Application for Zack Fair (Final Fantasy VII Compilation)

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

The saying usually goes, "Life's a bitch, and then you die."

Upon reflection, even counting the really good parts (Aerith, Cloud, even Sephiroth and Angeal before the former went crazy and the latter turned into a... better not to think about that) I've gotta agree. Life really is one hell of a bitch.

I think I did good, though. There were a lot of bad things, a few great things, but all in all, I can die knowing I finished with a job well done. So now it's time to lay back, relax, and return to the lifestream.

Funny how the lifestream feels a lot like a cold stone floor.

...Okay, I'm not imagining it. Something isn't right. I'm pretty sure the lifestream does not equal lying supine on cobbles.

And that I shouldn't be able to just open my eyes like I've done every day, but I am and it's weird and something just is not right.

I sit up. Like, normal sitting up. This can't seriously be the afterlife. Nothing I've ever read or heard said anything about the lifestream being a room in what looked like a really old part of Nibelheim.

Looking around, I can't find anything familiar, and the only thing worth notice is the little table with the paper, and a fancy pen that someone must've cast Float on.




State your full name.
I reach for the pen, but it floats out of my range. Well, I guess answering out loud is just as good... "Um, Zack Fair."

1. What is your favorite cheese? Why is it your favorite?
I shrug. "Anything that doesn't come from the Shinra trooper cafeteria. That's the best part about SOLDIER, we don't have to eat that nasty processed Chocobo Bill's Chococheese."

2. Who would you kill first, Barney or Carrottop?
"Eeeh..." I scratch my head a little. I know I look embarrassed, but it's kind of hard not to, in this case. "I don't like to kill unnecessarily. If it's up to me, they both live, as long as they don't force my hand."

3. What time is it where you are?
"I dunno, does the lifestream measure time?"

4. If you were Albus Dumbledore returned from the dead, which member of the Order of the Phoenix would you sexually harass? How would you harass them? If you are Albus Dumbledore, please answer as if you were Sirius Black.
Wow, these questions just get progressively weirder. "I... uh, I'm not really qualified to answer that... _{I wouldn't harrass anyone, but I'm not gonna pass up looking at a pretty girl...}"

5. If you are pushing to be in:

A. Slytherin - please state the clever, witty name of the bar in which you bartend, in the dark.
Sounds like the guy from the Sector Five slums, who was building the bar. I like the name I thought up for him last time, so, "Seventh heaven! A little piece of heaven in... wherever this is." I'm starting to not be so sure that this is the lifestream at all.

B. Gryffindor – Debate whether Harry should ultimately end up married to Fred or George. Use examples from a variety of world mythologies to bolster your argument.
Oh man, marriage. I've never had a chance to think of that before (not really, being in SOLDIER pretty much guarantees a short lifespan, and in my situation... well.) "Hey, whoever Harry loves, that's who he should be with. Spending your life with someone you love shouldn't be sneezed at, you know?"

C. Ravenclaw – You guys are supposed to be smart. Explain why my desk is inundated with paperwork at all times, even though I’m constantly disposing of it.
I laugh. Thankfully, SOLDIER never has to do paperwork. Unless you're an overachiever like Sephiroth, but I'm not about to say that to his face. "Outsource it to the Turks, that's what we do."

D. Hufflepuff – Prove you are not useless.
This time, I know I'm grinning. "I'm a SOLDIER first class, which is pretty much the definition of Not Useless where I come from. Sure, I'm mostly just the muscle for Shinra, but you can't have a brain if you don't have muscles to defend it, am I right?"

6. Offer a bribe to the members of this community so that they will not squib you. Items used in bribery do not necessarily have to belong to the person offering the bribe. Do not threaten us rather than offering a bribe. A threat indicates you either don't really want to be here, or don't have enough sense to answer the question properly. The hat will automatically squib you, regardless of other votes, if you do.
Aw geeze, there's the kicker. I don't have the Buster Sword - of course, Cloud's taking good care of it now; I know I can trust him with it - all I have are a few left over potions, my mastered materia, and a little pressed flower I keep inside my armor. But that one, that's mine. As long as I can keep a little part of Aerith with me, this weird ol' afterlife shouldn't be so bad.
"Not much to offer, but these health potions should come in handy to anyone who has some minor scrapes and bumps that need taking care of."

"I have read the hogwarts_hocus faq, and understand it is a crazy, cracktastic sorting community and RPG. ____Zack________
I have read the hogwarts_hocus rules and agree to abide by each and every one of them. _____Zack______.
I agree to be a good sport and not get my knickers in a bunch. _____Zack______.
One day, marmalade will rule the world. _____Zack________"

Comments

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

I shift uncomfortably. I've never liked being grilled by Sephiroth, and the way he's holding Masamune is seriously disconcerting. "Well, I'm dead and all. Just after Cloud and I busted out of Shinra, I guess," I'm mumbling, but I'm also wondering just ho long Sephiroth has been 'here,' and why when I'm from is such a big deal. Have I missed something?

[herlivinglegacy.livejournal.com]

Masamune burst into green flame and simply evaporated from his hold, going into her own secret space where she would wait for him to call on her again. He made his way towards Zack slowly, chuckling as he did. "So much has happened in the three years since your death..."

He raised a hand and pressed one of his gloved fingers to his lips. He paid his old (traitorous) friend's personal space bubble no mind as he stood close to him and leaned forward, just enough to be able to whisper to him. "Would you like to know, Zack?"

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling that if I say no, he'll tell me anyway. "You're telling me I got gypped out of three years of afterlife?" I say instead leaning back enough to speak without the thoroughly embarrassing feeling of kissing Sephiroth's fingers at the same time.

[herlivinglegacy.livejournal.com]

He made a positive sound. "You did... You also got 'gypped' out of seeing Aerith's death."

While he didn't know the exact relationship between the woman and Zack, he knew they were close. Close enough to visit Cloud after he'd been banished to the Lifestream once his Geostigma had been cleared of most of the Planet.

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

You know when you do something wrong to a computer and it goes to that blank blue screen? I think that's what my brain just did.

Aerith... Aerith dead? So soon after me? What...

I can't freak out about this. Not in front of Sephiroth; who knows what he'd do. I hate that I know what he's saying is true - he doesn't lie when the truth does a much better job of hurting people - but I can't freak out.

"Sooner or later, we all return to the lifestream," I say instead, managing to keep my voice steady this time. I don't want to know how she died. I just know that, wherever this place is in the scope of the other world, I'll see her again.

I hope.

[herlivinglegacy.livejournal.com]

He tilted his head and ran the tips of his fingers along the scars on Zack's cheek. He smiled, just a little. "I killed her, you know. Just as she was about to summon Holy."

There was some kind of great pleasure in telling Zack all of this and being able to see his reactions. He deserved it, they all deserved it. Traitors. All of them. He only wished he'd finished Zack off himself.

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

I push his hand away, but it lacks any of the anger I'm feeling. Sometimes, being angry isn't enough to be violent. Not physically, anyway.

"I used to look up to you," I say. "Now I see you're just a gigantic disappointment."

[herlivinglegacy.livejournal.com]

Sephiroth hummed a little. There was a curious reaction to that, somewhere deep inside. He didn't analyse it however, because he knew, above all, that Zack was a traitor to him, to others.

He said nothing, preferring to remain silent and glare the SOLDIER into submission instead.

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

"Don't give me that look, you bastard," I say, surprising myself. I really am pissed. "You think you can stare me down and I'll sit like a good little puppy? You..." I throw up my hands, turning. I'm too frustrated, too angry to talk. "I don't even want to bother with you any more. You're a waste of time."

[herlivinglegacy.livejournal.com]

"What else are you but a dog of Shinra, Zack? Nothing. And you will always be nothing."

He took a step back away from Zack, confused at the something inside him that seemed to only get more insistent the more Zack became angry with him. He wanted to leave, or at least go over to the other side of the room where he could ignore the younger man until he was sorted.

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

"What, I'm nothing because I have loyalty? Because I fought to protect people?" I'm so pissed at him that I'm shaking, and part of me wants to cry because this is Sephiroth. I never wanted to be on opposite sides of him; just like with Angeal. "You've got a funny definition of nothing, for a guy who goes around killing people for stupid, pointless reasons. You used to have honor, and now what are you? Just another crazy psychopath?"

[herlivinglegacy.livejournal.com]

That tore a laugh from him. "Pointless? You call Mother pointless?" He shook his head. His life had never had a purpose before he'd met Jenova. Before he'd found out the reason he'd been born. If nothing else she deserved his allegiance over every other human because she was the only one who truly loved him. "You're a fool, Zack."

Masamune flared to life in his hand, and the great black wing burst from his right shoulder and sent little black feathers drifting as he swung Masamune at Zack, not caring if he hit him or not. Sephiroth wanted him to shut up, he wanted to leave, he wanted that sensation in his chest to go away.

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

I don't have any weapons but my fists an my materia, and I know Sephiroth is much stronger than I am. The only thing I can defend myself now is words, and those are precious little currency versus Sephiroth's brand of crazy.

I jump out of Masamune's way, tamping down the sick, hurt feeling I get hen I see that horrible wing bursting out of Sephiroth's back. Like Genesis, and Angeal, corrupted by a science I don't understand.

"Yeah, I'm a fool. I'm stupid for ever thinking that you were anything worth emulating. After I spent my whole life risking everything to protect people, to be honorable and follow my dreams like Angeal said, I end up here. With you. And not even the you I'd want to be with, just a crazy, hopeless shell stuck on some sick megalomaniacal bent." I've got to admit, I feel like crying. A good cry would help a lot right now. But not in front of Sephiroth. Even though I hate him for killing Aerith, for letting whatever happened break his brain until only the bad pieces were left, I can't let him see me weak like that.

[herlivinglegacy.livejournal.com]

Sephiroth snarled and couldn't dignify Zack with an answer. Mostly because something about what Zack said struck a cord in him he didn't understand. Didn't want to understand.

Instead he turned on his heal with a swirl of black leather and silver hair and walked over to the far side of the room. Away from Zack, where he could think properly and chase away the sinking feeling in his gut.

[soldierfair.livejournal.com]

"Walking away now?" I know keeping up this little fight is a bad idea, but I'm too hurt and angry to care. "Why, because you know you can't defend yourself? No one is more aware of their own reprehensible nature than the guilty," I scoff, knowing that it sounds too much like something out of Loveless.