Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy VII Compilation belongs rightfully to Square-Enix. This amateur effort at fan-based fiction is in no way making profit off of the licensed characters described therein, nor is it associating any new original characters to Square-Enix either.
Chapter Ten
Finding Genesis did not improve anything. Sephiroth felt more conflicted than ever, knowing now the reason behind his friend's betrayal of the company, and displeased with the choices presented to him. He could remain with Shin-Ra, and eventually be forced to kill both Genesis and Angeal, or he could join their cause, and take the world from the president.
The image that sprang up in his mind was more than a little disconcerting. Sephiroth, at the head of the most powerful organization in the world, the planet his. Something about that seemed right, as foreign as the idea was to him, yet he did not feel attracted to it. Even if he were to desire such a thing, there would inevitably be a struggle for power against his two friends. Genesis always desired what Sephiroth had, and Angeal…
What would Angeal do with the world? He wondered. Sephiroth had yet to discover why Angeal was siding with Genesis and Hollander. If he was merely supporting his friend's cause out of loyalty then perhaps Angeal's definition of SOLDIER honor wasn't as strong as he liked everyone to believe. Even so, however, Sephiroth couldn't imagine him on a political battlefield. For that matter, he could scarcely imagine himself there.
"Where are you, Angeal?" he muttered to himself as he stepped out onto the silent street in front of the Mako reactor. Genesis had not pursued him, but Sephiroth had no doubt that he would eventually reappear again to antagonize Shin-Ra. Propellers beating against the wind thudded in his ears, and Sephiroth looked up to see a Shin-Ra helicopter lowering onto the street, replacing the silence with an immeasurable amount of noise.
Naomi Posada hopped out of the pilot's chair and pushed the chopper's door open. "General!" she shouted over the beating of the propeller blades. Her shoulder-length black hair whipped all about her head, as Sephiroth's own mane simply trailed behind him.
"Posada," he said as he approached. "What are you doing here?"
"I was en route to Midgar from assignment in Junon when I received orders from the President himself to provide you with transport back to the Shin-Ra building," she explained. "His orders are for you to present yourself immediately to the Board of Directors."
Sephiroth frowned. "Fine." He followed her into the helicopter, opting to sit in the co-pilot's seat as the female Second Class maneuvered it back into the sky. They flew high enough above the streets and highways that they were level with the green smog spewing from all eight of Midgar's Mako reactors. Only the Shin-Ra building stood higher.
"How did you know to find me in Sector 5?" Sephiroth asked her, raising his voice so that she could hear him over the helicopter's noise.
"Director Lazard suggested it," she answered. Naomi pushed the joystick forward and the helicopter came ever closer to the skyscraper. "He said that you were searching for the defectors." Naomi's face flickered with worry and apprehension before she set it back to solely concentrating on her task of piloting.
"Is something the matter, Posada?" asked Sephiroth.
She shook her head slightly as the helicopter titled upwards in its gradual ascent to the Shin-Ra building's 75th floor. "If I may ask, General… did you find Angeal Hewley?"
"No," Sephiroth answered. "Genesis and his men escaped before I could reach them." It was of course, a lie, but Sephiroth figured he might as well get used to saying it, as President Shinra would probably demand a report on the matter.
The woman released a tension Sephiroth had not noticed previously and nodded. "I see." Naomi failed miserably at hiding her relief from him, but Sephiroth did not comment on the matter. "I heard Zack was promoted," she suddenly said, cheerfully changing the subject.
Sephiroth stared ahead at the Shin-Ra building, at the rows of windows that fell beneath them as the helicopter kept rising. "Yes, he was."
"I'm happy for him," she admitted. In a more serious tone, she added, "Sir, I never got the chance to thank you for nominating me for First. Even though I didn't win, I'm honored that it came from you."
Sephiroth closed his eyes. He nominated her mostly because he did not want to risk Zack joining Genesis as a First Class. Now he had no doubt that Zack's only intention was to bring Angeal back to SOLDIER's ranks. Still, Naomi did have the skill to deserve promotion. She was far more mature than Zack, and usually levelheaded when situations became unpredictable. Zack had her bested in swordplay of course, but Sephiroth could easily imagine her commanding an army in the future. To be at First Class status demanded leadership over the militia during most assignments. Sephiroth wondered if Zack could handle it.
"You're a good SOLDIER, Posada," Sephiroth told her sincerely. "You'll undoubtedly make First regardless."
Unaccustomed as most people were to rare compliments given by Sephiroth, Naomi shifted in her seat and nodded, muttering, "Thank you, sir."
The top of the Shin-Ra Building came equipped with a helicopter pad, used mostly by the President and other executives who were constantly traveling back and forth during business trips. Naomi smoothly landed the helicopter on the pad and bade Sephiroth a small salute as he exited. The landing platform had a lift that automatically lowered Sephiroth into the 70th floor, where President Shinra's office was located, as well as the conference room and the offices of some of the departmental heads. Sephiroth's subconscious led him to the conference room without him really thinking about it, his thoughts still preoccupied with the dilemma presented to him by Genesis.
Most of the seats were already filled, the head of the conference table by the president himself. Shinra was chewing anxiously on a cigar, his furrowed blonde eyebrows causing the lines on his forehead to appear deeper than usual. Brushing some imaginary dust off of his wine-colored suit, the president motioned to Sephiroth to stand at the opposite end of the table, where no chair was provided. Lazard Deusericus looked up from the left side of the table, nodding to Sephiroth. Sephiroth nodded back in greeting, but for the most part, Lazard put on a careful expression meant to show that he was as oblivious of Sephiroth's recent activities as the others were.
To Lazard's left sat the head of Weapons Development, Scarlet. She was an attractive woman who wore her platinum blonde hair up in a French twist with her long bangs swept stylishly to one side of her face. Nothing about her at first glance suggested that she was the department head of anything in the corporation, but Sephiroth knew first hand the potential ruthlessness Scarlet was capable of, all hidden behind a pretty face and flattering low-necked dress. She gave him a knowing smile as his gaze fell on her, and he failed in pretending to ignore her.
On Lazard's other side was Reeve Tuesti, the head of Urban Development. He wore a tailored indigo suit and a thin moustache and goatee. Straightening the papers before him, he gave Sephiroth a curious glance before exchanging a look with the man to his immediate right, Palmer. The thickset balding man in his cream-colored suit was the director of the Space Program, and for the moment he seemed pleased with himself, possibly due to the recent successful test results he achieved in Rocket Town in the past few weeks.
On the other side of the table sat the rest of the Board. Sitting closest to Shinra was the new vice-president of course, Rufus. He smirked at Sephiroth upon entry and ran a hand through his hair. Next to him was Heideggar, head of Public Safety. He cleared his throat loudly before scratching his heavy beard. The man to his left shifted uncomfortably in his chair but then straightened his black tie in a dignified manner. This was Verdot, the head of the Department of Administrative Research, otherwise known as the Turks. He was a middle-aged man who bore a thin scar on his cheek, and did not appear to be pleased with Sephiroth's presence for some reason or other. The chair beside his sat empty.
"This is an emergency meeting being held due to the recent attack we've sustained by the traitor, Genesis Rhapsodos," Shinra immediately announced, skipping any kind of pleasantries or usual business banters. He set his cigar into an astray and leaned forward, studying Sephiroth with a stern expression. 'You better have some good news,' it seemed to say. Sephiroth couldn't wait to disappoint him.
The door behind him opened and in walked Professor Hojo to take his seat as the head of the Science Department. Sephiroth glared at him as the scientist sat, straightening his spectacles before regarding Sephiroth was amused glance.
"If anyone has information regarding our current status, now is the time," said Shinra. He looked first to his right, at Scarlet.
She cleared her throat and announced, "All of the available anti-SOLDIER units have been sent out to confront the traitors. Thirty units have been reported destroyed by Genesis troops. The other twenty-seven have not reported back with any data."
"It's possible that they've stolen them," Verdot theorized, sounding grave. "Just like the other weapons that attacked this building."
"Then future efforts made by the Turks will be focused primarily on retrieving the lost or stolen units," Shinra declared. Verdot nodded in response, but still seemed agitated.
"The damage done to headquarters is estimated at 560,000 gil," Reeve stated, looking down at his reference sheet. "Damage to Sector 8 was minimal, thanks to preventative measures made by the Turks and SOLDIER."
"And Shin-Ra Security Forces!" Heideggar added, looking indignant.
Reeve frowned slightly. "Yes…" he replied. "Well, most of the destruction did not spread past the main lobby, so the repairs should take at the very least three months."
"Three months," the president repeated. Reeve nodded and looked away as President Shinra scowled. He then turned his glare to the unfazed Professor Hojo, inquiring, "What of the specimens that were released during the attack?"
Hojo shrugged. "An unfortunate loss of data. Before I could properly record their actions or behavior some SOLDIER or other destroyed them. It will take me years to replicate the losses."
Zack… Sephiroth thought. He must have encountered them on the way to the lobby. Hojo's laboratories were nowhere near the building's entrance, so Sephiroth doubted that Genesis had anything to do with the monsters' release.
The banter continued. "So you've sustained how many losses, Heideggar?" Shinra asked. Sephiroth ignored Heideggar's response, how the department head tried to make it seem as if the losses in military police were hardly enough to worry about. There was a brief dispute over the matter between Heideggar and Scarlet, but the argument was really no different from ones they had in the past. Despite the frequent clashes between the department heads, Weapons Development and Public Safety were often forced to work closely with one another, especially during emergencies.
Rufus lost his patience with Scarlet and Heideggar before even Sephiroth could. "If you don't mind, I'd like to spend this meeting hearing about what Sephiroth has to say on the matter, rather than another lover's spat between you two."
"Lover's spat?!" Heideggar exclaimed.
Scarlet scoffed and waved dismissively at the table. "Go on, then."
"Lazard here says you left during the attack to eliminate Genesis," said the president.
"I did," Sephiroth answered.
"Well, what happened!" Shinra demanded.
Sephiroth stoically closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "It appears he had time to plan his escape while I was ensuring your safety, Mr. President."
Lazard's jaw dropped slightly, but he recovered quickly, readjusting his reading glasses. Hojo chuckled in amusement from his corner of the table, breaking the stunned silence of the other department heads.
"I chased him to Mako reactor 5, and there I found evidence of his association with Professor Hollander," said Sephiroth. "They were however, no where to be found."
Shinra suffocated his cigar into the astray, pounding the tobacco anxiously in the cup. "Professor Hojo will lead an investigation team into the reactor, aided by the Turks. Bring back this evidence as well as our clone technology. In the meantime, all other departments will focus on reinforcing this building's defenses in anticipation for another attack."
"And the other sectors…?" Reeve asked.
"Headquarters is the priority," Shinra answered, causing Reeve to look down at the table in dismay. "You're dismissed, Sephiroth."
Sephiroth stared for a moment as the president continued his emergency meeting, each of the directors giving their input on what should be included in the building's fortification. From that point on, he was invisible to them, or at least, that was the impression the Board tried to convey. Only Verdot looked back at Sephiroth, disappointed still with his presence, and suddenly Sephiroth understood why. The head of the Turks did not appreciate what happened to his agents at Banora in Genesis' hands, and they had been sent there by Sephiroth. He supposed that Verdot felt the attack on the building and the Turks casualties could have been prevented had Sephiroth just gone to Banora himself when he had been asked to.
Hmph. Sephiroth left the conference room in a whirl of black and silver. The Turks knew the risks when they joined Shin-Ra. There was nothing Sephiroth felt he should apologize for, nor feel sorry about. Once he was out in the corridors, Sephiroth's phone chimed only once, indicating a new message. Sephiroth pulled it out and flipped it open, immediately coming to a halt once his eyes found the text.
I need to talk to you. The alley next to Goblin's Bar. I'll be alone.
- Angeal
By the time Sephiroth reached Sector 8, there were tiny signs of daylight filtering through the thick smog clouds above Midgar. Out in the sea of gray dirt surrounding the city, daybreak would be easy to witness, but in Midgar it would remain dark for at least another two hours or so. The bartender kicked his most dedicated regulars to the curb, and the two men shuffled tiredly back to their homes as Sephiroth passed Goblin's Bar.
He stood at the very foot of the alley, staring into the darkness ahead. A pair of Mako eyes opened and peered back at him, blue orbs in a pool of blackness. Angeal Hewley stepped out towards Sephiroth. The Buster Sword as always was on the man's back, but it was with a start that Sephiroth noticed the large singular wing protruding from out of his friend's shoulder blade. It gleamed white even in the pre-dawn, opposite of the black inky feathers he'd seen on Genesis earlier.
It took a moment for Sephiroth to clear the surprise from his face. His lips grew into a thin grim line as he muttered, "I see. You didn't know the day of Genesis' injury in the training room, when Hollander asked for your blood and not mine, but when Genesis found you at Fort Tamblin."
Angeal's gaze was downcast. There was more stubble on his face than he usually allowed but it did not make him look dirty and unwashed, only tired. "I had a chance to find answers. They went up in smoke when Shin-Ra destroyed my hometown."
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Sephiroth replied. "Hollander has the answers. He was behind Project G, and only he knows the details of your role in it and why. He and Hojo."
Finally his friend looked at him, his blue eyes narrowing. "I came to tell you. Genesis will finish what he started. Hollander has asked him to find Hojo. He probably means to kill him."
Sephiroth let the smirk creep across his face. "Let him."
Angeal could only barely smile at Sephiroth's antics. "What do you want from this, Sephiroth?"
His smirk faded. "I was going to ask you the same. For Genesis this is clearly about revenge. Is that why you're helping him? Reckoning for how they've wronged the both of you with their reckless experimentation?"
"I… thought that was what I had wanted." Sephiroth watched emotionlessly as Angeal's guard slowly slipped away. For his best friend he was ready to feel pity, but he felt nothing, and he didn't know whether or not that should bother him. "Now I'm not so sure. We've been made into these monsters, and all I want… I just want it all to end."
Sephiroth rushed forward, his gloved fingers clenched around Angeal's throat as he shoved the other man against the brick wall. "And Gillian!" Sephiroth snarled. "You decided that it should end for her too, the very same way Genesis had done for his parents!" Gillian flashed before his memory, but all Sephiroth could see was Jenova, a woman with hair as silver as his own, her green eyes full of pain.
Angeal did not fight back, only struggled to speak against the constraint on his throat. "I did not kill my mother!" He tried to gasp as Sephiroth squeezed. "She took her own life!"
Though there was something satisfying about the sensation of his fingertips digging into Angeal's trachea, Sephiroth let go of him with an extra shove. "Because she had a hand in your creation by Shin-Ra," Sephiroth guessed, "and she couldn't take the guilt that came from seeing the abomination her son had become."
Angeal solemly nodded as Sephiroth leaned against the wall across from him. "If nothing else, I must continue on and end the suffering, for her sake. Retribution, revenge, call it what you want, Sephiroth. But what will you do?"
Sephiroth stared at him, silent because he did not have an answer. It was as if he were merely an object floating along in the space of the growing conflict. All around him things were changing in Midgar, in Shin-Ra. The world was moving ahead and he was staying still. Every party involved relied on his participation – Shin-Ra needed protection, and Genesis wanted his power – but Sephiroth merely existed in the middle, realizing that with every minute that passed, that he cared less and less for this tiny world's people and their little problems.
"You don't have any personal stake in this, Sephiroth," Angeal explained. "I don't know why Genesis doesn't see it – hell, maybe he just chooses not to? For years you've been drifting away from it all, little by little. You're losing touch, Sephiroth. You don't know what to do because there is nothing for you to do, except the orders you're used to carrying out."
"And if you and Genesis succeed," Sephiroth answered, "what will you do then? Drift along with me?"
Angeal's smile was somber. "We're monsters, him and I. Even if you don't do it, we'll both eventually be slain. That's what happens to the monsters in stories. All of them."
Then Angeal took off into the air, the flapping of his one wing leaving several feathers to fall around Sephiroth. He watched Angeal disappear into the distance as morning slowly crept through the dark clouds, and Sephiroth remained that way in the alley's opening for a while until the street eventually awoke with the opening of local businesses and shops. There was no way Sephiroth could stay still for very long out in Midgar without a group clamoring for some kind of attention, and all he wanted now was enough solitude to think. His feet carried him back to Shin-Ra headquarters, up the many flights of stairs so he'd have more time to himself rather than in a packed elevator, and onto the 62nd floor, where the records and data rooms were located.
It was usually quiet there, but somewhere in one of the rooms Sephiroth could hear Mayor Domino arguing with someone over the phone. Having a mayor was more like a tradition rather than a necessity. When Midgar was first being built nearly a century ago, the early settlers voted on having both a mayor and a sheriff, as the lands back then were lawless and were subject to any number of raids by thieves and gun slinging outlaws. When the first of Shinra's line appeared to make oil and coal obsolete, Midgar witnessed a boom in both population and economy. Shin-Ra Electric Power Company took it upon itself to provide the city with protection, and over the years the mayor and sheriff became decorations rather than public servants. Mayor Domino and Sheriff Hart were more like librarians, keeping reluctant watch over the company's historical and fiscal documents.
They were used to his presence in the data rooms by now as well. Sephiroth passed the open door to Domino's office, barely sparing the gaunt man a glance as President Shinra's nephew argued with his cousin over the phone. He could almost hear Rufus' snide remarks, amusement at his family's expense. Domino slammed the headset on the receiver and fumed, possibly noticing Sephiroth as he passed, but knowing better than to engage him in conversation. The mayor knew well that Sephiroth preferred the quiet in the data rooms as he spent hours looking over whatever it was the general deemed was more important than people.
When Sephiroth entered the room he wanted, he paused, closing his eyes with a sigh. He could feel her look of disapproval on him, but it was little compared to the flare of annoyance he felt building up in his chest. She made it a habit to spend time in the data rooms as well, and it was amazing that in the three years that they hadn't spoken they'd never met in them. Or perhaps they had, but the call of black text on bleach white sheets made them both blind and deaf to any possible awareness of the other's proximity.
"I forgot to take the files," he admitted, finally choosing to move closer to the table. Dahlia sat at the opposite end, her immediate space covered with photocopies of tomb walls and an old textbook from her early days of study filled with glyphs. He immediately remembered watching her struggle with them as she sat cross-legged on a floor in Cosmo Canyon. Come to think of it, that was probably where she spent most of the last three years.
"Project G?" she questioned, her eyes falling back down to her work as she continued to write. Sephiroth gave her a puzzled look as he sat, and then she promptly pulled a few sheets from her bag to toss in front of him. "It's not the complete version, Hojo kept those for himself. These I managed to make copies of before they restricted access to them."
Sephiroth took the sheets in his gloved fingers, briefly imagining Dahlia sneaking about the labs and looking over her shoulder in a paranoid manner as she waited in front of a loud copy machine. He still wasn't sure how she managed to get away with most of document theft she committed.
"Genesis was there."
Dahlia let the pencil fall from her hand and shifted forward in her seat. "So what happened?"
Sephiroth flipped to the next page of the report, already familiar with the details on the first. The second page contained some more details on the rate of degrading tissue not only on Genesis, but of the clones as well. "He wants me to join his cause."
She shrugged. "No doubt. And with how quickly he's apparently been degrading…" Sephiroth's ex-wife shuddered, disgust crossing her plain features. "I still can't believe he would even side with Hollander, knowing that he was behind the experimentation on his body in the first place."
He clutched the report, the papers wrinkling under the force. "Genesis is a fool."
She peeked over at his hands. "Have you gotten to the part about his parentage yet? That's where my copy of the report ends, but Eva Rhapsodos apparently signed an agreement to use her fetus in the experiment."
Sephiroth furrowed his eyebrows at her. "She did this willingly?" Dropping the report he stood to look over one of the nearest shelves. Within moments he produced a thick black binder and sat back down to study it.
"It's all part of the early stages of SOLDIER," Dahlia explained. "Before it was what it is today, Shinra hoped to provide protection to cities using more than just average troops. I guess even the positive physical enhancements that came from exposure to Mako radiation wasn't enough for the company. Genesis was supposed to be part of some revolutionary new breakthrough in genetic engineering."
"Angeal as well," Sephiroth replied, leaving Dahlia stunned.
"You… saw him?"
Sephiroth nodded. "I have to find out how Hollander involved him in the project. He and Genesis grew up in Banora, and they're around the same age. I think Gillian might have also volunteered to use her unborn son the same way Eva did, but to what ends, I wonder?"
Dahlia left him to contemplate that on his own while she continued with her previous work, a translation of runes and occasionally a sloppy sketch of a map of the Icicle continent. She had aerial photographs of the region around Bone Village, but Sephiroth did not question it, nor did he show interest in what she hoped to discover. Instead he studied the records he pulled from the shelf, the company's spending in Banora Village in the past twenty years. It was not a simple task, and within a few hours, he had a stack of binders and folders piled high next to him. Somewhere within that time period he vaguely perceived Dahlia leaving the room, claiming she needed to catch up on sleep. Sephiroth didn't even notice that she was gone until he finally found what he was looking for.
"The Rhapsodos'-," he began, registering that Dahlia no longer occupied the space next to him. Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing away sleep he had also lost the night prior.
He gathered the records and arranged them on the shelf where he took them from, sparing Domino and Hart the task of doing so themselves. It was barely three in the afternoon by the time he reached his apartment within the Shin-Ra building. Sliding the blinds in his bedroom shut to block out the sunlight, Sephiroth sunk into his mattress, recalling the sum of money that went into Banora all those years ago through the Science Department's budget.
The company had rewarded Eva Rhapsodos and her husband a significant fortune in return for the minor inconvenience of placing a curse on their son, Genesis.
Finally, Sephiroth understood why his friend had murdered his own parents. Aware of his own nature, Sephiroth was convinced that he would have done the same.
Author's Note: Yeah, I was gone for a while... my deepest apologies. Unfortunately writer's block attacked me and wouldn't let me go unless I suffocated. Thankfully I was able to pry it's tentacles off of my neck before it could lay any offspring inside of my host-body, therefore stopping it from spawning any more bouts of writer's block or spreading an epidemic. I hope no one else was afflicted...
Anyway, I've decided to keep a record of sorts on how the progress of chapters is going. If you don't hear from me for a while, find the link to my livejournal on my profile. There'll be extended author's notes when chapters are updated as well as any new ideas I might have that you might want to promptly shoot down if they sound too crazy!