The magical orb was fascinating. Hojo would have never believed such a thing was possible before it had been handed to him late last night by one of the soldiers he'd stationed to watch for the boy's return. To be fair, he'd hoped for a living, breathing Ancient, but this was easily the next best thing. And who knew? Perhaps this orb was the very ticket he needed in order to cross the Barrier as the boy had, and then he'd be able to get his hands on an Ancient and all of their many secrets.
But first, he had to figure out how to get it to function.
The fact that it contained magic was obvious just from looking at it—there was something inside the orb, shifting and moving around completely on its own. He'd tried shaking it, but even that motion hadn't caused any noticeable difference in the swirling patterns shifting under the seemingly glass surface. To further support his theory, his son had also mentioned that the boy had told a story about being able to use magic, not to mention the fact it had been on him in the first place, indicating he'd thought it could somehow help his dying mother.
Presumably, the boy knew how to use it, but asking for his help was all but out of the question. Besides, with his towering intellect, Hojo wasn't worried about figuring out the inner machinations of the orb. It was quite interesting how none of the ancient records had mentioned anything of this nature, however. A way for even humans to be able to use magic? It had either been a closely guarded secret or else was a new discovery, made after the Barrier had been put in place.
If it were the latter though . . . why? Why create a way for anyone to be able to use magic in a society where everyone could already do so? It didn't make any sense and that, more than anything, frustrated him—there was clearly a piece missing to the puzzle and now that he was aware of it, Hojo needed to understand. For the time being, that mystery would have to wait. Activating the orb came first.
Holding it out in front of him, cupped in his palm, Hojo stared intently at the orb. "Heal," he commanded.
Nothing happened.
He clenched his fist around it, squeezing it tightly, and repeated himself. "Heal."
Still nothing.
If it did actually require a specific verbal command to activate then he might be forced to get the boy involved. Fortunately, there were many simple ways to get information out of someone, especially when they were so young. It would be particularly easy considering the state of the boy's mother—he would clearly do anything that might help to cure whatever it was that was wrong with her. Giving up on verbal commands for now, Hojo debated what to try next. Perhaps it would only work if there was something that needed to be healed nearby?
Releasing his tight grip, he began to get to his feet when he barely noticed a minor change in the orb. It was slight, almost imperceptible, but on closer examination, he was positive the insides were swirling around with slightly more activity. Interesting. Wrapping his hand around it once more, he imagined the interior swirling around even more vigorously in his mind's eye.
After nearly a full minute of nothing at all appearing to change, he began to feel that this had been a mistake when out of nowhere, a long, aching pain in his back that he'd gotten used to and nearly forgotten about abruptly vanished. It was such a small thing, and yet the magnitude of it hit him like a sledgehammer—he'd just used magic to heal himself.
Excitement surged through him as he dropped back into his chair, opening his hand once again to take another look at the orb. Not only was it swirling around actively, it was even glowing now—a faint, emerald green color that was surprisingly bright given how dark the orb was in its dormant state. As he watched, the light was already slowly beginning to dim. Hojo jumped to his feet, not wanting to potentially miss out on this chance if the orb fell silent once more.
"Get in here, immediately!" he shouted, moving toward the door that led out to the main hall.
A heartbeat later it flew open, the guard stationed outside rushing through with wide eyes as he scanned the room. Confusion flickered across his face before he looked to Hojo. "Sir? Is something wrong?"
"Your gun, give it to me," Hojo demanded, holding out his hand that wasn't gripping the orb.
The guard blinked, then slowly pulled his pistol from the holster at his waist before holding it out.
Hojo snatched the gun and, before the man could react, shot him in the upper leg. The guard crumpled to the ground with a loud scream, his face transforming from confusion to abject horror. Ignoring him, Hojo dropped into a crouch, holding the orb out over the man's leg. "Please stop that pathetic moaning, you're making it hard to concentrate."
"You shot me!" the guard shrieked in response, acting as if Hojo had done something unimaginable. Did he not understand how science worked? "Are you insane?"
"Well of course I did. I couldn't exactly risk doing this to myself on the off chance it doesn't work."
The man's mouth flapped open and closed several times. "What do you mean if this doesn't work?"
"I'm going to heal you. Now please, shut up." Focusing, Hojo imagined the wound closing up, the blood disappearing and the flesh restored and unbroken. Initially, nothing seemed to be happening, but as the seconds ticked by the orb slowly began to glow brighter and brighter until it reached a point where he was forced to look away. The entire room was bathed in dancing green light, shifting and sliding across the walls in a way that almost looked like flowing water.
"What . . . what in the world is happening?" the guard asked, his voice trembling. "This feels so weird."
"Please be more specific," Hojo said, turning his attention back to the man now that he wasn't blathering anymore. "What exactly are you feeling?"
"It doesn't hurt any longer. Well, not really. It's more of a dull ache, kind of like I dropped something heavy on my leg. But I can also feel my skin stitching back together and it's . . . extremely offputting."
While he would have preferred more exact descriptions, the most interesting part of the guard's explanation was how calm the man was. The orb was clearly doing an exceptionally remarkable job of healing him considering how he'd been loudly screaming just moments ago. It seemed to have finished its job as well, given how the light was slowly beginning to fade once again.
Just as he began to pull the orb away from the wound to inspect the healed result, a loud crack rang out, sounding like someone breaking a piece of wood over their knee. The noise sent a spike of alarm racing through him. Had the orb just broken?! Completely ignoring the man lying on the floor, Hojo jumped to his feet and closely examined the green sphere. To his relief, after a careful examination, it appeared to be perfectly intact, with no sign of damage or of any change at all for that matter.
"Thanks for healing me, I guess?" the guard said, slowly standing up while eyeing the door. "I'll just . . . be leaving now. Sorry if your thing broke, it seemed really helpful."
Hojo moved to wave his hand in dismissal, but the man had already fled, his footsteps fading down the hallway outside. Even though he hadn't gotten a chance to examine the healed wound, the fact the man had been able to run at all was proof enough of how well the experiment had worked. Additionally, his comment about the orb breaking meant that Hojo hadn't imagined the loud noise, but if it hadn't come from the orb then what had caused it?
When he'd first activated it on accident and healed himself, Hojo was sure there hadn't been a similar noise, so did it have to do with the severity of the injury? It certainly seemed like a solid theory at least, although something didn't quite fit. He could have sworn that the noise, as loud as it had been, hadn't been directional. If the orb had caused it, then he would have expected the sound to originate from it as well, except he was almost positive it hadn't. Rather, it had seemed to come from everywhere, almost somehow resonating inside his body.
A theory as to what it might have been flickered to life and Hojo bolted out of his office, racing in the opposite direction the guard had gone. He knew it was a fragile hope, one he'd need to test more thoroughly in the coming days, but if he was right then this was the answer they'd been looking for, the solution to everything. It wasn't even an absurd leap in conjecture, especially considering that the orb in his hands shouldn't normally have been there in the first place.
Reaching the President's office, Hojo blew past the secretary's desk, shoving the door open with his shoulder before barging inside.
"Excuse me, sir? You can't just charge in there!" she shouted after him, but he continued on, ignoring her. This was far too important to put up with any more of her nonsense.
"—yes, Sir. I'll make sure to—"
Unfortunately, the President wasn't alone this time—his son Rufus stopped whatever he'd been saying and turned to frown at Hojo as he drew near.
"Sir, we need to talk," Hojo said, his fist clenching and unclenching the orb over and over in his excitement.
"I'm in the middle of a conversation with my son, in case you hadn't noticed," the President said slowly, his brows furrowed and a clear note of disapproval in his voice. "I can't keep giving you special treatment, Hojo. I'm a busy man with the responsibility of a city on my back."
"I know, trust me, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't of the utmost importance. Just give me a moment, alone, sir. I promise you won't regret it."
President Shinra took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly as he looked between his son and Hojo. "Fine. Rufus, we'll continue this tonight after dinner. For now, continue forward as planned."
Rufus nodded, before shooting Hojo a glare as he turned to leave.
"Well, what is it, Hojo? This had better be good . . ."
He waited until the doors to the office slammed shut, then walked up to the President's desk and set the orb down in front of him. "I recently had this little present drop into my lap and I believe it to be the key we've been searching for."
The President reached out and picked it up, eying it curiously for a moment before setting it back down, seeming unimpressed. "And what is it, exactly? This little bauble of yours."
"Magic. Some kind of condensed magic, that is, capable of allowing people like you and me to wield the power of the Ancients."
Tapping his fingers on the desk, the President's brow rose at the statement. "Really? And do you have any proof for this lofty claim of yours?"
Hojo nodded. "Yes, I shot one of your soldiers in the leg and then fully healed him with the orb's magic, but that isn't what's important right now."
"You did what?!" President Shinra demanded, his fist slamming down on his desk. "How could anything be more important than magic that can restore such a serious wound?"
Hojo smirked widely. "Oh, but it is, sir. I believe I know how to break the Barrier."
A second Hojo chapter, already, huzzah? Unfortunately, as detestable as he might be, Hojo is also quite smart. Even though he has no idea what the Materia is, the fact that Cloud brought it back with him immediately indicates that it's got to have some ability to fix things. Through a bit of trial and error and a dash of luck, he manages to activate it. Which is capital b Bad. That same mysterious noise Cloud heard when he crossed returns, except Hojo thinks he has an idea of what it is. Only time will tell if he's correct...
This is another short chapter since no one deserves to be stuck inside Hojo's head for too long, but I hope still a good one!
Next Chapter: Betrayal