This chapter's a little shorter than the previous few, but there's plenty of action to make up for it. And hopefully the next update won't take so long either. I'm just happy I found both the time and the right inspiration to actually get some writing done. a rare gift that I won't let pass up.
I'm also excited because I recently bought both seasons of Code Geass on Blu-Ray not long ago and I'm fully enjoying it. I was tempted to pull a marathon, but work and the fact that I wanted to get some writing done stopped me. hopefully this means I'll be updating Fool's Checkmate a bit more often now, but I won't say its guaranteed because, knowing me something else will come up to prevent me from actually getting more writing done.
Anyways, I hope this update makes up for the recent cliffhangers. I've got something wild planned for our heroes so don't worry. Things are definitely going to get crazy and there are a few dark chapters planned down the road, but I hope the outcome will be enjoyable for everyone.
Until next time,
enjoy!
The doors to the church opened and Sephiroth looked up as the sound of expensive shoes clip-clomped on the wood floor and echoed across the room. He knew the color of the suit all too well and it didn't escape his notice when he saw Aerith take a nervous step back from the corner of his eye.
The man was dark-skinned and kept his eyes hidden behind a pair black sunglasses and he always kept his outfit in pristine condition. Sephiroth knew him from all of the reports and requests the man had delivered to his desk when top secret missions required both SOLDIER and the Turks to work together.
"Rude."
The man adjusted his glasses and nodded. "Greetings General, I'm here to escort Miss Gainsborough to Shinra."
Aerith's eyes grew fearful and she took another step back. Rude began to advance when Sephiroth took a step forward. "What does Shinra want with a flower girl? Surely Tseng doesn't believe she's Turk material? He must be growing desperate."
"My apologies, but this is classified. Aerith, I must insist you come with me."
Sephiroth turned slightly to look at her and with his eyes asked her if she wanted to go. When she looked back at him she shook her head and Sephiroth was angered when he saw how frightened she was. He turned to Rude and purposefully got between them. "She doesn't want to go, and please, do not insult my intelligence by suggesting she has done something wrong. I have spent the last three days in her company and I know it takes far less time than that for the Turks to act."
"I'm afraid, I cannot disclose the information," Rude repeated. "Perhaps the science department will be more willing to answer your questions. Regardless, she is coming with me."
The science department?! So Vincent was right. Hojo was making his move far faster than before. In the past Sephiroth would never have questioned such orders and would have helped the Turks. Now however, he knew better.
Thinking quickly, he took a page from Genesis's old book of tricks and pulled out his ice materia. He cast the spell differently, in such a way that instead of shards of ice, the frozen magic unleashed itself in the form of a thick fog; a very effective smokescreen that Gen had used before during the war with Wutai. It filled the room blocking out all but the faintest shadows of light.
Rude tried to keep them in his sights, but the general had already vanished with Aerith. When the mist cleared he was standing in an empty church. Rude looked down at the flowers which were now covered in small droplets of dew and pulled out his phone.
"Sir, we have a problem."
Sephiroth didn't stop until he made sure there were at least two sectors between them and the church. Turning, he made sure Aerith was alright. She seemed a little shaken from their escape and he looked at her with concern that is until she started giggling. "Why do I have the feeling I've done this before?"
"You're not afraid," he asked.
"A bit nervous, but it seems I've gotten myself a good body guard to watch out for me."
"I think Zack would be better suited for that role, but I'll do my best in his absence," he replied as he scanned the area. His keen eyes caught movement from farther off and he gently ushered Aerith into an old pipe that was half destroyed and rusting away. He kicked a pile of garbage which collapsed in the entrance, blocking their exit and perfectly concealing them.
He looked over to Aerith and placed a finger to his lips, asking for silence. A few minutes went by before they heard voices from just outside.
"Any sign of the targets," asked the first, a female voice.
"Nothing," replied Rude. "They can't hide forever. I'll have HQ request an audience with the general and then we'll watch the target's home. I doubt she'll leave her mother alone for long."
"Yes sir."
The voices moved off and the two still waited a bit before chancing a conversation.
"This is terrible, now I can't go home," Aerith whispered.
Sephiroth clenched his fist in frustration. He didn't want to defect from Shinra this soon. He knew there was little chance Zack's plan to change the company from the inside would work, but he wanted to give it a chance. Now he had no choice but to come up with a plan B. He mentally went over the knowledge he had. What advantages could he make use of? Vincent was unpredictable and also impossible to contact, Zack and Cloud were off training and now also in possible danger and he had no allies to turn to.
"I hope Tifa will forgive me," Aerith wished out loud.
"Lockhart," asked Sephiroth.
Aerith nodded. "She and I have become good friends and she's been teaching me how to cook. Do you know her?"
That was it! Sephiroth pulled out his phone and dialed her apartment's number. When there was no answer he sighed and hung up. "Do the Turks know your relationship with her?"
Aerith thought about it for a minute. "Possibly, I go there a few times a week and she'll sometimes drop by the church when she gets off work."
"Do you know where she works," asked the general.
Aerith nodded, "at a bar in Sector Seven. She treated me to lunch there the other day. Her boss was really nice."
Sephiroth checked to make sure the coast was clear before they moved out. Aerith lead the way to the bar while Sephiroth kept a look out for any Turks. The bar had come into sight when the two were stopped by the sound of a gun cocking back.
"General, please don't make this harder than it has to be."
The silverette fought back a glare as he turned to face Tseng. He was smirking at them with Rude and four other Turks who quickly surrounded them. "I don't know why you're making this so difficult general, we're only taking her for an important meeting with the head of the science department. He has a few questions for her, that's all."
"Don't insult my intelligence," he replied sharply. He wasn't falling for it.
Aerith pressed against his side and he turned slightly to see they had been surrounded. Sephiroth had Masamune with him, but he didn't want to endanger Aerith's life. The Turks were all skilled with a specific weapon, but they also had guns. If it were just him he'd consider this child's play, but he didn't want to risk her getting hit. He knew Hojo needed her alive, but the bullets were probably loaded with a powerful tranquilizer and he wagered it was strong enough to even subdue him.
They were in trouble.
Suddenly the sound of helicopter blades echoed off the mounds of rubble and a cloud of dust kicked up. Everyone on the ground looked up to see a chopper hovering overhead. Tseng spoke into a radio, "Land in the open field Reno. We'll load up there."
Sephiroth glared in anger at their situation before he was forced to act.
The chopper dove straight for the group. Sephiroth grabbed Aerith and rolled over to the side as the chopper tilted and aimed its blades at the Turks. They all scattered, trying to get out of the chopper's path. Tseng was knocked into a pile of garbage, landing in a puddle of fowl-smelling yellow liquid.
The chopper hovered two feet above the ground as it came to a stop and Reno waved towards Sephiroth. "Get in! hurry!"
"Reno! What are you doing," shouted one of the Turks.
Sephiroth made his decision and, taking Aerith gently in his arms hurried into the chopper.
Rude and two other Turks began firing at the open hatch and Sephiroth winced as he was grazed by a bullet.
"Hang on," shouted Reno as he maneuvered the chopper into the air and flew as fast as he could out of the area. He headed straight for the edge of the plate and then shot out from under the enormous city. Just like that they were soaring over the wastelands and headed for the ocean.
Once they were finally out of danger Reno sighed with relief and looked back in the cockpit to check on his passengers, "Everyone still in one piece back there?"
Aerith was looking over the general's injury which was bleeding, but not heavily. "We need to get that taken care of."
"I'm fine, something like this will heal in less than a day," he told her. It did sting, but it wasn't unbearable. His main concern was the pilot. Getting up he kept one hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Why did you help us?"
"Because I screwed up," he replied.
"Aren't you a Turk," asked Aerith who came up to stand alongside Sephiroth.
The red head smiled as he kept his gaze focused ahead of him. "A lousy one. I just broke the number one rule."
"Never disregard orders," Sephiroth replied. "Why? You had no reason to betray them."
Reno noticed the hand that was grasping Masamune and he jerked upright. "Whoa, easy there! I'm not turning you in, promise! I'm trying to help you."
"Why," asked Aerith.
Reno sighed before giving in. His pride was making it difficult to admit his weakness. "Zack's my friend and he'd kill me if he found out I helped to kidnap his girlfriend. I got tired of being used by Tseng to try and get Cloud alone and I kept coming up with excuses. It helped that Zack stuck to the kid like a shadow after that last attempt in the training room. So when Tseng finally gave me a new target I was happy to accept, until he told me to help grab the Cetra girl. That was the last straw."
"So where are we headed now," asked Aerith.
Reno smirked, happy to change the subject. "My new informant told me about a secret village south of Nibelheim where we'll be safe from Shinra. It's the best place to hide as long as we can convince the villagers to let us in."
"Why wouldn't they let us in," asked Aerith.
"You could get in no problem, but a Turk and the general of SOLDIER? That's going to be pretty hard," Reno told her.
"Well, I could vouch for you. I'll just say you're my body guards. It's more or less true already, right Sephiroth?"
He nodded. "I suppose, but Reno has a valid point."
"Well, I'm sure the guy I work for now will help out once we get there."
"And where are we going exactly," asked Sephiroth.
Reno pulled out the map book. "Cosmo Canyon."
. . .
The Turks were on their way back to Shinra HQ. All of them had silently agreed to ignore the state of their tattered, torn and dirty clothes and especially the stench that was coming from Tseng. It was clear he was in a foul mood even though his face appeared to be completely calm.
"The chopper's signal transmitted they were heading west over the ocean until it sent out of range," Rude reported.
"Could they be headed for Wutai," asked one Turk.
"They wouldn't have enough fuel for that," replied another.
"Well where else would they go to get away from Shinra? We control most towns and cities over there. There's only some backwater villages and Costa Del Sol."
Tseng didn't know where they were headed, but one thing he did know was that Reno would pay. Dearly.
. . .
Several hours later Aerith, Sephiroth and Reno were walking along the dry, dusty mountain path. The chopper had run out of fuel several miles back and Reno had not stopped whining since.
"If you didn't want to walk then you should have made sure the aircraft had sufficient fuel," the general replied, his tone implying his temper was growing short.
"I wasn't planning to betray the Turks," he retorted sourly. "I mean, I decided to do it before taking off, but in the heat of the moment I…"
"You weren't thinking, typical," the general grumbled.
Reno was too annoyed to be surprised by the general's odd behavior. In any other situation he'd accuse the general of sounding more like Zack.
Although she was tired, Aerith was smiling. This caught Reno's attention. "What's got you so happy?"
She smiled at him as she replied. "I can hear the planet so clearly here. Back in Midgar I could only here whispers where the flowers grew, but here it's singing so strongly. It's like a wonderful melody."
Reno blinked at her before shaking his head. "Singing? I think the sun's getting to you."
"Leave her alone," Sephiroth warned.
"Do you think Zack got the message," Reno tried to change the subject. "To meet us here I mean?"
"He never replied back, but we'll know soon enough," the general replied before pointing to the distant hill. A plume of smoke was rising into the sky, catching the rays of the setting sun.
When they got to the steps leading to the entrance of Cosmo Canyon the three felt relief until the two guards spotted them.
"Who goes there?"
Aerith stepped up first. "Hello there, we've traveled a long way to get here, may we please enter?"
"You may pass," the one on the left said, but they're forbidden."
"None from Shinra are allowed in this village."
"And what makes you think we're from Shinra," asked Reno, his temper already on a short fuse.
"Only an idiot from Shinra would travel the desert in a suit and he's the head of SOLDIER. I've seen his picture before. Sephiroth: Shinra's angel of death."
Sephiroth hated doing this again, but it had worked before. It was worth a try now. "I'm not here on behalf of Shinra." He took his sword and held it out to them. "I offer my weapon and my solemn promise that I come in peace."
The guard on the right blocked their path with his weapon. "You're just as deadly without it. You're not getting in."
"Leave," warned the other.
"Aw come on! We risked our lives to get here," Reno shouted.
"I don't care," the guard replied.
"Ho ho, now what's all this?"
The five looked past the entrance to see an elderly man approach them with a large feline walking alongside him.
Sephiroth recognized the big cat right away and realized their situation was improving. Nanaki had proven to be a very wise creature in the future. The elderly man spoke again, but to the guards.
"I'm surprised that you would deny such an esteemed guest entry to a village that owes her people so much. Don't you recognize a Cetra when you see one?"
"A Cetra," they repeated before looking back at her who merely smiled and waved at them. They bowed their heads.
"Our apologies miss, we had no idea."
The other bowed his head to the two new comers. "Sir, what of the others? They're from Shinra!"
The elder just laughed. "If they travel with the Cetra they are not with Shinra. Let them in, perhaps you three would like to join us in my observatory? Nanaki will show you the way."
The cat just bared his fangs in a grin as the three walked past the guards. "Cheer up fellas, you'll get your chance to protect the village."
He brought up the rear as the group proceeded to the old man's house.
