Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII. I depend on my daughter, Angeal Valentine, and on Bjanik for all my information on the subject.
A/N—Why is it that just when I think I have the end in sight, the plot bunnies return? Suddenly every spare minute I have (well nearly) is being spent writing new text! I guess, to quote AV, "they're awesome like that!"
(2 am, Mideel; midnight, Midgar; 8 pm, Gongaga; 4 pm, Wutai)
"SEPH!"
Sephiroth was alive! While moving to intercept Rhapsodos, Zack had suddenly paused to watch his friend—returned from death!—carry Genesis into the air and explode the former Soldier into bits! Suddenly despair had turned to triumph! Zack and every other Soldier had stopped amazed to see the exploding lights above them. Now Zack ran again, trailed by other Soldiers, this time to see for themselves that Sephiroth was truly alive…
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Tseng paused and bent over with his hands on his knees. He was emotionally as well as physically drained—he'd lost too many Turks, too many friends—and now Sephiroth had died and come back from the dead?! Well, who else could have, Tseng supposed? He straightened, only to be nearly tackled by Elena. Tseng gathered her close, kissed the top of her head, then turned while keeping an arm around the girl, and began giving orders to his remaining Turks about entering the underground facility. Suddenly, Tseng felt his communicator vibrate about his ear. "Tseng."
"And just where do you want this damn thing? And do you know this bodyguard of yours has no sense of direction?!" It was the president. In the background Tseng could hear outraged protests from Verdot's daughter. Well, at least she was alive. Verdot would be relieved.
"Lock on to my signal and bring it here—good luck finding your way through the trees."
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"Seph! How?" Zack dropped to his knees across Tessa from his commander. He'd been about to dog-pile Sephiroth then decided landing on the pregnant woman too might not be a good thing. "You were dead! I saw Genesis' spell. You didn't move. How?!"
"Zack." Sephiroth smiled slightly at his second. Zack didn't seem to be aware of the tears streaming down his face. "I always expected that the Lifestream would reject me—that I'd be left in darkness forever—but I learned a few things just now. Someone's watching over us from the other side of the boundary." Sephiroth reached a hand to wipe the tears from Zack's face; it wouldn't do for his second to be seen like that by the Turks! Tessa reached for Sephiroth's other hand that was holding her tight and smiled despite the discomfort in her abdomen.
"What?! You came back because someone was watching out for you? Are you kidding me?"
Sephiroth smiled slightly again. If he hadn't "lived" it himself, he supposed he wouldn't have believed any of that either. Suddenly Niven and Malik knelt next to Zack and looked intently at their commander. Cloud and several other Soldiers stood just beyond the First Classes. Every one of his troops looked exhausted and all had been injured to varying degrees. Materia was appearing in hands, and the sounds of "Cure2" and even "Cure3" surrounded them. Mastered materia orbs were then passed to the Turk medic and to Dr. Caperton for further healing work.
Zack too had watched the healing sessions and had noted several absences from their ranks. Damn. He turned his attention to Tessa. "Tess? You okay?"
"Zack." Tessa looked sideways at him from where her head lay against Sephiroth's chest. "The baby is coming—it's way too early, Zack. You'll be an uncle… soon…" Her voice faded, and she closed her eyes. Sleeping in Sephiroth's arms seemed like a very good idea at the moment. No. Zack shook his head. The baby was early—it could be a tragedy for all of them…
Sephiroth pushed a few tendrils of Tessa's hair back from her face. "Zack, I'm leaving you in charge here with Alex." Zack's eyes flicked to Niven then back in surprise. Seph rarely called Niven, 'Alex'—he must really be tired. And why not? Seph had barely slept since Tessa had entered the tube, then he'd died and come back to life! That would wear anyone out, Zack supposed. "I want you to support the Turks in their clean-up. I know Genesis wasn't alone in running this place. Find who was helping him. I'm sure Tseng will have questions for them. Also, I want anything that might be left of Genesis' body burned to ash, ASAP, even if the Lifestream is taking it. I want no rescues, or miraculous recoveries, or future repeats of anything that happened here. Understood?" Zack and Niven nodded their agreement. "Malik, I want to take Tessa to the hospital on Mideel Base. I won't trust her to the hospital in the city, not with Heidegger's people still in charge of security there—not if the baby can possibly be born on base. To that end, I want you driving the RV that'll be coming soon. That way we can immediately get through gate security, and we won't be taking any wrong turns. Call the base hospital and let them know we're coming. After I get her to the hospital, I'll be back to help with clean-up." Pausing, Sephiroth considered. He didn't want to cause Zack pain, but he had to know. "What became of the Hewley clone?"
When Zack didn't answer, Niven, with a glance at Zack, answered instead. "Strife killed it, sir. It's dead and gone."
Sephiroth's eyebrows went up. "Hm. All right." He paused, then called, "Strife! You'll come with us to the hospital. Help me keep watch over the most valuable woman in the world. Certainly the most expensive baby in the world after this past week… What of the airship that brought us here? Highwind, I think the pilot's name was…"
After seeing the startled expression on Cloud's face, Zack looked back at his commander and answered, "Highwind insisted he had to put down for repairs and refueling immediately and headed back to the base. I doubt he can be convinced to take off again for at least a day or so… Seems he came from Rocket Town to meet us in Junon before he brought us here to Mideel. I think he feels put upon—Mr. Tuesti had just cut his budget."
"Had he?! Well, I think Tessa and I can find it in our budgets to fund Mr. Highwind's very fast airship projects. Don't you, dear?" Sephiroth nudged Tessa. When she didn't respond, he looked to find the doctor, worry writ on his face. "Caperton, what's wrong with her?!"
"Hm?" The doctor looked up from the Turk he was attending to briefly inspect Tessa. "Dr. Romera's just asleep for the moment. If she can relax after what she's been through, then that should help with what's coming."
"And what is coming?"
Dr. Caperton shrugged. "Literally, the baby. If labor continues, then she'll be able to deliver the baby vaginally. Sometimes, however, labor contractions stop. Either way, with her membranes broken, the baby will have to come out—ready or not. If labor stops, I'll have to perform a C-section. Either way, the baby, and you, will have to fight for its life at this early stage of development. I'd like to put off labor for a couple of days at least, if at all possible. We can discuss it further on the way to the hospital."
"If labor stops…" Sephiroth considered. Perhaps labor stopping wouldn't be such a bad thing…
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Suddenly, the Shinra personnel heard a roaring engine and crashing trees. Looking up, the group saw a very dented RV careening toward them. Inside could be made out two people arguing over the steering wheel. Stopping, the two "drivers" tumbled out the door.
"That is the last time I ever take directions from you!" Rufus Shinra shouted at a silver-haired woman behind him.
"If you had listened to me, we would have already been here!" Kamui shouted right back.
"How could you possibly see where you were going with your eye still swollen?"
From his position on the ground, Sephiroth looked up. "Who the hell is that with Rufus?!"
Tessa stirred at the noise and the muscles bunching in her husband's legs beneath her. "Hm?" Opening her eyes she realized that the young woman with Rufus Shinra had to be Verdot's missing daughter—and Sephiroth's clone. "Oh." Looking up at Sephiroth, she touched his cheek and caught his eye. "Ride's here. Shall we go?"
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Vincent and Verdot had moved away from the Soldiers gathering around Sephiroth. Instead they had joined the Turks where the RV had come to rest. Verdot sighed with relief, gathered his daughter into his arms, moved her around the RV out of Sephiroth's direct line of sight, and inspected her for injuries. Unfortunately, she looked terrible. Kamui was bruised, covered in blood (much of it her own, he noted), her clothes were ripped showing both upper arms (along with her tattoo, "KM-1"), a long diagonal line of skin from her left collar bone to her right hip, and much of the skin of her abdomen. Sweet Shiva, she had to have nearly been killed! Even her hair was different. It was now short and uneven! Rufus Shinra looked unscathed by comparison—though his jaw was swollen. "Kamui, are you all right?"
"Boss! Do you know what that shit-for-brains asked me to do?" Kamui flung an arm in Rufus Shinra's general direction without answering her father's question.
Verdot shook his head. He was rather afraid to ask. "Uh. No…" He really wished she wouldn't throw her arm around like that; her body was drawing the attention of most of the men present!
"He asked me on a date!"
Verdot felt his face go pale, and he glanced at Vincent. "Really? Is he feeling all right? Did you punch him in the head? What did you tell him?"
"Um. Well, uh… Yeah, I did punch him in the jaw, but I think he's okay… And I kind of said 'yes.'"
Verdot felt his heart stutter. "Boggles the mind… In so many ways…" Around him, Verdot noted the startled expressions of nearby Soldiers and Turks. Yes, she was going to have to deal with that reaction; Kamui's resemblance to Sephiroth was now plain for everyone to see, though she hadn't seen the General herself yet (apparently being blind in one eye and having the other eye swollen nearly shut had advantages). Worse, that lecherous Reno was practically drooling on himself and coming their way!
"I am Reno Sinclair, and may I have the honor of knowing your name?" Reno reached for Kamui's hand. Before he could grasp it, however, Rufus Shinra had interposed his body between the pair.
"Back off, Reno!"
Reno caught the growl that had started in his throat. "Come on, Mr. President, I just wanted to make the acquaintance of the lovely young lady." He hadn't expected interference, especially not interference of a presidential nature. Reno suddenly found his chin atop Rufus' shotgun.
"I said 'back off'! The lady's coming with me." Rufus wasn't about to repeat his "since my company made General Sephiroth, we must have made you as well; therefore, you belong to me!" fiasco speech, but no one got between a Shinra and his possessions, least of all a sleazy Turk… Without taking his eyes off Reno, Rufus ordered, "Kamui, you're still my bodyguard. Let's go."
Kamui frowned. She had no idea what was going on, but… "Uh, yeah. Whatever…" Rufus lowered his shotgun then wrapped a Turk night suit from the RV supplies across her body. Possessively. His.
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Rearranging the RV benches into a bed for Tessa took Zack just a few minutes. At the same time Turks and Soldiers unloaded supplies of ammunition and materia off the RV. Once readied, Sephiroth gently carried his wife into the vehicle, surveyed its inside, and put Tessa on the bed. Tessa smiled. Sephiroth was so possessive. She was rather getting to like having him carry her around. Dr. Caperton followed them onto the RV.
"Is there anything else you need, Dr. Caperton? Though, after all we've been through, do you mind if I call you, 'Leonard'?" Tessa suddenly wanted things to be "simple."
The doctor laughed slightly. "Not at all. May I call you, 'Tessa'?" Caperton smiled at Tessa's nod, then cautioned. "Tessa… you may feel the urge to push, but resist it for now—it's far too early for that. Just lie on your left side and sip water. It should help slow labor."
Sephiroth leaned his head toward the door. "STRIFE! What are you waiting for?! Get in here! Malik, you too!" Cloud, looking shell-shocked, ran onto the RV and headed for the back. Malik looked up from the map he had been drawing for Niven and Zack. There were several other Soldiers with the group who were assigned to Mideel Base, but only he was native to the island and familiar with the surrounding area. The base was about sixty miles west of their current location. Malik added a few last flourishes to the paper, jabbed it at Niven, then jumped to the RV.
Tseng suddenly appeared at the RV door. "General, you'd better take this with you. The brig at the base is probably the safest place on the island for this prisoner." Tseng waved a hand, and Reno and Rude appeared carrying a long silver bag, while a strawberry-blond woman in tee-shirt and jeans hovered nearby.
"Who is it?" Sephiroth questioned.
Clearly relishing the moment, every Turk smirked. "Hol-lan-der!" The man had been a fugitive for years.
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow, "You're kidding!"
Reno and Rude dumped Hollander headfirst onto the floor at the back of the RV. "Kid," Reno addressed Cloud. "I leave you in charge of keeping the prisoner quiet… I suggest the use of this." He handed the Third Class his EMR. "Enjoy!"
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And are you all right? Vincent questioned his son. He'd known instantly when Sephiroth had returned to life.
Yes. Some remarkable things happened to me while I was gone… Did you know someone is watching over us?
What?! Who?
Sephiroth changed the subject, or thought he had. Have you ever heard of the 'Fountain of Chaos?' Sephiroth caught Vincent's start.
Where could you have possibly heard that phrase?! It's from ancient Cetra poetry that… she… translated. In fact…you almost certainly had to have learned it… from… Vincent's mind voice went silent, then Sephiroth felt Vincent's mind pushing for an answer; Sephiroth, however, kept Vincent from that information in his mind. Apparently he'd finally learned the trick of blocking Vincent out.
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Tseng, bone tired, checked and organized his resources, and silently thanked Sephiroth for leaving him the Soldiers to shore up his people. Everyone was about to drop, but this battle was hardly over and couldn't wait much longer to be completed. With a look of misery, poor Elena dropped to the ground—Tseng couldn't blame her one bit, he wanted to do the same. Tseng turned to Rude and his tee-shirt-clad companion. Tseng sincerely hoped they could trust her—Rude clearly did.
Rude took Vanessa-7's hand. "Chief, we need to find Lynette Hiland. While she was the head of the Apple Town group, she's also in charge of New Banora. Not only that, she was Hewley's grandmother and Londo Shinra's first wife."
Rufus, with Kamui trailing behind him, had come up behind Rude during his report and felt his jaw drop. "Father's first wife? He was married before? Even before Lazard's mother came along?"
Rude nodded his head slowly. The president shouldn't have found out in this fashion.
"Are you Rufus?" Vanessa-7 tilted her head to the side curiously and stepped toward the president. "She was his first wife."
Rufus' eyebrows knit. "Young woman, what do you mean by that?"
Vanessa-7 smiled gently. "Please, come over here."
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Zack's eyes scanned the ground for traces of Genesis as Seph had ordered. "He was barely holding together at all. Pieces of him were flying off in every direction… but… I don't see anything anywhere."
"I'll call more of our people over to expand the search area." Alex Niven turned away.
Zack nodded. They had to be sure every bit of Genesis Rhapsodos was gone.
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Vanessa-7 led the Turks to the broken Banora monument and gazed sadly at the ground. "See. Here she is. Lynette Vanessa Hiland… Shinra." Lying in the ground, encased in solid mako, was the body of a white-haired woman. "No Vanessa was allowed to come here." She looked sadly at Rude. "This was the woman who married Londo Shinra, but who wasn't wanted by his family." Vanessa-7 looked back at the body. "I heard that when Banora was bombed, she was badly hurt. Mr. Shinra had her cloned before she died... The woman who's in charge of New Banora and Apple Town is Vanessa-0, my big sister, though she's several years older than me. As I understand it, Mr. Shinra found he couldn't live without Lynette Hiland, so before she died, he had Dr. Hollander make a clone of her and aged her. Vanessa-1 is her secretary at Apple Town. The rest of us Vanessas are lab techs—not really necessary, but available as replacements if anything happens to Vanessa-0…"
Rude wrapped his arm around Vanessa-7. He didn't like that phrase, "not really necessary," coming from her. She just might be necessary for him! "Seven, I'm sorry… What do you want to do when this is over? Do you want to come with me back to Midgar?" Rude cut the bands holding the remains of her pigtails with his prosthetic's knife attachment. He suddenly desired to see her hair loose around her face.
Vanessa-7 ran her fingers through the strands of her hair, turned in Rude's arm, and looked sadly at him. "I'm sorry too, but right now I don't know who I am… Then again, I've heard these people call you 'Rude' rather than 'Lowell,' so I don't know who you are either. Let me think about this for a while. Okay?"
"Yeah. That's fair…" Rude found he was disappointed at her decision. Maybe they could yet work something out. "Are you willing to lead us underground?"
Vanessa-7 nodded. "Uh hunh."
"So this woman really was my step-mother?" Rufus Shinra had come forward to look at the body in the ground. "And, I take it, I have a half-sibling?"
Vanessa-7 nodded. "They had a daughter named Gillian Hiland and grandsons. Of all the people in Banora, Gillian Hiland was the only one Dr. Hollander never cloned. I don't think he could bring himself to clone his ex-wife." Vanessa-7's face saddened. "Vanessa-0 wants to meet you; Mr. Shinra, though, would never let her. I never knew why."
"Hm. I think I do. Even after all these years, the existence of a first wife and offspring from that marriage could have created a scandal, possibly even hurt the company's image. Father concocted this elaborate scheme to cover it all up and make use of it." Rufus glanced at Tseng. "I never met my grandfather, Lucius Shinra, but I understand he was a real bastard… I assume all the records of their marriage were probably destroyed decades ago."
"Probably." Tseng nodded. "If you want, I'll see what I can find, but I doubt anything still exists." He glanced at Verdot who nodded in agreement. "After all this time, the only one who might know the truth of this is Hollander. We could possibly find Hewley's genetic code in the Shinra database and compare it to yours and Mr. Shinra's, if you're really curious."
"Not necessary. Knowing how my father operated, I believe this completely." Rufus paused. "What I want right now is to find this 'Vanessa-0'."
Tseng considered his options for a just a second. "Reno, take a 3-man team and an RV and head for Apple Town. We need to cut off that potential line of escape."
"Please," Vanessa-7 had stepped forward again. "I understand that you feel you need to kill the monsters—they're dangerous—but what about the Banora people? Can't you let us go? Once you shut down the fighting part of New Banora, can't we just live?"
Tseng glanced at Rufus. He rather hoped the new Shinra president would make a different decision than the one the old president had made. After all, the clones were essentially innocent victims here.
"Are there any options here? Is there a way to destroy those blue monsters and the fighters?"
Vanessa-7 shrugged. "Probably most of the fighting clones were on the surface, and from what I can see, most of them are already dead… I can show you how to put any monsters that are left in New Banora to sleep permanently… The rest of us just want to live…"
Rufus nodded slowly. "If you can show us how to put the monsters to 'sleep,' as you call it, without a fight, then the rest can go free…"
Something like Vanessa-7's old smile crossed her face, and she grasped Rude's hand, "OK!" Rude looked at her hand in his and smiled slightly himself.
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Alex Niven and Zack Fair shook their heads at each other. The entire Soldier search team had found no trace of Genesis. His body must have already been absorbed by the Lifestream. Not surprising, given the bits it had been exploded into. Zack turned to his troops. It was time to join the Turks.
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Where Kamui and Argento had fought, a black-clad young man bound in a straight-jacket and wearing a mask over most of his face emerged from the shadows. His cat-slit, ruby eyes examined the barely alive Argento. "Well, Argento the Silver, you had quite a fight. Because of you, we now know what Soldier is capable of. For your contribution to our cause, I won't let you die." He took out a materia orb, "Cure3."
The young man knelt, and two long, robotic wings picked up the woman. "When you wake, you'll report to my brother." His wings set the woman on his shoulder, and one wing rested on the small of her back to steady her. He disappeared into the shadows, and the black of his outfit faded into the dark.
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(4 pm, Wutai; 2 am, Mideel; midnight, Midgar; 8 pm, Gongaga)
Underground at Wutai base—on the other side of the world—Carlos Griegos emerged from the interrogation room. While he'd initially decided that morning to immediately interrogate his prisoners, his second had convinced him to get some sleep. Now he wished Wallace had convinced him to sleep longer. The last few hours Griegos had spent questioning his prisoners had been perfectly wasted, and he felt as though he hadn't slept at all.
Griegos rubbed his face with his hands, arched his creaking back, and sighed. Only two things were clear: first, that their prisoner was not Emperor Godo of Wutai—the man was a body double; and second, that their other prisoner certainly was Princess Yuffie Kisaragi. Godo, according to the double, had departed the palace for parts unknown. The princess, however, had been on her way to assume ceremonial command of Tamblin Fortress; that much Griegos' team had already learned from one of her drivers. They certainly hadn't learned that bit of information from the girl.
Arg! Now what? Griegos turned to his second-in-command, Bill Wallace. "What do you think?" he asked quietly. They'd been playing "good cop/bad cop" for hours with Yuffie Kisaragi. Jens Akita was still inside with her.
Wallace shook his head. "She's had ninja training. That's for sure. Once she realized she was our prisoner, she went completely silent." He paused. "As soon as her father learns she's missing—and that we have her—he'll either be enraged and attack more fiercely, probably on the ground, or perhaps try to buy her freedom. I'm glad we didn't broadcast the news to Wutai, but now we have to report to Midgar. I dread to think…"
Griegos nodded. He dreaded that report as well.
From behind Griegos a voice volunteered, "Let me take a crack at her."
Griegos turned slowly, and raised an eyebrow at the volunteer. "And do what? Use Turk interrogation methods on her, Digital?"
"Yes."
A/N—Sorry about the lateness of this posting. I thought it was ready Friday morning. I had planned to give it another read when I got home from taekwondo that night then post. Bjanik, however, had other ideas for me—and I wanted to incorporate some of them (more incorporation later too)! As usual, she was right! Thanks, Bjanik!
You may have noticed that in this chapter Niven gained a first name he hadn't had before, "Alex." Bjanik has now revised Chapter 3 of Scenic Route so Niven will now always have been "Alex." Something is brewing in Bjanik's brain… Excellent!