Final Hikari: Dissidia… Dissidia… Dissidia… Dissidia… Dissidia… Dissidia… Dissidia…

Genesis: …Shall I do the honors?

Cissnei: Go right head.

Genesis: -wallops author on head with Dissidia guidebook- Write, you lazy wannabe novelist!

Final Hikari: -yelps and nearly drops PSP- Lemme alone! I'm trying to beat Squall!

Cissnei: -.- Chapter. Now.

Final Hikari: But I have to---

Genesis: Write the damn chapter.

Final Hikari: -sulk- Fine, fine, I'll write the goddessdamn chapter tonight. Disclaimer!

Cissnei: The Final Hikari doesn't own anything from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Final Hikari: But I do own a copy of Dissidia and the limited edition sixteen month calendar that came with it. -evil cackle-

Remember My Name

Chapter VI

Pale

The mismatch group of SOLDIERs from varying Classes, infantrymen, and the solitary Turk had progressed through the village of Banora and down the old, overgrown paths to the Banora Mines in less than an hour. The village was small, and with the assistance of two locals, the trip was quick moving.

The orchards of dumbapple groves seemed almost endless when one looked down upon the area from above; Cissnei was surprised to admit they were, if anything, even more expansive when viewed from the ground. Though it was clear much mass production of the fruit and its various products, like juice and pie, transpired, it was still hard to believe the village could survive off only that.

Oddly, though this was seldom mentioned in any of Shin-Ra's documentation, the ocean around the seashore town was oddly absent of fish. There was always the occasional good catch, but nothing that could hope to contribute to the entire village's income.

The two infantrymen that traveled with the group saluted their outranking officer as Angeal Hewley commanded them to say at the entrance as guards. They would have to ensure no unwanted visitors, civilians included, attempted to enter the mines while they were conducting their investigation.

It was nestled at the bottom of a large rock cliff; she looked up, expecting to see the grassy edge high above. She frowned slightly, craning her neck backward to get a closer look, but the stone wall was tilted at too steep of an angle to be discernable from the ground far below. It must have been twice as high as the cliffs the Shin-Ra helicopters landed on amongst the dumbapple groves.

Genesis Rhapsodos strolled past the rest of the group and brazenly into the mine, very clearly accustomed to the poor lighting. Most of the tall men had to duck or hunch over to fit under the low rock formation above the opening into the mine, but Cissnei passed under it without trouble. The air was musty and dank; she slowed her pace as the lighting decreased and the others began to disappear from sight, swallowed by the perpetual darkness.

She walked behind the others, following Weiss and Nero as they progressed inward. She glanced back to the entrance on more occasions than one, becoming suspicious as they grew too far from the opening for the sunlight to reach them. The blue green stone walls became dark and shadows played across them as they blindly followed the landlord's son.

She sensed more than heard Genesis stop abruptly in the center of the room. The First Class SOLDIER clapped his hands together and by the power of what she could only imagine to be materia, the torches mounted in rusty brackets all along the stone walls suddenly sprang to life. The tips were engulfed in bright crimson flames, clearly illuminating the spacious cavern and three way crossroads that stretched before them.

An unusual tinge of light blue formed at the tips of the fire as each bright light stabilized.

The ceiling above them was at least a hundred feet above their heads; their footsteps echoed throughout the spacious opening. Though not as high as the cliff that it was nestled within, the cavernous entrance was surprisingly spacious. It was also easy to see the three separate paths that lead into the different regions of the mine.

Genesis turned around to face the group, expression uncharacteristically solemn. "Each of you have downloaded maps of the mines into your PHSs. The path is fairly simple, but to save time with the investigation, the group is going to have to separate. Does everyone agree?"

The younger cadets chorused a 'yes, sir' and saluted the older SOLDIER, whereas Angeal and Cissnei merely nodded.

Genesis glanced at the hallway on her right and pointed toward it. "Angeal, Cissnei, you'll progress through the western section. Zack, Weiss, and Nero will go through the eastern cavern."

"So you can take the central one alone?" Cissnei demanded, suspicion of the older SOLDIER returning. The younger members of the organization glanced at her questioningly, though both Weiss and Nero seemed completely unsurprised. "That order would be seen as questionable by a general, it's borderline against company policy."

Genesis looked through the group, impassive eyes meeting her own. "The center path is less uniform than the rest. There are several areas where it branches into the other regions; it'd be easier for someone unfamiliar with this place to get lost."

"Then why not take one of the Second or Third Class SOLDIERs with you?" she retorted, determined not to let him off on a technicality. The abrupt change in his demeanor from when they were in town to when they arrived at the targeted location was too unusual.

Genesis shrugged. "If they would like to come, they are welcome to. However, there are undoubtedly creatures in these caverns. I can handle any number of them alone, whereas the younger recruits might struggle if there are only two of them in the group. However, if you still want to question the orders…"

"It's fine," Angeal interjected; it was clean in his tone he was putting an end to the disagreement. "Zack, you'll go with Weiss and Nero. Don't separate or let the Third Classes be injured."

"Yes, sir," Zack replied with another salute, taking orders from his mentor with almost Eucharistic obedience.

The trio of Second and Third Class SOLDIERs turned in the direction they were instructed and started toward the hallway. Cissnei's cold gaze remained on Genesis, though only out of the corner of her eye. The only sounds that prevented silence from setting in around them was the soft crunching of the occasional patch of gravel beneath the SOLDIERs' feet as they disappeared down the hall and the soft crackling of the torches.

Genesis almost purposely didn't meet her gaze; he watched as the mysterious Second Class brothers, led by Zack the Puppy, disappeared. None of them spoke until they were out of earshot.

Cissnei turned toward Genesis, though she didn't say a word. His expression was unfeeling, but before he had time to defend himself further, Angeal spoke to keep control over the situation. "If you run into trouble, contact the infantrymen first; they'll issue the notification to everyone else and most likely be able to arrive first."

"There won't be any," Genesis replied airily. He turned toward the entrance of the center path, wordlessly drawing his rapier from its sheath. The blood red blade glinted in the poor lighting, reflecting the flames almost perfectly.

Angeal turned toward her, looking indifferent in relation to what had just transpired. "Shall we go?"

"Yes…," she trailed off, feeling a bit dissatisfied as Genesis' shadow disappeared from view. "Let's go."

"That was pretty intense stuff," Zack remarked as he folded his arms behind his head, trying to lighten the mood.

He didn't entirely expect the attempt to be successful - at first he thought it was residual tension from the unpleasant disagreement between Genesis and Cissnei, but Weiss and Nero made no attempt to talk. They were unusual, to say the least - though they were also in SOLDIER, he could barely remember ever seeing them before.

Another noteworthy odd thing about them he'd noticed was the logo on their belts. It was supposed to depict the SOLDIER logo, standard on the uniforms of any Class. However, the images depicted on their belts were anything but standard, and made out of silver metal.

He waited for either of them to comment, and continued when neither did. "Cissnei's too tense. She should have more of that pie Mrs. Rhapsodos made! It was really good, don't you think?"

Several awkward moments of silence ensued, before Weiss finally spoke up. "I'm sure it was good. But seeing as you ate over a pie and a half, Mr. Fair, not everyone had the chance to try it."

Uh-oh… Zack thought, turning around and smiling innocently. He walked backward, quite casually, as he laughed in response. "Ah, uh, she said she was making more though!"

Picking up on the edge of nervousness in his voice, Nero joined in as well, the shadow of a smirk appearing on his face "Though it was rather unfair, Mr. Fair, to indulge so thoughtlessly in all that pie…"

I'm in trouble…

Scanning his mind for anything to change the subject to, Zack opened his mouth to say something random, but stopped when a guttural groan echoed down the hallway. The sound was anything but human; he turned around and snapped to attention, hand settling on the hilt of his sword.

Weiss moved to draw his weapons as well, a set of Shin-Ra issued twin katanas. Nero wordlessly raised his firearms, tensing as another moan - this one close to a scream - reverberated through the stone caverns. The sound was louder; whatever creature produced the agonized sounds, was getting much closer.

Final Hikari: Yar! This chapter was serious. Le gasp! Give me a break, there has to be some plot, yes? XD

Genesis: …Is 'yar' a word?

Final Hikari: Only past midnight when the author desperately needs sleep. Next chapter should be up pretty soon, thanks to time off from work. Thanks for reading and please review if you want to see Remember My Name make ten chapters! I also thank all the wonderful people who have been kind enough to take the time to leave long, meaningful reviews! Second, thanks go to Lioneh for betaing for me in Dr. Meh's absence! Thanks so much, Ly! :D Go check out her fan fics! :D

Genesis: And she's now taking suggestions for any scenes of 'Angessnei' goodness the readers want to see…