AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't own anything I shouldn't own from Bayonetta or Final Fantasy 7
"First thing, Darling; where the bloody hell are we?" Bayonetta walked around on the stone circular platform. "I don't recognise this place at all."
"According to the locals;" Sephiroth gestured to the birds and various fauna. "Terra Nullus."
She laughed at his attempt at a joke but continued to investigate. Walking towards the pillars on the side, she noticed some runes that she instinctually recognised.
"The Umbran Training Grounds." She translated as Sephiroth walked over to her. "How the fuck do I know that?"
"Probably because you are a witch; it is your language after all." He logically deduced. "Any other helpful information you can translate?"
"This the beginning of the Umbran mountains." Bayonetta turned to him, and gestured to the path ahead. "So, we are at least on the right track."
He nodded. "Isn't it a two or three day walk between here and Vigrid Airbase?"
Bayonetta nodded and then added sarcastically; "It's why I wanted to get some fucking transport to do all of this."
"Well, it's wasted time if we don't start now." Sephiroth gestured to the path. "Ladies first."
"Aren't you chivalrous?" She flirted. "My, my..."
He blushed as she walked past him, beginning their journey.
…
It turned out that progress was slow. Much slower than either of them liked.
Angels had apparently infested this place, and they were an obnoxious hindrance to the two. Being the only one with any sort of weapon, Bayonetta had taken centre stage with Madama Butterfly, slaughtering angels left and right. Sephiroth played the role of support, keeping angels off her back and healing her if she got hit.
Before the end of the day, as the sun was setting beneath the hills in the background, they had only made two kilometres of progress.
…
"You know what, darling?" Bayonetta flung the last Affinity onto his fist, impaling it. "These angels are being rather rude to us."
Throwing it away, he shrugged. "These are the former holy sites of the Umbra clan. Something will be drawing them here."
"Are you saying we could find something of great importance?" Her eyes brightened. "Like a lost Umbran treasure? Ever since those mortals made that Lara Croft game I've always wanted to be a treasure hunter." She struck a pose as she finished talking.
He frowned at her and turned to watch the last of the sun dip below the horizon. "Just call it a hunch."
"You're no fun." She abandoned her pose and strode to his side. "Do you want to call it a night?"
"This place is probably a death trap at night, even with our heightened senses." He looked up at the sky, then back to her. "And it's about to rain. Honestly, yes. I'm more than ready."
"Really? That is a comforting thought" She turned to the sky as a drop fell onto her face, splashing onto her glasses. "Well, there is shelter ahead."
Walking over to the entrance to an underground catacomb, Bayonetta paused. Turning back to her, Sephiroth gave her a quizzical look.
"I recognise this place." She held a hand out, as if she was touching someone, or something. She hesitated, and looked at the platform behind them. "Something happened here."
"In this particular place?" He gestured to the tunnel in front of him.
"Yes…" She moved towards the opening and made to step into the tunnel. A magical barrier appeared as she did, blocking her progress. Latin and Enochian scriptures slid down it, reading and barring her entry.
"What a fucking turnoff." She slammed her fist against the barrier. Sephiroth frowned at it, but did not try to do anything. "Can't you go ahead and get it off, so I don't have to try to?"
"My magic cannot dispel this; hell, I don't know if I can dispel barriers." He answered, letting his hand spark against the barrier, flinching at the pain that shot through his fingers. "Whatever is in there will be staying there."
"Hmph." She replied, obviously ruffled by the turn of events. "It looks like we will be spending a night in the rain."
"It's just water." He smiled as he teased her. Bayonetta gave him a look of mock horror, but then grew serious.
"It will be bloody uncomfortable." She turned to the open space ahead of them. "There's got to be some shelter here, somewhere."
…
To Bayonetta, it was extremely uncomfortable. Since her hair was her clothes and coupled with the fact that she hated the feeling of wet hair, it was not a pleasant 10 minutes before the rain began to pour down. They did find shelter, if you could call it that.
They were gathered under a small alcove, both trying to huddle as deep as they could into the wall. The simple fact was that it wasn't anywhere close to being concave enough for one of them, had them both try to find something, literally anything else, for shelter. It unfortunately was the best option when everything else was worse and a glorified ledge.
Sephiroth was silent and staunch against the weather. Having been used to far worse conditions than this, he was content with just waiting out the night and the storm. Bayonetta, by comparison, looked like a drenched cat. Her posture and demure screamed miserable, and she didn't look like she was enjoying life one bit.
He looked at her and began to feel a little guilty for his earlier tease. "Are you sure you're going to be OK?"
She gave him a sour look. "I'll live..."
Closing his eyes, he quickly planned out the next few minutes. Turning around so his back was to the storm, he spread his wing to act as a wall for her. Concentrating, he willed a small flame to appear in his palm. Trying to think of the few happy memories he had, he fed it with warmth and compassion until it glowed a dull red. Mistaking his intentions, Bayonetta raised an eyebrow.
"You're going to set me on fire?" She gave out a short bark of laughter. "What a way to fix the problem, darling."
Ignoring her, he gently took her hand and pushed the flame into her. She straightened up instantly as the spell rushed through her body, drying her instantly and warming her up. Eyes wide, she realised that he was literally sacrificing his own body heat and exposing himself properly to the cold and rain for her.
Then she started to feel guilty, but it got quelled as her selfishness and content took hold.
"What spell is that?" She asked, relaxing back onto the cliff.
"I think I'm going to call it warmth." His reply was jovial despite his chattering teeth, and she laughed. "Fits, doesn't it?"
…
The second day was slightly better than the first. Even though progress remained slow, the rain clouds had disappeared, leaving the weather (to Bayonetta's delight) to become overcast.
…
"May I ask you a question?" Bayonetta asked as Sephiroth began to burn the angelic feathers to form a firepit. Looking across to the witch, who was sprawled on a rock like she was modelling some article of clothing, he shrugged and continued to watch the feathers burn.
"What happened to you?" He froze for a second, but then busied himself with the fire. He stayed silent for a while, and she began to worry that she had hit too big of a nerve.
"You don't have to answer, it is none of my business." She arched her eyebrow, stretching out with her body. "But I think I need to know the history of you if I want to understand your whole deal with the Ithavoll group."
"I don't know what happened, because I don't remember." He began. "My first memory is one of extreme pain, with Jeanne's hands on my head. From there it became a series of experiments, tests and then it all became glorified torture as I managed to live through it all."
"What did they do?" She asked. "You don't have to go into detail."
"Well, they injected Infernal and Lagunan blood and cells into me, that I know for certain. They might have even put souls into me." He winced as the memories returned. "That hurt, especially on the Laguna ones. My entire body tried to rip itself apart, from the opposing forces, but it didn't. That's apparently where most of the previous experiments died, or so Jeanne told me."
"When I re stabilised and became somewhat mobile, Jeanne made me fight her, under orders from the man in charge of it all, the Father. He is a Lumen Sage, the last survivor, as he proclaimed to me, several times over." He swallowed. "I nearly died, several times over, from this 'training'. The only reason I'm still alive was because my magical abilities ignited and allowed me to heal my body from death, which was also rather pain inducing."
He stayed silent as he reflected to himself.
"Rodin mentioned you had Umbran and Lumen cells." Bayonetta prompted. He nodded in confirmation.
"He kept this woman in a tank, and I was ninety nine percent certain she was dead, and from her similarities to you, a former Umbran Witch. Upon realising I wasn't dead from the 'training', he began to put cells from her and himself into me, in order to strengthen and sharpen my powers, but all he ended up doing was weakening me physically as the Infernal and Laguna cells strove for dominance over me, as they recognised the cells of their various pacts. Eventually I became stable, and then it was back to the never ending loop of fighting angels, Jeanne and more painful experiments to me for the better part of twenty years."
"To recap, you are part Lumen, Umbran, Demon and Angel." She listed off on her fingers, and he nodded to all of them. She gestured to his back. "Where did the wing come from?"
"I grew this from the inhuman cells striving for dominance; they tried to change me to adapt to their needs." He looked in shame at his wing, which was currently hanging limply. "I used to have two, but they tore one off after I tried to escape by flying out of there."
She gave him a look of sympathy. "Does it hurt now? Your body, I mean, not your wing."
"Not as much as it used to." He looked down at the ground. "It still makes everything mighty uncomfortable."
"You have had and are living one hell of a life." Bayonetta remarked. He laughed sarcastically.
"You could say that."
…
The third day was worse. Moving deeper into the training grounds had found shelter in the form of a small town, but now the infestation of angels had increased tenfold, causing the progression to almost grind to a halt.
…
"Who did you kill?" Sephiroth asked as Bayonetta used a giant palm from Madama Butterfly to sweep rubble out of a small room. A small demonic hand appeared and slapped the back of his head, causing him to grunt in pain.
"That's a question you shouldn't be asking a lady." She smiled politely at him.
"You said we should know each other's pasts." He argued. "You have a history with that man, and I believe that is not going to be the last of him."
Her shoulders sagged. "Are you really going to make me?"
"You don't have to, but I would appreciate it."
Waiting a couple of minutes, all he got was silence from the cleaning witch. He was about to leave when she turned to him reluctantly. "When I awoke, I found myself at the bottom of a lake. I got out and got onto the bank, and then a man exploded behind me."
Sephiroth blinked. "His father?"
"Yes. I don't know why he died, but he did. He could've died from something else, he could've died to free me, he could've died to restore my powers." She shook her head. "I don't know. This boy could be right for all I know, but still could be completely wrong."
Sephiroth looked pensive. "What do you truly think?"
"There's one thing you should learn about talking to a lady, darling." She smiled again. "Never ask too many personal questions on the first date."
…
Bayonetta found Sephiroth standing in front of a wall. He was staring at it intently, like he expected it to do something.
"This looks interesting." Bayonetta drily stated. "Is there any particular reason you are staring at this particular wall, in this particular room, localised entirely in this particular place?"
"There is Enochian engraved here." He pointed at the left side, ignoring her tirade, and Bayonetta could barely see the indents. "Can you translate it?"
She looked over it for a minute, reading it. "It is a prophecy, or so it thinks."
"A prophecy?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her. "A prophecy for what?"
"Something about the end of the world, or the creation of a new one." She shrugged. "It mentions a lot about two eyes of the world, and two children born of darkness and light."
"Born of light and dark?" He looked down at his hands. She noticed and rolled her eyes, her thoughts on Fortitudo's parting words.
"Prophecies are never real, especially ones scrawled onto the side of a wall, darling." She walked away, gesturing for him to follow. "I wouldn't spend more than a hot minute on it."
…
It was the eve of the fourth day when Bayonetta finally turned her attention to the elephant in the room.
"You need a weapon."
Sephiroth looked up from his healing trance, confused. "Why?"
"You aren't cut for the punching life." She explained callously. When he frowned and opened his mouth to speak, she held up a hand. "You fight like a child, even with my advice. Every night, you must heal your hands because you broke them several times, and you are more of a liability than any form of help for me."
He squinted at her. "What do you propose?"
…
"So, Sephiroth here wants a weapon?" Rodin placed the glass onto the counter, looking at the pair with a crooked smile.
"I would certainly prefer it." Bayonetta crossed her arms. "And mortal toys are not going to be able to handle him."
Sephiroth looked at her in confusion, then back to Rodin. He shrugged at the bartender, and gestured for him to continue.
"Well, I have a massive backlog of my babies, if you want to have a look." He pressed a concealed button and the bar split aside to reveal a weapons rack. Whips, guns, missile launchers and swords of all shapes and sizes adorned it. Bayonetta licked her lips, relishing the view. Sephiroth was overwhelmed, but somewhat unimpressed.
"Feel free to test some of these babies out. Some have been thirsting for action for more than a millennium." Rodin smiled.
"Is this all?" Sephiroth asked the owner. Rodin hesitated in his answer but replied anyway.
"There is one weapon that is not for show, or for sale." He said slowly. "It was made using an injured Infernal that was dying from missing the key component to its pitiful existence. It hungers for souls, trying to find the one it lost. It's claimed far too many potential customers for it to be of a useful weapon for me or a potential customer."
Sephiroth's body jerked up, then he stared intensely at Rodin. "Show me."
"Look buddy, I just told you-"
"Show me." The voice that came from his lips was more demonic than normal. Bayonetta looked at Rodin with curiosity, to see his reaction.
"Alright, but if your soul goes into the sword, you can't blame me." Rodin walked behind the newly revealed wall and disappeared. She immediately turned to face him.
"What the fuck was that all about?" She hissed. "You can't go around intimidating Rodin, of all fucking people."
Sephiroth's eyes were glowing. "I sense something familiar about this blade." He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the demonic influence. "Or rather, the Infernal inside me does."
"You think that might be the Infernal's soul?" She asked.
"I think it might be too." Rodin returned, holding a long, black case. "If my hunch is correct, this blade might suit you more than anything I could make from scratch."
He placed the case onto the counter and gestured for Sephiroth to open it. Unclipping each latch individually, he lifted the lifted the lid.
Inside was a long katana. It was simple in design, no fancy decorations or engraved designs. The hilt was wrapped in black leather, and the blade itself seemed to hum with a powerful energy, which was reacting to the presence of the winged man. Sephiroth held his hand over it, hesitating to pick it up.
"Go on." Rodin nodded with encouragement. "The worst that could happen, theoretically, is your soul being dragged in, and I have to repack shop."
"That's an encouraging thought." She laughed, but then grew a bit serious. "Come on, we don't have all day. Either you do or you don't."
Giving the blade a look of intensity that even Bayonetta began to worry about, he picked up the blade and immediately started studying it.
"It's perfect." He said, and she huffed in annoyance.
"All of that for nothing?" She threw her hands up in the air. "Surely there would've been something from all of this needless tension you created."
He shrugged. Still continuing to look at the blade, he noticed Rodin giving him a strange look.
"What's the deal?" The bartender asked. "You're gonna take it or what?"
Sephiroth's eyes went wide. He turned to Bayonetta and gave her a pleading look.
"Don't ask me." She shook her head. "Rodin will ask for all my halo's and more."
"I'll tell you what." Rodin grabbed the empty case. "You can keep that until this is all over, and then you can give it back."
Sephiroth gave him a look of distrust. "What is the catch?"
Rodin smiled. "You catch on quick." He suddenly reached over the counter and grabbed the winged man by the collar and pulled him forward. "You can't break it. Any nick, dent or scratch, and I'll make you the biggest bitch that any Infernal has ever dreamed of having. I'm sick of having my babies broken by Bayonetta here, and I don't want her habits passed onto you. Now, I'm feeling nice, so you can have this one loaned for free. One scratch!" He finished with the threat, glaring into the terrified Sephiroth's eyes.
He gulped and nodded.
"Good." Rodin let him go and turned around, closing his weapons shop. "Now, I'm sure you two have somewhere better to be. I'm certain your Infernal partner's and Lagunan-"
He turned to find them both gone.
"Dammit! You there! Her tab is on you!"
…
Sephiroth examined the blade closely as they approached the doorway. "I recognise the Infernal in here, and it recognises me, or rather the soul inside me does."
"That's a good sign, I'd wager." Bayonetta replied, glancing at the surroundings. "Have you ever had any practice with a weapon, or a katana at that?"
"No." His reply was meek. She laughed at it.
"Well, luckily for you, I know my way around a blade." She gave him a look over. "Although I think Jormungandr's Staff is not the best place to train nor practice."
He looked back at the crumbing tower they had just ascended, using witch walk for her and leaping madly from falling staircases for him. "I do believe so. But let's continue on and hope that literally nothing is outside that door."
He was wrong. There was something outside of the door.
"Where did this bloody storm come from?" Bayonetta asked as they exited the tower. "We left from the Gates in perfect daylight!"
Sephiroth tensed as he recognised something in the air. "We should leave."
"To where?" She turned to him. "I'm not braving that tower again, and the way forward is only blocked by a small amount of wind and rain, which if I remember correctly, doesn't bother the big and tough Sephiroth?"
He looked at her with wide eyes, as if he recognised it. "This storm isn't natural."
Then it all went to hell.
The tower behind them exploded as an Angel appeared. It was a giant, humanoid figure, with no legs, its head more central to the chest than anything else. Its arms were held onto its torso with beams of energy passing through two rings, and its hands were replaced with four tube-like fingers on each arm.
"DONASDOGAMA!" It screamed in Enochian, and the storm's intensity increased hundred-fold. The bridge ahead of the pair tore itself apart, and parts of it began to fly around wildly.
"Run!" Sephiroth grabbed her hand and dragged her forward, towards the bridge. She pulled her hand out of his but continued to run forward. Activating her witch time, she leaped from part to part, as he launched himself through the sky, destroying the rocks and stone with wild swings of the katana. Her mind whirled at the durability and sharpness of the blade, mentally confirming that the blade wasn't at all like any mortal blade she had seen.
They eventually made it to a small tower-like structure, which to both seemed more like a battle arena than anything else. Atop the small ring surround the platform stood a very familiar red-clad woman.
"…understand that the Father's goals are your own. But why must you interfere?" The Angel asked Jeanne as it floated in front of her. "Why must you slay our forces that have been sent to capture her?"
"The only one's meddling is your hapless minions. We will do it my way, not yours!" Jeanne replied, obviously annoyed with the Lagunan. "Tell the Father that your assistance is not required, and I will find her, the experiment and the little one, and replace them back to where they are supposed to be."
The angel stared at her in disapproval. "Your arrogance disgusts me. Tell the Father he needs to work on you a bit more." It glanced over her shoulder and smirked. "If my assistance is not required, I will leave you be."
It disappeared into a portal, returning to Paradiso. Jeanne stiffened as she sensed something behind her and turned to face the pair.
"Why hello there." She greeted with a fake smile. "I suppose you being here now means you've had a second wind."
"I have had no second winds, if you're following that train of thought." Bayonetta shrugged as Sephiroth stiffened. "However, I can't help but notice that you, an Umbran Witch, is working directly with your enemies."
"That is none of your business!" Jeanne snapped, then turned her attention to her companion. "And you! Why are you still here?"
"That's none of your business, witch!" He growled back, brandishing the katana.
"Oh my…" Jeanne began to laugh uncontrollably. "Someone got the experiment a toy…"
Sephiroth growled gutturally, then launched himself at her. She sidestepped, faking a yawn and watched with apathy as he plummeted off the tower. Bayonetta ran to the window-like area and peered over it, trying to find the falling man. He had landed on another tower below and was looking back up at her, seemingly alright.
"Never fight angry." Jeanne smiled above her. "Wasn't that something you said?"
Bayonetta didn't answer. Jeanne snapped her fingers and a horde of Affinities appeared and flew towards him. Attempting to leap out after them, she was stopped by Jeanne's heels and guns firing at her face as she kicked at her.
"Going somewhere?" Jeanne taunted. "We are going to dance first, and then you might be able to go dance with it."
"It's a him." Bayonetta snarled. "And be him an idiot, he is Sephiroth. You do best to remember that."
"Already attached to it?" Jeanne's eyes hardened. "Am I that replaceable?"
"I don't even know who you are, let alone why you care about my relationship with some random stray I found on the streets." She replied, drawing herself into her stance. "Now, get out of my way."
"Make me." The witch in red smirked, drawing herself into hers.
The pair launched themselves at each other. They were perfectly matched; for every kick, punch, shot or wicked weave one threw out, the other had a counter. Jeanne fought exactly as she did, chaining various punches and kicks, throwing out a pink and white fist or boot to try and catch her unawares. She wasn't successful, much to the annoyance of the platinum; Bayonetta had noticed the former and was beginning to use it to her advantage, leading the other witch into certain attacks that even Sephiroth would've seen coming.
Sidestepping another wicked punch from her opponent, she swung her elbow and caught Jeanne in the side of the ribs. Pushing her to the left, she glanced to the right and saw a piece of the bridge flying towards them. Rolling her eyes, she leaped from the platform and activated her witchwalk, landing onto the bridge. Briefly feeling nausea from the sudden and constant disorientation, she saw Jeanne leaping onto it after her. Firing a few bullets in her direction, Bayonetta strafed to the side, trying to close the gap discreetly. The witch in red was having none of that, however, and simply glided across to meet her, ending with a giant twisting punch. Flipping backwards and away from the attack, she sent a fist from Madama Butterfly after her, catching the witch in the legs and sending her out of witchwalk range from the stone.
Jeanne, however, landed on a nearby outcrop, and turned to face her. She seemed to be studying her, and Bayonetta prepared for the worst as she stood on her stone, circling the witch.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" She asked, smirking slightly. "Afraid of your memories? Your past?"
"Afraid?" Bayonetta brushed it off. "Me?"
"Your memories will tell you that you should be!" Jeanne snapped at her.
"The only thing I'm afraid of right now is my annoyance towards my little companion." She tilted her head. "And possibly cockroaches."
"This is still a waste of time!" Jeanne screamed, then glared at the witch in black. "You're still not ready!"
Turning away, she jumped, transformed into a bird and flew off into the distance.
Bayonetta blinked. Could she do that?
Letting witchwalk fade, she fell from the stone and let the image of a bird will her mind, and she willed it to be her. Her body disappeared in a flutter of bats, then reformed into a crow. Flying onto the outcrop, she retransformed back into a human.
"Oh my…" She looked at her hands in amazement. "That was bloody amazing."
Hearing battle in the distance, she felt her ire grow again. "Looks like we have to pick up our 'darling'." She said in annoyance to herself, then turned and flew down to the other arena she saw earlier.
He was doing fine, for someone who had to learn a new weapon or perish. He was extremely unbalanced, and as before, overcommitted to everything. His strokes were cleaving through Affinity after Affinity, yes, but he was nearly tumbling over after them.
Landing on the edge of the arena, she retransformed to a human and began to idly play with one of her weapons. Noticing flashes of orange from the corner of her eye, she returned her attention to the battle.
His magic power had increased tremendously. What used to be sparks of fire or small thunderbolts were now raging infernos and lightning storms. The Infernal must be augmenting his power, she reasoned to herself. Or he had somehow held back throughout the city of Vigrid and the clash with Fortitudo, which didn't make any sense.
He closed his palm and launched a literal meteorite at one of the Affinities, obliterating it. Her eyes widened in surprise, and a small shiver went up her spine. That was a spell she could only ever dream about casting, and it was a Lagunan power, gifted to the Lumen in the tales of the two clans that she had read.
Just how did he do that?
However, he had failed to notice a single surviving Affinity behind him, and it was poised to strike. Rolling her eyes at his inattentiveness, she aimed and fired the Scarborough Fair at its head, killing it. He tensed at the gunshot, turned and instantly relaxed as he saw her.
Then he went pale at the intensity of the glare she was sending his way.