A/N: Yeah, I know the previous chapter ended rather abruptly, but I really needed to end it somehow. :3 Honest! And goodness gracious, 26 chapters! This is, by far, the longest a fanfic of mine has ever gotten!
Oh, advance warning for all who have yet to play/finish Final Fantasy VII and/or Crisis Core: There will be spoilers to both games in the coming chapters to the end! You have been warned!
And for those who have played Before Crisis: SHUSH ON THE SOLDIER STUFF WITH ZACK!
Chapter 26
The next few days was filled with an intensity unlike anything Zack had ever experienced. He didn't know why he felt so uneasy about Angeal's disappearance. Surely there was a reason for the First Class to leave him hanging like that. Maybe he ran into Genesis and gave chase so he didn't have time to notify him or Sephiroth. Or maybe Genesis knocked him out and took him away. So many possibilities, and none could possibly be betrayal.
Still, it troubled Zack to know that his mentor disappeared so suddenly and on his watch, too. Memories of Zen's disappearance up to her death filled his mind and he couldn't help but think the same thing could be happening right now.
He wasn't sick, as far as I know, thought Zack, pacing back and forth in the SOLDIER lounge. But… Genesis and him seem pretty close. Could he have left to help Genesis?
With a sigh, he falls back onto a chair and stares up at the ceiling.
"Am I a bad friend for not looking for you as soon as I could, Zen?" wonders Zack somberly. "You would've done the same for me, that's for sure."
Footsteps from afair stir him from his thoughts. He turns to see Kunsel enters the area donning his SOLDIER helmet. Now that he thought about it, Kunsel was wearing his helmet more often than usual.
"What's up?" greets Zack as his friend takes a seat on the steps.
"Just wanted to see how you've been," responds Kunsel matter-of-factly. "Since Angeal disappeared and all."
"As good as I can be with everyone thinking Angeal really defected from Shin-Ra," replies Zack irately, crossing his arms. "How about you? You're wearing that helmet of yours a lot now."
"Have I?" wonders Kunsel. "Doesn't feel that way to me."
Zack scratches his head and decides not to concern himself about it anymore. An awkward silence reigns over the lounge as the two sat, neither too eager to want to start up another conversation.
Another set of footsteps interrupt the lingering silence and the two of them turn to see a familiar brunette approach with his blonde companion.
"Sebastian! Essai!" exclaims Zack, standing up. "How have you guys been? Haven't seen you around in a while."
"We've been pretty good," greets Essai, his blonde hair still messy as usual. Although it looks like it had been getting slightly longer. The smile on his face fades away to a more serious expression. "Have you been doing well since…?"
He trails off, unsure if he should mention the name. Zack understands but makes no move to answer. Instead he turns to Sebastian, who was looking very uncomfortable in his presence. The Second Class operative scratches his brown hair nervously and averts his eyes.
"Sorry," was all he manages to say.
Zack smiles a little at the sight of Sebastian still as stubborn as ever. The guy had every right to be uncomfortable knowing that the blood of a deceased was running through his veins.
Sebastian lets out a sigh as he puts his hands into his pockets reluctantly.
"I… never did got around… to saying thanks to her…" he admits apologetically.
"Don't worry," assures Kunsel. "I'm sure she understood even if you never told her."
"Yeah… well… anyways," coughs Sebastian, more than ready to change the conversation to something less somber. "So I assume you guys have already heard about the mass desertion."
"Oh, you mean the one Genesis instigated?" adds Essai.
"What makes you think Genesis started it?" wonders Kunsel, his Mako eyes perking up.
"Well, isn't it obvious?" responds Essai, turning to his fellow Second Class SOLDIER operative. "Genesis was acting funny up until he disappeared. Everyone in SOLDIER wants to get to First Class so there's no reason for them to desert all of a sudden. He must've convinced them to go with him."
"But Genesis always acts funny, especially with the LOVELESS stuff," notes Zack, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but this was different," returns Essai. "Usually he acts all high and mighty and made sure everyone knew it. But then lately he started being more distant from everyone, even his best friend Angeal."
"Maybe what happened on that mission with Zen threw him off the deep end," suggests Sebastian.
"No way, that can't be," asserts Essai, turning to the brunette. "He didn't start acting funny until at least two weeks after Zenny died. If it did have something to do with that, he would've started acting funny right after he came back."
"In any case, those that left with him are nothing but cowards," says Sebastian, crossing his arms. "They don't deserve to be First Class."
He sees Zack looking at him with a pained expression and suddenly wishes he had bit back his tongue on that last statement.
"Oh… uh… except for Angeal…"he coughs nervously as he inwardly chastises himself.
Kunsel lets out a sigh and gets up to his feet.
"I think we all should head back to our quarters for the time being," he suggests. "Standing around here talking about this stuff isn't going to accomplish anything."
"Yeah, you're right, Kunsel," agrees Essai. "Sebastian and I have a mission to prepare for anyhow." He turns to Zack. "We'll see you around."
Waving goodbye to one another, the four of them split up and head in different directions. Kunsel watches as everyone leaves and decides to follow after Essai and Sebastian.
"Hey, Sebastian!" he calls to the brunette, causing him and Essai to turn around.
"What's the matter?" wonders Sebastian as Kunsel catches up to him.
"I need to ask you something," says Kunsel, looking at him straight in the eye.
One glance was all it took for Sebastian to figure that this was a private matter.
"Essai, go on ahead," he tells his friend. "I'll catch up later."
"Okay," responds the blonde quickly, thinking nothing of it as he leaves the two brown-heads alone.
Once Essai was gone, Sebastian turns to Kunsel.
"Do… you feel weird or sick?" wonders Kunsel.
Sebastian looks at him with wide Mako eyes and then frowns. "Why do you ask that?"
"I just need to know," responds Kunsel.
I can't let anyone know that I'm digging into Shin-Ra's data, he thought. I won't risk putting anyone in danger beside myself.
"No, I feel fine," responds Sebastian. He cocks his head to one side. "Do you think there's something wrong with Zen's blood?"
"No, there's nothing wrong," assures Kunsel. "I just needed to confirm something." He waves a hand. "I'll catch you later."
"Hey, don't scare me like that," says Sebastian, looking a little irritated. "I don't want to die because of a stupid blood defect."
"Sorry, didn't mean to worry you," says Kunsel, waving goodbye one last time before he leaves.
As he heads back to his quarters via the elevator, Kunsel couldn't help but think back to when Zen had told him she underwent a procedure to take care of her anemic condition.
That had to be when everything started, he assumes. But what exactly was done to her?
He remembers the sight of Zack holding Zen's lifeless body back in the Ancient Forest and struggles to fight back tears.
Wings, he thought, trying to focus on the details to prevent the sadness from returning. Zack said her back had a pair of wings. And then her left arm had this weird black bruise…
Walking out of the elevator, he looks down the long hall of sliding doors to various SOLDIER members' quarter rooms and narrows his eyes.
Blood, he thought. The key is in her blood.
A/N: Oh, Kunsel. I'm sure Zen didn't have that much iron in her blood. :p
Zack pegs me as being a pretty emotional guy, which is cool cause he just has a lot of heart. :) Those kind of people are pretty rare and far in between.
And pffft at Essai's nickname for Zen. XD Good thing she never heard that. She would've died earlier in the story from embarrassment.
Essai: Hi Zenny! :D
Zen: WTF? *commits seppuku*
Essai: Zenny, nuuuu! D8