Temptations

12.31.06

Version 1.0

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This is very random, and the end of the year, almost. It just popped in my head and I couldn't sleep. Alas, I'm writing another Final Fantasy 7 story with a character having kids. Oh, boy. I own Sephiroth's kids... Literally. They're my characters. This story will hopefully be successful... since none of mine seem to be appreciated. Bleh, oh well, I'm trying my best.

I'm imagining a lot of complaints coming out of this one... ha-ha, oh well. Sephiroth is a little nutty, you know.

I need feedback, constructive criticism, something. Click that little review button on the bottom. You know you want to.

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File 0.1: Chapter 1 - Seven Years Later

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Sephiroth was thirty-three years old... He couldn't believe he reached thirty. It seemed like yesterday he was fourteen, a newbie, and yet a hero in the great ShinRa and Wutai war. He was the reason ShinRa had won, and the victorious celebration was dedicated to him. Good old days...

He felt a little lazy, but managed to get up. His eyes were diffuse, and his indolent state seemed to handicap his remarkable abilities. "I am the Great Sephiroth... I am the Great Sephiroth..." Sephiroth always had to remind himself that he was a warrior, a legend, and a father. It must've been seventeen years ago when he had a lover, and it was a tearful farewell when he was forced to marry that woman, Jeka. She was Wutaiese and had a temper. He didn't fight a war against the filthy wenches to end up being paired up with one. Hell, no! This was undesirable, and extremely uncalled for. He signed for divorce as soon as she cut off birth control, and was impregnated almost instantly.

Raene... was a blessing, though. Even though that terrible woman, Jeka, kept his son under her custody for five years, he somehow managed to persuade her to give him up. Soon, Jeka abandoned their son to Sephiroth, and he raised the boy since he was five. Sephiroth kept him safe, and was a little overprotective. He hadn't introduced the fighting skills or techniques, because there was an inner conscience telling him not to. Damn conscience. He didn't want his son to be a wussie. He wanted him to be strong, fierce, and unstoppable...

"Hey, Dad."

Sephiroth got startled when that voice called him. It was just his son, Raene. Even though the boy was Wutaiese, his hair was blonde, and tied back in a high-ponytail. His eyes were slanted like a Wutaiese, but his eyes were clouded jadiete with vertically scored pupils just like his father. His skin was extremely fair and smooth like his father, as well. He was usually silent, and when he spoke, his voice didn't match the adorable bishounen facial qualities he owned. The voice he had was deep like Sephiroth's, but a little boyish, because he hadn't really matured enough to be a man yet. He was only sixteen years old.

Sephiroth was really proud and victorious that his ex-wife had deliberately cut off her birth control. He had a living and breathing spawn of himself, Raene. Usually Raene hated to be addressed, and was quiet, but he loved spending father-son time with Sephiroth.

"Raene..." Sephiroth said in a fatherly tone with affection written on his face.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me." Raene began blushing. "What're you gonna do today, Dad?"

Sephiroth suddenly remembered something important, "Oh yeah!" Sephiroth snapped. "I almost forgot!! I gotta drop something off at Hojo's."

"Right now...?" Raene sighed.

"I'll be back, I promise." Sephiroth kissed Raene's forehead, and headed for the door. "Why don't you get yourself some breakfast?"

"I'll just take vitamins... thanks." Raene offered as Sephiroth slammed the door shut. Raene had an apathetic, serious expression on his face at all times, exactly like his father. He loathed people speaking of him, expect for when his father talked about him... That he did adore. He felt lonely whenever Sephiroth had to rush out like this.

Raene had Jenova's cells in him just like Sephiroth. Jenova's cells had freakish elements that couldn't be found in nature, a substance called Mako, which had to be sucked out of the Lifestream. Spirit energy was what kept guys like Sephiroth and Raene alive. Every week, they had to take Mako injections, which they referred to as 'vitamins' because that's how they were provided for their body types. The injections crippled their abilities as a major negative downside. Sometimes, both of them would be found lying face-down on the floor... Raene laughed silently at the thought.

Raene took the Mako-filled syringe, and decided to try a more painless way. He inadvertently squirted the substance into his mouth, when he meant to do it in a slow process. He gagged when it nearly drowned him, and he tossed the syringe, which bounced off the fridge and landed in the sink, and it was filled with cloudy water. Raene nearly began choking. The Mako substance burned when injected into the veins, but when taken orally, it burned his tongue like crazy. His mouth began glowing green... Oops, that wasn't supposed to happen. His throat began burning, and when the substance slowly leaked into his stomach, it burned like hellfire. He clenched his stomach, hoping he wouldn't vomit... Boys do rather stupid things at times, don't they?

He also prayed that he didn't grow an extra arm, a tentacle, or something nasty. He lacked the sophistication that Sephiroth had, and was quite the troublemaker. He was more a follower than a leader, so when left to do his own decisions, havoc wrecked all.

-

"Excuse me!" Sephiroth said as he pushed through the crowds at the slums. "I just need to get these papers in to Hojo, and he needs to give me more Mako syringes to take home --" He stopped in midsentence when he nearly ran into a beautiful, elegant girl. He gasped when he nearly hit her, and she yelped in surprise. Normally at this position, she'd ram into him, and they'd both fall into the sewage puddle. Sephiroth closed his eyes and prepared for the impact. He felt nothing, and flickered his eyes open to see that the girl had stopped immediately. "She must have quick reactions..."

The girl tilted her head as if she heard something, "Uh, yeah, I'm sorry..." She gave a shy smile.

"I almost ran into you, I'm sorry." Sephiroth said. "Oh, I've gotta get to Hojo's --!"

"Wait!" the girl called out and ran forward. She was dressed in ripped clothing, and covered herself in a rag. She was shaking, and dying of hunger from her looks. She was bony, but yet very beautiful. She had pink hair and gorgeous amber eyes, and her skin was soiled with dirt. "I'm Aiko. What's your name?"

"Sephiroth." He blinked twice, and tilted his head... Why did she look so familiar? Her expression seemed to light up with shock and confusion, but yet excitement. "You..." Sephiroth said, but she turned around and ran in the opposite direction. "Hey, wait!" She was gone...

That was strange. Sephiroth had a job to do, though. He needed to get more Mako syringes and schedule his next damn appointment... Ugh, those cursed appointments, they hurt like heck. He raced through the slums, and headed towards the ShinRa building in order to receive more Mako syringes... that stupid word... Mako. Mako, Mako, Mako. If Sephiroth could stab it, he would.

-

"Raene, I'm home!"

Raene was collapsed on the floor, with his eyes darting around, but he was paralyzed -- he couldn't move. He managed to moan, "Daaad..."

"Raene!?" Sephiroth began sounding a little alarmed.

"Dad, I orally took the Mako syringe... is that a bad thing? Because now I've had an attack of something, and I can't move... I'm on the floor."

Sephiroth could hear Raene's thoughts, so he could sacrifice words. "Raene, you're on the floor!?" Sephiroth shouted out in horror. He arrived at the kitchen to see the half-conscious teenager pale. "You dummy!" Sephiroth laughed. "You can't take Mako orally, that's disgusting!"

"It tastes nasty..." Raene thought.

"I remember trying that once." Sephiroth said, placing down a paper bag filled with painful Mako syringes on the kitchen counter, and to tease Raene, he'd gracefully step over the immobile boy. "I choked on it... It was pretty funny. Well, Hojo lectured me. He said that if I did it too many times, my stomach would melt... and it can. That's why the painful stabby method is a better choice than never eating again." Sephiroth looked down at Raene, who was gaping slightly, and the boy nodded slowly.

"Anything interesting happen...?" Raene thought.

"Oh, yeah." Sephiroth said. "I met this girl..." Sephiroth gave a weird expression. "I'm not sure where I've seen her from, but she looked vaguely familiar."

"Want me to search for her?" Raene said aloud. "I think the pain's gone away."

Sephiroth looked concerned. "Raene, are you sure you're okay to do something like that after such a strong injection?"

Resolutely, Raene assured his father, "I can take pictures of the girl."

"Wait, do you even know what she looks like!?" Sephiroth called out as his son was leaving.

"Of course I know what she looks like." Raene said, grabbing his father's digital camera, and slamming the door shut. "I'm half-you, so it's almost as if I've seen her myself."

Sephiroth smiled. "Ha-ha..." he laughed silently as he began chopping some carrots for lunch.

-

Aiko. The beautiful lovechild of Sephiroth and his lover... Aiko. How could she end up in this position? She was a beggar in the city slums, and she was taken by the Turks in order to find freedom from the beggar's life. Instead of being a beggar with her mother, she got the worser life of being one all by herself ever since she was ten. She wondered if only she had put up a fight and not had agreed to going with the Turks. But no, she was glad she waited seven years... She finally got to see her father. His name was Sephiroth. She saw him that very day. She couldn't believe it! Meeting him face-to-face.

She felt a tingle. Jenova's cells were near. She looked around the alley corners, but instead of seeing her beloved father, she saw a boy that had the glowing aura of Jenova. She frowned in mixed emotions, and took off running with a rag over her head. She crossed through empty alleyways and passages, and she had the quick lightning speed of Sephiroth. Raene sensed the presence of Jenova's cells, too, and felt that weird tingle. He saw the flash of light as Aiko ran.

"Hey, wait!" Raene called out as he ran toward that light. Aiko was running too fast... She was more like Sephiroth than Raene was, and she was older by ten months. Soon, Raene picked up speed and began drifting closer to the swift girl. "This isn't a normal human... Dad said she looked familiar, and I sense Jenova's cells from her. Hmm..." Raene pondered. Soon, he came up with a clever plan. He ran quick enough to walk sideways on the walls, practically, and from an angle, he took a picture of her while she stopped to catch her breath. Aiko glared at the cameraman, and Raene took off.

"You bast --!!" Aiko finished the swear under her breath, growling with ferocity. Raene was terrified, actually. Aiko might be beautiful and sincere, but she's lethal.

"DADDY!" Raene found himself crying out.

-

Sephiroth wondered where Raene had gone. It was time for lunch, and usually Raene would be already there begging for fifteen minutes until Sephiroth would finish making the meal. He looked out the window, and saw the sixteen-year-old approaching, finally. Sephiroth sighed with relief, and went back to pour the stew into the two plates. Sephiroth felt the tingle of Jenova's cells as Raene entered the room, and he smiled softly to himself.

"Dad! Dad! Guess what!" Raene called out.

"Did you get pictures of the girl?" Sephiroth asked, taking a gigantic spoonful of stew and pouring it into his bowl.

"Yeah, it was creepy, though." Raene said, "She has Jenova's cells."

Sephiroth's eyes widened, and he dropped the spoon. "... what?" He said faintly, because he really was about to lose consciousness. Raene loyally rushed to his father's side, and placed his hands on both of Sephiroth's shoulders.

"You okay, Dad?" Raene asked.

Sephiroth was breathing unevenly, and turning pale. "Jenova's cells...!?" He gasped out, and began sulking to the floor.

Raene's jade eyes widened, and he caught his father using his super-strength. Sephiroth was about two-hundred pounds, but Raene saw this as a sheet of paper weight. He easily lowered Sephiroth to the floor, lying his father on his back. Raene placed his hand on Sephiroth's chest, "Dad, your heart's pounding, what's up?"

Sephiroth tried to regain sanity, "A girl with Jenova's cells... a GIRL. A girl, Raene!"

Raene nodded slowly, "Here's the picture. Just... don't faint on me."

"Okay." Sephiroth gently took the picture from Raene and studied it carefully, examining every little detail with the crappy digital camera quality from faraway viewpoint. He saw the look of himself on Aiko. "She looks like me...!" Sephiroth whispered, but his son could obviously hear him say it.

Aiko was a mature Continental girl, about the age of seventeen. She had pink hair that shimmered silver in the sunlight, just as Sephiroth had remembered her from earlier. Her face was adorable, and it looked a lot like him. He took notice of her amber eyes, that came as the appearance of sparkling gems in the desert, and her vertically slit pupils, that matched his and Raene's.

"Dad, look at her eyes!" Raene exclaimed.

Sephiroth gasped. "No way... No way!"

He had a daughter. He had a daughter that was abandoned in the Midgar slums. Midgar was huge, so how could he find her? It was always dark, so it sometimes could be difficult to find certain people. She, in particular, was wearing a rag over her head like most women beggars. It would make her nearly impossible to find in the dark with many other women beggars wearing the same raglike approach. She was beautiful, though, and that was something Sephiroth and Raene could easily get.

"Raene, come eat lunch." Sephiroth demanded. "We'll ask this girl questions later. I might be wrong... I'm a little dizzy from the Mako injections."

Raene sat down at the table, "Yeah, me, too."

Sephiroth laid down the stew for Raene and himself. Suddenly, he felt the urge to put a third plate for that girl he saw... She looked bony and starved to death, yet she was still beautiful with hip-length pink hair. He sighed a sigh that sounded like a growl. "Just hold on, whatever your name is, girl... I'll come to the slums tonight with Raene. We'll see if you're really one of us there, okay? Just hold on, little girl... My daughter... My possible daughter... I didn't know I had one. How the heck...?"

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Author's Note:

Ah, my eyes burn!! 2 AM, I had to write chapter 1 so I wouldn't be bugged with the stories stuck in my head all night. I hope you enjoyed it... Because my eyes burn now.

How did Aiko get deserted in Midgar as a beggar just as her mother feared? Sephiroth and Raene to the rescue... Aiko is the seventeen-year-old daughter and Raene is the sixteen-year-old son. Well, Raene's only ten months younger than Aiko, but sixteen years old at the current time, and he'll be seventeen in two months. Kinda complicated, but oh well...

Any questions, comments, or concerns? Review. Press that little button. You know you want to.

Also, Raene is pronounced like 'rain', just in case. Some people might pronounce it 'Ray-neh' if they're trying to do it the Japanese way, but I did a complex English pronounciation on his name. I love owning his character, and Aiko, too, but especially Raene. Ooh, that means Aiko and Raene are half-siblings. Sweet!

I'll write more tomorrow... on New Year's Eve! Happy New Years Eve!

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