Disclaimer: Square-Enix owns Final Fantasy VII… If I did, Sephiroth would not be such a complete dumbass…

Notes: I prefer "G-substance" to "tainted lifestream." It sounds way better…

I beg forgiveness for how long this took.

PROJECT MAIDEN
Phase One: Trust
Step Seven: Protect

Mother? I need Masamune.

"Dairy." Okay… Masamune would be great right about now.

I can feel the Jenova cells spreading out of my body and out my hand. I grasp the imaginary blade as it forms itself into existence…

Rip.

I tilt my head at the sound. My shoulder seems to have disconnected itself. And has decided to ooze blackness… G-substance? Mother, You've become cheap in You're old age.

BANG!

You'd think I would have noticed a gun sitting under the bar. Or, that a seven-year-old girl could wield a rifle like Shinra-trained pro. "I said 'EVERYBODY OUT!' "

Blink.

"Where did everyone go?" I turn my head about looking for signs of life within the bar.

I feel a tug on my skirt and turn to see Denzel clinging to it. "Denzel…?"

"You have geostigma, huh?" What is he—I watch the inky liquid slide down my arm, coating Masamune. Oh, that.

The brunette grabs her pseudo-sibling and pulls him away. "S-Sephiroth?"

"D'oh."

How does everyone figure that out? Do I just project evilnesss?

"What are you doing here?"

"I—"

She shakes her small head violently. "Haven't you hurt enough people?"

Technically, most of those people were Jenova's fault… "I want… I'm trying to make it up… I want to do something good for the Planet." I'm brilliant!

Must not smirk evilly.

"You killed the Maiden." And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Must not smirk evilly… I shake my head, willing Masamune dissolve.

"You destroyed Midgar." Obviously, she doesn't realize what a hellhole that place was.

"You've hurt Cloud." Doesn't that just make the Chocobo-head more cuddly? "Why would you want to help anyone?"

MUST NOT SMIRK EVILLY… "The Maiden… she helped me understand… I need to make it up to the Planet and to the people of it; I need to teach them what she taught me."

The children tilt their heads, the girl loosing her grip on her weapon. "How…?"

Oh, what the hell. Evil smirk time! "You're story, Marlene. I want the whole Planet to know of her sacrifice… Will you—could you—help me spread her message?"

Her eyes become unfocused, the look of concentration across her young face. "Okay… But you have to promise to not do anything 'bad.' " She held out her pinky towards me.

I latch mine around her smaller digit. "I promise not to do anything 'bad.' " Evil and malevolent is a whole other story.

Review if you'd like.

Kyae Sohma,, Skavnema, Kameko Suigami, Bells of Requiem, Omni-Master, and Sadari Jenova receive "Denzel-chan" keychains for reviewing.