Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership on Final fantasy VII or any other masterpieces from square enix. This fanfiction is purely a figment of my imagination.
Beneath the blood stained sky
Chapter one: the secret beneath Junon
The world had been quiet for a time. Two years had passed since the fall of Omega and Deep ground with little incident to follow. Other then the rogue units of deep ground soldiers or an occasional dragon reaching abit too close to home for some Nibelheim residents, many were able to carry out peaceful, uneventful lives which they once not had. Even the now dormant Mako reactors were now decaying into rust and ruin. The adventurous few would explore the dead reactors in search of salvage to sell or if very lucky a good piece of Materia, but poor villagers and scavengers had picked most reactors to its skeleton and only thieves and mutated beasts remained. All except the Junon underwater reactor, which guarded by the great armored city and seal of water was left untouched.
However the Mako-rich reactor and the huge Materia it once housed was not the only bounty hidden under the depths. If one was to continue onwards, past the reactors core and past the submarine docks, they would come across a large corridor, dimly lit, and with a dead end. SOLDIERs, dock workers and sea men just placed it down to poor architecture and used the corridor to store mechanics and work loads. However rumors, most likely started by bored and idle soldiers, began when sightings of key officials of Shinra, including the first president and Professor Hojo would depart down the corridor, and simply disappear in the darkness. Some would even say they could hear voices beyond the large wall at the end. Of course, after weapons attack, the siege of avalanche and meteors fall, everyone had quite rightly abandoned their posts. The rumors along with them.
It had been five years since the abandonment of Junons reactor. Yet within those years, some would catch glimpses of a figure entering the grounds in the dead of night, or hear the dull creaks of the elevator making its descent into the depths. The locals put it down to the WRO either on security or salvage missions, and spoke nothing of it.
It was on such a night whilst Junon slept, when a hooded figure, keeping to the shadows, crept along the dark streets towards the reactor. They walked quickly and with purpose. Stopping only to hide amongst the shadows as drunken shipmen and dock workers staggered home. Pulling the hood further over their face, they continued. Faster then before. A low rank WRO recruit was stationed outside the elevator to the reactor. He looked bored and disgruntled of the fact he had picked the short straw for the night watch. The hooded figure watched him as he paced slowly up and down, sneaking an on duty cigarette and finally slumping to the floor, his back against the elevator shutter.
The hooded figure made their move. Removing a green orb from their inside pocket, they cast a sleep spell upon the recruit, making him slump gently to the floor in a deep slumber. It would have been unwise to have killed him. No attention was wanted; the recruit would simply believe he had fallen asleep on duty. As had all the others.
The elevator grinded to a creaking halt, and the shutters to the reactor opened. No sound was heard, albeit the brisk footfalls of the mysterious person and the repetitive drips of water leaking from the pipes overhead. Lights flickered near dead as they hurried down the dim corridors, past the heart of the reactor, past the submarine docks, towards the curious corridor.
They halted at the dead end, and with a quick glance around, placed their hand upon the cold wall. They muttered a complex sounding and unheard of language, and suddenly a light, very much like that of a material spell, inked from the person's hands across the wall, forming a large circle with unfamiliar words and symbols. The wall rumbled, and split into two, turning into a large doorway. Revealed behind the secret door way was another corridor. Lights flashed into life as the figure stepped inside, one last nervous glance over the shoulder, and the walls rumbled shut behind them. Turning once again into a useless corridor with a dead end. Only then did they remove the hood from around their face. Revealed was a strong jawed man with half moon spectacles and slicked back white hair. His dark eyes scanned the silence of his surroundings. He was Professor Parcelus, and he had been returning each year to this place.
Judah Parcelus had been nothing more than a young lab assistant when he joined Shinras science department 20years ago. A quiet man, he would keep to himself and work long into the night whilst the other scientists had long gone home. Professor Hojo had taken notice of the young scientist after Parcelus proclaimed a theory of a separate world on the other side of the Life stream. Gast had snubbed the theory, whereas Hojo became curious. After the discovery of Jenova and more rumors circulating around the Cetra… the speculation of an alternate world was definitely something to ponder upon. After all Hojo had his suspicions about the Cetra, Jenova and even that damn Turk. Something about them did not seem familiar to this world. However as the years past, Hojo lost interest in Parcelus and his theories, and became hell bent on the Promised Land and his precious Sephiroth. Parcelus had asked Hojo to allow him to conduct experiments on the Turk locked in the Shinra mansion basement, but Hojo had ultimately refused. He did not like sharing his toys. However he did mention where 'another' could be found.
Parcelus walked with purpose towards his final destination. He walked by heavy steel doors, each with numbers engraved in them. 17…38…22… Past glass walls revealing vast laboratories on the other side. They appeared to be in disarray, not used in many years. An old, bloody handprint was smeared on one of the glass panels. He continued onwards for a short while, before finally stopping in front of a large sealed doorway. 01 was engraved on it. Like the entrance to the secret lab, Parcelus performed the same alchemic ritual upon the door, and it split open. The room within was large and circular in shape. It was pitch black except for small lights surrounding what looked like a large metal cage with no windows. In the near darkness the flickering lights of scientific equipment could be seen upon it. An alchemic circle, so much familiar with this disturbing place, was deeply engraved around the metal enclosure.
"I'm back my pretty one." Said Parcelus, standing before the cage. "You have been here for so long, but now I'm setting you free my war bringer. Now is the time to set the wheel in motion."
The monitors upon the cold steel reacted slightly, signaling a stir in life. Parcelus had caught the attention of whatever it was in there. Parcelus removed an earth material from his coat, and cracked the floor beneath him. Breaking the engraved symbols surrounding the cage. Suddenly the monitors burst into life with alarms and madly flashing lights as the cage began to slowly open.
Parcelus grinned menacingly, and inside, connected to wires and fluid filled tubes, was a woman. Her body was wrapped in a white cloth and bandages. Restraints bound her in place. Her face was bandaged, framed in long, limp blonde hair. Her eyes were blindfolded.
"You are free to move" Said Parcelus. "No one will hurt you. You're safe with me"
A twitch of the fingers, and a jerk of the head, but she stayed there.
"Come out my dear…you can break through those bindings easily" Parcelus said, stepping past the cracked seal and reaching a hand out to the women's hidden face.
She snapped her head up, and in an abnormally fast move, she snapped the restraints binding her arm like paper. She grabbed Parcelus' hand, and twisted it. Crushing the bones beneath her fingers.
A scream of pain escaped Parcelus as he fell backwards from the cage, his eyes bulging as he cradled his crushed hand.
Using her now free hand she fiercely yanked the tubes and wires from her skin and tore the bindings that entrapped her in place. She pulled at the bandages on her face, but only enough to reveal her thin lips.
Parcelus lay gasping for breath on the floor, staring wide eyed at her. "I.I kept you alive! All these years. I made you into something great and terrible!"
She stepped towards him.
"I kept Hojo away from you!" Panic rising in his voice. "You know what he did to the other one? He wanted the same for you. I kept him away, protected you! You owe me your life!"
She lunged at him, pinning his arms down with her hands. Finally she spoke.
"I owe you nothing but one thing…" Her voice was soft, husky and with a dark edge. Small fangs were noticeable beneath her pale lips. "And it's all you deserve…"
And with an animal like snarl she sank her teeth deep into his neck, and pulled. Parcelus screamed in agony, his voice beginning to gargle from the blood rapidly filling his mouth. She released him and stood up, watching his final moments beneath her thin blindfolds. Blood dripped from her mouth down her front. She looked down as his blood pooled by her feet as he gargled and twitched. His life fading fast.
Finally after a moment or so… he faded into the life stream.
And she walked away, bare footed through the pool of blood, away from her prison. Leaving bloody footprints behind her. She walked past the labs, past the numbered doors similar to her own and towards the hidden door, which opened upon her approach. She walked past the docks and past the reactor. Towards the elevator to the surface.