I was walking home from school one day after the bus had dropped me off. It was on the main road before the turn off onto my street that a sigil appeared floating above me, glowing a bright green. A flash of white rushed from the sky to the sigil, then into me and I couldn't see it was so bright. Then all of a sudden, it was over, and I suddenly became aware of a number of changes to my person.

First of which, a weight on the back of my head had me reach back and pulling long silver tresses of hair forward over my shoulder, that reached down to my knees. The next thing I noticed is that my clothing has changed. I'm wearing long black leather gloves, and looking down, I notice I'm wearing a long black leather overcoat with black straps criss crossed over my bare chest, and I'm wearing black loose pants with black leather military style boots. Shocked, I jumped back and threw my hands out in surprise. Suddenly a hilt appeared in my hand, and with a wave of green light, a ridiculously long sword literally sprouted in my hands, one so iconic I couldn't help but recognize it.

I knew in an instant what had happened. I want to deny it, but somehow my mind, which had suddenly gone extremely analytical and had started memorizing every single thing happening in my surroundings, summarily cataloging and dismissing them based on threat level almost out of habit, refused to let me do so. The facts all point to one thing, and I'm not going to throw out a hypothesis due to supposed impossibilities. I am now General Sephiroth.

Quickly, I release my blade, which immediately returns to my personal storage space within a dimensional pocket of my own life stream. Most know how to access such a thing in Midgar after a certain age, but I think I may be the only one that has learned to transfer my sword to and from that space upon subconscious command, having trained extensively to do so. Most others require a mental link to it, such as reaching into a pocket or a satchel in order to access their storage space, unlike I, who was trained to do so without the need for such a mental handicap. Curse Hojo to the pits of hell, but he did have his uses.

A quick review of the surveyed surroundings shows that no one saw my transformation. Lucky break, though expected. This part of the road mainly has backyards facing the street, so the likelihood of having been spotted is low. Unfortunately, I cannot go home in this state. I would appear to be a stranger simply strolling into my own home. I could simply explain the situation, but I doubt it would be accepted. I further expect things would degenerate further in that regard. No, it's best I cut ties with my former family.

My brain quickly processes a number of scenarios of how to do such a thing. Simply disappearing would leave them searching for me, wondering where I'd gone or if they'd done something wrong. Unacceptable. I am not heartless. 'Running away' or writing a suicide note are both summarily rejected for the same reason. Faking my death is a possibility. It would hurt my family, but at least there would be some closure there.

A quick review of the materia I have available leaves me frowning. I only have one available. It's an exit materia. That's unfortunate, but it does open up the possibility of perhaps reappearing on Gaia upon use. The only question would then be how to reintegrate myself into things happening there. With the knowledge I now possess of much of the lore of my new/former home world, I'm certain things will proceed far differently no matter where/when I put myself back into that world.

Having decided, I turn towards my family home. With no materia to cast an illusion with, I have no recourse but to simply inform my family of the situation via a letter. Whether they accept it is their own prerogative.

Thinking quickly, I make a run to the nearest school, my old elementary school, to get myself some free stationary and a pencil to write with. On the way I had to struggle to keep my speed down to a level acceptable for a human my age and size. I got more than a number of stares on the way, even from people in cars. Even if they don't recognize me, it doesn't surprise me considering my exotic looks and the fact that I'm running under the hot Florida sun in black leather. If people didn't think I'm nuts, I'd be worried.

Finding a faculty leaving the building wasn't hard. It wasn't hard either to convince them to allow me into the building to retrieve some paper and a pen either. Again, I'm certain my looks and voice helped me here. My, that is, Sephiroth's voice has been described as sultry before. I couldn't even begin to express the gratitude I felt in the fact that both my original self and Sephiroth are both left handed. Well, truly Sephiroth is ambidextrous, but outside of combat, he writes and eats like a lefty. Having this match up makes writing the letter easy, even if I would have been able to compartmentalize the abilities easily if I'd originally been right handed.

A quick run soon had me back at my home. Thanks to the time when my high school gets out, I'm normally home alone for at least an hour before my Mom comes home from work. Since the trip too and from the elementary school took me 37 minutes, I have at minimum 23 minutes until anyone shows up. Perfect timing. I slide the letter into the crack in between the door and the jam on the side. I then walk into my backyard through the metal gate.

As soon as it creaks open, my dog Cocoa comes running. The brown spotted dalmation growls and barks at first, but crouching down and holding out my hand for a sniff, I'm soon able to pet her like normal, the big softie. I'm really going to miss her. I'll miss my family too, but a cynical part of me wonders if they'll miss me or the chores I finished more. I know that's not really fair, but whoever said emotions are? As the youngest in a family of 8, feeling a little neglected is to be expected when both parents have full time jobs and are overworked in order to keep us fed. It's not my fault they hardly have time for us and when they do, it's usually to correct faults. They did the best they could under the circumstances.

Shaking my head, I stood up from my crouch. Cocoa just stood by, wagging her tail, tongue lolling out of her mouth. I'm tempted to let her inside, but settle for refilling her water bowl on the back porch. Taking a last look around at the backyard I'd never have to mow again, I figure that's enough nostalgia. I've already committed the place to my excellent memory, so I'm not bound to forget this home anytime soon. Nodding to myself, I held up my arm and cast the Exit materia. With a flash, I leave Earth, and the Sol system behind.