Chapter Seven
Aerith shook herself out of her utter shock at the scene before her and hurried into the room. "General Sephiroth?!" She knelt down by him, touching his arm. What had happened? How badly was he hurt?
. . . Why was there a wing?
She looked to it in bewildered fascination and alarm. Was it actually attached to his body, or did it only look that way with his hair covering the spot where it would connect? Was it some kind of sick joke someone was pulling?
Well, it was hardly the most important thing about this situation. It could wait.
"General Sephiroth?" she tried again. "Helloooo?"
The wing was the first thing to move. It was absolutely connected to his body. It moved across the floor, then stopped when it hit a table leg. Sephiroth grunted, slowly opening his eyes. "What . . ."
Aerith leaned back in some relief. "Are you alright? What happened?"
He didn't answer as he pushed himself to his knees. Suddenly realizing the wing was out, he looked to it with a horrified jerk. "Please . . . don't tell anyone of what you saw here," he implored. Swiftly he withdrew the extra appendage into his body, leaving only several scattered feathers as evidence of its presence.
Aerith picked one up and turned it around in her hand. The utter distress and panic in his voice pierced her heart. In spite of her concerns, she simply couldn't believe this man was bad.
"Wings are beautiful," she told him. "They shouldn't have to be feared."
"They're not supposed to be on humans," Sephiroth flatly replied.
"I like to think my mama has wings now," Aerith said. "And . . . Zack. . . ."
"Angels are different," Sephiroth muttered. He sighed, pushing himself to his feet by using the chair arm to steady himself. "I am certainly not one." Then he paused, a sick look coming into his eyes at the reminder. "Zack. . . ."
That pierced her heart too. "You loved him, didn't you?" she said kindly.
Sephiroth nodded. "Yes. He was . . . the only one who ever really stood by me."
"You didn't have any other friends?" she said in dismay.
"There were others," Sephiroth said quietly. "They left. Zack didn't, not until . . ." He trailed off, his eyes again haunted with the images he had seemingly remembered right before passing out.
Aerith hated to ask, but at this critical moment she felt she had to try, she had to prompt him to try to tell her. "What happened to Zack?" she asked. "The Army wouldn't tell me."
"They wouldn't tell me either." He wouldn't look at her.
"Weren't you there?" Aerith persisted. "Don't you know?"
"I . . ." Sephiroth was tensing up again. He hadn't remembered anything until Genesis had started feeding him his poison. How could he be sure it was the truth of that horrific night? He could just be thinking he remembered.
Or was he only fooling himself to keep from acknowledging the unspeakable truth?
Should he tell her? It was too devastating, too cruel. And he just . . . didn't know it was real.
. . . But . . . what if Genesis really would seek her out? He had to warn her.
"I don't know," he finally rasped. "Someone was here before you came. He . . . told me something horrendous, unforgivable."
"What did he tell you?" Aerith asked. Her insides were twisting up. Was it what Tifa had told her? Worse?
"He told me I'd burned the town and killed Zack. And I honestly don't remember if that's the truth." Finally he turned to face her, his eyes completely tortured and filled with the anguish of the damned.
Aerith inwardly gasped, but not at his words—at the depth of his grief and guilt. ". . . Who said that?" she asked. "Why would he?"
"General Genesis Rhapsodos. He deserted right after the incident. Suddenly he showed up here tonight, apparently to take in the performance of Loveless . . . and to torment me for reasons I don't know. He was always telling me we're both monsters. He said that's why I . . . why I did such abominable things." He stared at her. "How can you even want to be around me, knowing what he said?"
"I don't know that it's the truth," she told him. "And . . . I can see how horrible you feel." She stood her ground, looking up at him. He was a full six feet seven inches, thoroughly towering over her, and yet she wasn't intimidated. "If . . . if you really did what he said, you must have been out of your mind. You're not a monster."
"I would have caused so much destruction, so much loss of life," Sephiroth said in anguish. "Even . . . even the death of someone we both love so much."
Aerith blinked back the tears forming at those words. "And you blocked everything out," she said. "Whether it was true or not, what really happened was just too horrible for you to remember. It takes a kind, feeling heart to love that much."
This was so unbelievable. He felt so completely unworthy of her kindness, her understanding, in the face of what he had revealed to her. ". . . But those people are still dead," he said at last. "Zack is still dead."
". . . This General Rhapsodos," Aerith said. "He knows what really happened. Would he have any reason to lie to you about it?"
"Yes," Sephiroth said. "He has despised me for years because I was hailed as the hero he believed he was. And the ironic thing is, I never even wanted the glory. He would have been welcome to it."
"Do you know where he is now?" Aerith asked. In determination she added, "I want to talk to him."
Sephiroth looked at her in disbelieving alarm. "He's unstable and potentially dangerous," he objected. "And you can't trust anything that comes out of his mouth."
Aerith nodded. "I'm sure that's true. But I still want to talk to him."
Sephiroth shook his head. Already he understood why Zack had loved her so much. They complemented each other well.
"He's probably at the theatre somehow," he said after glancing at the clock. "The performance of Lovelessshould be getting underway. He won't miss that."
"Alright. Then I'm going to the theatre," Aerith declared.
"I can't allow you to go alone," he objected.
She frowned at him in concern. "Are you well enough to leave? I found you unconscious on the floor! And you still didn't tell me how that happened!"
"I'm alright," Sephiroth insisted. He sighed. "Now, if you insist, let's go to the theatre together."
She smiled at that. "I've never gone on a date with such a distinguished escort as a General," she declared as she headed for the door.
Sephiroth just stared at her. "This is hardly a date," he said.
"Oh? What would you call it then?" Aerith said lightly.
"I . . ." He shook his head. "Nevermind."
As they stepped out of the room, neither noticed a shadow darting around the corner and silently down the stairs. Captain Harper had wanted information, but had not attained much from General Sephiroth. Now he was certainly about to get an earful.
xxxx
At the theatre, Captain Harper was tense. He had men watching every door, every window, and there was no possible way General Rhapsodos could get past them if he truly was there.
Did Harper even believe that? He was only going on General Sephiroth's word, and could his word be trusted? Maybe he was too delusional to possibly be taken seriously. The people in the evening stage had all insisted Genesis hadn't been there. Why would every one of them lie? Did Genesis have the kind of funds to bribe them all? Had he threatened them? None of them had seemed anxious or nervous. If it was anything, it was probably a bribe.
And the man he had assigned to watch General Sephiroth didn't have much of interest to report. Sephiroth had gone up to his room at the hotel and was still there. Apparently he was insisting General Rhapodos had visited him, but there was no evidence of such a visit. More delusions, perhaps, unless the man had found a way to get inside the building without anyone seeing him. Harper was trying to consider all possibilties.
"Captain Harper, Sir?"
He looked up with a jerk. Lieutenant Epsen was hurrying over to him from the direction of the hotel, his eyes wide.
"What is it, Lieutenant?" he asked.
"General Sephiroth was talking to that girl who just arrived in town the same day as we did," Epsen said. "Aerith Gast. They were talking about General Rhapsodos and the Nibelheim incident!"
Immediately Harper was attentive and interested. "What did they say, Epsen?" he demanded.
"General Rhapsodos visited General Sephiroth today and told him that he remembered General Sephiroth burned Nibelheim and killed Lieutenant Zack Fair," Epsen said, still reeling in horror from the unexpected information.
"What?! Why would he say that?!" Harper exclaimed.
"General Sephiroth didn't know," Epsen said. "He also said he didn't remember if any of it was true. But he was thoroughly agonizing over it."
"Did he say anything else?" Harper asked.
"He and Miss Gast decided to come here to find General Rhapsodos," Epsen said. "They'll probably be here any minute." He looked around in concern. "I don't want them to know I spoke to you, Sir."
"Yes, why did you?" Harper frowned. "You're General Sephiroth's aide. Shouldn't you have confronted him about what you heard ahead of anything else?"
"I . . ." Epsen looked down, stricken with guilt. "I was only assigned to him a few days ago, Captain. When I heard everything he was saying, I wondered if he was . . . well, safe to be around."
"I'll watch for him and have my men do likewise," Harper said gruffly. "You'd best get out of sight, Lieutenant."
"Yes, Sir!" Epsen scrambled away, while Harper just stared after him with a deep frown.
Maybe he should be grateful for these nuggets of information dropped in his lap, but he quite frankly wasn't sure what to think. It bothered him that Epsen would immediately run to him instead of first talking to the man he had been assigned to help. Something just wasn't right here. And the more the mess unfolded, the more Harper wished it wasn't happening in the town he was in.
Sighing to himself, he went to find Sergeant Daly.
xxxx
Inside the theatre, expertly concealed in the spot he had chosen earlier, Genesis was watching Loveless with rapt attention. He could practically quote the entire play and the book by heart, yet he never tired of seeing the production come to life on the stage. Every actor had their own interpretation of the characters, and even the ones he had seen in repeat performances always delivered something different every night. Just the slightest change in tone for a key line could alter the entire meaning of the scene. Theatre truly was fascinating and enlightening.
And once he would emerge from the theatre after the play's end, he might very well find Sephiroth waiting for him. The man wouldn't be likely to just let Genesis roam about town doing whatever he wished, especially after the cruel visit from earlier that day.
They and Angeal Hewley truly were monsters, the products of years of experimentation to invent the perfect soldiers. Both Genesis and Sephiroth had been chosen as test subjects before birth, their parents willingly giving them over to science—and in Sephiroth's case, his father had been the main one experimenting on him all through his life, unbeknownst to him.
Now, at least. Genesis had dropped that disastrous revelation on him back at Nibelheim, among others. He had not handled it well. And after he had got into the records in the basement of the Shinra Mansion, well. The fires of Nibelheim testified to what had happened after that.
Genesis knew he was partially to blame. He had pushed Sephiroth towards insanity, encouraging him to admit and accept to being the perfect monster. And as Sephiroth had fallen into calamity, swallowed up by the creature Jenova and his own pain and heartache and loneliness, he had given in to the pull of the monster within him.
Poor Zack, caught up in the middle of all that cacophony of rage.
Would Sephiroth ever truly remember all that had happened that fateful night? Genesis wanted him, needed him, to remember, for there were things Genesis did not know or understand either, things that needed resolution.
Why were they here?
He looked intently at the scene on the stage. Something just wasn't right, but from all his investigations, he was quite possibly the only one so far who realized it. Sephiroth held the rest of the answers, but only by remembering what had traumatized him so badly would the memories of the rest return as well.
Or so Genesis hoped.
Would twisting the truth of what he had said serve his purposes to that end? Or would he only drive Sephiroth further away from unlocking the mysteries of Nibelheim as Sephiroth fled from that which he could not bear to face?
It was hard to say. But, at least in Genesis's warped mind, the half-truths and outright lies he had told to Sephiroth were better than revealing the full truth. Sephiroth wanted answers. Maybe, with Genesis having opened a door of any kind, Sephiroth would uncover the rest of the doors in his mind and heart.
xxxx
Sephiroth and Aerith were soon at the theatre. And as they had really expected, Genesis was not anywhere visible. When they went inside and tried to look amid the audience without disturbing them, he didn't seem to be anywhere.
"Are you sure he's here?" Aerith whispered, hoping they wouldn't disturb the patrons.
"He has to be," Sephiroth answered. "He wouldn't come all this way and not see Loveless."
"Then maybe he's in disguise?" Aerith suggested.
"I've never known him to use disguises, but maybe he would," Sephiroth conceded. "The Cavalry is on high alert, surrounding the building. He'd need a clever way to get in and out."
"Oh dear." Aerith stared at the theatre. The majority of the seats were filled. If Genesis was in disguise, how would they ever find him?
"Let's wait and watch everyone filing out when it's over," Sephiroth said as he led her back into the lobby. "There's no point disrupting the performance. Genesis would just slip out in the commotion."
"But I don't know what he looks like," Aerith protested. "Even in disguise, he'd surely show something of his real self."
Sephiroth sighed, then reached into his coat pocket for his wallet. "This is Genesis," he said, holding out a color picture of himself, Genesis, and Angeal. He pointed to the auburn-haired man standing in between the other two.
Aerith looked, but she was really focused on something else. "That's amazing!" she exclaimed. "I've never seen a color photograph before!"
"All of my photographs are in color," Sephiroth said. He turned the flap and found himself looking at a picture of himself with Zack. Immediately his heart clenched. Zack was hugging him with one arm and grinning at the camera.
Aerith stared at it. "Oh Zack," she whispered, gently running her fingers down the protective sleeve housing the picture.
"He always had that ability to bring smiles to everyone," Sephiroth said quietly. "Even me."
"You both look so happy," Aerith agreed. "He talked so highly of you in his letters."
"I'm glad he did," Sephiroth said. "We . . . didn't get along at first. We met right after his mentor left and he didn't appreciate my saying Angeal had deserted."
"He told about that," Aerith admitted. "And how he thought you were cold and hard at first. But then his letters grew warmer and warmer, until I could tell he loved you so much."
"And if I repaid his love with cruelty and murder . . ." Sephiroth trailed off, his eyes haunted. "I feel like I remember us having a confrontation, just as Genesis said. But I can't remember how it ended. . . ."
"Then don't think the worst," Aerith implored. "Maybe it wasn't like that at all."
"You have so much hope," Sephiroth remarked. "How?"
Aerith stared sorrowfully at the image of her lost love. "Sometimes . . . hope is all that gets us by when the nights are too dark for stars," she said softly.
They both started as the doors opened and the patrons began pouring out. Awkwardly they stepped aside, studying each person in vain for some trace of the wayward General Rhapsodos. Then everyone was gone and there was still no sign of him.
"He didn't come?" Aerith said. "Or he slipped past us?"
"Or he's still in there," Sephiroth replied. In determination he walked back into the now-empty theatre. "Are you here?" His voice echoed eerily in the large auditorium.
"So, you came." The familiar voice echoed back. Genesis was leaning against a pillar on the other side of a row of seats, close to the wall.
"Yes, I came." Sephiroth started walking over to him in determination. "And I brought someone who wants to talk with you. Tell her what you told me, if you dare."
Aerith followed him over and looked to Genesis with narrowed eyes. "What happened to Zack at Nibelheim?" she demanded.
Genesis looked to her. "Didn't Sephiroth tell you what I told him?" he said smoothly.
"I want to hear it from you," Aerith replied.
"Sephiroth impaled him," Genesis said without blinking an eye as she gasped. "I'm sorry, but that's the truth and it's not very pretty."
Sephiroth clenched his teeth. "I have no memory of this. I believe we fought, but I don't remember how it turned out. If you were there, why didn't you try to stop it?!" He looked to Genesis with accusing eyes.
"You were in a blind rage, my friend," Genesis said. "There was little I could do. Zack certainly didn't have any success, and he became closer to you than I ever was."
"Don't tell me you're jealous of Zack now," Sephiroth shot back. "Not after you betrayed me long before I grew close to Zack!"
"No," Genesis said. "I'm not jealous of Zack." He stepped closer to Sephiroth. "You've been looking at your photographs, I see. They're different than anything else in this world. Don't you wonder why?"
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Are you going to tell me some other garbage now?"
"Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul," Genesis replied. "Pride is lost. Wings stripped away, the end is nigh."
"You're describing me," Sephiroth remarked, "but that tells me nothing."
"Why are we here, Sephiroth?" Suddenly Genesis reached out, snatching Sephiroth's wrist. "You know the answer! What else happened at Nibelheim?"
Sephiroth pulled his arm away. "You're not making sense," he objected. "What do you mean 'here'? This theatre? This town?"
Suddenly the thundering sound of boots echoed out in the lobby. The Cavalry officers had come to the same conclusion Sephiroth had and were heading for the theatre to find Genesis.
The wayward General looked around, cornered, and suddenly unfurled his wing, similar to Sephiroth's yet grotesque in shape. In an instant he had flown up to the balcony.
"My friend, your desire is the bringer of life, the gift of the goddess," he quoted. "What happened, Sephiroth? What did you do?"
Then he was gone, leaping out the nearest window and flying off into the night just as Captain Harper led his men into the theatre.