By a Fraction of a Degree

A FFVII Fanfiction work by findthetiger129

Rated T for Violence and Language.

I do not own Final Fantasy VII, or any of the characters, trademarks or likenesses from Final Fantasy VII or its spin-offs That honor goes to Square-Enix.

Part III: Demons

Chapter 63, Rise and Shine, Sleeping Beauty

June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 12:00 PM

Cissnei was standing on top of a roof in Sector 5, watching the building Deepground had set up as their sector garrison. She had broken off from her team as had been arranged in order to take up observation of the sector along with Legend. Now that they had disposed of the restrictors, someone needed to keep Kalm updated on the situation, just in case the Tsviets did something they didn't expect. If all went well, Zack would probably let them leave quietly and find a life somewhere, but in her experience, things were never that easy. If they had been, the Shinra company would have utilized an employee policy that didn't include permitting scientists to commandeer employees as test subjects.

She watched the Deepground troops that were walking through the city streets with a small amount of concern. Rather than being in complete confusion since the time of the restrictors' executions, they had actually maintained a surprising level of order. Sure, there had been the initial uproar at the time Legend had pulled the trigger, but once the death of the Restrictor who had called himself Dart had been confirmed, they had gone back to what they were doing as though nothing had happened.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. Something down at the entrance to the garrison had started emitting some sort of black mist. Cissnei blinked and looked again. No, it was some sort of portal. After a moment, she saw what appeared to be a man step through it, wearing a black mako suit and a strange white headgear over his face. Nero. He was the one who had grabbed them before. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. As Nero approached the other Deepgrounders, they paused and saluted. Echoing over the rooftops, she could hear them all too easily. "Hail Weiss!"

Nearly a mile or so underground, a service elevator opened out, and Cloud's eyes had to adjust before he could begin to see the outlines of stalactites. He could hear the occasional dripping from somewhere, and as Zack spoke next to him, his friend's voice echoed off the walls. "So these cave leads to Deepground?"

"It can, if we go the right way," Argento said. "But we won't. There is another passage leading off in the opposite direction which goes to an ancient aquifer that supplies most of Midgar's drinking water, as well as ours." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a glow rod and activated it. "Tread carefully. There aren't many monsters here, but escapees have tried these tunnels before and been bested by them."

"And you know the way out," Kunsel said skeptically.

"Most Deepground soldiers don't still remember what life was like outside. The majority of them undergo memory alteration, unless they were recruited for something they knew," Argento said, beginning to walk purposefully into the dark, and away from the flood of the elevator's light. "That wouldn't have done Deepground any good in my case, since my memories and knowledge were precisely what they wanted. For that reason, I was usually the one they sent to hunt deserters, before Hojo was too interested in me to let me out."

Everyone looked a little uneasy at that.

"I guess if that chip had that much power over you, they wouldn't have to worry about you running, would they." Zack drew level with Argento as she held the lamp in front of her, his hand at his sword. Probably wise, if what the Tsviet said was true, Cloud reflected. His hands weren't that far from his own now that Kunsel had taken a turn carrying Shelke, and he and Vincent were taking up the rear with Tifa while the brown-haired swordsman walked next to Shalua.

"No, Zack Fair, they wouldn't. Frankly, it was quite an inconvenience," the Silver Tsviet replied.

"You can just call me Zack if you want," Zack offered. "Everyone else does."

"If you insist," Argento said.

"Just how far are we going?" Tifa asked as they entered a larger chamber that had several veins of crystalized Lifestream threaded through the walls.

"It will probably take us three hours to get to the surface," Argento said, not slowing her gait. "And from there, we will still need to get out of the city."

"We can take care of that," Shalua said.

"Yeah," Zack said, "Chances are, everyone who is leaving the way we came will probably be gone by the time we'd get there, but that won't mean our entry point isn't still there."

"What are we going to do about her?" Cloud asked, indicating the girl over Kunsel's shoulder. It was an important question. After discovering Kunsel had added a Sleep materia to his collection, they'd been periodically casting it on Shelke to keep her from causing any trouble, but they really couldn't keep doing that forever.

Zack paused. "That is a good point," he said. "Let's find a spot where we're secure and then we'll get that sorted out."

"How?" Shalua asked nervously, hurrying to catch up to him as he followed Argento. "You aren't thinking of leaving her behind are you?"

"No," Zack answered calmly. "But we ought to at least give her a choice about things, right?"

June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 12:30 PM

Argento led the party to a small cavern where a stream of water was partially dammed and formed a small pool before flowing onward over a short waterfall. The sound would cover any noise they made from prying ears, and the glow from the Mako crystals that had continued to carry Lifestream currents through the walls provided a certain amount of illumination. As soon as they had reached the water's edge, the silver Tsviet sat on a rock and waited for the others to do what they needed to.

Kunsel wasn't sure how he felt about the situation. Here he was carrying the girl who had destroyed Luxiere's mind and had come damn near close to trying the same thing with Vincent. The only reasons Vincent seemed more or less okay was because he already had four other monsters swimming around in his head, and because Shelke had been in there for a considerably shorter period of time, at least from the sound of it. The situation really made him wonder just how much forgiveness he had left.

But on the other hand, Shalua had helped them out so many times in the past. For her sake, they should at least try, right? He laid the transparent Tsviet against the cavern wall next to where Cloud had stood in order to serve as a guard before allowing Shalua to approach. The hacker produced a set of handcuffs as the others sat in a semicircle by the water's edge, and proceeded to secure the girl's hands behind her as gently as possible and checked to make sure the younger Tsviet didn't have any other materia or weapons on her person. Once she had confirmed the situation, Shalua looked up at Zack. "All right, I think we're set."

Zack walked forward, putting out his hand and Kunsel distinctly felt the presence of magic in the air as the dark-haired swordsman's Esuna materia became active. The evidence of its success became apparent when he caught sight of a pair of glowing eyes looking out of the gloom from the spot where the Tsviet had been sleeping. Shelke blinked and looked around, her expression calm in spite of her current situation.

"You should have known better than to awaken me prematurely," she murmured, trying to stand, but Cloud put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her securely on the ground.

"It'd be better not to do that," he warned.

Shelke looked up at him, her face remaining blank before turning her attention to Zack who had just stepped up next to Shalua and was watching her, his left hand resting on the hilt of his broadsword even as his right hung loosely at his side. "What do you want?" she asked, her blue eyes meeting his.

"Well Shelke," Zack began, looking down at her seriously, "We just want to know how this's gonna go."

"I would have thought it would be self-evident," Shelke replied.

Zack shrugged and sat down on a nearby rock. "If that's the way you want to play it, that's fine, but I still think it's a shame. Shalua went through a lot of trouble trying to find you, and it seems to me she wants to help you…"

"I don't need her help, or yours," Shelke said. "And I don't see how carrying me through these caves is going to help you."

"Maybe not," Zack admitted. "But it's definitely not gonna help us that much to let you go either. We gotta watch out for our own backs, you know? So that's not really an option."

"Then I guess we'll just have to carry on with me as an enemy," Shelke said, and Kunsel could have sworn he caught a small trace of impatience lingering on the edge of her tone.

"Fair enough," Zack said, "But you can change your mind and join us if you want…"

"Do we get a say in that?" Kunsel asked. On the one hand, working with Zack, he knew his friend had a way with people, and there was more than one of GUARDIAN's number who was less than perfect, but it was common sense to be cautious with such offers. And Luxiere's fate was still fresh on his mind too.

The Vincent looked up from where he was sitting and then over at the Tsviet. "Once, I too only followed orders, and for years I was a stone in a river of time. What she did may have harmed me, but it was on Hojo's orders. If she chooses to seek atonement, I will not stop her as long as we don't have a repeat of what happened in the Shinra building."

"Your mind wasn't especially hospitable in any case," Shelke retorted. "Thanks to Chaos's intervention, not only do I have Dr. Crecent's data corrupting my network, but the data I retrieved from you is making the situation worse." She sighed with annoyance, the first real show of emotion Kunsel had seen.

"Is there anything we can do about that?" Shalua asked.

"With a complete set of Dr. Crescent's data, I might be able to uncorrupt the fragments…" Shelke said automatically and then paused, looking up at her sister as if just realizing what she had said, "But I see no reason why you would want to do that. We're enemies after all."

Argento gave her fellow Tsviet a look of exasperation at that point. "The term 'enemy' is relative."

"You betrayed Weiss, does that not make us enemies?" Shelke asked.

"I betrayed no one," Argento said. "I wanted to end the reign of the restrictors, so I did what was required. Weiss was my ally in that regard, but now he seeks a path I have no interest in walking. Water, for all that it is similar across the Planet does not always flow in the same stream."

Zack seemed surprised by the philosophical direction the Tsviet had taken, but seemed to have decided to run with it. "At one point Tifa and Shalua were terrorists and the rest of us were all Shinra employees at one point or another, and… if you're looking for a complete set of Lucrecia's files…" he looked over at Vincent. "Did Lucrecia say she had left a copy of her records on that file we found in Nibelheim?"

Vincent nodded and Zack turned back to the Tsviet. "So how about this? We may not be allies, but at the very least, we can do each other a couple of favors. We have some files Shalua's been trying to decrypt for a while. You help us out, and in return, we'll see if we can't help you uncorrupt that data you were talking about."

Shelke considered this for a moment and then finally she looked up at him and nodded. "Perhaps we can be of accord in this agreement. But I am only doing this for my own benefit."

"All right then," Zack said, looking around at the others. "If there are any objections, you'd better say something now."

"It works for me," Tifa said.

"I'll help if you need it," Shalua said.

Kunsel didn't hear anyone else objecting so he spoke up. "I understand why we're doing this, but at the same time," he looked over at Shelke, "She shouldn't think of this as a free pass."

"I know," Zack said turning back to Shelke. "I'm pretty sure it goes without saying, but all of this is dependent on the belief that you'll stick to your word. If you do that, then we'll keep our end of the bargain. Got it?"

Shelke nodded. "I understand."

"Good." Zack said. "You should know, there's plenty you've done that we aren't too happy about, but for Shalua's sake I'm giving you a chance. Don't blow it." He turned his attention to Cloud. "Now that that's out of the way, I think we should be able to let her go."

"Are you sure?" Cloud asked.

"She has a reason to stay," Argento supplied. "I don't believe she should pose a threat."

"And we still don't know if you're acting on good faith," Kunsel said.

"You are wise to be suspicious." Argento nodded in approval. "It is good General Fair has you in his council, but I do have my reasons for staying in your company as well and have no intention of hindering you for the time being. We should not linger too much longer; we still have a ways to go."

Zack turned back to Cloud and nodded that the Transparent Tsviet should be released. Cloud did so and once Shelke was free of her restraints, she took up a position next to Argento at the front before the Silver Tsviet continued to lead the party through the tunnels.

June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 3:00 PM

Aerith was running errands with Julian, one of the SOLDIERs who had come back to Kalm with Freya when she saw the Highwind fly by overhead. She hurried to deliver the blankets they had been carrying and since that was the extent of the job, she left the young ex-SOLDIER to to hurry outside the city limits. The Highwind had come to a stop a short distance outside the westernmost encampment where a makeshift airport had been set up and she arrived to find Reeve already there, along with Elena and Rufus, as well as Yuffie and Freya. The two of them had not been assigned a sector to watch and had returned along with Liz, Elfe, and Shears a few hours before.

A ladder dropped from the weather deck of the Highwind and Cid appeared along with Barret, who had Nanaki draped over his shoulders on the way down. Cid dropped the last few feet to the ground and gave everyone a hearty wave and a grin. "It took some work, and some waitin' but we did it! Me an' Shera were the first humans in space!"

"And for a good cause too," Reeve replied. "I'm glad to see you made it safely. Did the crew have any trouble finding your escape pod?"

"Not particularly," Cid replied. "How are things here?"

"We're still waiting to see what the Tsviets are going to do," Rufus said, gesturing that everyone walk back towards the town and headquarters. Everyone fell in step with him and Aerith found herself walking next to Freya just behind the pilot. Cid glanced back at her and his eyebrows raised a little. "Any sign that Zack and the guys got back yet?"

Aerith shook her head. "We haven't heard from them since he reported in to tell us he'd found Cait Sith in Sector 8."

"They should have reported in a while ago," Freya added. "The plan was to rendezvous at our entry point and leave together but it wouldn't have been safe to wait."

"That idiot," Cid muttered. Aerith bit her lip nervously and on noticing the concern in her expression the pilot said "Hey, don't worry Aerith, I'm sure your husband's fine."

The flower girl nodded. "I know he is, I just hope he gets back soon."

"Mr. President! Mr. Tuesti!" They all looked up at that point to see one of the technicians running out of the building where their central command was located.

"What is it?" Rufus asked.

"We've got another transmission from the Shinra building sir! It's someone we haven't seen before!" The technician said.

Everyone hurried inside and reached the sitting area where a television was located on the far wall. On the monitor, stood a shirtless man perhaps in his early to mid-twenties with wild white hair in front of what was unmistakably the President's desk. Another man in a dark body suit with black hair and a strange white headgear stood behind him.

"Greetings to all who live on the Planet. I am Weiss the Immaculate, leader of the elite force known as the Tsviets. I would like to extend my thanks for your noble efforts to liberate us from the Restrictors. In return for your assistance, I would like to reward those who would help us. We have already taken control of Midgar, and two days from now, we intend to march on Kalm to rid the world of the last vestiges of the Shinra company and its allies. Those corrupt fools who kept us enslaved in the depths of Deepground and on the surface will pay the ultimate price for holding us as slaves. Come to the Sector 6 gate if you wish to stand with us. A new era is about to begin!"

With that the transmission ended and Aerith reached for her PHS and punched in the speed dial for Zack's. It rang and then rang again, but he didn't pick up before it rang out. As the others started discussing what this meant, she walked to the door and hit the button again. Where was he?

Argento had been leading them through the caves for a long time and Zack was really beginning to wonder how long they were going to be down here. They had passed several more Mako veins as well as a few more streams and underground lakes. Many of them had been plumbed by pumping systems pulling the water back up to the surface. It was quite exhausting. Not to mention, he hated being underground.

It wasn't a phobia per say. He had done well enough when they'd gone into the caves under Banora, and when Sephiroth had pinned him to that wall in the depths of the crater, he'd been focused on other problems, but he hated feeling stifled, and he felt a little bit like that might be happening now.

Shelke had stayed with Argento at the front, pointedly avoiding Shalua for the majority of the trek, and Zack was now just behind them, next to Cloud and Tifa. He certainly wasn't going to whine about their situation, but he really hoped they'd be out of here soon.

Just at that moment, Argento led the way into a huge cavern that housed another underground lake, though this one was more wide than deep. Zack could see a few rocks peeking out of the water in places and stalactites hung from the ceiling everywhere. Argento waded out into the water which only came up to her shins indicating they were headed towards a tunnel entrance on the other side and the others followed. It was when they were about halfway across that Tifa looked up into the gloom and gasped in surprise. "What's that?" She asked.

Zack looked up at the object she was pointing at and his mouth fell open. "No way… it can't be…" he said. Off in the distance he could see what looked like a faintly glowing blue orb of water floating in the center of the cavern.

"Zack, what is it?" Cloud asked.

Zack didn't answer. Reaching for his sword he rushed towards it before climbing onto a rock that was covered in mako crystals, and that was when he knew for sure. Floating within the orb, he could clearly see the familiar head of red hair, the long red duster, though at some point he had added woven leather guards to his shoulders as well as one along a portion of the coat where somehow the original hide of the coat had been torn away. "Genesis…" Zack said. He looked behind him to see that Argento had paused while Kunsel and Tifa were approaching. Cloud was already climbing the rock to join him in looking up at the man. "He's been here this whole time?" Zack called across the cave.

"Weiss and Nero brought him in from the outside," Argento answered. "I don't know how they managed to sneak away, but they tried to convince him to join us in our attempt at a coup and he declined. The response was something along the lines of not really caring what happened down here, if I remember correctly, not that I can't relate. I wondered where he ended up."

Zack felt something within him grow lighter. A burden he had carried since returning to Banora and finding Genesis gone was no longer there. He'd worried that he'd inadvertently killed the man by bringing him out into the open, but with relief from that concern, seeing him like this brought up a plethora of other concerns. How and why had Genesis ended up like this? The getting away from Deepground he understood, but hibernating in a giant floating orb of watery… stuff… was definitely not normal.

"We gotta get him out of there," he said. He looked down at his broadsword, considering, and then sheathed it, pulling the Buster Sword from his back, with his left hand. He knew he still couldn't use the Buster on a regular basis, but one strike should be more than enough for this.

"Are you sure you got this?" Cloud asked.

"Sure I'm sure," Zack said. Taking stance on the rock to make the jump, he heard Cloud take a step back behind him so that he had plenty of room to move, and as soon as he was ready, he leapt, aiming the blade so it would connect with the orb just below the ex-SOLDIER's legs. He sliced the bottom out in a spinning slash and landed in the water right in front of a rock that sat directly underneath the orb. To his complete surprise, it cut through but nothing happened. He stood in the water, soaked through before getting another idea. He sheathed the Buster Sword and put out his hand calling on the Destruct materia in his bangle, casting Debarrier. The energy flowed through the orb and then suddenly it contracted before exploding outward as the man within it landed in a crouch on the rock in front of him.

Everyone watched with rapt attention as the man looked up from where he knelt and his glowing blue eyes landed on Shelke and Argento first. "Why have you disturbed me?"

"It wasn't me," Argento said, gesturing to Zack, still standing in the water.

The red haired man looked in his direction and Zack grinned nervously, not exactly sure why Genesis would be annoyed. He felt he could be forgiven for thinking Genesis to be in some kind of trouble. How was he supposed to know what that orb was supposed to be?

Genesis' eyes swept over the crowd, first looking at Kunsel, then at Tifa, then Cloud, Vincent, the two Tsviets and then back to Zack. "By the goddess," he murmured at last. "You're still alive?" His eyes landed back on Cloud. "You were that infantryman he was carrying around…"

"He got better," Zack said with a grin. "I'm surprised you're still alive too Genesis. Are you all right? You looked like you might have been trapped in there."

Genesis shook his head impatiently. "Wings of light and dark spread afar, She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting."

Zack ran a hand through his hair awkwardly shaking a few drops from it. "So… you are okay then?" He never could get his mind around Genesis' 'Loveless' obsession. Sometimes when the guy spoke he almost seemed to understand, but not always.

"I wasn't expecting to be picked up by Deepground, but at the very least, it allowed me the chance for some peace."

Zack shrugged. "I managed to save your sword at least. It's back at our hideout in Mideel if you still want it."

Genesis let out a small chuckle, and brushed his hair dramatically behind his ears. Zack could see it had grown quite long and unkempt in the man's absence, though miraculously that large earring he always wore on his right ear was still there and it glittered in the light from the Mako veins in the walls. "It would be appreciated. What's been happening?"

"A lot of things," Zack said, pulling himself back onto dry land next to Cloud who remained on his guard. "Sephiroth came back and tried to destroy the world, and then he died again. Shinra failed to stay in control of the world, Hojo tried to destroy the world again, Deepground's trying to take over the world… It's been a real mess."

"Ripples form on the water's surface, The wandering soul knows no rest," Genesis observed.

"You don't know the half of it," Kunsel muttered.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation as we walk," Argento suggested. "We still have a long way to go."

Zack nodded. "Good idea," he looked back at Genesis "Will that be all right?"

"The arrow has left the bow of the goddess," the red-haired SOLDIER said, following them to the tunnel with a sigh of resignation.

Zack shrugged. "If you say so. Aerith seemed to think she was nice enough…"

"Who?"

"My girlfriend… Wife now… ended up talking to her. A lot's happened since you disappeared."

June 19th [ ν ] – εуλ 0008, 3:30 PM

"…And, now that the restrictors are gone, we've got another problem because Weiss seems bent on doing what they were going to do in the first place," Zack said. They had been slowly going up an incline for quite some time, with Argento still in the lead and now at long last, they were drawing close to a waterfall that smelled quite foul with what appeared to be an ancient ladder next to it. The silver Tsviet began to climb with Shelke behind her.

"I see," Genesis replied, before glancing at the other two swordsmen in the party. "Does he always talk this much?"

"Sometimes," Cloud said, before following after Shelke and Shalua.

"You probably missed most of it because you were too busy fighting with him," Kunsel remarked.

Genesis nodded and then turned his attention back to Zack. "So in short, you killed the restrictors and then the Tsviets stabbed you in the back. Couldn't you have seen they would do that?."

Zack shrugged. "I didn't know what kind of people they were. But that's not to say we didn't think of it. Veld had some of the Turks stick around top-side just in case anything happened."

"Some of them are definitely crazy," Tifa remarked before calling up to the Tsviets in their presence as she started to climb the ladder after Cloud. "No offence."

"None taken," Argento called back. "Spending a decade or two down here can do that."

"I could see that as soon as I was brought in," Genesis commented. "But, I have larger priorities than cleaning up your messes I'm afraid." The red-headed swordsman climbed up the ladder leaving Kunsel and Zack in the rear.

"You sure about that?" Zack said. "I was really kind of hoping you could stick around for a little while."

"I intend to linger only until you return my Rapier," Genesis replied. "After that, I will leave."

There was an uncomfortable silence for a while as they reached the source of the small stream, which turned out to be the slum sewers, and soon after that, Argento directed them to a manhole that brought them up in the middle of Sector 5.

Zack took the lead at that point, his hand on the hilt of his broadsword as he leaned against the back wall of the nearest building, looking out onto the main street. It was deadly quiet out there, but off in the distance, he could see a squad of Deepground SOLDIERs on patrol. Wordlessly, he motioned that they follow him along another backstreet he could remember from when Aerith still lived here, and soon, he had directed them to the church.

"What are we doing here, Zack?" Shalua asked.

"I thought we could stop and regroup for a minute," he whispered back. "Before we try for the passage out."

Shalua nodded. She did look a little the worse for wear. They all did.

Once he was sure the coast was clear, Zack hurried to the door and pushed it open, motioning to the others to follow after him and soon, everyone was standing in the foyer as he pushed the door shut.

Genesis took a step forward, taking in the area reflectively. "This place has been touched by the Lifestream," he observed.

"Aerith used to tend her flowers here," Zack explained.

"Who?" Genesis asked.

"My wife," Zack said.

"The Ancient who spoke to the Goddess?"

Zack nodded, but at that point, Vincent held up his hand for silence and drew his gun.

"What is it?" Kunsel said, his hand going to the hilt of the Gunblade.

"We are not alone…" Vincent said. There was a moment of tense silence as the group fanned out to check the shadows of the abandoned church when suddenly, Zack spotted movement in the corner and then he caught sight of a mop of brown hair covering a pair of wide blue eyes. Cloud seemed to have spotted the boy at almost the same time because he had sheathed his swords and approached. "Denzel?"

The boy rushed forward taking shelter behind the blond swordsman as the others approached. Zack watched as his friend looked down at the boy. "I thought Kunsel took you home to your parents," Cloud said at last.

The boy nodded but then he frowned as though trying not to cry. "He did… but then they took them…"

"The soldiers?" Cloud knelt down so he was level with the boy, and he gently put a hand on the boy's shoulder to attempt to calm him down.

Denzel nodded.

"Where did they take them?" Zack asked, taking a step closer.

The boy looked up at him helplessly. "I don't know."

It was at that moment when Zack heard his PHS ringing.

At long last, another wayward character has finally joined the cast. I think I've lost count of how many of you asked if Genesis would show up, but as with the cross-dressing scene, his appearance always was in the cards. I hope I did him justice.

Another break week next week. Come hell or high water, I am going to get my backlog in order.

Chapters will resume Midnight EST, Thursday the 20th, Friday the 21st.

See ya next time!