Levy simply stood there for a moment, staring down at Cloud as he supported the man's weight. Levy didn't say a word, instead electing to silently support Cloud until the blonde steadied himself upon the table. Without pause he returned his attentions to the nearby tanks, approaching them slowly as if afraid they would shatter. At he nearest tank he came to a stop, and lifted a hand to the glass. In the glass he saw his own reflection, eyes alight with the glow that forever marked him as a member of SOLDIER. It was only logical to conclude the tank was filled with Mako, though to what purpose he had little insight. Whatever they had done here was beyond him, and he didn't want to jump to conclusions, but all the same gruesome concerns began to plague him. It was impossible to put the fear out of mind, until Cloud spoke up, and his thoughts shifted back to Zack once again. “If Zack left for the reactor after reading that, whatever it says might explain wh-why he went there.” Levy said in reply, his voice breaking at the thought of Zack's final fate. “Whatever the reason, he had to have thought it would be extremely dangerous–otherwise there's no way Zack would ever leave a friend behind.” Levy paused for a moment, then spoke again. “When we're finished investigating here, it would be best to head up the mountain and check out the reactor.”
Cloud could see the strands that connected the events from the night of the fire, and the all seemed to lead back to JENOVA, to the Nibelheim reactor. As he continued to read from the log everything seemed to line up, from what they had learned about Genesis and now what seemed obvious about himself and Tsuna. ” I just don't understand completely how Sephiroth fits into this. ” Cloud said as he continued to flip through the log, moving backwards now towards the beginning. ” He was here five years ago, I remember that mu— ” Cloud trailed off as visions of the night of the fire flooded his mind. He remembered being aided up the cylindrical passage to the mansion. Zack had carried him into the adjoining bedroom where he had placed him in the bed. He remembered Sephiroth's voice as it called from the floor below, echoing and growing in the high ceilings of the mansion. ” She's our mother Zack, won't you come with me to visit? ” Sephiroth had called out to them. Zack had only smiled at Cloud and turned away, doing his best to hide his worry. ” Get some rest Cloud I'll be back later. ” Zack had said trying to sooth Cloud as he left the room, looking back only briefly before he disappeared into the shadows. ” Sephiroth was there, he was taunting him. Luring him. ” Cloud said as realized that was the last time he had seen Zack alive, feeling the pain of that moment washing over him once more. ” We have to go to the reactor. ” Cloud finished as he slumped forward, his head in his hands as he tried to process the memories that were returning.
Tsuna glanced around the room, taking in Hojo's lab one final time as it seemed they would be leaving and who knew if they would ever return here. His eyes glanced over a green book with black writing on the spine which read “Chaos”. The word reverbarated through Tsuna as if it called to him. Moving in silence and purpose, Tsuna grabbed the book that was showing its age, corners of the fabric covering the book were frayed and showing what laid behind it.
The book detailed the discovery of Cetra tablets, a dangerous monster, and a man named Vincent. The experiments on Vincent seemed to be similar in nature to Tsuna's, the ability to change form and become a monster, though Vincent's seemed to be far more advanced. Glancing through the book, Tsuna's eyes stopped to read a part in detail, “CM-1 and 2 show no progress towards assimilation. CM-3 has gained the ability to assimilate, but the assimilation process seems to have an affect on the brain, causing split personalities, possibly assimilating the personality traits of the monters CM-3 becomes. CM-3 deemed failure, but starting when subject is younger shows increase chance of progress. Future phases will start in utero.”
Slamming the book shut with force, Tsuna could see that even if deemed a failure, the experiments done on him had continued onto other subjects and had been successful. “That bastard.” Tsuna bared his teeth as he talked under his breath. It was bad enough with experiments starting when he was a baby, but even such Tsuna had some time not being in hell while the next subject didn't even leave the womb before his hell started. Tsuna slipped the book within his suit jacket to be read later, “Grab anything else you two feel could be usefu and let's head out.” Tsuna couldn't handle being in this lab any longer.
Post edited 5:06 am – September 5, 2017 by sanarian
Chapter VII: The Road of Trials
“If we're going up the mountain,” Levy started to say, a dark chill to his voice, but waited to continue until he had their attention. “we'll need to make sure we're prepared. There's no way to know what we'll encounter on the way up, or in the reactor for that matter.” As he spoke the ex-SOLDIER maintained a hard glare, focused intently upon those mako-filled containers. Abruptly he turned away and stepped through the entryway, back into the long, dimly lit passage. Levy continued on a short distance, until he came to a sudden stop near one of the wooden support beams on either side of the wall. In reckless fury he slammed his right fist against one, restrained emotion finally bubbling to the surface. It was obvious to anyone who looked that the news of Zack's death was having a profound effect on Levy, and these recent revelations only seemed to make it worse, but the truth was that it went far deeper than he would let anyone know. Not only had Levy lost a friend, he had lost him to the same ideals that once served to give Levy strength through the darkest times. The truth of Shinra, Sephiroth, and perhaps even SOLDIER–it was too much for him to bear, to think that everything he once fought for had been nothing more than a lie fabricated to hide a vile truth. Somehow he would find the strength to press forward, and if the answers that awaited atop the mountain's peak were what he feared then there would be a reckoning to come for Shinra.
Cloud took several moments before he pulled his head from his hands, his palms wet from the hot tears that had been streaming down his face. He did not speak as he pulled himself up, taking on last glace around the lab, the fragmented memories of this place having been filled in by being here once more, before he made with heavy booted steps back towards the door. Passing through that threshold seemed to lift a heavy weight from his shoulders and as he entered the rock hewn passage way he felt his strength returning, bolstered by the friends that stood beside him, much as how Zack had made him feel in those days gone by. ” Let's not waste any more time, the answers we seek are in the mountains, let's make haste for them. ” Cloud said as he faced straight ahead, not looking back at his friends, his cheeks still hot. Cloud existed the mansion without looking back, he didn't glace back at the town, the faux representation of his home, both comforting and nightmarish at the same time. Moving through the clearing towards the mountain path he simple headed forward, as if he was being pulled to the summit of Mt Nibel.
Tsuna followed behind Cloud and Levy, his thoughts still going a mile a minute. Those bastards had continued the experimentation with him as one of the bases. Where was Vincent? Was he successfully and what was he doing? Tsuna could only contemplate these questions as he left the lab and the mansion behind him. Looking at his two companions, Tsuna forgot about his own past coming to haunt him and remembered his allies were in a similar situation. Fucking ShinRa. There was no escaping their evil.
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