Chapter 7

There was a forced sort of levity in the air, I noted, as Sephiroth summoned me. The SOLDIERs were exchanging light-hearted banter between them, but there was a tension that lingered. We were going to war, and no one was about to forget that.

We were gathered on the deck and I thought I could see land in the far horizon. It wouldn't be long now.

"What is the plan, General?" I asked. Everyone fell silent. It led me to believe they hadn't been briefed yet either.

"The Highwind will drop us at an inhabited area south of the Wutai Capital. We will set camp there", the General explained. "It is my hope that Wutai will be quick to react to our invasion and come to us with force, but if necessary, we will march into their city and demand their surrender. This would, however, result in unnecessary number of civilian deaths, and is something I would like to avoid."

I decided this was a good point for me to offer my two cents. To say the one thing I knew he wanted to say but couldn't. "We are going for maximum impact with the least amount of loss of life, on either side of the conflict. We must show them that they have absolutely no chance of beating us while giving them as little reason for retribution as possible. We will capitalize on their survival instincts and show them that we can be merciful and above all, we will be victorious." I paused for effect before continuing: "So blows to incapacitate and to capture whenever possible. We want hostages that we can use to negotiate Wutai's surrender."

Then the General went on to announce the lines of command. He split the SOLDIERs into two groups, each led by one of the 2nds, before adding: "Valkyria will be my second in command and in my absence, you will listen to her word as mine." I thought the clarification was rather unnecessary. The SOLDIERs were already in the habit of listening to me as an extension of him when he was not within easy reach. Of course, he wasn't around to witness those kinds of occasions. Still, I was a little surprised he was putting me in charge when I had absolutely no training or experience in the art of war. It did make it easier for me to protect them if I could trust them to listen to my orders.

"The groups will be as follows…" The General pulled out a list he had prepared in advance and read out the names. It seemed to me he had made a pretty good split, carefully splitting the SOLDIERs into the two groups so that both groups had even distributions of different skill sets. The two 2nds – Luxiere and Williams – were well-suited for the task of leading the 3rds as they were two of the very few SOLDIERs remaining that had accompanied Sephiroth to Wutai when he had been there the first time. From all that I had read in the Shinra files, the battles fought then had been bloody and the lives lost many.

It had been when the people of Wutai had given the silver-haired Shinra General the name 'Demon of Wutai'.

As we reached our intended destination the captain announced that he wasn't going to risk the airship by trying to land, not with how mountainous the terrain was and with how the wind raged making precise control of the airship nothing but a sweet little daydream. Had there been any regular troops with us, that might have been a problem, but luckily, every single one in our small attack force was at least a SOLDIER 3rd. And no matter how green, any SOLDIER should be able to descend by sliding down a rope.

The General chose to go first, the 2nds quickly following suit with large cases and bags of supplies tied to their backs. It was only when the last of the 3rds started on their way down that I turned to the captain and said: "On the behalf of the General I would like to offer my thanks for the swift, smooth and safe transport, Captain."

Grinning around a cigarette, the man replied: "Just doing my job, lass." Then with a hint of concern, he asked: "You alright getting down on your own?"

Quirking an eyebrow – though not really feeling all that offended by his lack of faith in my skills since he couldn't really have all that clear of a picture of my skillset – I stepped over to the edge where two ropes were hanging and then stepped over the edge, letting gravity pull me into a freefall.

It was an exhilarating feeling. I don't think I've ever felt so alive and so immortal than I did then.

I took a moment to enjoy it before reminding myself that while it might not kill me, I would still be making a mess if I didn't do something about the fact that I was heading toward the rocky ground in an ever-escalating speed. The energy inside me was already primed for it when I spread out my arms and let it flow out from my arms, from shoulder to the tips of fingers, and uneven slates of ice began forming from my arms resembling the feathers on the wings of a bird. As they grew in size and in number, the speed of my descent began to slow down until they caught the perfect gust of wind and my fall turned into a glide.

It was the stuff of dreams. After all, what human hadn't – at least as a child – dreamed of being able to fly?

With the little control I had over my ice-wings, I circled around the area where all the SOLDIERs had landed, more or less steadily losing altitude until I finally hit the ground running. As I let my outstretched arms drop and the tips of my wings drag on the ground, the ice constructs shattered leaving a trail of shards and chunks of ice behind me.

As I slowed down to a stop not ten feet from the General and his SOLDIERs, watching me with looks of awe, I could practically hear my blood coursing madly through my veins, my heart beating like crazy and feel the flush of excitement on my cheeks. My eyes met the ever-cool eyes of my General and I felt need more than I had ever felt before. And it was torture – torture! – to push the desire down when I so acutely knew this was not the time nor the place and he wasn't the kind of person who would be easily tempted into scratching the awful itch that had so suddenly struck me.

"We are setting camp here", the General announced and received a chorus of 'Yes, sir!' in response as his subordinates snapped to attention and then to action. He walked over to me, face unreadable as always, and after a brief moment of silence, just long enough to be noteworthy, he said: "I wish to get the lay of the land. I will leave them… under your wing until I return."

My lips twitched in amusement. 'Under my wing'. Clever. A rare treat, him joking.

I inclined my head in acknowledgement, and satisfied, he headed toward the nearest high ground.

O O O

It took less than two hours for the SOLDIERs to put up the four tents they had brought with them. The moment they were done with setting up the camp, the two 2nds in charge looked to me for orders, so I said: "Williams, you and your men are on guard duty for the next six hours. Luxiere, rest for you and yours, though make sure they all know to be ready for battle. We are expecting an attack, after all."

"Yes, ma'am!" They saluted and marched off. As they spread out the orders, Williams' men moved to surround the camp in pairs, on the lookout for first signs of trouble while Luxiere's men retreated into three of the four tents, the fourth reserved for the General.

Silence fell over our camp and I settled down on one large rock between the tents, almost exactly in the center of the loose square the tents formed, and waited, idly keeping track of in which direction and what distance I could feel my summon materia being, Sephiroth having quickly moved out of the range of my 'life-energy sense'.

It was just as I felt the distance between us starting to decrease that I heard the first yells from the guards on the opposite side of the camp. One of them dashed to the center of the camp and shouted: "Incoming!"

I rose to my feet and ordered: "Report."

"It looks like…" The man hesitated. "It looks like an army of monsters. I've never seen that many monsters in one place."

"So not natural but an attack from our foe", I concluded. "Using monsters to minimize the loss of their own warriors. Clever."

Luxiere and Williams appeared at my side and to them I said: "Half of your force is to guard our backs in case of an attack from behind our lines. Everyone else is to form a solid front. We are to keep our ground and annihilate those beasts with the kind of vigor that will make the men hiding behind them cower."

To their shouts of 'Yes, ma'am!' I strode past the reporting SOLDIER 3rds and toward the impeding threat. I walked past the tents and up a small rocky hill to where a 3rd was standing tensely. As I reached his side, I saw what was keeping his attention so fully. A swarm of many different kinds of monsters, the total numbering in hundreds, maybe even thousands, spread to a wide front of what looked like at least three-hundred feet.

"Impressive", I calmly said and the 3rds eyes snapped to me. Clearly, he hadn't noticed me coming up. Then he turned to look at his fellow SOLDIERs gathering behind me.

"Spread out and spread destruction", I loudly said to them while keeping my eyes on the approaching swarm. "Prioritize the survival of our own over the death of theirs. No man is to be left behind."

"Yes, ma'am!" Came the loud response and then off they went, running to both left and right of where I stood, forming a line with not-quite but almost even spaces in between.

Staring at the sheer number of monsters we were facing, I was torn. Should I move forward to deal as much damage as possible, to lessen the strain on them, or should I stay behind so I that I would be able to offer them support as they faltered and heal them as needed?

I could hear them now, even through the howling of the wind. They were coming in fast. Very fast.

Luxiere walked up to me, eyes serious but not hopeless, as he watched the almost awe-inspiring sight of the monster army. He said: "They are only monsters. No matter their numbers, they lack any manner of tactical thinking. We can handle this."

I inclined my head, offering him a small smile of gratitude. "Then I will stay back and nurse the wounded."

He nodded and began walking forward, resolve written on every inch of his uniform clad form. He, and the battle-ready line of SOLDIERs on both sides of him, stopped a good hundred feet in front of me. He drew his sword and then the two lines of opposing forces clashed.

It was instant chaos and it took me a while to figure out how to keep an eye on the men that were so widespread, to divide my attention as evenly as possible.

Turned out, the line was easy to keep. It wasn't hard to come up with a pretty good reason for why: The monsters weren't trying to push us back or to push through, they were trying to make a feast out of us.

It didn't take long until the men started getting hurt enough to require assistance.

I darted between them, taking advantage of the space behind the battle line, shielding the injured while soaking them in Cure, moving on to the next one as soon as I could. This went on for what felt like hours, until the pattern was broken just as I finished healing up the 3rd on the left end of the line. His gasp of surprise – and horror, and the word I would later identify as 'Leviathan!' – was the only warning I got, barely enough to give me time to turn to face the threat coming from behind. The shield I was instinctively putting up didn't have the time it needed to grow to the size I intended, the size to cover both the SOLDIER and me sufficiently, reaching barely a foot or so in diameter before we were hit.

The feeling of huge jaws closing around me, jagged teeth sinking into my flesh, were the last thing I registered before the nothing took me to its familiar, welcoming arms.

O O O

In the nowhere, surrounded by the endless, shapeless nothing, I seethed. Fucking summons just had to have it in for me for no fucking reason. Fuck.

And then I was out in the world again, right outside the camp on the hill looking out on the raging battle field and at the General's side.

"Okay… Now I'm pissed", I muttered. I was going to fucking skin that water worm, enjoy it and have several pairs of shoes made of its hide.

Eyes looking over my shoulder he threw back an ether, and just as I opened my mouth to chastise him for the poor decision of summoning me again, for the second time that day despite the huge drain it was on his MP reserves and the dire circumstances that required him to be in top form, there was a loud, earsplitting screech that had me turning a 180 toward the source of the sound.

The Leviathan was still where it had attacked me leading me to believe mere moments had passed between my temporary defeat and resummoning.

The Leviathan had noticed my reappearance and was not happy about it.

The Leviathan was coming at me, the humongous floating sea snake seeming to have absolutely no interest in anyone other than me. That suited me just fine, since I had a bone to pick with it as well. But still: Fucking summons.

I more felt than heard my summoner shifting to engage the approaching threat, so with a rather blood-thirsty grin, I told him: "Oh this one's all mine, General."

He glanced at me, eyes searching, before nodding. "As you wish."

And I definitely did.

I took a few quick strides away from him and toward my foe and then raised my hands up. My reserves weren't quite brimming, but frankly, I was perfectly happy draining my reserves dry just to see the overgrown eel burn. I converted everything I could spare into fire until my veins glowed burning hot under my skin and when the Leviathan started its lunge toward me, jaws wide open and ready to engulf me, I extended my hands forward, palms facing it and then pushed the energy out.

The wild stream of energy that shot out of my hands was bright like the sun, and it was scorching.

The screech of pure agony and anger that pierced the air as the fire engulfed the Leviathan was deeply satisfying, and the sight of the summon vanishing into thin air leaving only the smell of burned flesh behind was even more so.

It was a delicious high, comparable to the one I had felt when in gliding down from the airship earlier. Unwilling to let go of the feeling I darted down the hill and into the waging battle below, taking a few moments just blocking every attack on me, absorbing the energy to refill my lacking reserves until I was back to full capacity and above and then using the excess to paint the ground red.

It was heady and wonderful and I was drowning in it until I heard the one voice call out to me that I could never ignore.

"Valkyria."

I stopped and turned, and for the first time realized how filthy and covered in blood my hands were when I went to push hair out of my face as I moved to look at the General standing next to me, looking as untouchable and infallible as only he could.

"There are men in need of healing", he said. "Please see to it."

But my blood was still on fire and so many monsters all around me just begging to be struck down and I wanted it. Surely, he couldn't expect me to give up this perfect chance to enjoy myself a little? Surely, he couldn't ask me to step away from this? Not when I was so clearly born for this, made for this.

"Valkyria", he repeated. A hint of warning, or perhaps just 'command', coloring his tone.

My eyes narrowed, muscles tensed and I knew my body language practically screamed refusal, loudly enough that even someone as socially inexperienced as him couldn't possible misread it. But before I could tell him exactly what I thought of him trying to rain on my parade, his hand rose and cupped the back of my neck, and it shook me. His hand just rested there, steady and unforceful, and it was such a strangely intimate and uncharacteristic gesture it jarred me to the bone.

I could feel my heartbeat slowing down from its erratic run and a sense of calm and clarity descend over me despite the chaos surrounding us because somehow, with his large, familiar hand against my skin, he was the only thing that mattered.

I took a deep breath in, held it for a moment before exhaling slowly.

"So, cures all around?" I asked. He nodded, once, and pulled his hand back, making me miss the touch immediately. I was feeling at peace and almost impossibly focused though, and the feeling didn't leave with the physical contact. "Cures all around", I muttered to myself, letting my eyes fall closed as I converted energy into 'cure', trusting the General would guard my back for the moment, not that the monsters seemed too eager to try and strike at him or even approach him, perhaps sensing the bigger predator. Then I opened my eyes and honed on the SOLDIERs one by one, sending blasts of cure at them.

The battle was over quickly after that.

O O O

I stood on the hill between the camp and the field of the battle that had ended mere hours previously. The night had fallen, but the sky was clear and the moon near full, so I had little trouble seeing the signs of carnage that remained. The bodies of the monsters had faded into the Lifestream but the bits and pieces cut off them still lingered as did the copious amounts of blood – both monster and SOLDIER – staining the ground. The vegetation was trampled and I idly wondered how long it would take for it to cover the now almost rust-colored soil again. Or perhaps this land would bear signs of the battle fought like a scar for years to come, the mako and Jenova tainted blood of the SOLDIERs poisoning the soil irreversibly.

Though I wasn't consciously paying it any mind, I noticed when he neared, and the feeling drew me from my thoughts more effectively than the subtle sound of his footsteps ever could have.

He stood next to me, joining me on my contemplative viewing of the gruesome sight. There was a long silence that wasn't tense, but nor was it comfortable.

Eventually, he said: "No human life was lost today. This was a great victory for us."

My lips quirked into a wry little smile. "If not human then a life has no value worth mourning, is that what you're saying, General?"

A sideway look showed me there was a slight frown of incomprehension on his brow. "The summon… Leviathan was only returned to its materia, not truly slain. Unless you have an ability that enables you to kill a summon that you have yet to reveal to me." He looked at me in question.

I chuckled, a sad quiet sound. I told him: "It's not about the summon, Sephiroth." I paused, and then, with a sigh, said: "Just… perhaps you might keep in mind that just because something – or someone – isn't human, doesn't mean it is less."

I only realized I was giving him a look of concern when he, astutely, said: "You are talking about me." Clearly, I had been less subtle than I had intended. This wasn't the kind of conversation I wanted to have right now. "You think me less than human."

"No", I snapped, sharper than I wanted, and consciously softening my tone, I continued: "Not less. That was the point I was trying to make. Just because someone is something slightly other than human doesn't mean they are less."

"I can see that you think that to be an important distinction but all I'm hearing is you admitting I was right in the conclusion I drew. You don't consider me human."

"Honestly? It's a matter of definition", I replied. "I'm sure there are several definitions for 'human' that you would not fit into. The same could be said for all the SOLDIERs."

His keen eyes bore into me. "No", he said. "That's not it. There is something that separates me even from them, in your eyes."

I shot him a narrowed eyed look, "Are you saying I consider you less than them?"

"I'm saying you consider me other", he coolly shot back, using my own words against me.

"You know what? Fine", I admitted, irritated and frustrated with his insistent pushing on the matter that I would have loved to bury for the moment if only he would let me. "Yes, I consider you 'other'. There is a reason you are the General, widely recognized as the strongest of all Shinra's SOLDIERs by quite the margin. You are different, there is no denying that. We both know it. Everyone knows it. But that doesn't mean you have any less – or more! – worth than any regular human. No matter the particulars, you have the exactly same rights and responsibilities as any human-being born on this planet."

"Or another", he muttered.

I blinked. "What?"

"Or another planet", he clarified, giving me a pointed look, "As the case me be."

Another stunned blink. And then I burst out laughing.

I laughed so hard my ribs hurt, the alarmed look on his face only making me crack up harder.

Here I was, trying to instill into his skull the fact that he too was human in all the ways that counted only for him to be quick to correct me when my words could be interpreted as diminishing my own equality to a human.

When I was finally back in control of myself, I wryly said: "Perhaps we would both be better of remembering that humanity is very much overrated. After all, there are people like Professor Hojo and President Shinra that are inarguably human and neither of them are shining examples of desirable traits. Why would anyone want to share a label with them?"

I turned my attention back to the battle torn field before us. There was a memory that had popped up to the front of my mind back near the end of the battle. It was a thing of no real importance except for its rather private nature, but I decided there was no better person to share it with, than the man that stood next to me.

"My mother used to tell me", I started, and I could practically feel the weight of his undivided attention on me, "that she decided on the name she gave me because of a dream she had on the night before my birth. In her dream, I was all grown up and on a battle field, flitting among the chaos and bloodshed like that was where I belonged." I paused before adding for clarification: "In my world, you see, there are legends of these beings called the Valkyrie who decide who lives and who dies on a battlefield and who deserves the afterlife meant only for the greatest of warriors."

"I can see she wasn't too far off the mark for naming you Valkyria", the General commented.

I chuckled. "Eerie, isn't it? Funny how things turn out."

My amusement turned into a slightly wistful sigh as I thought back on my mother. She had been the one person I ever truly held dear to my heart. I missed her. I missed, even her fanciful stories.

Her favorite was much in line with the name she had given me. She always told me that one day, I would meet a hero, tall and strong, with features worthy of a god, a special someone who would become my special someone and I would become his in return. A tragic hero, with a tragic past, and a tragic future that would never come to pass because I would be his salvation.

I would fall in love with a hero. Because the Valkyrie were the lovers of heroes.

"Perhaps she had the gift of precognition", he suggested.

I quirked a brow at him, not quite able to tell whether he was kidding or not. Dryly, I told him: "She also claimed Odin was my father." Realizing that probably needed some clarification as well, I added: "Odin being one of the gods in the legends starring the Valkyries as well." I sighed. "She was a wonderful mother, but she had quite the imagination sometimes. Made for excellent bedtime stories though."

A comfortable silence fell over us and though I was loathe to break it, I knew every moment I lingered was energy wasted on his part.

I said: "What you did today was foolishly reckless, summoning me a second time. I know how much it takes out of you."

"I took an ether. It was fine." He said dismissively.

"It was not fine", I tightly argued. "I might not have any practical experience about the effects of ethers but I did my research. Taking an ether might be a quick and easy way to top-up your MP reserves but it also slows down the natural replenishing of your reserves and saps your physical strength if used excessively."

"It was one ether", he replied. "It was fine. I am fine."

"You cannot afford to weaken yourself with irresponsible decisions like that!" I hissed. "Damn it, Sephiroth! We both know you would have been better off finishing up the Leviathan and the battle without summoning me again. What the Hell were you thinking!?"

He scoffed – scoffed! – and said: "I don't see the problem."

I chuckled in an extremely unamused manner. "That's a lie and you know it." I gave him a moment, hoping he might explain himself, give me some kind of a reason for the totally unwise decision, but he didn't. He stood there looking his usual infallible, impossible self and I knew there was nothing I could say that would move him. So I demanded: "Dismiss me."

He blinked and then looked at me in confusion.

I repeated: "Dismiss me. I do not wish to be here until my skills are needed again."

His hesitation was almost painful to watch when he said: "You are my assistant. It isn't often your services aren't beneficial to me."

"There is no people here who I need to keep from disturbing you needlessly. There is no paperwork for me to help you with. No phone to man, no schedule to organize." The look I leveled him with was cold and detached. "Summon me again when there is something to shield against, something to kill or someone to heal, and only when your MP reserves can take the hit without you resorting to another ether."

Still with the hesitation that had no place on his face.

It pissed me off.

I stepped closer to him until almost pressed against him and ordered him: "Dismiss me!"

And reluctantly, he did.

Posted on February 25th, 2017.