CHAPTER 5:

THE GUARDIAN ANGEL

It took every ounce of effort for Aerith to calm herself. Her heart felt like it was trying to punch its way from her chest, she was breaking out in a cold sweat, and she wasn't entirely sure why. All she knew was that every instinct in her as a Cetra was screaming at her that Sephiroth was a danger.

She'd never met the man until now. She had seen him in news broadcasts, in newspapers, and especially online. She also remembered Zack's stories about the man.

But eventually, she calmed herself. Sephiroth may be dangerous, but he didn't give any indication of being aggressive. In fact, his smirk was changing into a more concerned expression.

Aerith finally calmed herself enough to trust herself to speak. "I have to say, it's a surprise to find Shinra's once-lauded war hero and general now bound to a little girl, like a summon."

Sephiroth chuckled sardonically. "Believe me, it is a surprise for myself as well. And perhaps I know why you reacted badly to me. Perhaps the Cetra have an instinctive revulsion to the one I once called Mother. That, and I scared you when we first arrived in this world…though for me, it is a return."

"…Sephiroth, I know manifesting yourself as an illusion won't drain Delphi as much, but could you get on with it, please?" Harry asked.

Another sardonic chuckle came from Sephiroth. "So impatient, but I agree. Time is of the essence. The irony is, I did not know you were a Cetra until you admitted it, Aerith, though I suspected it once we met. I did remember Hojo speaking of you and your mother, even if he said nothing about you being an Ancient. Though it is perhaps worth noting that I am not the entirety of Sephiroth. I am…a cutting, as it were, a branch taken off, considered to be rotten." A scowl touched his features. "Though the rest of the tree was rotten. Thanks to that monster I called a mother…"

You grew up in Hojo's labs, Aerith. We share that much in common, at least, even if I was kept away from you. But while you had your mother, I had nothing. My father was Hojo himself, though I doubt he knows I learned the truth, and you know all too well that he has no true human feelings, none of the benevolent ones, anyway. All I knew was that my mother was called…Jenova.

I see the name resonates with you. Professor Gast Faremis, your father, was the one to discover a hibernating Jenova, deep within the Northern Crater. He mistook her for an Ancient. I know better now. I learned the truth from Jenova herself, before she helped my original self split me away. She is, for want of a better term, an alien, a sentient cancer that warps other life into monstrous abominations. The name Jenova was discovered on writings near her body by Gast. He did not know it, but in the Ancients' tongue, it meant 'Calamity from the Skies'. She had been sealed away by your people two thousand years ago after she plummeted from the heavens.

The Jenova Project that Gast founded, and that Hojo worked in, was designed to use samples of Jenova's cells to enhance human beings. I was but one of many. Genesis and Angeal also were enhanced by the same cells, albeit in a different manner.

You know something of my life, at least that which was publicly known. The best propaganda has some truth behind it. I won't bore you with what I endured in Hojo's labs, or all the battles I fought, against Wutai, against Genesis and Angeal when they went rogue. But I will tell you about the day it all went wrong.

I know you were the girlfriend of Zack Fair. I took him on his last mission, to Nibelheim. We were to investigate a faulty Mako Reactor, as well as deal with particularly dangerous monsters that had been causing trouble. In hindsight, I wonder if that mission was set up for me to discover the truth of my heritage. After all, the reactor had a large door with the name of one I believed was my mother over it, writ large. And Genesis appeared to me, goading me with cruel words.

Disturbed, I then went into Shinra Manor, and found a secret laboratory of Hojo's, and the records of the Jenova Project. I discovered the source of my strength. But I was also led to believe that I was now the heir to the Cetra…no, the heir to the Planet.

In hindsight, I had been keeping a lot of issues under a mask for many years. Resentment, hatred, a superiority complex. And Jenova reached out to me, dripped poison in my ear, before twisting my mind into madness. In truth, I had been teetering on the brink for a long time. Jenova's influence and what I read about the Jenova Project pushed me over the edge.

Nibelheim was razed to the ground. I slaughtered most of the inhabitants. The part of me you see before you was trapped, screaming against the rest of me to stop. But to no avail. The rest of me had become a willing instrument of Jenova…or perhaps I had inherited her will, to usurp, corrupt, and destroy. The part of me that wished to remain human wasn't strong enough to stop it.

But others were. While the townsfolk could not stop me, not even that spirited Lockhart girl who had been our guide up Mount Nibel, two others did. Zack Fair, your boyfriend, fought me, and fought me well. He could not prevail, but he wore me out enough for another, a Shinra trooper named Cloud Strife, a Nibelheim native, to attack me, enough to grievously injure that body and force me to retreat into the Lifestream.

When that happened, and the voices within the Lifestream began attacking me, that is when Jenova made her move. She took this part of me, and carved it away, like one would cut a tumour out of a cancer patient. I was left to drown in the Lifestream, metaphysically, anyway, until I felt a summoning. It was from there that I was bound to Delphi, and you know the rest…

Aerith didn't know what to say to that story. It felt like part of a jigsaw puzzle had fallen into place. She did have vague memories of Ifalna and Hojo arguing about Jenova, but nothing definite. And to think that Sephiroth had destroyed an entire town, even attacked her boyfriend…and there was nothing to indicate whether he was telling the truth, about being benign.

Eventually, she asked, "Given what you told me, how can I trust you?"

"Trust is earned, Aerith, as is redemption. I cannot seek forgiveness. Too much of my original self was too eager to unleash violence upon the world, to claim the Planet as his birthright, as my birthright," Sephiroth said solemnly. "I cannot blame the events at Nibelheim entirely on Jenova, on Genesis, or even any evil side. All I can do is demonstrate with my actions. I guard Delphi from whatever threatens her. Harry's protectiveness of her is admirable, and he is a far better father than her biological father, let alone my own. But he cannot protect her from everything. I can do what I can to help him. Thus, I have admitted my sins. I cannot seek forgiveness or expiation from others. All I can seek is to atone, to redeem myself by my works, my deeds and actions."

Aerith considered this. While there was always the possibility that he was deceiving them, the fact was that Sephiroth's destruction of Nibelheim was not publicly known. Aerith didn't know about it until Sephiroth himself admitted it. All she knew was what Shinra had put on their own newsfeed. And there was the fact that he admitted to attacking Zack, her boyfriend.

But Zack was not dead. Aerith was sure that she would have sensed it if he had returned to the Planet. And Aerith liked to think she was a good reader of people. Despite his stoicism, Sephiroth still looked like a man haunted by his past. She had seen many, especially in the form of army veterans who had fought against Wutai, or in the wars against the Republic of Junon and Kalm. The signs were subtle, but there.

Eventually, she said, "It's good that you do not seek forgiveness. If you're expecting me to say 'all is forgiven' like some ditzy airhead(1), then you don't know me. But…I will give you the benefit of the doubt, a chance to prove it, Sephiroth. At least you admitted it. Though…I don't think Zack is dead. I would have sensed him returning to the Planet, even here."

"…Then he may be suffering from a fate worse than death. Given that Jenova was involved, I would not be surprised if Hojo captured Zack and any other survivors to use as specimens."

Aerith frowned. "Maybe not all of them. You mentioned someone called Lockhart. Was her first name Tifa?"

Sephiroth nodded. "You know her?"

"Know of her," Aerith clarified. "She recently took over the Seventh Heaven bar in the Sector 7 Slums. She might have avoided getting captured by Shinra or Hojo. I haven't met her, though. I doubt she'd be happy to learn of your presence here, even if you really are Sephiroth's more humane side." She looked to Delphi on the lounge, snoring softly. "And Delphi's features resemble you somewhat."

"The hair is her own, but her eyes did change to reflect mine," Sephiroth said. "But I agree. Though perhaps you could pass her off as a bastard child of mine whom Harry adopted if need be. I doubt Miss Lockhart or Zack would be cruel or petty enough to let the sins of the father pass to the child, let alone betray you to Shinra. Their loyalty to Shinra died on that night, I am sure, or at least Miss Lockhart's did. Should chance or happenstance bring you to meet Miss Lockhart, then use that cover story until she is ready to learn the truth."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan, though where should I say I'm from?" Harry asked.

"Icicle Inn. I did happen to vacation there about the time Delphi would have been conceived, and it would be hard for Shinra to casually investigate the whos and whys. I doubt someone in the slums could discover otherwise. I would avoid using such a cover story with the Turks, though. They'd be duty-bound to report it to their superiors."

"And a child of Sephiroth's would be of interest to Hojo," Harry said grimly.

"And Heidegger. He is the executive in charge of Shinra's military," Sephiroth said, before looking to Delphi. "Though I do not view her as my child. Rather, a little sister, one who, like me, was born of evil, yet with great power and potential she could use for good. One who should never go down the path I walked on, one not unlike Harry's, where our lives were stage-managed by those in powers, held up to be heroes, but treated behind closed doors as lab-rats and servants. Still, I should go, while Delphi's magic reserves are still at a reasonable level. Goodbye, Aerith. May our relationship grow, like how the Planet grew under your ancestors' care…"

And then, he faded from view, leaving Aerith with some questions answered, and her emotions in turmoil…

Harry sighed as Sephiroth faded out of view. He didn't like having the man bound to Delphi either, especially once he learned what the man did. It took until relatively recently for Sephiroth to admit what he had done, and Harry, understandably, was far from happy.

Yet if what Sephiroth said about his early life was true, then there were disturbing parallels between his life and Harry's. No parental affection, with their respective guardians treating them as subhuman. Inhuman conditions for a child to grow up in. Their lives stage-managed, cultivated to be a hero in the eyes of the public. And the fangirls. Oh dear Merlin, the fangirls.

Sephiroth's fall from grace, however, was never made public, and he remained a hero to many. Harry, on the other hand, had his reputation go through more ups and downs than a bloody roller coaster, and it had all but reached the bottom when he adopted Delphi. Sephiroth had been a lab rat for almost his entire life (as had indeed most infamous members of SOLDIER, like Genesis or Angeal), but Harry, thankfully, never had that dubious distinction, though being the Dursleys' servant was bad enough. And Harry had never snapped and gone on the rampage, and his bodycount was in the low double digits at best. Sephiroth, even before Nibelheim, had personally killed hundreds, even if it was in war.

"So yeah, that just happened," Harry said, going over to Delphi and checking her to make sure she was all right. Thankfully, she was, sleeping peacefully.

"…I never knew that about Sephiroth," Aerith said quietly. "About Nibelheim, about Zack…and Jenova. Hojo kept us separate. Harry, do you trust him?"

"…I'll be honest, I trust him to keep Delphi safe if nothing else. Anything beyond that…well, would you want to argue with a ghost with a huge bloody sword who can manifest himself physically?"

Aerith chuckled nervously. "A good point." Her expression became solemn. "Still, to think that he and I had that much in common, that we were lab-rats from the day we were born, pretty much. I was only a few weeks old when Hojo murdered my father and abducted my mother and I. I suppose, even if he became a monster, and that most of him remains a monster, I can't help but feel somewhat sorry for him. Shinra wanted a weapon to do their dirty work."

"If they did all that, why are you on such friendly terms with the Turks?" Harry asked.

"They're technically my bodyguards and minders, Harry," Aerith said. "Rude isn't a bad person. Reno…he's got a bit of an attitude, and Tseng, while he's got moments of kindness, is also pragmatic to a fault. I know that if President Shinra ordered him to massacre everyone here in Sector 5, he'd do it. Reluctantly, yes, but he'd still do it. But it doesn't hurt to be on good terms with them, in case it works in my favour." She looked into the fireplace. "I have…for want of a better term, a certain small amount of prescience. It's not like I can truly see the future, it's more like I get feelings about how things may turn out. Occasionally, I get visions of possibilities, but they're not set in stone. I'm cooperating with the Turks for now because it doesn't affect the future adversely, at least as far as I can tell."

Harry's nose wrinkled in disgust. "Don't talk to me about prescience. I told you about the prophecy that had Voldemort gunning for me."

Aerith nodded. "I know, but…my prescience is not prophecy. It can be averted to some degree. Destiny, fate, it is not absolute. Free will is not an illusion. And I try not to rely on it, partly because it's so vague, and partly because, well, life can get pretty boring otherwise, right?"

Her cheerful smile helped dispel Harry's doubts about the matter. At least she acknowledged the shortcomings of her prescience. He chuckled at her words. "Fair enough. But Aerith…if they threaten you or Delphi, or any innocent people, the gloves are off. I've already fought one war. I don't want to fight another, but to protect others, I will. Sephiroth, the one bound to Delphi, has that much in common with me. Shinra's already on my shitlist, Aerith. But should they hurt anyone I care about, or go after innocents here, well, there's a quote from a show I enjoyed back home: Demons run when a good man goes to war."

And he meant every word. For now, he just wanted to have a quiet life with his daughter. But should anyone do any harm to Delphi, to the Gainsboroughs, to any innocent people here, he would ensure they would regret it…

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

So, the circumstances behind how Sephiroth was bound to Delphi has been revealed. Basically, I took a leaf out of my Fate/Grand Order crossover Primordial Song. This isn't quite a 'good' Sephiroth, but rather, a Sephiroth who wished to remain human and relatively moral. He's still a child soldier with a high bodycount. A nice inversion on what I usually do, which is to make Jenova good.

1. Aerith is snarking at her Abridged version's (almost) all-forgiving behaviour in Team Four Star's Final Fantasy VII Machinabridged.