Chapter Text
It had been years since Zack accepted that his limit break was not always technically his own. His break was a weird form of mimicry, taking on various other limit breaks from friends, or family. By the time he joined SOLDIER, it was clear that his break copied people just after meeting them. Every time, the person he mimicked was someone important to him, eventually. Always someone who altered the course of his life in some significant way.
Whether said person was a friend or foe was the true gamble.
Zack didn’t mind, though—He loved people. Loved meeting them, loved learning about them. It was one of the reasons he joined SOLDIER in the first place. The more missions he went on, the more people he could potentially meet, and befriend. The more people he befriended, the more limit breaks he learned.
Though, it had been a while since it actually triggered, with all his amazing, faster-than-lightning SOLDIER reflexes—
“Zack, look out!”
Angeal’s warning brought Zack’s thoughts back to the fight at hand just in time to get tackled by a hedgehog pie. The blow knocked him off his feet, slamming him into the hard, dry dirt. Pinned, Zack found himself face-to-face with the hedgehog pie’s enormous maw.
Before he could even shout in alarm, Angeal was there, disrupting the monster’s assault with a brutal punch of his own. The hedgehog pie went flying to the side, buying Angeal enough time to roughly drag Zack to his feet.
Zack staggered, reorienting himself back into a fighting stance. “Sorry, Angeal—”
“Apologize later. For now, focus,” Angeal ordered.
“Right!” Zack nodded sharply, charging back into the crowd of hedgehog pies he was meant to be eliminating. This should be a simple mission for a Second—just routine monster extermination on the outskirts of the Mythril Marshlands. Despite his initial distraction, this fight would be a breeze—
Or, it would, if he didn’t immediately get blasted by a Fira.
Zack brought up his sword to block, but not quick enough on the draw, the magic burning through his defenses and knocking him to his knees. Zack fell with a grunt of pain, but as soon as he hit the ground, he felt a surge of strength blitz through his veins.
Limit Break.
“About time,” Zack shouted irritably as he stood again. The group of hedgehog pies were approaching quickly, and Zack eagerly tapped into that extra boost of strength.
When it activated, he felt the familiar unfamiliarity of a new break.
He expected Angeal’s Rush Assault, with how long it had been since a new one got mimicked, but this one felt like magic. Powerful magic, and he set it loose with abandon, sure it would help even the odds.
The magic of the new break ripped through the air, dizzyingly overwhelming, with the full force of an exploding star.
As the spell burned through the group of monsters, Zack could barely grasp it—Only the echoes of magic hurtling through space and time, faster than he could ever hope to make sense of—Like a comet bypassing the entire solar system, just to kickstart the chain reaction that would annihilate his enemies.
The limit break engulfed the entire field in flames, tearing through everything in its path.
When Zack came back to his senses, he was met with scorched earth. Every hedgehog pie was dead, as well as a few stray trees and a very large portion of the field they stood in. Zack stared at the ruined space in awe, uttering, “...woah.”
“Zack?!” Angeal ran to meet him now that the attack was finished, horrified and concerned all at once. “What the hell was that?”
“Uh,” Zack faltered, grinning sheepishly at his mentor. “...Mimicked a new limit break?”
Angeal sighed, pensively looking over the massive amount of damage. “Do you know whose it is?” he asked.
“I was kinda hoping you knew,” Zack pouted, realizing the last time he hit his limit break was…weeks ago. He met so many people since that last Rush Assault—This break could be from any one of them.
“I would remember if I’d ever seen a limit break this destructive…” Angeal trailed off, uneasily surveying the damage again. “You need to be careful with it, Zack. Maybe don’t use it unless you have to.”
“If I find out whose it is, I can ask them about it!” Zack said, not wanting to give up on the new break’s usefulness so quickly. “They’ll probably know how to handle it, right?”
At length, Angeal begrudgingly nodded. “Let’s head back and ask around,” he decided. “If they’re here, I’ll put in a word at HQ that we need extra time in the field—You’ll have to learn all you can from them, and that’s assuming they’re here in the first place.”
Zack nodded in agreement, though sullenly. There was more to the limit break than just wanton destruction. There must be. Casting a glance over the fried forms of the hedgehog pies again, Zack wondered what it was like to be in control of such a powerful limit break—It was a spell, after all. Those required concentration. Calculated tactics. There must be some sort of strategy behind it, not just danger.
After all, limit breaks were meant to protect their user.
“Let’s go, Zack,” Angeal called to him, already walking away and back toward the small village. “We’ll talk to the mayor first and let him know the job’s done.”
“...Got it,” Zack replied, tearing his eyes away from the remains of the battlefield.
The mayor was happy to have the monsters taken care of, but he couldn’t provide the SOLDIER operatives with any leads about the owner of Zack’s new limit break. Angeal and Zack backtracked, asking everyone they ran into prior to its use. The innkeeper likewise didn’t know. Neither did his daughter. Nor the newly promoted Security Officer that drove them to the area. Even the secretary Zack happened to befriend at HQ, before he left for the mission, had no clue.
So, Zack found himself sitting on a couch, on the SOLDIER floor, bouncing his leg and wracking his brain to remember every single person he met in the past few weeks.
The person would have to be important to Zack somehow. At least, they would be. Zack wasn’t sure he could figure that out from one meeting.
“Zack,” came Angeal’s voice from behind him. “I see you’re working hard.”
Zack sat upright, twisting around to see his mentor. Though, as he did, he saw Angeal hadn’t arrived alone—None other than SOLDIER First Class Sephiroth stood next to him. Zack’s initial greeting trailed into an awkward, heartfelt, “Uhh…”
Sephiroth, looking perfect as always in his flawlessly tailored uniform, remained impassive to Zack’s surprise. “Hello again.”
“Hi,” Zack finally actually greeted, moving to stand. “Right, you—” He looked from Sephiroth to Angeal, his brain finally catching up to what was happening.
“You forgot, didn’t you,” Angeal observed, a patient smile on his lips.
“N-No,” Zack protested, now recalling Sephiroth was going to train him while Angeal was out on a solo mission. “I didn’t…exactly.” He rubbed the back of his neck, glancing self-consciously at Shinra’s star SOLDIER operative. Who would now train him.
That was today?
Angeal shook his head good-naturedly. “I’ve briefed Sephiroth on your level goals for this month. I’ll be expecting you to stick closely to whatever regimen he gives you.”
“Right,” Zack said absently, quickly realizing increasing his level would involve fighting. Which meant— “What about my new limit break?”
Angeal grimaced. “...Avoid it, for now.”
At that, Sephiroth frowned at his fellow First. “You want him to avoid his limit break?”
“Zack’s breaks are…unique,” Angeal answered. “This one is too destructive. He doesn’t know how to control it.”
“Then he needs to use it more often,” Sephiroth determined, “not less.”
“It’s more complicated than that—” Angeal began.
“How so? It’s his limit break,” Sephiroth countered, shifting to cross his arms. “He should know how it functions.”
“It’s kinda not mine, is the thing,” Zack piped up with an awkward laugh. “Mine mimics other peoples’ breaks,” he explained to Sephiroth, inwardly reeling at the idea of having to explain something to the SOLDIER Hero. Someone vastly more experienced, and far more powerful, besides. “This limit break is—”
Then it hit him. He met Sephiroth in the right time frame—Three weeks ago, so Angeal could introduce them before Sephiroth agreed to train Zack. And Sephiroth was strong. Stronger than anyone. And smart enough to use some sort of ultra-destructive magic that could wipe out a solar system.
“Does your limit break blow up a star?” Zack asked Sephiroth suddenly.
Angeal scoffed. “Zack, Sephiroth’s limit break is Octaslash—”
“No, it isn’t,” Sephiroth interrupted him.
Angeal stared at Sephiroth, lips still parted. “...Come again?”
“Octaslash is merely a sword form I developed,” Sephiroth elaborated. Then, to Zack, amazingly, he inclined his head and confirmed, “My limit break is Supernova.”
“It’s yours!” Zack declared, instantaneously buzzing with excitement. He mimicked Sephiroth, of all people. Sephiroth, SOLDIER Hero. Poster boy. Most powerful man on the Planet, and he was gonna be a key figure in Zack’s life—
Though, in retrospect…it felt a bit obvious.
Unlike Zack, Angeal did not meet the revelation with enthusiasm. His brow was furrowed as he thought, pensive, as he softly asked, “Why didn’t I know your limit break?”
“I don’t typically take enough damage to trigger it,” Sephiroth answered smoothly, as though he had to answer this question a million times before. Again, he turned to Zack. “You said your limit break mimics people?”
“Yeah, people important to me, when I meet them!” Zack explained exuberantly, already eagerly clenching his fists at the thought of learning the same magic Sephiroth used. “So I’ve got Supernova now!”
The briefest flash of surprise crossed Sephiroth’s features. Then his expression went neutral again, his gaze dropping in thoughtful, quiet contemplation. “...I see.”
“You can teach me how to control it!” Zack went on. “I don’t have to avoid my limit break while we train!”
“Well, that does settle one issue,” Angeal admitted. To Sephiroth, he added, “Help him reign it in, alright? It’s too dangerous as-is.”
Sephiroth met Angeal’s eyes, silent for a time. Ultimately, he nodded.
“Alright!” Zack cheered, raising his fists. “Meet ya in the Training Room!” he told Sephiroth, and then promptly sprinted off down the hall.
“No ‘goodbye’ for your mentor?” Angeal shouted after him.
“Love ya, Angeal, bye!” Zack responded quickly, waving, and then dashed through the door to the Training Room. He didn’t bother with the module settings, figuring Sephiroth would take care of it when he caught up. For now, Zack was far too excited. He went into the VR room, bouncing with every step.
He didn’t have his limit break ready to go, but they could figure that out. More importantly, Sephiroth might give him a demonstration of Supernova. Zack would get to see how the attack worked first-hand.
When Sephiroth did eventually follow him into the VR room, he looked far less thrilled. “Angeal explained what happened on your last mission,” he said, walking to stand opposite Zack, almost like he was facing Zack down as an opponent rather than a trainee. “Based on his description, you didn’t perform it correctly.”
“Yeah,” Zack winced, thinking back to the burnt field. “What is it supposed to do, exactly?”
Sephiroth went quiet, turning his face, expression hidden in his long hair.
Zack waited, curiously. If it were anyone else, he’d almost think the guy was hesitating. But this was Sephiroth—There must be some other, badass reason for the dramatic pause.
“The Supernova you performed dealt a set amount of damage,” Sephiroth explained, still not looking at Zack. “Used properly, the damage should be fractional, as well as inflict your opponent with Confuse, Silence, and Sleep.”
Zack’s suspicions about Supernova being more than just a singular, powerful attack confirmed, his eyes widened at the actual description. “It does…huh?” he questioned, unsure how something that should be one damage spell could also cast three status effects. Some materia did that, but they were incredibly rare. These effects were mean, too, especially in combination.
Then, the damage method itself was…odd.
“What do you mean it’s ‘fractional?’” Zack asked. “Like…Like there’s math?”
“There is math involved, yes.”
Zack groaned loudly, hanging his head back as he came to terms with how complicated this was becoming. Sephiroth was out of his league. Made sense his limit break might be, too. Still, math? In an attack? Awful. It was like the time Angeal tried to make Zack calculate how much damage he would have to deal a Dual Horn with a combo of Libra and Gravity—
Then, all of a sudden, it clicked.
“Oh,” Zack uttered, smacking the palm of his hand with his fist. Gravity spells dealt damage in fractions. Supernova must act like gravity, which tracked. Supernovas. Gravity. Space things. “I get it!”
Sephiroth finally looked at him then, wearing a dubious frown. “Do you?”
“It’s a space attack,” Zack declared. Then, seeing Sephiroth vaguely narrowing his eyes at him, he realized he needed to actually explain his thought process. “Uh. The damage—It’s like Graviga?”
Drawing his hand to his chin, Sephiroth considered the statement. “I suppose it is similar.”
“And then there’s status effects,” Zack continued. “So it’s like a Dark—No! Hell Graviga.”
“...If that’s what makes sense to you,” Sephiroth relented, apparently seeing it a moot point to try and correct Zack further.
Must be close enough. Zack grinned, proud of his comparison. “So, what’s it like to use it? Can you show me?”
“No,” Sephiroth stated immediately. “It will take too long to build my limit break. We will have to work with yours.”
Zack deflated. So, no demonstration after all. “Then, do I just fight some VR monsters until then?” he asked.
“There’s no need for that,” Sephiroth informed him. Then, worryingly, he drew Masamune. Even more worryingly, he shifted his stance, very clearly intending to fight.
“Woah—Wait, hang on,” Zack spluttered, one hand reaching for his own sword in a panic. “You don’t mean—?!”
“It will be faster if we spar,” Sephiroth said simply, clearly waiting for Zack to get ready. “I can also ensure you won’t be knocked out and lose your progress.”
“But—!”
“Draw your sword, SOLDIER.”
Zack did, albeit slowly, worried now that Sephiroth would beat him in four seconds and determine Zack wasn’t worth the effort after all. He lowered himself into his own defensive position, checking himself—He would, in fact, have to get beat up to use his limit break. Probably. That’s how they usually worked. And, logically, Sephiroth wouldn’t be finished with him until he at least saw Zack use Supernova, right?
Said Supernova meant Sephiroth had to be more than just Zack’s one-time substitute mentor.
So, maybe it was fine. Maybe Sephiroth would be nice. Maybe he’d go easy on Zack.
With that, Zack nodded to the First, bracing himself to get his ass kicked.
Zack went flying for what felt like the fiftieth time in an hour, rolling heavily as he hit the ground. When he managed to finally curb his momentum, he splayed out on the floor like a starfish, head still swimming from Sephiroth’s last attack. “Ow,” Zack groaned, emphatically. If this was Sephiroth playing nice, he sure as hell didn’t want to see what mean looked like.
“What’s your limit’s status?” Sephiroth questioned, apparently not concerned as to whether Zack was okay.
He was okay, with the exception of his pride, but Zack pouted up at the ceiling anyway. Then belatedly answered, “I think…this isn’t working.”
“Do you know the cause?” Sephiroth asked.
Zack sat up, unsure. In theory, his limit break should work like anyone else’s—Take damage, build the limit, release when it breaks. Or, he thought it would. It only happened in battle, after all, so why wouldn’t it? Zack rubbed the back of his head, realizing there would be no shortcut through the typical methods. His limit break was just going to work however the hell it wanted, as usual.
How to explain that to Sephiroth, though…
“Well, it’s sorta…kinda random?” Zack attempted to explain. He tried once, with Angeal, and Angeal’s response had been to largely give up on ever understanding it. Then, also telling Zack he needed to figure it out. Zack didn’t know if Sephiroth might have more patience for Zack’s verbal flailing. “It’ll trigger when I’m fighting, but not because I’m getting hit. At least, I don’t think.” He grimaced, all too aware of how little the information helped. “It just…happens.”
Sephiroth stared at him, lowering Masamune. “So…there’s no sense trying to build it through typical methods,” he summarized. “Is that what you mean?”
“Uh, yeah. Probably,” Zack replied glumly. Admitting that he was definitely wasting Sephiroth’s time hurt nearly as much as the blow from Sephiroth’s sword. “It’s not…I don’t know how to make it happen when I want it to, like other people can. I can pick when to use it, but…”
Sephiroth turned his head, pensive. “...Hm.”
“Sorry,” Zack muttered, shifting on the floor into a defeated hunch. “I honestly thought this would work. It’s just—”
“Random…” Sephiroth uttered, though perhaps mostly to himself. “...but only in battle.” He met Zack’s gaze again, frowning. “We’ll try a different tactic. Get up.”
Zack scrambled to comply, only stumbling a little from the lingering pain of Sephiroth’s last attack. Before he could even think to ask for a break, he felt the warm, fizzy feeling of curative magic sweeping over his body. He looked up at Sephiroth, finding the First’s arm just dropping, after casting the Cure. “Uh. Thanks.”
“If your limit break will still trigger without taking damage, you will theoretically be able to use it while not engaging your opponent,” Sephiroth stated.
“So, I shouldn’t try to fight you?” Zack surmised. At Sephiroth’s affirming nod, he placed his own sword on his back, relieved. Still, if he wasn’t fighting, that begged another question: “Then, what am I supposed to do?”
Sephiroth raised his free hand, the shimmering power of spellwork immediately flaring to life. “Dodge,” he instructed, just before he sent a fireball hurtling toward Zack.
With a yelp, Zack leapt out of the way, the Fire just missing him. He turned his head to shout at Sephiroth, “Seriously?!”
“Yes,” Sephiroth answered, magic sparking to life again. “I can assess your footwork while we’re at it.”
This time Zack felt the air around him drop several degrees, and he looked up to see a Blizzard forming right above his head. A quick roll got him out of the way, but he stumbled back onto his feet. A glance at Sephiroth revealed the First was already on his next spell, and before Zack could blink, a bolt of Thunder knocked him right back onto the floor.
“You’ll have to be quicker than that,” Sephiroth chided.
“Is a little warning too much to ask?!” Zack shot back, shoving himself into a sitting position, and then rubbing his chest to rid himself from the sting of the spell. “I thought this was just training!”
“You won’t get warnings from your opponents,” Sephiroth told him, lowering his hand. “Read their movements and react to that.”
Zack pouted, just barely biting down the remark that Sephiroth was probably the most unreadable guy in SOLDIER. Still, he had a point. Even Sephiroth must have patterns. Little tells. He might be the best operative SOLDIER ever had, but he was still a person—Zack just had to learn how to read him.
He would have to do it fast, too, as Sephiroth raised his arm again.
Being so focused on Sephiroth, Zack almost didn’t notice when the familiar thrum of his limit break hit his veins. The realization that it was finally ready stopped Zack in his tracks. An act he immediately regretted, as a Blizzard bonked him right on the head.
“Ack—!” Zack flinched, grabbing his head with both hands.
“Why did you stop moving?” Sephiroth inquired, arm still outstretched.
“Limit break’s ready,” Zack informed him. As he said the words, he felt the same, overpowered surge of magic, just waiting to be released. Definitely Supernova, thankfully. Would’ve been embarrassing if he ran around the VR room for twenty minutes just to hit Rush Assault or Chain Slash.
Sephiroth relaxed, and then ordered, “Use it.”
“Uh—” Zack faltered, surprised. “Y…You mean on you?”
“Obviously.”
“Isn’t that gonna hurt?” Zack questioned, feeling his skin itch with the need to release his limit break, but still hesitant to actually assault his superior with such a dangerous spell.
Sephiroth looked surprised, briefly, only to chuckle. “You needn’t be concerned. Cast it.”
Zack set his jaw, still reluctant, and concerned nonetheless. “...Okay,” he relented, knowing the whole point of this was for Sephiroth to see why Supernova wasn’t working the way it should. “What’s the key to doing this?”
There was a flicker of something in Sephiroth’s eyes then, gone too quick for Zack to parse. Sephiroth merely inclined his head, clearly ready to take on whatever damage Zack hurled at him, and replied, “Concentrate.”
The instruction brought Zack back to the first time he met Sephiroth. The simple evaluation on whether he would train Zack at all. The advice to breathe, reorient, and try again.
So, Zack concentrated, focusing on the overwhelming power of the spell flaring at his fingertips. He took a breath, and then aiming right for Sephiroth, let loose.
Once again, Supernova felt too strong for Zack to fully control. This time though, he could grasp it just a little better—Plot its course. Direct it. Funnel the massive explosion of energy at a target, instead of obliterating everything in its path.
With that smidge of extra preparedness, Zack felt an end point. A cut off, where the spell could stop, but before he could figure out how to contain an exploding star and not murder his new mentor, it slipped out of reach.
Zack’s awareness staggered out of the limit break, feeling drained, and frustrated. And then, looking up, horrified.
Sephiroth, so confident he could bear the break, had been brought to his knees.
“Sephiroth?!” Zack called to him, already running to his side. “Are you okay?! Was that too—”
“—wrong,” he heard Sephiroth grunt out, his voice rough with pain.
“What?” Zack pressed, kneeling beside him.
“You did it wrong,” Sephiroth repeated, straining, dropping Masamune to the floor. He was holding his side, despite the lack of visible injuries, and breathing far too heavily for Zack’s liking. “That was flat damage, again.”
“Okay, got it wrong, gotcha,” Zack jabbered, hands fidgeting as he tried to figure out how to help. “Can I—” he hesitated, just about to take hold of Sephiroth’s pauldron. “You okay if I touch you?”
Sephiroth turned his head to look at him, confused. “Why are you asking me that?”
“I wanna bring you over to the wall, so you can sit,” Zack explained, gesturing between Sephiroth and the aforementioned wall. “You don’t seem like the kinda guy to like being touched, though. So, can I?”
“I…” Sephiroth stared at him, brow still furrowed. “...suppose?”
“Great! Okay,” Zack slipped his arm under Sephiroth’s, moving the First so his arm was slung over Zack’s shoulders. Then, he carefully took hold of Sephiroth, helping him stand. “Here we go,” Zack said, leading him over to the wall.
Sephiroth went willingly, though still watching Zack with an openly puzzled expression as he sat heavily with his legs outstretched.
With Sephiroth situated, Zack stood up again, asking, “Want me to go grab you a potion? The ladies by the front desk give me these really awesome ones—Should fix ya right up.”
“That’s…” Sephiroth shook his head, a small, amused smirk on his lips. “I can heal myself,” he told Zack. “Supernova does nothing to mana.”
“Oh,” Zack uttered, somewhat embarrassed he made Sephiroth move at all, in that case. “That’s—That’s good! You should do that.”
Shaking his head, but still smiling, Sephiroth tapped into his materia again. A warm, green glow sparkled over his form as the high-level magic did its work. “You’re strange,” Sephiroth commented idly.
“I am?” Zack questioned, squatting to talk to Sephiroth at his level.
“Yes.”
“...Why?”
“Most SOLDIER operatives would still be a bit…” Sephiroth paused, thoughtful. “...starstruck, in my presence,” he elaborated. “You don’t seem to care.”
Zack opened his mouth, the question of what that was supposed to mean halfway on his lips, when he realized the word play. Or, potential word play. Starstruck—like Supernova. Getting struck with the force of a star. Zack bit his lips together, suddenly realizing the word was applicable on so many levels—
“...What is it?” Sephiroth inquired, studying Zack’s expression once more.
“Oh! Uh, sorry,” Zack laughed sheepishly. “Just—You said starstruck and all I can think of is how we’re dealing with space stuff. There’s gotta be a pun in there somewhere, right?”
Sephiroth’s eyes fell shut as he chuckled. “I see.”
“Ah, I got it!” Zack snapped his fingers. Then, grinning broadly, he continued, “I guess you could say my Supernova left you pretty starstruck, huh?”
The pun earned him a scoff. But an amused one, at least. Still, Zack was aiming for more.
“Hmm, no good?” Zack asked, tilting his head, still grinning. “Though, after getting hit that hard, a pun’s a pretty bad constellation prize.”
That one got another chuckle, to Zack’s delight, despite Sephiroth quietly uttering, “Atrocious.”
“I think you’ll find my sense of humor is outta this world,” Zack teased.
“Enough,” Sephiroth said through a laugh.
Zack beamed, his injured pride from failing to use Supernova already forgotten, with the sight of Sephiroth’s smile. “Y’know, they do say laughter’s the best medicine.”
“I’ve found healing magic to be more effective,” Sephiroth countered, pulling his PHS from his pocket. After checking it, he grew serious again, stating, “We still haven’t figured out why Supernova didn’t work, and it’s getting late.”
“Yeah,” Zack agreed, frowning as he tried in vain to come up with a reason the spell was on the fritz. “I really did concentrate on it,” he insisted.
“I know,” Sephiroth told him, moving to stand. “We’ll see what can be done with it next time.” As Zack stood with him, he instructed, “For now, pinpoint where in the sequence it started going wrong. Don’t use it for anything other than flat damage.”
“Got it,” Zack smiled, already feeling infinitely better, with the confirmation that Sephiroth was still willing to help. Plus, the bonus—he wouldn’t have to avoid using Supernova at all, like Angeal first suggested.
“Until then,” Sephiroth said, inclining his head to Zack, and then turning to leave.
“...Hey,” Zack called after him, just before he walked out the door. “How was my dodging? I know I got hit at the start and the end, there, but…”
“Better than most could do, when faced with me,” Sephiroth divulged. The soft smile was back—the clearest indication Zack could get that Sephiroth was pleased. “You did well,” Sephiroth added.
And with that, he left.
Those parting words of praise had Zack back to buzzing with excitement. His limit break might still be a pain, but it didn’t matter. He did well. Sephiroth was impressed with him. Laughed at his dumb puns. Was helping with more than just a limit break.
Zack had never felt so confident that such a new, burgeoning friendship was going to lead somewhere good.