Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII, or its characters.

Prologue

There was nothing. No heat, no coldness, no smell or sound, or even my identity…Just that black voice, that void, that occasionally appeared in my life, made me recognize my existence…

"Hey look! I found something cool!"

"That's so cool! SOLDIER, isn't it!"

"Do you wanna try it on?"

The said thing was a bracelet, a simple thing of metal with one large orb set in the socket. It had three others, but they were all empty. The small children who surrounded it could be no older than five; their faces were filled with innocence and joy, each trying on the bracelet and the founder – named Prim – being prouder than others. After all, it was he who found the bracelet.

"Hey Seph! Wanna try it on?"

The child was barely five years old, but had a striking features that could be expected to be chiseled into a fine work of art in the later days. Large, luminous jade eyes were innocent but hid hints of sadness. His small mouth seemed to know too many harsh words that were ignorantly thrown at him. His small nose seemed to sit in the middle of his face quietly, the only thing that seemed to know why it was there. Silver, fine hair decorated his childish features, hair unlike molten silver but something more artificial, metallic, like steel spun into fine threads and attached onto the child's head. The child was well-proportioned, with a small head and being relatively tall, but it was most certain that no one nourished him with enough love. Dressed in a simple T-Shirt that said "Moogle Dance!" and shorts, he seemed forlorn and lost.

The child nodded, but did not speak. He took the bracelet, and placed it on his thin wrist…

Nobody knew what happened. All they saw was intense light, then felt the intense heat in the room. When someone realized that there was a fire of intense heat, children were crying and screaming, adding to the chaos and making organization nearly impossible.

Prim was the one who was burned most severely. His parents were immediately contacted, and they came, half-furious and half-frantic with worry. Then more parents began to arrive.

"Mooomyyyyyy! Mommmyy!" Children wept in fright.

"What the heck just went on? This is kindergarten!"

"Mommyyy!"

Each child was picked up by the parents, embraced, comforted, and slowly disappeared through the exit as each parent took their beloved child home. Except one set of parents, with the mother crying helplessly, bitterly, as Prim's small frame was carried away on a stretcher, wheeled outside and to the hospital facility of Shinra Company.

The small child just watched, completely lost, confusion on his small face.

"Marie! For god's sake! It's a child!"

"I swear to god, John! That kid isn't normal!" Marie shrieked. "Give me back my Prim, damn it! Give him back! That's why I didn't want to send him there, John!"

"Marie, he's a child! He can't even speak! How can he…"

"Shut up, John! I want my Prim back!" The woman turned vengeful eyes toward the silver-haired boy.

"Marie!"

She snatched her arm away from her husband, and slapped the boy until the boy was on the floor.

"Marie! Stop! This is a child!" John tried to stay his wife's hands, but she tugged free.

"No, he's not! He's a devil!" Slap. "Nobody wants you, you freak!" Slap. "Nobody needs you, you abomination!" Slap slap. "You should have burned, you should have died, not Prim!" The small mouth was trickling blood as the woman delivered a solid kick into the small abdomen. "You're a failure! Do you understand? Nobody needs you! Nobody wanted you! You should have died!"

"A five year old male infant died from severe burns. Marie's child. Four others are injured. It looks like it was the Fire materia, from the looks of the damage, sir."

"What…? Can materias even explode like that…?"

"According to other children, the fire began immediately after Sephiroth placed the bracelet on his wrist, Professor Gast."

"I don't believe it, Tseng. Even if you say so. That child cannot have that much magical abilities. He can't even talk!"

"I understand, sir, but that is the only logical conclusion we can draw."

The boy was now separated from other beings except a rabbit that resided in a small cage. Currently, the boy was occupied with a pair of sharp scissors in his hands. He tried cutting his hair, but soon realized that someone might get angry, so he stopped. His small hand slipped in the loops of the scissors, and the blades drew a sharp red line across his forearm.

He felt pain. He drew another line across his forearm with the blade. More pain. He licked the blood, curious what it tasted like. It was salty. And tasted like metal. He was not sure if he liked it.

He decided to hold the blade, then bring it down perpendicular to the forearm. This pain was a little more intense. Each time he pressed the point of the scissors on his soft, pale skin, more red appeared.

Slash, slash slash.

The boy tasted the red liquid again. He was still not sure if he liked it. He looked at the rabbit. Did this happen to the bunny too?

He decided to investigate. He stood up, walked to the cage, unlatched the lock and opened the door, then took the rabbit in his hands. It was furry, white, and warm. Sitting in a chair that was all too big for him, he took the shears in one hand, opened the blades by extending his fingers, and was about to test his hypothesis on the rabbit's ear when…

"Oh, there you are, Sephiroth. Did you do it again? You're covered in blood… scissors? Where did you get that?" The questioner was a young man in a white lab coat. The rabbit hopped away into a dark corner.

"I was lonely I didn't see you around, Sephiroth. Professor Gast seems to have thought that you'll turn normal if you hang out with other kids, but I'm glad you haven't changed." He took hold of Sephiroth's small hand. "Come on. We'll get you clean."