Rufus stepped into his office, straightening his tie importantly. He walked
to his desk, pressing a button on his telephone. "Send Hojo up
immediately," he spoke into the speaker. "I think I have secured a most
interesting specimen."
He seated himself, and swiveled in his seat to look out the window. He always felt very important when he would swivel his chair from the window to face other people in the room.
He knew Hojo had entered the room when he heard an excited squeak behind him. "Mr. Shin-Ra," the man said. "I was told you had a.... specimen for me?"
Rufus smiled and turned importantly in the swivel chair to face Hojo (I love doing that, he thought). "Yes, I think I may. Granted, I haven't a chance to test her claim yet, but I'm sure that you're more than capable."
"Her claim, Mr. Shin-Ra?" the small man questioned, rubbing his green- tinted hands together anxiously. His greasy hair, that always seemed so repulsive to Rufus, was pulled into a ponytail behind his head. Then again, he guessed this man was too busy with his experiments to bathe. He was not asked to sit down.
"Yes.... How shall I begin? As you know, about a thousand years after the Cetra's settlement on Earth, a highly sophisticated civilization called Spira emerged. They created a capital city known as Zanarkand. They were so technologically advanced that it was believed their god became angry and sent a water monster to attack the city. The people therefore banished all machines from their society to appease the god. They then chose to live in small, scattered villages all over Spira. Certain people were trained in those times in the art of summoning powerful beasts in an attempt to temporarily banish the monster, Sin, from their land."
Hojo nodded impatiently. "I know all of this. Fairy tales, nothing more."
"I found a girl yesterday who claimed she was a Summoner."
"A Summoner? She would have to be over three thousand years old," Hojo stated bluntly, but edged hungrily forward. "How do you know she's a Summoner?"
"That's what I want you to figure out."
"You're not going to have me test every person that comes running in saying they're a Summoner!"
"There's something different about this girl, though. Her clothing appear to be made of organic fibers, and her skin," he tried to hold back a grin. "...doesn't seem to be affected as our is by pollution. She carries herself with an unusually regal bearing and her speech is much too eloquent to be some bumpkin from the slums."
Hojo nodded excitedly. "I can't wait to begin the tests!"
Hojo walked out of the room, chattering happily with himself. "If she is a Summoner, I can only imagine how much power she has! How marvelous it would be to summon and use magic without materia! If I can just learn her secret, I'll be the most powerful being on Earth! And I know exactly what I'll do....."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The stars shivered in the icy heavens as they looked down on the Earth. Below them, a tiny point of warmth flickered, a flame.
The heat reflected off a young man's face, smirking humorlessly as he stalked among the burning houses and dead bodies. As he began to encounter less survivors, the adrenaline was began to slip away. Sweat trickled down his forehead, his sweaty palms gripped the leather hilt of Masamune tight. No survivors.
His leather trench coat dragged behind in the blood-flecked snow. He knew it was painfully cold, but he could not feel it. He was beyond pain. He stared through his breath in the firelight, rising with the smoke to the heavens. He had forgotten a building, a cafe.
He went to try the handle. Locked. Drawing back, he then burst forward, crashing through the shop window. Shards of flying glass ripped at his skin, but he just wiped the blood away from his face.
He glanced around the room in the dim light from the houses burning nearby. Nothing of any interest. No people. He prepared to incinerate the establishment.
He lowered his eyes and chanted, feeling a warm ball of flame materialize in his open palm, when a newspaper headline on a nearby table caught his eye.
'THE SUMMONING OF A SUMMONER'
He ceased chanting, the fireball disappeared into a small whiff of smoke. A Summoner?.... He read further.
'She has baffled the most ingenious of scientists for the past ten months. Her powers have puzzled the most learned scholars. But is she for real or just an elaborate hoax? The Chocobo News investigates.
'Ten months ago, Summoner Yuna claimed to have washed up on the Costa del Sol. After being discovered by the renown and successful business-owner, Rufus Shin-Ra, she was taken to the Shin-Ra building where studies commenced to see if her claims of extraordinary powers were for real. The results of their work have astounded the scientific world. Shin-Ra scientist Dr. Hojo comments, "At first, we thought she was merely crazy. Anyone claiming to be able to [summon] without the aide of materia has to be over three thousand years old! But after only four months of testing, there was no questioning her claim.... She has the power to summon many [beasts] we know of, such as Shiva and Ifrit, but also many others we have never heard of.... She also exhibits many qualities pertaining to a Cetra. She is truly a remarkable specimen."
'However, not everyone is as willing to discuss such a ground-breaking discovery. Rufus Shin-Ra was unavailable for comment on the Summoner, and we were not allowed to interview or photograph the Summoner. However, rumors indicate she is being kept somewhere in the Shin-Ra building.'
Sephiroth stopped reading there. He grabbed the newspaper and thrust it into one of his pockets.
Yuna....
The journey to Midgar would be long, but if he could manage to locate this 'Summoner', perhaps he could learn her powers and become completely invincible. Then no one oculd interfere with Mother's plans.
Suddenly, he heard a scuffling behind him. A man crawled out from behind the counter, dragging his mangled leg behind him. He called to Sephiroth pitifully. "M-my family ... you've killed my family!" The man wailed. "H- how could you? How could you kill all these people?"
Sephiroth frowned, falling into a low stance. His green eyes glinted mercilessly. "Like this," he hissed. The blade glinted as he shot forward, his movements silhouetted by the flames of the outside buildings.
There were no survivors.
Author's note: Sorry, when I posted this chapter last night I was in a bit of a daze (it's been long week,) so I had quite an abundance of spelling and grammatical errors. Thank you for pointing them out! I believe I've thoroughly ironed them all out now, so enjoy!
He seated himself, and swiveled in his seat to look out the window. He always felt very important when he would swivel his chair from the window to face other people in the room.
He knew Hojo had entered the room when he heard an excited squeak behind him. "Mr. Shin-Ra," the man said. "I was told you had a.... specimen for me?"
Rufus smiled and turned importantly in the swivel chair to face Hojo (I love doing that, he thought). "Yes, I think I may. Granted, I haven't a chance to test her claim yet, but I'm sure that you're more than capable."
"Her claim, Mr. Shin-Ra?" the small man questioned, rubbing his green- tinted hands together anxiously. His greasy hair, that always seemed so repulsive to Rufus, was pulled into a ponytail behind his head. Then again, he guessed this man was too busy with his experiments to bathe. He was not asked to sit down.
"Yes.... How shall I begin? As you know, about a thousand years after the Cetra's settlement on Earth, a highly sophisticated civilization called Spira emerged. They created a capital city known as Zanarkand. They were so technologically advanced that it was believed their god became angry and sent a water monster to attack the city. The people therefore banished all machines from their society to appease the god. They then chose to live in small, scattered villages all over Spira. Certain people were trained in those times in the art of summoning powerful beasts in an attempt to temporarily banish the monster, Sin, from their land."
Hojo nodded impatiently. "I know all of this. Fairy tales, nothing more."
"I found a girl yesterday who claimed she was a Summoner."
"A Summoner? She would have to be over three thousand years old," Hojo stated bluntly, but edged hungrily forward. "How do you know she's a Summoner?"
"That's what I want you to figure out."
"You're not going to have me test every person that comes running in saying they're a Summoner!"
"There's something different about this girl, though. Her clothing appear to be made of organic fibers, and her skin," he tried to hold back a grin. "...doesn't seem to be affected as our is by pollution. She carries herself with an unusually regal bearing and her speech is much too eloquent to be some bumpkin from the slums."
Hojo nodded excitedly. "I can't wait to begin the tests!"
Hojo walked out of the room, chattering happily with himself. "If she is a Summoner, I can only imagine how much power she has! How marvelous it would be to summon and use magic without materia! If I can just learn her secret, I'll be the most powerful being on Earth! And I know exactly what I'll do....."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The stars shivered in the icy heavens as they looked down on the Earth. Below them, a tiny point of warmth flickered, a flame.
The heat reflected off a young man's face, smirking humorlessly as he stalked among the burning houses and dead bodies. As he began to encounter less survivors, the adrenaline was began to slip away. Sweat trickled down his forehead, his sweaty palms gripped the leather hilt of Masamune tight. No survivors.
His leather trench coat dragged behind in the blood-flecked snow. He knew it was painfully cold, but he could not feel it. He was beyond pain. He stared through his breath in the firelight, rising with the smoke to the heavens. He had forgotten a building, a cafe.
He went to try the handle. Locked. Drawing back, he then burst forward, crashing through the shop window. Shards of flying glass ripped at his skin, but he just wiped the blood away from his face.
He glanced around the room in the dim light from the houses burning nearby. Nothing of any interest. No people. He prepared to incinerate the establishment.
He lowered his eyes and chanted, feeling a warm ball of flame materialize in his open palm, when a newspaper headline on a nearby table caught his eye.
'THE SUMMONING OF A SUMMONER'
He ceased chanting, the fireball disappeared into a small whiff of smoke. A Summoner?.... He read further.
'She has baffled the most ingenious of scientists for the past ten months. Her powers have puzzled the most learned scholars. But is she for real or just an elaborate hoax? The Chocobo News investigates.
'Ten months ago, Summoner Yuna claimed to have washed up on the Costa del Sol. After being discovered by the renown and successful business-owner, Rufus Shin-Ra, she was taken to the Shin-Ra building where studies commenced to see if her claims of extraordinary powers were for real. The results of their work have astounded the scientific world. Shin-Ra scientist Dr. Hojo comments, "At first, we thought she was merely crazy. Anyone claiming to be able to [summon] without the aide of materia has to be over three thousand years old! But after only four months of testing, there was no questioning her claim.... She has the power to summon many [beasts] we know of, such as Shiva and Ifrit, but also many others we have never heard of.... She also exhibits many qualities pertaining to a Cetra. She is truly a remarkable specimen."
'However, not everyone is as willing to discuss such a ground-breaking discovery. Rufus Shin-Ra was unavailable for comment on the Summoner, and we were not allowed to interview or photograph the Summoner. However, rumors indicate she is being kept somewhere in the Shin-Ra building.'
Sephiroth stopped reading there. He grabbed the newspaper and thrust it into one of his pockets.
Yuna....
The journey to Midgar would be long, but if he could manage to locate this 'Summoner', perhaps he could learn her powers and become completely invincible. Then no one oculd interfere with Mother's plans.
Suddenly, he heard a scuffling behind him. A man crawled out from behind the counter, dragging his mangled leg behind him. He called to Sephiroth pitifully. "M-my family ... you've killed my family!" The man wailed. "H- how could you? How could you kill all these people?"
Sephiroth frowned, falling into a low stance. His green eyes glinted mercilessly. "Like this," he hissed. The blade glinted as he shot forward, his movements silhouetted by the flames of the outside buildings.
There were no survivors.
Author's note: Sorry, when I posted this chapter last night I was in a bit of a daze (it's been long week,) so I had quite an abundance of spelling and grammatical errors. Thank you for pointing them out! I believe I've thoroughly ironed them all out now, so enjoy!