Chapter 22: I can make you see the beauty of a new sun or I can be the source of your desperation, I could be every nasty thing, you ever dreamt a man could be

FN: Please insert disc 2. Sorry, couldn't resist. For those of you are interested in the coming attractions, I'm currently busy drawing Twilight out into a trilogy, but before I start posting the sequel, we're going to post "Music of the Twilight" which will be Phantom of the Opera told with FF7 characters, for the most part. And now the feature presentation.

"So Mirri, this is snow? Really weird." James couldn't find any words besides weird for snow. The concept of it had been rather thoroughly explained to him when he was younger (that is to say something like a month ago when he had just come out of the womb and yet to meet Seph or Mirri), but it was another thing to experience it personally. They where all experiencing it up close and personal at this point. They had gone north for about a week now, and the group was currently tramping through ankle deep snow. There was another thing that James instantly realized about snow, how much Alex liked it.

Not to say he was rolling around in it like a dog (particularly not like a dog) but it was clear that Alex was glad to have snow underfoot. At least it was clear when you could see him, with his white fur the only easy way to tell where Alex was standing happened to be by his eyes. That, or trace the flakes of snow that occasionally landed on Alex, which were visible only because you could see the flake stop falling.

All in all Alex was about as easy to see in snow as Vincent was when he was in the shadows, Alex was doubtlessly in his element. Which in all frankness, James wasn't, while his sneakers were wonderful for dealing with almost any other type of terrain, they just didn't cut it in snow. They could find traction in sand, slide almost effortlessly across metal (which let James move faster then he would otherwise), but they couldn't disperse his weight enough to prevent them from sinking in through the snow.

This led to a rather large amount of snow building up in James' footwear. Watching Vincent walk across the snow, his footfalls somehow not breaking the surface reminded James that someday he would have to ask Vincent to teach him that. "It's snow all right James." James would have taken off his shoes to shake the snow out of them, but there was no place to put his feet while he did so, so he would just end up with more snow next to his feet. "So Mirri, does this kind of thing happen often?"

James and Mirri were leading the group forward, his job was to be a reconnaissance officer, so he was reconnaisenceing, or whatever the appropriate word was. "Not really James. Of the four seasons you almost exclusively see snow only in one of them, winter. The problem is that this continent is so far north that the snow never melts." Mirri's shoes had a slightly higher ridge than James' which was why the snow wasn't bothering her the way it was James.

"What I wonder is why people live this far north. Isn't there enough room for them to live elsewhere?" James managed to strike an awkward pose with one foot in the air and kick some of the snow off it. "Well James, its like this. The town of Icicle Village is occupied by two kinds of people. Those who where born there, and have basically lived there their entire lives, so they don't feel like moving south. Those people are generally there because of the second group of people. They're people rich enough that they can afford private airship flights out here to relax and get away from everyone else."

Humans could be so hard to understand as Alex has pointed out on more than one occasion. "So your saying that people are rich enough that they can afford to go to a place that's so unfriendly that normal people would never go there, and convince themselves they're having a good time." "That's about the long and short of it James." "Mirri, is it just me or do you ever get the feeling that your the only intelligent person in the world." "I get that all the time."

So James wasn't alone in that, good. If James and Mirri could agree on something then what were the odds they were wrong? James and Mirri both agreed that they agreed on something, then they were clearly right. If someone felt like disagreeing with them, then clearly they weren't right, right?

"So Mirri, out of curiosity did you have a weird vision quest thing when we entered into the Temple of the Ancients?" It sort of was a precarious situation, but James felt fairly safe talking to Mirri about it. Mirri seemed to have similar ideas. "I dreamed, that I was in Corel while it was being burned to the ground." Jeez, what would it be like to watch while everything that made you what you are got burned to the ground? Okay, it was probably sort of like watching Seph kill all those scientists who made James. Except that, umm... well, you know, you would care about each other...

"So how was it Mirri?" Apparently Mirri's feelings were more in the same area as James' then he would have thought. "Basically what it broke down to was me killing all of them. I even took my time with it. How about you James, what did you have happen to you? Vincent had this incredibly weird dream where he killed us all." That was the kind of thing that would happen, to Vincent. He did seem to have a bad habit of imagining the worst possibilities.

"Oh, that's too bad, umm... did he tell you how?" Okay, so clearly James was technically crossing a bit of a line. If Vincent wanted to subconsciously kill them... okay maybe he wasn't crossing a line. "We got impaled on the same pike throughout the heart, I was on top." Mirri seemed to have a great deal of pleasure explaining this for some reason. "Oh. That was nice of him. Considering all the much more nasty things you can do with an impaling pike. At least through the heart is quick and painless."

"Yep. So, what was your spiritual quest like?" What was the best way to explain this to Mirri? Another guy who looked sort of like him, but dressed differently than him and could show up anywhere when you weren't looking for him. Of course the antagonist of the tale was a guy who was taller then Sephiroth, could hold James' wires with his bare hands and survive several hundred foot drops, and didn't talk, he also needed to tell Mirri in a way that she would understand about the giant airship they where fighting on top of except that it was apparently made of rubber instead of metal. Most importantly, James had to explain all of the things that he got taught by the first guy to Mirri.

"Knowing you James it was probably yarn, catnip, rubber mice, and balls that dinged when you pawed at them." James must have been thinking to himself longer then he thought he had been. "Yeah, that was it, more or less." It was probably the first time that James had ever intentionally lied to Mirri, but he was sure Saint Valentine would have forgiven it for him, after all he was the one having dreams about impaling them both on the same pole.

----

"Master, you need to see this, you as well Aeris." The group had walked for most of the day. and Aeris was about ready to collapse on a warm bed. For once the difficulty of the walk through snow and cold had apparently gotten to Sephiroth as well. "Vincent what is it?" Vincent, being dead, sadly had no concept for what hypothermia was.

On second thought, Vincent clearly knew what hypothermia was, he was experiencing it all the time, or at least in places where the air was measured in positive double digits. "Master, it is of grave importance. I found it by accident, but it concerns both of you. It deals with important information about our foes Master, and as for you Aeris... you need to see it." "Vincent?" "Don't ask questions, just come with me, and Aeris, I'd rather you hate me for making you do this, then hate yourself for having a choice about it."

As Vincent spoke, he removed his glasses and something odd happened with his eyes. Aeris couldn't look away, she couldn't blink, and she couldn't step away. Slowly Vincent drew backwards into the empty house he had pointed them towards Sephiroth following and Aeris who had no choice but to follow Vincent to whatever fate he was dragging her towards.

-----

Niro was having a relatively good day. After the long journey he was finally grabbing a good rest in the snow, in Alex's shape. Regardless of what anyone might tell you about white clothing not doing a good job turning sunlight into heat, it clearly didn't transfer to white fur. Alex had been gracious enough to give Niro his form after their "argument" in Cosmo, and if Niro preferred his panther for combat Alex's wolf had a lot to say for anything involving low temperatures.

James was currently busy patrolling the south side of town while Niro was keeping his eyes on the north. Vincent, Aeris and Sephiroth were currently inside an abandoned building doing, something, of some kind of importance. Mirri and Melkore where the lucky two who got to cop out and finally grab a warm bed to lie in. Granted Niro really couldn't complain about the current situation he was in. Alex had been built for cold weather survival, lying in a snowbank at 3 F for him was the equivalent of sunbathing at 30 C.

James of course would have complained about the situation if he felt it would achieve anything, or had someone who was there to listen to him, but as he lacked either he just bore his job with stoic (if you could ever use that word to describe James) countenance. "He's the one, that's him! Prepare to fire!" That came from the south, which obviously meant James was in trouble. There simply were not two ways about this kind of thing, when things could go wrong, they would go very wrong if they went wrong to James.

Niro slowly stood up, and began to pad over to where James was, at least the snow did a nice job muffling his non-retractable claws. Armed with telescopic eyesight Niro could see the problem from all the way across the village. James who had just been minding his own business (this was how most problems involving him got started) was now having weapons pointed at him by four different people. Three Shinra guards, and one female Turk, hardly long odds for James once he dispensed with the guards.

Of course James being James wasn't preparing to get rid of the guards, he was raising his hands in the air like a good little kitten. Not only was he raising his hands, he was trying to talk his way out of the issue. Talking instead of fighting was a nice strategy when it worked for you, Sephiroth for example was very, very, adept at using it. Much of this success however, came from the fact that just about no-one really wanted to fight Sephiroth if they could avoid it. On top of that, James had an unfortunate tendency to create a rather large gap between what message he intended to deliver, and what message actually came out of his mouth.

"Hey I promise you guys whatever you think I did, I didn't do it! Unless it was the reactors, Shinra HQ, the boat, Gongaga, or Rocket Town, those I did, but the last one was self defense!" There you go. The blond female Turk seemed to be in a particularly bad mood, she was almost foaming at the mouth. "You monster, you killed him!" "Who? I haven't killed that many people! Ask Seph about it, he'll back me up!"

Ohh yeah, forget digging your own grave, James was making his own mausoleum complete with a fountain, flowers, and a tombstone about a mile high. Niro could have covered the distance to James fairly quickly if James needed his help, but at the moment that didn't look likely. For all James' lack at speech, he was not all that fing bad at fighting. Thus, James was either an evil mastermind who was fooling the entire world with his pathetic child act, or James was just James.

Niro had a very firm belief in the second one, because if James was a good actor it was only because he was deceiving himself as well. "Shut up you monster! You killed Tseng!" Oh so that's what the problem was, now let's watch James try to talk his way out of it, it was almost a game for Niro. Niro just hopped deeply that Mirri would never explain the Fifth Amendment to James, this kind of entertainment was hard to get for free.

"No I didn't! I've killed a lot of people, I've killed a lot of Shinra personnel, but only guards and SOLDIERS, I haven't killed any Turks. " If James dug any deeper, then he was going to vanish into the snow, but then that might not be such a bad thing. "I don't care what you say! Tseng vanished after that incident in Rocket Town. He went in through the second story window, and everyone saw you exit from the same area. For a Turk that's more then enough proof that you're guilty, prepare for the punishment!"

Most sane people would have opted for the five second head start rather then to keep talking, but no one said James was sane. "But I've seen him alive since Rocket Town! He was in the Temple of the Ancients, retrieving the Black Materia for Jenova!" "Fire." Now that James was fighting for his life, he actually did much better then when he was talking. Because as the abilities that were necessary for survival had a way of becoming ingrained, James was pretty damn good at dodging bullets.

He was also moving with a speed that probably came from some cheetah in James' family tree. He had, Niro noted with a certain amount of surprise, finally found his solution to the problem of getting snow in his shoes. James was apparently moving so fast as the bullets trailed after him that his feet didn't break through the snow. Sadly he lacked much of anywhere to run to, and ended up ducking between two buildings in a makeshift alley. "After him, we've got him cornered now!" Niro was tempted to intercede at this point, James did seem to be in trouble.

However, as soon as Niro began to make his way forward into the town (keeping low to the ground, to let his fur keep him out of sight) James once again showed off how he was different from an ordinary first class SOLDIER. Despite discovering himself in a dead end, he easily managed to keep his head on his shoulders, and jump onto the roof of a nearby two story building. He perched on the edge of a roof like a weather vane and smiled down at the group who aimed guns at him.

"Now, that you're not shooting, could you please calm down for a moment? Because as you can see, I very clearly don't want to hurt you, otherwise you'd all be in pieces right now." The female Turk was not amused by James' words. "He doesn't have any weapons, shoot him off of there!" The guards were happy to oblige. Though none of the bullets actually hit James before the guns ran dry, they did destroy significant portions of the roof.

The lack of these portions caused the snow that had built up on the roof to slide off it. A great quantity of snow slid off the roof, taking James Firecat with it and the entire mess deposited itself on the ground directly before the four Shinra personnel. James, always able to make the best of a bad situation, had managed to land on top of the pile of snow instead of it landing on top of him. Thus while guns were reloaded, he flipped over. Then James was off like a shot racing out of the alley, with plenty of bullets in hot pursuit.

James was very good at dodging bullets, he kinked, weaved, danced, ducked, and all other manor of dignity impairing movements to avoid automatic weapon fire. It would have been humorous to the extreme except for two things, one was the deadly intent with which those people perused him, and the other was that it actually worked.

James must have some kind of natural magnetic force in his body that made bullets not want to hit him, because he was managing to dodge while he was looking in the opposite direction from where the bullets where being fired. James who wasn't the type to make the same mistake twice in a row (he would make the same mistake twice, and up if you considered annoying Sephiroth a mistake, but he made other mistakes in between them) was careful not to get caught in another alley, instead he turned so he could run through the center of the town itself.

This strategy at least gave him the advantage of using his better legs to help keep him ahead of his pursuers. As they ran, a fair amount of commotion was started up by the sound of gunfire. Most people just watched from the sidelines or stuck their heads out windows, saw what was going on and pulled their heads back in, not in a mood for interfering with people in Shinra Blue. No one acted one way or another till James finally tripped over a rock that must have been buried in the snow.

After finally skidding to the a stop he lay still in the snow and his four pursuers slowly advanced on him though he remained unmoving. "We've got him!" Niro was close enough that he could have acted if he wanted to. He easily could have killed one of the guards, and possibly knocked his body into the other two, but that might be enough to save James.

However, for James help took a shape much closer and more effective then a single white wolf who was currently trying to look like a clump of snow. It was in the shape of someone who had been one of the first to start observing the situation, and now acted. "No, I have you."

The figure stepped forward, and in the blink of an eye three Shinra guards were lying in the snow, their blood turning white snow red, blades lodged in their skulls. The female Turk turned around, and a moment later a white gloved fist slammed into her chest. She let out a gasp and dropped to her knees, before a roundhouse kick dropped her on her back in the snow.

"Understand this, if you weren't so pathetic, I would have punched you with my right hand." As Mirri spoke she adjusted her right hand so that the blades loaded into the glove where ready to be fired into the female Turk's face. "You wouldn't die instantly, because I know where all the vital organs are, and that blow would have missed them. What it would have done was caused you a very greet deal of pain, and given you internal bleeding. Then I would have launched my blades into your chest. Because your enhanced that wouldn't have killed you right out, but left you too weak to do anything but slowly die. Understand, Elena?"

Elena (the female Turk whose name Niro now remembered) attempted to get back up, and Mirri delivered another kick to her, this one catching her in the side of her chest sending her rolling across the snow. "I asked if you understood?" Niro made a mental note never to get on Mirri's bad side, because she was enjoying this, he could tell. Like a cat batting a mouse around between its paws till it finally decided to crush its skull.

"It's important that you do, because war is suppose to be about men slaughtering each other because they feel offended over something trivial. It's bad enough that women, girls, boys, and children get dragged into the affair and are killed by grown men. There are several things in the world that I can't stand, men using physical force or numbers to control a woman is at the top of the list. Right below it however, is watching children kill each other over something pointless. Understand?"

Another kick to the face, as Elena tried to get back on her legs and she went back in the snow. That blow seemed to have broken her nose but Mirri either didn't notice, or really care. "You need to feel helpless and weak because that's what you are like this. Your just a little girl being abused by Shinra, and believe me, I hate them a lot more for it then I hate you. Because Shinra is not on your side, it wasn't when I first worked for them, and it isn't now, and it never will be.

Shinra uses people like tools, and when you're old and worn out you get tossed aside to have a new tool inserted into your place to do your job. That's all they you are to them Elena, nothing but a piece of metal to be used, and abused on a whim. So what you need to understand, is that since Shinra is not on your side, if you aren't on your side, then nobody is. And when nobody is on your side, anybody can push you around for fun like I am now.

My parents understood that, they understood how you dealt with people like Shinra, bend but don't break, let them think you're on their side the way they let you think they're on yours. Compromise, draw lines in blood, and every day ask something else from them. Never open rebellion, never open revolt, no one could face Shinra in fair combat and survive, so don't play fair. Make them accommodate your needs, show them you are reasonable, and they would rather fight you with words then with guns.

Shinra isn't invincible, but if you wish to be more then a martyr you have to work from the inside out. Force them to take a step back, then another, then another, and then another, until eventually they walk off a cliff. You can't kill Shinra easily, but it's too clumsy to defend itself, like a cow against a cat.

My parents passed that intelligence onto me, and believe me, intelligence doesn't make friends. My parents were hated in Corel and called traitors for what they did. Well eventually Corel got what was coming to them, my parents died, I left, and less then a year later the town was incinerated for insurrection. Do you understand that?"

Niro winced inwardly, now Mirri was working the lower body placing one of her feet on Elena's chest, clearly intending to press down on the right place to break a rib, Hell hath no furry like Mirri. "Intelligent people are either hated for doing the right thing in the 'wrong' way, or loved for doing the wrong thing in the 'right' way.

Nobody ever gets praised for being the one who suggests that they must retreat to a more defensible position. Nobody calls you a hero when you fight from the shadows because against the odds you face it is the only way you win. You have so much intelligence, and it really pisses me off to see you waste it."

Mirri twisted her foot like a dagger being driven farther into a wound and Elena tried to scream in pain but no words left her mouth. "You should be thankful that you ran into James first, he has never been hurt. He doesn't like to kill, and when he has to do it he does so as quickly and painlessly as possible. He doesn't even really like to fight, at least not when there's nothing he can achieve other then killing. You have every benefit you could have asked for in him, and you still fucked it up.

Now, you're dealing with me, and I'm an entirely different breed. As I mentioned before, I like to draw lines made of blood and make people cross them, preferably their own blood. I think just killing random people who work for Shinra is a fine way to make a statement and a military victory. It helps people realize that so long they aren't helping us, they're supporting the system. This, Elena, is a war without neutrality, if you elect to make no choice, then you have made a choice, and I intend to make people realize it's the wrong one.

I'd love to drive down the streets of Upper Midgar with automatic weapons killing every single person I see, because I know stuff like that works. Never underestimate the power of blind violence against random people as a way to make a point and do some damage. When we blow up a reactor Shinra can replace it in six months, when I kill an office worker it takes Shinra 25 years to replace them.

James can be hurt, both in body and in mind, but it's not easy to do. That lack of pain makes him forgiving. I've already been scarred up very badly by Shinra's policies, and intend to return the favor. I like to kill, and I like to do it slow.

I like agony, I adore pain, I find rapture in ruptured blood vessels. I can't resist breaking down those who think themselves invincible, because one bullet is all it takes to make the playing field level between the strongest man and weakest women in the world. You're not worth my time, and I want you to live, so I'm going to let you go now.

Your going to be laid up for about 24 hours till your rib and nose heal thanks your enhancements, so don't bother trying to follow us. What you should do is go back to Midgar, vanish into the city and find something that you enjoy doing. It's either that or go back with your tail between your legs, and tell them how this happened. All the way back to Midgar be thankful that neither James nor I feel it is necessary to kill you, this time.

If I ever catch you trying to hurt innocent people because Shinra tells you to again, I'll make this feel like a lover's embrace. Believe me when I say that there is nothing you can do to save Shinra, either from itself or from us. I'll keep drawing lines in blood, and keep bleeding Shinra till it's nothing but a withered husk. Then, when it's so weak that it has trouble standing, I'll give it a friendly push, and listen to it scream all the way down with a smile on my face. I suggest you start listening to Reno, he may be an ass but he knows the score. Come on James, we have places to go."

James finally drew his head out of the snow where he had buried it as if it would somehow save him. He took a moment to shake snow out of his hat and hair, before realizing that the only effective way to do this would be to take off his hat. This being James rather then someone else, he decided to do just that, and found greater success.

If anyone felt like commenting on James' ears, a look at what Mirri had done to a Turk made them think better of it. Once James was finally done with this process he gave Mirri a smile and a relieved sigh. "Thanks Mirri, I was sort of worried about that." Mirri took one look at the huge crowd that had gathered, and gave them something very different from the small smile she had given James.

"What are you all standing around for? Help that wounded women into some shelter before she dies of exposure! Or do I have to do it myself while you stand around and watch her die?" In the following flurry of activity Niro had no trouble getting out of town unnoticed. I am Mirri, hear me roar.

---

As the odd machine ran through the tapes, both Sephiroth and Aeris watched completely engrossed in what they saw. As he watched, Sephiroth's face slowly transformed from his normally impartial glare to a snarl of rage. There was no image to accompany the final gunshot whose sound had been recorded, and then there was only blackness before the two of them.

Aeris cried, and Sephiroth, to his surprise, found himself comforting her. "It's okay, it's just one more crime that Hojo will have to pay for when I plunge his soul into the depths of hell." Aeris for her part allowed herself to be comforted. "That was my father, Dr. Gaste, and I don't even know his first name." The third occupant of the room who had not bothered to watch the tapes with them (he had already seen them all the way through once) did his part to comfort Aeris as well.

"His first name was Julius." Both Sephiroth and Aeris spun around at that announcement as if they had forgotten that Vincent was in the room. "How do you know?" Sephiroth focused all his attention on Vincent instantly and Aeris managed to dry her tears for a moment to do the same. Vincent for his part looked as if he had forgotten that Sephiroth and Aeris where in the room as much as they had forgotten him. He looked like he wanted nothing so much as to vanish back into the shadows he had come from and he definitely didn't want to answer.

"Vincent, tell your master how you know Dr. Gaste's first name!" It was the first time Sephiroth had out and out ordered Vincent to do something because of the tie that he held over him, but it was necessary. Vincent fidgeted, fought against an invisible force, and finally succumbed. "I worked for him." Sephiroth's rage vanished into simple desire. "When?" Once again Vincent fought a loosing struggle with himself not to answer. "27 years ago, project Deus Ex Ego, I was his bodyguard in Nibelhiem."

Sephiroth was instantly seized by an animal ferocity, he was over the couch he had been sitting on with Aeris in a moment, and charged right at Vincent. In a moment Sephiroth had both hands' around Vincent's neck. The chokehold was inspired more by blind rage than any kind of sensible thought, that was obvious. Sephiroth gripped Vincent's throat as tightly as possible, attempting to close but not break his airway. As Vincent was dead, breathing was not high on his list of necessities.

Aeris manage to get over her shock fast enough to let out a startled cry at what she saw. "SEPHIROTH!" At hearing his name Sephiroth turned around, though madness still danced in his eyes. He threw Vincent across the room, and pointed an accusing finger at him as Vincent lay crumpled where landed. "Bastard Turk! You worked with Dr. Hojo to make me what I am today, why should I spare your life any more then his?" Vincent curled inward, trying to vanish back into shadows but the spot where he had landed was brightly lit by the still functioning electrical lights of the abandoned house.

"Then kill me and get it over with, I live and die by your desire." "Don't tempt me." Aeris interposed herself between Sephiroth and helpless Vincent, managing to ask the one question that she could successfully articulate. "Why?" Sephiroth was teetering on the blink of a bottomless abyss of anger. "Project, Deus Ex Ego, it mean 'God from the self' it's the name of the project that was based in Nibelhiem to create a superior being, I'm the result. I swore I'd kill every single person who worked on it." "Including my father?"

Sephiroth blinked, his rage put back to wherever it came from with all the certainty of him sheathing Masamune. Reverence took its place. "Not your father. Never Dr. Gaste." From where he lay as a crumpled forlorn heap on the ground Vincent echoed Sephiroth statements. "He had a soul and a brain, a rare combination." Sephiroth's previous malice now gone, he nodded in Vincent's direction. "He was the best. Get out of my sight Vincent; you have a new lease on whatever life you have for now."

Vincent slowly stood back up heading for the door, he was gone as soon as soon as he reached the shelter of a patch of shadows. Then Sephiroth slowly turned to Aeris, pain in his eyes. "To inspire others to follow, one must lead. Since he was your father you disserve to know something about my past. Dr. Gaste was in charge of Project Deus Ex Ego because he was in charge of Shinra Science Department. However, the books that I've read made it quit clear that Dr. Hojo came up with the idea that led to my creation.

Gaste okayed it, but as the project went on, particularly after my birth, he had growing opposition to the course it was taking. However, positions come and go in Shinra according to the President's favor, I had been Hojo's idea, and even if my mother was dead, I was born alive. Hojo had succeeded on his first try and that gave Hojo a lot of power in the President's eyes.

He was sure that the only way to make me a full success was to completely control my life. I'm not quite sure of what Gaste's goal was for me, I've never seen any books written by him and I was very young at the time. However, from what I can tell, Gaste felt that the project should involve me being like anyone else, and observing instead of controlling my behavior.

Hojo got his way, but Gaste did everything he could for me. Though Hojo might be my father by blood and have come up with the idea, Doctor Gaste was the closest thing I've ever had to a parent." These words were spoken with more, and purer emotion than anything else Sephiroth had said in a very long time.

"Eventually Dr. Gaste left because Hojo had been pressuring the President for more control over me and saying that Gaste was interfering with his works, I was only four at the time." That fell right into place with what Mirri had said back in Costal Del Sol, that fell perfectly into place. "I can't remember that much of him, but I promise myself that I will never forget what I have. I'll remember it till I die.

I remember one thing very strongly. Dr. Gaste taught me how to play chess when I was young, and I was always very good at the game, because it's a game of war. He was never very good, for the same reason, Dr. Gaste couldn't stand what the game meant. That you could throw away the lives of those who fought for you without a thought, if it meant achieving victory.

He always played defensively trying to keep all of his pieces safe at once, I understood the game and played offensively, and I always won, picking his defenses apart one piece at a time, he tried to protect them all and he failed. Bishop for a rook, rook for a queen, pawn for a knight, if both sides have the exact same forces then everyone has to pay a price, just pay a lesser one than your foes do.

I remember Dr. Gaste sitting across the chessboard from me after one game, crying. Not because he lost, but because I had won. Because even from such a young age, I had become irreversibly inundated with the spirit of war." Sephiroth turned his eyes from Aeris to the door that he had every intention to use. "Your father believed in doing the best with even a horrible situation. Even in the depths of hell he managed to add light to my life, you would do him proud."

End Chapter