Chapter 4
Genesis was at a loss for words, and that didn't happen often. The girl that was now in the floor in front of him and the other firsts was still an enigma, but he now doubted she was a threat. When she finally looked back at them it was obvious that she wasn't seeing them. He had no idea what she was seeing but it wasn't the three Soldiers. Seeing her tears also bothered him, she looked almost broken. This woman had found a way to push almost all his buttons without trying it seemed, but despite that she had impressed him. Even if she had not thought them the superhuman threat they were, there was still the fact that she stood up to three men that were all nearly twice her size with no show of fear. He wasn't sure if she was brave or stupid.
After her display in the break room he had expected her to fold when they brought her here. He used his office because he wanted to make sure it was secure when she finally did. Seeing her collapse was unexpected. There were several moments of silence after her admission, when she realized she was actually in Midgar. None of the men knew what the next step should be as they all concluded there was very little possibility she was acting at this point. She would have had to be better than even Veld or Tseng and that was nearly impossible.
Finally, Genesis moved to help her stand. Once she was on her feet she looked at him, but her gaze was still distant. It was easy to see that she was suffering from mild shock. He couldn't figure out why the sight of the city had caused it, but it was evident she truly had not been expecting it.
He had let her go to give her some room when her gaze finally focused on his face. Her eyes widened, and she stumbled backwards. For the first time he saw fear in her eyes as she looked at him. "Oh dear god! If I'm in Midgar that means you really are Genesis!" In her rush to get away she nearly fell, causing Genesis to reach out to try and catch her. She flinched away and managed to trip over one of the legs of the office chair, her eyes went even wider and her arms flailed when she fell over backwards. Genesis tried to catch her before she fell but didn't make it before her head hit the edge of the desk with a cracking noise. He managed to catch her before she fell to the floor, but she was already out cold.
He gathered her up in his arms and turned to the other two firsts, a contemplative look on his face. "That did not go the way I expected it to."
"No, but this does make me think there is much more to her presence here than we thought. I will agree that it looks like she truly did not know anything about how she got here but that begs the question of who placed her in the building and why in your bed." Sephiroth had a slight scowl when he looked over to Genesis. His gaze hard on the girl in his arms, trying to figure out what secrets she was hiding. "My previous orders still stand. At this point I believe we will have to get the Turks involved. You will keep her under observation until further notice and I will ask Veld to look into how she might have arrived."
Angeal gave Sephiroth a troubled look. "You do realize that if you get the Turks involved there is no way the Science Department won't hear about her. If Hojo or Hollander find out there is a female that has that much mako in her system, they will want to examine her."
Sephiroth was silent a moment. He put up with Hojo's poking and prodding, but he had grown up with it. He wasn't thrilled about the idea of exposing her to the scientist when she was most likely not a threat, but he still needed the Turks. "I am aware that is a possibility. We don't have a choice but to ask for their help though. It may be best for her to be examined by one of them anyway. Since she is a civilian we can limit how much time they spend with her but there are too many unanswered questions."
Genesis gave Sephiroth a glare as he made the decision but didn't counter him. He knew it was the logical choice. "If I'm going to be assigned to watch her then I will go with her to the labs."
Angeal looked over with a raised brow but didn't say anything. When Genesis caught the look, he scowled back. "There may still be many mysteries surrounding her, but it is obvious she was used in some way. Think about what it took to get her to the state she's now in. The last thing we need is for her to have some sort of panic attack when she's exposed to that environment again. We would never get answers at that rate."
Angeal held both hands up in a conciliatory gesture. "Okay, okay, I'll give you that much. I'm just surprised you volunteered."
"I was assigned to watch over her. It shouldn't be that surprising." He huffed at his friend's assessment. He hated paperwork but everything else he did superbly. "For now, we need to get her back to the infirmary. I'm sure a knock like that wouldn't have done much damage but she'll still need to be looked at." Sephiroth gave him a nod in agreement before walking out of the office. Both he and Angeal turned to go back to the duties they had been interrupted from while Genesis headed back to the infirmary.
Clarissa sat up in nearly complete darkness. When she remembered where she had been she reached back to touch her head and winced slightly at the knot she found. After rubbing it for a moment she had a brief moment of panic, wondering if it was dark because she was blinded. She brought her hand back in front of her eyes and was pleased to find she could see it just fine. She also noted that it was getting brighter. She stood and looked around to find glowing green wisps surrounding her to the point the area was so bright she had to shield her eyes.
Her curiosity was interrupted by a woman's melodic voice. "Welcome Clarissa."
At those words Clarissa tried to see passed the brightness. She could see the outline of a person, but the light was too bright to see anything else. "What's going on here?"
"I must apologize. I tried to give you warning once already but it seems your body was still under too much stress. We don't have much time now, so you must listen."
As Clarissa looked around again she realized where she was. She wasn't entirely convinced this wasn't a dream, but she had more of an open mind about it than she would have before seeing a mako reactor in person. "Minerva? Am I… am I in the lifestream?"
"Yes child. Now listen, I can't keep you here for long. You must prevent the Champions from falling." The brightness was finally starting to fade, and Clarissa got her first glimpse of the Goddess in her magnificent armor.
"Are you telling me I have to save the three Firsts?"
"Yes, keeping them from failing will save many more, and the planet. We are out of chances, so you cannot fail."
Clarissa was almost dumbstruck but managed to find her voice. "How am I supposed to do that? Why me anyway? How did I get here?" Once she started talking her questions all poured out and she couldn't stop them.
"We are out of time for now, you are already fading. I will lend you aid when I can but remember you cannot afford to fail!"
Clarissa noticed the goddess was correct. The bright green of the lifestream was fading. She blinked a few times as the darkness returned along with a strange pull. She felt like she was being pulled into unconsciousness.
Clarissa sat up with a start. Her disorientation lasted only as long as it took her eyes to find Genesis in a chair by the far wall. Everything that she had just found out along with Minerva's warning instantly scrambled her thoughts. Genesis hadn't moved when she sat up, so she thought he might not have noticed, since his head was buried in a book. That thought was disproven when he started speaking without looking up. "Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus and take to the sky. Ripples form on the water's surface, the wandering soul knows no rest."
Clarissa could hardly believe what she was hearing. The urge to laugh uncontrollably hit her but she managed to hold it in. Instead she looked him straight in the eyes when his head lifted before responding without giving it much thought. "Loveless, Act 1."
When his eyebrows rose and his gaze on her intensified she realized it might have been better for her to keep her mouth shut. A mild panic ensued when she realized she had no idea what to tell him. It was certain that he would have questions but there was no way she could explain that she was from an entirely different world. It was hard enough for her to even admit to herself that she was here in the first place.
When he stood and walked over to her she could feel her heart beating hard in her chest. When she thought about the way she had talked to all the Firsts, she was surprised she was still able to walk and not in some creepy dungeon, or worse in one of Hojo's cells. The thought of being sent to Hojo made her blanch.
Genesis had not even made it to her bedside when he saw her face lose all color. He stopped a few feet away, making sure she understood he wasn't trying to threaten her. "It isn't often I find a fellow Loveless enthusiast."
Clarissa looked back up at him. She noticed he stopped several feet away and was thankful that he was at least willing to give her space. Maybe that meant they weren't ready to jump right into torture. She had to forcefully hold back another batch of manic laughter when she remembered how she had so confidently declared they wouldn't torture her. If she had only realized how wrong she was. Torture, or worse, was a definite possibility if she couldn't convince them that she wasn't a threat.
She realized he was looking intently at her face but not speaking. When it hit her that he was waiting for a response she had to open her mouth several times before she managed to speak. "Uh, yeah, I… uh… I know someone that quotes it a lot."
She realized what a mistake it was to admit that when she watched his brow rise and the glint of interest in his eyes. "So, it isn't you that enjoys the arts, but a friend of yours?"
She quickly waved her hands in front of her face to refute his assumptions. "No, not really a friend. I just happen to be around him a lot and he quotes it all the time. I don't even really know him."
She could tell he didn't believe her and she had to kick herself when he spoke again. "This man you hear quoting Loveless. He wouldn't happen to be in Soldier?"
Clarissa felt her face flush slightly even though she tried to keep it from happening. It only brightened further when he continued. "Honestly, I am a little confounded by that fact. I am positive I would have noticed you if you spent any time near Soldiers."
She didn't think too deeply about what he had said as she was trying to come up with a plausible reason for her to know Loveless. She already knew she couldn't admit to the unbelievable truth. Her frantic mind finally provided her with an excuse. She didn't like it, as it would mean a hard hit to her pride, but it was better than her other current options. "I… I haven't really. I have seen videos of Soldiers though. I saw a video of one quoting it and… I had to find out more."
At her admission Genesis gave her a bright smile. She almost rolled her eyes but kept herself in check. "So, you are one of my fans."
She didn't bother holding back the bright blush that invaded her cheeks this time. She gave a little nod before responding. "Yeah a little." She tried to force her face back to normal before continuing. "I need to apologize for earlier. Honestly, I didn't realize you were… well… you. I'm not from anywhere around here so finding myself here is… it's scary actually." She didn't have a problem admitting that last part. It was the truth.
His brows furrowed a little at her admission. "You're a fan but being near me scares you? Not only does that not make sense but your actions from earlier make that implausible."
"No, you misunderstand. It isn't fear of you or even the other Firsts, but… Midgar is somewhere I never expected to be able to visit. Finding myself here and not knowing how it happened, that's the scary part."
His face cleared at that, but it still had a serious cast. "You truthfully have no idea how you came to be here at all? Not even an idea of who could have put you here?"
His tone was gentler now than it had been at any point earlier in the day. She could tell he was closer to not thinking of her as a threat anymore, but his soft tone suddenly had tears wanting to fall. She managed to cover her face before they did but her voice still shook. "No. I wasn't lying when I said the last thing I remember is my own bed."
Genesis couldn't stop the sliver of suspicion he had when she covered her face before answering. It was quickly eased when he saw the first tears drop into her lap. He knew she still held many unknowns, so his suspicion wasn't going away, but he almost felt sorry for her. In an effort to try and turn the conversation away from being uncomfortable he changed tactics. "How does your head feel? You hit it pretty hard when you fell."
She didn't bother holding back her laughter at his sudden change of topic. It sounded a little wet, but it gave her the chance to wipe her eyes. She reached back and touched the spot where she felt the knot before. She was surprised to see that it had already shrunk to nearly nothing and hardly hurt. Her face showed her surprise when she answered him. "It must not have been that bad. It's almost gone already!"
He noted her surprise at her quick healing and frowned a little. She should have been used to fast healing. He wiped it from his face though when she looked back at him. "That's good. If you are feeling better, we can go to my office where we can talk a little more comfortably."
Clarissa noted it was worded as a request but there was no request in his manner. She realized this was something that wasn't worth fighting over and hopped down to follow him. "After you."
This time he didn't bother to hold onto her arm, instead he allowed her to walk next to him. She had to hurry her steps a little to keep up with him. He stopped in front of a door in the long hallway full of them. She was surprised to see it was the same room he had brought her to earlier. "This is your office!?"
He raised a brow at her surprise when he shut the door behind them. "Yes, why is that surprising?"
She mentally kicked herself at letting her tongue get away with her again. "I suppose it isn't really. I just didn't expect it."
He shook his head at her before pointing to the empty chairs in front of his desk. "Take a seat." Once she was seated he sat in his own chair on the other side of the desk, leaning back before giving her a piercing look. "Let me start by saying I do believe you honestly do not know how you got into the building. That is only one of many questions though. It won't be my intention to make this hard on you, but I need you to answer me honestly."
Clarissa felt a little relief. It wasn't much, and it didn't last long but she was thankful that he wasn't automatically thinking of her as a threat. She could only imagine how much harder it would have been if he thought she was an enemy. "I will be as honest as I can be."
Genesis paused at the wording she used. He couldn't help but wonder if it was on purpose and vowed to make sure he watched for inconsistencies. She may not have been part of the plan to infiltrate the building but that didn't automatically make her innocent of anything. He didn't let these thoughts show on his face though when he leaned forward and smiled at her. There would be no point in making her defensive again. "Thank you. Why don't we go ahead and get the big questions out of the way? How, and when, were you exposed to mako?"
She briefly thought about her meeting with Minerva but realized that was definitely not what he was asking about, it couldn't be. "As far as I am aware I have never had any exposure to mako. What makes you think that I had been?" She realized the doctor had told him she had mako in her system, but she still couldn't believe it.
His eyes narrowed at her response. "I am sure you were listening when the doctor gave me her report so don't insult my intelligence."
She couldn't contain the glare she gave him but didn't open her mouth to reply until she knew she wouldn't say something she would regret. "I am aware of what the doctor told you, but I still cannot say when or how I was exposed. I have no memory of anything that would cause it."
She didn't like the look on his face when he leaned all the way forward, folding his hands under his chin as he glared at her. "I would think now that you understand your predicament better you would be a little more forthcoming." He didn't even try to hide the threat in his words.
As hard as she held onto her temper she still couldn't keep it hidden completely. "Well if you don't like that answer I could always lie to you! Although I'm pretty sure you asked for honesty!"
It was obvious he was struggling to hold in his temper as well. When he didn't answer for a few seconds Clarissa realized that she needed to be more careful. She couldn't afford to antagonize any of the people here. There were too many options of things that could happen if she pissed off the wrong person. She was also pretty sure that Genesis Rhapsodos was pretty close to the top of the list of people she shouldn't piss off.
When he finally spoke, she was relieved that his tone was sharp but even. She would consider that better than the alternative. "You never noticed your eyes change to a glowing green? Even if they had been green previously, there is no way they had the glow."
She paused at his words, turning them over and repeating them back to herself to make sure she had heard correctly. "My eyes aren't green. They're brown and have been my whole life." She heard how it sounded almost like a question instead of a statement but couldn't help it. Somehow, she knew she didn't want to know what he was talking about.
He paused at her words. It was obvious that she was questioning her own answer. The reasons why she might made him wonder if she hadn't been telling the truth. The fact that she had been exposed was undeniable, but she hadn't said she wasn't exposed, she had said she never remembered it happening. It was a small distinction but an important one. He realized there was one way to find out and pulled a small mirror out of the bottom drawer of his desk. He kept it there in case he needed to shave when he worked long days. Her eyes looked almost apprehensive when he handed it to her.
Clarissa grew even more nervous when he pulled out the mirror. She already had her world shattered once when he proved his last point. She suddenly didn't want to find out the truth, but it didn't stop her from taking the mirror. She was suddenly sick but pushed the feeling back before lifting it up to look at her own reflection. When her eyes finally locked on to her own in the glass she couldn't hold back a choked sob.
Staring back at her was a woman that looked almost like herself, but her hair was a dark silver instead of the silver streaked ash brown she was used to seeing. The most striking difference were her eyes. They were a deep dark green. As she stared she could see streaks of the brown they used to be but that was what made them look deep green instead of bright green.
She lost track of how long she sat there staring at her face. When she finally moved to look back at the man across the desk she barely managed to hang onto the mirror as it started to drop from her nerveless fingers. "What happened to me?"
