Blood and Steel
By: Lazeralk
Standard disclaimers apply
FF7/Saiyuki crossover
Warnings: This will have implied Shonen-Ai. I suck as yaoi, even though I love it dearly.
Part 2
0o0o0
Kougaiji felt the telltale signs of a massive headache coming on the moment he regained awareness. He tried desperately to ignore it and go back to sleep, rolling over onto his side. He felt cloth twist about his body and had a moment to think that it was a rather odd sensation before he bolted upright. He didn't sleep with a shirt on. It was uncomfortable, and too hot, and he just didn't. The headache vanished with a surge of adrenaline as his mind went from slightly awake to high alert in half an instant.
He turned his head to look at his surroundings and noticed that the familiar weighty swing of his mother's earrings was missing. A jolt of electric fear ran through his entire body as he raised panicked fingers to his empty earlobes and then to forehead, and neck. He crown and chokers were gone, and the rune rings he wore around his wrists were gone too.
Those rings, above all the others, he had to get back. They were a massive source of extra magic that he needed in order to Summon his more powerful servants.
He finally spotted the cluster of metal on the small table beside the bed he was currently in. He snatched up his jewelry and quickly snapped each piece into place. He calmed down once he felt the cool metal settle against his skin, and the weight of the earrings as they swung with his every movement.
He looked around the room and really saw it for the first time. The bed he was in was easily the largest bed he'd ever seen. The cloth that made the sheets was smooth and light, like silk. The comforter was down and very warm. The walls were a pleasant cream color and the floor was thick and black and made of some sort of soft looking substance he'd never seen before. There was a closet to one side and a nicely carved set of cherry wood dressers along the wall. A door to the opposite side of the closet opened into what he supposed was a bathroom.
Quietly, the Demon Prince tossed the blankets aside and stood. He crept towards the door and then noticed his boots at the foot of the bed. He took a moment to slip then on and hook the armor plates that protected his lower legs into place. Feeling much more secure now that he was fully accessorized, minus his jacket, he tried the doorknob and was shocked to find that it turned easily under his hand.
He had assumed that he had been captured by someone, or was, at the very least, in some sort of hostile situation. He didn't know how he had lost consciousness or how long he'd been asleep. For all he knew, he'd open the door and find Genjo Sanzo on the other side with a gun pointed at his head. Or worse yet, Homura.
Prepping himself for a fight, he opened the door and glanced about the empty room on the other side for an enemy that wasn't there. The new room had a handsome pair of black leather couches, set on a highly polished wood floor. The couches were turned so that when someone sat on them, they looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the entire right hand wall.
Kougaiji walked, trancelike, towards the couch and placed his hands on the back of it, his eyes never leaving the view that was spread out before him from the windows.
There were no castles, no temples, no pagodas, no shop curtains, and not a single character of writing that he recognized. He stared out at the alien landscape and helplessly let the horror and dread creep into him.
He was nowhere near anything he recognized. He was most likely even outside the borders of Shangri-La. He'd never been outside the borders of his homeland, in fact he was certain that no demon had ever set foot outside of them either. He was in completely uncharted territory, with no way of getting home. None of the flying dragons that he normally used for long distance transport were contracted to him, and thus could not be Summoned. And even if he did have a dragon, he'd have no idea which way to point it in order to get back to Ho-Tu castle.
"In short, I'm royally screwed." He said to himself, glaring out at the foreign metal city.
"Is that a fact?" asked a smooth tenor from behind him. He whirled and glared at the man who had just walked into the room, his body tensing for a fight. He stared, open-mouthed, at the man for moment before shaking his head to regain his wits. His body kept the wary tension as he snapped his mouth shut and made a quick study of the new-comer.
"Are you a human?" he finally asked, taking note of the luminescent teal eyes, the flowing silver hair and the moon pale skin. He didn't bear the classical markings of a demon, but one could never be sure after the introduction of power limiters. Perhaps the minus wave hadn't reached this far yet?
The man, possible demon, raised an elegant eyebrow in response. His lip twitched once before he answered quietly.
"Sort of. I'm a SOLDIER First Class. Do you know what that means?"
"No. How can you be 'sort of' human? You aren't a half breed, your coloring is wrong." The prince replied, flexing his clawed fingers.
"I'll explain that in due time. What exactly are you, if you don't mind my asking."
"You can't tell?" asked Kougaiji, not quite believing him.
"I'm afraid not. I've never seem anyone quite like you in my whole life." The stranger replied.
"My ears should be a dead giveaway, and the birthmark on my cheek. My claws should be another big clue." He said, raising his hand to eye level. His half inch pointed claws suddenly extended into foot-and-a-half long daggers. The stranger eyed him strangely, before stepping forward and lifting a gloved hand.
"May I?" he asked, gesturing towards his extended claws.
Kougaiji was utterly confused, but nodded anyway. The silver haired man cupped the back of his hand and touched, bent and prodded the claws while the prince stared at him as if he'd gone insane.
"Fascinating. There aren't any sections, and the claw itself feels more like bone than cellulose." He muttered.
"Are you insane? Who are you anyway?" demanded Kougaiji incredulously, yanking his hand back.
"I am General Sephiroth of SOLDIER. And I am perfectly sane, thank you very much. Who are you?"
"I'm Kougaiji, Son of Gyu Ma-Oh, Prince of Demons."
Sephiroth was silent for a moment and then nodded, more to himself than to Kougaiji.
"A demon? Well, I suppose that explains everything then."
"You…have never seen a demon before?" asked Kougaiji, mentally reviewing their conversation.
"That's correct." Answered Sephiroth, moving into his bedroom with Kougaiji on his heels. The General undid the buckles on his trench and slid out of it. He noted with some amusement that his guest had fallen silent at his disrobing. Smiling slightly, he opened his closet and hung the armored coat up and pulled a solid gray dress shirt out. He shrugged into it and buttoned it up as he stalked out of his bedroom and back into the living room.
"How far away from Shangri-La are we?" asked Kougaiji, following his host out.
Sephiroth stopped in his tracks and turned to face the demon.
"Where?"
"Shangri-La. Its also been called Togenkyo." The redhead repeated, hope and dread warring in him as he waited for the answer.
"Is that where demons come from?" asked Sephiroth, as he took Kougaiji's elbow and sat him down on one of the two couches.
"No, well, yes, but there are humans born there too. The Temple of the Setting Sun at Chang-An is in Shangri-La, and that's one of the biggest and most important Buddhist temples in the world." He explained as he twisted to watch the General over the back of the couch.
"Hmm. Do you want anything to drink?"
Kougaiji blinked. "No. Thank you."
Sephiroth headed into his kitchen and pulled the refrigerator open. He rummaged around inside for a moment before he re-emerged into the living room with a bottle of water. He strode silently to the other couch, sat down, took a sip of his water and stared out the window for a minute before he turned to his guest.
"I've never heard of Shangri-La or this Sun temple you mentioned, and I've been practically everywhere in the world." He confessed quietly, carefully watching Kougaiji's very purple eyes for his reaction.
"That…can't be. Everyone knows of Shangri-La. People flock to our lands. We're renowned around the world as paradise on Earth. How could you not know about it?"
"Well, to be fair, you didn't recognize SOLDIER, and you didn't react to my name at all."
"Should I have?" asked Kougaiji, clearly confused. If either of them should have recognized the other, shouldn't it have been Sephiroth that recognized Kougaiji? He was the prince of the entire Demon nation after all.
"I am fairly famous. I was publicized quite thoroughly after I practically won the Wutainese War single handedly."
"Wutainese War?" Kougaiji's mind was painting him a picture, pieced together from all the bits of strange information he was getting, and he didn't like it one bit.
"Do you know what a Sanzo is?" he asked, nearly desperate.
"No." answered the other man.
"How many Founding Scriptures are there?"
"I don't know. What do you mean by that?" asked Sephiroth as he leaned forward in his seat. Kougaiji ignored him and plowed on.
"What mark denotes Divine favor?"
"What? I don't know. What do mean, divine favor?"
"Who is the War God?"
"There are no gods."
Kougaiji fell silent and swallowed noisily; his whole frame began to tremble, ever so slightly.
"This is not good." He said, his fists clenched in his lap.
"Kougaiji, who are the Cetra? What is Shin-Ra? What did Wutai go to war over? What is Mako?"
"I…I don't know. I don't know any of it." He answered, his teeth clenched together as a soft sort of panic began to buzz at the edges of his senses.
"You see? Neither of us knows anything about the other's world."
"Is that what this is? A completely different world than the one I know? But how did I get here? Why did I come? No…I'm a Summoner. I would have pulled whatever I needed from another plane and been done with it." Kougaiji's voice trailed to a mumble as he bowed his head in thought, trying to remember what had happened.
Sephiroth waited patiently for his otherworldly companion to muddle through his thoughts. He had to bite his lip to keep himself from asking questions.
"I give up. I can't remember a single thing that would explain how and why I'm here."
"What's the last thing you do remember?" asked Sephiroth, taking another sip of his water.
"I remember…watching Lirin. Then something about Gyokumen Koshu."
"What is Gyokumen Koshu?"
Kougaiji let out a surprised burst of laugher, louder than he'd intended, but genuine.
"Not what, who. She's my father's concubine and Lirin's mother. She's a whore that I don't particularly like. However, the research team that's working on a way to revive my father is loyal to her, so until he actually is revived, we have to take orders from the bitch." Explained the redhead, venom dripping from his voice.
"I see." Said Sephiroth, his fine eyebrows drawn together in contemplation.
"Kougaiji." He said.
"Hm?"
"Would you object terribly to the idea of me putting you through some tests?"
"Tests?" asked Kougaiji.
"Yes, I want to have you run through the initial strength test we give to cadets when they first enter training. I also want to see you try to use Materia and how you react to a small dose of Mako. I can't keep you locked up in here all the time, but you must remain hidden, at least for now."
"Why? Because there aren't any demons in this world? Will I scare people?"
"Well, yes and no. You will scare people, but I'm more worried about you intriguing them. We have something of a mad scientist on the pay roll. He has nothing that even remotely resembles morals, and he would happily dissect you and pump you full of things you really don't want to have in you. In short, you must avoid Hojo's notice until I can figure out a way to make you untouchable."
Kougaiji looked a little ill at the thought that he might end up as some human's guinea pig. His mind presented him with the smiling image of Doctor Nii and his dumb stuffed rabbit. Kougaiji frowned.
"Ok. So what's the plan?" he asked, willing to go along with whatever Sephiroth said to prevent being experimented on.
"We do the tests and, depending on how you do, get you a Third, Second or First class uniform. Basically, we're going to sneak you into SOLDIER."
"Ok, what all does that entail?"
"Hm, well, you might have to cut your hair. You'll have to call me, and anyone else of higher rank than you, Sir. You'll be expected to stand, and act and speak a certain way and there will be paperwork." Sephiroth answered, counting on his fingers.
"Sir?" said Kougaiji, more to himself, and laughed a little.
"Why is that funny?" asked Sephiroth, sending a piercing stare at the other man.
"All my life, people have been calling me that, so some variation thereof."
"You mean that you really are a prince?"
"Yes, the Demon kingdom is almost the entire western half of Shangri-La. I'm the eldest son of the king, which makes me the Crown Prince. Did you think this was for show?" he asked, tapping the crown on his forehead.
"A crown? Then you are royalty…interesting." Said Sephiroth.
Kougaiji just smiled.
The silver haired General stood and set his still mostly full water bottle down next to his kitchen phone. He picked the phone up and then dialed a number he knew by heart. Kougaiji watched him with a look half way between confused and fascinated. He saw Sephiroth speak into it and his demonic hearing caught the words and a sort of crackle and the occasional word here and there coming out of the device.
Sephiroth put the phone down and walked back over to his couch, water bottle in hand.
"What was that?" asked Kougaiji, pointing in the general direction of the device.
"What do you mean?"
"That thing that you spoke into." Clarified the demon.
"Ah, that was a telephone which is more commonly referred to as a phone. It's a long distance communication device. I called one of my officers up here with a spare uniform for you to wear while we do the tests. That way, your initial test will look like a follow up." He explained.
"Ah." Said Kougaiji in understanding, his eyes studying the man across from him with newfound respect. The General was smart as well as gorgeous. The demon blinked at that last thought, before letting it slide, it was a truthful observation, nothing more.
They sat in silence then, studying each other, until there was a knock on the door. Sephiroth stood and answered it, standing aside to let a slightly scruffy, dark haired, man into the room. The newcomer had a stack of plastic wrapped parcels in his hands and a friendly smile on his face. Kougaiji stood and took a step towards the door and watched as the man's face went from friendly to shocked to awed.
0o0o0
End part 2