Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You)
I've been watching your world from afarI've been trying to be where you are
And I've been secretly falling apart
Unseen
To me, you're strange and you're beautiful
You'd be so perfect with me
But you just don't see
You turn every head but you don't see me
I'll put a spell on you
You'll fall asleep
Yeah I'll put a spell on you
And when you wake
I'll be the first thing you see
And you'll realise that you love me
Aqualung
Shifting Leon's unconscious bulk to a more secure position across his shoulder, Cloud ascended the stairs of the Seventh Heaven bar as quickly as he could while still remaining relatively quiet. Everything was beginning to make sense to the blond and he needed a few minutes to himself to both absorb what was going on and how best to deal with it from this point. The last thing he needed was attempting to explain everything to worried friends prone to overreaction. Hell, Cloud could barely explain it to himself; he doubted anyone else was going to believe him.
The blond passed by the entrance to the bar and breathed an inward sigh of relief when the voices of his friends failed to break off from the rather colourful conversation they all seemed to be engaged in. Cloud heard both his own and Leon's names mentioned and immediately had no wish to hear anything further. He knew exactly what sort of mind Yuffie had. Cloud had managed only a couple more steps, when he heard light footsteps heading towards the stairwell.
"Leon? Finished checking up on Cloud?" Tifa stepped out of the bar, one hand still absently polishing a glass with a cloth and froze when she saw Cloud carrying the unconscious man. Her dark eyes widened before abruptly narrowing and Cloud could hear the interrogation that was forming behind the woman's lips.
Turning to face her fully, Cloud shifted one hand away from supporting Leon to briefly press a finger against his lips in a plea for silence. He couldn't cope with the others finding out at the moment and he hoped Tifa would be understanding enough to let Cloud avoid a public question and answer session.
Catching the blond's gesture, Tifa paused and pressed her lips into a thin, white line. With a sigh she nodded curtly, shooting Cloud a look that told him in no uncertain terms that this was a temporary reprieve and there were going to be some serious questions when she saw him next. Cloud nodded back, chancing a small, hesitant smile, before quickly turning and hurrying up to Leon's room. He heard Tifa re-enter the bar and casually brush off the enquiries of the others and breathed a sigh of relief.
Placing Leon carefully on the bed, Cloud leaned over the man to study his condition. What he saw didn't reassure him.
Deeply unconscious, Leon's form was wracked with constant tremors as though shivering from the cold. His skin had paled to almost match Cloud's complexion, though with an unhealthy, clammy sheen. Even as Cloud watched, the moisture on Leon's skin crystallised into tiny frost crystals. The man's lips were a pale blue and his breath formed small clouds on each exhalation.
Anxiously, Cloud reached out to rest a hand against Leon's forehead, but flinched back when the skin on skin contact with his bare hand resulted in the ice crystals growing larger with an audible cracking sound. Cloud stared before hurriedly moving away and ripping open drawers and cupboards in order to find blankets or some way of warming the man up.
Running footsteps up the stairs informed Cloud that Tifa was on her way and sure enough the woman burst into the room scant moments later.
"Cloud? What's happened? He just suddenly got up and ran out muttering something about you being in trouble." Pausing in the doorway, the brunette instantly noticed Leon and audibly sucked in her breath. "Cloud…"
Moving onto the next set of drawers, Cloud glanced over his shoulder before turning to his task. "Blankets."
"What?" Tifa approached the bed and frowned at Leon's unconscious figure in worry. "Cloud, he's covered in frost…"
Slamming the drawer shut, Cloud rose to his feet and turned Tifa to face him. "He needs blankets and I don't know where they are."
Tifa paused for a moment before her practical nature kicked in and she immediately set to getting Leon completely swathed in every spare blanket she could find. Cloud watched the way she immediately took charge of the situation with a small smile of relief. It was one of the things he'd really grown to respect about his childhood friend; awkward questions would always be left until the situation was under control.
Now all Cloud had to worry about was just how he was supposed to answer the aforementioned questions satisfactorily. He had a hunch, but he doubted Tifa would appreciate Cloud testing it. Namely as it involved skin on skin contact with Leon and seeing if the other man got even colder as a result. It was as though Leon was literally giving Cloud the cold shoulder.
Cloud paused, and rethought his last words. Maybe not so much a cold shoulder as a general way of warding Cloud away from Leon? Cloud swore under his breath as he raked a hand through his blond hair in agitation. Of course, the brunet had to have been aware of Cloud drawing power from him in order to fight Sephiroth and he probably hadn't been very well prepared for the experience thanks to Cloud's distinct lack of warning before jumping right in with drawing on the other man's magic. This was no doubt a reaction from that. Cloud pressed his hands against his face and wondered if it was possible to disappear.
"Cloud? I've got every blanket in the building heaped on top of him and he's not warming up. What the hell is wrong with him?"
Cloud slid his fingers apart to stare mournfully at Tifa through the cracks. "It's all my fault."
Tifa fell silent, studying first Cloud and then Leon. Understanding dawned. "You did that thing again, didn't you? Drawing on his power source or whatever."
Letting his hands fall slowly back down to his sides Cloud nodded as he wrapped his arms around his middle. "I didn't see what else I could do. There wasn't really time to explain things to him, so I just apologised and … well…"
Frowning, Tifa placed her hands on her hips in disapproval. "Cloud…"
Knowing better than to stay silent under that particular look – especially when that familiar pair of leather gloves were dangling from one of Tifa's pockets, Cloud took a deep, fortifying breath. "I'm not sure, but I think this is a reaction against my … intrusion. He's trying to get rid of me."
Tifa looked back at Leon. "But … you're not still feeding from him, are you?"
Cloud's arms tightened around his thin frame. "I don't think I am. It's probably a delayed reaction … but I can't think how to stop it."
"Why the ice?" Tifa asked.
Cloud shrugged. "I think it's the element he has the most affinity with. I found myself naturally using ice spells with the power I pulled from him."
Tifa snorted. "Figures. The two of you are a good match for each other." With a sigh, Tifa leant over Leon and cautiously tried to rub some of the frost from the man's skin. "Now we just have to work out how to get this one's defences back down." At the lack of response from Cloud, Tifa's back stiffened for a moment before she sagged and sighed once more. "And there's more you're not telling me."
"Sorry."
"Don't apologise, just realise that I'm on your side here!" Tifa snapped before turning to face Cloud. "Look, Cloud, surely you know by now that we're not going to judge you. If there's something that's bothering you, then tell us. We're your friends and we'll help you, we're not going to turn our backs on you. No matter what it is."
Cloud managed to drum up a faint smile. "Thanks."
Satisfied that she had successfully averted Cloud from moping any more than was strictly necessary, Tifa nodded to herself before turning her attention back to Leon. "Right. First of all we need to establish if you are indeed still drawing power from him, consciously or not. How can we do that?"
Cloud frowned as he considered the question. "I guess … I just concentrate on my own reserves. If I'm still using magic on some level, then I should slowly be draining my power levels."
Tifa tilted her head. "What about if you're not?" Seeing Cloud's hesitation over an answer, she sighed heavily. "This is another of the things you've yet to tell me, isn't it? Fine, forget I asked. It can wait until wychboy here is conscious again."
There was a pause as Tifa simply looked at Cloud in an expectant manner and Cloud gazed rather blankly back.
Tifa raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
Cloud frowned slightly with a questioning expression, clearly not understanding.
Tifa rolled her eyes and counted to ten before she gave into the urge to slap Cloud around the head and see if it improved his mental functions. "Are you still drawing power from him, Cloud?"
Cloud's eyes widened in comprehension and he glanced over at Leon with a faint frown. Then he slid his eyes shut as the creases on his forehead deepened. Concentrating first on the sense of power that still resided somewhere within him, Cloud allowed his attention to transfer to the vague collection of emotions that seemed out of sync with the rest of his consciousness. Dimly he was aware of sinking to his knees as he focused on that part of his mind that remained out of place and found other anomalies. Images of people he was certain he'd never met, memories of events he had never experienced and then he was suddenly surrounded by what he could only describe as a presence.
Time passed, it was difficult to say how long. But Cloud suddenly realised that his eyes had opened again and he was staring directly into Tifa's worried face. Unable to help himself, his gaze travelled back once more to the unmoving form on the bed and Cloud had to fight the sudden urge to be violently sick.
"Cloud? Are you alright? Cloud?" Tifa's hands hovered uncertainly over his shoulders, as though afraid what response touching him might provoke. "What did you do, Cloud?"
"I…" His throat felt as though it had contracted into a small hard lump that bit off the rest of his sentence. Swallowing, Cloud frowned and tried again. "I think I need to go."
Tifa blinked. "What? You're going to leave him like this?"
"He'll be fine," Cloud told her quietly and indeed the ice was already melting from Leon's body. Rising to his feet, Cloud kept Tifa from meeting his eyes by staring resolutely at the floor. "I need to go." He moved past her swiftly, before she could think to grab him or in some way block his exit from the room.
"Where are you going?" Tifa called after him. "Cloud … you don't have to run away from this! We can help."
But what Cloud couldn't tell her was that she wouldn't be able to help and furthermore, he wasn't even sure that he could run away from the mess he had created. He could only try.
Although his eyes were closed, Leon could smell the distinct fragrance of the flowers which always bloomed by the orphanage. Some part of his mind was protesting that he was supposed to be in the middle of a vast city, miles away from the white-walled building of his childhood, but their scent was unmistakable. He inhaled deeply; savouring the way the floral sweetness was laced with the faintest traces of brine from the nearby sea before opening his eyes.
The sunlight was almost dazzling for a few moments, and Leon instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes from the worst of it as he squinted at the scene before him. There was a figure standing out amongst the pink blossoms, rendered as little more than a silhouette against the strong light and facing away from Leon.
I'll be waiting here…Blinking, Leon shook his head and saw that rather than the long dark hair and fluttering blue cloth that he remembered so clearly, the figure was distinctly masculine in build and topped with a head of outrageous blond spikes. His eyes no longer narrowed merely as a result of the sun, Leon moved closer to the man he recognised as Cloud.
As he moved alongside the blond, Cloud glanced briefly at Leon from the corner of his eye. There was something terribly sad about his expression, and also a touch guilty. Leon had little more than a moment to notice this however before the blond looked away across the field once more.
"She'd have loved it here." The quietly spoken words were wistful and Leon wasn't altogether sure that they had even been addressed to him. Cloud certainly showed no sign of acknowledging him even as he continued to speak. "You can still see the flowers she grew in that old church. But pink was always her favourite colour and she could only ever manage to grow white and yellow."
"She?" Leon questioned
Another glance lasting mere fractions of a second. "The last of the Cetra. Though she appeared to just be a flower-seller when I met her." A small snort of what could have been laughter. "I called her the town drunk and she hired me to be her bodyguard."
Past tense, Leon noted. Pushing that particular puzzle to one side for the moment, he chose instead to focus on more immediate issues. "Weren't we in Midgar?"
Cloud's features contracted for a moment. "We still are, really. I needed to talk to you though, so I came here. I'm sorry for intruding."
Leon watched Cloud dip into an apologetic bow with a vague frown. As the blond rose, he chanced another glimpse at Leon and obviously found Leon's lack of smiles far from reassuring as Cloud immediately returned his gaze to the ground.
"I'm sorry for this. I didn't immediately realise what I'd done, I was just desperate," Cloud explained somewhat halting. "He … I had to block him, keep him out of my head while I was so weak. I was pretty much drained so he thought I'd be an easy target. I should have asked you first, warned you, but I panicked and acted instinctively. It's no wonder you reacted so strongly against it."
Leon's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything as he watched the blond wrap his arms protectively across his chest.
"All things considered this is probably yet another stupid thing for me to do, but it's clear you're not going to let me talk to you 'out there'. I don't blame you." The blond paused again to draw in a deep breath as he turned away from Leon. He seemed to be desperate to keep talking, to try and soothe things over before Leon presumably condemned him. Leon however still wasn't entirely sure what the blond was talking about and chose to keep quiet in the hope that the situation might finally be explained.
With hindsight, this was probably a mistake as it seemed that Cloud took his silence for condemnation.
"I want you to know that it's going to be okay," Cloud said with a firm nod of his head that was probably more for the blond's benefit than Leon's. "I know how to fix this. You don't need to worry about any of this anymore. All you have to do is head home. It won't be safe for you in Midgar; you're what they're looking for."
"I thought you were," Leon pointed out, thinking back over everything he'd seen since first encountering the other man.
Cloud's nose wrinkled for a moment as he shook his head. "I'm the black sheep of the family. Just a somewhat rebellious but otherwise insignificant tool. But I could draw them to you and I won't let that happen." Turning his back on Leon, Cloud began to make his way through the field of flowers, becoming a blurry shadow against the sun. "Head home Leon," Cloud called back to him. "Head home and your life will go back to normal. I promise."
Leon opened his eyes to find Tifa leaning over him and watching gingerly as though he was about to burst into flames or something equally bizarre. He felt strange however; there was a weird sensation that he couldn't quite place, but didn't find wholly pleasant. Other than that, however, he appeared to be fine.
This was obviously also the opinion Tifa had come to as she was looking more relieved by the moment as she straightened up and gave Leon room to sit up in his bed. "I take it you're feeling okay, then?" she asked him pleasantly, though her smile was a touch strained around the edges.
Leon nodded as he looked around the otherwise empty room. He couldn't quite explain it, but he'd half-expected someone else to be there.
Tifa was obviously watching him closely as she cleared her throat. "Cloud was here earlier, but he's not around at the moment. He left a while ago." There again was the tightening of her mouth and Leon surmised that Tifa was not overwhelmingly pleased with this development.
"Oh," he said, feeling that he was expected to contribute something.
Tifa's lips thinned further for a moment as she glared at the wall on the far side of the room, but she didn't add anything to her statement. Obviously she either didn't know where the other man had gone, or wasn't prepared to say, Leon guessed. He also had the impression that this was quite a regular occurrence where the blond was concerned.
Moving away from the obviously thorny issue of Cloud's current whereabouts, Leon cast his mind back to the last things he remembered before he presumably passed out. "There was a man outside the bar threatening Cloud. I think he used magic."
Tifa frowned. "What did he look like?"
"Tall. Long, silver hair and green eyes," Leon said, noting more how Tifa's face drained steadily of colour than anything else. "You know him, then."
To his inner surprise, Tifa suddenly seemed to steel herself and shook her head. "No. Your description reminded me of someone, but he's dead. This person is probably connected to him in some way, but it can't be him."
Tifa looked more like she was trying to convince herself and Leon was about to point this out to her when there was the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. "Squall? Are you in here?" Moments later a slender brunette dressed in summery yellow all but sprang into the room. "Squall!"
Wincing slightly at the enthusiasm, Leon inclined his head a fraction. "Selphie. And it's Leon."
Selphie paused, blinking her cat green eyes at him for a moment. "What happened to you?"
Leon shook his head as he swung his legs to the floor and rose to his feet. "Nothing. I'm fine."
"You always say that," Selphie pointed out, her hands placed firmly on her hips before her gaze strayed to Tifa who was still sat on the bed. Instantly her expression turned mischievous and she smiled widely at the older woman. "Oh where are my manners! You must think I'm as bad as Squall here! I'm Selphie."
Tifa shook the proffered hand somewhat cautiously, her eyes flickering over to where Leon stood impassively pretending none of this was happening. "Nice to meet you," she murmured. "Umm, Squall?"
"I don't go by that name anymore," Leon clarified for the confused brunette. He narrowed his eyes at the unrepentant Selphie. "However some of my colleagues refuse to admit the fact."
"Colleagues … are you a member of SeeD as well then?" Tifa asked Selphie politely. Leon awarded the woman extra points for banishing any hint of incredulity from her voice and expression.
Selphie laughed. "Absolutely! Trabia Garden's finest. We're not all silent sourpusses like our fearless leader here. In fact, he's the exception rather than the rule."
"Selphie, what are you doing here?" Leon asked, unwilling to let the conversation continue on its current track.
Selphie's expression switched into a more professional demeanour. "You're wanted back at Balamb. Quistis wasn't pleased to find you'd suddenly taken off like you did either. Especially following a conversation with Seifer."
"I felt it was important," Leon informed her. "But give me a few minutes to get my things together."
"You're leaving?" Tifa enquired, her expression vaguely troubled. "Now?"
Leon nodded, unsure just what response Tifa was hoping for. While he could tell that for some reason she was reluctant to see him leave, he didn't see what she expected him to do instead. In any case, he wasn't actually getting anything done other than passing out at bizarre moments. Sharing his observations with his colleagues back in Balamb and investigating whether anything of a similar nature to this wych-hunting craze had taken hold back home had to be a priority about now.
Selphie was watching Tifa closely, a sympathetic expression on her face. "Don't worry about him, he's always like this," she reassured the older woman. "It might seem like he doesn't care, but he probably just hasn't realised he's being rude and unromantic." Directing a commanding green glare at Leon, Selphie shot him a pointed look. "You're at least going to say goodbye; right, Squall?"
"It's Leon," Leon corrected automatically as he gathered up his things and headed over to the door. He nodded in Tifa's direction. "I'll be in touch. If you need help, let me know."
Tifa turned away from Leon to look out of the window. "I'll pass the message on to Cloud when I see him next."
Leon paused for a moment, not even quite sure why he was hesitating. With a firm mental shake of his head, Leon left the room and swiftly made his way down the stairs.
Reno and Rude were standing at the doorway to the bar, watching his descent. Rude's expression was as unreadable as always, but Reno's eyes were narrowed and the usual mocking smirk was absent from his face. "Leaving, huh?" the redhead commented as Leon passed.
Leon slowed and gave a brief nod. "For now. I've been called back home."
Reno looked as though he was going to say something else, but Rude clamped a hand on the shorter man's shoulder as he leaned forwards slightly. "Have a safe trip," Rude offered as he calmly derailed Reno. Leon and Rude exchanged silent nods before Reno turned on his dark-skinned colleague to give the other man a sustained diatribe about cutting him off in the midst of exuding attitude and Leon carried on down the stairs and out at street-level.
Selphie was leaning against a sporty-looking car, clearly something she picked out personally if the jaunty shade of yellow was anything to go by. She bounced into an upright position as Leon emerged and watched him with a badly suppressed smile as he loaded his few things into the car. Leon ignored his fellow SeeD the entire time it took to stow away a meagre amount of belongings and then turned to face her, inwardly cursing the fact that he always travelled light and therefore was unable to put off this moment any longer.
Seeing that the opportunity was ripe, Selphie wasted no time in getting stuck in. "That was an awfully quick goodbye, Squall."
"Leon," Leon corrected absently as he folded his arms across his chest.
Not deterred in the least, Selphie clasped her hands together loosely and began to swing her arms out in front of her. "The two of you seemed to be getting on well and she clearly didn't want you to go. Are you really just going to waltz off into the setting sun leaving her with nothing more than a brief 'whatever'?"
Leon fought the urge to roll his eyes as he simply turned and climbed into the car. Selphie seemed to interpret his actions as embarrassment for she squealed in delight before making her way over to join him. Once sat in the car beside Leon, she reached over to pat him comfortingly on the knee. "You know I'm pleased to see you melting off some of that ice again, really. It's good to see you finally starting to put the past behind you." Turning the key in the ignition, Selphie revved the engine for a few moment before grinning at the SeeD commander with her hand safely transferred to the handbrake. "The others are going to die when I tell them this, you know. In fact … this calls for a celebration! I'll start organising with the Garden Committee as soon as we get back!"
The hand brake was released and with a squeal of tires and smoke, Selphie swung the car into the road at breakneck speed. Leon pinched the bridge of his nose and wondered if there was still time to jump out and head back to Seventh Heaven.
After his reception amongst the common population of the NWCs, the warmth of the greeting Leon received on his return to Balamb caught him off-guard. He blinked and watched with a certain sense of dislocation as numerous colleagues and fellow SeeDs came up to welcome him back from his trip and enquire after his health. He sent most of them contentedly on their way with a few brief grunts before the low and constant giggling from where Selphie stood at his side registered. Turning, he frowned slightly at her amusement. "Selphie, could you please assemble the others in the usual meeting room? There are things we need to discuss."
Selphie's carefree grin of earlier was abruptly replaced with the serious and focused demeanour of the professional the young woman actually was as she snapped off a sharp salute. "Yes Sir!" she responded, before ruining the look with a quick wink as she ran off to round up their somewhat eclectic band of friends.
Leon watched her go before turning to rub his forehead tiredly with one hand. He paused for a moment when he felt the tensed muscles of a frown and wondered how long he'd been making that expression without realising it. There was still that strange, nagging sensation at the back of his mind that he couldn't really put words to. Perhaps all those strange periods of blacking out had been due to some virus he was coming down with, Leon mused before dismissing the notion. In any case, there was a meeting to attend.
Leon made it all the way to the meeting room without being waylaid by anymore good-natured enquiries after his health which served to improve his mood immeasurably. As he stepped through the doors, there was an expression on his face that could even have been described as close to content.
"Yo Squall, what's all this Selphie's been tellin' us about you gettin' friendly with some hot brunette?"
Leon squeezed his eyes shut as he reminded himself to breathe deeply and calmly. "Hello again, Irvine," he said levelly as he opened his eyes again to meet the gaze of the grinning man across the room from him. "May we start the meeting now?"
"Aww, you're no fun," Irvine protested, leaning back in his seat to watch Leon more easily from under the brim of his cowboy hat. "Don't go keepin' secrets from us. If some chick's melted the Ice Prince of Balamb's heart, then we want details!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about and there's business we need to discuss," Leon said. He shot a glare around the room, inwardly disappointed that it seemed to have lost much of its original effect on his colleagues. Facing down Sorceresses obviously did that to you. Rising above Irvine's attempts to tease him about some supposed fling, Leon cleared his throat and launched straight into his debriefing.
"The reason behind my trip to the NWCs was to investigate the group known as Organisation XIII. They claimed to be dedicated to eliminating a threat known as Wyches, or individuals still capable of working magic through some inner power source."
"Sounds like a Sorceress," Quistis observed with a frown.
Leon nodded, relieved that at least one of the others was paying attention to his words and not speculating about his social life. "In a lot of ways, they sound very similar," he agreed. "However, Wyches are thought to be predominantly male. Whether there's any truth behind these claims, or whether it's nothing more than an attempt at keeping the population cowed is not something I was able to determine. Mainly because rumour and superstition have taken powerful hold and unfortunately my appearance worked against me." Leon paused, noticing the doors at the far end of the meeting room open slightly as Seifer entered the room.
The blond smirked at Leon by way of greeting before casually leaning against the far wall, watching the discussion but making no move to take a more active part. He seemed content to study Leon with an expression Leon found hard to decipher. He watched the man for a few moments until it became clear that no conversation would be forthcoming and turned his focus back to where his friends were discussing amongst themselves exactly what Leon did wrong to arouse suspicion.
"Well, you can't expect the NWCs to understand SeeDs," Zell was saying with his trademark energy. "Squall probably stomped around, glaring at everyone and they thought he was a scary mercenary instead of a highly respected SeeD Commander."
"While I don't think Squall's attitude would have helped to endear him to the populace, I don't think we can make assumptions with little to no knowledge of the sort of superstition that surrounds Wyches," Quistis argued with far more reason. "Observation from a distance to get some feel for local customs was probably the best idea and from here we can send in someone who is less likely to raise suspicion or unduly stand out."
"Well if these Wyches are meant to be guys, then the answer is surely sending in some fine lookin' ladies like yourselves," Irvine drawled as he grinned at Selphie and Quistis. "You can stand and look cute until the Wyches come to you."
Clearing his throat forcefully, Leon cut through the low level of conversation. "There's definitely a situation developing out there," he informed the group. "Though at this time it's hard to know exactly what that may be. More reconnaissance is therefore the minimum that we should be looking into. I made some contacts that I think are worth developing and should provide us with a safe base to work from when we head back."
As the others began to suggest strategies for this, Leon's eyes strayed to the back of the room once again just in time to see Seifer leave. Without even really thinking about how the others would react, Leon immediately moved to follow him. "I'll be back in a while. Let me know what you decide on," he called over his shoulder as he hit the door release. He quickly ducked through just as his departure began to register with the others. There was a brief moment of complaint from Quistis before the closing door mechanism cut her off.
Uncertain of whether someone, most probably Selphie, would be sent to track him down and bring him back to the main discussion, Leon decided to make the most of his headstart and scanned the corridor in both directions for some idea of where Seifer would have headed. Expecting to see little more than the tail-end of the blond's trench-coat disappearing out of sight, Leon had to pause for a moment when he saw the other man leaning against the wall a little way for him, clearly waiting for Leon. Upon making eye-contact with Leon, Seifer pushed himself upright with a small sneer and jerked his head towards Garden's exit. "We need to talk."
With a small nod of agreement, Leon fell into step just behind the other man. He could feel the slight frown from earlier returning to his features as he fought to dismiss the feeling that Seifer knew a lot more about what was going on than he was willing to admit. And he couldn't help but wonder both how Seifer had acquired that information and why he had decided to entrust it, at least partially, to Leon. Was it because he wanted to watch Leon flounder in a situation he couldn't make any real sense of, or did Seifer have another agenda?
With only the smallest acknowledgement that Leon was following behind, Seifer led the two of them out of Garden and towards the small bar where their last meeting had sparked this whole misadventure. Leon lingered for a moment in the doorway, his frown deepening as he watched Siefer make his way to the bar and sit at one of the many empty stools there. The blond calmly ordered a drink from the bored-looking bartender and sipped at the clear spirit he received in return for a few moments before finally glancing over at Leon. "Well? Isn't the fearless leader at least going to get a drink? Or are you going to stand there and pout at me the whole time?"
Moving slowly into the bar, Leon took the stool next to Seifer and gestured for the barman to bring him his usual scotch. "Are you going to tell me precisely what this is supposed to be?" he asked Seifer, his eyes never once straying form the drink in front of him to the blond that sat beside him, sipping vodka.
Seifer snorted. "This is supposed to be two old rivals attempting to behave like the adults they are and discuss things in a civilised manner over drinks," he said. "Of course, if you want something a little more traditional, I can always hammer the message home in the training grounds like old times."
It was Leon's turn to make a dismissive noise. "You wish." He took a drink from the glass in front of him and savoured the burn of alcohol for a moment before turning to face Seifer directly. "You clearly know something about what's going on in the NWCs, or you wouldn't have brought it to my attention to start with. I've got no idea on how to deal with what I encountered out there, so I'd like a straight answer on just what's going on out there … what happened to me … what the hell I'm supposed to do about the situation."
Seifer watched this speech impassively and turned back to stare into his drink when Leon was finished. "You could start by not being such an idiot."
Leon blinked. "Excuse me?"
Seifer made as if to glance at Leon from the corner of his eye while he ordered another drink, but something in Leon's expression made the blond pause. Seifer studied Leon, seemingly looking for something in the other man's face before he turned away to knock his vodka back with a scowl. "I should have known. You can't even see it. How did someone like you get all the breaks anyway?"
Leon would have asked Seifer to explain himself, but Leon had been trying that every time he'd opened his mouth to speak to the blond and it clearly hadn't worked so far. He settled instead for narrowing his eyes into a glare that he trained on the other man until some sort of explanation was forthcoming.
Unfortunately Seifer had never seen the need to play nicely with others and it was clear he had little intention of starting now. Tilting his now empty glass and spinning it on the edge of its base, Seifer seemed content to stare off into the middle-distance. "People talk a lot about that whole Sorceress and her Knight romantic ideal, but there're actually precious few people outside of you and me who'd even have the faintest idea of what the reality entails. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be, and distinctly lacking in the noble, romantic department too." Seifer winced as he set the glass properly back on the bar. "Though considering it was Ultimecia that was probably a good thing. Even so, the only thing harder than being a Knight is not being able to be one anymore, you know? 'Cause now you're aware of what it feels like to be that linked to someone else and it's gone."
Not quite sure where this sudden confessional was heading, Leon simply sipped at his drink and nodded. "Rinoa at least tried to warn me. The reality was a bit more intense than I had been expecting."
Seifer winced. "Sometimes I wonder how the hell I even manage to not start acting like some emotionally needy idiot. It's … I can't really explain it. It's hollow, but there's an echo. And that's the worst bit because it stops you from being able to ignore it, won't let you forget what it felt like before. No wonder there aren't any stories about ex-Knights." Seifer snorted before glaring at Leon. "But none of this applies to you and you can't even work out why. Idiot."
Leon scowled right back at the blond. "Okay, so I'm not falling apart. Maybe that just means I'm dealing with this better than you."
"You're not dealing with it, Squall," Seifer sneered, "because you're not having to deal with it."
"I'm not a Knight anymore," Leon defended, allowing the hated name to slide by without a mention just this once. "I remember what it feels like to be a Knight and I think I'd recognise it if that happened again. And I don't feel any of what I did back then. There's no sense of intrusion, no compulsion at all. I'm in total control."
"That's because that stupid, self-sacrificing bastard gave you the choice," Seifer said. "And like the emotionally stunted Ice Prince you are, you went waltzing merrily on your way. You utter arsehole."
Leon blinked in surprise, his mind suddenly presenting him with images of Cloud of all people. Frowning, he reached up to rub at the bridge of his nose. "This doesn't make sense. What does this have to do with Cloud? Is he supposed to be a Wych or something?"
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Well at least you're not completely oblivious to the situation, just ignorant enough to come across as a complete bastard. I'm sure he'll appreciate the difference." Leaning forward on his folded arms, Seifer caught the attention of the barkeeper. "Hey, better just bring some bottles our way, okay? I think we're going to need them."
The bottles were deposited before them mere moments later and Seifer wasted no time as he immediately poured himself a large glass of clear spirit. Rather than make any move to drink the vodka, however, Seifer seemed content to swirl the contents of his glass as he frowned into his glass. "Wyches … in all truth, there's every possibility that they existed in both our worlds before the merger, but simply passed unnoticed under the cover provided by Guardian Forces for us and the NWCs' use of Materia. After all, everyone could use magic if they so chose, so who's going to notice if some people develop their skills a little faster … seem a little more adept? It was only when their external source of magic was removed that their abilities came to light. It's unusual, but I doubt it's unnatural. Simply a very rare trait.
"Wychkin though … or rather what's happened to that concept: that's all our fault." Seifer pulled a face and downed his drink.
Leon frowned as the name sparked a glimmer of recognition. "Wychkin … doesn't that have something to do with pets? Animals the Wych uses to spy on others or cast spells, right? I've heard of those, but I don't see where we come into it."
Seifer smiled without humour as he played with his glass. "Word about Sorceresses got out; people started pondering the similarities. There was one difference though: Knights were a very different concept to Wychkin. More powerful, more sense of control. They seemed superior and therefore a lot more desirable than some mere cat or what have you. There was just one problem; to override a person's own individual personality and will took a lot of power. Too much for the intended Wychkin to survive, and from what I hear, it's a really nasty way to go.
"But of course, since when would a zero success rate be enough to stop someone that obsessed with power? I heard rumours about a project that was being undertaken with the intention of making humans into Wychkin; an extra-powerful, supercharged variety that had hit on the secret ingredient. Seems people infused with this pure magical energy that NWCs used to have called Mako were able to handle the transformation process. Whether they were doing it willingly or not was another issue and quite frankly, I didn't exactly picture their test subjects lining up to be made into mindless batteries. But from what I heard about the guy running it, that wasn't ever going to be a real concern."
Seifer paused to refill his glass and glanced over at Leon as he did so. "From the fact that you're not rolling your eyes in disbelief and leaving right now, I'd guess you were either able to work some of this out for yourself or an awful lot of weird shit from before is starting to come clear for you. You've not heard the best bit yet, though. And by 'best bit', I mean 'bit most likely to make you wish you were merely dealing with stroppy Sorceresses again.'"
Leon drained his glass before setting it very carefully back on the bar and turning to meet Seifer's eyes. "And just what would that bit be?"
"So like I said, the whole idea of Wychkin is that a Wych could use one to gain power, but as far as I know there aren't any Wyches actively involved in the project. That's why these Organisation XIII people are desperate to get their hands on them all – it's before they get picked up for this project. Seems the guy behind it is aiming to become a Wych himself, by draining all these Wychkin suckers dry. He wants power, and he's got a taste for it. Apparently he was the best and brightest Mako-infused subject from this SOLDIER project before he went bad. And by all accounts, he really went bad: tried to destroy the world, but got blasted to another dimension by some rag-tag group of unknowns. Wherever he got sent, he managed to gather enough power to make his way back, but it took every ounce. So now he's out to exploit these Wychkin bastards and reopen that door so he can regain his power. I'm guessing, but I'd say it's a safe bet you won't be wanting to deal with him then."
"An accurate summation," Leon remarked calmly, despite the unpleasant conclusions his mind was drawing. "What was this man's name, or does your information not cover that much?"
Seifer grinned without humour as he knocked the last of his vodka out of the glass. "You doubting me, Squall? Guy's name is Sephiroth."
Leon nodded his thanks and rose, tossing the money on the bar as he did so. The image of Cloud as he'd appeared when Leon had first seen him, looking so tired and drained wouldn't disappear from his mind. "I need to head back there. Now."
Seifer snorted as he climbed to his feet behind Leon. "You're telling me."
Leon nodded as he pulled his phone from his jacket. "And you're telling everyone else. I'm leaving you in charge. I'll call if I need you."
As Leon left the bar, he heard Seifer laugh in amusement behind him. "Me in charge? Chicken-wuss is going to flip."
Night was falling by the time Leon made it back to Midgar, which he took as an advantage to his plans. His scar was less discernable at night, despite the numerous neon lights that flickered above bars and clubs in the area. As a result he attracted a minimum of stares as he moved through streets that still thronged with people regardless of the hour. He ignored them all anyway; the only thing he was focused on were Seifer's words from earlier and an almost indescribable sense of knowing that for whatever reason, he was the one person who truly stood a chance of being able to help Cloud. But back-up had never hurt anyone in a battle and so his first port of call was the Seventh Heaven bar.
The lights were all off when he reached the bar, and to all intents and purposes, the place looked closed. Leon stared up at it, his brow wrinkling in thought and then made his way around the side to the alleyway that contained the back entrance. The monstrosity of a motorcycle that had previously been kept there was gone, something Leon took to be a bad sign. Crossing over to the goods entrance door, Leon raised his fist and pounded on the door as forcefully as he could manage.
He'd swung his arm back for a sixth or so knock when the door flew open, proving that despite appearances, Seventh Heaven was not deserted. Tifa stood there in the doorway, her expression warring between extreme anger and concern. "How dare you just go running off without saying anything…" Her voice trailed off as she realised that the man in front of her wasn't Cloud and if anything, her expression grew more troubled. "Leon," she said, clearly struggling to regain her calm. "I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."
That strange little sensation at the back of Leon's mind was informing him quite strongly that now was not the time for ignoring the situation in favour of a pleasant spot of chit-chat. "Where is he?" he asked instead, cutting straight to the point with all of his customary tact.
Tifa's expression darkened. "What's it to you?" she demanded tartly. "I don't think this is any of your business. In fact, I seem to remember Cloud going to great lengths to keep you out of his business that you were only too happy to go along with!"
"He's in trouble," Leon stated, aware that the young woman no doubt knew this, but figuring that demonstrating his knowledge wouldn't hurt. "I can tell. Where is he?"
For a moment, Tifa looked achingly vulnerable then the steel core was firmly reasserted and she reassumed her standard no-nonsense demeanour. "I don't know. He just took off a couple of hours ago. He … he didn't look good."
Leon nodded, somehow not surprised that some part of him already knew the information. Deciding to trust a little more in that strange instinct, he stepped back from the doorway. "I'd be ready with potions, there's no telling what state he'll be in."
Tifa's arms folded across her chest and she frowned. "And you're giving me orders why?"
Leon treated her to a brief glance as he moved back to the street. "Because someone needs to take care of things here while I go and get him." Not waiting for a response, he strode back to the street and hopped into the sleek black convertible he'd liberated for the purpose when he'd reached the suburbs. It was strange, but the more attention he paid to that nagging sensation in his mind, the stronger it became and the more confidence he had in it. Whatever it was.
In any case, whatever it was, it was leading him directly towards the hulking fortress everyone in Midgar had named Hollow Bastion. Stuck in the centre of the city, in the ruins of what had once been the Headquarters of a company named ShinRa, the building looked fairly ominous to Leon's trained eye. And that was even before he took the strange swirling dark clouds that seemed to be centring on the building into consideration. They seemed to be having a curious warping effect on the sky that Leon could see through the breaks, making the full moon appear strangely heart-shaped. A cynical guess would have led Leon to conclude that's exactly where Cloud would have ended up, but he would have appreciated this weird sixth sense at least attempting to persuade him otherwise. Leon set his jaw and floored the accelerator.
The outer lying buildings were all deserted, making Leon's less than subtle entrance a whole lot less hassle. Spinning the car to a halt, Leon left it lying by what appeared to be some sort of warehouse as he took off in a run for the wide courtyard he could glimpse through the last few remaining structures. He could see the two figures stood there; one with the blond spikes that could only belong to Cloud and the other the silver-haired man Leon had vague memories of tangling with before.
Neither of the men seemed to notice Leon's approach, possibly due to the more unobtrusive style he had adopted seeing as he was now on foot, but more probably due to the fact that the pair were completely oblivious to anything but the other.
"Your defiance is unexpected, but a useless gesture nevertheless," the silver-haired man was saying, the casual tone of his voice somewhat at odds with the ferocity he was using to attack Cloud. "You will join us in the Reunion and together we shall open the door."
The chime of swords clashing against one another proved that Cloud had been less than won over by this approach, as he fought back with an equally outsized sword – this one much wider than the overlong and slender blade used by Cloud's adversary. "I'm not your puppet anymore, Sephiroth," the blond yelled back as he went on the offensive. "You can't get inside my mind!"
"And just how is it that the Failure is keeping me out?" Sephiroth mused as he dodged a vicious slice to his torso with impossible grace. "Who is blocking me from you?"
Cloud didn't answer, springing away from their locked blades to gather a few moments to catch his breath.
Lowering his sword, Sephiroth reached up to the sky with his other hand. "No matter. The door to darkness is opening."
Cloud had his sword raised and ready to renew his attack, but something checked his movement and instead he staggered back a step. Leon, finally close enough to step out onto the courtyard, paused. Wondering what could have caught Cloud off-guard, he felt his attention drift upwards and felt his jaw start to loosen in shock before he caught himself.
At first it was hard to tell exactly what was happening, but as Leon watched he realised that the dark clouds he'd seen swirling above the building as he'd approached were not actually clouds at all. They seemed to be pure shadow, yet there was no sign as to what was casting them. They were also slowly spiralling downwards to envelop Sephiroth's form completely and spread out across the courtyard. As the darkness began to stretch out over the ground, small shapes began to rise up out of it, at first indistinct but then evolving into small, clawed creatures with luminous yellow eyes and antennae type feelings in their heads instead of ears. They took no time in falling upon Cloud in a vicious burst of swiping claws and Leon saw his cue to lend a hand. Unsheathing his gunblade, he quickly took the last ten steps or so that brought him to Cloud's side and promptly slashed through at least four of the black monsters. They dissolved into nothingness as he did so, as did those dispatched by Cloud's sword.
Cloud's strange blue eyes had glanced briefly at Leon, but other than that the man hadn't stopped to greet Leon. Leon had creeping sense that Cloud had always known he was coming as the blond shifted his stance slightly so that he and Leon stood back to back. "Finally decided to step in, then," Cloud commented dryly as they hacked and slashed at their numerous opponents. "I was starting to think you were waiting for an invitation."
"This coming from the man that was all but ordering me to leave the city last time we met," Leon retorted as he fired off a shot from the gunblade to take out the creatures that had been hiding behind the first wave he'd just skewered. "I wasn't sure you wouldn't run off again and leave me to fight these things off on my own."
There was a low growl from over Leon's shoulder. "This is my fight," Cloud muttered stubbornly.
"Yes, and you called in reinforcements," Leon shot back, moving away briefly to crouch into a low spin that took care of at least five of the living shadows. The problem was, the creatures just seemed to keep coming. "Clearly demonstrating your intelligence."
Cloud was certainly holding his own at Leon's back, in both fighting off the enemies and keeping up with the conversation that neither was going to admit sounded a lot like bickering. "I did no such thing! I distinctly remember telling you that I would be handling this myself."
"Yes, and it's all going swimmingly," Leon drawled with a roll of his eyes. "Insane, power-crazed man drawing on the forces of darkness and succeeding … you've clearly got this well in hand. I feel superfluous."
"You're the one that was freezing me out every time I so much as touched you! What else was I supposed to do?"
"How about communicate a little? Tell me what was going on."
Cloud snorted. "Oh. Right. And what was I supposed to say? Hi, I'm your new magically indentured slave - mind if I use you as a power source for a while?"
Leon made full use of another spinning attack to glare briefly at Cloud. "At least asking is better than just taking!"
Cloud's face flushed and his blue eyes narrowed in irritation. "That was not deliberate!" An especially brutal slice through the waves of shadow bodies emphasised the point.
Leon noted that during their argument, the number of strange black creatures had steadily decreased. Unfortunately, Sephiroth seemed to still be drawing power down from the sky. The moon that Leon had noted earlier was still appearing to be heart-shaped, but even stranger was the impression of a vast door that he could see in front of it. And the longer he watched, the more convinced he became that the door was slowly opening.
"We need to stop him before that doorway opens," Cloud said. "I don't know where it leads, but past experience tells me that if Sephiroth wants it open, then it can't be good."
"I'm inclined to agree with you," Leon acknowledged, finishing off the last of the shadows.
"Know any good tricks for destroying someone who's on their way to becoming a god?" Cloud asked.
Leon grimaced. "Eden springs to mind, but she's not exactly answering my calls these days. I think Sephiroth's the only one currently capable of drawing on external power sources."
Cloud turned to stare at Leon with an expression that made the SeeD realise what a stupid thing that was to say. "You are aware that the power-drawing thing between the two of us is a two-way process?" he stated.
Leon considered the idea for a moment before remembering how the other man had looked when he'd first seen him and made a change to the plan. "Yeah, but you're the one who's had experience in defeating this guy. You draw on my power and I'll provide back-up."
Cloud blinked and then nodded. "If we can't stop him from opening the door, then whatever happens, don't let him call anything else through it," the blond said. Then he was gone in a series of parries and swooping attacks on the silver-haired man and Leon felt that tugging sensation in the back of his mind once again. This time, for whatever reason, it didn't seem to affect his own awareness and Leon decided to make full use of this by firing off some ice spells to keep Sephiroth from being able to focus fully on Cloud's attack.
Much of the detached awareness of the battle gave way then to the all-consuming instinct that informed Leon when to duck in with a well-timed blow and when to swing back out and throw magic spells in from a distance. He knew Cloud too was lost in that rhythm of attack and defence, given over fully to the rapid trade of blows with Sephiroth.
The silver-haired man was tiring, Leon could detect the traces of fatigue in the way he took a fraction of a second longer to block Cloud's attacks, the slightest hint of less speed in the counter-attacks he launched on the blond. Cloud by contrast appeared able to continue fighting indefinitely, appearing to be using that strange bond with Leon in the fashion of a regen spell. If Cloud hadn't remained alert, he might have missed spotting the opening.
It was such a subtle thing, Leon himself almost missed it. Sephiroth had stepped forwards to put his full weight behind the swing he'd aimed at Cloud's head when he seemed to briefly overreach himself. For the briefest of moments, the silver-haired man's balance was off and he was in danger of tipping forwards. Sephiroth noted the problem in his stance and made to correct it almost instantly, but by then it was too late. Seizing on the chance the moment it was offered, Cloud ducked inside the other man's guard and delivered a decisive blow that all but ran the full length of Sephiroth's body.
There was a flare of magical release and both Sephiroth and Cloud cried out. A solitary leathery black wing erupted out of Cloud's back even as Sephiroth's sported one of graceful feathers. Then as Cloud slumped down to kneel on the ground, leaning heavily on his sword, Sephiroth's form seemed to dissolve into feathers completely. The black feathers swirled around with the almost solid shadows, forming a small whirlwind that spiralled up to the opening doors and through to the darkness beyond.
Then there was the unmistakable sound of doors slamming shut and the strangely shaped moon, the doors themselves and the living darkness were all gone. There were simply the exhausted forms of Leon and Cloud in the deserted courtyard and the gentle sensation of lightly falling rain.
The rain hadn't taken long to develop into a proper downpour and neither a motorcycle nor a stolen convertible car seemed like very appealing prospects in such weather. Cloud had dragged them both into a partially ruined church to take shelter before returning to the Seventh Heaven bar. At the far end, just before the altar, was a large swathe of flowers growing up out of the floor. Both Leon and Cloud were currently lying next to one another in the midst of the delicately scented blooms and staring up at the ceiling.
"So," Leon said at last. "You're my magically indentured slave, huh?" He tried to keep his voice casual, but he wasn't sure how well he'd succeeded.
"Yeah," Cloud agreed quietly.
"Sorry about that." Leon didn't know if it was the right thing to say, but he couldn't really think of anything else.
There was a pause before the blond next to him answered. "I'm fine with it," Cloud said at last. "Most of the time I'm hardly aware of it and I'm getting better at that energy pulling thing too. Pretty soon I'll probably have stopped altogether."
"Oh," Leon managed.
There was another pause, this one slightly more strained.
"It's probably for the best, really," Cloud said in a rush. "You know what they say, after all – familiarity breeds contempt."
Leon blinked, taken off-guard by the completely lame humour. Then both he and Cloud were laughing, somewhat helplessly amongst the flowers, their merriment echoing around the cavernous building and broken only by the sound of water dripping through the holes in the roof. Leon turned to look at Cloud as he laughed and was suddenly struck by the sight of the blond, completely relaxed with his eyes closed and his mouth stretched wide in a smile. Not really pausing to analyse his thoughts, he simply leaned over and softly brushed his lips against Cloud's like it was the most natural thing in the world. Because, in that moment, it seemed like it was.
Cloud's eyes blinked open at the contact and he stared up at Leon as the brunet leaned over him in surprise. "What was that for?" Cloud asked.
Leon rolled his eyes, aware like never before of that sensation at the back of his mind. The way it seemed to complete him and calm him. "No need to play coy, Cloud," he informed the other man. "We can feel what the other does, or haven't you noticed yet?" The blond's silence was a somewhat guilty one and the flash of vulnerability through that bond made Leon sigh. He reached out a hand and ran it through those overlong spikes, smoothing them away from the face of the blond. "Maybe it's time to admit we quite like it," Leon said with a small smile. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm done with the loner thing."
Cloud's smile was hesitant, but hopeful. "I thought we weren't being coy. You know how I feel about this too."
Leon leaned in to kiss Cloud again, this time long and languid. They broke apart slowly and Cloud frowned up at Leon. "And I do not taste like strawberries!"
Moving in for a third time, Leon begged silently to differ.
Strange and Beautiful: The End
Author's Note: Sigh. I had so many plans for Sora and Riku, but a certain pair refused to share the limelight for so much as a moment. Ho hum. Also, note to self: when a mere paragraph off from finally finishing this part DO NOT develop a sudden jolt of whimsy and rename the document 'Blah' only to forget ever doing the deed and fail in finding the sodding thing for months.