Eloise was asleep when Genesis let the mask fall. He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over her. He caressed her cheek and sighed. She looked young as if she was still in her twenties, but she was nothing like the Eloise he had met when she joined SOLDIER. She resembled Sephiroth, the only detail that was different was her hair, which remained the same black color as Zack's.

"I'm sorry, Eloise," Genesis muttered.

His eyes moved down her body to her side. She had her back turned to him therefore her wounded side was up. He raised the edge of her shirt enough to show the wound. Firstly, it looked bad. She wasn't bleeding but she did have a line of blue electricity along her skin. He touched it but it didn't electrocute him, instead, it just stuck on his fingers like jelly. As soon as he touched her, he saw something white in front of his eyes before the image of Sephiroth came into his mind. He got up with a jolt and looked at her.

When she woke up, Genesis wasn't there. She rubbed her head and got up. She walked down the hall and descended the stairs into what looked to be an improvised living space. She could hear him talking to someone on the phone and saw his back tense.

"I thought about it and I think I will stick around for the time being," She heard him say.

She could only guess who the other person was. Once she walked in, Genesis hung up.

"What? Did the chivalry call?" She asked knowing it was the turks who probably found him. He only blinked and watched her as she walked into his kitchen, "You're living in quite a luxurious bunker, aren't you?" She asked taking a long look around. It somehow resembled his room in SOLDIER.

"For the past month, the life stream has been...unsettled. Something is happening, something is coming," Genesis said with a serious expression. But Eloise just chuckled, having this nostalgic moment while looking at him.

"And?"

"We both know what's struggling to return. He's the only one strong and stubborn enough to receive such a reaction from the stream,"

"So what do you want me to do? Tell him to stop? Tell him to stay dead?" she asked walking into his kitchen.

"His actions are hurting the life stream, and implicitly you. The amount of mako in your body is enough to make you react to him,"

"My body is not responding to the life stream, it's going through a phase that I have gone through in the past. It's not something that can be stopped unless I am killed." she said looking at her hands, "What have you been doing this whole time?" she asked glancing at him over her shoulder.

"I travelled. The world has changed while I was dormant," He said and walked to the fridge. He grabbed something from it and put it in front of her. "You should eat something,"

She looked down at the food in front of her, a bowl of something that didn't smell pleasing. She scrunched her nose in disgust and pushed it aside.

"Are you living with only vegetable soup?" She asked pushing him aside and taking a look into his fridge. "I'll cook something," she announced rolling her sleeves up.

"Can you cook?" He asked with a scoff. In his mind, she was still Eloise, the young girl whom he always met at the elevator.

"It may not look like it but I am already in my thirties. I can do as much as cooking a decent meal,"

"She's with him. She's safe for now," Tseng announced to the little group of men.

Reno, Cloud, and Rufus were in Rufus' office. Eloise left in such a hurry that no one knew where to look for her. Genesis informed Tseng immediately as he brought her to his bunker.

"Can we trust him?" Cloud asked feeling incredibly worried. He made a promise to Zack to protect her and it was slipping through his fingers.

Rufus glanced at Reno, who didn't seem concerned. The red-haired turk knew well that Genesis would be the last person in the world to stand by and watch Eloise be in pain.

"Can we, Reno?" Rufus asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. The redhead rubbed his neck and thought of an acceptable answer.

"Well, they do have history."

"Are you done? The smell can attract desert wolves," He asked, annoyed mostly because she entered his kitchen and blocked him outside.

"We're not in the desert," She muttered to herself.

Genesis glared at the door and clicked his tongue. She was the same stubborn Eloise he knew. He was going to break down the door when she pulled it open.

"It's done. Your fridge is a replica of the one in SOLDIER."

He hurried past her and checked the room. Nothing was out of place except the two plates of what looked to be omelettes.

Once they sat at the table and started to eat, she started to think about different things from the past.

"Do you still read Loveless?"

He looked up at her and smirked.

"Why? Do you miss it?"

"...no," she replied, because honestly, she didn't miss Genesis reading from it and quoting it at every moment. But Loveless was the story of three friends who lost themselves and Eloise couldn't help but compare it to real-life events.

"Where are you living now?" Genesis asked, genuinely curious about her life.

"Edge,"

"Are you living alone?"

"No. I live with Cloud," she replied trying to keep herself in check.

"Who's Cloud?" Genesis asked with a scowl.

She grabbed a hand through her hair and rubbed her neck.

"The young man who killed Sephiroth. I made a promise to Zack and I kept it. I trained Cloud for a while but I couldn't go on as if nothing happened, so I left SOLDIER in the end." Eloise explained.

"You could control the energy well. What happened that triggered the disturbance?" Her eyes hardened and she looked down at her hands. "It's not just Sephiroth, is it?" Genesis asked wanting her to tell him what was going on with her mind.

"I had Geostigma two years ago. I had to face everything I've been through all over again so it triggered some old memories," she said cutting her omelette and taking a bite.

"Are you alright Eloise?" Genesis asked staring at her with mixed feelings.

Eloise looked up at the red-haired man with cold eyes that resembled her mentor's too well.

"I joined SOLDIER because I wanted to follow in my brother's steps. I wanted to help people in need, to save them. But ever since I became an infantryman I killed more than I saved. Ever since I joined, I have been nothing but tested on, to the point I have become someone else completely. And then I lost my brother, my mentor, my friends...my heart. So no, Genesis, I've never been alright." She said with so much bitterness and sadness that it made Genesis frown. "I should leave," she said and got up, going straight for the door.

"You don't know this area,"

She stopped and glanced at him with a chuckle.

"I'm not a child, I can manage,"

She said that and opened the door but the sight she met was different. Although she knew it was a more isolated part of the former city, it looked dark. Her eyes raised to the sky and she gasped.

"What's going on?" Genesis asked coming next to her.

"The sky. A storm is coming," she said.

But Genesis raised an eyebrow confused. It was a clear day and there wasn't even one cloud in the sky. He turned to her and he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. Genesis felt himself grow tense at the way her eyes looked as if the life stream itself filled them.

"Eloise..." he whispered when she coughed on his hand. He let her go because she started to cough more and she vomited blood. It was so much that she needed to lean against Genesis before her eyes closed slowly.

Genesis knew that he needed to get her to the lab immediately. But he also knew there was very little they could do to save her.