Title: Happily Ever After
Chapter: Deja vu
Author: Raserei Hojo
Summary: FF Crossover. When you die, you're not really gone. In two separate worlds, two young men with different goals died. In the darkness, they meet. But, within a short amount of time, will their souls be erased from time as the law states?
Rating: T
Feedback: Very much so desired!
Story Warnings: Male/Male, shounen-ai
Pairings: Kuja/Sephiroth
Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters of Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy IX belong to Squaresoft. Any that are NOT recognizable belong to me. However, feel free to use them in any story you wish.
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"They've escaped."
"Yes, I know. An ex-SOLDIER who was once the general of an army, equipped with knowledge of battle and strategy… And a Genome who's delved into the powers of the elements with intelligence much higher than an average human's. Teamed together…"
"I'm surprised."
"By what?"
"Calling the Genome smart, and seeming to have pride for the general."
"Oh, I have no pride. I'm just explaining that those two together are very dangerous creatures. It's combining the best physical attributes with the best magical attributes—you can't be super-powerful with both, it's one or the other. But that alone will bring about their downfall.
----
Sephiroth and Kuja had been walking for three days, still unable to locate some kind of civilization. Kuja had finally lost all traces of a positive attitude, while Sephiroth seemed withdrawn and very distant. Their trek though the desert area was mostly silent, except for Kuja's vain attempts to stir up conversation. Recently, it seemed that only a complaint would urge Sephiroth to speak.
"We should go back," Kuja suggested.
Sephiroth merely glanced down at him. "Why?"
"It's pointless! There's nothing out here; no food, no water, no shelter… Just this sweltering heat…"
Sephiroth chuckled softly at Kuja.
"What? I wasn't built for the heat! My hair is soaked with sweat…it's sticking to my face! My clothes feel so heavy and I think my legs are about to fall off. And what's worse, I can't help but feel guilty for dragging you out here to suffer with me."
"You only seem to complain about the desert."
"I know I sound bitchy, but I'm not one to hold things inside. If I'm unhappy, you'll know, and if I don't talk, you don't seem to want to talk either."
"And if you're unhappy?" Sephiroth ran his fingers through his hair to push it from his face. His bangs were starting to get annoying.
Kuja stopped to ponder, staring down at the sand. He truly did miss the forest. "Well, you would know, I suppose. Like now, I'm happy I'm not dead."
"Well, there's a start. But you know, you are dead. But at least you're trying, and I know what you meant." Sephiroth stared ahead. "I think I see buildings—or mountains."
"Buildings? That means another town! Or a city!" Kuja ran a few steps ahead. "Truly?"
"I'm not sure." Sephiroth shrugged with a sigh and followed Kuja. "Don't get your hopes up; it will only hurt more if I'm wrong. I don't want you to go blaming me."
Kuja shadowed his eyes from the sun. "How much further do you think those mountains or buildings you see are?"
"We should be able to make it there if we keep walking all day and all evening as well. We should get there a few hours before sunrise if we walk fast enough." Sephiroth leaned forward. "No, it looks like we'll have to get through a mountain pass or a cave when we do get there."
Kuja sighed. "Lovely." He looked up at the sky and glared at the glowing orange orb that refused to hide behind the clouds.
Ten long hours later and the sun was only beginning to sink beneath the horizon. Kuja was just about to thank the deities who cared to listen, when a glow of orange peered up above a hill on the other side. "…Oh no."
Sephiroth glanced at the light. "It looks like this planet is circling around at least two stars."
"But the sun just went down, another one can't come up already, can it?"
"I'm afraid it can. Even if it was night before, who knows how this planet works? We don't even know if it has its own axis. It could be the stars that circle around the planet."
"But if there are stars, do you think that this place…is somewhere near our own planets?" Kuja watched Sephiroth's brows knit together in concentration, pleased that he was thinking hard.
"I think…that if this planet is the world of the dead…"
"…Then?"
"Then the stars must be dead too. After all, they don't live forever, and the stars by our planets will eventually die, and our worlds will be without light." Sephiroth's eyes softened a bit. "The birds, the trees… Everything here must have already died in some manner."
"What about magic?"
"I don't know about magic, it's not a living thing, really. It takes life energy from the person who casts it unless they're using Materia."
"Oh, I thought you would say that the magic we can conjure here is only magic someone else had conjured in their own world."
"That could be too. I don't know, Kuja, I'm not an encyclopedia."
Within another four hours, the two had reached the cave. Kuja was exhausted and wanted to rest. He knew Sephiroth was inhuman, but he knew not even the general could hike in a desert for over fifteen hours and not be tired. "We need water, I think."
Sephiroth seemed to be staring into the cavern, ignoring Kuja. "…This world is getting on my nerves."
"Why?" Kuja slowly looked at the cave. Wisps of silvery white frost clung to the rocks, cold air blew out, and he couldn't see why such a nice cool cave would bother Sephiroth. "We've been in the desert all day with no water! I think the cool breeze is refreshing."
"We can't go in there."
"And why not?"
Sephiroth closed his eyes and thought of how to explain to Kuja. It wasn't that he thought Kuja wasn't as smart as he was, it was just that Kuja needed to be spoken to directly. So, he might as well be blunt.
"We can't go in there because our bodies might go into shock. The chance isn't high, but it's possible."
Kuja sat in the sand in front of the entrance, nearly purring in contentment. "Well, that's fine. I can stay at the right temperature from here, and we can rest while you fetch some water."
"I have nothing to hold water in."
Kuja leaned forward. "Go make something, Crafty. You made breakfast on top of rocks! I'm sure you can make a bucket or something, then I can melt the ice here into water."
Sephiroth didn't move.
"Do you want me to do it?"
Slowly shaking his head, wet silver hair bouncing, Sephiroth turned and walked off tracking down things he could use to form a bucket.
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"They've escaped."
"Yes, milord…"
Shenter leaned close to the guard who had been guarding Kuja and Kefka's cell. "And you're telling me now?"
"Well, you see, I have a very good explanation…"
Crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm waiting."
The guard found it hard to swallow. The highest Sage's sapphire eyes were like diamonds, hard and ready to cut.
"The Genome used magic!"
"I know. That's why he was in the prison in the first place. What I don't understand is how you ended up in the cell."
"I-I was checking up on them, to make sure they weren't plotting anything, err, evil."
"I see. And, apparently they were."
"Oh please, please don't destroy my soul! Demote me, fire me! I just don't want to be wiped from existence!"
Shenter's fingers slowly swept the hair from his face. "I'll think about it."
"Oh! Thank you, milord!"
"Yeah, whatever." Shenter shook his head and walked off, his unruly hair falling back into his face. "But now I'll have to recapture that Genome. Kefka would be free soon anyway… and Sephiroth… I'll have to arrest him as well for assisting the Genome. I wonder why the two left together… From as far as I can see… They're not even friends…"
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Kuja was dozing by now, curled up in the soft warm sand. His tail had wrapped itself several times around his thigh, the silver fur shimmering in the sunlight. He was very comfortable in the middle of the desert with cool air brushing over him. The thought of being ambushed by anyone had never entered his mind; he had Sephiroth around, and with the shading of the cave, everything was perfect.
At least two hours had passed before he finally opened his eyes and with bleary vision, looked around. It was dark now, the stars faintly glowing in the distance. Kuja was about to return to his slumber, but he realized where he was and decided he had slept enough. Stretching, Kuja stood, silver tail uncurling from his thigh. "Sephiroth?"
"Yes?"
Kuja started and twisted around, staring at Sephiroth. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I'd thought that you needed to sleep. After all, it wouldn't be very fun trekking through this ice cavern without any sleep." Sephiroth held out his hands, cradling a rock with a deep indent. "I found this and figured it would be good enough. There's nothing else out here but rocks."
Kuja took it and stared down at it. "It looks cold already, and fresh. Where did you get it."
Sephiroth looked aside, as if he was guilty. "This water is definitely much purer than the water from my planet."
With his gaze lingering on Sephiroth, Kuja downed the water. It tasted…different, but not in a bad way. "It really must be pure. I've never tasted water without chlorine and whatnot in it."
"Hah. It's nice, isn't it?" Sephiroth looked back towards Kuja, who nodded.
"Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." Sephiroth stood and brushed himself off, looking towards the eerie blue of the icy cavern. "Have you ever been here?"
Kuja slowly shook his head. "No, but I've heard of it. It was in my world, and it connected the Evil Forest, Alexandria, and Dali together. I haven't seen anything from your world yet…"
Sephiroth shrugged. "I was thinking we were from the same world, but from different time periods. After all, my planet didn't even have a name like yours does."
"Maybe…"
Kuja led the way into the Ice Cavern, wondering if he and Sephiroth would meet a certain little someone… A wrecked creation, that did in fact die… And he wondered if he would have returned. Not that Kuja was worried, he created it, he could take it out easily.
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Author's Note: This chapter is truly a miracle. Its existance is a miracle! Take a look at all my stories, two of them are stuck on chapter eleven. It's when this huge writer's block kicks in and goes haywire, and I can never finish a story. It's sad, and that's why I'm really happy that I finished this chapter, even if it's not the best. So please, review? Give me inspiration to continue onto chapter thirteen! Thanks!