They spent the night in North Corel, and for the most part everyone slept soundly. Sephiroth chose not to sleep at all. He didn't trust the citizens of North Corel in the least, knowing that Dyne couldn't be the lone disgruntled man. He would be the only person who was suspicious of Shinra's intentions, but there was no way he was not the only disgruntled one. They tried to mask their emotions, and for a brief moment were happy to end their part of the bloodshed, but with time their true feelings would become apparent. Their hatred for Shinra would be eternal, and only their complete obliteration would end that hate. Sephiroth was disgusted by that fact. They allowed their hatred to consume them, and they refused to stop the cycle of hatred. It was a cycle that would never end, for no one was willing to end it. No one wanted to let their grudges go. Sephiroth knew that fact on a personal level. He was disgusted by the fact that he too had entered the cycle, and that he too had been consumed by his hatred. He would not stop harboring his grudge until there was no one for him to begrudge. It was that simple.
A faint smile came to Sephiroth as he thought about all of this. He realized that he played multiple roles in this cycle. He hated not just the rebels and all that they stood for; he hated Shinra as well, and Hojo above all. Shinra was too foolish to have so much power. Starting wars, beginning a cycle of hate, exploiting power recklessly, and toying with the life of the planet itself, they were all Shinra's actions. President Shinra had no clue when to show restraint, and Sephiroth knew that that would be his final undoing. One day he would overstep his boundaries, and isolated from his protection, he would be swiftly killed. Sephiroth wouldn't mind doing the job himself, but not until the President was vulnerable. The rebels had no right to the planet either, as they were foolish to think that they could stop Shinra. They should have started a war before Shinra had grown so powerful. Popular opinion wouldn't be so in favor of them, but what use is popular opinion when you're dead?
And yet the majority of Sephiroth's hatred was reserved for Hojo. It was a cold hatred, and wouldn't play as active a role in his life as the complete and total destruction of the rebels, but it was the source of most of his hatred nonetheless. Sephiroth could blame the rebels for trying to take his life, and he could blame them for trying to exploit his life, but he could blame Hojo for ruining his life. He was forever scarred, different from everybody else. The worst part was, ever since regaining his memories, he felt as though something was incomplete. It was as though Hojo had done something else to him.
Sephiroth slumped against the railing of the balcony at his hotel, when he heard someone talking to him.
"This hatred everyone knows…it is all so pointless. Everyone claims nobility, to be the side of good, and yet there is no good or evil in this struggle, only shades of gray. There is nothing noble about war, it is only a bloodbath, an excuse to kill and be killed. There is no true victory in war, for how can you claim to be superior to your foes in spirit when you slaughtered them like animals?"
Sephiroth looked down at the ground to determine who was speaking to him, and found it to be Reeve, the head of urban development in Midgar. Sephiroth had briefly spoken to him in the celebration, and found him to be an idealistic fool. He tried so hard to remove some of the evil within Shinra, and he was unwilling to participate in the vast majority of Shinra's operations. He had said so himself. Tseng had talked about him briefly on the trip to North Corel. Supposedly President Shinra himself disliked Reeve in that Reeve always tried to undo Shinra's crimes, to make things as they were, to make Shinra look merciful. He failed to understand that in war hatred was a necessity, and mercy was a burden. To have mercy on the enemy is to guarantee defeat. War is a no-holds barred tempest, and any attempts to quell it are useless.
Realizing that Reeve was expecting a reply, Sephiroth came up with his answer.
"It is my experience that those who still live are the ones who write history, and since the defeated are vanquished, the victors are those who write history. It does not matter that in truth untold cruelties occurred, all that matters is what people think occurred."
Reeve was taken aback by Sephiroth's suggestion, and when his shock wore off he seemed disappointed somehow.
"I thought that you might have been different." Reeve began, "Tseng said that you defected from the rebels. I would have believed that having had the chance to see them as people, to have seen their way of life, you would not hate them so."
"What makes you think I hate them?" Sephiroth said in turn.
"You obviously don't care that they are being killed by the million. Some would say it is indifference, but you cannot be indifferent to someone once you have had the opportunity to know them. Therefore you must hate them."
Sephiroth felt somewhat angry with Reeve for analyzing him. Sephiroth's mind was infinitely complex, and for someone to think that they could see through those complexities was insulting.
Then again, perhaps the true reason he was angry was because Reeve was right. Reeve seemed to be everything Sephiroth strived not to be, and yet he was the one person who perhaps could understand Sephiroth. In Wutai, and even before then, Sephiroth had felt so misunderstood. Everyone believed that they knew what he needed most, and everyone had thought that he needed protection from the world. How could they not realize that above all else he yearned to be released from the prison they had created for him? Above all else, the heart seeks freedom, and Sephiroth hadn't been able to know freedom in Midgar, nor in Wutai. Godo had come close to understanding him, but he treated Sephiroth as though Sephiroth were fragile. Sephiroth had been confined within Wutai. Many of Godo's other students often went out into the wilderness and hunted the monsters as a way of training, but Sephiroth could not do that. Despite Sephiroth's full recovery, Godo had always believed that Sephiroth could relapse at any given moment, and wanted to make sure that someone wanted to make sure that if he did he would be fine.
Of course, Sephiroth felt more misunderstood than ever after regaining his memories. He remembered his experience in the Lifestream vividly. He still heard the echoes of the voices that flooded his head, seeking to convince Sephiroth that he was not who he thought he was. There was no one that he could relate to about his experience there, because he was the sole person who had found himself. He remembered how difficult it had been, searching for who he was. There were so many others, each saying that they were him, and none of them were any stronger than the others, but Sephiroth clung to life too dearly, and his will was far too powerful to be beaten by anything, even if it meant beating the planet itself. Sephiroth had methodically eliminated the false identities, and after a long search, he knew himself once more. His memories had scattered into unknown corridors of his mind at that point, because in order to remember himself, Sephiroth had been forced to eliminate himself. He had known that in time the memories would gather again, and he would know himself to the full extent once more.
Sephiroth opened his eyes, not realizing that he had closed them, and released the railing of the balcony from a fierce grip. His knuckles had become white, and Sephiroth watched as they turned red as blood rushed into them before returning to their normal pale color. He looked out into the distant horizon, and saw the sun just beginning to rise. He began to ask himself just how long he had been thinking about the Lifestream when an earsplitting noise went through his head, just like the one in Mt. Nibel. The heartbeat began, and the pain mercilessly shredded through him. He screamed in pain, unable to mask the agony he felt, and then his world went black.
Tseng paced nervously from side to side in the hotel room, and he kept asking himself one question. How had the Jenova cells in Sephiroth reacted to the main body of Jenova when the horrid beast was so far away? Sephiroth must have done something to provoke them, to allow them to create such a reaction. Hojo had released theories that certain thoughts and certain actions could cause such a thing. However, they were supposed to just be theories, and Tseng had always hoped that they were nothing more. When Hojo had released his theories, he had emphasized on how trauma would be the most likely source of such a reaction, and Tseng couldn't help but guess what had traumatized Sephiroth, and what he could have done to bring such trauma to the forefront of his mind.
As Tseng plunged deeper into thought, the impatient tapping of a shoe brought him out of it. He looked to his left and noticed Reno, who was none too happy to have to wait for Sephiroth to wake up. Tseng felt somewhat urgent as well, the window of opportunity Reno had given him was closing quickly, and if Sephiroth took too long Tseng could quite possibly be stuck in the western continent for the rest of his natural life. The war showed no signs of letting up, and Tseng suspected that being stuck with Reno would cause enough stress to lay him low in five or six years. His only hope would be that Reno might share a similar fate.
Sephiroth then shot up from his sleep, quite obviously petrified. Tseng was rather surprised that Sephiroth had shown so much fear. Sephiroth was a very calm person, and one who held little fear, whatever it was that had been able to cause such fear would be something Tseng should consider to keep an eye on.
For the moment, however, Tseng rushed to get Sephiroth up and moving, and for once Reno helped him as opposed to play mind games with him. They shared a mutual desire to get back to Midgar, for quite a bit was happening there. Supposedly one of the reactors had almost been destroyed by riots, and a number of assassinations had happened. President Shinra himself had almost been victim to an assassination. This was a scene that Tseng usually wouldn't want to enter, but the path to more power was within Midgar. He could cull the strongest from the protesters and the rebels, and he could have them turn on their former allies, ending the threat. Tseng would be credited with restoring order in Midgar, and the president would be indebted towards him. Better yet, perhaps his colleagues would respect him, and the Turks could become a more smoothly functioning unit.
Tseng looked back on the better days of the organization, when Vincent was still in the ranks. Vincent respected Tseng, and Rude respected Vincent, so Rude actually fell in line with Tseng. Tseng had received a number of citations for his work back then, now all he got was threats and two underlings that acted as though they were his superiors.
As their assault vehicle departed from North Corel, Tseng began to wonder if going back to Midgar really was what he wanted to do. On second thought, restoring order would do no good, for Midgar would be of no use if President Shinra really was planning on temporarily shifting his power into the western continent. Perhaps something that would be more beneficial to Shinra, something that would pave the way to victory. He slowly turned his head towards Sephiroth, and he saw the means for doing such a thing. He smiled slyly and began concocting ways to convince Sephiroth to join him in his plans. Tseng would have to go about such persuasion cautiously, as he didn't want to make Sephiroth feel used, that was suicide, but he had to get Sephiroth in on his plan. He had time to think of a way though, it wasn't as though either side of the war was running out of people to send to their deaths.
Sephiroth passed the trip in silence. He had had the dream again, and he couldn't help but wonder what it meant. It was such a twisted dream, and Sephiroth couldn't help but fear it. In the dream he was a different person. It was true that he was a very apathetic person in the present, and he could kill without remorse, but his dream form was ruthless, merciless, and far worse than he was. Sephiroth didn't kill without necessity or reason, and yet in his dream he slaughtered the people without either.
The worst thing was, he enjoyed it. That wasn't the influence of the dream. Sephiroth genuinely enjoyed their killing. He took a sadistic glee in their cries of agony, a perverse pleasure in their pain. He had been transforming rapidly ever since he had regained his memories. The hatred and anger that was consuming him was the catalyst, the source of his change. Sephiroth allowed that hatred, that anger, to consume him, for it gave him unimaginable power. He remembered the "battle" at Mt. Nibel. He couldn't consider it an actual battle based on how one-sided it had been. He knew that only his intense hatred of the rebels had allowed him to survive and emerge victorious, and he was unwilling to relinquish that kind of power to "save" himself from his hatred. Most everyone became mere puppets to their hatred when they had been as consumed by it as Sephiroth, but Sephiroth knew that he could control it. If it gave him such power, and if he could control the power he was given, why stop the metamorphosis he was undergoing? When it ended he would be the most powerful person ever, second to none. Then he would be the rightful heir to the planet, and he could take it from Shinra and the rebels, as they were inferior.
Sephiroth looked at everyone within the assault vehicle, determining who would be worthy to be part of his empire, and decided that only Reno would do. Tseng had power, but he was little more than a tool that Sephiroth could use to gain power. The members of SOLDIER would perhaps form his army, but nothing other than that. Reno, on the other hand, would fit in perfectly. He had the brains and the brawn Sephiroth would require, and his lack of respect for anyone within Shinra would help Sephiroth get Reno to defect.
Sephiroth then realized that he was falling victim to arrogance. How many times had Godo talked to him about it? Perhaps later, when he actually had true power, he could afford to be so arrogant, yet as it was he needed to keep that arrogance in check. Otherwise he would grow complacent and wait for the winds of change to blow, when in all reality he needed to make the winds of change blow. How else would he be able to benefit from such change?
Costa del Sol then came in sight, and Sephiroth prepared to get out, but was surprised when Reno drove the vehicle straight into Costa del Sol without stopping.
"What are you doing?" Sephiroth asked Reno. "Why aren't you stopping so that we can get out?"
Reno smirked slightly and laughed lightly at Sephiroth.
"Look, this is an assault vehicle. We can mow down the rebels safely behind a foot of solid steel. Let's see their swords cut through that!" Sephiroth was silent for a minute before he spoke up again.
"Let me out."
"What? Are you crazy? The rebels are swarming the place! It'll only be a matter of seconds before you're killed, and rather painfully, I might add."
"I said, let me out."
One of the soldiers decided to pitch in.
"Trust me, you don't wanna see this guy when you piss him off. He kills stuff." was what the soldier said, somewhat jokingly. Sephiroth glared at him and the lopsided grin he had been wearing became a straight face again. Reno showed no signs of stopping though, and Sephiroth was not patient enough to wait for Reno to come around. He shoved the Turk away from the controls and had the door open. Sephiroth leapt out of the still-moving vehicle, leaving Reno in shock.
"Glory hound." Reno muttered to himself.
Light flooded into Sephiroth's eyes, temporarily blinding him. When he regained his sight a scene of total chaos was revealed to him. From the assault vehicle he hadn't been able to see or hear what was going on, but now that he knew what was happening, he wasn't sure that he wanted to know what was going on. He could hear gunfire coming from all directions, and he quickly had to search for cover. After he had found a large chunk of debris to protect him, he examined the town. Many of the buildings were riddled with bullet holes, and some had been shelled to the point of utter obliteration. Bodies of both the rebels and Shinra littered the streets, and the yellow bricks had been stained red.
As Sephiroth sat he observed several rebels creep into a building, obviously looking to find a good sniper position. Sephiroth stood up and prepared to deny them that spot. He wanted to make his entrance dramatic, and he spotted a window near the door to the building. He dashed across the street and flipped into the window feet first. The glass shattered and sprayed everywhere, and Sephiroth heard several profanities yelled, obviously a few of the rebels had been hit by the glass. Sephiroth tracked down the source of the sound, as inside the building it was quite dark, and ran to it. He sliced through the air with his sword, and when he felt the resistance of flesh gained a sense of satisfaction. The brief cry of pain that was made as a result before the rebel died was truly enjoyable. By then Sephiroth's eyes had adjusted to the darkness somewhat, and he noticed the faint silhouette moving within the darkness. He made two quick strides and brought his sword through a powerful arc, instantly killing the rebel. He was then quickly able to track down the other rebels in the building and he killed them quickly.
His job in the building done, Sephiroth pulled out his Contain materia and quickly cast a Flare spell. An explosion went off and the building's walls exploded outward. Sephiroth then ran out from under the collapsing building in an incredible show of speed. One of the rebels in the streets noticed him and prepared to attack him, but Sephiroth used his momentum to pull off an attack that left the rebel dead in the street, his blood mingling with the rest of the blood that covered the streets.
Sephiroth stopped for a moment to determine where he was headed next when he heard a rebel trying to sneak up on him. Trying but failing. Sephiroth ducked under the slash aimed at his head and came back up, his blade running through the man and halving him vertically. Sephiroth then looked at a group of rebels attempting to surround him, but they appeared to be wary of Sephiroth and looked as though they weren't going to attack. Sephiroth plucked his Enemy Skill materia from his sword and cast Matra Magic. The hundreds of energy missiles scattered and found their targets, and they overtook the rebels. Sephiroth glanced quickly at the bodies to make sure that everyone was truly dead before he headed off.
With Sephiroth's help it only took a short time for Costa del Sol to fall back into the hands of Shinra. Every last rebel that had been located within the town was lying dead. Sephiroth took a great deal of pride in his handiwork, and knew that he had accomplished two things. Not only had he gotten the chance to release some of his fury upon the rebels, but also this display would most certainly aid him in his quest for power. Many of the military masterminds who had led the strike had expressed just how impressed they were with Sephiroth, and when President Shinra came they would be sure to tell him of the soldier who annihilated the rebels with ease.
Despite his unhappiness with Sephiroth's earlier actions, Reno was impressed by Sephiroth as well, and he wondered how Tseng had found him. If Tseng was accredited with being the one to find Sephiroth, then he would be elevated yet further in President Shinra's eyes. Reno was well known and well respected amongst all of the Shinra hierarchy, except for the President himself. President Shinra had never liked Reno, or his methods, or his habits. Ironically, only Tseng's respect for his abilities kept President Shinra from having Reno demoted to some trivial job that he would undoubtedly hate.
But the prevalent thought in Reno's mind was how Sephiroth had done what he had done. No human was that fast, that strong, or had that kind of technique. Tseng had declared him a member of SOLDIER, but Sephiroth hadn't yet undergone treatment. That meant that Sephiroth quite simply shouldn't have been the super soldier he proved to be. He should still have been confined to the normal human limits, yet not even the best members of SOLDIER showed that kind of skill and prowess in battle.
Reno wasn't sure if he was absolutely right, but he thought some things were clicking in his mind. Tseng had hinted at something earlier, something that was his way of telling Reno he knew something that Reno didn't. Could that bit of information have anything to do with Sephiroth? He was determined to find out, and began to create ways to do so in his mind.
It didn't take long for inspiration to come, and Reno darted off to find a way to make his plan work.