Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. That includes Sephiroth, Zack, Shinra, Midgar, Strife and whoever else I missed.
1. Dark Memories
A platoon of SOLDIERS raced through the gloomy lower plates of Midgar. They had just achieved the rank of 1st class and were already shaping up for battle. Leading these SOLDIERS was the Great General Sephiroth and his second in command, Lieutenant General Zackary Ames. Already, Sephiroth made them race through all the upper plates with nothing short of a 5 minute break. Some of the SOLDIERS passed out along the way, but he didn't care. If they couldn't handle a little running, then they most likely couldn't handle the Army under his command.
"General, Sir! Hey!" Zack tried in vain to get his attention, but when Sephiroth was running, the only thing he heard was his boots tapping against the pavement, and nothing more. Zack didn't care that his attempts were futile. He was stubborn that way. "GENERAL SEPHIROTH!" He couldn't address him incorrectly in front of the platoons, it was tacky. But he still wasn't getting a reply.
He could always give the name thing a try.
"SEEEEEPHHYYYYY!" he howled at him.
Sephiroth stopped so suddenly Zack slammed right into his back, followed by SOLIDERS slamming into his.
"Ugh." Zack composed himself and looked up at the General. His eyes were glowing intensely, and slightly twitching, and anyone could tell by the look on his face to run or suffer consequences. Zack was a bit dense that way. The SOLDIERS at the head of the platoon backed up a little while Zack stood tall and stared at Sephiroth.
"If you address me incorrectly again, Lieutenant, I will murder you right in front of the platoon. I have no time to deal with your needs, Ames."
"I know, Sir, I just wanted you to stop for a little while. We've been running all day and you haven't given us a break...These SOLDIERS just made the rank! You know how hard doing THAT is! Give 'em a little break now and then." He looked back at the platoon a winked at them. Some acknowledged him with a nod, some were too afraid of Sephiroth to move a muscle, and others were too tired to care.
Sephiroth sighed and looked over the platoon. Their faces were red and drenched in sweat. Some of them were slouched over with their hands on their knees panting, trying to force breath that painfully escaped out their mouth from their tired lungs. Sephiroth was barely breaking a sweat; then again that's what hours of running a day, plus mako injections did. Zack had similar injections when he joined SOLDIER, but even he was drowning in his sweat. He also didn't have to suffer from injections as a small child. The amount they were giving Zack was the amount Sephiroth got when he was a child.
He decided to give them the benefit of the doubt, even if he did think their stamina was pitiful. They didn't have but one shot of mako since they made the rank, so they were still fairly weak for his harsh training.
'I hate new recruits. They are pitifully weak!' He mused before making his decision.
"Okay. I will give you an hour to recover. 'Too long entirely, but these weaklings will probably need it.' After that duration of time, you will meet Lieutenant Ames back here and he will guide you to your new barracks. But do not get lazy. You will be doing weapon training tomorrow, so if I were you, I would know which weapon you handle with ease and practice."
He walked around the platoon, observing the men, "You. What is your name?"
"CLOUD STRIFE, SIR!" He looked forward and stood tall. His posture was perfect even if he was extremely short.
"You have potential that is beyond most of these cadets; however, you will not befriend any of them." Cloud didn't think Sephiroth noticed him talking to Zack. He always had his back turned whenever they joked around.
'probably one of them guys with eyes in the back of his head...' "YES, SIR!"
He stood tall with his hands behind his back looking them over one last time. He loved seeing the fear in their eyes. Keeping them in suspense was amusing to him, even if he didn't show it.
"Move out." He turned and walked the opposite direction, determined not to have anyone bother him. He needed time to improvise his plans.
"Hey Seph!? Why are you leaving the platoon with me? I thought you had them for the day." Zach matched his pace, but as he did, Sephiroth quickened his.
"Go away Ames. I do not feel like answering your questions." He strode on, the distances in his steps steadily increasing.
"Wait!" Zack was practically running now. He could walk unbelievably fast. "You are just going to let them do whatever they want for an hour? That is very unlike you. You must have SOMETHING on your mind. Gotta girlfriend you aren't telling me about!? Hmm?"
"AMES! I SWEAR ON MY MASAMUNE YOU WILL DIE IF YOU KEEP PESTERING ME!" It took a moment for him to register that last part. A girlfriend? "WHAT?! I HAVE NO TIME FOR SUCH....THINGS. They are nothing but trouble and entirely too expensive."
Nah... I think that depends on the girl... they can actually do the soul good. My girlfriend lives here in the Slums. I have not once spent one gil on her. I actually think she's a keeper."
Sephiroth couldn't believe what he was hearing. Zach was the most womanizing man he had ever met. It was ridiculous how woman crazy he was.
"You expect me to believe that!? Zack, the womanizer has a steady girlfriend he is thinking about settling down with? Hah."
He heard Sephiroth chuckle. It angered him a little that he didn't believe him. Like Sephiroth even knew about relationships. The whole 4 years he had known Sephiroth (since he was 17 and Sephiroth was 20) he had never seen Sephiroth take the time to get to know a girl past one-night stands. They didn't happen very often but he always had excuses. His excuses were always 'I am too busy.' 'They are useless and waste my time.' 'All they want is money and sex...' But that was all he gave them. He never bothered himself to further explore.
"Like you know. Maybe if you weren't such an obstinate, vicious bastard, you'd understand what I mean." Sometimes Zack didn't understand why he even bothered with him. The wall of his hardheadedness was thick and unbreakable.
Sephiroth put a halt to his speed walking and took Zack around the neck his is leather-covered hands almost in the speed of light. His voice was deathly venomous and his vice grip was extremely tight. "You are really trying my patience Ames. If I hear one more word from you, I will impale you on my blade. Got it?"
When Zack didn't talk, Sephiroth released him and jogged away, leaving him standing there with his hands rubbing his neck.
Why did he let Zack talk to him this way? Anyone else brave enough would have suffered a sword through the heart, but there was truth in his words. He'd never admit it, but he was vicious. He loved seeing people suffer from their mistakes. He used to have sympathetic emotions run within him, but they were steadily deteriorating with each Mako infusion.
He never remembered growing up anywhere other than in Shinra headquarters. He remembered an evil looking professor which he knew as Hojo injecting him with mako while the president stood to the side rubbing is hands together as if in sweet oblivion. He recalled the pain he experienced from each injection. The intense migraines, the nausea, the burning in his body, how his eyes became so red they looked as if they were bleeding...The tears he shed... He later found out by Hojo that it was the president's orders.
He closed his eyes and kept running. He tried to push all thoughts out of his mind and focus of the feeling of wind pushing his hair back. He didn't care if he ran off the side of the universe, anything was better than thinking about his memories. But he just couldn't get rid of them. They constantly haunted him; repeating like a broken record.
Hojo mentioned the possibility of super human power by Mako enhanced blood. He already secretly planned to do this experiment on his unborn child, but the president immediately agreed to fund the experiment if he would inject all his SOLDIERS with Mako if the experiment proved to be a success. This made it a whole lot easier on Hojo.
Sephiroth was the unborn child the experiment revolved around. His mother was killed from the mako, but by the time he was born, he had become immune to the amount they had given him in the womb. Each year of his life, he was treated as a specimen. The only people who talked to him was Professor Hojo, and occasionally the president. People who gave him food didn't bother themselves to socialize with the growing boy. They treated him as if he were some animal incapable of emotion. At that time, his emotions were not lost. He would cry and wonder why people wouldn't even take the time to play with him, or even talk to him. He was just as human as everybody else, he thought. He looked from the window of his room and saw the other children his size playing with one another, while their parents sat back and smiled at them. What did he do to deserve this? Was he even like them?
What really made him reconsider is thoughts about being 'normal' was when the President walked up with his son, Rufus. Sephiroth sat there and looked at the little boy. He was the same height as him, looked about the same age as him, but his left hand was clasped in his father's. He immediately envied him.
Rufus had asked his father why he was in there. The president looked down upon Sephiroth and told his son that this was a super human specimen.
"Why does he have to be locked away in a room? I thought people were good."
"Heh. Son. You'll understand one day. He is very dangerous. You know General Austin?"
"You mean the powerful old guy who yells at the SOLIDERS?" Rufus looked up at his father with an innocent expression. All children have innocent faces, no matter how corrupt their creators are...
"Yes." He looked down at Rufus and gave him a sickening smile. Sephiroth looked away. He thought the president liked him, but he was just paying attention to him to make sure everything went according to plan.
"What about him, daddy?" Rufus looked at Sephiroth, who now sitting with his knees up to his chest, having his head down in his arms.
"This boy has the strength of Austin, if not more. If he escaped, we could all be in danger. A strong child like thats curiosity could easily destroy precious things. We don't want that."
Rufus looked again at the boy. All he could see was the silver hair flowing down covering any hint of sadness, but Sephiroth was silently sobbing.
"Oh. Will he ever come out?"
"Oh yes. He will. But he will not be a normal being. He will be trained to take charge of his dangerous abilities and use them for me. For us." He had laughter with a tinge of ambition in it, but Rufus took it for something funny. "Come along Rufus."
"yes Daddy."
The little boy in the room wiped his eyes and got into the white sheeted bed and let sleep claim him.
While he was running through the scrap metal and trash of the slums, He opened his eyes to find everything in his surroundings blurred into like colors. Grays, blacks, browns, yellow from artificial lighting all sped past him. It would change. He would see to it. President Shinra's days were numbered. Mako energy would serve no more purpose to humans when he got done. Shinra would meet his fate at the end of Sephiroth's sword and things would go HIS way.
A/N: This is an AU fic. I know where I am going in this one, so it'll be updated as soon as I get time. There is no Jenova character. The only part Jenova plays in this story is enhancing Seph's abilities. This could become a romance if things happen accordingly. Oh yes, and I researched that last name for Zack. Ames- (French.) ...a friend, beloved; to some origins a burden. I thought it was kind of Zack-ish. Feel free to review with your thoughts.
Chapter 2 is done, i just need to edit it. It will be up soon.