The three SOLDIERS stared at the screen, horrified, as Aeris' eyes closed and opened again, face falling into shock as she slumped forward, her head bobbing like a rag doll. Sephiroth didn't care about the lack of blood or how stiff the rest of her body seemed… He could only stare at the screen – at the game that somehow thought he would murder a defenseless girl, in front of one of her closest friends, and shake his head, denying what he was seeing.

Thumps like heartbeats sounded in the background as Game Sephiroth looked up, smug smile on his face. Then he slid the sword out and Aeris fell forward, her ribbon coming undone as she did. Something fell out of it, small and round and… white? Green? It fell in slow motion, bouncing once, twice, and then falling down onto the pillars and finally into the water as Aeris' song played in the background. The materia – for that is what it had to be – fell into the water and sank.

Meanwhile, Cloud rushed forward to catch Aeris as Game Sephiroth stood in the back, his hands upheld to each side and chin up, almost exultant. The blond shook Aeris, as if to wake her, but she didn't respond. He said it couldn't be real. Meanwhile, Game Sephiroth went on about how she would become part of the planet's energy. All that was left was to go north over the snowy fields to the Promised Land.

None of the observers commented, still staring, stunned, at the screen.

Game Sephiroth went on, but Cloud interrupted him, telling him to shut up. That his stupid plan didn't mean a thing.

"Where was that backbone before?" Genesis said, although his voice sounded a little weak.

Sephiroth still couldn't bring himself to do more than stare at the scene, let alone get his brain or mouth to work again.

Cloud went on to ask what anything meant because now Aeris was gone and wouldn't laugh, or cry, or get angry and what were they supposed to do? What was this pain? His mouth was dry, his fingers tingling, his eyes burning...

"An accurate portrayal of grief and shock," Genesis went on, sounding only marginally steadier.

Then Game Sephiroth slowly looked down at Cloud and lowered his arms.

Then he asked if Cloud was saying he had feelings now.

"Of course he does!" Angeal practically growled at the screen, the controller creaking in his grip.

Cloud agreed as he shot to his feet and turned around, obviously angry.

Game Sephiroth told him to stop acting as if he had emotions because he was… then he trailed off and shot into the air, vanishing seconds later. Something that looked like another materia dropped behind him, and then they were thrown into a fight against another enormous monster. Jenova-LIFE. These people certainly did love their irony.

Also, Tifa and Barrett were there now. Just where had they been not minutes before?! This is what happened when people made stupid decisions – other people died.

And this was still a game! An accurate game – a potentially whistle-blowing game, but still a game! Even if this portrayed him in the worst light possible, it shouldn't make him this angry!

Once Angeal finished the battle, the three game characters stood around Aeris' body. Barrett walked over, bowed to her, head curled down in grief. Then he stood, strode over to Cloud, placed a hand on his shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of silent support and awareness. Then he left.

Tifa walked over and knelt by her, brushing the corpse's hair out of her face. Then she stood, put a hand to her mouth, turned and ran down the stairs, leaving Cloud with the body of the flower girl. He made his way over, picked her up bridal style, then turned and marched after the other two. Then they all stood outside the spiky shell, in the lake around it as Cloud walked Aeris into the water.

The game again switched to a more rendered view of the group as he held her, eyes closed and head lolling to one side, in the water. He let her go, and stepped back, then watched as she sank… wait…

"Bodies don't sink," Angeal said with a frown. Well, it seemed he'd regained his voice as well.

"No, they don't," Genesis agreed. "Special water, perhaps?"

Angeal looked over, one brow raised in skepticism. "You're making excuses for this now?"

The red-head shot his old friend a dirty look and then turned back as Aeris continued to sink, her hair coming undone as she did, floating around her. She fell to the bottom and the screen faded to black. The music also faded off.

When the screen faded in again, Cloud, Tifa and Barrett stood in one of the shell-houses from before. Cloud wanted everyone to listen to him, and then stated his name, that he was an ex-SOLDIER from Nibelheim. He came to the Forgotten City to settle with Sephiroth.

How he stated his name, title and birthplace seemed… ominous, to the Silver General.

Tifa asked what was going on.

Cloud went on to say he'd come there of his own free will… or so he'd thought. He said that in honesty, he'd been afraid of himself – that there was a part of himself he didn't understand. That was the part that had given the Black Materia to Game Sephiroth. That if they hadn't stopped him, Cloud may have killed Aeris himself. Then he stated that there was someone inside of him… who wasn't really him.

"My friend, the fates are cruel," Genesis said softly. "No dreams, no honor remains. The Arrow has left the bow of the Goddess."

No one else said anything as Cloud turned back around to face his two companions, saying that was why he should quit – before he did something terrible.

Sephiroth wasn't sure what to think of that. On one hand, Cloud was compromised. On the other, quitting had never sat well with him. Of course, neither did killing innocent, unarmed girls while they were praying. His mind was a little too distracted to really come to a conclusion about whether Cloud should go or stay at this point.

Cloud had already done terrible things, though. And apparently he realized that, because he said he was going on anyway. That Game Sephiroth destroyed his home town, killed Aeris, and was trying to destroy the planet.

Then he said he could never forgive Sephiroth.

The Silver General stood. If he didn't do something, he may very well break his table. Breaking things in his apartment didn't strike him as the best way to deal with… everything. Angeal and Genesis looked over to him, although he couldn't see their expressions out of the corner of his eye. His gaze remained locked on his name sitting there on the screen, accusing him.

"Sephiroth?" Angeal asked cautiously.

The silver-haired man just turned and began to pace along the side of the room, trying to get his thoughts in order.

"We need to stop," the brunet finally said.

For once, Sephiroth didn't argue.

"We need to get to a save point," Genesis pointed out, "or we will have to watch that all over again."

The Silver General paused in his stride at that, but still didn't say anything. Angeal handed the controller over to Genesis.

"Keep going," he said softly, then got up and approached Sephiroth. He didn't say anything, but he didn't focus on the game again, instead locking his gaze onto his friend as he took a seat on the arm of the couch.

"Will you be alright?" he asked.

Sephiroth didn't know. He didn't know, but he didn't want to say that aloud. Not in front of the both of them… or at all, really. He didn't know what to say, what to think, what to feel…

His non-answer must have worried them because Angeal's brow furrowed and Genesis' lips thinned.

"Keep playing," he finally said.

"Sephiroth," Angeal started, but cut off at the look he got in response.

"I don't want to see that again," he said.

The brunet's brow furrowed harder and he looked like he wanted to protest, but Genesis spoke up.

"Very well," he said. "I will inform you of what is going on."

Sephiroth appreciated that. Angeal didn't look pleased, but again, he didn't say anything, instead folding his arms and keeping his gaze on his pacing friend.

"He asks everyone to come with him," Genesis said.

The Silver General nodded, as did Angeal.

"To save him from doing something terrible," the red-head continued with a scoff.

Sephiroth clenched his hand and turned, pacing the length of the room again.

"They are unsure, naturally," Genesis said. "But Cloud says they still have a chance to finish Aeris' work and get the Black Materia back. He's telling them to go… and… that's it."

The other two SOLDIERS looked over at the screen, just catching it as it faded to black. Then words appeared across the screen.

'End part 1. Insert Disk 2.'

Sephiroth felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. They were only one third of the way through the story line? Presuming the other two disks were part of the story and not something else, like extras.

He wasn't sure he could take two more disks of this. Not right now. He hated that. It made him feel weak.

"It said I could save it, but as I am unsure as to how this transition should go, I believe we should play on until we come to a save point on the next disk," Genesis said, still surprisingly calm. Sephiroth couldn't tell if it was one of his facades or if he really was somehow managing to be calm.

Sephiroth clenched his teeth, but nodded at the red-head, then went back to pacing. After a couple of seconds, he heard Genesis get up and shuffle around, changing the disks, then go to sit back down. Sephiroth glanced over at the screen to see it fade back into the forgotten city with Cloud standing in the doorway of one of the houses.

He looked away again as Genesis moved Cloud along the path. His friend must have realized it because he began narrating again.

"Tifa is wondering which way Sephiroth went. Cloud… is holding his head and sees a shadow of… Game Sephiroth's moving along the pathway towards the top of the screen. He's saying to go that way, head North, past the Snow Fields… are they heading towards the Northern Crater?"

Sephiroth didn't particularly care at this point.

"I'm heading that way," Genesis said after a few moments of relative quiet.

He spoke again after a few moments. "It looks as if I have come across another area of travel, treasure and fighting, so probably nothing very important to the story."

Good. Sephiroth just wanted to save the stupid thing and be done with it.

The fight music came on and Sephiroth found he could appreciate the normalcy of it. For the game, in any case. The game moved on, just as life did…

He still hated it.

Then the victory theme sounded, and Genesis continued. "It is having me run down the outside of the giant shell I just ran up the inside of," he said, annoyed.

The music changed suddenly.

"I entered a cave," Genesis said slowly. "And… apparently he can now climb up the sides of the walls in certain places, despite never being able to climb before when it made sense or even jump except at certain places."

Sephiroth appreciated the sarcasm dripping from his voice. More normalcy. And was it just him, or did Genesis sound particularly vindictive.

He supposed he should count himself lucky that he hadn't lost any furniture due to their reactions to the game.

More silence from the SOLDIERS and the new music interspersed with the battle music. Then Angeal spoke.

"Go down. There's probably something at the bottom." Sephiroth glanced over to see Cloud jump onto what looked like a ladder. What on Gaia was a ladder doing in a cave here?

"This is ridiculous," Genesis said, but he did climb down… and found more materia. "Completely ridiculous."

And apparently the entire cave was littered with treasures. Genesis had, begrudgingly, gotten them all and moved on to find even more treasure boxes.

"Why is everything in a treasure box?" Angeal asked. "That's not how real life works."

"An excellent point," Genesis commented as he went to fight another battle.

Once he'd won and run outside, Sephiroth almost breathed a sigh of relief as they had appeared back on the world map screen.

Practically reading his mind, Genesis quickly saved the game. Then he looked over at Angeal.

"Do I simply turn it off?"

One corner of Angeal's mouth moved towards the opposite side of his face as he contemplated. "As far as I know," he said.

Genesis stood and moved in front of the screen, his hand hovering over the power button. Then he hit it and the screen went dark, still showing a little light and buzzing, but otherwise remaining black. Then the red-clad man hit the power button on the screen and the apartment fell into an uneasy silence that felt, somehow, too still.

Sephiroth went back to pacing.

"We know you would never do that," Angeal said after a few moments.

Sephiroth appreciated that, he did, but he… wasn't so sure he wouldn't. Not anymore. Amazing what could make one question so much of themselves.

"It… isn't merely that," he finally said, voice tight. He took another couple of steps – another couple of breaths – and then went on. "It is the fact that… they think so."

"Whoever 'they' is," Genesis said, voice low and serious.

Sephiroth paused and then saw the notebook he'd had before. He'd taken the occasional note, but now… perhaps it would help to get his thoughts down on paper, even if he had a hyperthymesia, or a nigh-perfect memory. It could offer a new perspective and make sure Angeal and Genesis were on the same page as him. He walked over and lifted the bound paper, flipping to a new page and picking up the pen near him.

"That is indeed the question," Sephiroth said. "We need to find out who this company – this...," he looked at the game cover. It had the name of the game station written on the side as well as its logo, a picture of Cloud from behind and below, holding his sword on his back as he looked up at a simplified version of the ShinRa building. At the bottom, it had a word that could only be the name of a company, "...Squaresoft is."

He wrote that down at the top.

"We have to find out who the mole is," Angeal said once he'd finished. "It has to be someone very high up. One of the heads or a Senior Turk would be my guess."

Sephiroth nodded and wrote that down.

"Then we have… quite a few things to check, starting with the Nibelheim Reactor."

The Silver General nodded and wrote that down as well. "Which one of you is going, then?" he asked.

Silence.

He glanced up and saw both of his friends watching him closely.

"It must be one of you," he insisted. The 'just in case' he would never actually say still seemed awfully loud to him.

Angeal's lips thinned into a line, but then he spoke with a firm nod. "I'll go, and I'll take Zack with me. We can check on Cid and the rocket, Shera and the Tiny Bronco. If I'm lucky I may even be able to head to Cosmo Canyon and speak with Bugenhagen or find Nanaki."

Sephiroth nodded. A sound idea. Zack was still a SOLDIER Third, but it would be a good idea to have backup, and no one would question Angeal taking his protege. He wrote that down then looked up at Genesis.

"I told you I'm going north," the red-head said, voice dry with a forced nonchalance that almost hid the man's underlying tension. Almost. "I'll look for a mission to that area as soon as possible. I will be looking for that Lunar Harp, the materia in the area, of course, the Forgotten City itself, etc."

Sephiroth nodded and wrote that down. Then he frowned down at the paper.

"That leaves me to check up on the local issues…" of which there were quite a few. Firstly, he wanted to speak with the Cadet Cloud Strife and interrogate him. He already had a list of questions in mind. He also wanted to do some hacking into the Science Department computers and see what he could find. Hojo… may not be coming out of this alive.

"I will head over to the chocobo farms by the swamp and see if I can find anything about 'Choco-Bill' and his family. I can also check the swamp for the Zolom. I don't think I will be able to make it to Junon, though."

Angeal spoke up again. "Zack and I will likely stop there on our way to the Western Continent. There isn't much to check in the actual city, but I should be able to get under the plate there at least. We won't be able to look around too much, but a glance or two should be able to tell us what we need to know."

Sephiroth nodded and jotted that down as well.

"I will compile a list of everything we need to look into today and we can meet together tonight and divvy them."

The other two nodded, although Angeal looked as if he had something on his mind. Then he said, "Are we going to bring Zack or this… Cloud in on this? What about the Turks?" Then he glanced at Genesis. "The jammer is still working, right?"

Genesis looked at the device and picked it up. "It is, but I will need to recharge it soon."

The other two SOLDIERS nodded.

"The fact that it lasted this long is impressive. Where did you get it?"

"I requisitioned it from Tuesti, actually. For above board purposes, of course. Then, tragically, I lost it on one of my missions."

For the first time in what felt like a very long time (but was likely only a couple of hours), Sephiroth felt his lips twitch in amusement. Angeal outright grinned and shook his head while Genesis just sat there looking smug.

"Speaking of," Genesis went on, although his voice had sobered considerably, "are we going to be looking into the board members?"

Sephiroth felt any mirth vanish as if made of smoke. "I will be looking into Hojo immediately… myself. As for the others, they will likely be on the list tonight."

"We probably shouldn't look into everything immediately," Angeal said, suddenly on edge. "It might tip off the Turks or, well, anyone, to the fact that something isn't right. We don't know what we're going to find, so we need to do all of our work and stick to our normal schedules as much as possible. We can't just jump into everything unless we plan on ousting ourselves immediately."

Sephiroth nodded, conceding the point as much as he hated to admit it.

"So we go looking for normal missions today," Angeal went on, "things we would normally do, and only look in and above anything else when we have free time, and even then, we should be cautious."

"If that is the case, then we have…" Genesis looked down at this watch, "fourteen minutes until we will be late to our morning physical practice."

Angeal and Sephiroth both took out their PHSes and saw the time. 6:16 AM.

"Well," Angeal said, standing up. "Then I suggest we hurry."

The other two agreed.

"I would request that we all clean up," Sephiroth said, gesturing to his… rather cluttered receiving room. The other two looked around at the mess. Genesis protested almost immediately, but Angeal just smacked his arm and began to pick everything up. Grumbling, the red-head joined in and the three of them tidied up. Sephiroth made a note to take his garbage bins out. Many neared overflowing for the first time that he could remember.

Seven minutes later, the other two left his apartment and quickly made their way to their own quarters to freshen up a little before heading to the gym. Sephiroth rarely took showers before his morning exercise, so he didn't have much to do except change his clothes into something cleaner. The same black pants, the same skin-showing undershirt that was closer to a vest (partially because he liked the feel of the air on his skin there, and partially because the PR team said it attracted good attention) that kept his coat from absorbing dirt and sweat too quickly, a fast protein shake for breakfast and he was out the door at 6:27, just enough time to make it to the gym he liked to use.

Unsurprisingly, he was the first one there. At 6:32, Genesis strode through the door as if he owned the building and came over to Sephiroth, who had been stretching. Without a word, the red-head joined him. Five minutes after that, Angeal came through the door, giant sword strapped to his back as usual. More unusual was the frown on his face as he looked at his PHS.

The other two paused in their stretches as Angeal flipped said phs shut and then put it in his pocket, still looking troubled.

"What's wrong?" Sephiroth asked.

Angeal blinked as if realizing he wasn't alone for the first time. "It's nothing, I'm sure," he said, trying to be dismissive and failing miserably.

Genesis and Sephiroth exchanged glances.

Then Genesis, being Genesis, quoted Loveless. "My friend, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I?"

Angeal blinked, looked back and forth between the two of them, then slumped, a small smile on his face. "It's just that as soon as I opened my phone, I got a lot of missed calls from Zack and several missed texts. No voice messages, though, and the texts ask me if I'm feeling okay, if you're feeling okay, if Sephiroth is feeling okay… He's empathetic, but this is unusual, even for him. I immediately texted him back. Zack usually responds as soon as I text him, but he hasn't yet. That's all. It could be something as simple as him leaving his phs in his room or maybe he forgot to charge it yesterday as he had the day off and it broke his routine.

"He knows when practice is. If he doesn't show up, I'll go looking for him, but knowing Zack, it likely isn't anything major. He probably just heard a rumor and got overly excited or worried. He does that. I think I'm just… on edge after…" he faded off and gestured back the way he'd come. Sephiroth and Genesis both nodded, understanding. Unfortunately, they were back to having to watch their words. He was glad Angeal had remembered.

"I really should introduce him to you," the brunet continued as he set his sword to the side and joined his fellow SOLDIERS. "I didn't want to overwhelm him at first, and I know how excitable he can be, but now, I think that would be a good idea."

Sephiroth nodded again. "I look forward to meeting him."

"You've practically told us everything about him," Genesis scoffed. "In my opinion, we already know him."

"But he doesn't know you," Angeal replied, falling into his familiar banter easily. He grunted as he stretched his legs out to the side as far as they could go. "Please don't be too cruel to him."

Genesis scoffed. "If he can't handle a little riling, then you've been exaggerating about his character."

Angeal sighed. "Genesis…" he said.

"He will behave himself," Sephiroth said.

Genesis just scoffed.

Then Sephiroth stood, called his sword to him and turned towards the other two. "We often work on our own, but today, I would like to spar… if you think you can hold yourself back enough to not destroy the room."

The red-head looked genuinely offended. Angeal just gave a small, but razor-sharp smile. Sephiroth returned it. He really needed this. Thankfully, they seemed to know how badly and were likely looking forward to their own release too.

"I will wait until you're ready."

The other two rose to their feet, then exchanged a glance and charged.

They lost themselves in battle. It was a release they sorely needed.

Half an hour later, they all breathed hard, undoubtedly feeling much better. They… may not have held back as much as Sephiroth had wished, but he didn't mind. He'd pay for the repairs if he had to. After a few minutes of just being there with his friends and enjoying their company, he walked to the center of the room and began his cool-down kata routine – one he'd learned from a Wutaian instructor years ago, long before the war.

A little ways away, Genesis began his own cool-down routine as did Angeal. They still didn't speak, but then, they didn't need to.

At 6:45, they all walked out and headed back to their rooms to shower. It had been a short morning session, but it had also been enough for today. At seven, they would all set off to their own areas to begin their morning duties. They'd meet in the commissary at eight as usual.

Despite having spent all night with his friends, he was looking forward to it.

xXx

AN: I hope it wasn't disappointing that nothing got broken, but I think seeing these three young but war-hardened SOLDIERS go into shock is a bit more powerful. Too powerful for a reaction to the game? Thoughts? Ideas? Let me know. I'd love to hear what you think. Just please be respectful.

So, I have an embarassment of riches this time around. One of my discord watchers let her children read my fic and not only has the term 'game insanity' been adapted into their vocabulary (SO MUCH LUV), but her youngest drew me art! Admittedly, it is based on another picture she saw, but I'm still so touched and honored I can't even...

media dot discordapp dot net /attachments /770755076515561483 /793987548317220905 /image0 dot jpg ?width=436&height=582

media dot discordapp dot net /attachments /770755076515561483 /794090081723482122 /image0 dot jpg ?width=436&height=582

Without spaces, dot = . etc. You probably know the drill. But still. SO MUCH LUV.

Also, a continuation from my favorite Advanced Release comics!

The first part (already posted, but for a brush up): sta dot sh /0o4z8uo07r6 (Without spaces, dot =.)

The second part: sta dot sh /0e5lnonl950 (Without spaces, dot =.)

I absolutely LOVE THESE so much, I can't even... *dies* *with stars in eyes*

And finally, a funny little piece that went down a bit of a crack train when one of my discord peeps said he couldn't draw except stick figures. I told him that was fine, and we'd been discussing the very crackish idea (that won't happen in the fic, but it was still funny) of Sephiroth showing up with Aerith and somehow it devolved into him hugging her. So she's utterly confused and he's just sorry... but yeah, not exactly the tone I'm going for, but man it caused some great laughs. So here's that:

cdn dot discordapp dot com /attachments /728052442637271151 /795189018781679616 /Sephiroth_Aerith dot png (Without spaces, dot =.)

I greatly love and appreciate all fan-art and am honored that people want to draw for my story.

If anyone else has pictures they'd like to show me you can either send me a pm with spaces and all the periods as., or you can check out DAsObiQuiet on AO3 and drop me a link in a comment on Advanced Release (or any of my other stories) over there.

You can also join my discord at: discord dot gg /vFmPXjd4nr (Without spaces, dot =.) It's a great community, not super busy but enough that there are great discussions, workshops, places for ideas and art, some feedback and a heck-ton of geeking out. Also memes... because memes. Would love to see you there!

Hope you had a wonderful New Years! Bring on 2021 and let it be better than 2020! Woo hoo!