It's the sea-/roadtrip chapter! Don't own anyone or anything.
Chapter four: It's easier to obey than think for yourself.
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Sephiroth cursed the pouring rain and threw the cabin's door open so that if anyone was inside they'd think it was the wind's doing. But the small room was empty, and he stepped in, closing and locking the door behind himself. With a sigh of relief he let go of the spell and became visible again.
He could have just teleported over the sea, or back to the Crater, but he was enjoying watching his puppets too much. And he was curious of what Rufus wanted with him. They were all on this same ship, going over the sea.
The cabin had no windows and he was certain that the door was properly locked, so Sephiroth shrugged out of his drenched trench coat and hung it on the back of a chair to dry a little. That was the downside of wearing heavy leather clothing. If they got wet, they took more than five minutes in the sun to dry.
Searching the room for a towel, he wondered what he should do next with the Avalanche. They were after Hojo for now, wanting to find the flower girl's parents. Sephiroth knew for certain that Hojo had taken them to Nibelheim. He had been happily surprised to hear that the Avalanche had come to the same conclusion; it saved him the trouble of thinking how to get them to find Hojo. The puppet the scientist had made for them was ready; the creepy man was of no use to him or Jenova anymore. The Avalanche could have him, and he'd enjoy watching it.
Finally he found a towel from the cabin's small cupboard, and started to dry his hair. He sat on the small bed and frowned when he realized that the heavy rainfall and hard wind had managed to wet most of his trousers as well. Wrapping up most of his hair in the towel, he got up and started to undress completely. Off came the long boots and the heavy belt. Why did he even bother to wear that anymore, it was a general's belt, a mark of his position in the Shin-Ra army of which he had no connection to anymore. Still, he hung it and the boots over the same chair as his jacket, hoping that they'd dry at least a little before he'd have to leave the cabin. A controlled fire spell might help them dry, but these things were always so difficult, the spells fickle. Even if he'd manage to control the spell, which he knew he could, it could just jump out of his hands and burn the whole room.
Then the wet trousers. Looking around, just to make absolutely sure that no one was around, Sephiroth slipped out of them, leaving himself completely naked. He pulled the blanket off from the bed and spread the pants on the mattress, wrapping the blanket around his waist. Just in case.
At a loss of what to do next, he looked around in the small cabin. Beside the bed and the small desk and the chair, there was only the cupboard and a painting and a long mirror on the walls. Sephiroth walked over to the painting, leaving behind him a trail of water which dripped from the tips of his hair. Few towels were large enough to host all of his long locks.
The painting was actually just a framed poster, a picture of the Junon cannon at sunrise, taken from an angle to make the sky burn in brilliant colours behind the obviously phallic weapon. It really made the cannon seem just as powerful as he knew it to be, and Sephiroth wondered with amusement if it would ever be used against him. When the world would realize his and Jenova's plans for it, the humans would do their best to stop them, just to preserve their pathetic way of life and existence. They wouldn't be able to see how much better the Planet was without their race which just sucked it dry and abused it as much as they could. He snorted at the picture, actually wishing that they'd use the weapon against him. Let them see that nothing that they could produce would be strong enough to harm the rightful rulers of this small globe. Turning away, his glowing eyes happened to glance into the mirror, and Sephiroth froze, barely recognizing himself.
It wasn't that he had changed that much in the past years... the lack of training and sparring had thinned him some as his muscles had grown smaller, and he was paler than ever from the complete lack of sunlight. He had never tanned so that many people had even noticed, but now he was white as chalk. Almost blue. Just like her. It made him shudder and concentrate on something else. Sephiroth looked up and stared straight into his Mako-green, feline eyes. They stared back with the same intensity he'd always known, but now there was more than a hint of rage and madness in them as well. The rage was justified, but the madness worried him a bit. Why? If this was what he was supposed to be, what he was, why was it making him crazy like this?
Because, in madness, there is clarity. Jenova had said so, sometime in the last five years, when he had thought of the matter the last time. She had convinced him that if he tried to stay what humans considered sane, he would stay human, he would never reach his heritance as what he truly was, and he could never understand the full meaning of it all, the whole effect of their plan. It was for his own good. Sephiroth had accepted it then, and now, too, although with a bit more reluctance.
Lifting his hands, he released his long, silvery hair from the towel and shook his head so that it all flowed down his shoulders and all the way to his hips. Even below his hips. It had grown a lot but he hadn't realized it. Had he really spent five years in the Crater, away from the rest of the world? One hand slipped down and let the towel fall to the floor. Five years... he was still the same, in body, but the man who stared at him from the mirror, completely naked and open, was not who he had expected to see. Sephiroth frowned and shook his head sharply.
"People change... I have changed, that's all. I haven't seen myself in a mirror in five years, it's normal that I don't..." he was breathing heavily now, avoiding his own, mirrored eyes.
The man he had expected to see had always taken pride in his strength of mind, the fact that he had lived through hell but survived it, that he was still sane. Sane as people measured it, the memory of Jenova's voice whispered, but had very little effect on him. Sephiroth remembered when he had looked into a mirror and seen a strong, independent man who had known his mind and controlled his life without asking for advice at every turn. A man who had had friends, only a few but true friends, in whom he could trust and who could trust him. Where were they now? Tseng was dead, murdered five years ago. He could have saved the Turk, if he had come in just a minute earlier. If he hadn't been wallowing in self pity up in the rocket. If he wouldn't have listened to her. Zackery... the Soldier had lived, even though Hojo had wounded him severely and spent the last years toying with the man. But that wouldn't have had to happen. He could have killed the scientist and taken Zackery away, healed him... or he could have gone to the laboratory at any time and free his only friend. But for her, he would still be who he had always been.
/A puppet. You were just a puppet to those HUMANS, my son. I forgive you your doubt in me, in yourself and all we stand for, but I will not tolerate it further. Do what you must and return here./
Her voice entered his mind like a knife, leaving in him the clear command and strengthening the hold she had on him. Strengthening his belief in what he was doing. Sephiroth raised his head and looked into the mirror, straight into the eyes, and smirked. His right arm rose, quick as a snake, and his fist shattered the mirror into thousands of shards. Seven years of bad luck... this world didn't have seven years!
Blood trickled from the numerous cuts across his knuckles but Sephiroth didn't mind. He looked down at the shards, seeing pieces of his face in them, and threw his head back, bursting into laughter. What did any of it matter?
Even though his own laughter filled the room, his keen ears still caught the sound of the door unlocking, and the ex-general whirled around just in time to see the tired look disappear from the marine officer's face, only to be replaced by utter confusion and then fear.
"Who the hell--" the man started, reaching for his gun. But then Masamune was already in Sephiroth's hand and in the next heartbeat it went through the officer. The man died without a noise, falling to the floor. The still naked Sephiroth closed the door again and stood very still for a second, until a very unmanly giggle escaped his lips. What did his sanity matter in a world that was this mad?
Barret stood outside the large windows, out of sight of the two on the other side, but where he could see them. For on the other side stood Rufus Shin-Ra and Heidegger, talking. He couldn't hear their words but that didn't matter, he knew they were up to no good. The fingers on his human hand curled into a hard fist, but he couldn't release his anger without being noticed.
The rest of Avalanche were somewhere on the ship, still disguised as Shin-Ra troopers. Barret could see Red from where he was standing, the beast was above the room Shin-Ra was in, doing his best to pass as a human. Tifa and Aeris were on the deck, Cid was having a smoke in the bow, and he suspected that Yuffie was still below decks, busy being seasick. Barret hadn't objected anymore to the young ninja traveling with them, but he wasn't too happy about it either. The girl was a thief, how could they trust her? For all they knew she might be a spy, sent by Shin-Ra to watch them.
The sight of Heidegger laughing so that his stomach wobbled made Barret growl and strike his own leg with his fist. He would have preferred to hit the window, or either of the two men, but had resigned to waiting at least until they reached the other continent. But he grew so angry, watching them while knowing what they had done. Raping the Planet, collapsing the pillar... Wedge, Biggs and Jessie, all dead because of them... the people in the slums... his own daughter, without a home... he was shaking with rage, almost ready to break his promise, when a loud siren started to wail aboard the ship.
"Emergency alert! Reports of a stowaway found! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found! I repeat... Stowaway sighted on board! Those not on detail, search the ship. Report when found!"
Barret swore, thinking that one of them had been found, and started to run towards the deck itself, ready to fight. But once he arrived there he saw the rest of Avalanche, all gathered. Even Yuffie had climbed up. A few sailors ran around but they paid the small group no attention.
"What the hell's happening? I thought one of you had been caught!" Barret said, looking at each of them in turn. Everyone either shrugged or shook their head.
"All I know that a lot of them ran pretty damn fast below decks, so I thought I'd better get out of there..." Yuffie muttered, looking slightly green.
"So the action is down there... I'm checking it out, who's with me?" He checked his gun arm while the others looked at each other.
"No way I'm coming..." Yuffie muttered and dashed towards the railing. Cid laughed at her and threw off the uniform's helmet.
"About time I got that off... I'm with ya, big guy..."
Red had already scratched most of his uniform to shreds after the alarm and nodded. "I as well."
"Fine. Tif' and Aeris, you stay here and take care of any trouble. We'll check what's going on." Barret said and motioned for Cid and Red to follow.
Even from the top of the stairs they could tell that something was definitely not right here. When they got to the bottom they had already spotted most of the bodies that littered the floor, washing it with blood. Red jumped the last ten stairs and ran to one of the men who was still alive.
"He sayin' anything?" Barret called over to the large best while he and Cid checked the back of the cargo hold.
"Apparently whoever is behind this is not human, and headed towards the engine room. This man is dead. I suggest we check the engine room." Red called back and waited until the men came to his side.
"The rest are dead as well. Do we go in?" Cid said, pointing with his spear at the thick door which lead to the engine room.
"Any better ideas? Let's go." Barret didn't wait for an answer, because there really wasn't other possibilities. They checked their weapons one more time and pushed aside the heavy metal door.
Sephiroth pulled the Masamune out of the unfortunate commander and watched the man fall slowly first to his knees and then on his face, blood mixing with the red of his uniform. He had thought that this man was the last of his opponents, so seeing the two men and the large beast standing by the door surprised him slightly. But he was in control of the situation in the next second when he recognized captain Highwind, the leader of Avalanche and the red creature they had freed from Hojo's clutches. A small smirk appeared on his lips.
She had been in his mind since he'd killed the first man in the cabin. He had forgotten all caution and used the fire spell to get most of the humidity from his clothes and gotten dressed. He had just got ready to leave the cabin when the door had opened again, and another officer had stumbled upon him and the corpse on the floor. Unfortunately this one had carried a whistle and had sounded an alarm with it before he had managed to kill the man. The sirens had started the next minute, and he had headed towards here. She had enjoyed the blood he'd spilled, and was still laughing at the carnage.
"...shit. Sephiroth?" Highwind said, looking very pale.
The ex-general grinned and casually wiped his sword clean on the back of the corpse's jacket. "Yes, captain Highwind."
The leader of the rebels swore and lifted his gun arm. "You crazy son of a bitch, why did you kill these people?!"
"Idiot, don't anger him!" Highwind hissed, making Sephiroth laugh. It amused him even more to see how they cowered from him.
"Don't worry, captain, I'm not here to hurt you... in fact, I do believe I can help you some."
"Help us? How?" The beast was clearly skeptical, but curious, and far calmer than the humans. Sephiroth wondered what would have happened if his kind had become the dominant species of the Planet, in stead of humans.
"You search for Hojo, correct?" He waited for them to nod in answer. "As you had reasoned, he is in Nibelheim. I suspect he will stay there for a while, until he can get his... experiments started."
The gun-armed man swore and struck the wall with his human hand. "Damn it!"
"Yes... if you hurry, you can catch him there. Before he has a chance to hurt the woman or Gast too severely."
"Great, thanks... but we already know that. Any other helpful tips to offer?" The captain said, clutching his spear nervously.
"Bring strong materia. His assistants have grown in number and strength, it won't be an easy battle. And stay out of my way. You can kill Hojo, or judge him or whatever you wish."
"Okay... what are you up to then?"
He ignored the blond's question for a moment, listening in turn to her voice. "I? I am fulfilling my destiny..."
The nervous, unsure looks on their faces amused him, but it was time to leave. Jenova whispered words in his mind, and Sephiroth spoke them out loud as a farewell.
"...After a long sleep... the time... time has... come..."
He called out his magic and started to teleport out of the ship, watching as the three started towards him. No sense in letting them catch him now.
"...The time... is now..." he dropped one of his powerful summons to the floor, hoping that they would use it against Hojo. The professor rarely forgot anything, especially that his favourite summon had always been Ramuh, the god of lightning, so even if Sephiroth wasn't there to see the man fall, he'd know that Hojo got his message.
"Shit!" Cid screamed as Sephiroth disappeared from before them. Barret banged the wall again while Red wandered to there the General had been, and poked at the summon with his paw, recognizing its strength.
"So what the hell is goin' on? He with us or against us?!" The leader of Avalanche growled when Red walked back, the summon held carefully between his teeth. He dropped it to the men's feet and looked up.
"From this evidence, I would gather that he's not against us. But I doubt that he's with us, either."
"...shit..." Cid muttered again as he crouched down and picked up the summon.
"Dock workers-- We will be docking in Costa del Sol in 5 minutes. Prepare for docking." Came the tannoy.
"Damn. We better hide again until we're there. Let's get outta here..." Barret commanded and they took off, careful not to let anyone see them anymore as the ship got ready to pull into port.
"We don't NEED any more fuckin' company!" Barret roared in the cat's face. The small toy robot closed its eyes and pulled its ears against its head. The rest of Avalanche decided that the walls of the Gold Saucer's entrance room were very interesting.
From Costa del Sol they had managed to hitch a ride almost to North Corel, where they hadn't received a warm welcome. Actually, they had almost been thrown out of the small mining town, and had hurried through it to the ropeway which had taken them to the amusement center. During the ride Barret, whose hometown North Corel had been, had told the others his tale, how Shin-Ra had come to their town to build a reactor and how he, along with most of the town, had thought it a good idea. Only his old friend Dyne had opposed, but Barret had managed to talk him around. The reactor had been built, and all had seemed well until one day Shin-Ra had attacked the small town and burned it to the ground. Those who had survived and stayed now lived in shacks and old mines. He had been the one they had blamed.
So Barret had not been in a good mood when they had reached Gold Saucer, or when they had decided to rest for a while and maybe even have some fun. He had gone to vent his anger in the Battle arena while Yuffie and Cid had just about stormed the Chocobo races. Red had decided to take a tour of the place while Tifa and Aeris had gone to visit the Wonder Square and had returned at the prearranged time with a stuffed moogle which had a small black and white cat sitting atop of it. A cat which had read them their fortune and decided to hang along to see if it would come true.
"We have enough trouble getting a ride for the six of us!" Barret still roared, but his words made the cat sit up and open its eyes.
"You need a ride? No problem! I work here, I can get you one of the buggies we have here. They're excellent for off-road driving, since there aren't that many roads over here."
Barret was about to swear but closed his mouth, glancing over at the others. With a car they could reach Nibelheim in a matter of days.
"For free?" The cat added, and Barret's shoulders sagged.
"Fine, cat, you're in. Where's the car?"
Back on the other continent, Reeve sighed and sat back in his chair. He was in. First part completed. Now he'd just have to make sure that Cait Sith would stay with the Avalanche...
With a groan he looked at his wrist watch, wondering if it was safe already to leave the headquarters. Ever since that one faithful day five years ago, he had been terrified to use the elevators unless he was sure that Scarlet was not in the building. And since the president had died, the whole building had acquired a haunted feeling. The chillness that had come over them all the night it happened, when they had stood in the president's office still made the executives nervous, and none of them wished to stay in the building after normal work hours. Maybe it would be safe to leave already...
He packed his papers into his briefcase, and the controls for Cait Sith in his pocket. The robot, as well as the Avalanche, were now sitting in a car, so there was no reason for the small cat to move. But Reeve still kept his earplug and microphone on, in case someone talked to the cat. Mostly it was the girls who even noticed the fortune teller. Highwind seemed completely indifferent, and the beast just glanced at the robot every now and then, like he was thinking who was behind the controls. And even with so many miles between them, Reeve could sense the chillness the leader of the group aimed at the cat, not trusting it one bit. Well, he was right in that...
Peeking out to make sure there was no red-clad man-eaters in sight, Reeve slipped out of his office and towards the elevator. The hallway was blessedly empty and remained so for the time it took the elevator to come up to his floor. The executive stepped in and leaned against the glass wall with a relieved sigh. One more day almost done, and he had survived it.
Then the elevator stopped, the doors opened, and
"Well hello handsome... going down?" Scarlet said after a moment of the two staring at each other. The woman smiled and stepped in, carrying her own briefcase. Reeve swallowed and did his best to answer her smile. 'Oh man...'
"NOOOooooo!" Cait Sith, sitting in the open trunk, suddenly screamed and flapped its paws like a bird ready to take to the air. Barret almost drew the buggy to a large boulder and the rest of them jumped with fright or woke up. Or both.
"For fuck's sake some of us are tryin' to SLEEP!" Cid screamed, his heart racing, and reached over from the backseat to bat at the cat with his hand. "What the hell's wrong with you?!"
"Sorry!" The cat squeaked and turned itself off. Cid blinked and poked at it for a moment.
"Shit. I broke it."
"...no such luck..." Barret muttered.
They arrived at a small town called Gongaga after the sun had risen the next morning. They had driven all night, Barret and Cid taking turns at the wheel. Cait Sith had not made another sound the rest of the night, but just before they stopped outside the town the cat lifted his head and smiled, wishing them all a good morning.
"What were you screaming last night? Did you have a nightmare?" Aeris asked the cat as they got out of the car. She had meant it as a joke, thinking that a robot wouldn't dream, but Cait nodded vigorously, almost falling off the moogle.
"Yeah, a very scary dream, believe me. I don't want to talk about it." The little cat coughed into its paw and looked around. "Gongaga? Wow, I haven't seen it since the reactor exploded..."
"You've been here before?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah, sure. I've been to lots of places!"
"Wha', before making a career in the fortune-telling industry?" Yuffie asked, holding back her laughter.
Cait just nodded seriously. "Yup. I like traveling." The moogle took off after Barret and Cid, leaving the girls standing and looking at each other curiously.
"What?" Yuffie asked, scratching her neck. The other two shrugged.
"I suggest you follow them soon. There are monsters about." Red said, leaning out from the buggy. He had volunteered to stay back and take care of the car. The girls waved him goodbye and followed Barret and Cid.
Since it wasn't far from Gongaga, Cid insisted that they visit the weaponsmith who was looking after his Tiny Bronco. It only delayed them for a few hours so the rest eventually agreed, mostly because Cid wouldn't shut up about it until they did.
The small plane was as he had left it, and even if it would have taken them to Nibelheim faster than any car, it would have still required so many repairs that the car ended up being much faster.
"Hurry it up, old man!" Yuffie called when Cid was saying a fond farewell to the small airplane. She and Cait were already sitting in the car while the others stretched their legs or talked with the weaponsmith. The robot cat had been quiet for a long while now, but it still watched them.
Reeve shook his head, wishing he could apologize for what would happen. But Avalanche were far in the other continent, and if Cait would suddenly start apologizing the group would become even more suspicious. No, better that they didn't know.
The cat remained quiet as the executive watched the group get back into the car and start towards Cosmo Canyon.
"Shee-it! What do you mean it broke?!" Barret roared and got out of the small buggy. The rest followed him, actually happy for being able to get out of the small vehicle.
Cid stuck his head out from under the hood and shook his head. "What I just said. B r o k e n. And we'll need spare parts for it, too. Shit."
"My home is right here, you can get the things you need from there." Red said, turning to look up at a strange looking little town in the middle of the rocks. The others followed his eye, surprised to see the place.
"Damn..." Barret muttered, uncharacteristically quiet. "That's... Cosmo Canyon, right?"
"Yes," Red said, "and..." the great beast turned his head suddenly, his ears turning as well. Yuffie looked around, worried, as they all recognized the signs that Red had heard something. "Someone's here... friend or foe, I don't know."
They all got their weapons ready, just in case it was a monster. Red kept sniffing the air and turning his head, figuring out where the sound was coming from.
Soon they could all hear whistling, coming not far from the direction they had been heading. Ready to fight, they all turned to see who would come around the corner. The whistling grew louder and sounded carefree, a silly little tune which carried with the wind just before the stranger.
"Stop right there!" Barret roared with such authority that everyone twitched. The stranger froze just as he had stepped into their sights, looking surprised but ready to fight the next second. He was tall and thin, but muscular, and tanned, with a long, almost black mane of spiky hair tied to a messy ponytail in the neck. Violet eyes glowed slightly in the darkening afternoon.
"Oh for fuck's sake..." Cid muttered after a quiet moment and lowered his spear to pull a cigarette from his goggles and light it. "You?!"
The man turned his eyes from Barret, saw the pilot and smiled a big, toothy grin. "Highwind!"
Everyone relaxed a little as the stranger took a few steps closer to clasp hands with Cid, but the pilot suddenly raised his spear to point at the man's chest. Dark brows met in a frown as the man looked down at the spear and then up at Cid.
"What? Cid?"
"Not so fast, buddy... is that General of your nearby by any chance?" Cid asked. The others had relaxed when he had recognized the stranger, but grew wary again at the mention of Sephiroth.
The man stepped back a step and grew serious. "Seph? No, I haven't seen him in five years. We... got separated a few days after we left you guys. Hey, where's Shera?"
"Never mind that now..." Cid muttered and lowered his spear again. Turning to his friends, he poked a thumb in the stranger's direction. "This is Zax, the Soldier-boy I told you about. Friends with the great fucking Sephiroth."
Zax was clearly going to say something, but Tifa cut him off.
"I remember you! You were with him, when Nibelheim burned down!" The fighter took a step closer and pointed an accusing finger at the Soldier. "You bastards burned my hometown and killed my father!"
"Woah!" Zax lifted his hands and took another step back as most of the group glared at him angrily. Cid just shrugged. "First of all, we did no such thing! One of Hojo's monsters burned the place down, I was busy saving... a friend, and Seph was busy dodging bullets from Hojo's goons. It was Hojo and Shin-Ra, it had nothing to do with Seph and me. They actually set a trap for him, they wanted him for something. Look, this is all really complicated and stuff, and I should be getting back home already, and..." his wandering, violet eyes landed on Red, and the man frowned, his tanned face wrinkling a bit. "...are you... Nanaki?"
"Yes." Red nodded and smiled. "And your home must be Cosmo Canyon."
"Yep." Zax said and bowed a bit, smiling again. "I've heard so much about you. Everyone's missed you a lot. I bet they'll be overjoyed to see your furry little face again!"
Red looked a bit perplexed at the comment while Aeris hid her smile behind a hand. Friend of Sephiroth's or not, this man seemed nice enough. Cid rolled his eyes and slammed the car's hood closed with the butt of his spear.
"Okay then, let's go to Cosmo Canyon!"
Reno threw the butt of his cigarette away and watched the light coming from the few windows of the small, sleeping town. Compared to this place, Kalm was a metropolis. A small nowheresville of which no one knew about. Should have been a safe place to hide. But no one could escape the Turks.
Gesturing with his hand slightly, he ordered the three troopers to go in to town. They moved almost silently, only their heavy boots making noise on the cobblestones. The Turk followed them into the small town square and guided the men to the smallest of the six houses around it.
He waited outside while the troopers broke in and quickly captured the woman and the girl.
The new president saw this as a bargaining chip, in case the Avalanche became a bother. For Reno, this was just revenge. Revenge for Tseng, and for the injuries he had received in Sector 7. He smiled wickedly when the woman recognized him from Rocket Town and shivered, holding the scared child even tighter as the troopers roughly guided them towards the waiting vehicle. Reno reached into the house and pulled the door shut. Mission accomplished.
A.N. Moogle, mog, I can't remember which it is...
Zax: "Woot! I'm in! Yea!"
Sulkin' Sephiroth: "That was degrading and you shall suffer for it."
Me: "Ooh I'm so scared." -is hit in the head with a huge writer's block.- "Ow!"
Smirkin' Sephiroth : "Told you."