Zack sighed in relief as the walls of Midgar finally came into view. To say that the nearly five-day journey had been chaotic would have been an understatement. This was almost entirely thanks to the Warmaster—whose name was apparently Vincent—who clearly wasn't happy to have been sent along and had decided to blame everything on Zack.

He knew that the trip would have been a lot worse without Aerith there to support him. Vincent had wanted him shackled at all times—which she'd said no to—had refused to gather any food or supplies that Zack might end up using, and had regularly gone out of his way to point out all the horrible things Humans had done since the Barrier had fallen.

As uncomfortable as that last part had been, it had caused him to look at things from the way the Ancients saw them, and the result . . . had been disconcerting. He'd already come to accept that Aerith was telling the truth about what had happened at her village, and now that his faith in Shinra had been shaken, it was harder to flat-out deny the things Vincent brought up. Especially as they'd gotten closer to their destination.

The stark contrast between the lands surrounding the Ancient capital and the ones around Midgar were, quite simply, horrifying. Of course, he'd been aware of what the reactors did to the surrounding areas, but actually experiencing the full transition from lush, bountiful forests to barren devastation served as a stark wakeup call. No wonder the Ancients were fighting so fiercely to prevent more of the reactors from going up. Zack knew the many benefits of mako technology, but was it truly worth the cost? That doubt had been eating away at him day by day.

A part of him was mildly embarrassed, to say the least, that he'd just gone along with everything Shinra had said—assuming they had everyone's best interest at heart. Now he had questions, lots of them, that he planned to ask once the peace talks had finished. Maybe there was an explanation for everything that had happened since the start of the war. Maybe they weren't the bad guys, because it was sure starting to feel that way and Zack didn't like it one bit. After all, he was a hero.

Wasn't he?

"Hideous, isn't it?" Vincent asked, crushing Zack's hopes that the man might at least find the city slightly impressive.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Aerith replied lightly, somehow still undeterred from the Warmaster's endless negativity. "Parts of it have a certain charm to them."

He'd forgotten that she'd apparently visited the city at some point in the past, and from the grunt the Warmaster gave he hadn't known either. Or he just wasn't impressed. It was hard to tell with the man.

What's the plan here?" Zack asked, looking between them. "I might be able to get us a meeting with the Shinra bigwigs, but it's a bit above my pay grade."

"Remind me why we brought you along again?"

"Vincent! Be nice," Aerith scolded, frowning over at him.

Shockingly, the older man seemed to defer to Aerith for some reason. Zack had expected him to assume the leadership role for their little group—instead, he'd seemed all too happy to leave that to her. On one hand, it was nice to see that not everyone judged her solely on the fact she was a half-blood, but on the other, wasn't he supposed to be one of the Ancients' leaders?

"All I'm saying is that if he can't arrange a meeting then this entire trip was a waste," Vincent grumbled.

"Zack is going to do just fine," she said, looking at him. "Right, Zack?"

"I—Uh, yeah. It's showtime!" Feeling more confident thanks to Aerith's support—and not wanting to let her down—he led them to the nearest gate where a lone guard lazily watched them approach.

"State your name and business," the man said once they'd reached him, hardly seeming to care what the answer might be.

"Zack Fair. I've brought two representatives from the Ancients to meet with the President."

Zack had expected to get a shocked reaction out of the guard, but instead, he only yawned widely. "Uh-huh. Look, if you're going to come up with wild claims then you at least need to make them believable."

"What? No, I'm serious! Watch, she can use magic," he said, pointing at Aerith.

"No she can't," Vincent said, looking at him strangely.

For her part, Aerith was shooting him a look he couldn't fully interpret. She didn't seem angry, but he got the impression she didn't want him talking about her magic for some reason. Which was weird. If Zack could use magic, he'd make sure everyone knew about it.

"Right," the guard said, drawing the word out while giving Zack a pitying look. "As if two Ancients would just walk up and peacefully enter the city. Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Yup, you caught us," Aerith chimed in, a smile on her face. "We were just out foraging for our stand at the market, sorry for wasting your time."

"Foragers? Bah, it doesn't even look like you found much of anything. Not a very big surprise these days, I suppose. Damn Ancients . . ." He turned away while gesturing loosely with one hand in the direction of the city. "Go on then, but no more bad jokes in the future. We guards have an important job to protect this city from the enemy, and we don't have time to be playing around."

Aerith nodded, and thankfully the guard couldn't see the laughter that was written plainly on her face. "Of course you do, I promise it won't happen again."

The three of them continued on through the gate and into the city. With how recent it had been since Zack had entered the Ancients' capital, he couldn't help but compare the two. And Midgar didn't hold up well. At all. The city was grimy and dirty, with barren, silent streets. If their capital was alive, then this one was long dead.

Vincent broke the silence once they were a few blocks into the city. "This incredibly strong start fills me with boundless confidence."

"Hey, we're in, that's what counts, right?"

"I suppose. But don't fall back on having Aerith get you out of it next time. I can understand why she wouldn't tell you, but she's a . . . special exception among Cetra when it comes to magic."

"But—" He stopped, remembering the look from earlier. There was no doubt in his mind that Aerith was perfectly capable of using magic, but Vincent truly seemed to believe she couldn't. It wasn't hard to read behind the lines and assume that her "special exception" was referring to her blood. Once they were done with this mission he wanted to pull her aside and find out why she was keeping it a secret.

"Don't worry," he said instead. "I've got an idea on how I can get us a face-to-face meeting with the President himself.

"Oh?" Vincent asked skeptically.

"Yeah, there's someone I know who I'm pretty confident can help us. We just gotta get to the tower and find him."

As they continued through the streets toward their final destination, Zack couldn't help but notice all the changes since the last time he'd been back home. The advancements, in particular, really stood out. The dirt streets of his childhood were completely gone, replaced with smooth, black asphalt. Bright, glowing signs illuminated the streets—competing against each other to attract customers. It was undeniable that Midgar was a much nicer place to live now than it had been before the Barrier had fallen, although he imagined his companions wouldn't be overly pleased to hear it. Hopefully, the upcoming meeting would result in an outcome where both sides were happy.

Before too long, they rounded a corner and reached the sprawling plaza at the base of Shinra Tower. Neither Vincent nor Aerith seemed overly impressed, but compared to the colossal tree at the center of their city, he supposed it wasn't too surprising.

The soldiers guarding the entrance of the tower were completely different from the one who'd let them into the city. As Zack approached, they moved in sync to block the doors, looking at the three of them with barely veiled hostility.

"Entrance to the tower is only available to the public on weekends. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Now."

"We're not here to visit, we have important business," Zack explained. "Look, can you just let Rufus know that Zack wants to meet with him? He'll know who I am."

The guards shared a look before one shrugged and pulled out a communication device. "Sir? We've got some people at the front entrance. One of them wants to speak with your boss, says his name's Zack."

"Zack? Rufus is a busy man, he can't just meet with everyone who wants to see him."

He recognized the voice as belonging to Tseng. "I get that, but trust me, he's going to want to hear this. It's about the war. I've brought some very important guests with me."

There was a brief pause before Tseng responded. "Are you implying what I think you are? Very well, Rufus will be down shortly."

"See, told you so," Zack said as the guard pocketed the device.

They didn't look impressed. In fact, both of the guards were watching Aerith and Vincent extremely closely, their hands only inches away from their weapons. For their part, the two Ancients just stood there, looking around as if nothing special was happening. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long before the doors to the tower swung open, revealing both Reno and Rude on the other side. Zack took it as an encouraging side that it was only the two of them and not an army of angry soldiers.

"Come," Rude said curtly, beckoning them forward.

Zack entered first with Aerith and Vincent close behind him. The lobby inside was strangely empty and most notably, Rufus was nowhere in sight.

"These two really Ancients?" Reno asked as the doors swung shut behind them, his voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space. "The fuck is going on, Zack?"

He nodded. "They are. Where's Rufus?"

Reno's hand fell to the baton at his side and Rude clenched his fists at the confirmation. In response, Vincent's hand also dropped to rest on his weapon as a palpable tension suddenly filled the air.

"Rufus isn't coming out until we know it's safe," Rude said slowly. "What are they doing here?"

"We come in peace. We're here to talk about ending this war," Aerith calmly replied. "There's no need for alarm. Stand down, Vincent."

If he was surprised to be ordered around, the Warmaster gave no indication of it as he shrugged and did as she asked.

Reno scoffed. "Peace, huh? We kicking your asses that badly?"

"Enough, Reno," a familiar voice called out before Rufus himself appeared at the top of the stairs. "How do we know Zack isn't under your control and that you aren't assassins here for my father's life?"

"If we were, wouldn't it be incredibly stupid to announce ourselves like we have?" Aerith countered. "Besides, magic to control someone else doesn't exist."

A half smile flickered across Rufus' lips. "Zack is like a puppy dog. I don't think someone like yourself would need to use magic at all to have him fully under your control."

"Hey!" A puppy? No he wasn't! And why was Aerith also smiling, damn it?

"I can arrange a meeting, if that's truly what you want," Rufus continued, walking down the stairs towards them before stopping halfway. "However, I can't imagine my father will be terribly interested in what you have to say."

"He's content to just sit back and watch as his people continue to die?" Vincent asked. "Doesn't sound like a terribly great leader."

Rufus shrugged. "Who knows, maybe there's something you can offer that will grab his attention. You still want to try?"

Aerith nodded firmly.

"Very well then. Follow me." Turning, he marched back up the steps the way he'd come.

Zack, Aerith, and Vincent hurried after him with Reno and Rude bringing up the rear. They made their way in silence over to one of the elevators where Rufus waited for everyone to file inside before pressing the topmost button on the panel. As the device lurched into motion, Zack was pleased to finally see a surprised reaction from the Ancients—apparently, they were unfamiliar with elevators.

"Interesting," Aerith said as they continued to ascend. "I was wondering how long it would take to reach the top with stairs, but this explains a lot."

Reno laughed sharply. "Stairs? There are some, mostly for emergencies, but you'd have to be insane to use them to go up to the top floors."

In no time at all, they reached the top and the doors slid open. Zack had never been this high up before and as he caught sight of the view out one of the windows, his jaw nearly hit the floor. It was one thing to look up at the tower and imagine what it was like to look down on the city from the top, and a completely different matter to actually be doing it. Not only could he see the entirety of the city in every direction, but the streets were so far down that people looked like ants.

"Yes, yes, it's incredible," Rufus said sounding bored. "Come on, we don't want to keep him waiting."

He led them to a pair of tall doors that silently swung open onto a massive room that took up nearly the entire floor. The far back wall was made entirely of windows, looking out over the city below, and seated at a desk in front of them was an instantly recognizable man—the President. On either side of him stood a few people Zack recognized from broadcasts—most notably Professor Hojo—but none of whom he had ever met in person.

It wasn't at all lost on Zack that this grouping of people couldn't be a coincidence. Every person of importance at Shinra just happened to be here waiting to greet them? No, they'd clearly taken his conversation with Tseng with deadly seriousness and then used Rufus to buy time. On one hand, it was encouraging, but he found himself worrying that they'd just stepped into something they weren't at all prepared for.

Rufus gestured for them to stop halfway into the room before continuing over to the desk. Reno and Rude went with him, leaving two guards who had been stationed inside the room to watch over Zack and the Ancients. "As I'm sure Tseng has already informed you, one of our best soldiers has brought two special guests to meet with you—Ancients."

"So you claim," Hojo said, speaking up first. The scientist was scowling, as always, although his eyes were focused on Aerith in a way that Zack didn't like at all. "But what proof do you have? Are we just supposed to take you at your word?"

Aerith and Vincent shared a brief look before the man sighed softly. "I imagine this is enough for you?" he asked, holding his hand out, palm up.

A split second later, a small flame flickered into life above it, waving lazily in the air before winking out as abruptly as it had arrived. There was a loud gasp from most of the people in the room, all except for the President and Hojo—the latter whose face had transformed from skepticism into raw hunger.

"And what is it you've come for, exactly?" the President asked, finally speaking up. He sounded bored and disinterested, completely the opposite reaction of everyone else.

"To discuss a way to end this war, once and for all," Aerith said loudly. "We come from our Council with an offer of peace."

Her words were met with silence. A strange silence, that seemed to stretch on and on as Zack watched a myriad of expressions flicker across the President's face. Everyone in the room was looking at him, waiting to hear his response.

Eventually, the President scoffed, the sound filled with pure contempt and disdain. "Peace? You think we want peace? A return to our jail cell? No, I think not. We are winning this war—your presence alone is enough to make that clear—and it will not end until we have our Promised Land."

"Isn't that—" Zack began to protest.

"Seize them," the President commanded, waving his hand dismissively.

Zack watched in horror as the blade of a sword pierced through Vincent's side from behind. The man dropped to the ground with a muffled groan, his gun clattering free from its holster on his waist to come to rest on the floor at his feet.

"No!" Aerith screamed, moving to his side and dropping to a crouch—her hands pressing down on the horrible wound before a faint green glow appeared.

"I need them alive, you fools!" Hojo yelled angrily. "Don't kill them!"

Before Zack was able to react, another guard struck the side of Aerith's head with the flat of his blade, instantly dropping her to the floor at the Warmaster's side.

"Congratulations, soldier," the President said, turning his attention to Zack. "This was truly exceptional work. You've managed to single-handedly accomplish a goal we've had ever since this war first began, bringing us not one, but two Ancients. Thanks to your efforts, we are now one large step closer to decisively ending this war in our favor. Adequate compensation will be sent, but if you have any personal requests, ask them now."

Zack opened his mouth to angrily retort before hesitating. This obviously hadn't been his goal at all—the sight of the two Ancients on the floor sickened him beyond belief. He also realized that he wasn't currently in a position to do anything about it though, at least, not immediately. So he pivoted.

"Of course, Sir. Only doing my job." He glanced over at Hojo. "If it's not too much to ask, may I know what's going to happen to them?"

The scientist's attention was locked onto Aerith, his hands rubbing together—a gleeful expression spread across his face. It wasn't at all an emotion Zack usually associated with the man, which made it all the more discomforting. "Research. Experiments. At last, I'll finally be able to complete my projects. Soon we'll have the ability to use magic without any risk of failure."

"Excellent. I expect good news from you, Hojo. Quickly," the President said.

Giving a nod, Hojo walked over to the bodies and knelt down, running his hand through Aerith's hair until it came to rest at her ribbon. He turned her head to look at him and smiled widely. "Yes, you're going to be just perfect, aren't you, my dear?" Rising to his feet he gestured to the soldiers who'd struck the Ancients down. "Bring them."

It took all of Zack's self-restraint to hold himself back. The look on Hojo's face disgusted him and he could only imagine what the scientist was planning. He needed to get help, and fast. Since he obviously couldn't rely on anyone who worked for Shinra, that only left one other option: Tifa and Cloud.

"It's been a while since I've been back home, I'm going to go drop by and see my parents, unless you have further need of me?"

The President shook his head and waved dismissively. "Do as you will."

With one final bow of his head, Zack hurried out of the room. In the distance, he could see Hojo and the soldiers rounding a corner, but he forced himself to walk in the opposite direction to the main elevators. There was simply no possible way he'd be able to accomplish anything on his own, but even so, he felt like he was betraying the woman who'd been surprisingly kind to him.

Once Zack made it out of the tower he did indeed head directly for his parent's house. Not because he was worried Shinra might be suspicious and tracking him, although the thought was lingering in the back of his mind, but because he knew he needed to warn them before doing anything else. If he was going to betray Shinra, then he had to first make sure they wouldn't be able to punish his family for it.

His mom answered the door, a warm smile lighting up her face as she saw him. "Zack! What a wonderful surprise, you're home early!" Turning, she looked back into the house. "Dear, you won't be able to guess who it is!"

"It's our son," his father's voice called back, shortly before he stepped into view, also smiling. "You never get this excited for anyone else."

Zack accepted the hug his mother offered, before gently pushing her away and looking between his parents. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I can't. Something serious has come up."

"What's going on?" his dad asked, the smile on his face fading away.

"Shinra took some . . . friends of mine prisoner and I can't just sit by and watch. I'm going to try and help them, but that means I have to go against Shinra which they're obviously not going to take well. I need to know that both of you are safe before I do anything crazy."

His parents shared a brief look before his father vanished back into the house.

"We'll be packed up and out safely in a few hours, dear. Don't you worry about us. Go do what you need to."

Zack blinked several times, looking at his mom in shock. "Just like that? Were you prepared for this to happen? How?"

"There's been a growing number of unsavory rumors about Shinra's darker side lately. Your father and I realized that if any of them turned out to be true and you found out, then something exactly like this would end up happening. We'll stay with some friends until things calm back down."

He wasn't sure if he should be proud of his parents, or embarrassed that he was apparently so predictable. It was a relief, at least, that he wouldn't have to worry about them now. "Great. I don't know if they'd go so far as to hunt you down, but just keep a low profile and you should be safe. I'll come find you once this is over."

"We'll be fine, go help your friends." His mother pulled him in for another quick hug. "Be safe."

"I will," he said, squeezing her tightly before stepping away. Giving her one last look, he turned and ran, knowing that every second that passed was more time for Hojo to do something horrible. The big problem was that he had no idea where either Cloud or Tifa would be. Without a better idea, he headed directly for Cloud's old house, hoping his childhood friend hadn't moved.

Before too long, Zack was standing in front of a door he hadn't seen in a very long time. From the outside, no one appeared to be home, but he desperately hoped that wasn't the case. "Cloud! It's me, Zack! Open up, we need to talk, it's important!" he shouted, pounding on the door. There wasn't an immediate response, so he continued to bang away.

"So noisy," an elderly voice complained, barely cutting through his knocking.

Turning, Zack found an old woman poking her head out from the front door of the house next door. She was scowling fiercely at him.

"If you're looking for the boy he's seldom home these days. Spends all his time at that one bar. Probably getting drunk and destroying things. Children these days . . ." She shook her head.

Cloud? Getting drunk? Zack struggled to picture it. "What bar?"

The woman grumbled something under her breath that he couldn't make out before vaguely gesturing down the street. "It's called Seven Heathens, or something like that. You'll find it a few blocks down the street, but you should stay away from places like that. Nothing good comes from getting drunk, you hear me? Nothing good."

"I'll . . . keep that in mind," Zack said. Cloud clearly wasn't home, so he figured he might as well look into whatever it was this woman was talking about. The direction was the opposite way to Tifa's house, so it would be an annoying detour if she was wrong, but it was the best lead he had.

Thankfully, after a short jog down the street, he found what appeared to be a fairly newly constructed bar, although its name was actually Seventh Heaven. As best he could recall, this spot had been a deserted lot previously, which explained why he'd never heard of the place before.

Rushing up the steps, he pushed the doors open and strode directly inside. The interior was mostly empty which wasn't too surprising given the time of day, but he immediately recognized two of the three people who were mid-conversation—with the third being an older man who did seem vaguely familiar for some reason. Best of all, both Cloud and Tifa were now staring at him, shocked expressions mirrored between their faces.

"Zack?! What are you doing here?" Tifa asked, setting down a glass she'd been cleaning.

The mystery man glowered at him, standing up from his chair and cracking his knuckles. "Zack? He's with Shinra, 'ain't he? We got a problem?"

"Barret, no. He's a friend," Tifa said as she stepped out from behind the counter.

"Is he?" Cloud asked, turning to look away.

The question hit Zack hard, but he pushed it aside for later. The rift that had opened between the two of them ever since the gang had broken up was one of his biggest regrets and something he'd wanted to repair for years now. "Look, I don't have time to explain everything, but what's important is that I came back to the city with two Ancients. We were supposed to be meeting with the President to talk about a peace treaty, but instead, he captured them. I need your help to save them."

His statement was met with silence as the three of them took it in. None of them looked happy, but for some reason, Cloud seemed the most visibly upset.

Barret was the first to speak up. "I hate Shinra just as much as you all, but I'll be honest here—I'm not convinced the Ancients are all that much better, not to mention what you're asking is crazy in the first place. Attack Shinra? In case you haven't noticed, we don't have an army."

"You're wrong," Cloud muttered. "The Cetra are nothing at all like Shinra. We should be helping them."

Barret grunted. "That makes you the tie-breaker, Tifa."

She bit her lip, looking between them before sighing loudly. "I don't like the idea of anyone being held captive by Shinra. But," she continued quickly, "I have to agree with Barret. It's just too dangerous. Attacking a reactor is one thing, attacking Shinra Tower is something completely different."

The news that they were apparently the ones behind the attacks on the reactors shocked Zack, but that was a worry for another time. He refused to just give up. "Please, Aerith was good to me, we have to help her!"

Cloud was up and off of his chair in the blink of an eye, his hands gripping Zack's upper arms with enough force to be uncomfortable. His eyes were glinting a cold, icy blue and he looked ready for murder. "How the hell do you know that name?"


Disaster strikes. I imagine it's not too surprising that Shinra isn't interested in peace, but they go a step further by attacking and capturing the diplomats. For shame. Was it a bit naive of them to just head in like this? Maybe, but they didn't expect a peace delegation to be so openly attacked either. We also get our first impalement, cause what would FF7 even be without them? With a wounded Vincent and captured Aerith in Hojo's slimy hands, Zack firmly shifts over to the anti-Shinra camp and rushes to get help from his old friends (now turned terrorists). Tifa and Barret aren't on board with attacking Shinra Tower, but things take a bit of a turn when Zack shares one specific name.

This is a pretty brutal cliffhanger, I know, and it's going to be a full week for the next chapter, but it's already a huge one and this was the cleanest breaking point. Sorry. I hope everyone is super excited though, it's a doozy.


Next Chapter: Rescue