The Truth beyond the Veil Chapter 1: Reawakening of Strife and Dissension, a final fantasy vii fanfic

Contains Crisis Core's characters, locations and Loveless Quotes but no major spoilers.

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The Truth Beyond the Veil

Chapter 1 - Reawakening of Strife and Dissension

"Men thought they were immortal until the very immortals appeared on the surface."

His bare feet stepped effortlessly from stone to stone, as his eyes looked down to the world below, narrowed in a profound green light that emanated from every corner of the world he was merged in. There, upon the clouds, we was transcending above a thin line that divided death from life. He felt every vibration caused by humans back on Earth. Those vibrations were the source of the production of a mass energy which was used by a famous company to converge its substances to the triggers of electric power. The mass energy, afterwards named Mako Energy, quickly faded for the reason that it was being overused to provide humanity with comfort and easier lives.

Many scientists researched that energy in order to find solutions to recreate trying to use the original components to produce more of that substance, in a way that it would never scarce or wound the planet by the lack of it. A small group of those scientists indicated that the Mako Energy was, unlike many other had concluded, an extinguishable source of energy and it couldn't be recreated by any means, as the way that those substances were provided by the vibrations of particles produced by human aura.

These scientists were banned by the electric power company, as they were making the people of Midgar leave the city, thinking that they could live in the countryside without wasting the Planet's life and end the resource of energy. It was then communicated by the Science Department that Mako Energy could, indeed, be recreated and that the civilians could live again in the suburbs of the city, as the power company ensured to provide them with endless electricity and comfort.

Sephiroth was travelling on the Lifestream itself. He could sense all the vibrations, the particles produced by human aura. He fanatically believed on those scientists theories, because he could verify those theories by his own experience. He had an exquisite blood running through his veins. It provided him great strength, a power that few humans could afford without physically and mentally breaking apart. For that, Sephiroth was very different from his companions.

He continued to wander in the Lifestream. In that distant realm, his mind was allowed to fly through many ages, to search through limitless information that built up since the first days on earth. He let his body move as he drew close to an entrance of a light and a possible confrontation with the outside world. The others would be most thrilled when he woke back. He had been wandering in the Lifestream realms for an amount of time he could not measure, and for that, the awareness of his delay struck in his mind.

He did not care to dodge the bright light that separated that realm with the one he lived in. Like a silent shadow, he infiltrated in the light, being surrounded and blinded by it.

The movement of the soft, green waves that invaded the Lifestream disappeared and when his eyes opened up again he thought absently that everything in that laboratory looked solid and flat, compared to the soft reality that marked the Lifestream's nature.

He was laying in a cold, flat, iron table. His wrists, as well as his ankles were tied with leather straps and his waist was strongly bond to the table by a resistant leather belt. His vision was still sharp, and he could inspect his surroundings just by moving his head. The Laboratory was illuminated only by a small light that barely enclosed a small part of the room. There was machinery in the walls and various monitors that curiously reflected a range of pictures of him in different angles, lying on the table. At the corner of the room, a collected man studied a piece of paper, glasses on the tip of his nose. The man's eyes subtly crossed Sephiroth's and then a small smile tugged at his lips.

"You are awake, general Sephiroth." He uttered "Did you have a safe return from your slumber?"

The man's upper lip twitched "Let me out of here, Hojo."

"Your antipathy for me remains intact so I imagine that your mind maintains its properties, which is actually is a very good signal for someone who has been gone for almost four days. Your fellow companions were worried, too. They say you never made such long 'Transaction' between realms."

"I am fine" the general stated "Just let me go back to my duties."

The scientist raised a hand. "Wait a second. Firstly, let me read your status. I was able to process the information of your body's vibrations as you transcended on the Lifestream. In basis of the movement of your muscles and nerves, I was able to elaborate a report with your power and strength status." Hojo scratched his head as he went back to his wide desk, in search of the report. He then brought an amount of paper.

"Be quick about it" demanded Sephiroth quietly.

The scientist coughed "Well, Sephiroth, I must say that I was very impressed when I finished the reports. It seems that your Mako energy is decreasing incredibly fast. Last week I thought it was just a break on your metabolism, but the results maintain, even after the weekend's Mako infusion. It means that your body found a way to combat the Mako energy that we regularly infuse you with. Very curious, indeed, very curious."

Sephiroth didn't bother to ask what that meant. He just raised an eyebrow and looked at the scientist. Under that piercing gaze, Hojo just laughed and turned back, walking back to his desk full of paperwork.

"Do you know why is your body battling the Mako energy, general Sephiroth?"

"I would find no way to know such a thing." Sephiroth did not know, indeed. He had been truly thoughtless to let his mind wander for so long on the Lifestream. He believed that mind reacted with body, and affected the physical part of the world, but he never knew that transcending to another plain of existence could reject the materia that actually composed his physique.

Sephiroth bit his lip until he tasted blood. He had been receiving Mako infusion since he was a child. On the contrary of other SOLDIER members, his human cells had been changes several times to human cells filled with Mako energy, which after a couple of times exchanged his metabolism. Since ever he had been dealing with that mass energy and another poisonous substances that his body was able to handle, contrary to other regular human beings. His strength was being fed by that energy and now his body was able to dispose of that power, little by little, repudiating it and defunding it into the atmosphere.

Hojo unstrapped the man and handled him his black jacket. Sephiroth quickly put it on, and left the room without any commentary.

"Sephiroth!" called Genesis as the tall man appeared on the corridor, a hostile look drawn on his face. "I thought you'd never wake up again, my friend."

The general stopped in front of his friend. Genesis held a slight frown on his sculptured features and his lip was twitched in a dramatic way. In his right hand, parallel to his body, he hold a thin copy of the Loveless writing masterpiece, marked in a page somewhere in the middle. Sephiroth groggily shook his head in disbelief. "Something is wrong with my body. It no longer is able to contain Mako energy. It's battling its components and making them disappear."

"But my friend, you always had Mako in your blood and your body never refused it. Your organism wanted for more and more, like a man who couldn't kill its thirst. How is it possible that your body is combating the energy?"

"I don't know. But my long absence in the Lifestream is somehow involved with this process. Inside the realm I could no longer feel a sense of time or the location of my material body. I felt a strong presence, so powerful and ancient I couldn't even establish a connection with it. It tied me to the Lifestream until my physical-self could bare my delay no longer."

"What did Hojo say?"

Sephiroth's eyes glared in anger "That bastard acted as it was normal. He said it was curious, the little man, looking at me as a rare specimen."

"But is your condition well enough to survive without the Mako energy, Sephiroth?" Genesis asked, slightly worried "Is your body is risk of degrading because of the great loss of energy? The infusions and alterations in your system were so many that I wouldn't be surprised if your organism was actually addicted to that energy."

"I have no way to know." He answered "I feel no signs of degrading."

Genesis looked at the ground and raised the small book of Loveless. His gaze landed on some words below the title 'Act III'. "What are they doing to us, Sephiroth? Using us as weapons to the purpose of bringing false justice to a world blinded by money and overrated power. They have the very power of the planet at their disposal and are using it in a corrupt way. Are we sightless, my friend, to be unable to make our own decisions in relation to this crisis?"

"I am not able to chose between righteousness or a path of darkness, Genesis. I cannot deny my own roots in this damned company. If I do, I'd be lost forever. However you, my friend, should be willing to choose between what's right or wrong."

Genesis closed his eyes and smiled.

"My friend, do you fly now?To a world that abhors you and I? All that awaits you is a somber morrow, no matter where the winds may blow."

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The Midgar slums were even colder than the flat surface of the iron table he had been lying on. He had been repulsed by the poverty that covered those streets, since he had grew up in the middle of opulence and extravagance, but as he walked on those dark and poor roads, he was even more repulsed with his own loathing. They barely had to eat, and even rarer was to have a roof to cover their heads. Young boys were being raised to join the Shin-Ra's infantrymen and young girls were not safe in those streets. Young teenager girls patrolled the streets with babies cradled in their arms, their eyes full of suffering and the bitter taste of loneliness.

The way they tried to keep joy was absolutely heartbreaking. Children made-up every kind of diversions they could, willing to pass through everything to have a better time in their short lives. The panorama of that low society was so pitiful that Sephiroth had to prevent himself to cover his eyes to such misery.

He walked down a street, hid in the shadows provoked by the plate, silently watching the people that remained in the streets doing their late night business. There were prostitutes in the street, too, wandering from alley to alley, stranger to stranger, offering their services in exchange of a good portion of money. It was tragic that a good amount of them that were still young girls, just wanting to feed their poor and old families.

"Why am I with them?" Sephiroth asked himself as his sharp eyes analyzed the awful panorama. He did not know what was keeping him bond with those persons. Had he lost his consciousness? How could he be fighting side by side with people that were throwing the planet's life away, as well as the lives of thousands of people that lived forever under the dark?

My friend, do you fly now? To a world that abhors you and I? All that awaits you is a somber morrow, no matter where the winds may blow. He was flying away. Protecting the operatives of a corrupted city, not caring about the lives of the ones that were constantly victimized by the sovereignty of Shin-Ra. Sephiroth thought he had been protecting the world all along, but he wasn't a hero anymore.

His eyes briefly flickered over a silhouette crouched behind a trash can. It was a feminine figure, wearing a blue and white dress. She had her knees under her chin and her arms protecting her head. Noticing the shaking nude shoulders, Sephiroth knew immediately the girl was crying.

Flinching inside, he crawled to her, letting his unreceptive shadow cover the young girl's frame. As she raised her head to meet his eyes, every inch of her body trembled, as she forced herself to get up and to compose her dress and hair.

"I am not here to self myself" she said, wiping the tears with her hand. "You can go, now."

"And I am not here to buy" he stated, obviously feeling awkward because of the situation. "Did anyone hurt you? Do you want me to call the authorities?"

She shook her head. The sorrow in her eyes made his heart thaw. Why was that young girl doing in a somber place like that one? Why wasn't she allowed to have a better life? Her clothes were worn and dirty from being in the streets, stained with grease and mud, her hair messy around her beautiful well-framed face. Her eyes were suspicious and intriguing to him. The emerald color they wore equaled to the shine of many eyes infused with Mako energy. However, that girl was no corrupt.

"Why are you crying, then?"

The girl raised her chin in false determination. "I distrust you and your intentions." She said, shaking "So I have no obligation to share with any information or truth. I am not naïve enough to fall in the arms of a stranger."

The girl was no fool, either, he thought amused. To keep such calm and pacifism, even if with her heart chained in grief.

Her pride, however, broke, and the tears started to stream down her face again. Sephiroth made no intention to calm her down or control the tears, as he just stood there, pale and placid as she cried.

"My mother died" she stated "With an awful disease. She was everything to me. She cared of me, she was kind and gentle and treated me like I was a porcelain doll. It's so unfair that death only stabs persons who do not deserve it."

"I am dying too" Sephiroth declared "It's being a quiet and painless process, but I know that one night I will lie down on my bed, and I will never wake up again. However, on contrary of your mother, I never did something I was proud about in my life. I do not have to shout angry cries of rage at the Goddess for not giving me the opportunity to redeem myself for my sins and to repay the blood stained in my hands."

"You're dying?" she quietly questioned "From disease?"

Sephiroth's eyes focused somewhere on the ground. "My body is refusing what's keeping me alive. It's no disease, it's actually a natural process of my body. I can do nothing to fight it back: just wait for the process to complete and bring me to the Goddess."

Suddenly, every signs of apprehension the girl had been showing were erased and a shrill light mirrored in her eyes. "It's the Mako energy, isn't it? It's ruining everybody's life. The planet is slowly dying on Shin-Ra's hands but nobody cares. Men that join the infantry are infused with the energy and receive a special surgery that amends their body to the tasks they will be assigned for. The most powerful soldiers become addicted to that energy and their bodies turn dependable on doses of it, like if it was drug, used to make them more powerful."

"How do you know that?" Sephiroth asked, his eyes widening at the wisdom of the young girl. After all she was sixteen?, seventeen? ,and as a civilian of Midgar and a resident in the slums, shouldn't be able to interact with the internal issues of the company.

"The Turks bring me to the Shin-Ra Headquarters all the time. I spent most of my time in laboratories and making exams to my cells and blood. The Shin-Ra Science Department is already a part of my being and the rumors I hear in the hallways are enough to know a bit of everything about this energy people are being infused with."

Sephiroth was even more overwhelmed. A girl, being brought by the Turks to the headquarters in order to make blood tests and exams to her cells? What kind of power did that green-eyed girl hold inside her flimsy body?

"Why are you being exposed to those tests?"

The innocence returned to her sweet features. "The scientists say I am the last one of my race. An ancient, they say. I deny the facts and they don't say anything to me after they receive the exams. I go and I leave and I have no clue why am I there for. They don't tell me anything."

An Ancient. Sweet Goddess, Hojo believed that the young girl was the last Cetra, the last remnant of a powerful and extinct race, which ruled the planet for so many years. How could a girl so small in shape and so fragile and innocent carry such burden on her shoulders? Wasn't the poverty she was submitted to enough that she was also had to be a scientific miracle to humanity research? How confused could that little creature be, alone in the world, orphan and poor, victimized by the scientists of that maniac company?

The girl pouted her lips and a cold emptiness robbed the sparkle of her eyes. "Do you know what's the problem of the Shin-Ra company? It's the same for the Men. Men thought they were immortal until the very immortals appeared on the surface. When the planet gains revenge on the evilness of this people, the Shin-Ra company will finally acknowledge mortality and the true feeling of inferiority. Until then, every one of us will have to wait until justice is made."

Life was brought back to her small body.

Sephiroth thought absently that the girl as indeed a miracle of science, as well as a miracle of humanity. She held such power and humanity that she was deserved to be called the true daughter of the merciful Goddess.