#sephaeroth

"Thank you for allowing me to come along, General."

It was honestly a miracle she managed to get the sentence out with relative normalness. Relative being the key. It didn't change the fact that her throat was tight, her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating. There were three reasons for the appropriate reaction however. One being that she had never left Midgar before and this would be the first time. The second being that she was terrified of heights and this was her first time in a helicopter.

And the third and most important one, she had to sit just a little ways from the most infamous SOLDIER First class.

In her defense, she'd have been sweating had it been any of the notable trio of SOLDIERS, but there was a little more nerves with it being the renowned hero himself. Even if they were about the same age. Still, this flight would get her to Junon the fastest and upper management wanted her there to coordinate other secretarial matters. It was just luck that Director Lazard, her last assigned boss, had overheard her new directives and offered a faster means of travel.

How could she tell him that she'd rather travel days via any other means than sit for a few hours with his SOLDIER operatives?

So she thanked him for the offer and then offered thanks to the lead SOLDIER operative who arrived minutes before departure. The last SOLDIER she thought she'd see on there. There was the tiniest bit of relief that it wasn't Commander Hewley. She might not have been able to squeak out any response then.

Liesel glanced out the window to the shrinking ground as the helicopter lifted off and her fingers clawed into her seat, pulse racing, breaths uneven and unsteady, trying to claw her fear down. She could do this. Its a short flight. Just a few hours. She could manage.

"hello?"

was it dangerous? probably. should she have listened to her father and stayed far away? likely. was she going to listen? no. no she was not.

for the last two years she had let her father and others usher her away, out of rooms, buildings, and areas. putting distance between her and the new arrival. sephiroth. the hushed secret they tried to keep hidden, but she had overheard through sneaking around. listening through doors, around corners and eavesdropping on phone conversations.

a younger sephiroth, not much older than her, had been dropped into their present. with no recollection or knowledge of what his future would be. there were many confrontations, after a year and zero catastrophes, she had instigated about getting to meet him. all the adults said no. worried about safety for very good reason. but as things neared the two year mark that she noticed other oddities. reports of creatures acting odd. the 'sense' that slowly grown as she aged becoming more and more pressing that something was wrong.

no one really believed her. a few family members vaguely investigated, but nothing was found. but she knew. knew that something was wrong. something dangerous was shifting and it had nothing to do with the young SOLDIER hidden in the church.

marlene stopped in the aisle looking to the tall sixteen year old. heart rate ticking up a little bit more at seeing the familiar features of remnants in pieces. her hands entwined together, at her waist as she stood before him, trying to find the words. "my name is marlene. i'm- i'm barrett's daughter."

Red Dead Redemption 2:

He was the 1st Class on this mission; the commanding officer, as it were. The highest rank on the field. So Sephiroth's word was law.

It didn't matter that Kunsel had been carrying out a recce on this camp for months. And that his intel was always solid. Hesitating for a second, he dipped his head in a nod and trudged to the top of the outlook with two troopers to take a look.

Yep, five Wutain groundsmen and two on long-gun overwatch. Just like the intel said. And back down the outlook to their contingent.

Aerith giggles, a bright grin on her face as she lays atop Sephiroth's chest. There's not room for them to lay side by side on her bed, but honestly, this is preferable. "That's kinda the point, isn't it? That it was so good that you can't walk?" She brushes their noses together, gives him a quick kiss. "And I guess that means you have to stay a little longer...whatever will you do?"

Truthfully, she is just full of schemes to keep Sephiroth around for longer amounts of time because she knows her time with him is limited. She's lost count of what number cycle this is. It has to be in the hundreds by now. Isn't that depressing? Going through the same time period hundreds of times? And still not finding the answer?

Genesis smirks, looking awfully pleased with himself as he admires his handiwork. Maybe he did get a little carried away last night, but he really can't help it. He loves to bite, loves to claim what's his so that other people know to keep their hands off. He hums, fingers absently trailing down along Sephiroth's chest, circling around the bruises he left there. They trail down from his collar, and he's right, they wouldn't exactly be easy to hide. 

“Hmm, I think if you wear your uniform a certain way, you should be able to hide them just so," he says with a laugh, leaning up to press another kiss to his lips. Honestly, Genesis in insatiable, and he could go again if Sephiroth wanted, but they did have things to do today, duties to attend to, things that really don't want to make Genesis get out of bed.

Cloud hates that he feels so wary, that his thoughts feel so fucking mixed up and jumbled around. He was doing so good, wasn't he? He was slowly learning to trust Seph, that he wasn't going to suddenly turn into some horrific monster and try to kill Cloud and his friends. But then came Jenova. Then came the illusions, the voices, the nightmares. It's made Cloud start to question reality again, especially as it took the form of Seph to fight him now.

He winces, hand pressing against the wound on his side. Cloud takes in a slow breath, hesitating, but if Seph wanted to hurt him, wouldn't he have done so by now? Wouldn't he have just finished Cloud off after he took the blow?

It's not exactly unusual for Aerith to go to Northreach and its outskirts to find herbs and plants for her medicines. Yes, she has the ability to heal people with her magic alone, but sometimes the problems run deeper than that. Besides, she's gotten to a point where she only uses it if someone is critically ill or on the brink of death. Clive, after a while, had insisted that she take someone with her due to the growing dangers, so naturally she chose Sephiroth.

She had liked him from the start, when they initially met each other in Oriflamme. She was pleasantly surprised with his arrival in the Hideaway, and she's been attached ever since. So now here she is, squatting down in a patch of flowers while he keeps a watchful eye on her.

Humming to herself, she picks a few flowers, seeming satisfied with their properties. When she stands, however, she doesn't notice that several of Ultima's thralls have appeared. It's only when Sephiroth grabs her and pulls her out of the way that she sees. She squeals in surprise and stumbles back, clapping her hands together as she watches him take them out with no issue.

Genesis breathes hard as he leans against the wall, clutching at his shoulder with clenched teeth. He feels horrific. Nothing feels real. The whole world wobbles and spins and fades in and out. The blood transfusion with Angeal only worked for a little while, and now he's back to square one. Now, the whole world feels like it's going to explode, crumble, fall into pieces around him. He has to get out of here. He has to get out, he has to--

He pushes himself up, stumbles, but a hand grabs him before he can hit the ground. It takes a moment for him to realize that it's Sephiroth, staring up at him with wide, bloodshot eyes.