Summary: Ariana confers with President Shinra and Vice President Deusericus.
Ariana muttered Loveless lines under her breath, almost skipping with every step. Some doors were open, and she caught the eyes of Reno, the woman sticking her tongue out at him.
She knew that Lazard was probably in the same room as Rufus, so the President's office was her first destination.
Knocking on the door, Ariana waited for an answering 'come in!' from Rufus, so she poked her head in, surprised to see both Rufus's in the same room.
"I see you've recovered, Commander Crescent," her Rufus looked pleasantly surprised to see her, while the other Rufus seemed on edge, "Your Father was apoplectic when you were admitted into Medical."
Dark Nation glanced up from her spot in her doggy bed that wasn't too far from Rufus' desk, tail tentacle wagging when she saw the woman walk into the room.
"Oh goddess, not her," Lazard, who was sitting in an armchair near the wall muttered.
"Heya, President Shinra, Vice President Deusericus," the woman greeted her superiors, with a nod of her head, "And Alpha-1's Rufus, what a surprise. Yes, I have recovered adequately."
She sent a glance at Dark Nation, the irises of her eyes widening in delight when their eyes met.
"And hello to you too, little Dark," she cooed at the dog, "Miss me?"
Dark Nation gave a soft 'woof' as if agreeing.
"Your twin informed me of your use of Fade, Ariana," Rufus started, peering at her, "What can you tell me of your interactions with Alpha-1's Sephiroth?"
"I can't say that I know what's going on through his head," Ariana shrugged, glancing at Alpha-1's Rufus, "But he is completely and utterly human. From what I know, he can't summon the Masamune from the Lifestream, and any residue of JENOVA's influence has been eradicated by the White Materia. That means there's no further implementation of Hojo's old Reunion Theory, and he will probably be unable to control Cloud, Father or any of my siblings." Her eyes then narrowed, "Of course, if he tries manipulating us, I will find out. And if need be, I'll kill him."
"What makes you so sure you can?" Rufus raised an eyebrow, "When so many have failed?"
"My little run in with him on Saturday wasn't anything serious, not really. It wasn't a battle for the truth. Not a battle that went against humanity. And not a battle to live. I'm not a monster, Mr. President, I wasn't going to kill him. If we were fighting anywhere away from Midgar…let's just say you'd see the explosion from this tower. It's not like in the Wutai wilderness, where I could go all out. We can still have Sephiroth as a welcome addition to my family."
"Your family's already large enough. Pity you have a tendency to Firaga everything like Genesis, Disaster," Lazard sniped, "We would've saved a lot of gil if you didn't."
"I could always go back into my old PR uniform to raise donations, but you might have a stroke, dearest." Ariana made a motion with her hands that had the older blonde panicking.
"Absolutely not! Keep your shirt on!"
"More's the pity. Hmph, humans have a weird measure of modesty. I will never understand your shyness of the flesh," the woman mumbled, side eying Lazard, "At least Dark Nation doesn't care. Who's a good biologically enhanced doggy? You are!" She had gravitated towards the dog, letting her sniff her hand before Dark allowed her to pet her head.
The black dog-creature licked at Ariana's hands, whining softly in the back of her throat while she pushed Dark Nation back to avoid doggy kisses to her face.
"Stop talking to the dog like she understands you."
"It's more encouragement than I got as a literal child, Lazard, be thankful she hasn't eaten you for impertinence. Why, before I killed Hojo, I had my own little pet experiment. Pity it had a hunger for human flesh, he would've been the perfect guard," Ariana continued cooing at Dark Nation, who had rolled over for a belly rub, tentacle wagging at the same time as her tail.
"Back to the point, Ariana. Your little deal with Alpha-1's Sephiroth is still concerning. You're putting a lot of faith in him. He may change his mind and slaughter us all," Rufus drew her attention away from his dog, the SOLDIER standing up.
"I'll kill him if he tries. My fangs haven't shattered yet, and like I said, this version of him is human. That alone is a weakness I'll exploit. I won't fight fair, not this time," Ariana reassured him, "Even the thought of fighting dishonorably makes my skin crawl, but needs must. Plus, when I was unconscious, I was contacted by the Planet. Gaia made a request."
One of Rufus' eyebrows raised, while Shinra's attention seemed to zero in on the younger woman.
"Is that right?"
Ariana nodded, "The Planet did, Mr. President. What Gaia told me was much like what Aerith said. Alpha-1 was dying due to Shinra and the Calamity. However, even though humans have used her life to sustain themselves, she still loves us. She indicated that it would be such a waste, with so much suffering, if they were cut out of the Yggdrasil."
"And her reason for bringing the Silver Son as well?"
"I suppose that Gaia pities him. He who was tortured his whole life, by your father's company I might add, and since unlike our world, where Hojo's life was cut short by my hands, he was the main weapon of Shinra. Gaia specifically told me to show him the kindness we're capable of."
Ariana crossed her arms as Rufus appeared to be in thought, only to be interrupted by someone else.
"All this information makes me want to die. Someone just end my suffering…" Lazard mumbled from his seat, and Ariana turned to him.
"You're in my Top 5 list of humans I respect, not a chance," the woman grinned when he shot a withering glare at her.
"You make all of my problems, Female Disaster Twin."
"I usually solve your problems as soon as I make them, Lazard. And, like I've been saying since the Merge occurred, I had no hand in it. If anything, blame the Planet, making deals with other timelines," Ariana huffed a laugh, "Lest you'd like to yell at the ground…" she gave a pointed look down.
"Ariana."
"Yes, Rufus?" the woman blinked innocently at Rufus, her pupils rounding to make herself look even more innocent.
"Don't."
"Ugh, fine. I would also like to inform you that currently, Sephiroth will be staying with Father and Cloud. I already made arrangements with Tseng. And, as a side note, I've managed to convince Tseng to take a vacation, so I will be taking over my brother's position when he's doing 'Head Turk' things when I'm not training my SOLDIERS," Ariana refocused on the younger blonde, "He looked like death warmed over."
"How did you manage that?"
"The eyes are the window to the soul, Rufus. I've known him as long as you have, don't forget that," the woman answered, "He was very easy to convince after I gave him a full dose of kitten eyes. You'd think he'd be able to resist it, but even Ghost pulls it on him sometimes."
"Hm."
Ariana only shrugged, throwing her hands up in a 'what can you do?' motion. "Tseng gets very predictable after you've known him for a decade plus. You'd have to blind not to pick up on his tells, not to mention he nearly rolled his eyes at me."
"Keep an eye on that other Sephiroth," Rufus moved on from the conversation about Tseng, "Any alarming statements or movements must be relayed to me immediately."
"Of course, why do you think I offered my Father's place as a refuge? Both Father and Uncle are far too observant to let anything slip past them. While I do trust Gaia in that she knows what she's doing, giving him another chance, we can't let our guard down," Ariana crossed her arms, instinctively going into a defensive stance, "I won't forget that he's murdered more people than myself and my brothers had combined. Even with the debacle of Wutai, I've never—" she cut herself off, feeling a sickening lurch in her stomach.
Ariana paused, recollecting herself. "I've never killed for the sake of killing. Not even in the climax of the war. I didn't slay Wutaians because I hated them, or that I wanted them to suffer."
"The War was a mistake that Shinra will never make again."
The woman's gaze snapped to the blonde's, Rufus staring back without flinching.
"Do you really believe that, Mr. President? Everything is up to you, Rufus, you call the shots around here. While I am truly grateful the company has moved away from solely consuming the lifeforce of the Planet, sometimes I wonder if we had started too late. That Ghost should've killed your father sooner." Ariana sounded agitated, fingers flexing in her gloves. She could feel herself spiraling, keeping herself tense so she didn't go off the rails.
"Your brother was only 20 when he took up that task. Any earlier, and he would be unlikely to successfully carry out killing my father discretely. The uptick in birth rates after the energy switch only proves that while the over consumption of Mako was depleting the Lifestream, the switch was just in time. Don't dwell on the past."
Ariana seemed to think over the statement, before she finally relaxed, "I concede to your point. I'm sorry, Rufus, I don't usually spiral like that."
"Your dip in the Lifestream has only made your filter thinner, Ariana. Regardless, your outbursts need to be controlled," the man told her, and Lazard snorted from his seat.
"Would you like to say something, Lazard?" Ariana sniped out, already tired from chaperoning the other Sephiroth, and keeping her energy high so no one would notice how actually tired she was, "My dearest First Sight, speak carefully, lest you find a sword in your chest. My fondness of you is the only thing keeping you alive."
"No, nothing," the oldest blonde in the room lied, "Nothing at all."
"You know, my dear Lazard, I am still the most dangerous being in the room. Be grateful that we Crescents covet our First Sights." The woman gave a dangerous smile, "Do you want to try my patience?"
"Drop it, SOLDIER," Rufus warned, seeing the signs of an upcoming verbal, or potentially physical spar between his older brother and the woman.
Ariana's eyes only narrowed, but put a sweet, saccharine grin on her face. "I will take my leave. Suddenly, I feel more worn than I realized. I'll see you some other time, Rufus. Lovely Lazard, you may suffer in your existence more." She glanced down towards Dark Nation, who's ears perked up, "I wish we had more time, little Dark~. I'll bring treats next time."
The dog gave a soft 'woof', licking her chops at the implied future treats, before laying down.
Ariana then looked over to the other Rufus, who was observing her. "Perhaps I will speak with you another time, Mr. Shinra," she directed at the older blonde, before side-eying Lazard, "In better company than my drunkard First Sight. Even if the morrow is barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return."
The woman turned around, briskly leaving.
Ariana stopped once the door closed behind her, gritting her teeth, before breathing in deeply and letting it out, her eyes shut tight.
"Lazard is a fool to provoke you."
"I thought you didn't want to see me for the rest of the day, Ghost," she opened her eyes to find her brother beside her.
"Things change. The Chaos in your soul is starting to get a bit agitated, especially with the intensity of the light magic you used. Stay away from the VP, sister, before you accidentally consume him."
"You don't need to tell me twice," Ariana huffed, "I want to murder him already. I was thinking of going off to bother the other Tseng, but I don't feel up for it anymore."
"Ariana, you should go back to resting. I can handle things," Ghost recommended, "Don't get into trouble."
"I've been told that more times since I woke up than I can count on one hand," groused the woman, "I'm going to go meditate, maybe wade through the Lifestream once more. Don't wait up."
'I'll keep an eye on Sephiroth,' her brother thought to her and caught her eyes.
Ariana nodded before teleporting out.
Note: Dark Nation is always best girl.
