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Silver Demons
by SkyFire (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
rabid_plotbunny)
Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16
Warnings: Eventual Sess/Seph (shonen-ai or yaoi, I haven't decided. We'll see when we get there. ^_^)
Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or InuYasha and no money is being made.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Chapter 17
Sephiroth didn't leave his room for two days.
Two days he drifted in black depression, suddenly cast adrift with no direction and nothing to hang on to. He wasn't in Wutai. Hell, he wasn't even on Gaia! He had no idea how he had gotten to... wherever this was... and for the first time in his life he had nothing.
One might think that that wasn't exactly true, that his so-called childhood in the labs, growing up with nothing that was solely his and no control over anything that was done to him, he had also had nothing. They would be wrong. Even in the worst of it, his body convulsing and aching as Hojo's chemical cocktails surged through his veins, he had always had a goal, something to hope for, to work for, to live for.
Get out of the labs. Achieve victory for the company in order to stay out of the labs. Oversee his SOLDIERs' training, keep them alive if he could. Find answers to his questions. Find loopholes around the stupidest of the orders he was given while both achieving victory and avoiding unnecessary lab-time.
All of that was gone.
Here, there was no Shinra, no orders, no Hojo. There would be no answers to the question of his parents. Here, he was nothing. His rank, his name, even what he was - SOLDIER - meant nothing. He was nothing and no one and there was nothing to strive for because all his answers were back on Gaia.
Granted, he had intended to leave Shinra so that lack he had already done his best to prepare himself for, but the rest...?
Sephiroth was finding that he didn't cope well with his sudden lack of focus.
What was he supposed to do now?
oOo
That was it; Sesshoumaru had had enough.
He had left Sephiroth alone for two days thinking that, like himself, the other man would appreciate the privacy as he tried to pull himself together, but the man seemed determined to do anything but.
Granted, Sephiroth might not know that in a mansion full of demons a closed door didn't really mean much, but Sesshoumaru couldn't allow the man's chaotic emotions to disturb the smooth running of his household any longer.
And they were chaotic. Hanging heavy in the air in a slowly-expanding area centered on his room, Sephiroth's aura was an almost-tangible miasma, easily scented by now by even the weakest demons. It wouldn't have had quite as much of an impact if it was only projecting a single emotion. It still wouldn't have been pleasant, but it would have been a bit easier.
Instead, they got a chaotic jumble of depression, anger, sadness, confusion, apathy, and blinding rage. It was enough to trigger a demon's instinct for danger and trigger a powerful fight-or-flight response. Several of his rabbit-demon servants had already fled by the second morning, and the number of demons eyeing the doors and fidgeting grew as time went by.
Even his little Rin was not unaffected, sunk into a quiet listlessness very unlike her usual cheerful self. It was her breaking out in unfounded tears at breakfast on the third day that cemented his determination to end it.
Oddly enough, while even he, Sesshoumaru, had developed a minor headache thanks to the chaotically-flaring aura that wreaked havoc on his sensitive nose and senses, Jaken was completely undisturbed and unaware, going about his usual duties with an obliviousness that made Sesshoumaru's hand itch for a good throwing-rock.
Enough. Was. Enough.
Sesshoumaru summoned a servant and gave him a series of orders. After that he worked on some of his paperwork and correspondence until he judged that enough time had passed for his orders to have been fulfilled. He had heard no one in the hallway for some time.
He got up, left the study and made his way down the hallways to Sephiroth's room, instincts scraping his nerves raw with every step he took in that direction. Yes, this would not be allowed to continue. He could only hope that his solution worked as well for his guest as it did for him.
The door was closed when he got there, but Sesshoumaru barely paused. He slid the portal open then went right in.
Blue-green eyes shot up in surprise, then Sephiroth spoke. "And here I thought that when the door is closed, other people are supposed to stay on the other side of it," he said with listless sarcasm, clearly sunk into another apathetic stage.
Guest or not, no one spoke to Sesshoumaru like that. He could understand why the man was acting as he was - even he would most likely be affected by finding himself somewhere completely unknown to him with no warning - but it would not be allowed to continue.
"Get up," he said.
Sephiroth, sitting listlessly against the far wall - though straight-backed, not slumped; he seemed as incapable of slouching as Sesshoumaru himself - didn't move. "Why?"
His headache quickly rising from 'minor' to 'blinding' thanks to his being so close to the source of that fluctuating emotional aura, Sesshoumaru didn't bother to answer. Instead, his mokomoko shot out lightning-quick, wrapped around Sephiroth from chest to knee, then the daiyoukai turned and left the room, bringing the other man with him, ignoring his futile attempts to get free.
oOo
Sephiroth was fuming, his apathy burned away under the flame of rage that filled him at Sesshoumaru's treatment. What right did he have to do this to him? He hadn't left his room, so it wasn't as if he was being disruptive! Was it so wrong to want to be alone as his world collapsed around him? Oh, but that's right; it wasn't even his world, was it?! He knew he was being a bit irrational, probably even a little hysterical, but could anyone really blame him for that, considering the circumstances?
Sesshoumaru could, apparently.
He still didn't know what the furry thing now wrapped around him with unshakable tightness was.
Focused on trying to get free - and making absolutely no progress - Sephiroth paid no attention to their surroundings until theu suddenly stopped and he was set down on his feet, the furry thing uncoiling and zipping back to the daiyoukai. He glared. "Now just what-"
Sesshoumaru raised his arm and pointed off to one side. "Destroy them."
Blue-green eyes blinked. "What?"
"Destroy them," Sesshoumaru repeated calmly.
It was then that Sephiroth realized that the pale demon had brought them to what seemed to be this place's equivalent of a training room.
It was a large, open courtyard. A row of archery targets sat under cover against one wall. The ground was dirt packed hard by hundreds of feet over the years. It was filled with what looked like a small army of wooden training dummies in all shapes and sizes.
"Sesshoumaru...?"
"Destroy them."
He didnt' have to repeat it again. Sephiroth called the Masamune and unleashed everything that had been building up since he had seen their maps and realized his impossible situation. All the rage, the depression, the frustration and the 'now what?' was sent crashing into the hapless dummies with a lightning-quick blur of shining steel.
He didn't know how long it was before he looked around only to find that he had reduced his wooden adversaries to so much kindling.
"Better?" Sesshoumaru asked, though his tone said he already knew the answer.
Sephiroth nodded. Surprisingly, that bout of angry destruction had helped. "Yes," he said. "Why did y-"
"Good." Without another word, Sesshoumaru turned and walked away.
Sephiroth followed. If he was going to be stuck there in that place - and just then he could see no way of getting back - then damned if he would stay a guest forever.
He was Sephiroth. He was highly trained in war and skilled in politics. Surely, there had to be something he could do!
Following behind the pale demon lord, he couldn't shake the growing feeling that whatever it turned out to be, Sesshoumaru would be there as well. It was a strangely comforting thought.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Chapter 18
Silver hair flared in the wind as they moved with almost impossible speed, rushing together and apart with only the cold ring of steel-on-steel or the occasional scent of fresh blood from minor wounds to show for it.
It wasn't something that either one of them had anticipated.
Sesshoumaru had indeed found use for Sephiroth once the man explained the position he had held, the training and political skill he had acquired. His new position wasn't the same as his old one back at Shinra; Sesshoumaru already had enough generals and the simple fact that Sephiroth was human meant that no demon would follow his commands unless he could defeat every one who would challenge his right to do so. Which he undoubtedly could, but doing so would waste time that could be better spent elsewhere.
So Sephiroth found himself in the newly-created role of advisor-slash-assistant to the daiyoukai, and Sesshoumaru found himself having such an aide for the first time since he had taken control of the Western Lands when his father died.
Sesshoumaru had to admit that, once he got used to the other man's constant presence at his side, it was actually rather nice to have someone he could trust there, helping him go through his paperwork, giving sound advice when asked but otherwise content to let the time pass in silence. Jaken had tried to help him once, but the imp posessed almost no sense of organization, nor could he keep his beak shut for any length of time. Sesshoumaru made the mistake of asking his thoughts on a simple matter and the imp went off on a tangent about the daiyoukai's undefeatable power and incalculable wisdom before Sesshoumaru sent him away. He was surprised - and, he admitted to himself if to no one else - rather pleased that not only did Sephiroth give his unvarnished opinion when asked, he also didn't hesitate to contradict the daiyoukai when he felt he should. While Sesshoumaru didn't always agree with Sephiroth's advice, nor always follow it, he did listen and, when it was radically different from his own thoughts, occasionally ask him to explain his reasoning.
Neither was quite sure who had started their new ritual. It could have been either of them, since both had seen the reports detailing the rising cost of replacing the wooden dummies they decimated whenever they needed to vent.
It was after they found another such report that Sephiroth, feeling a bit of nostalgia for the Shinra training facilities, had shared more than one story about how he, Genesis, and Angeal used to sneak into the virtual training lab and their escapades there with Sesshoumaru. Perhaps it had started there.
Now, whenever they could tell that one of them needed the release pure destruction brought, they would challenge each other to a spar. Even more attractive to both was the fact that even without the holding back they did, keeping their more destructive attacks back so that they didn't damage the palace, they were still equal enough in skill and power that the outcome of their sparring was always a mystery right up until the end. And, though neither man enjoyed losing, they found that with each other, they didn't really mind.
At first, most of their spars were for Sephiroth's benefit as he worked through first the upheval from his involuntary displacement, then the frustration that came with the fact that Wutainese script was just similar enough to Sesshoumaru's 'Japanese' that he felt like he should be able to understand it, but different enough that he couldn't. Granted, it didn't take him long to pick it up, but that week or so was intensely frustrating.
Sesshoumaru, for his part, was much more used to the frustration some of the papers caused him - or rather, the outright stupidity some of the actions those papers described. And people wondered why he held most others in such low regard? If they had to deal with even half of the reports that crossed his desk...! It was good that Sephiroth was there. It was so much better taking out his frustration in a fight with a real opponent so close to his own skill level instead of a bunch of unmoving, unreacting wooden figures that there was simply no point in comparing the two.
Another clang of steel-on-steel, a brief shoving match as both tried to fling the other away, only to back away and start circling once more, the light in blue-green eyes matched by that in gold. Both were too used to their typical impassive masks to smile openly but the signs were there if you knew where to look.
As one week turned into two, then a month, they no longer needed the excuse of venting and challenged each other to spar almost every day, something that both came to look forward to. The rush of adrenaline, the hard pumping of their hearts at the exertion, the disheveled hair and bright eyes, even the eventual panting and sweat... it was almost like a drug, and both came to crave it.
oOo
That day started much the same as all the others. Breakfast in the dining hall with everyone, then the two silver-haired men retreated to Sesshoumaru's study even as Rin and Jaken left to start her daily lessons and the everyone else left to begin their own daily duties.
With both of them working on it, Sesshoumaru armed with ink and pen, Sephiroth with the royal seal, the paperwork and correspondence were taken care of in a matter of hours.
It was then, with all distraction now gone, that Sesshoumaru could no longer ignore the agitation that had been growing inside since breakfast. He didn't know why he was so restless; the paperwork had been only the typical for the day-to-day running of his lands, with a bare minimum of stupidity. Then again, whatever it was, he had the feeling that whatever it was, it wasn't caused by that.
Maybe a good fight would help soothe his ruffled nerves. The harder, the better.
Attuned to Sesshoumaru's moods by then, Sephiroth made the offer. "Spar?" he said simply, standing.
"Yes," Sesshoumaru agreed, "and some distance away from the walls."
Sephiroth understood the implication immediately. "Full-out, then?" he asked, eyes lighting up at the thought; he could use a good, hard fight as well.
Sesshoumaru nodded, getting to his feet. He led the way through the palace, then out the door. Ignoring everyone else, the two of them went out the main gate, then turned toward the near edge of an extensive forest and started walking.
The daiyoukai had expected his agitation to calm a bit once they were out of the palace and into the woods on their way to finding a good place to fight, but it wasn't. If anything, it was getting worse. He was beginning to feel almost feral, and the urge to fight, to prove his superiority to the man at his side, the man whose power rivaled his own, was only growing stronger with every step.
Sephiroth, for his part, was not unaffected by the battle-ready tension he could feel rolling off the other man in almost tangible waves. Even as he wondered what had set him off, what was wrong, what was different about that day as opposed to any other, he couldn't help but respond. He could feel himself slip into that strange sense of absolute focus he got whenever he went into battle, along with a tension and feeling that was almost wild; the call to fight, to defeat all challengers, to defeat this challenger.
"Sephiroth," Sesshoumaru growled. He could feel his eyes bleeding red, heart starting to race as anticipation rose up in him.
"Yes?" If Sephiroth was at all startled by Sesshoumaru's red eyes or now-jagged markings, seen only once before in their first fight in the temple, it didn't show up in his voice. If anything, it kicked him up into new heights of aggressive anticipation.
"Run," Sesshoumaru almost-purred. Then he attacked, claws flashing green.
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