Eternal Fall

Final Fantasy and its characters are the property of Square Enix.
Warning: Violence, sexual situations, rape.

Eternal Fall: part VI: Tenderness

My, you look very handsome today.

"I had etiquette training. They made me put this suit on. They say I have to be polite and dignified at every single second. Never showing weakness."

I like you better in your military uniform.

"You like it when I have to do violent things.... I think you're really a ghost who is haunting me."

You were watching the pretty lady who was dancing. You were thinking naughty things.

"I was not!"

You're seven now, but you already know about human reproduction. It's in those books of yours. You probably find it fascinating like most humans. And I know you've heard the other boys talking during training. You've seen their dirty pictures too.

"I think they're gross!"

Do you? Are you sure you wouldn't like to try?

"Yes, I'm sure. Now leave me alone for the rest of the day!"



A knock brought little Sephy back to reality.

"Sephiroth?" Garamonde sensei called.

Sephy opened the barrack door and stood at attention. "Yes sensei!"

"Good, I see you haven't changed for practice yet. I want you to take the day off from sword training. We have some new recruits joining today. You're too good to be in the class as it is, and you will probably find it even less challenging than normal with so many new people. Besides, seeing a seven year old with such skill will probably frighten them into thinking I require too much."

"I understand, sensei," Sephy said. But to be honest, he had no idea what to do with himself now. Just last week his firearm instructor told him that he only had to come in once or twice a week, since he managed to hit the target perfectly most of the time. When he didn't shoot it perfectly, it was usually close enough to do massive amounts of damage anyway. And he was already a blackbelt in martial arts.

"So what are you going to do today?" Garamonde asked.

"I will go ask to be added to another martial arts class," Sephy nodded.

"But you're already a blackbelt."

"Only in two forms of martial arts."

Garamonde sighed softly. "Sephiroth, I want you to take the day off. Have you looked in the mirror lately? You are only seven. Take the day off and relax."

Sephiroth nodded and looked back at his mountain of books.

"I know you like reading, but perhaps you should do something else. Try listening to music or making something."

"A bomb?"

"N... no. Something like art or music or poetry."

Sephiroth blinked and then turned to look back at his sterile, empty little barrack. He thought for a moment then turned back to Garamonde sensei. I will... paint.

"Good. Remember, it is not required that you do this for me. I simply want you to relax. If that means sleeping or meditating, then so be it. But when you get time off, do not go to class or work. And since you do not require practice, do not practice. Simply relax." Garamonde's eyes drifted to the corner of the room. "Is that a bomb?"

"It is unarmed, sensei."

Garamonde only nodded, quickly glancing around the rest of the room to make sure there was nothing else potentially life threatening.

"Oh yes!" Garamonde said. "I have something that belongs to you." He handed Sephiroth the materia Dr. Gast had given him. "I took it after the fire incident, so they would not think to take it away. I know I've had it for over a year, but I wanted to make sure they would not think to link it with the fire or with you."

Sephiroth took it, his eyes lighting up. He had no idea what happened to it, and he assumed it was lost in the fire. He heard people saying that he exited the burning building with the materia, but he had no memory of it. He only had what the nameless voice... the so-called guardian angel showed him from her memories... or his. He rolled the red sphere around in his hands, thanking Garamonde softly. Garamonde smiled, and left little Sephy to ponder his treasure.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Dr. Hojo?" Sephy asked softly as he sat on the operating table. "What was my mother like?"

Hojo's actions seemed to slow, and he stared at the floor. "Did someone say something to you?" he asked lowly.

"Yes. The man with the red eyes. The one from the basement."

Hojo whipped around and glared at the boy, who only stared back at him defiantly.

"Who is he?" Sephy said, in a tone as demanding as his little voice would allow.

"He is no one. And no one knows anything of your mother."

"I will find him and ask him myself!"

Hojo walked up until he was face to face with Sephy. "Jenova," he hissed. "Your mother's name was Jenova. She died giving birth to you. It is your fault she is dead. There is nothing more to say about her. Nothing more is known."

"And the man with the red eyes?" Sephy asked, softening somewhat.

"He volunteered to be an experiment. Pay no attention to anything he has ever said or done. If word gets out about him, the ShinRa will kill him... and you... and everyone associated with you. Now get out of my sight. We are done for the day."

Sephy slid off of the operating table and walked to he door. He stopped and stood there for a moment, slowly turning around.

"What is it now?" Hojo asked, not having to turn around to know that Sephy was still in the room.

"Even if he did ask to be an experiment, I doubt he asked for you to be his boogie man," Sephy said bitterly before leaving.

Hojo growled lowly in anger, but continued to gather his paperwork together. The boy remembered everything, and he knew too much. But there was nothing Hojo could do now. Sephiroth was showing improvement as a soldier, and ShinRa's biological weapon was coming along nicely as well. With both projects so far along, he had to be careful... especially since both projects knew about each other.

Hojo took the elevator to one of the lowest basement levels and approached the darkest, largest cell.

"You've come for me again..." came the hoarse whisper from the darkness.

"What did you tell Sephiroth about his mother?" Hojo demanded.

"I only told him the truth. That she was an experiment... just like him. Just like me...."

"You could have run away, yet you chose to seek him out?" Hojo said with a dark grin.

"He... is a part of her.... All that is left... of Lucrecia.... But even her name is gone.... He does not know her name...."

"And he never shall," Hojo said flatly. "I told him his mother's name was Jenova. Which is not truly a lie."

"It is a lie!" the man roared as he slowly approached the bars like a shadow. He suddenly felt the tranquilizer dark hit his arm, but he only laughed lowly. "You want me again...? You turned me into a monster... yet you still use my body... again and again."

Hojo tossed the dart gun to the side and typed something into a keypad on the wall. A scanner scanned his fingerprints and his right eye, and soon the cell door was open. He stepped inside and stood in front of the nude man, who was slowly slumping to the ground.

"For some reason," Hojo said, stripping himself of his labcoat and the rest of his clothing. "For some reason, I enjoy watching you suffer. Why is it that of all the human beings on this planet, I hate you more than anyone? Even hearing your name makes me want to see you bleed more."

"And who still knows of my name?" the man laughed bitterly.

"The Turks still speak of you," Hojo said, as he knelt down and forced the man onto his stomach. "They still speak of Vincent Valentine and his disappearance, especially after that stunt you pulled when you killed Ethan Kinneas. Some of them still talk about the red eyes of Vincent Valentine, and they wonder why the man found with young Sephiroth in that alley looked so much like the missing Vincent Valentine."

"Because I am that man still," Vincent whispered as Hojo's weight fell on top of him. "You cannot take my name or my soul from me. Even when I transform into that beast, Vincent Valentine still lives in me."
"No, Vincent," Hojo muttered in the tortured man's ear. "Soon there will be nothing left of you at all. You will enter the battlefield as the pathetic man that you are, and you will transform into that beast and kill. Women and children, all dead at your feet. But what does it matter to a man who was once ShinRa's top assassin?"

Vincent remained on the cold floor, Hojo's weight crushing him to the ground. He closed his eyes, his head turned to the side. But his body betrayed him, and tears slowly escaped his eyes. And to heighten the emotional pain and the endless guilt, Hojo entered his body roughly, tearing into him. Vincent clenched his teeth and let out a slow groan of pain. But once again, his body betrayed him.... He felt himself arch back against his tormentor, welcoming the abuse. He didn't fight as he used to when Hojo used his body. The act made him feel disgusting, it hurt his now frail body, and it increased his hatred. But at the same time, his body desperately wanted to feel the touch of another human being. Even when Hojo raped him, part of him welcomed it after feeling the pain of metal, electricity, drugs, needles, and whatever else was used to experiment on him. And the worst pain came from his transformations, which made him scream in agony. Yes, he hated it when Hojo sank into him, and he hated Hojo's wandering mouth and hands... but it was the closest thing to warmth in his life now.

Hojo smiled to himself, feeling Vincent's surrender. Even looking at the raven-haired man made him feel triumphant. Vincent was once strong, with a toned body and an icy exterior. But now, he was skin and bones, and his dark hair had grown so long that it could easy cover his shamed red eyes. Every time Hojo thrust into him, he grunted and groaned, but his body kept asking for more abuse. Vincent's cries of pain were betrayed by the arch of his form.

"Why," Hojo whispered in his ear. "Why haven't you killed yourself?"

Vincent rested for a moment as Hojo slowed his assault to wait for an answer. He gasped for air before responding.

"Because..." he said very softly. "Because I would go to hell for all my sins...."

Suddenly Hojo thrust into him deeply. "There is no hell," he growled. He pounded into Vincent, crushing him to the floor. "This is your hell, Valentine!" His abuse was merciless, and he pounded so hard and fast that Vincent could hardly breathe. "You want to believe in an afterlife so that you can tell yourself that your dear Lucrecia found peace?" Hojo laughed. "The truth of that matter is that she saw hell before she died, and that was the end of her!"

Vincent couldn't find the words to defend Lucrecia, or himself. He whimpered softly as Hojo came hard inside of him. And when Hojo pulled out, he remained there on the floor, sorting out his burning thoughts. He heard Hojo clothe himself and walk away in a fit of laughter.

"This cannot be it..." Vincent said to himself as he sat up slowly. "There cannot be this much pain only for there to be nothing later. It could never be this final...."

He sadly rubbed his aching body, and much to his horror, he realized that his body had provided him the ultimate betrayal. He felt his own semen against his skin and realized that in some twisted way, he had enjoyed what Hojo had done to him.

If he had the means, he would have killed himself then. The promise of nothingness was beginning to sound merciful after all.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sephy sat there, rolling his red materia from one hand to the other. He sat there in meditation, his mind wandering to the fire that rested in his body. It was then that he felt the materia grow warmer. He opened his eyes and stared at it, seeing what looked like a small flicker of fire inside. He grasped it gently and took a closer look. Something grew warm inside of his chest, and he felt as though he could feel something reaching out to him. Once again, he closed his eyes and focused on the shining materia. He let his thoughts penetrate it, and he felt as though he could move his energy into it. It was as though the materia could become a part of him. He searched within himself... and he searched within the materia, and finally he found something. He found fire burning brightly. It was as though he could see it in his thoughts and feel it in his heart. It was warm and inviting, and it was as though he could actually know what it meant to be fire. It was as though he could extend part of himself to become fire.

Sephy sat there for hours, holding the materia to his heart. Once he had fully explored the essence of fire, he rested, only to find that the materia held secrets of ice and lightning as well. He searched all of these elements with his heart and soul until he fell asleep, completely exhausted.



The next day, due to his outstanding and advanced performance, Sephy was issued materia for battle. But once again they would find that they'd have to give Sephy something else to work on. As soon as they handed him his first lightning materia and placed him on the practice field, he hit every target. Hojo hid his surprise as he watched, as did most of the other officers. They moved him around the field, and even provided him targets that were hard to see or much too far away. He destroyed all of them. And all the while, Sephy thought his progress was normal. He thought it was the red materia Gast had given him that helped him so much. He had no idea how much power it took to search the secrets of the materia in the first place. He had no idea that other soldiers took years to make this much progress. And for the sake of keeping their control over him, no one said a word about it.

Sephy took a walk around the barracks that night, and his mind wandered to Dr. Gast. He wanted to tell Gast about his progress, and about the fact that he might be doing pretty well. He was beginning to truly miss the kind man, and he realized that it had been around two years since he saw him last. He looked up at the starless sky and tried to keep himself from wondering if anything bad had happened. But then, he grew even more upset.

What's wrong?

"He stopped coming to see me...."

But you hardly knew him. Forget him.

"I can't.... He treated me differently. He made me happy."

But he stopped coming. He doesn't care about you. He was only checking up on an old experiment. Didn't you know? He helped Dr. Hojo create you. He helped find Jenova.

"My mother?"

Yes.... Of course. Your mother.

"No... but... he was so nice to me. He liked me!"

Another experiment. He was probably testing you to see how you reacted.

"No!"

Only I care about you.

"No! Why?! Why must they all hate me?!"

Sephiroth tried to block the mysterious woman's voice from his mind. His chest felt tight and his head hurt as the tension built inside of him. But it couldn't be true! Dr. Gast would have to come back to see him... wouldn't he?!

The little boy ran to the lab to demand Hojo to tell him something. He had to know who he was, and why he was there. He wanted to know about his past... his parents... Dr. Gast... anything at all! But the lab was dark, and he couldn't see anyone. He ran to the elevator and checked another floor, but still nothing. He pounded his little fist against the elevator wall, leaving a large dent. His green eyes started to glow as his emotions took hold, and it took him a moment to compose himself and to notice that the elevator access card was left inside of the slot. Wanting answers to his questions, he wasted no time in hitting the button to get him to the basement level.

Once he reached the basement, he ran through the doors looking for Hojo with complete determination. But he found that Hojo wasn't there, and in a secluded area he angrily knocked some of the paperwork from the table. He then kicked the side of the table, breaking the leg of it instantly. It came crashing to the floor.

"So much noise..." came a low voice. "Must you make my headache worse, young one?"

Sephy looked over towards the dark, secluded cell. He recognized the voice inside. It was that same deep voice, with the words that flowed like poetry even though the man had no accent. It was the man with the red eyes.

"What is your name?" Sephy asked as he approached the bars of the cell. "You saved me before...."

The top of the man's head rested by the bars, and the rest of his body stretched out into the darkness of the cell. He was lying on his side on the cold floor. Some of his long raven hair passed through the bars to Sephy's side of the cell.

"Vincent..." the man said, as if he didn't care what was said or what happened if he said it. "Now, if you please, leave me. Talking only increases my pain, as it seems to take energy to even speak for long."

"I'll be quiet," Sephy whispered softly. "Can I stay?"

Vincent shifted uncomfortably on the hard floor. "You may. But forgive me if I do not remain conscious for long...."

Sephy wanted to ask if Vincent knew anything, but he could tell that Vincent was in no mood to talk. He also wanted to get Vincent away from here, but he knew there was nothing he could do. No one would listen to him, no one would care. He only watched as Vincent tried to rest there in the cold, with nothing covering his body. Without much thought, he passed his hand through the bars and touched Vincent's hair. He ran his little fingers through it gently, as Gast had done to him once. At first he remained alert, wondering if Vincent might try to rip his hand off. But Vincent remained still. Sephy thought he had fallen asleep until the man let out a long sigh.

"Am I bothering you?" Sephy whispered.

To his surprise, Vincent sat up and faced him. Vincent's red eyes held a softer expression than the one Sephy had seen long ago, and the man rested his forehead against the bars of his cell.

"Thank you," Vincent whispered, his eyes closed. "You have a good heart, Sephiroth. Do not let anyone make it as cold and hard as my own."

Sephy moved closer to the bars and stretched his thin arms through the bars, gently wrapping them around Vincent's shoulders and hugging him the best he could. After a moment of silence, Vincent did the same. They remained like that for a long time, giving each other the kindness and warmth that they had been denied. That is why Sephiroth wasn't afraid. He knew Vincent needed that warmth, just as he did. Finally Vincent pulled away gently.

"I must rest," he said, his voice failing to hide his pain.

"I will come see you again," Sephy whispered.

"No, Sephiroth. I am afraid that our paths will not cross again."

"...Why?"

"Because... Hojo has other plans for me. Tomorrow he will move me to some other place and take the last of me that is human.”

Sephy winced when Vincent cringed in pain.

"Go now..." Vincent whispered. "Be... good...."

Sephy slowly stood and backed away. "I will see you again," he whispered before leaving. Vincent's hug still lingered on his body throughout the night.

~~~~~~~~~~

The boy is making progress, is he?” President ShinRa asked.

“More than we could have ever hoped for. The Jenova cells combined with the Mako radiation treatments have helped him to excel in anything he takes up. I suggest that we continue to use Jenova’s cells in the military.”

“Thank you for your input, Dr. Hojo,” the president grinned. “The SOLDIER branch of the military will continue to grow, and I authorize the continued use of the men in SOLDIER for your experiments.”

“I also ask that Jenova herself be moved to the reactor at Nibelheim,” Hojo said. “It is a quiet, out of the way place. No one suspects that anything happens there, even though your mansion is there.”

“That sounds acceptable. Oh, and what of our biological weapon?”

“Vincent is still very unstable. I think the Jenova project will yield better results.”

“I see. And we are running low on funds. Well then, see that Mr. Valentine is properly disposed of.”

“I understand,” Hojo grinned darkly.


~*~*~*To Be Continued*~*~*~