Sors Immanis et Inanis
by Kinneas
Sephiroth stood in the basement of the giant Shinra Mansion, his green eyes riveted on the bookshelves in front of him. Silently he reached out and dusted off the title of a peculiar blue volume. He read the title, and a chill ran down his spine. With the book in hand he sat on the hard, granite floor. He brushed his silver, wispy bangs away from his eyes and opened the book to the first page. He read the single word on the page and a strange curiosity aroused him. "'Log of Projects JENOVA and REBIRTH' " he whispered almost soundlessly.
He suddenly felt a sharp pain at his side. Swearing, he reached over to feel the source: his Masamune sword. Sephiroth quickly unclipped it from his belt and shoved it aside; he would not need it now. Holding the book in a tight grasp, he silently turned the page. It was a handwritten log, as described on the cover and seemed completely illegible, worn through time. He flipped through the pages until he could read the writing:
04-24
Project JENOVA is proceeding according to schedule, the specimen is in the final stages of testing. The cells of the creature have been withdrawn for various uses to which I have not been entitled to the knowledge of.
Project REBIRTH is ahead of schedule. The Artificial Human has become aware of its surroundings, but has yet to be named.
Still he read on, his curiosity getting the better of him.
04-25
Project JENOVA has been temporarily suspended due to focus of attention needed for REBIRTH. The specimen was injected with a substance that, from what I perceived, made him stronger than originally intended. The specimen (Android A) will be kept under close watch, and will proceed to be tested and trained as it develops. The creature has been named Sephiroth.
Sephiroth scanned the last entry over and over, making sure he had read everything correctly. His usually aloof, uncaring expression instantly transformed into a look of confusion.
He read the entry once more.
The book slammed shut; the sound rang through the corridor and dust flew into the air. Sephiroth sat in the dust, grasping his temples and breathing heavily. He was irritated and puzzled.
He closed his eyes, trying to reflect.
What did all of this mean?
Sephiroth..?
Jenova..?
Why were these names in this book..?
.....Why do they sound so familiar...?
Millions of questions raced through the man's head, but a solitary thought spoke clearly.
I must find more.
Sephiroth opened his eyes and grabbed the log. He quickly opened it and searched... he searched for the answers. He had no memory of his past, not even the slightest glimmer. His obsession to know...
to remember...
who he really was had grown until it was uncontrollable.
Sephiroth at last found the page and continued to read. His curious green eyes were locked onto the yellowed pages of the journal, as he read about the testing and training of this creature it referred to by his own name.
Everything rushed back to him as if it had only happened minutes ago. The memories, the inexplicable feelings returned to him in a rush of thought and sound. He could no longer convince himself that it was mere coincidence. But questions kept haunting his mind.
Was he created?
Was everything he had worked and strived for all of his life, was all of it done by a human created being?
Was he truly a specimen of science?
He tried with everything he had to recall thoughts, or even a mere glimpse of a mother, but nothing surfaced. He had no vague notion of any such loving guardian. All he had ever felt was cold. No love had ever entered his heart. Sephiroth had no friends, no family, and no place to go. He was truly alone...
Always cold.
Sephiroth looked at his left arm. Was he merely gears and wires? He had always felt so alive, so why did the log say that he was an android?
He took a dagger out from the folds of his cloak, and drew it across the crook of his arm. Crimson blood seeped slowly out of his skin. He felt a twinge of pain, but paid it no heed.
Tens of thousands of questions and thoughts came streaming towards him, but no answers came with the river of thought.
He sat in the dark with his hands on his head again. He ran his fingers through his long silvery hair and continued to think. The book rested on his knees as he breathed deeply, trying to recall a past that never was. The memories of his childhood began to seep back into his head. The memories of training, testing, and.. pain. Everything he could remember was pain. Sephiroth closed his eyes once again.
Nothing. Nothing for him. All he had ever done was fight. These despicable humans had created him... Humans that had never felt the pain he had endured... He would make them pay.. He would make them wish they were never born...
This world is mine.
Sephiroth stood in the Shinra Mansion, still in the basement. He had searched the entire library and found countless books about on the Cetra, the lost race, and on himself: The Ultimate Creation.
Sephiroth stood silently, his hair blowing slightly from a draft in the dark corridor. His blade lay in the same spot that it had been thrown two days ago.
Hell.
This world was hell.
Sephiroth stood in silence as his rage began to boil once more. These humans had lied to him. All of his life had been nothing but lies. The humans wished to control him, but they did not. They WOULD not.
He had always thought that he was one of them. Always tried to fit in. But he was not human. Sephiroth was so much more...
They will pay...The same notion had been drilled into his mind for the past few days. These humans that had seemingly created him would pay dearly for everything they had done. Sephiroth felt a thirst for blood that could never be quenched until every one of them had suffered as much, no, MORE than he had. He would torture them slowly and eradicate anyone that stood his way.
Death.
And what of his mother? Jenova... He would find the Promised Land for her. She had suffered as he had.
Sephiroth walked to where his Masamune lay on the ground. He picked it up and stuffed it into its black scabbard hastily. He was driven to the brink of insanity. These humans were going to suffer tonight...
He walked to a chair stood by it, hair blowing in the breeze, for a fleeting second. In an instant Sephiroth had grabbed one of the chair's legs, ripped it off, and hurled the chair back onto the floor.
He quickly walked down the corridor to the staircase, clutching the wooden leg tightly. He made his way up the staircase and through the winding mansion. He walked out of the doors proudly and held the wooden stick high in the air.
No regrets.
In a rush of light, the wood went ablaze in his hand, casting an eerie glow over Sephiroth's skin. In a laugh that would send a chill down spines, he blasted through the mansion gates with a wave of his hand.
The gates flew open and blew into a nearby house, tearing down an entire wall. The lights inside instantly turned on, followed by shouts of surprise. Sephiroth looked at the wall with an expression of almost boredom. He lifted his torch and guided himself through Nivelheim, until he was in the town square. He grasped the torch with both hands, guiding it on a slow, steady path towards a pile of wood in the center of town.
Images of his childhood came soaring back to him. The training for what he had become... everything was rushing back to him in a whirl of speed and light. He recalled everything of his youth. The endless hours experimenting and torturing... Suddenly his hands were no longer under his control.
Wood, such a flimsy, pliable thing.... It was not enough...!
He dropped the flaming torch onto the ground and formed a fireball in his hand. He held it there for a second, glancing around the town, then let it loose and a red brick cottage, setting it instantly ablaze.
He continued on, pausing only to brush the hair away from his face. The town had filled with screams of women and children, rushing to get away while fathers tried in vain to put out the burning flames. "These children," he said. "They think they have suffered so much pain.. They have never felt what I feel.. These insolent children take their mothers and fathers, struggling to protect their weak souls, for granted. For that they shall pay."
Sephiroth clenched his fists as he glared at the screaming villagers. He pushed off of the ground and flew up above the entire town, until he could see every part of it perfectly. Forming another fireball in his hand, he eyed a woman all alone on the ground, struggling to get away from the growing fire. It was the blonde soldier's mother.. Raising the fireball high above his head, he looked down at the defenseless town.
Poised like an angel of death.
He hurled the blazing fire down.
An explosion followed as it hit. More screams... Sephiroth landed on the ground softly, his silvery hair whipping in harsh wind. He looked at the ground, eyeing the unconscious woman before him as the flames curled closer and closer to the hem of her dress.
Sephiroth looked up and turned silently, walking away from the dancing flames into the mercilessly heated night.
Notes: Old, recently edited, sorry you had to read this.