Disclaimer: I don't own final fantasy or any other game, reference, etc. I shove in here. I only own the characters and other stuff I make up!
Ch. 10 Things from a different view
Part 1: Boy meets girl
Sephiroth sits contently in the specimen chamber listening to the noises of the monsters around him. Most of the time he sleeps and thinks. In the back of his mind a voice. A nagging voice telling him to do this or that, but what can you do in a cage?
You could easily leave this place my son. We could rule over these pathetic mortals and you would be free to do as you please. The familiar voice sang in his head. He ignored her. Her words mean nothing in the cold interior of the Shinra building. Here her voice is faint. A distant memory of a soft touch that only appears soft. He always thought that this voice was his mother. The way she spoke to him made it seem so. It was explained to him who his family was, but he never felt that it was the whole truth. At first she had only consoled him when he felt sad or hurt in some way. In this place he learned to lose those feelings. She had taught him that.
If you do not abandon your emotions then they will destroy you.
Comforting words when he truly did feel that that was the case. The emotions that he had held inside himself for so long were beginning to flood out in the form of destruction. He did not care if he killed a staff member, or better yet, Hojo. He was beyond the point of caring. Her ever-present guidance throughout his life was the only sort of love that he knew. The woman that Hojo appointed as his caretaker was nice, but not someone he could call mother. She tried hard to help him when he felt lonely, but he did not want her. The voice was soothing and comforting to him. She grew louder in his dreams and seemed to be the only solace in a world that was abysmal in nature.
Years passed and the voice grew louder, soothing, but all the more vile at the same time. At first she only called him son and told him things of comfort. Then she began to command him. Tell him things that he just could not or would not do. There was an invisible barrier that kept him where he sat every day. He knew that now he was stronger and could easily handle an escape attempt and probably never receive a single scratch. The voice that he came to know as Jenova told him so.
Today he could hear commotion on the floor above. He listened carefully curious about the sounds he heard. What is going on up there? He listened and gathered that someone new was in the lab. After several hours Hojo arrived with a few aids that were holding an unconscious girl about his age between them.
He quietly sat with his head down, but curious turned his head enough to see what was going on without being noticed. He watched from under his hair as they sat the girl down carefully as ordered by Hojo. Another one? It's been a while. I thought he was done with that.
They left closing the door and headed back up to the elevator. Sephiroth chose not to move seeing as Hojo had not left yet. He was standing close to the chamber watching them. Sephiroth stared at the floor feeling his oppressive presence. When he left he slowly lifted his head and looked over at the girl. He knew that she would be out for a while. There is plenty of time to have a closer look at her. Sephiroth thought, but did not move. He could feel Jenova moving in his mind, coming forward to see this new person. He also felt her instant hatred. He pushed her back feeling irritated by her.
For a while he only stared. He wanted to get up, but something held him back. He was curious about her, but thoughts of the other ones crept into his mind and made him pause. He remembered them all. They never managed to survive long and he felt this would be the same. Part of him wondered why Hojo would still continue if the end result were always the same. He remembered the screams and for a while they haunted his dreams. He finally stood up and went to sit by her to get a closer look. She looked younger than him, but not by much.
Brown hair that went to her waist, the familiar lab clothes that Hojo gave every person that came through here, and a slight burn mark on her neck. He noticed the tattoo on her arm. He looked at his own noting the similarities. So he is placing her in the same project as me. I wonder what that means. She moaned in her sleep and flinched a few times. He froze as she did that thinking at first that she might wake up. He was ready to move away if he needed to. When she did not he placed a hand on her forehead hoping that would calm her dreams. In the back of his mind Jenova spoke of her.
Another weakling. Don't waste your time on her. She is just like them. He ignores her feeling the need to touch another person. Being alone in a cage makes one long for any kind of companionship. He strokes her forehead to calm her and ignores the voice that shuns her presence.
He could feel her aura. It felt soft as it touched his. She flinched as he reached out wanting to know more about her without having to speak to her. He disliked talking in general and would not speak unless he felt comfortable doing so. He only wanted to know a few things. Enough to remember her later. He knew from past experience that she probably had no family, or anyone who would miss her. He found himself being pulled back by Jenova, who was now shouting at him. She was annoying him with her jealousy.
"You want all of my attention...is that it?" He felt her fade away back into the back of his mind and turned his attention back to the girl. "You will probably end up like the others…dying painfully." He said to the sleeping girl.
He knew that Hojo had a special reason for placing her in there with him. At first he had kept them separate, but doing this meant that Hojo had more faith in her survival. She looked so weak to him he thought that Hojo would end up killing her in a short time. Even if she survived longer than the others Sephiroth could not see her living long. He decided that he would just wait and see what happens. He moved back over to sit down and think. He still had many questions. Some were for Jenova. Some he knew would more than likely never be answered. He wanted to know about the girl. He felt curious just by the fact that she was even in the room with him.
She is fragile. You would only break her. Jenova told him. He knew that if he touched her he would have to be careful. The difference in strength was enormous. An attempt to touch her might break something. He had tried hard before when he touched her. He had been afraid at the time that he would wake her. He had not even considered that he could easily hurt her.
When she did wake he watched her from behind his hair. She looked at him and there was recognition in her expression. He wondered what that meant, but she soon turned her attention to their surroundings. After a while she began humming. He wondered about that too. It was a nice song and he knew little about music and songs. He only knew songs that Sheila sang to him, but he never cared for them. This one felt different to him. It made him curious.
Without realizing it he had lifted his head up and was staring at her. She realized this and stopped humming to look at him. For a moment neither of them moved. Sephiroth looked behind her and saw a man standing by the elevator. He was only there for a second. The man was only a black figure with an oppressive aura around him. Was that my imagination? She noticed what he did and he put his head down. He wondered who it was and why they were standing there watching them. The only features that he had seen were the eyes. His eyes. He was looking at her. Red eyes full of hate and ill intent. Could he want to harm her? Sephiroth could not think of a reason why. He decided to think about it later and get some rest. Tomorrow would be an interesting day having someone to share the pain with.
Part 2: Puppet
From the top of the Shinra building you could see everything. Although everything includes a fog laden city with dark clouds overhead giving the area a sullen feeling. A strange looking man stood there watching the city quietly. He was tall and lanky. His face resembles that of a woman more than a man, but with bandages covering his mouth and nose who knows what lies underneath.
He wore a tight-fitting body suit that was ripped at the collar. The bandages continued giving a hint that they might cover his entire body. On his hands blades were attached to his fingers. Everything he had on looked worn and unkempt. Only the blades which glinted in the bits of sun that came through the clouds were pristine.
He kneeled down and leaned over the ledge looking into the office below. A fat man sat in a chair looking through a pile of papers. There were several guards there as well and he knew they were called Turks. He was not concerned with them though. "I suppose I should check on him." He said to himself. He turned around and looked at the hole in the roof. It was small, only big enough for a child to fit through. He closed his eyes and in his mind pictured his little creation. A puppet that he had made himself and trapped a soul inside. This one was small and appeared to be a mere child. After some concentration he could see and hear everything his puppet could. He was still on his way down to the laboratory floor.
He watched as the puppet made his way there and moved a tile over a few inches so he could have a look inside the room. There were two people in there. A boy and a girl about the same age. There you are. He thought to himself. He watched them talk briefly before deciding it was time to return. He had been keeping watch on the girl, but that boy was always with her. His visits were brief, but it was better that way. The puppet paused when it appeared that they were aware of its presence. He instructed it to quietly slip away. The boy seemed annoyed with the situation. Were they not contained he felt sure that his little puppet would not be returning to him.
After arriving back on the roof he went to his master and kneeled before him. "That was very close." He waved the puppet off and watched it return into the white mist. He followed more slowly. He grew tired of this back and forth. Besides, he could care less what they did all day. He felt that there was a more effective way to watch her. For now that was all they could do, but he hated this method.
In the open white expanse he walked briskly not wanting to stay for too long. He had been warned about that. Stay too long and you might never leave. After a few minutes he found himself surrounded by the familiar darkness of The Abyss. He was greeted by a female that he considered a nuisance.
She had short hair and was completely in love with their master. She was a naive little thing. Siren was her name he remembered. She looked much younger than she was. He knew that she was one of the first to join the group. She carried a whip with her and always had a smile on her face. "Well, Enshii, how did it go?" She said. He chose not to respond and headed to where he knew their leader was.
Siren followed him and they eventually found him standing where he always stood. In the Abyss there is an orb that he has labeled the beginning and end of everything. He never leaves it. He was holding a child up by the neck. They stopped and watched the show knowing what he was about to do. The boy was about ten and he was pleading for his life. He held him up higher out to the orb. White mist flowed from the boy's body and he cried out in pain. Blood came from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Something was leaving his body. His cries stopped and turned into sobbing as the mist faded and joined with the orb behind him.
He let go of the boy and turned around to face them. "You've returned." They bowed and both looked at the child lying on the ground behind him and shivered.
"Scythe, I have come to the conclusion that it would be more beneficial for us if someone stayed there to watch her." Enshii told him. He watched as Scythe turned around with an evil grin on his face motioning for someone in the darkness to come and clean up the mess. He seemed to be in a good mood today. A woman came forward holding a sword smiling gleefully. She was more than happy to get rid of the child. She was wearing a light blue body suit. There was blood caked on it and everyone wondered if she would ever clean it off. She plunged the sword into his chest and lifted him off the ground watching as he slid down the blade a few inches. She left holding him up in the air and almost skipped away.
"Glaed seems all too happy to be here." Siren commented. Everyone ignored her and Scythe turned to Enshii.
"You think that would be 'beneficial'?" Enshii nodded. That way he could simply use a puppet to relay messages. It would be much easier for him and this way he could do other things with his time. "I see. Siren, you do it." He commanded.
"What?!" She exclaimed. Then I'll be stuck on that hell hole away from my Scythe! She glared at Enshii who was smirking at her and began to protest. "Why me? I don't want to go to that hell hole of a world!" She shouted flailing her arms.
Scythe merely raised a hand to quiet her. They could feel his aura flaring out at them. Instantly they both backed away fearing that he might kill them. He was known to be a very strong sorcerer and was known to have a very short temper. Usually no one back talked him. Enshii had learned the hard way.
"Never mind! I'm going!" I suppose I do deserve it after earlier. Siren turned on her heel and made her way to Gaia cringing the whole time. Enshii left as well feeling the need to get away from Scythe. He offered her some advice on what she should do which seemed to annoy her, but even she could see that it was helpful.
Siren found herself standing before Shinra building hesitant to go in. She knew what Scythe would do to her if she disobeyed him. She shivered at the thought. She slowly walked in and went to the reception desk. "I would like to apply for a job." She said forcing herself to smile. I hate this already!
Author: This chapter has been edited!
You can just hear the sinister music in the background can't you?
Here is a little reminder that there is a link to my Storm-Artists page with fanfic pics and other works on my profile page.
Thanks to:
ZR388, dantesdarkqueen, and DragonessWarrior (your advice was helpful!) for the lovely reviews. It's always good to hear that someone likes my story.