Variable Magnitude

Two weeks after Genesis vanished from Midgar with Vincent Valentine and one week after Cloud Strife became Sephiroth's aide, calming the silver-haired man down from borderline-homicidal to only mildly sadistic, Angeal received a PHS message from his absent redheaded friend.

Come and join me in Junon soon; it's your turn to suffer.

This message was rather puzzling for the brunet first-class, but the confusion cleared up when later in the day he got a similar message from Vincent's number: Come to Junon for treatment; pack for three weeks. Meet driver at city gate tomorrow. Valentine.

Angeal stopped by Sephiroth's office to warn his friend that he would be out of the city getting treated for the rest of the month and was wished a warm 'good luck' by Cloud, who was working hard at the computer while the Silver General waded through the paperwork the blond had sorted for him. Sephiroth actually suggested the other General cadge a lift with one of the Gelnikas that were taking a company of the Security forces -as the ShinRa infantry were officially called- out to Junon for field exercises and water training the next morning. Not seeing any reason not to take advantage, Angeal organised permission, packed up and just before dawn the next day was waved off by a determinedly cheerful Zack. The massive cargo plane lifted off with one hundred regular infantry plus officers on board, all rather intimidated by the presence of the Dark General who had added himself to the passenger lift at the last moment.


To block out the speculative whispering of the Security Forces -who clearly hadn't the faintest idea of how sensitive a SOLDIER's hearing actually was- Angeal immersed himself in reading the information he'd retrieved off the infonet regarding his newly discovered father Grimoire and the Valentine family in general. The Valentines turned out to be an old and distinguished wealthy family that had made their fortune investing in the first mythril mines and then further enriched themselves through land ownership and property rental. The Valentines owned land and housing in Kalm, Junon, Rocket town, Cosmo Canyon, Icicle inn and even Angeal's home town of Banora. Their family seat was just outside of Junon, which all things considered was probably where he was going now.

In addition to the rather dry facts Angeal had dug up evidence in the form of newspaper articles describing the incident that occurred when Vincent broke the bank in Golden Saucer -it was rather entertaining- another celebrating the Valentine family's renewed involvement in chocobo breeding for the racing circuit and a third, more intriguing entry stating that a good chunk of the family's money was being invested in a Cosmo Canyon alternative energy project.

Angeal wasn't sure why Vincent could possibly be interested in windmills and hydroelectricity when Mako generators provided all the power one could possibly need, but it had to be for a good reason. That much money wouldn't change hands on a whim, especially not when the investor was a Turk, former or otherwise. Further investigation of tax printouts showed that Valentine was also pouring money into a wildlife foundation and was providing funds so that a massive chunk of uninhabited grassland -also Valentine owned- could be regularly cleared of monsters for the benefit of wild grazers. A quick email to Cloud asking for more information on the subject yielded a few articles on how the rising monster populations were depleting ecosystems across the planet through overpredation. Cloud had added a footnote stating that this particular scheme was entirely his own, paid for by his percentage of the Golden Saucer winnings. That meant that it was the young blond -who looked rather like both Lazard and Rufus Shinra now that he thought about it- who was a wildlife nut rather than Vincent.

The land itself bordered the Chocobo Farm, which suggested that Choco Billy was profiting in some way as well. Angeal had wondered why there were well-paid monthly requests to clear out monsters from the Grasslands area despite there never being anything particularly large or dangerous out there.


On reaching Junon Angeal politely thanked the unit commander for his forbearance -it wasn't like the man had had a choice about letting the General come along for the ride- and made his way over to the massive, multi-layered city ShinRa had built into the cliffs. Junon had been the corporation's main base on the Eastern Continent before the construction of Midgar and was the site of Scarlet's soon-to-be-completed Mako cannon. He was just entering the city's upper gate when he was accosted by a polite and nervous young man with a Corel accent wearing a deep red uniform.

"General Hewley?" He asked, glancing from Angeal's glowing Mako eyes to the Buster sword strapped to his back.

"I am, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Mr Valentine sent a car to take you to the estate, which is about an hour south-east of Junon by road," the man said. "I'm the driver; the vehicle is this way, sir."

The Dark General easily concealed his surprise at Vincent being referred to as 'Mr' Valentine; either the former Turk had not bothered to enlighten her staff of the truth of her gender or the driver had orders not to reveal the information in public. The young man -who was probably about three years younger than Angeal himself- led the way to the car, opened the boot so the General could safely stow his massive blade then drove away from the city as soon as Angeal was settled comfortably in the back seat.


On arriving at the broad, three-storey stone mansion at the edge of the forests that reminded Angeal of the type of building commonly found at the resort town of Icicle Inn, the General was welcomed inside by an older woman in a dark red dress reminiscent of the driver's own uniform and led upstairs. The woman -who introduced herself as the housekeeper- ushered Angeal into a cosy sitting-room where he immediately saw Genesis lounging in an armchair near the windows, face pale and haggard like he'd gone six rounds against a Midgar zolom all on his own.

"Genesis?" Angeal blurted out, concerned, as he walked over to take a seat opposite his lifelong friend. "Are you alright?"

The Crimson General snorted and rolled his eyes. "No, of course not. Do I look alright? However, according to dear Valentine I am however no longer at risk of degradation, which is a consolation. I would hate to have suffered like this for nothing. Oh, and I can actually eat now rather than be forced to rely on intravenous drips twice a day."

"It was that bad?" the Dark General inquired concernedly.

Genesis grimaced. "Worse; I never want to be sick like that ever again. I didn't even have the energy to be bored until yesterday Angeal!"

"What's the estate like?" Angeal tried a less controversial subject.

"No idea," Genesis grumbled, fiddling with the blanket swaddling his lower body under a crimson dressing gown. "This is the first time in two weeks I've been strong enough to leave the bedroom under my own power. The weakness is crippling, Angeal: I could barely speak without exhausting myself most days, let alone sit up. Vincent says that my ability to stagger around a few rooms already without my legs giving out shows the Mako in my system is helping me bounce back quickly, but she won't let me go back to Midgar until I can match her in a proper fight for at least twenty minutes."

"Match, not defeat?" the Dark General inquired with a teasing smile. I was good to see Genesis again and the griping was actually a good sign.

The redhead growled. "She's a sharpshooter and knife-fighter with a heavy focus on speed and accuracy. I'm a Materia user who wields a sword because I can channel magic through it and in combat I focus on power. I challenged her to a spar before the treatment started -the very moment I got here in fact- and she just slid inside my reach and put a switchblade to my carotid before I could even charge up a spell. Not even Sephiroth's that fast."

"What's the treatment like?"

Genesis paused thoughtfully. "You understand the principle of chemotherapy for cancer patients?"

"Poisoning the cancer cells with something that they are more sensitive to than healthy cells, right?"

"Yes. It feels like that sounds. I am never going to be impatient with sick people ever again."

"Angeal," said a voice across the room. Both Generals swiftly looked over at Vincent, who had somehow entered the room without alerting them during their conversation.

"Does he have to start now?" the Crimson General asked plaintively. "I was hoping for a decent conversation; nobody here can hold up their end of a debate except you and you refuse to do so for more than ten minutes. It's boring."

"Yes he does, but if Angeal doesn't mind he can stay here for the next few hours; it will take that long for his body to begin responding to the treatment," the former Turk conceded. "But as soon as he starts feeling weak you must call me so I can get him into bed. The virus is completely integrated into his DNA so the risk of complications is much higher."

"Complications?" Angeal repeated nervously.

Vincent shrugged, her tattered red cape fluttering. "Hallucinations, convulsions, physical mutations, brain damage and death in that order if not properly supervised. You'll need to stay still, warm and hydrated so as to conserve as much energy as possible to get through treatment." She paused. "I must warn you that there is a fairly high chance of you developing a physical limit break while fighting off JENOVA." like mine went unsaid.

"Will I?" Genesis asked.

"No; the 'optional extras' mentioned last week however are all but guaranteed," the former Turk said tiredly. "You will however be pleased to know that your ability to father children has not been affected in the slightest and that said children will not be affected by the virus or mutations in any way whatsoever. Angeal, might I begin?"

The brunet SOLDIER nodded as Genesis shrugged negligently, hiding his relief.

"Very well then," Vincent said as Angeal leaned forward to run his hand down his Buster sword which he had laid on the coffee table. The Dark General settled back in his chair as the oddly dressed woman he was entrusting his life, future and honour to approached him, eyes glowing gold from edge to edge while black power danced around her fingertips.


Angeal's turn for treatment. Genesis is recovering and making a nuisance of himself. Not that that's a surprise...