Disclaimer: Since I believe only one of these is needed, in particular, one at the start of a fic, this will be the only disclaimer for Beginning of the End. I do not own, nor do I profit off the Final Fantasy VII Compilation or its characters. I am doing this solely for my amusement and for the amusement of others who enjoy my writing. If any original characters show up, they are mine unless said otherwise.

Full summary: The Shin-Ra Company sends Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud to Nibelheim to investigate an old mako reactor that is malfunctioning and producing brutal monsters. During the mission, Sephiroth deals with the loss of his friends and is disturbed by the thoughts that arise from the events surrounding their deaths and finds himself questioning his origins. His perturbed state only deepens after events within the reactor. As he begins to fall into the darkness, can Zack convince Sephiroth of his humanity, despite the shocking revaluations about his birth?

Author's Note: First off, if any old readers of BotE are still out there, I'm reposting this for you guys and myself. It will have quick and dirty edits so that the story is back out there for people who enjoyed it. However, please be aware I am removing certain parts and cutting the fat in other places. Also, I do not want any critical reviews on this. I know there are mistakes in this, but I'm leaving BotE as is unless a huge mistake slipped in. The main reason I don't want any crit reviews on this is because BotE is nearly a decade old (if not older), and my writing style has changed since then. So, if you leave a crit review, I will ignore it.

Secondly, even with some elements removed or toned down, certain aspects will remain. There will be hints of Sephiroth x Tifa (a slow burn/build meant to bloom later on). Anything that looks like a slow build to a future ship or elements of a crush is not your style, there's a lovely little back button on your browser that will take you back to safety and to fics more of your liking.

Last but not least, I hope that any fans of BotE are happy it's back. If any of the original fans are still around and reading after ten years, thank you! It means a lot you remember my fic. I want any readers to know I plan on taking the ideas I had for fanfics following Beginning of the End and BotE itself, and use those ideas in a re-imaging of Beginning of the End inspired by Final Fantasy VII's Remake project. I won't go into anything personal, but over the years I've been through a lot of drama and it's affected my ability to write. It's hard getting back in the saddle after the hits I've taken, but I'm trying, damn it! I won't give up! This is one hobby that I simply refuse to let die.

So without further ado, my dears, enjoy.

Beginning of the End

Written by: Sephiroth Owa13

Beta by: Carriesworld

Chapter One

Conflicted

Sephiroth sat in silence, listening to the sounds around him. Rain pounded harshly against the truck's frame as it made its way through the downpour, windshield wipers squeaked against the wet glass, the low rumble of thunder, and Zack's grunting—

Wait, what?

Confused, Sephiroth turned toward Zack. He was busy doing squats. A barely visible, sad smile came to Sephiroth's face. Zack was like Angeal in some ways. He embodied Angeal's mantra and used it to inspire others, just as Angeal had with so many others becoming the new heart of SOLDIER.

Sephiroth shifted his gaze from Zack to the floor of the truck bed.

"Hey, it's sure raining hard. How are you doing, Cloud?"

"… I'm all right." Private First Class Strife leaned forward to rest his head on his hands.

Zack laughed, then patted PFC Strife on his back. "Sorry, man. I wouldn't know." He paused for a moment and did a few squats. "I've never had motion sickness. It's gotta be rough." Then Zack turned toward the other Shin-Ra Infantryman who was sitting near the front of the truck. "Everything okay over there?"

Sephiroth tried not to smile at Zack's antics. "Hey, settle down."

Zack laughed, then apologetically scratched his head. "Sorry, sir." The laugh lingered in his voice. "I made a new Materia. I can't wait to use it."

Sephiroth chuckled lightly. He grew to enjoy Zack's company and had a way of putting him at ease. Though, lately, Zack had been putting on a forced smile. However, he did have his annoying moments, like now, he was acting— "... just like a kid." Sephiroth finished the thought aloud.

Feigning insult, his smile dropped to a frown and Zack crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Sephiroth shook his head. "... Zack the Puppy." A small grin quirked the corners of his lips upward.

Zack's expression went from angered-embarrassment to a sad, sweet smile. "I'll never be able to live that down, huh?"

Sephiroth allowed the grin to soften to a smile. "No."

A look of sadness washed over Zack's face. "Angeal was always like that …," he said, mostly to himself, and took a seat close to Strife.

There was silence for a while, and Sephiroth was trying to clear his head. Suddenly, the truck hit a hard bump that sent Strife flying off his seat.

Zack rushed to his aid. "Whoa, you okay?"

Strife held a hand up. "I'm okay." He got up slowly, crouched over, and braced himself, looking as if he was going to throw up. A moment later, Strife sat back in his seat and leaned his head back, letting out a sigh of relief.

Lowering his head, Sephiroth wondered why they assigned someone with such a severe case of motion sickness to this mission in the first place, especially considering the amount of travel involved. Then he remembered. Private First Class Cloud Strife was one of the hopeful SOLDIER cadets but failed one of the SOLDIER screenings. However, he showed promise in combat, so Lazard assigned Strife to Shinra's Army, Infantry Division, where all the SOLDIER cadets went.

"Sir?"

Strife's voice caused Sephiroth to look at him.

"Are you going to continue the briefing on this mission?"

"… this isn't a typical mission, as you know—"

"Good!"

Sephiroth frowned and closed his eyes; his head was starting to ache. He brought his hand up and rubbed his forehead. "Why do you say that?"

"I wanted to join SOLDIER so I could be a hero … like you. But, I didn't make the cut. So, I sign up whenever there's a big mission. Kind of a way to prove myself."

Sephiroth lowered his hand and opened his eyes to look at Strife. "I thought you wanted a briefing?"

Standing at attention, PFC Strife nodded. "Sir!"

"Our mission is to investigate an old Mako reactor. The crew is missing, and the reactor is malfunctioning, producing brutal monsters. We are to locate the problem and neutralize it before the reactor or the village is threatened."

"At Nibelheim ... correct?"

A brow rose at the hint of emotion in Strife's voice. "Yes, the Mako Reactor at Nibelheim."

"Nibelheim ... That's where I'm from." Strife became uneasy and began to mess with his helmet.

"Hmm … hometown …" Sephiroth mused aloud, slipping back into his thoughts. A hometown, I've never had one...

Without warning, the truck crashed and came to a stop. Sephiroth rose to his feet and grabbed Masamune, which was propped next to him in the truck.

"Sir—sir's, something strange just crashed into our truck!" the driver informed them.

"And that would be our monster …," Sephiroth said dryly.

Exiting the truck, Sephiroth saw the heavy downpour had turned into a drizzle. Walking to the side of the truck, he saw that it was a dragon type monster.

An eager Zack wasn't too far behind him and let out an excited cry. "You ready for a fight?" he asked, to no one in particular, and turned to Sephiroth. "You take it easy, Seph, and let me handle this!"

As Zack was about to attack the dragon, Sephiroth rushed past him with blinding speed. Masamune held high, ready to attack. In a swift, action, he brought his blade up and cut across the dragon's side.

The dragon let out a roaring death cry as it fell to the ground.

"Or I'll just watch as you kill it." Zack took his hand off the Buster Sword's hilt.

Turning back to where Zack was still standing, Strife was just behind, holding his assault rifle. "Remember, Zack, take your enemies down with one hit. Or do you need more training?" Sephiroth asked, walking past him and toward the truck.

"Hey! I was about to do that!"

Strife began to laugh. "How does it feel to be one-upped, Zack?" he asked teasingly, holding his sides.

Zack shrugged. "Eh, it happens. Especially with Seph."

"Let's go, " Sephiroth said as he climbed back into the truck. "We haven't reached Nibelheim yet."

As the truck's engine turned over and sputtered to life, Sephiroth resettled himself back into his seat. The rest of the ride went quietly: Strife was nervously playing with his helmet, and Zack was busy trying to call someone on his PHS. Leaning his head back against the wall of the truck, Sephiroth closed his eyes.

"So, Cloud. Are you gonna visit your family while you're home?" Zack asked jokingly, as he poked Cloud in the ribs, a grin slowly quirking his lips upward. "Gonna visit any old girlfriends?"

Cloud pushed him away and looked at his helmet. "Yes ... no, I don't know."

Irritated, Zack frowned. In a swift movement, he took the helmet away and held it over Cloud's head. "Don't give me that shit, Cloud! Are you seriously going to tell me you plan on hiding underneath this damn thing?" He dangled the helmet over Cloud's head. "Don't you think that will make your family sad?"

Clearly not in the mood to explain why, Cloud stood and tried to take the helmet back, but Zack pulled it away and held it higher. Cloud tried to jump for it, and Zack pushed him away.

"Look, I don't know …" Cloud shook his head. "I just— I don't want to talk about this anymore." He went for the helmet again, this time he managed to touch the rim of the helmet with the tips of his fingers and knocked it out of Zack's hand.

Zack and Cloud watched in horror as the helmet went flying toward Sephiroth.

"H—Hey, Sephiroth, watch out!" Zack cried out, trying to warn him.

Something hit him on the chest and bounced off, landing on his lap. Annoyed, he opened his eyes and looked down to see a Shin-Ra Infantry helmet resting on his lap.

Sephiroth clicked his tongue, stood up, and looked at Zack, who was wearing a weak smile. Slowly, he shifted his gaze to Strife. "I believe this is yours, Private …," Sephiroth said dryly, holding the helmet out for him to take.

Swallowing audibly, the PFC took the helmet back and nervously held it in both hands. "Sorry, sir."

Moving past Strife, Zack strolled up to Sephiroth and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I tried to warn you, Seph."

Tensing up, Sephiroth backed away from Zack. "Just settle down. You're both acting like children." From the small window in the panel that separated the cab from the flatbed, Sephiroth saw Nibelheim in the distance. "Besides, we're almost there."