Chapter Text
Chapter One
Genesis’s day started as he expected considering that he, of all people, managed to get assigned a mission to some backwater ‘village’ out in the middle of nowhere. The only reason he accepted it was because the mission was to investigate the appearance of random mako springs, which sometimes meant new materia. It didn’t preclude any grumbling on his part involving how backwater the collection of houses and buildings which had the lofty ideas that it was more than it was by calling itself a village was.
However, he learned just how quickly his day could take a turn for the confusing when he was about to pass by the mansion owned by the Company and heard a ruckus involving four small voices.
“Phoenix? GIMME!” a small voice demanded as another small voice screamed in fury, “I AM GUNNA KILL YOU SEPHIWOTH!!”
“What will you do? Gum me to death?” a third child’s voice asked calmly but exceedingly smugly.
“EVERYONE STOP!” the fourth voice commanded, shouting above the din which sounded like a fire.
“I’LL STOP WHEN HE’S DEAD!”
“NO ONE IS KILLING ANYONE!”
“I refuse to cow to the demands of a pathetic human who doesn’t know its place.”
It was then that his path reached the point where he was in sight of the whole scene. A bird made of fire was having a blast setting fire to the mansion as a mob of four children appeared to be in the middle of a fight. Three of the four looked like much younger versions of himself and his two friends plus a blond chocobo-haired child. The eldest looked no older than ten if that, and looked just like someone had figured out how to turn his best friend into a boy.
The smaller Angeal had managed to shove his very oversized uniform shirt into his equally oversized uniform trousers which were secured in place by simply tying the top belt in a knot. The only reason the small Angeal wasn’t tripping over the legs to his trousers was because they appeared to have been cut off at the ankles. The much younger Angeal was clearly trying to break up the fight between the blond child and a similarly much younger Sephiroth who he swore looked to be the second youngest of the group.
The miniature Sephiroth had similarly altered his trousers, which was the only scrap of clothing on the pale child and looked like he was having balance issues from holding what he swore was the Masamune. Sephiroth was also apparently the shortest of the children as well and was quite intent to make his way around or through the younger-than-he-should-be Angeal to get to his foe.
Then there was the chocobo-haired child who was dressed all in black, merely wearing a sleeveless black knit pullover with a zipper in the front which only extended barely past the collar. The child was clearly the youngest, appearing to be no older than six if that and had pierced ears with a metal stud of some kind and looked just as intent as the child Sephiroth was about fighting, except that he had more than just a smaller version of Angeal to contend with but...a smaller version of him?
That was the child that caught his attention the most. The child had much longer hair than expected, having abandoned the red leather coat like the child Sephiroth had likewise abandoned his own black leather coat and otherwise modified his outfit just like the child Angeal had. The child version of himself was tugging on the chocobo-haired child, focused on something that was clearly important.
He took a step towards the melee of children and the snow underfoot must have crunched loud enough for the children’s hearing to pick up because the ruckus immediately died and he found himself getting stared at with four pairs of mako-infused eyes.
“I’m outta here!” the blond exclaimed before trying to run off.
“No you’re not,” the small Angeal announced, grabbing the back of the blond boy’s shirt, a move he’d witnessed Angeal doing to his student and having also been victim of such tactics in his youth.
The mini-Sephiroth wordlessly tried to move away as well, only to have gotten hit by a sleep spell from mini-Genesis and passed out like a light.
“LEGGO ME!” the chocobo haired child screamed, struggling against mini-Angeal’s grip on the child’s shirt.
Following the lead of mini-him, he hit the remaining three with a sleep spell, figuring that it was just best to snatch the children away and throw them in the car and get them somewhere safe before contacting his best friends for what was shaping up to be the weirdest phone call ever. However, an unforeseen flaw with that plan appeared when the blond child remained awake while the other two children passed out.
Unfortunately, both he and the blond child had discovered this fact at the same time and clearly decided to have a staring contest. Fortunately for him but not the child, another red clad man had crept up on said child.
“Are they yours?” he asked the man, who was dressed in a tattered red cape which had a high collar that hid the bottom portion of his face and was otherwise dressed in black except for the golden gauntlet on one hand and golden plates covering his shoes.
“They are now,” Genesis responded as the man placed his gauntleted hand on the blond’s right shoulder.
“I would like to offer my assistance,” the man said.
“And why should I accept? What’s your angle?” he asked cautiously as the child looked like he was trying to struggle under the stranger’s grasp.
“The blond child knew where I was sleeping and ensured my escape before setting the mansion on fire. Also the white haired boy looks like someone I knew and I want to verify his identity,” the man explained in a deep voice.
“You know Sephiroth?” he asked, eyeing the man cautiously as the child stopped struggling.
“I knew his mother, Lucrecia,” the man said with a frown.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” he asked.
“Lucwetcia’s cave isn’t vewy faw,” the blond said.
“Which direction is this cave in?” he asked before the strange man could speak.
The blond child pointed towards a location on the other side of the “village”, which meant that they’d have to pass by the vehicle he was given for the mission. That would give him a place to stash the sleeping children while carrying the smaller child off to this cave to verify if the woman was indeed Sephiroth’s mother, entirely because he knew that his friend would love to get more information. He knew that as long as he bundled the three enhanced children in blankets and stowed them away in the trunk, they would be safe.
Which proved to be short work after purchasing some quilts from the local store and having someone to keep an eye on the chocobo head. He made sure to position the three boys in a way that was comfortable before hiding them from view in the trunk. All the villagers saw was he and a strange man with a blond boy placing three quilt-wrapped bundles in the trunk of a car. He knew better than to give the rumor mill more to work with in a way that would counter his current mission.
The kid wasn’t lying when he said that the cave was nearby and led them right to a cave where a crystal took up the center of the cave and in the center of the crystal was a brown haired woman whose bangs were very similar to Sephiroth’s. The more he took in the woman’s appearance, the more he saw a resemblance to Sephiroth and the more he believed she was Sephiroth’s mother.
“Lucrecia…” the man, he learned had the name of Vincent, said quietly, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” a woman’s voice echoed throughout the cave.
“Is Sephiroth your son?” he asked, wanting to verify things further.
“Yes. Hojo took him from me right after he was born,” the woman’s voice said, her voice quiet and sorrowful, “do you know my son?”
“I’m one of the few he clearly considers a friend,” he stated after a moment’s contemplation.
“He doesn’t have the ability to have fwiends!” the small blond shouted angrily.
He would have words with the blond later.
“How is he?” Lucrecia’s voice asked, echoing through the cave.
How was Sephiroth? A smug bastard who always gloated that he was the best and couldn’t be beaten. And yet… he remembered seeing Sephiroth’s expression subtly change whenever someone mentioned family or celebrations. How awkward Sephiroth was as a teen when they’d met and had assumed that when the topic of Angeal’s surprise birthday party was mentioned, the teen had believed that he wasn’t even invited until he had to tell the silver haired idiot that as one of Angeal’s friends, it was practically mandatory that he attend. Followed by a long series of questions from Sephiroth pertaining to how birthday parties are supposed to be like and the social norms of such things. The guy doesn’t even know when he was even born.
“He’s a menace and is gonna destwoy the Planet if we let him live!” the blond shouted again, clearly to get attention.
“He’s alright,” Genesis stated with a frown, ignoring the child’s outburst, “I don’t think Hojo has said much about his past or even lets him be a person. He’s got it rough.”
“It’s all because of me. If only I had stopped Hojo...,” Lucrecia’s voice echoed forlornly, “if my son ever wants to see me… he is welcome to… assuming it’s not too late… I too, had visions of Sephiroth as an adult destroying so much...”
“I doubt he would,” Genesis stated, “property damage, I could see him cause. However, he’s not the sort to go destroy the planet.”