Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Seduction ❯ Chapter Seventeen ( Chapter 17 )

Path of Seduction

Chapter Seventeen

The Shinra mansion was a cold dark place. What little natural light entered it had always been sickly. The tall mountains that rose up around the building cast their forbidding shadows on it. Long years of disuse had let those shadows grow down into the very foundation. The cold damp walls had borne witness to all the hate and pain within them. The air still bore the faint scent of death.

A lone figure stood at the top of the stairs, bathed in pool of insipid light. There were horrors here he had seen before, things he had learned and done. He reached up with one gloved hand to touch the window.

A flash of fire in his mind made him draw back. The screams echoed still if he listened too hard. He straightened and ground his feet into the floor, using the starkness of physical reality to anchor himself in the present. The past had no place here. It was gone. There were new problems now.

"So," a sibilant whisper threaded itself through the swordsman's thoughts. "You left." The man made no reply. The being in his mind slithered past his recent memories, pushing the ones he no longer wished to see closer to the surface. Sephiroth closed his eyes against the sickly glare from the window and shook his head as if he could actually rid himself from the intrusion that way.

"Why the rush?" Mother continued. "Just a few days ago I could barely convince you to leave the girl's side. What's changed so much that you would actually swim upstream to get away?"

Sephiroth shivered and watched the specks of dust float idly by in a stream of light. Mother said nothing else, though she pressed harder against his delicate barrier of self. It was uncomfortable, acutely so, and if that barrier should ever give way, there would be nothing he could hide from her.

"I could not stay, Mother." The words spilled out and Sephiroth waited. He could not think clearly, had not been able to since waking, in fact, and with Mother so close against the tangle in his mind, there was no hope of unraveling it in peace.

"Why not?" Mother's voice, slimy and poisonous, slid along the many lines of snarled memory and feeling. "Did she not seem as pretty as before once you'd had her? Was she no longer pure enough for you?"

Sephiroth tightened every cord of his body to keep himself from shaking. The fleeting image of Aeris' restful expression haunted him still. Her hair had spilled around her like a dark waterfall. She had seemed so calm and even happy in her sleep. And he had left her without a word, or even a kiss goodbye. There had been no other choice that he could see.

It was interesting how Mother's words bore a seed of truth even though they were far off the mark. On awakening in the blackness before dawn, Sephiroth had become instantly aware that something in Aeris had changed. He had looked at her form and the smile she bore in her sleep and knew that all was not as it had been before. He felt it inside, but he could not tell what it was. The difference in her had unmistakably wrought a change in him and there had been no sane choice but to go away as far and as fast as possible.

"Nothing left for the conqueror now, I suppose," Mother intruded.

"Will you just-" Sephiroth choked on his rage to avoid provoking Mother. He forced the tension away from him. "I could not stay with her, Mother. That is all."

"That is NOT all," Mother snapped. "What I want to know is WHY you left. After all this time, courting and cajoling, all the flowers and the stories and long walks, after all this effort, why did you leave?" Her tone softened and she slithered around the weakened walls of Sephiroth's self to a more comfortable niche. "I know you could not have desired her power so greatly as you claimed. You can never fool your mother. What I can't believe is that this was all you desired. One night, child? Just one night and you are satisfied? It seems such a waste of effort to me."

Sephiroth's throat grew tight and he drew his brow down as if in pain. "No," he whispered. "That was not all I wanted." He quivered inside at the brief remembrance of a night under the trees, when he had promised Aeris forever. At the time he had been so sure that he could give her eternity if she wanted it. He did not trust himself to provide it now.

"Why did you leave, then, knowing that you have endangered all your plans for the girl? How will she ever follow you with willing adoration now?"

"It doesn't matter." Sephiroth turned from the window and walked to the stairs.

"It doesn't matter?" Mother howled. The swordsman gripped the railing and swayed under the onslaught. "After all this time and effort you say it doesn't matter? Why the sudden turnaround, Sephiroth? What has she done to you? WHY DID YOU LEAVE?"

Sephiroth stumbled down the short stairway to catch his breath on the landing. His chest ached more than his head for once, tight and hollow with what was certain to be an irredeemable loss. It had been so long since he had let anything come close enough to affect him this way, so long…

He saw Aeris again, calm and smiling in her sleep. She stretched and turned a bit, but did not wake. The sheet slid away from her body to reveal bruised flesh, blood red bites against pale skin. It was only a memory, transient, gone as swiftly as it had come, but Sephiroth still felt the surge that had sent him fleeing.

"Why did you leave? Why did you leave?" Mother's voice became a constant noise, demanding an answer before it would go. "Why did you leave?"

Sephiroth swallowed. "I left…because I wanted to stay." His voice hung heavy in the dead air of the grand hall. Then Mother erupted.

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!"

Sephiroth smiled wryly and leaned against the railing. Too much weight and it would give way and he would go falling to the ground below. Too bad a fall like that could hardly hurt him. A broken neck seemed like just the thing to cure his misery.

"That doesn't matter. Just let me be alone, Mother," he pleaded. "Everything is ruined now."

Mother rushed forward triumphantly. Her presence was like a bitter wind chilling every part of him that was still entirely his own. "Quite likely. The girl will want little to do with you after the way you stole her maidenhood and ran."

Sephiroth bowed his head and closed his eyes against that truth. Aeris must be so angry with him now, and so hurt at the way he had left, even if it had been for her own good. How could he ever get her to understand?

Always, when near her, he had somehow felt the weight of her presence, her slenderness, her sadness. Always, inexplicably, there had been the urge to calm her and offer her warmth and protection, no matter what his own plans had been before. Then came this wonderful, dreadful waking morning when that urge was gone.

It was not as Mother said, that Aeris seemed less desirable now that he had claimed her body. That was hardly the case. She was as tempting now as she always had been, but something was different. The swordsman had stared at her long and hard while she slept to convince himself of certain things.

Aeris was lovely, quite beautiful, yes, but there were perhaps others more glamorous, taller women with more pronounced curves and more skilful hips. For the first time since seeing the flower girl in the laboratory, Sephiroth had been able to allow himself that admission.

And it changed nothing. Aeris was still the only one he wanted, not for sheer beauty, but for the life that he now knew lay waiting behind closed eyes. The sharp, eager mind and the zest for living, her appreciation for everything she saw, those could not be so easily found elsewhere as a pair of pretty legs.

Sephiroth began to walk with his eyes shut. He kept a death grip on the railing to guide himself along, but he stopped at the first step and looked down. He would likely never see Aeris again, not the way he had before. She would hate him now and she probably thought he fully deserved it. He did, but only a bit, he told himself. He had done it for her, though she would never know now. He had done this last act for her safety, before the need to protect her left him entirely.

It was strange how such a thing could leave so quickly. Perhaps it was strange that such protectiveness had been in him in the first place. Thinking back, Sephiroth could barely understand his motivation. He had wanted her willing beneath him. That much was simple enough to understand. He had pursued. All along he had told himself that he needed to act as if he cared. At what point had that become real?

That was dangerous, for both of them. It really was for the best that he had left, before his truer nature, suppressed in a manner he had not suspected and could not understand, unleashed itself upon the unsuspecting woman. Aeris deserved better than that. His mind threw the image of her bruised flesh at him again and he shivered. He could not deny now how the urge to add to his night's work had nearly overpowered him.

"So you wanted to stay, did you?" Mother's sudden question threw him off balance and he slid down the first step. He had to grab the rail tighter to steady himself again. "Why didn't you? From what I gather here," she brushed closer to Sephiroth's memories of the previous night than he liked, "I don't think the girl would have objected."

Sephiroth worked his way down the curving staircase, slowly, one step at a time, never letting go of the cold rail. It was cruel how mother pried into his affairs. Sometimes it felt like so little was left to him alone, but he could survive the loss of autonomy. He had lived long enough without the love of any parent.

There was a lump in his throat, it seemed. His chest grew so tight he could barely breathe. What did Aeris call what the two of them had shared? He had to stop then. There was too much inside him: Mother, memory, himself and now this deep unfamiliar ache that settled uncomfortably in his chest.

"I couldn't stay," he breathed out, shaking. "I couldn't stay. I couldn't."

"Pull yourself together, Sephiroth," Mother sneered. "This is beneath you."

Sephiroth bit his tongue to stop himself from babbling. He shook his head and continued down the stairs, breathing heavily. He was almost calm by the time he neared the bottom. He stopped and looked across the hallway. The light was dimming fast. Sephiroth slumped down to sit on the stair. He leaned his head against the rail. It would probably leave a mark on him, a fast fading red print. He thumped his head harder. The action was oddly soothing so he did it again.

"Stop doing that, Sephiroth!"

"Yes, Mother," he replied automatically.

"Don't `Yes, Mother" me, Sephiroth," Mother snapped again. "I still need answers from you."

Sephiroth leaned forward with his arms on his knees, head bowed. "Answers about what, Mother?" He felt her gather herself in a corner of his mind. She drew herself up till he could feel her towering over him.

"Since you can't give me a sensible reason for your flight, why couldn't you stay?"

"I wanted her." Sephiroth sighed. "I still want her."

"I know that," Mother's voice was a bit exasperated. "What I want to know is what made you leave? Stop going around in circles. Give me a straight answer!"

It only took a moment for the swordsman to find his voice, but it was hoarse and very low. "I couldn't have her, not the way I want her." He shut his eyes again and tilted his head up to the ceiling. "I don't want to hurt her."

There was silence for a moment, within and without. Then Mother exploded into shrieking laughter.

"So that's it?" She seemed to be halfway in hysterics. Sephiroth was shocked quiet. "Well I know how you take your pleasure and though I don't care for your choice of partner, I wouldn't dream of telling a grown man how to carry out his affairs, but it's your own fault you're in this position now. I wondered how long you would be able to keep up the act."

"It didn't seem so hard before." Sephiroth folded in on himself. It was no use trying to make himself as small as possible on the stairs. He was too tall and large to make any kind of neat, huddled ball, but it did not stop him from trying. Mother was right. It really was his fault. The plan had backfired. He had won the girl with sweet words and kindness. That was what she expected from him. How could he ever be himself around her now? That would mean losing everything they had shared.

Poor Aeris. She was so weak and tender. She bruised so easily. Sephiroth fought the flicker of desire that thought aroused in him. Aeris was far too delicate to bear the brunt of his passion. He would not hurt the girl now, not after gaining her deepest trust. He sighed, thoroughly confused by that urge. He had barely given a damn about any lover before. Why start now?

"What are you going to do now?" Mother asked.

Sephiroth weighed his options. "I will continue with the Reunion as planned, Mother. The puppet must be made to play his part. The others clones are so dependant that they're useless for the task."

Mother made a derisive sound. "I meant what are you going to do about the girl?"

Sephiroth sighed and bowed his head to study the way his hair trailed down the steps and past his boots. "I will leave her alone. For good." It was the safest route. For both of them.

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A blond swordsman stood near a window on the top floor of a little inn and stared out at the darkening skies. He kept his arms folded tightly across his chest and made no movement beyond breathing. His stare turned from the sky to the wood of the window frame. He studied the wavy lines of the grain and the way the sill was not set quite flat in the wall. The sealant that held the glass in the window was uneven and the paint was thin.

"This is all wrong," Cloud whispered.

"I know." Tifa came up the stairs and stood beside him. She trailed one hand slowly across the poorly-constructed window frame. "There used to be a knot here. It's not here anymore."

Cloud studied her face. Her eyes were blank and unseeing. Perhaps the shock had been too much for her. It had been very bad for him. "Tifa," he began. She looked up. "I didn't lie. We didn't. It really happened, didn't it?"

Tifa crossed her arms, hugging herself. "It happened. I know it did." She whimpered a bit and looked out of the window. "I didn't…lie." She could not face Cloud as she said that. She knew what had happened at Nibelheim. Her father had died.

Nibelheim was such a small, isolated town. No one Tifa had met since its burning had known the truth. For a long time she had thought herself the sole survivor and the only non-Shinra person to know the true story. But then she had come upon Cloud sitting out in the rain in a Midgar train station and somehow, he had known.

It did not make sense. How could he know so much when he had not been there? How was it that he always knew exactly where Sephiroth was going? Tifa shivered.

"Are you cold, Tifa?" Cloud did not even look at her as he asked. The woman shook her head.

"No. No, it's just that this place gives me the creeps."

Cloud relaxed at that. "Oh good. Well, no, not good really, but I mean I'm glad it's not just me. I mean, not glad, but well…"

"Relieved?" Tifa smiled at him. Cloud scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, I guess so." He glanced around the corridor. "This place isn't right, Tifa. It's all wrong somehow. It's like everyone we knew never existed."

"I know." Tifa's voice cracked and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She scrubbed it away before Cloud could see. Coming back had been harder than she let on at first. This façade that Shinra had set up was a mockery of all that had been lost. Her friends, her neighbors, her father. And Cloud…truthfully his mother was the only person he'd had in their hometown, but he had lost all his family too. He had never spoken of his mother beyond the story of Nibelheim's burning.

"Those cloaked men wandering around don't make things any better," Cloud said grimly. "I want to know what this Reunion business is all about."

Tifa grimaced at the thought of the hooded men. "All those numbers…Where do you suppose they came from? And what do you suppose they are anyway?"

"I don't think I really want to know."

The light tread of someone coming up the stairs interrupted the conversation. Both jumpy from a day of shocking findings, Cloud and Tifa turned to face the newcomer. Aeris nodded curtly at them as she turned the corner.

"Are we going to catch up to Sephiroth tomorrow, Cloud?" The flower girl's spine was rigid and her tone was all business.

Cloud nodded once in response. "We will. Be sure of that. I know he's in the mansion."

Aeris absorbed that. "Far side of town, right?"

"Yes. I don't know what he's up to, but we've got to find out." Cloud looked from one woman to the next. "Better get some rest. It's been a long day for all of us and tomorrow's not likely to be easy."

Aeris smiled slyly at his tone. "Alright. Good night." She nodded a brief greeting to both of them and went into the room for the night.

Tifa yawned a bit. "She's got the right idea." The sky was not yet pitch black, but it had been a tiring day. "I'm turning in too."

Cloud nodded and followed. The women were right. Sephiroth had not moved. Cloud was sure he would have felt it. The mansion was dangerous. It was no place to take an exhausted team. As much as the day's discoveries fired Cloud's blood for answers, it would have to wait till tomorrow.

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Tomorrow was not soon enough for Aeris. She had gone to bed as she had said she would, but she had not slept. The hours that passed were an exercise in patience. She had forced herself to lie still beneath the covers till the lights were out and all the others had stopped tossing. A chorus of even breathing now rang through the room.

Aeris slipped from bed and dressed quickly in the dark. She slid one hand down the front of her dress to be sure the buttons were aligned correctly and pulled her boots out from under the bed. She tiptoed past the row of sleepers, stepping quietly between the bedless ones stretched out on the floor. The door creaked a bit when she opened it. She slowed the swing and barred the light from the hallway with her own body. She slid sideways through the narrowest gap possible and shut the door tight behind her.

She sat on the step to yank her boots on. She had a hard time getting them over her heels. "Come on, you stupid, ugly things!" She gritted her teeth and forced them past. When she stood, her heart was pounding. She marched down the stairs, beyond caring if the sound carried into the room where her friends lay. She was on a mission. She had a destination and a target and when she found that man, she was going to rip his manhood off and make him eat it.

There was no one at the desk to question her or even note her going as she left the inn. Aeris stood on the doorstep and surveyed the town. The air was damp. The sky was brightly clouded. The moon was high above, just a sliver past fullness. Aeris took a deep lungful of cold air and started out on the path.

The streets were empty but even if they had not been, Aeris would not have given a damn. She was too busy planning exactly how she would beat the stuffing out of that arrogant bastard. She formed her spiteful speeches as she walked, all the while remembering the certain sly look he had sometimes worn in their early meetings. He would not be smiling when she got through with him. She would teach him to play with a girl's heart.

The air around her grew stiflingly hot and she stopped at the foot of the stairway to the higher grounds of Nibelheim. Her blood was boiling over and she knew she looked as ruffled as she felt. That would not do. She would not give the bastard the satisfaction of seeing how badly he had shaken her. She brushed her loose hair back with her fingers, then rolled her neck and shoulders back in a few stretching exercises she had learned from Tifa. The worst of the visible rage was gone.

The mansion gate was visible at the top of the stairs. It was not a long walk. Aeris stormed forward, never letting her eyes leave the dark wrought iron. Gravel crunched under her feet as she approached the gate. She was ready and more than willing to shake the thing apart to get in. The way it swung open with a mournful creak was a bit disappointing. No matter. More energy to smash Sephiroth's proud face in. For a while, she wondered if she should have brought her staff but then decided that it would be more satisfying to pummel the man with her own two hands.

"Child, think about what you are doing?" The voices she had shut out for so long made one final, desperate plea. "It's not too late to turn back! Don't lose more of yourself to that one!"

"This is not your concern," Aeris grated out as she walked up the path.

The lone voice that had often comforted and defended her rang in the back of her mind. "Daughter, please, reconsider. It is difficult, I know, but-"

"Shut up!" Aeris slammed the door of her mind, closing her link to her ancestors and the Planet that pleaded along with them. She had chosen this course and would not be swayed. She stepped into the mansion's shadow. The heavy oak door would not move and at first, she worried that it might be locked. Aeris put her weight into it and the door grudgingly swung open. Without a thought for her well-being, she stepped inside.

At any other time, such a dark, dreary place would have stifled her spirit, but she was past caring about anything like that now. She glanced around the large room and spotted the trails of bright silver on the staircase before her eyes had fully adjusted to the dark. She took one step towards the seated figure. His wide eyes threw a startled glow upon the room. There on the dark step, he seemed impossibly pale. He did not move. Aeris advanced with her hands clenched at her sides and hate glittering in her eyes.

"YOU!"