"Care to explain the events leading up to his disappearance?" Tseng asked Zack after they checked everywhere that Cloud Strife would be and found nothing.

"He's been, I don't know how to explain. He hasn't been able to stay focused during my classes. It's why I haven't pulled him along for missions. He just seems so distracted I worried he would get hurt during a mission."

"I see. How long has this been going on for?"

"I can't really say? I noticed about a month ago, but it may have been longer than that. I don't know."

"Can you explain to me if he has any history of anyone bullying him, or if he's become the target of some sort of harassment?"

"He would have definitely told me if he was! I recall in the beginning, some made fun of his hair. He shut them up real quick. It's what attracted my eye. He wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind."

"So you two got close." Tseng concluded.

"Yes, I would say so." Zack smiled.

"Did you know he's been plagued by nightmares?"

"What? No? Who told you that?" Now that smile was a frown.

"The doctor at the infirmary. Apparently he's been seen for the last six months over nightmares. He wouldn't go into details what these nightmares were to anyone."

"Six months!? That's...that's insane! I don't understand? Why would he keep this from me? We've been best buds since I took an interest into his training. I wanted to get him ready to be my pupil once he made it into the program." Zack was obviously distraught.

"Are you aware of his inability to work with others? And his lack of respect to most higher ranked than him?" Tseng raised an eyebrow.

"...Yes. I did look into his file often. I tried to talk to him about these issues. He wouldn't listen to what I said or take me seriously."

"So in other words he brushed you off. Even though he respected you the most." Tseng was perplexed.

"Yeah. Weird, isn't it? I don't understand that either." Zack shrugged.

"Has he ever met General Sephiroth by any chance?" He had to know.

"No? I mean, not officially. The day he had the heart attack, they did meet in passing. He looked like he seen a ghost. Practically ran into the elevator. Seph saw the whole thing when I tried to talk to him about his behavior of not being all there during class."

Curious. Tseng decided to take a look at the security cameras of that day and time. He knew what floors Zack taught on. He knew his schedule by now.

And yes, he could see that they did. Not a word spoken, and yet the boy acted strange. He seemed frightened. And this was just minutes before he found the boy about to collapse.

Sephiroth was the trigger? But why?

Tseng decided to ask the general himself.

"Am I a suspect to that boy going AWOL?" He asked soon as he entered the general's office.

"I suppose Zack told you he went missing." It wasn't a question.

"Of course he did. Once I got him to calm down, I told him to call you, since you're good at finding people."

So Zack called Sephiroth first?

"Did you ever meet him?" Tseng asked, straight to the point.

"No. Zack told me of him. I can't say I wasn't vaguely interested, but I didn't think he was serious about the attitude problem until I walked in on it. That day he saw me, and he was frightened like the enemies I cut down."

That was a revealing observation.

"Think he has any ties to Wutai?"

"I don't see how. I looked into his file after Zack called me in a panic. I even spoke to some of his other instructors. They all tell me it was only a matter of time before he either got rejected, or he walked away on his own. They got the impression he was bored here."

"Any ideas why he would react the way he did?" Tseng wondered.

"None at all." Sephiroth was honest. The Turk knew him well enough to understand when he lied.

Tseng left empty handed. Later when he questioned the other instructors, they confirmed what Sephiroth said. So no matter the source he couldn't get the whole picture of Cloud Strife. He proved to be more complex than he originally thought.

And he found no answers. No idea where Cloud Sfrife had gone. His ID didn't ping on the trains, unless he got his hands an a good fake one somehow. He didn't even bother to grab any of his personal belongings. He simply walked out of the infirmary, made his way down to the lobby and walked out.

News of a recruit going AWOL spread fast. Even Genesis and Angeal grew interested. Of course they would, Sephiroth may have been indirectly involved somehow. He told them he was questioned.

"A recruit disappearing? Why so much noise over a recruit?" Genesis asked in passing once.

"Because of the circumstances surrounding his disappearance." Tseng wasn't going to reveal more.

"Think he was a spy, bought by Wutai?" The president speculated one meeting. Yes, this even brought the big man's attention.

"I can't say that hasn't crossed my mind. But he literally has no ties to Wutai. Nibelheim is one of the furthest corners of the world under our domain. Nowhere close to Wutai. And if he was a spy, why leave? Wutai are a stubborn people, they would choose their allies with great care. He wouldn't fall into their sight." Tseng had put a lot of thought into this.

"Then why leave at all? I've heard mixed reviews on him. But he seemed to show promise."

"Indeed. But he seemed plagued by nightmares. I can only speculate that they drove him to the point of a heart attack. And he left due to his concern of his health."

"He should have sought other means to leave. Or find a different career choice. Mark him as a person of interest, anyway. I can't rule out any possibilities."

"Yes, sir." Tseng agreed.

A month after this investigation went cold, rumors spread of a nameless mercenary in the Slums. Tseng didn't disregard them, but otherwise never thought anything of these rumors.

Until there was an explosion of rumors several months later. This mercenary was apparently Soldier level strength. He went by the name of Fenrir. Tseng couldn't dig any descriptions, not even pictures as he sent teams down there upon random to search.

A rogue Soldier meant trouble.

This target was slippery. As if he knew how the Turks worked. Tseng realized that with each team sent under the plate, they're met with hostility. Even Public Security was reporting the people's disdain towards them.

Zack reported that he was almost attacked a couple of times simply for visiting Aerith. He would leave out her name in the reports, but Tseng knew why he would keep going down there.

And Tseng realized that they were dealing with a mastermind. A disguised name, no descriptions, no pictures, and this lone mercenary has the whole Slums as his network. Even Don Corneo bowed to this nameless and faceless enemy.

And the Turks hadn't realized this until nearly a full year after the rumors began about a strange mercenary. The only vague description Tseng could manage was that he carried a big sword on his back. While that fit the description of Angeal and Zack, both of them can be accounted for.

Plus Zack was also targeted of harassment whenever he stepped foot in the Slums. It was reduced to words and glares simply because he was liked by a certain someone that had a good reputation in that sector. Otherwise he wasn't very well liked.

"We need to figure out who this Fenrir is and either make him bow to us, or destroy him." The president ordered.

The pressure was heavy. Heavier than the plate. Tseng approached Aerith one day.

"You seem stressed." She observed.

"Nothing escapes you, hm?" He wondered.

"You know I'm not what you think I am." She glared.

"I know." He sighed. "But I'm not here for that."

"Is it about Fenrir?"

"Do you know him?" Tseng was hopeful.

"No." Aerith shook her head. "But everyone talks about him. Seems like he does a lot of good things for the people here. A better job at it than Shinra anyway."

"But he's turned the people against us." He stated flatly.

"I don't think that was his full intention. Maybe it's a result that the people realize that maybe they can live without relying on Shinra. I mean, the company has turned their backs on us. And he's the only one to step up to make changes."

"Even if that's the case, he hasn't put a stop to the behavior." Tseng sighed.

"No, I suppose he hasn't." She agreed.

After this meeting, Reno finally had a breakthrough. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat when he slapped a photograph onto Tseng's desk. It was blurred and unfocused.

"What are you excited about?" Tseng glared at his subordinate.

"Look at blondie! A man with a big sword on his back! I caught it soon as I saw, then I had to bolt outta there! He somehow noticed." Reno explained.

Tseng looked again. Yes. He sees the man now. Blond spiked hair. He couldn't make out the face because of the blurred photograph. But on his back was a big sword. Several, actually.

Hold on.

Tseng pulled up the file of Cloud Strife.

He couldn't believe it. The hair was a match. Reno peeked around for a look.

"The boy Zack cried about over a year ago? But how is he Soldier level good? He never made it." Reno frowned.

Wordlessly Tseng reached for his phone to make a call. He rarely made any calls to this contact, only in dire situations. This he supposed was one of them.

"I was wondering when you would call. Someone is causing a big stir underside of the plate." Veld answered.

"Do you know anything about him?"

"Only that he's good. I even tried to hunt him down just for good sport, he evaded us pretty good."

"One of my men got lucky. Caught a photograph. I'm sending you two files." Tseng sent them as he said.

"Hmm. There's no doubt with the hair. But I don't see how he can be so strong as people claim. This is a mystery." Veld agreed with Tseng's line of thought.

"Why would someone go through great lengths to do all of this?" He asked.

"Revenge? Was he rejected?"

"No. He walked out on his own. Got spooked when I approached him with questions. I offered him a chance to join us, he acted like any Soldier did. Distaste for us."

"And yet he never made into the program? Odd. Maybe he's trying to protect someone."

"From who?" Tseng hadn't thought of that.

Strangely he thought of Aerith. But she never met Fenrir. Or Cloud, as Tseng now knew.

"The whole company looks like."

"...There was an incident. He had a mild heart attack before he disappeared. General Sephiroth was the trigger. I looked into the matter, they never met until that one time in passing. Sephiroth knew of him because of a friend who was eager to train him soon as he gets into the program. Sephiroth described the fear he saw as those he cut down in the field."

"Huh. Now that's even weirder." Veld processed the information. "Maybe it's time to dig deeper into this boy's disappearance."

Tseng hung up and decided to go through a box that had all of Cloud Strife's belongings. He wished he had done this a long time ago. It never crossed his mind to go through what little possessions the boy had.

There was nothing.

Then he pulled out a thin journal.