Another Side, Another Story
Celestial's Last Order

They say that I must learn to kill before I can feel safe.
But I would rather kill myself than turn into their slave.

"In the Shadows" – The Rasmus

Part 1: Sephiroth

It hadn't been a good idea to go to the Shinra building. It was playing with fire, again. But he couldn't just sit at home and do nothing.

"I'm coming." Sephiroth whispered to himself, as though the words could reach his little brothers' ears. When he had seen the picture, he had of course doubted its' validity. But if there was even a small chance that his brothers were alive, he would not leave them in Shinra's clutches. Shinra had tried to kill them all. They had killed his mother. That was certain. He had seen her motionless body as he ran back to the smoldering house.

She died trying to save your brothers. They were trapped inside the house. Scarlett, one of Rufus's lackeys, had told him that, trying to hide her amusement, since she found pain fun. In that moment, Sephiroth had known it was Shinra's fault. Professor Hojo, damn him to Hell, had told him in gleeful tones that he would stay in the science building now. Three days later, half the building and Sephiroth were gone. He had found his secret way to under the plate, and had met Zack.

That had been funny in and of itself. Some moron in Wall Market had decided to pick a fight with the eighteen-year-old silver-haired boy. Sephiroth had nearly killed him, until Zack stepped in.

I know you. They talked about you on the radio. Shinra will find you if you cause a murder. Come with me, Sephiroth.

He had trusted Zack, and it had all worked out for the best. Two years later, when a sixteen-year-old boy with chocobo hair turned up at their door, it was almost like he had a real family again.

He stared up the tall building on the outskirts of Sector 4. Going inside, he made his way up the stairs and to the roof. He had hinted to Zack that this was where the way was hidden, but had never said anything definite. Looking up at the platforms carefully suspended at random up to the plate, he wondered who had designed this. It couldn't even be seen from the ground. He jumped lightly from platform to platform, reaching the plate and pushing up the trapdoor into the Shinra grounds.

Walking into the main building, he laughed as the secretary at the desk fainted dead away at the sight of him. He stood there a moment, before one of the elevators opened.

"Rufus wants to see you." Reno drawled, not in the least bit intimidated. "He's got something to show you."

"If you've lied to me…." Sephiroth threatened softly, getting into the large elevator. He watched Reno leaning against the wall, then asked, "You know Zack, right?"

"Yeah. Met him a year before you did, during the Zirconiade crisis. He was trying to save his SOLDIER friends from the original AVALANCHE. We couldn't, though." Reno said. Emotion barely tinged his voice, as if he felt bad for taking another of Zack's friends from him.

Sephiroth nodded silently. The elevator reached the seventieth floor, where the president's office was. Reno swiped his key card, and opened the door. Rufus was sitting in his father's chair, looking smug.

"Sephiroth. Good to see you. Pardon it just being me; my father has a dreadful headache." Rufus said. He motioned for Reno to wait outside. "I'm sure you're eager to discover what we have that you could possibly want."

"Give me my brothers, Shinra." Sephiroth said coldly. Rufus raised an eyebrow.

"Such a hurry…" he sighed. "Yes. We hoped to make amends by returning your younger brothers to you. You may see them, and then we can discuss the terms for you getting them back."

"Terms?" Sephiroth growled softly. "You implied you were doing this out of your own goodwill."

"You did blow up a large portion of one of our buildings. It seems only fair you should have to make up for that." Rufus said, the patronizing smile never leaving his face. Sephiroth glared at him, jade eyes cold. A faint glow came from them as he restrained himself from just throttling Rufus there and then. Rufus ignored the obvious danger. "Reno. Take this key and show our guest his brothers. They are in the lowest floor of the science building. Room 436." Rufus pulled out a key from a drawer on his desk and handed it to Reno. Reno gave no outward sign of anything, but scowled the second he was out of Rufus's sight.

"Like I need the damn key." he muttered. He motioned to Sephiroth to follow, and as the elevator descended, decided to explain. "I found your brothers a while ago."

"What do you mean, 'found'?" Sephiroth asked.

Reno grinned. "Tseng ordered me to inspect the rooms in the science building. One was locked. Locked door versus lockpick equals me getting inside. The middle brother, Yazoo…. We've gotten to know each other pretty well. They're nice kids."

"Yeah, I miss them." Sephiroth said. Reno looked at him in surprise. They made this guy out to be like a devil-on-earth, but he seemed just as human as anyone else. Reno felt bad that Rufus was using his younger brothers as blackmail, but there was nothing he could do.

They arrived at the science buildings in due time. Reno took a very long, roundabout way to the lowest floor.

"Helps to avoid Hojo and those other creepy scientists." he explained. Sephiroth nodded, as Reno finally came to a stop in front of a door. "Wait here a minute." He unlocked the door, and stepped inside.

Loz and Yazoo were frantically trying to shove Loz's paddleball and Yazoo's darts underneath one of the mattresses. Yazoo turned in a panic, only to find the grinning fire-haired Turk. "Reno!"

"Hope you're not that slow when it's actually a scientist." Reno laughed.

"You're faster with the key than they are. They're almost always carrying on some kind of conversation. I thought you said you didn't have a key." Yazoo pointed out, looking puzzled.

"I got it from Rufus. He wanted me to bring someone to see you." Reno leaned out the door and motioned to Sephiroth. The silver-haired man came forward hesitantly. Reno did not seem like the type to lie, but it could be a trick.

Yazoo, Kadaj, and Loz all watched with wide eyes when he came in. It had been almost four and a half years, but it was definitely their Aniki. Kadaj moved first, running over and latching onto Sephiroth's leg. Sephiroth picked up the eleven-year-old, hugging him tightly to make sure he was real.

"I thought you were dead." he said quietly.

"We never gave up, Aniki. We always knew you'd come save us." Yazoo said, coming over to hug him as well. Sephiroth looked at him in surprise. It took all of his power to maintain his mask, and keep any tears from escaping his eyes. Family. His family was alive. Everything he'd wanted for four years was coming true in one moment.

Reno watched the near-silent group hug, not wanted to intrude. He was glad that Yazoo and his brothers were happy. Apparently their older brother was exactly as they remembered him. Sephiroth turned, one arm around Yazoo and the other around Loz. Reno met the man's jade eyes with his own blue-green ones, as Sephiroth said, with more emotion than Reno had believed possible, "Thank you. More than you will ever realize."

"Yeah." Reno said softly, smiling at the children. "Any time."

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Over the next two days, Sephiroth visited with his brothers often. He told them tales of Zack and Cloud, their adopted older brothers, and of the strange things they'd been up to. He told them of platefall, and the church, and Wall Market. In return, they told him of their time in Shinra, of the scientists, and goofing off with Reno. They told of Reno coming in dressed up as Hojo, and spending the better part of an hour making fun of the mad scientist. Sephiroth was proud when Yazoo showed him how well his aim had gotten with the dart gun, and when Loz proved he could hit the ball more than twenty times with the paddleball, and when Kadaj showed him a drawing of Midgar, only without the plate.

"It's a city on edge." Kadaj said with a smile.

"Edge of what?" Sephiroth inquired.

"Change."

Sephiroth wondered sometimes about his younger brother's perceptiveness. The boy had an uncanny ability to tell what was going on without anyone explaining it to him. Sometimes he wondered if Kadaj even realized how unusual his perceptiveness was.

After three days, Sephiroth was again in Rufus's office. The young president was smirking, a sure sign of trouble.

"We've decided what you can do to get your brothers back." Rufus said. Sephiroth glared, but Rufus continued anyway, knowing he was safe from the other's wrath. "Professor Hojo requests to run some tests on you, to complete his research."

"If you think that I'm going to let that foul…." Sephiroth began, but was interrupted as the door opened and Hojo himself walked in.

"Rufus?" His voice was just as horrible and irritating as Sephiroth remembered it. "I've gotten the test results back, and I was correct. The youngest is the most like Sephiroth. I can use him as a test subject, if you give me permission." The good doctor was totally oblivious to the waves of hatred being thrown at him from Sephiroth's direction.

"That will be unnecessary. I just asked Sephiroth himself if he would be willing to submit to the tests." Rufus said smoothly, seeing that Sephiroth was about ready to kill them both. Hojo glanced up from his notes, eyes lighting on Sephiroth and widening in surprise.

"Oh, excellent! And?"

Sephiroth glared between the two, furious that they had set him up like this. He either had to endure god-knows-whatever tests Hojo had in mind, or refuse and leave his brothers here in the scientists' hands. Hojo had been clear in implying that he would use Kadaj for his foul tests if Sephiroth refused. "Fine." he deadpanned. Hojo lit up like a Christmas tree, while Rufus just continued being unbearably smug. Sephiroth sighed. He knew he would regret this later.

Hojo had him come to the lab the very next day, the fourth of his visit. Sephiroth randomly found himself wondering what Zack and Cloud were doing. Probably destroying something vital to the building, or sleeping all day. At least, Zack might. Cloud was above such activities. They probably wondered where he was.

Hojo was almost bursting with some kind of sick joy. Sephiroth longed to destroy him. Not just kill him. Utterly and completely destroy him. He had never felt more hatred for a single human being in his entire life. Yet for the sake of his brothers he submitted to the "tests", as Hojo called them.

"Sit, sit!" Hojo called, messing with something further back in the lab. Sephiroth sat down in a stiff plastic chair, hating it with a passion. He wanted to destroy not just Hojo himself, but anything and everything the man cared about. Namely his precious lab and research, since he didn't give a damn for human life.

"What kind of goddamned tests are these?" he demanded. Normally he wouldn't curse so much, but Professor Hojo irked him so much…...

"DNA tests to see where some of your more unique traits came from. Psyche test to see what your subconscious is up to…." Hojo wasn't listening. He was busy digging a clipboard out of a huge pile of paper.

"What is there to find out? Enhanced strength and agility and glowing eyes come from your damned Mako experiments." Silver hair was unexplainable. His mother's hair had been brown, and his father's black. His father's eyes had been green, though. That was where his own jade-colored eyes had come from. But his hair was a mystery. Maybe Mako treatment before birth had changed something….

Hojo bustled over, carrying an anesthesia mask.

"Oh, hell no." Sephiroth said immediately. He wanted to be conscious. He didn't trust Hojo as far as he could throw him. But the doctor shook his head.

"It's impossible to analyze a conscious person's psyche." he said, annoyingly sure of himself. Sephiroth glared, and Hojo added, "I could try with Kadaj; he seems to have interesting dreams."

It took infinite amounts of self-control to keep him from grabbing Hojo and ripping him limb from limb. No one would ever realize the limits of Sephiroth's patience, since he had more self-control than god. His only response to the statement was a faint growl and a jade glare of death shot in Hojo's direction. Hojo noticed, however, and grinned.

Sephiroth sat, much to his displeasure, in the chair that Hojo kept in the center of the room. He put on the anesthesia mask and continued to glare as the ether was turned on. At least, that's what Sephiroth assumed it was. It could be just about anything; Hojo could be poisoning him with carbon monoxide for all he knew.

Hojo was smiling twistedly in the background. Sephiroth made a mental note to strangle him as soon as he woke up. The edges of the world grew fuzzy, and blackness started closing in.

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"Aniki." Kadaj said, sitting up suddenly. He looked around their small room, blinking at the walls.

"What is it, Kadaj?" Loz asked from his position on his bed. He was lying on his back, counting under his breath as he hit the paddleball. "Darn." he mumbled as he missed. "Thirty-three."

"Something's wrong with Aniki." Kadaj murmured. "I don't know what it is." He stared at the drawing he had been working on. It was a picture of a SOLDIER emblem. He had started to write a name where it should have gone. It now read Anack, for no apparent reason. It was like he had started to write one thing, but had finished writing another.

Yazoo came over and sat by him. "Is it like he's in pain, or sad, or what?" He had grown used to Kadaj being able to tell what certain people were feeling.

"Muzzy." Kadaj said. "There's fog, and fuzz. Awareness faded, like smoky mist."

"Drugged?" Yazoo suggested softly. Kadaj shook his head.

"Like anesthesia." Kadaj said. "Like… a scientific thing. Knock someone out for a while." Yazoo glanced at Loz. Scientists, and anything to do with them, never boded well. Loz shook his head, meaning they could not do anything about it.

"It'll be all right, Kadaj. Aniki's invincible, pretty much. Don't worry."

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It had been seven days since Sephiroth had arrived at the Shinra building. Reno was feeling apprehensive. He hadn't seen the man in three days. Only the day after Hojo had finished his tests. Woozy from anesthesia, the taller man had allowed Reno to practically drag him back to the room he had been given, where he promptly passed out on his bed.

Reno smirked, thinking that if he didn't care for the children so much, and didn't know how much Sephiroth cared for them, he would have nothing to do with the silver-haired man for any amount of money. But as he had gotten to know the man, he'd realized that Sephiroth was just like any normal person.

He clutched his morning cup of coffee, mumbling an incoherent hello to Elena as he passed her in the hall. She blinked, then smiled.

"Reno's never coherent until about noon. Even eleven is far too early for him." she laughed. Tseng, who was walking beside her, frowned.

"Why didn't he say hello to me? You would think he'd notice his leader walking down the hallway."

Elena poked at Tseng's black suit. "You blend in. Wear some color once in a while, Leader. It won't hurt you." She turned back down the dark hallway, messing with the turquoise jacket she wore over her suit. Tseng watched a moment, before continuing on to where he was meeting Rufus.

Reno had made it to the hallway outside of the break room. He was supposed to be on guard duty for today, the most boring job on the planet. There was no way he'd survive without more coffee. As he approached the door to the break room, he paused. The voices of Rufus and Tseng were in there, as well as the nasally voice that could only belong to Professor Hojo. The door was open a crack, and Reno stood close to listen.

"Sir, this is not the best course of action. If the mental blocks that the, ahem, esteemed Professor put on him do not work as well as they should, then he could, in theory, break from us." Tseng's carefully respectful voice addressed Rufus softly.

"Nothing can go wrong." Hojo's annoyingly unbearable voice said. "I created the blocks myself."

There was the loud sound of a coffeemaker announcing that the coffee was ready, over which Reno barely heard, "Zackary Donovan and Cloud Strife? Yes. Based on what he said, they've done plenty to warrant arrest. Foremost being stealing materia." It was Rufus's voice. "Why shouldn't we test the blocks now? It would be the strongest test we could hope to set them against."

"If they fail, we'll never get another chance." Tseng said. "He would not stand it, nor would the one's he calls his brothers." Rufus made an unconcerned noise, and Tseng sighed. "All right, Sir."

Reno blinked in shock, positive that he had just heard something he shouldn't have. There was only one person they could be discussing. Sephiroth. And Zack and Cloud…. Zack had stolen materia? Oh, great flying Bahamuts, all hell was about to break loose. From the bit he'd heard, they were sending a brainwashed Sephiroth after them. Reno turned and ran. There were a few things he had to do. Number one would be figuring out how to stop this. Zack and Cloud weren't the type to give up easily, and if they fought hard enough Shinra would give up on capturing them and order them killed.

Hojo put mental blocks on Sephiroth? Reno had heard of them. They supposedly could make you into a complete slave. Used in combination with truth serum, Sephiroth had probably spilled every one of their secrets. Hojo had probably blocked his memories of Zack and Cloud, possibly Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz as well. All he could remember was Shinra, and serving Shinra. Damn, the company was playing dirty. If Reno knew anything, they would send him as soon as possible. He had to warn Zack and Cloud.

It took a while to get below the plate. Having the men at the Sector 0 lift recognize him did help speed things along, though. He raced through Sector 4, trying to remember which building they stayed in. He finally found it, running up and pounding on the door. Zack came to the door, a baffled Cloud hovering behind him.

"Reno?" Zack said incredulously. "What's the matter?"

"Shinra knows about you and the theft of that materia!" Reno cried, not caring to explain how he found out. "What were you thinking?! They're sending…. Hojo has brainwashed Sephiroth and is sending him after you!"

"What!" Cloud yelped. "He wouldn't hurt us… He's our brother!"

"I don't know." Reno said. "But he's on his way, regardless. Be careful. If you hold him off for long enough, help may come." Reno turned, not wanting to be caught as a traitor to Shinra. "I didn't tell you any of this!" He heard Zack saying something to Cloud as he hurried around the corner. He promised them help. Help! Reno wanted laugh. What kind of help could he offer?

Suddenly he stopped dead. He was standing directly outside of the Sector 0 lift, to take him back to the plate. What he needed was something that could penetrate the mental blocks; something so precious to Sephiroth that he would be able to fight the blocks. The only thing he could think of that would have a stronger affect than Cloud and Zack would be…. His little brothers.

Reno raced onto the lift, wishing it would go up faster. When he reached the plate, he hurried into the science building, running to the bottom floor. Fumbling with the key, he opened the door, slamming it behind him.

Yazoo, Loz, and Kadaj froze, the toys they were trying to hide forgotten. Reno looked absolutely crazy. Yazoo hesitantly stood up and went over to him.

"Reno….? Are you all right?"

Reno stood there, almost shaking. Yazoo hugged him around the waist, worried. Reno had never looked so afraid, and haunted.

"Yazoo…" Reno breathed. "How much do you love your Aniki?"

"More than anything." Yazoo replied immediately. Reno grinned, without humor.

"He's told you about your other brothers, right? Zack and Cloud?" When Kadaj nodded, Reno continued, "You have to save them. They've brainwashed your brother to hurt them, and you're the only ones who could help."

"Nii-san…." Kadaj mumbled. "Nii-sama… Aniki wouldn't hurt them."

"What do we need to do?" Loz asked.

Reno guided them to the Sector 0 lift.

"It's in Sector 4. There's graffiti all over the front of the building, and a giant sheet of plywood over the door." Reno explained. "Just…. Be careful, okay?"

"Thank you, Reno." Yazoo whispered. He looked up into Reno's blue eyes and smiled waveringly. "We'll come back with Aniki, and you can come with us away from Shinra too."

"Sure, Yazoo." Reno said softly. He hugged them all in turn, then watched them as they rode the lift down into the slums. Be careful, dammit. If anything happens to you guys, your brothers will kill me. If I don't commit suicide first.

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I saw them. The two criminals. They were standing by their pathetic excuse for a sofa, the raven-haired one holding a huge sword. There was another law broken. I didn't want to resort to violence, but they were criminals and had to be dealt with.

Then….

My little brothers, running in and defending the criminals. Calling them 'nii-san' and 'nii-sama'. Calling them brothers. Something cracked, inside my head, like a barrier. I remember them. They all were my family.

In the short space I was thinking, they had all five escaped. Without thinking, I ordered SOLDIERs after them, but remained. Pictures on the wall, of the two, and me. We had been family.

Gunshots rang in the distance, and sorrow pierced my heart. Dead. On my orders. I had ordered the SOLDIERs to pursue them. I was a murderer. My family was gone, again, thanks to Shinra. In that moment, the despair almost overcame me. I stared at the sword I held, nothing more than a symbol for destruction, and made to cast it away in shame.

But her voice stopped me. She spoke to me, in my thoughts, and I believed.

"Dearest…"the voice said. "Don't do that, now, darling."

"Who….?" Can you blame me for being confused?

"You don't know me? I am surprised. I'm your mother, Jenova." My memories, little more than a fog after what Hojo had done, came back in pieces. I remembered, Shinra had killed my mother. Lucre… No, that wasn't right. Another of Hojo's illusions. My mother's name was Jenova.

I was ecstatic. Very few are privileged to have loved ones able to speak from beyond the Lifestream.

"Don't worry, Sephiroth. Everything will be all right. I will show you the way. Together, we can make a better world. The world your brothers would have wanted."

"Anything you ask, Mother." I said, standing up with sword in hand. I believed, more surely than I had ever believed in anything. Can I be blamed for clinging to the one bit of family I thought I had left? A mistake is not a crime……

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Li: I'M ALIVE!!!

Merry Christmas, everybody! I'm just a tad late, so sorry. But I am now in possession of an actual flash drive! I get to update again! Now, just like I promised, there are two more chapters after this!

Aww... I kinda feel bad for what I'm doing to poor Seph. But, it's a fundamental part of the story, so I really have no choice.

Cloud's chapter is next, so expect some major angsting. I think his is the shortest out of the three.

Oh, and don't forget to review! (throws everyone Christmas plushies of Sephiroth in a Santa hat)