Hello once again. I selfishly admit that I enjoy breaking the fourth wall whenever I can. With that said, we finally get to see if Sephiroth will keep his promise, but will he be able to handle what he finds? Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Chapter Seven
The meal Mrs. Strife prepared was in a word, delicious. Sephiroth never bothered to make a habit out of enjoying food because most of the food in Shinra didn't have much taste, especially rations. This however was a meal fit for a king and he allowed himself to enjoy every bite. Mrs. Strife noticed this too and offered him a second helping, to which he obliged.
"You're friends seem to like my cooking," she told her son who was feeling a bit uncomfortable. "They're not my friends, mother. They're my superiors," Cloud corrected.
"Hey!" Zack barked in protest with a hurt puppy look.
"Well, Zack's my friend, but the General is my commanding officer," he quickly corrected.
Zack huffed in approval. "Darn right we're friends, and don't you forget it!" He then took a bite of food with a snubbed attitude.
Mrs. Strife just chuckled quietly before refilling their beverages. "My apologies General, I don't know what life is like in the military, but I do appreciate you looking after my son."
"Mom," Cloud whined.
Sephiroth only smirked. "On the contrary Mrs. Strife, Cloud can look after himself rather well. He faced quite a challenge in the reactor and never wavered from the task at hand. That's not something every man can do."
Cloud looked the General in the eye and knew what he was referring to.
"Yes, Tifa told me how he tried to prevent the reactor's explosion. I'm sorry it couldn't be saved, but at least you made it out in one piece," his mother replied.
"Indeed Mrs. Strife. It was his calm thinking that made the mission a success. The reactor is gone, but we saved what was important."
"Yeah," Zack added. "We were so impressed that the General is going to give him another chance to join SOLDIER."
"That's wonderful," his mother replied. "I'm so proud of you, Cloud," she added while leaning over and giving him a kiss on the forehead, making him feel embarrassed.
"Mom! Not in front of everyone!"
"Oh don't be like that Cloud. What's the point of being a mother if I don't get to show how proud I am?"
Sephiroth watched the scene with a new insight. Knowing what he did now, he couldn't ever imagine lifting his sword to strike down someone as sweet and innocent as her. The very idea troubled him more than he liked to admit, which only strengthened his resolve to keep his promise to the future Cloud and his friends. Hopefully this Cloud would never have to endure the same trials and pain his future self had.
"Good, then that means you can keep your promise to me after all," added Tifa who gave Cloud a look, making sure he remembered said promise.
"Yeah, I'll keep it," he replied nervously, hoping she wouldn't reveal it to everyone present which she didn't despite Zack's protests to find out what it was.
Later that night, after Sephiroth had ordered them to retire to the Inn he let them rest for a bit before getting them up. Ordering the other infantryman to remain at the Inn he led the others outside. Once they were far enough away from the Inn Sephiroth let on to where he was taking them.
"The old mansion?" asked Cloud, unsure if he had heard his General correctly.
"Yes, that's the last part of our mission before we return home. It has to happen tonight if we're to succeed."
"What's with the time limit?" asked Zack.
"Because Hojo will arrive in the morning," Sephiroth replied.
"Hojo?"
"Yes, Zack. I'll explain more once we're finished. Now be quiet and come on."
The younger First shut his mouth and followed as Sephiroth had Cloud lead the way, as the younger teen knew the area better.
"No one in town goes into the mansion, so we shouldn't have to worry about anyone finding us," the blonde informed them.
"Good. Because this mission is classified," Sephiroth replied.
When they reached the front gates Cloud grabbed one of the iron bars. "We'll have to scale this if we want to get in."
"You sound like you've done it a few times," Zack teased.
"Just some stupid dares to see if anyone had the courage to go into the courtyard. I never went inside though," the blonde admitted.
Sephiroth approached the gates and drew his sword. The other two stood aside as Masamune made quick work of the gate. Cloud's eyes widened as large pieces of sliced bars clattered onto the stone walkway. Those bars were thick and strong, but that blade cut through them like paper. He silently prayed he'd never be on the opposite end of that sword.
The General led the way inside and used his enhanced sight to look for a torch. There was none to be found so Zack had to make one. The flickering light only made the place even creepier than Cloud remembered as they made their way through the foyer. The trio heard a scuffling sound and looked around, finding nothing. It was Zack who noticed what it was. "Dude, you got something stuck on your boot."
Cloud looked down and sure enough a paper had stuck itself to him. Pulling it free he read it, but couldn't make any sense of it.
"What does it say?" asked Zack.
"I don't know - something about an old experiment and directions to certain keys?"
"Let me see that," ordered the General to which Cloud complied. He read over the message while remembering the story the future group had told him. "This is a riddle for another time."
With that he placed the paper where he remembered hearing the sound from Cloud's boot the first time and continued on. Cloud and Zack only gave each other confused looks before following. He led them to a room upstairs filled with books.
"Oh great," moaned Zack. "Just what I wanted to do at two in the morning was read."
Sephiroth walked over to the book shelf and pulled a lever, revealing a secret passage. Zack immediately took back what he said. "Okay, how did Seph know there was a secret door there?"
Cloud shrugged before following the General who begun making his way down the spiral stairs. The old wooden steps creaked and moaned as the men pressed their weight on them. Zack was starting to get nervous. "I hope this isn't a bottomless cavern. I'd hate for one of these planks were to give out."
"Don't jinx it," hissed Cloud who was trying not to look down.
Sephiroth stopped and glared before skipping over a few steps and continuing on. "I suggest you avoid those three planks, they're not as sturdy as the others."
The other two gave each other a panicked look, wondering how they would pull that off without falling to their deaths.
The group finally made it down and both Cloud and Zack vowed never to speak of that again. The General had found it amusing when he looked back and saw the older teen carrying the younger one piggy-back style so he could make the jump. He decided to let them save face by not mentioning the spectacle and focused on what lay ahead.
It was a creepy tunnel filled with fog and cobwebs. Zack tried to ignore the goosebumps that were appearing on his arms. "Yeesh, reminds me of the Horned King's dungeon."
"Who?" asked Cloud.
"An old Disney movie, I'll have to show you when we get back. If we get back," he gulped.
"What makes you think we won't?" asked Sephiroth.
Cloud's eyes went wide as he pointed down the hall. "That!"
The others turned and Sephiroth lifted the torch. The flickering light revealed a skeleton leaning against a wall. It appeared to have been there for some time as made evident by the thick layer of dust and cobwebs covering it. However the General was studying the position of the body, to see if it determined a cause of death. He then turned away from the remains and came face to face with a red door. He couldn't help but smirk at the discovery which made Zack nervous.
"Sir, what's got you so happy?"
Sephiroth placed a hand on the door and felt relieved that he was about to encounter the first of the future group, well the second after Cloud. "We need help in order to go any farther into the mission. The person beyond this door is exactly the one we need to keep our sanity on solid ground."
With that he pushed and opened the door.
