The Planet's Enemy: Chapter 6
Jun. 20th, 2010 01:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ebonrune posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ff7_fanfictionTitle: The Planet's Enemy
Author: Ebonrune
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Possible swears and violence
Disclaimer: I of course, do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the compilation. That pleasure belongs to Square-Enix.
Status: Complete
Summary: It's been half a year since Omega was sent back to its rest and everyone has moved on with their lives. As Cloud and his friends soon discover however, the past refuses to remain buried.
Author's Notes: This story occurs post Dirge of Cerberus and makes references to it, as well as Crisis Core, the original Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children Complete, and Before Crisis--a game released on cellphones only in Japan. As well, I've chosen to use the fan names (according to the Final Fantasy wiki) for Cloud's various swords, since they don't have official names and 'Tsurugi' is Japanese for 'sword'. As the swords are not labeled which is which on the wiki, here's the picture for your reference.
Prequel: Ties of Friendship
Chapter Links: One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
Rufus Shinra was seated at a small desk in his room at home, his laptop perched quite happily in the middle of it. He however, was decidedly not happy.
He scowled at the numbers on his screen. It wasn't Shinra's finances, for though they were far down from the previous years, it was all within expected parameters as the world moved away from mako energy to the more planet friendly ways of water, air and oil offered by Shinra's replacement; Khymera Enviro. No, the numbers he was glowering at now had to do with a Midgar reactor, specifically Reactor 0, the reactor that powered the late President's dirty little secret, Deepground. Once Rufus had thought it had only been the power source for the Shinra building, but recent events had shown him the error of that. He'd had it remotely shut down after the Omega Event, but now here it was, powered up again and sucking up the Lifestream once more.
He tapped his fingers on the desk and scowled more. What did this mean? Was it a mere glitch in the system, or was there more going on? Clicking his mouse and typing soon brought up a profile, woefully outdated and Rufus' eyes scanned over it briefly.
Vincent Valentine. Reeve had told Rufus he was the one who had cleaned Deepground out. A former Turk from back in the early days of the Jenova project, before Rufus had been born. According to his file, he should have been about sixty years old. Also according to his file, he had died thirty three years before in a lab accident protecting his charge, Lucrecia Crescent. Rufus smiled coldly. According to Cloud Strife's profile, he had died nine years ago in a reactor incident right along with Zack Fair and Sephiroth, yet Cloud had shown up five years after his supposed death and so had Sephiroth. Angeal Hewley, Genesis Rhapsodos.....all people who had been proven alive after their announced deaths. Were they all cover ups by his father, or was there something about the Jenova cells the majority of them had which kept them coming back again and again?
This line of thought brought him back to the source of it. Vincent. Reeve hadn't given him many details, except that Hojo had experimented on the man and Vincent was apparently stuck at the age he'd been when he'd 'died'. And then that man had supposedly single-handedly wiped out 90% of Deepground's population. A population of super-SOLDIER's--according to Scarlet's reports that Reeve had given him--powered up to near Sephiroth strength. Even if that wasn't true.....one man against an army.....
Rufus sighed heavily. He didn't know about the man, and he didn't know if his reactor was glitching or the dead had risen again. He could simply shut it down and see if it re-activated again, but if it did he'd be obligated to send technicians down there to look into it and if people--or even monsters--were alive down there he'd just be sending his people to needless deaths.
He put a hand to his face and laughed softly. When I first got the company from my old man's cold, dead hands I'd planned to rule the world with fear. Who would have thought one near-death experience and a--at the time--terminal illness would do so much to change me?
Well, first things first. He straightened up and closed Vincent's file to bring the reactor readouts back up, then he proceeded to set the codes in to shut it down.
The alarm that blared out of his laptop's speakers was so sudden and loud it nearly caused him to fall out of his chair. Upon recovering his wits, he straightened up and scowled at his machine and the bright red, flashing 'ACCESS DENIED' in the middle of its screen. Someone had changed his access codes. Well, that answered one question at least.
He reached for his cellphone, but then paused. Who exactly did he intend to call? His Turks were good, but hardly strong enough to take on SOLDIERs themselves very easily and while he'd had SOLDIERs under his command once he'd since handed their employment over to Khymera Enviro. Besides, they were all Second and Third classes.
His hand hovered over the cellphone. There was only one answer really, and if Deepground was preparing to rise up again then it was a problem that would likely effect the planet. His hand closed on the phone and he brought it over to flip it open and call a number.
------------------------------------------------------------
Cloud didn't want to be here.
It wasn't the memories that made his steps heavy as he walked along behind the others into the Forgotten Capital, though they certainly didn't help. He had Sephiroth's spirit occupying his body, what right did he have to be there when it was that man who had taken Aerith from them?
Several times he considered turning back, but he knew if he did Tifa would think he was turning away from the memories and he'd get a lecture he really didn't deserve this time. Were they not all in pain from memories, anyway? Vincent carried the double burden of Aerith's death and now the death of the woman he cradled in his arms now, walking ahead and apart from the rest of his friends. What was Cloud's pain compared to that? That was likely what Tifa would say to him, anyway. The blond sighed softly and then looked to Zack when the raven-haired man dropped back to walk beside him.
"I know this is a funeral," Zack intoned softly. "but you look like death yourself. What's on your mind?"
"Don't you mean, what's in it?" Cloud sighed a quiet but heavy sigh. "He killed her, Zack. She had gone to this place to summon Holy and he tried to....." He trailed off and shook his head. "He killed her. He killed her when he couldn't make me do it. It doesn't feel right being here....given that."
"Imbecile." Sephiroth's tone was acid. "It's a wonder your brain hasn't leaked out your ears."
"Back to that, are you?" Cloud thought at him. He was aware Zack was saying something, but he couldn't listen to both at the same time. "I thought you were done with the petty sniping."
"I didn't kill the woman, you ignorant fool. I was waiting in the Northern Crater for Mother to bring me the black materia. Considering" Sephiroth's tone became a cold purr. "that you were the one to give it to me, I would have thought you'd remember that."
Zack had commented on Cloud's complexion being pale before, but now he seemed to lose what color was left and he stopped entirely as he became light-headed. Zack stopped beside him and was watching him in concern, but Cloud didn't seem to remember he was there.
"So that whole time, when we thought we were fighting you...."
"That's right. It was Mother all along."
"She's not your mother, and you know it!" Suddenly Cloud was angry and he straightened up to look toward Vincent far ahead. "Lucrecia is, and she would have loved you if she--" Pain spiked through his head, making him gasp and his legs collapse under him. Zack hastily caught and supported him.
"Cloud?" He intoned with concern.
Cloud couldn't respond, hadn't even heard Zack's query. It was like what Sephiroth had done to him in the manor basement. All he knew was the agony, the sound of the blood rushing though his head and filling his eyes. It felt like his brain was swelling and trying to escape his head and he let out an involuntary groan.
The others heard Cloud's noise of pain and stopped. Vincent looked annoyed at the interruption, but the others hurried back to surround Cloud and Zack.
"What happened?" Tifa asked, frowning in concern at the blond.
"I'm not sure." Zack responded honestly. "We were talking, and then he got quiet.....and now this." It had to do with Sephiroth, he bet. Maybe having two souls in one body was bad for the body or something.
Tifa grabbed Cloud's face in her hands to hold him still as he began to twitch and thrash a bit in an attempt to escape from the pain as he'd done before. "Cloud!" She yelled, even though yelling didn't seem to be quite the best course of action then. "Cloud, you need to focus! Tell us what's wrong!"
"I'm....it's....." Slowly the blond stilled again as the pain ebbed away once more. He was grateful these attacks were brief, but now Sephiroth had done it in front of others. What were they going to think? What was he going to tell them? He felt himself being lowered into a sit and he sagged there, panting. Tifa moved down with him, still holding his face.
"Cloud?" She said again with concern, and then gasped when Cloud opened bloodshot eyes to look at her through the fog of blood.
"I'm okay now." He said shakily and slowly reached up to locate Tifa's wrists and pull her hands away from his face. "Not sure what happened," He lied then. "but I'll be just fine."
"That was a hell of a goddamn show there, Spiky." Cid spoke up, planting his hands on his hips. "You sure you don't know what the hell it was about? You look like crap."
"Really, I'll be fine." Cloud let go of Tifa and moved shakily to stand, Zack there immediately to help him get back to his feet. "I'll look into it if you're all so worried, but I'm sure it's something manageable."
"Is it Geostigma again?" Yuffie piped up, hopping over and pushing Cloud's hair out of the way to look for ash spots.
"No, it's not Geostigma!" Cloud batted her hands away. "Trust me, I'd seen Denzel's attacks and they weren't like that anyway. I'm fine!"
"But--"
"We'll talk about it later." Zack spoke up firmly. He gave Cloud a look, then looked over at Vincent. "We have things we need to get done first."
"Yeah. Let's do what we came here to do." Cloud's eyes were clearing again and he turned his head to look at his friends with an irritated look. After a few seconds, they turned away again and the procession continued on toward their destination.
Reaching the large conchshell, everyone paused to look at it. Vincent gave a low growl, remembering seeing Sephiroth's remnants defiling the area, but the rest were just quiet. After a few moments, Vincent moved again, stepping around the pool to face it on the conch side. The others moved to follow him, but Zack and Cloud stayed where they were.
"So.....this is where it happened, huh?" Zack said softly, putting his hands on his hips and looking over at the entrance to the conch near where Vincent stood.
"Yes Zack, this is where it happened." Cloud rubbed his eyes gingerly. "I don't know how you can be so casual about that....."
"Casual?" Zack shook his head slightly. "We died, but we died for good reasons. She doesn't regret anything, so why would I be upset when I wasn't even here?" He looked at his blond friend from the corner of his eyes. "You hang on to things a little hard, Cloud. Are you blaming yourself for my death too?"
".......No." Cloud said softly. He looked at the conch himself. "I'm just sorry I forgot you for so long."
"..........Oh come on, man!" Zack gave his friend a bit of an exasperated look. "Every time we met up, I'd forget who you were!" He shook his head. "Come on. Your friend'll probably want you to be there."
"Yeah, you're right." Cloud moved to head on over and join the others. He did always forget who I was, didn't he? Considering him and I had some of the most memorable hair in Shinra....what's up with that anyway? Cloud frowned a bit. Were we actually as close as I'm thinking we were? .......I don't remember.
"We didn't know Lucrecia." Tifa began to speak as Cloud came to stand beside her. "We only know about her from things you've told us, but regardless....we're here for you, Vincent."
"I appreciate that." Vincent intoned softly. He moved forward to step into the water, hissing softly at its cold temperature. He walked forward until he reached the drop off, the same place where Cloud had committed Aerith's body to rest. With Lucrecia's body buoyed by the water, Vincent was able to free an arm from supporting her to pull her long hair ribbon out of his pocket. He brought it to his lips, closing his eyes for several seconds before he opened them again and took Lucrecia's limp hand to loosely tie the ribbon around. Then he released her completely.
She sank slower than Aerith had, but still she sank. The long ribbon waving lazily as her body was taken to its watery rest. Vincent watched her decent for several moments, then he brought his right hand out of the water in a quick motion to splash some water on his face. He shook his head out and then turned to return to land once more, whereupon he stepped away from his friends and gave himself a bit of a shake. Everyone was quiet, watching Vincent with varying levels of concern and partially concealed sympathy. The silence was soon broken however by the sound of a phone.
"Huh?" Cloud snapped out of his thoughts and fumbled for his cell. He checked the caller ID and frowned. "Unknown number." He told his friends with slight annoyance in his tone. "Must be a telemarketer." He debated briefly just letting it go to voice mail, but instead with a sigh he flipped it open and pressed the button to answer it and then bring it to his ear. Let the caller speak first, he had no intention of talking to some solicitor.
"Cloud?"
The blond muttered a soft curse under his breath and hit the speakerphone button. "What do you want, Rufus? And how did you get this number?"
"There is a problem with Mako Reactor Zero." Rufus responded calmly, ignoring Cloud's second question completely. "Perhaps you and your friends--"
"I don't work for you, Shinra." Cloud cut him off harshly. "Whatever issue you're having with your reactors, you can deal with it."
"Cloud." Vincent spoke up. He stepped over to the others, squeezing out his cloak. "Reactor 0 is the one in Deepground."
"Exactly." Rufus confirmed. "And it's recently been activated again. When I tried to shut it down remotely, I found I've been locked out. Clearly someone or someones are still alive down there. Your friend didn't do a very good cleanup job."
Cloud rolled his eyes expressively for the others benefit. "We're already going to be looking into that, but for our own benefit and not yours. We don't work for you."
"Ah, but you're a delivery man now, aren't you? That must not pay very much."
"Get to the point, Rufus. We're already going to check into Deepground, so what do you want?"
"I want to send the Turks with you. And as I'm fully aware, you aren't very fond of them. Therefore, I'm offering you money to put up with them."
Cloud glanced at Zack, who blinked cluelessly at him. ".....No deal. We'll take care of this ourselves, you've done more than enough damage." He shut his phone and put it back in his pocket.
"Cloud!" Tifa put her hand on his arm. "What's gotten into you suddenly? You don't just turn down something like that!"
"This isn't AVALANCHE anymore." Cloud gently pushed her away, then paced away from them and the water. "I'm not a merc, I'm a delivery guy. Besides, we're all under Reeve's payroll now." He turned back to look at them, his eyes seeking out Cait. "We work for the WRO."
"Aye, that yae do." Cait affirmed with a tilt of his head. "But if mae memory serves me--and it rightly does--ae haven't seen yae this ornery since we first were getting tae know yae." He swished his tail. "What's with the bee in yaer bonnet, lad? Is it just because of Rufus?"
"........." Cloud turned away again and scowled at the conch. I've got plenty of reasons. One of the biggest is....I don't want the Turks trying to take Zack. "Aerith died here." He said instead. "The memories hurt....we shouldn't linger anyway, we have to get on to Deepground." He took a deep breath and turned back to his friends again. "Vincent, how are you feeling? Up to leading the assault down there since you already know the layout?"
Vincent gave him an unreadable stare for several moments, then he nodded. "I'll lead the way." He said, and turned with likely intentions of returning to the airship. The others moved to follow him, Tifa giving Cloud a light pat on the arm.
"AVALANCHE....?" Zack asked softly.
"......It's.....it's a long story, Zack." Cloud turned away from his friend and the water to approach the conch, now as reluctant to leave Aerith's resting place as he'd been to arrive there. He reached up to touch the wall of it and try and draw emotional support from it, only for a force to throw him violently backwards. He splashed into the water, but quickly came back up sputtering and gasping from the sudden coldness.
"Cloud!" He heard his friends calling to him. He was about to call back and reassure them that he was alright when he heard something that made his blood freeze.
"Sephiroth!" More than one voice cried out, anger and surprise mingling. The blond sank down into the icy waters again, trembling from more than just the temperature.
The force that had thrown him into the water seemed to have knocked his unwelcome guest out as well and Sephiroth stood there in front of the conch, blue energy crackling around him. If not for his obviously transparent state, his friends likely would have already launched an attack against him. Zack himself had backed up almost to the water and was standing near Cloud's location.
Slowly Sephiroth turned his head, his eyes the brightest thing next to the energy. With a curl of his lip and an irritated growl, he took a very determined step away from the conch. The energy that had apparently been hurting him on some level ceased and he gave himself a shake, then took a second look around, acknowledging each of Cloud's tense friends in turn with a contemptuous smile.
"Poor little lambs, thinking yourself wolves." His voice did not carry well in the air and he seemed to have to speak much louder than normal to make sure they heard him. "What will you do now, I wonder...." His eyes looked to Zack, then to Cloud before flickering back to the others. "Come here, Cloud."
"L-Like h-h-hell!" Cloud chattered defiantly back at him. This wasn't the kind of water to be in for long periods of time.
There was the sound of running and then feet soared over Cloud's head as Tifa cleared the pool in one leap to stand beside Zack in front of Cloud. "You stay the hell away from him!"
Sephiroth looked amused, watching as the others approached as well and his gaze flickered around between the ones right in front of him and the ones warily approaching. He shook his head and began to chuckle. "What an interesting--"
"You won't think this is funny for long." Zack interrupted him. He lifted his chin. "Aerith knows you're here now and how impressed do you think she is, Sephiroth? Using those children, hurting Cloud....she takes that stuff kind of personal."
"Hurting Cloud....? Oh yes, I see what you mean." If not for the slight twitching of his eye, Sephiroth would seem unphased by the threat. He gave an open-handed shrug.
"This explains it." Vincent intoned lowly, hand resting on Cerberus. "Since Cloud showed up again after his absence, his scent had changed. Now I finally understand why." He stopped, his eyes focused on Sephiroth even though his words were directed behind himself. "How long did you intend to keep us in the dark about this possession, Cloud? How long did you plan to leave us in ignorance of the enemy residing within you?"
".......What?" Tifa's voice was faint and her eyes flickered to Vincent, horror dawning on her features. Yuffie looked much the same, though Cid and Cait remained silent and stoic. "Sephiroth has been....?"
"Y-Yes...." Cloud rubbed his arms, wishing he could get out of the water but feeling that Sephiroth couldn't possess him so long as he remained in it. "I'm s-sorry ev-everyone...."
"It's not your fault, Cloud." Tifa was quick to jump to his defense.
"Oh, but it is." Sephiroth smoothly corrected her. "His own cowardice has been holding him back. Amusing....you were willing to admit when I had a hold of you before."
"Sh-Shut up!" Cloud shivered violently and grasped his arms firmly. By Ramuh it was cold!
Tifa grit her teeth, fists clenching at her sides. "Go away, Sephiroth."
"Would that I could, little orphan. He begged for mercy, you know. Your father."
"BASTARD!" Tifa made to lunge at him, but Zack threw an arm up to hold her back.
"Time's up." He said grimly.
Cloud closed his eyes as he felt warmth encircle him, like a hug from a dryer-warmed blanket. The feeling remained, even as the temperature of the water began to make itself known again and he knew exactly what had happened. She had come, and he wouldn't need to worry any more.
The form that interposed herself between Sephiroth and Cloud now seemed small with Zack and Vincent nearby, for she was only five foot three. The presence she brought with herself however, made things so much more and everyone but Sephiroth smiled when they saw her.
"Aerith...." Tifa intoned softly. Though she hadn't been a powerful fighter in life and the two women had vied for Cloud's affections, her last act in the living world had endeared her in Tifa's heart forever.
Aerith clasped her hands in front of herself, smiling serenely to all of her friends. This place, the last Cetra city and the place of her death, was her foci. She was at her strongest here and while Sephiroth was clearly a ghost, she almost looked solid enough to touch. Her attention turned to Sephiroth then, and her smile faded a bit.
"You" She said. "have no place here."
Sephiroth looked unimpressed. "Yet you know why I'm here."
Aerith nodded slightly. "The Planet doesn't welcome you. You can't pass beyond."
A curl of a lip was his response, but Aerith smiled lightly back to him.
"You'll have to find the answer for yourself, Sephiroth. But rest assured....she will take you when you are ready." There was no malice in her tone, she was simply stating. It was fairly clear that even though she had every reason to hate him, she didn't.
Sephiroth however, did not share this lack of animosity and though he said nothing in response to Aerith, the hatred was plain as day on his face.
Aerith gave a soft sigh and turned away from him to face the others. "I'm sorry--and I'm especially sorry to you, Cloud. You'll have to put up with him for a little longer."
"What?! Are you out of your mind, Aerith?!" Cid looked between her and Sephiroth. "That goddamn lunatic has been camping in Cloud's head and you're saying to leave him there?!"
Her soft green eyes turned on the grizzled older man and she nodded. "He deserves a chance to redeem himself."
"After everything he's done?!" Cid couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves." Zack spoke up, though softly.
"No." Tifa shook her head. "Not him." She glared at Sephiroth sideways. "Not that monster."
Zack twitched and turned towards her, but before he could say whatever he was planning, Vincent interjected.
"As much as I seem to be with the minority.....I agree with Aerith." Several sets of incredulous eyes turned to Vincent. "When we followed Cloud before, Sephiroth was puppeting him and we followed him with full knowledge of that.....what has changed? The way I see it, we have come somewhat in a circle....except this time, we know exactly where Sephiroth is."
"Don't I....get a say in this.....?" Finally, Cloud pulled himself out of the pool and began squeezing out what he could of his clothes. "Don't I get a choice?"
"Why of course you do, puppet." Sephiroth spoke sarcastically, even though his eyes were on the others and not Cloud. "You could always just kill yourself."
"Sorry." Cloud continued to squeeze out his clothes. "I'm not much in the habit of suicide, especially when you're the one trying to tell me to do it. Vincent's right. You can't make me do anything I don't really want to do....and if the alternative is Zack, then I'll take the burden myself.....I just wish I could have had the choice."
"But you already made it, Cloud." Aerith smiled fondly to him. "You've always been stronger than you thought you were."
"I'm done....with dilly dallying." Cloud straightened up and looked at Sephiroth. "I'm done being the coward, done being afraid of you. Come on then." His eyes shifted to Aerith briefly. "I don't understand why you want him to redeem himself, Aerith....but for you I'm willing to try at this."
Aerith smiled warmly to him, and then she turned her gaze to Zack and smiled just a bit more. "Take good care of him."
Zack put a hand to his chest. "On my honor." He said back and then smiled back to her, though his expression was a bit sad. They all watched as she faded from view and was gone.
"Tch...." Sephiroth too vanished and a few seconds later Cloud gave a shudder as his presence settled into his mind again.
"Shit...." Cid muttered. He spat to the side. "I don't like this one goddamn bit."
Tifa gave a heavy sigh and then made a point of reaching out and putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "I trust Aerith." She said and looked around at the others. "If....she says give Sephiroth another chance.....then I'm willing to try."
"Aye..." Cait intoned softly and Cid gave a grunt and nod. Yuffie looked pale as a ghost, but she managed a jerky nod of her own.
"Well then!" Zack said. "Let's head back to the ship and get Cloud dried off before he catches a cold or something."
"Yeah. Good idea." Tifa patted Cloud's shoulder and stepped away to lead the way off. The others were almost too eager to follow her for the most part, save for Vincent, Zack and of course, Cloud.
".....Sorry I've been such a coward about this." Cloud spoke up after a few moments, staring down at the ground as he trailed along with the two who chose to stick close to him. When had he become such a yellow chocobo that he had been willing to endanger his friends like this?
Zack looked at him sideways and arched a brow. "Who's a coward?" The taller man put his arms behind his head as they walked. "So you were afraid, who wouldn't be with someone they've learned to think of as a bad guy sitting in their head? Heh. Heck, even I was a little intimidated by Sephiroth." He looked ahead of himself again. "But that's just between us, hey? Wouldn't want him thinking Zackary Fair's gonna fall to his knees in worship of great General Sephiroth just because of his shiny hair or something."
Cloud couldn't help himself and had to cover his mouth to fight back a laugh. "That's horrible...."
"Is not. I got roped into joining the Silver Elite, you know. One of the announcements had something to do with an entire bottle of shampoo and conditioner every time he washed his hair." Zack dropped his arms. "Never did get around to asking him about that, though....I guess he could tell us all about it now. Sooo....." He turned to walk backwards and look at Cloud. "ask him!"
"Uh....no." Cloud was still a bit amused, but he fought down the smile to try and scowl at his friend. "And you're going to trip." He sighed and shook his head, the amusement finally draining out of him. "Thanks for trying, Zack.....but this really isn't a laughing matter. You only saw him burn Nibelheim.....but through Jenova or not, he did more than just that.....I trust Aerith too...but this seems insane.....and he keeps trying to make me have an aneurysm or something....."
"Is that what your earlier fit was about?" Vincent asked.
"Mm....I tried to tell him Lucrecia was his mother, not Jenova. He doesn't like hearing that."
"......Understandable, I suppose." Vincent twitched the edge of his cloak and then fell silent. After a few moments Zack stopped walking backwards to walk beside Cloud.
"Don't worry about the others, buddy. They're your friends, they'll come around. Just give them a few to get used to this idea."
"Yeah....I know. Well....you wanted me to tell them, and I guess in a way I have.....and they seem to have taken it fairly well over all....."
"Mm hmm!" Zack slapped him on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. "So don't worry! Everything will be fine!"
"Heh....thanks Zack." Cloud gave a soft sigh and fell to brooding anyway and Zack left him to it. They remained silent as they boarded the Squall and joined the others on the main deck.
------------------------------------------------------------
Costa del Sol. The perfect vacation spot. The perfect place to see really attractive women wearing very little.
Perfect if he wasn't on assignment. Reno swiped his sweaty bangs out of his face and panted at Rude, who simply arched a brow at him. Both men had already stripped off their suits and their undershirts were clinging to them.
"The hell is Tseng thinking?!" Reno hissed at his partner. "There's no goddamn way the boss would be here! It's too damn likely he'd get found! Frig...." He tripped and had to flail to right himself. He then continued to mutter sourly under his breath afterward, beginning to trail behind Rude.
"Besides!" He continued ranting. "We stick out like sore thumbs here! Even if the boss was here, he would've made tracks or something. That he never came back--"
"Your phone is vibrating." Rude cut him off calmly.
"Huh? Oh, it is." Reno pushed his suit--which he'd tied around his waist--out of the way and fumbled in his pants pocket for a few moments, then pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Yah?"
"Reno." Tseng's voice came through clearly. "Head back to the helicopter. We have orders to head to Edge and locate Cloud and his team. We're to join them in infiltrating Deepground, 'whether they like it or not'."
Reno grimaced and stopped walking, Rude stopping by him and watching his expression. ".....Okay, Director." The redhead said softly after a few moments. He shut his phone and dropped it back into his pocket, then turned to head back in the direction of the helicopter. He was glad to be leaving the oppressive 100 degree heat, but as he walked the color began to drain from his flushed face.
Deepground was one of those nightmares. One of many things Shinra senior had funded that broke any sense of humanity you might have imagined about the man. He'd employed monsters like Hojo and Hollander, and he'd created places like Deepground and people like the Tsviets. Rufus had been less than impressed to discover that his Turks already knew about the place when he had only recently found out about it, and Reno was almost certain that sending them there was some kind of twisted punishment. This was going to end badly, he just knew it.
------------------------------------------------------------
Again Reeve had helpfully sent WRO vehicles out to ferry everyone from the airship. The plan was still being formulated, but Vincent had told them on the flight back that the most likely place he expected Weiss to be was where he'd first encountered him--the core of Reactor 0. Yuffie had found a shortcut into the place before and Vincent has asked her to show them how. They were planning to just drop by the bar to stock up on materia from Cloud's chest, check on the children who would be home from school about then, likely leave Cait and then head on into Midgar proper.
Cloud, who was leading the convoy, stopped his motorcycle so fast he and Zack almost got unseated. There were black cars parked in front of Seventh Heaven with the Shinra logo painted on the sides.....
"That son of a bitch!" Cloud growled. He gunned the engine again--ignoring a yelp from Zack--and tore around to the side, where he parked and leapt off his bike with such sudden force he had to use the wall of the building beside the bar to bounce off of. He reached back for Merciless as he stalked for the entrance, but then Zack grabbed his sword arm and yanked him so he spun around to face him.
"What the hell, Cloud?!" Zack hissed at him, his eyes bright in worry. "I know you didn't want the Turks involved in this, but aren't you overreacting a little?!"
Cloud yanked his arm free. "The Turks are inside the bar with Marlene and Denzel!" His voice vibrated with rage and once more he turned to go. "Stay here. We'll rout the vermin." But even as he stalked once more for the door, he wondered why he was so angry. Part of it came from fear--fear of them around the children, and fear of what they'd do if they discovered Zack--but that couldn't be all there was to it and he paused midstep. He excused it by pretending it was to let Tifa go ahead of him, but while she darted past him his thoughts turned inward.
"Is this your doing?" He questioned Sephiroth.
"So eager to place blame on anyone but yourself, aren't you Cloud?" Sephiroth responded, voice smooth as silk and as poisonous as a black mamba. "No, it's not me. I'm simply content to watch the show, for the moment. Don't let me down now, puppet."
Cloud's lip twitched in a brief snarl, but then he headed for the bar entrance anyway. It wasn't obedience, he wanted to throw them all out on their asses anyway. He stepped in and sided up to Tifa. The woman didn't look impressed either, but Cloud's eyes were all but aflame as the mako in his blood reacted to his emotions.
The majority of the Turks were seated at the bar. They didn't seem to have touched any of the taps except the one that dispensed water however. Rude was sitting with Marlene and Denzel at the farthest table from the door and seemed to have been helping the children with their homework before Tifa had stalked in on the scene. The main focus of her and now Cloud's attention however was the man in white sitting with the Turks.
"Rufus." Cloud spoke at last, his tone just short of flammable. "You just can't take no for an answer, can you?"
"I'm sorry, Cloud." Denzel spoke up, wincing a bit as if his guardian's anger was directed at him.
"Not in this case, no." Rufus spoke next. "And it was a bit tricky to convince your young ward to let us in if that's any comfort, so don't blame either of them."
".......We're not angry at either of you." Tifa told Marlene and Denzel, forcing her expression to be soft when she looked at them as Marlene looked about to cry. Rude was also the only Turk she would trust with the children, so she had no real reason to be angry at him either. When her own attention turned back to Rufus however, her expression just about matched Cloud's. "You however, are trespassing. The bar is closed."
The door opened behind them and the attention of Rufus and the Turks briefly shifted in that direction, but then Rufus sighed and spread his hands in a slight sitting bow. "And you intend to break into my property in turn." He responded calmly in the face of the anger and annoyance being directed at him. "If you really insist, then I won't send my Turks with your group....but I doubt you can afford it when I decide to sue you."
"Sue us?!" Cid's voice exploded from behind his friends. "For cleaning up your goddamn mess?! You should be thanking us, blondie!"
Rufus' lips quirked up in a smile, even as the two Turks that the others didn't know stiffened as if readying to attack. "Deepground was my unlamented father's creation, not mine. However, I concede that I have to pay for his actions." He tapped his fingers on his leg. "That being so, there is still the fact that Valentine missed the kill."
"I plan to make up for that." Vincent's voice came low and growly, causing both Cloud and Tifa to stiffen in instinctive reaction, as that tone used to mean he was getting close to transforming.
"I'm sure you do, and I have no intention of keeping you. However, if you plan to go to Deepground, I respectfully request you take at least a couple of my Turks with you." He looked at Cloud, who was finally getting a handle on his emotions. "Don't fight me on this Cloud, if you please. We aren't enemies any longer."
"No...?" Cloud's eye twitched and he shook his head. "Fine....you mentioned gil when you called earlier. I want 5,000."
"That's quite the hefty fee."
"You can afford it, I'm sure."
"Mr. President." Tseng spoke up smoothly. "Before this goes any further, I'd like to have something explained."
"Go ahead, Tseng."
"Thank you." Tseng rose to his feet and focused his attention on something behind Cloud.
Cloud went cold, and his eyes unconsciously widened slightly, pupils dilating. Oh by Ifrit, no....
"Zackary Liam Fair." Tseng reached into his suit and pulled out a touchpad. "It was reported that you had been killed in action years ago."
"Yeah" Zack responded. "well, I got better. Good call on my middle name, by the way. Not many people knew it outside Gongaga."
Tseng quirked a brow at him. "Got better, hm?" He tapped a few times on the touchpad. "Kindly explain just how you recovered from this." And he turned the device in their direction.
"Goddamn...." Cid swore quietly. Vincent frowned faintly and glanced at Yuffie, who's hands had flown up to cover her mouth, eyes going wide. Tifa had a similar reaction, hand covering her mouth, Cloud flinched and half turned away and Zack himself clenched his fists at his sides.
"Blimy...." Cait muttered and curled his tail around to hold it in both hands.
The photo Tseng was showing them was high quality and showed Zack, riddled with bullet wounds, lying on the bare cliff overlooking Midgar where he'd died.
"They took pictures?!" Zack hissed at last.
"The army was reportedly quite proud of themselves for managing to take down a SOLDIER First Class." Tseng's voice was calm and he tucked the touchpad away again. "Though the reports also said you'd managed to take out about a hundred infantry and footmen before they were able to take you down. Now then. How did you survive when--by my count--you had over fifty bullet wounds perforating your body?"
Zack stepped forward, putting a slightly shaking hand down hard on Cloud's shoulder and gripping tight enough to make the blond wince. "Before I answer you, tell me this. What did the reports say about Cloud? Why did they leave him alone?"
Tseng thought for a moment. "He was reportedly mako poisoned and it was deemed that he would die on his own. My personal take on it was that he was spared because he'd been one of them."
"Kids...." Tifa's voice shook a little as she spoke. "Go upstairs." Cloud had never given them specifics as to how Zack had died and the reality of it, the coldness of it....it took her off balance. The children, worried at Tifa's tone as well as how the adults had reacted to whatever Tseng had shown them, hastened to obey and hurry upstairs.
"Now then." Tseng spoke again once the children had left. "How did you survive?"
"Hojo had experimented on us. Isn't that an obvious enough answer right there?"
"Hm....almost plausible." Tseng tapped his chin thoughtfully. "However, you were wounded in combat against our objective in Modeoheim. On the face."
"His name was Angeal, and yes." Zack was starting to understand why Cloud had wanted him to stay by the bike. "It healed. Like I said, we were experimented on."
"Zack." Tseng said with a soft sigh. "You can't fool a Turk that easily. Now, this is a very fine story, but let's hear the truth. I doubt we have time for all of this runaround."
"Aerith." Cloud blurted. He elbowed Zack to force him to let go and shook out his arm, keeping his eyes on Tseng the whole time. "Aerith brought him back."
"......How did she do that?"
"She's a Cetra, you think death could stop her?"
"Cloud." Zack's voice was low, but his tone was warning and the blond looked back at his taller friend. Zack gave the slightest shake of his head, then looked at Tseng. "Yes. Aerith brought me back. Hojo had made clones of some people, me included. She found out about mine--mako is still part of the Lifestream, even when taken from it--and decided to shove me into it. Give me another chance."
Tseng's expression flickered just slightly and then he frowned. "You're still leaving something out, Fair....but I'll let that rest for now." He looked back at Rufus, nodded slightly and sat down again.
"Now then" Rufus smoothly picked up when he'd left off. "2,000 gil, you said?"
"5,000 Shinra, and not a gil less. You're welcome to give 2,000 upfront now, though."
"3,000. Total."
Cloud gave a nasty smile. "I'm not haggling, Rufus. I am telling you how much gil it will take for me to put up with your Turks, and overlook the fact that you essentially broke in here."
Rufus sat back on the stool slightly, looking at the younger blond in silence for several moments. "....Alright." He said at last in a bit of an odd tone. "5,000 gil it is. I'll have the money wired through Reeve, then."
"Good." Cloud turned to locate Vincent. "Alright. Your show now, Vincent."
".......So it seems." Vincent gave Cloud an intent stare for a few moments, then shifted his gaze. "I cannot take everyone with me, there simply would not be the space. Therefore, my team will consist of Yuffie, Tseng...." He paused, looking around. "Cloud, Zack and.....Rude."
"Hey!" Reno protested. "What's the big idea splitting us up?! You know damn well Rude and I are a team, yo!"
Vincent gave a slight shrug. "I've met Thessa a total of one time, I don't know this other person you've picked up and you and I do not get along."
"Director!" Reno turned to Tseng.
"Valentine seems to be in charge of this incursion and considering he has been down there and we have not, it makes sense. Don't cause problems, Reno."
"Juyaku...." Reno's tone was nearly pleading. "Kudasai. Suru koto wa deki masen, zuto."
"Hey! HEY!" Yuffie pushed her way to the front and pointed accusingly. "How dare you stain my language with your gaijin mouth! Honorless dog!"
"Yuffie!" Vincent's tone was sharp. "If you haven't noticed, Tseng is from Wutai as well. It would make sense for him to teach those under his command the same language, especially considering most people don't speak it around here."
Yuffie turned to look at him, appearing startled. "But Vincent, he--"
"If you think to take umbrage at him speaking Wutaiese, then could we not take offence at you speaking our language? You need to think about these things."
"But--!"
"Hush Yuffie, if you please." Vincent sighed softly. "What are you afraid of, Reno? Your tone tells that well enough, so what do you know?"
Reno grit his teeth and gave Vincent a side glare. ".......The stories about that place." He answered at length. "It's a nightmare."
"It is at that." Vincent agreed. "But....as Tseng said, you can't so easily lie to a Turk and I have retained my training." He half shut his eyes. "As Cloud has put me in charge of this, it is my duty to protect the ones I am taking with me. You know something, and if it's something I haven't already encountered it would do well to tell us about it."
"How the--there is no way you can tell if I'm lying or not!" Reno pointed at him. "I got the same training you did, yo!"
"That, I doubt." Vincent twitched the edge of his cloak. "In any event, one can tell much if they have the nose and the knowledge. You know something. Tell us what it is."
Reno hopped to his feet and only Rude quickly grabbing his partner's arm kept the redhead from advancing. "Now listen, you--"
"Reno." Rufus cut in. "Tell him what you know."
There was the sound of teeth grinding, but then Reno gave a stiff nod and turned to look at Vincent. "Nero the Sable."
"He died."
"No." Reno shook his head jerkily. "He can't die. You don't know what they did to make the bastard. He's a part of the Planet, he's a part of that....thing--Chaos."
'You cannot be contained by this darkness, because a part of you was born from it.' Vincent's pupils dilated almost to the point where black would overpower the red. So that's why Weiss wanted it. For Nero! "We can't waste any more time." Vincent spoke briskly. "We need to find Weiss and stop him." He swung away to the door and marched outside, not bothering to wait for the others. Nero had joined with Weiss, and if Nero was somehow part of Chaos....
The others Vincent had chosen glanced at one another and then moved to follow, Cloud once more heading for his bike and Zack once more showing he had no survival instinct by following.
Author: Ebonrune
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Possible swears and violence
Disclaimer: I of course, do not own Final Fantasy VII or any of the compilation. That pleasure belongs to Square-Enix.
Status: Complete
Summary: It's been half a year since Omega was sent back to its rest and everyone has moved on with their lives. As Cloud and his friends soon discover however, the past refuses to remain buried.
Author's Notes: This story occurs post Dirge of Cerberus and makes references to it, as well as Crisis Core, the original Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children Complete, and Before Crisis--a game released on cellphones only in Japan. As well, I've chosen to use the fan names (according to the Final Fantasy wiki) for Cloud's various swords, since they don't have official names and 'Tsurugi' is Japanese for 'sword'. As the swords are not labeled which is which on the wiki, here's the picture for your reference.
Prequel: Ties of Friendship
Chapter Links: One Two Three Four Five Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen
Rufus Shinra was seated at a small desk in his room at home, his laptop perched quite happily in the middle of it. He however, was decidedly not happy.
He scowled at the numbers on his screen. It wasn't Shinra's finances, for though they were far down from the previous years, it was all within expected parameters as the world moved away from mako energy to the more planet friendly ways of water, air and oil offered by Shinra's replacement; Khymera Enviro. No, the numbers he was glowering at now had to do with a Midgar reactor, specifically Reactor 0, the reactor that powered the late President's dirty little secret, Deepground. Once Rufus had thought it had only been the power source for the Shinra building, but recent events had shown him the error of that. He'd had it remotely shut down after the Omega Event, but now here it was, powered up again and sucking up the Lifestream once more.
He tapped his fingers on the desk and scowled more. What did this mean? Was it a mere glitch in the system, or was there more going on? Clicking his mouse and typing soon brought up a profile, woefully outdated and Rufus' eyes scanned over it briefly.
Vincent Valentine. Reeve had told Rufus he was the one who had cleaned Deepground out. A former Turk from back in the early days of the Jenova project, before Rufus had been born. According to his file, he should have been about sixty years old. Also according to his file, he had died thirty three years before in a lab accident protecting his charge, Lucrecia Crescent. Rufus smiled coldly. According to Cloud Strife's profile, he had died nine years ago in a reactor incident right along with Zack Fair and Sephiroth, yet Cloud had shown up five years after his supposed death and so had Sephiroth. Angeal Hewley, Genesis Rhapsodos.....all people who had been proven alive after their announced deaths. Were they all cover ups by his father, or was there something about the Jenova cells the majority of them had which kept them coming back again and again?
This line of thought brought him back to the source of it. Vincent. Reeve hadn't given him many details, except that Hojo had experimented on the man and Vincent was apparently stuck at the age he'd been when he'd 'died'. And then that man had supposedly single-handedly wiped out 90% of Deepground's population. A population of super-SOLDIER's--according to Scarlet's reports that Reeve had given him--powered up to near Sephiroth strength. Even if that wasn't true.....one man against an army.....
Rufus sighed heavily. He didn't know about the man, and he didn't know if his reactor was glitching or the dead had risen again. He could simply shut it down and see if it re-activated again, but if it did he'd be obligated to send technicians down there to look into it and if people--or even monsters--were alive down there he'd just be sending his people to needless deaths.
He put a hand to his face and laughed softly. When I first got the company from my old man's cold, dead hands I'd planned to rule the world with fear. Who would have thought one near-death experience and a--at the time--terminal illness would do so much to change me?
Well, first things first. He straightened up and closed Vincent's file to bring the reactor readouts back up, then he proceeded to set the codes in to shut it down.
The alarm that blared out of his laptop's speakers was so sudden and loud it nearly caused him to fall out of his chair. Upon recovering his wits, he straightened up and scowled at his machine and the bright red, flashing 'ACCESS DENIED' in the middle of its screen. Someone had changed his access codes. Well, that answered one question at least.
He reached for his cellphone, but then paused. Who exactly did he intend to call? His Turks were good, but hardly strong enough to take on SOLDIERs themselves very easily and while he'd had SOLDIERs under his command once he'd since handed their employment over to Khymera Enviro. Besides, they were all Second and Third classes.
His hand hovered over the cellphone. There was only one answer really, and if Deepground was preparing to rise up again then it was a problem that would likely effect the planet. His hand closed on the phone and he brought it over to flip it open and call a number.
------------------------------------------------------------
Cloud didn't want to be here.
It wasn't the memories that made his steps heavy as he walked along behind the others into the Forgotten Capital, though they certainly didn't help. He had Sephiroth's spirit occupying his body, what right did he have to be there when it was that man who had taken Aerith from them?
Several times he considered turning back, but he knew if he did Tifa would think he was turning away from the memories and he'd get a lecture he really didn't deserve this time. Were they not all in pain from memories, anyway? Vincent carried the double burden of Aerith's death and now the death of the woman he cradled in his arms now, walking ahead and apart from the rest of his friends. What was Cloud's pain compared to that? That was likely what Tifa would say to him, anyway. The blond sighed softly and then looked to Zack when the raven-haired man dropped back to walk beside him.
"I know this is a funeral," Zack intoned softly. "but you look like death yourself. What's on your mind?"
"Don't you mean, what's in it?" Cloud sighed a quiet but heavy sigh. "He killed her, Zack. She had gone to this place to summon Holy and he tried to....." He trailed off and shook his head. "He killed her. He killed her when he couldn't make me do it. It doesn't feel right being here....given that."
"Imbecile." Sephiroth's tone was acid. "It's a wonder your brain hasn't leaked out your ears."
"Back to that, are you?" Cloud thought at him. He was aware Zack was saying something, but he couldn't listen to both at the same time. "I thought you were done with the petty sniping."
"I didn't kill the woman, you ignorant fool. I was waiting in the Northern Crater for Mother to bring me the black materia. Considering" Sephiroth's tone became a cold purr. "that you were the one to give it to me, I would have thought you'd remember that."
Zack had commented on Cloud's complexion being pale before, but now he seemed to lose what color was left and he stopped entirely as he became light-headed. Zack stopped beside him and was watching him in concern, but Cloud didn't seem to remember he was there.
"So that whole time, when we thought we were fighting you...."
"That's right. It was Mother all along."
"She's not your mother, and you know it!" Suddenly Cloud was angry and he straightened up to look toward Vincent far ahead. "Lucrecia is, and she would have loved you if she--" Pain spiked through his head, making him gasp and his legs collapse under him. Zack hastily caught and supported him.
"Cloud?" He intoned with concern.
Cloud couldn't respond, hadn't even heard Zack's query. It was like what Sephiroth had done to him in the manor basement. All he knew was the agony, the sound of the blood rushing though his head and filling his eyes. It felt like his brain was swelling and trying to escape his head and he let out an involuntary groan.
The others heard Cloud's noise of pain and stopped. Vincent looked annoyed at the interruption, but the others hurried back to surround Cloud and Zack.
"What happened?" Tifa asked, frowning in concern at the blond.
"I'm not sure." Zack responded honestly. "We were talking, and then he got quiet.....and now this." It had to do with Sephiroth, he bet. Maybe having two souls in one body was bad for the body or something.
Tifa grabbed Cloud's face in her hands to hold him still as he began to twitch and thrash a bit in an attempt to escape from the pain as he'd done before. "Cloud!" She yelled, even though yelling didn't seem to be quite the best course of action then. "Cloud, you need to focus! Tell us what's wrong!"
"I'm....it's....." Slowly the blond stilled again as the pain ebbed away once more. He was grateful these attacks were brief, but now Sephiroth had done it in front of others. What were they going to think? What was he going to tell them? He felt himself being lowered into a sit and he sagged there, panting. Tifa moved down with him, still holding his face.
"Cloud?" She said again with concern, and then gasped when Cloud opened bloodshot eyes to look at her through the fog of blood.
"I'm okay now." He said shakily and slowly reached up to locate Tifa's wrists and pull her hands away from his face. "Not sure what happened," He lied then. "but I'll be just fine."
"That was a hell of a goddamn show there, Spiky." Cid spoke up, planting his hands on his hips. "You sure you don't know what the hell it was about? You look like crap."
"Really, I'll be fine." Cloud let go of Tifa and moved shakily to stand, Zack there immediately to help him get back to his feet. "I'll look into it if you're all so worried, but I'm sure it's something manageable."
"Is it Geostigma again?" Yuffie piped up, hopping over and pushing Cloud's hair out of the way to look for ash spots.
"No, it's not Geostigma!" Cloud batted her hands away. "Trust me, I'd seen Denzel's attacks and they weren't like that anyway. I'm fine!"
"But--"
"We'll talk about it later." Zack spoke up firmly. He gave Cloud a look, then looked over at Vincent. "We have things we need to get done first."
"Yeah. Let's do what we came here to do." Cloud's eyes were clearing again and he turned his head to look at his friends with an irritated look. After a few seconds, they turned away again and the procession continued on toward their destination.
Reaching the large conchshell, everyone paused to look at it. Vincent gave a low growl, remembering seeing Sephiroth's remnants defiling the area, but the rest were just quiet. After a few moments, Vincent moved again, stepping around the pool to face it on the conch side. The others moved to follow him, but Zack and Cloud stayed where they were.
"So.....this is where it happened, huh?" Zack said softly, putting his hands on his hips and looking over at the entrance to the conch near where Vincent stood.
"Yes Zack, this is where it happened." Cloud rubbed his eyes gingerly. "I don't know how you can be so casual about that....."
"Casual?" Zack shook his head slightly. "We died, but we died for good reasons. She doesn't regret anything, so why would I be upset when I wasn't even here?" He looked at his blond friend from the corner of his eyes. "You hang on to things a little hard, Cloud. Are you blaming yourself for my death too?"
".......No." Cloud said softly. He looked at the conch himself. "I'm just sorry I forgot you for so long."
"..........Oh come on, man!" Zack gave his friend a bit of an exasperated look. "Every time we met up, I'd forget who you were!" He shook his head. "Come on. Your friend'll probably want you to be there."
"Yeah, you're right." Cloud moved to head on over and join the others. He did always forget who I was, didn't he? Considering him and I had some of the most memorable hair in Shinra....what's up with that anyway? Cloud frowned a bit. Were we actually as close as I'm thinking we were? .......I don't remember.
"We didn't know Lucrecia." Tifa began to speak as Cloud came to stand beside her. "We only know about her from things you've told us, but regardless....we're here for you, Vincent."
"I appreciate that." Vincent intoned softly. He moved forward to step into the water, hissing softly at its cold temperature. He walked forward until he reached the drop off, the same place where Cloud had committed Aerith's body to rest. With Lucrecia's body buoyed by the water, Vincent was able to free an arm from supporting her to pull her long hair ribbon out of his pocket. He brought it to his lips, closing his eyes for several seconds before he opened them again and took Lucrecia's limp hand to loosely tie the ribbon around. Then he released her completely.
She sank slower than Aerith had, but still she sank. The long ribbon waving lazily as her body was taken to its watery rest. Vincent watched her decent for several moments, then he brought his right hand out of the water in a quick motion to splash some water on his face. He shook his head out and then turned to return to land once more, whereupon he stepped away from his friends and gave himself a bit of a shake. Everyone was quiet, watching Vincent with varying levels of concern and partially concealed sympathy. The silence was soon broken however by the sound of a phone.
"Huh?" Cloud snapped out of his thoughts and fumbled for his cell. He checked the caller ID and frowned. "Unknown number." He told his friends with slight annoyance in his tone. "Must be a telemarketer." He debated briefly just letting it go to voice mail, but instead with a sigh he flipped it open and pressed the button to answer it and then bring it to his ear. Let the caller speak first, he had no intention of talking to some solicitor.
"Cloud?"
The blond muttered a soft curse under his breath and hit the speakerphone button. "What do you want, Rufus? And how did you get this number?"
"There is a problem with Mako Reactor Zero." Rufus responded calmly, ignoring Cloud's second question completely. "Perhaps you and your friends--"
"I don't work for you, Shinra." Cloud cut him off harshly. "Whatever issue you're having with your reactors, you can deal with it."
"Cloud." Vincent spoke up. He stepped over to the others, squeezing out his cloak. "Reactor 0 is the one in Deepground."
"Exactly." Rufus confirmed. "And it's recently been activated again. When I tried to shut it down remotely, I found I've been locked out. Clearly someone or someones are still alive down there. Your friend didn't do a very good cleanup job."
Cloud rolled his eyes expressively for the others benefit. "We're already going to be looking into that, but for our own benefit and not yours. We don't work for you."
"Ah, but you're a delivery man now, aren't you? That must not pay very much."
"Get to the point, Rufus. We're already going to check into Deepground, so what do you want?"
"I want to send the Turks with you. And as I'm fully aware, you aren't very fond of them. Therefore, I'm offering you money to put up with them."
Cloud glanced at Zack, who blinked cluelessly at him. ".....No deal. We'll take care of this ourselves, you've done more than enough damage." He shut his phone and put it back in his pocket.
"Cloud!" Tifa put her hand on his arm. "What's gotten into you suddenly? You don't just turn down something like that!"
"This isn't AVALANCHE anymore." Cloud gently pushed her away, then paced away from them and the water. "I'm not a merc, I'm a delivery guy. Besides, we're all under Reeve's payroll now." He turned back to look at them, his eyes seeking out Cait. "We work for the WRO."
"Aye, that yae do." Cait affirmed with a tilt of his head. "But if mae memory serves me--and it rightly does--ae haven't seen yae this ornery since we first were getting tae know yae." He swished his tail. "What's with the bee in yaer bonnet, lad? Is it just because of Rufus?"
"........." Cloud turned away again and scowled at the conch. I've got plenty of reasons. One of the biggest is....I don't want the Turks trying to take Zack. "Aerith died here." He said instead. "The memories hurt....we shouldn't linger anyway, we have to get on to Deepground." He took a deep breath and turned back to his friends again. "Vincent, how are you feeling? Up to leading the assault down there since you already know the layout?"
Vincent gave him an unreadable stare for several moments, then he nodded. "I'll lead the way." He said, and turned with likely intentions of returning to the airship. The others moved to follow him, Tifa giving Cloud a light pat on the arm.
"AVALANCHE....?" Zack asked softly.
"......It's.....it's a long story, Zack." Cloud turned away from his friend and the water to approach the conch, now as reluctant to leave Aerith's resting place as he'd been to arrive there. He reached up to touch the wall of it and try and draw emotional support from it, only for a force to throw him violently backwards. He splashed into the water, but quickly came back up sputtering and gasping from the sudden coldness.
"Cloud!" He heard his friends calling to him. He was about to call back and reassure them that he was alright when he heard something that made his blood freeze.
"Sephiroth!" More than one voice cried out, anger and surprise mingling. The blond sank down into the icy waters again, trembling from more than just the temperature.
The force that had thrown him into the water seemed to have knocked his unwelcome guest out as well and Sephiroth stood there in front of the conch, blue energy crackling around him. If not for his obviously transparent state, his friends likely would have already launched an attack against him. Zack himself had backed up almost to the water and was standing near Cloud's location.
Slowly Sephiroth turned his head, his eyes the brightest thing next to the energy. With a curl of his lip and an irritated growl, he took a very determined step away from the conch. The energy that had apparently been hurting him on some level ceased and he gave himself a shake, then took a second look around, acknowledging each of Cloud's tense friends in turn with a contemptuous smile.
"Poor little lambs, thinking yourself wolves." His voice did not carry well in the air and he seemed to have to speak much louder than normal to make sure they heard him. "What will you do now, I wonder...." His eyes looked to Zack, then to Cloud before flickering back to the others. "Come here, Cloud."
"L-Like h-h-hell!" Cloud chattered defiantly back at him. This wasn't the kind of water to be in for long periods of time.
There was the sound of running and then feet soared over Cloud's head as Tifa cleared the pool in one leap to stand beside Zack in front of Cloud. "You stay the hell away from him!"
Sephiroth looked amused, watching as the others approached as well and his gaze flickered around between the ones right in front of him and the ones warily approaching. He shook his head and began to chuckle. "What an interesting--"
"You won't think this is funny for long." Zack interrupted him. He lifted his chin. "Aerith knows you're here now and how impressed do you think she is, Sephiroth? Using those children, hurting Cloud....she takes that stuff kind of personal."
"Hurting Cloud....? Oh yes, I see what you mean." If not for the slight twitching of his eye, Sephiroth would seem unphased by the threat. He gave an open-handed shrug.
"This explains it." Vincent intoned lowly, hand resting on Cerberus. "Since Cloud showed up again after his absence, his scent had changed. Now I finally understand why." He stopped, his eyes focused on Sephiroth even though his words were directed behind himself. "How long did you intend to keep us in the dark about this possession, Cloud? How long did you plan to leave us in ignorance of the enemy residing within you?"
".......What?" Tifa's voice was faint and her eyes flickered to Vincent, horror dawning on her features. Yuffie looked much the same, though Cid and Cait remained silent and stoic. "Sephiroth has been....?"
"Y-Yes...." Cloud rubbed his arms, wishing he could get out of the water but feeling that Sephiroth couldn't possess him so long as he remained in it. "I'm s-sorry ev-everyone...."
"It's not your fault, Cloud." Tifa was quick to jump to his defense.
"Oh, but it is." Sephiroth smoothly corrected her. "His own cowardice has been holding him back. Amusing....you were willing to admit when I had a hold of you before."
"Sh-Shut up!" Cloud shivered violently and grasped his arms firmly. By Ramuh it was cold!
Tifa grit her teeth, fists clenching at her sides. "Go away, Sephiroth."
"Would that I could, little orphan. He begged for mercy, you know. Your father."
"BASTARD!" Tifa made to lunge at him, but Zack threw an arm up to hold her back.
"Time's up." He said grimly.
Cloud closed his eyes as he felt warmth encircle him, like a hug from a dryer-warmed blanket. The feeling remained, even as the temperature of the water began to make itself known again and he knew exactly what had happened. She had come, and he wouldn't need to worry any more.
The form that interposed herself between Sephiroth and Cloud now seemed small with Zack and Vincent nearby, for she was only five foot three. The presence she brought with herself however, made things so much more and everyone but Sephiroth smiled when they saw her.
"Aerith...." Tifa intoned softly. Though she hadn't been a powerful fighter in life and the two women had vied for Cloud's affections, her last act in the living world had endeared her in Tifa's heart forever.
Aerith clasped her hands in front of herself, smiling serenely to all of her friends. This place, the last Cetra city and the place of her death, was her foci. She was at her strongest here and while Sephiroth was clearly a ghost, she almost looked solid enough to touch. Her attention turned to Sephiroth then, and her smile faded a bit.
"You" She said. "have no place here."
Sephiroth looked unimpressed. "Yet you know why I'm here."
Aerith nodded slightly. "The Planet doesn't welcome you. You can't pass beyond."
A curl of a lip was his response, but Aerith smiled lightly back to him.
"You'll have to find the answer for yourself, Sephiroth. But rest assured....she will take you when you are ready." There was no malice in her tone, she was simply stating. It was fairly clear that even though she had every reason to hate him, she didn't.
Sephiroth however, did not share this lack of animosity and though he said nothing in response to Aerith, the hatred was plain as day on his face.
Aerith gave a soft sigh and turned away from him to face the others. "I'm sorry--and I'm especially sorry to you, Cloud. You'll have to put up with him for a little longer."
"What?! Are you out of your mind, Aerith?!" Cid looked between her and Sephiroth. "That goddamn lunatic has been camping in Cloud's head and you're saying to leave him there?!"
Her soft green eyes turned on the grizzled older man and she nodded. "He deserves a chance to redeem himself."
"After everything he's done?!" Cid couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Everyone deserves a chance to redeem themselves." Zack spoke up, though softly.
"No." Tifa shook her head. "Not him." She glared at Sephiroth sideways. "Not that monster."
Zack twitched and turned towards her, but before he could say whatever he was planning, Vincent interjected.
"As much as I seem to be with the minority.....I agree with Aerith." Several sets of incredulous eyes turned to Vincent. "When we followed Cloud before, Sephiroth was puppeting him and we followed him with full knowledge of that.....what has changed? The way I see it, we have come somewhat in a circle....except this time, we know exactly where Sephiroth is."
"Don't I....get a say in this.....?" Finally, Cloud pulled himself out of the pool and began squeezing out what he could of his clothes. "Don't I get a choice?"
"Why of course you do, puppet." Sephiroth spoke sarcastically, even though his eyes were on the others and not Cloud. "You could always just kill yourself."
"Sorry." Cloud continued to squeeze out his clothes. "I'm not much in the habit of suicide, especially when you're the one trying to tell me to do it. Vincent's right. You can't make me do anything I don't really want to do....and if the alternative is Zack, then I'll take the burden myself.....I just wish I could have had the choice."
"But you already made it, Cloud." Aerith smiled fondly to him. "You've always been stronger than you thought you were."
"I'm done....with dilly dallying." Cloud straightened up and looked at Sephiroth. "I'm done being the coward, done being afraid of you. Come on then." His eyes shifted to Aerith briefly. "I don't understand why you want him to redeem himself, Aerith....but for you I'm willing to try at this."
Aerith smiled warmly to him, and then she turned her gaze to Zack and smiled just a bit more. "Take good care of him."
Zack put a hand to his chest. "On my honor." He said back and then smiled back to her, though his expression was a bit sad. They all watched as she faded from view and was gone.
"Tch...." Sephiroth too vanished and a few seconds later Cloud gave a shudder as his presence settled into his mind again.
"Shit...." Cid muttered. He spat to the side. "I don't like this one goddamn bit."
Tifa gave a heavy sigh and then made a point of reaching out and putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder. "I trust Aerith." She said and looked around at the others. "If....she says give Sephiroth another chance.....then I'm willing to try."
"Aye..." Cait intoned softly and Cid gave a grunt and nod. Yuffie looked pale as a ghost, but she managed a jerky nod of her own.
"Well then!" Zack said. "Let's head back to the ship and get Cloud dried off before he catches a cold or something."
"Yeah. Good idea." Tifa patted Cloud's shoulder and stepped away to lead the way off. The others were almost too eager to follow her for the most part, save for Vincent, Zack and of course, Cloud.
".....Sorry I've been such a coward about this." Cloud spoke up after a few moments, staring down at the ground as he trailed along with the two who chose to stick close to him. When had he become such a yellow chocobo that he had been willing to endanger his friends like this?
Zack looked at him sideways and arched a brow. "Who's a coward?" The taller man put his arms behind his head as they walked. "So you were afraid, who wouldn't be with someone they've learned to think of as a bad guy sitting in their head? Heh. Heck, even I was a little intimidated by Sephiroth." He looked ahead of himself again. "But that's just between us, hey? Wouldn't want him thinking Zackary Fair's gonna fall to his knees in worship of great General Sephiroth just because of his shiny hair or something."
Cloud couldn't help himself and had to cover his mouth to fight back a laugh. "That's horrible...."
"Is not. I got roped into joining the Silver Elite, you know. One of the announcements had something to do with an entire bottle of shampoo and conditioner every time he washed his hair." Zack dropped his arms. "Never did get around to asking him about that, though....I guess he could tell us all about it now. Sooo....." He turned to walk backwards and look at Cloud. "ask him!"
"Uh....no." Cloud was still a bit amused, but he fought down the smile to try and scowl at his friend. "And you're going to trip." He sighed and shook his head, the amusement finally draining out of him. "Thanks for trying, Zack.....but this really isn't a laughing matter. You only saw him burn Nibelheim.....but through Jenova or not, he did more than just that.....I trust Aerith too...but this seems insane.....and he keeps trying to make me have an aneurysm or something....."
"Is that what your earlier fit was about?" Vincent asked.
"Mm....I tried to tell him Lucrecia was his mother, not Jenova. He doesn't like hearing that."
"......Understandable, I suppose." Vincent twitched the edge of his cloak and then fell silent. After a few moments Zack stopped walking backwards to walk beside Cloud.
"Don't worry about the others, buddy. They're your friends, they'll come around. Just give them a few to get used to this idea."
"Yeah....I know. Well....you wanted me to tell them, and I guess in a way I have.....and they seem to have taken it fairly well over all....."
"Mm hmm!" Zack slapped him on the shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. "So don't worry! Everything will be fine!"
"Heh....thanks Zack." Cloud gave a soft sigh and fell to brooding anyway and Zack left him to it. They remained silent as they boarded the Squall and joined the others on the main deck.
------------------------------------------------------------
Costa del Sol. The perfect vacation spot. The perfect place to see really attractive women wearing very little.
Perfect if he wasn't on assignment. Reno swiped his sweaty bangs out of his face and panted at Rude, who simply arched a brow at him. Both men had already stripped off their suits and their undershirts were clinging to them.
"The hell is Tseng thinking?!" Reno hissed at his partner. "There's no goddamn way the boss would be here! It's too damn likely he'd get found! Frig...." He tripped and had to flail to right himself. He then continued to mutter sourly under his breath afterward, beginning to trail behind Rude.
"Besides!" He continued ranting. "We stick out like sore thumbs here! Even if the boss was here, he would've made tracks or something. That he never came back--"
"Your phone is vibrating." Rude cut him off calmly.
"Huh? Oh, it is." Reno pushed his suit--which he'd tied around his waist--out of the way and fumbled in his pants pocket for a few moments, then pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Yah?"
"Reno." Tseng's voice came through clearly. "Head back to the helicopter. We have orders to head to Edge and locate Cloud and his team. We're to join them in infiltrating Deepground, 'whether they like it or not'."
Reno grimaced and stopped walking, Rude stopping by him and watching his expression. ".....Okay, Director." The redhead said softly after a few moments. He shut his phone and dropped it back into his pocket, then turned to head back in the direction of the helicopter. He was glad to be leaving the oppressive 100 degree heat, but as he walked the color began to drain from his flushed face.
Deepground was one of those nightmares. One of many things Shinra senior had funded that broke any sense of humanity you might have imagined about the man. He'd employed monsters like Hojo and Hollander, and he'd created places like Deepground and people like the Tsviets. Rufus had been less than impressed to discover that his Turks already knew about the place when he had only recently found out about it, and Reno was almost certain that sending them there was some kind of twisted punishment. This was going to end badly, he just knew it.
------------------------------------------------------------
Again Reeve had helpfully sent WRO vehicles out to ferry everyone from the airship. The plan was still being formulated, but Vincent had told them on the flight back that the most likely place he expected Weiss to be was where he'd first encountered him--the core of Reactor 0. Yuffie had found a shortcut into the place before and Vincent has asked her to show them how. They were planning to just drop by the bar to stock up on materia from Cloud's chest, check on the children who would be home from school about then, likely leave Cait and then head on into Midgar proper.
Cloud, who was leading the convoy, stopped his motorcycle so fast he and Zack almost got unseated. There were black cars parked in front of Seventh Heaven with the Shinra logo painted on the sides.....
"That son of a bitch!" Cloud growled. He gunned the engine again--ignoring a yelp from Zack--and tore around to the side, where he parked and leapt off his bike with such sudden force he had to use the wall of the building beside the bar to bounce off of. He reached back for Merciless as he stalked for the entrance, but then Zack grabbed his sword arm and yanked him so he spun around to face him.
"What the hell, Cloud?!" Zack hissed at him, his eyes bright in worry. "I know you didn't want the Turks involved in this, but aren't you overreacting a little?!"
Cloud yanked his arm free. "The Turks are inside the bar with Marlene and Denzel!" His voice vibrated with rage and once more he turned to go. "Stay here. We'll rout the vermin." But even as he stalked once more for the door, he wondered why he was so angry. Part of it came from fear--fear of them around the children, and fear of what they'd do if they discovered Zack--but that couldn't be all there was to it and he paused midstep. He excused it by pretending it was to let Tifa go ahead of him, but while she darted past him his thoughts turned inward.
"Is this your doing?" He questioned Sephiroth.
"So eager to place blame on anyone but yourself, aren't you Cloud?" Sephiroth responded, voice smooth as silk and as poisonous as a black mamba. "No, it's not me. I'm simply content to watch the show, for the moment. Don't let me down now, puppet."
Cloud's lip twitched in a brief snarl, but then he headed for the bar entrance anyway. It wasn't obedience, he wanted to throw them all out on their asses anyway. He stepped in and sided up to Tifa. The woman didn't look impressed either, but Cloud's eyes were all but aflame as the mako in his blood reacted to his emotions.
The majority of the Turks were seated at the bar. They didn't seem to have touched any of the taps except the one that dispensed water however. Rude was sitting with Marlene and Denzel at the farthest table from the door and seemed to have been helping the children with their homework before Tifa had stalked in on the scene. The main focus of her and now Cloud's attention however was the man in white sitting with the Turks.
"Rufus." Cloud spoke at last, his tone just short of flammable. "You just can't take no for an answer, can you?"
"I'm sorry, Cloud." Denzel spoke up, wincing a bit as if his guardian's anger was directed at him.
"Not in this case, no." Rufus spoke next. "And it was a bit tricky to convince your young ward to let us in if that's any comfort, so don't blame either of them."
".......We're not angry at either of you." Tifa told Marlene and Denzel, forcing her expression to be soft when she looked at them as Marlene looked about to cry. Rude was also the only Turk she would trust with the children, so she had no real reason to be angry at him either. When her own attention turned back to Rufus however, her expression just about matched Cloud's. "You however, are trespassing. The bar is closed."
The door opened behind them and the attention of Rufus and the Turks briefly shifted in that direction, but then Rufus sighed and spread his hands in a slight sitting bow. "And you intend to break into my property in turn." He responded calmly in the face of the anger and annoyance being directed at him. "If you really insist, then I won't send my Turks with your group....but I doubt you can afford it when I decide to sue you."
"Sue us?!" Cid's voice exploded from behind his friends. "For cleaning up your goddamn mess?! You should be thanking us, blondie!"
Rufus' lips quirked up in a smile, even as the two Turks that the others didn't know stiffened as if readying to attack. "Deepground was my unlamented father's creation, not mine. However, I concede that I have to pay for his actions." He tapped his fingers on his leg. "That being so, there is still the fact that Valentine missed the kill."
"I plan to make up for that." Vincent's voice came low and growly, causing both Cloud and Tifa to stiffen in instinctive reaction, as that tone used to mean he was getting close to transforming.
"I'm sure you do, and I have no intention of keeping you. However, if you plan to go to Deepground, I respectfully request you take at least a couple of my Turks with you." He looked at Cloud, who was finally getting a handle on his emotions. "Don't fight me on this Cloud, if you please. We aren't enemies any longer."
"No...?" Cloud's eye twitched and he shook his head. "Fine....you mentioned gil when you called earlier. I want 5,000."
"That's quite the hefty fee."
"You can afford it, I'm sure."
"Mr. President." Tseng spoke up smoothly. "Before this goes any further, I'd like to have something explained."
"Go ahead, Tseng."
"Thank you." Tseng rose to his feet and focused his attention on something behind Cloud.
Cloud went cold, and his eyes unconsciously widened slightly, pupils dilating. Oh by Ifrit, no....
"Zackary Liam Fair." Tseng reached into his suit and pulled out a touchpad. "It was reported that you had been killed in action years ago."
"Yeah" Zack responded. "well, I got better. Good call on my middle name, by the way. Not many people knew it outside Gongaga."
Tseng quirked a brow at him. "Got better, hm?" He tapped a few times on the touchpad. "Kindly explain just how you recovered from this." And he turned the device in their direction.
"Goddamn...." Cid swore quietly. Vincent frowned faintly and glanced at Yuffie, who's hands had flown up to cover her mouth, eyes going wide. Tifa had a similar reaction, hand covering her mouth, Cloud flinched and half turned away and Zack himself clenched his fists at his sides.
"Blimy...." Cait muttered and curled his tail around to hold it in both hands.
The photo Tseng was showing them was high quality and showed Zack, riddled with bullet wounds, lying on the bare cliff overlooking Midgar where he'd died.
"They took pictures?!" Zack hissed at last.
"The army was reportedly quite proud of themselves for managing to take down a SOLDIER First Class." Tseng's voice was calm and he tucked the touchpad away again. "Though the reports also said you'd managed to take out about a hundred infantry and footmen before they were able to take you down. Now then. How did you survive when--by my count--you had over fifty bullet wounds perforating your body?"
Zack stepped forward, putting a slightly shaking hand down hard on Cloud's shoulder and gripping tight enough to make the blond wince. "Before I answer you, tell me this. What did the reports say about Cloud? Why did they leave him alone?"
Tseng thought for a moment. "He was reportedly mako poisoned and it was deemed that he would die on his own. My personal take on it was that he was spared because he'd been one of them."
"Kids...." Tifa's voice shook a little as she spoke. "Go upstairs." Cloud had never given them specifics as to how Zack had died and the reality of it, the coldness of it....it took her off balance. The children, worried at Tifa's tone as well as how the adults had reacted to whatever Tseng had shown them, hastened to obey and hurry upstairs.
"Now then." Tseng spoke again once the children had left. "How did you survive?"
"Hojo had experimented on us. Isn't that an obvious enough answer right there?"
"Hm....almost plausible." Tseng tapped his chin thoughtfully. "However, you were wounded in combat against our objective in Modeoheim. On the face."
"His name was Angeal, and yes." Zack was starting to understand why Cloud had wanted him to stay by the bike. "It healed. Like I said, we were experimented on."
"Zack." Tseng said with a soft sigh. "You can't fool a Turk that easily. Now, this is a very fine story, but let's hear the truth. I doubt we have time for all of this runaround."
"Aerith." Cloud blurted. He elbowed Zack to force him to let go and shook out his arm, keeping his eyes on Tseng the whole time. "Aerith brought him back."
"......How did she do that?"
"She's a Cetra, you think death could stop her?"
"Cloud." Zack's voice was low, but his tone was warning and the blond looked back at his taller friend. Zack gave the slightest shake of his head, then looked at Tseng. "Yes. Aerith brought me back. Hojo had made clones of some people, me included. She found out about mine--mako is still part of the Lifestream, even when taken from it--and decided to shove me into it. Give me another chance."
Tseng's expression flickered just slightly and then he frowned. "You're still leaving something out, Fair....but I'll let that rest for now." He looked back at Rufus, nodded slightly and sat down again.
"Now then" Rufus smoothly picked up when he'd left off. "2,000 gil, you said?"
"5,000 Shinra, and not a gil less. You're welcome to give 2,000 upfront now, though."
"3,000. Total."
Cloud gave a nasty smile. "I'm not haggling, Rufus. I am telling you how much gil it will take for me to put up with your Turks, and overlook the fact that you essentially broke in here."
Rufus sat back on the stool slightly, looking at the younger blond in silence for several moments. "....Alright." He said at last in a bit of an odd tone. "5,000 gil it is. I'll have the money wired through Reeve, then."
"Good." Cloud turned to locate Vincent. "Alright. Your show now, Vincent."
".......So it seems." Vincent gave Cloud an intent stare for a few moments, then shifted his gaze. "I cannot take everyone with me, there simply would not be the space. Therefore, my team will consist of Yuffie, Tseng...." He paused, looking around. "Cloud, Zack and.....Rude."
"Hey!" Reno protested. "What's the big idea splitting us up?! You know damn well Rude and I are a team, yo!"
Vincent gave a slight shrug. "I've met Thessa a total of one time, I don't know this other person you've picked up and you and I do not get along."
"Director!" Reno turned to Tseng.
"Valentine seems to be in charge of this incursion and considering he has been down there and we have not, it makes sense. Don't cause problems, Reno."
"Juyaku...." Reno's tone was nearly pleading. "Kudasai. Suru koto wa deki masen, zuto."
"Hey! HEY!" Yuffie pushed her way to the front and pointed accusingly. "How dare you stain my language with your gaijin mouth! Honorless dog!"
"Yuffie!" Vincent's tone was sharp. "If you haven't noticed, Tseng is from Wutai as well. It would make sense for him to teach those under his command the same language, especially considering most people don't speak it around here."
Yuffie turned to look at him, appearing startled. "But Vincent, he--"
"If you think to take umbrage at him speaking Wutaiese, then could we not take offence at you speaking our language? You need to think about these things."
"But--!"
"Hush Yuffie, if you please." Vincent sighed softly. "What are you afraid of, Reno? Your tone tells that well enough, so what do you know?"
Reno grit his teeth and gave Vincent a side glare. ".......The stories about that place." He answered at length. "It's a nightmare."
"It is at that." Vincent agreed. "But....as Tseng said, you can't so easily lie to a Turk and I have retained my training." He half shut his eyes. "As Cloud has put me in charge of this, it is my duty to protect the ones I am taking with me. You know something, and if it's something I haven't already encountered it would do well to tell us about it."
"How the--there is no way you can tell if I'm lying or not!" Reno pointed at him. "I got the same training you did, yo!"
"That, I doubt." Vincent twitched the edge of his cloak. "In any event, one can tell much if they have the nose and the knowledge. You know something. Tell us what it is."
Reno hopped to his feet and only Rude quickly grabbing his partner's arm kept the redhead from advancing. "Now listen, you--"
"Reno." Rufus cut in. "Tell him what you know."
There was the sound of teeth grinding, but then Reno gave a stiff nod and turned to look at Vincent. "Nero the Sable."
"He died."
"No." Reno shook his head jerkily. "He can't die. You don't know what they did to make the bastard. He's a part of the Planet, he's a part of that....thing--Chaos."
'You cannot be contained by this darkness, because a part of you was born from it.' Vincent's pupils dilated almost to the point where black would overpower the red. So that's why Weiss wanted it. For Nero! "We can't waste any more time." Vincent spoke briskly. "We need to find Weiss and stop him." He swung away to the door and marched outside, not bothering to wait for the others. Nero had joined with Weiss, and if Nero was somehow part of Chaos....
The others Vincent had chosen glanced at one another and then moved to follow, Cloud once more heading for his bike and Zack once more showing he had no survival instinct by following.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-16 06:35 am (UTC)That's the last chapter for now. I hope you update soon!