Author's Note: Once again, I apologize for not updating any of my stories for another…forever amount of time. But I've been laden down with a few ailments, one of them being acute bronchitis. But, today, I received a review, and that got my sparks going! Now, I'm going to start typing the actual story before those sparks fade…
It had been many hours, and young Sephiroth knew it had to be late in the evening. Perhaps even dawn was approaching. It didn't matter how late it was, because he would not bring himself to sleep in the brightly lit lab.
He sniffed occasionally, wiping the tears that kept forming in his eyes. He held onto his hope, the tiny strand of light in the darkness he was lost in. Cloud would come for him, he had to! Cloud owed it to Sephiroth to come and rescue him. He jumped slightly as the glass cage's door was shoved open, and one of the professors stepped inside.
Sephiroth squinted up, trying to read the label.
Professor Valentine
It was a nice name, but no matter how nice it was, that didn't make the man seem any less scary. With thick, flowing raven hair and glaring red eyes, it looked as though he were some kind of animal. Those red eyes slowly moved down to meet Sephiroth's fearful green ones. Sephiroth could have swore that those eyes softened just a bit when they made eye contact. Professor Valentine was dressed in black slacks and a starch white lab coat that came down to his knees. He was dressed a bit formally with a silver band on one of his ring fingers. The other arm… was different.
The professor cleared his throat, trying to shake off the sentimental feeling. "My name is Professor Valentine, and you will address me as such. Understood?" He had to take authority, he couldn't be controlled by this little child, especially a spawn of Professor Hojo.
Sephiroth slowly nodded. He never liked to be so cooperative with the professors, but that tranquilizer they gave him a while ago was really starting to mess with his brain. Sometimes, like now, images blurred for a long while before returning to their original form. The need to sleep was growing, but Sephiroth wouldn't give in, not yet.
"I'm taking you to the 18th floor. We'll begin the examinations there."
Professor Valentine picked up the child and carried him off, through the halls and to the elevator. As he pressed the button for the 18th floor, he couldn't help but notice how much Sephiroth looked like his mother.
The elevator shifted and began its journey to the 18th floor. Professor Valentine stared down at the small boy in his arms. "Don't fall asleep, you have to stay up for the experiments."
Sephiroth rested his head against Professor Valentine's shoulder. He sniffed again and looked around at all of the riches that Shinra HQ possessed. "Excuse me, but…what happened to your arm?"
Professor Valentine looked down at the golden clawed arm of his. "Hm, well, let's just say Professor Hojo gave me what I deserved. He'll do the same to you if you mess up anything."
Sephiroth swallowed dryly, and Professor Valentine felt a pang of guilt.
He set the little boy on an examination table and took off Sephiroth's shirt. He gently pressed on Sephiroth's chest to lay him flat on his back. "Remember, no dozing off. Professor Hojo will be here shortly."
Sephiroth, failing to stifle a yawn, glanced about the room. Bleak, and dim. Unusual for one of the experimentation rooms.
Within a few minutes, Professor Hojo came dashing into the room, glasses on the verge of falling off his nose. He huffed, pushing the glasses back into place, and smiles insanely as his black eyes met his son's.
"Professor Hojo."
Professor Hojo looked back at his colleague. "Yes, Valentine?"
"I wanted to remind you that killing the…specimen…will have you fired."
"Yes," he waved his hand impatiently, "yes, I know. But I've got this all planned out. Sephiroth won't die. But, I can't say he won't be in a great deal of pain." His eyes grew wide as the pleasure inside him began to soar to its maximum. After all of these long years of waiting, he would finally be able to experiment on the useless thing considered his son.
Professor Valentine moved a large mechanical arm over Sephiroth's small body. Light suddenly flooded from it, pouring onto the face of Sephiroth, who was wincing in pain, squinting his eyes, trying not to stare at it directly. If he closed his eyes, he feared he would fall asleep. Even though the light was blinding.
"Are you comfy, my little prize experiment?" Professor Hojo sarcastically asked.
Sephiroth glared at him. "Why are you doing this?"
Professor Hojo leaned down, his nose touching the youth's, his head acting as a shield from the relentless bright light.
"Because I can, my dear boy. I am evil, and I enjoy torturing innocent people. I love to see you squirm in fear, I love the way a child's eyes grow wide at the sight of evil."
"You're sick!" Sephiroth shouted, attempting to get up. But Professor Valentine was busy cuffing Sephiroth's arms to the metal examination table.
"Yes. Yes, I am sick, Little Sephiroth. But it's my job. I'm paid to be sick, cruel, and uncaring. It's what I do best."
Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Don't you call me that!"
"Oh, goodness gracious," the sarcastic professor continued, "I think the tranquilizer has done more than calm him down. It seems to be acting like a stimulant. Oh well, all medications work differently on each individual."
Professor Valentine silently went to the back of the room to gather some equipment, listening to the deranged man ramble on.
Professor Hojo straightened, glaring down at the tiny boy. "So young, and you already have a fountain of knowledge, worthy of at least a young adult. I would admire you if you weren't so…"
Sephiroth gathered his courage. He was fueled by hate, but not towards Hojo. Towards Cloud, who clearly wasn't coming to his rescue. "If I weren't so what?"
"My, you certainly are cocky. As I was saying, I would admire you if you weren't so easily coaxed into doing something."
"I don't do everything people say…"
"Oh, but you do. Before, when I kept you in the basement, you did what I told you to. Even if you needed a little persuasion. You were afraid of the needles and the beatings and other punishments you would get."
Professor Hojo leaned close to Sephiroth's face again and whispered, "Where's your hero? Where is that blonde man? You listened to him, you fool. He tricked you into coming here! He was working with me all along…"
"You're lying!" Sephiroth's face scrunched up as he tried to hold back his tears. "Be quiet! He's…he'll come!"
"Oh, no, Sephiroth, I'm afraid no one's coming to save you. You'll be here, with me, forever."
Professor Valentine watched Sephiroth tremble and silently cry. Eventually, he forced himself to return with an armful of equipment.
"Shall we begin, then, Valentine?"
Professor Valentine nodded.
To begin with, Professor Hojo took an extremely thin, long needle from a case. He filled it with transparent liquid and tilted Sephiroth's head all the back. "Now, stay still. It will hurt worse if you move. Not that it matters…I just don't want this to squirt in my eye."
Sephiroth tightly shut his eyes. He felt the sharp point of the needle come in contact with the center of his neck. He tensed completely as he felt it pierce his tender flesh. He tightly gripped the sides of the table as the needle went a full inch in. Professor Hojo slowly pressed the release button in the needle and watched the liquid make its way into the body of the five-year-old.
Professor Hojo grinned. After all of these years, he could begin his experiments.
Professor Valentine glared at the floor. He never thought he would see Sephiroth again. But, there he was. He hadn't aged a day. Why was he letting Professor Hojo experiment on the son of his beloved? He had still made that promise to himself…Dare he break it? Was it too late?
The minutes ticked by and Professor Valentine slowly brought his eyes up to look at Sephiroth, who was in slight convulsions. His body wasn't adjusting well at all to the serum. But Professor Hojo pressed on, injecting Sephiroth with every liquid that wouldn't kill Sepiroth possible. With each injection, Sephiroth screamed louder, thrashed harder.
Why am I letting that man touch Sephiroth…?
