Broken Wings - Chapter Twenty Three
"What are you doing here, Sephiroth?" Hojo asked, glaring at the small boy.
Sephiroth returned his gaze, his hands clenched with rage and hatred. He did not say a single word.
"And you brought Miss Aralyn along. How…charming." Aralyn shrank behind Sephiroth, seeking protection. She clenched the papers closer to her heart, hoping that Hojo had not seen them.
"Let us go," Sephiroth demanded, his voice small but his strong expression making up for it.
"You have trespassed on private Shinra property, Sephiroth. I don't know if you've been told this before, but you could be arrested for such a feat."
"You wouldn't do that," Sephiroth retorted.
"No, but I can take measures to ensure you won't try it again."
Sephiroth blanched, though his expression did not relax, nor did his form show any fear. "Go ahead," the boy challenged.
Hojo frowned deeply; Sephiroth clearly had not reacted like he thought he would. He turned his gaze to Aralyn. "And how about you? Do you have anything to say to me?"
"No!" she screamed, though her voice broke, revealing how afraid she truly was. Hojo smirked, his expression turning malicious.
"No matter. I will find out another way. Sephiroth, come with me."
The boy's widened, but soon he relaxed. "Keep them safe," he whispered to Aralyn.
Aralyn started to panic. "What…?"
"Hurry up, before I decide to take your little friend as well," Hojo taunted. Sephiroth walked obediently forward, looking submissive and surprisingly frail.
"No!" Aralyn screamed, suddenly grasping what was going to happen. "You can't experiment on him!"
"Do you have something to tell me, Aralyn?" Hojo repeated the question, grabbing Sephiroth's hand to make quite clear what would happen if she refused.
"Please, Aralyn…don't…!"
But Aralyn fell to her knees, ignoring Sephiroth's pleas and throwing the folder at Hojo's feet. Papers spilled out, and both got a quick glance at a photo of a man with dark hair and blood red eyes. "Take it!" she cried.
"At least one of you will submit to reason." Satisfied, Hojo bent down and flipped through the papers. "Ah," he sighed. "So this is what you were looking for. I'm surprised, Sephiroth."
Sephiroth's hands were clenched even harder, his nails causing rivulets of red running down his wrists while his knuckles, in stark contrast, were white.
"If the fate of Mr. Valentine is of interest to either of you, content yourselves with knowing that he is dead," Hojo continued. "It was Dr. Crescent that told you to seek him out, no? Foolish woman…should have known she wouldn't have the spine to sacrifice what was necessary."
Sephiroth listened in defeated silence. Aralyn looked away, trying to hide the hot tears that fell of their own accord. She desperately fought them with the edge of her sleeve, but they did not relent.
"You may return to your dorms," Hojo said, unbarring the doors. "I trust that no such mischief will happen again."
Sephiroth roughly grabbed Aralyn's wrist, dragging her along, ignoring her inability to keep up with him. He didn't look at her the whole way, and released her like she had been poisonous when they reached her room.
"Sephiroth, I'm sorry! I couldn't let him…"
"Just leave me alone, Aralyn."
Aralyn didn't try to apologize anymore. She ran to her into room, closing the door behind her and then collapsing on her bed, wrestling with the heavy shame she had every right to bear.
Because of her weakness, Sephiroth might never again find out the truth that Lucrecia had left for him.
"I didn't mean to!" she screamed into her pillow. "I just…"
The room next to her was oddly silent. Sephiroth did not reply, though she was certain that his unnaturally keen ears had heard every word she had said.
"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…"
A/N: I decided that strangulation and even eating Hojo isn't good enough. Who says we do to him what he did to all of his expreiments? Give him a taste of his own medicine, so to speak...