"Um…excuse me." Cloud nervously looked at his feet while addressing the man in charge of watching the docks. There were numerous boats swaying back and forth in the shallow water, splashing sea water onto the wooden planks. A dozen or so seagulls squealed above them, flocking around a scrap of bread. They fought in midair for that mere morsel, flapping wings and pecking their beaks at one another. "Have you seen a tall man come by here quite early this morning? He has long white hair, kind of silver highlights…has a giant ego."
"Nope, sorry son. Can’t say I’ve seen him but that description sounds familiar." He stroked his beard, eyes narrowing to think of where he had remembered the man from.
"That’s okay," he said hastily to prevent the man from actually pulling Sephiroth, the formerly crazed nutcase, from his memories. "I guess he didn’t rent a boat from here." *Or steal it either.*
The next stop brought Cloud to Midgar’s brand new railway station. Still no sign of his prey anywhere near the tracks. Since the train departed only once a day in mid-afternoon, there was no chance of finding Sephiroth around it. He would be long gone to make sure he stayed ahead. That would leave Cloud guessing until his mind wrapped itself in knots.
Midgar Central Airport. Last place on the list. "I’m getting so bad at this," Cloud groaned. Years before when he had stalked Sephiroth all across the globe, the man had always been at least two steps in front of him. What was it that made Sephiroth an impossible person to interpret and anticipate?
"May I help you?" A short woman wearing pilot gear approached him. He was on private property and it invoked only a twinge of suspicion. Cloud had been considered a hero in his youth and anyone who recognized him let him go about his business. "Cloud Strife, right?"
"Yes. I’m looking for a friend of mine. He might have come this way." He went on to give a vague description of Sephiroth.
She mulled over the information only momentarily before her eyes lit up. "You’re in luck, Cloud. There was a man that came by with some friends to rent our last unoccupied jet. He fits your description all right. Were you supposed to go with him?"
"We had a misunderstanding about the time, that’s all. Who did you say he was with?"
That made her cringe a little. "The bigger man swore a lot and his arm was attached to a machine gun. Really scary stuff. I recall seeing the woman at one of the local bars around here…Tiffy…no Tifa! Did they ever look unhappy!"
Tifa and Barett?!! Sephiroth had abducted two of his old friends and taken them who knows where? On a jet, there would be no way Cloud could catch up or even pinpoint their destination. Had he lost already? "Is there any method you can use to track that jet? I really need to find them."
"Sure. All of our vehicles are equipped with tracking signals in case they need to be found in an emergency." She was only too eager to help the man that had saved the world back when she was a kid. Cloud was a legend but couldn’t compare to the widespread knowledge of a man named Sephiroth.
"What’s your name?"
"Megan but you can call me Meg."
"Well Meg, I’m going to need your services for the next few days. Do you have any jets that we can use to find my friends?"
Hired by the legendary savior on her first day of work! Was she ever fortunate. "No jets but there’s a state of the art helicopter in one of our holding bays. Will that do?"
"It’ll have to."
**
2 hours later, Cloud was scrunched up in the cockpit of a tiny helicopter bouncing in and out of turbulence. "Ohhh…I think I’m going to be sick." He clutched at his stomach and turned an unhealthy shade of green.
"Are you okay?" Meg asked with concern.
"Yeah, I just don’t take traveling very well. Are we almost there?"
"Wutai is just below us. I need to circle a few times to find a decent place to land. The terrain is pretty rough down there."
"The sooner you land, the better…for your upholstery," he added.
Upon touching down, Cloud hopped out and sank to his knees on nice firm soil. "It’s too bad my gold Chocobo ran away," he complained. "I could have had a much softer trip over here without the churning in my stomach." But his Chocobo had fallen in love with a black one and there was no stopping them. They had eloped from Cloud’s backyard one night, dragging with them a multicolored bird that the gold female had given birth to. How the baby Chocobo had come out looking like a patchwork quilt, Cloud had no idea. Nature could be so strange at times. *I’ve got to find those birds one day.*
"There he is," Meg announced. "Over there by the temple."
Indeed it was Sephiroth, magnificent body poised under the glow of many lanterns which illuminated Wutai from the mountain shadows. Barett and Tifa were nowhere in sight but another female now accompanied him in their place. Clutched to his chest with one arm, Sephiroth held the squirming Yuffie. He pulled her towards the jet a few feet behind the temple, paying no attention to his quarry.
"Sephiroth! What the hell are you doing?!!" Cloud ran towards him, ignoring the stunned expression that entered Meg’s face.
"Not yet Cloud. You still have a long distance to go."
"Cloud, you pointy haired freak! Come and rescue me or I’ll kick your sorry ass back to wherever it came from. I’m warning you….save me!" Yuffie kicked and bit at Sephiroth but could not free herself from his grasp.
"Sephiroth, let her go! This isn’t funny."
"Love never is." Sephiroth held up a red orb for Yuffie to see, allowing it to glint under the lanterns’ glow. "So far, so good. Keep it up Cloud and you might just win." He tossed the summon materia at Cloud, activating it before it hit the ground. "I’ll be waiting for you with my prisoners. Don’t take too long in finding me."
A snarling dragon slithered out of the summon materia to block Cloud’s pursuance. Suddenly, his predicament no longer seemed like an adventure between lovers. It felt like war all over again with the surprises being incredibly lethal. The dragon crept forward, breathing a trail of fiery heat that nearly turned Cloud’s sword to melted butter. He backed away, measured the dragon’s strengths and weaknesses all in one glance. He didn’t have time for this.
"The fact that this monster is for beginners is degrading enough. But to have my own lover throw it at me…" Cloud swung his sword in a high arc as if he were holding a baseball bat and aiming for a long shot. It cut perfectly through the dragon’s neck, severing the head from the body. Immediately, the beast fell and vanished. "SEPHIROTH!!!" Cloud raced for the departing jet but was too late. It flew into the sky and kept going in the direction of Rocket Town. And who did Cloud know that lived in Rocket Town? "Cid…Vincent. Crap!"
"Is he really Sephiroth?" Meg came up behind Cloud to inspect the truthfulness of his answer. "Is he the same Sephiroth that killed so many people and tried to destroy the world?"
"Meg, there are some things that you don’t understand about that time because you weren’t there. It was not the way people said it was. There were greater forces at work that had been controlling Sephiroth. He was only acting under the guidance of his twisted father. The product of an experiment that Hojo used without conscience. Anyone would go insane if they had been born as a project for their father to work on."
"I know. I heard that side of the story too. When I was very little, I remember a nice man that told me all about Sephiroth. That was before any of the Reunion happened. I was watching the soldiers fighting monsters when I saw Sephiroth. He looked really neat fighting but also frightening. When I was discovered spying, a man named Zack came up to me to calm me down. He told me that Sephiroth was his best friend and that they only fought to protect us. At the time, Sephiroth seemed okay but kept to himself. I was so excited that he became my idol for many years, even after what he did."
*Her idol…sounds like me when I was younger.* "So you’ll still help me?"
"Of course. But, do you think that Sephiroth has snapped again?"
"I hope not." Cloud entered the helicopter feeling a bit depressed. What if she was right and Sephiroth had resorted to being his old nasty self again. Then what? Their future together would be wiped out entirely without a second thought. Cloud didn’t want to hurt Sephiroth but if any of his friends were in mortal danger, he would not have a choice. To think that he had shared the same bed with the man just yesterday. Been intimate and bled his heart out to Sephiroth all in that same day. The thought of it all being a lie made Cloud feel very ill to his stomach and not from air sickness.
**
Knock.
Knock.
"Coming."
Knock.
Knock.
"I said I’m coming you stupid, deaf mule!" The door swung inwards to reveal a disgruntled man in his boxers and slippers. "Bloody hell!" Cid jerked backwards, searching for the rifle that was pinned to the wall beside him. But the door was pushed into him for Sephiroth to block that weapon.
"Is that any way to greet a visitor?" Sephiroth took the rifle and emptied out the ammunition. "You and I need to have a talk, Cid."
"Over my dead body! If you’re a ghost, then I’ll make you a dead one in a minute." Cid lunged for the taller man’s throat but was seized before he could latch on. "I can stand up to you any day! Even if you’ve come back as some flaming omnipotent bastard, I can still mop the floors with you." And so he used his weight to shove Sephiroth into the open door, grinding the man’s spine against the edge of it.
"Very bad manners." Pulling to one side, Sephiroth yanked Cid towards him and let go to watch him fall flat on his face. "Now, I believe there is someone else in here that would like to join us. Tell Vincent to come on out, Cid. If you behave, I’ll spare your insignificant hide."
"Never! Vincent, get out of here!"
A quiet shadow appeared in the hallway, barefoot and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Vincent looked drowsy as if he had just woken up but exhausted too like he had just run a marathon. Even his long, ebony hair hung limply from being damp, nearly touching the small of his back where a bed sheet had been wrapped to his waist.
"My. My! What have you two been up to?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, very amused to have caught Vincent and Cid at the worst of times. Cid was not giving any indication that he would get to his feet any time soon. So, Sephiroth didn’t bother about him when Vincent balled his hands into fists. Deal with one at a time. When Cid lost his temper, he was no good without a weapon to vent that fury out with. It made him clumsy and affected his judgment. But Vincent always reacted on instinct and insightful positioning during fights that gave him an advantage. "Shouldn’t you get dressed first?"
But Vincent came barreling at Sephiroth, his lithe frame coiling into what would be a powerful attack…for him. Without the ability to change, Vincent was nothing more than a kitten with no claws. Still, Sephiroth was careful when he flipped the man over and onto his back. The second Vincent hit the floor, Cid was up and screaming bloody murder. "Cid…look out!"
Vincent’s warning came too late. Cid wound up behind the door with a bruise on his forehead, seeing stars. He bit his lip when Sephiroth returned to him and his tangled bed sheets. How embarrassing! "Here." Sephiroth offered his hand to Vincent and actually helped him up. "Now that your angry roommate has stopped cursing, I can tell you why I came here." And Vincent listened, eyes opening wide at what he was hearing. In the end, both Vincent and Cid disappeared with Sephiroth to join his other captives.
**
"Vincent! Cid!" Cloud rushed through the open door to find signs of a struggle. He continued down the hall to check out every room and hiding place in the whole house. They were gone. How could Sephiroth have overpowered those two at the same time? Unless they had been caught unawares and the shock of seeing their old enemy blinded any battle sense. Whatever the reason, there was no trace of either the mysterious man or the one that began and ended every sentence with a curse. Sephiroth had gotten them.
"Now what?"
"We continue to follow them." *Wait a minute.* Over by the door, on the welcome mat rested another tiny note. Only two words were written on it: Cosmo Canyon. How hard could that be? Just go there, get Nanaki’s help and rid Sephiroth of his problems. This was not a game by any means. It had to be a cry for help on Sephiroth’s behalf. Maybe he was trying to say that some of his insanity still lingered on the outskirts of his mind. A gnawing evil nature that couldn’t be destroyed so readily. But Cloud hadn’t made love to a wicked man. Sephiroth had been nothing but kind, honest and one hundred percent devoted to the act. It wasn’t about revenge or anything so meager. No matter how hard Cloud tried, he could not figure out Sephiroth’s motives.
"What if those people he abducted are harmed?" Meg asked fearfully. She spoke to Tifa personally every Friday night when she had gotten away from her pilot’s training. Even though the woman’s name had been hard to come by, the advice had been free. Tifa was a very kind woman and made everyone feel at home in her bar. Meg felt sorry for her and the predicament they were all in.
"Sephiroth would never harm anyone." And the conviction in Cloud’s voice spoke great volumes. He still trusted Sephiroth even with all the mystery surrounding his actions. There had to be an explanation. Even if it took him all night, he would figure it out. "Get the helicopter started, we’re going to Cosmo Canyon."
"I’m afraid you’ll have to go there on foot, alone. I can only take you in so far before the surface area becomes too difficult to land on. When one of those Weapons destroyed half the land, it made it very rocky. If I land, the helicopter might get damaged and it will come out of my pay."
"I understand. Take me as far as you can. I can manage the rest of the way."
**
Around a big campfire, Sephiroth held himself proudly for all of his captives to see. He gazed down at them shivering under the chill of nightfall and smiled. This was going to be an occasion that would be memorable for all.
"Let’s see now…" Sephiroth looked from one face to another. "I’ve got Tifa and Barett…Yuffie, Vincent, Cid…," he called out as if checking them off of an invisible list. "And oh yes, my faithful pet, Nanaki."
"I’m not your pet," Nanaki whined. His tail wagged back and forth indignantly.
"I think that’s everyone." Sephiroth clapped his hands together eagerly. "As soon as the guest of honor arrives, we’ll be able to start this party."
Vincent exchanged glances with Cid, blushing when the man possessively tugged him closer. They looked up at Sephiroth wandering around the fire, muttering feats of glory to himself. "Should we knock him into the fire?" Vincent mused.
"I’d love to…but I kind of can’t."
"Neither can I."
"I know I speak for the rest of us when I say, Sephiroth is going to pay for this!" Yuffie growled and tried to chew off the ropes binding her hands and feet together.
"Just wait! When Cloud gets here, we’re all going to get our revenge," Barett bellowed loudly. But nothing could deter Sephiroth from his plans that would soon reach fruition.
