Don't Make Him Cry
Chapter Eight - Angels, Whispers and ... Love?
By Sniffles
Dedicated to: Reia.
Notes: I hope Kitty likes Sci-fi because from here it just gets... weirder. If that's even possible. Just you wait.... *grin* Anything that appears like this; /hey there sweetie./ Are Seifer's thoughts and anything that appears like this; //buzz off.// are 'someone' else's thoughts. You'll figure out who's who real quick. I'm sure. ^-^ And yes, Sephiroth is my all time favorite character in ALL the Final Fantasy series.
Don't Make Him Cry
Chapter Eight - Angels, Whispers and ... Love?
By Sniffles
8.1>
"Will they come looking for you?" Elena asked the next morning as Rufus and Seifer ate their breakfast.
Rufus shrugged, "I don't imagine they will. I've never been that important to them and Almasy.. well, he's a recruit. No one will care about him."
"But if they find you, they'll consider you a deserter?"
"No." Tseng responded, stepping up to Elena's side and looking down at her, "I am a station above any general in this army. If I chose to use soldiers of the Avalanche army without prior notice, I can."
Rufus smirked at this, "I don't understand why Strife gave you so much power."
Tseng shrugged, "He likes us kiddo!" Reno appeared out of the trees and made his way to the now dead campfire where everyone was gathered. He plopped down beside Rufus and grabbed one of Rufus' rations.
Rufus glanced at Reno from the corner of his eye. He was tempted to make some scathing remark, but he decided against it. Instead he shrugged and dropped the rest of his morning rations into Reno's lap. Reno's eyes lit up like those of a kid in a candy shop as he happily opened each ration and began to devour them.
"Why would he like a band of misfits like you?" Rufus asked, his voice twinged with barely surpressed humor.
"Because I'm cute." Reno declared through a mouthful of food.
Elena snorted loudly, "Yeah... in what universe?!"
"If you two start, this early in the morning, I'm going to kick you both back to Kalm." Tseng growled. With a little shrug he looked away from them, "We're heading out in five. Be ready."
He turned and walked away.
8.2
/Burning./
Zell jerked, his eyes widening. He reached up to rub his arms as the strange heat shivered over his chest. He was cold and yet he felt as if.. flames were gripping him on the inside.
He glanced at the others as Quistis examined the gunblade.
"We're missing something..."
8.3
/Burning./
With a shiver Seifer lifted a shaking hand and pressed it against his temples. "I think..."
Two sets of curious blue gazes settled on him but he hardly noticed. This is what he'd been feeling before. The gentle whisper of ... something in his head. His entire body felt as if it were... on fire.
/So warm.../
He got to his feet, the burning in the pit of his stomach intensified. His knees felt like jelly but he couldn't sit. Not anymore. /Flames.... so hot.../
"Are you cold?" Rufus asked, looking up at Seifer with a little frown.
"Cold?" Seifer repeated, his tongue feeling numb.
"You're rubbing your arms.."
"Am I?" Seifer looked down. He hadn't even realized... But he was rubbing his arms. He dropped his hands and gripped them into fists.
//....sleep...//
"What?" Seifer whispered aloud. The voice was not his own, and it did not belong in his head. He reached up and pressed his fingers against his temples.
//....so long.....//
"Almasy?"
Seifer glanced down at Rufus, then stumbled back a few steps. "I... I'll be back." He murmured, turning and rushing away.
/Who are you?/
//...life... death... eternity...//
/What?/
//..the brother..the father...the mother..the sister.. I am everything.. and nothing..//
/I don't .. understand./
//..I am called.. Jenova.//
/Jenova?/
Seifer stopped, glancing back to be sure he was far enough from the camp. Then he leaned heavily against the nearest tree and closed his eyes. The moment he did, the heat intensified.
//...and you, are called the Knight.//
"No!" Seifer denied aloud immediately. /I'm not that anymore./
//...but I heard you. You still think of yourself as 'her' Knight.//
Seifer shook his head, /Sometimes./ He admitted reluctantly.
//You enjoyed living for her. She gave you purpose.//
With a little sigh Seifer slid to the ground. He pressed his back against the cold, hard tree. /Yes./
//I too, can give you purpose.//
/How?/
He gasped as the world suddenly lit up. A brilliant flash of light and then a glowing form appeared before him. He gazed at the form with more than just a little horror. /Beautiful./ He gasped as he recognized the glowing form as... a man?
No. An angel. A beautiful, large black wing arched from the left side of the man's figure. On his other side, a white wing of the same size. The man's long, silver hair cascaded down his body to his knees. His face was thin and elfin. His green eyes glowed with an unholy light. He was stunningly beautiful.
//He is my son.//
/Your... son?/
As suddenly as the figure had appeared, it was gone again and Seifer was blinded by the ensuing flash of light. He closed his eyes.
//Will you help me?//
/.......yes./
8.4
"Ifrit." Zell whispered.
Quistis looked at him with a little frown. "What?"
"It's not about the gunblade." Zell paced across the room and grabbed the gunblade from Quistis' hands.
"What do you mean?"
"It wasn't the summoning that took him away!" Zell grinned, excited as he held the gunblade over his head, "Look!"
They all gazed at the handle of the gunblade.
Selphie was the first to catch on. "There's nothing junctioned!" She gasped.
Zell held up his fist, he was, as usual, wearing his combat gloves. He removed a little round jewel from his junctioning slots and threw it at Quistis. She caught it easily.
"This is..?!" She gasped.
"Right. Rinoa says the last thing she saw was Seifer summoning Ifrit... right? Well how could he? I have Ifrit."
"How did you?"
"I found it awhile back. Laying on the ground. I didn't think anything of it, just popped it into my glove and kept going. That's why I didn't remember."
"But, how could Seifer summon Ifrit... if you have Ifrit junctioned?" Selphie asked, looking at the jewel in Quistis' hand with a little frown.
"That, my dear, is what we need to figure out."8.5
"Shinra..."
Reno stared at Rufus' profile. "Ssshhhiiiinnrrrraaaaaa?" He drawled.
Elena winced, "You are so obnoxious sometimes."
He just flashed her an easy smile before playfully punching Rufus in the arm, "Hey!"
Rufus jerked and looked away from the trees where Seifer had disappeared. "Huh?" He blinked at Reno a bit owlishly.
"Say, Ellie dear. I think Shinra's in love." Reno said with a huge grin.
Elena giggled and nodded, "I agree!"
"What?!" Rufus glowered at the two and got to his feet, "Don't be ridiculous!"
"You sit here gazing at the spot where he disappeared like you wish he'd come back. You drool all over my boots when he is around and you think he's not looking. God Shinra... even an idiot could see that you're in love." Reno brushed at his aforementioned boot.
"I'm not in love with him! He's a man!" Rufus snorted indignantly. Though his heart was racing at the accusation. /I don't believe in love at first sight.../ He reminded himself.
"Oh really? I hadn't noticed." Reno said with a little roll of his eyes. He chuckled, a quirkly smile curving his lips. "Isn't this sweet? Rude and Elena. Almasy and Shinra."
"That just leaves you and Tseng." Elena snapped quickly.
Reno's jaw dropped. He stared at Elena with shock. "Me and... Tseng?! C'mon! The guy's got such a big stick up his ass that I would never be able to-"
Elena groaned and covered her ears, "I don't want to hear it!"
Reno smiled mischeviously, "I mean how would I ever get any?"
Rufus shook his head with a little sigh and he sat back down, positioning himself farther away from Reno. He glanced back, /...Why am I so fascinated by Seifer?/ He didn't realize that although he referred to Seifer as Almasy aloud, he always thought of him by his first name.
"I'm not hearing this!" Elena cried, she began to hum loudly.
"Although it would be 'extra' tight and quite an adventure." Reno mused.
/He's strong. Intelligent. But there's.... a melancholy air about him... He reminds me.. of... me./ Rufus rubbed his eyes, sighing again as his thoughts served only to confuse him further. /He is a lot like me... blond hair... blue eyes... calm and yet, I sense that he has a temper much like my own. Gah... what's wrong with me? Get your head out of the clouds Shinra. You're not in love. You can't be./