Disclaimer: The Final Fantasy VII Compilation belongs rightfully to Square-Enix. This amateur effort at fan-based fiction is in no way making profit off of the licensed characters described therein, nor is it associating any new original characters to Square-Enix either.
Chapter Nine
It was Angeal's face.
Sephiroth stood over a creature, it's body motionless on the steel grid walkway above a giant pool of Mako. The bright green liquid sent reflections throughout the inner chamber, emerald fumes rising on all sides as it traveled towards the exhaust exit at the very top. Machines groaned, and though he could feel the vibrations in his feet, Sephiroth could not think on his current location or objective. His friend's face, statuesque in appearance, was on the torso of a common monster, one that was known to occasionally inhabit Mako reactors, as well as dark cold underground areas where Mako energy was abundant.
He was glad Angeal's eyes were closed. The possibility of the monster actually being Angeal brought slight panic to Sephiroth the moment he disposed of it, but he remembered what Dahlia said about the clone technology; the traits could be copied onto monsters as well. Again, disgust filled Sephiroth as he kicked the monster's corpse over the edge of the walkway. There was a splash and a sizzling sound as the thick Mako consumed the creature and Angeal's DNA within.
SOLDIER and monsters… it became a sort of mantra in Sephiroth's head. Those who were accepted into SOLDIER were immediately showered with minimal amounts of Mako to enhance their physical abilities. Sephiroth had seen the process many times before, but had never endured it himself, having already been enhanced for as long as he could remember. However, as far as he knew, Genesis and Angeal had been normal members of SOLDIER, showered like everyone else. What made them special enough in Hollander's eyes to be cloned? Why not some other SOLDIER? What made his friends agree to it?
Frustrated, Sephiroth turned and proceeded down the rest of the walkway. His friends had kept their secrets long enough from him. Sephiroth pulled out his mobile and dialed for Zack.
"Once Sector 8 is clear, come to Mako Reactor 5," he ordered, still walking.
"Did you find something out?" Zack questioned, having sensed the conviction in Sephiroth's tone.
"Angeal has been sighted."
Zack cursed under his breath, displeased. "So it's search and destroy?" he retorted in an accusing manner. Sephiroth frowned, but reminded himself that he had yet to clarify to Zack what his intentions were regarding the assassination assignment.
"The army is mobilizing," Sephiroth admitted, "but there's still time." In the middle of the walkway he stopped. "You and I will find them before they do, and-,"
"And WHAT!?" Zack shouted, causing Sephiroth to grimace as he pulled the phone away from his ear. Dumb kid could even give his ex-wife a run for her money…
"…fail to eliminate them," Sephiroth finished, keeping his tone calm, despite Zack's rather unexpected outburst.
He heard Zack's gasp through the handset. "For real?" Zack replied, his enthusiasm a complete turnaround.
"Heh. Yes, for real."
Sephiroth could imagine the grin on the kid's face. "Excellent!" Zack exclaimed, and then in an attempt to maintain professionalism, "Erm… Probably!" Sephiroth hung up at that and then continued onwards towards a door, only to find it locked. A short examination of the reactor revealed several valves and switches below the walkway on other platforms, but he would wait on Zack for that.
He leaned forward on the railway and stared impassively down at the walkways below, as well as the Mako pool at the very bottom. Sephiroth sniffed as he felt the Mako fumes tickle his sinuses, that strange combination of furnace heat and mold. He endured the somewhat uncomfortable settings for the duration it took for Zack to arrive, his noisy entrance attracting more monsters. They sprang from the hidden crannies of the reactor's steelwork.
Sephiroth approached him calmly as Zack made short work of a reptilian spear-wielding creature with a shelled back. It wasn't long before the newly appointed First Class SOLDIER noticed the same thing Sephiroth had. The black-haired sixteen year old hunched over the monster, gaping.
"Is that… Angeal's face?!" Zack blurted. This time the emotionless depiction of the SOLDIER was on the top of the reptile's head, almost ceramic-looking.
Zack looked up in surprise as he noticed Sephiroth's approaching footsteps on the walkway. "It appears Genesis isn't the only one who can be copied," Sephiroth said as he passed the younger man. Eventually he stopped to stare at the walkway in deep thought.
'You noticed it yourself, remember?' Hojo had said, 'the day the three of you wrecked the training room.'
Sephiroth looked up, his cat-like pupils narrowing in realization. "The company training room…" he murmured. That was the last time the three of them were together before Genesis was sent out to Wutai.
"Hm?" Zack answered as he looked up curiously at his superior.
He looked to Zack, explaining, "We used to sneak in there for fun, when the 2nds were out… Genesis, Angeal and I."
"You guys were pretty tight," Zack acknowledged.
"Humph," Sephiroth responded, his gaze becoming distant with memory. "I wonder…"
That day they had chosen the Junon Mako cannon as their setting. Everything was replicated with astonishing accuracy. The three of them were not but tiny dots atop of the immense cannon that pointed out towards the endless ocean and flat horizon. There were even weather effects to go with it. Something akin to an ocean breeze flew through Sephiroth's waist-length hair while a late afternoon sun filtered down through the clouds, making the waters below appear like a vast sheet of gleaming glass. Sephiroth watched the horizon with a pleased smile on his face.
"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess," Genesis recited, his voice full of the silk that would make even the most disciplined of adult minds wander into a dream world. "We seek it thus, and take to the sky."
Sephiroth turned away form the ocean to face both of his friends – Angeal, who leaned stoically against a tall machine, and Genesis beside him, who sat atop of it with an ivory-colored book in both of his gloved hands. Angeal, the taller of the two, was dressed in the standard black SOLDIER uniform of a First Class, as always. There was a thin trail of stubble tracing his jaw line up from his ears. His arms were crossed as he contemplated the meaning of Genesis' verse.
Genesis was the opposite in appearance, covered practically head-to-toe in crimson leather, his coat a similar make to Sephiroth's. He was completely clean-shaven, delicate brown bangs framing his youthful face. He stared down at his text with reverence and adoration.
"Ripples form on the water's surface," he continued. "The wandering soul knows no rest."
Sephiroth approached and stopped just a few feet before them, a little more than the length of Masamune in his left hand. "LOVELESS," Sephiroth answered. "ACT I."
Genesis shut the book, smirking. "You remembered." He slid off of the machine to stand with Angeal. Both men looked to their superior in anticipation.
"How can I not when you've beaten it into my head?" asked Sephiroth, tapping his right temple. He swiped the air with his sword, and as if on cue, invisible speakers began to play a fast paced waltz for them - a song straight out of the soundtrack for last year's production of Loveless. Had they not been focused on their current session, Genesis would have normally taken the opportunity to inform them that it was for the duel scene in the fourth act. He rarely did recite the epic without the musical accompaniment.
Angeal unsheathed a standard issue Shin-Ra army sword while his own massive Buster Sword remained attached to his back. He glanced at Genesis as the red-clad SOLDIER brought his own crimson rapier into en garde position in front of his face. It gleamed against the rays of the simulation sunlight above.
"Don't take Sephiroth lightly," Angeal cautioned him.
"Humph. Noted," replied Genesis.
The two charged at Sephiroth and the duel began with a flurry of parries, Sephiroth effortlessly redirecting every one of his adversaries' attacks. Angeal attacking his back and Genesis his front, the pair seemed to move in theme with the music Genesis had chosen for their fight. As the tempo seemed to increase, so did their pace, as well as their effort. Angeal launched himself up into the air to bring his sword cleaving down. The weapon clashed with the surface of the Mako cannon as Sephiroth leapt easily out of the way. Genesis proceeded with an impressive aerial spinning attack that Sephiroth knocked away with one strike of the Masamune, sending Genesis flying backward.
Angeal rushed for Sephiroth, and then both Masamune and Angeal's borrowed sword locked together in an intense clash. Angeal gritted his teeth as he tried to push against Sephiroth's strength, causing sparks to emit from both scraping blades.
Sephiroth chuckled softly. "Ha! Is that the best you can do?" With one push he sent Angeal sliding back towards Genesis. The Loveless track faded into silence as the song ended. Sephiroth briefly wondered if it was only music from Loveless that Genesis brought with him.
"All hail Sephiroth, eh?" Angeal joked, and Sephiroth could not help but grin devilishly.
Genesis held out an arm to block Angeal's way. "Angeal, stay back. I'll take Sephiroth alone," he announced.
"Genesis…!" Angeal uttered, shocked.
Raising his rapier broadsword, Genesis proclaimed, "The world needs a new hero!" As he passed his palm along the flat edge of the blade, the sword lit up as materia would, archaic Cetran symbols illuminating in hot white. It was a weapon of the Ancients, Sephiroth remembered, given to Genesis by Sephiroth's ex-wife when she first dug it up in a ruin during the beginning of her career. Genesis carried it ever since.
Still, some old trinket wouldn't be nearly enough to stop him. "Humph. Come and try," Sephiroth challenged with a smirk.
"So smug…" Genesis replied, "but for how long?"
Genesis dashed forward, a red and black blur, raising his ignited weapon and striking down with enough force to dent the metal under Sephiroth's feet. The Rapier's blow onto Masamune forced the gathered energy to explode outwards, but Sephiroth did not budge or recoil as he stood his ground. They exchanged various swordplay assaults, Sephiroth vaguely aware of the heavy metal now emitting from the hidden speakers. He braced the dull end of Masamune on his free forearm as Genesis tried another power attack, uttering a soft "tch," as the ignited Rapier connected harshly with his sword. Sephiroth pushed the arm supporting his blade forward, and thus Genesis was propelled up into the air. Sephiroth leapt upwards after him, content to finally drop the boring defensive.
He hadn't really noticed how high up they were until he saw the cannon far below looking something like a toy model. For a while they exchanged aerial strikes, and it wasn't until Genesis began to fall freely back down that he began to charge up a spell from his equipped materia. A volley of flames shot out towards Sephiroth, several of which he sliced cleanly away while the others missed and flew passed him. However, he caught the look of intense concentration on Genesis' face, and sliced through the air again as Genesis guided the fire missiles that originally missed back around towards Sephiroth again. Sephiroth cut through a couple but it was too late to stop them all. The flames combined and engulfed him, the heat blocking his view of Genesis and everything else.
"Haaaaa…." Genesis began, charging up the finishing spell that would make the trap explode.
"Stop!" Sephiroth heard Angeal shout. "You're going to destroy the entire building!"
"That's no way to talk to a hero!" Genesis exclaimed. A second later, Sephiroth heard Angeal scream through an explosion.
Enough of this immaturity, Genesis, Sephiroth thought angrily. He pushed forward with Masamune, bursting through the wall of fire. Such was the force of his escape that a cut of pure energy from his sword flew towards the unexpecting Genesis. The Rapier blocked the force that would have otherwise cleaved Genesis in two, the remaining power slicing straight through the cannon like a kitchen knife through fruit. Sephiroth landed on the falling piece of the cannon, watching Genesis critically as he gradually descended towards the ocean.
This is what you've provoked:
The heavy metal unexpectedly changed to a glorious symphony Sephiroth was not familiar with as he zoomed forward, slicing and dicing with Masamune quickly enough to instantly throw more pieces of the Mako cannon into the air. He appeared before Genesis who could do nothing more than leap back with every reach that Masamune made for him, the nearly seven-foot long katana carving more segments out of the cannon, all of which crashed into the waters below as Sephiroth continued with his onslaught.
Estuans interius
Ira vehementi
Estuans interius
Ira vehementi
Sephiroth!
As he and Genesis danced with their swords, Sephiroth registered the strange music and it's mention of him. It was in a language he had never heard before, and as he redirected Genesis' next attack, he briefly wondered where the younger First Class had acquired the music from. There was no time to ask him, of course, as Genesis recharged his Cetran sword met Sephiroth's blade, causing another clash of energy and power that only further debilitated the Mako cannon.
Forget the music, who cares-, Sephiroth thrust Masamune's point at Genesis and he flipped backwards to avoid it. Sephiroth's opponent slid his palm across the sword once more to awaken the power belonging to the Ancients.
"Enough!" shouted Angeal, suddenly appearing to block Rapier with the borrowed sword. Sephiroth's counterattack landed on Angeal's back, clanging with the rarely used Buster Sword's width. The black haired man stood in between them, holding back two relentless forces that would have otherwise destroyed him completely had he not been at their level of combat.
"Angeal…" Sephiroth frowned. He was willing to conclude the duel for him, but he was sure Genesis was still hell-bent on stripping Sephiroth's title from him.
"Out of my way!" Genesis commanded, confirming Sephiroth's thoughts. Materia energy enveloped Genesis' left hand, and as it struck Angeal's borrowed sword, the much weaker blade gave way and snapped, the broken piece spinning before it struck Genesis' left shoulder. He cried out in pain and stumbled back before collapsing onto one knee.
"Genesis!" Angeal exclaimed, his voice filled with concern. In an instant the scenery shuddered and disappeared, the Junon training simulation nothing more than a virtual memory. The odd but magnificent music that had been playing before instantly shut off, as a female mechanical voice informed all on the SOLDIER floor that the training room was critically damaged. Broken circuits in the walls flashed numerous sparks, and the system quickly resorted to emergency power to bring a miniscule amount of light back into the training room.
Genesis breathed heavily as he slowly got back to his feet. "Just a scrape," he told them, ignoring the disbelief on Angeal's face. "I'll be fine, don't worry." He picked up Rapier from the group while holding his bleeding shoulder with the other. Sephiroth eyed him seriously as Genesis walked past them towards the door.
"Even if the morrow is barren of promises," Genesis recited, "nothing shall forestall my return."
"So, was everything alright?" Zack asked him.
"Yes," Sephiroth answered, "as far as Genesis was concerned." He and Zack were looking over opposite railways, their backs turned to one another as Sephiroth told him the story. "But, as for Angeal…"
"Angeal?" Zack questioned, turning around to look at him. "What happened?"
Sephiroth chuckled in amusement, remembering it quite clearly. "Later, I received one of his famous lectures."
"About what?" Zack asked apprehensively.
"Always the same," Sephiroth remarked, shaking his head slightly. "Discipline, dreams, honor, et cetera…"
Zack laughed softly to himself, as if trying to share in the amusement. "Ah, one of those, huh?"
Sephiroth exhaled deeply and walked away from Zack to study the Angeal clone again. The answers were finally starting to come together, at least. That day in the training room had started it all.
"So it's true," Sephiroth confirmed. "They're in league with Hollander."
"How could this happen?" Zack sighed.
They were almost there. Sephiroth ordered Zack to the lower walkways of the Mako reactor to turn the necessary valves and activate the all the right switches. The locked door Sephiroth had been eyeing hissed open for them, revealing a storage area beyond it.
"I'll go first," Sephiroth told him, stepping through. Inside it was normal enough, save the papers and lab equipment strewn about. Also worthy of notice was the human sized Mako container in the corner of the room, the bright green liquid illuminating from the lone observation window.
Well, that explains where the reactor's energy is being sent to… Sephiroth approached the workstation beside it, picking up a clipboard. Highlighted was the title, Project G. Sephiroth glanced in astonishment back to the Mako containment tube, catching the outline of a human being.
"What is all of this?" Zack wondered out loud, looking down as he accidentally crushed a stack of papers with his foot.
"The research Hollander took with him when he left the company," Sephiroth explained. Gesturing to the Mako container, he said, "My guess is that over there is also part of the stolen clone technology. Hollander has been supplying Genesis with loyal troops right under our noses."
"Using our men," Zack added, clenching his fists. "You think maybe those SOLDIER's didn't defect at all? Maybe they were kidnapped!"
Sephiroth shrugged. "Either way it doesn't matter. Whether they were willing to or not, those that left with Genesis became his obedient carbon copies." He looked back down at the Project G report, finding the dates mentioned to coincide right around Genesis' birthdate.
"I don't get it," Zack admitted. "What does this have to do with what happened in the training room all those months ago?"
Sephiroth closed his eyes, remembering. "The wound was superficial, but for some reason Genesis wasn't healing. The man who treated him was… Hollander." Zack looked to him in surprise.
'Professor Hollander,' Angeal called. He and Sephiroth had waited for hours that day for news on Genesis' condition. 'How is Genesis?'
Hollander answered with his deep tenor voice: 'The problem is the Mako energy that seeped in through the wound.'
'Is it treatable?' Angeal asked.
'First he'll need a transfusion,' replied the scientist. Sephiroth immediately stepped forward, but Angeal held him back with his arm, volunteering as well. Hollander immediately turned to Sephiroth, shaking his head. 'You aren't viable.' He turned away from Sephiroth without another word, Angeal following the scientist inside.
Opening his eyes, Sephiroth sighed, looking around at the storage room's walls, at the present instead of the past. Why couldn't I be the donor? Sephiroth wondered. It had bothered him for weeks, and he didn't hear from Genesis again until word was spread that he went missing in action during his assignment in Wutai.
"Search the room thoroughly for any vital reports," Sephiroth commanded. Pouting slightly, Zack turned to a thick binder he found and slumped his shoulders as he forced himself to read through the confusing data.
A SOLDIER Type G…? Sephiroth glanced once more at the Mako tube. Suddenly the puzzle fixed itself in his mind. The report said it all. Hollander had subjected Genesis to human experimentation when he was a child, automatically making him a prime candidate for SOLDIER. However, there were repercussions, dire consequences for Hollander's desperation to beat Hojo to the punch as Head Researcher.
"Ugh…" Zack ground, slouching against the workstation as he tried to keep his eyes focused on the data.
Sephiroth lowered the Project G report. "It was Hollander's experiment," he informed him. "The result was a normal child, which meant he failed."
Zack impatiently flipped through the pages of the three-ring binder. "Yours obviously says a lot more than mine. These are just a bunch of random numbers…" Zack stared curiously at another sheet he picked up, but then tossed it aside.
"Project G gave birth to the man we know as Genesis," Sephiroth explained.
"Project G…" Zack repeated.
"Project Genesis." Sephiroth set the data aside. "Contrary to this report, Genesis showed clear signs of change…" As was evident the day of the training room incident.
"Degrading?"
"Not only that," Sephiroth replied.
"Copies…?" Zack questioned.
Sephiroth approached the Mako tube and glared at the slumbering Genesis clone inside. "Abominations…" he hissed. Hollander had subjected Genesis to a horrible destiny… to learn that not only was he not human, he was also a failure.
Approaching footsteps caught Sephiroth's attention. "S-Sephiroth!?"
"Hollander," Sephiroth answered, turning away from the container. "I thought I'd find you here." He immediately approached the scientist with every intention to make him beg for his life for what he'd done to Genesis.
"The degradation process," Hollander began. "Only I can stop it."
That won't save you, Sephiroth thought, proceeding forward. Suddenly something swooped down to land in between the two of them. His eyes widened at the sight of Genesis for the first time in months. Astonishingly enough, a single black-feathered wing had sprouted out of Genesis' left shoulder blade. Sephiroth glowered as Genesis pointed the tip of Rapier at Sephiroth's face.
"Genesis!"
The ex-SOLDIER glared back at him. "You won't take Hollander."
The scientist began to retreat, and Sephiroth glanced back at Zack. "Go after Hollander!" he ordered, and immediately the sixteen-year-old acquiesced, chasing the man up a set of stairs to some other section of the reactor.
As soon as the two were out of sight, Genesis lowered his weapon. "There is no hate," he began, walking past Sephiroth, "only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess. Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds."
"LOVELESS again?" Sephiroth asked, not looking at him. "You never change."
"Three heroes go into battle," Genesis explained. "One is captured, one flies away. The one that is left becomes a hero."
Sephiroth shook his head. "A common story."
"If we were to enact it," Genesis suggested, "would I be the one to play the hero, or would you?"
Sephiroth turned to look at him. "It's all yours," he immediately offered.
"Indeed," said Genesis. "After all, your glory should have been mine."
"How petty," Sephiroth scowled. Where would Sephiroth be now had Hollander's experiment succeeded? He had no use for the fame Genesis seemed to covet all of those years – it brought him nothing. In fact, being the exceptional SOLDIER he was, knowing that no other warrior could defeat him… Sephiroth knew it was pointless to keep continuing with it, but SOLDIER was the only life he knew.
"In hindsight perhaps," replied Genesis to his comment. Raising his arm up towards the ceiling, he announced, "Now, what I want most is the 'gift of the goddess.'"
Sephiroth glared but did not react to Genesis' challenging smirk. "You're deteriorating, Genesis. All Hollander wants from you is personal gain. He won't fix you."
Genesis lowered his arm. "You never did have much faith in scientists."
"Only one," Sephiroth replied.
Genesis chuckled. "Ah, that's right. Whatever did happen to poor old Professor Gast, anyhow?" At Sephiroth's silence, he said, "You see, he left Shin-Ra too, never to be heard from again."
Sephiroth tensed at the mention of his old mentor, pronounced dead before Sephiroth was even aware he had left the company as well as the intense competition with the other scientists.
"I said the same to Angeal: Shin-Ra uses us. Not just SOLDIER, everyone. My friend, how can you continue to serve them, knowing that they consider your power mere property?" Genesis asked. "Together, we could fix it all, make them pay for their crimes - for their arrogance!"
Sephiroth scowled. "I won't be a pawn of Hollander's." With that he turned away from the other man, taking the Project G report from the worktable before taking leave towards the exit.
"So you'll be a pawn of Shin-Ra!" Genesis shouted after him. "Fated to have your destiny decided for you!"
Sephiroth halted before the door, struck by Genesis' words. After a long pause, Sephiroth left the storage room, not once looking back at his would-be rival.
Author's Note: One element of the training room scene I really did not want to leave out was the music, as you can obviously see. One-Winged Angel is as vital to the telling of FF7's story as all of the other elements of the plot. When I played Crisis Core the first time, I fell in love with the way Seph's theme was suddenly implemented when he started going all out on Genesis in the duel. Call me crazy, but I always thought it would be unfair for him if in the entire course of his life Sephiroth never got the chance to listen to One-Winged Angel.
Shinz - Glad you found him in character in the last chapter. I was really worried about that one.