Chapter 23

Mount Corel. Stiffling in every way shape or form.

Genesis hated it with all his heart. He hated the rocks that reflected the sun into his eyes, he hated the dry heat that left him unnaturally drained, he hated his sunburn that had sunburn and he hated the locals that made his life difficult on top of it all.

And that had been going on for months. Months of on and off negotiations and just when he thought things were doing okay and he was fucking done, shit hit the fan and just as he'd set foot in his appartment floor he was off getting recalled again back to this shitshow.

'Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul

Pride id lost

Wings stripped away, the end is nigh'

As Genesis trudged back from the latest attempt at negotiations, radiating so much contempt and plain loathing people dove out of his way, he shot a text though his Phs, goddamn these things were uncomfortable compared to their i-Phones, to the head of negotiations, spelling out that he was not to be disturbed for the rest of the day under pain of fucking death. He had reached his quota for the day and nothing sort of a full AVALANCHE attack would have him dealing with his incompetent 'colleagues'. Well, since he was going to work on his runes, not getting distracted was a must unless he wanted to bring, possibly, the entire mountain down on his head.

Oh how he was anxious to drown his sorrows in those theories, the only saving grace of the entire situation. If Sei was free perhaps even have a nice phone call or even a debate with Sephiroth. And then maybe even a conversation with Angeal to wax poetic about how much progress he had made that day. Bless the poor guy's soul he had been dealing with his obsessions since childhood with a patient smile and encouraging pat in the back and still was, Goddess Angeal was too good for this world.

And then things got worse.

"What do you mean she's sick?" he felt his glass crack under his white knuckled grip.

"She crashed. And then the Sleep Cycle settled in as well." talk about abysmal timing. But, no matter how he hated himself for admitting it, he was not surprised it happened. A part of him whispered that it was about time too...

"'Ripples form on the water's surface'" His beloved Loveless keep him sane. "Is she going to be okay?" It had already happened. What they could do now is try to help the situation.

A tired sigh came from the other side "I hope. Ague isn't supposed to become this serious." Genesis could picture Sephiroth massaging the bridge of his nose "We're waiting on more materials to treat it. But having her swallow the "pills" when she is completely unresponsive is honestly nerve-wracking and, apparently, the potion is fiddly." he heard the other take a breath "Sirius has rigged a ward to maintain the temperature but it's slow about it. It's driving all of us crazy." Yeah, from what he heard that spelled the details of a nightmare.

"Hey." he gulped "This is going to sound bad." he run what he wanted to say through his head, trying to figure out how to word it.

"Just say it." the resignation on the other end of the line made what he was about to say worse.

"I have a mastered Revive here."

The silence on the other end stretched for longer than he was comfortable.

"There is nothing definitive yet but I will take you up on that offer." Things were really bad.

"Keep me informed. I will tell Angeal." They hanged up and Genesis took a moment to run an exasperated hand through his hair with a sigh.

'My friend, do you fly away now...'

It got worse.

While Sephiroth was rid of Scarlet's obnoxious behaviours, it seemed that Genesis would have the luck to experience her presence as well if things kept going like they were. Genesis was exponentially grateful that his job here was security detail and not negotiations as he watched another meeting go to shit when the Shin-Ra representative this time, oooh variety - flew off the rails. After he raged of course because ha was a Comander. You do not put a Commander in a mook's position, that was a waste of abilities and skill.

He would have skewered somebody by now. He was so damn close to tossing a fireball to the first person to piss him off next as it was.

So of course that was when the owls showed up. Sitting a nest. Made of his clothes, his beloved duster included.

Holy fuck he could not deal with the bird right now.

Damn bird seemed to read the mood too. Not too keen on vacating the premises though, it gave him what he could swear was a smug look. For a second he debated on lobbing a fireball but he deflated just as the thought came. He wasn't in the mood and he could not imagine the sadness in Bella's face if he did anything to her owl. For whatever reason she loved the bird. Instead, Genesis turned his back on the bird, to the kitchen where he poured himself a glass of scotch - Bella's scotch, his mind supplied - and then collapsed on his couch.

The sound of beating wings had him sighing again. The bird was intent on annoying him huh? Sure enough, a slight weight settled on his shoulder but where he expected at least a peck, he felt soft feathers on his cheek. Was the bird nuzzling him? Before he could continue on that train of though, the feather withdrew and instead there was a soft tugging on his hair. Huh, who knew that having a bird groom his hair would feel so nice.

He chuckled and slowly raised his hand, and when it was not bitten, he softly caressed the owls soft feathers. "You're nervous about your Mistress aren't you?" he got a soft drawn out note in return. He hummed in response and kept petting. "We all are." he groaned in an attempt to recover some composure.

Genesis stood up taking his scotch with him as he went back to his kitchen. "I have some bacon you can have while I get you that materia."

Angeal took it...well not bad. Not good either.

"She crashed, I imagine?" worried resignation painted the dark haired man's voice.

Genesis himself did not have the heart to be witty "Indeed.'Wind sails over the water's surface'" he sighed himself

"How is she? Is there something we can do about it?" the question was redundant and they both knew it.

"It's bad." he ran a hand down his face. "The normal methods weren't working even before they run out and the secondary one is dangerous if not done precisely."

"Genesis. What else do you want to say?" Because of course angeal could read him a continent away! Of course he had to say it but it didn't make it any easier.

So Genesis took a bracing breath and just barreled through it "I just sent Sephiroth the Revive I mastered a while back." Because Angeal deserved to know.

Complete silence came from the other end.

"Okay." the word was drawn out by and exhale. "And, may I inquire as to what took you so long?" His friend's voice now was grave, frosty, disappointed.

"I'm sorry Geal." 'It's just-'

"'Sorry' is for spilt milk Genesis!" the other chastised with an edge to his voice. "But will...Death really let her die? With her being the Master of Death? Will the Revive work for that matter" Genesis could hear his friend pacing. The though alone had liquid ice running through his veins, a harsh breath escaped his lunges and was sagging, leaning heavily on anything he could grasp within reach.

"I don't think it's an 'If he'll let her issue'. She said that if she died, she died. There was nothing about staying dead." he rebutted harshly, not even entertaining the idea of the opposite. He refused to believe that something as nondescript as a jacked-up flu, could kill her, after all he'd seen her do, and especially after all she done for them.

There was another sigh. Genesis knew that sigh. It was a sound Angeal made when trying to calm down and collect his thoughts. He knew his friend was feeling the same thing as him, times ten. To Angeal, the thought of not being able to at least do something to repay her, that must be killing him. "Please tell me there is at least something good about this."

"Her team is taking care of the potions." And if there was one thing the two they had seen so far had proved they could expect, it was competency.

"Good...please keep me posted." Timely.

"Alright." he answered with a slight wince.

In Corel, negotiations no longer happened after a very bad scuffle. Tempers rose as the were wont to do and, unsurprisingly, punches were thrown. What, probably no one was expecting, were the spells that subsequently followed, resulting in a very bad fire, a raging inferno that took with it half the housing that the Shin-Ra delegation used.

Shin-Ra still stinging from the very recent loss of Wutai, jumped at the chance to regain some 'dignity'.

Genesis stared at the updated mission files and the words stared back at him, the words printed seemed to have the sole purpose of taunting him. He re-resd it so many time, because he just couldn't believe it. And just as he was reading he suddenly couldn't any more. The next line was burning, along with the rest of the paper before he knew it, but he couldn't bring himself to care for the loss. Not like they would be of any use after they were delivered.

'My friend, your desire

Is the bringer of life, the gift of the Goddess.'

They did not want another Wutai in their hands and Genesis was now braving the consequences of the President's wounded ego. He was under a lot of pressure to bring in good results and he knew he was no Sephiroht. If this didn't go swimmingly then he would not get out unscathed. But after all that had happened...he didn't know what to do. Part of him was jumping at the chance to work out the frustration that had steadily been building during this assignment. But enacting a subjugation was a guarantee for casualties.

For a moment he wished for Bella to be here before burying that thought to the deepest pit of his mind.

He was a fucking Commander damnit! He would not let himself depend on someone else for something he could very well achieve himself! And Bella had her own issues and responsibilities. While her assistance was always welcome, he would not drag her to deal with every single one of his problems, because he knew that she would. He would not be a deadweight!

And then came the scourge of lechery personified, sat upon a mechanized armament, bearing the name of Scarlet and he took that back. 'Please Goddess, bring me my salvation back to me!'

Bella's condition refused to see improvement and it only seemed to be getting worse when Sephiroth was finally recalled to Midgar. It made maintaining the temperature that much harder.

The portkey Bella had made for him in Wutai made itself really useful now that both Vincent and Sirius were preoccupied. It was very frustrating however to have to limit to how long he could be away from his office. After the disastrous loss of Wutai. Day in day out, he had to suffer through either some mind-numbing board meeting or through some interview about said disaster. When he was not going through his gigantic backlog of paperwork.

All in all he could not be there for long and while both Sirius and Vincent reassured him that he was doing more than enough, Sephiroth himself was feeling unbearably inadequate.

And this was a week in. He had just managed to escape the latest interview, this time for a Shin-Ra sanctioned radio show, a mind numbing four hours, but thankfully the last thing on his schedule for the day.

The portkey deposited him in Bella's library. Little Cloud was huddled in a couch to his right, trying valiantly to concentrate on his book. The moment he was dumped in the the room the boys head turned to him, giving him a wave and a forced smile. Cloud had not been allowed to see Bella while she had been sick. Ague was supposed to be ridiculously contagious and Cloud had been exposed to Bella's magic influence enough for his own magic to be affected. It was the reason Sephiroth and Vincent had been cleared. Not that Sephiroth had ever been sick in his entire life with all the enhancements he'd been subjected to.

He patted the boy's head as he passed him on his way to Bella's chambers.

It was a chaotic scramble the moment he reached the witch's door. He could feel the heat the moment he stepped off the lift. He hurried to the door with an Mastered Ice on the ready, the heat becoming more pronounced, only to be hit with a solid, sweltering wall, the moment he opened her door.

Peculiarly, nobody was there but he could see a side door open. His bangs were already sticking to his face and his clothes felt so unnaturally uncomfortable on his body, so with an ever-rising sense of dread he headed for the door. As he had come closer his worries were proven right. The temperature was even higher than he had first imagined. The only thing keeping him from flying into a panic was the hope that she had woken up and had moved herself.

He knocked on the door only to get a grunt in response. A very much male grunt. "Yes?" Vincent answered sounding rather harried.

"It's me." he answered cautiously "Everything alright?"

"No it's not. We need ice." Sirius said from somewhere inside, sounding frayed. So Sephiroth pushed the door in and visibly paused at the carnage overtaking the room, a bathroom.

The scene unfolding in front of him was something he'd heard about but hadn't had the "fortune" of seeing.

The heat in this room reached desert levels. It went way past humidity as the surfaces were coated in vapor. He felt himself getting dehydrated already. The tiles were covered in a thin layer of water that evaporated only to be replaced by even more water. Water that came spilling out of the bathtub in a platform in the corner. More and more ice was getting dropped into it.

Vincent and Sirius had laid the witch there, still unconscious, and clothed for that matter. The water's surface froze again as Sirius recast, breaking apart almost immediately. The ice struggled to overtake the space but try as he might it was unable to spread. He knew that the pieces of ice dropped into the tub melted before they reached the bottom, he'd been told as such. The Reaper was sitting on the edge of the platform, at the head of the tub, tenderly holding the witch's head above water. He would gently run the water over her face, awfully flushed from the heat himself. Still the fingers scooping the water were pale, the nailbeds purpling from the cold.

Vincent on the other hand, sat on the other side of the tub, an Ice on one hand and an ether on the other. While Sirius was casting on the entire body of water, Vincent was trying to keep a solid piece of ice touching the witch's skin. It was easier to keep a steady temperature when the majority was at least a bit close to the desired outcome.

"What the hell happened?" The silver haired man quickly put his hair up in preparation.

"Wasn't going down fast enough." Sirius sighed, running a hand down his face tiredly. The implied again was left unsaid.

"Is she getting worse?" he asked, the phrase familiar to his lips at this point. For all that familiarity it never failed to evoke the same amount of worry. He moved towards the witch, taking Sirius's place in running water over her face. Sirius went about maintaining the ice just as he was given the chance. The water was encroaching on glacial temperatures he felt his fingers numbing.

"I don't know." Sirius let out a frustrated sound stuck between a whimper and a growl. He let one hand grasp the older man's shoulders in an effort to comfort him. Sephiroth realized the man was trembling. If it was the tiredness or the emotions he didn't know.

"We'll need to send a portkey to Genesis. He is much better than me in this." he got to work casting Ice on the water, feeling satisfied when it formed a thick layer of ice on the surface, even managing to touch Bella, if only for a second. It started melting immediately but it was more sluggishly, so this was good. Thank the Goddess Bella was catatonic because this would be very painful otherwise.

"We can't really spare too much magic." Vincent answered "We are stedily getting sick of the ethers." the statement was punctuated by a sip from the vial he was holding. His eyes never left the tub, concentrating on his work.

Sephiroth stepped up to Sirius, grasping the man's shoulder firmly "Go get some rest Sirius. Get some fluids in you." He moved his hands to hold the witch's face and he could feel the heat seeping through the reinforced leather of the gloves. "I'll take over from here."

"You sure?" He was reluctant to leave. Sephiroth understood that. The man had barely left his goddaughter's side during this entire crisis.

"I wouldn't offer otherwise." he gently pushed the man away from his chair. Sirius managed to stand, handing Sephiroth the his dog tags, the heat regulation charm that was making everything at least bearable. The man trudged tiredly with a horrible slouch out of the room, no doubt to pass out on the first thing he could find.

"How is that potion coming along?" Sephiroth turned to his father as he sat down, quickly passing the chain over his head. He readjusted his hand on the witch's face so he would maintain a gentle hold. He never realized how small her face was. His hand spread from under the chin to the ear, the littlest finger even going to the back of the neck when his thumb restied on her forehead snugly. It looking almost giant in comparison. She was truly a very slight thing. Sephiroth felt his heart constrict a little.

"Sei said it shouldn't be too long. A couple days at most." His father answered, already feeling the strain alleviate. Him and his father had created a system for this. One of them would cast and the other would maintain it so that one of them expended mana and the other shouldered the mental stain. They found the spells lasted longer that way. Plus, Sephiroth's spells were arguably stronger than Vincent's.

"Thank Gaia." They both felt relief settle.

To the relief of everyone involved it never got bad enough that the Revive wasn't needed.

They got a very unexpected surprise. One that proved to be very opportune and very pleasant. It started with cold. Nothing new. What was new was when the temperature started veering towards normal levels.

And then came a howling wind. For a second Sephiroth had traumatic flashbacks as the howls of the wind came ever closer. And then the door to the witch's room was blown open by a controlled hurricane. And in the eye of the storm stood a diminutive white haired girl, donning bright pastels and cheery patterns hidden under a partially closed medical coat.

Sephiroth allowed himself a second to ponder and laugh at how much 'inspiration' had come from pure traumatic experiences.

He filed that under 'Doctors are terrifying' and moved on.

The Doctor, Yuri, paused at the threshold, looked around and then looked at the unconscious woman on the bed. She raised a dainty hand, twirled her fingers and snapped once and suddenly the temperature was normal. Just like that.

Holy shit.

The winds around her calmed and the twister dispersed as she brought a hand up to rub at the bridge of her nose with a long suffering sigh. That...was a worrying sign.

Yuri turned to him and Sirius with a small smile on her youthful face "You did a very good job. I commend you on your efforts. I've got this from here." she cracked her fingers with a grin.

He refused to budge "You've done this before."

To her credit she barely spared him a look. "Yes, just not with Ague." She dumped her bag on the foot of the bed. "Plus, I have a complete and utter Mastery over ice and snow and partly water. And you have no idea how many cases of Ague we see every month in the hospital. Heat regulation is the easiest thing for me." Yuri opened her bag, taking out a few vials and methodically arranging them on the bedside table. Then she reaching into the inside of her coat retrieving a- was that a Priestess's staff? Yes, it was. It was the thin, polished, wooden staffs with the paper streamers he had seen the Wutai Priestesses use.

She went to take a step to the end of the bed but paused, turning back to the witch, as if in an afterthought. He watched her extend her hand over her friend's head. Her nails lit up with a subtle pale blue glow and soon her eyes were glowing with the same light until they were two shining, icy blue pools. She herself seemed to still, unnaturally so. The entire picture reminded him distinctly of Shiva, he could almost feel a chill seep into his bones.

He was taken from his thoughts as Yuri clicked her tongue in displeasure and it was all gone. In the ice nymph's place stood a very disgruntled young woman, her lips pulling into a grimace.

"Is everything alright?" Sirius asked cautiously, wringing his hands.

"I don't know, is the Earth flat?" she grumbled, rubbing her bridge of her nose again.

Wasn't Earth a plan-Oh.

She glanced at them and went to explain, correctly guessing what they wanted. "So here's the problem. There are a lot of things pulling at her magic at the same time. Whatever she manages to regain gets instantly consumed and thus not allowing her to replenish any of it. That, in turn, puts her body in a starvation-like state in an effort to expend the least amount of energy it possibly can." She walked to the centre of the room with sedated steps, twirling her staff lazily."An that, has caused her body's performance output to drop down to an approximation of minus infinity." She stropped abruptly in the middle.

Yuri took a deep calming breath, gripping the wood and suddenly she was roughly stabbing it into the floor. The room rumbled and wind howled from the staff. The action was so quick and so sudden he would have missed it had he blinked. He didn't know if it was the magic or the sheer force of it, keeping the paper streamers afloat even after everything else had stilled.

A beat passed. And another. And then the paper shot to the floor fusing with it and puling taught. He could feel the shivers of magic brush against his skin as wards came to life around them and the room started filling with magic.

Yuri inhaled deeply and stretched. "I can't rearange what she did with whatever it is that's pulling at her magic." She swept her glowing eyes around the room critically. "I will call Sei to deal with it, but this will temporarily cut them off and let her regain some energy to start recuperating. The potions will take care of the Ague and the malnutrition, and even if this is temporary, by the time it falls appart she will have enough magic so that things won't go to shit again. Or at least until Sei comes to deal with whatever this is." she explained as she headed back to Bella's bedside.

"If I may ask Doctor, why did the...eggs not work?"

"Astute question." she nodded shallowly, taking out a view more vials and placing them along with the others. "Ashwinder eggs need magic from the person's system to work properly. On a good day they are like antipyretics against a virus that would normally need an antibiotic, to give you an idea. They treat it but not necessarily cure it. If you have questions feel free to ask."

He took a moment to contemplate how to ask what he wanted next. "Don't you have something to replenish magic in your world?"

Yuri sat on Bella's bedside, putting her elbow on he knee and leaning on her hand. "Depends on the kind of energy really." she started explaining. "Reishi and Furioku for example, need rest if exhausted since they are energies generated from one's soul. We don't fuck with those on principle. You can speed up the process but instant replenishment of it tends to cause undue strain. There is a transference method from person to person, but then there are issues with compatibility, because these are souls we are talking about. As mentioned, we do not fuck with those." she rolled up her sleeves, not really looking at him.

"Prana depletion can be fixed with the appropriate combination of rest, meditation and sometimes Prana transfer, since one's ability to utilize it depends on their Magical circuits, and while finicky, Cirquits are rather durable. Mana though?" she grimaced a bit while uncorcing a vial of gold colored liquid.

"For a person to have Mana they need a Magical Core and Cores are very delicate so we do not really mess with them and let them recharge on their own. Again, there are ways to speed it up or replenish small quantities but other than that, we can't really do anything else." Sirius picked up the explanation as Yuri gently lifted her friend's head, helping her prop it there with pillows. Once secured, Yuri carefully fed her friend the potion, massaging the throat so that she wouldn't choke.

Silence stretched throught the room as the snow haired woman tended to the comatose witch so Sephiroth stood to leave, intending to let the doctor work in pease.

"Where do you think you're going." The voice firm but at the same time nonchalant stopped him, a gloved hand only an inch away from the door knob. For a moment he was in front of a rigid metal door, standing in a dull monochrome hallway, his shadow cast in front of him by industrial blue light. It took him less than a second to snap out of it, to remember that this doctor was not Hojo. That not all doctors were Hojo.

"Do you need something from me, Doctor." He had not intended for his tone to come out as harsh as it did but it didn't seem to faze her. She spared him a soft smile even, gesturing with her for hand for him to come back.

"I just want to give you a check up. It's almost a year you know." She answered. It made sense. So he sat back down watching the woman finish up he work, fluffing up the pillows and tucking Bella in with an inordinate amount of care, as if the witch was made of delicate glass.

"You care for her a lot." It was redundant statement. Still he couldn't keep himself from expressing it. I brought a bittersweet feeling.

She hummed softly, glancing up at him. "We all do. We owe her a lot too." They didn't speak further, the silence conveying a feeling of understanding. Sephiroth wondered if there would come a day that he would have someone look at him like that too.

Angeal's days had been dull as of late. Really dull. But with Genesis out of Midgar and Sephiroth in the...situation...he was in, that was to be expected. Still, he didn't dislike it. His paperwork was done in time, he had finally gotten his training regime as optimized as was possible and he had more time to spend in the training grounds. The troops and Cadets were very happy to take advantage of that and he was happy to accommodate them.

These quiet days made him nostalgic. He found himself thinking more about his hometown, more about his parents. That's how he had ended up sending a letter back home after months.

As he got out of the shower, he trotted to his small kitchen grabbing a bottle of Banora Cider from the fridge and filching a glass on his way to the couch, throwing the towel he used for his head on the back of a chair.

The first sip was calming, the second spread warm heaven through his chest. He couldn't get drunk in sense of the word but he could still enjoy the burn and fuzziness the experience still offered.

Haaaa...!

The bell rung, loud and jarring. His eyes widened out of startlement, almost falling off of his just about a moment to regain his breath he headed to answer his door, a little more than just disgruntled but trying to not let it show.

He was not expecting who he saw in front of his door.

"Hello Mr. Hewley. It's been a bit, hasn't it?" A slight, pale woman, dressed brightly, greeted him with the sunniest of smiles.

Holy shit if his Fan Club learned that he let a woman in his house there would be blood spilt.

"Hello Doctor..." was the startled reply he gave. It felt really odd looking down this much... "What can I help you with?"

She smirked.

"Maybe you should have warned them."

Sephiroth shrugged uncaringly. "Neither Angeal nor Genesis would be as willing if they knew." he explained half heartedly at his father's raised eyebrow.

"Huh..."

He lifted his head from his book to look at his father, looking truly innocent. "What?"

"...Nevermind..."

Completely opposite from the quietness Angeal was experiencing in Midgar, what Genesis had to deal with could be described as nothing sort of infuriating frustration.

He wanted to drink so badly but he was on duty and the Shin-Ra goon in charge of negotiations was awfully stringent about that. Even if he couldn't get even slightly intoxicated. What the Fuck?!

So when the basic tune rung he was already strung up and very much willing to ignore whomever it was that was calling him. Then he realized that the ringing did not match his work Phs. That meant that it was his phone and the people using that were Angeal, Sepiroth and Bella.

He scrambled to pick it up.

"Angeal? What's up?"

"The Doctor came over-"

He felt a pang of dread "Hollander?!" he interrupted in concern.

"The other one. The good one. I think her name was Yuri?" 'Oh thank the Goddess!' And then he was reminded again of the fact that she was still a doctor.

"What? Why? Is everything okay?" he pressed harder, concern refusing to abate.

"Yes she came to check on Bella and said that she wanted to check on us too? She said she'll be coming your way too." His friend informed him in a tone that said he wasn't really sure what had happened himself.

"Wait-did she say whe-" he was cut off by someone knocking on his door. He ran a hand down his face, fed up, as he went to answer it and ready to flail someone. "Just a second Angeal-"

This time he was cut off when he laid eyes on the one waiting on the other side.

"Hello Mr. Rapsodos, perhaps you heard I was coming?"

Genesis's intelligent reply was a bewildered "Uh..." phone still in his ear.

Despite Yuri's assurances they were all extremely worried when Bella, despite no longer suffering from her sickness, took a whole two extra weeks to wake up. The moment Sirius saw the tiniest bit of movement his eyes flew to the girls closed emeralds. He had not been wrong, he could see the delicate lashes flatter minutely as her lids twitched ever so slightly. When the Reaper grasped her hand she weakly clutched back and Sirius could breathe.

"Hello there Paddfoot." her voise broke the silence, thick from sleep and sounding tired still. As if it wasn't almost an entire fucking month! Her head was tilted in his direction, a soft smile gracing her lips, yet her eyes were still closed. Perhaps it was instinct that she could feel him there, know it was him, maybe the bond between Reaper and Master of Death.

"Prongslet." his voice cracked. "Good morning."

She hummed in return, a contended sound, snuggling deeper into her pillows and tightening her fingers around his. The hum cut off when a cough abruptly wracked her frame and Sirius rushed to bring her some water. He helped her sit up, propping the pillows behind her for support. Bella sipped her water daintily, feeling absolutely parched yet at the same time too tired to take bigger gulps. "How long was I knocked out."

"As of today, three weeks." She chocked, dispensing even more suffering to her pained throat.

Sirius rubbed her back as she calmed down. "I'm going to get your friend to check you over, okay?" She gave him a confused frown.

"Whom?"

"The doctor."

Her eyebrows flew to her hairline, widening her eyes in the process "Yuri's here? How come?" she took another sip, carefully.

"Not sure, we were too worried to ask." he divulged, letting the tiredness paint his voice. "Was she not supposed to?" he asked her worried about something he didn't know about.

She shrugged slowly "Yes and no, it's complicated. Where is she now?"

"I think talking to Haile still? Something about a meal plan."

"Alright." she nodded and gave him back the glass for him to place it on the bedside. He helped her lay back down comfortably.

The moment Sirius descended those stairs to find Yuri, any who saw him knew that something had happened. He had not left his goddaughter's bedroom during the entirety of it.

Vincent was the first one to approach him and the smile that lit the reaper's face was all he needed to know the witch was awake. The two men shared a nod and the Vessel of Chaos was hurriedly heading for the witch's bedroom, shooting a quick message to Sephiroth, shortly followed by Cloud.

As Sirius was escorting the doctor to Bella's room they were overtaken by a speeding golden blur as Cloud run to see his sister. The room in front of them exploded with tinkling laughter and childish giggles and they entered to see the little boy cuddling up to his sister in all but blood. The woman herself was embracing him back as well as she could, a smile lighting up her face. She turned to them and her smile got even bigger and happier. "Hello Yu-chan." she said softly, tiredness obvious in her tone.

Yuri froze in her steps. Sirius looked down to her in surprise only to see her trembling.

Yuri took one, staggering step, and then another and soon she was running to the two in the bed, a heart-breaking cry, wrenching itself from her throat as she lunged to grab the witch. She clutched her friend desperately, burying her face in her friend's shoulder and she just wailed.

Sirius turned right back around, leaving them alone to have their moment. The door was held open by Vincent, having had the same thought. The way the man held himself now, told Sirius he was satisfied for now, suitably relieved. They instead went to play bouncer in the library to keep anyone else from interrupting them.

Things in Midgar were finally winding down from post Wutai proceedings. Genesis had once called them shenanigans and everyone with even an iota of awareness about it was inclined to agree. If Sephiroth was asked he would add that it was about damn time. Surprisingly or, really, not so, the thing that rubbed the Silver General the worst out of all this fiasco was the sheer amount of esteem he got. Considering that he had done absolutely nothing to resolve the situation, getting credited with the achievement of "subjugation" and "domination" was especially rankling. And the men that were there were in no better state. He could see the shame roiling behind their eyes.

Every time he passed by the umpteenth bookstore, proudly showcasing the Shin-Ra issued magazines with his face plastered on the front page and it was all he could do not to snarl. Thank the Goddess Genesis wasn't here or he wouldn't hear the end of it. While the redhead had made remarkable strides concerning his jealousy, bot of them knew of the fundamental differences assigned to them by others. It wasn't fair but that how it was.

"Can you pass me those papers there Angeal?" Sephiroth pointed at some neat stacks on the right of his desk, closer to the chair Angeal was occupying in the General's office.

"Which papers?" the Commander lifted his head up from his book having already finished his own paperwork, lucky bastard wasn't as smothered in the things as him.

"The one's that say "CONFIDENTIAL"."

"Is this your way of warning me about the next corporate fuck-up?" One of Angeal's brows rose up.

"Not this time Geal." Sephiroth responded blankly.

"Okay. Let me just-" The older of the two stretched to the side to grab the red stamped stack. His eyes lingered on them for a second, brows furrowing in bewilderment. "Why is Hollander's order for coffee filters considered confidential? Why is it even here?"

"It's a fascinating story actually." Oh, those eyes were dead...even if they never left the desk. "Rife with tension and suspense." And all of the tirade delivered with the blankest of deadpan tones. Sephiroth didn't even look up.

"...Uh huh..."

Sephiroth's phone emitted a little chiming noise, indicating that a text had just come in. The silver heaired youth was on it in an instant, freezing the moment he saw the words. Angeal tensed himself. His eyes connected with his friend's and the relief he saw took his aback. There was only one thing that would warrant such a degree of emotion from the other.

'Please tell me...'

"She's awake."

It was Angeal's first time using a portkey. Quite frankly, it felt like something hooked up on his navel and pulled it up through his spine. Before it could linger enough to elevate from uncomfortable to painful, he was in the air and spinning. His stomach gave a violent roll and Angeal had to clam his mouth shut. He pushed his teeth together until they ground and thanked Gaia he hadn't eaten dinner yet.

"Let go." Sephiroth instructed with the ease of experience.

'With pleasure.'

The moment he let go he was flung backwards. He was weightless for one, too long second. And then vertigo took over again and he was falling. He tried to reorient himself and he just about managed to get his feet under him as the were flung on a carpeted floor. His arm flew to the closest stable thing, a very familiar leather.

He took a deep breath to calm down his stomach and when he was sure he would not be losing the little contents of his stomach, he was finally able to look around.

He was back to the witch's abode. This was her library and he was back.

There was suddenly a lot less weighting down on him.

"Father." Sephiroth greeted the man and Angeal turned to see the Vessel of Chaos leaning on a wall with Sirius resting on a couch a bit more to the side. "Is something the matter."

"Not really." Sirius sighed from his side. "Bella, Cloud and Yuri are just having a moment. We let them to it."

Indeed, if they strained her ears,they could vaguely hear muffled, distant sobs. "They still are." Angeal muttered with a soft frown.

"Can you blame them?" Sirius asked lowly.

No. Nobody really could. "I'll give a call to Genesis." Angeal decided, already resigned to waiting for their moment to go. He had only heard how hard the little boy had taken his sister's condition and he had seen the look on the petite doctor's face.

It wasn't long before someone came down to the library. Their eyes were drawn to the wooden doors separating the elevator shaft from the room. The doors were pushed open as Yuri entered the library. Her eyes were puffy and red with residual wetness and her short cropped hair sat frazzled on her head. Yes, she had been crying.

She paused, just a step into the grand room, looking surprised at the little convoy waiting tensely.

She chuckled. "You can head up now. Just make sure she doesn't get up or do anything tiring."

"Where are you going Doctor?"

"There's a person missing from this equation."

The moment the call came and Angeal informed him of Bella's recovery, Genesis felt himself sag in relief. Then another thought came to his mind, a very irritated one.

Was he going to be the only one away because of this bullshit?

Someone knocked on his door. That better not be a rejection of his request for leave. On one hand the presence of a high ranked and known powerful agent was an excellent deterrent of discentius behaviour. He was no Demon of Wutai, but he was The Crimson Commander. And this was no Fort Condor.

On the other end of that spectrum however, well there was nothing getting done up there. They could at least have the basic human decency to let them rest! Country hicks will always be country hicks. Nothing requiring the presence of a Commander, Hell, nothing requiring the presence of a fucking First!

If you don't want people talking about incompetence...well he wasn't one for politics but he was pretty damn sure overcompensating was not the way to do it either.

Of course all that flew out the window when he actually opened the door.

"Hello, I hope you can clear a couple hours off of your schedule."

As per, apparently, tradition when it came to the little woman named Yuri Fuhaishinai, the intelligent reply he gave upon seeing her was "Uhhh..."

While Angeal's way of arrival was largely uncomfortable and disconcerting (hooooo boy, he didn't know jack yet), Genesis's left him breathless, lungs filled with frigid cold air and with a lingering sense of numbness in his extremities. Once he had come in contact with the cozy warm air of the library, the extreme contrast gave him whiplash.

Yuri gave him a look when he shivered. "Are you alright?"

"Aren't you freezing? That chilled my bones!" he demanded indignantly, rubbing his hands together to try and get some feeling back into them

She shrugged as she turned her back to him, heading for the elevator in the back. "The cold never bothered me."

Really now? Said the person currently dressed in a sleeveless turtleneck and a short pleated skirt. The cold never bothered her?

Okay Shiva. Whatever you say.

If only he knew...

Yuri proceeded to throw one of the biggest and worst fits they'd all seen and by the end of it, they admited it was justified. And in Yuri's words, Bella was not to move past the library, past her room really, but the library was full of couches and armchairs, floating ones at that so it was okay. She was not to use any magic. She was not to even so much as sweat. All that for two weeks.

The openly shown dread on the witch's face was only a small compensation for what they had felt but they understood that things had happened just too quickly, and Bella was just responsible for a stark obliviousness to her physical condition rather than open disregard.

The three SOLDIER's still scheduled their "spontaneous" visits with glee.

Yuri stayed one more day, all she could spare to stay away from her workplace. Sei managed to be there by the end of that same week.

Yuri had been a surprise with how young she looked yet still having all the bearings of a Doctor tree times her age. Sei on the other hand was everything they expected yet still not. He was tall, just a head shorter than Genesis, but every time he spoke he sounded...bigger, felt bigger. Sei was an individual that oozed a sort of...unatural-ness. He moved with a practiced fluidity and elegance, but if Genesis paid attention to the movements, there were times when the limbs seemed to move too fluidly. The more he thought it over the less sense it made.

Of course it was all swept under the rug promptly, because Sei was there to fix runic wards and he was very willing to take anyone interested with him for an impromptu lesson. Both Genesis and Sephiroth cleared the entire day just to be sure they could be there.

Genesis despised portkeys. The damn hook that attached itself in his gut felt like he was turned inside out. And then he was flung to the floor, falling with all the force and speed of a fucking train, on his back.

Zero out of a hundred, wouldn't wish on the Wutai asshat that shanked him two years ago.

Oh Goddess he could feel his stomach revolting.

"First portkey?"

If he opened his mouth he was probably going to expel something, so he just cracked an eye open and hoped that was enough for Sephiroth to leave him alone. Then he heard footstep getting distant and took one careful breath. Then he heard the same fucking footsteps approaching and he was just about ready to snarl. The moment he opens his eyes again, Sephiroth is over him holding a white handkerchief. Sephiroth doesn't even comment on the disdain he is certainly exuding. "Here, for the nausea."

The soft fabric holds a sour, citrusy and rather refreshing smell, reminded him of Junon reds. The scent was a great analgesic for his stomach and he was standing back up again soon.

"Thanks. 'The Goddess descends from the sky'" he went to hand it back but Sephiroth shruged it of, so Genesis pocketet the little scnted square. "'Wings of light and dark spread afar'.?"

His friend ignored the theatrics with the ease of preactise, the heathen "Bella, said lemon helps with this kind of thing. They are like Junon reds, just more sour." he answered with a roll of his eyes.

Genesis nodded. "Bella and Sei?"

"Library. They're ready to leave." He turned, walking to the aforementioned room, genesis soon following, a happy swagger in his gait.

"Please tell me the transportation isn't going to be like the portkey."

"Thankfully, no."

"Oh 'She guides us to bliss, he gift everlasting'"

Sephiroth turned his eyes heavenwards.

"So how are we doing this?" Genesis called giddily as he barged in the library ready for the, let's face it, school trip.

"Does there need to be any planing?"

"I find your aversion to anything preparation...disconcerting." Sephiroth entered behind his friend more sedately.

"We already established that, you're not telling me anything new." Bella smiled, wide and full of teeth, so so smug. Up untill she had to duck to avoid being brained by the pillow Sei threw at her.

"I can attest to that though."Sei shot her a blank look, still however coming to her rescue. "Have you heard about Slovakia?"

Only to bury her it seemed.

"Yuri mentioned it." Sephiroth only made a token effort to conceal the glee. No one was letting Bella live it down. Maybe if she got annoyed enough she would be a bit more carefull, unlikely as that was.

Sei got closer, adjusting the stap of his back on his shoulder. "Well, Slovakia was what convinced us - Do not give me that look!" he shut the witch down the moment she went to open her mouth, getting the finger in return with a very exasperated eyeroll.

"Oh, do tell!" Genesis picked up the trail of conversation, gleefully with a just as gleefull smile.

"On the way then. Anything you wanna take with you?" They resolutely ignored the looks that promised vengeance coming from the witch.

"I'm good, you?"

"Hn."

"Okay then. Bells, what's first?" Sei moved closer to her, picking he up and hoisting her with one arm in one fluid motion, a move that looked so practiced, it made them stiffen at the implications, because this was a very ergonomic carry that allowed easy movement on both parties.

"Okay, get to the sun room and from there we take the gate to get us to the forest, there is a part of the shield I didn't anchor for lack of time."

That night Genesis fell down on the very uncomfortable plank they tried to pass him for a bed in these parts, for once not inclined to bitch about it. It was a good day. His brain was filled to capacity with and theorems and functions and Mandalas and everything in between and he couldn't think and he was happy.

Yes, It had been a good day.

Gakusei however was more than just a teacher. The few days he spent there, he seemed to fit right in the little corner of the world Bella had made for herself and they could see why those two called each other 'partner'.

And since Sei was her partner, one would think he was adept at reading her. The leap none of them made however was this.

"Hello Genesis. I heard you had some problems."

"...Uh..."

In less than a week Gakusei Fujiwara had become a confidant.

As the dear good doctor had forespoken, two weeks after her recovery, Bella fell asleep again. Life went on normally. Wutai stayed free no matter what kind of stipulations Shin-Ra tried to enforce. Correl was still refusing to co-operate. Midgar was still causing black lung if the inhabitants kept their heads out of their windows long enough.

Same old.

Which is why it was especially galling and at the same time sad that while Bella was in her Sleeping Cycle Genesis was finally graced with Scarlet presence. Galling because he was now really delegated to guard duty, something he never failed to rage about, and sad because Scarlet hadn't had the patience for negotiations, so she just decided to make away with the problem entirely.

And by that he meant that she took her little army of perfect little toys and set up shop right outside the village of miners that refused to bend the knee. It was very obvious that her failure in Wutai had shaken her as well, but as mentioned before, overcompensation was not helping.

But even sadder than this obvious show of force, an attempt to conceal the obvious inferiority complex, was the fact that it didn't work.

Genesis didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry.

At least have the decency to dismiss him since 'your machines are so much better'!

It was a very fed up Genesis Rapsodos that walked into that humid, suffocating room for another round of screaming but he was determined to at least contribute in ending this bullshit.

With a great deal of glee, and very passive aggressive about it, he pushed Scarlet out of the chair and set up shop.

Today Genesis Rapsodos is holding court.

At the same time a young man with gelled back hair was heading to Wutai.

Omake: Hell hath no fury

Holy shit did she look rough, that witch of their's.

Sephiroth had, at some point described the situation, what with Bella's condition being a focal point to their own psychological condition. Words however failed to describe it. She was just so pale and looked so, so tired. Yet she smiled so brightly, so happy to see them there, every single person around her. He felt a muscle in his cheek twitch and he knew his jaw was clenched. And she kept that smile all through, what Genesis recognized to be, one of Angeal's guilt trip lectures.

"Hey there." he greeted with a smile.

"Hello there too." she answered slightly hoarsely.

He found himself a place to stand, next to the nightstand and leaning on the wall. "You gave us a bit of a scare there." he commented.

Bella chuckled. "I kinda figured."

"If only you could figure out how not to do it again." Angeal snapped with no real heat behind it.

"That would be the day, believe me." Yuri drawled now standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed in front of her. She had a very distinct look in her eyes. The good doctor had things to say.

She straightened her back and loudly cleared her throat. That...didn't bode too well.

"So." she started and everyone focused on her. They recognized that tone, the tone of a pissed of doctor at a very infuriating patient. "I saved this for now that there are other people here because I know you will not listen to me. At least there will be other people to make sure you at lest don't croak. And with that out of the way..." She nailed Bella with a look that made the woman shrink back.

"Before you say anything, let me tell you that with how fast everything happened, I really didn't notice." She raised he hand timidly.

Yuri gave a nod. "I am aware, which is why this is won't be as bad as I originally planed." she spoke the words like a promise. And after a quick breath she opened her mouth and spoke.

"Do you have any, ANY, idea, how close you were to dying?"

Genesis stiffened and a cursory glance told him that his friends weren't fairing too differently either. But Yuri was just revving up.

"Do you know why us magical folk don't catch normal sicknesses like flues or even cancer? Of course you do, even you depressing stupid hicks up in those icebergs you call the British Isles learn this. It's the magic. So it would stand to reason that you need something stronger than the usual run of the mill bugs to put us down. Having said that, what would happen, theoretically, if an individual, potentially, exhausted their magical reserves so much that the reads were practically non-existent?

There are many ways such a situation could go. Option A, you catch something magical that then proceeds to get blown completely out of fucking proportion because your system has absolutely nothing to defend itself." Yuri started counting with her fingers and she wasn't showing signs of stopping "Option B, you catch something completely mundane that fucks you up in every way, shape and form since you have absolutely no antibodies from a lifetime of not even having to do so. Here is where surprise Option A.2 weasel's it's way in, this mundane something wreaks merry Hell on your body including Magical means because, shit, this hasn't happened before, we don't know how it would go, because nobody's been this bloody Stupid before!" Her voice rose up an octave and she leaned her head back, eyes closed.

"And finally, Option C. Since this is a foreign world, you catch something appropriately foreign, with appropriately expected results." she cracked one eye open, a luminous frozen blue and just as Bella went to speak she closed her mouth again "No, don't you say a thing, I am not fucking finished."

Yuri took a deep breath, calming down and lowered her head again to a normal position. "To finalize, you, are so fucking lucky, it was route A. And even more lucky it was just Ague. Can you even imagine the disaster Spatergroid would have been or, and thank Amaterasu it wasn't, Dragonpox that has an actual body count yearly? And on that front, you do know that the current Potter generation, i.e. you, are a bit more susceptible to it ever since it killed Fleamont and Euphemia Potter, because why the fuck not? Many of those illnesses are somewhat sentient anyway? Can we take a moment to appreciate how fucking lucky you've been?"

Yeah, can everyone just take a moment? The word lucky was too small to characterize this situation. And then Yuri took a very deep, bracing breath and delivered the final nail on the coffin.

"I am quite astonished, for the event I have witnessed reach the absolute high of Stupidity. And I am completely flabbergasted that this shit, has happened again, after the shitshow that was Slovakia two, fucking, years, back!"

Hold. The damn. Phone.

This. This has happened before? Genesis closed his eyed and leaned his head back until it touched the wall. He needed some air. And a drink.

He was suddenly struck with a sudden burst of anger. How could someone be so careless with their own health? Didn't she see how everyone had been so fucking worried? How could she disregard it so easily?

He really wanted a drink.

"Let me tell you you absolutely deserve this." Vincent told the witch, blankly and only looking at her from the corner of his eye. They all agreed.

She had the audacity to roll her eyes at him. "People were going to die."

"A lot more people will die if you die." Yuri snapped at her, way passed the point of being fed up.

"To be completely honest, so many things happened so fast and I just didn't notice."

That got a sigh out of the short haired woman.

And then she smiled, so wide her eyes closed, and so angelically it put everyone on edge. "Which is why, we are going through it here and now so someone else will notice." She said sweetly. "But since not everyone is familiar with the instructions, why don't we go through them again?" Bella stiffened, her face painted with dread.

Genesis cracked a smirk and raised a hand. "Should we take notes Doctor?" he asked and he was vindicated by the betrayed look Bella shot him, one he returned with a smug grin. There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Genesis saw his childhood friend with his head bowed and a hand covering his face. Next to him, his eyes met Sephiroth's both bearing very similar smug looks.

"Why, there's no need for that dear. I do admire your dedication however." she replied, voice saccharine, thickly dripping with false cheer. Even more unnerving was the dark shadow that had started forming around her, a manifestation of her very turbulent emotions. "It is quite simple. You," and that was emphasized with a finger pointing directly at the witch "are not allowed more than twenty steps at a time without rest. You are not to cast any sort of magic and are not to do anything that would get you to even sweat." Yuri's smile became even wider somehow. "And that is to be until your next Sleeping Cycle, which if my calculations are correct, will be in about two weeks." Was what she said, what everybody else heard was, You're a good girl, right? Yes you are!

Bella did not look at all happy. "You want to kill me don't you? You want me to die of boredom." She gave her friend a very scathing look from where she had her face in her hands.

Yuri gave a self satisfied huff "About as much as you want me to die from blood pressure." she tilted her head ever so slightly to the side to deliver a very evil looking smirk. "I'm sure you can find something to occupy your time." the way she said that, cloying and lingering in the air like a promise..."I consider it redundant to warn you not to pull the same things you did last year, right?"

Bella let out a despairing sigh and then she stilled, as something dawned on her. She leveled her gaze at her friend almost smug herself. "Didn't you say that Sei would be coming to fix the wards I didn't have the time to? We can't just let him roam the forest and Capital and hope he figures out what needs fixing. I will have to go along."

Yuri's smile got even more foreboding than before. "Then you will have to find someone to carry you."

Silence.

And finally Bella ground out, "I really fucking hate you." in the most aggrieved sounding growl they'd ever heard and that was enough to get a scoff out of Genesis.

The witch whirled to him, eyes promising painful retribution. "Don't you dare."

It was enough of a push and in a moment he'd later come to regret, fueled by a bout of reverse psychology he burst out laughing. All the worry and frustration of the past months evaporated in an instant and he just laughed heartily. And he wasn't the only one, his childhood friend was trying to suppress his chuckles, his shoulders trembling, while Sephiroth had a very peculiar smirk on.

"It's not like you're heavy." Sirius added and was subsequently the new target for her ire.

"Actions have consequences." And of course little Cloud had to add his own tidbit of wisdom, causing Bella to bury her face in her hands again muttering her displeasure. "Et tu, Brurus?"

Omake 2.0: Oh God there are more of you...

It took about two hours of Gakusei just being there for them to see just how similar him and Bella were.

First things first, mindfuck his way into their world. His entrance was announced by a sound akin to ripping fabric, something quite apt as there was suddenly a rip in the fabric of reality in the bedroom. A too neat slash held into somewhat of an order by two pink ribbons, that the young redhead just waltzed through, completely disregarding the eyes and mouths and teeth just behind him. Then looked at them like nothing was wrong.

At that moment, Angeal had the chance to take the place of the removed Academic, watching a very confusing phenomenon unfold and suddenly wishing for popcorn.

Fortunate perhaps that Bella's reaction was very deadpan once the...portal closed. "So what do you owe the Hag?" And why did you screw yourself over, you dumbass?

Ah, so they had whatever it was that had control of an Eldritch nightmare on speed dial?

At least it was Angeal's time to...stand watch as one would say, and Angeal had been reading so much since he was first introduced to the horror genre that the Lovecraftian demonstration didn't really faze him.

"Not the Gap Hag. The Flower Woman just wants a sapling of that Juboco I sent over." Sei set his messenger bag on the floor next to her desk.

"Can't she go get it herself? They grow all over the place in Makai." she grimaced, falling back on her mountain of pillows.

And apparently had the luxury of knowing and being in good terms, enough that such a reaction would go unmolested, with others of similar calibre.

Such wonderful, not at all terrifying revelations.

""Too troublesome" she said." Sei responded humorously complete with air quotes there.

"Too toublesome." she tested the phrase "For Yuuka. It's too bloody troublesome for me. You go near that tree now that it's, well, a tree with anything sharp." she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Sei just laughed in commiseration "You get her to move so soon after hibernation." he flopped , practically dove, into the bed next to her, bouncing once from the force.

"Huh..."

"Why are you looking a gift horse in the mouth?" he laughed at her bringing his arms up behind his head.

"I'm checking to see if it's a Kelpie." Bella snapped back.

"So what if it is? All you need is a leash." and he grinned smugly as she brought a pillow down to his face. Sei rolled away with cheerfull laughter. "So what's you got there?" he changed the subject by nodding towards the Flat screen, transported from the sitting room in a very...generous effort by Sirius.

"Thought I'd try not killing everyone this time." she answered, getting comfortable with the addition of a grown man now leaning on her shoulder. "And Angeal was interested in the Butterfly effect aspect."

"I see." He shot a smile at Angeal on the other side of her, sitting in a very comfortable armchair. The commanded waved back with a relaxed expression. "But why this one?"

"Exercise in self-restraint."

"Hm." he gave a non-comital mumble.

Then the music of the game started playing and Sei and Angeal stayed quiet as the witch started singing and humming along.

.

Omake 2.5

"Oh Death~ Oh~ Death~ Won't you spare me over for another year?~"

"Are you sure you're not playing just because of the mistress of Death thing?"

"Shut up and let me enjoy the only thing I like in this game."

"I'll be playing, so your complain is moot."

"Wait till you meet the characters and it will be your time to bitch."

"Holy shit they do not!" Like what disturbed kind of hazing was this? And they thought it was a good idea?

"Oh yes they do." Came the very emotionless tone of a person who was just dead inside.

"By Gaia..." Angeal just kept looking at the screen as the cutscene of the two girls played out.

"I know." Bella patted his shoulder in an attempt to at comfort.

"And I have to keep these characters alive throughout the game?" he asked for clarification because it just couldn't be.

"Well, it's not easy to keep them alive anyway." she shrugged, and Sei proceeded to pick up on her train of though "I think it was a deliberate move by the creators so that the player won't be too hung up about their deaths. But there are a couple obvious choices."

"Like this one?"

"Ehhhh..." Both Sei and Bella made that sound in unison and Angeal's head snapped to their direction to stare.

"Wait - am I supposed to let her die?"

"Well no..."

Angeal looked at her blankly before directing the choice to keep holding the other girl as the character he was controlling was hanging on a ledge. Too bad for his nerves the two girls fell anyway. "Oh, so they fall if you hold on." Bella and Sei shrugged. Huh...

And then the brother of the two dead sisters came on screen, inviting all the people that caused his sisters' death back in the same log cabin, to, quote "Party like Pornstars" and Angeal's already thrown the glove in. "They deserve whatever they get."

Bella nodded along in agreement. "Yeah, they do some really stupid stuff."

"I see what you meant."

"The game gives you some hints, see that glowy thing on the back? Pick that up, it's a totem." Bella navigates him through the tutorial of the game. So far the quick time events were easy.

"Huh."

"Now go see your menu, there." As Angeal follows her instructions an he sees just how many of those "totems" there are he starts feeling dread. "Yeah." he nods resolutely. "I will be missing a lot of them."

"Don't worry we're here." Sei says and he is not feeling any better.

Note to self, Sei was just as much of a horror nut as Bella was. Why was he surprised.

Almost three hours into the game and things were going sort of well and then-what the fuck did he just see?

"Really now?"

"Well, Jess is the hardest one to keep alive." she shrugged, as if the poor girl hadn't just gotten dragged outside through a window. If her boyfriend was a requirement for her survival then he could see it. 'How about you aim at what's chasing your girlfriend, huh Chuck?'

Three and a half hours and he took back the earlier 'What the fuck did I just see', because, what, the actual fuck, was he watching now?

"Seriously?" he turned to Bella absolutely aghast. "Is this really a choice?"

"Well, think about it." Sei had the gall to look bored.

"Think about what?" he snapped "Sure, the guy was suspicious but this?"

"Okay, because this is going to eat you alive, no matter what you do, it doesn't matter."

"Oh that makes everything so much better."

It didn't. And then came a sequence with the Shrink and he was damn near burned out. He could see the picture the picture becoming clear here and he had at least three to four hours to go... At least Jessica was still alive...maybe.

A little more than three hours into the game and Angeal was warring with himself. A fierce battle of between his honor and his selfisness, a part of him he could never purge, no matter how hard he tried. So here was the question.

Did he really want to save Emily?

Thankfully the time he could be there was over an he had to suffer through a meeting with Heidegger about Gym expenses and No Sir, duct tape does not fix a pulverized sand bag.

Captain's Log, entry No4

On the subject of Sei being just as crazy as Bella, turns out it's not just horror, even if Sei was more into artsy kind of horror.

"You have a movie night?" Gakusei questioned her with a knowing look. They wouldn't know what that look was until much later...unfortunately.

Bella however responded with all the outrage of a child defending their choicee of cereal when they want the toy inside the box. "Sei-chan, the didn't know what good horror was!"

"There's no reason to lie to me Bells." Yeah Sei wasn't buying it either.

"No. You're not listening to me. The best horror in Gai right now is the equivalent of Anaconda." Que the wide eyes and flabbergasted expression as her partner, in cinema too it seemed, started looking at her seriously, while sending them pitying looks. They didn't know what they should feel.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"YES!"

"Oh my poor summer children." And Sei looked like he meant it. "Put on Midsommar?" There was a glint in his eyes that they did not know if they liked.

"Hell yeah! Gen you're gonna like this one!"

"Really, I don't know if I will." He went ignored as the two Earthers were already in their own little world.

"Put on Mandy after it. It's an experience."

All it took for Angeal was to walk in on the two, bowed over multiple yards of scroll, in a heated debate about what sounded like Runes but could have been something pertaining to culture too, because he caught a snippet about something's Mythos, and Angeal turned right back around and walked away.

He went to look for Cloud instead or even Madam Strife. The little guy was always enthusiastic about learning new thing, especially if it was sword techniques, and Angeal always enjoyed talking disciplinary methods with Haile. Why his cadets were so much easier to handle, ever since they started exchanging ideas.

"Good morning Mr. Hewley." Madam Strife greeted him with a smile when his feet led him to the kitchen. The Wutai sun had done the woman wonders. "Tea?" it had become somewhat of a routine between the two of them. What with her being a mother and him having to be the mother of two high maintenance people, emotionally challenged in their own way.

"Good morning Mrs. Strife and yes please."

"I believe I've told you to call me Haile." she mock reprimanded as she put the water to boil.

"And I've told you to call me Angeal so I suppose we're at an impasse."

"I suppose." She huffed good-natureldly, all long suffering glum and 'You kids nowadays I swear'. He scoffed in good humor as she turned around and put the leaves in the pot o steep.

Angeal had gotten over the knee-jerk reaction when talking to people older than him. this little corner of the world had gone above and beyond to provide him with the fuel to do so, From Sirius's scoff of 'That was my father.' to Vincent's computer error screen of a reaction, followed by a vehement, for Vincent, refusal to be called as such. Haile's excuse to his crisis of faith had been a 'I don't feel like a Missus.'. He suspected that stemmed from bitter memories from Nibleheim so he dropped it. But then the conversations had devolved to this childish chatter and he realized he liked it, and the exchange had become a sort of greeting.

So they stayed there, with silent conversation accompanied by a dark brew he had come to greatly appreciate, until Cloud ventured in the kitchen in his search for a water bottle.

The boy's brow was glistened with drops of perspiration and he had a fluffy white towel around his shoulders. One would think that he wouldn't be rearing to go so soon after an obvious training session but the blonde was a hyperactive little ray of sunshine at the best of days.

Angeal was looking forward to the day Cloud enlisted to be a SOLDIER, he and Zack would get along swimmingly.

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Hello my lovely readers! How are you doing? My quarantine has not been very productive...he..he...

I wanted this whole thing to be Omakes but then I thought that you would actually like some plot...It's mostly background stuff and set up though.

Feel free to leave comments and reviews, they help me learn and become better and also I read every one, sometimes more than once, and they always make my day.

Have a wonderfull day everyone, and be safe.

Love

~Sil