Pain, he felt it keenly, even after waking from the
nightmare that haunted his every sleeping moment. The same awful blackness, the tortured screams ringing clear
inside his head. The fire, licking at
the sky like it was hungry for more to burn.
What did all of it mean? Why did these people stare at him so hatefully?
Hunched, seemingly crippled figures in
black cloaks, groaning, only managing a few real words. Following him, then suddenly a flash of
metal, and they were dead. Did this
blow come from him? An eerie green
glow, enclosing him, swallowing him. He
tried to cry out, but there was no sound.
There seemed no escape, but in his dream he felt so calm. Soon he was only vaguely aware of his
surroundings, and he knew that he was asleep not only in reality, but in the
dream as well. More like
unconsciousness, actually. He tried so
hard to awaken then, but it was always in vain. He knew that the worst part was yet to come. The bloated, purple figure, just like a ripe
bruise, coming towards him so quickly.
It seemed to grow as it came closer, and always he would notice with a
start that this creature had no head, nor anything even resembling a head. It terrified him always, and only when he
felt the monster touch him, the cold, grimy tentacle slipping down his arm, did
he finally awake�
The man�s eyes shot open, and he sat up in bed, soft
silver tresses falling over his bare chest.
He gasped to catch his breath, and wiped at the cold sweat that had
begun to bead on his forehead and cheeks.
His long, prominent bangs brushed his chin as he shook his head, as if
to clear it of the images. He thought
that he should be used to the dreams by now.
With a sigh, he checked the clock beside his bed. 3a.m.
That wasn�t unusual either. He
laid back down on the bed, and merely stared at the ceiling. What was the meaning behind these
dreams? He had already connected the
monster in his dream to the creature called Jenova, but Jenova had been used in
so many experiments, it would probably be close to impossible to pinpoint
anything. There was the case of the
�war� 500 years ago concerning a meteor and Jenova�but as far as
he knew, all the records of that incident had been lost with the ShinRa
Headquarters in Midgar. He had been
meaning to get to the library to check, in any case.
He had classes today, however, and that would have to
wait until afterwards.
He checked the clock again. 3:03. Damn. Might as well get up. He sure as hell wasn�t going back to
sleep. The man reluctantly pulled
himself out of bed, yawning as he stretched his arms over his head. As he ambled out of the bedroom of his
modest apartment, he happened to glance to his briefcase, which sat on the
coffee table. The simple �SS� engraved
on the top plate. �S� for Sephiroth,
and �S� for Stanford. He always thought
Sephiroth to be quite an odd name, but he liked it just the same. It had a certain ring to it. As for his last name, who knew where it had
come from? He was an orphan, but
apparently his would-be parents bore
the name; or so they told him at the orphanage.
Sephiroth ambled idly into the tidy kitchen, flicking on
the light. He paused, letting his cat
green eyes adjust to the sudden brightness.
He searched for something edible, opening he refrigerator and the
cabinets. His main concern was whether
or not he would do himself bodily harm by attempting to cook while he was still
half asleep. His decision was that he
most likely would, so he set about making himself a bowl of cereal. Normally he ate only somewhat nutritious
things when it came to cereal, wheat and oats and things like that, but today
he thought he quite possibly emptied his entire supply of sugar into that bowl.
After his small breakfast, a shower, and getting dressed,
it was about the time any normal person would be waking up. He was dressed like he was every morning- a
somewhat casual suit, today in a pale brown, with a white dress shirt tucked in
underneath. He slipped his small, oval
reading glasses into the inside pocket of his jacket. Sephiroth sat on the couch and gathered the papers scattered over
the coffee table, pausing to scan one.
He sighed softly, and merely placed the page in the briefcase with the
others.
He leaned back into the soft leather couch and crossed
his right leg over his left, reaching to the arm of the sofa for the television
remote control. Pausing to glance up at
a clock, and seeing it was only 5a.m., he decided to waste his mind on the
television, since he didn�t have to leave for another two and a half hours. He flipped on the relatively small screen,
and settled into channel surfing for a good three minutes. �I don�t know why I bother,� he thought to
himself, shaking his head. He finally
decided that the most intellectual thing on television at 5:03a.m. was Looney
Tunes, so he amused himself with that.
Hell, it was either that, or an infomercial for �Vasoplex,� which he
only understood to be some sort of feminine cream that was akin to Viagra. He stayed on Looney Tunes.
When it was finally late enough to leave, he filled his
thermos with hot coffee, picked up his briefcase, and locked his apartment,
then made his way out to his car--a black BMW Z3. A bit expensive for his profession, but the car was really his
one true luxury, and he treasured it above anything. Not a weekend went by that he wasn�t washing and waxing it. He even polished the hubcaps.
He left the top up that morning for the sake of keeping
his long hair untangled, and drove through the wide streets of Junon, headed
towards Junon University. The tall
buildings zipped by as he sped through the city, and through his open window he
could smell the air coming from the ocean as he drove near the beach,
absentmindedly taking the scenic route to the University.
Upon arriving, he parked in his usual spot, paused to
lock the car and give it a loving pat and a smile, then walked inside, carrying
his thermos and briefcase.
No sooner did he start down the main hallway than he
heard a young woman�s voice call, �Professor!
Professor!� Naturally he turned
around, and smiled as he saw the girl rushing towards him.
�What can I do for you, Christina?� Sephiroth asked with
a gentle smile, recognizing the girl from his afternoon class. He noted the near dreamy look on her face as
she looked at him, and thought idly that she must be still half asleep.
She shook her head, and smiled at him. �I just wanted to know if it was okay if I
took that test today after class instead of next week? I�ll be out of town, so I wanted to get it
done. I�m ready for it, I think I�ll do
pretty well.�
��I won�t be able to stay long, I have things to do this
afternoon. Make sure you�re in my
office the earliest you can be.�
�I will! Thank
you, sir!� She smiled and waved at him
before bouncing off.
Sephiroth smiled.
That girl really was quite pretty, but too young for him. Besides, she was a student.
He went to his classroom, where most of his students were
already waiting. He glanced at his
watch, and, seeing that it was time for class to begin, locked his door behind
him. He moved to the desk and managed
to sift through the mass of homework papers that had been messily deposited on
it.
�I need to get a basket or something�� He shook his head, pulling his World History
textbook from his briefcase and moving to the podium near the center of the
room. Opening the book with one hand
and flipping pages, he used his other to remove his glasses from his pocket and
slip them onto his face, letting them rest on the end of his nose, where he
could see through them when he glanced down to the book. �Open your books, page 216...�
*****
Three and a half hours later, Sephiroth sat in his
office, glasses sat on his nose once more as he graded the homework papers he
had collected in his first class. His
small desk was tucked into the corner of the room, which was otherwise filled
with bookshelves that had been attached to the wall, and a single filing
cabinet. He had pulled his long hair
back from his face with the help of a small black band, keeping his tresses
loosely tied at the nape of his neck.
But that didn�t help his bangs, which were far too opinionated to be
kept back by anything. He checked his
watch to find that it was already 11:45.
He had forty-five minutes until his next class, and his stomach was
beginning to tell him that cereal was not nearly enough sustenance to get him
through the day. With a soft sigh of
annoyance at the interruption that hunger caused, he dropped his pen and
removed his glasses, setting them gently on top of the pile of papers. He pushed his chair back from the desk and
stood, leaving his jacket draped across the back of his chair and his sleeves
rolled up to his elbows. The tall, lean
man paused to stretch a bit before leaving his tiny closet of an office, going
through his empty classroom and out into the hallway.
He made his way to the faculty lounge, finding it
empty. Assuming that the others simple
had classes still going on, he shrugged and dug in his pocket for change as he
stepped over to the vending machines. It
was a wonder he managed to stay alive at all, and he knew it. Breakfasts made up of cereals, lunches out
of the machines, usually consisting of potato chips and sodas, and dinners that
were, almost without fail, either something he could pick up, have delivered,
or put in the microwave. He could cook
fairly well, he thought, he just never had the time. There was simply too much to be done.
Sephiroth bent over to retrieve his selection from the
machine, when he heard the door open behind him, and a soft whistle. �Not bad,� he heard a gentle, high-pitched
voice say from near the door, along with a giggle. Blinking, he rose, and turned to face the source of the
compliment. ��Hello, Scarlet,� he
mumbled, not exactly thrilled to see the blonde-haired electronics professor at
the moment. Or at any moment, for that
matter.
�Hello yourself,� she answered with a wink in his
direction, her red suit losing all attempts at modesty at the top, which was
unbuttoned to show so much cleavage that it would be suitable for
suffocation�assuming anyone would want to get that close, which Sephiroth
couldn�t imagine. The woman swayed her
hips as she walked over to him, and before he had time to escape, her arms had
gone around his waist, and she pressed her torso against his, looking up at him
through sly green eyes. �And how are
you today, my favorite World History professor?�
��I�m just fine, thank you,� he said with a tinge of
exasperation. If he could just get
through a single day�
�That�s good. You
know, you really ought to accept my offer, and take me out sometime�you�re
definitely the most eligible bachelor I know.�
Sephiroth had to resist the urge to say, �Then why would
I want to go out with you?� But he bit
his tongue. �Maybe some other
time�� He attempted to pry her arms
away.
She only held him tighter. �Oh, but Sephy��
He stiffened.
�Please don�t call me that. You
know I hate that.�
�I�m sorry.�
�I�ll forgive you if you let me go.�
�I�ll let you go if you take me out.�
��� He sighed in
frustration. Stalemate again. It always ended up like this, until he
agreed to do something for her. He had
avoided a date so far, but he was running out of favors. ��Fine,� he agreed, reluctance and defeat
practically dripping from his voice.
�Alright!� She
leaned up and kissed him firmly on the cheek, leaving a print in her bright red
lipstick on his face. �Pick me up this
Friday. Eight o�clock.�
�Right.�
She then released him, and gave him a small wave before
leaving the room.
�Damn it,� he grumbled, and shook his head, making sure
to wipe away the lipstick completely before returning to his class.
His next class went much like the first, trite and
predictable. He dropped back into his
desk chair when it was finished, watching his students leave in such a hurry
that it made him wonder why he bothered trying to teach them. Just when he thought that he could possibly
have some alone time, his door opened again.
Christina peeked into the room, and smiled. �Professor?
I�m here to take that test, if you�re ready.�
�Oh, of course.
Your test. Come into my office, have a seat.� He gestured to his door, and followed her inside, setting her
down at the small desk in the corner.
This way he could administer the test and grade other papers at the same
time. He could also keep a closer watch
on her. He sat down behind his desk,
opening a drawer. �Let me see if I can
find that test.�
�Professor�I wanted to ask you about something else,
too�� She pulled the chair from the
desk around next to Sephiroth before she sat down.
�Well, if it�s about history, I can certainly help
you. If not, I�ll give it my best
shot,� he answered, glancing to her with a gentle smile.
�You�re not married, are you?�
He blinked.
��No. Why do you ask?�
�Do you want to�you know, go out somewhere? With me?�
��Christina, you are my student. You�re much younger than I am, and besides,
it�s entirely against school policy.�
�So? Age doesn�t
matter.� Christina moved from her seat
to Sephiroth�s lap, straddling him easily in the armless chair. Her arms moved around his neck and she
quickly kissed him on the lips.
Sephiroth paused, unable to move for a moment. He knew she was a student, too young for
him�but she was pretty, and no one has kissed him in a very long time--not
anyone he wanted to, anyway. After a
moment, he regained his senses and gently pushed her away from him, guiding her
back to sit in her own chair.
She paused.
��Why? Aren�t I pretty enough
for you?�
�No, it�s not that.
You�re a very beautiful young lady.�
�Then why don�t you want me?� She scooted close to him again.
Sephiroth sighed.
�Christina, I�ve been bribed for good grades before. I don�t find it amusing.�
�Oh, no no!�
Christina smiled, touching his hand.
�I�m not trying to bribe you!
I�m doing well in this class already, aren�t I? I�m only interested in you.�
�You don�t know me well enough to be interested in me as
a person. Not outside the classroom.�
�I know enough.
You�re not that much older than I am, you can�t be. You�re sweet, considerate, funny�not to
mention absolutely gorgeous.�
�How old are you, Christina? Probably just out of high school.�
�Actually, I was 18 when I graduated, and I waited a
couple of years, kind of got a lot of things straightened out, before I came
here. I�ll be 21 next week.� She smiled.
�And I know that you graduated at 17, and spent six years on your
degree, so don�t lie and try to tell me you�re more than 23 or 24.�
He chuckled. �I
suppose you�ve caught me. How do you
know so much about me?�
�I told you, I�m interested. I want to know you on a more personal level.�
�I could lose my job.�
�No one will know.�
��Alright. But
don�t expect any grade improvements because of it, you can�t tell anyone, and I
promise nothing. We go on a date
perhaps, just like any normal two people would, and if we don�t get along then
that�s the end of it, and there is to be no awkwardness.�
Christina beamed and nodded, practically leaping towards
him and kissing him once again on the lips.
Sephiroth blinked, more than a bit amused by that, but
this time he decided to go ahead and amuse her, and he allowed himself to
return her kiss.
The door to the office opened quite suddenly, and the
tall, red-haired man paused just inside the door, blinking at the scene. ��Well.
World History just got a lot more interesting.�
Sephiroth and Christina promptly moved away from each
other, and Sephiroth gave a gentlemanly cough.
�Uh�Christina, you had better get going�I�ll allow you to make up that
test when you get back into town.�
�Y-Yes sir," she stuttered, quickly moving out of the
room. She paused in front of the man at
the door and nodded to him, hurriedly murmuring, �Professor,� before she left
entirely.
The man looked to Sephiroth and eyed him suspiciously for
a moment, then grinned. �Giving out
some extra credit, Sephiroth?�
�Rufus�always a pleasure,� the other man answered with a
hint of sarcasm, attempting to straighten himself and his clothing. �How goes economics?�
�Just fine. So
who was she?�
�A student. Don�t
say a word, Rufus. She jumped on me.�
Rufus smirked.
�Looked pretty mutual from where I�m standing.�
�Then step a little to your left.�
�Funny. I came to
borrow some books; I thought you would be gone by now.�
�So did I. I got
a little�distracted.�
�Apparently.�
�Get whatever books you want. I�m leaving.� With that, Sephiroth stood, gathered his things, and left the room.