Chapter 1

Birth of a Demon

He walked down the white staircase and stopped, brushing his blonde bangs out of his face. Looking around, he found himself in the City of Ancients… again. It had been two years. Two years since she died.

He sighed and walked toward the altar and stopped just before he stepped into the holy water. He saw no evidence of the evil deed that had happened that fateful day. He wondered, how could such a place so pure be a holder of such evil deeds?

"Cloud?"

He was startled out of his thoughts and he turned to meet a large red beast. He seemed to be sort of a cross between a lion and a wolf. His brown eyes showed intelligence. On his head hung many feathers. They were usually white ones, but this time they were black, as a sign of mourning. The most remarkable thing about him was his ability to talk.

"Here again," the red beast said, giving a cross between a throaty purr and a sigh. "It's been a while… two years. How time seems to fly."

The blonde man had to disagree. Every minute was pure agony… every day was just living Hell, and a year… something far worse than Hell… if it was possible.

"I guess the others will arrive soon." Nanaki said.

Cloud could only nod. As if on cue, two more AVALANCHE members stepped down from the stairs and into the room with the altar. One was a large dark man with a machine gun arm. His real arm had been badly damaged after taking shots. Next to him stood a slender girl of about five-three. Her figure was well… curvy. The large man was dressed in a large dark tuxedo and the girl, a black dress.

Cloud's stomach lurched when he saw the girl, and quickly turned his head away. He had always felt that way every single time he saw her… even when he was fourteen. She had been his first crush, and his feelings had not gone away over the long years.

"Hey Cloud." Tifa's voice echoed in the quiet room, Cloud could not meet her eyes. How could he ever meet them again?

What was in her voice? Sadness? Hate? Guilt? Pain? "Hey," he nearly slapped himself, he sounded stupid stupid stupid.

"Yo, spiky. How's it goin'? Haven't seen ya fer a while. Why doncha visit no mo'?" Barret asked, his words filled with slang.

Cloud didn't answer, as another person walked into the room. He had goggle on his forehead, which lifted his blonde hair up. He had an unclean look about because he had a stubble on his face that showed he hadn't shaved for a while. He smelled slightly of cigarette ash, and he was dressed in a suit. He was the best pilot in the world and his pride was the Highwind, an aircraft stolen from ShinRa.

"Hey, Cid," Red said, getting in a sitting position and swishing his fiery tail about.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Long time no see. Had no fun for a while, not since…" Cid stopped, when everyone turned their heads away. "Eh… sorry."

"Glad to see that you don't have a cigarette in your mouth," Cloud finally spoke up.

Cid shrugged. "Ahh… I've been aimin' to quit. Shera says it's drivin' her nuts and I guess I should do her a favor or two, since she saved my life and all…" Everyone threw looks at each other. Cid turned bright pink and quickly changed the subject. "Uhh… soooo… Vincy and the kid ain't here yet?"

"Here!"

Yuffie jumped in cheerfully from the stairs. She was not dressed in her normal clothes like everyone else, but in a black shirt, and light black pants. She was the youngest one out of all of them, and since their adventure, got considerably more mature. Her once short brown hair was now grown out, and she had blossomed from a pretty girl into a beautiful young lady.

"Hey, Yuf, how's it going?" Tifa asked. She and Yuffie had this bond between them that was almost sisterly. It once included Aeris but now that she was gone…

"I'm good! How's everyone doing? I've missed you guys a lot! All year Dad's been introducing me to all these err… important rich people… and you know the lot. Snobs. Can't stand them. Had to get out of there. I keep telling him that his job is not for me." The young ninja scratched her head, looking at everyone, who stared blankly back at her, she sighed. "Gee! Everyone musta had a bad time this year! Barret… how's Marlene… and Cid… how's Shera? Cloud… how about you, how's your job as a mercenary going? Tifa, what about your bar? Is it doing well? Red? Your research? …And where's Vince?"

Everyone shrugged and said that their loved one or business was going well. Red perked up. "I saw Vincent… he came to Cosmo Canyon to do some research. He didn't look too well… he looked paler than usual and had a limp. He said he probably wasn't going to come to this. We found some pretty interesting things about… Him."

Tifa noticed that Cloud's hands clenched into fists and his knuckles went white. He was trying very hard to not shake, but was doing a bad job of hiding it.

She and Yuffie exchanged glances, and shrugged. Barret let out a big sigh. "It's da pas'… wut do we needta learn 'bout him 'neways? He's jus' a damn crazy bastard… and today's not a good day… especially here…"

Nanaki straightened up even more. "That's what's interesting. You see… Sephiroth he wasn't always a bad guy. I stumbled upon the journal of one of his caretakers… and that particular caretaker… just happens to be Aeris' dad."

At the mention of both Sephiroth and Aeris, Cloud cracked, he tried to keep all the anger in for a minute, but then exploded. "I NEVER WANT TO HEAR THAT BASTARD'S NAME AGAIN IN THE SAME SENTENCE AS HER NAME!"

Everyone went quiet, they stared at him and he stared back, his blue eyes alight with a flame that had been stifled for all these years.

But Cloud wasn't quite done yet. "SEPHIROTH WAS A COLD BLOODED MURDERER AND THERE'S NOTHING THAT CAN CHANGE THAT! HE BURNED NIB…" he stopped for a minute, unable to say his town's own name. "HE… HE BURNED NIBELHEIM… AND EVERYONE WAS KILLED! HE ALMOST KILLED TIFA… AND ZACK! THEN HE KILLED AERIS AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE CLONES… AND HE TRIED TO BRING F---IN' METEOR DOWN ON EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US AND KILL US ALL!"

There was a stunned silence for a moment. The blonde man sighed as if he had just let out a demon. He was about to apologize when Red spoke up. "Are you quite done yet?"

"Yes. I'm sorry… I just couldn't keep it in…" Cloud gasped. "Damn… I've never been that angry before…"

Yuffie gave a hissy whistle. "Note to self: Never get Cloud mad at you."

The red beast held up a paw. "Never mind Cloud. From what you went through, I'm sure that you'd be angry. You had kept it inside for so long, it was going to come out sooner or later."

Cloud was still breathing hard. Tifa put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and his breathing eased. Their eyes met briefly. "Alright… what were you going to tell me, Red?"

"Sephiroth… was not always evil. From what I collected, he once had a heart… and he loved those most close to him. I found it best to tell it here, where Aeris lies." There was a sharp intake of breath at the mention of Sephiroth and Aeris's name, but Cloud did not explode again.

"Alright," he tried his best to keep his voice calm, but it shook. "Tell me,"

-----

Many men and women in white lab coats scrambled around. Hojo's son was coming.

On one of the beds laid a woman with blonde hair. She was a beautiful woman, her face was thin and soft. Her nose was a bit pointed, revealing her heritage. Her sea blue eyes were watery from her pain. She clutched to her swollen abdomen, covered in only a blue and white hospital gown.

Standing near the woman on the bed was a man. His face was pale and he looked sickly, but he had always looked this way. In his brown eyes showed deceit, and under them, were bags, showing that he had not slept well. He had horn-rimmed glasses set upon his face, and they didn't seem to fit him very well. His oily hair showed that he had not taken the time to take a bath for a long time. "Don't worry now, dear," he said in a sneery voice. "You'll be fine. Our baby's going to be a strong one."

He tried to sound concerned, but failed miserably. The woman smiled, missing the 'fake' part. "H..ojo…" she whispered, and groaned from another contraction.

"Sshh… you'll be fine. I need to check up on one of my experiments, I'll be right back… ok?"

The woman on the bed nodded, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. Hojo didn't even bother to wipe away the sweat like a good husband would, and turned to a guard standing nearby. "You, watch over her."

"Yes, Hojo," the man on guard could barely hide the contempt for the scientist in his voice.

Hojo turned away and was soon out of the room, grinning and muttering to himself. "Yes… she is a fool… hidden by my 'love' for her…" he snickered loudly, causing everyone around to look at him. "Oh yes… our son will be perfect… absolutely perfect…"

"Vincent…" the woman looked at the guard.

"Lucrecia," the man said coldly.

"Oh please, Vincent, don't be mad at me…" Lucrecia sounded desperate.

"Lucrecia, Lucrecia. You know that he doesn't love you. You know that the only reason he shared his bed with you was for you to bear him a child. You know what he will do to your child. Why didn't you listen to me?" the man hissed, turning away.

The woman cried. "That is not true, Vincent! You lie! You know he loves me!"

Vincent's brown eyes filled up with tears. "You know you're just denying the truth."

The woman gasped as another contraction came to her. "You're selfish, Vincent."

"Why? Just because I'm the one that really loves you? …Because I'm the one that really cares for you. I will be the one to shed tears for you when you're in pain… Hojo will do nothing! He's just a sadistic bastard… and he's going to use your child for his insane super-SOLDIER project! He's going to infuse your child with mako… do you hear me… mako!"

She clapped her hands over her ears and screamed softly. "Oh…"

"Don't 'oh' me."

"Vincent… I… I think the baby's really coming… tell Hojo…"

The man clenched his fists and fought against his emotions. "Alright. If you wish me to tell that scumbag."

He walked out, his cloak flying at the pace that he was going.

-----

Hojo extracted the Jenova cells, and put it into the hypodermic needle. He then mixed it with mako so the substance glowed. "Once every eight hours. Oh yes. Three shots a day. He'll be strong enough then… he'll need one as soon as he's born… so he can develop an immune system immediately. Hahaha… you are a brilliant man, Hojo… oh yes…"

"My dear brilliant Hojo, you're child is being born at the minute." Vincent said icily.

"Ah, good!" Hojo walked out with the hypodermic needle, laughing to himself.

"Crazy bastard," Vincent muttered as he went in step with the mad scientist.

-----

"Sir! Congratulations! Your son!" the nurse gave a false cheery voice, while inside she was nearly vomiting with disgust.

Hojo examined the baby boy. He looked quite healthy and instead of normal colored hair, it was silver. Signs of the treatment… it was working! The scientist smirked and took out the hypodermic needle. "I need to give my son his treatment."

The nurse looked horrified. "Sir… what are you doing!"

"My son needs to be strong," he said, taking the child from the woman's arms. "I know what I'm doing. This is my own son. Do you think I'd hurt my own son?"

"Hojo! No! Not to Sephiroth!" Lucrecia screamed.

He laughed maniacally. "Shut up, woman!" He brought the hypodermic needle down into the baby's backside and the child wailed loudly.

"HOJO!" Lucrecia cried as the needle plunged into the child's skin.

Vincent clenched his fists and advanced forward. "Hojo, this has gone too damn far! I can't watch you do that to a newborn child! And think about your own wife!"

Hojo turned, taking out the hypodermic needle. He handed the child roughly back to the nurse. "You will address me as sir! And this is my own son! I can do whatever I want with him! He is my own flesh and blood! What need you to run your nose into my business! I don't need you worrying about my wife! Get your own damn woman!"

Vincent did breathing exercises. "Very well… sir."

Both their eyes locked in a deadly gaze. Neither of them noticed that Lucrecia was in a critical state. Nurses and doctors rushed around them, but neither looked away. Finally, when a nurse came and said, "Please sirs, this lady…" Vincent turned away.

Hojo smirked and walked away, nearly whooping in joy that his plans were working.