Hojo knew something was wrong. The news of everything going up in flames at Nibelheim Reactor shook him to the very core. And just when he begun to have ideas, plans he wanted to carefully set in motion like a master pulling the puppet strings in the background unseen.
And now all of those carefully thought plans are dust. Lost in the ashes. All of it was so sudden. It felt like it couldn't be real. And yet despite each morning he awoke Hojo faced the reality.
For months he requested to see the video footage of the security cameras. The Turks took their sweet time. Eventually they gave him some half assed report stating that the cameras didn't work that night either due to the negligence.
Hojo knew something was off then. He knew those cameras had another five year lifespan. He chosen them himself. He took every precaution when it concerned Jenova. Hojo had chosen those cameras despite the costs of them being a little over the budget the company would have used. He paid out of his own pocket for each of them.
So Hojo decided it was time to have a look into the backdoor he created to see into the recordings. This was another precaution that he wasn't sure was necessary at the time he created this backdoor. Essentially all video footage was backed up onto a server only Hojo had access to.
And so he logged into it and to his amazement, there was footage. The many screens showed all angles of the cameras working that night. Hojo played them with sudden interest upon seeing a familiar face walking with the boy, Cloud Strife, and some village girl.
"How long have you had these visions for?" The girl asked.
"For a while now." Cloud answered.
They saw the name JENOVA. Cloud recognized the words. Hojo paused the videos, considering the information. So the boy had seen visions? He wondered how long that had been going on. Hojo couldn't for the life of him place a time frame. Frustrated he pressed resume.
Then a most curious thing happened. The boy heard voices. And Sephiroth tried to take control. It was interesting hearing Sephiroth's voice come out of Cloud. The boy fought until he gave in.
Hojo saw the eyes change. Masamune appeared. But that was all the signs that showed Sephiroth was in control. Strange. There should be enough S Cells for Sephiroth to fully possess the boy enough that the entire body changed. At least in theory.
Vincent Valentine bravely fought against Sephiroth while the girl was tasked to destroy Jenova. Hojo watched with fury rising within his chest as the girl managed to get rid of the statue then burn Jenova's body.
The desecration of Jenova's body caused a severe reaction. It drove Sephiroth out of Cloud's body. And the boy collapsed. Valentine and the girl dragged the boy outside while the cameras went out one by one. The last one that continued recording was the one outside showing the girl performing CPR on the boy.
Then the video cut short. The heat probably. By then the mako intensified the fire to an unbearable heat that would damage all electronics, melting them from inside out.
After a long moment a fist hit the controls. Hojo grit his teeth. This couldn't be all. Jenova wanted Sephiroth. Reached out to him through the boy. But what for? What did she want?
Hojo knew how to get his answers. He reached for the unused needle and carefully mixed the last precious J Cells with saline. He had done this years ago, but had no results from them. Perhaps he had given himself too little to hear her.
"This should be enough." Hojo cackled as the deed was done.
A sharp pain in his head. But it soothed out as the Cells rejoiced in the Reunion of the ones he already had. Hojo grabbed an audio recorder and pressed the button to record.
"I hear her now. Her voice is so...I hate to say, angelic. But she is angry. Infuriated. They had ruined her sons. Her perfect sons. What was their purpose?"
He listened to her intently. Her words were so clear to him now. She had nudged him from a distance. To place Sephiroth within reach to hear her.
And then by some miracle, Cloud was within her reach. She considered for a few days. She had to sense how close they were in heart and mind. Yes. Just enough to reach Sephiroth. Her perfect son.
So she willed him close. But she didn't take into account Cloud had awoken the broken one, the one that held Chaos. And a girl just so happened to follow them. It seems something else pulled the strings so Jenova will fail.
Something worked in enough favor to test the bonds connected to Cloud Strife. And in the end those connections won. As a result Sephiroth should have died. And Cloud should have been left in a coma.
What's this? A vision of the pair on a barren rock in view of a nebula. The galaxy looked almost like a portal of some sort in an endless darkness.
"The Edge of Creation." Hojo repeated the name Jenova gave it.
Here the two have the potential. To fully become one. In doing so Sephiroth can reach God hood. The key lay within Cloud. Jenova pushed her will upon her perfect son.
Sephiroth declared his love instead. And because of that declaration the two were ripped away from the Edge of Creation. It is here Jenova lost her connection to both Cloud and Sephiroth. She thought she lost them forever.
Until now.
She felt elated that Sephiroth was alive. While she didn't care much for Cloud, in essence Sephiroth loved him. Therefore she loved him as well. However she felt saddened she couldn't experience a part of Sephiroth's love.
"Let's see if we can rectify that." Hojo wondered as he began to think this over.
A month into this project and he had possible plans. Possible theories that haven't born any fruit yet. Hojo was taking his time for he felt comfortable. One thing he knew for sure is that Sephiroth didn't fully come through Cloud as potentially as he could was because Cloud had yet to reach the same level of strength.
It would create an imbalance. Hence why the only changes were the eyes and being able to wield Masamune. If Hojo could judge Sephiroth had used the boy's own materia and not his own arsenal. Sephiroth had mastered all of his materia, therefore he would have dealt a lot more damage than the footage had shown.
"All I have to do is ensure Cloud's gradual rise in strength. When he reaches the level of Sephiroth without having to draw in his inner strength, then it is time to act."
And then, the last evening the pair shared at Rufus Shinra's Costa Del Sol location, an intruder in the labs. Hojo was alerted when the cameras activated. He glanced up and chuckled.
"I knew you will come." Hojo smirked.
Soon as he saw Vincent Valentine in the reactor he knew. Cloud had awoken him with a purpose. It was easy enough to deduce. Valentine had been broken beyond repair in the name of love.
That same love grew into bitter hatred. And perhaps some form of vengeance. Vengeance for Lucretia. Vengeance for Sephiroth. Vengeance for Vincent himself.
Hojo knew it was a matter of time before Valentine braved entering the Shinra building. He set up the procedures of traps. Valentine will have to face all sorts of monsters and robots in order to proceed into the next room.
Soon as the intruder entered the first one the doors closed. Valentine didn't even act surprised. He looked up at the room high above. Hojo cackled into the microphone.
"I didn't know when. But I knew you will come. I saw the footage of the reactor. You wouldn't rise from the grave unless given a purpose. A purpose so strong that it resurrected that broken heart. Although, I have to wonder. How did it feel to hear your son's voice for the first time?"
"Enough talk. We both know why I'm here. Your time is close to an end." Vincent glared.
"Oh, didn't you get the memo?" Hojo pressed a button to release the monsters. "You will have to work for killing me."
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
xXx
The news was chaotic with the death of Professor Hojo. His number of assistants returned to work to find the labs in chaos. Dead monsters and broken robots. At the end of the trail was Professor Hojo's body with a gunshot wound to the heart.
When the Turks were alerted they swept through for evidence. But whoever did it covered their tracks. No hair samples. No blood samples from wounds of fighting everything Hojo used against his assailant.
When the Turks and the assistants looked at the security footage they found that it had been wiped clean. No recordings of the previous night. Whoever did this was a professional.
Without Hojo as the lead of the department, it fell onto Hollander's hands by default. Some grumbled. Some speculated Hollander had a hand in this. But after looking into him the Turks came to the conclusion he had not enough influence to track down a professional and pay them enough for this job.
And strangely files began to disappear. Files about General Sephiroth and Cloud Strife in particular. An assistant noticed this, and asked around. Apparently the Turks took them. But why? The others didn't know and didn't want to ask.
This young man noticed an audio recording device with one file underneath it. The title on the file said Project Key. The young man followed his gut feeling and placed them in his box of stuff he was to move into his new office. He glanced around to make sure no one noticed.
Everyone was too busy with their own grief and shock. So he collected his box and headed to the elevator. When he arrived on Hollander's floor the man was a little surprised.
"You're the first to move here. With how the lot of you were loyal to Hojo, I would have thought it would be a week until everyone moved." Hollander cleared his throat. "Anyway, pick an empty office space. I don't exactly have everything in order yet to set up a system for everyone. This is all last minute, you know."
"I understand." The young man entered the office area. He found one to his liking and began to pull out his stuff in the box one by one.
After finding a spot for everything but the pieces he stole from Hojo's labs the young man stared at them. He was pondering whether to open the folder or take a listen to the recording. But in the end he decided against it. He knew he wasn't as brilliant as Professor Hojo.
Maybe Hollander would be the better option.
"Professor Hollander?" The young man approached.
"Hm? Is there something wrong with the office?"
"No, no. It's just...the Turks were taking files away. I don't know why. Anything that mentioned General Sephiroth or Second Class SOLDIER Cloud Strife, they took. Except these. I noticed what they were doing and couldn't bring myself to let them take these."
"...I see. What are your intentions?" Hollander was a bit skeptical but it wouldn't put it past him the Turks were being shady.
"I didn't look through them. But I know this was Hojo's last work. I'm not brilliant in the mind compared to you or Hojo. So I figured you would be better off making sense of this. So I'm giving them to you." The young man handed them over.
Hollander stared at them for a minute. Since this young man seemed honest enough he accepted them. He wasn't going to look into the matter on the clock. If this was indeed Hojo's last project, he wasn't going to have any prying eyes or ears.
"Thank you. If you don't mind, just keep this between us?" Hollander eyed the young man.
"My lips are sealed. I don't know anything." He assured.
The day passed ever so slowly. When everyone finally turned in home Hollander had his chance. He opened the folder while he pressed play on the recorder.
"Cloud Strife is the Key. The Key for Sephiroth to reach God hood. But how? They were so close once. Almost within reach. Jenova said their emotions got in the way."
Jenova? The Jenova?
"But perhaps...we can manipulate those emotions. Give them an ultimatum of some sort. Force them to take that step to become a God."
Hollander paused the audio. His hands shook. This. This was what he needed to come out on top. Genesis or Angeal can finally take that mantle Sephiroth claimed with so little effort.
The key was Cloud Strife.
A/N: I debated splitting this into two. Go into more details of Vincent's revenge. Then the real epilogue will be Hollander's discovery.
Alas, I decided it was better to wrap it all into one because of how short the second half would be. Plus, it feels like the previous chapter left on the perfect note to end this story.
Tune in for the sequel! Thank you all for your support and wonderful suggestions of turning my idea into a sequel instead of prolonging this story. Wish you all happy holiday blessings.
The title of the next story will either be Twisted Thorns or Beautiful Crime. Keep an eye out!
