Chapter One
(Age 14)
"Sephiroth! How can you do this? I thought I could trust you? I thought you loved me!" A young woman sat on the floor crying. She grabbed Sephiroth by the leg. "God, have mercy! I beg you! Please!"
"Save your tears." He raised his sword high and laughed. "Good bye."
Sephiroth sat up quickly and panted heavily as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Why? Why do I keep having this same dream? Every night?" He looked out his window. It was still dark out. He knew Hojo would be mad if he found him awake.
He got up and walked over to the window. "I'm so sick of this place. I wish I could just get away." There was a knock on his door.
"Sephiroth! I heard you gasp. Are you alright sweetheart?" It was Andrea, his "mother."
"God woman, go away! I'm fine. Leave me be." He couldn't stand her at all, probably because she wasn't really his mother. His real mother had died after giving birth to him. Hojo immediately saw to it that he had a new mother within the year of her death.
A young woman with auburn hair walked into the room. "Are you sure you are ok? I mean if you want I could get you some water...or some-" She held her robe together in one hand and tried to touch his shoulder with the other.
He shrugged it off. "I said I was fine. Just go back to bed before he gets mad at us both."
Andrea turned and walked away. "Alright...just don't stay up too late." She left and shut the door. Sephiroth just stood there and sighed.
Tomorrow is my birthday he thought as he stared up at the moon. I'll be fourteen. Only two more years until I can start my training for SOLDIER. He heaved a sigh. I wish I could join now.
There were more footsteps outside the halls and a few voices that he could barely hear. Maybe it was Hojo. He sighed once more and walked over to the bed. I want out of this hell house.
***
That next morning was cold and damp. It was raining outside and the thunder caused everything in the house to shake. Sephiroth pulled his hair back and threw on a pair of black pants.
Andrea was already downstairs making breakfast. He could already smell the bacon. He wondered what she would do today for his birthday. Last year she invited a bunch of boys from around the neighborhood that he hated and hired a clown. It was the most humiliating thing he had ever experienced in his life.
He ran down the stairs throwing a tight white shirt on as he went. He had to get out of this house before she stopped him. Sephiroth walked into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of toast and began to leave.
"Where are you going?" Andrea turned from the stove and put her hands on her hips.
"I'm leaving. Do you have a problem with that?" He walked over to her and looked down.
He was very tall for his age and next to Andrea he was huge. She was only about five foot three inches and she was very skinny. She also had a distant look on her face and a blank smile that always bothered Sephiroth.
He never really accepted her as anything and at most times tried his best to ignore her presence. She was very annoying and always tried to interfere with his life.
"Yes I do! I wanted us to spend the day together. Hojo is finally home for once and he is bringing that student of his. We'll have a nice quiet birthday celebration for once."
"No. I told you that today I was going to go to Sector 6 with my friends." Sephiroth turned and left for the door again.
"Your father won't be happy! He stayed home for you, ya know! He loves you! He wants to spend time with you."
"Bull shit. That man doesn't love me and he has no intent of spending time with me. Why do you think I'm stuck with you?" He was sick of hearing this. Every time she tried to have "family time," it ruined his plans.
Andrea's eyes were starting to tear up and she frowned. "Can we please just get along today? For once?" Her eyes pleaded with him.
Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll be upstairs." He grabbed another piece of toast and walked back to his room.
***
Sephiroth hated his room. It was where he had spent most of his life. Many times when Hojo would get frustrated he would lock him in there for days and wouldn't let Andrea bring him food. He hated him so much and it was hard to believe that he wanted to "spend time with his son."
He looked out the window again and to the sky. The storm was dying down a bit thankfully. Thank god...maybe now it won't be quite so gloomy. He walked over to his mirror and snatched the picture that was stuck in the frame.
It was a picture of several scientists from ShinRa Inc. Hojo miserably stood in the back among a few others with Andrea smiling next to him. There were other people there too who Sephiroth barely knew, but in the very front was a beautiful young girl next to Professor Johnson.
It was a student of Hojo's, Ariana. She was about nineteen with long, flowing, red hair and she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen in his life. She had always been really sweet to him and when he was a few years younger, she always took some time to play games with him.
He sighed. "She would never even look at me in that way. She's so much older...and...ugh." He clenched his fist together and threw the picture on his bed. "Shit."
***
Later that afternoon, Hojo arrived for dinner with Ariana. Sephiroth was more then glad to join them, as long as he got to sit next to her. As usual, Hojo was ignoring him and discussing something about a new project. It all sounded boring to him but when Hojo would turn and ask him a question, he nodded in agreement as he stared at the wall.
"Yes, things are definitely heating up Andrea. I think I am going to be working more than usual." Hojo said as he shoved some potatoes into his mouth.
"Well in all honesty Professor, I think if we went with some of Gast's old research then the work might go a bit faster. I mean some of it is rather complex, yes, but it could save us years of research." Ariana said.
Hojo banged his fist on the table. "Gast was a fool and his theories were nonsense! Complete nonsense."
Sephiroth stood up. "He was probably a lot better than you! You just won't admit that that is why you hate him so much."
Andrea growled under her breath. "Everyone stop it! Sephiroth sit down. That was completely uncalled for. For once can't you show your father some respect?"
"No," he mumbled silently as he sat back down.
There was a long silence while everyone finished their dinner. Andrea started to gather all the plates and bring them to the sink. Ariana cleared her throat. "Well um, I hate to leave so early, but I have some things that I need to attend to at home." She stood and walked over to Sephiroth. "Happy Birthday hun." She handed him a small wrapped box and kissed his forehead.
"Um...thanks Ari." He gave her a small smile as she winked with her gorgeous eyes.
He had always loved her eyes so much. They were a pale and natural green, which now a day was rare. Most green eyes came from the makou injections that you received when you joined SOLDIER. He had such eyes since he had been given small injections of makou throughout his childhood.
Ariana nodded to Andrea. "I'll see you in the lab on Tuesday then and Professor Hojo," she turned her gaze to him. "Please, atleast think about considering what I said?"
Hojo waved a hand of dismissal and took a cup of coffee from Andrea. She sighed and left shaking her head all the way to the door. Sephiroth just sat there and stared at the box she had given him. He wondered what it could be.
Andrea and Hojo had also gotten him something, which came as a big surprise to him. He first opened Andrea's present. It was two pieces of materia; Cure and Fire. He smiled a bit and then gave her a hug. He wanted his own materia for a long time because he was tired of using his friend's.
Next, he began to open Hojo's, which was very strange. He couldn't figure out what in the hell it could be because it was extremely long and thin. Once he pulled the paper off he opened the box and pulled out a long sheathed sword.
"It's about damn time that you learned how to use a weapon if you are going to join SOLDIER. That's a masamune, Sephiroth. Few can use it well, but I think you can manage." Hojo took a long sip of his coffee and watched as the young boy pulled the sword out of its sheath.
"Wow." He examined the blade carefully and ran his finger along the edge. I can't believe he actually did this. In all his years that he had known Hojo, he had never gotten him anything like this before. He was extremely shocked.
"Thanks...I guess, I mean," he swung it around a bit. "This is wonderful."
Andrea smiled and then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Happy Birthday Sephiroth." She kissed his forehead and then sat down next to Hojo at the table. Sephiroth thanked them both again, grabbed Ariana's gift and ran up to his room.
The minute he walked through the door he picked up his PHS and dialed Nian's number. He threw his stuff on his bed and paced impatiently as it rang. "Hello? Nian? Ya, its Sephiroth. You won't believe it! Ya! He got me a masamune. Um." He looked at his watch. "Ya I think you can come over. I want to hear all about the slums."
***
Nian was one of Sephiroth's best and closest friends out of the few he had. He was a couple years older then Sephiroth but that didn't seem to matter to either of them. You couldn't tell the difference. Both of them were about five foot eleven inches and they had similar facial features. The only difference was, was that Nian's eyes were blue and he had short black hair.
Nian swung the sword around and stabbed the air. "Wow, I can't believe Hojo got you this." He did a few more moves with the sword but then accidentally dropped it.
"Hey! Careful!" Sephiroth picked it up and looked at the blade. "Ya, Hojo said this was kinda hard to handle, but I'm sure I'll get the correct training in SOLDIER.
"So you still plan on going through with that?" Nian shook his head and looked at the picture that was still lying on the bed. He put it down and picked up Ariana's present. "What's this?"
"Oh." He snatched it. "It's um a gift from Ariana. I haven't opened it yet but I will later." He set it down on a shelf. "But anyway, so what was it like in Sector 6 slums? Anything interesting there?"
"Oh man, Sephiroth! I'm telling you! You missed out! We went to the Wall Market and found the Honey Bee Inn. Oh my god! Some of the hottest girls were coming out of the place! Rob stole someone's member card to get in and he got a Bee to strip and we got pictures!" Nian waved around a picture of a naked woman.
Sephiroth snatched the picture and his jaw dropped. "Ugh! Why do I always miss shit like this?" He sighed and gave him back the picture. "So what else was there?"
"Well we went to the bar and the guy was a complete idiot. Didn't check our ID's or anything! Just kinda stared at us for a long time. Everyone there kinda did." He shrugged.
"Ya well duh Nian. We come from the upper plates. We don't exactly look like we came from the slums." Sephiroth pulled out his materia and began to put it in the slots on the masamune. "Was it nasty down there?"
"Oh ya man. It was horrible. The ground was all muddy from the rain and it was really dark down there. Some places it was kind of hard to breathe too. There is so much smog and shit."
"Ya, that's all Andrea told me when I kept asking her to go. I still can't believe she made me stay home. I swear I can't stand her sometimes." He sighed. "At least I got to see Ariana."
"You still in love with that chick?" Nian lied down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
"I dunno anymore. I mean, ugh. It's not like she'll ever feel the same way about me. I'm so young and she's so..." Sephiroth sighed and stared at the present on the shelf. "Nian, have you ever been in love with a girl?"
"Once...." He kept his eyes at the ceiling.
There was a pause and then Nian coughed. Sephiroth looked over at him and then smiled. Nian smiled back and then they both laughed.
***
That morning it was a lot warmer then it was yesterday. Sephiroth stretched and looked on the floor. Nian had left. Probably had business to take care of or something. He sat up, stretched and looked around. His present still sat on the shelf, unopened.
He got of bed and walked over to the shelf. He took the present and then slowly began to open it. Wonder what it could be? He pulled off the lid and looked inside. It was a beautiful piece of crystallized makou that had been attached to a thin leather string.
He pulled it out of the box and tied it around his neck. Then he began to get dressed. He was tired and kind of confused. Last night he and Nian had talked for hours, mostly about what he should do about Ariana.
"Seriously Seph, I think you should just go to the lab tomorrow and tell her how you feel. Just get it out of the way! And if she doesn't like you the same way, what's the worst thing that could happen?"
"I guess he's right. I need to just tell her." He finished getting his clothes on and ran down the stairs. Andrea must have left much earlier that morning because she wasn't poking and prodding him like she usually does every morning.
"Good, I can have a moment of freedom." He grabbed an apple and walked outside, heading towards the train station.
***
ShinRa Inc was a huge building and it was easy to get lost in the hectic maze. There were thousands of security guards patrolling the place and you had to have about 50 key cards just to get around. Even so, he always managed to find the laboratory. Sephiroth walked into the gigantic building and smiled as the secretary greeted him.
"Hey hun," she said as she noisily chomped her gum. "Here to see ya fatha?"
"Actually I was looking for a Miss Ariana? Works on levels sixty-four through sixty-seven I think?" Sephiroth smiled a bit nervously.
"Uh..." She turned to her computer and clicked wildly on the mouse. "Ya...she should be on her lunch break actually sweetie pie. So check the lunchroom.." She handed him a few card keys "And if she's not there, check those floors."
Sephiroth nodded and then ran up the stairs to the elevator. There were a few executives in there with him but he managed to survive. Every now and again it stopped on different floors and different people would leave, but on floor thirty-four a young man with long black hair got into the elevator.
"Still causing trouble Sephiroth?" The young Turk smiled.
"Nah, Tseng you know me. I wouldn't dream of doing anything too horrible." He smiled and laughed.
Tseng was another one of Sephiroth's companions. This year he had turned eighteen and was allowed to start working for the Turks, ShinRa's most feared assassins. Sephiroth was glad to know that he wasn't the only one in their little group to run off to ShinRa. They rest of his friends hated the company entirely and felt they were both wasting their time associating with them.
"So, how is life as a Turk treating ya?" Seph punched his arm and smiled.
"It's not so bad. I haven't really gone on any missions yet. So, no blood shed. I'm dying of impatience." Tseng sighed. "Why are you here?"
He flushed slightly. "I'm kind of looking for Ariana. Have you seen her around lately?"
Tseng thought for a second and then nodded. "She should be on the lunch floor, which is where I am headed. I'm starved! You can come get something to eat with me. My treat?"
"Sure," Sephiroth smiled. "Why not? Besides, you still owe me a birthday gift."
The elevator stopped moving and there was a loud "ding!" as the doors flew open. They both stepped out into the crowded room. Apparently everyone was on his or her lunch break at the moment.
Tseng dragged him through and they snuck to the head of the line. Tseng informed him that "being a Turk had more than one advantage." After they had gotten their food they sat down and began to snack.
They talked for a little while, exchanging different stories about what had happened in each other's lives. Then Sephiroth went on to explain the whole situation with Ariana. He knew Tseng would understand because he had had a crush on her not that long ago as well.
"Well, I think that Nian is right! Just go and tell her!" He looked around the room with his eyes and then they stopped. He pointed toward her direction. "Look, Seph she is right over there. Why don't you take your chance now?
Sephiroth looked nervously across the room and saw her sitting at a table alone. He took a deep breath and nodded as he stood up. "Alright then...wish me luck."
He proceeded over and when he got close enough he tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped at first but when she turned around she greeted him with a warm smile and welcomed him to sit down.
"Hey Sephiroth! Why are you here? Business with your father?"
Ugh, hell no. "Ya actually. I had to um...ya talk to him about something, but anyway that's not important. Um, well the other reason I came was to uh...." He paused for a moment and stared at her. God she is beautiful. What do I say? "Um...I came to say that..."
Just then Johnson walked over and sat down at the table. He was a nice guy and very smart for someone in their early twenties. He smiled at Sephiroth and then leaned over to kiss Ariana.
Sephiroth nearly lost it as he watched. His fist was clenched tightly under the table and he tried to remain calm. This man was invading on his territory. As they broke away he tried to maintain a fake smile but Ariana could tell something was wrong.
"Sephiroth? Are you ok?" She looked worried.
"Ya, I'm fine. Um ya, I just came here to tell you thanks...for the uh necklace. I really like it." He cleared his throat and sighed. "But, uh I guess I'll leave you two alone then so you can eat."
He stood and walked away. He was hurt and extremely pissed off. How could this happen? I should have seen it coming. Someone that beautiful was bound to have a boyfriend and an older one at that. Not some...kid.
Tseng looked at him with sympathetic eyes and tried to comfort him as he sat down. "Hey buddy, I mean she's just one girl. There are tons of girls out there!"
"No Tseng. I don't want another girl. The only girl I ever loved is sitting right over there...and she isn't even mine." He tried not to get teary eyed. Don't let her get to you. Don't let her get to you. "Fuck love."
