Chapter 34: This is the voice of silence no more!
Getting out of Midgar was easy. The group drove the tank James and Reno had "liberated" from Shinra, right through a checkpoint. Something about having a tank turret pointed in the guard's face persuaded them not to question whatever the hell was going on. It was even easier to get the Valar to pick them up afterwards. They left the tank with Reno.
A few last, well chosen words were exchanged at this time. "Mirri, all the best. For the rest of you, especially Firecat, I can tell you're sure as hell not incompetent, so go kick the a or whatever you call the excretory organs of whoever is doing this!" There were two important responses that didn't get said to Reno's parting words to the Seraphim. One of them was by Melkore who knew drama when he saw it, didn't bother to state out loud that the organ in question was part of the digestive and not excretory system.
The other was by Sephiroth who didn't add a "wish we could say the same about you" because when he added it all up mentally, Reno wasn't. He wasn't exactly good at his job, he was a drunk and a lecher, but much to Sephiroth's surprise it was now doubtlessly clear that Reno was apparently going to survive, as much as anyone survived what came next.
It was a shocking realization to know that Reno was going to survive what had killed off Zack, two Shinra presidents, Dr. Simon Hojo, an entire town, Jace, almost all of the Shinra board of directors, Tseng, countless other guards and SOLDIERS who's names Sephiroth didn't wish to remember, and was going to conclude with the death of either Jenova, whose age was beyond measure, or himself. What kind of Planet was this that let someone like Reno survive?
Sephiroth didn't have to ponder that question long however, it all made sense once Reno closed the tanks hatch and vanished from view. Sephiroth was forcibly reminded of a huge metal cockroach, and then he understood the meaning of the word 'epiphany' like never before. There was no doubt, this would end with Jenova's death; it was a matter of function.
Reno was suited to survival, which was why he was still alive, he was the humanoid equivalent of a cockroach, and Sephiroth knew all about cockroaches. Hojo had done some studies on them that Sephiroth had been unable to avoid watching at the time. They were about as hard to kill as Jenova beings. Cut off their heads, jolt them full of electricity, hold them underwater, unless you simply crushed them flat, they simply refused to die. That was why Reno was alive.
Zack and Jace were fighters, and fighters died when they met somebody better then them, that would most likely be how Sephiroth died as well. But Reno was a survivor, the day he died would be the day that he met somebody better than him who truly wanted to kill him, and happened to be a faster runner than him, not to mention knowing more about dirty fighting. Even then Reno might not die: he might have something to help him run away, like a helicopter
It was all a matter of function. The day that Jenova died would be the day that someone stood up to her, and refused to play her games any more, and broke the table across her head. Sephiroth would enjoy seeing the look on her face when his king moved all the way across the board.
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This was it. The 7 of them turned to look at him as he stood next to the Valar's wheel. James with his bright red eyes unsure of what would come next. Mirri with her mischievous green, her malice far from completely spent. Aeris with her emerald green, she smiled at Sephiroth, smiled because she had conquered the wolf, no become friends with it, made peace with her demon.
Alexander with his golden eyes, not an ounce of hesitation. Niro, behind dark glasses and eyes that would never fixate on any one color. Vincent, his father, blood red eyes, deep red unlike James', red eyes that had seen much, but where ready to see more. Melkore with his blue eyes, guitar strapped across his chest, ready for one (and preferably only one) more wild ride. Sephiroth drew in a breath and began.
"Gentlemen... I love war. On the plains, in the streets, in the trenches, on the prairies, on the tundra, in the desert, on the sea, in the sky, in the mud, in the swamp. I cherish each and every war that will be raged on this world.
I love the thunderous roar of artillery blasting away at my foes. I love it when a cannon slug tears through armor and into our opponent's very hearts. I love it when my men overcome their foes and bring them down. I get a warm in feeling in my heart as I think of the look in my foe's eyes, as his screams match perfectly with the shriek of the gun that mows him down.
I remember distinctly the several ton pieces of shrapnel hurled from the wreckage of once mighty weapons. I love to see my foes disorganised as my men slip past them like wraiths in the night towards the places they should have defended. I love seeing my foe's war machines crushed and annihilated. Seeing their men slink around on the ground like vermin.
Gentlemen, this has been a great war, an empire has been conquered, a war greater then any other to come or that has come, but it is not enough for me. I wish to see a war worthy of one between the followers of Lucifer. My Seraphim who follow me into battle, what do you wish for? You wish for war, as a matter of course? Do you want to see a merciless war in the depths of the inferno?
Do you wish a final war which rocks the foundations of the planet to its core, signaling our victory? We have come this far, won this war against Shinra, but that is not enough for me. Is enough for you? Tell me what you want."
There was no hesitation in the seven voices that answered him. Seven voices that became one voice, it had no sex, it had no race, it had no species, it had no age, it had no language, one universal voice rang in Sephiroth's ears. A universal language that bridged all gaps of intelligence, upbringing or body, but in the end, it was a simple thing. It was a declaration of equality, a declaration that the strong would survive and the weak would fall. A declaration that they were once and again would be animals.
"WAR!"
Sephiroth raised his hands, it was funny how you learned so much more from the people you hated than the ones you liked. "Very well, on the seventh day, now that man ("And woman" Mirri added) had been created while the Lord paid no attention and rested, humanity said 'Let there be war, and there was!' All our strength is held in a clenched fist, poised to strike! We who have, for time beyond any of our years, been menaced by a force not of our own, I say: no more! A normal war, simple or great is no longer enough! AN APOCALYPTIC WAR!
A war such that there will never again be another war! A war born of our single hearted devotion! We may be but 8 beings, but we are all matchless hardened veterans, in my eyes we are an army 800,000 strong! So gentlemen, the herald of destruction hangs in the, sky no one can change that. Is it our destruction, the destruction of this planet and those who cherish it? NO!
The hour has finally come for when Jenova, who has been a plague on this planet since her arrival, shall be dealt with. She lies slumbering in the center of the planet seeping her foul poisons. She is not afraid of us; she thinks that even when at the height of her strength she could defeat the Cetra or the humans.
Shinra, the only human empire to oppose her has already fallen by our hand, we are more than them. We are not humans, Cetra, Vampires, or any other words for race, we are Seraphim! We are angels, and we will hurl down Jenova as the Lord hurled down Lucifer!
We shall rouse her from her sleep, she who once drove us into the realm of forgetfulness! Let us drag her screaming from her dreams of control and force her eyes to witness the flaming ruins she 'controls'! We shall teach her the taste of terror! We shall make her fear the sound of our boots as we march into the depths of hell with no regret in our hearts or souls!
We shall remind her that something in the interval between and Cetra and humans, something she doesn't even recall with her deepest memory, does indeed exist. With seven Seraphim at my back I will lead the way down into the hell she has built to defend herself from the real world. As of 0800 hours tomorrow morning, Operation Divine Comedy is go. Till then, you can depart for wherever you wish. Go home to you loved ones, your family, your friends, whoever you chose. Melkore will take you wherever you wish, and expect to be picked up around 0700 hours tomorrow. You know your orders, I know your hearts, tomorrow Jenova shall know defeat. "
There was a pause, none of them had expected that and Sephiroth went on. "We will rest for a day, to prepare, and to most of all remember, or even simply learn what we are fighting for. None of you forget, until we destroy Jenova, nothing on this world is safe. Be glad we're fighting, because there's no one else besides us."
There was another silence after that statement, but he could tell that they now understood. He silently bet with himself wondering if it would be James or Melkore who spoke first, Melkore won.
"Okay then folks, nothing more to see here, I'll take your ticket stubs and you name the station. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here, oh yeah, since we're going to kill tomorrow you can't get drunk tonight. But feel free to get laid because I know that our General's going to be driving something long and hard into somebody's flesh tonight!" Sephiroth flashed him a glare that as much as told him that it wasn't too late for the night's plans to include Masamune in his chest.
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"Hey Melkore, I have an idea. Put the Valar in hover while I explain it to you." Melkore did so out of his natural desire to prolong his life, you didn't reject Mirri without even hearing what she had to say. After all it might be a fun idea, granted since James was standing in his usual position at her left the odds of that were low. "What's the idea?" Mirri rubbed her hands together in a way that would have done most archvillains proud.
"Simple, Shinra as we know it is destroyed. It's time for a new power to rise in the world." "Mirri are you trying to work the "getting the launch codes to Shinra's mako missiles" bit? Cause I've worked that one from every angle and it couldn't be done then and can't today. Even if you could get past the laser fence you would still have to open the magnetically locked door, which is impossible without the right set of retinas to be scanned!" Apparently, Mirri wasn't that easy to dismiss. "No, Melkore, we're not striking Midgar. Midgar's day in the sun is over. My target is the Gold Saucer."
"Gold Saucer? You want to hold up the Gold Saucer?" Part of Melkore was surprised that Mirri wasn't currently sitting in a chair, stroking James behind the ears, and that James wasn't wearing a diamond collar, or at least a pair of armbands. "Yes and no. We're not holding them up for money, we're holding them up for something more important, prestige." "How do you hold someone up for prestige? Are we going to make them drop their pants in public or something?"
In Melkore's mind, prestige was an indefinable thing. Thus it couldn't really be stolen from someone, even at gun point. Then Mirri explained her plan. Melkore was critical to it, because only he could provide the supplies they needed. He listened, rubbed his chin, and shrugged. "You realize that this is insane, right?" "They said it was insane to believe you could break into the central bank of Midgar, but Auric Goldfinger proved them wrong!" When Mirri had a point, she had a point. Melkore put the Valar in gear with its new heading.
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"Hey Niro do you have any plans?" It must have been some kind of ingrained defense mechanism because Niro instantly wanted to turn into a rat and scurry from the room. The way Mirri was smiling meant nothing good for the world in general could be about to happen. "Niro, how would you like to be the most famous unknown person in the world?
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"Aeris I'm calling in a solid 'you owe me' so don't disregard what I'm about to say out of hand."
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"Vincent, I have an idea." Vincent checked the sun, like a normal person would check his watch. He had drank the blood last night, it would still be good in him till sunset of the day after today. That was plenty of time considering he may not live that long. If he left now to put his plans into action he might have time for her to wake up before he left. If that happened, and if she wasn't instantly repulsed at the idea... "Creatures of the night what music they make" would be the most decent way of putting that.
The problem ("Problem? What problem?" part of Vincent's brain shrieked indignantly) with that was that if she was repulsed, it would sap Vincent's desire to survive and win. On the other hand if he waited, then he would be fighting for her, and for the chance too be with her, that was a powerful incentive. So with the self restraint that had never left him, Vincent decided he would wait.
Mirri's idea, whatever it was, couldn't be that bad a way to kill time. Besides, the way James was smiling made things very clear, once he got an idea into his head (usually because Mirri put it there) it didn't matter if he had those big ass feline ears, he couldn't hear anything else.
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"Alex, I have an interesting idea." What Black Furies considered "interesting" could be anywhere from highly entertaining to utterly suicidal. Of course, a proper Get of Fenris could survive even the most "interesting" of ideas. "Alex, how would you like a chance to do something that the world will be remembering for the rest of its lifespan?" /Which all things considered might be not be so long.\
It was hard to put out a Black Fury when she was nurturing an idea, they took far more pride in them than in their cubs at some times. "True, but you know the saying, get what you can while the getting is good." /Quite so, guzzle down the kill before someone else tries to get what isn't theirs.\ That smile could give lesser men (or Garou) nightmares. "Exactly, we've made the kill. Now it's time to get what's coming to us."
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"Sephiroth, I have an idea." The sound that came from Sephiroth's throat was a mixture of resignation and fear. "What is it Mirri?" Mirri's response was a frightening cross between a girlish giggle and a maniacal laugh. "Well you see, I've come up with this idea, and all the other's are ready to run with it, I just wanted to see if you're interested." "What does all this have to do with why we're landing at Rocket Town?"
"We're picking up supplies, General. You won't win if you treat something this important as an offhand thing. It's the 6P's of combat that I believe you taught me. Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance." "Well now I'm too pleased you remembered to be mad- you were counting on that, weren't you…"
"That's not all I remember that you taught me sir." The look in Mirri's eyes told Sephiroth that he wasn't going to be quite as happy about what came out of her voice box next. "Just remember Aeris when I say this, 'when you can't run anymore, you
crawl and when you can't do that...'" Sephiroth finished the quotation before Mirri could. "You find someone to carry you, yes I know Mirri. Which of course once again brings us back to our traditional relationship with each other: you getting laughs and enjoyment out of being near me, and me feeling annoyed at you, but still finding you too useful to kill." "If it ain't broke don't fix it sir."
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The group entered the Gold Saucer, attracting quite a bit of attention. Vincent and Sephiroth stood head and shoulders above most people. Not to mention the fact that most members of the group were carrying large black packages. The Gold Saucer didn't have a security system for making people remove their weapons, so no one bothered to check what was in those packages.
Either that or no one wanted to get in the way of the group which was moving with all the precision of a military unit as they marched to a silent drum beat. "Left, left, left-right, right, left." Thus did they advance, Mirri leading the way.
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They came to a stop before the booth, and Mirri unstrapped her black package and handed it to James. Then she calmly raised her right fist at the receptionist behind the glass that she was willing to bet wasn't bulletproof. "Hi, we're, scheduled to play here tonight. Don't bother checking the records, it's a last minute thing, between me and my claws." As Mirri spoke, her right glove instantly sprouted blades. "Mirri..."
The receptionist might have been someone who Mirri grew up with and didn't remember, or she might just have seen one of the numerous reports concerning her as the second most dangerous criminal in the world after Sephiroth. To help allay the woman's fears, James offered his own brand of attempted condolence. "Don't worry. Shinra doesn't exist any more. That means we're not terrorists, we're musicians!" The full absurdity of the situation struck them all at that point, but surprisingly, none of them laughed.
"I'd suggest you give us whatever we ask for no matter how strange it sounds. If you haven't already heard, Midgar just got reduced from a giant heaping pile of slime, to a giant gaping, smoking hole full of slime. The entire Shinra organization is going to hell, and things are gonna get worse before they get better. Not that I'm suggesting you start giving any band of armed yahoo's whatever they want. You need to start making friends who will enforce the law. From my point of view you have two choices.
You can be a hero, and tell us 'no' with all the risk it entails both in the present and the future. Or you can leave the hero work to us, say 'yes' and make friends. If you do that I promise if anyone ever tries anything like this again I'll come here from the other side of the world to put a stop to it. But then I won't have to, because I'll be moving into Corel as soon as all this is over. So let's hear the right answer." They heard it.
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Unlike most 'robberies' there was nothing truly urgent about it. They took their time setting up, and if the people who had been scheduled had a problem with them, they decided not to voice it. Black cases were opened, instruments were produced. As it turned out, James was fairly good with a keyboard (actually Melkore had told him it was part of his gene code) so he set his instrument up while the rest of the group connected a few extra speakers to the square's sound system.
With a small device that looked like an ordinary laptop which Niro had picked up for him in the Shinra building Melkore got to work. The device was actually a universal terminal, and with the right set up it could allow him to control just about anything mechanical. Using it to make him the ultimate DJ was probably not the intended purpose, but Melkore didn't care. After a few moments of playing around (Melkore called it "testing") with the controls he managed to get a hang for the lights, sounds, and other things in the event square area.
Alex was energetic enough when it came to the set of drums they had brought with them, and what he might have lacked in technical skill, he made up for with sheer volume of noise generated. With the exception of Melkore, it was a hastily gathered together band of people playing whatever instruments they could scavenge from what they could find in Melkore's basement (the only part of the house left truly intact) and there were countless ways that the whole venture could go wrong. Or, as James noted, it was the perfect metaphor for what they had been doing all along, why change it now?
Microphones where adjusted to the correct height, instruments tuned, and lyrics distributed. All this was done with the general silence but over all exuberance of practiced veterans getting ready for war. In the end, however slap dash and haphazard the plan, it seemed to be coming off wonderfully well, more or less. The "less" became obvious as they where about to kick off the "operation" in earnest.
"We need a name." Sephiroth cast a questioning glare at Mirri, one that summed up his entire thoughts about all of this. "We're Seraphim, there isn't anything more to it." James who was busily deciding whether he should play with his gloves on or off looked up with interest. "Well, as we pointed out, Shinra doesn't exist any more. So we really can't carry over our name now that Shinra is gone."
Melkore was currently seeing if he could get the normal equipment to produce a strobe light by setting them to flick on an off at incredibly rapid speeds. This of course was causing quite a few irritated glances to get cast in his direction. He left the lights on as the argument started so he could take part in it.
"I'm with James and Mirri, Sephiroth. "Seraphim" is fine for a military or para-military group, but for a band we need something flashy. Like, Satan's Night In." The example was instantly voted down, though the idea gained strength. Several new ideas came up, and came down. The final decision that was agreed upon was an amalgamation of various ideas that had come before.
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It was child's play for Melkore to gain access to the Gold Saucer's communication system. His voice echoed out through all the various areas of the massive construction, like spreading light to the darkest corners of the world. (Or so he liked to think in this situation.) "It is the extreme pleasure of the Cats of War to present our special, one time musical offer. For absolutely no to cost to you, if you're hearing this, you can witness our first and in all probability last, 'It's the end of the world and I'm divine' performance in the event square starting in exactly 10 minutes.
I suggest you attend because you can't have a rapture without a host of sinners for God to smite. Thanks for listening." Melkore stopped talking for just a moment and cut the connection. Then with sudden abruptness (which he had planned from the start) he turned it back on. "Oh, by the way, the first number will be by former Shinra General, Sephiroth Valentine. Come for the music, stay for the sin."
The gasps of surprise from countless throats was music to Melkore's ears. He removed himself from the communication's net and turned to his partners. "You know, I love this thing so much that I would f its CD ROM drive if it was only a bit bigger." "TMI Melkore, Too Much Information" "Hey Mirri, do I harp on you because of how you like James? I mean sure he's got to be a panther in the sack and he probably could do neat stuff with his tail, but..."
Melkore never finished his comment. He looked up and found Mirri standing over him determined to inflict bodily harm. "Please Mirri! This is my one chance to attract groupies whose life goal is to please my every desire! Whatever you do NOT THE FACE! NOT THE VOCAL CHORDS! NOT THE HANDS!" "How would you like to be singing soprano tonight, Melkore?" "That's fine!" WHAM! Melkore's world was pain, but he had ten minutes to shake it off, that was plenty of time! The siren call of the groupie awaited him with all it's tantalizing opportunities.
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The Event Square had been appropriately packed by Melkore's announcement. All the lights were set to dim, and the stage was blocked by a curtain. Regardless of injuries, Melkore was able to perform as expected. At the appointed time, it started. The dim lights vanished into blackness as the curtain parted and Sephiroth stepped out. The lights instantly turned themselves back, on forcing Sephiroth to blink in pain for a few moments. For a few more moments after that he just looked out at all of the people who had come. The man who had killed countless people in battle, and had ordered entire towns wiped from the face of the earth, looked unsure.
Then he took a deep breath and got over it, music started and he began to sing. "Dry your eyes and quietly bear this pain with pride. For heaven shall remember the silent and the brave. And promise me, they will never see, the fear within our eyes. We will give strength to those who still remain.
So bury fear, for fate draws near and hide the signs of pain. With noble acts, the bravest souls, endure the heart's remains. Discard regret, that in this debt, a better world is made. That children of a newer day might remember and avoid our fate.
And in the fury of this darkest hour, we will be your light. You've asked me for my sacrifice, and I am Winterborn. Without denying, a faith is come that I have never known, I hear the angels call my name, and I am Winterborn
Hold your head up high, for there is no greater love! Think of the faces of the people you defend. And promise me, they will never see the tears within our eyes. Although we are men, with mortal sins, angels never cry.
So bury fear, for fate draws near and hide the signs of pain. With noble acts, the bravest souls endure the heart's remains. Discard regret, that in this debt, a better world is made. That children of a newer day might remember, and avoid our fate. Prepare for battle!
And in the fury of this darkest hour, we will be your light. You've asked me for my sacrifice and I am Winterborn. Without denying, a faith in God, that I have never known. I hear the angels call my name, and I am Winterborn
And in the fury of this darkest hour, I will be your light. A lifetime for this destiny, for I am Winterborn. And in this moment..I will not run, it is my place to stand! We few shall carry hope, within our bloodied hands. And in our fighting, we're more alive, than we have ever been! I've lived for these few seconds, for I am Winterborn.
And in the fury of this darkest hour, we will be the light. You've asked me for my sacrifice, and I am Winterborn, without denying, a faith in man that I have never known, I hear the angels call my name and I am Winterborn.
Within this moment I am for you, though better men have failed. I would give my life for love, for I am Winterborn. And in my fighting I'm more alive than I have ever been; I will make this sacrifice for I am Winterborn."
Sephiroth struck a dramatic pose and stayed that way taking a moment to just feel the vibrations running through the ground from all the people cheering. "Thank you, thank you. I suppose I owe you some kind of explanation." Sephiroth didn't have the microphone on at the moment he didn't need it. "Well to start with five years ago I decided that it would be wise to spend a few years dead for tax purposes. Beyond that, it gets a little bit more complicated. But there's only one thing that you truly need to know, reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." After Sephiroth spoke those words the music started and he began to sing with new music that was much faster than his last song.
"So please don't ask me how I ended up at my wits end and breaking down. Pages torn from books we never read, because we're plugged into this grid. Don't pull this plug right now or then we'd really have to live!"
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Sephiroth tossed a book to the ground. Curiosity didn't kill the cat, it simply pointed the cat at the biggest dog the cat had ever seen, and told the cat that the dog had killed his parents. It wasn't just damning of Hojo, it was damning of the President as well.
Sephiroth had always thought the man had liked him, but he had sat idly by while Shinra had done what they did to him. Beat him, smashed him, cut him apart till he would fit into the place they wanted him to fit, like a mangled puzzle piece. They had broken his empathy, broken his soul, he couldn't feel what others felt, he couldn't even feel the anger he felt for them.
Every nerve in his body was cut, he couldn't feel anything.
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"When I die, will they remember not what I did, but what I haven't done? It's not the end that I fear with each breath: it's life that scares me to death!"
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Sephiroth lay back on the bed; it was moderately comfortable. The room was on the second floor of the inn, the door was closed and the window shut. He wondered how many days, weeks, maybe even years since he had slept alone inside. He tossed and turned on the bed, it shouldn't be like this.
It hadn't been like this in Mirri's house, that place had only had one door, and from the floor you could see the whole house. In this one room, lights out in the hallways, it was all too small.
He tapped his fingers along Masamune's hilt, but it wasn't enough; he was tired, and he just didn't have time for this kind of thing. He got out of bed, walked over to the window, and opened it. Then he calmly and deftly slid out the window and dropped gracefully to the ground. It didn't take him long to find a suitable tree, one with branches strong and wide enough to suit him. He pulled himself up its limbs, looked up at the clear endless sky filled with twinkling lights. Now he could finally fall asleep.
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"When we build these dreams on sand, how they all slip through our hands, this
might be our only chance."
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Dr. Julius Gaste, a man who had only wanted to make the world a better place, died a death as violent as it was quick and hopefully painless. The bullet slammed through his skull, through his brain and out the other side.
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"Let's take this one day at a time, I'll hold your hand if you hold mine! It's the time that we kill that keeps us alive."
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From there on in it was only a matter of time till what came about came about. James lacked the instinctively deceptive frame of mind that Mirri used to make herself so proficient at the game, but he made up for it with skill and speed. Between the two of them they managed to get an enjoyable game of Frisbee going, and Aeris even took part in it for a while.
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"Your words won't save me now, I'm at the edge feeling the sweat drip from my
brow. Get a grip on yourself is what they say, every hour every day. Hands over my ears
I've been screaming all these years."
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"So I just drifted in a meaningless, empty life, from one day to another. Each day Jenova's voice got worse because I wasn't drowning its desire for death by killing people in battle.
I kept training, because it was the closest I could come to being able to kill. Day after day, night after night, endless unsated bloodlust. I spent as little time as possible with people because whenever I talked with someone, in the corner of my mind I saw all the possible ways I could kill them."
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"When I die, will they remember not what I did, but what I haven't done? It's not the end that I fear with each breath: it's life that scares me to death!"
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Sephiroth stared up the machines whose rapidly increasing sparks clearly showed it would soon be exploding. "Go ahead and do your worst you tin bastard. I'll get Masamune out of you if I have to reduce you to scrap metal with my bare hands." The explosion ripped the catwalk to shreds.
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"When we build these dreams on sand, how they all slip through our hands."
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She raised her left hand at fired at where Rufus' Shinra should have been, but from the sound of metal blades into metal ship, she missed. Then Dark Nation's headless corpse hit her, and the transfer of momentum sent her sprawling. She fell to the ground, using her right hand to slice Dark Nation's body apart down the middle. The beast's body fell away from her and she fired her right hand glove's blades at where Rufus should have been, and missed again.
She loaded new blades into her gloves, but before she could use them she felt something hard and metallic slam across the back of her head
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"This might be our only chance! Let's take this one day at a time, I'll hold your hand if you hold mine, it's the time that we kill that keeps us alive."
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"I can't believe I'm doing this." "Oh, come on Sephiroth, you have to remember to smile." "The last time I had my picture taken intentionally, I was standing right here, and now the man who took the picture, and everyone else in the picture besides me, is now dead, or worse. That sets a lovely precedent, doesn't it?"
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"We came in search of answers, we left empty handed again. Shots fired into the
sky, are now returning, where exactly will you hide?"
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Aeris felt fear in her heart for a moment. "When will that be, Sephiroth? Meteor is in the sky, we need your help if we're going to think of any way to defeat Jenova!"
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"Hiding from the laughter in the closet of our lives, but the door hinges are
squeaking letting in thin shards of light. And now a hand's extending outward, quiet
comfort they invite, do we dare take what they offer, do we step into the light?"
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The girl looked him up and down, as if suddenly finding something in him that she hadn't seen or even expected before. "Excuse me. I'm Aeris Gainsborough, I sell flowers for a living. You are?" Sephiroth took a moment to do some mental calculations about how he could get back to sector seven from sector five without using a train. Eventually however he got around to answering Aeris' question. "I'm General Sephiroth, formerly of Shinra."
It was one of those moments where people were less likely to believe the truth than any lie. Aeris could believe whatever she wanted to, Sephiroth was going to walk out of this church, and the Planet help whoever got in his way.
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"When I die will they remember not what I did, but what I haven't done? It's not
the end that I fear with each breath: it's life that scares me to death!"
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Sephiroth terminated the feed and Vincent picked up the small device. He walked out, and handed it back to James. Then he drew another breath. Compared to what he'd just been through, attacking Shinra HQ would be easy.
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"When we build these dreams on sand, how they all slip through our hands! And this might be our only chance!"
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"So I lost." It was an understatement if ever there was one. Vincent's entire body was filled with pain as never before. He had never been captured in combat, but he doubted any kind of torture most savage tribes might deliver to him could have compared with the pain he was now in. Which made sense, it was only by perfecting civilization that things like killing and pain could be perfected.
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"Let's take this one day at a time. I'll hold your hand if you hold mine. The time
that we kill keeps us alive."
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Then he turned to the mother and daughter. "Follow me as best as you can. But I make no promises about getting you out of this alive."
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"When we build these dreams on sand, how they all slip through our hands. And this might be our only chance! Let's take this one day at a time. I'll hold your hand if you hold mine. It's the times that we kill that keep us alive!"
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Sephiroth held onto the plane for all he was worth and held onto Aeris for all she was. He was not about to let her die so easily! 'Her'? Where did 'her' come from? Sephiroth was momentarily disconcerted, before deciding that it was a simple slip of thought. She was one of his soldiers, that's all, and he never lost a soldier if he could help it.
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This music stopped as well and Sephiroth got out of the way as Aeris stepped through the curtain, she was not standing on center stage any more then Sephiroth, but Melkore's spot light cast all eyes on her. She took a deep breath and forced all fear from her mind and body. "This is for all the people who got me where I am today." The bright spotlight she stood in dwindled even before the music started. "This bloody road remains a mystery..."
As Aeris said those words Melkore gleefully played with his new toy casting a different sort of red carpet before Aeris. It even wavered in the right way to make it look like it was blood. "This sudden darkness fills the air..." Lights shut off till all the illumination came from the red path before Aeris. She looked at it hesitantly for a moment, and then without a backwards glance stepped onto it.
"What are we waiting for? Won't anybody help us? What are we waiting for? We can't afford to be innocent! Stand up and face the enemy! It's a do or die situation, we will be invincible!" Aeris stood up straighter, and seemed to (or with a little creative shifting possibly did) grow a little taller, as she walked deeper into that red light.
"This shattered dream you cannot justify! We're gonna scream until we're satisfied! What are we running for? We've got the right to be angry!" Aeris' left hand began to transform into a lupine claw. "What are we running for? When there's no where we can run to anymore!" The red road vanished, Aeris was standing alone in a pool of red.
"We can't afford to be innocent, stand up and face the enemy! It's a do or die situation, we will be invincible! And with the power of conviction... there is no sacrifice!" Aeris drew a small knife that Sephiroth usually kept in his boot for general utility purposes, and drove it into her chest. "It's a do or die situation, we will be invincible!"
There was a slight pain, but it was only a steel knife, and in she had already shifted enough to trigger her regeneration. "Won't anybody help us? What are we running for? When there's no where, no where we can run to anymore!" Aeris pulled the knife from her chest, it was soaked in blood, but not one drop fell from her chest, not even the clothing stayed damaged.
"We can't afford to be innocent, stand up and face the enemy! It's a do or die situation, we will be invincible! And with the power of conviction... there is no sacrifice!" With a tongue that was as lupine as human, Aeris licked the blood from the knife, and tossed it aside. "It's a do or die situation, we will be invincible!" There was a bright flash of light during which Aeris shifted all the way to Crinos, and then shifted back to full human before it ended.
Aeris smiled and basked in their applause for a moment before nodding herself. "Thank you. This next song goes out to the man who I love, in case he hasn't quite caught on yet!" The beat that started was just as sure of itself, but slower without the martial undertone of the last song.
"When you feel all alone, and the world has turned its back on you, give me a moment please, to tame your wild, wild heart. I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you. It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold. When darkness is upon your door, and you feel like you can't take anymore.
Let me be the one you call. If you jump I'll break your fall. Lift you up and fly away with you into the night. If you need to fall apart, I can mend a broken heart. If you need to crash, then crash and burn. You're not alone!" /You don't have to be perfect for us Sephiroth, you can just be yourself and it will be enough.\
"When you feel all alone, and a loyal friend is hard to find. You're caught in a one way street, with the monsters in your head. When hopes and dreams are far away and you feel like you can't face the day.
Let me be the one you call. If you jump I'll break your fall. Lift you up and fly away with you into the night. If you need to fall apart, I can mend a broken heart. If you need to crash, then crash and burn. You're not alone!" /It's funny in that sarcastic upon closer inspection and either really funny or really sad way that I'm sure you'd appreciate Sephiroth. You've brought together these people who really care for each other, and you don't realize it.\
"Because there has always been heartache and pain and when it's over you'll breathe again. You'll breathe again." /I'm sure it won't kill you to be human Sephiroth. Nothing else has been able to do it, why should this?\
"When you feel all alone and the world has turned its back on you give me a moment please, to tame your wild wild heart! Let me be the one you call. If you jump I'll break your fall. Lift you up and fly away with you into the night. If you need to fall apart, I can mend a broken heart. If you need to crash then crash and burn! You're not alone!"
/You've spent your entire life looking for a family, haven't you Sephiroth? Well all that time it's been right here. Okay maybe a little too seriously interpreted considering Vincent, but we're here for you just as much as he is. So don't be afraid to ask. I don't know how I could say it any more obviously without a neon sign and a giant hammer to whack you over the head with.\
The music slowly died and Aeris like Sephiroth ceased to be the center of attention. All of a sudden Sephiroth and Aeris, looking in different directions were both cast in spotlights. Sephiroth turned around and resentfully faced Aeris. "I can't escape this hell, So many times I've tried. But I'm still caged inside!" In the blink of an eye, faster than Melkore could adjust the spotlight Sephiroth was right next to Aeris, and speaking words that only she could hear. "Did I ever tell you that Hojo kept me in a cage in his lab?" Then Sephiroth preformed a quick maneuver, a push from his right hand and leg sweep knocking Aeris' legs out from under her and making her fall out of the spotlight. With his other hand he drew Masamune. "Somebody get me through this nightmare, I can't control myself."
The spotlight blinked out, and it was impossible to see what was going on. "So what if you can see, the darkest side of me?" The spotlight came back on. Masamune would have been planted firmly in Aeris' chest, if she hadn't grabbed it on its way down. "No one will ever change this animal I have become." Aeris said those words and then she shifted. The Crinos claws were just human enough to maintain their grip, and flushed enough with muscles that Aeris was able to hurl Masamune and Sephiroth holding onto it across the stage.
Of course if Sephiroth had been holding on with everything he had, she wouldn't have been able to do that, let alone stop him with her hands in human form, but the crowd didn't know that. Sephiroth certainly seemed to be giving it his all from the way that he seemed to come to a complete stop in midair, and landed gracefully. Sephiroth's face was home only to concentration. "Help me believe it's not the real me." Sephiroth rushed at Aeris who used her longer reach to try and whack Sephiroth with one of her paws. But Sephiroth dodged aside, and sliced at her right arm. The cut was deep, it hadn't been for the mass of muscle and bone in that arm it would have severed the limb. But he was so focused on that one action that it he didn't see Aeris' left paw coming (or at least made it look like he didn't) till it was wrapped around his neck.
Then Aeris' fur melted away into flesh, her arm healing back to normal in the process. Then she proceeded to do something no one in their right mind would try to. She fell forward wrapping her arms around Sephiroth in a hug. "Somebody help me tame this animal." She said that loud enough for other people to hear, and then whispered her own words to Sephiroth. "Do you know that if it hadn't been for Elmyra, I would have been classified as a schizophrenic?"
Sephiroth stepped back and Aeris sunk to the floor before he turned his back on her once again sheathing Masamune. "I can't escape myself, some many times I've lied." Aeris drew one small breath and those who had a good enough seat could see fur starting to grow along her body again. "But there's still rage inside." She leapt at Sephiroth's back shifting on the way to it and tackled him dragging him to the ground. Her body weight drove him down onto the stage. And at first all he could do was struggle hopelessly. "Somebody get me through this nightmare."
"Really? I was the one who killed your mother as an act of mercy." Sephiroth pushed his hands down on the stage which rocked with energy throwing Aeris off gait for a moment. It was long enough for Sephiroth to flip over and then toss Aeris off of him. It wasn't enough to stop Aeris who was back on all fours with her fur bristling. Somehow she forced words into coherence through her "I can't control myself. So what if you can see, the darkest side of me? No one will ever change this animal I have become. Help me believe it's not the real me."
Aeris charged right at Sephiroth, who waited calmly for her. He stood his ground, and then grabbed both of Aeris paws with his hands and held them back. He grinned at her. "Somebody help me tame this animal I have become." It would be the words that Aeris growled that undid him. "I already knew that." Sephiroth's eyes widened and Aeris slammed her head into Sephiroth's knocking him backwards.
Aeris pounced on him but Sephiroth managed to draw Masamune and drive it through the side of Aeris' body as she fell downwards on him claws ready. Then once again Aeris body shrunk and Masamune was no longer buried into her flesh but into empty air. Once more she fell on him, this time not as a predator but as a lover. "Help me believe it's not the real me, somebody help me tame this animal."
Sephiroth easily rolled out from underneath the human Aeris and once more Masamune's shining blade was hid by dark leather. "Somebody help me through this nightmare, I can't control myself. Somebody wake me from this nightmare, I can't escape this hell." Then he whispered the words hoping that Aeris would hear him when he was looking the other way. "Then why in the name of Gaia didn't you tell me before?" Aeris rolled back over, and punched Sephiroth as a human. "Why do you think Sephiroth? Because it would mean telling you that you had failed. Not just to save my mother's life; that was beyond you control. But you failed to properly repress my memories.
Not that I can remember that much anyway. Nothing really besides blood stained floors and a boy dressed in black with silver hair. Besides, it was fun, I kept waiting to see if I could make you angry enough to admit that you had already saved my life once." Sephiroth's mask of concentration shattered. "Oh, you Cetra bitch!"
Sephiroth leapt to his feet, but Aeris already had. As he turned he got a fist full of claws to the chest, skewering him. His body slumped slightly though he knew he would be perfectly fine as soon as they were out of his body. They said the words together this time. "So what if you can see, the darkest side of me? No one will ever change this animal I have become. Help me believe it's not the real me! Somebody help me tame this animal I have become." Sephiroth kicked at Aeris' arm, knocking it up and himself off of her arm.
Then he charged at Aeris, slamming his shoulder into her chest knocking the Crinos wolf to the stage. "You know, I like this Aeris who can't just look at me with those huge green eyes and convince me to do anything she wants, who has to actually prove her strength to me." A rough lupine tongue ran along Sephiroth's face. "You know, I like this Sephiroth who admits to having emotions and is willing to act on them. He reminds me more of the boy who I thought would do anything to help others." Sephiroth punched Aeris in the face. She did the same to his gut sending him flying about five feet.
He landed on his feet, and almost instantly Aeris got back on her two feet and finally shifted to human. The approached each other carefully, and then they fell into each others arms. Both pretending to be too tired to support themselves. "Help me believe it's not the real me, somebody help me tame this animal. This animal I have become."
Melkore did not actually broadcast "okay folks break it up, you two can pull of each others clothes later" but he certainly thought it. Frankly however he knew that saying it out loud, where either Sephiroth or Aeris could hear (which probably was anywhere within a mile of them) would be a surefire death sentence. So instead he signaled the next act and took the spot light off Sephiroth and Aeris.
Alex stepped forward in his human form, stepped up to a microphone, walked it to the front of the stage, and without further ado, began. The song he had selected had been one Mirri had brought his attention to, and like she had guessed, he had not been able to resist it. A spot light fell on him as the first words left his mouth. "We are going backwards! Put your best foot backwards! We are growing backwards! Put your best foot backwards!"
With each line Alex took a step back taking his microphone with him. After those four lines he settled into a less turbulent beat. "We have ceased to educate and now face devastation. Evolution is the means of coping with this rebarbarization!" The beat picked up again, not the amount at which it had started, but a simple maintainable pace, like a wolf's run.
"We have to develop our natural selection, cultivate the changes that will help in our protection, from CEO to checkout clerk we're drifting through the shore. Come on everybody, BACK ON ALL FOURS!" At those words Alex let his own feet droop out from under him and he fell to the floor on his back, all four limbs failing at nothing, the traditional posture for a wolf laughing so hard that their sides were splitting.
Even in that position he managed to do a good enough job of singing that his words weren't lost. "Down, down, down, get down on the ground, down, down, down, four feet on the ground!" As Alex spoke those last words he did something that he swore he would kill any member of the group who mentioned it at a later date, he rolled over.
He rolled over to get all four of his limbs underneath his body. "We are going backwards! Put your best foot backwards! We are growing backwards! Put your best foot backwards!" This time instead of taking steps backwards Alex slowly rose to his feet to perch on what he considered a lower rung of the evolutionary ladder. Again the beat was slow.
"Unfriendly environments, from Nibelheim to Midgar, through genetic engineering, we will all become wolves with gills..." As the beat began to speed up again, Alex's body took on more lupine aspects to a much greater degree then Aeris' had, though he was still able to summon forth words understandable to a human ear.
"The icecaps are melting so we'll have to learn to swim, the ozone is depleted and our future's looking grim. We'll grow hair everywhere to block out the gamma rays. I'm really looking forward to humanity's next phase!" As Alex spoke those words he was practicing what he preached.
The Crinos form had never been intended for this particular purpose, but it did the job quite nicely. If anyone could tell that the voice they were "hearing" was no longer arriving through their traditional five senses, they didn't seem to mind it. /Down, down, down, get down on the ground! Down, down, down, four feet on the ground!\ Alex dropped to the ground, by this point looking even less like a human being and more like a cross between Crinos and his full lupine form. /We are going backwards! Put you best foot backwards! We are growing backwards! Put your best foot backwards! Sex is too unsafe to share among the population, we will propagate our selves through autopulation...\
Behind the stage Mirri' wiped away a small tear at the fact that after much (hurried) training, Alex had been able to pronounce the term correctly. This time there were no words, just the howling, barking, and growling of the full wolf that Alex now was. Since the wolf clearly couldn't finish the song, the rest of the group threw forward the last chorus. "Down, down, down, get down on the ground. Down, down, down, four feet on the ground! Down, down, down, get down on the ground! Down, down, down, four feet on the ground!"
Nobody asked what happened to the wolf, or why Alex was suddenly present again as Niro Rose moved on stage with a single part of the black curtain. He still wore his black trenchcoat, and he still had his magnum strapped to his side. His voice reverberated throughout the square, somehow all the more haunting because there was nothing spectacular about it.
"Once I had my heroes, and once I had my dreams. But all of that has changed now, the truth begins again! The truth is not that comfortable. Mother taught us patience, the virtues of restraints. Father taught us boundaries, the knowledge we must know." Sephiroth, who was looking in Niro's direction managed to scoff without making it obvious to anyone watching and utter a very low "Yeah right..."
Niro continued. "I'm trying to protect my unity!" In the blink of an eye Niro drew his weapon. "That's when I reach for my revolver!" He pulled back the hammer with complete coldness. "That's when it all gets blown away!" He raised the gun and pulled the trigger. One of the three white lights on Niro vanished in a shatter of glass. In actuality Niro hadn't shot the light, the failing shards might have hurt someone.
As Melkore put it "That's like running for mayor of lawsuit city!" So the bullet simply went into the rafters while the speakers played the sound of shattering glass and Melkore cut the light with perfect timing. "That's when I reach for my revolver." Niro spun the gun calmly quite sure he would neither drop it nor fire it. "The spirit passes by this way." Niro spun the gun right back into his holster.
"My friend once told me, his one and only aim. To build a giant castle and in it sign his name. Sign it with complete community." James perked right up knowing that he was the subject of the song, and began to pound the keys as if this would elicit a louder sound from them. "That's when I reach for my revolver." The gun practically jumped into Niro's hand again. "That's when it all gets blown away!" Another shot in a different direction, both the lights to the left and right where out, through use of the same trick. "That's when I reach for my revolver. The spirit passes by this way."
Niro returned the gun to its holster and took off his sunglasses. No special effects where needed to make his eyes a sight to behold. "And now the sky is empty, and that is nothing new, instead they look upon us, when they tell us that we're not there. And I say, that's when I reach for my revolver!" Niro had it in hand instantly and instantly the hammer was back. "That's when it all gets blown away!"
The last light went out with a bright flash of light, and then there was darkness. Niro continued singing and the music continued without pause however. "That's when I reach for my revolver, the spirit passes by this way. That's when I reach for my revolver! That's when it all gets blown away! That's when I reach for my revolver. The spirit passes by this way..." Lights instantly came on, but Niro had vanished.
In bright white light Vincent made his arrival. He did so in the shape of a swarm of bats reforming into a human being, perhaps one of the better known vampire clichés but still quite effective when someone sees it in real life. Vincent emerged from his swarm of bats in his blue Turk uniform, and blue light flooded in on him from a series of lights that turned themselves back on and moved at Melkore's command.
Vincent stood before the crowd and smiled. "Listen, when you've been thinking the same thoughts over and over again, for 30 years you find yourself putting them to all kinds of tunes just to keep yourself from going crazy. So here it is three decades afterwards, but then I'm a vampire, what can I say, its better late than never."
At first there was no music and Vincent almost crooned the words into his mike. "Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentlemen. Maybe he won't find out what I know, you were the last good thing about this part of town." After those words the music came, and it had a much faster than beat then the one to which Vincent had been singing so he adjusted and got on with it.
"When I wake up, I'm willing to take my chances on the hope you realize that you hate him more than you notice. I wrote this for you, for you so..." Vincent, paused for a moment and swirled his red cloak and suddenly he was joined by two shadows on stage. He spun closer to the one that resembled Simon Hojo and rested a hand firmly on his shadowy shoulder. "You need him, I could be him."
Vincent then proceeded to apply the pressure of his arm a little differently, it involved driving his elbow into the shadow Hojo's neck, hard enough to make the shadowy head fall to the ground and the entire body dissolve into a pool of shadow. "I could be an accident but I'm still trying, YEAH! That's more than I can say for him!"
Vincent turned to the other shadowy being. "Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman." /Hojo didn't have anything to do with blocking out those memories, I blocked them out myself. So that I wouldn't realize that I was his father, so that it would have been easier for me to kill him if I had to.\ "Maybe he won't find out what I know. You were the last good thing about this part of town."
As Vincent said those words he did a quick twist, misplaced his feet slightly (and obviously on purpose to anyone who knew just how graceful Vincent was) and collapsed on the stage. "Some day I'll appreciate in value, get off my ass and call you! But meantime, I'll sport my brand new fashion of waking up with pants on at four in the afternoon." /It sort of sad how little becoming a vampire has changed my hours if I was allowed to set them for myself and didn't have missions getting in the way.\
As Vincent lay on the floor, the pile of ooze that had been Simon Hojo's shadow began to swarm over him. "You need him, I could be him! I could be an accident but I'm still trying!" Vincent got back on his feet like only a vampire could, seeming to effortlessly rise from laying on his back on to standing straight, escaping from the mess that had been Hojo which finally stagnated and stopped moving. "That's more than I can say for him. One, Two, Three, Four!"
Vincent danced forward, showing off what his feet were really capable of, pretending to scan the audience for someone he already knew the location of. "Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman." /Can I really blame myself? He had my genes, and Hojo's choice of upbringing. By all rights he should have been psychotic, after all psychosis can be inherited can't it?\ "Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town."
Vincent approached the shadow that still remained and went on his knees before it. "He won't find out, he won't find out. He won't find out!" The shadowy being ran a hand through Vincent's hair and then was sucked into him, leaving him alone. "Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman!" /But then he did better than I expected of him. He must have gotten your sense of right and wrong because he sure doesn't have my screwed up one that says its okay to score with your boss' wife as long as you kill him fairly soon after you start doing it.\ "Maybe he won't find out what I know... you were the last good thing about this part of town.
Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman. Maybe he won't find out what I know: you were the last good thing about this part of town." Vincent raised his hands for a moment there was complete darkness in the Event Square. When it finally did lift it felt as if it could have stretched five seconds onto infinity.
Vincent bowed and got out of the way and Melkore stepped up into a spotlight, and took a few moments to just strum Sylvia before he started singing. "I've been trying too hard, I've been spinning around." Melkore provided a quick 360 degree pivot, still facing the crowd as he went on. "Got people chasing me down! Got find a way back to my world somehow, somehow."
He took his hands off Sylvia regretfully and mimed the position he took when piloting the Valar. "Right now, I wanna get lost inside a song, where there's no right or wrong. In my room is where I belong. My life is mine, once I'm behind the door!" Melkore took his hands off the imaginary wheel and seized Sylvia with a vengeance. Not roughly, but just with intense desire.
"Whenever we're together no one's a star! I can pour it all out right from the heart. If it's up to me, we'll never be apart, cause I'm in love with my guitar!" Melkore raised Sylvia up so that its head was higher than his, his eyes intensely focused on the chords as his hands did what they knew best.
"I grab handful of strings I've been dieing to play. It carries me far away. I don't need to explain when I've got nothing to say, oh yeah! If I break down it's all the sound I make." His fingers moved across Sylvia with as much grace as Sephiroth's arms handled Masamune. While he was proficient at using the guitar as a gun, he was truly a master at handling the instrument as what it was supposed to be.
"Whenever we're together, no one's a star! I can pour it all out right from the heart. If its up to me, we'll never be apart, cause I'm in love with my guitar!" By this point Melkore's fingers were achieving the kind of speed that you needed to be a SOLDIER to obtain. Which made it rather impressive as he wasn't actually snapping the strings given what kind of strength SOLDIERS could get out of their fingers as well.
Melkore went down slightly, holding Sylvia as he might a female partner during a pivotal moment in a dance. "Keeper of my secrets. Part of all my dreams. Somehow we're connected, from a whisper to a scream!" After those lines Melkore broke into a few moments worth of something that would be quite hard for anyone to forget. A man tangoing with his guitar. He even lifted it over his head, and spun it around on one finger for a moment.
However after that he got back to singing much to James' bemusement. "Whenever we're together no one's a star. I can pour it all out right from the heart! If it's up to me, we'll never be apart, cause I'm in love with my guitar." Now it was a foxtrot. Sephiroth wondered where exactly Melkore had learned the dance moves he was now using.
"Whenever we're together no one's a star. I can pour it all out right from the heart! If it's up to me, we'll never be apart, I'm in love with my guitar, oh yeah!" Melkore struck a pose for one single moment as if he was about to go out with the well known finish of smashing his guitar to pieces, and then stopped. He let Sylvia fall from his momentarily limp fingers and caught her again before she hit the ground.
"I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with my guitar. I'm in love with my guitar!" His piece spoken on the issue of following your love wherever and in whoever (or whatever) you found it, spoken, Melkore finally stopped.
There was a long pause as Melkore's music ended, and he bowed out of center stage with grace. James walked out carrying his keyboard with him, he placed it down in the spotlight Melkore made for him, and he waved to the crowd.
"Hey, just to give you guys a peek into my life, let me give you a list. I've been shot at, jumped off a 70th story roof, made friends with a guy who's been trying to kill me, stole a tank, blew up, or to be more exact, blew down, a giant mechanical monstrosity with it, drove the tank I stole through a Shinra checkpoint and everything else that's brought me here since the last time I've slept. And after I sleep, I'm going to save the Planet before I can sleep again. Well with that out of the way, let's get this show on the road!" Melkore started strumming and James started singing.
"I've got a smile on my face, and I've got four walls around me. I've got the sun in the sky, all the water surround me. Oh you know, yeah I've been down and sometimes I'll lose... I've been battered, but I'll never bruise... it's not so bad!" Vincent looked on and smiled, now there was someone unquestionably out of their mind, and but James was one of the happy ones, and what more could you really ask from life?
"And I say, way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day, and it's all your state of mind! At the end of the day, you've just got to say... it's all right!" Sephiroth frowned, what was it that psychotic had said? Oh yes "how soon he has become not only combat worthy but accustomed to war. We witness a being that clearly an improvement on the human method, 'a natural killer' beyond doubt" that was it. Was that James? No it couldn't be. James just had no other choice to get used to war, maybe sometime soon James would have a chance to get used to peace.
"She sings on the corner, what keeps her from dying? Let them say what they want, but she won't stop trying... Oh you know, she might stumble if they push her around. She might fall, but she'll never lie down...it's not so bad!" Aeris could only wonder if James was describing her or Mirri, and how odd it could be that any lack of clarity could exist in describing one or the other. But then she had become more like Mirri, and maybe in his small ways James made Mirri more like her.
"And I say, way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day, and it's all your state of mind! At the end of the day, you've just got to say... it's all right. It's all right, it's all right...it's ALL RIGHT!" What could Melkore do but agree, this was turning out to be more fun than he had expected it to be, it had been a while since he had been able to play Sylvia as a guitar rather than a weapon.
"Because in this beautiful life, there's always some sorrow. And it's a double-edged knife, but there's always tomorrow… oh you know! It's up to you now if you sink or swim! Just keep the faith that your ship will come in... it's not so bad." Ragabashes, what could you say? You threw one (especially this one) into the Fields of Slaughter and they'd ask what all the fighting was about.
"And I say, way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day, and it's all your state of mind! At the end of the day, you've just got to say... I say, way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
and it's all your state of mind! At the end of the day, you've just got to say... it's all right, it's all right. I've got a smile on my face, and I've got four walls around me!" With those words James' hands rose from the keyboard and he took off his gloves. For the first time it become clear to Sephiroth why James had gone into another room in Melkore's house to put on his new gloves.
Underneath those gloves James didn't have hands. Or at least not normally hands. They were, what they were, and they were covered with a light coat of red fur. Also, they had no fingernails. Instead they had small slots in them from which one could only guess that claws could be extended.
Behind the curtains Mirri pondered the significance of that line. Four walls around him was the last thing Sephiroth would ever want, but to James it was just detail. But then after all James was nothing but then what was James but Sephiroth with none of his weaknesses and many of his strengths.
Deference without Sephiroth's stony impartiality. Confidence without Sephiroth's sense of distance. Most of all, none of Sephiroth's ever present "we are going to go do the mission, and do it so well that we fall asleep into our beds, wake up and go do another mission the day after" narrow focus on life that left no room for fun. Granted, Aeris hopefully would be doing something about that fairly soon. Still, Sephiroth would never understand the way that Mirri blended business with pleasure, of course James would probably never either, but he did it in his own way as well at least.
Still, Mirri was quite sure that holding James up to his competitors for her feelings (Reno, Melkore, possibly Rufus while he was alive, doubtlessly Zack while he had been alive, granted Zack obvious had plans to nail so many girls that eventually his bedposts would have so many notches in them that they would inevitably collapse during an act that would put one more notch on them) the Firecat came out far ahead. Well, now it was her turn to show some emotion.
Well how should Mirri describe who she had been, who had was, who she would be, all in one song? It was surprisingly easy. "I hate the world today, you're so good to me, I know but I can't change. Tried to tell you but you look at me like maybe I'm an angel underneath... innocent and sweet." Melkore looked at Mirri, and wondered if anyone could possibly have ever thought her innocent and sweet. Then he looked at James, and just shrugged and mouthed the words "ride to your Dulcinea my son."
"Yesterday I cried, you must have been relieved to see the softer side. I can understand how you'd be so confused, I don't envy you, I'm a little bit of everything. All rolled into one!" Niro agreed, even to him nothing could have described Mirri more succinctly than that last line.
"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover. I'm a child, I'm a mother. I'm a sinner, I'm a saint! I do not feel ashamed, I'm your hell, I'm your dream! I'm nothing in between, you know you wouldn't want it any other way!" Who would Mirri be for James? The exact same person who she was happy being, and she wouldn't love anyone who desired her otherwise.
"So take me as I am, this may mean, you'll have to be a stronger man. Rest assured that when I start to make you nervous, and I'm going to extremes... Tomorrow I will change, and today won't mean a thing!" Vincent felt a momentary pang of regret, wishing someone had given him that advice three decades ago.
"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother! I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed! I'm your hell, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between. You know you wouldn't want it any other way!" Mirri was confident in that, even the people who couldn't have her, like Reno wouldn't have wanted her to be anyone but herself.
"Just when you think, you got me figured out, the season is already changing. I think it's cool, you do what you do, and don't try to save me. I'm a bitch, I'm a lover!
I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint! I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell, I'm your dream! I'm nothing in between, you know you wouldn't want it any other way!" Aeris took a moment to reflect how much perception of a person depended on who was perceiving them.
"I'm a bitch, I'm a tease, I'm a goddess on my knees! When you hurt, when you suffer, I'm your angel undercover! I've been numb, I'm revived, can't say I'm not alive! You know I wouldn't want it any other way!" A loud cry of encouragement went up from the crowd, and one solitary wolf whistle, accompanying it, an object flew through the air to land perfectly at Mirri's feet. It was a Turk uniform, shirt, pants, tie, all wrapped up in one complete bundle. Across it was a small note. "I know you always wanted to have my boys for a trophy, but I'm off to find another girl and might need them with her, so you'll have to settle for this instead. Dancing on the Fat Man's Grave- R"
Mirri made a quick note to retrieve the bundle before they vacated the stage. She could have the stuff put up with a plaque beneath it reading "The one that got away" and best of all she knew James wouldn't mind at all.
But by this time James had his gloves back on and Mirri gave him a teasing smile with crick of the finger to signal to come to her. James did and both were bathed in white light. For the shortest moment there was complete silence, and then Melkore's amplified voice like echoed out. "Now then, presenting the Queen and Tom of the Cat's Of War themselves, Mirri Lufkin Catwarrior and James Firecat! Now for the rest of us schmucks..."
While Melkore made introduction taking his time James and Mirri had a quick conversation. "James you're able to see what no one else can, confident, strong enough to stand up for yourself, curious enough not to use that strength to push others around, and your loyal. I don't know what else I could ask for from a man."
"Mirri your powerful enough to stand up for what you believe in. There's no way you'd ever let anyone stand between you and the ones you love, and after seeing the way you treated the people of Corel, that just told me what I always suspected. Even when people spat on you, even when people hated you, you still loved them, you've got a heart that's way bigger than I think anyone beside me, even you, ever realized." It ashamed Mirri to admit that she blushed at that point.
Then James and Mirri broke apart slightly and James was instantly cast in bright red light, yet it managed to have a positive effect on him. Mirri for her part was lit up with bright electric yellow lighting and she started singing.
James as one might expect, blazed the trail, and Mirri let him. "I think we're going somewhere, we're on to something good here. Out of mind, out of state, just trying to keep my head on straight." Mirri quickly stood up and took her turn however. "I think we're going somewhere. We're on to something good here. There's only one thing left to do, drop all I have and go with you."
Then they banded together. "Somewhere, back there, I left my worries all behind.
My problems fell out of the back of my mind. We're going and I'm never knowing, never knowing, where we're going. To go back to where I was would just be wrong. I'm pressing on!"
Mirri was in charge this time. "Pressing on, all my distress is going, going, gone. Pressing on, pressing on! And I won't sit back, and take this anymore, cause I'm done with that, I've got one foot out the door!" James was more than glad to finish up whatever Mirri left for him. "And to go back where I was would just be wrong, I'm pressing on!"
It was an interesting combination of voices. Mirri had a mezzo-soprano that could cut through confusion and burn a way into your soul. James had a... well there was no word for it. James couldn't sing, at least not the conventional sense of the word. His voice could probably be classified as a tenor, but it lacked both training and awareness that it lacked training; it had its odd appeal just not to someone with any sense of vocal aesthetics.
"I think we're going somewhere. We're on to something good here. Out of mind, out of state, just trying to keep my head on straight. I think we're going somewhere. We're on to something good here!" Mirri stopped for a moment, and asked James a question consisting of one single word. "Adversity?" James answered it at once. "We get around it! Searched for joy..." Mirri nodded approvingly. "In you I found it."
That was all the problems those two had to confront. Sometimes the road to true love did run straight, or at least pretty straight except for some kinky bits. "Somewhere back there I left my worries all behind, my problems fell out of the back of my mind! We're going and I'm never knowing, never knowing, where we're going! To go back to where I was would just be wrong, I'm pressing on! Pressing on, all my distress is going, going, gone, pressing on, pressing on!
"And I won't sit back, and take this anymore. Cause I'm done with that, I've got one foot out the door. And to go back where I was would just be wrong I'm pressing on! To go back to where I was would just be wrong, I'm pressing on. Pressing on, all my distress is going, going, gone. Pressing on, pressing on, and I won't sit back, and take this anymore! Cause I'm done with that, I've got one foot out the door! And to go back where I was would just be wrong, I'm pressing on!"
Mirri stopped singing, because the next line was undoubtedly suited just for James. "You look down on me, but you don't look down on me at all." Likewise Mirri had the next line all to herself. "You smile and laugh, and I feel the love you have for me." The two got together for the last lines however. "I think we're going somewhere. And we're on to something good here, and we're gonna make it after all!" At the words "gonna make it after all" James tossed his hat up into the air revealing his cat ears for all to see. Not that it made much difference after seeing his hands. Impressively James adjusted himself so as to have his hat back on top of his head.
Then things started that no one had bothered to tell Sephiroth about when they had planned them. Mirri was suddenly alone in a spotlight. "This song goes out to someone who was given a number and had his name taken away. Oh, and I'd like to thank my soon to be husband for coming with this idea and being smart enough to leave execution to me.
A second after the music started spotlights went out till only Melkore was left playing his guitar. "Run and tell all of the angels, this could take all night." His spotlight vanished and just as quickly Aeris' reignited as she began to sing. "Think I need a devil to help me get things right."
Vincent took it from there, somehow managing to look even paler and his veins more pulsating than normal. "Hook me up a new revolution cause this one is a lie." When Mirri was illuminated she had one of Reno's cigarettes (unlit) gripped in her hand. "We sat around laughing and watched the last one die." The reference was obvious to everyone present.
With nothing else to do around the office Mirri had taken a short sabbatical with the Turks to crush the rebel group AVALANCHE not so long ago, it had been the happiest time of Reno's life. It was also worth noticing that Mirri seemed not the least bit concerned that AVALANCHE's ideologies would have been perfectly in line with the current ones the Seraphim held.
Instead she simply flicked the cigarette aside and James took over. "I'm looking to the sky to save me, looking for a sign of life. Looking for something help me burn out bright!" The last lines coming out of James left "burn out bright" with no more connotation of the an approaching end then they would have to a phoenix.
His turn over James graciously motioned to Niro who was suddenly illuminated. "I'm looking for complications, looking cause I'm tired of lying, make my way back home when I learn to fly high." The resident vampire took over at this point. "Think I'm done nursing the patience, it couldn't wait one night. I'd give it all away, if you give me one last try."
Aeris dutifully grasped the song once again. "We live happily ever trapped if you just save my life. Run and tell the angels that everything is all right." After this Alex, looking less lupine then he did in his Crinos form but considerably less than full human began to part sing part howl. "I'm looking to the sky to save me, looking for a sign of life. Looking for something to help me burn out bright!"
Once more Melkore was given a chance to show off his excellent fingerwork. "I'm looking for a complication, looking cause I'm tired of trying. Make my way back home when I learn to fly make my way back home when I learn to..." Spot lights turned on and all of the group sang the bridge twice over. "Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone. Try to make this life my own. Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone, try to make this life my own."
For the last time Aeris was given the honors of singing. "And I'm looking to the sky to save me, looking for a sign of life. Looking for something to help me burn out bright! I'm looking for a complication. Looking cause I'm tired of trying. Make my way back home when I learn to fly, make my way back home when I learn to fly. Make my way back home when I learn to…" She let those words echo out and then slowly die away.
Sephiroth could only watch them from in silence in lack of a spotlight, wondering where exactly James got off coming up with an idea like that and trusting in Mirri to implement it. /How different is it from that time I set it so a bucket of water would fall on you when you opened your door? Granted it would have been funnier if you hadn't been able to dodge it.\ Sephiroth knew that voice, knew it beyond the shadow of a doubt.
/Shut up Zack-Kenobi. I don't believe in ghosts, spirits, resurrection, or any kind of afterlife besides the Lifestream rebirth!\ /Yeah lets talk about the Lifestream rebirth. You know it isn't an instantaneous process, it took me close to five years to fill out of most of paperwork. So Seph, since your so good at putting two and two together...\ Sephiroth almost made the mistake of voicing his thoughts instead of just thinking them. /You are fing sting me! He's not you! For one thing James has never declared it his life's ambition to score with every female that walks upright.\
/You're jumping the gun a little there Seph. If that was me in cat ears, how could I be here talking to you? I just donated a little bit more of myself than most people ever do into any one body.\ Sephiroth, remember back on the boat to Costal Del Sol. /You were looking after me?\ /Well duh. If hadn't been for me you wouldn't ever have any fun. Not to mention Aeris would probably never have gotten over the fact that I ended up dropping her a lot harder, and I'll be fair to myself sooner, than I ever intended.\ /In the sense that you never slept with her.\ /What can I say, Seph? You know me from start to finish. She's a tough kid, but she's had a hard life. But hey I could say the same thing of you, that's probably why you were meant for each other.\
/Because faced with the same problems we took opposite solutions to them? I locked my pain as deep down inside myself as I could and left it to fester while she tried to actively forget about hers by helping others.\ /However you want me to say it she's yours now.\ /Or I'm hers.\
/Hey it's your mind, if you can't chose how it is in here, where can you?\ /If its my mind what exactly are you doing here Zack?\ /Oh I'm just here to give you the goodbye you never got. Just think of it as little payback from some people who owe you an impossibly large debt and happen to have a lot of pull where the Lifestream is concerned. So there it is, I'm about to go becomes bits and pieces of a dozen people.\ /Colonel Zack Stephen Hylacon, you're dismissed.\ /Thank you, sir.\ Then he was gone.
Now that the others had finished their last song they remained silent, and for a moment there was silence before the crowd rectified the problem. "Encore! Encore!" The group looked at each other and then at Sephiroth, who smiled calmly just like he did before battle. "Let's give it one more stab." They nodded and they all grabbed their respective microphones, Sephiroth joining them as Melkore played an intro.
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As Alex played a rapid beat on the drums, Vincent raised his mic. "I must have dreamed a thousand dreams…" Sephiroth added the next line "been haunted by a million screams." James' ears twitched as he chimed in "but I can hear the marching feet: they're moving into the street."
Aeris's incredulous voice sang out the next lines; "Now did you hear the news today? They say the danger's gone away…" Alex's voice picked up where she left off "But I can see the fires, still alight;" At this point, Sephiroth raised his right hand, which burst into flames as Alex continued "They're burning into the night…"
Mirri jumped on the next line "There's too many men-" Niro cut her off "Too many people" and Mirri finished the line with him "making too many problems" Melkore chimed in "And there's not much love to go around," all three sang "can't you see this is a land of confusion?"
Sephiroth picked up the chorus with James and Alex singing backup "This is the world we live in and these" Sephiroth clenched his left hand into a fist and raised it above his head as James and Alex did the same "are the hands we're given: Use them and let's start trying to make it a place worth living in!"
Aeris sang the next two lines "Well Superman, where are you now? When everything's gone wrong somehow…" Vincent picked up perfectly "The "men of steel", these men of power are losing control by the hour"
Mirri and James picked up the next verse "And this is the time, this is the place, so we look to the future" Niro joined them "but there's not much love to go around, tell me why this is a land of confusion."
Sephiroth took the chorus again, Alex and James again singing backup "This is the world we live in, and these" Sephiroth put his mic back on the stand and raised both fists in the air, with Alex on his right and James on his left raising their outside arms "are the hands we're given. Use them, and lets start trying to make this a place worth living in!"
Melkore began playing some slow chords and darkness blanketed the stage, but Vincent stepped forward out of it, a wistful look in his eyes "I remember long ago, when the sun was shining, and all the stars were bright, all through the night, in the wake of this madness, as I held you so tight; So long ago…"
Vincent stepped back and the darkness dissipated as Sephiroth stepped forward; "I won't be coming home tonight- My Seraphim, we'll set it right. We're not just making promises that we know we'll never keep." Aeris and Mirri sang the followup "And there's too many men, too many people, making too many problems! And there's not much love to go around, Can't you see this is the land of confusion?"
Everyone sang the last two verses together: "This is the world we live in, and these are the hands we're given" fists went up "Use them and let's start trying to make this a place worth fighting for! This is the world we live in, and these are the names we're given. Stand up, and let's start showing just where are lives are going to!"
Melkore stepped back and played a single, lingering chord that seemed to go on forever, gradually fading. While they music still played, the seven up front all joined hands, and bowed. Then as the chord finally died, so did the lights. The next sound that would be heard by the event square would be an explosion that rocked the Golden Saucers.
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"That was fun." The hole that had been blown in the Event Square of the Golden Saucers was of no particular size or measurement. What was known about it was the fact that it had been blown apart without the apparent use of conventional explosives because there was no ash to be found. "Normally, gigs where we have to run away are a bad thing, but all things considered, I've had worse."
"So Mirri, unless you have something else on tap, can we go our ways now?" "Sure, but you need to find me and James a deserted island, and I think Sephiroth and Aeris might want the same... and before you even think about it, we should not be on the same island or any place close by." "You spoil all my fun Mirri." "That's my job."
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"So now what, Mirri?" James and Mirri had been dropped on the most godforsaken island in the world. It wasn't much more then half a mile by a quarter mile, and the two of them were alone. Considering how much free time they had Mirri was quite sure of what they were about to do. Of course broaching the topic with James was more then a touch difficult, as he considered a three letter word for gender to be no different from the six letter word for it. Thankfully just when Mirri was planning for an offensive more difficult then anything in the Wutaian war and requiring more subtlety then anything they had done in this war, James hit on the idea himself. "Oh, wait a minute, I've got an idea! It was in this book Melkore suggested I read..."
Mirri could guess the book from the way that James rapidly began undoing his shoelaces before kicking his shoes off and taking off his socks. Mirri began to take her vest off, and found James looking at her with his head cocked at an angle to convey complete a complete and total lack of understanding. Mirri shot back one of her own, and James elaborated his position.
"What are you taking your jacket off for? All you need to do is take off your socks and shoes, you know sole to sole." Apparently Melkore had suggested reading something other then "Kama Sutra" who would have guessed? "It was in this book, "Cat's in the Cradle" or something like that by some guy who's last name began with a "v", but that I can't pronounce."
Mirri looked James up once and down, and wondered what exactly she had to lose (besides her virginity, and she was supposed to be losing that) so she put her jacket back on and started to take off her shoes. Once she did that she reclined as James was, and pressed her bare feet to James'
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Vincent checked everything, and resisted the urge to cackle maniacally. He was fairly sure that he could get a good one now that he had Hojo's soul in him. It was ironic, but looking at the body down on the table before him, he knew it was just like what had been done to him. Of course he was doing it without sadistic intent (in fact it was a very benign intent he had), but it was the same.
A body that looked as young as it looked when she had died, connected with needles to its veins (they had been hard to find with blood no longer in them, but Vincent had found them) and those needles connected to small jars. One was filled with blood that Vincent had drawn from various bodies, (he had managed to acquire quite a surplus in Midgar) and one was filled with Lifestream.
The soil from Midgar had been liberally stuffed into the soles of her shoes, everything was ready. Vincent was not so egotistical to believe that what happened next was romantic. This was not prince charming leaning over sleeping beauty to give her a kiss on the lips to awaken her. This was Vincent Valentine, (who if anything was more like prince Vlad "Dracula" Tepes) leaning over the dead body of the women who had been married to someone else yet had borne his child, and he was vomiting into her mouth.
It was not easy to force your intestines to work in reverse, particularly when most of your body wasn't even working at all, but Vincent did it. He vomited blood into Lucresia's mouth, though vampiric vomit was not particularly similar to a human's. There were no gastric juices (at least it didn't burn his throat coming back up) nor were there half-digested pieces of food.
There was only blood because you could only vomit what you had inside, and there was no true way to tell that Vincent had "used" the blood. If he wasn't mistaken his body broke down blood and he exhaled it, but that was just speculation. What mattered was that after Vincent had committed his less than romantic act he closed Lucresia's mouth and propped her head back. She technically couldn't swallow the blood because she was dead, but it would work its way through her body even if only by osmosis.
All of the other necessary requirements were now present in her body. About three pints of blood that Vincent had collected from others, as was his blood and her blood, and so was the lifestream that connected the sparkplug to the engine. Now all Vincent had to do was wait, and Vincent happened to have a lot of practice in that area.
But getting this close to what he wanted was making him just a tad impatient. Nor did it help that because Vincent had just coughed up blood, he was hungry. That was something he could ill afford to be when he was going into battle with Jenova tomorrow so he decided to pass the time by going getting a bite to drink.
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From the mountains of Cosmo Canyon Alex let out a mighty howl. It was a howl that would carry to wolves the world over. It told that once again the Garou were calling to their remaining brethren. If Alex survived what was to come, he would return, and he would do his part to preserve the Garou.
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Melkore sat it in the captain's seat of the Valar, and played Sylvia because there was nothing else to do. He played to empty chairs, and hoped that he would not end up playing to the empty chairs of those who would never return.
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Niro Rose raised his gun to the sky. What was he fighting for? He already knew, he was Jenova, he would fight for the sake of fighting, he would fight to fight, what else was there in the world except fighting?
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"Oh." "What is it, Aeris?" "Your chest, I'm surprised there aren't more scars." "What Hojo did to me doesn't leave scars where you can see them." "That doesn't mean they can't be healed." "If anyone could, it would be you."
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"Well unlike the time I was having this conversation with Vincent I do have cigarettes and a lighter, but they're bad for your health." To be fair, cigarettes were not needed, actual intercourse had not been needed. James and Mirri had just laid there, (sole touching sole) till they both lost consciousness. Not that Mirri wouldn't say there weren't some benefits to it working out like that.
Supposedly, according to some religions only virgins would be able to get into heaven. When the world might be about to end, you could never be too sure how useful your virginity might suddenly become, particularly if your partner still had his as well. Besides, it would be fun to watch Aeris blush when asking her if she still had her virginity. Such was the essence of Mirri Catwarrior, holding onto virginity long after the traditional virginal maiden had lost hers.
Granted Mirri now lost any particular virginity she might have possessed in her feet and toes, but much like the way she had lost her neckular virginity with Vincent, she doubted these were suitable reasons to keep someone out of heaven. Besides, when you got right down to it, James just might have been onto something with that sole to sole thing.
End chapter 34
FN: To start with I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the late great John Belushi, if my editor doesn't find it too preposterous. Sephiroth's "I love war" speech is derived from the works of Kohta Hirano. This chapter just kept getting longer and longer, (and come to think of it so did this end of chapter note) at first it was just going to be James and Mirri who "held up" the Golden Saucers, but then I realized that bringing on Melkore would probably be necessary since he would have the know-how to handle the technical aspects of the job. From there everyone wanted in on and as you can imagine, my characters are not the kind of people you want to have mad at you. Sephiroth's first song is "Winterborn" by Crüxshadows with a few small edits. His second is "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated" by Rise Against. I think it fits him pretty well and also works as a love song to Aeris, I had of doing a montage to it (it works better when you have pictures to work with but you'll just have to make the pictures yourself) turned out surprisingly well. Aeris' first song is "Invincible" by Pat Benatar. It was suggested to me by my editor, a brilliant suggestion and I have not even tried to find a song that could possibly work better than it. Her second is "Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden, which with all due respect would be a good name for a Children of Gaia rock band. The song they do together is "Animal I Have Become" by Three Days Grace. My editor wanted me to use "I wish I had an Angel" by Nightwish, but I felt that "Animal" works better since both Sephiroth and Aeris have been through dehumanizing experiences not to mention fears concerning their power and both looked to each other. Alex's song is "We Are Going Backwards" By The Pheromones, don't be surprised if you've never heard of them. Niro's is "That's When I Reach for my Revolver" by Moby. Vincent's song was "Grand theft Autumn" by Fall Out Boy, this was a VERY hard choice. Other considerations including "Bloodlines" by Slayer, "Ha Ha Your Dead" by Greenday, "Over my head" by LIT, "Far far away" by Nickelback, "Hey Julie" by Fountains of Wayne, Renegade by Stratovarius and "My Girlfriend's dead" by The Vandals. In the end I went with it because this one really did a good job of Vincent explaining his relationship with both Lucresia and Sephiroth. Melkore's is "I'm in love With my Guitar" by Alex Johnson which narrowly beat out "Asshole" by Dennis Leary James' song is "Ordinary Day" by Great Big Sea. Mirri's is "Bitch." by Meredith Brooks and the one James and Mirri do together is "Pressing On" by Relient K, since I felt that it really captured the spirit of their relationship. The song they sing for Sephiroth is "Learn to fly" by Foo Fighters. On the subject of what Mirri says before the song yes it that is a line from "Secret Agent Man" but also bare in mind that Sephiroth can of course be translated as "The Numbers" so as Dr. Perry Cox of the show Scrubs would say "That's a trama two-fer". And the song everyone sings together at the end is "Land of Confusion" obviously the Distrubed version. This particular song was suggested and written by my Editor and not me. Anyway I just should take a moment to inform you of the difficulties of writing this chapter to me and my editor's satisfaction. The thing that you must (or at least should be) constantly be aware of when your writing a SxA relationship is that your dealing with two people who are both incredibly strong in their ways, and you have to resist the temptation to ever really make one of them an over powering presence in the relationship. This is opposed to say writing James and Mirri, or even better my Mirri and Reno interactions which only require you to come up with as many bad double entendres in combat as possible. ("Watch my back." "Hell you don't have to tell me, I'd pay money to do that!") After all the Sephiroth Aeris relationship loses much of its snap and appeal if it turns into either Brave Sir Sephiroth rescuing Aeris from Shinra thugs, or little lost child Sephiroth cowering at Aeris side while she soothes like him the mother he never had. That makes it a very complicated and very fulfilling relationship to write if done correctly, but it takes time to do these things right. Which is part of the reason that I decided Aeris should be Garou (it was a crazy idea I had before falling asleep one night) because it did much to help balance the physical presence of her character against Sephiroth's and really against the rest of the group as well. It's a decision I've never stopped being proud of, as you probably noticed that Aeris did more or less no fighting until she gained control of her shapeshifting. I was also tempted to have Sephiroth sing "Heroes" by Gamma Ray and finally admit that he saw himself as a hero, but then I realized that sometimes what proves who characters really are the most is what doesn't change. After reading that line again I can't help but think DUHHHH! Anyway I'm sure Twilight Sephiroth would say just as loudly at this point as he would in chapter one that he doesn't want to be called a hero, because as Malcolm Renolds from Firefly and Serenity so excellently put it "A hero is someone who gets his own men killed." Or maybe as JD on Scrubs says "admitting we're not heroic is when we're most heroic of all" At which point Twilight Seph would ask "I just can win with you people can I?" Well we're on the homestrech(For this fic) now, put in Disk 3.
OWAN: My head hurts. I hope we start doing short chapters again soon.