On Our Father's Wings [Fanfic; Chaptered]

By Pyro. 02/01/08, 05:16 pm

Well, here's my third attempt at FFVII chaptered-ficcery, with the JENOVA experiment boys being the leads; Cloud, Zack, Vincent, Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal and Nero. 'Course, Hojo and Weiss'll show up sooner or later, and also Tifa, Aeris, and the other canonical love-interests.

Beware, all ye FFVII game fans, however, as my Nibelheim geography was a bit sketchy when I wrote this, and also, it's AU, so the JENOVA project details've been eschewed a bit.

Hopefully you'll all enjoy it nevertheless, though.

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Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII or any of it's characters, locations or objects within.

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Water dripped in through the roof of the cold, damp cell that held experiments 428 and
429. The water was cold; probably tainted with mako, or another new chemical from the labs. It burned when it fell on their skin; coating the offended area with another layer of greasy dirt, adding to the mess they found themselves surrounded by. Both of the experiments were (or had been once) human. Both were male. 428 had short, spiky golden hair and shining (one could possibly say glowing) blue eyes. 429 was nearly identical to 428, save for the fact his hair was black, and his eyes were tinted purple.

That; and 429 always wore a smile.

The living conditions himself and 428 found themselves in should have made it impossible to, but 429 was a special case, said the superiors. He had come in smiling; filling the other experiment’s hearts with joy, and; as he constantly explained to 428, he intended to leave smiling, with his best friend in tow.

As the imprisoned soldiers fell around them, however, 429 found that increasingly hard to believe. Still; he wore his smile as a beacon of hope, and kept both himself and 428 alive through that.

And through that, he would live to fulfill his promise.

He and 428 were going to escape.

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“Hey. Hey Cloud. Wake up.” Sharp jabs into my spine. I groaned.
“Go away, Zack. We’re being woken up for testing in an hour, get some sleep ‘til then.” I slowly opened one eyelid. Zack’s face was hovering near mine. His smile remained perpetual. I grimaced.
“What now?” I grumbled, as Zack looked into my single open eye.
“Today we escape.” He replied. I laughed insincerely.
“You say that every day.” Zack nodded as I opened my other eye.
“But this time I mean it.”
“What? No.”
“Yes, Cloud. We’re going to get out of here. And then… We can go find your Tifa, and explain to her where you’ve been for the past…” Zack frowned. After a brief moment of silence, he continued. “See, Cloud? I can’t even remember how long we’ve been in here for.”
“So what?” Zack pulled me off my wooden slat bed.
“Come on, Cloud. You have five minutes before I knock you out and carry you out of here on my own.” I began to get to my feet.
“Fine. Just let me get my things.” Zack nodded, before slapping me over the back with a blow that showed his lack of understanding of his own strength.
“Ow!” I cried, as Zack grinned down at me.
“There’s a boy.” He turned away and slung a small bag of his trinkets over his shoulder. “Now, hurry up!”
“Alright, alright…” I shoved a small, crumpled picture of my family into my pocket, followed by several potions one of the wardens had smuggled me. I turned to Zack.
“I’m ready.” Zack held his hand out to me.
“Great. Let’s go.”

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“Hey,” The black haired man turned around as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. Red eyes met green.
“Think that Angeal’s ever gonna respond?” The black haired, red eyed man nodded.
“Give him time, Sephiroth.” He replied. Sephiroth nodded, his silver hair swimming majestically in the moderately strong breeze.
“Wait, you only ever say that if… Vincent.” Vincent smiled. Sephiroth sighed. “Fine, then. But be back soon.” Vincent’s feet pounded heavily on the ground, before he jumped off the cliff in front of them. Falling down the mountainside gracefully, he suddenly lifted up from the ground, and began to soar over the snowy scenery below him.

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I groaned, as Zack and I sprinted down the hall, swords in hand. We had knocked to guards unconscious on our way out, and stole their armor and weapons, before hightailing it out of there. Now, according to the map on the wall we had just passed, we were nearly at the exit. My heart thumped quickly in my ears, as Zack threw open a door in front of us. Sunlight streamed in through a nearby window.
“Zack! Sunlight! We’re almost there!” I cried, my steps slowing. Zack looked back at me.
“Don’t stop, Cloud. We’re not in the clear yet.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me on, through another door and along a twisting hallway. Our heartbeats and steps aligned. The final door between us and our freedom was flung open. Nibelheim’s rolling mountains were revealed to us once more. I gasped in the cool air as the temperature around me fell. I collapsed to my knees.
“Zack, we’re… We’re free, I…” I trailed off, choking in my tears of joy. Zack smiled, walking over to me and placing a hand on my shoulder. His smile widened.
“Now we can go see your Tifa.” He whispered, before hauling me to my feet, feet which felt like lead. My knees wobbled; I nearly fell back down. Zack held me strong.
“How’re we gonna find her?” I whispered in reply. Zack shook his head.
“I don’t know, but we will. We’ll find Aeris too.” Zack gave me the biggest grin I had ever seen. I blinked, my eyes watery from joy, before smiling in return, the first smile I had performed since entering that godforsaken laboratory, years ago. Zack laughed.
“You have a lovely smile, Cloud.” he whispered, hoisting me up as I began to drop to my knees again. We stood side by side on the Nibelheim alps, looking down from the laboratory we had been let out of, taking in the scenery we had been deprived of for so long. When we had first been captured years ago, we were taken to the large, abandoned mansion in the small village further down, but as time wore on, we were relocated to a large, modern laboratory up in the alps, where no-one from the village ventured.

“Shall we… Head down the mountains? We might be able to find Tifa back in Nibelheim.” Zack let go of me, and I swayed dizzily before finding my feet. I nodded shakily, before looking up to the grey sky. The sun peered shyly from behind a thick cloud. I closed my eyes. The wind swirled around me gently, as I heard a bird singing in a tree far below us. My mouth hung open slightly, my lip curled slightly inwards, as I breathed slowly and deeply. Zack laughed, breaking my moment of nirvana.

“Come on, Cloud, we’ve gotta get out of here before they send back-up after us, yeah?” he nudged me gently with his elbow.
“Yeah, guess so.” I replied, stretching backwards, breaking the tension that had been growing in my muscles. Zack began walking at a leisurely pace down the gravel path outside the laboratory, whistling softly. I followed, as Zack’s whistling turned into a hum, and then a song.

“Sweet, sweet hills of Nibelheim, bring the tears into my eyes… Love the mountains, love the sky, bring me up until I fly, Nibel-Nibel-Nibelheim.” His voice was off key as he sung the popular children’s song, his walking turning into a happy skip. I didn’t quite know what to make of the scene- my best friend, a grown man, singing and skipping through a mountain top- but I played along, quickening my pace to keep up with the remarkably happy Zack. Suddenly he stopped.

“Damnit, Cloud, I forgot the words.” he laughed, grabbing me and pulling me to his side. “Come on, Cloud-y boy, let’s sing it together.” I couldn’t help cracking a smile at that point. Cloud-y boy? It was worse than some of the things my mother had called me as a kid. I suddenly found Zack’s hand ruffling my hair playfully, his face scrunched up with joy. Before I could stop myself, I began to sing for Zack in my husky, off-key voice.

“Sweet, sweet hills of Nibelheim, bring the tears into my eyes… Love the mountains love the sky, bring me up until I fly, Nibel-Nibel-Nibelheim.” The scene would have been quite funny to any onlookers, I could tell, and I was thankful that this old mountaintop was abandoned, save for the laboratory above us, and the millions of animals around us. Birds fluttered noisily in the trees surrounding us. Zack and I began to sing the second verse of our song.

“Midgar, Midgar glowing bright, lighting up the blackest night. In this world it’s always night, our reactors burst with light, Midgar, Midgar, town of light.” Zack and I gazed around the mountaintop we were walking down. Sunlight burst around us, as the cloud covering the sun shifted. Light rain had begun to fall, leaving dark patches on our clothes.

“Junon is the sea-swept town, with the canon looking down, over all the land around, with the playful dolphin-clowns, Junon is our ocean town.” Suddenly, I felt my feet swept out from under me, as a gust of wind blew over the ground around Zack and I. I landed sorely on my ass, as Zack regained his balance, remaining standing. A flash of crimson blocked out the sun briefly, as we looked upwards. Something- a fiend, of some description, was moving towards us. Zack unsheathed the sword he had stolen from the lab. I followed suit. Suddenly, a huge pine tree near Zack began to crumble down, green needles raining on the pair of us. I nailed Zack to the ground, as the space where we had been standing was filled by the tree.

“Oof!” Zack cried, sitting up, covered in dirt. I pulled myself off of him, jumping to my feet. I brushed my clothes off briskly, as part of my gravity-defying hairdo began to fall down. I shoved it back, wishing I had robbed that one guard of his hair-tie. A crack sounded out further up the mountain, as a shower of pebbles and rocks fell down.
“You the escapees?” A man stood on a ledge above us, dressed in a black suit with a white shirt. He had short black hair which dangled in front of his eyes, which were a curious Mako-crimson.
“Who’re you to be asking that?” Zack yelled at the man. I suddenly realized what he was wearing as my eye caught notice of a pin with a logo on it- the Shin-Ra logo- the logo of the company that imprisoned us. The man was a Turk- a part of Shin-Ra that mainly performed bodyguard work, but weren’t above doing the dirtier dealings of the company- assassinations, secret deals… They were the worms who did all the sleazy wheelings and dealings.
Suddenly, the man moved to jump off the ledge. Pressing off the rocky ground with a dusty black work shoe, he landed a few meters away from Zack and I, completely unscathed, despite the large distance he had just jumped. Red eyes bored into us.
“My name…” The man growled in response, his eyes moving up to our swords. “… is of no importance.” He folded his arms, shifting his jacket to reveal a shotgun sitting at his waist.
“Let me rephrase that, then, Turk. Why the hell’d Shin-Ra bring a Turk up here, just to take care of us?” I barked, before Zack could speak.
“Shin-Ra?” The man began to laugh. “Whatever made you think I’m with Shin-Ra? I haven’t dealt with those bastards for over thirty years.”
“Over thirty… Eh?” Zack gave the Turk a look of utter confusion.
“Who are you with, then?”
“Why should I tell you, boy?” he sneered at me indignantly. I shrugged.
“To fulfill our need for useless information?” Zack suggested. I nodded tiredly.
“That’s a rather silly reason. But, anyway, I take it you are the lab rats, then.” The man took a step towards us, then another, then another. He loomed over Zack and I, at least a head taller than both of us. Thin, black eyebrows leered sharply over his eyes, his angular face alight with something- whether it was sincere joy or manic curiosity I couldn’t tell. Part of his hair flopped down over on of his eyes.

“Come with me, I have something to propose to you.” He advanced ever closer, his red eyes looking ever brighter. This man had clearly been exposed to crazily high levels of mako, which gave his eyes a true glow.
“I’m sorry, we’re not looking to get married.” Zack chuckled, somewhat uneasily. The man was pushing us closer to the edge of the mountain; closer to a consuming abyss of cold, dark rock.

“This isn’t that kind of proposal. Just-“ Closer. He grew closer.
“-hear-“ I heard a rock shift into the gorge beneath my foot.
“-me out.” Zack grabbed hold of my arm, as the man outstretched his arms greatly, with great speed. The crazy red shine in his eyes shone like a torch, as his hand connected with my chest.

“Cloud!” Zack cried, as my balance faltered. I hovered over the edge, clawing with my free hand, as Zack tried to pull me back up with the other. I flung a leg out, as though trying to swim in the air. Suddenly, I felt my stomach fly up into my throat. I wanted to be sick. My body lost hold of the cliff, as I felt a moment of weightlessness, before beginning to plummet towards the ground below. Zack let out a weak cry as he too was pulled down, the red eyed man letting out a short snort of laughter, before falling silent, as the cold wind began to block out my hearing.

My stomach rode up higher in my throat, as Zack began to scream. I followed suit. The silvery grey ground loomed ever nearer as -we drifted- no, plummeted- towards a sharp, rocky outcrop resting at the bottom of the gorge. Suddenly, we noticed a flash of red above us, as a giant bird flew down after us, with giant, crimson-red wings, blocking out the sun. The wings curled closer to the bird’s body, as it shot down after us. In a flash, I realized something- this wasn’t a bird, it was a man.

A winged man.

But, the wings were thick and leathery, I noticed. This wasn’t an angel, it was a demonic monster. Had it come to taunt us in our final moments? Glowing yellow eyes burned brightly in it’s skull, red and black hair shooting out of it’s scalp. It’s skin was pale as chocobo milk. The leathery red wings flapped wide open again. I suddenly became aware of how dizzyingly close the ground was. I grabbed Zack’s hand as we neared each other in the air, pulling him closer to me.
“If we die-“ I roared over the screaming wind. “I want to die with you by me.” I closed my eyes, prepared for the sickening splat as we hit the ground. Instead, I was greeted with a shuddering pull, like a parachute opening above me. I opened my eyes. The ground sat in front of me, meters away.

I breathed a sigh of relief. What strange thing had saved me? I pondered. The demon? Had Zack used some kind of bizarre materia? I looked up above me. Zack hung, suspended in the air, held in the monster’s black and silver-covered arms. He wore a shocked, but joyful, expression. But what had saved me? I craned my neck further around. Thick, black, sinewy wings hung above me. Had I been saved by another demon? I crept my gaze as far around as I could muster.

No. These black, bat-like, demonic wings sprung forth from my own back. I drew in a sharp breath. The world around me shuddered. Blue fused with green which then fused with everything else. I felt dizzy. Suddenly, the blurred colors turned to black, and the hideous, falling feeling filled my stomach again, as I fainted.

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Written on the 27/12/07

Chapter 2: Cloud and Zack are taken to the mysterious man’s headquarters, introduced to his ‘interesting’ friends, and then introduced to join their little club! What’s in store for everyone’s favorite boys with gravity-defying hair? Why is their winged acquaintance so damn psycho? Why is Cloud suddenly sprouting wings? Find out in the next chapter of On Our Father’s Wings!

By Pyro. 13/01/08, 04:50 am

I don't care that it's forum etiquette to not double post, I'm going to do it now anyway. <3

Uh, but honestly, is anyone reading this? T_T I like feedback, if you are!

Here we go, onto the second chapter!

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My head was pounding. That was the first thing that registered with me when I came to, stretched out on what felt like a wooden table. Was… The whole escape thing a dream? I pondered, rubbing my eyes with my hand. I opened my eyes. A pristine white ceiling glistened above me, covered in tiny bumps. I smiled softly. There’s one good thing, at least. I’m alive, and I’m not in the labs. I tried to sit up, but found I couldn’t. I looked to my side.

A thick, heavy, sinewy black wing lay there. Apparently that wasn’t a dream either. I decided, before pulling on my stomach harder to sit up. With much effort, I managed to pull myself into a sitting position.

The long, heavy wings I had sprung miraculously to save myself from death felt like lead. The membrane along them was covered with a thin, hardly visible, layer of blood, and my shoulder blades hurt like hell. I ran my hand along one curiously, the leathery skin causing me to shudder. It felt cold, and hard, like skin that’s been worn down through strenuous work. The bones in it were thin, and brittle. I tugged on the edge of it slightly, and discovered that the wing was very flexible. I let go of the wing and settled back into a relaxed position.

“Mornin’, chocobo-boy!” A cheery face peered towards me from a doorway I hadn’t noticed. Zack’s bright blue eyes watched me playfully. I groaned.
“Don’t call me that,” I growled. Zack walked towards me. I noticed a plate in his hands. A plate loaded with golden-brown pancakes. I suddenly felt almost painfully hungry. My stomach growled angrily. Zack laughed.

“Here,” he passed the pancakes to me cheerily, before sitting down on the table next to me. I looked around my surroundings properly for the first time. It seemed to be a small meeting room, with leathery chairs sat around the polished wood table I had been lying on. There were five chairs, each with a silver nameplate at the head. Vincent. Genesis. Angeal. Nero. Four of the chairs read. The biggest chair, sat at the end of the table, had a larger nameplate, with fancy engravings around the edges of it. Sephiroth. The word glared at me, and burned into my skin. Sephiroth… I thought to myself. His name wasn’t unfamiliar to me. He had been the reason why I had become a test subject, through a strange series of events. I had thought he died, but apparently I was wrong. Zack gazed pitifully into my eyes.

“Thinking about… That guy… Aren’t you?” he motioned towards Sephiroth’s chair. I nodded sadly. “Don’t worry, Cloudy boy, he’s not like you remember him. He’s a great guy, actually. You’ll see him soon.” Zack smiled reassuringly. I looked at him blankly, before digging my fork into the pancakes and shoving them roughly into my mouth.
“How long was I-“ I swallowed “Out for?” I said through a mouthful of golden syrup-laden pancake.
“Oh, just a few days.” Zack said with a smile. My eyes grew large.
“Just a few days?!” I yelled. Zack nodded.
“Yeah. The guys couldn’t spare any of their beds, so we put you on the table. You should be able to meet some of them soon. They’re all really nice… Well, almost all. Vincent’s kinda iffy. And Genesis always carries this weird old book with him…” I raised an eyebrow. Footsteps echoed through the hallway outside my cosy room. Suddenly, the doorway was filled with a thin, smirking figure in a red leather jacket. “Speak of the devil!” Zack cried, jumping up and rushing over to the man in the doorway.

“Cloud… This is Genesis.” Genesis looked at me through a set of bright blue mako-eyes, raising a gloved hand to his face before pulling a small amount of chestnut brown hair out of his eyes.
“Pleasure.” Genesis extended a hand to me. I hesitated, before shaking it. Genesis squeezed my hand, before smiling in a rather disturbing way.
“May the goddess lay her gifts on you, and keep you in her loving grasp.” He whispered, as I noticed a book in his hand. The front cover read ‘Loveless’. I nodded shiftily in return.
“Sure… You too.” I replied, as Genesis bowed, before turning on his heel and leaving the room. Zack looked sadly at his leaving behind.

“He’s probably in a hurry to get to the library…” he mumbled sadly, before grabbing my hand as I began to withdrew it from the position Genesis had left it in, and hauling me to my feet, grunting with the effort. My wings clunked heavily behind me. I used my free hand to grab a chunk of pancake off the plate, finishing off the dish.
“Well, then. Shall we go and find the others?” Zack didn’t wait for my response, grabbing me by the wrist and pulling me into the hallway, which was the same white as the meeting room. The carpet was soft, and it made me notice that my shoes had been removed. Zack tugged me down one direction, before grabbing hold of a doorknob and showing me into a darkened room. He flicked a light switch, which revealed a bedroom. Someone groaned from a corner.
“Turn it off… It’s only seven o’ clock…” I heard a pillow shuffle as whoever was laying asleep hid from the light.
“That’s Nero.” He informed me.
“Go away…” Nero moaned, his voice covered in an unrecognizable accent. Zack flicked the light off, leading me out of the room again, closing the door behind him. Moments later, he was dragging me down the hallway again. After several twists and turns, Zack shoved open another door, leading me into what seemed to be a kitchen.
“Yo, Angeal, you in here!” Zack peered into the room, and I followed suit, my wings clunking uncomfortably into the door. The kitchen was modern, with black tiles and up-to-the-minute equipment. Small lights shone from the ceiling.
“Yes, Zack, I’m here.” Zack walked into the room calmly, dragging me with him.
“Hey Angie.” He said with a grin. A man with bushy black hair, seemingly in his late twenties or early thirties, looked at us. He was wearing blue jeans and a black polo-shirt, with a white apron over the top. Shining blue eyes stared out of his head.
“I told you not to call me Angie, Zack. I see you’ve brought Cloud with you.” Angeal held a pair of silver tongs in his hand, and his apron was splattered with what seemed to be pasta sauce.
“Yep.” Zack shoved me forwards, crying out in pain as my wings smacked into him.
“So, you’re Cloud.” Angeal observed, setting down his dirty tongs and stepping towards me. He seemed to take in my every feature, looking twice over my wings, muttering something quietly to himself. Finally, he came ‘round to the front of me, and looked me square in the eye.

“It’s good to have a new recruit around here. The last time someone new joined us, he turned out to be a whiny boy who couldn’t control his abilities. Now, he just lies around all day, eating our food and swallowing up any chocobos who come by for fun. Please don’t let us down, Cloud.” Angeal grumbled. I cocked my head sideways.
“What do you mean, ‘new recruit’?” I enquired. Angeal let out a throaty laugh.
“You’ll see. Now, for your first test of usefulness. Can you cook?” Angeal held up a carving knife ominously.
“No… Not really.” I muttered, puzzled as to why this’d be a useful skill for me to have.
“Damn. You’ve failed your first test, then. Leave me be.” Angeal turned away, gripping his tongs back up. Zack laughed nervously.
“We’ll be back for lunch, Angeal!” Angeal’s hand slipped slightly, spraying spaghetti sauce all over his apron.
“Go away, Zack.” He growled, causing Zack to grab my hand and drag me out of the room once more, my wings once again colliding with the doorframe on the way out. I growled, but held back the cry I so wanted to let out. Zack began to sprint down the hallway once again, continuing on the way we were going.
“What’d Angeal mean by ‘new recruit’?” I asked Zack, who grinned, winking back at me.
“You’ll find out, Chocobo boy.”
“That’s very reassuring, Zack.” I groaned sarcastically. Zack laughed playfully, before stopping abruptly. A wall blocked our path, a heavy oak door sunken into the surface, the handle worn down from overuse. Zack pulled me back a bit as I reached for the handle.
“Don’t ever go in there, Cloud. Unless you particularly want to be castrated by an ex-Turk with an attitude.” Zack paused, running his hand over the door frame. My spine suddenly turned to ice, and I felt myself grow cold. “That’s Vincent’s room.” Zack informed me, his mako blue eyes staring at the door, in deep thought.
“Hey guys.” Zack and I whipped around at the sound of the voice, only to see an unfamiliar black-haired man (probably in his early twenties) with blood red mako eyes. The voice was familiar, however, and I immediately picked him as being Nero.
“Hey Nero.” Zack replied, Nero was wearing black jeans and a black-leather belt, accompanied with flat-heeled black leather boots and a black t-shirt. His hair was unruly, and even if I hadn’t known he had just gotten up, I would’ve been able to pick it from his appearance. Purple lines coursed around his eyes, revealing that he’d had a late night. He rubbed the back of his head sorely.

“Any idea when Angeal’ll be opening the kitchen up for breakfast, Zack?”
“Nope. He just started cooking, though, so make your guesses based on that.” Nero smiled and nodded, before ambling lazily back down the hallway from whence he came. Zack cracked a small, cheery smile.

“Nero’s a character, eh?” I watched the tracks Nero left in the thick, fluffy carpet, ignoring Zack’s question. He sunk down heavily, leaving obvious footprints. How could a guy that thin make such obvious impressions in the carpet?
“Cloud?” Zack waved a hand in front of my face impatiently, startling me.
“Oh. Yeah?” Zack breathed a sigh of relief, before clutching my shoulder.
“Wanna go find Sephiroth?” I flinched at the name, but nodded quickly. I wanted to see what Zack had meant earlier by saying Sephiroth was different. Zack grabbed my hand and pulled me back down the corridor, past numerous doors. The smell of burning pasta drifted lazily out of one of them; signaling that Angeal was messing up breakfast for the others.

“Sephiroth should be in the library…” Zack cheered, as he pulled me into a doorway; hitting me against either side of the frame as he did so. I let out a short, low, cry of annoyance.
“Za-ack!” I moaned. Zack let out a low chuckle.
“Pay back for not sharing your soup with me that one time.” Zack laughed, his pleasant smile cheering me. Suddenly, Zack’s eyes shot to the wings hanging precariously from my shoulder blades. A look of sorrow spread across his usually joyful face for a brief second; before it was relit with a smile. “… Come on, Cloud, let’s try and find Seph.” Zack turned back away from me, and began to walk slowly down the hall, far more hesitantly than his usual joyful gait.
“Zack… Are you okay?” I placed a hand on his shoulder before he could move out of my reach. He flinched.
“Yeah…” He replied, trying to obviously hide sadness in his voice. He shrugged me off, and kept continuing down the hallway we had just arrived in. After a few seconds, he stopped, and swung open a large, wooden door.

“Come in.” He whispered hoarsely, beckoning me in. I nodded graciously, and walked through the door. I suddenly felt hugely overwhelmed as I registered that we were in a huge library. The room was large; and had a chandelier dangling from the ceiling on a golden chain. The books stretched from floor to ceiling, and piles of them rested on the floor; carelessly thrown away by their readers. At the opposite end of the room, Genesis sat in a faded red armchair, flipping absently through the creamy white book I had seen him holding earlier. His bright eyes were wide, and he caressed each page as he turned it.

“Sephiroth! Sephiroth? You in here?” Zack called loudly. I heard a book slam onto a table.
“Yes, Zack.” A voice replied, as from a nearby corner a man with long, silver hair and blue-green mako eyes emerged. I took in every inch of the majestic figure- his open fronted black leather coat, his shirtless torso, his knee-high buckled boots… And let out a deep breath to reveal my awe. “Hello Cloud.”
Sephiroth’s voice broke through my awed trance.
“Cloud?” Zack nudged me, as I finally regained the ability to speak.
“Long time no see, Sephiroth.” I gasped, as Sephiroth smirked at me, beginning to run a gloved hand through his flowing silver hair.
“It was five years ago we last met, correct?” Sephiroth tilted his head sideways, his smirk growing. I nodded.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I hope you don’t hold any grudges towards me for… Destroying your hometown…” Sephiroth mumbled the words as his grin faded, apology showing in everything but his majestic, heroic pose.
“I… I might have to work on that one.” I replied sadly, painful memories reappearing inside my mind.
“I think if we give it time, we can rebuild our relationship.” Sephiroth turned back away from me and picked a book off the table.
“You talk as though we once actually had one.” I replied snidely. Sephiroth gave a short, low cackle.
“But Cloud; isn’t it a first class SOLDIER’s duty to provide moral to their lower troops? You needed a friend; I became one for you, as did Zack.” Zack stepped towards Sephiroth at the mention of his name. I shrugged.
“Say what you will.” I turned my head sharply to Zack, and motioned for him to come back to my side.

-read on through the next post...-

By Pyro. 13/01/08, 04:51 am

-chapter 2; part 2-

“Zack, can we go back upstairs? I’d like to talk to Angeal and Nero some more.” Zack cheerily nodded, and took my hand, saying a quick goodbye to Sephiroth before we left the room. After a short, silent walk, we were back in the kitchen, where Nero was endlessly annoying Angeal for some pasta.
“Aww, come on Angeal! Why are you continuing to deny me my nutrience? I’m a growing boy…”
“You’re twenty three, Nero, and hardly growing…”
“… And I need food. Now. Or do you want me to dispose of you in the same way I disposed of your precious sword?”
“… Give me five minutes Nero, please…”
“The power of darkness will consume you eventually, Angeal! You’re powerless to… Oh, thanks.” Angeal passed Nero a box of crackers, sighing and wiping sweat off his brow as he did so, before turning towards Zack and I.
“You’re back in here already? Don’t tell me you want more food. I’ve already made pancakes especially for you and Cloud this morning, don’t tell me you want more.” Zack shook his head.
“Nah, Cloud just wanted to come up here and say hi.” Zack nudged me sharply in the ribs. I inhaled with a loud, pained gasp. Zack rolled his eyes, as I stood up straight again, my eyes watering.
“Um… Hi.” I grumbled, finding the suspense and the way everyone was looking at me intimidating.
“That all?” Angeal grumbled. I was about to nod; when Zack stopped me.
“I think Cloud had something to ask you, too.” I sent Zack a glare, before locking my eyes onto Angeal’s.
“Where are we?” I asked. Angeal smiled.
“I was waiting for you to ask that. Have you ever looked properly around the rivers and mountains surrounding the Nibelheim area?” I shook my head. Of course, I had seen the mountains and other obstacles separating us from Cosmo Canyon, but that was as far as I went. “Well.” Angeal continued.

“We are currently in a small lodge cut out of the rock near the top of one of said mountains, which Vincent- you’ve met Vincent, I believe?- found abandoned close to ten years ago. Apparently it used to belong to Shinra, but we think they evacuated after the area swarmed with fiends brought into the area by the abundance of Mako crystal. Vincent, Genesis and I have gradually remodeled the entire place over the years, however, so only the basement and the library are as they were when we discovered it.” Angeal, at this point, took a step out from behind the kitchen counter and walked over to the huge glass wall and motioned out, displaying all the nearby mountains, lakes and, in the distance, Nibelheim.
“Uh, right.” I replied, pausing for a moment and gazing absently out the window. “Hey, Angeal, how did all of you get up here, anyway?” Angeal froze for a second, before smiling serenely.
“You’ll find out at… Well, I’ll get everyone in here now to tell you, I guess. Better sooner than later, I suppose.” Angeal walked back to the kitchen and picked up a telephone receiver, which he spoke into slowly and clearly.

“Everyone; report to the kitchen immediately. It’s time to tell Cloud who we are.” He placed it back down seconds later; as the door swung open to reveal a haggard-looking Vincent, who had faint purple lines under his eyes. Without saying a word, he sat down at the dining table, Nero following suit. Zack walked over and did the same, motioning for me to also sit. Vincent shot me a pitying, yet angry look. I turned away and watched Angeal, who had a calm, composed smile on his face. Moments later; Sephiroth and Genesis walked in, the former leaning against a wall while Genesis took one of the last two seats at the table, next to me.

“Right, I suppose you can all figure out what we’re here for.” Angeal folded his arms decisively as he spoke, closing his eyes. His relaxed, friendly demeanor from before evaporated instantly.
“Showing chocobo-head here what we’re all about?” A head peered through the door happily, the head of a teenage girl. She had bright, bird-like eyes and short black hair, and wore a bandanna.
“Yuffie, go away.” Vincent snarled suddenly, catching me off guard.
“No way, emo boy, I’m always getting left out of these meetings, and I’m sick-sick-sick of it!” Yuffie, as the girl seemed to be called, walked through the doorway and into the room, revealing the rest of her. She wore a green shirt cut just below her bust, and denim short-shorts, with a white arm cover on her left arm. Her eyes and height denoted her as being from the continent of Wutai.
”Yuffie, leave now, before I get Nero to put you back in his darkness.”
“I never consented to…”
“Eep!” Yuffie ran from the room, as Nero raised an eyebrow, and Vincent’s face lit up in a pleased smirk.
“… You do know, Vincent, that now she’ll just hide in the air ducts and listen in to us.”
“It’s better than having her with us, though.” Vincent replied coldly, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms. Angeal sent Vincent a look of anger, before motioning for Sephiroth to take up the mantle of explaining to me what was going on.
“Cloud. To get straight to the point, we are a group of individuals hunted by Shinra due to our value to them- note that almost all of us here were first class SOLDIERs in our time with them- who try and undermine the company on whatever chance we get. Back in your days in Midgar, I trust you heard of the AVALANCHE?” I nodded. AVALANCHE were a terrorist group I had, on more than one occasion, been sent to deal with, with Zack and Sephiroth.
“Well, we are… Kind of a worldwide equivalent of that. While they focus on Midgar, we protect innocents Gaia over, whilst trying to get rid of Shinra. The only difference from AVALANCHE is…” Sephiroth nodded to Angeal, who hit a switch on the wall. The glass wall began to retract into the floor, opening the kitchen to the cool mountain breeze. Suddenly, Genesis bolted up from his seat and leapt out the hole, completely silent. After a moment of shock, I registered what had happened.

“He just commit suicide! What is wrong with you people?!” I yelled. Angeal and Sephiroth laughed in unison, to be quickly joined in by Nero.
“Suicide, eh? Well, then, just watch.” Nero laughed. I turned back to the hole. Suddenly, a huge black wing appeared through the window, feathers cascading down from it. As it beat hard, Genesis was pulled into view, the wing attached to his back. I opened my mouth in an ‘O’ shape, my eyes wide. Genesis smiled, landing back in the hole.
“… None of us are human.” Sephiroth concluded, before walking towards Genesis, an identical black wing extending from his back as he did so, on the opposite side. I looked at Angeal; who had sprung a huge pair of white wings from his left side. Nero stood from his chair, a set of inky black wings, light shifting in them as though they were made of oil, extended from his back, angelic in appearance, though not made of feathers.

“… What about Vincent?” I puzzled, after a minute or two of silence.
“Didn’t you show them, Vinnie-boy?” Nero inquired. Vincent’s red eyes closed, as he rose from his seat. Taking a deep breath, he threw himself out the window, enveloped in a bright red light as he did so. The air around him shimmered, as his entire image changed, converting into the demon that had saved Zack. Flapping his crimson wings, he did a barrel roll in the air, leaving a faint red trail behind himself. Looping back around, he hovered in the air, unmoving, before returning to us. He landed gently, and grimaced, before making a pained sound as he dropped to the floor, wings evaporating as he returned to his normal self. Nero went to his side and gripped him, helping him up and placing him on one of the spare chairs.

“Vincent is a special case.” Angeal informed us, his white wings moving gracefully backwards and forwards. “He was part of the experiment that created another one of our group, where he was killed and then tortured, before having a semi-sentient WEAPON placed inside his body.” I nodded, pretending to understand what Angeal had just said.

“As such, he can no longer age, and he has begun to be taken over by the will of the WEAPON. Due to the usual power switch between the two; the WEAPON has taken over Vincent’s original form, except at certain times, and Vincent has taken over the WEAPON’s body.” Angeal paused, as though he was going to end his explanation there, but it continued.
“… However, the WEAPON, being only semi-sentient, has adopted Vincent’s basic instincts and personality, and often relies on him for interaction with others. We’re not exactly sure how it influences and controls him, but suffice that Vincent is only himself when he’s in the body of the WEAPON… Chaos.” I nodded once again, sure that Angeal’s lecture would have to be over by now. “… Sadly…” I contained a groan.

“Chaos’ form takes too much energy for Vincent to remain in, and therefore we are often left without our most valuable asset except in very dire situations.” Angeal looked sadly towards Vincent, who sat, absently, at the table, leaned backwards on the chair weakly. Nero knelt at his side.
“Is that all you need to know about us?” Angeal asked after a long moment of silence.

“… Why… Why me?” I inquired, my wings suddenly feeling heavy on my back. The other winged men suddenly fell silent. Zack looked up at me, his eyes glowing brighter than usual.
“Maybe… Maybe because you needed a time to shine like you always wanted.” He whispered. “Maybe you’re destined to be the hero.”

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Written on the 12/1/08

Chapter 3: Vincent has gone missing, and the boys set out to find him, leaving Zack and Yuffie back at the lodge. Meanwhile, in Midgar, a mako reactor is destroyed by the rebel group AVALANCHE, and one member is caught in the blast. Do all these events have any relation? And why do the boys keep the laboratory under the lodge untouched; despite the painful memories it awakens?

By Pyro. 15/01/08, 03:11 pm

Due to sheer idiocy, the final part of the chapter three description is being left untold untold chapter four. <3 Sorry!

DAMNIT, MY LAPTOP BROKE AND THIS COMPUTER'S WORD IS SCREWED SO I CAN'T WRITE A PROPER CHAPTER 3.

Except on here. <3

So, yeah, typos are there because I have no spell-check.

I had a good chapter 3 beforehand, and I'm kinda pissed off that I have to write a new one, but whatever. <3

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I woke with a start, my head pounding in pain, light peering through the curtains shyly, on the morning that Vincent disappeared. Rubbing my eyes gently, I got up out of bed (the guys had gifted one to me a few days beforehand, placed in their library, due to lack of other available space) and made my way towards the staircase.

Trudging up it wearily, I folded my wings in, and gave my arms a stretch. A clock on the wall ahead of me read '6 AM'. Angeal and Sephiroth were sure to already be up, and the smell of waffles had already drifted down to me, alerting me that breakfast was being prepared. The soft carpet felt warm against my cold feet, the chill of the Winter beginning to set into the Autumn days I had returned to the world in the middle of.

Suddenly, I stopped. Footsteps echoed loudly down the hallway. I heard heavy panting. Had Genesis had another one of his 'Loveless' ending theories that the whole world apparently needed to hear? I shrugged, and kept walking, ignoring the approaching noise.
"Viiincent!" I felt something collide heavily with my back. I groaned as I was tackled to the floor. I flapped my wings in protest, as a mussed, frantic Nero got off of my back.
"Cloud! Cloud! I can't find Vincent!" Nero yelled loudly in my ear. I flinched.
"Nero, calm down. I'm sure Vincent is just-"
"But he's not in his room, or the labs, or anywhere! I can't think where he'd run off to!' Nero grabbed me into a large hug.
"Cloud, I want to go find him." Nero whispered. I grumbled. Honestly, he's twenty three, but he acts like he's ten. I don't see why they keep him here... I wrapped my hands around Nero's shoulders, and pulled him off me.
"Nero, come on, he's what, like, fifty seven? Fifty eight years old? I'm sure he's fine, wherever he is." Nero pulled himself against me again.
"But what if he's not..." I groaned, before beginning to walk away again, continuing up the hallway on the way to the kitchen.
"Just, tell Angeal or somethin'. They'll find him or whatever." I growled, shrugging Nero off of me and speeding my walk. Nero gave a short whimper, before running into a nearby room and yelling
"Genesis, I can't find Vincent!"

Arriving at the kitchen, I walked calmly through the door and took a seat at the counter.
"Nero says Vincent is-"
"We know." Sephiroth flicked a newspaper noisily closed from the table. Angeal nodded in agreement, as he opened the waffle maker and pulled said food out and onto a nearby plate, before drizzling golden syrup over it and placing a few berries on top. He slid the plate over to me.
"We suspect he's gone to Midgar." Sephiroth continued, as he leaned over the table in my direction.
"Why Midgar?" I inquired.
"Possibly to perform a mission we've had lined up for the past month. AVALANCHE are planning to bomb a mako reactor, and caught us on our last visit in that area, enlisting us to cover them while they do so. Some of their members died a short while ago when one of the plates was dropped to eliminate them, and so they need extra help."
"AVALANCHE know about us?"
"They know of us, and have alliances with us, but they don't know about us, if you get what I'm saying." Sephiroth replied. I shook my head.
"I really don't." Sephiroth sighed.
"Basically, they understand we're a fellow anti-Shinra group, and that we do participate in active protests against the company's morals, but they don't know how we do it." Sephiroth leaned back in his chair and breathed out heavily.
"I think we're going to need to go to Midgar and investigate, honestly." Angeal suddenly moaned, as he poured a cup of coffee for himself. Taking a short swig out of it, he closed his eyes in deep thought.
"Agreed." Sephiroth replied, getting up from his chair and walking out of the room. I looked at Angeal out of the corner of my eye, as he pulled his gaze from his dark coffee.
"Cloud." He whispered hoarsely, as he placed his coffee down on the counter. "Do you know why Zack hasn't become one of us yet?" His mako eyes glistened brightly. I felt a chill run down my spine.
"The experiments performed on him... Were different?" Goosebumps spread over my pale skin as Angeal's impromptu conversation began to set in.
"Yes." Angeal replied darkly. "His make up is different, he was immunized by the experiments performed on SOLDIERs to most kinds of treatment available to Shinra. The single thing left for someone like that is the most drastic thing that can be done to anyone.

"You were injected with the Sephiroth gene- a cell type exactly like what it implies- Greater speed, strength... Flight, in some cases... But Zack... He was already twisted with the Sephiroth gene, and like a flu vaccine, that immunized him against further effects. However, to test the theory Shinra wanted to prove the most, they had to use the one other thing available to them...

"Cloud... While the Sephiroth gene proves solely benificial, the thing they used on Zack isn't. Genesis and I have a special make-up, which we believe Professor Hojo had samples of to use in situations like this. We think, based on Zack's manifestations so far, he used our cells.

"... But, our cells hold a dark power. They don't just feed the user strength, speed and, in advanced stages, flight. They... Contort their users into clones of ours. Degenerated clones." Angeal trailed off, his eyes meeting the floor, as Zack, Sephiroth, Genesis and Nero wandered in.
"Viiincent..." Nero sobbed gently, as Genesis rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. Nero clung to the brunette, who smiled softly and sadly at him.
"Right, everyone." Sephiroth yelled, his voice commanding, as he walked over to the opposite wall and slammed his hand into the button, opening the window.
"Cloud, Nero! You go on ahead and start searching the Midgar Slums. Start with Sector 5. Genesis, Angeal and I will catch up soon. Zack, you stay here with the ninja runt and guard the lodge." Nero flapped out his wings quickly, the glassy sheen on them glinting in the sunlight.

Running up to the window, he pushed off the ground swiftly and shot into the sky, before beckoning for me to follow. Swallowing my spit loudly, I unfolded my wings to their full length- around two meters out each side- and ran at the window, beating them hard. Lifting up in the air swiftly, I soared out and began to followed after Nero, who had turned around to wave goodbye to the other guys.
"We'll find him for you!" Nero exclaimed cheerily, as I began to flick my wings awkwardly, practicing manouvering in the air. While Angeal had given me flying lessons earlier that week, I still needed more practical experience. Giving them one hard beat, I began to soar quickly over the ocean.

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A shower of powdery concrete fell down lazily onto Vincent's red wings, tinting them white. He let out an angered grunt. Damnit... These AVALANCHE guys have no concept of a tidy bombing, do they? Flapping the red appendages lazily, Vincent raised himself into the air, before swooping down onto incoming Shinra guards.

Performing a barrel roll, he dodged through their surprised gunfire and grabbed a gun off their leader, gripping it in his claws and breaking it in two with his otherworldly strength. Tossing it's two pieces lazily in opposite directions, he materialized a long, cross-shaped gun in his own hand. Aiming it skillfully at the man with no gun, he pulled the trigger, the blast obliterating the man into invisible particles. Vincent's mouth twisted into a cruel smirk. He had never lost the sense of pride he used to have as a Turk that came from killing those that got in his way.

While other's called it sadistic; Vincent regarded his killing as an art form, a beautiful way of removing someone's life. He dashed quickly over the remaining troops, before arcing upwards and into the reactor. He fluttered his wings gently, landing near the people he was charged to protect, and forced his gun out of existance.
"Are you nearly done?" He growled, showing his clean, white fangs to the bombers, his lemon-yellow eyes wide.
"Yeah, Barret's just got to program it, then we're out of here." The young lady Vincent had spoken to replying quickly and nervously. Vincent met her wine-red eyes with a sadistic look.
"Give me a shout when he's done." He replied, before shooting back up into the air, and running another loop around the reactor, decimating the Shinra troops with his fearsome, demonic power.

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I landed softly in the abandoned Sector 5 alleyway, Nero dropping down next to me.
"I thought Sephiroth said the lower pl-"
"Sephiroth is wrong. I feel Vincent near here- his presence isn't that hard to detect." Nero replied, his shimmering black wings disappearing, as he began to walk away.
"Nero!" I yelled. My wings splayed out wide, as I raised my arms into the air, trying to get Nero's attention. "How the hell am I supposed to go out looking like this!" Nero turned around, and made an 'oh' noise.

"In all honesty? I don't know. Fold them in and pretend you're a clown or something." He shrugged me off, waving his hand in the air flamboyantly. I growled, folding my wings in against my back, and sprinting after him. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness settled over me, and I fell down, my wings inadvertantly flapping open as I did so. Nero stopped, almost out of the alleyway, and turned around, folding his arms as he did so.
"Whoop-de-frickin'-do, the newbie finally gets to return to the world of normalcy." He boredly stated, as a searing, electrical pain shot through me. Little by little, I lost feeling in my wings, my eyes opening and closing, pupils dilating and resizing. However, as quickly as it had started, the pain stopped. I shakily got to my feet, and looked over my shoulder. The wings weren't there. I grinned.
"Come on." Nero grabbed me by the hand and began to pull me back down the alleyway and out into the street. Cars rushed by, skyscrapers and buildings all around. The wind blew softly through the area, the early morning undiscernable in the eternal night environment. Nero and I walked down the street quickly, making our way towards the mako reactor.
"Buy a fish from our fish market! Best fish on the market! You men, would you care to buy a fish?"
"Fresh bread here today!"
"Get your weapons here, bubs!"
Street merchants assaulted us from all sides with all manner of deals, grabbing out at us with their greasy hands. While this was the upper plate, there was no lack of sleaze. Midgar was the kind of town where every corner had some kind of dirt left in it. I didn't like it; apparently, Nero didn't either, as after passing by the merchants he quickened his pace. The street lights whizzed by over us quickly, as we broke into a run, coming up close to the mako reactor.
"Vincent." Nero whispered under his breath, as a burst of black and white light shot over the horizon. Screams shot through the area. Nero grabbed my hand once more, and pulled me along faster.
"Cloud?" He mumbled. I shot him a glance.
"Yeah?"
"Judging by the screaming, black and white shots and cries coming from by the mako reactor, I think we'd be safe to fly from here." Nero whispered, before materializing his wings, gripping me to his chest and kicking off the ground, to soar over the remainder of Sector 5. Nero's flying was shaky, his wing's seemingly unable to bend, as though they were made of glass, just as their texture suggested. Glass winged angel... I pondered, closing my eyes as Nero suddenly shot into a dive, dropping me down onto a walkway outside the reactor, before swooping off to look for Vincent.

I stumbled to my feet slowly, looking around myself at the mako reactor. It was exactly the same as all the other eight Midgar reactors- dark grey, with a green sheen escaping from every side of it. Voices called from inside the reactor- a girl, and a man, coming steadily towards me. I tensed. Come on Nero... Hurry up... I tapped my foot impatiently, as suddenly the voices I had been hearing materialized appeared in the doorway of the reactor, yelling erratically.
"Hurry up, Barret!" A girl with long, black-brown hair with red tips in a dolphin tail shape sprinted out of the reactor. She wore a black mini-skirt and white midriff top, suspenders holding her skirt up. Her eyes were the colour of deep red wine. She felt vaguely familiar to me, and I watched her intently.

As she sprinted down the walkway I stood on, a man followed out behind her. He was dark-skinned and buff, and mostly shirtless. The girl sprinted quickly down the platform, as an explosion sounded out behind her. The ground beneath me rumbled. The walkway was frail- just a plank of mesh over several pipes. The girl and the man hurtled towards me as the explosion billowed out of the reactor.

Suddenly, the girl's eye caught mine.
"... Cloud?" She whispered, as the mesh beneath me began to give way. I frantically reached out for the railings- my hand missed. The mesh gave a solid creak, before opening up beneath me. Lashing out, I caught the edge of it. The girl stopped abruptly before me.
"Cloud...?"She asked, before holding out a gloved hand to me. I stared into her wine coloured eyes. She smiled faintly. "Cloud... Is that you?" I suddenly remembered where I remembered her from. My grip began to slip on the remaining mesh. I lashed out a hand and tried to grip hold of her's, but missed, sending me falling into darkness.
"Tifaaa!" I screamed, as my back hit a hard, stone surface, and everything went black.

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"H... Lo? Hello? Yoo-hoo?" I batted my eyes open wearily. A young girl peered into my face.
"Tifa?" I inquired. The girl laughed. Her voice was soft and shrill.
"No, silly!" I finally absorbed her features into my mind. She was around twenty two, based on her facial features, and she had medium brown hair. Her eyes were a clean emerald, and she had soft features. She smiled gently at me, pulling me up into a sitting position. Her hands were soft, her nails well manicured. She wore a pale pink dress, with a hot pink short-sleeved jacket. A pink ribbon sat in her long, thin plait.
"My name is Aeris."

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Written on the 15/1/08

Chapter 4: With Cloud in the well-manicured hands of Aeris, Vincent off with Nero fighting Shinra, and the other boys in who knows what location, important figures from their past have seen it fit to infiltrate the protagonist's peaceful mountain home. Zack and Yuffie defend it as best they can, but how well can Zack function as a protector when his foes are Sephiroth clones? And how will his experiment's present themselves?

By Pyro. 16/01/08, 05:08 pm

Uhm, well, due to me having nothing better to do (Honestly, I should work on finishing Vincent, but whatever...) I'm gonna write the fourth chapter now.

THRILL! At the inclusion of the SHM!

DARE! To be amazed by the exploits of Zack and Yuffie!

READ! This exceptionally short chapter now! ;)

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I frowned as Yuffie took a seat next to me on the counter and began to scoff down a plate of waffles that Angeal had left haphazardly lying around.
"Weren't those Cl-"
"I'm a thief! I steal. Get over it." She gulped down a raspberry cheerily. I shrugged, before slipping off the counter and walking around the bench to grab something- anything- to eat from the fridge. I dug around inside it for a second, before pulling out a small box of leftover berries. I whipped over to the cutlery draw and grabbed a spoon, before shoveling a mouthful of them into my mouth.
"Hey Zack..." Yuffie turned around on the bench, to face in my direction. I swallowed the berries loudly.
"Yeah?"
"Where did you and Cloud meet, anyway?" Yuffie stuck her fork back into the plate of waffles and drew out a large mouthful of particularly crispy waffle and syrup. She jammed it into her awaiting mouth.
"Uhm..." I paused briefly, setting the box of berries down. Yuffie snapped them up readily and poured them onto her waffles.
"I guess it would have been about seven years back...

"I was working in SOLDIER, as a first class. Sephiroth and I were sent out on a mission one day to capture a rogue scientist named Hollander, who had stolen valuable technology from Shinra. On that mission, there were the two of us, three regular Shinra grunts, and a Turk.

"Cloud happened to be one of those grunts, and on the way up, he and I had a short conversation together about our points of origin. Cloud was from Nibelheim, I was from Gongaga, and we both agreed about small, backwards towns like ours not getting the full benefit of mako energy.

"Upon arrival at the village of Modeoheim- where we had been tipped off that Hollander was- we quickly made our way to the mako reactor.

"When we entered, we were ambushed by twisted, experimental monsters, and while we were fighting, Cloud snuck away and captured Hollander. I immediately requested Lazard, the SOLDIER executive manager, to put him under my charge. Lazard consented, and we became close friends. The rest, as they say, is history." I looked at Yuffie, who studied me carefully with her bright, beady eyes.
"Mmhm." She grumbled through her waffle-filled mouth. Gulping it down, Yuffie began to speak. "I think that's kinda cute. But, like, honestly? First class SOLDIER getting attacked by monsters? Couldn't you have like, killed them easily? Makes no sense to me."
"They were pretty strong..." I cautiously informed Yuffie, who was already stuffing more waffle into her mouth. Yuffie rolled her eyes, chewing in large, slow motions.
Suddenly, I heard a window smash. I tensed.
"Don't worry." Yuffie mumbled through her food. "It'll just be one of those weird, rampaging chocobos from around the place, breaking Angeal's skylight again." Heavy footsteps thumped down the hallway.
"Still think it's rampaging chocobos?" I asked Yuffie in a quiet voice, opening a drawer and pulling out a carving knife. I held the weapon cautiously and shuffled towards the door. Yuffie, sensing danger, sprang up into the air, grabbed hold of the air vent grate, and pulled herself up into it, scurrying away.
"The entire place smells of big brother." A soft, effeminate male voice abruptly spoke, shattering the silence that had erected itself inside the lodge.
"Hm. But it's not strong- I don't think he's here." A second voice came, sharper than the first, and younger-sounding.
"Oh! Don't cry Yazoo." A third voice- deep and masculine, followed.
"But Loz!" The second voice called. "Big brother will return soon, won't he? It's a pity we'll already be gone when he does. Unless you wish to stick around?"
"Come now, Kadaj. We need to remain focused- the sample has to be brought back to Shinra, remember?"
"Oh, but Yazoo, haven't we wanted for so long to meet big brother?" The voices were coming nearer. I held the knife firmly, pressing my back to the wall by the door.
"Yes, Kadaj, but it'd be too risky. Even with three of us, he and his brethren still outmatch us in their power."
"Yazoo is right, Kadaj."
"But brothers! Are we not his siblings? Why would he reject us? We, like him, have inherited the will of the planet- our existence is the same."
"Quiet!" The oldest voice barked, silencing the other two bickering men. The footsteps came dangerously close to the doorway. I heard whispering too faint to pick up. Suddenly, the wall beside me shattered, plaster dust and jib board falling like snow onto the floor. A man with short, combed-back silver hair and cat-slit eyes dashed through, electricity sparking of a pile bunker on his arm.
He smirked, before diving in my direction, arm extended. He reach out a hand to grab me, but I had already moved away. Lashing out with the knife, I sliced the back of his hand as it retracted, causing the man to howl in pain.
"Loz!" Suddenly, another silver haired man burst through the door behind me, wielding a short blade with a gun mounted on the top. He lashed out a punch which hit me square in the jaw. I winced, before dropping down and flicking his legs out from under him. The man made a grunt in surprise, as he dropped to the floor. As quickly as the others had appeared, a third man burst in, holding a type of Wutaian sword.
"My brothers!" He cried, before launching into a barrage of attacks on me. Parrying several with the knife, I jumped onto the kitchen counter at lightning speed to get on top of the others. Plucking Yuffie's half-full plate of waffles, I threw it like a frisbee at the short-haired man, smacking him in the face with an audible thump. I grinned, as the plate fell to the floor, revealing the man's angry face, blood curling from his nose.
"Who're you?" I yelled, jumping down behind the counter and grabbing another plate. I aimed it carefully at the silver-haired swordsman, looking at the other one with sharp eyes.
"Hmph. Yazoo; get him." I blinked, holding my ground, before suddenly a great force smacked me in the stomach. I gasped for air. The gunblade wielder had kneed me in the stomach. Hard. My eyes watered. Suddenly, the man grabbed me and slung me over his shoulder. I flailed angrily, but weakly. I was still recovering from the last blow.
"Let's get out of here!" The short haired man cried, his hand on his nose.
"Come on, Yazoo." The swordsman motioned for the man carrying me to follow them out. I continued to beat feebly against him in weak protest. After a moment, the pile-bunker man turned around, raising his second fist to the sky... And then bringing it down on my head. The world around me shifted, before fading into black.

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"... Kyahahahaha! We've finally got one!"
"Scarlet; calm down, it's..."
"But sir- we finally have a way of protecting the company! Once we find out where the clones get their powers from, we..."
"We will wait. These troublesome beings could be worthy of monitoring, not just fighting. We could create entire races of new SOLDIERs with the powers of these creatures, and govern the world with newfound strength."
"Rufus, what shall we do with this one in the meantime?"
"We have caught him in early stages of the cloning process. We monitor him for now- and document the findings of our research. Discover the rate of acceleration of his duplication. Watch his humanity slip away.

"Just make sure that someone gets every second of it. Actually... Summon Hojo up here right now; he began this project, he will also finish it."

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

When I finally came to, I was floating, gently, inside a familiar, mako-filled tank. The world around me was blurred, tinted green by the thick liquid. Bubbles floated around me serenely. I pulled my hands up and began to touch the wall gently. This has gotta be a nightmare... I thought, panic settling into me. I hit the tank wall with all my might. It refused to budge.
"I see the experiment has awakened..." A man appeared outside of the glass without warning, eyes looking at me curiously through small glasses. "It's nice to know that 429 has been returned to me already." He gave a small, sadistic smile.
"Now, just to regain control of your friend."

By bekah. 23/01/08, 04:30 pm

I READ IT ALL!! Very Happy

I didn't really understand, coz of my lack of FFVII knowledge.

BUT;
I am insanely jealous of your writing skillz!

Like, I actually am.

Ummm, I'm really bad at reviewing things...
Usually I just say, "Oh, I like that." kinda thing ><

Are you sure you're 13? @___@
Like, you haven't magically time travelled or something and you're actually umm... 20-year-old-professional-writer-Pyro in disguise or something?

I liked the little chapter preview things :)
They made me happy. As did Aeris' manicure.

Hrmm... I'm bad at this ><

I like the relationship between Zack and Cloud - it's cuuute~

I also found it quite interesting how you wrote in first-person - I wasn't expecting that, as with well known series etc. like FF it can be kinda... umm, clunky? I dunno how to explain it.
Like, I guess I'm trying to say that a lot of the time first-person fanfic can be written badly, and I don't think your's is.
I like how you did your first-person, though.
Just comparing it to a book I'm reading, yours seems a lot more personal - I don't know why.

And I like your style.
It seems quite, uhh..., 'sterile'.
I think it really suits this though - like it's as if Cloud is being reborn and doesn't know how to act.

I'm not sure if I'm making sense here ><

Dunno what else to say.
If I'm on tomorrow, I shall continue ;3

By Pyro. 23/01/08, 04:50 pm

-laughs-

Lack of FFVII knowledge?

Oh my. Oh my-my-my. A third of the writing on this page was written without getting past the first mako reactor mission, ya?

I stuffed up my Nibelheim geography beautifully in the first chapter. ;)

It's nice to know I bluffed my way through without arousing suspicion. Fufufufufu~! ^^

I feel envied. =O

I'm sure I'm thirteen. Though (according to many) my body looks like I'm sixteen, and my writing apparently sounds like that of a twenty year olds, I'm fairly sure I'm only just starting year 10, and I'm fairly sure I was born in 1994. xD

Besides, if I were a professional writer, I'd have more comments on this then some from Madja-dear and one from you. ;)

Chapter previews, are, surprisingly, my least favorite thing to write. They always feel like a cheesey 'Pokemon- Next Episode!' intro, to me. xD

Fufufufufu~! Zack and Cloud are very adorable, ne? I like writing Zack especially, as he's just so... Happy? Likeable? Easy to write? He's awesomely fun to go on speels about, though. ;)

Y-y-you like my first person! -glomps you-

I've always felt like my first person stuff was AWFUL due to my tendency to overdescribe all the scenery and character traits and... AH! I LOVE J00 FOREVER NOW. 8D

Sterile? Interesting way to describe it, but very nice word you chose. ;)

Actually, the Cloud-Rebirth thing is completely unintentional, but I guess it does work, doesn't it? I've naturally come to use that, as I do a lot of turning-point stories which start with major changes in character's lifestyles, giving them a fresh palette to work from and a nice, new approaches to all the things around them.

You've said lots. -hugs- Thanks for the help. <3

**Guest** Guest

i dont know what this fic is about ^^
but pyro u know you have very good writing skills
and ur grammar is very good ^-)
you write at a more mature level than your age, but i am sure you have already heard that, im just gonna say it again though Very Happy

By Pyro. 28/01/08, 12:33 pm

'Don't know what it's about' in an 'I haven't read it' way; or a 'WHO THE HELL IS THIS DUDE?!' kinda way? xD

Thanks for teh complimentz, dear. <3

**Guest** Guest

who the hell is this dude? lolz that sorta thing
cuz u know i am not up with the play when it comes to FF and the FF fanfics Razz

*takes note that pyro has returned*

By Pyro. 28/01/08, 01:19 pm

-laughs- Funny, I've actually written out all the character appearances and everything and their history is being covered later, seeing as so many people haven't played Crisis Core, yet you still can't comprehend it. I feel like I should try to amend that...

^^

**Guest** Guest

like i said Final fantasy goes over the juju's head :drunken:

lol pyro check ur pm its been sitting in my outbox for like ages hhahaha Very Happy

By Pyro. 05/02/08, 08:52 am

Woohoo!

After the long wait; chapter 5 is finally here!

What has become of Zack Fair? How will Aeris deal with the idea of reuniting with her twu wuv after so long? And does Vincent have a soft side after all? FIND OUT... NOW!

"Zack's Aeris?" I asked, my eyes wide and round. I began to smile softly.
"H-" Aeris froze. "H-how did you know about that?"

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Vincent curled his wings into him and dropped like a stone, Death Penalty raised to fire at the soldiers coming at him and Nero. Nero held two guns made of a similar substance to his wings in each of his hands, circling Vincent in the air and firing shots at anyone who came too close. The reactor bombing had been a success- now the pair just had to get to Sector 7 without people trailing them, and get into Seventh Heaven for the pay. Vincent fired off a round of bullets, hitting each target perfectly. Nero quickly swallowed up the corpses in an orb of darkness, never to be seen again.

Did the duo feel any remorse for the soldiers? Apparently not. Each time Vincent killed another, Nero came up with a more gruesome way of disposing it than the last. Swallowing up half a body in darkness- using darkness to hide the body in a corner, unseen until someone tripped on it and smelt the rancid smell of an freshly killed corpse- taking all the innards out of one unlucky soldier, leaving his skin like an empty shell. The two rebels were merciless in their killing.

Slowly dipping down in the air, they made their way through the hole the destroyed reactor had made, and down into the peaceful area known as the Sector 5 Slums. Touching down softly on the ground, Nero's wings and guns disappeared, leaving no sign they ever existed. Vincent glanced at him.
"Why're we stopping here?" Nero threw his hands into the pockets of the dusty blue jeans he had thrown on haphazardly that morning, tossing his head around to try and get his hair back into it's usual bushy style.
"We're stopping here, Vinnie-boy, because we need to make a house call." Vincent groaned, folding his wings tightly against his back.
"Not another one of your 'old friends', Nero..."
"No-no-no! Young Cloud-ey boy fell down here earlier. Dunno where he fell, but we need'ta find 'im, before he spills some very dangeous beans about us." Nero announced, pulling his hands out of his pockets and folding them.
"Oh. Yes. The kid." Vincent dully replied, his voice monotone. Nero nodded, before grabbing Vincent's clawed hand.
"So; let's go get him!"

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

I drew in a sharp breath as Aeris hauled me to my feet.
"So... The last time you heard from Zack was in Nibelheim, seven years ago?" I inquired, my eyes locked on her's.
"Yeah... He rang me... And said he'd be back as soon as Sephiroth was okay again." Aeris whispered, her tone soft and sad. After a moment of silence, she added what seemed like an afterthought- "Guess Sephiroth didn't ever 'get better' from whatever it was hurting him." I gazed at Aeris curiously, my mouth slightly open, before shaking my expression away.
"Well-" I held a welcoming hand out to her. She took it happily, and I began to lead her towards the church door. "Let's go see him now, 'kay?" Footsteps other than our own echoed newly outside the church. The door opened shakily.
"- I told you Nero, no-one's going to be in-" Vincent's lemon yellow eyes hit mine. I raised my eyebrows, as Vincent shyly stepped back from the door. Nero walked in casually.
"Hey Cloud." He called. I looked at Aeris, who seemed slightly surprised by the fact a demonic being was entering her church, but surprisingly, wasn't screaming or yelling.
"Are these some more of Zack's friends?" She asked, quite suddenly. Vincent turned sharply on the balls of his feet and looked straight at Aeris, before looking back at me.
"She knows Zack?" He asked. I nodded slowly.
"Well, then. You may bring her with us, Cloud, but only if she keeps her eyes closed during the trip. We don't want her spooking and falling, now, do we?" Vincent's tone was sharp and insincere.
"Why're you talking about me like I'm a chocobo?! What's going on?!" Aeris suddenly placed herself in the conversation.
"Don't worry," Nero said with a heartwarming smile. I couldn't help but be happy then- Nero had found his Vinnie, and was already feeling more relaxed.
"Okay, sounds fine with me." I replied, ignoring Aeris. She sent an angry pout my way. "As long as she gets to see Zack, it's all fine with me." I concluded, making Aeris notably more happy.
"Just who are you people, anyway?" Aeris asked after a brief moment of silence.
"We are..." I began, but then hesitated, as I realized I didn't know the answer. Who were we, anyway? Vigilantes, fighting for the good of the planet? Experiments, no longer human by any definition, banding together to destroy what made us? Outcasts? Freaks? Monsters? Luckily, Vincent seemed able to answer the question that I couldn't even comprehend the meaning of.
"We are the O. O. F. W- On Our Father's Wings. A group of wronged people trying to turn the tables on Shinra, and win back what we lost." OOFW? I pondered this new information. It seemed perfectly viable- save for one thing. Who was our father? I tilted my head to the side curiously, my mako blue eyes focused on the ceiling, through which artificial light flowed.
"So, are you lovely gentlemen going to take me to Zack now?" Aeris' words broke my chain of thought into a million ungraspable pieces.
"Why; of course!" Nero replied, walking up to us and looping his arm through her's. Walking her to Vincent, her paused, and let go. "Vincent; take her home. You can do that for us, right? Cloud, go with Vincent and make sure he doesn't hurt the girl. I'll go collect the cash." Looking to each of us as he told us what to do, he pivoted around, until he was facing back to Aeris.
"And what's your name, sweetie?" His sickly sweet tone made Aeris smile, giggling for a brief moment before she cleared her throat.
"I'm Aeris Gainsborough, sir." She answered. Nero nodded happily, his expression gentle and his smile kind.
"I'm Nero Angelo,"(1) He held out a hand to Aeris, who shook it happily. Vincent rolled his yellow eyes, clearly bored by the saccharine goings-on.
"Let's just get going." He growled, wrapping his hands around Aeris' waist, pulling her back from Nero and then picking her up, bridal style, before beginning to walk out of the church. Nero and I shared a puzzled glance, before laughing softly and following him out. Once we were into the small, back-alley of Sector 5 the church was located in, Nero materialized his wings, and pushed off of the ground, soaring into the air.
"I'll see you back at the lodge in a few hours, 'kay guys!" He called cheerily, before flying off, over the houses of the slums and into the distance. I looked at Vincent, who raised a black eyebrow as me. Realizing he wanted me to get ready to fly, I began to concentrate on summoning my wings. A firey pain leap through my body, as my shoulderblades ripped open, my black wings bursting through. I flapped them gently, stretching them, before hopping into the air. Vincent followed suit, Aeris looking at me, shocked.
"Never thought I'd see the day that a couple of guys became my private airlines." She chuckled, before letting out a shrill scream, as Vincent gave his wings a hard flap, sending him up through the hole where the reactor had been and into the sky. Slowly, her scream turned into laughter, as I rose to join Vincent, the pair of us beginning to fly as fast as we could, in the direction of Junon. The black skies of Midgar opened up above us, revealing clear blue, with clouds gathering in the horizon, over what looked like Fort Condor.
"Cloud!" Vincent called, as his grip on Aeris tightened. She had started to cling to his waist, for fear of falling.
"Yeah?" I replied, beating my wings harder, and coming up beside him.
"We're heading out over the ocean now- watch for the Costa de Sol seaplanes, their engines can suck in flying creatures from a fair distance away, and I don't want to end up like my old pet bat!"
"How the hell'd you train a pet bat?"
"Don't worry, Cloud... Just keep your distance from anything you see in the horizon that looks big and mechanical!" Vincent nodded at me, before clutching Aeris ever tighter, and performing a low dive, so that he was nearly brushing the tops of the mountains we were flying over.
"Waaahooo!" Aeris shrieked in delight, as Vincent began to dip and dive erratically. I couldn't help but smile at her joy as we flew to meet the one she loved. Climbing higher in the air, I felt a sudden wave of nausea come over me. I dove lower. Lessons on flight from school came back to me all at once- humans can't handle altitudes after certain heights. I dipped back down to join Vincent and Aeris.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

"Specimin 428- current condition, 50 per cent stable. Status, healthy... Drake! Write it down!" Hojo's orders were barked sharply across the lab, as he examined his latest plaything with increasing wonder. In the course of four hours, exposure to mako had increased the speed of his deterioration a hundred fold. Watching the specimin had revealed that the unknown substance added to its bloodstream had, as Hojo had theorized, been the successful cells of a Project 'G' member, not the failed cells of that scientific blasphemy- Genesis, wasn't it? The young experiment was already showing both the positive and negative sides of the cells.

For the positive; he was showing seeds of the increased strength and resistance of his prototype already (he had been able to awaken from the mako-induced slumber, a feat only the most advanced forms of life could achieve) and Hojo had detected signs of the flight gene in him; his body mass had notably decreased from when he was captured, his bones already beginning to hollow out to provide the low weight that he would need to ever take off.

On the negative; his cellular structure had changed, and, much to Hojo's disappointment, the metamorphosis to become more like the being he was based of had begun. The boy who had been captured barely hours ago, looking like a man in his early twenties, had already begun to age at a fast rate, and his facial and body structure was becoming more like the original, too. He was, in some senses, a perfect experiment, but not in the senses Hojo wanted.

In order for the President's plan to work, they would need the test subjects to maintain their usual forms, so that differentiating them remained easy. Hojo, while perfectly fine with having simple copies of each experiment (they made for good controls in later tests) was fairly sure that Shinra did not share his view point. Oh, bother. If only Hojo could recapture his beloved 429! That experiment was perfect in everyone's eyes. Flight, strength, durability, emotional power... All of it molded into one being. Oh! Hojo nearly swooned when he thought of how perfect that experiment was.

Another reason why 428 was a failure- it had lead dear 429 to freedom; something Hojo couldn't... Nay, wouldn't tolerate. Still, Hojo's reaches stretched far beyond Midgar. He had located the experiment's home! Oh; and wouldn't 429 find a surprise when he returned to find 428 gone? Sephiroth; Hojo's son, would also be shocked out of his wits when he found who did it. His own brothers! Not biologically, of course, but scientifically... And oh, how Hojo liked the idea of testing Sephiroth's mental strengths... Leaving the last brother behind, to test Sephiroth to his breaking point!

The beauty of the testing he was performing on the band of men nearly brought tears to the madman's eyes. Now, all that was left to watch everything unfold...

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Chapter 6: Upon arriving back at the lodge, Cloud, Vincent and Aeris find the place ransacked, and a dying man lying in their library... A dying man with an odd resemblance to one of the OOFW! Meanwhile, Sephiroth and Angeal head to the Shinra building after Genesis is gunned down by soldiers, ready to rescue their comrade! But what will they think of what they find? And how will Angeal cope with what Zack has become? Read and learn, in chapter six of On Our Father's Wings!

(1) Totally not a reference to Devil May Cry; noo...

To all those that read this that don't know what 'Nero Angelo' means-

Nero = Black
Angelo = Angel

So, Nero Angelo means 'Black Angel'.

In all honesty, I wish I could say Nero was his middle name, and have his first name as 'Caido', so that Nero could be 'Fallen Black Angel' ;)

But, I guess that'd be kinda silly, right? (if you don't think it would be, tell me, because I sososo wanna make Nero tell everyone Nero's only his middle name. xD)

By Annabel. 07/02/08, 09:55 am

Quote :: "We're heading out over the ocean now- watch for the Costa de Sol seaplanes, their engines can suck in flying creatures from a fair distance away, and I don't want to end up like my old pet bat!"
"How the hell'd you train a pet bat?"
"Don't worry, Cloud..."

laughed my ass off. xD man you're good at this stuff... I haven't a clue about this series and I still think it's awesome.
you sort of remind me of Manda. Your writing's all serious and mature and then you're like, "LOL MY PET BAT" and the funny is crippling. xD <3
rock on!

By Pyro. 07/02/08, 10:10 am

Awww, thanks Belz! xD

I was gonna give him, like, a pet butterfly or something, but then I realized that a butterfly wouldn't make a good pet, and that Vincent's number one secret would finally be found out- that he is Marluxia's sister. xD

-sniggers at the 'rock on' thing, and remembers that little rock picture from the days of yore-

By Annabel. 07/02/08, 10:20 am

On Our Father's Wings [Fanfic; Chaptered] Rockstar

you couldn't mean this one, could you? ;3

By Pyro. 07/02/08, 10:22 am

... IT'S A RED CROSS, OH MY GAWD!

What was that a picture of, by the way? -phailz-

EDIT: OHMIGAWD, IT'S THE ROCK. YES, THAT WAS THE ROCK I MEANT.

http://sstylish.blogspot.com/search/label/DMC <--- Look at that, Belz, and scroll down to the bit with the pictures of the characters (third post down or so) and look at Agnus. That's you in the future.

By Annabel. 07/02/08, 12:36 pm

omg.
how did you know? O:

By Pyro. 07/02/08, 12:53 pm

I HAVE SUPERPOWERZ, LAWLZ.

By Pyro. 07/02/08, 01:42 pm

"Alright, guys!" Angeal yelled, as the three elder OOFW members circled Midgar warily. "Prepare to dive; we head to Sector 5 and check the reactor, then we go straight to Sector 7 if he's not the-" Suddenly an explosion consumed part of Midgar, billowing smoke up nearly as high as where the men were hovering, causing Angeal to cough erratically. As the dust cleared, a now rather blackened Angeal flapped his once-white wing with an expression of utter discontent on his face.
"I stand corrected- we go straight to Sector 7. O. O. F. W members... Move out!" Diving down, the dust and ash that had settled on Angeal began to blow away, the pressure of the air turning his wing a pure white once more. Sephiroth and Genesis followed, both flanking Angeal, holding swords that they had hastily grabbed before leaving the lodge earlier that morning- Sephiroth's a long, Wutaian sword with a black hilt that, if put on one end, was taller than him, and Genesis' a standard Shinra sword, with modifications made to it until it looked like it had always been a custom made object- red, solidified mako running over both sides of it, inscriptions written in the language of the Ancients scratched through the mako. The hilt was like a fencing sword, and the sword had a slight curve to it. Angeal too wielded a sword- a hefty thing with Materia slots near the handle, in perfect condition.
"Okay, everyone! Veer to the left and head through the Sector 8 wreckage, and then close into Sector 7!" Sephiroth barked an order at the two other men, both obliging and making a move towards the opening between the plates. Without warning, a loud gunshot echoed through the air near them, followed by a hailstorm of rapidly fired bullets.
"Pull up, pull up!" Angeal yelled, and the three men ceased their dive, pulling up and around, spotting a regiment of Shinra MPs. All had guns, all were trained on the winged men. Angeal swooped towards them, brandishing his sword. Sephiroth and Genesis followed suit.
"You will bow to the will of your goddess!" Genesis cried, returning fire by sending out a quick Fira spell at the men. Several of the soldiers were hit, crumpling to the ground, lifeless, but many still remained. Sephiroth swung his sword- the Masamune- wildly, as he dove closer to the attackers and managed to spear one through the chest. The man fell to the ground as Sephiroth drew his sword back, beginning to hover barely a meter off the ground, now close enough to wound the attackers with Masamune.
"Argh!" Genesis let out a bloodcurdling cry as a bullet pierced his wing, Angeal immediately darting over to support his friend's flight. Genesis fell weakly for a moment, Angeal's wing flapping twice as hard to support the pair, before regaining his composure, and throwing another spell at the Shinra soldiers.
"And the goddess' strength-" Genesis recited, as he gently pushed Angeal away, and dropped down to the ground, where he walked confidentally towards the soldiers. "-will cripple my foes!" Slicing through an unlucky opponent, he threw out a Thunder spell, frying several more. Genesis reached into a pocket in his trousers, and pulled out a Cure materia, slotting it into his sword's hilt and healing his wounded wing, feathers quickly resprouting from where the bullethole had been made. Using his free hand to flip the hair out of his eyes, he smirked at the oncoming enemies, before diving into the fray, his sword flashing about at lightning speed.
"Gravity!" Angeal threw a Gravity spell at an MP coming up behind Genesis, landing behind him and joining in in the fight, his Buster Sword swinging quickly from foe to foe. The three men sliced quickly through the waves of attackers, thankful for the years of training each had received in SOLDIER. Thanks to their practice, the MPs were nothing to them but cannon fodder.

After less than a minute of fighting, OOFW's enemies were all but decimated. Angeal stood, panting, his eyes weary, as Genesis shot a Blizzard spell at the last remaining enemy. The fight was over. Sephiroth grinned.
"What a wonderful greeting!" Genesis cried, flapping his wing vigorously, trying to shake off the blood that had caked onto it. "They must've been sent by Hojo. I have this feeling that he's finally become interested in the goddess' story." Turning towards Angeal, Genesis smiled.
"Don'tcha think, Angeal?" Angeal nodded slowly, as he began to walk towards Sephiroth.
"Your arm's bleeding." Sephiroth said quietly, as he wiped the blood off Masamune on one of the deceased MP's shirts.
"I know." Angeal replied, placing the Buster Sword back on the hook Angeal had attached to his clothing to serve as a sheath.
"You don't care?" Sephiroth casually asked, standing up straight and holding Masamune up in the air, examining it's now-clean silver surface.
"Not particularly." Angeal turned himself to face Genesis, who was now examining the corpses, checking them for signs of life.
"These souls have returned to our Goddess. May their journey be safe and painless." Genesis prayed, before beginning to walk away from the other two men.
"Oi! Genesis! We still have to get to Sector 7, and..." Out of nowhere, Genesis found something large and human-shaped plowing into him, bowling him over and grabbing his hands.
"Hah! Got one!" Angeal and Sephiroth leapt into the air as they examined the man that'd tackled Genesis, Angeal readying an Ultima materia for use. He had short, cropped silver hair and a black leather jumpsuit, with green cat eyes.
"Oh, but look, Loz! Brother is over there. I shall have the honor of catching him." A second silver haired man stepped out of the shadows from whence the first had emerged. Loz growled.
"Oh really? Why don'tcha just try and catch brother, then, Yazoo." He snarled. Yazoo rolled his eyes.
"Very well." Producing a gun from behind him, Yazoo fired at Sephiroth, who began to skillfully dance around the bullets, trying to close in on Genesis and get him out of there. Loz, noticing Sephiroth's movements, picked up Genesis, whose will to fight seemed to have disappeared. Angeal, who was trying to find a hole in the fight to slip into, noticed a set of tranquilizer darts around Loz's waist, on a belt. Catching what was going on, he swooped in close to Sephiroth.
"Sephiroth! Don't bother fighting, we've got to get out of here! Come on!" Angeal grabbed Sephiroth's foot and used his superior flight power to pull the ex-SOLDIER higher into the air and away from the fray.
"But-!"
"No! We'll get him from Shinra HQ later. For now, we fly." Angeal dodged another volley of bullets and dove down, below the gap left by the dropping of Sector 8 and through into Sector 7's Slums.
"Sephiroth. Let's land." Angeal growled, slowing his wingbeats and lowering himself behind a broken down train. Re-absorbing his wing, he walked out, followed by an angry looking Sephiroth.

-read on through next post for chapter 6; part 2-

By Pyro. 07/02/08, 01:43 pm

I shivered, as Hojo opened the door to the tank I had been placed in, the mako draining out through grates in the base as I flopped down, weak from the effort it had taken to stay conscious in the liquid. Two guards rushed out from behind me as I fell, picking me up and carrying me over to a metal bed, and laying me down on it on my chest. I groaned.
"Hahaha! Experiment 428, lovely to see you again! I trust you've been well for the past weeks?" Hojo cackled. I turned to him, shooting him a glare.
"I've been... Just fine." I growled. My voice sounded choked and deep, but I passed it off as the mako working it's way into me. I felt tired.
"Good, good... Now, just as a test to see if my theories are correct, I'd like you to try and stand up." Hojo pushed his small glasses up further on his nose, gazing at me expectantly. I froze, before obliging, and getting to my feet with ease. No-one defied Hojo when he was surrounded by armed men. No-one.
"Can move... Shortly after... Exposure to large doses... Of mako..." Hojo said to himself, writing down notes hastily. "Now. Men- take him to level 70. I think the president will like this one." Guards came from either side of the room and wrapped their arms around me, lifting me up easily and beginning to walk towards the exit. My last chance to get out of there- I couldn't take it. The mako left me weak, and it'd be at least ten minutes until I'd be back to normal strength. I let my head bob down in defeat, sighing deeply. Scenery blurred around me while I was off in a world of my own thoughts.

Before I knew it; we had reached the elevator, where I was thrown down, left to slump against one of the glass walls. I looked out and over Midgar; examining it to see if it was the same as seven years ago. Bright lights glowed in the darkness of the streets, each one a tiny beacon waiting for someone to come home to. One of the plates- the Sector 8 plate- showed no sign of life, however, and was a steaming pile of wreckage. Clearly an attempt on AVALANCHE's lives, but they had missed by a short distance. Or had they? I imagined the Sector 5 Slums momentarily, and the church where Aeris used to gather flowers to sell on the upper plates, and prayed the she was alright. Moments later, the lift shuddered and I was hoisted back onto the shoulders of the guards, as they carried me through a bright hallway with luscious red carpet. A staircase later, we were in the office of President Shinra. I was once again dropped to the floor, but this time more gently. I gritted my teeth angrily.
"So this is Hojo's new experiment?" His voice was different from how I last remembered it. I looked up. Well of COURSE it's different, Zack! I scolded myself. It's his son; you idiot! Rufus! The new President Shinra- Or, Rufus, as I decided to call him- had short, blonde hair and blue mako eyes, and was wearing a three-layered suit- a white dress shirt, a black vest, and a white jacket, with white pants and shiny black shoes. A coeurl sat at the foot of his desk, purring contently. The coeurl was black, unlike the normal greens and whites coeurls come in, and had deep purple eyes. A water bowl was near it, with the name 'Dark Nation' written on it. It noticed my watchful eye, and suddenly sat up and growled.
"Hush, Darkie! Hush!" Rufus cried, turning back towards the dog, before walking towards me and grabbing my chin. He raised my face up to gaze into his. "Incredible." He remarked breathlessly, as someone handed him a sheet with the notes Hojo had written down earlier.
"Hm. Interesting." Rufus spoke in hushed tones to himself as he looked from the sheet to me, and back again. "Project 'G' clone, too... Wonder if Lazard...? Hm..." Rufus trailed off, before beckoning for the soldiers to pick me up again. I stared at Rufus angrily as I was lifted off the ground.
"Okay. Guards- throw him off the balcony." Rufus' tone was of boredom and impatience.
"What?" I growled.
"You heard me." Rufus replied. "Unless Hojo forgot to write that you're deaf. Now; guards- throw him." Rufus clicked his fingers and motioned to the door.
"Yes boss." One guard replied, hoisting me up higher onto his shoulders.
"Wait!" I cried. Rufus raised an eyebrow impatiently. "What?"
"Why're you throwing me off a balcony?! I thought you needed me! Or do you like doing this to all your playtoys?" Dark Nation growled at me again. Rufus stroked the aggravated coeurl, before turning back to me.
"You see, 429-"
"My name's Zack!"
"... Right... Well, you see... You're of no use to us unless you can save yourself from becoming a large red spot on the pavement. If you can, we'll send our latest toys after you, and you'll be ours again, so everything works out perfectly fine for me." Rufus walked towards the door on the side of the room, and opened it.
"Now come on, you foolish inbreds! I don't pay you to stand around! Get out there!" He growled, causing the guards to mumble in apology and walk across the room and out into the cool, Midgar afternoon (though unless you had learnt to go by the temperatures like me, you wouldn't have known it)
"Now. Throw him." Rufus hissed, as the guards holding me lifted me over the balcony. I panicked, and began to fidget and shake, trying to avoid becoming pavement fodder. The guards looked to one another momentarily, as I let out a high-pitched (Angeal would've called it effeminate) scream. Their hands released me, and I began to plummet down, flying past the Shinra building, nearly unconscious from the speed. I began to feel faint. Suddenly, the falling ceased, and I rose back in the air, halting my fall. Shaking the dizziness away, I looked to the building next to me. Level 49. I recognised it immediately. The old SOLDIER training floor, where I used to hang out with Sephiroth and my old friend Kunsel between missions. I then turned behind me, already able to guess what had halted my fall. After weeks of waiting, I was finally like the other guys- I had wings. But mine were different to the other's. A pure white like Angeal's, and covered with soft, downy feathers- I had angel's wings. Two of them. A complete set.
"Waahoo!" I screamed, looping in the air, and flapping them as hard as I could to climb back up so that I could have the last laugh. Below me, however, and without warning, two of the silver haired men from earlier shot out of the building's main entrance, one holding a large case. Opening it, the light from the Shinra building caught the contents, momentarily blinding me, and I realized what it contained. Materia. Dozens of materia. One of the men grabbed one- a green, magic materia- and raised it high. I decided it was high time for me to get out of there. Coming closer to the building, I pushed off with my legs and began to fly away, my wings flapping hard, propelling me as quickly as I could go.
"Gravija!" One of the men yelled, and I felt myself get pulled closer to the ground. I winced, before beating my wings harder, as I neared the end of the Shinra building grounds, closing in on Sector 6. I dove lower in the sky, desperately trying to just get out of there. Curling to the right, I began to head in the direction of Sector 7 instead. I could easily slip through the gap between plates where Sector 8 had been destroyed, then head to the Slums and look for somewhere safe. Maybe the Seventh Heaven bar? I had heard, back when I was in SOLDIER, that it was a popular hangout for AVALANCHE, so maybe I could seek safety there. I dipped my right wing lower in the air current, sending myself a bit more to the right. The wind was cold, and I wished at that moment that I was dressed in something warmer than a pair of black trackpants and a grey tank top. I dipped into a barrel roll, wrapping my warm, feathery wings around me like a blanket, heating up for a brief moment, before opening my wings to the air again. I breathed the air in deeply as I shot over Sector 7, tilting to the left now to go outwards towards the city's edge. Nearing the end of the Sector, I drew in my wings once more, grateful for the warmth, as I dove down, over the wreckage of Sector 8, before turning around and heading through the gap between plates. Now in the slums, I began to slow my pace, keeping a watchful eye open for Seventh Heaven.
"Ahah!" I cried after a moment, noticing a single tavern, with bright lights blaring, in the middle of the main square of the Sector. I dove down, and landed behind it, in a small alleyway. Folding my wings in, I felt dazed, as though I hadn't slept or eaten in days. I staggered weakly to the side of the wooden building, gripping the rough surface and guiding myself along, my steps slow and deliberate.
"Ungh..." I groaned, as I finally reached the front, gripping the railing and walking (or; in retrospect, staggering) up the stairs. I pushed the door open wearily, and gazed in. At the bar stood a girl with long, black hair in a dolphin tail parted ponytail, and dark burgundy eyes. She wore a white midriff shirt, and a black denim mini-skirt with suspenders. I recognised her immediately, but kept my mouth shut, as I surveyed the other people in the bar. A large, buff dark-skinned man sat at the bar, drinking hastily and noisily from a large mug of beer. Against one wall leaned a man with short grey hair and a down turned mouth, who wore a cream turtleneck sweater and a brown leather jacket, with plain blue jeans. At one of the tables sat a girl with long brown hair, probably only five or six, doodling pictures of what appeared to be the man at the bar fighting monsters. I couldn't help but smile at the expression on the girl's face, one of a mix of delight and frustration. Finally, in the corner, sat three people I was very familiar with.
"Nero! Angeal! Sephiroth!" I gasped, throwing myself at them, tears suddenly nagging at my eyes. I didn't know how to describe the past few hours, as they had both hurt and brought delight to me. I could now fly with the others, but I knew that soon, a price would be paid, a price for my freedom. Angeal shot me a look of surprise.
"Eh?" Nero grunted.
"..." Sephiroth said nothing, but shock did register on his face. I felt tears come to my eyes, which I struggled to supress.
"... Who're you?" Nero groaned, leaning back lazily in his chair. His words hit me hard. Who was I? Why were they asking me that!? I was their friend- I was Zack Fair! I looked up at Angeal sadly, my eyes shimmering with pain.
"Zack..." He whispered, before getting down on his knees and looking me straight in the eye. "Zack... It is you, right?" I choked back more tears, before nodding.
"Oh god..." Angeal whispered, before embracing me, closing his blue eyes. "They've... Done it again..." His voice was stern and serious, the sorrow lacing it not well hidden.
"What? What've they done again!?" Nero chimed in, impatient as ever.
"The JENOVA clone project." Sephiroth replied grimly
"What's-"
"The JENOVA clone project was an effort made nine years ago by the Shinra company to try and clone Angeal, Genesis and I. They wanted more superhuman warriors, and well, it did work... On some levels. Many of the clones deteriorated and died, many were drained of strength because of the sudden change in body structure... And many became perfect copies, in every way... Down to the appearance of their original, and their personalities. I fear..." I looked up at Sephiroth, pushing Angeal away.
"... That I'm one of the newest clones?" I inquired. Sephiroth turned to me.
"You clearly haven't looked in a mirror lately, Zack." His green eyes showed worry, as he got up from his chair, walked over to the bar, and began to speak with the girl there- I knew her to be called Tifa. Cloud's Tifa- but, if the others were here, then he would hopefully know that she was working at the bar through them. After a moment, Sephiroth returned, holding a small case of make-up. He flipped it open, revealing a mirror on the inside, and then waved at Tifa, mouthing the word 'thanks'.
"Zack. Look into the mirror... And, uh, try not to make a scene." He grumbled, handing me the make-up case. I gazed in. A face not unlike Angeal's stared back. I dropped the mirror and made a short, panicked noise. By now, all those in the bar (save for the buff guy; he was still drinking) were staring at us (I was surprised it had taken them that long to look, when you considered the fact that we had a world-renowned ex-SOLDIER and a winged man in our motley group, but then again, I figured they'd be used to some pretty weird things around here) Sephiroth loomed over me, a sad expression on his face.
"I fear this'll end like Lazard's case..." He grumbled, turning to Angeal.
"Zack..." Angeal ignored Sephiroth, and looked into my eyes sadly. "I'm sorry things're turning out this way." He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Angeal... Shall we return to Nibelheim?" Sephiroth asked, breaking the tension of the moment.
"What of Genesis?" Nero quickly interjected.
"We'll return to save him soon; but first we must regroup. Our strength might not lie in numbers... But without the remaining two members of our group, we cannot hope of getting out of Shinra HQ after saving him, let alone get in." Sephiroth's words were devoid of emotion, his face pale. He bent down and reclaimed the mirror once more, and walked over to Tifa, returning it.
"Thank you." He grumbled, Tifa nodding in response. Coming back to us, he motioned to the door. "We leave now. Before the Shinra come after Zack." Nero and Angeal pushed through, walking outside.
"One sec!" I hurriedly said to Sephiroth, before dashing to the bar. "Tifa?" I asked. The barmaid halted, placing down the cup she had been cleaning.
"How'd you know my name?" She growled, her eyes firey. I smiled.
"Don't worry. Uhm... You know a kid call Cloud, right?" I inquired. Tifa froze again.
"Yeah..." She said sadly.
"Well, uhm, he's looking for you. He misses you... And he hopes you miss him too. I'll take him to see you, ASAP!" I began to walk out of the bar, slowly opening my wings, leaving Tifa looking bemused as I left. Once on the deck, I heard the others talking in the alleyway i had landed in.
"Kid'd better be okay, or..." Angeal trailed off as I entered the dusty backstreet.
"Let's fly." Sephiroth grumbled, his single black wing unfolding, Angeal following suit. Nero's glassy black wings manifested behind him after a moment, leaving all of us prepared to take flight. I opened my wings wide, directing my attention skyward. Pushing off, I beat my wings just enough to stay suspended in the air.
"Woohoo! Let's mosey!" I cried, as I shot ahead of the others, Nero soon following suit, flying beside me. Angeal and Sephiroth followed a few meters behind, Sephiroth holding his famed sword Masamune in his left hand, clearly prepared to defend us if trouble struck. I noticed that Angeal had also fastened a sword to his own back, hanging down one side, away from his wing. As we cruised into the air, I suddenly felt a pang of guilt, for not finding the time to visit Aeris.

-read on through next post for chapter 6; part 3-

By Pyro. 07/02/08, 01:47 pm

Lazard Shinra had once been powerful.

No; scratch that; Lazard Shinra had once been more powerful than nearly every other person in Gaia (Rufus Shinra and his father sprung to mind as exceptions)

And then; he had thrown it all away.

What for? Even he couldn't accurately explain. He had been rich, well respected, in control of SOLDIER, the most powerful warriors on the planet, a genius, in many ways... Yet somehow, something had tempted him. Revenge? Why; the concept of revenge had never before sprung to him. He had nothing to take revenge for- he was well-liked by his underlings and superiors, so no-one ever tried to hurt him in any way; he had never been wronged particularly by anyone (save for that one lawyer...) so what was there to take revenge for?

Maybe for his three best SOLDIERs being taken away from him?

Maybe for his father abandoning him, never claiming him as his son? (but still supporting him from afar, for what it was worth)

Maybe because he wanted the power that had gone to his half-brother?

Whatever the reason, Lazard went after revenge, and abandoned his father's company, his SOLDIERs, and so much more. Disappearing from the public eye, he began to plot his revenge, with the help of his long-time friend, Hollander.

That was when everything started to go awry.

It started with the return of his old subordinates; Genesis and Angeal. While they still respected and adored Lazard, after spending years under his gentle thumb, he felt uneasy in their presence. They had deserted Shinra- why weren't they trying to harm him for what he had done in league with the company? He couldn't understand their logic. Not long after the pair had arrived in Lazard's life, however, they left again, leaving him significantly calmer, if slightly on edge.

Soon after, Hollander had an idea to aid Lazard in his quest (whatever his quest was; he himself wasn't particularly sure) by injecting him with 'some harmless 'G' cells', as he put it. Lazard agreed to the idea, feeling that it was best to distance himself as much as he could from his past before he took revenge on those key players that hurt it. Weeks later, Lazard found himself stronger and faster than ever before, but also with graying hair, and the same face and body as Angeal. Frightened by the results of the experiment, he sought out the man he was now a copy of to try and seek consolation, and, after many weeks of searching (his body deteriorating all the while) he finally found who he was looking for.

Explaining his situation to Angeal, and asking for a place to stay and learn what was afflicting him, Lazard soon found a sanctuary in the Nibelheim alps, with several other faces he knew from Shinra- Sephiroth, the famed SOLDIER, Genesis (he was somewhat traumatized by Genesis' presence, as he had never trusted him or liked him to begin with), and Nero, SOLDIER first class until an unfortunate accident landed him in Deepground, as well as a fifth man, named Vincent, who he had never seen before in his life, but claimed to have previously held connections with Shinra.

However, soon after his arrival in the abode of the five men, Lazard became weak, the tolls taken on his body from his transition into an Angeal clone too high. Concealing himself in the abandoned labs underneath the lodge, he resigned himself to the spare bed, taking the time, whenever his strength returned, to investigate the labs for something- anything- that would help him. After a short few months, he became too weak to even research, and was forever resigned to his bed, Vincent assigned to watch him as often as he could, protecting the ex-Shinra exec from both those hazards around him, and himself.

Nearly a year on, Lazard learnt of new inhabitants of the lodge- the bright and bouncey Wutaian princess, Yuffie Kisaragi, and a wounded SOLDIER second class; Kunsel, who had both been rescued from the mountains of Da Chao, where they had fled to after a repercussion of the war. Kunsel was, too, resigned to the underground labs, which had slowly been turned into more of a hospital than anything, with Vincent as the 'medic' (he knew basic first aid, yes, and some ways of stiching up major injuries, but when it came to medicines and illness, he knew nothing) giving Lazard the joy of conversation and the ability to socialize with someone again.

The newfound joy did not last long, however, as Kunsel died from an undetected infection three weeks later.

Lazard, once again alone and in a worse state than ever (he refused to admit to Kunsel his condition, and the few movements he made to aid his friend, while minor, pushed his health into lower and lower status) began to long for the freedom he had once had, and given up. In the final stages of his deterioration, he sought out Angeal, using all the strength he could muster to simply call to Vincent to bring Angeal to him. Obliging, Vincent hastily went and got Angeal from the kitchen (where he was making raspberry and white chocolate gateaux, for the birthday Lazard had all but forgotten- his own) and took him to see the dying Lazard.

After a short conversation, discussing whether or not karma (the few missions he had sent SOLDIERs on to deal with Tonberry infestations had taught him of this concept) had set him up to take the fall, and if he had been a good leader, Lazard was well and truly prepared to die, his life incomplete and cutting off at the young age of thirty two. However, before he could be reclaimed by the Goddess of Gaia, Sephiroth had burst into the laboratory, panic showing on his usually calm face.

'JENOVA cells', he had declared, green eyes sparkling with zeal and liveliness, his silver hair messy and unkempt, leading his fellow ex-SOLDIERs (and Vincent) to believe he had, once again, roughed it and slept in the library. Walking more casually to the far end of the lab, Sephiroth grabbed a syringe and jabbed it, without a moment's thought, into his own arm, drawing out the blood slowly, teeth clenched in pain. Yanking the needle out again, he walked steadily over to Lazard, and knelt beside his bed, focused on a vein in the ex-Shinra executive's arm. Leaning in close, he whispered a short apology, should anything go wrong, and, with similar strength, jabbed the syringe into Lazard's arm.

Lazard had, at that moment, cried out in pain, but like Sephiroth, bit the scream back as the blood was injected into him. As Sephiroth's cells transfered into Lazard, the previously dying man felt life renewed in him, as his breathing returned to normal, his muscles and tendons finding new strength- his entire self regaining a will to live, after moments that felt like an eternity finally flowed by, Lazard was returned to his previous composure, still in the form of Angeal (silvery gray hair still there, the only was to tell the pair apart) with one notable difference- the single white wing he now sprouted from his left shoulder, making him a perfect copy in every way. Sephiroth, mere moments later, gave a short nod of his head in respect for his former employer, and walked out of the room, majestically, with no hint of emotion on his face.

Thinking his troubles to be over, Lazard had promptly removed himself from the makeshift clinic in the basement of the lodge, and begun to help around the place- some cooking here, dusting Nero's collection of 'the most useless materia in Gaia' there... Meanial tasks to get himself back into the swing of things, while the other winged men tried to think of what to do with him (Lazard, though being the leader of SOLDIER, had never engaged in actual battle- a brilliant tactician though he was, he never trusted his skill with a sword, or with a gun, for that matter) however, he would soon learn that his problems were only just beginning.

One day; as the rest of OOFW went off on a mission to the nearby village of Nibelheim (to investigate some rumors that Vincent had picked up when he last bought groceries in the village) Lazard was sifting through papers in the library out of both boredom and the fact he wanted a decent recipe for chocolate mudcake (Angeal's birthday was coming up and he wanted to repay the favour of baking him a cake and giving him a home that his clone had done for him) when he came upon several research thesis' that the group had stolen from Hojo at one time- theories on the effect of JENOVA cells on the body. Skimming through, Lazard found several unnoted effects- things that Sephiroth had never mentioned, perhaps from either fear of Lazard rejecting his cells when the choice came for life or death, or pure stupidity (contrary to popular belief, this was something that often afflicted the famous silver-haired warrior)

After reading the report, he fled the room in shock, running straight back to the clinic, where he locked the door from the inside with the only key, and covered the entrance with as much furniture as he could move. While the JENOVA cells had saved him; he would never have wanted the things spoken of in the report to happen- take away the only things he had left! Trapped inside the desolate room, he returned to his bed, with only the books he had left in the room from his sickly days and the pungent aroma of Kunsel's blood that had never really faded away, he waited, in the silence, for either death, the words spoken of in that horrible report, or, the day he woke up, freed from the horrible nightmare that he had brought upon himself through the ideas of a causeless revenge.

And there he waited; waiting for the sun to once again shine on his life.

Waiting for time to restart.

Waiting for the change.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

Next Chapter: As Cloud and Vincent arrive back at the lodge; they are startled to find that not only is Zack gone, an unfamiliar silver-haired man lies on the floor, badly wounded- asking to see 'brother'! Who is brother? What're the strange noises echoing from the laboratory beneath the lodge? And; who is Lucrecia? Chapter 7 of On Our Father's Wings might reveal all; if I remember what I wrote here!

By Pyro. 22/04/08, 03:37 am

Evidently I didn't remember the preview above, but I still covered chunks of it in this chapter.

GET READY FOR SOME LAZARD CENTRIC STUFF, MY LITTLE READER/S. >=D

“I think,” Genesis fell back onto the ground with a thump, hands curled behind his head, smiling. Angeal followed suit. “That we did a good job apple picking today, eh Angie?” The ten year old Angeal looked at his friend anxiously, deep blue eyes fixated on his closest friend. Or rather, his closest friend’s hair. The red-ish brown tones of the 9 year old’s hair suited the boy, especially in the long style he wore them in, but this was not what Angeal was fixed on. A lone, grey hair was nestled in Genesis’ considerable number of brown ones. Angeal rolled over, nearer to his closest ally.
“Sure, Gen’, but…” He reached out and grabbed the grey hair, yanking it hard and pulling it straight out of his friend’s scalp.
“Ow!” Genesis shrieked, grabbing where his hair had been removed. “What was that for?” Angeal held the hair up worriedly.
“Huh?” Genesis’ reaction was slow. “Wha- My mum’s only just started going grey, and she’s already 40… What the…” He clutched his head, wincing.
“I don’t wanna look like an old man before I’m even ten! Angeal!” His face was coated with worry. Angeal burst out laughing.

Lazard breathed heavily, fingers contorting around the arm of his chair.

Eyes open; gazing into the mirror, so barely lit in the darkness of his room, he saw a monster- in the weeks since his containment, he had become a mockery of human life, a monster in the thinly veiled body of a man. Skin flecked over with scales, azure eyes taken to a slit-like pupil deformity, hair a patchwork of grey and black- claws, not fingernails- a set of inhuman fangs, and his single wing losing its feathers. Even simple body parts others took for granted were changing; hands contorting to unusually shaped perversions of such, a mix of paw and fist, animal and man. A train wreck of a grand scale, the fusing of a monstrosity and a gentleman.

Eyes closed; the Shinra executive, respected SOLDIER director, well liked by all. A fashion connoisseur, owner of some of the mot well-tailored, desirable suits in Midgar. Intelligent, handsome, possessor of a fan club (the first classes weren’t the only ones to have such things) and a lovely, kind girlfriend. Blonde hair, thick and long, envy of much of the department. A set of kindly sky blue eyes, always rimmed by designer reading glasses. Delicate hands, almost effeminate, protected from wear and tear by white, Wutaian silk gloves. Well-shaped chin, pleasantly sculpted. A charming smile that made others feel comfortable in his presence- infinitesimally important in his line of work. Lithe body, suited to his clothing choices, but built well enough to not be scrawny (the Shinra company gym was a nice place to go on lunch breaks).

Every second that went by flickered between the two identities, blinking affirming his regrets as blackness came and went with his old self locked inside it, crying out for retribution. The gentle, kindly SOLDIER director felt lost in this angry cage of his own insecurities. He could break the wall at any time if he wanted- a fusion of Sephiroth’s genes and mako energy giving him near superhuman strength. But breaking the wall would mean facing reality in all its facets, and he was much more comfortable with his chair, his memories, and his mirror into the past. So he watched, waited, for either death, loss of all sanity and humanity, or for someone- anyone- to save him from his fate. His wing lay, in a careless fashion, on the arm of his chair, near his hand, feathers and flesh being eaten away leaving but a skeleton.

Haplessly draped from his chair, he sat, waiting. He had been waiting for longer than he could care to think when the knock came.
“Minerva?” He called. He had never been a God-fearing person, but hung out to dry at death’s door he had forsaken all his old ways. “Have you come to… Take me from this hellish reality?” He raised a hand heavily, in a mock-salute, the largest movement he could bring himself to perform.
“No! I’m a friend. I’m here to help.” Minerva had taken on human form, maybe? The voice was effeminate and sweet, almost motherly. “SOLDIER Director Lazard, right?” The girl knew who he was! Lazard closed his eyes and imagined the one she had spoken of.
“I may be called Lazard… But I am no SOLDIER Director. Not… Not any more, at least.” He began to return to his shell.
“Oh? Well, fair enough. Listen, Lazard- or, shall I call you Mr. Shinra? Mr. Deusericus? Which do you prefer?” Low, male tones were heard behind her. “Vincent tells me you like Lazard or Mr. Deusericus, because,” –she cleared her throat, and put on a manly voice- “’It doesn’t connect me to that bastard father of mine, that’s why!’”
“Anyway, would you please step away from the center of the room, Lazard? We’re gonna get you out of there, but it’ll require a bit of input from Chaos, so if you’re too close to center, you could be hurt, okay?” Lazard raised an eyebrow, before shifting a few meters sideways.
“Fine.” He rasped.
“Great!” The girl squeaked. “Okay, Vincent- three, two, one…” A great burst of white light flooded the room, along with the smell of burning wood, and a loud roar. After a second, the light cleared, and was replaced by another- the dull glow of Chaos, entering the room slowly, flanked by a girl in a pink dress, and a boy with spiky blonde hair and a set of black bat wings.
“Good afternoon, Director Lazard.” Chaos chuckled, before motioning to the boy and the girl.
“Aeris and Cloud here convinced me to get you out of this place for some U.V, food, and a story. Care to come?” Lazard shook his head; causing Aeris to frown. Vincent noticed her angered expression, and smirked in a sullen, defeated manner.
“Judging by her face, you’ve got no choice, Lazard.” Vincent walked towards the ex-director, and wrapped a hand around the man’s quickly retreating wrist.
“Come on, Shinra boy.” Vincent yanked Lazard forward with great strength, and grabbed one of his thighs, picking the man up roughly and beginning to carry him, bridal style, towards the door. Lazard struggled weakly, shooting an unhappy look towards Cloud.
“Not getting any help from here.” Cloud’s amusement was as thinly veiled as Aeris’ worry.
“Are you okay, Mr. Deusericus?” Aeris laid a soft hand on the man’s foot. Lazard tried to look over his body at her.
“Not particularly, Miss… Aeris, was it?” The girl squeaked out a yes. Lazard groaned, flopping loosely back into Vincent’s grip.
“Vincent, if you insist on kidnapping me from my torture chamber, would you at least take more care for my wellbeing?” Lazard squirmed in discomfort. “Your claws are digging into my wing.”
“Oh, sorry.” Vincent murmured shifting his hands slightly on Lazard’s back, as the group ascended the staircase from the basement.
“So, what exactly is this rescue attempt being made for?” Lazard’s question came abruptly as Aeris gripped his hand on the leisurely walk down the hallway to the next stairwell.
“A small bout of compassion on the part of our pink-clothed friend here.” Vincent replied dully, shooting a look Aeris’ way, though what this look meant, it was hard to tell. After a moment, the gunman broke into a bleak smile. “Lazard, as little hope as you may have for your future, I might’ve found a way to help you.” His voice was small, almost scared. His yellow eyes gleamed brighter than usual.
“Oh?” Lazard’s voice sounded amused. “You can succeed where Sephiroth and Angeal have failed?” His voice was slowly raising as he began to breathe deeply.
“Vincent, prove to me your cure, and I will gladly allow you to help me.” His voice fell back to a business-like monotone. Vincent smiled.
“Then proving it to you is what I’ll do.” Cloud dashed a short way ahead of Vincent and opened the door to the kitchen. “But for now…” Lazard noted the man in black leather, shoulder-length silver hair mussed severely, lying on the floor.
“Welcome to our new rehab clinic.”

Thoughts swam nervously through my head like panicked fish as we approached the open window of the lodge, thinking of what would happen when I finally chanced upon Aeris, who had been floating around my mind the whole way through these past weeks. What if Aeris doesn’t remember me? I bit my lip nervously. What if she’s startled by what Hojo did to me? What if she hates me? When will I see her again- if ever? The more I thought, the sicker I became. Pale as the feathers of a dove, I turned to Angeal.
“Angeal, how’re we gonna tell the others that we’ve lost Genesis?” Angeal looked skyward for a moment, before shooting a grin back at me.
“We’ll just wait for them to ask, then spill the beans. ‘Kay, Zack?” The lodge was barely a hundred meters away now. I gave my wings a powerful flap and shot faster towards it, breeze ruffling my unruly black hair pleasantly. I gazed distantly through the window. A man with shoulder length silver hair lay, unconscious, on the floor, next to a man (if you could even call him that) who looked vaguely like Angeal. Cloud was knelt by the Angeal look-a-like, Vincent standing near him, in the form of Chaos.
“Looks like everyone’s back already.” I said to myself, swooping lower. As I did, a fourth person came into view in the room. Brown hiking boots- Nibelheim villager, maybe? The beginning of a pink dress, in the latest Midgar style- a fashion-conscious Nibelheim villager? A darker pink jacket- Costa de Sol cut… Maybe she was a tour guide? But why would a tour guide be here? Brown plait, twisting majestically down her back, which was turned to me. Oh no. Oh no-no-no. The girl turned around, holding a jug of water, and walked towards the silver haired man. Worst fears confirmed, my wings ceased beating, and I began to plummet from the sky.

Aeris

It felt like forever that I fell, caught after an eternity by Angeal’s well-toned arms. I looked up at him.
“Angeal… She’s in there.” I was now white as the Northern Continent’s snow, my mako-tainted eyes wide.
“Who?” I looked at him pointedly. “Oh, Aeris.” He said in a tone implying that he felt it wasn’t more than a frivolous matter.
“But Angeal, she’s my girlfriend! I haven’t seen her for five… Six… Years? Her seeing me like this… I couldn’t do that to her, Ang’.” I felt like I was about to cry.
“Well, she got over Lazard Shinra turning into a monster, she can get over you turning into me.” He pulled back up into the sky, as my wings flapped weakly to get away.
“No, Ang’!” I pleaded, as the black-haired man raised us to the level of the lodge, and drifted in, Nero and Sephiroth already tending to the to wounded men in our kitchen. Angeal unwrapped his arms from me and threw me to the floor, creating a loud thump which drew Aeris’ attention from the silver haired man and onto me.
“… Zack?”

CHAPTER 8: Maybe I'll finally remember what I put here in the next chapter? If I do; here's what's gonna happen- the newly reunited Aeris and Zack converse about Zack's state and ponder his ultimate fate, while the injured man introduces himself to the group. Meanwhile, Shinra's grasp chokes tighter around the boys as Genesis is subjected to Hojo's experiments.

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