Final Fantasy VII; Sephiroth/Cloud; Theme 44 Fairy Tales "Sephiroth a Jenova Part 2"
Title: Sephiroth a Jenova Author: jessara40k Fandom: FFVII Pairings: Hojo/Sephiroth, future Cloud/Sephiroth Rating: PG-13 Warnings: Huge consent issues Theme: 44. fairy tales
Sephiroth lowered his eyes to the dragon he was working on as he finished explaining his dreams to the man who he was sure had appeared in them so often, and focused on that as he waited for a reaction. Would Cloud be the saviour he’d longed for, had almost been promised by his better dreams? Or had those other dreams been real in some strange sense, and had Cloud come to kill him in answer to the crimes he’d dreamed?
“I’d like to check what spells are bound to you, to confirm that the silver demon is a sending of you, and not something else.” But Cloud didn’t seem to do anything, just waited, with a slight frown growing on his face, and Sephiroth slowly realised that the man was waiting for permission.
“Please, go ahead. I know there are a lot of spells tied to me, even if I’m only certain about what a few of them do.” The ones that impacted his daily life, such as the compulsion to offer his hair as a climbing aid on hearing his full name.
“Would you like me to tell you about the ones I can recognise?” Cloud stood and moved to stand in front of him as he spoke, and Sephiroth put his embroidery aside, waiting for the knight-adept to do whatever he needed to.
“I...you don’t need to tell me about spells that affect how I live from day to day. I know I can’t do more than wash or brush my hair without permission for example.” And he had to spend at least an hour every day climbing up and down the stairs of the tower, usually carrying the basket with his hair above his head. “But if it would please you to tell me about the others I would be grateful.” He didn’t know if there was anything he could do to show his gratitude, but he smiled up at Cloud as he spoke. Cloud just nodded and reached down to cup the side of his face, the focus leaving his eyes and an almost spooky blankness coming over his face.
“Interesting. Yes, there are a lot of spells bound to you, but the most powerful ones are also tied to something else, some other focus...” He trailed off, frowning as he seemed to listen to something Sephiroth couldn’t hear. “And it’s connected to the Star Lady as well somehow.”
“The Star Lady?” He realised he’d spoken aloud, interrupting Cloud, and bowed his head with a whispered apology, half expecting the other man to punish him somehow.
“She’s my patron goddess.” Cloud sounded annoyed to have to repeat himself, but Sephiroth still didn’t understand what it meant, or even what a goddess was. His confusion must have shown somehow, even though he had hidden his face, because Cloud’s voice gentled a little as he continued. “The Queens and the Ladies are paired goddesses, usually mother and daughter, although not always, and sometimes you get a Queen without a Lady, like the Sun Queen, Quetza.” Cloud paused, tilting Sephiroth’s face back up, sounding puzzled as he continued. “They’re where the power for all the greater magics come from. You didn’t know that? Or that your name claims the Star Queen as your mother?”
“No, I didn’t.” Sephiroth wanted to shake his head, but Cloud’s fingers on his chin held him motionless. “Hojo-sensei never talked about his magic, and what few spells I can use are all minor enough that I can power them from my own body and soul.” Household and personal appearance spells mostly, even if he did prefer to tend to his hair and clean himself up without them. “I...don’t remember anything but being in this tower, looking like this. I knew that my mother had to be called Jenova, but nothing beyond that.”
“I see. Sometimes there’s other reasons besides power to call on one of the Ladies or even on one of the Queens, but that doesn’t really matter right now I guess. We’ll ignore the compulsions and prohibitions that are just tied to you - they seem to be day to day stuff, like you said. There’s two old spells - or the decaying remnants of them anyway - tied just to you. One’s a personality alteration spell - and it might have been tied to that other focus I mentioned as well, I just can’t tell. The other’s a memory wipe.” Sephiroth wasn’t sure how to react to that, and suddenly he wasn’t really sure he wanted to hear about the rest of the spells - just those two were scary enough as it was, the rest might be even worse.
“What does it mean that there’s ‘decaying remnants’ of these spells?” It had sounded as if Cloud thought that was important somehow.
“First that the spells have run their course, so I couldn’t reverse them even if those remnants weren’t there to interfere, but more importantly it means that the spells didn’t dissipate when they finished, so it will be pretty much impossible for anyone to reverse them.”
“Oh, I see.” He wasn’t sure he’d even want the personality changes - whatever they’d been - to be reversed, but it would have been nice to remember what his life had been like before the tower. “I...did you get the confirmation you wanted?”
“That the silver demon’s a sending of you? Yes. And it has access to skills you should have but can’t use yourself. This is the first set of spells tied to the other focus I mentioned...destroying that other focus should be enough to eliminate the sending, but I’m not sure what it will do to the skills that have been blocked.” Cloud released Sephiroth’s chin and moved to sit back down, a distant look on his face, while Sephiroth wondered absently if he should feel more than a slight annoyance at losing skills he must have worked hard to gain at some time, even if he couldn’t remember possessing them.
“Are there other ‘sets’ of spells tied to this other focus? And how can you be certain that each set isn’t tied to a different second focus?”
“There’s one more set of spells; a slavery spell-set including a power-tap. There’s also some additional spells that I can’t identify, each tied individually to the second focus. And I wouldn’t be certain they all shared the same secondary focus if the Star Lady hadn’t confirmed it for me.”
“Oh, I see.” That seemed to imply that anything this Star Lady allowed Cloud to know was beyond question, and Sephiroth had to accept the knight-adept’s assessment of the matter. “Is there anything else you need to ask of me?”
“If you don’t mind I’d like to hear a bit about those other dreams you mentioned, the ones where you dreamed of some sort of saviour? And...did you ever have any other sort of dreams that seemed significant?” Sephiroth wanted to avert his eyes, rather than meet the knight-adept’s gaze, and he could feel heat rising in his cheeks at Cloud’s attention, for some strange reason.
“Yes, I did. Which would you like to hear about first? The dreams I always hoped were of my future, or the ones that felt like the long distant past?” He couldn’t keep from glancing at his embroidery as he spoke, wondering if it would offend Cloud if he took it up again.
“Feel free to work on your sewing while you talk, and the Star Lady seems to think I need to know about your dreams of the past more than the prescient ones.” Cloud was talking as if it was a given that the dreams that had offered Sephiroth hope were accurate, and somehow Sephiroth couldn’t bring himself to doubt the man.
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Three types of true dreams then; prescient, linked semi-clairvoyant and limited ancestral. Cloud hadn’t ever heard of anyone having more than one type, but he couldn’t deny the evidence. Although they all might stop when Cloud destroyed the secondary focus given what Sephiroth had explained of their contents, either from the sending, or all about freeing him from the spells binding him.
“Thank you.” He smiled at the oddly vulnerable man in front of him. “I realise that telling me all this must have been hard for you, but I think I can find and destroy that secondary focus I mentioned, freeing you, and destroying the silver demon.”
“You can?” The disbelief in Sephiroth’s voice wasn’t particularly flattering, but Cloud couldn’t blame the man for his doubts. “I...it isn’t just the spells that keep me here.”
“Is that window the only way in or out then?” He wasn’t going to tell Sephiroth that there wasn’t actually any prohibition against him leaving this place - because all Cloud knew about was the spells, and then only the ones tied to Sephiroth, it could easily be an order keeping him imprisoned or a spell on the tower itself.
“Yes, it is. Or at least it’s the way Hojo-sensei always comes in and leaves. I don’t know how the serving constructs get food in, or how he gets the larger pieces I make for him out.” Sephiroth blinked, and frowned slightly. “I can order the constructs to prepare a meal for two if you wish? Hojo-sensei won’t notice that, or pay any attention to it.”
“That seems rather careless of him, but if you are certain it is safe for you I’d appreciate it. But...I need to contact the Earth Lady soon, can you show me to a small room I can use for that?”
“Of course, is there anything in particular that you need in the room?” Sephiroth put his embroidery aside as he spoke.
“No, just privacy and a chair, or failing that a cushion to kneel on.”
“Yes, I can do that. I’ll show you a room, then go and deal with the constructs.” He stood, lifting the basket he’d put his hair in and moved towards the door, glancing nervously at Cloud as he followed. “You won’t be disturbed in here, if this is suitable?”
“Yes, this is perfect.” The room was smaller than the one he’d entered by, but there was plenty of light coming in through the window taking up nearly all of the outside wall. The walls were lined with bookshelves, but otherwise it was empty and there was a pile of cushions on the window seat. “Do you spend much time in here?”
“No, I only come in here to find references, then I read them elsewhere. That won’t be a problem, will it?” Cloud really didn’t like the hint of anxiety in Sephiroth’s posture, and he smiled reassuringly, putting one hand on his arm in an effort to soothe the other man.
“No, that’s just fine. I just wondered. Should I come back to the room we were just in when I’m finished?”
“Please.” Sephiroth hesitated, briefly biting his lower lip, before nodding and turning to leave. Cloud frowned, before reluctantly dismissing his concerns about the man and settling down on the window seat. He pulled out the flower Aeris had prepared for him before he left and held it cradled in both hands as he began to meditate, waiting for the Earth Lady to have the spare attention to deal with him.
‘Hello Cloud. You need me to relay to Zack for you, or do you think reporting to me will be enough?’ He thought he had enough progress to show that Zack wouldn’t order his return, and that he wouldn’t need to argue for the opportunity to continue.
‘I don’t think we need to bother him, not if he’s busy. I found one source of the attacks by the silver demon: it’s a sending, as we thought, and I found the man it’s modelled off. But...he’s bound by so many spells, and I can’t bring myself to kill him.’ He didn’t think Zack would order him to do that either, not when Sephiroth was such an innocent, despite his name. Besides given the implications Cloud wasn’t sure that killing him wouldn’t invoke the Star Queen’s wrath - and he was certain the Star Lady would be displeased with him if he murdered Sephiroth. ‘I checked the spells on him, some are beyond my knowledge, and if you are willing I could share my results with you?’
‘Please.’
Cloud bundled all the information his scan had revealed up into a mental package and offered it up for Aeris to take. ‘I’m almost certain destroying the secondary focus will be enough to destroy the silver demon.’
‘Yes, I agree. I’ll let Zack know your intentions. Do you think you need any additional information about the spells tied to the secondary focus?’
‘Only if one is a tripwire.’ He didn’t think that destroying the secondary focus would harm Sephiroth, or warn Hojo-sensei, at least not based on what little he had been able to recognise of the strange spells. There could be a warning spell tied only to the secondary focus of course, but that wouldn’t affect Sephiroth. ‘I believe the Star Lady is influencing my feelings about Sephiroth a Jenova, the source of the sendings. And he’s been having dreams of me as a saviour that I believe she sent.’
‘I see. Lucrecia is mysterious, even to me, and rather erratic, but she is far less destructive than Jenova is. Accept her guidance. Do you need any further aid?’
‘No Aeris, I do not.’ That seemed to be enough for her, and Cloud could feel her disengaging from his mind. He opened his eyes, blinking slowly as he came back to awareness of the outside world, and realised that it was late in the afternoon, so he put the flower away and went in search of Sephiroth - easy enough as he knew where the man would be.
“Do you mind if I stay here overnight, and leave to search out the secondary focus in the morning?” He needed the time to plan how to find the secondary focus as well - Sephiroth’s dreams hadn’t given him quite enough information to go on.
“Of course not Cloud.” Sephiroth looked up from his embroidery with a smile. “Is there anything else I can do to aid you?”
Cloud considered the question seriously; it would be a lot easier to track down the secondary focus if he had something to act as a symbolic stand-in for Sephiroth to use to follow the link between them, but he hadn’t brought any blank fetishes to charge with blood, and Sephiroth couldn’t give him a lock of hair.
“Not right now. I need to design a spell to find the secondary focus, and perhaps you can help me when I cast it, but for now I just need to think.” That seemed to satisfy Sephiroth and he went back to his embroidery.
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Sephiroth was careful about how he looked at Cloud over the last of the afternoon, restricting himself to sidelong glances and trying to hide his speculation about the knight. It was just as well he was only working on one of his own pieces, rather than one of Hojo-sensei’s ribbons, he reflected when the bell rang, calling them to eat, as he might well have to remove every stitch he’d done on the wing since Cloud had arrived - that or add in additional stitches to provide proper coverage.
“Cloud?” He waited until the knight looked at him before he continued. “That bell indicates that our meal is being served. I need to show you to the dining room.”
“They’re not just bringing it here?” Cloud frowned as he stood, glancing over at Sephiroth’s design table.
“No, I don’t want to risk food getting on my work.” Even if it was just one of his personal projects right now and not something Hojo-sensei had ordered from him.
“Oh, right. That makes sense. Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” Sephiroth couldn’t quite hide his surprise at the apology, and a look of disapproval crossed Cloud’s face, but he didn’t say anything, leaving Sephiroth to wonder what he’d done wrong.
They ate in near silence at first; Sephiroth couldn’t bring himself to speak again and risk saying the wrong thing, even if Cloud’s silence wasn’t comforting, the way it had been before. But eventually Cloud seemed to brace himself for something and spoke to him.
“I wondered, do you actually enjoy that embroidery, or is it something you have to do for Hojo-sensei?” Sephiroth blinked at the question, and Cloud shrugged one shoulder with a rueful smile. “Just I know that some of the ladies at court only embroider because it’s expected of them, and they’re not good enough to devote themselves to magic or become fighters.”
“Yes, I enjoy it. It’s...soothing, even if I only started learning these crafts because Hojo-sensei commanded me to.” Did Cloud want to hear more? It looked as if he did, and Sephiroth began elaborating, relaxing as he realised that Cloud seemed to enjoy hearing him speak about something he really understood and enjoyed. Even if it had sounded as if Cloud didn’t think too highly of those skills.
“Ah...have you decided if I can do anything to help you with that spell you said you needed to design?”
“I’m still not sure.” Cloud sounded very unhappy to have to admit that, and Sephiroth was grateful he’d waited until they’d finished eating to ask. “Aeris will be furious, and rightly so, that I left on this quest equipped more as a simple knight than as a knight-adept. Had I brought supplies for more than the simplest of magics it would be easy, but I did not, and you cannot give me a lock of hair.”
“Is that all you need? I can give you that - I always keep the cuttings when Hojo-sensei decides my hair needs a trim. And...there’s something else. I’ve woven a close fitted tunic and trousers out of thread spun from that. It would function as armour for you if it fits. I think...you said the Star Lady was the one sending me dreams of a saviour?”
“Yes, at least that’s what she seems to be telling me. It’s hard to be certain with her, even for me, and I’m one of the most attuned to her. She’s...a lot more limited in how she can interact with the mortal world than the other Ladies are, because her Queen despises us so greatly.”
“Oh.” He looked down at the table, wondering if his words would sound presumptuous, but needing to finish his explanation. “Well...I think she guided me in making the tunic and trousers, to fit the saviour she promised me.”
“That makes an odd sort of sense, given what your name claims about your ancestry.” Cloud stood from the table with a smile. “We could go and see if it fits now. If it does then I can use it as my focus to find the secondary focus - maybe taking a lock of your hair stained with your blood as a back-up. If you don’t mind of course.” That was obviously an afterthought - not that Sephiroth would have refused Cloud even if he’d been given a real choice, not when the knight was risking himself to free Sephiroth, even if that was only a secondary benefit for him.
“If that will help the of course I will give it to you. If you’ll follow me?” He hadn’t known where to hide the tunic and trousers, so he’d ended up putting them in with his own clothes in his bedroom, and hoping that Hojo-sensei wouldn’t decide to inspect his wardrobe. Cloud stripped as Sephiroth found the clothes he’d woven, and dressed again as he handed the tunic and trousers over to him.
“Feel more comfortable than I’d expected - did you intend to pour magic into them?”
“Magic?” Sephiroth frowned at the question, wondering if it counted that he’d always been pretty much in a trance when he’d worked on them.
“That’s a no then.” Cloud smiled reassuringly at Sephiroth, reaching up to casually rest a hand against his cheek. “It isn’t a problem, and I will definitely be able to use this to find that secondary focus.”
“I’m glad.” But now that they were here he realised another problem. “I...there’s only this bed in the tower, are you comfortable with sharing it with me?”
“As long as you don’t mind sharing. But I can sleep on the floor easily enough if it would feel weird to you. I’ve done it before and I understand if you might be nervous around me.” Cloud smiled and shrugged one shoulder as he spoke, before beginning to undress again.
“Nervous? I...you have to be the saviour I was promised - why shouldn’t I trust you?” But Cloud’s words had created an odd feeling in his stomach, and he was suddenly aware of just how attractive the knight was.
“You don’t know me, you have no reason to trust me, and I want you to feel safe.” Cloud was dressing again in his own clothes, and Sephiroth fought down a confusing sense of regret.
“I do feel safe, and you need to sleep well tonight.”