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The Sins of Two Fathers	By : wickedorin Category: Final Fantasy VIII > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 687 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
"The Sins of Two Fathers" and the general overall
concept of "The Sins of Two Fathers" is completely copyright Orin Drake
1999-2005, as are the characters Kyrie and Rodger and some more random
people that don't matter as much. The characters Seifer Almasy, Squall
Leonhart, Quistis Trepe, Ellone (Leonhart?), Laguna Loire and Rinoa "The
Great Big Bitch" Heartily (biased? me?) are copyright Squaresoft, as are
the terms SeeD, gunblade, Trabia Garden, Griever, and probably a lot of
other stuff I forgot to mention. Hell, if you played the game, you
know. Enough said. Oh yeah, and there are plenty of spoilers
everywhere for everything. That about covers it.

        Background:
To be completely honest, I had no idea this was going to turn into a serious
story. I started writing is as a free-for-all squickfic yaoi fan
fantasy, but it got so out of my control that the characters are actually...
endearing. What have I done?! Ah well. Lesse, there's
a real obvious homosexual relationship, but they don't really do anything
in this chapter, so... oh, there's language. You know me, I like
my nasty language, so look out. Angst, I love putting angst everywhere.
That's about it for now. I will warn you, though, that FF characters
actually don't make up a lot of this story, especially not in the beginning.
I will make it up to you all some day. Enjoy.

The Sins of Two Fathers

Chapter 10

by Orin Drake
        The rest of the "descent
down the mountain" went smoothly, considering. They had certainly
hit quite a bit of luck with the water. So far so good, no one felt
sick or anything. The frog did stick its tongue out at them as they
left, though. Oh well, no pleasing everyone.

        With another great bit of
luck (and they all thought the universe sure as hell owed them after the
whole almost getting trapped under the ground and dying thing), sunset
brought on a bit of coolness. Not enough to directly notice, but
it sure helped ease the journey a little, a cool breeze "blowing the stink
off", as it were. By now the scent of ocean was actually thick in
the air, illustrating the fact that they were definitely traveling closely
along the coastline. Not long now, but they wouldn't be getting there
tonight.

        They kept moving on well
into twilight, until no light from the sun lit the horizon. Judging
from what they'd already experienced, it probably would not have been smartest
to keep going though the darkness of an almost nonexistent moon.
No telling what other freaks lurked in the dark. Therefore, it was
time to look for a good spot to make camp.

        The perfect place met them
mere steps away from the very bottom of the mountain itself, complete with
a long dead fire pit. By the look of how the ground had been worn,
it had once been a popular camp (for drifters, most likely). But
when they approached, the coals were nearly all blown to dust and away,
the surrounding weeds having begun to reclaim it. Chances were that
it was still a good spot for the night, close to another little patch of
forest but far enough away to keep the flames under control and have excellent
visage of any unwanted creatures.

        Since it wasn't exactly
as if they'd packed for the occasion, there wasn't all that much acknowledgment
of camp in general. No tents, no beds, no food. Just the collecting
of dry sticks and branches. Exactly how to make fire was of concern
only until Vincent had suggested Cloud check all of his pockets.
He'd been sleeping a long time, but he was aware that his blonde friend
probably hadn't overcome his absent mindedness from time to time.
It was worth the chance. And, unbelievably, it actually paid off.
All those years ago, he'd carried a little piece of flint with him for
just such an emergency. Since he had simply packed up his battle
gear and put it away after he was done with it, the flint remained in place.
Absolutely unbelievable dumb luck. Not that anyone was complaining,
of course. Dumb luck was still luck, and it was important to take
advantage of everything possible.

        Things looking up (except
for the lack of beds and food), Kyrie got up and stretched, away from the
fire. What a day. What a fucking mess. And again, what
a day. Not that her life had entirely lacked "excitement" up to this
point, but... geez. It was frustrating. Firstly, being torn
away from home and Rodger and... well, everything, really. Secondly,
her parents were missing. That platinum-haired freak was more than
likely responsible. Hell, she knew he was. She just didn't
know how she knew that. It was beyond mere paranoia.

        To add to that, they were
out here. No, it wasn't quite the middle of nowhere. But for
all she knew, it may as well be. Would they actually find a ship
at the coast? She knew they ought to, but... she remembered what
the inn looked like after Sephiroth had had his way with it. All
the people... But then, the inn was still standing at least.
Maybe that was an up side. She almost laughed at that stupid thought.

        Unconsciously, she wrapped
her arms around herself as she stared back to the central ring of mountains
from where they'd come. It's not that the night was cold, exactly.
Hell, they had a fire burning close, were that the case. It was the
combined happenings of the past few hours mixed with a growing chilly wind
from the east of all places this time of year that made for goose bumps
and shivers.

        Vincent raised an eyebrow
behind her, finally bearing witness to just what a colorful painting of
pain she had across her back, the bruises so bright that they looked fresh.
Still much to be filled in upon, he supposed. But it was rude to
leave her without some sort of covering when her back was exposed, hurt
or otherwise. Not that he was one for gentlemanly behavior, but he
knew that much. So, he stepped up to her and unbuckled his cape,
handing it over without a word.

        Kyrie looked at the fabric
for a moment, mentally taking note that it was as old but still as well
preserved as the belt she still had on her. In one sense, it bothered
her that she was ending up with this guy's stuff. In another, it
was really quite comforting, strange as it may seem. "Are you sure,
Vincent?" she questioned, seeing how thin the material of his shirt seemed
to be.

        "Of course." He gently
pressed it back into her hands. "I'm well without it."

        She swallowed, still uncertain.
She didn't want to stomp on his kindness, but she really didn't want to
have to be the weak one who needed taking care of. "I feel like a
thief, with all of your stuff."

        He looked puzzled at her
words. "You cannot be a thief when things are given to you."

        That actually sounded quite
intelligent at the moment. "True." She agreed. Part of
her still didn't want to, but she gratefully gave in. "Thank you."

        Cloud raised an eyebrow
as he watched her buckle the cape around her shoulders, saying absolutely
nothing. How... odd. How amusing. How... well, how weird.
He didn't really want to say that, though. Not right now. Absolutely
no comment at all seemed most appropriate for the moment. He kept
himself perfectly serious without the raw belly laugh that threatened him
as she walked back to the fire.

        "Now what?" she inquired,
indicating... everything.

        The meaning of the words
knocked him out of his good humor for the time being. "Now... we
sleep, I guess." He paused, reading deeper into the question.
"No food. No water. No entertainment. What else are we
gonna do?"

        The answer came in the form
of a high pitched screeching sound jittering from the trees behind Kyrie,
perking her up instantly. Were it not for the dark of night, they'd
certainly have seen it coming before it shrieked. While Cloud and
Vincent were pulling their weapons and trying to mentally attach a creature
to the sound, Kyrie drew her gunblade and turned with an instant recognition.
Easy.

        A clean slice and and bullet
through the neck just for good measure, a fully grown cockatrice rolled
forward on legs that didn't yet realize they had no more impulses raging
through them from an attached brain. She'd gone cockatrice hunting
with her parents every so often since she was ten years old. It was
good meat, and the wild ones had a better taste than the tame ones.
She'd never almost been run over by one before, but there was a first time
for everything. Waiting until the legs had stopped jerking to avoid
the dangerous talons, she announced, "This solves the food problem."

        Cloud stood there, perfectly
still, hand still wrapped around the hilt of the sword that had never left
his back, staring. She had one hell of a killer instinct, alright.
He was impressed. He really was. But it sort of came across
as shock.

        Kyrie merely grinned at
his reaction. She wasn't one to brag. But she wasn't one to
let her astounding accomplishments pass anyone by, either.

        During the effort to hang
the beast from its feet (to bleed the body easier), she distinctly noticed
the absence of Vincent. It didn't piss her off or anything, but it
was very apparent only she and Cloud were doing the cleaning. She
was pretty damn certain that he wasn't the squeamish type... And
when Cloud had very subtly made a tourniquet for the neck so as to, it
appeared to her strange mind, keep some blood in the head... Well,
needless to say, she was somehow reminded of bad science fiction movies.
Her interest was piqued. Now probably wasn't the proper time to ask
if his friend was some undead freak of nature, though.

        She had better things to
concentrate on. Like carving up the bird. It was clear they
wouldn't be able to eat all of this among the three (two?) of them, so
she made only the choicest of cuts along the breast (whatever was left
would certainly attract scavengers in the hot sun tomorrow). Every
once in a while she would glance over at the blonde who wasn't helping,
seeing a slightly sick look across his face. That made her grin regardless
of trying so hard not to. She didn't want him to think she was taunting
him, but... damn it was funny. Mr. I'm 1,000 Years Old and Went After
Sephiroth Before and Lived couldn't take a little cockatrice dissection.
So, she sent him off with a look to get something to roast the meat on.

        When Cloud came back, Vincent
was behind him, not looking all that eager to have followed. As they
walked past her (and she tried not to look at the pale man curiously),
Cloud began, "Did you say you used to be a good cook?"

        "That was well over a mere
thousand years ago." Vincent grunted.

        "Yeah, well... humor us."

        Interesting tone of voice
Cloud had used. Now her disturbingly television deprived mind really
began to work. The words had been rather a... forceful invitation.
She smiled in spite of herself, realizing just how stupid she was being.
What, an undead freak offered her a cape? Nah. Cut by cut,
they pierced the meat and held it over the fire, waiting.

        It smelled good. Quite
good. It was a bit annoying that they didn't have any seasonings,
but plain meat was just fine. Kyrie hadn't even really realized she
was hungry until she could smell the food cooking; then her stomach had
constricted and made several unladylike noises. Cloud laughed until
his stomach responded with a series of mild jabbing pains. But all
through this process of cooking, Vincent didn't look the least bit interested.
He seemed... distracted. Or forcefully so, like he was trying to
concentrate on anything but eating.

        Interesting. It became
moreso interesting when he politely declined a piece of cooked bird with
the wave of his hand, after Cloud had only halfheartedly offered it.
But, Kyrie said nothing. Part of her reveled in this strange sci-fi
idea. The other part of her simply did not want to be rude.

        Not that eating in front
of someone wasn't extremely rude. But Vincent was clearly
focussing elsewhere. She made short work of her piece due to serious
hunger and the desire to get it over with so maybe she could tear some
more information out of the two of them, and reclined back in a massive
stretch, leisurely supporting herself (and keeping the cape relatively
clean of dirt) with her elbows.

        Finally it appeared that
the other set of red eyes focussed. "Cloud..." Vincent whispered.
"...I'm hungry." When the blonde nodded toward him, he merely got
up and walked over to where the cockatrice head was so subtly hung.
Without a word, he pulled the knot and took the whole thing with him beyond
the trees.

        Well. There was her
proof, wasn't it? Only one way to find out. Out of all of the
questions she could have asked and all of the curiosity she was filled
with, one in particular seemed most prevalent in the situation. "He
doesn't eat with anyone?"

        "You could say that."
Cloud responded delicately. "He doesn't really... uhh... eat."
The technical reasons, he didn't even begin to imagine. Whatever
had happened along the way, Vincent had developed the need to... change
his eating habits.

        A wide smile spread across
Kyrie's lips. A-ha! To herself mostly, she commented,
"Always knew there were vampires."

        The blonde stared at her,
gaping. He supposed "How'd you know?" was a bit of a dumb
question by now. But those red eyes... he wondered about her bloodline.
Her parents. Her... eating habits.

        "What's your story then?"
she interrupted.

        "Me?" he sighed. Hell,
they may be together for a while yet. And he more or less knew all
about her, so... only fair. "Long story. Ever hear of Jenova?"

        She shuddered. "Sephiroth
used the word. But I didn't understand it then any better than now."

        Cloud shook his head in
disbelief. Never did he think he'd see Sephiroth again. After
that last battle, he'd seen nothing left of him. There was simply
no body left to regenerate. "Long story short, then." He was
certain she was intelligent enough to follow his explanation, whether or
not she could actually believe it. "Jenova was more or less an immortal
alien creature. Anyone injected with her cells takes on some of her
immortality... and I was. So was Sephiroth. But he has a lot
more of it. It started before birth, with him."

        "And Vince is a natural
vampire?" she tried to get a grasp on all of this.

        Cloud grinned, having heard
his companion being referred to as "Vince". "Not exactly. He
was 'normal' once. I'm... not really sure what happened to him.
He never really let me in on the details."

        "The claw?" she gently pressed.

        "Same thing. I'm just
not sure." He admitted. "But what I do know of the situation...
Sephiroth's father was... one crazy son of a bitch."

        "I can only imagine."
She mumbled bitterly. "Mother... fucker..."

        "Ladies shouldn't be talking
like that." Cloud teased.

        She was glad for the humor,
if only for a second. "I never claimed to be among that crowd."

        He smiled sadly. She
was kinda like Tifa. A little bit, anyway. Tifa must have died
a long damn time ago, though. He wouldn't at all be surprised if
he could trace her bloodline to Kyrie. Or from Vincent... It
was becoming a more and more interesting point the more he thought about
it.

        She shivered suddenly with
the memory of Sephiroth's eyes hitting her from nowhere. "He's not...
'all there', is he?" she made a little swirling motion by her ear to indicate
a general lack of sanity.

        Cloud laughed bitterly.
"To say the least. I don't think a thousand years helped that any."

        An uncomfortable feeling
encased Kyrie's chest for a moment. "But... he's not quite... right."
She paused, trying to put her words together in a way to make him understand.
"I mean... he's like one of those stacking toys... a layer within a layer...
and most of them are completely insane... but there's something very different,
very
human, under them all..."

        "That's the thing."
Cloud whispered uneasily. "He didn't used to be like this.
He used to be... so much better. A really good fighter. And
a pretty nice guy, I guess. But he just... he went insane.
He's still going insane. It just gets worse."

        "He said my parents were
his students..." she murmured distantly. "I wonder if that's true..."
Unconsciously, she placed her hand in her pocket. Cold metal met
the fingertips, and she suddenly remembered; Griever's chain was still
broken. She pulled it out and looked at it in silence for a moment,
unable to think of any way to actually fix it. So, taking that much
in stride, she placed the broken ends around her neck and tied them together.
It was a bulky knot, but it would hold. And it finally fit her, a
certain plus to the situation.

        Cloud actually remembered
that pendant from Squall's many visits. It had even more or less
become a symbol of overcoming the last great threat of the world.
It was fitting, of course, that she would have it. "Worried about
your... fathers?" his intent was sincere, as weird as it sounded to him
to ask about plural male parents. Sure he'd been around, but he'd
never used the word "fathers" before.

        She blinked though she'd
been knocked awake. "Yeah." She slowly ran a hand through her
hair and sighed. "This just... this isn't how it's supposed to happen."

        "What?" Cloud leaned in
a little closer, hugging his knees. It was a nervous thing that he
never seemed able to rid himself of.

        She shook her head slowly.
"You aren't supposed to have to save the world twice in one lifetime.
And Dad... Squall fought hard for life and freedom, too. I thought,
being the next generation, I was supposed to have it fucking easy."

        "Hm." Cloud commented.
He saw her point. But then, he knew of Seifer Almasy. His daughter
seemed to be paying for his sins more than she was enjoying Squall's loyalties
to the rest of the world.

        Their conversation, however,
was interrupted by the obvious cocking of a shotgun. They both swallowed,
very slowly turning their heads with wide eyes, thinking the end had come
at a pretty indecent time. And in a pretty unexpected way, besides.

        The figure in the dark seemed
stunned for a moment. Then it asked, unbelieving, "Kyrie?!"

        No, fucking, way.
Her thoughts were no longer coherent. How the hell did--?
"Rodger?!"

        The gun went down immediately.
He wanted to run up to her, hug her and tell her he never thought he'd
see her again, that he was just following some insane hunch when he came
across her for real, and that he'd still really like to spend the rest
of his life with her... but maybe it wasn't quite the right time.
She was in a strange cape next to a strange man with incredibly disturbing
blue eyes. Anything he'd said right then probably would have sounded
stupid, so he went for simplicity. "Can I... uh... join you?"

        Cloud raised an eyebrow.
Kyrie nodded. "He's cool."

        "Sure." The blond
agreed, seeing an obvious recognition. "Now we've got two gunmen
and two swordsmen."

        "Technically two gunmen,
a swordsman, and a gunswordsman." Kyrie corrected, trying to loosen
the strangle hold of tension the previous moment still had on them.
She smiled up at Rodger as he stepped beside her, not quite sure if he
ought to "sit among them" yet or not.

        He willingly took her smile
as invitation enough, and relaxed next to her. So many damn questions.
So much to say. But he would not forget his manners. He slowly
extended his hand to the blonde with the big-ass sword on his back.
"Rodger Kinneas."

        Cloud nodded, shaking the
boy's hand. "Cloud Strife. I guess you're an ally."

        "Yeah, you could say that."
Rodger admitted. The quick glance he gave Kyrie was the rest of the
answer.

        Cloud instantly recognized
that look. They knew each other, alright. And he felt inclined
to stand up and stretch rather suddenly. "I'm... going to... I'll
be back. Later." Cloud politely wandered into the forest with
only a glance back. Young love needed a little space.

        Kyrie smiled and waved,
grateful for his ever so subtle retreat. As the sound of footsteps
through the brush faded, she sighed and leaned up against Rodger in silence.

        It wasn't really any sort
of uncomfortable situation. More like... pretty damn weird.
But he was exceedingly glad to be with her again. "So... how are
you?" he asked, scooting closer.

        She seemed to be listening
to something off in the distance before she responded with a light touch
of humor. "Fine, fine. How'd you get here?"

        "Train. Until they
refused me service. Then car." Rodger bantered back.
"And then it ran out of gas. And here I am." He gave in at
last, feeling relatively confident in their safety, wrapping his arms around
her. It was pure, absolute dumb luck that he'd run across her.
A hunch, a completely unable to be ignored feeling in his gut, that could
very well have made him miss her entirely (and a severe reprimand for abandoning
Garden when he got back, he was sure). But he wasn't about to acknowledge
the idea that he easily could have passed her and not thought twice about
it. Luck, fate, whatever. All that mattered was a moment in
the firelight.

        She returned the affection
wholeheartedly, but cringed when he squeezed her shoulders. Her back
still flared with pain, and the bruises sure as hell didn't feel like they
were healing any.

        Rodger released right away,
feeling her body jerk. "What is it?"

        "Sorry." She mumbled
without letting go of him even an inch. "Back and shoulder trauma."

        He blinked. "That...
doesn't sound good."

        "Doesn't feel good, either."
She admitted, forcing herself to pull away from him just for a moment.

        He didn't let her continue,
a dangerous look in his eyes. "That Cloud guy didn't do anything..?"

        "No." She assured
firmly. "No, he actually saved me from the freak that kidnapped me."

        Rodger very gently put his
hands on her shoulders and pulled her in for a short but meaningful kiss.
"I was so, fucking worried." He opened his mouth to continue, but
decided he'd rather have the moment than the memories. When she had
just disappeared from Garden entirely... it had been frightening.
He certainly didn't want to tell her about the other weird shit going on.
Not yet. He wanted to see why she'd cringed. "Show me?"

        She shrugged lightly, lifting
away from him. "If you really want to see it." She halfway
joked, carefully unbuckling the cape. Not forgetting it had been
a borrowed gift, she gently folded it and put it in her lap, then pulled
her hair to the side and leaned forward.

        "Shit..." Rodger whispered,
very softly drawing his fingertips across one of the darker areas.
The welt wasn't open, as it had been. But it was sure as hell still
there, and very much visible.

        She hissed as her skin burned
with the attention. Not so much burned as just... hurt fiercely.
"Yeah. I just had to wear this shirt."

        "Who did this?" he asked
quietly, gently wrapping his arms around her again. He tried very
hard to suppress the anger threatening to take itself out on some poor,
unwitting... anything.

        "A fucking lunatic."
She responded distantly. She wasn't sure she wanted to revisit the
events that brought her to that point in their entirety. "Long, confusing
story. But he's someone that almost destroyed my parents, I think."

        He supposed now was as good
a time as any, really. "About your parents..." he paused, swallowing.

        "I know." She stopped
him. "I heard yesterday from a damned thief. Do they
know anything besides the fact that they're missing?"

        He shrugged with a sigh.
"All I know is that they were last seen heading home from the train station,
and there was no sign of a struggle in their house. The car was parked
and the front door was locked from the inside."

        She had a really bad
feeling about that. Obviously, only one person came to mind.
Sephiroth.

        Rodger read enough into
that blast of emotion that ran through her body to know she certainly wasn't
at ease with any of the details. He wanted nothing more than to comfort
her, remembering what it'd felt like when his own father just disappeared.
Obviously, those were different circumstances. But he could imagine
it.

        Quietly, she repeated the
empty tripe Seifer used to when he was really, truly worried about something.
"It'll turn out alright." She paused for a moment, realizing how
stupid that sounded. And how far from herself she'd just traveled
for no good reason. They didn't know anything for sure. There
was no reason to worry so much just yet. So, she invited, jokingly,
"You're here to take my mind off of it, though."

        He chuckled at that.
"Do you want to... uh... you know..."

        It felt good to act like
an idiot again. "I would." She admitted seriously. "But
there happens to be a very pale man watching us right now."

        His jaw slackened.
But then he picked up right where he left off. "Hey, we could do
a threesome thing, or exhibitionism..."

        Kyrie laughed and lightly
kicked him in the knee. "The whole world need not know these things."

        Vincent grinned from well
behind the trees. She had good instincts. He couldn't get the
redness of her eyes from his mind; they were so much like his that
he wondered... Were they actually somehow connected? But how
could they be?

        His curiosity was interrupted
as his companion finally found him. "Seriously. Do you know
anything about that?" Cloud cut to the chase instantly, indicating Kyrie
as an object.

        Vincent let the smallest
of grins spontaneously cross the plain of his face. "Honestly, I
don't." He paused, watching the two young love birds just lay in
the comfort of one another's presence. "There is a strange resemblance
though, isn't there?"

        The blonde scoffed.
"No shit, Valentine. Are you sure you don't know anything
about that?"

        "I've been asleep a long
time." His lips twitched, trying their damnedest not to turn upward.
"Maybe I've forgotten."

        Cloud made a disgusted face,
but continued. "Do you recognize the names Leonhart or Almasy?"

        Vincent shook his head.
"Neither." He paused, the curiosity finally getting to him.
"What happened to her back?"

        Cloud humphed quietly.
"Sephiroth. That's all I know."

        The pale man shook his head
lightly. "He only marks his prey..."

        "Hyne I missed you..." Kyrie
let the words fall in a whisper from her lips, her eyes closed and her
body relaxed against his.

        Rodger smiled, taking a
deep breath. "I missed you, too. I though you were..." he paused,
thinking of when he came knocking and Kyrie never answered. He'd
gotten Quistis to open the door, and still no Kyrie. No signs of
her being abducted, but neither were there signs of her leaving on her
own. Silly as it sounded, seeing the untouched muffin just laying
on the ground was his first true indication of the enormous danger.
"Well, I don't know." In truth, he really didn't want to think about
it.

        "I would never have left."
She assured quietly.

        "I know." He responded.
"So... now what happens?"

        "Now I find the asshole
that took me away and kill him." She growled quietly.

        He swallowed at that.
Not that it was entirely unexpected, but the tone of her voice... was beyond
serious. "Do you think it has something to do with your parents?"

        A deep, stilling breath.
Just
breathe, just breathe... "I know it does. I just don't...
exactly know how, yet."

        A long silence. Breathing.
Heartbeats. But no words. Just passing thoughts, floating over
like clouds on a summer day. Finally he spoke up, "Well, you're not
going alone."

        "You're right." She
agreed with a grin he couldn't see. "Cloud and Vincent are coming
with me."

        "Hmph." It was so
good to have that back. To have her back. To be feeling
all those mushy things he always used to roll his eyes at... or point and
laugh at. "Well, I'm coming, too. And why haven't I met this
Vincent yet?"

        "Oh, you will. Soon."
She raised her voice just a little. "They're watching us riiiiiight
now." Very, very quietly, she whispered against his ear, "He's kinda
hot. In a scary kind of way."

        Why that made Rodger chuckle
was almost beyond him. He ought to be feeling... jealous?
Enraged? Disgusted? But their little game of "see who gets
creeped out first" had already begun again. He whispered back, just
as softly, "Yeah? I'll be the judge of that."

        That was met with spontaneous
silence and a very slowly spreading smile. How... um... "sweet" worked.
On cue, the two voyeurs stepped through the trees.

        Cloud was eager to pretend
he actually hadn't been watching them, stretching and looking legitimately
tired. Vincent, though, had a gleam in his eye. She'd already
caught him, what was the point? She didn't freak out or anything.

        As Rodger lifted himself
off of the ground, he stared at this... whatever the hell it was.
He was as caught by his appearance as Kyrie was. Very pale.
Very skinny. But those very red eyes were something else. Finding
his manners weren't buried as deep as he thought they might be a second
before, he cleared his throat and offered his hand. "Rodger Kinneas."

        Oh, this ought to be
good. Kyrie tried not to grin like a moron.

        Vincent stared at the boy's
hand for a moment. He glanced at Kyrie's expression, then back at
the hand. Well, if he wanted it... "Vincent Valentine." He
introduced, taking the boy's hand into his metal claw.

        Rodger had not been ready
for that. The manners that his mother had instilled upon him from
birth prevented him from either pulling away or shrieking, however.
He just tried to look very polite. When he glanced over at Kyrie,
she had a hand over her mouth, trying not laugh.

        "So..." Rodger attempted
shakily as he took his hand back. "We're the good guys."

        Cloud thought that was fucking
hilarious. Between the two of the "new kids", they were going to
have one hell of a good time hunting down the psycho freak.

        The sleeping situation wasn't
so comfortable. But at least she was curled up next to Rodger.
That did make things a hell of a lot better. Just a little nap before
morning, and then they'd move on. If nothing had touched the cockatrice
carcass by then, they might even have breakfast.

        At least the sleep came
easily. Warm, comfortable... enough. Just blackness mixed with
dreams... mixed with this voice... "Kyrie." she heard purring.
She tried desperately to ignore it, but a hand joined in the voice's efforts
to wake her by shaking her shoulder. "Come, Kyrie. Wake up."

        Familiar voice... Was it
Dad? Breakfast? No, too early, she was still too sleepy to--she
met feral, glowing eyes. Green. Cat eyes. She instantly
darted away from him, almost forgetting that she was laying down; just
tried to get away, get him to let go.

        And that did, slowly, with
a squeeze of her arm superior smirk upon his face. "Ah. Hello,
Kyrie."

        Panic. Sheer and utter,
complete panic; not even the seething rage she felt for him could break
its shell. Nothing prepared her for this. She left his eyes
just long enough to glance over at her friends, finding them all completely
still. "What did you do to them?"

        He smiled almost sincerely.
"It's just a sleeping spell. They're fine."

        Her eyes sliced through
him. "What are you doing here?"

        An amused smirk greeted
her question. "I've come to make you a very interesting offer."

        The words, "I'm not interested"
did indeed come to mind. They were just at the tip of her tongue,
tickling her lips. But she stopped them from coming out. An
offer? A deal? She was not naive enough to think it would be
a fair one. Neither was she stupid enough to buy anything he said
as the whole truth. Or anything close to that. But she could
not deny that she wanted to hear him out. "What is it?"

        A smile; as much devious
as it was honest. He sat gracefully in front of her, legs pulled
casually close to his body as if to surround him. One gloved hand
pressed against the ground to prop himself up so he could lean closer.
From his other hand came a greenish glow nearly as vibrant as that of his
eyes, emanating straight from his upturned palm. As the glow intensified,
it seemed to become whole, somehow. The light itself seemed
to become matter, glowing and moving into a ball that gleamed like a miniature
sun with hues of greens she was certain she'd never seen in nature.

        "Do you know what this is?"
he whispered, watching the light with her.

        She shook her head in awe.
She wasn't sure if she should try to speak, as her voice would more than
likely give away her wonder. She did not want him to have the advantage.

        He smiled provocatively
and met her eyes. "This is Materia. Old magic from long before
guardian forces."

        Incredible. It was
absolutely... incredible. A form of magic before guardian forces.
One that did not appear sentient... but of course, anything was possible.
She was overwhelmed with the urge to reach out and touch it as it floated
just above his fingertips, burning as a tiny star among stars.

        "This one is rather special,
though." He continued, his voice lowering. "This is Ultima."
He laughed softly at the silent recognition in her eyes. "No doubt
you've heard of this magic. It's some of the most powerful we know,
certainly."

        She forced her eyes away
from the orb for just long enough to look her former captor over.
It was no doubt not this easy. He wasn't insane enough to surrender
power. "And what do you want in exchange?"

        He laughed, sounding nearly
surprised. "You're a pretty girl. Don't fuck that up by being
smart." The orb shifted its colors, becoming darker as he kept speaking.
"All you have to do is use this on them. Leave them weakened enough
for the beasts... or kill them. Then you may continue whatever insane
quest you've outlined for yourself, having to do with me."

        She refused to look back
at that materia in fear that its unworldly colors may distract her.
She was now somehow certain he had everything to do with her parents'
disappearance. "And why the hell would I ever kill them?"

        "You don't even know
them." His voice suddenly switched to a seductive crooning.
"They are pests, as bothersome as locusts. Just rid yourself of them
in their sleep. No guilt, no consequence. You and your heart
throb there can probably find passage to wherever you think I am, safely.
Then we're both wiped clean of their bothersome presence. They've
lived long enough, don't you think? Everyone wins."

        Even keeping his warped
senses in mind, that just did not make sense. She turned his words
over and over again in her head, watching the spin of the materia's greens.
There was something... convincing there, certainly. Four mouths to
feed, four people to look after one another, to move together. Two
would be easier, there was no doubt about that. They could move faster
to find her parents. But... "But you're here. Why don't
you just get rid of them yourself?"

        He looked absolutely delighted.
"I've only just begun to regain what I'd lost. I'm not really
here with you. Not physically. But enough to have carried a
materia to you. And enough to carry it back, if we don't have a deal."

        She hesitantly let the orb
take her mind for just a bit, just a second, wondering what power it would
give her. "If I agree to zap them in their sleep, then I get Ultima?
And you'll leave me alone?"

        His smile widened considerably.
"Indeed. Unless you find me, of course." His teeth looked far
sharper than they had before. "Then I cannot honor that last part."

        She looked back at the materia,
thinking. It was a stretch, sure. But Ultima was no longer
reachable in the world by natural means. The draw points had more
or less disappeared after Ultimecia was killed. Just the flaring
swirls of color, the magic and power they held within, if she could master
that... "Alright." She whispered suddenly.

        Sephiroth held himself in
check. "It's a deal then?"

        Kyrie swallowed, looking
into the vacuum of his eyes. "It's a deal."
- 9
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The Sins of Two Fathers