Across the Divide and Through Valhalla

Ignore That Please

When she got back into the living room, she noticed both Cloud and Zack standing close to each other in a corner, and Sephiroth was staring hard at something on the wall. Caius was also standing near Zack and Cloud, staring at something else. It took her foggy brain a few moments to realize what had snagged their attention. When she realized what it was, a surge of adrenalin went through her, and she found herself in the middle of the room trying to get their attention. "Uh, guys, I can explain."

They all turned to her with various looks on their faces. The ones on Cloud's and Zack's were the worst. She nearly wanted to cry when Cloud spoke up in a quiet voice. "Why?"

That one word was enough to make the tears spring up, but she still managed to speak. "I know you might not understand, but that was a heart-wrenching moment for me too. It is a reminder to me that life is fragile but worth living every moment while you can. I apologize if seeing it hurt you. I can take it down."

She wanted to kick herself at the pain that stayed in his eyes, but he wasn't given a chance to respond, as Zack spoke up. "Does that mean... does Aerith get killed?"

"I..." She couldn't find the words to respond to him. His pain was raw in his eyes, and she just shook her head before she moved past them both to take down the framed poster they had been looking at. It was Cloud crushing a lifeless Aerith to himself in palpable grief. She then moved to take down her clock, which was a vinyl cut-out of Sephiroth, suspending Cloud on the Masamune. The last poster was of Caius and Lightning back to back. She didn't answer any more questions as she moved to put them all in her office and shut the door as she walked back out.

She returned to see them all still staring at her. She ignored the tears that were still drying on her cheeks as she gestured around. "Why don't you all sit down. I need to take care of something first, and then we can get to your questions."

She knew that her request was likely to piss a few of them off, but she needed to talk to Kaylan first. She pulled her friend into the kitchen. The men could still see them, but at least they weren't standing in the middle of them. Her voice was low when she spoke. "Have you called Jerry yet to come to get you?"

Kaylan eyed the men that were still watching them before she answered. "No, my phone is dead, and I didn't get a chance to charge it."

Sherry just nodded. "Let me get mine, and you can call him. Just don't tell him who's here. I'm sure he will recognize most of them, but we can pretend they are cosplayers I met and hit it off with. The fewer people that know the truth, the better."

Kaylan gave her a slightly hurt look, but Sherry didn't let her speak. "You know I trust him, and once we figure out what is going on, we can tell him everything. If you want to, you can once you get home, but I don't want him to know about the mark. I don't want anyone to know about it, please."

Kaylan gave her a reluctant nod. It was enough for the moment. Sherry gave her a quick hug before she turned to go get her phone where she had left it plugged up in the car. Most of the men were still glaring at her as she walked out. She ignored them and was back quickly with it in hand.

She opened it and unlocked it with her fingerprint before she tried to hand it to Kaylan. She was stopped when she heard Genesis speaking over her shoulder. "I see you have our likenesses everywhere."

She jumped slightly at how near he had gotten without her noticing and then looked down at her phone. She had forgotten that Genesis' face was her wallpaper. She felt her face flush slightly as she quickly handed the phone over and then turned to face him. "I have already told you all that I am a fan of your stories. I am not the only one that has reminders on their walls and such. Now, I thought you had more relevant questions?"

Genesis looked taken aback for a moment, but it quickly turned to a smirk. That response was much closer to what he had been expecting earlier. She was easy to handle when she was grumpy, and he found that he enjoyed riling her up further. "I think those are relevant questions as well, especially as each of the images we have seen seems to have some sort of significance."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep calm. She knew they were all correct in calling her out and that the only reason she was losing her temper was because she was nervous and off-balance. She reminded herself that they were all out of place here and had just as much right to be upset. "I suppose you're right, but we can't start in the middle. Why don't you make yourself comfortable and we'll get started?"

She didn't wait for him to take a seat before she moved to lean against the half-wall that separated the living room from the stairs down. She swallowed once before she could speak. She had come to a decision of sorts, and she knew none of them were going to like it. "I know I said we would go over everything when we got here, and I do think that there are things that are pertinent for each of you to know, but I don't think it would be wise to just tell you all the stories."

At her words, several angry voices piped up, most notably from Sephiroth. When he stood, she unconsciously flinched slightly but managed to not do more. When he noticed it, he stopped and gave her a confused look. She ignored it as she stood and raised her voice. "Quit yelling! If you will all shut up for just a minute, I will explain."

It worked to get everyone's attention, but her gaze was drawn by Kaylan. The girl had walked past Cloud and Genesis to get to where she was standing. When she got there, she handed her the phone but didn't release her hand right away. She gave Sherry a questioning look. Sherry sighed before she shook her head slightly. Kaylan's face was grim, but she gave her a hug anyway. "I'll go wait outside so Jerry won't come in right now. Just know that I'm a call away. Stay safe."

Sherry gave her a tight smile. "I'll be fine. You know me. I don't break easily. If you're going to wait outside, make sure you put on bug spray."

Kaylan laughed at her admonition. It wasn't that it wasn't needed, but it was so mundane after the events of the last two days that she couldn't help it, especially when it was compared to her own unspoken warning to Sherry just moments before. Both girls giggled again as Kaylan gave her another quick hug and headed toward the door.