When Eloise entered the simulation room for her training with her mentor, her mood dropped immediately. Her eyes narrowed as she continued to walk warily closer to him.
"What are you doing here?" She questioned him coldly.
Genesis didn't have enough time to respond because someone else did for him.
"You improve at a great speed, Eloise. Today, I want you to fight Genesis." Sephiroth explained, just as coldly.
Her head snapped towards the grey haired man and she actually sneered. Eloise could hardly register anymire that the one she was sneering at was none other than Sephiroth.
"You want me to fight against Genesis?! But he is a 1st class SOLDIER! Even if he doesn't look like a powerful person, he must be." She said, extremely calm compared to how annoyed she was.
Genesis glared at her and scoffed. He did look like a powerful SOLDIER and he was one. Eloise was stupid to underestimate him. Sephiroth's eyes glanced between the two, greatly amused.
"You should be honored to fight me, ungrateful little girl." Genesis snapped.
"What do you know? Weren't you the one questioning my fighting abilities?"
Genesis scowled.
"Exactly. It's time for you, Eloise, to show your true potential to Genesis."
Sephiroth's words were only a nudge. He knew how anxious and frustrated she was around Genesis. That could become a good test to see how well she could control herself.
In the end, everyone accepted. She was growing anxious with every glance at Genesis but his expressionless face was annoying. Sephiroth walked upstairs, into the control room and watched bemusedly as the two culprits were seizing each other.
Suddenly, the simulation room changed into Sector 8.
Eloise's eyes widened for a second. Not even the memories of the night with Zack could make Sector 8 look less scary.
"Is there something wrong, Eloise?" She tried to ignore Genesis's taunting but he continued, "Did you get scared already?"
He knew how to push her buttons. She drew her sword out and faced him.
As they both knew, Genesis attacked first. He swayed his sword to the side and tried to intimidate her but it didn't work. She blocked his sword and kicked him. The force she was using wasn't impressive, it was suspiciously normal. Genesis chuckled smugly before he leaned in.
"Is that all you can do?" He whispered with a certain glint in his eyes that made her hands tingle.
Eloise glared at him and pushed him away. Her eyes hardened and her grip on the sword tightened. She launched two attacks at the same time: she swayed her sword to his side while she ducked. The brubette wanted to kick him in the ribs but he saw that coming and kicked her in the chin. It hurt. He wasn't playing anymore.
Eloise rubbed her chin and winced. It really hurt. She closed her eyes and concentrated, especially since she didn't want to use the blue energy. Genesis knew her secret therefore she had to use her own power, the one within, in order to gain his respect.
Eloise opened her eyes and waited. Genesis smirked cockily and traced his hand over the rapier, making it glow. She remembered his fighting style from before and decided she should be careful. He was more of a crazy guy in the battle.
Genesis formed fireballs into his hand and threw them at her. It was enough to distract her and give him time to sneak behind her and try to slash her side. It wasn't that easy. She saw that coming and blocked it.
Their fighting styles weren't that different; they were both trying to sneak on each other or try to kick while using diversions.
Sephiroth was impressed by Eloise's stamina. She definitely improved on that part but he wanted to see something different. He pushed a few buttons and leaned back.
As Genesis was blocking one of her attacks, she heard something behind her. Eloise ignored it and threw Genesis into the wall but he regained his balance quickly and threw another fireball at her. While she was busy avoiding them, Genesis had time to hit her.
The light coming from the fireballs was very bright and reminded her of fireworks. She swayed back and caught his blade before jumping on one leg and kicking him in the chin. Even though he got hit, he had time to grab her leg and throw her to the side. Eloise landed on her feet, against the wall. She jumped as if she was on a trampoline, and hit Genesis hard. While she was trying to regain her breathe, she heard a familiar growl. She glanced over her shoulder and froze.
The adrenaline was rushing through her veins, making her body immune to pain. Genesis saw her body relax for a second and took it as an opportunity. He was going to have the last blow. The redhead ran to her, his sword ready to slash her side, as he wanted from the beginning only that, when he got close enough, something about her felt wrong. There was a faint blue glow around her body.
As if she was on auto pilot, Eloise blocked the attack with her sword. Genesis was taken aback by her eyes. That never happened before and he didn't know how to react. It was only for a few seconds, but it was enough for Eloise to grab his face and throw him hard into the wall. The force she used was powerful; too powerful for a girl her weight. Besides, her hand was tingling. She used the energy and electrocuted him, making him spasm uncontrollably.
She blinked after a few minutes and realized that everything was false. There were no red eyes and no growling noises. Eloise was in the simulation room, training. Her vision came back and she fell on her bottom.
A few hours later and Genesis was taken care of into Hollander's laboratory. Eloise pestered Sephiroth to listen to her and take him there instead of the hospital. It was weird because she told him that before, when she was in a very bad condition.
"I'm sorry but you can't enter, Sephiroth. You can't help him now. He has to rest." Hollander's words were carefully chosen.
Eloise didn't want to seem suspicious so she didn't enter either.
"I'm sorry. I hit him too hard." She apologized but didn't sound genuinely sorry.
Sephiroth glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He saw what happened and she didn't look like she was conscious of what she was doing.
"It was a good fight. But you don't take your opponent seriously enough, Eloise. You were fighting like an officer in the beginning." He started, his intense gaze very intimidating.
Sephiroth sighed and leaned back. He had a mission later that night and had to prepare for a long flight towards Wutai.
"You shouldn't be scared to use the energy. You should be able to control it by now." He added, knowing she was more concerned about that than Genesis.
But for Eloise it was nothing but scolding. She couldn't look him in the eye without feeling guilty. He was training her hard, especially with the blue energy and weapon combat, but she was still not up to his level, or Zack's for that matter.
After Sephiroth left, Eloise remained in front of the metallic double doors all alone. It was silent and quite creepy on that level; there was a constant murmur coming from the lab. She was curious how Genesis was feeling but was equally worried for herself. The brunette saw those red eyes while she was fighting. How did that happen, anyway? It must have been a simulation but if that was true, Sephiroth did it, right? She narrowed her eyes at the wall and scoffed.
"Mentor my ass. He's trying to kill someone with my hands." She mumbled, playing with her shirt.
"Have you considered my proposition, Eloise?"
The sudden yet familiar voice startled her. Eloise turned quickly towards the metalic doors only to face the short scientist.
"Come in." He ordered her.
She followed Hollander towards a hospital bed, the only one in the laboratory. There was something dropping from Genesis' clothes that looked like water. Something was different about him; maybe because he was unconscious and he wasn't able to talk, but he looked slightly different.
"He is disintegrating, Eloise. Your blood can help stabilize it." Hollander started, his voice really monotone for someone who was supposed to raise some sympathy in her.
"But it won't stop, right? The process will only be interrupted for a few days before starting again."
Hollander nodded. That assumption was right.
"You electrocuted him with a low doze. He will wake up in a few hours but he does need your blood. If you don't want to do it for Genesis, do it for Angeal."
Hearing Angeal's name, her heart cringed. Zack was very fond of his mentor and it would break his heart to see such a proud and honorable man break piece by piece.
"If I can help them, who can help me?" Eloise asked, turning her head towards Hollander.
"That would be me."
She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the new acquaintance. The 3rd class SOLDIER had seen him before but never talked to him.
"I'm doctor Hojo and Eloise, you are not needed for Project G. I assume you know everything about it already?" He asked knowing she knew everything about it, "Then don't waste your time thinking about it anymore. As long as you can control the pure energy, you won't be in any danger". Hojo finished with a smile.
Scientist Hojo was an older man, very crappy looking. His face made him look like he was scowling at everything. What Eloise was sure of was that he was most definitely not a trustworthy ally.