiroth let him fuss over the flesh wound in his right arm and the more painful injured muscle on his left thigh, knowing that Zax wouldn't rest until he was sure that the General was alright. And it was nice, to be taken care of, for once.
They ate some of the rabbit meat Sephiroth had caught on his trip to Nibelheim, and decided to rest for a moment longer before leaving.
"Come on, kid, just a little sip." Zax's voice drifted from the cave and made Sephiroth look away from watching the scenery. The Soldier was trying to get Cloud to drink some water, but the boy, who still hadn't woken up, kept struggling against it. "It's just water, it'll make you feel better. I don't want to force you."
"Try asking nicely..." Sephiroth muttered and absent-mindedly iced a monster that wandered too close.
"How can I get any more nice?" Zax muttered and sighed. "Come on, Cloud, please?"
A bolt spell blew the frozen monster all over the scenery.
"...hell, whaddayaknow, it worked."
"Told you. It's getting dark, we'll leave soon."
"Yes sir!" The Soldier answered cheerfully. Sephiroth sighed, wondering if anything could bring the young man down for longer than two seconds. Zax could be almost as cold and calculating as he was, but it was impossible to lower the Soldier's good spirits.
"...Vincent?"
They both turned to look at the boy, and Sephiroth rushed to stand over Zax. The Soldier pulled Cloud carefully into a sitting position and smiled widely when one blue eye opened slightly.
"Hiya, kid! How're you doing?" Both eyes flew open and soon focused on the grinning man. Zax's smile grew even wider and he winked. "Hey, don't look so scared. You're out of Hojo's reach now."
"...Vincent?"
Sephiroth kneeled beside the boy, facing Zax, and hesitantly put a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "He told us to get you out of Nibelheim." Blue eyes turned to him and went even wider as the boy squeaked quietly and blinked a few times.
"...Sephiroth?"
"Not much of a talker, is he?" Zax said to Sephiroth with a grin and loosened his tight grip on Cloud. The boy swayed a bit but managed to sit without support. He was still staring at Sephiroth so the Soldier waved a hand before his eyes. "Hey kid, are you alright?"
Cloud closed his eyes and swallowed. "Wuh... where's Vincent?"
Zax and Sephiroth looked at each other for a moment before the Soldier opened his mouth. "Uhh, we're not actually sure. There was a fight, when we escaped, and a fire, so..."
"Fight? Fire?" Cloud squeaked and frowned, tugging at the red cape. He shifted a little and blushed. "Clothes?"
"Definitely not much of a talker..." Zax chuckled. "Don't worry, kid, we're just leaving for Rocket Town, we'll get you some clothes there."
"Rocket Town?"
"...and we better wait a while before explaining the whole situation, I don't think you'd get most of it right now..." The Soldier muttered with a grin, waving a hand in front of the boy's face again. Cloud didn't react, just yawned. Sephiroth stood up and walked back to the cave's mouth. Zax grabbed the boy and stood up, holding the blond in his arms like a child. "Go back to sleep, you still don't look too hot. I mean, like in the being-all-right -sense. For a kid, you are kinda hot."
"Zackery. Don't scare him."
"He's already asleep."
"Let's go then, before it's completely dark."
"Yes, boss."
The trip towards Rocket Town was very uneventful, except for the few monsters that dared to cross their path. The small group avoided the villager's camps, knowing that they wouldn't be welcome. A few hours before morning they found a small cave and rested there.
Morning sun woke them up, except for Cloud who had pulled the cloak over his face. Zax's smile at that turned into a wide, loud yawn that made Sephiroth glare at him.
"I don't think they heard you at Costa del Sol."
"By Shiva, the mighty Sephiroth made a Joke!" Zax chuckled and ran a hand through his mane of brownish-black hair. The General ignored him, got up and went to the cave's mouth. "Anything interesting?"
"A group of villagers. We'll leave as soon as they are out of sight."
"Great. Is it still long before we get there?"
"We'll be in Rocket Town late tonight, or early tomorrow morning. We should be able to move faster than the villagers, but these are the last group who left Nibelheim. The first ones must be there already." Sephiroth muttered, rubbing his leg which was still a bit sore.
"Telling everyone that WE burned their town down?" Zax muttered seriously and adjusted his clothes.
"They seem to be under that impression."
"Joy..." the Soldier turned his attention to Cloud who was yawning and trying to push the cloak away. Zax smiled and helped, pulling the cloth away from the boy's face. "Morning, makoboy!"
Cloud blinked and frowned, rubbing his eyes. Sephiroth turned to look at them but remained quiet while Zax tugged at the cloak.
"Feeling better, kiddo?"
"Yeah... who are you?" The blond sat up with Zax's help and looked at the smiling Soldier cautiously. Blue eyes went wide again when he saw the General.
"I'm Zackery, but everyone calls me Zax. Apparently, you already know Seph, here." The Soldier explained with a grin and pointed at Sephiroth, who nodded slightly. Cloud blushed and pulled the cloak around himself tighter.
"I've heard of him. Where's Vincent? And where are we? I remember something about Rocket Town?" The boy said, eyes downcast. Zax and Sephiroth looked at each other.
"We're between Nibelheim and Rocket Town, where we're going. Vincent... we're not sure what happened to him." Zax said after a moment, not knowing how much the boy knew of Vincent's apparent ability to change shapes.
Cloud lifted his head to stare at the Soldier, looking a bit lost and confused. "What do you mean?"
"He... turned into something completely different. A black, winged demon." Sephiroth said quietly, which made the blond shake his head.
"What? I don't understand..." Cloud said quietly and rubbed his face. He had no idea how long had passed since the last experiments and what had happened since. All he knew was that Vincent wasn't here, and wherever here actually was, it wasn't the laboratory. THE General Sephiroth was here, with a Soldier First Class, but no Vincent.
Zax looked up to Sephiroth who shrugged before speaking. "Before changing he told me to get you out, and that they controlled him, that he couldn't leave."
"They can control him, Hojo made sure of that. The collar around his neck..." Cloud said quietly. "He... he told me we'd get out, and get Hojo back, for what he did to us. He can't die, he couldn't have, not before we get Hojo... he has to be alive..." the boy whispered, holding the cloak tightly. It smelled vaguely like him, subtle and a bit metallic. The Turk had been the only one he had dared to trust in a long time, and now that the broody man wasn't here... the blond almost had tears in his eyes, so Zax wrapped both arms around him and looked up at Sephiroth.
The General sighed. "The thing he turned into flew away. Maybe he is free now... whatever he is."
"Yeah... maybe he's even looking for us." Zax suggested and bit his tongue. He didn't want to get the boy's hopes too high. But the words calmed Cloud and he nodded, pulling away from the older man.
"M-maybe..." the blond whispered and rubbed his eyes. "What about the assistants?"
"At least one of them was still alive when I went to Nibelheim. If they know that we still live, Hojo knows." Sephiroth explained. Cloud frowned and thought for a while before opening his mouth again.
"You're going to Rocket Town, right?"
"Yep!" Zax said with a smile.
"If you don't need me for anything, I'd like to go back to Nibelheim. My mom lives there alone, and thinks I'm dead... I haven't seen her in a long time..." he noticed the looks Zax and Sephiroth gave to each other. "What?"
"Uhh, Cloud... the thing is..." the Soldier began, and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "There was a fire, when we escaped, and... Nibelheim burned down. The survivors are traveling to Rocket Town, so if she's alright, your mom will be there as well."
The older men exchanged looks again while Cloud processed the new information. Nibelheim was no more? He couldn't say he missed the place, or the people, only his mother... they had been outcasts, but they would have saved her from the fire, he knew their neighbours, they couldn't have let her die. The blond lifted his face to look at the others. "Well what are we waiting for then?"
Sephiroth gathered their few belongings while Zax passed the water and the rest of the meat around. Cloud didn't have much of an appetite but he drank greedily, nearly emptying the bottle.
"Careful!" Zax said with a grin. "You're going to get sick!" The Soldier stood up and offered a hand to the boy. Sephiroth watched them from the cave's mouth and smiled slightly when Cloud fell back on the ground in a mess of red and thin limbs. "Damn! Sorry..." Zax muttered, trying not to laugh at the look of injured pride Cloud gave him. "You ok? Maybe I should carry you, your legs may be a little shaky..."
"Really? What gave you that idea..." the boy muttered and wrapped his arms around Zax's neck. The Soldier stood up then and grabbed Cloud's legs, carrying him on his back as they left the cave.
They saw a couple of groups of the villagers during the day, but again kept out of their sight. Cloud wanted to go and find out about his mother, but Zax explained him the whole situation they were in and asked for the boy to wait until they were in Rocket Town.
"And if they all think you're dead, think what'll happen when you suddenly appear in front of them, naked except for a blood red cape?" The Soldier thought about it more carefully and grinned wickedly. "On the other hand, think what'll happen when you suddenly appear in front of them, in a cape of blood?!"
"Zackery." Sephiroth killed the idea before the Soldier got too excited. "They have just lost their homes and possessions, it isn't nice to screw with their minds like that."
Zax laughed out loud and Cloud chuckled. He wouldn't have any problems with scaring his old bullies, but it wouldn't be too impressive if he had to crawl to them. His feet still wouldn't carry him, and even though he had only hanged on to Zax's neck all day he felt like he had just climbed a mountain.
Sephiroth wanted to ask the boy all the questions Valentine had promised to answer, but also told himself to wait until they reached Rocket Town and cleared out the situation. He felt that the answers might be a bit more than he could take at the current time. Besides, Zax had glared daggers at him every time he had thought about opening his mouth to ask something.
'He knows me too well...' the General thought and looked at his friend, who was usually the only trustworthy thing in his whole life, always there when he needed him, and even when he didn't. Zax was whistling quietly, violet eyes scanning their surroundings. Cloud's head was resting on his shoulder, the boy was obviously asleep again. Zax was always kind and friendly to everyone he met, unless it was an enemy he couldn't befriend. That was probably why they'd become friends in the first place, the younger man's ability to get anyone to open up and trust him. Sephiroth had known he'd take good care of the boy, and the Soldier did, almost fussing over him like a mother chocobo. The mental image made Sephiroth smirk.
"What?" Zax asked, noticing the unusual expression.
"Oh, nothing..." the General said and quickened his pace a bit. "...wark..."
At midnight they were still over ten miles from Rocket Town, and decided to rest for a few hours and enter the town in the morning. Cloud had slept most of the day, and didn't wake when Zax lowered him to the ground. Sephiroth had climbed to the top of a nearby hill, and could see the dim lights of the town. The Soldier walked quietly to stand next to him, and stretched to get his muscles to loosen up.
"What are you thinking, Seph?" he asked quietly, and the General shrugged, eyes fixed on the lights. "You think there's going to be trouble when we get there?"
"Hojo and Shin-Ra must know about this already, and made decisions on what to do. The question now is, are we valuable enough that they won't simply kill us to hide the truth? Or have they figured out a way to cover the whole thing up?"
"They wouldn't kill all of the survivors, would they?"
"No. Most have reached Rocket Town, so Shin-Ra would have to kill everyone there as well, in order to keep them quiet."
"So we should fear for the best and hope for the worst?" Zax asked, scratching his neck. Sephiroth closed his eyes and smiled.
"I'd prefer it the other way around, Zackery, but whatever you say..."
"Oh, yeah, that's what I meant..." the Soldier said with a quiet chuckle. "Must be more tired that I thought..."
"Get some sleep, I'll keep an eye on things." The General suggested, guessing that Zax had said that just to make him relax. The grin on his brown-haired friend's face, illuminated by the slight, violet-blue glow of the Soldier's eyes convinced him of that.
"Yes, sir! Wake me if you get tired."
Sephiroth nodded and continued to stare at the lights while Zax walked back down to Cloud. He pulled the boy into his arms to keep warm and soon fell asleep. The General looked at them for a while, sighed and sat down. It was almost completely quiet now, and so dark, the stars above and the few lights of the town the only illuminations of the night. Nothing to concentrate on, nothing to distract him from his thoughts... nothing to stop
/Son, why didn't you come to me?/
her. Sephiroth's back went straight and he closed his eyes.
'Not again...'
A.N: Ohh yeah, if anyone notices anything that seems odd or doesn't fit the story, please lemme know, 'cause I tend to miss that kinda things... Good ventilation, good. Being a total airhead, bad.
EXTRA:
Sephiroth moaned as the strange buzz started in his head. He knew that it meant that SHE would talk to him soon...
/Ding dong! Avon calling!/
His ice-green eyes went wide with fear and the great General jumped up and ran screaming to the night, waving his hands around. Zax woke enough to see the last glimmer of a silvery mane disappear into the darkness.
"Not again..."
...and back in Midgar...
Tseng pressed the button for the third time and swore under his breath. Seriously. This job would be the end of him.
First, there were the Turks, whom he was the boss of. Really, it was only him, Rude and Reno. Rude was ok, silent, strong, and followed orders. Reno was the exact opposite. Unfortunately, the red-head managed to drag Rude into his shenanigans. He was a boss to two nimrods, who loved to drink and then trash the bar. That... cost a lot.
Second was the job itself, the things he had to do. Keeping an eye on the President while in meetings was easy, although very boring. Keeping an eye on the President elsewhere was a little bit more interesting. Keeping an eye on the President in the Honey Bee Inn was just plain torture. And now, now he'd have to abandon all that glory and fly to a small nowheresville to assure the people of a smaller nowheresville that the President would make it all right again. Great. Not to mention that he'd have to have one of the few people he considered as his friends captured, and he'd probably earn his hatred by doing that.
And the third... the third was this whole damn place, all of Midgar. Simple as that. The sparkling city of metal and development. Yeaaaah, right. If something actually worked properly, it was a miracle. This was a perfect example, he had been waiting for the elevator for ten minutes now! He was seriously thinking about turning and walking away from it all when the elevator finally pinged and the doors slid open. The sight that greeted him made the Turk's brown eyes almost drop from their sockets.
Scarlet was cackling like a blood-thirsty harpy with a heavily painted face, pulling the pants off of Reeve. The poor man was on his stomach, trying to claw his way out of the elevator. There was playing cards scattered all over the floor. When he noticed that the doors opened, the young executive looked up pleadingly at Tseng.
"Please oh pleeeze, HELP MEEE!"
Tseng just stared for a second and sighed. Turn and walk away. Turn and walk away. Turn and walk away...
"NOOOOOOO!"
Reeve's pained wail rang in his ears as the Turk decided to take the stairs.