Right...very interesting, y'all. It'd be nice if you reviewed, even if I'm not looking for the typical "omgomg more!" reviews, they'd be nice since it'd be nice to know SOMEONE was reading this. Even flames would be nice! At least to know someone bothered to look at it.
Apparently there is a movie out called Requiem for a Dream. Um, this story has naught to do with that. I just thought it sounded cool, so it's pure coincidence.
Disclaimer: No, I don't own FFVII. I own whoever and whatever I come up with, though. And if you bother stealing (unlikely) any of 'em I will hunt you down. Heh...
Much longer than the last chapter, and, ZOMG! (note: I'm mocking myself, I think that's obnoxious to have a Z there), Sephiroth is in this chapter!
"So you're the one that's been causing us all so much trouble?" the pretty brunette asked, smiling in a rather lopsided manner.
The figure was silent, and its pale, aristocratic features remained motionless; eyes shut. It had very long, strangely silver hair that was swept out of the way and dripped to the ground.
The body was laid out flat on an examining table, naked but under a sheet except for his head.
It had been here for a week or so, and in that time some of the lady doctors - and some of the men, too - had lifted the sheet up ever so slightly just to peek. Well, it was there, wasn't he? A more Adonis-like creature had never graced them with its presence, and there wasn't a chance it would wake up on them.
"Eh? Sephiroth, right?" the woman continued as if he were awake to talk to. "You know, I've been hearing about you since I was a kid. And you know what?"
She squeezed the excess water of the sponge. This was probably her favorite chore now. Sponge bathing the vegetable.
"I'm actually enjoying my job for the first time in twenty years! Imagine that!"
The woman turned when someone laughed in response.
"Major Milne!" she said. "How are you?"
"Fine," the man standing in the doorway replied. He was imposingly tall. "I'm glad to see this bastard's doing more than just taking up space."
"Um…well…" the woman faltered in her reply. She was an exceptionally brilliant woman, even for a genius, but sometimes had a tendency to be thrown off balance.
Milne strode into the room, gazing at the prone and quite dead body of Sephiroth.
"It's…it's incredible, you know? We know for a fact he's dead, but it looks as if he's just asleep," the woman offered. "It's incredible."
Milne glanced up at the lady scientist. She had been instrumental in locating the body under the ice. "Do you know anything about history, Ms. Finn?" he asked.
"I learned it in school, but I never went into the military so it was never in detail," she said.
"Well then, you wouldn't know the particulars, but…Sephiroth was designed to be the perfect weapon, one factor of this was to be able to heal faster than normal. Cutting his head off would have been one of the few ways to absolutely guarantee he wouldn't survive."
Obviously, Sephiroth's head was still attached to his body.
Why is he giving me a history lesson, Ms. Finn thought.
"Didn't matter how long his body took to regenerate, so long as it did."
"But what's the point…he's dead," Ms. Finn pointed out. That was true. Sephiroth was quite cold and clammy. One of the few drawbacks to sponge bathing him was that she'd always had to go and run her hands through warm water to get the icky feeling out of them afterwards.
"It was only just a theory," Milne said. "Since they never actually put a gun to his head and tested it out; but it was thought that with the right stimulation his body could be brought back to life."
Ms. Finn blinked. She was sure she'd heard wrong. "But that's not possible!"
When the body had been brought into the lab, he had been run through every last test and check anyone could think of. There had been no brain activity at all, and no organ activity. He was a dead weight cadaver on ice. Besides that, it was impossible to regenerate brain activity; first of all the internal organs would probably be too damaged, anyway…and that's only the physical aspect. There was the Lifestream to contend with, the place where all dead souls went to. And Sephiroth was most certainly dead…
Milne glanced one last time at Sephiroth before turning to leave.
"See that you finish up here quickly," he said.
"Yes, sir," Ms. Finn replied. "I will."
Milne left, leaving Ms. Finn, who still stood staring. She glanced at the body.
Bring him back to life, she thought. What a crazy idea! What, did we dig him up to test that theory? My god, so this is where all my taxes are going to…
Outside in the hall, Milne was intent on reaching one place with as little distraction as possible. His boot heels clicked imperiously on the concrete floor as he carried himself.
He had found General Sephiroth, but was unable to proceed due to faulty machinery. How typical, he thought irritably. And yet I can still get Hind clearly! What the fuck is up with that?
One would ask why he wouldn't simply ask the base at Red Hind to relay his message. That was simple. Because this mission was on a very need-to-know basis and radio interference did not equate to a good excuse.
He stepped into his office, which was populated by several other people, all crowded around the radio.
"Sir!" his assistant said, and straightened up. He saluted. "Radio contact has been reestablished!"
Milne's head snapped up. "With Linton?"
"Yes, sir. Colonel Pershing is on the line, sir."
Gratefully, Milne put the radio to his mouth.
"Colonel Pershing, sir?" he said.
The connection was scratchy, but Pershing's voice reflected immense relief.
"How are we?" Pershing asked.
"He's in perfect condition," Milne reported quickly.
There was pause. Pershing was controlling his emotions. "Excellent, Major. Are we prepared to contain him?"
"Yes, sir."
"Excellent. I'm impressed, Major."
"Thank you, sir," Milne said, and smiled to himself. "Should I proceed as planned, sir?"
It was quiet. "Yes. Yes, proceed. I'm sure the leeches are itching to work on him," Pershing said a little derisively. "They'll do as good a job today as they will tomorrow."
"Yes, sir," Milne said. "They haven't been getting any sleep over this."
"Well, I just hope one of them doesn't get drunk and try blurting the whole thing," Pershing grunted. "Would be a shame to lose one now."
"I agree, sir."
He handed the radio back to his assistant, who glanced at him questioningly. This whole encampment had been informed that if one word of this mission left their lips, the punishment was a quick trip to the firing range - and not for practice.
"Sir?" he said.
Milne jerked back to life.
"Scramble this place. Lock down the facility and put the guard on high alert. If someone's pissing into the secure zone, I want to know about it. Clear enough?"
The man snapped to attention. "Yes, sir!"
"Good man," Milne said, and swept out of the room, feeling it suddenly become very hot.
Rue Kaiser sat curled up into a ball, trembling.
I'm never going to get out of here, she thought sadly. I'm going to die! This can't be happening to me! Someone's got to come through that door and bring me back home, I just know they've got to!
She knew internally that all her thoughts were just wishful things - that nobody was going to come save her. That nobody was going to come through that door with a smile on their face and tell her it was going to be okay.
She was as good as dead to the world. She'd never see her family again, and that when the Military actually got around to remembering she was there, she would be killed. That was the law.
That only made her feel worse, and Rue bit down viciously on her hand to try and keep from crying anymore. It didn't work, and blood dripped down her wrist along with tears.
She sniffled weakly, almost sobbing.
I don't want to die! Rue thought childishly, desperately. She put her face in her hands, and choked on a ragged breath as a new wave of tears assaulted her.
Rue was so distracted by her own misery she missed the slight tremor that ran through the building. She wouldn't notice it, they were common there and it was very slight.
It calmed, but then took up again slightly harsher.
This time it distracted Rue enough to make her uncurl and lean back to gain her balance. She put her hands out to steady herself. She looked upwards, tears streaming down her face.
Without warning, the floor suddenly roared and bucked, jerking Rue and throwing her roughly to the side. She fell down in a mess, surprised despite herself.
"What the…"
Tremors were not uncommon, even earthquakes were considered normal. But the floor had never jumped like that before.
Then it took up again with a punishing force, rocking the building back and forth.
Rue shrieked in confused terror and tried desperately to gain a footing.
Then suddenly it calmed down again, just as quickly as it stopped. For a few seconds, her misery was forgotten. She was almost clinging backwards to the wall.
Rue couldn't have known it, but outside the Military presence had been thrown for a loop. Communications was cut off and the subterranean operations had caved in, creating mass panic.
Rue backed up further to the wall, shocked and confused. What was that!
She tensed herself when the shaking began again. This is not an earthquake! she realized, fear gripping her heart.
There was a sharp crack and suddenly light slashed into the room. Rue jerked to the side just in time to avoid a chunk of concrete as it crashed into the ground next to her. She stared up in abject horror at the ceiling.
It's going to collapse! She realized, gasping. Omigod! No!
The tremors ceased for a few moments - then began again, viciously shaking and this time showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.
Rue scrambled to her feet, and threw herself to the other side of the room just as more chunks fell to the ground. Muffled shouts made it to her ears but made no difference.
Rue got back up again, kicking away the bouncing pieces of the chair and desk.
Suddenly something snapped, and Rue's head spun around. She watched the door dance and jiggle on its hinges, shriek and break free from its second hinge. Then it suddenly turned at an odd angle and collapsed.
Rue stared in shock, and instinctively lunged for the open exit.
The ceiling roared in fury as it collapsed, showering the room in steel and concrete.
Rue staggered into the hall, desperately trying to locate the exit. She ran towards the sunlight, and threw herself out the entrance.
Men all around her were racing every which way.
Rue stood and stared for a moment, simply stunned by the chaos. The buildings around them, which had stood for so long, had almost been reduced to rubble, victims of their age and sudden mistreatment. A couple of trucks had overturned and soldiers were desperately trying to get to the men.
She glanced around, trying desperately to think what to do and where to go.
A soldier turned around at just that moment, and she stared back at him.
He was shocked for a moment, and then pointed at her, howling though she couldn't hear him over everyone else.
Rue took off running blindly across the helipad, heading away from the soldiers.
Suddenly the ground gave a great heave, and Rue was thrown to the side like a rag doll. She slammed to the ground and rolled, slightly padded by the jacket she wore and the snow. The small of her back sung with pain.
She rolled to her stomach, and dazedly tried to climb to her feet again.
Something bright green was near her face.
She blinked and shook her head. What the hell! Everything was fuzzy and spinning. She blinked and stared down at the shining green liquid.
"Get the bitch!"
Rue spun around, and gasped in horror. Soldiers were chasing after her, guns pulled and ready to be fired.
Go! Run!
She jerked herself back around and lunged to her feet.
The ground again shook violently and suddenly a great spew of the green stuff fired into the air in the distance, like an oil geyser.
Beneath her the concrete suddenly flipped upwards, sending Rue pitching forward, and showering the helipad with a wave of green liquid that rained rocks on the screaming men.
She landed heavily on her stomach, and it knocked the wind out of her. She immediately rolled over, hacking and trying desperately to suck air back into her lungs. The ground beneath her began to shift and slide, and little trickles of the shining green liquid spread over the concrete. It burst and bubbled up into the air, and Rue flinched when it slid against her bare skin.
The ground itself was breaking apart, and Rue scrambled to keep herself from sliding towards the growing pool of green.
She staggered to her feet, and leapt blindly, landing unsteadily with her legs in the green stuff. The concrete suddenly lurched backwards, and Rue lost her footing. She slid down into the green liquid up to her chin. Her feet had no footing, and were churning uselessly.
She shrieked in blind terror, trying to claw her way back up the concrete slab, which had settled at an extreme angle with little chunks of crumbling concrete tumbling down it.
"Rue!"
Rue barely heard the voice, but screamed again, spitting out the miserable green goo and kicking for all she was worth to stay afloat. Her fingers had started to bleed.
By now the violent and vicious tremors had quieted to almost nothing, but Rue almost didn't notice a cable fly into her vision, bounce downwards, and plunk into the liquid next to her.
"Hey, catch on!" a voice shouted to her.
"What!" she yelled back at them.
"Grab the fucking rope!" the voice snarled back at her. "Hurry!"
Rue quickly grabbed onto the steel rope and clung to it.
"Okay!" she yelled.
She felt herself yanked upwards, roughly. She scraped along the concrete, but that didn't matter. The concrete shifted as she rose higher, and
suddenly slid downwards with a violent crash.
Rue choked back a hacking sob, and she felt hands grab her arms and drag her away.
She collapsed at her rescuer's feet, trembling and out of breath. Even if they were the Military, she was alive for now.
"What the hell is this, Lieutenant?" someone hissed above her head, voice angry and low.
"I'll tell you what it is - you say a fucking word and I'll put a bullet in your head!" a second voice snarled back.
Rue's eyes slid open, and she stared at dirty booted feet. They were slick and had a slight green gloss to them - they'd stepped into the green stuff at some point.
She was tired, and all Rue wanted to do was pass out. Not an option.
"Hey, kid! Damn it, stay awake! This ain't over yet!"
She groaned, and coughed, spitting it out bitterly.
She gazed tiredly at their ankles.
What the hell's that, Rue wondered blithely.
It was a small black ball, the size of a really big marble, and it was lying at someone's ankle. It wasn't natural. In stuperous curiosity she reached for it. It was smooth and warm, and fit into her palm. Rue just lay there holding it for a few moments.
"Time to get up," the second voice said. "Keep quiet, kid."
"I can't believe we're doing this! If we get caught, Lieutenant - " The third voice was angry.
"We won't get caught if you fuckers keep your mouths shut," the voice snarled quietly.
Wait, Lieutenant?
Rue looked up at the men. The same man from earlier…the one with the gray eyes.
"Who are you?" she asked, as she was pulled to her feet.
"Huh? Be quiet, just run," he snapped. "Keep quiet and you'll get out of here alive."
Alive? Get out?
Rue's mouth shut with a click even though she had even less of an idea what was going on now. The helipad and everything else looked like a giant maze of shattered concrete floors with green liquid everywhere.
The men rushed her along, not giving a chance for Rue to catch her breath or see straight.
They suddenly slid to a stop when the gray eyed Lieutenant threw an arm in their way, and he craned his neck forward. For a few moments, they were all silent. Even Rue held her breath, hard as that was. She was close to tears again, and now she was freezing cold from getting wet.
"Now!" the gray eyed man hissed, and they suddenly jumped out, rushing towards a stand of deuce-type trucks that had been quickly driven together in a relatively clear and flat area. Men were occupied with working around it to clear a road way. They had had how long to get started? A few minutes, at most? Rue stared dazedly at the scene. It was almost unreal.
The three men rushed Rue towards the nearest one, and they quickly shoved her up under the fabric and into the backside. She crashed down into the bed of the truck, and twisted painfully to right herself. There were huge barrels of something-or-other packed inside as well.
"Now, listen to me," the Lieutenant hissed, having let the fabric fall back into place. Rue sat in the darkness and stared in the general direction of his voice. "Don't fuck this up; or if you do, don't tell them I helped you. This is a supplies convoy going back to Red Hind. Keep quiet and you won't get found out. When you leave the city, the road will start to twist. When it does, jump out to the side of the road - it's all snow so you won't get hurt. Got it? I can't help you past that."
"What? What are you talking about; who are you, why are you helping me!" Rue whimpered quietly, curling into herself. "What do I do after that?"
"I'm a friend of Elric's," the voice hissed. "Shut up and stay quiet!"
"Ye, yes sir…"
"Good girl. Good luck!" the voice said, and was gone. Rue sat quietly, shaking violently and staring into the faint outline of the Military's seal on a canister.
…What…what the hell just happened…
She looked down at her lap, where she still cradled the black orb in her hands. She was too tired to cry, and she sat there in a stunned daze.
I can't believe I'm alive, she thought numbly. What's gonna happen now?
Yay. Kaboom! Rue's gonna summon Meteor on the Military (KIDDING). The girl doesn't even know how to use Materia, so...yeah. Lmao...oops. She does it on acccident. Oopsies...
Many things in history have been influenced by coincidences. Like the beginning of WWI - the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a complete coincidence. Assassins had already tried three times to kill him that day. Ferdinand's driver took a wrong turn (he realized this and yelled at the driver to go back), and Princip (who had participated in one of the failed assassinations earlier that day) was having a drink in a bar. He looked up and saw Ferdinand, ran outside and shot him.
Thus triggering some of the most monumental events of the 20th century.
And there's your history lesson of the day. Lol.