The Future Imperfect

AN – There has been a bit of a longer gap between chapters this time – mainly because I'd got quite close to the end of what I had written and wanted to get a little ahead again. The good news is that I have no managed to get another couple of chapters hammered out as this has been so easy to write, so I'm posting this one slightly ahead of the weekend!

Chapter Five

Angeal looked around at the area they had climbed into. Large storage containers surrounded them, built up like walls with small passages created between them. A few braziers burned in the distance, providing a small amount of light. In the distance Angeal could see what looked like train carriages.

The searchlights from a helicopter swung past them, illuminating some of the containers and casting strange shadows as it buzzed past overhead. Angeal instinctively retreated to the shadows but as quickly as it came it went again, moving on towards the pillar. Tifa gazed up at it and exhaled nervously.

"Just on patrol." Cloud tried to reassure her before striding away in the direction of the pillar. Angeal caught Genesis exchanging a worried glance with Sephiroth – the helicopter had dark markings instead of the usual scarlet Shinra logo, suggesting it was one of the Turk helicopters. Something that he knew would worry them both, in his opinion unnecessarily. The Turks were probably just aware of the rumours about the plate falling and were doing a check of the area to make sure there was no unrest.

He had been thinking it over for most of their journey out of the sewers and he had concluded that out of everything he had heard so far the idea that Shinra would drop an entire plate, one eighth of the whole city, onto the slums was the most ludicrous of them all.

"Don't worry, we'll make it in time." Aerith told Tifa earnestly, clasping her hands in front of her. At least her words reassured Tifa, though Angeal couldn't help but shake his head as he followed them up a ladder onto the roof of a train.

"It would be easy to get lost in here." He heard Cloud say and he had to agree. Almost as far as the eye could see there was a maze of containers, trains and carriages to navigate through. Some distance away there seemed to be a large building, possibly a warehouse or factory, but otherwise just a sea of discarded railway equipment.

"This is the train graveyard alright." Tifa agreed. "It's a real treasure trove of scrap. Sector seven should be just beyond that large maintenance facility over there."

She pointed towards the building Angeal had noticed earlier. Cloud was already climbing back down off the carriage towards it.

"Not a popular place, then?" Genesis asked after he leapt from the carriage to the ground, gesturing towards the emptiness.

"People don't come around here too often." Tifa replied, hugging herself. "And not just because of the monsters but… because of the stories."

"What kind of story?" Aerith asked, coming closer.

"Everyone seems to think that it's haunted." Tifa shuddered. Genesis cocked an eyebrow disbelievingly.

"Really? Haunted? That's the best they can come up with?"

Aerith seemed to take Tifa seriously though, grabbing Angeal's arm and looking around nervously.

"Is that right." Cloud asked, completely deadpan. Angeal saw the smallest smile on Sephiroth's face before he turned away.

"I'm not saying I believe it's true…or anything…" Tifa tried to backtrack, but she didn't look confident about it.

"Well, it's your lucky day then." Genesis sidled over to her. "What with four SOLDIERs here to protect you." Angeal frowned at the strange behaviour. Genesis didn't normally bother trying to sweet talk anyone, if anything he could be and incredibly haughty and irritable ass. But because he was also a charismatic ass, he got away with it.

"Yeah, I guess…" Tifa's arms were still wrapped tight around herself, betraying her own fear.

"Say, you never did tell us what class you are." Genesis added conversationally, turning to Cloud. Angeal nodded to himself, this was more like it – Genesis was fishing for information. "From the way you fight…let me guess… second?"

"Oh, he's-"

"Tifa." Cloud interrupted her sharply, drawing everyone's attention. He was facing away from them, but had turned his head to the side so Angeal could still see his facial expressions. Cloud's mouth moved a couple of times as he frowned, looking to Angeal as though he was trying to work something out, before eventually adding "I wasn't a SOLDIER."

Both Sephiroth and Genesis were watching Cloud, so only Angeal saw how surprised Tifa was by that statement. Cloud must have expected her confusion, he looked over to her with a reassuring nod. "Later, let's hurry now."

Tifa drew in a deep breath. "Right." She clenched her fists tightly and bravely followed Cloud onto one of the empty train carriages with Aerith trailing after them, both looking puzzled. Genesis held back for a moment.

"I'm sure none of us believe that he wasn't in SOLDIER? Not with eyes like that and his obvious strength… which begs the question, why would he lie about it?"

"They are part of an anti-Shinra group." Sephiroth stated calmly. Angeal frowned as he thought about it for a few minutes.

"But when it is so obvious, what is the point of lying?" Sephiroth had no answer to that. "I would ask how you came to that conclusion that they are in an anti-Shinra group but… it does make sense, doesn't it? Called Avalanche, as a guess." Sephiroth nodded to Angeal, meeting his eyes with a level stare.

"I had wondered," Genesis added thoughtfully. "But I couldn't fathom how a SOLDIER could have ended up within a dissident organisation. Shinra owns us completely and I can't believe that they would just let a SOLDIER leave." He tossed his head back, trying to flip the red strands of his hair out of his face and resorting to using his hand in irritation. "Infinite in mystery…"

"So he isn't telling us the truth because he doesn't want it to get back to Shinra? It's not like he can hide those eyes." Angeal narrowed his gaze. "What does he think we are going to do? Go back to our own time and tell Shinra that in the future one of their SOLDIERs goes rogue? No one would believe us."

"But we know his name, which isn't a common one." Sephiroth contemplated. "We could block his application to SOLDIER in the first place, thus stopping any possibility of him defecting in the future." As he spoke, he began to follow the other three weaving through the train graveyard, who by this time had built up quite a lead.

"Wouldn't that essentially be the same as judging you for a crime that is in their past but potentially your future?" Genesis asked slyly as he came up alongside Sephiroth, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "They have tried very hard to treat you as though you have not personally injured them, when it is abundantly clear that at some future point you have. If we return to our normal time and impede Cloud's progression in SOLDIER then it is surely the same thing. My friend, the fates are cruel."

"Besides," Angeal added. "We still know very little about this future. Maybe policy changed, and SOLDIERs are allowed to retire now? Maybe mass defection occurred?" He ignored Genesis's scoff at that. "We can't judge based on such little information."

"I wasn't actually suggesting that we do it." Sephiroth replied calmly. "But it is a possibility. You are right that we do not understand enough yet about the occurrences over the last seven years to make any decisions of that nature."

"A possibility that you aren't discounting." Genesis pointed out as he stepped onto a train and started weaving down the aisle.

"It would be foolish to rule it out completely." Sephiroth replied cooly.

Angeal sighed as he followed them both, squeezing his broad frame out the narrow carriage doors and climbing up another ladder to follow them along the top of yet another container. Strategically, if Cloud really did pose a threat to Shinra in this future, then sabotaging him early in his career would be the right thing to do. It was unsurprising that Sephiroth was the one to highlight it, he had the most strategic mind of all three of them. He himself was adamantly against the idea, it flew in the face of all his morals – who was he to preach about dreams and honour if he ripped them away from someone before they even had a chance to fulfil them? Genesis… would probably back him up, but Angeal felt a twinge of doubt. He never said as much, but Angeal knew that Genesis looked up to Sephiroth and wanted to impress him. It was one of the reasons behind Genesis's long-standing rivalry with Sephiroth.

Maybe instead Angeal could offer to mentor Cloud, turn him down a different route? One day Zack would outgrow him, after all.

Of course, all of this was a moot point if they weren't able to work out how they were going to get back home.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Cloud clenched his fist to try to avoid rubbing his temple as he let Tifa lead the way. After the moment in the sewers when he first remembered Zack's name, he had been hit by an onslaught of thoughts and feelings. Most didn't even feel like they truly belonged to him. It was as if a flood gate had opened and the past had come rushing in, all jumbled and tossed in the current so he could only desperately grasp at a handful images and emotions as they passed quickly by.

When Genesis had asked him what rank of SOLDIER he was, it nearly tripped off the tongue. SOLDIER First Class. But then… came the conflicting memories. The doubt. Enough to silence Tifa before she answered for him.

SOLDIER First Class….

If only I were a SOLDIER…

SOLDIER First Class…. Zack Fair.

"I wasn't a SOLDIER." Even as he said it, Cloud realised the truth of it. Remembered the crushing disappointment that he hadn't made the cut and ended up as a simple trooper in the Shinra army. A second set of memories super-imposed themselves on top of them – celebrating with his mentor Angeal as he made as second class, receiving the promotion to first class but not the jubilation that should have come with it. Though for the life of him he couldn't remember why.

He shook his head again. He didn't know right now where Cloud Strife ended and Zack Fair began… he reached behind his head to itch at his neck and froze, realising that it was a movement Zack would have done. Not Cloud. In a huff of irritation he put his arm back down again. More images flashed through his mind, disorientating and confusing. He pushed them aside to focus on Aerith and Tifa, who were now stood outside of a large building. Whilst he had been battling his mind they had navigated their way through the graveyard, over and through the trains that lay scattered around.

"The maintenance facility." Tifa explained, waving to it.

There was a soft sound on the wind that could have been laughter and some images lit up on the side of the facility. Images that looked like childish drawings and symbols. "Guys…" Tifa said, uncertainty in her voice.

"Seriously." Cloud muttered on seeing it.

"Come on, huh?" Aerith added, reading the words scrawled on the building. "Well that's…inviting."

"Alright, let's see what's inside." Cloud moved towards the doors which slid aside as he reached them, more scribbles appearing all over it, glowing brightly in the darkness.

"Well, what do you think?" Tifa asked, fear still evident in her voice. A figure jumped down from a train behind her, causing her to startle.

"Fascinating." Genesis murmured. "I wonder how this was achieved. Some form of proximity trigger, perhaps?"

The other two SOLDIERs dropped behind him, landing quietly on their feet. Cloud sighed, he had momentarily forgotten they were there.

"Let's check it out!" Aerith chirped. "It'll be fine. Besides, we have a bodyguard." She latched onto one of Cloud's arms. "Mine!"

"Ghosts aren't my thing." Cloud hedged.

"Ghosts also aren't real." Genesis added, moving up alongside Cloud before Tifa could grab his other arm. Tifa put her hands on her hips.

"Really?" She asked. "Then how do you explain this?" She gestured to the glowing writing.

"I don't." Genesis sniffed. "I never said I would explain how it did happen, just that it won't be ghosts."

"Then you get to go first." Tifa gestured to the open doors. Genesis rolled his shoulders, biting back a wince as he did so. Cloud eyed him with curiosity, watching him move slightly stiffly into the warehouse.

No one followed, so the redhead turned around and motioned impatiently. "I thought you needed to move quickly?" Cloud started moving, Aerith following closely behind from where she was still grasping onto his arm.

Soon realising Tifa hadn't come with them, Cloud turned back to her. She was looking through the doorway with a torn expression on her face. Angeal approached her cautiously.

"Are you ok?" His voice, that Cloud had barely paid attention to before, was deep and somewhat gravelly. It suited his broad, rugged appearance; especially compared to the slender builds of his two friends. Sephiroth still stood waiting at the back, still watching carefully. His gaze bored into Cloud's when their eyes briefly met, until Cloud turned away with a minute shake of his head.

"Sorry," Tifa was murmuring to Angeal. "It's just… it's been a lot today. Ghosts in there. Ghosts out here." She slanted a look at both Angeal and Sephiroth before taking a deep breath. "I'm ok now, let's go."

Satisfied she was coming, Cloud walked closer to Genesis. In the gloom of the maintenance facility his scarlet coat shone like a beacon in the darkness. As the SOLDIER turned to watch them enter, his glowing mako eyes and red hair gave him an ethereal appearance. His gaze slid over Cloud and Aerith and landed on Tifa, who was walking in next to Angeal.

"See? There is nothing to fear here."

As soon as the words left his mouth, a haunting giggle on the air sounded around them and the doors slammed shut behind them all. Angeal turned to try to force it open, but couldn't move it at all. He frowned at Sephiroth, something unspoken passing between them as they both unholstered their swords.

"If there aren't any ghosts, then what's that?" Tifa replied, a tremor in her voice.

"Look, over there!" Aerith flew away from them, running deeper into the facility. Biting back a curse, Cloud followed her. She eventually crouched at the end of a train car.

"Hey, found you." She called softly. Cloud peered past her but couldn't see anything. Genesis approached on silent feet with Tifa close behind him, Angeal and Sephiroth remaining near the doors. "Can we talk, just for a bit?"

Cloud had to restrain himself as a ghostly figure of a child stepped out from behind the carriage. He heard Tifa hiss "See!" behind him, and the sound of a leather-clad shoulder being punched lightly.

But the ghost was intercepted by another that pushed it back before flying aggressively at them all. Cloud swept past Aerith, telling her and Tifa to fall back, seeing Genesis doing so on the other side. The taller man held his sword in front of him and ran one gloved hand along the blade, lighting the long crimson blade with a fiery glow.

"I dislike being proven wrong." Genesis declared as he swung forwards with Rapier. Cloud danced into the space next to him, effortlessly working with Genesis to take the ghost down. It didn't take long, the Rapier caused severe damage and Cloud barely had to exert himself.

As the ghost dissolved Aerith ran further into the building, following the small child she had seen earlier.

"Aerith, that thing's dangerous." Cloud called. Aerith looked over her shoulder to him.

"I know… but…"

The ghost flew off towards the rafters of the building. As it did so, a loud noise caused them all to look up. Several large train carriages were being lifted up high into the air by invisible hands and moved towards them.

"Run!" Cloud shouted, reaching forwards to grab Aerith before sprinting back the way they had come. Genesis glared up at the carriage for a split second before also retreating, gathering up Tifa as he used every inch of his SOLDIER speed to move them out of the way. The first carriage crashed down behind them but the second was going to plough straight into them.

Angeal tried to open the door again but it still wouldn't give. He was raising his sword in defense when Sephiroth finally moved. He leapt into the air, weilding Masamune smoothly as he did so and swinging at the carriages heading their way. The blade glowed and emitted a bright white energy beam which flew outwards and sliced straight through the descending carriages, knocking them aside in pieces. Sephiroth dropped back down with the debris falling around him as Aerith cast a barrier to keep the worst of it away from them.

"Always have to be the hero." Genesis muttered darkly. He had set Tifa down and was rubbing at his left shoulder with a slight grimace on his face. Cloud frowned at the sight; it was unusual for anyone enhanced to pick up normal injuries as the mako in their bodies compensated too quickly.

"Your shoulder is still bothering you." Angeal noted, his voice full of concern. "That should be healed by now."

Angeal thought back to their earlier spar and the energy beam that had rebounded and hit Genesis hard. He'd forgotten over the last couple of hours, assuming that it had taken care of itself, but now he was worried something might have got lodged in the injury. The drawback to enhanced healing was the possibility of foreign bodies getting sealed into the wound. Sephiroth hovered uneasily nearby, Masamune still held loosely in his hand from where he hadn't holstered it yet.

"My friend, the fates are cruel. I was aware of that, Angeal." Angeal could detect a slight bite to Genesis's words, even above his normal testiness, which made him worry even more. "When we finally get back, if we get back, I'll talk to Hollander."

"Maybe I could have a look at it?" Angeal jumped, he hadn't realised Aerith was still with them. "I'm pretty good at healing things, what did you do?"

"Is this really the place or time?" Genesis asked.

"Yep!" Aerith nodded, a determined expression on her face. Genesis still looked like he was going to refuse but eventually relented, shrugging his red jacket off as he tersely explained the incident. Cloud and Tifa were looking warily around for danger whilst he did so but the maintenance facility had fallen silent for now. Aerith waved off their concerned glances as Genesis slowly pulled off his SOLDIER harness and black turtleneck he was wearing underneath.

When Angeal saw the injury he winced. The wound itself was just a straight gash across his shoulder blade and didn't look too bad except for the fact it was still open and sluggishly bleeding. More concerning were the dark lines that were visibly stretching out away from the wound across Genesis's back.

"That doesn't look good." Aerith commented, reaching forwards and tracing the path of one of the black lines, hovering just above his skin. "It doesn't look good at all." Her voice held a note of concern that Genesis immediately picked up on. Angeal thought that might be an understatement; Genesis's left shoulder blade looked as though it was a fragile china plate that had been dropped, the only thing holding it together the sheer stubbornness of the person it was attached to.

Genesis flinched away from her. "What doesn't?" He asked abruptly. Angeal and Sephiroth exchanged a quick glance, from which Angeal could tell Sephiroth was as worried as he was.

"Hush," Aerith soothed. There was a warming green glow as she cast and the black marks shrunk slightly, receding back towards the original injury. Worryingly, they didn't disappear completely. Aerith frowned and laid a hand flat on Genesis's back.

Both Aerith and Genesis shuddered, before Aerith gasped. Her eyes unfocussed and Angeal thought for a moment that they glowed an eerie green. The next moment they were back to normal though, so he thought it must have been a trick of the light. He stepped forwards to support her, but Aerith waved him back before she moved around Genesis to face him. "I'm sorry." She said, her voice sombre. "But I can't fix this here. It's more than just the injury, your body is fighting itself. It's treating another part of your body as though it an infection. That's why it isn't healing, and no amount of cure or potions will do anything about it."

"What does that mean?" Genesis bit out. "Do I need to find an ether so I can heal it myself?"

"I imagine you've already tried." Aerith challenged, head tilting as she regarded the redhead. "Haven't you?" Genesis huffed and looked to one side, acknowledging the truth in her statement. "I thought so. We'll need to bandage it for now to support it."

"You said you couldn't fix it here." Angeal remembered, speaking up. "Does that mean you can fix it if we were somewhere else? Are there supplies that you need?"

The girl looked troubled for a moment. "I think so. I've been shown how, but I haven't actually done it before." She nodded firmly. "Yes, I could help, if we were at the church."

"Church?" Genesis asked, reaching for his discarded top.

"Yep! In the sector five slums. It's somewhere I go a lot for the flowers. It has what I need to cure you." She started to make her way back to Cloud and Tifa. "You'll understand what I mean when you see it." Aerith smiled over her shoulder to them. "Come on!"

Genesis straightened up, tugging his red leather duster into position. Angeal stepped up to him and put his hand carefully on Genesis's uninjured shoulder. "You know we'll do whatever we can to help." He reassured.

Genesis scoffed. "We don't even know what it is, but I doubt it's that serious. The girl is probably worrying for nothing." He started to follow the others.

"Still…" Angeal watched his friend stride away, red jacket swaying with his stride.

"We'll keep an eye on him." Sephiroth drew alongside Angeal and caught his gaze. Angeal nodded back, relieved that Sephiroth wasn't going to be so quick to dismiss his concerns. But then Sephiroth had, as Angeal had himself, seen the mess that was Genesis's back.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Tifa kept close to Cloud as they explored the maintenance facility. The train carriages that had bombarded them earlier had also blocked their route out, so they were forced to find a way around. Lights flickered on, illuminating some of the carriages. Tifa shuddered and huddled a little closer to Cloud. She flicked a glance over her shoulder at Genesis. She'd meant to look away when he was stripping down for Aerith earlier but she had peeked despite herself. In penance, she had taken guard with Cloud while Aerith took a closer look at the injury, only glancing over once to see that it looked pretty serious.

Genesis was walking alone now, deep in thought. Before she could think better of it, Tifa dropped back to walk next to him.

"You saved my life earlier." She said quietly. "Thank you."

The redhead scoffed. "You would have managed without me, I'm sure." He glanced at his companions. "Sephiroth played his role perfectly as the real hero, as is usual."

"Sephiroth will never be my hero." Tifa said quietly, more venom in the words than she had intended Genesis to hear. He raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at her.

"It is SOLDIERs generally or Sephiroth in particular that has raised your ire?"

Tifa gave out a small noise of annoyance, carefully avoiding looking at the man next to her. "I can't say I particularly like either."

"I am wounded, dear heart. I thought we were beginning to understand one another."

Tifa couldn't stop her lip quirking up at the edges slightly. "You don't seem like a normal SOLDIER to me. Maybe I can make an exception."

"Aren't you already?" Genesis gestured towards Cloud. "Although he asserts that he was not a SOLDIER, his eyes say otherwise."

Tifa hummed but kept her thoughts to herself. In all honesty she didn't have a lot more to say – she had thought that Cloud was a SOLDIER, a First Class at that. It was how he had been introducing himself ever since she had come across him at the Sector Seven train station. He also certainly looked the part, wearing a modified version of the uniform and wielding a sword almost bigger than he was with no more effort than if it was a toy.

She kept her gaze on Cloud as he approached a terminal, Aerith with him. "Looks like we should be able to move the carriages with this." He noted after checking it over and realising it was a large crane. "It's not working, there's no power coming through."

"Over there." Angeal pointed towards the far end of the maintenance shed, where there was a large office on the second floor. "That looks like a control room."

"Right." Cloud nodded. "Let's find a way."

It wasn't straightforward, Tifa noted as they ran up and down stairs to try to find a clear path to the other end. The maintenance facility was in poor condition, with large parts of the second floor missing and offices destroyed. They still made their way through, fighting off occasional ghosts as they forged a route.

As they were passing through a former office of some kind, now derelict and trashed, Tifa spied a row of lockers along one wall. A couple of them were hanging open and she could see a hat and some boots that had fallen out onto the floor below. It gave her an idea.

"Wait a moment," she called out, causing all the others to pause what they were doing. Running over to the nearest bank of lockers, she tested the first few and found them locked. With a huff of annoyance, Tifa sent a spinning kick at the rack which opened several at once.

"Wow, what did those lockers do to you?" Tifa spared a grin for Aerith as she rummaged through the spoils.

"I was just – here!" She triumphantly held up an old jacket. It was a tweed of some sort with patched elbows. It wasn't in great condition but it didn't look too damaged, just tired and dirty. "One of you put this on." She flung it towards Genesis, who caught it and stared at it.

"Why on Gaia would I wear this?"

"You are way too recognisable. It's fine here, but when we hit sector seven? You'll be mobbed. People don't like Shinra much in the slums and you just reek of it." She carried on rummaging, eventually flinging him a flat cap as well. "You need to at least try not to stand out as much."

Angeal didn't manage to hide his laughter at his friend's expense this time, although Tifa barely noticed as she managed to find another jacket, this one a cropped leather one that she threw at him. Angeal only just reacted fast enough to catch it before it hit his face and held it up, staring in horror. It had been 'artfully' slashed in strategic places and held back together again with safety pins and the occasional padlock. The sleeves had been cut short and the bottom was cut at various angles – Angeal thought probably on purpose.

"I can't wear this!" He protested. "I'll look like… like…"

"Someone looking for a good time?" Aerith supplied with a beaming smile. "Sector seven isn't so far removed from Wall Market you know, you'll fit right in." Looking at his horrified expression, she relented. "You can keep wearing your top underneath, it will just look a bit edgy."

"Exactly!" Tifa agreed with a nod as she found a dark headband that also got chucked Angeal's way. "Edgy is good, there are some strange looks in the slums." She pulled back from the lockers, pursing her lips. "Except I'm not sure what to do about…" she waved a hand vaguely in Sephiroth's direction. The man turned his gaze on to her.

"I am not going to wear anything you find me in there." He stated flatly, eyeing the outfits she had chosen for his friends.

"It wouldn't work anyway; they can get away with a change of outfits and carrying a weapon isn't too unusual… but you are far more distinctive. A change of clothes isn't going to work." She frowned, tucking her fist in under her chin as she looked around the room for inspiration. Unfortunately, nothing was jumping out at her.

Aerith hummed as she walked over to the far edge where a row of terminals was covered in a large dust sheet. The brunette tilted her head to one side, fingering the fabric. "What about this?"

They all turned to see her pull the dust sheet free. It was a couple of metres of a dark grey fabric, far more decorative than a dust sheet needed to be which suggested it had started life as something else. There was even some subtle embroidery running along one edge of it that was scalloped decoratively. "Yes…" she mused to herself. "This should work."

Sephiroth watched her warily as she approached him. "Now, hold still." Aerith told him firmly before confidently flipping the dust sheet over his head. Once he was covered the sheet just about reached the floor behind him, leaving him peering out from beneath its folds. Aerith rummaged in her bag and produced a set of hairpins, that she had earlier pulled out of her elaborate braid, to tuck the improvised cloak around him and hold it in place.

"What do you think?" She said eventually, stepping back to admire her handiwork. Tifa had to give it to her, she knew what she was doing. Not entirely surprising if she had grown up in the slums where handmade clothes were an inevitability, but it still looked good. She had used two of the corners to make long sleeves, pinned underneath. The decorative edge was at the front and it looked like it was made to be a cloak. It also managed to hide his identity perfectly, apart from the green glow emitting eerily from the hood in the darkness of the abandoned building and the large sword strapped to his side.

Genesis sighed deeply, putting every ounce of self-pity he could muster into his voice.

"I guess that means we will have to play our parts too, doesn't it?"

Both the girls grinned evilly at him.

AN – So the vague effect I had in mind for Sephiroth's new outfit is something that's a cross between a Jedi robe and the clone cloaks in the remake. Genesis is going for farmer chic (haha) while Angeal… not sure why I quite did that to Angeal. I guess SOLDIERpunk is a thing now? Enjoy the imagery!