A/N: Highly recommend AO3 for this chapter- lots of formatting issues
Inter-fan club chat started.
AllstarYall [All's Fair, LuvPsyche [Study Group, AngieZozz [Study Group, HalfofNoGalaxy [Silver Elite,BonnieJoir [Keepers of Honor, MagicallyChinchillin [Silver Elite, and 6324 other marked themselves okay.
LowPressure [Silver Elite: I'm glad to see so many people okay. For those who are offline, I hope you are doing well out there and staying safe.
HalfofNoGalaxy [Silver Elite: +1
AngieZozz [Study Group: 100
LuvPsyche [Study Group: Another day in Midgar, just like the movies
OceanWave [All's Fair] posted a link: Recovery Efforts Underway in Midgar while Monster attacks escalate across the continent
OceanWave [All's Fair: It isn't just us…
Just [Keepers of Honor: Can confirm, they hit Kalm hard.
Shiary [Red Leather: We're rooting for the brave folks holding them off at the city gates!
BonnieJoir [Keepers of Honor: Hang in there. They announced they were going to send out reinforcements.
MagicallyChinchillin [Silver Elite: On a brighter note, we'll see all our favorite Soldiers in action.
BonnieJoir [Keepers of Honor: Since we have everyone together, I should announce that the leaders of Keepers of Honor, Red Leather, and the Study Group have voted to merge in light of the recent change in relationship status between Commanders Rhapsodos and Hewley.
927 laugh reactions
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[Keeper of Honor] [Red Leather] and [Study Group] merged. New Group created. Welcome [Honor Roll]!
465 laugh reactions
EmporerChimera [Silver Elite: LMAO, who is the "good" student?
WhisperingWinds [Honor Roll: shhhh...
XXX. Unpaid Debt
Cloud sighed as the medical room door slid close behind him. The dull whirr of machines and murmur of personnel were replaced by silence. He was back in a familiar corridor. The last time he had been here was for Zack. That felt like a lifetime ago. It could be a lifetime ago.
He walked a few steps forward until he faced the wall, then leaned his forehead against it. He stared blankly at the white plaster, then closed his eyes.
The once messy but strangely homely materia lab was a burnt-out mess when they finally fought back down, clearing lingering invasion forces in the way. At first, Cloud was certain all they would find of the professor would be a charred body, just like the state they found the Deepground Soldiers. When there wasn't a third corpse, they started looking. Then, Cloud remembered the storage closet.
Zalinka was unresponsive when they found him. His arms were blackened stubs, and they didn't think he would ever regain use of them if he pulled through at all.
Between sobs, Rayleigh told them the whole story. With hallways blocked off by smoke, fighting, and debris, she headed up, hiding in a supply closet with Zalinka's research until someone from Reeve's department finally found her. That was when the security locks finally lifted. She had handed Cloud the surviving binder of notes, still smelling of smoke and mako. All the other equipment, painstakingly assembled with sparse funding, were gone.
Sephiroth's face was tight with cold anger as he ordered troopers to search for Hojo. Something told Cloud they wouldn't find the slippery man in the Tower anymore.
Meanwhile, Cloud's mentor was hanging on by a bare thread. And for what? Cloud's research data?
"Not just research data, my boy!" he would have said.
Damn it all.
His phone beeped silently, pulling him out of his thoughts. He slowly straightened, his eyes fixed on the greasy imprint his forehead left. He was still in his trooper fatigues, the ones he wore in Nibelheim. He smelled rank in them, but there had been no time to change. Underneath the sweat, Cloud could smell a tinge of antiseptic still clinging to his clothes.
The phone beeped again. Finally, Cloud reached into his pocket and pulled it out.
"I'll be right there, Reeve," Cloud finally answered on the third ring.
When Cloud arrived on the Urban Planning floor, the office was abuzz. The lack of bullet holes in the walls meant the department fared better than others. Even til the end, Hojo underestimated them. Yet, Reeve's department was now the single functioning unit holding Shinra, and Midgar, together.
Cloud dodged fanatic office workers rushing to and fro. Midgar's infrastructure was in shambles, and Reeve repurposed what he could into a command center. They were running on a skeleton crew, with most of Shinra unable to return to the Tower.
"Cloud," Reeve's aide greeted him. "Director Tuesti's office wasn't big enough. You better follow me."
Cloud followed her to one of the conference rooms lining the floor's perimeter. Unlike the Soldier floor, all conference rooms had glass walls that let in light paired with blinds for meetings requiring more privacy. The blinds looking in were closed. When Cloud walked in, he understood why.
Sitting at the table, Reeve had his head in the palm of his hands. Sephiroth stood on one side of the room, arms crossed and jaw tense. On the other side of the room, Vincent stared back unblinkingly. He had his hands at his sides, where they could draw his weapon almost instantly. Gun sat beside Reeve but looked between Sephiroth and Vincent, her lips pursed.
"I'll leave you to it then," Brook said to Cloud and closed the door, deafening the cacophony outside in the bullpen.
Sephiroth shifted forward, straightening from where he was leaning, but Vincent spoke first.
"Cloud," his voice was strange. Both more and less confident than Cloud was used to. His eyes darted to Sephiroth and back to him.
Ah.
"It's…not what we thought," Cloud said. Totally opposite. "Chaos had it wrong." Vincent's eyes glowed red, and the next words out of his mouth were deeper and slightly sibilant.
"You are a thousand years too young to tell me that, pup," he growled. Sephiroth reached for Masamune at the sound of Vincent's voice while both Gun and Reeve leaped up from their chairs. Cloud caught Sephiroth's eyes and shook his head.
"Vincent," Cloud said instead, ignoring the soft growl Chaos let out, "I'm sorry about Veld. You aren't alone in your grief." His eyes met Gun's across the room, still rimmed red. "Chaos, stop taking advantage. If there was ever a time we needed to work together, it's now. Get this under control."
Vincent shuddered, and the wings his cloak hid went away, too. Cloud let out a breath of relief.
Vincent had gotten better at controlling Chaos (or maybe Chaos calmed down) since he left Nibelheim. The first time he met Vincent under the Manor, the outbursts were more frequent. Arguments between the man and whatever Chaos was were as ubiquitous as they were frightening. For a while, even with Cloud's confirmation, Vincent didn't believe Chaos and stubbornly refused to collaborate.
"We know that Jenova isn't here," Vincent finally said. "We were investigating Deepground. That's where we fought Nero. Where Veld-" his mouth clenched, and he swallowed. "If Jenova had been there, we would know."
Cloud walked up to the board table, taken over by a mess of documents and maps.
"Someone we think is Hojo was escorted out of Midgar by Deepground Soldiers during the attack. He never would have left Jenova here. We have to assume Hojo is where Jenova is now."
"...And Weiss," Vincent said. At the other's curious glances, Vincent elaborated. "Chaos says there's one more player. Weiss. We didn't run into him."
"One thing at a time," Reeve said, rubbing his face, "We must save lives first. In the meantime, we'll track Hojo down. With the locks lifted, we have system access. If Hojo uses Shinra resources, we'll know. Then we can worry about these …other players." He looked up to reveal deep shadows under his eyes. Cloud nodded.
"We aren't going to talk about that?" Gun asked, cocking her head at Vincent. Chaos growled softly back.
"No. We can trust him," Cloud said. "Chaos has the Planet's interests at heart."
"It's not Chaos I'm worried about," Sephiroth said, shooting Vincent a look. Vincent's red eyes locked on slitted green.
"Men," Gun snapped, "You want to fight, take it to a training room." They looked away from each other, but Cloud could see Sephiroth's clenched jaw. Vincent's body language was hard to read, but he looked…contrite?
"We're seeing monster attacks ramp up across the continent," Reeve said, "If you authorize it, we'll send the Soldiers out. Help the towns, sweep for hidden labs."
They all turned to Cloud, who suddenly felt like the ground beneath him was spinning.
"If I authorize…"
Gun gave Cloud a no-nonsense look, pinning him in place. Cloud felt cold sweat bead at the back of his neck. "Other than Reeve and Heidegger, the entire board is out."
"I know about Hojo and Veld, what about-"
"We can't find Scarlet at all. Her last badge swipe put her at the basement elevators before the underground explosion-"
"She's dead," Vincent said. There was a moment of silence after his statement when he did not elaborate further. Gun shook her head, exasperated.
"Palmer fled when things went south," she continued, "And Tseng, well…"
"We're still recovering the helicopter," Reeve said grimly. "I accepted Tseng's resignation this morning." Cloud took a deep breath. In a single evening, Shinra was decapacitated.
Gun and Sephiroth shared a look. Cloud's stomach sank.
"We would need a group leader for our journey. 'Course that would be me."
"It would have to be Cloud."
"There's one Shinra left-" Cloud shook his head.
"You don't need Shinra to run the company. There are plenty of capable people here. Someone is already doing the job, in fact," he turned his head to Reeve. Reeve slowly removed his hands from his face only to sit back at the sight of four pairs of eyes (three slightly glowing) staring at him. He paled.
Heh, good luck, Reeve.
It didn't take long to determine what forces would be kept back for Midgar's immediate recovery efforts and how many they could send to defend towns under attack. Seeing Reeve and Gun deep in debate about Sector Six, Cloud sighed and silently snuck out of the conference room. He walked around the corner to the break area. Three pots sat on the counter, all already empty. Cloud smiled to himself as he filled each one back up. Someone on this floor would be grateful the next time they came for a cup.
He dragged out a chair and sat at the small table. Hot water gurgled, and then a trickling noise followed. The scent of coffee began to permeate the break room.
"Hey," Sephiroth said softly. Still in his full armor, his shoulders were wide enough to span almost the entire doorway. Cloud smiled wearily in response, leaning his chin on his palm as the coffee pots continued to gurgle in the background.
"I don't think any of this was what I expected," Cloud said. He kept his words vague now that they were in a more public area. The corners of Sephiroth's lips twitched. He wordlessly strode to the coffee pots. When he joined Cloud at the table, he had two disposable cups in his hand, steam blowing out from the top. Cloud gratefully accepted one, his fingers tingling where he brushed against Sephiroth's to take the cup. Sephiroth pulled out the chair on the other side of the table. With him sitting there, the table became laughably small. His knees knocked softly into Cloud's. Then they did it again. Cloud raised a brow at Sephiroth, who raised his cup to Cloud like a salute, then took a sip. Cloud drank his coffee, too. It was bitter, but the warmth was welcome. Cloud drank slowly, letting its heat settle into his stomach.
"Nothing either of us expected," Sephiroth said finally, "Least of not when it comes to our own blood relations. But other things, too."
Cloud hummed. He took a gulp and then set his cup down.
"Better or worse?" Green eyes locked on his. Sephiroth shifted in the cheap plastic seat, squeaking under the weight of muscle and armor.
"Better," he said without hesitation.
A thought occurred to Cloud. "Speaking of… did Vincent say something to you?" Their hackles would be raised if the two had been cats in a room.
Sephiroth pursed his lips.
"He brought up my mother…" Oh. That wasn't smooth, Vincent. Cloud winced to himself and didn't know what to say. He looked for answers in the dark liquid swirling in his mug, but only his face stared back. Luckily, Sephiroth continued to speak. "We're all finding out things about ourselves today." A bare hand rested on Cloud's. It was warmer than the heat radiating from the mug. Cloud looked up to see the other man smiling a little. "It's nice. Not being on this journey alone."
Cloud took a deep breath. It was a simple sentiment, but hit him harder than he expected. His situation. It wasn't something even Vincent understood. Chaos, maybe, but who really knew with him? And Sephiroth's situation wasn't exactly the same either, but somehow, he felt more and more like the other side of a coin, and they were both spinning faster and faster in the air.
Where will it land?
Cloud examined Sephiroth's facial structure. Then, he bit his lip. Green eyes caught his. And Cloud noticed them dart down and back up. Sephiroth's face was suddenly close. Very close. Cloud felt heat spread up his neck to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He looked away, pushing down the urge to reach a hand up to feel his face. He would be shocked if it wasn't glowing bright red.
If he had leaned in just a little-
"Still got coffee-" Gun darted in, a little breathless. Cloud almost shot out of his chair. Gun narrowed her eyes at them, then shook her head with a sigh. "Shit. Carry on." She disappeared before Cloud could stop her.
Sephiroth cleared his throat and stood. The sound of the chair scraping lightly against the concrete floor was like the screech of chalk on a blackboard. He nodded at Cloud before sweeping out as well.
"Wait…Was that all of 'em?" Zack asked. His chest heaved as he gasped for breath. He felt more exhausted than even the worst of Wutai. Around them, monster corpses littered the floor and hung over the edge of buildings.
Kunsel whistled.
"They made you work for every bit of that Soldier First designation," he said. Zack grinned.
"Heck yeah, I did!"
Zack shot a look at Angeal, but his mentor didn't hear them. His back was turned to them, and he was sternly interrogating Corneo's lackey, freshly pulled from the wreckage of the manor. Whatever happened inside was gruesome based on the bits of conversation Zack could pick out. Corneo had a taste for exotic pets, and when the attacks occurred, he didn't escape unscathed. They would likely find a charred, rotund body when they could spare the people to clean up the now-destroyed manor.
Zack saw Luxiere walk toward them and waved. The man's helmet was off, and his ordinarily well-styled hair was smeared with grime. He had a haunted look in his eyes as he approached.
Zack tensed.
"What's wrong?"
"I think I saw the depth of hell," he said, voice shaking. Zack frowned.
"In the sewers?"
"Did you know Don Corneo had a s-s-sex dungeon?"
Clay gritted his teeth as Carlos wrapped his arm.
Fighting with the Soldiers spoiled me rotten, Clay thought ruefully.
No one in his motley crew of construction workers and neighborhood watch had enough reserves to cast particularly strong magic. The swipe of the monster claw reminded Clay of his humanity and age.
"Hold still," Carlos said, "I'm looking for a medic."
Clay leaned back against the makeshift hospital bed they set up on the edge between Sector Five and Six with a groan.
The monster waves waned, and Clay hoped the Soldiers who had gone deeper into Wall Market were still doing okay. They evacuated who they could into Sector Five. With fewer monsters, Clay and his men staked out a more defensible position by the wall. Nothing would pass their guard. Clay thought of Elmyra and Aerith.
She wasn't a little girl anymore. She showed up one morning with a stubborn expression as she triumphantly slapped a piece of paper on the kitchen table. She still refused to answer what she did. They got into a huge row before things went to hell.
"She's grown up now," Elmyra counseled, "You need to let go a bit."
Clay closed his eyes tiredly. His arm twinged despite a high dose of painkillers. He returned and never had the chance to reconcile between the little girl he left and the young woman who greeted him. Logically, he did watch Aerith grow up. Time apart was punctuated by infrequent leave that allowed him to visit and see a girl that seemed to shoot up like a weed. Resilient like one, too.
But in his uneasy dreams at camp, Aerith stayed little.
Maybe, it is time to let go a bit.
Clay let himself drift but was roused back to awareness some unknown amount of time later by a commotion in the camp. His hand closed around the rifle by his side.
"Clay!"
It was Biggs, with Carlos and another man in a Soldier uniform running behind him. Biggs dropped to his knees when he reached Clay, gasping to catch his breath.
"We found out when we got back," he started to blabber, "We can't…Elmyra is beside herself-"
Clay pushed himself up with a grimace on his good arm.
"Slow down, boy," he said, "What's that about Elmyra?" The boy's eyes were wild as they met Clay's.
"She's gone. Aerith. They can't find her."
Reeve shut down his phone. The last message opened was from his mother, who was finally in contact. Reassured, he turned his attention back to the report in his hand. It arrived a little before all the chaos. Reeve doubted he would have been privy to the contents if it weren't for his emergency powers. But now, Heidegger was focused on organizing public security, leaving Reeve to catch up on what happened with the science department in the interim. With Hojo gone, the head of the department would have been Hollander.
Except.
Staring back at Reeve was a gruesome image. The face was barely recognizable. Bloated and waterlogged. The body was face down in the water long enough that the local wildlife ate the eyes and tongue, leaving empty sockets in its place.
It was reported weeks ago. Either it completely slipped by anyone's notice, or Hojo had more control than anyone suspected.
"Any other missing scientists?" Reeve asked impatiently. Gun shuffled through the pages from where she sat opposite Reeve, her mug of coffee already cold. She shook her head.
"Not scientists per se," she said after a pause, "But something bigger." Reeve groaned as a picture slid before him.
"A submarine is missing from the dock. The reactor crew was found dead outside. The reactor has also been drained to a level so low, they're having trouble maintaining critical function."
Reeve rubbed his forehead, a gesture he had done more often lately.
"There's no way," he said, "I designed the reactor myself. You can't just pump that much mako out. It had enough storage to power a city for a year. Enough for another mako cannon shot, even."
"Yeah, take a look yourself," Gun said.
If Reeve hadn't been sitting down, he would be. Level safety low alarms triggered in the night. The mako…vanished.
Reno grumbled, his shoulder still healing from the round that pierced it. Sitting across from him, Rude cleaned his glasses.
They didn't expect to be reunited like this so soon after the last funeral. The wall clock in Veld's sparse apartment ticked loudly against the still silence.
Veld's instructions were laid out on his old kitchen table. The gloves went to Rude. Gun had been by earlier to pick up Veld's antique shotgun. Her face was stony, and Reno recalled that Gun and Veld weren't on the best terms when he went on leave. Tseng's portion was left with no one to claim it and would be put in storage.
The only thing remaining sat on the desk. Left untouched.
Vincent Valentine's old things lay in a duffle bag.
Vincent fucking Valentine.
Veld's old partner. They only heard Veld say his name once. But the stubborn old goat, it turned out, held on to a dead man's things for thirty years.
And it turned out Valentine wasn't as dead as people believed.
Reno didn't believe it at first. Veld talked him up so much. The dude looked more like an edgy cosplayer from the theater district than a Turk. But Reno knew better. He thought back to the battle on the rooftop.
Valentine was every bit the Turk people said he was. But more. The way he moved. The way he fought.
He wasn't a man of many words, and in the hours following, well, everything, they managed to get bits and pieces of what happened out of the man.
Hojo's machinations. Deepground. Veld sacrificing himself.
Reno didn't quite believe it. Until they helped pull the records and piece together what footage they could. Reno still wasn't going to think about it.
And Cloud. Holy shit. Cloud demurred, placing authority firmly with Reeve. But for a split second, Cloud was the boss.
Nope. Still not thinking about it.
There was a quiet knock. The door opened before anyone could answer it. Vincent fucking Valentine himself, in his creepy cloak and all, blinked back at the myriad weapons aimed his way, then strode calmly into the apartment as though he had always been there.
"Oh. You." Reno tried to affect an indifferent tone. It didn't work nearly as well as he hoped.
The former Turk still made the hairs on the back of Reno's neck stand on end.
Vincent paused in front of the duffle bag, its zipper open to reveal Veld's - his old things inside. A golden claw lightly ran across the top. The human hand reached inside and pulled out a Turk suit, black in color instead of navy. Vincent looked down, letting his overgrown hair cover his face. Reno looked away as they all grieved in their own way.
In this, at least, they were united as Turks.
Vincent ran a gloved hand over the articles spread on the bed. After things settled, Reeve provided him with a small room to stay. Vincent couldn't say he didn't appreciate the gesture, though he didn't sleep in the traditional sense anymore.
After the Turk gathering (there wasn't a body to call it a funeral. Never a body), Vincent made his way here, grateful for the privacy.
After all this time.
His old suit, still crisp as though it had been freshly laundered, sat folded on the plain bedsheet. Next to it was a gun cleaning kit. It was too new to be his, but Vincent found it in the duffle. An old deck of cards - Vincent won that off an old Turk who taught them all how to gamble, and cheat, over rounds of cheap liquor strong enough to strip paint. (Veld never let him forget who carried his drunk ass home that time). Next to that, Vincent still held on to Veld's badge. It was cleaned and deactivated but had Veld's grizzled, unsmiling face staring back at him.
Finally, Vincent set his hand on the silver triple-barreled pistol in the bag. It was meticulously maintained. In better shape than Vincent had last seen it.
He slid open the chamber. Every action was smooth. Vincent opened the kit and went through the motions. He imagined his fingers tracing over the places Veld's had. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. He could have spent more time with Veld after he woke up. He spent it chasing Lucretia's memory. Then he spent it running away from Lucretia's memory. And Sephiroth (what a clusterfuck meeting her kid was.)
Meanwhile, Veld was hurting, too.
"You never learn. Dwelling on the past does not move you forward."
Vincent hated it when Chaos made sense, so he ignored the being sharing his mind. He reassembled the gun and replaced the weapon in his holster. Then he took a deep breath.
Thank you, old friend.
He zipped the bag back up. He sensed something. With another sigh, he walked to the door. It slid open to reveal a female Turk. Gun…was it?
Turks didn't use code names like this in Vincent's time. It must have been something Ver - Veld started.
"Hey," Gun greeted from where she leaned against the wall opposite Vincent's door. He cocked his head in her direction. She cleared her throat awkwardly and looked away.
Vincent huffed to himself. He turned toward the elevator bank.
"Veld taught me to shoot. All of us," she said to his back. Veld's name halted Vincent mid-stride. "Said his old partner was the best. That's you, right?" Vincent turned to look at her again.
She had a stoic face, but her eyes were rimmed red. Her shoulders were slumped, and her hair limp. Vincent recognized the mien of someone trying hard to keep it all together. Silence fell between them again. Gun bit her lip. A small tell.
"Heh." Vincent pushed Chaos away. Instead, he turned toward the elevators again.
"Is the range still on the twenty-second?"
Gun let out a small "Oh." Vincent heard her footsteps follow, though she was lighter on her feet than most Turks. "No, but I'll show you. They upgraded it five years ago."
Tseng let his feet carry him. Out of the Tower. Out of the central business district. Out of Midgar.
The trip was a haze. Tseng remembered fighting lingering groups of monsters, helping citizens trapped in the rubble, and wandering aimlessly around the commercial district. It all seemed stitched together like some television montage.
In a single night, Rufus Shinra was gone. Midgar was overrun. Veld dead. And Tseng was alone again.
He had his misgivings about what Rufus was doing. Chalked it up to the abrasive ruthlessness of youth. Then, let it go too far.
Tseng lost his jacket and tie somewhere. His hair came undone. He vaguely remembered being bundled into a truck with refugees from the plate. Someone with a kind face tried to hand him a mug.
These were people Shinra betrayed. Rufus betrayed. Deepground. How did Tseng not know? The destruction they wrought flashed by him.
When Tseng snapped back into himself again, he was sitting in an inn-turned-shelter in Kalm. He was staring at his hands, bare and rid of his fighting gloves. Cleaned of dirt but forever unclean.
A matronly woman in the Inn's uniform passed him a soft blanket. Tseng shook his head and stood.
"I'm uninjured. Where would I be put to the most use?"
The woman pursed her lips. "Well, if you say so. Broden - the inn's owner- retired from Soldier to take over for his folks. When word came down that monsters ran down Midgar and came knockin' on ours, he took a group of boys to defend the gates," she said, "They'd welcome any help."
Tseng nodded in thanks and stood with a groan, hours bumping around in a cargo truck finally catching up with him.
The center of the fighting was easy to find. Rustic cobblestone and wood gave way to stacked crates turned into barricades and makeshift barriers. It was clear anything that could be repurposed was. The monsters were hard to ignore as well. Tseng watched as a group of young men barely held on against the attacking pack. Their leader, a lean man wielding a dull blade, directed them even as he struggled to swing his weapon against the biggest fiend of the lot. Tseng aimed his rifle steadily and fired. The facsimile of a Kalm Fang dropped with a whimper, followed by another. No longer outnumbered, the men pushed the monsters back out of the square.
"Thank you," the lean man said as he lowered his weapon, breathing hard. Tseng walked closer, observing a gaunt face that only made the glowing eyes stand out.
"You're a Soldier-"
"Were," he corrected, then winced in pain. Tseng reached out as the ex-Soldier collapsed to his knees. It made no sense. Judging by his age, he was part of an earlier wave of enhancements, but even so, he was not particularly old. A few monsters should have been no issue.
The man barely protested when Tseng pulled up his shirt, cure materia already glowing in his hand. Tseng gasped at the sight.
The flesh under the man's sweat-soaked shirt was a dark, rotting mess. Some infection was slowly consuming him.
"My lord!" Shake called, voice tense. Godo sighed.
"I can see just fine. You don't need to shout," he said calmly. Frankly, it wasn't a calm situation. In all his years, Godo hadn't seen such a sight. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought he was bearing witness to the Hyyaki Yagyo—the night parade of a hundred demons in the old stories.
But for one, demons didn't exist. Not like that. Not when humans themselves put any yokai to shame. It was an ancient people's way of explaining fiends.
For another, many more monsters were in the "parade" than a mere hundred.
And monsters they were. Ones Godo recognized all too well. Avalanche's pet projects. Even after the war, the cullings continued. Worse, they had to root out Fuhito's sleeper agents within their own army in the process. A complete mess. Looking above him, Godo realized they found only a fraction of Avalanche's bases and cleared a mere hundred when they should have looked for thousands.
The sight had all the able-bodied warriors in Wutai out on the city streets, with weapons gripped tightly in their hands as they looked up in shock and horror. But the monsters were calm. They streamed across the sky, blotting out the sun like some locust plague, ready to beset any unfortunate area they might deem fertile feeding grounds. But that was not Wutai City. Instead, they faced north, traveling with a focus and urgency that was out of place for base beasts.
"Keep watch but leave them be," Godo commanded, "And pray they find Wutai wanting."
Genesis walked purposefully past a frantic bullpen and up to the closed door of a conference room. After a beat, Gun moved aside to let him in. Perhaps by instinct, she assumed the post that Veld, and Tseng, after him, held standing guard at the meeting room door they commandeered and turned into a temporary command post. There were two occupants in the room, but most of the floor and desk space was filled with computers and stacks of paper.
"The professor's awake," Genesis said when the door opened.
Genesis watched Cloud look up. He had dark circles under his eyes.
"Hrm? Oh," Cloud responded woodenly, his voice surprised. He looked down at his personal cellphone, but the screen stayed dark when he tapped it.
"Keep your cell phone charged," Genesis said, "You are the emergency line now."
When Genesis returned to the Tower hours after he departed, it felt like the world seismically shifted on its axis.
Outside, the monster attack quelled. A coalition of Soldiers, Public Security, and the civilian watch slowly cleared out any monster that hadn't fled the city.
Inside the Tower, turmoil bubbled.
Rufus was presumed dead. Scarlet too. Hojo and Palmer were both missing. Almost the entire board was in shambles. Veld was confirmed dead by someone Cloud trusted. And Cloud was a Shinra. The only Shinra left.
Reeve murmured a word to him, and Cloud stood with a soft groan. Genesis winced at the cracks he heard. Piles of paper stacked up between them. Communications became intermittent with phone lines and towers destroyed in multiple city sectors. So, they were back to the oldest forms of transmission. As they stood there, another fax machine whirred.
"Sorry," Cloud murmured, "We've been trying to put together what happened. Even with Reeve's department, we had a backlog to go through.
A soft knock sounded.
Cloud opened the door to reveal Gun standing outside with three more people. Rayleigh, Sephiroth, and Reno.
Reeve sighed at the sight of them. "You might as well come in, too," he said, waving toward the chair Cloud vacated. Gun and Reno had a quiet exchange, and Reno took the place Gun vacated.
With three more people in the office, it started to feel claustrophobic. Rayleigh was the first one to break the silence.
"I figure it was easier to come find you," she said, shaking her head. "We assessed the science department floors. Most of the equipment is unusable. I don't know when we will have it back up."
"The sample…" Cloud asked.
"Safe," Rayleigh said, firm. Then she pursed her lips. "But we won't be able to scale up antibody production for a while." Cloud's shoulders drooped. Genesis let out a sigh.
Angeal and Genesis were not fully healed, but mainly in the clear. If another Soldier showed any sign of degradation…
"We'll find another way to treat Geostigma," Cloud said dourly. He knew better than to retread an argument with Genesis. Genesis put his foot down at the idea of taking a dangerous amount of blood from Cloud, arguing for another option.
Reeve rubbed his face, still looking bewildered at all the info he was learning about Shinra's secretive Soldier program. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he said. "The more concerning issue is Junon. A sub is missing, and a city's worth of mako is gone."
"Do you think," Cloud uncrossed his arms, "There's no way, right?" Sephiroth's face darkened.
"Hollander's dead, and the reactor's been tampered with," he said, crossing his arms. "It has Hojo's stink all over."
"So that's where Jenova is," Cloud said.
"Was."
Genesis watched the conversation ping pong between Sephiroth and Cloud and grew impatient as Sephiroth's mother's name popped up. "Care to fill the rest of us in?" Sephiroth looked his way.
"...Later." Genesis gritted his teeth but didn't interrupt. Sephiroth turned back to Reeve and asked, "What about the monsters in the reactor?"
"What monsters?"
"..."
"Shit," Cloud said. A look of realization on his face. Reeve brushed his hair back.
"I already made contact with Rocket Town. If you can think of a few places to check, we will have the airship crew here in a few days. Now, gentlemen - and gentlewoman- we have a city to run."
Genesis stayed on Sephiroth's heels as they left the office without protest. Sephiroth seemed to know what he wanted. They quietly rode the elevator, finally stopping in front of a familiar VR room. Genesis cracked his knuckles in anticipation. After all, Shinra would be too busy to care if a VR room goes out of commission now.
The mood matched the somber decor of the main lobby.
Despite rescue efforts still underway and the ramped-up monster activity, Reeve thought it would be important to commemorate the victims. Initial estimates put casualties in the thousands. It would be the deadliest attack in Midgar history.
"...gathering in the shadow of tragedy. I stand before you not as a company director or president-elect but as a citizen of Midgar. The events that unfolded two days ago have marked us all deeply. We lost colleagues, friends, and family. For many of us, the fates of our loved ones are still uncertain…"
The lobby hosted a mix of media outfits, Public Security, and Soldiers. The latter two were on high alert.
Standing beside Reeve, Cloud silently looked out onto the crowd, his short address already complete. Reeve could also pick out a few recognizable faces, milling about toward the back and ever vigilant.
After the turmoil, the Turks appeared to fall back on their training. Several circled the perimeter, and Reeve knew that still more stationed themselves on vantage points within and without the building.
Then there was Cloud's friend. The Turks gave him respectful distance, but when he slinked in donned an old black Turk suit under his cloak, they folded him in, too. When Cloud saw Vincent, he snorted instead and left it at that.
Camera shutters softly clicked, not enough to interrupt Reeve's speech.
"I find myself thrust into this position under tragic circumstances. And as a company, we have also experienced changes at the top multiple times in a short time…"
Reeve could see a commotion toward the back of the crowd. A flash of silver revealed Sephiroth striding over toward the source. Reeve continued his prepared remarks uninterrupted.
"...I want to honor the memory of all the victims. They contributed to the fabric of our city in countless ways and now leave holes where they used to be. In the face of such tragedy, it is natural to feel anger, sadness, and even fear. But we cannot let these emotions consume us. Instead, we must rebuild our foundations, deny our attackers any openings, and unite as a community. We stand together. Resilience is not just a word…"
Cloud shifted next to Reeve. A few other Soldiers turned toward where there was a disruption in the crowd. A visibly distraught man was talking to Sephiroth. Judging by Cloud's reaction and the other Soldiers' reception, they were acquainted.
"...I offer my deepest condolences and assure you that you are not alone in your grief. We are here to support you..."
Reeve wrapped up the speech with a sigh. As the reporters swarmed around him, he gave Cloud a look.
"I can tell the look of a desperate man."
"The entire place was ransacked. Elmyra's a wreck. Said Aerith decided to go with them so they'd leave the refugees alone," Clay said.
They were piled into a spare conference room only a few floors up. A map laid flat on the conference table, already marked up so severely that some city names were unreadable. Zack clutched his hands in anger where he sat. Unable to hold still, his knees bounced with energy. Cloud sat next to him, back straight. Sephiroth took his customary position- leaning against a wall with a full view of the room. Reeve sat across from Cloud, looking older and wearier than Zack had ever seen (not that he had seen much of the director previously), while Angeal sat beside him. Genesis also did not sit and instead chose to pace restlessly. Zack wished he could join in, do squats, do something. But the conference room was only big enough for one agitated First to prowl, and Zack knew better than to get in Genesis's way.
Cloud and Sephiroth shared a look. Zack saw them do it and turned to them.
"This has something to do with the- you know-"
Zack made an ambiguous gesture. How else can you explain it? That his friends were both from the future? From different futures? Zack still had trouble understanding it all. Stopped trying, really. It was just too insane.
Cloud shook his head.
"I don't know, but probably."
"If Hojo took her, he can't be planning anything good," Sephiroth said, "He had been obsessed with Ancients for a long time."
"Do you think," Cloud uncrossed his arms, "There's no way, right?" Sephiroth's face darkened.
"Junon. Hollander's dead, and the reactor's been tampered with."
"We should go. Investigate. That's where Jenova is. Was," Zack suggested. Sephiroth shook his head slowly.
"Hojo would know better. He left an entire reactor crew dead," He said. Reeve sighed.
"Sephiroth is right," he said, "With the mako discrepancies and the missing sub -"
"What about the trackers?" Angeal asked. Reeve rubbed his beard while Gensis began to look even more irritated than before. While Angeal might be patient and play ball for a while, Genesis didn't like being kept in the dark. What happened in the now destroyed VR training room with Sephiroth calmed him somewhat, but only so much.
"We lost track of the sub," Reeve admitted after a beat. A collective groan was his reply.
"...If Deepground took Aerith, they were following Hojo. We find Hojo, we find Aerith…and likely also Jenova," Cloud mused.
"...What was the heading? North or south?"
"I'm not sure how that would help. Shinra has bases all over, but it was heading northwest when we lost track of it." Cloud glanced at Sephiroth, who only nodded, lips set grimly. Cloud licked his lips.
"There's two places they could be. Neither is good. If it's north…it's a guess…but a good one."
"Okay, then where would that be," Clay said, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration. "We are going around in circles."
Cloud was silent. Sephiroth answered instead.
"Where the calamity began. North Crater."
Genesis, who watched the conversation ping pong between Sephiroth and Cloud, finally grew impatient enough to burst.
"Elaborate." He turned to Sephiroth, furious. "You promised. Explain. With more words!"
Genesis continued pacing as the phone rang in the background. It was hard to believe it. The enormity of it. Even now, watching Cloud and Sephiroth bent over together over Cloud's PHS hooked up to a functional long-range line…it just doesn't sink in. Sephiroth explained some of it over a frenzied bout in the training room. More after Genesis calmed down a little, but honestly, he was still processing.
Genesis didn't know what to feel. Two of the people closest to him carried big secrets. And neither let him in on it for the entire time they had known each other. And what they were saying.
The end of the world. Godhood. Cetra. It sounded like a story. But then again, didn't Genesis always fall back to the same stories? Because sometimes they were more than that.
When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end
The goddess descends from the sky
Wings of light and dark spread afar
She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting
"Well, I ain't left yet, but I don't exactly have fuel to get you to North Crater either," Cloud's pilot friend ("His name is Cid") said over the phone.
Cloud shared a look with Reeve, then grinned crookedly.
"If you come to pick us up, you don't need to worry about fuel for Tiny Bronco ever again."
"Fuck, what did you get yerself into this time, kid," Cid asked. Instead of waiting for Cloud to answer, he sighed loudly. The sound broke over the speaker as if he blew right into the other side. "Fine, there's an airstrip halfway to Kalm. Meet me there."
Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess
We seek it thus, and take to the sky
Ripples form on the water's surface
The wandering soul knows no rest
And they will, won't they? Take to the sky, seeking a solution to end the war of beasts.
Three friends go into battle.
One is captured
One flies away
The one that is left becomes a hero.
That was a mistranslation, Genesis always thought. Genesis thought of what he learned (beat out of Sephiroth little by little, and the memory gave him little satisfaction.)
Oh.
"The hero, the traveler, and the prisoner," Genesis muttered, "Finally, some iota of truth."
"So now we must look forward to the war of beasts?" Angeal asked beside him.
Genesis scoffed. "Don't you think it's already started?"
Cid scratched his head as he counted the people meeting him at the airstrip.
"Look," he said, "The Bronco's pretty spry, but ten ain't gonna fly. Literally."
Cloud looked around. Gathered around the plane were the Firsts (now counting Zack), Vincent, Clay, and Cait, who came along in Reeve's stead.
"How many can you take," Cloud asked. Cid counted up with his fingers.
"Six, I reckon. Five really, since ya need me to fly," Cid said, "We'll need all the fuel she can fit, an' that's weight."
"Five then," Cloud said, "And we'll need to leave a space for Aerith." No one objected to it. None could fathom coming back without her or anyone else.
Angeal laid a hand on Genesis's shoulder. Genesis grumbled, then finally sighed, resigned.
"You go first," Genesis said, "We need the doc to give us a clear us, or else we'd be a liability." Cloud could see how much it pained him. Angeal was a silent support next to him. When Cloud caught Angeal's eyes, the other man nodded to him.
"We'll follow the moment we can," he said. Then he turned to Zack. In a practiced motion, he removed the Buster Sword from his back. The sight of it still brought a pang to Cloud's chest. Angeal held the sword up to his forehead and closed his eyes briefly. Then he opened his eyes and held the sword horizontally before him. Zack met his gaze from across the sword, his eyes wide.
"Angeal- what-"
"My legacy," Angeal said, "I should have done this long ago. Take it. Never forget your honor."
"Angeal…"
Cloud smiled, blinking moisture from his eyes. Angeal gave Zack a hard slap on the back, the Buster Sword slung there, and Zack's knees buckled at the force.
"Don't think that was a goodbye." Cloud's smile turned into a soft chuckle as he heard Zack mutter, "Didn't wanna pull your blow for that one?"
Beside him, Cid looked down at Cait.
"C'mon cat, let's let these folks say their goodbyes."
Cloud instead turned to Clay.
"Yeah, I know," the man said gruffly, "If anyone is going to stay, it'll be me. I'd just slow you down." even as he said, his fists were still clenched. Cloud sighed.
Then, heavy hands slammed down on his shoulders. His own knees almost buckled under the force.
"Shit, Gen, what-" Cloud stopped his protest halfway. The look in Genesis's eye was deadly serious.
"There is no hate, only joy, for you are beloved by the goddess, hero of the dawn, healer of worlds."
It sounded like both a blessing and a warning.
"Um, thanks, Gen," Cloud said, letting himself be pulled into a tight hug. Genesis's hair tickled his forehead as his face was squished against the man's signature leather trench. "I promise to be careful," Cloud said, but it came out more like, "I pwomish to be caweful." Genesis squeezed tighter and then let him go without a word. Cloud stepped back to look at the assembled group.
"We'll bring her back," he promised, "And stop Jenova."
Genesis clenched his hands in a fist as he followed Angeal back to the truck. This wasn't goodbye. Not if Genesis had a say in the matter.
Legend shall speak
Of sacrifice at world's end
The wind sails over the water's surface
Quietly, but surely
Quietly, but surely.
That was how Act IV ended, with Act V lost.
Well, Genesis thought, Just as well. It's time we wrote our own ending.
Happy New Year! Between life, family, and moving, I didn't get nearly as much time to write as I expected, but it's good to be back in the swing now.
Gun now knows how Kunsel feels. Meanwhile, out in Midgar, Kunsel feels a chill down his back…