Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Where the lost ones go ❯ Lost my way, on this blood stained day ( Chapter 24 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

24. Lost my way, on this blood stained day.

The first thought that met Aeris when she woke up that morning was that Sephiroth would be leaving for Junon. The thought stayed with her throughout the entire day, despite his every effort to cheer her up. Sephiroth would still have to leave, and she was still going to have to face Cloud. The flower girl hugged Sephiroth tight as they stood by the waiting helicopter, ready to take him away from her.
"You just behave, and I'll be back soon, ok?" Sephiroth murmured, stroking her back as she had locked her arms around him and didn't look like she was letting go anytime soon.
Nodding, Aeris closed her eyes hard as she memorized the sound of his heartbeats, the addictive scent of him and the heat he always radiated. "You just make sure that you take care of yourself too!"
It still felt a little strange to have someone actually care that he returned to them, alive and unharmed, and not because of the cost and inconvenience that would arise by his death. Sephiroth placed two fingers under Aeris' chin and lifted her face to his. "I'll come back to you. I promise. I wont let anything happen to you, remember? Nothing can keep me away!" His only somewhat comfort was that a few meters away, Rufus was having an equally pained goodbye with Tifa.
Aeris leaned up to steal a final kiss, her fingers digging into the fabric of his coat. "I'll keep you to those words, Sephiroth!" And she bravely tried to withhold her tears when he pulled away and entered the helicopter with Rufus. Aeris hardly noticed Tifa coming to stand by her side as the helicopter took off and flew away, leaving both women with a sore emptiness in their hearts.
The uneasiness grew even worse on the next day, as Aeris sat waiting for Tifa to join her in the helicopter that was going to bring them to Kalm. And there she was going to face Cloud. The flower girl fidgeted nervously with the tip of her braid, trying to figure out what to say. There really wasn't much she 'could' say, but Aeris couldn't stand the thought of Cloud being in pain or him hating her. He had every right to hate her, but she desperately hoped he didn't.
"Sorry I'm late!" Tifa exclaimed as she jumped inside the aircraft and shut the door after her. Fastening her belt, the dark haired woman was obviously trying hard to hide her flustered excitement.
Blinking curiously, Aeris tilted her head. "Did something happen?"
Tifa bit her lower lip, gazing at her while trying to fight off a smile. "Rufus doesn't know... Actually, I didn't either until a little while ago when I went for a check up before going to Kalm..." Giggling nervously, she leaned slightly forward. "Aeris, I'm actually having twins!"
"Tifa, that's... wow!" Aeris giggled nervously as well. "You and me are just about populating Midgar ourselves! Congratulations!"
The two launched into another future-based guessing game, keeping themselves occupied for the ride to the town called Kalm. Tifa was eager to see Cloud and Jessie again, but Aeris knew the dark haired woman also could feel the flower girl's fear. And the closer they came to Kalm, the harder Aeris' heart would thump.
Finally touching ground again, Tifa was the first one to exit the helicopter and darted over to the eagerly awaiting Jessie. Aeris hesitated briefly before taking a deep breath and climbed out of the aircraft as well, her nervousness turning to dread as she found that Cloud was nowhere to be seen. Walking over to Tifa and Jessie, Aeris forced herself to interrupt the cheerful reunion. "I'm sorry, but... Cloud isn't here?"
Jessie sighed with sympathy, gazing at Aeris with gentle concern. "No, he... Cloud said he had something he had to tend to..." She shook her head, "I don't know what's wrong with him... He's been moody and depressed all week!"
Nodding, Aeris managed a faint smile. "I think I know what's wrong with him..." Excusing herself, she wandered away from the crowd and sought out the most desolate corner of Kalm. Her smile turned tender as she leaned against the wall, watching as Cloud was training his sword skills on some unfortunate bag of sand. She always knew where to find him. But this time he would probably not be happy to see her. Finally straightening, Aeris stepped out of the shadows and into sight. "Hello, Cloud."
Freezing, Cloud didn't move for several seconds, then he slowly lowered the sword. "Aeris..."
Aeris felt her heart ache at the sight of his dismissive back, wishing desperately that he would turn to at least face her. "I came to talk..."
"Not much to talk about," Cloud said in a distant voice, staring at the tip of his sword resting against the ground. Finally he sighed and slowly turned to face her, hoisting his sword to rest over his shoulder. "Your happiness is the most important to me, Aeris. You should know that by now."

"That's it!" Yuffie screamed, kicking at an unfortunate pebble and sent it flying. "I've had it with this stinking desert!" She waved her arms in an attempt to rid herself of some Sandworm guts, choosing to ignore that Hawk had warned her about getting too close. "I've absolutely had it with the stinking monsters!" The young ninja shook her hair furiously, trying not to gag at the smell. "I've TOTALLY had it with the stinking sun!" Huffing for air, Yuffie held out her weapon with a threatening look towards Hawk. "And I've completely had it with your smug look!"
Clearing his throat, Hawk wisely decided to keep his observation that Yuffie was rather cute when angry to himself. "Lady Yuffie, the tracks has vanished and so there really isn't any reason for us to linger here anyway. Why don't we just set course for Midgar again?"
"I guess..." Yuffie muttered, staring at her goo-soaked shoes. "Man, this sucks!"
Hawk tried to keep the smile off his face, holding out a bottle of water towards her. He'd also learned to keep his mouth shut when Yuffie had that look. A look that told of how she longed to vent her frustration on something. Anything. And he preferred it wouldn't be him.
Grabbing the bottle, Yuffie took a few swallows of water before handing it back. "What I don't get is why everything in me said that the answer would lie here in this godforsaken desert!" She daintily lifted up a piece of Sandworm from her shoulder and tossed it away with a shudder. "We've wasted an entire week just wandering around in this frigging place! All I got out of it were sleazy suggestions from those damn prisoners in Dio's desert prison!"
Anger was once again building up, and Yuffie found herself unable to resist.
She went into a hissyfit.
Hawk waited patiently as the young ninja was jumping up and down, cursing and screaming, when suddenly something caught his attention. "Lady Yuffie!"
Halting, Yuffie was about to tell him to shut his gap and not interfere, when she realised the ground was actually shaking. She didn't weigh that much, did she? No, in fact, Cid always used to scream for her to 'get yer scrawny carcass onboard' whenever they were entering the Highwind airship! So, Yuffie concluded, it didn't make sense that her weight would cause such tremors and she would be most offended if anybody would ever dare to suggest such a thing! Actually, she was quite determined to introduce her weapon to whoever would dare to make such a claim!
Yuffie barely had time to gasp as Hawk's arm locked around her waist, and she was yanked behind the corpse of the Sandworm. Drawing a sharp breath to start yelling, Yuffie only managed to make a few muffled cries of fury as his hand clamped over her mouth. Just as she raised her arm to get violent with her elbow connecting against his stomach, the young ninja noticed Hawk's grey eyes were locked on something happening in front of them. Turning her gaze, Yuffie froze and stared as well.
The rumbling continued as a huge gap was opening in the middle of the desert, an enormous hatch raising to reveal an underground passage.
The two watched in silence as troops began pouring out of the passage, small vehicles and several semi-drugged monsters in leashes followed. Gathering a short distance from the opening that had appeared, the growing army appeared to wait for something. Yuffie dared to glance a questioning look Hawk's way, but he merely shook his head faintly. He had no idea what they were waiting for either. But both Wutaians easily recognized the uniforms belonging to Jinrei's army.
Fifteen minutes long waiting ended in new tremors in the ground, and Yuffie's surprise didn't lessen when another gap started to open. They had underground passages! No wonder they hadn't been spotted when traveling, or why their tracks ended so abruptly! Jinrei had been missing for 20 years, a lot of time to prepare. How many such passages were there? Where did they lead? Where was this army going? What was their aim?
The new passage was leading directly towards the sea... Towards Junon...
Yuffie glanced over at Hawk, tilting her head slightly in an unspoken question and challenge.
Hawk hesitated. Gazing at the army as it started to move into the new passage, he swallowed hard before glancing back at Yuffie and nodded.
When the final soldier had entered, the hatch began to close and two figures darted forward from their hiding place behind a Sandworm corpse and ran towards it. It closed with a deafening sound behind the two Wutai ninja and Yuffie forced down the suffocating sense of panic at the badly lit tunnel stretching out in front of them.
This time, both hesitated before Yuffie nervously took the lead in following the army into darkness.

Rufus was restless. In fact, he'd been restless ever since he'd gotten on the helicopter and left Midgar. It was starting to annoy Sephiroth. Like he didn't miss Aeris? Like he didn't want to go back to Midgar too? Leaning back in his chair, the silver haired man glanced over at the brat prince staring out the window. It didn't look like Rufus was going to calm down any time soon. Sighing, Sephiroth then finally found something that caught his attention. The last time he had been in the president's office in Junon, there had been a huge portrait of the old President himself. Now it was replaced with a landscape painting. "What happened to the picture?"
Snapping out of his gloomy thoughts, Rufus blinked as he tried to process the question before glancing over with a puzzled look. "What picture?"
Sephiroth nodded towards the landscape painting. "The picture of old ShinRa."
Rufus' blue eyes narrowed slightly, then he motioned for Sephiroth to follow him into the next room. "I moved him to the wall of fame. Or should I say 'shame'?"
Relieved to do anything but to sit around and wait, Sephiroth strode after the fiery haired man. "You actually have one of those?"
"The ShinRa's excel in most things, but we're champions at praising ourselves," Rufus said with a harsh laugh. He pushed open the twin doors and entered the long hall, with pictures of the former ShinRas and their wives covering the walls. "You remember I told you we had something in common, right?"
Trying his best to hide his surprise, Sephiroth gave a faint nod while slowly walking down the hall to gaze from face to face. "Yeah, but you never specified what you meant..."
Rufus made no sign to move an inch from his place in the doorway, crossing his arms tensely. "But you can tell now, can't you?"
Halting mid-way down the hall, Sephiroth made a slow turn as he frowned confused. Something about these faces staring sternly back at him gave the usually so indifferent General chills running down his spine. "They're all..." Fair haired and blue eyed, they all looked more like siblings than generations following generations. Small differences in facial structures and selective choices in facial hair, still the similarity was frightening. Sephiroth gazed quickly back at Rufus. "But several of these paintings must be over a hundred years old... They couldn't have known about genetic engineering back then!"
Giving a cold smile, Rufus crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. "Genetic engineering was the second step. The ShinRa's has always been following the basic step; selective breeding." He nodded towards the smaller portraits underneath the huge ShinRa pictures. "The wives were chosen based on their appearances. Blonde hair and blue eyes. Their only purpose was to produce a male heir." Finally straightening, Rufus wandered over to gaze up at his father's portrait. "My father was a firm believer of the old ways. However, my blonde and blue eyed mother conveniently forgot to mention to her husband-to-be that red hair ran in her family, so I'm a little flawed."
Sephiroth slowly walked over to stand beside Rufus and gaze up at old ShinRa as well. "No wonder he and Hojo always got along so nicely... They were both insane..."
"Two years ago, my father found a fiance for me," Rufus said absently, then glanced over at Sephiroth with a slight smirk. "Ten gil if you can guess what she looked like."
The silver haired man shrugged. "Blonde and blue eyed?"
"Exactly," Rufus muttered, returning to stare at his father. "She died before the engagement was even official." He hadn't really mourned the passing of a girl he'd never met, but there had been a slight twinge of guilt when he saw the glimmer in Scarlet's eyes. Seeing his reluctance to marry someone he didn't even know, Scarlet had dealt with it. Dealt with the unfortunate girl, more precisely. Rufus had never asked and Scarlet hadn't told, but he hoped the girl didn't suffer at least.
"Your father is probably turning in his grave at the thought of you marrying Tifa, and her being pregnant," Sephiroth mused thoughtfully, seeing the dark haired and wine coloured eyed Tifa as anything but the common ShinRa wife.
Shrugging, Rufus flicked back a lock of fiery hair. "Probably, but to tell the truth, my father's opinion never mattered to me at all. I never had any attachment to that man, only in name. I didn't even know him well enough to hate him."
Shifting uneasily, Sephiroth gesticulated faintly. "So... you don't hate me for, you know, killing him?"
Rufus blinked, then broke out laughing. A few moments later, he managed to force his laughter into chuckles, and Rufus petted Sephiroth's shoulder while guiding him out of the hall again. "No, Sephiroth, I don't hate you for that. In fact, you did the world a favour by removing that man. Now, let's order junk food and pass time by playing some cards! You know any games?"
"Only one," Sephiroth declared silently, "Strip poker."
There was a short silence.
Then Rufus drew a sharp breath. "Okay, Sephiroth, how about I teach you how to play Gin Rummy?"

The ground hadn't stopped trembling after the first explosion, yet both Rufus and Sephiroth was already running down the hall. Their game long forgotten and cards were scattered due to their haste. Drowsing over their 132'nd game, waiting for a report on the progress in Fort Condor, both men had been caught off guard by the explosion, but instinct kicked in faster than logic. Someone was attacking Junon!
Gun fire and more explosions greeted them as Rufus and Sephiroth finally reached the exit, while a non-human wail revealed the identity of the attacker. Only Jinrei used monsters in his army. A lieutenant came running, gave Sephiroth a quick report, before running off again.
A small army had appeared out of nowhere and the sentries had been killed instantly by rocket launchers. Two mutant monsters were following the army, but had made no move to attack as of yet. Civilians were now being evacuated into Junon. Currently no signs of aircrafts.
Sephiroth trotted off to find his second in command, and start organizing the counter attack. Those fools wouldn't stand a chance! They were out-numbered and Junon's defensive walls were designed to keep out WEAPONS!
Just as Rufus was about to follow the silver haired man, his PHS started ringing and he absently pulled it out to answer when he saw the glowing button. Yuffie? He hadn't heard from her since she'd foolishly announced that she and Hawk were entering the desert. Rufus had no doubt that the young ninja was too stupid to die, but the desert was a ruthless place. "Yeah, Rufus here."
"We found them!" Yuffie's voice was high with excitement, but the connection was terribly bad.
Backing up to a wall, Rufus covered his left ear with his hand. "What?" The gun fire and explosions were making it hard to hear her. "Found what?"
"Jinrei's army, stupid!" Yuffie hissed angrily, "Listen, the reason why we haven't seen them moving around is 'cause they've dug out a frigging underground network! I'm telling you, there's these huge tunnels underground!"
Rufus straightened slightly, realising how that explained just about everything. "Good work! Do you know where the entrances are?"
"I know where two of them are... Me and Hawk followed this group of thugs into one of them," Yuffie said, her voice barely audible.
"You what?" Rufus yelled, "Yuffie, are you a complete idiot? You two can't go around challenging entire armies! Get out of there before they notice you!"
"I can take care of myself!" Yuffie snapped back. "Now, shut up and listen! We followed this army for a while, then they split up at a juncture and so Hawk and I split up too. I said, shut up, ShinRa! Don't shout at me!"
Forcing himself calm, Rufus closed his eyes briefly. "Junon is under attack. Probably one of the armies that you followed. Where is the other one going?"
"They're headed north-east, I think..." Yuffie said, the connection crackling slightly.
Feeling a jolt of nervousness, Rufus clutched the PHS tighter. "Midgar..." He gathered himself and cleared his throat. "Yuffie, you've done enough now. Just get out of there before they notice you, ok?"
"Will try, Moneybags!" Yuffie declared cheerfully, then the connection was broken.
Pressing the button to connect him to Sephiroth, Rufus was already trotting back to the office to alert his helicopter pilot that they were going to set course for Midgar with the speed of light. When Sephiroth replied, Rufus quickly explained him what Yuffie had told him and that he was returning to Midgar to prepare them for the attack, or in worst case; Help with the defenses against the ongoing attack. Instructing the silver haired General to finish up in Junon before joining him at Midgar, Rufus hung up and picked up his office phone to reach his pilot.
A few minutes later, Rufus was staring at a world map as the helicopter flew over the fighting armies outside of Junon. He felt like he was missing out on something, an important piece of information he was supposed to understand, but didn't. What was it about this that bothered him so much? Then his PHS rang again. Yuffie.
"Rufus! There's another juncture!" Yuffie sounded almost frightened. "I'm not even sure which one I should follow. But here's the scary bit; There are tracks after a whole bunch of people here! Way more than the ones I've been following! They must have been waiting here, or something! There's so many of them..."
Rufus almost stopped breathing. It was all a decoy. "Which way does the tunnels lead, and which one did the biggest army take?"
"A few headed north, while the big party continued north east." Yuffie said, the connection crackling again.
North. Midgar. North east. Kalm. Rufus suddenly felt sick, remembering too vividly Tifa's beautiful face as she told him about her and Aeris taking a trip to Kalm to visit Cloud and Jessie. "Go north, Yuffie. They're heading for Midgar. Midgar is going to need you help, but Jinrei is going after Kalm. I'm already on my way." Hanging up before she could reply, Rufus quickly pushed the button to connect him to Sephiroth. When he heard the connection being made, Rufus didn't even wait for Sephiroth to speak. "Sephiroth! It's all a decoy! Jinrei is using Junon and Midgar as decoys! He's really going after Kalm! He's planning to use that as a base before his final attack on Midgar!" The fiery haired man glanced out his window, seeing a lone soldier wearing a Jinrei uniform step up on a small hill.
Rufus placed a hand against the window as he saw the flash of light when the rocket launcher on the soldier's shoulder was fired. "Sephiroth, you have to tell Ti..."

Sephiroth started violently when the connection was broken, the line turning into a mess of static, and the silver haired man quickly made his way up to a viewpoint. The PHS fell to the ground from his numb hand, as Sephiroth was staring at the black smoke rising from the burning helicopter wreck in the distance. Enhanced eyesight enabled him to see the dark haired soldier lower his rocket launcher, his grey eyes locked curiously on Sephiroth as well.
A strange feeling was raging through Sephiroth, almost choking him. That soldier was going to die, if that was the last Sephiroth was ever going to do on this planet!
Taking one step towards the edge, aiming to jump down and introduce the Masamune to the soldier living on borrowed time, Sephiroth suddenly became aware of Rufus' words coming back to haunt him.
"Sephiroth! It's all a decoy! Jinrei is using Junon and Midgar as decoys! He's really going after Kalm!"
The silver haired man froze, dread spreading through him. Aeris was in Kalm! She had insisted traveling to Kalm to talk some sense into that Cloud!
Sephiroth glanced quickly back at the army attacking Junon, recognizing what had bothered him earlier; The army was too small to have any hope of taking control over Junon, and they weren't really making an effort. They were stalling him. Gazing back at the soldier with the rocket launcher, Sephiroth clenched his jaw hard as he saw the soldier salute him and saunter off. "Yeah, you run while you can. I'll find you. That's a promise." He spoke the words with deadly softness, reptile eyes revealing the cold hatred that was stored for later use. The soldier halted by the burning helicopter wreck, and was soon joined several other low ranking soldiers.
Turning back to the battle outside of Junon, Sephiroth trotted over to find his lieutenant. "Have all the Civilians been evacuated inside?"
"Affirmative, sir!" The man shouted over the gun fire.
Nodding, Sephiroth cast a final glance at the black smoke rising towards the sky. "Good, now withdraw the troops. These people are just here to waste our time and cause unnecessary loss of lives. Put all our resources into Junon's city defences."
The lieutenant looked a little confused, but quickly scrambled to obey the order. General Sephiroth's word was not to be questioned!
A good fifteen minutes later, the ShinRa army was back within Junon's walls, leaving a puzzled Jinrei army and most fighting ceased when they appeared reluctant to actually try to break into the harbour city. Sephiroth had given his final orders to the commanding officers, and his aim was now to reach the gold chocobo he'd ordered to be saddled up. For a moment he regretted not bringing Trigger along, like Rufus has suggested, but at least the bird was safer in Midgar than being brought on the trip through enemy lines as he planned to do. Vincent Valentine was informed of the coming attack.
Sephiroth was going to Kalm.
Halting inside an empty store to load up on High Potions and Ethers, Sephiroth was completely unprepared for when the Ancients voices rammed into his mind. Starting with pain, the General managed to support himself with one hand on the counter as he raised his free hand to his head. His entire form trembled as the voices pounded orders into his brain, telling him to disregard Kalm and travel to Midgar. His mission was to protect Cid Highwind!
Sephiroth managed to draw a shaky breath, struggling to form words despite the pain. "Midgar is in no... real danger!" He groaned silently, the pain intensifying. "Cid is safe. Others are... protecting him... Midgar is almost... a fortress now!" The anger of the Ancients sent him to his knees, now clutching his head with both hands. "Dammit, Aeris is in Kalm!"
The wave of anger from the Ancients made Sephiroth bend forward, barely withholding an agonized scream. He was to do as he was told, the girl was of no importance! Blood was running from his nose, colours flickering pass his eyes, and yet Sephiroth refused to give in. "She... NEEDS me! I promised... I wont let anything... happen to her or the baby..." This time, Sephiroth screamed at the pain rammed into his head. His mission was to protect Cid Highwind, the Ancients echoed through his brain, and nothing else mattered!
Shuddering, Sephiroth closed his eyes hard and shook his head. "Wrong, Aeris means... everything to me... Her and the baby is... all that matters..."
The Ancients fury rushed through him, almost sending him into convulsions as they drew every past nightmare in front of his eyes and hammered accusations, ordering him to do as told if he was to have any hope of redemption!
Sephiroth slowly sank down to lie on the floor, curled up on his side as his hands seemed unable to ease their frantic grip on his head in fear that it would explode. "Aeris... is my redemption."

He'd always thought that no one could ever hurt him like Hojo had, but now Sephiroth found himself numbly realising he'd been wrong.
The Ancients fury kept growing, the pain reaching impossible heights, yet all Sephiroth could think was how he had to get up on his feet and reach Kalm before it was too late!
"I've done... everything you've told me..." Sephiroth choked out, his body trembling with aftershocks. "I've never gone against... your wishes... But Aeris is in danger... Cid is not..."
The scream tore free from him against his will, but the pain was so intense that Sephiroth nearly blacked out. Aeris didn't matter, the Ancients raged, he was to do as he was told or suffer!
Sephiroth's eyes slowly opened as he felt Jenova stir within him, almost feeling her tentacles gently wrapping around him. She would help him.
The silver haired man swallowed down the taste of blood, staring emptily ahed. "Aeris..."
Yes, Jenova cooed, letting her powers rejuvenate his weary form. His pain was hers too. His anger reached out towards her, and she would give him the strength to slaughter the ones who stood in his way. All he had to do was to stop blocking her, and Jenova would help him. Aeris would be safe, and he would be free from the Ancients! At last!
Turning his face away, Sephiroth hesitated. He heard the muffled voices of the Ancients, knowing it was only Jenova's powers that kept them away. He couldn't trust her, he knew that. But all that mattered at that moment was to get to Aeris.
Aeris was a daughter of the Ancients! How could they just toss her away like that? Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and he drew a slow breath. This last year, he and Aeris had done everything the Ancients had told them, and yet they treated him like some damn lapdog and Aeris like a disposable trinket! How dared they?
The Ancients warned him that if he went against their wishes, if he joined team with the Crisis again, then he would once again be considered an enemy of the Planet, and no tears would bring him back this time!
Snorting, Sephiroth actually smiled. They threatened him? Did they really think if he lost Aeris, he cared what the Planet thought of him? If he lost Aeris, then nothing mattered to him! Without Aeris, he might just as well summon Meteor again!
Sephiroth slowly got up, swaying unsteadily, so he supported himself with one hand on the counter. "I don't care what you do to me, Cetras, but I'm going to Kalm. I'm going to protect Aeris and the child."
He could almost hear Jenova laugh as the thread snapped, and the Ancients fell silent.
"You haven't won just yet, Jenova," Sephiroth muttered, wiping the blood from his face. "Save your victory dance for later."
The soldiers would later discuss among themselves the change in General Sephiroth as he walked through Junon that day, a fierce determination in his eyes. They could almost sense something had happened, and unknowingly shied away from his path. The soldiers were almost relieved when the General rode out of the town on the golden chocobo, leaving them to guard Junon.
Sephiroth halted briefly outside, gazing at the helicopter wreck. He closed his eyes, giving his silent salute to the brat prince, then dug his heels into the chocobo and set course for Kalm.
Pulling out his PHS, Sephiroth hesitated briefly before pushing the button to connect him to Cloud. A button he'd never thought he would press, but the blonde was in charge of Kalm's defences. He wasn't sure why he couldn't make himself contact Aeris.
Probably because she would know what had happened within seconds. Yes, she would know. Aeris would sense the absence of the Ancients and the presence of Jenova before he would even have the chance to explain. Sephiroth dreaded that confrontation, but knew he would have made the same choice again.
Jenova seeped through his veins, healing his frayed nerves and soothing his anxious mind.
He shouldn't worry, she said, everything was going to be okay now.

Vincent came trotting, a frown marring his usually so expressionless face. "What exactly is going on here?" He gazed sternly from one ShinRa soldier to the other, the two returning his look with a nervous one from their position to open the gate leading out of Midgar.
"Well, he said..." One of the soldiers began, unable to meet Vincent's crimson stare.
"I said for you two to open the gate!" A voice declared firmly, and the former Turk turned to see Seto standing on the ceiling of a small building.
Vincent's frown deepened, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Care to explain yourself?"
The huge cat didn't get a chance to answer as the sound of footsteps interrupted them, and Vincent spun around to face them with a hand on his gun.
Marching in long lines, a small army of dark clothed men entered Midgar.
There was actually a flicker of surprise and disbelief in Vincent's eyes as he glanced from the newcomers to Seto. "Those men... Those were the ones who attacked Rufus and ended up shooting Tifa. What the hell are they doing here?"
Seto jumped down to land beside the former Turk, nodding for the soldiers to close the gate. "They're soldiers of the Ancients." The fire tipped tail swished lightly from side to side. "The Ancients never trusted Sephiroth, so they kept their army hidden in case he turned on them. Sephiroth is now our enemy."
Shaking his head, Vincent took a step away. "What are you talking about? I just spoke to Sephiroth! He's on his way to Kalm right now to help them against the attack!" He motioned towards the immobile army. "And these ones actually attacked two of our allies! You expect us to just trust them?"
"It was necessary," Seto muttered, turning his face away. "The Ancients were worried that Rufus ShinRa would not have the proper motivation to fight against Jinrei, and we needed his help. The aim was to make Rufus think it was Jinrei that had attacked him, but when Tifa got hurt, they decided to make the best out of a deal gone wrong."
A chill was spreading through Vincent and he drew a slow breath. "They kept Tifa unconscious, didn't they?"
Seto didn't reply. All the confirmation Vincent needed.
"But if Sephiroth has turned against us, why did he tell me about the incoming attack?" Vincent insisted, forcing his anger down as Seto wouldn't meet his eyes.
The huge cat huffed, his tail swishing more agitated. "Who knows what goes on inside the head of a mad man?"
Shaking his head, Vincent gave a harsh laugh. "This is all wrong..." He turned to gaze at the men who'd just entered Midgar, each staring firmly ahed like a good puppet. "You might have your reasons for doing this, Seto, but I'm still in charge here. Keep your goons out of my way. I don't trust them. Or you."
Seto could only watch as the former Turk strode off, feeling a sinking sensation inside his chest. He just had to tell himself that he was doing the right thing. Sephiroth had gone against the Ancients wishes, and was now their enemy.
"Jinrei's army will attack shortly," Seto declared to the frozen army. "We'll keep in the back for now. No need to waste the lives of the Planet's finest soldiers when ShinRa soldiers are avaliable. The only exception is if Sephiroth himself should show up." The cat beast studied the blank faces, wondering what was really going on inside their minds. "When it comes to Sephiroth, the order is very simple; Kill on sight. We cannot afford him bringing Jenova into our midst. The Jenova effect would be catastrophic, at least, to Hojo. Loosing the doctor is not an option. Understood?"
There was a flash of a salute, then the men were back into their frozen postures.
Sighing, Seto shook his head as he stared at the ground. "Very well. Dismissed."
He didn't gaze after them as the men milled off to vanish into the shadows, but jumped up to the highest ceiling he could climb to. Gazing out over the dry plains, Seto wondered what Red would have done in his place. His son always made the right choices. Seto had never been much of a hero, his only selfless decision had left him captured in stone for many years. Was it wrong of him to want something for himself this time?
Many people had fought for good causes, and it had left them without anything, broken for life. It wasn't fair. Life was never fair.
Seto drew a slow breath, closing his eyes. He didn't really care if AVALANCHE would hate him for what he was doing, but maybe, when it was all over, they would understand. After all, they loved Red too?
And it was too late to turn back now, anyway. Things were happening, and there was no stopping them.