Chapter Thirty

“Oh why now?” Jyleth said exasperatedly. “Why follow us all that way to wait to attack us now?” A loud crack answered her question, followed by a louder, closer metallic clank as Sephiroth deflected the bullet with the Masasmune.

“Ok, I’m impressed,” Jyleth said. “Since when could you block bullets?” Sephiroth, if he was going to answer her question, did not get a chance, as another loud crack indicated a second projectile was coming. Jyleth dodged to the side, looking for some sort of cover. She suspected that Sephiroth could not keep deflecting bullets indefinitely. A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that suspicion, as Sephiroth had followed her in an attempt to find something to put between themselves and Vincent’s gun. Jyleth’s eyes found a large grouping of rocks, however, the quickest path to them was across the sandy area, between the waiting dune monsters. Sephiroth must have seen it at the same time, as he reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her down into a slight depression behind on of the larger scrub bushes.

“They have been waiting for the right opportunity,” he said fiercely. The green of his eyes intensified until it was almost glowing, the Mako expressing the level of his fury. His fingers scrambled over the assorted materia on the Masamune hilt, trying to find a useful solution to their situation.

“They certainly are not very grateful,” she answered, flinched as a small explosion of sand from a third bullet erupted a few feet to her side. “That rock is our best chance.”

“No,” he answered.

“Got a better idea?” Sephiroth concentrated on a materia stone, which caused a large fireball to form over them before it flew in the general direction of the two attackers. Both dodged the low level attack easily, but it served its purpose, making them more wary in their approach. Sephiroth looked around the landscape furtively, trying to find a better, more defensible position. He noticed then several of the dune monsters have shifted position, moving significantly closer to his and Jyleth’s location. He looked past them to the small grouping of rocks, then back to the approaching two men. Considering his current magical energy and inventory, he had enough energy for a few high level spells, including one that might solve at least one of their problems. Removing a stone, he handed it to Jyleth. She took the green stone gingerly, always wary of what he might be giving her.

“Activate that when I tell you,” he said. She removed a low level materia from her sword hilt, replacing it with his. Once it was in the blade, her magical ability told her of its use.

“A barrier?” she asked.

Sephiroth did not answer, his attention focused by the fact he could actually see the dune monsters moving closer with every moment. Finding the stone he needed, he concentrated fully on the magic within. The stronger the magic, the more concentration it took to properly evoke and, in this case, aim. He completed the evocation, grabbed Jyleth’s arm and got to his feet, pulling her up with him.

“Now!” he shouted, as a tell-tell high pitch whine just became audible.

“Oh no, you didn’t!” she shouted, activating the barrier even as she did so. Sephiroth began to run, but not in the direction she had anticipated. He was running toward Cid and Vincent, which meant he had called the meteor down on the on the dune monsters. Jyleth had expected for him to take the more immediate action against the two men.

As they drew closer, Jyleth could see the surprise on their faces. “I recommend you take cover!” she shouted at them. Vincent raised his gun, aimed carefully, and shot. Jyleth flinched in spite of herself, stumbling and slowing Sephiroth down as he helped her regain her balance. The barrier absorbed the bullet, but Jyleth felt it weaken considerably. She was not certain it would stop a second bullet. A flash to her other side told her that Cid was attacking, sunlight glinting off his spear. The barrier slowed the attack, then collapsed. Sephiroth swept the Masamune toward Cid without breaking stride, catching the spear and redirecting it away from them. The whining was now a near-deafening roar. Jyleth reached back with her free hand and pulled one of the blades strapped to her back, ready to defend herself. Before either could attack again, the meteor struck the sandy expanse behind them. The concussion of the impact caused the ground to lurch under Jyleth’s feet. Sephiroth’s grip on her arm was gone the next moment, and she fell heavily to the ground by the shockwave that followed the blast.

She recovered quickly, finding that Vincent had been thrown to the ground just a few feet from her. His gun had tumbled from his grip and was in the space between them. Their eyes met at the same time, both seeing the gun between them, then both scrambled for the weapon. Jyleth snatched it up a moment before his hand reached it. She got to her feet quickly, stepping back and aiming the unfamiliar weapon carefully at Vincent. He stopped moving, still on his knees and staring at her with angry eyes. A quick glance revealed that Sephiroth held Cid captive, the Masamune hovering a few inches from the pilot’s neck.

“Finish us, then,” Vincent told her in a seething tone.

“We don’t want to kill you,” Jyleth answered. “If that was our intention, then why didn’t we let the storm wolf finish you off? Why didn’t we leave you in that storm to die? Why did we help you?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Cid demanded, his eyes darting back and forth from Sephiroth to Vincent.

“You didn’t tell him?” Jyleth asked, directly her attention at Vincent.

“Tell me what?” Jyleth looked pointed at Vincent, wondering what the reasoning had been for keeping his companion in the dark. Vincent kept his gaze even with hers. Without warning, he suddenly lunged at her, grabbing the gun from her hands before she had a chance to think about pulling the trigger. The gun quickly spun in his hands, aiming directly at her face. Jyleth stared past the weapon at Vincent’s face, not making an effort to attack, even though she still held the blade in her hand.

“Why?” she asked softly, not understanding the depth of hate she saw in his eyes.

“We cannot allow this planet to be damaged any further.” The gun did not waver. Jyleth focused on his hands, the long tapered fingers that rested on the trigger, ready to make that small motion that would end her life.

“I will kill him,” Sephiroth said fiercely, “I will kill him if you shoot her. And then I will kill you.”

“What makes you think we are going to damage the planet?” Jyleth returned her gaze to Vincent’s eyes, ignoring Sephiroth and Cid. Vapor from the meteor spell began to waft over them, carrying with it small pieces of gil from the destroyed dune monsters. “Okay, well, I don’t like that spell either,” Jyleth said, noticing a tightening in Vincent’s features with the arrival of the vapor. “But I hardly think that’s destroying the planet.”

“A more powerful version of that spell nearly did,” Cid said, looking pointedly at Sephiroth. Sephiroth did not respond.

“If that spell is not used again, then you’ll be happy?” Jyleth asked. An expression crossed Vincent’s eyes, one that Jyleth wasn’t entirely too sure of, as the lower part of his face was still covered, but it might have been… interest. Jyleth backed a step away from Vincent, then dropped the blade in her hand. She raised both hands carefully, showing them to Vincent.

“I’m going to walk over there,” she said, indicating toward Sephiroth and Cid. She took one step, waiting to hear the crack of the gun, wondering if she would feel the impact of the bullet before she died. But there wasn’t a sound. She took another step, then another. The gun followed her progress, but Vincent seemed curious enough now to allow her some movement. She walked over to Sephiroth, moving her hand toward the hilt of the Masamune. He hands covered the materia, but she knew one of those stones was the meteor spell.

“Hand it over,” she said, hold out a hand.

“No,” Sephiroth said flatly, not taking his eyes off Cid.

“It’s a stupid spell, anyway. It’s probably going to kill one or both of us, or worse, someone else, if you keep using it.” She shook her head a little bit, as her ears were still ringing. “And it’s really loud. Ridiculously loud. We don’t need it. Hand it over.”

“No.”

“We don’t need it,” she repeated, feeling her ire rise again. Why did he have to be so stubborn? “We are strong enough that we can fight without it. It’s not worth killing both these men – or losing our own lives over.” She reached for the hilt of the Masamune. Her hand had almost reached it when he suddenly, changed his grip, releasing one hand and shoving her back hard.

“I said no!” He shouted her, still keeping his gaze on the Cid. The blade had shifted slightly closer to the pilot with Sephiroth’s movements, but it had not touched the pilot’s skin.

Jyleth’s irritation gave way to anger. Sephiroth unreasonable actions really were going to get them killed. She unsheathed her remaining Kasume blade, sweeping it under the Masamune and moving between Cid and Sephiroth.

“Fight you for it,” she said, cocking an eyebrow and daring him to accept.

“What the hell?” Cid exclaimed from behind her.

“Stay out of it,” Jyleth said, glancing briefly back at Cid, then nodding at Vincent. “This isn’t your fight. We can get back to that after he and I deal with this.” She looked back at Sephiroth. The Mako glow had returned to his eyes, and this time, she knew his anger was directed at her.

“There is nothing to deal with,” he said. “There is nothing to discuss.” His voice was low, deadly with intensity.

“Fine,” Jyleth answered. She attacked without warning, without holding back. He reacted instinctively, parrying her attack and reposting. Jyleth allowed him to attack, fading back under the blows, until she reached the point where she had dropped her other blade, she feinted, then dodged down and swept the other blade of Kasume up. Now, fully armed, she returned his attacks more fully. She noted he was favoring the injured leg, noted the bright, fresh blood that had blossomed from the not quite healed wound. She noticed these things and pressed him, forcing him to use his injured leg more. A small part of mind screamed about hurting him, forcing him to this, but she pushed it back, silenced it.

Had he been fully rested and uninjured, she knew that she never would have been able to press him so, but she took her advantage and pushed it, determined to end the fight without having to kill the two men who watched in quiet astonishment.

Despite her advantage, she found that Sephiroth was still slowly winning. His attacks were still lightning quick, and though the Masamune had not quite slipped through her defenses, she was just barely avoiding that eventuality. She dimly heard the now-familiar sharp crack, then stumbled and fell to the ground as Sephiroth had forsaken conventional attack and thrown himself against her. She realized a moment later he had done this to move her out of the way of Vincent’s attack. The bullet, intended for her, had instead struck Sephiroth in his side. He lay half on top over her, gasping. She shoved him off her, grabbed at the Masamune, pulling off the materia stones until her magic identified the meteor materia. She took the stone and replaced one of the materia on her Kasume blade with it.

Standing, she turned to face Vincent, who held the gun pointed evenly at her. “I give you my word, it will not be used again,” she said. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, the voice was back, screaming at her to tend to Sephiroth, but she felt the more immediate concern was Vincent.

“Your word is not enough,” Vincent responded, his gaze flicking to Sephiroth, who held a hand clutched to his side, trying to staunch the flow of blood even as he struggled to rise.

“Fine,” she said, taking the materia stone out of the Kasume slot. She threw the stone at his feet. “You safeguard it, then. If there is a way to destroy it, then do so.” Vincent looked at the stone at his feet, not seeming to believe it was there.

Cid reached down to scoop it up. He placed it in one of the slots on his spear, then rested his hand on it, closing his eyes in concentration. “It really is the meteor materia,” he said softly, almost in awe. “I can’t use this spell,” he continued, almost talking to him, “it’s far to strong. Maybe Cloud, though.” Jyleth watched a quick succession of emotions pass over Cid’s face, most of them too quick for her to read, but something she saw made her very worried. Cid was clearly afraid of Cloud.

Vincent was still watching her and Sephiroth. Jyleth didn’t dare to look at Sephiroth, knowing how furious he must be with her at this moment. Again, she saw a flicker of strange emotion pass over Vincent’s exposed features, perhaps he was remembering how Sephiroth had jumped in the path of the bullet intended for her. Or the fact that Jyleth had been willing to fight Sephiroth to aid them. Vincent raised the gun, aiming it skyward. He met her gaze searching, as if looking for an answer there.

“Why didn’t you let us die?” The question was quiet, but his voice held a burning intensity that betrayed the amount of consternation that question had given him.

“Because you didn’t deserve to die,” she answered honestly. Vincent considered this, his gaze once more returning to Sephiroth, who had managed to get to his knees. Sephiroth met Vincent’s gaze, and both men were still for a moment, some sort of silent exchange of knowledge seeming to pass between them. A change went through the gunman’s body, leaving him wary, less tense. He sighed, then holstered his gun.

“Vincent, what are you doing?” Cid demanded. He has retrieved his spear and stood a few paces behind Vincent, his stance battle-ready.

“Something here is not what it seems,” said Vincent. “Or rather, it is more than what it appears to be.” With that cryptic comment, Vincent turned, walking away from them. After a long moment, Cid followed.

Jyleth watched them until she was sure their intent was to leave, then she dropped to her knees beside Sephiroth. The wounds on both leg and side were both bleeding heavily, staining the ground with dark red droplets that were quickly becoming pools. She pulled her pack off her back, opening it and removing a strong cure potion. Sephiroth’s gaze was on the two men behind her, refusing to look at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling the guilt crash over her in the wake of his injuries. Sephiroth didn’t respond, his eyes watching her hands, now shaking, as she tried to open the cure potion. He slowly sank the ground as she finally managed to get it open. She caught him awkwardly with one arm, holding the cure potion in her other hand. Bracing his head and shoulders against her body, she brought the vial to his lips, tipping it slowly for him to drink. A long sigh escaped him as the potion began to work. Potions were slower in effect than spells, and generally were not as strong, but they had both nearly exhausted their magical energy.

After several long minutes, Jyleth stirred, deciding that she should probably bind his wounds since the potion and been unable to finish healing them. She could tell for the most part, the major damage was repaired, but only rest and time would finish the process. However, she had barely moved when Sephiroth’s hand reached up and grabbed her arm, holding her in place. She froze, feeling his fingers dig deeply into her flesh.

“What?” She asked. He hadn’t turned to look at her, only moved so that he could stop her from moving away. “Sephiroth, I said I was sorry, but-“

“I do not wish to hear your excuses,” he interrupted her.

“Sephiroth,” she breathed, hurt by the cold anger in his voice. “What other choice did you give me?”

“I did not expect you to choose to betray me.” Jyleth felt dizzy suddenly, weak as she felt the blood drain from her face.

“I didn’t,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “Sephiroth, no, I didn’t!” He moved suddenly, yanking her arm down, tumbling her to the ground, where he pinned her with his body.

“Didn’t you?” His eyes finally met hers, and she was chilled by the cold, empty glow of them. She felt a tear slip from each eye, unbidden.

“I’m sorry,” she said, blinking away more tears that came faster now. “I… you were making the situation worse. They were determined to kill you – to kill us! It was the only thing I could think of.”

“You said I should learn to trust, so I did place my trust in you. Yet you do not place your trust in me to protect you. To protect our child.” He raised one hand to her face, gently brushing away a tear. He examined the droplet on his finger for a moment, then the hand fell out of her view. “More than that, you betrayed me.”

Jyleth felt her guilt deepen, sharpened with frustration. It wasn’t betrayal, she thought fiercely to herself. I was trying to resolve the situation without killing. Why can’t he see that? She shoved at his chest, surprised somewhat that she was able to push him away. He sat back heavily, his breathing coming hoarse gasps. She felt damp stains on her side from his wounds that were not yet healed and realized he was still very weak. His brief show of strength had been fueled by anger.

She moved over to him, reaching out to take his hand, resting her fingers on the shape of the stone below it. “Part of what needs to be accomplished is forgiveness, remember? That means you have to show you really have changed. Continuing to use the things from your past that caused all that trouble, that only makes them believe you have not changed.” Sephiroth turned his head away from her, but he didn’t pull his hand from her grasp.

“You have given my greatest enemy my greatest weapon,” he said, looking in the direction that Cid and Vincent had taken. “In your efforts to save two men who would rather see us dead, you have insured we will both die later.”

“Your greatest weapon?” She sniffed at that, a half laugh. “Sephiroth, magic and swords are all well and good, but they are not your best weapons.” He turned to look at her, briefly, but no emotion showed on his face. His eyes were cold and flat, no longer hostile, but neither caring.

“Besides,” she continued, “I don’t think they are going to give it to Cloud. Something else is going on, I could tell in the pilot’s face. They are afraid of Cloud.”

Sephiroth looked away again, returning his gaze to the path Cid and Vincent had taken. He did not answer her. But neither did he move his hand from her grasp. Jyleth reached over to her back, removing the bandages to bind his wounds before he watered the desert completely with his blood. He didn’t move, or even look at her, as she carefully cleaned and bound them. She sat quietly at his side for some time after that, but her stomach growling finally drew her away to prepare something for them to eat. Starting a small fire, she mixed up some soup from dried packets and water, taking time to season it rather than eating it bland as they usually did. She spooned some out and brought it to Sephiroth, finally having to set it at his side when he refused to acknowledge her.

After eating her own portion, Jyleth finally unrolled her bedroll and curled up to sleep. She knew that he would hear her, and thought that he probably would not care in his current mood, but she could not stop the tears from falling as she cried herself to sleep.

When she woke the next morning, she was alone.