Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 2: Aftermath

TWENTY-SEVEN

I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, gazing through the nearby window. The sky was still dark, but it wouldn't be very long until sunrise. An hour or so at most. Although I'd managed to get a few hours of sleep, I still felt tired. A strange stillness hung in the air, and I instantly snapped to attention. Something didn't feel right. It was as though the house itself was holding its breath in anticipation. I didn't see or hear anything out of the ordinary, but my instincts told me to be wary.

I got up, shouldered Buster, and headed into the hall, hurrying back to the sitting room as quickly as I could. The driver was still there, just as I'd left him a few hours ago when we'd last swapped shifts on the watch. I went over to him as he stood up from his chair.

"Anything?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Dunno. Sephiroth seems different today."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I went down to see him a little while ago," the driver answered. "Just thought I'd check in on him again, you know. Asked when we'd be leaving for Midgar, but he completely ignored me. Acted like I wasn't even there. So I left him alone and came back upstairs."

I didn't like it. When I'd gone to see Sephiroth yesterday, he'd at least acknowledged me, even if it was just to send me away. It didn't make any sense. With a sigh, I went into the bedroom, opened the hidden door, and descended into the basement again. When I entered the main lab, it was empty, but I heard soft laughter coming from the short hall off to the left, so I followed the sound and went inside.

At the end of the passageway was a small library filled with yet more bookshelves on the walls. In the middle of the room, Sephiroth sat behind a polished wooden desk in a high-backed leather chair. In the light of the chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a single thick book was spread open before him. He didn't look up at first, absorbed as he was in whatever he was reading, and it wasn't until I stopped in front of the desk and part of my shadow fell across the page that he paused.

"Who is it!?" he demanded.

I replied with a question of my own. "What's going on?"

Now he did look at me, and his eyes narrowed when they met mine. "Hmph. I've been expecting you... betrayer."

"What the hell...?" I stared at him. "Betrayer?"

He stood up and glared darkly at me. "Indeed. You're nothing but an ignorant, selfish traitor, avile betrayer of those who came before you. An unworthy heir to the legacy of those long gone."

I shook my head. "Sephiroth, I don't understand."

"Of course you don't," he said. "So I'll tell you. This planet originally belonged to the Cetra. They were a people for whom endless travel was a way of life. They would arrive, settle the planet, and eventually move on. And at the end of their long and difficult journey, they would reach their promised land and find supreme happiness."

Sephiroth went on. "But then, those who had grown tired of making the journey ended their travels and built homes for themselves, choosing an easier life. They took what the Cetra and the planet had so graciously provided and gave nothing back in return!"

"What's that got to do with me?" I frowned.

He pointed at me. "Those are your ancestors, traitor."

I sighed, trying to understand both what he was getting at and what had happened to him. "Sephiroth..."

"Long ago, a great disaster struck the planet," he continued, ignoring me. "Your ancestors escaped by hiding like frightened children. However, the Cetra sacrificed themselves to save the planet. Afterward, your people multiplied like rats. All that remains of the Cetra now is what's contained within these reports. And what came of them..."