Jumelini

“I have one more part for you to play,” came a deep, melodious voice through the darkness.  Sephiroth opened his eyes and saw himself standing over him. No, that’s not right.  “You must be…” His voice came out hoarse and cracked.  “Yes, I am he who you were made from.” The original Sephiroth reached out a hand, offering it to Sephiroth. He took it and let the original help pull him to his feet. “It seems Hojo was only able to make one…” he looked Sephiroth over, “perfect copy.” Sephiroth looked around; they were standing in darkness. He had no idea what was up or down, left or right. “Where are we?” he asked.  The original smiled. “We are deep in the crater, very close to the Planet’s core. I have summoned Meteor. Once it crashes into the world, I will have all I require to merge with this planet. I will sail the cosmos as a God, just like my mother before me.”  Sephiroth thought of JENOVA and felt sick. The fact that she was considered motherly or godly in any way was

They headed north through the snowy field until they came to a small town. It was late at night and most of the lights were out. Sephiroth noticed Maggie shivering. Even if neither of them wanted to sleep, they at least needed a place to hole up and prepare to head up into the snowy mountains. Maggie would freeze to death the way she was dressed.  He led her into the town cautiously, the only sound just the quiet crunch of snow beneath their feet. Sephiroth wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but there was one house to the side of town that was darker than the others. Not even the porch light was on. Maggie continued to shake from the cold. He pulled her close and walked towards the house. Maybe no one is home. Sephiroth looked in the window as they got closer. It was completely dark except for some small blinking lights here and there. The light from another house revealed a thick layer of dust on the inside of the window seal. Maybe it’s abandoned. Taking a risk, he tried the

I know things that I shouldn’t know. I’m losing myself, or maybe I was never myself to begin with. I know where we should go… but is this what I really want? Can I run from it? Can I just pretend all of this doesn’t exist? No. My destiny is not my own and the path has already been carved in stone. We must all go to the REUNION.  Sephiroth was lying down in a tent in a small village on the northern continent. Maggie was snuggled against him. The events of the previous day played through his head like he was watching a movie. They had gone to the Temple of the Ancients. Shinra had conveniently opened the way for them. He didn’t remember where he had walked or how he got to the different rooms. Conversations, like an out-of-body experience, came back to him: In the temple, he had encountered one of Shinra’s operatives. He recognized the man, Tseng, as one of the Turks (Shinra’s Investigation Sector of the General Affairs Department). He had long black hair and a tilak in the center of

Maggie woke up the next morning with not even the slightest pain in her side. As she opened her eyes, she looked over to see that Sephiroth had already gotten up and was not in the room. She panicked a little. Did he leave again? She tried to push it from her mind as she went to the restroom to change out of the blue dress and into more practical clothes.   As she undressed, she saw the wound was completely healed. Not even a mark. No evidence that it had ever existed. Strange, but then... there is also no evidence of the shrapnel from the explosion either. She changed into some jeans and a t-shirt.  Maggie exited the restroom and started packing her things. She wasn’t sure how far Nibelheim was, but she knew they wouldn’t be spending any more time here than was absolutely necessary.  She was just deciding on the black boots again (they were more durable than her normal walking shoes and fit well enough) when Sephiroth came back into the room holding several different breakfast

Although the pain was still sharp in her side, she felt considerably better. Maggie opened her eyes to see the sky just barely starting to light up. She couldn’t help but wonder what would happen from now on. There was the safe satisfaction of knowing that Sephiroth didn’t plan to leave her anymore, nor did he desire it. There were still many secrets about him that she could not even begin to imagine, but where would this all lead? Would she ever know or understand her sudden uniqueness from the rest of the world?  There were few who could give her that answer. Sephiroth was probably the only one with whom she could find answers. She sat up slowly, making sure not to cause herself any pain. Sephiroth was still asleep not too far away.  Oddly, he was not wearing his coat, leaving him shirtless. Looking around, she found it placed upon her lap. He must have put it on her sometime after she went to bed. She always got cold at night. She smiled at the small sign of affection, and then

Sephiroth wasn’t worried about Maggie catching up to him. He doubted very much that she would be able to manage the terrain on her own, and that was how he wanted it. He paused for a moment and worried about what would become of her. She seemed so helpless and he had left her to fend for herself. He ground his teeth. He felt ashamed of leaving her the way he had. It felt like running away; something that he had never done... never had to do.  It didn’t matter now. Soon, he would be crossing the ocean and he would be out of her reach. He hoped Maggie would stay clear of Junon since it was Shinra’s second-largest place of operations. Maybe I should have at least taken her to Fort Condor, or even the small beach town beneath Junon. Sephiroth shook his head; it was no time to be regretting his decision now. Wherever she was, it would be better— safer— than with him.  Maggie, of course, had a different opinion. The only place she could remotely think of that seemed safe was with

Sephiroth worried about how badly Maggie had injured her head. Focusing on the cut, he summoned his healing magic. It would be enough to stop the bleeding, but not to repair all the damage. She was breathing deeply with her eyes shut, and while he knew that she wanted rest, he couldn’t let her sleep. If she had a concussion, she could slip into a coma. However, she was in no condition to walk, and staying where they were would only make things worse. He… would just have to carry her.  He placed one arm under her legs and the other behind her shoulders, and lifted her up. He adjusted her slightly so her head was resting against his chest. At least this way she would be a little warmer too. Her body was light, yet he felt the weight of her against him. Sephiroth was unsure of what his face portrayed as his heart pounded slightly. He tried to mentally quiet the feelings he did not recognize or understand as he jostled her back awake.    “I’m tired,” she groaned grumpily, still half

In less time than Maggie expected, the dry, barren wasteland gave way to soft and damp green grass. She had been to parks in Midgar, but seeing nature look so natural seemed… unnatural to her. Every now and then, she would see soft batches of little yellow flowers and couldn’t help but smile. They were lovely, and she envied the simplicity of their existence. The local monsters also changed in variety, though none of them had presented much of a challenge. Wolves and thieves were exchanged for large birds, strange burrowing mammals, and even some plant-like creatures that ran around on their root-like feet. Sephiroth dispensed of them all quickly. Maggie did her best to stay out of the way and watched with fascination each time. She considered it a rare opportunity to be able to encounter new monsters without worrying about them killing her. After walking for some time without any incidents, Maggie found herself getting bored. In search of amusement, she reached over to poke

Maggie stared into the distance; it was still dark, so she could make out the lights of the small village named Kalm. It was really only a stone’s throw from Midgar, but so different by comparison. There was almost nothing metropolitan about it other than the mako depository. It was all a bunch of cute, blue-roofed houses with wooden shutters. She couldn’t see that amount of detail from where she sat, but she had seen pictures of it before on her computer. She thought back to her home; she really only recently had finished getting everything set up. Thinking of such a thing, she couldn’t help but laugh slightly out loud.  She heard the sound of dirt crunching as footsteps approached her from behind. A deep and melodious voice called out to her, “Couldn’t sleep?” She turned and saw the tall man with silver hair. His shoulders were bare since he had been kind enough to lend her his coat. She shook her head with weary eyes.  “How can I?” she asked, both physically and emotionally

After sleeping soundly through the night, Maggie awoke feeling groggy. Sure, she was healing, but sleeping too much can make a person feel just as lousy as not getting enough. She scanned the room and looked over at Sephiroth just in time for the lab assistant to come in and do what she guessed were his routine morning checks. He came over to her tube, read the digital monitor, and scribbled a few notes. She watched with a blank expression and he didn’t even seem to notice. He tapped the monitor and then adjusted a setting before moving over to Sephiroth’s tube. She secretly hoped that the lab assistant would wake him up, but instead he just fiddled with a few settings, made a few notes, and then left the room. She sighed, hoping that that would not be the only “exciting” moment of the day. Then she recalled that she would be spending time with Hojo again today, and regretted wishing for anything more. However, no one came back to get her or even came into the lab again. It seemed