Life Finds a Way

Chapter 76

Clarissa hadn't been as sore as she was when she woke up since her first weeks of training with Genesis. There wasn't a part of her body that didn't hurt. That didn't stop her from getting up and heading to the basement as soon as she was able. Veld had told her to take the day and rest, but she couldn't stay still. There was too much going through her head. She had sent a mental request to Minerva but hadn't seen the Goddess. It did make her slightly worried, but she also realized that her body had been severely abused. It was possible Minerva hadn't wanted to add to the burden.

When they had finally gotten back the night before, Clarissa only wanted to go to sleep, but Veld insisted that she be looked at. The village doctor hadn't liked being woken in the middle of the night, but when he saw Clarissa he hadn't complained again. She was thankful that she hadn't bothered looking in a mirror if everyone's gazes were anything to go by. The amount of blood that they cleaned off her face was another good indicator.

She pushed those thoughts back as she walked into the old lab to see each of her companions in a different section of the library. There was a very small pile of books neatly stacked on one of the tables, but there was a huge, messy pile in the middle of the room. As she walked in Reno tossed another one onto that pile with a sound of disgust.

Veld was the first to catch sight of her and he gave her a reproachful look. Before he could say anything though, she spoke up. "I know you said rest, but I'll go crazy laying up there thinking. Reading won't be a problem and I'll stay occupied."

He shook his head at her stubbornness. "Fine, pick a spot and I don't want to see you move until it's clear. If you find anything worth keeping it goes here, the rest go in the pile to be burned later."

She gave him a nod before grabbing a chair and setting down in front of one of the sections. The only sounds heard for the rest of the day was random cursing. The only exception was around midday. Reno must have found something particularly nasty as he threw the book in his hand hard enough to scatter the rest of the pile. His cursing was worse than normal, and he stalked out. It was nearly half an hour before he returned. No one asked him what he had found, as they had all seen enough already to understand.

Even with all five of them going through everything it was late into the evening before they started taking the majority of what had been in the library up to the area in front of the mansion. There had been some discussion of burning the whole building down, but Veld took a practical approach and insisted the building could be useful in the future as long as they excised the parts that were unnecessary. The fact that it ended up being most of Hojo's journals was not surprising to any of them.

They had found a handful of accounts that had been recorded by other scientists besides Hojo. Some of it was disgusting as well, but they couldn't discount them as lies, especially as they had found one buried that had been Lucrecia's. Vincent still had that one hidden somewhere in his cloak and she didn't blame him. Clarissa knew she would eventually have to talk to him about sharing it with Sephiroth, but for now she let it be.

Once everything was brought up they all stared at the huge pile for a moment before Clarissa flicked her wrist and a towering flame shot up. None of them moved as the fire consumed what had been left of a madman's lies.

Some of the townspeople came by to see what was going on but most of them stayed back. The two infantrymen kept back any whose curiosity outweighed their sense. Clarissa thought she spotted Tifa in one of those groups, but by the time she looked back the group had faded back into the larger throng. If it had been the girl, she was out of sight now. She realized it wouldn't have mattered even if it had been Tifa, as there was no good reason to justify her approaching the girl. It would probably cause more harm than good at this point.