Sephiroth's Twin.


A/N: This is set thirty years before the beginning of the game, right about the time that Dr. Hojo and Lucrecia were about to create a child. Vincent helps Lucrecia, destined to be her savor, but fails at his one true task. As Lucrecia wished, he will be redeemed of his sins when he saves her unknown daughter from Hojo. When he shall meet her again, he will be released from his hell.
This tells more of Beth's past and why Vincent feels so close to her.

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Vincent sat and finished his coffee, it was almost time to go and see what Hojo and Lucrecia were up to, now that they had found the Jenova creature and decided to use it's cells for various purposes. It was Vincent's job to keep an eye out for spies and an ear out for anything that may be dangerous in the lab. Hojo was secretive, and didn't allow Vincent in the lab for hours, then only allow him a few minutes to make sure that there were no hidden cameras or explosives in the lab.
Vincent sighed and ran his fingers through his short, neatly kept black hair. Those few moments were pure heaven, when Lucrecia smiled at him and his world seemed so far away. He looked at the clock and stood up, fixing the pant leg on his blue suit and walked towards the door. He held his QuickSilver at his side.
He raised one hand and pounded on the door. "Dr. Hojo?" He said in his all too familiar voice, "It is three o'clock, time for inspection."
Hojo opened the door for him "Ah, Vincent, how are you?"
Vincent frowned, "The same way I was three hours ago, cold, tired, miserable and hungry."
Hojo chortled at his remark, "Such a kidder..." He said and led Vincent into the lab. "You have five minutes to search..."
Vincent began his work, scrutinizing anything that may be a camera, a bomb, or even a person hiding out. After about three minutes he looked around, "Excuse me Doctor... but where is Lucrecia?"
Hojo was working on a new mixture, he didn't even look up at Vincent, he just said in a flat tone, "Resting."
Vincent nodded, "I have finished my inspection then, Sir. I will leave you now."
Hojo nodded, "The last inspection will be at the change in shifts."
Vincent's eyes widened a little, "With all due respects, Sir.... that is in seven hours."
Hojo laughed, "This, I am aware of...."
Vincent nodded, "Very well.... in seven hours time" And with that, he left the laboratory. What was he going to do for seven hours? He thought...
"I need more coffee...." He said to himself as he picked up the coffee cup, which lay empty on the table. He walked towards the break room.
As Vincent walked towards the break room and his coffee, he heard a small cry. He stopped and looked around, trying to figure out what it was.
There, inside an older, unused laboratory, was Lucrecia... sweet kind and gentle, Lucrecia. Vincent placed his coffee cup on a nearby table and walked in the darkness and to her side.
"What is the matter Doctor?" He talked to her with the utmost respect.
Lucrecia's eyes hit the floor and soon a few tears splashed. "Please... call me Lucrecia."
"Very well, what is wrong, Lucrecia?" Vincent said as he touched her soft shoulder.
"It's my husband.... Hojo...." She began to cry again.
"Shh.... don't cry.... It will be alright...."
Lucrecia looked at him, "I had a talk with him, he wants to use the child, OUR child in this whole Jenova project."
Vincent looked at her, remembering she had been so happy the day she found out the good news, that she and her husband, Hojo, were going to have a baby. Lucrecia had hugged him that day, and even kissed his cheek.
Vincent growled a little, "Did you tell him no?"
She nodded her head slowly, "Yes. But he still wants to... but......."
Vincent looked at her, "But what?"
Lucrecia sobbed quietly, "There isn't a child..." he felt his heart drop.
Vincent remained quietly as she sobbed, "There's two"
Vincent's eyes widened as he looked into her honey colored eyes and smiled. "But what is so bad about that?"
Lucrecia looked at him, "I cannot just give one of my children's lives away like they are some old boot!" She looked down at the ground. "My daughter.... my Son.... I will never get to see you...." She sniffled softly, "Grow up...."
Vincent was outraged. He flew, ran with all his might to where Hojo was working. Finding the door bolted didn't even phase him... he ripped the door off the hinges.
Hojo jumped and glared at the dark haired, dark brown eyed Turk that had just ruined a perfect fire door.
Vincent narrowed his eyes, "Hojo, I forbid you to touch Lucrecia, or your own child!"
Hojo growled at him "Who are you to stop me?"
Vincent pulled out his gun, and said proudly, "I am Vincent Valentine, of the Turks of Shin-Ra and I am your death now..."
Vincent raised his gun, but was instantly shot in the shoulder, once...twice....three times. He slumped over and was thrown into unconsciousness.


Sometime later, Vincent woke up to see Lucrecia strapped to a table, while he, himself was cuffed to the wall. He saw Hojo walk into the room with several syringes and set them on the table besides the softly crying Lucrecia. Hojo then kissed his wife gently, and injected the syringes into her swollen abdomen. She sobbed, but not from pain, from grief that her son would grow up to be a horrible person.
The one Assistant in the lab pointed something out to Hojo. "Sir, on this Ultrasound, I am not seeing just one child...."
Hojo looked at the picture, and mumbled "Twins...'
The assistant nodded, "And by the looks of it, they are both receiving the chemicals...."
Lucrecia sobbed harder.
Hojo nodded, "Tell me the genders..."
The assistant looked at the screen again, "Male and Female"
Hojo turned to Lucrecia, who was crying softly. "What do you think of the name Sephiroth my dear?"
Lucrecia bit her lower lip, "What about the girl?" she said quietly.
Hojo laughed at her a little, "I never wanted a girl... I only wanted a son."
Lucrecia looked at her husband, "What do you mean?"
Hojo looked at her, "It's simple, I will destroy her as soon as she is born."
Lucrecia sobbed again, as Hojo got another syringe.

Some time had passed since Vincent had become Hojo's personal play set. Hojo had let him see Lucrecia, who would talk to him at night, right before she left. One night, however, she set him loose.
"Vincent, I am going to have the children tomorrow... get at least one of them out of here."
Vincent looked at her, "And where do I put them?"
Lucrecia sighed, "Put them on a doorstep, or in a church... somewhere safe..." She touched his hand and smiled, "I will forgive you... and Vincent.... Name her Beth......"
Vincent looked down at his new metal arm, the pain still fresh in his mind and body. "When?"
"You will meet them again and either help the one you saved, or destroy the one that you didn't... or both… " She looked down.
Vincent stayed quiet and hidden for the rest of the night. She followed her to the lab, where Hojo would deliver the children.


Lucrecia was out cold on the table, Hojo touching her forehead gently, lovingly as he sliced the scapel into her swollen abdomen.
Vincent watched from behind a machine. He held his breathe as he saw Hojo pull a large infant from the incision that he cut in his wife.
"Sir, this is the boy." The Assistant told him.
"Yes, I can see that... clean him up and then destroy the other one. Let my dear Lucrecia rest. I am going to work on something else."
With that, Hojo left the room and went off, leaving the assistant to pull the female child from Lucrecia's body. He lay her down next to her brother. Vincent saw the difference in them and gasped. The son, named Sephiroth, was at least twice as big as the female, who was not named. Lucrecia had wanted to name her Beth. So, Vincent decided as he snuck closer, this was Beth.
The assistant picked up Sephiroth and started to clean him up, turning his back on Beth, and thus, Vincent.
Vincent saw this as his chance and gently picked up the child and wrapped her in a blanket. Then he turned to Lucrecia and whispered, "I have saved Beth... I love you." And turned to leave.
He ran far from Midgar, cradling the small infant in his arms. He knew that the farther away he could get her, the better.
He ran nonstop all the way to Kalm, where he stopped and got a good look at the infant.
She was tiny, light... only about four or five pounds, wrapped in a small scrap of cloth. Her blue eyes shone with Mako energy, her soft icy silver hair was already capping her small head. "Hello Beth..." He said, walking into the inn. She would have to eat soon, and so would he. But first, he wanted to make sure she was warm .
The guy at the counter gave him a room for the night, after he explained that his wife had died in childbirth and he had to take his daughter to some family. He hated to lie, but if he said that he had taken the child, then he would have been caught.
Vincent took the small infant into the room and laid her gently on the bed. Then he looked around for a small blanket to wrap the shivering figure in. "There, there, little one...." He smiled. She looked up at him with the same look that Lucrecia gave him. He felt his heart jump. He walked over and turned on the television and grabbed a towel to use as a diaper.
Vincent hadn't diapered a child before, and he knew that this wasn't good. But the diaper stayed on.
He had just gotten a bottle from room service when he heard a special report. He sat in a chair and fed Beth the bottle as he watched the news.
"This just in" the anchorman said, "Doctor Hojo and his wife, Dr. Lucrecia Hojo, have just had a healthy baby boy." Vincent looked down at Beth who was eating the bottle from his arms. Vincent was glad, they didn't know that he had taken the small child from the lab.
"And, we are terribly sorry to say that Lucrecia Hojo has just passed away from complications from the emergency C-Section they had to preform on her."
Vincent almost dropped Beth, he could only stare at the television for a moment, until he was brought back into a real state by Beth's little cry. Vincent picked her up and burped her softly. "I have to find you a home...." He said.
"This just in!" The announcer said again, "Hojo is looking for an escaped convict by the name of Vincent Valentine, if you have any news to his whereabouts we please ask that you call your local...."
Vincent turned off the television and looked at the sleeping child in his arms. He fell in love with the girl, and wanted to keep her for himself, raise her and watch her grow, just as Lucrecia had wanted.
But he couldn't. He shouldn't... he was now a wanted man, and they would surly kill her too. Hojo thought she was dead, and nobody else but himself knew of her life.
Vincent didn't waste any time, he grabbed a small bag from the closet and packed it with a few towel-diapers, then he put the bottle in the bag. He took Beth in his left arm and cradled her softly. He had to find a place for her to stay.
He went to one of the stores and bought some blankets and a small basket. This would make carrying her easier. He was always afraid of dropping her. He would travel by the cover of night, and rest in the day. He turned on his tracks and thought that maybe he could hitch a ride to Mideel, a nice little town on an island.
Beth slept for most of the trip to the Chocobo Stables. She simply lay in her basket and either lay with her eyes open or closed. Vincent thought he noticed them glowing a light blue as he walked in the dark.
When he made it to the stables, it was almost dawn. He decided to hide in the nearby forest and rest for the day, then, he thought, that night he would be on his way.
Beth was a good baby. She only cried a little bit, and never seemed bothered by the fact that her diaper was always falling off or that she was being carried for miles.
Vincent sat in the thicket of trees and got Beth out of the basket. "You need to be played with," He smiled as he held up the two day old girl. She cooed at him.
"Lucrecia...." He said as he sat the girl on his lap, "She is amazing... just like you!" He sat and played with her, playing peek a boo and pat-a-cake and all those little games, until it was almost sun set. Then he packed her in the basket again and gently kissed her forehead. She fell asleep.
Vincent walked into the stables, "I need a chocobo that can cross anything!" He said to the one lone, stable girl.
"Yes..." She replied. "Goldie there will take you, for a fee!"
Vincent sat the basket down on the ground and walked over to the chocobo. The little girl went over and squealed. "A BABY!"
Vincent sighed, "And she just got to sleep too, don't wake her up..."
The girl nodded, "I won't..."
Chocobo Billy came walking out into the stables and saw Vincent, "Uh... excuse me, sir...aren't you Vincent Valentine? I have to turn you in!"
Vincent talked lowly, "You can turn me in, but at least let me borrow a chocobo to get her, this little one, to a safe place....
Chocobo Billy nodded, "Very well..." he handed him the reigns of a gold Chocobo. "Here, but come back in less than a week..."
Vincent nodded, "Thank you for your kindness sir..." He saddled up the chocobo and picked up the small basket with the sleeping infant in it.
"Are you sure you are going to be safe riding with that baby at night?" Chocobo Billy asked him.
"Quite sure." Vincent replied.
After a hard night of riding, Vincent saw Mideel. It wasn't that far off. He hurried the chocobo and held onto the basket.
Vincent thought there wouldn't be enough time to get the small child to a safe place before sunlight, so he decided to rest for the day. Besides, he was liking the girl too much.
"Dah!" She squealed when he picked her up to feed her, he felt his heart melt. Beth Hojo... he thought, as he fed her. "I wonder if I will ever see you again after tonight...
Beth was napping in her basket, and Vincent was writing a note to leave by her side when the sun set.
"To whom it may concern, Please take care of my darling little baby girl, her name is Beth. I am unfortunately not able to take care of her myself. But to thank you for your kindness, I give you all the gil I have and a token to give to Beth. Thank you, and may the Gods bless you and yours." Vincent read the note aloud, nodding his head. "Good..." He said as he placed a napkin on the ground and filled it with all of his gil. He knew that he wouldn't need it. He was going to be captured again. Soon.
Night fell and Vincent walked into the City. He felt his heart fall as he walked to a small house. He peeked inside the window and smiled. He sat the basket down on the doorstep, along with the gil, and looked at Beth. "Goodbye little one..." He placed a small necklace on the letter, it was inscribed with the single word, "Remember" on the silver heart. He smiled at her, and kissed her on the forehead, "I will love you forever little Beth, you have changed my life..." And with that he knocked on the door and ran around the side of the house to watch.
A small chubby woman stood up from her chair in the small living room. She opened the door with a "He..." Before she looked down and saw the sleeping Beth. She picked her up and read the note. Then she looked at the infant and took her inside.
Vincent smiled, he had done what he was suppose to do. Then, two sets of hands grabbed him and he blacked out.
What could have been hours or days later, he woke up in Hojo's lab, deep within the Shin-Ra mansion. He didn't care about himself... he had pleased Lucrecia's dying wish and kept her daughter safe.
He didn't care that Hojo was using him as a toy, injecting his body with several chemicals or making him less human. He was happy that he managed to save Beth.