The Lost Wing
By La Fata Aurora
DISCLAIMER: I am but one of the millions who wished we owned these incredible characters by Squaresoft/Square-Enix. Just so you know, I am only a college student with an overactive imagination, so please don't sue me. I could very well live in the Midgar Slums-yeah, I know, that poor. Oh and, I also had to plagiarized Loveless. I don't own the first verse too!
Chapter Two: Loveless, Act I
Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess,
We seek it thus, and take to the sky…
Ripples form on the water's surface,
The wandering soul knows no rest…
What he saw last was something he was sure he never seen before, but he could also be wrong, as he knew nothing else but this void, and these voices that continuously waft in and out of his head. He remembers being warm, not so much like Kaena's cure spell, warmer, in fact. He could remember the feeling of being lifted, his head thrown back, and the flashes of green light, slipping around him.
It was…reassuring.
Light movements whirred at his left. He heard himself breathing, calming into slow, tranquil cycles that after a few times he was able to open his eyes. Sunlight washed down in rays from the window at his right, making him groan lightly, as they hurt his eyes. He was suddenly made aware of the pain all over his body, and he clenched his jaw, leaning back on the pillow as he willed it to pass.
"Shhh…" a hand on his shoulder gently pushed him down, "It's alright. It's alright."
What the heck do you know?! He wanted to yell at her. He angled his head to the direction of the voice, opening his eyes once more, "What happened?"
Cornflower blue eyes looked back at him kindly, his irritation not lost to her, "You fell unconscious, your immune system being gravely compromised and all. I'm surprised that it only took you four hours to regain consciousness, but I'm going to take that as a good sign."
Four hours, huh? His green eyes roamed around the room once he was able to. He saw whitewashed walls and a cheerfully glowing fireplace further down the foot of the bed. Framed flowers hung neatly over the mantle, curtains gently swaying across his vision when the breeze blew in. He shivered.
"Oh gosh! I forgot to close the windows!"
He watched the raven haired girl jump up from the side of the bed to close the windows. She pushed the sleeves of her yellow cardigan, pulling the frames shut, "I'm so sorry! I was airing the room out, just for a bit, and I planned to close it immediately."
She gave him a weak smile, "Would you like something to eat now?"
He merely blinked, and a second later, she was hopping away towards the door. "You should eat, Sephiroth. We have to nourish your body in order for it to properly recuperate! Do you like potatoes? I make a mean potato soup! You'll see!"
She disappeared without waiting for him to respond.
What an odd character. Sephiroth thought, staring up the ceiling. He found it to be yellowish—what was the proper word again? Cream—surprisingly spotless, and he roamed his eyes all over it until he heard the door swing open.
"Food's ready!"
The peppery smell hit his nostrils and he almost drooled. He's never smelled anything so appetizing before. Kaena stepped closer and brought a tray over to the nightstand. From his peripheral vision, Sephiroth could make out a bowl with steaming soup, a huge lump of crusty bread with melted cheese on top and huge glass of milk. Kaena sat happily beside him.
"Do you think you're able to sit up on your own?"
Sephiroth nodded, gingerly sitting up, "I can manage."
"Uhuh." Kaena bent over and pulled something underneath the bed. It turned out to be a bed tray.
"What are you doing?" Sephiroth glared at her when she began setting it up over his legs.
"Your arms might not still be strong enough—"
"I can eat on my own." He snapped, cutting her off. Kaena stared at him quietly, as if mentally trying to find an excuse for his actions.
And she seemingly found it, "Of course."
She even removed the tray to show him that she understood. Sephiroth wasn't sure why the gesture made him even more irritated.
"Um, I'll be nearby if you need anything."
She stood from the bed and walked towards the door. Sephiroth saw her turn around and flash him a small smile before she slipped away.
"Bon appetit."
Sephiroth doesn't remember who warned him about this, but now was a great time as any to agree that women, especially this particular one, loved to talk, even to the point that it became hazardous to her health. With his food tray cleared away hours ago, he has been subjected to torturous platitudes about anything under the sun, including, but not limited to, the importance of his health, the breeding cycles of Gold Chocobos, and the drafty winters of Savarate, which, by now, he figured where he is, as Kaena continuously pointed out the window when she would say "the area".
Surprisingly, he didn't mind. Actually, if he were to be honest, he didn't care much for it. Like he said, it's been hours since he woke up, and time and again, he would lose himself in his thoughts—that great void of nothingness—and when he found it to be disappointing, her cheery recounting about her first attempt to cook Carob Nut porridge was a welcome distraction, the tilting of her tone an indication that she thought herself saying something humorous, prompting him to nod politely in pseudo-acknowledgement. If she noticed this, Sephiroth wouldn't know, for all she would do was giggle, before lurching onto the next hot topic.
So imagine the disappointment on his face that he didn't even know was there when the hour came for her to finally toss in the towel. She yawned, signaling the end of her duty as his distraction, that Sephiroth frowned, seeing her rise from the chair that she pushed over his bedside.
"I'll get you a hot towel before I go to bed."
She turned around and floated to the door. She disappeared behind it, coming back a little later with a rolled white towel on a plate. Sephiroth looked at it suspiciously when she held it closer to his face.
"To wipe your face." She said, as if reading his mind, "I promise you, you'll feel better sleeping with a clean face."
This time, she didn't fuss over him. Sephiroth approved of that that he took the towel from the plate without hesitation. It felt good in his hands.
"Good night, Sephiroth."
And she was gone. Sephiroth unrolled the towel, first wiping the refreshing fabric over his face and then his hands. It was, indeed, comforting; he'd give her that.
Once finished. He tossed it to the nightstand.
He reflexively gripped his fingers into a fist. He stared at it.
Do you ever fight for a reason?
He can feel it: his blood rushing through his rested veins, pulsating. He knows this feeling. He reveled in it.
He was itching for something.
He just doesn't know what it was.
"Time to go." He murmured, slipping his legs to the side of the bed.
The sky was unusually clear at the dead of the night, and as he heard his footsteps crunch over sleek, virgin snow, he looked up, sensing something in the wind. He has long decided to return to this 'Crater' that Kaena had mentioned earlier, thinking that since that was where she found him, he might be able to find some clues over there as to who he was. Following the clearing up ahead, he felt his instincts automatically sharpen. For what reason, he didn't exactly know, so he decided to file this for future brooding.
He saw the mountains up ahead, and he frowned.
Don't tell me she had to walk over them?
Which can't be physically possible, for her at least anyway. He remembered her to be quite small, the top of her head barely passing his shoulders. He scanned the area, furrowing his eyebrows when the mountains seem to go on for miles.
How the hell did she get into the Crater? And more importantly, where is that Crater?
Sephiroth decided that it should be behind the mountains. Whatever. He'd go. He needed the exercise anyway.
It was about fourteen steps after that when he felt that sharpening of his senses again. He felt a draft slap his face, and then again once more. Stronger. Closer. He looked up, and this time, he found the gigantic outline of a Dark Dragon falling from the skies.
A Dark Dragon? Around here?
He flicked his wrist. He found it a little too light for his tastes. He glanced at it, blinking stupidly when he found himself unarmed.
Masamune?
It was an understatement to say that he was stunned.
"SEPHIROTH, LOOK OUT!"
Red, hostile strips shot across the dark, whimpering in the air as they singled him out. Sephiroth found himself quickly jumping away, realizing a little too late that his move left Kaena to receive the brunt end of the dragon's Laser attack.
Shit.
"Kaena!" He exclaimed, now already midway to her rescue. He was clearly not going to make it. He was half a step too late!
"AH!"
Something green glowed underneath her cardigan, the Materia summoning a host of protective barriers that effectively alleviated the attack. Sephiroth felt that pricking sensation again and he glanced back, catching the Dark Dragon flapping its wings. Another Laser.
He grunted. How predictable.
"Sephiroth!" Kaena shouted behind the safety of her barriers when she saw him edge closer to the dragon, "Come back here! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Stay back!" Sephiroth said calmly, jumping sideways that the dragon's tail only missed him by a hair's breadth. He cursed waspishly. He was getting rusty.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Sephiroth heard her shouting again. He made another jump away from another tail lashing, and he did it high enough to be able to land smoothly right behind the dragon. Now coolly standing on his two feet, he grabbed the annoying son of a bitch by the tail and pulled it, heaved it, throwing it up the air just to kick it on its most vulnerable spot before slamming its head hard on the ground.
BAM! The earth responded with a resounding rumble, quaking down to its core. Kaena gaped as she watched Sephiroth singlehandedly beat the crap out of the Dark Dragon, fully unarmed.
The dragon disappeared out of thin air.
Kaena could only gasp at him in wonder.
"Are you okay?" Sephiroth smoothly rose from the ground, his eyes still finding her slumped over, her hands stretched forward as she maintained her barriers. She was staring at him oddly.
I knew, ever since I was a child, I was not like the others…
"H-how…how did you do that?"
First class SOLDIER… Hero of Wutai War…
"Are you-?" She narrowed her eyes, trying to choose her words well. Sephiroth noticed that she hasn't retracted her barrier.
"Are you like...me?"
Her eyes glowed, iridescent cornflower blue searching him for answers.
"No." Sephiroth surprised himself, answering with such certainty, "I am SOLDIER."
"SOLDIER?" Kaena knitted her eyebrows together. Sephiroth watched as he saw a flood of questions flashed through her mind, and knowing her, she surely has a tsunami load of them. "So, does that mean that you're remembering who you are?"
However, he didn't expect that to top her list, her obvious concern somehow puzzling him.
"It seems like it."
"Have you figured out if your name is really Sephiroth?"
"I haven't gone that far yet."
Sephiroth started walking away when he figured that she was obviously up to snuff, already bombarding him with questions. She retracted her barriers and bounded next to him, looking up.
"Where you going?"
"The Crater."
"Ohhh, I'll go too!" Sephiroth cringed at her unreasonable cheerfulness.
"No."
"Why not?"
"You'll be in my way."
"Uhuh. And where is that?" Kaena crossed her arms stubbornly, gesturing at the seemingly endless road before her, "Like you know where the right way is."
Sephiroth glared at her. What nerve.
"And I can't, in good conscience, send you away on your own! You might end up in the Sleeping Forest, and nobody knows how you're ever going to get out of there!" Kaena pulled the lapels of her cardigan closer, thumping ahead of him, "You have to let me go with you! Don't you realize that there are a million things that might be waiting for you up there? You almost died this morning, and now you don't remember anything…don't you see that you're clearly in the disadvantage in here? What if you were brought here to die?"
"I can fight them off."
"Oh yeah, you're right. And while you're in the middle of a monster rampage, who ever was trying to kill you can easily shoot you in the head. That sounds like a good plan."
Sephiroth considered this, "I don't need anybody."
Kaena swiped him a look and rolled her eyes at what she saw: Men and their egos.
"I'm not insisting that you need me. I'm merely volunteering my services to fill in the holes while they're there! Think of me as a guide. I'd tell you whatever it is I know that might help you. Wouldn't it be much practical that way? To get rid of unnecessary handicaps while you're in a journey?"
She has a point. Sephiroth mused to himself, watching her lead the way. But then again, she noticed how tiny she was, and she looked really slim and delicate underneath her bundle of clothes, "Just stay out of the way. I'm not going to watch over you."
Kaena laughed, "Sure thing. Oh, and if you fall unconscious again, be rest assured that I won't bother babysitting you either."
She plowed him with a haughty grin, her blue eyes gleaming impishly, before she set off ahead to show him how tough she was.
Sephiroth shook his head.
Brat.
"Cloud?"
The Ex-SOLDIER turned sideways and saw Tifa stroll in, and it wasn't lost to him that several other footsteps pointlessly made themselves scarce outside the bedroom. Looking at her directly in the eyes, he saw the deep wine hue darken with what he recognized was apprehension, and he found himself straightening, immediately concerned at what could have made her this uneasy.
"Tseng is here."
Cloud was now fully turned to her, wordlessly gesturing his head to the hallway outside. Tifa nodded.
"What do you want?" Cloud directed loud enough to the leader of the threesome outside.
"It looks like the President needs some muscle once again."
The tall, dark haired leader of the Turks appeared in the door, stepping forward as he received his welcome with hands concealed inside his pockets. He stopped beside Tifa, and from where Cloud stood, he saw the top of a blonde head follow, and right beside it, a familiarly annoying smile that a certain auburn cretin likes to wear.
"YO!" Reno waved his rod. Cloud gave a noncommittal nod.
"I think you might want to listen to whatever Tseng has to say." Tifa softly suggested, chewing on her lower lip, "I'd go see what the kids are up to."
Cloud and the Turks watched her slip out, politely nodding at Reno and Elena as she tucked herself pass them.
"It's only been a few days since the Remnants have been sent back to the Lifestream." Tseng began, gauging Cloud's interest, "However, it seems like they are not the only ones we should be worrying about."
"What?"
Tseng lifted his hands out of his pockets, crossing his arms over his chest, "We have information leading us to believe that the three boys are not the only manifestations of Sephiroth lurking around."
Cloud clenched his jaw at this, "How is that possible?"
"All of us know, that the Remnants are powerful incarnations of Sephiroth's will, much like fragments of him that makes him whole. Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz are only merely parts of that whole, but each has the capability of becoming Sephiroth, given the proper conditions, as you have already witnessed during your encounter with Kadaj."
Tseng gave him a moment to absorb this, before continuing on, "But like every other being, Sephiroth's personality is multi-faceted. After discovering the existence of the Remnants, the President ordered a full investigation regarding their origins, and we came to the conclusion that the possibility of other larvae might not be as unquestionable after all."
"Yet still questionable without proof." Cloud countered.
Tseng nodded, "Yes." He gestured his hand at the blonde behind him, "Elena?"
The female Turk dutifully stepped forward, whipping out a tablet tucked behind her. Skillfully pushing several options on the screen, an image emerged as a 3D hologram from the surface, its appropriate time stamp glaring at the bottom, "This was taken yesterday."
Cloud stiffened, his eyes boring holes at the familiar silver hair, green-eyed simulation, "Where was this taken?"
Elena opened her mouth, only to be forestalled by Tseng's upraised palm, "We cannot tell you until you've fully cooperated with us."
Cloud sighed impatiently, "That goes without saying now, isn't it? If what you're saying is true, that there are other pseudo-Sephiroths walking around on Gaia, we have to stop them before they reach their full potential!"
"Right! Just like old times, huh, Spiky?" Reno chirped from the doorway.
"Yeah, more like last week." The Ex-SOLDIER muttered wryly.
"So, is this you, cooperating with us?" Tseng lifted a brow. The four occupants of the room heard loud, disruptive stomping noises from the bar below, Cloud nodding at this.
"Does Tifa already know about this?"
"Not a full disclosure. Just some, yes."
"I'd like to speak to her and Barret first."
A/N: Please, please tell me what you think! :)