Author's note: Okay, okay... I know what you're all going to say... "Took you long enough!" -hides under rock- I'm sorry! Truth is, I've finished this chapter for about a month and I still haven't uploaded it because... well... I don't really know, actually... I just didn't. But anyways, here it is now! Took me a loooooooong fing while... but you guys forgive me, right? I just had a lot of things going on... and then I met this guy... wonderful person... and I was swept away and felt like talking to him more than anything... you know how it goes -blushes-
Ahem...
So I want to thank everyone who reviewed ooooooooh-so-very much! I read every last one of them and loved each one of them just as much as the other. You guys rock! You're the best readers ever! Your comments mean so much to me... and I'm sorry that I don't update more often than I do... you guys deserve to get new chapters sooner. I will not promise anything, because I might... no... most probably will end up breaking my promise... but I will try to finish the new chapter faster than last time.
I started writing each of you guys a reply on this chapter, but I finally found out that it wasn't allowed any more… so I went ahead and replied to your reviewswith the reply thingy on the site...Some of you, I couldn't reply to at all, because you hadn't left me an e-mail to reply to… so I'll just ask every one of you whodon't have an account, to at least leave me an e-mail to reply to, next time… if you want your reviews replied that is! So for now, I'll just thank Elirian19, Hikarienzeru, HellFenix and Nikki for their very much appreciated reviews… and I'll answer them more thoroughly when I have e-mails to reply to :P
I'd also like to give special thanks to The Demonic Duo and Shiri Matakami for helping me out with this chapter and for pointing out my errors. You have been of great help and support to me and I love you for it. I could never thank you enough! Oh and I almost forgot! Thank you again to Shiri Matakami, from whom I got the poem that you will see lower, in Sephiroth's moody thoughts… the lines belong to her! Although… I think I changed one just a bit… but anyways! Praise her!
I would also like to thank Stupid Aquarius for beta-ing this chapter… and who I will probably ask to beta as of now on! Thank you so much girl! You rock!
But enough of this!
On with the shooooooooooow!
Chapter 4
Weak
His gaze stared straight forward as he strolled through the corridors, his face emotionless, his body the perfect impersonation of calm and control. His eyes never strayed, never moved to observe his surroundings, and yet he watched and saw everything around him, silently calculating, furtively analyzing. He saw the people looking at him with the eternal aw - the same one ever present in their eyes when he found himself in the presence of others - and saw them turn to stare at him as he crossed their paths.
He paid them no heed, as he always did, and continued on his way, his steps even and rushed yet still managing to seem perfectly measured. He never gave any indication that he even noticed any of them as they gawked and openly admired him. He never showed any sign of noting the envious, jealous and, more than often, lustful stares he received… but he distinguished them all. He remembered them all and felt them burn his skin, felt the unbearable rashes they left on his body.
In his younger years, he had, perhaps more than occasionally, become arrogant - proud even - of the recognition everyone seemed to freely cherish him with… but no longer. In time, he had grown to find them bothersome, sometimes even infuriating. Twenty-three years he had endured them; twenty-three years he had learned to ignore them. Some called him Great; some even went as far as to call him a "Master" in his abilities… perhaps had he not reached such level of greatness yet, but he had surely become a Master at the art of indifference.
He calmly pushed the elevator button as he stopped in front of it. His aqua eyes squinted as its doors slid open before him, allowing the bright rays of the sun to gradually assault his eyes through the clear glass of the elevator's walls. He paused for a moment, staring at the horizon. The entire city could be seen through the transparent glass walls of the Shinra Main Building elevator. His gaze moved slowly across the tall edifices in the distance.
Do you really see the world in two colors?
A sigh crept in his throat and never escaped his mouth as he entered the elevator and pressed the button of the 35th floor, where the bridge corridor between the Academy and the Bunker connected. His gaze once again turned to the horizon, gazing down at the only city he'd ever known as home: Midgar.
Black and white?
It took several moments until the elevator finally reached its destination, its doors finally sliding open to a large corridor where several doors could be found on both sides of the iron walls. People were bustling back and forth, in and out of doors, talking animatedly; SOLDIERs, secretaries and scientists alike, all wearing uniforms, of course. People were rarely ever seen wearing casual clothes in Shinra establishments. Several people glanced nervously at him as the elevator doors opened before him. He ignored them once more, moving out of the elevator and walking down the corridor. Several SOLDIERs saluted him, all of whom were also ignored.
How do you see the world?
What do you see in the world?
He saw the fearful admiration in their eyes, felt the uneasiness vibrating from each of their bodies and sensed with cold fascination as the greed and envy filled through some of their hearts.
In me?
He continued his walk, pace never slowing. He had business to attend to. All needed to be done as efficiently and as quickly as possible.
"General Sephiroth, sir!" an excited voice suddenly called to him.
His heavy-booted feet abruptly stopped in their pace, the sound almost echoing with a menacing sound of finality. He felt the air around him instantly grow cold and heavy as the crowd surrounding him suddenly froze, undoubtedly aware of his usual ways of dealing with people. He recognized the voice as a newly acquainted Trooper before ever letting his aqua eyes slowly gaze down his uniform. He recognized the Trooper for what he was by the enthusiasm no other usually addressed him with. No other whom had addressed him in the past ever spoke to him in a similar way more than once. They had all come to him before, all feeling as care-free and cheerful to meet him; but the first time was always the most painful, they said, and someone had to crush their foolish dreams.
He watched with silent, bitter amusement, allowing no trace of his train of thoughts to slip through his emotionless mask as the light haired youngster's body grew tense, his eyes widening with an almost fearful awe.
Sephiroth held his blank stare, gazing down at the young Trooper quietly. It wouldn't be long before he ran away now.
The silver haired General wasn't without shame about his actions, really. Whenever he aroused such terrified reactions out of people from simply turning his gaze upon them, he always felt a small twinge of guilt… but it dissipated quickly enough…
What, with that internal laughter it always brought him…
…But with the laughter always followed a sigh and an awful bitter taste inside his mouth.
The bitterness followed him, crept and latched into his soul like a parasite. It haunted his existence, every moment of his life. The people around him, the Shinra executives that made his life what it was… they were the bitterness inside him. He laughed and amused himself with the way they all seemed to act around him, but in the end, he could only remember that the cold bitterness was the only emotion which summoned such amusement.
I see the world how it is…in Shades of Gray.
Sephiroth's blank stare never wavered.
The boy was persistent.
Realisation dawned upon him. Ah, so someone had sent him, this wasn't just the typical adoring fanatic.
"To what matter do you wish to address me?" he asked calmly. The coldness of his deep voice resounded even in his ears.
The boy took a step back, startled, and blinked, gulping nervously.
Sephiroth mentally sighed. Really, when would they ever stop squeaking at his every word? Why would they ever assume he was inept? Yes he could speak. He was, actually, quite a fluent conversationalist… if one ever managed to draw his interest long enough, that is.
The brat was obviously failing pathetically, just as everyone usually did.
Sephiroth felt the muscle of his jaw itching to twitch as he felt the irritating bitterness slowly aching in his chest.
"General S-Sephiroth, sir…" the shorter Trooper saluted him weakly, hand trembling. "D-Doctor H-Hojo requests your presence…"
Sephiroth felt a sudden painful, clenching feeling in his chest overcoming the bitterness, one he had never yet been able to identify as of now. It was the same, powerful, gnawing… burning he felt whenever the scientist was mentioned. His emotions usually consisted of only calm and collected ones; the sudden appearance of new ones always managed to disturb him.
Hojo. The man's name resonated in his mind with a powerful sensation of distaste. One of the only people he could remember always being present in his life, but none of these memories brought him comfort. He avoided the man, always had, as much as his duties permitted him to.
He was one of the few who could make emotions rise in him… and he very much preferred the numbness of his mind and body, to the unsettling churning the scientist sent through him. Too long had he ignored his disgust for the man because of his duties; he would not be doing it any longer.
He was the General, after all. He could send someone else in his stead. He had never been one to abuse of his power, but he would do it for this matter.
Why hadn't he thought of this before?
Sephiroth turned his back to the young boy.
"No…" he took a step forward.
"Sir…?" the Trooper asked, confused.
"Inform Dr Hojo that I will not be joining him. I have more important business to attend to…" and so he continued on his way towards the exit which linked the Main Building to the Academy's entrance. He ignored the fear that he felt rising inside the boy's body. Hojo usually hated being disobeyed. He momentarily felt a pinch in his chest; the boy would be the one to suffer the man's annoyance because of his declining the man's request.
He quickly suppressed the thought.
He did have business to attend to. Heidegger had sent him on a special mission; a certain Zack Charon apparently showed much promise in his training. He had been ordered to analyze his capacities personally, even though the Sergeant normally could not apply for a proficiency test before a few more months.
This kind of duty was usually reserved to the SOLDIER examiners when candidates had been in the Military for the required amount of time, but he had done this before, if only a few short times… none of the previous ones had been very pleasant.
He would once again tolerate the bitterness… this also, he had become a master at.
The spiky haired teen grumbled as he pulled his uniform on roughly. A long train of swears escaped his mouth as he lost his balance while standing on a single foot to pull up a sock. He swore all the more loudly, pain filling his body as his back collided with the concrete floor.
His body still hadn't fully recovered ever since his beating a month before.
Not that he really had the chance to recover with that bastard waking him up every day at ungodly hours of the morning, so they could train before his classes began.
And when they did he only had to suffer through other many hours of physical training.
Thank the Gods for the theory classes of the military academic program; he would never have gotten any time to let his body recover if not for them.
Zack had been honest when he'd told him he wouldn't go easy on him.
And Cloud, although relieved that he wasn't being treated specially, damned him to the deepest recesses of hell… because it was just plain fun to relieve himself on someone.
And because his body still hurt a month later, when really, he hadn't been in that bad of a shape and should have been completely healed after a week.
But the idiot kept inflicting even more damage to his body every morning and had made it a pleasure to remind him each one of that said week when Cloud had still been on cafeteria duties, coming to the counter and grinning at him, annoyingly amused.
Cloud stood up, grabbing his other sock which innocently laid on top of his mattress and put it on violently, mentally cursing Zack Charon all the more.
But if one looked carefully enough, they might have noticed that a small, almost unperceivable smile played across the young spiky haired boy's thin lips.
At least Bill had made his presence scarce in the last month.
There was a short swish as the door of his room opened followed by a loud "Ohaaaaaaayogozaimasu!" as Hiroki entered and cheered the greeting at him.
Cloud simply grunted in response, sitting down on his mattress to put on his second sock, successfully this time. How the hell could he be so cheerful? That level of cheerfulness should have been prohibited at 4 am… and why was he here anyways? Classes didn't start this early.
Cloud would have gladly asked him if the muscles of his body were properly coordinated, if his pride had allowed him to… and they wouldn't be before Zack's first beating.
No, he couldn't have coffee like the rest of the normal people… he woke up from thorough beatings on his already thoroughly beaten body!
He grunted again at his train of thoughts.
He didn't even like coffee anyways.
"Ah, don't look so bitter… I know you're really enjoying Sgt Charon's help…" Cloud had never learned, to this day, how Hiroki had found out of his and Zack's training sessions. "… but, guess what!" Hiroki chirped, clapping a hand on Cloud's shoulder, causing him to grunt once more, only this time in pain more than annoyance… no actually, it was both, at a very high level… and if he still had any strength left in his body, he would probably have punched him.
Okay, that would have been overreacting slightly, but hell, he was Cloud Strife, he was expected to do so at high levels of annoyance and misery.
And my, weren't his train of thoughts becoming pathetic lately? He restrained another grunt from escaping his mouth.
"…don't know… what?" Cloud finally grumbled, rubbing his palms against his face in an attempt to calm his irritation.
"I was recruited for training in the Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department!"
Cloud frowned, looking up at Hiroki.
Come again?
Hiroki smiled widely, amused at Cloud's confusion.
Smart ass… Cloud mentally grumbled.
"The Turks…" Hiroki explained head cocking to the side as he smirked, eyes glinting with an emotion unknown to Cloud, but he was pretty sure he saw something that resembled sadistic excitement in there.
Cloud snorted. Recruited for Turks training? Well, that would be how he had found out about Zack's training sessions. The guy had always been good at gathering information, if only for gossiping purposes.
"Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department, huh?" Cloud said sarcastically, at the same time as another swish came from the door as it opened. The spiky haired teen glanced over Hiroki's shoulder to look at a whistling Zack who was casually carrying his 250 pounds sword against his shoulder.
He grinned at Cloud, who shot a glower at him.
"Fancy name to give the worst kind of scumbags in the Shinra Company, huh?" The dark haired young man said innocently. Hiroki turned around, glaring.
Zack shrugged off the angry stare. "How else would you call people who do all of Shinra's dirty work? They don't only gather information, pal; they spy, they kidnap… they assassinate…" he let his words do their desired effect, his dark blue eyes taking a more solemn glint, before he grinned happily once more.
"Of course, this information is all unofficial. Shinra would never admit what's really on the Turks' work sheet… hence why they're called Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department… but you hear a lot of things when you go down to the Slums."
Hiroki sent an even fiercer glare at him. "Well, guess what? I'm from the Slums…" he snapped angrily before turning around and walking out of the room.
Cloud and Zack stared after him, perplexed. "Reason more not to want to join the Turks, I'd've figured…" Zack muttered to himself, frowning in thought. "Your friends are weird Cloudy-boy…" Zack teased, finally coming out of his ponderings and returning to his normal attitude.
The blond haired teen glared at him. "Don't call me that!" Cloud snapped as he got up to take his book bag from beside his bed.
"Alright, Cloudy-boy," Zack continued, smile widening as he put an arm around Cloud's shoulders and pulled him out of the room.
Cloud groaned pulling away violently from the bothersome touch, glaring all the more at the older young man, only to receive an even goofier grin.
Why was it that only cheerful people seemed to surround him? Why couldn't he have nice, quiet, sane friends?
Not that Zack was his friend or anything…
They rode the elevator up to the Training Facility, which was a large room that contained many weapons for training use and had wide spaces for sparring practice.
Zack of course, babbled about nonsense the entire time, all of which Cloud dutifully ignored, only nodding and mumbling sounds of acknowledgement every now and then to keep the dark haired man entertained… not that he was trying to be nice to him, or anything… Zack simply tended to whine a lot when he knew he wasn't being listened.
Just as the elevator stopped at the right floor and Cloud took his first step out it, he was harshly whacked behind the head, causing him to bend forward abruptly, yelping in pain. Holding the back of his head, he turned around violently.
"You crazy fuck! What the hell was that for!" he raged, glaring at Zack as he still held on to his newly acquainted bruise.
Zack cackled happily, a sound Cloud had only ever heard him do, his hands on his hips and sword bouncing in its sheath, strapped in his back. "Language, Cadet!" he chanted. "You weren't listening to me, were you?" he said, smiling, eyes narrowed in mock suspicion, when he finally stopped laughing.
"So?" Cloud spat, rubbing the back of his head one last time before letting his hand fall back down to his side. "I didn't know my listening to you was part of the 'contract'…" he snapped angrily. He turned around walking into the Training Facility, only to quickly duck down as he heard a shift in the air behind him, his reflexes acting before he ever acknowledged the sound.
The bastard had tried to whack him again!
He dashed to the side and spun around, staring at Zack with eyes wide. The young man still had his fist extended where he had tried to hit Cloud.
Zack grinned at him. "My, my, Cloudy… you're getting better!"
Cloud gaped at him, about to curse at him, when he noticed Zack suddenly pull out his Buster sword and dash swiftly towards him. Blood started pumping rapidly through his veins, his breathing becoming labored. Before he could even think, he rolled on the floor behind Zack and pushed himself back to his feet, darting for the weapon cabinet a few meters away. He glanced back quickly behind him several times, barely dodging each of Zack's enraged sword slashes by quickly pushing his body out of the attacks' way.
That bastard! He's finally gone mad! I'm not even armed for fuck's sake! He screamed in his mind, suddenly throwing himself to the ground to avoid a violent horizontal slash. The air was knocked out of his lungs as his already aching body collided with the floor, the added pain contracting all his muscles and leaving him breathless. Groaning in pain, his eyes closed involuntarily, squinting painfully.
He heard another shift in the air and knew the sword was coming down on him dangerously fast.
From the right! His mind screamed at him in alert. He frantically rolled on the left, his arms instantly pushing his body off the ground. He looked quickly over his shoulder and saw Zack on his knees, holding his sword down against the floor, where Cloud's body had been seconds before. He slowly stood up.
Cloud hesitated a moment, relaxing for a single fraction of second as he thought he had more time to reach for the weapon cabinet. Zack was on his knees and would take more time to recover for a second attack. But then, Zack glanced at him quickly, smirking, and he raised his sword, sending it in a crescent-like horizontal slash. Cloud's eyes widened as he jumped off the ground to dodge the hit, pushing himself off the ground and backwards. He stumbled on the ground a second later but almost instantly turned around and opened the doors of the weapon cabinet, taking whatever sword he first reached – making it just in time to turn back and dodge another slash aimed in a vertical line at his shoulder.
Zack's sword instead collided with the weapon racks behind Cloud as the younger boy shifted to the side.
Zack quickly recovered and thrust his sword to his left, towards his opponent, but Cloud turned around swiftly just in time to hold his sword in front of him and block Zack's attack. Cloud growled between his clenched teeth as he held his sword with all his strength, one had on the hilt, the other against the blade. He pushed against Zack's powerful sword, keeping it from slicing his body into two neat pieces.
"W-What the hell are you… doing…!" he hissed through clenched teeth, his breath ragged from the physical exertion.
"I'm attacking you… what does it look like?" Zack said playfully, smirking down at the shorter spiky haired blond.
"You a-attacked me from b-behind! Unprepared!" Cloud raged through harsh breaths. He groaned in pain, as Zack pushed his blade down upon Cloud's, applying even more strength. Cloud held his ground still, pushing back against it, but his strained muscles were rapidly loosing strength; they had already begun trembling inwardly. He growled pushing back with all his might.
"You think you're always going to be prepared in a true fight? In the real thing, the enemy can strike whenever they want. There's no such thing as being fair, in a fight. There are no 'rules'. They will always attack you unprepared, Cloud…"
Zack pushed his sword even harder against Cloud's, causing the shorter boy to groan. Cloud stared up into Zack's eyes, his azure eyes flaming with a powerful, determined rage. Zack could see the hate in those eyes, could see the anger at his own helplessness.
"Come on, Cloud… is that all you've got? Stop defending! Attack me!" he taunted, pushing his face closer to Cloud's as he pushed ever harder against Cloud's sword. He could feel him trembling.
"How disappointing… I never thought you were so weak…" he whispered, smirking.
There was an explosion in the blue pools of Cloud's eyes as he suddenly snarled and pushed violently against Zack's sword, driving the man backwards forcefully. Zack slightly stumbled back, staring down at the boy who was standing breathlessly a meter away.
"I'm not weak!" he shouted, holding his sword higher in front of him, with determined fury. He suddenly broke into a run and began attacking frantically. Zack dodged or blocked every one of his attacks with his own sword, laughing tauntingly.
"So this is the sort of skill a person who is not weak possesses, Cloud? Don't make me laugh! This is pathetic!" he mocked intentionally. The power he knew Cloud had inside of him was slowly awakening with the guidance of his rage.
An almost hysterical scream resounded from Cloud, his voice cracking with what sounded as a restrained sob. Zack suddenly felt a blow to his abdomen as Cloud kicked him powerfully, pushing him backwards. Zack, surprised, stumbled back and dodged a slash from Cloud's sword aimed at chest and fell to his knees, losing his balance as he moved to the side too abruptly to evade Cloud's new thrust at his face. He felt a sting against his cheek and felt a hot liquid slowly sliding down his skin.
He stared up at Cloud who was now about to slash his sword down on him. His fingers tightened around the Buster sword's hilt, preparing to raise it above him and block Cloud's next blow, but just as the spiky haired blond's arms were above his head, his eyes seemed to catch something behind Zack. His eyes suddenly widened and his movement faltered, the grip of his weapon loosening. Zack paid no heed to what could have brought such a reaction out of him and took the opportunity to raise his sword horizontally and push it roughly against Cloud's unguarded torso with the butt of his blade, sending the boy to the floor with a pained gasp, his sword clattering a few meters away.
Zack stared at the motionless boy lying on his back. Frowning in concern, he slowly lowered his Buster sword to the floor and glanced over his shoulder to where Cloud had stared minutes before. Surely it must have been something disconcerting to make him lose such focused rage.
He saw long black boots and long, black leather covered legs half hidden underneath a boundless leather and equally black trench coat. Zack's dark blue eyes trailed up the man's tall, broad form. He saw black leather from his feet, up to the tips of his gloved fingers, the blackness broken only by the silver hair and shoulder plates. The only visible pale skin on this impersonation of coldness was his face and muscular chest, bared by the formed V of his unfastened coat. A cascade of long silky silver tresses tumbled over his shoulders and down his back.
Several locks hooded his face and eyes as the chilling aqua pools stared emotionlessly at Cloud and Zack.
General Sephiroth stood there, back resting against the wall a few inches away from the entrance door of the room. His arms were calmly crossed over his chest as he silently observed them. Zack felt the same shivers he had felt the only time he had met this man before, slowly creeping up his spine once more. He felt unsettled by the unperceivable void in the man's mako green eyes.
How could a human being be so unfeeling? So… blank? Zack easily perceived people's feelings… but this man… when he tried to reach for possible emotions, he was frozen by a wild, raging blizzard.
I've said it before, I'll say it again… the guy is scary…
Cloud finally groaned behind Zack and slowly sat up, rubbing his abdomen. He stared at Zack strangely before his eyes once again fell on the General. His eyes seemed to widen for an instant, but, as if restraining his emotions, his face suddenly went blank as he looked away and stood up, staring stubbornly at the opposite wall with disinterest.
Zack looked back towards Sephiroth, perplexed by Cloud's attitude. Was he trying to hide the fact that he completely worshipped him? Well… that was a new attitude for a Sephiroth groupie…
Zack mentally chuckled.
Sephiroth's gaze lingered on Cloud for a few moments before the man finally closed his eyes for a short instant, as if inwardly sighing and straightened himself off the wall and uncrossed his arms, letting them fall to his sides. Opening his eyes once more, blankly staring in front of him, he slowly walked closer to Zack.
Zack frowned, standing up as he observed the man. His every movement was so naturally measured and gracious that Zack wondered himself how the man managed to do it. How can he look, dress and act so gay and still… absolutely not seem like he is?
As Sephiroth's gaze abruptly refocused on him, Zack felt his insides churn. Oh come on… he can't read minds too… can he? Okay, calm down, you're just being paranoid.
But the closer Sephiroth walked, the more unsettled Zack became. It probably wasn't noticeable from the outside with the laid back, cheerful attitude he always put on, but he still hated the fact that he knew that a single person was making him freak out, when no one else ever could.
"Sgt Zack Charon," Sephiroth's emotionless voice suddenly spoke, breaking his mental ramblings. It wasn't a question; it was a statement. The man was sure of himself; all business, no crap. Zack's eyes snapped back to the taller man's frame, only slightly tilting his chin upwards to stare into his eyes as the General stopped in front of him.
He hated every minute of it.
He felt like a stupid vulnerable cowardly wimp standing in front of this imperturbable, frightening man.
He hated staring into the void of the man's mako green eyes, but he despised the fact that he couldn't look away even more.
He was not scared.
He wasn't.
…but God Damn It, the man was just scary.
And he really, really needed to get that stick out of his ass. Who the hell could walk that straight without even looking like he was trying? Who the hell could keep on such a poker face without even flinching? And who the hell could wear all leather garments and have that hair without even looking gay?
And for god's sake, why didn't he wear any shirt underneath his coat and showed off his chest like that?
To others, his thoughts might have resembled those of jealousy, but Zack felt no such thing. He was purely, entirely unsettled. He couldn't understand this person and the fact on its own was extremely disconcerting, and so… the only thing he could do was question himself and feel extremely annoyed towards Sephiroth.
"General Sephiroth," Zack answered instantly after being addressed, nodding respectfully. Had those words really passed in his mind so rapidly? It had felt like an unbearable eternity to him. Thoughts flashed through minds quite faster than words, it seemed.
"I was given the task of testing your abilities. It would seem that you have drawn the attention of many during your time here at Shinra," coming from another's mouth, the words might have sounded complimenting, but Sephiroth was simply methodically stating the facts as if he'd read them from a report.
Which he probably did… Zack mentally snorted. No respects would ever come from this man's mouth unless all Hell had broken loose.
"As you are probably aware… you shall be able to participate in the SOLDIER examination in 2 months time, as it is required for every candidate who wishes to participate, to have been a Trooper for at least 5 months before being allowed to partake in the examination," Sephiroth explained systematically.
"Uh… so why exactly are you here then?" Zack said smiling sheepishly, scratching his head. He regretted it instantly.
There was no change in Sephiroth emotionless demeanor, but he could almost feel the man wanting to reach for the Masamune behind his back and slash his head off.
He was getting really paranoid.
Sephiroth remained silent for several more seconds, as if carefully processing the words in his mind and deciding which was better to answer.
This guy isn't human… he's a computer! Does he have to calculate through everything he does? Zack wondered, annoyed… and more so by each additional second.
Great, now he'd soon be thinking Sephiroth was an alien living inside a human's body.
"I was requested by Heidegger to personally judge of your skills and determine if it would be profitable were you to be allowed to partake in the examination now, even though you haven't been a trooper for 5 months," he answered dispassionately.
Zack was convinced the man truly wanted to get this over with once and for all. As much as he was averted by his attitude, Sephiroth probably felt the same way towards him.
He was somehow surprised that he'd brought so much attention to himself though. It was true that he'd been here for 8 months now and after becoming a trooper, once his 5 first months at the academy finished, he had almost instantly been promoted to Sergeant and had been put in charge of a cadet squad. They had also offered him an instructor position, but he wanted to become SOLDIER and most of the instructors were troopers that had remained grunts for years, unable to fulfil the SOLDIERs proficiency tests; Zack refused to be stalled down by such duties. Although he knew that it was considered a remarkable feat, he had never considered it possible to draw the attention of the Head of ShinRa's Peace Preservation Department, in charge of the Public Safety Maintenance (that was the fancy name for the Military) and the Turks.
He figured 'The Great' Sephiroth's unfriendly presence was worth it. The man probably rarely ever did these things, except on very special occasions.
"Wow… I guess that makes me special, huh?" Zack grinned goofily, glancing back at Cloud, only to notice that the teen was still staring at the opposite wall with disinterest.
And that left him with only Ice Cube, here, to share jokes with… and as he turned back to the General, the man's expression was an awkward reminder.
Well, there was no expression, to begin with, hence why the awkwardness of it all was exactly like a punch in the face.
Smart move, Soldier… Zack mentaly muttered to himself as Sephiroth continued to stare at him blankly.
Okay, perhaps his joke hadn't been that funny, but couldn't he have at least quirked his eyebrow to mock him or something?
Anything was better than… than… nothing!
Zack felt a breakdown discretely making its way closer towards him. He felt like hiding his face in his hands, and would have, if not only for the fact that he would have felt even stupider in front of the frisky General.
"Shall we begin?" Sephiroth finally asked impassively. Zack wondered for a moment how he even recognized the interrogation in the sentence as the word "zombie" flashed through his mind and consequently, he reminded himself that he probably should not think of those things since the guy possibly read minds too, with his luck.
"Begin what, exactly… uh… sir?" Zack suddenly grew a bit nervous.
"Fighting me," Sephiroth answered simply.
What! Ho- WH- HUH! His mind loudly stuttered. Zack took several moments to calm himself.
Test his abilities… against Sephiroth? The Sephiroth!
He might have not liked the man a whole lot but he sure as Hell recognized an excellent fighter when he saw one and he certainly was one of them.
Not that he didn't consider himself as one also.
But this wasn't fair.
At all.
This was overkill.
Who the hell wanted to be recognized by the Head of the Military when they sent you this killing machine as test conductor!
No way.
Nuh uh.
He didn't want to be good anymore.
He was being childish and extremely irrational. He loved fighting and this would probably be one of the biggest, most exciting challenges he would ever face.
But he didn't care.
Sephiroth was just… he couldn't fight with this unfeeling person.
At that moment, he utterly, completely hated himself.
"Didn't you see me fight with Cloud, before? Isn't that enough?" Zack asked, frowning.
Sephiroth aqua gaze shifted to Cloud once more. "Hardly…" he answered coolly as his stare shifted back down to Zack, emotion, or lack thereof, unchanged.
Zack didn't have to look to know Cloud had twitched at the comment. The kid was obviously seething with fury.
What an asshole Zack's mind screamed as he scowled at the silver haired man, feeling all traces of hesitance suddenly vanish from his body.
Abruptly, he lowered himself to his knees to grab the hilt of his sword and stood back up, readying himself into a fighting stance.
How dare he say such a thing about Cloud! How dare he answer his question with a single word, not even judging it worthwhile to explain what he meant!
This man did not deserve respect for he held none for others.
"I'm ready…" Zack finally said expression and tone solemn.
He saw the silver haired man nod and was spared no time to react as he suddenly found the man but a few inches of his face an instant later. Eyes widening in horror, he reflexively jumped backwards slashing his sword in front of him, but Sephiroth had already dashed to his left, no sound movement perceivable but the sound of his long black coat flapping behind him. He moved silently, neither the shifting of the air around him nor the sound of his footfalls was noticeable.
Zack felt the panic rise in him as he quickly spun around and instinctively held his large sword in front of him, blocking whatever hit he expected to receive.
But there came none and an instant later, he saw that tall, dark frame motionless before him once more and felt a grip around his throat, tightening uncomfortably.
Zack stared up at the man's eyes fearfully.
He saw the first traces of emotion in those pale green orbs. The cool emerald pools had been slightly perturbed by waves of… something whirling inside his soul. Zack could still not distinguish anything in the man's eyes, even though they had obviously became alive the moment the fight had begun.
Excitement?
Passion?
A fighting, lonesome spirit which could only be moved by the rush of adrenaline brought by battle; was that there the mystery behind Sephiroth?
This probably was not the time to ponder such a lost cause.
"Stop defending or this ends here. Don't waste my time," Sephiroth spoke quietly to him, again his words calm and emotionless as the long fingers tightened around Zack's throat.
Zack grimaced at the sensation before pushing the butt of his sword against Sephiroth and successfully breaking the grip he had on his neck as he pushed himself backwards. He wasted no time, determined not to let the man attack him first again, as he launched himself to him, slashing his sword.
Sephiroth slightly bent his body to the side, dodging the hit at the last instant by a mere hair's thread.
Zack glared at the man, stalling in his moves, sword still held where he had aimed at his opponent. He was taunting him.
The bastard was trying to anger him by flaunting his superiority!
Or so it seemed, from Zack's point of view.
With a snarl, Zack set into an enraged frenzy attacking him of all sides and yet, the blade only swiped air as Sephiroth dodged and blocked every last one of them with his boot.
And the man had yet to draw his katana.
The fight continued for several minutes. Zack attacked in successively rapid hits, but no matter the level of agility and cunning the man used against his opponent, the tall silver haired warrior went beyond him in every aspect, deflecting and evading his every move as if anticipating every last one of them.
Sephiroth, seemingly having grown tired of the foreplay, suddenly kicked back the last sword slash sent his way and somersaulted above Zack, only to thrust his feet in the man's back while still in the air, before landing behind the stumbling spiky haired young man.
The silver haired man slowly turned around just in time to watch Zack regain his balance and instantly whirl around, launching himself once again, raising his large sword in the air to then slash it in a downward, vertical arc.
Zack smirked widely as he noticed the unmoving Sephiroth, thinking the regain of his balance had been quicker than the silver haired man's expectations and he had finally been able to thwart his impenetrable defenses.
The entire moment passed in a single second as Sephiroth calmly stared into Zack's eyes and steadily waited for the weapon to hit the top of his head.
But the blade never touched him, stopping a millimeter above his head. He could feel the air shifting his hair softly where the weapon abruptly stopped above him.
Breathing harshly as he held the sword firmly above Sephiroth's head, Zack's smirk widened.
"I win…" he hissed between ragged breaths.
Sephiroth's eyes suddenly narrowed sharply as his hand shot behind his back, unsheathing his long, thin sword. Zack unable to react, blinded by a flash of light as the General slashed his sword against Zack's in a lightning fast movement and sent it flying behind its master, clattering heavily to the floor several meters behind.
A second later, he found the sharp tip of the Masamune pressing against his jugular, Sephiroth holding the silver blade extended at its full, menacing length before him.
"Fool…" Sephiroth finally said to him.
Zack glared hatefully at him in return. The word had insulted him, but the tone of his voice had insulted him all the more. The silver haired man had spoken so emotionlessly a word which should have held an insulting purpose that it had only held, at that moment, the purpose of assuredly informing him of his weakness.
Sephiroth's emotionless statement had been spoken with such silent certainty that Zack could, in no way, not believe it himself.
"You are weak," Sephiroth again spoke, with cool assurance as he slowly lowered his sword and smoothly slid it back into its sheath strapped in his back, all the while staring blankly at the slightly shorter man before him.
"In missions we fight to win. We fight for our mission, with the intent of successfully completing them."
In his rage, Zack heard hesitant footsteps coming closer to them.
Was it Cloud?
"We do not fight with the intent of finding the best alternate peaceful solution to settle a conflict… a way of fighting of which you reek." The words were all spoken so calmly and without any trace of scorn that Zack could only become even more enraged by the confusion the man brought him.
How could one want to or even feel insulted when the person throwing said insults did not even have the intent of mocking him?
All his words spoke the undeniable truth and that was why Zack slowly felt the hate rising inside him.
He hated this man for so easily making him doubt himself.
"You are wea-"
"Shut up!" Cloud's loud shout suddenly interrupted him.
Zack and Sephiroth's head quickly shot towards the owner of the shouted words.
Zack, eyes wide, numbstruck, stared at the short spiky haired blond who now stood only a feet away.
For the first time since his arrival, there seemed to be emotion in Sephiroth's pale face as his aqua eyes widened slightly for a brief moment.
Several moments passed in tense silence as Cloud stared up at the tall silver haired man towering over him, seemingly appalled at his own words by the uncertain, almost fearful look in his blue eyes.
The stubborn teen suddenly frowned in determination and glared at the General.
"Who the hell could be judged as weak for that stupid reason!" Cloud questioned rudely. "You saw just as well as I did that the guy fights well, sir, no matter what his intent!"
Sephiroth quirked a silver eyebrow, staring down emotionlessly at the much shorter boy.
"And who are you to deem him so worthy of praise?" as asked coolly.
Cloud blinked in confusion, frowning hesitantly. He faltered for a moment, his courage and anger abruptly deflating the instant the man spoke to him. The words spoken by Sephiroth finally registered in his mind and he suddenly remembered who exactly he was. "C-Cloud Strife… sir," he answered uncertainly, yet still stubbornly staring into the older man's frighteningly cold aqua eyes.
Several minutes passed once more through unbearable silence. The spiky haired teen felt a strong urge to run away at that moment. A thousand thoughts raced frantically through his mind so quickly that even his own brain couldn't perceive their meaning. His heart raced madly inside his chest, every beat pounding loudly in his ears.
He was pretty sure the whole damn building could hear it, let alone Sephiroth.
He was so stupid.
Who did he think he was, talking to General Sephiroth the way he had?
He could be expelled from the Academy for his indiscretion.
He was a nobody; a scrawny, weak, short ass spiky haired blond and he'd thought his words could change anything of the General's opinion; that anything he said would even be considered the silver haired man…?
He was such a fool.
He could think of a hundred punishments Sephiroth could inflict upon him for his transgression. But instead, just as Cloud's anxious thoughts raced through his mind, the man's thin, pale lips quirked upwards for an instant before Sephiroth returned his attention to Zack, his head turning sharply towards the slightly shorter young man.
"Until you fight with an intent to kill, you will not be joining my ranks," Sephiroth finally stated, the coldness in his voice somewhat less present in his voice, leaving both Zack and Cloud extremely confused.
"I did not dodge your last attack simply because I knew that you would stop,"
"Of course I was going to stop!" Zack suddenly raged. "I'm not going to slice a ranking officer in two, am I?"
"You wouldn't have been able to do so," Sephiroth countered emotionlessly, eyebrow slightly quirking
in confusion, as if puzzled as to why someone like Zack could have possibly thought himself strong enough to beat him.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me," Zack snapped sourly.
"That knowledge alone should have been enough to make you thrust your sword without hesitation and not stall in your attack," Sephiroth stated calmly, his tone almost reprimanding, yet the coldness in his voice remained.
Cloud stared at the exchange in wonder.
What was happening here?
The way Sephiroth was taking the time to explain his motives seemed uncannily… out of character of the man he had been only moments before, even if he was doing so without so much as a trace of sympathy or any other emotion whatsoever.
The General of only moments before would have simply stated his faults to Zack, leaving him to miserably ponder on them alone.
Could it be that the man, under his frostiness, didn't want to destroy Zack's resolve but… instead… help it grow stronger?
"Well, I couldn't take the chance! Even if I knew you could win against me any time… I wasn't thinking… this wasn't a real fight, for God's sake! I couldn't just try to rip you apart just so I'd assuredly get my ass up the ranks!" Zack yelled angrily.
"And so, you will remain weak…" Sephiroth countered icily, slowly turning away from Zack and walking towards the entrance of the gym, silky silver hair and long leather trench coat swishing behind him with every step.
Cloud frowned. The man was truly unreadable. One minute he was willing to patiently - although unfeelingly - explain his actions, and the other, he was straightforwardly insulting Zack - yet not doing so with the intent to degrade - and leaving him with vague words to miserably ponder on.
The dark spiky haired young man stared grudgingly at the retreating man's tall form, just as Cloud stared at him, trying to sort his wild emotions, battling from wonder to rage.
Just as Sephiroth reached the entrance door, he briefly stalled in his steps, looking over his shoulder.
His aqua eyes settled on Cloud's short form, eyes locking with the boy's azure ones.
Cloud's eyes widened as the man gave him an unreadable look, before turning away a second later and disappearing behind the heavy metal doors.
The spiky haired blond blinked, as if suddenly awakening from a dream and frowned, staring blankly in front of him.
"Bet you're glad you finally met him, huh?" Zack's cheerful tone suddenly intruded his mind.
Cloud blinked once more, confused eyes turning to the dark haired young man beside him. He stared at Zack for a few moments, wondering why he wore such a happy expression now, after everything that had just happened.
"What?" Cloud finally asked, shaking his head.
"Man, you got it baaaaaaad…" Zack blew a low whistle, shaking his head as he smiled mischievously.
Cloud's eyes widened impossibly. "What?!" he barked. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Well… I dunno, Cloudy-boy… you were staring off at him pretty dreamily just now…"
Cloud frowned disgustedly at the older man, grimacing. "You pervert… this has nothing to do with anything of the sort!" he yelled angrily, his cheeks flaring up with perhaps more than fury.
Zack grinned impishly before his smile dropped to a sheepish one, frowning apologetically. "Hey man, I'm just messing around with you…"
Cloud shot him a last heated glare before dropping his eyes at the floor.
"But I bet you're glad you got to meet him anyways, huh?" Zack ventured cheerfully, elbowing Cloud in the ribs playfully.
The spiky haired blond swatted the young man's arm away from him, growling in annoyance. "I don't know!" he shot angrily.
"Yeah… I know what you mean," Zack said. "Pretty unsettling, isn't he?"
Cloud simply frowned in response. "I don't know if I should hate him or admire him right now,"
Zack gasped in a falsely hurt tone, slapping a hand to his chest for dramatic effect. "You wound me, darling… all I ever wanted was your support!"
Cloud glared angrily at Zack. The dark haired man simply punched his shoulder in a friendly manner.
"Hey, but really… thanks for rushing to my defense, back there," Zack smiled thankfully at him.
Cloud cheeks suddenly heated up before he quickly turned his head away, raising his chin proudly as he smiled bitterly. "I wasn't taking your defense," he said stubbornly. "but if he judged you as weak, I can only imagine what he thought about me, huh?" he snapped, but his tone sounded wounded.
Zack smirked, cocking his head to the side. "Ah… so you were only protecting your wounded pride, huh? Right… figures…" Zack chuckled.
Cloud frowned at Zack, unable to successfully hold his glare.
Zack suddenly walked to his discarded sword, sheathing it in his back.
"That was freakin' courageous though, talking to Sephiroth, out of all people, the way you did. Never thought you had it in you, Cloudy-boy!"
Cloud's fiery glare suddenly regained its fire at the name used to address him. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!" he almost yelled, which, of course, only caused Zack to chuckle. He patted Cloud's shoulder firmly as he turned to walk towards the entrance of the gym, which was actually the elevator on the other side of the doors.
"No one's ever talked to him the way you did, you know?" Zack finally said on a more serious tone as they entered the elevator. He punched in the numbers to the cafeteria's floor and the elevator began its smooth descent, humming softly.
"Really?" Cloud said a little more excitedly than he'd meant to, his eyes brightening meaningfully. The teenager kicked himself mentally the second the word had left him.
Zack smirked knowingly at him. "You can bet on it… and between you and me, that sure as hell made an impact on him."
Cloud's eyes lit up with an even brighter glow, his shoulders straightening from their almost defeated demeanor. "I had an impact on Sephiroth?" Cloud wondered, voice several octaves higher than its usual pitch. He almost did physically bash his head in the thick elevator metal walls when it finally registered in his mind what his voice must have sounded like.
He mentally whimpered in shame at Zack's wide grin. "Well… he did check you ou-" Cloud's eyes became impossibly wide with rage at the innuendo behind Zack's words "- ahem – I mean… look back at you before leaving…"
Cloud sent his elder a deadly glare before resting his back against the wall behind him, sighing.
"And might I add that he never even reprimanded you for your behavior when every other officer would have beat your ass to the ground…" Zack scoffed, suddenly taking an insulted tone "no, of course not… I'm the only one who got bashed for not wanting to slash His Holiness' ass in two!"
Cloud smirked. "You wouldn't have been able to, to begin with."
Zack sharply turned towards him, staring down insanely at him. "Will you people stop rubbing it in, already!" he raged in an almost childish tone before pouting and resting his back against the wall beside Cloud. He let his head fall back, knocking against the metal wall as he sighed dejectedly. He blinked, as if suddenly remembering something as he raised a hand to his cheek and wiped the blood from the cut Cloud had inflicted on him with the back of his hand.
"But I think that bastard was right… I'm probably going to be a danger to missions if I don't ever start fighting with the intent to kill. SOLDIERs have to complete their missions, they can't hesitate while trying to find more peaceful solutions… but damn it, I can't just change who I am and sell my soul to the devil, can I?" he spoke, more to himself than Cloud and the teenage was glad for he would have found no words of comfort for him.
"He's such a fucking asshole though…" Zack finally grumbled sulkily.
Cloud smirked. "He still rocks more than you."
Zack frowned before smiling widely, straightening himself off the wall to properly look down at his companion. "More than me…? Oh-ho, my dear Cloudy-boy, but wouldn't that imply that I also rock?"
Cloud raised an eyebrow hiding his embarrassment at the slip of his tongue. "Hell no… it means you suck and Sephiroth could kick your ass any time."
"Bleh…" Zack grimaced, looking away from Cloud as he let his head knock back against the wall behind him. "Traitor… I hate you stupid Sephiroth groupies."
Cloud's cheeks heated in embarrassment and anger. "I'm no damn groupie!"
Zack smirked. "Oh sorry… you did tell him to shut up, didn't you?" Zack closed his eyes, pausing to think for a moment. "No… I apologize for my mistake… that would make you a very much frustrated groupie," his last words spoken, he cackled happily, in the creepy way he always seemed to laugh.
Cloud harshly kicked Zack's shin as soon as the idiotic words left his mouth, causing the taller man to bounce off his feet, yelping in pain as he continued to laugh.
"Asshole…" Cloud hissed, arms crossed moodily over his chest as he scowled at the dark haired laughing man beside him.
Rage coursed through his body as he glared at the man, his shoulders still bouncing laughter.
But as the chuckles bounced off the elevator words and engulfed the small compartment, Cloud couldn't help but let the laughter overcome his anger and allow the corner of his mouth to lift into a soft smile.
Maybe Zack wasn't so bad, after all…
But like hell he'd ever admit that.
So now he was off to another day at the Academy… and his body hurt even more than usual.
Bastard…
Author's note: OMG! It's finally done! So… how'd y'all like it? I wasn't sure about this chapter… about the way I wrote Sephiroth and all that… but I think I'm becoming more and more content with the results every time I read it.
So I hope you all enjoyed it… I've felt pretty shittty these last two days, for some reason… nauseous and all that… so I'm sorry if I don't leave a comment as long as usual.
Tell me what you think and make my nausea go away with all your lovely comments!
I WILL try to update sooner!
Later!