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FF7 - the OT5 fix-it thing
I need a gooddamn title for this story already. And hrrm, it's really weird to write them. It's hard to keep Cloud IC. Since I played the game translated from the american version, that was translated from the japanese, about when it first came out, I really don't have a good handle on his voice. Hnn. Need to watch AC again, I guess. ~__~
Chapter Archive.
The Masamune should have materialized and blocked Cloud's heavy downward swing; but instead Sephiroth fell into a crouch and twisted away in a swirl of silvery hair. Cloud's broadsword hacked through three floor planks and half a support beam before he could stop the momentum. Stuck; fuck. He jumped up, shifting his weight onto the hilt of his sword, as Sephiroth's long leg scythed where his knees should have been -- kicked off the wall and let his weight pull the sword free.
Stand-off. Cloud had landed in the middle of the floor. Sephiroth was moving slowly, standing, but spine and shoulders loose, hands lifted at waist-high, ready to snap up into a barehanded fighting stance. It gave Cloud pause, for a second. All SOLDIERs knew hand-to-hand fighting techniques, but Sephiroth had always specialized in swords.
Perhaps he just found the ceiling too low to swing the Masamune around properly. That gave Cloud the advantage in reach. Strategize too long, though, and he would lose the advantage. He threw himself forward, sword scything the air.
Sephiroth was fast, though, and the floor was wide enough to let him move. He kept out of Cloud's range -- they ran, sidestepped and chased from one wall to the next and then back in a flurry of quick steps and quicker lunges and dodges.
Still no counterattack, no sword, no fire spell. He didn't like it. It was abnormal. He knew better than to stop pressing his advantage -- if it was actually an advantage. He had a feeling Sephiroth was directing him somewhere...
Directing himself. A glancing blow at Cloud's swinging blade redirected it into the base of a wobbly pile of debris; Cloud jerked back to avoid falling glass, one second, no more, and then Sephiroth was leaping into the void to the left and leaping up, from windowsill to flower hanger, toward the gaping hole in the ceiling.
Cloud gave chase.
"CLOUD!"
The feminine scream made him freeze in his tracks. He glanced back, sword up to block if Sephiroth decided to use his distraction -- when had she gotten to the rafters ?
Aeris was clinging perilously to a broken railing, her bare toes at the very edge of the last plank; the railing must have looked to be support enough to lean over, but it only held to the staircase by one rotten end. On tiptoes, she tried to shift her weight back; the railing splintered.
"Zack!" he shouted, still holding his defensive stance. Sephiroth had caught a ledge and pulled himself up to the hole in the roof. If he didn't stop him now, he would escape, lose himself in the middle of an oblivious city... "Zack!"
Zack was climbing the staircase six by six. He hit the second floor at a dead run -- and another rotten plank snapped under his weight, making him stumble and lose his momentum. One floor overhead, Aeris gasped as the railing gave a thoroughly underwhelming wet crunch and broke away from the support beam.
Cloud launched himself at the falling girl, amidst falling tiles that his kick had shaken loose. There was no way to slow down and catch her gently; he heard her expel a shocked breath as their bodies collided. Letting her fall would be worse; he grabbed her around the waist, and twisted, so his feet would hit the opposite wall first. He kicked off again, ricocheting to the closest floor. The second he was on stable ground again, he let her go, eyes snapping up to the hole in the roof, expecting to find it log since empty.
Sephiroth was still standing up there, black silhouette against the night sky, watching.
And Aeris was clinging to his neck with one arm, the other weighing down his sword hand with her whole body. Like cats and little children, she seemed to have mastered the art of making herself a lot heavier than she should have been.
"Aeris, you okay?" Zack called down, leaning over the edge of the second floor.
"I'm fine!" she called back, without looking at the black-haired man. She was staring at Cloud, he could see her from the corner of his eye.
Sephiroth wasn't moving, and she was staring hard, so he glanced at her, tried to make her understand how serious this was. "Aeris, let go --"
She scowled, startling him into giving her another, longer glance.
"I didn't bring him back to life just so you could kill him again, you know."
"You --"
He hadn't even thought that far. Some days it seemed death had a revolving door for Sephiroth and his many clones. But they'd been together in the church... Did she really mean...?
Aeris gave his forearm a soothing caress, eyes full of compassion, and maybe, far behind, a hint of exasperated amusement. "Jenova didn't bring him back to life. I did. Jenova is long-gone; burned out of him, out of everyone who bore her taint. Cloud..."
"He's Sephiroth," Cloud replied, at a loss, because he wasn't sure what her explanation implied, but he was sure of what his reply meant. "Are you telling me he's -- safe to be around?"
"About as safe as you are when you wake up armed and without coffee!" Zack sang cheerily from overhead.
Cloud shook his head, exasperated. "Zack, I don't drink coffee -- what are you doing?"
The black-haired young man had climbed up to the rafters, casually straddled one, and was now in a deep, if one-sided, conversation with Sephiroth, who stood just overhead. He glanced down at Cloud and waved him away. "You make a sucky straight man, you know. Okay, Seph, what do you say about getting down from there and putting something on to keep your danglies from dangling? I'm sure the hair doesn't keep you that warm."
The man's eyes narrowed faintly, but he didn't move, not even to look at Zack.
"Seph, come on, he'll be twitchy as long as you stay overhead."
"And I will be 'twitchy'," the man bit out slowly and precisely, voice just as low and intense as it used to be, "as long as Strife is intent on skewering me."
Zack huffed in frustration. "Oh, for God's sake. Cloud, will you holster the sword?"
Cloud growled out a "No" that really meant "Are you fucking serious."
"Cloud, please, he's not dangerous, would we bring him with us if he was?"
Sephiroth's lips took on a slightly pinched air, as if he dearly wished to object. He didn't say anything, though, and that was a little more convincing than Cloud was willing to be convinced. He took in a deep breath, released it slowly, and let his irritation come out in his voice. "What the hell is going on?"
"Aeris just told you, blondie--"
"Zack, can it," Cloud asked quietly. "Explain."
Zack loved risks, but he wasn't suicidal; he didn't reply 'because Aeris brought him back.' He just sighed, smile fading. "A lot happened in the Lifestream."
Cloud switched his sword to his other hand and slowly propped it up against his free shoulder, waiting for more. Sephiroth's face was tense, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. Zack looked up at him, as if to ask for permission, or perhaps apologize. The white-haired man stared at his lieutenant for a few seconds, and -- Cloud was a little far to see well, but he seemed to catch a reluctant 'fine, if you must' in his expression. Obviously that was how Zack took it.
"Aeris went around, trying to gather stuff and ghosts, kickstart healing -- places, peoples -- it was easier when people still present in the Lifestream gave a hand, you know? But there aren't a lot who are strong enough to keep themselves together for long."
Aeris started rubbing his arm gently once again. Her eyes were unfocused, as if contemplating an inner landscape that wasn't particularly pretty. "He wasn't... whole, not really. Not with Jenova taking so much away, and doing her best at shredding the rest. But he was reweaving himself together anyway. I was... curious."
Only Aeris, Cloud thought. Only her would be so curious about the man who killed her.
Cloud looked up again, at the white-haired man standing there. Now he looked sour, openly displeased. Aeris smiled and shook her head, as if amused at her own lack of surprise.
"Long story short, she got talking to him, she got me to follow, we had many a violence-free, heart-warming little chat, and then Aeris realized that hey, there was a tricky way she might be able to go back and probably take one or two people with her, and we decided we could nag him longer if we brought him along." He grinned, wincingly, his silliness only surface-deep. "And that's the Abridged Story of How Sephiroth Followed Us Home. Mom, can we keep him?"
Sephiroth gave Zack a glare like he dearly wished to kick him off the rafters. If only; then Cloud could stomp him once he landed.
Chapter 2.2
Chapter Archive.
The Masamune should have materialized and blocked Cloud's heavy downward swing; but instead Sephiroth fell into a crouch and twisted away in a swirl of silvery hair. Cloud's broadsword hacked through three floor planks and half a support beam before he could stop the momentum. Stuck; fuck. He jumped up, shifting his weight onto the hilt of his sword, as Sephiroth's long leg scythed where his knees should have been -- kicked off the wall and let his weight pull the sword free.
Stand-off. Cloud had landed in the middle of the floor. Sephiroth was moving slowly, standing, but spine and shoulders loose, hands lifted at waist-high, ready to snap up into a barehanded fighting stance. It gave Cloud pause, for a second. All SOLDIERs knew hand-to-hand fighting techniques, but Sephiroth had always specialized in swords.
Perhaps he just found the ceiling too low to swing the Masamune around properly. That gave Cloud the advantage in reach. Strategize too long, though, and he would lose the advantage. He threw himself forward, sword scything the air.
Sephiroth was fast, though, and the floor was wide enough to let him move. He kept out of Cloud's range -- they ran, sidestepped and chased from one wall to the next and then back in a flurry of quick steps and quicker lunges and dodges.
Still no counterattack, no sword, no fire spell. He didn't like it. It was abnormal. He knew better than to stop pressing his advantage -- if it was actually an advantage. He had a feeling Sephiroth was directing him somewhere...
Directing himself. A glancing blow at Cloud's swinging blade redirected it into the base of a wobbly pile of debris; Cloud jerked back to avoid falling glass, one second, no more, and then Sephiroth was leaping into the void to the left and leaping up, from windowsill to flower hanger, toward the gaping hole in the ceiling.
Cloud gave chase.
"CLOUD!"
The feminine scream made him freeze in his tracks. He glanced back, sword up to block if Sephiroth decided to use his distraction -- when had she gotten to the rafters ?
Aeris was clinging perilously to a broken railing, her bare toes at the very edge of the last plank; the railing must have looked to be support enough to lean over, but it only held to the staircase by one rotten end. On tiptoes, she tried to shift her weight back; the railing splintered.
"Zack!" he shouted, still holding his defensive stance. Sephiroth had caught a ledge and pulled himself up to the hole in the roof. If he didn't stop him now, he would escape, lose himself in the middle of an oblivious city... "Zack!"
Zack was climbing the staircase six by six. He hit the second floor at a dead run -- and another rotten plank snapped under his weight, making him stumble and lose his momentum. One floor overhead, Aeris gasped as the railing gave a thoroughly underwhelming wet crunch and broke away from the support beam.
Cloud launched himself at the falling girl, amidst falling tiles that his kick had shaken loose. There was no way to slow down and catch her gently; he heard her expel a shocked breath as their bodies collided. Letting her fall would be worse; he grabbed her around the waist, and twisted, so his feet would hit the opposite wall first. He kicked off again, ricocheting to the closest floor. The second he was on stable ground again, he let her go, eyes snapping up to the hole in the roof, expecting to find it log since empty.
Sephiroth was still standing up there, black silhouette against the night sky, watching.
And Aeris was clinging to his neck with one arm, the other weighing down his sword hand with her whole body. Like cats and little children, she seemed to have mastered the art of making herself a lot heavier than she should have been.
"Aeris, you okay?" Zack called down, leaning over the edge of the second floor.
"I'm fine!" she called back, without looking at the black-haired man. She was staring at Cloud, he could see her from the corner of his eye.
Sephiroth wasn't moving, and she was staring hard, so he glanced at her, tried to make her understand how serious this was. "Aeris, let go --"
She scowled, startling him into giving her another, longer glance.
"I didn't bring him back to life just so you could kill him again, you know."
"You --"
He hadn't even thought that far. Some days it seemed death had a revolving door for Sephiroth and his many clones. But they'd been together in the church... Did she really mean...?
Aeris gave his forearm a soothing caress, eyes full of compassion, and maybe, far behind, a hint of exasperated amusement. "Jenova didn't bring him back to life. I did. Jenova is long-gone; burned out of him, out of everyone who bore her taint. Cloud..."
"He's Sephiroth," Cloud replied, at a loss, because he wasn't sure what her explanation implied, but he was sure of what his reply meant. "Are you telling me he's -- safe to be around?"
"About as safe as you are when you wake up armed and without coffee!" Zack sang cheerily from overhead.
Cloud shook his head, exasperated. "Zack, I don't drink coffee -- what are you doing?"
The black-haired young man had climbed up to the rafters, casually straddled one, and was now in a deep, if one-sided, conversation with Sephiroth, who stood just overhead. He glanced down at Cloud and waved him away. "You make a sucky straight man, you know. Okay, Seph, what do you say about getting down from there and putting something on to keep your danglies from dangling? I'm sure the hair doesn't keep you that warm."
The man's eyes narrowed faintly, but he didn't move, not even to look at Zack.
"Seph, come on, he'll be twitchy as long as you stay overhead."
"And I will be 'twitchy'," the man bit out slowly and precisely, voice just as low and intense as it used to be, "as long as Strife is intent on skewering me."
Zack huffed in frustration. "Oh, for God's sake. Cloud, will you holster the sword?"
Cloud growled out a "No" that really meant "Are you fucking serious."
"Cloud, please, he's not dangerous, would we bring him with us if he was?"
Sephiroth's lips took on a slightly pinched air, as if he dearly wished to object. He didn't say anything, though, and that was a little more convincing than Cloud was willing to be convinced. He took in a deep breath, released it slowly, and let his irritation come out in his voice. "What the hell is going on?"
"Aeris just told you, blondie--"
"Zack, can it," Cloud asked quietly. "Explain."
Zack loved risks, but he wasn't suicidal; he didn't reply 'because Aeris brought him back.' He just sighed, smile fading. "A lot happened in the Lifestream."
Cloud switched his sword to his other hand and slowly propped it up against his free shoulder, waiting for more. Sephiroth's face was tense, jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. Zack looked up at him, as if to ask for permission, or perhaps apologize. The white-haired man stared at his lieutenant for a few seconds, and -- Cloud was a little far to see well, but he seemed to catch a reluctant 'fine, if you must' in his expression. Obviously that was how Zack took it.
"Aeris went around, trying to gather stuff and ghosts, kickstart healing -- places, peoples -- it was easier when people still present in the Lifestream gave a hand, you know? But there aren't a lot who are strong enough to keep themselves together for long."
Aeris started rubbing his arm gently once again. Her eyes were unfocused, as if contemplating an inner landscape that wasn't particularly pretty. "He wasn't... whole, not really. Not with Jenova taking so much away, and doing her best at shredding the rest. But he was reweaving himself together anyway. I was... curious."
Only Aeris, Cloud thought. Only her would be so curious about the man who killed her.
Cloud looked up again, at the white-haired man standing there. Now he looked sour, openly displeased. Aeris smiled and shook her head, as if amused at her own lack of surprise.
"Long story short, she got talking to him, she got me to follow, we had many a violence-free, heart-warming little chat, and then Aeris realized that hey, there was a tricky way she might be able to go back and probably take one or two people with her, and we decided we could nag him longer if we brought him along." He grinned, wincingly, his silliness only surface-deep. "And that's the Abridged Story of How Sephiroth Followed Us Home. Mom, can we keep him?"
Sephiroth gave Zack a glare like he dearly wished to kick him off the rafters. If only; then Cloud could stomp him once he landed.
Chapter 2.2
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I've been waiting for more of this! I think your Cloud-voice is pretty okay so far, since this is after Advent Children, so Cloud shouldn't be completely emo anymore.
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I love you!!! ^_^
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I only found two typos-
...eyes snapping up to the hole in the roof, expecting to find it log since empty.
Did you mean 'long'?
And then, 'Only her would be so curious about the man who killed her.'
I'm fairly sure 'her' should be 'she'; it sounds a bit better to my ears at least.
And don't worry, Cloud's voice sounds great. :3
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And as everyone has said above, your Cloud is perfect.
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♥
I adore Seph was all 'I am not harmless!' without saying anything. If I were him I'd want to protest too.
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*happy bounces* Wheee!
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Hahaha, naked Sephiroth dangly bits xDD
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(i might have described the action itself badly, though. I kinda suck at it. ~_____~;;;)
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naked. ^___~And how Sephiroth manages to be aloof and bristly when both stark naked and trapped in what's got to be an excruciating dilemma ('Take me seriously goddammit, I'm still dangerous as hell!' vs '...but not TOO seriously because I don't want to be dead again THIS soon') -- priceless case of approach-avoidance conflict with the dial turned up to 11. You've gotta feel for the poor guy. ^____^
I thought I had a three day weekend, I thought I'd get some writing time, but my next door neighbor (living with 3 people in a 2400 square foot house) doesn't want to house his sister and her husband and their baby over the weekend, so I have to do it instead, so now there's going to be 5 people and a cat in my 800 square foot house and needless to say nowhere I can go for privacy. ;___; Dagnabbit...
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Bwee. At least what he's thinking is coming across somewhat! XD;; He's completely torn between MY DIGNITY!! *REFUSES TO KNEEL AND BEG FOR LIFE* >(((( and "well if I don't placate him, he'll kill me and i have no masamune and no materia. oops."
... D: eeek!! Umm, what, how come you're housing your neighbor's family? are you all friends or something? that sounds pretty, um, yeah, what? WTF. How'd that happen? D:
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*POSTS MOAR* now gimme comment. >O
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Thanks! That was my favorite bit too, I'm gladyou like it X3
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Thanks for the help! *runs to edit*
♥
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Heh XD;;; Maybe not that good, but thank you for saying it ^^
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(oh god I want your icon's babiiiies X333)
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... *_* mmmh. ♥
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Poor Seph. He has to contend with Zack^^ and Aeris^^
So many nekkid FF bishies.