-Note: Okay, so this is a FFVII fic (obviously). This is a story I wrote for one of my friends, to explain some of my personal theories about the hows and whys of this game. So some things are a little different in here than they are in actual cannon story-line. Also, there's a character of my creation in here, an OC, so if you don't like that then I suggest you don't read. One more thing. FFVII is actually one of my least favorite games in the series (please don't hate me!) so the timing of events and characters may be a teensey bit off because I just don't know all the much about it compared to FFIX or FIV. I apologize for that, but I wrote it trying to stay as close to the original story as possible. Now, please read on and enjoy!-
Heartless Angel
0011, Mountains,
Nibel Area
High in the mountains, near a beautiful waterfall where the water fell clear and cool, a field of beautiful, radiant flowers bloomed. Cradled on all sides by craggy mountains and hard rock, the gently moving flowers were sparkles of magnificent color and life. In the middle of this flower field, long hidden from view by the rocks and mists shielding it, almost like someone was trying to protect it, was a dilapidated old house. The flowers were the fullest, most fragrant closest to the house, and in some cases had grown into and around the rotting wooden structure. The home was simple, made up of just three small rooms and a little porch with a swing that still gently creaked on it's chains. As a calming, almost loving breeze swirled around the valley, the soft sound of the swing and the sway of the flowers were the only sounds heard in the peaceful silence. Then, in the distance, a group of people appeared, walking out of the misty clouds and approaching the house. The group all stared at the almost glowing radiance of flowers around them, their faces reflecting awe at the beauty and pain at the same time. Softly, her words barely above a whisper, the slightest member of the group, a girl with short cropped black hair and bright brown eyes, spoke.
"These... flowers. They look like... her flowers, don't they?" She asked, turning to the tall man draped in red standing next to her, his face partially hidden by his long raven locks and the top of his crimson cape. "How'd you find this place, Vin?" The red-clothed man made a small sound in his throat, but refrained from speaking (despite the stamping feet of his female companion) until the others had gathered around him.
"This place has always been inaccessible, since it used to be ringed in on all sides by the peaks of the mountain. But recently, one of the peaks crumbled and opened up entry. When I saw what was here..." The man trailed off and fell silent. A man with shockingly blue eyes and pale, spiked blonde hair stepped up next to him. At his other side was a worried looking beautiful woman with a buxom body and beautiful features. She was the one to speak, after looking hard at the blonde man's face.
"Vincent... you called us all up here because you found this place?" She asked, looking a little confused. "But you said you had discovered information that we all needed to hear..." In answer, Vincent pointed to the house still a distance away from them. Without another word he walked away, leaving the others to follow him. The unusual group did, staring about them in wonder. Though all of them muttered about the flowers' resemblance to those they had seen before, none of them said that these were even bigger and more beautiful, at least not when they thought the blonde could hear them. Once everyone gathered around the house, Vincent motioned them to wait and briefly stepped inside, coming back out carrying a weatherproof bundle. Inside were stacks of paper covered in neat, somewhat masculine writing. Vincent handed one of the stacks to the blonde, set the rest down and leaned against the porch railing. After a second, the blonde untied the stack of paper and lifted the first one.
"This world has monsters enough without me adding to their number. I know my time will end soon, yet that even at its ending, the nightmare my time induced is only beginning. I still am not clear on how this happened. How did a man I knew as one of my best friends and a hero become the single greatest threat to this planet? I know that it must be stopped, and to stop it is to end him, but I do not wish to see my friend, my brother, maligned. I might be the only one left who knows the truth of who he really was, before sorrow and betrayal drove him to embrace madness. While I still have time, before I must go greet death, I want to write down the truth. I do not know who will read these words, or when, but I must write them down. Here I will scribe the last words of Angeal Hewley -" Here the blonde suddenly stopped reading, his voice catching and the paper sliding out of his grasp.
The woman next to him caught it. "Cloud..." She muttered before sighing and shoving her hair back. Holding the paper up so she could see it, she continued where the stunned Cloud had left off. "Here I will scribe the last words of Angeal Hewley about the truth of the man known as Sephiroth, how he was not a monster, not by choice, and how he was one of the best men to ever grace this earth. I do not know exactly how to begin his true story, the one no one but I and Genesis knew, except by how it was told to me. It began, his fall to madness as I see it now, when he was only fifteen and the youngest man to ever be made a SOLDIER 1st Class, in the Wutai War..."
Wutai Mountains, 1992
The flames leaping around me, roaring and howling, did nothing to mask the screams and cries of the innocent who were being slaughtered. Blood scented the air copper and made my stomach churn as I saw it almost pouring into the ground from the countless dead lying about. The men of this village were farmers, people of the land. Not soldiers. But the masked infantry of Shin Ra didn't care. We lived near the Wutai; we were peaceful with them and traded with them, in return for being allowed to live simple lives free of "progression," as it was called by Shin Ra. That made us sympathizers of the Wutai People and thus targets. I cringed and clung tighter to my mothers back as another man in front of us was slaughtered but flying bullets which ripped a person apart. One of the small number of men left standing turned and looked at us.
"Flee! You must run. Ifalna is already lost to us, has left to heed the call of destiny. This planet cannot lose another of you. You and your daughter must live, Asria!" He said, gesturing wildly to my mother to try to make her run. Calmly, the ragged woman with sooty grey-streaked mahogany hair turned and looked at me. Grabbing my hands, she pressed a kiss into each palm and briefly held my face between her worn, calloused palms. A single shining tear tracked down her face, leaving traces of white wrinkled skin behind.
"Ciara..." She whispered my name, leaning forward to kiss my forehead before she turned and started walking away from me with the pride and dignity of the kind long thought lost to this world. The man who had asked us to run stared at her.
"Asria, what are you doing? Take Ciara and flee here!" He yelled, desperation making his voice harsh. My mother reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder as the sounds of the infantry drew closer. The man froze and stared at her, seeming to calm himself under her touch.
"Ciara will live, have no fear of that. But I am old, older in spirit than I can bear. My husband is long gone back to this planet and lives on as a memory in the flow of life. My oldest child Ifalna has already gone to I know not where, heeding the call of destiny this planet set for her ages beyond her inception. Ciara, the light of my life, is young, only fifteen, yet already has more the power than Ifalna nor I ever held. The Shin Ra warriors attack onward, ever thirsting for blood. They shall be satiated on mine as I rejoin my beloved in the planet. Thus will Ciara live."
My mother's calm words made terror streak through me and I went to take a step towards her, but her blue eyes cut into me and caused my movements to cease. "Ciara. Live. That is the first step towards embracing your destiny. You know the will of our mother planet best of all. Listen to her now and go. Find your destiny. I have already lived mine." More tears began to fall as my mother smiled softly at me one last time.
"Never forget to love. If you find love and protect it with all your heart, then the beauty of this world can be saved." Taking her hand off the man's shoulder, my mother turned and walked towards the invading forces. Choking on smoke from the burning village and my own tears, I turned my back on my village and my mother and ran, blindly smacking aside branches and leaping over rocks until I came to the sheer rock face separating our small populace from the traditional lands of the Wutai. I knew I could get asylum there, and time to think what I would do. Behind me, I heard a sudden explosion of shots and felt the warmth that always whispered in my heart give one last pulse and slowly fade. Gasping, I fell to my knees and felt tears pour from my eyes. She was dead. Mother's spirit was fading, rejoining my father and the planet in the LIfestream. Shaking, I curled over until my forehead touched the cold, frost hardened ground and wept. I could hear the planet's pain as more blood was poured into her, and through her agony I could sense the approach of the infantry which had shot down my mother in cold blood. Gritting my teeth, I stood and looked ahead.
Wiping off my face, I ran again, my long, deep honey colored hair flaring out about me as I picked up my pace. With one last gasp and leap, I stumbled out of the forest to the small clearing my people had cut just before the mountain side rose, to give us room to maneuver as we climbed the sheer rocks. My foot caught on something and I fell. Quickly gaining my feet again, I looked for what had tripped me and slapped a hand to my mouth to stop a horrified scream from slipping out. A decapitated body lay beside me in a pool of blood. Not far away, another corpse rested, cut in twain. Further on, a man's body lay missing both arms and one leg, the missing limbs beside him. Still more bodies lay around in other various states of mutilation. My horrified gaze tracked over them all. In the center of this chaos stood a lone figure holding a seven foot long blade which was dripping ruby in the flickering light offered from the blazing village behind me. Long, silken silver hair shifted in the wind as the person turned and faced me.
For a moment I thought I read sorrow on that handsome, beguiling face, but then the full force of his gaze landed on me and rendered me immobile. Almost feline green eyes regarded me emotionlessly as his beautiful, inhumanly perfect face was cast in red. My instincts screamed at me to move, to run, that something was wrong with this man, but I couldn't. Moving silently, the young man walked up to me as I stared at him, my absolute terror making me, strangely, not afraid at all. I saw death in his eyes. I knew I could not win if I fought. Instead, I raised my chin and met his gaze, though doing so caused my heart to pound and my soul to shiver. He was... just wrong. Unnatural.
"Are you not going to scream and beg for your life like the rest of these fools?" He asked me suddenly in a deep, gravelly voice. I shuddered, but refused to look away.
"Would you let me live even if I did?" I countered, daring him with my eyes. I expected the blade still clasped in his hands to flash and end me any second, but instead, the young man... boy, really, close in age to me, tilted his head and studied me closer. I felt... pain from him then. This is so confusing! My mind is telling me he is dangerous, but my soul wants to comfort him. Who is this man? His black gloved hand reached out and grabbed my chin, tilting my head towards the burning forest to see me. The sight of the flames kicked all uncertainty and wandering thoughts away. I glared at him with all the hatred and anger I felt even as tears continued to seep out of my eyes. Suddenly a loud gunshot reverberated through the trees and the man's glowing green eyes widened as a red stain started to bloom on his side. I inadvertently let out a small scream.
"Sir! More runaway survivor's over here!" I heard a young male voice say. The silver haired man cursed under his breath and grabbed me with the hand that still clutched his sword, pressing the other to his wound. Then, in a surprising feat, he agilely leapt up the mountain face with me held tightly against his body. Just as he gained the top of the cliff face, the infantry soldiers spilled into the small clearing, easily seeing us silhouetted against the night sky.
"Up there!" One of the men shouted, raising his rifle and firing at us. Again, the silver haired man amazed me with his speed and agility even while holding another, quickly dodging the bullets and sliding down the other side of the cliff into the relative safety of the Wutai side.
"Those idiots... Shot by my own side. They will never let me hear the end of this." The man muttered as he finally let me loose and sank down to the ground beside me, a small grimace of pain covering his face. I felt my heart move towards sympathy at his injury, but ... the image of all those dead villagers at his feet burned in my head. I took one small step back and suddenly felt the cold kiss of metal on my throat. Gulping, I turned and saw him holding the sword against my skin without even bothering to look my way.
"Do not attempt to escape, woman. Our orders are to kill or detain all Wutai sympathizers. I have yet to decide what to do with you." He said, ending on a little gasp of pain as his gunshot wound obviously hurt him. Even injured I was not certain I could escape from him. "I may just kill you since I haven't the time to sit around idly and wait for my men to find us. Shot on my first solo SOLDIER 1st class mission...shameful, really." The last part was mumbled to himself, but I heard and suddenly lost the strength to stand. Those cold, cruel green eyes remained unchanged as I stared at him in growing horror.
Even away from the cares of the material world, we heard news of the only SOLDIER 1st class at Shin Ra, the monster made in a perversion of the natural process our mother planet held sacred. Said to be a demon in the guise of a man, he was supposedly stronger than all the infantrymen combined and as calculating and cruel as a machine. Though very young, he was already strong enough to be allowed to guard the president personally and was privy to secret information. He was a hero among the people of the world for his fierceness in battle against the Wutai earlier this year. A legend and a terror, the youngest and most powerful warrior that Shin Ra possessed was...
"Sephiroth." I whispered the name as he looked at me. "You're... you're him. Sephiroth." The silver haired man, Sephiroth, just continued to watch me closely, then suddenly made a small pained noise and fell over onto his side, breathing heavily. The deadly blade fell away from my skin and those disturbing eyes left mine, granting me the power to move once more. My mind was screaming at me to run while I had the chance, but... He hadn't killed me. Sephiroth was not known for mercy or kindness. But even though he had slaughtered all of my villagers who had reached the wall, why had he not killed me? And why, when we were being fired upon, had he taken me with him up the safety of the cliff instead of leaving me behind for the Infantry to deal with? I took one small step back from where he lay and stopped. It wasn't right. Though he was an enemy, though he had killed, I could not leave an injured man to die. Though... he was SOLDIER, and a simple gunshot shouldn't kill him, right? Could I live with myself if I left and he did die, though? That small possibility sent pain lancing through me.
Growling at my own soft heart, I went to his side and bent down beside him. To my shock, his eyes were still open and he was alert, though dangerously pale. "You have not yet run? You are a strange woman indeed." He muttered and I half pulled half guided him onto his knees. That he was able to move still with this terrible an injury was proving my theory that he would survive the initial wound, though he may bleed out if not treated soon. Under normal circumstances I would leave him where his people could find him, but... those Shin Ra infantry were shooting first and asking later. They might kill the man. I heard the sounds of soldier's approaching and felt my heart skip a few beats, but I determinedly made Sephiroth stand and walked him slowly to a hidden cave I knew was nearby. Laying him down in there, I sat close to his side and pressed my finger to my lips. He nodded and closed his eyes as we heard the infantry rushing by so close to us that I was afraid at any second they would find us. Finally, the sounds of marching faded and only silence could be heard. I let out a long breath and turned back to Sephiroth.
"Do you have any healing Materia?" I asked. The SOLDIER quirked an eyebrow at me, but nodded and motioned to his sword. I picked it up, surprised by how heavy the weapon was, given the thinness of the blade, and saw the pale blue materia I was looking for embedded in the weapons hilt. Prying it loose, I held it between my cupped hands and closed my eyes. My mother, Ifalna and I were not like everyone else. My sister had knowledge in her mind about things that happened two thousand years ago, things that the planet whispered to her. She was wise beyond her years and able to feel the pull of destiny through the flow of the Lifestream. My mother had been able to call the flow of the Lifestream, make it flow closer to the surface or deeper down to enrich the soil and heal the scars left on the planet. And I could hear the breath of the planet and control her blood in all forms. Be it Lifestream, Mako, Materia or water, I could control it. Materia always worked beyond capacity expectations when I used them. But we had to be careful not to be found out. My father had been murdered for his abilities, killed by Shin Ra scientists who experimented on him. We always moved around a lot to avoid rumors or detection. And how here I was, planning on using my ability on one of the most dangerous men associated with Shin Ra.
But my heart was telling me it was the right thing to do. The pain I saw in his eyes was real, and despite what his actions said... I had seen the sorrow flickering in his eyes as he walked up to me amidst the bodies of the fallen. I felt the materia I held grow warm and opened my eyes to see the beautiful life of the planet manifest and surround it. This skill was a new one that had developed recently, and my mother had been training me to use it, but thus far I wasn't very gifted, so I may end up causing more harm than good. Still... I looked into Sephiroth's scary eyes and saw no fear. I would try. Lifting one hand, I directed the glow towards the bleeding wound in his side and saw him flinch a little when the power touched him, as the bullet was slowly pushed backwards out of his wound and the muscle tissues began to knit back together. Only once his skin was perfectly smooth and flawless once more did I silently call the Lifestream back down and let the power fade from his materia, sticking the orb back into his weapon. Sephiroth stared at me for a long, pregnant moment, then sighed and flopped back against the cave wall with a sigh.
"I now owe you a debt of honor. While I would be easier for me to kill you and complete my mission," he said, picking up his sword and touching the blade lovingly, "I cannot, in good conscious, murder my savior." After a second, he turned those powerful eyes on me again. "Woman, what is your name?" He asked abruptly, standing and looking down on me on my knees before him. Despite the control that position gave him over me, I did not feel threatened or dominated at all. This man, I can feel his brutality against my skin, but along with that violence is a brash honesty. He would never dominate another intentionally or use tricks and manipulations on a person. His soul is bright, and pure. For now. I can sense a darkness within him that frightens me.
Is it because he is SOLDIER or something worse? He held out a gloved hand to me, and after a moment's consideration, I accepted it, letting my worries and running thoughts slid away. He easily pulled me up, and standing close to him as I was I was even more convinced that he wasn't any older than me. His body was muscled and strong but still held the trace of youth in it, like he still had some growing to do. Not to mention that he was only a little taller than I was. I looked up into his too beautiful face and sighed. Fifteen and already a mass murderer. It wasn't right, but this fate had been given to him same as mine had been given to me in the depths of the planet when I was six. We neither one can escape that now. I straightened up and met his powerful gaze.
"I am called Ciara." I told him.
He nodded and walked to the mouth of the cave, whipping a sleek black cell phone out of nowhere and after punching in a number, holding it to his ear. After a brief pause, he started speaking. "Veld, I have done my mission. With the exception of one survive of whom I am taking command of, the entire village has been destroyed. We found no evidence of Wutai sympathies, so the Turks will need to cover it up." He said, reporting the destruction of my home and the false accusations against it calmly. I heard an angry sounding voice on the other end of the phone but couldn't make out the words. Sephiroth sighed. "No. Veld, she shows unique abilities that I would like to observe before handing her over to be dissected by Hojo. That man isn't a scientist but a sadist with a twisted thirst for powerful knowledge. That department has fallen in quality since Professor Gast left about ten years ago. I wish they would put Professor Hollander in charge, since his work is of more interest and less impact. If something comes from these observations then I will bring in Hollander, but nothing else until then." Sephiroth appeared to be arguing with this Veld person and it wasn't hard to figure out the context of the conversation. They were deciding what to do with me. Though I didn't know what it entailed, I thought being under Sephiroth's observations much better than being a living experiment for the Shin Ra scientists. I may live longer with the killer than the scientist. How twisted is that?
Finally Sephiroth shook his head. "When it comes right down to it, Veld, I do outrank you. I am keeping the woman under my observation. The mission has been completed according to the president's orders and I don't see any further issues." Hanging up on the other man, Sephiroth pocketed the phone and faced me again.
"Am I to be your slave now?" I asked, sarcasm turning my fearful tone into a mocking one. When faced with situations I wasn't exactly prepared to deal with, I found myself being extremely sarcastic and haughty. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at my words, but didn't comment other than to shake his head. I sighed and put my hands on my hips.
"What then? Because if you intend to hand me over to the Shin Ra scientists I will fight you." I said, clenching my hands together. Again he shook his head, turning to face the first blush of dawn that was streaking across the sky.
"You will be free to live your life however you wish. All I require from you is that you send me letters every month about what you are doing and whatever you have done so that I may submit them to the president as my observation reports. Since anything too obviously powerful would land you in Hojo's hands, like what you did to the materia, but anything took mundane will make the Turks kill you to fully finish the mission, you must exercise some caution but remain engaging. I will help you as I can, but it will be best for us to not meet in person. I am, after all, the pride of Shin Ra." Sephiroth said that with a hint of derision in his voice.
"This is my repayment of the debt I owe you for saving my life, Ciara. Though it might have been better for all if I had lost it." Finally he faced me again, and for a moment, over this youthful, lost and powerful face, I saw an older, dangerous face superimposed. The red light of dawn seemed to cast flames into his shadow, but I blinked and the vision was gone. Still... I knew when the planet was speaking to me without words. Sephiroth was dangerous, so terrible dark, and yet... my fate and this terrifying man's were interlocked now. Well, never has fate been kind to me, so I shouldn't be surprised that I was being charged with this tormented man's future as well. I flipped back my hair and sent Sephiroth a small, painful smile.
"Well then, Sephiroth... thank you for giving me my life to live." At my words, his eyes widened, but after a moment he returned my smile with a softer look. I wouldn't call it a smile (his lips didn't curve at all) but I knew that was him expressing happiness.
"And you for mine." He replied, letting me stand beside him as the sun rose over the mountains and cast beauty over the terror of the night.