Eternal Fall

Final Fantasy and it’s characters are owned by Square Enix.
WARNING: VIOLENCE, SEXUAL SITUATIONS, RAPE, CHILD ABUSE, DISTURBING IMAGERY

Eternal Fall: part VII: Innocence

For a week, none of his teachers or instructors came to get him when he didn't show up for class or training. They left him alone after being informed of the experiment Hojo put him through for a month straight. Apparently his attention started slipping in class for that month, but no one knew what was going on until recently. They found out that on the last day of the mysterious experiment, Sephiroth seemed to shut down completely, not speaking or moving.

After leaving him alone for a week, instructor Garamonde went to the hospital at ShinRa headquarters to check on him. He found the young boy staring lifelessly at the ceiling, and even the glow in his green eyes seemed dead. But in the physical sense, he was conscious and perhaps even alert in some way. Occasionally he would whisper some inaudible word. It sounded strangely like the word “transcend.” Soon Garamonde was asked to leave, because he wasn't wearing proper fire protection. The nurses were afraid that Sephiroth might somehow trigger his fire ability if they weren't careful. But there seemed little hope that the boy would do much at all.


Sephy was awake, and somehow he knew that. But he didn't care. He didn't want to get up or move ever again. His whole vision of what life could be... his whole vision of what he could be... everything was gone now. His head was so filled with his own silent screams and a storm of torment, and it was so bad that he couldn't even hear the voice of his self-proclaimed guardian angel.

It all started a month ago, when Hojo told Sephy to meet him at the lab for a normal check-up. Sephy ran the few miles from the boys' military base to ShinRa headquarters, which is what he did the last night he saw Vincent. He was able to let himself into the lab because most people knew who he was, and they knew he was completely obedient. He had his own little card key so he wouldn't have to disturb anyone, but of course it didn't go to the basement levels or the levels at the very top where President ShinRa usually roamed.

Hojo took little Sephy to one of the deepest basement levels and told him to sit in the chair in the middle of the room. Sephy obeyed, but felt a chill crawl over him when Hojo strapped his wrists and ankles to the metal chair. And then, for extra insurance, Sephy's wrists and ankles were even handcuffed. The little boy sighed in frustration, but thought it was nothing out of the ordinary. He was usually tied down because they feared what he would do during some of the experiments. He didn't understand why though, because he hardly thought of himself as a dangerous person. But there was something new to this experiment. Sephy suddenly bucked in his chair when a white hot pain tore through him. It stopped almost as quick as it came. He turned to see that Hojo was watching him from a large glass window in a connected room. Hojo was sitting in front of some computer panel, and he smirked at Sephy as he began to speak through a microphone.

"That, my boy, was a taste of electricity. It takes a massive amount to phase you, but I know it can still hurt you. You haven't quite mastered that element as well as the others. The reason you are hooked up like this is simple. I will show you a series of movies and video clips, and if you close your eyes to block out the images, I will shock you. So it would be most beneficial for you to keep your eyes open. You will do this for another month or so."

Sephy just nodded, thinking the rules were simple enough. He stared at the large screen in front of him.

The first few clips were of various animals being slaughtered for food. Sephy winced a few times, but for the most part, he found it interesting. He had wondered what it took to get the food from the range to his plate. He watched intently for the next hour. He did feel bad for the animals that were bled while they were alive and the animals that were bashed over the head or skinned, but he made sure not to show Hojo that he had any feelings towards what he was watching. He still had nightmares about General Kinneas coming back to life and trying to kill him for showing the slightest emotion.

The next round of clips were of surgeries. Sephy shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and there were a couple times when he got shocked from trying to shut out the images. It wasn't that the blood bothered him. He had just never seen so much of it, and he hadn't seen bodies cut open like that. But he did have many anatomy books, so it wasn't a complete shock. But the still images in books just aren't as graphic.

Sephy sighed and wondered what value these tests could possibly have. He could only guess that the ShinRa and Hojo wanted to see if he was easily disgusted. But his mind changed when he saw two little girls playing together on the screen. He stared in wonder at their sheer delight. They played and laughed as their father video taped them. They twirled around in circles and chased the family dog around. They never stopped laughing. They played together and sang together. They weren't expected to do anything else but have fun. That was it. Nothing was expect of them at all. Happiness was all they knew. Sephy felt something well up inside of him... some lost emotions that he quickly shoved back into the depths of his heart and mind. It was then that the person videotaping shut the camera off.

A deep breath passed through Sephy's lips, and for a moment he forgot where he was. He felt as though he were there with them, and it was almost exhausting to watch the little girls play. He sat back in his chair and sighed deeply again, almost feeling a sense of satisfaction after watching them.

"That will be all for today," Hojo said, as he walked into the room and released Sephy from his bonds.

Sephy nodded and left quickly without saying a word to Hojo. His mind was filled with the images of those little girls. He ran all the way back to his barrack, thinking of them and the way they twirled and played. He would have done some twirling himself if he wasn't always paranoid that his superiors were watching him.

He changed in his barrack, went off to eat in the cafeteria (alone,) and then returned to his barrack to think about the images he saw. He had easily handled the bloody animal slaughters and surgeries, but it was the images of innocence that stuck with him through the night. The emotions he felt for a brief moment in the lab started to rise in him again, but he shoved them back once more. But that took more and more effort as the night continued.

~~~~~~~~~~

Why do you think of those girls so often?

"I... don't know."

There must be a reason.

"There is something.... Well.... It's just that...."

You want to play too?

"Of course not. I'm a soldier. I don't have time for childish games."

My, my. How well repeated. Didn't General Kinneas often tell you that?

"Yes... he did. But it's true. I don't have time for... for... such things as that."

Innocence?

"Innocence.... If that is what I see when I look at them, then no. I have no time for it."



Two days later after his first viewing, Sephy walked in for another round in front of the screen.

This time the images caught him off guard. They were short scenes of death that chilled him to the bone. People getting hit by trains, people shot, people having heart attacks. All of these images were quick, but disturbing.

Next came an even bigger horror. He watched as a man pleaded for his life before being shot in the head at point blank range. Sephy's eyes shifted to Hojo, who was watching from the room next door. Hojo pointed to the screen and Sephy's gaze returned. He watched as blood literally shot out from the man's head as his body twitched on the ground. The man who shot him only laughed and kicked the dying body a few times. It was a long time before the body stopped moving. Sephy watched with disgust as the man with the gun acted as though he did nothing wrong. The man even urinated over the dead body. Sephy sat there, his lips parted as if he could yell at the man on the screen and make him stop. But who knew how long ago this happened?

The next clip was no better. Sephy's green eyes widened as he watched a group of three men attack a young woman. They stripped her of her clothing and beat her mercilessly. And then.... Sephy shut his eyes, but the shock came quickly and suddenly. His eyes snapped open just as the first man pinned the woman to the ground and shoved his cock into her unwilling body. Sephy had never seen the act of love-making, but he knew that the act of making a child should look nothing like this. The woman thrashed against her attacker as he laughed and continued to use her. His body moved fast on top of her, and she was straining to breathe. Her screams hurt Sephy's ears, but he couldn't cover them with his bonds in place. Whoever was controlling the camera made sure to a g a good shot of her stretched, bleeding hole after the first man pulled out. The second man wasted no time in entering her, and Sephy watched them all use her, again and again, raping her mouth, her butt, her vagina... over and over... sometimes more than one at a time. When it was done, one of them pulled a knife from his clothing, and Sephy almost cried out when she was stabbed through the throat. The video clip stopped there.

"I'm think I'm going to vomit," Sephy said, trying to maintain his calm exterior.

"Swallow it," Hojo said over the speakers. "There is one more clip to go."

Sephy frowned, his stomach churning. But then, the screen flickered, and he saw two teenage boys sitting and laughing as they ate hamburgers. They joked and laughed about school and work and girls. Sephy saw the same radiance in them that he saw in the little girls he had watched a couple days ago. It was that same carefree, pure joy. Sephy thought he understood now. It was this joy he was meant to protect. He had to protect the innocence and laughter in the world from the people who committed crimes against others, like the man with the gun or the men who raped and killed the woman.

"That will be all for today," Hojo said.

Sephy walked home this time, wishing he could speak to the little girls and the teenage boys. He knew he would get along with people like them. He even made up his mind to meet them all one day. He didn't know what it would accomplish, but he had to do it. For a brief moment he imagined himself in the future as he met them. It didn't please him when his image of his future self was a skinny, short, weak young man. But maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't care.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sephy continued with Hojo's little experiment at the lab, but even the pleasant images that were played at the end of each session couldn't spare his feelings forever. His concentration started to slip and he started to eat less. In weapons training he only missed his target a few times, but that was enough to gain the attention of his superiors. His bullets strayed, his arrows strayed, his martial arts didn't have the power they used to and his materia spells were much weaker. It got to the point where he hesitated to hold any weapon at all. Whenever his instructors questioned him he only apologized.

Sephy couldn't help the way he felt. The crimes and horrors of the human race were tearing away at him. Every time he went into the lab Hojo would show him people getting beaten, raped, or slaughtered. Blood spilled everywhere and body parts littered so many of the video clips. After a couple weeks, Sephy's stomach stopped churning, but he found that he wasn't any less upset. People being tortured, pregnant women having their bellies slashed open, men forced to rape their family members, wives beaten to death by their husbands, the affects of bombs, electrical executions, and more and more and more. Sometimes Sephy would scream at the people on the screen.

"Put the camera down and do something!!!!" he yelled during one session.

"It is the way of things," Hojo said over the speaker. "Get used to seeing this. As a soldier you will see it all the time."

Vile creatures. the woman's voice would sound in his head. They are so vile. So disgusting. Evil little puppets without hearts!

"I have to be stronger," Sephiroth said, loud enough for Hojo to hear him. He had only meant to respond to his guardian angel, but instead the words rushed through his mouth. "I have to be stronger and make sure these things never happen again...."

Hojo watched him for a while as Sephy seemed to be drawn to the images, leaning forward in his chair as far as the bonds would let him.

Vile creatures, these humans....

"Yes.... It's vile.... I must stop them…."

~~~~~~~~~~

Sephy's dreams began to haunt him. He would often dream of the little girls he saw on his first day, or the teenage boys that often appeared in the pleasant ending images. He also saw many more people who were so filled with radiance and love and happiness. Hojo would always show him someone who was blissfully happy in the very last clip. It should have made him feel better, but it made things worse for him. Sephy would often dream that he was with those happy people, and that they liked him without question. But then he would wake up, and find himself in his lonely little barrack. So many painful feelings rushed to him then, but he always took a deep breath and tried to ignore them. His guardian angel often told him that she was helping to take those emotions away from him. Soon he started to believe her. But no matter what, he would always feel incredible pain after waking. He would feel loss... but for what he couldn't tell.

~~~~~~~~~~

During his last session, Sephy started to watch the movie clips. But this time he wasn't bound to the chair. Hojo knew he would watch now without question. Sephy was too astonished by what people could do to each other. One thing Sephy did not expect, however, was the little white kitten that pranced around the room. Sephy looked at Hojo, but Hojo only shrugged and started the movie. Sephy sat down to watch, and before he knew it the kitten hopped onto his lap and rested there. Sephy smiled and gently began to pet the kitten. He guessed that Hojo wanted to see what he would do to the kitten if provoked, but Sephy had no intention of harming it in any way.

The first movie started, and Sephy sat there, eager for all of this torture to end. To his surprise, he saw the two teenage boys in the first clip.

"Okay!" one of them laughed. "Welcome to our video world! Here we have our first guest!"

"It's a feisty one! Full of energy!" the other boy said to the camera.

Sephy could hear their friend laughing from behind the camera, and he blinked curiously as the camera turned to another teen boy who looked like he was close to being in tears.

"Yep! We caught a live one!" the first boy laughed again. "Another fucking fag!"

"What'll we do today? Fuck him with a stick? Beat him with a bat?" asked the one behind the camera.

"No no no!" said the remaining boy, who stood there glaring down at the frightened teen. "Today, I think we'll hang him from a tree!"

Sephy shook his head in disbelief. It couldn't be! These boys were... happy. Why would they do this?! He wanted to meet them! He thought they were people who could be trusted. He couldn't believe they would do this. The boy they were harassing was defenseless!

"We got ourselves a rope right here," said one boy, as he held the rope up. "And we got ourselves a nice tree here," he said, pointing. "And we have ourselves a cock sucking fag here," he said, punching the boy in the face.

The noose was made and thrown around the boy’s neck.

"Well, let's play a little game. Let's see how far we can lift a girly man off the ground, shall we?!"

Sephy shook headhead slowly. Hoping that this didn't really happen. Wishing that it was all some cruel joke. Some cruel experiment that was only meant to get to him. But when he saw them pull the rope... and when he saw the boy's feet leave the ground, he knew it was real. Those boys... were cold-blooded killers filled with hatred. And now, if Sephy ever met them, he would have to kill them!

The clip stopped, and Sephy was brought back to reality by the kitten shifting in his lap. Hojo walked in and took the little kitten away, telling Sephy that it was too much of a distraction.

The next clip came on after Hojo had sent the kitten away. Sephy's heart was still pounding from the last clip. He swallowed hard when he saw one of the two little girls come on the screen.

"Hi daddy!"

"Hi sweetie!"

"Whatcha doin' with that camera again?"

"Just making some home movies for your mommy."

"Mommy likes movies?"

"She sure does!"

The camera shut off for a moment, and then resumed. Sephy could tell that it was resting on something now, because now the little girl was sitting on her father's lap.

"Wave!" he said.

"Hi mommy! I love you!"

"Do you love daddy too?"

"Yes! I love you and mommy!"

The camera shut off and resumed again, and this time the girl was jumping on the bed.

"Bouncy bouncy!"

"You can jump high can't you?" her dad smiled as he knelt beside the bed.

"Yes! I'm going to grow up and fly to the moon! WOOSH!"

Sephy was relaxing now. He loved watching the little girl, but he wondered where the girl’s sister was now. The camera shut off and resumed again. This time, the man sat on the bed with the little girl on his lap...

...both of them naked.

Sephy shut his eyes for a brief moment in frustration and r. r. The girl looked even younger than him... younger than his eight years. She on ton the man's lap facing the camera, and it seemed as though her bright eyes were staring straight at Sephy.

"Do you like it when daddy touches you here?"

"Yes...."

"It feels good?"

"Yes...."

"Do you want daddy to make it feel even better?"

"Uh huh...."

Sephy slid out of the chair and sank to his knees as the girl’s screams tore through him. Her screaming, her crying, her begging... all of it ripped through him like a sword. What had she done to deserve this?! Nothing! The man used her young body without a care in the world. He didn't care about her feelings and her screaming only drove him further. It seemed like eternity before he was done with her.

The camera shut off, and then resumed once again, this time with the other little girl.

"Come here sweetie."

"Where is sissy, Daddy?"

"She's gone away sweetie."

"Where?"

"You'll see her later."

"Okay!"

"Wanna take a bath with daddy?"

"Okay!"

"Good," came a woman's voice from behind the camera. "Take of your clothes for mommy and daddy. Good girl."

Sephy realized that her mother was holding the camera. He screamed at the man as the little girl was led into the bathroom. The man got into the tub and sat the little girl on his lab before the screams began again. Sephy ran to a nearby trashcan and vomited up his lunch. He hated this. He hated all of it, hated the way people treated each other! Now he could never meet the people he wanted. He could never rely on anyone to be there. How could he trust anyone or hope they would be alive long enough for him to run to them?!

Sephy's heart pounded and he put his little hand over his chest. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the screen flicker on again. On the screen he saw a little white kitten. And then... he saw Hojo. Then... a hammer.... Then blood. A cry. A final mew. A little white kitten. The kitten he just held. It was right there in his hands. He let Hojo have it! WHY DIDN'T HE HOLD ON TO IT?!

Sephy ran out of the lab at top speed. He didn't make it far though. He collapsed outside of the building, holding his head. A few people started to approach him, but then things around them started to burst into flames. Sephiroth screamed, his head filled with the images and his heart heavy. And there was something else. A voice. A voice in his mind whispering the same thing over and over....

Kill them.... Kill them all.... They have no hearts.... Kill them....

When people managed to put the fires out, they found Sephy lying there motionless, staring up at the sky with sorrowful eyes.

~~~~~~

"Vincent?"

Vincent turned to Sephy with sad eyes and held out his hand.

"Vincent? Is it really you?"

The red-eyed man knelt down and wrapped his arms around him gently.

"Vincent. I don't want to go on. Why didn't you kill me?"

The man's breath hit his hair softly.

"Did any of what I saw happen to you? Any of that torture? What is there to live for?"

Vincent's hand rose and gently slid Sephy's silver hair back behind his ear.

"The more pain you feel," Vincent whispered in his ear, "The more blissful it becomes when you transcend."

Sephy felt Vincent's warmth slipping away and he saw Vincent fading slowly. Vincent's body was so pale and thin now, but still so beautiful. It started to fade right there.

"Don't go!" Sephy cried.

Vincent stood up, his eyes more sad than ever. "Be strong, and do not commit the sins I did in life. I did not transcend. Forgive me...."

Sephy ran to grab Vincent but he fell straight through him. He scrambled up to find Vincent gone.



"NO!" Sephy yelled as he sat up, reaching towards something that wasn't the



"Shhh," one of the nurses said. "You had a nightmare." She was visibly shaken by his outburst.

"No... he was here!" Sephy said as he looked around frantically.

"No one is here!" the nurse said. "No one came!"

Sephy's glowing green eyes slowly shifted to her, making her uneasy. He slowly slid into bed and closed his eyes, making her even more uneasy since it all happened so quickly. She sighed and walked away. Sephy opened his eyes again after she was gone.

"No one..." he whispered to the dark. "No one came for me...." His green eyes began to glow with more intensity. "No one came for me... and no one waits for me.... There is no one I can go to later...." He felt all of his passion and emotion draining away. "No one...."


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


(Some people say they can't find the review link. It should be somewhere under this message silly! And if I'm correct, you don't have to be a member and you can remain anonymous. Hope that answers your questions. :) Thank you to those of you who review! It looks like I have some readers from my first story here. I'm glad you guys kept up with me! While my Kingdom Hearts story remains popular, this story actually gained responses a lot faster. There are so many Sephiroth and Vincent fans!)