Loveles 37

"Here"

After what she had been through for the last few years, Eloise felt tired. Hojo had many plans regarding Zack and Cloud. He wanted to make them part of the Jenova Reunion Project. She didn't have enough power nor the right title to go against his plans.

She found one young scientist who didn't know who she was or what she was doing there. He only knew that she was Zack's younger sister. He placed a cup of tea on the table and pushed it slowly towards her. She stared at him blankly.

"You've been standing her for a few days already. Aren't you getting bored?"

She had been standing on a nearby table in the laboratory for a week. She didn't feel anything but guilt. If Zack was going to become like her, that was entirely her fault. She was warily watching Hojo all the time. He injected the two boys with Jenova cells but not enough to make them monsters. They were genetically still human.

"No. I just want to watch over them. I want to keep them safe" The young scientist sighed.

"They are here and Doctor Hojo is treating them with mako and Jenova cells. They are safe" She chuckled and leaned back on her hands.

"You don't know what kind of world you work in. Everything Hojo does is for himself. Sephiroth is his experiment. I'm sure you didn't read the documents in the manor" Her eyes started to change gradually. He gulped and took a step back. Something was terribly wrong with her and she wasn't even doing something weird.

"You're not human, are you?" She started to laugh loudly.

"No. It seems I am nothing but a vessel for Jenova cells" The young man stared at her for a few minutes before he left. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I can't stay here forever. Just wake up, Zack. Wake up and let's go home"

She was sleeping when she felt something cold against her hands. She opened her eyes slightly and saw a bulky man doing something to her hands. Her eyes widened and she squirmed. A few more men came inside and placed chains around her hands, legs and neck. Hojo entered the laboratory and walked in front of her.

"What are you doing?" He smirked wickedly.

"You can't stay here, Eloise. Your dear mentor may or may not be dead. I can't conduct my experiments with a ticking bomb in my laboratory. The turks will take you in custody" Her eyes widened.

"No! I'm not going to be killed like that. Just because you made me a monster!" He chuckled and grabbed a needle from his pocket. She shut up instantly and gulped. That needle was stupidly long.

"I told you, Eloise. You are a success. I'm not going to kill you. But I'm not going to let you awake for now. It's time to go back into your cocoon, my little butterfly" It happened really fast. He plunged the needle into her neck and the effect was instant. She fainted.

She was in a place that looked a lot like Heaven. She didn't know if she was dead or not. Even though that place had a soothing atmosphere and made her feel light, she wanted to go back to reality.

"You have to wait a little bit longer. But when everything will settle down, you will understand"

She raised an eyebrow and moved chaotically around. That voice sounded very familiar.

"Are you dead?" He chuckled. It sounded genuine, just like on the first time she met him.

"Am I? I don't think so. You aren't either" She sighed in relief.

"How can we talk like that?" He didn't appear in front of her. He only talked to her from somewhere.

"We're both dormant for now. We need to canalize our life force and heal ourselves. We can do that, Eloise. We can help each other"

"How?" she could feel him stare at the back of her head.

"I will need your help. Not now, but later. For now, I will help you wake up fully charged" She looked down at her hands and realized her fingers were already emitting electric sparks. "Use the energy in your own benefit. You can control it without hurting yourself. I taught you well, Eloise" She felt a sudden urge to break something. Her body was buzzing and she felt herself starting to glow.

When Eloise woke up, she didn't realize what she had done. She destroyed the whole laboratory she had been placed in. She electrocuted the men around her. Sadly, none was Hojo.

Unfortunately, she had been moved. She wasn't in Nibelheim. She didn't really know where she was. She was still unstable and had to control her body. She limped for a while until she got into a hall. She leaned against the wall and walked like that. Her side was hurting and she didn't understand why. She didn't have any wound there; not even a scratch.

She was walking with her head down when she noticed a pair of shoes a few feet forward. She gulped and got ready to electrocute that person. She was ready to raise her hand when that person caught it and kept it down. She raised her head and got a shock. The boy smirked.

"Nice to meet you again, Eloise" She frowned.

"Rufus"

She thought he was the enemy. She thought he was going to kill her. Nothing happened. He helped her into an empty office and forced her to sit.

"What are you doing?" He got materia from his pocket and pushed it in her arm.

"I'm helping you" She bit her lip.

"Why are you helping me? Didn't you see what I became? What all of us became" He looked into her eyes and scoffed. Her eyes were completely different from the first time they met. Their color changed and that childish glow disappeared. It felt like he was looking into the abyss. It was empty.

"I see that. I see everything my father and the Company do. But I can't fight against it. It's not my place to do that" She was openly judging him.

"Then whose place is to change this reality?" He shrugged. He didn't know and truthfully, he didn't care. He was somewhat content with his life. He didn't care about the others. But she was new. She was like a toy. He could spin her once and watch what direction she would go to.

"I don't care as long as it doesn't involve me" She pushed him away and got up. Surprisingly, she felt much better.

"There will come the day when everything will fall apart. You will get involved either if you want to or not. I want to live and see that day" She left the room and closed the door loudly behind her. Rufus chuckled bemusedly to himself.

"I'd like to see that day, too"

She was inside the Shinra Building; the important one. The president was working there and the turks were there. She didn't want to see any of them, not even Reno. But she wasn't lucky at all. She was hiding around and sneaking through the halls when someone wrapped a hand around her neck.

"And where do you think you're going, little lady?" She closed her eyes and gave up.

"Anywhere but here" He chuckled and patted her head cutely.

"I thought so"

In the end, Reno couldn't take her outside the building. She was a prisoner. She held important information about Sephiroth.

"By the way, where is Zack?" She raised an eyebrow and decided not to respond. The redhead chuckled. "Oh come on, Eloise. We're friends, yo" She stared at him without an answer. "Look, he's been missing for a while. It's been almost four years. We know that Hojo has something to do with that. We just hope they're still alive"

"You who?" Reno smiled and pointed at himself.

"Me. And there's Tseng and Cissnei. We want to keep you all safe" She shook her head and leaned against her chair.

"No one is safe. Believe me"

"What about Sephiroth?" Her eyes hardened considerably.

"What about him?" Her tone was really cold too.

"Did he die? What happened in Nibelheim?" She chuckled and crossed her legs.

"It was a set up" She laughed but Reno didn't find that amusing at all.

"You changed. What happened to the happy and sincere Eloise?" She gave him the same answer she gave to everyone.

"She died in the moment she became a soldier" Reno narrowed his eyes at her and sighed heavily. It was going to be a long day.

The turks tried every method to make Eloise tell them if Sephiroth was dead or not. She had only one thought in her mind: she couldn't kill him. She had Hojo's words in her head. He was right. No matter what, Sephiroth was her mentor. Maybe for everyone else, that didn't mean anything but it did for her.

Therefore, they had to keep their guest in Tseng's office. He was there most of the time but Reno took the matter in his own hands. He didn't want to make her feel lonelier than she was already.

"How did it come to this yo?" They were sitting in front of each other. Her eyes were boring into his soul. "Your eyes are turquoise. Your hair is a lighter color. You-"

"I know Reno. You don't have to point out every difference" He narrowed his eyes at her and smirked playfully.

"At least your personality didn't change much" She tried hardly not to smile. It was really hard to keep a poker face around the redhead. He was the only genuine friend she had left.

Tseng's phone rang. His face was blank but his eyes moved to Eloise. After the call finished, he walked towards her.

"Zack escaped the facility" Her eyes widened and she got up quickly. "He took Cloud with him. They became fugitives" She could feel her heart beat faster in excitement. "We have to find them or else the Shinra army will kill them both" She was ready to leave the room when Tseng grabbed her hand. "You will assist Cissnei. You are theoretically still a Shinra soldier" She scoffed and hurried to find the female turk.

That didn't take much. Cissnei was waiting for Eloise on the roof. She stopped and looked around.

"The same roof he told me he liked me" She rubbed her hands together and slapped herself slightly. She had more important matters to think about.

"Where do you think he'll go first?" Eloise bit the inside of her cheek and stared at the clouds.

"I don't know. Maybe home. Maybe somewhere with a deeper meaning for him" She knew exactly where he was going to end up. But she still wanted to see him and hug him. He was the real hero of SOLDIER.

"Then we will split. You go to Gongaga while I will try to find him closer to Nibelheim. He will want to see his parents" She nodded.

It wasn't a hard task. She had to go to her hometown and wait for him. But she also wanted to see her parents. She missed them. She missed the normal life of the countryside.

"Eloise? Is that you?" She felt herself break slowly. She felt like crying.

"Mom" She ran into her mother's arms and hugged her tightly. "I missed you a lot" The elder laughed softly and patted her daughter's back.

"What's going on? Is Zack busy with missions?" Her eyes snapped to the door.

"Yes. He became a first class SOLDIER" She smiled and looked into her mother's eyes. "He is a hero, mom. He made it. He saved so many people and a lot of young soldiers look up to him. He is a hero" She was lying to her parent. She didn't have enough courage to tell her the whole truth. It was breaking her heart but it wasn't a complete lie. Zack was a hero.

After she left her house, she got a call from Cissnei. Zack was just outside the village. She ran there with all her power. She wanted to see him.

"Zack!" The brunette was ready to leave after an interesting conversation with the turk. However, her voice stopped him. He turned around and got hit by a shorter body.

"Eloise! You're alive!" She hit him hard in the chest and scoffed.

"Of course I am. I was worried for you and Cloud! That asshole scientist experimented with your body! Jenova cells, Zack" He understood why she was so worried. She didn't want them to go through the same hardships she did. He was so stupid for not noticing earlier.

"I'm sorry, Eloise. I told you I'd always be there for you but I was completely ignorant to what was happening to you" She tilted her head to the side and punched him in the jaw. He whined.

"You are an idiot. It's not your fault. Being alive and stupid is enough to make me feel better. You didn't know because I didn't want you to know" She calmed down and patted his shoulders. "Be good and stay alive" He laughed and slapped her back. She stumbled a little. He really didn't understand how strong he was.

She smiled and waved at him. Unfortunately, she couldn't go with the two. They were fugitives. She didn't care much about that. She was ready to leave SOLDIER anytime. She had nothing left there. But Tseng gave her rules. If she wasn't going to obey them, he was going to personally come and take her back to the Company.

"So, you know where they're going" Eloise turned to the young turk and shrugged.

"Maybe"

"And you also know if Sephiroth is dead or not" The brunette girl had the same short answer.

"Maybe"

"I understand why you're protecting Zack. But why Sephiroth?" She chuckled and stared at the empty road. They were following the two boys.

"Because he is my brother, as well" That was the fact that she tried to ignore and just forget. But the true was undeniable. They had the same DNA. They were siblings whether she accepted it or not.

"You know, you are too naïve. You think of him so fondly but I bet he would kill you in a second" Cissnei wasn't mean. That was exactly what would happen if Eloise would piss Sephiroth off for real.

"I know. But I can't judge him so badly when he didn't do anything to hurt me. He didn't kill his friends and he is not around to kill Zack. I don't have a reason to kill him"

"But he is a monster. He needs to be stopped before he will do something bad to the planet" Eloise knew exactly what she was talking about. He said it himself. He wanted to sacrifice everyone on the planet to create something better.

"But isn't that exactly what Shinra does? So many people died already and the cause is what?" Cissnei wasn't in the position to respond to that question. She was working directly under Shinra. She was a turk.

After a few more hours, Eloise found herself in front of a weird place. She had never been there before but something about it was familiar.

"Where are we?" The one who responded wasn't the turk. It was her brother. He was staring at the scenery too. He had and arm wrapped around Cloud and a different person leaning on his other. That white haired man looked strangely familiar.

"Banora. The home village of Angeal and Genesis" Her eyes widened. She was ready to move and go in but he stopped her. "He is probably there. He is probably waiting for us. Hollander and Lazard were both involved with Jenova cells, Eloise" She looked at the new face.

"I know" Zack sighed. Of course she knew. She knew everything because she was also involved. But her body responded so well to the cells that Hojo just exploited her. "I want to see him" He nodded.

"You were not supposed to end up like this" She turned to the white haired man. His voice gave him away.

"You saw me suffer but you didn't stop it. You were only around to watch and mend, weren't you Lazard?" He chuckled. It kind of hurt his body but he was terribly amused and sorry for her.

"You're right. But you never lost your humanity" He glanced at Zack. "Even when I was expecting you to lose control, Zack would come and wake you up. That is why you aren't a monster. You should thank your brother" Zack and Eloise stared at each other for a few moments before the older sibling looked away. He was embarrassed yet he was quite proud of himself. The power of family was invincible.