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Title: Dain af Niohoggr
Author: GW Katrina
Beta: Skeren
Fandom: FFVII: Mercverse
Claim:![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-community.gif)
mercverse for story_arc
Themeset/Prompt: Thirty Set 01: Spar
Wordcount: 2044
Ratings: PG-13
Link to Archive Post: Here
Dain af Niohoggr
Right now, all Cloud wanted to do was enjoy his nice, warm bed.
The warm part was being provided by Sephiroth, who was also trying to sleep. The day before had been a long, and these two in particular of the pack liked to linger together. Not to mention that they had been enjoying some alone time last night after the research had been done. This had lead to both of them having a late night, and Cloud really wanted to enjoy his sleep. From the grumbles by him, Sephiroth did as well.
However, it was a little hard to sleep when he could hear the others playing in the other room. At least Zack and Chaos.
It sounded as if they were trying to be quiet, but when two full grown men were wrestling around, especially people like Zack and Chaos, it got a little loud. There was the occasional murmur from Vincent, sounding like he was trying to get the pair to calm down.
Cloud wished the man would succeed, but he highly doubted it. He had known Zack since the boy was six. Calm was not really a state of being for him. Add him with Chaos, who was the more energetic of the twins, and it was just a recipe for noise and probable destruction. Or sex. Possibly all three. In any case, it was havoc on anyone’s attempt to sleep.
Pushing himself out of bed, and rolling his eyes at Sephiroth as he just pulled Cloud’s pillow over his head, the blond went to give the noisemakers a few choice comments. Just because Zack could and regularly did run on four or five hours of sleep, didn’t mean Cloud wanted to.
Grabbing a robe, pulling it on even as he walked out the door, he followed the sounds of the horseplay, muttering. It wasn’t as if they were far, or else he wouldn’t have been able to hear Vincent.
They were two rooms over, Vincent settled quite comfortably on a chair as he held a book in his hands. The man wasn’t even looking at Zack or Chaos, his red eyes focused on the pages. He did glance up when Cloud came to a stop in the doorway. “I told you that the pair of you were too loud.” He sighed, looking at the other two.
Looking up as best he could, head currently caught in a headlock, Zack gave Cloud an innocent smile. “What has you up so early? It’s not even light out.”
“Really?” A frown. “I can’t even imagine why I would be up before the crack of dawn. Maybe it was the sound of idiots being loud.” His frown deepened. “You know Seph and I were up late last night doing that research so that -you- might not end up being poisoned. Again.”
That got a rather contrite look from Zack, who fidgeted in Chaos’s hold. “I didn’t mean to get bitten by that thing. Did you guys figure out what it was?”
“And you smell like you and Seph got up to a few other things last night besides research.” That was totally Chaos’s “I’m laughing at you” tone of voice. Cloud just scowled more.
“Maybe, but a majority of the night was spent.....”
What he was about to say was gone as something, magically white-hot and powerful slammed through him. From the howls that the half demons gave, even as Cloud felt himself falling, he wasn’t the only one affected.
He didn’t have any idea what this was, but it wasn’t good.
Everything went black.
///
Heartbeat throbbing behind his eyes, Zack grimaced, catching himself with one hand, the other pressed tight between his eyes. He held still, even though he could hear the others drop around him. Couldn’t move. If he did, he was sure he would throw up.
There was a sound of distress from the other room as well, and it took all of Zack’s willpower to not go looking for whatever was hurting his family like this. But first he had to wait for it to end, then he could go check on them.
Finally, the sensation faded, leaving behind a headache which brought tears to his eyes. Still, he had fought through worse, and Zack forced himself up to his feet. First to be checked on was Chaos, who was slumped next to him. The half-demon blinked at him, awake. That made something relax, but his pupils were pinpoints, and Zack touched the man’s cheek. Colder than expected. Shock? “I’ll be right back,” he said, nodding absently. “Let me check the others.”
By the time he got to him, Vincent was already starting to move, tucking his head down, looking pasty and as ready to throw up as Zack felt. “Stay,” Zack said after a moment, pulling an blanket off the back of the chair, and draping in on Vincent. A second blanket went on Chaos, then Zack went to check on Cloud. The immortal was out cold, which just made him curse. Checking his pulse, it was good, though Cloud felt like he was probably shocky as well.
Not sure what was going on, Zack looked at Vincent, who was moving to sit next to Chaos. Feeling better the more he moved, Zack collected Cloud, and then set him down to the others. “Gotta go check Seph. Be right back.”
“All right.” It was a low mumble, but it was talking, and it was from Chaos, which made Zack relax a little. They were already starting to get their color back. Seemed like whatever happened, they were starting to recover. Good.
Using a hand on the wall, just in case his balance tried to go odd again, Zack made his way to Cloud’s bedroom. Seph would be in there, and he hadn’t called out to let them know that he was all right. Which wasn’t a good sign.
Though the sound of vomiting was easy enough to hear as Zack got closer. As did the sound of cursing. When Zack opened the door, he found himself the focus of narrowed cat eyes.
“What happened?” snarled Seph quietly, holding himself like he hurt all over.
“Don’t know,” Zack said, moving to sit on the bed beside where Seph was slumped on the floor. “Others are in the other room. Chaos and Vincent are awake, if shocky. Cloud is out.”
“It was magic. What kind, I don’t know. Never felt anything like it.” He shook his head faintly, looking as if he immediately regretted it.
Zack offered a hand. “Let’s get you to the bathroom so you can wash out your mouth, and then join the others. We can hash out some ideas after I look at Cloud again.”
Taking the hand, Sephiroth levered himself up, leaning against the dark haired man. Hugging him, Zack sighed.
It was going to be a long day.
///
After everyone was awake again, though there had been a bit of a wait for Cloud, the five of them settled down, Zack bustling around a bit to make sure that the others all had something to drink and blankets. Seemed having everyone else drop had triggered off that paranoid protective streak of his. It was the one remnant of having lost one family already that none of the pack had ever been able to work out of his system. He was a protective brat, but Sephiroth and the others couldn’t find it in their hearts to deny him.
So once everyone had settled, Zack included, Sephiroth absently fiddled with the drink the man had forced onto him.
“I don’t recall anything like that,” was the first, slow, hesitant words from Cloud. Which could mean a lot of things.
“No offense, Spike, but your memory is notoriously foggy at times.” Of course it would be Zack who pointed it out, but he did have a point, and it was something that Cloud was nodding to as well.
“That is very true. Still, that is something that is rather obvious. It.... Whatever it was, it was powerful.”
Vincent shifted, hand resting on the back of Chaos’s neck. “It felt similar to when Father undid the final seals holding Mother to this plane when we were old enough. But it was nothing near that strong.” He paused, focus distant. “I don’t know of -anything- that strong.”
That was the problem. Aeris had already called once, frantic and near hysterical as she had babbled at Zack, her words unclear and more than a little slurred. Worried, Zack had made Vincent call Tifa, and sent the woman to check on his girlfriend. Tifa had reported back that Aeris was sleeping now, but that the half-Cetra wasn’t the only one who had felt something outside of them. It was all over. Even people who didn’t have any magic in their blood had felt it.
So far, they didn’t know much. The pre-dawn time had made it so news was going slow, but already the television was reporting accidents and deaths as people had momentarily been blinded, or worse, while driving, working, or just walking in the wrong spot when they collapsed. And that was just the first reports. Who knew what was going to happen when people started moving and calling for help?
“We need more information,” Chaos said, growling faintly. He was the much more active twin, and having to wait for information went against his grain. Still, he wasn’t dumb, even if people took him for it, and he knew that in this case, action had to wait. They needed details. Especially since -nobody- knew what this was.
Cloud was nodding. “I’m going to start calling in for favors. We need as many details as we can get. Because this shouldn’t be possible.” He ran his hands through his hair, making it spike up even more. It didn’t take much for it to look like he had been mauled by a groom-happy chocobo. “I can’t ever recall of magic so strong that non-magic users felt it. Not on the sort of level we’re seeing it reported already.”
“Aeris was panicked,” Zack added slowly, expression a bit blank as he focused on his thoughts. “I’ve never heard her like that. Not even when the Turks tried to snag her that time. She was going on about something being loose and how bad it was.” He shook his head, focusing on them again. “When I tried to find out what she meant, she didn’t know. Said it was something about her dreams.” He absently mimicked Cloud’s gesture, hand pushing hair out of his face. “She just kept going on about how ‘they’ were frantic.” A grimace. “I’m going to go talk to her later, once she’s had a chance to get some more rest. She took it as bad as you did, Cloud. At least, that’s how it seems.”
“I have a few contacts I can try asking as well.” Sephiroth looked to Vincent and Chaos. “Maybe you should contact your family. Even if they don’t know, they study a completely different form of magic than I do. And we know that Cloud can’t be trusted with magic at all.” He caught the throw pillow that was living up to its name as Cloud tossed it at him. “And Zack here barely uses magic at all. If he focuses on Aeris, and we go the different magic routes, we might be able to get a few more ideas.”
It was easy for Sephiroth to see that the others were just as uneasy as he was. Which was something else to worry about. Whatever had caused this flash of power, it was strong. Massively strong.
-Wartime- strong.
There had been no great magic wars since the Great Demon herself had been sealed and her children slain. The devastation left behind from that had been too great for anyone to chance it again. Minor magics during combat was something different from magics that could turn entire countries to dust.
Sephiroth didn’t know if this was that strong, but it was stronger than any single spell he had ever felt.
Something bad was coming, and he wished that he knew what it was.
Author: GW Katrina
Beta: Skeren
Fandom: FFVII: Mercverse
Claim:
mercverse for story_arcThemeset/Prompt: Thirty Set 01: Spar
Wordcount: 2044
Ratings: PG-13
Link to Archive Post: Here
Right now, all Cloud wanted to do was enjoy his nice, warm bed.
The warm part was being provided by Sephiroth, who was also trying to sleep. The day before had been a long, and these two in particular of the pack liked to linger together. Not to mention that they had been enjoying some alone time last night after the research had been done. This had lead to both of them having a late night, and Cloud really wanted to enjoy his sleep. From the grumbles by him, Sephiroth did as well.
However, it was a little hard to sleep when he could hear the others playing in the other room. At least Zack and Chaos.
It sounded as if they were trying to be quiet, but when two full grown men were wrestling around, especially people like Zack and Chaos, it got a little loud. There was the occasional murmur from Vincent, sounding like he was trying to get the pair to calm down.
Cloud wished the man would succeed, but he highly doubted it. He had known Zack since the boy was six. Calm was not really a state of being for him. Add him with Chaos, who was the more energetic of the twins, and it was just a recipe for noise and probable destruction. Or sex. Possibly all three. In any case, it was havoc on anyone’s attempt to sleep.
Pushing himself out of bed, and rolling his eyes at Sephiroth as he just pulled Cloud’s pillow over his head, the blond went to give the noisemakers a few choice comments. Just because Zack could and regularly did run on four or five hours of sleep, didn’t mean Cloud wanted to.
Grabbing a robe, pulling it on even as he walked out the door, he followed the sounds of the horseplay, muttering. It wasn’t as if they were far, or else he wouldn’t have been able to hear Vincent.
They were two rooms over, Vincent settled quite comfortably on a chair as he held a book in his hands. The man wasn’t even looking at Zack or Chaos, his red eyes focused on the pages. He did glance up when Cloud came to a stop in the doorway. “I told you that the pair of you were too loud.” He sighed, looking at the other two.
Looking up as best he could, head currently caught in a headlock, Zack gave Cloud an innocent smile. “What has you up so early? It’s not even light out.”
“Really?” A frown. “I can’t even imagine why I would be up before the crack of dawn. Maybe it was the sound of idiots being loud.” His frown deepened. “You know Seph and I were up late last night doing that research so that -you- might not end up being poisoned. Again.”
That got a rather contrite look from Zack, who fidgeted in Chaos’s hold. “I didn’t mean to get bitten by that thing. Did you guys figure out what it was?”
“And you smell like you and Seph got up to a few other things last night besides research.” That was totally Chaos’s “I’m laughing at you” tone of voice. Cloud just scowled more.
“Maybe, but a majority of the night was spent.....”
What he was about to say was gone as something, magically white-hot and powerful slammed through him. From the howls that the half demons gave, even as Cloud felt himself falling, he wasn’t the only one affected.
He didn’t have any idea what this was, but it wasn’t good.
Everything went black.
Heartbeat throbbing behind his eyes, Zack grimaced, catching himself with one hand, the other pressed tight between his eyes. He held still, even though he could hear the others drop around him. Couldn’t move. If he did, he was sure he would throw up.
There was a sound of distress from the other room as well, and it took all of Zack’s willpower to not go looking for whatever was hurting his family like this. But first he had to wait for it to end, then he could go check on them.
Finally, the sensation faded, leaving behind a headache which brought tears to his eyes. Still, he had fought through worse, and Zack forced himself up to his feet. First to be checked on was Chaos, who was slumped next to him. The half-demon blinked at him, awake. That made something relax, but his pupils were pinpoints, and Zack touched the man’s cheek. Colder than expected. Shock? “I’ll be right back,” he said, nodding absently. “Let me check the others.”
By the time he got to him, Vincent was already starting to move, tucking his head down, looking pasty and as ready to throw up as Zack felt. “Stay,” Zack said after a moment, pulling an blanket off the back of the chair, and draping in on Vincent. A second blanket went on Chaos, then Zack went to check on Cloud. The immortal was out cold, which just made him curse. Checking his pulse, it was good, though Cloud felt like he was probably shocky as well.
Not sure what was going on, Zack looked at Vincent, who was moving to sit next to Chaos. Feeling better the more he moved, Zack collected Cloud, and then set him down to the others. “Gotta go check Seph. Be right back.”
“All right.” It was a low mumble, but it was talking, and it was from Chaos, which made Zack relax a little. They were already starting to get their color back. Seemed like whatever happened, they were starting to recover. Good.
Using a hand on the wall, just in case his balance tried to go odd again, Zack made his way to Cloud’s bedroom. Seph would be in there, and he hadn’t called out to let them know that he was all right. Which wasn’t a good sign.
Though the sound of vomiting was easy enough to hear as Zack got closer. As did the sound of cursing. When Zack opened the door, he found himself the focus of narrowed cat eyes.
“What happened?” snarled Seph quietly, holding himself like he hurt all over.
“Don’t know,” Zack said, moving to sit on the bed beside where Seph was slumped on the floor. “Others are in the other room. Chaos and Vincent are awake, if shocky. Cloud is out.”
“It was magic. What kind, I don’t know. Never felt anything like it.” He shook his head faintly, looking as if he immediately regretted it.
Zack offered a hand. “Let’s get you to the bathroom so you can wash out your mouth, and then join the others. We can hash out some ideas after I look at Cloud again.”
Taking the hand, Sephiroth levered himself up, leaning against the dark haired man. Hugging him, Zack sighed.
It was going to be a long day.
After everyone was awake again, though there had been a bit of a wait for Cloud, the five of them settled down, Zack bustling around a bit to make sure that the others all had something to drink and blankets. Seemed having everyone else drop had triggered off that paranoid protective streak of his. It was the one remnant of having lost one family already that none of the pack had ever been able to work out of his system. He was a protective brat, but Sephiroth and the others couldn’t find it in their hearts to deny him.
So once everyone had settled, Zack included, Sephiroth absently fiddled with the drink the man had forced onto him.
“I don’t recall anything like that,” was the first, slow, hesitant words from Cloud. Which could mean a lot of things.
“No offense, Spike, but your memory is notoriously foggy at times.” Of course it would be Zack who pointed it out, but he did have a point, and it was something that Cloud was nodding to as well.
“That is very true. Still, that is something that is rather obvious. It.... Whatever it was, it was powerful.”
Vincent shifted, hand resting on the back of Chaos’s neck. “It felt similar to when Father undid the final seals holding Mother to this plane when we were old enough. But it was nothing near that strong.” He paused, focus distant. “I don’t know of -anything- that strong.”
That was the problem. Aeris had already called once, frantic and near hysterical as she had babbled at Zack, her words unclear and more than a little slurred. Worried, Zack had made Vincent call Tifa, and sent the woman to check on his girlfriend. Tifa had reported back that Aeris was sleeping now, but that the half-Cetra wasn’t the only one who had felt something outside of them. It was all over. Even people who didn’t have any magic in their blood had felt it.
So far, they didn’t know much. The pre-dawn time had made it so news was going slow, but already the television was reporting accidents and deaths as people had momentarily been blinded, or worse, while driving, working, or just walking in the wrong spot when they collapsed. And that was just the first reports. Who knew what was going to happen when people started moving and calling for help?
“We need more information,” Chaos said, growling faintly. He was the much more active twin, and having to wait for information went against his grain. Still, he wasn’t dumb, even if people took him for it, and he knew that in this case, action had to wait. They needed details. Especially since -nobody- knew what this was.
Cloud was nodding. “I’m going to start calling in for favors. We need as many details as we can get. Because this shouldn’t be possible.” He ran his hands through his hair, making it spike up even more. It didn’t take much for it to look like he had been mauled by a groom-happy chocobo. “I can’t ever recall of magic so strong that non-magic users felt it. Not on the sort of level we’re seeing it reported already.”
“Aeris was panicked,” Zack added slowly, expression a bit blank as he focused on his thoughts. “I’ve never heard her like that. Not even when the Turks tried to snag her that time. She was going on about something being loose and how bad it was.” He shook his head, focusing on them again. “When I tried to find out what she meant, she didn’t know. Said it was something about her dreams.” He absently mimicked Cloud’s gesture, hand pushing hair out of his face. “She just kept going on about how ‘they’ were frantic.” A grimace. “I’m going to go talk to her later, once she’s had a chance to get some more rest. She took it as bad as you did, Cloud. At least, that’s how it seems.”
“I have a few contacts I can try asking as well.” Sephiroth looked to Vincent and Chaos. “Maybe you should contact your family. Even if they don’t know, they study a completely different form of magic than I do. And we know that Cloud can’t be trusted with magic at all.” He caught the throw pillow that was living up to its name as Cloud tossed it at him. “And Zack here barely uses magic at all. If he focuses on Aeris, and we go the different magic routes, we might be able to get a few more ideas.”
It was easy for Sephiroth to see that the others were just as uneasy as he was. Which was something else to worry about. Whatever had caused this flash of power, it was strong. Massively strong.
-Wartime- strong.
There had been no great magic wars since the Great Demon herself had been sealed and her children slain. The devastation left behind from that had been too great for anyone to chance it again. Minor magics during combat was something different from magics that could turn entire countries to dust.
Sephiroth didn’t know if this was that strong, but it was stronger than any single spell he had ever felt.
Something bad was coming, and he wished that he knew what it was.
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Geeze. Everyone fall down go boom. And Aeris panicking like that pretty much confirms it for me. *nodnods* I know who was released.
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