Chapter 16

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Danny sat on the newly erected stage of the Seventh Heaven bar and became lost in thought. So much so that he didn't notice Jim behind him. Jim had to smack Danny round the head before he jumped up, growling.

"What the hell did you do that for?"

"You weren't responding to anything else." Jim shrugged, handing him a guitar. "Here, courtesy of our new employers."

"Hmm…" Danny checked it out, adjusting the strap and tuning it up a little. "Well, it's not a great guitar but it'll do."

"Here, come see the songs I made." Jim gestured to the other side of the stage and sat down by a few pieces of paper. Danny followed and sat by him, picking up the paper and scanning the notes briefly. He had never been good at reading music, and still understood only the basic parts. Jim still had to explain to him which chords were his. Whilst his chords were simple, Jim's were much more complex, and Danny was amazed Jim had been able to write such complex music. He had even written in the bass and drum parts.

"I was inspired." Jim shrugged.

"Didn't you have a headache?" Danny rubbed his head, his still hadn't completely gone away.

"Yeah, but… that seemed to drive me even more." Jim shrugged again, collecting the sheets of music and setting them to one side. "I'll show them to Barrett and Cid in a second. You know, it's weird…" Jim turned to Danny, looking extremely serious.

"What?" Danny laughed a little, thinking Jim was trying to catch him off guard, but found Jim's face remained the same.

"They said there's another person who works here, a woman…"

"So?"

"And that her name is… Tifa." Danny opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He looked at Jim with a little shock and a short silence fell upon them before he spoke.

"It can't be her." His voice had become quiet and somewhat reserved. He turned away from Jim and shook his head. "Just can't be."

"Yeah, I'm sure it isn't…" Jim said softly, jumping off the stage and grabbing the sheets of music. "I'll go show these to the guys. They said Tifa will be back before our performance begins, so I guess we'll see for ourselves…"

"I guess so." Danny said to himself, once again losing himself in thought as Jim sat down at the bar and began discussing his songs with Barrett and Cid. After getting the affirmative from Barrett and Cid, Jim returned and he and Danny began rehearsing, Danny found he was pretty rusty, but Jim took to the guitar quickly, soon performing his riffs with ease. Danny was glad Jim had given him little to do, knowing he'd be unable to race up and down the frets as Jim was able to do. He realised Jim had been practising guitar a lot more than he had first presumed. When the bar became quiet Cid and Barrett also started practising, and Danny sat down to begin writing lyrics. He found this particularly easy and soon had a set of lyrics for each of the eight songs Jim had produced. He showed them to the others briefly, then realised he would have to sing these and cringed. He knew he couldn't sing, but what could he do? He and Jim needed the money, and Jim could sing no better.. he doubted Barrett and Cid were any good…

"How the hell did you come up with eight songs like that?" Cid asked, genuinely impressed that Jim had been so quick in writing down eight quite different songs.

"I've been thinking these over for a while… most of them I'd written at some time or another at home. It was just a case of remembering them." Jim shrugged.

"If you say so… these look good…" Cid gave the thumbs up and got back behind the drum kit, beginning to play again. Barrett had gone back behind the bar to serve a couple of customers.

"Hey Danny! Wanna hear this solo in song five?" Jim asked.

"Go for it." Danny turned to Jim and nodded. Jim burst into the solo and played it to perfection, his fingers moving expertly and never missing a chord. Danny applauded at the end.

"That was awesome."

"It'll sound even better when we play it live!" Jim grinned, extremely enthused about the performance. Danny hadn't seen him this excited about something in a long time. He was a little jealous, wishing he felt the same. However, whereas Jim seemed to have a love for music, he knew he did not have the same passion. He began playing his guitar again when he heard a gasp from behind him. He turned around and found himself staring into his past. Five years into his past.

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He didn't like to be in this sector too long. It brought back a pain he couldn't describe. Yet he always came back… it fuelled his anger, and his hate. Sometimes, Sephiroth liked to visit the house she had let him stay in. Other times he would wander the village silently during the night, locating all the houses which had needed her help and received it. She had been such a kind person, so caring… and for a long time things had been perfect. He recalled the days when he would walk with her and just listen, sometimes for over an hour, because she never seemed to get boring. She was what he had left his world for, and now she was no more. He knew this, but he didn't want to believe it. He often wondered why he had awoken, only to be thrown back into torment. Well, that could be rectified. He was too proud to kill himself, besides, he knew what he needed to do.

"They killed you…" He murmured, standing outside her house with a frown. "We can get revenge. I will get revenge… for you. I'm going to have to spill blood along the way, Teritia. Lots of blood, because people won't listen to me. They don't understand… but we understand, don't we? Our son, Teritia… our son is the President of ALIEN… he's already staged a global takeover, or so it seems… it's like he's read my mind… but he's weak." Sephiroth frown deepened. "Too much pampering by the fool who adopted him. He hides behind hired protection. He's lost his connection with his Siat side. I need strong generals behind me, Teritia. Rufus can be one of them, if his ways are corrected… if his potential is awoken. Then there's our first-born, do you remember him? He's strong, he still has the ability to use his potential because his rage and hate has been fuelled! Once he knows my cause he will unite with me and we will execute the plan… but for now… I will watch them both. There is no need to act yet. Let us see how our sons act, Teritia. Rufus Alien the president of ALIEN, and Danny Whise… his strongest enemy."

Falling silent, Sephiroth stood at the house and stared for a few more minutes, before turning and  slipping back into the darkness, heading for sector 7, where Danny Whise currently resided.