Chapter Seventeen: Dr. Crescent's Secrets
"Are you all right?"
Aralyn reached up, trying to feel her surroundings as her eyes were covered by something that blocked all of her vision. Metal…cold, unfeeling metal…and the suffocating smell of antiseptic.
"Sephiroth!" she called, panicking as she considered the possibility that this was another experiment. "Sephiroth, help!"
"Hush," a feminine voice soothed her, warm fingers gripping her hand and squeezing encouragingly. "I'm here, see? I won't hurt you, I promise."
"What are you going to do to me?" she was genuinely afraid now, her voice rising in pitch and her breathing becoming faster and shallower.
"Nothing, honey. Oh no, stop shaking, it's all right! You're all done."
"Lemme go!" She pleaded between the breaths that were coming through her lips in gasps.
"Aralyn." The voice was gentle and comforting, trying to lull her into serenity. "That's your name, isn't it? It's a beautiful name."
She was beginning to feel light headed, even though she was in the dark and lying down. Colored dots flickered on and off in the blackness.
"Lucrecia, her heart rate-" The voice was different from the first woman's.
"Aralyn, you have to calm down," Lucrecia coaxed.
"No! Let me go!"
"What is this…?" the second asked.
"Oh, Hojo you monster…" Lucrecia breathed. "Get me a sedative," she muttered softly. "Quickly!"
"I don't want to go back to sleep! Please, don't make me!"
"Aralyn, I don't have a choice. You could hurt yourself." She sounded truly sorry too. "Thank you," she said to another. A cold, wet swab was rubbed just below her shoulder. "Just a little pinch, okay? It will be over fast."
True to her word, Lucrecia was very swift. When the needle was withdrawn, Lucrecia's hands clasped hers. "There, you're finished."
"Dr. Crescent, Hojo wouldn't approve…"
Lucrecia ignored the nurse. A soft tissue was dabbed where tears had leaked from her eyes.
"You're…Dr. Crescent?" Aralyn asked, her words slurred.
"Yes," the woman assured her.
"Sephiroth said…you were nice. That you'd help us."
"Oh…Sephiroth," the woman sighed, and it sounded like she had begun to cry, though her voice was steady, if a little quieter. "How…how is he? What does he look like?"
Something wet fell on Aralyn's cheek. Lucrecia was crying after all.
"No," Lucrecia stopped herself. "Tell me what it is you need."
"Paints," she whispered.
"Paints?" Lucrecia asked. "Whatever for?"
But it was too dark, and her mind was working too slowly to reply.
"…Paranoia, maybe some type of post-traumatic shock, and that was the least of our problems. I had to sedate her it got so out of control."
"Preposterous! Sephiroth handles the mako procedures every day, and he's fine."
"Aralyn is not Sephiroth, and this is not mako."
"A derivative of mako then! Theoretically, it shouldn't even make enough of a difference to matter. And Hojo said she's got as much potential with it as Sephiroth does!"
"Hojo would say anything to push her into this. And as you just said yourself, this is all theoretical."
"But the tests do indicate—"
"You can look at the numbers and figure all you want, or you can open your eyes and see the effects for yourself!"
"So you want to abort the experiment, Lucrecia? Even if we stop now, she's so far in it might not make a difference—it might even make it worse!"
"Look at what it's doing to her! You were in the operating room with me, you saw-!" Lucrecia stopped, cutting off the other's reply before anything more could be said. "Aralyn? Are you awake?"
Aralyn dared to open her heavy eyes, knowing that she couldn't feign sleep any longer. A woman with long, brown hair and kind eyes stood above her. The ID on the lanyard around her neck identified her as Dr. Crescent.
"Hello," Aralyn said.
Lucrecia smiled. "Good to see you." She turned to one of the assistants and motioned them away. Once they were gone, she looked at Aralyn for a long time. Her smile faded into a more melancholy expression. "Did you hear any of that?"
"Is there something wrong with me?" Aralyn asked, scared.
Lucrecia sighed and shook her head. "Aralyn, Hojo has…miscalculated. I'm sure that he will refigure things. Don't worry. He may be evil, but he won't let anything happen to you."
Aralyn frowned, not happy with the answer. "Can't you tell me what he's doing to me, at least?"
"I'm so sorry, Aralyn. I can't."
Aralyn looked around the room for papers that might indicate anything about her treatment. Sephiroth would know what to make of them, even if she didn't. But the scientists had done their job well – there was no trace of anything she could use.
"Aralyn, I need you to…do me a favor. It's about…Sephiroth."
"What is it?" she asked.
"I don't…" Lucrecia turned away, her shoulders were shaking. "I don't know…what Hojo has told him about what…who he is. But I can be certain…it's not the truth…"
Aralyn searched her memory. She couldn't remember if Sephiroth had ever told her anything about his past.
"Did you know his parents?" Aralyn prodded after several long seconds.
"I thought I did." It was no more than the barest whisper. "Now, I'm not so sure.
"His mother," she continued, "loved his father…no, no, she never loved him…but she married him all the same. The man was kind to her, and she thought he understood the things she wanted. In the end, I suppose she did it for her career, because she thought it was all she had left. He asked one thing of her…just one thing. She was a foolish woman to agree…but she did. Her son, Sephiroth, was born…tainted…because of her mistake."
"Who was she? His mother I mean."Aralyn asked.
"Her name is of no importance. Someday…someday when he's old enough to understand, someone will tell him."
"Won't she come back? Doesn't she love him?"
Lucrecia raised her head, pausing for a long time. "His mother loves him more than anything, but she can't return. And that is what I need you to do…deliver his mother's final message to him."
"Is she…dead?"
Lucrecia ignored the question. "Tell him that his mother is…"
"Dr. Crescent!" Aralyn blanched on instinct; the voice had been Hojo's.
"Right away, sir," Lucrecia replied as she frantically gathered papers in her arms. She ran to the door, but before she opened it, she finished the message.
"Tell him to find Vincent Valentine."