Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once: I don't own 'em. ;) More babbling at the end of the chapter!
I'm trying to cut down swearing (going very well, judging by the beginning of the chapter...), so Cid will have to suffer too!
Cid: "Aww, shit, man!"
Me: "Shut up, you at least have your cigarettes."
Cid: "Damn straight!"
Chapter eight: From the frying pan...
-
"...Fuck."
"...Your way with words never ceases to amaze me, Reno..." Rufus muttered, standing next to the Turk, both of them leaning over Reeve's shoulders. All three watched, eyes wide, at the hell that had just broken loose in the basement of Shin-Ra's mansion in Nibelheim.
"Where... where did he get the gun?!" the executive said, his voice higher than usual.
"Who cares! Did he hit Hojo?" Rufus answered, stretching his neck to see better. "Can't you turn that stupid robot a bit? I can't see!" The president didn't seem overly grieved at the thought of losing the scientist.
"Uh, well, there is a dead man lying on top of it, sir... but..." Reeve abandoned the mog's controls and concentrated on the small cat.
Cait pushed its little head out from underneath one of Hojo's bodyguards. Its crown was gone, fur wet with blood, but it was still in one piece, which was more than could be said for the room and most of the people in it.
Everything had happened so fast and everything was still happening so fast that Cait had a hard time telling who was still alive. In the same second the bullet had left Cloud's gun and entered Hojo's lower chest, the bodyguards had started towards the blond. They couldn't shoot, not with their boss still standing there, shielding his attacker, both of them staring at the spreading, red stain. Either Hojo had told them to take Avalanche as prisoners or they were afraid of hitting their comrades, because the two armed men had refrained from using their guns. Barret had had no such restrictions; he had opened fire the second Zax had reached out and grabbed Cloud, pulling the blond back. The Soldier had screamed for someone to get Hojo, to kill him, and since he was still shouting it while fighting unarmed with one of the bodyguards, it was probable that the madman was still alive.
Cait jumped on the desk and looked around, showing the three men behind its eyes the whole chaos.
The man Barret had first shot had fallen on the mog, pinning it down. He was keeping two of the men at bay, pointing his gun at them while the others fought around him. Yuffie and Aeris fought one, the ninja's throwing weapons useless in such close quarters, as was Aeris' staff. Nanaki had one pinned to the floor, but the man was fighting the beast valiantly. Zax was all over his victim, the blind rage which he fought with a scary sight. Tifa was taking her time with her opponent, the man unable to use his gun with a broken arm. Cid's spear was also useless, but the man had no trouble with the last of the eight. And in the middle of it stood Cloud, staring at something. Cait blinked and followed the blue eyes, turning around but seeing nothing but bookshelves. There was nothing there worth such a devoted look.
This time Sephiroth returned the stare, lifting his hands up to his hips.
"Well done. He's still alive, but I won't certainly mind if he suffers. Now. There are two more men, coming here. The fight isn't over yet."
He watched Cloud nod slowly and smirked. The shadow was gone, it had simply disappeared. He had blocked her from his mind again, but could feel Jenova's burning anger at what had happened. He didn't quite understand it. What did they need Hojo for anymore? The man had lived way past his usefulness. Wasn't she the one who preached to him how useless these mortals were? Why get this upset over something like Hojo?
"Who was it who told you to shoot?" Sephiroth tried, although he was fairly sure that he wouldn't get an answer.
Cloud only shrugged and bent down to pick up the gun which he'd dropped when Zax had pulled him out of harm's way. Sephiroth kept one eye on him and the other on Zax. The Soldier was just finishing his opponent. The others were winning as well, but only Barret and Cloud seemed to be without any injury.
Sephiroth left his spot behind the desk and walked to where the clone stood. The others were too busy to hear his voice, and his body was still hidden with a spell. He gave the bleeding professor only a quick glance, taking care to step on his fingers. Hojo shrieked and twitched in pain, but Sephiroth ignored it.
"Don't use it unless I tell you to. Do NOT obey anyone else but me. Understand?" he said as he was facing Cloud. The blond had to look up to meet his eyes.
"Yes."
"You ever hurt Zackery, I'll make whatever Hojo did to you look like a picnic. Understand?" he wasn't sure that the blond wasn't still under the shadow's control. If he'd ever find out who that had been, who had ordered Zackery's death, he'd... well if it was someone on the Planet, Sephiroth would surely end up punishing him along with the rest of the world. But it would be more satisfying to do it personally.
"...Yes."
"...Cloud?" Just then, Zackery stepped to the clone's side and peered at the blue eyes with a worried expression. "You all right?" The violet eyes rose to catch up with the rest of the fight, and the Soldier patted Cloud's shoulder quickly before running to help Aeris and Yuffie with their opponent. Both puppet and master followed him with their eyes.
"...take care of him, Cloud. He may be strong but he still needs someone... we all do..." the last words were not much more than a whisper, Cloud barely caught them as he turned back.
"...Sephiroth?" But the man had disappeared from his sight. All he saw was Barret questioning and threatening his two captives. Around the blond the fight was ending, and his companions were already healing themselves. And Hojo-
"WHAT did you just SAY?!"
Cid's enraged shout made them all stop what they were doing. Aeris looked up from healing a large wound on Yuffie's leg while blood still trickled to her own eyes from a cut on her forehead. Barret pushed his captives against the wall and turned to see what was going on. Cait turned to watch the pilot as well, ears turning to hear every word. Nanaki and Tifa kept each other standing as the fighter continued to call out the healing power of her materia. Zax moved closer to Cloud when he realized that Cid's anger was aimed towards the blond.
"Cid? What's wrong?" the Soldier asked, almost unconsciously placing himself between the pilot and Cloud.
Cid's upper body was covered with blood, probably his opponents as much as his own. This made the pilot look even angrier when he took a few steps closer and glared at the Soldier. "Piss off, Zax, if you know what's good for you! I was talkin' to him!" He pointed at Cloud. Barret turned to the two men and Aeris back to healing but they all listened very carefully.
Cloud blinked, looking confused when Cid stepped even closer and poked him in the chest. "I saw you. You were talkin' to someone, weren't you? And then I heard you say his name. Sephiroth. Is he here?"
"Sephiroth?!" Cait suddenly exclaimed, with a voice that sounded different from his normal voice. Cid turned to him, now, but both Cloud and Cait were momentarily saved from the pilot's wrath when they heard a scream from the laboratory.
"Mother!" Aeris shouted when she recognized the voice and jumped up, running out of the room.
"Wait! Damn it!" Zax called out and would have ran after her if Cloud's words hadn't frozen him in place.
"Hojo had two more men besides the eight here."
"Shit!" Barret roared and bumped the two survivor's heads together hard enough to knock them out.
"All of you, come out with your hands up, or the lady and the professor get it!"
"...Barret, 'shit' is the understatement of the year..." Tifa muttered, pointing to where Hojo should have been. Only the blood remained, to prove that the professor had been injured.
Sephiroth had left the study, but not the mansion. He had watched as the last two bodyguards had entered the laboratory and taken Gast hostage. That had made the Cetra scream, and in a matter of seconds the flower girl had come running. Without even her staff! Really, at times like these he could understand why Jenova considered humans and their emotions utterly useless. What good was the urge to help others if it meant you placed yourself inches from your death?
So now the two armed men had both Gast and her daughter. The glass cylinders were strong enough to repel bullets, or they wouldn't be able to handle the pressure from the amount of Mako kept in them. The Cetra was safe, but looking at her Sephiroth wondered what would be left of her sanity if she'd have to watch her husband and only child die in front of her. Probably not much. Hojo must have already performed some experiments on her, when one remembered that he had had the woman captive in Midgar as well. Most people didn't handle Hojo's experiments well.
It took a moment after the man had called out his threat, but the 'saviors' soon marched out to the laboratory single file, hands held up with the exception of the red beast. Even the silly robot cat and the mog it rode on both held their paws up.
"Where's the professor?" the shorter bodyguard demanded, pointing a gun in the captive's direction. The larger one had a death grip on Gast's shoulder and Aeris' upper arm.
Zackery and the leader of Avalanche looked at each other.
"Well, we don't know. After we SHOT him once, he ran off like the rat he is..." the Soldier said with a mock-worried tone. Sephiroth closed his eyes and sighed. He had felt Hojo teleport away after he'd left the study. Well, at least mother would be pleased.
"You what?!" The bodyguard turned his gun to point at Zackery. A mistake on his part, but at least Sephiroth understood what his old second in command had had in mind.
The bodyguard seemed angry enough to shoot, so Sephiroth decided to abandon his secrecy and pulled out the Masamune. The weapon was as invisible as he was, but they all heard the quiet, cold noise it made, sliding out of the scabbard. Then it became visible, although only because of the blood that covered it as the long weapon drove through the man and out his chest. The bodyguard was too shocked to pull the trigger, and then it was already too late as his hands went limp and the gun fell.
Aeris screamed in horror, the bloody blade less than two feet from her face, but had sense enough to punch the other bodyguard in the stomach as the man's hold on her loosened for a moment. Her father followed suit and elbowed the man's face. The others were frozen in place and could only stare as the red blade turned and withdrew slowly, and the dead man slumped on the ground. Faster than their eyes could even register, the sword turned and cut the other bodyguards head off.
Aeris crawled quickly out of the way as the body fell and threw herself to her father's arms. The man laughed and cried, holding her tight. They were oblivious to the fact that the red blade still hovered in the air, mesmerizing the other living occupants of the room.
Only when Highwind's shaking hands managed to start a cigarette did the spell break.
"What... what... what..." Yuffie stuttered, her grey eyes wide, staring at the sword. Sephiroth smirked. She was the only one able to say something, and this was the best she could do? With a shake of his head, he let the spells go, amused by the surprised looks and gasps his appearance caused.
"Se... Seph...?" Zax managed to whisper eventually and pushed Yuffie and Nanaki out of his way, ignoring all else as he walked to the other side of the lab, to stand before his General. He didn't even notice that Cloud was following him like a shadow.
Sephiroth looked down at the man who had been his best friend. Since they had become friends it had always annoyed him that he had to look down at the other man, but now it only seemed to emphasize the distance between them.
Earlier, in the study, he had realized how much he had missed the Soldier, but now he pulled his emotions tight under control, not letting anything show on his face. He half waited Zackery to punch him or call him a monster, but a sob and a tight hug were what he got. Sephiroth felt his eyes grow wide and didn't know what to do.
Zackery was actually hugging him, arms around his neck, face hidden between them, against his chest. And the Soldier was sobbing. Uh. The god-in-waiting blinked a few times and glared at Cloud who stood behind Zackery, staring up expectantly. Behind the clone, the members of Avalanche seemed to be in a state of shock again.
Confused by this unexpected show of affection, Sephiroth carefully raised his free hand and patted Zax on the back. Barret shook his head, looking disgusted, and went to help Aeris free her father. Cid scratched the back of his neck, grabbed Tifa who was fuming with rage, and went to see if they could get Ifalna free. Nanaki sat down, keeping his good eye on Cait. The small cat was making strange little noises, like people were fighting deep inside it. Yuffie still stared.
Gast was freed and they had all moved to figure out how to get the tank to open when Zax finally pulled away. He gained their attention again when he hit Sephiroth in the face with a tight fist.
"You fucking bastard! Where the hell did you go? Why the fuck did you leave us here? You knew! You knew and you just left us! You fuckin-" Sephiroth grabbed his hand when it came up again to deliver another punch. The first one had left a dark mark on his pale skin, but it was already healing out of sight.
"That is enough, Zackery."
"WHY?!" The Soldier still demanded. Barret, Cid and Tifa seemed ready to attack the silver-haired man if Zax only asked them to. Cloud, on the other hand, seemed ready to defend him.
What was he supposed to say? Because I feared you'd treat me like the monster I am? Because I was scared? Because I was manipulated? Because you mean nothing to me? Because I was pitying myself too much to care about anything? Because I wanted you to get a taste of what I lived with for years? Because I couldn't come back here?
"...I don't know, Zackery. I am sorry." He whispered the words so that only the Soldier heard them. He couldn't bear the pain in the violet eyes, the hurt and abandonment, the yearning to be told that everything was going to be all right. So he looked away.
Why couldn't they leave him be? Why did they always have to torture him? Hadn't he suffered enough?
He didn't know if he even existed anymore. He must have, otherwise he couldn't wonder that, right? He still lived, in this limbo between consciousness and oblivion. In the eternal darkness, broken only by the occasional memory that flowed by, awakening some half-forgotten horror.
The memories were worse than the 'visits'. When one of his torturers came calling, he could always ignore the pain and humiliations. But dreams and memories, they stuck, they replayed again and again in his mind, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of them.
Sometimes the demon would bring him out of it, to the world, back to existence. Never completely there, but close enough to witness what chaos the beast wrought on its victims. It was so real that he could even taste the blood and fear in its mouth. Afterwards, the memories of it would haunt him for what seemed like centuries.
Time. That was one thing he had plenty of, although he couldn't tell for sure if it had been a week or fifty years of this emptiness and pain. Same as with his long sleep. The nothingness was similar to that, although this exile was self-chosen. He himself had decided to leave the world, to not care anymore. His heart had been broken completely, his mind torn apart. He didn't care anymore what happened to the world, everyone he had cared about had died and suffered just by being near him. The world could die for all he cared, but that wouldn't end his suffering. He had committed so many crimes, such horrendous acts of violence and horror that he could try to atone for them for the rest of forever and still feel not worthy of moving on to whatever waited beyond.
Something approached again. He pulled his torn being into a small ball, hoping it would be ignored by whatever it was. But this was his own personal hell. Whatever approached him here was bad, and they never went by. They never left him alone.
'Come with me...'
No one spoke for a while, only whispers when they figured out how to get the door open. Zax turned away from them all to dry his tears and gain control of his emotions again. Sephiroth stood behind him, not moving, just staring straight ahead. He didn't know what he had expected when he'd meet his General again. He hadn't really expected to meet him here. He had hoped so, but... maybe he should have hoped against it.
Zax twitched when someone touched his bare arm gently. He turned his head a bit, half expecting to see Sephiroth. But it was only Cloud, looking up at him with those blue eyes.
"...Zax? Are you all right?" the blond asked quietly, and the Soldier nodded, smiling slightly and lifting a hand to grab the thin fingers for a second.
"Yeah. Let's do what we came here for and get out."
Cloud nodded and followed when Zax turned to join the others at the tank. But the Soldier stopped when walking past his General.
"I'm not done with you yet, Seph. When we're out of here, I'm gonna open such a can of whoopass on you..."
Sephiroth chuckled, looking relieved. "I'm sure you'd enjoy that, Zackery." The camaraderie was still there, somewhere, and it felt for a moment like the old days. But nothing was the same anymore, not for either of them.
They had to destroy the lock mechanism completely before getting the door to open, but the reunion of the small family was worth it. All three cried and held each other tight, the horrors of the last weeks and months momentarily forgotten. At least, until Cait got himself back in order and started to speak, but not with his normal voice.
"Sephiroth!" the small cat called out jubilantly. Barret and Tifa froze, recognizing the new voice immediately. Sephiroth cocked his head, and with the exception of Aeris and her parents, everyone turned to stare at the cat when the president of most of the world spoke through it.
"It is Rufus Shin-Ra! I have searched for you long, Sephiroth!"
"I knew it! I fucking knew it!" Barret roared and pointed his gun arm at the cat.
"Not so fast, Wallace! Not if you want to see your pretty little daughter again!" Rufus' voice was as happy as the little cat's face, which made the words sound even worse. Barret paled and staggered.
"Marlene! What've you done to my girl?!"
"Nothing... yet," the cat announced and turned back to Sephiroth.
"Don't you just ignore me you son of a bitch!" The dark man was shaking with rage, resembling a volcano about to erupt.
"Newsflash, Wallace: I just did. Twice. Now Sephiroth! I have an offer for you which I think you'll find quite interesting!"
Sephiroth snorted. "I doubt it, Shin-Ra. You have nothing that could possibly interest me. I loathed your father and the only reason you still breathe is that you're not worth even the trip to Midgar, upstart. The higher you place yourself, the harder your fall will be." The silver-haired man turned his back pointedly at the little cat, ignoring it completely.
"Where is Marlene? What have you done with her and Shera?" Tifa demanded, one hand on Barret's arm to keep the man from attacking the robot. She suspected that there was no one in the room who wouldn't want to tear the cat apart, but right now it was the only link to Marlene and Shera that they had.
"They are safe, don't worry," Cait said with his normal voice, but it was muffled quickly and they could hear angry words exchanged.
"But Sephiroth..." Rufus continued soon, "I offer you the world! To become my General, my second in command! We shall rule the world by fear!"
At that, Sephiroth burst out laughing, giving proof that he could easily rule by fear, all by himself. "You fool! I already HAVE the world! The continued existence of your race is but an inconvenience, one surely and swiftly taken care of."
He had kept his mental shields up and strong since the moment Hojo had been shot, for he could sense her anger. But now she was positively clawing at them, demanding entrance to his mind. With a sigh, Sephiroth let Jenova in. Her enraged words completely conquered whatever Rufus thought would make him change his mind.
/I've had enough of this, son! Return here IMMEDIATELY! You have ruined my plans! If Hojo won't survive, we cannot fulfill our destinies!/
Sephiroth twitched slightly and frowned. He didn't like being ordered around, but when she commanded him like that, he couldn't fight it. With a sigh he let her know that he was coming.
"-can't just abandon your duties to the Shin-Ra empire, you-"
Sephiroth interrupted the Rufus-cat which was almost humorously waving its paws up and down, and turned to his old friend. "Zackery. We'll meet later, I hope. Watch your back."
"Later? Whaddaya mean? Seph!" Zax jumped towards him as the silver-haired man began to disappear in front of them. Barret swore and shot at Sephiroth, the bullets going through his body and hitting the computers and wall.
"Don't let him get away!" the leader of Avalanche shouted, but it was too late. Sephiroth was gone. That left only Cait Sith to vent his anger on.
"He just... he just ignored me, like I was nothing!" Rufus shouted through the cat, voice full of disbelief and admiration.
"Newsflash, jackass: that's exactly what you are!" Cid growled out, pointing at the robot with his spear. But the president sounded unimpressed.
"Well, I'll just have to think of something else... Reeve, you take care of your robot, and report to me later!"
"Reeve?!" Zax got over his shock and finally let his hand down, the hand that had tried to keep his best friend beside him. "Reeve, from urban development? You're behind Cait?!"
"Shin-Ra shit! Where's my girl?!"
"I-I'm... sorry. I'm sorry, you all. Marlene and Shera are safe. They are being held as captive in case you guys do something stupid, but they are taken care of. Don't worry about them, I make sure personally that they have everything they need. It's the least I can do," the little cat spoke quietly, its head hanging, the usually happy eyes not daring to look up.
"Barret..." Aeris had gotten up and walked to stand beside the gun armed man. Her parents were still holding each other, beside the tank. The flower girl lifted a comforting hand to Barret's arm. "I believe him, for now. Please, let's get out of here. We can talk more about everything once we're far from here. Please?"
Barret lifted his human hand to his eyes for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Let's get out of here. C'mon, everyone." His voice was uncharacteristically quiet, making everyone obey without objections.
They gathered their things quickly and quietly, healing the last of their wounds before leaving the laboratory. The last few minutes - it was less than an hour since they last walked through that door - had changed so many things it felt like they had been down there for hours.
But, of course, leaving wasn't as simple as just opening a door and walking out.
She was angry. He had failed. And not only in killing the Soldier, the only thing keeping Sephiroth human, but also letting it slip that someone wanted the man dead. He had seen the look on the silver-haired man's face the second he'd said it. If the puppet would have managed to do its work, it wouldn't have been a problem. The Soldier would have died, by the hand they had saved together from Nibelheim. Sephiroth would have surely lost what little faith he still had in the human race. But now he would ask questions. Damn it.
He had never sworn Jenova any kind of allegiance, not after that day five years ago when he had left off on his own. But she was a thing you did not want to anger. She was even more dangerous than he himself was, if she ever was freed from her imprisonment. If he had to kill a few of these pesky humans to get back on her good side, he was more than happy to do it.
If he could get back on her good side AND make those annoying remains of his old human prison suffer, he would be overjoyed.
So Chaos had left the clone to survive or die, it really mattered little to him, and retreated to the outer rooms of the basement. Her anger had been blinding enough that he couldn't have done much anyway. But now he could prove to her that he was worthy of her trust. Even demons have some kind of pride.
He had spent the last five years enjoying his new freedom. Occasionally he had to let the other demons out as well, but Chaos was the strongest of the bunch and dominated the rest. They were simpler than he was, and could very well have Valentine all to themselves as long as he got to fly.
Chaos had roamed the world, or most of it, wreaking havoc and wrecking lives when he felt like it. He could still change into that human shape he so detested. At times it was convenient, it made his victims trust him more easily. A pale, thin man was less fear provoking than a ten-foot black and red demon with huge wings.
Right now, he just used the form for fun. Waiting outside the door, his old human host hovering just behind his eyes, watching since he was forced to watch whatever Chaos chose to do with this small bunch of pitiful humanity.
It had made him curious when his thoughts had always returned to Nibelheim, no matter where in the world he was. So he had often returned there, spending time watching the village being rebuilt, how the people moved in and made it their home. He couldn't see why, but it was interesting to watch anyway.
Finally the door opened, and they started to wander out into the darkness of the stony hallway. He smirked when he could feel Valentine's despair and surprise at seeing the humans he recognized. Chaos knew them as well; the clone, the Soldier, and professor Gast. Him he had never met, but Valentine had memories of that man, and some vague images of the Cetra woman, too. The rest were strangers to him, and unimportant. They could be killed.
With a confident smirk and a soft laugh, Chaos-as-Vincent stepped into the light that streamed out through the door, and stood in front of them, hands on hips, blocking their way.
Barret stopped when he saw the dark-haired man and swore. "What now?"
The others stopped as well, peering into the darkness to see what was going on.
Zax frowned and shook his head as he recognized the black-clad man. "Wha... Vincent?"
The man they saw was dressed in all black, only the bandana that kept his long, black hair back was blood red. The Soldier remembered that the last time he had seen Vincent, he had had short hair and his left arm had resembled a wing. But now he was as he had been on the first time they had met, only that the metal claw was gone. Vincent now had two perfect human hands.
Cloud came to stand next to the Soldier, looking at the ex-Turk. Vincent noticed him and tsked.
"Cloud... you've really upset her this time. I told you who to shoot, and that someone wasn't Hojo." He shook his head, the black locks moving like snakes around his head. The blond took one step back and Zax put a protective arm between them, remembering all too well what had happened last time he hadn't protected Cloud from the dark man. Vincent couldn't be trusted, no matter that he had been a friend. Hojo and Jenova used him.
"...I'm sorry." the blond whispered, but he didn't look the part. Vincent cocked his head and let out a short laugh. When he spoke next, his voice was like booming thunder, low enough that they thought the ground itself shook from its force.
"If you would have obeyed, the rest of them could have lived. Now... I'll kill everyone, and you, little boy, get to watch."
The words made everyone grab their weapons and get ready to fight. But when two large, red and black wings grew from the man's back, they could do nothing but stare, weapons forgotten. Vincent's body grew, muscles tearing the tormented clothing to shreds. His skin turned blacker than the darkest night, glowing blood red where light hit it.
Without warning, Chaos released a powerful fire-spell, aimed at the middle of the startled group. Barret roared and shoved Aeris and her parents back to the laboratory, hoping they'd be out of harm's way. Tifa called out a wall to protect everyone, but the fire had seared most of them before the spell took effect.
Zax valiantly covered Cloud and Yuffie with his body, therefore not seeing that the next blaze of fire was aimed straight at him. Cid saw it, though, and threw a lighted stick of dynamite at the demon before it could kill the Soldier. Chaos roared in more anger than pain and turned his burning gaze to the pilot. "You die, little man!"
But by then Zax was up and running towards it, screaming as his Buster pierced the thick, black skin. Chaos roared again, this time in agony, and kicked out. The Soldier ducked but the powerful leg caught him by the shoulder and threw him against a wall, twenty feet to his right. He hit his head and was too dazed to do anything as Chaos turned to him, ignoring Yuffie's pinwheel and bullets from Barret's gun. Tifa hurled a powerful ice-spell but the demon only shook it off, lifting its arm to put an end to Zax's life.
"NO!" Cloud screamed and ran to stand between them. Yuffie covered her face and Tifa turned away, both sure that the blond would be squished in an instant. But the demon hesitated. It even lowered its arm a bit, confused, until its eyes started to burn with rage again.
"Out of the way, puppet. I'm not allowed to kill you, but she won't mind if I hurt you."
"No! Why do you want to kill Zax?" Cloud shouted, spreading his hands, trying to block the recovering Soldier from the demon's view.
"She wants him dead. Now MOVE!" Chaos hissed, leaning so close that its hot breath blew Cloud's blond bangs from his forehead.
At that moment Zax opened his eyes and paled at the sight. Chaos was towering over them and only Cloud stood between him and certain death. Then movement caught his eye, and he turned to see Nanaki summoning something while the others backed away.
"Cloud, GET DOWN!" Cid screamed just before hitting the ground himself. Zax pushed himself up enough to wrap one arm around the blond's waist and pull him down, covering the smaller body with his own as electricity crackled in the air, attracting even Chaos' attention.
The ground did grumble this time as a mountain of it pushed its way up, blue and white flashes of lightning licking it up and down. Thunder roared and lightning lit the cave as an old man appeared at the top of the mount, dressed in long, flowing robes. He opened his arms and electricity in all its forms and colours assaulted Chaos, battering the demon back and to the ground.
Cid, unable to keep from watching, hooted and laughed. "Sephiroth sends his love, you bastard!" Then he had to cover his head with his arms as the lightning bolts flew all around the closed area.
Eventually the storm died down and the old man disappeared, leaving the cave feeling darker and smaller than it was. The air was full of smoke and smelled of burned flesh, and a few boxes around the walls had caught fire. Chaos was nowhere to be seen.
"Hoooolyyyy... SHIT!" Cid whooped and jumped up, dusting his clothes and laughing. "That was one helluva show!"
The others started to get up as well, and Aeris rushed out of the laboratory. "Is everyone still alive? Anyone hurt?" the flower girl asked, scowling at Barret gently for worrying more about her than himself.
No one was seriously hurt, luckily, only burns here and there. While the others checked their wounds and Aeris healed them, Cloud wandered to where the ground had burned black from all the power that had felled the demon. The lightning had even made a hole to the ground, and the blond kneeled curiously at its edge and waved the smoke away, leaning closer to see the damage.
"Cloud? What is it?" Zax asked when they heard the blond give a shocked sound. The Soldier stood up, not caring that Aeris was just about to heal the cut on the right side of his head which still bled, and started towards him. "Something wrong?"
From the tone of his voice, the others went for their weapons again, getting ready to fight. Zax pulled his sword out, cursing that he'd let the blond wander off on his own. From where he stood he could barely see Cloud through the thick smoke, but when the blond turned to him, they all could see the glow of his blue eyes.
"Zax, come quick!"
The Soldier and Nanaki were the first to reach the blond, but the rest of Avalanche were not far behind. They all stood around the hole, peering at what Cloud was pointing at.
"Help him, Zax, please!" Cloud begged and turned back to the unconscious form of Vincent Valentine, lying broken and bleeding on the black ground.
"No way you're healing that bastard so he can try kill us again!" Barret roared and aimed his gun-arm. The pale man was barely breathing, but even like this he was too alive for his liking.
"No, don't!" Cloud shouted and scrambled to grab the gun, holding himself between it and Vincent. Barret growled.
"Think real quick who's side you're on, kid, or I'll shoot him through you!"
"Barret!" Zax's voice was calm but warning as he stood up as well, keeping his sword low but clearly in sight.
"Stop this nonsense!"
They all turned to see Professor Gast, limping towards them, looking angry. "We're not in the clear yet, and you fight amongst yourselves?! Please, make peace at least until we are safe! I will not see my wife and daughter in danger again!"
Zax and Barret both lowered their weapons, looking like two boys who had been caught doing something wrong. Cid chuckled and shook his head.
"Doctor Gast! You can help him, can't you?" Cloud asked, still kneeling between Barret and Vincent. The professor looked at his wife curiously and they both approached the black pit, the members of Avalanche stepping back to give them room.
The professor's eyes went wide after a moment when he recognized the man. "Valentine! But... I heard that Hojo had killed him!" He kneeled on the ground, ignoring Barret who was muttering dark words. "I can't believe it! Ifalna! It's really him! What... what on earth did Hojo do to the poor man?!" He looked up at the faces looking down on him, but no one had an answer.
"He, uh... I think he did experiments on Vincent. He said so. Vincent, I mean." Cloud said, frowning, making Zax wonder how much the clone knew or remembered of his previous life. He had thought Cloud would have no recollection of it.
The kneeling blond lifted a hand to his brow and frowned, as if his head was hurting. "Vincent thought that you could help him. Us. If we get out and find Professor Gast, maybe he can help us, Cloud. Maybe he can undo what Hojo did to us."
"...someone lost his marbles..." Yuffie muttered, rolling her eyes. Cloud blinked a few times and sat down, looking like he was lost in his own mind again. Gast peered at him curiously before turning back to Vincent.
"I think that there's a long story behind all this, and I'd like to hear it all." He checked the pale man's pulse and thought for a moment longer. "From what we saw here, I'd presume that Valentine has a demon of sorts inside him. Hojo was always intrigued by this kind of thing, so I'm not surprised. He," he pointed towards Cloud, "is correct, I think I can do something to help the poor man. But not here."
"Okay." Barret muttered and took a deep breath. "Soldier, you're carrying your demon buddy. We head back to Cosmo Canyon straight away, and rethink our plans there. What're ya all waiting for, MOVE IT!"
Sephiroth groaned and tried to stand up again, but the strength of her anger threw him right back down. He couldn't remember hurting this much ever before in his life, and knew that no matter how much she still intended to hurt him, she'd never let him fall unconscious to escape from the pain.
To say that she was upset about him organizing Hojo's destiny was an understatement. She was absolutely livid, and for a being that only resided in people's minds, having no body of her own except for the head, she was very capable of inflicting as much pain on his body as to his mind.
"But..." he gasped when she gave him a break to gather her anger again, "...you said yourself... only human..."
/FOOL! Hojo is useful to us! We need him to conquer this world! If he dies now, our plan will have failed!/
"But... he already created the puppet for us... what else do we need him for?" Sephiroth gathered his strength and pulled his aching body to lean against a crystal wall. Her anger was so strong he thought the whole cave would melt with it.
She seemed less angry now as she spoke again in his mind. /As much as it humiliates me to admit it, we're not strong enough by ourselves. We need him to aid us./
"You never told me this. How was I to know if you never told me?" Sephiroth muttered, feeling hurt because she had deemed him unworthy of sharing information this important. She hesitated for a moment before sending him a wave of care and healing.
/It doesn't matter now. We need to find him, make sure he's still alive. If nothing else, you must go back to Midgar and search for him. I could feel him teleport himself there, but after that I know nothing of him./
She moved from his mind, concentrating her will to finding the mad scientist. Sephiroth felt a moment of burning hatred and jealousy towards his 'parents', both wanting things from him, always, but never giving him any of the things he so yearned for. Never any love, never any care or even a smile. They had never made him feel welcome. Only Zackery had ever given even small amounts of those to him.
Zackery.
He had forgotten it momentarily, overwhelmed by her anger and the pain, but now he could think by himself again.
"Mother." He waited until she turned her attention to him again, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.
/What is it, son?/
"Someone tried to kill Zackery. You wouldn't know who?" Sephiroth said between gritted teeth, wondering what had happened in the laboratory after he had left. All the assistants were dead, as far as he knew, so they should have gotten out safely. Zackery was probably still alive. Cloud was, he could feel the puppet's hazy, disoriented consciousness at the edges of his mind, and it didn't seem distressed or grieving. That had to be a good sign.
/I know nothing of it./ She answered too quickly. Before he could question her further, she had turned her attention away and the feelings flowing from her being made it clear that he'd regret disturbing her again.
Being treated like a child made Sephiroth answer like a child. He lifted his mental walls high, blocking her completely from his mind, and crossed his arms over his chest, sulking. His body still hurt here and there after the mental punishment, and he could feel the migraine of the century coming on. The thought almost made him laugh morbidly: this was not what he had expected being a god was like. But then again, nothing in his life had turned out like he had expected. No matter how hard he struggled to make his own life, to do what his heart told him to do, there was always someone who'd come and tell him that he had to do something else, that his own wishes were wrong, they weren't for the good of this or that cause, they weren't of any help to the person who wanted something from him. Alone in his mind, reliving all those disappointments and frustrations, he felt like he could start crying and never stop. When had his life become like this? Why did he always let people order him around? Why didn't anyone care for him, ask what HE wanted? Why was he worth so much less than everyone else? Hell, even dogs were taken out for walks if they wanted to go.
And he was supposed to be a god?
As always, when dark feelings like this attacked him, he tried to grasp some amount of security from the few good memories he had. And they all concentrated around one man. But this time, thinking of Zackery only made him feel worse.
("You fucking bastard! Where the hell did you go? Why the fuck did you leave us here? You knew! You knew and you just left us!")
He'd known that Zackery was still alive when he had walked out of the mansion. Nothing had mattered to him then, but he should have taken the Soldier with him. He couldn't wish Hojo on the worst of his enemies, let alone the closest of his very few friends. Thanks to him, Zackery had suffered for five years in Hojo's hands.
("You knew!")
Sephiroth covered his face with his gloved hands and hoped that he'd still know how to cry.
Cid: "Hey how come Reno got to swear?!"
Me: "Because he wasn't mean to Cait Sith!"
Cid: "Bullshit! You just favour redheads!"
Reno: "It's good to be me..."
Cid: "Even Zax swore!"
Me: "Well, that's because he IS my favourite..."
Zax: blows a raspberry at Cid
Reno: "It's good to be him, too... wait, he's my enemy... no, my friend..."
Cid: "Barret got to swear! Damn it I want to swear too!"
Me: "...you are a sad little man, my friend... considering that you got to swear."
Cid: "Hey, I did, didn't I?"
Reno: "Dork."
Cid: "Who you callin' dork, jerk?"
Me: "Would you guys be quiet! I was actually going to say something here!"
-silence-
Better. Now, it's been a year today since I started to write this story! Yay! It was supposed to be only two pages long... he he... But! Very big thank-you's, hugs and chocolate chip cookies to everyone who's read and reviewed this so far! Hope you'll come back for the rest as well! :D
Also, thanks for the reviews for chapter 7 (and for the mental image of Cloud with a raw fish in his mouth... XD), hope this came out fast enough! ;D And for KMS for being a great beta-reader! :D oooh so many smileys... :3