Author's Note: There is a quote that says that 'Only by facing your demons can you stop them from having any power over you.' My one and only response to that whenever I heard it was that it depended on the demon...

Markin: No, no he isn't. No one is ready for Rald. You thought you hated him before...

I do not own FF7 or any of its characters. Talin, Unit 28, and some other side characters are mine.

As always, I hope you enjoy and please R&R.


Chapter 60

Anger, rage, hatred? Any of these would have been expected and understandable to the silver 1st upon Talin finding his step-father to still be alive. Not this gut-wrenching terror. Something so bone-deep that the cracks that the SOLDIER had worried about were suddenly going critical. He could sense the teen trying to contain it, feel the waves of smothering black fear recede only to slam back into him each time the 3rd lost his grip.

"He's gone! Long gone! Ain't ever comin' back. So, either it's broken or you're readin' it wrong." The raspy-voiced man's irritation made him speak louder but that only made his voice shriller and more difficult to understand. Sephiroth was only vaguely aware of the conversation as he tried to reach Talin through the panic that had a firm grasp on his Lieutenant.

"I know exactly what I felt and what it means. He was mine for 11 years. Are you calling me a liar?" The dangerous edge in those words shut down the argument but the General was more surprised at the sudden silence from his Lieutenant as the buzz of emotion and panic flatlined and a whisper came across their link.

~I need you to promise me something... ~ The calm determination in the mental voice was at odds with the chaos Seph could sense behind it. Like the calm eye of the storm, the teen was barely holding back the swirling emotions that still had tremors running through his body. He'd grant Tain anything in his power to give, but the 1st still felt warry of what the redhead might ask for in this precise moment.

"There! See? It did it again and it was stronger!"

The conversation of Rald and the other man was like white noise to Talin as he fought to pull himself together. Like a desperate, drowning animal, he clung to the link between himself and his General and was relieved to feel the powerful man move closer instead of backing away. Hesitating for only a moment, the teen gathered his scattered thoughts and narrowed his concentration to only send exactly what he wanted to say.

~Promise me that, if I- if I'm not... myself, that you won't leave me here. ~ The unspoken remainder of that type of request only added to the 1st's concern.

A quiet chuckle echoed up to their hiding place. "He's back..." The whisper was excited and held a dark malevolence that caused Talin to all but crush himself against the wall in an attempt to hide from it. It made the General's skin prickle at his nape and he wanted to curse as an old feeling crept back into his thoughts. He was missing something... something vital, but they were out of time for questions or explanations.

With a gentle pull, as slow as he could with the mounting number of alarm bells going off in his head, Sephiroth made Talin turn towards him. He couldn't understand how jade green eyes, glowing neon bright in the darkness, could be so deeply clouded with shadows as to appear dull.

~I will never leave you behind. I swear it. ~ The hand in his still trembled but Talin was slowly pulling himself back together when Rald's voice diverted both their attentions once more.

"Taaalin..." The sing-song way the name was called was mocking. "Come out Talin, I know you're here."

The teen's breath caught and he grit his teeth to silence whatever sound tried to escape before leaning to bury his face against Sephiroth's shoulder. ~You said you'd always keep your promises. That you'd never break one you made to me, right? ~ Seph didn't hesitate to wrap an arm around his young charge, but his hearing was trained on the sound of footsteps coming up the walkways in the Mako-lit cavern.

~You have my word. I'l-~

"I tire of this hide and seek boy. You will come to me! Now!" The reviled man's words wouldn't have stopped Sephiroth from finishing his thought, but as the barked order echoed off the walls, the General found himself violently repelled. Physically and mentally, Talin tore himself from the protecting figure of his mentor. Before Seph could recover from the mental blow to try to stop him, the redhead stumbled out of their hiding place to find himself a scant ten feet from Rald.

His brain was burning from the speed at which he'd ripped himself away from his teacher's mind, but that only served to sharpen the horror of the nightmare Talin now faced.

"There you are." The disturbing level of excitement and relief in his step-father's words made every hair on Talin's body stand up in alarm, but he couldn't move. Frozen in place, as if weights were strapped to every inch of him, the teen tried in vain to shift even an inch as the older man started to circle.

"I wondered how long it would take." The piercing light blue eyes hardened as Rald stopped in front of him again and his voice was dangerously restrained. "I'd thought it would be a few weeks, maybe a month, and then you'd come crawling back..." the pause hung so heavy with malice that Talin was suddenly choking on it "You finally came home... but you're not crawling."

The air left the redhead's lungs as he crashed down onto his knees, pain shot up from his kneecaps as they impacted on the hard stone floor. Lightning seared up and down his nerve endings with every failed attempt to shift off his aching knees and a cold sweat broke out down his spine as Rald came closer. Talin couldn't avoid the sharp yank of his head being wrenched back by his hair as the older man looked down on his wayward stepson.

"I might have forgiven a few months, but it's been over two years and that level of disobedience requires correction." The kick was so slow that it felt like child's play to dodge it, but try as he might, his limbs wouldn't respond. The impact to his ribs, not anywhere as strong as even another Cadet, still knocked the air from his lungs and Talin was unable to stop himself from falling to the ground.

Fuck! All that training! The bruises, cuts, exhaustion, and for what?! None of it mattered! The tattered, jumbled thoughts were all blurring under the weight of his panic. All that time spent getting his ass kicked by Zack, Angeal, and Sep- Seph... The man's name was enough of an anchor for him to cling to and he focused his mind on reconnecting the link to his General.

If he could have, he would have screamed. Acid. Fire. Anything would have hurt less than the agony that flooded him as Talin reached for his mentor. Spots danced in his vision and his mouth went dry as he tried to comprehend what had happened. He was cut off, not just from Sephiroth, but from everything. He couldn't see the Void and its varying shades of black, he couldn't even see his own form... or the link to the silver SOLDIER.

He was so shocked by the terrifying revelation that the second kick took Talin by surprise. This one had a greater deal of strength behind it and sent him skidding and rolling through the dirt to end up prone on his side. The look in Rald's eyes was dark as he stood over the redhead, but he couldn't speak before his companion hobbled over and stole Talin's attention completely.

It was Prishin, but not how he remembered him. The rough old hunter was now stooped, having to use a heavy walking stick to move, and had a patchwork of scars down his face that continuing under the heavy jacket he wore. They looked like burn scars...

"You were right!" The jubilant shout made the teen want to wince. The rasp of a voice that the old man had left was painful to listen to. All the more so knowing that other than dragons, there were no fire creatures in the range. This damage had to of been the work of the Ifrit. "He is back! Thank the Goddess! Now we can get to building without worrying about the damn monsters every day."

Hell no! I won't be your fucking weapon again! Despite the pain, Talin fought the compulsion that held him prone in front of this man. The tearing at the back of his mind and the electrical shocks that danced torturously along his nerves made the spots return to his vision, but he didn't stop. Shaking from the effort, he felt his hand twitch and close slightly into a loose fist.

Talin's concentration shattered when Rald hooked the toe of his boot under the teen's chin to make him look up. "Such useless struggling. You know it's impossible to fight for long." With a twist and shove of that boot, he sent the teen rolling to his back. Talin had a moment's fear that the foot would come back down on his chest or throat and was warily thankful when it didn't.

"Get up." Cursing his inability to disobey, the redhead fought his nausea at the disturbing feeling of being a passenger in his own body as it moved to stand. "So, where did our Goddess granted protector fly away to for so long?" When the compulsion didn't force him to speak, Talin stubbornly kept his silence. He attempted to glare at the zealot who he'd been forced to call father, but where he could do so at any other person on the planet, his anger and bravado were still overwhelmed by fear.

The long moment that followed his refusal to speak was broken by a sigh. "I see you've forgotten your manners." Talin knew a punishment was coming and he didn't have to wait long before he felt the sting of a new command push its way into his mind, but then... nothing. No urge to hurt himself or to crack his head against a wall. Confused, he glanced up, and dread set in when saw Rald's malicious grin.

The sudden halt of his lungs could have been from fear, but Talin soon realized that he couldn't get them to work at all. He knew the man wouldn't kill him but, try as he might not to panic, there was nothing he could do to stop the instinct to fight for breath. His feet were rooted, not letting him take so much as a step, but his arms were free and the redhead desperately pushed at his ribs and diaphragm as his vision started to blur. Rald stalked around him just outside of arms reach watching the scene play out.

Talin swayed but didn't fall, his feet moved of their own accord to keep him upright, obeying the command to stand. He knew Rald wanted him to reach out, to beg and plead for air, and he refused to do so. Rapidly losing feeling in his limbs, the teen let them fall and bit his tongue harshly to try to hold out just a little longer...

A snap of painful pressure forced his lungs open and the world came thundering back to life around Talin. He couldn't slow his painful gasps for air or stop the trembling that spread across his body as everything came back into focus.

"Now, shall we try again? Where did you go?" This time the compulsion shot a painful spear of electricity down his spine as encouragement to answer.

"Mi-Midgar."

"And just what were you doing in that revolting place?" Distain was clear in Rald's voice at the mention of the city of Mako. The encouraging shock was harsher this time with the man's displeasure.

"Training."

"Where? For what?"

"Shin-Ra. T-to become a SOLDIER." Talin's voice trembled as he answered knowing his step-father's abhorrence for the company that was 'eating the planet alive'.

"Shin-Ra?!" To the teen's surprise, there was no zap this time. "I'm shocked they didn't just take you as an experiment... As to being a SOLDIER..." and the word was spoken like something foul, "you were made pure by our Goddess! How dare you even think of degrading her gift by becoming one of those abominations!" The strike to the side of his head rocked Talin but again his feet moved to keep him up.

The green haze greeted the teen when he opened his eyes after the blow and, with a growl of rage, he hauled back to repay the attack in kind. Snarl on his lips, Mako burning in his veins, fist raised to decimate this monster masquerading as a man, Talin became a living statue the moment his eyes lifted to seek out his target.

Rald's smile was thin as he regarded the redhead. "It appears my guard dog has reverted back to a wolf..." he sneered as he took a step back, putting himself outside of the teen's range. "Prishin, go wake the village. You can tell them of this one's return, but we'll have to postpone celebration till he's better behaved." The old hunter chuckled darkly before giving a laughing 'Yes, Sir' and headed towards the exit.

Coldly pale blue eyes returned to the young fighter who, although still frozen in place, felt a shiver tear down his spine at the calculated gaze. "Looks like I'll have to re-break you to your leash." Talin had felt his mind slipping, losing any and all control or stability he'd gained in the last year, but that- The leash. It was his nightmare beyond all others.

Green filled his vision again, his eyes glowing bright enough to startle Rald, and his mind began violently battering at the invisible restraints. Talin couldn't see it past the haze, but his captor took a nervous step back...

A sharp cry of startlement and pain echoed in the cavern drawing Rald's attention away from the unexpected development with Talin. "Prishin, what-" The sound and reaction reached Talin's ears but he didn't slow his ever more painful mental thrashing till his eyes cleared enough to see his tormentor's eyes go wide in alarm. But not at him.

"I'm afraid I had a bit of a grudge against this 'Prishin' of yours..." The deep voice rolled over Talin like a wave and the terror that drove him into such frenzy receded.

"Who are you? How dare you enter here!" Rald's anger at any outsider being near the Well had him setting aside all other concerns. "Talin! Defend me!"

All of the Lieutenant's regained composure evaporated as his body responded to the new command. In a heartbeat, he was unfrozen, drew his blades, and was facing his mentor. Prishin was on the ground and Sephiroth, Masamune in hand, looked every inch the deadly warrior he was, except for the uncertainty that colored his glowing eyes.

"Get rid of this trespasser! Kill him!" Talin felt the flood of Mako that hit his system and the muscles in his legs tensing to charge. He fought. Struggled with everything he could to prevent what was about to happen, but couldn't.


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