ahem... yes well, rewrite time ^^ this chapter hasn't exactly been changed much, it was always the one I was happiest with, even though I moaned about how crap it was at the time. meh. I'm rewriting this story because I want to try and fix anything wrong with it, and also to make Enya into a more developed character. and to change some bits that I now think are a bit silly or just don't fit with what I want to do with the second one, when I get eventually round to that (I WILL DO IT, I WILL). The biggest changes will probably be made a bit later on in the fic, where I feel it gets... dodgy. meh. changey changey ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Advent Children. If I did, I would be very rich Japanese guy, which I am not. So all lawyers please back off as I do not wish to jeopardize my family's already diminished income.

And now...

Light glinted off the shards of broken glass that lay strewn at her feet. It had been two years, two long years, since she had last been here. She glanced around at the chaotic destruction in the laboratory. So many memories leapt out at her, tainted memories that shone within those glistening shards of glass. She had never wanted to come back again. But she needed answers, and this was the only place left to search.

She had wandered around the world, searching, trying to hunt down her past. She had even looked through the old Shinra mansion in Nebeilheim, where she had met Vincent, who had promised to help her search for the answers she wanted. Together, they had looked through all they records they could find. But they found nothing. Vincent had sent her to Seventh Heaven, and left her in the care of Tifa. They had promised to help, willingly adding her troubles to their long list of problems, but in reality there was little they could do. They just had too much to do, and too many other, younger orphans to watch out for. And so, after a year of growing ever more frustrated with the lack fof answers, she had left for the last place.

And here she was, in the remains of the hidden Shinra laboratory that was all she had known throughout her childhood. Miles from anywhere, it was almost completely destroyed, the building slowly being eroded by time. She could recall its glory days, the day she first set foot in its once pristine halls, the first day of her life that she could sufficiently remember.

She had been found, lying as if dead, on a mountain side, by a SOLDIER. She had no memory of who she was, no faces, no sounds, nothing except a hollow feeling of betrayal. He had carried her to the laboratory, where he told her she would be cared for. When he asked her her name, she couldn't remember it.

"That won't do," he said, smiling. "Lets call you Enya. Yes, Enya will do nicely."

Five years later, he returned. She was fifteen, and famous among the scientists for being hot headed and stubborn. There was panic everywhere, the scientists all fled, running from his wrath. He strode towards her, terrifying anger and hatred in his eyes.

"Sephiroth?" he ignored her, walking down into the basement, a place she had never been allowed to go, his long silver hair swinging behind him. She made to follow him.

"No Enya." A man had grabbed her by the shoulder with a shaking hand. She looked up angrily. It was a security guard, a young man called Mark. She opened her mouth, ready to protest, but stopped at the fear on his face. He was trembling, his skin grey, his dark hair plastered across his forehead with sweat. "You leave, you understand? You have to leave." He sounded so desperate, so afraid, that she was almost tempted to do as he said. Almost.

She watched as Mark headed towards the basement door, slowly reaching for his pistol. He fumbled with the door handle, his hand slipping. "Go!" he hissed at her. Reluctantly, she turned and moved away, so that he would think she had gone, then hid so that she was half concealed by an open door. She watched as he continued to fumble, his shaking hand sweaty and clammy. Finally, he had opened the door down to the cellar, and he disappeared into the dark.

She followed quietly, slowly descending the stairs into the darkness. An eerie light spilled out from the open door at the end of the hall. Mark was standing in the doorway, his pistol aimed at someone in the room. He wasn't shaking any more, and his kind features were fixed into an expression of grim resolve. She crept forwards. She could see the light spilling from the room, and the long silver hair that could belong to one person only. She realised who Mark was aiming his gun so steadily at. He was going to shoot Sephiroth. She didn't know why, but she couldn't let him do that. She tiptoed closer. She would get behind him, stop him...

And then Enya screamed as there was a sudden flash of movement followed by a disturbing hollow silence. Hot, sticky red sprayed across her face, as the headless body fell to the floor with a heavy thud. She tried to suppress the urge to vomit and scream at the same time, watching in horror as the head rolled away from her. She stared at the bleeding corpse, her gaze trapped by the beheaded man, the shock still vibrating through every fibre of her body.

"Enya?"

She couldn't look at him, she couldn't, not when he had just killed a man, a man who Enya had known for years, a man who's blood was rapidly drying on her face, a man who was now lacking a head...

"Enya? Enya look at me." His tone was strong, commanding, and could not be ignored. With all her strength, she forced her eyes to look up. He was standing in the doorway, framed by that strange light from the room behind. His face had changed. His eyes... his eyes had changed. There was something there now. Something filled with hate.

"He tried to kill me Enya."

"Yes... he did..." She glanced back down and wished she hadn't. The urge to vomit rose again. Her throat burned with the taste of it. She realised that she was shaking.

"He needed to die. He was a traitor. He was not worthy. He tried to kill me. You understand that, yes?" She nodded stiffly. He was right, he was always right, he had to be right. And Mark had tried to shoot him. It was self defence. Yes... self defence... She stood up, and followed Sephiroth's beckoning fingers.

"What's going on?" she asked as they moved into the room. In the centre, attached to beeping monitors with flashing lights, were three huge tanks, almost like giant fish tanks, filled with a green liquid. She had seen similar things on the upper floors, but not on such a scale.

There were shapes, lights, moving within the tanks, swirling around in the glowing green sludge. In each individual tank, there were orbs of slightly different colours, moving, dancing, congregating on a single point that was suspended in the centre of the bizarre substance. It was beautiful, and very, very strange to behold.

"I discovered the truth, Enya. The truth about who I am," Sephiroth was saying harshly, the hate etched on his face. It was an expression she had never seen on him before. It scared her. "I will make them pay Enya. Make them pay for what they did to my mother, and for making me live this lie. Together, my mother and I will destroy this world, and create a new world, with a new future. We will go to the Promised Land, and the unworthy will burn away."

"But... but I thought your mother was dead..." she said slowly, frowning. That was what she had been told when she had asked. Sephiroth's mother was dead.

"Dead? No, they would not kill the last of the Cetra. They imprisoned her, used her to create living machines of war, but they would not kill her."

"Cetra?"

"The Ancients."

"Oh," she said, suddenly filled with shock and awe. Well, that explained everything. The Ancients were legendary, were all the scientists seemed to talk about. No wonder Sephiroth was so powerful, if he was one of that famed race.

The scientists. It hit her. They had all been afraid, and Sephiroth ... he had just killed someone. And now ... now there were these strange things in these strange tanks ... "Why are you here?" she asked, as the seed of nervous fear began to grow. This was not the Sephiroth she knew. She had only spoken with him a few times, but he had been kind, someone to whom she looked up to. She had admired him above all others, but now he was definitely ... different.

"There is much I must do," he said, a strange smile now upon his face. It was slightly insane, and highly worrying. "I have a lot of work, if the dream is to become a reality." The smile widened, and he nodded to himself. "Yes, a lot of work. And I am here to ensure that I won't fail. I am here to make sure that the legacy will continue if things go wrong. And I have a job for you, Enya."

"What job? I don't understand ..." she began, but she trailed off as she caught sight of the tank in the middle. The liquid inside began to swirl more violently, as those lifestream-like orbs slowly slid together, finally meeting, glowing azure, violet, silver and sapphire. They twisted and turned, slowly grouping together and merging, taking on a vague, indistinct shape. The shape grew rapidly, swiftly expanding, growing limbs and hair and a face, until there before her was the figure of a young man, slender and beautiful.

She moved towards the tank, transfixed by what she was seeing. The shape had grown features, pure and sharp and somewhat feminine. He looked to be older than her, and yet his face still held childlike qualities in his cheeks and slightly pouting lips. He was clad in black leather, clinging to his chest like a second skin, and there was a scabbard strapped to his back. His shoulder length silver hair trailed over his closed eyes, floating in that strange green liquid. Enya felt a delicious shudder run down her back. He looked like a drowned man.

In the other tanks a similar thing was happening. Two more men had been formed, one with long hair, the other with short hair and sideburns. They appeared to be older than the youth in the centre, but not by much. They all shared a resemblance with Sephiroth, though the one with short hair didn't look much like him.

"What are they?" she whispered, astounded, astonished. She had never seen anything like it.

"My brothers, my siblings, the remnants of mother's legacy. Created almost entirely from her, they are our last resort. If I fail, they will awaken, and finish what I have started," he smiled again, that same deranged, terrifying smile.

"Finish?"

"Yes. Stay here, and I will come for you when mother's wishes have been for filled. And if I fail, they will help you, they will complete the quest. They will finish it for mother."

"But why-" she began, but he cut her off.

"Enya listen! There isn't time for me to explain. You must stay here. It is ... too dangerous for you to leave. You could be hurt, or killed, and I don't want that. I need you to watch over them, alright? I don't want anything bad to happen to my brothers before they awaken, you can't let anyone else near them, you get it?"

Enya nodded, feeling very important. Sephiroth needed her to look after his brothers. How could she deny him such a request? He was Sephiroth, First Class SOLDIER, Last of the Ancients, super powerful, always right, and he had asked for her help. Of course she would do as he said. Who would do otherwise?

"Good. You understand. They will need your help while in this useless state. You watch over them, you keep them safe," he stopped and looked towards his floating, unconscious brothers. He closed his eyes, as though listening to something far off that she couldn't hear. "Kadaj will look after you, if you look after him now."

"Who?" Enya asked, confused.

Sephiroth gestured toward the young man in the tank. "My brother, Kadaj. Youngest of the three, yet he will be their leader. Mother has made him strong."

"What are the others called?"

"He's Yazoo," he said, pointing towards the one with long hair. "And the other's Loz. Mother and I decided on their names before I came here.". He stopped again, apparently listening intently. "I need to go. I have a lot to do. Goodbye Enya. I will come for you when it is time. Watch over them until then." He turned away and walked out the door, not looking back once, leaving her alone in the dark with the three sleeping spirits.

She had stayed, like he asked. She spent most of her time in the basement, talking to Kadaj and his brothers even though she knew they probably couldn't hear her. It was better than upstairs, where the dark lonely corridors seemed to move all around her. For a while, she had been scared to leave, scared to walk past the steadily rotting security guard at the base of the stairs. The smell had been awful for a while, but he was shortly eaten by the rats that moved in and had swiftly been reduced to gnawed bones and faded cloth. She only ventured up to find food, which was a rapidly dwindling resource, and to collect her things from her room.

Then there was the crisis, when Midgar died. And then ... and then, they woke up.

She was down in the basement, muttering quietly to herself when it happened. She heard a strange sloshing noise.

She stood up, and walked tentatively towards Kadaj's tank. He had moved - his head was now tilted downwards instead of lolling against his shoulders and his fists had clenched tightly. As she approached, he lifted his head up, and stared at her with his amazing eyes. Green, fathomless, with slit-like pupils. Deadly, dangerous mako eyes. Enya lost herself in them, as she gazed through the glass, transfixed by those beautiful, terrifying eyes. It felt as though he could see deep into her soul.

The moment was broken by a loud bang from Yazoo's tank. Glass shattered, the liquid oozed, and Yazoo fell out and lay gasping on the floor like a fish out of water. Enya stifled a scream, clapping her hand across her mouth and hid behind a table.

She peeked out nervously. Yazoo had stood up, shaking his long silver hair, and picked up his gun. There was a crash, more shattering of glass, and then Loz was standing beside him, dripping that green liquid. The two brothers looked at each other for a long moment.

Then Yazoo nodded to Loz, who smashed his fist into the glass of Kadaj's tank. Kadaj fell out, gasping for air and only semi-conscious. Yazoo caught him, and put him back on his feet, but he fell again. He seemed too weak to stand.

"Come on," Yazoo muttered. He picked Kadaj up and let him lean on his shoulder.

"We need to go," Kadaj croaked. "Mother... Mother needs us... we have to find her..."

"We know, Kadaj, we know."

"Let's get out of here," said Loz. He walked over to Kadaj and together he and Yazoo pulled their little brother along while he lent on their shoulders. As they reached the door, he looked backwards, to where Enya was hiding. His eyes found hers, and yet again she was lost in them. Then Kadaj was pulled away, through the door and away, leaving her petrified and alone.

That was two years ago. It had taken her a while to work up the courage, but eventually she had left the laboratory in search of ... something, anything. For a while, she had wandered aimlessly around, and by the providence of some higher being, or just pure luck, she had managed to avoid being devoured by some beast and found people who would look after her. But she had no meaning, had lost her sense of self and her only purpose. She wanted something more.

So she had come back, looking for answers, wanting to know who, or what, she was. She had been searching for so long and this was the last place to look. She sighed and turned away from the wreck that was the basement, pausing in the place where Mark-the-security-guard had lost his head and his life. The bones were gone now, taken by some animal, or perhaps somebody had come to claim them. She didn't know and didn't care to find out.

She walked up the stairs, into the gray light that filled the upper floors. Enya went up another flight of stairs and into the main office on the first floor. It had held all the records of everything that happened in the laboratory, before Sephiroth scared the scientists off.

Damp paper littered the rotting floor. She sighed. This search was going to take a long time. She bent down and began sorting through the papers, her heart starting every time she saw her name. But there was nothing that told her what she was, just the occasional rubbish about her behaviour or physical and mental health. Apparently they had been monitoring her, but they did that to everyone, including the scientists themselves. She almost screamed in frustration. There was nothing here, nothing about her arrival or her past. There was nothing anywhere.

Then the distant sound of raised voices caught her attention. She strode over to the window, the damp, worm riddled floorboards creaking ominously under her feet. She could just see two figures walking towards the building. Actually, they were two rather familiar figures. Two rather familiar figures with silver hair.

"I'm just saying I don't see why we have to come here Kadaj. We took all the information we could the last time we were here!" shouted one of them, one with short hair.

"We might have missed something," said the one with shoulder length hair.

"There's nothing there! Me and Yazoo looked all over the place before we left!"

"We still could have missed something."

They vanished from sight as they headed into the building, now in silence. She could hear their footsteps on the floor below.

Why are they here? thought Enya, a sense of nervousness now settling in her belly. She felt a certain indignant hatred towards them now. They had left her, when Sephiroth had promised her that they would protect her, after she had watched over them for several long months. And Sephiroth had lied. Everything he ever said was a lie, that she was almost sure of, even if he himself had not realised it at the time. Vincent and the others had told her all about what Sephiroth had tried to do, all the people he killed. She was fairly certain he would not have tried to save her, that all he said had been a beautiful lie to get her to do what he wanted. It hardly made her feel particularly good about herself.

Her mind raced as she considered what she might do. Maybe they have the papers I'm looking for... she thought. Loz had said that they took information before hand. She looked down again and steeled her self. She turned to leave. Foolish as it probably was, she was going to confront them. It was high time, she thought, that someone gave her some form of an answer to her many and varied questions, and these shadows of Sephiroth might just be the people to give her those answers.

But as she stepped away from the window, the floorboards underneath her gave way, the damp, rotten wood crumbling beneath her feet, taking half the wall with it. She was falling. The ground floor lobby was coming closer. Debris battered her from above. She felt a searing pain in her side. Then blackness took her...

This has been updated a third time now. I just can't leave these things alone ^^ which is why most of the stuff I write doesn't get shown anywheres. However, I think this is the final version. I'm fairly happy with it.