Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Squaresoft except for the lyrics to Cry, which are Mandy Moore's.
Chapter 2 ~ Five Hundred, Twenty Five Thousand, Six Hundred Minutes
She approached him cautiously and silently. What was he doing here anyways, in the middle of nowhere?
Sephiroth. The very mention of his name inspired awe and wonder. And fear.
He seemed so impossibly large and imposing, even though he was facing away from her. His great height and muscular body combined with the massive, but elegant blade that always accompanied him made him dangerous at best.
And deadly at worst.
Long silver hair drifted gently in the breeze and his leather cloak fanned out behind him. From what she could see, he seemed to be studying the heavens above. He appeared not to have noticed her presence, but somehow, she knew differently.
You were all by yourself
Staring up at a dark gray sky
I was changed
What was it about him that touched her so? It was as if she sensed…something…beyond that icy exterior of his. Something that he kept locked away from the rest of the world.
Yes child. Destiny's way. The Planet called.
In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside
It was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes…
At that moment, he turned slightly so that his marvelously sculpted profile faced her. He still gave no sign of acknowledging her.
He's facing due north, something inside told her.
A few mere meters separated their bodies on the deserted grassy plain that they stood upon. To Aeris though, it felt like a light year. She continued to study him in silence, her gaze never wavering from his mako green eyes – the color of the lifestream.
And then she thought to herself that she must be dreaming, for she thought she saw the faint shimmer of unshed tears caress the glowing orbs of his eyes.
The moment I saw you cry
But that couldn't be. Surely her mind was playing tricks on her.
He was Sephiroth. The Great General Sephiroth, head of the Shinra Army. They said that he was stoic and unfeeling as any soulless monster. They said that was what great men were made of.
The moment that I saw you cry
But perhaps they were wrong.
* * *
Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes.
A year could pass by so quickly, yet so agonizingly slow at the same time.
What has been accomplished this year? He asked himself. Another war has been won. Another city has been taken over by Shinra. Another few thousand soldiers have died fighting for the greed of a corporation in league with the devil.
And here I am, in the heart of revolting vice with everything a man could desire.
Wealth, power, respect, women...
But what does it amount to?
What does it mean in the end?
He was fully aware of the girl that stood at a polite distance from him. From his peripheral vision he could make out sun kissed brown hair – odd since there was no sunlight to speak of within a one kilometer radius of Midgar, and fascinating green eyes.
Nature's first green is gold.
It didn't matter that she was there. Nothing mattered right now. He wondered what he would do if a monster should approach them looking for a quick meal. Perhaps he wouldn't put up a fight.
No. The instinct for survival was too strong. Had it been weaker, his past attempts to take his own life during the years of childhood wouldn't have failed so miserably.
Let her observe him. It was of no consequence.
He continued to gaze north. Always north, towards the mysterious crater that had marred the Planet for ages now.
Someday, justice would be served, he vowed. Maybe then he could feel at peace. If only the demons would leave him.
The little boy huddled in the corner of his so called bedroom, which was no more than a holding cell fit for the lowest of all criminals. A kind caretaker had once told him that everyone was born innocent. But obviously that was not true in his case.
He had been born guilty and branded by Destiny's cruel chains.
Why? What had he ever done to deserve such callousness? Other children had parents, siblings, people who loved them. All he had was rags and an eternally haunted expression in his frightened mako eyes.
He hugged himself tighter, shivering from the cold and wishing that he had something warm with which to wrap himself in. Any other child would have perished long ago under the conditions that he was kept in. But he was different, and somehow, that made him unworthy of basic rights.
Having drawn his bent legs up against his chest, he rested his forehead on his knees. His neck muscles screamed from the movement, having been battered by Hojo the other night. His arms, upper body and face were likewise beaten.
//Stupid boy!// he recalled Hojo screaming after he had accidentally knocked over several petre dishes upon the lab counter. //You'll get the beating of your life after you clean that mess up!//
His fists had descended upon Sephiroth's small frame again and again. Blood ran where the tender insides of his mouth were cruelly sliced open by his own teeth. And when Hojo had had enough of using his own hands, he had released his belt to continue the abuse.
//Stop! Please, stop.//
Pathetic, whimpering fool he was. He had begged. Begged for Hojo to stop.
But someday the tables would be turned.
Someday.
He may be only a helpless child now, but the future would be different.
Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes. Year by year, he would grow stronger. And then, then no one would be able to do this to him ever again.
How long had he been standing here facing the north? Mentally, Sephiroth smiled, knowing that the foolish girl probably thought he was crying.
What an idea, he scoffed, without changing his expression. His mind began to wander back to the unforgettable past.
//No! You can't do this!// he screamed. Using all of his strength, which was frankly pitiful, he resisted Hojo's dragging.
A resounding slap silenced him abruptly. //You will not argue with me boy! Now get in there.// With that, Hojo pushed the young child violently into his private laboratory. Slamming the door shut behind him, he stalked over to where Sephiroth was sprawled on the tiled floor, trying his best not to cry.
//Get up!// Hojo ordered, not caring in the least that he had nearly broken Sephiroth's leg the last time. //I don't have any time to waste on the likes of you.//
//Then let me go.// Sephiroth said as he pulled himself to his bruised feet. He raised his small chin defiantly and tried to stare down the older man, but found himself unable to maintain eye contact.
Pathetic. It summed up his entire existence perfectly.
He was strapped to the operating table, too tired and forlorn to even bother resisting. Hojo inserted a long needle with mako into his chest, just above his heart, and the glowing life blood of the Planet disappeared within his veins.
Sephiroth tried valiantly to hold back a cry of pain. Red hot tendrils of agony held him within their unrelenting grasp and filled his heart and lungs with burning, pulsating, unbearable heat. His tiny frame writhed upon the icy cold operating table and his haunted eyes were firmly shut against the pain.
//Stop!//
//God, make it stop.//
But there was no God. How could He exist if he allowed such injustice?
//What crime have I committed? I've never asked for anything. I've never broken any rules. I've never hurt anyone.
//All I ever wanted was for you to care about me. That's all that's ever mattered. But to you, I'm just another specimen for your research. All you've ever shown me is hatred and apathy. All you've ever giving me are bruises.
//Not one kind word. Not one loving embrace.
//But now I understand.
//I understand this world.
//I wanted you to love me, and so I did everything I could to endear myself to you. I was rewarded with the worst beating imaginable.
//So I'll change. I'll become the cold hearted bastard that you are. And then maybe things will be different.
//Maybe then I won't be the victim. If I become you…
//So I'll sacrifice my soul. Just to escape this fate.
//One more year. Just one more year. In five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes. The tables will be turned.
//Someday I'll be the hunter. Someday I won't fear anyone, least of all you. Someday the world will pay for everything it's done to me. Someday, I'll make you cry for your own black heart.
His eyes opened slowly and he forced himself to lie perfectly still despite the pain. He stared at the harsh, bright lights overhead.
//I swear it.//
* * *
He hadn't moved in so long. Not one facial muscle contracted, save to blink slightly. He was impassive as always, but she knew better.
Appearances are often deceiving.
In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside…
~LS~