Sephiroth gets screen-time. The title of the story starts making more sense from this point on. Prepare everyone. For answers to questions you might not have even asked!
Chapter 7
Sephiroth paced in his makeshift office, his mind whirling with all kinds of problems and events that could have happened to make Zack be gone for over two months now. He had sent men out to the mountain, the last place he had seen Zack run to during the beginning of the battle, but no one could find any evidence of him ever climbing the mountain, let alone being killed on it. That and at least a day after Zack had run off, Cloud had arrived and cut so many of their foes down, then completely wiped the army off of Gaia and then disappeared to take care of a 'family member.'
Seph didn't know what to do at this point. He had tried everything but going up the mountain himself, even if he insisted on looking for Zack with the others that had gone to the mountain. Angeal and Genesis had protested, Angeal going to look while Gen kept him in lockdown, scared that Cloud would come back and make Seph fulfill his part of the deal at any time.
And honestly, Seph was hoping that Cloud would come back, look at him with either bright blue or burning gold and tell him that it was time to pay his end of the deal, just so he could see if Zack was under Cloud's care and really was too injured to return even after two months.
"Zack never returned did he?" Came the sudden voice from behind Sephiroth.
Seph would never admit it, but he did jump almost three feet into the air while turning around, his eyes wide and his hand moving towards the empty air at his hip.
Red eyes shined with amusement, thin pale lips turned up slightly in a smirk, and the smugness radiating from the red-cloaked man that had managed to enter his office and lean against the far wall without him knowing, put Sephiroth on guard.
"Zack's whereabouts are none of your concern," Sephiroth said, secretly pleased when his voice came out steady and strong. "Who are you and how did you get into my office?"
"Vincent Valentine," the man said, shifting to lean more of his weight against the wall. "And I walked in while you were lost in thought mumbling about Zack being gone for over two months now."
"I mumble?" Sephiroth questioned, looking highly alarmed. "Since when have I mumbled? How much info did I accidentally give people over my life because of this?!"
Vincent chuckled, then pushed off the wall and walked closer to Sephiroth, stopping at his desk. "I lied about the mumbling, you don't actually do it. I've been told I need to joke more by my friends and comrades. Excuse my bad joke." Vincent shifted slightly and propped his hip against the edge of the desk, waving to the chair. "You might want to sit down for this. I have info you need."
Sephiroth wasn't intimidated by the man, even when he put his hand on a modified gun that could rip through him easily, he wasn't. It was exhaustion and the fear and worry for Zack that had his legs trembling and him obeying the man to sit. He definitely wasn't afraid of the man that entered his office without a sound, had situated himself between Sephiroth and his sword, and had a large gun that could kill him with one well-aimed shot.
"Speak," Sephiroth didn't give himself a mental pat on the back for keeping his voice even and emotionless.
"A week after your little town was attacked," Vincent began, sliding himself up on the desk to sit on the corner. "Zack woke up at my leader's home, his muscles sore and pain still plaguing him, but he was alive and recovering. Our leader made sure Zack stayed until he was fully recovered, well he wanted to anyway. Something happened between the two of them that ended up with Zack through a wall and our leader going off to the marshes to hunt and kill Midgar Zoloms. I had arrived that night and watched Zack walk out of our leader's home and the grounds, all with a fake smile on his face. I didn't bother following him, I knew he lived down here, he didn't have far to go and I had done a sweep of the mountain to ensure the enemy was dead and gone. I had gone inside the house, where I was dragged into fixing the hole before our youngest member crawled back into the walls through it and broke something or started making tunnels around in the walls, again. I should have followed Zack that night."
"Zack should have returned two weeks after your town was attacked," Vincent continued. "But because when our leader and I came through two days after Zack left and we didn't see him in the town, even though people were all around, we became fearful. Our leader split us into groups to search for Zack. We searched the mountain every day, checked every cave and tunnel, even went into lakes and the places harder to reach to look for him, but we found nothing. We searched nearby towns, the plains, the forests, even went so far as to search the mines and ask for records of ships departing, any cargo ships or things that someone would have seen something suspicious on. We have groups spread out, people searching for Zack all over the world, and we have found nothing. Our only clue is the army that was attacking you all. Do you know anything about them at all? Because in all our travels we have never seen that symbol anywhere."
Sephiroth blinked. That was a lot to process. But at the same time, Sephiroth frowned and thought. Had he seen that symbol before? Had the army said anything? Did he recognize anyone from that army?
"You better not be trying to attack me with that materia you're holding," Vincent growled out. "You wouldn't be able to cast before your body hit the floor."
Seph blinked and looked down, startled to find he had grabbed the pale pink materia that always hangs around his neck from its chain. "It's not an attack materia, it's more like a memory materia."
"Memory materia?" Vincent repeated, his interest perked. "Could you use it to see if you had seen that symbol before?"
"It's not my memories," Sephiroth began, then cleared his throat. "It's someone else's memories. But I think I could see if she had seen them before. I'll just need a while to… um… make it work for me… I guess…"
"Make it work for you?" Vincent repeated again, reaching out to touch the materia. Sephiroth was out of his chair and out of reach before Vincent could blink.
Sephiroth and Vincent had a staring contest after that as the environment became awkward and heavy. Then Vincent leaned back and nodded, his hand disappearing back under his cloak. Sephiroth released a sigh he hadn't realized he had been holding, then stood straighter.
"I can see if she has any answers," Sephiroth said, walking over where his sword hung on the wall. "But I would rather do this in the comfort of my own home, with my fellow Generals with us. I am… vulnerable while using this materia."
Vincent let out a near-silent huff, then moved to follow Sephiroth out of the makeshift office and into the almost fully rebuilt town.
They walked in silence, Sephiroth only grabbing Genesis and dragging him along with them off his seat on a nice porch, Angeal had chased after them after that, intent on stopping whatever fight was about to break out. Seph had released Genesis shortly after dragging him off the porch, and now they were both following Sephiroth each one asking Sephiroth what he thought he was doing, not one asking about the red-cloaked man on the other side of him.
A quick glance to his side to make sure the strange man was still there proved that the man was still keeping pace next to them. Until it looked like he had vanished into thin air, Sephiroth blinked but kept moving until he was inside his living room and his front door was locked behind Angeal and Genesis.
"What makes you vulnerable while using the materia?" Was the first question asked in the house, from the man who seemed to melt from the shadows. Seph was expecting it this time but still had to whip around quickly his eyes wide as the man just appeared out of nowhere. Genesis and Angeal shouting in surprise just behind him.
"Fuck!" Genesis shouted. "Don't do that, Vincent! You take off ten years of my life every time you do!"
"Good to see you as well, Genesis," Vincent responded. "They miss you up at the house. You should visit more."
"Been busy," was Genesis' response before grabbing Seph and dragging him towards his bedroom door. "Stay out here. You want answers from the materia you wait. Seph you are going to explain to me just what is going on. Angeal make the man some tea will you?"
"Zack has been missing for two months for us, a month and a half for Vincent and his group," Seph started, even before they got close to the door. "Vincent and his group have been searching the entire planet looking for Zack since they realized he never made it down the mountain and back to the town. The only lead is the people who attacked us, and even they are dead and unable to be questioned. But Vincent believes we might know the symbol of our attackers, but I don't remember reading anything about them while with Shinra. So I'm going to ask her if she knows anything about them."
Genesis nodded and waved a hand to tell Geal to get to work on the tea, then slammed the door shut and locked it. "Well, you better get comfortable and relax then. I'm right here. If things go wrong I'm dragging you out, don't worry."
Sephiroth nodded, sighed, then slipped in his bed, his hand coming up to encase the materia. He had gotten better at asking it to take him into the memories and to keep himself out of the memories when he didn't want to. He only hoped he had enough understanding to actually get where he wanted. "I wish to speak with her, let me speak to the owner of these memories."
The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was Genesis' smile turning into a frown and his hand resting on top of his rapier.
'What are they so afraid of?'
FINAL FANTASY 7
"They fear you'll go insane again." Came the soft voice from before Sephiroth.
Sephiroth opened his eyes and looked at the young woman before him. She was dressed in a skin-tight black shirt with a zipper that ran the entire length from top to bottom, her pants also black and tight, but baggy enough to not restrict movement when she needs to fight. She wore a belt with the symbol of a tiger and a wolf circling each other, the same symbol appearing on each of her shoulder guards. Her hair hung free and long, shining like mercury under the full moon.
"Insane from what?" Sephiroth asked, moving to sit before her, watching her sit before him.
"The monster that calls itself your mother," She responded, bringing some of her hair forward to run her fingers through it. "The same one that calls me her granddaughter and tries to control my mind to destroy the world." She looked up and smiled at him. "Though she's not important to why you're really here. But I'll tell you about her before you leave, so you know just how dangerous she is and how toxic and seductive her voice truly is."
"Thank you," Sephiroth said, then reached forward and started to draw a symbol into the ground. "Do you recognize this symbol?"
Twin snakes wrapped around an orb, streaks going through all of them multiple times as if it was the sun in a child's picture.
"Dirt isn't easy to pick up colors," the girl said, shifting to get a better look. She hummed thoughtfully, then added a few things to the symbol Sephiroth had drawn. "Does this look like what you saw?"
And Sephiroth blinked, because now the symbol looked clearly like twin snakes constricting Gaia with the sunburst effect on it, but now the snakes were bleeding and the rays actually looked like swords. It looked exactly like the symbol the bastards that had chased Zack were wearing.
"Yes," Sephiroth said, moving to sit beside the girl. "Do you know who they are?"
"No," She said, standing up and dusting her pants off, then offered her hand to pick Sephiroth up. "But I can show you. You'll need to summon your wing first though."
"I may have a wing in the future, but I don't have it now. I have tried to summon it before."
"You have the wing silly," She laughed, before walking behind Sephiroth and placing her hand on his back. "Feel where my hand is, a coiled pressure should be exactly where it is. Release it."
Sephiroth sighed and did as she told him, focusing on her hand and then the coiled pressure, then suddenly it was gone and the girl had yelped in shock.
"Shit!" She exclaimed. "They are fucking huge!"
"Language little bird," Sephiroth said, then blinked as he realized what he had said. He turned around to apologize, but as soon as he was facing her, he was tackled as she threw herself into him and held him tight, her body shaking with silent sobs. Sephiroth smiled gently and wrapped his arms around the sobbing white-winged girl. "It's alright, little bird. I promised you I wouldn't let any of your reincarnations suffer the same treatment you did, and I won't break my vow to you."
Seph didn't know how long he had stood there holding the sobbing girl until she got herself back together.
"Sorry," She mumbled as she pulled away slightly so she could look up at his face. "It's just nice to hear that nickname again. I missed it."
She took a deep breath and pulled out of his arms entirely, her smile lighting up the night brighter than the mako in her eyes or the moon itself.
"Come on! Let's mosey!"
And Sephiroth found himself laughing as he leapt into the air and followed her, two strong wings keeping him in the air and right at her heels.
"So tell me about what's happening in your time as we fly for a few hours!"
FINAL FANTASY 7
"My materia is more like a time travel materia than a memory materia," the girl pouted as they touched down before the Northern Crater. "But telling that to Vincent would be bad, best let them all think it's a memory materia. Or that it only works for you, cause it kinda does."
"I didn't know what to tell him actually," Seph responded, following as she started making her way down into the crater. "He did just show up in my office and demand answers."
"He scared you," She grunted, falling to the ledge below her. "As he always does when you don't expect the man to just appear from the fucking shadows. Just start thinking he's everywhere and you'll stop being scared of him. But don't tell Uncle Gen, I love watching him jump as Vince pops out of nowhere."
Sephiroth laughed as he followed her down to a cave that looked way too man-made to be natural. The electrical buzz he heard was confirmation enough that it was human-made. He stopped laughing and got serious quickly. A quick look up and careful calculations let him know exactly where this cave was.
He nodded at the girl and she began the descent into the cave, moving quickly enough to make progress but also slow enough for Seph to memorize the path. When they reached the end of the cave Sephiroth blinked at the gaping hole in the middle of what looked like a metal wall, or what was left of a metal wall.
"From your rescue mission escape," the girl said, gripping her arm tightly, shifting slightly, before continuing on. "No one has been here since you guys destroyed the place, but I don't know if the layout will be different in your time because you deserted Shinra instead of Zack being kidnapped out on a mission. I know what room you will find him in though."
Sephiroth followed her around the base, she pointed out key parts that would never move position, like terminals that he could access to get blueprints and maps, but she hesitated before the door laying on the ground in the middle of the hallway.
"Is something wrong?" Sephiroth asked, moving to put his hand on her shoulder. "Were you held here too?"
She shook her head and sighed. "No, but living in a madman's lab for so long, any lab makes you paranoid you never got free in the first place." She shook her head and stood up straighter, her hand moving to grip his tightly. "Come on, we're almost to where Zack will be held."
Sephiroth held her hand tightly as she led him into the destroyed room, and Sephiroth froze.
Blood, old and dry, covered the walls, chains hung from the ceiling and on the walls, blood coated every surface.
"They tortured him," she whispered softly. "Almost killed him before you guys found him. He was here for almost a year though, so hopefully, the torture doesn't break him too much when you guys save him."
"I see," Sephiroth said, then turned and walked out of the room, dragging the girl with him. "Little bird, are you sure you were never held here?"
She sighed and pushed herself into Sephiroth's arms, then started trembling. "She showed me one life, one life where I would have my father and mother back, where I wouldn't have this torture, this torment. But she told me and showed me. My one happy life where I could be reborn with my memories would be the life that changes the course of Gaia's resets, of her attempts to heal herself."
"In that life, two months after Zack was kidnapped, my Aunts were attacked as they played with me, and I was taken from my loving family and brought here for some sickos experiments. They had me for a week before my family came and saved us, me and my uncle. I wouldn't remember the experiments, wouldn't know what happened to me because I was so young, but I know that they had hurt me with them. Soon after I'm saved in that life, I'm playing with my uncle when one of my aunt's trips and materia goes flying from her hands. One of them, a Carbuncle summon lands on me, right where my heart is, and my skin absorbs the Summon materia."
"Shit!" Sephiroth cursed, pulling her closer to him. "I promise that won't happen to you. I'll make sure you're kept safe."
But she shook her head and smiled sadly up at him, tears streaming down her face. "No. It's the one thing that has to happen to me. I need to have that Carbuncle Summon absorbed into me. Or I don't live to see the age of two. They fuck up my heart too much to be healed and saved. It's only because the Carbuncle Summon materia merges in that spot that my heart heals enough for me to continue healing, for the mako to fix what they did to me, even though the process takes years."
"What did they do to you?" Sephiroth questioned softly, stroking her hair as he crouched down to look the girl in the face. "What can I do to save you from this fate?"
"Nothing," She smiled softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and curling closer to him. "By the time you tell Vincent that I'm in danger, it'll be too late. I'm going to be kidnapped before anyone can save me."
"I'm sorry," Seph said gently, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I promise I will find you before they can do too much serious damage to you."
She laughed and pulled away from him. "I know you will. But let me tell you about the monster your friends are scared of, the monster that still lives in your world if they are scared you'll fall to her influence. I tell you this because there is a very real possibility that she will be in this lab when you come to save us."
Seph nodded and pulled her back into his arms. "What's your name little bird?"
She pulled her head away from his neck and smiled up at him, her eyes shining and her smile lighting everything up, Seph was almost too distracted by the girl in his arms that he almost missed her next words.
"Rain Crescent Strife, Daughter of Sephiroth Crescent and Cloud Strife. Now about that monster."
FINAL FANTASY 7
When Sephiroth woke up, he looked right at Genesis. "Can you summon your wing? It's a long flight to save Zack, and I would rather get there faster than an airship can move."
Then he grabbed his coat and sword from their place on his wall and left the room, leaving Genesis staring after him in shock.
"I know where Zack is," Sephiroth said as he walked into the room, making eye contact instantly with Vincent. "I also know you need to get back to your base and help your friends. They will be or already have been attacked. Get who you need and meet us at the Northern Crater."
And without waiting for a nod or any confirmation, Sephiroth grabbed Angeal and dragged him out of the house, Genesis following them both until they reached a clearing out of sight of the still-recovering town. Sephiroth concentrated like his daughter had shown him and based on the stunned gasps that followed, he knew he had summoned his wings. He flexed them and brought them around to smile softly at the solid black wings he now owned. Of course, he still had two wings, Strife hadn't thrown him into a reactor and broken the other one clean off yet.
Sephiroth turned around and looked at both his friends expectantly. Genesis sighed and summoned his wing, also black, but after a moment Genesis groaned and a second wing came bursting out. Seph turned his gaze to Angeal and smiled as the same thing happened for his white-winged friend. Aerith was a miracle worker indeed.
"We fly to the Northern Crater. We need to reach it soon before Zack gets hurt any worse."
Genesis and Angeal nodded, then all three jumped into the air and took off towards the Northern Crater.
All three unaware of Vincent standing at the edge of the clearing watching them, before turning into a red mist and dashing off towards the mountain house as fast as he could. He would trust Sephiroth because Chaos had felt it, the aura of the baby in their house was the same aura that the materia gave off. Sephiroth was getting information from one of his daughters' lives. He would trust until given a reason not to.