Before Crisis 2: The Crisis


CHAPTER 29 – THE NIGHTMARE

December 27th [ ν ] - εγλ 0007

"Tseng. Can you hear me?"

Tseng turned around as he reacted to the familiar voice. There was nobody around him, only trees and fireflies. He wasn't even sure where he was or who was calling him.

"Hehe. Over here!"

He searched a little harder, and saw the girl peeking out of a trunk.

"...Aerith?"

"Tseng! I'm so happy you're alright."

He watched her as she proceeded to walk towards him, only to stop by another tree. As she stood there, he took the time to look around his surroundings. Trees towered over him in every direction, with a mysterious white light streaming through the thick forest.

"...What is this place?" he asked.

"This is the Sleeping Forest, a forest that leads to the City of the Ancients," answered Aerith, her voice echoing to him. "It's only a matter of time before Sephiroth uses the Black Materia and summons Meteor. Only a survivor of the Cetra, like me, can prevent that from happening."

Tseng paused as her words hit him. "Sephiroth has the Black Materia?"

Aerith walked to the path and pointed to the white light ahead. "The secret is up here. It feels like I'm being led by something..."

"...What is Meteor?"

She shook her head. "Don't worry, it'll be all over soon. You stay here and let me handle the rest."

Not knowing what to say, he stood on the spot and watched her walk along the path, away from him. After a few steps, she turned back to face him and again pointed to the light.

"All these years... you were protecting me, weren't you?" she said. "Now it's my turn to protect you... and everyone in this world. Goodbye."

Tseng was struck with sudden grief as she took off running. "Aerith! Come back!" he shouted, his arm reaching out.

When she didn't turn back, he tried to run after her, but his feet wouldn't carry him. Tseng could only watch in horror as she vanished into the light.


Eventually, he woke in the same soft bed, his heart beating fast. It was only a dream, but something about it felt real. He wasn't sure how to describe it.

"You okay, son?"

It was another familiar voice, only this time real. His eyes snapped wide open and he came face to face with the person he'd hoped to see.

"...Chief Veld," he greeted, turning his head towards him. "Just a nightmare."

The former Turk commander was a fifty-five-year-old man with unkempt brown hair and a scar across his left cheek. A trusted mentor to Tseng, he was deeply respected by his subordinates even after turning traitor to Shinra. Like all of the renegade Turks, he was reported to have been assassinated by Tseng, but in truth he had gone into hiding from the company. Tseng had never thought he'd ever see him again.

"Your surgery was successful," Veld stood at his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

Tseng closed his eyes and smiled faintly. "Never thought I'd see you again."

Veld put a hand on his shoulder. "I've been bringing everyone back together," he stated. "With Sephiroth and AVALANCHE back, the world needs all the help it can get."

Tseng couldn't understand how they could help, considering that Shinra had recorded them dead, and probably wanted them dead. The renegade Turks would only do well to stay out of Shinra's way. "How did Reeve manage to contact you?" asked Tseng, another question that had plagued him for a while.

"I'm not too sure myself," admitted Veld. "But the reason why he contacted me instead is quite clear. Do you know why?"

Veld had always been the type of leader who enjoyed testing the knowledge of his subordinates. But Tseng felt that he was in no condition to think of an answer, even if it was supposed to be obvious. He wasn't so sure at first, anyway. "Uh..."

"It's likely that Reeve has informed Reno and Rude, perhaps Rufus, that you're alright," Veld answered for him. "But Heidegger and Scarlet believe you dead. Best to keep it that way."

"..."

"Heidegger, I'm not so sure what he thinks of you," he continued. "But Reeve and I believe that Scarlet is still targeting you, Reno, and Rude after what happened three months ago. If she knew you were still alive, there's a good chance that she'd take your injuries as an opportunity to eliminate you."

Although Veld was making sense, Tseng found himself at a loss of words. "I see..." he said reflectively. Scarlet had wanted to punish the remaining Turks for their traitorous actions, agreeing with the former President's decision to exterminate them. It was Rufus, then-Vice-President, who had come to prevent that from happening. Since then, Scarlet had been bitter about the whole situation, and she was never one to let go of grudges lightly. "Rufus may be President, but it doesn't mean he has control over everyone," added Tseng.

"Correct," Veld nodded. "Heidegger and Scarlet have the Shinra Army behind them, the power to do anything under the President's nose. Hojo is a perfect example of someone who does things without the President's approval."

Tseng groaned softly. "I suppose I won't be able to contact anyone from the company until I've fully recovered."

"I wouldn't recommend it," Veld sighed and shook his head. "If you try to contact anyone, the call could be traced."

"...Has the doctor said anything?" he asked. "About my condition."

"He's said that you'll recover in three weeks' time," answered Veld.

"...Who knows what will happen between now and then."

As silence settled in the room, Tseng was reminded of his rookie days when he was just starting out as a Turk. He remembered the time he was trapped in a sinking ship, and instead of calling for help, he urged Veld to leave him and run for safety. However, Veld chose to save Tseng's life by risking his own, resulting in injuries that left him with severe facial damages.

As Veld was recovering in the hospital, Tseng had been the one standing at his bedside. Completing the mission was all Veld had cared about, but his decision to save Tseng was an example of what he'd wanted the Turks to be: loyal to the mission, but good people at heart. He'd helped his subordinate only because his mission had been completed at the time. After that incident, Tseng was forever grateful that his mentor had come to save his life.

"Our former comrades will be coming here later," said Veld, breaking the silence. "They'll keep you company for a while."


Elena had rallied the troops after a day of preparation. But her team wasn't very impressive, as it consisted of two junior infantrymen, two detectives, a helicopter pilot... and herself. For whatever reason, Heidegger wouldn't allow more than two combatants to accompany her... but she didn't care. She felt prepared nonetheless and she couldn't wait to bring AVALANCHE to justice.

But there was one problem: Reeve wasn't answering her calls. And without Reeve, there was no easy way to track down AVALANCHE.

It was early afternoon when Elena found herself in her office, telling her team that the mission could be delayed until tomorrow. Work had been a mess ever since the failed mission. There was no structure... only confusion, and she'd finally learned that Heidegger was truly incompetent, and cared very little about the Turks. Reno was pretending to be busy, while Rude was stuck with research, bored out of his mind as he awaited further instructions from his superiors. It didn't surprise Elena that things hadn't quite been the same. Because without Tseng, they weren't.

"Still here, Laney?"

It was the first time Reno had ever called her 'Laney'. She looked over to him at the door, raised a confused eyebrow, and looked back down.

This provoked him to walk up her desk. "Still nothing on Reeve?"

"Nope," she sighed, closing the windows on her computer screen. "He can't be reached anywhere. Even the President is trying to contact him."

"Hojo is returning to the company tomorrow," notified Reno, but drew no reaction from her. "You know, the fugly mad scientist? Head of the Science Department?"

The rookie had never seen Hojo in person, though she'd heard many bad things about him. "It's got something to do with the Jenova Reunion Theory, right?"

"Right. He might help us find Sephiroth," he said confidently. "Anyway, Rufus is holding an executive meeting tomorrow. And we're all invited."

Elena blinked as she slowly comprehended his words. "But what about my mission?"

"Do whatever you'd like," Reno nodded. "You can take care of yourself."

She paused momentarily, and then asked, "Are you sure?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm your supervisor."

Suddenly, the door swung wide open and Rude marched into the room. He was holding a tome, with his hand slotted in between pages like a bookmark.

"I've found something rather disturbing," he waved the tome at them. "It's about the Jenova Project."

Reno and Elena looked at each other for a moment, and then at Rude. "That's from Hojo's office," the redhead pointed at the tome.

"Correct," he affirmed. "Dated twenty-seven years ago. You ready for this?"

"..."

When silence answered him, he carried on, "...Hojo is Sephiroth's father."

"What?!"

"It's true," Rude nodded, opening the tome to the page he had bookmarked. "Project S, code for Project Sephiroth, involves a direct infusion of Jenova cells to a host before the subject is born," he read aloud. "Like Project G, it is theorized that the subject, once born, will gain the abilities of an Ancient as we have long envisioned. Dr. Gast Faremis does not approve of this method, predicting that the host will experience long term side effects and emotional suffering. However, it is of utmost importance that the experiment is performed for scientific merit and we are fortunate that Dr. Lucrecia Crescent has agreed to use her unborn child as a test subject. The first maternal and paternal contributors to Project S are Dr. Lucrecia Crescent and Dr. Hojo."

"So he experimented on his own kid?" asked Elena, her mouth agape in horror. "That's disgusting! This sicko's returning to the company?"

Reno grimaced as he unraveled the details, a disturbing image forming in his mind. "Messed up, yo. How did Hojo get someone to fuck him, anyway?"

"Ew!" Elena punched his arm lightly. "Reno!"

"...Takes two psychopaths and Jenova to create one fucked up super warrior," Rude added as he held his laughter. "Wonder what happened to Lucrecia."

Elena cringed slightly. "Does Sephiroth even know his real parents?"

"Not a chance," Reno shook his head slowly. "He's only been told that his mom is Jenova."

"He probably doesn't know who Lucrecia is," guessed Rude. "His real mother."

"Jeez..."

"Goddammit, Hojo..." cursed Reno. "You sick fuck."

Rude sighed as he closed the book shut. "Tomorrow will be interesting."


A/N: How did Aerith manage to speak to Cloud in his dream? It's assumed that Ancients have the power to speak into people's minds, so Tseng must have experienced the same thing. Reeve wasn't answering Elena's calls because according to the official timeline, the 26th and 27th were sad days for AVALANCHE. It has something to do with Aerith. :(