Chapter Forty-Seven: Wounds

Sephiroth was greeted by a wave of intense heat, and he just managed to cover his eyes before debris blinded him. Slashing through a wall that barred his way, he continued onward like nothing had happened. Zack was calling for him to wait up, but he couldn't spare a second. He knew that Zack was quite capable of taking care of himself.

Her room had been on the third floor, and so he relied on his memory to lead him to where the stairs would be. The boards creaked and groaned under his weight, but he managed to reach the second floor with no mishaps. On the next floor, however, he wasn't so lucky.

As he felt the floor shift beneath him, he quickly reacted and leapt forward, increasing his already breakneck speed. The entire staircase fell as soon as he passed, quickly being devoured by the flames below. The fire hissed dangerously, throwing sparks that burned his face and hands. He didn't allow himself to feel the pain.

The building was not the calm apartment complex he remembered. The flames were kept relatively low, though there was a sheet of smoke that made breathing nearly impossible. The flames were licking the walls, streaking them with black, though they had yet to fully ignite. This floor was the most unstable yet. There were already gaping pits in the floors.

Above the roar of the flames, he could hear Zack calling him. "Sephiroth! In here!" He didn't question how Zack had made it up here before he had.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Sephiroth ran toward the sound of his voice. His heart was throbbing louder than the hiss and spark of the fires, and his fists were clenched so tightly that blood was seeped from where his nails bit into his palms.

A door showed signs of having been broken in, and he kicked the remains out of the way. Through the thick haze that the heat created, he saw the silhouette of his spiky haired companion. His hand was on the forehead of a still figure on the ground. From the relief on Zack's face, Sephiroth knew that somehow, Aralyn was hanging on.

Aralyn lay under the remains of a shattered table. It seemed that she had sought cover under it, and it had saved her from the worst of it. However, something had struck the table and broken it like a twig, and now she lay under a large beam that buried her from the shoulders down. She had cuts all over her body, and her arm was at an angle that shouldn't have been possible. She shuddered in pain with every breath.

Sephiroth kneeled down beside the woman, Zack moving away respectfully. Shaking, he extended a hand to lay it on Aralyn's pale cheek. Using his thumb, he gently brushed away the tears and blood that streaked her face. "Aralyn," he breathed, doubting he could be heard over the sound of the flames. "Aralyn, wake up." His voice was strained and pleading. He was all too aware that his vision was blurring.

Aralyn was not capable of responding. Her head rolled limply to the side as he shook her shoulders in a desperate attempt to rouse her. Blood trickled from the side of her mouth.

Zack moved and gently pried her body from Sephiroth's hands. "You'll hurt her more," he said loudly, so he could be heard above the flames. "Help me free her."

Wordlessly, the two men threw the beam off her and helped untangle her limbs from other large debris that had struck and imprisoned her. Once the rubble was removed, more wounds were revealed. Sephiroth was wavering dangerously, weak with the shock of it all. Zack had to work both to keep his friend upright and to do what he could to help Aralyn. Finally, he gave up, letting Sephiroth kneel at Aralyn's side as he worked.

When she was free, Zack nudged his shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"We can't move her," he said numbly, grasping her wrist protectively. "Not without hurting her further."

"I know," Zack said. "But it has to be done."

Sephiroth reached one hand under her neck and the other under her knees, lifting her slowly. Gently, he pressed her face into his chest, stifling her soft moans. Zack motioned for Sephiroth to follow. Sephiroth walked slowly, trying to glide along as smoothly as possible. All the same, he couldn't prevent the occasional abrupt movement as he was forced to leap out of the way of falling debris. The sound of the flames drowned Aralyn's cries.

"Sephiroth," Zack called. "There's a hole in the floor and I'm going down. I'll get help so she can be treated as soon as you two make it out."

Sephiroth nodded, and Zack disappeared.

He was all too aware that Aralyn's life was seeping away. Looking around to make sure there were no flames nearby, he laid her down on the ground, assessing the damage. The entire front of her shirt was a deep, dark red. It startled him to see so much blood and, even worse, how quickly it was flowing; he hadn't known that she'd been hurt that badly. He had nothing to bind the wounds with. He had to keep going.

Picking her up again was worse than the first time, as she seemed to have regained some degree of consciousness. On his first attempt, he must have jostled her because she awoke with a cry. Her eyes opened, and she met Sephiroth's gaze. He didn't breathe until she had spoken again.

"I knew…you'd come…"

Sephiroth nearly choked on his emotion, but he forced it down. Once again, he picked her up as smoothly as he could. She reached up, latching her arms around his neck as she allowed him to cradle her like a small child. He desperately hoped that she couldn't feel how hard his heart was beating.

The stairs were still out, and he bit his lip in frustration. He could land that jump, it was only ten feet, but there was no telling what that would do to Aralyn. If he landed wrong and hit the wrong way, there was a chance that her broken rib would puncture her lung, and then it would be over.

The flames roared triumphantly as another wall fell inward, missing Sephiroth by only a few feet. He couldn't jump, but neither could he stay.

Having made up his mind, he took a deep breath and then spread his wing as he exhaled. There wasn't enough room to extend it fully, and the chances that he could catch a suitable wind for flying was slim, but he hoped that perhaps it might slow the descent.

He held her tighter than ever before as he leapt from the ledge.

Sephiroth managed to land so that he absorbed most of the impact, though Aralyn was still jostled painfully. Fueled by desperation, he ran toward the final staircase. He didn't slow when he reached the stairs, and prayed that they would hold for just a few more seconds…

The moment Sephiroth stepped clear of the stairs, they collapsed, sending burning embers onto the pair. He turned his back to the wreckage and ran; he could see the door now.

Stepping out into the air was a shock. The air, though not particularly cold, stung as it drove the heat from his body. And it was so clear, pure, and thin compared to the thick smoke. Aralyn seemed to feel it as well, as she shuddered briefly before falling deathly still. Exhausted and drained, he fell to his knees, still carefully shielding Aralyn with his body.

In no time, hands were reaching toward the damaged Aralyn. Only when he looked up and identified them as doctors did he release her. They took her from him slowly, laying her out on a stretcher and loading her into an ambulance. Zack stood gravely by the doors of the vehicle, speaking rapidly with one of the female doctors. She shook her head and held up her hands in a clear sign of despair. Zack's frown deepened.

Someone was trying to put an oxygen mask on Sephiroth, but he angrily swatted them away. It was true that he was having trouble breathing, but that wasn't on the forefront of his mind. The same nurse offered it to him again, this time managing to press it to his face. He grasped the tube that ran from the mask to the tank and ripped it out, the oxygen hissing as it was depleted. He threw the mask aside and rose to his feet.

Zack shook his head and moved to help support him. Sephiroth didn't comment, but silently accepted his friend's help. The nurse was clearly put out, but Zack said something that convinced her that Sephiroth was not going to consent to any care.

He was led to a housing area that hadn't been damaged, and after several minutes he realized that Zack was taking him to his own house. Zack was silent the whole way, his face grave and ashen, which was so unlike the mischievous grin he usually wore.

Zack gently set Sephiroth down on his couch and said something to him. He couldn't focus long enough to tell what had been said. Shaking his head, Zack retreated to his room, emerging with blankets. Sephiroth heard only one word out of the next sentence. "Sleep."

But he found that he couldn't. Every time he dozed off he was haunted by images of Aralyn in the building, and what could have happened. He then saw her in a hospital bed, but he knew by how pale she was that it was too late…

He feared to fall asleep and witness those scenes again almost as much as he feared to wake up and find them to be true.