Archive of Our Own

The incoherent bellow of a second Zolom froze them three seconds too long, fear rising in their throats.

None of them could turn that fast—

They had to try.

Tyris spun, sword in hand—Only to keep the handle by the skin of his teeth at the sight of Sephiroth impaling the Zolom on a rock spire.

His teeth were bared, eyes burning bright enough to streak as he slammed the head against the stone spire.

The one member of their party that was only along because he had to be.

The tell-tale burn of another Limit Break struck the air like ozone, the sharp scent doubled from the last one he'd pulled off.

"By the Leviathan's spines, what-Strife!"

The small form plummeted so he took off sprinting, bounding up the cliff wall and catching his prize with his heart in his throat.

"Oh gods, oh gods, please don't be dead, please don't be dead," he blurted as he landed, Sephiroth's frame limp in his hold. "I don't want to get panned by your Ma, she's gotta mean swing—"

Tyris yelped as he was slapped by Cleary.

"Move! There's an entire nest of the bastards!"

He tucked Sephiroth close, grabbed his sword and sprinted out into the Midgar Plains as his squad members tackled the remainder of the nest.

Tyris set Sephiroth down, slammed up multiple Shields and Summoned Ifirit to keep an eye on their charge. "Keep an eye on him! Let me know if he wakes up!"

The Summon gave a short nod and hunkered over Sephiroth's limp frame.

Too limp, too small by far... He prayed all the harder for swift victory.

Tyris dove headfirst into the battle, the panic running on a constant loop that none of them should get past Ifrit but he had to stay alive in order for that to happen.

Urial gently lifted Sephiroth's body up and partially into his lap to do damage assessment with Cleary.

The wash of Libra over the small frame made Tyris a little sick but Cleary only shook his head.

"MP exhaustion, broken legs and I could swear to Odin that there's... no. Tell me I'm wrong by all the tiny gods and goddesses..."

"What? What is it?"

"... Someone put an MP Lock." Cleary said through gritted teeth.

"On STRIFE?!" Tyris yelled what they were all thinking.

Sephiroth groaned as he was jostled by Urial putting a fist into the ground, what seemed to be a heavy spike of pain making him gasp in a shuddering breath.

All three of them winced as the pain scent that had been dulled before roared back to life.

"Oh thank Ifrit..." Tyris sighed, all three of them shoving the idea of a small child having an MP Lock that was for war criminals and he was still functioning like it wasn't even there.

"Wha-t ha-ppened?" He managed before he was gently supported and offered his canteen to drink out of to wet his throat. "Sir?"

"You saved our lives, Strife." Urial admitted point blank as he shuffled Sephiroth gently to see his work.

"You activated two Limit Breaks in under twenty minutes and broke your leg because of the strain, kid. I'm surprised you're even awake right now," Major Cleary chided as the team's medic, wiping a bit of dirt off of Sephiroth's face as if to reassure himself that Sephiroth was alright. "It looks like we stumbled onto a nest of Zoloms but thankfully the rest were babies. Nothing'll spawn out here for a while."

"Oh." He looked down and huffed at the sight of his leg, offering, "Is the break at least clean, sir?"

"I am both impressed and disgusted that you guessed that. It should have torqued and splintered but I'm guessing the super speed snapped it before your Limit Break did." Cleary sighed, asking even though the answer would be evident, "So, Hojo or mission?"

"... Hojo, sir." He sneered flatly at the mention of the man who'd been dead for nearly seven months.

Tyris hissed and made the mark of Ifrit to ward off the evil spirit which he thought lingered still. Urial sighed as he flicked his hands into a sigil of Leviathan behind Sephiroth's head and Cleary drew the ward of Odin to do the same.

They all looked up at the sound of rotary blades, Tyris quickly corralling his hair into a single thick braid.

"I'm going with you on the air lift, Strife. The Colonel and Tyris will take the transport back to ShinRa. You'll be alright." Cleary reassured as ShinRa Med personnel lifted him onto a stretcher.

"Masamune..." He looked a little lost at the loss of the enormous blade.

Tyris blurted, "Colonel has her. He'll get her back to your apartment, I promise."

The transport back was near silent for a long part of the drive, monster blood seeping into the fibers of their uniforms but both of them more worried for their charge.

"What happened?"

"..."

"Did I see a Zolom impaled on a spire back there?!"

"Urial? Tyris? You two okay?" Wolf prodded gently, golden eyes meeting their own downcast ones.

"Sephiroth did that," he replied. "He did that and he got hurt defending us and—"

Urial elbowed him, the subtle jab making him whisper, "he was so small. When he fell."

Wolf flinched at that, "I know the feeling."

"How—?!"

"I had to run his initial assessment for him to enter SOLDIER at the age of five." Wolf admitted point blank, the raw edge of something Tyris swore was grief lacing his tone. How could it be anything else? "The lights went out because he'd broken the VR room. I broke the door on Hojo's orders but..."

There was a distinct pause that said, probably should've gone for Hojo instead.

"He lived," Urial pointed out, "he lived when he had so much against him. He'll live through this too."

Tyris snorted dryly, "He's going to need so much fucking therapy,"

"Physical or—?"

"All the things, just,"

"Yeah, probably, the poor kid,"

The mood lightened a little but he and Urial traded a look that spoke volumes about Training Room 25a.

They'd talk more there.

After encountering Strife's new—completely terrifying—guardian and Mrs. Strife, they all retreated to Training Room 25a.

Tyris had barely slapped up the triple layered security trio when Urial said, "A fucking MP Lock, holy shit,"

"How long has he had that? His reserves are enormous as it stands, how much more did he have before it happened?!" Cleary barked out, running his hands through his hair and mussing it completely.

"May Hojo's soul burn for five eternities and still it will not begin to be enough for the atrocities he committed on Sephiroth alone," Tyris hissed vehemently.

"... If that ever gets removed...?"

"Oh gods,"

"Explosion,"

"Fuck! Who do we tell?!"

"Can't tell,"

"... I..." Cleary paused, added another layer to their security, "I heard something."

"Heard what?" Urial pinned him with a long look.

"... Cetra," he whispered, "there's one in Sector 5 slums but we're not even supposed to know she's alive,"

"'She'?"

"She pops up in Sephiroth's file a lot, Subject I, always with the delineation of CETRA... and she escaped. Within the last two years," he added quietly, "took a Subject A with her, about littlest Strife's age last I checked,"

"We keep this between us,"

"Wolf knows, maybe Henderson?"

"Between all of us then,"

"... rumor of a rumor but... he goes to Sector 5 slums quite frequently..." Tyris said hopefully.

"We can only pray he strikes up a friendship,"