Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.
A/N—We're still "real time" in New Banora.
(12 pm, Mideel; 10 pm, Midgar; 6 pm, Gongaga; 2 pm, Wutai)
Angeal Hewley's head rose. "Sephiroth?!" He paused, then said with a smile, "How good of you to come! How've you been? I understand congratulations are in order… Now, they'll have to come with me."
"No, Angeal."
Hewley turned. Fanned out behind Sephiroth were roughly two dozen Soldiers, including some old friends Hewley recognized: Niven, the most straight-laced man in Soldier, and Malik, the head of Mideel base, both to Sephiroth's left; and, Hewley's head rose, Zack--at Sephiroth's right hand. Hewley smiled. "Hello, Zack. It's good to see you again. How's my Buster Sword? Been taking good care of it for me? Hm. Doesn't look like it. You do know, I want it back."
Zack, his face thunderous and tears shining in his eyes, looked back at Hewley and shook his head slowly. How could this be? "You're not Angeal," he snarled through gritted teeth and shook the Buster Sword in his hands. "He's dead. I know. I killed him! YOU'RE NOT ANGEAL!!"
"Puppy… You're right," Hewley quirked an eyebrow, "and you're wrong."
"What about 'honor,' and 'duty,' and 'loyalty'?" Zack hated the taste of bitterness. He raised the Buster Sword in a two-handed grip, left hand palm up, and level to the ground, ready to drive it into Angeal's traitorous heart where it was aimed.
"And what about 'friendship'? I see old friends arrayed opposite me, but, remember, my oldest, best friend is on this side of the line. He needs me." Hewley raised his sword and stepped back into a fighting stance.
"We all needed you, Angeal!"
The war was on. Everywhere Soldiers rushed forward to engage clones.
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As the First Classes had spoken, Cloud Strife, at Zack Fair's right hand, had glanced at Zack's face then looked back at the man on the opposite side of the field. So this was Angeal Hewley, Zack's mentor and best friend. Well, Zack was his best friend. No one would hurt Zack—not like this man was doing. If the opportunity arose, he, Cloud Strife, would do this for Zack…
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Tessa struggled and shook—cold… freezing. Her eyes slitted open—just blurs. She raised a hand and rubbed her eyes—yes, that hand was working against gravity. Blood was rushing to her head. Stimuli began to assault Tessa's senses. Her head jerked up slightly; she was lying sideways, but looking at black leather?! Finding "down" she could see black-clad legs and boots then dirt, crushed blades of grass, and even frantic small insects. "What the… bleck!" Something tasted clingy and sour. That's right—that was the taste of mako. She'd been in a tube for a few days, but now she was hanging in midair?! Spitting out mako jelly, she raised her arms and pushed on the black leather—a man's body, she thought, but not Sephiroth's. What was going on?! The knees below her bent, and Tessa felt herself lowered to the ground. Looking up, she found someone bending over her, then he propped her against his knee. "Vincent? Is that you?"
"…Yes…" Vincent looked away from her and began shooting from his kneeling position on the ground.
Looking around, Tessa found she was wrapped in a soggy blanket over an even soggier lab coat. "Ugh, what?" She shook her head trying to clear it. Suddenly, her ears popped, and Vincent's gunfire rang through her head, screamed across her mind. The sounds of gunfire and of metal blades biting into flesh reached her. Tessa alternated between clasping her hands over her ears and rubbing her eyes trying to clear them of mako.
Suddenly, the tear-streaked face of a woman with pigtails (pigtails!) filled her vision. "Are you okay?!" The pig-tailed woman set a machine gun on the ground, wrapped her arms around the shaking Tessa, and pulled her away from Vincent's knee. "Waking up from tube sleep can be hard. I'll bet you're cold, but there's nothing I can do to help. You're already wearing my lab coat." The woman gripped her harder. Tessa was surprised to find that they were both shaking.
Tessa swallowed, trying to stimulate saliva. "Who are you? Where are we? Where's Sephiroth? Where's my husband? WHERE'S SEPHIROTH!" Tessa could feel herself starting to panic. Deep inside, her stomach ached and quivered. She was afraid she was going to be violently ill. She wrapped her hands protectively around her abdomen. "The baby! Is she all right?" Had the treatment worked? Was Lucy better? Tessa had to know—and soon. And how did she know the baby was a girl? In the dream the baby girls had seemed so real. She took a deep breath to suppress her panic, but her body continued to shake. She felt the need to stand up and walk around, but that probably wasn't a good idea given the circumstances. Deep breath. Another one. Try again—at the beginning. "Who are you?"
The woman holding her smiled, a bit grimly Tessa thought. "I'm Vanessa #7."
All right. That response was singularly unhelpful. "Does that mean you're the seventh Vanessa of some kind?" I can work this out…
The pigtailed woman nodded eagerly, "Um hm," and smiled—a bit less grimly this time, Tessa thought.
O-kay—try, try again. "And where are we?"
"The New Banora south orchard #32."
Tessa's stomach continued to churn. She was getting nowhere.
"Hey, Tess! You're awake!"
Tessa's head spun around to look on Vincent's far side. "Reno!" Vanessa-7 looked startled.
Reno reached around Vincent toward Tessa. "Here," he handed her his electromag rod. "Remember how to use this thing? Just in case—you know?" He shrugged and turned back to shooting in the opposite direction. Near Reno, Tessa caught sight of Rude also shooting.
Suddenly, familiar gold claws touched Tessa's arm. She jumped, "Vincent!" Tessa saw her father-in-law's red-gold eyes now peering at her, studying her. She realized she was still breathing too shallowly. Another deep breath. And another.
"…Tessa…" Valentine continued to study Tessa. "How do you feel?"
"Awful. Where's Sephiroth?! Where are we? Please tell me!"
"We're on the island of Mideel, about ten minutes south of the city. You were kidnapped out of the tube in Shinra not quite twenty-four hours ago." Vincent raised his hand and pointed over the shoulder of a man Tessa didn't recognize directly in front of her. "As to your other question, look there."
Both Sephiroth and another man, very strong looking, had jumped into the air roughly a hundred feet away. The clash of Masamune on a claymore threw sparks into the air. Sephiroth leaned forward clearly overpowering the man. Soldiers were fanned out, dodging bullets, occasionally deflecting them, jumping often, and firing materia spells. Tessa began recognizing some of the Soldiers: steady Niven; young, blond Cloud; and Zack—of course—Sephiroth's right hand, darling Zack. Tessa gave a sigh of relief. Wherever they were, whatever was going on, things would be all right.
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The man Tessa hadn't recognized turned toward Vincent. "Verdot, this is Dr. Tessa Romera, General Sephiroth's wife. I believe Tseng told you she had been abducted from Shinra last night. Tessa, this is Verdot, the former commander of the Turks." Tessa nodded and smiled weakly. She wasn't sure she was up to such pleasantries as introductions in the middle of a war zone. Vincent paused to assess their tactical situation. "We should have everyone regroup here."
Verdot nodded. He pulled out his PHS. "Did you know that Sephiroth would be coming?"
"If his wife were in danger, I'd hardly think he would go to Wutai."
"That makes sense," Verdot nodded and dialed Kamui. He listened to the dial tone for a few moments.
The voice that came over Verdot's PHS, however, was not his daughter's. "Well, everyone wants to look at me!" Verdot winced and pulled the PHS away from his ear. "I am the most important man on the planet!" Rufus Shinra?! Vincent and Tessa looked startled at Verdot's phone.
"You're also the most pompous ass on the planet!" Kamui shouted back at Rufus.
"I've never been so insulted in my life! You're fired!"
"You can't fire me—I don't work for you!"
Verdot sighed and ended the call before scrolling for Tseng's number. He laughed ruefully. "Don't mind her. She honestly means well, but sometimes she has issues taking orders. I'm sure Tseng will straighten her out."
Vincent raised an eyebrow. Tseng had his work cut out for him.
Tessa looked at the two men in shock. How could they be so calm?!
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Hewley leaped back from the silver-haired general, and both landed on the ground. A friendly hand caught him around the waist. "Well, Angy, it would seem you're having a bit of trouble. Mind if I cut in?" Genesis Rhapsodos stepped forward shielding Hewley with his body.
"You…" Sephiroth snarled. His eyes narrowed to thin lines but the slits blazed with green mako. "How dare you kidnap Tessa and our baby! We're doing everything in our power to keep that child alive, and you threaten to kill it!"
"Ah, for a second there I thought you might be that pest… Why so serious, Seph? After all, this is the first time we've all been together in quite awhile." Rhapsodos shook his head and lowered his voice. "The answer to your question, of course, is 'Jenova,' but you don't want that word said aloud, do you?"
Sephiroth flicked the Masamune at Rhapsodos' chest and smirked. "Well… It looks like the mighty Genesis Rhapsodos met his match before I got here! Do tell—what happened to your kisori? After all, you were the only other Soldier to wear his straps crossed—just like me."
Rhapsodos glared at Sephiroth. He'd forgotten to change during his materia search. Damn those Vanessa clones for distracting him! "I fell!"
Sephiroth's eyebrows rose up in amusement. "You fell?! I find that hard to believe. After all, you would have had to have tripped on a sword to cut your straps like that."
"Shut up!" Rhapsodos snapped.
Hewley's hand came to rest on Rhapsodos' shoulder. "Don't let him get to you, G."
"You're right. After all, it's useless to argue with a dead man." Rhapsodos frowned then charged at Sephiroth with a lunge.
Sephiroth side-stepped then whipped the Masamune down with a flick of his left wrist for Rhapsodos' arm.
"Too easy." Sephiroth commented. "You've gotten slower, Genesis."
Rhapsodos danced aside, then swung his sword up in a slice for Sephiroth's head. Sephiroth dodged and half-circled around Rhapsodos, swung his sword upward in turn, and attempted to cut the traitor open from behind. Rhapsodos spun and blocked the Masamune with his rapier. Sephiroth could feel the gathering of magic behind Rhapsodos' body. As he completed his spin and block, Rhapsodos launched a fireball at Sephiroth. The Soldier general back-flipped out of the way, his silver hair flashing in the dark, and his foot catching Rhapsodos' chin. The former Soldier was thrown backwards. Sephiroth landed his flip gracefully, but Rhapsodos too recovered, somewhat less gracefully. Again feeling magic, Sephiroth jumped and avoided most of the Homing Fire3 Rhapsodos rained on him. On the downward portion of his jump, Sephiroth unleashed a strike to the head of the ex-Soldier. Rhapsodos ducked and slashed at Sephiroth's back as he landed. Rhapsodos' rapier grazed Sephiroth's leather coat and cut it open, but his attack failed to go any further. Sephiroth spun and introduced his right fist to Rhapsodos' face.
Hewley spotted Rhapsodos falling. He grabbed his friend's collar and leaped into the air. "Need a lift?"
"You know it," the traitorous former Soldier smirked.
They flew at Sephiroth. Hewley released Rhapsodos then launched a flurry of attacks, all aimed at Sephiroth's head and torso. The Soldier general blocked all of these effortlessly. Suddenly Sephiroth saw a magically charged rapier graze his side—he had to get rid of one of these attackers. He spun, kicked Hewley and sent him flying, then continued his spin and pummeled Rhapsodos into the ground. Hewley crashed into a nearby tree while Rhapsodos staggered to his feet with his back to Sephiroth. The silver-haired Soldier dove and slashed an overhead strike for Rhapsodos.
Rhapsodos spun and barely blocked the attack force-to-force, his left palm supporting his blade. Landing, Sephiroth continued to drive forward until the ground fractured under their feet. The ex-Solder drew his support hand away from his rapier, summoned fire to his left palm, and prepared to launch the magic point blank. Sephiroth saw this and gathered electricity between the fingers of his right hand. Grabbing Rhapsodos' fiery hand with his sparking one, Sephiroth sent a jolt of electricity into Rhapsodos. Rhapsodos screamed, and Sephiroth continued to crush his hand, electrocuting him. He wanted Rhapsodos to suffer for what he had done by kidnapping Tessa. Sephiroth dropped Masamune, grabbed the stunned Rhapsodos by his coat collar and belt, lifted him, and flung him into the collapsed Banora monument, crushing the stone.
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Verdot watched the fight between the three once known as the Soldier Triumvirate and shook his head, "They're still as brutal as ever… To think, they were once best friends…"
"You seem to know a lot about them," Vincent commented and pulled his attention away from the fight to look at his friend. Tessa stared aghast at Verdot. Vincent knew that, despite her expression, Tessa would soak up every bit of information Verdot was dispensing.
"I've known those three a long time. I was with Madame Elizabeth when she scouted Rhapsodos and Hewley for Soldier. Sephiroth, though, no matter how intense the training, would only attack this way if he truly hated someone—as he did in Wutai." The former Turk nodded to where the Soldier had thrown Rhapsodos into the monument.
"I can understand what he's feeling—rage against someone attacking those you love." Vincent glanced around—several Turks had staggered up, attracted by the fight. "Have you been able to reach anyone?"
"No. I was about to try Tseng," Verdot replied as he dialed the current commander.
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Tseng's black eyebrows furrowed. Something wasn't right. A few minutes before there had been clones everywhere, but abruptly there had been a drastic decrease in the number of enemies they faced. He glanced down at Elena. Her darkened face had tear streaks, but she was no longer crying. He suddenly felt his communicator vibrate about his ear and tapped it. "Tseng."
"Lock onto my signal and bring anyone with you to my location." Verdot ordered.
"Yes, sir," Tseng nodded. "Sir, there's been a decrease in the number of clones in this area. All of them just took off."
Verdot paused as he considered this. "They're probably coming here. Sephiroth and around twenty Soldiers are here, as are Vince, Reno, Rude, several civilians, and some more of your people."
Tseng's eyebrows went up. "Dr. Romera?!"
"Yes, she seems all right. Reno and Rude also bagged Hollander, literally, and a young…" Static—then the line went dead.
Tseng's pulled up his tracker and locked onto the last signal of Verdot's PHS. He turned to the group as they finished the straggling clones. "We're moving out, north by northwest, immedi…" Tseng stopped abruptly as something leaped out of the bushes. A dozen startled Turks raised firearms toward the sound preparatory to firing. A shouting young woman with silver hair was carrying, "Mr. President?!" Tseng shouted in surprise as the woman continued running across the field, Rufus Shinra slung over her shoulder. Two swords were sheathed on her back—Verdot's daughter?!
Rufus couldn't hear the Turk commander over his argument, "Put me down!!"
"No chance of that, you slow-poke!" She shouted back at him.
"I am not slow!"
Tseng watched the pair move away, shook his head, then checked his tracker—they were heading in the correct general direction. He turned back to his group. "As I was saying—we're moving out immediately." At least the president was alive and unharmed. Tseng walked over to Dr. Caperton. "Dr. Romera is with Verdot and Valentine."
Dr. Caperton's eyebrows went up. "Really?! Excellent! Do you know anything about her condition?"
Tseng shook his head. "From what I understand she is out of the tube and awake."
The doctor nodded. "I want to see her as soon as possible. We need to hurry."
"Right," Tseng nodded and turned to the rest of his group. "Move out!"
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Tessa Romera watched the fight wide-eyed. She had never truly appreciated how dangerous Sephiroth could be when angered. "Seph…" She knew he had a temper, knew he was the best warrior the world had ever seen, knew he usually fought completely cold, emotionless. But this… this wasn't her husband! This man was closer to the one who had shown up in the Nibelheim reactor. "Please… somebody stop them…" she whispered. Trembling, Vanessa-7 buried her face in Tessa's shoulder. With each burst of Rude's machine gun the woman jerked and cried. Tessa patted her shoulder--there was nothing else Tessa could do for her.
Vincent tried to explain. "You were kidnapped by Genesis Rhapsodos' forces. We believe Rhapsodos is after the baby's Jenova tissue." Tessa gasped. Jenova tissue?! "Wutai is in rebellion, every reactor on the planet has been under monster attack, and Shinra has been in disarray since you entered the tube." Vincent's jaw locked as he watched his son. If Sephiroth persisted much longer, then Vincent would have to stop him. They still needed information out of Rhapsodos—they needed him alive. "With you in the tube, Sephiroth has been leashing himself tightly for days. With you kidnapped…" Tessa knew.
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As soon as Rhapsodos hit the monument, Sephiroth looked at the lightning fingering the clouds to the west. He raised the Masamune over his head, and a low thrum of gathering energy grew in volume and power in the area. Streaks of lightning from the western clouds forked and leapt to Masamune's tip while sparks spiraled from the ground to Sephiroth's feet. The ground's static spun almost lovingly upward around his body. Rising, the streaks curled and played over Sephiroth's teeth, flattened over his eyes, and danced over his fingers holding the sword. At Sephiroth's bidding, all the charge gathered at the tip of the sword. The electricity felt like anger—the anger he'd barely held in check for days—the anger at himself for putting his family in danger in the first place—the old anger at friends' betrayals—the anger at a friend's attack on his family. His family! A crack of thunder pulsed through the air as Sephiroth brought Masamune down in a streak of light aimed for Rhapsodos' body.
Sephiroth. Don't. We need Rhapsodos alive. He's got to answer questions. Vincent spoke in Sephiroth's mind.
Why are you bothering me now? I am killing Genesis. He'll never hurt us again. Never! The sword continued its downward arc.
Do you really want your wife to watch you kill your old friend? The image of Vincent shaking his head and Tessa trembling near Vincent's leg, horrified at the sight, holding a crying woman tightly, came to Sephiroth's mind. Are you such a monster?
Monster?! The sword paused in its swing. Sephiroth glanced down at his Masamune, still as pristine as when he had begun the fight. Vincent was right. Damn it! He took a deep breath then touched the sword to the orchard floor and grounded the electrical charges. A silence filled the air as if all the combatants were holding their breaths waiting for the next few seconds to pass.
Sephiroth glanced at Tessa and Vincent through his bangs and noted Reno and Rude and even old Verdot near them. "RENO! Do you still have those Soldier-proof cuffs?" With a glance at each other and a mischievous grin by Reno, the two Turks stood. Reno and Rude moved cautiously toward Rhapsodos and pulled out their handcuffs as they went. They didn't look anxious for this job, but the cuffs had held Sephiroth. Genesis Rhapsodos should be no problem. Sephiroth took a last look at the immobile traitor, straightened, then walked to his family.
"It's over… Tessa." Sephiroth hated the look on her face. It was wrong for her to be terrified… to be terrified of him. She was the one good thing in his life, and he'd been about to show her how truly monstrous he was. Sephiroth knelt before her, set Masamune carefully beside him, then pulled Tessa away from the woman beside her into his arms. One hand bunched in the waves of her copper hair; the other flattened against her stomach and their child. Sephiroth's voice whispered in her ear. "It's finally over. When this mess is cleaned up, we'll go home!"
"Sephiroth. My love," Tessa whispered, hugging him tightly. Their lips met, tentatively at first, then in an aching need of fire. Even after everything, Sephiroth wanted her right there—to touch her, to have her touch him—to reassure himself of her.
Tessa leaned back to look in her husband's eyes. She didn't like what she saw there. Shadows. Hauntings. What had he been through these last few days? She took his head between her hands. "Have you been eating?!" It started deep inside Sephiroth. Just one. A chuckle. She felt his body jerk. Then another. A bit of relief. Then a true laugh. He gazed back at her, smiled—the mask cracking—and shook his head in wonder. Sephiroth reached inside his ruined battle coat (have to order another one) and drew out a half-eaten, mint-chocolate Tessa bar.