Zack and Carina get out of the helicopter and walk up the tree-lined path in front of them. "Why do these trees look so weird?" Zack asks himself.

"They're Banora Whites, or, as the townspeople call them, dumbapples."

"We're in Banora?! Isn't that where Angeal lives?"

"Angeal Hewley? He and Genesis used to live here. According to Sephiroth, they were good friends. They still are." She walks on silently, but stops, pulls out a pistol, and shoots down the strange soldiers.

"I saw them in Wutai."

"They probably took over, seeing as there aren't much townspeople her. When Genesis took off, he stockpiled a load of weapons. We have to find and destroy them. That's our current mission."

"All right. Sounds like fun."

"Because it's always fun to blow shit up!"

"Yes it is!" They sprint to the town, and see a weapon and some soldiers. They fight off the soldiers, and the weapon shoots a missile at Carina. Zack jumps in front of her and slices it in half. Then Carina drops the gun and pulls out the bigger sword on her back, runs toward it, jumps and stabs the sword into the weapon. She pulls the sword out, jumps off, and watches it explode. Then Zack walks over to a soldier and unmasks it.

"A Genesis copy," Zack said.

"Who told you that?"

"Sephiroth did."

"That used to be Shinra technology. It was stolen from us. It supposedly allowed Genesis's abilities to be transplanted to SOLDIERs and monsters."

"So SOLDIERs and monsters are the same?"

"I doubt it." She sighs and turns. "There's no sign of townspeople. We should check the houses." They walk to the first house, which is also the largest. "This is probably Genesis's place. His parents and family are really wealthy landowners. Sephiroth told me that Genesis and Angeal were and still are best friends."

"So Genesis deserts, and gets his best friend to go with him?"

"I think so." Her eyes move to set of graves. "Ooh, dead people."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Carina points to a set of graves.

"Graves equal dead people. I'll check it. Zack, go find out where Angeal's house is. I'll call you and we'll rendezvous later."

"So Turks really do this shit?"

"Someone has to."

"Rough, huh?"

"I get paid way better than you."

"Wait, what?!"

"Just look for his place. But be careful."

"I promise, sweetheart," he says, grinning devilishly. Carina hits him.

"Don't push it. Trained assassin, perfect weapon. Keep that in mind when trying to hit on me." He rolls his eyes and leaves. After a few minutes of thinking, he figures out which is Angeal's house. He walks toward it, and finds a plaque on the house that says HEWLEY RESIDENCE on it.

"How could I be so stupid?!" He goes inside.

"Can I help you?" asks an old lady that resembles Angeal.

"Hello, ma'am. Are you Angeal's mother? My name is Zack."

"Are you Zack, the puppy?"

"Excuse me?" What the hell?

She laughs to herself. "My son wrote to me once about you. 'Zero attention span, restless as a little puppy,'" she says, and laughs again.

"Remind me to castrate him later," Zack says to himself.

The old woman's face grows serious. "You're not here with Genesis, are you?"

"No, I'm not. Don't worry."

"What is happening to my son?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. I don't think he even knows the answer to that question."

"A month ago, Genesis came back with an army of sorts. They killed so many people. I don't know what came over him. He used to be such a good boy, always helping people, and things like that."

"Is Angeal...." Zack trails off, unable to finish his sentence.

"He came here a while ago. He left his sword and went somewhere. That sword represents our family's honor."

"No wonder. He never uses this sword. I'll take care of him. You should go and hide somewhere."

"Don't be concerned. Genesis cannot harm me." Zack nods and leaves. Then his phone rings.

"Hello, beautiful."

"Shove it. There's a factory on the outskirts. I saw a few of those copies going inside."

"Think it's their headquarters?"

"No clue. Listen, I'm on a cliff overlooking it. We'll go in from above. Frontal attacks are too obvious. Come to the cliff now." She hangs up on him. Zack runs to the cliff, but not without encountering a few random battles. He kneels down next to her. "Zack, Genesis's parents were in that grave by his house."

"He did that to his PARENTS?"

"Can't expect reason from him. What did you hear about Angeal?"

"He wasn't there. But give me time. If I find him, I'll talk to him. Hopefully I can convince them."

"Now I know why Sephiroth chose you. Those two were his only friends. He didn't want to fight them. That's why he didn't come with us."

"But Angeal's-"

"Your friend too, I know. He's counting on you to bring them back. Both of them." She stands up and pulls Zack up. "We don't have much time. Let's do this, no regrets."

"No regrets." His eyes are far away, and she squeezes his hand.

"You can do this. Sephiroth's counting on you." Zack nods, and Carina enters the building, Zack following.

Last chapter of the day, I'm doing three at a time now, but I'm gonna be posting every week or so. It's going to be on hiatus for a while after chapter 12, because I have to learn to write lemons. So, until next week, my dear readers, R&R!

~Kasura Katana