Nothing much to say today ;D Japanese footnotes at the bottom, as always...

The room was empty. Kadaj and Loz glanced around the room. It was small and square, and devoid of any kind of furniture or hiding spots. There was a glass pressure door, now open, that lead back out, and that was it. The light they had seen earlier had clearly been issuing from the console in the corner, and as they walked over to inspect it, the voice called out again.

'My ultimate prototype, still unbeaten…And yet, who is this who was foolish enough to challenge it? Their data isn't in my memory banks. Who are you?'

The voice was coming from the computer console in the corner. It was a man's voice, but it sound harsh and metallic, and strangely high-pitched.

'Why aren't the blasted cameras working, I need to know who just walked away from a battle with Prototype-S without being completely and utterly destroyed'.

Kadaj and Loz looked at each other, puzzled. The voice in the computer seemed to be speaking to itself, and yet, it was definitely addressing them.

'You there! Is that you Valentine? Did you do something to my cameras? Hold on, let me take a look. Hmm, yes, they seem to be in working order, but we have no power. A minor difficulty. Allow me to reroute the power from Materia Room 008. Access denied? What on earth were they doing in there? Allow me to reroute power from the computer lab. Access denied again? This is no use…'

Kadaj and Loz were now completely confused. Why was the computer talking?

'Reroute power from secondary conduit into primary conduit, bypass security buffers and power!'

Kadaj and Loz heard a buzz from behind them, and to their surprise, they saw a camera in the far corner of the room flash on.

The computer gasped. 'Sephiroth? No…'

'Sephiroth?' asked Kadaj.

'Life sensors detect same DNA helix structure as Jenova Project-S. Hold on, there are two of you. Both of you have the same DNA structure. Sephiroth clones? No, his biological makeup was impossible to replicate. I made it impossible to replicate. There can be no mistake. You two look nothing like Sephiroth. Are you SOLDIER?'

'No', answered Kadaj, still wondering why he was speaking to a computer.

'You must let me run some tests, there's no way you got hold of this DNA naturally, but Project-S was the only one in existence…This must be something to do with Jenova. Yes, tests are in order.'

Without warning, the room became a blizzard on top of a snow-capped mountain. Kadaj was alone. He felt nothing but that instinctive voice. Reunion. His first priority was to find Loz. He began to push through the snow, cold penetrating every crevice of his being. The snow and ice whipped about his face, but nothing could dampen the fire in his heart. He always knew he was going the right way, as he stumbled on and on. He conjured up that blue fire from both hands and held them close to his chest. They served the dual purpose of keeping him warm and melting all ice and snow in the immediate vicinity, which increased his visibility but at the same time meant he was walking in slush. He could see a ghost of a figure in the distance, and he hurried toward it. But, before he could reach it, it leapt, and was upon him. It was the grey man again, appearing as one with the snow as he plummeted down toward Kadaj with his immense katana drawn. In one swift movement, Kadaj unsheathed Souba and brought it up to parry. However, he had not counted on the force of the blow. The noise of the two blades meeting echoed off so loudly you could almost hear it over the raging snowstorm. Kadaj was knocked to the ground, and Souba spun off to his left. He leapt up, and shot rapid balls of fire from his hands at the grey man. The grey man dodged so swiftly and artfully, until he was taken by surprise by a crippling blow from Loz. The grey man went flying, and Loz followed, punching again and again with his Dual Hound. Kadaj rolled quickly to his left and grabbed Souba, then leapt up to join the fray. The grey man had recovered; he parried Loz's strikes with his sword then sent him reeling backwards with a flurry that was too fast for the eye to follow. Kadaj leapt in with Souba, striking and striking as fast as he could but every blow was parried. Then Loz leapt, and just for a split second, they touched in midair. And in that exact moment, they were back in the training room.

'Fascinating, fascinating…' said the computer, 'so what exactly did happen to Sephiroth? You two match his fighting style, match his biological code, and yet you look nothing like him, and you all use different weapons. Let me ask you two, where are you from?'

'We do not know' answered Kadaj wearily.

'I suspected as much. But what on earth can you be? Are you of Shinra origin? Perhaps you are an earlier stage of Project-S…Let me search the data core…No, there were no humans used in the construction of Project-S, and none of the experiments used to create him had his exact genetic code. You must be something new…'

'Project-S?' asked Loz.

The computer was silent for a few moments.

'What is Project-S?' asked Kadaj impatiently.

'Project-S is that man you encountered in the training room. Or rather, he is Prototype-S, based on an exact copy of Project-S that I extracted from the memory core and security cameras at the Nibelheim reactor. He was the perfect SOLDIER, the ideal leader but he…vanished. He was the prize of my research, the answer I sought from all my other Projects, all of which were imperfect. He was, perfection. And you have his genetic code. What that makes you; I have no idea, as I would've thought it impossible for his genetic code to occur naturally or to be cloned onto another being. But I think it's safe to conclude that you are not him. Indeed, there was only ever one Project-S, and there are two of you, therefore I have made…a mistake? No, not a mistake, just a miscalculation. But still, this cannot be. You cannot exist. In that particular test, what Project-S should've done was return to his genetic code, which is exactly what you did. My reunion theory was indeed correct. Therefore, you must be the product of some other scientist.'

'Forgive me for butting in', said Loz irritably, 'but there is a third one of us. He went off his own way'

'Fascinating, fascinating…Three of you, you say. That means there is 3 new Sephiroths walking the earth. Most interesting. I thought Sephiroth was dead…'

'What exactly is Sephiroth?' asked Kadaj

'Sephiroth. Project-S. They are the same thing. My creation.'

'Your creation?' asked Loz.

'He was my masterpiece, a feat of genetic engineering so powerful he surpassed every other creation of mine in every single aspect. However, I had been supplied with inaccurate research, which led to him being far stronger and more uncontrollable than I could have foreseen. Idiots and fools, labelling any unknown life form an ancient. And as you can see around you, they got the comeuppance they deserved. Only I survived, the greatest scientist of the age.'

'You mentioned Valentine' said Loz 'who exactly is she?'

'Valentine? Valentine is a male', the computer sniggered, 'Vincent Valentine, he was a guard who worked for Shinra. He was an idealistic fool. He and the other scientists questioned my work, said I was wrong to use what technology had provided me with. Wrong to use the skills I have spent my entire life perfecting. I'm sure he didn't disagree with my skills when he was on his deathbed, and I kept him from death. I haven't seen him since, but he'll be back some day.'

'You sound like quite the able scientist', said Kadaj, 'could you help us find mother?'

'Mother. Sephiroth was always going on about mother too. I know what it is you seek, but it is forbidden to me. It is forbidden to all. Sephiroth found it; I know not where it lies now. It wasn't his mother, but it was what he sought…'

'What was-' Kadaj began.

'Enough of this. You are not Sephiroth. I refuse to tell you any more until you tell me who you are and why you have his biological code. I know Sephiroth. I know his genes. I know they couldn't have been transplanted or duplicated. I demand to know what you are!'

Kadaj and Loz looked at each other. They didn't really know who they were. But the computer could help them. The computer knew their mother.

'We do not know who we are' said Loz.

'We were hoping you could tell us' said Kadaj.

'I see. Well, I'm afraid I must disappoint you. You are not Sephiroth, and yet you are. Therefore, I do not know what you are. You have two choices. Be catalogued or be annihilated.'

'We will be catalogued by nobody!' yelled Kadaj

'Then you must be classified by combat. You shall fall'.

The computer fell silent as the glass door slid shut.

Colour. Every colour imaginable. It was unbearable bright, Yazoo could barely keep his eyes open, and yet, it was beautiful. He was not falling; he simply existed, and there was nothing but raw mako. He could feel its power coursing through him, it illuminated him but also it deranged him. It scared him slightly. There was power, there was energy, there was light in such vast quantities he felt the darkness of his soul would surely perish. Anything evil must perish here. But he was not evil. Not in this place. There was no such thing as evil, only honour. Everything dies. People call what dictates their time evil, but this is a lie. Without evil, there would still be death. And people would call old age evil. That is the nature of people, to blame anything but themselves for any hardship they face.

Yazoo forced his eyes open. He was lying in a bed of flowers, in an old chapel. A girl stood over him, with long dark hair, a red bow keeping the elegant ponytail in order. She wore a plain pink dress, and she radiated happiness, and healing, and simplicity. But he blinked, and she was gone.

It was like sinking, sinking into an ocean of every colour, blindingly bright, with no bottom, just forever sinking. His mind felt blissfully clear, as if everything had been taken care of, and he had nothing to worry about, not ever. But something felt even stronger still. Mother. Where was she?

As soon as this thought surfaced, all the colours and brightness began to die down. Yazoo suddenly remembered where he was, and why he was falling, and instinct kicked in. He leapt, and felt himself land on something solid. It appeared to be an old pipe, probably for transporting mako to the reactor. He dashed up it, ignoring the knowing sensation to return to the blissful pool of colour below. As he dashed, he saw mining robots, seemingly defunct and unused, lying abandoned on ledges along the cliff face. Then, out of nowhere, two large drilling robots flew up from nowhere and began hacking at the pole he was dashing up. He leapt and unsheathed his Velvet Nightmare, taking quick shots at the robots, but it was to no avail. The robots were heavily armoured, presumably to cover them from mako burns, and the shots bounced right off. All of a sudden, the pipe gave an almighty lurch and fell, and Yazoo leapt. He landed on top of one robot, then leapt again and landed on the head of the next. It spun violently, trying to shake him off, but almost instantly he had leapt again, to a service ledge on the base of the reactor. He looked down and fired, still to no avail. He turned, and leapt up a rusty old metal ladder, which shuddered dangerously as he climbed. He arrived at a large round platform and a door, which he proceeded to kick down. He was in the reactor, on the very bottom level. It was beautiful, with a glass floor which you could look though to see the raw mako underneath. He stared for a few seconds, mesmerised, then hurried to the other side of the room where he began to climb stairs up into the heart of the reactor. There were all kinds of scribbling and markings along the walls, things he could not read. It took him several minutes to hurry up the many flights of stairs that led to the reactor's main level, and the higher he got, the eerier it felt. Something was not right here. There was much evil in this place. There was a light above every exit, illuminating the yellow and black caution stripes with an evil red glow. Yazoo lost count of how many steps he had climbed; it only got higher and higher…

Finally, he reached the top. The door was sealed. He kicked and pushed, he even attempted to shoot the lock, but to no avail. There wasn't even a keyhole. This room had obviously been sealed intentionally. It must be the place…

Kadaj and Loz found themselves back on top of the reactor. This time, both Prototype-S and the man in red with light brown hair moved in. They were both fearsome in combat, the immensely long katana and the blood red broadsword that glowed runes. It was all Kadaj and Loz could do simply to parry the attacks, and they were constantly being pushed back. Anytime they seemed to be gaining ground, the man in red would cast runes that burned on impact, and they would be pushed back yet again. There was only so much further back they could go without falling clean off the face of the earth. As one, Kadaj and Loz jumped, then lunged at their two targets. Prototype-S caught them both on his katana and slashed violently, wounding both Kadaj and Loz terribly. They fell to the ground, great gashes opening in their chests. The man in red rose into the air, and with one majestic sweep of his hand sent Kadaj and Loz flying into the air. They had no choice but to be decimated by Prototype-S as they were sent spiralling to the ground. They fell, for miles and miles, until they hit the ground with a sickening thud. Neither one of them moved.

They didn't even heard Prototype-S land next to them. But they heard his voice.

'Ka-zan wa, doko desu ka?*' he whispered.

No sooner had he said this he erupted into a blinding flash of light, all that could be seen in his place was the wall of the training room. Then, without warning, he exploded into a mass of equations, tearing down the fake walls in which they had been fighting. Kadaj could just make out the man in red, watching on, undisturbed as the world dissolved around him. For a few seconds there was nothing but equations, and then, there was silence. They were back in the training room.

'Impossible…' whispered the computer, 'my Prototype-S…paradoxed?'

Using all his remaining energy, Kadaj sent a ball of blue fire flying at the computer. His final glimpse before he collapsed was the computer bursting into flame.

Yazoo sat, staring at the door. He could feel the dark energy issuing from the other side, calling him in. It whispered things in his head, he was intrigued by it, but he couldn't reach it. He closed his eyes, and immediately all his thoughts went black. The dark knowledge streamed through him, he tried to resist and the flow eased. It adjusted to his way of thinking, slightly insidiously, but it seemed right nonetheless. Keeping his eyes shut, he reached out his hands toward the door. It was not there. He took a step forward, and his eyes were forced open. He was inside the room. He had just walked through a thick sheet of metal without the faintest idea of how he did it. Putting that aside, he righted himself and looked around the room. It was lit by the same eerie red light the stairwell had been illuminated by, and it appeared to be a fairly simple room with large containers, big enough to fit a man in them. They were arranged in levels, and there was a staircase in the middle of the room which led up to a massive steel door.

Yazoo took a look into one of the containers. It was lit from the inside by some kind of mysterious blue light, but it was empty. He looked into another, and another. They were all empty. He had felt so sure this room contained the answer to his questions…He realised for the first time since he had left town that he still had that old camera in his pocket. He took out the film again, and tried to make sense of the blotted blurs. There was one picture of the grey man, along with a couple of other people, standing outside this reactor.

'My friend, your desire,

Is the bringer of life,

The gift of the goddess…'

That man had been here also, the poet. Everyone had been here, so what had happened?

'Whether your words are lies created to deceive me…or the truth, that I have sought all my life. It makes no difference. You will rot…'

'I see…Perfect monster indeed…

When the war of the beats brings about the worlds end,

The goddess descends from the sky,

Wings of light and dark spread afar,

She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting…'

Those words, those exact words! Yazoo took out the piece of paper on which those exact words were written. How did they end up in that manor? What did they mean? There was something deeper at work here. The poet, he knew those words. What did it all mean? Perhaps the answer lay in the room beyond…

Yazoo walked up the stairs to the colossal steel doors. He hadn't realised how big they were form the bottom of the room. They looked as though they had been blown off at one point, but they had been fixed well, and they now looked completely impenetrable. It looked as though there had been words above the door at one point, they was obvious etch marks where they had been filed off. The door was cold to the touch. There was that same darkness beyond, and once again, he simply shut his eyes, held out his hands and stepped forward. When he opened his eyes, he was in the room. It looked to be nothing more than a few metal walkways suspended above a colossal drop. Looking down, Yazoo could see the glass-bottomed room he had been in before, as well as the swirling mako underneath. All the walkways seemed to lead one way, up to a giant contained, much like the ones that had been in the room before, but this one was completely glass. It glowed blue/purple, but it was empty. There was wreckage all around it, like there had been something guarding it once, but it was all gone now. He was so disappointed. There had been answers in this place, but for some reason, they had been removed. Why?

Yazoo went back to the door. It was still sealed, but there was a release switch on this side, and it glided open at his touch. He stepped out and saw…The poet. The man in red, standing there on the stairs. But his hair was not light brown, like in the memories. It was white, and his skin was white as a ghost, and everything about him was decaying. He could barely stand, yet he had a magnificent black wing stretching out him, like an angels. The blood-red sword was strapped at his thigh, but it was not glowing with power.

As Yazoo watched, the poet was disintegrating. Feathers were falling out of his wing, and his clothes were getting older and more ragged. He reached into his pocket, and took out a Dumbapple. He threw it to Yazoo who was still watching, dumbstruck. He then reached his hand up to the sky and cast runes at the roof of the room, which exploded into a neat hole. He looked long and hard at Yazoo, then he ascended through the roof, his one wing flapping hard to keep him up, albeit gracefully.

In his wake, there was a book lying on the ground. Yazoo bent down to pick it up, and saw that it was titled LOVELESS.

Japanese footnotes:

Ka-zan wa, doko desu ka? : (literally) Where's mother?

Think thats all for this chapter, you'll find the review but directly beneath this sentence, only if you wouldn't mind ;D It does make a massive difference ;D