Night was fast approaching the city of Edge as Cyrus and the Repentant finally made their way to the village's exit. Cyrus took a moment to enjoy the night air as he twirled his cane slowly in his right hand. He was in a very good mood, and why shouldn't he be? Not only was he close to completing the Repentant's task, he had also helped bolster the ranks of the Collective with new followers as well.

Cyrus's reverie was shattered as a voice called out, "So, the Ancient wordsmith finally crawls out of his hole."

Cyrus turned to see who had spoken. There, standing in the gateway between the Repentant and the outside world, was a man in a white suit. His perfectly-styled blonde hair, his smarmy attitude, and the carefully crafted shotgun he carried in his right hand all would have seemed odd if Cyrus did not know who this man was.

But he knew…oh yes. Cyrus not only knew the man, he also knew who this man's escorts were. Dressed in the same black suits that their organization made standard years ago, still carrying that air of arrogance. Four such figures stood behind the man in white, two on either side of them. Cyrus lowered his gaze and gave the man in white a mock bow, and replied with a smirk:

"Rufus Shinra…and your Turk bodyguards. It's such an honor to meet you…again."

Rufus chuckled. The last president of the Shinra Electric Power Company may not have had the resources and manpower he had four years ago, but he never lost his confidence or his swagger. And as long as he had the Turks on the payroll, that wasn't about to change any time soon.

"Cyrus Thresher. For a corpse, you look rather lively."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. President. At any rate, I really have no time to speak with you. I have a meeting that I really need to get to."

"And what makes you think we're going to let you leave?" Rufus asked as he raised his shotgun and aimed it at Cyrus's head. The Repentant tensed up at the sight of their leader being threatened, but Cyrus called them off with a wave of his hand.

"Really? And what, pray tell, gives you the right to take my life? Have I done anything wrong…or is Shinra looking to silence me once again?" Cyrus calmly inquired.

Rufus smirked. "You could say that my associates and I are now in the private military business. We were contracted to keep an eye on you and put an end to whatever plan you were concocting. Plus, the Turks hate to leave behind loose ends, and by our estimation you're one of the bigger ones that needs to be wrapped up."

"Oh, so it's about a pay check and professionalism. And here I was thinking it was something petty like pride," Cyrus retorted as he slowly walked up to Rufus. He stopped right in front of Rufus's shotgun and stared down the gunman. Cyrus had a wild look in his eyes as he turned his attention from Rufus towards the Turk that stood to his right.

"Tseng. It's been what…six years, seven? How have you been since the night you nearly killed me?"

Tseng, leader of the Turks, stood like a statue as his boss threatened Cyrus with his shotgun. To Cyrus, he didn't look any different from the last time he saw him…same suit, same black hair in a ponytail, same cold demeanor brought on by a blind sense of duty.

"I've been better. But I'm not here to rehash the past. I'm here because the President asked me to be here."

"How very nice of you," Cyrus replied facetiously. "Unfortunately for you, I rather enjoy talking about the past. So much can be learned from history. But, perhaps you do have a point in that now might not be the best time to talk about how you and your henchmen shot me five times and left me for dead in a alley off Wall Market…"

"It was a job. The company saw you as a threat, and the Turks were called in to neutralize the threat. Don't take it so personally."

"Oh, is that it? 'Just a job?' Hmm, and I suppose it was 'just a job' to keep a watchful eye on the last surviving Cetra for all those years while failing to bring her before the Board of Directors. And I suppose it was 'just a job' to disobey direct orders and try to protect that SOLDIER Zack Fair from your own employers. Oh, yes, Tseng…I know all about that. I've had a lot of time to rifle through Shinra's dirty laundry and I've learned quite a bit."

Tseng didn't respond; instead, he simply stood by as Cyrus continued, "At any rate, since it seems that Mr. Shinra insists on silencing me for no apparent reason, perhaps I might be able to end your miserable life before he ends mine? You know, as a sort of karmic check and balance?"

"Make one move and I'll drill you right between your bifocals," a young blonde-haired woman threatened as she drew her pistol and aimed it at Cyrus's head.

"Elena! Drop that weapon this instant!" Tseng ordered.

"Elena?" Cyrus said with a coo. "Aw, the little Turk wants to protect her boss from the big scary man with no weapon of his own. Touching.

"Little girl, do as Tseng says. I have no intention of spilling blood here tonight. The only question is…" Cyrus said as he turned to face Rufus and his shotgun, "…what are you going to do? Are you going to murder me? Or will you let that infamous Shinra curiosity of yours guide your hand and allow me to complete my work?"

For what seemed like an eternity, Rufus stood there with his weapon pointed at the leader of the Repentant, who for reasons unknown never stopped smiling. Finally, Rufus started to laugh quietly as he lowered his shotgun and stepped aside.

"You're right," Rufus admitted. "We have no reason to kill you…yet. And I must admit that I'm curious to see where this madness of yours leads to. But make no mistake, sooner or later someone will come to collect your head. If not me or my people, then…"

"Spare me the threats, Shinra. My path is clear. My task will soon be completed, my penance served. And there's not a damn thing you, your Turks, the WRO, or those ex-terrorist friends of yours can do to stop me or my fellow Repentant. Now if you'll excuse me, I grow tired of looking at the face of the Planet's suffering. Until next we meet…"

Cyrus motioned to his followers as he led them outside the city. Once they were out of earshot, Rufus turned to the red-headed Turk in the unkempt suit and his dark-skinned partner. "Reno, Rude! Get the chopper ready. We're following Cyrus wherever he's planning on going. We'll get the evidence we need and put a stop to this son of a bitch's schemes. After all, we have an obligation to the Director of the WRO, and it would be bad PR if we didn't follow through."

"You got it, Mr. President," Reno said in his usual cocky way. "Partner, looks like we're working overtime tonight."

Rude nodded in agreement as he and Reno rushed over to the nearest helipad. As they disappeared into the shadows, Rufus took the opportunity to ask Tseng about Cyrus Thresher and what kind of man he is.

Tseng's answer was brief and to the point. "He's brilliant, he's driven…and he's quite insane. Do not underestimate him, sir."

Rufus nodded as Tseng turned to Elena to admonish her for her actions. As he did, Rufus took the time to assess how far he had come in the last four years. From leader of the world's largest and most powerful company, to a survivor of Geostigma, to being simply another gun for hire.

Still, just like he did when he was the Shinra Corporation's President, Rufus had a job to do, and he would complete it…just like he always did.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After listening to Cyrus's speech, the debriefing room of the WRO Headquarters was unusually quiet. All who were present either in person or via teleconference were all digesting what this man, this so-called "Repentant" had preached to the people of Edge. Finally, after a couple minutes of crushing silence, Reeve finally spoke up:

"All right…whatever Cyrus said, whatever he tried to convince those people of is not important right now. We have to figure out what his next move is before it's too late."

"Well, I ain't sure what his next move is, but I gotta hunch where that crazy bastard's heading," Cid offered.

"Where?" Cloud asked.

"Are you really that fucking stupid, chocobo-brain? He's an expert in Ancient writing, he says he wants to help the Planet and he's planning on using Ancient knowledge to do it. Where in the world could that jackass get free and excessive access to Ancient writing and knowledge?"

Cloud finally understood what Cid was implying. "The City of the Ancients…the Forgotten Capital."

"Yep. I'd wager my left nut that that manipulative fuck-off is heading there right now. If he's going by boat, it'll take him about two days to get there."

Cloud immediately sat up and headed for the door. Tifa shouted, "Cloud! Where do you think you're going? This isn't just your fight, you know!"

"I'm afraid this isn't anyone's fight," Reeve chimed in.

"Huh?" Tifa asked, confused. "What do you mean?"

Reeve sighed. "Our airships and helicopters need a full day of prepping before we can use them. Even then, it'll take at least four days via air to reach the Forgotten City…even longer if we decide to go by land and sea. By then, Cyrus and the Repentant may have already found what they are looking for, and where would that leave us?"

"Dammit!" Barret yelled as he slammed his metal fist into the table, denting it. "So we just wait here with our thumbs up our asses?!"

"Yeah, you do…but we don't." Cid stated.

"Huh?" Whatchu' talkin' bout, Cid?"

"The Shera's currently about two days away from the Northern Continent. I doubt we'd be able to beat those sons of bitches there, but we'd probably get there fast enough to figure how what the Repentant are up to."

"Cid," Reeve spoke up, "you do understand the risks, right? If you take the Shera to the Forgotten City, there's little to no chance the WRO would be able to lend you support. Essentially, you'd be on your own. There's a good chance you'd be walking right into a monster's den, so to speak."

"Yeah, I know. But we don't really got much of a choice, do we? Either me, the brat, and that toy of yours play spy, or we all get left in the dark long enough for that asshole to stab us in the back. I'll take my chances."

"Thank you, Cid. Good luck…Reeve, out."

After shutting off communications to the Shera, Reeve continued, "Cloud? I'd like you and your friends to remain here on standby. I'll have our people prep the airships in case we need them and put the base on high alert. Once Cid finds out what the Repentant are planning, I want us all to be ready."

Cloud grumbled. He didn't like waiting, but he really didn't have a choice. He could only be patient until Cid and Yuffie uncovered the Repentant's plans. "…Fine. You get your people ready, and we'll keep ourselves sharp."

"Thank you, Cloud. Lieutenant, show Cloud and the others to the guest quarters. And make sure they know how to contact the quartermaster."

The WRO officer acknowledged the order and motioned for the ex-AVALANCHE members to follow him. Once they left, Reeve turned to Shelke and bluntly asked, "Is it right of us to ask them to help us handle our problems like this? We don't even know for sure if there's any imminent danger."

"I don't know," Shelke admitted. "It does seem somewhat unfair to expect them to come running to the rescue every time the Planet faces certain doom. But if not them, who else could handle the burden of saving the world?"

Despite his concern, Reeve smiled. "Direct as always, Shelke. Thank you for all your hard work. Can you put the base on battle-ready alert?"

"Very well," Shelke said flatly as she turned around to complete the task Reeve had given her. Reeve, for his part, made his way to his office and sat down behind his desk. He turned on his computer and called up the video from Cyrus Thresher's speech at the Meteorfall Monument.

"Cyrus…what is your goal? What do you hope to accomplish?" Reeve asked himself as he played the video and watched Cyrus's sermon again from the very beginning.

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Author's Notes:

Thanks to forevermare for favoriting my story and leaving a review. You, my friend, have earned your digital cookie!

Not really sure how I feel about this chapter. I mean, I needed it as a way to reintroduce Rufus and the Turks as well as serve as a bridge from Chapter 7 and 9, but...I don't know. I don't think it's my best work. What do you all think? Let me know by dropping a review.

Anyway, stay tuned for Chapter 9. I should have it uploaded by the end of the week.

Thanks again for making me feel talented,

"The Exile" Cyrus Truth