Hi everyone, once again I update in my fiction Plastic Flower, as many of you may think that this is just some lousy fiction with no plot at all. I can't agree with you on that (mainly because I know how the story will end), therefore I will applogise for the lack of plot so far, but in the upcomming five chapters things will turn for the 'worse', which means lots of action-writing for me. (oh poopie!) and Ningit's secret will be told - serious, it is not one lame secret, I have thought about it for hours and days, making sure it would sound real enough.
Disclaimer: that I don't own anything here, (I could if I married tetsuya, but that would be sorta gross because he is 21 years older than me)
Sephiroth stood silently in the doorway, conversing with the older woman quietly in the dim morning light. The air was fresh and a bit cold for Ningit's taste, but that wasn't what caught her interest. The night had been filled with nightmares that she hadn't had in a long time. However, it was always the same, always the same questions and the same piercing needle that pressed into the vein in her left arm. And every time she awoke she always searched for the scar, but nothing was there… just milky white skin that missed the tan from the sun.
She looked up and noticed her silver haired companion nodded at the lady's questions that most likely circulated around which way Kalm was. She sighed deeply and turned her head to the side, noticing a little picture of brown-haired girl with big glasses and a little insecure smile. 'Working for Shinra…' she muttered inside her head and her eyes focused on the small mirror beside the frame. She knotted her brows a bit when she remembered her own promise about treating Sephiroth differently. She had always thought that mirrors only reflected your bad sides, never the good ones; it was a deceiving illusion that hurt. Her emerald eyes glared back at her, snickering how foolish she was; how the old lady's plan would never work.
Her eyes narrowed and she snorted shortly and moved her head away from the dreadful mirror. She was beginning to get angry when it spoke huskily, "Why don't you tell him your big secret? Then you can return faster? Hee, hee". Clenching her fist, she had to resist the urge to throw that damn piece of glass on the floor and just walk back to Midgar. Her big secret was not meant to be told to anyone…she had promised that. She knew that consequences of her actions; and she surely wasn't in the mood of thinking what Hojo would do with her if he found out.
The old lady nodded again and Sephiroth said something about the road to Kalm. She just sighed and placed herself on the stairs; sitting down softly, she rested her head against the wall, her eyes heavy from the lack of sleep and nightmares. She was used to getting random mako attacks in Midgar, but out here it seemed far worse, mainly because she didn't get the attacks. She was frustrated too, especially because she didn't know how to deal with nightmares. Her eyes closed fully and she welcomed the darkness with satisfaction. However, before she knew of it she felt her cheek rest against something leathery and warm.
"Damn…" a dark male voice muttered as he tried to make her stand up, but she seemed to not be cooperative this morning. She buried her head into the nice leather and inhaled the scent deeply. He winced slightly at it and felt a cold sensation run down his spine. She though was too far away to notice his discomfort, all she knew that there was something to grab, and she would grab it no matter what…
#Slap#
Ningit's eyes opened painfully and quickly as she felt her right cheek throb in pain. And the fact that she was with lightning speed falling towards the ground. The old lady gasped when she heard the sound and covered her mouth lightly in shock. Ningit though landed on the ground and just stared angry at Sephiroth.
"What do you think you are doing?" she shrieked.
He raised an eyebrow and stood up. "You better be able to keep yourself awake on this journey or I'll have to leave you here..:"
She snorted and glared at him. "Ass…"
He blinked in surprise at first but then glared back at her. "Be happy that I need you…" and with those words he opened the door and slammed it close. Leaving Ningit and the old woman dumbfounded.
She stared into the air for quite a while until the old woman disturbed their silence. "You have a big job ahead of you…" Frowning Ningit stood up. "I don't need him! He is acting like a child! Here I am, trying my best to be nice to him and he—"
"I think you should try and understand him…"
She turned around with a puzzled look. "What?"
"He has scars you can't see… but that doesn't mean he can get hurt too… he is after all… a child…"
Ningit's gaze turned to the closed door and stared at the knob. Her emerald eyes studied the copper handle before she ripped the door open and stared at the road that continued to the centre of the city. The old lady looked at her amused as she turned her head.
"I think… I think I am beginning to understand…" and with those words she disappeared down the street to catch up with Sephiroth.
The market was crowded as any other market; full of children playing, and old ladies chatting, and women scolding their husbands for looking at other women. Ningit though had never experienced any thing like this. The small, cosy market made her stand in awe, much to Sephiroth's dismay. "Aaaw… pretty…" she yelled as she saww a little wagon full of flowers. Before Sephiroth noticed anything, she was hanging over the defenceless plants.
"Aaaw! Pretty! Pretty! Pretty!" she exclaimed to no one.
Sephiroth walked up on her from behind and stared at the yellow, purple, and orange colours and snorted. "Just some silly flowers… Get going!"
However, to his surprise, she took his hand gently, making his eyes widen and he felt slightly sick from her touch. "A silly flower?… What are talking about? Look…"
"No."
"Now! Look!" she said and handed him one of the flowers. "It is just like you!"
He furrowed his brows in annoyance and said calmly, "Are you telling me that I am a stupid flower?"
She glared at him and snorted. "Are you calling a flower stupid?" she murmured and placed the flower down. "I have heard rumours about flowers growing in Midgar. If they do… then, even in the cruelest world; even when suffering from the cruellest fate…"
She laughed shortly and ignored Sephiroth's rolling eyes. "… You can be able to bloom…"
He snorted at her statement, "So if I am a flower, what the hell are you?"
She was silent for a second before she whispered, "A mere plastic flower…"
Her face darkened but Sephiroth didn't see that. "A plastic flower may be pretty when it is alone, it may be unique and soft, but it holds no life. However..:" she said, and took a bunch of flowers and placed one of the plastic flowers in the middle, "… if you place it with blooming flowers you can't see it… it has lost its glow when it is together with other nice flowers…"
"Like me… If I am alone people think I am extraordinary, but if I hide between other people they can't recognize me…." She felt herself become angry, and it wasn't because of Sephiroth's lack of interest, but the fact that she saw some truth in what she said. Her mother always told her that she was the village's most sacred flower…
… But, she was not one of those pretty ones. She was dull, lifeless… Sephiroth would surely be able to confirm her thoughts. He was such an ass.
A woman wearing light clothes stood close to him, her hand touching his arm seductively, brown eyes blinking slowly to catch his attention. Sephiroth hissed at her, telling her to piss of, or do something in that way. Offended she walked away, her nose high into the sky.
"Hey, Mr General…" a familiar sweet voice spoke behind him. His mako eyes stared at the smaller girl, her arms full of fruits and stuff to eat. With a sickeningly sweet smile, Ningit rubbed her head. "I hope you like peaches… They are supposed to be good for your hea—"
"I don't care. We need to move…" he said, and took some of the fruit into his own bag, while receiving a glare from his companion. He smirked shortly and began to walk towards the exit of the city. Kalm was only a day's journey away, so if they left by midday they would be there the around the evening next day.
"Strife… Strife… Strife… Strife…."
He switched slightly in his seat and studied that map a bit closer.
"Strife… Strife… Strife… Strife…"
He was beginning to get a headache, how did she manage to shoot Nero anyway? Even he couldn't reach him when he went into that state.
"Strife… Strife… Strife… Strife…"
Where were they? How did they escape? Why didn't he see them exit…? Something strange was starting to happen.
"Strife… Strife… Strife… Strife…"
His hand shuffled through the archives, why were there no records on her anywhere? This was the freaking private archive of Shinra, why shouldn't they have records on their own employees?
"Strife… Strife… Strife… Strife…"
It was way too strange…
"Strife!"
"Yes. What?" he said, turning around in his chair to meet the face of the dreadful Scarlet, whom he had expected to be Hojo… Either way, both of them were horrible to be near.
"You have a phone call…"
"From whom?" he said lazily.
She snorted shortly and handed him the white phone, which he took slowly after a short time of consideration. His mouth twisted into a big smile when he heard the familiar voice once more. "Hey, Hon…"
"Hi………"
It sounded sad, longing, but he had to avoid thinking of that, "How are you doing?"
"Oh! Yeah… Me and Cloud are doing fine. He seems a bit lonely, but he looks a lot like you… the same spiky hair…"
He smiled and stared at his hair. The infamous spiky hair, which his son had inherited, was one of the things that made him recognizable; the pointy edges, which his wife had enjoyed playing with when they were alone. The soft, blond hairs…
"Don't worry… Maybe I will be able to come home soon. Who knows? Maybe that old president will give me time to actually have a family life, which I cherish very much…"
She laughed. And he smiled at the sound, still searching through the many files.
"Oh yeah, what is your mission?"
He didn't know what to say at first and stared at the file before him. "I… can't tell you…" He then pressed the red button, before she could say anything else and watched the red letters. The name… he had found her file. What surprised him though was her name, it seemed familiar, like he had seen it somewhere before.
Ningit Goodbay…
…Goodbay, Goodbay, Goodbay…
His eyes widened as he opened the file fully.
Ningit watched as the fire burned lively in front of her. She had never been camping before. It was nearly impossible to do that in Icicle Inn, you would die if you fell asleep in the snow. The food she had bought earlier that day simmered in the small pot over the fire. The wonderful smell of boiled meat and vegetables finally made Ningit realise that a day without food at all wasn't really healthy.
Taking the spoon she held it above the pot, checking if it was done or not. She had never really been good at cooking; Reeve was living proof of that. A single night she had decided to give him a sandwich and the next morning he needed to call himself sick. She had laughed at him when she saw him laying helplessly in the bed, even though she had expected a scowl, she got a smile… He certainly confused her at times…
… But, not as much as Sephiroth.
His constant smirking or frowning, the lack of conversation or the lack of interest simply annoyed her beyond her mind. Sephiroth was officially the 'biggest fucked up ass' she knew, if that even described him good enough.
She didn't know where he had gone to now. He just had the mysterious urge to disappear every time and leave her to be his servant. Oh damn! Don't tell me that I am starting to miss him?
Well, it had been quite a while since she had last had a proper conversation with any one, and Sephiroth isn't the most conservative guy in the world. She pondered lightly about her situation, she had only spent two days in his company and to be honest it didn't suit her very well.
Feeling the fiery pot burn her fingers snatched her back into reality. Hissing she stared at the burned flesh with disgust and bit her lip as the sharp pain shot through it. "Ningit, you idiot…" she muttered and let the finger be as it was. There was no water near her except the burning soup the meat simmered in.
"You should be more careful… especially when we have limited sources to rely on…" God! Is she stupid or something?
She knew that he had come back, but wouldn't bother turning around to acknowledge him. She mocked herself at her stubbornness; she, who was the older of those two, was acting like a child in his presence. Why did she do that? Where did the curiosity, the anger, the flaming desire to be stronger than him come from?
"Food is ready…" she muttered and lifted her hand to show him the pot.
He nodded and sat down opposite from her. It didn't surprise her that he seemed to be avoiding her… She did the same thing. Despite the fact, that normally you would be offended, she had this feeling of understanding between them. They were partners, nothing else…
They ate in silence, and Ningit continued to rub the finger she had burned. The itching and burning sensation seemed to distract her from doing anything else. Her emerald eyes stared at the red flesh and she sighed.
"You should be more careful…" he commented.
"Yeah… I should… But sometimes carelessness can save you…"
Sephiroth looked at her startled, and knew right away what she was talking about. The fact that she had willingly gotten hurt by the ones they had met in the train, and Sephiroth who had sacrificed himself so that she could survive. The irony of life… They had been careless when they had thrown their life in such a risky situation. They had been taken by the adrenaline, captured by the fright, captured by the need to survive… and the need for their mission to continue.
He narrowed his eyes when he noticed her stare. Her eyes were petrifying, as was the fact that she was staring.
"What?" he hissed.
She shook her head and swallowed a bit of the soup as she brought the spoon to her mouth. He decided that he didn't need to bother with her; she was an obstacle.
Time passed by quickly and so did their conversation. Lost with a single doubt to her actions made them both silent. Her emerald eyes staring at the fire, and Sephiroth's silver hair shining unnaturally in the dim light… They were an unusual couple sitting there, all alone in the forest…
"Oh… I never expected to have guest this day…" a male voice spoke from the fields beside them.
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at the man, but got even more curios when he saw Ningit tighten her fist at the sight that met her. He was short, had a nice smile, his hair was gray and within his grasp he held a large bag of food. A pair of round glasses placed firmly on his small nose. He was… strange.
Despite the fact that Ningit growled slightly at him, he kept on smiling. "How about instead of camping out here, you can come to my house?"
"Squad 3! To the left! Search the Shinra lab! You there! Take out the SOLDIERs! Now!"
A bullet was fired towards her and she quickly blocked it with her sword and killed the SOLDIER mercilessly. "We need those files! Now!" the hallway roared with the half muttered, "Yes"s, and Elfé ran through the crowd as she sliced down those who dared to defy her.
The SOLDIERs stared at her terrified as she lifted her sword and blocked their shots, while kicking one in the head, and another one in the stomach, making them fly across the room. The helmet of one of them flew off and revealed a female face that was stained with cries. "D-don't kill me!" she cried as she tried to run away.
Elfé didn't bother with her and continued to run towards the lab. Her feet smashing against the rough floor that usually would be shining with cleanness, but this time was covered in blood from the many victims.
"I found it! This way, Miss," a young AVALANCHE member called from the end of the hallway. With ease, Elfé avoided the SOLDIERs and followed the member. It wasn't a long run, and the SOLDIERs weren't that tough. This seemed almost too easy. How could they have entered the Shinra building without having 1st class SOLDIERs hunting them down? Even the loss of their own members were low… Shinra had to be planning something.
The member stayed outside, so that Elfé could retrieve the files they needed. She was grateful for that… it could be a hindrance if she didn't get the space she needed.
Her eyes widened when she saw the tubes inside the lab. Hojo… you sick freak… W-w-what is this!
Tons of inhuman bodies lay mutated in tubes full of mako. Even Elfé, who was used to watch people with missing limbs was suddenly filled with an overwhelming disgust towards the professor.
T-these people… things… were… human once?
Shaking her head to get rid of those horrible images she began to search for the file. The smell in the room didn't make her feel better at all, and Hojo walked around in these chambers every day.
Finding the file was easy, because it was what they were currently working on, and that meant they didn't bother putting it into the shelves. Jumping over the table, she bent down to examine the room for any intruders. Finding none, she ran towards the window where a copter quickly came towards her. She narrowed her eyes and prepared herself to throw herself out the window…
… Until she saw a tiny silver-haired head…
Everything seemed to freeze at the sight before her. The tiny body of a small baby was placed within a similar tube like all the other experiments in the room. Enlightened by the strange light from the Mako, she stared silently. It was unnatural, frightening and none the less fascinating. Walking towards the tube she began examining the small body. It reminded her of a certain silver-haired general, and it didn't suit her tastes.
The file at the bottom caught her eye and she picked it up with ease.
Sephiroth regenerating project.
Status: Hiatus until further clues.
Involves: species numbers 1,2,3 aka. Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj…
Kadaj… Loz… Yazoo…
What in the world is this?
Taking the bag she had placed on her back she took every sample, and file on the three silver haired children she had found hidden right here. She needed them… Maybe Fuhito could explain why they were so similar to Sephiroth. This had to be it… What they had been looking for, for so long.
"So… I see you found my little tests…"
"Test………" she mumbled, never daring to turn around to meet the face of the most disgusting man she knew of. Hojo.
"Hahahahahahahaha! Yes… Mine! They are all mine! But, they…are only a small part of it all…"
She bit down in her lip and placed the bag back over her shoulders… "Shut up…"
"………… hahahahahahahahaha!"
"I told you to shut up!" she screamed and sliced him across the chest. However, he just smirked and grabbed a hold on it. "See little girl? I just can't die really… What a shame… that you came to me this evening…" With one more smirk, he swung the sword towards the window, along with Elfé that crashed through it and glass piercing her skin… only to have her getting caught by the people in the helicopter.
"What a shame… Still… Everything is going as I predicted…" and with those words he walked out the room, only to have a tiny mako eye staring into his back.
As they walked along the small road, Sephiroth couldn't help but notice her tense figure. She seemed angry which confused him a lot; she didn't seem like the type to actually hold a grudge towards any one.
"Do you know him…?" he whispered in the light of the setting sun.
The old man walked too far a head of them to hear what they were talking about.
"I don't want to talk about it… So, go away," she muttered. A well deserved slap was delivered to her head by his leathered clothed hand, but instead of bitching about it as she had done the other times, she stayed silent…
He raised an eyebrow. Is she PMS-ing today or something?
He was about to ask her one more time when the old man proudly spoke. "Aaah! Welcome to my home!"
They both looked up to see a little Japanese inspired hut with Shoji doors all around the house. Ningit looked the other way and was stubborn enough to say she was sleeping outside. Sephiroth sighed and grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her inside, leaving a puzzled host behind.
He pushed her into the couch hard and crossed his arms, awaiting her outburst, but she just kept silent and stared at the small coffee table. He walked towards her when she yelled, "Don't! I don't want to deal with you right now…"
Sephiroth had to calm himself down or else he would have to kill both her and the host… and that wouldn't exactly suit either of them.
Her emerald eyes stared at him with anger and he just looked at her amused. "I think you are an idiot…" she said out of no where.
"Too bad I don't care…" he said as he buried his head into his hands. She pursed her lips together and frowned.
"I am going for a walk…" she mumbled and pushed herself out of the door, getting confused glances from Sephiroth who scratched the back of his head. She is such a …
"I can actually understand her emotions very well…" the old man whispered as he began to prepare what looked like tea. A flinch from Sephiroth showed the he was indeed listening to what the man said. "It isn't often I get guests out here, so I tend to get lonely…
"-however, in my whole life I never imagined meeting that runt here…"
You better not be talking about me old man. Sephiroth thought. "What makes you say that…?"
With a short smile the old man softly spoke. "Easy… I am her uncle…"
Sephiroth turned his head curiously and slightly shocked.
" … Also referred to as Professor Goodbay…"
You are so fucking kidding me…
Flame me or review me if you feel it is necessary, partly I could care less...about the flames that is! bwahahaha!
Anyway, Sephiroth covered in flames for Schemergirl.
Once again, lots and lots of thank you's for MidoriTsuki for beta-reading the story.
Final Fantasy Character guide is so hard to write...