Turning
"Gast. Please, if you are my father, you'll just let us go." Elena looked pleadingly at him. "Please. All we want to do is get this girl to safety."
"Elena, playing on my emotions doesn't work. I have damned few." He chuckled. "Besides, I don't want to let the girl go. She will be the next Sephiroth."
"What the hell are you talking about," Vincent said, making it sound more like a statement than a question.
Gast chuckled. "We have had the technology in the past to make Sephiroth clones, as you know. However, we could never re-create Sephiroth, because we never had a fetus to work with. But over the past several years..."
"We learned how to work with a young child." Lucrecia stepped forward. "We can have another Sephiroth, another great general and swordsman. Only not necessarily a man this time. Sephiroth's problem was that he went mad with his power. We could keep the next one quite sane. Probably."
"Why?" Vincent asked. "The world is in a state of peace. Shinra only helps, now. So, why?"
"Because they can," Elena whispered. She dropped Vincent's hand and took a step forward, accusation in her eyes. "Because they want power, and don't care who they kill. Because they want to play god." She glared poison at the two of them. "Isn't that right, Father, Aunt?" she added mockingly.
Gast gave a sort of bow with his head. "Very perceptive. Yes, more or less. It isn't just because we can. We do desire power, yes, but who doesn't? We want to create another Sephiroth, play god, but mainly because we are close to dying. One, ten, one hundred years from now, who will remember who we are? Unless we make a mark upon the world."
Vincent turned to Cristofer, who had been silent throughout all of it. "And you. Why are you doing this?"
The traitor shrugged. "Revenge. Revenge against Avalanche, who ruined my life. Revenge against the world, who praise people like that hypocritical Tsor fellow, who turned traitor against those who had given him a good, fair job." His voice turned bitter at that statement, as if there was some hidden story behind that. "Sephiroth was a hero to us in Soldier. Even if I can’t bring him back, if I can keep a semblance of him alive, then I will have begun to repay my debt to him."
Marlene squirmed in Elena's arms. "Mister, I don't wanna be Seph'roth. He wasn't nice. I just wanna go back to daddy an' go to school, 'cause the people at school are nice. Please let us go."
Gast looked at her. "Child, you don't know what you're talking about. You should be something greater than a mere anonymous child."
"Enough," said Elena forcefully. "Marlene, dearie, don't listen to that man. He isn't very right in the head."
Marlene nodded solemnly. "Okay, then, Miss."
Gast started laughing. "Not alright in that head...? Ah hah hah! Oh, daughter, you have no idea."
Marlene looked up at Elena. "He's your dad?"
"Sort of, honey."
"Oh. Okay."
"Gast, please, just let Marlene go. I don't care. I'll stay here, I don't care. Please, let Marlene go," Elena pleaded. "She doesn't deserve this."
Lucrecia glared at her. "The experiment was already started. There is no other carrier possible at the moment, and if she were to go, who knows how many of our secrets would be revealed." She nodded at Cristofer.
He waved to the army trailing a bit behind him, just out of earshot. A dozen or so men walked forward. They saluted him, and he pointed. "Kill them both. They're threatening this innocent girl. So kill them without harming the child."
They raised their guns, and Elena squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the gunshots. Instead, a voice called out, "Stop!"
Elena's eyes flew open as she looked in amazement. Vincent's mouth stoop open, as he tried to affirm what he saw. "Reeve? Yuffie?"
The two of them, looking quite pale and weak, smiled at him from on top the gold chocobo. Reeve got off first, and offered a hand to Yuffie, who took it and clambered weakly off the bird.
The apparent spokesperson for the gunmen spoke out. "Mr. President? What are you doing here? You're better?"
Reeve smiled. "I am, Daniyel, thank you for asking. But...Why were you going to shoot at my friends?"
"Your friends, sir?" There was panic in his voice. "Mr. Toranir, he said that they were going to hurt the girl-"
Reeve's eyes snapped up, and Elena was shocked to see there was a fury in them. From what she had known of Reeve, he had been a very warm and caring man, never bearing hatred.
"Toranir?" he hissed. "Cristofer Toranir?" Acid dripped from his words. "Cristofer Toranir. Only one such as you would order the deaths of two innocent people."
"Tsor," the other replied, with just as much cold hate. "Only you could justify it."
Yuffie looked between the two of them, then set a hand on Reeve's shoulder. "What did he do to you, Reeve?" she asked, an earnest question.
"He murdered my family."
"Only after yours murdered mine!" Cristofer roared back.
Elena stepped close to Vincent. "I think we missed something."
Reeve was explaining what happened to Yuffie. "His damned father lived in Wutai near my parents. The damned bastard always mocked the culture and the town, always insulted the Five Gods-"
"You're from Wutai?"
"Yes, but please don't interrupt. My father had to work with him, day after day, and couldn't stand his mockery. So, he just punched him and walked away."
"It wasn't my father's fault. It was completely yours-"
"Shut up, Toranir! Each of them took out petty revenges on each other until it escalated and his father hired someone to kill my eldest brother. In retaliation, my father killed one of his sons. It turned into a feud, and it wasn't until all but he and I, the youngest sons, were the only ones left alive."
Yuffie gasped. "My god..."
"And it was all your fault, too, Tsor! I thought I could have killed you the day I shot you...but no. And then when you were still alive, I thought I could have gotten revenge on you by killing your little girlfriend, but she stayed alive, too! Why don't you die, dammit!"
He raised his gun, but several of the soldiers pointed theirs at him instead. "Put down the gun, please," said the one that Reeve had called Daniyel.
His lips twisted in a soundless snarl, but he threw the gun down. Gast looked alarmed as the situation slipped through his fingers.
"No..."
Suddenly, Toranir turned around and drew another gun and aimed at Reeve, then screeched, "Die, dammit!" That split-second call was all the time needed for the man to be felled by a bullet from Daniyel's gun.
"No!" yelled Gast. "I'm not letting our research get out!" He pulled out a hidden gun of his own, pointed, and fired several shots at Marlene, in Elena's arms.
Elena realized what was happening in time to turn around to shield Marlene from the bullets. The first bullet went above her left shoulder, the second grazed her arm, and the third hit her in mid-back.
On to the next chapter
Back to Turning