"Reno, this is Tseng. I need you to do a favor for me, on the President's behalf."
         Sitting upright against a stack of pillows, Reno shifted his legs beneath the bed's covers and folded one hand behind his head while cradling his PHS with the other. "What the hell does that little prick want now?"
         "Where are you all at the moment?"
         "Cosmo Canyon. We'll be riding out after breakfast."
         "Very good. I need for you to visit Cid Highwind and tell him that President Rufus Shinra and Chairman Palmer are on their way to see him regarding an important matter."
         "Wait a minute—are you saying that you want me to go to Rocket Town?"
         "I'm aware of your feelings Reno, but my hands are tied—"
         "No. Fuck no. I am not stepping foot in that fucking—"
         "So you can go to Wutai, the nation you helped to defeat, but not to Rocket Town?"
         "That's different. I've never been to Wutai. I have no bad memories directly tied to the place. Indirect ones, of course, but I can deal with those."
         "Reno…"
         "Why the fuck do those two want to see Cid, anyway? The guy doesn't even work for Shinra anymore."
         Tseng's end of the line fell silent.
         "That bad, huh? So why do I have to bring Cid this news?"
         "Because, Reno," Tseng uttered darkly, "I'm the one catching shit from Rufus for letting you three go off to Wutai while Sephiroth remains at large."
         Reno paused, suddenly remembering his place. "Okay, man. I see your point. Don't worry about a thing. I'll deliver Rufus' message to Cid."
         "Do that. Also, expect a call from Heidegger sometime within the next few days."
         "Heidegger? Why him?"
         "Don Corneo is reported to be en route to Wutai, and Heidegger has asked me for the Turks' assistance in apprehending him."
         "No, absolutely not. We're on vacation."
         "That's what I told him. However, he's willing to work out some kind of deal. Keep in mind that he's typically a bit more accommodating than Rufus."
         "Doesn't mean that we have to take the job. Is there anything else?"
         "Just that Cloud and his friends are currently on their way to Cosmo Canyon. Cait estimates that they'll be there by sundown today."
         "Good timing. We shouldn't stick around too much longer then; don't want Cloud and his buddies to get suspicious."
         "Cait tells me a couple of them already are, but you shouldn't concern yourself with that. Have a safe journey."
         "Okay. Talk to you later."
         Reno hung up and snapped his PHS shut, then rose from his bed, stretching the stiffness out of his joints and muscles as he did so. It was the morning following his experiment at the edge of the Ancient Forest, and thanks to some intense fullcure materia treatments, the scars left by Bahamut-ZERO's tail, wings, and scales were all but completely healed. However, even though he and the Elders had managed to draw out some semblance of ZERO's being, Reno was left without any physical proof that the dragon god had departed for good.
         Elena came into the room just as Reno pulled a fresh suit from out of his bag—sans tie, as usual—and promptly began put it on. Reno glanced at her for a second before continuing in his getting dressed.
         "You probably have a lot of questions about last night, and what I was doing with the Elders."
         "Actually, yeah."
         "Sorry, but they're gonna have to wait. Let's go get some breakfast."
         "Aren't you forgetting something?"
         "Huh?"
         Elena tilted her head slightly, a concerned expression on her face. "Your tranquilizer?"
         "Oh… yeah." Oddly enough, Reno hadn't even thought of this particular detail of his morning routine. Maybe ZERO really is gone, he thought. Then he shook his head. Better safe than sorry. Time was short, and he didn't want to keep everyone waiting while he went through the whole routine of an intravenous injection. Reno pulled a small bottle of tranquilizer pills from out of his bag and took one out, which he swallowed dry. "That should do the trick for right now. So, you ready to go? And where's Rude?"
         "He's already at the pub. We should go meet him."
         "Yeah, I'm starving."
         Reno packed up a few remaining items, then followed Elena out of the inn and downstairs to breakfast.

*****

         Now that he was here, it was the last place on the Planet he wanted to be.
         Zack found something oddly familiar about Nibelheim, but it was a disquieting sort of familiarity. An uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that there was something wrong—very wrong—about this place, but he wasn't sure what it was. A chill mountain wind whistled past his ears as he strode toward the water tower in the center of the town square. Small patches of gray cloud hung over his head, leftovers from the previous night's thunderstorm. He was fully hooded this time, like those that had followed him, and several others who lingered about the town; yet when he glanced down into one of the many puddles scattered on the ground, it was Sephiroth's reflection which greeted him.
         "So," he heard Jenova say, "how does it feel?"
         "What?"
         "How does it feel? It has been awhile since you escaped from here."
         "Yeah, and I was so optimistic back then. I thought my troubles were over."
         "You were going to travel to Midgar and become a mercenary."
         "But I never reached my destination…"
         "No matter. Even if you had, I would have found another way."
         "I don't doubt it." Zack left the water tower behind and walked toward the slight rise where the Shinra Mansion stood. "They're in there, aren't they. The answers, I mean."
         Jenova didn't reply.
         "I was so preoccupied with escaping all those months ago that I didn't give a second thought as to why Cloud and I were there to begin with, in those glass tanks filled with that… mako, or whatever it was…" Zack mused as he started toward the large mansion. Standing before the gates were two figures in black.
         "Great… Sephiroth…" one murmured. The other remained silent.
         Zack paid little heed to the black figures as he walked past them and entered the mansion. Upon entering the central room, he looked around, noting the high ceilings, ornate touches, and thick layers of dust and cobwebs. Above and around him, he sensed the presence of the strange creatures that haunted this place, yet did not feel too concerned about them. Apparently they weren't interested in him, either; a Jersey and two Dorky Faces simply floated right past him as he entered the room directly to his left, where a note on gold-colored parchment caught his eye.
         It was a typewritten set of riddles; something about a game, and one of the Turks. Zack felt his fingers let go of the letter. As he watched it float to the ground, Jenova said, "This doesn't concern us…"
         "So where should we go? Ah—" Zack gasped, almost aloud, as he sensed a tiny bit of his memory come dislodged. He knew… it was the basement, which housed the laboratory where he and Cloud had been cooped up. The entrance was upstairs somewhere.
         After a few minutes of searching around, Zack found the brick tower with the winding wooden path that led down to the basement. He descended and fumbled through a dark, cavelike hallway, where he soon came upon two doors. Upon finding that the first door to be locked, Zack tried the second one. It swung open, revealing a dimly-lit chamber packed with scientific equipment. Cautiously he entered and looked around; this room and its adjoining library were devoid of life. Zack pulled back the hood on his cloak, smoothing out Sephiroth's silvery hair as he did so.
         "Yes, this is the place," he said aloud as he walked over to the two large glass chambers in one corner of the laboratory. He squinted at the glass, which had a glowing green residue sticking onto its inner surface. The scratches that he and Cloud had left were still there. Off to one side of these tubes, there was a small metal cabinet, on top of which a glass jar and set of injection needles rested on a stainless steel tray. The jar was filled with some kind of brackish grey fluid; its label read, "Jenova cell sample #49-2B".
         "More of my body," he heard Jenova hiss. "I must have it back."
         Under Jenova's control, Zack picked up the jar and removed the tight lid with a single twist. The fluid smelled worse than it looked, and despite Zack's disgust, his arm brought the jar to his lips. Both his wrist and neck tilted, and the liquid slid down his throat. He had been expecting a horrible taste, but once the fluid moved past his lips, he couldn't taste a thing, as though it was plain water. Oddly enough, he couldn't feel anything settle in his stomach, either.
         "That's much better…" Jenova said quietly. "The pieces truly are coming together."
         Zack didn't reply as he looked once again at the place where they first found the jar. It was only then that he noticed a thick yellow envelope just barely peeking out from under the far end of the tray. He picked up this envelope and pulled out the contents.
         They were color photographs, all depicting a Nibelheim that seemed different from the one he was in now. The first few were of people he didn't know, but then, he came across one that caused him to freeze in his tracks. It was one of Sephiroth, a brunette in a wide-brimmed hat, and himself, standing in front of this very mansion. He stared at the photo for a moment, analyzing every tiny detail. There was little doubt in his mind that this picture was taken roughly five years ago, when he had come here on that mission with the others. Zack squinted at the girl in the picture, sensing that there was something familiar about her. Yes, of course… she was the girl who was locked up in the cell with Cloud back at the Shinra Building.
         Wrenching his eyes away from the fascinating image, he shifted this photo to the bottom of the stack, and found himself even more stunned at the next one. It was of flaming buildings; again, they were ones that were here in Nibelheim. Moving on to the next photo, he found more of the same, save for the presence of a tall silouette with long, billowing hair casting a high-level fire spell on the water tower. Hurriedly, he went to the next one, which showed this person—unmistakeably Sephiroth—coming toward the camera. The photo that followed that was a black, orange, and grey blur, and turned out the be the last one in the stack.
         Quietly, Zack tucked the photos back in the envelope and set them back behind the tray, when a careless gesture of his hand caused the envelope to accidentally slip behind the metal cabinet on which the tray was set. He never got a chance to retreive them, as Jenova was already guiding his feet toward the library.
         Retreating into his thoughts, he recalled those final few photographs, pondering their meaning. Sephiroth had set fire to this town when he was here, but why? He thought of the second-to-last photo and the creepy expression on Sephiroth's face. Whatever it was that had driven Sephiroth off the brink of sanity must have had quite a devastating effect on him. Zack's faint recollection of Sephiroth was of a skilled swordsman who always had the coolest head in whatever situation he was in; the only person he knew of who was probably even more levelheaded was Yoshiro's dad Tseng.
         Zack scanned the spines of the books that surrounded them as he wandered into the back room. Faint gilt lettering on one of the volumes caught his eye; it simply read, "Jenova Project, phase II-IV". He stared at those words for awhile, mentally processing all the experiences he'd had so far. It was then that he realized something seemed a bit strange.
         "Jenova, are you really Sephiroth's mother? I remember him calling you by that name when we were in the Ancient Forest."
         "He does carry my genetic material, and has since his conception."
         "And Hojo is his father? I don't get it."
         "What don't you understand?"
         "Well, how you got this way for one thing. You hardly look like the kind of person that even Hojo would want to knock up, no offense. And what happened to your head?"
         "All will be answered—"
         "—in due time, I know! You keep telling me that! Why is it that you can't explain anything to me now?"
         Jenova fell silent.
         "Couldn't you at least verify those things for me? Hojo's his father, right?"
         "Yes."
         "And you're his mother?"
         "In a manner of speaking."
         "What do you mean?"
         "You are surrounded by answers, puppet. I suggest you take this opportunity to find them for yourself, before I change my mind. Consider yourself fortunate that I have chosen to be so generous to you today."
         With that, Jenova said no more, and Zack found himself free to move. Walking past stacks of books and papers, he picked up the volume that had initially caught his attention and brought it to the desk, where he sat down and began reading.

*****

         As the three vacationing Turks crossed the river that separated Cosmo Canyon and Nibelheim, Rude found himself queasy at the sight of the craggy grey peaks that lay ahead of them. At the foot of these mountains was the small village where he had spent the earlier years of his childhood. He pointed it out to his traveling companions as they approached.
         "There it is… Nibelheim."
         "Huh? You mean that's Nibelheim?" Elena asked, squinting at the town as they approached. "Rude, didn't you tell me that most of the town had burned down five years ago?"
         "Yes I did," Rude replied, a deadness in his tone. "All the buildings save for the Shinra Mansion were completely destroyed."
         They were now at the front gate. Elena dismounted from her chocobo and looked all around her. "But this place looks like it's been around for much longer than five years!"
         Rude nodded grimly as he got off his own bird. "I'm afraid that I'm partially responsible for that."

         Once they had gotten a room at the local inn, Rude watched as Elena idly gazed out of a window, as if trying to find evidence of his tale of arson.
         Out of the corner of his eye, Rude caught Reno staring at him. The redhead twitched his head toward Elena, a silent hint to Rude that he should get over there and better explain his involvement in the incident of five years ago. Rude wanted to, but he just wasn't sure where to begin. At the window, Elena leaned her head against the window frame and sighed.
         "Hey Rude?" she started. "I have a question."
         Finally, an opening, he thought. "Yes?"
         "You said you were partially responsible for how this place looks. What did you mean by that?"
         "Five years ago, I came here with a team from Urban Development to rebuild this town. Along with two others on the team, I was from Nibelheim. They relied on our memories and whatever bits of reference material they had on hand to reconstruct—no, to build an exact replica of the town, right down to the smallest detail."
         Elena turned back to look at him, her face contorted. "This is how Shinra covered up the evidence."
         "Yes. But even before we got here, Hojo came with his staff. I don't know why, or what for, but I believe it's because he knew something."
         "You mean about what really happened here?"
         "Yes."
         "Did you ever find out?"
         "That's a major reason why I became a Turk—so I could have access to files that few other Shinra employees do. I did find out some things. But there's still much that I don't know… a lot that doesn't make sense."
         "We can blame Hojo for that, of course," Reno said. "Damn bastard kept so many at Shinra in the dark about his doings for years."
         Rude continued, "Eventually, I found out that Sephiroth was the one who caused the fire and was probably also responsible for removing Jenova's head. I think it may have had something to do with the Jenova Project."
         Elena asked, "The Jenova Project?"
         "Yeah…"
         For a moment, a pensive silence filled the room. Finally, Reno explained, "It was a series of experiments that began about thirty years ago. Hojo and this guy Gast wanted to create people with the powers of the Ancients—the Cetra. They took genetic material from Jenova and created Sephiroth. Rude, tell her about your theory."
         "I believe that when Sephiroth found Jenova here, he became outraged and set fire to this town as revenge. That doesn't explain why he would cut off her head, though…"
         "It all sounds so weird," Elena muttered. "So, that's why you became a Turk, huh? To try and find out what happened to your hometown?"
         "Yes, basically… and Tseng and Reno have provided me with much support."
         "Really?"
         Reno scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah. You see, a mutual friend of ours was with Sephiroth when he came to Nibelheim."
         Elena fell silent.
         Reno continued, "Goes without saying that he never came back. Tseng knew him better than I did, and he stopped looking for answers about a year and a half ago."
         "It isn't that Cloud guy we've been following, is it?"
         Rude shook his head. Reno verified this gesture by saying, "His name was Zack. Zack Winfield, SOLDIER First Class."

         Early that evening, Rude led Reno and Elena out of the inn to show them around the town. A few figures in black cloaks, similar to the ones that Rude saw for a brief moment that night in Gongaga, lingered about the outer walls of the Shinra Mansion. The three Turks regarded them warily, but the figures silently kept to themselves. Aside from these black figures, Rude could sense the wary eyes of the "residents"—employees of the Science Department who had been sent here to act as though they've been there all their lives—watching them from behind the town's windows. Rude guessed that they were the first Turks who had set foot here since the reconstruction, and as such, they were strangers to the village, indistinguishable from any other travelers who came here.
         "Hey, what's that place over there?" Reno asked, pointing to a large building flanked on either side by two smaller ones.
         "That was the house where Tifa Lockheart lived," Rude replied.
         "Tifa Lockheart?" Elena said. "You mean the same Tifa we've been chasing after?"
         "Yeah."
         "Wow, they must've been rich."
         "Well, they were pretty well off…"
         "Seems like you knew her fairly well," Reno said, leaning against the outer wall of Tifa's house. "What was she like?"
         "Outgoing, always hung out with the same group of friends, of which I was part of for awhile. We all admired her."
         "What about Cloud Strife?" Elena asked. "You must've known him, too."
         "Not really. He usually kept to himself."
         "Oh," Elena replied. She paced back to the water tower and stared up at the house again. "Hey Rude. When we were in Kalm, you said that they were here during the time of the incident."
         "Yes I did. I learned from Sephiroth's expense account for the mission that Tifa had been hired as his guide through the mountains. As for Cloud, he was one of the two MPs assigned to Sephiroth and Zack."
         "So they know the truth about what happened here, possibly more than any of us do. Don't you think that should be of some concern to the Company?"
         "I don't think they care…" Rude said, trailing off.
         "Elena," Reno started. "I'm sure that if the Company did give a shit about Cloud and Tifa's knowledge, they'd do something about it. However the employees here want to handle it when those two come through town—which they might—is up to them."
         "The employees here…" a voice said from inside Tifa's house. "I thought there was something funny about this place."
         As the three startled Turks turned in the direction of the voice, the front door opened and an old man stepped out. He was broad-shouldered and muscular, though his sad eyes and the weariness in his posture suggested he had seen better days. Rude didn't recognize him at first, but gasped when he did. It was his old martial arts instructor, Master Zangan.
         "Master!" Rude exclaimed, catching his fellow Turks unawares. "What are you doing here?"
         Zangan squinted at the bald figure standing before him. "I'm sorry, but have we met somewhere?"
         "I'm your old student, Rude Powers."
         "Hmm…" the old man replied, walking closer to Rude, not taking his eyes off of him. "So you are. You've grown tall and strong, I see. And that uniform—you're one of the Turks, now?"
         "Yes. Allow me to introduce my partners, Reno and Elena."
         As the two other Turks gave polite greetings to Rude's former teacher, Zangan regarded them distrustfully.
         "I couldn't help but overhear the three of you talking. I too was here five years ago. I was living here at the time, teaching martial arts to my star pupil Tifa. This is my first time back here since I rescued her from the reactor."
         "Rescued Tifa?" Rude asked. "What do you mean?"
         Zangan shook his head. "I don't know if I should tell you. You would probably report it back to the Shinra."
         "Don't worry about it. We didn't come to this town on a mission," said Rude. "We're off-duty, just passing through."
         Reno added. "Besides, Zack—the SOLDIER who came here with Sephrioth—was an acquaintence of mine, and Tifa was a friend of Rude's. I think that, if anything, entitles us to hear your story."
         Zangan sighed, sitting down on a wooden crate adjacent to the water tower. He focused on Rude. "So, you knew Tifa?"
         "Yes. I spent much of my childhood here."
         "I wish I'd known that before. I always thought you were from Junon."
         "Master, about Tifa. What exactly happened back then?"
         "Sephiroth had gone mad and set fire to this town. I tried to rescue as many as I could, but it was hopeless. The young SOLDIER had already gone to the reactor to face Sephiroth, so I followed him, hoping to exact my own revenge… but by the time I got there, Sephiroth was gone. I found Tifa and three others inside the reactor. All of them were injured, but I was only able to save Tifa. As I left the reactor, I saw a scientist named Hojo ordering Shinra troops to gather all the survivors for an experiment. I managed to sneak out of there, and eventually took Tifa to Midgar, to find a good doctor. After dropping her off at a hospital and making sure she would be well cared for, I went on my way."
         "You didn't stay with her?" Elena asked.
         "I get restless being in one place for too long… but that doesn't mean I ever forgot about her. She's tough; my best student. I always hoped that she would recover. Overhearing your conversation reassured me. She is all right, isn't she?"
         "Yes," Rude answered. "She appears well. And she's a strong fighter, like you said."
         "I'm glad to hear it," Zangan replied. "Now, I must be on my way. I would like to catch up on old times, my student, but this plaace gives me the creeps."
         "Will we see each other again?"
         "Perhaps. Before I go, just promise me that you'll leave Shinra. I don't know if I can have any student of mine working for such an outfit."
         "Master, I'm sorry, but you do not know the Shinra as well as I do."
         Zangan frowned and bowed slightly before Rude; the bald Turk returned the gesture, bowing a little lower.
         "Goodbye, my student. And please, consider my words."
         Rude said nothing in reply as Zangan passed by him and his comrades. The old master walked through the town gates and receded into the green fields beyond, until he could be seen no more.