Let the Battles Begin!

Lucka swung her right-hand sword. It clashed and made sparks of fire when met with Zack's sword. She turned her left sword to the opening of his side. But he was fast. He dodged it in time before she could strike him. She whirled again from beneath him. The tip dangerously nearly cut his jaw. Upon the movement, she looked hesitant for a second and almost halted, seeing that he took the opportunity to blow a strike.

Lucka barely kept his blade with both of her swords from her face. With no chance to stand his SOLDIER power enhancement, she stepped back and flipped around her body halfway. She gave him half her front, smacked the back of his neck with her sword's hilt, then kicked his back. Zack let out a surprised grunt when he nearly stumbled down. Lucka took the time to draw back, making a safe distance. Her breath wavered, and her eyes enlarged with adrenaline.

"She's holding back," Sephiroth said calmly. His eyes followed their motion.

Angeal gave him a sidelong glance. Puzzled, he said, "Why is she holding back?

"It's clear, right? It's Zack. Don't you remember when we were at the Cafeteria? The girl has something for him," Genesis replied flatly, "just like she's afraid to chop his head off."

Angeal frowned. "It won't happen. Zack is proficient in swords."

"Well, it's an emotional feeling. Not to speak of, you can't have it on the battlefield." Genesis watched them in thoughtful expression when their swords engaged again.

Zack was thrusting from her right. She dug her head and dodged it with her sword just before she could stand in her height. He blew again at her. She poorly managed to hold the attack, so she kicked his stomach. Zack grunted. But, he kept his footing still. He struck down his sword from above and met with both of her blades. She pushed his sword upward, making a half-circle outwards their body. Lucka turned around along the motion, she parted the swords to thrust, but Zack was faster. He shoved forward with a force she couldn't bear and sent her right-hand sword flying away across the room.

"Tchk," Lucka grunted. She now only held her left sword. Zack smirked as he assumed she'd thrust him from the left, but instead, she attacked his right side, surprising him by the following direction. Lucka took the chance. She pulled his hand that held the sword hilt, made him stumble forward, and drove Zack groan when her knee landed hard on his stomach.

"Ughh-Shiiiiiiit!" Zack gritted his teeth. He stepped back briefly and lunged to once again close their gap. She still held her sword in her left hand, bringing it in the right direction like before. Their swords clashed again and again. Lucka wanted to make this quick, but Zack made it hard.

"Interesting. Lucka can use her left hand as sufficiently as her right hand." Angeal nodded and spared Sephiroth a glance. His voice filled with pure delight.

"Yes, she is. But it's not steady enough," Sephiroth replied nonchalantly. His eyes didn't leave them even for a second.

"Oh, then you can teach her, right?" Genesis's smirk widened. Sephiroth only hummed in reply.

Zack kicked her right leg, and she stumbled down. Lucka was more than capable of dodging the blow coming over. However, she let him thrust forward and sent her last sword flying away. Lucka breathed hard and turned her body towards Tseng, giving him a shrug.

Tseng shook his head in disapproval. "You didn't put in all of your efforts."

"He's way stronger than me, sir." Lucka reasoned and shuffled to gather her katana.

"You're dead if you're hesitant." Genesis stared at her with a deep frown. His voice tinted with a scolding tone as he took a swordsman coach role.

"Zack won't kill me." She nearly snapped at him. Her right hand that held the sword's hilt tightened.

Genesis tilted his head at her response. Something cunning flashed in his eyes. He stared at Tseng as if asking something. Tseng's eyebrows twitched, he sighed and shook his head, yet his hand raised dismissively. Lucka caught the scene, she didn't know what the gesture meant, but she didn't like it.

"Then you will fight until the last drop of your blood if your opponent intends to kill you, right?" Genesis stepped closer feet away from her, and his right hands were glowing bright red as a sign of his Rapier's emergence.

Lucka's eyes widened. Her pale face was even washed out now. She muttered, "You must be kidding me."

"Well? You should check yourself," he said and lunged forward as fast as a hurricane.

Lucka was overly staggered by his abrupt attack. She shielded herself with both swords, but the blow was immensely intense. Genesis wasn't joking, and he put all his power into it. She flew away across the room and landed on her knee. Her eyes widened, Zack was strong, but Genesis was beyond potent. Lucka was an ordinary human. She couldn't stand a chance against his superhuman power. She realized she couldn't overcome him, so she had to find another way to buy time.

She was about to think of her tactic, but Genesis was already in front of her. Damn, and he's faster. It seemed Lucka knew there was no room to be indecisive anymore. Genesis was capable of hurting her. So she pulled out all of the energy she could muster and brought both of her swords against him. Genesis smirked. He was pleased she was earnest now.

"Good, keep the spirit up," Genesis said with smugness in his eyes. He twisted the blade with ease, freeing his sword from her. Lucka's frown deepened along with gritted teeth. She barely could dodge his thrust that happened a second after their blade parted away.

Genesis swung his blade from left to right. It forced her to lower her head. By that, she took his unshielded stomach, shoving her shoulder with immense pressure. At the same time, her left sword pushed away his blades that hovered at her head. Lucka didn't waste a second until he recovered. She attacked again, spun on her left heel, and jumped to land with her right foot on his chest. She was basically stomping on him while putting the weight on him. Genesis was startled, but she hadn't finished her attack yet. She shifted the direction of her right foot, making it an excellent grounding to crush up his jaw with her left knee, hard. There was a loud crack coming from his bone. And followed shortly by Genesis' sharp groan of pain.

Lucka heard Zack gasping, and Angeal was swearing. She bent down, landing on her knee while Genesis was sent a few feet away from his last spot.

"Damn! It must be painful! Glad it's not me." Zack brought up both of his hands on his head exasperatedly. Nonetheless, it was clear he sounded excited.

"Now we can see, her martial art is also impressive." Tseng didn't bother to hide his satisfaction in his tone. Perhaps he also felt gratified to find worthy recruitment. Then he glanced at Sephiroth. "What do you think, General?"

Sephiroth stared at him briefly and back to them. His eyes flashed in fascination. "It's a big advantage. When she realized she couldn't win over Genesis by swords, she took every opening to give him physical damage."

Genesis stood. His eyes narrowed dangerously. He let out a bitter chuckle after spitting out blood from his mouth. "That's a good start."

Lucka smirked. "Happy to know you're excited." She was on her feet. By the time she lunged forward, Genesis had already fixed his posture. Once again, their swords clashed. Lucka struck down and up, altering her right and left hands; like a dancing warrior. Genesis dodged effortlessly every strike. Once he saw the opening, he threw away her left sword. Lucka's eyes narrowed. He lurched another blow, and Lucka dodged in time.

As their gap narrowed, she grabbed a handful of his hair, pushed him down, and brought her left knee to his stomach. While Genesis gasped in pain, Lucka jumped back to make a good gap between them. She took the time to breathe, though it wasn't long because Genesis came right after her. But unfortunately, she wasn't prepared. The intense blow made her fly, roll by her back, and land harshly on the floor.

Her eyes were wide open. The pain pierced her spine with a burning sensation that made the back of her eyes turn blank white. Her sword escaped from her hand. Genesis loomed over her, his sword tip dangerously touching her throat. He tilted his head cockily. "My victory?"

Lucka's eyebrow furrowed deeply, and her chest moved up and down by the wild breath. "Overconfidence will destroy you." She streaked his right leg until he stumbled backward on his feet. The brief opening was enough for her to raise and pull his hand on the hilt. She twisted them to the back of his body while throwing away the swords, then tugged his right arm across his left shoulder, back to his neck. The girl spun their body and locked him on the ground, the left part of her body seizing him down. She pinned him there like half-hugging. Genesis cried when she yanked his hand tighter.

"Is this acceptable?" she said between a hefty breath, her head snapped to where her Boss stood.

"Brilliant." Tseng nodded in approval with a pleasing smile.

She let go of Genesis, rolled her back, and lay beside him, panting. Genesis got to a sitting position and watched her closely. Her hair was messy. The locks were tapered on the side of her face by dots of perspiration that swayed across her forehead. Her eyes were open wide as if the endorphin still rushed her blood. His eyes fixed on hers and a smirk on his lips. "You're ambidextral in swords, with guns too, I guess? And you grappled me. Have you been trained to annihilate people?"

Lucka looked amused and put on a weak smile. "Exactly."

Genesis raised his eyebrows, but she ignored him and lay down there for another moment before Zack made a small run towards them. He offered his hand to her. A hearty grin brightened his face. He said, "That's a smashing performance." She took his hand and let him help her stand.

She shook her head in an almost timid way. "I'm flattered," she said, "shall we have lunch together?" Lucka tilted her head towards the door and casually looked at everyone in the room.

"Sure." Zack grinned.

She gave a tiny smile at him in turns, gathered her swords, and put them inside their sheath. Tseng was already at her side when she finished tidying up her weapons. He offered her a bottle of water, her eyes delighted, and she mumbled thanks to him.

Tseng inclined his head to her weapons. "Leave it. I'll store them in the weapon room, and you can pick them up later," said Tseng, giving her an appraisal look, "you're doing really well today. Tomorrow we will go to take you undercover task and do a Materia handling afterward."

She looked like didn't care about the undercover test. She was more interested in the mention of the Materia. Her voice raised an octave as it portrayed her excitement. "Materia handling? Just like inserting them too in my weapon?"

"Yes, partly. We'll modify your katana for the installment," said Tseng with a reassuring nod.

Lucka nodded back in return. "Cool," she said and paused because she just remembered something important. "When would we go to the Church?"

Tseng smirked. "We will leave after lunch."

Lucka said nothing. Her expression didn't betray anything after she put back a blank mask. Although it seems she was relieved and thrilled at the same time.

Oh, finally.

Final Fantasy VII Main Theme

The five of them, except Tseng, made their appearance in the Cafeteria inside the Recreational Facility. They gathered at the donut table shaped with Lucka sitting between Angeal and Genesis, whereas the General and Zack were in front of them. Thankfully, the area hadn't been packed yet with Shinra employees. It made them talk to each other more comfortably.

When another conversation died down (earlier, Genesis protested to Angeal about the plant that invited a bug in his room), Zack munched his bread absently on the corner of Lucka's eyes. It seemed he'd studied her for a while. Perhaps, he searched for the right words to express his mind.

And eventually, he said to her, "Lucka, I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me why you asked Tseng about the Church?"

Lucka's face twitched. She became alarmed. "Why do you ask?"

Zack put on a sheepish smile and shrugged. "Well, I wonder if I'd be allowed to know. I never heard of the Church in the slum."

Lucka didn't give her answers for some time. She studied him with a cautious look, then scanned through the surroundings and met everyone's gaze. Then, she said, "Uh-huh, it's alright, go ahead, Zack."

He scratched the back of his neck, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Why do you need to go to the Church? Are you a religious person?" Zack paused. Probably he thought it sounded offensive. He hurriedly added with a hint of panic in his tone. "Don't get me wrong. You know, like, do you want to pray or something? Because it's kinda unusual here. Ugh, pardon. It's not my business. Oh well… "

Lucka nearly laughed at his choice of words, yet she couldn't restrain a smile. His question would be obnoxious in other circumstances, mainly if they were on Earth. But it appeared the line of religious belief was blurry in Gaia. "Hardly, Zack. I want to find an answer."

Zack's reaction was funny. He seemed too puzzled by her reply. His mouth gaped, and one of his brows raised insidiously. "What answer? Like some prophecy revelation?"

"How she can do time-traveling," the General said in a monotonous tone. Perhaps, he'd use the same manner when speaking to a banker employee to turn down credit card overtures.

Zack's mouth gaped wider, his eyes rounding bigger. "You—what?!" Zack noticed everyone was silent. The air between them suddenly became stiffer. "Does everyone know this?" There was no answer. But it was also an answer. He realized the General was serious with his words. He snapped his head to Angeal and shrieked, "Angeal, why didn't you tell me about this?!"

"Well, It's a top secret of her existence. I don't think we can tell everyone. It's only us know this," Angeal said, shrugging, "and now you."

Zack snorted. "Thanks 'geal."

Genesis drew her attention, his voice a bit lower when he murmured closely beside her. Though she knew everyone still could hear him because of their enhanced hearing. He said, "Heh, since we're in this particular conversation and Tseng's not around. Who will you meet at the Church?"

Lucka frowned. She took another second to figure out which information she could say and which couldn't. She decided and said, "Sorry, I can't tell you. She's highly classified, but… Zack will meet her later."

Zack blinked in astonishment. "Her? So she's a girl. How do you know I'll meet her?"

"The future told me," Lucka said with a shrug.

"What are you, really? A psychic?" Zack's mouth gawked. He tried his best to register the turn of events.

Angeal ignored Zack. He found something more exciting and asked her, "Is there a reason why the girl will meet the puppy?"

Lucka stared sideways at Angeal with thoughtfulness in her eyes. "Because they will be together, sort of."

Zack basically exclaimed in disbelief. The General who sat beside him covered his ears and frowned with annoyance. "Zack." He firmly reprimanded him in a biting tone.

Zack ignored him. His eyes twinkled as he leaned closer to Lucka across the table. "Reaalllyyyyy?! I can't wait to meet this girl!"

She was mentally imagining a tail waving on his back.

Angeal shook his head and sighed. "Zack, your focus."

The corner of her lips pursed into a half-smile. She was happy to see Zack all excited like that, but on the other hand, she became solemn by a grim memory from the game. They will be together, here and hereafter.

Aerith's Theme

lucka was, at last, made it to the Church. All the price and her sacrifice of freedom for meeting this flower girl to have the answer should be paid off.

She drew another deep breath. Her restless finger tweaked a loose thread on her skirt's hem. How would she face her? The lovely and warm-hearted Aerith, how did she look?

She mustered all her willpower, grounding for her emotional feelings, and kept it safe, far away in the column of her lung. So she'd be more careful as she drew in the oxygen to keep her mind clear, keeping her consciousness on the surface, which prevented her from drowning in sadness and despair that threatened to fall and form into sorrowful tears.

I can do this. I should.

She pushed the Church's high and heavy double door slowly until it opened altogether, welcoming the three of them into another realm. The view hit her eyes as her breath hitched. A slamming wave of boundless emotion overwhelmed her. The Church was way more beautiful in reality—the crumbling boulder, messy aisle with gravels spreading everywhere, the flower beds in the center of the chapel, and the delicate fresh fragrance, tamed her soul. Lucka's eyes gleamed at how the sunlight shone through the hole in the ceilings and the way it battered the whole space. It was just magnificent.

Her gaze finally settled at the figure with her back on them, who tended the yellow flowers.

She was dressed in a white sundress, as white as a cloud. Her silky hair shining by the light danced on them, her velvety skin glowing like milky sand under the sun. Lucka didn't realize she was already in front of her until the girl's body froze.

Aerith stood and turned. The girl was shocked by the look she gave her. Lucka noticed she was younger than her, about three or four years apart. She was pretty like an angel. Her auburn bangs framed her delicate face, and her eyes—oh, the eyes were the most beautiful eye colors she'd seen. As vast as a meadow, the greenish green made her feel safe in the shady calmness there. She could forever stay with them, she decided.

"Hello. Is there anything I can help you with?" Aerith's soft voice greeted her.

Lucka's eyes flickered as she finally had the rooting back. She cleared her throat. "Oh, hi. I'm here to meet you," she said.

"Do you know me? Who are you?" Aerith tilted her head, her delicate eyebrows crooked in hesitation while her eyes glazed with curiosity, yet her voice sounded a bit wary.

"Ah, pardon me. I'm Lucka," she said.

Aerith raised her eyebrows. "Hi, Lucka, and who's your friend over there?" Aerith politely gestured to the man behind her.

Lucka guessed the girl had already known him. She must at least have seen the Hero somewhere. Yet, it seemed she wanted to ensure her presumption. She spun her body slightly when the two other men approached them. "He's General Sephiroth."

Aerith didn't bother covering her surprise and amazement. She nearly chirped from the verification. "Sephiroth—The Sephiroth?"

Lucka put on a small smile. "Yeah, that Sephiroth."

Aerith nodded slowly and still observed him intently. The General only nodded at her in return. Lucka could see the girl was blushing at the gesture.

Aerith finally looked her again in the eyes. "How can I help you?" Aerith shifted her gaze one by one into them. Her eyes grew more alert when they rested on Tseng and said, "A—am I in trouble?" Her voice cracked when she stammered.

Lucka shook her head, trying to reassure with her faint smile. "No, not all. We're here because we need your help. About the planet." As she mentioned the last words, it was turned into whispers. Although it was no use, Sephiroth could hear her, and Tseng already knew the fact.

Aerith's eyes widened. "What about the planet?"

"I... know you can hear her voice," she said slowly.

Aerith shook her head in sharp motion, and her bangs sprayed across her cheeks. "No, I can't. What do you mean?"

Lucka eyed her intently, her voice toned down than before. "The voice of the planet, you can hear her, right? Because you're the last one."

Aerith said nothing as she glanced at the Turk. Her eyes flickered; she was clearly terrified. Yet, Tseng still stood like a stone with an unreadable expression. His only clue was he gave the Cetra a nod.

Lucka continued, her voice cracked a little. "I'm not from this world. The General summoned me," she said while Aerith listened in silence—she seemed shaken from her visibly trembled lips.—"I came from Earth, another planet. He summoned me through a gray Materia after defeating the dragon on Modeoheim. The creature turned out to be my legendary ancestor in my world. We see the connection, but we don't know why he's the one that found the Materia and why I'm here. I guess the planet wanted to say something."

Aerith gave her a flabbergasted look after she finished. The girl stepped back, clapped her hand in front of her chest in a tight knot, and stared at Lucka. She inhaled a deep breath with a slow nod.

"So it's you… " Aerith trailed off, eying her. She swallowed with a trembling voice. "I heard some new words from the planet. Though It's kind of random. And I don't know the meaning because I can't hear them clearly." She shook her head and looked at her toe with a sluggish shoulder.

Lucka held her breath, her eyes fluttering in suspense. She murmured, "What she's said?"

Aerith frowned deeply, trying to remember. Though she tilted her head in confusion, "It's something like... girl... light... save... son..?"

Lucka was struck. It was like she helplessly received a hundred bolts from Zeus. Her nerves scattered, and her stomach twisted over and over. The wicked feeling rose from her toe, creeping up to her face until she shivered from the coldness. She was a girl—absolutely. And she knew what the light meant; Lucka. The light, the whiteness, the bright shine. It was the meaning of her name and her physical appearance attributes.

She inhaled a sharp breath. She didn't have any power to hide her wavering voice. "Son? Whose son? Everyone is the son of their parents."

Aerith shook her head regretfully, her eyes downcast. She bit her lower lips. "I'm sorry, I don't know."

In the corner of her eyes, the General shifted. Lucka wheeled her toes and stared at him. There, she saw, as their eyes met. She almost choked. The mesmerizing green sphere, icy and stoic eyes as if they'd devour her whole existence. She was never looked at them like this before like she could sink deep into them and turn into an empty vessel. They made her want to imprison herself forever and become his real captive. They made her breath lurch out of her lungs. As the line between consciousness and oblivion collided together. The green depth value suddenly made the old darkness embrace her. The catastrophe that lurked in her mind and soul crushed her emotionally and mentally.

It was the zenith from the abyss of despair.

She was so stunned. All was blurred, no Church, no Aerith, and Tseng. It was only the two of them. Lucka had concluded. It was him all along; the light saved the son.

The son of Calamity.

AN: I don't know if Genesis brings his Rapier on his back like Angeal or not. So just to make things simple, I decided he also can summon his sword like Sephiroth. CMIIW