"There you have it, the full story of my past and how I know Shinra, the president, and most of all...Sephiroth."

Sara let out a long sigh after finishing telling her past story; silence fell in the room.

"That's quite a story," Aerith was the first one to break the silence.

Tifa looked at Sara with sadness, "To think that you've been through that much with war and Shinra. I don't know how you made it."

Sara chuckled, "If it weren't for Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth looking out for me and my father, then I wouldn't have the courage to keep moving forward."

Sara looked at Barret apologetically, "I'm sorry that I used AVALANCHE for my own goal. But it was the only way I could think of to get into Shinra."

Tifa asked, "So when you talked with the mayor privately?"

"It was to see if he can get access to any information since he's very good at hacking the company's archives along with secret documents," Sara explained, "I wanted to know what happened to Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth. As you might've guessed, Shinra does very well at keeping information on a tight lid, but there is always a way to move the cover slightly."

"So, did the mayor help you?" Tifa asked.

Flashback

Domino looked at Sara with a frown and asked, "You want to know what really happened to those three?"

"Yes, I do," Sara replied earnestly.

"I'll start with Angeal."

Domino walked over to his computer and began to pull up files while typing on his keyboard. After a few beeps, Domino's eyes widened, and he sighed heavily. He gestured for Sara to come over, and she did. Then looking at the screen, Sara's eyes widened, and she gasped in horror.

The screen confirms Sara's worst fears Angeal Hewley was killed in action.

Domino begans to read the screen, "It seems that Angeal Hewley was killed during the Genesis War. However, the report states that Angeal never participated in the war."

"So, how did he die?" Sara wondered.

"Apparently, his last pupil killed him right after he and his copies infused together, creating a monster. Angeal was leaving his last pupil no choice but to kill him. Thus, the report ends." Domino replied.

Sara lowered her head and thought, "Angeal, so you are dead for real. I just hope you return to the planet."

Sara felt her heart growing heavy as she continued to ask questions, "What about Genesis and Sephiroth?"

Domino began to type in more keystrokes, but the screen only showed ACCESS DENIED. Domino frowned and tried again, but this time, he received a short report showing little information.

"This report only confirms The president announced that Sephiroth and Genesis were dead publicly, but it is unknown if they are dead."

Domino looks at Sara grimly, "I'm afraid that is all I can give you about your friends."

"What about my mother? Is she still alive? Is Shinra keeping tabs on her?" Sara asked with a slight panic in her voice.

Domino looks through his computer and begins to stroke his goatee, "Seems there is no report in regards to your mother. But that doesn't mean it can be good news, either."

Sara clicked her tongue in annoyance. Thinking that she may have run into another dead end.

"But," Domino smirked, "I had met your mother many times before you came into this company, and as I recall, she is pretty clever. If I know her, I bet she is doing anything to stay alive so that the two of you will meet again. I suggest you find her after you've settled your affairs here. So that she will answer all your questions."

"Thank you, Domino," Sara smiled as she gives him a hug before leaving the office.

End of Flashback

"So, only Angeal is dead and the other two Shinra doesn't know? Which could mean that they are still out there?" Barret wondered.

"Possibly, and the same goes if Shinra has been keeping a watchful eye on my mother," Sara said.

"So what's your plan after we get out of here?" Cloud questioned.

Sara replied, "I don't leave my friends behind, that is, if you all still consider me a friend?"

Tifa smiled, "Of course!"

Aerith nodded, "You bet!"

Barret smirked, "Well, you may have hidden your true purpose, but in the end, you're still a member of AVALANCHE. You've proven where your heart lies."

Sara smiled in relief, "Thank you. I still plan to find my mom while I continue to help you all."

Barret stood up and said, "Alright then! Here's the new plan, ya'll take Aerith and get out! Me, I'mma go bust some Shinra heads."

Aerith shook her head, "Barret, wait...You can't do that.."

Suddenly several phantoms began to show up and started circling around the room. Everyone started to brace themselves for the phantoms to attack.

"Oh great!" Barret growled, "These assholes again! Probably some Shinra science experiment."

"Whispers," Red XIII corrected, "Perhaps best described as arbiters of fate. They are drawn to those who attempt to alter destiny's course and ensure they do not."

Tifa's eyes widen in surprise, "Like capital D.. "Destiny"?"

Red XIII explained, "The flow of the great river that is the planet, from inception to oblivion."

Tifa, "And you're saying that, that flow is somehow fixed?"

Red XIII nodded, "Yes, for it is the will of the planet itself."

"So if we're destined for a bleak future, these Whispers will try to keep us on that course?" Barret pauses, then he realizes something and looks at Red XIII, questioning, "Now wait just a damn minute! How in the hell can you possibly know any of that? Spouting that cryptic stuff which could all be bullshit! I mean, ain't you a Shinra lab rat-dog?"

Red XIII's yellow eye narrowed in disgust. "I'm not a rat dog. When Aerith reached out to me, I found this knowledge of the Whispers."

Aerith looks at everyone with determination, "Listen to me!" Then, a few Whispers began to circle her, "Please!"

"Aerith?" Cloud looks at her slightly worried, but Aerith smiles with reassurance.

"The Shinra Electric Power Company isn't the real enemy," Aerith stated, "It started with them, sure but I promise you there's a much bigger threat. I just want to do everything in my power to help. All of you and the planet."

"Aerith, what are you not telling us?" Tifa asked.

Aerith shook her head as the Whispers continued to circle her, "I'm lost in a maze, and every step is taking me further from the path. Every time the Whispers touch me, I lose something, a part of myself."

Aerith slightly chuckles as she mutters, "Follow them, the yellow flowers."

The Whispers started to increase their speed as they circled Aerith. She panics, and Tifa rushes over to her and pulls her out of the circle.

"Aerith, it's okay," Tifa smiles, "We'll find a way out together."

Aerith nods, "Okay."

Suddenly, a loud sound was heard, and the Whispers disappeared. The sound didn't sound like a loud explosion, nor did it sound like a gunshot.

"Weird," Barret wondered.

Suddenly, the monitors that were in the room turned on, and on the screen was a familiar person.

"Ah-hah! There you are!" Domino exclaimed, but then someone was turning the monitor away, showing an unexpected familiar face.

"Hey guys! Long time no see!" Wedge smiled.

"Wedge?!" Barret exclaimed.

"You're here?!" Tifa looked surprised.

"Y-you shouldn't be up and moving!" Barret stuttered

Wedge smiles as he rubs his belly, "I'm feeling much better thanks to Elmyra's cooking!

"Ah!" Wedge recalled, "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about! Listen any moment now-!"

Suddenly, the whole room shook, along with a loud booming sound, making everyone uneasy.

"What was that? An explosion?!" Tifa panicked.

"HQ's running the show this time," Wedge explained, "They're raising hell to try and flush out the president."

"This complicates matters," Domino says as he moves over, getting in Wedge's way, "That explosion just now put the whole building on high alert."

Tifa gasped, "So now we're trapped in here?"

"No need to panic, little lady," Domino assured her, "See? You can still move freely within Hojo's laboratory."

The screen switches to a map of Hojo's laboratory, showing a yellow arrow indicating where to go.

"Find a way to the roof," Wedge explains, "An AVALANCHE chopper will come to extract you."

"HQ's bailing us out?" Barret raised an eyebrow, "I doubt it, not after all the shit we've pulled."

The screen switches back to Wedge, who smiles again, "I asked them really nicely! Like, super-duper nicely!"

Tifa smiled, "Thanks, Wedge."

Wedge gives them a thumbs up, "Just get to the roof, okay?"

The screen shuts off, and Barret couldn't help but grumble, "I didn't ask him to do any of that."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad he did," Cloud commented.

Barret humphed, "I'mma still chew him out for it later."

"Let's get to the roof," Sara stated as she started walking out.

Tifa follows her, asking, "Do you know where to go?"

"I have a hunch," Sara answered, "I suspect that we'll take the same elevator that Hojo used before. Access to Hojo's lab is also connected to the president's office, which is where the helicopter landing pad is."

"Then lead the way, SOLDIER!" Barret said sarcastically.

Sara rolled her eyes, "EX-SOLDIER..."

Cloud chuckled and followed Sara as she led the group. Though Sara only knew where to go to find the elevator that Hojo used, she didn't know much about the lab's layout. Once they made it to the floor where they last saw Hojo, the area was in shambles. The test pods were all destroyed.

"What happened here?" Barret wondered.

"The little ones in the pods, where did they go?" Aerith notices the empty, broken pods.

Then, the stairway that led to the control panel was blocked by debris.

"Now, whadday we do?" Barret exclaimed while looking at the debris.

"One thing we can do," Red XIII said as he started to move the debris.

Barret starts to help Red XIII, but a dozen creatures appear out of nowhere as they do this. Tifa and Aerith took their fighting stance. Cloud looks at Sara with a smirk.

"Wanna take them out?" Cloud asks; Sara rolls her eyes.

"Normally, I would tell you to do it yourself," Sara unsheaths her sword, "But since we're on the clock, guess I don't have a choice."

In a swift motion, Sara swiftly swings her sword, instantly killing the creatures. Aerith and Tifa were amazed at Sara's strength.

"Good thing you're on our side," Tifa commented.

Sara smiled, at that moment, Barret and Red XIII removed the debris that blocked the stairway.

"Nice job!" Barret reached a hand out to Red XIII in a handshake form.

Red XIII looked at Barret's hand and walked away, only to flick the latter's hand with the tip of his flaming tail.

"Shit, what the hell Red?!" Barret exclaimed as he shook the pain off his hand.

The group continued up the stairway and made it to the elevator: the same one that Hojo used and where Cloud and Sara couldn't go further. As the door of the elevator closed once the group went in, Cloud and Sara noticed a single black feather falling in front of them. Sara couldn't help but feel the sharp pain in her heart. She tried to ignore the pain but only let out a small moan. Cloud looks at her, concerned.

"You okay?" Cloud asked.

Sara nodded but said nothing.

The doors opened and when they walked in the whole group was stunned to see what lay before them. A vast, expansive, circular chamber around an immense central tank. A few lights dimly light the room, and a green hue emitted from the mako. The main tank is filled with mako, and large wires and pipes connect to the tank, as well as bridges to access it. Several metal walkways surround the outskirts of the chamber, relating to four wards across nine different levels within the chamber.

"Hell's this place?" Barret wondered as everyone looked around the chamber.

"Hojo's treasure," Red XIII answered, "Shinra's dark secret."

"I've never seen this before, even when I was working with Shinra," Sara looked around, completely stunned by everything in the chamber.

Barret grumbled, "What I wouldn't give to burn it all down, but we need to get to the roof."

The group began to follow the walkway leading to one of the bridges that connects to the central tank. As they made their way to the bridge, Sara started to feel jolts of pain in her chest. She brings a hand to her chest as she tries to continue walking.

The group stopped in the middle of the bridge as they began to see what was in the tank. A bare gray-skinned body with something resembling a heart at its feet. It was the same bare, gray-skinned creature that Cloud and Sara had seen before.

Everyone looked at the creature with uncertainty. Barret spoke with suspicion, "What the hell is that?"

Aierth answered coldly, "Jenova,"

Simultaneously, Cloud and Sara both grunted in pain. Cloud felt sharp pains throughout his head, while Sara felt waves of pain through her heart. Both of them began to have flashes of visions. Yet the visions themselves were all mixed up along with the sound of a voice. A voice that they were all familiar with.

Tifa walked to Cloud, looking at him. "Cloud?"

Aerith walked over to Sara, who was panting as if she had done a marathon. Aerith asked, "You okay?"

Then, everyone saw a tall figure at the end of the bridge in front of the large tank. Though his back was facing them, once he turned around, everyone knew who it was: Sephiroth.

"Tell me, is it really you?" Cloud questioned while still fighting the headache in his head.

Sephiroth said nothing but only smiled, then Cloud felt more pain; he couldn't help but hold onto his head. Then he starts to clutch his left arm, he could feel something or someone trying to control him but he refused to obey.

"Don't deny me," Sephiroth spoke calmly, "Embrace me."

Cloud immediately gritted his teeth and then charged straight for Sephiroth. The latter raised his long sword cutting the bridge as Cloud lunged into the air raising the Buster Sword and swung at Sephiroth. At the same time, Tifa and the rest fall down to the depths of the chamber.

Sephiroth blocked it and sneered, "A touching reunion."

Sephiroth swung his blade causing Cloud to fall down into the bottom of the chamber.

"That was bad taste," A voice spoke from behind.

Sephiroth chuckled as he turned around; standing before him was Sara, who had her sword unsheathed. Sara quickly jumped from the bridge's other side before Sephiroth cut it in half while the others fell to the bottom.

"Saraphina, it's been a long time," Sephiroth spoke with a sinister smile.

Sara narrowed her eyes for the way he spoke to her sent chills down her spine not in a comforting way. Another wave of pain through her heart came back again, she couldn't help but let out a grunt as she tried to keep her composure.

Sephiroth seemed to notice and questioned, "Why do you keep rejecting Mother? She's calling for you."

Sara took a small breath as she looked over at her shoulder where Jenova was held. She could sense something from the tank, like a slight ring sound through her head. Yet, Sara turned away and looked back at Sephiroth, who has a frown expression.

"I know who my mother is," Sara glared at Sephiroth and raised her sword, "Jenova is not my mother!"

She dashed towards Sephiroth, who blocked her attack, grabbed her by the arm, and tossed her away. Sara falls to the bottom of the chamber.

Over in a room full of monitors, Hojo watched everything that had happened in the chamber. He stood up with an expression of excitement.

"Very, very good, and thus is the hypothesis proven correct!"

Hojo watched one of the monitors that showed Cloud lying on a pile of debris. Hojo smiled almost maddeningly, "I can only hope you will continue not to disappoint."

Back at the chamber, Sara was sure she would land on hard surfaces after Sephiroth tossed her. Instead, she felt something warm and soft on her face, on top of hearing a steady heartbeat. Then, a familiar voice followed by vibrations beneath her face.

"Sara, you okay?"

Sara lifted herself up, shaking her head then looked up seeing a pair of mako eyes staring back at her. She didn't expect to land on top of Cloud and immediately jumped up, replying with a stutter.

"I'm okay; sorry for landing on top of you."

Cloud grunted as he stood up, "It's fine, but where are we?"

Sara looked around and said, "If I had to guess, the bottom of this hideous chamber. Let's go find the others before Hojo decides to get a hold of them."

Cloud nodded, agreeing, and the two of them began to search. However, it was a bit hard to navigate due to the debris and the dim lighting. As they followed down to the bottom floor, hoping to find another way up on the other side. What they found at the bottom made Sara's stomach feel wretched. Nearly hundreds of pods were filled with test subjects, all connected to the central pillar where Jenova was being kept. Sara couldn't help but touch one of the pods, wondering if the test subject that's in the pod was alive or dead.

Cloud noticed Sara's action and wondered, "You okay?"

Sara sighed, "Not really, all of these pods are filled with test subjects. It makes me feel disgusted; then again, I, too, was once a test subject. So were Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth."

Cloud said nothing, but what could he say?

Suddenly a large monster appeared and began to attack Cloud and Sara. Just when Sara was about to make a move a shadow passed by and it was Red XIII. Red XIII bites down on the giant monster's throat, making it scream in pain, giving Sara the opportunity to attack. Swiftly ending the creature's life with one swipe from her sword, Red XIII let go of the creature's throat and looks up at Sara.

"Good work," Red XIII said.

"You too," Sara smiled and asked, "Where're the others?"

"No where close," Red XIII replied.

"Let's go," Cloud began to walk down the uneven pathway.

They followed the uneven pathway and using broken ramps that lead to the next floor. Sara looked around from the bottom floor all the way up to where Sephiroth tossed her.

"I think I may be able to pull us out of this mess," Sara spoke.

Cloud looked at her curiously and Red XIII asked, "How?"

"By using the emergency ladders that this lab has," Sara explained, "In every lab and reactor there's always emergency ladders used in case of fire hazards, etc. If I can find the switch to activate them, then we'll be able to climb up to the top floor in no time."

Cloud nodded, "I like the idea, let's find the other's first and then find that switch."

"I'll be back soon."

After Sara spoke, she immediately jumped high landing on the second floor. She spots the emergency switch that unlocks the ladder. Once the ladder unlocks it drops down to the bottom floor, giving Cloud and Red XIII a chance to climb up. Sara continued to do the same thing activating the emergency ladders and while she does this she meets up with the others who were on different levels in the chamber. After awhile, they all made it back on the floor where they started.

"Well, looks like we're still in one piece," Barret said.

"Mmn," Cloud nodded in agreement, then Tifa noticed something odd and said, "Look!"

When the group looked at where Tifa was looking everyone was stunned. The place where Jenova was being kept was completely gone. Sara immediately jumped over there and saw how all the electrical wires and fluid tubes were cut down and there was a trail of weird purple color fluid heading to the nearby elevator.

"Who would?" Tifa wondered as the rest looked at the scene.

Red XIII replied while looking at the elevator, "We may find out soon."

"That elevator will take us to the president's office and then the roof," Sara explained remembering Domino's map.

"Let's go," Cloud started walking toward the elevator.

Everyone walked over to the elevator avoiding the purple fluid. The doors of the elevator opened but then Aerith spoke.

"Wait, once we go in there there's no turning back."

"We are ready....right?" Tifa said uncertained.

"I'm ready to do this," Cloud replied with confidence and turned to Sara.

"I've longed waited for this day," Sara smirked, "It's time that bastard gives the answers that I deserve."

Barret smirked and patted Sara's shoulder, "You're not the only one, the president will certainly hear what I have to say too."

Then everyone got inside the elevator and Cloud pushed the button that will take them to the final floor of the Shinra building which happens to be the president's office. Sara could feel her heart beating so fast, she had been waiting for this moment for so many years and now she can't wait to see the look on the president's face when he sees her.

However little does she know that someone else wanted her for his own goals.