"Lean!"

It was a rainy Saturday night just like always in the end of march. My co-worker was calling for me at least the seventh time when I could finally make my way to her. "LEAN!" – okay eight-time it was.

"Just chill out May – I was still cleaning up the mess your dog left behind." I was mildly annoyed at that time already. It's not that I don't like dogs, it's just Voucher I don't really can warm up to. That golden labrador could be described in just one word: chaos.

"Ahhh – what did he do this time? Anyways there are still customers incoming and I really, really, wanted to close up the bar by now. Could you maybe take care of that?" The brown haired woman looked at me again with her puppy eyes. I nodded silently sighing. A small thank you could be heard as I passed her into the premises of Jasons' bar. It wasn't really that extraordinary just a small bar which was built in the sixties and never fundamentally overhauled since then – which wasn't going unnoticed by the swollen wooden floorboards. There were about ten tables and three small seating groups which consisted of six padded benches. Overall the most people thought this was some shady place when they first entered the bar but the staff made up for that. Which might be because of the staff being me and four other girl's in their twenties. And then there was Jason, who was forty-five and sometimes a bit too close for comfort.

Over all the bar wasn't that great but the money was okay what was all that counted for now. Maybe that was why I was surprised by the person that walked into the bar. Not the everyday customer. Blonde curvy hair up to the hips and the slim body. Her green eyes looked cold but calm at the same time. When she noticed me she gave me a warm smile that startled me a bit and got a seat on the bar itself.

"Ah – I know it's already late but maybe you would be as kind as to still serve me something to warm up a bit from this weather." Her voice was melodic and calm. And the look she gave me was so hopeful that I just couldn't say no.

"We just wanted to close up but maybe I could still get you a small cup of coffee." I offered her. The woman nodded "Coffee – yes that would be nice."

So I went to get a cup and shoved it under the at least fifteen years old coffee machine and pressed on the one-cup-button. The machine roared to life which made me flinch slightly and then calmed down to the sound of coffee flowing into the cup.

"Here you go – that's 4 Dollars please." I said while placing the coffee in front of her on the counter. "Dollar?" The woman stared at me while tilting her head. That was when the small or rather big bundle of golden chaos waltzed right through the backdoors from the cellar and barking loudly.

My attention immediately shifted to the two years old labrador and the apple he seemed to have snatched up "Ough Voucher! Get back in there!"

"Hmm- I think you might just do absolutely great."

I could just hear a loud "I'm so sorry Lean." coming from behind the now again closed doors. After chasing Voucher through the room I finally could get ahold of it near the fireplace. That was when May came into the room.

"I knew you would be able to get rid of them Lean. But I didn't think it would be this fast." May dusted of her clothes after she stepped through the door. This caught me off guard. "What do you mean? I still served that woman the-." When I turned around the customer was gone and the cup off coffee too. "How?"

May narrowed her eyes with a worried look on her face "What do you mean?". "May, there just was this woman and I served her coffee – but where did she go?" I scanned the whole bar but there where only three doors. One to the backrooms which meant the kitchen, one to the toilettes for which the woman would have had to pass me by and the front door which was always in my field of sight. There was no trace of the woman except – "look, the coffee machine is still on – I turned it on to serve her that coffee."

May went around the counter to the coffee machine and picked up a full cup of coffee next to it. "You mean this coffee right here?" she must've thought I'm crazy by now. "May I swear there was a customer." I tried to convince her. She slowly shook her head and began to laugh "You know Lean, maybe you should finally take a break – you've worked three weeks in a row without one day off – anyone would see ghosts by then. Why don't you go home and I take care of the rest of cleaning and closing up? And might as well drink that coffee instead of letting it go to waste." She shoved the coffee into my direction. "I guess you're right" sighing I took the cup and downed it in one go. May went back into the kitchen. "See you tomorrow."

"Until tomorrow then." I waved at her and stared into the now empty cup. That was when something caught my eyes. Something shiny at the end of the counter – how could May not have noticed it. What seemed like a small glass carafe stood right there in plain sight. Something slightly green or blue was contained in it but it was something I've never seen before. What was that? Some kind of drug?

Slowly I grabbed the bottle and held it into the light of the dusty chandelier. The substance in the bottle was indeed shining a bit. Strange.

"Woof" – I flinched again when Voucher barked at me. "You god damned dog." mumbling under my breath I took the small bottle, put it into the pocket of my jacket and zipped it up. Better I keep it before that labrador gets ahold of it.

Gently patting the dog on the head I went my way to the front door. "I guess your owner is right – I should definitely take a break."

When I went through the front door the cold rain hit me straight in the face. I really should've taken my car instead of walking here. Wrapping my jacket tighter around my body I went and got on my way home.

With every step I took the rain seemed to get more and more heavy. My shoes were already soaked. After a few more steps the water seemed to be rising. What the hell? A flood? I looked around me panicking slightly – the water already reaching my knuckles. How is this possible? Then I noticed something else – no one was on the streets – not one person at all. By now I could feel the water at my knees and it was harder and harder to withstand the pull of the water on my legs. "Hey! Help!" I desperately screamed while holding onto some lantern on the streets. "Anyone please – help me!"

But no one seemed to hear my shouts. There has to be someone. How can the water even reach this high – this can't be real. When the water reached over my hips I wasn't able to hold onto anything anymore and slipped away. The water was ice cold and pulled on my body. I couldn't scream. Trying to hold my breath and kicking my legs to reach for the ground I couldn't feel anything. It was like I felt into a deep and wild river that just sucked me under. After what felt like forever I couldn't hold my breath in anymore.

I am dying. If I can't get up I will die.

My chest burned and it felt like multiple knives entered my ribcage and then my mouth opened and the last thing I realized was water entering my moth and nose.

And pain – absolutely agonizing pain.

Then nothing.

Cold.

Coldness was the first thing I felt.

The next thing was a burning in my chest which caused me to cough hardly. After coughing a few times I threw up water for at least a minute.

Groaning I rose to my knees, my elbows on the ground and breathing heavily. For a moment I didn't know what happened or how I got here. But the memories came back pretty fast. The water, the screaming and then just dark nothingness.

Everything hurt when I sat back taking in my surroundings. Round concrete walls surrounded me.

Seems like a tunnel…

It was pretty dark and moist, water splashing under me when I slowly got to stand up. Am I in some kind of sewer-system?

The dimmed tube lights above my head were the only light source – no daylight in sight. Behind me there was a wall so there was only one way to go – straight ahead. Taking a few more steps into the tunnel system I decided to try my luck.

"Hello? Is there someone there?"

My voice echoed through the tunnel but no one answered. Just cold nothingness and the sound of the lights buzzing above me. So I did the only thing I could: continue walking. With every move my body was aching and protesting to just rest but something in me told me to go on.

After what felt like hours of just going straight forward, but where most likely thirty minutes, I could hear something. Is this a growl? But here shouldn't be anything living here that growls. Well, at least if I'm still near home.

I laughed at that. Of course I should be near home, there is no way that tide would be able to carry me thousand of miles anywhere without killing me. Killing…it felt like I was drowning. I stopped for a second and shook my head trying to get rid of that thought as soon as possible.

I am here. I am alive. And I am going to get out of here somehow.

I tried to reassure myself but somehow I still had this bad feeling in the back of my mind. Looking behind me I wondered if the water would maybe come back?

"Hey! Watch out!"

Everything happened so fast.

My head whipped around to the source of the voice. Running at me was a person. A male person. But something wasn't right. Is he carrying a sword?

Scared I took a step back not knowing what to make of this. Somehow he looked familiar but I couldn't quite grab at it. What am I doing. He is running at me with a damn sword. I should run away. Right as I went to turn around he shouted at me again seemingly stressed out.

"Hey! Get down! Don`t just stand there! Do you want to die?"

When the man fastened his pace even more my body worked on autopilot. I turned around ready to run away from him but stopped immediately when I realized why that man was shouting at me.

There. Right in front of me stood a…thing?

"What?" I whispered slowly moving backwards looking at that what I could only describe as a monster. It looked a bit like a scorpion? Or a snake? It had two what looked like arms with claws, a sting and a really long…nose? And it was definitely reaching out for me.

The next thing I know is that the monster went to attack me. Screaming I held up my arms in front of my face to protect me as if that would help anything. Suddenly I was pulled backwards and thrown onto the ground.

The black haired man stood in front of me, his sword meeting the things claws, stopping it from attacking me.

"Geez. You really do have a death wish don't you?" He turned his head slightly to seemingly check up on me. "You alright?"

My body was a shaking mess. As the man in front of me turned his head in my direction I finally realized why he was familiar. That person looked just like Zack. Zack Fair, a character from one of your favorite games: Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core.

This is impossible. Shaking my head my eyes wandered back to the monster the man – Zack – focused on now. A Grashtrike? With only a few strikes he overpowered the monster and killed it. The dead body of the monster sunk down to the ground and began to dissolve after that. A green light and then small light orbs left the body and disappeared into nothingness.

The livestream?

A metallic sound could be heard when Zack sheathed his sword and turned his attention onto me. He smiled but his eyes seemed at bit worried.

"Hey hey hey – you are alright." That was a statement.

I just kept staring at him. This. Is. Not. Possible.

He knelt down onto my level after I didn't answer him again.

"You are alright – aren't you?" Now he sounded worried too. His right hand reached out to me but it seemed like he wasn't really sure what to do.

"I –" swallowing hard and trying to control my shaking body I finally decided to answer him. "I think I am."

I wasn't really sure myself if alright was the word. I wasn't dead and I wasn't physically hurt either so alright it was.

"Phew – this could've gone nasty you know. What are you even doing down here? You're a mercenary or something like that?" His body noticeably relaxed – his shoulders slumping a bit – and he combed back his hair with his other hand.

"Uhm not really – " I didn't know what to say to that. A mercenary – in the world of Final Fantasy VII? Never. "I don't even really know how I got here…"

I felt bad when I realized that he still waited for me to take his hand to probably help me stand up. After taking another breath to calm myself down I shakingly took his hand. At that the man began grinning.

"I'm Zack by the way." With these words he pulled me up light I weighted nothing at all. And I am pretty sure that was not the case. It's not that I wasn't fit, I just wasn't a lightweight either.

It was at that moment I realized that something definitely was wrong. Did I die? Am I in a coma? What the hell is happening?

"I'm Lean." barely a whisper that left my mouth. But this was enough for the man in front of me.

"Ha, glad to meet you Lean." After a few seconds of just staring at each other it got a bit awkward. "Well, how about we get out of here, hm?"

This suggestion caused me to realize something really important. "I don't know how to fight." The words came out before I could stop myself. It was like a cry for help. What would I do if we met more of those monsters in these tunnels.

"Well, not to be mean but I already figured that much. But good for you that I'm a SOLDIER in training."

SOLDIER. This means ShinRa exists too, doesn't it?

When I didn't answer him he went on. "Just stay close to me and nothing will happen to you – I promise." Zack gave me a reassuring smile. And it was genuine. I just nodded absentmindedly.

If this is Zack, if there are monsters, if there is SOLDIER – does this really mean, that I am in Final Fantasy VII? If this is true than, when?

"Come on, you have to work with me for a bit – you can trust me. I will make sure you'll get out of here without a scratch, okay?" Another try to calm me down.

When I gave him a short nod he dusted of his clothes and seemed ready to move on.

"You can walk, right?" slightly worried blue eyes with a smile again.

"Y-yes. I am fine, really." Fine – that's more than alright, right?

"Well, then let's get going." I was a bit caught off guard by Zacks carefree demeanor. Not even giving a care in the world that he just fought a potential live threatening monster.

After a few minutes of silently walking and Zack taking care of three more Grashtrikes I finally found the will to get myself a bit more information.

"So – where exactly are we? I – just remember falling into water and then I woke up here."

Zack hummed a bit "We're in the Midgar sewers. If we keep on walking this way we'll come up in sector 7. So – you fell into water? Where?" Now hies eyes were on me again staring at me with curiosity.

Shit. "I don't really remember. I just got to Midgar – I ah-" What to say what to say, if Zack is alive then the bar in Sector 7 is not Tifas' yet – and I know working in a bar so-

"I wanted to start a bar in the slums of sector seven. And I think on my way there something attacked me-. The only thing I remember then is that I felt into water and then nothing…"

"A bar? In the slums?" Oh of course that was the thing that got his interest. Monsters attacking someone wasn't something extraordinary here then. Well what to expect in a world like this.

"Well – it's more affordable in the slums than up the plates. At least I hope so."

Please just accept this. "You're probably right. And maybe whatever attacked you brought you down here? You are really lucky I found you. Normally no one is down here." Zack came to a halt and looked at me again seemingly deep in thought.

"Oh. Is that so? Then how did you find me?" I was genuinely curios. Was he on a mission or something like that? He definitely was in ShinRa uniform. At least how I remembered it. But somehow it still looked a bit different but I just couldn't really grasp it.

"I was actually on a mission. Well – I am on a mission to be correct. And then I had that feeling – I can't really explain. And then I found you." So a mission it was.

"Good for me I guess?"

At that Zack laughed "You bet."

Then we began walking again.

Again it felt like hours walking these dark tunnels. And again Zack came to a sudden halt. But the expression on his face was concentrated.

"Wait."

I immediately stilled at that, too.

"Get behind me."

I felt an inner dread at these words. If Zack got this serious, at least in the games, that meant something. And something meant dangerous. Without questioning him I got behind him, him getting his sword and in a fighting stance.

"Something is coming."

Well, I figured that much.

"Stay close."

I didn't really like the seriousness in his voice. It didn't fit him at all. Not after I got to experienced his carefree character.

A few seconds after Zack spoke I felt the ground rumbling. This is not good.

"At second thought – stay close but keep a good distance. And trust me, okay?" This sudden change of thought caused my anxiety to rise.

This isn't good at all.

"Zack – what do you think it -."

The shaking of the ground got worse so that it was nearly hard to keep standing up. Then there was a roar.

And just a second or two later I could see it. The giant form of a Behemoth coming full speed at us.

Zack said he's in SOLDIER training – how far along is he? He doesn't have the buster sword which would mean that Angeal is still alive? Crises Core started when Zack was SOLDIER 2nd. Is he far along enough to take on a Behemoth as a second?

"Okay, forget what I said. Stay as far away from this as you can. But stay in my sight – okay?" Zack sounded stressed. This is totally bad.

"Do you think you can take it?" The Behemoth got closer and closer.

"Don't worry – I think I can handle it." His voice wasn't really reassuring but the grin on his face never left. I took his advice and started to take a good few steps back, trying to bring as much distance between me and Zack without getting to far away for new fiends to attack from behind.

And then the Behemoths horn clashed with Zacks' sword.

Behemoth is a pretty late game enemy, more or less like a boss. If Zack is second and not really prepared for this fight, then the outcome of this won't be good.

The fight seemed to be going okay. Zack was thrown around a bit but was holding himself up quite good. The Behemoth was struggling a bit but I wasn't sure if Zack really had the upper hand.

"You're okay there?" Zack suddenly shouted at me in between his strikes. Startled that he was talking to me while trying to take on this massive monster I tried to quickly collect myself. "Ah yes I am okay. But are you sure that-"

This moment of distraction was all that the Behemoth needed. Suddenly its horns were glowing. The monster hit Zack with one of its horns and then shocked him?

Is this Behemoth modified? If yes this would only mean that Hojo is real too?

What I didn't expect was Zacks' body to suddenly cave in. The monster stood above him, ready to strike again, and he was not moving. "Zack!" There was no one else around but me.

What?

The Behemoth roared and seemingly went for the last strike when a stone hit it right on the head. My body was shaking from fear again. This is not right.

"H-Hey! Get away from him!" I struggled to find these words but I just couldn't stand and just watch. This wasn't supposed to happen – I wasn't supposed to be here.

The Behemoth slowly turned its attention onto me. And then it began charging.

A silent scream left me, I hurriedly turned around and wanted to run when my foot got caught in something and I felt to the ground. Just like in the movies when they try to run from serial killers. And then I noticed something.

Not the Behemoth charging at me.

Not Zacks slumped body.

Not the tears rolling down my cheeks.

Something else.

While trying to catching myself from the fall my hands scrubbed against the concrete ground. And they teared a bit.

I am bleeding.

The world around me stopped working for a moment.

I am bleeding. This hurts.

I am not sleeping?

I am not in a coma?

And then the world came alive again. I turned around to face my inevitable death closing my eyes and bracing myself for the impact.

"Firaga"

A single word from an unknown arriver and a giant ball of fire threw the Behemoth far behind me into the tunnel. When the dust settled around me I tried to focus onto the newcomer. It again was a male voice. That I knew.

"Tch - I don't know what Angeal was thinking picking that puppy as a student."

Angeal. Whoever arrived knows Angeal. And Zack was already his student.

Finally I could notice a figure. Whoever this was, crouched before Zack and checked up on him. The next thing I could see was red. A red cloak.

What?

"Well – for a 3rd class you did alright I guess."

Zack a 3rd class. That's what felt off about him. His clothing. Then my eyes shifted onto the man I didn't know.

A man in a red cloak that could throw a Behemoth through the room with one single spell. And he knew Angeal.

Genesis.

Genesis Rhapsodos. The main villain in Crisis Core. The man everything began with. This must be before the original Crisis Core even began. Zack was already a second by then.

When trying to get into a sitting position I grunted quietly. But it was loud enough for the SOLDIER 1st to hear. He stood up and readied his rapier. Until his eyes landed on me. I probably didn't look much like a threat because on the sight of me he lowered his weapon.

"And what are you doing down here?"

His voice sounded hard. But before I could answer him the ground began shaking again and I knew what this meant. The Behemoth was back at it again.

Before I could even register it, the 1st class SOLDIER already passed me and clashed his rapier into the monster. My brain couldn't even register the speed his body moved in. It couldn't have been more than a minute and the monster was down and not moving.

"How did this even get here?" the man questioned himself. He took out a phone like device and entered some numbers. I wasn't able to understand the other line of the phone but I could hear what he said clearly.

"Yes I've found him. He was beat up by a Behemoth but he's alright. Will need a cure but nothing too bad." With these words his eyes wandered to me again.

"There's also someone else." Wherever this is going is not good. Probably some ShinRa staff. "Hm – some civilian I figure." He walked quickly towards me not breaking eye contact for one second. His stare unnerved me.

"Nah I can handle this by myself – there's no need for backup." With these words he hung up.

There were a few seconds of silence before he began talking again.

"Now again. What are you doing here?"

His eyes again hard. No not hard, more like annoyed.

"I-".

I paused. Lying to Zack was one thing. He was so trustworthy and open minded that he would never think of someone like me lying. But Genesis was a villain. And an intelligent one too. Maybe blinded by his hatred, but definitely not naïve like Zack.

Me not answering him seemed to only worsen his mood.

"You what? The sewers are forbidden. So speak up already."

"Well I – some monster was- the water – I…" Somehow my mind wasn't working. It was all too much for me to handle. And out of nervousness I took a step backwards and the 1st class didn't like this at all. I only saw his hand grabbing my arm when I already felt it there. Out of reflex I tried to push his hand away which resulted in my hand grabbing at his wrist. What I didn't notice was the small area not covered by his cloak or his gloves. What neither of us noticed was a small droplet of my blood running down my hand and directly onto his skin.

What both of us noticed was a massive incoming headache. He let go of my arm immediately and reached for his head trying to suppress the pain. Just like I did. But this was no normal headache. I saw pictures in my head. Genesis suffering from degradation. Sephiroth taking down several of his clones. Cloud fighting Sephiroth. Aerith dying.

This doesn't have to happen. I know it's hard but you can change this. It's all falling into place.

Then the pain stopped. Just like that. Only my heavy breathing reminded me that it was there. My eyes quickly settled onto the man before me who seemed a bit bewildered. Furious eyes found mine.

Before he could even move something slammed into him from behind. A second Behemoth. His cloak was slightly teared by it's horn and when the monster took a few steps back it readied itself for the next attack, the cloak slipped a bit from its owner.

The hit must've been critical because the 1st class's legs buckled a bit. He wasn't even looking at the monster when he fired another "Firaga" at it. The Behemoth must've been hurt before because it slumped down, dissolving into small green spheres that disappeared.

The SOLDIERS legs gave way and he crouched down. Hand pressed firmly against his shoulder.

The degradation has already begun.

I was panicking. I didn't know what to do. One unconscious Zack Fair and a nearly unconscious Genesis Rhapsodos were too much too handle. Let alone that I haven't even comprehended how I got here in the first place.

Then I felt something warm to my right side. It was coming from my jacket.

The small bottle – the green shiny substance – it couldn't be that -.

Trust yourself.

Without thinking much I grabbed the bottle from my pocket and nervously opened the lid. Then I paused. Was this really the right thing to do? If I did this, there were three possible outcomes:

One: This substance does absolutely nothing and I would have some explaining to do

Two: This substance kills him and then ShinRa would be on my heels

Or three: This substance heals him – this could maybe change everything?

Then I remembered his furious eyes. What if he heals and goes against everyone with full power? Without the degradation holding him back at all?

It is your choice. But you have to choose quickly and wisely. Are you willing to try and change the fate of everyone? Even though you know nothing of the outcome?

I shook my head trying to get rid of the voice inside my head. Then I heard it. A small pained sound coming from him. Genesis. He indeed was in pain. What am I even thinking about? No one deserves to suffer like that. Acting quickly I tightened my grip on the small bottle and made way to the mans back. The pain still seemed to distract him enough so I could act.

Breathing in I readied myself.

One. Two. Three.

My free hand went for his hand covering the wound and quickly tried to get it away while my other hand already poured the substance over the blackened area on his back. As soon as I made these moves the SOLDIER screamed in pain. Right after this the only thing I realized was me being flung across the tunnel into the concrete wall. Everything hurt again.

Okay, this is definitely no dream at all. No coma.

This pain felt too real. If I would've been in my world, this would have got me into a coma. Instead I was in pain. A lot of pain. But I wasn't even unconscious. As soon as I saw the man before me stand up I wished I was.

After gaining his footing he slowly and predatory made his way to me. But one thing wasn't going unnoticed by me. He wasn't holding his shoulder anymore. He seemed out of breath and exhausted but his eyes were burning from anger. The one thing they missed was pain. I couldn't see the pain in his eyes.

That's because it's gone.

Again this voice inside my head.

The man readied his rapier again.

Oh shoot.

At this rate I chose to trust the mysterious voice inside my head.

Before he could even think to slash at me I covered my face with my arms while screaming at him.

"You are not in pain anymore. Your degradation should be gone! Please don't attack me!"

My panic didn't go past him. A potential dangerous fiend wouldn't be this panicked against a wounded opponent. And then something changed in his posture. Wounded.

The man stilled in front of me not saying anything but also not directly threatening my life. I watched as his free hand went back to the degrading area on his back. But he didn't flinch. His eyes widened instead. When his hand moved back in front of his face it lacked any black or gooey substance. Instead there were the remains of the probably healing water and nothing else. Still shocked his eyes fixated again on mine. This time not furious but bewildered. And a bit of curiosity seemed to be in the mix.

"What did you do?" his voice cut the air like a knife.

Slowly I took my arms back down. Still not letting up my guard.

"I think I just healed your degradation."

And oh boy – I don't know what that will change.