Percentage of New Content: 100
Chapter Four
Pulheim was dark and largely deserted this late at night. Only a handful of people rode the late train with Sephiroth, and upon arrival, they were reluctant to part company with the SOLDIER General. That was understandable, considering what had happened only last night. And if they knew what had become of Zack, they would be even more uneasy. But they would likely be safe . . . unless, of course, some strange person decided to hold them hostage at the train station because of Sephiroth's presence. That, however, did not happen.
He observed for a moment as the passengers began to go their separate ways. None were heading in the direction which he needed to travel. He turned, leaving the platform as he walked down the darkened streets. The Masamune was at his side, ready in case there was trouble. And there might be.
The office building still bore lights in some of the windows. Sephiroth approached it with cold eyes. The door was locked, but access was easy for him. He only needed to use his Shinra identification card and type a number into the pad at the side. Which he did. The doors slid open.
His footsteps echoed on the tiled floor as he stepped inside. It was right here in the lobby that the fight had taken place. Zack had battled his opponent over there, and it was by this wall that the other one had run into Sephiroth's sword. The blood had been cleaned up now, but the memories lingered.
That was all that remained of the past events—memories. The janitors who had mopped up the gore had been very thorough. If any clues had been left, now they were gone. And the hostages would not have come to work today. They had been told to stay at their homes and recover. Sephiroth had the list with their names. They had already been questioned, but they had not seemed to know anything that Sephiroth and Zack had not noticed themselves. Though that was before Zack had come down so ill. In light of the drastic turn of events, maybe they should be interrogated again.
He glanced at his watch. It would also take a long time, time that he did not have. Was there any other option? Would he be able to find the janitors for the building? Some of them should be on duty now. He moved ahead, turning a corner.
There was one now, getting off of the elevator. Upon seeing the General, the man's eyes widened.
"Oh!" he exclaimed. "General, sir! Is there a problem?"
Sephiroth opted to not give a direct answer to the question. "Were you on duty last night?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," he nodded. "Terrible thing that happened here, it was."
"Did you find anything strange when you were cleaning up the blood?"
The custodian blinked. "Well, sir, blood itself is pretty strange to be finding on the floor of an office building," he said.
Sephiroth's eyes flashed. "I don't have time for this," he snapped. "Did you find anything else?"
The older man winced. If this was not the General's legendary and rare anger, it must be close to it. And he did not want to tread with folly and bring down any wrath upon himself.
"No, sir!" was the reply. "Neither of us did. Were you looking for something specific?"
"Anything at all that would be a clue as to where those men came from or who they might be working for," Sephiroth said, his tone clipped.
"Well, there sure wasn't anything like that, not even a . . ." The eyes widened again. "Oh my!" he exclaimed. "I remember now, there was a bit of something. Just a little piece of paper. I was going to give it to the SOLDIERs who came today, but then I forgot all about it, and I haven't spoken to them yet, anyway. . . ."
"Do you have it?" Sephiroth stared the other down, his green eyes boring into the janitor's soul.
"I think so, sir," he said. "I should, anyway, since I didn't remember to have done anything with it." He sorted through his pockets, at least producing a water-logged, rectangular business card. "Here it is!"
Sephiroth took it, frowning at the smeared ink. At least it was not so bad that he could not read it. It was the name and address of a storage unit in the town, and it looked like something else had been scribbled in pencil, maybe the number of the rebels' container. What would they be storing? It seemed a ridiculous place to keep their poisons. But he would have to go there anyway and see what was being stored.
He looked up. "You've been very helpful," he said.
"Oh, I'm glad to oblige, General sir," was the response.
Sephiroth turned, heading for the door.
Bill's Storage was located near a small lake. As Sephiroth approached, the sound of the lapping waves was very clear in the near distance. Looking beyond the side of the buildings, the glint of the water could be seen due to the reflections of the moon and of the lights along the docks. The white and orange beams jumped lazily across the surface.
The front office was obviously closed, its proprietor gone home for the night. But Sephiroth would go right to the compartment he wanted and inspect it. If necessary, he would find the owner and ask for the key. Or he would enter himself and consider it important military business. Which it was.
He walked among the low and wide buildings, again studying the number. To the best of his knowledge as he tried to see through the waterstains, it was a thirteen. How appropriate. And as he drew near to where it should be, the sound of boxes being moved was unmistakable. He was not alone.
Narrowing his eyes, he pressed himself against the wall and slowly looked around the corner. Number thirteen was open. His grip on the Masamune tightened as he walked forward, keeping to the shadows. His footsteps were light, barely audible even to him.
The occupant was near the doorway, looking into boxes before shoving them aside. He did not have any idea that anyone else was there. And he was dressed similar to the men from last night.
Hatred began to well in Sephiroth's heart. Did this person know about the plot? Had he been involved? Was it partially because of him that Zack was laying in a Shinra medical center, his life being taken from him?
In a flash he was beside the other, bringing the Masamune to the man's throat. "Stand up slowly," he demanded, his tone frozen, "and turn to face me."
The person stiffened. But as he began to turn, the wicked delight was obvious in his eyes. "General Sephiroth," he sneered. "You're alone tonight. Did your young friend have other, more important things to do with his time?" The devious smile widened. "Such as dying?"
The pupils shrank to pinpricks. Sephiroth held the blade steady, the blood starting to boil in his veins. "What do you know about it?" he queried.
"You know all that you're going to learn," was the smirked reply. "Isn't it interesting? That even SOLDIERs are not all-powerful? Your precious Zack Fair will lie cold and still before long, once the poison has run its course. He'll look like he's sleeping, won't he? But no matter how you try to wake him, you won't be able to. And then you'll know that the time of the SOLDIERs' just desserts has come."
Sephiroth snapped. With one strong hand he seized the startled rebel and shoved him against the wall. "Where is the antidote?" His voice was dark, filled with the rage that was overflowing to the surface. "Tell me where it is!"
For a moment, fear flashed through the coward's eyes. But then his expression twisted again. "It isn't here," he said with glee. "If it exists at all. The poison is experimental, and Zack Fair is the first victim."
Sephiroth barely acknowledged the taunt. "There's always an antidote," he said, his voice chilled. "Where is it? Who has it?"
Something about the deadly look in his eyes made the terrorist falter. But then he laughed. "I don't even know myself," he said. "Only those on the higher levels have the information. And you won't be finding any of them."
The green-eyed look was poisonous. "How do you know the antidote isn't here?" he demanded. "What's in these boxes?"
"Something like that wouldn't be kept here," was the answer. "All that's here is a bunch of guns." He smiled. "And there's others in storage at other places. It's all planned out just so, don't you think?" A pause. "That's all you'll get from me. You won't be taking me in to be questioned by those Shinra dogs."
Sephiroth saw the glint of metal before he could do anything about it. The knife plunged into its owner's chest. The cruel smirk was the last act the treacherous man committed. To treat a SOLDIER in this way was what delighted him more than anything else. He never stopped to think or care that he had been behaving in the same treacherous way that he had accused the SOLDIERs of acting.
Sephiroth could only stare as the body slumped to the floor. Thoughts would not even come. Under his glove, his knuckles were turning white as he clutched the hilt of his weapon.
Part of him wanted to scream, to raise the sword and plunge it into the devilish form. Another part wanted to find anyone connected with this conspiracy and kill them all for what they had done, what they were doing right now. But none of that would help Zack.
He ran a shaking hand over his face. He had to calm himself.
Pushing the corpse onto its back with his foot, he knelt down and began to go through the pockets. Nothing was there, just as was the case with the other bodies. These people wanted to make sure that they remained nameless to Shinra.
He straightened up, looking to the boxes. Was what had been said about their contents correct as well? Crossing the space between him and them, he peered into the top one. It was filled with straw, and amongst it, gleaming black guns. Nothing unusual was hidden inside the barrels, either, such as capsules or vials. What he saw was what he got. And the other boxes were the same.
He stepped back, staring at the scene. There was little more he could do here.
Despair began to eclipse all other feelings. He was helpless. He was trying to follow a trail that had been brushed over and obscured. Possibly he could learn something useful, but only after many days or weeks of painstaking research. And that would be too late to save Zack.
It would take a miracle, indeed.
Zack really did not know where he was. Everything was such a fog in his mind, but vaguely through it all, the heart monitor was beeping away. It was so fast. . . . It felt like his heart was going to thump right out of his chest. A weak moan escaped his lips. He wanted to sink away from it all.
And then it all faded out again. But this was not oblivion—dark and cold and friendless. He was sitting in an office, a very familiar office. One he had not been in for some time. And its owner was bent over the desk, intent on his writing.
Zack could only stare. "Angeal?!" he cried. "Angeal, is it really you?!"
The writer looked up. It was Angeal, just as Zack had always remembered. He had not changed.
The older man set the pen down. "You've gotten yourself into a pretty bad situation," he said.
Zack leaped up, running over to the desk. "I know I did, but . . . but how are you here?!" he exclaimed. "How come I'm here with you? The last thing I remember is feeling really sick and collapsing on the train or something." He frowned.
Angeal nodded. "You're dying, Zack," he said seriously, looking into his friend's eyes.
"Dying?" Zack swallowed, taking a step back. But . . . he could not die. He did not want to. And Seph . . . Seph would be so heartbroken. He had lost his other friends. To lose Zack, especially now . . .
"Right now you're in a kind of limbo," Angeal explained. "Sephiroth is trying to find the antidote for the poison you were given."
"Antidote? Poison?" Zack stared at his old friend. "If Seph's out looking, getting mixed up with all those monsters, then he might get hurt! I have to get to him, Angeal! I have to!"
Angeal rose, placing his hands firmly on Zack's shoulders. "What you have to do," he said, "is to work on getting better. Getting yourself stressed is not going to help. Your heart's already going almost double the speed it should. And it's only getting worse."
"It is?" Zack blinked. It felt normal here. But . . . somewhere in the distance, it was still racing. He could hear that heart monitor going crazy.
Angeal nodded. He leaned back, smiling a bit. "You and Sephiroth have gotten pretty close," he said.
Zack smiled a bit too. "Yeah . . . we have," he agreed. "Seph's a great guy." His eyes widened. "Of course, we both miss you like crazy," he hurried on, not wanting Angeal to think for one moment that he had been forgotten.
"I know," Angeal assured him. "I miss both of you too."
"Why did you have to leave, Angeal?!" Zack burst out suddenly. "You acted like SOLDIER and Shinra were so terrible and that you had to get out, but . . . why couldn't you stay and try to make them better? We could've tried together. . . ." He trailed off, seeing Angeal shaking his head.
"It wouldn't have worked, Zack," he said. "It won't work. They were secretly corrupt from the beginning. They've been using all of us. And that's the way it's going to stay."
"But . . ." Zack's shoulders slumped. "That'd mean that everything Seph and I are doing is in vain." He frowned, clenching a fist. "Was it right for those creeps to hold people hostage, just because they work for Shinra?" he cried.
"Of course not." Angeal gave Zack a firm look. "This is a selfish world we live in, Zack. You're one of the few who's different, and you're in a position to change things everywhere. You and Sephiroth are fighting against the selfishness and the cruelty that exists." He sighed. "Both of you are also in a very awkward situation. If you ever decided to leave, like I did, you'd be chased all over Gaia with prices on your lives. And would you be able to do much good that way?"
Zack bit his lip. "Probably not," he said.
"Remember what I taught you," Angeal told him.
Zack tried to grin. "Never let go of my dreams, right?"
Angeal nodded. "And your pride as a SOLDIER. I know you'll keep fighting, Zack."
"Yeah . . ." The beeping seemed to have gotten even faster. "But can I really pull through this one, Angeal?" Zack stared at his mentor. "I mean . . . what if Seph can't find the antidote?" Zack had complete faith in his friend, of course. But he knew how these treacherous people operated. They would not make it easy to gain the one thing that would provide recovery for a SOLDIER.
"Just leave that up to him," Angeal answered. "Your job is to stay alive until he gets back. Alright?"
Zack nodded. "Do you have to go, Angeal?" he asked, regret in his voice. Even if this was not real . . . even if it was only in his mind . . . he did not want to say goodbye. Not again.
Angeal smiled slightly. "And leave you in this mess? I'll be here," he said. "Just talk to me if you want."
Zack brightened. "You bet!" he declared.
In reality, the nurse in the room was trying to make Zack more comfortable. His fever was high, and no matter what they tried, it seemed impossible to bring it down. He had been delirious for some time, calling off and on for both Seph and Angeal. Now, as she glanced at the patient, she blinked in surprise. A soft smile was on Zack's features for a moment before his expression faded back to agony.
Whatever he was imagining must be pleasant. And considering what was likely coming, it only made it so much more melancholy, to see him relaxed.
The nurse bit her lip, tears pricking her eyes as she replaced the ice pack on his forehead. She did not want to see Commander Fair die. And she knew General Sephiroth would never want to, either. It would be devastating for him.