Loveless

Chapter 19

"She got scared, yet I can't find the reason why. There was nothing in the room."

Sephiroth had called Angeal to review the footage together. While he studied the recordings in silence, trying to make sense of what he had seen, Angeal grew increasingly troubled. Eloise's reactions were not normal. She wasn't pretending, nor exaggerating. Whatever she had seen had frightened her deeply, and her fear was escalating faster each time. It was no longer something that could be dismissed as stress or imagination.

Meanwhile, Genesis had already taken matters into his own hands.

He practically dragged Eloise out of the training area and made her change into casual clothes before taking her into the city. She protested the entire time—loudly.

"Why did I have to change if you didn't?" she snapped.

Genesis ignored the question completely.

Her eyebrow twitched in irritation. Even when he was trying to help, he managed to be insufferable. She turned sharply, ready to walk back the way they came, but he caught her wrist before she could get far.

"We're going to have fun," he said firmly.

She scowled at him. "Do you even know what fun is?"

Genesis exhaled through his nose, clearly restraining himself. He reminded himself that this was necessary. Even if it meant pretending to be patient, even if it meant playing the gentleman for once. That didn't mean she wasn't still exhausting.

In the end, he led her toward a theatre.

Eloise slowed to a stop the moment she saw the entrance. She tilted her head slightly, studying it with the same suspicion she had shown the alley earlier, as if it might suddenly come alive. She even took a step back.

"It's just a theatre, Eloise. It won't hurt you," Genesis said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along before she could retreat further.

"I doubt that," she muttered under her breath as he dragged her inside.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you this evening... Loveless."

Eloise's right eye twitched. She should have known he would choose this for their so-called fun. She glanced at the audience; most of them looked excited, some even reverent, but none seemed nearly as absorbed as the man sitting beside her. Genesis was watching the stage with full attention, as if nothing else in the room existed.

The play opened with a single figure standing at the center of the stage. The lights were dim, barely outlining his shape. He looked lost, uncertain, until he finally began to speak.

When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end

The goddess descends from the sky

Wings of light and dark spread afar

She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting

After he finished, two other men entered from opposite sides of the stage. They began to speak of their lives, their doubts, and their shared belief in the everlasting gift of the goddess. Their words intertwined as they spoke of purpose and longing, until the decision was made between them: they would set out together to search for that gift. With that resolve, the first act began.

Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess

We seek it thus, and take to the sky

Ripples form on the water's surface

The wandering soul knows no rest.