Inheritance (Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth)

꧁ XXVII ꧂

Silas conjured a large sphere of magic consisting of various elements. He was ready to strike Cloud with the powerful spell. As he was about to attack, he was tackled to the ground by Hayden. The sphere fizzled and vanished as he was punched in the face by his son.

After pinning his father to the ground and punching him, Hayden grabbed the front of his robes in anger. "Snap out of it, Silas," he hissed. "The Blight has corrupted your judgment. Fight it, dammit!"

Silas rubbed his cheek as it swelled up. The punch and hearing Hayden's voice snapped the man out of his deranged state. He blinked in surprise and met his son's furious gaze. "Hayden..."

The younger man sighed. "You snap out of it, you walking fossil?"

"I..." Silas remembered what he was doing. "By the heavens..."

Hayden huffed out a chuckle. "Sounds like it." He climbed off his father and got to his feet before offering him a helping hand. "You've got some shit to make up for."

Silas accepted his son's help and was pulled off the ground. He saw the jötunn he created and quickly got rid of it. Letting out a devastated sigh, he looked over at Cloud and Lailah. The boy was still holding on to his unconscious daughter. "I...forgive me..."

"Oh, honey..." Laurel sorrowfully said as she walked over. "I know you meant well. How are you feeling?"

"Better. As if my head's been cleared."

Hayden crossed his arms. "A good punch can do that. Now wake Lailah up before you're punched by her friends."

Raising his hand, Silas released his daughter from the spell he had her under.

With a barely audible groan, Lailah regained consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw the worried face of Cloud. She was confused by the situation due to having been under her father's spell. "What happened?"

Silas walked over to explain to her what he did. When he finished, he was taken aback at her lack of anger. "Are you angry? It's hard to tell when it comes to you and your mother..."

"Oh, I am," she confessed. "But it's a silent fury."

"Just like your mother..." Silas mumbled. "You and your friends should get some rest. The priests' rooms are still intact. You all can use them."

Cloud pulled Lailah up with him.

"Will you be okay?" Lailah asked her father.

"Yes. I'll be fine, sweetie," Silas reassured her. "Now go rest."

Laurel smiled. "Follow me, everyone." The woman led the party to the sleeping chambers of the priests. There were six rooms, each one with a double bed. Aerith and Tifa would share a room and so would Cloud and Lailah. That way, Barret, Yuffie, Red, and Hayden would have their own rooms. Cait Sith didn't need a bed and could rest anywhere due to being a robot.

Having gone their separate ways to get some sleep, Lailah entered the small room she would be sharing with Cloud. She lit the silver crystals in the small chandelier that hung from the ceiling using fire magic.

"Fancy," Cloud commented.

She laughed lightly. "It still uses mako, but only a small bit."

"Still better than all the mako Shinra's using."

"Shinra's mako extraction exceeds the rate at which the planet can replenish it. I wouldn't have a problem with Shinra's intentions of using mako to power this world if they weren't taking more than their fair share. Maybe if they had spoken to my people instead of slaughtering them, we could've avoided all this turmoil and prevented the world from dying years ago."