Zack, I'm going to need you to support me when I dismiss Isis and tell her I'm taking legal action against her." Aeris felt a bit embarrassed at needing Zack to help her deal with her teacher, but Isis...even though she wasn't much of a healer she intimidated Aeris very easily, and Aeris had no idea why.

"Whatever you need my lady. It's my duty to protect you however I can." Aeris smiled at Zack's simple answer, perhaps she should have expected it, but it was nice to know she had someone who'd support her in everything and any way possible, it could probably be intoxicating in the right circumstances.

"Come with me then." She'd arranged to meet with Isis in one of the few rooms she hadn't put any of her plants; one of the offices dedicated to Cloud's advisors, but unused and somewhere she'd probably never visit again so she didn't have to worry about being caught by memories of this confrontation. One of the promises she'd made Sephiroth in apology for not warning him about Tseng was that he could watch her dismiss Isis, so it wasn't a surprise to see him waiting for them; what did surprise her was his appearance, and she could tell it surprised Zack as well.

Sephiroth's hair was pinned up with combs and pins set with emeralds in a more elaborate style than he usually used for formal events - except for an artfully loose strand and something Aeris couldn't quite pin down that made it look as if he'd come straight from someone's bed. Aeris couldn't quite be sure underneath the veil, but she thought he'd painted his face as well; and even if he would probably never have her sense for it Sephiroth was technically perfect in applying make-up. She hadn't seen many consorts who wore veils - that was more something concubines did and they were always left behind, but she was pretty sure it was supposed to cover more of Sephiroth's hair than this one did. And Aeris didn't want to know where Sephiroth had gotten the loose black pants and half cloak that were all he wore under the veil, although she had to admit that even with the hint of sandalwood mixed into his usual cinnamon scent he smelled good. He'd put the scent on more heavily than usual, even for the formal occasion that were normally all he wore it for and he'd preserved his nail polish overnight, even adding elaborate little patterns in gold. In short he looked and smelled like the perfect bedtoy, and it raised an uncomfortable frission of arousal in Aeris.

It would be best to settle one matter now, since she'd learned that she could desire her brother, even though she knew it was a bad idea. She walked over to kneel in front of him, where he curled in the only chair in the office suitable for it, and rested a hand on his thigh through the veil in subtle suggestion.

"Do you remember that offer I made when Cloud turned sixteen? If you want to take me up on it now's the time." A hint of shock spread over Sephiroth's face at that, visible even though the veil - or perhaps Aeris only thought so because she could feel how deeply she'd shocked him, and he glanced over at Zack before responding.

"No, I...I've come to care for Tseng. I do not desire you, even if you desire me." Aeris could hear the hint of fear in Sephiroth's voice as he said that and she could sense him gathering his courage as he paused. "You were right about my feeling more comfortable with Tseng than I would with a concubine Cloud had chosen himself. Tseng is a very good secondary and I doubt I could have chosen better.

"Please, get up." Sephiroth put his hands around Aeris' upper arms to help her up, and almost lifted her to her feet before she got the chance to help herself, despite how awkward that had to be for him. Glancing at Zack as she took the only other chair in the room Aeris could see confusion and a determination not to ask.

"You wished to see me Aeris?" Isis stood in front of Aeris with a poise that told her how confident her tutor was that she'd done a good job in teaching her charge.

"Yes. Obviously I no longer need your services as a tutor. In fact I had learned all you could teach me of healing three years ago. There is no further place for you in my household and so you are dismissed from my service."

Isis was clearly shocked speechless by that, and Aeris could feel that Sephiroth was taking as much pleasure in Isis' discomfort as she was. Aeris knew that the smile on her face looked more like something you'd see on the face of a warrior caste closing for the kill.

"And further, you have failed to teach me a number of the other things I was supposed to learn from you - did not even attempt in many cases to teach the things outside of healing, and worse - you skewed what little of Cetra traditions you did teach me in a perverse way. I give you notification that I have kept a record of your failures and the times you have misled me. I intend to take all legal measures available to me against you."

"What? Why? You have no grounds for that." Aeris enjoyed Isis' momentary display of shock and discomfort, but she wasn't sure exactly how to respond to the blatant way she lied after she pulled herself together. Fortunately she didn't have to.

"Yes, she does. And Cloud will be joining Aeris in the suit as a second complainant. You were chosen as the tutor for the Planet's Heart because you are low nobility," Isis' mother had been the consort of a warrior caste Cetra, and she'd taken after her mother in many ways, "giving you the background Morgan lacks which was intended to allow you to pass on the social conventions among the high nobility to both Aeris and to Cloud." Since it was a lot easier for a very talented healer to learn from a less talented teacher than it was for a swordmaster to teach a vastly superior pupil.

"What would you know about anything you worthless mongrel slut?" Aeris flinched at the fury and hatred in Isis' words, but her brother just closed his eyes for a moment before replying.

"I asked Cloud's tutor why you had been chosen to teach Aeris once your limitations had become apparent. That was the answer he gave me, and I should think he would know." How often had Sephiroth endured Isis' abuse to answer so calmly? And why hadn't Aeris noticed and done something about it?

"You had no right to pry into my affairs like that freak." And now Sephiroth flinched, not physically, but Aeris could feel how that one word had hurt him, more than Isis' earlier slander of his morals and ancestry. She stood and walked over to sit on the arm of his chair, resting an arm around his shoulders in support and earning a grateful smile. No matter how much she wanted to deal with Isis herself she knew that if she shielded Sephiroth from the bitch he'd think it meant she didn't think he could defend himself, and that would hurt him far more deeply than anything Isis could do would.

"I had every right, and more than that; I had the duty to. The Planet's Heart herself named me her brother, and as by any reckoning I was adult by the time I inquired as to your background it was my duty to do what I could to see that she was being properly taught. It was little enough, I admit, but I did what I could do. I held the same responsibility as the Planet's Weapon's promised consort, even if I did not realise you held any duty to teach him when I made my enquiries."

"When her mother and guardian still lives you claim it was your duty to sneak around and ask about my background? Hardly." Now Aeris thought she could get away with intervening herself.

"According to your own teachings it is equally the duty of all adult members of a family to see to the education of the children of the family. Or are you now declaring that you flat out lied in what you taught me?" Aeris stood, smiling at the way she'd turned Isis' own words against her as she moved back to her own chair.

"I can't believe you name that crisis spawn your brother-"

"And using terms like that is the reason my lord wishes me to inform you that he fully intends to launch a suit against you for abuse of his consort." Aeris liked hearing that, knowing that even if for some reason her suit failed to absolutely ruin Isis Cloud's suit would help destroy her reputation totally.

"As if anyone else would be stupid enough to care about a monster like you."

"I'm a consort; Cloud's suit against you will be tried by warrior caste - and they're wired to protect any and all consorts, they think of us as fragile little things. Especially when they hear about the way I've been limited there's no way you can win."

"Are you implying that I am stupid, for loving my brother, for respecting the price he paid to get me and my mother away from Hojo?" Aeris let her voice go icy as she spoke to Isis, feeling coldly furious at those words. "How many other times have you tried to undermine me and undermine Cloud, or insulted us like that? Sephiroth is worth a hundred, no a thousand of you."

Isis raised her hands, stepping towards Aeris as she made incoherent sounds of fury, but then Zack grabbed hold of her wrists in one hand and slung Isis over his shoulder, moving her wrists until he could hold them behind her back.

"Will you want me to take her to Cloud's guards, to place her under arrest for trying to attack you my lady?"

"No, just take her to her quarters where she can pack her things and leave. Under the circumstances I don't care if she's got anywhere to go; I want her out of my home by sunset." Aeris hesitated, then walked over to Zack and slid her arms around his waist in a quick hug. "Thank you for getting rid of her for me."