Chapter 5
Sephiroth woke up from someone calling his name. He groaned in exhaustion and irritation, turning onto his other side. He was sure it was not seven yet, and because it wasn't seven yet he wasn't going to get up.
"Master Sephiroth, you have to get up."
Sephiroth remembered that voice.
His eyes opened to see the sun shining through the open curtains, the brightness forcing his eyes to squint almost completely shut again. He turned onto his other side, opening his eyes. This time he could open them more than a squint, his lips pulling up into a small smile.
Cloud stood by his bedside, his uniform finely pressed and his hair combed out yet stubbornly spiked.
Sephiroth sat up, looking around to see if anybody else was in the room. Tifa had just finished preparing his bath, but she quickly left. Sephiroth looked to his clock, surprised to see it was actually almost nine.
Sephiroth never slept in.
"Master Sephiroth, you must hurry, your carriage is waiting." Instead of hurrying like Cloud suggested, Sephiroth grabbed Cloud and pulled him onto his bed. Cloud gasped sharply, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. Sephiroth laid back down, Cloud's cheeks heating up when he realized he was straddling Sephiroth's hips.
Cloud swallowed thickly.
"Sephiroth, you need to get up." Sephiroth smiled, running his hand up Cloud's thinner arm. Cloud shivered with a small move off his hips, Sephiroth groaning softly when he grinded against his morning erection.
"If I kiss you, will you get up?" Sephiroth's eyebrow hiked, but Cloud's eyes held no lies. He was shy, Sephiroth knew that from the beginning, but Cloud's eyes at that moment held lust.
Sephiroth nodded dumbly, Cloud leaning down till their lips barely brushed. Sephiroth panted softly, completely controlled by Cloud. Sephiroth would have given everything, just to kiss Cloud's lips without him having to leave him to preserve their secret.
Cloud kissed his lips chastely at first, Sephiroth snaking his arms around his slim waist. Cloud let the tip of his tongue play with his bottom lip, Sephiroth feeling a shiver go through his bigger body.
He parted his lips, Cloud diving his tongue inside his mouth. Sephiroth sucked on his captured victim, Cloud moaning against his lips. Sephiroth felt Cloud's fingers slip into his hair, his tongue pulling away from the suction to kiss Sephiroth more deeply. Sephiroth didn't care for air anymore.
Cloud pulled away just went Sephiroth's lungs screamed for air, both of them panting heavily. Cloud rose up, his cheeks red from arousal.
"Get up Sephiroth."
Sephiroth turned them over, Cloud reaching a hand down between their bodies with an aroused smile. Sephiroth bucked his clothed erection against his hand, Cloud wrapping an arm around his neck. Sephiroth wanted to stay like this.
His chest throbbed, his heart feeling like it was going to explode. Sephiroth kissed him again, Cloud grabbing his ass and pulling him down. Sephiroth groaned into the kiss, Cloud's erection trying to find freedom from the confinement from his pants.
Sephiroth would indulge.
Cloud suddenly pushed him though, Sephiroth rising into a sitting position. Cloud squirmed from beneath him, getting off the bed. Sephiroth tried to grab him again but Cloud skipped just out of his reach. Sephiroth got out of his bed without thinking, , Cloud smiling triumphantly.
"Sephiroth, you need to bathe and get dressed. You leave in half an hour." Sephiroth didn't even remember why he organised to leave, but he sighed in defeat. He reached behind him, grabbing his shirt and taking it off. Cloud watched shamelessly with a smile on his lips, Sephiroth removing his pants. His erection sprung up, Cloud pointing to the bath as if Sephiroth was a stubborn child that refused to bathe.
"Bathe. I will prepare your clothing." Sephiroth wanted to continue where they had left off, but instead he got in the bath. He put his hair up into a bun, not having enough time to wash and comb through his silver tresses.
He quickly cleaned his body, Cloud handing him a towel when he stood. Sephiroth dried himself off, standing in the middle of the room naked. Cloud had placed all of his clothing on the neatly made bed, Cloud walking over with his pants. Sephiroth put them on, Cloud leaning down to fasten his zip and belt. Sephiroth looked down, his mind creating the image of the blonde spikes bobbing between his thighs.
"You're an incubus," Sephiroth told him, Cloud standing up with a smile. Sephiroth pulled him close to feel him against his bare chest, Cloud touching his hands to his shoulders. Cloud pulled away just when Sephiroth leaned down to kiss him, grabbing his shirt.
Sephiroth was fully clothed in five minutes, Cloud taking down his hair. He smoothed out the strands, finding them acceptable. Tifa entered into the room, Cloud walking to her side. Tifa looked over his Sephiroth's clothing, nodding once.
"Good. Now please Master Sephiroth, we must get you to the carriage if you wish to arrive on time to your meeting." Sephiroth nodded in understanding, walking past them both. He didn't want to go to the meeting. He remembered now that it was to be a meeting with his mother and Scarlet, the two women he could freely say he hated. His mother wanted to speak of what she had tried to do behind his back, and Sephiroth had many words that didn't exactly add up to a warm welcome.
He nodded to the butler at the door, the butler opening the door before bowing.
Sephiroth headed to his carriage, the luxurious carriage feeling more empty every time he entered it. He remembered the day Cloud first entered it though, remembered the warmth he put inside of it.
Without him though, that emptiness returned.
Sephiroth opened the door and got in, sitting down and closing the door himself. He sighed softly, closing all of the curtains. He closed his eyes, opting to think about Cloud instead of the pressing matters he headed to.
Sephiroth knew he loved the lithe blonde. He knew that when he first laid eyes on him for the first time.
He just hadn't expected a slave to capture his heart so easily. Every time Cloud was near, Sephiroth could still see that sadness in his eyes. But, Sephiroth hadn't fallen in love with that broken boy.
When Cloud first looked at him, Sephiroth fell in love with the strength he held inside.
He was a tree encased by glass.
Sephiroth sighed deeply, hoping that one day he could see everything that boy really was.
The carriage stopped, Sephiroth opening his eyes and peeking out through his closed curtain. They were already here at this dreaded place.
Sephiroth got out of the carriage, stepping out onto the gravel. His mother's home was small, a cottage compared to his castle. He grew up in it, but most of his memories whispered into his ear that he should burn this place down. He walked on the gravel pathway till he reached the front door, stopping to knock on the door. He waited a few seconds before it was answered by the maid Sena, the only brightness to Sephiroth's childhood. He gave her a smile, her wrinkled face lighting up with a joyous grin. She bowed, allowing him inside.
Sephiroth entered, not even bothering to look around.
"Your mother is in her room, Master Sephiroth." Sephiroth didn't respond, heading to his mother's room. He stopped in front of the door, his expression becoming blank.
He opened the door, looking to his sick mother. She seemed more pale than the last time he saw her, her green eyes looking to him.
Geostigma.
Sephiroth saw Scarlet sitting in a chair at her bedside, a strand of his mother's brown hair between her fingers.
"Lucrecia."
His mother frowned in displeasure, slowly sitting up to see him better.
"I am your mother Seph. Why call me by my name?" Sephiroth didn't answer, but if he had she would have had a heart attack from his vulgar language.
"The engagement is off."
Scarlet stood with a gasp, his mother's sunken eyes widening. Sephiroth was tired of playing these games, and he wanted to make it very clear.
"You can't do this!" Scarlet yelled, Sephiroth taking a step towards her. She backed up, nearly tripping over her seat.
"Yes. I can."
Sephiroth looked to his mother, his eyes narrowing slightly in anger.
"What I do is none of your business. I will marry who I please. I will have children with who I please. Your whore can return to her master."
Scarlet's face was a blistering red, her eyes narrowed in anger. Sephiroth hoped she rotted in hell.
"So, who is this woman that caught your attention?" Sephiroth froze, that voice sending shivers up his spine. He turned around, facing his grandmother. She was smiling, her silver hair pulled over one shoulder. Her eyes were just like his, but they held a very different emotion from his own. She stood from her seat, walking up to him. She was just a tad shorter, but he felt like they were eye to eye.
She was the only woman he feared.
"Don't be shy, Sephiroth. I can smell her all over you." Sephiroth wanted to be far, far away from this woman. Jenova looked to Scarlet, waving her hand.
"Leave girl. You're no longer needed." Sephiroth didn't even look, frozen to the spot as his grandmother walked around him.
Scarlet left with a scream of frustration, but Sephiroth didn't care. His grandmother stopped in front of him, her eyes looking into his own. Sephiroth looked down to her, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"There is no other woman." His grandmother chuckled, touching a hand to his shoulder. He moved away from her, not wanting that vile woman to lay one hand on him. His mother was silent through the entire exchange, her green eyes watching silently.
"Oh. Really?" His grandmother sat down in a chair against the wall, her eyes challenging his own. Sephiroth wished he had brought his sword, his fingers twitching to wrap around its hilt.
"Scarlet was barren. She has slept with most of the men in the city. She was not the woman I wanted by my side." His grandmother nodded in understanding, resting her chin on her fist.
"Understandable. But you must marry Sephiroth. Any woman just wouldn't do." Sephiroth tried not to shiver when she snapped her fingers, three men walking from the shadows.
"Your brothers are all married, to very powerful woman. They listen, why can't you?" Sephiroth looked to his brother's, Kadaj smirking at him. Yazoo tilted his head in question, Sephiroth already knowing what he thought. Loz took a step forward, his lips spreading into a grin.
"Can I have Scarlet, big brother?" Sephiroth would have told him to have fun, but their grandmother cleared her throat.
"It is obvious your mother had gone blind. Just like I did for your brothers, I will do for you. At the ball, I will find you a wife."
Sephiroth frowned, turning around and walking out of the room. Sena frowned in worry when he stormed out, Sephiroth walking past his carriage. He walked to a pond, stopping at its edge. He took in a deep breath, needing just to relax.
"She won't stop, you know that Seph." Sephiroth looked to Kadaj, the youngest out of the four. Sephiroth looked away, taking in a deep breath.
Kadaj was the only one that wasn't fully controlled by her, like Yazoo and Loz were. He had married the woman he had loved, his wife already heavily pregnant with their first child.
"I know."
Sephiroth sighed, his thoughts of having to let go of Cloud making his chest hurt.
"What's her name?"
Sephiroth smirked, looking to his younger brother.
"It's not really a she."
Kadaj looked to him sharply, his eyebrows hiking up high.
"You prefer men?" He asked with a surprised gasp, Sephiroth laughing softly at his reaction.
"I prefer both genders. But..."
Kadaj relaxed some, Sephiroth sighing deeply.
"He's a hermaphrodite." Kadaj raised an eyebrow, snorting softly.
"They actually exist?" He asked, Sephiroth nodding once. Kadaj sighed, looking down to the pond.
"What's his name?" Kadaj asked curiously, Sephiroth smiling at Kadaj's sudden intrigue. He sighed softly, thinking back to his blonde incubus.
"Cloud."
Kadaj looked to his brother's face, Sephiroth not looking away from the water. He could see Cloud,
but just like the wind he couldn't touch him.
"You look like a man in love."
Sephiroth was. He was in deep and he didn't know how to get out of it.
"Well, since Cloud is still part woman, I'm sure Jenova would make an exception. Where did you meet him?" Sephiroth finally looked to Kadaj, Sephiroth's eyes seeming desperate yet full of love.
"He had been a slave. I freed him, but now he is my butler." Kadaj's jaw very nearly dropped to the ground.
Sephiroth looked away, knowing that his grandmother would never make an exception. Not for Cloud.
"Well that complicates things."
Sephiroth smiled, looking to Kadaj who looked like a man scheming a robbery.
"When did you free him?" Kadaj asked, Sephiroth scratching behind his ear.
"About three days ago." Kadaj sighed, his scheme apparently ruined.
"Make the most of it I guess. There's not much I can think of that could help you." Kadaj turned away, stopping after just a few steps.
"Don't tell him you love him. It'll make it easier."
Sephiroth wasn't letting Cloud go.
