It was about an hour latter, when Tifa, Vincent, Red, and Cait reached the clearing. With the exception of Vincent, none of them were ready for what they saw. Sephiroth was laying against Dragon Shadow, though it was more likely he was placed there, then moved on his own. Cloud and Zack were both attempting to clean the wounds on her hide. Neither of them noticed the four enter the clearing. P
"Cloud!"P
Cloud turned around. "Oh, hi Tifa." He then noticed the others. "Say, why didn't Barret, Cid, or Yuffie come?"P
Cait laughed. "They were busy when we left."P
Cloud looked at him. "Something tells me I don't want to know."P
Red had moved towards Sephiroth. "Is he the one from the forest?"P
Cloud nodded. "I think so. He risked his life to try and save her. I don't know much about dragons, so I can't tell whether or not he succeeded…"P
Red nodded. "It is highly unusual for someone to try and save a dragon. But, I do not believe she will die from those injuries."P
Tifa was the next to move up. "Why are you helping them?"P
Cloud turned to her. "I've often asked myself the same thing. But, she did risk her life to save us, and Vincent, from those dragons. It may be that they can explain what is going on."P
Zack walked over to them. "I don't know much, but I can tell you some."P
Cloud turned to him. "How do you know?"P
"I suffered hell with him. Sometimes speaking was the only way to stay sane. He told me some information about the Jenova project that was destroyed on purpose. When Glast discovered this…. Maybe I should start from the beginning."P
Vincent moved forwards. He wanted to know, as badly as Cloud did, what had happened. Zack sat down, and closed his eyes for a few moments. Soon, the others followed his lead. Just as Red was getting comfortable, Zack began…P

CENTER* * * * */CENTER
P

"It all started with the discovery of Jenova. Glast believed he'd found an ancient. In his excitement, he began the project, without being sure. Hojo and Luccienta were married at the time, and volunteered their child. What they didn't realize was that Luccenta was carrying twins. The Jenova cells were equally spread between them. It was not until a few days before the child was to be born, that Glast discovered his mistake. They still didn't realize that there were twins. Glast ordered the experiment to be terminated. But, it was too late. The twins were born. Glast, realizing that he could never destroy the children, gave a package to be given to the eldest, on his 8th birthday. Even then, he feared Hojo's insanity could kill him. What he never counted on was that Hojo would be willing to turn the birth into a second experiment."P
"Hojo separated the twins at birth. One, he gave to a family. That is this Sephiroth. The second one was brought up in a lab, treated more like an object than a child. Hojo compared how the two reacted, and changed to their environments. They were both named Sephiroth, so that few would know that more than one existed. It was his dream to create a perfect pair of warriors."P
"On the eldest's 8th birthday, he got the letter from Glast. It spoke of everything, including Hojo's insanity. Both brothers were, by this point, as dangerous as any trained adult. Sephiroth took his sword, with the intention of killing Hojo. This was the first, and only time Jenova tried to influence him. Obviously, it failed. Sephiroth could not bring himself to kill another human, even a monster like Hojo."P
"Eight more years passed. The two brothers rarely saw each other, but every time they did, the younger had changed. It was during one of their practice sessions that the elder Sephiroth learned how much his brother had changed. It was not until the sword went through him, that the elder realized his brother would actually betray him. He believed he was dead…just like I did. But, like me, Jenova would not allow him to die. He spent the next several years in hell. Until Jenova took me, he was alone."P
"It took a while for the elder to discover that it was Jenova who had made his brother kill him. And Jenova was keeping him alive, in hopes of creating a second super warrior. But, Sephiroth could not give in. Seeing what his brother did, only strengthened his resolve. "P
"Every once in a while, he also discovered that his younger brother did not want to be a slave to her. Only because of the fact that Jenova stayed near to him, was he powerless to fight her. That is how we escaped. His brother let us free. Jenova was occupied half way across the world, and her hold over the younger Sephiroth loosened. It was at that moment that he managed to free us, and show us the way to escape. He begged us to kill him, but then she began to return. We had to flee. Neither of us could fight him in our current condition…"P

CENTER* * * * */CENTER
P

The others were silent, as Zack finished his tale. None of them knew what to say. Here was a side of Sephiroth they never believed existed. And a side of Hojo that was worse than anything they imagined.P
It was Cloud who broke the silence. "So, what happened to Sephiroth, is not really his fault?"P
Zack shook his head. "To that question, I have no answer. It may be that it was his fault in listing to Jenova in the first place. Or, it may be that Jenova forced him to listen to her. I don't know."P
The silence took over again. Red looked up at the fading daylight. "Perhaps it is best if we prepare to spend the night here. It appears to be too late to return…even if we were able to move the dragon."P
The others nodded their agreement. Half an hour latter, a neat camp had been set up in the clearing. Red and Vincent had been able to find some rabbits living near by, and they were now cooking over the fire. The few tents that had been packed were now removed, and pitched. Zack and Vincent both decided they'd rather sleep outside. Cait said he'd rather go in because it seemed like it was about to rain. Red took the second tent, and Cloud and Tifa took the third. There were two other tents left empty, incase it began to rain during the night. P
And so, the small, but unusual band settled down for the night. P
P
Author's Notes: I thought this chapter was important for people to understand Sephiroth. Actually, both of them. The changes that will happen onver the next while depend a lot on Sephiroth's past. This is more what I belive Sephiroth's situation was like. Though I have no proof of this. But the way I saw him in the game made me feel he was more like a slave, than an allay.