[FF7][SC] Star Flower

The first thing to recover is hearing.

The loud noise exacerbated the headache, and the severe nausea made him almost gag, and his mind was in a mess.The too bright light hurt the dry eyes, so sore that tears almost flowed out.His consciousness gradually came back, and he subconsciously touched the air in his arms.

Sephiroth sat up abruptly.

In front of him is a piece of purgatory on earth.

There were wounded everywhere, too much blood or vomit or something, and the air was mixed with disinfectant and some weird stench.The temporary beds were densely packed in the hall on the first floor of the hospital. Even so, there were still many people sitting or lying on the ground, moaning over and over again, and the wails filled the whole space one after another.After a burst of dizziness, Sephiroth realized that he was seriously injured. Even with the self-healing speed of a special soldier, the pain still permeated every muscle and bone.But he didn't care about these at all, turned over and landed on the precious bed.Someone immediately took his place.

Where is Claude...?

An indescribable panic gripped him.Sephiroth looked around and ran a few steps, but he couldn't find the blond boy.Then he remembered the last time he was in his arms, the bleeding hadn't stopped, and it was so... so cold.The shadow lingered in his heart, getting thicker and thicker.

No... calm down first.He curled his fingers a bit, the loss of real weight was so disturbing.He needs to find out how long the time has passed, where he is, and then find Claude according to the possible situation.If they were separated, even if they didn't want to admit it, they should be treated as corpses, and the most suitable place for him to go was the morgue.He has to be quick because—

"I can also throw you into the fire, and burn it to ashes, and the wind will leave nothing behind." 』

Because with such a huge number of casualties, it is necessary to quickly dispose of the corpses to avoid epidemics.If it was burned to ashes together with a large number of corpses, Sephiroth really didn't know what to do.He felt bitterness in his mouth, remorseful because of what he had said, but he had to gather his energy and search for his location.

But if... just if... After all, this time is so different from the past...

A touch of red flashed from the corner of his eyes, Sephiroth stopped those wild thoughts, and quickly followed.

"I wanted to see you after I finished my work here." Genesis cooperated with the nurse to carry the stretcher onto the mobile bed, and then found a secluded place to talk, "Although you are also injured, you are better than ordinary people after all. The ward should be reserved for those who need it more.” His body was covered in blood, which turned a dull brown after drying, but the leather jacket was indeed intact.Everything was a mess, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed himself to be so disheveled.

Sephiroth couldn't care less, and asked bluntly, "Where is Claude?"

Genesis hesitated slightly.

"tell me."

"...the setting sun passed us, and the trembling dew made me feel cold.[1]" This was the closest answer he could give to the truth.In fact, Genesis himself didn't quite understand it.But after witnessing what happened up close, hearing Sephiroth's cornered calls, after they had to dislocate Sephiroth's arm to separate the two - the truth became so difficult Opening, although the poet himself feels uncontrollable sadness.

Sephiroth was still staring at him, refusing to be fooled.Genesis had to lower his voice and state as tactfully as possible, "We tried as hard as we could—me and Vincent," omitting the fact that he almost lost control of dumping a dozen advanced revives, which until now hadn't Slightly calm, "It's too late."

"I know." Sephiroth said impatiently, "Just tell me where he is now."

"..." Genesis was dumbfounded.

Seeing this, Sephiroth stopped entanglement, and when he turned around, his long hair drew a silver arc and slammed on Genesis's face.The latter shook his head and followed quickly, "Where are you going?"

"The morgue."

"……what?"

"You left him there, didn't you?" Sephiroth asked back.

Genesis stopped. "He's not there."

Sephiroth turned sharply, waiting for Genesis to explain.

"Claude is your thing? Even if he dies, the body still belongs to you?" Genesis laughed absurdly, and when he looked at Sephiroth again, there was only endless irony in his eyes, "You have already Told me, but I didn't understand until now."

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and didn't answer.

"He's not going to die, is he?" Looking into those eyes that didn't have much emotion, Genesis expressed his judgment, and he understood it because he was not refuted.His greatest confusion, Claude has been hiding the secret, seems to have been revealed so plainly. "Should have thought of that. The injuries at that time, the fall from the airship, and the knife Tifa gave him, it was impossible to survive anyway, but he came back. You brought him back. I always knew that he had something Different...I also know that you were the first to discover..."

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"So, what's the price?[2]" He uneasily picked at the dried blood stains on the leather jacket, and the pieces fluttered down, "All power has a price. Odin traded his eyes for wisdom, Ganymede Germany gained eternal life but lost his freedom, Adam and Eve knew human principles and were eventually expelled from Paradise.” Chanting the ancient myth, fear made Genesis’s throat tight and his lips dry.He licked his parched lips. "Sephiroth, do you know he's losing his memory?"

"..."

"Oh no..." The fear gradually dissipated, and Genesis shook his head, but he didn't know what he wanted to deny, "No...Sephiroth...you don't know." He raised his head suddenly and asked incredulously, " How could you-"

The voice stopped abruptly, leaving only half of the breath held in the chest, and then slowly let out.Breathing is almost cautious, for fear of disturbing a certain fragile balance in the air.The anger was fleeting on Sephiroth's face, and it looked more like some kind of self-protective bravado; but he was too tired, too tired to maintain even a modicum of pretense.

"Where is he?" Sephiroth's eyes stung Genesis, dazed, helpless, and vulnerable. "Where is Claude?"

The essence of human beings is indeed a repeater, Genesis thought.This analogy is really funny.

How did he never find out?Sephiroth is so capricious, so egotistical, he looks like a kid who can't get candy.You tell him that there are no more, and he understands this, but he wants it no matter what; whether it's cheating, rolling around and crying, it doesn't make any sense.Genesis thought again, what right did he have to laugh at?For adults, candy is nothing more than something that is readily available; but the world of children is too small, so small that even trivial things may be the whole of that world.

"...the top floor."

He always has no way to refuse such Sephiroth.

Memory is fragmented.The gray-white staircase was squeezed at extreme speed, and disappeared in the distance behind in an instant, disappearing at the end of the black spot of the spiral.From the first floor to the top floor, even if there is no elevator, it will take less than 2 minutes at their speed.But when Sephiroth opened the door of the safe passage and stepped into the quiet, pure white corridor, his footsteps couldn't help slowing down; slowly, he stopped outside the ward, staring at each other through the glass, memories flooding And to.

This is where Hunis died.

Genesis didn't know about it.He did so, more like some kind of destiny in the dark, causing fear to grip Sephiroth's heart, and breathing became difficult.

"What's the matter...?" Genesis urged aside, not knowing why.

Sephiroth shook his head, resting his forehead on the glass, staring intently at the hospital bed.From here, Claude seems to be asleep, if you ignore the bloodless lips and the ugly sinuous black spots.Is it because he...he really did that...?But as long as you don't confirm, you can escape from reality, immerse yourself in the safety of delusions, and let everything suspend in this false tranquility.

"Sometimes people are afraid because they care too much, and dare not approach important things. 』

Miraculously, Sephiroth remembered Rufas' words.Right here, in the same place, in the same scene.He began to feel unspeakable pain, like hunger gnawing at his stomach, and being run over by a red-hot iron, which made him tighten his fists unconsciously, and his shoulders trembled slightly.

He doesn't know what love is, but he's seen it, and he knows what it's like.

Love is about making a connection and then entrusting the right to one's own happiness to another, so that one is no longer whole and capable of surviving on one's own.It is pain, depression, fear, weakness, helplessness, hesitation, and the root of all misfortunes.As long as you don't touch it, you won't be hurt, and if you don't have expectations, you won't be betrayed. Refusing its existence is the only way to survive in this cruel world.

But it was there, undeniable, unshakable.

Waving Genesis's hand away, Sephiroth pushed open the door.The completely unfamiliar emotion was growing wildly, and it became more and more surging with every step, and the torrent of pain almost washed him down.He is going crazy.But he couldn't stop himself, step by step, towards the brink of collapse.

He finally came to Claude, stretched out his hand tentatively, and gently stroked the dried stains on his face.Stiff, cold, so cold that his heart froze.Then Sephiroth lifted the quilt, and Genesis was stabbed by this scene, and couldn't help turning his head away.

Sephiroth stared blankly.

A hollowness suddenly appeared in the chest, the torn muscles rolled out, the inside was already empty, and the other end could be seen from one end, and the bed sheet was stained light brown by the remaining blood.It wasn't the first time he had seen similar scars, and sometimes he himself was the one who caused them; he should be angry, as he had done countless times before, and then wake up the boy, and everything was the same as before.

not like this.

The edge of the bed was pushed down slightly, and Sephiroth sat down beside Cloud.A burst of dizziness, rapid heartbeat, and cold sweat.He's about to throw up.Sephiroth has seen countless horrific wounds, the kind where the intestines flowed out from the omentum on the battlefield; but this one only made him feel sick and horrified from the bottom of his heart.He couldn't even look at it.

When the anger was gone, there was no room for another emotion to hide, tearing his thinking so clearly and distorting his cold face.

He just... just couldn't stand Cloud getting hurt...

Fluorescent green liquid dripped. They found this from the hospital's moko generator.Ignoring Genesis's probing gaze, Sephiroth pursed his lips tightly, staring at the wound without blinking, his blue eyes as hot as burning.

The Moko slid down the hole, fainted on the yellowed sheets, and slowly spread.

Dead silence enveloped the small room, and Sephiroth's consciousness went blank for a moment.

"No, it's impossible!" He stretched out his hand to touch the sticky blood and flesh, which was the touch of death, which made him retract his hand as if it was burning, "The problem of the purity of Moko... or the stabilizer...?"

Holding the back of Claude's neck, his head limply tilted back, Sephiroth fumbled for his pulse in bewilderment.Nothing at all.Gently letting Claude lean back on the pillow, Sephiroth shook his shoulders and arms indiscriminately, trying to find any signs of difference.Finally, he patted the boy's cheek lightly, waiting expectantly for his eyelashes to tremble slightly.

A chill.

Time seems to be suspended, the world dimly fades into a vast whiteness, and all sounds and images go away.Instead, Hunisi knelt beside the bed, clasped Claude's hand tightly, and pressed it against her side.The mother was weeping, glistening wetly; she stared at him resentfully, moving her lips soundlessly.

"I won't give it to you"

Sephiroth suddenly came back to his senses, hugged his lifeless body tightly, hid him in his arms, and snatched him away from Hunis.He covers the horrible hole with his hand, as if that way he can pretend it doesn't exist.Maybe the emptiness actually appeared in me, empty, gradually filled with the joy of regaining what was lost, and the fear of losing it again.Sephiroth just sat there, quietly maintaining the hug, his chin on the top of his head, he couldn't stop stroking Cloud's muddy blond hair, and then kissing it lightly.

"It's okay. You'll be fine." The phantom of mother's resentment gradually dissipated, and Sephiroth breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that his voice was almost choked, "I'm here, I'm fine..."

Genesis couldn't take it anymore, turned around and rolled out.

He couldn't help but hurt him, he had to.He hurt him over and over again, and the fact that Claude still chose to stay by his side gave him great satisfaction and comfort; then he was overwhelmed by deeper anxiety and suspicion, because he knew that no one wanted to be treated like this , everything he has done is pushing Crowder further, and he has to get more confirmation and proof.Sephiroth couldn't stop until Cloud actually betrayed him.Unsolvable dead end.

Because everything in this world cannot be trusted.He couldn't understand it, he never had a real connection to it.

Sephiroth never had a mother, he didn't know what it was like, he didn't understand why anyone would give love unconditionally, based solely on blood ties.That kind of love is fragile and unreasonable. Maybe it's just a fantasy of people, or an instinct controlled by hormones.

Safiro has a father, and although he hasn't known this fact for more than a day, Hojo's influence on him began at birth.Hojo is Sephiroth's original definition of "person", the only mirror for others and self-awareness.He inherited absolute rationality from Baojo. Everything in the world is precise, calculable, and explainable, and the existence of human beings is for survival and continuation. For this reason, power must be used to dominate everything. This was born.

He neither believes that anyone can give love, because there is no profit in it; nor can he be a giver, because there is no such thing in his heart.This is all that his parents taught him, forming the most essential and inseparable part of Sephiroth.And when he finds that he can abandon his identity as a human being, and no longer has to be troubled by constant conflicts...

The existence of Claude became his last link with this world.

And he had to cut it off with his own hands.

Sephiroth tensed uncontrollably, his ribcage without the support of his ribs immediately collapsed, and he had to relax a little more.He was going to lose him soon, and just the thought of it made him suffer so much that he was about to suffocate.He hugged Claude, constantly confirming his existence.

He can't lose him...not again...

"Sa...?"

Sephiroth opened his eyes wide, his pupils narrowed into narrow slits, trembling tremblingly, but he didn't dare to look down.

"Safie...Ross...?"

Powerless hands gently encircled his back, and a faint voice rang in his ears.

Hot tears fell on the young man's shoulder, crossed the back of his hand, and slid down his spine.Sephiroth clenched his teeth in despair, unable to make another sound. He would rather die now than face such a cruel fact.

There was no heartbeat, no breathing, the wound showed no sign of healing, and black sap was oozing from the rotting arm.It won't heal anymore.Sephiroth's hand was still pressing on the hollow, and he could touch his chest just a little bit inside.Claude was still in his ear, vibrating his vocal cords, sa-fi-ro-s-, over and over, repeating syllables that meant nothing to him.

He didn't know what he was talking about now.

But he knew that he had turned Cloud into a heartless monster.

"Sa-fi-lo-s-"

He never found anything wrong with Claude.He would have had that chance.He missed so many opportunities.

"Sa-fi-lo-s-"

Because from the beginning to the end, Claude always remembered his name.

Sephiroth never knew love, and when it came, it brought nothing but pain and despair.

Love is something you can't let go of even when it hurts.

Love is Claude.

"This is really... Spectacular." For a long while, Gillian could only squeeze out this word.

The bright sky light fell from the entrance of the cave, and the dust floated slowly, shining brightly, and finally stopped on the ruined ruins.The building complex is centered on the beam of light, falling down layer by layer, and the completely symmetrical geometric figures impact the field of vision with shocking beauty.As the sling continued to go down, she could gradually see the twisted steel structure stretching upwards, and under the shadow of the ruined walls were gray stumps, all of which showed how dangerous the battle had been.

Cisner helped her stand, unfastened the fixtures, and signaled upwards.

Gillian took a few steps, and was surprised to find that the core area of ​​the institute was under her feet.She recognized the pipelines supplying medicine and nutrient solution, and the boots rolled over the glass to make a slight clicking sound; and in the computer room a little farther away, she could see the circuit board protruding from the broken server, but it was not serious, and there were restored ones. possible.Although this is the center of the explosion, compared to the surrounding area, it is the part with the least loss, which can be said to be very strange.

"I found Alice here." Zack kicked the rock away, looking very upset.He had just come back from a tour to make sure that there was no possible threat left, "someone protected her from the battle - that ice magic, without it, she wouldn't have been able to wait for me." Even so, he almost lost her .There are too many coincidences to be thankful for, but after rejoicing, Zacks still feels uncontrollable regret and fear for the fact that he did not appear by Alice's side in time.

Tifa, who was the last to descend, unlocked the buckle by herself, and looked around the situation.

That's all - four people, plus Shells and Rey guarding the sling on top - there are still uncontrolled experimental subjects raging in the city, it is impossible to devote too much energy to a Cloud.But in another sense, having only them is not a bad thing.

"What's the potion you gave Angel?" Tifa suddenly asked while cleaning up the scene.The slightly immature voice echoed in the cave, and echoed faintly when it hit the rock wall.

Gillian paused for a while before inserting the line, and then quietly connected the line to the computer. The black CMD interface popped up, and the white characters quickly scrolled.She typed on the keyboard and asked casually, "What potion?"

Everyone's ears perked up.

"Isn't that enough? You know the consequences of deception and concealment, which will only bring endless harm." Tifa leaned on the stone, bent down, and looked directly at Gillian's dodging side face, "You turned Angel into a monster , now do you want to lose him forever?"

"It's none of your business."

There was a crisp slap, and Gillian was turned away. "It's none of my business? He killed my father." When he was about to strike again, Sisne had already intervened between the two at the right time.She watched Gillian wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth expressionlessly, and couldn't help but sneer, "I pulled the trigger, I sent the bullet into Claude's chest, and I killed him with my own hands." There was a sore nose, She couldn't cry, and couldn't be in front of this woman, "Now you tell me lightly, it's none of my business?"

"It's not your fault." Zacks tried to comfort her, but he couldn't reach her shoulder with a suspicious hand in the end, "Cloud has also woken up—"

"That's not Claude!"

"He is!" roared back in a louder voice, eager to prove something, "He just needs a little time...maybe sleep, maybe he will be better in two days..."

"You didn't kill him. A concept cannot be killed." Gillian interrupted the meaningless children's quarrel, picked up the glasses, wiped them casually with the corner of her clothes, and put them on the bridge of her nose again, " On the contrary, you saved him."

For a moment, the atmosphere fell into a stagnation.

The clatter of keyboards continued.

Jillian is a bit presbyopic, and her gold-rimmed glasses were broken again. She had to squint her eyes, hunched her back, and stuck herself very close to the screen.Also a scientist, Hojo seems to be in the prime of life, with endless energy; but Gillian is really old, maybe because she is not only a researcher, but also a mother.Mothers are always heartbroken for their children.Heartbreak is mottled white hair, eyes that are no longer bright, and deep grooves etched on the face by wind and frost. The once proud and strong will become so vulnerable.

Just when Zack couldn't help but want to speak again, Gillian suddenly sighed.Very light, very light, but about to be crushed by heavy exhaustion. "That's not a potion. It's nothing."

"No?" Tifa asked back in disbelief, her voice almost sobbing, "I thought... what I did...!"

"Do you think I'm a genius like Hojo?" Gillian smiled self-deprecatingly, "One week. From knowing the truth to now, it's only a week. What can I do?" She took off her glasses and rubbed The movement of pinching the corners of the eyes, quietly wiped off the moisture, "I also hope that I am, so that I will not be tortured by the possibility of deterioration for 20 years, and every minute and every second is suffering."

Happiness does not exist.Whenever her boy smiled at her, or came back from outside rolling in mud, she hugged and scolded, but there was only endless torture in her heart.Angel is so good...he is so beautiful...if only she hadn't raised him to be such a wonderful kid, if only he had been more rebellious and caused her more troubles...then she wouldn't have to love so much He doesn't have to feel any heartache.

Even to this day, even just uttering the word "deterioration" is enough to break her heart.

"It's an inert agent, the kind that is usually mixed in a small amount in the fuel tank." She calmed down again and regained the rationality that a scientist should have, "Claude is a demon life form, I don't know who created it , Maybe it’s really Hojo? But in any case, the structure determines the nature, which is the basic law for the operation of this material world.” Insight into the essence of things, skipping steps to draw conclusions – being able to serve in Shinra, no matter what Not as unbearable as she thought, "No matter what changes his body is undergoing, the inert agent can delay the process and buy more time."

Even though she knew it might be pointless.She spent more than 20 years, but in the end she could only watch Angel die.

"But he..." Tifa shook her head and covered her mouth, "he didn't wake up..." The suppressed fear burst out with tears, "I know I have to kill him...I don't want to, but I have to stop ...You said I saved him, so why did he fall down...?"

Gillian's actions stopped, and the directory was easily opened. A large piece of white text flew by, and the interface flickered on her lens.She thought it would take some time, but someone had done her job before then.

All encrypted files have been previously decoded.

"...There are many possible explanations, but we'll find out soon." Gillian believes in Hojo's ability more than herself, which is why she came here to find information.People of their generation have an almost blind trust in Hojo, even though he is neither a suitable leader nor a qualified human being.She starts typing keywords.

"Claude"

There are a few names of researchers, and very few.But this in itself can explain a lot of things, Claude was not created by Hojo, otherwise Hojo would be happy to name and use him with his strong individualism.

"Magic"

As soon as she hit enter, she regretted it.Sure enough, the tens of thousands of files caused the computer to freeze for a moment, and then frantically refreshed the screen.She forcibly terminated the process, lost in thought.If it's Hojo...if she's Hojo...

But she's not Hojo, and never will be.

"Please lend it to me."

Sisne squatted down next to her, and after obtaining permission, leaned on the computer and typed "05/11/1993".

"November 1993, 11." She turned the computer back to Jillian, and 5 files appeared in the list, "That day we received Claude Xiuley's medical report, everything was normal, and then because Hunis Shinra The identity of the person is sealed in the warehouse, and the security level is classified." No one should remember this incident, because it is too ordinary and irrelevant; but the world is always full of coincidences, as if destined. "It was a big day, so I remember it well."

She narrowly escaped an undercover mission, tired and hungry, and working late into the night because the Turks were short on staff.The most important thing is that she was so busy with what she was doing, and when she wanted to say happy birthday to Mr. Wade with 5 minutes left that day, she received that stupid document that was not at all interesting.

Hazel eyes flashed as sharp as a falcon, and he picked out a folder named SC-001 from the list.

"The only person who can surpass our authority is the department head."

"Have I offended you before? Or the rest of you?" Zack shuddered, and when Cisner stood up, he subconsciously moved away, "Is it too late to make amends now?"

Cissner thought about it.

"Really?!" Zack was startled.

"When did you and Claude meet?" She suddenly asked an irrelevant question.

"...do you think I'm you?"

"No specific date, about a little time." Sisner insisted.

"It should be... a little more than three years?"

"Think about it again? For example, I met you by chance when you were traveling, or you helped a lost child or something? His hair is so recognizable, you can definitely remember it."

"No, no, no, his home is in Nibelheim, no matter how lost he is, it is impossible to get lost in Gongagalai..."

But when asked by Genesis, Zacks couldn't be sure.

He remembered the first time he met Claude, maybe it was the second time, after all, he sneaked to school to watch the first time.He couldn't get over that crying face, especially when Sephiroth told him that the only other cry he'd seen in his life was when his mother died.He never asked why, he felt that if Crowe would open up, he would tell him one day; gradually, the boy became able to smile at him, so the truth didn't matter so much.

Did they really know each other?Why would I forget?

"Is it a coincidence..." Sisne's eyes widened in disbelief, Zack's expression confirmed her certain conjecture, "No, it can't be a coincidence, there must be some special meaning."

"What's the point?" Zack was infected by the tense atmosphere, and his breath became short of breath.

"I just remembered it too. Claude was involved in a kidnapping incident seven years ago. You may have heard Angel say it? What I want to say is that I was at the scene at that time, and I recorded every detail , so it is absolutely impossible for this matter to go wrong." Sisne took a deep breath, even so, his heart was still about to jump out of his chest.It's all so incredible. "He said to the terrorist who threatened him at that time—"

"I'm Zack, Zack Phil, from Gongaga."

"It's impossible!" The voice came from Gillian.She shut the computer abruptly, held it in her arms, and looked back and forth at the few of them, wanting someone to give her a negative answer. "Impossible... Impossible..." She covered her face, and pulled her forehead hair back at a loss, "If the "reorganization" was prepared for Sephiroth...why now...?"

Until Cisne took the computer out of her arms, she didn't say anything more, just kept repeating a few professional words with unclear meanings, and mumbled to herself in a breakdown.

They turned on the computer, and the page was still there.Too many weird nouns, too casual way of recording.At the bottom are fragments of text similar to an outline. It seems that the author likes to make an outline first, and delete one after writing a part; scrolling up, this experimental record seems to be about a certain kind of cell experiment, one kind of cell can swallow another, but when it reaches a certain When the threshold is reached, it will... self-limiting collapse?

"What...mean?" They looked at each other, with an ominous cloud hanging over the sky.

Gillian stood up staggeringly, wandering around the dilapidated laboratory in a daze.She touched the torn walls, the dusty dissecting table, and finally came to the sink in the core area; the liquid had drained, and only the glass shards glistened.She knelt down and picked up the metal hood that fell on the ground. The nameplate with scratches all over it read "JENOVA".

"Plan S is not a special forces plan. Sephiroth, from the beginning there was only Sephiroth." Gillian looked up in awe, the place was empty and there was nothing left, "He will complete the reorganization with Jenova , from Sephiroth (the outflow of divinity) to Sosthenes (the power of the gods), and thus to the glory of the whole world."

There was silence, no one understood what she was saying.

"But now, Jenova has disappeared, and Sephiroth has not yet become a god." Gillian's face was ashen, and she gave up thinking dejectedly, explaining the facts mechanically, "It is Claude who merged. He wants to merge with Jay Nova died with her."

It took a while before Tifa realized that that was the answer to the question she had just asked.

haven't seen you for a long time.Vincent said in his heart.

He sneaked into the ward quietly.Not an easy task, as Sephiroth is also there.Pain and fatigue made the young man fall into a deep sleep, but even in his sleep, his cold brows were still furrowed uncomfortably, as if a slight noise could wake him up.Vincent watched the scene in front of him in silence - Sephiroth hid Claude in his arms, guarding its treasure like a greedy dragon, and he couldn't let go at all.

Sephiroth is indeed a descendant of Hojo, Vincent thought.Not only in the genetic sense, but more in the subtle influence, paranoia, indifference, ego, these characteristics were deeply baked into his soul and became an undeniable part of Sephiroth.

But they are quite different.Sephiroth in front of him is so simple and easy to understand, he is afraid of losing; fear, a word that is so inappropriate for him, and all this is because of Claude.It's really strange, until this fact was confirmed, Vincent didn't feel that Sephiroth was this kind of person, otherwise things wouldn't have developed to this point—or is that why?

Vincent looked at Claude again.From this angle, only a handful of golden hairs could be seen, quietly emerging from Sephiroth's fingers; the thick bandages were wrapped around his neck in layers, but still couldn't stop the star marks spreading around the edges.The air is mixed with weird smells, alcohol, disinfectant, and the sweet smell of corruption.

He subconsciously sniffed carefully, and it was like an illusion.

Vincent sighed silently, no longer being distracted by the details, raised the firecracker and pointed it at Claude's head.He didn't want to be so cruel to Sephiroth, but he couldn't find another opportunity.Sephiroth was watching too closely, maybe it was some sort of bestial intuition; but it was more likely just that the other party had realized that there was not much time left.

Your own life is a failure.Vincent has always known this.

He always retreats at critical moments and throws the burden of choice on others.In this way, even if the ending is unsatisfactory, as long as the decision is not made by himself, he can always be immersed in a sense of satisfaction similar to self-sacrifice, and escape everything through the mentality of atonement.Abandoning responsibility is shameful, but it's lighthearted, that's all.

However, the pain never goes away.It just rests on someone else's shoulders.

"Sweet dream, Claude." He sighed softly.

At least this time, he was the one to see him off.

softly annihilated in the rising