Life Finds a Way

Chapter 58

For the first time since she had met him, Clarissa saw Tseng's mask crack a little. It was back quickly though. "Why would you think I would trust this person?"

She shook her head at his attempt to divert her. "If you don't then it won't matter, but we have a special connection."

At that, his brow finally rose. "That could be a dangerous thing to claim."

For the first time since they all gathered she laughed, even if it was bitter. "And the rest of this isn't? I am well aware that this will either work or it will land me in a spot I won't be able to get out of no matter what. This is just the easiest thing to verify."

At that she turned to the rest of the room. Angeal and Genesis had already moved to stand next to Sephiroth again and none of them looked happy. She knew she wasn't done yet, no matter how much she wished she could disappear already. "There is one other thing... no two more, that will affect several of you." She paused and turned to look at Veld. "The first of which, is that Vincent Valentine is still alive. I know where he is, although I doubt it will be easy to get to him."

At that statement Veld froze. Tseng also furrowed his brow. The rest of the room looked on with confusion, even though it was obvious to them that it was a significant announcement for the two Turks.

Veld finally broke his Turk cool. He stopped just short of Clarissa, but she had never been more terrified than she was at the look he gave her. "First my family and now my partner? What game are you playing?"

Clarissa had to stiffen her back to keep from cringing away from the rage in his face. "It isn't a game. It's Hojo. The one thing almost all of you have in common is Hojo. Even the last thing I needed to tell you. I can prove to you that Hojo murdered Professor Gast."

There was absolute silence for the span of a few seconds before chaos broke out. Everyone seemed to have moved at once. Clarissa was able to move away from Veld as he hadn't moved, but her field of vision was quickly filled with red right before she heard a clang. She looked up to see Genesis standing in front of her and facing off against Sephiroth. Her knees turned to jelly when she saw the clang had been Genesis swatting away the Masamune.

No one had said anything yet, but the two Soldiers were staring daggers at each other. She knew she had to intervene before it got out of hand. She walked out from behind Genesis and laid a hand on his arm. The look he gave her was conflicted. Finally, he spoke. "I did promise I would not let you be harmed."

The feeling of joy that filled her at his words made the rest of what she was facing bearable. She could tell he was still mad, but he wasn't ready to abandon her yet. She smiled at him. "Thank you."

After that she turned to Sephiroth. "I understand that this is hard for you to hear but please let me finish before you decide to strike me down."

She could tell Sephiroth was trying to maintain his normally stoic face, but it was easy to see he was conflicted. She wished she knew how to make this easier for him. He had already endured so much in his life, it wasn't fair. "Please understand, I am not doing this to hurt any of you. It's just that there is so much going on that affects all of you and none of you know it."

At that she turned to Veld, although she was speaking to the room in general. "Please let me finish." She looked back to see Genesis still standing close. She hoped that meant he was at least willing to listen. When no one else moved she started again. "There is a long list of transgressions against humanity in general that need to be addressed. The first of which was what happened to Vincent. He wasn't killed in the line of duty, he was shot by Hojo and then used as an experiment. When Hojo deemed it a failure he tried to dispose of him. The only reason Vincent is still alive is because Lucrecia took drastic measures to keep him from dying."