A small note: things can change quite a bit over 4 years. You'll know what I mean when you get to that part. Also, part of this chapter is a bit… different. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Avalanche and Team NORA explored the Shinra Mansion, which had obviously been abandoned for at least a few months. As they looked around one thing started to scare them all, the gunman that had threatened Serah was nowhere to be found. He had simply vanished as if he had been a ghost, which was more than unlikely. Eventually the group regathered in the foyer to wait until the strange creatures decided to leave them be. An hour or so went by and Barret went to a bedroom upstairs to check, only to return and inform everyone the creatures were still outside the mansion's perimeter fence.
There was something about the mansion bugging Serah. She had checked both floors for the man but had not found even a trace of him. She called up a mental map of the mansion and she realized that there was a turret that was inaccessible from the inside as the curved brick wall that belong to it had no door. Then an almost forgotten fact jumped forward, back in Kalm Cloud had talked about Sephiroth spending seven days reading every book in a study in the basement. Serah got to her feet and went upstairs, a few others wondered what she was doing but no one followed her.
In one of the bedrooms, Serah began looking for any signs of disturbance, those not caused by the less careful members of the two groups. She failed to notice it a couple of times, there was a slight disturbance in the dust on the floor by the curved brick wall, so she knelt down and put the back of her hand near to the wall and floor to feel for any sort of air flow. Slowly crept along the floor keeping her hand near the wall and eventually she felt it. The smallest amount of cold air was coming out of the brick wall and she smiled to herself at discovering the door but now for the hard part, she had to find the switch or button to open it. The Turk started to try everything from touching small objects to moving furniture.
"What're you doing?" Snow asked making Serah stop trying to move one of the beds and turn around. Both groups were there watching. Serah assumed they heard her moving furniture.
"Cloud said back in Kalm this place had a basement, and there's a secret door in that wall," she pointed at the brick wall "I'm trying to open it."
"By moving a bed?" Aerith asked.
"The switch to open it could be anything." Yuffie and Maqui wandered over to the door to take a closer look as Serah spoke.
"Did you try just pushing the door?" Snow asked.
"If it were that easy, it wouldn't be a secret door." Maqui commented to Snow.
"He tried that anyways." Yuffie added with a smile.
"Well I've tried everything I can think of," Serah said then sat on one of the beds in the room "You're all welcome to-" the Turk was cut off by a creak and a section of the brick wall sliding back then to the side, revealing a spiral staircase going downwards "How-" she started to ask but was interrupted again.
"Oh yeah, I rock!" Yuffie chanted loudly. Between her and the now open wall, was a switch that had been hidden behind a plastic brick.
While the young Wutaian cheered for herself, Maqui looked over the side of the staircase. It went down further than a regular basement depth, it looked as if it went at least fourty feet down. And it was dark, he almost couldn't see the bottom of the stairs, however, it was the smell that unnerved him. The stairwell had a distinct old, musty, and damp scent. If the stairs were in fact damp, they would be slick and treacherous as there was no railing to hold onto.
"So who's going down?" The teen boy asked the room, still looking into the darkness.
"I going." Serah said in a tone that showed there would be no stopping her.
"So am I." Snow added.
"Same." Tifa said as she stepped up. Cloud just walked with her towards the stairs.
"Can't go without me!" Yuffie announced with a smile.
"Y'all are crazy." Barret commented as he took a look for himself.
"I guess the rest of us shall keep watch of the village," Nanaki answered for the others that did not want to go into the creepy Shinra basement, including himself.
The group of five carefully made their way down the stone steps, Cloud in the lead, Serah at the back with her bow drawn and an arrow ready. As they descended into the darkness the air became increasingly still and damp smelling. At the bottom of the spiral stairs, the group of five saw a large open security door, closer to a bulkhead in design, with a pair of dim lights on the sides. Sharing looks of agreement, they decided to press on through the doorway. Beyond the door they were met with the sight of steel doors implanted into the natural stone making this section of cave resemble a hallway. Most of the doors were slightly open as inviting the group to investigate, which Yuffie did without hesitation. What the young ninja found though was just an empty room with a single dim light in the ceiling and a particularly foul stench. After just about vomiting, Yuffie told the others and Cloud, and Serah but she kept it to herself, decided that the room had been used as a cell of sorts.
All the other doors along the walls, except for one that was locked and had a keycard reader on it, had similar rooms behind them. Empty with the exception of a dim light and a foul stench. However, one room did have a number of coffins in it. The group of five didn't want to know why they were there and left the room as it was. Then there was the door at the end of the hall. It too had a keycard reader but it wasn't locked, it opened into a large well lit room that was quite obviously a lab and looked as it belong in a hospital, not deep underground, which was far more unnerving than the other rooms. There was a number of bookshelves and filing cabinets, all empty, and numerous places where terminals had once been setup. It was obvious Shinra had cleaned the place out of any and all research materials.
"Okay, this place is freakin' creepy as hell!" Yuffie suddenly shouted.
"Yuffie!" Tifa hissed to get her to be quiet. A door on the other end of the lab opened and the five got ready for a fight but it was only the red caped man.
"Took you long enough," he said to the group pointing their weapons at him.
"Who are you?" Cloud asked "And why are you here in the mansion, you obviously don't care for Shinra."
The red caped man in question looked Cloud over before giving a huff and offering his response "Vincent and I have my reasons. What about you, SOLDIER First Class?" Vincent asked in return, purposely pointing out the uniform.
"I haven't worked for Shinra for a while." Cloud reply, purposely leaving his answer vague.
"Yet you walk around wearing a target. Any elite soldier would know to abandon the uniform of the faction they've turned against." Vincent stated. It was obvious to Serah that he was ot meaning to insult but she also saw that Cloud didn't see it that way.
"I want Shinra to know who is fighting them."
"What is this place?" Serah asked, trying to seem oblivious and attempting to keep things from escalating. The man in red swept his gaze over the room before replying.
"Jenova Project S." Cloud put the Buster Sword on his back and the others relaxed after, though Serah still didn't trust the man.
"What are those things in the village?" Tifa asked.
"Mutants, monsters, creatures, experiments… Take your pick of titles, they're all the same to Shinra."
"Oh, wonderful."Yuffie sarcastically commented.
"Shinra made those?" Serah asked. Being a Turk, she had the privilege of knowing most of Shinra's secrets but those creatures were not in any of the files Serah had seen.
"I presume. I've seen some wander down from the mountain and others go up the trail towards the reactor." Vincent reply. His emotionless voice reminded Serah of Tseng and made it impossible for her to decipher his feelings towards them "There's a tunnel to the reactor from here." He stated, Cloud looked taken aback that Vincent had answered his unspoken question "An escape route or shortcut for the scientists."
"Let's check it out," Cloud said to the group "Where's the tunnel?" cloud asked Vincent.
"Wait up a sec, Cloud. Are you sure we can trust this guy? He did have a gun to Serah's head a while ago." Snow asked and pointed out. In response Vincent took out his strange tri-revolver, opened and shook it towards the floor as if trying to clear the cylinders.
"I was bluffing."
"What?" Serah gasped. She couldn't believe Vincent had been able to successfully lie to a Turk, granted, he had been holding an assumed loaded gun to her head.
"This guy is pure evil just like those damn Turks." Snow growled to Cloud. It actually hurt Serah to hear Snow say that, Vincent remained stoic at the insult. "Let's just get out of here."
"I need to see to see the reactor." Cloud reply with a tone that showed he would not be convinced otherwise.
"Me too." Tifa added with the same tone as Cloud. Snow sigh and defeat.
Vincent lead them to the locked door, swiped a card, and the door swung open. Beyond the door was a dimly lit long straight passageway with a large pipe on one wall. The group asked about it and Vincent said it was for getting mako to the lab, though he never said how he knew, Cloud's answer for that was it belongs to Shinra. The tunnel seemed to go on forever as it was not bright enough to see either end and the only sound was the echo of their footsteps. Yuffie started to complain but she was silenced by a glance from Vincent. When they finally did reach the end of the tunnel, they were greeted by a rather small lift and the pipe angled up into the lift shaft. The group stepped on and Vincent hit the button to make the lift ascend. The lighting in the shaft wasn't any better than the tunnel but the noise from the lift's motor was more comforting than dead silence. When they finally reached the top Vincent stepped off first and opened a door and as they all stepped into the daylight the were met with a cliff face. Turning around, they saw the Nibel Reactor. The lift shaft, and the pipe leading to the mansion's lab, had been disguised as one of the large pipes that sucked the lifestream out of the planet.
The group went around to the front, where only one of those strange creatures was laying face down on the ground, then inside the reactor. Cloud and Tifa lead the way into the main chamber where a ghastly sight awaited them. Several of the strange creatures were stuck in half open pods, pods that Tifa remembered being there years ago, and one was stuck under fallen girder. Though the one on the floor under the girder was different, it was only half of one of the creatures. It had been a Shinra militiaman but only his left arm and the left half of his face was still human looking.
"Reunion…" the half man whispered as he looked up at the group. Yuffie shuddered at the sight, everyone else felt their stomachs turn.
Vincent walked over the wall, where a broken pole with dried blood on the sharp end lay. He lifted the pole, walked over to the trapped creature and drove the pole through the top of the human side of the head and the creature fell limp. No one said anything as Vincent brutally killed the thing and tossed the pole back over where he found it. The caped man motioned for the group to stay where they were even though none of them wanted to watch blood seep out of the hole in the creature's head. Minutes crawled by but just as the group's patience was wearing thin, the creature shifted. It's head slid along the floor as it tried to lift it up.
"Reunion…" It whispered into the floor.
"What the fuck!" Yuffie screamed. As she raced backwards away from the creature.
"What in Gaia are these things?" Snow whispered. Cloud, Tifa, and Serah were stunned silent.
"The Cetra called them Cie'th," Vincent answered "As far as I know, they're what happens when one is overdosed with Jenova cells."
"That thing's a zombie! It was just dead!" Snow shouted, finally coming out of his initial shock.
"That part I don't understand. But given enough time, that wound will heal completely. It's not the first time I've killed that one or a number of others. Though I have learned dismemberment is the only real way to kill them." Vincent calmly explained.
Serah wasn't really listening. Her thoughts locked onto Vincent's explanation of what the Cie'th were. All she could think about was how Clair had been infused with Jenova cells to join SOLDIER which put her at risk of becoming one of these Cie'th. Her cruel mind started creating images of her sister turning into a Cie'th, then saying that eerie mantra of theirs. She knew now that she had to find Claire and tell her about the Cie'th. She needed to find her sister.
"Cloud?" Tifa said, bringing Serah out of her morbid thoughts. The pinkette looked to Tifa, then to where the martial artist was looking. Cloud was halfway up the stairs to the door marked JENOVA and slowly climbing higher "What are you doing?"
"I have to see." Cloud reply "I just have to."
"That door has been sealed shut." Vincent stated, meaning the door to the Jenova chamber "It hasn't opened in a year, and I have tried more than few times." Tifa started up the stairs after Cloud.
The blond reached the door just as Tifa made it halfway up, the other four watching the two. Cloud placed his hand on the door and a heavy 'thunk' was heard and the door to the Jenova chamber slid open. Vincent muttered something and went for the stairs himself, Tifa ran up the stairs as Cloud entered the chamber. Serah, Snow, and Yuffie shared uncertain glances then raced up the stairs themselves. The pinkette could feel the Cie'th watching them as they moved past the creatures.
Inside the former Jenova chamber, the biggest difference from Cloud's story was Jenova wasn't there. The tank that once held the alien lifeform was still there, just open, and the glass still had the hole from where the Buster Sword had punctured it after piercing Sephiroth. Standing in the open tank with his back to the group, was the silver haired man.
"Sephiroth!" Cloud yelled. The silver haired man slowly turned his gaze to the group.
"They've come again, mother." Cloud froze as Sephiroth spoke.
Boom-Boom His heart pounded steadily in his ears Boom-Boom A controlled slow pulse Boom-Boom His mind was terrified but his body was calm, serene Boom-Boom He was forced to watch as Sephiroth looked over the group Boom-Boom The green gaze unwavering, unreadable, hiding the madness Boom-Boom It landed on Cloud for a moment, but the blond as if Sephiroth was looking through him Boom-Boom Sephiroth was speaking but Cloud was unable to hear over the heartbeat Boom-Boom For the briefest of fleeting moments, the blond saw Zack's concerned face looking down at him, reaching out to him Boom-Boom The world went dark and Cloud felt the floor crash into his arm an instant before he passed out.
The fugitive group in Cocoon made their way into Academia, just as the sun was starting to touch the horizon, on a highway that had backed up and slowed to a crawl after they got on it. Claire was furious about being caught in a traffic jam, the Oerban women were marvelling at the sights, and the three men were simply lost in conversation. Hope's and Sazh's opinion of the SOLDIERs had changed after meeting Zack as he had proven to be a great friend and a great person to have around. But it had taken a while for Zack to convince the Cocoon men that Claire was also trustworthy as Sazh and Hope had a perfectly understandable reason to distrust Claire, she had gotten them into this mess.
At the first chance she got, Claire pulled off the highway and drove to the closest train station. The station she had parked at was the central hub for all the passenger trains in Academia, although it was far from the center of the city. The group of six spent several minutes trying to figure out which train would take them the furthest north in the city, at Claire's urging. Pressure was put on Hope to tell them what train they needed as he had been a student of the university but he said he only knew that area of the city. Fang though got bored with the discussion and decided to start pestering people that gave her or the group strange looks. Just as Claire was about to make a decision on what train they should take, a blond man about the same age and build as Hope, quietly ran up behind the silver haired man and grabbed him in a headlock. Claire's hand flew to her weapon but she let it go when she saw the smile on the blond's face.
"Gah!" Hope cried out as he was playfully attacked from behind.
"Hey nerd! Finally started to miss having classes and studying every day?" the blond laughed. Claire looked over his outfit, he was wearing some manner of yellow mini-hoodie, yellow and black runners, and what looked like black overalls that had been modified to be shorts.
"Get off me you jerk!" Hope yelled back, though he was laughing. The blond released Hope and looked at the others watching him "So who're your friends?"
"Zack Fair!" Zack said loud and proud as he put his hand out to instigate a handshake with the blond, which the blond accepted "That's Sazh, Oerba Yun Fang, Oerba Dia Vanille, and Lightning." Zack added, pointing to each person.
"Lightning?" The blond asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"Don't ask because she won't tell you." Zack joked in response.
"Who're you?" Claire flatly asked the blond.
"I'm Tidus Jecht, star player of the Academia Aurochs!"
"No way! Jecht!? As in the Zanarkand Abes, Jecht!?" Zack asked, Claire found it amusing how excited he was.
"Yep! That's my ol' man!" Tidus cheered back.
"I'm a huge fan of both of you! Seriously, you guys take the game to a whole new level!" Zack praised and quickly fell into a long winded praising torrent and Tidus was more than happy to goad Zack on. Claire was lost immediately.
"What're they talking about?" the pinkette asked Fang.
"Blitzball. It's one helluva sport to watch." Fang reply.
"Oh." Claire simply added. She didn't understand why Zack was so excited to meet a athlete.
"Hope, man! Why didn't you tell me you knew THE Tidus!?" Zack all but shouted.
"Uh… There were more important things happening at the time?" Hope said back, he looked and sounded as if he couldn't believe what Zack had just said. Claire recognized the tone and expression as one Sephiroth used a lot around Zack.
"Oh, right." Zack laughed.
"What was more important?" Tidus asked, feigning sounding insulted.
"Nothing a star player needs to worry about." Zack said to Tidus, patting his shoulder.
"So where ya headed?" Hope asked Tidus.
"I was on my way to pick up Yuna and then we were gonna go to a team party." Tidus then snapped his fingers "You guys wanna come to the party?"
"Isn't just for people involved with the team?" Hope asked.
"Dude, I'm the star player." Tidus reply, as if it explained everything "I can bring whoever I want."
"Won't someone be curious who we are?" Claire asked.
"It's a bunch of university jocks, cheerleaders, and students, and a huge amount of beer." Tidus said as if it explained everything again, though this time it was much more helpful.
"C'mon, Lightning," Zack pleaded, turning his signature puppy eyes on the pinkette "It'll be fun." Claire turned a glare on Zack but he remained using his begging puppy eyes. The pinkette knew that Zack could be pretty stubborn and was very good at getting what he wanted but she wouldn't falter. She was too well disciplined for Zack's look, she would not be convinced to go to some frat party by a simple look from Zack.
Half an hour later, the group was following Tidus and a brown haired girl with a really long ponytail, Tidus' girlfriend Yuna, into what looked like a really huge house. Deafening music assaulted Claire's ears as they got closer, the rowdy cheering and shouting from the party goers grated her nerves, and the stench of beer and other alcoholic drinks stung her nose. The pinkette was still wondering how Zack had gotten her to go at all.
The rowdy university athletes cheered loudly and got even more rowdy the instant they saw Tidus enter the party. Two large guys, Claire assumed them to be teammates, lifted Tidus and took him further into the party. Hope and Zack were pulled somewhere by the crowd, Vanille and Fang vanished into the party right after the two guys, leaving Sazh and Claire alone. Sazh tried to say something to Claire but she couldn't hear him over the noise, so she just watched him turn around and leave.
The former SOLDIER aimlessly wandered through the party, dodging grabby hands and invitations to drinking games. Her gaze endlessly swept through the crowd mostly looking for any signs of trouble but the closest thing to trouble that she saw was what this university crowd called dancing. She paused for just a moment to examine the atrocious, semi-uncoordinated, dry humping being performed by the drunk students and a pair of hands landed on her hips. She felt her eye twitch at the brazen witless invasion of her personal space, something that no one had attempted in almost ten years. The owner of the hands pulled themselves closer to Claire making her feel the muscular chest against her back and a particular bulge against her rear, proving that it was a man behind her. She grabbed his hands, ripped them off her hips, and drove her elbow into the man's gut but before she could go any further in beating the man senseless, Zack appeared through the crowd with two plastic cups and held one out to Claire. The former SOLDIER took the cup and once his hand was empty, Zack spun to Claire's side and draped his free arm across her shoulders, guiding her away from the drunk dancers.
"I'm not drinking this." Claire nearly yelled just so Zack would hear her.
"C'mon, Lightning. It's one, kinda low quality, beer. What is it going to do a SOLDIER?" Zack argued. Claire had to admit he had a good point but that didn't mean she was going to drink the foul liquid.
"It'll taste foul, that's what." She was disappointed in herself for failing to come up with a better counterpoint.
"No one here is drinking cheap beer for the taste, Lightning. They're drinking to unwind and have some fun." Zack knew he was working through Claire's, or Lightning as he knew her, defenses but he needed to go a bit further "You need to relax a bit, Lightning, if you get too stressed you'll make a mistake and the Sanctum will catch up to us." He waited for Claire's retort but she just looked away, he knew she had sigh or given an annoyed huff and now it was time for the final attack, the puppy eyes.
Claire was stuck holding the beer, though she was holding it as if it was a venomous snake ready to attack her. She glared at Zack for trying to convince her to drink the foul liquid and hated him for using his trademark puppy eyes on her again. The pinkette would not fall victim to that look… again… She reminded herself of her years of training and discipline. Claire 'Lightning' Farron, former SOLDIER First Class Operative, would not be overpowered by a simple look. But she and Zack continued their staring contest and a moment later, the bitter taste of the liquid hit her tongue. She swore Zack was capable of mind control as the beer slid down her throat, the raven haired soldier was just smiling at her as he drank his own beer. Claire looked down at the half empty cup, up at the smiling Zack, then back down at the cup.
"I'm not drinking anymore." She said sternly.
"Alright," Zack nodded "I promise I won't get you to drink anymore-"
"Good." Claire said loudly.
"If you promise to loosen up a bit, have some fun while we're here." Zack continued, to finish the sentence Claire interrupted.
The pinkette grumbled and finished her beer. She would do her best to loosen up as Zack put it, but she could not promise anything. The rowdy young adults only annoyed the elite, but she knew she had to at least try to have fun otherwise Zack would use whatever mystical powers he had to make her drink more of the foul alcoholic beverages being distributed. Once again, Claire started to repeat her mantra of being strong enough to resist Zack's puppy eyes look, strong enough to push aside whatever charm he had. She kept telling herself that that beer she drank would be the only alcohol to pass her lips for several years to come.
Many cups of beer and several shots of a few different types of drink later, and Claire knew she was drunk. Either she was drunk, or the building had started swaying side to side and it most definitely was not the latter. It took a very large amount of alcohol to over power her superhuman system but somehow Zack had managed to get Claire to drink that amount. At first she admitted to being tipsy but now she knew she was completely smashed, due to three simple clues. One, she had misplaced the Guardian Corps jacket she had been wearing, two, she remembered stashing her weapon under a pile of coats and sweaters, and three, she just realized she was drunkenly dancing, beer in hand, on top of a billiard table with two other young women. Her inebriated mind was able to pick out the other four group members in the party as part of the crowd cheering for her and the other two women. Some of the group, maybe even the four she had been travelling with, were shouting for clothing to be removed but Claire wasn't that drunk.
The former SOLDIER's table top dance session ended with her accidently stepping into one of the pockets and tumbling off the table, right into Zack's arms. They looked at each other for a few seconds before bursting into a laughing fit. He set her on her feet and they wordlessly agreed to take a walk outside around the property of the frat house. Holding onto each other to stay on their feet, the two elite fighters shared stories and laughs about what they had seen in the party. But all at once, Claire felt her body relax into a state of calm.
Boom-Boom Her heart thundered in her chest Boom-Boom Pain exploded into her head, forcing her to her knees Boom-Boom For an instant she saw Sephiroth in a large room made of metal, he was standing in a large open glass tube Boom-Boom The pain spread from her head to her entire body, making Claire fall to the ground on her side Boom-Boom Zack bent down and turned her head to face him
"Lightning, you alright?" Zack had no idea what was happening to Claire.
Boom-Boom The vision of Sephiroth came back but it persisted this time
"They've come again, Mother." Sephiroth looked beyond Claire then turned his unblinking gaze back on her "Reunion has been called." Boom-Boom "Soon we shall be united," Boom-Boom The pain tripled and Claire wanted to cry out but her body wouldn't let her Boom-Boom She was forced to silently endure the immense pain "As a family, as one."
Claire's heart gave one more thunderous Boom-Boom and she fell unconscious. Zack remain there frozen for several seconds, his alcohol blurred mind struggling to process what had just happened. When the slower thought process caught up, Zack grabbed Claire's shoulder and shook the woman.
"Lightning?" Zack said, still trying to wake her "Lightning!" He was not sure if he should start being worried yet.
He shook the pink haired woman again, a bit more aggressively than before. She rolled onto her back when he let go, from the force of Zack shaking her. Her head lolled to one side and with her calm even breathing, Zack only thought she was sleeping, passed out from getting too drunk. With a chuckle to himself, he carefully lifted her up and took her back inside to find a place for to sleep comfortably. The best place the raven haired soldier could find was a bunch of pillows and cushions thrown together as a makeshift mattress on the floor in one of the bedrooms that already had several people sleeping in it, but he knew that would be fine. He lay Claire on the cushions, grabbed a pillow for himself, and lay on the hard floor protectively beside her. Zack let his gaze wander over the features of his old friend and comrade, admitting to himself that the pinkette was far beyond beautiful. However, as gorgeous as she may be, there would never be anything between them. Zack wanted a more innocent girl, one that he could protect, one like Aerith, the girl he left in Midgar and never got to say goodbye to. His drunken mind chose to start working against him at that moment by giving him a number of graphic sexual thoughts about the sleeping pinkette, so he chose to get up and get a couple more drinks to drown those thoughts.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Zack was greeted by the sight of a topless Fang punching one of the frat guys in the face, making him topple over onto a coffee table. The said table fragmented under the guy and everyone around the scene started laughing. Not wanting to know the context of the scene, Zack glanced around and saw a recently filled, and abandoned cup of beer on a nearby end table. Not wanting it to go to waste, and being a bit too drunk to work the keg tap himself, Zack grabbed the beer.
"Another innocent soul rescued," Zack slurred to himself before downing the beer but before he could head back upstairs, someone called him.
"Zack, man! Get over here!" Tidus drunkenly shouted from another room.
The man in question looked up at the stairs, over to where Tidus shouting from, then to the cup in his hand as if it held the answer. He sigh and tossed the cup over his shoulder, he knew he was going to regret the inevitable hangover from continuing to drink with Tidus but he wanted to have some fun, so he followed the voice.
I hope Claire's side of this chapter wasn't too out there for the story, but I promise it is relevant. But I do hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless.
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