Epilogue: Kairi S-Y-N-T-H-E-S-I-S

Genesis paced nervously, eyes never leaving the downed form of his apprentice. While they waited, the summon Chaos, as it had introduced itself, had explained quite a few things that he wished he had never had to know. 'Jenova', Sephiroth's so called Mother and Kairi's so called Mother persona, was an alien parasite that ate worlds, ate souls. It had turned Kairi into the same kind of creature it was when his apprentice had been infected with her. This in turn meant he and the rest of Kairi's girls were infected with her, just as normal SOLDIERs were infected with Jenova. The ramifications of that were horrifyingly crystal clear.

If Jenova won, they were fucked.

Chaos could keep that gun to his apprentice's head all he wanted, but they both knew it wouldn't do shit in the long run if Jenova ate Kairi's soul and took over her children along with the other half of SOLDIER. If Kairi won, then at least they could trust Kairi to be true to who she was, and hit her with a ruler if she started to slip. Because he knew his apprentice, she would never want to be like Jenova.

He took in a deep breath and let it out. The worst thing about this was how closed off the web was, blocked by the Crisis. He could sense almost nothing from Kairi. He could feel Jenova's horrific taint emanate from her, could feel a struggle, but he could not tell who was winning or losing. Chaos had yet to move from his position, face impassive, if he felt anything, his face was to controlled to show.

Then...

The block fades...

Yet he still can't tell who won.

Kairi's presence is... strange. It feels like her, yet there is a feeling of Jenova's a sickly slickness to it that has him uneasy.

Chaos lets a deep growl emanate from his chest. "Unexpected."

"What, pray tell, is so unexpected?" demanded Genesis.

"The Calamity of Light consumed the Crisis," murmured Chaos, "Rather than the other way around, rather than driving it out, and rather than destroying it."

Genesis slow blinked. "She... ate it?"

Chaos frowned, finger flexing on the trigger. "...I should still end this threat."

Genesis's sword was out instantly. "Kairi won you fool."

"No," said Chaos solemnly, "She didn't."

Confusing statements aside, the summon withdrew his gun and took a step away from Kairi, shaking his head. "I don't know how this will play out. There will be consequences for this. The Calamity of Light and the Crisis are gone, I don't know what is taking their place."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Genesis.

Kairi bolted upright before Chaos could answer, clutched her head, and screamed a horrified scream.

"Kairi!" cried out Genesis, rushing over and kneeling down, "Apprentice?"

"S...so many...," rasped Kairi, "So many so many so many."

She started sobbing. "So many..."

"So many what?" demanded Genesis.

"So many souls," whispered Kairi, "So much death... so much suffering... its all in me now, its all in me..."

She hugged herself, shaking her head nonestop and babbling as she cried. "Make it stop make it stop MAKE IT STOP!"

Genesis... he had no idea what to do, what so say.

"I close my eyes, and I see worlds DIE!" screamed Kari, "In my head in my head in my head, ITS ALL IN MY HEAD!"

"It wont matter who won in the end if she falls to madness," snarled Chaos, moving to kneel down and grip Kairi's chin hard, "You took the Crisis into yourself. Then you have all of its powers and knowledge of how to use them, including its ability to manipulate memories, yes?"

"Y-y-yes," stuttered Kairi.

"Then wipe yourself clean," ordered Chaos, "Purge the Crisis's memories from you, and perhaps... perhaps that will give you, give us, more of a chance."

Kairi shook, turning to bury her face into Genesis's stomach, clutching him and heaving great sobs. He brushes his hands through her hair and pushed as much comfort and calm he could down the web to her. "Shh apprentice, its alright, you will survive and come out stronger for this."

"That may be the problem," muttered Chaos.

Genesis glared at him, but Chaos merely holstered his gun and took a step back, grimacing as his features start to return to human form. The man he turned into fall to a knee, clutching his head and groaning. Genesis stared at him for a long moment, where had he seen that face before? He knows he's never met the man who bore the summon, but perhaps a photograph...

Oh.

"Vincent Valentine?" posed Genesis, incredulous, "How...?"

"Hojo," grunted out Valentine, moving to sit on the ground with an exhausted grunt.

Well... that answered that he supposed. Genesis sighed and stood, picking his apprentice up and cradling her close while she struggled with herself. "Come, I think its time we were on our way."

"To where?" posed Vincent.

"Corel Inn I suppose," mused Genesis, "I'd say Cosmo Canyon, but they dislike Shinra on principle."

Vincent waved him off. "I need a long moment to catch my breath, I'll catch up, go get her situated."

"Going to run off are we?" asked Genesis.

Vincent snorted. "Not unless I want Veld after me. Go find her somewhere comfortable to rest, anything to aid in the process and keep her calm."

Genesis nods, extending his wing. "Very well. I... hopefully getting rid of Jenova's memories works, but what about... what about the souls?"

"I don't know," said Vincent quietly.

Genesis shook his head and took to the sky. Kairi was rapidly becoming a jumbled mess in the web. "Can't can't can't..."

"Can't what?"

"Can't p-p-purge," stuttered Kairi.

"Why?"

"R-r-regeneration," she stuttered, "J-j-just comes b-b-back. Everything is s-s-so c-clear. P-p-perfect memory. I c-can remember e-every w-world, e-every soul..."

Genesis frowned intensely, ideas coming to and then thrown out before one stuck. "What about repression? If you can't destroy the memories, then seal them away."

Kairi took in a ragged breath. "I... I'll... I'll try."

She shakes in his arm, and it constricts his heart to be able to do basically nothing. She latches onto him physically and in the web, but his presence is all he can give and it feels like its not enough. They fly for a little under an hour before he sights the town and lands outside of it, walking in at a brisk pace.

"Yo! SOLDIER boy!" calls out someone, "Halfta SOLDIERs in the town just collapsed awhile ago, we got em in the Inn..."

Genesis waved him off, briefly sizing up the dark skinned burley man and assumed he held some level of authority in the town. "Yes yes I'm aware. I know the cause and its a work in progress. I need a room for her."

The man looked down and noticed Kairi in his arms, swearing and motioning to one of the buildings. "Ya, we can get ya a room you can put her in. No charge, yell if you need anything."

Genesis nods curtly and follows the man into an unseemly run down building, nothing like what he's used to (he'd honestly prefer a packed tent since he knows its clean), but it will do. He goes upstairs, to a room, and tries to set her down on the bed, but she refuses to let him go. He sights, waved the man off (said his name was Wally or something? Wallrus? Wallace? Doesn't matter), and sits on the bed, pressing his back to the wall, and clutches her to his chest as hard as she's clutching him. He thumbs a hand through her hair over and over again, whispering quietly to her, reminiscing on old memories and quoting LOVELESS.

Its hours before any visible change happens, and when it does, he feels it in the web first. Most of the sickly feeling fades, though there is still a subtle undercurrent of it...

Kairi giggles. "Sleep sleep sleepity sleep. Sent them to sleep. They no more hurt, they no more suffering, just sleep. Just rest."

Genesis blinks. "Pardon?"

"Don't need their power," said Kairi, shaking her head, "Nope nope nope, don't need to feed on them, nope, no wanna nope nope nope. Not Jenova, not not not! I... I'm... not her... I'm... gnh... I... who am..."

"Kairi," stressed Genesis, "You are Kairi."

"Y... yes...," whispered Kairi, "I'm Kairi. K-A-I-R-I... not Jenova, Kairi. Kairi... Kairi is good, Kairi loves family, Kairi... Kairi never feed on innocents like that... never never never..."

"Of course not apprentice, of course not," he said soothingly.

"Put them away," murmured Kairi, "Gotta put them all away all away... so much bad... she hurt so many... it hurts..."

She shivered. "Don't wanna see more memories... hurts hurts hurts..."

"Shh apprentice, shh," he said, "You are a SOLDIER, no matter the difficulty, no matter the pain, you do your duty. You have to lock those memories away Kairi. I'll be with you right here the entire time."

Kairi slowly pulls her head away from his chest, staring at him blankly. "You... Genesis...?"

"That is my name," he mused.

"Genesis... Chosen One, my Chosen One," she murmured, "But not like that... never like that... never like Jenova's. I don't want you to deliver me the world. I dun want it."

Genesis swallows thickly at the implications at what he was supposed to be and do. "The world is overrated anyway."

Kairi giggles and hugs him tightly, reburying her face in his clothes. "Overrated."

He hopes this isn't a full on age regression and 'only just' a brief bit of instability.

A whine escapes her lips, and she clutches him tightly for support once more. For a moment, he catches flashes of fire and screaming, of worlds exploding, the sensation of death and hunger. He hisses under his breath at how vile it all feels, but doesn't break away from Kairi in the web. He offers support, its all he can do. Night falls, and they close in on midnight before Kairi stops shaking, "Gnha..."

"Alright apprentice?" he poses cautiously.

She pulls her chest back and blinks at him owlishly. "Genesis...?"

"Well I'm certainly not Angeal."

She smiles a little. "Not nearly enough pecks for that."

"Rude."

Her smiles fades, a solemn look taking over. "Where... are we?"

"Corel Inn," he answers.

"Oh."

"...are you situated?" he asks with hesitation.

"I... I shut away the worst of it," she said quietly, "And am trying really hard to not think of just how much more there is to go before it overwhelms my urge to not gouge my eyes out."

Well... at least she wasn't talking like a toddler anymore.

The shiver going down her spine is difficult not to see. "I just... I can't handle anymore right now."

"Its alright," he offers, "There is no hate, only joy, for you are beloved by the goddess."

"I'm pretty sure the Goddess actually hates my guts," she deadpans.

He winces at that. "Yes well..."

"I don't think there is any 'well' about it," mutters Kairi bitterly, "I'm... I'm a fucking parasite Genesis. I... I..."

She starts shaking again. "I didn't understand. It was just... just a notion in my head. Oh Jenova was a monster, oh she killed and consumed countless world and people... but until you've re-lived it... its just a horrible concept, now its reality... and I'm... I'm..."

He reached over and brushed a tear slipping down her face away. "You are Kairi, my apprentice, a SOLDIER 1st Class, a 'mother' to over a hundred obnoxious girls who chatter to much through the web, and someone who cares. You have me, you have your girls, Angeal, Sephiroth, and plenty of the other SOLDIERs who would readily testify to what kind of person you are. Don't ever forget that."

"K-A-I-R-I," sounded out Kairi in a faint whisper, eyes going distant, a small smile on her face, "Her... my memories to the front, anything not useful of Jenova's gets buried. I'm Kairi. Kairi..."

"Yes, we've been over that," he said dryly.

She blinks, eyes coming back into focus, and stars at him for a long minute. A softness enters her face. "You've... been with me for a long time Genesis, always there for me, fighting for me, standing up for me..."

"Well of course, I..."

He pauses when one of her hands reaches up to rest on his cheek. "Erm, apprentice?"

"I don't think I ever truly realized how devoted you are, how blind I've been, how I've taken you for granted," she murmured, and she leans forward, kissing him softly on the lips.

He turns beat red, his heart hammering, the web building with something.

She pulls back, looks at his face, and bursts into giggles. "Really Genesis? A girl kisses you and you flush like a schoolgirl?"

He sputtered for a moment before clearing his throat. "Yes, well, being a full time SOLDIER leaves little time for relationships, and taking advantage of fans or visiting the Honeybee is beneath me."

"Such a gentlemen," she says with a oddly endearing yet mocking undertone.

He huffs, glancing downward then quickly back up, he should not be appreciating her that way. "Regardless, you, apprentice, are not a teenage girl anymore."

She smiles sadly. "No, I suppose not."

She reaches up and rests her hand on his check again. "Apprentice..."

"You flew all the way across the world to help me," she murmured, starting to lean in again.

"Not that I did much," he denied.

"None of us really did much Genesis," she said quietly, pulling back and huffing, "Jenova should have won that, would have won that, if she hadn't decided to be a greedy glutton. You realize how ridiculous of a setup it was to destroy her infected Ruby WEAPON, right?"

"It... was a bit of overkill," he agrees.

"Hardly," countered Kairi, "The chances of us coming up with something like that again aren't likely. Not that she needed another giant monster. If she had moved back to Midgar instead of going for me, took over any of the SOLDIERs with her cells, and started an active infestation... gods... Genesis you have no idea. Midgar would be an epidemic center long before we could even get back there. Even if we managed to somehow stop that... she's come back from single-cell defeats before and won. Genesis..."

Kairi shakes. "Consuming her, putting an end to her active consciousness, it was the only way I could manage to stop her."

He swallows. "Its... its alright apprentice. It will be alright. Just push away those memories, don't focus on them for the time being."

He wants to quote LOVELESS at her again, but she'll probably not appreciate it at the moment.

Her thumb brushes his check, and she looks tired. "Then help me forget for the night."

Oh merciful goddess she went there. Why? "That's a terrible idea apprentice."

"I disagree."

"SOLDIERs aren't supposed to..."

"Are you of all people quoting rules and regulations at me?"

"I resent that."

"You should."

"We seem to be skipping a few steps here apprentice!"

"I don't care."

"Apprentice I..."

"Just... for the night Genesis," she said quietly, "Whatever happens after, whether we continue on or it never happens again, but now, I... I just want to forget."

He swallows thickly against the -need- rippling down the web. There isn't a shred of lust, just a desire for comfort, for him. "Just for the night..."

"Just for the night..."

"...and the override code for the Deepground chips is...?" prompted Sephiroth, his sword pressed up against the President's neck.

"Okay, okay I'll tell you just... just move the damn sword away Sephiroth!" exclaimed Rupert Shinra.

"You are complicate in crimes for which there are no proper measure," stated Sephiroth flatly, "The startup and daily running of the Shinra Company, the Turks and all they entail, the Jenova Project, and then, what is it they say? Take the cake? Yes, of all that, everything I've read about Deepground takes the cake. The depravity of it all, you have no room to argue nor make demands with me. You will do everything I tell you, or I will kill you slowly and painfully."

"I made you Sephiroth," said Shinra, "You wouldn't be anything without me!"

Sephiroth presses his sword in, a slight trickle of blood starting to trail down Shinra's neck. "There are many things I could say to that, but I've wasted enough time here. Write down the code, ALL codes for Deepground and what they do. You will be accompanying me down there, so if any of them fail, I will not hesitate to kill you. Best me truthful, hmm?"

Shinra swallows and carefully reaches for a pad of paper, writing down strings of letters and numbers for a few minutes then shakily hands the paper to him. Sephiroth scans the page, the prime one he's looking for being the override code for the explosive chips. He's read Hojo's notes on the matter, and while extra precautions were being prepared to limit the most powerful of Deepground, they had yet to actually be enacted. Shutdown the chips, kill the Restrictors, and there would be nothing else in his way that he could not handle.

He found the code listed, and he smiled with satisfaction. "Good, and since you've been so cooperative, you won't die in an agonizing manner."

He flicks his wrist, taking the man's head clean off. "Just a quick one."

He wipes his sword off on Shinra's back after the corpse collapses, reversing his grip and holding his sword behind him angled up. He pockets the pad of paper, then leans over to punch in a few keys on Shinra's screen, a command override to purge and shut down the cameras in the vicinity. He doesn't care if they know he killed the man, but he doesn't want anyone to have a clue where he's gone until he's completed his liberation. He makes his way out, stepping over Heidegger and Scarlet's corpses just outside the office as he goes. He heads for a special emergency elevator hidden near Shinra's office. He opens it, punches in the correct code, and down he goes, down and down and down to and then past the ground floor.

The elevator dings, and he comes out at Mako Reactor 0. He hums to himself, noting two SOLDIERs standing near the elevator at terribly rigid attention. They bear guns instead of swords, their uniforms even more plain than a normal SOLDIERs. He corrects himself, briefly eyes the veins of mako going through the mako suit. These ones wont even be able to live without regular mako infusions, such was the level of experimentation done on them.

"Attention," he snaps, and they turn to him, pausing with alarm.

"1st Class Sephiroth, you do not have authorization to..."

Sephiroth cuts him off, rattling off a command code. They pause again, reaching up to their helmet comms to confirm the code, before nodding, "Welcome to Deepground, sir, we weren't aware you would be coming."

He smiles thinly before smoothly lying, "The President just brought me in and wants me to speed up the training the Tsviets."

The guard nods. "Of course, sir."

"I do believe Deepground has a master console room?" posed Sephiroth.

The guard hesitates. "Restrictor access only."

"Do I need to read off that code again, SOLDIER?"

"N-no sir."

"Lead me there, then one of you go fetch the Restrictors and the Tsviets, I have... words to exchange with them."

Twenty minutes later, through a nightmarish labyrinth of an underground city, where he's seen SOLDIERs killing eachother for 'fun' or for being 'weak', Sephiroth punches in the shutdown code for the chips, shuts down any mechanized defenses, and shuts down the Deepground synaptic dive network just to be on the safe side. He smiles briefly in satisfaction before the door behind him opens. Four figures in black cloaks and armored faces stride in first, followed by the Tsviets. Sephiroth takes a moment to look over the five strongest of Deepground, matching faces to images he had seen on Hojo's computer.

The five who have been put through some of the worst of its horrors.

Weiss the Immaculate.

Nero the Sable.

Rosso the Crimson.

Argento the Noble.

And the newest one, Azul the Cerulean.

The first three had been born in Deepground, bred in Deepground, and he has to control the shiver of disgust and loathing for Shinra's sins. All that had been done to them, and save for the last two, Rosso was the only one of the three to even be fifteen years old yet. Just like him, they had been experimented on, just like him, they had been forced to kill so young...

Not again.

Never again.

"1st Class Sephiroth," says the Restrictor who takes point, hand on his... pistol blade? Gunblade? Odd weapon, "You are to step away from the console, I have yet to reach the President to confirm..."

Sephiroth draws his blade, steps forward, and decapitates all four Restrictors in one smooth stroke before they can think to move.

Weiss makes a choking sound. "The chips!"

"Already shut down," said Sephiroth.

The Tsviets all stare at him in disbelief, before the redheaded Rosso howls in delighted laughter. "Dead dead dead, oh my oh my. Come now dear general, couldn't you have dragged it out, hmm?"

He raises a single eyebrow at her.

She pouts. "Tch."

"So," said Azul, sizing Sephiroth, "The SOLDIER himself. You taking over the reigns then?"

"For the time being," said Sephiroth, "I have executed Professor Hojo, President Rupert Shinra, Head of Weapons Development Scarlet, Head of Public Safety Heidegger, and of course the Restrictors, for their crimes involved in Deepground and more. I have every intention of ending this abominable experiment and extracting each and every single one of you from this hellhole."

Argento moves to lean against a wall, hands shaking. "Do you... do you truly mean this?"

He gives a sharp nod.

"The sky at last," muses Rosso, "Oh yes, to dance under the sky, perhaps we can celebrate, hmm? I've heard surface dwellers are even more fragile then new recruits, so brittle and easy to break."

Sephiroth gives her a hard look. "But that, right there, is why the dismantling of Deepground will be done in stages."

She bares her teeth and opens her mouth, snarling...

Then goes still when Weiss lays a hand on her shoulder. "Why?"

"In less than half an hour here, a short walk through the city, I've observed eight murders, several public beatings of those to weak to defend themselves being tortured and beaten..."

"Your point being what?" interrupts Rosso, indifferent.

"Rosso," said Argento quietly, "The surface doesn't work like Deepground does."

"...and?"

"My point being, all of you are a danger to yourself and others," said Sephiroth, "You must be taught how to properly act and interact with others."

Azul huffs. "Good luck with that, sir. I've been down here less than a year and I can safely say that's not likely to happen."

Nero blinks at him, voice soft. "...what is wrong with how things are here? We never liked the Restrictors, but..."

A pinched look crossed Sephiroth's face. "You were never taught any better, and I am sorry that all of you had to be put through this. I will need your help and cooperation in order to make this work. I will draft new rules and regulations that Deepground is to acclimate. I will go over laws that govern our society. I will answer questions and try to explain how things should be to the best of my ability. Once I am satisfied that Deepground has adjusted to a passable basic standard, hopefully no more than half a year to a year, I will go back up, clear up a few things, then bring down psychiatrists other specialists to help you further adjust. Each member of Deepground shall be aided on an individual manner, and once judged fit, you will be brought to the surface where the company will help you move into a new life. Whether you join SOLDIER proper, or wish to find life elsewhere."

The three born in Deepground looked either bewildered or overwhelmed. Argento moves to quietly speak to the three Deepground bred, apparently Sephiroth's words needed to be translated into 'Deepground speak'. Azul merely moves up and says, "Wouldn't mind joining the proper thing, was what I wanted anyway. Coming down here and getting a chip slapped in me wasn't quite what I recall agreeing to, I wanted SOLDIER, not this. Though, being able to transform into a behemoth is... nifty."

Sephiroth sighed. "Hojo's notes hadn't said that was done yet."

Azul shrugged. "Happened last week."

"My condolences."

Azul waved it off. "At least you're doing something about it, honestly... this place rubs off on you. Only been down here a few months, and I can tell you... my hands ain't clean anymore. Ain't nowhere near clean. People down here... what this place does to you... I get what you're trying to do, but if you think you can fix this in a year or so tops?"

He shakes his head. "Ain't happening sir. Ain't happening."

Sephiroth purses his lips. "We'll see."

He starts past them for the door, echoing, "We'll see."

She slowly wakes to warmth.

To arms wrapped around her, nestled naked under a blanket.

She blinks.

Kairi.

Yes...

K-A-I-R-I.

That is who she is.

Not Jenova.

Never J-E-N-O-V-A.

She takes a few minutes, in the arms of her Chosen One, to disconnect and bury a few more of the Crisis's memories, something she's decided to piecemeal over time as to not overwhelm herself. She stores useful abilities and knowledge away in a separate isolated area, because the 'how' of Jenova obtaining said abilities or knowledge are still generally awful. When she's burned a good fifteen minutes, she pulls away from the memories and sighs softly.

She nestles backwards, pressing against her Chosen One's chest for comfort, relishing in the connection and resonation between their cells. She had been honest in her desire for his comfort for the night, but now that she thinks on it... he would not deliver her this world, she did not want it, so rather than Champion, Consort sounded much better. He had certainly proven himself worthy of it over the years, in his own unique manner, and her children should have a father, yes? Yes, that's what Kairi's... her... memories suggest. Basic family structures have mothers and fathers. Even large ones. That's...

That's normal.

Nothing inhuman about it.

Nothing monstrous about it.

She doesn't particularly care about regulations against SOLDIERs fraternizing in such a manner, she saved the world dammit, she's owed this and more. Saved it twice over even, yes, Kairi... she... had defeated Zirconiade as well as Jenova. They owe her so much. Honestly, she'd never cared for all the public relations stunts before, but a bit of cheering and praising from the masses was a lot more enticing of an idea now than it had been prior. The cheers of the populous, the love of her children...

Oh.

She still needed to undo what Jenova did to them.

She reaches down the mental web, into every one of her children, and removes the magic keeping them all asleep. The chorus of them all gasping awake in the span of a few seconds sends a thrill of pleasure down her spine. The awareness quickly turns to alarm, and so many reach out for her. She can't help the greedy pleasure she feels to welcome their presences brushing up against hers. Then of course is the confusion.

"Mom?" poses Elena, "What happened? You feel... different."

"Short answer, what I did to kill the enemy had consequences," said Kairi, "Long answer, wait till I return to Midgar and I'll explain everything."

Brr. Brr. Brr.

Kairi blinks, distracted. "Considering my PHS actually failed to survive, I think that's yours."

Genesis grumbles, not answering.

Brr. Brr. Brr.

"Uh... hey mom...?" said Elena, "Something funky is going on in HQ. There are a lot of people shouting and running around, let me snag... oh, hello Commander Hewely."

There is a pause. "Mom, I quote, 'Tell Genesis to pick up his fucking phone', since when does the Commander swear in public?"

Kairi sighed, reaching over to the nightstand, ruffling through Genesis's tarnished jacket for the PHS, flicking it on, and saying, "You're on speaker Angeal."

"Genesis, Kairi, get the fuck back to Midgar ASAP! Sephiroth killed half the damn board, President and Hojo included, then vanished without a trace," he orders.

Genesis coughed and sat up, pushing the blanket off. "He did WHAT?!"

"Well... can't say I didn't see something like that coming," mused Kairi, "Could have waited for us at least."

"That's not even hitting the reports of giant monsters seen heading west, and the reactor-grade explosion seen from Corel, please tell me Nibel's reactor didn't go."

"Monsters are gone," said Kairi, "The reactor and the town got hit in the crossfire."

"FUCK!" snarled Angeal, "Gods dammit, the civilian casualties in the last year have been horrific! We're SOLDIER! We are supposed to stop this!"

Kairi's face fell. "I'm sorry Angeal, the things that happened in Nibelheim... everything went out of control so fast."

He sighed. "Just... get back here. We need to debrief you two, then figure out where to go from here. Lazard has taken over for the moment, and I've been pushed up to SOLDIER Director in his place for the time being. I need both of you here to help quickly."

"Before the days out, we'll fly," promised Kairi.

"Good."

Click. Beep.

"Well, he sounded short," muttered Kairi.

"Stressful day," said Genesis mildly, getting out of bed and going for his clothes.

Kairi chimed down the web. "Does anyone in Corel have a spare uniform? Mine was... wrecked yesterday."

She'd shift her skin to look like clothing again if she needed to, but she'd rather prefer actual clothing.

"Yeah sure," replied one of her children, "Let me get it out of my bag and I'll drop it off."

Ten minutes later, Genesis and Kairi stand side by side at the outskirts of town, stretch their wings, and start flying home...

END OF BOOK ONE

Author's Notes:

Well, that's a wrap on book one. Overall, I enjoyed the experience and felt it came together much better close to half way through. The start of it still feels iffy to me, but overall, I'm satisfied with it. I will be posting chapter one of book Two shortly so people can follow it for updates, no promises of update schedule though, not sure if I will stick to this story or switch to another for awhile.

Feel free to comment on what you think did well in Book One.

And ofcourse what didn't.

I appreciate all comments.

I will be editing in the link to the 1st chapter of book two shortly: s/13834847/1/Refraction

Review Responses:

Patrick the Observer: Deepground is already up and running, it was active even before Wutai, it just hadn't reached its cannon levels of recruitment/progress yet.

Dragofist07: Small steps corrupt, the only hint I will give.

Goujian's Lightsaber: I really, badly, wanted to do the full Gravemind quote because of how fitting it would be, but chose not to.

Spellflame: Hojo is dead, died a few chapters ago, and no, he never had the chance to upload his mind like he did in cannon, he is dead and staying that way.

The Keeper of Worlds: Never actually played Prototype.