I decided to rewrite this. I feel that it could be vastly improved, so... yep. This one has alot of editing done, and a new scene, pretty much doubling the size of the chapter. I'm sure some of you will be angry that you won't see anything new for a very long time... yep, all five of you. Heh.

"I... I am alive? The planet let me live... after what I did... no. It should've killed me. Why am I still here..." Sephiroth looked at his bloodstained hands with grief. He was nothing. He couldn't feel, care, or love anything. And in the end, he couldn't destroy anything either. Sephiroth was a failure. He could do nothing.

"Where am I..." He looked around himself cautiously. He was standing upon a mammoth altar. It hovered over a lake of pure water. There was only one place on the Planet that held such Holy water... "The Temple of the Ancients."

"I killed her. This is exactly where I killed her. I brought the sword down. Where is the voice telling me that it's ok? Where is the voice that tells me that I had to for my own good!? Why isn't it ok to kill people anymore?" Sephiroth clenched his fist in anger. His eyes were still blurred. Everything was out of focus.

It was so strange. Usually the voices inside his head told him that it was alright. It was what he had to do. Killing people was a natural part of life. But now.... he was feeling regret. Remorse for what he had done. A feeling he had not felt since... the time he discovered his origins. That he, the legendary Sephiroth, was just an experiment.

Sitting there all alone... he slowly reflected upon all his deeds in the past five years. The legend known as Sephiroth, General of the Shinra army, had snapped. He lost his marbles as they say. He killed for pleasure, and what a pleasure it was. The art of death was no stranger to him. Because Sephiroth had the ability to kill people, there was no reason not to. He was the son of Jenova. That is why he was different from the others. His whole life he knew that he was different from most people. He had no friends. Yet Jenova, the Calamity from the Skies, took him in. She did not reject him, for she was his mother. That monstrosity was his mother.

"Monstrosity... why would I ever call my mother a monstrosity? I... it used to hurt when I thought of her negatively." Slowly, a discovery was creeping up on him. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Something was different. Logically, being reborn should feel rather strange. But this wasn't just strange; it was insane. It's like he was the person he was before the incident that changed his life. He was once again without meaning or conscience.

For hours on end, Sephiroth reviewed his life. Before the incident in Nibelheim, he had always felt so empty and lonely. On that day, he had figured out what he was. A long story, really. A mako reactor in Nibelheim was malfunctioning.

Sephiroth travelled with two soldiers, a female guide, and an officer up the hazardous Mount Nibel. They were crossing the bridge... flash... bad memories.

The bridge started to shake uncontrollably as they crossed. One of the soldiers was lost. The girl begged to search for him, but there was no time.

"It may sound cold, but we've got no time to search for him. We can't go back now, so we must go on. We'll travel together from here."

"But..."

"Don't speak anymore. Let's move on."

And so they continued up the mountain to the reactor. Another bad memory... why was he so cruel? He spoke as if he knew everything. As if everything was just so simple, and that those around him were morons. They reached a tiny altar. Tiny stones were embedded deep in the rock. Green light slowly flowed upwards from these stones. It was obvious what the rocks were... wasn't it?

"...And what's this?" Zack asked innocently.

"A Mako Fountain. It's a miracle of nature." Sephiroth looked at it closely for a moment. Its beauty strangely reminded him of the flower garden in Midgar. No... the beauty was useless. This miracle was to be converted to something useful.

The annoying guide spoke again. At this time, Sephiroth would really rather had an older, male guide. Unfortunately, she was the only one willing to travel up the dangerous slopes. "It's so beautiful... If the Mako Reactor continues to suck up the energy, this fountain will dry up too..." Her name was Tifa, if he recalled correctly.

Sephiroth nodded. "Materia. When you condense Mako energy, materia is produced. It's very rare to be able to see materia in its natural state."

And then Zack asked the most moronic question imaginable. "By the way... Why is it that when you use materia you can also use magic too?"

Sephiroth looked at him in disbelief. "You were in SOLDIER and didn't even know that? ...the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients is held in the materia. Anyone with this knowledge can freely use the powers of the Land and the Planet. That knowledge interacts between ourselves and the planet calling up magic...... or so they say."

"Magic......" Zack observed the fountain and his own materia. "A mysterious power..."

Sephiroth laughed coldly. "A man once told me never to use an unscientific term such as mysterious power! It shouldn't even be called 'magic'! I still remember how angry he was."

"Who was that?" That kid asked too many questions for an officer.

"Stop asking so many questions. We're almost there." Sephiroth trudged on silently, his irritation easily noticed. Thinking back, he wasn't sure why he didn't answer the question. Perhaps it was because he hated Hojo so much that he didn't want to recall such memories... or maybe the kid really was asking too many questions.

Flash. The reactor. When everything changed. This was the climax that began his insanity. He had told the soldier to take care of the girl. With the first class soldier, Zack, he entered the reactor and began analyzing the situation.

Zack walked up the stairs to the locked door labeled JENOVA. "Jenova is in here, isn't she? Locked... damn. I always wanted to know what Jenova was."

"Shut up." Sephiroth was getting seriously irritated. "Come down here and close the valve. It seems we've found the reason for the malfunction. This part is broken."

Zack jumped down the crimson steps and closed the valve. It took alot of his strength to do so. "Why do you suppose it broke?"

Sephiroth began talking to himself, completely ignoring Zack. Zack just stood there, clad in his purple armor, not realizing that it was the only thing between him and death. His black, spiky hair was the complete opposite of Sephiroth's elegant, long white strands. In almost every way, they were opposites.

"Why did it break...? ...now I see, Hojo. But, even doing this, will never put you on the same level as Professor Gast. This is a system that condenses and freezes the Mako energy... that is, when it's working correctly. Now... what does Mako energy became when it's further condensed?" Sephiroth looked coldly at Zack, waiting for a response.

"Uh, ummm...... Oh yeah! It becomes a Materia." He clumsily replied.

"Right, normally. But Hojo put something else in there. ...Take a look. Look through the window."

Zack walked over to the pod. It was larger than him or Sephiroth, so he had to jump up to look through the window. As his feet landed back on the ground, Zack gasped.

"My God... What is this!?" Zack was shocked.

"Normal members of SOLDIER are humans that have been showered with Mako. You're different from the others, but still human. But, what are they? They've been exposed to a high degree of Mako, far more than you." Sephiroth contemplated this for a moment.

"What the hell... is this some kind of monster? What the fuck is Shinra doing?" It was just shocking. The evils that were being created by this corrupt company were indescribable.

"Exactly. And it's Hojo of Shinra that produced these monsters. Mutated living organisms produced by Mako energy. That's what these monster's really are."

Zack was curious to Sephiroth's wording. "Normal members of SOLDIER? You mean you're different? H... hey, Sephiroth!" Sephiroth's frown became so dark that you could only see half his soulless eyes.

Sephiroth's hands began to shake in fury. "I'm just like them, aren't I?" His anger exploded his mind. "I'm just like them!?" He unsheathed his Masamune. "I'm just... an experiment!" He slashed the pods left and right. Over and over, he just kept slashing them. In every place that his blade hit, there was a deep tear in the strong metal fabric.

"Was I created in the same way as all of them? Am I no different!?" He continued slashing the pods with no remorse.

"Sephiroth, calm down! You're nothing like them!" Zack took a few steps back in fear. If Sephiroth went insane, there was nothing he could do about it but try to calm him down. There was no way he could forcefully do so.

"They are all humans, just like me! Don't you understand... I'm just an experiment!" He erupted in rage as the pod began to make a static noise.

"They aren't humans! Are you insane!?"

"I've always felt that I was different from the others ever since I was small. That I was special. But... not like this." He kept slashing it, and the noise grew louder.

Finally, the pod door exploded open, and a human shaped organism laid dormant inside. It was completely revolting. Sephiroth had gone insane.

That was the day that caused him to go insane. Yet now, he was no longer insane. Everything felt normal. Just like before. Before he had discovered who he really was. Why was he so normal now? What had changed? He still knew who he was... a damned experiment. Yet at the same time, he felt placid about it.

All the feelings of power and dread... disappeared. Why were they gone!? Had Lifestream cleansed his soul? Not likely. There was something that simply wasn't inside his head any longer. Something missing. It clicked.

"Jenova. She was controlling me. The way I thought, it was if she was my conscience. I didn't even realize it. How can you stop someone from controlling you when you don't even know that you're being controlled? When I killed people, I did it because I wanted to. Not because someone told me to. What the hell? How could I be so weak in mind? I... didn't even know!" Sephiroth stood with the Masamune sitting on the ground nearby. So confused, so alone... so lonely again. Once again, he did not know either parent... or anyone.

"She exploited me." Sephiroth shook his hands in fury. Once again, he was lost. He hit a realization that Jenova was controlling him. The voices inside of his head were not his own, as he so thought. He thought he was telling himself the entire time to obey her. Yet now he realized... she had no resemblance. The information must have been a lie. He had to go back... to find the truth. Back to Nibelheim.

"I must find out who I am. I will be hated once again, and most will not even believe I am alive... But I don't care. I am here now. I have a right to know who I am. I've been lied and deceived into destroying the Planet. I doubt anyone will ever believe me, but... I don't care. I must know who I am." Sephiroth's mako green eyes glowed with fury. His eyes were a deeper shade of green than the others. His eyes were infused with mako and Jenova. Jenova... was everything to him at one time. At the time, he thought she saved him from his insanity. But in reality, she was manipulating it.

"I'll never be controlled again. I will find out the truth, but not let my guard down so some lowlife can take control. I will find out who I am no matter what the consequence. I do not know if the Planet is ready for me, but I am ready for them." Sephiroth took hold of his Masamune, cutting the very air with the sharp blade.

Sephiroth jumped down the platforms, back to the City of the Ancients. His heavy boots sounded everytime he hit the ground, his black cape swirling with the air. His wild silver hair was as long as ever. And his cold, stony glare... his mako green eyes... The most feared person in the planet had returned, and no one knew what to expect. If anything, he was definitely angry. But not for the reasons that someone like Cloud Strife would expect.

Sephiroth wasn't so evil, was he? He only realized that himself now... he was just a poor soul taken control of. He didn't know if he was human or how he was born... all he knew was that he was just an experiment to Shinra. No one ever cared for him. Everything that anyone had ever told him about his life was a lie.

Nibelheim, he thought, walking up the long, winding staircase, back into the room... a room of despair. It held the staircase that led to Aeris' death. Sephiroth destroyed Nibelheim because of Jenova's influence. She controlled him. The entire time, he thought he was doing it on his own will. He'd never felt as stupid as he did now. He was being controlled for five years. And he never suspected a thing! He thought he alone was the strongest man in the world, and it was all a lie. He was, perhaps, the weakest.

And no one would ever believe him, he thought, as he slowly walked down the long, stone path which led to the forest. No one would ever believe that Sephiroth was not responsible. He was the one who defeated Wutai, destroyed Nibelheim, called down Meteor, nearly destroyed the planet, and... killed Aeris. Deep down, Sephiroth admitted that he felt the worst for this. She was the only soul that was ever kind to him.

No one ever knew except about that. That Aeris had met him. That she liked him. It would probably be a lie to say no one ever cared for him. She was the exception. And he killed her. He was such a coward. Jenova made him believe that he had to. In order to please Jenova, and stop Aeris from foiling her plan.

Sephiroth reached the four-way intersection. He walked straight out, towards the forest. All he could think about was his sins. When he arrived, everyone would probably scream in fear. Or try to kill him. Call him names. Murderer. Killer. He could only imagine what would happen in the public...

You killed my mother! You killed my brother! You took everything from me!

Give me my life back! I hate you! You're a monster! Why won't you die!?

Those were the thoughts he knew would come. They had been in his nightmares before. Only before... Jenova warded it off. She made him think of the power that was to come. Why had she wanted him to do this... why did Jenova want the planet destroyed? Vengeance for killing the Cetra? He would know soon enough. His memory was so bad. He couldn't remember... All he knew was that he had to return to Nibelheim. To read.

Sephiroth feared the worst, as he should. The forest... heh. Remember when Aeris ran through it? She met him there. She tried to talk him out of it. He told her he'd have to kill her... he couldn't allow her to summon holy. She knew she'd die. And Sephiroth was too weak to realize he was being controlled. Aeris...

Snowy day. He remembered it too well as he walked through the forest. Normal people got lost in this forest without a Harp. It gave people direction. The forest was almost alive... and took many lives. The forest feared him too much to try, though. It feared his destructive magic... With a single swing, he could demolish a tree. And with a single level five Bolt spell, he could burn down the entire forest. It would not mess with him.

Yet Sephiroth did not want to do that anymore. Sephiroth only wanted the truth. He was still so lonely. The names he'd be called soon... so much pain to be endured. He feared the future more than anything now, and tried to remember the past. That snowy day in Midgar... the day the war ended. He had been so happy. He didn't like killing as much as everyone thought. It was just... all he knew how to do. After every mission, all he ever wanted to do... was be left alone. Yet now the loneliness was a curse.

That snowy day in Midgar, he met Aeris. She was such a pretty little girl. She must have been sixteen or seventeen... when he must have been somewhere around twenty-three or twenty-four. Couldn't remember. That snowy day in Midgar, was about... eight months before the Nibelheim incident. Everyone was so happy with the war ending. Sephiroth was the only one who could not be joined in this glee. He was to go straight to his headquarters... which he didn't mind. He prefered the reflection to the constant weaklings... admiring him. Admiring him for being a murderer.

He kept walking through the forest, almost there. Bone Village. The first people to see him alive... He had to find out how long it had been since Meteor. It couldn't have been long. He knew the only reason he was alive even now was because of Holy... it had somehow saved his body... instead of destroying it. He needed to research that as well. Why didn't Holy kill him. Holy... Aeris was trying to summon Holy. What happened after he supposedly died... so many unanswered questions.

The biggest question being... who was he? If Jenova was not his Mother...

Bone Village was right ahead of him. Yet Sephiroth was not ready to enter the town yet... nor the insults and pain he would have to bear... It had been a long day. Sephiroth had first found himself in the City of the Ancients. For hours he had reflected his life there... then he added the walking distance between there... for more hours. Reflecting his life. It was dark now. Time to rest.

Sephiroth laid his black cloak onto the ground, and sat down upon it. Tired, but not quite asleep yet, he continued to wonder about his life.

Even as a little boy, he suffered immense pain. There were no other kids around. He was kept in a solitary room everyday. A nice room, but lonely... A boy like Sephiroth was too important to waste time with other kids! Lies. He was just an experiment. They didn't want him tainted with feelings. Feelings he started to develop that day... with her.

His Father supposedly left the day he was born. Instead, the sick and twisted bastard Hojo took care of him. He tried to make his daily examinations for Sephiroth's strength seem natural for any growing boy. As if he were supposed to believe that... They kept as much as they could from him so they could utilize him in battle more effectively. Being with that sick man, Hojo, disgusted him. Professor Ghast... if only he hadn't left. Professor Ghast was, at the least, a respectable man. When Hojo was gone, Professor Ghast filled in for him.

Professor Ghast... was such a superior scientist. When he was in charge, he actually made Sephiroth feel happy. Not that the man cared about him enough to stick around. If he had, then he might've added that to the list of people who cared about Sephiroth. But there was only Aeris... and he killed her. So she didn't count either.

Alot of times, Professor Ghast said he was too busy for the check-ups, while winking at him. Ghast made him feel free to do whatever he wanted. Sephiroth was grateful for that. Ghast had somewhat his father figure. He greatly respected the man for what he did for him. Ghast was the one who introduced Sephiroth into the world of books. Even if it was only strategy and battle tactics... it helped him forget how bored he was. Ghast was another reason Sephiroth was the greatest General who ever lived... because Ghast introduced him to books. He really did like reading... it took him away from the mundane world of pain.

Yet then, Hojo would come back. No time for books. Only experiments. To see how powerful he was. To see what his cells did. To see what his mothers cells... Jenova... gave to him. He thought at the time that Jenova was a normal woman... who had left him with these bastards. But it was a lie. A stage set to prevent him from ever seeing the truth. One day, Ghast just disappeared. The man he respected most in Shinra disappeared. The only person he respected. Sephiroth thought Ghast cared. Yet he left him just as his parents did.

Shinra failed their stage setup however. The Nibelheim incident... murderer... killer... Shinra failed because Sephiroth read books... in an uncontrolled atmosphere. He realized that he was simply a monster. A mere component in the Jenova Project. He read the truth. Yet somehow, he knew now that Jenova was entering his frail mind. He did not read the truth. Sephiroth knew, deep inside of him, that what he read there... was an illusion. He was going to Nibelheim to find out what that book really said. Or at least to piece together how he misinterpreted the information. Because, obviously, Jenova was not his mother.

The books... the girl asked him if he liked to read... yes... very much... no, not any of those. Yes, he read for pleasure... but he never heard of any of those. Only books with tactics mattered.

Going to sleep, he began to dream about that day. Exactly how it was that day. Not a nightmare, like he had had so many times before. An actual dream...

A snowy day in Midgar.