(AN: Once more, I own absolutely nothing created by Square Soft/Enix, Sony, Final Fantasy VII, or Crisis Core. The only thing that I own is my own character, which this story be mainly about, which the storyline itself I do not own except for any twists I plan to put in. Please R&R, and if you don't like it, just explain and I'll do my best to try and improve.)

Spirits of the Lifestream

Chapter 5: Encounter with Cissnei (P.2)

AVALANCE Log: #1

Time: 04/12/2313 1:29 A.M

Like I mentioned in my previous log, that was my last "security log", and now I would like to work with AVALANCHE, for a few reasons. But you should know what my intentions are by now; too hard work here, low-quality pay-cheques, and I'd be an enemy and goner towards Cloud's group. Anyways… I believe I mentioned I was on my way top help Cissnei, did I not…? Oh yes, of course I did, silly me… Anyways, like I was saying, I was running down the halls, and before a door could close, I did a sliding dash under it before it closed shut, before getting to my feet again. My rifle was at the ready, and the sounds of combat only began to get louder as I approached Cissnei's position, and I doubted she heard me coming. My hair was moving with the air as I dashed, however nothing else seemed to hold me back, not even a machine that hovered in my way, only to have me slide underneath it like the door, and let a shot out at it, but I doubted it hit the circuit board inside it since I didn't bother to take time and aim, but managed to stun it momentarily.

As I looked forward, I saw Cissnei manage to block a swipe from one of the machines, but it caused her chackram to fly out of her grasp, thrusting into a wall. 'I guess it's time to repay that favor, Cissnei…' I thought to myself, and before the machine could swipe at her unprotected form, I let out a shot at it, severing its claw immediately with the shot. Once I was close enough, I let out another two more rounds, before it fell, only static coming from it. Cissnei looked at me when I had arrived, and I only smiled, before turning around to finish off the one that happened to follow me, taking another two or three rounds. Once it fell as well, I set the safety on my rife and gave a few twirls, before placing it on my back; my unique pose, as some SOLDIERs told me. I turned to face her again, and saw her take her chackram out of the wall, and kept it to her side.

"It would seem we know how to make a proper appearance when the other needs it, doesn't it, Cissnei?" I explained, giving her he a bit of a smile, which she seemed to return. "So anyways, I saw those two partners of yours take leave when you needed their help, so I simply thought that you might need some form of help, even if it's not a lot." I spoke, being modest with my abilities, when I was aware that most captains, the rank higher than what was my own "ensign", managed to take on one of those machines with a well aimed shot. But she seemed to shake her head a little at what I said, and it was like she herself was being modest about my abilities, at least from her point.

But before she could say anything, I heard something start to move behind me, and taking my rifle in hands, I saw what seemed to be a SOLDIER 2nd Class operative, but something was off with them; under their helmet, I saw a red gaze, and on either side of him was a 3rd Class SOLDIER operative, all of which were equipped with standard issue SOLDIER swords, and they all had the red gaze. A third took a lunge at me, but I simply tried to keep out of it's range, and when his sword just grazed my arm, Cissnei threw her chackram at him, which caused him to back up a bit. But while he was in mid-back flip, I saw something penetrating into the back of his helmet, as if it was controlling his mind. I could notice that Cissnei saw it as well, and when her chackram returned to her hand. I had personally never fought with SOLDIER operatives before, and I was well aware it took months for a Shinra trooper to become a 3rd class took months, even years to gain such a title.

"Cissnei, how should we deal with the situation; should we just kill these SOLDIERs and eliminate the things controlling them when they move, or should we just attempt to go for the creatures controlling them?" I asked her, my rifle at the ready, but I didn't have it equipped with a tranquilizer option, and the same went with the handgun I had. I looked at Cissnei, and saw that she didn't have such a weapon on her either, so knocking them out with tranquilizers wasn't an option. I saw her close her eyes momentarily, and I was aware the SOLDIERs weren't going to wait forever.

"The second choice sounds promising, Damien, but… it's also the least likely choice to occur without having either of us becoming seriously wounded… I guess our only option is to take them out permanently, and kill the creatures once they expose themselves." She spoke, holding her chackram in her right hand, while her left hand reached for a handgun, a customized version of my own, which shot more accurately, was able to hit its mark at a faster rate, and was made to penetrate some types of armor. She had it pointed at the SOLDIERs, and as well as my rifle, we both began to let out fire at the SOLDIERs, and right away, a third went down, but the second 3rd and the 2nd Class both had their swords ready, and were able to block most shots aside from minor grazes.

I watched as the 3rd class SOLDIER lunged for me, his sword ready, while blocking the shots I let out at him, being let out at a burst-rate of fire. When he was in range, he took a lunge at me, which I was able to block with my rifle, both hands holding onto it to make sure I'd survive. But the SOLDIER's strength was getting a bit too much for me to hold back, It wasn't until I heard Cissnei's handgun go off that the SOLDIER's gaze turned back to normal, and he seemed confused as to why I was blocking it swipe, or even why he was swiping at an ally. I knew Cissnei managed to take out the creature that was controlling him, but she was having trouble with the 2nd Class SOLDIER now. I turned to face her, and pushed the SOLDIER to the side and took my handgun out, and aimed at the creature. When I shot, it grazed it, but it surprised it enough to release from the man.

When it was on the ground, I shot it, and with a squeal, it turned on it's back with it's legs curled towards its stomach, or so I guessed. The one creature in the dead SOLDIER was dead as well, since we made a head shot that penetrated through the skull and into the creature. The SOLDIERs were confused as they looked at us, as if wondering what the hell was going on, and I told them that the president needed to be protected, and with a nod, they ran off. But before Cissnei could leave as well, I grabbed her arm, holding her back. She looked at me, as if telling me to release her right away, but once the SOLDIERs were gone, I knew I had to tell her.

"Cissnei, the president was already killed when I saw him; Sephiroth got to him, or so I'm guessing, since it was his sword in the president; that long katana of his…" I explained to her, and she stopped struggling, and I released her wrist, and I saw her face showed one of regret, but only a little was noticeable. "Don't think that you're to blame though; no one was expecting such an attack set on the Shinra building, and by the world's strongest SOLDIER as well… I don't fully understand the details on how Sephiroth miraculously survived what happened at that one Mako reactor, but all I do know was that he was also the one who killed Richter…" I spoke, and it was a moment that I let that bit slip that I realized what I said.

"Cissnei, I know Richter was a good friend, but he fought trying to protect his friend; if it hadn't been for him, neither one of us would've been alive. And I swear that the next time I should find him, I'll make sure Sephiroth will pay somehow…" I spoke to her, closing my eyes a little, setting the safety on my rifle, and placed it on my back, which made a soft sigh come from me. "I think I may leave the Shinra building and… go search for Sephiroth, get stronger, and will eventually defeat him if I must, even if I go with him…" I added, closing my eyes a little more, and sighed a bit, as I bent down to get my handgun which I dropped when I grasped her arm moments ago.

However, partway down, I watched Cissnei crouch down with me, and once the handgun was back in the holster, I looked up at her, and saw her gaze was a little different than the others she gave me. It actually showed that she cared for me a little, and before I realized it, she leaned in to kiss me, which caused my eyes to open a bit widely from the surprise. However, it wasn't long before I slowly returned the kiss, and before I realized it, Cissnei put a bit too much force into the kiss, which caused me to pin me to the ground. She was on to of me, with her legs on the outside of my own, straddling me slightly, but I knew now wasn't the best time for us to kiss, and about to get into a moment… for reasons which were a little obvious.

It was then I pulled away from the kiss, and with an apology, I said, "I don't think this is the best time for that-" I was cut off when her finger was pressed to my lips, and I saw her gaze still look at me, and her expression kind of almost scared me a little.

"Shhh… It wasn't the best time for a kiss when you kissed me that time, and I said that I was going to return that favor, didn't I?" She whispered, her voice just slightly off her regular, into business sort of voice, almost as if she needed something from me. She leaned down to kiss me again, and aside from that, I felt her index and middle finger start to lightly move in a way as if they were walking across my chest, which was covered in now dried blood.

Thankfully, before anything started to get serious, she climbed off of me after pulling away from the kiss, and she helped me up, and she seemed to regain her composure. I was blushing a bit, and because the lights were on this far down, my blush was noticeable, and I saw hers as well. We stood there for a moment, standing there in absolute awkward silence, which I couldn't help but shiver a little, remembering Cissnei's expression. It was as if she wanted to comfort me from the pain of losing a friend, and also comfort herself, and she seemed like she was in what seemed like a lust-filled state. Thankfully though it wasn't permanent, but at the same time, I wanted to experience more with her, yet I was aware that now wasn't the best time.

"Perhaps next time we could press on a bit further than this; that is if we encounter one another again in the future on your journey… I really do hope that you'll be safe, Damien, but if you should ever need my aid, or another extra pair of hands, don't hesitate to call me or the other Turks; we'll be there…" She spoke, before she backed up a bit, and I noticed that her voice was back to what it was before we got caught up in our moment. And I knew that how the elevator is moving, chances were pretty good that Aerith, Red XIII (not sure if that was his name, but he had red fur, and I remembered the "XIII" tattoo) and Barret were probably at the bottom by now.

Since I was at floor 60, I was able to take the normal elevator down to the ground level, or what was the ground level according to the Shinra Building. It was as if she was reading my mind, and handed me the elevator key, which was needed in order to have the elevator run correctly. "Use it to take you to the bottom floor, and from there, I trust that you can get out of Midgar from there; I don't doubt that Rufus will be our president now, but it doesn't mean that Tseng isn't removed of his position as the leader of the Turks. Rufus is much stricter than his father, yet he has powerful speeches that hold meaning upon citizens, and no doubt he'll become better known than his father as well. But, please return in one peace, Damien; once your traveling across the world and defeating Sephiroth is finished. Knowing Rufus, however, he probably won't stand by idly, and I'm sure he'll send out troops worldwide to find Sephiroth, if what you say is true…" I heard her speak, and I nodded, but I knew that what I was doing, I was basically having a head-start, along with Cloud and his group.

"I'll see you around, Cissnei…" I spoke, accepting the key, and made my way for the elevator, but before she was out of view, I turned to face her. "I love you…" Was the last thing I told her before the elevator opened, and I stepped in. Before the doors closed, I heard her return my words of love with her own, before they closed completely. I noticed a tear in her left eye, but I knew I shouldn't let that bother me right now. I used Cissnei's elevator key, sliding it into the slot, and pressed the ground floor button, before the elevator began to move.

It didn't take long before the doors opened up, and I found myself on the base floor, and when I stepped out, I heard the elevator door next to me open up, and I saw Tifa, however, I had yet to even see Cloud. "Cloud will catch up with us in a moment, but he told me to tell everyone else to go into the museum, and take a vehicle or two if we must." I heard her say, and though I was a little confused, Cloud must've had his reasons, and from the elevator near the bottom, I saw Aerith, Red XIII and Barret step out, and when Tifa went to give them that message, I dashed into the museum, and took a look around for any vehicles the group could take. A motorcycle which was once on display was no longer there, only to be examined a few floors up by the staff, but because the power was out, I don't know what was going on.

Replaced by it was another bike, not as complex as the bike they were going to nickname "Fenrir" after the wolf beast, but it still worked, or so I hoped. The strange car that was there seemed like it could have only two people in the cab, and could probably have two in the back, so I decided that Tifa, Aerith, Barret and Red XIII could handle the car. I went over to the bike, and when I climbed on, I saw that the key was where it was supposed to, and when I turned it, the bike sprung to life with a roar, before going down to a small putter. And sadly, this is where I must end things for now, but I'll be able to explain what all happens in the next journal entry.