Unsynced, Chapter 10
Sep. 8th, 2018 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinnatiousSummary: FF7. Someone in ShinRa HR mixed up assignments, and Kunsel gets sent to Nibelheim instead of Zack.
Author’s Note: Slightly early update this weekend because it's raining and it's the perfect weather for editing fic and neglecting real life chores.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
__________
Chapter 10
__________
Zack stared dully at the flower for what felt like hours.
He didn’t even turn at the sound of the church doors squeaking open, or the footsteps casually striding down the aisle. Until Reno piped up with, “She ain’t here, yo. She’s gone home for the day. How long you gonna sit here?”
Zack blinked. “She’s gone home…?”
“It’s getting late, ya know. Normal people go eat occasionally.” Reno stuck his hands in his pockets, slouching in place.
“Yeah…” When was the last time he’d eaten? Well, it wasn’t as important for SOLDIERs.
“…You holding up okay?”
“I’d be doing a lot better if I was doing something,” Zack said. The sharp spike of anger was enough to stir him from his stupor.
“We’re looking for the bastard as hard as we can, okay? Soon as we know where he is, you’ll be the first to know.” At Zack’s scowl, he backed up, palms bared. “Look, just go to Aerith already, that’s what you’re here for, right?”
Aerith.
“Yeah.” He turned on his heel and strode away
Behind him, he was vaguely aware of Reno sighing then calling someone on his phone. But then he was through the church doors, out into Sector 5.
Over the past few years most of the locals around the church and the Gainsborough’s place had come to recognise him, and while not everyone would greet him with a smile most were happy to ignore him instead of staring, and the kids would usually try to convince him to play instead of picking his pockets. Once he’d been promoted to General, he’d come to appreciate it – his fame had robbed him of such normal interactions everywhere else.
The slums were oppressive sometimes, though. The anti-ShinRa graffiti on the grimy walls had always been there, but it felt a little more prevalent and violent than it used to be. ShinRa seemed to compensate by plastering over it with advertisements or wanted posters, half of which wound up torn down or defaced within a couple of days anyway. Security patrols rolled past far more frequently, but appeared so much less concerned with rogue monsters and so much more with people. Faces were more pinched, more drawn. Eyes more suspicious.
His feet beat the well-remembered path to Aerith’s house. On the outside, it looked no different to the other shacks, beyond maybe being a bit cleaner. Inside, though, it was always tidy and homey, and however cramped every inch was loved, with flowers in vases and photos on the walls and pastel tablecloths. A true sanctuary amidst the slums, a smaller, more intimate version of the Church.
Zack had barely knocked when the door swung open, and Aerith folded him into a hug.
“…Aerith,” he breathed, resisting the urge to squeeze her tight with all of his SOLDIER strength. She did it for him, then led him inside quickly, shutting the door behind him.
“I heard,” she said, guiding him to a chair to sit down. “About Cissnei.”
“Already?” Zack choked.
“Mmhm. Tseng told me yesterday. Although I knew… ah, well, that is...” She cradled his hand, patting it gently, scooting her chair close enough that their shoulders touched. Zack bent his neck, face pressed into her hair. As always, she smelled faintly of fresh flowers. “I expected you sooner.”
It was poor form of him to take that long. Zack had spent the two past days in a sort of shocked haze. Turk funerals were quiet and private and swiftly arranged and provided no closure whatsoever for the dozen or so people who were allowed to turn up. And then there were still issues at work that had demanded his attention, until Luxiere had finally stepped in and shooed him home with an approved request for two days leave in his hand he didn’t remember filling out.
His head had been churning the entire time. Shock. Denial. Grief.
“She was just always there, you know?” he whispered. “She seemed so capable… and then just like that…”
Gone. Murdered.
He couldn’t stop the tears squeezing from the corners of his eyes – the first he’d allowed himself to shed. Aerith just held him close, stroking his back soothingly. As she’d done for Angeal. As she’d done for Cloud, and Sephiroth, and Kunsel.
“You’re all I have left now,” he croaked. “They’re all gone.”
“Don’t be silly,” she chided him gently. “You’re always telling me about your coworkers. There’s that fellow Luxiere who looks up to you. And don’t forget Tseng. You’ll hurt their feelings if you tell them they don’t count.”
Zack barely registered the words. After all the years, all the losses, he thought he would have become numb to it. But it only ever got worse.
“Let me make us some tea. That’s what my mother is always doing for me, it always makes me feel better. And when was the last time you ate? Everyone needs a good meal when they’re grieving, everything is so much worse when you’re hungry.”
“You should come with me, above Plate,” Zack said. He’d asked before, but the urge to keep Aerith close had tripled now. “You liked it last time, didn’t you? I’ve got a lot of space. You could bring your mother too. I’ll pay for the tickets.”
Aerith smiled gently at him, patting him on the arm as she stood to move to the pantry. “It’s not so easy, silly. You need ID cards to catch the train now, I don’t have one.”
Zack frowned. “What? When did that become a thing?”
“You haven’t noticed yet?” There was a touch of incredulity in her tone, but she just smiled and shook her head, busying herself with the tea kettle. “Because of the recent unrest with that group, among others.”
“AVALANCHE?” Zack hadn’t had much to do with that, they had fallen under the Turks’ jurisdiction for the most part, though if it had reached that point it was no doubt going to end up under the purview of SOLDIER soon. Sometimes he felt woefully under-informed for a General. “Even if you don’t have an ID, I’m sure that I could arrange a way-”
“Don’t trouble yourself.” Aerith interrupted him, sliding a plate with a basic sandwich and a teacup in front of him. “My mother and I already ate so this is all I can offer today, sorry.”
“No, this is great, thanks.” Zack surprised himself by wolfing the sandwich down in about three bites. He’d been hungrier than he’d thought, and it did make him feel marginally better. It made the grief feel manageable for the first time. Aerith was right as always. “Also it’s no trouble, it would be worth it-”
“Oh! I nearly forgot.” Aerith declared, standing again to fetch an envelope from the side table. “Someone left a note for you at the Church.”
It was an overt attempt to change the subject, but Zack took it with as much grace as he could. “'Someone’, huh?”
She giggled at him. She was often writing him letters or short notes when they hadn’t seen each other for more than a few days, after all. It was charmingly old-fashioned and Zack kept every single one. “Not this one. I found it hidden in the flowers in the morning. Someone must have left it there overnight.”
The envelope was plain stock, with his name scrawled across it and nothing else, no address. It left him slightly unsettled that people would contact him through Aerith. Elmyra hadn’t been terribly fond of their relationship to begin with – still wasn’t, sometimes – but Zack had always put that down to her losing her husband in the war. Had she maybe been worried instead about this? People using Aerith to get to Zack?
Cautiously, he opened the envelope and unfolded the paper within.
‘Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess
We seek it thus, and take to the sky.
Ripples form on the water’s surface
The wandering soul knows no rest.’
Loveless.
Rage crawled through his veins at the familiar verse and all it represented.
He flipped the page. On the back was a crudely drawn map of the Eastern Continent, with the grasslands highlighted and a series of coordinates mapping out a heading.
Genesis. It had to be.
The paper crinkled in his grasp as his hands began to form fists – he stopped himself only before the paper could become damaged. How? When Tseng had said they had no idea where Genesis was-
“Did you see who might have left it?” he demanded.
Aerith frowned at him, and Zack wilted under her stern glare. “Sorry,” he said, in a gentler tone. “It’s just… I can’t be sure what to make of it.”
She still didn’t seem happy, but forgave him quick enough, slipping her hand into his and squeezing it in reassurance. “I didn’t see anything. They must have come and gone very early. You don’t know who sent it?”
“No.” His mind was whirling. The source hardly mattered at this point.
Maybe it was a trap, but he was General. It was well within his authority to commandeer a platoon to investigate a SOLDIER matter. The Grasslands weren’t even that far. They could be mobilised within hours.
And if this really did lead to Genesis, not even President ShinRa could order him away.
“Sorry Aerith, I have to go,” he said, standing abruptly. Almost as an afterthought, he pulled her into a hug, pressing a kiss against her hair.
“So suddenly?” she murmured into his chest. “Because of the note?”
“It’s just something I need to check up on, to be sure,” he said. “I’ll come see you again after it’s done. Stay safe, okay?”
“Zack…”
“What?” he asked, shorter than he’d intended in his rush. He glanced back to the sight of girlfriend standing in the warmly lit kitchen, hands bunched in her pink skirt.
“Have you never thought that maybe…” Aerith hesitated, then relaxed her grip, folding her hands to her chest instead as though in silent prayer. “…never mind. Be safe.”
Zack paused, but there wasn’t any time to lose. With a brief nod of farewell, he disappeared out into Midgar’s endless night.
……………………..
The grasslands made for pleasant walking – picturesque, endless green, with countless small streams for fresh water and gently rolling hills breaking up the monotony of the plains. Rainclouds had begun to gather, but as of yet the grasslands were still bright and sunny, with the occasional rolling patch of shadow the only hint of later storms.
Kunsel also felt uncomfortably exposed. The cover was sparse and largely ineffectual. They had little choice, though – it was one of the least populated parts of the East Continent, and the most effective way to get to the northern shores without leaving a trail. From there, they would hopefully make their way to the Northern Continent, which would be far less hospitable but also one of the few places out of ShinRa’s easy reach.
It did mean they hadn’t made proper camp in two days, which had Kunsel fussing over Cloud more than usual. The flat terrain made for easier walking, but his friend had started dragging his feet more over the past few hours, slowing their progress.
“Perhaps you should simply carry him until we make camp,” Genesis remarked.
“I’m not going to apologise for him,” Kunsel retorted, even if he did feel bad for the glacial pace. “He’s sick.”
Genesis merely indulged him with a smirk. “It matters not. A stealthy crawl is more effective than flashy speed in outrunning ShinRa.”
Cloud’s foot caught on a rock. Kunsel lifted him over it, and they resumed their standard shuffle.
“You dote on him.”
“He’s my friend,” Kunsel snapped. Genesis had been commenting far too often on it lately.
“I meant no offense,” was the languid reply. “It… makes me somewhat nostalgic. For simpler times.”
Kunsel regretted his defensiveness. Genesis had, for however much degradation had twisted it, cared for his friends. His simultaneous indulgence and revulsion of Lazard was proof enough – even all these years later, Angeal appeared to haunt him.
“Sorry,” he muttered. “…I miss those times too. Before ShinRa messed everything up.”
“It was all a lie from the very beginning,” Genesis scoffed. “We chased glory and dreams. Fool’s gold, all along. And I was the guiltiest of all until I learned the truth.”
“I admired you though, back then,” Kunsel admitted. “When I first joined SOLDIER. Was all set to follow in your footsteps.”
Genesis all but preened under that. Of course – Kunsel had forgotten his infamous vanity. He internally groaned at having fed an ego that needed no help. “And it appears you have followed in my footsteps regardless.” The former SOLDIER swept his hand to encompass the vista before them. “Fugitives and enemies of ShinRa.”
“Never made First Class though,” Kunsel pointed out. “As you’re always reminding me.”
“Yet here you stand today, having defeated worse enemies than many of your peers,” Genesis dismissed. “I saw it often in SOLDIER. Second and Third classes intimidated by their betters, eventually hamstrung by their self-imposed limitations. But do you truly know the limits of SOLIDER? So many of us saw Sephiroth, and never believed we could surpass that. But Sephiroth is dead. We, on the other hand, are still alive.”
Kunsel had no answer to that. They fell back into companionable silence, broken only by Kunsel occasionally quietly egging Cloud on to lift his feet a little more. If he walked even a portion under his own power it would fight off some of the atrophy.
Genesis soon grew bored of it. “I’ll scout ahead,” he said. He loosed his wing and took off into the sky in a gust of air that ruffled Cloud’s hair.
“Don’t mind him, buddy,” Kunsel said to Cloud, steering them around some moss-covered boulders. “He might be an ass about it, but I’m pretty sure he’s actually on our side these days. All those lost hairs were worth it, huh?” He flicked one of Cloud’s spikes. Cloud’s face pinched in displeasure, hand moving as though to swat it away. Kunsel paused. Had he-
Genesis arrived back nearly as swiftly as he departed. “We may have trouble. Quick, to cover.”
Out in the grasslands, there was no cover. The best Kunsel could do was to drag himself and Cloud to a copse of shrubbery in a shallow gully not even as tall as he was. He crouched low, Genesis joining him a moment later.
“To the East,” Genesis murmured. “They should crest the hill any moment.”
It took Kunsel a minute to pick it out on the horizon, and when he did, his breath caught in his throat.
At this distance, it was hard to make out the details, but he didn’t need to. This was a battalion. An armoured convoy, and at least a hundred standard infantry.
Out here, in the grasslands? With the nearest settlement over two hours away?
They weren’t here by chance.
“Were we spotted?”
Gensis grimaced. “I fail to see how, unless ShinRa’s surveillance is better than we thought.”
The how didn’t really matter, though. What mattered was that they hadn’t been seen yet, but once they got in range they inevitably would be. This part of the grasslands had nothing that would hide their retreat even at this distance. And once in close enough range, ShinRa had the tools to pick them up by their body heat alone. Hiding would be pointless.
“Can we run?”
Genesis produced a pair of ShinRa oculars from within the depths of his coat, scanning the distant battalion. “They have trucks. I would not be surprised if they had air support within easy reach also.”
“How long have you had those?” Kunsel accused.
“SOLDIER eyesight is exceptional, but how do you think I do reconnaissance from the air?” Genesis retorted, then handed them over with a huff. “See for yourself.”
Kunsel took the oculars. It was as he said. If it had been simply mobile artillery they might have managed.
Genesis could manage either way, of course. Kunsel and Cloud, unfortunately, didn’t have the ability to fly.
Genesis had to know that. Why hadn’t he taken off yet?
Something about the whole thing struck him as wrong. It was an impressive show of force, but at this point ShinRa would normally have resorted to extreme overkill. “They don’t know we’re travelling together,” he realised. “This is what they’d send to take out one SOLDIER, not two.”
“An oversight,” Genesis agreed.
“The question is, which one are they after?”
Gensis shrugged a shoulder. “Ultimately it makes little difference.”
Kunsel frowned at him. Little difference? An unequipped SOLDIER wouldn’t be able to take a battalion, but with two of them and materia, the outcome of the fight became less certain. And if they knew which one they expected, they knew what sort of force they were prepared for. Unless… “Did they bring SOLDIERs?” He brought the oculars up to his face again.
Genesis said nothing.
There – a black uniform, standing out amidst the rest. First Class? But…
Kunsel’s mouth turned dry. “…Zack?”
Genesis’s face twisted. “I suppose that answers which SOLDIER they are expecting.” His hand landed on his shoulder with surprising force.
Kunsel jerked back in alarm. “What are you-”
“My apologies, SOLDIER Second Class Kunsel,” he said, grip firm as he pushed Kunsel to the ground. The whine of materia rose in the air. “But this is where we part ways.”
As darkness fell, his eyes sliding shut against his will, he could hear Genesis murmuring to himself, a mantra echoing down a tunnel.
“…My Soul corrupted by vengeance,
Hath endured torment,
To find the end of the journey in my own salvation…”
Next chapter
no subject
Date: 2018-09-08 03:54 pm (UTC)Cloud is waking up!
Zack has GOT to find Kunsel and CLoud in the grass.
no subject
Date: 2018-09-13 04:14 am (UTC)~ Alyss Penedo