Disclaimer- I claim no rights to Final Fantasy VII

Chapter Fourteen: The Will of an Alchemist

The Bloodhound Manor had a stench of death that stuck to the air and the walls and Cloud fought against it by breathing through his mouth, but such an action only allowed the smell to stick to the roof of his mouth causing a small cough fit that drew the attention of a female Cloaked One who urged him to hush before moving down the dark corridor that only held a series of torches against the wall to light the way. Cloud, Zack, and Kunsel, however, had no intention of continuing down the corridor nor going into the Flames of Ifrit as Weiss so proudly called it.

"This way." Cloud urged softly, taking a sharp left once the last of the Cloaked Ones entered the door at the end of the corridor. "The Archives should be down the stairs at the end of the hall."

"I have a question," Zack spoke up quietly, his violet shifting, watching, as the shadows on the walls moved with the flickering flames of the torches. "How do you know your way around this place?"

"Madam Jessie was kind enough to provide me with a map of the grounds. I had enough time to memorize the layout." Cloud shrugged, giving Zack an indulging look. "I wish to make myself useful and if leading the way to gain evidence of Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal's involvement then that's what I shall do." Cloud stopped, glancing over his shoulder at the Alpha and Beta. "And don't forget, I, too, have a personal stake in this investigation."

"Your parents." Kunsel acknowledged with a regretful murmur, his moss green eyes softening at the thought. "Of course. We forget ourselves."

Cloud closed his eyes at the thought of his parents. He was no fool. It was most likely that they were already gone - used in an experiment, but there was this small hope that he could find their bones and bury them properly where their souls could rest properly and return to the planet and rejoice with each other and their ancestors.

"I will make sure to bury them in the Fair Family Tomb." Zack approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "So that their souls could rest peacefully along with my ancestors." Zack's smiled, the motion failing to reach his eyes. "I am sure that my parents and yours would get along, do you not think so?"

"You-" Cloud swallowed at the offer. While the Strife Family was rather well known in Nibelheim, their nobility and annuls meant nothing in Midgar. "You don't have to do such a thing, Lord Fair."

"He doesn't." Kunsel agreed with a small smile. "Yet, he's going to anyway, Cloud. You might as well accept the offer."

"I'm honored." Cloud murmured, his cheeks heating when Zack shot him a small, wild smirk that radiated with pleasure at pleasing the Omega. "Thank you."

Kunsel scoffed, shooting the Alpha and Omega a playful scowl that sent both into a blushing fit that would put roses to shame. "We can continue moving on if you two are done?"

"Of course." Cloud lowered his head, mortified that his face was still red and flushed - evidence of his embarrassment. "The laboratories should be on the floor below this one and that should be where most of the work is located."

"What of the guards?" Kunsel questioned, his jaw clenching at the thought of running into one of the Bloodhounds. "How many? Do you know of their positions?"

"No Bloodhounds," Cloud reassured as if he could read Kunsel's mind. "The Alchemist prefers normal guards than the Bloodhounds, it's said that their presence disturbs him greatly."

"That's funny because wasn't he the one involved in their creation?" Zack put in shooting a glance down the hall where the clones had gone. It was silent save for the roaring flames past the thick door. It was strange that no guards had come to patrol, but Zack wasn't going to question their lacking presence.

"He's a strange man." Kunsel murmured in agreement. "A man who loves screwing with the Goddess' creations and wants nothing to do with them when he's done? As if he can't stand what's he done?"

"Or, he's bored very easily," Cloud added with a hint of unease. "Or." Cloud started again, that same unease growing. "He's continuously failing at his experiments in an effort to find something."

"You think he's trying to create something or someone?" Zack's lips thinned at the thought. He couldn't imagine such a vile creature or humanoid running rampant through Midgar. He couldn't imagine because he wouldn't allow it to happen. Not while his House still reigned.

"It would explain for the missing - dead or alive," Kunsel responded grimly. "Otherwise, he would have no use for the bodies if he wasn't trying to create something."

"The human body has a multitude of uses within the art of alchemy and apothecary." Cloud murmured, giving them both sympathetic looks. "It's a treasure trove for both trades and I would not put it past the Alchemist to horde the bodies that are useful to him. So, I ask, that both of you be prepared for what you are going to see and witness."

"Of course," Zack responded, his stomach rolling. He trusted Cloud and if he was bold enough to warn about the atrocities that waited below then he knew what their reactions would be upon witnesses such sins.

"The laboratory is in the basement," Cloud instructed, turning on his heel and making his way down another long hallway. This one, however, was without proper lighting making Zack wary of allowing Cloud to lead and he was quick to grasp Cloud's hand in his own and place his free one against the wall and feel his way along much to Cloud's soft protest.

"Wait," Kunsel commanded, coming to a stop mid-way and brushing his hand against the wall. "I found-" a small click echoed throughout the empty hallway before the rough sound of a door opening muffled his words. "A way down to the basement." Kunsel cast the stairway a frown. "Shall we?"

"Careful." Zack urged softly, grasping Cloud's hand in his own as they descended the dark stairwell, their boots echoing in the thick silence. His hand against the wall, Cloud kept a steady balance and took a shuddering breath. He kept telling himself that he would be prepared for whatever evidence would be in the lower laboratories, but the thought of his parents bodies being used for experiments caused bile to rise to his throat and before he could swallow it back down, his feet had landed on the floor and his front was pressed against Zack's back.

"You smell sick." Zack murmured, his hand still locked with the Omega. "Are you sure you want to go on?"

"I'm fine." Cloud urged, refusing to let go of the Alpha's hand-the safety and warmth he found with the grasp- "Let's take a look around and see if we can find anything?"

As far as the laboratories went, it wasn't impressive, it was meant to be quick and efficient. Cloud opened his mouth to comment that it was most likely that wrong lab, when Kunsel nudged him both behind a bookcase as the creaking of a door could be heard followed by quick footsteps and a high pitched voice.

"I need more bodies! What is about the request that you do not understand?"

"We can't continue to provide you with what you need, Professor Hojo." a deep voice urged, forcing Zack's heart into overdrive. He knew that voice. His stomach plummeted as Angeal's smoky scent snuck into his nostrils and crept down his spine forcing him to close his eyes to force back his tears. He knew. He knew that his Uncle was one of the instigators, but to actually be slapped in the face with it? It was horrid beyond compare. The despair of it almost caused his knees to buckle but he found against when the thought of Cloud's own sadness paled in comparison to his own. Cloud, who lost his own parents to sickness and despair and had rightly buried them only to have them used in unethical experiments. Cloud, who stood beside him despite the fact that Zack had allowed this to happen under his own nose. Cloud, who currently took his hand and squeezed it within his own, as if he understood the pain, suffering and the betrayal. Zack said nothing, merely grasping the hand that ground him, stopped him from rushing out and forcing his sword through Angeal.

"What do you mean you cannot continue?" Hojo hissed, viciously slamming his hand on the table, where the body of a child rested. "Do you want to die? I cannot help you if I have nothing to work with-"

"Lord Fair has noticed." Angeal interrupted swiftly, drawing Hojo into a swift silence. "He has confronted me with your activities."

"He is not aware of my involvement." Hojo murmured. "I have taken the necessary precautions to make sure that my name is not mixed with yours-"

"Lord Fair is not an idiot," Angeal uttered with a bitter chuckle. "He'll connect the dots as he has with me, Sephiroth and Genesis. He might not be able to defeat all three of us at once, but one on one? He has the potential to eliminate us if need be."

"The Bloodhounds-"

"Will be eliminated as well. They don't call that boy the Wolf of Midgar for nothing. He smells blood in his waters and soil and he's hunting, Hojo, and when he finds you, your end will not be swift."

Hojo snorted, and Zack felt a rush of anger towards him at his callous behavior. Apparently, the man was confident enough to believe that he would escape punishment. Zack moved forward, all but ready to confront the mad man when Cloud's soft hand urged him back against the wall, the motion desperate.

"Not now," Cloud whispered in a pleading tone. "It's not the right moment."

Zack's jaw clenched, his molars grinding as he pushed back the despair at the soon to be a loss of opportunity. It was perfect to strike both of them down, but Cloud was right. It wasn't the right moment.

"Very well." Angeal sounded resigned as if he wanted to sweep the entire matter under the rug and be done with it. "If you will not heed my advice, then I ask that you retrieve your own specimens from this point on-"

"I am maintaining my side of the bargain." Hojo began softly, his tone a razor's edge away from a cold rage that shook even Zack to his bones. "Are you telling me that you cannot do the same?"

"I have a reputation-"

"A reputation." Hojo interrupted swiftly, sweetly. "That you are gradually losing a grip of, correct? Lord Fair no longer sees you as part of his House and I see that he is gracious enough to allow it to not become public knowledge. Yet. Which is generous of him, considering the almost fanatic love the people have for House Fair."

"House Hewley will recover from the sins that I brought upon it," Angeal remarked softly. "The Lord Fair is a good, kind, and honest man. He will not punish all for one person's mistake. The same can be said of the Crescent and Rhaspodos Houses. Now." Angeal's booted feet could be hard approaching Hojo. "I have come down here to discuss something with you, Hojo."

"Oh?" Hojo remarked lightly. "And what will that be?"

"I-" Angeal hesitated and Zack drew a deep breath as his stomach fluttered. Angeal only hesitated when he had no wish to upset the opposite party. It was possible that Angeal was set on breaking his alliance with Hojo, Sephiroth and Genesis.

"I no longer wish to be a part of this debacle." Angeal continued firmly. "I will not waste more lives on a project that will lead to nowhere."

"Nowhere?" Hojo pressed lightly as if he couldn't believe what the man in front of him was saying. "You think my project will lead to nowhere?"

"It will not," Angeal responded. "We continue to fail to find a cure for me along with Sephiroth and Genesis. I will meet with them and-" Angeal's words were suddenly halted and curiously, Zack peered back out only to pale at the sight before him. Mere feet away, Hojo stood in front of Angeal with a manic grin and a sword sticking through Angeal's stomach. He watched, shaken, as Hojo ruthlessly pulled the blade out allowed Angeal's body to crumple to the ground.

"I produce excellent results." Hojo's manic grin spread further as he wiped the blade clean of blood with his white coat. "It is you who cannot bring me decent specimens, but that is alright, my dear, you'll do just fine. Azul!"

At the mention of the Bloodhound, Zack slid back behind the wall as a massive figure approached at the beckon. Zack could only watch in horror as Angeal's cooling body was lifted from the floor and placed on the table as if he was a piece of meat. It was seeing his Uncle treated as if he was nothing that was the last straw for Zack and before Cloud could call him back, Zack slid out from behind the wall and drew his blade, the sing of the metal catching the men's attention.

"Well." Hojo breathed, less than impressed at his appearance. "If it isn't Lord Fair." Hojo's eyes slid to Angeal's cooling corpse. "He spoke highly of you, but of course, you know that, don't you?"

"Silence." Zack hissed, his fangs sliding out, slicing his bottom lip and his eyes turning a crimson red that gave even Azul pause. "What is this? What are you doing to my people?"

"I have nothing to explain to the likes of you." Hojo dismissed him with a wave of the hand. "I have another experiment to conduct and with Angeal's body as a sample, I am positive that I can earn even more positive results. Azul, if you would?"

Azul's blue eyes gleamed in the low light of the room at the order and spread his feet and lowered himself to Zack's height with a wicked smile that spoke of the joy he would have at ripping his opponent apart piece by piece.

"I have always wondered what the battle prowess of the Alpha of Midgar would be like and I am elated that I have lived long enough to witness and be your opponent." Azul's lips stretched further. "Come, Alpha, show me your anger, despair." Azul's fist clenched and in the midst of Zack's anger, he witnessed an eerie glow in Azul's deep blue eyes and gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. This would not be a battle easily won, but it would be a battle won:

For Midgar. His People.

And for Angeal.