Dr Harley took one last look at the sleeping children before she turned off the lab lights. The eldest had taken the final injection today and was unconscious, the strain from the mako and Jenova liquid was quite traumatising. Still she'd get over it, she always did. She hadn't been the first one of the experiments. That was Kitty, a friendly and excitable child. More powerful than a human being but the Jenova cells injected in her had been the barest minimum. The next was Maht, a young pale boy who had a higher ratio of Mako to Jenova and was physically weaker than the others though his magic was exemplary, but of course they were all good at magic. Then Sephiroth, by far the most successful of the experiments. He was better at everything than the rest of them and seemed the perfect soldier, strong, smart, ruthless…
But not for Hojo.
The last child was put through rigorous Jenova therapy. The amount in her was twice the amount of Sephiroth and the Mako coloured her veins. Her eyes missed the bright glare of the others and assumed the consistency of one of a corpse. In her there seemed no life let, as if Jenova had drained the last remains away. Although many of the other scientists objected to the idea Hojo carried it out anyway.
" But they're human beings. You can't do this to them."
But whatever they'd say Hojo would simply snarl " I think you know they're not quite human beings Dr Harley. Now get out of my office before I fire your ass from here to Mideel."
Dr Harley sighed as she thought of her zealous employer. She checked the room temperatures were safe and left the lab rats to sleep. Her only emotions for them were purely scientific; after all they weren't likely to survive anyway with the amount of Mako he injected into them each day.
" Shall we go now?"
Amongst the dark of the cell a pair of red eyes cast an intent stare on the fellow captive. Receiving no answer they narrowed threateningly.
" Is it time? Would we be safe?" The green questioned accusingly at the red, as if a battle of wills occurred on glance. " You know how the security has improved since last time." He lit a small fire using materia that lightened the cell and revealed the owners.
In the corner sat Maht, a slight boy with short black and white hair that hung into the pale drawn face his physique thin and fragile contorted with anger.
" That never would have happened if you hadn't bothered trying to rescue that girl in the first place. Which was a complete waste of time anyway as she refused to leave her mother."
Sephiroth slumped and fought to control his anger. Since their birth they had been alone in the world apart from each other and among them hung an unspoken rule never to fight or divide. His hair fell in front of his eyes and he flicked it away irritated. Trust Maht to bring up his faults as usual, to put him down.
" Then I suppose you stepping on the security switch had nothing to do with it then?" Sephiroth sneered as the pale boy flushed, aware of the contrast of his small flab to Sephiroth's lithe body.
" Where did you get that materia? Planning on keeping this a secret from the rest of us?" Maht almost shouted the words as he looked down at the green orbs in Sephiroth's "toy" sword. His body was shaking with anger now, his eyes twitching uncontrollably. Sephiroth smiled as he toyed with the materia, rolling it around his hand.
" What about the time you planned to escape from here by yourself?"
" Excuse me but I think there isn't enough time for this…this…. childish bickering!" Kitty came forth from the dark and shot an injured glare at Sephiroth. Her blue eyes were red with tears and her blonde hair stood limply on her head. "We have to go now. I disabled the cameras while you two were talking." Although she was weaker than the others as the first she held authority over them even though you might not have thought of it that way. She was ditsy and bouncy, not really the type others would respect.
" You disabled the CAMERAS!?!?" Maht shot off his feet and shook her. They couldn't have hurt much but the reaction from the Sephiroth was extreme. In one graceful movement he had Maht by the scruff of his neck and was tightening his grip with menace. His eyes blazed with fury and Maht was now squealing in terror.
" Sephiroth!" Kitty gave a little scream and managed to free Maht. She gave another glare at Sephiroth and hugged Maht.
" Seph…you know we don't hurt each other." She used scraps of cloth to wipe Maht's face. "Please continue Maht."
" All I was saying is that now they will know we plan to escape now." He rubbed the back of his neck and lay down on the iron beds they were given to sleep on."
" But we have to go now. Just look at Rania!" The two left their fighting and looked at Rania.
Rania also held an even higher respect with them. They saw themselves as a chosen few, each blessed with a "gift" from Jenova. Each day they heard that Rania was to be given more or the gifts long after they had exceeded their doses. She was the one who cared for them and she was the most powerful and least human. Her hair was like Sephiroth's but her skin was tinged blue and her height taller than she should have been at that age so ultimately she was like their parent or guardian.
She lay on the bed writhing and muttering, eyes rolling and sweat pouring along her fevered brow. The face that had seemed before so calm and serene was now twisting with agony. Ruptured breaths were the only sound in the dark chamber as they stood each with a horrified expression plastered on their faces. Only Maht dared talk and even he only whispered:
" We have to go now."
Moonlight lit the hallway with a soft, pale light as four figures flew across the hallway, hovering just inches from the ground. In Sephiroth's arms lay Rania, still muttering but less than tormented she had been before. A thousand questions came to their minds; what was wrong with her? Why was she muttering? How could a gift do this to us? Yet they could not speak lest Shinra discover them. Each floated wordlessly through the corridors like wraiths, Kitty stopping the cameras as she passed until they reached another corridor. Sephiroth pushed Rania into Maht's arms and paused to open the door marked "Ancients".
Maht pushed Sephiroth aside roughly. " What are you doing?" He tried to drag him away but failed. Instead he looked to Kitty for help. She patted Sephiroth gently on the shoulder.
" Sephiroth, as much as we'd like to we can't…" Sephiroth shrugged her off and turned to level her gaze.
" Did you hear about Jenova being an Ancient?" It was more of a statement than a question but the others nodded meekly. " Then it's our duty to save her." He turned again to open the door.
" Sephiroth, we can't." Kitty paused and tried to be reasonable. " Maht doesn't want to and well… majority rules Seph." She looked away suddenly ashamed and guilty. Taking her hand gingerly away from him she returned to stand by Maht and help Rania.
" Kitty, she is like us! She knows the evils that Hojo has done to us, to her and her mother. I thought at least you could see beyond Maht." Kitty shook her head.
" Sephiroth, she isn't like us and you know it! She doesn't have injections, or tests with Hojo. She has a normal life outside this wretched place. You can't let your feelings for her jeopardize this escape. Do you care more about her than us?" Kitty ran down the corridor in tears, forgetting the security and alerting the alarms. Sephiroth and Maht tensed as warning bells rung into their ears and they knew the robot guards would soon follow.
"Traitor." Maht spat at him and ran awkwardly along the corridor to the window where Sephiroth knew they were planning on flying away. He also knew that while Kitty was relatively strong and competent at flying Maht was terrible and would not be able to catch up with Kitty in time. And he was the one carrying Rania. Sephiroth paused at the door; gold lettering shined as he broke it down and strode into the room. In the centre was a glass cell where a young girl sat near the corpse of her mother. Her eyes were full of tears and her hair plastered to her face as she wailed the more at seeing the figure enter the room. Light on the glass did more to show the terror in her eyes and Sephiroth felt upset that he could not be more kind or friendly and make her feel safer. She seemed to be muttering to the corpse and bursting into sobs whenever no reply came. Sephiroth could hear the guards coming and efficiently smashed the glass caging the little girl. Or perhaps protecting her as the sight of the dark creature towering over her caused her to faint. Sephiroth raised his eyebrows in disgust. Why had he bothered rescuing such a pathetic little being while his friend, his brother was probably falling to his death now? Sephiroth shook his head as if to shake the negative thoughts off. His strong arms picked up the pale girl's body and lifted above the ground. Out of the window he could see Kitty flying against the night sky but Maht and Rania were nowhere to be seen. He flew through the corner fast, making no attempt to stealth they had before. Sirens blared all over the building, their warning bells penetrating the girl's state of slumber.
" W…wh.where am I? Who are you?" Her lids were weary and her eyes glazed, Sephiroth decided there was no point in answering her in this condition.
He turned the corridor; narrowly missing traps the Shinra had set up. There was no time to be careful though his training instincts told him otherwise " What is your name?" Now he had a feeling Maht should be around this part of the building, he knew his strengths well.
" Aeris. Aeris Gast." Before long she was again asleep, comfortable in his arms and unaware of the pains Sephiroth was taking to fight the guards and protect her at the same time. Near the end of the corridor Maht was fighting more soldiers while Rania lay on the floor. Sephiroth aptly killed them all in one wield of Masamune taking no pains for the lives of those who had been destroyed.
" You waited for us?" Sephiroth smiled as Maht went a deep shade of red to match his eyes.
" You actually. You weren't meant to bring her." He picked Rania up, though he struggled with her weight and flew out the window, changing altitudes like a gosling on his first flight. Sephiroth shook his head in a mixture of amusement and disgust and took the sky like he had been born amongst the deep blue velvet.