The Truth

When we reach for the future, we sometimes fall into the past. As we gaze upon events that cannot be changed, our hearts grow bitter with regret.

Cloud remained an emotionless statue, overseeing everything from the farthest corner of the room. WRO scientists scuttled around, checking graphs and databases, recording findings and hypotheses, doing whatever it took to decipher the files. They were doing the best they could, but it wasn't enough for him – he wanted answers now.

Maybe if they started just after defeating Omega, time wouldn't have been so much of the essence. It was only when the WRO finally dug into Deepground's archives that the issue resurfaced in Cloud's mind.

That, and the sudden reappearance of a comrade believed dead.

He held a particular grudge against Vincent for that. It wasn't severe enough for him to hate the enigma entirely, but it would have been greatly appreciated if Vincent relayed his thoughts to Cloud long before too much time passed. With a sigh, Cloud recounted that day Vincent finally approached him, breaking the trance that somehow everything was okay.

One month ago…

"The least you could do is call Reeve or Shelke," Cloud told him as he set down the last of the beverage crates behind the bar counter.

Settling into a stool, Vincent regarded Cloud with his usual piercing gaze, the crimson eyes hardly ever blinking. "It was too soon," he simply explained, knowing it would be enough of an answer.

With sympathy, Cloud nodded. Albeit vaguely, he was aware of the special someone in Vincent's past, and even after Omega was defeated, the regret in his heart couldn't be put to rest just yet. Like how he had done before, Cloud was glad his friend could finally put the past behind him and actually live.

As he continued shuffling around the bar, Vincent's eyes never left him, looking for the smallest crack in the tough front he was putting up. "I'm here for something else," he announced. "It's about Lightning."

There was the slightest hesitation before he stored a glass away. For a while, no one spoke of her…at least in front of him. Cloud himself mentioned her once or twice, but never more than just a mere reference.

Even now, a month after the destruction of Omega, just thinking about her was difficult. The necklace that was forgotten in his pocket was now lying in the deepest corner of the drawer; it took all his willpower to avoid gazing at it. Cloud would come back to 7th Heaven less often, for waking up alone in the bed became unbearable.

Keeping his cool, Cloud turned back to Vincent. "What about her?" he asked with a hard jaw.

Vincent continued on. "Did she seem different after I found her in Midgar?" he asked warily. "Anything off?"

In an attempt to return to normal, Cloud turned back and closed the cabinet. "No. She was just herself. Fought some Deepground soldiers, even helped us cut off a reactor from Omega." His mind went back to that night, when he watched her fade away before his eyes while doing nothing to keep her with him. Given that it was unexpected, he had little chance to doing anything to stop it…but had they been given time to fully understand what was against them, they could have been together. "…She did faint once."

"Trauma?"

"I don't think so," Cloud replied, suddenly wondering what made her pass out as well. "She must have been tired from being in Deepground that time." Despite his words, he couldn't shake off the lingering feeling that there was something else other than mere fatigue and dehydration. There was little to go on…

Except for one person.

Cloud's gaze hesitantly slid to Vincent out of the corner of his eye, finding a blank yet perturbed expression hidden behind the cloak. "You think something happened…?" It was more of a statement rather than a question.

Vincent's response wasn't gentle. It was usual for him to clearly speak his mind; no need in hiding his thoughts from the only people he was willing to converse with. "Deepground…Hojo wanted her for a reason." The name slid out like a curse. Even now when the deranged scientist was truly dead, he would surely haunt their memories forever. "Being the man he was, he wouldn't just simply look for specimens without intent."

With a nod, Cloud recollected what was now public news. After his physical body deteriorated, Hojo - the former head of Shinra's science department - took control of Weiss, the leader of the Tsviets. With all of Deepground under his command, he ordered for the capture of innocent civilians, as well as the detainment of Lightning and the retrieval of the Protomateria from Vincent.

His words were slowly sliding into place…and Cloud's face turned dark as he glared at Vincent with cold eyes. "He wanted Lightning as a test subject?" When Vincent didn't answer, he assumed the worst. "You think he did something to her," he said acidly.

"We can't overlook that possibility, Cloud," Vincent urged, his voice full of reason. "Think about it. All the other victims were used as a sacrifice – because they never had traces of Geostigma in their system, right? Omega needed to think the Planet was in danger, because the Lifestream would have been filled with pure souls."

Cloud nodded in understanding.

"Didn't you once say Lightning found a materia forged with Jenova cells?"

That day came back to release a shiver down Cloud's spine. The moment Lightning absorbed the tainted materia into her arm, he thought she would have been done for if he didn't rush to the church. Looking back now, it was just passed off as a mere coincidence until the two of them fell into the Lifestream…and learned the truth about Deepground's goals.

"That would have made her just like the other citizens Deepground killed on the streets," Vincent continued, his mind lost in thought. "But they still wanted her…alive, and not for a sacrifice."

Vincent's leveled voice broke through the rage that was building up. If Lightning was able to get out of Deepground's lair that night with hardly any trouble, they must have wanted her to go for a reason. After the months of pursuit and tactics, it would have been ridiculous to let their guard slip up just when they had her right where they wanted her to be.

Her escape was no accident.

"Still, that would mean the Tsviets were after her just so she could be Hojo's lab rat." Cloud's hand began to tighten into a shaking fist, and he slammed it on the counter between him and Vincent. "They've been after her for months. She could be in danger. Pulse could be in danger."

Vincent's next words made him feel like crumbling into nothing, and Cloud was uncertain if he even wanted to keep listening after this news. "Hojo knew about Lightning's origins. He knew that Chaos played a part in Omega, Lightning's appearance on the Planet…And he wanted her to go back, to leave the Planet and return to Pulse."

Silently, he watched Cloud's face turn sickeningly pale while the fist on the counter tiredly slid off. The past year had been staged, Cloud realized – Lightning was meant to be on the Planet, just like everyone had believed…but for darker reasons. Like before, she was used as a tool by those who merely sought out supremacy and power, and this time, she was completely oblivious to it. While everyone pointed fingers at Vincent for tearing her away from her home, they were blind to the truth all along.

"What did he want her for?" Cloud asked in a bare whisper.

All at once, Vincent's eyes became hard and determined. "That's what we need to find out."

While everyone continued bustling through the dome-like facility, Cloud glared at the large spherical hologram in the middle of the room, where random data and files whisked in and out of view as the scientists searched through the stacks of archives. He drew closer to the platform's railing to get a better view, ignoring the commotion surrounding him. After the incident in Midgar, Reeve ordered a thorough search of the Deepground premises led by Shelke, hoping to uncover the last bits of Shinra secrets.

Secrets that could be connected to Lightning.

As they delved into the darkest corners of Deepground, Shelke finally retrieved drives that Hojo kept stored away for years – a sequel to Lucrecia Crescent's Chaos Theory, in particular. Even after she was ridiculed for her research, Hojo must have locked the rest of her findings away, hoping they would be of some use in the future.

"Cloud."

From beside him, Reeve appeared with a weary face. Ever since Vincent and Cloud approached him to warn about Lightning, he had been on-the-go for days, refusing to rest until the WRO had made significant progress in decrypting the drives. Unfortunately, Hojo did his best to keep the information only to himself, and not even Shelke found the trip through the barriers a joyride. Far from them, but not out of his peripheral sight, Cloud saw Vincent take refuge in a dark corner, most likely avoiding the gratitude the WRO would surely be showering him with. He refused to be in a spotlight; saving the world from Omega wasn't an act of glory, but something that had to be done.

Cloud briefly acknowledged Reeve before turning back to the hologram. "This is everything, right?"

"Yes. Shelke was sure that these were the top-secret files Professor Hojo kept to himself. She's in the back right now, helping us with a synaptic net dive."

Crossing his arms before his chest, Cloud let out a sigh. "Is there any way for her to be faster?"

"She's doing the best she can," Reeve explained sternly. Regardless of her phenomenal neural computer skills, she was only a young girl, and it would be against his morals to push someone who had turned against her own organization to help them.

It didn't alleviate the frustration building up inside. Cloud gripped the rail in front of him, his gloves letting out a screech as his muscles tightened. "Lightning could be in danger, Reeve," he said in a leveled yet dangerous tone.

Despite his utmost faith in Lightning, Reeve still had a hard time wrapping his mind around the concept. "You believe she truly came from another world? This Pulse?"

"You weren't there in the Lifestream with her." Cloud looked back at that day in Midgar, when he and Lightning glimpsed into each other's minds. From what he observed, the images coming from her memories were far too vivid to pass on as fabricated. "I saw her memories, the things she saw long ago. Pulse and Cocoon weren't from mako overdose."

"Indeed," said a calm voice beside Reeve. Looking over, they saw Red XIII approaching them, almost lost in thought. "There is evidence of other life farther than what we are aware of. I've been looking through my grandfather's research, and for as long as he had been studying, there are other worlds out there that have little to no correlation to our own. That must explain why she was familiar with some things, like gil and chocobos, but utterly ignorant of the basics. Now, why there is any correlation to begin with, I cannot say. It will take many more years to study the metaphysics and origins of both sides, if we can do so at all."

All through his speculation, Cloud felt lost as his brows knitted tightly together. He exchanged a quick glance with Reeve, who felt somewhat similar. "You think you can use smaller words with us?"

Red XIII gave him a flat stare before easing up. "It could be that she was telling the truth, and she really is from a universe different from our own in some ways, while similar in others."

"So why was Chaos able to reach into her world and drag her here?" Cloud turned to lean back against the rail, crossing his arms before him.

Reeve lightly tapped his chin, his mind searching through the countless research Shinra Company had undergone. "Perhaps there was more to Chaos than we believed," he supposed. "Unlike the other Weapons, Chaos and Omega worked together, and their purposes were different."

Not long afterward, a WRO general approached the commissioner, briefly saluting. "Sir, Tifa Lockhart has just arrived."

Cloud's childhood friend was certainly one he could count on. Even in the darkest of times, Tifa did her best to make things work for the better and sought out the safety of everyone around her. Perhaps it was her kind and gentle spirit that drew him to her when they were kids…but those feelings no longer lingered as strongly.

If there was any matter that concerned Lightning, she would definitely have to be involved.

From the hallway of the WRO headquarters, Tifa appeared with a careful expression, her eyes first falling upon Cloud with sympathy before she nodded to Reeve. As she approached, her arm rose to gently lay a hand on Cloud's arm; she knew very well of the trouble wracking Cloud's mind, and it was all she could do to let him know she wanted to help in any way possible.

She dropped her hand and stood beside him, watching the WRO staff work to no end. "So, lemme get this straight – Hojo wanted to use Lightning for something, and he played along with Chaos' little game to get what he wanted?"

Cloud frowned as he turned back around; the breakdown of it all somehow made the situation more ominous. "That's what we got so far," he let out with a sigh. Staying in the dark irritated him by the second, and it was a relief when Shelke's voice finally came up through the PA system.

"I have access to Lucrecia Crescent's files. You should be able to see them in the control room."

Reeve stepped up to stand by Cloud and Tifa. "Excellent. Clear everything for her."

Most of the people turned their attention to the spherical hologram, where the files Shelke gained access to spread across the screen. Hundreds of documents whizzed through the surface, certain points on them glowing differently on the green projection. Despite the speed they were being sifted in, Cloud caught sight of mentions of a "target", as well as reports thoroughly documenting findings on Chaos and Omega. Some of it was stuff they already knew – Omega was a last resort for the Planet, and that Chaos worked in tandem with it.

One particular file seemed to have caught Shelke's attention, for it abruptly stopped to hover in the hologram as the rest of Lucrecia's research vanished. The sphere suddenly turned pitch black; everyone held their breaths until an unknown location made its way through heavy static on the screen. It was barely clear, but Reeve could have sworn he saw something of a skyscraper within a dilapidated metropolis-like setting. However, its architecture hinted toward more of a sacred tower or shrine.

"They lived only to die," said a familiar voice. Reeve remembered hearing it when they uncovered Lucrecia's original research on Chaos and Omega. "That was what the Goddess believed. Her benevolence was the greatest, and a heart was given to mortals. A heart in the form of chaos."

While a dark shroud covered the sphere, Cloud and Reeve exchanged disturbed glances at her words. This could have something to do with Lightning's world, though whether they can act upon it was difficult, given the impossibility of traveling to Pulse.

"This was the gift of the Goddess," Lucrecia continued. "It would be their greatest strength – one that mortals could not see. Not all chaos could be tamed, but She must not fall to its power. Her Providence was failing." A spherical symbol with stubs on the top and bottom illuminated through the darkness, appearing as a brand of some sort. Then, a wisp of chaos circled the symbol before whisking out of the hologram sphere, floating across the room. The WRO staff flinched away from it as if it was a disease trying to reach them, but it continued its course, drifting closer to Cloud and the others ever so slowly.

"Amassed, this special gift was sent away, unwilling to be granted upon mortals. Space and reality – they held no bars against it. Twisted descendant came forth as Omega."

The chaotic wisp took shape, transforming into a silhouette they knew all too well. Despite being a colossus in reality, the model before Cloud seemed to be human size. Streams of gold and black encircled its limbs, signifying its origins.

Just then, a much smaller wisp came to hover beside it, this time taking shape of a monster with bat-like wings. Cloud's eyes widened at the sight.

"Chaos took form, to be its squire. Entities only known as the fal'Cie remained connected with these gifts, should they call them to their bidding for otherworldly purposes. Their word…is absolute."

All at once, the holograms disappeared from sight, and the sphere in the middle of the room returned to its mako-green hue. Though light came back into the room to give a sense of comfort, no one felt relieved after being witnesses to this discovery. Cloud felt his blood run cold, and part of him regretted learning this piece of vital information from Lightning's world. Was she even aware of this "goddess" and the accursed gift that was residing in her and all her friends?

"This uncovers the last of Lucrecia Crescent's research," said Shelke's voice over the PA system. As usual, her tone was that devoid of emotion, but there were small hints of disturbance. "It also includes findings from Grimoire Valentine. The chaos sample they excavated from the Crystal Cave was believed to have started from the beginning of man and even come from another world."

Tifa's eyes glassed over, her mind drowning in the new information. "Fal'Cie…" She let out a humorless chuckle. "Lightning really wasn't making it all up."

After a long moment of more silence, Reeve spoke up while staring at the spherical hologram. "These fal'Cie beings…they must have made a connection to span across our worlds and order Chaos to take Lightning. That was probably why she felt familiar with Vincent."

"What about this goddess?" Vincent asked behind them. He came up a little closer throughout the visuals, hoping to get a better look at this thesis he never heard about.

"The research hasn't gone so far in detail," Shelke replied for everyone to hear. "It mainly revolves around Chaos and Omega. Chaos is a natural substance in Lightning Farron's world, but the Chaos that rested within you, Vincent Valentine, was heavily pure. This goddess couldn't risk bestowing it upon humans, and so she ripped through reality and threw it away, where it took form in our time and space...to become Chaos and Omega."

Vincent stood speechless at the thought. The monstrosity that was once a part of him wasn't meant to be in humans, at least not as strong as it was. If Lucrecia hadn't been successful in her experiments, it was hard to say what could have happened to him. To have chaos resting in every human was dangerous, and he wondered exactly how safe Lightning's world could possibly be after the goddess committed such an act.

Tifa let out a heavy sigh, trying to find the right words to say. "Okay…I get why Chaos got Lightning out of Pulse – because of these fal'Cie gods. But it doesn't explain why Hojo wanted her as a test subject."

Her words piqued Reeve's interest as well. "Shelke, have you found any of Hojo's reports about Lightning? Any vague mention?"

"I'll search through the reports recorded within the past year." Files were whisked across the sphere again, sections briefly highlighted when it caught Shelke's attention, but most of them were just a cursory glance. Meanwhile, Cloud's eyes tried to follow as quickly as they could, hoping to catch something that would clear up the confusion and fear gripping hold of him.

"There," Shelke finally said. A particular document was pulled up and expanded, the scribble barely readable. The unrecognizable handwriting must have been Hojo's; the document itself must have been a journal, given the progressing dates with each entry.

"It's been stored along with the rest of his Jenova reports, with references to Lightning Farron dated as far back as a little over a year ago. Within Deepground, information on her was classified, even among Tsviets. Our orders were simply capture and retrieval. It was Weiss…Professor Hojo…who knew what to do with her."

It was only one word – one name – that drained the blood from Cloud's face. He hoped to never hear about that monstrosity again, that it would be buried along with the memories of Midgar and Sephiroth. It should have been over…

But he should have known better. A man like Hojo would never stop in his malicious endeavors, and it would only be natural for him to still carry a sample after all these years.

"No…"

Reeve and Tifa glanced toward him worriedly, carefully observing the change in his expression. Vincent, however, was following along with him, and though he didn't express the shock as greatly, it was certainly there.

"He was still working on the Jenova Reunion Theory," he murmured almost inaudibly. "After all this time…"

At that moment, all the memories came flooding back to them. After the great battles and unbearable losses, none of them thought it had a chance of coming back to haunt them one last time. Cloud and Tifa's frowns could have been permanently fixed on their visages; just in the back of their long-forgotten hometown was the monstrosity that almost led to the end of the world. Had they known the truth, they might have done everything they could to demolish that reactor, to make sure the calamity was no more.

Reeve shuddered, shaking his head with disbelief. "And he's had it along with Dr. Crescent's Chaos Theory all these years. His main focus was testing that Reunion Theory."

"He had been postulating a second thesis," Shelke continued. Though Cloud begged in his heart for her to stop, he knew they had to learn the truth. "One that he hoped to experiment with once the Reunion Theory was surely proven. Should the Jenova cells be in danger of extinction, one final survivor could mutate, becoming the new primary source."

Tifa's forehead was heavily creased; the final click in her head was so close, and yet a part of her was pushing it back, refusing to even acknowledge it as the truth. "Jenova cells separate," she reviewed aloud. "Most get wiped out, one strong fighter survives…"

"And Jenova is reborn," Reeve finished with a shaky voice. "Not just by infecting someone like a disease…but by turning that new vessel into its home base."

"By taking over the patient zero's body and mind, it can be overridden to carry out the alien matter's will. Lightning Farron seemed to be the primary subject for this thesis." There was hesitation in Shelke's voice – a suspicion that seemed to also arise in everyone else.

"Jenova's will…?" Tifa faintly shook her head, trying to block the facts that wanted to pull her into despair. Thinking back, she knew it too well, but absorbing the truth all over again was too much. "To do what, exactly?"

Beside her, Cloud felt frozen in ice – his mind was racing, but he didn't know what to do. He couldn't deny the truth that was right in front of him, and for the longest moment, he thought he was dreaming. Lightning was safe on Pulse, with Serah and her friends. He was here on the Planet with Tifa, Vincent, and the others, trying to carry on with life and knowing she would be away from harm.

And in the end, he had to accept that it was just a dream.

Hojo made clear many years ago what Jenova was capable of, what it was created to do. As long as the calamity still lived, no one was safe, no matter how far they were.

"Destroy the planet it's on," Cloud muttered. His words started out terribly soft, but the ominous tone was easily picked up by the others. "And travel to a new one. It's a never-ending cycle, with millions of lives lost…and it's going to start with Lightning."

Once Reeve and Tifa were able to see the bigger picture, nothing stopped the horror-stricken faces from appearing. Red XIII whimpered in the background while Vincent, who seemed to have connected the pieces at the same time as Cloud, looked upon the man with shock.

Carry out Jenova's will…through Lightning. Who knew at that moment, when Lightning vanished before their eyes…they were sending death to her home?