To love an Ancient: An Aeris and Sephiroth story REVISED

Chapter 1

Aerseph4eva

Disclaimer

FF7 doesnt belong to me, but their respectable owners.

Chapter 1

Through her eyes

'Nothingness. It is a vision so empty, yet such a mental condition is unable to be maintained. This personal void can only be found in one place that is felt by everyone for at least one time in their lives. The human race is a species that has never been properly able to live alone...and yet all you individuals can feel so equally different with one another. People can meet, pass, cross lives once again, and laugh. And then...a time comes...when all that they have gained, is lost once more...and the loneliness becomes a pain...an ache, deep inside...that disposes of all hopes, dreams and aspirations that one intended to do...And yet… no matter how alone you are...and no matter how much you have fallen...there is always someone there beside you. They may not come in the image of a lover, or perhaps not even a friend. Their purpose may not always be to protect, or to fight for you...but as the last streak of hope fades from the light of the world, and the sun begins its last descent to place a kiss the dry cracked lands of Gaia...it will be they who will guide you with open arms...from the darkness...and into the light...'

Aeris and Sephiroth Story

1st Trilogy

SHINRA HEADQUARTERS - MIDGAR HOJO LABORATORY

The feeling of warmth could never exist in Midgar. The spirits of the living were too sad, too bleak. The buildings were too tall, and try as it might, hope had long ago faded within an elapse of time that existed in each poor innocent that lived there. Yet try as she might, hope continued to reach out towards the unfortunate. Her sea green hues twisted and coiled across the dismal sky... till she reached one person in Midgar, whom she believed suffered the most pain... The tug came from a tall white building, tainted black by the dark secrets it kept inside. The sea of energy glided across the glassed walls, rising ever higher, before she found an open window and slid through it. She then found an air duct, and seeped through it. Her journey ended as a doorway opened and it was here that Gaia's hope stilled. Lying down on her side was a forgotten daughter of the Planet. Her face was young and gentle, hidden within a childlike mass of wild chestnut curls. The young female slept within her locked chamber. Moving slowly forward, Gaia paused once again, as the girl's breathing quickened. Her arms subconsciously reached out to touch the spirit of the planet, and it was then Gaia's energy exploded into a corona of light, settling within the blankness of the room. Then as the green glow began to fade, and the lifestream called back for Gaia's voice, the spirit let out a low chord which crossed the distance, and fell upon the sleeping girl.

'Don't worry child...He is coming...'

The girl's eyelids fluttered once. Then twice, before the waning glow of warmth dissipated into nothingness. Two green orbs slowly opened, slowly at first, as if such an action had exerted her, before opening to full size as she realised her surroundings. Her face grimaced in recognition of her situation, then back at the white cold floor that she had been sleeping on. Using her hands to sit herself up, the female couldn't help but cry out in surprise from the stinging pain which resonated from her right palm. Turning her emerald gaze downwards, the brunette lifted up her injured right hand to her tearful vision. Her eyes wavered in despair, and she tried to fight the sob which crept upwards from her throat.

'Original demi-Cetra/Human.

Specimen 14.'

Snapping her head to the side in an attempt to deny the ugly black tattoo upon her hand, Aeris looked out from her glass cell, seeing the desolate laboratory. The artificial lights illuminated the emptiness of the room. White walls. Chrome tables. Silver cages, but fortunately no scientists. From her quick awareness of the lab, Aeris couldn't help but feel relieved that 'he' was not watching her. Still, she was unable to forget the spike of fear she felt, from the last time she first stared into the scientist's eyes and saw the dark lunacy of his twisted soul. Shaking her head to rid her thoughts of the mad scientist in her mind, the brunette turned her gaze downwards into her lap, once again looking down at the 'tattoo' that had been branded while she was unconscious. The back of her right hand was tinged with a bruised cherry-pink, and seemed to have swelled in size compared to her left. Clasping her left hand over the red swell, the brunette inhaled a breath, before releasing slowly allowing gentle healing energies to carry towards to her injured hand. When she moved her left hand away, she still was sadly surprised to see the tattoo still there. The brunette felt her mind half-hoping that the brand would disappear as easily as the pain did. But, it seemed even her own curative spells were unable to rid the mark that Shinra had inflicted upon her. Her eyes widened sharply at the thought of what other things Shinra may have done while she was sleeping and she looked down at herself in herself with distress. Her clothes were still intact. Her modest pink dress was still buttoned up to the last button, as was her maroon jacket. Her heavy, over-large brown boot laces were criss-crossed over her ankles in her usual manner. She sighed deeply, relieved to know at least the scientist had not done any visual analysis and that her innocence and modesty at the very least was still intact. Repositioning herself on the floor so that her knees were tucked under her chin, and her arms folded around her face in a defensive gesture, the brunette tried to recount all that had happened within the last twenty four hours. Just yesterday, she had met Cloud and his friends, but by some ill twisted fate; she was captured by Tseng to protect Marlene. Her face screwed up in thought at the remembrance of the stinging slap of his hand against her face, by a Turk that she once thought to be a friend. Yet the knowledge that Sector 7 had been destroyed taking Avalanche with it, dowsed any hopes of Aeris seeing her new friends ever again.

"I can't believe all this has happened. They're gone, they've really gone,' Aeris murmured to herself. Her voice was shaking with raw emotion, as she moved her face downwards into her chest. "Cloud… Tifa…Even if I met you for just a moment, I feel like I have known you from a past lifetime..." A few tears decided to trickle down her face at the realisation of their fate, before soon Aeris broke out into a full-fledged sob which left her shoulders quaking and her cheeks wet with tears. Due to the emptiness of the lab, it only made the sound of Aeris' weeping ever louder despite the low hum of Mako throbbing from the outsides of her glass prison.

'I'm all alone. Planet, please speak to me,' Aeris whispered, unconsciously rocking herself back and forwards in an attempt to quell her tears. Although the Planet's voice was barely audible to her ears, she couldn't help but slowly twitch her lips in a wry half smile when she felt the all too familiar buzz, and a hum of chords which sang out to her soul.

It was a song of hope…and in Aeris' being she could hear the words loud and clear.

From far and silent starry skies

Echoes a song full of life.

Crossing a darkness of thousands of light years,

It finally arrives at a single earth.

As the familiar tune of the Planet sang out into the brunette's mind, Aeris felt her inner tears slow, and the pulsing of her heart began to return back to gentle and calming rhythm.

'You came to me, thank you,' Aeris said softly, smiling as she shyly wiped a few of her stray tears away. Whenever she felt lost and void of hope, the planet always was able to reach her thoughts and console her like no other could. The planet seemed to sigh in response to bringing back the feeling of joy within their favourite daughter, and so Gaia continued to sing.

With eyes closed just so,

Like a faraway prayer,

So that one day

Our dreams will come true.

Aeris listened to the calming song. However, like always, though she was able to hear the planet's words, she was unable to understand their meaning. The music she heard always brought upon fragmented images in her mind. Aeris could envision herself kneeling down, her eyes closed in prayer of better things. Then a light which glistens in the darkness falls from the heaven as hope descends into the darkness.

Although the song held a tone of happiness, it seemed there was a darker meaning that Aeris was unable to translate. After a few moments, the brunette sighed in frustration. "Planet, I'm sorry but I don't understand your words," she said softly, closing her eyes as she freed her mind to the soul of the planet. It seemed Gaia did not hear her voice, as the planet continued to voice out her song; each line releasing a greater mysterious vision of the world inside the young woman's mind.

Time is so long that

These tiny palms can barely hold it.

At the end of a million-mile voyage,

We can still run across smiling faces.

'Time?'

Aeris shook her head in confusion and began to let her mind slip until she felt a jolt of energy in her neck before slowly creeping downwards. It felt as if it was running up and down her spine making her shiver and flinch in pain. It was then, visions and images suddenly exploded before Aeris' eyes causing fresh tears suddenly flow down her cheeks. Pictures of young animals suffering and dying. Young children with dirtied and crestfallen faces, their eyes tearful as they walked in solitude into the darkness of the world. Then the screams of Gaia, crying out in pain as fresh Mako oozed from the wounds of the planet. Then worse than any of those pictures, Aeris saw her father shot at right before her. His life blood splattering across the walls. His glazed eyes urged her to run, as a fine trickle of crimson dribbled down his dry, cracked lips. Aeris tossed her head side to side, unable to hide from horrors of the planet's memory.

'Pain, I can feel your pain and suffering. Aghh! It hurts so much!' Aeris screamed as she threw her head back, her eyes dilated in shock. The pain soon vanished as quickly as it came, leaving the Cetra panting on the floor. Her gaze fell downwards and she gasped out in horror as she saw crimson stains sliding down her hands and making drips upon the floor. She blinked in trauma, and when she next looked at her hands, the blood was gone.

"How did I...? Where did I... no, it's not possible" Aeris whispered, on the verge of hysteria, looking back at her bare arms, seeing no trace of crimson, just the tattoo upon her right hand. When she was sure that the image was just a vision, she forced herself to lean against the glass wall in an attempt to compose her raging heartbeat.

'Planet, Father, Mother...Cloud, somebody, anybody, please help me.'

Suddenly, as if someone had heard her call, she felt a strong thump on the glass behind her. Aeris turned around, to literally fall flat on her back from the sight she saw.

'No, not him. Please not him...' Aeris all but begged, scrambling backwards to the opposite side of the glass cell. The stranger smiled at Aeris, tapping at the glass barrier as if the girl's reaction was a fascinating spectacle to him. Aeris had her eyes glued to the floor, for the fear of looking into that 'monster's' eyes. Her body shook as she thought of a hot iron branding her cool hand. A whimper escaped the young girl's throat, although she tried to stifle the sound by covering both of her hands over her mouth. The scientist smiled wider at the girl's reaction, before he reached down and pulled a notepad and pen from the inner pocket of his white lab coat.

"Fascinating," Hojo murmured as he scribbled down various rambling thoughts that had entered his mind.

'Blood O-... Mako...Ancients... Sephiroth'

Hojo paused in his notes when he realised what word he wrote. "Sephiroth..." he whispered, rubbing his chin in question.

Aeris raised her head up in confusion when the scientist fell silent. She saw Hojo nodding his chin as if he was having a conversation with himself.

'Yes, Cetra, Sephiroth, conceive... hybrid. Interesting,' His mumbling was starting to scare Aeris, as she had inkling that his words were somehow connected with her future. Unfortunately, she couldn't decipher what the mad professor was rambling about, and so moved her attention back down into her lap.

'Maybe it is better if I don't know,' mumbled Aeris. Soon after the words left the Cetra's lips, the scientist drew his attention back to his 'specimen'.

Aeris shivered as she looked into Hojo's brown eyes. His eyes radiated a need and an insane hunger, a look that she had never had seen from a man looking at her. Hojo smirked in amusement at his own taunting, and placed a hand in his pocket, taking out a remote of some sort. He raised it before him and moved the pad of his thumb over the central red button.

Aeris' breath quickened when she realised what was about to happen. "No, please not again, stay away from me. I'm not a specimen. Please don't…" Aeris begged, her eyes almost tearful that the only barrier she had from the mad scientist was going to disappear at any moment. Hojo shook his head in a sympathetic way yet his eyes didn't portray pity. In a quick movement, he pressed the button and then with a large hiss, the door of Aeris' chamber slid open, exposing the fearful girl before the crazed scientist. Twitching his lips up with repressed amusement of the girl's obvious fear, Hojo strode into the cell with un-human grace and knelt down by his female specimen.

His mouth moved into a crooked grin. "Ancient, you know that you are mine?" Hojo began sweetly, moving his empty hand towards the girl's bare arm. When Aeris felt his repulsing touch, she jolted her body away from him, crawling backwards into her cell for Hojo blocked the entrance. Hojo took no need to the brunette's fear as he leaned his hand closer so that he was caressing the girl's cheek. Aeris cringed as she felt Hojo's crinkled hands passing across her cheek to her lips. Aeris did one thing to stop what she fearfully thought would turn into a derogatory act. She sank her teeth into the scientist's protruding thumb.

Brown eyes dilated in surprise. 'AArgh! You Cetra Bitch!' Hojo snarled, as he pulled back his hand and placed it in his mouth. His other free hand in quick reflex slapped the girl across the face. Aeris screamed in pain and tried to scramble out of the cell in an attempt to escape. Hojo, seeing her plan grabbed the mane of her hair and pulled her back towards him. All the while, Aeris screamed out in frenzy, while Hojo seemed to snarl in pleasure to her distress. He tugged at her braid once more, the act causing her ribbon to unwrap and her green orb in her hair bounce on the floor beside her. Aeris stopped struggling, knowing that she was defeated. Beads of tears began to gather up in her eyes, before slowly making a path down the planes of her face. Hojo soon stopped pulling, after he heard her weak sniffling. He let go of her hair and stood up, straightening himself up as Aeris continued to cry on the floor before him.

"My dear," Hojo began, as he rolled his lips upwards in distaste. "There is no point in releasing those crocodile tears. They don't affect me. You see, I know every woman's trick in the book."

He turned his back to move out of the glass cell, all too aware of the brunette's tears. "Humph, you women are all the same. Lucrecia always cried over the most tedious of things,' the professor rambled as he stepped through the cell, locking it immediately behind him. Aeris was now lying crumpled on the floor. When she heard the sound of the door close, she let out a quivering breath of relief, while her eyes stayed fixed to the floor.

"I guess we will have to pause this assessment for now. I'll leave you now my darling Cetra, until you have calmed down." Hojo spoke then added "…then I'll go back to my interesting administrations on you." Then with a turn, the scientist walked out of the lab.

Aeris waited until he was out of earshot before she let out a curse.

'Bastard,' she murmured. Aeris knew she wasn't the type who had a potty mouth but she didn't care at this moment. She clasped her hands together and placed them against her chest as if she was in prayer.

Suddenly, something flashed out of the corner of her eye and she turned around to see the white materia lying on the floor. She made a grab for it and placed it against her breast, cherishing the priceless gift between her fingers.

"I wanna get out of here,' Aeris whispered to herself, as she fingered the materia, centring all her attention and belief towards the pearl orb in her hands.

"Now here's your chance materia, Work!" Aeris cried out, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. "WORK!" Aeris repeated again, but even after a few more tries, the orb remained lifeless.

"Stupid, useless materia," Aeris groaned in annoyance, glowering at the orb for a moment, before stuffing it safely inside her red jacket pocket. A few minutes went by and the young Ancient tapped the floor in boredom, thoroughly depressed from the earlier encounter with Hojo, yet too tired to summon the energy to have a conversation with the planet. Pulling out her arms from the sleeves of her jacket, Aeris tried to make a makeshift blanket in an attempt to keep her warm.

"I've got nothing better to do with my life now;" Aeris solemnly spoke as she rolled herself up into a ball. She wrapped her jacket tighter around her small form, feeling very vulnerable and very alone as she tried to make herself fall asleep.

Unfortunately for Aeris, she failed to see a pair of glowing Mako eyes watching her from a shadowed corner.

Ja ne

Aerseph4eva

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