Denzel threw himself at Reno with all he had.
He went pole-first, but Reno took the pole in one hand. Denzel let it go and dove for the legs.
Reno kicked at him, but Denzel took hold of the other ankle and used that as the start he needed to climb up the man's back.
"Oi!"
Denzel wrapped his legs around Reno's middle and his arms around his neck. Ducked his head close to the neck and tightened his hold around the windpipe. "You did it!" he screamed. "It's all your fault!"
"Your kid's a brat!" Reno twisted about. "Damn it, I didn't mean for you to use this on me!"
"Oh!" Elena's elated voice. "Oh, look at that form! Rude, see? He's learning so fast!"
Tifa whistled. "That is impressive."
"Too bad he's got his grip wrong. Look there, you see it?"
"… I do. Come on, Denzel, get that neck into the crook of your arm! You just gotta adjust the position a little bit!"
"Oh, come on." Metal clattered to the ground and Reno used both hands to grab Denzel by the arm and neck and flipped-
Denzel slammed into the concrete back-first with a cry of pain. It felt like the entirety of his torso broke on impact, though he felt no blood. His vision pulsed in and out of focus.
A blur of motion and he heard Marlene scream, the sound of it piercing the air like the tone of a dying tuner.
Reno cursed again and Denzel made out one, two, three steps backward against.
Tifa yelled for Marlene to stop before stepping in herself to pull the girl off Reno, who swore loudly. Denzel made out the faint, blurry red that had to be blood dripping from the man's hand.
He hauled himself into a sitting position and found Tifa holding Marlene back while Reno gripped his nose.
"I hate all of you!" Marlene struggled against Tifa's hold. "I wish you would die and leave us alone!"
"What's wrong with Shinra?" Cloud asked, joining Rude.
Denzel tried to ignore the pulsing pain in his back and struggled to his feet. Tifa worked to calm Marlene, who kept a death glare on Reno.
Denzel took his pole, the shaft of it scraping along the ground, and he used it to leverage his weight and hold steady.
Reno turned his back and muttered something under his breath. Denzel took the chance to ram his pole into Reno's leg.
The man shouted and before Denzel could process what was happening, the man took Denzel by the throat and yanked him off his feet.
Denzel choked and dropped his pole. It clattered to the ground and he grabbed at Reno's hand in a pathetic attempt to release himself.
Tifa yelled something and Reno shifted his grip to the neck of Denzel's jacket. That still hurt, but he sucked in a breath.
"You wanted to grow up, didn't you?" Reno leaned in and Denzel made out the crisp edges of the red lines under his eyes. "Do you have any idea what that means? To me, it meant blowing up a sector with no questions asked."
Tifa tackled Reno and Denzel dropped to the ground.
"You killed my parents!" he yelled.
"And Aerith!" Marlene cried.
"And Avalanche." Tifa held Reno back despite his struggling.
Denzel scrambled to get to his pole again, but someone pulled him back. "Let me go!"
"No." Cloud. Denzel fell still and looked down at those leather-clad fingers. "Some things, it's better to let go."
"You know what growing up is?" Reno persisted. "It's not processing orders until they're done and people have died! Is that what you want?"
"We're not good people." Shinra's voice, scratchy and low. Denzel looked behind him to find the man doubled over, but conscious. "And we offer no excuse."
Reno finally stilled. Said nothing.
Every breath hurt. Denzel swallowed the pain and gripped his pole tighter. A quiet beeping sounded near Rude, but the man didn't react to it. Was that how they found him?
"I don't have time for this." Reno wrenched away from Tifa and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'll send you those bike parts later."
"You pushed the button!" Denzel pulled against Cloud but found no leverage. "You dropped Sector 7! YOU DROPPED SECTOR 7 AND YOU KILLED THEM!"
"Yeah, we all did." Elena's voice cracked and Reno kept walking. "We all did."
Denzel screamed against the lump forming in his throat. "I'll kill you! I'll kill ALL OF YOU!"
"Hey." Aerith's presence. He fought her, tried to keep out her warmth even as she wrapped arms around him and Cloud at the same time.
Denzel felt Cloud relax, yet he still couldn't get free.
"Our job here is done." Shinra stumbled over to Elena and Rude. "Let's go."
"YOU BASTARDS!" Denzel dropped his pole and flailed against Cloud and Aerith. "Let me go! Marlene, help!"
Marlene stilled in Tifa's arms and Denzel caught tear tracks on her face as she looked between the Turks and him.
Elena cast them all one last glance before hurrying after Rude, who took Shinra and supported him on the way back.
"Bastards." Denzel's body racked with sobs. "Bastards!"
"They are." Cloud's soft voice felt warm on Denzel's ear. "But we don't determine judgement."
"They killed my mom!" Denzel twisted about in Cloud's arms. "My dad!"
Cloud forced him against his chest and Denzel hissed at the pain in his back. "I know."
"I can't forgive them!"
"I know."
"I hate them!"
"I know."
The next words caught in his throat and Denzel cried. "I… I thought I could trust them!"
"… I know."
Smaller hands joined Cloud's. "This sucks," came Marlene's voice before she put her arms around them. Aerith's warmth waxed stronger at the touch.
Denzel rasped, "I don't want to forgive them."
"You don't have to." Cloud placed a gloved hand on Denzel head. "Not yet, at least."
"It's not something we have to face right now." Tifa kneeled beside them. "Or anytime soon, really. You can wait until you're older."
"Good." Marlene stepped away. "It's just that I don't think they should be forgiven. They would have to save the whole entire world to deserve it."
Tifa quirked a small smile. "Yeah, I think that would be enough. But you know they did that already?"
Marlene shook her head. "They didn't."
"But they helped keep both of you safe. And you two are the whole world to me and Cloud, so I think that counts."
"It doesn't!" Marlene stomped one foot. "We're only two people! And there's at least hundreds of people in the whole world!"
"It's time for me to go." Aerith separated herself. "I think you all can handle the rest, now."
"Wait." Denzel reached out a hand but didn't want to leave Cloud. "Where are you going, Aerith?"
Cloud twitched.
Aerith slowly turned to face him. "Back to my duties in the Lifestream. You know that, don't you?"
"Yeah, but…" Denzel frowned. "There's something going on with the worlds out there, right?"
"… Yes."
"Can't we help?"
Aerith hesitated. "I wouldn't worry about it. There's others assigned to do that kind of work and this is your home and-"
"But we can help?"
"… Yes." Aerith took a breath. "But please don't. It's too dangerous for people like you to get involved."
Denzel opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. And nodded.
"Thank you. Always remember that I love you all, okay?"
He nodded again, causing his hair to rub against Cloud's chest.
"Thank you." And just like that, her presence vanished. Denzel realized that the others were quiet and staring at him.
"What did Aerith say?" Cloud asked after a moment's pause.
"I don't know." Denzel reluctantly pulled himself to his feet and Cloud stood with him. "Something about stuff she has to do on other worlds. Said we shouldn't worry about it and she loves you guys."
Tifa stood and took Marlene's hand. "I'm okay with that. How about we all stop by the café on the way home?"
"Let's!" Marlene said and reached out a hand. Denzel took it. She didn't show any of her previous anger and he thought the shift strange but couldn't hold onto the hope that she wouldn't snap again later. "I want flat cakes!"
Denzel reached out his other hand to Cloud, who took it. Denzel kept his grip tight on both of those at his sides. Nothing was fixed, but he felt a little better with his family at his side. Also, with the idea that he could go see other worlds – much as Aerith tried to hide it, she couldn't keep from him that feeling of freedom.
There was a way out there.
Rufus returned with the rest of the Turks to their hidden home near the slums. The walk back was slow and quiet. Rufus leaned against Rude most of the way, but by the time they reached their safe house, he found the strength to walk on his own again, unsteady as it was.
His mind still reeled from the intrusion and he struggled to see as normal with his body expecting a different outlook. Expected to feel a woman's long hair on his shoulders, restrictive leather against his skin, and a staff in his hands. Expected to feel blood on his skin and the scent of roses and decay in his nose. Expected to feel the course of magic in his system.
"Boss." Elena placed a hand on his shoulder. "You really should rest."
"I will." Rufus placed a hand over hers. "I will."
Entering their house didn't feel like the typical breath of fresh air – much like he shouldn't expect it, however, it was disorienting. He didn't feel… safe.
The others scattered to the other parts of the building to drop off collected goods and other pickups before regathering.
Rufus went first to the cupboard where they stored the alcohol and pulled out for himself some cheap whiskey while Reno made a grab for a towel and Rufus took a seat by the table. Elena hesitated in the middle of the room.
Tseng joined them shortly after, delayed as he was by the cleanup. "Those documents you asked for." He placed a handful on the counter with the rest of the paperwork pileup.
Rufus nodded his thanks before gulping down a burning cup of whiskey and refilling it. "The underground is ours, then."
"As officially as it could be." Tseng shook his head and stood apart from the counter, as if repelled by the paper. "We've secured all of Corneo's assets in the lower room."
"The ones that would fit," said Reno. He dabbed at his bloodied face with the wetted cloth and yanked too many pills from his pocket. He swallowed them all at once. "The guy had some big commodities that didn't travel so well. Some got caught in the blast, sadly."
"We wouldn't get anything out of his car," said Rude. "It would only hinder us."
"Yeah, but it looked like a sweet ride." Reno shrugged and winced. Dabbed at his face some more. "Could have used it for a prop or something."
"We aren't good men." Shinra let out a slow breath and swirled the glass in his hands. Saw blood splatters against a cave wall in his mind's eye and tried to dispel the image. "And we never will be."
"… No." Elena took a moment to respond to that – the others didn't hide their initial grimace at the reminder. "But we can still do good."
Tseng looked up. "And good is what we're doing."
"Yeah, right." Reno stared out the window. "Speak for yourselves."
"We have the underground." Tseng folded his arms and looked about them. "From here we can start enacting the next phase of our plan."
Rude shook his head. "We shouldn't have used the boy like that."
"He was never in any danger!" Reno slammed his towel on the counter. "Besides, now he's safer thanks to us! Couldn't even throw a punch when he got here."
"But it must have been terrifying." Elena rubbed at her eyes. "At least we know how to defend ourselves. Golly, I need to sleep."
"What does it matter?" Reno threw himself into a chair by the table. "He wasn't even hurt that badly!"
"It's no different from what we've been doing our whole lives," said Tseng. "This is for the greater good of the city and we should keep ourselves focused on that. I'll take responsibility for taking him here in the first place, but we've obtained the exact opening we needed. With the Don out of the picture, we can claim credit and insert our dominance without sowing the same distrust we might have otherwise."
"We'll need to act fast." Shinra took another sip and savored the woody sting. "Stamp out any opposition while we can and not let the hole fill."
"Child's play." Reno waved a hand. "Tseng's right – we've got this in the bag."
"Hey." Rude pointed at Shinra. "That's your fifth glass."
Shinra blinked and looked down. He lost track.
"Who is that?" Elena gestured toward Shinra. "Do you have someone beside you or am I seeing things again?"
Shinra blinked and looked to the side. Felt that voice in his head, "She refers to myself."
"I see it, too." Tseng lowered himself into a chair.
Reno piped up, "I don't see nothing."
"Ignore me." Minwu manifested himself and floated close to Shinra. "I'm merely here to observe."
"Are you, now?" Elena narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you."
The door opened and Shinra's blood went cold at the… presence that joined them.
A blonde lady dressed in blue drapes entered along with the green-coated man. Rufus' agents all leaped to their feet and readied weapons.
"No," Rufus found himself saying. Another being inside him – Minwu took control of his speech and caused him to stand. "You have no dominion over this world or any other. The dead protect their own, Fallen God."
"The lord of light has made a decision," hissed the lady. "The dead have no right to interfere in the realm of deity."
"And yet you've left your realm." Rufus lifted his chin. "Return you to your nothingness, Bhunivelze and accept your defeat."
"I will not!" the green-coated man shouted in double-tone and leapt forward.
"I won't let you take this man!" Rufus yanked his gun free and the Turks slipped into motion.
Serah sped through the currents of time and space with Sice beside her. The Historia Crux churned about them, its spindles cranking to a new flow. Outside of the slight shift in atmosphere, it felt the same to her. She almost imagined Noel flying beside her.
"Here's our stop!" Sice flipped and spun to the side and Serah followed. The open sky filled their view before overtaking the space about them as well.
Serah shot through water and her feet touched on soft sand. They arrived half-immersed in the ocean of Valhalla and Serah coughed water out of her nose before joining Sice on the shore. For some reason, Sice didn't seem affected at all by the… swim… they took.
"Doesn't seem very convenient," Serah managed despite a burning in her throat and nose. "Do you have to do this every time?"
"It's the only way." Sice gestured and Serah glanced behind to find the ocean reflecting back old ruins, big cities, small towns, forest paths, and icy landscapes that made up only a handful of the images that overlapped and churned about in the water surface. "Valhalla's different from your planets."
"A hub?" Serah asked as she followed Sice toward a palace-like building. The spiral structure she was used to seeing stood further off in the horizon and she felt a fluttering in her stomach at the chance to check the place out this time. "I didn't realize it was so big."
"There's a lot of things you didn't realize."
Serah blinked water out of her eyes and squeezed it out of her skirt, though the drops seeped straight through the sand, as if evaporating on the spot.
They stepped under the palace's opening archway and were greeted by the sight of stairs at the end of a large hall that branched out in opposite directions and connected with promenades that circled the whole room and connected behind them.
"It looks like a lot of people are supposed to be here." Serah blinked. "What's the purpose of this place?"
Sice shrugged. "Queen's the one with all the useless trivia. Ask her when we get there."
"I would love to take time to check it all out."
They barely made it halfway up the staircase leading left before footsteps thundered their way.
"Serah!"
Her heart fluttered. That voice!
She looked up to find Snow – dressed in what looked like a haphazard collection of costume pieces – barreling their way.
That rough, bellowing voice!
Serah let out a shriek and rushed his way, arms outstretched. "Snow!"
"Oh, boy," sighed Sice behind her.
Serah and Snow smacked into each other with all the force of a fallen adamantoise. Serah flung her arms around his neck, chest hurting, and smelled ocean waves and woody cold. Her feet dangled off the ground, Snow's large arms holding her aloft.
Fingers tangled in her hair and Serah buried her face in his shoulder. She could make out a faint hint of sweat, but mostly he just smelled like Snow, like ice frozen to a tree's branches and the beach during a windy day.
"Serah." Cool breath on her neck. His voice, usually so loud and boisterous, broke in her ears. "Please tell me this is real."
She swallowed a lump in her throat and wrapped her legs around his middle, tightened her arms around his neck. "I-…" The words caught in her throat and she pulled back, using the support of his shoulders to hold herself up.
Looked into his frosty eyes, glistening as they were. Her own stung, cheeks warm, and she felt a tear escape down her face.
Snow pulled her close again and lowered himself to his knees. Serah gripped a handful of his coat in her hands and tightened the hold until her fingers hurt. His body was cold against hers, his breath coming in ragged breaths until sobs overtook him and he trembled in her arms.
Serah let her own tears fall and stain his sleeve dark.
He kissed the side of her face and Serah leaned into it, wishing she could somehow get closer despite being pressed together like glue.
"Oi." Something tapped her shoulder. "You two coming or what?"
Serah hiccupped and reigned in her emotions enough to look up into Sice's grimacing face. "Yeah. Of course."
Snow reluctantly let her go, but Serah took his gloved hand in hers before standing. Snow joined her, and she leaned into him as they continued on down the hall. "So," Serah said after a moment. "What did I miss?"
Snow scratched at his scalp. "Not much, actually. We're all just waiting until we can get everyone together. I became a sports player in my previous life, though, so that was fun. Also, might have stopped a rebellion, but that was a little unclear."
They came to a large-ish room with open walls to overlook the vast expanse of Valhalla's empty, sprawling architecture. An unnatural silence hung over the space and Serah couldn't help a sense of loneliness out here.
"Hey guys!" Snow shouted. Serah startled to attention and found him waving to a group of people surrounding a girl at a desk with a large tome before her.
One of the people had pink hair like hers and-
"Lightning!" Serah rushed forward and her sister barely had time to blink before Serah crashed into her and threw arms around her neck.
Lightning stiffened for a moment before reluctantly placing a hand on her shoulder. "… Serah?"
"The one and only!" Snow joined them. "See? I was gonna get her eventually!"
"Yeah." Lightning pried Serah off and looked her up and down. "Real this time, right?"
"Of course!" Serah hopped in place and took both Lightning's hands. "What was your life like, then? Did you work for a law enforcement group again?"
Lightning twitched the smallest smile. "Of a sort."
"We had to jumpstart her memory," Snow teased. "Barely remembered anything when she first got here!"
"Oh." Some of the euphoria faded. "But you know who we are, right?"
"Of course." Lightning pulled a hand free and tapped Serah's forehead. "But there's more coming, so don't spoil it."
"How much?" Serah looked to Snow. "Etro?"
"We're working on it," said the lady at the desk. She had long, dark hair, glasses, and she spoke with a soft, commanding tone. "Lightning should be back to a hundred percent with another day or so."
"I'm right here."
Vanille, whom Serah didn't realize was there for her odd, frilly dress, stepped forward. "All our situations were different," she said. "Some remember earlier than others in relation to their departure from their planet."
Serah looked around them. She didn't recognize the other five teenagers with them. "Who are we still missing?"
"Hope," Lightning said, "Fang, and Sazh."
"And Noel," said Snow. "I guess she doesn't remember him, yet."
Lightning twitched an eyebrow. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here."
"And Yeul," said one of the men that Serah didn't recognize. "She's coming, too."
Snow blinked. "I thought she was the goddess of death, now?"
"Not this version." The dark-haired girl got back to her tome and pulled a pen out of nowhere. "You have one last partner for us to worry about."
"How are they going?" asked Sice. "Any word from Seven or Ace?"
"They're working on it." The girl looked up. "Sazh remembers everything, but he's… hesitant to leave. King, what does Seven say?"
A large, strong-jawed guy said, "She's working with an emperor of her world, who's supposed to be connected. No sight of Hope, yet."
The girl wrote something in the tome. "You all focus on resting and absorbing Valhalla's energy – we'll need it if something happens."
"Wait." Lightning turned to the desk. "Why can't we go down with them, now?"
"Because you still need to adapt and recuperate." The girl didn't look up. "None of us are used to our existence yet and moving between worlds as we've been doing will take its toll if we're not careful."
"I'd love a field trip," said another blond guy with a sickly pallor. He put his hands behind his head. "But they're exhausting! I'm gonna go take a nap if anyone needs me."
"Sounds good to me." Snow pulled Serah close. "Hey, let's find one of the gardens and sit down. You need to tell me all about your world!"
"And you yours!" Serah snuggled close to him and they left the room. "You look like some bandit from Pulse! You don't even have any earrings!"
"I'll take that as a compliment." Snow swiped at his nose. "Kinda macho, don't you think? Wait, what do you mean about earrings? I've never worn earrings!"
Serah basked in the strength of him. "No, but I got used to a certain standard where I came from. Women were the ones to go without and I earned some respect for donning them…"
