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bardic-tales · 1 month ago

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Title: Youth

Pairing: Bianca Moore (f!OC) / Sephiroth

Other Character: Professor Hojo

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 1591

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII, Ever Crisis

Setting: AU: Redemption

Warnings: Abuse, body horror, combat violence, cold & hypothermia, death, emotional distress, experimentation, fear, isolation, manipulation, paranoia, psychological trauma

Summary: In a stimulated combat scenario, Bianca and Sephiroth confront the powerful summons Bahamut and Shiva to prove their abilities to Professor Hojo.

Squared Filled: Youth

Created for: #SephirothWeek which is hosted by @week-of-silver-winds

Note: This is from my redemption!AU where the timeline becomes very canon divergent. Also, for anyone who is following along with my passion project, Sephiroth and Bia meet very young in this AU.

In it, Hojo is the primary antagonist. This fan fic takes place during Ever Crisis before the First Episode of the First SOLDIER. So, Seph is 15; Bia, 13.

Excerpt:

In a cry of agony, tendrils burst forth from her back, surged towards Shiva, and pierced the summon’s defenses.

Still, the battle raged on. The sound of steel and the crackling of frost echoed across the virtual world. Shiva moved weakly as they continued to carve into her. Sephiroth knew they couldn’t waste anymore time. Drawn-out displays wouldn’t satisfy Professor Hojo.

Thump. Thump. Thump. His heart beat. The young man held onto the military saber and slowly lifted the blade parallel to his head and shoulder as he eased into his combat stance. He looked at his companion: the young girl that had been a constant in his life for five years now, the only one he was allowed to converse with.

Their environment flickered and glitch before them. Solid powder-blue boxes swayed, pivoted on their axis, rose, and descended. From the west, a warm breeze blew across the stimulation, waving his shoulder-length silver hair and her waist-length midnight locks behind them like banners welcoming warriors home from a battle. He looked at the force before them.

The battle was yet to be won. He didn’t scowl or have much emotion, other than looking at their foes before them: Bahamut and Shiva.

“On my mark,” he said.

Bianca nodded, as she curled her right hand into a fist and slammed it against the silver habaki and ebony tsuka, gliding her hand to the left and pulling Noctemaris from the void between dimensions. The black and dark gray blade emerged behind her fist, sparkling and glimmering with star dust. “Which one first?”

They had to preform above expectations or Hojo would take Bianca from him and return her shaken, bruised, and broken. Even if that meant endured their training, he had to protect Bianca.

“Shiva,” he replied. “She’s the most threat to us, as you’re delicate around ice and cold.”

Without another word, Sephiroth surged forward. His eyes fixated on the ice goddess who loomed ahead. The air around Bianca and Sephiroth was already thick with frost. The chill clawed at his skin, but he pressed on. His determination was unyielding.

If I hesitate, he thought, it would mean failure. Failure would mean Hojo’s interference with Bianca once again. This was a thought he would not tolerate: her experimentation.

Nameless flashed as he closed the distance to the scantily clad summon. His movements were precise and deadly. The ground beneath him cracked with each step forward, as the frozen ground protested his advance.

Without breaking stride, he launched himself into a serious of rapid slashes. The rapid successions of strikes aimed at childing away at Shiva’s defenses. Her green hair flowed around her as she tried to defend against Sephiroth’s graceful brutality.

Bianca darted to the side, using his assault as cover. She moved with a grace that belied the dark power coursing through her veins. Her wings unfurled and cast a shadow over the battlefield. With a single, powerful beat of her wings, she lifted herself into the air. The surrounding shadows deepened and obscured her from Shiva’s gaze.

Sephiroth knew they would have to finish this quickly. The cold gnawed at Bianca, lining her flesh with ice crystals. If they didn’t end it quick, there was a real possibility for her to develop hypothermia.

He glanced up for a moment as darkness oscillated around her, concealing herself from both Sephiroth and Shiva’s view. As he continued his relentless assault, Bianca descended from above and plunged downward with Noctemaris.

In a cry of agony, tendrils burst forth from her back, surged towards Shiva, and pierced the summon’s defenses.

“Now, Bianca,” he called above the din, signaling her to finish the summon while he intercepted Bahamut. Sephiroth spun on his heel. The dragon’s roar shook the stimulator.

With a surge of shadows, Bianca’s blade plunged into Shiva’s chest. The dark energies expanded from the blade, as the star-drench blade glowed now: a crimson nebula surrounded Noctemaris, the arms spinning wildly around the length of the blade.

Shiva shattered in a explosion of crystalline shards and darkness.

“Move!” he commanded Bianca. With a swift leap, he launched himself toward the dragon, ready to engage their next challenge before Hojo ended the stimulation.

Sephiroth now leapt at Bahamut. His saber poised to strike as the air seemed to crackle with the dragon’s raw, untamed power. The beast’s eyes glowed red as it inhaled the surrounding air. The very air sizzled around Sephiroth as the dragon prepared to unleash a burst of Mega Flare.

There was no time to hesitate. He pushed forward, leaping up into the air again and bringing down Nameless with a downward strike. The ground beneath him split into a pentacle. The impact sent a tremor through Sephiroth’s arms, but he didn’t relent.

Bahamut recoiled while Sephiroth concentrated. A large fireball hovered over his hand, which he immediately threw at the dragon’s large silvery leathery wings.

As Bianca still soared through the air, her tendrils quivered and writhed around her. The darkness emanating from her wings intensified, casting blackness over the entire stimulation. With a fierce cry, she dove before the dragon’s belly and jabbed at it with the tendrils. They lashed at Bahamut’s underside.

The dragon roared in fury. It swatted at Bianca with its colossal claws, but she weaved and bobbed out of reach, siphoning blood from the creature through her appendages. As she danced through the air, Sephiroth struck from the ground. A rapid sequence of eight quick thrusts and slashes severed the joints of Bahamut’s massive limbs. His blade moved like a flash of silver.

With a surge of dark energy, Bianca unleashed her fury. Her movements became a blur as Noctemaris carved through the air and Bahamut. Each stroke left behind a trail of shadow, sapping the dragon’s will and strength.

Bahamut’s once-mighty form wavered. With a last thrust from Nameless, the giant beast collapsed. Its form and energy dissipating into the air.

Silence fell across the stimulation as Sephiroth reached into his coat and retrieved his flip phone. With the press of the downward arrow, he scrolled through the options and hit ‘Mission Successful’. The screen flashed in confirmation. Before the stimulation collapsed around them, he took one look at Bianca and ensured she was unharmed. Tiny cuts and bruises lined her arms, but nothing severe.

After they removed their V.R. headsets, they were met by the calculating gaze of the Head of Research and Development.

“You both need to be faster. Train harder or you’ll never unlock your full potentials.” The mad scientist, a Shinra board member by the name of Professor Hojo, held the clipboard in his hand. He was shorter than the teenage boy, but he still held power over Sephiroth.

In his other hand, Hojo held a pen and scribbled down notes on the sheet of paper clipped to the board. “Especially you, Bianca. You have barely tapped into your potential abilities."

Sephiroth’s brilliant cyan gaze flicked towards Bianca. Her indigo eyes widened, blowing out her feline-like pupils. The string looping around their separate wrists pulsated an angry red, allowing the anxiety and fear running through the strings to settle deep within his own stomach. It amplified the fear, sending it back to the small girl.

“This separation will make both of you stronger,” Hojo said, as he gripped onto Bianca’s right bicep. His spindly fingers bit into her soft knitted turtleneck.

Although he didn’t show it, his heart galloped as he watched Hojo lead Bianca away. He had to shelter her from Hojo, and he would. Thump. Thump. Thump.

tagging some fellow mutuals: @themaradwrites @littleshopofchaos @serenofroses @megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@nightingaleflow @seastarblue @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen

@chickensarentcheap

#sephirothweek #seph-week2024 #seph-week: fwc #seph-week: fwc: ff #oc: bianca moore - ff #character: sephiroth #sephiroth #character: professor hojo #final fantasy vii fan fiction #ff vii fan fiction #bardic-tales #bardic tales #fic: memories from the lifestream #seph-week: day 2: youth #au: canon divergence #au: redemption #flash fiction: fwc: ff

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holly-fixation · 1 year ago

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Three... Guards? Ch7

Summary: Tifa finds Cloud at the train station in Sector Seven. It’s the first time she’s seen him in seven years. But he’s not alone. Three silver haired boys protected him. Three silver haired boys that triggered memories of her hometown. Of steel through her chest. Of SOLDIER First Class. Of Him.

Now the future is staring them in the face.

Please Enjoy!

Inspired by the prompt by @im-totally-not-an-alien

Chapter 7: You Win Some...

‘Big Brother’. Strife could have lived a thousand lifetimes without hearing that title again. He was lucky that he almost stopped the remnants from completing their goal. If they didn’t fall into the reactor, if the Lifestream had not been the source of so many problems and absurd solutions before, maybe he would have left them there. But He came back from the Lifestream. Strife couldn’t take the chance that the remnants could possess the same skill. He never expected to see Midgar whole again, questioning where or whenever he was. He had to focus on keeping his former teammates’ trust which meant no killing ‘the boys that saved him in this world’. At least they might have some way of finding their youngest brother before ending up in more trouble with Shinra.

Right now, the evacuation and protection of Sector Seven was AVALANCHE’s top priority. Barret took over the slums, having just the right balance of charisma and intimidation to convince a large chunk of the population that this was not a joke. Still, without any active threat or battle occuring, it took time. Sometimes it took money. Most times both. If Strife hadn’t come back with his wallet intact, Barret would be worried about starving to death before Shinra even sent a threat.

Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge all attempted to secure the upper plate, but with almost no reputation and the nature of Shinra supplied housing for their workers, they struggled. Only a handful of families followed, deciding to spend the night with their extended families on other plates. Both above and below, all AVALANCHE members knew exactly why so few listened: they were not sure if they could trust ‘future boy’ and without a direct attack, no member had their hearts in their work.

Only ‘future boy’ and the two elder brothers believed in the coming truth. Strife refused to let them out of sight, even with the fate of the pillar they stood on. The boys only listened to Tifa’s command to stay by his side. Strife promised not to kill them, not yet anyway. He couldn’t let any of the Remnants find any part of Jenova. Whatever this new Reunion was could not be good. On top of this pillar with very few places to run would have to do for now. He just hoped they weren’t stupid enough to take another suicide dive like they did in the reactor that sent them here. Or like Kadaj did to the Cloud here.

This just left Tifa at the gate between Sector Six and Sector Seven, waiting for Cloud and the girl in the pink dress he should be with. What was her name again? Aeris? Either way, Strife informed her of their impending arrival, but also explained that in his world, he did not reach the gates until long after nightfall. Tifa knew of Cloud’s strange loyalty to the boys, however, so she believed Cloud would return sooner if returning Kadaj claimed top priority.

Well… she was almost right.

She watched Cloud and the girl in pink enter through the back of the playground near the gate. The sun hung dark in the sky, night nearly fallen and the gates ready to close soon.

“Cloud!” Tifa sprinted to her old friend and trapped him in her embrace. “You are alive!”

Cloud softly returned the hug, but he didn't get a chance to speak or protest before she realized his very thought.

“Wait a second, where’s Kadaj?”

He let her go to look into her ruby eyes. “The Turks took him.”

“What?!”

“I don't know what they're planning-”

“They're taking him to Shinra Tower,” The girl in pink spoke for the first time. “We have to get him out of there, Tifa.”

Tifa's gaze met the planet greens. “Aerith, right?”

Confusion flashed on her face. “How did you-?”

“Long story but right now we have to get to the top of the pillar.”

“The pillar?”

“Shinra's trying to drop the Sector Seven plate to get rid of AVALANCHE.”

Cloud’s military instincts kicked in instantly, giving absolutely no delay or useless questions. No one would make that up. “Where are the others?”

“Barret's evacuating the slums. Marleen's with Marle on their way to Sector Five. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge are trying to evacuate the upper plate.”

“And the boys?”

She winced a bit. “At the top of the pillar with 'Long Story'.”

Cloud turned to the girl with the pink bow. “Aerith, you should head back-”

“I’m going with you. Those boys might be in trouble and they might listen to me too.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

She giggled. “I can take care of myself.”

A loud clank boomed from the side of the gates.

“We have to get in Sector Seven right now!” Tifa shouted quickly before dashing through the massive closing metal. The two rushed behind and made it through with plenty of time to spare.

Only then did they learn Shinra had caught onto their plan.

The sector was flooded with security personnel threatening anyone who planned to leave, rifles and batons at the ready to take down any resistance. The deadly uniforms even found the underground tunnels to Sector Five, both barring any entrance and trapping the people inside.

This was not part of the plan. Thankfully only the bottom of the pillar was guarded to the teeth. Strife and the boys were still at the ready, but Tifa’s group needed to fight their way through. At the very least, they could be backup for ‘Long Story’.

* * *

“Big Brother, can I have a potion?”

“Why the hell would I give you a potion.”

“Because we're being good,” Loz explained a bit defensively.

“'Being good'?”

“Yes. We listened. We haven't tried to run away.”

Strife groaned. They had been up here for hours waiting for Shinra to make their move. None of them spoke a word to each other. The boys didn’t know what Strife would do, and Strife didn’t know what he should do. “Have you really been getting away with this ‘helpless child’ act after what you did?”

“We saved your life here…”

“Don’t pretend you were selfless.”

Yazoo sighed as he scratched his arm. “Your friends are grateful nonetheless…”

The man almost growled, digging through his pocket before throwing the container to the largest boy. “I will hunt you down if you try to run away.”

“We haven’t tried to leave…” Loz explained sadly as he popped the container open. “Your friends are nice to us…”

That… Strife didn’t know how to react to that, the childish sadness genuinely getting on his nerves. A lie? Most likely. A statement that wouldn't hold up if their 'mother' stood in the way? Absolutely. If Tifa did not demand their lives remain whole, Strife would absolutely claim ‘he couldn’t get there in time’ or ‘Shinra was more prepared than he thought’.

The ratchet of bullets pierced through the slums, and the boys ran from the control panel to the edge in search of the source, clinging to the railing between the three hundred meter drop. Yazoo instinctively reached for his gun. Loz did the same for his gloves, but both were quickly reminded by the emptiness at their sides where their weapons actually were.

Strife had long discarded the remnants’ hardly functioning scraps from the slums. He managed to find all of their true weapons when he first appeared in this new world, and he sheathed them for safe keeping within his many sword holders.

They glanced back at their big brother. “Tifa’s back…”

He nodded, watching the center pillar of Midgar. A single helicopter tainted the under skyscape. The Turks. There was no other option.

“She found you…”

No surprise there. “Get away from the edge before they realize we’re up here.”

They nodded and went back to leaning against the control panel. Loz was positively itching for battle, his hands twitching and eyes constantly jerking to every sound below. If Yazoo felt the same way, he did not show it.

Mako eyes watched and enhanced ears listened as the battle and the aircraft moved closer and closer. Soon one clearly overtook the other, and the dreaded helicopter donned with Shinra’s logo landed on the platform first.

The two remnants were taken aback by the familiar faces threatening them once more.

“Damn, you sure move quickly…” Reno muttered as he readied his baton. “Leaving Aerith all on her own just to get a new wardrobe?”

“We’ll have to check up on her later,” Rude responded.

Strife did not answer them, silently adjusting his fully complete sword.

“No comment this time?”

Again, nothing.

“Straight to the fight then, huh? Just the way I like it!” The red headed Turk attacked first, but Strife’s single maneuver had the tip of his blade to the agent’s throat.

Rude tried to intervene, yet suffered the same fate from a single click of the detaching blades.

“Fall back.”

“Ha! Get real!”

Another attempt. Another failure.

“Fall. Back,” The blonde practically growled.

“What the hell…?” Reno muttered, utterly confused how this man suddenly gained so much strength.

“Get back on that helicopter. And tell Tsung you failed.” Strife saw the twitch in their eyes at the mention of their boss. Of course these trained professionals hid their slip quickly. “Never return to Sector Seven again.”

“Like hell we will!”

Strife stalked forward slowly, forcing them both back at the same pace. “Tell them I was there when Sephiroth burned Nibelheim to the ground and they covered it up. Tell them I will use every inconsistency of the actors you left there, the hidden chamber in the mako reactor housing a literal alien, that their ultimate goal is to find a fictional Promised Land by torturing a mother and daughter because they have no reading comprehension skills, that they injected every SOLDIER with both mako and the alien’s DNA and that’s why we all degrade, to take them down. I can go on with all the lies and cover ups Shinra has done in the name of more gil, and I will shout it from the top of Shinra Tower if I have to. Do I make myself clear?”

“Tell them yourself,” Reno spat.

Strife shoved them against the aircraft. “Get out of here.”

“Why don’t you kill us?”

Reno really needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut.

“Because I want Shinra and all its bullshit off my back.”

Finally the two Turks entered the helicopter, the redheaded one still glaring at Strife with a silent demand. This isn’t over. Rude opened fire. Each bullet crashed straight into the control panel and screens. And the long haired boy that wasn’t fast enough to dodge.

Strife slashed a beam of magic at them, but Reno stole the reins and flew them out of the way and towards HQ. Once he was sure they wouldn’t return, he ran to the Remnant’s side, shoving an elixir into the boy’s hand. “Take this before Tifa kills me.”

Yazoo nodded through gritted teeth and obeyed, shakily lifting the bottle with both arms as blood flowed down his shirt. The bullet literally went through him, the panel visible through the wound.

Of course his wound just began to close as Cloud, Tifa, and Aerith finally arrived.

Tifa spoke first as Cloud observed in shock, and Aerith watched with curiosity. “Strife, did you take care of them?”

He nodded. “The Turks are gone. They’re not coming back.”

“Miss Tifa, please help Yazoo!” The elder remnant yelled.

Tifa and Aerith ran to the young boy’s side, but Aerith was the one to cast a healing spell and mend his shoulder completely.

“There you go, little guy,” She gave a small smile to hopefully prevent any worry, but he just gave her a confused look.

Strife glanced up at his younger self. “Where’s Kadaj?”

Cloud hardened his confusion for a moment, taking on the soldier-like instincts he needed to get through this. “The Turks took him.”

“...no…” Denial clogged his voice.

“We have to get him out of there.”

“You’re messing with me-”

“Shinra put a bounty on them and I guarantee if we don’t get there soon-”

“-Hojo’s gonna experiment on him with anything he deems fit.” Strife finished for… ‘himself’.

Cloud only nodded. A lot of explanations were in order, as well as developing a completely new plan.

“...FUCK.”

* * *

It was dark outside his container, the cylindrical glass chamber Shinra trapped him in. He growled at the irony of it all, that he suffered the same fate as Mother when all he wanted to do was find Her. She had to be here. They always knew how to keep her hidden, but each attempt at escape left him in greater pain.

He scratched silently at the massive bandages of his chest, a procedure he was told started and finished while he was unconscious. The resultant grogginess still infected his mind. He almost missed the annoying Shinra lap dogs that brought him here.

This lab was Hell incarnate.

They threw him in some kind of battle chamber until he couldn’t stand, each robot and creature wearing him down bit by torturous bit. Once he collapsed, they injected him with some kind of tranquilizer. He awoke in the tank after the procedure concluded, but even through his frustrated and drug-ailed mind, he knew the name he kept hearing over and over and over again.

What were they looking for? What did they think they would find?

The scientist with long greasy black hair and dark circular glasses paced in front of his chamber again, the same one he was certain made every decision about his existence in this laboratory. Small mako tanks lined the walls, but most light came from the lacking artificial glow above.

“You know of Sephiroth, yes?” Hojo’s slimy voice finally stained the air.

“I’ve never known Sephiroth,” Kadaj spat the truth, his glare nearly cutting the glass he was trapped in.

“Your test results are quite impossible without some connection to him. So what are you? The result of some desperate fangirl looking through his garbage?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Come now. I have plenty of time.”

“It’s. Complicated.”

Hojo skimmed through the clipboard in his hand. “A new mutation of S cells. Slight differences in bone structure at presumed age. Greater presence of mako within cell formations. You’re almost the same as Sephiroth. But not completely. There are certain genes missing, genes I know you need to survive.”

“Mother…” The small word left his lips in the tiniest defiant whisper.

“Excuse me?”

“Because of Mother…”

He gave an annoyed sigh. “I don’t care what your lying mother told you, there’s no physical way-”

Kadaj suddenly slammed in the glass, cutting the scientist off. “Don’t you dare insult Mother like that.”

“I will speak of your worthless mother as I deem fit-”

His blood boiled. “She did not sail the cosmos to be judged by the likes of a pathetic creature like you!”

Hojo took a single inch back, his eyes finally returning to the boy. “...Who was your mother?”

“Your kind calls Her a calamity. But She is a godsend.”

“What's her name?”

The child slammed the glass again, this time earning a shock and a small shout in response.

“What is her name, Child?”

“...You called Mother 'Jenova'. 'A new god'. That’s the only thing you did right.”

Hojo skimmed the note again, the smallest flicker appearing in his eye. Realization. “...You’re a part of Sephiroth.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but fell silent at the truth.

“Yes, yes, that’s exactly why you’re incomplete.” Hojo kept flipping through the pages. “Even your battle results agree, just shy of what Sephiroth was capable of at your age.”

“Stop saying his name…” The mutter went unheard.

“Oh we need much more testing. Under certain simulations, do you make the same decisions? Do you use the same spells? Do you have the same temper? Besides mannerisms, can I rebuild Sephiroth through you? Or separate Jenova’s cells from your DNA and begin entirely new experiments?”

Kadaj gulped, his heart sinking and a deep instinct threatening to cry out from his very soul.

This lab is Hell.

“The possibilities are endless.”

To be Continued...

Thanks for reading!

Author’s Note: I try not to curse in my fics, but this seemed appropriate.