Summary: The Sephiroths are finally alone.
Seph let himself study his counterpart even further, his catlike green eyes catching everything that went across the other silver haired man's face.
If he was being honest, the other man seemed to be…younger, in a way. Seph was 34, while it seemed that the other Sephiroth was around the Disaster Twin's physical ages.
Another thing he noticed was that Sephiroth's body seemed to be unnaturally gaunt, with pale, almost paper white skin.
Angeal would have a field day in fattening this one up, he thought idly. The black haired SOLDIER Director had a habit of making too much dinner, especially with a family full of people with SOLDIER grade appetites.
Still, Seph pulled away from his errant thoughts, meeting the other's eyes after another minute of deciding what to say.
"I would let the world burn before I let my children suffer."
The General let the words hang in the air before straightening, his eyes narrowing at his counterpart, "And I will not allow anyone, not even myself, to harm them."
The two Sephiroths stared at each other, slit green to slit green.
"There are very few things in this world I do not cherish. Am I understood, Sephiroth?"
The Sephiroth of Alpha-0 had lowered the air of genial manners, his mask of merely being the twin's father switching to the cold General Crescent.
"Crystal."
Seph tilted his head, searching for his children and triplets through their familial bond. The pings back were fairly distant, and he was certain they'd be left alone, unless Cloud decided to visit.
"Good. Now, since my children are occupied for the time being, let us talk, shall we?"
There were two chairs in the middle of the room in case Genesis and Angeal dropped by.
Both men sat down from across each other, Seph settling in a relaxed position while judging his counterpart.
"I would wager that Ariana explained the circumstances of her and Aridai's birth?" Seph started off on a safe topic, "She is fond of recounting the death of Hojo."
"Yes. Your child mentioned it. Many times, in fact."
A sad smile played on Seph's lips when he heard the other man speak, his mind going far back, back when he'd first set his gaze upon his children, though he didn't know then.
Seph remembered the bloodied clothes the children wore, their feet bare and shoeless. The sleek shine of silver in their hair, of vibrant green eyes that became slit pupiled when they felt threatened, and their guarded postures, looking for any reason to run.
He remembered watching Ariana faint in front of him during her interrogation, remembered seeing them both so small on a single hospital bed, IVs connected to their arms, and remembers the unspoken promise when the twins left the hospital.
"She considers the act her crowning achievement. I suppose Ariana inherited her shamelessness from Genesis."
Seph noticed that mentioning Genesis' name made his counterpart twitch, which was surely a sign that the other man's version of Genesis had gone crazy or betrayed him.
"You despise your world's Genesis? Is he not your friend?" he raised an eyebrow, intrigued with this new nugget of information.
"I have no friends," Sephiroth's lip ticked downwards into a grimace, and that cinched it.
No wonder the other him had gone nuts.
"He called me a monster then tried to appeal to me in order to halt his degradation," Sephiroth continued.
"Wow, what a dick move," Seph blinked, the words escaping his mouth without realizing it. He would have blushed if he felt embarrassed about it.
"Ah. Cloud taught me that turn of phrase. He has a number of favored colloquialisms; it was inevitable in rubbing off."
Distantly Seph could hear his daughter scold Cloud with 'I think Father's ego rubbed off on you the wrong way' in his head.
Sephiroth studied this man that sat across from him, this version of himself that never lost his mind to a parasitic alien entity.
If there were any physical differences between them, it would most likely be their demeanor and faces.
The Sephiroth of Alpha-0 appears healthy, his skin, while pale, does not reflect the unnatural pallor of the Calamity's Child. He wears the standard SOLDIER uniform, avoiding the bulky armor that his PR uniform bears, and his silvery mid-back length hair is tied in a neat, low ponytail.
There are no signs of hostility in Seph either, other than the stiffening of his spine, talking with short, curt, almost clipped sentences.
Sephiroth had been watching all of the residents of Alpha-1 since he woke up, cataloging how they reacted to him.
Commander Ariana Selah Crescent is a conundrum. Just thinking about her history is headache inducing. She obviously had no signs of ill intent, and every word the SOLDIER said had a general sense of sincerity.
The Turk Aridai Sepia 'Ghost' Crescent is another headache to parse through, as a man who was born soulless. A soulless doll that had gained a soul and a personality. Sephiroth could tell that the dark haired Turk disliked the notion of the one who nearly doomed another Gaia, and the presence of someone that tried to destroy humanity many times.
Ariana had given him the rundown of who was part of the Executive Board, which was put in consideration too.
Alpha-0's Angeal seemed to be on guard the moment the black haired man set eyes on him, but was polite enough to be cordial with him, even thoughtfully bringing food for him. It brought back some fond memories of his own Angeal, but the influence of JENOVA in his head had drowned out many of his good recollections.
This world's Cloud Strife was…strange.
Taller, for one. Most likely due to the not-being-stuck-in-a-mako-tank-for-four-years like his Cloud.
The Cloud of this world greeted him without an inch of fear and was relaxed and held himself loosely. Compared to his world's Cloud, Sephiroth wondered who would win in a fight.
This Cloud, who was a SOLDIER First turned Shinra Director, or the Cloud that killed him three times?
An interesting fight, to be sure, and Sephiroth almost wanted to see it for himself, if he would be even allowed to.
"You have met my husband, haven't you?" the younger silver haired man was brought out of his thoughts at the question, stiffly nodding.
"I have."
"And you would know why I keep him close to me."
Seph's eyes met his counterpart's, finality coming to light in his next sentence.
"Harm him, and he will kill you."
"Not you?" the surprise reflected in Sephiroth's voice made it tick upwards.
The older Sephiroth gave a small, amused chuckle.
"My Cloud is incredibly reliable and self-sufficient. He'll do it himself; I have the utmost faith in him under all that chocobo blonde fluff on his head."
A somewhat dreamy expression had settled on Seph's face when he started thinking about the first time Cloud beat his ass (it was one of his favorite memories. And his second favorite memory was the first time they met, which also had the delightful sight of an embarrassed smol Cloud that had bumped into him quite literally). He was so, so grateful that the shorter blonde had come into his life, and Seph couldn't imagine a world where he didn't have his husband.
The man brought himself out of his fond memories when his PHS rang in his pocket, vibrating against his leg.
"Ah, one moment," Seph held up a hand before glancing at the caller ID, picking it up.
"Genesis, what do you want?"
"Heeelllloooo, oh grumpy silver one," teased the Director, "I need a favor."
"You still haven't paid me back for the last two favors," Seph replied dryly, "And why should I help you?"
"Because I have a feeling our daughter is going to dye my coats pink again and I need to bribe her without involving Loveless," Genesis offered, "Because if I try this again, she really will kill me."
"And should I care?"
"Oh, come on Seph! Legends shall speak of sacrifice at world's end—"
"I would like to cash in all three IOUs towards not hearing a word of that blasted play in the vicinity of my person for a year. That also goes for my alternate, or we're both going to kill you."
"You drive a hard bargain, General. Two months."
"Ten and a half months."
"Four months."
"Nine months and a week."
"Eight months, and that's my final offer."
"Fine."
"Ideas?"
"Give her a year's supply of Wutaian chocolate covered espresso coffee beans. She may just settle for killing you in the Virtual Training Simulator twice instead of sending you to medical for a punctured lung and stomach. Again."
"Argh, don't remind me that our Disaster SOLDIER is a vindictive little shit. And that does sound like a bribe she'll take…alright, no Loveless from me for seven and a half months, starting…Infiniteinmysteryisthegiftofthegoddessnow. Bye Seph!"
"Go die in a fire."
"If you really wanted me dead, you wouldn't give me advice to avoid our daughter's wrath, even for all the favors in the world."
"Genesis, I swear to the Planet, I will shove Masamune into your lungs and stomach myself if you don't hang up."
"Okay, bye for real this time!"
Seph pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily as the line went dead.
"Cheeky asshole," he grumbled under his breath, "I should let Ariana beat him up again, teach him a lesson about fighting an unwinnable battle. However, Rufus won't be happy if she picks unnecessary fights with Directors."
He shot a glance at the other him.
"I'll make sure Genesis steers clear of you," the older man said, "If only for peace of mind."
Sephiroth nodded stiffly, interested in what else the other him was going to say. He resisted the urge to play with a belt end, instead clenching his hands in his lap.
"I'm not going to force you to be nice," Seph continued, "Just refrain from killing anyone. Especially Genesis, this one hasn't done anything to you, and Ariana will definitely take offense."
Sephiroth nodded stiffly, deciding to change the subject.
"Your…daughter, Ariana. Is taking in people who tried to destroy the Planet a common occurrence for her?" he asked instead, not even bothering addressing the issue with Genesis.
He seemed to be deciding on whether or not to take this world's Calamity at face value, seeing that she was the one with half the power to consume this world, and the only one to have any affection for him.
"To be honest? Yes," Seph nodded, as it seemed to be a common issue, "I'm sure you've been told that she honors family and the wellbeing of the Planet over everything else. This isn't the first time…what would she say… 'Calamities and other abnormalities with chips on their shoulders' have arrived in our world."
There was that one instance with that Cloud who said he was being shoved through alternate universes in an almost nauseating pace, then a Zack Fair who was a Calamity, not to mention those errant experimental Summoning Materia accidents his husband had caused.
"My daughter is a strange person, Calamity or not. Her priorities have never shifted, however, even with these numerous developments," Seph continued, before he glanced up a clock, noting that it was about time to leave.
Sephiroth followed his counterpart's line of sight, one of his eyebrows raising up.
"Why don't I start packing, and we take this to my apartment?" Seph offered, before he remembered something, "Ah."
Without missing a beat, the older silver haired man retrieved his counterpart's Masamune, holding the ōdachi protectively.
"Ana requested that I give this to you, as a token of good faith. When we get home, I'll have to introduce you to the rest of the family," he continued, handing the weapon over.
Sephiroth weighed the ōdachi in his hands, as if trying to figure out how it felt now.
"I am sure my daughter has informed you of linking Weapons Materia?" Seph asked, watching Sephiroth pull off the belt he was wearing, attaching Masamune's sheath so it sat on the small of his back at a diagonal angle.
"She had," the younger man nodded, "What of the clothing I arrived here?"
"Ah…there were some things that were unsalvageable, so they've been disposed of. Your outer trench coat had been minorly damaged, which was repaired while you were under Sleeple. Of course, my little Disaster SOLDIER kept mentioning letting you borrow half of my wardrobe."
Seph gathered some papers and other things, putting it into a shoulder bag, then sealing it in an Item Materia.
"You will also need a key to the apartment…" Seph mumbled under his breath, before untying his ponytail, braiding his long silver hair so he could put it into a bun.
"Do you take public transportation?"
"Oh, no. Cloud and I both take Fenrir…however, you can borrow another motorcycle from the garage, if you'd prefer," Seph shrugged, "Or I could always ask my twins if they could take me with them through the Lifestream if it's easier. They can appear and disappear at will anywhere on the Planet."
Finished packing, the man walked over to the door.
"Shall we?"
End note: This took way too long sweatdrop
