FINALLY!
This chapter had to be the hardest thing for me to start. I just... I wanted it *done*, but I didn't want to do it. Skiba at one time even volunteered to do the damn thing, just so we could have it done and over with, but I finally buckled down and first managed a few lines, then the first part, and now it's effing DONE! I feel so proud of myself, you wouldn't believe it. For a while, I thought I wouldn't be able to write this, but I finally got this shit typed, edited, and now it is SUBMITTED!
As always, I have to thank the eternally awesome Skiba for her beta-ing. This chapter wound up being longer than I thought it would be, and she helped me shave it down, along with her typical editing work. So, THANK YEW SKIBAAAAAA!
Sadly, even after the action in the previous chapter, this one is not so action-packed. Any of you reading this and are familiar with the CC storyline, you'll have an idea of what will be happening. But don't worry, the next chapters will be much more interesting. Promise.
Now onto the actual chapter stuff:
Warnings: ...none.
Pairings: none really. As much as Zack wants to get with Aerith...
Now onto the fic. Enjoy!
Everything hurt.
He hadn't even realized he'd lost consciousness until he was suddenly aware again. The first thing that registered was the pain, a bone-deep throbbing that made a weak groan escape his lips. He struggled to open his eyes, his vision fading in and out once he did. Everything was blurry, blending together in unnamable shapes and odd colors. His mind spun, a reeling wreck of broken thoughts and images, and the only clear thing in his head was the pain.
His head lolled to one side, and still nothing came into focus. He had no idea where he was, what he'd been doing, or why his body felt like it had been through a meat grinder. For a moment, he just lay there, hoping that his sight would clear and his thoughts would come back together.
But... nothing.
Then something dawned on him.
He felt suddenly overcome by a strange sense of urgency, an overwhelming need to move. Without much thought, he shifted, tried almost desperately to just sit up. There was something he needed to do, somewhere he needed to be, someone who needed his help. He had no idea where, no idea why, but... something in his mind was urging him to get to his feet, to just go.
Get up, get up, get up!
He struggled to get his body to cooperate, but every fiber of his being seemed to rebel, sending wave after wave of pain throughout.
He'd almost managed to sit up before that pain blasted through his spine. His vision went white, his head spun, and he choked out a horse cry when he suddenly went limp and dropped. His head smacked the ground and the white behind his eyes exploded in a burst of color before finally going black.
All he could think of was that unwavering need to be somewhere as the world around him faded.
Get up! You have to get up...
o0o
"Hell-llooo!"
Hmn...? Who was that?
He wondered if it were his imagination. His head certainly hurt, and he'd had enough head injuries in his lifetime to know what one felt like. The voice was likely just some hallucination...
"Hell-llooo!"
There it was again. But Zack noticed it was much clearer this time; he focused on it, feeling himself gradually drift into consciousness. Slowly, his eyes opened and he was first aware of light, bright but strangely soft and natural. But then a silhouette came into view, nothing more than a mass of gray hovering over him. The voice had to be coming from it...
He stared at the gray, blinking the fog from his vision. Everything came into focus and the gray morphed into a human shape, a girl... with quite a pretty face. She was bent over him, looking him over curiously. When Zack met her eyes, he noted how they brightened while her lips curved in a smile.
"Hooray!" That same voice came from her; she must have been the one calling to him.
He tried to shake the remaining fog from his mind and blinked, unable to really believe what he was seeing. His mind was still a bit muddled.
"Heaven?"
She tilted her head, shaking it slightly. "Not quite," she said as he finally managed to get himself to sit up. "Church in the slums."
He was vaguely surprised to hear that—not so much the slums part, but the fact that there was a church. Immediately, he looked up at the girl, noting that way the light pouring in seemed to make her glow. Now that he could see her clearly, she had to be the prettiest thing he'd ever seen.
Or is she—? He nixed that thought as quickly as it had come.
Zack watched her as she seemed to look him over, that smile never once leaving her face. When her eyes settled on his, he gave her the most charming grin he could muster.
"An angel?"
She shook her head. "No, I'm Aerith." She then turned and pointed upward. He followed with his eyes, taking in the old wooden rafters until he caught sight of a gaping hole amongst the planks of the roof. That explained where all that light was coming from... "You fell from the sky," she said before turning back, looking at him with that same smile. "Scared me."
Fell from the sky? So he'd fallen, which explained the aches, the dizziness... and why he couldn't for the life of him remember what he'd been doing before thism, or how he'd even wound up unconscious in an old church in the slums, in the first place. But... why had he fallen? What the hell happened? If he'd fallen... had she...?
"So you saved me, huh?"
The girl, Aerith, shook her head and pointedly turned away.
"Not really," she said frankly. "'Hell-ooo!'" she imitated. "That's all I did."
Zack couldn't hold back a laugh. She was so cute—there was no other way he could put it. She had the prettiest smile, beautiful eyes... no way he letting this one get away. He got to his feet the way he always did, more than happy to show off. He had to suppress the urge to smirk when he heard her surprised gasp. It was the first time in a while he'd had a chance to show off to a normal person. It was perfect.
He turned to face her, that charming grin plastered right back on his face. "Thank you so much, Aerith." Crossing his arms over his chest, his grin widened. "I'm Zack."
He watched Aerith's smile brighten, showing pearl white teeth. She looked so innocent (not that he'd really want to take advantage of that), but after seeing so many of the... sketchier women in Midgar, it was nice to see a girl so genuinely friendly. Her smiles were not feigned, and he saw such a happy glow in her eyes rather than the cunning glint present in those of people above the plate. She'd be the perfect one to help him forget about... him.
There was a slight quirk in his eyebrow. "I have to repay you somehow," he hinted, hoping she might catch it.
"Don't worry about it," she decried, brown curls swaying with the coy shake of her head.
It was then Zack's turn to shake his own head. "No, no." He paused for a moment, arms still crossed, and feigned deep thought. He needed to play this right, needed to be convincing. As part of his act, he visibly perked and turned to her with a finger raised. "Hey, how about one date?"
Aerith laughed—a beautiful sound. Maybe she'd go for it. Maybe? Maybe?
"What is that?" she asked shaking her head. "Don't be silly."
His heart sank. Maybe not.
So much for that, he thought, shoulders drooping. Perhaps he'd been too forward; Kunsel once said that he tried a little too hard... then again, Kunsel also teased him, saying he was too much of a goof, too dorky. Did... did Aerith think he was dorky? Maybe she thought he was kidding; by her tone, it sounded like she hadn't taken the proposition seriously... maybe he could prove himself? At the very least, he still wanted to get to know her. If she could prove to be a distraction from the silver-haired SOLDIER that constantly invaded his thoughts, he would be content.
As Zack mused, he wasn't aware that he was drifting forward, not hearing the echo of his boots on the hardwood floor.
"Stop!" Aerith's voice made him freeze, one foot just inches from the ground. "Don't step on the flowers!"
Instantly, he backed away, not bothering to look down, and fixed her with a surprised and bemused look. Her tone had been very urgent, and he couldn't understand why.
"Excuse me?"
Her expression became a stern one as she turned toward him, and she put her hands on her hips. Suddenly, Zack was reminded of his mother and how she'd scold him back home. Aerith's brow furrowed and her lips curved in an almost disapproving frown.
"Normally, people are more careful with flowers."
"Well," he began, "I guess I'm not normal." He smiled sheepishly, showing he truly meant no harm.
Chancing a glance at where he'd almost stepped, he was greeted with a sight that honestly took him by surprise. In an almost neat circle, the planks of the floor had been pulled up to reveal the earth beneath, a lush patch of beautiful white and sunny yellow flowers sprouting up and overflowing onto the wood.
Now he understood. Zack had not seen naturally growing flower since he'd come to Midgar. The upper city was all metal and electricity, not a suitable place for plant life to grow unless placed in simulated environment. What he'd seen of the landscape around the city, he doubted any flowers were growing there either or any plants for that matter. What he was seeing was something he'd grown up with, a natural phenomenon, but some in Midgar had likely never seen wildflowers.
A curious noise left his lips as he bent down to look closer at them. He was amazed at how bright they were, and how healthy they looked. Aerith must have been tending to them; perhaps that's why she was so quick to react.
"You don't see a lot of flowers in Midgar," Zack mused. "They're like luxury items around here."
"They only grow here." She held out her arms and gestured over the entire bed of plants. "Although I planted some outside my house, too."
The first thought in Zack's head was the question of where she lived. She honestly didn't seem like the women on the plate, but Zack couldn't fathom her living in the slums. The latter, though, was much more likely, since the slums were a place where one would have actual earth around their home to plant flowers.
Living in the slums, however...
"If I were you, I'd sell them." He noticed the slightly confused look on her face when he next regarded her. He grinned. "Midgar's full of flowers, your wallet's full of money." Brilliant one, Zack... It had started in his head as an honest concern for her financial well-being (brought out in part for his instinctive desire to protect girls, no doubt), but it came out... completely wrong.
He almost expected her to laugh again like when he'd proposed the date, but he was surprised to see her face go from perplexed to thoughtful. She looked back down at the flowers, a hand at her chin, and in his mind could almost see Sephiroth looking like that when he was thinking.
"Midgar, full of flowers... wallet full of money...?" Aerith repeated piece by piece. Her head tilted as she continued to think, then her eyes turned back up to him. "Never thought of it that way."
Had the smile not already been on his face, the one she gave him would have had it emerge. Their conversation faded, and when Aerith knelt down by her flowers, Zack finally took the time to observe his surroundings. He'd honestly never seen such a building, strong stone carved into ornate arches and massive columns. His eyes traveled to the tall stained glass windows, taking in their design, and upward. The ceiling was up high making the interior feel so open... as if it were not so already. The chandeliers were old, ones that held candles rather than electric lights, and hung from the high rafters.
When he got to it, Zack stared up into the gaping hole in the ceiling, watching how rays of light flowed down into the interior. Had he fallen through that hole? Or had he been the one to make it? Suddenly, his thoughts strayed to why he'd fallen, and where he'd fallen from.
He fell. That much he knew, and if what Aerith said was true, and he'd fallen "from the sky," then he had to have fallen through the plate. But how? Where had he been? What had he been doing? As hard as he tried to recall, his mind seemed to be drawing blanks: all he had was this strange feeling. Now that he was not so distracted, he felt a tug, a need to be somewhere, to be doing something. He wondered if it had something to do with his fall.
His gaze traveled to the church doors. Whatever the reason for falling, it would be wise for him to head back to the Shinra Building. Without really thinking, he began to walk towards the exit. He must have passed Aerith's line of sight, because she spoke up just as he reached the other side of the flower bed.
"Going already?"
Zack turned to look back at her and nodded.
"Yeah, I should get going." But why? It just seemed like the thing to do.
"Oh." Zack couldn't help but notice something odd in Aerith's tone. "All right."
She sounded almost... unhappy to hear that he was going. He figured it was just his imagination and made his way up the aisle to the doors. The whole time, though, Zack couldn't help but wonder why he needed to go. It wasn't like missions were in abundance... why go back when all he'd probably be doing was mindless training? He stopped and thought a moment. If he was needed for anything, he had his phone, and he'd be contacted. And he didn't go out into the city that often—this one time couldn't hurt anyone.
He'd just met a really pretty girl, a sweet girl. Was he really about to pass up the chance to spend more time with her just because of fleeting feeling that was likely nothing? Besides, this gave him the perfect chance to get him out of his head; he had no business thinking about his superior officer in the ways he had been lately, and Aerith seemed the perfect person to distract him from the other SOLDIER. Zack turned around and looked down the aisle at the young woman, watched how she tended to the flowers with such a caring hand, how the light filtering from the roof made her hair shine honey-brown. He smiled, his mind made up.
"So, are you always here?" he asked, his voice echoing through the building.
"Yeah," Aerith answered, her attention still on the flowers.
After a moment, she stood up, stepping around the flowerbed to approach him. He could see her eyeing him curiously, and when she got closer noticed her fidget just the slightest, placing one hand behind her back.
"Hey, so," she began, "where are you going?"
Nowhere now, he thought. But he decided to not let her in on that just yet. Maybe her curiosity meant she wanted him to stay? He crossed his arms as if he were thinking; inwardly, he hoped it looked convincing. "I'm... not really sure."
It wasn't a complete lie. Just moments ago he hadn't been sure; hell, he was still inwardly wondering how he'd fallen into the church in the first place. Zack glanced at Aerith, searching her face. She was looking straight at him.
"I'll take you there, okay?"
Take me there? Now he was confused. "...Where?"
The smile fell from her face, and Zack noticed something in her eyes moments before she looked away. Suddenly, she looked just a bit timid, and this only served to confuse Zack further.
"Hmm... I'm not really sure," she mimicked after a pause.
What? Why would she volunteer to take him somewhere? How could she take him when he didn't even know where 'somewhere' wa—oh. Suddenly, a devious smile came to his face.
"You just wanna spend more time with me," he said, leaning forward with an eyebrow raised. "Right?"
Obviously, he was teasing her. Of course, if she really did want to spend more time with him, that was fine too. He wanted to stick around longer, anyways. Aerith was quiet for a moment, and he almost worried that he'd somehow offended her. When she finally looked up, her lips turned up almost shyly.
"Yeah."
He sputtered.
Zack hadn't expected that answer. She actually wanted to spend time with him? At a loss of what to do he just grinned sheepishly, hand going to scratch at the back of his head.
"Um... cool."
o0o
Zack had never been below the plate before, but he'd heard quite a bit about it. He was able to mask the slight surprise at the conditions, having not expected everything to be so... run down. He looked about at all the junk, machines, parts, broken remnants of structures, even plain old trash, all seemingly dumped under the city and left to weather away. This was where his fellow cadets were sneaking off to during his training days? People lived here? Aerith lived here?
"If we walk a little, we'll be in the central slums." Aerith's voice almost made him jump in surprise. "There's a lot of people there, and you'll be able to go above the plate from there, too. Whenever you need to go."
Zack looked down at her just as she was looking up. "All right, lead the way."
The walk through the slums was a quiet one—not so much an awkward quiet, but more just the two of them simply enjoying the other's company. Zack took it as a chance to observe his surroundings. He took in the massive amounts of debris, the dreariness, the people.
The people were especially interesting; he watched some dig through the debris, likely searching for scrap to sell. Passing, he'd see a range of emotions pass on their faces. Some may not have recognized the uniform and regarded him blankly. Others looked away in intimidation, and still others sneered at him. A few children that passed by paused and gazed wide-eyed in fascination.
When two monsters leapt from a pile of junk, Aerith had been startled, and Zack had picked up just the smallest trace of fear when she proposed they run. Of course, Zack had snorted at the prospect and proceeded to cut down the two little creatures with ease. He could have done the deed in mere moments, but he took this as the perfect chance to show off, swinging his sword in flourishing motions, maneuvering in ways he didn't need to, overall making the fight seem just a little bit more than what it really was.
Aerith had seemed impressed with his performance, which was a massive boost to his ego, and Zack was starting to think that a date was not too farfetched an idea.
Upon nearing the center of the slums, Zack was already beginning to feel a little... boxed in. The massive plate high above cast a shadow over the slums, but more importantly, it blocked out a view of the sky. Aerith had not seemed bothered by the environment, which perplexed him, but considering that she had most likely lived below the plate her whole life, it wasn't that much of a surprise. What did surprise him was her admitting to being fearful of the sky. Mentally, he filed that away with every intention of easing that fear of hers one day. Perhaps he'd take her back home to Gongaga, to see the vast blue sky that he grown up with.
Zack was surprised when they reached the central slums and found it to be a small marketplace. He happily strolled at Aerith's side, and visited each little shop, Aerith clearly enjoying peering at all of the little trinkets they sold.
They spent an extra amount of time at a particular shop, one she admitted to being her favorite. Aerith had never once expressed a want for anything, but at this shop, she seemed to show a particular interest. Pretending not to notice, Zack nonchalantly asked if he could buy her something, and after a little convincing, she finally caved.
He felt so giddy putting that ribbon in her hair, around the elastic tying her hair in an elegant braid, and seeing her smile had made it all the more worth it. He liked the feeling of giving friends gifts and seeing them happy. The good feeling didn't last long, to his dismay, as he allowed his thoughts to stray for just a moment... wondering what it would be like to give Sephiroth a gift. Suddenly, Aerith's smiling face was replaced with the silver-haired SOLDIER's, and the vision he had of the man smiling had been quite a good one. Zack was sure the man looked stunning with a real, genuine smile—and it stopped right there.
It was bad enough that he was thinking of the man, but there was no way he could allow himself to think about him while he was essentially on a date with another person. That was just wrong.
Luckily though, Zack's brief inner turmoil seemed to go unnoticed, which he was grateful for. He didn't like the idea of lying to Aerith, but telling her the truth of the fact that he couldn't get his superior officer out of his head was out of the question. There was no way it wouldn't be taken the wrong way, and he didn't want to ruin his chance with her.
Through everything, though, that feeling still remained, tugging at him constantly for a reason he did not know. Zack did his best to ignore it, instead trying to focus on the fun he was having.
"Why don't we go to the park?" Aerith had asked suddenly, and Zack only grinned.
It sounded like a date, but she only smiled, saying nothing.
o0o
They strolled through the small park in relative silence, Zack taking in the rusty jungle gyms and slides. He was particularly humored by the big dome with face of a cartoon animal, complete with broad, round ears and comically large eyes. He wondered how something like that wound up in a place like this; it looked as if the park had been in good shape at one time, but with the passing of time, things began to wear down.
He watched the few children present chase each other merrily, and he smiled. It seemed that there was one spot in this dreary place where kids could play and still be kids.
Aerith was silent for a short while longer before finally speaking up, as if wanting to break the silence with idle conversation.
"So," she said, her voice instantly bringing him out of his thoughts, "ever meet any SOLIDER members?"
He'd been right in assuming she'd never seen a SOLDIER member, but at least she knew what it was.
"Maybe." He decided to give an answer that wouldn't give him away, suddenly curious as to what she was thinking.
"Do you think that they're happy?"
That question only served to confuse him, and he stopped. "What do you mean?"
She walked a little ahead of him and paused. "Heroes to children protectors of the peace," she mused aloud, not turning back to face him. "But... they're not normal."
Suddenly, Zack didn't like where this was going and he felt a sinking in his stomach.
"They... get some kind of special surgery, don't they?" She turned back to face him then, and her face looked... oddly distressed, eyes a little wider, brow furrowed.
Surgery is one way to put it. "So they say." He'd keep this charade going just a little bit longer.
She didn't meet his eyes which seemed a bit strange, and that sinking feeling lingered. He had to admit that he was just a bit worried about revealing the truth and that he was with SOLDIER. "Normal is best," she said at last. "I think so, at least."
Zack's heart sank. If she thought that, what would she say if she found out about him? Would she become afraid and flee, or worse... would she see him as some sort of freak? He felt sick when he saw a brief image of her pretty face contorted in a sneer of disgust or backing away in fear. Maybe the two of them wouldn't go out or anything, but he certainly didn't want to lose her as a friend just because of his job.
"Those SOLDIER people are kind of weird," she continued after a pause.
He just crossed his arms and turned slightly away. It hurt a little to hear that, and it only made him feel worse about finally admitting the truth.
"'Weird,' huh?"
"And they're... scary." He didn't see the slightest fear that came to Aerith's face when she spoke. "They fight... and they love it."
Zack was silent for a few moments, avoiding looking to her, not wanting to see her eyes, her face. He wondered if he should still tell her, as he didn't want to lose her after just meeting her. She was such a nice person, warm and sweet, absolutely stunning... But if they continued to see each other, spend time together, she would find out eventually. It would be much worse for her to find out from some other source and then believe he'd been lying to her.
"Actually," he began, hesitating briefly, "I'm with SOLDIER."
He almost flinched at the gasp he heard leave her then he glanced at her. He saw no fear in her eyes, no scorn or disgust on her face. If anything he saw concern... and just the slightest guilt.
"I'm sorry," she managed, eyes downcast.
Zack was unsure of what else to say, unable to tell what she was apologizing for. He glanced away just as Aerith did and they stood in their first awkward silence. He kept his eyes averted, not sure of what was about to happen, what else she was going say or do. He didn't see her finally turn back and peer curiously at him.
"So pretty." He wasn't expecting her to really say anything, much less that. He turned to face her.
"The face?" he asked, grinning, hoping to diffuse any tension.
Her laugh was more than enough to make him feel better. "The eyes!"
He grinned and came closer. "You like them? Then take a closer look."
His lips quirked slightly as she leaned closer and he looked straight into her eyes. They were such a pretty emerald, shiny and bright with emotion. A flicker of something arose in his mind, the emerald easily melting cyan, the round pupils into peculiar slits, and the brown hair framing that fair face (in much the same design) faded to silver. A warm feeling that wasn't present before made itself known in his gut, and for some reason he could suddenly see himself leaning closer and pressing his lips against a certain silver-haired SOLDIER's.
It took everything he had to not jerk away; at that same moment, Aerith laughed and shoved him playfully, effectively shattering the distracting image. It took a moment, but they were eventually laughing together.
When their laughter dwindled away, she peered towards him again. "If you're in SOLDIER," she started carefully, "what were you doing... before that?"
"Before...?" he repeated. "Well... I'm from a tiny place in the jungle, on the West Continent. Totally backwater."
"Hmm." She nodded, searching the ground again as she thought further. "Did you fight in the war?"
"You mean Wutai? Yeah, briefly." He took the chance to step a little closer.
Again, she made a thoughtful sound. She didn't immediately respond to what he said, though he noticed her drift more toward him. "We watch the news sometimes. My mom and I, that is." After a moment, she raised her head, and those gorgeous emerald eyes met his. "Did you ever meet... Sephiroth?"
His breath caught in his throat, the name sounding so foreign coming from her. She just stared at him a moment, no real expression besides the slightly-raised brows that came with expecting an answer.
"Y-yeah," he managed. "We're the same rank."
"I see." She eased away from him a little, taking a few steps. "When I saw him on the news, he's the one that made me wonder... if SOLDIERs are really happy."
"Hmm..." He had no idea how to respond to that at all.
"He looks so cold... and sad..." She hummed for a moment, then turned back to him. For a few seconds, Zack just blinked at her, then managed a small smirk.
"Interested, then?"
Her eyes widened, and she hurriedly shook her head. "No, no, not really."
"Aerith, that hurts me," he teased, the corners of his mouth quirking. "Thinking about someone else, on a date."
"Zack!" She laughed brightly, stepping toward him and touching his arm. For a moment, she managed a slightly devious look, but Zack was sure he just imagined it.
He was about to say something more when his phone abruptly cut off his train of thought. He didn't look to answer it, only gave an apologetic look to Aerith when she frowned with concern.
The moment he flipped it open, the voice on the other end spoke. "Zack, return to the Shinra Building now." His stomach twisted in a knot when that deep voice reached his ear, tone vaguely agitated. "Genesis has attacked us."
...Genesis?
Suddenly it all came back, the attack on Sector 8, the reactor, Hollander, Genesis, Angeal. He'd been on a mission with Sephiroth, he'd given chase to Hollander and found Angeal. His mentor had attacked him—Angeal made him fall! How could he have forgotten something so important? That explained the urgency he'd felt, the need to be somewhere. He'd been on a mission.
He hung up and gave Aerith a sheepish look.
"Sorry, but duty calls."
She nodded in understanding. "Will I see you again?"
"Of course," Zack said, grinning. "Promise."
Aerith nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. Both of them turned to go their separate ways—Zack to his mission and Aerith likely back to the church—until Aerith paused and turned to him one more time.
"Oh, and Zack?"
He stopped and glanced back at her. Her smile became a mysterious one.
"You shouldn't try so hard to be with someone," she said, her voice sounding as if she were scolding him, "when you're so set on someone else."
Zack's eyes only widened, and he barely kept from sputtering. "Wh-... what do you mean?" Is it really that obvious?
She said nothing else, turning to go. For a moment, he contemplated what she had said, then shook the thought from his head as he sprinted for the train station.
He had a job to do.
o0o
Zack could see the smoke that billowed from the massive building even from his distance. It filled the already darkened sky above and swirled with the green of the mako, forming an almost hellish picture. Smoke and embers swirled in the air around him, indicating that it was not just the Shinra building that fell victim to the assault. He growled low, fists clenching.
"Dammit, Genesis."
He ran as quickly as his feet would take him. He'd been idle for too long; had he not been sidetracked, things may have been different, maybe the assault would not have escalated. But he couldn't help the sense of confusion he felt. He remembered leaving Sephiroth to face off with Genesis, now that he recalled. Had the man escaped? It didn't seem likely that someone with Sephiroth's power would allow such a thing. Had he let the man go? No, that was even less likely, not if he knew that this would happen...
The road was clear until he was almost to the building, the first round of copies finally deciding to show up on the last stretch of highway. He figured that it had been too easy getting there. No way would Genesis allow Shinra to have more assistance, even if it was from one single SOLDIER. The waves of copies and mechs were felled much too easily, but the final beast that showed up last was... a cut above the rest.
It must have been on a level similar to the gun-wielding copy he fought on Loveless Avenue, but this one was... hideous. He could see the auburn hair, but the face was just contorted into large jaws with massive teeth, mottled gray skin stretched over its strangely skeletal body. It looked more like a demon out of some horror story than the more human-looking copies associated with Genesis.
It proved to be quite a challenge to take down, but he did manage to dispatch it, sprinting off once its body dissolved. He wasn't running long when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, and he cursed quietly, slowing to a stop. His heart skipped a beat when a single white feather crossed his field of vision, and he stared straight upward.
"...Angeal?"