Switched

Offers and Agreements

Once both Sephiroth and Genesis were settled, Zatier left them. He did caution them to be careful of the things they touched since they were left alone in the ship. The tall male had barely left before Zack jumped up to start exploring. Angeal rolled his eyes but didn't stop him. It wasn't like he hadn't expected it. He did call out before the younger man disappeared. "Don't push any buttons. The last thing we need is to wind up in space accidentally, or worse."

Zack poked his head back through the door with a grin. "You take all the fun out of it." He sobered as he looked to the two that were already asleep. "Don't worry. I am curious, but mostly I want to see if they are really keeping their word." Angeal smiled warmly at Zack's retreating form before he settled in to wait for his friends to wake up.

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It was several hours later that Sephiroth woke. Angeal had been pacing the small room and looking at the various contraptions to try and stay awake himself. He was surprised to see her stand from the pod. "I wasn't expecting either of you up for several more hours at least."

She looked over at Genesis and then gave Angeal a curious look. "How long did I sleep?"

"Only a few hours at most." Angeal waved at the machine she had just been in. "It seems like they weren't kidding. You look fully rested."

She gave him a nod before she looked back as well. "I do feel rested. This is an amazing piece of technology. From what I have heard since you left, it seems as though most of their power comes from their advanced knowledge. They are obviously physically stronger than an average human, but the rest of their feats, including the barrier, are all products of machine enhancement."

Angeal raised a brow and looked around. "That makes sense when you point it out. If they are Jenova's family that means they must have lived for thousands of years. I doubt they could live that long and not become advanced. Plus, that giant ship had to have been around before they even left their planet. When you think about it, it's kind of mind-boggling."

Sephiroth nodded absently as she looked around. She suddenly turned back to Angeal with a confused look. "Where is Zack?"

Angeal shook his head and smiled. "He was exploring, but about an hour ago the male we talked to first, Zutan, came and asked if one of us could possibly help wake the scouts. They wanted someone familiar there. Not that any of them know Zack, but they don't know me either, so he volunteered. They should be waiting when you are ready to go talk to the aliens."

She raised a brow in surprise. "I wasn't expecting them to release the scouts until they were ready to go. Hopefully, that means that our actions were appreciated."

Angeal gave her a scowl before he spoke. "Even if that is the case, what you did was rash and could have ended up with you both dead instead."

She shook her head. "I had no doubt that they would not harm us if we were able to succeed."

Angeal opened his mouth with a harsh retort, but he wasn't given the chance to say it as Genesis had woken up as well. "Peace Angeal. While I agree that it might not have been our best decision, it served the purpose we intended. We need to look forward."

Sephiroth turned and gave him a contemplative look but didn't add anything else. Angeal threw his hands up and gave them both an exasperated look. "I don't know why I bother. I'm surrounded by the most self-sacrificing people on Gaia."

Genesis only gave him a smirk as he walked past but Sephiroth clapped him on the shoulder and gave him a half-smile. "You know that you would be willing to do whatever it takes as well, so don't pretend you don't understand. The world isn't yet to the point that we can expect long lives." Angeal frowned at her but didn't say anything as he followed them out.