Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alarms blared and heavy booted feet pounded through the halls of the newly repaired World Regenesis Organization headquarters. WRO soldiers stocked on weapons and emergency packs before boarding the vehicles that would take them to the Northern Cave Crater.

For reasons unknown, strange bursts of energy had been reported in that area by WRO officials centered in the Icicle Area in the past few days, and while the bursts of energy were mostly harmless, a red alert had been issued just half an hour ago.

Something had happened in the Northern Cave Crater. Something had appeared inside it.

Considering, the Remnants of Sephiroth had a year before appeared in the Northern Cave Crater, no one was optimistic. And the war against DeepGround had happened just six months before. Thankfully what was left of DeepGround was in hiding. Still, the WRO needed to get there first.

Cloud was mostly silent the entire flight to the Northern Cave, mostly trying to ignore the motion sickness. He had been on edge all week after Reeve called to let him know about the activity. He was glad that he could help out from time to time, but he was behind on his deliveries. He wasn't sure what to think about the situation, but he was sure that whatever had happened, it wasn't good. WRO soldiers paced back and forth and Cloud overheard their conversations.

Are the Remnants back? Is it the Calamity? Is it DeepGround? What is happening?

It took a few hours for the pilot to fly the airship to just outside the Cave and the WRO soldiers filed away, each receiving orders from their generals. Cloud blinked in the bright sunlight that reflected off the bright snow. It was freezing and the wind blew loose snow about, almost obscuring visibility. Cloud found Vincent before they entered the cave systems underneath the crater and the WRO soldiers followed. They exchanged few words. Everyone was too apprehensive and strangely quiet.

Cloud kept one hand on his sword and held a large flashlight in the other as they trekked deeper and deeper into the dark caves.

She opened her eyes and was greeted by freezing cold air around her and the smell of sweet flowers in her nose. Dim sunlight filtered through a hole high, high, high in the ceiling above her and it illuminated the soft bed of wildflowers she was laying on. She shivered.

Where was she?

She sat up, confused and disoriented. Her arms were sore and her head was killing her. She looked around and saw rocky, earthen walls and dark tunnels. How did she get there? It was cold, and snowflakes fell through the hole in the earthen ceiling. Frost was starting to form on the fragile petals of the flowers around her. When she breathed, she could see her breath. She heard the wind blowing through the empty dark tunnels that surrounded her little spot of earth.

She glanced back up at the hole in the ceiling. Dark icy stalactites hanged from the ceiling, far above her. She looked around the cavern again, this time noting that it was small and the cold hard ground was covered in dust. Three tunnels lay ahead of her and one was behind her. The bed of flowers she was sitting in seemed so out of place in the cold. They were small and brightly colored. She recognized a few, poppies and primroses, morning glories and daisies and lilies. A few dark roses were mixed in with the flowers that she didn't recognize, and the smells of the flowers were sweet and welcoming in the musty air.

She shivered again in the cold and rubbed her arms. Wait a minute.

She looked down at her bare arms. What was she wearing? Where did she get the white dress? Why were flowers braided into her hair? And just where did the flowers around her come from?! She didn't recognize her clothes, the flowers, her surroundings. She started to panic.

She froze as she picked up a faint noise in the tunnels ahead of her. It sounded as if someone was marching and they were coming closer and closer as she strained her eyes trying to see into the dark.

"Hello?" She called. Her voice startled her. It was her voice, clear as ever, but she was speaking a language that she didn't recognize. She cleared her throat and called out again in the strange language, this time a bit louder. The marching paused and was replaced by the sound of running.

She gasped as a group of men and women in tan army fatigues and red berets holding large rifles and handguns burst through one of the tunnels before her. Her heart leaped to her throat as they aimed their weapons at her and yelled for her to stay still. They weren't speaking the language that she had spoken in, but she wasn't relieved.

Instead, the girl stood as they aimed their weapons at her. She started to shake and she glanced at the tunnel behind her.

"Hey! Don't even think about it," a woman ordered, taking a step forward. That was enough for the girl as she turned and ran to the tunnels behind her.

"The target is mobile!"

"Don't just stand there. Run after her!"

"Take samples of the flowers. We've gotta report this."

She yelped and ran faster as flames and ice filled the walls of the tunnel. She heard the men and women yell as they ran after her, ordering her to stop running, but thankfully not one of them decided to fire at her.

She burst through the end of the tunnel. It had led her to a dark cavern filled with dim white sunlight from holes in the high above ceiling. She froze and stared at the lake in front of her. It looked cold and there was a large dark stain at the bottom of it that looked like an oil spill. She was very sure that oil spills didn't sink underneath water, but she stopped caring when she heard the footsteps catching up with her.

She splashed forward, wincing at the cold icy water around her calves. The silt her bare feet kicked up stained the white sundress she had woken up in. She turned around as shouts filled the air. At the front of the heavily armed group were two men, one with spiky blond hair and a ridiculously large sword and another dressed in black and red with possibly the scariest expression she had ever seen on anyone's face. The look on his face was scarier than the gun in his hand.

They froze just ten feet before the freezing lake and her heart stopped at the sound of deep growling. She reluctantly turned around to see a large serpent rise from the water, looking hungry as it towered above her. She screamed and ran out of the water as fast as she could as it roared. She would rather take her chances with the scary men and women that opened fire on the water serpent.

Just as her bare feet hit the wet sand at the edge of the water, the man with the scary face shot at her. She didn't have time to react as the bullet hit her leg. It hurt, but this only lasted seconds as her leg turned numb and she fell. Suddenly she couldn't move.

She started to panic as her consciousness ebbed away, the roars of the serpent fading in her ears as a group of the men and women rushed towards her.

Chapter Text

This time, it wasn't the cold that woke her up. It was the annoying beeping sound in her ears. Her head hurt a bit less, but most of the pain was located in her right thigh and her right elbow. She opened her eyes.

She was lying on a hospital bed, still dressed in that strange sundress. An IV was attached to her arm, which explained why her elbow was uncomfortable. A thick white bandage was wrapped around her thigh. The beeping noise was coming from a machine that was monitoring her heart rate next to the bed. The room was mostly empty aside from the bed and the machinery and an end table. The window was covered by blinds, but the light was still too bright for her eyes.

She tried sitting up, but a sharp burst of pain in her leg kept her still. She winced and sat back. She took a deep breath.

What was the last thing she could remember?

Before she woke up in the cave and was chased around by a bunch of lunatics, she was walking home, right? She was wearing jeans and her favorite hoodie, and she definitely remembered that she was wearing shoes at the time. What next?

She closed her eyes and thought hard about it.

She was walking home. It was dark. She had been out with a friend. All of a sudden, a ratty black car slammed its brakes in front of her and a man with- she could swear that he had mismatched colored eyes, one grey, and one brown. She had tried to run and then she was hit by a white light.

Then she woke up in that freezing cold cave.

The door opened, and someone walked inside. She squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to still be asleep. Whoever it was, they seemed to ignore her. They fiddled with the machine and checked the IV drip. She heard a pencil scratching on a piece of paper and then they left. She opened her eyes and sat up.

She needed to get out of there.

She carefully removed the IV needle from her arm, almost throwing up as she did so, and slowly swung her legs off the edge. The bed was almost too high off the ground and she was annoyingly short. She placed weight on her leg and collapsed. She gasped and checked the bandage. It was too thick for blood to seep through, but she didn't care. She used the heart monitor and bed to stand and tore off the rubber nodes attached to the skin under her collarbone. Immediately, the lines on the monitor went flat and an annoying drone came from the machine.

She had watched enough TV to know that when a heart monitor goes flat, nurses and doctors don't waste any time getting to their patient.

Her leg throbbed, but she was able to hobble to the door and swing it open. The hall was empty and colored mint green. She heard someone yelling down the right side and hobbled as fast as she could down the left. She found another door and got to the other side just as someone yelled.

"Hey! Stop!"

She slammed the door behind her and followed the red glowing exit signs as the nurse yelled for help. She heard the door open and the scary looking guy from the cave was there, his gun in his hand and his ratty red cape whipping behind him as he beelined towards her. She screamed and ran as fast as she could down the hall and crashed through the exit door.

An alarm sounded as she opened it, but she was outside. She blinked in the dull sunlight. It was cloudy and she could hear cars and people, though she was sure she had exited through a back door.

The building she had left was surrounded by low, worn-out skyscrapers. She followed the cracked sidewalk around the corner, looking behind her the entire time and screamed as she collided with two other people.

They seemed surprised as she fell back. She quickly scrambled up and started sobbing.

"Please, you got to help me," she said. She was relieved that she wasn't speaking that strange language. The man and woman looked confused.

"What?"

"Someone's after me and I don't know where I am," she explained, wiping her face. She heard running behind her and yelped when the scary man ran around the corner. She scrambled behind the man and woman. "Please!"

He stopped in front of them and she was surprised that no one did anything. Instead, someone laughed.

"It's just Vincent," the blond man said. She froze and looked up. Wait a second.

The man she had run into was the blond man from the cave, only he didn't have his sword with him. His hair was still spikey, and his eyes were blue. He was wearing a black vest and one of his ears were pierced. There was a decoration on his vest that was shaped like a wolf. The woman with him was wearing a black zip-up vest and black shorts with a long duster. Her hair was dark and long and her eyes were red? Brown? She decided on amber.

"What?" She managed to squeak, taking a step back. Her leg was starting to annoy her and it buckled. She almost fell but she stopped herself.

"Hey, be careful," the woman said. "Let's take you back inside."

She froze and tried to back away, but the woman placed her hand on her shoulder. She had no choice but to follow the strangers back inside the building. Someone turned the screaming alarm off as they entered and soon she was led through a maze of metal hallways and was crammed into an elevator with them. She tried to stand as far away from the scary guy with the cape and gun as she could, but the elevator was tiny.

"What's your name, kid?"

She looked away from the number pad. They had pressed the button for the third floor. She blinked at the blond man.

"What? Oh." It was embarrassing, but she had to think to remember her name. Something about a constellation? Stars? The silence was deafening as they stared at her, waiting.

"Um, Lyra, I think."

The elevator dinged, and they led her out to another hallway, this one's floor covered with cheap carpet rather than white tile. On one side of the hall, the walls were painted mint green and metal sliding doors were evenly spaced. For about ten or twenty feet, the other side of the hallway was open, with only a low wall keeping them from the busy first floor at the bottom.

She couldn't focus on where they were going but she was glad that someone was helping her. She was too busy trying to remember if her name was Lyra or not. It felt right, and she could somewhat remember someone teaching her about the constellation. It was a lyre that helped Orpheus enter the Underworld. The more she thought about it, the more she could remember a man, her father? Yes, he had gotten a telescope for her and was teaching her about the stars.

Her name was Lyra. She had a mother. She had a father. She had no idea where she was, but she was sure that the man with mismatched eyes was responsible for her predicament. Out of the company she had found herself with, the least intimidating of the three was the woman.

She jerked herself back to reality as they stopped before one of the metal sliding doors. The open hallway was long behind them and there were few people walking past. The scary man, Vincent, that's what the spikey blond guy called him, passed a security card over a sensor and the doors slid open. Lyra doubted that she would be able to steal the security card from him, but if the other man and woman had one….

"Finally, she's awake!"

Lyra jumped at the sound of the woman's voice. The woman had one blue eye and was wearing oval glasses. Her left eye was closed and her left arm was prosthetic and was hidden behind a clean lab coat. She was wearing a mini skirt and tank top underneath under the coat. She seemed friendly enough and her red hair was frizzy. Her hair reminded Lyra of a friend she was sure that she had. Was this woman a doctor?

The room was huge. It must be a lab of some sort. There were so many machines and a few large tanks of glowing green liquid and cluttered desk upon cluttered desk of computers and stacks of paper. A conference table surrounded by chairs was pushed off to the side.

The doctor woman was quick and suddenly Lyra was sitting on a hard-plastic chair facing away from a computer.

"Need a translator or-" The doctor woman started. The man with spiky hair shook his head.

"No. She can speak Common," he said. The doctor turned on her heels to direct a friendly smile towards Lyra, who squirmed uncomfortably.

"Well then. That certainly makes things easier," she said. She picked a clipboard and a pen from a cluttered table and started asking questions.

"What's your name?"

"Lyra."

"Last name?"

Lyra paused. She almost started to cry when she realized. "No. I can't remember."

The doctor nodded. Lyra glanced at the others. They were staring at her, obviously as interested in her as the doctor was. She squirmed, uncomfortable under their stares.

"How old are you?" The doctor asked. Lyra paused.

"19? I think?"

"You think?"

Lyra nodded. "I can't…. my head hurt when I woke up."

"In the cave?" The doctor looked up from her clipboard. Lyra nodded and she continued to scribble on the paper. "Lyra, do you remember how you got to the cave?"

Lyra almost shook her head, but then the man with the mismatched eyes flashed in her head. Her hands started to sweat and her stomach churned.

"Lyra?"

"There was a guy. His eyes were weird." Lyra said. She was staring at her hands, twisting the skirt of her sundress. She heard someone shuffle their feet, but she didn't look up. "He pulled up in front of me and I tried to run."

Lyra's voice was wobbly and her eyes felt wet.

"Then what happened?" The doctor sounded sympathetic and interested. Lyra wasn't sure what the lady was thinking had happened. She shook her head.

"I tried to run and a white light hit me. I think he smacked my head with something because I can't remember much and my head hurts," she said as her voice broke. "I want to go home! I don't know where I am. Please, let me go home!"

She finally looked up at the doctor lady, who had turned to talk to the others.

"He still in holding?" Her voice sounded blunt all of a sudden. All business.

The scary man nodded. "Cloud and Tifa were coming in to talk to him."

Lyra was almost laughed. The scary man's voice sounded like Batman.

Lyra jumped when the sliding door opened. A girl with short red hair and light and glowing blue eyes entered, her face emotionless. She wore a summery outfit of shorts and a pink T-shirt, but she seemed dead in the eyes. Other than the dead eyes, she looked very similar to the doctor lady.

"I have some bad news," she said in an almost monotone voice. "The man in holding died."

"What? How?" The doctor lady asked. The others looked disappointed. Lyra was just surprised that the kid sounded so formal and dead, like a robot. The kid shook her head in a way that could have been sad if she wasn't so empty of emotion and continued.

"He had a tablet of poison implanted in his teeth. He broke it and chewed it," she said. "He was dead in minutes."

Lyra blinked. "What's going on? He's dead?"

The doctor lady turned back to her. She grabbed a block of tissues from the cluttered desk and held it out to her. Lyra took it and blew her runny nose.

"Guess we aren't going to learn everything today," she said.

"Plan B?" The other woman asked. Lyra frowned as she watched the doctor lady cross the giant lab. She fiddled with a bag and came back with a syringe and a large needle in her hand.

"Yup. Time for Plan B."

Lyra felt dizzy and barely made it to the garbage bin that was shoved underneath the desk across from her. She really hated needles.

Chapter Text

Tifa grimaced as Lyra threw up in the garbage bin. Tifa suspected that nothing came out as the girl probably hadn't eaten in a while, but she gave the girl the box of tissues to clean her face.

Lyra took the tissues and wiped her mouth. Her face turned red and she was shaking as she sat back in the plastic chair.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I just got really nervous."

"It's alright," Tifa found herself saying. Lyra's large green eyes were wide as Shalua brought the empty syringe closer.

"I'm just going to draw a little blood from your arm," Shalua explained. "Try to relax and this should go smoothly."

Tifa watched the girl closely as Shalua went about drawing blood and checking blood pressure. Shalua had Lyra spit into a small glass vial and she went off to a table of machines. Shalua explained that she needed to separate the blood and spit hopefully they would know who Lyra was soon.

Tifa couldn't shake the feeling that she knew Lyra from somewhere. Maybe not by name, but she could just somewhat imagine the girl's face, just much younger. Something in her voice was familiar as well. It was clear as a bell and had a whimsical tilt to it. A large group of freckles covered the left side of Lyra's face and across her nose while just six freckles were grouped together on her right cheek, and her black hair was a long, tangled mess.

Yes, Lyra was familiar but Tifa couldn't place where she knew her from.

"Do you remember where you live?" Tifa pulled out a chair next to Lyra and sat in it. Lyra squirmed and inched herself away from Tifa. She seemed confused for a moment but then her face brightened.

"I think so. But I don't remember what it was called," she said. Her voice was quiet and she started shaking again. "I just had it and it left my memory."

"Do you live in the Icicle Area?" Tifa asked, hoping that the name would jog her memory. Lyra stared at her.

"The what area?"

"It's the area the Northern Cave Crater is in. Where you woke up."

Lyra shook her head. "I don't recognize those names."

Tifa listed off other towns, Kalm, Costa Del Sol, Junon. None of them seemed to be familiar to Lyra. She had to come from somewhere. Maybe she was from one of the smaller, lesser known towns?

Lyra seemed more confused as Tifa listed off the smaller towns. Finally Lyra cut her off.

"These names sound made up," she said. "What town are we in?"

"Edge," Tifa answered. "Are you sure you don't recognize-"

"No. I don't know what those towns are. I've never heard them in my life," Lyra insisted somewhat angrily. She hit the seat of the chair with her hand, leaving a melted handprint and smoke. The smell of burning plastic wafted from the handprint. Lyra's large green eyes widened, and she stood.

"You okay?" Cloud asked. Lyra shook her head and she halfheartedly glared at him.

"In what world is any of this okay?" Her voice shook, and her face turned gray. Tifa stood and handed her an unopened bottle of water that she had brought.

"Here. You're probably thirsty," she said, hoping that the girl would take it. She hesitated, but she reached out to take it. As her fingers touched the bottle, frost shot from her fingers, coating the bottle. Tifa jumped back and Lyra dropped the now frozen water bottle with a yelp. Lyra cradled her hand to her chest and stared at the bottle as if she'd been burned.

"Does that happen often?" Vincent asked dryly from the corner of the lab he'd been standing. Lyra feebly shook her head.

"No. I've never done that in my life," she said. She was completely panicked now, hyperventilating and shaking like a leaf. Ice started to form under her feet and the ice followed her as she backed away from it. Cloud reached out to her to stop her and Lyra smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch me!"

Cloud raised his hands and took a step back. "You need to calm down."

Tifa ran to find a fire hydrant as flames covered Lyra's arms. Lyra screamed as Tifa ran back, but the fire was gone and the ice was melted. Lyra was crouched on the floor whimpering.

Her arms were unscathed. No burns, just streaks of ash. Cloud was still standing away from her and his eyes were wide with shock. Vincent looked almost indifferent, but still bothered by Lyra's outburst.

Shalua inched away from her machinery. "I know that now might not be the time, but where's she going to stay?"

Tifa arched an eyebrow. She glanced at Cloud, who didn't say anything, still staring at Lyra. She turned back to Shalua.

"We have room," she said. "Since Shelke has moved in with you. I haven't told Marlene or Denzel yet, but I'm sure that they won't mind."

Shalua grimaced. "I'm only asking because of, um, all of that." She waved her hand at the puddle of water around the crying girl.

"We'll figure it out," Cloud said, finally lowering his arms. He helped Lyra stand. Her legs were shaky, but she could stand without help. "Is she okay to leave?"

"Well we aren't going to get anymore answers from her right now and I'm still working on everything, so…" She shrugged and went back to her work. Vincent nodded 'goodbye' as he left to do who knows what and Cloud led Lyra out of the building.

Lyra wasn't exactly thrilled to be riding a motorcycle, but they eventually made it back to the 7th Heaven. Tifa helped Lyra climb off Fenrir and they waited for Cloud to park it. As he came back, Lyra scrunched up her nose and giggled.

"Do you guys have a pet?" She looked up at them with a shy half-smile on her face.

"No. Why?" Tifa looked around to see if there was an alley cat or stray dog that was wondering about, but she saw none. Lyra pointed down the narrow street and nodded at Cloud.

"There was a wolf following you," she said. She cocked her head to the side and continued staring down the street. "It's gone now, but it seemed friendly. I think I like animals."

Cloud seemed disturbed by the mention of the wolf, but before he could say anything, the door to the 7th Heaven swung open.

"Hey, I thought I heard something," Yuffie said with a playful smile. "What are you standing outside for?"

Tifa smiled as she pushed Lyra forward, getting her to walk inside the bar. Marlene and Denzel were sitting in a booth with a deck of cards scattered in front of them. They smiled when Cloud and Tifa entered, but the smiles melted when they saw Lyra.

"Who's that?" Denzel asked, looking tense. His hands curled into fists. Yuffie shut the door and snorted.

"Yeah, who is this?" She echoed. Tifa pulled Lyra towards the booth.

"This is Lyra. She's going to be staying with us for a while," Tifa explained to the kids. They seemed to understand, and Marlene smiled wide as she reached out and grabbed Lyra's arm.

"We're playing Goldfish," she said. "Wanna play?"

Lyra awkwardly sat in the booth. Her hands were placed in her lap and she looked nervous and sick. Still, she accepted the offer to play.

Tifa turned to Yuffie. Yuffie looked as confused as everyone felt.

"We'll explain, but maybe not in front of the kids," Tifa said quietly. Yuffie's eyes widened slightly and she followed Tifa to the bar's kitchen.

Yuffie immediately got to the point. "Alright, who's the kid?"

Cloud shrugged and proceeded to wander around the kitchen. "We don't know yet."

Tifa almost rolled her eyes. She sighed. "You know that disturbance in the Northern Cave Crater?"

Yuffie nodded. She jumped to sit on a counter, much to Tifa's annoyance. "Yeah. Anything come out of it?"

Tifa jerked her head at the half-closed kitchen door. "She came out of it."

Yuffie's jaw dropped and she slid off the counter. "Wait, really? Is she dangerous? What do we know about her?"

"Hey, slow down," Cloud muttered. "So far, no. We don't know anything. She doesn't remember much of anything. What we do know is that she can summon fire and ice without Materia."

"She almost gave me a heart attack in Shalua's lab," Tifa added. Yuffe looked back and forth between them as they talked.

"What else? How'd she pop up?"

"She was sleeping in flowers," Cloud said, emphasizing just how weird it was to see a teenaged girl sleeping in a patch of flowers in a frozen cave. "Just a bunch of wildflowers. Some were even in her hair. The were taken out and were preserved for evidence in case we come across anything bad."

"That all?" Yuffie asked, eyeing the door.

"Other than that, I swear I know her from somewhere," Tifa said. Cloud fell silent. Then he nodded.

"Yeah. Me too."

Yuffie's frown deepened and she looked back at the doorway again. "So she's not dangerous? That's all I want to know, 'cause we just left her out there with Marlene and Denzel."

"Aside from the whole ice and fire thing, no. She's not," Cloud said. He peeked through the half-open doorway. "And if she tries running, she won't get far. Vincent shot her in the leg with a tranquilizer and it'll leave a bad bruise."

Later that night, Lyra was shown to a bathroom, where she was given a toothbrush, a towel, and a pair of spare pajamas. Tifa said that she had gotten her clothes and toiletries from the WRO. They apparently had all sorts of clothes and things donated for people who were homeless or refugees.

Lyra was exhausted as she fell asleep in the small bed that Tifa had in the small spare room. She had eaten supper with Cloud and Tifa and those kids and the new girl, Lyra found out her name was Yuffie, had talked her ear off the whole time. Question after question, and Lyra couldn't answer much of them.

Then when she got ready for bed, she changed the bandage on her thigh. It wasn't gross, but a black and purple bruise the size of her head surrounded a small puncture wound. The good news was that the puncture wound was already almost fully healed, but the bad news was that the bruise was horrible. It was giving her the most grief.

She didn't expect to fall asleep. She could hear Cloud pacing the hallway and the patrons of the bar downstairs. And she had spent an entire day comatose already, so sleep didn't feel like a real thing. She was surprised to feel how exhausted she was. She was even more surprised that she could dream. Lyra felt like wherever she lived before, she didn't have many dreams.

At first it was random pictures.

Fire.

The smell of acid.

Flowers.

People's faces. All of them familiar but they flew too far past her for her to recognize.

Voices. Some were comforting. Others frightened her.

Her head hurt.

Her shoulder blades hurt.

Her heart hurt.

Gunshots. Then the sound of blades clashing against one another.

Voices in the wind and the ground comforting her when she was scared.

Then she found herself standing in a daze. She blinked the pictures away. The ground was hard and dark. The sky was pitch black and full of galaxies and faint stars blinking around her. Hills of dirt and mud covered the endless landscape. Lyra blinked at the pits and craters that dotted the ground. They were filled to the brim with nasty tar. Or at least it seemed like tar. It was stinky and looked sticky.

She looked down at the pit before her.

"Reach in. You need to help him."

Lyra looked around, but she couldn't see where the voice came from. It was quiet, feminine. She heard it again, and she could almost see something in the tar. A hand limply reaching up to her and a face that she could barely see.

"Reach in."

She woke up.

Chapter Text

Lyra woke up slowly, despite the strangeness of the dream. Her eyes opened wide, but she didn’t actually leave the bed for a few minutes. When she finally did, she emptied the small bag that Tifa had given her. She didn’t know why she hoped that her favorite hoodie would be in the bag, but she was disappointed when she didn’t find it. Her brain was still foggy from sleep.

Tifa had picked out her clothes. Most of the garments were dresses, two of them with floral patterns on pastel backgrounds, one black with red roses, and a pair of jeans. Lyra spotted a folded T-shirt and a red plaid over shirt folded underneath it. Lyra had been given a pair of boots before they had left the WRO headquarters.

As much as she wanted to wear the jeans and T-shirt, Lyra changed into one of the pastel dresses, lilac with silver lilies. She pulled on socks, the boots, and tied her hair back with a ponytail and a lilac ribbon that was packed into the bag for some reason.

She slowly opened the door, listening and hoping that she wasn’t being too loud. She peeked into the narrow hallway. She could hear laughing and dishes, and she could smell food.

Her stomach grumbled.

Well, hiding wasn’t going to be an option, especially if she’s hungry.

She crept down the hallway. The doors were all closed, and the laughter was coming from downstairs. Lyra continued walking until she was on the first floor. The stairs were hidden from the front room, where most of the bar was, and the kitchen was just in front of her. To her right was a backdoor. She couldn’t see through the curtains covering the door window. She was hit with an idea.

Lyra’s heart was racing. She could run outside. She could find help and get home. Lyra reached her hand to the doorknob and-

The kitchen door opened, and Cloud nodded at her. She dropped her hand.

“You hungry?” He asked. His eyes flickered to the back door as if he knew what she was planning.

Lyra felt a pang of guilt. Cloud and Tifa hadn’t done anything to harm her, and they had let her stay with them. They were feeding her. She shoved the feeling down and nodded. Cloud stepped to the side and she entered the kitchen.

The kitchen was strange, to be honest. There were a sink and counters and a wooden kitchen island like most normal kitchens, but two industrial fridges and a large stove and sink were shoved against the walls.

The kids, Marlene and Denzel, were eating pancakes around the kitchen island. Tifa smiled at her and pushed a plate forward. Lyra sat and poured syrup on her pancakes before she began eating. The kids had quieted when she sat next to them and the silence was beginning to get awkward.

“Your bow is wrong.”

Lyra jumped at the sound of the little girl’s voice. She blinked at the kid, who just pointed at her hair.

“Your bow is wrong,” she repeated. Marlene wiped her hands and jumped off her stool. She pushed it closer to Lyra and climbed on it again. “I’ll fix it.”

Lyra went still as Marlene untied and redid the lilac ribbon. She nervously glanced at Tifa, who just smiled back. Marlene finished and then pulled her stool back to her spot.

Lyra mumbled a thank you and continued eating. Marlene beamed and finished her pancakes. Denzel whispered something to her and they jumped down and ran back up the stairs. Lyra kept her eyes on her plate. She didn’t look up as Cloud and Tifa cleared the island. She jumped when they sat on either side of her. She finally looked up.

“Did I do something wrong?” She asked. They looked at each other and smiled.

“No. You’re fine,” Tifa said. Lyra’s hand tightened around her fork without her realizing.

“Then why-”

“We’re just waiting for Yuffie,” Cloud said. He got up and moved to a different stool and gestured to the hand around the fork. “Relax. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

She set the fork down. Her hand stung from the fork handle imprints left on her palm. She pulled her hands into her lap. It was silent again, with only the occasional sound of laughter coming from the upstairs, where Denzel and Marlene were likely playing.

“Yuffie might bring the kids to the WRO,” Tifa told Cloud. “I don’t think that she likes to miss out on the excitement.”

Cloud made a noise in agreement. Lyra frowned and looked up from the table.

“Are you taking me back to the WRO?” She asked. Cloud nodded. Lyra was beginning to understand that he wasn’t very talkative, but she was getting tired of being given few answers. And she wasn’t happy about going back. Maybe she did do something wrong and they were just too nice to tell her?

When they didn’t say anything, Lyra turned her attention back to the table. She let her mind wander back to her dream. What the heck was it about?

She still had the feeling that she hadn’t had many dreams before, but when she did, she remembered that they were awful. Many of them were like the pictures, just random noises, and sensations that had her waking up in a cold sweat, screaming for her mother.

Lyra was still mulling this over when Yuffie bounced into the kitchen. She was loud and obnoxious as she entered, and then Marlene and Denzel raced into the kitchen to tackle her with hugs.

Lyra watched them as Cloud and Tifa stood. Tifa reminded Marlene and Denzel of the rules, no sneaking snacks upstairs, no talking to strangers, the usual spiel parents usually gave their children, and then she waved at Lyra.

“Come on,” she said happily. “Time to go.”

Lyra slid off the stool. “Should I go get my bag?”

Tifa blinked and frowned. “Why do you need your bag?”

Lyra hesitated. “You’re taking me back to the WRO, aren’t you?”

She jumped at the laughter that followed and then jumped again as Tifa slid her arm around Lyra’s shoulders.

“No, you’re stuck with us for a while still.” She reassured Lyra with a squeeze. Lyra let herself smile a little as relief filled her chest.

Thank goodness.

As they waited in front of the bar for Cloud to get his giant motorcycle in Lyra decided to ask Tifa a question that had been bothering her.

“Why do your kids call you Tifa?”

Tifa frowned at her uncertainly and didn’t answer for a moment. “What do you mean?”

Lyra wished that she had found a different way of asking that and tried to ignore her burning face. “They call you ‘Cloud’ and ‘Tifa’ instead of ‘mom’ and ‘dad.’”

Tifa chuckled and shook her head.

“No. They aren’t my kids. Not exactly.” She seemed to be choosing her next words carefully. “A few years ago, there was a war.”

Lyra waited as Tifa went silent. Suddenly, the mood was sullen.

“A lot of people died. The Planet was under control of this company, and they were killing it,” she continued. “Cloud and I were in a group of people who were against the company. Eventually, the war ended, but the Planet was devastated. Like I said, a lot of people died. Edge, the city we’re in, was built by the WRO and refugees and what was left of the company. The refugees were from a much, much bigger city called Midgar.”

Tifa took a moment. She sounded sad, and Lyra hoped that she wouldn’t cry.

“Denzel’s parents lived in Midgar, and they died when one of the plates fell. Midgar was divided into sections and it was one city built on top of another. He was wondering around when Cloud found him, and we took him in.”

“What about Marlene?”

Tifa grinned at her. “Her father is in charge of finding a new energy source. He comes by when he can, but we watch Marlene for him.”

The ride to the WRO headquarters was silent, but slow as there was more traffic than the evening before. It was slow enough for Lyra to think everything over and observe her surroundings more.

One of the first narrow roads they ran through led to a large plaza, where a large statue sat in the middle, surrounded by scaffolding and orange caution tape. The roads they went through weaved through tall apartments with stores built in the bottom. Lyra counted at least three restaurants and two nightclubs as they passed and they crossed another plaza filled with white tents and pickup trucks.

“Looks like the farmers’ market is back,” Tifa remarked. Cloud said something, but his voice was drowned out by his bike. Lyra was amazed. This was all built by after a war? And the war was just a few years ago? These people must be resilient.

They continued through the city and down a highway. Cloud didn’t stay on the highway for long before he got off and drove towards the WRO headquarters.

It wasn’t hard to see. It was at least five stories above ground with the front completely paneled with tinted glass windows that reflected the city around it. The grass in the front was yellow and patchy, and a few barrels of flowers sat in front of the doors, struggling to survive.

It was warm out, and the air felt humid like it would storm later. Lyra couldn’t spot any clouds in the sky except in the far distance. She could spot the landscape surrounding the city when they were on the highway: a bleak desert wasteland filled with hills and rock formations.

Cloud drove down a driveway that led into an underground garage and parked to let Lyra and Tifa off. Cloud met them just before the elevator doors opened. They entered and rode the elevator the fourth floor.

Shalua was working away in her lab with her sister. She smiled at them as they entered.

“Hey everyone,” she called. Shelke turned and waved, still looking expressionless. Lyra had asked about Shelke and Shalua the night before after they had left, and she was told that Shalua and Shelke had been through a lot. Shalua had miraculously survived a horrible accident and Shelke had been kidnapped as a kid, and she would forever look like a kid because of another accident.

“Reeve’s here,” Shelke said, pointing behind them. Tifa turned Lyra around. A man was sitting at the conference table. He gave her a friendly smile and wave and Tifa gave her a small push forward.

Lyra sat at the table a chair away from him. She eyed the giant cat sitting next to him. It looked cute with its little crown, boots, and cape. She guessed it was a stuffed animal, but then it moved. It startled her, but not as much as it did when the cat spoke.

“Good mornin’ there lass,” it said in a happy accent. Lyra stared at it, her jaw hanging open, barely registering the man’s chuckle.

“This is Cait Sith,” he said. “He’s harmless.”

Lyra nodded her head, still staring with wide eyes at the cat. Its tail twitched, and it grinned at her. She tore her eyes away as the man introduced himself as Reeve Tuesti. He continued to ask questions. Lyra felt like a parrot. The questions were mostly the same questions Shalua and everyone had asked already, just a bit more in depth.

Last thing she could remember? The man with multicolored eyes.

What was she doing exactly? Walking home.

What was she wearing? T-shirt, jeans, and her favorite hoodie. It was hot pink and zipped up in the front.

What were her surroundings? It was dark out, late at night. It was cool and humid. It was going to rain. She was walking along a well-lit path in a suburban neighborhood. When the man caught her, she heard someone yelling from a yard behind her.

Family life? Just her, her parents, and some stray neighborhood cats. It was quiet and it was good.

Childhood?

At that, Lyra paused. She still couldn’t remember much, but she could remember enough to feel strange.

“I…It was good? I think?”

“Why do you think it was good, Lyra?” Reeve asked. Lyra thought about what she could remember. Everything suddenly felt off, like the world shifted sideways and she was the only one who didn’t move.

“I don’t think….” She broke into a cold sweat and her head throbbed.

“Lyra?” Reeve sounded concerned. Lyra could feel her pancakes churning in her stomach and it was getting hard to breathe.

“I don’t feel good,” she said quickly. Someone pulled her chair out and shoved her head down. A pail was suddenly in her lap and all the noise was muffled.

Why couldn’t she remember her childhood? Why couldn’t she know her parents’ names? Why did everything about her life feel so wrong?

Even at home, she couldn’t remember much. Did something happen? And even if something traumatic did happen, that didn’t explain why she didn’t know their names.

Lyra squeezed her eyes shut, willing the nausea away.

“Lyra!”

She opened her eyes and slowly sat up. The lights stung her eyes and she felt dizzy and cold. The chair and her immediate area were coated in thick ice. Everyone was staring at her a foot away, each looking concerned. She swallowed and was surprised to find tears streaking down her face.

“We should do a head scan,” Shalua said, her voice way too loud in Lyra’s ears. “This isn’t amnesia caused by a concussion.”

“What just happened?” Lyra’s voice was thick. Cloud stepped forward and helped her stand, and the ground immediately felt like liquid. She grabbed the table to keep her balance.

“You just started panicking and talking a gazillion miles an hour.” Lyra looked up in surprise. She hadn’t seen Yuffie or the kids standing behind her. They looked scared and confused.

Well great.

“C’mon kid. I’ll help you,” Shalua said. Shalua and Cloud helped Lyra to a large white cylinder. Shalua pressed a hidden button on the side and it opened. The inside was lit with dim white lights. A black cushion laid on the bottom and the smooth metal walls were covered with small black sensors.

They helped Lyra lay down inside, Shalua instructing her to stay still and just breathe slowly while the machine powered up and scanned her.

“You can still hear us out here,” she said. “It’ll be A-okay.”

Lyra felt uneasy as the lid closed. It sealed with a hiss and the white lights dimmed until they switched off completely. She flinched as the sensors blinked. She almost forgot to breathe slowly, but she didn’t want to be in there any longer than she already was. The metal walls felt like they were closing in on her.

She closed her eyes as harsh purple light skimmed over her full body. After what felt like ten minutes, the sensors turned off and the dim white lights turned on. She heard muffled voices and finally, the lid opened.

Shalua waved for her to get out, and then stepped in front of her. She looked alarmed.

“Alright, I want you to go down the hall,” she said in a low voice. “Tifa and the kids are going to sneak you out.”

Lyra frowned. “Why? Did you find anything?”

Shalua shook her head. “I still have to go over the data, but I’ll get back to you later. Probably tomorrow.”

She quickly led Lyra to the door and it slid open. She wouldn’t let Lyra go through, holding her prosthetic arm out and poking her head through. It must have been clear to her standards, as she dropped her arm and let Lyra through.

“Be careful, kid,” she said as the door slid shut. Lyra blinked and stared at the closed door. A quiet, uneasy feeling settled over her. Her heart almost stopped beating when she heard Tifa whispering down the hall for her to hurry up. Lyra backed away and turned to run to Tifa.

They boarded a crowded public bus back into Edge, not getting off for many stops. Tifa looked agitated and very worried, but she wouldn’t say why. She said that it was nothing, that she would tell her later, and Lyra caught on.

They didn’t get off at a bus stop. Instead, they were at the edge of the city, standing in front of ruins that went on for miles in front of them. The kids seemed excited as they chattered away, practically dragging Lyra and Tifa along.

“Where are we going?” Lyra asked, wary of the situation. Marlene cut Tifa off with a giggle and she grabbed Lyra’s hand.

“You’re going to love it! It’s super pretty,” she said between giggles. She couldn’t help smiling and let herself be pulled along. Eventually, Marlene led her to a church with a large hole in the ceiling. Lyra slowed and Marlene stopped to wait for Denzel and Tifa, who were some ways behind them talking and laughing as they made their way to the church.

Lyra stared up in awe. The double doors were closed, but Lyra felt the urge to push them open and walk inside.

No, she needed to.

She heard a buzzing in the back of her skull as she let go of Marlene’s hand. She walked forward and pressed her hands on the doors. Her hands tingled. She pushed one open and took a step inside, the buzzing getting louder and drowning out all other noise.

Broken wooden pews lined the aisle, which was covered with a tattered red carpet. The aisle led to a pond of clear water. Vines and lilies surrounded the pond and almost took over the ground, pushing through cracks in the concrete.

The buzzing was comfortable, droning on and on until it sounded like someone was telling her, weeds are growing. Pull them out. The flowers farthest away need some watering. Take care of them, please.

Lyra got to work, humming along to a familiar song that she forgot she knew and pulling dandelions and crabgrass and pigweed. She thought that someone was trying to talk to her, but the buzzing overpowered the voices.

She snapped back to reality when Tifa pulled her back.

“Hey!”

Lyra blinked slowly at her, at first not realizing what was going on. Where was the buzzing? What happened? She looked down. Her hands were coated with dirt and mud and they were stained green from pulling the weeds. Her dress was stained where her knees were. She looked back at Tifa.

Tifa didn’t look mad. In fact, Lyra couldn’t exactly place the looks that flashed across Tifa’s face.

She was confused. No, she was shocked, then a little angry and then concerned again.

Marlene and Denzel were waiting silently by the door.

“Didn’t you hear me calling?” Tifa asked in a quiet voice. Lyra shook her head. Tifa smiled, though she looked uncertain. “Well, I said that it’s time to go.”

Lyra noticed that the light was waning. It was late afternoon. Didn’t they just get there?

She followed Tifa and the kids home, not talking, still confused and wanting to go back to that pleasant pond to take care of the pretty lilies.

Chapter Text

It had been an hour since the kids had gone to bed, and Lyra had gone to her room as well. Still, Cloud checked her room to be safe. She was fast asleep in her bed. Her hands were still stained green from pulling weeds in the Church.

He backed away when he was sure that she was sleeping and closed the door.

The bar was closed for the night, which was against the normal schedule. Shalua and Shelke leaned against the bar counter, while Vincent lurked in the corner. Yuffie sat in a chair, acting like she was meditating with a glass of soda sitting on her table. Tifa poured a drink for Reeve. Cloud quietly made his way down the stairs and made his way to a bar stool.

“She didn’t hear you? Like, at all?” Shalua was asking. Tifa shook her head.

“No. But I don’t think she was ignoring us on purpose. She just hummed to herself and seemed…. unfocused.” Tifa glanced at the ceiling in the far corner, where the room Lyra was sleeping in was located. “It wasn’t really a problem until it was time to leave. The kids and I just thought that she needed time to herself.”

“Interesting….” Shalua seemed lost in thought. “You know, after those Turks left, I went over the data from her full body scan. She’s almost perfectly healthy, but there were some oddities.”

“Like what?” Vincent asked from the corner. He decided to join them at the bar only after Reeve told them that things were getting real interesting with Lyra and that Reno and Rude had asked about the Northern Cave Crater.

“Well, where do I start?” Shalua chuckled dryly and pulled a small notebook out of her lab coat pocket. She flipped it open. It was filled with writing. She noticed Cloud staring at it and grinned.

“It’s all data I have about her. And some related research,” she said. He took the notebook from her when she offered it.

“What other research?” He asked. He flipped through it, then flipped back to the beginning, but Shalua’s handwriting was a mess of scribbles. He couldn’t decipher her notes, so he handed the notebook back.

“I went through files from Shinra Electric,” Shelke started. “There wasn’t much, but I found some things of interest.”

“For starters, Hojo visited the Woodlands Area from time to time,” Shalua interjected. “He didn’t have a lab down there. The labs in that Area were under the jurisdiction of a Dr. Jael Azazel.”

Cloud huffed. “Never heard of him.”

“No one has. Any files on him and his projects were hidden away,” Shelke said. “Not even I could access them.”

Tifa poured herself a drink and leaned her elbows on her side of the counter. “But?”

“But when the Turks visited this morning, they left us a present.” Shelke lifted a small chip to show everyone.

“It’s got oodles of data and images and we aren’t even done with the first file,” Shalua said with excitement bouncing in her voice. “It’s bleak and grim as hell, but given time, we can probably get somewhere. Problem is, a lot of it is restricted.”

“Any ideas about where she’s from?” Reeve asked, his brows low with concern.

“I bet my gil on test subject!” Yuffie ended her meditation and sipped on her soda.

“Yuffie,” Tifa warned. Yuffie shrugged, but there was a flicker of apology across her face.

“Hey, we’re all thinking it,” she mumbled. The room fell silent except for Yuffie sucking soda through her straw.

“I asked Lyra why she couldn’t hear us before she went to bed,” Tifa said uncertainly, breaking the silence. “She said at first she heard buzzing, but it turned into voices.”

They were silent again, this time looking at Shalua, who was flipping through her notes. She got to the page she was looking for and cleared her throat.

“I wrote down some ideas, just spit balling with Shelke,” she started. “At first we were going through missing person’s reports, recent ones, then older ones, but there isn’t anyone who exactly matches her description. And then Tifa called earlier when she invited us, and I got to thinking.”

“Of course,” Yuffie said. “Anyone would.”

Despite Yuffie’s sarcasm, she seemed genuinely interested in the mystery. Everyone did. All eyes on Shalua and her indecipherable notes.

“What if she’s a Cetra?”

Yuffie dropped her glass and it shattered. Even that didn’t shake the obvious shock of their faces. Cloud's stomach dropped with dread.

No one could forget what happened to the last Cetra.

Lyra found herself in that wasteland again. She marveled at the stars floating around her and admired the swirling galaxies in the dark sky. Then she heard the voice again.

Pull him out. Help him. You can help him. Pull him out.

She frowned and looked around her. Where was that voice coming from?

Lyra! Help him!

The frantic cry spooked her and she turned back to the pit. The hand was still reaching for her, but the face was still unclear. She knelt down and dipped her hand into the tar. She had to lean in farther, but she grasped the hand. The second she touched the hand, a tingling sensation travelled from her fingers down her spine. She gasped and suddenly the hand gripped hers. She pulled.

The tar was as sticky as it looked, and it was hard to pull her own arm out by itself, but the voice praised her.

You’re doing it! You’ve got this! You can help him!

Suddenly, Lyra’s stomach dipped and the hand tugged her- no. Something else tugged whoever owned the hand, down, down, down. A different voice filled her ears, coarse and bloody as she slipped farther into the pit of tar. She yelped and strained against it.

NO. HE IS MINE.

Don’t listen to it. The pleasant voice said. You can do this. Help him!

She felt hands on her shoulders and under her arms as she pulled, ignoring the harsh voice, feeling fear from the person in the pit as if it was her own. She pulled and tugged and the hands helped her until finally, finally, his upper body was out of the pit.

He gasped for air and hacked up tar, but he held a firm grip on her hand as he clawed out of the pit. He crouched on the ground as he struggled to breathe, and Lyra felt the hands on her shoulders disappear. She looked around, but no one was there except for him.

His shoulder length silver hair reflected the stars floating about. He was wearing a black leather coat and gauntlets. She could see a single wing sewn on the back of his coat. He looked to be tall, taller than her at least. About Cloud-Tall. And his hand was gripping the life out of hers.

“Hey, you okay?” Her voice sounded strange. She was speaking that strange language again, and she felt weird. He looked familiar.

She knew him! He was in her memory for just a split second, conversations that left her mind as soon as she remembered. How annoying.

He seemed to catch his breath and he sat up. He looked at her and they both froze. His eyes were glowing green, and the pupils were shaped like a cat. His pupils dilated as they stared at each other. He opened his mouth as if to say something and-

And she was shaken awake by Marlene and Denzel.

She sat up, groggy and grouchy. What was he going to say? He didn’t look much older than her, but it was just a dream, wasn’t it?

Right, because people who don’t usually have dreams have the same dream two nights in a row.

“Come on, get up!” Marlene shouted with glee. She bounced around until Denzel pulled her out of the room.

Lyra couldn’t shake the dream away, even as she got ready for the day, this time wearing the jeans and T-shirt. She wished again that she had her hoodie, but there wasn’t much to be done about it.

Lyra ate breakfast with Marlene and Denzel, who seemed to be warming up to her.

“You like flowers too?” Marlene asked, happily checking the ribbon tied in Lyra’s ponytail. She had tried to mimic the way Marlene had tied it, but Marlene still redid the bow.

“Yeah. I think there was a garden at home or something.” This seemed to pique Tifa’s interest.

“Really?” She asked. “What did you grow?”

Lyra thought hard, trying her hardest to focus on the sliver of plant life in her memory. “Vegetables, I think. But I remember a lot of flowers.”

“What kind?”

Lyra frowned thoughtfully. “Hm. I think…. Maybe a bit of everything.”

Tifa nodded, seeming unsatisfied with this answer, but she didn’t pry for another answer. They finished their breakfast, Marlene talking about all the times she’d gone to the Church to tend the garden.

When they were done, Tifa asked them to get ready to go to the WRO. They ran off, and Lyra realized something.

“Hey, where’s Cloud?”

Tifa paused, then she smiled, though she looked worried. “He’s making deliveries. He goes around the Area and checks on things. Some people are a still too timid to cross Areas.”

Tifa gathered the plates and took them to the sink. Lyra gathered the forks and cups and grabbed a dry rag to help dry the dishes as Tifa washed them.

“Why? What’s scaring them?” She asked. Tifa glanced at her.

“Y’know that war I was talking about?” She asked. Lyra nodded. “Well, afterwards, monsters were stirred up. They wander around, and not everyone is able to fight them off.”

Lyra’s brows shot up in surprise. “Monsters?!”

Tifa chuckled. “Don’t worry. We’ll be fine here.”

Tifa pulled the sink plug and wiped her hands dry. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Lyra watched Tifa leave the kitchen. Tifa was acting weird. She wouldn’t meet Lyra’s eyes. She took a deep breath and took a moment before following Tifa and the kids out the door, her dream already pushed to the back of her mind to make room for her curiosity.

Tifa resented not telling Lyra the truth. Lyra had been nothing but honest in the short time that she knew her.

Well, Tifa didn’t fully lie. Cloud really was making a delivery, only he wasn’t going to come home right after. He planned to confront Rufus. Not only was Rufus already on their Trouble Radar for buying land outside of Edge, only to start construction on shiny new buildings that definitely weren’t housing or vacation areas or any other helpful thing, but he had sent Reno and Rude to the WRO specifically to ask about what was found in the Northern Cave Crater.

If Shalua was right about Lyra being a Cetra, which Tifa felt was slightly possible, then Lyra was in trouble.

Cloud assured Tifa that he wasn’t going to say anything outright about Lyra. He planned on only asking why they wanted to know about the events at the Northern Cave Crater. Hopefully Rufus was just curious and paranoid that the Remnants of Sephiroth were back.

They didn’t have to wait long for the bus, and they rode it to the WRO. The air was much more humid than the day before. It was probably going to storm soon.

Shalua was working on Lyra’s bloodwork when they arrived, and when Lyra asked, she told her that she hadn’t found anything interesting in the blood.

Lie.

Shalua had told them the night before that Lyra had a high amount of mako in her bloodstream, far too much. She didn’t appear to be sick, but there was just so much mako that Shalua was admittedly worried. Lyra’s bones, organs, and tissue had signs of tampering, as if she had gone under the knife many times throughout her life, though her skin was clear of scars, except in her left forearm. There was a faint scar that had lit up in the images Shalua had brought. And if that wasn’t enough, there was a lot of things wrong with her brain.

“At first glance, it looks normal,” Shalua had said. Then she went on to explain that the brain waves were tampered with somehow, and that it just looked wrong. She couldn’t exactly put it in words. And then there was the problem with Lyra’s memory.

“Lyra, sit down,” Shalua said, her voice knocking Tifa out of her thoughts. “This might be hard for you to hear.”

Lyra’s bright smile immediately fell. She sat down, and cold air followed her as she moved past Tifa. The cold and ice had appeared the night before when she asked Lyra about the church. Lyra thought she was in trouble for touching the flowers, but Tifa had assured her that she wasn’t, and the cold air had disappeared.

Lyra fidgeted in her chair as Shalua sat in front of her.

“Lyra, I think there is a memory block in your brain,” Shalua started. Lyra frowned.

“What’s that? I mean, I assume it blocks memories, but-” Lyra started.

“Oh, it does, but I think I know what you mean.” Shalua chuckled. She adjusted her prosthetic arm to sit across her lap. “It’s not exactly physical. It’s more mental than anything, but it’s artificial.”

Lyra cocked her head to the side and glanced at Tifa. Tifa gave her a reassuring smile and Lyra turned back to Shalua.

“Okay, so I have to think it away,” she said. “Then I’ll remember things again.”

Shalua shook her head. “Not exactly.” She shuffled around with her notes. “You see, there used to be this company, Shinra Electric Power Company, and they had a science division that did these horrible things to people.”

“An evil utility company? Tifa, you didn’t say the Shinra Company was a utility company!” Lyra’s disbelief was very obvious, but Shalua did not look amused. She frowned and shook her finger.

“Lyra, this is serious,” She said. Lyra nodded.

“I got that,” she mumbled, leaning back into her chair. “But it just sounded kinda fishy.”

Shalua rolled her blue eye. “Anyway, they had some notes on mind blocks, but they never were able to successfully attempt this.”

She gave Lyra a moment as Lyra slowly straightened, and realization seemed to dawn on her. Shalua gave Tifa a look. Tifa shook her head.

No, they had to let Lyra figure this out on her own.

“So, the guy with multicolored eyes,” Lyra started.

“Yeah? What about him?” Shalua nervously eyed the frost forming under Lyra’s palms on the chair. Lyra was deep in thought.

“He was part of this company, wasn’t he?”

Shalua frowned. That wasn’t what anyone was hoping Lyra would say. No one had a solid idea where Lyra was from in the first place, but Lyra seemed to be under the impression that she was from a different city, or maybe even a different world altogether, though Shinra had nothing on travelling through different worlds, and Shelke couldn’t find anything on it in the DeepGround databases that she could access.

“We can’t be sure since he’s dead, but that’s likely,” Shalua finally said. Lyra squirmed, uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“Do, um, mind blocks have any control over dreams?” She asked in a small timid voice.

Shalua leafed through her notes and shrugged. “Maybe. I’ll have to go through what I know again, but maybe.”

This did not comfort Lyra.

“Is there something on your mind?” Tifa asked. Lyra quickly shook her head, but Tifa knew that there was. What does Lyra have to hide?

Lyra’s mind was on the man with multicolored eyes. Was he a really a scientist? She only remembered seeing his eyes and the look on his face when he kidnapped her. He didn’t seem professional in that moment.

She pushed a coin into the vending machine’s slot and pushed the code for a bag of chips. She was hungry, and she had spent the morning in Shalua’s lab. Between the bloodwork, health physical, and Marlene and Denzel wanting to show her around the lab, she was exhausted and hungry.

Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Lyra glanced out the window as her chips fell out of the coil. It wasn’t raining yet, but she could see it in the distance.

A flash of red in the corner of Lyra’s eye startled her, and she hardly had time to dodge when a figure slashed a large double-blade at her.

Lyra fell to the side and the end of the blade lodged itself into the tiled floor where she had been standing. She stared at the spot in shock. The blade was coated with blood, and it dripped onto the tiles.

“Hello, little mouse.”

Lyra forced her eyes away from the blade. The woman before her had a metal leg, filled with grooves and hollows that had buttons for secret compartments. She had a thick accent, and her right leg was covered by a thigh-high boot and a red stocking. Her left glove had spiky fingertips while the woman’s right arm was metal and sharp. Her armor was revealing, just a one-piece that showed her stomach, and a long fuzzy red cape pooled at her feet.

Lyra met the woman’s crimson eyes. She was smiling down at her, but the smile was creepy and twisted. She had a black eye and a cut on her cheek. Both were healing.

“What-”

“Did you think you could hide for long?” The woman asked, drawing out her words as she dislodged her weapon and swung it out. Lyra screamed and scrambled around the corner, yelling for help as she heard the woman laughing behind her. She glanced behind her as she ran. The woman was sprinting after her, barely making a sound. And she was quickly catching up.

Lyra was suddenly yanked to the side and thrown into a dark room. Vincent grumbled as he left the room and drew his gun. He faltered and grabbed Lyra’s arm.

“Run. Just run,” he said, pushing her forward. She didn’t stop to make sure he was following, but she heard gunshots. She ran past the elevators, deciding to use common sense to run down the stairwell. The stairs spiraled down many, many stories, as the WRO had underground labs and storage rooms.

Lyra followed the stairs and ran faster. The door opened above her and she heard heavy footsteps. She missed a step and almost fell in her fear as the footsteps caught up to her. She yelped when Vincent grabbed her arm and pulled her after him.

“Can you go any faster?!” He seemed angry, so Lyra stayed quiet. She followed him the best she could until he finally opened a door. They ran into a storage area. Large metal shelves filled with huge wooden crates reached the high concrete ceiling. It was a maze, and Lyra was reluctant to run into it.

Vincent scowled at her, making Lyra flinch. This guy was terrifying, and she still had a bruise where he had shot her before. Her leg was sore from the running.

“I don’t want to get lost,” she said. He rolled his eyes.

“You won’t get lost. Get in there before she-”

Too late.

The door flew off its hinges, slamming to the ground with a large clang that echoed throughout the large room. Sparks flew as it slid. It stopped just feet away from Lyra.

The woman hummed as she entered, twirling her blade as if she had all the time in the world. Vincent shoved his phone in Lyra’s hands and pushed her into the maze of shelves.

“Call Reeve. He’s upstairs. Tell him we’re in the Storage Room B4,” he ordered. Lyra nodded her head as she flipped his phone open. She found Reeve in the contacts and ran farther into the maze. He picked up just as the sound of fighting echoed through the room.

“Vincent!” Reeve yelled into the phone. He sounded out of breath and Lyra could hear yelling behind him.

“No, it’s Lyra,” she whispered. She didn’t like the way her voice shook and she was so nervous she felt like she would throw up, but she continued. “We were chased down to a storage room in the basements.”

“Which one? Are you alright?”

Lyra nodded, then slapped her forehead. He couldn’t see her nodding. “Yeah, I’m okay. But Vincent is fighting this woman. I think he said that we’re in Storage Room-”

Lyra almost dropped the phone. The woman suddenly appeared before her, grinning in a malicious way that made Lyra’s skin crawl.

“We should finish our game, little mouse,” the woman purred. Lyra stared at her with wide eyes.

“Lyra? Are you still there?”

She almost couldn’t hear Reeve through the phone. Suddenly Tifa’s voice came through.

“Lyra, I want you to stay calm,” she said, remaining calm herself. The background noise was suddenly quiet, as if Tifa had walked away from the noise. “Where are you? We’re coming to get you.”

Lyra managed to squeak, “Storage Room B4,” before the woman sliced her metal arm at her. Lyra screamed and dropped the phone to hold her hands in front of her. The woman’s arm shaped itself into the shape of a knife at the last second and sliced through the palms of Lyra’s hands.

The woman’s arm hit the crate behind Lyra, giving her the chance to run. Lyra rounded a corner, then another, and she kept running and turning corners until she hit a dead end. She skid to a stop and whimpered.

“Little mooouuuse?” The woman’s voice sang. Lyra could hear her creeping somewhere behind her. There was nowhere to hide, and her hands were bleeding freely, dripping blood onto the ice on the floor.

Ice on the floor. Lyra was hit by an idea.

She didn’t have a weapon on her, but she did have the ice. And that fire… maybe she could use it.

She ignored the pain in her hands and held her hands in front of her in a fighting stance. Her hands felt warm, much warmer than they already were with the blood and pain. Flames flickered over her fists and she broke the stance to watch them flicker between her fingers. She was so distracted by the fire, she almost wasn’t aware of the pain in her stomach until flew into the crates behind her.

The woman cackled and raised her blade to swing, but then doubled over in her laughter. Lyra wheezed and gagged, but she managed to stand, the fire still coursing through her hands. She yelled out as she ran at the woman, swinging her flaming fists at her stomach.

The woman cried out and stumbled back, a look of fury on her face.

“Really, little mouse?”

Lyra swung again, trying to hit her again, but the woman grabbed her fists and pulled her close, only to slam her into the concrete floor.

Lyra’s vision swam with spots and lights. She could feel the woman’s hands around her throat, squeezing tight. She couldn’t breathe. She kicked out, but the woman only grunted and squeezed harder. Then, just as Lyra was about to black out, the woman was thrown to the side.

Lyra rolled over and gasped for air, watching through her tangled hair and tears as WRO soldiers subdued the woman. A medic knelt in front of Lyra, instructing her to remain calm and breathe slowly. Lyra grinned and gave him a weak thumbs up, trying to tell him that she was breathing again.

He helped her stand and they watched the now unconscious woman as she was carried off through the maze.

“Where is she go-” Lyra’s voice croaked, and she almost didn’t recognize it. The medic grinned at her.

“You don’t have to worry about it. They’re just taking her to a special cell,” he said. He took her through the maze and they met Vincent at the end. He didn’t look hurt, and he actually somewhat grinned when he saw her.

“Look, you survived,” he said. Lyra smiled and nodded, too exhausted to say anything back as he continued. “And you didn’t get lost. And you actually defended yourself.”

She followed Vincent to an elevator. She sat on the floor as they rode up. Vincent stared at her. She blinked back at him.

“How did you do it?”

She frowned and cocked her head to the side. She croaked again. “What do you mean?”

“The fire,” he said simply. She squinted.

“Were you watching me?”

He shook his head. “Rosso managed to knock me unconscious. I awoke when help came.”

“Rosso?”

He glanced at her again. “Does the name sound familiar?”

Lyra shook her head. He turned away and they were silent. The elevator dinged and slid open. Lyra stood, glad that Vincent helped her. Her legs were shaky as she walked.

The rest of the day was a blur. Her hands were bandaged, and people asked questions. Too many people. Lyra was glad when Tifa took her and the kids home. Marlene and Denzel had been hidden in Shalua’s lab during the attack. Thankfully, not many people had died. Rosso seemed distracted, not exactly going for the WRO workers and officials she came across.

Lyra didn’t want to think that Rosso had been targeting her specifically, but it sure felt like it.

Lyra immediately went to her bed, collapsing on it without changing into her pajamas. It took only minutes for her to fall asleep. She found herself in the dark, starry wasteland, once again. The same pits of tar surrounded her, but she saw him again, sitting just yards away, staring at her. She blinked the dryness out of her eyes and shook her head to clear it. He smirked and waved at her.

“Hey, Star Eyes. Sleeping soundly?”  

Chapter Text

"Hey, Star Eyes. Sleeping soundly?"

Lyra continued to stare at him. He smirked lazily at her, not saying anything. He stood and walked as if he had all the time in the world until he stood close to her. He cocked his head to the side and continued to smirk. She clamped her jaw shut.

"Excuse me?"

He chuckled, but Lyra didn't understand what was funny about this.

"So, how've you been?" He asked. Lyra opened her mouth, then shut it.

"What do you mean? Who are you?"

He stopped smirking, suddenly looking at her with concern. He gripped her shoulders and studied her face. "What are you talking about? It's me."

She shook her head, waving his hands away. She turned away and took a deep breath. He tried to follow her but he didn't touch her again.

What is going on? Shouldn't she be waking up?

"Ly?"

Lyra whipped around and glared at him. His glowing green cat eyes widened. "How do you know my name?"

His mouth fell open and he stuttered a bit. He gave up and Lyra marched right up to his face.

"Who the hell are you and why do you keep appearing in my dreams? And how do you know my name? Where are we? Where was that voice coming from? What the hell is going on?"

He backed up with every word that shot out of her mouth until he stumbled, almost slipping into a pit of tar. He gasped and Lyra felt fear, but it wasn't hers. It freaked her out enough to reach out and pull him back. She didn't want to pull him out again. She pulled him forward a few steps and stopped.

He had his hands on her waist and she had her hands on his shoulders as if they were dancing. They stared at each other, hardly breathing. Lyra dropped her arms and he backed away, both their faces blushing red.

"Who are you?" Lyra demanded, but her voice was softer. A look of hurt and confusion crossed his face.

"It's me! Kadaj."

Her head started to throb. She rubbed her temple to ease it, but it didn't seem to help.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But I don't think I've ever met you. I mean, it would be hard to forget someone with silver hair and cat eyes."

He was quiet for a moment. He seemed to have trouble breathing and he looked terrified. "But you did forget me."

Lyra tilted her head. She tried to smile at him. "Why do you think I know you?"

He sighed and itched his eyebrow, turning away from her. "You're waking up."

Her eyes flew open and she was staring at the ceiling of her room. Every inch of her was sore. She checked the small clock on the nightstand. It was almost two in the afternoon. Lyra groaned and decided to get up, pulling a random sundress off the dresser.

The bandages on her hands complicated her intentions to dress herself, and she refused to ask for help for that. She decided to unwind the bandages and redo them later. They needed to be cleaned anyway.

The bandages were bloody, but her hands were fine. The slashes from Rosso's blade were gone. Lyra, with her head still foggy with sleep, stared at her hands dumbly. The bedroom door opened and she looked towards it. Yuffie smiled at her.

"Hey, new bestie. Tifa wanted me to check on you." "She heard you shuffling around up here." She shut the door behind her. She glanced down at the bloodied bandages around Lyra's feet. "Need some help?"

Lyra showed Yuffie her palms. The color drained from Yuffie's face.

"I thought Rosso cut your hands open?" Yuffie's voice shook and she looked sick.

"She did," Lyra said, yawning as she did so. She itched her eyebrow with the back of her hand, still keeping her palms in Yuffie's view. Yuffie grabbed Lyra's wrist and pointed at the palm of her hand.

"Then where are the cuts?"

Lyra stared at Yuffie, the realization finally dawning on her. Suddenly she wasn't so sleepy anymore. She pulled her wrist back and stared at her palms.

"The bruises around your neck are gone too," Yuffie said, flicking a bit of Lyra's hair away from her neck. Lyra looked down at her legs. She hadn't changed the bandage since the day before, and she had noted that the bruise was significantly smaller, but she healed fast. It was normal for her to heal fast.

But this was far too quick.

She pushed past Yuffie and ran to the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the tub and rolled the leg of her oversized pajama pants until she could check the bandage on her thigh. Her stomach churned as she stared at her skin.

The puncture wound was faint and the bruise around it was small and yellow. It was sore if she pressed down on it, but it didn't hurt anymore. She heard Yuffie running down the stairs, yelling for Tifa, and then the bathroom door opened. Marlene peeked through the crack.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Lyra nodded and Marlene opened the door wider, looking at the nearly fully healed wound on Lyra's thigh. "What's Yuffie yelling about?"

Lyra spotted Tifa and Yuffie coming back up the stairs behind Marlene. Tifa sat next to Lyra on the tub. She glanced at the bruise on Lyra's leg and grabbed her hands, looking them over. She pushed aside Lyra's hair and checked her neck. Lyra couldn't miss the alarm on Tifa's face, and the look of fear Yuffie was giving her was starting to scare her. Her eyes started to water. Her hands shook.

"Is there something wrong with me?" She couldn't stop shaking. Tifa shook her head.

"No sweetheart, nothing is wrong with you." She stood. "I need to make some phone calls."

She left the small bathroom, leaving Yuffie and Marlene staring at Lyra. Lyra wiped her eyes and sniffled. Yuffie grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. She started to pull Lyra and Marlene towards the stairs.

"What are we doing?" Marlene whispered. Yuffie smirked at her, though she wouldn't look directly at Lyra.

"Eavesdropping."

Yuffie pulled them to the closed door at the end of the hall, where Cloud's office was. Lyra placed her ear against the door. She could hear Tifa dialing through the thin wooden door and then she started to speak.

Cloud paced before the one-way mirror, going over the questions he wanted to ask Rosso in his head. Rosso had hardly spoken a word since she'd been subdued. Wherever she had hidden herself after the battle with DeepGround, she hadn't been taken care of. Cloud thought it was interesting that she had lost limbs after falling what he guessed was ten stories.

The only thing they had gotten out of her was that whoever had given her the robot limbs had kept her sedated to a point that when he let her go, she was so confused she almost attacked the wrong building.

The door to her cell opened. Reeve nodded at Cloud. "Free to go in. Good luck getting anything out of her."

"She say anything else?" Cloud stopped pacing. Reeve smiled and shook his head. He stood in front of the mirror and pointed at her.

"Something about the sky and how much she wants to see it."

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Really? How'd you get her to say that?"

"I didn't. She said it as I was leaving." Reeve turned towards the door leading out, waving at Cloud. "Good luck!"

Cloud entered the small room Rosso was held in. She sat at a white table bolted to the floor in the middle of the room, her hands handcuffed and her feet chained to the table. The mirror was dark on her end, and three cameras followed her every move from various points in the room. She couldn't move much, but that didn't matter.

Rosso was pale as a ghost, and dark bags seemed to hang under her eyes. Her red hair was greasy and her crimson eyes were dull and angry. She was covered in bandages from old ruptured sutures, many of them infected. Her metal arm gleamed, but the area of skin that met it was inflamed and swollen. It was honestly a miracle that she had been able to walk let alone attack and kill ten WRO soldiers.

Rosso narrowed her eyes and leaned back, chuckling.

"The man with chocobo hair," she drawled. "How pleasant."

"Rosso the Crimson. How're you doing?" Cloud pulled the chair across from her and sat in it. "Anything interesting to say or are you just going to continue talking about the sky and your crazy metal limbs?"

She smiled and stared at him. The room was silent. Rosso shivered.

"Where is the little mouse?"

"Why would you want to know?" Cloud crossed his arms and scowled.

"Just checking on her," Rosso answered.

"Is that why you were here?"

She shook her head. Cloud's eye twitched.

"Would you like to tell me why you were here?"

She continued to stare.

"Well, I'm not leaving until you tell me," Cloud snapped. Rosso laughed.

"If it's not you in here, it'll be someone else."

"Exactly. So spill."

Rosso cocked her head to the side and studied him in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable. She grunted and shifted her weight in her chair.

"Are you sure that you would you like to know who saved me?" She asked. "He isn't very nice."

Cloud narrowed his eyes, waiting for her to continue.

"Dr. Jael Azazel," Rosso said. "Elite Shinra scientist. He makes Professor Hojo look nearly human."

Cloud frowned. How do you come up with a smartass question for that? "What do you mean?"

Rosso shuddered in a dramatic way. "It's chilly in here."

"Are you trying to barter with me?" Cloud almost laughed. Rosso grinned and leaned forward, folding her hands on the table.

"This room is cold and my clothing isn't warm enough," she said. "You aren't hearing anything else until you tell them to get me a blanket."

Cloud glared at Rosso. Rosso glared back. It was silent again.

They needed this information. This scientist was mysterious and could have something to do with Lyra. Cloud considered Rosso's request. Nothing too big, and she couldn't do anything with a blanket. And she should have something anyway. With so many infected wounds, she had to have a fever. DeepGround was inhumane enough, the WRO wouldn't want to have a reputation similar to them.

"Deal. As soon as you're done telling me whatever it is you're going to tell me, I'll get someone to bring you a blanket."

At this, Rosso smiled wide, leaning back once more in her chair.

"Good."

She was silent, as she seemed to be choosing what to tell him and what to keep to herself. Cloud tried not to scream in his frustration.

"How about we start with what about this Dr. Azazel makes Hojo look human?" Cloud suggested. Rosso nodded once and placed her hands in her lap.

"Where Hojo knows when to stop and call an experiment a failure, Dr. Azazel sees another opportunity to recycle," she said, her voice much quieter, losing the tough act. She seemed afraid, and this made Cloud nervous. "My hatred for this man pales in comparison to anything else."

"What did he do?" Cloud asked though the answer was obvious. Rosso chuckled and held up her metal hand, pulling her flesh and bone hand with it through the handcuffs.

"My hand and leg were crushed by debris," she said. "He replaced them with weapons."

Cloud huffed. "At least they're humanoid. I have a friend who spent years with a gun as an arm."

"Barret Wallace," she said. "I've heard."

"So about the doctor-" Cloud started.

"Keep the little mouse as far from him as possible," Rosso growled. "He sent me to retrieve her."

Cloud sat up straight. "Lyra? He sent you to get Lyra?"

She grinned with all her teeth. "Unfortunate for her, isn't it, that she is in the center of this monster's attention?"

Cloud jumped at the knock, turning to the door. Shalua popped her head inside.

"Hey, Tifa called. She's freaking out."

"I'm freaking out," Cloud mumbled, stumbling out of the chair in his haste. Rosso chuckled and waved.

"Don't forget my request, chocobo head," she sang. He shut the door behind him, hurrying after Shalua.

"What's going on?" Cloud demanded. Shalua handed him a hastily made note. He could hardly read the scribbles. Cloud sighed and scowled at her. Shalua walked halfway down the hall before realizing that Cloud had stopped following. She looked back and turned around.

"What's the problem?"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "No one can read your handwriting, Shalua. No one. You do realize this, right?"

Shalua grumbled, marching back and snatching her note back. "Fine. I would read it for you, but it's just random words that I picked up. Tifa was rambling mostly."

"Marlene and Denzel are okay?"

Shalua nodded vigorously. "Of course, but it's not them, it's Lyra."

Cloud pictured someone else being sent to 'retrieve' Lyra from the 7th Heaven. Tifa was tougher than she looked, which was tough enough to make a violent biker gang crap their pants. She should be able to keep the kids and Lyra safe. But Cloud still couldn't stamp down his worry.

"What about her? Is everything alright?"

When she assured Cloud that Tifa and the kids were okay, he was relieved. But when she told Cloud about the healed wounds, he tried not to think of the possibility that Lyra was a Cetra. He didn't like that. And he was pretty sure that Aerith was the last of the Cetra.

Then again, Shinra was up to some sketchy stuff. If there were more Cetra than just Aerith and her birth mother and they had hidden them, he wouldn't be that surprised.

And then there was what Rosso had said about the Shinra scientist wanting Lyra.

"Any luck with her blood?"

Shalua pressed the button for the elevator. "Yes, actually, but I don't know if we should call it good news."

The elevator opened and they stepped aside as it emptied. They boarded and made their way to her lab. By the time they got back, Cloud was bouncing off the walls with anxiety. Shalua had kept her mouth shut the entire time, and she was doing it on purpose.

"So what did you find?" Shelke asked, sitting in front of the computer. "Did she say anything? How is Rosso?"

"She's fine, just cold. We should get her a blanket." Cloud cleared his throat. "Now what's the news?"

"You first, Cloud." Shalua busied herself with her notes on Lyra.

"Rosso said that the doctor guy, Jael Azazel, he sent her to find Lyra," Cloud said. Shalua and Shelke shared a look. Well, more like Shalua looked at Shelke in a way that put Cloud on edge and Shelke just stared at Shalua blankly. Shelke was getting better with her emotions, but she needed a lot more practice.

"Shalua, what's that look for?" Cloud asked. She glanced at him and held up a page that held the data from her bloodwork.

"The other night, at the bar, I got curious," she started, shuffling her pages in her hands for something to do. "The whole theory about Lyra being a Cetra started a bit as a joke, but then I crosschecked with some Cetra DNA in the Shinra database and, well, Lyra's DNA is very similar."

"And then I found some information in the chip the Turks left, and there was a direct match," Shelke said. "In other words, Lyra is a Cetra and we owe Yuffie gil."

All the blood seemed to drop to Cloud's feet.

"Well, shit."

Lyra found herself in the wasteland again, and he was still there, standing in the middle of the stars and pits of tar.

Kadaj smiled at her. He sat cross-legged on a rock with a stick in his hand, doodling in the loose dirt.

"Hey Ly, how's it going?"

She decided to shake off the usual shock and just see what he was drawing.

Then she was shocked again. He was really good. He had drawn three faces, two of them looking similar to him, and her. She smiled and laughed a little.

"You even got my weird freckles."

She turned her grin on Kadaj, who glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. He grinned back and continued drawing.

"You said silver hair and cat eyes are hard to forget, try half a face of freckles and giant green eyes," he muttered. "Know why I called you Star Eyes?"

She shook her head.

"I thought they were stars too when you pulled me out. And then when I saw you, I thought there were actual galaxies in your eyes."

Lyra made a nervous noise that had Kadaj staring at her like she grew a tail out of her neck. She felt her face heat up and her hands started to smoke.

"Are you alright?" Kadaj asked.

"Generally, not so much and at the moment, I'm not sure," her voice was high pitched.

"It didn't sound as weird in my head," Kadaj said, going back to his doodling. "Sorry about that."

"Well, it wasn't bad," Lyra insisted. "I just wasn't expecting it."

They sat in silence, Kadaj finishing his doodle of flower and Lyra watching. She found herself almost leaning on him when he was finished, and she moved to the side as Kadaj stood and stretched. Lyra shook her head. It amused her that she could feel so drowsy, even if she was already sleeping.

"They aren't stars, by the way."

Lyra blinked at Kadaj. "Huh?"

"They're souls," he finished. Lyra continued to stare at him, and then sneezed when one of the supposed souls loitered in front of her face, tickling her nose. It floated away and Lyra stood to follow it.

"These are souls?" She followed the soul a few steps and then spun to see Kadaj. "Whose?"

Kadaj shrugged nonchalantly. "Just murderers and thieves. People who took lives and ruined them."

Lyra balked at his words. He laughed at her reaction. Lyra scoffed and rolled her eyes, not one bit amused.

"Where exactly are we?"

"Well, it's a lot nicer than the part where I was before, but we're in the Lifestream," Kadaj said, scuffing at the dirt.

"Lifestream?"

"Yeah. The Negative side, of course, but it's still part of it."

Lyra shook her head and cut him off with her hands. "No, I mean, what the hell is the Lifestream?"

Kadaj looked concerned again. "Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with you?" Lyra retorted angrily. Kadaj glared at her, and the souls around him shot off into the distance as if they were afraid.

"I just spent the last year in a place worse than the labs, thinking about all the ways I messed up and failed and honestly, this scenario was one of the worst ones that she thought up for me." Kadaj started.

Lyra froze, unsure what to do with this new load of information, and she knew that it wasn't the right thing to ask, but she asked anyway.

"Who showed you what?"

He met her eyes and she could feel a glimmer of his emotions, and just that glimmer was enough to rock her off her feet. He was angry, ashamed, horribly afraid, and sad. Very lonely and very sad.

"I don't want to talk about her, but she kept showing me glimpses of my nightmares, and this was part of one of them."

Kadaj blinked back tears and plopped down on the rock, holding his head in his hands. He sniffled. Lyra looked around, feeling awkward. She hoped that the pleasant voice would come back and tell her what to do, but it didn't. She sighed and made her way to sit by him. She listened to him silently cry, and she patted his shoulder, her arm feeling like a robot's and her fingers tingling as if she had touched a live wire. Kadaj jerked, but he didn't brush her off.

"You want to talk about it? Your nightmare?" She asked in a soft voice. Kadaj shrugged and sniffled. He sat up and brushed his face with the back of his hand.

"Well, first off, I don't know where my brothers are," he said in a shaky voice. "And second, you forgot about me."

Lyra stared at the drawings, feeling suddenly embarrassed for the way she had been acting. She didn't feel that she had been outright rude, and neither had he, but she also didn't give him much of a chance to explain himself other than this moment. And if he was telling the truth about her knowing him, maybe any memory of him was hidden by the mind block.

"Um, about that whole forgetting you thing? There's actually a reason behind that."

Kadaj was silent, and Lyra took that as a signal to continue. She told him about how she remembered walking home and being attacked and kidnapped by the man with multicolored eyes, how she woke up in a cave system under the Northern Cave Crater, how she had been taken in by Cloud and Tifa, everything. He was quiet the whole time, seeming more and more concerned as she talked. When she finished, they sat in silence.

"Lyra, I am so sorry." Kadaj finally broke the silence. "What do you remember before?"

Lyra chuckled and picked up his stick. She traced a few curlicues in the dirt. "Not much. Just enough to know that I don't remember my childhood or my parent's names and that it all feels wrong."

"How would you feel if I tell you that it is?" Kadaj asked. She met his eyes and was annoyed beyond belief when she was shaken awake by Marlene and Denzel.

Chapter Text

"So should we tell her?"

The others in the video call were silent. Tifa spun in Shalua's office chair, needing to move or she would go crazy. Yuffie and Lyra were left in charge of the kids at home while Cloud and Tifa were on a "date night." Lyra didn't seem to think this was out of the ordinary, but just before Cloud started Fenrir, Yuffie told Tifa that she didn't like being in the dark and that whatever was going to be said at the WRO, she wanted to hear.

Long story short, Shalua told Reeve of her and Shelke's findings and he planned a video call to inform the rest of their friends since all the Cetra were supposed to be dead and they had all knew the last one. They needed to keep Barret and Cid up to speed anyway.

Sadly, Nanaki was too busy where ever he was to answer.

Barret had answered and immediately wanted to know how Marlene was before anything else was said. Then Cid added his two cents, wondering why he was missing out on all the fun. Vincent was still hanging around the WRO, but he was silent for most of the call other than saying hello.

Tifa rose her hand and spun the chair back to the screens. "I would like to at least say something. Lyra deserves to know if we find anything important like this."

"She's had a rough week," Cloud said. "I vote that we wait."

"For how long?" Cid yelled offscreen. He was working on something in his airship, which was landed somewhere near Costa del Sol. He was currently helping Barret with finding a new energy source.

WRO scientists and environmentalists advised using oil and natural gas as a temporary solution, as these would cause pollution. When Barret called last week, he was happy to say that solar panels were being used in Junon and Costa del Sol and that these alternative resources could work elsewhere on the Planet.

"As of right now, there's a crazy-ass scientist sending crazy-ass people after this kid," Barret grumbled. Whatever Cid was working on, it made a deafening noise that grated everyone's ears. He swore, and hazy smoke filled the screen. Barret yelled at Cid and fumbled about. Tifa heard what sounded like a fan switch on.

"Everything all right?" Shalua asked, grimacing. The haze cleared, and Cid appeared, his face streaked with soot and his hair sticking all over.

"Yeah! We're good!" He grinned and gave them thumbs up. Tifa rolled her eyes, but she laughed. Barret joined Cid in the frame of the screen, and they continued the call as if nothing had happened.

"So, this kid," Cid started, scratching at his scruffy chin. "Are we sure she's a Cetra?"

"Yeah." Shalua leaned against a lab table. "We found some restricted files and DNA samples, and the samples match Lyra to a 'T'."

"You said she has a weird fire and ice thing goin' on."

Shalua shrugged. "She was a Shinra experiment. I blame all the weird on that. Hopefully, Shelke can crack through the files and figure out what exactly was going on to cause it."

"Whatcha got so far?" Barret asked.

"Not much," Reeve said. He sighed, sadly shaking his head. "She's a good kid. Completely clueless."

"She doesn't remember nothing? Like, absolutely nothing?" Barret was scowling. He obviously didn't like this. "And you left her with Marlene?"

"Like Reeve said, she's a good kid," Tifa insisted. "She wouldn't harm a fly."

Shelke sat straighter in her chair. "There are some things in her file that say otherwise."

Tifa's eye twitched as Barret's scowl deepened. Way to go Shelke.

"Continue." He spoke through clenched teeth. Cid rolled his eyes.

"She's with Yuffie. If the kid tries anything, Yuffie'll kick her ass," Cid sighed. "Yuffie may be annoying, but you know she won't let anything bad happen."

"Besides, we wouldn't leave Denzel with Lyra if we knew she was dangerous," Cloud added. "Shelke, what exactly do you mean?"

"I mean I found some pieces of information in the files that mentioned Scarlet, the Head of Shinra's Weapons Department." Shelke swiped on the touchpad that controlled most of the computers and dials and knobs in front of her.

The screens divided, Cid and Barret's faces shoved to the right side of the wall. Files filled with black stripes filled the left side, the writing not blacked out too small for Tifa to read. Some screens were just pages of the black stripes. There were blurred photos and videos that buffered, obviously stuck on whatever was keeping Lyra's files restricted.

"What did Scarlet want with her?"

They all turned to Vincent. He stared at the screens and continued, "She worked with weapons, not people- Oh no."

Just as he finished, it sunk in over the room like a wet blanket as they began to realize just what may have happened.

"Oh." Shalua's voice was quiet. "She worked with weapons."

"Poor Lyra," Shelke said. Her voice was still mostly monotone, but Tifa could tell that she still felt sympathetic. She probably was thinking about her time in DeepGround, where she was a weapon herself.

"Mind blocks can't be lifted easily, can they?" Cloud asked Shalua, his eyes wide with anxiety. She tore her gaze away from the screens and shook her head.

"I don't know yet. Maybe?"

"Then we shouldn't mention any of this if we can help it." Cloud sat back in a chair. His knees bobbed up and down. "Just in case. Who knows what damage it could do."

Tifa imagined a scenario where just the mention of Scarlet or anything in Lyra's files could lift the mind block in her head. Would the information overwhelm her to the point of insanity? Would memories flood her mind, or would they come gradually?

Tifa sat silently in the office chair as the others came up with similar questions. They debated for a while, only Cid and Shalua wanting to tell Lyra, but they eventually agreed that Lyra knowing would be disastrous.

No, they had to break it to Lyra one day at a time, and until she was stable and ready they wouldn't bring up her days in Shinra labs. Unless, of course, if her memories came back on their own.

And as far as Tifa knew, Lyra still didn't remember a single thing.

***

Cloud and Tifa arrived at the 7th Heaven around eleven at night, the street mostly quiet aside from a few stray cats. Tifa went with Cloud to park in the back, helping him with locking the bike and backdoors.

The bar was quiet. Cloud mumbled to Tifa about checking the downstairs as Tifa climbed the stairs. Marlene and Denzel were asleep in their rooms. Tifa could hear giggling coming from the spare room. She knocked and opened the door.

Lyra and Yuffie had mad a fort from the sheets on Lyra's bed and they were watching funny videos on a tablet Yuffie had probably borrowed from the WRO.

"Hey," Tifa called. They jumped and stifled their screams, covering each other's mouths. They burst into snickers when they saw Tifa.

"Oh my gosh, you scared the shit out us," Yuffie managed to say between giggles. Lyra smiled and rolled over to sit on her knees.

"How was your date?" Her smile was mischievous.

"Yeah, did you guys make out?" Yuffie, on the other hand, wasn't smiling. Lyra hadn't noticed yet.

Tifa rolled her eyes.

"Ha ha Very funny." Tifa heard Cloud's office door open and close. "Just came to check in. See you guys in the morning."

"Night!" Lyra called. Tifa met Cloud in his office and they counted to thirty until Yuffie ran down the hall and swung the door open.

"I told Lyra that I was getting a snack and going to the bathroom, so I literally only have about three minutes until she gets suspicious."

Cloud and Tifa shared an incredulous look.

"What?" Yuffie crossed her arms. "I'm not being ridiculous."

"What are you doing, Yuffie?"

Yuffie made a face to match Cloud's annoyed tone.

"I told her that we would fill her in when we got back." Tifa yawned and waved her arm at Yuffie. "But can this wait 'till morning?"

Yuffie gasped like they had kicked her dog. "No! What if I say something and it goes against whatever went on at the meeting?"

"You'll be fine, Yuffie," Cloud groaned. Yuffie looked at her wrist as if reading a watch.

"Two minutes," she sang, giving Cloud a crooked smile. Tifa slung her arm over Yuffie's shoulders, sharply inhaling to prepare herself.

"Alright, I'll tell you," she promised. "But, you can't tell Lyra."

"Okay. Sounds reasonable." Yuffie grinned and she practically buzzed with excitement.

"Lyra's a Cetra and she was a lab rat."

Yuffie frowned and stepped away, glancing between Tifa and Cloud. Tifa tried to smile, but Yuffie just continued to stare, her eyes wide. Then she stammered.

"How the hell am I supposed to hide this?!"

Tifa leaped forward and covered Yuffie's mouth, listening for any noise coming from the kids' rooms. Nothing.

Thank goodness!

"Do you have to be so loud?" She whisper-shouted. Yuffie mumbled against her hand, clearly offended. Lyra's door opened down the hall and they froze. Lyra stopped in front of the open door, cocking her head to the side.

"You guys okay?" She whispered. "Why are you all standing in the dark?"

Tifa let go of Yuffie, stepping away and giving Lyra a giant smile.

"Yeah, we're fine," Yuffie talked over the damage control Tifa started. "Teef was just telling me that Rosso's biggest secret is wanting to grow a garden."

Tifa slowly faced Cloud, who was just as surprised as she was. Lyra frowned. Tifa hoped that she would buy it.

"Really?" She didn't sound convinced. Tifa flipped the light switch to see her face better. Lyra blinked rapidly in the sudden light.

"You don't have to worry about it," Tifa added. "It's just a silly thing she mentioned during her interrogation."

Lyra turned her green eyes on Tifa, and Tifa's stomach dropped. She wasn't buying it. Just as Tifa was about to add to the lie, Lyra spoke again.

"Can I dig up one of the flowers for her from the church?"

This shocked Tifa more. "But your hand-"

Lyra shook her head and grinned. "My hands are fine. I've got that creepy healing thing going on. And Yuffie told me that Shelke and Rosso were part of the same creepy program thing. She'd probably feel better with a flower anyway."

With that, Lyra spun and went back to her room, leaving Cloud, Tifa, and Yuffie standing in silent shock.

Yuffie let out a breath, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. Tifa took a deep breath and allowed herself to laugh, trying to calm herself. Cloud cleared his throat, joining her.

"That was easy," he said. Tifa shook her head, not happy.

"Too easy. I hate lying to her."

"You hate lying to her?" Yuffie hissed, standing straight. "I have to go back to our fort and act like I don't know that she's Aerith 2.0!"

Tifa couldn't ignore Cloud flinching. She reached over and squeezed his hand.

"She's not Aerith 2.0, Yuffie." Tifa scolded her. "Also, that's a bit insensitive."

Yuffie's ears and face turned red and she mumbled an apology. "I'm just gonna go pretend that this entire conversation didn't happen."

"You do that," Tifa muttered. "Good night Yuffie."

Tifa listened to Yuffie's footsteps and then Lyra's door opened and closed. She and Cloud were silent for a few minutes, listening to the building settle.

"What a day," Tifa muttered. Cloud didn't answer. She met his stare and smiled. They were left in comfortable silence.

But then Cloud blinked and they stepped away. Cloud's face was bright red, and so was Tifa's.

"I'm gonna go to bed!" Tifa stepped out of the office. Cloud rubbed the back of his head.

"So am I. Goodnight."

"Night. See you tomorrow."

Cloud muttered to himself as he backed away and tripped over a table leg. Tifa smiled as she closed her bedroom door behind her, still hearing him stumble around, muttering to himself.

Lyra dreamed of the wasteland, or the Negative Lifestream, whatever, again and Kadaj was in an even worse mood. He was moody and bored and no matter what he said, he couldn't make her remember anything. She wasn't shocked anymore, but she felt bad for him. She kept trying to ask about the voice from the pit and what nightmares she had given him, but he kept shutting down.

Honestly, the guy was interesting and kind of cute, but he was beginning to be a pain in the butt.

She woke up with two ideas. While she changed out of her pajamas and into the secondhand lilac sundress with the silver lilies, she decided to ask for advice about her dreams. And she felt restless and needed something other than babysitting and sitting around to fill her day.

Tifa was cleaning the bar, Yuffie and the kids helping her, when Lyra ran down the stairs.

"Good morning everyone," she chirped. They answered with the usual pleasantries, and Lyra found herself suddenly anxious. Tifa noticed.

"Something on your mind?"

Yuffie didn't even pretend not to overhear. She stopped sweeping and leaned on the broom handle. Lyra ignored her.

"Yeah, actually. I was wondering if I would be able to help at the WRO?" Lyra stumbled over her words. "Like, in Shalua's lab? And also I've been having weird dreams about a place called the Negative Lifestream and an extremely moody and/or depressed guy lives there and-"

Tifa furrowed her brows, her eyes slowly widening as Lyra prattled on. She stammered and jumped forward, instantly shutting Lyra up as she did so. Lyra took a step back as Tifa grabbed her arms and led her to a stool.

"First off, I'm pretty sure we can work something out with Shalua," she started, pacing before Lyra. "Second, about the dream thing, what the hell?!"

Lyra wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt, trying her hardest not to fidget so much under Tifa's stare. "Well, I've had it since I got here. And it started with me standing in a wasteland, all alone and there were these pits of tar."

Lyra went over her dreams, making sure to include the pleasant voice and hands that helped her pull Kadaj from the pit. Lyra wasn't sure what scared Tifa more, the description of the voice that came from the tar in Kadaj's pit or Lyra mentioning Kadaj himself.

"Alright, how do I say this?" Tifa muttered to herself. Lyra blinked.

"Say what?" She looked back at Yuffie, raising an eyebrow and mouthing 'what the hell?' Yuffie looked concerned, but she didn't move from her spot. Marlene and Denzel had abandoned their buckets of soapy water and were watching Tifa's freak out.

"Well, about a year ago, this gang came around here and they kidnapped a bunch of kids." Tifa was pacing faster now, but she sounded calm. "They tricked them into thinking that they were going to be healed, there was this plague you see-"

"No, I don't see, but go on," Lyra muttered.

"And a lot of people got hurt, Marlene and Denzel were taken, and the guy that tried to destroy the Planet came back for about ten minutes to fight Cloud." Tifa finished and she almost scared Lyra off her stool when she leaned in. "Long story short, Kadaj isn't really a good person and this dream thing sounds bad."

Lyra slowly nodded, not saying anything. She thought of how he acted in the Negative. He seemed nice, albeit weird and moodier than an angsty teenager. Yuffie piped up.

"Did you have another dream last night?"

Lyra nodded. "He doesn't seem that bad."

"One of them was really big and another one had long hair," Marlene said. "And then there was the really scary one. He almost squished me with a tree."

Marlene went back to washing the tables. Denzel scowled at the bucket of soap. He plopped the washcloth inside and ran to the back. Lyra heard him run upstairs.

"Is he okay?" Lyra asked. Tifa stared back at the hallway leading to the stairs.

"Denzel had the plague. He was one of the kids Kadaj and his gang tricked."

Yuffie dropped the broom, scaring the crap out of Tifa and Lyra. Marlene yelped and threw a handful of bubbles at Yuffie.

"Well, that was fun," Yuffie stretched and marched around the bar tables. She pulled Lyra from the stool and pulled her to the door. "I'll take care of this, Teef. In the meantime, she has a flower to dig up."

Tifa didn't get a word out against the idea, but she didn't physically stop Yuffie either. Yuffie didn't stop jumping around until she was sitting on the bus, a cracked flower pot in her lap. She had pulled it out of an alleyway, which admittedly made Lyra a little nervous.

They didn't say a word about her dreams until the bus stopped at the ruins, abandoning the two of them alone.

"So you've been having this dream since you came?"

Lyra nodded. "Yeah. At first, I was confused, but now I think I'm just rolling with it."

Yuffie snorted, kicking a loose rock into a collapsed wall. "Why? If it were me, I'd be freaking out and telling everybody!"

Lyra didn't say anything for a few minutes, not really sure if she wanted to tell Yuffie how exactly she felt about the dreams.

"Hey, we're friends, right?"

Yuffie tripped over a metal pipe that was sticking out of a low wall. "Ow. Um, yeah. Why? Do you think we're friends?"

Lyra grinned at her, spinning around so that she was walking backward. She hoped she wouldn't trip. "Yeah. I think we're friends."

"Cool!" Yuffie jumped off the wall and landed in a somersault. "Why you wanna be sure?"

Lyra shrugged and spun back around to walk normally, adjusting the flower pot in her arms. "Cause I don't know if I want anyone else to know this. Tifa kinda freaked me out."

"Well, you're dreaming of the land of the dead and one of the dead guys there was a bad guy in when he was alive, so," Yuffie deadpanned. "But sure. I'll keep whatever a secret. I'm apparently everyone's secret keeper this week."

"What?"

"Nothing!" Yuffie laughed, but it was high-pitched and nervous. Lyra squinted at her in the bright sun.

That was weird.

"Anyway, I actually kinda like the dreams," Lyra admitted, ambling along as Yuffie jumped onto another low wall to balance herself. "It feels familiar, like the flowers and the labs. It's comforting to know that I've possibly done something like this before, even though I can't remember. I don't know. That's the best I can describe the feeling I get from them."

Yuffie didn't say anything, but she stopped goofing around. Instead of dancing around and jumping and climbing, she walked beside Lyra silently.

"I'll keep that a secret, but you should probably tell Tifa that," Yuffie said. "Just to make her feel better about this. Maybe she'll let it slide. Who knows?"

They walked silently until they got to the Church. Lyra entered and looked around at each flower, trying to find the best one to dig for Rosso. Since the healing thing happened, she sort of had forgiven Rosso. And when Yuffie explained who Rosso was and how Rosso and Shelke lived before Shelke became their friend, she felt even sorrier for her.

Lyra was beginning to see a trend with these people. She lost count of how many had something to do with that evil utility company.

She was so focused on her thoughts, she didn't see the woman until she bumped into her.

"Oh! I am so sorry!" Lyra gasped and covered her face. "I didn't see you, I swear!"

The woman laughed. "It's alright. I'm fine."

The woman stood and dusted her hands on her skirt. She wasn't very tall, just a few inches taller than Lyra. Her light brown hair was hung in a twist braid down her back, and her bright, friendly eyes were green. The woman wore a pink button-up dress with a red cover and not one part of her had a speck of dirt. She pointed at the flower pot in Lyra's hands.

"Are you planting a flower for a friend?" The woman asked. Lyra smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I am. She's not feeling good, and I thought the flowers might cheer her up." Lyra looked at her feet and found the perfect flower.

"Well, I think that that's a lovely idea!" The woman exclaimed. "It's sure to cheer anyone up."

The woman held out her hand. Lyra eyed it and stood up straight, shaking it gingerly.

"I'm Aerith." Her smile was genuine and contagious. Lyra felt more comfortable by the second. She giggled.

"I'm Lyra. I haven't seen anyone else here." Honestly, Lyra had only been around the Church once, but that was beside the point. Aerith looked around and shrugged.

"I come from time to time to see if anyone shows up," she chirped. Lyra followed her eyes around the Church, seeing nothing but the clear, cloudless sky through the hole in the roof and the high rafters that were still intact.

"Yeah. It's pretty. I'll try to come around more often to help with the flowers," she said. "Last time I was here, I acted weird."

Aerith didn't seem as alarmed by that as Lyra thought she would be. It had just slipped out, Lyra didn't mean to say that she had acted so weird before. Aerith knelt down and continued to take care of the flowers, pulling weeds and carefully pruning any dead leaves.

Lyra knelt down and dug around the cluster of flowers that she had spotted before. Yuffie must have snagged a small shovel at some point while they were walking. Lyra used it to fill the pot with soil and carefully planted the flowers in the pot, keeping them nice and snug. When she was happy with the pot, she stood to get a handful of water. She froze when she realized the woman was staring at her.

"Um, can I help you?" Lyra timidly asked. Aerith shook her head, still smiling. Any anxiety Lyra had from this promptly left.

"I need to go," Aerith said. Lyra's shoulder's drooped.

"Really? That's too bad." She brushed her hands and held out her hand. "It was nice to meet you, Aerith."

Instead of shaking her hand, Aerith pulled Lyra into a tight hug. Lyra froze, not hugging back. Her arms felt glued to her side. It wasn't that she didn't like Aerith. She just didn't know her, and hugging her felt weird.

"Good luck Lyra," Aerith whispered. "You're going to need it."

This didn't make Lyra feel any better. "Um, thanks? I guess?"

Aerith let go and walked down the aisle. Lyra watched her open one of the doors and blinked. Aerith was gone.

"Well, that was weird."

Lyra rubbed her arms and turned to the flower pot. She gasped and almost tripped. It was sitting in front of her feet, already watered and spruced up nice and pretty. The hole that she had dug was filled and a small patch of wildflowers grew.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and she screamed, whipping around and almost falling onto a man with red hair.

"Whoa there," he said. "We didn't want to scare you that bad."

Lyra caught her balance and stared at the men. Two were wearing suits, one was bald and the other was the man with red hair. The third was wearing a blond man in a fancy white suit. All three were staring back at her and Yuffie was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter Text

"Who- what?" Lyra shook herself loose and backed away, startled and confused. She didn't hear these strange men enter the Church, and the doors were very loud and one of them was warped. "Who the- who are you?"

The blond man wearing the fancy white suit held up a hand and the other two men backed off, standing behind him. They stared holes into her head, and she wasn't comfortable with being alone with them.

Where the hell was Yuffie?!

"It's okay, we aren't going to hurt you," the blond man said. "I thought that I would find you here."

All the blood in Lyra's veins dropped to her feet. She went still, wondering what this man was trying to do. The bald man sighed and whispered something to the blond man. He laughed, which startled Lyra, and he shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he finally managed to say. "That sounded awful."

Lyra eyed the doors behind him. How could she get through them without the other two men stopping her? They were much bigger than her, and she didn't want to ruin the flowers with her fire and ice.

That was silly of her to think, that flowers in a church were worth more than her life, but she felt that they were important. She could still hear the voices there in the buzzing, but it was muted by her fear.

"What do you want with me?" She almost cringed at how small her voice was.

The man smiled, handing her a glossy white business card. Lyra took it, reading the script inlaid on a diamond. "Just wanted to meet you. I've heard so much already."

President Rufus Shinra.

Realization dawned on her, remembering something that Tifa had told her about the Shinra Electric Power Company. She put two and two together and gathered that this man was dangerous just for his affiliation with the evil utility company. She glanced at him, the card still in her hands.

He didn't know that she knew who he was, though he continued to smile at her. His smile seemed plastic and fake the more she looked at it. She wasn't stupid, but she had to act it if she was to get out and find Yuffie.

"Oh. How nice," She tried handing back the card, but he refused to take it back.

"Keep it," he said. "You might need to get in contact someday."

Lyra didn't like how he said that.

"Of course. Well, I'm Lyra."

The man's plastic smile didn't waver, and he swept his hands to the men at his side. "It is very nice to meet you Lyra. These are my Turks, Reno and Rude."

The bald man nodded at her while the redhead smirked and gave her a cocky wave. Lyra frowned at the redhead. Something in his eyes was off and he seemed shocked despite the smirk and wave. Lyra blinked and his shock was gone.

"Right," she said. "What are Turks?"

"Bodyguards," Rufus said. The redhead snickered.

"And hitmen. Assassins. Badasses," the redhead mumbled. The bald man glared at him, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Reno," he warned. The redhead mumbled some more and smirked at her again.

"Sorry," he said. Lyra shook her head and took a deep breath, rubbing the headache from her temples. Of course, they were hitmen and assassins. And of course, they were the president of an evil utility's company bodyguards. Who else would be crazy enough to keep him from harm?

Lyra almost cried when the door to the Church swung open, Yuffie running inside. She skid to a stop in the aisle, staring at the men before Lyra. Her mouth opened and shut like a fish and her hand immediately went to her phone and a glowing orb.

"Yuffie!" Lyra knelt down to get her flower pot, but Reno winked at her and picked it up for her. She backed away, eyeing Yuffie and trying to ask her for help without saying it out loud. Yuffie gladly caught the hint and marched forward.

"Hey guys!" She took the flower pot from Reno. "I'll take that."

"Hey, Yuffie, what's up?" Reno drawled. Yuffie grinned, stepping in front of Lyra and backing into her. Lyra jumped and moved to the doors, aware of Yuffie following her while keeping up a conversation with Rufus and his Turks.

"So you met her, but I don't think you really thought this through," Yuffie was saying, her voice somewhat stressed. "It's kinda creepy to have three dudes pop up and corner an unarmed girl, ya know?"

"We tried to get her attention," Rufus responded. "She didn't seem to hear us. We meant no harm."

Lyra was out of the Church by the time Yuffie answered in a very sarcastic way that he should have found another way or at least he could have gone to the WRO. She paced in a tight circle, taking deep breaths to calm herself as she waited for Yuffie to meet her. The humidity and heat were not helping her. It had been cool inside the church, even with the giant hole in the roof, and it was much easier to breathe inside.

Yuffie finally left the church a minute or two later, and Lyra was still trying not to panic.

"Whoa, you okay?" Yuffie asked. Lyra shot her an exasperated look. Yuffie grimaced. "Yeah, you're not. Stupid question."

Lyra stopped pacing and took the flower pot back with shaking hands. "Let's just go. That scared the crap out of me."

"Yeah, I know." Yuffie pulled Lyra forward. They began their trek back to Edge, where they would find the bus stop.

Lyra turned to her and glared. "Where were you?"

Yuffie frowned at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

Lyra scoffed. "I got done with the flowers, looked up, and you were gone, replaced by the hitmen-assassin-bodyguards and their crappy boss!"

Yuffie was silent. Lyra glanced at her. Yuffie was staring and was still looking confused. Yuffie shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Wow that place messes you up," she mumbled. She walked ahead until she had enough space to do a cartwheel and continued to jump around like usual. Lyra looked around, hoping that they would bump into Aerith. Was she okay? Did she run into the Turks and Rufus?

"Whatcha lookin' for?"

Lyra's attention snapped back to Yuffie. She blinked. "Hey, when you came in, did you at all see anyone?"

Yuffie stopped jumping around long enough to shake her head. "Nuh-uh. Why?"

Lyra shrugged and jogged to keep up, her arms already becoming sore from carrying the flowerpot. "Never mind. Guess she ninja'd her way past them."

They found their way to the edge of the ruins, where the bus had dropped them off. The actual closest bus stop wasn't far, but whoever was in charge of the bus system must have been told that Cloud and Tifa and everyone were to be dropped off at the ruins.

Lyra and Yuffie sat at the bus stop, just talking and joking around as they waited. It was past noon and they were getting hungry. Lyra at some point told Yuffie about Aerith and how weird but nice she had been, and Yuffie's smile dropped. Her sudden reaction startled Lyra. She turned to Yuffie. Yuffie scrambled for her phone and went to the pictures.

"Did she look like this?" She shoved her phone in Lyra's face. The picture in Yuffie's phone was of another picture, but it was the same woman. Aerith was smiling and Lyra could tell that she was standing near others, though the way Yuffie had taken the picture had cut the other people out. Lyra nodded and began to smile.

"Yeah, you know her?" She stopped smiling when she handed Yuffie's phone back. Yuffie was visibly upset, avoiding making eye contact with Lyra.

"I don't know any other way to put this, but Aerith is kinda…dead."

Lyra stared at her, raising a brow. Then she laughed. "No, she isn't. I just met her."

Yuffie took a breath and narrowed her eyes, cutting off Lyra's laughter. Yuffie was serious. Lyra stammered.

"That's impossible."

Yuffie grunted and sat back on the bench. "You'd be surprised."

"Wait, so if she's dead, how did I-"

"I don't know."

They were silent until the bus came, Lyra trying to process this information and Yuffie seemingly trying not to cry and failing. Lyra caught Yuffie discreetly wiping her eyes a few times, but neither of them said a word. The bus came, and they boarded. The ride was awkward, and they got off at the stop nearest the bar.

The bar was open and Tifa was busy with patrons when they arrived, but Cloud was still there. He took the flowers from Lyra and Yuffie asked to speak to him privately. Lyra made her way up the stairs as they talked in the kitchen. Marlene and Denzel were in their room, reading books. They smiled when she passed and Lyra wasn't prepared for the squealing or for the sudden suffocation when they tackled her from the back, Marlene squeezing her waist and Denzel jumping onto her back and clinging to her shoulders and neck.

She stumbled and fell forward, laughing though they fell with her.

"You're back!" Marlene shouted in her ears. She hugged Lyra again as she sat up. Denzel snickered.

"I told you she would. She wouldn't run away like that," he said.

"Yeah, I don't have anywhere to go," Lyra said through her giggles. "Why do you think that I wouldn't come back?"

Marlene let go. "Well, you and Yuffie left and I thought that you were going to live at the WRO."

"And I told her that it was silly," Denzel said. "And that you weren't going anywhere."

They turned to face Cloud as he came up the stairs, looking disturbed.

"Hey!" Lyra smiled and waved from the floor. Cloud nodded and went to his office, closing the door behind him. Lyra frowned but she couldn't do anything about it. Marlene and Denzel pulled her to their room. Denzel wanted to play a board game and Marlene wanted to braid Lyra's hair.

Her wrists and ankles were strapped to the hard surface. Bright lights blinded her. Her vision was fuzzy and occasionally she blacked out, but not long enough for her to be completely unconscious. Her hearing was warped. She could hear beeping noises from machines that were connected to her arms and voices that were muffled whatever was messing with her senses.

"…scalpel…"

"…semi-conscious…"

"Perfect."

Lyra tried to lift her head, but she was hardly able to lift it to see what was going on around her. Who was talking and what was going on?

"Wha? Hey…" Her voice was hoarse and weak. The effort to speak exhausted her and she blacked out.

Suddenly, her chest exploded in pain. Her eyes flew open for a second and in that second her vision was sharp. In that second she saw a man with harsh yellow eyes and a surgical mask standing over her, cutting into her chest and stomach with a scalpel.

She screamed. The yellow-eyed man ignored her, continuing to cut into her with the scalpel. Through her warped hearing, she could pick up his orders to a nurse that was just out of view, asking for various tools and substances.

Lyra struggled against the ties during the moments she was present for the operation, but she no matter what she did, she couldn't get herself free. No matter how much she screamed and cried, the yellow-eyed man didn't stop cutting into her, cutting into her exposed organs, ordering the nurse.

The pain was excruciating, but the smell was worse. She was surprised to find herself not surprised by the smell of burning hair and iron and chemicals that hurt her nose.

She groaned and screamed some more as the doctor poked and prodded her, talking to the nurse and babbling incoherently. Her vision was blurry and spinning and she was grateful for the moments when she blacked out, even if she only blacked out for a minute.

She screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

And the doctor cut and cut and cut and he wouldn't stop gods why won't he stop someone stop him why won't you help me stop him please it hurts-

Lyra sat up in her bed, screaming at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face and her pajamas soaked with cold sweat. Her room's window was open, and rain was pouring inside. Lightning forked across the sky and deafening thunder followed.

The bedroom door flew open as a clap of thunder shook the bar. Lyra screamed as the door hit the wall. Tifa stumbled inside. Her hands were clenched into fists in front of her and she wore brass knuckles. She looked fierce despite her pajamas, but the terrifying expression on her face disappeared when she saw Lyra was alone. She yanked the brass knuckles off and threw them on the plain dresser in Lyra's room. She ran to the window and had to push her full weight against the window to close it as the wind pushed against her. She latched it shut and turned back to Lyra.

Lyra was shaking almost uncontrollably and crying and her chest felt tight. She could still feel the scalpel from the yellow-eyed doctor and she felt sick. She couldn't hear Tifa asking her what's wrong and she couldn't feel Tifa when she hugged her. She couldn't stop thinking of that man's yellow eyes, how they seemed to hold no emotion as he cut into her.

"It was just a dream. You have to calm down, take a breath," Tifa was saying. "Try not to hyperventilate."

"Whaz goin' on?" Denzel yawned in her doorway.

"Nothing. Lyra just had a bad dream," Tifa said. Lyra heard footsteps shuffle towards her. Lyra calmed herself enough to stop crying, but she was still shaking. They all jumped as another clap of thunder shook the house. Marlene shrieked down the hall and Cloud opened his office door. Tifa sighed.

"Great night for nightmares, huh Lyra?" She grinned at Lyra and stood, pulling Lyra with her. "Let's all go downstairs."

Tifa laced her arm around Lyra's shoulders and they made their way down the stairs to the kitchen, where she and Cloud made hot cocoa. Lyra sat at the kitchen island, hugging herself to stop her shaking. It was cold in the kitchen and her bed had been warm. She rubbed her chest as Marlene and Denzel joined her.

Cloud and Tifa had handed out the cups of hot cocoa and sat down with their own just in time for the windows to fill with blue-green light as the power flickered out with the loudest clap of thunder Lyra had ever heard. Everyone jumped and made some kind of noise, totally unprepared for what happened.

Cloud swore loudly as he stood. Lyra heard liquid trickling from the island as he mumbled about 'stupid hot chocolate, why'd you jump like that.'

"Well that was exciting," Marlene said in the silence that followed, making Tifa and Denzel nervously laugh. Lyra held her shaking hand in front of her, lighting her fire until Tifa and Denzel gathered candles and flashlights. Lyra lit the candles and Cloud was able to locate a rag to clean his spilled cocoa.

"Guess we'll wait the storm out," Cloud said. "I think the block lost power."

Tifa smiled as she sipped her cocoa. "Thank goodness we have Lyra to light our candles." She directed her grin to Lyra, who stared at the fire in her hand, wiggling her fingers.

Lyra blinked and took a sip from her cup. "Yeah. It's a handy talent."

"Why were you screaming?" Marlene asked. "It was scary."

"I thought someone had broken in," Tifa added. "Are you alright?"

Lyra tried not to cry as the man's yellow eyes flashed in her memory.

She lied when she told Cloud and Tifa that she was okay, that she was fine. She faked a smile and joked with Marlene and Denzel until they finished their hot cocoa. She told them that she was okay with sleeping in her room alone when she really wasn't after having that dream. She pretended that she was just tired when she stumbled and tripped in the hall instead of telling the truth about her massive headache.

Lyra threw up her hot cocoa in the toilet when she realized that that nightmare wasn't a dream. It was a memory.

How the fragile lilies weren't flattened by the wind and rain, Kadaj didn't know. He honestly didn't care. He was just amazed that Aerith was able to get him to focus long enough for him to materialize in the church instead of five different places on the godforsaken planet.

The downside to being brought back to life was that it had been painful. His head hurt and his eyes hurt and his legs and arms and back and he wasn't seventy years old, this was ridiculous. And he didn't realize how light and airy he had felt in the Lifestream. All of a sudden he was sinking in the pond and he could feel how annoyingly heavy a physical body was.

Though Kadaj was in pain, the pond energized him. The damn pond probably had saved him from drowning.

What an accomplishment that would have been. Brought back to life only to drown because he had been tired and in pain and he felt as if he was made of lead.

He managed to crawl out of the pond, pulling himself out by the vines and weeds. The Flower Girl had told him to not touch the flowers. They weren't for him to grab.

Kadaj somehow stood and stumbled forward, annoyed at the hail that pelted him through the hole in the roof. He rolled onto the first dry pew he could find, all the way in the back. He closed his eyes, wishing he had a way to block all the noise. His head was being squeezed by the thunder, or at least that's what it felt like. He took a few calming breaths, going through Flower Girl's words.

"Come back to the Church every once in a while, if you want to find your brothers."

"Behave, try not to kill many people if you can help it if you want the Lifestream to like you."

"Bad times ahead."

"Watch Lyra. That's your punishment. You're her bodyguard."

Yeah. Happy stuff.

The only things he was looking forward to was finding his brothers and watching Lyra. He wasn't sure who's pain it was he was feeling at the moment. It hadn't taken long for the pain of being brought back to fade away after laying down for a moment, but his head still hurt. And he felt uneasy and panicky, though he could tell these feeling were coming from Lyra. He couldn't tell if she was safe, but he was too exhausted to find out at the moment.

He closed his eyes and decided to wait out the storm, already knowing what his next move was. He needed his brothers.

Chapter Text

Rosso sat up from the thin cell bed as Cloud and Tifa entered. Her eyebrow rose as she eyed the flower pot in Tifa's hands.

"What is this?" She asked. Tifa sat the flower pot on the white table in the center of the cell. She crossed her arms and stood back.

"The girl you tried to capture to take to your crazy boss thought you would like to have these," Tifa said. "She is very forgiving. Do not take this kindness for granted."

Rosso stared at the lilies, her crimson eyes wide. She walked across the cell, dragging the reinforced metal shackles across the cold concrete floor. She looked much better today. Her infected wounds were cleaned and healing nicely and her scars metal extremities were cleaned and bandaged at the ends that met her skin. She rubbed a yellow petal with her organic hand then sniffed the flowers. She jumped back with a look of surprise on her face.

"They smell good!" She deeply inhaled the scent of the lilies again. "I didn't know something could smell this good! They smell better than food!"

Cloud and Tifa shared a look, Tifa trying not to smile. As dangerous as Rosso was, this was comical to watch. They let her have her fun studying the flowers. The only sound in the room was Rosso sniffing the flowers and murmuring to herself.

"You know, Dr. Jael isn't my boss," Rosso said as she studied her flowers. "He sent me here and promised me my freedom."

"And would you actually get your freedom if you went back?"

Rosso looked up from the lilies, meeting Tifa's eyes. "No. I don't believe he would actually grant me it."

The cell door opened and Rosso's breakfast was brought in by a WRO soldier. He nodded at Cloud and Tifa and he left. Rosso sat down and didn't even touch the plastic fork. She ate the grits and sausage bits with her fingers. She ate lightning fast and wiped her fingers with the napkins that had come with her food.

Tifa was impressed. If Rosso was in an eating contest with Denzel, she didn't know who would win.

"Why are you here today?" Rosso asked, folding her hands on the table before her. "Sending me back to Dr. Jael? Locking me in another dark windowless cell? Cleaning my wounds? Asking me the same questions over and over again?"

"No, actually," Cloud answered. "The cell you'll be moving into is much more comfortable than this."

Rosso slowly blinked, clearly not anticipating this. "What do you mean? Why?"

"It's been discussed and agreed upon that you can learn and heal and re-enter society one day," Tifa began slowly. Rosso sat back in her chair, furrowing her eyebrows.

"But what do you mean more comfortable? And what do you mean by learn?" Rosso looked between the two, looking more and more nervous and confused as they continued to explain that she would be staying in the WRO in the hospital ward. Cloud and Tifa explained that she would have a therapist to talk to and hopefully would make friends. The goal of her staying at the WRO would be for Rosso to move on from her life in DeepGround.

"And Dr. Jael?" She asked when they finished.

"We'll keep him away from you," Tifa promised. "He sent you after our friend. If he shows up here, he won't be allowed anywhere near you."

Rosso was silent for a moment. "Can I meet the little mouse again?"

Tifa faltered.

"If she wants to," Cloud said, but he was mostly talking to Tifa. "Honestly, Lyra doesn't seem to be holding a grudge against Rosso."

"She calls Lyra 'little mouse,'" Tifa deadpanned. "That's a bit strange."

"I only call her little mouse because that is the only name I am allowed to call her," Rosso said. "We were never to call her by her name when Dr. Jael brought her to DeepGround."

Cloud snapped his attention back to Rosso. "Excuse me?"

Rosso shrugged. "She wasn't there often, just every once in a while."

"What would she do?" Tifa asked. Rosso frowned.

"The little mouse should have told you," she said. "Why hasn't she?"

Tifa opened and shut her mouth, debating whether or not she should tell Rosso about Lyra's Shinra-science-induced amnesia. Then again, if they were going with hiding what they knew so far from Lyra, then they needed to bring Rosso into the secret if Lyra wanted to meet her.

"She has a mind block," Tifa finally said. "Lyra can't remember anything. What we found about her is horrifying and she isn't exactly ready to hear about it, so if you meet her, you can't say anything."

Rosso huffed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, because this will end well."

"What was she doing in DeepGround?" Cloud asked. Rosso played with a fallen flower petal.

"Little mouse was there to play a game," she said. "She and a few others that obviously did not belong were to be chased around an obstacle course as a war game. If they were caught, they were killed. The scientists called this game Cat and Mouse."

"They obviously didn't have much of an imagination," Tifa remarked.

"Oh, they thought they were very clever," Rosso assured her. "And no one was able to catch the little mouse, though I came close to catching her many times."

Someone knocked on the door and Tifa opened it. A soldier smiled and stepped inside.

"The room is ready for her," he said. "You done?"

Cloud and Tifa left the room as four WRO soldiers and a medic entered the cell. They brought her out. She was still shackled and the medic had sedatives ready in case Rosso would try to escape. One of the soldiers held the flower pot.

"Now obviously there are some conditions," Reeve started as they brought Rosso out. He had been listening to the conversation from the dark room attached to the cell. Rosso narrowed her eyes at him as he continued, holding his hands behind his back as he followed her through the halls.

"You have a curfew and a set schedule. If you are unruly or try to leave without permission, you will be sedated. If you continue to misbehave, we will bring you back to these cells."

They loaded into an elevator. Rosso made a muffled whimpering noise as the doors slid closed. The soldiers tensed and the medic looked serious as she readied a needle. Rosso was pale but she shook her head.

"I'm fine. It's just- there isn't much room in here," she insisted angrily. "Don't look at me like that. I'm fine."

The ride was short but very awkward and tense. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. The soldiers filed out, bringing Rosso with them. The halls were empty as the people who worked on the floor had locked themselves in empty rooms as a precaution. Reeve led the way to Rosso's new room and stepped to the side, holding the door open for her.

"You'll be under constant surveillance," he said. "And if needed, we will physically restrain you."

A soldier undid her shackles. They fell to the floor and Rosso stared at them, rubbing her organic hand with her metal one. She took a step into the room. It was plain and standard for a room in a hospital ward, though there were no heart monitors or IV drips. There were few differences between Rosso's room and the other hospital rooms. Rosso's windows were barred and her mattress was a bit thicker than the standard hospital bed. She even had a quilt from one of the donation rooms.

Rosso cautiously studied her room, flipping on the light and opening the dresser drawers and looking under the bed. She opened the bathroom and poked her head inside, seemingly expecting someone to be inside. She turned to the bed and sat on it. She seemed pleased with how comfortable it was. She bounced a little, then walked to one of the two windows. She peeked through the thin curtains and gasped.

"The sky is so cloudy today," she murmured.

"There was a storm last night and half the city lost power for a while," one of the soldiers said. Rosso didn't seem to hear, and the soldier placed the flower pot on the desk in the room.

Rosso turned to the group outside her door. "When can I meet the little mouse?"

"Alphabetical order," Shalua reminded Lyra as she gave her another stack of documents. Lyra smiled and continued to sort the documents she had laying around. A lot of the yellow folders had the Shinra insignia on the front, and when Lyra asked Shalua about it, Shalua had said that the folders had been confiscated from surviving Shinra personnel after Meteor.

Lyra was glad to have something to do and she was glad that her task let her sit. After the nightmare the night before, she hadn't been able to fall asleep for a long while. When she woke up the next morning, her head was killing her. She was dizzy and exhausted. This dizziness wasn't as disturbing as the strange tug she felt deep in her chest.

She thought it was strange when she woke up and it hadn't left. She had noticed that the tugging seemed to move directions while she sat on the bus with Tifa and the kids. If the bus turned to the right, the source of the tugging seemed to be coming from the left, behind her. At one point, the tugging seemed to be coming from in front of her.

Lyra didn't tell Tifa about the tugging. She didn't even feel comfortable enough to tell her about the nightmare.

Lyra sorted the folders as she listened to the music coming from a radio Shalua had lying around. Shalua had been happy to hear that Lyra wanted to help around the lab. As hard as she worked, she wasn't very organized. She had stacks of paper and notepads and tech strewn about the tables around the computers. Shelke was hooked to a VR machine when Lyra and Tifa had entered the lab, but she had said hi and Shalua immediately put Lyra to work.

"What are Cloud and Tifa doing again?" Marlene asked. She and Denzel had their own kids table in a corner with books and coloring pages. They even had a small crate of toys and board games to keep them busy when they stayed at the WRO. Denzel was reading a history book while Marlene practiced her writing.

"Cloud and Tifa are checking on Rosso," Shalua said. "They'll be back after lunch."

"Oh." Marlene was silent for a moment. "Rosso was with Shelke, right?"

Lyra looked back from her work. Shalua nodded and continued to mess around with her machines. Lyra wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but it wasn't her business anyway.

"I'm gonna make her a card," Marlene announced.

Shalua smiled but she didn't look up from her work. "You do that, honey."

Lyra turned back to the documents, suddenly feeling the tug sharpen. She felt dizzier and was suddenly nauseated. She stumbled from her chair and told Shalua that she needed to use the restroom. She didn't wait to hear Shalua's answer as she staggered out of the lab and down the hall.

Lyra found the ladies' restroom and locked herself in a stall, taking deep breaths to keep herself from throwing up. She hoped that she didn't have a stomach bug.

Eventually, the nausea subsided. Lyra stayed in the stall until she felt well enough to leave. She washed her hands for good measure and almost peed her pants as the alarms startled her. She heard shouting.

"Oh great. What now?"

She poked her head through the door. The halls were dark save for the emergency lights and red exit signs. She jumped out of the restroom. Lyra heard gunshots. But where were they coming from?

She cautiously inched down the hall and peeked around the corner.

Nothing. No one was there.

Lyra sighed in relief and stepped around the corner, hoping to make it to Shalua's lab without running into trouble.

She, of course, ran right into trouble in the form of Kadaj barreling down the hall. He didn't see her until the last second. She froze in alarm. His eyes widened and he wasn't able to stop. He barreled right into her, the two of them falling into a janitor cart.

"Ow, what the hell?!" Lyra sat up and glared at him. Kadaj scrambled up and stared down the hall behind him. Lyra heard yelling, but she couldn't make out what was being said.

"How the hell are you here?" Lyra demanded. Kadaj didn't answer. He jumped at her voice and helped her up. The tugging felt even worse now and the direction the tugging was coming from was right in front of her. She rubbed her chest and scowled.

"Hello? You going to answer me-" Lyra flinched as a bullet hit the cart, ricocheting off the metal and hitting a wall. She stared wide-eyed down the hall at the soldier that had shot at them. Kadaj swore loudly and pushed her in front of him. The soldier continued to shoot as they ran down the halls. Kadaj ran in front of her at some point and pulled her into a nook under some stairs.

"Are you okay?" He asked, panting. Lyra stared at him in disbelief.

"You aren't in the Lifestream anymore."

"Yeah. I noticed."

"But you're-"

"Alive? Yeah." Kadaj glanced around the corner. "Okay, I think we lost them." He smiled at her. "Sorry about that."

Lyra blinked. Then she smacked him on the shoulder. "I was just shot at! Saying 'sorry' isn't going to make it better!"

He smiled at her, shaking his head. "I missed this."

Lyra's frown deepened. "Missed what?"

He glanced down the hall again. "Talking. We used to be friends." He looked back at her again. "I really wish you remembered."

They were silent as they listened. The alarms were still blaring, but they were muffled in the hall they had found themselves in. Under the alarms, Lyra could hear people yelling and running about. They seemed to be coming closer. She stared at the exit sign pointing further down the hall in front of them.

"If you need to find a quick escape, there's an exit somewhere down there," she said, pointing. Kadaj followed her finger and shrugged.

"Yeah, I know."

Lyra stared at him. "What are you doing here?"

Kadaj shrugged again. "I thought I could come here for help. I'm looking for my brothers, but instead of listening to me the dumb secretary called security and they chased me around."

A door opened down the hall behind them. Shouting filled the hall. Kadaj swore again and was about to run. He stopped and grinned at Lyra.

"Hey, your favorite color is still green, right?" He asked. Lyra smiled and shook her head. She ignored the anxiety she felt as the people came closer.

"No, I like purple."

Kadaj snorted and rolled his eyes. "That's just what you tell people."

"What do you mean?" They were almost upon them now.

"Well, liking the color green seems a bit expected, all things considered."

With that, he turned and disappeared. She heard the emergency exit open and close and a group of soldiers appeared, aiming their weapons at her. They lowered them when they saw it was just her.

"Sorry ma'am," a woman said. "I'll escort you back."

Lyra stared down the hall where Kadaj had disappeared. "Yeah. Thanks."

The soldier escorted Lyra back to Shalua's lab, making small talk.

"You alright? Lyle said he didn't see you there at first, and he wasn't aiming for you," she said. Lyra shrugged.

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

"If it makes you feel any better, we were shooting tranqs," the woman said. Lyra grimaced.

"I've got a scar on my leg from a tranquilizer bullet."

The silence became awkward.

"Did you hear that storm last night?" The woman asked, breaking the silence. The alarms were suddenly cut off.

"Yeah. It was scary," Lyra answered. "It woke the whole house up and then the lights went out."

"Oof, I lost power too," the woman said. "My daughter slept through it somehow. I swear, she sleeps like a rock!"

They stopped before Shalua's closed and locked lab. The soldier knocked in a rhythm and the doors slid open. Marlene and Denzel were nowhere to be seen and Shelke had her EM sabers in her hands and Shalua was loading a pistol.

"Hey kid," Shalua called. "Never a dull moment, huh?"

Lyra smiled at her and the doors shut behind her. She tensed up when a panel on the wall opened. She relaxed as Tifa left through it, Marlene and Denzel crouched inside the wall with a small flashlight. Tifa waved at Lyra and handed her a drawstring bag.

"Just before all the excitement started, I stopped in a donation room," she started. "Follow me and get changed, kid. You're learning some self-defense today."

Kadaj made his way back to that sketchy neighborhood he had come across in the early hours of the morning, trying desperately to ignore the tugging. He was starving and needed a place to stay and the WRO were absolutely no help, though the homeless couple he had come across had advised him to try there. They had glowing reviews for the place, but he didn't feel any hospitality during his visit.

As he wandered around asking the people he came across if there was a place to stay for only a few gil, he thought back on his last few moments in the Negative.

He was never sure when Lyra would come back. Being dead, he didn't have a way to keep track of time. She hadn't been gone long after pulling him from the pit when she visited again, but after that visit, it felt like an eternity until she was back again.

He had been wandering around, avoiding the pits and craters of tar-like the plague and trying to avoid the souls floating about. While Lyra seemed unbothered by the souls, Kadaj was very bothered by them. They never stopped whining and crying out for help.

Kadaj was just minding his own business when suddenly the loose brown dirt turned to soil and flowers and the air went from thick to light. He looked around in shock, seeing that the starry sky was gone and with it the souls.

"Surprised?" A familiar voice asked. He spun and came face to face with a woman. He relaxed and she giggled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Kadaj blinked. "Alright. What did I do now?"

The Flower Girl tilted her head, the corners of her mouth twitching with amusement. "Nothing. Did you do something wrong?"

"Not recently," Kadaj said. "I don't know if you noticed, but I'm dead and miserable."

Aerith nodded and knelt down to tend to her flowers. Kadaj rolled his eyes. The flowers weren't going anywhere, and they wouldn't die off in the Positive Lifestream. The Positive was teeming with life, even though it was just an expanse of white in all directions.

"Why'd you bring me here?" He snapped. Aerith stopped and scowled at him.

"Don't use that tone with me. I'm helping you," she scolded him. He crossed his arms and she stood. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

Aerith rolled her eyes. "You know, most people apologize when they've been caught."

Kadaj narrowed his eyes. He mumbled an apology and Aerith rolled her eyes again, pacing away from him and groaning.

"You have so much to learn," she groaned. She suddenly turned and quickly faced him again. Kadaj found himself stepping away from her, but she grabbed his arm and held him in place.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully," The Flower Girl said in a serious tone. "There are bad times ahead."

Kadaj nervously looked around them, but he saw nothing but white empty space and the flower bed. "What's that mean?"

Aerith shook her head, her brows furrowing. "I'm not entirely sure, but something is going on with the Planet."

Kadaj went silent, biting back the sarcastic remarks bouncing about inside his head. She continued.

"It won't tell me straight. It's still healing from DeepGround, and I'm helping the best I can," Aerith said. "I need you to behave, try not to kill many people if you can help if you want the Lifestream to like you."

"What?"

"And come back to the Church every once in a while, if you want to find your brothers."

"Aerith, what the absolute hell-" Kadaj started. Her nails dug into his arms.

"You're being sent back. The Lifestream can only hold you and your brothers here for so long, thanks to Sephiroth and Jenova and that whole mess."

Kadaj flinched at the mention of Jenova, suddenly afraid that he would hear her voice again. Thankfully, he didn't.

"When you get back, I need you to watch Lyra. That's your punishment. You're her bodyguard." Aerith smiled as if this was a private joke. Kadaj just continued to stare at her.

"Bodyguard?"

Aerith nodded. Kadaj swiped her arms away and she stepped back, still smiling.

"You want me to-"

"Of course, you probably won't be able to watch her right away," Aerith said, crossing an arm and rubbing her chin. "That would be stalkerish, too creepy."

"Then how-" Aerith interrupted Kadaj again. Kadaj scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he let her continue, knowing better than to anger Aerith, who had been kind despite everything he and his brothers had done when they were living.

"Unfortunately, the way Cloud and everyone is going about with hiding things from Lyra, she won't be with them for long," she said. Kadaj frowned.

"What? What's that mean?"

"This means that they are lying to her, and what they are lying about isn't very good," Aerith said. She shook her head sadly. Then she appeared unfocused as if she was listening to something that Kadaj couldn't hear. He shivered. He loved being Lyra's friend, but he always found this part of being a Cetra creepy. Aerith sighed and shook her head, appearing to need to clear it of whatever she had heard.

"It's time," she said. "I need you to focus, otherwise you'll end up all over the place and you'll come right back."

"That won't be good?" Kadaj asked. The Flower Girl winced.

"That won't be good," she guaranteed. Kadaj nervously swallowed, trying his hardest to focus, but on what? He asked Aerith this and she said to focus on himself. She instructed him to close his eyes, relax, and focus. She had him think of a Church in the slums. He remembered the Church. The healing rain had stung at the time, and he could still remember everything that led to his death.

It hadn't been pleasant, and it definitely hadn't been painless.

Aerith's voice started to fade as he heard her tell him not to stand on the flowers or grab them, and the light grew darker behind his eyelids. He started to feel heavier and heavier and he felt as if he were floating down. Then, in a flash of blue-green, he found himself in the pond, sinking to the bottom.

When Kadaj awoke in the morning, it was still dark out and the storm had subsided. He was sore all over and he slowly rose from the church pew. His pockets were heavy, but when he emptied them, he just found a handful or two of gil and water. He shook out his jacket and wandered out of the ruins until he had found the neighborhood.

Kadaj snapped out of his thoughts in time to jump out of the way of a car. The driver blared the horn and yelled, but Kadaj ignored him.

He continued to ask around, coming across a gang or two and countless homeless people until he found a somewhat decent apartment complex. The landlady was sitting at the front, stroking a cat and eating a sandwich. He had mistaken her for a homeless woman until she told him that she owned the building and she had empty rooms for just a few gil.

She showed him an empty apartment six floors up. It was dark and small and smelled like water damage and dust, but he took it. Kadaj didn't need much room, and he could make do with what the woman had available.

She grumbled at him as he gave her the gil to cover a month and made her way back down. To Kadaj's surprise, the last tenant had left pieces of furniture. They likely were unable to get the recliner and futon and dresser down the narrow stairs, but Kadaj wondered how they were able to get them up. Likely, the previous tenant was just lazy.

Kadaj locked the door and made his way to the bathroom. It was small and stained, but surprisingly clean. The mirror was warped and cracked and the light flickered, but the water came out scalding hot from the showerhead. The pressure wasn't that great, but he couldn't complain.

After a while, he left. He locked the apartment and made his way back to the Church. Hopefully, his brothers were waiting for him. The sun was setting at this time, but he wasn't worried.

He finally found the Church but was disappointed to find no one there. He waited about half an hour in case Aerith would drop them while he was there. Kadaj wandered about the pews, looking through the rubble for anything useful. He came across a black duffel bag in the front by the pond. It was tangled in vines and flower stems, but he was able to extract it. He was surprised to find a note attached to the bag, the handwriting large and messy.

Thought you could use some help. Use your sword wisely. – Zack

Kadaj's brows shot up his forehead as he unzipped the bag. He had only met Zack once before in the Lifestream, just before she pulled him into the pits.

Inside the duffle bag were changes of clothes, cans of food, and a wallet of gil. His sword was wrapped in rags and nestled underneath the clothes. Kadaj found a burner phone inside a pocket beside a toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Thank you, oh powerful spirits," he said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. He was thankful, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to know how Zack and Aerith were able to get him his sword, let alone the clothes and money.

He thought his sword was lost with The Calamity.

He made his way back to his new apartment, the streets dark and dangerous. No one messed with him as he found his way back to his apartment. He felt the tug pull behind him as he walked down the street and he almost followed it before he remembered just how disastrous the day had been.

And Aerith was right about the whole thing being creepy. Even if Aerith wanted him to watch his friend, he didn't want to be a creep about it.

Kadaj passed out on the futon, listening to the tenants in the apartments around him pace back and forth and argue.

This place was even more lonely than the Negative. 

Chapter Text

Lyra wasn't sure what she expected the WRO's training center to look like, but she was thinking more along the lines of gun ranges and exercise equipment. Tifa and the kids led her past the gun ranges and they entered a spacious room.

On the far side of the room, just outside locker room doors, were various types of exercise equipment. A large portion of the room was padded and divided into sections. A line of somewhat humanoid dummies were shoved against a wall. The nearest corner was dedicated to a weapons rack with spears, swords, daggers, axes and other weapons messily put away. A track ran around the room, but it was empty.

Something shiny caught Lyra's eye underneath the weapons rack. She left Tifa's side to investigate.

"What are you doing?" Tifa asked. Lyra shrugged as she knelt down and reached for the shiny metal cylinder laying underneath. It was slender and mostly smooth. She pulled the cylinder out and showed Tifa.

"What's this?"

"I'm not sure. Probably a prototype of something a techie is making." Tifa took the cylinder from Lyra and found a small indent in the middle. "Maybe this will turn it on?"

Lyra pressed the small indent in the middle and two red lasers came from the ends. Lyra backed away from Tifa and the kids and twirled the cylinder between her fingers. She smiled wide and mimed a few swings as if it were a sword.

"Having fun?" Tifa asked. Lyra nodded and found the indent in the middle to turn the lasers off.

"Great." Tifa took the weapon from Lyra and threw it back at the weapons rack.

"Can I play with it?" Denzel asked. Tifa laughed and shook her head.

"No!"

"Can I?" Marlene piped up.

"If I can't, I don't think you can," Denzel whispered to her. They ran off to the punching bags and Lyra and Tifa followed.

The rest of the evening was mostly uneventful. Tifa taught Lyra a few basic self-defense moves and they left. Tifa told Cloud that Lyra was a fast learner and the next day was planned as a day for fun after the chaotic week.

The farmers' market had been postponed because of the storms during the week and then the power had gone out for half the city.

Cloud and Tifa woke everyone early in the morning as the sun rose. Marlene and Denzel bounced around, trying to find various objects around the bar and living areas that they were willing to trade for treats and toys. The people selling at the farmers' market accepted gil, but they also accepted trades as a form of payment.

The morning was cool and the sidewalks and roads were wet from the humid air as they made their way to the farmers' market. Marlene and Denzel took Lyra's hands and dragged her through the crowds, always in view of Cloud and Tifa. Cloud and Tifa took their time with buying fruit and vegetables, but so far they were spending all their time surrounded by food. Lyra had a few gil from helping Shalua organize her lab but she wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to spend her money on anything.

Eventually, Cloud and Tifa finished buying and trading for food and they herded Marlene and Denzel farther into the crowded market. The stalls and open truck beds weren't filled with fresh food after a while. They were filled with toys whittled from wood and homemade clothes. The smells of baked goods wafted through the market as it got closer to lunchtime.

Lyra wandered around, stopping every once in a while to admire the knickknacks and pies made from scratch. The smell of food made her stomach growl, and she bought herself a snack. The sticky roll was delicious.

The sun was high in the sky at this time, but Lyra didn't have a watch. She turned to ask Tifa- Oh no.

Where are they?

Lyra stopped walking and looked around her, hoping to see Cloud's spiky hair through the crowd. That guy's hair was hard to miss. She heard it be compared to a dead chocobo earlier and she had to agree.

Unfortunately, she couldn't find him. And Lyra would have no luck listening for Marlene and Denzel. The market was filled with people and noise.

Lyra started to panic. She tried to backtrack to the stall she had last seen them, but she couldn't remember what the stand had or even when she had last seen them. She mustered up the courage to ask stand owners if they had seen Cloud or Tifa, but most of the answers were no with a side of 'I've seen so many people today that all the faces just blur together, sorry.'

In the end, Lyra decided to find her way back to the 7th Heaven. She trudged through the crowd until she found a side street. She followed it, but nothing looked familiar. Everything looked more worn than usual, with litter in the streets and bags of trash crowding the sidewalks. The people she came across gave her strange looks and glared as if she wasn't supposed to be there.

Lyra definitely wasn't in the right area. She turned around to go back and almost had a heart attack. A tall man had snuck up behind her and he was standing far too close. She almost turned right into him and she could smell his breath on her face.

"Hey good-looking," he drawled. Lyra gave him a nervous smile and tried to step around him, but he followed her movement. "Where you going?"

Lyra scowled. "I'm trying to go home. Please get out of my way."

The man didn't seem to hear her. Or maybe he did and he just pretended not to.

"Wanna get a drink? There's a nightclub still open down the street."

Lyra tried not to roll her eyes. "If it's called a nightclub, I doubt it would still be open at this hour. Please move."

He didn't and she felt her eye twitch. She tried stepping around him again, but he reached out and stopped her.

"Come on, it'll be fun," he promised, his hand gripping her arm tightly. Lyra looked around, but no one seemed to notice. A group of people passed them and they didn't even give Lyra a second glance.

"I don't want to go," Lyra said in a firm voice, trying to ignore the pang of fear shooting through her. She tried to pry the man's fingers from her arm, but he clasped her hand with his free hand. Lyra jumped and tried to yank away from him, tried to twist away, but he started to drag her down the sidewalk, yammering on about how fun the club was and how they would have a drink or two and she would warm up to him. She felt sick and desperately prayed to anyone that would listen that she could get someone's attention.

helphelphelphelp

It's coming.

Lyra froze at the sound of the foreign voices in her head all speaking the one line, causing the man to stop as well. He snapped at her. She ignored him and stared at the sidewalk, listening for any more voices. The man yanked her forward, but they weren't able to continue.

"Hey, I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Lyra gasped and smiled when she heard his voice and was actually glad when another pair of hands gripped her wrists.

"Kadaj," Lyra managed to say, turning around. "I've been looking for you too!"

Kadaj was moping around the apartment, fully aware of how sad it was to mope around an empty apartment when there was a nice market a few blocks away and the sun was shining when he felt the burst of panic. It wasn't his panic, and suddenly the familiar tugging became too much to ignore.

He had to follow it. Something was wrong with Lyra and he was curious about what dangerous thing she had gotten herself tangled in this time. And Aerith probably wouldn't be very happy if something really bad happened to her.

Kadaj didn't have to look for her long. All he had to do was follow the tugging around a few corners and he saw her.

Lyra looked healthy enough, a bit uneasy, but she looked well. Her dark messy hair was pulled into a ponytail with a lilac ribbon and she was wearing a T-shirt and jeans and a plaid overshirt-

And she was being dragged behind a man.

Kadaj tried not to snap. He had left his sword in the duffel bag, which was probably for the best if he wanted the Lifestream and Planet to accept him the next time he died. But Lyra obviously was not pleased with her situation and she obviously did not know the man.

Kadaj hastily thought of a way to help and- wait, how did she get here? Was she following the tug?

"Hey!"

He dissolved into mist and appeared behind Lyra, materializing and grabbing her wrists. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Lyra smiled at him and he could feel her relief through the tug. She mumbled something back to him, but her voice was so shaky and soft that he couldn't hear. The man turned around and stared wide-eyed at Kadaj. Kadaj narrowed his eyes at the man and the man glared back. The man was taller than him, but if he tried to start a fight Kadaj was sure he could take him.

"We have somewhere to be," Kadaj said, just slightly taking on a threatening tone. The three of them were silent, the man's eyes going from Lyra to Kadaj and back to Lyra. He seemed to weigh his options. Part of Kadaj hoped that he would start a fight, but he also knew that a fight wouldn't be the best thing at the moment, unfortunately.

The man seemed to think this as well, as he let go of Lyra. He swore a few times under his breath and continued down the street. Kadaj watched the man until he turned a corner. Lyra let out her breath.

"Holy shit, I didn't think he was going to let go for a second there," Lyra exclaimed, pacing away from Kadaj in a circle. She took a few breaths and beamed at him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

"What are you doing here?"

She blinked and her smile faltered. "I…I got lost."

He tried not to feel too disappointed, but then again she hadn't outright said anything against following the tug. And even if she hadn't actually followed it, it felt good to have someone to talk to. He had looked for his brothers earlier, but they still hadn't shown up in the Church.

"It happens to the best of us," Kadaj said. "Where are you trying to go? Maybe I can help you find it."

He hoped she hadn't heard him mumble under his breath, "If I can find it."

Lyra's smile widened. Nope, she hadn't heard him.

"Lead the way," she sang, looping her arm through his. Kadaj grinned as they turned around. "I'm trying to find Tifa's bar, 7th Heaven, and I lost her and Cloud and the kids in the farmers' market."

"I know where it is," Kadaj assured her. "I found it before I died."

It went awfully silent after that lovely remark. They walked a block in silence before it got to be too much.

Oh my gods, say something! Make her laugh! Anything!

"So you were at the farmers' market?" He blurted. "Anything interesting?"

It was like a floodgate opened. Lyra started to babble about all the food and baked goods and 'wow, everything is so colorful there, it was so fun and wonderful until I lost Cloud and Tifa.'

"What have you been up to?" Lyra suddenly ended with. Kadaj didn't want to tell her that he had mostly been sitting around an empty, falling-apart apartment wishing that he had someone to talk to and his brothers back, so he lied.

"I've been reading," he said. Lyra's dark green eyes lit up at that and he instantly regretted his decision to lie. Or at least regret that the first thing he had thought to say was that he had been reading. He didn't own any books and the books he had read were instruction manuals for air conditioners.

"Reading what?"

He looked away from her. "Uh, nothing that interesting."

She made a disappointed noise. "That's too bad."

They were silent again, but the silence was more comfortable now, and Lyra was holding his hand now.

Kadaj could count on one hand the number of times they had talked in person instead of in dreams throughout their childhood. The physical contact was nice. They had held hands before but holding hands with someone who can only talk to you in dreams wasn't really the same as holding hands with someone in person.

"Did you follow the tug?" Lyra asked, her voice clear and soft. Kadaj glanced at her, but she wasn't looking at him. She was looking at the sidewalk before them.

"Yeah. Did you?"

Lyra met his eyes and the corners of her mouth twitched.

"I was trying to find my way home," she said. "I don't think I was following it on purpose." She squeezed his hand. "Thank you for helping me."

You're the only piece of home I have left, K.

They found the market and stopped, watching the crowd of people milling about. Kadaj couldn't help but feel disappointed that their time together was about to be cut short. The crowd was big, but it was small enough that Lyra could make her way to the bar without him.

"We need to find a way to talk to each other without the tug and dreams," Lyra muttered.

"Great. Any ideas?"

Lyra shrugged. "Well, this is going to sound awkward, but since all the crazy going on with Rosso and you showing up, Shalua and Tifa convinced Reeve to let me get a phone. In case of emergencies, you know?"

Kadaj snickered. "Are you trying to ask for my number?"

Lyra's face turned pink and she bowed her head. She shrugged and mumbled, "Kind of. I told you it would sound awkward."

"I don't have any paper on me," Kadaj told her. "But I'm sure we can find some."

Lyra tugged at his hand and he followed her. They wandered around the farmers' market, just looking around in case Cloud and Tifa were still there. Kadaj found a piece of paper at one point and scribbled his number for her.

It was nice to spend time together. The sky was clear of clouds and it was warm outside, not so warm and humid that it was miserable.

"I'm not seeing them," Lyra said. "They really might be at the bar."

"That's okay."

They continued to wander around, enjoying the sunshine.

Kadaj wasn't sure when he noticed the feeling of being watched, but it was off-putting enough for him to stop enjoying himself. Lyra didn't seem to notice anything was off. Kadaj hardly kept up with their conversation about an arts and crafts stand as he scanned their surroundings.

Nothing out of place, just the smiling faces of families enjoying the weather and market.

"Kadaj? You alright?"

Kadaj looked down at her. They had stopped walking, causing the people visiting the market to walk around them to avoid trampling them.

"Something isn't right."

Lyra frowned and looked around her, seeming to finally feel as if something was wrong.

"What is it?" She asked, her hand squeezing his. Kadaj didn't answer, still scanning the marketplace. He thought he saw something, but whatever it was it was gone in a blink.

He knew what was happening when they moved aisles. He saw the dark head of hair disappear behind a truck as it drove by a side street, disappearing as soon as he spotted it.

"We're being followed," he told Lyra. Lyra nodded, placing the dumbapple she had been examining back in the crate sitting on a truck bed.

"What should we do?" She asked, her free hand curling into a fist.

"Not sure. Keep walking to be sure?"

He saw the hair again, and a glimpse of a pale, pale face as they entered another aisle. Lyra's hand was cutting the circulation in his hand.

"I think I saw something," she muttered. Suddenly a scream filled the air and the crowd dispersed. At the end of the aisle, a tall pale man with dark hair glided towards them. His limbs and torso seemed to stretch and his face grew. His fingers turned to claws and his skin turned dark and tough.

"What the absolute hell is that?!" Lyra shouted.

The man grew and grew until he was a large, wingless lizard. A pair of legs grew from his middle and his clawed feet squashed the stands around him. His mouth was filled with sharp cone-shaped teeth, yellowed and bloody from past meals. His head was flat and his eyes were dark and beady, zeroing in on Kadaj and Lyra. He roared, breaking windows in the surrounding buildings. Kadaj covered his over-sensitive ears.

He remembered this man. He was the Vigo, Azazel's bodyguard. The Vigo terrified Kadaj and his brothers, never saying a word, just glaring and smiling in a way that just wasn't right. Kadaj had only seen the Vigo transform once before that was enough to keep the boys in line.

Kadaj pushed Lyra before him, nearly tripping over himself as he shouted over and over again for her to just run. Why did he leave his damn sword?

The Vigo roared again and Kadaj heard the stands behind them splinter as they were destroyed. Lyra yelped as WRO vehicles pulled in front of them. The soldiers filed out and wasted no time evacuating civilians. An unfortunately familiar airship hovered above the ruined farmers' market.

"Oh great."

Lyra looked up at the airship and then at Kadaj. "What? What is it now?"

He didn't get the chance to answer as Cloud miraculously appeared, sword in hand and Tifa riding on his motorcycle behind him. Neither of them seemed pleased to see him.

"What are you doing here?" Tifa asked as she approached them. Kadaj scowled and didn't answer and she rolled her amber eyes. "Whatever. You two get out of here. Find a safe place to hide."

"I want to help," Lyra countered. Tifa shook her head.

"No, you need to stay out of the way," she said. The Vigo roared again as Cloud and the members of AVALANCHE that had been in the airship attacked, throwing the pilot guy into a tented stand a few aisles away and almost swallowing the Gun-Arm whole.

Much to Kadaj's annoyance, Tifa pushed them behind the closest vehicle as a truck flew across the market. It screeched as it hit the stone pavement, sparks flying all over the place and actually starting a small trash fire. The truck blocked the side street closest to them and they crouched behind the truck as the sounds of fighting subsided. The Vigo roared once more and the market was silent. Kadaj peered around the vehicle. Cloud was talking to the pilot and Gun-Arm as Gun-Arm's arm turned into a metal hand. They were joking as they made their way to Tifa, but they stopped when they saw Kadaj.

"They're back?" Gun-Arm's hand turned back to a gun and he aimed it at Kadaj. "Say the word and I'll blow him to pieces."

Kadaj rolled his eyes. "Or I'll just leave. Clearly, I am not welcome."

"He's fine," Lyra said. Gun-Arm turned his scowl from Kadaj to her. He glared some more, not looking very impressed or moved by her words.

"She's shorter than I thought she would be," he said. Lyra raised an eyebrow and glanced at Tifa.

"Who is this?"

Tifa didn't get a chance to answer.

"Barret Wallace," Gun-Arm said for her. His gun-arm morphed into a metal hand and he walked away, shuffling around the wreckage and just being grumpy in general.

"Now might be a good time for you to leave," Tifa said as she followed him. Kadaj shuffled his feet.

"Problem?" Cloud asked. He crossed his arms. Kadaj scoffed.

"Yeah. Lyra needs to remember how to fight and defend herself," he answered.

"Tifa took her to the training-" Cloud started.

"Wait, what do you mean remember?"

Kadaj glowered at Cloud. "Aren't you supposed to be helping her with the mind block?"

"It's time for you to leave," Cloud snapped. Kadaj resisted the urge to run him through with his own sword and let go of Lyra's hand. Lyra pouted and tried to stop him as he backed away.

"See you later, Ly." He turned at dissolved into mist, flying over the wrecked truck. He materialized in an alley near the apartment building and made his way inside. The streets were strangely empty, probably because of Vigo and the WRO evacuating.

His apartment was empty as ever and Kadaj planned another trip to the Church to meet his brothers, but he already knew that it would be empty and dark.

The Vigo had failed, much to Jael's disappointment. He was injured and bleeding, but not so injured that he wouldn't survive his wounds. The Vigo morphed back to his human form and sat, exhausted.

He was emptyhanded.

"Where is my favorite subject?" Jael growled. The Vigo raised his head. He stared blankly ahead. He didn't say anything.

"Subject 6676? Otherwise known as Lyra?" Jael continued, his voice rising with his anger. "Ring any bells?!"

The Vigo blinked. "Subject 6676 is never alone. There is always someone around her. I fought members of AVALANCHE-"

Jael roared and threw a chair. It crashed into a wall, leaving a large dent. This was not something he wanted to hear. Of course, he didn't get to his favorite subject first and of course, the people who got to her first were part of that blasted terrorist group. It would have been better for the President and his Turks to find her. At least then he would have a chance of getting her back.

Jael took a breath and thought about his options.

He needed to find a way to intimidate the WRO and AVALANCHE enough to hand Subject 6676 over. Likely, they had files on her. Jael could remotely declassify certain parts of the documents for them to read. If they found all the things Shinra Electric had her do, maybe just maybe the information would disgust them or scare them enough to throw her onto the streets. Then again Reeve Tuesti was in charge and he was too human to throw anyone out. Jael had sent Rosso the Crimson to retrieve Subject 6676 and instead she was placed into a rehabilitation program, according to the Vigo.

No, he'd have to go with intimidation and threats.

Jael crossed the dark room, throwing furniture out of his way. He grabbed for the small black box and gingerly opened it. He lifted the small red orb. It looked like any other Materia except for the occasional grainy black line that swirls around inside.

The reason he missed his chance to take Subject 6676. This Materia had been just waiting for Jael. He closed his hand around the Materia and his hand started to glow. Jael yelled as he slammed his fist down on the table, causing it to crumble and dissolve into dust.

Jael knew what he would have to do. 

Author's Note: Whew! Got this chapter finished! I got past the writer's block and everything has settled down a bit since my finals! Also, the outline isn't finished but it's gotten far enough for me to write the next few chapters! Thank you so much for being patient and thank you so much for your support! Be sure to leave a comment and a kudos! Thank you so much again!

Chapter Text

Lyra had Kadaj's number memorized. Shalua and Reeve were taking far too long, giving her tips for safety and adding numbers and names in the cell phone. Lyra fidgeted, shuffling her feet.

"You have everyone's number in here, okay?" Shalua repeated for the third time. Lyra nodded and smiled and Reeve finally handed the phone over to her.

"Thank you," Lyra said. She went through the contacts, showing Shalua and Reeve that she knew how to use it so they could let her add Kadaj's number.

After Kadaj had left, Tifa gently scolded Lyra.

"He really isn't someone you want to be around," she said. "He's hurt people."

Lyra apologized, moving her hand behind her back to hide the scrap of paper with his number. Cid and Barret added to Tifa's claims. Apparently, Kadaj had once used a Bahamut summon and it had destroyed a memorial statue. Miraculously, no one had died but many people had been injured.

Lyra left Reeve's office to find a restroom. She was paranoid that someone would see her, and she didn't want Cloud or Tifa to give her another lecture about how someone she knew was her friend was such a bad person and blah, blah, blah.

She happily texted Kadaj, saying Guess who.

A minute or two passed as she made her way to the elevator. Her new phone chimed, and she checked the message.

Let me guess. Short, likes flowers, and my best friend?

Lyra smiled as she pressed the call button to go down. She sent a message back.

Yup! I got an emergency phone.

Another chime came from her phone just as she pressed send, this time from Yuffie.

I HEARD YOU GOT A PHONE HOW YOU DOING BUDDY

Lyra laughed to herself and boarded the elevator. She continued to talk to Kadaj and Yuffie until she got to her floor. Yuffie had stopped talking in all caps after a few messages, and Kadaj was just making small talk. He would try to throw random references from past conversations in. Lyra knew he was trying to see if she could remember much of anything, but she knew she wouldn't.

Lyra was just outside of Shalua's lab, about to open the door when she heard her voice down the hall. The WRO was silent, everyone had gone home for the evening, and most of the building was empty. The only people there were security and nurses in the hospital ward.

She didn't think twice about making her way down the hall. The lights were off. The hall was dark and silent. A door was cracked open letting a sliver of light escape. Shalua's voice was coming from the room. Lyra stopped before the door and froze. She heard her name mentioned and she put her phone on silent so she could listen.

"First Rosso, then this Vigo thing," Tifa was saying. "What's next?"

Someone grunted and Lyra heard someone shuffling through paper.

"Who knows," Shalua answered. "Shelke spent the day trying to break through all the security in Lyra's files instead of going to the farmer's market. She couldn't do much, but she found something disturbing."

Lyra frowned. What was she talking about? She had files? Actually, of course they would have files, they needed a way to document her arrival and all the craziness that followed. But the way Shalua had talked about these files, it sounded as if she didn't make them. There were security measures taken that insured that even Shelke with all of her hacking genius couldn't get through to read them. Lyra shook her head and stayed silent. She wanted to know what disturbing thing Shelke had found.

She didn't hear Shalua say anything, but she heard paper being shuffled around. Lyra cautiously peeked through the crack. She glimpsed a paper being handed between Cloud and Tifa as well as Barret and Cid. Reeve moved in front of the crack and Lyra jumped back. His back was to her, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"How many labs was this guy in charge of?" Barret asked. His voice was shaking with anger as he said this.

"Not sure, but Shelke found that many of them were in the Woodlands Area," Shalua answered. "Did you guys know that the Woodlands Area used to have the highest percentage of Cetra twenty-five years ago?"

No one said anything. The room was silent.

"Really?"

"Until Shinra became obsessed with the Promised Land?"

"Yeah. The villages there had a small Cetra population. Shinra had labs down there and Jael was in charge," Shalua continued. "He was stationed down there around the time Lyra was born according to the document."

Lyra jumped back from the door and stifled a yelp as her phone vibrated. She glanced down at it to see that Yuffie and Kadaj were still talking to her. The door opened wider and Reeve smiled at her, though the look in his eyes was uneasy.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked. Lyra shrugged and tried to act as if she hadn't overheard them. She had the eerie feeling that she wasn't supposed to hear any of that.

"Nothing. I just got here. I'm just talking to Yuffie."

Lyra expected them to not believe her. The bathrooms on the current floor were closed for maintenance so she had to go down to the floor below them. It wouldn't have realistically taken her long to add Kadaj's number and go back and join everyone. But in that time, Cloud and Tifa were talking behind her back with Shalua and Reeve and those new guys.

Cloud and Tifa took her back to the 7th Heaven as if nothing had happened, apologizing for leaving her at the farmer's market. They had bought supplies and food for the bar and took them back, but they thought Lyra was right behind them. They didn't mean to leave her behind. Lyra wasn't mad at them for doing this, she was able to see Kadaj and spend a nice half hour or so with him.

No, she was mad that they were hiding something from her and they still expected her to trust them. 

Kadaj woke up to his phone ringing. He grumbled and fumbled around for it, falling off the futon only to find that it was lying underneath him. He cleared his throat and answered it.

"Hello?" He cringed. He sounded groggy and grumpy. There was a pause and then a timid voice answered.

"Kadaj? It's me."

Kadaj smiled. "Lyra-"

"K, I think something bad is happening."

Kadaj scrambled to his feet, ready to run out the door. He pulled on his boots and grabbed his sword.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

He paused with his hand on the door. He searched through the bond for any signs of panic or fear. Lyra was tired, and something was troubling her. She wasn't in any danger. He relaxed a bit.

"I'm sorry for bothering you," she said, jerking him back. "I know it's late-"

"No, it's okay." Kadaj threw his sword on the floor next to the futon and flopped down. "What's wrong?"

Lyra was silent. He could hear her moving around, messing with a door. It closed and she brought the phone back to her ears.

"I think Cloud and Tifa are hiding something. Something about me."

"What makes you say that?" Kadaj asked. Lyra took a breath.

"I eavesdropped on them talking with Reeve and Shalua, and those other two guys and they were talking about me."

Kadaj frowned. "What were they saying?"

"They just…" Lyra sighed. "They have documents and stuff about me and it's blocked by security and something about Cetra." Lyra paused again. "What are Cetra?"

Kadaj didn't say anything. He wanted to tell her everything that she didn't remember, at least as much that he knew, but it would be a lot to take in.

"They're supposedly extinct," he said. "Look, it's pretty late. Why don't we meet up somewhere and I'll tell you about them."

"Won't we meet up again with the dream thing and all?"

Kadaj chuckled. "Well, yeah, but it's a lot and the dreams were usually a place for us to just hang out."

Up until the end when shit hit the fan.

Everyone is leaving and I'm afraid you're going to leave next.

Kadaj winced remembering that moment. They were in the dreamland as usual, but she had been crying. Something horrible had happened and Lyra was terrified. Their safe place had turned into a place meant for them to make sure the other was alive and well. The bond wasn't enough at the time.

"Kadaj? K? Are you still there?" Lyra laughed a little as she said, "You didn't fall asleep on me did you?"

"No, but I'm about to." Kadaj yawned. "I'll talk to you later. We'll figure out a way to meet up in the dreamland."

"Alright. See you."

Lyra hung up and his apartment was silent again. He smiled.

"She called me K again."

The next morning, Barret came to the bar to get Marlene. They had a day planned to catch up and be a normal father and daughter. With all the crazy happening in the past few years, Barret hadn't been able to do much with her and this trip to the WRO gave him an opportunity to see his little girl again.

Lyra wasn't sure what to think of Barret. He was a huge guy and his gun could turn into a gun. But he seemed nice enough. He didn't seem to like her though. Barret gave her suspicious looks and didn't seem happy with Cloud and Tifa's choice to leave her unsupervised. She tried to tell him that she wasn't dangerous, but he didn't seem to believe her.

Cloud had a delivery to do and Tifa had to work the bar. She and Denzel spent the morning organizing and putting away the supplies they had gotten from the farmer's market. Lyra didn't have much to do and Tifa insisted that they were fine and didn't need her help. This was perfect for her.

Lyra gave Tifa a lame explanation about exploring the area around the bar so she wouldn't get lost again and called Tifa's phone to prove that she had her number and would be fine with going off alone.

Lyra could easily find the memorial statue and happily looked around for Kadaj. She was sure that she would be able to spot his silver hair in the crowd, but she also knew that the Bahamut he had summoned had been the reason for the construction of the statue. She wondered if he would be wearing a disguise.

She had been thinking all night about the conversation and just how much she didn't know.

Did she want to remember? Yes. But honestly, how much would Kadaj know and what good would it do? She still wouldn't remember anything. No, she wanted to remember things herself. She would have to tell Kadaj this. Instead of asking much about her past, she would ask about Cetra and that Vigo thing.

Lyra sat on a bench and watched the construction. She texted Yuffie, who was at the WRO with Vincent and the others. Yuffie said that they were working on research for energy sources and a bunch of other stuff. Lyra doubted this, thinking back to the conversation she overheard.

Lyra's palms felt hot and she closed her eyes. She took calming breaths to keep her anger and fire at bay. Fire would not be a good thing at the moment. And neither would ice. Much to Lyra's dismay, as soon as she started to kill the fire, the ice formed around her feet and she felt cold.

She panicked for a moment as the ice annoyingly tried to appear and smoke wafted through her fingers.

Lyra yelped as a hand fell on her shoulder and she jumped from her seat. Kadaj smirked as he backed away, his hands in the air. He was wearing a black hoodie. The hood covered his silver hair.

"Hey Ly, how's it going?"

Lyra wacked him in the side. "Don't scare me like that, you jerk!"

They sat back down and watched the construction for a moment. Kadaj bobbed his knee nervously and looked around.

"So," he started. "About your memories-"

"I've thought about it and came to the conclusion that even if you told me anything, I still won't be able to remember," Lyra interrupted.

Kadaj blinked at her and his mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"Okay," he began slowly. "What would you like to talk about then?"

Lyra shrugged. "First off, the Vigo. And second, what are Cetra."

Kadaj took a breath and sat back. He closed his eyes and pinched his nose. "You know, you are really making this difficult."

Lyra frowned. "Making what difficult?"

"This whole situation."

Lyra scoffed. "It's not like I asked to forget my life. I don't think I wanted to forget you!"

Kadaj and Lyra sat in silence for a moment.

"Are you sure?" Kadaj asked. Lyra nodded.

"Yes."

Kadaj sighed and pulled something from his hoodie pocket. It was a round purple orb. Lyra could feel the energy coming from it, pulsing and playfully glowing in his hand. He didn't say anything, just passed it between his fingers.

"Well, the Cetra were the Planet's caretakers," Kadaj said finally. "They began to go extinct thousands of years ago because of the Calamity." Kadaj paused to swallow. Lyra could feel a wave of anxiety rise on his end of the bond. "And they fled to the Woodlands Area. They lived in villages peacefully until the Shinra Electric came around and they died out."

"What would that have to do with me?" Lyra asked. "Shalua was talking about my documents when she brought the Cetra up."

Kadaj met Lyra's eyes. "Well, you're a Cetra."

Lyra cocked her head, still unsure what this would mean. Kadaj rolled his eyes.

"You can hear the Planet and before you lost everything you were very powerful," Kadaj said. Lyra's eyes widened. "Hear the Planet, speak with the Planet, unlock it."

"How do you know this?"

"We grew up in the labs together." Kadaj smirked. "And the Flower Girl Aerith filled in the blanks while I was in the Lifestream."

Lyra hugged herself and sat back, trying to relieve her own anxiety over this new information. "I guess that explains the voices and seeing Aerith in the Church when she's supposed to be dead."

Kadaj laughed and Lyra scowled at him. "Yeah, that would explain it."

"So what about the Vigo?"

Kadaj's smile slipped away and his eyes filled with fear. "Not a good person. He's the doctor's personal bodyguard." His voice was uncharacteristically quiet and small. "Terrifying. Brutal. It can shapeshift into that monster. He kept me and my brothers in line, wouldn't speak, just… stared at us."

Lyra knit her eyebrows, unsure what to say. Kadaj suddenly thrust the purple orb into her hands.

"Take it," he said. "It's connected to another one I have."

Lyra took it and examined the orb further. "What is it?"

"Teleportation Materia."

Lyra rose an eyebrow and stared at Kadaj.

"It's so if something really bad happens, you can use it and teleport to safety," Kadaj explained. Lyra nodded, making a note to ask how to use it. In fact, she was just about to ask when Kadaj asked something that made her really think.

"So what are you going to do about Cloud and Tifa?"

Lyra dropped the hand holding the Materia. She shook her head.

"I don't know. I want to stay. They're nice and haven't actually done anything to make me feel unsafe." Lyra rolled the Materia in her hand. "But if they're hiding something about me from me, I have to know what it is."

"You might not like what you find." Kadaj took on a warning tone. Lyra shook her head.

"I want to remember. I don't care how bad my past is. I'm only nineteen, how bad can it be?" She smiled at him, poking his side playfully with her elbow, but he didn't smile back. Kadaj was dead serious and didn't say anything else to discourage her.

"I don't know Lyra," he whispered. "It's pretty bad."

Lyra's phone rang, making them both jump. Kadaj was so startled that he jumped from the bench, balling his hands into fists as if he was ready for a fight. His hood fell and the man and woman passing by looked disturbed. Lyra took a breath and looked at her phone.

"It's Tifa," she said. "I should go."

Kadaj nodded. He reached for the hand holding the Materia and squeezed it. "Stay safe, Star-Eyes."

Lyra watched Kadaj run to an alley before he dematerialized into mist. Lyra answered her phone. Tifa was wondering where she was. Yuffie had come back and the bar was really busy. Lyra went back to the bar and helped Tifa and Yuffie.

Lyra had the Materia in her sundress pocket, and she checked it many times to make sure it was still there. She went over everything Kadaj had said over and over and over again in her head as she brought drinks and dishes of food to the tables. She shyly smiled as she served the patrons and politely made small talk with a few that wanted to make small talk but no matter how busy she was kept, she couldn't shake her shock and anger.

She was a Cetra and had been in a lab with Kadaj. Kadaj had said that they grew up together. She couldn't imagine a kid growing up in a lab for whatever reasons the Shinra Company had. She understood that she only couldn't imagine this because she couldn't remember and she couldn't shake that eerie thought from her head.

And her supposed friends were keeping this information from her. Didn't they know how out of place and lost she felt? Lyra was sure that they would help her, that they were helping her remember and they weren't. They hid her and shuffled her around Shalua's lab and gave her dumb-bunny tasks to keep busy and quiet and she was no closer to knowing who she was than she was when she first woke up in that blasted—

Lyra jumped and screamed as the drinks in her hands exploded, showering the floor with glass and liquid. The liquid steamed and bubbled and the pieces of glass still in her hand were very warm to the touch. Her fingers were wreathed in wisps of smoke and the bar was silent.

Yuffie jumped into action, reassuring everyone that she 'got it' and swept up the glass. Tifa took Lyra into the back and gave her a wet cloth to clean her hands. Lyra hadn't felt the cuts until the warm cloth touched her hand. They weren't deep, but her right palm was dripping blood all over the kitchen island. Tifa looked over her hands and Lyra watched as the cuts began to close almost immediately after they were disinfected. Somehow this didn't surprise her or freak her out.

"Oh, they aren't too bad," Tifa assured her, taking in the shock on Lyra's face and misinterpreting it. "You know how a shaving nick seems to bleed way too much? That's what's going on. You'll be fine."

Tifa's smile didn't make Lyra feel better. She just kept hearing what Shalua had said in the office at the WRO. Lyra forced herself to smile back, trying not to snap at Tifa and demand the truth. She felt so betrayed and hurt.

Tifa left Lyra with the rag and washed her hands before going back to the front. Lyra stayed where she was and began to silently plan. She needed to get the truth from the WRO herself. 

Author's Note: WOW. I FINALLY GOT THIS CHAPTER DONE. Thank you so much for reading!! I hope you guys enjoyed!! The plot is beginning to pick up, and I'm trying to write as fast as I can with my busy schedule. I'll try to crank out another chapter or two this week. Again, thank you so much for reading!! I love that so many people have read and given me kudos!! And I love reading comments!! I love hearing theories about what's going to happen next as well!! 

Please, feel free to leave a kudos, comment, and follow!! Thank you so much!! 

Chapter Text

The soldier found it while hiking through the mountains near Nibelheim, searching through the cave systems for the anomalies that were reported by other soldiers that had been stationed nearby. It was slightly glowing green, mostly black. She almost didn't see it in the dark as she shone her flashlight over the rocks and boulders it had been snugly crammed between. Moving the light away, a faint green glow had caught her eye.

The cave was dark and cold and wet and the Materia was slimy with mud. It seemed to have been pushed through the earthen floor. She showed it to her supervisor who in turn called the team out. They flew back to headquarters and the whole time she felt as if a magnet was in her pocket instead of the strange Materia. The cloth from her uniform's pocket seemed to stick to her chair and she passed it around, hoping to escape the weird feeling it gave her the further away it got.

Finally, they landed on the roof of the WRO headquarters. Her supervisor had her escorted to the labs, where the head scientist Shalua was stumped. No one had ever seen Materia like this. It wasn't manmade like most Materia, and things seemed to gravitate towards it. Pens, pencils, paper, letters from keyboards, everything moved towards it.

"Maybe the Planet made it," a scientist offered. Everyone looked at each other with uneasy looks on their faces.

"No, it takes centuries for Materia to form. And it wasn't found in a Mako Spring," Shalua said, narrowing her eyes at the Materia as it sat faintly glowing in the thick plastic case they eventually had to confine it in. After a while of sitting on a table while everyone speculated what it did, a computer and a chair rocketed towards it, nearly hitting a scientist and their service dog. Avah had some issues from the war as well as a prosthetic leg and her dog helped her move around her workspace with ease. No one wanted to be hurt by other flying appliances, so they found the plastic casing, hoping that the thick clear plastic would keep it calm for a while.

"Someone call Max," Shalua finally said. "He'll know what to do."

"Why?" The soldier asked. The scientists looked at each other and then at her.

"Max worked for Shinra, with Materia, classifying them and making sure the manmade ones weren't defective," Shalua answered.

The hospital ward's halls were cold. The AC was blasting to beat the horrible heat outside. Thankfully, Rosso kept her room comfortably cold, so that it was at least warmer than the halls. At least that's what Lyra was told.

Lyra tried to be excited to finally meet Rosso without worrying about getting a metal arm in slashed in her face, but she couldn't shake her anger and the feeling of betrayal. Her smile came off as uneasy as Lyra and Tifa approached her room. Tifa noticed.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Tifa said. Lyra wanted to ignore her, only acknowledging her with a nod. Rosso was talking with a nurse when they got to her door. They seemed to be a bit flirtatious, and Lyra didn't blame Rosso. The nurse was cute. He had dark hair and dark eyes. But he was nothing compared to-

Lyra pinched the inside of her arm. Kadaj had jumped into her mind to finish that thought and she hoped that she wouldn't run into him for once. She wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. What was she thinking anyway, comparing how cute Rosso's nurse was to how cute Kadaj was?

Okay, pinching her arm wasn't working.

"Hey Rosso. How're doing?" Tifa asked as she knocked on the doorway. Rosso shot her a smirk and waved for them to come in.

"I'm doing fine. Owen here was just giving me my breakfast," she answered. She gave him a quick wink and he winked back. He told her that he would be back later with her lunch and left. Rosso watched him leave and spotted Lyra as she moved out of the way.

"Little mouse! What a pleasant surprise," Rosso exclaimed. She stood and moved her empty food tray to the side. Lyra took a step inside and forced herself to smile without grimacing.

Sure, she had forgiven Rosso and was willing to be friends with her, but the hair on her neck rose when Rosso was near. No matter how well Rosso was doing, Rosso was still dangerous.

"What's on the agenda today?" Tifa asked, noticing Lyra's discomfort. Rosso turned her attention to her. She looked down at her white hospital clothes, simply long-sleeved shirt and white sweatpants.

"I was told that clothes have been donated and that I am free to pick from them," Rosso replied. "I've done well, and I was given the OK to get new clothing."

Tifa smiled and nodded. "Sounds doable. We can do that."

"Let's go then," Lyra said. "I'm feeling antsy in here."

The elevator ride was silent. Rosso didn't like it. She froze the second she entered and clenched and unclenched her fists. Tifa reminded her to take deep breaths as they made their way down.

"I don't like small spaces," Rosso said.

Rosso's anxiety was contagious. Lyra could feel the ice making the elevator cold. Finally, the elevator stopped. They left it and a group of WRO employees boarded after them.

The donation room Tifa brought them to was simple. Many boxes of clothes sat on long tables, each one neatly labeled with the designated clothes folded inside. Racks of hangers hung on the walls and those clothes on the hangers were covered in plastic to ward off dust.

Rosso carefully went through each box. Occasionally she would pick something out, but she would click her tongue and place it back in. She wasn't very good at folding the clothing and Tifa followed close behind, patiently waiting for Rosso to throw the shirt or the pair of shorts or whatever she was examining back into the box in a bundle. Lyra went through a few boxes of jeans and shirts and found a few plaid flannels that were miraculously her size and stood back to watch the chaos.

"No, no, none of these shirts are the right color," Rosso muttered. She had an armful of shirts and Lyra couldn't help but notice that they were all red or black. Rosso had one dark purple shirt, but she steered clear of the happy yellows and calming greens and blues she came across. Finally, she placed the clothing she wanted from the boxes aside and went through the hangers. She gasped and pulled a black tube dress from the rack.

"Where could I wear this?" She turned to Tifa with a large excited grin on her face. Tifa chuckled.

"It's a club dress. I don't think you're ready for that," she said. "Too many people."

Rosso shrugged and put the dress back, hardly able to hang the dress up properly. She went down the line and found a few shoes her size underneath the racks. She set them aside with the shirts and pants and continued to search through the hangers.

"What are you looking for specifically?" Lyra asked. Rosso looked back at her and then continued.

"Something pretty, I guess." Rosso made an excited screeching sound as she pulled a blood red evening dress from its hanger. Tifa laughed, but Lyra didn't see anything funny about it. Instead, the second she laid eyes on that red dress, her stomach dropped and she was filled with dread.

"No, Rosso. You won't be able to wear that."

"But I like it." She shook it from side to side, making it swing. "Look, it even has slits in the sides! It'll make it easier to kick someone's butt if they try anything?"

"But where would you wear it?"

"What do you mean where would I wear it? I'll wear it whenever I want."

Whatever Tifa said, it was drowned out by Rosso's arguing. Lyra came closer on shaky legs and suddenly felt as if she couldn't breathe. Her stomach was in knots as if she was waiting for something horrible to happen.

"Lyra? Are you okay?"

Lyra knocked Tifa's hands away. "I need to sit down. I don't feel so good."

Lyra turned away, but she didn't make it out of the room. She sat on a crate and focused on her breathing. Rosso was quiet for once as she bundled her clothing and draped the red evening dress on her arm.

Lyra squeezed her eyes shut. A horrible laugh filled her memory. It was an annoying laugh, but it filled her with the worst fear imaginable. Icy blue eyes filled with all the malice and spite in the world. The woman's hands filling her face with makeup and her head with horrible words.

You are a horrible little girl. The worst girl in the world.

Lyra hugged herself and desperately tried to focus on something else.

Horrible little girl. What a lovely little weapon. My little weapon.

"Lyra? Can you stand? We're ready to go?"

Lyra slowly opened her eyes. Tifa looked down at her with worry. Lyra forced herself to stand and followed Rosso and Tifa to the elevator. Rosso was strangely silent, still a bit freaked about the elevator but even more freaked about Lyra's panic attack. Lyra tried not to stare at the red dress but she couldn't help it. She almost cried when the elevator door opened and they went back to Rosso's room.

Lyra sat on the edge of Rosso's bed as Rosso threw her clothes inside the large dresser and sat back on her bed, pulling a chocolate bar from underneath her pillow. Lyra caught a glimpse of the dress from the cracked-open dresser drawer.

Lovely little weapon.

"Want some?" Rosso offered her a piece of chocolate. Lyra took it and nibbled on it. They ate in silence. Tifa had gone to the bathroom, and she was taking far too long. Lyra knew she was talking to Cloud or someone else about her and her little freakout. She had no energy to feel pissed about it.

"So," Rosso started. "This mind block…"

Lyra sighed. "What about it?"

"Is it gone yet?"

Lyra shook her head. Rosso snorted.

"That's too bad." She took another big bite out of her chocolate.

"I don't think they're trying to help me," Lyra whispered. Rosso stayed silent for a moment as she finished her chocolate bar.

"Well that sounds like a load of bullshit," she finally said. "Even if they know what happened before you were given the mind block, they would still help you. I mean, they helped me and I've done horrible things."

Lyra frowned at her. Rosso licked her fingers, making sure that she had eaten every bit of chocolate.

"What do you know about me?"

Rosso shrugged her shoulders and grinned. The grin wasn't malicious at all, just mischievous.

"You weren't there often, in DeepGround, but you were there enough times."

"Enough times to what?"

Rosso's grin dropped. "Failures go to DeepGround, but I remember being told that you were being punished."

Lyra let this sink in.

"Do you know why I was being punished or were you not told?"

Rosso nodded, her crimson eyes growing wide. "You weren't cooperating. But you were too small and quick to be caught in Cat and Mouse."

"Cat and Mouse?"

"A war game. The mice were all caught and killed."

Lyra shivered, though nothing that Rosso was saying brought any flashback or memory to mind. It was as if her body was remembering something her brain couldn't. It remembered to fear red dresses and knew enough about Cat and Mouse that she didn't like it.

"Who sent me there?"

Rosso snorted again, rolling her eyes in disgust. "The Head of the Weapons Department. She made weapons and you weren't working with her like she wanted."

They jumped as Tifa came back. She didn't seem to have heard them talking. She had some fast food containers for them to eat and Shelke.

"So, what is it?"

Max flashed Shalua an annoyed look. "I just got here. How would I know?"

Shalua rolled her eye. Max crouched again to study the new Materia, his dark brown hair hanging in his eyes. The plastic case hadn't worked. A maze of chairs almost kept Max from observing the new Materia.

Eventually, Max lifted the plastic case, moving very slowly as he did so. He placed it aside and immediately the chairs shot at him. He snatched the Materia into his hand and lifted it above his head, probably hoping that the chairs wouldn't hit him. Shalua gasped as the chairs and various objects stopped moving. They formed a circle around Max as if there was an invisible shield around him.

"What the absolute-" Shalua started.

"I don't know," Max snapped. "We need to test it out. Is there a safe room I can try this in? You know, so I don't ruin million gil equipment or hurt someone?"

Shalua nodded and made her way to Max. They opted for using the stairs instead of an elevator. It would be stupid to use an elevator with the way the Materia reacted to, well, everything.

Max held the Materia in the air, sometimes switching arms when his arm fell asleep. The room Shalua took him to was a small office area. No computers, no giant lab equipment, nothing expensive or heavy aside from the tables.

"This doesn't look-"

"I know, I know. But it's empty and I don't feel safe walking around with that thing," Shalua said. She nodded at him a took a step back. "Try it out."

Shalua watched Max close his eyes and close his fist tightly on the Materia. Suddenly, the tables and chairs flew towards him, as well as chunks of plaster from the wall and ceiling tiles. Shalua gasped and backed into the hallway to avoid being hit. Max dropped his arm and stared at the objects floating around him. He was untouched, but he looked spooked.

He turned to Shalua as the objects fell to the floor. He stared at her with wide eyes.

"Gravity Materia," he said. Shalua blinked.

"What?"

"We should call it Gravity Materia," Max answered. He stepped over the plaster and chairs as he made his way out of the office. "While I was using it, it felt like it was messing around with gravity. Gravity Materia!"

"Stop saying that. I get it. It's Gravity Materia." Shalua rolled her eye and they made their way back to her lab.

Shalua almost peed her pants when she saw Lyra organizing folders and notebooks in her lab. Lyra was alone, Shelke and Tifa were nowhere to be seen. And the look on Lyra's face…. It made Shalua reach for her concealed gun without meaning to. Lyra looked so angry.

"Hey kid," Shalua called. She held her arm out in front of Max, who looked as if he was about to pee his own pants. "What are you doing here?"

Lyra jumped and the angry look disappeared. Her mouth opened and closed and she gestured at the folders and notebooks.

"Just organizing. Sorry," She said. "Was I not supposed to clean this section?"

Shalua shook her head. "No, but it's fine. What's wrong?"

Lyra cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Max whistled through his teeth. "Girl, you looked like you were ready to murder someone."

Lyra's green eyes widened, and she shook her head. "No! Nothing's wrong! I was just worried that I would get in trouble."

Shalua decided to drop it, but she made a mental note to tell Cloud and Tifa about this. Those notebooks and folders were filled with Shelke and Shalua's notes from Lyra's own files. Though Shalua's handwriting was messy and mostly indecipherable, Shelke's handwriting was neater. Anyone could read Shelke's handwriting after studying it for a while.

"Right. Well, I'm gonna go find Tifa," Lyra said with a bright smile. "I'll come back later to finish up. See you guys later!"

Lyra ran from the lab. Shalua let out her breath and took the Gravity Materia from Max.

"I think I can find a place in here for this," she said. Max stared at the lab doors. He pointed at them with a shaky finger.

"Aren't you- that was- aren't you worried about whatever the heck just happened?"

Shalua rifled through the cabinets until she found a hard plastic gun case. The foam inside was hollowed out with round holes for Shelke's Materia. Shalua emptied the Shields and Cures and placed the Gravity Materia inside.

"Of course I am." She shut the case and placed it in the desk drawer. She locked it and placed the key in her lab coat's pocket. "Lyra's usually sweet and calm. That was just disturbing."

"Did you see the look on that kid's face?" Max asked as he backed further into the room. Shalua frowned.

"Of course I did. But there's nothing I can do about this now." She looked through the notebooks. "Might as well go home, Max. Nothing we can do now."

Shalua breathed a sigh of relief, completely ignoring Max's protests. The notebooks were in Shalua's handwriting instead of Shelke's. If Lyra had seen anything, she likely couldn't read it.

Author's Note: AND THE PLOT THICKENS! Lol, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was a lot of fun to write. Please feel free to leave a comment and a kudos/follow! Thank you so much for reading my fanfic and liking it so far!! 

Chapter Text

"Find anything?"

Lyra shook her head and blew her bangs out of her eyes. "No one can read Shalua's handwriting."

Kadaj scowled and sat down on the bare floor. They had met up in the dreamland, but the dreamland was different than the Lifestream. The floor was made of white tiles, like in a hospital, and the room was dimly lit by industrial lights in the ceiling. The walls were white and bare, and the green metal door wouldn't open. The door's window was dark and foggy, so nothing could be seen through it. One side of the room was filled with cushions and drawing utensils, things that obviously had been Kadaj's things. The half of the room that was Lyra's was… strange.

Her side was extremely familiar. The floor and walls were the same as the rest of the room but standing on her side was different than standing on Kadaj's side. Her side felt like being outside. It was warm yet made her think of a forest in autumn. Her side smelled like rain and dirt. She had shelves of books and the Planet's coziest blanket fort. It was much more colorful compared to Kadaj's side.

Lyra sat facing him on her side of the room. "I at least have an idea of where to start."

Kadaj perked up at that. He grinned.

"Well, that's my news. What's yours?"

Kadaj sat straighter and his grin widened. "My brothers are coming back. While I was waiting for you to come, Zack and Aerith told me."

Lyra tilted her head. "Zack? Who's that?"

At the mention of the name, a hyper, very friendly puppy came to mind.

Kadaj opened his mouth to say answer but then rolled his eyes and sighed. "Never mind."

"Mind block?"

"Mind block."

Lyra huffed and leaned her chin on her hand. She blinked the sudden blurriness away and shook her head.

"I'm waking up. I'll talk to you later."

His protests faded with the dreamland as Lyra woke. It was still dark out, which was annoying, but she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. The alarm clock next to her bed told her that it was only 5:30 in the morning.

It wasn't long until everyone else woke up and went through their morning routines. Cloud left early to go on a delivery and Barret took Marlene on a day trip while Denzel and Lyra were stuck at the bar to help Tifa. Yuffie came halfway through the morning to help right before Tifa decided to open the bar.

After a while, the day fizzled out. Lyra and Yuffie took a break from helping Tifa and just sat around talking in Lyra's room. Finally, Lyra could begin to put her plan into action.

"Hey Yuffie, can you show me how to use Materia?" Lyra closed her fist around her Teleport Materia, hiding it behind her back. Yuffie furrowed her brow.

"Why? You don't really need to-"

Lyra rolled her eyes and showed Yuffie her Materia. Yuffie took it without hesitation and scowled.

"Where did you get this?" She asked. Lyra shrugged, not really wanting to say that she had gotten it from Kadaj. Yuffie turned her scowl to Lyra. "Lyra, where the hell did you get this?"

"I just want to know how to use it. It's a Teleport Materia, but I don't remember how to use Materia."

"Why would you want to teleport? And where would you teleport?" Yuffie turned the Materia in her hand. "I have other Materia. I could show you how to use those."

Lyra shook her head and held out her hand for her Materia. Yuffie didn't hand it back. She hid it behind her.

"Yuffie, I need to know how to use Teleport."

Yuffie shook her head. "No! I won't help you! You're going to leave, aren't you?"

"Well, not right away," Lyra protested. "But I-"

"Why would you want to leave anyway?! It's safe here."

Lyra could feel the room temperature drop as her hands froze. "Maybe I don't feel safe here anyway!"

Yuffie fell silent. She shook her head. "I don't- I don't get it."

Lyra stamped down her annoyance. Of course, Yuffie wouldn't get it. She tried again.

"I don't feel safe here," she said. "At least not right now."

Yuffie shook her head again. "But why?"

Lyra shrugged and picked at a loose thread in her socks. "Everyone is hiding something from me, and don't try to deny it. I can hardly control the ice and fire and I still haven't gotten rid of the mind block."

Yuffie flinched. "Yeah, it would probably be helpful to know how to control the ice and fire stuff."

Lyra nodded and grinned. "Yes, exactly! I mean, that's not the whole reason, but-"

"But you don't feel like we're actually doing anything."

Lyra shook her head.

Yuffie held the Materia before her. She closed her fist over it, her palm facing down. "When you use it, hold it like this. But keep your destination in your mind or bad shit will happen."

She tossed the Materia back to Lyra, who caught it and slipped it into her pocket. "Any other tips?"

"Be careful of how much you use Materia. It weakens your mind after a while."

"Thank you."

Yuffie shook her head. "Don't thank me. You're still running away and we are trying to help you."

"Not helping enough. Everyone's hiding stuff from me and I'm sick of it," Lyra protested. "And the stuff you're all hiding is about me and that doesn't seem fair. And if everyone is okay with this, what else are you doing behind my back?"

Yuffie narrowed her eyes. "You got this Materia from Kadaj, didn't you?"

Lyra nodded. "He's willing to help me. The Materia is linked to his own Teleport Materia."

"Okay, so when you use it, it'll take you straight to him. You should still keep him in mind to be safe."

"Alright."

"And don't actually leave unless you feel like you absolutely need to."

Lyra nodded again, rolling her eyes as she did so. She didn't really want to leave and she wasn't planning on leaving unless she felt like she needed to anyway.

"And you need to keep in contact. At least with me, otherwise everyone is gonna be pissed." Yuffie snorted. "Well, they're going to be pissed anyway."

"Yeah. I promise to do that." Lyra hesitated before asking. "But I need you to help me."

Yuffie listened to Lyra's plan.

Lyra had her bag packed and ready. Tifa bought Lyra's lie that the bag made her feel better in case something happened. She was partly telling the truth. The alarms went off often at the WRO and having an emergency bag eased some of the anxiety.

Lyra waited and helped around Shalua's lab before excusing herself to go to the bathroom, but made her way to the weapons room instead. She fished under the weapons rack for that prototype weapon. She pocketed it and passed Yuffie on her way back. She nodded her head and Yuffie grimaced.

When the fire alarms went off, Lyra followed Shalua and Shelke as the building evacuated. She ducked into an empty room and waited until the halls were empty. She ran back to Shalua's lab and jumped onto the computer console.

Three screens appeared. Each screen had files with similar names: Project Starchild Notes 1, 2, 3. Project Starchild Videos 1, 2, 3. Project Starchild Audio clips 1, 2, 3. Lyra opened the first Project Starchild video file. She let it buffer while she tried the audio clips and notes. The notes were heavily censored, most of the words were blocked by black strips. She skimmed through the notes she could read while the audio clips loaded.

She learned four things from the bits and pieces. She really was a Cetra and she was a Shinra science experiment. A scientist, some doctor named Azazel, was in charge of her, though some other guy named Hojo was mentioned here and there. Frost coated her chair and her breath puffed in the air before her.

Lyra skimmed through the later notes, these ones obviously made by Shalua. Shalua's notes were less filled with random remarks about mako levels and more about the events that followed her waking up in the Northern Cave.

Cloud talked to Rosso today. Apparently, Dr. Jael Azazel sent Rosso to "repossess" Lyra.

Confirmed today that Lyra is a Cetra. She's pretty weird.

Found more in the Project Starchild notes. Lyra's abilities to summon ice and fire are the result of experiments with Materia. More codebreaking needed to learn more.

Had a meeting. Agreed between most of us that Lyra must know nothing. The sudden removal of the mind block may cause mental instability and Lyra may be dangerous.

Jael seems to be getting more desperate. Sent a weird shapeshifter at the farmer's market.

New Materia found in Dr. Crescent's cave. Related to recent events with Lyra?

"New Materia?" Lyra jumped as the door to the lab opened.

"Lyra? What are you doing" Shalua asked. Lyra scowled as flames coiled around her arms. Her eyesight went red and ringing filled her ears. One thing was for sure about this: Lyra was in danger and she didn't even remember why.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She seethed through clenched teeth. She took a step towards her bag and Shalua reached in her lab coat for her gun. Lyra stopped and tried to keep the ice from racing to her, freezing her, giving her frostbite, they were supposed to help her.

"Lyra, I need you to calm down," Shalua said, taking a small step forward. Lyra reached into her pocket, curling her fingers around the Teleport Materia. She needed a clear space to use it. For a moment, she didn't care if Shalua shot at her. She grabbed her bag and stomped forward, pushing past Shalua and out the door, ignoring Shalua calling for help and the hot tears beginning to stream down her face.

How could you how could you how could you

I want to remember. Why won't you help me?! What did I do? Why are you so scared of me?

"Lyra stop!"

Lyra rocked back as Cloud grabbed her shoulder. She shoved him away, swearing and screaming nonsense, fully aware that she sounded completely insane. She wanted to make everyone feel how confused and fucking betrayed she felt! She was beyond pissed, beyond angry, no one was trying to help her, they wanted to hide her away, study her more than she had already been studied on, screw these people!

She snapped back to reality the moment she screamed, "I'm a natural fucking disaster!"

Cloud stared at her with wide eyes, one hand on his sword and the other desperately waving people away. Lyra stood in the center of the WRO entryway. The secretary and visitors were being whisked away deeper down the halls as soldiers aimed their rifles at Lyra. Ice coated the doors and windows behind Lyra. She had unknowingly formed sharp icicles that grew outwards at the soldiers and Cloud. The fire blazed around her but didn't touch anything, thanks to the ice, but the heat waves still made it hard to see the look on Cloud's face clearly. She started to shake as she noticed the bullet holes in the tiles from obvious warning shots.

They had shot at her.

"That's not what we're doing," Cloud said, trying to calm her down. Lyra wiped the tears from her face and hiccupped.

"I don't care! Screw you!" She screamed again. "I thought you were going to help me."

She pulled the Teleport Materia from her pocket and held it out, just like Yuffie had shown her. Cloud took a step forward and then back again as an icicle shot forward to impale him. A soldier hit at it with the butt of his rifle.

"Lyra what are you doing with that?"

Lyra sniffled and glared at Cloud. "If none of you are going to help me, I'll go to someone who will."

With that, she tightened her fist and imagined Kadaj, pulling tight on the tug and activating the Materia. In the flash of light that followed, Lyra could hear more gunshots and Cloud yelling for them to stop. Suddenly, she was in a room that smelled of dust and cooking food. Her fire and ice had fizzled out and she was exhausted. She heard someone yelp and fall but she couldn't see through her tears.

"What the-"

"Lyra!" She heard him hurriedly cross the small room and he knelt before her. She shot forward and wrapped her arms around Kadaj, burrowing her face in his shoulder.

"They shot at me," Lyra managed to say between sobs. "They shot at me, and I scared them, and they shot at me!"

After a moment of hesitation on Kadaj's part, he pat her back. Someone sighed, very annoyed.

"Guess we won't be staying in Edge very long after all." 

Author's Note: WOW IT HAS BEEN AWHILE. I am so, so sorry I haven't updated!! I got caught up in life!! Because I haven't been able to update in so long, I made a playlist of music that I listen to when I write this fic!! Hope you guys like it!! Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfLKWetk-ck&list=PLPubVrEQ-esO2dilxBp0zGVtnRfgBFHo6 

Please don't forget to bookmark, leave a kudos, and leave a comment on Daggers and Flowers!! I love hearing what everyone thinks and I like hearing theories of what you all think is going to happen!! Thank you so much for staying and reading my story!!! 

Chapter Text

It took a while to calm Lyra down. She wouldn't tell Kadaj what was wrong or why he had felt like a caged animal all day from her end of the bond, just kept babbling, "they shot at me, I scared them, why do I scare them, they shot at me."

Yeah. Not very helpful stuff.

Yazoo became bored after a few minutes of Lyra doing nothing but crying. Her hot tears soaked Kadaj's T-Shirt and her breath made his skin warm. Eventually, Kadaj got her to calm down. Loz had picked himself off the floor at this point and was silently watching from beside the fridge.

Kadaj got Lyra to sit on the futon instead of the floor. She hiccupped and mumbled something. He leaned closer. "What?"

"I said thank you."

She drew her knees to her chest and hiccupped. He knit his brows and stepped away.

"Where'd she come from?" Yazoo asked as he neared the counters. Kadaj shrugged.

"WRO probably." He looked back at Lyra. She was hugging her badly burned bag now. Great. "We can't stay here. We should leave in the morning."

"Where are we going?" Loz asked. Yazoo talked over him.

"We need supplies. And a way to get to…. wherever we're going."

Kadaj nodded solemnly. "Loz and I will go get the things we need. Can you stay and watch her?"

Yazoo grimaced. "Why can't you stay?"

"Her mood is affecting me way too much."

Yazoo seemed to understand. He and Loz knew of the bond. Unfortunately, the bond seemed to be working against Kadaj at the moment. He was feeling panicked and trapped and the hurt from Lyra was filling his own eyes with tears.

"Alright. Fine," Yazoo said. "But she needs to get rid of her phone. They could track us through it if they wanted."

Lyra stood and fished her phone from her bag. She timidly approached the boys at the counter. "Do you have a piece of paper? I need to write down a number."

"Why?"

Lyra shook her head as she balked away from Yazoo's accusatory tone and rolled her phone in her hands.

Kadaj got her a napkin from a fast food bag and a pen. Lyra scrolled through her phone contacts and wrote down the number she was looking for. She hesitated at first, but she gave her phone to Kadaj who gave it to Yazoo. Yazoo took the battery out and threw the phone on the ground. He stomped on it twice and handed the broken pieces to Kadaj.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with these?"

Yazoo shrugged. "Just throw it away."

"Not here obviously," Lyra mumbled. She folded and refolded the paper and shuffled her feet. She blinked slowly as she stared at the counter. She looked exhausted. Kadaj felt a pang of worry that made his chest hurt. He took her elbow and directed her towards the futon.

"Go take a nap or something, Ly. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

Lyra hugged her knees as she sat on the futon. The small room was silent except for the sounds of the neighbors around them and Yazoo turning pages in his book. Kadaj and Loz hadn't been gone for long, but she was beginning to wish that they never left.

"Do you have anything else to do?" Yazoo asked. He wasn't speaking Common. Lyra blinked at him.

"What language is that?"

Yazoo stared at her over his book. "Cetra-Speak."

"Oh." Lyra went silent again. "When I woke up in the cave I was speaking it."

Yazoo ignored her. Lyra pulled her bag to her and shuffled through it. She took the prototype weapon from her pocket and placed it inside, though she was sure it would likely fall through one of the large holes she had accidentally made. The notion gave her a bit of anxiety, but it fell behind the waves of exhaustion. Apparently, wielding ice and fire at the same time to defend herself for even ten minutes was draining.

"So, you can remember a foreign language but nothing else?" Yazoo was still speaking Cetra-Speak. Lyra rolled her eyes.

"How do you know Cetra-Speak?" This time she answered in the language.

"The labs."

Lyra tilted her head and continued to speak in Cetra-Speak, relishing the familiar feeling of the language on her tongue. "Did we all grow up in the same lab, or did you learn how to speak this in the Lifestream?"

"First option. What's it like being a Cetra?"

"I don't know. I don't remember," Lyra answered. "I had a full-blown conversation with a dead woman once."

Yazoo snorted and turned the page in his book. "Part of being a Cetra."

The apartment was silent again.

"We didn't know each other well, I take it?"

Yazoo didn't answer, just shot her an annoyed look. Lyra raised her hands and pulled her knees to her chest again. She sighed and tried to blink the call of sleep out of her eyes. One moment she sat hugging her knees and the next she was curling up in a tight ball on the futon.

Lyra glanced at an old clock hanging on the wall and blinked. It seemed to flash forward ten minutes. The next blink, fifteen minutes. Lyra decided to just close her eyes and fall asleep completely. If she were feeling more awake, she would be crossing her fingers and hoping for sweet dreams.

"Where'd you think she went?" Cloud kept a mental tally in his head for how many times he had heard that question. So far, he was at fifteen. Actually, he was at sixteen. Shelke had asked it a few minutes ago.

"I don't know."

Barret grumbled. "I knew she was untrustworthy. Cetra or not, that kid was up to no good."

Tifa sighed. "Barret, she-"

"Was probably planning this for a while," Barret finished. Shalua rolled her eyes and continued to go over the camera feeds for the seven-hundredth time. Shelke entered the lab and went straight to her VR machine, typing in commands and readying the headset.

"What are you doing?" Cloud asked. She looked over her shoulder.

"I want to decode some of the Project Starchild files." She went back to work.

Cloud pulled out a chair and sat in it. The WRO was calming down a bit, or at least as much as it could. It had a disaster event nearly every other day, it seemed. No one knew who pulled the fire alarm and Reeve was busy with the security generals forming an investigation. And as for the janitors and repairmen, well, they were cleaning up the mess the soldiers had made shooting at Lyra.

Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose. What a mess.

After Lyra had disappeared, Cloud had found out that the soldiers hadn't been shooting blanks or tranqs. They had been shooting actual lethal bullets. Their excuse was that Lyra's abilities were too unstable and that they were aiming for her feet and nowhere else. Bullshit excuse. He couldn't get the image of the kid full of bloody bullet holes out of his head.

"You okay?" Tifa pulled a chair next to him. Cloud listened to Barret rant about Lyra's escape.

"I guess." He grimaced at how flat and unbelievable that had sounded.

"Barret, we get it. That's enough." Yuffie knit her brows and continued to organize her Materia in her handy organized box.

Barret was on a roll. "She took a bag that we gave her, full of stuff that we gave her, and ran off!" He paced from one end of the lab to the other again. "I'm telling you, she had this planned!"

"For crying out…" Yuffie threw a blue Materia into the box and stood. "None of this would have happened if we had simply filled her in or had given her a reason not to worry! She didn't feel like we were doing enough."

Barret turned to face her. His eye began to twitch. He was about to explode.

"Yuffie, did you know about this?" Tifa asked. Yuffie nodded.

"Yeah. Oh, and I pulled the fire alarm. You're welcome!" Yuffie plopped back down on the floor and continued sorting. The lab was silent; everyone stared at Yuffie.

Shalua was the first to break the silence. "Why in the world would you do that?!"

Yuffie didn't look up. "Yes, why in the world would I help the confused as hell kid who probably has been through hell and back but can't remember it because the asshats that put her through hell and back took her memories away?" She looked up with a sarcastic smirk. "Just saying that maybe we should have thought about this from her perspective, given her a choice for once instead of pushing her around all the time like a doll."

Barret grumbled and then pushed a chair out of his way to the door. "I'll go tell Reeve. There's no need for an investigation now."

The phone connected to Shalua's wall of computers suddenly rang, making Cloud jump. Barret stopped before the door and turned to see who the video call was from. The doors opened and Reeve entered.

"Answer it! Our techs directed it here! Quick," he exclaimed. Shalua hurried to answer the call as they gathered before the screens. The screens joined to show a man. He sat in a metal chair, shrouded in shadows. Cloud couldn't make out anything else but the metal chair and a small console placed on a small metal table next to him. His eyes were…. glowing. They were glowing yellow. Not very bright glowing, just dimly. Cloud had hardly noticed it in fact, but if he looked at the edges of the screens, he could tell the man's eyes were glowing. He spoke, and his voice rang throughout the shocked-silent room, thanks to the volume being turned up.

"Finally, I meet the famous AVALANCHE." He chuckled. "I have a small request for you. I think you'll find it very easy."

"Dr. Jael Azazel," Reeve said in his calm steady voice. "We have no reason to do anything for you."

Cloud rose a brow, glancing over his shoulder at Reeve. He met Tifa's eyes instead. She shook her head in confusion. He turned back to the screens.

"Oh, but you will," Dr. Azazel insisted, his chucking growing louder. His glowing yellow eyes crinkled with amusement. He shifted in his chair, and Cloud glimpsed fluffy and fine peppered brown hair. "My prized subject, 6676? You know her as Lyra. I want her back."

"You can take that request and shove it right up your-"

Jael interrupted Yuffie's outburst. "My, what a firecracker!"

"Get your point across. We don't have the time nor the patience for you or your requests." Vincent countered. Cloud hadn't heard Vincent enter the lab, but he didn't let his surprise show. Yuffie snapped her head towards him and scowled. Vincent ignored her for once. He placed a hand on her arm and gestured to the screens. Jael chortled as he reached for the table beside him. He plucked a strange red Materia hidden by the console. Even through the video Cloud could see the grainy black lines crackling underneath its surface. He rolled it from palm to palm then spun it between his fingers.

"Oh, this Materia?" He asked. "Glad you asked."

No one had asked, but they kept their smartass comments to themselves.

"Interesting, isn't it? Shame you found Subject 6676 instead of this," Jael continued. He drew in a sharp breath and pressed a button on his console as he stood. The frame changed before Cloud could glimpse Dr. Azazel's face. The frame was dark but suddenly filled with dim light.

The first thing Cloud saw was the young girl. She looked to be around fourteen, maybe fifteen. She was covered in scratches and bruises, an obvious bite mark on her shoulder that was barely scabbed over. She was dressed in a dirty white gown, like the one Lyra had been found in. Her light brown hair was greasy and tangled as it fell in her face. She whimpered as the shapeshifter, the Vigo crept closer to her. He yanked on the chains shackling her to the floor and she yelped.

Cloud recognized the lab apparatus around her, but he couldn't tell where the lab could be located. Where on the Planet was she?

"Beautiful sight isn't it?" Jael called from behind the camera. "Completely human, though I tried to change that."

The Vigo yanked the girl's head back by her hair and Cloud could finally see her glowing mako blue eyes. He looked around. His friends were just as shocked as he was. Even Shelke had a look of utter terror on her face.

The girl's eyes widened as a red glow filled the room. The Vigo backed away as silent as a fox and she slumped back. She opened her mouth but only a whimper came.

"Watch closely. This Materia has an… interesting effect."

A red light filled the screen and the most inhuman shriek came from the girl. Cloud took a step away from the computer screens, nearly stepping on Tifa's toes as he did so. She had her hands over her ears and her amber eyes squeezed shut. Cloud turned back to the screens to see a pile of black ash and pieces of charred bone disintegrating in the spot the poor girl had been. Bits of blood and flesh spotted the chains. Cloud's stomach churned. He spotted a piece of scalp, hair and all, in the corner of the screen.

Shalua's lab was silent again, silent and cold. The computer frame snapped back to Jael sitting in his chair. The Materia was slightly glowing now, but it died down to it's plain pale red after a moment. Jael seemed to study their faces, a thought that made Cloud's skin crawl. Finally, Jael spoke and his voice was chilling and frighteningly calm.

"For every day I do not have my favorite subject 6676, I will kill one person. For every day I do not have my favorite subject, I will send out a video, similar to this call to every screen and radio and broadcasting center I can access throughout this damned Planet." He let this sink in. "You have a week before I take worse action."

The call ended. Shalua flipped the monitors' power switch with a shaky hand and fell into her chair. She leaned her head on her good arm.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said. Cloud turned away.

"We need to find Lyra," he said. Yuffie, who had turned ghostly pale during the call, turned red with anger.

"We are not handing her over!"

Vincent's hand tightened on Yuffie's shoulder and she shook him off.

Cloud shook his head and raised a hand. "I never said we were doing that."

"She's- He just…" Tifa sat heavily in a chair. "We should warn her."

Reeve scoffed. "Well, she won't come back willingly."

Vincent grunted. "Good luck," he said. "Remember when I voted that we shouldn't tell Lyra about her past?"

"Yes," Tifa answered.

"Well, I take it back. We should have told her."

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Too late for that now." She grabbed her phone from the table it had been sitting on. She flipped it open. "I can try to call her or something. Tell her to stay away, hide somewhere. I mean, Kadaj wouldn't let something this bad happen to her, right?"

Tifa scoffed. "Kadaj? What does Kadaj have to do with any of this?"

Yuffie fell silent as they stared at her. Her eyes darted from person to person. She stuttered. "It's just- It's just he gave her the Materia and Lyra said-"

"Where'd he get the Teleport from?" Cloud asked. Yuffie gave him a small anxious smile.

"Lyra didn't say, but she said that it was linked to another Teleport he had and that she was supposed to use it if she felt like she was in any danger," Yuffie answered.

"Why would he do that?!" Tifa exclaimed. She threw her hands up and seemed to be struggling to fully comprehend this new information, which Cloud could relate to.

Kadaj had kidnapped a bunch of kids, killed and hurt countless people, tried to summon Jenova via her lopped off head, and had almost brought back the nightmare himself. Kadaj suddenly being a normal-ish person for once and caring about someone other than his brothers and Jenova seemed almost… well, impossible.

Yuffie scoffed. "How the hell should I know? Maybe he has a crush on her? Who the hell knows."

Again, the possibility of Kadaj caring about someone other than his brothers and Jenova seemed impossible. Cloud couldn't entertain the possibility of Kadaj having a crush on anyone, let alone the possibility of Kadaj having a crush on Lyra. Cloud screwed up his face to keep from laughing. Yeah, that seemed impossible. Not to mention an awfully awkward thought to have.

Shalua finally straightened in her chair. "Back to reality people."

Cloud turned back to her.

"This is too strange, too chaotic," Shalua began. She stood and typed a few commands on her tablet. A holograph projected from the device, a list of events Shalua had jotted down. "At least more chaotic than usual."

"No offense, Vince," Yuffie quipped with a wink towards Vincent, earning herself an exasperated sigh and an eye roll from him.

"First we get all that activity in the Northern Cave Crater," Shalua began, ignoring Yuffie's shenanigans. "Then a girl with Shinra-science-induced amnesia appears, in a growing flowerbed in the middle of a freezing cave."

Barret interrupted. "I thought the activity was occurring because of Lyra's appearance?"

Shalua shook her head. "I don't think so. At least not anymore. I thought that until Dr. Azazel called and that poor girl-" Her voice broke and she paled. "That brings us to the Materia. I told you about that Materia, right?"

"Max!" Tifa snapped her fingers. "He called it Gravity Materia."

"Jael kinda dematerialized that poor kid," Yuffie whispered. "Matter Materia."

Shalua swallowed. "This new Materia, it's unstable and dangerous. What if there's more?"

"One thing at a time," Tifa said. "First we need to warn Lyra, somehow convince her to come back so we can keep an eye on her."

"I agree," Cloud said. "But we need to find her first."

Shelke jumped from her VR equipment and sprinted for the door. "I'll get to the Tech Department. We can track her through her phone there."

Lyra was asleep when Kadaj came back. Yazoo was still reading, no surprise there, and he had no updates aside from talking about Cetra-Speak in Cetra-Speak.

Kadaj and Loz had gotten the supplies they needed. A few sleeping bags and blankets, a new bag for Lyra to put her things in, and a truck with their food locked in a sketchy as hell parking garage.

"What now?" Loz asked, sounding childish as ever. Kadaj threw him a sleeping bag.

"Get some rest. We should leave really early in the morning."

Yazoo reluctantly closed his book and took a sleeping bag, following Loz to what was supposed to be a bedroom. Kadaj had honestly thought it was a closet. Yazoo and Loz unrolled their sleeping bags in the space that was available. Yazoo griped about Loz having stinky feet but soon they quieted. There obviously wasn't any room for Kadaj to lay his sleeping bag out, and like hell was he going to leave Lyra in the living room by herself. The apartment could be broken into, and though he didn't doubt that she would be able to defend herself, the events at the WRO had obviously exhausted her.

And of course, there was the WRO. They could send someone quiet and sneaky to bring her back! Kadaj and his brothers had very sensitive ears and excellent eyesight, but there could still be blind spots.

He sighed and rolled his sleeping bag a ways away from the futon. He didn't think Lyra would roll off, but he didn't want to be a casualty if she did. Before settling down for the night, he threw the new blanket onto her. And then turned around to set it nicely on her so that it wasn't smothering her face. He tucked it under her chin and hoped that she wouldn't wake up or be cold during the night. The AC was broken in a way that only blasted freezer-cold air, which at first wasn't a problem, but nights were freezing cold in the desert surrounding Edge.

He finally settled in for the night after turning off the lights. He heard Loz snoring louder than a chainsaw in the other room and the city around them and the neighbors. He needed something calmer to focus on.

Lyra's breathing was soft and even and as he lay across the room from her. He couldn't help but remember how warm her breath had felt on his skin. 

Author's Note: HEHEHEHHEHEE sooooo that last bit with Kadaj... yeah. And Jael... brutal. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I wanna know what you guys think about it so far, especially this chapter! Don't be afraid to leave a comment! Thanks so much for reading and leaving kudos and commenting! It means so much to me and really helps with motivation and the evergoing war against writer's blocks! Thank you so much!

Chapter Text

Lyra dreamt that she was hiking up a cold and snowy mountain. She didn't know why she was hiking, or even where she was going. All she knew was that it was cold and there was an awful pit in her stomach. Something bad was about to happen, but she wouldn't be able to stop it. She was following the man with long silver hair and a very long sword. He turned around every so often to make sure she was there, but he hardly said anything. And if he did say anything, he reminded her to stay close and not to leave his sight.

The others with them were silent and freezing. Lyra knew they were SOLDIERs, but she didn't know their names. Or maybe she did, but she couldn't recall them.

"Not long now," the silver-haired man finally said. "Keeping up?"

Lyra found herself nodding and, despite the awful feeling of dread, she grinned, skipping closer as she followed him. She felt younger, maybe around 10 or 11. Some childish part of her understood that this man was her caretaker of some sort and that she shouldn't be there. If something bad happened to her, he would get in trouble. She was important to the Shinra Science Department, and she was in enough trouble before she snuck away.

Just as she was about to grab his hand, the scenery began to change. She froze as ice filled her stomach. The man kept walking, but the air was hot and dry. Smoke filled her eyes as flames soared high above her head. Lyra coughed but the smoke was too thick for her to breathe. She tried to call out for the man to stop but she couldn't.

Then she woke up.

Kadaj was shaking her awake. She sat up and a blanket fell off her. Before she could ask what was going on and where the blanket came from, Kadaj shushed her.

"Keep quiet. The WRO found us."

Lyra cocked her head to the side and listened. The walls in the building were thin but she couldn't hear anything. She shook her head. "I don't hear anything."

"They're downstairs, questioning tenants," Yazoo said, not bothering to keep his voice down. Not that he needed to anyway. His voice was soft yet razor-sharp, and he didn't make any sound as he walked. Loz, on the other hand, was tiptoeing about, his face screwed up as if keeping quiet was torture for him.

Lyra grabbed for her bag but it wasn't where she had left it.

"My bag," she whispered. "Where is it?"

Kadaj smirked and threw a different, less burned bag at her. She caught it and opened it. Her things were still there, including the prototype weapon. She smiled as she shoved the blanket inside and stood.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Kadaj slung his own bag and his sword on his shoulders and walked across the living room. He opened the window. The sun wasn't even rising yet, just a smudge of purple on the horizon. The morning air was cool but still warmer than the freezing apartment.

"Come on. We're jumping."

Lyra blinked. "What?"

Yazoo huffed as he shoved passed her. "Well, we have to get down to the truck somehow. We can't use the stairs. The WRO are using them." He scowled at Kadaj. "Apparently, someone didn't dispose of your cell phone properly."

Kadaj rolled his eyes. "No, I did. They were probably tracking Lyra the second she left. Not entirely my fault."

Lyra shook her head. "It'll be mine. It was my phone. I shouldn't have brought it with, that was stupid."

Lyra peered out the window. There was no screen, which she felt was a safety hazard, and they were about six floors up. She paled as she drew back. "I don't think that jumping out is a good idea."

Kadaj shrugged as if this wasn't a good enough reason to dissuade him from jumping out a window six floors up. "Why not?"

Lyra knit her brows and stammered. She feebly gestured to the open window. "There's- there isn't anything down there to catch us."

"And?"

What the hell?

"Are you insane?!" She almost screeched in disbelief. Kadaj tried to shush her but she continued. "Kadaj, no! I am not jumping out a window!"

"They're coming!" Loz stumbled as he ran from the door. He jumped out the window, almost running over Lyra as she fell back. She didn't hear anything other than heavy boots marching up the apartment buildings stairs and knocks on the neighbor's doors. She ran to the window and looked down.

Loz smiled and waved from below. Lyra closed her eyes and sighed. Yazoo pulled her back a bit so he could take his turn.

"Look, he made it," Yazoo drawled. "And now I'm going to make it too." He climbed out onto the windowsill as silent as ever and dropped like it was nothing. He landed on his feet and looked up.

"Our turn," Kadaj said, dropping his bag out the window. Loz caught it. Lyra stepped back to glare at him.

"I said that I'm not jumping!"

The knocks came closer.

Kadaj rose a brow. "Would you like to take your chances with them? Go back to people who are terrified of you? Or do you want to come with us?"

The knocks came to their door. Lyra looked at the door and remembered the WRO and the secrets they kept. She sniffed and turned to Kadaj.

"Fine. You first or me?"

Kadaj snorted. The soldiers knocked again. Lyra could hear them talking.

"The landlady says that someone lives here."

"She describe the tenant?"

Kadaj answered her. "Hold on, okay? Don't let go. If it makes you feel better, keep your eyes shut."

With that, he pulled Lyra to the window. Kadaj crouched so Lyra could wrap her arms around his shoulders from behind. It was awkward and she didn't like the thought of jumping, so she squeezed her eyes shut. When they jumped from the windowsill, the soldiers kicked down the door. The wind whipped her hair as they fell and her screech stayed caught in her throat and then they were on the ground. Kadaj set her down and looked up. Lyra was shaking like a leaf, but she looked up. The soldiers were leaning out the window, yelling for backup.

"Come on." Kadaj grabbed Lyra's wrist and ran down the dark street. Yazoo and Loz followed. Kadaj and Loz led them to an underground garage a few blocks away, running past homeless people and drunks stumbling home.

"Really? Was this a smart place to put it?" Lyra panted as the boys loaded themselves into a beat-up truck. She climbed into the backseat with Loz and buckled herself in. The inside smelled like rust and old leather.

"It was either this or leave the truck in the open," Kadaj answered. "Smarter to leave it here instead. Much safer."

Lyra stayed silent as they left the garage, heading out of Edge. 

"I am not wasting any more time looking," Barret snapped. "We can either waste time and resources looking for one girl while others die, or we can find Dr. Jael and-"

"She's the last true Cetra," Reeve countered. "We need a Cetra to help us with the Planet."

Barret scoffed. "The Woodlands Area is full of Cetra. Hire one of 'em to talk to the Planet."

Cloud sighed and stretched his legs. He had been sitting for too long.

"According to Shinra documents, they aren't real Cetra, not anymore," Shelke began slowly. "Whatever Jael and his colleagues did down there, the Cetra are more human than they have ever been."

"I don't care if they are more human," Barret countered. "I'm not wasting my time looking for her. People are dying because Jael wants her back."

Cloud cleared his throat. "So if we find her, you'd hand her over?"

Barret turned to glare at him. Cloud didn't react, just continued to silently listen to Barret's outbursts. "One life versus a dozen? A hundred? Thousand? Yes, I would hand her over. Then I would fill the guy so full of bullet holes the Planet won't be able to take him."

"That is quite the claim," Reeve said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. Barret paced around some more.

"What if half of us look for Lyra and the other half look for Jael?" Yuffie offered. Cloud raised a brow. Yuffie grinned a little as everyone turned to look at her. "I mean, it sounds like some of us want to continue looking anyway."

The room was quiet. AVALANCHE and the WRO generals were silent as they thought this over. Cloud doodled a bit on a pad of paper. He wanted to find Lyra, try to get her to understand that he and Tifa and everyone else were trying to help her, that they were her friends. They didn't mean to hurt her or make her feel hurt in any way.

Then again, half the reason they kept secrets from Lyra about Lyra was because of what she could do. They didn't know her, not really. She had stayed with them a week or two and then disappeared, even after Cloud and Tifa had taken her in.

The WRO soldiers had been sent to the neighborhood Shelke and the Tech Department thought Lyra would be in. Something about her cellphone signal's final signal being there. They didn't find anything, but at least three swear that they saw Lyra jumping out the window and running off into the early morning with the Remnants of Sephiroth. They were likely out of the city by now, in the late afternoon. Another video had been sent out by Jael, and he was not happy that the WRO hadn't even considered his offer. Reeve opted not to answer his call, hoping that Jael's threat was a bluff.

In the new video, Jael continued his rant about wanting his favorite subject and killed a teen boy, around 16 or 17 maybe, this time with the Vigo. It was gruesome to watch and the Tech Department was still working on keeping the video from spreading across the Planet. The fewer people who knew, the less panic there would be. And the safer Lyra would be, too.

"I'll go with Yuffie." Cloud looked up from his doodle. He wasn't the only one mildly surprised by this revelation. Vincent continued, "We'll look around, take some soldiers with us."

"Look around for what?" Barret asked. Vincent shrugged.

"Lyra," he said. Barret scowled. Yuffie piped up.

"Don't worry, we won't take many soldiers with us! We'll leave you the lion's share to locate Jael. You'll need more to take down the Vigo anyway."

Reeve clapped his hand on the table. "Sounds doable. Barret and the generals will take Cid and his ship and look for Jael while Vincent and Yuffie take a handful of soldiers to look for Lyra. The rest of us will stay here and decode the Project Starchild files. Everyone go home and get some rest. We'll start tomorrow."

Cloud and Tifa said their goodbyes and left for home. The bar was closed for the night, Tifa was opening it the next night, so it was quiet. The kids were supposed to be in bed and a girl from down the street had been hired to watch them. Tifa paid her the promised gil and sent her home.

Cloud went to the kitchen, meaning to get himself a drink of water. He took a glass from a cupboard and filled it with water from the sink and took a drink.

"Cloud!"

He jumped, choking on his mouthful of water. Water splashed down the front of his clothes and onto the floor and counter. He coughed and sat the glass down as he turned around. Denzel smiled at him.

"What are you doing up? You should be in bed," Cloud managed between coughs. Denzel shook his head.

"Marlene and I were going to stay up until you and Tifa came home," he said. "But Marlene fell asleep, and Izzy left."

Cloud fished around the cabinets under the industrial sink, looking for a rag to wipe up his water mess. "Okay? And what about that explains out of bed?"

Denzel shrugged. Cloud found a rag and cleaned up his mess.

"When is Lyra coming back?"

Cloud stilled and sighed. He and Tifa hadn't really told the kids why Lyra was gone yet. He stood and placed the rag on edge of the kitchen sink.

"Lyra is…. Lyra isn't going to back for a while."

Denzel frowned. "Why not? Did she not like it here? Did we do something wrong?"

Cloud chuckled. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. She liked you and Marlene." He shook his head. "No, it was me and Tifa's fault. And everyone else."

Denzel pulled a chair from the island counter and sat. He leaned his chin on his hands. "What did you do?"

Cloud sat down across from him, struggling to find a way to explain the mess in a way that an eight-year-old could understand it. Denzel was smart for his age, a little too smart maybe, and he had been through his fair share of hardship. He knew about Shinra and what they had done and knew as well as any that the world was a post-apocalyptic mess. But everything Denzel knew about the Shinra Science Department and his guardian's and family's places in the chaos was watered down. And a lot of what they knew about Lyra and what they hid from Lyra had something to do with human experimentation.

"Sometimes," Cloud began. "Sometimes adults- well, no. Not just adults. People in general…" Cloud paused. Denzel blinked, waiting patiently for Cloud to continue. "Okay, sometimes people learn bad things about the people they care about, and they don't want to let the people they care about know that they know, and sometimes the people they care about don't know the things they know. You following me?"

Denzel nodded. "Are you trying to tell me that you were keeping secrets from Lyra?" Cloud nodded. "Then why didn't you just start with that?"

Cloud grinned. "I'm trying my best. Words are hard."

Denzel giggled at this.

"What I'm trying to say is," Cloud continued. "After we brought Lyra here, Shalua and Shelke found out some really bad things about Lyra. Lyra didn't know about these things, and we all agreed that if she found out, she could get hurt. Lyra's a nice kid, even though what they found says otherwise, so we all agreed not to tell her anything."

"Did Lyra find out?" Denzel asked in a quiet voice.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. Lyra found out."

Denzel sighed. "Is she ever coming back?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know kid. I don't know." 

Lyra slept most of the car ride around the mountains, though the road was poorly maintained and bumpy and they had to swerve a few times to avoid hitting something. Kadaj had no clue what safe driving was, apparently.

Quite a few times they passed a farm or a small village, and quite a few times they passed a monster. Lyra remembered what Tifa had told her, about the war and the monsters that roamed the Planet afterward. At least two of the farms they passed were empty and obviously overrun by the monsters. Lyra hoped that the people that lived there had run away.

Loz started a game after a while. It was a cross between I Spy and just Loz pointing out different kinds of monsters as they whizzed past.

"That one had horns!" "That one was huge!" "That one was eating a chocobo!" "Did you see that one? That one had spots and was covered in fur!"

Loz was nice but easy to ignore when she grew tired and decided to take a nap. Between Loz's random outbursts of monster descriptions and Kadaj blasting the radio, it was a wonder that Lyra was able to fall asleep, to begin with.

Her nap was mostly dreamless, or at least the dream was uneventful and not interesting enough to remember. She was jerked awake by Kadaj slamming the brakes. Lyra flew forward, her seatbelt stopping her from hitting Yazoo's seat. Loz, on the other hand, hit Kadaj's seat. He hadn't worn his seatbelt. None of the boys did.

"What-?"

"Did you hear that?" Kadaj asked though he wasn't asking Lyra. The boys were quiet. All Lyra could hear was the radio playing a rock song. Kadaj had turned it down at some point. It was dark outside, and Lyra needed to pop her ears. They were far from the mountains. Suddenly, Yazoo perked up.

"I heard that," he said.

"It sounded like a scream," Loz added. Kadaj reached beside his seat for his sword and left the truck, running around to the passenger side of the car. Again, Lyra didn't hear anything. She looked around but she couldn't see much. The moonlight was covered with clouds and it was misting out. Yazoo swore and left the car.

"Loz, stay here. Watch Lyra." He said. Lyra scoffed and pulled at her seat belt latch. It was broken when she got into the car and she didn't want to imagine cutting herself out of it. She rolled down her window a little so she could hear Yazoo and Kadaj and continued to try to free herself. Loz was no help, as he was focused on what his brothers were doing outside.

"Kadaj! What are you doing?" Yazoo called. 

"Helping."

"Since when do you help?"

"Since the Flower Girl sent us back and told me to be a good boy. I don't want to end up back in the Negative if I die."

Whatever Yazoo had mumbled after that, Lyra couldn't hear. Her heart hit her rib cage as a shrill scream pierced the air. Kadaj and Yazoo ran off into the dark field beside the road, towards the scream. Loz opened his door and ran after them, not bothering to close it.

"Hey! Wait!" Lyra called after him. "Fucking dammit…" She continued to jam her fingers onto the button and pull at the latch, but her seatbelt wouldn't give. She froze and stared at the darkness beyond Loz's open door.

She had heard a growl, a low and deep growl that chilled her bones and gave her goosebumps. She heard something rustling and could swear that the light from the interior lights glinted off a pair of eyes. She slowly reached for her bag, meaning to pull her prototype weapon out and cut herself loose. To hell with the feeling of safety, she didn't want to be torn apart by a monster.

Suddenly her door opened and a girl around Lyra's age was shoved inside, soaking wet and shivering from the mist. She climbed over Lyra and sat down in the narrow seat between Loz and Lyra, not bothering to acknowledge the person she was jabbing her skinny limbs into. Loz jumped in and slammed his doors as his brothers came flying back as black mist. Kadaj slammed the truck into gear and drove like a bat out of hell out of there. Lyra heard something large and heavy follow them, but didn't dare look back. Instead, she turned to the boys. Yazoo was calmly drying off his guns and Kadaj was swearing under his breath.

"What happened?"

Kadaj jumped and glanced back. "Hey, you're awake."

"Yeah, thanks for noticing. What happened?"

He jerked his chin. "Ask her."

Lyra frowned and turned to the girl. She was Wutainese, dark amber eyes, long black hair straighter than a pin tied back into a ponytail that clung to her back from the mist. She was skin and bones and tall with the clearest skin Lyra had ever laid eyes on. She was dressed in a simple white tank top and brown shorts with hiking boots. Her backpack laid at her feet, its contents falling out. It was flawed beyond repair.

"Who are you? What happened?"

The girl blinked at her. "Drew. Drew Nakamura. You?"

Lyra looked to Kadaj, who was watching in the rearview mirror. He nodded once.

"Eyes on the road," Lyra reminded him. He smirked and did as he was told. Lyra rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. "I'm Lyra."

Drew grinned. "Pretty name for a pretty face. Where you are guys heading?"

"Junon," Loz answered. Drew blinked.

"Oh. Well, if you don't turn here you're going to miss-"

Kadaj took a sharp turn, causing everyone to fly to the left of the car as he did so.

"…Miss the fastest shortcut. Wow, you are one crazy driver."

"Okay, so what happened?" Lyra asked, getting impatient.

"Eh. Just a monster," Drew answered, gathering her things into what was left of her bag. Ropes and a multi-tool. Some duct tape and a knife. An empty folder and a notebook soaked with water. "Shit, ink's gonna get everywhere. Hey, sorry for climbing over you. I was just trying not to get killed." She grinned at Lyra. Lyra knit her brows and pulled her pack closer.

"So I answered your questions, pretty face," Drew said. "Whatcha gonna do in Junon?"

The boys were silent. Lyra caught Kadaj glancing every so often in the rearview mirror. What were they going to do in Junon?

"Okay. Awkward silence," Drew mumbled. "Any idea where you'll be staying?"

"An inn," Loz offered innocently, smiling proudly. Drew smiled back.

"Yeah, but there's a local festival this weekend and all the inns and hotels will be filled by now."

"Then where do you suggest we stay?" Yazoo drawled, turning to face Drew. Drew smiled at him. It was a flirtatious smile.

"I don't know. You got a pretty face too."

Yazoo rolled his eyes and turned around. Drew continued to smirk and sat back.

"Okay, I'll be serious now," she said. "You guys helped me, now I help you. It's an honor thingie in Wutai."

Kadaj turned the windshield wipers on as it started to rain. Lyra hoped he would slow down. She didn't want to crash. She sent the vibe down the bond and he seemed to catch on. He slowed down a bit.

"Did you grow up in Wutai?" Yazoo asked. Drew shook her head.

"No. My mother did, though." She leaned forward over the center console in the front seat as they sped through the outskirts of Junon. It was quiet, but it was late. The inner part of the city would be busy no doubt, but the suburbs were silent and still. Drew pointed at a street with a spotlight. "Turn there."

Kadaj frowned. "Why?"

Drew shrugged. "I'm taking you guys to my apartment. You need a place to stay and you saved my life. You can stay with me while you do whatever you're going to do in Junon." She turned to Yazoo. "It's a bit cramped though. You seem like the type who likes personal space a bit too much."

He returned her words with a glare. Drew held up her hands and backed up with another grin. "Hey, I'm just messing with you. Turn there."

Kadaj slowed the truck to the speed limit until they stopped.

"K, what are you doing?" Lyra asked. He sat back and scowled at the steering wheel.

"Thinking," he said. Lyra felt down the bond. He was being overly cautious, but he didn't trust this Drew girl. She seems nice but it could be a trick? Anything could be a trick, but should we take the offer? We need a place to stay, Lyra's tired, I'm tired, my brothers are tired. Would the Flower Girl and the Lifestream let me into the Positive if I end up having to kill this girl? I'll probably end up doing that if she's tricking us and-

"Why don't we just stay a night," Lyra offered, reaching out through the bond, hoping to ease the rapid-fire thoughts in his head. "If it doesn't work out by tomorrow evening, we go someplace else."

A flicker of a smile crossed Kadaj's face as he nodded. He put the truck back into gear and continued the turn, following Drew's directions until they came across an empty street lined with cars and streetlights. An apartment building had been shoved between a closed restaurant and a nightclub. The alleyway next to the nightclub was lit by the giant neon signs advertising the nightclub and alcoholic beverages that were served inside.

"I live inside those apartments," Drew said as she gathered her things. "Third floor, 23. Hey, can you hold this?"

She handed Lyra a roll of duct tape and Loz a length of rope that wasn't sitting in her ruined bag properly. She led them across the street in the rain and into the apartment building. It wasn't too bad, but everything was colored brown and dark muddy orange. The front room by the elevators held the mailboxes on one wall and laundry room through a door on the other. Drew walked past the elevators and up the carpeted stairs, all the way to her apartment on the end of the third floor.

"The elevators are broken," she said in a hushed voice. "Some idiot kid who wanted to be an electrician thought it would be fun to mess with the wires and stuff and got stuck a month ago. He's fine, but the elevator isn't." She unlocked her apartment and held it open, letting them inside. She flipped on a light and locked the door behind them.

Drew's apartment was small but comfortable. She had a nice multicolored rug on the floor before a couch and a stuffed chair. Her TV was old but still worked. Her kitchen was right next to the front door and just beyond the front door was a small hall where Drew's bathroom, bedroom, and another bedroom was. She had some clutter, picture frames, and knickknacks, but it was clear that she had lived there a while and loved it. Drew's apartment smelled like jasmine incense and apple blossoms, which was better than dust and mildew like in Kadaj's apartment.

"Make yourselves at home. I got leftovers in the fridge and some movies you can watch." She made her way to her bathroom. "And nothing here is worth stealing, so don't think about it!" 

Lyra yawned. Loz snuck down the hall and checked the guest room. He came back with a grin. 

"There's a bed!" He held out a fist. "Rock, Paper, Scissors?" 

His brothers looked at each other and held out their fist. Then Kadaj frowned and withdrew his fist. 

"Wait, Lyra's the only girl. She should get the bed." 

"What? No. Rock, Paper, Scissors." She joined her own fist. Kadaj shook his head. 

"No, you get the bed," he insisted. Lyra rolled her eyes. 

"Rock, Paper, Scissors is fair, K." 

"And I'm trying to be a gentleman, Ly," Kadaj insisted again. "You get the bed." 

Lyra spoke through her teeth this time, though it didn't bother him much. "Rock, Paper, Scissors." 

He narrowed his eyes but eventually obliged. They played it once. Loz drew Paper, Yazoo drew Rock, Lyra and Kadaj drew Scissors. They all looked at each other. 

"Best out of three or until we have one winner," Yazoo said. They went again. Loz drew Paper again along with Yazoo while Lyra and Kadaj again drew Scissors. Lyra frowned. 

"I think the bond is working against us, K," she said. Kadaj smirked and they started again. Loz, Paper, Yazoo, Scissors, Lyra and Kadaj, Scissors. They tried again, spending about ten minutes just to see who would get the bed until Lyra ended up winning. 

"You let me win," she accused the boys as she picked her pack from the floor. The boys insisted they didn't, as Lyra expected. 

"You should have just taken the offer for the bed in the first place," Kadaj told her. She stuck out her tongue and left for the room. Yazoo and Loz took the couch and chair as Kadaj followed Lyra. They passed the bathroom and Lyra could hear the shower running and Drew humming. Lyra entered the guest room and Kadaj immediately checked every inch of the room as if he was looking for monsters. Lyra blew a strand of hair out of her face. 

"Kadaj, I don't think Drew is working with the bad guys. We'll be fine for one night," she said. She sat on the bed. It was simply made with a plain cotton quilt. A wooden dresser painted white stood next to a closet door across from her. Kadaj predictably checked that closet and then the other at the other side, that opened at the foot of the bed. 

"I know, but you can't be too careful," Kadaj muttered. "Plus, Aerith said that I'm your bodyguard and I'd be a pretty shitty bodyguard if I let you get killed by some hidden assassin." He grinned at her and pulled his sleeping bag from his duffel bag. His sword was placed neatly inside. Lyra cocked her head to the side. 

"Are you sure you don't want the bed? I could sleep on the floor and-" 

"No, Lyra. You won it fair and square in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors." 

He finished unrolling his sleeping bag and took off his shoes. Lyra hesitated before taking her own shoes off. She didn't want to take the bed, but then again she did win it.... even though she was pretty sure the boys had botched the game on purpose. Lyra smiled and rolled her eyes at the thought. She sat her shoes next to her bag and crawled under the cover as Kadaj turned the lights off. 

"Night, K." She whispered in the dark. 

"Night, Star-Eyes." 

Chapter Text

Lyra awoke to the smell of breakfast.

She stretched and yawned as she got out of bed, almost slipping on the sleeping bag laying on the floor. She frowned and felt down the bond. She knew he was nearby; she just wasn’t awake and was still disoriented from sleep. Kadaj tugged back and a pleasant feeling seeped through from his end. She walked down the wooden hallway. Drew was singing along to a song on the radio as she made breakfast. She called Loz over to crack another egg and waved at Lyra. Loz launched himself from the couch like he was waiting forever for a chance to crack an egg and pat Lyra’s head as he zoomed past her.

“Good morning, sleepyhead!! I’ve got breakfast going.” Drew wiped her hands and turned to grab plates as Loz cracked away. Lyra mumbled back and took the empty spot on the couch Loz had left. Yazoo ignored her but Kadaj smiled and scooted over a bit more. They were going over a map.

“We could go to Mideel?” Kadaj offered. Yazoo scoffed.

“And what would we do there?”

Kadaj shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s far from Edge and the WRO.”

Lyra yawned and leaned against Kadaj’s shoulder. She wished she stayed in bed and gone back to sleep. Kadaj jerked still but didn’t look away from the map. Drew and Loz continued making breakfast and Yazoo tapped on the map.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the Gold Saucer. That might be fun. What do you think?”

Kadaj didn’t answer and Lyra felt a burst of panic from his end of the bond. She frowned and opened her eyes. He was staring at the map. Lyra squeezed his arm and his face turned red.

“What’s wrong?”

He cleared his throat and shook his arm loose. “Nothing.”

Yazoo folded up the map as Drew and Loz sat plates of toast and eggs on the coffee table. Kadaj took his plate and tried scooting as far from Lyra as possible, only for Yazoo to shove him back with a pointed glare. Loz sat in the reclining chair and tore into his breakfast. Drew sat cross-legged on the floor and studied the boys as they ate. The apartment was silent. Awkwardly silent.

“Stop staring at us.” Kadaj glared at Drew. Drew smiled back and took a long drink from her coffee mug.

“Did you guys escape from some Shinra lab?” The boys shared a look that should have alarmed Drew, but she continued to smile as if they were old friends. Lyra shook her head and reached down the bond to tell Kadaj to stop planning the curious girl’s murder. It’s fine, she’s just curious.

“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t trust her yet.”

You’re eating food she ma-

“Loz helped her make it.”

“Not technically,” Lyra answered for them. Kadaj elbowed her in the side and she elbowed him back. He turned his glare to her and she ignored the warnings he shot down the bond. She silently cursed Aerith for convincing him that she needed a bodyguard.

“I only ask because you three-” Drew waved her fork at the boys. “You three look like Sephiroth. And you’ve got a weird vibe.” She waved her fork at Lyra and took another sip of coffee. “If you’ve escaped from a lab, I’ll help you hide. I don’t know how much help I can be. But I’m looking for information from Shinra.”

Yazoo reclined on Drew’s faded and threadbare couch. “What are you looking for?”

Drew shrugged. “Anything about Shinra labs in Wutai.”

“Why?”

“I was born in one. I don’t know who my bio mom was, but my adoptive mom was a lab assistant who saved me.” Drew pulled out the bag from the night before and pulled out the notebook and fanned through it. “My mom, Kazumi… She died after Meteorfall and she never told me the full story. Wanted to protect me, I guess.”

“We were born in a Woodlands Area lab,” Yazoo began.

“Yaz,” Kadaj warned. He sat up like he was ready to run at any minute. Lyra placed a hand on his shoulder and shushed him, sending a feeling of calm down the bond. She wanted to know more about the labs.

“It’s alright. I promise I don’t have any evil plans or whatever it is you’re worried about.” Drew opened her notebook to a blank page and began writing. “Go on, Yazoo. All four of you?”

Yazoo nodded. “All four of us. Lyra doesn’t remember anything-”

“I’ve got a magic Shinra amnesia.”

“She’s got a mind block.” Yazoo shot Lyra an annoyed look. She grinned back. “We’re trying to break through it and help her remember.”

“What were you in the labs for or don’t you know?” Drew looked up from her notebook. “Most of the lab rats I’ve listened to don’t know. Or they didn’t want to know.”

“No, we know.” Kadaj was still as a statue. “My brothers and I were part of the Reunion Theory. We were kept separate from the other kids.” Drew frowned as she wrote but she didn’t interrupt. Lyra made a mental note to ask about the Reunion Theory later, preferably away from Drew and her prying. The way Kadaj talked about the theory made her uneasy.

“Well, not all of them,” Loz spoke up. “Lyra and Vega were there. The others were kept away from us.” Lyra’s head started to throb at the mention of Vega. She could just barely see a face in her mind. Dark hair, dark skin, bright mako blue eyes… then the face faded. She rubbed her temples and leaned on Kadaj as the faint face came back. He turned to her and sent a question down the bond. She ignored it as the pain in her head mounted. She took a steady breath and closed her eyes.

“Ugh, I hated Vega,” Yazoo exclaimed. “She was rude and mean and she never cooperated with the scientists and the nurses.”

Drew giggled at that. “I wouldn’t want to cooperate either!!”

Yazoo crossed his arms and scowled as he spoke. “Well, if one of us didn’t cooperate, we all were punished. And we were punished a lot because of her. She once knocked down the castle I made out of blocks. I was, I don’t know, eleven? All because Dr. Azazel took Lyra and Kadaj out of the room.” They were quiet while Drew scribbled in her notebook.

“Why was Vega throwing a fit?”

Yazoo shrugged. “Because Dr. Azazel took Lyra and Kadaj out of the room. It’s not like I asked. She knocked down my castle and we weren’t exactly told everything about the experiments we were part of.”

The four of them jumped as Drew slammed her notebook shut. Drew jumped up and shoved her notebook back into her bag. She gathered their dishes and dumped them into her kitchen sink.

“Alright. I’m bored. And you guys sound like you are in desperate need of something normal.” Drew twirled out of her kitchen. “We’re going to the festival today!!”

Kadaj shook his head. “Nope. Not happening. We’ll be recognized. We’ve been here too long, anyway. The WRO might still be following us.”

Loz made a disappointed whining sound.

Drew snorted. “Not at this festival, my friend!! This is a mischief festival. Costumes and masks and wigs are encouraged. The gaudier the better.”

Lyra rubbed her throbbing head again. The world sounded a little fuzzy and her ears were ringing. Her ice started to form at her feet. She tried her best to ignore her head and squeezed Kadaj’s hand. “Having fun won’t hurt us.”

Kadaj frowned and almost said something but crossed his arms. He was thinking. She felt down the bond. He was going through every bad scenario possible. Lyra frowned and rolled her eyes. He was taking the bodyguard thing too seriously. She sent that thought down the bond and he turned his frown to her. She ignored him and turned to Drew.

“What kind of costumes are there?” Lyra asked Drew, who was rummaging through a drawer next to her front door.

“All kinds. Most people dress as a hero or a god. The most popular being an old mischief god, of course.” Drew tugged a wad of gil out of her drawer. “Most of the costumes are free. There are even contests, but we don’t have to join them. There are games and food and some carnival rides….”

Loz began bouncing in his chair. “We should go!!”

Even Yazoo seemed excited. “A break would be nice.”

“We haven’t even started anything,” Kadaj insisted. “We don’t need a break.”

“Quit being a grumpy ass. You’ve been outvoted.” Lyra poked him hard in the side and stood. Her headache was already fading. Kadaj looked around the room. Loz and Yazoo had made up their minds. Kadaj grumbled and stood.

“Fine!! We'll go to the stupid festival.”

------------

Saying goodbye to Cid and Barret before they left on the Shera was easier than saying goodbye to Marlene and Denzel. It had been Reeve’s idea and Cloud would do anything to keep the kids safe, but it didn’t make it any easier. He didn’t even know where Marlene and Denzel were taken, only that it was safe and Jael wouldn’t find them. Cloud didn’t know how true that was, but he had to believe that it was safe. Cloud was barely a footstep into Shalua’s lab before an alarm on her switchboard went off. She smacked at the switchboard with a loose computer keyboard and went back to studying the Gravity Materia.

“Can we have one nice day?” She grumbled to Cloud. Shalua looked awful like she hadn’t slept all night. Cloud inched his way through the maze of desk chairs and office supplies that were scattered about the lab.

“Is there anywhere else you can study that thing?”

Shalua shot him an annoyed look.

“My lab, my shit. I’m not in the mood.” She took the Materia out of the pile of paper clips it had attracted and placed it back in the foam Materia case. “We haven’t made any progress decoding any Project Starchild files, especially nothing about Nibelheim yet, Lyra’s trail has gone cold, and Jael sent yet another lovely video.” She gestured to the giant screens behind her and the smaller laptop that was plugged into them. She slumped into an office chair and pushed the floor with her toe. She slowly spun in a circle.

“You didn’t watch the video, did you?” Cloud cringed when Shalua nodded. “You should take a break. Go watch some cat videos or something.” Shalua shook her head.

“No thanks. We’ve got a Shinra dick to find and people to save.”

She pushed herself toward the laptop and opened a few tabs. Cloud didn’t know how to read computer code and Shalua clearly didn’t want to talk, so he left the room. He stopped Shelke on her way down the hall and asked her to talk to Shalua.

“Convince her to take a break. And to stop watching Jael’s videos.”

“I’ll try my best.” Shelke sighed. “Tifa sent me to find you. She wants to talk to Rosso but she doesn’t want to go alone.”

He found Rosso and Tifa in the common area of the medical wing. Rosso lounged in one of the bean bags dressed in a baggy shirt and a pair of sweatpants. She looked healthier every time he saw her. She had gained enough weight that she didn’t look starved anymore and she talked less about blood and murder every day. Tifa was curled up on the long couch across from Rosso. She had wrapped herself in a weighted blanket and fidgeted with a pen. She smiled at Cloud as he sat next to her. Rosso sat up and beamed at them.

“Finally, the Chocobo Head is here!!”

“Good morning to you too, Rosso.”

Rosso snuggled back into the bean bag and yawned. “It’s far too early. Today is my sleep-in day. Why did you ask for me?”

Tifa clicked the pen rapidly. “Lyra’s gone.”

Rosso’s smile fell from her face. The little bit of color she had managed to gain during her stay with the WRO left her face. She looked like she was going to be sick. Cloud bounced his knee and hoped she wouldn’t start punching.

“Dr. Jael got her?” Rosso’s voice was small.

Tifa shook her head. “No, he’s still looking for her. She ran away.”

Rosso threw a throw pillow at Tifa. Tifa raised a hand to block it and Rosso stood.

“Well, I hate to say it, but I told you so.” She crossed her arms and waved away a nurse who was watching. “I told you that the little mouse wouldn’t react well.”

“Is there anywhere she could have gone?” Tifa asked, still clicking the pen. Cloud resisted the urge to take the pen from her. Rosso scoffed.

“How should I know? I’ve never been to the surface above DeepGround, and the little mouse has no memory!!” She paced a bit and then took the pen from Tifa. Cloud stood, ready to fight the pen away if Rosso tried anything. Rosso studied her arm- her real one- and circled a spot just below the inside of her elbow. “Look here.”

Cloud leaned forward and took her arm. He shook his head.

“Nothing’s there.”

Rosso ground her teeth. “Look closer. It’s an old scar.”

He looked again and waved Tifa over. A faint vertical scar was inside the ink.

“We have trackers. Mine is broken, hopefully.”

Cloud frowned and Tifa raised an eyebrow.

“Hopefully?” Tifa asked. Her voice was tight and she sounded like she had been crying. She had asked to be alone after they said goodbye to the kids. Rosso shrugged.

“Well, Dr. Jael knows where the WRO is, but he hasn’t sent anyone to retrieve me or the little mouse since I’ve come here.”

“Why do you think it’s broken?” Cloud asked.

“They’re fragile little things,” Rosso said. “Those machines your doctors used to scan my injuries might have fried it. Lyra has one. It’s how Dr. Jael knew she was here. He got one final transmission before her tracker went offline and the only way to fix that is to remove the old tracker and insert a new one.” Rosso rubbed the scar. “It would be on her left arm, the same place as mine.”

Tifa’s eyes widened and tapped Cloud’s arm.

“We saw that!! On the images-”

“Yes, I saw them.” He turned back to Rosso. “Is there any way we can track it still, even if it’s broken?”

Rosso shrugged. “I don’t know. But if you would excuse me, it’s time for breakfast.”

With that Rosso left and Cloud and Tifa raced each other to Shalua’s lab. Shalua wasn’t there, but Shelke was. She was going through the computer files on Project Starchild. She jumped and drew her sabers as Cloud and Tifa burst through the doors.

“What’s wrong? Are we under attack again?” She asked. Her voice was as monotone as usual but there was a worried edge to it. Tifa shook her head and pushed chairs out of her way.

“No, but we talked to Rosso-”

“She’s doing okay, I think,” Cloud interjected.

“And she has a tracker in her arm-”

“So does Lyra-”

“But it’s broken, possibly.” Tifa rifled through the pile of paper files Shalua had made on Lyra. She found the MRI images of Lyra’s body and showed Shelke the pale white incision on Lyra’s left forearm. “Rosso says the machine might have broken it, but still….”

Shelke took the image and studied it. She looked at her own left arm and shook her head.

“Mine broke the same way. I’ll try my best, but it’s likely impossible.” She walked to her VR station and booted it up. Cloud helped Tifa straighten the lab as Shelke did her work. He tried not to let his mind wander back to the kids. They would be okay. They would be safe. He didn’t have to worry so much…. Tifa sighed and sat in a chair. She buried her face in her hands and took a deep breath. Cloud sat next to her.

“Are you alright?”

She nodded and gave him a small smile, but she looked as stressed and tired as he felt.

“Marlene and Denzel will be okay,” Tifa said. “And we’ll find Lyra before Dr. Jael can. And she won’t be mad anymore and we can convince her we’re the good guys.”

Cloud nodded, even though he almost didn’t believe her. “And she won’t burn any more towns down.”

“And we’ll get her help. Like we did with Rosso.” Tifa rubbed her face. “Hopefully she won’t remember everything she’s done. Or Nibelheim. Or Sephiroth. And we can tell her everything we found when she’s in a safe place.”

Cloud’s mouth went dry but he continued nodding. Neither of them liked talking about Nibelheim, but the night before Tifa had remembered something. She told Cloud that she thought Lyra was familiar when they first met her and she finally realized why.

“You’re sure she was there?”

Tifa nodded. “Yeah. I almost forgot about her. She was just an annoying kid. She went up the mountain with everyone the first time when they found the monsters. I thought it was weird that Sephiroth wanted the kid to follow him, but I was told not to ask. She was quiet.” Tifa sighed again. “I always wondered how he started the fire anyway....”

Chapter Text

Yuffie chewed the inside of her cheek and looked around the crowded city. She huffed and put her hands on her hips. She didn’t even know where to start looking for Lyra or the boys. When she and Vincent first arrived at Junon, they heard about the festival and wondered if they had the wrong idea. Kalm was too, well, calm and it was easy to get to from Edge, but hard to hide in. Junon was a chaotic sprawling city similar to what Midgar was like with ruins and slums. It would be difficult to find anyone in Junon, but the Remnants of Sephiroth would stand out in any place they ran to. Lyra was pretty but normal-looking enough and regrettably short. She would have no trouble blending in.

The mischief festival, with all its colorful wigs and costumes and elaborate masks, made Yuffie feel like she was looking for a needle in a haystack.

She continued down the street, weaving in and out of groups of festivalgoers and dodging vendors. Vincent had made her swear up and down to every god they knew that she would focus on finding Lyra and behave. No shenanigans!! And boy, oh boy was it hard to stay on task.

Everywhere she turned Yuffie saw conflicting patterns and colors and with every turn she made, she ran into a carnival game, a puppet show, and even a sword-swallowing act. She was beginning to wish that she and Vincent hadn’t split up. The few WRO soldiers they had were spread thin throughout the city but they were likely having the same amount of sorry luck Yuffie was having.

Yuffie snagged a mask from the next costume vendor she passed. Maybe Lyra or one of the boys had spotted her and were hiding? It was better to fit in anyway. The Wutain War had ended years ago and Wutai was slowly returning to its former self, but people outside of Wutai still gave her weird looks and avoided her. It didn’t bother her, usually. But sometimes she wished it was socially acceptable to punch people in the face for giving her dirty looks.

Yuffie gave the vendor some gil and picked a black and red ladybug mask. The mask was handmade, the vendor claimed, and was of high quality. The ladybug mask didn’t feel like plastic or that it would disintegrate at the barest touch so she slid it over her face and continued on her way.

The sun was starting to dip to the west by the time she gave up. Yuffie’s throat was dry and cracked. She lost count of how many times she had described Lyra and how many amused looks she got when describing the Remnants. She hadn’t outright called the boys Remnants of Sephiroth, just described their hair and eyes and roughly their height. She got a lot of laughs from that, and there were a lot of silver wigs being sold and worn.

She found a bit of shade under a stairwell and drank some water around noon. She checked her phone. No calls or texts from Lyra, even though the stupid girl had promised to stay in touch. A few texts from her dad and Tifa asking her how her day was going. Many of the WRO soldiers were still looking for Lyra, asking Yuffie if she’d heard anything. None from Vincent, which was typical but frustrating given the circumstances. She sent him a text to meet at the alleyway and made her way there.

She was halfway down the long empty alleyway when she heard them talking. Yuffie hid behind one of the many overflowing dumpsters and crawled through the space behind it. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of rot and garbage and the gravel bit into her palms, but like hell was she going to let a Turk get the better of her. She peeked through the cracks of wooden pallets stacked on the other side of the dumpster. They blocked her passage but provided some lovely cover.

“We’re on vacation,” Tseng was saying. His back was to her, but he sounded annoyed. Elena was rocking on the balls of her feet next to him. Vincent stood before them scowling and crossing his arms.

“Really? Junon isn’t that interesting,” Vincent said. “I’ve heard Costa del Sol is better.”

“Nah, too touristy,” Elena chirped. Yuffie grimaced as a cockroach skittered past her but she kept still as a stone and quiet as a mouse.

“How did you know to come to Junon?” Vincent continued to scowl.

“That’s none of-” Elena began.

“You don’t need to know why we’re here,” Tseng interrupted. Vincent scoffed.

“Three Remnants and a tiny Cetra would be hard to miss, I suppose.”

“No, they wouldn’t be,” Tseng answered. “Keep out of our way. It will be easier.”

With that, Tseng and Elena left.

Yuffie waited for a beat, unsure if they had left or if they were pulling a fake-out.

“Yuffie, why are you hiding behind a dumpster, of all places?”

Yuffie smacked her head on the dumpster lid as she crawled out from behind it and tripped over a smelly bag of garbage. She righted herself and placed her hands on her hips. She gave him a confident smile, which he would have seen if she had taken the mask off. Vincent shook his head and sighed.

“Sorry, the festival is too crowded, and everyone is wearing a disguise. I had to blend in.” She gestured to her lovely ladybug mask. Vincent nodded but didn’t say anything about it. She tried not to be disappointed.

“I don’t like running into Turks, but we must have had the right idea.”

Yuffie cleared her throat. “I had the right idea, you mean.”

“Yes.” He turned as two of their soldiers entered the alleyway behind him. “Nice mask, by the way.”

Yuffie smiled wide behind the mask and joined him in listening to the soldiers’ report.

 “Oh, that’s an amazing choice!!”

Drew clapped as Loz showed off the rainbow wig and striped tiger mask he chose. Lyra smiled and turned back to the column of hanging masks displayed next to the vendor’s stall. She had decided she didn’t need a wig. Her hair wasn’t silver and noticeable as the boys but it was wild and curly enough to fit the theme of the festival when she let it out of her braid. Kadaj stood across from her. He didn’t even look at the masks. He was staring daggers at Drew who seemed oblivious. Yazoo chose a fox mask and a thin red cape from the stall next to them. He drew the hood over his hair and secured the hood to his mask. Lyra couldn’t see his face from behind the fox mask but from the huff he made she guessed he was becoming annoyed by Kadaj’s attitude.

“Pick one or I’ll pick for you,” he told Kadaj. Kadaj turned his glare to Yazoo, but Yazoo was as unbothered as Drew. “Alright then.”

Yazoo didn’t even have to ponder which mask was more fitting. He grabbed a devilish mask and shoved it on Kadaj’s face. Kadaj pushed his brother back and adjusted the mask on his face, swearing at both Yazoo and Drew under his breath. Lyra couldn’t help but giggle. His sour mood was leaking through the bond, but she wouldn’t let it ruin the day. She could smell salt and sea on the breeze that floated through Junon’s crowded city streets, and the sky was cloudless.

Yazoo turned to her next. “I’ll pick one for you too.”

His cat-like eyes glittered behind the mask, but he didn’t sound as annoyed. Lyra rolled her eyes and turned back to the rack. She pulled a dark purple and gray snarling wildcat from behind a smiling clown mask. Its face was fierce and mean and covered in dark purple tufts of fur. She smiled as she slipped it over her face.

“I like this one,” she said. “Pick one for Drew.”

Drew waved an elaborate butterfly mask. “Nah, I’ve already got one!!”

They moved on from the stall. Lyra felt better wearing the mask, even if it wasn’t as extravagant as the other festivalgoers around them. Kadaj sulked behind his brothers and Drew as she took them from the carnival game to the food stall to show. They were too late to enroll in a pranking contest, but Drew insisted that there were other fun things to do and more contests to join.

“We don’t need that kind of attention,” Kadaj snapped. Drew lifted her mask to stick her tongue out at him. Lyra sighed and took his arm.

“Come one, just relax and have fun.”

Kadaj’s mask glared at her and hers snarled back. She couldn’t see his full expression behind his mask, but she could see his ears turn pink and a fuzzy feeling from their bond and he looked away. The group passed a bean bag game but had to double back for Loz.

“I’m gonna win that.” He pointed to a giant teddy bear. Kadaj snorted.

“Doubt it. It’s probably there just to tease little kids,” he said. “And besides, you’re too big for teddy bears and toys.”

Loz wasn’t deterred. “It’s almost as big as me.”

“Teddy bears are for babies.”

Lyra shared an annoyed look with Drew and Yazoo. She lifted her mask and tugged on Kadaj’s jacket.

“You’re just scared to lose to him,” Lyra taunted Kadaj. He shook his head and waved her hands away.

“No, I’m not. This looks easy.”

Lyra poked him in the ribs. “I bet you’ll lose.”

“No, I won’t.”

“I bet Loz will win. He’s gonna win that big teddy bear.”

Kadaj blocked Lyra’s hands when she tried to poke his ribs again. “I don’t want to win a stupid bear.”

Yazoo and Drew moved on to the next game, leaving Loz to watch them bicker. He looked uncomfortable but Lyra didn’t pay him any mind. Instead, she smirked at Kadaj.

“Then what do you wanna win?”

Kadaj shrugged. Lyra bounced on her heels and without thinking she blurted out, “I’ll kiss you then. On the cheek.”

Loz snickered and made a sound like he was throwing up.

Kadaj snorted but his ears were bright red through his silver hair. “And how are you going to reach me? I’d have to bend down.”

She kicked him in the shin and placed her fists on her hips. He staggered and swore under his breath as Loz laughed again.

“I’ll have to do that, I guess.” She slid her mask down her face and grabbed a bean bag. “C’mon Loz, I’ll play with you.”

“Finally!!” Loz was overjoyed. He grabbed his bean bags. Before she could throw the bean bag at the bottles lined in a row on a wall, Kadaj took it from her hands.

“Hey!!”

“I’ll play. But when I win, don’t kick me in the shins. I’ll bend down for you.”

He sounded less grumpy and more playful, but his words made her stomach flip. It wasn’t a bad feeling, it felt more like butterflies. Whatever the feeling was, she could feel it through the bond as well. She rubbed her arms and nodded and backed away to watch the game.

She was almost disappointed when Kadaj lost. Loz took his bear and Kadaj turned to her. Loz sprinted away to show Yazoo and Drew his prize, leaving the two by the bean bag game. The attendant righted the bottles that were knocked over and replaced the bear Loz won with a similar bear. Kadaj sighed and she could feel his own disappointment through the bond.

“Can I get one for trying?”

Lyra laughed to ignore the heat on her face and the butterflies in her stomach. She shook her head.

“No, you had to win the game for that!!”

“Can I play against y-”

“Hey dweebs, keep up!!” Drew came running back, ducking around a group of kids running between games. Kadaj’s emotions through the bond soured. Drew grabbed their arms and dragged them toward Yazoo and Loz. “There’s a freaking fire-eater!!”

The man who wasn’t really eating fire, much to Lyra’s disappointment. She was tempted to summon a spark or two, but wherever she drew her abilities from felt as worn out as a sprained muscle. Kadaj leaned down towards her as they watched the man blow fire into the air above the heads of the crowd. She almost ducked away from him as the butterflies returned to her stomach.

“Can you eat fire? Or blow it like a dragon?”

She laughed and Drew crossed her arms. She stood on the other side of Lyra. Her butterfly mask glittered in the sunlight.

“What do you mean?”

If Kadaj wasn’t wearing a devil mask, he would have been glaring, Lyra was sure. She shook her head and turned to Drew.

“I’ll show you later,” she promised. Drew looked from the fire eater to Lyra and huffed.

When the fire eater finished his show, they moved on to more festival attractions. Kadaj avoided Drew as much as he could and hung back whenever the rest of them played games. Towards the end of the afternoon, they attended the parade on the main street of the festival. Drew told them that each float told a story about the mischief god Junon which was part of a pantheon Junon used to worship. Each float was bright and the people on the floats wore different costumes, dressed as gods and heroes of the stories.

Between each float, dancers and acrobats performed. They threw candy and bead necklaces and small toys to the watching crowds. Lyra felt almost normal. She closed her eyes and pretended for a moment that she wasn’t an amnesiac lab rat. She was on an outing with her friends and they were safe and not hiding from the WRO. She didn’t run away from Cloud and Tifa after all they did for her, or Marlene and Denzel. She should have said goodbye to the kids, they hadn’t done anything. She should probably borrow Drew’s phone and let Yuffie know that she’s okay and ask her to say hi for her and-  

She was shaken from her daydreaming by a blood-curdling scream. She backed into Kadaj and grabbed his arm.

What’s happening?

“I don’t know.”

 A roar shook the windows of the buildings around them. Lyra’s stomach dropped as the six-legged Vigo tore around a street corner and crashed into the parade. The crowds exploded into chaos as people ran from its claws and teeth. It smacked a parade float over with its tail. Yazoo pulled Drew out of the way as the Vigo’s tail swung towards them. Yazoo had his gun ready in his hand.

“Alright, time to leave.” Lyra pulled at Loz and Kadaj. They were pushed aside by a WRO soldier who ran past them towards the Vigo. Lyra swore under her breath as more soldiers appeared, running from the alleyways and from behind upturned stalls. Vincent and Yuffie were even there, slashing at the Vigo and shooting it back. The Vigo roared again and snapped at Yuffie. Yuffie jumped out of reach and threw a shuriken at its face, gouging into the scales around an eye.

Lyra and the boys didn’t stick around to watch. They followed Drew and the rest of the crowd. The Vigo’s roars faded the farther they ran until finally, the streets were clearer and fewer people were running. The streets were narrower near Drew’s apartment. Drew squealed and pulled them into an alley as WRO soldiers passed by in a truck. They paid the small group no mind as they drove towards the broken parade.

“Okay, what the f-” Drew began. She sat against a brick wall of a building and panted.

“How much farther?” Yazoo asked. Drew closed her eyes and moved a hand in front of her as she followed a mental map.

“Not far. One or two more blocks.” She gave Yazoo a shaky smile. “I guess you guys don’t want to stay another night in Junon?”

Kadaj tore off his mask and threw it at her. Drew barely caught it and let it fall to the ground. He was seething. Lyra tried to push the feelings of rage back towards his side of the bond. She nudged Kadaj’s arm but he ignored her. Drew murmured an apology and continued to lead them back to her apartment building.

The sun was beginning to set by the time they got to the lobby. WRO soldiers were swarming the streets picking up the remnants of the festival and helping anyone lost or wounded by the Vigo attack. They had to take a detour around a blockade of WRO soldiers examining festival attendees. Each attendee had to take off their mask and let the soldiers examine them for injuries and Lyra didn’t feel like being caught just yet.

“I told you we shouldn’t go,” Kadaj seethed as they wearily climbed the stairs to Drew’s apartment. “You shouldn’t have even brought it up!!”

Drew paused at her door and fumbled with her keys. Her face was red with anger, having heard every complaint in the book from Kadaj over the past few hours.

“Well, no one mentioned that you were being hunted by a fucking monster!!” She jammed her key into the lock and slammed open the door. She flipped the light switch next to her front door and froze. Whatever words she was going to snap at Kadaj were forgotten, but Drew only let herself be shocked for a moment before stomping into her apartment.

“Who are you and how the fuck did you get in my apartment?!”

The boys were inside in a blink and Lyra followed them. Drew wielded a hammer from her kitchen counter and tried shaking Loz off as he pulled her back to the doorway. Lyra sputtered as Drew pushed into her. Someone chuckled and Lyra ducked around Kadaj to see Drew’s intruder.

Reno, who Lyra had only met once, was sitting in Drew’s threadbare recliner lounging back with his feet on her coffee table like he owned the place. He gestured to her living room window. Drew scoffed.

“My place is three stories up!!”

“That’s nothing, sweetheart.” Reno sat up and Yazoo had his gun again. Lyra wondered where he was hiding it. Reno lifted his empty hands. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“Then why are you here?” Kadaj demanded. Reno pointed at Lyra.

“I’m here for the Cetra.”

“Why?” Lyra asked. Kadaj startled a little and pulled her behind him. She huffed and stomped on his toes. She ignored him through the bond, asking her to run back to the hall.

“You’ve got a lot of people looking for you, kid,” Reno drawled and counted on his fingers. “Ya got the WRO all over the Planet turning over every little rock. Dr. Jael, he’s getting restless and blackmailing the WRO if you can believe it. Or trying to, at least. And his pet wyvern is scurrying about sniffing for you.” Reno paused and grinned. “And then my boss. Rufus wants you too.”

“What does he want with me?” Lyra didn’t shake off Kadaj’s hand when he tried drawing her back again, but she didn’t let him move her. “I’ve only met the guy once. I threw away his business card, though.”

Reno studied the boys and Lyra and Drew for a moment. He seemed to be thinking.

“I really shouldn’t say anything,” he began.

“Then don’t.” Kadaj glanced at Yazoo. Reno ignored them.

“I’ve got a lot to atone for.” Reno took a breath and sat back in the recliner. “I hurt a lot of people for Shinra. And I lied to you, kid. I told you I was taking you home.”

Lyra looked from Reno to her friends. A throbbing pain began to bug her at her temples, but she ignored it.

“I don’t remember-”

“I know. But I’m still sorry for it. You’ll remember one day.” Reno stood and tried to walk past them, but the boys refused to move.

Lyra drew the prototype weapon from her pocket and shook Kadaj off.

“Why does Rufus of all people want me?” She took a step towards Reno and shook Kadaj’s hand from her shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

Lyra ignored him. “I mean, the WRO and Dr. Jael, I understand. I’m Dr. Jael’s lab rat and I ran from the WRO.”

Reno didn’t appear intimidated. He looked from her mask to the saber in her hands.

“The hellcat mask suits you, kid.”

She pressed the button and activated the blade. “I’m not a child.”

The saber was too light in her hands. It didn’t feel right but she held it properly anyway, following instructions from the faint voice in her ears. Her head throbbed and she scowled. Reno snorted.

“You don’t even remember how to use a sword, kid.”

“You have no way of knowing that.” She smiled at him but it felt more like a wince as the throb in her head turned to a stab. Reno closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Rufus wants to rebuild Shinra as it was,” he said finally. “He wants to help the Planet, not harvest the Lifestream this time.” He shook his head. “I don’t see how reviving SOLDIER and the Science Division will help anyone, even if SOLDIER is made up of only Cetras.”

Lyra frowned and looked behind her at Kadaj and his brothers. Reno made a step to the door again and Lyra blocked him.

“I’ll give you guys a head start,” Reno insisted. “We won’t follow you yet.”

“Really?” Yazoo lowered his gun. “And we’re just supposed to believe you?”

Reno flashed a cockeyed grin. “I never found anyone. I think I heard rumors of some Sephiroth look-a-likes in Costa del Sol.”

Before Reno could try to leave again Lyra placed the glowing red blade of the saber under his chin. He raised his hands and continued to smirk. She was getting real tired of his bullshit. She wished she wasn’t so short. Maybe then he would take her seriously. The prototype weapon felt flimsy in her hands, but she felt sure she could use it.

“Lyra.” Kadaj tugged at her wrist.

“I want you to tell Reeve or Cloud or someone at the WRO.” She tried her best to sound commanding. “If you really feel so bad about what Shinra had you do, I mean.”

“I will.”

Lyra studied his eyes for a moment before deactivating the saber and pocketing it. She took off her hellcat mask and offered her pinky.

“Pinky swear on it.”

Reno snorted. “I’m not pinky swearing anything.”

Lyra gave him her sweetest smile. “It’s either you pinky swear that you’ll tell someone from the WRO about Rufus and his dumbass plans or I hand you over to Kadaj and his brothers.”

“I’ve fought them before.”

“We kicked your ass before, you mean. A couple of times at least,” Kadaj said. Reno shot him a glare and then Yazoo and Loz. He groaned.

“Fine. I pinky swear.” He took his hand from his pocket and half-heartedly wrapped his pinky around Lyra’s and shook it. “Stupid hellcat.”

He hesitated before letting Lyra’s pinky go. “I’ve heard Nibelheim is nice this time of year. Might be a good place to retrace your steps. Avoid Costa del Sol, though.”

The boys let him leave then but they didn’t spend a minute longer in Drew’s apartment. The second Reno turned down the stairwell, they exploded into action. They ran to Drew’s guest room and began packing. Drew swore loudly as she threw things into a duffel bag.

“You don’t have to come with us,” Kadaj said as he made his way to the door. Drew laughed nervously.

“I’ve never met a Turk before,” she replied. “But I’ve heard what they do when they question people!!”

Kadaj tried to block her from leaving the apartment but Yazoo dragged him away by his jacket collar. Kadaj pushed him away.

“She’s stuck with us,” Yazoo said.

“Where do we go?” Loz asked. Drew locked her apartment and turned to them.

“The Turk said Nibelheim. There’s a port here and ships that we could board. They’re always taking people to the Western Continent.”

The boys and Lyra put their gil together. They didn’t have much but they had enough to book a passage across the sea. Or at least Drew said so anyway. They left her apartment building and ran through the cramped streets of Junon. The evening sky was darkening and the streetlights were turning on.

Drew snagged a few natural-colored wigs from a knocked-over costume stall and shoved a pink bucket hat on Lyra’s head. The boys didn’t look happy about the wigs but WRO soldiers were everywhere and they had no clue if Reno was actually telling the truth.

Drew ushered them onto a crowded bus and they rode in silence to the docks. The docks at the edge of Junon were crowded and every ship seemed to be taking passengers. Drew took them to a smaller ship and asked a sailor where it was headed.

“North Corel Area,” he answered. “Heard there are fewer monsters there. That’s where the rest of’em are headed.” He gestured to the line of people boarding the boat. Drew handed him some gil and he allowed them to join.

“You guys still have your map?” Drew asked as the boat drifted away from the docks. “I’ve never been to the North Corel Area before. We’re going in blind.”

Chapter Text

The Vigo disappeared as quickly as it appeared, even with WRO soldiers spread throughout Junon. It made Yuffie uneasy. She winced as she rifled through her bag of Materia in the back of a WRO truck. She had gotten a few cuts on her leg from the Vigo. If she hadn’t been so quick and if Vincent hadn’t distracted the thing, she would be one leg short. She found a Cure and pulled her injured leg onto the bench. She unwrapped the gauze bandages and winced.

The three cuts were red and angry, but at least they weren’t bleeding any more. She wet a square of gauze with peroxide and hesitated.

“This isn’t gonna be fun.”

She psyched herself up and began wiping the dirt and dried blood from the cuts. It stung like hell, but it was better than losing the leg. Casting Cure would heal the cuts and prevent infection, but it wouldn’t clean her leg for her. Yuffie finished cleaning the cuts and cast Cure.

As she cleaned up, the truck door opened. She turned to the end of the truck expecting to see Vincent or a soldier. She frowned as a kid climbed in. He was around Denzel’s age and he had smudges of face paint from the festival on his cheeks and forehead.

“Can I help you?” She asked. The kid smiled nervously.

“Your friend wants to talk to you.”

“Which friend?” Yuffie wondered why Vincent sent a kid to get her instead of a soldier.

“He didn’t say.” The kid hesitated. “He’s got red hair….”

Yuffie rolled her eyes. Of course, Reno was in Junon. Tseng and Elena were. She briefly wondered who was guarding Rufus. She hadn’t ever seen Reno without Rude. She grabbed her shuriken and waved the kid to the door. “Alrighty. Take me to him.”

She scoffed as the kid led her into a nearby alleyway. The kid approached Reno with his hand upturned. Reno gave the kid a few gil. The kid cleared his throat and didn’t withdraw his hand. Reno sighed and gave him a few more. The kid thanked him and ran out of the alley. Rude was nowhere to be seen and the alley was empty but for the two of them. Yuffie approached Reno.

“Little grubby-”

“What is it with Turks and alleyways?” Yuffie punched Reno in the shoulder. “Seriously, you can’t pick up a phone?”

Reno rolled his turquoise eyes. “Nice to see you too, Yuffie. But I don’t have time to joke around.”

Yuffie cocked her head and narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Reno looked around them but they were still alone in the stinky trash-filled alleyway. Yuffie wondered where Rude was hiding. He leaned toward her and whispered.

“I found Lyra and the Remnants. They made a friend and they’re headed to Nibelheim.”

Yuffie snorted and punched his arm again. “Shut up.”

“I’m serious.” Reno leaned back and put his hands in his pockets. “They’re on a boat right now. I watched them leave.”

Yuffie spun her shuriken in her hands. How the heck did he find them? And where the hell were they hiding?

“Is this gonna be a race?”

Reno shook his head. “Nope. We’re still looking for them. I hoping we’ll take a detour through Costa del Sol.”

Yuffie considered his words. It was hard to tell if a Turk was lying or not, and Reno was one hell of a Turk. She looked around the alley behind him, wondering if Tseng or Elena or Rude were hiding from them. She mentally kicked herself. She should have taken Vincent or one of the soldiers with her.

“Thanks, I guess,” she mumbled. Reno didn’t move. He scratched at his head and took a few steps back. He got halfway down the alley before he sighed and turned back.

“Alright, the little shit made me pinky swear,” Reno said. Yuffie crossed her arms and watched him curiously.

“The kid?” She gestured toward the alley behind her, where the little boy had run. Reno shook his head and guffawed.

“No. The other little shit. Lyra.” He told her about Rufus and his plans to revive Shinra and SOLDIER. Yuffie almost didn’t believe him.

“All the Cetra are dead,” she reminded Reno.

“Not Lyra. And the other Project Starchild subjects.”

Now that was interesting. Yuffie rose an eyebrow. Last she heard, Shalua and Shelke were still declassifying the Project Starchild files and the only subject mentioned was Lyra.

“Other subjects?”

Reno nodded. “Yeah. At least a dozen. I don’t know how many are still alive after Meteorfall, but-”

“And Rufus wants to use them as new SOLDIERs?”

“Yes.”

Yuffie couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter. “That’s hilarious!! You sure Rufus isn’t just using Project Starchild as an excuse?”

“I know what it sounds like, but I swear on my job that it’s true.”

That made Yuffie laugh even harder, doubling over and staggering back.

“And he wants to help the Planet, not hurt it,” Reno continued. He waited until Yuffie’s fit of laughter passed. “You’ll pass it on?”

Yuffie snickered but she nodded. “Sure, I’ll pass it on. I believe you, but I don’t believe Rufus.”

Reno made to leave again.

“Hey, I’m serious about the phone, Reno,” Yuffie called after him. “Junon’s alleyways are a health hazard.”

Reno turned around. “Aw, is the little ninja scared?”

Yuffie shook her head. “No, but I’m worried about my nose!!”

With that Yuffie turned and sprinted back to the truck. She opened the doors in the back and almost ran into Vincent. He stepped aside to let her in.

“Where were you?” He asked. Yuffie smiled at him and booted up one of the computers. She began to type an encrypted message to Reeve.

“I ran into Reno.” She paused her typing and pat her previously injured leg. “My leg is fine by the way.”

“I know that. You left your Materia out.” Vincent sat on a bench behind her. “Anyone could have taken them.”

Yuffie pressed send and spun the chair around. “Reno says Lyra is headed to Nibelheim. And she’s with the Remnants and they’ve made a new friend.”

“Really?” Vincent looked surprised for a moment. “Anything else?”

“Rufus is being Rufus.” Yuffie grinned and swung her legs. “He’s rebuilding Shinra and he’s using Project Starchild as an excuse to rebuild SOLDIER.”

If any of this surprised Vincent, he didn’t show it.

“It’s a bit odd for a Turk to provide information like this,” he said instead.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. “Not really. Spies are always backstabbing their bosses. I keep a close eye on my spies in the WRO but they still talk.” She spun in her chair. “Has anyone seen the Vigo?”

She stopped spinning long enough to see Vincent shake his head and continued spinning. But it made her dizzy and nauseous so she stopped.

“We should find a boat,” Vincent said. He folded his hands and leaned on his knees. “See if we can cut them off or meet them in Nibelheim. I wonder who their new friend is?”

Yuffie shrugged her shoulders and stood to gather her Materia. She playfully punched Vincent’s shoulder and sat next to him on the bench. “I don’t know. Maybe their new friend is Reno.”

 The sea was calm and clear, but the sky was full of clouds. Kadaj hoped they wouldn’t have another stormy night. They had a few more days left on their journey to the Western Continent and every night since they left Junon had been stormy. The bunkhouse was cramped and there was hardly any privacy. He had given up on the brown wig the day before and threw it overboard. It was itchy and uncomfortable.

Most of the passengers spent their days in the bunkhouse but some helped the sailors on the decks. It was Drew’s idea that they keep their heads down belowdecks with the other passengers, but Lyra had left to get some air. That was hours ago when she first woke up and she hadn’t been back since. Kadaj left Loz sleeping in his bunk and Drew doodling in her notebook. He took Yazoo to the deck to look for Lyra.

“I’ll ask around,” Yazoo said. His hair was hidden under a ridiculous blonde wig that was obviously fake but no one had said anything. Yet.  

Kadaj nodded and let him leave. He went the opposite way. He gently tugged on his side of the bond and felt a soft tug back. Lyra was upset but he couldn’t tell why. He followed her tug to the back of the boat. Lyra was leaning on the railing staring out into the ocean. The warm sea breeze blew the skirt of her lilac sundress around her ankles. She seemed lost in thought. He joined her by the rail but didn’t say anything.

He tried listening to her thoughts but he never was as good as Lyra was with the bond. He could feel her emotions and sense her presence and communicate, but unless she sent them to him, he could never hear her thoughts. He looked at Lyra. Her large green eyes were puffy and red and fixed on the water beneath the boat. Her hair was tangled by the wind. She looked tired. Kadaj wondered if she was sleeping alright. He hadn’t seen her in their dreamworld since they left Edge.

“I’m fine,” she said in a quiet voice. He almost didn’t hear her. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

Kadaj leaned over the rail. “It’s what the Flower Girl asked me to do.”

Lyra blinked and finally looked at him. “I know that, but not all the time.”

She gave him a small smile and looked down at the water. She was silent again, which did nothing to calm Kadaj’s nerves. He fidgeted with the thumb of his glove and tried gauging her thoughts through the bond again. Had she remembered something? His time in the Lifestream had eroded the memories the Calamity and Sephiroth had given him, but he tried his best to avoid bringing those memories back. He knew what Sephiroth had done in Nibelheim and that Lyra had been there. She had been a mess in the dreamworld after the Nibelheim Incident. She had begged Kadaj to ask Dr. Jael to let her come back, but when he had, Dr. Jael told him that Lyra had disobeyed orders and needed to be punished. When Vega overheard, she had almost clawed Dr. Jael’s eyes out.

Kadaj wondered if Vega was still alive.

He glanced at Lyra again. The sea breeze blew her hair into her face but she didn’t seem to notice. He reached to move her hair but thought better of it, remembering the funny feeling he got in Junon when Lyra leaned on him and then again when she told him she would kiss him on the cheek if he won the bean bag game against Loz. Lyra gave him that feeling before, but it was easier to deal with when they only could talk through the dreamworld. It was harder to ignore the feeling when she was standing next to him in the waking world. He withdrew his hand and stared at the waves below them.

“Is something bothering you?” He blurted. He cringed after asking. Lyra blinked at the sea and frowned. She was silent for another heartbeat.

“I’ve been having nightmares,” she said. “Since we left Edge.” She nudged him with her elbow. “I’m sorry for not coming to the dreamworld. I tried last night, but….”

She went silent again.

“What have you been dreaming about?” Kadaj tried not to get frustrated when she didn’t answer. “I won’t judge. Whatever you’ve done can’t be as bad as anything I’ve done.”

Lyra gave him a sad look. “You don’t know that.”

Kadaj waited. Lyra looked behind them but they were alone by the ship’s railing. She inched close to him so their hands almost touched. Kadaj wished he had left his gloves in his bag. He didn’t need them on the boat. They helped with gripping his sword in a fight, but there was no one to fight on the sea. And he hoped Lyra wouldn’t look up again. His face was turning red and that funny feeling was back and rolling in his stomach and chest.

“I was in a room,” she began, her eyes still on the sea. “And a lady dressed in red was asking me to kill someone. Their face kept changing and I couldn’t get a good look at them. The lady in red gave me a dagger and made me…. She made me kill them.” Lyra’s voice broke. “My hands were all bloody, all the way to my elbow. She called me her favorite weapon.”

Lyra sniffled and Kadaj made himself reach out and pat her back. That wasn’t helping, he decided, so he pulled her closer. Lyra didn’t seem to mind as he squeezed her shoulders. He tried to ignore the funny feeling in his chest when she rested her head against him.

“Do you have nightmares?”

It took Kadaj a moment to realize she had said anything. He was too busy trying not to smile. Lyra wasn’t in the mood for smiles and he didn’t want to scare her off.

“I do. Sometimes,” he admitted. Lyra still didn’t look away from the sea.

“About the things you did?”

“Yes.” He wondered how much Cloud and Tifa had told her about him and his brothers. “I always make myself go to the dreamworld when they start. That’s how she got in my head before. In my dreams, I mean.”

Lyra frowned and looked up at his face. “Me?”

“No.” His palms started to sweat and his stomach twisted. He was not going to throw up. Not in front of Lyra. “The Calamity, but I don’t want to get her attention again. I’d rather not talk about her.”

He had been harsher than he wanted to be but Lyra didn’t flinch away. She laced her arms around him and hugged him instead. She sighed as she nuzzled her face into his chest. She smelled like vanilla and wildflowers. His face began to heat up again and the feeling was back in his chest stronger than ever.

“I’ll be here if you ever need to talk.” Lyra’s voice was muffled by his shirt. He pushed the funny feeling as far away as he could and reached down the bond. She was still upset but her mood was brightening. He wondered what would happen if he touched her hair, but that made him wish he wasn’t wearing his gloves again. Her curls looked soft and wild.

Someone cleared their throat and they jumped away from each other. Drew stood a little ways behind them. Kadaj immediately decided then and there that he was going to throw her overboard, but Lyra grabbed his arm and gave him a stern look.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt,” Drew said, walking closer. “I was just wondering where you guys were. Loz is snoring away and Yazoo is who knows where-”

“I’m right here.”

Drew spun and punched at Yazoo but he seamlessly dodged her fist. He leaned with his back on the ship’s rail and smirked at the Wutain girl. Yazoo seemed to enjoy pestering Drew. He had been sneaking up on her and trying to make her jump since they boarded the ship. And Drew didn’t appear as annoyed as Kadaj wanted her to be. He hadn’t outright told Yazoo to annoy her or anything, just to keep an eye on her.

“How the hell are you so quiet?” Drew asked with a laugh.

“It’s a secret,” Yazoo answered. Lyra danced towards Drew and looped her arm around Drew’s. One of Kadaj’s eyes twitched.

“Have you ever been to North Corel?” Lyra asked Drew. Drew shook her head.

“I haven’t been anywhere but Junon and Wutai,” she said. “And I haven’t been to Wutai since I was a baby.” Drew screwed up her face and placed her free hand on her hip. “I know that Corel is a ghost town. It was destroyed by Shinra or an anti-Shinra group, I forget which. The Golden Saucer was built on top of it. It’s huge and every road on the Western Continent leads to it.”

“Really?” Lyra asked.

“Yeah!!” Drew nodded her head enthusiastically and looked down at Lyra. “No one goes to the Western Continent without passing through the amusement park.”

Kadaj narrowed his eyes. “You’re kidding.”

Drew shook her head and continued to smile at him. “No, I’m not.”

“Then you’re trying to trick us into going to the Golden Saucer.” Kadaj pointed a finger at her. “We’re not falling for that again.”

Drew rolled her eyes. “I told you, I didn’t know the WRO or that wyvern thing was going to be at the festival. And I sure as hell didn’t know about the Turk!!”

Kadaj didn’t believe that for a second. He questioned whether or not they should abandon her at North Corel or if they should continue to Nibelheim with her. He was half-sure she was working with the WRO or maybe even the Turks. Reno appearing in her apartment was too convenient.

“Your thoughts are loud.” Lyra reached through the bond and attempted to calm him. “I’ll keep an eye on her. Yazoo can’t watch her all the time.”

He met Lyra’s big green eyes and she gave him a small smile. Yazoo coughed.

“I’ve been asking around, actually,” he said. “There are some side roads that lead to Nibelheim from North Corel. They go through the Gold Saucer Area, but we can easily avoid the amusement park by going through the mountains. The mountain paths will take longer-”  

Kadaj huffed. He leaned backwards over the rail and groaned. “I knew it. We chose the wrong boat.”

“It’s not like we have a deadline,” Lyra said. “If it takes us another week to get to Nibelheim, that’s fine. I don’t see the issue.”

Kadaj righted himself and stared at Lyra like she lost her mind. “Lyra, we have two powerful organizations and a deranged scientist searching the Planet for us.”

Lyra began to scowl. “I’m not stupid, Kadaj. I know this.”

“I never said that.”

“Well, you’re implying it!!”

Drew laughed nervously. “You fight like an old married couple.”

Kadaj felt his face heat up again. Yazoo chuckled.

“Yes, they do. And they’re gross,” he said. He smirked at Kadaj, but Kadaj didn’t find any of this funny. Lyra sighed and rubbed her forehead. Kadaj sent a silent prayer to Aerith and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He could swear he heard laughter back, which didn’t help lighten his sour mood. If anything, it made him more annoyed. He ground his teeth and decided to ignore Drew and Yazoo.

“Lyra, I’m just…. I’m just worried.” His face was burning hot and he knew he was bright red again. “And I don’t like feeling worried.”

Drew smirked and pinched her fingers together. She smushed them together and made kissing noises. Fuck it, he was going to throw Drew overboard and there was nothing Lyra could do to stop him.

Before he could take a step toward the girl, Yazoo pulled him away. He led him around the corner and knocked him against the wall. If that wasn’t enough, Yazoo whacked the side of his head.

“Ow, what was that for?”

Yazoo gave him an annoyed look. “Aerith told us not to murder anyone if we can help it. Pushing every person who annoys you overboard isn’t helping anyone.”

“I wasn’t-”

Yazoo didn’t let him interrupt. “If you don’t like Drew teasing you, maybe you should try being less obvious.”

A flame of panic shot down Kadaj’s spine. “What do you mean?”

Yazoo rolled his eyes. “Stop playing dumb. I’ve known since we were kids.”

Yazoo left him and went back to the girls. Drew was still teasing Lyra, who was beet red and laughing. She was in a much better mood than earlier, which almost made him smile but he wasn’t going to let his brother or Drew see that. He could almost hear Aerith laughing again. Kadaj huffed and turned to go back belowdecks. Loz wouldn’t be this annoying.

At least Kadaj hoped he wouldn’t.

“We found nothing in Junon and the Junon Area, sir,” Tseng said. “Only Dr. Jael’s wyvern. Which I find strange. Wherever the Vigo is, that’s where Subject 6676 should be. The Vigo has her scent and it’s never lost its prey before.”

Rufus sat at his desk in the Healen Lodge before them silently listening. His eyes were fixed on his computer screen, where the newest video from Dr. Jael was paused. He didn’t look happy. Dr. Jael had been sending his videos to the WRO as well as Rufus, but so far whatever techie magic the WRO had was keeping the general populace from viewing the grisly things. Reno scratched the back of his head as Tseng continued his report. He finished telling Rufus about Vincent and Yuffie. Rufus scoffed.

“The WRO had no idea what they had,” he said. “They thought of Subject 6676 as a friend instead of the weapon she is.” Rufus closed the tab holding Jael’s video. “Maybe it was foolish to involve the doctor, but Hojo is dead and Dr. Azazel is the next best thing.”

Reno didn’t let his boss or colleagues see it, but he didn’t feel comfortable calling the kid a weapon. She was, of course, she had been born and raised to fight Shinra’s enemies, just as Sephiroth and many other SOLDIERS were.

Besides he could still remember the first time Sephiroth dumped the kid in his office. It was before she was ready to join him on his missions. She was a tiny scrawny thing and stubborn.

“Why can’t you find someone else to watch her?” Reno had demanded. The SOLDIER only gave him an incredulous look.

“She’s nine years old,” Sephiroth had said. “And the scientists who left her with me aren’t any help. No one is supposed to know I have a student.”

Reno wasn’t as concerned about that as Sephiroth was. “Find some other Turk. I’m not a babysitter.”

“They’re all busy.” With that, he knelt in front of the little girl and told her to behave, and left. By the time Sephiroth came back, Reno had taught her how to pick locks.

Reno found the kid annoying at first. Lyra asked annoying questions and was always touching things that she shouldn’t touch and sneaking around. She had quiet footsteps and could hardly control the fire and ice. And even worse, she greeted people with either a punch or a hug depending on her mood. And Sephiroth was no idiot. He knew exactly who had taught her to pick locks, even though Reno made the kid swear never to tell. Reno was the one they sent through the vent systems and the training rooms and empty labs she ran into when she didn’t want to cooperate with the scientists.

Shit, if his office was still there in the ruins of the old Shinra building, he could probably find the drawing the kid gave him. She had been furious with him when he thought the silver-haired blob next to the dark-haired blob was Sephiroth. She had insisted that it was some boy in her head who she talked to in her dreams and drew Sephiroth on the other side of the dark-haired blob. Reno couldn’t tell the difference, but he wasn’t going to tell the little shit that. Lyra knew her way around a sword and was using her abilities like she should at that point.

Turks were discouraged from forming relationships with anyone outside the Turks to discourage disloyalty, but Reno eventually found himself enjoying the times he watched the kid for Sephiroth. He was relieved when she started accompanying Sephiroth on missions.

“Reno, what did you find in Junon?” Rufus asked. Reno stayed as cool and casual as usual.

“I searched all the inns and hotels,” Reno answered. “Homeless shelters, a few camps, apartment buildings. Nothing. I had no more luck than Elena and Tseng.”

Rufus closed his eyes and stood. He began pacing behind his desk. Reno shared an amused look with Rude. Rude shook his head.

“Sir, maybe we should reconsider convincing Valentine to rejoin the Turks,” Elena offered. Rufus shook his head.

“No. Vincent Valentine is an excellent marksman, but he was a bad Turk.” Rufus continued to pace. “He formed too strong an attachment to Dr. Crescent and interfered with experiments. We would have better luck with Yuffie, and she’s Wutain.”

Tseng took a step closer to the desk. “The WRO is already suspicious of your new developments.”

Rufus kept pacing. “You shouldn’t have bothered being friendly with Valentine or the ninja.”

“Technically, Valentine saw us first,” Elena said. Rufus stopped pacing and looked at the three of them.

“Tseng, I want you and Elena to check in with our new recruits,” he said finally. Tseng and Elena shared a nervous look and left. Rufus turned to stare out the window behind his desk. Reno waited for Rufus to give him an order. This behavior wasn’t unusual coming from Rufus Shinra, but it usually was Reno annoying Rufus, not Elena and Tseng. Reno gestured to Rude and Rude shrugged his shoulders. Eventually Rude cleared his throat. Rufus startled a little and sat in the chair at his desk.

“You’re a good Turk, Reno,” Rufus said. “You always do what you’re told, no matter how hard the task.”

A flicker of anxiety filled his stomach, but again Reno didn’t let it show. He wasn’t sure what Rufus was going to tell him, but it felt like he was about to be ordered to drop another Sector 7 Plate.

“I am.”

“Good.” Rufus folded his hands on his desk. “If Dr. Jael’s wyvern should fail to retrieve her and the WRO gets ahold of her again, I would like you to eliminate Subject 6676.”

Reno frowned. “Eliminate, sir?”

Rufus nodded. “Eliminate. Kill. Return her to the Lifestream, if you will. She is a Cetra, after all.”

Reno shared another look with Rude, but Rude looked just as surprised. Reno honestly didn’t know what to think.

“We have other surviving subjects from Project Starchild in the Woodlands Area,” Rufus continued. “Losing the girl would be less than ideal, given her training under Sephiroth and in DeepGround, but the others should be just as effective.”

That made sense but the order still left an awful taste in Reno’s mouth. “And the Remnants?”

Rufus smiled. “What about them? I have no need for them and the world doesn’t need another Sephiroth, just his student. Kill them if they get in the way and avoid them if you can. The Remnants have been killed before, it shouldn’t be hard to get rid of them again.”                       

Chapter Text

The closer they got to Nibelheim, the more uneasy Lyra felt. Her dreams were getting worse and worse and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make herself meet Kadaj in their dreamworld. The night before, Lyra had dreamt of the tall man with the silver hair again. He was tearing through books in a library, muttering about his mother and Cetra. The room was cold, and she could feel someone standing behind her, but she couldn’t move, even when the man scolded her for not helping him search through the documents and books. A woman’s voice slithered in and out of her ears, harsh and cold but Lyra couldn’t understand what she was saying.

Drew had to dump water on her to wake her up. The boys were tense and restless and ready to break camp and hike through the North Corel Area. They had planned their route carefully to avoid North Corel and any roads that would lead to the Golden Saucer. As fun as Drew made it sound, the amusement park would only bring trouble.

“A day and a half until we get to Nibelheim,” Kadaj reminded them when they had stopped to rest and eat lunch. “But only if we find a ride. A week or two if we walk around the mountain range….” He was mostly talking to himself now. “But there are too many monsters roaming the Planet and too many people looking for us…”

“How about some chocobos?” Drew suggested with a mouthful of sandwich. “There’s gotta be some farms nearby. Or maybe some wild ones roaming about.”

Kadaj glared at her and for a moment Lyra thought he was about to disagree with Drew just because she was Drew. But he surprised her by nodding and telling Drew to keep an eye out for any. Lyra poked down the bond and told him to be nice and he smiled at her.

“I’m always nice, Lyra.”

Before Lyra could respond with her own sarcastic comment, Drew snorted. She took a long drink from her water and sat back on her hands.

“Dude, you are never nice,” Drew began. “The only people I’ve seen you be nice to are your brothers and Lyra. Everyone else you roll your eyes at and threaten to throw them over the rail of a ship.”

“I wouldn’t have to threaten it if you weren’t so annoying,” Kadaj said. He stood and picked up his trash. He shoved it in his bag and held a hand out for Lyra when she put her stuff away in her own bag. She took it and stood. After letting go she reached for his jacket collar as quick as a snake and tugged him down to her eye level, so close their noses bumped briefly. She felt a burst of panic at his end of the bond and his face turned as red as a tomato.

“Be nice,” Lyra said. She tried to sound some level of commanding. He didn’t seem to hear her the other times she asked him not to be mean to Drew and it was starting to annoy her. Kadaj’s cat-like eyes dilated a bit and flicked to her mouth before he nodded. She smiled sweetly and let go of his collar. Loz and Yazoo looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Drew wiggled her eyebrows at Lyra.

Lyra decided that maybe red wasn’t such a scary color after all. She wondered what else she could do to make him blush like that. She thought of how red and panicked he became when she leaned on his arm at Drew’s apartment and how his ears became so red that they matched his devil mask when she offered to kiss his cheek if he won the bean bag game. Maybe she would ask Drew for ideas later. It would be too awkward, she decided, to ask his brothers, and Drew wasn’t easy to embarrass.

They continued their hike through the dry desert. It was nothing like the desert surrounding Midgar and Edge. That desert was empty and cold and almost barren. The desert on the Western Continent was dotted with cacti and spiky bushes and shrubs. Occasionally they would pass a dry riverbed or creek and would disturb the small lizards that lived under the rocks. There was wildlife everywhere it seemed, hiding underneath rocks and hollows of plants. Anywhere the hot sun couldn’t reach. Lyra was glad for the bucket hat Drew had picked up in Junon. It was bright pink and decorated with sequins to say I love Junon in all uppercase letters, but it kept the hot sun off most of her face.

She was worried about her friends’ pale skin. The boys were wearing jeans and boots and jackets over their shirts to keep the sun away, but their poor faces were left exposed to sunburn. And Drew was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt and already her neck and arms and legs were beginning to redden. Lyra’s own skin was a light olive tone and freckled and tanned nicely, but she still wished they brought some sunscreen. Her skin could only tan so much before it burned.

The sun was beginning to set when they came across their first monster. It was easy to avoid as it was busy eating what was left of another monster, but they hiked until the moon rose and the stars twinkled above them before deciding to set up camp for the night. They didn’t have a tent and there wasn’t much for cover, so they decided to take watch two at a time. Yazoo and Loz were first, then Lyra and Kadaj.

“I could take a watch with you and Loz,” Drew offered. Loz grinned and nodded his head as enthusiastically as a puppy, but Yazoo shook his own.

“That won’t be necessary,” Yazoo said. “It’s late enough and you are the only one among us who wasn’t enhanced by Shinra.” Drew clutched her hands to her chest.

“Oh, you’re such a sweetheart!!” She winked at him, and Lyra could swear that Yazoo was blushing before he turned away from the fire to polish his gun.

Lyra set her sleeping bag up between Kadaj and Drew. Kadaj took one look at the small space between their sleeping bags and tugged hers closer, so it was flush against his. Then he mumbled goodnight and turned his back to her as he settled in for the night. Lyra looked to Drew who only smiled and smushed her fingers together and made kissing sounds again. Lyra rolled her eyes and snuggled into her bag. She laid there and laid there as the moon rose higher and higher, but sleep wasn’t coming to her. Her stomach was in knots as she wondered what horrible nightmare would be thrown at her unconscious mind. She turned to Drew but Drew was asleep and had turned so her back was to Lyra as well. So Lyra lay on her back.

The sky was so big. She smiled softly as she stared at the stars and the sliver of moon that peeked behind thin clouds. She could trace the paths between the stars with her eyes to form the constellations, but she couldn’t remember their names. She squirmed as a feeling of restlessness came over her. She wanted to remember everything she knew about the stars before she was given the mind block. She wanted to remember who told her about the constellation that shared her name. She knew now that the man teaching her the stars wasn’t her father like she thought when she first woke up in the WRO, but he felt like it.

She sighed and turned to face Kadaj as tears pricked her eyes. She softly poked his side of the bond. He turned over after a long moment and she forgot what she was going to ask him. His cat eyes were glowing softly. She didn’t know how she didn’t notice the green glow earlier. In the dim light of the fire and the stars, his pupils were blown as far as they could go. He smiled his stupidly cute lopsided smile, and it wasn’t helping at all.

“What is it?” He asked through the bond. Lyra blinked and tried to breathe normally.

Your eyes are glowing.

“Oh, thanks for noticing. They always glow.”  

Lyra giggled and snuggled a little closer to him. He was warm and comforting and as tired as she was….

I can’t sleep.

A flicker of worry crept up his side of the bond and his beautiful eyes became clouded. He unzipped the side of his bag and slid an arm across her. He tugged her into his bag and the knots in her stomach loosened into something else. Kadaj’s face was just inches away from hers.

“Don’t worry, I’ll scare away the bad dreams,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her cheeks. His eyes flicked towards his brothers and Drew, but his brothers were sitting on the other side of the fire going over the salt-stained map, and Drew was asleep. Kadaj smoothed her hair from her face, and Lyra wished he wasn’t wearing his gloves for once in his life, but all thoughts disappeared from her mind as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. His lips were as warm as the rest of him, and she wondered if he was as red as a tomato again or if he felt more confident in the dark. A warm pleasant feeling filled her chest, but she couldn’t tell if it was coming from Kadaj or if it was her own emotion.

Kadaj hesitated before nuzzling her hair. Lyra could feel how nervous he was now, and she wished she could show him that she was nothing to be afraid of and she would gladly let him kiss her again, but her arms were pinned between her sleeping bag and Kadaj and the zipper to her bag was behind her. She worked up the courage to tell him, but her eyes felt like they were weighed down with sandbags, and with each stroke of Kadaj’s hand on her back, she felt more and more sleepy.

Just before she fell asleep, she heard Kadaj murmur, “Good night, Star Eyes.”

Her sleep was peaceful and free of nightmares that night.

When Lyra woke the next morning, she was alone in both sleeping bags. The sun was steadily rising over the horizon and the morning was blissfully cool. Lyra stretched before wiggling out of the sleeping bags and looking around the camp. Loz and Drew were still sleeping and Yazoo was poking at the fire. Kadaj was tending to his sword nearby. He smiled when he saw her. Lyra frowned and stood. Her feet were still in the sleeping bags and she tripped but she eventually made her way to him.

“Good morning-”

“Kadaj, we were supposed to take the second watch together.” Lyra crossed her arms and frowned, but any attempt to look stern was ruined by her yawning. Kadaj smirked and continued to sharpen his double-bladed sword. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You were having a good dream,” he said. “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”

Lyra’s face became hot. “N-no. What did I say?”

She hoped it had nothing to do with Kadaj pulling her into his sleeping bag the night before. Kadaj was already beginning to blush a deep red but he shrugged casually as if whatever she had said was nothing.

“Hey, guys, what’s for breakfast?” Drew said with a yawn behind them. Lyra turned and watched her newest friend join Yazoo by the fire. She rifled through the bag that held their food and brought out an orange.

“Nothing don’t worry about it,” Kadaj said softly. Lyra turned back to him.

“It wasn’t anything embarrassing, right?”

Kadaj paused his sharpening and thought about it. His blush reached his ears. “I didn’t think it was embarrassing.”

Lyra felt a sense of relief wash over her, but she still wanted to know what she said. Whatever it was, it was enough to make Kadaj blush. Lyra decided to ask him about it later and went back to the dying fire. Drew handed her an orange and glanced at Kadaj.

“Shit, the day barely started and your already flustering the poor guy,” Drew said with a mischievous smirk. Lyra snatched the orange away and walked to their sleeping bags. She pulled hers out of Kadaj’s and Drew laughed. “What’s your sleeping bag doing in there, Lyra?”

Lyra’s face burned and Kadaj took a deep breath before sheathing his sword and walking to Loz. He gave his older brother a light kick.

“Wake up, we’re leaving soon.”

He glared at Drew and didn’t take the orange he offered her. He pulled another orange from inside the bag instead.

They broke camp after Loz woke and followed the map that he and Yazoo had gone over the night before. They had found a small village at the base of the mountain range. All they had to do was follow an old overgrown road in the desert. They slowed their pace just a little bit from the day before, considering Lyra’s short legs and Loz getting distracted by every moving lizard and bug.

Kadaj avoided Lyra like she had the plague. He led the way with the map in his gloved right hand and his sword in his left. Yazoo walked next to him, glancing behind him every once and a while to keep an eye on Lyra and Drew, but Lyra had a sneaking suspicion that he was watching Drew more than herself. Loz walked a little way behind them.

Drew elbowed Lyra. “Did you guys have a fight or something?”

Lyra stumbled over her own feet. “No. We didn’t,” she blurted. “Why are you asking?”

Drew rolled her dark amber eyes and adjusted her high ponytail. “Oh, nothing. Kadaj just is acting weird.” After a few moments of awkward silence while Lyra tried to sense any problems on his end of the bond, Drew tried again. “Does it have to do with your sleeping bag inside of his? What, did he get cold last night?”

Lyra rubbed her arms and tried to ignore the blush creeping across her face. Drew continued talking, either not noticing Lyra’s sudden nervousness or choosing not to.

“I mean, I won’t judge. He’s kind of cute in an annoying way. You don’t have to worry, though. I won’t try anything. The dude clearly hates my guts. Just, I don’t know, get a room if you guys decided to do anything beyond the sappy looks and all that mushy stuff.”

Lyra smacked Drew on her legs with her duffle bag and Drew laughed.

“What? I said I’m not judging!”

Lyra looked ahead to Yazoo and Kadaj. They were several yards in front of them on the old overgrown road and Loz was still lagging behind them. She looked up at Drew and shook her head.

“I know,” she said. “It’s just…. I don’t know. It makes me feel anxious and weird when you mention…. That stuff.”

Drew narrowed her eyes. “That stuff?”

“Yeah. The sappy looks and- and the mushy stuff.” Lyra picked at a loose sequin of her bucket hat, trying to keep her hands busy. She felt her ice beginning to form at her feet, feeding into her anxiety as they walked. “I don’t know. It’s silly.”

Drew was silent, which didn’t help Lyra’s anxiousness at all. She pushed Kadaj’s soft poke from his end of the bond, wondering if she was okay. She looked up to see Drew giving her a look between thoughtful and mischievous.

“Have you ever kissed anyone before?” Drew asked. Lyra smacked her with her duffle bag again. Drew squealed and bounced out of reach just before it hit her.

“No!” Lyra sputtered and swung her bag again. “I don’t know! I don’t remember anything and even if I did-”

“I get it! I get it!” Drew laughed. “You didn’t get much experience with that mushy stuff in Shinra’s labs.”

Yazoo suddenly appeared and took the duffle bag away from Lyra. “Is everything okay back here?”

Drew nodded her head and put her arm around Lyra’s shoulder. She had to lean down a bit, but she squeezed Lyra against her side.

“Oh yeah. We’re just talking about girl stuff.” She gave Yazoo a bright smile. “Just mushy gushy stuff about guys and why her sleeping bag was inside of Kadaj’s last night.”

Lyra stomped on Drew’s foot, and she howled. Yazoo rose a slender silver eyebrow.

“Really?” He drawled. “Inside his sleeping bag?”

“It’s none of your business!” Lyra shouted. She pulled her bucket hat over her face. “The whole world doesn’t need to know!”

Yazoo made a noise that sounded half like a laugh before he handed the duffle bag to Drew. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear anything.”

Lyra sighed in relief and adjusted her hat so it sat properly on her head.

“I’ll still ask Kadaj about it,” Yazoo said with a smile. Lyra sputtered and kicked at him but he moved faster than she could blink and he was walking with Kadaj again. Lyra glowered at Drew but she just rolled her eyes with a smirk and continued walking. Lyra followed her. Kadaj yelled at Yazoo and a shock of panic shot to her from his end of the bond.

“Well great,” Lyra groaned. “He’s gonna avoid me forever now.” She covered her face with her hands and moped behind Drew. Drew slowed down and snickered.

“No, he’s not,” Drew assured her. “Don’t hit me for saying this, but anyone can see that the guy is nuts about you.”

Lyra considered that for a moment, trying to think through the panic from Kadaj’s side of the bond and her own anxiety. She wished for about the millionth time that she had memories. Any memories about Kadaj would be very helpful right about now. She knew they were friends before her mind block. If they were anything more than friends, Kadaj hadn’t said anything and his brothers likely had no idea if they were.

“It’s alright, you know. To like someone.” Drew nudged Lyra. “If you need to talk about Kadaj or boys or anything, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

They arrived at the small village in the late afternoon. The people were friendlier than anyone they came across when leaving the ship. They couldn’t spare any vehicles when Kadaj and Yazoo asked, but they did have a few chocobos to spare. Loz was overjoyed and handed over all his gil. Kadaj almost blew a gasket before Yazoo convinced the chocobos’ owner to throw in an old beat-up tent along with the birds. The chocobo rancher even suggested a shortcut through the mountains.

“I’m naming him Sir Brutus!” Loz hugged his chocobo. The chocobo warked in protest but didn’t fight him when he climbed into the saddle.

“Drew, there’s no way in hell I’m riding a chocobo named Sir Pumpkin,” Yazoo complained.

“Well, you haven’t offered any better names,” Drew laughed. “Now scoot over so I can sit!”

 The big yellow chocobo Lyra and Kadaj were sharing was not at all happy with Kadaj trying to ride him. Lyra picked some greens from the stables and held them out for the big bird. She shushed the bird and stroked its neck feathers. She gestured for Kadaj to get on quick, only to jump out of the way when the stubborn bird warked loudly and bucked Kadaj off. Kadaj turned to mist momentarily before materializing just outside the chocobo’s stable. Lyra couldn’t help but laugh at his bewildered and annoyed face.

“Really?”

Lyra apologized and handed the uneaten greens over the wooden gate to him. The bird gave her no fight when she climbed on and she urged it to leave the stable. She held out a hand to Kadaj and helped him up.

“Stupid bird,” he muttered. “I suggest Sir Fried Chocobo.”

Lyra giggled. “Your being mean.” She ruffled the feathers standing all over the chocobo’s head. “How about Sir Cloud?”

“What?”

“Well, his hair looks like a chocobo, and this chocobo has some really wild feathers.

Kadaj sighed. “I guess. Cloud is also a pain in the ass.”

Lyra urged the chocobo onwards to follow Sir Brutus and Sir Pumpkin. Kadaj squirmed and almost fell off as they made their way up the narrow and overgrown mountain road. He swore under his breath.

“What are you doing?”

Kadaj was clearly uncomfortable, and she didn’t need the bond to tell her that. She looked behind her and he was holding onto the saddle. She looked up at the branches of the trees above them and sighed as dramatically as she could manage, then reached back for his hands.

“I’m not going to bite you,” she said.

“That’s a blatant lie,” he muttered back.

Yazoo and Drew were chatting ahead of them and Loz was humming on Sir Brutus.

“What are you so nervous about?” She asked innocently. Kadaj stuttered.

“I’m not!”

Liar, liar, pants on fire, she sent down the bond. She smiled when he jabbed her side.

“I thought you hate liars,” she continued to tease. She could practically hear Kadaj roll his eyes.

“Congratulations, Lyra,” he said. “You’ve managed to remember something mundane.”

She giggled again and lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

The sun in the mountains wasn’t as hot and baking as it was in the desert. The foothills surrounding the village were studded with short trees and thorny shrubbery, but the further the group traveled into the mountains, the taller the trees became. They were surrounded by pine and birch trees.

Between the chocobo’s rocking gait and the warm sun filtering through the trees, Lyra became sleepy. She snuggled back into Kadaj and closed her eyes as she began to doze off. She listened to the wind and forest life around her, and underneath that was whispering. At first, it was comforting and pleasant, until the whispers began begging for help. They suddenly became sharp and loud and screeched about danger.

Kadaj jerked Sir Cloud to a halt and Lyra jolted awake. Yazoo and Loz had stopped their chocobos ahead of them. The chocobos were restless and warbling.

“Whatever the Planet was telling you, tell me now,” Kadaj whispered in Lyra’s ear. She shivered and frowned. “I heard something in the forest.”

Lyra opened her mouth, but her warning was caught in her throat as a shrill shriek pierced the air. It wasn’t human, whatever was making that noise, and it spooked the chocobos.

“We should keep moving-” Kadaj started, but he was cut off when a large humanoid creature tore through the trees and bushes and crashed into the wall of rock on the other side of the path. The chocobos shrieked in response and Sir Brutus shook Loz off and ran up the trail, nearly knocking Drew and Yazoo off Sir Pumpkin.

Yazoo jumped off Sir Pumpkin with his guns in his hands. He calmly handed the reigns to Drew who looked like she was about to piss her shorts. Kadaj dismounted Sir Cloud and unsheathed his double-bladed sword.

“Lyra, stay with Drew,” he told her as the makonoid heaved and scrambled to its feet. Lyra scoffed and pulled the flimsy prototype weapon from her pants pocket as she joined Kadaj. Loz charged up Dual Hound and the makonoid launched itself at him, only for Yazoo to shoot and hit its claws. It roared and slashed at Loz as if Yazoo’s bullet hadn’t bothered it.

Kadaj pushed Lyra towards Drew as Drew took the chocobos remaining up the path. “Go!”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lyra shouted back. Before she could activate the saber, another makonoid came from the forests and smacked into Lyra and Kadaj. Lyra’s face pressed into the pine needles and the dirt and she couldn’t breathe until Loz knocked the makonoid off of them. Kadaj pulled Lyra up, only for them to duck as Loz was launched across the path and into the wall of rock. Lyra ran after Loz as Kadaj attacked the makonoid. Yazoo shot at the other one as it tried to go after the chocobos and Drew.

Lyra knelt by Loz. He was dazed. She jumped up as the makonoid being shot at turned and swiped at her. She dodged its giant claws and swung the blade of her saber. Despite the bullets Yazoo was shooting into its back and the slashes Lyra made into its arms and belly, the makonoid moved as if it was unharmed. Lyra dodged its claws and moved down the path, doing her best to lure it away from Loz. Panic bubbled in her stomach as the smell of smoke reached her nose. She didn’t want to start a forest fire and closed the fist that was beginning to spark.

This small distraction allowed the makonoid’s next swipe to pass through her side. She yelped as its claws ripped through her shirt, but instead of pain, she felt anger.

She heard Kadaj yell for her as she ducked under another swipe, and she somersaulted behind it. The makonoid shrieked as she swiped at its back. Kadaj was at her side in a wall of mist as he tried to pull her behind him. She shook off his hands as he materialized.

“What are you doing?!”

Kadaj wrapped an arm around her stomach as the makonoid launched itself at them. Its arm smacked into Kadaj’s head as they moved out of the way of the angry monster. Lyra called her ice as they hit the ground and the makonoid shrieked as it met it. She squeaked as Kadaj’s sword fell in front of her, almost cutting her nose off. She pulled on her end of the bond but Kadaj didn’t answer and he felt heavy and limp on her. She grabbed his sword and made her ice form a protective shell around them.

She eased Kadaj on the ground underneath them. He was unconscious and the right side of his head was beginning to purple. He was going to have an awful bruise.

“K?” She shook him and tried not to panic. Yazoo was still shooting the makonoids outside the ice den Lyra had created, but she needed to make sure Kadaj was okay before she joined him. She knew he was still alive. Something in her told her his side of the bond would be a big empty void if he was, but the thought of it made her nauseous. She took a deep breath and patted Kadaj’s chest. “Stay here. Try not to move.”

She wriggled her way out of her ice den and sealed it over Kadaj. Yazoo ran to her faster than she could blink.

“Can you summon more ice?”

“Yes, of course.”

Yazoo reloaded his gun and readied a piece of blue Materia. Lyra recognized it as Ice Materia.

“Its claws disintegrated when it hit your ice,” Yazoo said. He was as calm as ever. Lyra didn’t know how he managed it, but she nodded and placed her fingers on the double-blades and summoned a thin sheet of ice and frost. She spun the sword by the hilt and smiled. It was a little top-heavy but was much better than the flimsy saber she had taken from the WRO. Kadaj’s sword in her hands made her feel unstoppable and powerful, even though it was made for someone left-handed. She was right-handed but she could still manage.

Yazoo activated the Ice Materia and shot at one of the makonoids. It was almost comical how easy it fell. Its dying shrieks turned to gurgles as Yazoo finished it off. Lyra dodged the other makonoid and slashed at its side. She managed to nick it and it hissed. She smiled and almost laughed with delight as it hissed and stumbled backwards. She could fight it and she knew how to. She may not remember learning how to fight with a sword, but her muscles and reflexes did.

She dodged again and feinted going for its head. As it dodged her she slashed off its arm. She spun away from the spray of mako-blue blood and attacked again, almost dancing around it and jumping from foot to foot. She sliced into its legs and as it swiped at her a final time with its claws, she lopped its head off with Kadaj’s ice-encrusted sword. It fell to its knees and hit the ground and the fight was suddenly over.

Lyra was shaking as adrenaline coursed through her and everything around her looked and sounded sharper. She covered her ears as Drew came running back with a hammer and a multitool in her hands. Her footsteps were so loud.

“Can I help?” Drew asked Yazoo as he helped Loz stand. He nodded and gestured to the ice den and oh my gods I left him in the ice den!

Lyra approached the ice as Drew smashed her hammer down, but she couldn’t even make it chip. Lyra placed a shaking hand on it and the whole thing shattered. She closed her eyes against the sudden wave of dizziness and nausea. Drew looped her tools into her belt loops and knelt down to help Kadaj.

Lyra winced as her head began to throb with a blinding icy pain. Drew steadied her with a hand on her shoulder before she followed Yazoo with Kadaj leaning on her shoulder.

“Whoa girly, I’m not carrying you too,” Drew warned her. “Kadaj is heavy enough.”

They started up the trail and Lyra stumbled along, flinching at the sounds in her head. She looked around expecting to see someone sword fighting nearby, but no one else was on the hidden mountain path but them. Another voice muttered about their mother just over her shoulder, but no one was there either.

They made their way down a hill to where Drew had tied their chocobos to a pine tree. Lyra looked around, trying to locate the man muttering about his mother and the swords clashing against each other. Someone screamed as Drew touched her shoulder. Lyra couldn’t tell if it was her or someone in her head. Drew tried to take the sword from Lyra’s hands, but she couldn’t remember how the sword got there. She frowned and tugged her hands back.

“I need the sword Lyra,” the Wutain girl said. Lyra stared at her for a moment, trying to remember how she knew her. Where were Sephiroth and Zack?

“I think I need a nap. My head hurts,” Lyra heard herself say.

The tall Wutain girl nodded. “Okay. That’s okay. I just need the sword first.”

Lyra shook her head and looked at the strange double-bladed sword in her hands. This wasn’t her sword. Her sword had a single double-edged blade and a snarling hellcat on its pommel.

“I’ll fall over.”

“That’s a good thing,” the Wutain girl said. “You said you need a nap anyway.”

Lyra’s head throbbed. “When did I say that?”

The girl frowned, but Lyra didn’t understand why she was frowning. She wanted to ask what was wrong but the world was spinning and the singing swords were getting louder and louder in her head. A tall boy looking like Sephiroth took the sword from her hand and she fell.  

Chapter Text

Kadaj was annoyed. He was very annoyed.

Lyra wasn’t awake yet, Drew was being, well, Drew, and Yazoo, of all fucking people, wouldn’t shut up. And despite casting Cure, his head was killing him.

Kadaj tried poking through the bond again, but all he felt from Lyra’s end was a hazy dullness. The last time he felt this…. He didn’t want to remember and shoved those memories away. He’d deal with them later when Lyra was awake and he knew she was safe.

“She’ll be fine,” Yazoo said for the umpteenth time. “Let her sleep.”

Kadaj ignored his older brother and moved the blanket Drew covered Lyra with. He checked the claw wounds on Lyra’s left side, but they were almost fully healed. They weren’t deep to begin with, Yazoo had told him, but that didn’t make Kadaj feel any better. They weren’t bleeding anymore when Kadaj came to and were now three scabbed-over scars. Lyra’s lilac-colored t-shirt was shredded and covered in her blood and blue makonoid blood but no one felt comfortable replacing it for her. 

“I’m sorry,” Drew said from Lyra’s other side. “I made sure she didn’t hit her head.”

Kadaj glared at her and placed the blanket over Lyra. He smoothed an unruly lock of hair from her face. Lyra was scowling in her deep sleep and her eyes were moving quickly under her eyelids.

“She’ll be okay.”

Kadaj closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

I will not kill Drew. I will not kill Drew. I will not kill Drew.

“She wasn’t that heavy.”

I will not kill Drew. I will not kill Drew. Lyra wouldn’t like that.

“I’ll watch her if you’d like. You look like you’re about to hurl.”

Kadaj left Drew hovering over Lyra and went off the path to gather sticks for a fire. They weren’t far from the small clearing where the makonoids attacked. Loz was nursing a headache and a possible concussion by the fire Yazoo had started. The sun was setting and the mountain forest was becoming darker by the second. This wouldn’t bother Kadaj or his brothers much. They could see in the dark. But the fire would help ward off any wild animals and hopefully most monsters. Kadaj knew he was getting no sleep until they got to Nibelheim, especially if Lyra wasn’t waking anytime soon.

Kadaj skulked around the outskirts of their camp until he had an armful of dry sticks for the fire. By then the sun had set and he no longer felt like strangling Drew. Loz was snoring like a chainsaw in his sleeping bag near Lyra and Yazoo and Drew were sitting by the fire. Kadaj dumped the sticks by the fire and checked on Lyra.

No change. Well, she was no longer scowling and her end of the bond was no longer hazy and dull, but she was still sleeping.

He joined his brother by the fire, interrupting whatever Drew and Yazoo were talking about. He dug through one of their duffle bags and found a bag of jerky. Drew was staring at him and Kadaj ground his teeth. He ignored her and the uncomfortable silence that settled around them as he munched on the jerky while staring at the fire.

Yazoo cleared his throat. Kadaj frowned at him, but Yazoo was looking at Drew. Kadaj’s sword hand twitched as he met her curious gaze.

“What?” He demanded. Drew only smiled at him and the mischievous glint in her eye made him uneasy. She seemed to be enjoying making him annoyed and uncomfortable.

“So how long have you and Lyra been dating?” Drew asked when the silence became unbearable for her. Kadaj felt his face heat up and it had nothing to do with the small fire burning before him. He kept the burst of panic from reaching his face and glanced towards Lyra’s sleeping form not far from them. Yazoo snorted and Kadaj glared at him.

“We aren’t?” His voice sounded strained and the urge to strangle the annoying Wutain girl was back.

“Oh really?” Drew’s grin widened and he didn’t like that one bit. “You don’t sound very sure about that.”

Kadaj didn’t have anything clever to say back so he continued to glare.

I will not kill Drew. I will not kill Drew.

“That’s too bad, you know. You two would be cute together,” Drew continued. Yazoo nodded and nudged Kadaj. Kadaj decided to ignore him.

“There wasn’t exactly time for dating in the labs,” he said. “But even if there was-”

“Bullshit,” Yazoo interrupted. “There wasn’t any time for that, but now you’re being a coward.”

“I am not!!” Kadaj hissed and his face only burned more. Drew made a humming sound.

“No, no, Yaz is onto something.”

Kadaj did not like Drew calling his brother that.

I will not kill Drew. I will not kill Drew.

“Well, if you aren’t dating, how long have you known each other?”

That was an easier question to answer without feeling the weird fuzzy feeling in his chest or panic, but Drew didn’t need to know anything. They barely knew her, and she had no business hanging around them, even if Lyra, Yazoo, and Loz liked her.

“Why do you want to know?” Kadaj repeated his new internal mantra. I will not kill Drew. I will not kill Drew. Drew only shrugged and still didn’t seem bothered by his glaring. Kadaj wondered if he lost his edge. He knew he was scary and dangerous especially when he was angry, but Drew was the only person he ever met who wasn’t intimidated even a little bit.

“I don’t know. I’m just nosy, I guess.” Drew poked at the fire and glanced toward Lyra. “You don’t have to tell me.” She smiled knowingly at Kadaj and his sword hand twitched again.

They sat in silence again. Kadaj watched as a silent exchange passed between his brother and Drew. He raised an eyebrow as Yazoo shook his head. Drew rolled her eyes and he shook his head some more.

“What is it now?” Kadaj snapped. Drew didn’t startle like he hoped she would but she looked serious for once. Curious but still serious.

“Have you ever met Sephiroth?”

Kadaj’s blood ran cold. And Drew continued talking.

“I mean, I’m only assuming you have. You three look like him, but Loz said he hasn’t, and Yazoo said he hasn’t. I’d ask Lyra but she’s got the magic Shinra amnesia thing going on.”

Yazoo cleared his throat. “Drew, Kadaj is going to murder you in your sleep if you don’t stop now.”

The jerky Kadaj had eaten threatened to resurface as they continued talking.

Don’t think about it. Think about something else.

“No, he won’t. Lyra told him to be nice to me. He can’t kill me because that’s not nice.”

Kadaj looked toward Lyra and forced himself to imagine her smile, her freckles, her wild hair, her pretty green eyes, and the feeling she gave him in his chest. Anything that he hoped would help him forget dying and the days before he died. And her voice in his head telling him what to do and Sephiroth’s voice goading him into becoming more and more violent.

Nausea passed after a moment and Yazoo and Drew were still bickering over whether or not Kadaj killing her in her sleep fell outside of the umbrella of being nice.

“I have, in a way.”

Drew stopped bickering and leaned forward, waiting for more from him. She had her stupid notebook in her hands again and was waiting for him to speak.

“What’s that mean?”

Kadaj hesitated, waiting for any voices that weren’t his own or Lyra’s in his mind, but none came.

“Well….” Kadaj drank a sip of water before continuing. “Lyra isn’t the only person in my head. Talking, I mean.” He paused, realizing that Drew didn’t know about the bond. He wanted to keep it that way. It felt weird talking about it with someone who wasn’t his brothers or Lyra.

Drew was frowning. “And what the hell does that mean?”

Yazoo looked at Kadaj but didn’t say anything. Kadaj sighed. Maybe he should explain the bond to her. They had pulled her into their mess, after all, and every moment Kadaj and Lyra had spoken through the bond around Drew on the ship made Drew think mind-reading was one of their abilities.

“Holy Leviathan, you can read minds!!”

Yazoo chuckled and stood to place more wood onto the fire. Kadaj took a deep breath and prepared himself. No, he really didn’t want to tell Drew about the bond.

“Not really. Only Lyra’s.” Kadaj ignored the look Yazoo gave him, but he knew Yazoo wouldn’t say anything about it to Drew. “Somewhat. Anyway, you don’t need to know why only Lyra’s mind, so don’t ask about it.”

He paused and tried not to strangle Drew as she scribbled in her notebook. He tried not to jump at an owl hooting somewhere near them.

“Don’t…. ask…. About….” Drew mumbled to herself as she wrote. “Okay, go on.”

“Lyra’s voice isn’t the only voice I’ve had in my head,” he began to ramble. He hated that Drew was easy to talk with. “But I wish she was. She isn’t harsh like Sephiroth, even when she’s mad and asking me not to kill you, or cold like M-Mother-”

He winced and braced himself for her voice to overload his senses and demand the Reunion, but no voice came. Drew was waiting for him to continue but she looked worried. Yazoo froze in his spot like he was waiting for her voice as well.

“Are you guys okay?” Drew asked. Kadaj flinched at the worry in her voice. Drew hardly knew him; she had no reason to be worried about him or pity him or whatever emotion she was feeling. He fought the desire to turn to mist and hide in the shadows of the trees.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” he demanded instead. Drew frowned and looked between him and Yazoo.

“Like- like what?”

“Kadaj,” Yazoo warned. Kadaj ignored him again.

“What are you writing for?”

Drew blinked and looked down at her notebook. “Just your stories. Anything about Shinra that I can find, really.”

“Why?” Kadaj was speaking through his teeth. He liked the anger. It smothered his fear of her and his fear that Lyra would wake up and not know him anymore and that Shinra or the WRO would split them up again and take his brothers and-

“Kadaj, go cool off.” Yazoo jerked Kadaj to his feet and walked him away from the fire. Kadaj pushed him away and marched right back. Drew needed to know who she was traveling the Planet with. Drew stood before he could grab her and crossed her arms, but she still looked more worried than scared. This only pissed him off more and his sword hand itched for something to do so he pulled his sword from its sheath behind his back.

“Dude, what are you-” Drew backed away finally and stumbled over a tree root. Yazoo appeared between them and twisted his sword out of his hand. Drew ran to the other side of the fire and watched them wrestle for the damned sword.

“Go calm down.” Yazoo threw Kadaj’s sword across the fire and Drew just barely caught it. “Check on Lyra.”

“Grumpy old man,” Drew mumbled as she placed the double-bladed sword in a duffle bag. Kadaj clenched his fists but Yazoo pushed him toward Lyra.

“Nosy bastard,” he spit back. Yazoo rolled his eyes.

“Stop it, you’re acting like children.”

Kadaj guffawed and hoped it woke Lyra. “We were never children, brother.”

He turned to mist and only materialized next to Lyra. He settled next to her and he wanted to tear his hair out when he found her still sleeping. It had been hours since the makonoid attack. He pulled her into his lap and checked the claw marks on her side. They were nothing but white scars now, thanks to her accelerated healing. That was a relief, but she needed to be awake. He didn’t care if Drew and Yazoo were watching him as he pulled Lyra against his chest. He squeezed her tight and listened to her steady breathing and felt her warm breath on his neck.

Don’t remember. Don’t remember. Don’t fucking remember.

He closed his eyes and buried his face in Lyra’s hair, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He didn’t want to remember anything about his stint with Sephiroth and Mother living in his brain, or the way they shuffled though every good memory he had of his brothers and Lyra and the other Project Starchild kids and twisted them until there was nothing left but blood and fear. The few moments before he joined the Lifestream was the sharpest and clearest memory he had and he would do anything not to remember it.

Kadaj held Lyra until the memory passed and Lyra shivered. He almost dropped her as he cradled her, but she only mumbled something in her sleep and reached for the fabric of his shirt. He sighed and called himself an idiot as he laid her back on the bedroll and tucked the blanket around her chin.

“You better wake up in the morning, Star Eyes.” He wished he wasn’t wearing his gloves again as he twirled one of her dark curls around his finger. “You keep making me feel…. Something and I’m not dealing with it all the way to Nibelheim.”

She didn’t say anything, of course, but she was still there on the other side of the bond peacefully sleeping. He felt like a creep for thinking it, but she looked pretty and calm. Not as animated as she usually was. His face was warm again and the feeling was back in his chest. Kadaj didn’t hate the feeling or wanted it to go away, but the feeling made him want to kiss Lyra and make her smile and hold her hand and he couldn’t do that in the labs without the nurses and scientists separating them or worse and he couldn’t do that now with Drew teasing him every chance she got. Or maybe Drew’s presence was just an excuse. Then again, half the Planet was searching for them….

He glanced back at the fire, but Drew and Yazoo weren’t watching. That made him feel a little less anxious as he sat with Lyra. In fact, he was feeling much better. Still shitty, but a calm shitty that didn’t make him want to punch something.  

“I know you’re asleep and all but please try not to be so reckless from now on. Warn me first.” He bent down and kissed Lyra’s forehead. She mumbled again but she was too quiet to understand. It didn’t sound like his name, like the night before, but he didn’t mind. Kadaj wasn’t the only person Lyra hung around and she had other friends.

He stood when he heard footsteps approach behind them. Drew skirted around him and readied her sleeping bag on the other side of Lyra.

“Drew, I’m sorry-”

“Yeah, yeah, just try not to murder me in my sleep.” Drew winked and grinned at him as she settled down for the night. “But if you do, I’ll haunt you. I’m guarding your not-yet-your-girlfriend for you tonight.”

Kadaj left the girls for the fire before Drew said anything else that would make him want to throttle her. He settled across the fire from Yazoo and enjoyed the worryingly calm and comfortable silence that his brother carried around him. Yazoo didn’t need to voice everything on his mind and Kadaj liked that about him. They added more wood to the fire and sat in silence listening to the forest around them and Loz’s snoring.

“Do you still hear Mother’s voice?”

Kadaj gave his brother a warning glare, but his brother wasn’t looking at him.

“I’m serious,” Yazoo said. He poked at the fire, but his calm silence had an anxious edge to it.

Kadaj shook his head. “No. And I’d like to keep it that way. I learned my lesson in the Lifestream.”

They were silent for another moment before Yazoo spoke again.

“Where were you in the Lifestream?”

Oh great, more shit Kadaj didn’t want to remember. His anxiety began to rise again.

“Loz and I were with Zack and Aerith,” Yazoo said. “We didn’t know where you were.”

Kadaj poked the fire and wished he was still with Lyra, even if she was asleep and unresponsive. “I was with….you know, them. I was being punished for failing.”

Yazoo didn’t say anything, and he didn’t need to ask who Kadaj was with. Kadaj considered telling his brother. It might be good to tell his brother.

“She- They told me you and Loz were better off without me. That you were happy and didn’t need me. She said Lyra didn’t know who I am or that she hated me.” Keep talking. Tell him everything. “I would wake up in the Northern Crater Labs, but I was alone. You and Loz were already gone but Lyra was there in her tank. Just like she was when Mother first woke us up, but I woke Lyra as I should have. Every time I woke up in the labs I freed Lyra, but she never knew who I was and I couldn’t feel her through the bond. It was an empty void on her end and I would try to talk to her but she would only scream. Then she would turn into Mother and everything would start over.”

The brothers were silent for a moment when Kadaj was done. Kadaj furiously wiped his face and scolded himself for crying. He hated crying in front of anyone, unlike Loz who cried freely whenever he was upset.

“How did you get away?” Yazoo asked. Kadaj shrugged and sniffled.

“Lyra pulled me out of a pit in the Negative. I thought Mother was going to pull her in when she did, but I’m glad Lyra wasn’t.”

Yazoo added another stick to the fire before he stood. Kadaj watched him.

“I don’t want to attract Jenova’s attention,” he said before Yazoo could walk away. “I like my mind the way it is.”

Yazoo nodded. “Me too. My mind is quiet for once.”

Lyra’s head was killing her. The fact that she was upside down and kept bumping into something was not helping. It took an effort to creak her eyes open but everything was fuzzy and muted. Her mouth and throat were dry and her fingers were tingling. She made a fist with one hand and had to close her eyes as pain exploded in her head. The pain subsided and she opened her eyes again. Her vision was becoming less fuzzy with every blink and she realized someone tall was carrying her over their shoulder.

She opened her mouth to speak but her throat was too dry. She coughed and tried righting herself and Loz stopped walking. When he spoke she covered her ears.

“Stop. Too loud,” she croaked. He set her down at the base of a tree and she rubbed her eyes and drew her knees to her chest. Someone handed her a bottle of water and she drank it while watching her friends tie the chocobos to a dead bush nearby. Drew sat next to her and gave her a cereal bar.

“Are you okay?” Drew’s voice was deafening and Lyra flinched. She pressed the water bottle to her head. Drew moved Lyra’s water bottle and placed a hand on her forehead. She frowned. “Shit, you’re burning up.”

A pang of worry hit Lyra through the bond and shook her head. She struggled with the wrapper covering the cereal bar and she frowned as Kadaj took it from her hands.

“Hey, that’s mine,” she said as she reached for it. Kadaj opened the breakfast bar for her and handed it back. His emotions through the bond were chaotic, a mix of worry and fear and anger but it was all too loud. Everything was too loud. The wind was too loud and Loz and Yazoo’s footsteps were too loud. Kadaj knocked Drew back as he prodded Lyra’s left side. She frowned and looked down, but all she saw was her torn shirt and three pale scars.

“What the fuck happened?” Lyra asked. Drew rose an eyebrow and Kadaj frowned. Lyra took a bite from the cereal bar.

“Don’t touch my sword ever again,” Kadaj said. “I told you to go with Drew. Why didn’t you listen?”

Lyra blinked at him. She remembered Loz being thrown into a wall of rock by a monster and Drew taking the chocobos to safety, but other than that…. Oh, the sword!! She fought something with Kadaj’s sword. And it felt good to fight. She scowled at Kadaj.

“You’re not the boss of me,” she snapped. Drew snorted and shook her shoulder.

“Oh yeah, she’s fine-”

“Aerith told me to keep you safe,” Kadaj reminded Lyra. Lyra rolled her eyes. Her senses were dulling finally, likely helped by how annoyed she was.

“Yes, I know that, but I can still fight monsters!!” She crossed her arms. “Besides, the weapon I stole from the WRO is too flimsy and light. Your sword is great, by the way. A little heavy and not righthanded but still.”

“Great, I’m glad you remember how to defend yourself,” Kadaj began and she could tell he had time to think this exchange over. “But you could have gotten yourself killed!! You don’t have to fight and I don’t want you to feel like you have to.”

Lyra scoffed. “What’s the point of having any of my abilities if I can’t use them to protect myself? Or you guys? We all could have died, not just me!!”

Kadaj narrowed his eyes but before he could respond Yazoo interrupted.

“She’s tougher than she looks,” he said. “If it wasn’t for her ice, we might have died. And she isn’t bad with a sword.”

Lyra smiled triumphantly. “Thank you, Yazoo.”

Kadaj shook his head. “But you didn’t have to.”

Lyra nodded. “I didn’t have to fight, but I wanted to.”

Kadaj didn’t seem to appreciate her sunny attitude. Granted she was unconscious for…. Wait a second. How long was she unconscious? She blew an unruly bunch of curls out of her eyes but they fell right back. She needed a shower and to brush her hair. Maybe even braid it. And a nap in a quiet, dark room. 

“We can do without the passing out afterward.” Kadaj tucked the wild hair behind her hair and she froze.

“I did what now?” Lyra looked between him and Drew as Yazoo turned tail and helped Loz tend to the chocobos.

“Oh yeah, you were talking mad shit and just clonked out,” Drew told her. “Scared the shit out of me, but you’re lucky you’re so tiny.”

Lyra blinked and frowned, trying to remember anything from after the fight but she couldn’t. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t upset at her stupid faulty memory.

“How long?” She asked.

“About half a day, I’d say,” Drew continued. “It was super dramatic.”

Lyra twisted the plastic water bottle in her hands. “W-what time is it?”

“Just past noon,” Kadaj said. Lyra looked up at the sky hidden beyond the forest canopy but the bright sun made her eyes water. She blinked the sun spots away and rubbed her temples as another migraine began. She jumped at a whisper by her ear but no one was there.

“What’s wrong?” Kadaj reached for her face but seemed to think better of it. Lyra frowned and sat up to look behind the tree. Nothing.

“Ly?”

“Someone is whispering,” she said quietly. She sat back against the tree and winced as the headache began to worsen.

“Maybe it’s just the Planet,” Kadaj said. He helped her stand.

Lyra didn’t like it, but they continued following the mountain path. Every step she took made her headache worsen and the anxiety in her stomach churn. Kadaj hovered around her despite her insistence that she was fine, but at least Drew rode beside her on Sir Pumpkin. Drew yawned.

“Ugh, I hope Nibelheim has an inn or something,” Drew said. “Camping really isn’t my thing. I prefer to do my adventuring in cabins and inns.”

Lyra smiled as her friend continued on about the one time Drew and her mother went properly camping and the disaster it was before they swore off tents and decided to stick to cabins. Sir Cloud nudged Lyra’s shoulder gently and warked. She gave him a pat as they walked and tripped over a root in the path. Kadaj was at her side instantly.

“I’m fine, I wasn’t looking,” she insisted. Kadaj didn’t seem to agree.

“You should be riding,” he said. Lyra scoffed.

“Poor Loz has been carrying me around for half the day,” she said. “I’m fine, honestly.”

Kadaj stilled Sir Cloud and sat her on the damn chocobo anyway. Lyra poked him angrily through the bond and he winced.

“Stop that,” he said. Lyra began to slide off the chocobo and Kadaj stilled her with a hand on her hip. “Stay put.”

He turned bright red and removed his hand like she burned him. He returned to hovering behind her and Lyra began to dismount but stopped as a sharp pain hit her head. The whispering voice was back but louder and with more than one voice. The shadows behind the trees darkened and started to follow her and Sir Cloud. The chocobo warked nervously as if it could see them too. Drew urged Sir Pumpkin closer.

“Hey, are you-”

“Stop asking that,” Lyra snapped. Drew mumbled but Lyra didn’t hear what she said. She rubbed her forehead and leaned on Sir Cloud’s fluffy neck.

“Hey, I can see Nibelheim!!” Drew yelled, making Lyra flinch. Loz whooped behind them.

“Just a few miles out!! Don’t worry Lyra, we’re almost there.” Drew reached over and patted Lyra’s knee. “There are a few houses and a mansion and a square, so there has to be an inn somewhere.”

Lyra closed her eyes as the ghosts in the shadows crept closer.

Traitor.

You burned us.

Lyra opened her eyes and looked past the shadows and into the trees where shells of burnt houses stood crumbling. She closed her eyes again and covered her ears as the shadows became louder. Under her hands and the angry shadows, her friends were talking about the possibility of an inn. A wave of nausea rolled over Lyra and she wanted to tell them to hurry before the ghosts overwhelmed her. She must have fallen asleep, but the next voice she heard was Drew’s.

“I don’t like how that baker looked at you guys. I’ll go in and get the rooms,” she said.

“One room,” Kadaj reminded her. Drew snorted.

“Fat chance!! Loz snores like a chainsaw and I’m not changing in front of you boys.”

Yazoo tapped Lyra’s knee and she jumped. She opened her eyes and uncovered her ears.

“Would you like help?” He asked. Lyra shook her head.

“The ghosts are too loud,” she whispered. Yazoo frowned.

“What?”

She dismounted and stumbled having underestimated how far from the ground she was and Kadaj was helping her stand again. Lyra held onto his arm like a lifeline but insisted that she was fine.

“I’m just dizzy, I think,” she mumbled. The world was becoming hazy again. Drew left the inn and tossed the pouch of gil to Yazoo.

“We’ve got the rooms for a couple of days. Top floor,” she said. "Loz and I can take the chocobos to the stables behind the inn.”

Lyra allowed herself to be led inside the inn. The inn was cozy and rustic. The upstairs hall was open to the downstairs on all four sides of the entrance. It was empty but for the innkeeper and a kid around Denzel’s age behind the front counter. The innkeeper eyed them suspiciously as Kadaj, Yazoo, and Lyra made their way to the stairs. Lyra took her and Drew’s duffle bags from Kadaj and entered the room at the end of the hall. Kadaj and Yazoo entered the room next door.

The room was just as cozy and warm as the entrance of the inn. Two beds, a dresser, a table with two chairs, and a small bathroom. Lyra dumped the duffle bags in the middle of the floor and curled up on top of the blankets of the bed in the corner. She covered her head with her arms and squeezed. It helped her headache a little bit and she sighed.

Drew entered the room a few minutes later.

“We’ll be fine, boys,” she said with a giggle. “Lyra and I can handle ourselves.”

The brothers tried to argue but Drew wouldn’t let them get a single word out.

“Come on, let’s just take the night. I’m exhausted.”

Lyra felt her mattress shift as Kadaj sat on it, but every movement only made her head throb.

“Please don’t touch me,” she whispered. “My head is killing me.”

He got off the bed and kneeled beside it.

“I’ll check on you in the morning,” he said softly. His lips brushed her forehead and he left the room. Drew told the boys goodnight and immediately ran for the shower. Lyra stayed curled up on the bed fighting her headache and nausea. The shadowy ghosts were still outside. She could hear them scratching at the door and the window on the far wall. She whimpered as they completely covered the window and the evening sunlight dimmed. Drew left the bathroom humming and changed into her pajamas.

“Drew?”

Drew stilled.

“Can you close the curtains, please? The ghosts are watching.”

Drew was silent for a heartbeat. “What ghosts?”

Lyra sat up with a wince and pointed to the window crowded with shadows. Drew followed her finger but didn’t appear to see anything. She closed the curtains anyway and convinced Lyra to get up and shower.

After taking the blessedly warm shower and changing into her pajamas, Lyra crawled under her covers. Drew offered her some food and Lyra told her no.

Mind your manners, a familiar voice said. Angeal would be disappointed.

“No thank you, I mean,” Lyra added quickly. Drew turned out the lights and settled into bed.

“Lyra, are you sure you’re okay?”

Lyra sighed and wanted to scream, but she spoke calmly instead. “Yes, I’m okay.”

“Okay. The ghost shit is new, though.”

“I know. It scares me too.”

“Speaking of fear, I think Kadaj is scared of you,” Drew said.

Lyra snorted. “Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. He keeps acting mushy around you but he’s being a big baby.”

The room was too dark, but Lyra was sure Drew was smiling.

“Why would he be scared of me?” Lyra asked.

“I don’t know, but if he doesn’t make a move soon, I’ll do it for him.”

Lyra threw a pillow across the room and Drew laughed as it hit her.

“I’m kidding!! Mostly….”

Lyra laughed and rolled her eyes. Her head was still killing her but joking with Drew made her feel better. “Good night, Drew.”

“Good night, you weirdo.”