Hojo was set and had the permission from Shinra to go and retrieve Gast's research, not necessarily Gast himself.
And Ramiel was preparing Alexandra like a worried older brother that he was. "Did you bring your toothbrush? Are you sure your clothes are enough? What if you get a cold there? Bring some winter clothes alright?" Ramiel looked through her luggage and Alexandra pouted at him.
"Nii-sama, I'm sure I am well prepared. Don't take me for being a fool okay?" Alexandra huffed at him and he gave a sheepish smile.
"Big brother is just worried okay? It's pretty cold there, and look at you. You're so skinny, you should eat more. I'll definitely order more steak and bread when we get back." Ramiel patted her head and she was happy.
But she shook her head and squinted her eyes at him. "Don't treat me like a kid, nii-sama. We're the same age you know?"
Ramiel snorted and pulled her cheeks. "Say that to me when you can fold your bedsheets after you wake up." He snickered at her and Alexandra blushed from embarrassment.
"Ugh, fine~" Alexandra rolled her eyes. They then went to the terminal where they would fly to the north. Shinra graciously gave them a private jet because it was apparently a pretty important mission.
"Hehe~ aren't you proud of big bro? I have gotten us a private jet! Look at it, we're super rich!" Ramiel cheered and was reveling in the feeling of being a conglomerate. Even if he was just basically leeching off of Shinra. It will be his in due time after all.
"Nii-sama, it was just lent to us. It's not ours you know?" Alexandra sighed and facepalmed at her brother's antics. But it made her warm inside, seeing him full of joy and excitement. Instead of the scary face he puts on sometimes and smirks like a bad guy.
"Yosh! Onwards we go to the north!" Ramiel started boarding the plane and Alexandra shrugged, following her brother's footsteps.
They travelled for a few hours and arrived near the icicle area. A village there was the place where Gast was last seen.
Ramiel wore a coat and Alexandra looked like a top g. "Wow, you look good nii-sama, lose the shades though." Alexandra stared at him wearing a black trench coat and some boots. But she thought that the shades were unnecessary.
"What do you mean? It's all part of the look, tsk, tsk. I must have raised you wrong, come here. I'll show you." Ramiel put the shades on Alexandra and he snapped a picture.
It was a Polaroid camera and he started waving the picture in the air so it would develop. "Look, you're absolutely bad ass with it." Ramiel gave a smile and Alexandra gave a wide smile.
"And I can't see your eyes too, remember. The eyes are the window of the soul, sharp people can read you well with just a look in your eyes." Ramiel taught her and Alexandra nodded. Because she must look really happy right now. And if she didn't wear his shades, he would blatantly know her thoughts.
Ramiel's experience with the mafia made him quite knowledgeable in reading other people. Especially if he can see their eyes. Because as a wise man said, the eyes are like windows for the soul.
The twins travelled with Hojo in their jet and went to the far north where it was basically always winter.
"Nii-sama, look!" Alexandra pointed out of the window and was in awe of the winter wonderland. It was white as far as you can see and it is an experience that she will never forget for sure. Being in captivity inside Shinra for years.
She was starved for new stimulus, especially of the stories that Ramiel told her of the outside world. Beyond the steel walls of Shinra.
"Too bad, mom and dad can't see this with us." Alexandra gave a gloomy smile. She was starting to desire the love of their parents and Ramiel gave a wry smile.
'Our dad is right here, unfortunately. But you don't want to know that.' Ramiel had a misunderstanding that Hojo was their father. Because he didn't really play the sequels. Namely, Dirge of Cerberus. So he was in the dark on who their real father is.
"Don't worry Alex, we'll find them. I'm positive we can find our mother, not our father though." Ramiel gave a quick glance at Hojo, weighing the pros and cons of killing him on their trip.
He was really tempted to, but Hojo still has uses. If Hojo dies, they might not be under fire much. But they will still be investigated. And when the researcher disappears, then another person will be in charge of them. Which is unacceptable.
Ramiel built his brainwashing on Hojo for years. And it only worked because the man was already a crazy lunatic. He wasn't confident that the new guy that will be in charge might be more mentally fortified, like military officers. Or worse, members of SOLDIER.
"Want to have some hot chocolate when we get down? It will be pretty nice, enjoying a cup of it after we play in the snow." Ramiel patted her head and Alexandra's azure eyes from all the mako glowed brightly, even through the shades she was wearing.
"Yes! Can we go snowboarding? I read in a book that you should ski or snowboard in places like these." Alexandra was like in a sugar rush.
He chuckled at her excitement and thought that it was pretty nice to have a sibling. "Of course, when in Rome. Do as the Romans do." He gave a wide smile to her and she cheered.
They quickly landed at the hidden base of Shinra and Hojo explicitly told the mooks they were with to stay there.
'Shit, now I definitely can't kill him. But I guess I didn't have much of a choice. Killing the guy is too risky right now anyways.' Ramiel concluded that having Hojo as a puppet will be beneficial for them. But he needed to get the man out of Shinra. And the perfect place for it is the mansion in Nibelheim where they began the Jenova project.
It not only made sense, but there was also a Mako reactor there. He can also put Gast and Aerith there for now. Shinra won't bother in going to the remote village in order to check up on Hojo. He is too important for Shinra. He can basically do everything he wants if it's in line with their agenda.
"Hojo, where is Gast located?" Ramiel asked his loyal minion. "He is currently in a place called Icicle inn, master." Hojo's mind was in complete control, he smiled at his work and Alexandra gave the scientist the stink eye.
"Then proceed there and give him a message. I'll be playing with my sister for a bit. I want to stretch my wings, so to say." Ramiel gave him a letter and sent him off on his merry way.
Alexandra gave him a smile and she immediately pointed at a shop that specializes in snowboarding and skiing.
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Hojo went to Icicle inn, wearing his lab coat which definitely tipped off Gast. The proprietress in the inn couldn't do anything when Hojo gave his ID card of Shinra. So he was guided to his room immediately.
Ramiel's minion opened the door and what greeted him was a gun on his face. Gast glaring at him, suspicious and definitely wary.
"So Shinra has traced me, Hojo. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your brains out?" Gast put his finger on the trigger and Hojo didn't really react.
It confused Gast, as the man was a little unhinged in his years of research with his former colleague. Hojo then threw a letter at him. A brunette appeared and slowly picked it up while Gast didn't blink. Pointing the fire arm at Hojo and ready to fire at any moment.
"Ifalna, what does it say?" Gast questioned the woman and she nodded at him. "There's something different about your colleague Gast. His mind is muddled with tons of energy. It's from the mystify materia, confu. He's brainwashed to oblivion. I don't even think he could be called truly alive anymore in a sense." (pic)
Gast was surprised, he then took a look at the corridor outside. Expecting to see some Shinra troops at least, but there was nobody there.
He then decided that he should look at the letter. Hojo didn't seem to make any movement anyways. And what he saw completely surprised him.
"What does it say, dear?" Ifalna was curious and Gast stared at her with disbelief. "You're right, Ifalna. Apparently, Hojo experimented with his unborn children. Putting Jenova cells in them while they were in the womb. And they are a resounding success." Gast frowned heavily at that implication.
Ifalna went wide eyed and was shocked. She is the last living Cetra on the planet. And Jenova's cells being put in other people was bad news.
"What of the children!?" Ifalna was then outraged, thinking that they must be mutated freaks of nature by now. Or zombies that Jenova controls through her cells inside of them as a conduit.
"They're the ones who did that to Hojo. His name is apparently Ramiel, the kid managed to break Hojo's mind and made him his minion. Starting from 5 years ago... That kid is scary." Gast gave a heavy frown.
He then gave the letter to Ifalna. She read through the contents quickly. She then got shocked to her core. As Ramiel wrote there that he managed to make natural materia through the Mako in his body.
"This child is like no other Gast... That shouldn't be possible. He created materia to use confu from his own body. Mako springs take centuries to create natural materia." Ifalna couldn't believe it. But Hojo was there and he is proof that Ramiel was able to do it.
Gast then nodded slowly, starting to understand what happened. It was impossible for Hojo to give them a mystify materia. So that was only the logical conclusion.
"He said that he'll meet us here later, he's busy snowboarding with his sister..." Ifalna gave a wry chuckle at Ramiel's priorities.
"T-then we wait." Gast sat on a chair, losing all the tension on his body. As he thought that he will die today while his daughter Aerith and his lover Ifalna would be taken in by Shinra to be experimented on.
"Hear that girl? We're safe, for now." Gast looked at the crib that was nearby and gave a sigh of relief. But he was still cautious about Ramiel, because if what he said was true. Then that kid was probably as strong as a SOLDIER 2nd class.
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After some time, Ramiel was walking through the streets with Alexandra while having some hot chocolate.
"Ahhh, free things are the best. Hojo, your wallet is definitely appreciated." Ramiel has millions of gil in his storage from extorting Hojo. It was his savings account if they ever needed to escape Shinra.
"Nii-sama, are we going to meet with this Gast person? You said that he'll be the key for me to get stronger?" Alexandra was curious and Ramiel patted her head.
"Yes, Alex. You see, he is very knowledgeable with Jenova cells. He is the lead researcher for the project after all. And if we make a breakthrough, then we can abuse the hell out of Jenova's cells." Ramiel nodded sagely and Alexandra sorta understood.
They then arrived at Icicle inn, Ramiel just flashed the ID card of Shinra at the proprietress as well. He then went to the room where Hojo was located, as he could feel the energy and spells he used on him with his Cetra genes.
"Knock, knock, did someone order a pizza?" Ramiel knocked on the door. The twins heard shuffling immediately and it opened a bit.
"You Ramiel?" Gast gave them a suspicious look and he raised a brow at him. "Yeah? Why so suspicious, old man? If I wanted you to be captured, then wouldn't I just have ordered it?" Ramiel explained and Gast thought that was true.
He let them in and the twins blew on their hot chocolate, taking a sip while sitting down on a couch.
"Ahhh, that's better. It's freezing outside, not that we can really get affected by it much. So, let's talk business." Ramiel put down his hot chocolate and crossed his legs.
'What the hell is with this kid? He's like a gangster...' Gast was can't get a grasp on Ramiel who was smirking while Alexandra just looked around while drinking her beverage.
"Let's cut to the chase, I need you. And you need me, you don't want to lose your daughter now. Do you?" Ramiel pointed at the crib and Gast tensed up immediately.
"Now, now. Don't be too hasty. You and I know that I'm really close to you right now. Don't make a mistake, okay? Now where was I? Yes, I'll offer you a place you can call home. Not this inn, and you'll be safe with your lover and kid." Ramiel gave a nod at Ifalna.
"How do I know you won't experiment on Ifalna or Aerith?" Gast squinted his eyes and Ramiel sighed. "I guess the scientist types aren't too bright at politics or these types of transactions. Simple, you'd be dead right now if I only needed your family. Hojo might be my minion right now. But he could still experiment on them." Ramiel pointed at Hojo and the lunatic gave a smile.
Gast immediately paled and Ifalna held him on the shoulder. "Gast, dear. He doesn't have any hostile intentions. I can feel it... Why do you feel like a Cetra? A juvenile one, but still." Ifalna raised a brow at him and Ramiel smiled at her.
"Now we're talking, I don't know really. I'm special, probably. Jenova is occupying a female Cetra right now. My hypothesis is that I became part Cetra because of the Jenova cells that got injected to me when we were still in the womb." Ramiel shrugged, he couldn't exactly tell them it's because of hax.
"Are you sure that we'll be safe?" Ifalna looked at him seriously and Ramiel nodded. "Of course, Gast here will be an important part of what I want. I need to reverse engineer Jenova's cells. So I can give further improvement to my sister here. Say hello, Alex." He patted Alexandra's head.
"Hi, I'm Alexandra. I'm 6 years old." She gave a succinct introduction.
"You're crazy, you want to control Jenova's cells so you could experiment further on your own sister!?" Gast was in disbelief and Ramiel shrugged.
"I prefer the word upgrade. Besides, we're already in too deep. I doubt there's anyone out there with as much Jenova cells as us. And I need to get everything that I could get. Shinra is draining the planet, I need to shut them down after a few years." Ramiel squinted his eyes and Ifalna decided that they must accept his offer.
"Dear, we must go. You know we can't do anything to Shinra. They're a global behemoth. And with how these children are progressing... They'll be a force to reckon with." Ifalna felt the Mako that was inside of them.
Alexandra had so much, she was wondering how she isn't dead yet. While Ramiel had so much of it that she understood how he was able to create Materia from scratch.
"A-alright... Let's talk." Gast decided to trust his lover. She was a Cetra after all. And if she thought that they weren't in any danger. Nor the definitely special children in front of them were influenced by Jenova. Then that's a risk he was willing to take.
"Good, let's speak of specifics. Shall we?" Ramiel began his talks with Gast. Snowballing his plans on project Minerva.
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Thanks for reading everyone, anyways. Ciao.