Whoa, this was dark, for sure! But very interersting. It sounds like there's more background to this, like we're seeing a situation in the middle of things... but that's good! It keeps a sense of mystery (like how exactly Hotaru ended up in Hojo's lab... world/time travel, or was she always there?) The last lines were very powerful; I could see Sephiroth having that sort of horrified wish to escape from what he was doing. Great as always!