PART TWO

'During the course of my studies, I chanced upon some material

that at first caused in me great excitement...a prophecy of some

sort. It told me that the saviour of the world would be born out

of love...

...Beings such as us are not capable of fulfilling such frivolous

fancies anymore.'

Project by Dr. K. Gast - The third annual report on the Jenova project

-oOo-

: Chapter One :Sephiroth

The nearest village to Midgar was a small, tranquil settlement on the outskirts of the wastelands that surrounded the Shinra capital. Kalm Town was neat and spruce, with castle-like towers, welcoming inns and pavements of indigo blue brick. The inhabitants were mainly miners who worked in the neighbouring mines, searching for the precious Mythril metal. For this reason, Kalm was quite a prosperous town.

The five had travelled for nearly a day before they reached the village. They had not eaten since being thrown into the Shinra cells. The only way of keeping their spirits up was by light conversation and stupid jokes, mainly cracked by Barret. Seeing the pleasant trails of smoke exuding from the homely rooftops had caused a wave of delight in them. The prospect of food and sleep had ceased them from talking, and sped up their walking pace. Once at the entrance to the village, they had all felt like getting down on their hands and knees and kissing the ground: all except for Red XIII, who seemed the least ravaged by hunger compared to the others.

They'd found the town's only inn, stuffed themselves silly with a hearty meal, and then all retired to their beds. All this had been paid for by the Gil stolen from the battles encountered with Shinra soldiers outside Midgar.

It seemed odd to Cloud, but after having spent this short time together in each other's company, they all felt the best of friends. And yet, they never talked about their pasts, or what they felt inside, or why they were really carrying on with their search for whatever it was that they were looking for. All they ever spoke of was Midgar, how glad they were to be out of it, how they wondered everyone else back there was coping. Cloud knew, it was not hard to see, that they all had something to hide, even him. They were not really friends, he decided. They did not know each other - he didn't even really know Tifa, though he couldn't imagine why. He suspected it was because they had been apart for so long, but there was something about the whole issue that troubled Cloud.

"There's still somethin' I don't understand," Barret began, as they all lay back idly on their beds, unused to the luxury they were experiencing. Red XIII looked up from his place on the rug next to the fireplace.

"Yes, there's something confusing me too."

"What's that?" Cloud asked, resting his elbow on the soft, downy pillow.

"Well," Barret leant forward toward him, "what I don't get is how you know all that stuff 'bout Sephiroth and the Ancients and that weird monster in Hojo's lab. You said that you knew him once."

Cloud sat upslowly in his bed. He was not afraid to talk - it was inevitable that it should come to this, that he should have to tell the truth. He ran his hand through his hair, sighed.

"It happened a long, long time ago."

"Five years ago, right?" Tifa said, knowingly. Cloud stared back at her candidly.

"Yeah. You were there too, so you'd remember what I'm about to talk about Tifa."

"And?" Barret encroached, impatiently.

"Well..." Cloud scratched the back of his neck. "Five years ago was when I actually met Sephiroth. I'd left my hometown of Nibelheim two years before, and I'd made my way up to the top-class of SOLDIER. Sephiroth and I became friends."

"Friends?" Barret was shocked. "With a cold-blooded murderer!"

"Hey, listen, we had respect for each other. We were war-buddies," Cloud replied. "Anyway, let me continue. That year, I was going back to Nibelheim for the first time in two years. And I was going with Sephiroth, the person I'd been aspiring to be all this time. I was thrilled, but that goes unsaid.

"We were on a mission about Mako Reactors or something. We had to collect materia from the village, but there was trouble during our mission. Recently, strange monsters had been seen round Nibelheim. We encountered some on our way to the town." Cloud looked up. "Sephiroth is much stronger in reality than any other stories people may tell of him. I witnessed his power myself."

"So what actually happened?" Red XIII asked.

"Well, I went into Nibelheim. I met Tifa..."

"Oh!" Aeris exclaimed. "It was a meeting of childhood friends!"

"Yes," he replied. "I was really surprised with Tifa. But...I suppose it would be better if I told you the whole story in detail."

Barret made himself comfortable on the bed.

"Ready when you are, Cloud-boy."

-oOo-

When Sephiroth and I arrived at Nibelheim, everything was quiet. There were four of us in our party - as well as us two, there were two Shinra soldiers acting as our bodyguards. Sephiroth seemed to be really aloof toward them, but I soon became friends with them. You see, I suppose Sephiroth didn't need to be protected, so I didn't really blame him. But for a boy of sixteen to have such protection was new to me, and I was really excited about it. I was longing to see Tifa, and tell her all about being in SOLDIER. But she was nowhere to be found. The whole place seemed to be deserted. Yet as we walked toward the Nibelheim inn, I could see the eyes of the inhabitants staring at us out of their windows. At first, I thought they were afraid of the monsters. But, now I come to think of it, they were probably afraid of us...

We went into the inn, and we were shown to our rooms. When Sephiroth and I were alone, he began to talk to me. I was surprised. Sephiroth was never one for talking.

"So, how does it feel?" he asked, his voice cold and detached, as always. "How does it feel to be back home?"

"Great," I answered, though I was still a little perplexed at the lukewarm welcome of the people. Sephiroth gazed out of the room's window. It was heavenly outside, blazing and sunlit.

"This place," he murmured, "it looks so familiar..." Then he rose his voice slightly. "I wouldn't know how you feel," he replied, half to himself. "I don't have a hometown."

"You must have a hometown," I answered. "Everyone does. Where do your parents live?"

"My mother's dead," was the bitter reply. "Her name was Jenova. She died giving birth to me. I never knew her."

I was taken aback, and I felt really guilty.

"How about your father?"

"My father?" Sephiroth seemed amused by the question. He began to laugh heartlessly. "To tell you the truth, I always thought he was cold..." He turned to me, seeming a little less lost in his dream world. He did not answer my question. "Oh yes. I almost forgot. Cloud, you may see your family and friends."

So I went to see them.

My mother was in her house, alone. She'd always been alone, ever since my father had died in the Great War. But, I always remembered her as a bright, vibrant woman, even after I'd left town. Now, after two years away, she seemed to have changed, though she tried to disguise it. She asked me questions. Questions about being in SOLDIER, about my wages, about my life with the Shinra. She said she was worried about me being tempted by the city-life. She wanted me to settle down and get married! A nice, older girl, she said. That would be the perfect type for me...Though I heard what she said, I didn't listen. I thought I was grown up, and her words annoyed me. If I'd known she was going to die two days later, I would have told her how much I loved her. Because she would always be my mother.

I went to Tifa's house too. I'd been dying to meet her again after all this time. But no one was in. I even went up to her room and snooped around a bit, but still, no one came, so in the end I gave up. I still had tomorrow to find her, so I went back to the inn and had an early night.

The next day, Sephiroth and I were to go to the Mako Reactor in Mount Nibel. This mountain was notoriously treacherous, so we had to have a guide. And who should our guide be but Tifa?

She was just the same as I'd always remembered her, except a tiny bit older. I was thrilled to see her, but now wasn't the time or place to catch up on the old times. Sephiroth was eager to proceed with the journey. However, his plans were hindered by Tifa's dad's ambition to catch him on camera with his daughter. After a few beggings, I managed to get myself into the picture too. I remember, Tifa's dad was so pleased. He said he'd get the picture developed as soon as possible.

We began the journey toward Mount Nibel, the three of us with our two bodyguards. Tifa knew the area like the back of her hand. If it weren't for her, we would've ended up seriously lost. The winds were hazardous and there were dangerous creatures about. But, what with Sephiroth's almighty strength, we were practically immune to any attacks.

At last we came to the reactor. Only Sephiroth and I entered, as the place was meant only for top Shinra personnel. We oversaw that the reactor as properly producing materia. And then, it seemed that Sephiroth found another back room that he entered. I followed him.

"What is it?" I asked.

Sephiroth was standing by the doorway, facing a room full of some sort of isolation chambers, like large metal pods. He was staring up a flight of stairs.

"Do you see that?" he breathed.

I followed his gaze up the stairs. At the top was an iron door, and at the head of the frame was a sign that read 'JENOVA'.

"Isn't that the name of your mother?" I asked, confused, and doubtful. Sephiroth nodded slowly.

"Yes."

He began to walk toward one of the large pods. Standing on tiptoe, he looked in through the round observational window. There was something in his face that unsteadied me. As he stepped back, he looked at me.

"Look through the window," he instructed quietly.

I did as I was told. Walking up and raising on to my toes, I looked through the window. What I saw, I never forgot. They were humans, but they were monsters. I cannot describe their hideousness, it is beyond words. I stumbled backward, too shocked to speak.

"What...are they?" I managed to stammer.

Sephiroth glared back at me. His brilliant azure eyes were like two gimlets boring into me as he spoke.

"Those people," he explained, "where once humans, just like you and I. But the Shinra transformed them into these beings."

"How? Who did this?"

Sephiroth turned away, looked back up to the door at the top of the steps.

"Hojo, their Head of Science and Technology. He was an inexperienced man assigned to carry on the work of a great scientist." His face twisted with disgust. "He injected these people with the cells of Jenova. He wanted to recreate Jenova's power in humankind. By doing this, he stripped them of their humanity, reduced them to these demons." He turned to me, his eyes flashing, his face contorted in pain, anguish, an emotion I found hard to read "I have often," he continued, "ever since I was a very small child, felt that I was different, somehow not like the others. I always knew Jenova was my mother, but I never knew who or what Jenova was. Am I like this then! Am I a monster!"

Quick as lightning, he drew his sword, and slashed at the nearest pod with all the force he could muster. Clang after clang after clang, he did not stop striking it, and his ferocity frightened me. Then, at last, he fell to the floor, and he was weeping.

"Why didn't you tell me Dr. Gast!" he was wailing. "Why didn't you tell me! Why did you have to die!"

I wished someone had told him, if only it would have stopped him, the world's most powerful man, from screaming like that in front of me, on the floor, sobbing, pathetic. It was an image I'd find hard to lose for a long time, and for many a night after, I found it impossible to go to sleep.

The next day, Sephiroth disappeared.

We were all in a state of trepidation, we'd all searched everywhere for him. There was one place where we had not yet dared to look, an old building called the Shinra Mansion. This disused building had once housed the President and his minions in the old days during the Great War. We felt certain Sephiroth was there. However, I was the only one who was brave enough to volunteer to go inside.

The Shinra Mansion was totally abandoned. No one had used it in years. I wandered round the place for several minutes. The former glory of the house seemed to speak to me. There were tapestries; old, expensive paintings; a grand piano in one room, dusty, broken, long-forgotten...

There was the door to the cellar. I decided to go down it - after all, I had not seen Sephiroth anywhere else. It was dark down there. A rickety wooden staircase led down to the bottom. The ceiling was strung with cobwebs and the walls were oozing with moss and mildew. There were two doorways in the cellar - one was locked, but the other was open. Sephiroth must be in there. I walked inside. The room I entered was a lot cleaner and ordered than the rest of the basement. It seemed to have been a sort of makeshift laboratory. To the left of this room, there was a great library. I walked past the stacks of thick tomes, the smell of ancient leather creeping round me. Then, I stopped.

Sephiroth was sitting at a crumbling oak desk, reading avidly at several of those aged books. There was a sort of wild intentness in his eyes, as though what he read inspired him. I was afraid to interrupt him, but I had to.

"Sephiroth? What are you doing here?"

He stared up at me. His look was one of unrecognition.

"Who are you?"

"Cloud. Don't you remember me? I'm Cloud."

Then, his face changed again. It was a frightening sort of smile, a smile that was full of hate.

"Oh," he began, "the traitor."

I didn't understand what he meant.

"Traitor? I'm not a traitor, Sephiroth."

"Yes." He rose, his tall, statuesque figure eagle-like. "Yes, you are a traitor."

"What are you talking about!"

I was afraid, at least, I think I was. I was afraid of his words, they held such depth.

"Do you really want to know what I mean?" His voice rose, powerful, certain. I stood, quaking, unable to answer. Sephiroth saw that I was scared, and he began to pace the room with a scornful smile.

"Do you know," he began, his tone dangerously soft, "of the Ancient's?"

I shook my head numbly. He continued to explain.

"The Ancients were a race of people who roamed the Planet many thousands of years ago. In fact, 'The Ancients' is rather a base name for them. Their proper name is the Cetra.

"The Cetra's purpose in life was to find the Promised Land, a land of supreme happiness, a place where they would become one with the Planet. For many years, the Cetra followed this objective, it was the very essence of their being. And then, many began to lapse, leave their way of life behind. They settled down, reared sheep on farms, grew crops, built cities. They lost the ability to converse with the Planet, to channel their incomprehensible powers. They became ordinary human beings."

He turned to me, disgust on his face.

"Those people, they are your ancestors."

I was speechless. I did not know whether he was speaking the truth or not. He began to pace again.

"Several years ago, the Shinra made a breakthrough discovery. Their then Head of Science and Technology, Dr. Gast, and his assistant, Dr. Hojo, found the body of the last remaining Cetra somewhere on the Northern Continent. They recovered the body and called it Jenova."

Again, he stopped, turned to me.

"Don't you understand? Jenova was the last remaining Cetra. And I, I am her son!" A sort of twisted pride filled his features. "In my body flows the blood of the Cetra! I am one of the rightful heirs of this Planet! The destiny of this world has been passed on to me!"

I shook my head wildly.

"Sephiroth, you don't know what you're talking about! Come back outside. Come with me."

All of a sudden, his face fell. He sat back on the chair, and looked tired.

"Leave me be," he replied, his voice weary. "Just leave me be."

There was nothing for me to do except leave him be.

-oOo-

"What!" Barret gazed at Cloud in horror. "So that weird, headless creature is Sephiroth's mother!"

Cloud nodded.

"In a manner of speaking, I guess the answer's yes."

Barret banged his fist on the headboard.

"That's disgusting! No wonder Sephiroth went crazy and murdered the President!"

"Barret!" Tifa cut in. "Let Cloud continue! This is very important!"

"Yes," Red XIII added. "This is very interesting. Carry on, Cloud."

-oOo-

For many days afterward, Sephiroth remained in the library and would not come out. We had our bodyguards posted around the area, just in case he reappeared. But none of us were prepared for his next move.

One day I woke up in the Shinra Mansion after my shift of vigilance on Sephiroth. To my horror, I found the whole of the village to be in flames. Rushing out, I tried to see what was going on. But no one was to be seen. Everyone had been slaughtered or burnt to death. The bodyguards lay on the floor nearby, dead. Never had such pain filled me. My friends, my mother, Tifa...

As I walked through the blazing buildings, I saw a figure ahead. It was Sephiroth. He had his sword drawn, it was covered in blood. I rushed after him, but he had vanished, almost as if through the flames. But I knew where he had gone. To the Mako Reactor in Mount Nibel: because Jenova was there.

As I arrived there, I could hear cries from within. I recognised the voice. It was Tifa's.

She was kneeling over the dead body of her father. Sephiroth's sword had impaled him through the chest. She did not notice me. She was crying, she was in such pain, such pain...

"Sephiroth did this to you, didn't he papa!" she screamed, her voice rising uncontrollably. "Sephiroth, SOLDIER...Mako Reactors...Shinra...everything! For what they've done to you papa, I hate them all!"

She pulled the sword out of her father's body, ran into the next room. As I watched, only one thought filled my brain.

I will kill you, Sephiroth. I will kill you.

I ran after Tifa into the next room. Sephiroth was at the top of the stairs, in front of the door that said 'JENOVA'. Tifa was running toward him, ready to strike with the sword. But she was no match for him. He twisted the sword from her grasp and brandished it in her direction. The blade cut through her stomach. She fell backward, down the stairs, to my feet. Sephiroth turned, opened the door and went through.

I knelt down over Tifa. A wave of indescribable fury swept over me. Why? Why had Sephiroth done this to me? Why had he destroyed everything I'd ever cared for?

"Cloud."

It was Tifa. She'd opened her eyes, was looking into mine.

"Cloud, I knew you'd come back when I needed you. Just like we promised."

I carried her in my arms to the corner of the room and laid her down tenderly. I was afraid she would die, but this only spurred on my hate of Sephiroth. I had to kill him. I would kill him.

I ran up the steps, my sword drawn. I went into the room that held Jenova.

Inside, Sephiroth stood in front of a large glass case. The facade was that of a woman. It was the image of Jenova.

"Mother!" Sephiroth was calling out into the resounding room. "I am here! It is I, mother!"

He stepped forward, slowly.

"Those worthless fools have kept us apart. They would have stopped us from finding the Promised Land. But I have come for you. And together, we will rule this Planet."

He ripped off the huge edifice, and I saw, for the first time, Jenova, the real Jenova. She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in a sinister, alien way. Her skin was a pale shade of blue, almost transparent, and her veins flowed with a kind of prismatic liquid. On her head was a metal clamp, like some sort of mechanical headdress.

I was horrified, but still, my initial purpose was stuck fast in my brain.

"Sephiroth!" I called out. He turned to me, calmness on his face. He didn't care. My pain was not his concern.

"Sephiroth, why have you done this? Why have you done this!"

"I have done nothing," was his cold reply, "except free your friends from their misery."

"What misery!" I cried back, the abhorrence becoming a real, physical thing within me. "I'm the only one left feeling misery! And surely you are too! Aren't you sorry for what you've done!"

He laughed shrilly, evilly.

"Sorry! What have I got to be sorry about! My mother and I, we will rule this Planet, together!"

The emotion was boiling in my fingertips now, a tight crescendo.

"No!" I screamed. "I won't let you! You've taken it all away from me - Nibelheim, the townspeople, mother, Tifa...I will kill you!"

Yes - I would. I'd kill him. Sephiroth understood the challenge.

He drew his sword.

-oOo-

Everyone gazed at Cloud with bated breath. And yet, he found, he could not possibly go on.

"And?" Barret prompted eagerly.

Cloud looked down at his hands.

"I didn't kill him. I don't remember what happened next. When I woke up, I was alone in the Mako Reactor."

"You don't remember at all?" Barret persevered.

"No. I don't." He looked up. "But, one thing puzzles me. Why didn't Sephiroth kill me, when he had the chance. He could easily have finished me off, just like all the others. I don't understand why he didn't."

No one offered an explanation. Then, Tifa spoke, her face flushed a bright red.

"Cloud, when Sephiroth hit me, was I hurt very bad?"

Cloud turned to her.

"I thought you were a goner, Tifa. It made me feel...really sad."

"What a remarkable story," Red XIII chimed in, shaking his head in wonder. Aeris said nothing, but sat on the edge of her bed, biting her thumbnail. Cloud called to her.

"Aeris?"

She looked up at him sharply.

"What?"

"What are you thinking of?"

She didn't reply for a moment, but crossed her legs neatly and pulled her dress over her knees.

"It's just a shock, I suppose," she finally answered. "Sephiroth...Jenova...the Cetra..." She sighed, looked up at the ceiling, back down again. She seemed suddenly shaky. "If we are all of the same blood - me, Sephiroth and Jenova - then I'm not the last. I'm not."

"Did you know Sephiroth?" Cloud asked her.

She shook her head vehemently.

"No. Of course I didn't. But..."

She didn't finish the sentence, but remained pensive.

"I guess that explains it, then," said Barret. "You gotta sort this thing out with Sephiroth, Cloud."

"Yes," he replied quietly. "I have to know why he didn't kill me. And I also have to know why he's killing people again. Why he's taken Jenova."

"Well," Barret lay back on the bed, yawned loudly. "You're sure gonna have a job, me boy."

"I know." He lay back too. "But I won't rest 'till it's done."

Tifa spoke, her voice drowsy.

"This has been too much for one night. Let's get some sleep. We'll find out about Sephiroth's whereabouts tomorrow."

"Yeah." Cloud stretched himself out on the clean, soft sheets. "Let's save our energy for tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," they all replied and they all got beneath their sheets. Aeris reached for the lamp switch and flicked it off. As she turned to get under the covers, she met Cloud's gaze. She smiled at him.

"Your eyes," she whispered, "are so bright. Did Sephiroth have eyes like you?"

He hadn't really thought about it before. He didn't see why it was relevant. His skin froze.

"Yes. But his eyes held the power of Jenova," he whispered in reply. He looked back at her, and he realised that she had exceptionally brilliant eyes also. There was a sudden strange connection that began to form in his mind.

Himself, Sephiroth, Aeris...

And someone else he could not remember...

Cloud fell into a deep sleep.

-oOo-

Next: The first meeting with Sephiroth...