Chapter 18: A Crucial Objective for a Legacy
I fell asleep very late last night, unable to stay awake any longer. Sister shook me awake this time, and I opened my eyes to see her looking down at me “Kadaj..? You’re ok…” I sat up and hugged her, small tears falling from my face. Kadaj was confused “What’s wrong, Yazoo? Did you have another bad dream?” I quickly let go, realizing she didn’t remember what happened to her yesterday “You don’t remember..?!” I wasn’t sure if I should tell her or not. I didn’t want to scare her or make her worry as much as I’d began to since learning of our really nasty powers. If she couldn’t stand fear, then the same thing would happen all over again. I felt very sleepy and like id only slept a few hours last night “Unngh… I’m so sleepy…” Kadaj asked “Are you ok?” I nodded “Yeah, im fine. But where’s Sephiroth and Mother?” Kadaj replied “I don’t know. Big Brother said they had to check on something, and they told us to stay here with Dad.” Loz was also awake now, and seemed like he was up much longer than me. I saw Hojo was still at work and writing in his notebook again. Loz complained “Ohh man, this is so boring! When are they gonna come back so we can play?” I said “Speaking of play, we’ve still gotta decide what today’s mission will be… I mean, we’re probably gonna have actual work since Hojo finished his penance the other day. Didn’t Big Brother say something about finding a lab for Hojo to work in before all that crazy stuff happened?” Kadaj agreed “I think so… but Brother, when we ran into Zeta, we didn’t die right away. Remember what Mother said about the dangers of mako exposure to our kind on that thing’s level?” I recalled Mother’s warning and said “You’re right… she even said we’d die in seconds if we get too close. But… we’re still standing? Hojo, was that monster really Zeta?” Hojo irritably replied “Of course it was! You think the project supervisor would be wrong?!” Loz shook his head “Man, whats going on? Everything that happens just gets weirder, and weirder…” Hojo said “If we werent vaporized from exposure, that can only mean one thing. Someone or something has confined its energy to prevent immediate death to others. However, I doubt whatever specimen has done so is able to reduce or hinder the Zeta’s overall powers. Look at what that mako beam did to you, Yazoo, and there you have solid proof that im right.” I paused, then suggested “We need to look back at everything that has happened so far, and consider everything we’ve seen and learned up to now… Back to where it all began with these strange events.” Kadaj nodded in agreement “It might be our best bet… where everything started might give us the answer about what’s caused all of this.” I began “The first thing that happened was when I hacked into Shinra’s security systems, and broke through their walls of encryption… that released the monster called Ultima Weapon. After that, we never saw it again. Then we found Sephiroth in that cave and he joined our gang to help with the mission. After that, we heard Mother flying overhead when Sephiroth helped us escape from Cloud. Then we had to leave the ruins of the Shinra Manor to save Mother at what soon become a destroyed Shinra Headquarters, and that’s when she lost her wings… and also what happened before Shinra and sector 7 mysteriously reappeared. But the problem is… I cant make any connections about why these weird things keep happening.” Loz suggested “I don’t know about you, but I think this all might be that monster’s doing. When we went to New Shinra, it was still gone. I saw for myself, so I know.” I shook my head “But what about Mother’s wings? After what she taught me yesterday, I cant help wondering if the loss of her wings might be what started it all… the only question is how.” Kadaj agreed “Yeah, he’s right… It seems we have a lot to think about with everything we’ve seen and learned so far. Also, Shinra and sector 7 didn’t reappear until after Hojo and the rest of us saved Mother, so Yazoo might be right. But, where did Mother take you when you got sick?” I replied “A place she called Reunion Cave. There were ponds of her cells there that healed me, and cured the mako stigma that Zeta Weapon afflicted me with. But, I don’t think that place has any connection to what we’re dealing with right now…” Loz suggested “What if we asked Mother about her wings and this Planet? If she knows anything, she’ll tell us, right?” I nodded “I think so. But knowing the way our Mother is, she might not give us the full story… I suppose we’ll just have to ask and see for ourselves, though.” We all nodded in agreement. We sat near each other in a long silence. Before long, Mother and Big Brother returned and sat down in their usual places. Sephiroth appeared to be concerned about something but kept calm “I knew something wasn’t right… they were all killed, just like that. Pulled in and drained to death by a long line of Reunion Staves…” I immediately had reacted “A long line? But that’s impossible! There was only a small group of them when Hojo went for a walk with us!” Sephiroth shook his head “I’m afraid you’re wrong, my Little Brother. Remember what Mother warned you about: anger triggers that power. Where there are any already in place, your anger will cause them to multiply without end—unless you calm yourself quickly enough.” I shook my head “But… when did I..?” I had a flashback, seeing myself angry and hurt about what happened to Kadaj yesterday, then said “Ohh… But, cant I just get rid of them? Mother said if I touch one of them, it gets rid of them all.” Sephiroth nodded “You can… or you can leave them be. Which might not be a bad idea since it would harvest the life energy necessary for Mother’s will to manifest, and return the Planet to her hands. However, it is a risky move… especially if you fail to control your temper too often.” Mother agreed “He has a valid point. Leaving them alone isnt all bad, so long as we keep Hojo away from them. I cant let someone who can be of use to us get killed. What would you like to do, my son? Leave them be, or eliminate them?” I paused, then decided “I think I should leave them alone for now. If they’re good for something important, I wanna leave them alone so I can help you, Mother.” Mother said “Very well, my son. Now then, about today’s mission…” Hojo immediately interrupted “A lab, you fools! I need someplace to work!” I sighed “You just couldn’t resist, could you?” Mother replied “No matter how you look at it, he’s right. We did agree to find a proper place for Hojo to do his job in order to fully aid us. However, since he couldn’t control himself, a number of incidents got in the way and forced me to postpone the matter.” She looked at Hojo with a hardened expression and he shuddered but smiled to hide his fear. Sephiroth said “Either way, at least this was a normal morning for us. Its time we head out to find a lab where the man can do his job for us.” Sephiroth stood up, and so did Mother. Me, Kadaj, and Loz also got up and followed Mother’s lead. Hojo was the last to get up and walked behind me and Kadaj and Loz, at the very end of the line. I tried not to laugh, knowing exactly why he held back behind us; he was afraid of dealing with Mother and Sephiroth after what happened. When we got outside of the woods, I asked “Does this mean we’re getting a new hideout, Big Brother?” Sephiroth replied “I suppose, even if the man would do fine separated from us. But since he’s working for us now, we might as well stick together and hope he serves us well. Hojo, I expect you to focus on researching this creature you called Zeta Weapon, and learn as much as you can about its powers and abilities. Don’t concern yourself with the danger in question; I will leave the field work to my young siblings while you keep the focus on observing and doing the research.” Loz cried “What?! Are you crazy?! There is no way we can fight that thing! It’s too big!” Sephiroth said “Calm down, Loz. I will train the three of you so you can stand up to it effectively. Hojo cant gather data without some kind of confrontation with the beast. You know that.” I asked “And what if one of us gets sick from being around it too long?” Hojo answered “I’ll take care of that. Leave that part to me. Designing advanced tech for this kind of thing is specialty.” Mother laughed “He’s not wrong there. I’m sure he’ll know what to do now that you’ve each seen it once.” I sighed but didn’t say anything. I didn’t like this at all. We werent even teenagers yet, and already getting ordered to fight something that’s way above our level of power. Great, this is gonna be just perfect, I thought sarcastically.
A few years later, in an abandoned laboratory…
By the time the lab we found for Hojo was fully repaired, and Sephiroth had finished training the three of us for the battle ahead, I was 13 years old, and so was Loz. Kadaj, being the youngest of us, was 11 now. We’d all gotten taller, and even stronger. When I was younger, after meeting Sister Kadaj, I’d feared that time would cause us to drift apart. I didn’t want that to happen; I vowed to protect her no matter what, and I only wanted her care in return. My feelings for her had remained unchanged, but I had yet to see if hers changed. Me and Loz fought a lot, and we still did even now. Kadaj was usually the one to break things up if we got out of hand during an argument. But even though we werent the world’s most compatible Brothers, we still loved each other like good family. Sephiroth taught us the importance of sticking together, and to not to fight in any way when we were dealing with a serious problem. Even me and Loz were able to follow that rule if we knew something was important enough. I was still the leader between the three of us, and we were a gang that Mother called JENOVA SOLDIER. Today, we were supposed to go on our first real mission, and were ordered to find the beast known as Zeta Weapon, and wear these weird things around one wrist that Hojo said was supposed to monitor our vital signs and make some kind of warning sound if we were at risk of getting sick from mako exposure. He spent a lot of time trying to come up with a vaccine, despite the information we brought back to him over the years, but he has yet to succeed. It didn’t help the matter that there were very few of us left, and that made it too risky for him to do a lot of testing. He tried a sample on Sephiroth once, and he got really sick the next day. I’ll give you a hint… that didn’t go very well. Sephiroth was furious, and even scolded the man for his failure. Hojo refused to do any tests on us ever since. Sephiroth survived, thank goodness, but I think Hojo was too intimidated by Big Brother’s demeanor that time to have any desire to try it again on any of us. Even now, he would refuse immediately. It didn’t really help the matter that Loz also gave him an earful at the time, along with another beating. That was when Sephiroth walked away and went to bed so he could recover. I guess he decided Loz would properly punish him, and well… he certainly did. Even if he got carried away, which he had a tendency of going to far when things went wrong. Don’t worry though, it didn’t tear the family apart; he would only get that rough with humans or outsiders, even otherwise. Both me and him were 12 when that happened, and Kadaj ended up pulling him out of the scuffle so he would calm down before he could do any serious damage to Hojo. She knew to be reasonable, and that even though Sephiroth was sick, Kadaj knew that Hojo made an honest mistake. Even if it was a pretty bad one. That was why she pulled Loz away. One thing Hojo always said was making mistakes was part of science, and advancing technology and medicine. Even if he was a pretty man, even arrogant, he wasn’t wrong there. I believed him when he said that. And here we were, inside this revamped laboratory and living as a family with Hojo also staying here. I wondered how long it would take Hojo to succeed in making the requested vaccine that Mother ordered him to focus on. Hojo was never a very pleasant man, but he devoted his time to science like you would never believe; almost as if it was all there was to life for him. That made him useful, even if progress was very slow. There were times I even felt bad for the guy. Nobody liked him or considered him a friend, and whoever he left behind in Shinra if he had any friends there, he would probably never see again. I couldn’t call it a complete surprise that most would find him hard to like, but I was not without care. Especially given how tirelessly he’s worked for us since me and Loz and Kadaj were little. Sephiroth didn’t seem to think anything of him, either. Mother? Well, she was pretty neutral on the issue. I guess she couldn’t stay mad at him for whatever happened during JENOVA Project since he was actually helping us now. The very thought of the enemy doing experiments on Mother utterly disgusted me, more than I can even word. And yet, part of me wanted to help the man, after I remembered the walk we went on with him when the three of us were little. I left my room and went to the main office of the lab, and saw Hojo already at work. He seemed to be mixing fluids, and I guessed he was trying a different formula to make the vaccine Mother ordered. I realized Mother wasn’t out here yet, and Kadaj and Loz also were still in their rooms resting. Sephiroth was awake however, sitting on a chair in front of the table Hojo was working at. This all felt too familiar to me, and I asked without even bothering to think “Hojo, you gonna test that on Sephiroth?” He noticed me but turned back to his work to focus “Of course im going to. No risk, no reward. I wouldn’t advise you to let your counterpart specimens beat me up this time, however. Who else would get the work your Mother requested finished?” I ignored his words when I replied “Yeah, I get it. You think I don’t know that by now? You shouldve thanked Kadaj that time. She pulled him away because she knew you made honest mistake. If she let him keep at it, you might not even be standing here right now. Have you no manners?” Sephiroth sighed “Just give it up, Yazoo. He’s not going to give you the answer you want.” Hojo said “Alright, enough, you lot. It’s time for me to test the new sample.” I shrugged; Hojo hadnt changed a bit, despite being around us and seeing me and Kadaj and Loz grow up over time. I began to doubt he would change. Didn’t he have any real feelings deep down, even if he’s been hiding them the whole time? I had a flashback of when he held me in his arms when I got afflicted with mako stigma, and even though I saw double at the time, I thought I had made out tears in his eyes as I struggled to hang on. Why are you hiding your true feelings from us, Hojo? Or have they been lost to you over time? I wondered. There must have been some kind of love in his heart if he cried over me getting that sick. Being 13 years old now, I was determined to find ways to get the man to show his true colors to us. Knowing how stubborn he is, I knew this would not be easy to pull off. That day was the only time I had ever seen any positive emotion coming from Hojo. I never saw him care one bit about any of us ever since, except Sephiroth. He was more regarding of him and Mother than the rest of us. But nonetheless, he continued calling us specimens instead of by our names—except for Sephiroth. Mother seemed to ignore it, probably because she knows he always does that to people. Hojo gave Sephiroth a shot of the new sample for the vaccine, then carefully removed the needle from his arm. Sephiroth was in his pajamas, long white sleeved shirt that revealed the upper areas of his chest, and long white pants. It was very early, and it seemed like everyone else was asleep. I asked “How do you feel, Sephiroth?” Sephiroth answered “Too soon to say. Remember the last one he tried got me sick the next day?” I nodded “Yeah… that didn’t end very well… this better work.” Hojo protested “You do realize that something like this can take years of research and experimentation before success is achieved, do you not? You cant expect me to get it right everytime. Trial and error—remember?” I replied “Tell me about it. We’ve spent the last how many years on this, and the same thing happened every single time—he got sick! Cant you work at least a little faster? We don’t exactly have forever, you know. If we die of age before you finish, we wont get anything done!” Hojo said “What?! It wont take that long! Don’t be ridiculous!” Sephiroth said “Stop it, you two. Mother and the others are still sleeping. Its not even 6am yet.” I sighed “Well, I cant really call you a complete failure since you made a working vitality tank for Mother to rest in… you got that to work on the first attempt. The very first model of it…” Hojo replied “Well, that was an easier job to pull off since I spent so much time studying her in my old laboratory… but I do appreciate your compliments. This vaccine, on the other hand, is an entirely alien work to me. I have never done something of this nature. Likewise, ive had many failures with each prototype created thus far. I do hope this next one is a success…” I agreed “Me too. This is getting a little tiring.” Hojo laughed “Tiring for you? Try being the one doing the research and making the many mistakes I have to this point. That’s more exhausting than watching history repeat itself. But those bracelets I gave each of you for the Zeta mission, those shouldn’t malfunction. I was very cautious when I created those, and have enough experience with measuring mako levels that I can say this without question.” I nodded “Right, I believe you. I don’t think they’ll act funny, either. Geeze, you’ve had it pretty rough, Hojo… I didn’t even realize how hard all of that really is until now… Im sorry.” After I said that, Hojo looked at me with the strangest expression, as if he felt touched by my words in some way. But, he shook his head and immediately got back to work. He was taking notes in his notebook again, keeping close watch Sephiroth. Most likely, he was keeping a look out for any abnormal side effects of the new sample. This better work, I thought desperately. We wouldn’t be able to confront Zeta until he made one that did its job. All the other ones he made got Big Brother sick, some worse than others. Even now, I still didn’t understand how we survived our first encounter with Zeta Weapon; Mother even warned us about the deadly mako levels and the radiation if we get too close without some kind of protection. So, how did we not wither away back then when we ran into it? Was there some mysterious force in the legacy that allowed us to evade death, hidden deep within the lifestream? I didn’t know; I might never truly know, either. But regardless, im glad we didn’t die from the radiation. I waited for Kadaj and Loz to wake up, and I saw Kadaj come out first. “Oh, hi Sister. Feeling ok, Kadaj?” She saw me right away, and I saw her already dressed to move out for today’s mission “Im doing fine. But this thing Hojo called Zeta… are we really going after it today? We don’t even know what we might be up against, Yazoo… are you sure we’re ready?” I shook my head “We don’t have a choice, Kadaj. We cant proceed with Mother’s mission until Zeta is defeated. Hojo has already confirmed that the beast is strong enough to warp time and space itself. We cant leave something that threatening to the legacy roam free. There’s no telling what it might do next. You do remember how Sector 7 and the Shinra Headquarters spontaneously returned overnight when we were little, don’t you?” Kadaj sighed and shook her head “I do remember… but, whats gonna happen if it uses that power to wipe us out? Like remove us from existence? If that happens, we’re in big trouble.” I knew what she was talking about and replied “Yeah, I know that could happen… believe me, I get it. But if we don’t go after it, no one else will. Even Shinra cant be crazy enough to fight a monster this strong head on.” Kadaj moaned “Oh great… alright. I guess you’re right, then… we don’t have a choice.” Kadaj saw Sephiroth sitting down and smiled at him “Hey, Big Brother! Youre up early too!” Then she giggled and sat next to him happily. I turned around and saw her leaning against him, and he had his arm over her shoulders and smiled back. I wanted to smile too, but I couldn’t; something hindered me. I don’t know what, but part of me felt jealous, and another half felt happy for Sephiroth. It was a complicated feeling, and I couldn’t even react except by just blankly staring at them being playful. Kadaj… what about our childhood? I thought, feeling a bit jealous. Suddenly, I realized there were small tears falling from my face and hitting my black leather coat I wore. I turned away, trying to act natural and avoid drawing attention to myself. Kadaj sounded concerned and asked “Yazoo, are you ok? You looked upset.” I lowered my hand from my chest and shook my head, forcing the tears to stop as best I could “No, its fine. Nothing’s wrong. I’ll just… be outside on lookout duty until Mother and Loz are up.” And I went and did just that, going outside without even looking back. I drew my revolver and held onto it, but I wasn’t focused at all; I wanted her to like me, to notice me the same way she did when we were small. Id loved her and wanted to have good times with her ever since, despite living a life of war in order to keep each other safe and maintain our desperate struggle to protect the legacy. Shinra was against us, and so was the rest of the world. But our more major enemy was a man called Cloud Strife that Sephiroth warned us about when we were kids. The lesser masses were the least of our worries; Cloud was code red threat to the legacy and most notable hinderance to our beloved Mother’s precious Reunion and happiness. Sephiroth told us everything about his warring against Cloud, and that despite how far he had gotten many years ago, the enemy had felled him and Mother in the end. But the way I look at it now, that wasn’t the end at all; far from it. To me, this was only the beginning of what was on its way—the new dawn of Mother’s legacy and glory. And I intended to make it count this time—no matter what we face. Sephiroth came out sometime later in his usual attire, and turned my way “Yazoo… there’s a new one out there. A third Black Materia. We must go after it before the enemy finds out.” I gasped, unable to believe what he just said “There’s a new one? Really?! Then we cant waste any time. Forget about Zeta—we have to get this before the enemy does!” Sephiroth was firm and nodded in agreement “I will send you, Kadaj, and Loz on this mission. Unfortunately, me and Mother must remain here and act as backup in the event that something goes wrong with this priority mission. If something happens, we’ll catch up, don’t worry.” I turned serious and nodded “Agreed. We cannot fail again… if we don’t get this one or the enemy disposes of it, we wont get another chance. Where is it located? Do you have the coordinates, Sephiroth?” Sephiroth replied “The original took the physical shape of a place called Temple of Ancients. As you know, the second one you accidentally infused into yourself was in the mountains of Nibelheim. That brings us to our third, and most likely the last chance we get at Meteor… its hidden in the depths of a place known as the Forgotten City. But be careful… im sensing an enemy threat at the location. This could even be a trap, so stay alert.” I asked “What if it’s a fake? Are you sure this isnt false bait set up by Shinra and Cloud?” Sephiroth disagreed “No, im positive its real. Just be careful when you get there.” I realized Sephiroth had his black wing back and smiled “Hey, you got your wing back, Big Brother! That’s great!” He smiled at me sweetly but didn’t say anything. Returning my focus to the Black Materia mission, I said “Don’t worry, we’ll get the Black Materia before the enemy. I wont fail, Sephiroth. This one is too important for Mother’s plans.” He turned serious and nodded, and I went back inside to get Loz and Kadaj ready for what was ahead of us.
To Be Continued…
I fell asleep very late last night, unable to stay awake any longer. Sister shook me awake this time, and I opened my eyes to see her looking down at me “Kadaj..? You’re ok…” I sat up and hugged her, small tears falling from my face. Kadaj was confused “What’s wrong, Yazoo? Did you have another bad dream?” I quickly let go, realizing she didn’t remember what happened to her yesterday “You don’t remember..?!” I wasn’t sure if I should tell her or not. I didn’t want to scare her or make her worry as much as I’d began to since learning of our really nasty powers. If she couldn’t stand fear, then the same thing would happen all over again. I felt very sleepy and like id only slept a few hours last night “Unngh… I’m so sleepy…” Kadaj asked “Are you ok?” I nodded “Yeah, im fine. But where’s Sephiroth and Mother?” Kadaj replied “I don’t know. Big Brother said they had to check on something, and they told us to stay here with Dad.” Loz was also awake now, and seemed like he was up much longer than me. I saw Hojo was still at work and writing in his notebook again. Loz complained “Ohh man, this is so boring! When are they gonna come back so we can play?” I said “Speaking of play, we’ve still gotta decide what today’s mission will be… I mean, we’re probably gonna have actual work since Hojo finished his penance the other day. Didn’t Big Brother say something about finding a lab for Hojo to work in before all that crazy stuff happened?” Kadaj agreed “I think so… but Brother, when we ran into Zeta, we didn’t die right away. Remember what Mother said about the dangers of mako exposure to our kind on that thing’s level?” I recalled Mother’s warning and said “You’re right… she even said we’d die in seconds if we get too close. But… we’re still standing? Hojo, was that monster really Zeta?” Hojo irritably replied “Of course it was! You think the project supervisor would be wrong?!” Loz shook his head “Man, whats going on? Everything that happens just gets weirder, and weirder…” Hojo said “If we werent vaporized from exposure, that can only mean one thing. Someone or something has confined its energy to prevent immediate death to others. However, I doubt whatever specimen has done so is able to reduce or hinder the Zeta’s overall powers. Look at what that mako beam did to you, Yazoo, and there you have solid proof that im right.” I paused, then suggested “We need to look back at everything that has happened so far, and consider everything we’ve seen and learned up to now… Back to where it all began with these strange events.” Kadaj nodded in agreement “It might be our best bet… where everything started might give us the answer about what’s caused all of this.” I began “The first thing that happened was when I hacked into Shinra’s security systems, and broke through their walls of encryption… that released the monster called Ultima Weapon. After that, we never saw it again. Then we found Sephiroth in that cave and he joined our gang to help with the mission. After that, we heard Mother flying overhead when Sephiroth helped us escape from Cloud. Then we had to leave the ruins of the Shinra Manor to save Mother at what soon become a destroyed Shinra Headquarters, and that’s when she lost her wings… and also what happened before Shinra and sector 7 mysteriously reappeared. But the problem is… I cant make any connections about why these weird things keep happening.” Loz suggested “I don’t know about you, but I think this all might be that monster’s doing. When we went to New Shinra, it was still gone. I saw for myself, so I know.” I shook my head “But what about Mother’s wings? After what she taught me yesterday, I cant help wondering if the loss of her wings might be what started it all… the only question is how.” Kadaj agreed “Yeah, he’s right… It seems we have a lot to think about with everything we’ve seen and learned so far. Also, Shinra and sector 7 didn’t reappear until after Hojo and the rest of us saved Mother, so Yazoo might be right. But, where did Mother take you when you got sick?” I replied “A place she called Reunion Cave. There were ponds of her cells there that healed me, and cured the mako stigma that Zeta Weapon afflicted me with. But, I don’t think that place has any connection to what we’re dealing with right now…” Loz suggested “What if we asked Mother about her wings and this Planet? If she knows anything, she’ll tell us, right?” I nodded “I think so. But knowing the way our Mother is, she might not give us the full story… I suppose we’ll just have to ask and see for ourselves, though.” We all nodded in agreement. We sat near each other in a long silence. Before long, Mother and Big Brother returned and sat down in their usual places. Sephiroth appeared to be concerned about something but kept calm “I knew something wasn’t right… they were all killed, just like that. Pulled in and drained to death by a long line of Reunion Staves…” I immediately had reacted “A long line? But that’s impossible! There was only a small group of them when Hojo went for a walk with us!” Sephiroth shook his head “I’m afraid you’re wrong, my Little Brother. Remember what Mother warned you about: anger triggers that power. Where there are any already in place, your anger will cause them to multiply without end—unless you calm yourself quickly enough.” I shook my head “But… when did I..?” I had a flashback, seeing myself angry and hurt about what happened to Kadaj yesterday, then said “Ohh… But, cant I just get rid of them? Mother said if I touch one of them, it gets rid of them all.” Sephiroth nodded “You can… or you can leave them be. Which might not be a bad idea since it would harvest the life energy necessary for Mother’s will to manifest, and return the Planet to her hands. However, it is a risky move… especially if you fail to control your temper too often.” Mother agreed “He has a valid point. Leaving them alone isnt all bad, so long as we keep Hojo away from them. I cant let someone who can be of use to us get killed. What would you like to do, my son? Leave them be, or eliminate them?” I paused, then decided “I think I should leave them alone for now. If they’re good for something important, I wanna leave them alone so I can help you, Mother.” Mother said “Very well, my son. Now then, about today’s mission…” Hojo immediately interrupted “A lab, you fools! I need someplace to work!” I sighed “You just couldn’t resist, could you?” Mother replied “No matter how you look at it, he’s right. We did agree to find a proper place for Hojo to do his job in order to fully aid us. However, since he couldn’t control himself, a number of incidents got in the way and forced me to postpone the matter.” She looked at Hojo with a hardened expression and he shuddered but smiled to hide his fear. Sephiroth said “Either way, at least this was a normal morning for us. Its time we head out to find a lab where the man can do his job for us.” Sephiroth stood up, and so did Mother. Me, Kadaj, and Loz also got up and followed Mother’s lead. Hojo was the last to get up and walked behind me and Kadaj and Loz, at the very end of the line. I tried not to laugh, knowing exactly why he held back behind us; he was afraid of dealing with Mother and Sephiroth after what happened. When we got outside of the woods, I asked “Does this mean we’re getting a new hideout, Big Brother?” Sephiroth replied “I suppose, even if the man would do fine separated from us. But since he’s working for us now, we might as well stick together and hope he serves us well. Hojo, I expect you to focus on researching this creature you called Zeta Weapon, and learn as much as you can about its powers and abilities. Don’t concern yourself with the danger in question; I will leave the field work to my young siblings while you keep the focus on observing and doing the research.” Loz cried “What?! Are you crazy?! There is no way we can fight that thing! It’s too big!” Sephiroth said “Calm down, Loz. I will train the three of you so you can stand up to it effectively. Hojo cant gather data without some kind of confrontation with the beast. You know that.” I asked “And what if one of us gets sick from being around it too long?” Hojo answered “I’ll take care of that. Leave that part to me. Designing advanced tech for this kind of thing is specialty.” Mother laughed “He’s not wrong there. I’m sure he’ll know what to do now that you’ve each seen it once.” I sighed but didn’t say anything. I didn’t like this at all. We werent even teenagers yet, and already getting ordered to fight something that’s way above our level of power. Great, this is gonna be just perfect, I thought sarcastically.
A few years later, in an abandoned laboratory…
By the time the lab we found for Hojo was fully repaired, and Sephiroth had finished training the three of us for the battle ahead, I was 13 years old, and so was Loz. Kadaj, being the youngest of us, was 11 now. We’d all gotten taller, and even stronger. When I was younger, after meeting Sister Kadaj, I’d feared that time would cause us to drift apart. I didn’t want that to happen; I vowed to protect her no matter what, and I only wanted her care in return. My feelings for her had remained unchanged, but I had yet to see if hers changed. Me and Loz fought a lot, and we still did even now. Kadaj was usually the one to break things up if we got out of hand during an argument. But even though we werent the world’s most compatible Brothers, we still loved each other like good family. Sephiroth taught us the importance of sticking together, and to not to fight in any way when we were dealing with a serious problem. Even me and Loz were able to follow that rule if we knew something was important enough. I was still the leader between the three of us, and we were a gang that Mother called JENOVA SOLDIER. Today, we were supposed to go on our first real mission, and were ordered to find the beast known as Zeta Weapon, and wear these weird things around one wrist that Hojo said was supposed to monitor our vital signs and make some kind of warning sound if we were at risk of getting sick from mako exposure. He spent a lot of time trying to come up with a vaccine, despite the information we brought back to him over the years, but he has yet to succeed. It didn’t help the matter that there were very few of us left, and that made it too risky for him to do a lot of testing. He tried a sample on Sephiroth once, and he got really sick the next day. I’ll give you a hint… that didn’t go very well. Sephiroth was furious, and even scolded the man for his failure. Hojo refused to do any tests on us ever since. Sephiroth survived, thank goodness, but I think Hojo was too intimidated by Big Brother’s demeanor that time to have any desire to try it again on any of us. Even now, he would refuse immediately. It didn’t really help the matter that Loz also gave him an earful at the time, along with another beating. That was when Sephiroth walked away and went to bed so he could recover. I guess he decided Loz would properly punish him, and well… he certainly did. Even if he got carried away, which he had a tendency of going to far when things went wrong. Don’t worry though, it didn’t tear the family apart; he would only get that rough with humans or outsiders, even otherwise. Both me and him were 12 when that happened, and Kadaj ended up pulling him out of the scuffle so he would calm down before he could do any serious damage to Hojo. She knew to be reasonable, and that even though Sephiroth was sick, Kadaj knew that Hojo made an honest mistake. Even if it was a pretty bad one. That was why she pulled Loz away. One thing Hojo always said was making mistakes was part of science, and advancing technology and medicine. Even if he was a pretty man, even arrogant, he wasn’t wrong there. I believed him when he said that. And here we were, inside this revamped laboratory and living as a family with Hojo also staying here. I wondered how long it would take Hojo to succeed in making the requested vaccine that Mother ordered him to focus on. Hojo was never a very pleasant man, but he devoted his time to science like you would never believe; almost as if it was all there was to life for him. That made him useful, even if progress was very slow. There were times I even felt bad for the guy. Nobody liked him or considered him a friend, and whoever he left behind in Shinra if he had any friends there, he would probably never see again. I couldn’t call it a complete surprise that most would find him hard to like, but I was not without care. Especially given how tirelessly he’s worked for us since me and Loz and Kadaj were little. Sephiroth didn’t seem to think anything of him, either. Mother? Well, she was pretty neutral on the issue. I guess she couldn’t stay mad at him for whatever happened during JENOVA Project since he was actually helping us now. The very thought of the enemy doing experiments on Mother utterly disgusted me, more than I can even word. And yet, part of me wanted to help the man, after I remembered the walk we went on with him when the three of us were little. I left my room and went to the main office of the lab, and saw Hojo already at work. He seemed to be mixing fluids, and I guessed he was trying a different formula to make the vaccine Mother ordered. I realized Mother wasn’t out here yet, and Kadaj and Loz also were still in their rooms resting. Sephiroth was awake however, sitting on a chair in front of the table Hojo was working at. This all felt too familiar to me, and I asked without even bothering to think “Hojo, you gonna test that on Sephiroth?” He noticed me but turned back to his work to focus “Of course im going to. No risk, no reward. I wouldn’t advise you to let your counterpart specimens beat me up this time, however. Who else would get the work your Mother requested finished?” I ignored his words when I replied “Yeah, I get it. You think I don’t know that by now? You shouldve thanked Kadaj that time. She pulled him away because she knew you made honest mistake. If she let him keep at it, you might not even be standing here right now. Have you no manners?” Sephiroth sighed “Just give it up, Yazoo. He’s not going to give you the answer you want.” Hojo said “Alright, enough, you lot. It’s time for me to test the new sample.” I shrugged; Hojo hadnt changed a bit, despite being around us and seeing me and Kadaj and Loz grow up over time. I began to doubt he would change. Didn’t he have any real feelings deep down, even if he’s been hiding them the whole time? I had a flashback of when he held me in his arms when I got afflicted with mako stigma, and even though I saw double at the time, I thought I had made out tears in his eyes as I struggled to hang on. Why are you hiding your true feelings from us, Hojo? Or have they been lost to you over time? I wondered. There must have been some kind of love in his heart if he cried over me getting that sick. Being 13 years old now, I was determined to find ways to get the man to show his true colors to us. Knowing how stubborn he is, I knew this would not be easy to pull off. That day was the only time I had ever seen any positive emotion coming from Hojo. I never saw him care one bit about any of us ever since, except Sephiroth. He was more regarding of him and Mother than the rest of us. But nonetheless, he continued calling us specimens instead of by our names—except for Sephiroth. Mother seemed to ignore it, probably because she knows he always does that to people. Hojo gave Sephiroth a shot of the new sample for the vaccine, then carefully removed the needle from his arm. Sephiroth was in his pajamas, long white sleeved shirt that revealed the upper areas of his chest, and long white pants. It was very early, and it seemed like everyone else was asleep. I asked “How do you feel, Sephiroth?” Sephiroth answered “Too soon to say. Remember the last one he tried got me sick the next day?” I nodded “Yeah… that didn’t end very well… this better work.” Hojo protested “You do realize that something like this can take years of research and experimentation before success is achieved, do you not? You cant expect me to get it right everytime. Trial and error—remember?” I replied “Tell me about it. We’ve spent the last how many years on this, and the same thing happened every single time—he got sick! Cant you work at least a little faster? We don’t exactly have forever, you know. If we die of age before you finish, we wont get anything done!” Hojo said “What?! It wont take that long! Don’t be ridiculous!” Sephiroth said “Stop it, you two. Mother and the others are still sleeping. Its not even 6am yet.” I sighed “Well, I cant really call you a complete failure since you made a working vitality tank for Mother to rest in… you got that to work on the first attempt. The very first model of it…” Hojo replied “Well, that was an easier job to pull off since I spent so much time studying her in my old laboratory… but I do appreciate your compliments. This vaccine, on the other hand, is an entirely alien work to me. I have never done something of this nature. Likewise, ive had many failures with each prototype created thus far. I do hope this next one is a success…” I agreed “Me too. This is getting a little tiring.” Hojo laughed “Tiring for you? Try being the one doing the research and making the many mistakes I have to this point. That’s more exhausting than watching history repeat itself. But those bracelets I gave each of you for the Zeta mission, those shouldn’t malfunction. I was very cautious when I created those, and have enough experience with measuring mako levels that I can say this without question.” I nodded “Right, I believe you. I don’t think they’ll act funny, either. Geeze, you’ve had it pretty rough, Hojo… I didn’t even realize how hard all of that really is until now… Im sorry.” After I said that, Hojo looked at me with the strangest expression, as if he felt touched by my words in some way. But, he shook his head and immediately got back to work. He was taking notes in his notebook again, keeping close watch Sephiroth. Most likely, he was keeping a look out for any abnormal side effects of the new sample. This better work, I thought desperately. We wouldn’t be able to confront Zeta until he made one that did its job. All the other ones he made got Big Brother sick, some worse than others. Even now, I still didn’t understand how we survived our first encounter with Zeta Weapon; Mother even warned us about the deadly mako levels and the radiation if we get too close without some kind of protection. So, how did we not wither away back then when we ran into it? Was there some mysterious force in the legacy that allowed us to evade death, hidden deep within the lifestream? I didn’t know; I might never truly know, either. But regardless, im glad we didn’t die from the radiation. I waited for Kadaj and Loz to wake up, and I saw Kadaj come out first. “Oh, hi Sister. Feeling ok, Kadaj?” She saw me right away, and I saw her already dressed to move out for today’s mission “Im doing fine. But this thing Hojo called Zeta… are we really going after it today? We don’t even know what we might be up against, Yazoo… are you sure we’re ready?” I shook my head “We don’t have a choice, Kadaj. We cant proceed with Mother’s mission until Zeta is defeated. Hojo has already confirmed that the beast is strong enough to warp time and space itself. We cant leave something that threatening to the legacy roam free. There’s no telling what it might do next. You do remember how Sector 7 and the Shinra Headquarters spontaneously returned overnight when we were little, don’t you?” Kadaj sighed and shook her head “I do remember… but, whats gonna happen if it uses that power to wipe us out? Like remove us from existence? If that happens, we’re in big trouble.” I knew what she was talking about and replied “Yeah, I know that could happen… believe me, I get it. But if we don’t go after it, no one else will. Even Shinra cant be crazy enough to fight a monster this strong head on.” Kadaj moaned “Oh great… alright. I guess you’re right, then… we don’t have a choice.” Kadaj saw Sephiroth sitting down and smiled at him “Hey, Big Brother! Youre up early too!” Then she giggled and sat next to him happily. I turned around and saw her leaning against him, and he had his arm over her shoulders and smiled back. I wanted to smile too, but I couldn’t; something hindered me. I don’t know what, but part of me felt jealous, and another half felt happy for Sephiroth. It was a complicated feeling, and I couldn’t even react except by just blankly staring at them being playful. Kadaj… what about our childhood? I thought, feeling a bit jealous. Suddenly, I realized there were small tears falling from my face and hitting my black leather coat I wore. I turned away, trying to act natural and avoid drawing attention to myself. Kadaj sounded concerned and asked “Yazoo, are you ok? You looked upset.” I lowered my hand from my chest and shook my head, forcing the tears to stop as best I could “No, its fine. Nothing’s wrong. I’ll just… be outside on lookout duty until Mother and Loz are up.” And I went and did just that, going outside without even looking back. I drew my revolver and held onto it, but I wasn’t focused at all; I wanted her to like me, to notice me the same way she did when we were small. Id loved her and wanted to have good times with her ever since, despite living a life of war in order to keep each other safe and maintain our desperate struggle to protect the legacy. Shinra was against us, and so was the rest of the world. But our more major enemy was a man called Cloud Strife that Sephiroth warned us about when we were kids. The lesser masses were the least of our worries; Cloud was code red threat to the legacy and most notable hinderance to our beloved Mother’s precious Reunion and happiness. Sephiroth told us everything about his warring against Cloud, and that despite how far he had gotten many years ago, the enemy had felled him and Mother in the end. But the way I look at it now, that wasn’t the end at all; far from it. To me, this was only the beginning of what was on its way—the new dawn of Mother’s legacy and glory. And I intended to make it count this time—no matter what we face. Sephiroth came out sometime later in his usual attire, and turned my way “Yazoo… there’s a new one out there. A third Black Materia. We must go after it before the enemy finds out.” I gasped, unable to believe what he just said “There’s a new one? Really?! Then we cant waste any time. Forget about Zeta—we have to get this before the enemy does!” Sephiroth was firm and nodded in agreement “I will send you, Kadaj, and Loz on this mission. Unfortunately, me and Mother must remain here and act as backup in the event that something goes wrong with this priority mission. If something happens, we’ll catch up, don’t worry.” I turned serious and nodded “Agreed. We cannot fail again… if we don’t get this one or the enemy disposes of it, we wont get another chance. Where is it located? Do you have the coordinates, Sephiroth?” Sephiroth replied “The original took the physical shape of a place called Temple of Ancients. As you know, the second one you accidentally infused into yourself was in the mountains of Nibelheim. That brings us to our third, and most likely the last chance we get at Meteor… its hidden in the depths of a place known as the Forgotten City. But be careful… im sensing an enemy threat at the location. This could even be a trap, so stay alert.” I asked “What if it’s a fake? Are you sure this isnt false bait set up by Shinra and Cloud?” Sephiroth disagreed “No, im positive its real. Just be careful when you get there.” I realized Sephiroth had his black wing back and smiled “Hey, you got your wing back, Big Brother! That’s great!” He smiled at me sweetly but didn’t say anything. Returning my focus to the Black Materia mission, I said “Don’t worry, we’ll get the Black Materia before the enemy. I wont fail, Sephiroth. This one is too important for Mother’s plans.” He turned serious and nodded, and I went back inside to get Loz and Kadaj ready for what was ahead of us.
To Be Continued…
