#Apprentice Sephiroth

[lilc77]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Angeal (OC Character not Angeal Hewley; Cissnei's adopted son), Zack Fair, Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII), Cissnei (Compilation of FFVII) Additional Tags: Angeal is a Sephiroth Clone, Zack Fair Lives, Sephiroth has a New Apprentice, Angeal is Cissnei's Adopted Son, Zack Fair is a Hero, Cissnei is a mom, Cloud and Tifa are married w/ kids, Cloud just want to go home to his Wife & kids Summary:

14yr old Angeal has trouble controlling his newfound powers and doesn't know why he's special. He hides his abilities from his adopted mom, Cissnei, so as not to worry her. He's been using his power and abilities to hunt monsters ravaging their town and the surrounding areas to help the weak since he was ten years old. The only problem is his powers are continually growing and becoming more unstable and he doesn't know how to deal with it. He sets out to the only place where he feels someone can help him. The Hero Headquarters of New Shinra in New Niebelheim. What he didn't expect was to run into his Hero and the one person who can give him all of the answers.

[izunias-meme-hole]

Young man….

You have a dark future ahead of you.

[ladyespera]

"i'm counting on you, alright?"

[altocat]

this is gonna be a really random ask but any HC on roche?

Roche was, to everyone's surprise, Genesis' apprentice. During the few months they trained together before Genesis' departure, the auburn soldier basically taught Roche how to be loud and arrogant, making his apprentice take on a LOT of his personality traits. Genesis wasn't a very attentive mentor, probably because he lacked a level of patience. He would get frustrated by how often the scrappy little squirt would challenge him, often shirking his mentoring duties to go hang out with Angeal and Sephiroth instead of instill useful wisdom in the brat.

Unlike Genesis, who for all his drama and boasting works hard to obtain his status, Roche is unambitious and is more interested in using his ego to throw his weight around and cause trouble rather than actually work to rise in the ranks. And when Genesis is branded a traitor, he openly refuses to acknowledge that Genesis ever WAS his mentor to begin with. Thus, people tend to believe it was only Angeal with the responsibility of mentoring. It was ultimately a very brief, but turbulent relationship and really they only brought out the worst in each other.

Roche loves punk rock, casual vandalism, exploring the outskirts of Midgar, and flirting with almost everyone he sees (another trait he picked up from Genesis!). He has a MASSIVE crush on Cloud. Unfortunately, Roche's brash, reckless behavior annoys the hell out of our blond grump and he wants to get as far away as possible.

[heraldofcrow]

Just out of curiosity... how would Miniroth (EC Sephiroth) navigate around the world of Bloodborne? Like no Glenn, no Matt, no Lucia, no Shinra. Just him, some monsters, gods, crazed hunters, literal bloodsuckers, and Gehrman.

You want me to put this little guy…

….in BLOODBORNE?

HAS MY SON NOT SUFFERED ENOUGH?

Ok, fine. I’ll do it.

Explanation: Miniroth = Sephiroth, but mini. Now in Bloodborne.

Where’s he off to?

He would do really well actually, once he left the Dream. He’d probably only be there once since he wouldn’t be dying much. He can kill monsters and creatures twice as strong as the beasts in Yharnam and moves faster than bullets unless he hesitates, so I think he’s okay with most of the things he would come across. He’d just cut them down pretty fast, imo. Same with any and all crazed hunters, Bloody Crow included. (My adopted murder children meeting would send ME into frenzy though, I will say that).

But gods and Gehrman??? I’m giggling. This would be cute.

Gehrman would just be his same old sad cryptic self in a wheelchair, but if his eyesight were bad, he’d probably be like…”M-maria? Is that you? I haven’t seen your ashen hair and green eyes in so long 😭”

Poor guy. Miniroth would be very polite, like “I do not understand, sir but have a good evening,” and move right along lol.

Do NOT let the Miniroth near Mother Kos. I am not opening that can of worms. He isn’t allowed near the Fishing Hamlet at all. I’ll send his ass back to uhh…earth, or whatever.

Most of the other gods would probably be indifferent or just kinda curious as usual, but they’re for the Paleblood Hunter to worry about anyway.

Now to make myself upset as usual. What ideally would happen is Miniroth comes across Eileen, who needs an apprentice after Bloody Crow screwed things up. Along comes this new little kid with silver hair and a katana…also associated with black feathers (well, white for now, but still), and he’s not exactly uhh, at home. They meet and talk. Mayhaps become friendly. Eileen is older, wiser…offers a good role to take up…and she eventually adopts her new student!

Noooo there’s totally no void being healthily filled here since Eileen is the perfect type of old mother-bird that a kid looking for his missing mom would feel comfortable and happy around, noooo way, I’m not doing this to heal my pitch-black soul noooo. (I’m getting upset).

Anyway, then Seph can go onto be the next badass crow-hunter with his black wings, katana, and durability! Catastrophe prevented! (I mean, as long as history doesn’t repeat itself with Eileen here fghdj).

The bad ending is Seph somehow meets Micolash, gets bad flashbacks, and burns down Yharnam or some shit lol. FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.

And that’s that! My son survived Bloodborne!

[dark-elf-writes]

Anyway about the time loop/rerunning life on essentially new game plus/ reincarnation thing.

Cloud sent back in time over and over again, growing more and more ridiculously powerful each time. He has to save the planet. He doesn’t have any other choice.

The first time he is born with mako shine eyes and all the enhancements of a SOLDIER. The second (after another round of Hojo’s experimentations) he is bordering on the power of a god. The third? The fourth? The tenth?

He will get it right eventually. Things have changed every time. He’s getting closer.

What he didn’t expect was for someone else (something else?) to be meddling as well. So when he is reborn again and rather than six years younger than Sephiroth he’s eleven years younger and is picked up as an apprentice/ward/adopted son of Genesis Fucking Rhapsodos himself he is pretty understandably pissed about the situation he landed himself in.

Sephiroth isn’t entirely sure why Genesis’ chocobo child is both terrified of him and is probably plotting his death, but he does know what the after effects of Hojo looks like and he will die before he lets some scientist hurt this kid again.

[salternateunreality2]

So Genesis eats hair

And Sephiroth eats Dis Pear

What does Angeal eat?

TW: cannibalism

Rhyming answer #1:

Not Fair

Sane answer:

He home-cooks as much as he possibly can, both to save money, avoid the cafeteria, and for the experience. When he can't, he eats what the company provides, or lets himself be dragged wherever Gen wants to take him and Sephiroth. Also Banora apples.

Dadgeal answer:

As the resident mom-friend, he eats his fingernails worrying about his babies. He means grown colleagues and apprentice. Also Not Fair because puns.

Unhinged crack answer aka rhyming answer #2:

WHATEVER COMES INTO HIS LAIR! He is a bear. It is not Fair. Unless it is and Zack has narrowly escaped death many times. Or Zack is actually a cyborg created to replace the human Angeal devoured! Who knows what the HoHos* did to him to make this monster?!

We already know he has loose morals from his time being a thief and a deserter. Dreams and Honor my butt. Made his own mentee kill him. RUDE.

Oh no...DID HE EAT RUDE?!?!

He grew more wings than the others, is it because he consumed more mako...and other things?! HOW DID HE GET SO BIG?! WHY IS HE ABLE TO GROW FACIAL HAIR?!

Angeal Hewley more like Angelofdeath Hewingyoudown. #feargeal2024

*Hojo and Hollander...HoHos are edible...so is hollandaise...Hojo however, might cause severe indigestion, do not recommend.

[holly-fixation]

Perfect Timing

Summary: A newly fused time materia and good intentions leads to a child Silver Soldier and a delayed mako reactor mission. 

Inspired by asks to @prismaticpichu with my very own twists. Instead of Sephiroth suddenly turned into a 3 year old while surrounded by his First Class friends and puppy, he’s time turned back to a 10 year old while literally on Mount Nibel. 

Made with permission.

Please Enjoy.

…

Zack, The Apprentice Puppy, turned into Zack Fair: First Class SOLDIER about two years ago. He lost so much before even making it to First. He lost his mentor. Then he lost his faith in the company he dedicated his loyalty to. Human experimentation, exploitation of mako, the useless war with Wutai, all facts he came to realize as he spent more time at the top. SOLDIER truly was a den of monsters. Angeal, his mentor, and Genesis, former First turned enemy, were proof of that. Shinra lied, manipulated, betrayed. Zack didn't even hate Genesis for going after Shinra. Even after all this time, he hoped he could get through to the Crimson Soldier. Zack childishly and innocently, he knew that's how it seemed at least, still wanted to save everyone. 

That was why he was thankful to be assigned this Mako Reactor mission with Sephiroth. The Silver Soldier was impossible to contact once he locked himself in the data room of HeadQuarters. After finding out both of his closest friends were experimented on by the company he dedicated his life to, no one blamed him for the rash decision. Days, weeks, months. No one heard from him unless the mission was mandatory. Even then, Sephiroth was the best of the best, the top soldier in the company and even the world. He had the option to turn down any mission he wished as long as he could push it on another soldier. 

Sephiroth couldn't reject this mission. Every member of SOLDIER was sent to every mako reactor on the planet, under threat of attack from Genesis and his army along with the extreme rise in monster attacks. Sephiroth and Zack were assigned to Nibelhiem, so that was where they went. They found an escort up the mountain range, a teenage girl named Tifa Lockhart leading two of the world's strongest soldiers and two simple cadets. Of course she had no idea one of those cadets was Cloud Strife, an old childhood friend. 

The mountains threw every natural defense it had at the party of five: hordes of monsters, winding labyrinths of caves, a bridge too weak to hold them all. There was nothing they could do when the other cadet fell into the valley of sharp rocks below instead of the safe path. Sephiroth was the only one who saw the body, urging the rest of the party away from the sight. Still, they went forward, onward in their journey. Everything was unnerving and dark and concerning. Sephiroth was silently on edge with every step they took closer, but Zack was the only one who noticed. The puppy tried to keep spirits light and help his friend whenever he could, but it was difficult with Sephiroth’s desire to control the situation. 

The Silver Soldier took it upon himself to take down every monster in their path, barely giving Zack a chance to respond before their enemy landed at their feet. Finally a Zuu, the massive black feathered creature of the mountains, gave Sephiroth shreds of a challenge with its incredible maneuverability. Zack wanted to help, and he had this extremely powerful Time materia he fused before the mission. Everything about it screamed the ultimate magic. Stop worked for nearly a minute. Haste lasted five. That was absolutely incomprehensible compared to the average time materia he had before. Haste was a fantastic boost for taking out annoying enemies. Zack didn't even ask or warn Sephiroth of the coming spell. Knowing the Silver Soldier, he'd adjust and take the Zuu out instantly. 

However, the materia ‘glitched’, sparking an unidentifiable purple lightning from Zack’s grip. Suddenly Sephiroth was held in the gears of a white Stop spell, frozen inside as the gears glowed brighter and brighter, blinding nearly everything in sight. 

Zack was the first to regain his senses, the glowing still too bright for the Zuu’s hunting eyes. The younger First immediately went to action and took down the monster while it was still stunned. 

Then it got…odd. Really odd. Impossible. How does that even happen?

Tifa and Cloud stared cautiously as the light fizzled, leaving the Silver Soldier in its wake. But a few feet shorter. With a different haircut. And a wee bit younger. 

…Uh oh. 

This was very much not part of the plan. 

It took a moment before the boy’s mind began processing the world around him. This was Sephiroth, yes, at possibly ten years old. His posture and his stance were exactly the same, but his eyes revealed his lack of understanding. He jerked in bewilderment at the entirely unexplainable surroundings. Even the sky seemed like a threat to him as he gripped the massive blade in his hands for dear life with all the strength in his little body. 

Zack was the only one to approach. Both companions held their hands up in surrender and concern. “Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot- I’m so sorry-”

“Who are you?” His little voice mimicked the intense voice they all knew, but it was much higher, lacking the natural intimidation of his baritone nature. 

Zack really felt bad now. There was a small part of this that was cute, seeing all of Sephiroth in a fun size package in and of itself had some adorable nature to it. A large part was sad if his theory was correct. 

“I’m Zack, your friend,” He gestured to the girl and boy. “That’s Tifa and Cadet ‘Spiky’. Are you okay, Sephiroth-?”

“What’s his real name?” He never lost the bite in his voice. “Where am I?”

Zack winced in realization. Big oops. Big oops. He slowly sheathed his sword to his back as he answered carefully, “We’re on the path to Mount Nibel. On the Western Continent.”

The boy tried to hide the shock on his face. 

They definitely needed to turn around. No questions asked. Zack extended a hand calmly, bending down to a knee to be closer to the boy's height. “Let’s head back to Nibelheim and rest up for a bit-”

“Where’s Hojo?” The silver child cut him off sharply.

Why was he concerned about Hojo? Zack knew there was a history between them but it went back this far? “In Midgar. He’s not coming here either.”

Little Sephiroth’s gaze actually softened a bit. Hojo wasn’t here. Hojo wasn’t here? They could see the realization run through his mind. The boy looked up to the sky again, watching how the clouds moved between the peaks of the mountain. Zack couldn’t figure out what else he was trying to determine. 

“Sephiroth?”

He forced his stare to harden again. “I’m not going anywhere until I know who you are.”

Zack accepted immediately and turned to the cadet with an apologetic look. Then he returned to the boy. “I can’t tell you much about them but I can tell you who I am. I'm Zack Fair, SOLDIER First Class-”

“I will be the first SOLDIER. That's not possible.”

“We met two years ago on a mission in Wutai.”

“I've never been-”

“Well, maybe not yet you haven't.”

“What are you talking about?”

Zack rubbed the back of his neck. “This is going to sound insane but,” He took a breath, “I tried to use a new time materia to cast Haste on you and it malfunctioned and now you're a child again.”

“...that’s Asinine.”

“Yeah that's how it sounds but that's exactly what happened.”

“How do you mess that up?”

“Hey if you fuse as much materia as I do, you'll see just how much weird stuff you can make.”

The boy hesitated. 

Zack knew the truth was insane but Sephiroth deserved to know, even if he was only nine or ten years old. “Let's go back to the village and rest up. I'll explain everything when we're settled, okay?”

“Is this a test?”

“No, it's not a test.”

“Then why does it feel like a test?”

“Probably because it's confusing and weird.” Zack carefully stepped closer. 

Sephiroth immediately straightened his blade. “Stand back.”

The dark haired First simply moved the tip away with a gloved hand, the boy’s arms shaking in silent protest. “I promise, we’re not gonna hurt you. We just wanna bring you someplace safe, and that sword’s really not your size anymore.”

“I’m not going with you without a weapon.”

Oh. If that was the main concern, that wasn’t a problem at all. Zack turned back to the cadet. “Hey, Spiky, did you bring my old sword?”

The cadet nodded, carefully unsheathing the blade from his own back. It was significantly smaller than both Masamune or the Buster Sword, only a few feet in length with a brass hilt decorated with the SOLDIER logo.

“Would you trade for that one?”

Sephiroth glared analytically at the significantly more manageable blade. “Place it on the ground, and back away.”

The cadet and guide followed the ten year old’s order. 

The boy took deliberate steps while moving the tip of his blade from the First to the smaller but closer cadet, both arms required for the simple shift alone. He took a knee and realized he could not lift both blades at once. Like a snake claiming its kill, he swiftly dropped the massive blade and claimed the smaller one, arriving back on his feet before they could notice the shift. Even if he didn’t like the weight, it was clearly more maneuverable than the massive katana. 

“Alright, good. That works!” Zack wasted no time and walked over for the Silver Soldier’s blade. The young soldier backed away with a deadly glare in his eyes. “Don’t worry. We’re not gonna hurt you, but you might hurt me later if I leave your sword here.”

“That’s mine?”

“Always has been, as far as I know.” Zack replaced the Buster Sword on his back with the Masamune.

His eyes followed the entire length of his supposed blade to the tip. “It’s really long.”

Both Tifa and ‘Spiky’ flinched, but Zack actually laughed. 

“Come on, let’s get moving.” The only First turned to Tifa. “Lead the way.”

She nodded hesitantly before walking ahead, “Oh, r-right. Yes, follow me. I know the another way back.” They all followed, some more willing than others.

“...What’s so funny?” Sephiroth questioned as he followed at the end, still ready to attack them all if necessary, but Zack wasn’t worried at all, brushing him off with a smile.

“It’s just funny. I asked you the exact same question and you know what you told me?”

“Of course not.”

“‘Nothing can strike back if they can’t get in range. You need to be able to take anything down in one blow’. Do you know what you fought when you told me that?”

“No.”

“A behemoth,” Zack laughed. “Something tells me it’s more than that and you just don’t wanna tell me, but that’s just my guess.”

Sephiroth huffed, glancing away and regretting asking in the first place. This dark haired man was weird. This ‘First Class’ kind of reminded the silver boy of a brown haired little girl with a bow he was forced to spend time with. Maybe that was why he was willing to follow. 

* * * 

Battles throughout the mountain range certainly took longer with only Zack on the job. Sephiroth clearly debated joining against the monsters, but the strange world around him and the strange situation in general had the boy backing away a bit in fear. Or he was trying to find a moment to escape, despite the long, long swim to Midgar if he tried. Luckily they all made it back to the town, Zack brushing off some significant scratches but everyone else squeaky clean. 

Once in the village, Zack had no choice but to put Spiky in charge of explaining the situation to the locals. 

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, SOLDIER operatives are waiting one more day before approaching the reactor. They will continue to protect the village within their extended time here. The situation will be cleared as soon as possible with departure tomorrow morning.” Cadet Spiky repeated this message like an answering machine, devoid of life, emotion, and answers to any questions he did not already state in his explanation.

In the meantime, Tifa helped sneak the little Sephiroth into the inn with Zack. They only claimed the boy was a lost child and that Sephiroth stayed behind to clear out more monsters. Knowing the feats of the Silver Soldier, no one questioned his ability to stay behind and decimate any monster forces. They were confused when they found any clean look at the child in a First Class uniform but received no further details on what he was. Tifa left the two SOLDIERs once they were beyond the door and out of sight, leaving to tell her father she was back for another day and any updates she could give without slipping up about the ten year old Demon of Wutai.

On the second floor of the inn, Sephiroth suddenly stopped in his tracks. Zack jumped back and searched out the same window the boy couldn't stop staring out. 

“What did you see? Another dragon? Which way did it go?”

The questions seemed to snap the boy back to reality. “N-no. It wasn't a monster.” He clearly forced his gaze down. “I apologize.”

Zack brushed his unneeded apology off. “Don't worry about it. You didn't do anything wrong. But what did you see? You seemed a little lost in thought there.”

Sephiroth swallowed and let his eyes return to the landscape. “It's just… It's familiar. The mountains. And the trees.”

Zack nodded. Right, this exact moment happened before they left, but the boy before him didn't remember anything about being a SOLDIER. He tried to justify Sephiroth's feeling while also moving him toward their room, “...Deja vu's weird like that. It's nothing to worry about. It's just how it is.”

That single word jerked his attention to the First. “'Deja vu'?”

“Yeah,” Zack answered casually as he held the door open. “It's that creepy feeling you get when you think you've been somewhere before.”

“Hm.” Sephiroth didn't respond beyond a small hum, only glancing down and walking to the room. He gave a perplexed look at the three beds against the wall, the room much larger than he expected.

“What’s wrong?” Every word out of the dark haired man’s mouth left without judgment. “Oh shoot, are you hungry? Thirsty?”

“N-No.” The child met his eyes. “...Why is there more than one?”

“Oh, it's a small town, so this is kind of the entire inn.”

“That doesn't explain the single large room.”

“For heating reasons. There's only one fireplace. Can't have travelers freezing to death just because they want personal space.”

Sephiroth couldn't agree, never really bothered by temperature. He just crossed his arms in a huff. 

Zack waved him over while plopping on the bed closest to the window. He gestured to the bed next to him. “Go ahead. We have a lot to talk about when you're ready.”

The boy only took half the suggestion. He stood between the two beds, refusing to show the vulnerability this SOLDIER was clearly fine with displaying. He stayed silent, not moving a muscle as he continued scanning the room for any oddities. 

“Let’s start with the basics,” The man interrupted the concerned look in his eyes. “How old are you?”

Sephiroth’s arms tightened, his head shifted down a bit. “I. I don’t know.”

After waiting a moment in silence, Zack realized the boy was waiting for him to continue their discussion. If he thought Sephiroth was quiet before, the Silver Soldier was silent unless spoken to back then. “So, what's the last thing you remember? You know, before suddenly appearing here.”

He was still quiet, a calculated pause before every answer. “...I was about to sleep.”

Okay. Alright. This was going to take a while, wasn't it? Not a problem. This boy was just a lot more sheltered than the man he knew. Zack just needed to be specific. “How about, what did you do today? I know you like schedules.”

For some reason, even such a basic question hitched his breath. He turned down and away, trying to avoid any gaze from the mako blues. 

“What's wrong?”

The boy's will hardened, an almost teenage defiance creeping into his voice. “Shouldn’t you know this already if you know me so well?”

“You don't talk about your childhood. Believe me, I asked. I don't know what it was but… the way you avoided it… it wasn't good.”

He went quiet, contemplating silently. 

“But did something happen 'yesterday'?”

His arms tightened. “...it wasn’t a good day.”

“What happened?”

The boy shifted anxiously, gripping the tight leather of his coat. Zack's eyes still held their…emotion filled gaze. He clearly expected something different. “...why do you care…?”

“Because in this time, you're my friend.” He stated simply. The small beat allowed Sephiroth to process his words. “And you probably feel like you’ve just been kidnapped. Which is fair.”

“'Kidnapped'?”

Zack swore he always received the fastest responses when the boy didn't understand something. “Stealing a person.”

He huffed softly. “Is it still considered stealing if it’s better…?”

The black haired man's heart broke. 

Sephiroth just shook his head. “I apologize. That's a useless question.”

“No question is a useless question.”

He winced, but finally, the boy sat on the bed. The extreme control in his eyes faded ever so slightly to what Zack immediately recognized as exhaustion. 

“When was the last time you slept?”

He fidgeted a bit. “...Um. Last night.”

“And you suddenly appeared here before you went to bed?”

“...Yes.”

“Oh my gods, dude, go to sleep!”

Inhuman eyes stared at him immediately. 

Zack actually jumped to his feet, startling the boy a bit from the movement. “I’m serious. Look, I'll sit in the hall. Just don't crawl out the window and you can have the whole room to yourself, okay?”

“What if I want to go somewhere?”

“Just let me know and I'll take you. You're not a prisoner here. I just don't want anything to happen to you.”

Those simple words warmed Sephiroth's chest. Zack could see it in the way the boy's shoulders curled in on himself. 

“Look, you'll get this whole room to yourself. Set it up however's comfortable and take whichever bed you want. Bathroom's right there so you don't even have to leave. Sound good?”

Sephiroth gave a soft nod, still not looking anywhere near the SOLDIER. 

“Alright.” Zack jogged backwards toward the door to continue facing the boy. “Knock three times if you need me. I'll be right here.” With another small nod from the small Sephiroth, he closed the only door to the room. 

In the hallway, Zack messaged 'Spiky' on his phone, giving the cadet new orders for how to help with their new mission number one. 

* * * 

Gods that boy could sleep. That or he really wanted to be nocturnal. 

Sephiroth only knocked long after the sky turned dark, and Zack opened the door to a perfectly uniformed Silver Soldier. He almost looked like he was dressing-up as his favorite hero, even though he literally was said hero. The entire room behind him was comically clean, even cleaner than it was when they checked into the inn two nights ago. Every bedspread had perfect corners and symmetrical pillows, each one practically a copy of the other. The curtains were drawn, and not a speck of dust littered the floor. What did he clean with? Where did the dust even go?

None of this changed the simple fact that Sephiroth was still a pre-teen. 

“Hey, Sephiroth,” Zack called in a slightly concerned but mostly casual voice. “Did you sleep well?”

“What time is it?”

Zack shrugged. “Eh. 2200 hours.”

His eyes widened before they fell in disappointment. “Oh. I apologize.”

“You've literally been dragged to the future. Well, basically. Either way you completely deserve a day of rest.”

“I'm not supposed to rest. I'm supposed to be perfect.”

Zack placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and Sephiroth flinched immediately, but he didn't try to attack or move. Zack slowly let go, releasing the boy carefully after realizing his mistake. He did not mean to startle him. “You're more than perfect. You're human. And that matters so much more.”

Sephiroth's brows turned in confusion and sadness. Zack's message didn't make sense. 

“Now come on. Let's get you some grub.”

The boy shifted awkwardly, a small pout forming on his adolescent features. “Can't I just eat it here?”

“Uh, no,” Zack gave a kind smile in return and a small chuckle. “Spiky's really helping us out with this. We're going to him.”

Now his gaze hardened. “Who is he.”

“I'll tell you when we get there. Come on.” 

Sephiroth followed a respectable distance behind the First as they traveled across the small town. It was weird, but different, seeing the world like this. And the sky. The boy stopped in his tracks around the water tower. Zack turned back and saw exactly why. 

His cat-like eyes twinkled in reflection of the stars above them. 

Zack gave a light hearted chortle. “Yeah, can't get a view like this in Midgar.”

“They're beautiful...” The boy spoke breathlessly. And he was right. The way the legs of the galaxy arched across the sky in celestial blues and greens could capture anyone, or even make them think of their place in the universe. 

Zack allowed the boy a few minutes to just look, watching for any villagers that may question who the boy was. However, with the monsters along with their backwater town culture, most citizens already checked in for the night. 

He just looked so happy. The First let him enjoy the moment until his stomach growled. 

“Alright, come on. The stars aren't going anywhere. I promise.”

This time he really did pout as he followed the suggestion, walking behind Zack into a small home. 

Apparently, this was Spiky's home. And Spiky's real name was Cloud Strife. For reasons Sephiroth could not understand, Cloud did not want to be recognized by anyone in the village. The nickname 'Spiky' was Zack's way of honoring the request. Thus, the silver soldier followed into their home and remained unseen under the promise of a meal. Cloud's mother, Claudia, couldn't resist the sight of the tiny war hero, making jokes about the abnormality of the situation and just how small Sephiroth used to be. Sephiroth quietly dealt with her comments, waiting for his single meal to appear in front of him. 

But what was that smell? It was really, really different. Not bad, but why was it like that?

“Here, I know this is all you've been waiting for,” Claudia joked as she filled a bowl with some kind of liquid-esc meal from a pot.

He didn't say anything, analyzing the strange substance as she placed the bowl in front of him. 

“It's a Nibel Deer stew,” She explained with a kind smile. “One of Cloud's favorites ever since he was a little boy. It’s perfect for a growing boy like you.”

Though her words were clearly intended to be kind, the boy glanced at the cadet for confirmation. The cadet stood shorter than the First. He didn't say anything, but Cloud glanced down in embarrassment at the realization. 

Sephiroth looked back down at the bowl, confused by the various islands within the liquid. They were so many different colors,  most cubic or spherical. Again, it was different. “...What's in this?” He asked curiously. 

“Oh, just some venison, carrots, potatoes, onions, a few spices, and a bit of wine for the broth.”

Zack leaned over to Cloud and whispered, “Do you think he'll like it?”

“We didn't have any pasta so we'll just have to see…” The cadet looked away, clearly embarrassed. 

Another confused countenance claimed his face before he began poking the islands. They didn't act the way he expected either, piercing from the soft pressure of a spoon rather than bouncing in gelatinous rebellion. “...you added wine to a meal?”

“Yes! Wine is good for flavor. And don't worry, you can't get drunk off of cooked wine.” Claudia's small town banter and soft joking shake of the boy's shoulder made Cloud hide his face in his scarf. 

Sephiroth, like a nervous kitten, slowly scooped one cube of meat in half and took it to his mouth. Then he chewed, and time ticked by. He still chewed, contemplating, discovering, deciding. The intense silence bore into all the bystanders. 

“Sir, I apologize for the lack of pasta, but I promise if you just give it a shot-”

Sephiroth devoured the plate before the mother could even finish her statement. Silence claimed them except for scraping of the spoon against the bowl, clearly debating deep in his mind. 

Zack didn't even know what to say, but Claudia took over again.

“Oh I'm so glad you like it!” Her voice rang full of joy but Sephiroth gave her a nearly pleading look between glances of the remaining broth. Was he debating whether or not to lick the bowl? “Do you want more?”

“Yes please,” came his simple but by far his fastest response since he suddenly lost his years. He even held his bowl out with a kitten-like beg in his eyes. 

Zack let out a hearty laugh, taking the bowl and handing it to the blonde mother. Claudia just couldn't wipe the proud smile off her face at the boy's enjoyment. She didn't mind a single bit when he polished off the entire pot. The poor boy didn't speak much, but his enjoyment remained undeniable. It took all the mother had not to pitch his cheeks and call him out for how cute he truly was. 

* * * 

The next morning, waking with the rising sun to begin the escort, a single command was decided immediately, no word from HQ able to change their mind even if HQ was informed in the first place. Sephiroth was still a child and showed no sign of returning to his true age any time soon. The only change he mentioned were weird dreams of being 'called' to something, a woman with blue skin and red eyes. Odd? Yes. Worth delaying even longer? No. But Zack couldn't afford to push the mission back with the sake of the townspeople at stake, so he came up with a plan using the only other Shinra employee he arrived with. The first half of said plan was Zack and Tifa going to the reactor alone. Yes it was more dangerous with only the two of them, and Tifa mainly hid during every battle under Zack's direct order, but knowing that the bridge was out allowed Tifa to map out the most efficient path from the start. This time, Zack left his time materia behind, and they finally arrived at the reactor. 

“Alright, come on in,” The First immediately suggested as he walked ahead. 

“Wait, I can go in?” Tifa grew confused. 

“Yes. Why wouldn't you?”

“The cadet said it was ‘full of Shinra secrets’,” She mocked in the cadet’s tone before continuing, “and I should wait outside once we got here.”

“And under normal circumstances, he'd be right. But I'm not leaving you in monster infested mountains by yourself. That's a horrible idea!”

She gave a soft nod and followed inside, the stench of mako overwhelming and dizzying. Now Zack took the lead, guiding them to what should be the control room, but it had all these strange pods along with the valves and gauges he needed to fix. Zack quickly ran through his mental checklist of what to fix, starting with sealing the valves. As he did, Tifa noticed the stairs in the center and saw the marquee over the top door. 

“Uh, Zack?”

“What's up?”

“Do you know what 'Jenova' is?”

My mother's name was Jenova. She died shortly after I was born. Sephiroth's true voice, the baritone the planet could recognize, ran through Zack's mind. He looked up and suddenly made a connection he should have known earlier. 'Jenova cells'. 'The Jenova Project'. 'Jenova'. He felt something shift in the air, a slight change that spelled doom. 

A black feather.

Oh no. Genesis. 

Zack jumped in front of Tifa and shielded her from the sudden fire spell with his body. He fell to the ground with a yell and she kneeled at his side to help him. 

Then it came, floating down from above, the owner of the feather, the Crimson SOLDIER First Class with his degrading body and his unchangeable goal. “Well well. What's the little puppy doing here on his own?”

“Genesis… So you are alive…” 

A contempt filled smirk was the only response to the First's realization. “I suppose I am. Where's Sephiroth? He was assigned to this mission, was he not?”

“...He's a little under the weather…” Zack mumbled in pain, but the look in Tifa's eyes revealed both her own fear and the half truth out of the Soldier's mouth. 

“I'm not in the mood to play, puppy,” venom dripped from his words. 

“I'm not exactly wrong.” Zack stumbled to his feet with the girl's help. 

Genesis sighed. “Fine. If you want to waste my time, then you need to keep me entertained.” His red blade glowed at the ready. 

Zack immediately told Tifa to stand back and drew the Buster Sword. 

But the First failed. 

A few parries that were too late. A few dodges and blocks that just weren't good enough. Magic negated, injuries growing on their skin. Each only needed to inflict more severe injuries on the other to decide a victor. 

And by all the gods was the wrong victor chosen.

Genesis launched Zack against the wall, and the black haired boy fell with all air stripped from his lungs. Tifa ran to his side yet again to try to help him up. 

“Where is Sephiroth?” The Crimson Soldier questioned before throwing another fire spell straight into the First, Zack falling again with a yelp of pain as Tifa yelped once in horror. “Tell me or I will destroy this useless town right now.”

“He's at the inn!”

“Tifa! No!” Zack tried to stop her but she couldn't watch her home be destroyed, not if it only took a few words to save it. 

“Where?” Genesis questioned. 

“The one in Nibelheim! Right by the water tower! Just take Sephiroth and leave!”

Though Genesis had little intention of following her lead, he did turn towards the exit. “If this is a trick, your people will burn.”

“It's not a trick! He's with a Shinra security officer at the inn in the center of town! Cadet Spiky!”

Degrading mako eyes turned to the SOLDIER. “Is this the truth, puppy?”

“If you dare touch him-” Zack growled through bloody teeth, but Genesis cut him off with a hand in the air. 

“Protective of Sephiroth now, are you?” At first, the man couldn't help but mock, yet he quickly grew serious. “Regardless, I have no plans to harm him. He is the key, the perfect monster made from Jenova's cells. He's the answer to degradation, after all this time. There is no hate, only joy. For you are beloved by the goddess. Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds...” With a verse from the poem dictating his life, the one winged man in red flew through the corridors and out of the reactor. 

Zack pushed himself up, Tifa attempting to support, as he looked up to the nameplate above the door. “Tifa,” He handed her an enhanced fire materia, “take this and break down that door…”

“Y-You're not mad?”

“Whatever's behind that door is more important… We have to get rid of the source…”

She took the materia as the soldier regained his strength, running up the stairs and trying to open the door normally. But it was sealed. Fire glowed in her hand as she casted and casted to break it down, only gaining a red glow in response instead of the collapse they needed. She was no mage, but she had the strength to keep trying.

Eventually, Zack placed a hand on her shoulder as he stepped forward. He unsheathed the Buster Sword and launched forward, cutting the weakened metal clean in half. 

On the other side, they found a humanoid machine with metal wings connecting it to the walls. They destroyed the doll, the lights activating and revealing a woman-like body with blue skin and one glowing red eye. 

“Oh my gods…” Zack mumbled in both horror and realization, everything clicking into place as he read the nameplate screwed into the forehead of the monster: J-E-N-O-V-A.

* * * 

The second part of their initial plan was leaving Sephiroth with Cloud in the inn, Masamune resting nearby until her true owner was ready. They were not to leave except for finding meals. Sephiroth could not be spotted like this, lest they be hit with heavy repercussions due to media outlash and viral questions. He needed to be himself again before rumors truly spread. Luckily, their time together wasn't terrible. Perhaps the stew from the previous night made the boy feel a little closer to the cadet, and Sephiroth began talking about his life. Cloud always looked up to Sephiroth, the war hero, so he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to learn more about him. 

“Life seems… quiet, in this town,” Sephiroth observed with a small mumble, glancing out the curtains in short increments at a time. 

“Not a lot happens here,” Cloud forced his voice steady, still a bit nervous talking to his hero even under the current circumstances. “Midgar's much more exciting.”

“...is it?” The boy seemed hollow, and Cloud glanced at him in confusion. “I wouldn't know. I'm not allowed in the city.”

“Well… where can you go?” The blonde tried to keep the conversation going casually. Tried. 

Now any silence before his answers weren't awkward, they were just a result of the boy developing answers. “...My room. The exam room. The training room. …'their' room…” Sephiroth caught the look in Cloud's eyes. “Where did you go here?”

The cadet picked up on these silent requests quickly. Eye for an eye. Information for information. It felt less like an interrogation that way. “Usually we stayed within the town square. I spent more time in the woods and the mountains when I got older.” Now more questions were allowed. “Who’re 'they'?”

Sephiroth's enhanced eyes fell. “...Aerith and Ifalna. Hojo said they're special, like me.”

“Wait, 'Aerith'?”

Inhuman eyes met pure blue ones. “Yes.”

“Isn't that Zack's girlfriend?”

“...that seems unlikely. He never mentioned a 'girlfriend' to me. And she's younger than me. That's weird.”

Cloud took out his phone and started searching through his messages. “Well, remember, you're a lot older than ten right now. You're older than Zack.”

“I am?”

Cloud nodded. “By a couple of years at least.” He walked over and handed the boy his phone. “Here. This is a photo of Aerith and Zack. He sent it to me after this mission was announced.”

On the screen was a photo clearly taken by a third party. Zack and the girl were sitting on a bench in a stone building. Zack had an arm around her shoulder, her brown hair draped over her shoulder in a spiral braid. They were smiling, and her planet green eyes shown like emeralds against the pink of the bow in her hair.

“That's her…” He was breathless, grabbing the phone tightly for a better view. “That's definitely her.” He turned to Cloud instantly like an owl, his eyes wide and desperate. “How is she? Is she okay?”

Cloud held his hands up in surrender. “I don't know- I think so. Zack's the best person to ask.”

He looked at her image with pain and regret. “Last I saw her, I… I hurt her… I'm glad to hear she's okay…”

“What happened?” Cloud asked hesitantly. 

His hands were shaking, his eyes glazed. “We were playing, but I was tired… I fell asleep and she let me… I think she was singing and I hate singing but I was too tired to care… and then… I…” He went quiet. 

The blonde held out his hand in offering, the silver child closed the phone and handed it over. He carefully, very carefully, tried to touch the boy's arm in comfort, but he was jerked away. 

“I didn't mean to… I didn't want to… I was just so scared and-”

“Sephiroth-”

“It was just a nightmare- it was just a nightmare but it felt so real-”

“Sephiroth, it's okay-”

“Red eyes and blue skin- It grabbed me and I had to fight it- I had to-!”

Moving on pure instinct, Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's arms and threw caution to the wind, a command he didn't even know he was capable of leaving his throat, “SEPHIROTH, LOOK AT ME!” 

The Silver Soldier froze, his eyes slowly clearing as he stared at the blonde in surprise. Reality began setting in just before an unseen force pierced into his skull. “I'm sorry- I'm sorry- Ah-!” Gloved hands flew into his silver hair as he tried to back away. 

Cloud tried to keep him close, scanning him for the source. “What is it? What's wrong?!”

“My head-!” He yelped, gripping and pulling in a useless attempt to rip out the pain. “It burns! Everything burns!” He pushed Cloud back, stumbling back to avoid the cadet. 

Then something broke through the window, and Cloud jumped and wrapped himself around the boy in protection, his shirt ripping from the shards but his body protected by armor. Both the blonde and a horribly wincing Sephiroth scanned for the projectile, their eyes landing on a single brass bullet. 

Oh no. Another monster attack?

The cadet guided the young soldier to a bed before rushing to a window. 

Now Sephiroth was grabbing his arms, trying to fight this flaming distraction with pathetic groans and grunts. “W-what happened?”

Cloud ripped the curtains out of the way just in time to see a winged man in a red coat enter straight through the door of the inn. There was no time to leave. “Ready your weapon and face the door. Something's coming.”

The silver soldier unsheathed his blade and the cadet readied his rifle. Both trained their eyes on the entrance as it opened far too casually, but Sephiroth's right hand remained gripping the main source of his phantom pain.

In walked the Crimson Soldier, his red hair leaking with grays and his back cursed with a single, crooked black wing. He brushed off his black pauldrons. “You know, this town isn't very friendly to outsiders.”

“Commander Rhapsodos?” Cloud didn't even realize he recognized the red headed First through his filter of degradation. 

“Ah, you must be Cadet Spiky.”

Cloud glared away. “It's Strife.”

“Alas, I do not care,” Genesis brushed him off before drawing his blade, gesturing to both the cadet and the unclaimed Masamune. “Now where's Sephiroth?”

The child stepped forward, and Genesis almost laughed. 

“You might be a cute cosplayer, but stand down, child.”

“I. Am. Sephiroth,” the pained boy countered through gritted teeth. “What do you want.”

The specific crack of the child's voice sparked a memory to the forefront of his mind. “Goddess…” He scanned the boy sharply, but every detail told him the truth. “Answer me this, what do you eat for every meal?”

The boy hesitated, his wincing only growing. “I…? Food…? The meat's not that bad…?”

Only known to the Crimson Soldier, those were the exact words Sephiroth used when they first met in Wutai, right before he promptly stole and threw the barely recognizable 'food' and cooked the Silver Soldier a proper meal with an old friend. “You poor thing… I do regret having to ask, but I don't have enough time left. I need your help, Sephiroth.”

Sephiroth stumbled back with a sudden scream, clawing at his own head. 

Genesis stepped forward, trying to coax the boy, but Cloud actually backed away. Something was wrong. Very very wrong. 

His caution was proven justified when Sephiroth savagely attacked. The ambush caught the Crimson Soldier off guard, each of the boy's feral slashes going straight through every defense, never ending screams leaving the boy's throat. Sephiroth was desperate, lashing, clawing, chopping anything in range as he cried out despite the lack of any injuries suffered. 

“Stop it! Stop it! Make it stop! Don’t let me die!” The boy kept yelling utter nonsense as he tore through the man directly in front of him. His inhuman eyes glowed bright red.

That sudden, desperate strength somehow overpowered the degrading SOLDIER. Genesis retreated before he was killed. 

Cloud watched the pain and terror that consumed Sephiroth fade slowly. Only a few minutes after the escape, the boy fell to his knees, gripping his heart and sobbing softly as tears ran down his cheeks. Cloud carefully approached, barely tiptoeing to not spook the boy. 

His panicked breaths never stopped, his arms held tightly to his chest as he rocked back and forth. “W-what's happening…? What happened…? I… I…”

The blonde knelt down slowly and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, but he instantly found himself trapped in the child's embrace. 

“I'm so alone…” He just kept repeating that single sentence as he pulled closer. “I'm s-so alone…”

His heart seized. Cloud felt his arms wrap tighter around the boy, around his hero. “You're not alone… You're not alone, Sephiroth… We're with you… We're here…”

* * * 

Zack and Tifa returned an hour after Genesis left. Sephiroth had passed out in Cloud's arms, and Cloud eventually got the boy into one of the beds. At this point, Cloud's helmet was off, and Tifa absolutely saw him. There was a lot of explaining to do, first revealing everything that happened in their short time at the reactor before accepting that it was time for the truth. Despite his embarrassment, the two teens left the room to the two real SOLDIERs.

When Sephiroth woke, this constant worry and discomfort seated itself in his chest. Zack said nothing, but he recognized the timeline of events and each sudden shift in the boy's tone and pain connected directly with the body of Jenova. No, they didn't speak of the afternoon. 

They spoke about Aerith. 

“You know Aerith?! You never told me you knew her!”

The boy in front of him kind of shrugged. 

“Right, of course. Sorry. What did you two do?” 

“We were…forced to play together? It was weird.”

“Come on! Let's try to talk to her.”

“How?” His eyes went wide. 

“On the phone!” Zack showed off the same device Cloud had before. “You can talk to anyone else with a phone at any time! Just gotta make sure the call goes through.”

He gave an awkward nod, but he was grateful for the distraction nonetheless.

Zack quickly dialed a number and crossed his fingers he prayed for a ring. The necessary purring finally went through and the joy on his face was undeniable. 

Sephiroth guessed Zack and Aerith's joy were a perfect fit. 

“Hello?” A woman's voice came through the device. She was definitely older than he remembered if this was truly the same Aerith. 

“Hey Aerith, it's me,” He couldn't hide his toothy grin. 

“Zack?! Yay! You finally got through!”

“I did. I told you I would. And I have so much to tell you, but first I have a surprise for you.”

“For me?”

Sephiroth gripped at his long coat in a pathetic effort to ease his nervousness. 

“Yup yup! An old friend.”

“So far away?”

Zack nodded, though obviously she could not see it. “Right again! Well, I already knew him a little but I didn't know he knew you. The last time you saw him, you were probably…” He scanned Sephiroth's form and did a few quick calculations in his head, “six? Maybe seven?”

“Now who could you meet that knew me that long ago?” They could clearly hear the smile in her voice. 

Zack chuckled. “Well, funny story. Had a bit of an oopsie with time materia earlier, so now they're really young, but they still remember you!”

“So there's no way I could guess?”

“Not a chance. I'm gonna put him on speaker, okay?”

“Alright.”

Zack hit a button and held the device flat in front of them before nudging Sephiroth a bit. “Alright, this is him!”

The boy curled a bit, trying to hide from his own anxiety. “...Um… H-hi, Aerith. It's probably been a long time for you... Um… D-do you. Remember me?” Good gods he stuttered more speaking to this girl than he did through his entire time here. 

There was a pause on the line. 

“...Waaaait… is your hair made of metal stars?”

That strange comment actually made him sigh in relief, clearly an inside joke or an old memory. “That's me.”

“Sephiroth?!”

He nodded. “Y-yes.”

“Zack, what did you do to him?! He sounds like a child!”

“Time materia,” Zack gave the simplest explanation. “He's about ten years old and doesn't remember anything after that. We're kinda waiting for it to wear off.”

“You need to be more careful with your synthetic materia.”

“How did you know that?”

“You showed me the high jump-frog one!”

He did, in fact, fuse Jump materia and Transform materia for fun to see what would happen. “Okay, you got me there. But talk to him! He seems really worried about you.”

“Wait, worried?” There was a pause. No one on either side tried to fill it. “…Oh. You haven't gone to Wutai yet.”

Sephiroth nodded, unable to read the emotion she responded with. “I'm still in training.”

“How's it going?”

“Th-the same.”

“Are you sleeping better?”

His throat hitched. She knew. Of course she knew. He was the only one with missing memories. “...Aerith, I'm so sorry-”

“Sephiroth, it's okay. We were okay. I just wanted to know for sure if they treated you better. And don't worry, you apologized right before you left for Wutai.”

“I see you again?”

“Mhm. So don't screw it up, okay?”

It was a little more mature, but every word she said gave him the same butterflies in his stomach. “I won't. …um… how are you?”

Another audible smile. “I'm good. I have a garden in a church in the slums where I grow those flowers I told you about.”

His lips curled in an unintentional smile. “Can I see them one day?”

“Of course! Please do! I promise, they're not going anywhere.”

His smile slowly faded as his final question popped into his head. “And how's Ifalna?”

Zack gave him a confused look and the moment between her answer was shadowed. 

“She passed away years ago.”

His inhuman eyes grew wide with guilt. 

“It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault at all.”

He stared down, grabbing his arm like a vice.

“Zack, did you tell him about our flower cart?”

The dark haired man immediately took control of the conversation, pulling it away from the dark despair pit. “I haven't! Hold on, I have pictures and I swear every single part of this cart has its own story.”

Zack's puppy-like energy seeped some joy back into the silver child, and their joyous reunion lasted hours into the night. 

* * * 

The next morning, the Silver Soldier finally returned to his full age and glory. Zack watched him rise and gave a little bit of space before gesturing to the waiting Masamune. Sephiroth lifted her without a word, but there was this discomfort that persisted through the transition. A loneliness.

“How are you feeling, buddy?”

Sephiroth took a deep breath and scanned up his blade, many beats ticking by as he thought of a response, before saying a command Zack never expected to hear. “...Be kind to her, Zack.”

Zack didn't resist the urge to hug his friend. “I will be. I promise.”

The phantom hollowness in Sephiroth's heart filled just a bit when he wrapped his arms around the boy in return.

.

.

.

.

Thanks for reading!

Author's note: I still don't know how to write Genesis so you might just be getting Ardyn with Loveless quotes even though I haven't written Ardyn before. I also may have imagined the Zuu from XV and not VII while writing this. Oopsie lol.

It is very hard for me to avoid Jenova when in Nibelheim so I hope you enjoyed this new take on the usual mess!

[leeus-writing]

Since you're getting orders again, can I order a NSFW one shot over sephiroth? Where he and the reader meet in childhood, she talks to him about a soldier and he promises to protect her in the future, and then due to things of fate they stop seeing each other for years until they meet again as adults without recognizing each other, and speaking she tells him about a ring that he gave to a special boy in childhood who turns out to be him and he has saved and they end up remembering the promises(:

Hi

Sorry this took so long:

Meeting again

You saw him surrounded by people in white lab coats and your heart broke for him. Was he sick? Why were they all gathered around him? Eventually they walked towards an old mansion, ShinRa mansion. You walked over there and looked through a window, jumping back when his face appeared at it.

He blinked a few times and opened the window, “Who are you?” He asked.

“Me… I’m Y/N. I’m 6? Who are you? Are you ill?”

The boy laughed a little and shook his head, “nooo I’m a SOLDIER, they are helping me get stronger!”

You smiled a little, “Like… like a protector?”

He nodded vigorously, “My name is Sephiroth! I’m 7! Oh… you better go Y/N they’re coming!”

You quickly scrambled away, feeling a little lighter. You’d met a SOLDIER a protector and from there you decided he was going to be your friend.

You visited him a few times over the month, getting to know Sephiroth. He seemed happy whenever he saw you and the way he spoke about tests he had to do worried you. He sounded like he didn’t like the needles he was constantly stabbed with but at the same time when you questioned it he seemed eager to defend the Scientists. He listened closely as you told him about your life. He looked almost longingly at the forest behind you.

“When can you come out again?”

“I don’t know,” he replied picking at the door frame.

“Sephiroth… What does being a SOLDIER mean again?” you asked twisting a ring on your finger.

“It means I protect people, Make it safer for others when I’m all grown up,” He replied enthusiastically.

“You’d protect me?”

“Of course!”

“Promise?”

Sephiroth nodded. You slipped the ring off of your finger and passed it through the gap in the window. He took it and looked confused. You however smiled back at him, “to remember the promise!” You said and kissed the window. He blushed and smiled back nodding slipping the ring into his pocket.

The next day would be the last time you saw him. You ran after the car as Sephiroth pressed his face against the window being driven out of the town. You screamed his name, tears rolling down your face. Eventually flopping to the floor exhausted.

| |

20 years later

You’d forgotten the boy in the window after your parents convinced you it was little more than a dream. You’d even forgotten the boys name. You’d even moved out of the town to a bigger city, Midgar. Midgar was a smelly, busy, dusty city. Yet you loved it. To you it was home. You’d moved there only five months before to start working within Shinra accounting department. An underling to Tony the accountant. You were one of his new apprentices. You loved the job; maths was the puzzle that just kept going.

You sighed standing by the coffee machine in the canteen hall. The machine was broken, yet you were living in denial, still clicking the button for coffee.

“It’s not working.”

The smooth voice made you jump and you turned around looking up at Sephiroth. SOLDIER first class. The names felt so familiar to you every time you heard them. However, you heard them a lot around ShinRa.

“Yeah… I didn’t want to give up,” you replied.

Inhaling his scent as he leaned over and switched off the coffee machine. He grinned down at you enjoying the red blush creep down your neck. He smiled brushing a strand of hair out of your face.

“Come, I have my own coffee machine in my apartment. You look like you need a cup,” He said to you.

Your heart starting thumping so fast in your chest. You were convinced he could hear it. You slowly followed him clutching your fists. It was a stupid idea. So many what if’s running through your mind as you followed him up the stairs and through the building.

He held the door open to his apartment for you and you stood in the doorway. He walked passed you and switched the machine on for coffee. You walked over and hopped from foot to foot before Sephiroth bent down and kissed you. Your eyes widened but you kissed back.

He smiled, “I’ve been looking for an excuse to get you alone. There’s just something about you Y/N that’s so… familiar.”

You blushed at him knowing your name and kissed him again. He swiftly lifted you up and placed you on the side in his kitchen. His hands working quickly to remove your shirt and bra. His mouth worked down your neck to your breast. Tongue working your nipple. You moaned and in response, Sephiroth ripped the fabric of your panties, freeing the area between your legs. He stopped to remove his glove. Soft skin then ran down the folds of your pussy.

You pushed Sephiroth’s coat off of his shoulders, it thumped to the floor. You began to work on his belt and trousers. Needing to see his cock. It was hard when you finally freed it. Your body was ready for it however, Sephiroth wanted to work you more. His fingers slipping deep within you as his lips clamed yours.

He held your entrance open before slipping his dick slowly within you. You groaned at the sensation, feeling so full yet complete. Sephiroth began to slam into you. This feeling was all you could concentrate on, at that very moment it was all you needed. You clutched at him, biting and kissing his lips.

“S…Seph,” you groaned “YES!”

Your orgasm hit like a train, completely taking over you. Sephiroth slammed into you once, twice, three times before cumming as well. Filling you completely. He snarled as he did, burying his head into your hair. You both stayed entangled for a few moment before Sephiroth slipped free from you.

You staggered off of the counter and rushed to the bathroom to clean up. Thankfully Sephiroth told you the way. Whilst in there you washed up and spotted something so familiar to you, it staggered you.

You picked up the ring recognising it instantly.

“Y/N… are you alright?”

You opened the door holding the ring up. Once you saw him, the dream you had flashed back into your mind.

“I… I know you. I gave you this. Sephiroth… SEPHIROTH how did I not know!” You leapt on him hugging him and covering him with kisses.

“Wait… you… You’re the girl!” He replied holding you out in front of him, “I’d forgotten your name with… everything that comes with my life. But now I see you. Now I SEE you, how could I have not recognised you.”

His hand cupped your face, and you sobbed as a tear slipped out your eyes, “I was told it was a dream… I believed it but now, you’re here. My SOLDIER.”

You buried your head in his shoulder.

“I’ll always protect you. I wont leave again, I promise.”

| |

@kittyplier95

@ladyalexandros

@miss-celeste

[barid-bel-medar]

AU where Cloud got to be a soldier as soon as he applied to the program, please.

It happens in part because Cloud immediately catches Genesis's eye. That in part happened because Genesis had the not exactly invalid concern of 'hey how young is this applicant?' moment when looking at Cloud. In light of how a thirteen year old Zack Fair had gotten into SOLDIER it wasn't an unfair (heh) concern. He still decided that he was going adopt apprentice this very baby faced fourteen year old, he's got good mana amounts it'll be fine! He is also appropriately levels of feral and seem teachable!

Within a week it's decided that Genesis and Cloud need further adult supervision but in their defense they hadn't realized the weird new summons materia they'd found while Genesis was showing Cloud something was actually Bahamut ZERO. If they had then they wouldn't have Summoned inside the tower!

No one believes them (and no one should)

Zack and Cloud quickly become friends. They are also quickly declared as needing either 'adult', Turk (Cissnei or Tseng), or Kunsel supervision. In their absolute defense they really didn't know the the rest of the younger SOLDIERs didn't know basic camping things like how to make a fire without materia or matches!

Genesis still goes rogue and Angeal still commits suicide by Zack, but in this world Cloud and Zack step up to take their roles within the SOLDIER (though Cloud is only a Second Class, not a First Class), giving Sephiroth support and being better able to support each other. Here Cloud is comfortable and confident, now nearly two years into SOLDIER and having had the fastest rise after Zack (he's due for promotion following Nibelheim).

Nibelheim changes some things, but not in the ways Hojo wanted.

[rarepears]

March 2023 Masterpost

the PIDW monster name generator

Sung Jinwoo housewife au

SVSSS x Journey To the West AU

TGCF X SVSSS Journey to the West AU

Toji fushiguro X Sung Jinwoo; Megumi thinks Sung Jinwoo is his bio dad instead AU

geralt transmigrates into mobei jun au

we need a hibari!shen qingqiu AU

Luo Binghe is a Gen Z ex-Tiktok influencer who transmigrated into PIDW AU

shen qingqiu and luo binghe transmigrate into Lan Qingheng and madame Lan AU

Shen Yuan transmigrated into the Old Palace Master

Shang Qinghua falling asleep in peak lord meetings because he's Overworked AUwhether this is Airplane or OG shang qinghua is up to you but man i need more fics where people realize that sqh needs LESS WORK

Yue Qingyuan gets turned into a 14 year old girl and he continues to pester Shen Qingqiu in that form AU

Tywin Lannister summoned Sebastian one hell of a butler: the Cersei Lannister POV - AU

shen yuan unknowingly is dating his son's teacher au

Gotham thinks Batman is a Asian twink named Sung Jinwoo AU

PIDW! Shen Jiu was reincarnated into SVSSS and his dad is Ming Fan AU

SLIME SHEN YUAN AU

Shen yuan wifebeams wu yanzi and then its a happy family of two kids and a dog au

tywin lannister x sung jinwoo

shen jiu becomes Sun Wukong’s apprentice instead AU

shen jiu and grandma!shen yuan au 

SPIRITUAL SENTIENT MOUNTAIN SHEN YUAN AU

writing SVSSS fic via polls - Liu Qingge runs into Shen Yuan while on a mission with Shen Jiu AU

luo bingge tracks down his reincarnated shizun who is now named Jiang wanyin AU

Shang Qinghua is actually a god… and he still wrote PIDW AU

shen yuan transmigrates into Mu Qingfang instead au

SHEN YUAN AND LUO BINGHE TRANSMIGRATE AS WEN CHAO AND WEN ZHULIU RESPECTIVELY AU

Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe run into a sexbot in svsss AU

Jiang Cheng finds out that qi qingqi X yu ziyuan was once a Thing while he finds himself a cultivation partner from Cang Qiong AU

batman gets a lap dog named after him AU

another fun svsss X spy X Family crossover is having spy hubby!Shang Qinghua and assassin!mobei Jun but it wouldn't fit quite as well

Sephiroth X Endeavor AU

[izunias-meme-hole]

Damn bruh, Nomura must’ve been REALLY proud of Sephiroth’s design.

[h0jos-f4vorite-t3stsubject]

I also love Hojo/Lucy but she is gone and this old man still needs some love ToT

I love Hojo and Lucrecia in a sense I love how toxic they can be. It's my favorite tragic and toxic ship. They fit so well together as mentor and apprentice, husband and wife, two intellectuals in a pod. Lucy was just as crazy and unethical as Hojo, throwing her own life and body to a parasite in her womb, and even so far after her death Hojo poured all his love and energy into making their parasitic son the best damned experiment in the lab, the most powerful weapon he made with his own hands. Carefully tending to and raising with a firm hand and heart so he can get results he wants, and when Sephiroth "died" is when Hojo mourned him like his wife had mourned and wailed into the night over her son being taken.

And now Hojo found a new man, he wasn't as smart as Lucrecia, but he was loyal and strategic. I'd like to think Hojo would be mentally beating himself up over his love for Heidegger because he's so so different from his late wife. Maybe they can have sons together (Hojo maybe wanting to be closer to the mother figure he took from Sephiroth's life, so he shifts and changes things in his body so he can carry and birth his and Heidegger's sons". mmmm mpreg

[altocat]

Does Genesis just gets smug when he's standing next to someone shorter than him but then he huffs in annoyance when Angeal or Sephiroth show up to best him in height?

Gen's problem is that he's a very tall height (6'2) but he's the shortest and sickliest in a trio of stacked powerhouse men. Angeal (6'5) is already pretty bulky as it is, but SEPHIROTH (6'7) is a physical and literal monster who has to incline his head downwards whenever he's addressing Genesis. Genesis hates it. What's worse is that Angeal's annoying puppy apprentice is growing noticably taller than him as well (6'3). Genesis is the odd man out.

Thus, Genesis takes great pleasure in hanging around the younger soldiers, preening beneath their praise and swaggering about throwing his weight around. He can be very kind to them, of course. But he also enjoys being older, stronger, and more "responsible" (BIG QUOTES for that) than them.

Genesis so badly wants to be respected and seen. He desperately wants people's understanding and acceptance. And he never truly realized that his friends always loved and respected him just the way he was until it was too late.

And now he's the tallest. And the strongest.

Because he's the only one who's still alive.

[prismaticpichu]

A few weeks back the amazing @altocat shared some awesome ideas she had for her gem of a fic A Monster’s Threads that didn’t quite make the cut. I was so so intrigued by one of the ideas… for some reason. I dunno why I was. It’s a horrible, horrible prospect and goes against everything I stand for as a floofy writer.

Alas I wanted to give it a shot bc the inspiration bug bit me! I was super trepidatious to share bc the subject matter is… bizarre. Dark. But hopefully it gets the point across quickly ;3 It’s pretty short and not the most fleshed out bc unfortunately the mojo gotta little lost towards the end, but I really didn’t want it to rot alone in the files! Consider it a tiny surprise gift (many question marks bc this seems like affliction more than anything). Hopefully the sidelined idea was brought to reality in somewhat of a neat way.

Caution for iffy/macabre subject matter. Enjoy!!

The room was an empty, gaping space in the building. No windows lined the walls, no flowers arranged, no benches, no audience. Light only cast down from the fluorescent shapes that camouflaged into the ceiling tiles above, buzzing with the throb of electricity, a callous and mocking dirge humming against the otherwise viscous silence that clung on to everything in range. It felt like some kind of twisted supply closet; they shoved it away, swept it aside to keep the rest of the image clean.

The only thing there was, was the casket elevated on a small platform in the heart of the room. Sephiroth breathed in the thick, acidic silence with fragility, like his lungs could chip, emerald eyes never tearing away from the wooden cage that trapped the remains of his first ever friend inside.

The remains…

It trapped a husk, a shell, some vessel without thoughts, without feeling, without a rhythm in his chest for him to hear. And he was straining with all his godforsaken heightened senses to find one--to prove that they were wrong, that he was alive, that it was a nightmare. That he wasn't alone in this lonely supply closet.

But he heard nothing, and he was.

No... that wasn't the full truth. There were others here, surrounding him, somewhere, some hazy silhouettes skirting the room through the fog: Tseng, a batch of other Turks, Heidegger... Zackary.

Sephiroth allowed his eyes to drift left, just an inch. Zackary was standing beside him. He was as tethered to the casket as he was, lost in another world, numb, detached, except the stone on his face was crumbled into anguish; his eyes bled, brimming with tears as he took in his own rattling breaths. He was grieving.

Sephiroth used that fragment of his vision to study him. There was a narrow X branching along the edge of his clenched jawline, a visible vein, the pockmark still hued with a raw shade of crimson made even brighter under the flickering lights overhead.

It was the symbol of their fight; a memento; a sign of a battle that should have never been given in to. Should have never been won. Should never—

Killer.

Sephiroth blinked for the first time in minutes, taken aback by the cutting word that tore into his mind. He hadn't been consciously thinking it, hadn't conjured the thought up. It ambushed him beyond his awareness.

But it wasn't wrong.

The thought refused to leave him, to filter out, like a poisonous insect clinging onto the broken shards of his psyche and stringing them together again, the world making sense again. At least for now--at least in the moment he was marooned in. His emotions had somewhere to funnel to, clotting around the single word—scar, person—like a tumor. And then he let himself slip.

He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the boy.

Zackary caught scowl in the corner of his own vision. It was slight at first, like he pretended not to notice, his attention bound by Angeal's stolen presence. But as he continued to glare, as more of his own attention bled away from Angeal and onto his apprentice, the more the flames grew, and the more they lapped at the strings keeping Zackary's gaze fixed. They burned through it, swallowing it, until the heat became too strong to ignore.

Zackary turned to him, and Sephiroth watched as the stone crumbled into something unreadable, then shaped into shock, then that shock whetted into something sharper. Zackary turned to him, and glared back.

He was angry with him...?

Him

HIM?

It infuriated him for reasons beyond what he could grasp--for reasons he didn’t want to grasp. It was obnoxious. Unfounded. Unforgivable. Angeal was dead. He was dead, killed by those two hands slowly balling into fists at Zackary's side. Those hands had taken Angeal away from him; they took the fragile hope he sacrificed his career and well-being for and shattered it. The mission was not to kill him; it had been to bring him back to safety... to him. That had been the plan. That had been their only objective. It was what they had wanted.

And he...

He...

That insect was finished with its job, had made everything make sense again, and now lunged out of him with its work left behind. Sephiroth's lips curled into a snarl.

"Traitor."

The single sawlike word was the only thing to disturb the silence, cleaving through it like a knife. It cleared the fog, too, and Sephiroth was suddenly very aware of the plethora of staff that actually surrounded him. They had all been lost in it, now revealed, and they were staring at him and the way he was snarling. He didn't care. He didn't care.

Let them stare. Let them STARE. It didn't take away the truth, make it less real.

The haze in Zack's eyes evaporated, shooed away by the flames that overtook his expression instead. The boy's expression boiled over the limit, his fists clenching further until he heard a tear.

And then one flew right at him.

Sephiroth staggered backwards, fist embedding into his skin with unrelenting force. The pain only flared for a moment. Then it was lost.

Sephiroth didn't know how far he lost himself; the fog billowed around him all again, only that it blinded him now, obscuring his mind and world in livid shades of red. He lunged at the boy, and he lunged at him, a flurry of punches and and kicks and scratches erupting until they were sent rolling on the ground. They grappled like wolves, the hazy cries of employees muddled as if they were underwater.

"STOP!" A hand was on him, grabbing his coat; Sephiroth threw it away. He used the hand to land his fists into Zackary's cheek, repeatedly buffeting him, striking, pounding, digging his knuckles into that godforsaken scar.

Zackary seized his wrists, struggling like the opposite end of a magnet to keep him from reaching him again.

So much was flashing through his eyes; so many shapes, memories, colors. Red. White. Black. Orange. All in a tempest, engulfing him in the past.

"I should have let Ifrit kill you." His elbows trembled against the resistance, teeth bared in a rabid grid of white. “I would have brought him back. Them both."

Pink rivers cascaded down Zackary's cheeks, the rest of his features a masquerade of smeared crimson. Sharp cries tore from his lips as he bent his elbows in the opposite direction, like pulling a stubborn lever.

“THE HELL WITH THAT!" he roared in between the howls, words choked. "YOU PROBABLY DROVE THEM AWAY! ALL YOU CARED ABOUT WAS PROVING YOURSELF RIGHT!" He broke his arms away. "And you know WHAT? You were RIGHT. Are you happy? Are you HAPP--"

Sephiroth seized him by the collar, hoisting him off floor, splattered and tainted. He couldn't respond; his chest was heaving too hard, lungs too constricted, almost as much as his eyes--two threadlike needles set ablaze, boring into the mistake in his hands.

"Sephiroth, DON'T.”

It was Tseng's voice; he barely heard him. All he could hear was the air cutting as he flung Zackary across the room—flying, flying, flying.

And crashing.

It wasn't only Zackary that came plummeting back to the ground; the casket was knocked off its platform from the impact, an echoing clatter of wood exploding as it crumbled to the ground beside them. The coffin rattled. The ground vibrated. The latches unlocked.

And its contents spilled out.

Angeal's body lay sprawled along the metal, unmoving, pale. The husk's arm stretched towards him, fingers splayed. And his face... looking at him. Through him. His head was turned, lolled his way.

Ashamed.

The room fell deadly silent. Nobody moved, nobody talked, caught in the moment's thrall of shock.

Zack collected himself from the ground, peeling his viscid hands and knees away, splinters embedded in his palms… and he gaped at the corpse sprawled in front of him. He was struck just as silent. Numb. Unmoving.

That was, until he turned to Sephiroth, and his visage completely broke.

“You’re… you’re a monster…”

He ran out of the room with his eyes closed.

[dark-elf-writes]

Anyway third time travel au idea because I have no self control

Genesis doesn’t get grabbed by Deepground but isn’t allowed to join with the lifestream so he just kind of wanders as a force Lifestream ghost and watches over Cloud because there’s… not much else he can do.

(He tried following Sephiroth, or the thing that was once Sephiroth really, for a while. The mix of guilt and grief and fury has nearly knocked him senseless and made him ache for his materia… and a physical form to use them.

It would be a mercy to end his once friend, he knows. Sephiroth would have hated to be anyone’s puppet. )

So he follows Cloud, a not so silent spectator as he watches the man save the world.

And then do it again.

And again.

There are others watching now, Zack who had thrown a spectral arm around his shoulders and called him soft, the ancient girl with her sweet smile and sharp eyes.

It her that offers it. The chance to change all of this as the thing puppeting one of Genesis’ best friends bodies resurrects itself once again.

What meaning does time have to the three of them? They were as much of the Lifestream as they were not. What was to stop them from going back and changing all of this.

He would never admit to it, but Genesis had grown fond of the man who was once the boy, of the one who stood between the world and destruction time and time again. How could he not after following him for so long? Truly a hero worthy of the Godess’ blessing.

And Genesis… wanted better for him than those ever tired eyes and lonely days between fights spent kneeling in a shattered church staring at his hands for hours at a time. Better than silent panic attacks in dark rooms before he took up his sword to slay his demon yet again. Better than the never ending drive to move forward when all the man wanted was rest.

Perhaps he could give that boy something better. Give him a world that didn’t need saving. Give him rest after all this time.

No hate; only joy, for Cloud was beloved by the Goddess.

Nothing will forestall Genesis’ return.

So in the end he goes back and has to figure out how he’s going to get his hands on his son future apprentice, make sure he and Angeal don’t start to degrade again, and stop Sephiroth’s Not Mother from assuming control all while he’s still technically a teenager himself.

The Not Vampire he collects from a certain mansion isn’t incredibly helpful for any of those goals, but Cloud is fond of him or will be anyway and Genesis is nothing if not generous.