An Angel Without Wings Cannot Fly

By: Arcander

Chapter 2

The pressure of the dagger disappears, and a strong arm supports my body.

- -

I was a beautiful baby, or so I was told. And now, now people tell me that I am an adorable little girl. They tell me I have a wonderful mother. But my daddy, they never mention him. Did he die?

I am sitting on my bed, my bed in my disgustingly pink room. Of course, I couldn't reveal my dislike of my room; no one cared about my opinions. I was barely three, and although I was enhanced with Jenova cells, my ability for speech was severely lacking.

So here I am, dressed in a frilly pink dress, with white little stockings, curled black hair, (disgusting Shirley Temple curls...) and my special face: a mixture of a scowl, glare, and pout. At that moment my savior walks into the room, although at the moment, I don't know it.

The boy wrinkles his nose at the sight of my room. "Well hello, little pink princess." I turn my little face on him. "Careful, it might get stuck like that."

I hop off the bed and walk over to him, where I promptly begin kicking his shins. "Ow! Stop it." He exclaims.

I glare ferociously at him. He sighs, steps back and takes a bow. At that moment Mommy bustles into the room. "Sasaria, there you are darling, come have a bite to eat with your dear mommy, will you?"

"Excuse me ma'am," the silver-haired boy still standing in the doorway says, "but Professor Hojo wants to see a Miss Sasaria and a Miss Aeris right away."

"No!" She gasps, "He promised me! He promised me he'd leave my girls alone."

I look between my mommy and the boy. I eventually run over and open the connecting door into a pale blue room. "Aewis!" I call and she walks over to the door, wearing a light blue dress similar to my own. "Pwofessor Hojie want see us."

I'm sure you're wondering why Aeris, the beacon of hope, the savior of the planet, and the person who infallibly wears pink, is doing with a blue bedroom, not to mention wearing blue instead of her trademarked color. Amazingly, as a very young child she hated pink, sounds like me, but later on... well, we'll leave that for later.

She nods and we run over to where Mommy is, "Mom, are you coming with us?" Aeris asks, clinging to her hand. Mommy nods, and I grab the boy's arm. "Me 'Ria." He jumps at the contact and looks at me oddly.

"Don't you know I'm strange?" He asks and succeeds in shaking me off.

I pout and then tackled him, paying no heed to the fact that I am wearing a dress. Although my best effort only causes him to take a step backwards and that was more in shock than anything else. "Meanie!" I say to him, my special face, hitherto to be referred to as SF, slipped and was replaced by a true pout.

He inclines his head, as if acknowledging and accepting the label, "Sorry." A tear forms in my eye and I dejectedly turn away.

I feel someone timidly hug me from behind, and I slowly turn around to see Sephiroth, although I don't know that that is his name, biting his lip and hastily retracting his arms.

I smile at him, one of my first true smiles, "Me 'Ria, who you?"

The boy smiles a wry grin, "Sephiroth."

"Pweased meet you, Sephiwoth." I say, trying to sound grown up.

Mommy gasps upon hearing his name and she pulls me away from him, as if she's afraid he'll hurt me. "Darling, stay away from him, he's just using you!"

Sephiroth sighs softly, as if he is hurt by her reaction... hurt, but used to it. "That's what they all say, if only someone would tell me why." He says that quietly, obviously not meaning to be heard. "Well," he says at a normal level of voice, "are we going to be going, our—I mean my father is waiting for us."

Mommy glares at him, and I slip out of her grasp and grab Sephiroth's hand. "Me walk with you." I say with my usual expression back on my face, but this time with a tinge of excitement. "Why mommy no like you?"

He glances down at his hand, as if wondering what he is supposed to do. We've left the hall we were in and had entered another before he answered me, "It's because of my dad, he's the head scientist here... I've been used as a..." he suddenly stops, in both his sentence and his movement.

I stumble forwards, tripping slightly. After regaining my feet, I look over at him, to see why he stopped, he is staring straight ahead, I follow his look, and come face to face with a boy who's age I would place somewhere in between Aeris and Sephiroth's.

"Rufus," Sephiroth says, forcing his voice to sound pleasant, "if you would please excuse us."

"Is our dear experiment finally allowed out of his cell? Tell me Sephiroth, why is it that you are traumatizing children? I thought that your father kept you locked away, I know if you were my son I would—oops," he falls silent.

Professor Hojo walks up behind Rufus and clears his throat, "I was beginning to wonder if you were coming boy, and why all these," he clears his throat and waves his hand, "people? Surely you heard me tell you that I needed two girls, not two girls, a woman, and Young ShinRa."

Sephiroth looks at his feet, and I decide to speak for him. "Hewwo, Misteh, Me Ria, Sephiwoth say Pwofessor Hojie want see me an' Aewis. Mommy come wif us, an' Rufie," I pause for a moment trying to figure out the word I am looking for, "an' Rufie bump, no... he stopped-ed us. Den he be all talky to Sephiwoth, and den you come. Like dat."

Sephiroth shakes his head, "Sorry Professor, I did not know you didn't want the girls' mother with them, otherwise I would have requested that she stay behind. And Rufus," at the mention of Rufus's name his upper lip curls in a faint snarl, "stopped us to ask," he is interrupted by Hojo.

"I heard what he said boy, now come along little ones, Ifalna, I will have to ask you to go back to your room, I will return them when I'm finished."

"Hojo, you promised me you would leave my girls alone, are you going back on that?" Ifalna whispers.

Hojo smirks, "There has been a change in plans, my dear, be a good specimen and go back to your room."

"What's a spec-ee-man?" I ask curiously, "An' Rufie called Sephiwoth a spear-mint, what's a spear-mint?"

At the same time I ask that, Aeris whimpers, "Mom, don't leave me here, please!"

"Don't trouble yourself with scientific terminology, it doesn't concern you," the professor says before turning to Ifalna. "I'll take her; now go to your room."

"Aewis, come on, we'll see Mommy soon, I pwomise. Pwanet say so."

Aeris looks at me and then nods. Mommy says, "Be safe darlings," and then walks off.

I'm still holding Sephiroth's hand, and Hojo notices it, "Sasaria, I'm afraid you'll have to leave Sephiroth, he isn't needed in the lab today."

"Aww, bye Sephy, come say hewwo to me, nkay?"

Sephiroth nods and slips his hand out of mine and turns and walks off, Rufus walks after him quickly.

When Sephiroth leaves, Hojo turns to lead us where we're going, walking faster than I can keep up with, without having to run. I run up to him and grab the hem of his lab coat. "Pwofessor," I say, panting slightly, "cawwy me!"

Hojo looks down at me coldly, "You have two feet. Walk."

I stop suddenly and sit on the ground, crossing my arms, "Me no move, 'less you cawwy me!"

Hojo snarls and walks over to me and grabs my arm and drags me to my feet. He then backhands me and walks forward, dragging me along with him. I look up at him, shocked because no one ever hit me before. "You mean!" I cry, a trace of a tear trickling down my face.

Hojo laughs cruelly and upon the sixth time that I trip he bends down and scoops me up, carrying me unceremoniously in his arms. I wrap my arms around his neck and fall asleep. Had I been awake, I would have seen his shocked expression, but I was not, so I did not see it.

I awakened hearing voices, "I wouldn't hurt her... she's much too precious; especially if she's what I think she is. No, if she's who I think she is. Now if you'll excuse me, sir, I have some tests to run." I shifted slightly, and buried my nose further into his white lab coat. "No darling," he murmurs, "you're much too important to risk."

"Professor?" the other person asks, "did you say something?"

"Nothing, Mr. ShinRa."

"Then you will think it over."

"I have already said I would, have I not?"

"Very well, and I expect results from these... tests..." The man lets out a cold bark of a laugh and then slaps Professor Hojo on the back and leaves. Aeris whimpers quietly. She had seen it all.

I awoke again later, lying on top of a blanket on a small bed-like thing. I guess a lab table. I look around me, and hear a muffled sob. I quickly sit up, and hop out of bed.

-She's scared-

"Who, Pwanet?"

-Your sister-

"Aewis?" I call out quietly, "Aewis, where you?" I walk over to this weird glass tank and see her lying in it, "Aewis!" I cry out, worry filling my voice. "Pwanet! Help Aewis!"

I pound on the glass, striking a seam, and the door slides open. I run in, dropping to my knees next to her and shaking her awake. "Aewis, it me!"

"Ria, save yourself, he'll hurt you."

"Go mommy, Aewis, me be safe."

"He... he wants to do more tests on you than on me, save yourself."

"Me safe, you not. Me not afwaid, go mommy."

She nods and I send her out the door and then go and start exploring the labs.

-"So selfless..."-

-Leave my child in peace, Crisis.-

-"She is as much my child as she is yours."-

On the second floor, I encountered the Professor. "What are you doing up here?"

"'Sploring."

"Excuse me?"

"E-sploring."

-"We must work on her pronunciation, it's humiliating to be in the body of someone who acts so childish."-

"Go 'way meanie!"

"Excuse me, you're the one who shouldn't be here, not me."

"Not you, dem!" I point to my head, "Well, Pwanet stay, other go."

"You hear the Planet, child?" He shakes his head impatiently, "That is of no importance now. Please follow me I must conduct some tests, they may... hurt."

I nod and quietly follow him; he puts me in a glass tube identical to the one that Aeris had been in. I bite my lip, trying to keep tears away.

-It will be alright My Child, dry your eyes.-

I brush the tears off my cheeks, and sit down, waiting for whatever comes next. After a few minutes he pulls me out and straps me down to a table. I bite my lip while waiting for what will happen next, he pulls on a pair of gloves and rubs some cold liquid over a patch of skin on my arm and then shoves a needle into it, drawing out blood. He repeats it on my other arm, and I close my eyes and bite really hard on my lip. After a moment the pain ebbs and then he moves to the other side, just as I had relaxed a different needle is jabbed into my arm, and this time I whimper quietly.

After he drew blood or injected me, or something, I don't exactly know what; he unbuckled the straps and raised me to my feet. "Wait here a moment," was all he said before he walked over into the other room and I heard the distinct noises of someone tapping entries into a file. "Yes... yes... this is very good... perfect!"

- -

Arcander T. Nacelsten