This whole being a ghost thing really was the best. There was so much freedom! I had taken several days to catch up with Genesis and Angeal before I wanted to show him something. I mentioned, "So? Genesis? Did you know there's a library here?"
"A library in a prison? Pfft… I'm sure it can't be that exciting," Genesis mentioned with a roll of his eyes. I poked his chest and insisted, "Give it a chance. Or at least give what I'm going to show you a chance." He raised his hands up defensively and followed me. We got to the library and I went to locked door that acted as a barrier for employees from the prisoners. I phased through it with Cloud. Angeal and Genesis followed after us.
"This area was to keep employees safe from prisoners, but Zack kept this book safe for me, since it meant so much to me when I first found it." I showed off the Loveless book and Genesis' eyes went wide.
"They had Loveless…? Wow…" Genesis looked in awe. "This means so much to me that I'm looking at this book right now…"
"We watched as everything was deep cleaned after your brutality, by the way. Not that we blame you. Either of us would've acted the same way if you were taken from us in the same way as us. But that meant that all of our personal belongings were thrown away or burned," Angeal informed. I sighed heavily. I commented, "Why should I be surprised that Shinra did that? Whatever, I guess… You can look at this book whenever you want to, Genesis. I told Zack I'd communicate with him through this book."
"Oh?" Genesis asked just as the door opened and Zack appeared. I told my friends, "That's Zack. He's the librarian here." I noticed Angeal looking him up and down and I smirked.
"His wife is a psychologist here. She was mine, actually. She can also see and hear ghosts, as she's a cetra. She often called Zack a puppy and he really is," I noted with a soft smile. Angeal seemed amused. He commented, "That's cute that he's called that. He really scored with having a cetra as a wife, too. Wow. Have you tried talking to Zack yet?" I shook my head. I mentioned, "It's never too late to try." I smiled and tapped on the Loveless book to get Zack's attention and it seemed to work. I was actually able to find the energy to open the cover of the book a little and Zack gasped.
"Holy fuck… Um… Hi, Sephiroth? Right? Hold on. Don't leave. The wifey gave me a digital recorder. I'll know your voice if you talk to me," Zack exclaimed and I smiled and waited. He then mentioned, "Okay. Talk into this. Let me know it's really you."
"Hi, Zack," I greeted and soon, Zack was playing back the recording. My words were much fainter, but I could still tell what I said and so could Zack.
"You said Zack? Haha! Yeah, it's me. Hi! Wow… Yeah, that's soft, but it's your voice! I'm really sorry you died and lost Ephraim. I mean… Cloud. Have you found him? Like, as a ghost, too?" Zack seemed to let me speak again and I replied, a little louder this time, "I did find, Cloud. He's with me."
"Hi Zack!" Cloud called just before Zack went to listen and he seemed scared, but so excited. He spoke, "This is so cool! It's super freaky, but super cool!" I smiled; happy I could talk with Zack for a bit. It was a little exhausting talking so loudly, though.
"It's kind of tiring talking to the living," I admitted and Cloud nodded. I was quick to reply, "Don't exhaust yourself, Cloud." Angeal nodded and rubbed at Cloud's back. He stated, "I don't want either of you exhausting yourselves. Let's head out. You could show us your cell or something less tiring." I nodded. Zack had asked something else, but Genesis called, "Bye!" We then headed out. I did show my boyfriends our cell, as something to do, but as we were walking along another block, I found were Madd was kept. I commented, "Oh. Madd. He's one of my friends I was protecting while I was alive."
"That's so like you, Sephiroth," Genesis mentioned, leaning his head on my shoulder.
"Of course. I'll protect those weaker than me, no matter what. It wouldn't be fair if I didn't put all the effort I could. Still… I hate that Fifi died as well. That fucking sucks…" I replied, a bit of anger lingering towards myself. Cloud nodded.
We wandered for a bit before the free block soon opened for everyone. I mentioned, "I want to follow Madd." My boyfriends tagged along with me. It brought us outside to where Madd met up with Tanner and Danny.
"I'm glad they made it out alive," Cloud commented. I knew he was referring to the two newbies who had sat with us the day of the riot. I nodded in agreement; "Yeah. I'm so thankful for that." I listened in on their conversations.
"God… I still miss Cloud and Fifi so much… and, well, of course, Sephiroth…" Madd spoke up solemnly.
"It's fucked up, man. He gets outta solitary an his man has been dead fer just as long? I can't blame, Seph fer taking his life. It's super sad, but… I get it," Tanner replied. He had a heavy Midgar slum accent. Hm… It was fun to hear.
"He'll never be forgotten by how he treated us…" Madd mentioned, glancing down. Suddenly, one of the fuckers who was relentless in making fun of them showed up. Continuing to be a terror, he mocked, "Wah, wah, wah! Poor lil babies don't got their big, strong protector anymore. Looks like the cat-eyed faggot freak got what he deserved." I watched as Genesis began looking enraged and he stepped up and took a swing at the inmate, knocking him to the ground. I covered my mouth in shock that Genesis managed to do that!
"Whoa, whoa, man… What the fuck hit you?" the inmate's friend yelled, seeming panicked.
"I… I… I was just punched…" He was as white as snow and I smirked. Though, Genesis fell into my arms suddenly. He complained… "It takes so much energy to do that… But this was the last time I was letting him get away with saying cruel shit about you." I smiled at Genesis, so thankful to have him around. I kissed my redheaded boyfriend's lips to show him my thanks.
"Thank you for standing up for me, Genesis. I can always count on you." I really was thankful. He didn't have to do that, but he did and it made me feel good. I caught Madd whispering, "Is he watching up from the beyond or something?"
"I ain't never believe in ghosts, but the wind certainly didn't just bruise that fucker's face," Tanner commented, clearly shook up. He added, "I don't wanna be in no haunted-ass prison."
"Well, wait… If it's Sephiroth protecting us still, then what do we have to worry about? He's dead, so he can't even get in trouble for punching someone," Danny decided to mention and all of them seemed to like that idea, but I had to speak up and tell them it wasn't me who punched that inmate. Taking a big breath, I yelled, "My Shinra friends are here!" I stumbled backwards, but Angeal caught me just as Cloud went to make sure Genesis didn't fall back too much. We all smiled at each other and laughed a little. At least, we were all here for each other when we did make ourselves known.
"You fuckin with me…? Did you hear that? That was totally Sephiroth's voice! His Shinra friends are here?" Madd asked, but he quickly spoke again, "Genesis and Angeal. Sephiroth had friends he killed for and that's what got him into this prison to begin with."
"No fuckin way… I dunno how they also got here, but, like, uh… thanks for scaring off the bullies… Even in the afterlife…" Tanner called out and I smiled. Genesis had a smug look on his face. He insisted, "Oh, I'll create HAVOC if I had the energy to do so."
"Easy, Gene. I don't think relentlessly harming the living is the way to go," Angeal mentioned and I wasn't sure how much I agreed with him… I had to comment as I felt myself, at least, able to stand on my own, "I'd still dock some of these fuckwits. They deserve it. Like the guys that ran off screaming after Genesis punched them? Yeah. The first time I got put into solitary confinement, it was because I punched him. He was making fun of Madd and I wasn't going to stand for it."
"The guards don't do shit?" Genesis asked and I was the one to roll my eyes. I mentioned, "I don't know if they just fucking suck at their jobs or it's some kinda contract or what, but yeah, no. Bullying was tolerated until it got violent. Fucking stupid if you ask me…"
"That is…" Angeal grumbled a bit before he suggested, "Hey? Wanna explore, Sephiroth? And Cloud? We can show you where we came in from if you want us, too." I glanced at Cloud and smiled.
"What do you say? Wanna do some proper exploring of this prison?" Our blonde boyfriend was quick to nod and I grinned. I told Angeal and Genesis, "Lead the way then, loves." Angeal and Genesis did just that; leading the way though the prison.
"It's so strange roaming around here freely. I never thought I'd see the day, honestly," Cloud commented and I nodded. I replied, "I agree with that entire statement. But I never thought I'd be free in general. I was in Shinra's clutches since I was a baby. Angeal and Genesis weren't in a much different of a situation."
"Yeah… We came in as toddlers, but that's still basically our entire life," Genesis remarked. Cloud frowned a bit and hugged my arm. I ruffled his hair a bit with a smile.
"We appreciate the care, Cloud. But we're alright. This is freeing. Even if we never move on, this is freeing," I insisted and Angeal and Genesis quickly agreed.
It was about now that I realized we were heading into a basement area of this prison which somehow gave me the creeps… I mentioned, "This part has seen better days…" It wasn't taken care of, as paint was peeling off the concrete walls. Pieces of the steps were breaking already, too.
"Looks like this area should be haunted, but I wouldn't want to stay around here. I have a choice to move around…" Genesis complained. Angeal then pointed down a hallway, "Just over here is something interesting." We soon entered a room with mirrors laying on the floor. Many were broken, others were brand new, and some beamed with a sort of glow… Angeal pointed to one of the glowing mirrors, "It was this mirror that got us from the Shinra building to here. I think because we're ghosts, we can actively see this portal into the other dimensions."
"Right… that checks…" It was amazing to see such a thing. I added, "I wonder where we could go…" Angeal mentioned, leaning on me, "I think anywhere there's more portals. We were just determined to find you somehow and that determination brought us here. It felt like a few minutes for us, but it was a few weeks that you had already been here. So? I think time moves extremely slow within the portals compared to the outside world." I nodded to his statement; "I supposed that makes sense, yeah? I'm newer to this than all of you."
"Hey, I'm pretty new to being a ghost, too, Sephiroth," Cloud mentioned with a smirk. I laughed.
"I still died after you," I reminded. Though, Genesis put his arms both of us and reminded, "Loves? In the long stream of things, Angeal and I are pretty new to this ghost thing, too. We're only several months dead." I insisted, poking his chest, "You still beat us by a large margin. Shut the fuck up." We all laughed. I couldn't believe how wonderful this experience was. I got my friends back and I still was having a hard time processing that I could do whatever the fuck I wanted. It was unreal… but it was real.
Light suddenly flicked on and I registered someone walking. We all looked and a woman soon came into view and the woman was Aerith. She smiled and greeted, "My instincts were right. You were all down here." I nodded, greeting, "Hi, Aerith."
"Hi, Sephiroth. And, I can actually greet the two of you. Nice to meet you, Angeal. Genesis. And, you must be Cloud. The infamous blonde boyfriend Sephiroth fell in love with," Aerith greeted all of us. Cloud blushed… He soon asked before I spoke, "We can easily talk with you?" She nodded, telling me, "Yes. Communicating with spirits is just something I'm capable of doing. I've been told, and think it's the same for all mediums, but in particular, cetra, there's less of a barrier between the living the dead."
"That's why you could see us," Angeal commented and Aerith nodded, adding, "And hear you. But I couldn't say anything to Sephiroth. I did fear he'd do something drastic if he knew you two were around. The riot was unexpected, but not surprising. I did begin to feel as if things would change massively after it and I was right."
"Has anything changed with the guards?" I had to ask and Aerith shrugged, informing, "I'm not sure about that. I'm not always informed. I just know I expected people to die. It was my own personal intuition." I softly nodded. That made sense. Aerith soon looked more perky as she asked, "So? What are you four doing down here?"
"We were explaining to Sephiroth that we came through these portals, or, well, mirrors," Genesis informed and Aerith seemed incredibly interested. She mentioned, "Mirrors being portals to the ghost realm have been told in stories for a long time. I'm happy to get some confirmation on such a thing." She paused before looking really excited.
"Hey! Why don't you four help me with something? I want to be able to write a book on day about my experiences with ghosts. If you four could answer questions I have, I'd love that. In return, I'll make sure to continue to expose Shinra. I've been working behind the scenes to help bring awareness that Shinra really isn't all glamor and gold. Especially thanks to your story, Sephiroth," Aerith suggested. With the added motivation, I was honored to help her out.
"I don't know about these three, but that bonus only makes me want to help you more, Aerith. It's a definite yes from me," I replied. Genesis was quick to agree; "Expose Shinra for the piece of fucking shit that they are? And all I have to do is talk about being a ghost? Easy. You have a deal, Aerith."
"Yes. That's an easy task. I'll help you," Angeal also agreed. Cloud nodded, commenting, "It'll help my boyfriends, so yeah. I'm in." Aerith smiled widely. She cheered, "Great! You four are the best. Thank you, so much. Ah, well. For now, I better be going. I did have other clients besides you, Sephiroth. Please, take care." She bowed her head and headed off, flicking the lights off as she went. I smiled.
"She aids us and the world in exchange for some simple words. Wow… Aerith truly is amazing. Zack got so lucky," I thought out loud. Angeal nodded, answering, "Tell me about it. They're cute together." Genesis even gave a nod. I felt extremely satisfied with how things were turning out for me. Hm… Death saved me.