Title: Possession
Author: GW Katrina aka [livejournal.com profile] icedark_elf
Beta: [livejournal.com profile] forgottenlover, any mistakes are my own.
Fandom: Final Fantasy VII
Characters/Pairing: Sephiroth, Zack, Cloud, possibly implied past Sephiroth/Zack, if you squint and have read the fic it's based on.
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1,867
A/N: This was inspired by [livejournal.com profile] forgottenlover's No True Illusion



Possession

In many ways, Sephiroth decided, Strife had done him a favor.

A painful, unintended favor. One he still planned on killing the boy for. Slowly and painfully, to help him understand how much it hurt to be flung into Mako and left for dead.

Only he wasn’t dead. Not then, not now.

Instead, Sephiroth had taken the opportunity for what it was and spent his time learning. In the Mako, he had lost track of his body, it was dying, and simply not important. While he may not have been the Cetra as he thought he had been, he did carry some of their genetics. Jenova had not created a virus, not like the Ancients thought she had. Oh, no, Jenova was a virus. Space-born, virulent, sentient.

She was everything they feared finding. And she found them.

The first to cross her path had become her host, and she wore the body skillfully, a Cetra who none of the locals knew, not after she had gotten done molding the features to her liking. They, like every other fool, thought a pleasing face and a kind word meant that the person had the same values, the same wants as they did.

Her infection spread, killing those she did not reside in, and she was pleased. They were a threat, ones who could contain her, could limit her if she let them. His mother had been foolish enough to let them. Then, many, many years later, she was found by humans, pathetic remnants of a race that was fast dying out. By greedy, power hungry men who wanted to use her.

Use her they did. For their troubles, they got him. Sephiroth. Their Silver General, the Demon of Wutai. Burner of Nibelheim, though only a few knew that.

He was more than they would ever be, and it was irritating to know what Hojo was attempting. He knew the man was trying to recreate him, to clone him. Pathetic failures were all he got, though the first was the closest to him in strength, furthest to him in looks. The fact that the first one, the strongest, was Strife, made him wonder about the boy. He did come from the area where Shinra had stored Mother, and her powers were strong there.

Had she attempted to make more children on her own, he wondered?

If so, in the end, she failed. Strife was the best of a pathetic lot. Just being the best of them did not make him worth anything.

The only reason he paid attention at all was Zack. His Zack. Traitor, possession, his. His to torment or heal, not Hojo’s. The only one Zack belonged to was Sephiroth himself, by right of the Jenova in his body and the blood they had spilt for each other. By betrayal and anger.

But Hojo was not permanently damaging Zack, so Sephiroth could ignore it for now.

He was not sure how long he had been in the Lifestream, having slipped there from the Mako chamber of the reactor. It seemed like he had just arrived, though he knew he had been here for several years. He was sure of it. The murmuring he could hear from those who bore Jenova, Zack the strongest, Strife joining in slowly, sang in the back of his mind. It was a constant, steady sound that was simply part of him. Like his mother, Sephiroth could feel those who carried her taint, they were his to control and command. His puppets and toys.

They sang to him and spoke of years, and so he believed them. He doubted much that Zack knew he still lived, and he doubted that Strife was even aware of anything, let alone something as subtle as the hum of Sephiroth’s control.

So he drifted and learned. The Lifestream was full of information, there for the taking. All he needed to do was filter through it. That was the reason it seemed he had been here for so little time. There was simply so much information to process that it would take decades to filter it all. Decades to go through it and take what he needed, then simply return to reclaim what was his.

Only, he found, he did not have the time he thought he had.

The escape had been obvious. Zack’s voice had weakened slightly and Sephiroth had investigated absently. No longer trapped in Mako himself, the Jenova cells Zack carried did not resonate as far. That was fine. He could easily follow if he chose to, which he did not. It was not as if Zack could outrun the Lifestream. It was everywhere, so Sephiroth was confidant he could always track Zack no matter where he went.

Especially as Zack seemed to have taken Strife with him, and Strife stood out even more than Zack did. Where Zack was the steady, always present heat of sunlight, Strife was a floodlight. Mostly likely from Hojo’s attempts, but it did not matter. He would always be able to track Strife, and so he would always be able to track Zack. That was all that mattered. Sephiroth did not have many things he could call his own. Zack, and by extension Strife, was one. The former was much more important than the latter, it was simply easier to track the latter.

So he did, absently, not really paying attention as they fled the labs, as if they thought they might be able to escape for good. Shinra owned the world, and Hojo owned Shinra with tales of Promised Lands that didn’t exist.

Then, Zack, in a way, did find a way out.

It was quick and bright, a flare of life seconds before it flickered and went out.

That...was not allowed. It simply wasn’t allowed.

Growling, Sephiroth simply moved from the place where he was to where the bright light that was Strife was. It took less time to do it than to think it, and he grabbed. He almost lost the feel of Zack, so close to the overwhelming brilliance of Strife, but he didn’t. He was Sephiroth, that was Zack, and Sephiroth and Zack were irrevocably tied together. Zack had been Sephiroth’s friend, his first, and his betrayer. They had spilt their blood for each other, and spilled each others blood, in spar and in earnest.

Zack was his.

He would not let the man escape him that easily.

It was delicate work, collecting the man, not letting any slip away into the Lifestream as it wanted. Hungrily, the Lifestream tried to pluck it away from him, pluck Zack away from him, to let the man’s memories and life fade back into the whole, and return to where it would be one with everything.

Sephiroth was not going to let it. It could not have his Zack. The Planet could not have his Zack. The man belonged to him, and Sephiroth was not yet willing to give up that ownership.

The body that had been Zack’s wasn’t fit to hold him. It was broken, no longer bleeding, already growing cold. If Sephiroth tried to put him there, Zack would simply escape it again.

Zack’s body was of no use, but there was another right there that was perfect.

Taking Zack, the glowing, still Jenova touched light that was his person, Sephiroth pushed at Strife, trying to force him out so he could put Zack in. He had expected it to be easy, the boy seemed so fragile.

But he had forgotten that Strife had nearly killed Sephiroth before, that made him a force to be reckoned with. Four years under Hojo’s brutal mercy had tempered the core that had let the quiet, unassuming, unenhanced human kill the greatest fighter in Shinra’s military, if not the world. The child of Jenova herself.

Four years of trying to remake Strife as Sephiroth reborn had made him far sturdier than Sephiroth had expected, and he paused for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. The effort he would need to rip the boy from the body would render the body unusable. Not what he needed.

But while the four years had strengthened Strife’s core, it had burned away much of the rest of him. There was space there, if Sephiroth chose to use it.

He did.

Taking Zack, who still struggled for freedom in his grasp, he fitted the man into the spaces left by the labs. Lost memories, denied things. All of them, places where he could place Zack. So he did, and it seemed like forever passed as he carefully tangled the pair in a way that Zack would not escape. It would not do for Sephiroth to do all this work, only to have Zack slip free the moment he let go.

Finally, things clicked, and the feel of them mingled in Sephiroth’s mind. He did not know if he liked that, but they were both his, so it would do for now. It would have to.

Now, to get Strife to take them somewhere safe.

It was not hard to take the strings that tied Strife to him, the strings that made him Sephiroth’s puppet, though he did not know it yet, and to pull them. Survive, he murmured to the boy. Stand up, and go. Go to Midgar, avoid Shinra. Live till I collect you. Protect him. That is your purpose. Protect.

He ignored it as, on some sort of autopilot, the one made of two stripped the body, then staggered for Midgar.

They had damaged it badly, the troops who had shot Zack.

Sephiroth would have to deal with them later.

Now, he reached for Mother.

Though her, he passed on a message to Hojo. It was delivered in pain and agony, simply because he did not like the man.

He showed where Zack had fallen, the blood and the location. Along with it, was a simple set of orders. Collect him. Repair the body. Make it capable of holding life again.

How, he didn’t care. For all he cared, the man could try his mad cloning project again. Sephiroth had more important things on his mind.

His plans were about to be moved up. He was going to collect Zack again, and it was better done sooner than later. He wanted his Zack back, not some mixed thing. So he would simply have to set things into motion now, instead of later.

Blocking out the brightness that was Strife, he focused on the next one. That was the most complete clone, lacking the will to actually live, but the body was alive and fit.

It would serve him well for now. At least until he would be able to return to his own body, which was far north. If he did this right, he would have Strife be the one who would set that into motion. It would be a delightful touch, and keep his possessions near him.

Sephiroth was a patient man, but, as he settled into the form and made it open its eyes for the first time, he couldn’t help but smirk.

Finally, things were moving again.

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


Of course!

Then I have the Sephs who seem all over the spiky hair ::pokes those::

Just another fetish~

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


Of course!! Then I have the ones that like Turks. ::eyes the Reno and Vincent affectionate muses::

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


Who can blame 'm? They turks are hot and they're really good at Blowing Shit Up.

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


Very very true. I have one in here that's fixated on Yuffie. How would you explain that?

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


Ah, so she's grown up then. ... it's because she's bouncy and very, very fascinated with shiny objects that can cause Extreme Destruction if weilded correctly.

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


very true ::digs around:: I swear I have Seph muses for just about every occassion. Ah! Aeris loving Seph!

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


Well that's easy. She's a pervvy, kick-ass healer that doesn't take shit from anyone unless it's literal shit to fertilize her garden. If he doesn't love her, he'll hate her! As proved in canon!

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


Very true, the pervy is very out there! ::needs to work on BYP to get more into their... odd... way of relating to each other:: Mustn't forget the combination of kinky and watering the flowers! soft bed o flowers for the lovins!!!!

Very true Ah but I love this canon

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


Heeee. Pervy little innocent flower girl. Straight-laced General dressed in bondage gear. It's like a porn-movie scenario. *amused*

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


::brain breaks:: ....HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ::cough:: But! She's not innocent. She put Cloud in a dress.

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


Yeah, then next thing you know you're tied to a chair while she had her way with you!

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


.. and I'm sure both Zack and Cloud have flashbacks to That Incident. Sephiroth, however, manages to mask it better.

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


::laughs:: Wouldn't you wanna be tied to a chair under Aeris' mercy? ::batts eyes::

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


Oh the problem isn't that they're having flashbacks, it's that the flashbacks occur at inopportune times! Like, say, while they're seated at a desk during a meeting!

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


But when you're at a desk during a meeting Zack's under the desk doing things that make it hard to concentrate anyway, and combining that with the power of flashback would be interesting...

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


Ah, but Zack'd be in the chair right next to Seph since he was required to attend as Seph's SiC, ergo why he was having the flashbacks as well! ... Desk!Sex would be sure to follow.

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


But Cloud's just a wee little trooper. He's off doing his required work as well. After all, just because him, Zack and The General are friends doesn't mean he's exempt from work.

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com


True. ::eyes Hubby:: she has an Aeris that wants to be snuck into Seph's office.

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com


... That, that would be something to see. If only to see how they pull it off.

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 07:57 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 09:47 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 09:49 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 09:53 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 10:41 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 10:51 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:09 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:10 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:11 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:13 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:20 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:23 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:29 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:31 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:34 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] artimusdin.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:35 pm (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

From: [identity profile] forgottenlover.livejournal.com - Date: 2007-03-14 11:39 pm (UTC) - Expand
.

Profile

icedark_elf: (Default)
icedark_elf

Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags