"You're doing better." She said. I crossed my legs over the edge of my stage and watched her as she took a seat in the isle. She crossed her own legs, and folded her purple silk dress over her lap. She looked like a tiny flower, budding in red soil. I squinted my eyes and tried to see her face, but it was no use. The lighting in my dream world didn't act the same way as in reality. The room could be fully lit, but shadows would still hide that girl's face from me.
"Who are you?" I asked again. The lower, visible, half of her face curved into a smile.
"You wish you knew." She teased.
"Okay, be like that. What do you mean that I'm doing better?"
"You are." She said. "You're not hurting anymore."
"Hurting?" Jeez, this girl was obscure.
"You understand why Genesis is doing what he's doing, and it doesn't hurt anymore. Since it's not personal."
"It'll always hurt- what he did. I've only come to terms with it." She nodded.
"That's what I mean. You know he never meant to hurt you like this."
"Oh? And how do you know that?" Another sly, knowing smile that was too wise for a girl her age.
"But you're worried about Sephiroth now. And it's right to be scared. He isn't like Genesis. If something upsets him too much, he's going to snap." I shook my head.
"Start talking like your age. Sephiroth will be fine." Just like last time I dreamt of the girl, I started hearing voices from the sides of the curtains.
"You hear them again, don't you?"
"Who are they?" I asked, frowning at the ground as I tried to focus on some of the voices. One sounded angry, violent. Another one sounded playful, but her voice made me uneasy, like she was planning something.
"They're…like me." She said nervously, fiddling with the edge of her dress. "But they're too far away for you to understand what they're feeling."
"Are you going to tell me how I can hear them in the first place?" She frowned at the floor.
"It's…why I'm here. Because you're…sick." Finally, an answer worth of a child.
I woke abruptly, and found my face pressed into the wooden floor of my room at the Inn.
It was the second night in a row that I'd rolled out of bed. I'd never kicked so much in my sleep before, but there were many plausible explanations for it. From as simple as nervousness, to things like 'my body must be breaking down from Hojo's experiments'. These conversations with the girl in my dreams was becoming more frequent. I checked my leg, and caught a pale glow coming from the materia before I got out of bed.
Either the Summon was awake when I slept, or that purple-blur of a girl was closer than I thought.
I checked my phone as I got out of bed, and was glad to see a text from Kunsel. He was continuing the conversation we'd started three days ago, when I finally admitted to worrying about Sephiroth.
After all, it had been six days, and he'd not left the ShinRa Mansion basement once. I left food, but he was hardly eating.
'Maybe it's some kind of training.' Kunsel guessed. 'You know, fasting for endurance while strengthening the mind.' Sure, he was well versed in all kinds of training exercises, but if he could only see Sephiroth, he would understand.
Zack had been training Cloud in their off time. Whenever he didn't have a sword in his hands, he had a cell phone. I'd even gotten to say hello to this Aeris girl of his. Her voice sounded just as sweet as he claimed she was.
A few times, Tifa stopped by to watch the training. And no matter how well Cloud had been doing so far, her presence always threw him off. Even Zack noticed, and gave him a talk about 'impressing the ladies'.
One time, Cloud took a seat next to me after Tifa left.
"So, is there a reason why you don't want her to see you face?" I asked, holding back a smile.
"Hail, you can't tell her it's me." He begged, still whispering in case she was close.
"I won't, don't worry about that! But I guess that answers my question. Seems like you…knew her?" He nodded.
"I was supposed to become a SOLDIER for her." He murmured, more to himself than me.
"Oh…so she's the reason." I didn't have a sweetheart. Kunsel didn't count, not yet at least. Zack would be the better person for this talk, since he was deep in lovesickness over his girl. I just pat Cloud on the back and told him to keep at it. I did relate to failing to be what someone wanted you to be, though. It was the worst part about failing to become a SOLDIER, for Cloud. As for me, the worst part was succeeding in becoming a SOLDIER…for my own family, that is.
It was getting late, and I'd been watching Cloud and Zack spar all through the day. Though Sephiroth had been discouraging me from visiting him, I knew that he hadn't eaten today. I got a take-out box from the Inn and walked dinner up to the mansion. It started raining a little bit on the way, the heavy gray clouds finally giving in.
I ran the rest of the way and slammed the mansion doors behind myself when I finally reached them. The mansion was always stuffy, but warm.
The walk downstairs was getting easier each day. Monsters had seen me kill of all of their friends that dared to approach me, so most of them steered clear of me now.
"Sephiroth?" I politely knocked on the door that led to the lab when I didn't find him in the library. I let myself inside when he didn't respond. I'd started taking that silence as a cue to come inside anyways. He was leaning over the desk he'd made out of the surgical table.
"It's done." He said.
"What is?" I asked. He sometimes spoke to me, but every time he did, he sounded less and less like Sephiroth. Today, he seemed composed. There was a distinct change.
"This searching I've been doing. All of it." I put the food aside and leaned against the wall.
"Did you find what you were looking for? The 'Truth'?" He stood up straight, rising to his full and impressive height.
"Yes." He faced me, and opened his arms. "I am one of the Ancients. Hail, like my Mother before me, I am a Cetra."
"A Cetra…?" I repeated, like I was testing the word. "The race that inhabited the planet before humans…but they're extinct." I explained. There must have been a mistake in his research. But he shook his head.
"No, Hail. But thanks to humans, the lesser race, we are bordering on that existence."
"We?" I frowned, and pulled away as he approached me.
"Come with me, Hail. Like you promised." He was so calm. It wasn't normal.
"Wait. What are you talking about? What about your Mother?" He walked past me, and I followed when he didn't stop.
"My Mother's name is Jenova. I'm sure you saw the engraving of her name in the reactor. I am going to free her."
"That's her? Then…they have her trapped?" I clarified. He was walking slowly, but he was taking such long strides that I still had to jog to keep up with him. He wasn't waiting for me at all. It was hard to proccess so much information while running. We were soon at the stairs that led back into the mansion.
"Yes. ShinRa has used her for experiments since before my birth. I will allow it no longer." We were inside the mansion now. "You will help me, won't you?"
"Y-Yeah. Of course I'll help, just-"
"Humans…It's always been their fault. All along." We passed the hallway of windows, and heavy rain was pelting against them. But Sephiroth's ranting voice was still louder. A streak of lightning lit up the hall as we started down the main staircase.
"What are you talking about?" I demanded, trying to make my voice heard over the storm. "Sephiroth, just stop for a second!" I yelled, winding my hand in his sleeve. He quickly spun around and pushed me into the wall beside the entrance doors. The doors shook with the impact, and my shoulders hurt. He suddenly closed the distance between us, his body less than a single inch from mine. I flattened myself against the wall nervously. He stretched his head forward, leaning in close.
"You are unique, aren't you? I've noticed it…" His breath chilled the skin it touched.
He brushed his lips against the side of my face, putting them to my ear. My head snapped back against the wall, the rest of my body becoming just as rigid.
He was cold. Cold like ice. Not human.
"G…Sephiroth, get off of me." He moved his head back, but still close enough so his long bangs were brushing my face. He frowned. Then he finally took a step back, releasing me from his steely grip. I finally took another breath.
"I frightened you."
"Yeah." I snapped, pulling my hair away from my face. "What was all of that about?" He opened the mansion doors.
"I'll show you."
I followed him outside. The rain wasn't as furious, but there was a strong wind, blowing the remaining raindrops into my face like pricks of ice. We must have been in the eye of the storm. He stopped walking at the guarded ledge that overlooked Nibelheim.
"Humans were the downfall of the Cetra. They died out, and the remaining Ancients were killed by the humans. But my Mother survived…and ShinRa kept her alive so she could one day guide humans to the fabled Promised Land. But humans aren't worthy of such a place. They aren't even worthy of inhabiting the planet that they are killing. Can't you hear the Planet's pain? What humans are doing to her?" He looked at me with prying eyes, demanding an answer. It was happening. Sephiroth was leaving ShinRa just like the others had.
"I know that ShinRa is hurting the Planet." I started. I felt like every word had to be phrased a certain way, not to upset him. "But, people aren't hopeless. Humans aren't. Is this why you're deserting? Because of the Planet?" My response obviously hadn't been what he wanted.
"I'm not just deserting ShinRa, Hail. I will not go into hiding, or seek revenge specifically on the company for what they have done to us. I'm going to change this world- for the better. I will find the Promised Land."
"How do you intend to do that?" I demanded, my temper flaring. "You're talking like you want to kill all humans or something!" His eyes flashed to mine.
"I'm glad it's so clear." I planted my feet in the damp ground, my whole body tensing.
"…What? You mean that?" He opened his arms again, like he was waiting to be embraced.
"Let us take revenge, Hail! For our kind that was killed by these humans- for the Planet itself!" He stretched out an arm to me, palm up. "Come. We shall start with this pitiful village, then rescue my Mother from the reactor."
"We!" I repeated. "Why am I so important?"
"Because you are unique." He stated. "You and I are more alike than you seem to realize." He lifted his arm, and brandished his sword. He touched the sharp side to the exposed skin on his wrist, and I watched as red blood, mixed with streams of mako, slid down his katana and dripped onto the ground. I'd never even seen him wounded before. He caught my eyes, then flicked his sword upwards. My own arm stung painfully, and I realized, as the blood welled up between my fingers, that he'd cut me.
"The blood of Cetra has mako in it. Look at your arm, if you have any doubts. Because we are connected to the Planet, unlike the humans, we have the Planet's blood in our own!" I clenched my hand over the cut, which was less than a paper cut, yet stung like a broken bone.
"Join me, Hail, like you were intended to. Together we shall save our Planet, and revive the Ancients. Let us find the Promise Land."
"Wha…no-!" I shook my head wildly, eyes huge. "You don't understand, Sephiroth! You can't be an Ancient! Hojo was the one who did this to me!" I yelled, raising my bleeding arm for him to see. "He's been experimenting on me too- raising the mako concentration in my body! He's probably been doing the same to you!" He lowered his arms and eyed me suspiciously. "Jenova can't be your Mother! You're a human too!"
"You are a human, then." He said.
"Yes!" I yelled back. He looked disappointed.
"Oh…Then you are as insignificant as the rest."
My uniform was cut from the shoulder down, cutting diagonally across my chest until his sword jumped off of my side. I didn't even see him move.
I felt the skin tear a second later, and a quick gush of blood all the way from my shoulder to opposite hip, in a perfectly straight line. I was able to take one more breath, a genuine gasp, before the pain took over.
I dropped to my knees, pulling my arms tight over my chest. I screamed from behind my grinding teeth, and took labored breaths. There wasn't as much blood as there should have been, but the cut felt deep and to the bone. I was sure that the ribs it had passed were broken. The ribs that he'd personally healed last week.
I rocked onto my feet, but my eyes were trapped staring at the ground. My wound was bleeding sufficiently, slowly pooling around my boots along with rainwater. I took a quick breath, and my broken ribs further cracked and shifted. I wound my eyes tight, then blinked up at him.
"Of course…that wouldn't kill you. I want you to feel pain when you die. Since you are not a Cetra, you cannot know the Planet's pain." He lifted his sword, pointing it at my neck. "But I will try to make you understand…what it could be like."
I slammed into the metal gate in front of the mansion, my shoulders and head taking the full impact before the rest of my body caught up. My mouth snapped agape in a startled scream. I started to fall forward, but Sephiroth closed the distance just before my feet returned to the ground.
His fist wound around my shirt, but his knuckles dug into my skin, keeping me pinned off the ground. Despite my training, my hands again scrabbled at his grip on me. I was starting to panic- forgetting how to defend myself properly.
But this was Sephiroth. There was no way I would protect myself now- I was at his mercy, and it scared me beyond belief. Through my tight eyes, I saw his own glowing irises narrow as he looked to my hands. He reached back with Masamune, then stabbed it forward with a quick jerk.
My arm splayed flat against the gate, my limp fingers breaking against the metal rings. I didn't even feel his sword at first…only the steady flow of blood down my wrist. The pain exploded down my arm like a bolt of lightning.
A throaty scream broke the silence of the clearing. His sword was halfway to the guard, with my wrist somewhere in between.
He eyed me with a small smile.
"You fantasized about that, didn't you? The chance to leave and go somewhere- just the two of us." He spoke in a deep voice- with a tone I'd never heard before. "My hands…on your body." I inhaled sharply, and set my jaw. As soon as he said that, my fear and panic were pushed back behind a wall of rage.
"Get…away from me." I hissed. He frowned. I pulled my knees up close to my chest, then kicked him square in the chest. Caught off-guard, the SOLDIER stumbled backwards, and his sword followed. I pulled against the sword, and tugged my arm away from it. For a moment though, I let my blood run free.
I took a red materia in my hand.
As long as some of the blood spilled would be Sephiroth's, I could let my mako-colored veins run dry.
"Firaga!" A trio of massive fire balls expelled from my hand, and charged Sephiroth. But with a flick of his sword arm, they were dispersed, and went flying off in different directions. One caught a tree on fire, like the wet branches had been dunked in oil.
By the time they had cleared, I'd closed in on him. He easily blocked the one sword attack I could manage, and I skidded back through the mud when he applied counter pressure. I sprung to my feet and cast another flurry of magic in his direction, but that wouldn't do more than distract him. I started running at him again.
'You have to be smart.' A girl's voice whispered. 'Don't just run at him.'
I ignored the advice, and tried to cut his legs, where there was still smoke to cover me. My blade ricocheted off Masamune, and I was forced back again. My chest ached- I could feel the blood pooling down my legs. If I didn't finish this fight soon, I would faint from blood-loss.
'Use your speed. Not power.' The voice persisted. If it wasn't so distinctly feminine, I would think it was Genesis speaking. But with that in mind, I began listening to it. Sephiroth lifted Masamune over his head for a vertical attack. I leapt to the side as his katana dug into the sloppy ground, and tried to cut his exposed ribcage. He leapt backwards, finally reacting to my attacks as well.
I stood up straight and took a deep breath, blocking out the pain by focusing on Sephiroth instead.
"Stop staring at me with such resolve. It's disgusting." He said.
"I trusted you…so much." I took my sword in my hand. "But now…I'm done listening to you." I replied.
The FIRAGA materia fit perfectly into the slot on my sword, and the clearing lit up. My shadow extended far behind myself, illuminated by the massive flames that I held in my sword hand. I didn't care how impressive it looked, I wasn't looking for a seal of approval. I tapped the sword once against my chest, cauterizing the wound, then lifted my eyes from the pool of blood at my feet.
'Go.'
I dashed forward, and swung my sword at him. I drew a semi-circle of flames in the air, and Sephiroth had to leap clear out of range to avoid them. Everything in its path caught on fire. Even the raindrops fell as specks of embers now. His eyes were narrowed at me. He was angry.
He dug his feet in the ground, then jumped forward. I lifted my sword up and suddenly slid to the left to avoid him. He changed positions mid-air though, and I was forced to block with my sword. Flaming sparks jumped off the blades, blinding me. I couldn't overpower him though. I had to move. I bent my knees and dropped my sword to the left, leaving the right open to move. I drew my sword up under his arm, and it burned into the coat of his uniform. But then his knee jumped up and smashed into my chest.
Blood expelled from my lips, coating my mouth in crimson lip gloss. I finished moving away, then wiped my arm over my mouth. I'd bitten my tongue too. Sephiroth flicked his sword down, cleaning it of my blood and dirt that had stained the blade. His coat was burnt and tattered on one side, and he looked annoyed, but I wasn't sure I'd even gotten the hit in. Then he bent his knees, and lifted Masamune beside his ear- his arms pulled back.
I'd seen Zack practicing that same move- one Sephiroth had been in a good enough mood to teach to him. I'd never seen Sephiroth himself use it, but I knew he planned to end the fight with this attack.
I could barely keep my eyes on him as he closed the distance. The first of eight consecutive attacks was targeted at my neck. I leaned my shoulder into my sword, blocking him, then felt my ankle rip as attack number two succeeded in reaching its target. The third attack was deflected, and cut my cheek and hair instead of my head. The fourth took off my left shoulder guard but didn't touch skin. The fifth cut my other cheek, and I realized the pattern. But I could move because of my wounded ankle.
I took attack number six, which severed the muscles in my other ankle, in exchange for an opening on Sephiroth. My flaming sword dug into his armor, and cut into his shoulder. I continued driving through, trying to reach his neck.
He didn't finish his last attack. He had to shorten the string of eight attacks to seven, and a block.
We separated, and I collapsed onto my knees. The flames quickly faded, and the darkness returned to the clearing.
Sephiroth stared at me from yards away, as my body heaved in pain.
"How kind of you." He said. I didn't even look up. The tone of his voice told me enough. My desperate attack hadn't been good enough. "You cauterized that scratch you gave me."
"Not before you bled." I whispered.
"But what does that matter?"
It didn't, really…
'Get up.' I opened my eyes, and had to wipe the stream of blood out of my face so I could see. 'I'll help you now. Let me.'
"You're going to die now." Sephiroth told me. "I've had enough of these games."
I was still unsure of the voice I heard. But she was guiding me, encouraging me.
The materia burned against my skin, like a lit flame.
"I won't let you do this." I said.
Genesis never wanted me dead. Maybe that's why he gave me the materia. The materia that gave me such strength…and an encouraging voice to come with it. It was like he'd known how much I would need the power. The power he'd given to me.
The materia burst into light, visible from under my clothing. Sephiroth leapt backwards just as the rest of my body went up in the same light. It was an amazing feeling. Both painful and reviving. Like I was being showered in a healing spell.
It only lasted for a moment, mere seconds, before I stood in a clearing plume of light. Heavy wings flapped once and cleared the smoke around me. They protruded from my back, ripping my shirt off my shoulders.
I'd been healed, somehow. I could fight again.
Sephiroth jerked his sword up to defend himself as I closed the distance with a swift flap of my wings. I spun in mid-air, and kicked him in the face with my shin. He skidded backwards, and wiped his arm past his lips in surprise. I pursued him. Masamune cut into my left wing, but he couldn't pull it away in time to block a punch to the face. Another slide from his sword severed the wing entirely, but I felt like it was expendable. Unlike my arms, it would regrow in time. I skidded away from him and stood akwardly on my feet- the lopsided wings offbalancing me.
"Maybe you still are unique." He said. "But that doesn't make you any less human."
"Look again, Sephiroth, I'm no human! I'm a monster!"
I made a fist and held it overhead. Giant waves of violet and red fire pulsed outward from my hand. Sephiroth lifted his thin blade and sliced the air, but that wasn't good enough. The flames rebounded, and continued their attack against him. He turned around in confusion as the rays of light whipped around to attack him again. Dozens more joined it, and soon his body was covered in a giant explosion.
They imploded, then burst back outwards. The force sent me flying back against the gate, and even the clouds above us parted in a circular pattern. Under all that rain and smoke, the sky was still blue.
Masamune cut the smoke before my face, suddenly splitting in half, and a sickening snap echoed through the air. The Summon materia flew through the air, and rolled into a puddle, submerging itself completely under the bloody water.
Sephiroth pulled his hand back from my chest with a swift jerk, his fingertips coated in my blood, and I crumpled to the ground, wings and power gone. Half of my face was hidden by mud, but with my other eye, I stared at Sephiroth's dirty boots from the ground. He was going to kill me now.
I saw his leather coat bunch up on the floor as he knelt down beside me. Then, he was pushing on me with the back on his hand. I rolled off my side and onto my back, and my eyes panned up to see his face.
I had thought that if you knew death was imminent, you would not be afraid. If there was nothing you could do, you would accept it instead with a sense of resolution. I'd been lied to.
Try as I may to feel otherwise, I was scared. My body started to shiver, hopefully from the lack of blood rather than my panic, but who cared. Fear raced through my veins all the way to my heart, which began to beat in a frenzy. A fresh gush of blood just made that fact visible to him as well.
Finally, he spoke.
"Thank you, Hail. You set Nibelheim on fire for me." I could see past him, and over the cliff. Most of the village was hidden from my sight, but I could see burning rooftops and lots of smoke.
"…No…I…couldn't…"
"But you did. …Are you afraid, Hail?"
"No." I lied. He clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"Then you fear for your life, yes?"
"No." I repeated.
"No? You're right. You've always been one to put yourself second. It's those friends of your whom you care so much for." No...He couldn't be bringing them up now.
"Leave them alone." I whispered. It was all I could manage to speak. There was no way I could stop him from leaving here, to do whatever he wanted.
"I'll leave them as much alone as I shall to you." He stood up and walked away from me, taking the stairs back towards the town before I lost sight of him. He just ignored me. Like I wasn't even worth the kill.
"No...!" I screamed, wishing I could draw him back. I slammed my fist down in the muddy water and let out a choked cry. Where had it all gone so wrong? Had I really just sat there as he lost himself in lab reports until his sanity was gone? I could have stopped it! But my faith in him had been too strong.
A weak light caught the corner of my eye. In a puddle a few feet away, there was a light coming from it. I had a feeling I knew what that light was. I tried to move my arms and only my fingers responded. Then finally, up to my elbow. Then I propped myself up on my arms and dragged myself towards the light. Only a few feet, but so difficult to reach. I dropped back on the ground and reached with my arm. My fingers touched the water, and I clasped them around the glassy sphere that had tried to protect me. I pulled it close and held it against my chest. I curled my body around it, wishing I was deaf as well as immobile.
The rain started up again as people began screaming. Villagers that had woken up to the smell of smoke, the smell of their lives burning away. I often heard other kinds of screams. Not ones of realization and anguish, but of pain. Sephiroth must have gone to the village after all, to punish the lowly humans.
It went on for a long time.
Finally, the sounds of choppers. ShinRa had come to the rescue. But it didn't matter. They were too late.
He was gone. Sephiroth was gone forever.
Blurred shapes. Distorted images. They spoke, but not to me.
"She alive?" One of them asked. "Wouldn't make sense with all the holes in her."
"No, she's alive." Hojo. "What do we do, sir?" The man asked. "The med teams on the way up."
"Good. Though…Don't let them take her."
"Uhh, Sir?"
"Hail Darvey is much more valuable as a test subject than as a SOLDIER."
More people arrived. A medical team started tugging at my skin, but much of the feeling was gone now. As they healed me, my vision became clearer, I could start to distinguish between faces. Tseng and Cissnei were among them. I must have been making a pretty big fuss for this many people to have shown. I tightened my grip around the Summon materia, praying no one would notice it.
"I don't believe them." Cissnei said to Tseng. "It doesn't make any sense." None of this made sense. I took a full breath, relieved at the lack of pain.
"Oh- Sir! She's awake." Tseng pulled away from the other Turk and knelt beside me.
"Careful. You'll get your suit dirty." I warned him, trying to smile. I felt like crying though. I had so many questions. Who was still alive? Who was hopefully dead? His face was completely serious though.
"Hail Darvey. I would advise you don't say anything right now." His voice was strictly professional too.
"No, I'm okay." I protested, slightly flattered that he was considering my well-being. "I'm not that badly hurt anymore-"
"Hail." He snapped. "Stop. Talking." I frowned at him as a pair of men from the medical team helped lift me to my feet, with a little more force than necessary. When I tried to take a step away, they wouldn't let go.
"H-hey!" I snapped, tugging my arms away. "What's with you? I'm fi-"
Tseng walked behind me, and clipped my wrists together with a pair of handcuffs.
"What're you doing!" I demanded, shouldering the two men away from me so I could face the Turk. I pulled at the cuffs, but they were tight. "What's going on! Why-" My ankles stung, and I stumbled as they weakened. The tendons had been cut after all, but did the medics not heal them on purpose. In case I tried to run off?
A few more medics had loosely surrounded me now. I gripped the Summon materia tightly in my hand, hiding it as best I could.
"Hail, just come with me. Don't do something stupid." Tseng warned. I laughed humorlessly.
"It looks like I already did, since I'm in handcuffs." Tseng sighed. "Do you have any idea what happened here!" I yelled. "I'm not the one you should be arresting! Sephiroth did all of this! Where is he? Do you know? Hey-!"
"Come on." Tseng said, leading me to the chopper as the blades started moving. "I'll explain."
I let him take me to the chopper. I let it take off. All because I thought this was some mix-up, just like the last time. If only I'd known...then I would have never gotten on that chopper. I wouldn't have ever let them take me back to Midgar.
When I took a seat, Tseng clipped the handcuffs to a metal bar on the door, then left me alone in the back seat. My anger had boiled over, and I was simmering in confusion now. But my wounds were staring to hurt again, and I felt too sick to yell anymore.
"Tseng." I said, before he closed the gated door that separated me from the pilot. The chopper shuddered as it left the ground and starting rising above the clearing.
"I told you not to speak." He firmly repeated.
"Because…anything I say will be used against me?" He nodded. "Why am I being arrested?"
"…Because…Hail Darvey, you are being charged with the crimes of destroying the village of Nibelheim, and the massacre of its citizens." He locked the door between us. "That is why."
I clutched the Summon materia, but it was quiet and still. No voice, no instruction. Nothing.
...Nothing left but me.
A/N~ That fight scene was the combination of three i've written. One of which I wrote last year, before chapter 1. It is my baby XD
So, after lots of consideration, I'm deciding to conclude Before the Crisis in the next chapter. The 'Three parts' idea was a cool idea, but it wouldn't end Hail's story the way I want to; with some room for reader interpretation. This does not mean 'cliffhanger', but at the same time, you have to guess at what happens.
I am working on a possible sequel, but it wouldn't exactly be a story about Hail. She would be in there though, but in a way different light.
Thanks :)
