Mercverse snippets. Jumps around in the timeline like whoa. It'll be placed in chronological order. The last one is sort of a big spoiler for what I have planned. The "clean" version, sans spoiler, is posted over at mercverse.


Julian Silverberg was an arrogant prick.

It wasn't that he didn't know what he was doing, or that he had delusions of grandeur of any sort. Not either at all. Cloud knew that Silverberg knew what he was doing, and knew all about limitations. Silverberg was just, well, an arrogant prick about it all.

Still, there was something... off about the strategist. He grew irritable, hated anyone questioning his plans, and radiated a too smug sureness that exceeded even his original "confidence" at the start of the campaigns.

Cloud attributed it to the stresses of battles, becoming ever more frequent. At least, that's what he tried to convince himself of every time he needed to go to the strategist's tent to receive his orders. It would never explain the slight shiver down his spine that happened every time he saw Silverberg, growing ever so slightly in intensity with each meeting. There were more important things to worry about than just where his grandnieces and grandnephews several times removed had picked up a scholar of no past renown.

Silverberg was looking over the maps littering his desk, moving tokens back and forth. He took a few moments to register Cloud and sweep down into a bow. "Milord, if I may give you your position..." The strategist beckoned Cloud closer to the desk. He realized that Silverberg was wearing long sleeves. Cloud himself was near boiling in his field leathers, and the heat of the day was made worse in the tent. Why would anyone be wearing a coat, and a wool one at that, at a time like this?

"Milord, do you have any issues with my plans?" The sudden question startled Cloud out of his reverie.

Cloud looked down at the map of the pass, and the plains before them. He took note of where it was his Sunraiders were going to be positioned. "No... no problem." Looked like Ace was going to complain about the lack of funds to do anything again. If Queen wasn't there to shut him up, then Cloud didn't know what he'd do about--

Then he saw a very large gap between the expeditionary forces and the main groups, too large to be explained away by any sort of head start. The survivors of that first skirmish would be able to break away and regroup before the main forces could spot--

"Are there any other questions, milord?"

Cloud braced himself on a tirade about not being about to understand genius when he saw it. "This gap here," he pointed to the area between the two groupings of tokens, "What are your plans for it? I need to have something to tell my men when they notice--"

Silverberg's right arm twitched. Perhaps pulsed was a better word for it. Then it pulsed again. The feeling of hands running down Cloud's spine was back, and ever stronger. "No need to worry about that, milord," Silverberg said hurriedly. "It will be taken care of." The strategist bent down over his maps again. "If there are no more questions, then please relay my orders to your men."

Cloud nodded, and left. He needed to have a talk with his family about Silverberg.

After the battle.

---

"Holy shit! Sorry, lady, didn't know... Couldn't see where I was going." Zack stooped down and held out his arm to help the woman back onto her feet. He got a good look at her: small, blond, dainty. Ajoran if the big honking rood was an indication.

She shook her head at his offered hand. "Don't worry about me." She got up and dusted off her suit. The woman made sure her purse was in one piece and slung it over her shoulder. Checking herself, she noted a small scratch on her hand. It was quickly taken care of with a small healing spell. Throughout all of it her head was hunched down, like she was afraid of being seen.

"You'll have to excuse my companion's clumsiness," Cloud said. "Sometimes he just lets his head wander, and, well, you've seen the results."

Zack put on a mock pout. Leave it to Cloud not to let a chance for a critique pass by. "Oh, come on! I just said I was sorry!"

"Really, it's all right," the woman said. She looked up at them. Damn, her eyes were blue, kind of like... "Thank you, anyhow."

"Ho..." Zack started. "Er, it's no problem, Miss." Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh.

Cloud bobbed his head. The woman made a little bow in return. She walked off, towards the castle.

Zack made sure she was out of earshot before exploding into laughter.

Cloud frowned. "I fail to see what's so funny, Zachary Strife, about you knocking down someone."

Zack took a breath. "Didn't you see? Holy fuck, she's you in a dress!" He thought about it. "Okay, so you'd need to straighten out your hair, but fuck!" He dissolved into laughter again.

Cloud looked towards the vanishing figure. He muttered under his breath, then sighed. "I think it's time that we discussed that your girlfriend's kinks shouldn't be projected onto everyone. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Oh, come on, Cloud, I'm just thinking out loud," Zack smiled. "Though, now that I think about it, you'd look pretty hot dressed like a--"

"Zachary, no."

"It's just con--"

"No."

---

So this was it. Dying in the middle of nowhere before his plans could be realized. Yuber was gone, Albert was gone. No defenses. Everyone else had slunk back to Midgar. At least this way, Luc thought, he would actually get what he wanted, while everyone else would just have to content themselves with what was left.

His head hurt. His body hurt. He was cold.

Luc realized his hair was being stroked. He was on his side, his head propped up. He was on someone's lap. Someone had stayed. Luc shifted to lie on his back. He had to see who was with him. The hand jerked back and away. Luc stared at the face of his companion. Sarah. Sarah, relieved and smiling.

Her usually immaculate suit was dirty and tattered. The thin chain with its heavy rood was gone. She looked tired. Her eyes were again blue, the shadows beneath them somewhat softened by the glow in her eyes. Her hair was still silver. Luc wondered if Loz was anything like Kadaj, a feeling at the back of the neck that couldn't be ignored.

Luc took in his last moments of company. "Sarah... I failed. You can leave before it happens. You're free to go. You don't deserve--"

"I've told you that I'd stay by your side, Luc." There was a little hesitation before she said his name. Her self-maintained distance was slipping away. "It's no different now. I chose to go with you. How many people have suffered because of what I've done? I deserve it."

Tentatively, her hand went back to his hair, brushing strands from his face. After a pause, she began stroking again, slower than before. "Back with the Company... no one cared, even though they wanted to use me. You were--"

"I used you, too." Luc reached up, idly resting his fingertips near her temple. Her hand closed over his, and he let her guide it to cup her cheek. He cursed his habit of wearing gloves. He wanted to take them off, but that would mean tearing away. He needed to tear away, if only for Sarah.

He slipped his hand away from hers. It felt oddly cold. "Sarah... This is stupid. Go."

"No."

"Don't be stubborn." Anger would make it easier to turn her away. She could go, then, and...

"Stubbornness..." Sarah took up his hand again. "Stubbornness is a family trait, I've found out." She threaded her fingers with his. "I chose this. I chose you. You brought me happiness. I don't regret my decision."

"Sarah..." He laid back and closed his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you for everything, sincerely."

The ground shook. He felt the Weapons drift back to sleep. Falling rocks sealed them in. Sarah's hand tightened around his. The Planet grew louder again, this time not so angry.

This was it.