Sephiroth looked around. "I don't recognize this place."

"This is the Lifestream," explained Professor Gast. "Normally everyone becomes a part of the Lifestream when they die. They become one with the Planet. You almost made it here once. You had a skirmish with a young man named Cloud Strife. Do you remember impaling him on your sword?"

"I remember," said Sephiroth darkly.

"He managed to free himself and toss you off a walkway into the Nibel Reactor. You fell into a river of Mako that was flowing below the reactor. You were more dead than alive. The Mako carried your body underground to the Northern Crater. A lesser man would have died outright, but because of your special abilities, you survived. Your body remained at the crater until you were ready to return. In the meantime, you used your psychic body to carry out your will."

Sephiroth shook his head. "What's a psychic body?"

"A psychic body is a spiritual projection of your physical body. It's a rare occurrence, but sometimes people have psychic or out-of-body experiences. A spiritual projection of that person leaves the physical body and travels where it will. Usually it doesn't go very far. Eventually the spiritual projection must return to the physical body to awaken in its present life. If that fails to happen, the physical body dies. When the physical body dies with the psychic body intact, that psychic body joins the Lifestream. If the physical body dies before the psychic body returns, the psychic body is trapped outside the physical body. A trapped psychic body can't be absorbed by the Lifestream and it can't really die. It remains imprisoned between both worlds, unable in most cases, to communicate with the living."

"Your background makes you far more powerful than the ordinary mortal. Not only were you able to leave your physical body at will and travel, you were able to travel longer distances and manipulate objects and people around you. For instance, you were able to use your mental abilities to control Cloud."

"He was a weakling. A failure clone," snapped Sephiroth.

"That weakling faced you in two battles alone. He defeated you both times," replied Professor Gast.

Sephiroth was silent.

Professor Gast sighed again. "Before your final fight with Cloud, you faced him and his companions in two other battles. You used your special abilities to take on two manifestations. In the first, five parts of your body had to be destroyed before you could be stopped. In the second, you became a powerful one-winged creature. When they defeated that form, only your spiritual body remained. Even then, you had enough power to call Cloud's spiritual body to the Lifestream to face you one last time."

Aeris joined in. "Do you remember that fight?"

Sephiroth frowned. "His attack was too strong. I was covered with blood. I didn't have the strength to hold my sword. I looked into his face and saw my death. I couldn't believe it was happening . . . the last thing I remember is falling away. I felt as if my body was coming apart and there was nothing I could do about it."

"You were dying," said Aeris. "Your spiritual body was breaking up. There was too much damage. You were already exhausted from the first two battles. The forms you used to fight Cloud's party used a lot of energy. You have to remember you had just returned from the Northern Crater. You came back with more power than before you left five years ago, but leaving the Northern Crater was like a second birth for you. You were strong, but in a sense, it was like having the strength of a newborn chocobo. If you had waited a little longer before you started using your powers, Cloud wouldn't have been able to defeat you."

"I may have underestimated Cloud, but the rest of your explanation is ridiculous." Sephiroth raised his hands and looked at them. "If my spiritual body was falling apart, how did I come to be here? Why didn't I cease to be?"

"You're here because of Holy," Aeris replied.

"What has Holy got to do with this?" Sephiroth asked.

"What Aeris means," Professor Gast broke in, "Is that you were saved by Holy."

"Why would Holy save me, when I was trying to take over the planet?" asked Sephiroth. "That doesn't make sense."

"Actually you were saved by both Holy and the Lifestream," Professor said. "Holy tried to stop Meteor but by the time Holy was released, Meteor was too close to the Planet. While Holy was trying to destroy Meteor, it was causing just as much damage as Meteor was. The Lifestream joined in to help Holy. Together they destroyed Meteor."

"I still don't understand why Holy would save me." Sephiroth stood up and began to pace. "Why would Holy save the person who called Meteor in the first place?"

"Because I prayed, and asked it to," said Aeris. "I prayed for Holy to save you."

"You prayed for MY life?" Sephiroth turned to stare at the girl. "Why would you do that? I TOOK yours!"

"That wasn't your fault," said Aeris softly.

"Ever since Aeris came here, she has been praying for your redemption," said the Professor, "And her prayers were answered. Remember you said you felt as if you were coming apart? The essence that makes you the person you are scattered after your fight with Cloud in the crater. As Holy was released from the crater, it captured those particles and held them together. I wonder now if that's why Holy didn't have enough power to push Meteor away from the Planet. All the while it was holding you, it was healing your essence and bringing it back together. Holy cured your insanity. When the battle was over, Holy passed your essence to the Lifestream. The Lifestream brought you here, in spiritual form, like us."

Sephiroth turned to Aeris. "Why would you do that for me?"

"I already answered that question." Aeris said. "That wasn't you. That was Jenova."

Sephiroth stared at her for a moment, shook his head and turned to Professor Gast. "What do you mean, the others?"

Professor Gast stood up and waved his hands to indicate the land around them. "Think of this place as a sort of a way-station, created by the others. You will remain here until they decide your fate."

"Before WHO decides my fate?" asked Sephiroth.

"The Cetra," said Aeris.

Sephiroth laughed and Aeris shivered. That laugh was very similar to his laugh from his days of madness.

"Thanks to Cloud Strife, there are no more Cetra!" Sephiroth snarled. "But I'll find a way out of here to finish what I started!"

"Your mother wouldn't want you to do that," said the Professor.

Sephiroth grinned. "On the contrary Professor Gast, my mother would give me her blessing. I intend to take this planet back from these pitiful humans."

"I'm one of those pitiful humans, Sephiroth," said Professor Gast.

Sephiroth couldn't think of a reply to that.

Aeris stood up and held her hands out to him. "You don't know the truth about Jenova and your mother."

"Don't you dare say my mother's name!" Sephiroth took a step toward her. "I'm tired of hearing her name on your lips and I won't hear your lies. My mother was held a prisoner by Shinra against her will until I freed her."

"Aeris is only trying to help Sephiroth," said Professor Gast.

"I don't think you should be remembered for something that really wasn't your fault." Aeris. "You were a great general once. That's what you should be remembered for. Not what happened afterwards."

"What do YOU care?" snapped Sephiroth. "I don't need a human to care about me."

"Yes you do Sephiroth," replied the Professor, rising to his feet. "You most of all."

Sephiroth couldn't bring himself to the say words on his tongue to the only friend he'd ever had. "I had my mother."

Professor Gast laid a hand on younger man's arm. " Sephiroth, Jenova was not your mother."

Sephiroth glared at Aeris. "What has this traitor been telling you? Whatever she said, they were lies. She has no idea who I am. She wasn't there to witness my birth!"

Professor Gast looked into the angry green eyes. "Aeris wasn't there when you were born Sephiroth, but I was. I stood in your fathers place, because he was too busy to bother with the birth of his own child."

"M-my father?" Sephiroth relaxed, overcome with curiosity. He had never heard the Professor speak of his father before. "You knew my father? I never met him."

Professor Gast looked down at his hands and didn't speak for a while. Sephiroth had never known Professor Gast to be at a loss for words. He waited patiently, unsure of what to do. When Professor Gast raised his face, Sephiroth was astonished to see tears in his eyes.

"Yes you have," Professor Gast said quietly. His eyes blazed with anger. "You've met that crazy bastard more times than any man should ever have to meet him in his life!"

Sephiroth didn't know how to respond. He was spared the attempt as the Professor went on.

"He never gave a damn about anyone but himself and his work. He had no respect for women. Sometimes we'd go to Costa del Sol to get away from the lab for a while and he'd be surrounded by adoring females. I couldn't understand it. Women found him attractive, which was odd, considering he wasn't a good-looking man. You certainly didn't get your looks from him. I didn't think about it then, but I wonder now if he didn't invent some kind of lure that drew females in like flies. He used to lock himself in a beach cabana for a long time before he'd join me on the sand. He always stayed in his lounge chair. He never went into the water."

Professor Gast removed his glasses, looked into the distance and sighed.

"I would never have hired him myself. He had a questionable background, but he was Shinra's nut case and they wanted him. I don't know what your mother saw in him. Who knows? Maybe he used his secret potion on her too. He was a strange one, your father. He must have really turned on the charm because she married him. I was at the wedding. I gave them my best and hoped that he would settle down and be more human but I was wrong. I didn't realize how wrong I was until much later."

"Most men would be pleased to learn their wife was pregnant and your father was no different. He strutted around the lab like an overstuffed rooster. I thought he was excited because he was going to be a father, but when your mother started being sick a lot during her pregnancy, I found out why he was so excited." Professor Gast paused and put his glasses on again.

"What was it?" asked Sephiroth.

Professor Gast rubbed his face with the palms of his hands.

"Professor Gast." Sephiroth waited until he had the older man's attention. "What is it? Please, you said you would tell me the truth."

Professor Gast looked at Aeris. She gazed back at him solemnly. "You have to tell him. He needs to know."

The Professor's shoulders drooped and he seemed to age ten years in just seconds. He turned to Sephiroth slowly and held those alert green eyes with his. He took a shaky breath.

"He was giving her injections," he said. "He injected her and her unborn child with Jenova cells."

Sephiroth looked puzzled. "That doesn't make sense. Why would my father inject my mother with cells from her own body?"

"Sephiroth," Professor Gast looked miserable. "Jenova was not your mother. Your mother was human. You were the unborn child who received those injections."

"I don't understand any of this," said Sephiroth. "What do you mean my mother was human? How could I be the unborn baby you're talking about? My mother was a Cetra!"

Aeris looked at Professor Gast. He looked at her.

Sephiroth glared at both of them. "Tell me!" he shouted.

"I was the only Cetra left on this planet," said Aeris gravely. "You aren't a Cetra and neither was Jenova."

Sephiroth just looked at her.

Aeris kept talking. "Long ago, a strange creature fell out of the skies. She left a huge crater in the ground. The Cetra went to her assistance and tried to befriend her but she turned on them and infected them all with a terrible disease. The disease killed more than half of them. The Cetra had to stop her or the humans would be next. In the end, they managed to trap the creature within the earth, but doing so killed nearly all of those who survived the disease. If the creature had remained buried, she couldn't have hurt anyone, but Shinra dug her up. After all that time, there was still life in her body. Shinra mistook her for a Cetra. They named her Jenova."

Before she could go on, Sephiroth seized her by the throat and dragged her close to him. "I'll kill you for that lie!"

Aeris tried to loosen his fingers but failed. She felt them pressing into her throat. She struggled as Sephiroth pressed harder.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Coward!"

Sephiroth stopped squeezing and looked around.

Professor Gast's eyes were burning with anger. "Coward!" he said.

Sephiroth dropped Aeris. She fell to her knees gasping for breath. He turned to face the Professor as the older man stepped back.

"What did you say?" His voice was deadly quiet.

"I called you a coward!" repeated the Professor. "You said you trusted me and would listen to the truth, but you would kill again, not to hear it. Damn it! Make up your mind, do you want the truth or not? Are you man enough to hear it?"

Torn with indecision, Sephiroth clenched and unclenched his fists. He didn't want to hurt Professor Gast. He couldn't hurt the only person who had ever shown him kindness. He took a deep breath and forced himself to sit down again.

"I will listen," he said.

Professor Gast went to Aeris and examined her neck. "Are you all right my dear? Is your airway obstructed?"

"I-I'm f-fine," she stammered. She looked at Sephiroth. "It-It's all right. You d-don't know what you're doing. We'll help you understand."

Sephiroth couldn't hide his surprise. He had just tried to strangle her and she was still offering help to him. He looked up at Professor Gast.

The Professor watched him warily as he sat down again. "Jenova was the name we gave to the creature we discovered in the earth," he said. "We thought she was an Ancient, a Cetra. A group of us scientists thought if we could infuse a regular human with Jenova cells, we could make super people, or rather, super soldiers. Soldiers with the powers of the Cetra. I discovered the way to successfully harvest Jenova cells for infusion. We planned to use the cells on animals first then volunteers, but your father had his own agenda. If I had known what he was planning I would have stopped him, even if I had to kill him to do it! I didn't know your mother, your human mother and her unborn child were receiving Jenova injections until she was almost through her eighth month!"

"I performed my tests on animals. I had no idea Hojo was crediting me with the experiments he was doing on you and your mother. He was covering his ass in case something went wrong. It would have taken months of testing on animals to find out if the infusions were safe enough to use on humans. I would never have put the life of a child in danger with an untested theory! After you went insane and destroyed Nibelheim, my notes were changed. Shinra hired someone to forge my handwriting. If anyone ever found out the secret of your birth, Hojo would come out smelling like roses and I would look like a mad scientist."

"If Jenova isn't my mother, then who was she?" asked Sephiroth, not really wanting to ask, but willing to play the game.

"Your mother's name is Lucrecia," said the Professor.

"Lucrecia?" He'd heard that name before. Sephiroth struggled to recall where that had been. It came to him at once. He had seen that name in the notes in the Shinra library. Sephiroth never forgot anything he read.

"Lucrecia couldn't be my mother!" he announced with a confidence he didn't feel. "Lucrecia was the name of Hojo's wife!"

He waited for Aeris and Professor Gast to respond. Rubbing her throat, Aeris looked as if she wanted to cry. Professor Gast would not meet his eyes.

"Lucrecia couldn't be my mother," Sephiroth repeated, "My mother died during childbirth. Hojo's wife died in childbirth too, but her baby lived for several days before it died of birth defects. They were weak. My mother was strong. I am the result."

"Sephiroth," said the Professor quietly. "Those notes were lies. Hojo's wife died but not the baby. It was a boy and he was born in perfect condition. He grew up and joined SOLDIER. He became the most important general in Shinra history. He disappeared one day, but he returned five years later."

Sephiroth snorted derisively. "I was the most important general in the Shinra army. I would know if there was any other. As for Hojo's son being alive, Hojo would never raise a child himself. That would have taken up too much of his precious time. He might have kept it somewhere near him, but he would have pushed his it off on nurses and caretakers. I wouldn't be surprised to find he was performing experiments on his own son. He was sick enough to do it."

He stopped. Images of his childhood flashed before Sephiroth's eyes. He remembered watching the children of other employees receive affection while he was always scolded, slapped or sent to the lab. He thought of the constant probing, the needles and the pain. He remembered being locked in closets, sometimes as long as a day without food or water when his keepers didn't want to be bothered with him. He learned not to cry. He learned not to care. He learned how to hate. One face stood out in that world of misery. That face was always watching. That face made him feel less than human and more like a specimen on a cold glass slide. He hated that face more than any other. He hated that name. That face belonged to his father. Sephiroth raised his head to the sky and screamed.

Chapter 3