Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy VII or Advent Children storylines (such as Rayne, Marcus, and Kale) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.

(That Evening)

"Jeez." Astrid sighed, flopping down onto her bed and staring at the ceiling, "So much happening in one day… this is tiring." Her PHS rang and she groaned, rolling over and grabbing one off of the bedside table. 'The one Cloud gave me…' "Hello?"

"Astrid!" Tifa shouted, a smile in her voice, "It's so good to hear your voice! You haven't called in so long, and Reno said that Kadaj attacked—"

"I'm fine, Tifa." Astrid cut in, smiling, "And I'm sorry for never calling. I just… have been really busy these past years." She paused, smirking, "So, Reno and Rude made it there, then? How are you?"

Suddenly, Tifa sounded depressed, "They took Marlene, Astrid. Kadaj and his gang took Marlene!" Astrid froze, choking. "Reno and Rude went out to look for any sign of her, but… I couldn't protect her…"

"Don't blame yourself." Astrid growled, standing and punching the wall, "Damn it! I was on my way to the cathedral to see you and Loz stopped me! I went came back here, and you were right there in danger!"

"Don't blame yourself. I shouldn't have let my guard down." She paused, "Listen, I have to go. Cloud's about to wake up."

"Call me and keep me updated."

"I will. Bye." Click

Shutting the phone, Astrid stood and walked into the bathroom, looking at her reflection. Slightly glowing mako green eyes stared at her cynically through a curtain of brown hair, locks dropping just past her shoulders. Despite the fact that she had spent much of her time recently in the sun, she was still as pale as she had been when she had left the group, having barely tanned at all since she had first come to Gaia. Currently, she was in one of Rufus's old shirts and pair of pants, which hung from her body loosely, making her look thin and short.

"Take a good look at yourself, Astrid." She muttered, eyes flickering back and forth, "Because you're looking at the you you've become; a person who has failed twice in one day to protect those she cared for. And what do you have to show for it? Bloodstained clothes and a sword given to you by the enemy." Someone knocked on her door and she turned around, dragging her feet back into her room and flopping onto the bed. "Come in!"

The door opened and Rufus entered, leaving his wheelchair by the door and walking weakly over to her bed. "You got a call?"

"Idiot." Astrid stood and walked over to him, taking him by the waist and leading him to her bed, "Tifa called. Reno and Rude got there, and they're looking for Marlene. She was taken by Loz."

"Marlene?" Rufus asked, sitting on her bed and staring at her as she fell down beside him, "Barret Wallace's adopted daughter?"

"That's the one." She rolled onto her side and looked at him, her eyes closing slightly, "I told her to call back if anything changed, so I may end up going to help tonight."

He shook his head, leaning forward and supporting his elbows on his knees, "Not without getting some sleep, you're not. You're exhausted."

"You're not my mother." She said, though she did crawl farther onto the bed and flip onto her back, "Not like I can sleep, anyway." She blinked when Rufus leaned over her, his arms on either side on her head.

Rufus smirked down at her, "Need help?"

Astrid smirked back, "Thanks, but no thanks." She knocked his hand aside and rolled over, covering her eyes with her arm, "I think I can manage."

The bed moved as he lay down beside her, wrapping an arm around her stomach and pulling her back into his chest. "I beg to differ." He growled in her ear, making her shudder.

"Fine." She said shortly, stretching her legs out, "But nothing immoral. Technically, we aren't even back together yet."

Rufus scoffed, "What kind of man do you take me for? We're trying to get you to sleep, nothing else."

"Whatever." Astrid mumbled sleepily, "Just shut up."

Rufus chuckled, then closed his eyes.

………

Reno burst into the room, "Astrid! Have you seen!—" He stopped when he saw Rufus and Astrid lying together on the bed, the president holding her against his chest. Reno smirked and shook his head, "Ah. Hey, Rude! He's in here!"

Astrid and Rufus stirred, sitting up and glaring at the two Turks as they laughed at them.

"Was there something you wanted?" Astrid snapped, rubbing the palm of her hand against her forehead.

"Yeah, actually." Reno nodded, "Cloud went to the Forgotten Capital to find Marlene. Apparently, that's where Kadaj and his brothers have their base of operations."

"Shit." Astrid jumped out of bed and hiked up her pants, picking up a jacket off of the floor and throwing it on. "Rufus, get my phones!" She quickly strapped on her rapier, spinning around and taking the PHS's from Rufus's outstretched hands.

"You're going after him?" Rufus asked needlessly.

"Of course I am." Astrid growled, shoving the phones into her pocket, "Cloud can't fight them; he won't win in his condition." She ran to the door, nodding to the Turks as they stepped aside. She then threw a smile to Rufus, "I'll be back soon enough." And she was gone.

Outside, she ran over to Misha and mounted her, frowning as she geared the charcoal chocobo into action. 'When did Loz drop her off? …While Rufus and I were sleeping?'

The mountains and Midgar passed, and in what seemed like no time Astrid was steering Misha across the shallows of the ocean, careful not to let the limited magic of the bird's feet fall into a deep spot, least they both go tumbling into the ocean. Once they reached the shoreline, they past up Bone Village and headed straight for the Forgotten Capital.

She had almost reached the city when she was suddenly barreled into by a small body, knocking her out of the saddle and hard onto the ground.

Astrid was winded, but still managed to throw the body off and drawing Radiant Twilight. She froze, though, when she turned to look into a familiar face. "Kale?"

The boy looked at her with no visible recognition, standing slowly and staring at her blankly. His eyes shifted to look at something up the road, and Astrid gasped at what she saw in his eyes. A flash of green. Mako… or something worse.

"Sister!"

She looked at Kadaj, scowling, "What did you do to him?"

Kadaj smirked and shrugged, "I have helped them complete their ascension." His smirk grew to a smile, "They are full members of our family now."

Astrid shook her head, "They're kids, Kadaj! They have no real understanding of what's going on in this war other than the raw emotions you will them to feel! That doesn't count!"

Kadaj shrugged, waving Kale off. "Even so," The remnant said, watching the boy run off, "They can still prove of use to Mother." He then glanced at her, looking her up and down and smiling, "You, though, are special. You are apart of the privileged part of the family, yet you still aren't one of us. Come with me."

He took her hand and led her further into the forest, Misha following sulkily. They arrived a short time later at a clearing, where Loz and Yazoo were watching over more children.

"Sister." The two boys greeted, smiling and nodding to her, "Welcome."

Kadaj led her to a black pool, nodding to it and kneeling, swirling his hand in the inky black, "Drink, sister."

Astrid frowned and turned to Kadaj, "Where's Cloud?"

"He has already come and went." Kadaj said listlessly, looking up at her and blinking, "Now please, drink."

She stared at the water, backing away and frowning, "No… it's poisoned."

Kadaj laughed and shook his head, "Not 'poisoned', sister. 'Purified'. This water has been purified by Mother's will."

Astrid took another step back.

Seeing this, Kadaj sighed, "I see… You will not willingly join us, then." He frowned, "I had been hoping I wouldn't have to resort to this, but you give me no choice…"

As he finished speaking, pain shot through her hand and up her arm, passing her elbow and spreading to her shoulder. Astrid pitched forward, falling onto her knees and clutching her arm. She screamed when she looked at it. It was her sword arm, and a black substance was spreading from the hilt all the way up her arm. She screamed again.

"I didn't want to do it this way, sister." Kadaj said calmly over her screams, kneeling down in front of her, "I would have liked to have kept your will intact, but we don't have any more time to spend waiting on you to join us. The Reunion is approaching, and we need your help; you, 'Phantasmagoria Illustrate', and the Book." He reached out and touched her face, more black spreading from beneath his fingertips and across her skin.

The black consumed her, almost swallowing her completely. It spread from her head and right shoulder down her body. It had almost reached her abdomen when—

"Stop!"

There where gunshots and then Kadaj's hand flew away from her face, the boy falling back and screaming.

Astrid fell onto the ground, catching a flash of red before she was consumed in black, a last thought going through her mind. 'No… the black… has spread to my eyes…'

………

Her mind was foggy, but she knew it was because she was waking up. She stirred.

"You shouldn't have gone."

She flinched, taking a moment to remember the voice.

"And you definitely shouldn't have used that sword."

Astrid opened her eyes and sat up, staring into the forest in front of her listlessly. "I couldn't. It was all I had."

"You put too much faith in them." He stepped out of the trees and crossed his arms, glaring at her, "You knew that they were the brothers of Sephiroth, yet you still trusted them."

She looked away from him, bringing her legs up to her chest, "It wasn't a matter of trust, Vincent. I couldn't help it." She looked at him, "When I first saw them, I knew. I knew I could never lie to them. They know me and my mind too well for that. I knew they could see me, so I couldn't help but let them in. No… not even that. They were already in."

Vincent frowned and stepped forward, "How?"

"The same way Marcus was, I think." She looked at him and frowned, "I think they have a mental connection with me."

"You can hear their thoughts?"

Astrid shook her head, "No, not exactly. More like, I get the gist of what they're thinking."

Vincent's brow furrowed, "And what about them? Do they 'get the gist' of what you're thinking?"

"I don't know." She admitted, looking away, "But I do think that the connection is more sophisticated on their end."

Vincent shook his head and turned away, "You should go back to Rufus and hide. Don't come out until this all blows over."

Astrid shook her head, "I can't do that. I need to help."

"Look at your arm, Astrid." She did, her eyes widening at what she saw. Vincent explained as she lifted her wet, blackened sleeve and looked at her arm, "It's a backlash effect from Kadaj not being able to finish his job. There's still some of your body left to fight the infection, so you now have Geostigma, and a very advanced case of it."

Astrid winced, covering her pustule-covered arm back up and looking away.

"Go back to Rufus." Vincent said, walking into the forest, "Go and hide. When they're gone, we'll work on finding a cure."

"Don't you get it Vincent? They are the cure."

But he was already gone.

………

As Astrid rode through the forest, she looked down at her phones.

First, her Shin-Ra phone. "You have four new messages."

Rufus. "Astrid, where the hell are you? Cloud called an hour ago and told me what happened, but I still haven't heard from you. …Call me."

Reno. "Uh, Astrid? You might wanna call soon. I haven't seen Rufus this mad in a while."

Reno. "Aaaaaastriiiid… Where are you?! Rufus isn't the only one worried now, and things are getting weird in Edge. Call soon, alright?"

Rude. "Astrid. Something serious has happened in Edge. Find us when you can-" Static and voices, "No, you idiot!" (Reno) "Give me that!" (Rufus) "Astrid, do not come to Edge! Go to Healin and wait for us."

"End of final message."

Astrid frowned and kicked Misha into a higher gear, taking out her other phone.

"You have two new messages."

Tifa. "Astrid, we need help! Come to Edge as soon as you can!"

Kadaj. "Hello, sister. You might want to come soon. We got the Book for you, and we're waiting. It's finally time."

Astrid shut the phone and shoved it into her pocket, leaning forward. "Faster, Misha! To Edge!"

The chocobo threw her charcoal head back and warked loudly, digging her talons into the ground and shooting forward.

As they rode harder, the pain in her arm and chest flared. And the harder they rode, the more the pain spread. Astrid sunk her teeth into her lip, swallowing the tangy blood and focusing on the fresh pain to keep herself sane.