Chapter Two: Losing Sense of Gods

Okay…as usual, I don't own anything related to Final Fantasy or the Naruto/Boruto franchise. I don't know why I keep forgetting to write that down.

A quick warning here for those who are sensitive/potentially dealing with a mental health issue: there is a scene involving a feigned suicide in this chapter. While I may write about suicide, and while it's falsified in this instance, it's NEVER the answer. If you feel suicidal/overwhelmed with life, please, speak up and seek help! I wish I could write down all the numbers, but here's the number for the United States: 1-800-273-8255. If you feel like skipping that section as a result (I'll leave a warning there, too) by all means, do it.

POV: Sephiroth

Three years before the Niebelheim Incident (Sephiroth is assumed to be age 17.)

It was supposed to be an easy job – so easy I decided to go it alone.

"You sure you want to go to the Desert of Devil's Gorge by yourself?" Angeal Hewley asked me as I pored over the map one more time as he walked into my room aboard the ship. "I mean, I know your Midgar's Almighty Hero and all…but weird stuff's been known to happen out there."

"Weird stuff like what?" Genesis Rhapsodos wondered, jumping off his spot on the counter to see the map.

"He's talking about those ancient gypsy folk, Genesis – the ones who came to the planet five or six centuries ago for no reason, stealing beautiful women and girls from their homes," I replied. "They could call on the earth to do their will, summon storms with hand signs…they even had eyes that could see through bodies and drive people mad. They were called…the Nasaki, if I remember it right."

Genesis shook his head. "I thought it was Shinobi or Nasakura…but didn't they die out?"

"That's not it – they were practically annihilated. People got sick of losing their women and girls to them…the Nasakura used them practically as broodmares. They'd keep breeding the women till they quit bearing, then leave behind the women, runts, and weaklings for the victim's families to take care of when they wanted a new victim," Angeal sighed. "Most of those kids were taken and used for science…the rest that were found were rounded up and slaughtered in a place they call Devil's Gorge, even the women and children. To this day, that gorge has been permanently tainted…the water from there has never stopped running red like blood. The gypsies gave it their all…but they stood no chance against the government and their high-tech weapons, even then."

I nodded. "Even so, this isn't going to be difficult…my job is to seek out and retrieve any ancient artifacts or bodies I can find. President Shinra wants to me to locate any remaining bodies so they can be identified for more proper burial…and removal of any potential traps or artifacts for further research. They want to start mining for Mako in the region, but Shinra isn't taking any chances over disturbing the dead, or unleashing anything detrimental."

"Why such concern over bodies and artifacts?" Genesis wondered, brushing his red hair to the side.

"You remember that botched excavation they did near the actual burial place of the gypsies, in the mountains?" Angeal asked. "Well, they wound up disturbing the bones of one of the most powerful members of the group…a man with awful red eyes. Five of the seven members of the excavation have gone blind…the other two went half-mad. Shinra thinks Sephiroth will be more careful…hopefully be better suited for removing and caring for the bodies of the dead until they can be moved."

"Even so…be careful out there, Sephiroth," Genesis replied. "Those gypsies sure were worried about their dead if that's the case."

I rose from my seat, brushing my hair out of my face. "The only reason the archeologists got hurt was because they trampled down the graves of the deceased and opened them, sparking their anger. Hopefully…I can do better."

POV: Danika

I could barely believe my own anger as I went to the waterfall, drowning in yet another sea of rage and anxiety. No matter how hard I tried to move on, it seemed as though I was little more than a tired swimmer drowning in an endless ocean, the shoreline slipping further and further from my grasp.

Did my birth mother…did she truly love me? Did she know the disaster that would befall her – the sorrow of knowing she would die in such a short time? That I could have potentially died with her on that day? That I…if I had the choice, would have wanted to die there with her, holding her, telling her we would be together on the other side?

I stared at the river, tears pooling up in my eyes, trying to form words to speak to this "Jenova" again. Fortunately, the voice/creature/whatever the heck it was got the hint – as I stepped into the rushing waters of the river, a bright light filled the night sky, transfiguring into the shape of an angelic-looking woman with a single black wing. Her hair was silver, and parted in the middle, her eyes opening slowly to reveal blue, catlike orbs.

Her skin…well, that's where things got questionable. Her skin was gray and cold-looking, almost like marble, but the rest was covered in a long yukata similar to my own. "Danika," she said softly, her voice still sounding like it came out of a half-dead corpse. "Long have I sought you…and you, in the ebb of your misery, have found me."

"Let's cut to the chase – what do you want?" I asked. "I've been kicked out of two families like a flea bitten stray dog who pissed on the expensive carpet, I just found out my birth mother was assassinated to stop a coup, my sensei took her from me, and now I have to deal with the fact that I now have information that is probably going to get me killed sooner rather than later."

Jenova looked at me in surprise. "Do you not believe that I have come to save you, in accordance with the ancient covenant I made with your ancestors, who once worshipped me? Your father's bloodline treated me like a goddess…they provided for me many gifts – even the lives of their own children."

I groaned. "I know you mean well, Jenova, but…can we please just not bring him up right now?"

"Your father is irrelevant…however, his meddling could be the thing that saves entire worlds – or brings them to utter destruction," Jenova replied. "Please, Danika…hear my voice. I need you …the cosmos needs you…far more than you could dream."

If I was being purely honest, I didn't believe her – period. The thought of anybody needing me seemed so…repulsive to my mind. The only people who had ever loved me or needed me had turned their backs on me the minute I needed them…or they wound up being two-faced liars, my teammates and mother the only exceptions.

But…part of me wanted so desperately to believe I was still wanted. Still needed in some small capacity outside that tiny circle…even if I was scraping intergalactic goop off the bottom of Jenova's cosmic shoes. I wanted to believe I could still be loveable to others.

"What…what do you want?" I croaked.

Jenova got right to the point. "Two millennia ago, I landed on a distant planet…as a calamity that fell from the skies. I sought to transform its inhabitants, the Cetra and the humans…into creatures that would understand me…and love me like a goddess. However…the Cetra resisted my gift…and they became monsters. The humans, their daughter race, hid from me…and the Cetra ultimately sealed me deep within a crater, though it spelled their inevitable doom.

Over the millennia, the Cetra disappeared…and though they lasted for some time, so did the Nasakura. Though they were humans originally from this world, they loved me and accepted me…and what I had to offer. They rejected their former goddess wholeheartedly…and did my will without shame. Even when they faded into the cold, dark night, they accepted me, believing to the end I would save them. And…on this dark day…I will honor the sacrifices of them who love me…by uniting the heart of the Nasakura to one I have selected."

"And…who is that?"

"I shall not speak his name – but know this. The wicked humans have been harvesting my cells to create enhanced humans…children in my image. They seek to use these creations as weapons…but I desire to show the foolish humans what they are messing with. Come with me, young gypsy girl…accept my gift of power…the power of my own flesh and blood!

If I am being honest about all this, I was reluctant. What did any of this really mean? Did it even matter? But then…another feeling seized me, possibly even pride in myself.

I was tired of being the Village's doormat – someone people cared about when they wanted someone dead, but never good enough for praise outside of that. I was tired of being just another pawn people could order around at a whim. Was I trading one master for another? Probably – but if I remained here, my personal agonies would only get worse.

Staking my whole future on the next few seconds, I reached for the gray, corpselike hand of Jenova…and the world around me exploded in light.

…

"Danika?" a voice above me asked.

I tried finding my feet…but they felt like gelatinous sticks as I tried to pull my body off the ground. I reached up into the darkness…and I felt two pairs of hands grabbing at me as my eyes tried to adjust to the mixture of light and dark. My back, arms, and legs…every inch of me screamed out in livid agony.

And yet…I felt new. Stronger. More confident in what I had chosen.

The life I had chosen.

Suddenly, I was staring into the faces of Sarutobi…and another brown-haired man I did not recognize. Both of them were angry…but I knew why.

"Sensei…if there's anyone you ought to be angry at…it should be none other than you," I said, reading his face like a book. "What did you think you would get out of lying to my face…to Sasuke's face…to all of our faces?"

The Hokage flinched. "Danika-chan…what do you think telling the truth will achieve?"

"At this point…not much," I said, clinching my teeth for the pain still coursing through me. Why were they so concerned about Sasuke? Had they somehow been blinded to what just occurred? Or was it all a hallucination? "But telling the truth…is going to save Sasuke a world of eternal heartache. How can I stand there…and keep the truth to myself…when my own flesh-and-blood is suffering and dying inside?"

"If you love him…and your family…you'll keep that nasty mouth of yours shut." the brown-haired man snarled. It was now that I saw that his eye was covered…and he seemed to be old and injured.

"Danzo Shinimura!" the Hokage snapped. "How can you say that, especially after all she now knows?"

"This girl has made herself too dangerous!" Danzo nearly shouted. "You saw that awful jutsu she was trying to perform! If she doesn't fall back in line, she'll destroy the safety of this village. Either she shuts up, or we make the those adulterous, incestuous pigs into Uchihas – and make her spill their blood!

I wanted to see red…but all I did was shake with fear, anger, and pain as Danzo slipped his bandaged fingers under my chin. "That's right, little girl…cower like the little flea-bitten dog you are. Be good…toe the line…and you and your family live. Otherwise…you will spend the rest of your miserable life begging to share your former sensei's lot."

Danzo left and turned away…and instead of standing up for me, the Hokage turned and walked away. I stood there for a few minutes…and slowly, a plan began bubbling in my mind.

"Three can play at this game, you cockroaches," I thought to myself. "And even though this mockingbird can't exactly sing, I'll make you scream!"

…

The next morning, I woke up really late – so much so Nerika was worried.

"Hey, you spend all night out training again?" she wondered.

"You could say so."

"You know that's not good for your health, Danika-chan!" Nerika cried.

"Says the one who spends half the night up playing Silent Hill." I said coldly, pain still radiating through me as I came down to breakfast – and so began the longest day and night of my life. I spent most of the day wandering from place to place and person to person, fighting to memorize all the faces and names of friends in the village.

I hated what I was doing – but it had to work. If my family was to live another day, it had to happen.

"Jenova," I murmured in my mind. "Please help me!"

There was one conversation that stuck out in my mind. As the sun began to set low in the sky, I picked a spot in the forest to bury the hateful scroll that had gotten me in so much trouble, using a trowel to do the work. As I slid the scroll into a silver box, placing a seal on top, a pair of footsteps came up behind me.

"Hey, Danika-chan," Sasuke's cool voice said, cutting like a knife through my brain. "Are you okay?"

"Define 'okay', Sasuke-kun." I replied, then almost immediately regretting my reply. Of all the relationships I had in the Leaf Village, none had been more complicated than the one I had with Sasuke. Once, we had been childhood friends, testing each other to be the best. We motivated ourselves, pushed ourselves, and even sparred together. However, after the Massacre, things got colder. He didn't hate me, or anything like that – but I knew I was a bad memory he'd rather have forgotten.

Or would I rather have forgotten him…and the memories he dredged back to the surface? I wasn't sure.

Of course, things came to a head after the Sharingan incident…he was pissed, and I didn't blame him. Problem was, I couldn't tell who he was more pissed at: me for being an illegitimate heir, or my dad for dragging both of our family names through the mud.

However, he now looked at me with something that looked close to legitimate concern. "Danika-chan…you can't keep taking this all so personally!" he protested. "This wasn't your fault, and I'm not blaming you for it! I accept the fact that you're my third cousin…you are my family, illegitimate or not!"

I paused, stunned. "Why…why did you wait this long?"

"I…I didn't know what to think, or even what to say to you," he replied. "None of it made any sense to me…and nothing I could have said would have made things better, so I said nothing," Then, he looked down at the box. "What's that?"

I gulped. "Sasuke…I got myself in a lot of danger last night thanks to what's in this box," I replied. "I can give it to you…but you must make me an oath. For the sake of my family…for Tahana. Don't make me do…what he did."

Sasuke knelt down beside me. "Are you saying someone threatened you?"

I nodded. "My family…the Village…they can't know. Otherwise…"

He nodded in return. "What do you want?"

I swallowed again. "Please…don't open this box…until the day you choose to leave this village behind you. When you do…run so far from this Village that they can't catch you. Please…for my sake…"

"Have you told anyone this? Your mom?"

"No…they can't know. It's not safe. She…she doesn't need this."

Sasuke nodded again, taking the box. "I don't understand why you're so freaked out…but if its what you demand, I will comply. I'll be on a mission tomorrow, so I'll pretend to forget."

I smiled then, rising to my feet.

"Thank you, Sasuke," I murmured. "Thank you for everything."

…

[SUICIDE WARNING: If sensitive, please pass over this section. If you choose to continue, you were warned.]

I stared at my bed, down to my sword, and out the window again, watching the minutes tick along like obedient soldiers, listening for Nerika to go to sleep or put on a super-loud horror flick. Either would have sufficed.

On my bed lay a Corpse Body Doll…a gift I had received from Itatchi many years before. Back then, I had questioned why he would give me such a bizarre gift, but now, all my questions were answered. My stomach was in a dozen knots as I stared at the thing, which looked just like me – same short red hair, brown eyes, lovely white yukata…

I didn't want to…but I had to.

I pulled my Hidden Leaf headband off my waist, laying it across the doll's head. Then, I lifted the sword up, shut my eyes…and slammed it down through the corpse's chest, blood rushing up to splash me in the face and chest…just as Jenova reappeared, her hand outstretched to mine.

"Well done, my child," she murmured in approval, pulling me into a chilly embrace. "Now…you are truly free to serve me. Come with me…I have much to teach you."