Killua couldn't remember a time when there was anything but nothing. He couldn't see anything, it was dark (but what was dark? What was there to see?), he couldn't hear or smell or taste or feel (but what did all those words mean? What were they like? What was like?)- there was nothing.

For the longest time (but no, there was no time in here, what was time? And where was here?) he was left in that nothingness (nothing, nothing, nothing). He was alone (what was alone? It was without. Just- without) and alone was everything in that nothing.

But he had something inside of that nothingness- a name. Gon.

And it was all he needed to stop himself from simply dissolving into that pitch black void (black? What was black? Dissolve?), from losing his own name (Killua, it was Killua).

Names, he knew, belonged to people. So he was a person, and Gon was too.

He forgot who Gon was (forget? How could he forget? What was forget?), but there were things he associated it with like a round, soft coil of, of... of warmth (what was warmth? What did it feel like? Feel? No, it didn't matter because Gon was warmth). And he knew that Gon was good (even if he forgot what good was). It gave him hope (and hope, whatever it was, was also good, he knew with certainty, so Gon meant hope, too).

Then, there was suddenly something other than Gon and alone and nothing. There was- what was it, a sensation, somethings that was calling (calling? Hearing?), and everything changed.

He stood (stood? Standing? He could do that?) on something that was cool and something that sunk a little under his weight (he had weight!). There was light, air and lungs, sweat and dust and nose (breathing, he was breathing!).

But it was altogether too strong, too different. The floor felt like ice and rock (he remembered what those were!) and even the dust motes in the air was prickly like glass against his skin. His eyes ached and burned, and they started tearing up, and-

Person. People. Adults.

A surge of breathless surpriseshockalarmfear overtook him and all his senses, and he didn't hesitate. There was no room for thought, just action.

Zack let out a surprised yelp as he dove out of the way as something blasted against the spot where he had been only seconds ago. The air sparked and fizzed, and he felt hair stand on end. Lightning? And he twisted around just in time to see the boy erupt into electricity.

It was actually a rather beautiful sight; pale skin glowing under a blue cast, cerulean blue eyes half-hidden as they narrowed and shining like nothing Zack had ever seen before, not even with the potent Mako glow that Sephiroth had. His white hair (not even silver, but white!) was near fluorescent, and it stood straight from his scalp in jagged spikes, swaying to the little sparks that sometimes ignited here and there. The electricity was visible, and it wrapped around that small, diminutive form, ferocious and pulsing and snapping out with strobes of blue electric flares that made the little hairs on Zack's arms prickle like needles as they came closer and closer.

Too bad he couldn't take the time to admire, since he was too busy dodging flying electricity and the strange boy who was currently attacking him.

"Zack!"

He felt a hand grab him by the back of his shirt and his whole view of the world shifted a few degrees to the right, just as a hand missed his face by inches. In his peripheral vision he absently noted that veins bulged from underneath the skin of that small hand, its nails elongated and sharpened into deadly points, and he was profoundly glad he didn't have to find out what being impaled on it felt like.

Zack turned to the one who had saved him. "Thanks, Angeal!"

"Focus," Angeal admonished, frowning. "That's the summon?"

Sephiroth had diverted the berserk summon's attention, and was currently trying to contain it while minimizing damage to the already destroyed gym, without much success. The main reason being that it was impossible to get within three feet without receiving a particularly nasty shock. He grimaced when one electric bolt blasted past a little too close for comfort, tiny sparks jumping over the black leather of his jacket. Only his mako reflexes saved him from getting gutted as he abruptly leapt back from a jab of those strange, slightly feral pointed hands.

Genesis was yelling something in the background, and Zack just barely heard his name over the deafening crackle of electricity.

"Zack!" Genesis was saying. "For goodness' sake, cut it off!"

"Cut what off?!"

The commander pointed to his wrist, where his materia bracer was. "Your magic, you dolt!"

"Oh!" Zack immediately did so, and the summon, looking in the middle of mowing down Sephiroth, jerked to a halt and dissipated into thin air.

There was a moment of silence as the last vestiges of electricity fizzed out of the atmosphere.

Sephiroth frowned in confusion as he faintly recalled the singular expression of terror that had taken over the summon's features a second before disappearing. It was almost so brief he was tempted to call it a figment of his imagination, or even perhaps a trick of the light, but...

(Summons didn't make expressions. They were not even supposed to have emotions.)

"Well," Angeal crossed his arms across his chest and surveyed the general carnage and destruction of the gym. "That was interesting."

"Quite. I've never seen a summon attack its summoner." A smirk slowly spread on Genesis's lips. "Perhaps this proves that the Puppy really doesn't have any talent in magic."

Zack pouted. "You're so mean, Gen!"

"But it's certainly not typical behavior for a summon." Sephiroth said, not wanting to get sidetracked from the main point. He looked contemplative. "And usually I'm not one to judge by appearances, but it also looked to be quite young for one as well."

"Aw! It's a baby summon!"

"Not... quite." Not that it was a problem, but merely that summons were not supposed to have age, and this one looked decidedly... human.

"What," Genesis tilted his head in question. "You couldn't possibly be thinking that it wasn't a summon? Just look what it did to the room with its powers of lightning! It's got to be at least as strong as Shiva, if not more. What else could it be?"

Sephiroth was about to answer when he was interrupted by the sound of rapid footsteps. A moment later several Turks and the President of Shinra himself appeared at the door, stopping when they took in the state of the training gym.

President Shinra whirled on the First classes within seconds. "What on earth happened here?!"

Genesis took his time admiring how the president had puffed up much like a prickly blowfish, before replying. "SOLDIERS at play, sir," he lied smoothly, though in all fairness, it was technically part of the truth. "The situation is well under control."

"Under control! What part of this-" President Shinra waved a hand at the gym. "Looks like 'under control' to you? My property is completely smashed to smithereens!"

Now the President was just being dramatic. It was almost worthy of an eye-roll. "You can take it out of our paychecks."

Slightly mollified but refusing to let the matter go that easily, the President continued to give them a long spiel about respect and self-control and whatever else he could think of. The SOLDIERs (as well as the Turks) merely sighed silently and resigned themselves to another longwinded monologue from President Shinra.

Three sips of water, several discreet jabs at Zack's fidgeting, and half an hour later, the President finally left them alone. They all breathed a sigh of relief, Zack even more so, as he shook his limbs out and jumped in place as though to make up for the previous period of inaction.

"Maybe it wasn't very wise to test out an unknown materia inside of Shinra's buildings," remarked Angeal eventually. "If you decide to use that summon again- which I know you will, Genesis, don't even deny it- moving off of Shinra property would be a good idea."

Genesis unsuccessfully hid a mischievous smile while Zack spoke up, now doing squats. "You gotta admit though, that sparky stuff was pretty awesome," he said with a grin.

Genesis scoffed. "Understatement. That 'sparky stuff', as you so eloquently put it, held the great General Sephiroth at bay and lit him up like a Christmas tree."

"I do not seem to recall a time in which I did so, Genesis. Though, it is in my most humble understanding that Shinra's mightiest magic user couldn't even perform a simple summon."

"I beg your pardon! I believe you had the exact same problem as well!" The redhead cast furious indignant eyes towards Sephiroth, who turned his cheek and pretended no one was trying to set fire to his face via glaring.

Angeal decided to step in before glaring could be taken a step further. "Anyway!" He turned to the grumpy Genesis. "Lets all be there when we test the materia again, considering safety precautions. We can do it this Sunday, below Plate."

"Hmph." Turning away from the General, Genesis clicked his tongue in irritation, and conceded.

"Hero of the dawn, Healer of worlds,
Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul." He quoted, and clucked his tongue again. Three days to wait.

Inside his pocket, the red summon materia grew ever the slightest bit warmer.