A/N:
^_^ Thank you for reviewing! I never thought I’d get that many so quickly!
Disclaimer: Don’t own ff7, or Sephiroth, Nibelheim and others. Does Square even care about our disclaimers?
~Lady Sanzennine~
Heaven, 9th plane, Private Quarters:
Marianna ran into her suite quickly, kicking the door shut behind her. Her heart pounded within the confines of her chest loudly. Before throwing herself into her desk chair at the side of the room, she paused to jump in the air.
“I can’t believe this! Oh Heavens!” she yelled to the empty room. “This is it!”
Plopping ungracefully down in the chair, she closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath – not that it was really effective.
“Alright, let’s see who this mystery man is,” she said to herself quietly. The adrenaline rush was beginning to fade, but still, she had never felt so alive! Whoever this guy was, whatever he had done in his life, she would handle it. Nothing could stand in her way now.
She placed the fist sized black box on the table before her and opened the folder in her hands. Pulling the loose sheets and booklets out, she began to read.
Sephiroth
– no given surname.
“Sephiroth,” she read aloud. What an intriguing name.
Son
of Hojo and Lucrezia. Mother
died giving birth. Raised in the Shinra building by
Hojo and his employees…
Marianna’s eyes went wide as she skimmed over the numerous sheets detailing the early life of the man. She couldn’t believe it. After countless years of service under Redemption, she was still far too innocent. She hadn’t anticipated this.
The cruelty. The absolute heartlessness of the way the boy had been raised. And all to satisfy the scientific “curiosity” of a man who deserved nothing more than to be called a monster. Without a doubt, Hojo was somewhere within the labyrinth that was Hell this very moment.
She read about the experiments Hojo conducted on his son. His own flesh and blood! Even worse, she read about the abuse that Sephiroth had endured. Her teeth clamped down upon her lower lip as she learned of the innumerable beatings they boy had suffered. He had been treated as a specimen during the most crucial years of his life!
“Well no wonder he didn’t turn out too well,” Marianna commented under her breath, fighting to keep the building nausea back. “If this was how the man was raised, he definitely deserves a second chance.”
She swallowed hard, and decided that she would move on to the next section of Sephiroth’s life. She couldn’t handle any more stories of cruelty.
Began training for SOLDIER at age 6…Accelerated through ranks quickly…Became youngest General in history…
“Pretty impressive. Must’ve been the mako and Jenova cells.” Marianna really began to admire the man, regardless of the fact that he must have committed many horrible crimes. He was obviously highly talented, capable and persevering.
She sped through the rest of the section, finding more information on his successes, his awards and dazzling achievements.
Then the real story began.
Nibelheim.
She gasped quietly and raised trembling fingers to her lips. Her forehead wrinkled in disbelief. The pages that followed detailed the story of Jenova, the story of the battle with AVALANCHE, but even worse, they listed the names of every last person he had killed.
Pages and pages of names. Men, women, children…infants…
“Oh heaven,” Marianna choked out. She slumped into her chair and closed her eyes. “What have I gotten myself into?”
This was no petty criminal. This was a man that had burned an entire village to the ground. This was a man who had laughed carelessly as innocents died upon his blade.
She stood up abruptly, throwing the pages blindly on top of her table. She ran to her bed that stood a few feet away and lay down upon it looking at the ceiling but seeing nothing. This was so very, very bad. Now she understood why Goddess Ilcaliaz had been reluctant to even try to save him.
And she, Marianna, had absolutely no idea what she was doing! She was an amateur! She was an observer tracking the movements of the demon world and reporting them to her superiors. Where had the idea come from that she could be a successful agent?
“Ugh,” she groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow. “Now what?”
She couldn’t do this. She’d probably die of terror just seeing the guy. How could she keep in mind that he could be saved when all she would see was the man murdering another innocent? She would probably look at him and see only the face of a killer.
Pulling herself into a sitting position, she ran her fingers through her thick black hair and made one last desperate attempt to be rational.
“Okay,” she said to herself, “That other Goddess believed he was redeemable. She also said that all he needs is a chance and a bit of guidance. I can do that.”
Yeah right, she
silently argued with herself, Who are you to give
guidance? We’re talking about a mass murderer here! Someone
who is not completely stable. You can’t do this.
But I have to! She
insisted. Ilcaliaz gave me this job. I
can’t let her down.
But what if he
goes nuts again during the mission? What if he kills more people?
Duh! You work for
Heaven you idiot! Her mental voice answered herself. They’ve gotta have something that prevents that.
What if he kills
you? Oh wait, you can’t die… never mind.
So it’s agreed?
What’s agreed? About Sephiroth? It’s not like I have a choice.
Then get off your
ass and...you’ve finished reading that folder. I know
there was something you still had to do…
Check out the
hologram projector Ilcaliaz gave me?
Yeah that. Got to go face the music.
What do you think
he looks like?
Probably
scary. Evil people always
start to look evil after time.
Great. I swear this is going to be the death of
me.
You can’t die,
remember?
I know that!
Marianna stood, ending the conversation in her head. She should probably stop doing that. People would think she was crazy.
“Alright. Hologram. Yes, I can do this. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she tried to convince herself. Deluding herself had always been a strong ability of hers. It would work this time too.
She walked back to the desk, all the while telling herself that everything would work out perfectly.
It’s not his
fault. It’s not his fault. Raised unloved,
experimented on, used by Jenova…
She reached the desk and picked up the small black box. She placed it on the floor.
Push the button, she ordered herself.
“I need some water.” She said suddenly, springing to action.
She ran to the bathroom and poured herself a cup of water, then forced her legs to move her back to the box. She stared at it.
“Oh for Heaven’s sake just do it!”
She pushed the almost invisible button on the side of
the box and stepped back. As the projector came to life with a faint humming
sound, she gulped down the water in an attempt to calm her nerves. She really
didn’t want to see what this killer – uh, man…looked like.
A crystal clear, very real looking, life sized image appeared above the projector.
Marianna’s eyes went wide and the water she had been drinking shot out of her mouth. Her jaw dropped in a combination of disbelief and wonder.
Ugly? Evil looking? Frightening? Far from it! The man as absolutely beautiful!
Granted, he was rather intimidating, but that didn’t detract from his appeal at all. The image stood at a full head taller than her. The outfit that he sported showed off his well toned physique to perfection and his flowing, incredibly long silver hair framed his face. A strong, determined jaw, straight nose, and large mako green eyes composed his face. And Heaven, those eyes! They glowed with an ethereal intensity and seemed to penetrate her soul.
It would have been better is he had been ugly.
At least then she would have been able to do her job. Now that she knew what the man looked like, the task ahead of her seemed even more impossible.
He looks like an
angel, she thought to herself, and
yet I know that he has committed the crimes of a monster.
She sat down on the edge of her bed as she continued to stare at the image. It looked like the man was actually before her, frozen in time. So very, very close.
Well didn’t this just top the list of difficulties! How in the name of Heaven was she supposed to think when she was around him? It would probably take all of her energy to keep from staring and feeling self conscious. Not good. So very, very not good.
Marianna heaved a tired sigh. It was late and everything would begin tomorrow. She’d just have to find a way to deal with all the crazy things that she had discovered today. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. She needed to rest right now. Tomorrow would be a new day.
Taking one last look at the gorgeous image in front of her, she turned off the projector and crawled into bed.
It was countless hours later that she finally fell asleep.
A/N: So how’d you like this chapter? I hope you enjoyed this latest installment!
Coming up: Sephiroth and Marianna meet!
~Lady Sanzennine~