Nova Project

Disclamer: Hiya everyone! I don't own shit, so don't worry, but I do own a certain someone, you'll just have to see who I'm talking about.
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Sephiroth sat up in bed and looked around slowly. He narrowed his eyes, swearing in his mind that he had heard a noise. He got up slowly, taking hold of the Masamune and went over to the window, looking outside at the town. There was just enough light for a normal person to see a few feet in front of them, but Sephiroth could see almost everything. When he didn’t see anything too out of the ordinary, or that might have affected him personally, he turn around and went to the door of his room. He opened it very carefully. When nothing jumped in his face, he looked out. Nothing in sight. Sephiroth closed the door and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Damn nerves must be making me imagine things,” he mumbled to himself.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that one sir.”

Sephiroth turned sharply around, bringing his Masamune up and resting it against the intruder’s throat.

“You have ten seconds to tell me what you want and how you got in here without my immediate notice.”

The intruder’s eyes widened slightly, but he didn’t look scared.

“The window was opened, so I managed to get in. I’m here ‘cause I’ll be killed if I’m out there. Is that enough of an answer for you?” asked sarcastically the intruder.

Sephiroth noted that the voice was young and male, most likely a boy just about to be out of his teens. He lowered his sword and looked more closely at the kid. He was wearing a long black coat that had a hood, which was up at the moment and that hid his whole face in the shadow, even Sephiroth couldn’t see it.

“And why would you be killed?” asked the general, interested.

“Because I don’t fucking know why! I’m being hunted down for the last two months, and I haven’t done anything to get that.”

“How do you know they want to kill you?”

The kid gave the impression of rolling his eyes, which amused greatly Sephiroth, before answering.

“I got shot at with bullets that aren’t made for stunning or making people go unconscious. Who are you, anyway.”

Sephiroth snorted and looked out of the window again at the men searching for something, or someone. He wondered if the id would be able to run away if he called to them to tell them their little prey was in his room. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the kid move up besides him without him having noticed it. The kid was special alright.

“Hopefully they’ll be gone by morning, or I’m in deep shit,” said to himself the kid, but Sephiroth still heard him.

“My name is Sephiroth for your information, and you can sleep on the couch if you want. I’m going back to bed. Good night.”

The kid looked at him with surprise, but he didn’t say anything as Sephiroth went back to bed as he had said; replacing the Masamune besides the head of the bed in hand’s reach. Sephiroth faked sleep until he managed to determine that the kid had gone to sleep on the couch that was on the opposite wall from the bed. Not wanting the kid to know he was still awake, he didn’t open his eyes to check if it was true.

When morning came, Sephiroth woke up instantly when the sun made its appearance in his room. He opened his eyes and was a bit shocked to see that the kid’s hood was off and to see he had pale blue hair. He didn’t stay there to look at it too much, more interested in seeing if the men were still looking for the kid. When he arrived at the window, he frowned when he saw a strange blue little bird on the window sill looking at him. It didn’t even fly away when he came up close to the window. It had a small body, about ten centimetres of height and two centimetres wide. Its tail on the other hand was about twice its height, and it was almost mystical. It had a small beak that fit its face very well and its sea green eyes seemed to be curious and knowing at the same time.

Sephiroth looked over it and was a bit disappointed to see the men were no where in sight. He turned back to see that the kid was now sitting up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. It took Sephiroth lightly by surprise when almost identical green eyes looked in his own. The only difference between his and the kid’s were that his glowed while the kid’s seemed to shimmer. It was quite a difference, if you knew the difference between the two words.

“Morning. What time is it?” asked the kid, getting up and stretching his arm over his head.

“Almost seven o’clock,” answered Sephiroth before turning around to look at the bird again.

The kid noticed what he was looking at and sighed.

“Come here Death. Didn’t I tell you to stay out of sight? Dumb bird.”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at the name, but he didn’t say anything. The bird flew to the kid and landed on his shoulder, pecking the pale cheek gently.

“Morning to you too dumb ass,” laughed the kid, running his fingers over the blue tail that ran down his shoulder.

Sephiroth watched with amusement, it being the first time he had ever seen someone own a bird for a pet. The kid soon turned his attention to Sephiroth, face turning serious.

“Are they gone?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know if they’re gone, but they are no where in sight. I think it’s safe to say you’re going to live another day, unless you end up screwing up.”

“Me? Screw up? Ah! Never in a million years! I just get complications.”

Sephiroth snorted and looked out the window again. He sighed and turned over to look at his simple duffle bag.

“I’ll be leaving now. You can either stay here the whole day, it’s already paid, or you can leave. It’s your choice.”

The kid looked down at the floor and sighed.

“Would it be a problem if I followed you for a little bit? I have no idea as to where I am or where I’m going. I didn’t really get the chance to ask questions while I was running.”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. He then looked at the kid’s attires. They were all completely black and were simple enough. Long pants that looked a bit too big, and a sleeveless shirt that hung to his body. The kid had taken off his coat, giving Sephiroth the full view of him. He was only tall enough to reach Sephiroth’s shoulders, which wasn’t too bad considering Sephiroth was taller then most. The kid was probably not even done growing too, which was another thing to consider. He was also slim and looked weak, but it was clear he was agile just by the way he stood.

“Where are you going?” asked Sephiroth.

The kid looked up, biting his lower lip.

“Either Junon or Midgar. I need to be in a place where it’s hard for people to be found, and I guess those are the best places to go to.”

Sephiroth nodded and looked over at the door.

“I’m headed to Midgar. You can come if you want, but I won’t be stopping much on the way.”

The kid looked up and smiled.

“Thank you. And I can travel very well, so I won’t be slowing you down!”

Sephiroth snorted, doubting the kid to keep up with his pace, but he decided to keep that to himself.

“What is your name?”

“Avon. I know it sounds stupid, but I like it.”

Sephiroth frowned, the name sounding oddly familiar in some way, but he just shrugged it off. He didn’t have time to idle around with names. He packed the few things he had taken out before looking to see Avon waiting for him. Sephiroth smiled slightly and left the room, the id right behind him. As they made there way out, they didn’t meet anyone in the inn that was up at this hour. Once outside, Sephiroth went over to the barn to go get his chocobo. When he reached it, he went inside. Avon waited for him outside, coat hiding everything yet again. And it was surprising that it didn’t seem to bother him at all as he walked and moved as if it wasn’t on him.

“Do you have a chocobo?” asked Sephiroth.

Avon shook his head as Sephiroth came back out, yellow chocobo warking happily behind him. The big bird was used to Sephiroth’s early rising trips and also hard trecks, which made Sephiroth a bit fond of the bird since it never complained at all. Sephiroth sighed and looked into the barn, wondering if he should take one and just leave some money in the box. Just as he was about to make his decision, the little blue bird, Death, came over and made an alarmed noise, as if scared. Sephiroth saw Avon look around, but there was nothing either could do when they heard a gun being shot. A bullet landed right in Avon’s arm, making him fall back on the ground. A second shot was heard right after, the bullet landing in the door where Avon’s head would have been had he not fallen. Sephiroth touched the hilt of his Masamune and conjured a barrier spell. The next three bullets hit it instead of the fallen kid. Sephiroth took hold of him and hollered him onto his chocobo, getting up behind him. The chocobo only needed a small pat before it dashed off in the direction Sephiroth made him go in. A few more bullets were shot at them, but they all missed.

“What the hell happened back there?!” asked Sephiroth, looking over at the wounded kid that looked about to pass out.

“I don’t know. Death just warned us of danger and then we got shot at.”

“I figured that much out. How did they know where to find you and where were they shooting from? There was nowhere they could have hidden and being able to shoot at you!” said angrily Sephiroth, pissed that he hadn’t seen them at all.

“They know how to deal with me really well, so they need to know those kinds of skills. I’m to that easy to get,” replied the kid, smiling to himself.

Sephiroth looked down at him, frowning.

“Oh, really? Didn’t seem like that to me back there. How is your arm?”

Avon looked down at it and shrugged against Sephiroth’s chest.

“Doesn’t look too bad, but it still stings like a bitch. We shouldn’t stop until we’re a few hours from that village though.”

“I’m not too sure that would be a great idea. They caught you on he left arm and it doesn’t seem like it’s about to stop bleeding.”

“Please, don’t stop now. They’ll find us if we do!”

Sephiroth kept quiet, not wanting to argue. He did as the kid asked, only stopping when it reached mid day and that his chocobo needed the rest. Avon had long fallen asleep, feeling faint because of the blood loss. Sephiroth got down, making sure the kid wouldn’t fall and then took him down gently, surprised that the kid was lighter then he looked. Sephiroth looked at the chocobo and smiled gently.

“You can go take a rest boy. I won’t be needing you for the next hour or so.”

The chocobo warked happily and went off to graze at the grass a yard away, still in sight and calling distance. Sephiroth turned his attention to the wounded kid, seeing that he had even budged from his sleep from the change. Sephiroth set him down and started to pull his coat away. It was more then a surprise when he saw some sharp looking knives in the inside of it.

“So, you’re not as defenceless as I thought.”

There was no answer, as expected and Sephiroth set out to check the wounded arm. It had an ugly purple color around the wound, clearly poisoned. Sephiroth sighed and checked on the other side of the arm to see if the bullet was out. He almost cursed out loud when he saw that it was still in. He decided on taking it out before the poison did anymore damage or reached Avon’s heart. Luckily his first aid lessons had tough him how to deal with anything, which he was glad for.

Avon only woke up in the evening, having fought the poison in his sleep mostly. Sephiroth had managed to get them on the chocobo again and they were far away from where they had stopped that afternoon. Avon’s first reaction was to look at his arm, which ha found patched up and cured. The only proof that anything happened was the hole in the sleeve. When he looked around, he found Sephiroth sitting by a warm fire cooking something.

“Please tell that is anything but army ration packs,” said the kid, catching Sephiroth’s attention.

Sephiroth smiled at he kid and lifted the skin of a rabbit.

“Thank God. I would have killed myself had it been ration packs.”

“Not too fond f them I presume?”

“Damn right. Never could stand that shit. And my luck has it that I’m always sick when I eat some.”

“Count yourself lucky then that I don’t ever carry any. I can’t stand eating them either.”

Avon nodded and lay back down on his back, sighing. Sephiroth finished cooking the rabbit and placed it into two plates, handing one to Avon, who took it with a slight smile. They both ate in silence, Avon looking over to the chocobo every so often, smiling when he noticed that his little blue bird was on its back and chatting with the bigger bird happily.

“How long until we reach Midgar?” asked Avon once they were both finished eating.

“We’ll be there by mid morning tomorrow,” answered Sephiroth.

Avon nodded and lay down on his back, looking up at the stars. Sephiroth decided he wanted to ask a few questions.

“Can you fight with your knives?”

“Yeah, or I wouldn’t carry them in the first place.”

“Where are you from?”

“Mideel. My father raised me there.”

Sephiroth nodded and looked over the fire at the kid.

“How old are you exactly?”

Avon looked over at Sephiroth, face blank.

“You first.”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow but still answered.

“Twenty five.”

“Seventeen.”

Sephiroth nodded and Avon looked back up at the stars.

Both fell asleep not long after that. Sephiroth woke first the next morning and groaned when he noticed that Avon had a high fever and he wasn’t waking up at all. He called his chocobo over and placed the kid on it, settling in behind Avon. As promised, they arrived at Midgar in the middle of the morning. Sephiroth used all the back roads so no one would see him with the kid. When he reached the Shinra building, he went in by the secret back door, avoiding everyone while he carried Avon in his arms and up to his room. Once he reached it, he took care of the kid yet again.

“You are much more trouble then I thought you would be,” mumbled to himself Sephiroth as he stripped the kid to his underwear this time.

Once the kid was stripped, Sephiroth placed him in his bed and covered him up. He then went into the bathroom, getting a wet cloth to place on Avon’s forehead. Once he was done with that, he went to his desk that was in the corner of the room and started writing a report as to what happened on his mission. Two hours later, there was a knock on his door and before he could even say anything, Zack entered with his huge grin.

“Hiya Seph! You’re back! Why didn’t you come and say hi…”

Zack trailed off when he noticed the kid in the bed, now sleeping on his side. Zack looked over at Sephiroth with a raised eyebrow, but the general ignored him completely. Zack sighed and took a seat in the chair in front of Sephiroth’s desk.

“Who is he?”

“Avon.”

“Where’s he from?”

“Mideel.”

Zack gave Sephiroth an awkward look.

“Where did you find him?”

“In Kalm.”

Zack nodded and looked over at the kid again.

“What’s he doing in your bed?” he asked with a grin, glad when he heard Sephiroth sigh.

“He has a fever and was shot by a poisoned bullet yesterday morning. I took him here so I could make sure he stayed alive. Is that all?”

Zack gave a wicked smirk to his friend and Sephiroth just knew he shouldn’t have asked.

“Did you fuck him yet?”

Sephiroth stood up and moved around the desk. Zack was on his feet in a second, ready to confront Sephiroth if the older man wanted to kick him out with force. Seĥiroth just went over to the bed and took hold of the cloth. He then threw it to Zack.

“Be useful and go wet that with cold water,” growled the general, knowing it wouldn’t be pretty if he caught to Zack’s taunts.

Zack rolled his eyes, but still obeyed. He came back with the cloth and placed it on the kid’s forehead, passing his hand on it just before.

“He’s got quite the fever. Maybe you should get one of the doctors in here,” suggested Zack, a bit worried.

Sephiroth looked over at Zack from his desk, where he had returned to when Zack had gone into the bathroom.

“If I would do that, not only would it be the gossip of the building but it would also reach ears that it should not, mainly Hojo’s and Shinra’s.”

“Oh, good point there.”

Sephiroth nodded and looked back to his work.

“Do you want me to stay the night and take care of him? No one would really miss me.”

“If you want.”

“It’ll give you all the time you want to do those reports and what not’s.”

Sephiroth looked up to see that Zack was being serious. He nodded and went back to his work, listening as Zack truly did take care of Avon. But in the middle of the night, the kid woke up, sitting straight in the bed and moved away from Zack when this one tried to comfort him. Sephiroth moved over to the bed and nodded for Zack to move back.

“Avon. It’s alright, you’re safe here,” said gently Sephiroth.

Avon looked over at Sephiroth and clearly calmed down. He moved closer to Sephiroth, who was by the bed and lay back down. Sephiroth waited until he was sure the kid was asleep before going back to his desk. Zack took back his post of watch and did his very best to calm the fever, which was very persistent.

“Did you think about using esuna on him?” asked Zack around four in the morning.

“I doubt it would do any good. Fevers aren’t caused by abnormal statues.”

Zack’s eye twitched.

“Give me your heal materia and we’ll see about that.”

Sephiroth sighed and threw it to Zack, who easily caught it in one hand. He turned to the kid and used the spell. He gave a small cry of victory when the fever almost disappeared. Sephiroth looked up and rolled his eyes.

“Would you like a trophy with that?” asked sarcastically Sephiroth.

“Oh, please do! There you go, problem fixed. Do you want some coffee? I’m going to go get myself a cappuccino.”

“Get me a black coffee.”

Zack saluted and left the room. Sephiroth sighed and tried to concentrate on his work again, but he just couldn’t help but look over at Avon. The name was still bugging him, but he knew he’d never heard it before. He wrote it down and looked at it closely. Before he could even try playing with it, Avon woke up, sitting up in the bed again, breathing hard. Sephiroth stood up and went to sit on the edge of the bed, besides the kid.

“Another nightmare?” he asked when Avon looked at him.

Avon nodded, looking down at his hands. Sephiroth decided to play nice.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

The kid looked up at him, eyes wide. He shook his head and looked back down. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and placed his hand on the kid’s shoulder, trying to comfort him. Zack soon came back, somehow managing to open the door with two hot cups in his hands that were very full.

“Oh, he’s awake.”

“Yes, he is. Avon, this is Zack.”

“His best friend, but he’s too much of an ass hole to admit it,” added Zack, getting a glare from Sephiroth, which he ignored.

Avon looked at the two of them and nodded. Sephiroth almost had the feeling the kid was now shy for some reason. He surely hadn’t been when they had been back in Kalm in Sephiroth’s inn room.

“So…what were you doing in Kalm? Sephy told me you come from Mideel. It’s quite a long way from home.”

“Don’t call me that,” hissed Sephiroth, which fell on deaf ears, as usual.

“Just visiting,” said Avon, lying.

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at the kid, but he didn’t say anything. Zack must have caught the look for he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Oh really? Is that really true? Sephiroth rarely picks up kids and brings them back home for no reasons.”

Sephiroth swore that Zack made it on purpose for it to sound completely twisted. Avon even frowned at that.

“It’s true. I was raised in Mideel and I was coming to Midgar to see what a real city was like and I kinda got lost. I met Sephiroth and he agreed to help me come here. I musta been sick or somethin’.”

“Something is the one I would say. We had to use esuna for you to lose the fever and Sephiroth said something about a bullet wound. Care to share with that?”

Sephiroth could see Zack had gotten in his teasing mood and really wanted to spare the kid from it.

“He’s being chased by some men and he stumbled in my room at the inn. It’s my fault for leaving the window opened. And I did agree to help him come to Midgar.”

Zack shrugged and sat down on his chair, handing Sephiroth his coffee.

“Alright, I’ll bite. So, I met Scarlet on the way over to the coffee machine and she’s whining about something. You should be careful man, it sounded like it was something about you.”

“Who was she whining to?” asked Sephiroth, not really interested.

“Tseng, head of the Turks.”

Sephiroth choked on his coffee, Avon placing his hand on the general’s shoulder, worried.

“Why would she be whining at him for about me?”

“No idea. Like I said, you better be careful. Tseng can be really bitchy if he’s against you for anything.”

“I know that,” replied sourly Sephiroth, sighing.

Zack nodded and smiled.

“Wanna know something?”

“What?”

“Cloud’s been improving a lot lately. No one can beat on him without getting a fist in their faces.”

Sephiroth looked over at Zack, frowning.

“Why is it that that boy interests you so much?” asked Sephiroth.

Zack smirked, a certain gleam of malice in his eyes.

“Because he reminds me of you on occasions, especially when he gets all anti-social and shit and I actually have a chance to get down his pants.”

Sephiroth rolled his eyes, noticing Avon became a bit red because of the subject.

“Why do you always make such crude comments? You’re not even gay. And you do have a girlfriend, might I remind you.”

Zack rolled his eyes his turn and leaned forward in his chair.

“I’m bi, and so what if I got a girlfriend? She knows I’m a player, though I am careful.”

“Or are you just trying that old tactic you used on me to hook me up with someone again? If it is, no thanks. I’m not interested in dating, especially not someone who I might remind you, that you said had an infatuation with me.”

Zack sighed in defeat and looked at his watched.

“Well, as fun as this is, I have to go. Later, and it’s not and infatuation, just a crush. Heck, who doesn’t have one on you once in their lives?”

“Very straight people. Out. You have a job to do, and I will not be the excuse as to why you’re late.”

Zack rolled his eyes again and left waving his hand over his head as he closed the door. After ten seconds of quiet, Avon turned over to Sephiroth.

“Please tell me you didn’t choose him specifically to be your friend.”

“No, I didn’t. He more like forced it upon me when we first met. He’s not that bad of a guy when you get to know him. For instant, he was the one who stayed by your side while I had to finish some urgent paperwork.”

Avon’s eyes widened and he looked over at the door, almost as if expecting Zack to come back and laugh in his face. Sephiroth sighed and finished his coffee, getting up to go to his desk.

“There’s a shower over behind that door. You might want to get the sweat from the fever off of you.”

Avon nodded and got up. He went into the bathroom, closing the door. Sephiroth couldn’t help but note that he didn’t lock the door. Sephiroth managed to get some of his work over before Avon came back out, completely wet with a towel around his waist.

“Do I have the right to have my clothes back or do you plan on letting me be naked all day? And I doubt very much you’re the kind to pass your clothes to people.”

Sephiroth looked up at him and nodded over to the chair that Zack had been sitting on, the kid’s clothes on its back. Avon smiled as he took them and went back into the bathroom to change. While he was in there, a knock came to the main door.

“Enter,” said Sephiroth, mad at getting disturbed.

He wasn’t too surprised to see Tseng enter the room. The wutan man nodded to the general, who nodded back before coming to sit in the chair across from Sephiroth.

“I guess Zack must have warned you about the scene he saw Scarlet do.”

“Yes, he did. What was her problem this time?”

“She said something about you having someone in here. Is it true?”

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, wondering how the witch could have known.

“As a matter of a fact, I do. What is it to her?”

Tseng shrugged and looked over to the bathroom door, seeing as it was the only place someone might be in at the moment.

“Who is it?”

“A seventeen years old boy that fell ill. I met him in Kalm and he wanted to come to Midgar, so I let him travel with me.”

“Ill before or after?”

“After. I only took him in here so he wouldn’t get mugged or anything of the sort.”

Tseng nodded and stood up.

“I’ll let it at that. Have a good day Sephiroth.”

“As to you Tseng.”

Both men nodded to each other before Tseng left, not making a noise. Sephiroth leaned back in his chair and looked at the bathroom door. Avon was really being more trouble then he expected. Avon soon came out of the bathroom, looking much more refreshed. Sephiroth was surprised to see that the boy was wearing a different shirt, which had long sleeves, but still black. Avon seemed to notice his expression.

“I have somewhat of a back pocket that runs along the whole back of my coat. I can put a spare shirt and pair of pants in it.”

Sephiroth nodded and looked down at his work. Avon came to sit in front of him, not really knowing what to say. It was only half an hour later that he stood up.

“I must be on my way. I thank you for everything you did for me. I’ll try to repay you one day. I’m not too hard to find. You just need to seek Death. He’ll lead you to me.”

“Don’t you think he might be the reason why the men find you?” asked Sephiroth.

“Nope, impossible. They can’t see him. And you might not have been had you not been injected with mako. Later!”

Right in front of his eyes, Avon seemed to become a shadow that crawled into the darkness and moved away and out of the room. Sephiroth blinked, but he didn’t get up to try and look for the boy. He just knew he wouldn’t be finding him at all if he looked at the moment.
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Here you go folks! Next chapter up somtime in this century, I think.