Author's note: It's still raining, and the only way to pass the time is to write. Some summer vacation this turned out to be...

Chapter 4.

Ifalna knew what she was doing was dangerous. She knew that, no matter her status as the last Ancient, Hojo wouldn't hesitate to kill her if he had even the slightest suspicion that her actions were in anyway disrupting his carefully created 'masterpiece'. If she hadn't known better, she might have even thought Hojo's intentions were that of an overprotective father. They were overprotective, alright, but not fatherly in the slightest.

When she had first heard from Gast how Hojo treated the young child in the labs, she had been utterly shocked to her very core. How anyone could treat a child of their own flesh and blood like a mere experiment on a Petri dish was unimaginable to her. It was part of the reason she sometimes visited Sephiroth. She even gave him a storybook full of fairy tales, even though she told him to keep it hidden. The young boy was incredibly intelligent and highly educated for his age. But he was so serious! It was actually hard having to remind herself that the person she was speaking to was just little over seven years old!

But for the last few days all the child could talk about was a man with a sword he saw in the Mako shower. How the warrior had broken the glass and shielded him from the waterfall of the burning chemical. How he had saved him. And how he simply disappeared in front of his eyes. Everyone, even Ifalna, were quick to discard it as a hallucination caused by the Mako. But things just didn't add up. Ifalna still remembered the conversation she had with Gast, down to the very last word.

Gast was standing on the entrance to the lab, watching as the assistants picked up and swept away chunks of broken glass. Glass which was several inches thick. And now was reduced to a pile of shards. The shards which everyone believed had give Professor Hojo his near fatal wound. A wound that was too clean to have been cut with a piece of broken glass.

"A gil for your thoughts?" Ifalna came to stand beside him. Even though she was technically an experiment too, she was allowed much more freedom than any other experiments. It had a lot to do with the fact that she was Gast's experiment, and not Hojo's. While she was sometimes even allowed to visit the town, albeit with escort, Sephiroth had never set foot outside the mansion's courtyard.

"I'm worried." Gast sighed. "And, admittedly, a little frightened."

"Why? Sephiroth is alright now. Are you worried about Hojo?" Although she didn't mean to, her nose wrinkled slightly in distaste as she said the man's name. Whenever she was near the professor, she couldn't help but tense. And it wasn't simply because of what that man did, the Planet itself simply screamed DANGER! when she was near him.

"I suppose I am, a bit." Gast's words snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him just as he was dragging his fingers through his sparse hair. "Something about this incident just doesn't sit right with me."

"And why is that?" Accidents were quite rare but weren't unheard of. Everything in the labs was carefully conducted and checked twice over, but every once in a long while, somebody slipped.

"Look at the glass." Gast pointed to the destroyed Mako shower. "They said it exploded from within, because of the pressure, right?"

"That is what I heard. It's also how Professor Hojo got slashed." Ifalna confirmed.

"Well, if that was true, wouldn't the glass shards be strewn outside the chamber?" Gast swung his hand as if to emphasize.

Ifalna looked at the glass again. True to Gast's words, the glass looked like the entire glass imploded, some shards were even imbedded in the walls of the shower. But almost nothing outside.

"You're right." Ifalna whispered in slight awe. "But what do you think happened?"

Gast sighed and ran his fingers through his thinning hair again. "Well, looking at it like this, it looks like something broke the glass from outside to force their way in. Also, the SOLIDERs standing outside the door say they felt something they didn't see burst through the doors, something strong. Only a few seconds before all chaos broke loose."

"You suspect a monster attack?" Ifalna asked dubiously.

"I don't think so. Even if the monster was invisible, where could it have disappeared off to? Nothing adds up!" Gast almost pulled at his own hair before he remembered he didn't have much of it to pull and let his hand fall at his side with a sigh.

"Perhaps you should ask Sephiroth." Ifalna suggested. "He keeps saying he saw something, right? Maybe he saw what happened."

Gast was quick to wave it away. "I sincerely doubt that. What he saw was no more than a hallucination, like I said before."

"But why do you think that?" Ifalna pushed.

"Because what he describes is a sword wielding MAN." Gast said disbelievingly.

"What?" Ifalna sounded dubious again. That was stretching imagination a bit too far.

"I'm not kidding. He says a leather clad man with a giant sword broke the glass and shielded him from the Mako onslaught. And then disappeared into thin air." If Gast's nerves weren't so fried he might have smiled. But as it was, he just let out a sigh that might have been intended to be a laugh.

"Besides, since Hojo was injured, the entire project is put on hold. It won't last long, so we should let the boy rest while he can." Gast said with a tone of finality. Ifalna watched him go, shoulders hunched and face in a frown.

The last of the Cetra subtly shook her head. Unlike Gast, she wasn't so quick to dismiss something Sephiroth saw. It gnawed at her until she finally managed to swipe Gast's pass card to sneak in and talk to the green eyed child.

Casting one last look down the hallways to make sure she wasn't seen, Ifalna quickly swiped the card through the slot on the wall and the heavy metal doors opened with a quiet hiss of hydraulics. Ifalna slipped through the doors and closed them behind her. It never hurt to be cautious.

Her arrival didn't go unnoticed by the sole occupant of the room. The silverette was sitting at his desk and writing something on the pages of a workbook. Ifalna didn't even have to look at the book to know that it was likely a high school level. At the age of seven Sephiroth was doing with ease mathematical equations that would give people three times his age a headache. Once again, Ifalna was reminded that Sephiroth was so much more than just a human boy.

"Hello Miss Ifalna." Sephiroth greeted politely. Ifalna smiled back at him. She had long given up on getting him to call her less formally. Then again, 'Auntie' might have been a bit too informal for a child that wasn't even allowed to call his own sire 'Father'.

"Hello to you too, Sephiroth." Ifalna came closer and sat on the unoccupied bed. Trying to be discreet, she gave the little boy a once-over. He appeared fine, thank Gaia. "I came to see how you are doing. I heard from Professor Gast that the experiment went badly. Are you really alright?" Ifalna asked with concern.

Workbook abandoned, Sephiroth turned around on his chair to look at her with his Mako green eyes. Ifalna had to stop herself from staring into them. Every time she was near his she could feel the very Lifestream coursing through Sephiroth's veins. But that Lifestream was tainted. Tainted with malice and wrath from somewhere within, somewhere so deep even Sephiroth remained oblivious to it. But the Planet wasn't, and it was screaming at Ifalna that the Calamity itself claimed this child.

"I am alright now, but thank you for your concern nevertheless." Sephiroth said in that way that made him sound like he was much older than his face suggested.

"Sephiroth" Ifalna leaned forward a bit, and Sephiroth tensed slightly, "I guess you already know there was an… accident during the experiment." Sephiroth nodded.

"Professor Hojo was injured, and we have reason to believe it wasn't entirely by accident." In truth, she and Gast were the only ones who suspected that, and Ifalna felt terrible lying to the child but she saw no other way. Also, the way Sephiroth tensed subtly and his gaze flicked away from hers told he she had hit the bull's eye.

"Did you see anything, by any chance, that could help us?" Ifalna pressed. Sephiroth remained silent.

"Professor Gast told me you saw someone. A man with a sword. Is that true?!" Ifalna tried to gentle her voice, but Sephiroth now visibly tensed and started fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"Yes." Came the barely audible answer. Ifalna put her hand over his and the fiddling stopped.

"It's okay Sephiroth, we just want to know what happened, we won't blame you for anything. I just want to hear you side of the story." Ifalna ran her thumb over his knuckles, a gently smile on her face. It was apparently working, because she could almost see Sephiroth cave in.

"I saw somebody. A SOLIDER. He had glowing eyes." Sephiroth paused and with his head still lowered looked at Ifalna as if he expected her to laugh and dismiss it off like everyone else had done. But Ifalna just sat there patiently and waited for him to continue.

"At first, it was like a normal shower. But then the pain increased. Then it began burning. Like green fire. It was like somebody was screaming inside my head, screaming things I didn't understand." Sephiroth subtly shook his head, as if he was trying to dispel the hold that screaming voice had on him. As it was, he missed the way a shock of fear passed over Ifalna's features. Unlike Sephiroth, she was perfectly aware what the screaming voice in his head was, but she didn't understand why Jenova was trying to contact him already. It was too early…

"And then everything exploded. The glass broke. I'm not really sure what had happened then but the voice stopped and someone was holding me. He knew my name, and I don't know how. How did he know?" Sephiroth abruptly looked Ifalna right in the eyes. She had to stop her jaw from falling. His eyes were glassy and his mouth downturned a little. Ifalna knew a child on the verge of crying when she saw one. What was so weird was that she had never seen Sephiroth cry, not even what he was being cut open without sedatives on the operation table.

Whoever this ghost SOLIDER was, Sephiroth very much wanted- no, needed him to be real. Ifalna wasn't really sure why but the thought that his savior was just a figment of his imagination really frightened Sephiroth. Seeing the child of stone like that Ifalna couldn't resist the urge to comfort him anymore. She drew him into a hug and held him tightly. Sephiroth tensed for a second and then went limp. Figuring she had his consent Ifalna pulled him into her lap and started rocking him gently.

"I believe you Sephiroth." Ifalna assured him. Small fists latched themselves onto her dress, and Sephiroth continued.

"The burning stopped. He made it stop. I looked up at his face. He… His eyes were glowing. But not like SOLIDERs'. Like mine. Like a feline." It took every ounce of Ifalna's willpower not to tense. Had she assumed everything wrong? Was the screaming actually the voice of the planet and the SOLIDER a manifestation of Jenova? If it was, why would she appear as an unfamiliar SOLIDER?

Ifalna's inner panic was interrupted when Sephiroth continued. "He… looked shocked to see me. And… like he expected to see someone else, or that I didn't really look like he expected me to." Alright, that didn't really sound like something Jenova would do, so that was thrown out the window.

"What did he look like?" Besides the eyes, he hadn't told her how he looked. She just hoped she wouldn't hear any Jenova like attributes.

"He had blue eyes, yellow hair spikes, his skin was a bit pale and he wore a SOLIDER jumpsuit. Um, but he had a sort of leather cape on his hip and a leather sleeve on his arm. And there was a really big sword on his back." Okay, that definitely didn't match any description of Jenova that either she or the Planet had seen. But it also didn't match with any SOLIDER she had seen.

"And he had wings." That part however might have meant it was some kind of Summon. It would also explain where he had disappeared off to. But the description didn't match any of the existing summons and she would have known if another one was created. Was he even from the Lifestream? Now that she thought about it, was he even on anyone's side? For all she knew he could have been, or be working for some sort of third party!

Ifalna sighed, this was a bit too much for her. But still, Sephiroth was on her lap, probably waiting for her to tell him that it was either real or only his imagination. Too many things didn't add up for it to have been a hallucination, but even less things added up to it being real.

"I believe what you have seen was real." She decided out loud.

"Do you know who that was?" Sephiroth asked her with his eyes as wide as they would go.

"My best guess is… You met your guardian angel." Ifalna smiled slightly as she remembered the tale her mother told her when she was a little girl. The description fit Sephiroth's 'SOLIDER' perfectly.

"Guardian angels are creatures Gaia herself has appointed to us as guards. You could say they're like Turks, a bit. Each person has their own guardian angel, and it is said that, in the times of great need they will appear and help you. It sounds like your SOLIDER, doesn't it? They are also said to reflect the heart of their ward." Ifalna couldn't help to laugh lightly at that.

"Will he come back?" Sephiroth asked. "Before they… sedated me, I saw him… fade away. He just turned transparent and disappeared. Where did he go?"

"It sounds like he went to the lifestream." Ifalna was now pretty sure the angel belonged to the Planet. What Sephiroth described sounded like a trip to the Lifestream. If it could appear like that by its own will, then the creature he thought was his guardian angel was extremely powerful.

And how do you know if it isn't really an angel?

"Miss Ifalna?" Sephiroth tugged lightly on a lock of hair hanging in front of her face. Ifalna smiled at him.

"It's nothing, just thinking. As for your earlier question… It's almost a miracle that you were able to actually see him. I'm not really sure if he'll be back at all, much less when. I'm sorry." Immediately Ifalna wished she didn't say that. The look of disappointment on Sephiroth's face was almost enough to break her heart. She really didn't understand how this child, who would one day have the power to destroy the world, could pull her heartstrings so easily.

"Come on, it's getting late, I should be going." Sephiroth quickly crawled out of her lap and back on his desk chair, then continued doing his homework, like nothing had happened. Ifalna told him to pretend they never saw each other, for both of their sakes. It was better to stay hidden in this case.

Sparing him one final glance, the last ancient let the doors close behind her.

A few days later Ifalna found herself walking that same corridor that led the Sephiroth's chamber, this time clutching a small paper in her hand. Her stomach had been in knots since she woke up that morning and she didn't know why. When she had tried to consult the planet she felt no reply. But the lack of reply wasn't what scared her. The planet didn't always grace her with an answer, but it was always there in the back of her mind, humming a little, the tune depending on its mood.

But today, it was as silent as a grave.

Ifalna nearly panicked and quickly slipped into meditating state. She began probing around for any signs of Jenova trying something to harm the planet, but she could distantly feel the alien, who was just as unusually quiet as the planet. She went deeper, so deep actually she found herself on the border of the Lifestream. She started running, preparing for a leap into the Lifestream and just before she made her jump, she thought she saw a flash of black and a silver gleam of metal in the distance. Before she could get a clear picture she found herself surrounded by waving green strings.

Ifalna was shocked how… cold it was. And silent. The planet wasn't speaking, nor singing, nothing! But it was so cold. It took Ifalna some time to realize what it meant. The planet was afraid. She had never in her life felt the planet's fear, at least not to the point of total muteness, not even when Jenova had been awakened once more. No, the planet feared something else. Something that frightened it so much it refused to utter a peep in fear of incurring the wrath of the one it feared.

A flash of black and a silver gleam of metal.

And whatever it feared it now resided in the Border. Ifalna tried desperately to quell her panic, worried she might frighten the planet even more. Whatever the Planet feared it was clearly trying to enter its heart. Then, slowly, the planet let out a tentative hum. More soon followed. Ifalna looked around, stupefied. It was still chilly so the fear hadn't been elevated completely yet, but the Planet's song clearly stated that the immediate danger had passed. Still confused, she tried asking the planet what happened.

Danger. Time without bounds. Despair of heart. Broken never completed. Forever seeking. Never finding. Shattered like crystal.

As usual the Planet spoke in riddles. But Ifalna prided herself for years of practice on deciphering the Planet's messages. And the sheer amount of words left her speechless. And not to mention the urgency. But, it sounded like the Planet spoke of great sadness, of past too painful to remember.

"Are you speaking of the Calamity?"

More. Fright. Power. Time without bounds. Seeking completion. Despair of heart. Calamity weak. Wandering soul. Potential to destroy.

Ifalna couldn't believe what she was hearing. Something more powerful than the Calamity, despite being broken inside. Wandering soul. Somebody who either shouldn't be here or had gotten lost. Maybe even both. Potential to destroy. So it wasn't necessarily a threat, but wielded enough power to become another Calamity. Seeking completion. Despair of heart. Somebody who had endured great pain. Likely losing a significant other, maybe even more than just one of them. Or had lost everything, significant or otherwise. Ifalna felt a pang of sorrow for the soul even the Planet said was broken. But the Planet called the Alien weak compared to the newcomer.

"Planet weak compared to Danger?" Ifalna asked, the words simplified since the Planet didn't understand human words very well. When she didn't get a reply for almost a minute she thought the Planet wasn't going to give one at all. But then she heard wispers, so quiet she almost missed them.

Time without bounds. Power to have. No knowledge to wield. Son of Calamity in danger. Yet protected. The past not yet happened. Future only one know. Weapon of heart.

She once again surprised at the effort the Planet displayed to get the message across. But she couldn't for the life of her understand what 'time without bounds' meant. Before she could try and decipher what the Planet was trying to say, she found herself being pushed out of the lifestream, back into the world of the living. She briefly saw her own body lying on the bed unmoving before she sunk into it and woke up with a startled gasp. Panting with something not quite fright she scrambled out of her bedding and grabbed a sheet of paper. Quickly finding a pen she wrote down what the planet told her.

Time without bounds. Despair of heart. Broken never completed. Forever seeking. Never finding. Shattered like crystal.

Time without bounds. Seeking completion. Despair of heart. Calamity weak. Wandering soul. Potential to destroy.

Time without bounds. Power to have. No knowledge to wield. Son of Calamity in danger. Yet protected. The past not yet happened. Future only one know. Weapon of heart.

There was a pattern. 'Time without bounds' was repeated at the beginning every time. She just had to find the right pattern, she had to solve this, but she couldn't, even her hands were shaking-

"Ifalna?" Said woman nearly jumped three feet in the air and whirled around to see the familiar lab coat of the man she loved.

"Gast! Oh Gaia, I'm sorry, I'm just-" She cut herself off, not knowing what to say. How could she?

"Why are you so rattled love? Is something wrong with the planet?" He was immediately next to her, hugging her shoulders. She hugged him back, desperately trying to get herself under control. Gast just kept stroking her hair and waited patiently for her shivers to stop. She wasn't sure how long she had been clinging to him like that but it worked, and she could breathe normally again. Gast held her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, his own showing concern.

"Are you alright now?" Ifalna looked into his eyes. She wasn't sure if she should tell him what the Planet told her, but she could barely keep herself together. After a brief debate within her head she handed him the wrinkled paper.

"This is what the Planet told me. Does it mean anything to you?" Gast's face immediately lit up at the thought of reading the words of the Planet itself. But it soon turned into a frown when he realized the words didn't make any sense. He handed the paper back to Ifalna after a few minutes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what the Planet is trying to relay to you. You've always been better at riddles than me." Ifalna took the paper wordlessly and then stared at it for a few moments. Then it hit her. Two sentences one next to the other that explained almost everything.

Son of calamity in danger. Yet protected.

It was talking about Sephiroth's 'angel'. She leaped out of her chair and nearly ran in the direction of Sephiroth's chamber. Gast was left to stare blankly after her, wondering what in the world had gotten into his lover. Later he would chalk it up to her being an Ancient who felt the Planet's panic, but for now, he could only stare at the ajar door Ifalna forgot to close.

It took her most of the walk and some serious thinking about potential danger of getting caught to slow down her brisk pace. And yet she had found herself in front of the metal hydraulic doors all too soon. Taking one last steadying breath to regain her composure, she knocked on the door politely.

She got no answer. Which was odd, Sephiroth usually invited her in as soon as she knocked. Then again, she doubted he would be awake at one AM. Still, she knocked again, this time with a bit more force. Soon enough she heard a tinny pitter-patter of bare feet on tiles.

"Come in."

Needing no further prompting, Ifalna swiped the access card she forgot to return to Gast. As soon as she stepped into the room, she almost flung herself back out. The air in the room was enough to make her choke. It wasn't because of the smell or anything physical, but the oppressive aura brimming with unrestrained power lingered even after the threat had passed. And strangely enough, Sephiroth wasn't in the least perturbed by the frightening creature that left it.

"Miss Ifalna?" Sephiroth came to stand in front of the frightened woman. She looked like a deer caught in headlights of a speeding car. What was she afraid of? She wasn't even looking at him, just staring wide eyed at the room. Sephiroth turned around and tried to pinpoint what she was looking at to make her so afraid. But his best guess was the bed he crawled out of. Confused and getting a little anxious himself he tugged at her long dress.

"Miss Ifalna, are you alright? What are you scared of?" Sephiroth pulled on her dress a bit harder when she stayed still. Then she suddenly fell on her knees and clutched the child's shoulders in a death grip.

"Sephiroth, was you 'angel' by any chance here recently?" Eyes wide, Ifalna barely stopped her voice from shaking. The silver haired boy tilted his head in confusion and confirmed her fears with a slight nod.

"What happened? Did he hurt you?" Ifalna looked into his feline eyes that widened in surprise.

"Hurt me? Why would he do that? You said guardian angels are here to protect." Sephiroth's voice was almost accusing. Ifalna shook his shoulders gently but urgently.

"Sephiroth, I was wrong! I don't know what kind of creature he is, but he is not an angel, and he is very dangerous! You have to stay away from him!" Ifalna almost screamed at him, trying to get him to understand. But Sephiroth just glared at her and wrenched his shoulders out of her grip.

"No! He would do nothing to harm me. He was nice, and he said he would stay here with me! He said he would be back!" Sephiroth was on the verge of tears. She told him only a few days ago that the angel was his guardian and now she was telling him he was in danger? It couldn't be, his Angel was nice, and he would be back.

Ifalna was at loss. She didn't know how to make Sephiroth understand that the 'angel' was a great danger to him, and that his words of comfort were lies. He was only a child! Her face softened and she extended her hand to him.

"Maybe, but please come with me, I need your help to understand what the Planet is trying to tell me. It concerns your ange-"

Her words were cut off by the door locking shut, and the red blaring alarm.