A/N: Omo! It's been a long time since I've updated. Sorry 'bout that. I've been busy with my studies and I barely had the time to write this chapter. This will be a short chapter. Hopefully, I'll be able to update the next chapter a few days from now. Anyway, thanks for those who reviewed and faved~

All reviews are appreciated.

h t t p : / / w w w . yo u t u b e . com /watch?v=VxxUZF6wLXg :3


Chapter Seven
.Odd.


It was already 11:30 A.M., the rest of the first class SOLDIERs had already left for the cafeteria. Lightnng was the only one left in the room, still cleaning her trusty gunblade. Cleaning her weapons after using was a habit already. After a good fight, blood would remain on the blades of the weapon and since she didn't want Serah see blood, she would clean it after a stressful day of work.

"Lightning," Cloud called as he entered the room. "Phone call." She put her gunblade down and went with Cloud as he lead her to the phone. She grew curious about him as she remembered his expression back in the train station. But anyway, he is one mysterious -not to mention strange- guy.

He held her the phone that Marlene and Denzel put on his bag and they know for sure that Tifa's not going to like it. Cloud walked away so she could have her privacy. "Hello?"

"Farron, this is Raines." The caller said. What could he be calling for? "Apparently, there ae some things I want you to investigate. One, the current president of Shinra kinda bothers me. It looks like he's up to no good." Now that he mentioned about Rufus, he really did have a strange aura around him. He may look nice and gentleman-like and all but looks can be deceiving at times. Heh. Like she would fall for that anyway. She's not the type who could trust a person so easily and she already had the feeling that Rufus was bad news.

An I-knew-it-from-the-start voice start to yell in her head. Before she could talk to Rufus, she covered the phone as a group of SOLDIERs pass by her. "Yo, Lightning!" one of them called. Lightning just looked at him. "Aren't ya going to lunch?"

"Maybe later."

"Okay and don't blame me if you pass out." She rolled her eyes as she watched the group disappear from her sight. She heard another chuckle on the line. She could tell that Cid was obviously amused. "I didn't know you could make friends so easily." He teased.

"They're not my friends." She replied. "They're just my comrades."

"Oh, is that so?" She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, let's set that aside. There's another thing I want to talk to you about. A massacre at a SOLDIER base was reported. A survivor said that it was Sephiroth's doing." Lightning's eyes widened at the last statement. So, he's alive. She thought. Her heart started beating fast. Quick flashes of images which were too vague for her to recognize began playing in her mind. Her mind started to hurt as the beat of her heart sped up. She couldn't understand what she was feeling. Mixed emotions were accompanying the pain. She couldn't tell what it was but she was sure she felt nervousness.

It was only a few seconds when she felt the strange phenomena which seemed to last for minutes. It suddenly faded when Cid resumed to his last minute conversation. Once they were done, she hung up and put the phone back to the bag. She bit her lip. What was that? She asked herself. It was strange...really strange. She started to feel nervous at the thought of Sephiroth again. Why was she feeling like this?

"Lightni-?"

Swiftly, Lightning slapped the person behind her due to the nervousness she was feeling. The person happened to have brought coffee with him and tripped backwards, causing the coffee fall on him. What was worse is that the coffee was freshly brewed and hot. Very hot.

She quickly snapped herself back to reality and look at the person. It was Cloud and he brought a coffee with him which was now spilled on him. She immediately went towards him to help him up. "I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed as she pulled him up. As everybody would say, Cloud was extremey quiet and serious. What they didn't know was that he is allergic to coffee. It was just an accident, Cloud. An accident. He thought as he tried to calm himself down. He wouldn't want to hit a newcomer especially when it's a woman. After all, it was just an accident.

As he was about to get up, with the help of Lightning, he stepped on the puddle of spilled coffee. He landed right on top of her. Could this get any worse?

After realizing the position they were in, her eyes widened in shock. Cloud blushed furiously. His face was only a few inches from hers. She could feel his warmth of his breath which made her go slight pink. He was dangerously too close. She could feel the beat of her heart go thumping again.

Cloud shared the same feeling and that was not it. The look in her eyes was something else. Cloud saw something that was...uncanny to him.

"Aigoo~" A voice sang. The two turned and saw Zack with a huge grin across his face.

Cloud and Lightning quickly stood up and Lightning looked away as she stand up. "I-It's not what you think!" They both yelled in unison which made his grin even wider and more childish. Zack gave them the ooooh-rigght~ look.

"Ohh really?" He said as he turned away with the childish grin still on his face. "So, it wasn't an accident after all." Wait, so he saw what happened!

Cloud's eyes flashed in annoyance. Lightning couldn't help but feel like pounding him into bits. "You're so lucky~ shorty~" He skipped happily the way to the office door to escape from the "couple." Cloud was about to punch him in the face but she held his arms and tried to stop him. "WHO YA CALLING SHORTY?"

"Calm down!" She tried to calm him down as he struggled to break free from her . Her grip tightened to keep him still as he tried. Zack should thank her for holding Cloud down. Unless...

"Yohoo~" Zack called which made them both pause for a while. He opened his phone and showed them a picture of the very position they were once in. Anger suddenly took over and they both launch themselves on Zack. "GET HIM!"

Lightning tried to snatch the phone but unfortunately he was too tall she could barely reached it. Plus, he keeps it away from her. "ZACK! Give me the phone!" Cloud gave him a glare as he almost got the phone. He just stuck out his tongue. "Naaahh! It's a souvenir~"

Out of the blue, the phone he was confidently protecting from the two SOLDIERs was now quickly snatched from his hands. It wasn't Cloud nor was it Lightning but the one and only Noctis. He flipped the phone open and smiled at the picture. "Well, well, this is quite something." He commented, obviously amused. He pressed a few buttons and hand the phone back to Zack. The two paused for a moment as Zack opened his phone. "Photo deleted." Noctis said amusingly.

Lightning felt relieved. Wasn't he the guy whom Cloud said that she accidentally "kissed?"

"Aww! You can't be serious, Noct!" Zack pouted as he began to scan through his gallery to check if it was still there. Fortunately, it was deleted. The dark haired man just smiled and shrugged. "It's for what you did to me years ago." Cloud's eyes widened. "Wait, you two knew each other?"

"I moved into Noctis's city when I was a kid. We met in the same school we were studying at, right princey prince?" He said, looking at him. Noctis just rolled his eyes.

"First class SOLDIERs: Fair, Farron, Strife and Caelum. Please proceed to the director's office." An announcement said. The voice echoed through out the hallway. The four stared at each other, wondering what they were called for. "Oh man." Zack said, remembering the event that had happened last night. Both Lightning and Cloud had the same thought. Is he going to punish them? Well, who knows.

"Do you think this is about last night?" He asked.

"I don't know... We did explain everything to him." Cloud replied as he shrugged before they started walking. "If Noctis is being called, then it isn't about his car." Lightning nodded in agreement which was true since Noctis was not part what happened although she got a feeling that it will be about the three men they had encountered last night.

"What happened?" Noctis asked, the only one who knew nothing about last night. Everybody turned their attention to him before responding. "Long story made short, a couple of guys came out of nowhere and attacked us. Unfortunately, they ended up shooting the director's car." Zack said.

As they arrived at the doorsteps of the director's office, Zack knocked on the door. They've waited unti a faint "Come in" was heard from behind the door they were facing at. He opened it and saw the director busy with his paperworks... as usual. The director looked up from his papers and set them aside for a moment. "Reporting for duty, sir." Cloud said. Surprisingly, the director didn't gave them any signs of anger on his face. He pushed a small button underneath his desk. A long, narrow opening began to appear from the ceiling and a thin, black and expensive looking flat screen TV came down from it. The TV was now right beside his desk.

He pushed another button and the TV was turned on. "Let me show you something." He said as he pressed another button underneath the desk. The screen showed the exact scene of what happened last night. It happened to be a clip from one of the hidden cameras from a store that happened to be nearby the place they were fighting. The screen showed the end of the battle where the long silver haired man shoot the director's car which let out noises. The clip ended when the three escaped and flew into the dark sky then the TV was turned off.

The director faced them with a serious look. "Those guys who threatened my beloved car were the remnants: Yazoo, Loz and Kadaj." He said as he adjusted his glasses. "It also seems like their planning to wake Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth..." She muttered. Now, why does the name always ring a bell? It wasn't the first time she ever heard about him. In fact, she heard the name from rumours to facts. But there was something deep inside her as if she really knew Sephiroth in person.

Suddenly, her head began to ache again. Flashes of images appeared in her head. All of them were too vague and fast for her to recognize. It was happening once again.

Again?

For a few seconds, she suffered the pain but it suddenly stopped. "Are you okay?" Lightning turned to Noctis who had a concerned look on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about him." She said in a low voice.

Cloud, who was right beside her, had his eyes on her. He was a little concerned since he knew something was up with her since she a while ago. "Do you want us to investigate?" Faceing to the director, he said.

"Yes." Adjusting his glasses, he began to look into some files. He pulled out a brown envelope which contained three folders. He pulled out the folders and began to scan through the pages. "But before that, I want you to find Sephiroth's body which is said to be located in a crystal cave in a forest right in the outskirts of Midgar..." He said as his voice trailed off as he continued to read. Lightning looked at him with confusion. Wasn't a SOLDIER base massacred recently? If that was true, then what does he mean by "planning to wake Sephiroth" or the whereabouts his body?

She decided to keep quiet and listen to the information he was telling them which was a good idea. "Also... a SOLDIER base massacre has been reported this early morning." I knew it. Cloud and the others, with the exception of Lightning who managed to maintain her coolness, looked at the director with shocked expressions on their faces. "Wh-What?" Zack exclaimed. The director nodded. "Yep. Strangely, he used his right hand instead of the left. I want you guys to find his body and study him."

Lightning turned to Zack, who had been oddly silent in the whole Sephiroth discussion. Unusually, his face seemed serious and at the same time there was a glint of sadness in his eyes. This was quite surprising for Lightning since Zack was the loudest of them all.

The director neatly piled the documents back into the folders and placed them inside the brown envelope. "The forest is very dangerous since it's full of traps, I'll let you use materia this time." The director said as he smiled at them. Zack beamed suddenly. "You may go now."

The four stood up and headed for the door. The director watched them leave the room. When the door was shut close, he stood up from his chair and massaged his head. Ow... He took his phone and dialed. It did not take long for the reciever to pick up.

"Hello?" The reciever said in a low voice.

"Hey, cous. Could you come here?"


"Uwaah~ I can't wait to use them!" Zack exclaimed as they walked on their way to the office. Cloud rolled his eyes in annoyance as the two new SOLDIERs looked at their fellow comrade with puzzled looks on their faces. Noctis slightly tilted his head in confusion. "Materia?" He asked. "What's that?"

Zack just gave him a smile. "You'll see." Lightning raised a brow as she stared at him confusingly.

As they arrived the first class SOLDIER office, Angeal greeted them and stood from his seat. "Heard that the director allowed you to use materia." He said as Zack nodded. Genesis walked to the table with a suitcase in hand. He placed it on the table and started to press the correct key code to the case. The suitcase beeped thrice and revealed numerous colorful, glowing balls. When Zack was about to happily grab one, Cloud slapped his hand from doing so. "Ouch."

"So, those are materia?" Lightning said, pointing at them. It look kinda...cute. "What do they do, actually?"

"Let's say they're like balls of magic." Angeal took a green materia and put it on his wrist. The materia went into his wrist...literally. This part on his wrist where the materia was once placed glowed in a greenish color. The two new SOLDIERs awed at the sight although they didn't show how amazed they were. Angeal smirked. "You put them into your wrists and you can do different spells" A ball of water appeared on his hand. "Awesome, huh?" Zack said.

Suddenly, Angeal threw the water ball towards Zack. Zack, noticing the sudden attack by Angeal, ducked as the ball of water pass right above him.

"Mr. Angeal, I-" Without saying furthermore, a female employee entered the room and was hit by the ball of water. "O...kay." Zack muttered oddly. "Anyway," Angeal said "I guess you'll know what to do." Lightning took one and examined it curiously.

The door opened and revealed the director and with him was a suspicious looking man who looked like in his early thirties. He wore a black coat, sunglasses and a toothpick on his mouth. The director nodded at the man. "Sorry to interrupt you in your meeting, but I would like you to meet Lee Ban."

"Good afternoon Mist-" As Genesis was about to finish his sentence, Ban raised his hand, a sign for him to stop talking. He faced him. "Call me..." He paused and looked at him in the eye as he took off his glasses in a dramatic manner. "Ban." One thing that Genesis could describe the man infront of him: weird. "Err... Good afternoon Ban."

The director sweatdropped at the sight of the very awkward meeting between the SOLDIERs and his cousin. He decided to break the tension by clearing his throat to speak. "Everyon, Ban will be your director from now on." He said casually. He, as expected, earned stares from everyone in the room - excluding him and Ban, of course. "Wh-What?" Zack said, not really believing what the diretor had said. "Don't tell me you're going to retire?"

The director adjusted his glasses and faced the window. "Let's say that the time has come for me to leave this place." The atmosphere grew more silent as a wind blew the curtains which caused it to make way for the sunlight shine on him. "It's my time..." He continued. He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes.

"Angeal, could you please turn off the electric fan? I'm almost blinded by the sunlight." Annoyingly, he turned to the man who obediently obeyed. Angeal went to the device and turned it off. Hearing him say "thank you", he went back to sitting on the couch. The director cleared his throat again and faced the SOLDIERs. There was a dramatic silence between them now.

...

"I'm taking a VACATION~!" He sang which made everyone look at him in surprise, excluding Ban who seemed to keep his cool aura and Lightning and Noctis who barely knew the director, and their eyes wide open.

"I'll see you next month, SOLDIERs!" He happily waved goodbye and left the room with the injured female employee who was mercilessly handed with a pile of paper works.


Somewhere in a forest...(1:00 P.M)

"Zack," Lightning said as they walked down by a nearby river. "We've been walking for so long. Are we lost?" She paused as she placed her hand on her hip and did not look pleased. Seriously, she was mad. Zack paused and turned to the trio behind him who had been following him for the who knows how long. He scratched his head and smiled innocently. She has got to admit, walking in circles was completely wearing her outw which is not good. Who knows what kind of creatures were lurking in the area and were ready to jump on them any minute now. "Hmm..." He muttered. "I think we are."

That's it. He's officially worse than that blonde guy. "Ya think?"

"Sorry." He laughed sheepishly. Great, just great. Lightning rolled her eyes. Why does these things always happen? When Lightning turned around, she saw a path right ahead of them. A two-way path to be exact. It also seemed like they've come across this since it was familiar.

"We've been to the left, this time we should try out for the right." She said, remembering which direction they went. Cloud walked towards her and shook his head. "No, I don't think so." He spoke up. "I've got a bad feeling about that path. Let's try again on the left." He got a point there. But then again, they shouldn't be wasting time again.

"What if we run in circles again? We won't make it to Septhiroth." She said, her eyes sent deadly glares to him. Cloud, in return, glared back. "But what if we get killed on the way? We'll never make itthere." Then, the battle of glares was on.

"Right."
"Left."
"RIGHT!"
"LEFT!"

The two SOLDIERs watched their comrades argue. Zack never knew that his blonde friend could be so short tempered...also in height compared to the female SOLDIER. Also it wasn't something so couldn't help but laugh at the thought. Noctis looked at him in surpriese by his sudden laughter.

"What?" The two glared. Zack paused but still smiling. "I didn't know Light is taller than you by two two inches." He chuckled. Lightning smirked and amusingly crossed her arms. Cloud glared at Zack. That was pretty much randm but she couldn't help but feel flattered.

A rustle of leaves was suddenly heard. The four of them steadied for action. "What was that?" The sound of the rustling leaves ceased for a moment, leaving only the sounds of birds flying from their nests. Then, there it is again. The rustling sound was heard once again and it sounded like it came form the bushes behind them. Lightning readied her gunblade Cloud and the others did the same with their weapons. The rustling became more intense and, whoever it was, is getting closer and closer.

Rustle, rustle.

Then a cute, little white rabbit came out from the bushes. Zack blinked twice. "Phew."

"HA!" Suddenly a group of inruders leaped from the bushes. Tch, I almost let my guard down. She dodged the attack and fired bullets at the intruder in front of her at a very fast speed. The inturder turned to dust just like the clone from last night. It took not long enough for her to realize that it was a clone. She glanced at the clones. They were all clones of a muscular silver long haired man in black. "They're Sephiroth clones!" Zack exclaimed. Hearing the name, she remembered the fact that Sephiroth was left-handed. However, these Sephiroths were right-handed. And then it hit her, the Sephiroth who massacred the SOLDIER base was a clone.

Zack stabbed the enemy one after the other as they all turned to dust and often used his materia to cure some of the cuts he started to slice and killed numerous clones.

Two clones were heading towards Noctis who just stood there calmly. "Is he insane?" Zack muttered. Out of the blue, guns and swords started to appear, surrounding him. They started to circle in the air alog with some blue tiny orbs, slightly making it radiant. When the clones were close enough, he took out a sword from one of the spinning weapons.

SLASH!

The clones were sliced in half and eventually turned to dust. The sword disappeared from his hands along with the other weapons that were once surrounding him. Noctis sighed in relief. Well, that's the last of it. He thoughtand turned to his fellow comrades.

"..."

Zack's jaw dropped in amazement. "What?" Noctis said, slightly feeling awkward by their gazes on him. "That was so awesome!" Zack beamed. The way Noctis fought amazed them, especially Lightning who widened her eyes. Although she may not show it, she was incredibly amazed.

"U-Um...stop staring at me like that, you guys." He humbly said. "A-Anyway, were those clones?"

"Yep, Sephiroth clones to be exact." Cloud answered, recovering from shock. "We'll we better be going." Noctis said. And then, Cloud and Lightning faced each other.

"Right."
"Left."

Noctis felt himself facepalming while Zack snickered.