AUTHOR'S NOTE: I don't own Bayonetta or the name Sephiroth.
"You know, you're all talk Cheshire." Bayonetta took the lollipop out of her mouth as he drove, visibly agitated. "So much about your righteous quest to not be controlled by me."
"Oh really?" Luka replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "So, I was supposed to let you shoot me with your gun, so I could not be controlled by you? Yeah, I do want to continue living on this earth, thank you very much, even though it does prove to me you are what I say you are."
"Mummy?" Cereza pulled on her sleeve. Sighing with annoyance, she turned to the child.
"For the last time, I am not your mother. What is it, little one?"
She pointed at the winged man sitting in the back. "Bubby doesn't want to talk with me."
"He doesn't want to talk to anyone right now." Bayonetta smiled, hoping that she would drop the subject.
"I watched him fight that monster." Cereza stated. "And he lighted the sky with such pretty colours! Why would he not want to talk? He was amazing!"
"Yeah, a winged freak being amazing and killing monsters." Luka muttered under his breathe. "Believe it when I see it."
Bayonetta hit him over the back of the head. "You know, it's awfully rude of the Chauffeur to make fun of his clients." She admonished as he rubbed his skull. Turning back to Cereza, she smiled again. "That particular monster gave him a lot of trouble for the last twenty years. He was returning the favour."
"By nearly levelling the entire base?" Luka turned around. "What even could give a person that much trouble?"
Bayonetta ignored him and Sephiroth continued to stay quiet. "Why do you call him Bubby anyway? He is not very bubbly, as you can see by his obvious charm right now."
"Because Daddy told me I would find my brother." She started. Bayonetta's face fell and she struggled not to laugh. "And I can see him as brother! So he must be!"
"Does that make him my son?" Bayonetta's voice barely could contain her amusement.
"Don't you remember him Mummy? Daddy said he would be a little strange." Cereza answered.
She couldn't help it. She laughed, laughed harder than she could remember, laughed at the sheer absurdity of it. Luka was shaking his head, and Sephiroth looked paler than normal and stared at the girl with wide eyes.
"What's so funny Mummy?" Cereza asked, completely confused.
…
Luka found a hotel in a surprisingly short amount of time, and it was even a hotel that lived up to Bayonetta's high standards. The attendants in the lobby were a little confused when a classy woman, a patchwork child and a stressed looking man walked in and asked for the best room for four people. They gave them the key to the penthouse after a few moments of hesitation, and they retired, as quickly as they came. Then they all stared at the broken vases that were all on the left side of the rooms and hallways, trying to figure to if the day was windy or not.
…
"You didn't have to break all of them, darling." Bayonetta giggled as Sephiroth stormed into the penthouse.
"Wait, that was you?" Luka said in bewilderment. "I thought that that was her, trying to intimidate the poor attendants downstairs."
"Try having a giant wing that does anything it wants." Sephiroth hissed, and then chose a room silently and made his way to it. "Goodnight!"
He slammed the door, but the tip of his wing got caught in between it and the frame. Yelling in pain, he reopened the door as both Bayonetta and Cereza giggled at his predicament and the irony. They both stopped when the door was launched off its hinges and wedged itself into the opposing wall. A small cry of frustration was heard from inside the room.
"Uhh…." Luka stared, gobsmacked. "I'll just be over here." He darted over to another room and closed his door carefully, yet with great haste.
Cereza turned and looked up at her. "Is Bubby ok?"
"I don't think so, little one." Bayonetta stared at the door-less room. "Run along now, lets go and explore your new home."
…
After sufficiently distracting Cereza with the plush beds and bright and colourful rooms, Bayonetta walked back to Sephiroth's one. Walking in, she saw him hugging his knees whilst sitting on his bed, dried tears on his face.
"What am I?" He asked her as she sat at the edge of the bed. "What am I?"
"You are who you define yourself to be." Bayonetta looked at him in concern. "What's wrong?"
"I've defeated one third of those responsible for me." He answered. "With ways I don't know how to, or even if I want to, replicate."
"The powers you displayed were pretty fucking awesome." Bayonetta tried to sooth him.
"Power is addictive, Rodin said so himself." He replied. "I don't know if that level of power is something I want, or something I want ever."
"Do you not trust yourself with it?" She frowned. "Sephiroth, I know people who would kill to have that sort of power. Hell, the only way I got most of mine was through the infernal contract, which you should know comes at a price."
"Who is to say there isn't going to be repercussions from Inferno or Paradiso?" He countered. "The whole time, it was so addicting. All I wanted was to obliterate him and it happened because I willed it."
"Now, don't get so melodramatic-" Bayonetta began.
"You don't understand!" His outburst interrupted her. "Yeah, your soul goes to Madama Butterfly if you fuck up enough times. That's well known, and well documented. What happens to me? Do I ascend to a higher state? Is my soul going to Inferno and into Khepri? Will I become a slave to Paradiso? I don't know, and it scares me. My own potential scares me…"
"Then you're going to need to hone your craft and study your power." She smiled wryly. "It's the only way the original witches learnt their limits, and it's going to be the same with you."
Nodding in understanding, he then grabbed her hand. Surprised by his bravado, she nearly pulled away, but steeled herself and let him hold it.
"Promise me." He looked her in the eye, a desperate plead in his. "Promise me that if they find me, or they take control of me, that you will put me down. You will end me."
Her eyes widened. "You don't mean that, Sephiroth…"
"You said so yourself. My potential outweighs yours." He swallowed, trying to not lose his composure. "You need to promise me that this potential can never fall into the hands of another, especially him."
"I promise." She said after a moment's hesitation. Something about this whole exchange was bugging her. A small snippet of memory played through her mind;
"Our treasured Left Eye, will never fall into the hands of another!"
"Thank you." He let her hand go, and she felt slight disappointment that he did. Sensing that he was finished with her, and people in general for the moment, she rose and left, biding him a simple goodnight.
She found Cereza just outside, pouting at her.
"Little one?" She asked, perplexed at the child's behaviour.
"I wanna have a bath together!" She demanded, stamping her little foot with emphasis.
Bayonetta blinked, then frowned. "Why should we have a bath together?"
"Because we always do Mummy!" She explained, then added in a saddened tone. "Well, we did…"
Her first instinct was to say no. There was no real point in doing so, and it would make it hard for Cereza to realise she couldn't just demand everything. However, there wasn't any obvious downsides she could think of, and was there really much harm in a bath? She hadn't cleaned herself off properly ever since Vigrid, about 2 weeks ago. And Cereza needed cleaning as well.
Two angels in one missile blast.
She turned and began walking to the bathroom. Sighing when she noticed that the girl wasn't following her, she stopped.
"Come along little one."
…
Luka was planting a bug into Bayonetta's and Cereza's room when Sephiroth announced his presence.
"You know…" He started.
"Shit." Luka said in response, freezing his actions and his body.
"…that voyeur porn of a child is very much illegal in every country?" He folded his arms as Luka turned around sheepishly. "What the fuck are you doing?"
"I wanted to know if I could get evidence from Bayonetta herself." He explained curtly. Sephiroth sighed with annoyance.
"You know, even if she did do it, it was a complete accident from what I have heard." He frowned at him.
"Complete accident?" Luka's blood was beginning to boil. "She murdered him to fuel her recovery!"
"She doesn't even know why he died, let alone if she did it or not!" His blood was also heating up. The two men stared at each other, anger evident all over their figures.
"Why do you defend her anyway?" Luka asked. "Are you her lover or something? Are you under her spell?"
Sephiroth went red, but didn't betray anything else. "She is my only friend."
"Oh great, a sob story." Luka yawned, but immediately regretted everything. Sephiroth grabbed him and slammed him into the wall, knocking the wind right out of him.
"You have no idea." He hissed, and Luka suddenly realised that it was not wise to piss this one off. Sephiroth was nothing like her, and quite obviously held no restraint when provoked. "You have no idea what I've been through, why I'm like this, and how she saved me from a life of torture from him."
He could only stare back at the golden eyes with terror.
"She saved my life, more times than I can count, and is training me as her protégé." He continued. "I owe a lot of things to her, and you don't know half of it because you're either trying to fuck her or kill her."
Luka swallowed. Breathing out, Sephiroth released him.
"The reason I'm on her side is that she hasn't truly exhibited any genocidal behaviours, like you are describing."
"It could be an act." Luka retorted weakly.
"I also think that you should get all the facts before accusing someone." Sephiroth closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. "You're a journalist, you figure it out."
"I do have all the fa- ah, ah, oh!" Luka's eyes bulged out of his head and his face went crimson. Sephiroth frowned as he turned around, but then quickly went the same.
Bayonetta, wearing nothing but small patches of hair around her breasts and groin area, was staring at the two. Her hair was down, and her body glistened with water.
"I heard a thud." She smiled, noticing how entranced the two were. "Are you two behaving?"
A pair of silenced nodding and gagging answered her.
"Don't break anything, I'd hate to have to report it to the manager." She turned around, walking back to the bathroom, her smile widening as she knew that the pair were still watching her. Before she could re-enter the bathroom, she turned back to them.
"Don't you two know that it is rude to stare?"
Sephiroth snapped out of his stupor and turned around faster than Bayonetta thought was possible. In doing so, his wing slapped into Luka, who was flung to the ground.
With her laughter echoing throughout the room, they heard her step back into the bathroom and out of sight.
"You know, if she didn't murder my father, I would probably be in love with her." Luka said, still splayed out on the ground. He sounded distant, like he was distracted. Which wasn't too surprising given the circumstances.
"Yeah." Sephiroth tried to forget the last thirty seconds.
…
Bayonetta returned to see a joyful Cereza. She was happily splashing the water of the sizeable bathtub, throwing the bubbles Bayonetta had formed inside around the room.
She looked around, watching and revelling in her innocent joy for a moment, but then grew serious.
"Little one!" She called out. Cereza gasped, ceased her movement and stared at her with guilty eyes. "What were you doing?"
"Nothing Mummy." She answered too quickly. Bayonetta rolled her eyes.
"Lying doesn't suit a lady, little one." She admonished. "And I am not your mother."
"Yes you are, Mummy." She argued. "And I'm not lying!"
"Then how did the bubbles get on me?" Bayonetta crossed her arms. Cereza gulped, then smiled nervously.
"They floated onto you?"
Bayonetta rolled her eyes yet again, but didn't press it. Climbing back into the tub, she grabbed the body wash and gestured for Cereza to come to her.
"Come here, little one. Now we can start what we were going to be doing before we got interrupted." She waded over to her and climbed between her legs. Bayonetta saw her skin up close, and her heart fell. It was covered in small scars, bruises and other small blemishes.
"Where did you get all of these?" She asked as she began to clean the girl. Cereza tensed slightly, but relaxed.
"After they took you away, the others at school started hating me more." She explained. "You wouldn't know Mummy, cause they took you away."
"They hurt you?" Bayonetta frowned as she examined one of the scars on Cereza's back. Something looked familiar about that one in particular….
"They always hurt me Mummy." Cereza said simply. "You know that. They started hurting me more, and the mean witch lady who takes care of me decided to start hating me too."
Bayonetta shook her head, and gathered her in her arms in an embrace.
"No child should go through this." She whispered to her. "No one ever."
"Mummy!" Cereza squirmed, her muffled cries vibrating all the wrong regions. "Your boobies are hurting me!"
Bayonetta laughed and pulled her away from her chest. "Now, now, little one. Who taught you that language?"
"Sometimes Mister Luka mentions them." She replied, not noticing the slight blush on Bayonetta's cheeks. "He says something about a distraction."
"When you grow up, your body becomes your best weapon." Bayonetta replied, a weird cross between laughter and rage lacing her tone. "Be it fighting angels or espionage, it is always useful."
Cereza nodded, but obviously didn't understand.
…
After calming down and taking a cold shower that would make most athletes jealous, Luka walked out onto the balcony to get some fresh air. His hands rubbed his temples, trying to ward off the headache as he tried to figure out what the fuck was going on. He made a mental checklist, listing each aloud.
"My father wakes Bayonetta twenty years ago and kills him. Then the CEO of Ithavoll, his employer, goes into hiding for twenty years after an accident occurred in the lower levels. Then Bayonetta has a kid, or two, and there are winged freaks walking amongst us." He held up three fingers. "And now they are heading to Isla Del Sol to talk with the CEO of Ithavoll. I'm going crazy, aren't I?"
"A lot of that is your opinion." Sephiroth's voice called to him from his right. He was sitting on the table, half hidden in shadow, nursing a drink. "But, yeah. Sums it up, really."
Luka jumped slightly at the sound of his voice but calmed down almost immediately. He turned to the winged man and gestured at the empty seat next to him. Sephiroth nodded, and he sat down.
"You know a lot of things, Luka. Perhaps more than any mortal should." Sephiroth stared at him with a mix of curiosity and awe. "What is your story?"
Luka hesitated, but realised there was no real harm in telling. "My father made it his lives work to work out the history of the Lumen and Umbran Witches. He died once he got his first real lead." He reminisced. "I've been trying to pick up where he left off; I'm not even half of the journalist he was, and I'll never be. Instead, I've been trying to track her down and find some answers to his death."
"Well." The man smiled sadly. "It seems you've succeeded on that part."
"Rather unwillingly." Luka cut in, a frown beginning to etch onto his features. "She did drag me here."
"That she did." Sephiroth shook his head. "I'm sorry."
"For what? Destroying the airport?" Luka rolled his eyes. "Well, now there is only one way to Isla Del Sol now, and it's over Route 666."
Sephiroth let out a bark of laughter. "Not for the Airport, but for the whole situation you are in. You shouldn't be in this mess."
Luka stood up. "I don't know why you are apologising, you're not the one who dragged me into this mess." Turning away, he began to walk back into the hotel. "I'm retiring for the night. Hopefully I'll still be alive by then."
…
"I say it because she won't." Sephiroth said once Luka had disappeared into his room. Downing the last of the coffee, he rose and leaned against the railing. Bayonetta walked beside him, her portal to Purgatorio closing behind her.
"Oh, stop with the dramatics." She chided as she leaned against it as well. "I'll apologise eventually."
Sephiroth gave her a glance, then looked out into the distance. "We've killed two of the Auditio."
"Is that supposed to be foreboding?" She laughed slightly.
"The Father will be furious. I won't be surprised if the forces of Paradiso come en masse tomorrow." He ignored her. "It is going to be a tough couple of days."
She stayed silent, reflecting on his words. "Do you think this Route 666 is where we need to go?"
"Luka didn't lie." He tapped his forehead. "What of Cereza?"
"The little one?" She turned to him. "I was thinking of leaving her with Cheshire."
She could see his disagreement visibly as he turned to her. "Leave the girl the Angels want with the mostly defenceless mortal?"
"That is a very bad idea when you say it out loud." She grinned. "She could come with us, but then who would watch over her?"
"I could." Sephiroth immediately volunteered. "I don't trust myself to go on the offensive, probably not for a little while."
She understood his point. "And my strengths are not defence. Until we figure out who she is and who her real mother is."
"Yeah." Sephiroth froze up for a second, and Bayonetta couldn't help but break out into giggles again.
"Aww, come on sonny boy, don't be sad." She held her arms out. "Let Mummy give you a hug to cheer you up!"
He gave her a flat look. She burst out into laughter and held herself as she doubled over.
"I get it. You are a great comedian." He said with venom in his voice.
"Just you wait…" She finally got up. "When my memories are back, and it turns out you are my son, I'll never let you live it down."
He turned away. "I pray to Khepri that that day never comes…"
…
The quartet checked out the next day, Bayonetta paying for the night and the damages (since she was the only one with a large enough income to conceivably pay without debt). As they tumbled into the van and drove off onto Route 666, both her and Sephiroth quickly became uncomfortable with the silence from Purgatorio.
"There's the security centre." Luka announced, pulling into the leftmost lane. "We are going to need to somehow get past this without setting it off with you two in the car."
Sephiroth merely flickered into Purgatorio as Bayonetta followed suite. Luka shivered at the disappearance of the pair but refocused on getting through.
"Now, Cerezita." He turned to the girl sitting to his side. "If anyone asks, I'm your uncle, OK?"
Cereza nodded enthusiastically. "Can you be my uncle all the time, Mister Luka?"
"I don't see why not." He returned his eyes to the road. "I've had several uncles that weren't uncles by blood."
"Yay!" Cereza waved her arms in a small victory dance. "I've got an uncle!"
"Do you not have one normally?" He asked as he began to slow down.
The child shook her head. "Mummy is a witch, and witches only have families if the…clan… needs them." She frowned, as if she was struggling to remember.
"You know that your Mum is a witch?" He exclaimed.
She nodded again. "Mummy is a witch, and witches protect people from monsters."
"If you say so, Cerezita." He grimaced, then smiled as he stopped. "Looks like we'll be all good for the checkpoint."
The car rattled.
"Huh?" Luka glanced out. "What was that?"
Cereza tapped her glasses, and looked outside. "Mummy?"
"Oh great, now the kid is seeing things." Luka buried his head into his hands.
A cracking sound occurred from behind them, and the car shuddered. Luka's head whipped around in fear.
"What the fu- hell is going on?" He tried to spot anything on the bridge behind them.
A massive crack appeared, and Sephiroth retook his seat in the van. "Drive!"
"What?" Luka stared at him in confusion. "Tell me what is going on!"
"The Angels have come to fulfil their retribution." He replied. "And if you want to take part in that, then stick around."
That didn't sound too good. "But they are angels! I haven't done anything bad!"
"Do you think they will discriminate?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at him.
Alright, he had a point. "We can't exactly go forward, you know?" Luka gestured to the traffic ahead of him.
Sephiroth's eyes began to glow as the cars began to rise ahead of them. "That won't be a problem. Now drive!"
Luka stared at the sight. "Telekinesis…?" He shook his head and stepped on the gas.
They hadn't made more than one hundred metres when the bridge collapsed behind them. Cereza screamed and Luka cursed.
"What the fuck is going on back there!?" He yelled as he increased the speed.
Sephiroth didn't answer and opened the door to the outside. Like a cat, he climbed out and onto the top of the van. Closing it behind him and closing his eyes in concentration, he began to move all the floating cars out of the way of the battle that was currently raging in Purgatorio.
…
Bayonetta shot an Applaud and glanced at the sight in the mortal realm in confusion.
What in the bloody name of Madama Butterfly was he doing in the open like that?
That's a good one. Her normally silent patron said in amusement. She ignored her and returned to the veritable horde facing her down. A few companies of Affinities, about twenty Applauds and four Beloveds that were destroying the bridge as they moved over it.
She really wished Sephiroth could just blow them up like he had with Temperentia.
Wicked punching a few angels that had gotten too close to her, she tried to figure out a plan get rid of these pests. A summon on this bridge wouldn't work too well, given the fact she was constantly in retreat and the small area of the security centre itself.
"Well, it looks like I have to deal with you boys the old-fashioned way." She smiled, beginning to walk towards the army. "Punishing you for my pleasure."
The main Applaud screeched at her. "The witch will burn for her sins!"
"Oh please, this isn't Salem." She strolled forward, confidence growing. "Come on boys, show me what you have got."
They dove at her, she smiled and threw herself at them with gusto.
A massive roar stunned her momentarily, as well as the angels. To her side, running at the bridge at full speed on the water, was a massive four-legged angel with an upside-down head.
"Oh, fuck me." She whispered to herself as it crashed into the bridge, obliterating it. Throwing up a small shield to protect herself, she was pushed off the bridge and began to fall.
Noticing that Sephiroth or the two mortals were not with the falling debris, she smiled to herself.
At least they were safe… And not going to get wet…
Noticing that the Angel had opened a portal to Paradiso underneath her, she began to panic slightly. That wasn't where she wanted to go. Paradiso now would be very annoying, since she couldn't get to Ithavoll or Isla Del Sol from there easily. Resigned to her fate, she let herself fall into the realm of the Laguna.
But on the bright side, she wasn't going to get wet now.