Crisis Core: The Female SOLDIER

10

"Let's see, Angeal's house is..." Zack trailed off, looking at the identical looking houses one by one as though he would be able to tell which one would obviously be Angeal's house.

He gave up. "I have no idea!" He yelled in frustration. He sighed, "I'll just have to check each house..." With that, he went over to a random house and walked in, not even bothering to knock.

"Can I help you?" An elderly woman asked as he entered, dressed in a white long sleeved blouse and a long brown skirt, an olive green shawl draped over her shoulders as she sat at the dinner table.

"Uh, greetings, ma'am!" Zack stammered, face turning apologetic as he had just entered without knocking. He wasn't expecting someone to be inside the house he had just barged in. "Are you... Angeal's mother? The elder woman just stared at him in silence. "My name is Zack." Zack introduced himself.

The elder woman looked away for a moment before suddenly looking back at him. "Are you Zack, the puppy?"

"Excuse me?" Zack stared oddly at the elder woman. Where the hell did that come from?

The elder woman chuckled as she looked away, "My son once wrote to me about you. 'Zero attention span. Restless as a little puppy'." She laughed again.

"Thanks, Angeal..." Zack groaned, crossing his arms as he looked away in embarrassment.

"He also wrote about someone named Sera as well. 'Delicate but strong. Cold, yet kind to those she cared about'."

"That's Sera alright." Zack grinned. "She's my partner, but she's not here at the moment."

"I see," The elder woman then frowned, looking at him suspiciously. "You're not... here together with Genesis, are you?"

"No, I'm not. Don't worry."

"What is happening with my son?"

"I'm not really sure," was all Zack could respond with and the elder woman looked down sadly.

"...Genesis came back here, a month ago, with an army of cohorts." She started. "And they proceeded to take the lives of many townspeople."

Zack grew shocked at her words.

"Genesis... he used to be such a good boy..."

Zack came forward. "Is Angeal...?" he trailed off, not sure what to say to finish it off and not wanting to assume he did the same.

"He came here," The elder woman answered anyway. "But, he left his sword and went off somewhere." She looked behind her and Zack followed her gaze to find his mentor's Buster Sword leaning against the wall. He walked towards the sword and the elder woman turned away. "That sword represents our family's honor."

"I see...no wonder..." Zack commented, now understanding why his mentor would not want to use his sword. "He never uses this sword, really ever." He took a few steps toward her side and knelt down, smiling reassuringly. "I'll take care of Angeal. But, you should go and hide somewhere." He told her urgently.

The elder woman merely smiled though and shook her head. "You're a sweet boy, but don't be concerned. Genesis... cannot harm me."

Zack wanted to protest though, but somehow knew it would do no good and so, with a heavy heart, he left the house.

A moment later, once he had left the house, his phone rang and he picked it up.

"There's a factory on the outskirts of town," Tseng spoke from the other end. "Sera and I saw a Genesis copy go inside."

"Another one just went in, Tseng," Sera's voice could be heard in the background, not far from where Tseng was speaking. "This might be the place."

"You think it's their headquarters?" Zack asked.

"Most likely," Tseng replied. "Sera and I are currently on a cliff overlooking the factory. A frontal attack is inadvisable. We'll go in from above. Come to the clifftop immediately."

The call ended and Zack pocketed his phone, making his way to their destination.