Though assured her Captain friend would take the appropriate precautions to protect the Soul Society, there was the possibility of Sephiroth returning with some new kind of power. That, and the Soul Reapers knew almost nothing of Sephiroth except for what Hitsugaya reported, and information alone wasn't enough to fight him. They needed someone with experience fighting him.
So Aerith Gainsborough took a side mission of her own. Without a Soul Reaper anywhere close to the warrior needed, Cloud Strife, she had no way to speak to him. The three Squad Ten officers were spread out over the continents, alert for the slightest shift in Lifestream so they could protect the humans from its more harmful effects. She needed someone else.
Only problem was, the only person available…wasn't Cloud's best friend. In fact, it was one of his worst enemies.
In a white landscape, standing in a never ending field of flowers, Aerith faced someone who was once the terror of Cloud and his friends but was now far more docile. The young man was thin, dressed all in black with shoulder length silver hair and bright, cat-like emerald eyes. Kadaj himself.
"You're willing to do this for me?" Aerith asked him, hands folded over in front of her chest as though in prayer.
He nodded.
"In return for saving me." He replied aloud. "But…I'm sure he'll try to kill me."
"I have an idea for that bit." Aerith smiled. "You know about the Soul Reapers, right?"
"Yes. I saw what that one did, how he stopped Omega. The Ice Captain they called him."
"Toshiro Hitsugaya, yes. He has several officers stationed here, but they're far away at the moment. That's why I need you. That and you know Sephiroth better than anyone, even Cloud."
Kadaj grimaced but agreed. Being used by Sephiroth and left for dead was definitely NOT the highlight of his life. The Ancient smiled apologetically and continued.
"I've warned him about Sephiroth's revival, I'm sure he'll think of coming here for Cloud's aid. For now, we'll have to rely on his officers. They can see me, but the living can't."
"So you're going to ask them to help me with Cloud?" Kadaj asked.
"Yes. I've had Zack go to the nearest officer to try and bring one here. They can get around fast, but you might be on your own for a while."
"I'll live…maybe." Though a little hesitant, Kadaj was willing for this second chance. He'd learned his lesson about following Jenova; death. He didn't like that. Aerith was a lot better. Even when she called out for him at his time of death he knew it wasn't Jenova, but he knew she wanted to help and had followed her gladly.
"Alright. The easiest place to revive you is at my church, and Cloud is on his way there. Try to stall him so a Soul Reaper can make it there."
Nodding to show he understood, Kadaj let the tendrils of Lifestream curl up around him and send him on his way. His limbs became numb as life was pushed back into him and his spirit given a body. Darkness took his vision only to give it back, this time with a different view. Around him was the spacious but ruined church, a giant hole in the roof and a pool of water just behind him from when he had blasted a hole in the flower field that once grew there and allowed the water of the Lifestream to rise.
The former Remnant looked around at the place he once despised due to the very person who was now helping him. It made him laugh slightly at the irony.
The sound of an engine was heard and Kadaj instinctively tensed, prepared for a fight. Of course, he had no weapon; Aerith had made sure of that. No powers either, only inhuman strength and reflexes, just like any normal member of SOLDIER, and not a high class one either. Cloud would easily be able to kill him. That made him nervous.
The motorcycle belonging to the destroyer of Sephiroth, his killer, grew closer and closer, raising his stress levels with every second. He surely hoped that Soul Reaper would get here faster.
The engine cut off and he heard footsteps. Moment of truth now. He was sure the swordsman was armed somewhat, if not with the entire sword. Surely Aerith could have given him something for self-defense. Then again, it probably would have been seen as threatening. He was starting to hate this.
The doors opened and aqua eyes locked onto emerald. There was a moment of silence between them as Cloud registered who he was looking at.
"…You." Sure enough, Cloud was armed, and he took his chance to grip the hilt of his sword.
"Wait! I'm not here to fight!" Kadaj took a step back, nearly slipping into the pool of water had he not been quick enough to catch himself. "Aerith sent me."
"What?" Cloud growled, sword held in a battle ready position and stalking towards the trapped Remnant.
"I'm telling the truth." Kadaj kept his arms up in a gesture of surrender, hoping it was enough to back the blonde off. "There's a Soul Reaper on their way, they'll explain."
"How do you know about the Soul Reapers?"
"Aerith told me."
Cloud narrowed his eyes at the silver haired man, unwilling to believe Aerith would revive a Remnant, one that had been so bent on killing them all. An image of the past flashed to the front of his thoughts, the memory of when Kadaj lay dying in his arms. He had reached out for someone and then vanished into the Lifestream. Had it been Aerith then?
"Oh, good. You're not fighting." A voice, obviously tired, snatched the attention of both swordsmen.
A young looking woman with short dirty blonde hair and dark hazel eyes leaned on the door frame to get her breath back, garbed in the Soul Reaper uniform. When they looked at her curiously, she stood straight and bowed.
"Ninth Seat of the Tenth Squad, Natsuko Wakaba." She introduced. "One of the spirits of the Lifestream came with a message from Aerith to aid the Remnant Kadaj."
"So Aerith did send him?" Cloud lowered his guard somewhat, looking between the Soul Reaper and a very relieved looking Remnant.
"Yes, she did." Natsuko quickly walked past him to stand by Kadaj, but was looking across the water at something. "Ah, I get it."
"Is Aerith here?" Cloud's focus had quickly shifted from Kadaj, not that the latter was complaining.
"That's right, I'll be the medium." Natsuko smiled and stood tall, wiping the sweat from her brow. She wasn't used to Flash Stepping so much. "Aerith has urgent news for the Jenova War Heroes, and part of her plan includes the Remnant Kadaj."
"Just Kadaj is fine, you know." Said Remnant huffed.
Natsuko nodded to him.
"The urgent news is that…" She took a moment to listen to the Ancient speak, eyes widening in horror before turning back to Cloud. "Sephiroth has revived, and he's moved into the Soul Society."
"What?!" The blonde was startled by this as both Soul Reaper and Remnant nodded.
"Aerith sent me to help you. Having been Sephiroth's host once, I know him best of all." Kadaj added on. "I know you don't trust me, but…I might just be your only hope."
"I've fought him three times now and managed to win, I'm pretty sure I can do it again." Cloud argued.
"The Lifeforce you Gaians possess doesn't work in Soul Society." Natsuko warned. "We've tried. Captain Kurotsuchi has researched many ways to try and have it work without the Lifestream, but nothing is working. But if Sephiroth figures out how to gain the powers of a Soul Reaper, or even a Hollow, he could become more dangerous than you've ever known him to be."
"So if I were to go to Soul Society…"Cloud was beginning to understand.
"Your superhuman abilities would hinder rather than harm, as the Spirit Energy in the Soul Society would suppress the Mako in your body."
"In short, we're useless the minute we get to their world." Kadaj sighed.
"I'll let my Captain know, I'm sure he can think of something." Natsuko held her hands together before opening them and holding a black butterfly in them. "Aerith let him know about Sephiroth, but he needs to know about this too."
"What do we do in the meantime?" Cloud asked, watching the butterfly fly away and vanish in a flash of light to the Soul Society. The bugs were the only creatures that could move freely back and forth between the worlds.
"I guess…we try to get everyone used to Kadaj." Natsuko suggested cautiously.
"Yeah, that'll kill a lot of time." Kadaj sighed. Cloud silently agreed, glaring at the young man before replacing the sword at his back and stomping back outside.
"I'll go on ahead to Miss Lockhart's place." Natsuko said to Kadaj. "That way they'll be prepared and won't attack you."
"That's the hope anyways."
Sighing, the Ninth Seat took off with Flash Step, leaving Kadaj to find his way out of the ruins to Edge on foot, as Cloud had already driven off.
As for the message sent by Hell Butterfly, it got to Toshiro just before he entered the Squad One barrack with his Lieutenant in tow for the meeting. He frowned at the thought of a Remnant roaming free, but if Aerith herself had sent him, then he had to trust her. And if what his Ninth Seat said was true, the Remnant had a third the power he used to, so while normal humans would still be threatened, the Jenova war Heroes could easily dispatch him.
Filing away the report for reference in the meeting, Toshiro led Rangiku inside to where the others waited. They had a lot to discuss.
Second Chapter! So we see the Gaians side of things and the Remnant of Sephiroth, Kadaj has returned! Bet ya'll didn't expect that! Time for the meeting to decide how to handle things.