Loveless 16

When Eloise entered the simulation room, her mood dropped immediately. Her eyes narrowed and she walked warily closer to him.

"What are you doing here?" Genesis didn't have enough time to respond; someone else did for him.

"You improved at a great speed, Eloise. Today, I want you to fight Genesis" Her head snapped towards the grey haired man. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was opened slightly. She needed to breathe slowly and take everything in; slowly.

"You want me to fight against Genesis? But he is a 1st class SOLDIER! Even if he doesn't look like a powerful person, he is" Genesis glared at her back. He did look like a powerful SOLDIER. She was stupid. Sephiroth's eyes glanced between the two. He was greatly amused.

"You should be honored to fight me, ungrateful little girl" She scoffed and faced him. She hurried towards him and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"What do you know? Weren't you the one questioning my fighting abilities?" Genesis scowled.

"Exactly. It's time for you, Eloise, to show your true potential to Genesis" Sephiroth's words were only a nudge. He knew how anxious and frustrated she was around Genesis. That could become a good test to see how well she could control herself.

In the end, everyone accepted. She was growing anxious with every glance at Genesis. His expressionless face was annoying. Sephiroth walked upstairs, into the control room. He watched bemusedly as the two culprits were staring intensely at each other.

Suddenly, the simulation room changed into Sector 9. Her eyes widened for a second. She started to feel uncomfortable. Not even the memories of the night with Zack were making it look less scary.

"Is there something wrong, Eloise?" She tried to ignore Genesis's taunting. "Did you get scared already?" He knew how to push her buttons. She grabbed her sword out and faced him. She was prepared.

As they both knew, Genesis attacked first. He swayed his sword to the side and tried to intimidate her. It didn't work. She blocked his sword and kicked him. The force she was using wasn't impressive. It was normal. Genesis chuckled in front of her face. He leaned closer to her and stared deeply into her eyes.

"Is that all you can do?" She glared at him and pushed him away.

Her eyes hardened and her grip on the sword tightened. She launched two attacks at the same time. She swayed her sword to his side while she ducked. She wanted to kick him in the ribs but he saw that coming and kicked her in the chin. It hurt. He wasn't playing anymore.

Eloise rubbed her chin and winced. It really hurt. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She didn't want to use the energy. Genesis knew her secret therefore she had to use her own power; the one within. She opened her eyes and waited. Genesis smirked cockily and traced his hand over the rapier. It started to glow. She remembered his fighting style from before. He was more of a crazy guy in fighting. She had to be careful.

Genesis formed fireballs into his hand and threw them at her. It was enough to make her busy. He sneaked behind her and tried to slash her side. It wasn't that easy. She saw that coming and blocked it. Their fighting styles weren't that different. They were both trying to sneak on each other or try to kick while using diversions.

Sephiroth was impressed by her stamina. She definitely improved on that part. But he wanted to see something different. He pushed a few buttons and leaned back.

As Genesis was blocking one of her attacks, she heard something behind her. She ignored it and threw Genesis into the wall. He recuperated his balance quickly and threw another fireball at her. While she was busy avoiding them, Genesis had time to hit her.

The light coming from the fireballs was very bright and reminded her about fireworks. She swayed back and caught his blade. She jumped on one leg and kicked him in the chin. Even though he got hit, he had time to grab her leg and throw her to the side. She landed on her feet, against the wall. She jumped as if she was on a trampoline, and hit Genesis hard. While she was trying to regain her breath, she heard a familiar growl. She glanced over her shoulder and froze.

The adrenaline was rushing through her veins, making her body immune to pain. Genesis saw her body relax and took it as an opportunity. He was going to have the last blow. He ran to her, his sword ready to slash her side, as he wanted from the beginning. Only that, when he got close enough, something about her was wrong. There was a faint blue glow around her body.

As if she was on auto pilot, Eloise blocked the attack with her sword. Genesis was taken aback by her eyes. He was surprised. That never happened before and he didn't know how to react. It was only for a few seconds, but it was enough for Eloise to grab his face and throw him hard into the wall. The force she used was powerful; too powerful for a girl her weight. Besides, her hand was tingling. She used the energy and electrocuted him. Genesis was getting spasms.

She blinked after a few minutes and realized that everything was false. There were no red eyes and no growling noises. She was in the simulation room, training. Her vision came back and she fell on her butt.

A few hours later, Genesis had been taken into Hollander's laboratory. She pestered Sephiroth to listen to her and take him there instead of the hospital. It was weird because she told him that before, when she was ready to faint.

"I'm sorry but you can't enter, Sephiroth. You can't help him now. He has to rest" Hollander's words were carefully chosen. Eloise didn't want to seem suspicious so she didn't enter either.

"I'm sorry. I hit him too hard" Sephiroth glanced at her warily. He saw what happened and she didn't look like she was conscious of what she was doing.

"It was a good fight. But you don't take your opponent seriously enough, Eloise. You were fighting like an officer in the beginning" She gulped. His intense gaze was very intimidating. He was a different man from that morning. He sighed. He had a mission that night and had to prepare for a long flight towards Wutai. "You shouldn't be scared to use the energy. You should be able to control it by now" She suddenly found the opposite wall more interesting than his eyes. She couldn't look at her mentor. He was scolding her.

After Sephiroth left, Eloise remained in front of the metallic double door all alone. It was silent and quite creepy on that level. There was a constant murmur, coming from the lab. She was curious how Genesis was feeling but was equally scared. She saw those red eyes while she was fighting. How did that happen, anyway? It must have been a simulation and Sephiroth was testing her. But if that was true, Sephiroth did it, right? She narrowed her eyes at the wall and scoffed.

"Mentor my ass. He's trying to kill someone with my hands" She was sulking and it didn't take a genius to figure it out.

"Have you thought about what I told you, Eloise?" She turned quickly to face the short scientist. She blinked in confusion. "Come in"

She followed Hollander towards a hospital bed. There was something dropping from Genesis's clothes which looked like water. Something was different about him. Maybe because he was unconscious and he wasn't able to talk, but he looked handsome.

"He is disintegrating, Eloise. Your blood can help stabilize it"

"But it won't stop it, right? The process will only be interrupted for a few days" Hollander nodded. That assumption was right.

"You electrocuted him with a low doze. He will wake up in a few hours. But he does need your blood. If you don't want to do it for Genesis, do it for Angeal" Her eyes widened. She forgot about him. He was in the same situation as his best friend.

"If I can help them, who can help me?"

"That would be me" She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the new acquaintance. She had seen him before but never talked to him. "I'm doctor Hojo and Eloise, you are not needed for Project G. I assume you know everything about it already" She nodded. "Then don't waste your time thinking about it anymore. As long as you can control the pure energy, you won't be in any danger" He smiled, which was very weird. He was an older man, very crappy looking. His face made him look like he was scowling at everything. He wasn't a trustworthy ally.