Behind Black Curtains
Chapter 44: Last Minute Affairs
Amaranthos
Rufus had never felt this outraged since, well… he couldn't remember. Yet on the discovery of Scarlett's death, he was rudely insulted by his supposed most proficient soldier. He sighed, not sure if he needed to grieve her loss which was strange considering he grieved for no one – or maybe…just maybe it was all the anxiety from the last minute preparations of the war. He snorted, 'just two more days before my grand debut in a war that would define… everything'
He had grown up with stories about the famed Liberta - how she stood tall, but she was always so less than willing to make decisions and hard calls. His father in someway made the toughest decision, and seeing a need to make tougher decisions, he wondered fractionally was he the right person for a job like this? Never had there been talk about who else could man the great Black Crescents as it appeared almost natural he would be the rightful successor – after all he was the son of Velrog yet… when there were deaths on his hands because of his poor decisions and rapport building, it was clear how incredibly young and inexperienced he was…left only with a bruised ego, and ouch it hurt!
People looked at Sephiroth with admiration because for his entire precedence he was an excellent warrior who earned a title of success, and perfection and fear. All things Rufus desperately wanted, desperately coveted. The man of silver hair was a true embodiment of all things calculated and tempered. War had refined him, war had shaped him, and yet it glorified his legend.
There was no saying that war had to necessarily create the man, but Rufus hoped that this war – his only war, would reciprocate him the title of victorious conqueror.
It was the sound of the opening door that jarred him from deep thoughts.
"Rufus –
"Father" the blond answered curtly, "how bad is the damage?"
Velrog sighed, "only as bad as your ego will have it" he paused, "it matters not what anyone says or thinks, my boy"
"I know" he scoffed, "it's not something I particularly enjoy nonetheless.."
"You need to make right with Sephiroth. We are two days from war and yet we're in more than a tiff when our kin of soldiers are against each other" he remarked.
"Why do you say that?" Rufus' blue eyes caught his.
"Say what?"
"Why do you call him our kin?" he inquired.
Velrog sighed and looked down, "how could you not?" he inquired, "tell me my boy, what makes honour and servitude and brotherhood in your books? Hasn't he served, didn't he do his due diligence like the many around him? Was he complacent enough to just stagnate as first star general? Rufus…" he paused, "Sephiroth was my choice because I knew from long ago what a man he was; when you live as long as I have there are many things you find yourself regretting – I've seen many of my friends die, I've done things I can't undo and yet the investment to adopt this mighty warrior into our war, is the one thing I least regret." he shook his head, "I can't ask you to like him, or to change your beliefs about him but I will appeal for you to evaluate who he is and what he provisions to this institution and if then you are certain he is some…traitor, then I will make it my priority to rid him of our institution once and for all" Velrog finished.
Rufus scoffed, "oh please don't make me laugh"
"Believe whatever you like but the joke isn't on me." He paused to see Rufus' face all stony, "evaluate what you must but pray, don't waste our time any longer with this nonsense"
Velrog exited sharply leaving his son to stand once more in the question of why had he disliked the famed General Sephiroth.
A loud knock came to the door and there on it's other side with Rufus Shinra.
Sephiroth expectedly looked at the blond miscreant.
"We need to talk" Rufus said aloud.
"About?" Sephiroth would milk the courage of the situation.
Rufus sighed, "about our matters of war. If you would oblige me some of your time in the great hall"
Sephiroth shut the door at his back and followed Rufus in acknowledgement.
"I have reviewed the war charters and I think we can improve them" he commented.
Sephiroth arched a brow, had little Rufus-chan finally learn to share after a little rebuffing?
The charm of a smirk on Sephiroth's face was impossible to miss but he quieted that need to gloat over the miniature victory.
"There are over twenty five war charters and all of them lack the umph needed to spell the type of victory we need guaranteed"
"What makes you render me suitable for this job?" Sephiroth inquired suddenly.
Rufus stopped dead in his tracks and found himself taking a steady breath. "As you might recall you are our only S-Class general, General" he afforded the courtesy.
"Duly noted. Yet my title indicates nothing about my acumen to judge war charters, Shinra"
"Do you like making my job difficult?" Rufus suddenly snapped.
Sephiroth eyed him intently.
"I'm trying to look past our… spat this evening to focus on more important matters." He paused, "I understand that I've…" he paused, "that I've been difficult with you for quite sometime. Yet at the eve of war I can think of no better time but to make right on my stubbornness." He confessed.
"You've never seen me as one of your own" Sephiroth confessed.
Rufus shakily nodded, "how can I when you were the cut above everyone else? It isn't easy being the leader of a great empire, when the first thing people remember about her is you. Perhaps I am egotistical about her Sephiroth, but at least now I can say it's an advantage to have you here" he said anew.
"Well then… let's not waste anymore time in sentimental realizations when we have a war to win" Sephiroth smirked.
"Absolutely" Rufus agreed.
Red Hearts had finally stationed their troops into the West ready to begin their journey to Black Crescents; manning the teams to the West was none other than Cloud Strife, Senior Commander. The blond man was convinced he would make certain the victory of Red Hearts and had gone to great lengths to do so by employing scouts on the field as a pre-emptive measure to unleash the army behind him. Fifteen hundred had come to fight in a glorious showdown. Many of these men were young and fresh, some mature faces scattered the ranks and yet here was Cloud ushering the great fifteen hundred across distant lands to their enemy.
In his brief young life, he had never imagined someone like him so.. different could be humbled by such an honour as serving the greatest militia and empire. Honour was something as a child he had no knowledge, and yet this feeling, this blooming deep feeling that he would bring a royal victory drove him to the impossible.
"Commander" a voice started.
"Sith" Cloud looked up, "haven't seen you in ages"
"Yes sir. The trip was hardly enjoyable but the roads are safe for the next two miles then let's just say things become dicey"
Cloud took a breath, "I don't like dicey, Sith"
"Neither do I. I'll brief you all about it. Where's the machine?" he turned to the men walking in equal stride.
"General Lockhart has not chosen to reveal the whereabouts. There's no certainty when they will deploy her.. for now, we are sent to stabilize the front lines until they've arrived." He explained.
"I see" he paused, "and what of Mack Knights?" he inquired, "will they show?"
"No… General Lockhart had no intentions to employ their allegiance only their skills and craft," he paused, "besides they were never going to be our alliances and after seeing they had screwed us over once before, General Lockhart devised means for their little project to go sour" Cloud smirked.
"What do you mean?" Tsueng inquired.
"I prefer not to spoil the surprise but you'll see… oh you'll definitely see"
"Commander.." another voice interjected.
"Yes"
"We found smoke ahead, one click north" a soldier started
"Smoke?" Cloud inquired, narrowing his brows.
"Yeah, looks like some type of camping ground" he explained.
"Have you done surveillance?"
"Yes and we found nothing"
"Something smells fishy." He muttered, "send out a recon team and report to me in fifteen hundred hours." He pat the man's shoulder, "and remember if it's danger, send out the beacon and don't return"
The man swallowed the deep lump, "s-sir?"
"You heard me." He sighed placing a hand on the man's shoulder, "I can't have you leading them here if it's a trick"
"Yes sir" he nodded.
When he had gone some ways out Sith spoke aloud.
"You're not that different from Lockhart are you?" Sith inquired.
"I believe we address him as General Lockhart and if you mean I'm direct and certain in my decisions, then yes by all means"
"You'd have a kid go out there and have himself killed?" he paused, "I don't get it man, he's just a kid"
"Look!" Cloud stopped, "this war isn't about patronizing that some of us are more innocent than the other, I'd have you remember that everyone who signed up did so of their volition. Now, to understand what it means to be a soldier and fight to the death for your empire, that's the prerogative of war. If I don't remind soldiers that death is always looming, it doesn't quite make me the good leader when Black Crescents will not hesitate to mutilate the lot of us." He explained.
"So where's the hope Strife, huh? We all doing it because we wanna die young?" Sith questioned shaking his head disagreeably, "I have a wife.. I have children, I have to live"
"Then fight" Cloud finished, "but don't you dare tell me that your case is better than mine when this war never gave a damn to take the ones I loved from me; and guess what, the war will only continue to take, and rape, and leave us empty until we learn to fight back, not as cowards, but as victors" he shook his head, "my brother.. I can't do this on my own, I need able-bodied men to help me win this war" he stuck out his hand for a reconciliation hold.
Sith took a shaky breath and nodded, "you're right, you're absolutely right" he took hold of Cloud's hand, "I can't let them down, they're counting on me…"
"I know they'd be proud of you" Cloud smiled.
Sephiroth had indeed seen quite a bit he admitted and with a broad smirk to his face, he returned to the confines of his room. The war charters fundamentally indicated how Rufus intended his onslaught in the war to pan out. He confessed for someone so vain and aloof, he impressed the elder man with his decisiveness, still…
'There's always a little room for improvement'
Easing his hands over the Masumune on the dresser his mind flashed to something years ago.
"Could you really be the missing piece to the puzzle, Sephiroth?" the man who stood in the shadows asked.
"You came to me, so tell me" Sephiroth paused, "because I'm certain to be very expensive when you consider my acumen and the services you require"
"Isn't it a waste that you'd rot your finest years on simple, cheap bounty work when you can be part of something greater?" the man inquired
"Tell me again what a man of your reputation is doing stooping to my level then?" Sephiroth smirked, "you with your vanity can't seem to understand, that I have no need or desire for your mundane trivialities in a war which was conceived by men like you"
"And yet here we are…"
"And the fact that am I here, says I have a price" Sephiroth paused, "let me be abundantly clear, I will be the reason, the single most important reason you will ever have for winning your war" he explained emphatically.
"So confident?"
"There are few things I can boast about, bringing certain victory and impeccable kills is my specialty, but the second thing I'm also very good at, is ensuring that I'm paid every cent, every asset, every single thing promised by my employer. You would not like to test me for I am certain it might well be your last" he paused, "so… tell me, are you ready to agree to my terms?"
"I already have" the man walked into the light and stuck out his hand to do business with the monster that had no allegiance to anyone.
It reminded him now he had indeed grown up – that a deal like that struck years ago only chorused his ignorance in youth and his limited capacity to understand the full weight of his actions – after all what fool signs up to fight in a war for a salary? With everything he had accomplished he felt dried up, and exhausted …
It had taken him so many years to engineer key milestones and forge his way to the top, all for the savage glory of fighting in a war he had no real reason to fight. He was indifferent from these men, with no real understanding of who was the good guy from the bad. Then again, hadn't he chosen?
Sephiroth felt his insides twist when there on the couch was the new Black Crescents uniform. This would definitely be the last one he wore – with its impressive black material, golden buttons and military ranking medals, he thought he might look indeed presentable.
In the other room he could hear Tifa softly humming. She had certainly grown rather familiar with this place called his residence. His mind wandered back to a conversation not minutes ago.
"I must say your suggestions on these charters are quite something" Rufus spoke
Sephiroth nodded, "I'm only doing my job"
"Of course"
Rufus then looked down, "I also called you here for another reason" his eyes fell to the glass of wine in his hand.
Sephiroth observed the change in demeanour.
"The Lockhart girl…" he whispered, "I've been reasoning how best to utilize her presence in the war. I must confess I should have thought more on this matter but you know me" he jested.
"And have you found an appropriate means to utilize her?" Sephiroth inquired.
"Yes I have" Rufus smirked, "I plan to kill her as a statement of fear to her father – to her people. I'll have her hoisted and dangled from the roof of Black Crescents suffocating her last breath" he explained.
"Sounds elaborate…" Sephiroth admitted.
"Admittedly yes" he nodded, "but it is the finale of the war might as well have some fun don't you think?! Besides, I've kept her around for far too long. I should have listened to my father when I had the chance to dispose of her" his eyes once more found the glass of wine.
Sephiroth nodded. "Very well, let me know when you require her"
"Will do, that will be all for now, General" Rufus dismissed
Sephiroth found his eyes to the woman who was fast away reading a book and there was an expression that again found his face. The pacifist had to die for that was the unmistakable truth. An inauguration kill as was commonly known, was what Rufus had proposed with its sole intention to break the spirit of her father and her people.
Tifa's eyes suddenly found Sephiroth's and she asked, "everything alright?"
Sephiroth nodded, "yes"
"Great, look what I found – this great book about war machines" she smiled, "you have a lot books about war don't you?"
Indeed, it was all he knew.
Tifa looked out the window and saw the great mass of soldiers collected in the courtyard. There were only two days remaining and here it was they had amassed and were ready to move out into the East – to home, she whispered. Something in her heart twisted and the feeling she had tried so long to dismiss found her once more in great intensity. She sighed and knew with all certainty what it meant…
Her eyes found the reflection of Sephiroth who was fast away reading a book about many great and valorous things great men before him had done and yet Sephiroth was in a war that went past the pages of his learning…
He had spoken to her about the end of the war, about what it meant for soldiers like him and there was a thought that distressed her, that beneath flesh and bone was something far more dangerous - a vision of victory. Like Sephiroth, many were just fighting because this was all they knew; men who had missing hearts, missing parts, veered into darkness to proclaim victory and more tragically, hope.
Yet the more she saw she realized the deficiency of pacifism as a dead art. It was a quiet institution meant for negotiating ears but with the loudness of men who celebrated the finesse of their work in war machines and devices, what use was pacifism to them?
"How many will die…" she whispered listlessly against the pane of window.
Sephiroth who had been attuned to reading heard her measly whisper.
Maybe hundreds, thousands would die… but that would be Black Crescents, what about Red Hearts – who else would die for this cause?
"All" Sephiroth spoke aloud interjecting her bubble.
"What?" Tifa found herself looking back at him.
"I said" he eyed her intently, "all will die." He paused, "eventually we all do"
"All lives are important, how can you be so callous?" she strewed
"Live as long as I have and you realize death is not this frightening thing conceived, but a ticket to your freedom. Like it or not pacifist the war has her way with all" he informed.
"And I suppose we ..we just accept it?" she questioned
He smirked, "no, but war is something only natural, almost as air is to humans"
"I don't understand" she confessed.
"Look around you…" he started, "men want their voices and agendas heard and for the rest of us to fall in line subserviently" he explained. "Eventually they grow tired of the cushy life inventing reasons to dispose of it for the belief of something better; unfortunately war is just the mechanism used to achieve the results" he explained.
"I don't believe you" she shook her head
"Think of your father for a second – isn't he fighting for a better way to live, on quote? So then, Rufus Shinra what does he fight for and who gets to decide with such impartiality who the hell is really the good guy?" he asked, "no Lockhart, there is no good guy in war and that too is another fact about it"
"And yet there are innocent people who suffer at the hands of war, Sephiroth" she explained, "you can't tell me they aren't the good ones worth fighting for?"
"And yet if I've brainwashed them all their lives who the enemy were, are they as white as the snow before them?" he shut the book, "it's easy to pawn the reason we do the worst of things for the noblest of reasons but enough is enough, when you realize everyone is diseased to the ideals of their leaders and as long as that parasite has invaded their thinking no man really is a good man"
".. and you can make this assessment?" she found it hard he could relish in the idea.
He smirked, "I'm a device of war whose seen both sides. I've seen the best of leaders stoop to the lowest of depths, and the worst of the ranks do the noblest of things and yet guilty are they both for they have congealed the perfect breeding ground for war"
She shakily breathed and felt her lungs tighten, "I've lived all my life believing we could achieve peace, believing men like my father, men like you could be free to live your lives…"
He breathed deeply.
"Was I… was I foolish to believe in any of it?" she whispered.
He approached her deftly, "peace is at the crux of war, Lockhart. It isn't the foolish thing to hope for, but it is the expensive merchandise that comes at a great price. So while I don't know the ways of pacifism, nor could I ever speak of its significance at times like this, I am aware it's importance is not limited, but necessary." He sighed, "I suppose if I had the chance…if I had the time, I would surely like to hear about your peace"
"My peace? Isn't it yours too?"
He looked into the distance, "no" he deftly responded, "there could never be peace for someone like me, before, during or after the war…"
"Then stay with me… run away with me and leave this place behind.."
He touched her cheek, "you foolish woman…" he breathed deeply, "I've made my bed a long time ago. Besides, you and I have different fates – and this is something you must accept sooner rather than later"
"…I won't accept it Sephiroth" she confessed.
"Then the danger is, you'll find yourself broken at the end of the war" he traced her lips with his finger.
"I don't want you to die" it was a tiny whisper
"We can't choose if we will or not, that's up to good ole fate"
"I won't let you die"
"Then I'll have immortality where it matters most" he whispered.
"Where's that?" she narrowed her eyes questioningly.
"In here" he pointed to her heart.
Tears flooded her eyes and her heart broke… 'Sephiroth' she lamented.
Rufus had read the last of the reports and a victorious smile touched his lips. His mech was working perfectly according to Tseung and that was saying a lot considering this victory couldn't come sooner.
There was just one more day for the great war and all of this would be over and decided with once and for all.
He noticed the usual busyness of Black Crescents had significantly lesser as half its troops were deployed to engage what appeared to be fifteen hundred Red Heart soldiers sent to their death.
Still, the place was rather quiet, too quiet.
His top Generals were all in resting and the topic once more of Tifa Lockhart had risen to the table. Velrog had an entertaining idea to kill her when her father drew near, but something about that seem like a waste of time. No, he would kill her simple and fast and use her death as a statement on the day of the battle.
A knock came to the door and Velrog peeked his head in.
"May I join you?" Velrog asked.
"Yes, I could do with the company" Rufus started.
"How are you? I mean what with the war a day away?" Velrog said it rather less than conservatively.
"Well thank you for lacking the finesse to be more coy…" Rufus laughed, laughter itself being strange to muster in a time like this, "in all honesty, anxious.."
"You've spent many years perfecting the strategy, many years putting this together, so whatever you decide just don't question what you've done and the victory in your hands" he explained.
"Whoorah!" Rufus joked sarcastically, "have you ever wondered though how things would have been if it didn't go according to plan?" he inquired.
Velrog stood up and walked to the tea tray set earlier for Rufus' refreshment.
"I have. I've always thought about my death and the honour it would bring to serve in the splendor of this war" he slowly poured his tea, "it isn't easy to brave the thought, admittedly" he confessed, "but as long as I remain a child of this war, I'm subject to believe in my mortality" he sipped his tea, "good tea"
"It's Ginseng" Rufus seem upset to hear his father's words.
"Though I would admit I never imagined yours for some reason" he explained.
The look of innocence just briefly crossed the younger man's face, "why's that?"
"Because you… you're different. Unlike me, you embody a fierce will to achieve the impossible and you're relentless in chasing what makes us great"
"And what exactly is that, father?" Rufus questioned.
"Perseverance" he answered, "perseverance from a leader"
"Mm…"
"You don't believe me?"
"I've wondered since a child what a leader really meant and for as long as I knew myself I pretended to be you just with a little more hot air" he laughed but it faded, "but pretending left me useless, left me with questions, left me with hatred because it made me feel insecure about who I was… " he paused, "I've asked this question before, but am I really the best one to man this war?"
"Rufus now's not the time to be –
"That's not what I meant…" Rufus shook his head, "what I mean is, I wish I had a chance to do it all over and do it right. Where I could be the type of man people looked up to because I had nobility; not because I'm your son with a temper. In the end… we all crave to be immortal but I fear my immortality is congealed as a temperament or maybe an anarchist" he shook his head.
"I think you've grown up" Velrog smirked.
Rufus leaned into his chair observing the silly look.
"You've always craved the world's attention not realizing you already had it. Yet the quickest way to ensure you become immortal is to lead with conviction of what you know and that's our victory. Some things are certain Rufus and it's about time you know it to be true"
To Be Continued…
AN: Guys I'm very proud of myself right now – I updated twice for the year so far, like say what? Anyways, I want to say thank you so much truly, for all the kind words left on the last chapter, you guys don't know how much I truly appreciate them, ah you guys are awesome! Please leave some love and support and hopefully we'll get this story finished up this year!