Our Generation

by Mystwalker

Fifteen years after the Calamity was destroyed, the Rift opened up, the last vestige of a war against the Planet. But what is the Rift exactly, and what caused it? Arielle Fair, daughter of Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough, thinks she might be able to find out, but what does any of this have to do with Shinra or Wutai's heir? Set 25 years after my Another Side AU. Same pairings.

6. Chapter 6

Our Generation

By:

Mystwalker

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

A/N: I was originally going to have two stories running concurrently in this chapter (Kieran's cliffhanger and Kane's cliffhanger), but then I decided to just resolve one before resolving the other, so here. This is the WRO part of the story. Next chapter should get very Shinra-iffic. ^^

Thanks go to DJ Meltdown of Ground Xero, Meteor Panda, Irish-Brigid, Guest, Eavenne, YellowShoes, and Ali for your reviews and support!

Meteor Panda, yep XD While Sephy has a soft spot for him, it doesn't extend quite that far.

Irish-Brigid, Marlene and Denzel is a question I'll be answering fairly soon. ^^ Timeline wise, they're a little bit older than the rest of the cast (they'd be in their thirties), so I'm saving their cameos for later. I'm glad you like it! Thank for reviewing!

Ali, you and me both! Glad you like it! I try to make sure that if I do end up writing second-generation fics, I'm not writing characters that have the exact same personalities as their parents do, in the exact same world that their parents lived in.

XxXxX

The alarms overhead were loud, a constant blaring noise that set Kane's teeth on edge. He ignored it, focusing on the opponent in front of him. The winged man jumped back as Dullahan sliced through the air, neatly avoiding the scythe's first pass. Kane spun the scythe over his head, taking a step forward and cutting down again. This time, the man sprang back, Dullahan's tip slicing through the barest hint of blue cloth. The man's eyes fixed on Kane, and Kane had a moment to register the sharp crackling of the air around his hand before a blast of electricity tore through the air, striking Dullahan's shaft and sending him flying back. Kane let out a grunt as he landed on the hangar's concrete floor, rolling back and slamming into a metal cart. Tools skittered off the cart onto the floor at his feet, a pair of pliers smacking him in the head. He groaned, raising his head and beginning to push himself up off the floor.

A flash of red darted past out of the corner of his eye, followed by a gunshot. Kane watched as Arisa Kisaragi landed on top of one of the work benches, her red cloak settling around her as she fired twice. The man raised his hands, a sheet of lightning forming in front of him and knocking the first bullet off course. He dodged the second one, taking a roll to get out of the way. As he rolled, Sara came up from his other side, sweeping her spear in a serpentine motion. The tip of her spear nearly struck his shoulder from behind, but their opponent ducked and turned, stopping Sara's thrust by knocking his elbow into the shaft of her spear. He touched two fingers to the flat of the blade, meeting her eyes.

There was a sharp crack, and Sara let out a shout as she was thrown back, directly into the scaffolding that supported the outer shell of the Mark 7. A tarp fell on top of her as she landed on the ground, and she twisted around in frustration, trying to fight her way out of it. Kane jumped to his feet as Arisa charged forward again, dodging a blast of lightning in a whirl of red and black. She landed on top of Renegade, firing at the man again. Her eyes flicked towards Kane as Kane ran towards the man, scythe in one hand. The man raised his hand, electricity crackling around his fingers. His eyes met his, and Kane noticed, eyes wide, that they were mismatched—a brilliant mako blue on the right and bright silver on the left. What was it Ella had said that was called? Hetero—hetero-something. He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to worry about that. The lightning. He needed to watch out for the lightning.

The man fired his blast of lightning again, but this time, Kane was ready. He pressed a button on Dullahan's shaft, the scythe blade gleaming black. He grit his teeth, spinning the scythe quickly in front of him. The lightning struck the spinning staff, nearly sending him flying back, but he held his ground even as he began to slide across the concrete floor. His arms burned, the lightning sending his hair standing on end, but he held his ground, letting out a shout as the blast finally started to break. He swept Dullahan through the remnants and lowered the scythe blade back to his side, the tip of the scythe crackling with black lightning. Before the intruder could react, Kane swept his scythe out in front of him, feeling a rush of triumph as a crescent-shaped blast of electricity followed in its wake, sailing towards the man. He jumped back, clearly unprepared for having his own attack thrown back at him. As Kane watched, the man jumped over the blast, backflipping through the air in an attempt to get away from it. The blast struck one of the work carts, overturning it and sending tools skittering everywhere. He landed back on his feet, but Kane didn't give him time to recover, quickly closing in with a slash across his chest. The man took a step back, but Dullahan's tip tore through clothing and skin, a trail of blood following the scythe. Kane grinned, stepping forward, but the man raised an arm, grabbing onto Dullahan's shaft between Kane's fist and stopping him from bringing the scythe down. The man's expression was pained as he held the scythe in place there.

"Not so tough now, are you?" asked Kane, meeting the man's eyes.

To Kane's surprise, the intruder smirked. "Not bad," he admitted. "I suppose I don't have to hold back anymore."

Before Kane could do anything, the hand on Dullahan's shaft flared up, the sudden blast of power sending him flying back across the hangar. Kane's eyes widened, and he flailed for purchase, bracing himself for impact against the far wall.

A hand closed around his shoulder, yanking him back sharply. He looked up just in time to see Sephiroth setting him back down on the ground before the old general charged into the fray, his famous sword gleaming. Kane stood where he had left him, his eyes wide and his heart racing from the fight. His hands were numb from the sudden blast of electricity, but he couldn't find it in him to turn away. Age had definitely not dulled Sephiroth's blade. The intruder jumped back, caught unawares by the strength of that first slash. He jumped back, doing his best to avoid the second as Sephiroth closed in. Lightning cracked through the air as the intruder sent a blast at Sephiroth's head, but the general simply inclined his head slightly to the side, the blast sailing over his shoulder as he closed in.

The man's eyes widened as he saw Sephiroth, and he raised his hands, forming a barrier of electricity that appeared to stop Masamune in the air for a moment.

"You," he said.

"Me," was all Sephiroth said in reply. He cut down with Masamune, cutting through the electric barrier. The barrier exploded, the force of it sending the intruder flying back. He twisted around in the air, landing on one of the pieces of the Mark 7's hull, his eyes fixed on the silver-haired soldier below. A flash of red caught Kane's attention, and he turned to see Arisa launch herself through the air, kicking at his side.

"Hey!" she said. "Don't forget about me!"

The man turned to intercept their kick, his blue cloak snapping around her red one. He ducked his head, dodging a shot from her gun, and twisted out of the way as one of her daggers cut through the air. He pushed her gun arm out of the way, catching her wrist and holding it there. His eyes fixed on her as Arisa struggled, and from the ground beneath them, Kane saw him smirk. "Well now," he said. "Looks like something inside of you wants to come out and play."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" shouted Arisa, struggling out of his grip and kicking him away. She raised her gun, charging at him, and Kane thought she was going to end it, but then something happened. The man raised a hand towards her, almost in a beckoning motion, and Arisa's eyes went as round as saucers. She stopped, dropping suddenly to one knee and grabbing onto her head with both hands. A shudder wracked her frame, wisps of shadow rising up from her body. Kane found himself transfixed, unable to move, but also unable to relinquish his white-knuckled grip on Dullahan.

Sephiroth moved immediately, running towards them with his sword in hand. His eyes flicked towards Kane. "Find Vincent," he said, as Arisa's shudders became more pronounced. "Now."

Kane didn't waste time arguing. He nodded, turning to run as Sephiroth made it to the top of the hull fragment in two leaps, slashing down at the winged man before he could reach her. Kane ran towards the door's hangar, his scythe still in his hand as the sound of lightning tore through the hangar.

A figure darted past him, dressed all in black. Kane's eyes widened and he turned, watching as a Wutaiian man leaped the scaffolding up to the hull fragment, rushing to Arisa's side. He wore a long sword across his back, an odachi just smaller than Masamune, and as Kane watched, he unsheathed it, the sword gleaming as he cut through the shadows that were now thickening above Arisa. He spoke a single word in Wutaiian, and Arisa shuddered, the breath leaving her as she pitched forward. The Wutaiian man turned away from her, shifting his grip on his sword and stabbing at the intruder. The intruder jumped back, avoiding that thrust and another slash from Sephiroth, before leaping in the air. His wings extended, and he hovered there for a moment as his eyes flicked between Arisa's unconscious figure and the two men standing in front of her, swords in hand. His mouth opened, and he said something in Wutaiian that Kane didn't understand, followed by a laugh.

The other man shouted something back and Sephiroth stepped forward, but before either of them could reach him, the man flapped his wings, flying through the hole in the hangar and back the way he had come.

Sephiroth extended his wing with a rustling sound, obviously about to follow, but then his eyes moved from the man beside him, to Arisa on the ground, to Sara picking herself up out from under the canvas, and lastly to Kane. Kane wondered if it was just his imagination, or if the general's eyes landed on him for a little bit longer than everyone else. Making a decision, he folded his wing back against himself, barking a quick order to the man, also in Wutaiian. The man obviously scrambled to obey, bowing and sheathing his sword before crouching down to pick Arisa up. The two of them jumped down, landing on the ground in front of Kane as the alarms finally began to die down.

Kane didn't realize he was staring at Arisa until the man holding her looked up at him, his eyes narrowed dangerously. Arisa's cloak was wet with something black, he realized. Something that looked almost like ink. She twisted in her sleep, her face even paler than normal as she muttered something under her breath.

"I thought I told you to find Vincent, Kane." Sephiroth's tone was clipped. Kane hastily turned towards the general, his mouth open. He closed it quickly, realizing he didn't have an excuse, then opened it again.

"I—," he began.

"That won't be necessary," said a voice from behind him, causing him to freeze. "I'm here."

Vincent Valentine walked past Kane on his right, a frown on his face as he held out his hands for his daughter. The Wutaiian man relinquished his burden with a bow, taking a step back. Kane looked over his shoulder and noticed that Victoria was there as well, her own red eyes wide as she watched the scene in front of her.

"Infirmary," said Vincent, glancing at Sephiroth for confirmation.

Sephiroth nodded, swiping his sword in front of himself to clear it. He placed it at his back. "All of us," he said, looking over at Kane. "Even you."

Kane nodded, spinning Dullahan in reverse to allow the blades to lock back into their original position and running to help Sara to her feet.

XxXxX

It was an hour before the building had settled down enough that Kane was left alone, and another half an hour before things had settled down enough that he was allowed to leave. He stood in the medical treatment room, leaning against one of the gurneys and trying not to take the fact that he had been left out here too personally. Unbidden, his eyes drifted towards the door that led into one of the more private examination rooms, where Sephiroth, Vincent, Cissnei, the Wutaiian man who was apparently named Ichiro, Cid, Victoria, Sara, and an unconscious Arisa had hidden themselves, talking over the situation. The only information he'd managed to glean before someone realized he was standing there was that the man's name had apparently been Remiel, and this wasn't the first time they had encountered him. He'd also learned that the reason the Commissioner wasn't down here himself was because the front had just suffered a similar attack, but that was about all he'd managed to overhear before Vincent and Cissnei noticed him, and he was shooed out into the waiting room with little ceremony and told that he could either wait until they were done or go home. He'd elected to wait, not wanting to waste the day completely. Even though he was sure they wouldn't be getting to the Mark 7 today, it wasn't as if there was much waiting for him at home.

Kane ran his fingers over the cool metal of Dullahan's shaft, spinning it around in his hand before setting the butt down against the infirmary's tiled floor. His heart still pounded from the battle. He'd practiced with Dullahan—of course he practiced. What was the point of building a weapon if you weren't going to use it—but he hadn't expected he would have to use it like that. Because it was easier, he ignored the pounding in his head and thought about the technical aspects of the weapon. Dullahan's absorption capabilities worked well, at least against electricity. He would have to check later to make sure that the scythe hadn't sustained any lasting damage. He added that task to his growing to-do list, realizing with another frown that he was probably not going to be able to spend the evening flying across the Wasteland like he'd planned. Even if the hangar wasn't closed outright, Cid would probably be too busy to watch him fly.

It felt like ages before the sliding door opened again, admitting Cissnei. She smiled apologetically as she saw him, pushing a few graying strands of hair out of her face. Kane straightened up, turning towards her. He'd always liked Cissnei—even when he was a child, she'd done her best to not let him feel out of the loop. Sephiroth followed her, and at this, Kane found himself feeling a little more tense. The general's eyes flicked towards him, but the irritation from earlier was gone, his expression was carefully neutral. Because it was easier, he faced Cissnei instead.

"Is the meeting over?" he asked.

"Just about," said Cissnei, her smile growing a little tired. She eyed him. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," he said, displaying his bandaged hand. The contact with lightning had left him with a few electrical burns, but nothing as severe as he thought he might experience. The doctor had given him potion to deal with the worst of it, and some painkillers that left him feeling pleasantly numb, although he had a feeling his hands would hurt like a bitch once that wore off. "The doc signed off on me. I'm free to go."

"Do you want me to call someone to get you?" asked Cissnei, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know your dad's in town—."

"No," said Kane, a little too quickly. At Cissnei's raised brows, he shook his head, waving his bandaged hands in front of him. "I mean, no. I'm fine. Thanks, but it's alright." His father would find a way to twist the situation, somehow making it the WRO's fault that they were attacked and using the incident to question whether or not he actually wanted to join them. The memory of their conversation before he entered freshman year still left a bad taste in his mouth. He still didn't intend to change his mind. No matter how things turned out in the end, he had no intention of joining the Turks. Cissnei met his eyes, and seemed to understand whatever she saw there, because she nodded, not asking anything further.

"Then, I have a favor to ask you," she said.

That made Kane look up. "A favor?" he asked, meeting Cissnei's eyes.

"We can't leave," said Cissnei, glancing between her and Sephiroth. "Not until this is resolved. But...until this is, I don't feel comfortable with Ella being out there alone. She should still be at school. If you could—."

Kane nodded, understanding. He didn't need to be told twice. "Yeah, don't worry, Mrs. C," he said. "I'll walk her home."

He had the entire walk through the city to think about what he wanted to do. It was clear that none of the WRO higher-ups wanted him touching this investigation with a ten foot pole, but at the same time, he couldn't tear his mind away. It was pretty clear that Remiel wanted something, otherwise why attack the WRO's main base? He hadn't left until he realized that he couldn't win. And what was that thing with Arisa? And his eyes—normal mako eyes shouldn't have come in two colors, at least not as far as he knew.

He needed to know what was going on. The WRO wouldn't tell him, which left him with one place to get his answers. And if he knew her, she'd be more than willing to comply.

Kane pulled his ID out of his pocket as he reached the school gates, holding it up to the scanner. The light flicked from green to red with a beep, the gate hissing open to let him through. The campus was only open to senior students after hours, or those that had obtained special permission. He made his way across the quad, past the plaque that marked the spot where Reeve Tuesti and Rufus Shinra had declared the school open a little bit over fifteen years ago, and picked his way past the Engineering building towards the Department of Biology. His ID card didn't work here, but after some discussion, he managed to get a visitor's card from the man at the door in order to access the labs. A few moments and some navigating down white hallways later, Kane found himself standing outside the student lab where Ella worked on her senior project.

He knocked on the glass to catch her attention. She looked up from her work, frowning at him. Kane raised a hand, beckoning her to the door, and her eyes narrowed, but she nodded, gently placing the rat she was examining back in its cage. She peeled off her gloves, tossing them in a bin next to her desk before walking over to the door. Kane watched as she keyed something into a pad next to the door. The door hissed open, and she stepped out, meeting him in the hallway.

"What?" she asked, looking slightly annoyed. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I wasn't supposed to meet you for another hour."

Ella wore a lab coat over her uniform, and glasses. Safety regulations prohibited her from wearing contact lenses while working with chemicals. She gave him an impatient look from over the rim of those same glasses, folding her arms across her chest. He resisted the urge to give the entire ensemble a once-over, keeping his attention on her face. He'd seen her in a lab coat many times before, he reminded himself.

"Your mom sent me to come get you," he told her. "There's been some trouble at the WRO."

Her expression softened slightly at that. "Trouble?" she asked. "What kind of trouble?"

He told her. Starting with the attack on the hangar and ending with what he had found out about the attack on the camp at the front. Ella listened intently, letting out a breath when he told her that Aidan was okay and fixating on the description of the attacker. He could practically see the wheels turning in her mind as her eyes lit up at his description, and she reached for the notepad in her pocket. "You said he had two wings?" she asked, interrupting.

He nodded, and she scribbled something down. "He also had mismatched eyes," he told her, thinking back to the details of the fight. "Both mako-infused, but with different colors. There's a term for that, I think. You mentioned it once. Hetero...hetero..."

"Heterochromia," Ella supplied, making a note without looking up. "That's interesting. Mako shouldn't behave like that. It hasn't, in all the studies performed with it. Do you remember what the colors were."

"Blue and silver," he said. "Does it matter?"

Ella tapped her pen on the corner of her notepad. "Blue shouldn't. That's fairly standard. Silver, though..." She shook her head. "There was a school of thought that suggested the color of mako-infused eyes was an indicator of the purity of the source mako and the stability of the bond between mako and the host. Blue, the standard SOLDIER color, should signify a decently pure mako stream. Green, like Aidan's, would be better. Silver...Silver makes me think of the old Tsviets, back before Meteorfall."

"Did any of them ever have heterochromia?" asked Kane.

"Not that I know of," Ella pursed her lips in thought, turning away. She looked up at Kane. "You said you cut him?"

He handed over his scythe without a word. At some point during his walk over, he realized it would come to this. In truth, he'd been hoping it would. Like him, Ella had never been able to leave a situation alone, and if anyone could figure this out, it would be her. A part of him almost wondered if this was what Cissnei had had in mind when she sent him here in the first place. "You know," he said, as he followed her into the lab, letting the door shut behind him. "They probably aren't going to be happy if we start butting our noses into this."

"It'll take them days before they start to think about DNA," said Ella. She pulled on a fresh pair of gloves, then pressed the button that allowed Dullahan's scythe blades to unfold. The tip of the scythe was a dull brown from dried blood. He watched as Ella swabbed it down carefully, placing the sample in a test tube. "Their main concern is security. They won't even consider the 'why' until they can figure out the 'how'." She finished up, spinning the scythe once to fold it and handing it back to him. He took it from her, taking a step back as she walked off to her lab equipment. "Stay over there," she told him, waving a hand at the door. "This area is clean. This will take a while, so I suggest you read something while waiting. And maybe let me take another look at your hands. I don't like the look of them."

He stared down at his bandaged hands, fighting off a smile as Ella immediately turned her attention to other things. Kane found a bench, settling in for a long wait. He didn't have anything to read, so he busied himself with studying the machines, trying to determine their purpose. He'd been in the lab Ella had appropriated for her use a couple of times. He knew the work she was doing was loosely related to mako and genetics—an attempt at developing a cure for mako addiction. It was an ambitious project for a student, and he didn't think anyone other than Ella would be able to pull it off, but in all the time he'd known her, he'd never known her to aim small. He smiled slightly at this. It was her idea to go to this school in the first place. If it hadn't been for her, he might never have discovered the sky.

He was still thinking that three hours later, when Ella shook him awake. Kane blinked blearily, not even remembering falling asleep. The hallway outside of the lab was dark, suggesting that the rest of the school had already left.

"Kane," said Ella, her voice soft. "Kane."

"I'm up," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry."

"It's fine," said Ella, taking a step back. "You had a long day." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, looking back at the screen. Kane came up behind her, making sure to keep his hands in his pockets and not touch anything.

"So, what's the verdict?" he asked, his eyes fixed on the screen.

"I have no idea," replied Ella. "These patterns, this configuration. I've only seen it in one other person's blood before."

Kane blinked. "Whose?" he asked.

Ella's reply was grave. "Mine." Her eyes fixed on the screen, taking in the numbers and information there. "Kane, does the Renegade have enough fuel for a long flight?"

"How long?" asked Kane, frowning.

"Intercontinental," replied Ella. She tore her eyes away from the screen, looking back at him. "I want to go to Nibelheim."

Kane gaped at her, watching as she turned away. She moved her fingers across the touch pad of the machine, saving the information to her memory stick. His mouth worked, and it took him a moment to find his voice. When he did, it took him another moment to figure out what to say. "Call me crazy," he finally said. "But I don't think your parents are going to be okay with you just up and flying off to Nibelheim."

"I'll handle my parents," said Ella, pulling the memory stick out of the machine and slipping it into the front pocket of her coat. "Just fly the plane."

Kane knew Ella by now. He knew her well enough to recognize the look in her eye, to recognize that this was the start of another hare-brained scheme that was probably going to end up with them in serious trouble at best or dead at worst. It was insanity. But he knew himself well enough by now to know that he was probably going to go along with it anyway.

XxXxX

PROFILE 006: Ella

Name: Ella Crescent

Age: 18

Birthday: April 30

Blood Type: A

Hometown: Edge

Hair Color: Dark Red

Eye Color: Brown

Mother: Cissnei

Father: Sephiroth

Siblings: Aidan (24)

Occupation: Senior at Midgar-Edge Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), Department of Biology

Notable: Ella's mother is often quick to point out that despite the fact that her older brother Aidan inherited both their father's fighting skills and mako enhancements, Ella is the one that inherited his personality. Aloof, introverted, analytical, a perfectionist, and critical of herself and others, Ella made few friends outside of the AVALANCHE group as a child, and often spent her time alone, growing close only to her brother and Kane, who spent almost every summer at her house. The two of them became friends quickly, forming a friendship that lasted until Ella decided to apply to attend MIST and Kane decided to join her. During the application phase, Ella placed first in the entrance examination, and since enrolling at MIST, has placed consistently at the top of her class.

Ella and her brother are very close despite their age difference, with Ella often feeling as though she needs to look out for her brother the same way he looks out for her. She isn't blind to Kane's feelings for her. However, she has decided against commenting on them in the meantime, unsure of how to react to them. Despite her outward indifference, Kane's decision to remain in the WRO is part of the reason why she has been secretly considering enlisting in the WRO's medical department instead of going to Junon to pursue her scientific studies. The other reason is a reluctance to draw comparisons between herself and her grandfather, who despite being a good scientist, was a profoundly evil man.

Her weapon of choice is one of Kane's creations, a gunblade named Benevolence. Despite not having mako enhancements, she is a skilled fighter in her own right, and is the only one out of Sephiroth's two children that can summon a wing.