Oh No, There Goes My Halo
Disclaimer: Sephiroth, Aerith and all other characters mentioned in this fic solely belong to Square Enix and Disney.
A/N: Another long one, whoops.
Changed the rating to T now. Because as they say, T for Safety.
#02. two's company, three's a start
Rain was coming down in the form of drizzle. Clouds hung dangerously low over the land, a dark reflection of the mist that had engulfed the town. It was midday, but the sun was nowhere to be seen, as had been the case for the past several days. The atmosphere was cold and gloomy, and it clung to Radiant Garden with clammy fingers. Yet it was business as usual for the townsfolk living there, one boy in particular who was making his way to the castle gates, taking meticulous care to hop over the puddles that riddled the pathways. With hands shoved deep in his pockets for warmth, the boy gave all other passersby a wide berth, head down at all times. It was only when he arrived at his destination did he look up.
"Gee Storm – take your time why don'tcha?" The boy known as Storm shrugged.
"Did you make sure to lose any followers?"
Storm nodded. "No followers." His friend grinned.
"Good. Wouldn't want any snoops finding out about our secret hideout. What a cartastophy that would be!"
"Ca-tas-tro-phe, Chip," Storm corrected, shaking his head at his friend. Like every other day, they had arranged to meet up and go to their hideout, a place called the Waterway, which was an underground water maze that was located directly underneath the castle of Radiant Garden. Many passageways and chambers were laid hidden in there, and the two boys felt that it was their mission in life to discover every single one of them; it wasn't like there was that much else to do in the town.
"All righty then. Let's g–" Chip broke off mid-sentence, eyes peering over Storm's shoulder.
"Huh?" He looked back at Storm and gave him an indignant look. "You said no followers!"
Confused, Storm whirled around and saw through the misty drizzle a girl standing a few paces away. Noticing that she had their attention, the girl skipped forward, a big bright smile adorning her face. "Hi," she chirped.
Storm and his friend shared a look before turning back to the girl. "Sorry," Chip said rather brusquely, not sounding sorry in the least, "but we don't talk to girls."
"Why ever not?" the girl asked, looking surprised.
"Because," Storm said.
"Because why?"
"Because girls aren't boys, and boys are the best – everybody knows that! 'Sides, girls are all giggly and wear lots of pink, like you do." The girl giggled.
"Aha! Exactly my point!" Chip shouted, pointing at her dramatically. He turned to stride past the gate. "C'mon, Storm, let's just go, where there aren't any girls around." Without so much as a wave or an apologetic smile, Storm spun on his heels and did the same, walking in step with his friend. As to be expected, the sound of hurried footsteps chased after them.
"Wait! I wanna come too!"
Chip rolled his eyes. "Looks like it's time for plan B," he whispered to Storm. Storm nodded in agreement and halted in his steps. He glanced back to find the girl almost running straight into him; in her haste she realised too late that they had stopped and tripped over her footing, landing on the damp dirt with a yelp.
Storm stared down at her, a sneer itching at the corners of his mouth. "Fine," he said, ignoring the snickers coming from Chip and the hurt look in her eyes, "you can come..."
In less time than it took to blink, both he and Chip were off and running, laughing madly.
"...if you can catch us first!"
They left the girl to pick herself up and stumble slowly after them. Victory was theirs; there was no way she was going to catch up with them, which in simple terms meant for them was that she was also never going to find their hideout. Keeping to the fortified walls of the kingdom, Storm and Chip soon came upon a sharp downward incline, leading down into a misty chasm. They leapt from ledge to ledge until they reached the bottom where the entrance to the Waterway laid in front of them. Both Storm and Chip jumped in the water. If there was one downside to having the Waterway as a hideout, it was that to enter it, one had to swim underneath the barriers created to deter intruders, possibly little boys such as them. However to Storm and Chip, it wasn't so much a downside as rather a plus, for who didn't like the chance to swim in a place where there were no beaches, no pools? To their lament, the last few days had proven very much otherwise.
"Kinda cold down here, isn't it?" Chip said as he watched Storm resurface on the other side of the barrier, shaking the water from his face.
"What are you – a girl?" Storm called back at him. In response Chip blew a raspberry and dived under, yanking on Storm's leg as he swam past. And that's how it went for the while: the two boys playing games and tricks on each other in the water maze until the chill of the water pushed them to advance further onwards, to find dry ground. It wasn't long until they found their favourite resting point; a dungeon-like area they had discovered on the first day they had journeyed into the Waterway.
Dragging themselves out, Storm and Chip collapsed against the bare stone wall, hardly caring of the puddle trail they made.
"So, feel like you're up to some more exploring today?" Chip inquired, teeth clattering a little. He turned to look at Storm, who had his knees propped up under his chin.
"Not really."
"Yeah, me too." Picking at a crack on the ground, he added, "Haven't seen that girl around before. She must be new here. What do you think of her, Storm?"
"I... what?" Storm was rubbing his arms in hope of keeping the chill at bay; he hadn't really been paying attention to what Chip said.
"Do you think she's pretty?"
"What?" The girl. He must have been talking about the girl. Well, she had a pair of arms and legs, two eyes, some hair, which may or may not have been tied in a pigtail. There was nothing special about that. Or pretty.
"Uhh," Storm began, "you do remember that she's a girl, right?"
"Course." Chip was staring fixedly at the ground.
"Your cheeks are red."
Chip clapped his hands to his face. "Are not!"
Storm laughed. "Are too."
"Are –" Chip's retort was punctuated by a distant splash. "...what was that?"
Chip got up, and so did Storm. "Dunno. I think we should check it out, but." They hurried over to the water's edge, straining their eyes for any sight of movement down ahead in the channel. There was something bobbing wildly in the water. Chip's jaw dropped. "Isn't that..." He looked to Storm who had already jumped in the water, giving Chip a good soaking in the process.
"C'mon!"
They were racing against time to save the girl who had followed them all the way into the Waterway. How she had gotten in so far in the first place was anybody's guess. Taking in the deepest breath of air he could hold, Storm plunged underwater, legs kicking into action. All at once it became a silent world. Keeping his eyes open Storm saw somewhere up ahead the girl, struggling to keep her head above the water. Streams of bubbles swirled around her, trailing limbs that erratically continued to break the surface then slip back under again. At the rate she was going, jerking about and thrashing around like that, she was going to tire herself out – and fast. Girls, Storm thought.
In truth though, Storm was more than a little afraid. He knew everyone would blame him and Chip if she drowned. No one would care about the fact that she chose to come follow them, oh no. He could just see it now: the girl would drown, punishment would be in order, and then Ansem the Wise, ruler of Radiant Garden, would banish them from the kingdom.
But that wasn't going to happen. They were going to save her.
Or die trying.
Breaking for air one last time, Storm dived down, while Chip was still gasping for breath. The girl had long since stilled in her movements; she was sinking, eyes closed, the last few bubbles escaping from her mouth.
One could have already mistaken her for being dead.
Arms stretching out to their fullest extent, Storm took a hold of and pulled on the only thing that was in reach: her pigtail.
The girl's eyes immediately shot open, scaring Storm into letting go. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, and he couldn't help but inwardly wince at the thought of having his hair pulled on, even in a life or death situation. He didn't have to worry about the thought for much longer, however, when the girl's nails came into contact with his arm. Given his turn to scream soundlessly under water, Storm instinctively tried to pull himself from her grasp; instead, he managed to pull both of them up to the surface.
Never in his life had he been so grateful for having oxygen restored back into his lungs. Gasping loudly, Storm barely registered the joyous whoops coming from Chip, nor the arms that clung excruciatingly tight around his back. He was just happy to be alive.
"Aww yuck, she's coughing water all over your back, Storm," Chip said, swimming over to them.
"Doesn't matter," Storm rasped, "just-just take her... carry her... I can't hold out much longer." He was past exhausted. The dive had taken its toll on him.
"Okay," Chip said, turning his back to the girl. "Hop on."
The girl wailed and clung tighter to Storm. "No! I can't let go! I don't wanna drown again!"
"Sorry Storm," Chip said to him, shrugging, "but she doesn't want to." Storm sighed, but he wasn't entirely surprised or annoyed by the girl's answer. He supposed it was only natural for the girl to feel scared at the prospect of not having something solid – like him – to hold onto, even for a brief period of time. He was her lifeline, the only thing that was currently keeping her aloft.
"So where to now? Should we go back out of the Waterway?"
Storm nodded. Once upon reaching dry, flat earth again (going under the barrier had been quite a suffocating affair for Storm), the girl instantly released him. Bemused, both Storm and Chip watched the girl jump up and down in joy, peals of laughter resounding across the chasm.
"So what are we going to do tomorrow?" she asked them, a little breathlessly. She was drenched, her dress was ruined and her pigtail in disarray – but she still had the same smile from before, only wider. It seemed that near death experiences made for a grand adventure. The two boys stared at her in disbelief.
Chip was the first one to regain use of his tongue. "We? We? I'm sorry but "we" aren't going to be doing anything tomorrow. Me and him," he said, pointing at Storm, "are coming here tomorrow."
The girl's smile wavered. "B-but you said I could come if I caught you guys – and I did!"
Chip scoffed. "No you didn't."
"She did find out our secret hideout, but, Chip," Storm pointed out. He smirked knowingly at him. "Besides, you're the one who thinks she's pretty."
"I never said that!"
"You were thinking it."
"You think I'm pretty?" the girl questioned Chip, fluttering her eyelashes. Chip looked away muttering as Storm laughed.
"Hmm, you know, I didn't get to introduce myself properly before. I'm Aerith." Aerith beamed at them, going so far as to do a little curtsy.
"Nice to meet... umm..."
"Chip and Storm," Chip answered quickly, evidently glad for a change of topic.
"Really? What funny names," Aerith said.
"Well duh. It's our code names. Mine's short for chipper, which is what my Mum calls me." Chip puffed out his chest in pride. "Storm is Storm because that's what the colour his hair's of: of storms. Smart, right?"
Aerith scrutinized Storm closely, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. He cast his eyes to the ground. "Very," she giggled. "But what are your real names? I would really like to know."
"Zack," Chip said. He nodded his head in Storm's direction. "And he's –"
"Sephiroth," Storm, a.k.a. Sephiroth, interrupted, "my name's Sephiroth." He took a step forward, his hand out to Aerith. The crescent marks from her nails were still clearly visible on his arm, but his eyes were reserved solely for hers. Tentatively Aerith placed her hand in his, her smile slowly broadening as he shook it. "Nice to meet you, too."
Little did any of the three know at the time that they were soon to become the best of friends, and it would be that friendship, which would forever have the greatest impact on their lives.
A/N: Sorry if some found the start of that confusing, but you know how it is with little kids and their nick names and code names and the like. And yes, Zack's in here too! I couldn't resist. So expect some more of "Chip" in the future, as he's probably going to be kind of prevalent in this fic. (Hope everyone's all right with that.)