Sephiroth returned as silent as a shadow or ghost, making no sound as he entered the room. Alpha had turned off the electric light, but the illumination of the television lit the room. The volume remained at its normal level where it could be both easily heard yet easily ignored. Alpha laid asleep on the couch, partially shivering as he remained shirtless; his bloody shirt sat folded on the hardwood table in front of him beside a half-empty can of Coka-Cola and a pair of worn shoes that were obviously Alpha's.
The man sighed to himself, shaking his head. Sliding the cloak from his shoulders, he tossed it on a nearby wooden chair, setting a small package on the chair as he went to the sleeping Alpha. Careful not to wake the strange android, the dark angel picked him up and carried him to the bed, gently laying the teen under the warm covers. As Sephiroth finished tucking the younger male in, he heard Alpha stir and mutter under his breath. "Is that you Delta?" he asked softly in his sleep.
He couldn't help but smile a soft smile, one that he thought he'd never give to someone like Alpha. "No little one...but you are safe here. Go back to sleep little one..." Sephiroth whispered in a gentle tone, brushing a stray lock of hair from Alpha's innocent face.
Nodding in his sleep, the android fell back into a deep slumber. Shaking his head once more, Sephiroth went to the couch and sat down. As he did, a sudden news report caught his attention. "This just in from Shinra Headquarters," the reporter announced. "A fugitive from the Shinra labs has escaped and is on the loose. Though appearing very innocent and harmless, Alpha Omega 00-13 is very dangerous and considered a threat. 00-13 was rumored to have escaped earlier this evening and is still at large as SOLDIER officers are unable to locate the experiment."
Another sigh passed through Sephiroth, but this one was filled with frustration and anger. "Stupid bastards..." he muttered under his breath. "Why would Hojo build a robot with Aeris's DNA? Everyone knows she was weak...what's your plan, Hojo?"
"President Roscoe wishes that the entire city of Midgar assist in locating the fugitive 00-13 and is offering a 2.5 million gil reward to any who bring in the experiment," the reporter continued. "The fugitive is described to have light blue hair and black eyes..."
A slight chuckle escaped Sephiroth. "As long as they get the description wrong, the kid'll have a step ahead of the others."
"In other news, the SOLDIER First-Class Sephiroth was reportedly seen at about the same time as the escape of 00-13 near Wall Market. Six SOLDIER officers were found dead near the wall, appearing to have died from fatal wounds dealt by a katana. Witnesses say it was done by the hands of the supposedly dead Sephiroth, defeated by Cloud Strife. It is still unknown whether or not the Sephiroth seen was a clone or not, but many feel that it was the original that murdered the officers."
The reporter was silenced by the TV remote as Sephiroth turned off the appliance and flooded the room in pure darkness. As he lay down on the couch, his mind wondered from thought to thought before finally drifting into a dream of flower-fields and a happy, silver-haired child.
***
"Blasted brat," Hojo muttered, pacing his lab. "A waste...A total waste! The time and effort it took to get the materials needed to create that little upstart...wasted!"
A great shadow encased the back part of the lab where part of an armless Victorian couch sat. The top half of a reclining woman was hidden in the shadows though her legs were visible, wearing a long gown of sky-blue that seemed to wash over her figure like water. At her feet sat a young woman, sitting on the ground and sharpening a katana much like Sephiroth's. Her eyes were a blood red, and her hair was a pitch black. A squared chin and slender eyes gave her the look of one of her cell-donors, Vincent Valentine. She wore a Chinese-styled shirt the color of blood and cut off before her shoulders, black calf-high pants, and black slipper-like shoes. A white sash was tied around her waist where her katana-sheath hung.
"Now now my dear Professor Hojo, you shouldn't fret for such little reasons like this," an evil woman's voice sounded from the shadows, coming from the occupant of the chair. "Young Alpha has proven to be quite useful. You just fail to see how."
"Then tell me!" Hojo commanded the woman in shadows. "Tell me what I am failing to see! The brat was the result of countless amounts of research, journeying, and funding. And for what?!"
The woman in shadows chuckled to herself, sending chills down the scientist's spine. "Watch and learn, sweet Beta," she told the girl at her feet. "Watch our good friend the professor sweat with a word I breathe." The girl looked up at the man with her eerie ruby eyes, two locks of silver framing her face. The woman continued to speak, "What you fail to see is that Alpha has led us right to the location of my precious angel, Sephiroth. Ever since I was 'destroyed' by Cloud, I have been searching for my lost puppet. But now Alpha has taken us to him! Professor Gast is also still getting information from Alpha's databanks. In a way, sweet little Alpha is playing the part of the unknowing spy."
"But for how long..." the scientist asked. "Sephiroth will most likely protect the android with his life, and when he learns the true purposes of my androids, he'll stop at nothing to destroy us all."
Again the woman giggled to herself. "Let him! Let him come to us. Then, when both the android and the angel are here, we can trap them and they will be within my...er...our clutches."
"I don't know...What if they don't come?" He turned to the shadows. "What if they feel the need to seek refuge out of Midgar and out of our reach?"
"Then we will formulate a second plan." A slender hand came out of the shadows and petted Beta, the girl's eyes still locked unblinking on Hojo. "Gast will continue to gain information from our little spy and when the time is right, we strike. But not with the full-force, heavens no! We will send in someone weak to stir things up...Maybe your Turks..."
"Yes...As you say," Hojo bowed.
"But not yet, my dear professor....Not yet."
Once more Hojo bowed. "I'll go check on Gast's reports." With that, he left.
Beta stood and sheathed her katana. The woman in the shadows spoke to her. "Follow him. I want a full report on your little brother." Saying nothing, Beta bowed and vanished into thin air.
***
Alpha woke with a loud yawn that Sephiroth could hear over the running water of his shower. The morning was a cold one, and Alpha didn't want to leave the warm bed. But a sense of urgency forced him up, Sephiroth walking by fully dressed with damp hair. The android watched as the dark angel began packing supplies and food rations in a small purse-like bag that seemed to hold everything, no matter how much Sephiroth put in.
"What's going on?" Alpha finally ventured to ask as the man cleaned out the refrigerator into the small bag that appeared empty.
"We're leaving..." Sephiroth told the boy without looking at him. "Here." He tossed the package he brought in the night before to Alpha. "Get dressed quickly. The sooner we leave Midgar, the better."
"Is Shinra after us again?" asked the android, opening the package.
"They've begun a building-to-building search, tearing each place they get to apart in search of us," the dark angel answered, digging through a trunk he had pulled out from under the bed. "Now hurry up and go get dressed."
Nodding his head, Alpha took the package of clothes to the bathroom where he washed and dressed. Instead of the tattered clothing he originally wore, the teen wore a pale lilac vest over a long-sleeved purple shirt. A pair of silver chibi-angel wings were embroidered over his shoulder blades on the vest and the vest was lined in silver as well. He also wore a pair of matching lilac pants and boots. The teen emerged from the bathroom carrying a black cloak like Sephiroth's.
The man looked over the teen and shook his head, Alpha's teal hair falling over his shoulders. "Turn around and hold still," Sephiroth ordered, getting out his katana. Alpha flinched, hearing the ring of the blade as it was freed from its sheath. The man gathered the android's hair as if to put it up in a ponytail, but instead, cut it with a quick slice of his katana. "There...that's a bit better I believe," he said, tossing the locks of hair onto the concrete floor. The rancid smell of burnt hair filled the room as Sephiroth cast a simple Fire1 on the pile of hair, destroying any and all traces of DNA from the teal strands.
Placing the katana in its sheath at Sephiroth's left side, the man tied the portal-purse onto his belt and slid into his cloak. Alpha did the same, and then followed Sephiroth out of the room and into the dark tunnels. But instead of summoning a light, Sephiroth took hold of Alpha's hand and led the android through the dark. Though the teen was lost, Sephiroth knew where he was going, a hand on the wall and his trained cat-eyes guiding him.
"We're almost there..." Sephiroth whispered to Alpha as they neared a dead-end. "I want to get as far from Midgar as I can in one day...I've got a very bad feeling about something..."
