WARNING: This chapter contains an attempted sexual assault. If that's triggering to you, don't read this- it's only Sephiroth's backstory. I'll give a little summary at the end.

When he was sixteen, that was when it happened. He was taking the bus home from school, since his mom couldn't pick him up that day, and the housekeeper had to go home early because her kid was sick or something. He was alone at the bus stop. Not many people rode the bus those days. The early stages of war were beginning to break out, fear was rampant, and most people kept their families close. Not the Corvuses, though, of course- they had never been a particularly warm family.

In any case, he was alone at the stop, and when the bus rumbled up, he was alone on that too. Just him and the driver. Back then his name was still Seth, his hair was still blonde, and he was rather good-looking, with a youngish face for a sixteen-year-old, though he wouldn't hit his prime until his late twenties.

"Ain't you a little young to be ridin' the bus all by yourself?" the driver asked while Seth swiped his Metrocard. He ignored her and took a seat in the back, by a window. The sun was setting and New York was turning its lights on. The bus wasn't air conditioned, so he propped his window open and waited. He was going home to Jersey, so the ride was going to take a while.

No one else was even waiting to get on the bus, either, and he stayed alone as the vehicle hummed busily past each and every empty stop. Little Seth Corvus popped in his headphones and waited patiently while they got stuck in traffic on the George Washington Bridge. He was a little indignant that his family hadn't just sent a car for him, but then, they probably just forgot him again. Slumming it is good for you, son, his dad would probably say to him, without looking up from his work. Builds character. Yeah, whatever.

After finally crossing the bridge, the bus rolled on into New Jersey. The sun was officially down now, but Seth didn't notice because of the floor lights. He was just listening to his music, staring blankly at the padded seat in front of him- he couldn't be bothered with the time of day. What did break him out of his trance was when the bus stopped. At first he thought that they were at a light or something, until he heard the doors click open. He looked up.

A girl was stepping on to the bus. She was young, she looked like she was probably around Seth's age or a little younger even, but trying to look older, dressed in all black. She had a lot of make-up on, too, especially eye-liner. Her hair was cropped, her skin was brutally pale, and she chose a seat at the very front of the bus, about as far away from him as she could get. Seth had been staring for almost a full minute before he realized what he was doing- he was mesmerized. He had to talk to her.

Scooping up his school bag, he hopped down to the front section of the bus, and moved easily up to where the girl was sitting. She was holding her own bag in her lap, staring out the window, oblivious. Plastering his most charming boyish grin across his face, he plopped down in the seat next to her.

"Hey," he said softly. "I'm Seth. What's your name?" The girl startled and whipped around, her eyes going wide. She was even more enchanting up close, the pale skin and bright blue eyes. Seth leaned back and made himself comfortable, slinging an arm over the back of the seat to demonstrate that he had absolutely no intention of leaving.

"Dana."

"What?"

"Dana- my name's Dana. Hi, Seth, I guess." She turned back to the window, clutching her bag just a little bit tighter. Seth Corvus didn't take especially well to being ignored. So she was playing hard to get. This was going to be a challenge, then. He leaned closer.

"Dana," he said slowly. "Where are you headed?"

"Tenafly," she said tightly. She wasn't eager to make conversation.

"Oh, me too," he lied. Getting laid was worth a little bit of a detour, after all, and he could always tell his parents he got off at the wrong bus stop and needed a ride. Yes, all of his irritation at being forced to ride the bus was being swept aside by this sweet little honey who had tumbled right into his lap. Well, not quite yet, but he was getting there.

Dana reached into her bag and pulled out her cell phone, flipping it open. She hovered there for a long moment, maybe checking the time, seemingly uncertain as to whether she should call someone. Seth was losing her- he had to pull her back into the conversation.

"It's nice not having to ride the bus alone," he said.

"Yeah," Dana mumbled, still fiddling with her phone. After a moment she flipped it shut. "I've never seen you on this route before." Bingo. He had her.

"Usually I drive. Maybe we could carpool sometimes?" he asked smoothly. She gave him a funny look. Ok, maybe that was a little too fast- he was used to the girls at his school. They knew who he was, and they would all be bending over backwards to get a chance to be alone in a car with him. He was Rufus Shinra's nephew, after all. A good connection to have. But this girl, well, she didn't know any of that.

"You must have a lot of money if you have your own car, huh," she said idly, raising an eyebrow, refusing to answer his question. The girl- Dana- was getting hostile, now, and it was clear she didn't want to keep talking to him. That just added to the challenge, though, as far as he was concerned. As long as she was too polite to tell him to fuck off, he was going to keep talking to her.

"I dunno about that," he said smoothly. "I was just offering you a ride. Geez." Hopefully she'd be upset that she hurt his feelings.

"Whatever," she muttered, and turned back to the window, playing with her phone again. Ok, maybe not. But that wasn't the only trick Seth had left up his sleeve. He'd back off for now. He sighed and crossed his hands behind his head, brushing Dana's shoulder in the process. Suddenly, the bus lurched to a halt.

"Here's your stop, honey," the driver said. Apparently she and Dana spent a lot of these nights together. Dana gathered up her things and turned to get up, looking expectantly at Seth. He picked up his own bag and stood up with a flourish, offering her a cheesy little bow. She glared at him and shoved past.

"This is my stop, too," he said quickly, but not too quickly, and he followed her off the bus. He didn't know this area at all, since he was still a few more miles from his own town, so he just followed Dana. She was the reason he'd gotten off the bus, after all, so better to stick with her. He followed her, whistling to himself, for a good five minutes before she bothered to acknowledge his pursuit.

"You live around here?" she asked, with the tiniest hint of snarl.

"Oh, yeah. Just a few more blocks away. It's nice to have someone to walk with." Dana stopped. She turned around.

"Really. What street?" she asked coldly.

"Oh, you know. Vine Street." Seth took a shot in the dark. Every town has a Vine Street, right?

"Vine Street is in the other direction." Well, shit. He'd just have to come up with some other excuse, or maybe declare his undying attraction. The girl appeared to want absolutely nothing to do with him, but hey, he had quite a few methods of, how shall he say, persuasion.

"Ok, you got me," he said with a lopsided grin, putting his hands up in the air. "You're cute. I wanted to talk to you. Guilty as charged." Dana did not seem even the slightest bit amused.

"You're a creep," she hissed, and she turned and kept walking. The streets were completely empty. No one went out after dark these days, after all.

"Hey. I said you were cute! Give me a chance!" he shouted, jogging after her.

"Stop following me!" She reached into her purse to pull out her phone, but by then Seth had caught up to her, and he swatted it easily out of her hand.

"Come on, baby, let's just talk," he cooed. She snarled and bent to pick up her phone. But as she did, well, that gave Seth his window. He grabbed her around the hips and swung her around, pinning her against a telephone pole, trapping her in place with a knee between her legs. She was even more beautiful up close, those bright blue eyes managing to shine even through the dull street lighting. Without thinking, he reached out to brush her bangs out of her face, causing her to shudder. He leaned in for a kiss. He was not at all prepared for what happened next.

"Sorry, baby. I don't have sex with humans." She spat the last word.

"Wha-" She grabbed the back of his head, roughly, a whole clump of hair bunched in her fist and she yanked his face away from her. While she did that, she kneed him in the groin. The pain was unbelievable. He saw spots. He saw stars. He stumbled back into a nearby building, rough brick scraping the back of his neck. Who knew this girl was that strong? What happened?

Not content to leave him with a beating, however, Dana was back, catching him before he had a chance to crumple to the ground. She grinned, and for the first time, Seth saw the gleam of pointed fangs.

"Guess we'll have to teach you a lesson about how to treat girls," she breathed slowly. His eyes stayed on the teeth, shiny pointy teeth, uncomfortably close to his neck. As if sensing his fear, Dana's grin widened, and she dropped her mouth to the smooth, exposed area where Seth's perfect shoulder met his perfect, unscarred neck.

"Please," he choked, finally finding his voice. "Don't do this. Anything- I have money," he begged. The mighty Seth Corvus, reduced to begging at only sixteen years of age. But his pride wasn't the only thing about to get punctured. The vampire, for that was what she was, tilted her head back so she could make eye contact with him. She was still smiling. He was horrified. And that just made her laugh.

How did this happen? One minute he was following a pretty girl, and now he was about to die. What happened?

"Oh, come on," she giggled. "Would you have stopped if I offered you money?"

She bit down.

The memory was harsh, but sixteen years later, with a new name and enough money to buy a continent, Sephiroth was still running from that little vampire girl with the bright blue eyes. The one who ended his life. He hadn't so much as looked at another woman since then. He couldn't bear it.

After she'd forced him to drink from her wrist, she knocked him out and rolled him into a dumpster so he wouldn't fry up in the sun. That was nice of her, at least. Unfortunately, despite his disappearance being plastered all over all kinds of news, no one found him until after he regained consciousness. That was probably good, he figured, since otherwise they may have had him cremated.

That girl… Dana… she'd given him so many chances to just walk away. At first he'd tried to make excuses. It wasn't his fault that the one girl he tried to assault happened to be a vampiress on a violent vengeance kick. But then, slowly but surely, he began to accept his miserable fate. His life had worked out ok, though, all things considered. Here he was, practically the richest man alive, standing in the top floor office of his very own skyscraper, staring out over his beloved city.

He'd give it all up in exchange for being able to go out in his beloved city in daylight.

A dusky haze swept over New York, creeping upwards from the ground, gradually bathing each scaffold, each pane of glass, each body in darkness. This was New York City, unspeakably beautiful even in decay. Sephiroth still had memories of this place, before the war and before the attacks. They were small and distant, faded and worn like well-loved photographs, huddled in the back of his mind as if frantically protecting themselves from the brutality of the real world.

"Mr. Corvus, do you really need to color your hair that way?" Ansem's drawling voice spoke from the other side of the room, behind his mahogany monster. "It isn't seemly for a gentleman like yourself to make such a… bold statement." His tone was laced with apprehension, and maybe even a hint of fear. Not that he was anywhere close to aware of the real reason he should be afraid. Ansem was a useful tool, nothing more. Sephiroth leaned up against the window and stared down at the dull city lights, barely able to reach Shinra's peak through the fog of pollution swarming the streets. He was suddenly very aware of the high collars of his shirt and coat, and of the distance between where he was standing and the people down below. They were from entirely different worlds, really, him and them.

"Sir? Are you listening to me?"

"I like it this way," Sephiroth deadpanned. The words would sound petulant from anyone else, but Seth Corvus's voice was slow, deep, and even, holding within all the power of the Egyptian pharaohs, the Roman emperors, and the European monarchs combined. The sort of voice one expects to give edicts; the sort of voice one doesn't think to question. Sephiroth's charisma was thick and powerful and yet unassuming, the sweet scent of the Venus fly trap luring the hapless fly to its death. Five simple words were more than enough to silence all but the most hard-headed of men.

"Sir," Ansem insisted, apparently not noticing or perhaps not caring that he was treading on razor-thin ice, "It just isn't appropriate. What would the other shareholders say-"

"I can't stand those meetings. That is why I authorize you to do my work in my place." The interruption, the punctuated remarks, all carefully calculated to remind Ansem that he was nothing. Yes, Sephiroth had very little use for human beings, unless they were doing what he wanted them to do. Spending too much time with humans was uncomfortable to him now, unnatural- he would never admit that they made him seethe with envy.

Ansem seemed to finally take the hint, and he stayed quiet for a while. Honestly, Sephiroth would have fired him, but he was the only person he knew of who both possessed his skill set and was too dumb not to keep secret what probably shouldn't have been. Yes, he was the perfect lackey.

"Speaking of your work, sir," Ansem began carefully. Of course the silence was too good to last. "The Twilight Town Project. I passed your instructions on to Miss Smith, and she sent me an update today." Sephiroth finally removed himself from the window just long enough to take the manila folder from Ansem and put it in his briefcase. He would look at it later.

"With regards to Miss Smith, I trust you've set up the meeting I requested?" Yes, Kairi Smith. Something of an enigma, but an incredibly talented programmer nonetheless. Even while everyone else on the team came and went, the girl's performance had consistently been high. Shinra was just lucky that no one else had realized what a powerful untapped resource those war orphans were. If those kids had any other options, they certainly wouldn't consent to being locked up in a basement.

"Uh, I thought you were going to give me a set of preferred times first," Ansem stuttered. Rarely was the man caught off guard, but when he was, well. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "I-I'm so sorry, sir. I'll call her up right away!"

"No need. She's probably working," Sephiroth said, the heavy implication of the last word left hanging in the air. Ansem flushed angrily, but kept his mouth shut. All it took was the occasional unspoken threat, and he was like putty. "I'll just go visit her downstairs, in my own time. I'm leaving now. Hold my mail like usual." He always requested that Ansem and Ansem only handled his mail, not because it was necessarily sensitive, but more that he loved the way Ansem reacted to being told to take care of correspondence, as if he were a common clerk. The man looked like a shriveled tomato. The sight made Sephiroth smile, every single time.

"Goodbye, sir," Ansem said heavily. Sweat was dripping down his face- that also happened when he got flustered. Sephiroth didn't bother to return the goodbye, since he'd already said he was leaving. He just scooped up his briefcase and walked out. Ansem wasn't important enough for goodbyes, anyway. Sehiroth had to save them for the people who were worth it.

Would you have stopped if I offered you money?

No, Dana, I wouldn't have, he thought to himself with a little smile. But all that was over, now. He'd spent half his life as a vampire, and, well.

He wanted those years back.

SUMMARY: When he was 16, Sephiroth tried to assault a girl his age- turns out she was a vampire, and she beat him up and bit him to get back at him. How's that for some vagina dentata?

That scene was inspired by the EPIC first scene of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I couldn't very well call the girl Darla, so I called her Dana instead. lolz. Sorry this chapter is a little short- it was originally going to be with the Cloud and Leon stuff from last chapter, but then I decided it would probably be better to give dear Sephiroth a chapter all his own. He's just so deliciously sociopathic, ain't ya, Seph?

I published (YET ANOTHER) new fic- a Megaman X and Kingdom Hearts crossover. It's called Thirteen Times Zero and it's going to be a multi-chap. If you've been reading this and thinking "Hmm, superpowers are cool, but this would be way more rad if there were killer robots," or just mourning the lack of ZOMG KINGDOM HEARTS ROBOTS as a fanfiction niche, well, go read it.

Also, this week was awesome because I got a present and it wasn't even my birthday! I GOT FANART:

http:// 13loves8loves9loves6. deviantart. com /art/Erased-For-Becoafamu-130361509 (Obviously, you have to delete the spaces before it'll work- ffnet blocks outside links.)

See? It says "For Becoafamu" right there in the link! xD Thanks, 13loves8loves9loves6! Wow, that's a mouthful.

Anyway, I'm going on vacation. Have fun the next two weeks or so, guys. I'm OUT!

Q OF THE DAY: On a scale of 'Totally Awesome' to 'Really Crazy Totally Awesome,' how totally awesome would you say that killer robots are? Feel free to express your answer in the form of a haiku. For example:

Oh, Killer Robots / You Are Totally Awesome / Crazy Totally