Chapter 1

The start of the rainy season on Zhan had always marked the beginning of the darkest time of the year when even the gray half-light that passed for day was muffled by the ever present black thunderclouds. Sephiroth had always thought of it as a night that lasted the better part of four months. When he woke up he could barely tell if it was day or night, and yet even the days felt like part of a dream state when they were illuminated only by electricity's artificial glow. It made him feel like he was always sleepwalking even when he was awake.

On impulse Sephiroth reached out and flipped the light switch to plunge the room into complete darkness. He had never minded the darkness, not really. In some ways he found it easier to focus his thoughts when there was less for him to see and be distracted by. The complete absence of sensation was calming.

He moved silently to the window and stared off into the distance. Brilliant tendrils of lightning flickered over the peaks of the mountains that enclosed their hiding place, the hidden valley that acted as the sanctuary for the ones who had come together with the goal of one day reclaiming their world. Sephiroth and the others had been here for one year now. He felt that they would have to move again soon; the ShinRa governor's army was penetrating too deep into the Enak mountain range for them to be safe much longer. Maybe they would have to move off the continent, set up base on one of the larger islands off the coast.

It had been fifteen years since ShinRa had seized control of Maruth and since that time they had spread across the rest of the planet's surface like a malevolent fungus. The military had established its presence in all of the areas of human habitation from the secondary cities of Init and Karam to the outlying provinces where only a few rural settlements existed. Not that there were all that many of those left, however – the governor had given orders that the population be rounded up and relocated to the cities. It was easier to keep them under control that way It had been rumored that the government had even started to insert implants under people's skin that would serve as identifying marks, making it impossible to hide from ShinRa's all-seeing eyes.

They had also started stealing Zhan's children. The official line was that they were being sent to the ShinRa home world of Gaia to receive military training and become part of the Empire's army. Sephiroth supposed that there was some truth to that. He was sure that the children ShinRa stole from the worlds it conquered were put to some kind of use by the military although he doubted that were ever allowed any kind of position beyond that of canon fodder. It was more likely that they were being used for research purposes. He'd heard that the military was fond of using human experimentation to determine how to increase the abilities of their soldiers and what better guinea pigs than the children of conquered worlds? They were, after all, easily expendable.

Maybe Sephiroth would have ended up in a lab somewhere on Gaia if his father hadn't taken him into hiding just after the invasion forces had landed.

He absently rubbed his arms in an attempt to ward off the sudden chill that he felt at that thought. He had been raised to believe that it was better to be dead than held in thrall to ShinRa. As a child some small, hidden part of him had always wondered if that wasn't an abnormally fatalistic philosophy to live by, but as he grew up and came to understand how the Empire treated the people of the worlds it conquered he embraced it with the same passion his father did. All of the ones who had joined them followed it as well. Live in freedom or die: That was the creed of their resistance.

"Why d'you always sit in the dark?"

Sephiroth didn't flinch when the voice broke into the absolute stillness of the room. "Why are you always so loud? I could hear your footsteps from a mile away."

He allowed a half smile to steal across his lips as he heard the small grunt of exasperation that his words had caused. Sephiroth knew perfectly well that Zack could be quiet when he wanted to be, but that didn't mean that the white-haired man didn't grab whatever opportunities he could to jibe ever so slightly at his friend.

"Yeah, yeah." Zack grumbled a bit as he flicked on the lights, both men blinking a bit against the sudden brightness as Zack moved to Sephiroth's side and stared out at the mountains. The white haired man glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Zack was tense, with lines of worry etched across his face and an unhappy frown on his face.

"What is it?"

Zack ran a hand through his unruly brown hair before answering. "We're not going to be safe here for much longer." His voice was soft and anxious as he nodded at the encircling peaks. "The scout reports just came in and it turns out that ShinRa's moved much closer to us than we originally thought." He handed Sephiroth a heavily marked map before turning back to the window, his face unhappy and strained.

Sephiroth stiffened ever so slightly as he stared down at the piece of paper. It wasn't unexpected news by any means, but if they had less time than they thought….

"How long?"

Zack sighed and Sephiroth heard the weariness in his voice. "One week. Maybe two at the most, if we're lucky."

Sephiroth nodded slowly as he refolded the map, his mind already racing ahead thinking of what had to be done. They'd have to move out of the mountains as fast as possible and relocate to a new location that would be at least somewhat secure while they determined their next move. Then they would need to find a more permanent place to re-establish headquarters. That meant a full-scale evacuation, never an easy thing to do even under ideal circumstances. To have to do one during the rainy season when they were pushed for time, not to mention having to carry it out without being detected by ShinRa …. Sephiroth rubbed his forehead in exasperation. It was enough to give him a headache.

"Unfortunate, but I suppose we shouldn't be all that surprised." Sephiroth gave the mountains one last long look before turning away. "Come on. Valentine will be calling a meeting about this any time now and we might as well get there early."

Zack followed his taller friend down the dimly lit corridor, a slight frown etched onto his face. Valentine. Zack didn't think that Sephiroth had ever called the chief commander of the resistance "Father" in the last four years, not since Sephiroth had turned sixteen and started to participate in field missions. It almost seemed like the instant Sephiroth had been thrust into actual combat situations Vincent Valentine had stopped viewing Sephiroth as his child. Zack didn't know if it was because the older man didn't want to cultivate a close relationship with a child who could be captured or killed by ShinRa or because he did not want Sephiroth to always be treated as "the commander's son", but in any case Zack had watched the two of them grow further and further apart over the past four years. He had always worried about that in the back of his mind – Sephiroth had always been a loner, had always been distant from everyone else and had never really made any friends other than Zack himself. Zack couldn't help but feel some resentment at Vincent from distancing himself. Sephiroth seemed lonely, and he didn't even have a father to turn to….

By the time they arrived at the main briefing room at the heart of the building most of the other field commanders were already assembled. News of ShinRa's proximity had spread like wildfire as soon as the scouts had returned and the tension in the room was palpable. Some of the assembled were talking quietly and others were just staring vacantly into space, but the worry and agitation in everyone's eyes was the same. Sephiroth and Zack threaded their way through the crowd and sat down at the large oval table in the center of the room. Zack turned to the taller man and was just about to say something when the room fell abruptly silent. There was a rustle of clothing as all of the others present seated themselves and turned to face the head of the table where Vincent Valentine stood.

In the first months after Zhan had fallen to ShinRa Vincent had stayed in hiding with his son waiting for the initial shock of conquest to wear off. It was only after ShinRa had become relatively secure in its control of the planet that he started to form any plan of action, drifting among the various mountain villages and talking, quietly revealing hints of his desire to take action against their oppressors. Resentment and hatred of ShinRa ran strong among the people far from the main cities and there were plenty among them who were willing to follow him. Those who did not turned a blind eye and kept their silence.

Little by little, more people had joined Vincent's cause and by the time two years had passed they were a group sizable enough to inflict some damage. They were nowhere near large enough to ever confront ShinRa directly, of course, but they were able to use terrorist strategies quite effectively, striking quickly and unexpectedly and withdrawing before they could be caught. The strategy was to strike were they could and take whatever opportunities to fight that they could find, hoping that one day ShinRa would give them the opening they needed to inflict real damage on the Imperial presence's infrastructure.

Vincent stood at the center of the group, the figure around which everything evolved. The fighters who had joined themselves to his cause viewed him with a respect that almost bordered on reverence at times. He had united them with his vision of one day seeing Zhan a free world once again, and the strength of that vision was enough to draw others to his side.

It had certainly pulled him in, Zack mused. He had left his home village when he was eighteen to follow Vincent, desperate to rid his planet of the presence of ShinRa. Two years later and Zack's conviction burned brighter than ever, fueled by Vincent's quiet dedication to their cause.

The dark haired man waited a moment, his strange reddish eyes looking calmly at the gathered fighters before beginning to speak. His voice was quiet and smooth, the kind of voice that commanded the attention of everyone in the room.

"As I'm sure most of you have already heard, the latest report brought in by ours scout show that the location of the ShinRa military is much closer to our headquarters than we had previously thought." He waited for the soft murmur of assent that rippled around the table to fade into silence before continuing. "It's not certain how long it will be before they reach this valley, but they could be here by the time a week has passed. We have very little time in which to act. We have to be fully evacuated in three days and en route to the Zhirak steppe. We'll be staying there briefly before moving on to a permanent location."

There were nods of assent from around the table. Vincent began to unroll a map detailing their position in the mountains and the route they would have to take to reach the steppe. Sephiroth leaned in closer to look, nodding to himself as he saw the location where they would set up temporary camp.

Zhirak was well-protected, not as secure as mountains, perhaps, but the best that they could do on such short notice. Its southern, western, and northern boundaries were marked with sheer rock cliffs and the Eglath River traveled along its southern edge, fast and dangerous. They couldn't stay there long, but that wasn't necessary. All they needed was a temporary camp to catch their breath and wait for the members of the resistance who were away from their current headquarters to reach them.

Sephiroth listened closely as Vincent continued to explain the details of the evacuation, mentally listing each point he needed to remember to take care of. The others were in a similar state of concentration, silent except for the occasional murmur of acknowledgement or a question posed to Vincent followed by his response. By the time the chief commander dismissed them all with a weary wave of the hand the digi-clock on the wall said that three hours had gone by. Sephiroth rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily as he turned to follow Zack out, only to be stopped by a soft command.

"Sephiroth. Wait."

The white haired man paused in the doorway after a quick, "I'll see you later," to Zack, then turned slowly around.

"Yes… sir?"

Vincent stared at him for a long moment before a humorless smile curled his lips and he broke into a bitter laugh. As it faded into silence Sephiroth saw a deep sadness shining up out of the depths of the older man's eyes,

"It hurts to hear you address me like that, you know. Every time."

Sephiroth focused his gaze on the table, having no idea what to say to that. He and his father weren't close, hadn't been close in years. When he had been younger and Vincent had taught him how to wield weaponry, the dark haired man had been a constant presence in his life. Vincent had looked at him as his little boy with pride and affection in his eyes and had always been there to pick him up when he fell, to hug him before going to bed and tell him bedtime stories. But he had felt all of that had started to fade once Vincent decided that that silver-haired boy was ready to start putting all of his training to good use. Sephiroth had still felt the pride in Vincent's gaze, but the affection had been buried behind a wall of something that Sephiroth had always thought looked like a kind of grim satisfaction. As if the father took pride in knowing that the son he had trained had become such an efficient weapon for terrorism.

It wasn't that Sephiroth didn't believe in their cause; he felt an overwhelming satisfaction swell up within him every time they lashed out against ShinRa. He was as dedicated to his father's vision of a free Zhan as everyone else who had joined the resistance; it was just that sometimes….

He had Zack, of course. His best friend that he knew would always be there for him, the only person who had ever thought it was worth trying to get to know the commander's white haired son who didn't seem to know how to interact with other people and spent his time either studying or practicing his martial arts. He would always be immensely grateful to Zack for extending the hand of friendship to him, but at the same time….

He missed his father. He wanted to feel that he was taken care of, that there was someone close to him who wanted to protect him and make sure that he was happy and safe and never afraid or lonely. Sephiroth had had that as a child, and he missed it more than anything.

Something he kept hidden deep inside always ached when he was in situations like these, alone with his own father and having no idea how to break the silence.

He heard the older man's sigh. "Sephiroth…"

Sephiroth lifted his gaze to meet Vincent's, deep emerald green staring into murky red. They remained frozen in place for a moment that seemed to stretch into hours before the older man sighed and looked away.

"You can go, Sephiroth. Just…"

Sephiroth stopped in the doorway, not looking back out of the fear that his emotions would be plain to see. "Yes?"

"Be careful. It's going to be dangerous on the way to Zhirak."

Sephiroth laughed softly, sadly when he answered. "You know I will. I learned from the best."

He hurried down the corridor and away, his steps maybe just a bit quicker than usual. Back in the room, Vincent stared blankly ahead at nothing, feeling only the grief that came from knowing that his son had slipped beyond his grasp, and that he was the one who had allowed that to happen.

Sephiroth leaned against the door of his room as it clicked shut behind him, closing his eyes tiredly and fighting back a wave of disorientation. It should be only late afternoon, but the skies had turned pitch black in anticipation of yet another onslaught of rain. The darkness only seemed to sharpen his exhaustion and his desire to throw himself down on the bed and sleep.

He let his eyes fall shut and groaned as images of all the work that needed to be done to relocate to Zhirak assaulted him. So much to be done and so little time in which to do it. He had a feeling that managing to have any period of restful, unbroken sleep would be nothing more than wishful thinking for days to come.

He sighed a bit when he heard the knock on his door, half tempted to pretend he wasn't there and be left in peace. He knew it was Zack, though, could tell by the distinctive weight and pattern of the knocking, and he'd never been able to fool his friend. With a small groan of resignation Sephiroth moved to open the door and Zack slipped inside, flicking on the small table lamp on his way to the bed. Sephiroth watched his dark-haired friend make himself comfortable before he stared up at Sephiroth with one eyebrow raised, his dark eyes gentle and questioning.

Sephiroth sighed again and sat on the floor so that his head was level with Zack's knee. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Nothing happened. He didn't even say anything to me, not really."

Zack didn't reply to that. There was nothing he could say, not really. He settled for tugging on a few strands of Sephiroth's long silvery hair and waited for his friend to speak again. He didn't have long to wait.

"I'm tired, Zack."

The brunette flopped onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. It was hidden in shadow, the lamplight doing little to dispel the pervasive darkness. His voice was soft when he answered.

"I know. Me too."

Sephiroth turned his head slightly so that he could see Zack out of the corner of his eye. "Zack?"

The brunette's attention immediately focused entirely on Sephiroth when he heard the vulnerability in the other man's tone. Sephiroth rarely let his guard down for anyone; if he did so now it was because he was truly concerned about something, and too tired to maintain his defenses,

"Yeah?"

Sephiroth didn't answer for a long while, his face hidden by a long curtain of silvery-white. He finally reached up and pushed some of the strands out of his eyes, tilting his head back so that he could stare straight at his friend. His lips parted in preparation to say something, then he paused and shut his mouth, turning away.

Zack frowned. "Seph, you okay?"

Sephiroth nodded slowly, his eyes still downcast. "Yes. I am, it's just that sometimes…." His voice trailed off for a moment as he looked back up at Zack, his green eyes looking lost and lonely. "I miss having a father, sometimes."

"Oh, Seph…" Zack hesitated only briefly before tugging at the taller man until Sephiroth was sprawled across the bed with his head resting in Zack's lap. The brunette ran his fingers through the long strands of white silk, watching them take on a pale golden shimmer in the lamp's soft orange glow. He knew that he was the only one who ever saw Sephiroth like this; no one else was allowed to see past his antisocial façade, that mask of quiet indifference that Sepiroth had cultivated so well over the years. Sephiroth chose to keep his true self hidden from everyone except for Zack, a gesture of trust that the brunette had vowed to protect until he died. He had never been able to find the words with which to tell the white-haired man how much it really meant to him to be allowed to see the fragile and human side to Sephiroth, to be able to see him when he was unsure and ill at ease….

And I will never betray that trust. I promise.

Zack reached out and rubbed Sephiroth's back lightly, reassuringly, letting the other man know that he was there and that he cared, that he would never leave Sephiroth with nothing but loneliness,

"We'll be happy one day, Sephiroth…."

"You believe that?" Sephiroth's voice came out muffled and indistinct against Zack's thigh and was so soft that the brunette could barely hear the words.

Zack's hand tightened into a squeeze when he answered. "Yeah. I do." He had to.

The next few days were every bit as stressful as Sephiroth had feared, with no time to do anything outside of hurrying from one place to another issuing orders and then hurrying back to make sure that they had been carried out correctly. Headquarters had become a barely controlled mob of chaotic activity, everyone rushing around frantically in the race to be gone before ShinRa arrived, screaming and yelling and arguing all the while. There were moments when the white haired man despaired of anything ever getting done when everyone seemed to be constantly in each other's way and then fighting over whom had priority, wasting valuable time while they did so. He supposed that it was a result of being used to operating in small groups rather than having to cooperate as a single large unit, but… Sephiroth cursed quietly in frustration as he saw the beginnings of yet another argument and hurried forward to resolve it.

Hopeless. Strange how the individual groups could operate so smoothly and effectively but everything went to hell once they had to combine and actually work together.

Then again, when all was said and done Vincent had trained his fighters well and held them all to some level of discipline. Maybe it wasn't exactly nothing short of a miracle that three days after the news of ShinRa's nearness had arrived the resistance was making their way out of the valley.

As one of the higher-ranking field commanders, Sephiroth was allowed to fly on one of the draxses, the large flying lizards that were native to Zhan. Rumor had it that offworlders viewed them as terrifying and repulsive, but he had always thought that they were strangely beautiful, all silvery wings and scales and deep blue eyes that glowed like sea jewels. They looked so powerful and magnificently free when they soared in the air, rising above the constraints of the earth, that Sephiroth really couldn't help but admire them. And when he was riding them, with the wind against his face and tangling in his hair… It was the best feeling in the world.

He swung gracefully up into the harness that was strapped onto the giant creature's neck just in front of the massive shoulder joints and stared ahead at Vincent, also mounted and watching as the land-based transports made their way onto the twisting path that led into the mountains proper. The older man's face looked almost ghoulish in shadows cast by the small light on his harness and Sephiroth couldn't quite suppress a small shiver of discomfort when his father looked directly at him. The man's eyes were completely invisible, hidden deep with shadowy eye sockets; it made him look inhuman….

Then Vincent's draxe was airborne and Sephiroth urged his own aloft. Knowing that no one was looking and that no one would see him let his guard down, he threw his head back and laughed. There was nothing but joy and exultation in his voice, everything else falling away in ecstasy of flight. It was wonderful, wonderful, to be back in the air.

He circled lazily a few times before urging the draxe down on a course directly above the back part of the resistance's train. He could see their small travel lights gleaming down below like stars. The real stars were hidden behind a thick layer of clouds heavy with rain – they would be drenched for most of the way to Zhirak. Inconvenient and it would make crossing the mountains more treacherous, but it was unavoidable.

The first drops began to fall in what the clocks indicated was early afternoon although it was only slightly brighter than midnight. Within an hour the first tentative sprinkles had turned into a downpour. The mounted commanders dropped altitude to fly close above the ground transports, squinting to make out their lights through the raindrops. Their pace had slowed to little more than a crawl as the troops made their way over the rocky path that twisted around the mountain and began to lead down toward the more gentle foothills. Between the driving rain and the darkness it was nearly impossible to determine where it was safe to move and where the path would abruptly drop off to jagged rocks waiting to impale anyone who fell on them.

It was a relief to finally reach the gently sloping foothills and be able to relax before pushing on. Sephiroth slid down from his mount's neck and stretched, muscles slightly sore from hours of hard flying, legs a bit wobbly once they were on solid ground again. He thumped his draxe affectionately and turned to scan the lamplit figures for a familiar face, absently rubbing his neck.

"Seph!"

Zack made his way through the crowd toward Sephiroth, his dark hair plastered to his cheeks by the rain. He looked exhausted and strained but still managed to summon up a smile for his friend.

"Lucky you, getting to fly instead of inching over those rocks."

Sephiroth snorted. "Don't get jealous; it's not all it's cracked up to be. I'll let you know that it's freezing up there, especially with the wind."

"Whatever." Zack unscrewed his thermos and took a long drink of the hot liquid inside before offering it to Sephiroth. The white-haired man murmured a fervent thanks and he drank, sputtering a bit as he felt the burn of alcohol beneath the strong herbal taste. He raised one eyebrow as he passed it back to Zack.

"What, too strong for you?" Zack laughed at his friend's glare and took another drink. "I'm guessing that we've got another four hour march before sleep. With any luck we'll reach Zhirak sometime tomorrow." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before continuing. "At least we're out of the mountains-"

Zack broke off when Sephiroth suddenly covered his mouth, one finger pressed to his lips in the warning for silence. Zack started, his eyes going wide as he heard the distinctive high-pitched while of approaching military airships.

"But how did they-"

The rest of Zack's sentence was spoken to the wind as Sephiroth swung back up onto his draxe and was airborne within seconds. The rest of the camp had heard ShinRa's approach as well; down below lights were swirling around frantically as fighters rushed to move to the defensive. Their shouts of alarm drifted up to him as he flew in close to the other mounted commanders. He caught a glimpse of Vincent's face, stony and expressionless as the flyers moved into position, and then –

The sound of gunfire was unmistakable, sharp and rattling over the falling rain. There were a few choked off screams from down below followed almost immediately by the soft whoosh of crossbow fire. Sephiroth winced internally. This was exactly the sort of thing they wouldn't be able to survive; they operated covertly using the stealth of bombing or sabotage and relying on hand to hand combat when they had to, but they just didn't have the strength to survive a full on attack by armed military forces –

And how had they known where they were, anyway? ShinRa shouldn't have even reached the valley for another few days….

No time to worry about it, not time to think at all. The airships were releasing rope ladders and dark-clad men were descending. The flyers moved to cut them down, firing their crossbows and throwing small circular hand bombs at the ships trying to bring them down –

But it wasn't enough, wasn't enough, the soldiers were on the ground and were shooting with cold precision, the resistance fighters unable to get close enough to engage them with in hand to hand combat or swordplay before they were felled. Sephiroth cursed and urged his draxe down. There was nothing more that could be done in the air, but down on the ground he would let the ShinRa troops test themselves against his blade….

He was still some fifty feet above ground when he heard the sharp rattle of the machine guns. His mount suddenly twisted and screamed in agony, thrashing wildly as Sephiroth struggled to keep his seat. But there was another burst of fire and suddenly the draxe was falling from the sky and Sephiroth knew that he had to get off or risk being crushed….

Quick fingers undid the harness straps and Sephiroth threw himself away from the falling beast. He could feel himself falling for only a few seconds before he sensed the earth coming up to meet him and then he knew nothing at all.

Pain. That was the first thought that trickled slowly into his mind as his eyelids began to flutter open. Everything hurt; the slightest twitch of his muscles sent spasms of pain shooting through him. He wanted to just slide back into blessed unconsciousness where he didn't have to feel anything, where nothing mattered and he was at peace.

"He's coming to."

But there was no chance of that happening. He heard the movement of people as they came to stand over him, their quiet words sounding painfully loud in his ears. Frowning ever so slightly in irritation Sephiroth wrenched his eyes open only to quickly shut them against the burning electric lights they held with a groan of protest.

"Take it easy. Just open your eyes slowly…."

He tried again, staring up at their faces through half-closed lids. "What… What happened? How did ShinRa…?"

A woman moved into his field of vision; Sephiroth recognized her as one of the other field commanders. Alena. Her name was Alena. "We think that one of us turned traitor and gave ShinRa details about our position while falsifying information about theirs. It allowed ShinRa to be much closer to us than we thought they were and left us vulnerable to attack while we were on the move."

"So that scouting party who gave us the report…."

"In all likelihood it was one of them." Alena turned away, her voice harsh and bitter. "Although it no longer matters. Most of us are dead, and a large number are missing. Probably taken prisoner. The ones you see here managed to retreat before the soldiers got around to them." Her eyes regarded him with dark amusement. "When we stumbled across you, we thought you were dead – and who wouldn't, after a fall like that? Then Commander Valentine noticed you were breathing."

Sephiroth sat up slowly and stared out at the small group of people illuminated outlined by the faint glow of the lamps. He saw Vincent standing off to one side, alone, and for a long moment their gazes locked. Then Vincent turned and strode silently out of the circle of light, the rigid set of his shoulders warning anyone who would think of following him that he wanted to be alone.

Sephiroth continued to look at the other survivors, a feeling of anxiety growing in his chest with each passing second. Zack. Where was Zack? He couldn't have died; he was too good a fighter to let himself be cut down by ShinRa; he just couldn't be dead….

But Sephiroth didn't see him.

Fighting down a surge of alarm he made his way over to the very edges of the light circle. The bodies of the slain would be beyond it, in the darkness, cold and alone. He stared blankly ahead, trying to will himself to go and see if Zack's body was among them. He wasn't sure that he wanted to, though. He didn't know what he would do if he really did find Zack's body.

"Who are you looking for?"

Alena had followed him and was looking at him with a trace of sympathy visible in her shadowed eyes. Sephiroth barely managed to force out Zack's name, hoping that none of his internal fear had transferred itself to his voice.

He felt his knees go weak with relief when Alena shook her head, although it was short lived.

"We didn't find his body, but he isn't here. We haven't been able to establish any kind of radio contact with him. We have him down as captured by ShinRa." She fell silent for a moment, looking at him. "I'm sorry."

Something must have shown on his face because Alena looked away and moved quickly back to the others, leaving him alone on the fringes of the darkness. He felt his hand curl into a fist at his side as he fought the wave of sudden, sharp despair that crashed through him.

Zack captured by ShinRa.

Sephiroth had never felt so alone.