Chapter Text 正文
Long, silver hair curtained the both of them in a way that was deep and dark and intimate. Where the light managed to trickle in through the gaps, it was diffuse, illuminating the sheets of hair from behind and turning them almost translucent around the edges.
银色长发如帘幕般垂落在两人之间，构筑出深邃幽暗的私密空间。零星光线从发丝间隙渗入时已然漫射，从背后映亮缕缕发丝，令发梢边缘呈现出近乎透明的质感。
But the strands were too heavy and thick to let in any true light, and so the both of them were ensconced in penumbral darkness; in a space of their own where everything else beyond the luminous, silver curtain ceased to matter and exist.
但这些银丝实在太过浓密厚重，容不得半分真切的光明渗入，于是两人就这样被包裹在朦胧的半影里，在那道流光银帘隔绝出的独属天地中，外界万物皆湮灭于虚无。
As Cloud lay there—numb, paralyzed—he was only aware of his breathing, of both their breathing, mingling in the air between them; his own too quick, and the one above his deep and slow, seeming to almost make no noise at all.
克劳德麻木僵硬地躺着，只觉两人的呼吸在咫尺间交融——他自己的气息过于急促，而上方传来的吐息却深沉缓慢，恍若寂静无声的深渊。
Large hands framed Cloud’s head, too close to his throat for his liking, and he was starkly reminded of the vision he had, when he had checked on his neighbor but found Sephiroth instead, rising from the shadows like something out of a nightmare and stalking towards him in all his looming, beautiful, terrifying grace. He remembered the way his own sword had caught on the doorframe as he tried to get away and stumbled, falling to the floor. The way Sephiroth had thrown himself on top of him, powerful thighs straddling his body as his two large hands wrapped around Cloud’s throat, squeezing the breath out of his lungs while those feline eyes narrowed and his lips peeled back from his teeth in a vicious smile of pleasure—
克劳德的头颅被那双大手钳制着，对方指尖离咽喉近得令他窒息。此刻他猛然忆起先前的幻象——当他试图查看邻居状况时，噩梦般从阴影中现身的萨菲罗斯。银发男人裹挟着令人战栗的美感步步逼近，自己仓皇后退时剑刃卡在门框的狼狈，踉跄跌坐在地的屈辱。更忘不了那人如何带着掠食者的愉悦神情跨坐上来，强健大腿压制着躯体，猫一般的瞳孔微微收缩，森白利齿在扭曲笑容中显露，而那双巨掌正一寸寸碾碎自己的喉骨。
He had been pinning him down with his heavy weight just like now. The quiet panic in Cloud’s chest reached a fever pitch; his lungs constricted with the other man’s claustrophobic closeness, and he couldn’t breathe—he couldn’t think.
此刻的重压与彼时如出一辙。克劳德胸腔里闷烧的恐慌攀升至顶点，对方充满压迫感的气息化作实质性的牢笼，令他呼吸凝滞，思维冻结。
He only knew that he had to get out somehow, someway. Now.
唯有逃离的念头在神经末梢炸开，冲破所有理性桎梏——现在，立刻，不计代价。
He pressed his shoulder blades back against the floor, and bucked his hips with a strength he didn’t know he possessed.
肩胛骨在地面摩擦出灼痛，他借着反作用力猛然弓起腰胯，爆发出自己都未曾料想的蛮力。
He only heard a soft gasp, then the world was disorientating color and motion, and he found himself looking down at Sephiroth from above in a dizzying reversal of positions. For a moment he was overcome with the urge to wrap his own fingers around the man’s neck to give him a taste of what it felt like; to make him experience that same helplessness and fear.
他只听见一声轻微的喘息，接着世界化为令人晕眩的斑斓色彩与天旋地转，待他回过神来，自己竟已居高临下地俯视着萨菲罗斯，两人的位置在刹那间彻底颠倒。有那么一瞬间，他几乎被一股冲动攫住——想用双手掐住对方的脖子，让他也尝尝那滋味，让他体会同样的无助与恐惧。
He swallowed down the violent impulse, and merely dug his forearm into the other man’s throat to pin him down. It had to be painful, but Sephiroth made no indication that he even felt it, always mocking him with that equanimous smile of his.
他强压下那股暴烈的冲动，只是将前臂抵住对方的咽喉，将他死死按在地上。这理应带来剧痛，但萨菲罗斯却连眉头都没皱一下，始终以那副平静的微笑嘲弄着他。
“What do you want from me?” Cloud asked, still trembling from the adrenaline and fear.
“你想从我这里得到什么？”克劳德问道，肾上腺素与恐惧仍使他浑身发颤。
Sephiroth looked up at him, shapely lips forming only one word in quiet reverence:
萨菲罗斯仰头望向他，形状优美的唇瓣在虔诚的低语中只凝结成一个音节：
“Reunion.”
The velvety, dark caress of his voice made Cloud shiver, made goosebumps rise on his flesh. And the words from that other vision echoed in his ear, connected with the sense-memory of fingers around his wrist, telling him that the Reunion was nothing to fear—
天鹅绒般轻柔却暗含危险的嗓音让克劳德打了个寒战，肌肤泛起鸡皮疙瘩。另一个幻象中的话语在他耳畔回响，与手腕被手指箍住的感官记忆产生共鸣，不断诉说着重逢根本无需畏惧——
“You always say that word, but… what does it mean?”
“你总是说那个词，但...它到底是什么意思？”
There Sephiroth’s lashes fluttered, eyes falling closed in something that almost seemed like pleasure as he sighed.
萨菲罗斯的睫毛颤动，近乎愉悦地阖上双眼，喟叹一声。
“It means…” he started and halted, as though he had difficulty putting the experience into words, “being as close to a person as possible. Becoming one with them.”
“意思是……”他开始说，又停下，仿佛难以用语言描述这段经历，“尽可能接近一个人，与对方融为一体。”
Cloud tried not to stare too closely, or pay too much attention to the way the other man’s expression or voice stirred something inside him. “Okay,” he said, for a lack of a better response, “but…”
克劳德尽量不去盯着看太久，也不去过多在意对方的表情或声音在自己内心激起某种涟漪。“好吧，”他说道，一时想不出更好的回答，“但是……”
He finally asked the question that had been plaguing him all along, but for which he never managed to find an answer that made any kind of sense:
他终于问出了那个一直困扰着他、但他始终未能找到一个合理答案的问题：
“Why me?” “为什么是我？”
It was a quiet, urgent whisper—far more open and vulnerable than intended, laying all of Cloud’s insecurities bare at once.
这句低语裹着焦灼气息在暗室漾开——他本不想显得如此坦率脆弱，却将克劳德的不安情绪尽数暴露。
But he had always wondered, and he wanted the answer too much to care about what he unwittingly betrayed in the process.
但他一直想知道，对答案的渴望太过强烈，以至于根本不在乎自己在此过程中无意间暴露了什么。
Sephiroth looked at him with his feline eyes, hypnotizing him with the fervent intensity that illuminated them. “When Mother purified me, made me into a higher, godly being, she took everything—but not you. You alone shine brightly in the darkness she left behind.”
萨菲罗斯用猫一般的眼睛注视着他，那双眼中炽烈的目光几乎要将他催眠。“当母亲净化我，将我提升为更高尚、神圣的存在时，她带走了一切——除了你。唯有你在她留下的黑暗中熠熠生辉。”
The revelation was… enormous, far beyond anything that Cloud could have ever thought up, and for a moment he was rendered utterly speechless.
这个启示……庞大得超乎想象，远远超出了克劳德所能构想的一切，令他一时完全说不出话来。
Sephiroth took the opportunity to lean up against Cloud’s leather-covered forearm and bring them closer, closer. “Why fight this,” he whispered, seductively, “when it is so much easier to give in? You and I… we are meant to be, Cloud.”
萨菲罗斯趁机倚向克劳德覆有皮革的前臂，将他们之间的距离越拉越近，越拉越近。“何必抗拒呢，”他充满诱惑地低语，“顺从不是轻松得多吗？你与我……我们注定要在一起，克劳德。”
Cloud shook his head to clear it of the disbelieving stupor he had fallen into. He pressed his arm harder into that long, pale neck. “I don’t think we are,” he said, roughly.
克劳德摇了摇头，试图摆脱自己陷入的难以置信的恍惚状态。他将手臂更加用力地压在那修长苍白的脖颈上。"我不这么认为，"他粗声粗气地说。
Sephiroth remained close for another moment, before gracefully acquiescing against the pressure and laying his head back down on the floor, though his eyes continued to smolder. “You are bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. Do you not feel the same desire to crawl into my skin and live there? I feel it, too.”
萨菲罗斯又贴近了片刻，才优雅地屈从于那股压力，将头颅重新放回地面，但双目依旧炽烈燃烧。"你是我的骨中骨，肉中肉。难道你不想钻入我的皮肤，占据这副躯壳吗？"他轻声说，"我也渴望着。"
His words tickled something in the back of Cloud’s head—a memory of reading in a confidential file somewhere that SOLDIERs were injected with strange cells from an excavated specimen alongside their mako treatments.
他的话搔动了克劳德脑海深处的某样东西——一段在机密文件中读到的记忆：神罗战士在接受魔晄处理时，还会被注入从某种发掘样本中提取的奇异细胞。
“You said that Jenova could manipulate anyone with her cells. Are you manipulating me right now?” he asked angrily, animal fear making his lips pull back in a snarl.
“你说过杰诺瓦可以用她的细胞操控任何人，”他愤怒地质问，野兽般的恐惧让他龇牙咧嘴，“你现在是不是在操控我？”
“No,” Sephiroth said, in his cold, smooth baritone. “I told you: you are not my puppet, nor do I want you to be. Our minds may be connected, but your thoughts are still your own. As are your wants and desires.”
“不，”萨菲罗斯用他冰冷流畅的男中音说道，“我说过：你不是我的傀儡，也不希望你成为。我们的意识或许相连，但你的思想仍属于你自己。你的渴求与欲望亦是如此。”
He waited a beat, before asking, “Do you want me, Cloud?”
他顿了一拍，才问道：“你想要我吗，Cloud？”
Cloud looked down at him. From the way his hair was spread out around him almost like a halo, to the way he was surrounded by black feathers from the wing that lay underneath him, Sephiroth was achingly, inhumanly beautiful.
克劳德低头注视着他。从他如光环般在身周散开的银发，到身下羽翼散落的黑羽环绕周身的姿态——萨菲罗斯美丽得令人心颤，美丽得近乎非人。
Yet it was his lips that drew most of Cloud’s attention. They were usually curved as though the whole world amused him, but now they were merely slightly parted, making him remember Sephiroth’s quiet gasp of surprise when he flipped them over. His lips were a little too dark to be called rosy, almost bruise-colored—
然而最吸引克劳德注意力的仍是他的双唇。那两片薄唇通常总是带着仿佛整个世界都让他觉得有趣的弧度，此刻却只是微微张开着，反而让他想起翻身压制对方时、萨菲罗斯那声讶异的轻喘。他的唇色深得称不上玫瑰色，近乎淤伤的颜色——
They looked so, so soft.
它们看起来是那么、那么柔软。
Cloud raised his arm, the one pinning Sephiroth down, carefully watching for any false movement. But Sephiroth remained absolutely motionless underneath him. Good, Cloud thought, and placed his fingers on those full, inviting lips.
克劳德抬起那只压制着萨菲罗斯的手臂，仍警惕地留意着对方任何细微的异动。但银发男人被他压在身下纹丝不动。很好，他想着，将手指覆上那两瓣饱满诱人的唇。
Sephiroth’s mouth fell open just a little more, his breath heating the pads of Cloud’s fingers through the soft leather.
萨菲罗斯的嘴又微微张开了一些，呼出的气息透过柔软皮革蒸暖了克劳德的指尖。
He did not presume, did not take more than he was given. He only looked up at Cloud curiously; in silent, dark expectation.
他没有僭越，没有索取超过被给予的。他只是好奇地抬头看向 Cloud，带着无声而晦暗的期待。
It was true: Cloud did want to crawl into the man’s skin and wear it as his own. He wanted to tear him apart, make him bleed—make him burn just like Nibelheim once had.
事实的确如此：克劳德确实想要钻进对方的皮囊，将其据为己有。他渴望将那人撕碎，使其流血——令其如尼布尔海姆昔日那般熊熊燃烧。
The bright, glimmering nebula of Sephiroth’s eyes beckoned to him, and he started leaning down—
萨菲罗斯眼中闪烁着璀璨的星云，仿佛在向他发出召唤。克劳德不由自主地倾身向前——
That was when the door to the room burst open and hit the wall with a loud bang, making Cloud flinch and tense up.
就在这时，房间的门猛地被撞开，哐当一声砸在墙上。克劳德被吓得浑身一颤，身体骤然绷紧。
His SOLDIER training immediately took over and he instinctively curled over the form underneath his to provide cover. He reached for the sword he had dropped earlier, hand curling around the hilt—
他的 SOLDIER 训练立即接管了身体，本能地蜷起身子护住身下的人形。他伸手去够先前掉落的长剑，手指紧紧扣住剑柄——
“So that’s where you are! We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“原来你在这儿啊！我们一直在到处找你。”
At the bright, bubbly voice he lowered his blade a fraction, tension leaving him all at once in silent shock.
听到这声明亮欢快的呼唤，他闻声稍稍放低刀刃，紧绷的身体一下子松懈下来，陷入无声的震惊。
“Aerith?” “Aerith？”
“The one and only!” She was smiling, stretching her blood-red lips. Her hair was a long, spiraling tumble of brown curls interwoven with ribbons and flowers down her back. She was clad in a sleek, flowing dress made of crimson velvet with a deep plunge in the front.
“独一无二！”她微笑着，血红的双唇高高扬起。一头螺旋状的棕色长卷发垂落至背部，发间交织着缎带与花朵。她身着一袭深红色天鹅绒制成的光滑垂坠长裙，胸前是深 V 领口。
For a moment Cloud was startled, before remembering their original plan of infiltrating Don Corneo’s mansion and their deal with Madam M. It seemed that she had not lied about transforming Aerith into someone who might catch the Don’s eye.
克劳德先是吃了一惊，随后才想起他们原本的计划就是潜入唐·柯尼欧的宅邸，以及与 M 夫人达成的约定。看来她确实没有说谎——真的把爱丽丝改造成了能吸引唐注意的模样。
He couldn’t really blame himself for his brief lapse; so much had happened since he left her at the parlor.
他实在无法责怪自己的一时疏忽；自从把她留在美容院后发生了太多事情。
There was soft, shuffling motion behind Aerith, and he saw that it was—
爱丽丝身后传来一阵轻微的窸窣响动，他看到那是——
Tifa. 蒂法。
First there was relief, powerful and sweeping over him like a wave, draining the tension out of him which he had not known he had been holding on to as he realized that Sephiroth hadn’t lied to him and she was alive.
首先涌上心头的是一阵宽慰，强烈如浪潮般席卷全身，将那份他未曾意识到自己一直紧绷的紧张感尽数抽离——当他意识到 Sephiroth 并未欺骗自己，而她依然活着时。
Tifa was dressed in a black kimono, although Cloud doubted Wutaians actually wore it so short. She wore matching stockings and heeled boots. Silver hairpins and pink flowers decorated her head. Her lips were painted bold pink and the same shade accentuated her eyes, bringing out the red in her sepia irises.
蒂法身着一袭黑色和服，尽管克劳德怀疑武泰人是否真会穿这么短的款式。她搭配了同色长袜与高跟短靴，银质发簪与粉色花朵装点发间，双唇涂着鲜艳的粉色，同色眼影加深眼部轮廓，衬得褐眸中的红更显鲜明。
It was unfamiliar, strange, seeing his childhood friend done up this way, though he had always known that she was beautiful.
眼前的儿时玩伴虽一直都很漂亮，但以这种模样出现还是令他既陌生又怪异。
However, that was the last thing on his mind right now. Cloud’s heart dropped to his stomach. He suddenly felt ill.
然而，他现在根本无心考虑这些。克劳德的心脏直直坠入胃袋，突然感到一阵恶心。
Tifa shot him a questioning glance which he didn’t dare to meet, ears burning.
蒂法向他投来疑问的一瞥，他不敢迎上她的目光，耳朵发烫。
What had he been thinking? This was the man who burned down Nibelheim, who had killed so many people without even a hint of remorse.
他当时到底在想什么？正是这个男人烧毁了尼布尔海姆，杀害了无数人，却毫无悔意。
And Cloud had almost kissed him.
克劳德几乎就要吻上他了。
He jumped away from the other man as though burned, ungracefully clambering to his feet in his haste. He could feel Sephiroth’s searing gaze on his skin, but he avoided it.
他仿佛被烫到一般从对方身边跳开，笨拙地匆忙爬起身来。他能感受到 Sephiroth 灼热的视线落在自己皮肤上，却避开了目光。
Shame burned a hole into his stomach, licked at his skin from the inside, hollowing him out.
羞耻感在他的胃里灼出一个洞，从内里舔舐他的皮肤，将他掏空。
From the corner of his eye he saw how Sephiroth also got to his feet, with far more grace than him. He shook his wing out, sending more feathers floating to the ground.
他用余光瞥见萨菲罗斯也站了起来，动作却比他优雅得多。对方抖了抖翅膀，更多的羽毛飘落在地。
Aerith let out a gasp. “Is that a wing? Are you an angel?”
爱丽丝倒抽了一口气。“那是翅膀？你是天使吗？”
She was hopping giddily on her bare feet. It seemed she had abandoned the heels and was holding them in her hand now, where they hung loosely from the tips of her painted fingers by the thin straps.
萨菲罗斯则用带着异样兴味的眼神打量着她，目光深处蛰伏着某种让克劳德所有感官都紧绷起来的东西。
Sephiroth, for his part, eyed her with strange interest, something lurking in the depths of his gaze that set all of Cloud’s senses on edge.
It was then that the sheer danger of the situation occurred to him. It had already been bad enough when he only had to worry about himself, but now Aerith and Tifa were here, too. Sephiroth had seemed disinterested in killing Cloud for now, but he had made no such assurances about them.
直到此刻，他才真正意识到局势的凶险程度。原本只需担心自己时就已经足够糟糕，可现在爱丽丝和蒂法也身处此地。萨菲罗斯眼下似乎对杀死克劳德毫无兴趣，但从未承诺过会放过她们。
Cloud held his breath. Cloud 屏住了呼吸。
Sephiroth tilted his head, silver strands sliding over his glowing, reptilian eyes. “Perhaps.”
萨菲罗斯歪了歪头，银发滑过他那双发光的、爬虫类般的眼睛。“或许吧。”
Then he smirked and stretched his wing out to its full length, until the tip touched the ceiling and it was spread out in all its dark glory.
随后他冷笑一声，将翅膀伸展到极限，直到末梢触碰到天花板，完全展开的翅翼在幽暗中流泻出摄人光华。
Aerith clapped her hands in excitement. “Can I touch your wing? Please tell me I can touch it!”
爱丽丝兴奋地拍着手。“我能摸摸你的翅膀吗？求求你让我摸摸吧！”
Sephiroth looked at her for a moment, his gaze unreadable, before smiling. “Go ahead,” he said, generously.
萨菲罗斯用难以捉摸的目光注视了她片刻，而后忽然露出微笑。“请便。”他大方地说道。
Cloud watched their interaction closely, hand gripped tightly around his sword. He waited for Sephiroth to drop the act and skewer Aerith, growing more and more tense with each second that passed and it didn’t happen. They were standing entirely too close to each other, Aerith’s expression bright and open as she softly carded her fingers through the thick plumage. She looked tiny next to the monster of Cloud’s nightmares.
克劳德紧盯着两人的互动，握剑的手愈发收紧。他等待萨菲罗斯撕开伪装、将艾瑞丝刺穿的那一刻，时间一秒秒过去，这一幕却迟迟未发生，他的神经越绷越紧。他们之间的距离实在太过接近，艾瑞丝神情明亮坦荡，纤指轻轻梳理着那浓密羽翼。在克劳德噩梦中的怪物身侧，她显得如此娇小。
In contrast, Sephiroth watched Aerith merely with the cold amusement of a predator. It was like witnessing prey walk into the maw of the beast, oblivious of the sharp fangs closing in around it.
相形之下，萨菲罗斯只是带着捕食者冰冷的兴味注视着爱丽丝。就像目睹猎物主动走进兽口，浑然不觉锋利的獠牙正从四面八方围拢而来。
In fact, Aerith was not only oblivious, but she also appeared to be ogling the very naked man in front of her. Did she have no sense of self-preservation?
事实上爱丽丝不仅毫无察觉，甚至明目张胆地打量着眼前赤裸的男人。她难道没有半点危机意识吗？
That was when Cloud saw the pair of bright green eyes avidly fixed on him, almost taunting. All the blood in Cloud’s veins turned to ice as he realized that Sephiroth knew. He knew how scared Cloud was, how Aerith being so close within his reach made Cloud’s breath feel tight in his chest, made his fingers grow numb and shake with fear. He was going to kill her—
克劳德对上那双灼灼锁定自己的翠瞳，那眼神近乎带着挑衅意味。当意识到萨菲罗斯早已看透一切时，他周身的血液仿佛瞬间凝固——对方清楚自己有多恐惧，清楚爱丽丝近在咫尺的距离让他的呼吸变得多么滞涩，让他的指尖因战栗而发麻颤抖。银发恶魔要杀了她——
“That’s quite enough.” Cloud stepped between them, heart pounding. He placed himself in front of Sephiroth, which also had the side-effect of covering his nude body with his own.
“够了。”克劳德走到两人中间，心跳如雷。他挡在萨菲罗斯面前——这顺带也用自己的身体遮住了对方赤裸的身躯。
Aerith seemed startled for a moment, then she glanced between the two of them, sudden understanding blooming across her features. The way she sent Cloud sly glances told him that she had arrived at the completely wrong conclusion. It irritated him more than it should have, probably because she wasn’t really wrong at all.
爱丽丝似乎愣了一下，目光在两人之间来回游移，突然恍然大悟。她朝克劳德投来狡黠眼色的模样，显然得出了完全错误的结论。这让他格外烦躁，或许正是因为她的误解其实并非全错。
Cloud raised his sword slightly, threateningly, as he turned his upper body to glare at Sephiroth. Behave. Sephiroth just smirked and didn’t say anything.
克劳德略微威胁性地举高剑刃，转过上半身怒视萨菲罗斯。老实点。萨菲罗斯只是冷笑着一言不发。
Cloud turned back around again, ignoring the warmth he felt at his back, the soft inhalations he could hear so loudly, so clearly, at his ear as though the other man had lowered his head slightly to breathe him in—subtly take in his scent.
克劳德再度背过身去，刻意忽略后背上灼烧的温度，忽略耳畔清晰可闻的轻柔呼吸声——仿佛那人正垂首不动声色地嗅闻他的气息。
He ignored the way it made him tremble with the desire to lean back into that alluring warmth, and just let go.
他强压下想要向后倚进那片惑人暖意的战栗感，更不愿放任自己就此沉溺其中。
It was around this time that Tifa snapped out of her uncharacteristic silence by tugging at Aerith’s wrist and swiftly pushing her behind her back.
大约就在这时，蒂法突然从她一反常态的沉默中回过神来，一把拽住艾莉丝的手腕，迅速将她拉到自己身后。
“He’s the man who burned down the village where Cloud and I grew up,” she explained to Aerith who looked at her in deep confusion, but Tifa’s brown eyes were already fixed with blazing intensity on the figure behind Cloud. “He’s dangerous.”
“他就是烧毁克劳德和我从小长大的村子的男人，”她向一脸茫然的爱丽丝解释道，但蒂法的棕眸已炽烈如火地死死盯着克劳德身后的身影。“他很危险。”
Her burning eyes turned to Cloud next, and although they gentled a little with inquisitive concern when they laid upon him, he still had to suppress his flinch.
她燃烧般的双眸紧接着转向克劳德，尽管在落于他身上时因探询的关切而稍微柔和了一些，他仍不得不克制住退缩的冲动。
“Cloud, what is going on? What is he doing here?”
“克劳德，这是怎么回事？他在这儿干嘛？”
Cloud’s mouth suddenly felt dry. “I…”
克劳德的嘴突然发干。“我……”
However, Sephiroth’s smooth, deep timbre resonated from behind him before he could speak up.
然而在他开口前，身后就传来了萨菲罗斯低沉丝滑的嗓音。
“I seek no quarrel with you, Miss Lockhart. But if you decide to attack, I will be forced to retaliate. I say this only out of courtesy to Cloud, and I will say it only once: be warned.”
“我无意与你争斗，洛克哈特小姐。但如果你执意攻击，我将被迫反击。出于对克劳德的礼节我才说这句话——仅此一次，望你谨记。”
The dark promise in his voice chilled Cloud to the bone, but his words only seemed to incense Tifa even more as she lifted her arms in a familiar fighting stance, hands curling into fists, wide sleeves sliding down her pale, toned forearms.
他声音里阴沉的威胁令克劳德不寒而栗，但那些话似乎只是愈发激怒了蒂法——她架起双臂，摆出熟悉的战斗姿态，双手握拳，宽大的袖子从她苍白而结实的前臂上滑落。
“If you think your threats will stop me from taking revenge, then you are sorely mistaken. Cloud, move out of the way. I’m going to kill him.”
“如果你以为靠威胁就能阻止我复仇，那你就大错特错了。克劳德，让开。我要杀了他。”
There was a soft, barely audible huff of laughter behind Cloud. “So I’ve been told,” Sephiroth drawled.
克劳德身后传来一声几乎听不见的轻笑。“这话我听过不少次了，”萨菲罗斯拖着长音说道。
Tifa ground her teeth, pink lips slightly lifting from them, eyes glinting. “You—”
蒂法磨了磨牙，粉唇微微张开，双眸发亮。“你——”
“No,” Cloud said, intervening before the situation could escalate any further. He shook his head apologetically when Tifa sent a confused and slightly betrayed look his way.
“不行。”克劳德在事态进一步升级前介入道。当蒂法向他投来困惑且略带被背叛感的眼神时，他带着歉意摇了摇头。
He understood her. He felt the same way about it. But if a fight broke out, he was certain it would end badly for Tifa. She was strong, probably the strongest martial artist he knew, but he was not sure if even he could take Sephiroth; if even all three of them would be a match for him. The last time he had killed Sephiroth had been a fluke. He knew that.
他理解她的感受。他自己对此也抱有同样的想法。但若是爆发冲突，他确信蒂法绝对会处于下风。她很强，或许是他认识的最强格斗家，但他不确定就连自己能否战胜萨菲罗斯；不确定他们三人联手是否足以匹敌。上次他杀死萨菲罗斯纯属侥幸。他心知肚明。
“Cloud…” Tifa’s fists had lowered again, though her hands now anxiously hovered in front of her in the general area of the sash tied around her waist. “Why are you defending him?”
“克劳德……”蒂法的拳头又放了下来，只是双手仍局促不安地悬在身前，指尖堪堪触到腰间束带。“你为什么要护着他？”
“It wasn’t me,” Sephiroth quietly spoke up again behind Cloud, making him startle and turn around to look at his expression. It was strangely soft, thoughtful. Then Sephiroth tilted his head, full lips curving up slightly at the corners. “In fact… Mother was the one responsible for the burning of your precious hometown, and I killed her, so shouldn’t you be thanking me instead?”
“不是我。”萨菲罗斯在克劳德身后再度轻声开口，惊得他转身去看对方的表情。那神情异样柔和，若有所思。接着萨菲罗斯偏了偏头，饱满的嘴唇在嘴角微微上扬。“事实上……烧毁你珍视的故乡是母亲所为，而我杀了她，难道你不该反过来感谢我吗？”
At this, Tifa was positively fuming again. She looked ready to come over and punch Sephiroth solidly in the solar plexus, and Cloud had to put a stop to that at once.
听到这话，蒂法确实又气炸了。她看起来随时准备冲过来给萨菲罗斯的心窝来上一拳，克劳德不得不立刻阻止她。
He placed himself firmly between Sephiroth and Tifa again, his body acting as a barrier.
他再次用身体稳稳挡在萨菲罗斯和蒂法之间，形成一道人墙屏障。
“There was this alien specimen in the tank in the Nibel reactor named Jenova,” he started explaining, because Sephiroth obviously wasn’t going to do it. “It’s who he calls his... mother, and he claims that she… took over his mind. He may not have been fully in control of his actions.”
“尼贝尔反应堆的培养舱里有个叫杰诺瓦的外星生物标本，”他开始解释，毕竟萨菲罗斯显然不打算开口，“他称其为...母亲，声称是杰诺瓦...控制了他的心智。当时他可能并未完全掌控自己的行为。”
“And you believe him?” “你就信他了？”
“No. Maybe. I don’t know.” He ran a ragged hand through his hair. “Look, it’s… complicated. We can’t kill Sephiroth. Not permanently at least. Haven’t you wondered how he’s here despite having died?”
“不。也许吧。我不知道。”他用一只粗糙的手捋过头发，“听着，这...很复杂。我们杀不死萨菲罗斯。至少无法永久消灭。你难道没想过他明明已经死了，为何还会出现在这里吗？”
“Maybe he didn’t die…” But even Tifa looked doubtful about it.
“或许他没死……”但就连蒂法自己说这话时都带着犹疑。
“He did. I was there. I saw it. He couldn’t have survived falling into the mako. The thing is… You know the lifestream Barret is always talking about?” At Tifa’s wary nod, he continued. “It’s real. And it won’t accept him because he sort of… merged with Jenova.”
“他确实死了。我就在现场目睹了整个过程。坠入魔晄的人不可能存活。关键在于...巴雷特总挂在嘴边的生命之流你知道吧？”见蒂法警惕地点了点头，他继续道，“那东西真实存在。而它拒绝接纳萨菲罗斯，因为他...某种程度上与杰诺瓦融合了。”
The skin around Tifa’s eyes tightened. “But isn’t it still better to kill him? It took him five years to return. At least then we’d have some time to figure out how to prevent it.”
蒂菲眼周的皮肤绷紧了。“但杀了他难道不是更好吗？他花了五年才回来。至少之后我们还能有时间想办法阻止。”
Cloud was acutely aware of Sephiroth behind him, his breathing and the heat he wafted off. He felt his eyes burning the skin of his nape as he listened to every word, waiting for Cloud’s response.
克劳德能清晰感知到身后萨菲罗斯的存在——他的呼吸声，以及周身散发的灼热气息。后颈皮肤被那道视线灼得生疼，他听着每个字在空气中震颤，等待着自己的回应。
“I’d rather… have him somewhere where I can see him, instead of having to constantly look over my shoulder because I don’t know how long it will take him the next time to come back.” Cloud heard light shuffling behind him, but he didn’t turn around to look.
「我宁可……让他待在我视线范围内，总好过时刻提防着不知何时会突然现身的威胁。」身后传来衣料摩擦的窸窣声，克劳德没有回头。
Tifa seemed to deflate at this, lips pressing together for a moment. “But if he merged with Jenova… how do we know he’s the one in control, and not her?”
蒂法的肩膀一下子垮了下来，双唇紧抿片刻。「可如果他真的与杰诺瓦融合了......我们怎么确定现在掌控躯壳的是他本人，而不是那个怪物？」
“We… don’t. But he hasn’t tried to kill any of us yet.” He deliberately left out Sephiroth’s recent bloodbath.
“我们……没有。但他还没对我们中的任何人下过杀手。”他故意不提萨菲罗斯最近的屠杀。
Tifa narrowed her eyes. She had always been too intelligent not to connect the dots. “He’s… the one responsible for the massacre in Don Corneo’s mansion, isn’t he?”
蒂法眯起眼睛。她向来冰雪聪明，不可能理不清其中关联。“他…就是造成唐·柯内欧宅邸大屠杀的元凶，对吗？”
“Yes,” Cloud confirmed, whisper-quiet.
“是的。”克劳德轻如耳语地回应。
“Cloud,” Tifa said, looking at him with such soft sympathy and understanding even though he knew what she was going to say. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“克劳德。”蒂法用无比温柔的同情和理解目光注视着他，尽管他早就知道她想说什么，“我觉得这不是个好主意。”
Cloud let out a hollow laugh. “No, it really isn’t. But it’s the best one we have right now.”
克劳德发出空洞的笑声。“不，真的不是。但这是我们目前最好的选择。”
Tifa looked at him with such bright concern in her warm brown eyes that Cloud wanted to turn away and hide from it like a child. He stood strong, and didn’t.
蒂法用她温暖的棕色眼眸投来明亮而关切的注视，那目光让克劳德几乎想像个孩子般转身躲藏。他绷紧身躯站立着，最终没有逃避。
Aerith had been following the conversation with avid interest, and peering over Tifa’s shoulder now, she chimed in with, “Well, if it helps I don’t think your idea is too bad!”
爱丽丝一直饶有兴致地听着对话，此刻从蒂法的肩膀上方探出头来插嘴说道："如果这能帮上忙的话——我觉得你的主意挺不错的呀！"
“Thanks, Aerith,” was Cloud’s dry response.
“谢了，爱丽丝。”克劳德干巴巴地回答。
She just beamed brightly at him. Then she stepped out from behind Tifa, looking shrewdly from face to face. She even tried to crane her neck to get a peek behind Cloud. Simply unbelievable. He just huffed, crossing his arms as he made sure his body covered Sephiroth’s naked form fully—or at least most of what was below the neck.
她只是冲他灿烂地笑着，随后从蒂法身后走出来，机敏地打量着每个人的表情。她甚至试图伸长脖子偷窥克劳德身后的情形。真是难以置信。他只是哼了一声抱起双臂，确保自己的身体完全遮住了萨菲罗斯赤裸的身躯——至少遮住了脖子以下的大部分。
Aerith just pouted and grinned at him unapologetically. “So,” she said, pulling everyone’s attention to her. “Does that mean we’ll be working together for now? We still need to find Don Corneo after all! Right, Tifa?”
爱丽丝只是撅起嘴，毫无歉意地冲他咧嘴一笑。“所以——”她开口将大家的注意力都吸引到自己身上，“这代表我们暂时要合作了对吧？毕竟咱们还得揪出科诺恩老头呢！对吧，蒂法？”
The question effortlessly pulled Tifa out of her worries and anxious thoughts that were plainly written on her face. She seemed to blink out of it, before shaking her head in soft chagrin. “You are right. We have to find him, but we don’t even know where to start...”
这个提问轻易地将蒂法从那些明明白白写在脸上的忧虑与焦躁思绪中拽了出来。她似乎猛然回过神来，随后轻轻摇了摇头，略带懊恼。“你说得对，我们必须找到他，可我们连该从哪儿找起都不知道……”
Cloud frowned. “I’ve been wondering… What business do you have with Corneo anyway that you went to all the trouble of entering his audition just to meet him?”
克劳德皱起眉头。“我一直在想...你和科尼欧究竟有什么交易，值得你费尽心思参加他的选拔会就为了见他一面？”
This seemed to startle Tifa a little. “Right. I haven’t told you about that yet. Apparently Corneo’s goons went snooping around in the Sector Seven slums to ask for a man with a gun-arm…”
“蒂法似乎被吓了一跳。“对哦，我还没告诉你这件事。听说科尼欧的手下在第七区贫民窟四处打探，要找装枪械义肢的男人……”
“Barret,” Cloud said, lips pressing together. “He’s digging around for Avalanche.” Then he glanced at her again. “And you want to find out why?”
“巴雷特，”克劳德抿紧双唇说道，“他在为雪崩四处打探。”接着他又瞥了她一眼。“而你想查出原因？”
Tifa nodded. Cloud’s frown deepened. Surely, it couldn’t be anything good. But what could Corneo possibly want from an eco-terrorist group?
蒂法点了点头。克劳德的眉头皱得更紧了。肯定没什么好事。但科诺这种人对生态恐怖团体能有什么企图？
There was a deep, silken chuckle behind Cloud, and they all looked at Sephiroth who was smiling at them in cold amusement.
克劳德身后传来低沉的丝质轻笑声，众人转头望去，只见萨菲罗斯正用冰冷的戏谑眼神注视着他们。
“Avalanche again… I’m surprised that Shinra hasn’t managed to get rid of you yet, though I suppose it’s hard to stamp out cockroaches.”
“又是雪崩……真意外神罗居然还没把你们清理干净，不过蟑螂确实很难彻底消灭。”
Tifa’s eyes darkened again, and Cloud felt his headache returning with a vengeance. He held his gloved hand up to his childhood friend, both as a halting as well as a reconciliatory motion, then he looked at the other man sternly. “Sephiroth…”
蒂法的眼神再次黯淡下来，克劳德感觉自己的头痛正卷土重来。他朝青梅竹马举起戴着护手的右手，既是阻止也是和解的动作，然后严厉地看向另一个男人。"萨菲罗斯……"
Said man only smiled a little wider, framed by the soft silver slide of his hair. “Of course,” he amended, mockingly. “I already saw and followed some of what you did through Cloud’s eyes. It’s curious for him to have ended up in your group of all people... Such a small world, isn’t it?”
那名男子只是将嘴角咧得更开，柔顺的银发在脸侧滑动。"当然，"他讥讽地修正道，"我早就透过克劳德的眼睛观察并追踪了你的部分行径。真奇怪他居然偏偏加入你们这群人......世界真小啊，不是吗？"
For a moment, Cloud forgot to breathe. What else had Sephiroth seen?
有一瞬间，克劳德忘记了呼吸。萨菲罗斯还看到了什么？
Then Sephiroth turned his lethal eyes on him, and all thoughts left Cloud at once.
萨菲罗斯将杀意凛然的双眼转向他的瞬间，克劳德的脑海中顿时一片空白。
“Don’t you worry…” Sephiroth stepped closer. His warm fingers around Cloud’s chin were a shock as he leaned down, murmuring, “As you dreamed of me, I dreamed of you, my chosen prophet.”
“别担心……”银发人一步步逼近。当他俯身时，温暖的指尖攫住克劳德下颌的触感令人战栗，低语声掠过耳畔，“正如你梦见过我一样......我也在梦中见到了你，我选中的先知。”
All Cloud could do for a moment was tremble under his dark, velvety whisper. Then he tore himself away, both from Sephiroth’s grip and from his hypnotic gaze.
克劳德一时间只能在他低沉天鹅绒般的低语下战栗。接着他猛然挣脱，既甩开了萨菲罗斯的钳制，也挣脱了他催眠般的凝视。
“Don’t touch me,” he snarled, hands clenched into shaking fists, the hilt of his sword still gripped in his right one, which he consciously refrained from raising. “And I thought I told you to stay out of my head.”
“别碰我，”他咆哮道，双手攥成颤抖的拳头，右掌仍紧握着未出鞘的剑柄，竭力克制着举剑的冲动。“还有——我说过别擅自窥探我的思维。”
Sephiroth just hummed and looked at him contemplatively. “That will be hard to avoid, considering how deeply connected our bodies and minds are.”
萨菲罗斯只是低吟一声，若有所思地凝视着他。「这恐怕难以避免，毕竟我们的肉体与精神早已紧密相连。」
“Try,” Cloud ground out. “试试看。”克劳德咬牙切齿地说。
“Cloud?” It was Tifa who spoke up. “What is he talking about?”
“克劳德？”开口的是蒂法，“他在说什么？”
She looked at him with deep concern in her sepia eyes. Great. Cloud just shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
她深褐色的双眸中盛满忧虑。很好。克劳德只是摇了摇头。“没什么。”
Tifa looked unconvinced, but instead of saying anything she just pressed her lips into a thin line. She continued to look between Cloud and Sephiroth with deep unease and suspicion. Cloud thought she was going to say something then, dreaded and braced himself for it, but she just abruptly turned her attention to Sephiroth and addressed him brusquely:
蒂法看上去并不信服，但她只是抿紧了嘴唇一言不发，目光仍带着深深的不安与怀疑在克劳德和萨菲罗斯之间来回游移。克劳德以为她马上就要说些什么，提心吊胆地准备应对，然而她却突然将注意力转向萨菲罗斯，唐突地开口：
“Well, are you willing to lower yourself and work together with these ‘cockroaches’? If not, you might as well leave now.”
“那么，你愿意屈尊和这些‘cockroaches’合作吗？如果不愿意，你不如现在就离开。”
The words were all cold business, even as anger burned in her eyes.
她的语气公事公办，眼中却燃烧着怒火。
All three of them turned to Sephiroth as they awaited his response. He seemed quiet, thoughtful. “I’ve been meaning to leave Shinra anyway...”
三人齐齐转向萨菲罗斯，等待着他的回应。他显得沉静而若有所思。「我本就打算离开神罗了......」
His words triggered a hazy memory from Cloud, of another time when Sephiroth had said something similar—
这话触动了克劳德某段朦胧的记忆，仿佛在某个平行时空里银发将军也说过类似的话——
Depending on what happens… I may abandon Shinra. The sweep of lashes over pale cheeks as he closed his eyes, the shocking bright green of them next when they opened and pierced Cloud. Until then, I’ll remain loyal to SOLDIER—
视事态发展而定…我或许会背弃神罗。纤长睫毛垂落在苍白脸颊上，而后忽地掀起，翡翠般灼眼的绿眸直刺克劳德。在那之前，我将继续效忠于战士组织——
Cloud shook the memory and the fuzzy static away, returning to the hotel room, where the present Sephiroth’s lips curled into a slow smile.
克劳德将记忆和模糊的杂讯甩开，回到此刻的酒店房间，现在的萨菲罗斯正缓缓扬起嘴角。
“What better way to leave it than to work together with the group of terrorists I once fought?”
“与我曾对抗过的恐怖分子团体携手合作，难道还有比这更好的告别方式吗？”
“Great!” Aerith said, brightly. “Then me and Tifa should get changed, so we can get going as soon as possible.”
“太好了！”爱丽丝欢快地拍手道，“那我和蒂法现在就去换装，这样我们就能立即动身啦。”
She turned lightly on her bare heel and picked up the red sack Tifa had put down at the entrance earlier when they had entered the room. She held it up victoriously, grinning. “You know, Leslie was kind enough to bring it to us. We were really lucky to run into him shortly before we found you. As nice as this dress is, it would be a shame to fight in it, get it dirty, or even worse, ripping it up! Especially after all the trouble we went through to get it!”
她赤着足轻巧地转身，拎起蒂法早前进屋时搁在玄关处的红色布袋，得意洋洋地高举过头顶笑道：“知道吗？这可是莱斯利特意帮我们捎来的。能找到你之前恰好遇见他真是走运。虽然这条礼服裙很美，但穿着它战斗难免会弄脏甚至撕破——尤其是费了这么大劲才搞到手的情况下！”
Cloud’s brows drew together. “Who…?”
克劳德眉头紧皱。“谁……？”
“You don’t remember? It’s Corneo’s henchman with the silver hair and the cap we met before who was guarding the doors to the mansion.”
“你不记得了吗？就是之前我们在宅邸门口遇见的那个科尼欧的手下，银色头发戴帽子的人。”
Of course Cloud remembered him. Silver hair was so rare, and it never failed to remind him of Sephiroth. “But why did he help you?”
克劳德当然记得。银发可是相当罕见的，每次看到都会让他想起萨菲罗斯。“但他为什么要帮你？”
Aerith shrugged. “Beats me. Andrea seemed to have sent him though—oh right, I nearly forgot! I was supposed to pass on a message from him to you. He said that it’s a pity he didn’t get to meet the brave, young, handsome hero of the Colosseum, but maybe you can drop by the Honey Bee Inn the next time?”
艾瑞丝耸了耸肩。“我也不知道啊。不过安德烈亚好像派他来的——哦对了，我差点忘了！我本来要替他给你带个口信的。他说很遗憾没能见到竞技场那位勇敢、年轻又英俊的英雄，不过下次或许可以去蜜蜂之馆转转？”
Cloud wasn’t sure what to make of the man’s interest, but everything—the hand massage in Madam M’s parlor, the Colosseum, the attempts to smuggle themselves into Corneo’s audition—had just been a means to an end. He wasn’t here to relax and have fun, or whatever else the man had in mind. “Not likely to happen.”
克劳德不确定这个男人为何对他产生兴趣，但无论是按摩店里的手部护理、竞技场搏杀，还是试图混进科尼欧的选秀——这些都只是达成目的的手段。他来此不是为了放松享乐，更遑论满足对方的其他企图。“不太可能发生。”
“Are you sure? When we went looking for you at the inn, he seemed like such a sweet guy. He was so heartbroken he didn’t get to meet you!” At Cloud’s withering glare, she pouted. “Fine, fine. I would have loved to see you in makeup and a dress though! I’m sure you would have looked adorable.” There she held a hand to her very red lips and giggled.
“你确定吗？我们去旅馆找你的时候，他看起来可真是个甜心。没能见到你让他伤透了心！”面对克劳德恶狠狠的瞪视，少女撅起嘴。“好吧好吧。不过我还真想看看你化妆穿裙子的样子呢！你肯定特别可爱。”她一手掩着嫣红的唇轻笑。
Cloud just grumbled, and was quick to change the topic when he noticed Sephiroth looking far too intrigued by the turn their conversation had taken.
克劳德只是嘟嘟囔囔，当他注意到萨菲罗斯对谈话的转折显得兴致盎然时，赶紧转移了话题。
“I thought you wanted to get changed. Well, hurry it up then. Corneo isn’t going to catch himself.”
“我还以为你想换衣服呢。那还不快点。科诺又不会自己送上门来。”
“Alright, alright.” She sighed, appearing to have given up, but when she passed by him, she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “I’m sure you would have looked cute in pigtails!” Before Cloud could respond, she had already hurried into the bathroom after Tifa. “And braids!” she added, just before the door closed behind her.
“好了好了。”她叹了口气，看似已经放弃挣扎，但经过克劳德身边时突然凑近他耳边神秘兮兮地低语：“你扎双马尾肯定很可爱！”没等对方回应就小跑着追着蒂法进了浴室。“还有麻花辫！”关门瞬间她又探出头补充道。
Into the heavy silence she left, Cloud glared at Sephiroth and said, “Not a damn word.”
凝重的沉默中，克劳德瞪着萨菲罗斯恶狠狠道：“敢提半个字你就死定了。”
Sephiroth just looked at him innocently.
萨菲罗斯只是无辜地看着他。
Cloud had already put his sword back into its holster on his back again. A frown tugged at his lips. “We need to get you some clothes from somewhere…”
克劳德早已将六式合体剑重新收入背后的剑鞘。他抿着嘴唇陷入沉思：「我们得给你找件衣服......」
“No need,” Sephiroth reassured him. Before Cloud could ask him what he meant, he stretched his wing out purposefully, majestically, until every spine was unfurled to its full length. Then he retracted it. It was just as violent as the release, the appendage rapidly refolding and compressing and pulling back into his body without leaving a single trace. Sephiroth noticed his fascinated gaze and turned obligingly to give Cloud a better view of his back. And indeed: there was only unblemished skin on the pale, corded muscle of his right shoulder blade.
「不必。」萨菲罗斯安抚道。未等对方发问，他右翼便如礼器般庄严地舒展开来，每根棘刺都舒张到极限状态。紧接着是同样暴烈的收鞘过程——随着肌肉群剧烈压缩折叠，漆黑羽翼转瞬间消弭于无形。银发人察觉到克劳德探究的目光，配合地侧身展示自己右侧肩胛骨。苍白的肌腱上果然毫无伤痕，仿佛那柄异形兵器从未存在过。
It didn’t make any sense. There surely wasn’t enough space in Sephiroth’s body, and yet it had sucked the wing in like it was nothing. There was no bulge or slight elevation on his back to indicate it was even there, just resting underneath his skin, ready to burst out at any moment.
这根本说不通。萨菲罗斯的身体里显然没有足够的空间容纳羽翼，但它却像吞噬空气般将整片翅膀纳入了体内。此刻他的背部既没有肿块也没有隆起，仿佛那对羽翼只是蛰伏在皮肤之下，随时能破体而出的幻影。
Only the black feathers that yet hung in suspension in the air or had already fallen to the ground remained there as proof of the fact that Cloud hadn’t just hallucinated the whole thing.
唯有仍悬浮于空中或已飘落至地面的黑色羽毛留存下来，作为克劳德并非产生了幻觉的证明。
That was when he noticed the wisps of black at Sephiroth’s fingertips, which started to climb up his wrists and spread from there. It looked like pure, solidified darkness come alive, heeding the call of its master as it curled loving tendrils around his limbs in a possessive caress. They were clothes, Cloud realized, knitting together bit by bit, each layer forming at once, beginning from Sephiroth’s hands and feet. He saw how leather and metal and fabric came into existence, wrapping sensually up long, pale legs, hugging around that powerful upper body and those strong, broad shoulders.
就在这时，克劳德注意到萨菲罗斯指尖缠绕的缕缕黑色正沿着手腕向上蔓延。那仿佛是凝固的黑暗活了过来，顺从主人召唤，以占有欲极强的姿态将爱抚般的卷须缠绕上他的四肢。是衣物，克劳德恍然意识到，目睹着材质从萨菲罗斯的手足末端开始，层层叠加瞬间成型。他看见皮革、金属和布料如何凭空显现——性感地缠绕上苍白修长的双腿，贴合着精壮的上半身，裹住肌肉虬结的宽阔肩膀。
Sephiroth was already walking before the last details had finished materializing, completing his signature outfit as Shinra's famous general. He stood there in his full glory, in his high-waisted trousers and his heavy boots, in his long, characteristic coat with its folded collar at the neck, with its zippers and buckles, the largest being the one on his belt, cinching the open flaps of his coat around that narrow waist. Other silver accents were the large matte pauldrons on his shoulders, the metal bracers around his wrists, and the two thin stripes that ran around the top of his boots, just above the knee.
萨菲罗斯在最后几处细节尚未完全具象化时便已迈步前行，以神罗传奇将军的经典形象彻底成形。他站在那里，以他全副的荣耀姿态——高腰长裤与厚重长靴，标志性的长风衣领口层叠翻折，衣身缀满拉链与搭扣，最醒目的是腰带处硕大的银质扣环，将敞开的前襟收束于精瘦腰际。其他银色装饰还包括肩上哑光肩甲、手腕处的金属护腕，以及靴口顶部环绕着两道细长银纹，位置恰好在膝盖上方。
He tugged on his gloves to make sure they were pulled tight, folding and unfolding his fingers, drawing Cloud’s eyes there and also to the bare, muscular chest behind the hands, which was only minimally covered by the suspenders criss-crossing over it. Somehow it was more obscene than when he had been naked.
他拽了拽手套确保它们紧贴皮肤，手指屈伸几下，将克劳德的视线引向那里，同时也引向那双戴着手套的手后方赤裸的、肌肉隆起的胸膛，仅有交叉的背带勉强遮挡。不知怎的，这竟比他赤身裸体时更显得淫靡。
Sephiroth also looked undeniably more intimidating this way. The last time Cloud had seen him in this outfit had been in Nibelheim. It was also what he wore in all the magazines and posters Cloud had collected religiously, and which had acted as incentive for young boys and girls to join SOLDIER and the war efforts in Wutai, all of them dreaming and aspiring to become a great hero just like him, hungry to attain both glory and fame on the battlefield.
这样的萨菲罗斯无疑更显得气势逼人，不容置疑。克劳德上一次见到他这副装束还是在尼布尔海姆。这也是他在克劳德虔诚收藏的所有杂志和海报中的装束——正是这样的形象激励着少男少女们加入神罗战士，投身五台的战争，所有人都梦想着成为像他那样伟大的英雄，渴望在战场上获得荣耀与声名。
Cloud had been one of them, just a young country boy with big dreams of becoming a SOLDIER; becoming like the Great General Sephiroth, Hero of Wutai.
克劳德曾经是他们中的一员，一个梦想成为士兵的乡下男孩；梦想着能像伟大的萨菲罗斯将军那样，成为五台的英雄。
Now that dream was ashes, and the man standing in front of him was just a monster in disguise, wearing the skin of something that had once been great.
那个梦想如今已化为灰烬，而站在他面前的男人不过是个披着昔日伟岸外衣的伪装怪物。
Cloud shook himself out of his somber introspection.
克劳德从阴郁的自省中回过神来。
He saw that Tifa and Aerith had walked out of the bathroom by then to catch the last bits of the clothes materializing out of thin air and covering Sephiroth’s body. Tifa looked wary and a little uneasy, whereas Aerith stared at Sephiroth with open curiosity.
他看见蒂法和爱丽丝此时已从浴室走出，正好捕捉到衣物自虚空中具象化、覆盖在萨菲罗斯身上的最后一幕。蒂法神色警惕中掺着几分局促，而爱丽丝则毫不掩饰地用好奇目光端详着萨菲罗斯。
“Now that you are dressed, I guess it’s time for introductions!” She thrust her hand forward. “I’m Aerith Gainsborough, but you can just call me Aerith.” She tilted her head and smiled sunnily up at Sephiroth.
“既然穿好衣服了，该互相认识下啦！”她向前伸出手掌，“我是爱丽丝·盖恩斯巴勒，不过叫我爱丽丝就好。”她歪着头朝萨菲罗斯绽开向日葵般明媚的笑容。
Cloud resisted the urge to sigh. It was clear she hadn’t listened to any of Tifa’s or Cloud’s warnings about the man being dangerous. But she could be stubborn, and once she had set her mind on something, it was very hard to convince her otherwise. Although their acquaintance had only been short, he had already learned that early on, so he didn’t even try.
克劳德强压下叹息的冲动。显然她根本没把蒂法和他关于那男人很危险的警告听进去。但她就是如此固执，一旦打定主意，旁人几乎不可能说服她改变心意。尽管两人相识时间虽短，他早就领教过这点，所以干脆放弃尝试。
Sephiroth blinked and looked down curiously at her outstretched hand, before wrapping his own much larger, gloved one around it. “Sephiroth,” he said, in his pleasant baritone.
萨菲罗斯眨了眨眼，好奇地低头看向她伸出的手，随后用自己戴着手套的、大得多的手握住。“萨菲罗斯。”他用悦耳的男中音说道。
“I know! You are the war hero, right? You were constantly in the news up to a few years ago, so I recognized you at once!”
“我知道！你就是那个 war hero，对吧？直到几年前你还经常出现在新闻里，所以我一眼就认出你了！”
Sephiroth just inclined his head, smiling. “Is that so?”
萨菲罗斯只是微微颔首，微微一笑。"是吗？"
As they continued their bizarre small talk, Cloud puzzled over why Sephiroth hadn’t conjured his clothes earlier. But then he remembered the way the other man had revelled in his own nudity like a god, and thought nothing more of it.
两人继续进行着诡异的寒暄时，克劳德暗自疑惑为何萨菲罗斯不早些用魔法变出衣物。但随即想起对方方才如神明般坦然沉醉于自己的裸体之态，便不再深究。
Still, as much as the casual display of magic awed him, it was also… troubling. Cloud didn’t know any kind of materia that could do that—if Sephiroth had even used any materia at all.
尽管这种随意施展魔法的能力令他震撼，却也令人不安。克劳德从未听说过有哪种魔石能达到这种效果——倘若萨菲罗斯当真使用过任何魔石的话。
And if he hadn’t, then…
而如果他没有，那么……
There was the chilling and very likely possibility that he had become even more powerful and harder to kill.
存在一个令人不寒而栗且极有可能的情况：他可能已经变得更加强大，更加难以被杀死。
And that was even without counting in his wing, the fact that he couldn’t truly die, or that he had apparently absorbed an extraterrestrial horror that was capable of wounding and becoming a serious threat for the planet...
而这甚至还不算上他的单翼、他无法真正死亡的事实，或者他显然吸收了某种外星恐怖存在——那东西不仅能造成创伤，还能对整个星球构成严重威胁……
Cloud had to suppress his violent shudder when Sephiroth’s eyes chose that moment to alight on him, as though privy to his thoughts; which… he probably was. Cloud still wasn’t sure how to deal with the fact that their minds were somehow tied together in some way, with Sephiroth clearly having far more control over it than him.
当萨菲罗斯的目光恰在此时落在他身上时，克劳德不得不强压下剧烈的战栗——仿佛能窥探他的想法……而萨菲罗斯很可能确实如此。克劳德至今仍不知该如何面对他们意识以某种方式联结的事实，显然对方对此的掌控力远胜于他。
“Let’s go,” he said, ignoring the bright green eyes that were still fixed on him with unsettling intensity. And though he didn’t look at the other man, he still caught how those sensual lips curved into a slow smile in the periphery of his vision.
“我们走吧，”他说道，无视那双仍以令人不安的强烈目光紧盯着自己的明亮绿眸。尽管没有看向对方，他仍能瞥见那双性感嘴唇在视野边缘缓缓勾起的笑意。
“After you,” that dark, smooth voice purred.
“您先请。”那道低沉柔滑的嗓音轻声说道。
Somehow, it sounded like a promise.
不知怎的，这话听起来像是一个承诺。