A/N: To Rerorerorero: I guess I should eventually clarify in a later chapter, since Abyssion is an important deity, eh? I don't know if I'll utilize those two or not, considering Hojo and Jenova smack of scifi and not fantasy so much. I'm sure I'll eventually use those two together in a fanfic somewhere, that will probably deal with copious amounts of juicy(literally) body horror.

The docks were cool still in the early morning, the breeze chilling Tifa's legs as it passed by. She watched the area for any unwanted guests and for Cloud, the god having yet to appear after last night. Her hands pulled at the hood of her dark colored jacket, her hair tucked within to keep herself inconspicuous. A backpack graced her back, as did one for everyone else in attendance.

"I suppose this is farewell for now, Zachary," Genesis said as the small group stood by the ramp for the Junon-bound ship. "You best do well to keep the priestess safe."

Zack proudly put his hands on his hips. "Hey, you can count on me!" A grin crossed his face, and he pointed at Angeal. "Try and keep your better half safe and sound."

"As if I can't look after myself," the red head scoffed.

Angeal chuckled. "Good luck in Wutai, Pup."

"I think you'll need more luck than us, Angeal." Zack looked up at the morning blue sky, wisps of pinkish clouds hanging high. He breathed in the ocean air, then looked at his two mentors with a nod. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

Genesis waved his hand flippantly. "We'll meet again, lest we fail. Then I suppose there will be no chance to mourn the other."

"That's rather optimistic of you," Aerith drawled out.

"Well...Goodbye for now." Tifa rubbed her arm.

"Hm. I'm glad we didn't have to kill you, but do see to it you keep an eye on your master, mm?" Genesis gave her a piercing look with his steel blue eyes.

She lowered her brow and made a frown. "He's not my master."

Angeal grunted. "He's hopefully truly an ally. I'd say so far so good."

Tifa pursed her lips. She didn't feel as uneasy about his motivations as she had before. When he wasn't playing at being a god, he was just a man in her eyes. Before she could respond, Aerith piped up. "I know we can trust him."

"Your ability might be leading you astray," Genesis warned.

She shook her head. "No, I can feel it. Besides, he didn't kill those Espers on the beach last night."

"Not that we know of," Angeal responded.

"Well, you aren't dead either." She gave them a sharp look with her eyes, despite smiling at them. "He very well could have killed us all. Would've been easier than all this, don't you think?"

"I think he's alright, he just needs to talk more." Zack rubbed under his nose.

A call rang out from the ferry, and Genesis let out a long sigh. "Thus we part."

A few more waves between the five, and the group of three watched the duo as they made their way on board their ship. Zack let out a noisy sigh as his mentors disappeared from view. They had been a group for the last two years.

Two years of training and doing. Mostly they were on the Eastern Continent, visiting places that required them. Sometimes they were sent out to assist after a natural disaster occurred, or a necromancer was sighted. How many times did they have each other's backs? Despite not being alone in his endeavor, he felt rather exposed.

He would miss the gentle bickering and the camp-outs when they couldn't reach an inn before nightfall. Zack would miss Genesis' cooking and Angeal's sword training. For all intents and purposes, they were family.

Well, some day he would have to introduce this family to his parents to adopt.

Zack felt a hand hold onto his forearm. He looked back to see emerald eyes observing him. "Time for us to go to faraway lands!"

He covered up his nostalgic mood with a smile. "That's right! Lead the way, Aerith."

It wasn't too far a walk to reach their boat, a grander vessel than the one Genesis and Angeal were on. This one was for a longer ocean cruise that would skirt the northern half of the continent before reaching Wutai. Zack had never been to the ancient nation, considered exotic by the rest of the world at large with their unique buildings and their steadfast loyalty to Leviathan, Lord of the Deep.

Their lodgings were down below, but on the upper level of the ship. If there was one thing he was glad for in this crazy scenario he found himself in, it was that the god of the dead had deep pockets and he was willing to use that coin on them. Zack knew it could be a ruse, but that thought was beginning to fade as he spent time around him. Cloud was aloof, but when he wasn't he came off as a little dorky.

A dorky god of death. He shook his head as he shoved the thought away, then opened the door to his room.

It was a nice room, spacious with a bathroom to the right and a round window on the wall. The floor had a thick, deep blue carpet and the furniture was wood that had been stained dark. A television hung from the wall next to the door he was slowly walking through; there were two drawers and two beds. Two beds?

"I'll take this bed."

Zack blinked a few times, then laughed a little. Cloud was sitting on the bed to the left, his face completely deadpan. He moved towards the one on the right, plopped his backpack on it, and sat on the edge. "I thought you didn't need to sleep?"

Cloud shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to put my feet up once in a while."

"Yeah, I totally agree." The Esper scratched at his arm. "So, how was your night?"

"I kept them from Bismark's church all night. They're probably there now, but it'll be too late for them to find us." Cloud fell back onto his bed, resting his head on the pillow and looking up at the ceiling. "Between what happened in Nibelheim and that, the church is going to be scrambling." He pursed his lips before continuing. "Some of the gods may make an appearance."

"Oh. That's not good for us, is it?"

Cloud shook his head. "Nope. But they'll do things their way, and I'll do things my way. There's no time to wait on them and their debates and discussions."

"Hm." Zack leaned back as he put his hands behind him. "Aerith trusts you a lot."

The god's blue eyes looked his way. "Yeah."

"So, have you ever met someone like her?"

Cloud shrugged before laying his hands on his belly. "Once, a couple of centuries ago. Another woman, who was a healer near Junon. A maniac attacked her one day as she tended to an injured farmer. I had to free her..." He let out a sigh.

"That sounds horrible." A thought crossed his mind. "So like, is there anything different about their souls that make them special?"

The god was silent, his eyes looking away. Just when Zack thought he wouldn't say, Cloud divulged. "Her soul was...different. It vanished as I held it in my hand. I still don't know why."

"Man. I hope it didn't just dissolve or something." Zack chewed on his lip for a few moments. He wondered if that meant any kind of magic that could revive a person at the brink of death wouldn't work on her. "Guess we'll just have to keep her extra safe."

"Yeah." After a minute of silence Cloud sat up in bed to face his roommate. "But for now, we should be alright. Tifa is with her when we aren't."

"True." Mention of Tifa made him think about what had been bothering him since he had cast his lot in with Cloud. Zack cleared his throat. "I've been thinking lately..."

"About what?"

A thoughtful look crossed the Esper's face. "About...the future. Specifically my future with Fenrir."

"Oh." Cloud tilted his head slightly and shifted where he sat. "You mean after you die."

"Yeah." Zack scratched his leg through the fabric of his jeans. "I mean, since we're doing the opposite of what we were supposed to do with you."

The god let out a short huff of a laugh. "Right. I don't know. If everything goes as planned, I don't think Fenrir is gonna punish you." He pursed his lips again and looked downwards as he thought. Espers went to their deity's realm after death to serve them. There was always the option to reincarnate again, but as far as he knew very few chose that, even after millenia of service. They were the hosts and armies of the gods.

After he became the next god of death, the pantheon had forced him to reincarnate every last one but for Raphas as a show of good faith. Cloud had been on his own but for the jolly castle keep, and any creature that dwelled in the underworld as a part of it. Now Tifa would be a part of a new host; he wondered how she would take the news.

Zack shrugged with uncertainty. "He's not known for appreciating traitors."

Cloud looked up with a frown. "You aren't a traitor just because I forced you into this."

"Yeah but, what choice did any of us have?"

Cloud scoffed. "None of us had a choice, you're right."

There was a knock on the door, and Zack stood and walked up to open it. He was met by Aerith's face, the priestess looking up at him with a little hidden sass that he had seen the first day they had met. He greeted her with a smile, and she did the same. "Hey. Need somethin'?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to watch the boat leave the dock before getting something to eat," she replied lightheartedly.

His smile grew, and he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah!" Zack turned around and waved at Cloud. "Hey, I'll be back later man."

The god waved once, then reclined back onto his bed. For someone who didn't need sleep, Zack thought Cloud seemed to really appreciate a good soft mattress. He turned his head as he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, then he had Aerith tugging him out of the room. Through the hallway they went, passing a few guests and a handful of crew members here and there.

It wasn't long until they reached the deck, speckled with groups of people and many couples that seemed to have the same idea Aerith did. The sky had grown lighter and the clouds were white and high up above. The two made their way to an empty area where they could watch Costa del Sol disappear as the ship skirted the continent.

"Anxious?"

Aerith looked up at Zack as they leaned on the thick metal wall. Her emerald eyes regarded him a moment, and then she dismissively shrugged. "We're going off to steal Wutai's spear piece. But we've made it this far, so perhaps our luck is still going strong."

Zack released a quiet chuckle. "I hope so." The boat very gently lurched, making the two sway in place. "Man, what a mess we've stumbled into."

"Mhm." The priestess gave him a confident smile. "One day we'll look back at this and laugh."

"You seem pretty confident that we're gonna save the world."

Aerith looked back towards the city as the boat began to move away from the docks. "Call it a hunch."

It was as if the boat was a large, graceful whale, gliding away from the shore and off to lands neither of them had seen. It was so serene, yet under the surface was an uncertainty as to what was waiting for them in faraway lands. Costa del Sol began to disappear from view as the ship maneuvered out to sea and past the green covered cliffs to the north of the resort city.

The priestess let out a sigh through her nose as civilization left her view. Then she pat Zack on the hand. "How about that breakfast?"

They headed down towards eating area, the large space set up with a buffet of items to eat. Aerith picked up a small bowl of fruit and some toast with jam. Zack piled on eggs and bacon and a few sausages before heading towards a table by the wall. As he put his plate down on the grey plastic surface, he raised a brow at Aerith's scant choices. "That's all you're gonna eat?"

She shrugged before jamming a fork into a strawberry slice. "I'm not a huge breakfast person. Sometimes it's nice, but...lately I've been having too many in a row."

"Oh. I mean, we coulda had a lunch together instead, then."

Aerith smiled and shook her head. "Never know what might happen from one hour to the next."

Zack grinned with a cheek full of eggs, then continued to eat his meal for a few minutes. He was plenty hungry, after all. He looked back up when she addressed him. "So, Zack. Where are you from?"

"Oh, uh..." He swallowed his mouthful. "I was born in Gongaga, but my family moved all the way to Bone Village when I was two. Kinda chilly, but not as bad as Icicle Inn."

"I see. So how did you get involved with the church?"

Zack looked uncharacteristically thoughtful as he pondered whether to say. Almost reluctantly, he began. "Well, you know how sometimes a god chooses you? That's what the priest said in the church, that Fenrir chose me." He looked down at his half-eaten plate. "I had a dream when I was fifteen, with Fenrir in it. I was running with this huge pack of wolves through the forest, fighting off monsters."

He looked up, watching Aerith's reaction. "And then Fenrir turned to me and said he wanted someone like me to fight by his side. He was just this huge, dark furred wolf that made me feel like I belonged with him."

She nodded in understanding. "Fenrir must have really wanted you to be his Esper if he came to you in a dream."

Zack relaxed a little bit, then chuckled. "Yeah. I'm proud to be his Esper, too." Thoughts of his discussion with Cloud ran through his head, and he quickly cast it aside before anxiety swiped at him again. "What about you?"

"Well..." Aerith slowly played with her fork, twirling it between the fingers of one hand as she looked at it. Then her eyes went back to Zack as she held her silverware again, and he swore they were sparkling. "My family has been all over the place. My parents met in Cosmo Canyon, and then they moved all the way to Icicle Inn. Mom said they wanted to get away from it all.

"They had me there. One day, when I was seven, some strangers came into the town." Her eyes became distant as she slowly recalled the memory. "They were dressed in black. Mom told me later on that they were bandits that had camped too close to Loz's End, and it had filled them with a terrible hatred."

"Oh." Zack's shoulders stiffened ever so slightly. "That's a long ways from Icicle Inn."

She nodded. "Mhm. They had to have traveled days to get there. Well, it was sort of infectious, their hatred. The inn and tavern had people fighting each other the evening after they arrived, and my parents fled to Shiva's temple." Aerith looked away. "My dad died fighting off our neighbor."

Again she looked at him, but her eyes held some shimmer of hope. "But there were Espers that were visiting. With their help and the priestesses there, they saved the town. We lost a lot, but in the end Icicle Inn was preserved."

So that was why she was so optimistic, Zack thought. "Who were these mystery Espers?"

"Espers of Seraph, Shiva and Bahamut. When everything calmed down and I saw what the church had done for the people, I slowly grew interested." A small laugh left her lips. "I suppose it's funny how things ended up. I wanted to become an Esper first, but then when my mother moved us to Midgar I started down the path to become a priestess instead."

"Oh. Woulda been cool to have grouped up with you out in the field, but this works too!"

She laughed again. "I had been priestess for Nibelheim's church for such a short time before you came. Maybe it was fate?" Aerith teased him, though she soon became somber. "I wish I could have known what was going to happen. When I arrived everything seemed peaceful enough. Except for Tifa, but who would have known?

"Anyway, with this power of mine making me...special," she said with a little strain, "I think it helped me land my own church to tend at such a young age. That and I was quick to learn the rituals. But, I wonder if it was for nothing now."

"Since we're technically traitors." Zack was certain she had been pondering the same things as he had been.

Aerith nodded. "Right. They'll eventually find out what we're up to, they have to be a little suspicious by now. We're the only survivors of a demon attack, and we didn't stay in Corel or Costa del Sol to see if they would need any help."

The Esper shrugged. "No goin' back now."

"Nope. I think we made the right choice, though."

They slowly moved from their table to allow an attendant to clean it for the next guest. Zack looked down at Aerith. She had the most certain look and gait as she walked at his side, a mask of serenity covering what anxiety laid dormant beneath the surface.

Zack watched what was in front of him as they navigated the hall back to their rooms. Maybe he was on a life or death quest, but it wouldn't be so bad with someone like Aerith at his side. He still missed Genesis and Angeal, but he wasn't alone.

As Aerith parted from his side to walk towards her door she waved at him. "I'll see you later on, Zack. Thanks for the date!"

"Date?" She was gone before the word completely passed his lips. A quiet chuckle issued from him, then he went to the door to his and Cloud's room. He tensed a little as a feeling came over him, one that came from the magic of an Esper. It wasn't Tifa's, with the unsettling peace of the grave, no. He sensed that nearby, of course. This one was different, raw, deep and untamed.

Zack looked about the hall, but he couldn't pinpoint who it was coming from. That woman, or the young man who took a quick glance back at him? Maybe it was the older looking teen that was far down the way. Or perhaps that tall fellow with the blond hair?

He shook his head and quickly entered his room. There was another Esper on board their boat, and the others would have to know if they had yet to sense it.