Life Finds a Way

Chapter 33

When it was nearly time for her extra training to start Clarissa was surprised when Sergeant Mays gave the class a reminder that the following day would be a half day of physical training only. She hadn't known if they would get any time for R&R in this program. The fact that they got at least a half day was encouraging. That feeling quickly dissipated when she realized that she probably would not be given the same time. It was highly likely that Genesis would have her doing extra training with him while the others were off.

Her fears were confirmed when she asked him about it after he picked her up. "You have a long way to go and not nearly enough time. I will take all I can get to try and mold you into a Soldier."

"Of course."

"Do you have something you'd like to say?" The look he gave her was much closer to his scary instructor look than any he had given her yesterday. She should have known it wouldn't last.

"No. It was expected. I'm fine with it anyway. I would rather stay busy." He gave her a look at her words, but she was looking the other way and missed it. He didn't get a chance to question her.

"Where are we going anyway?"

He had taken her several floors down. "Here."

He had stopped outside a door that he had to put a code into to open. When she looked around she found it was another armory, but it looked different than the one she had seen before. Most notably there were no materia. "And what do we need here that we couldn't get on the Soldier floor?"

She wished she hadn't asked when he turned to her with several pieces of armor. "These. Put them on. Also, can you put your hair up so the tail doesn't hang down?"

It didn't take her long to realize what he was doing. "We're going outside?"

"Yes, now hurry."

She gave him a sour look at his impatience, but quickly pulled her hair into a bun at the nape of her neck. It took her a minute to figure out how to strap on the pauldrons but once those were on she quickly got the guards on her knees as well. Once she was finished he handed her a large scarf and a helmet. She didn't bother complaining before putting it on.

She started to ask how she was supposed to walk in the helmet since her eyes were covered, but before she could he reached out and pushed a small button near her left ear that she hadn't seen. Instantly a picture of the room around her was floating in front of her eyes. The design of the helmets suddenly made so much more sense. She smiled over at him, but he was already tweaking the scarf. Finally, it must have satisfied him as he stepped back and looked her over carefully. "It will work well enough. As long as no one gets close to you they will never know. Follow me."

She was a little nervous. If he was planning on taking her out for training, where were they going? Her question was answered when they made it downstairs. He didn't pause before he walked out a small door on the side of the building instead of out the front. It led into an underground parking deck. She was surprised when he stopped next to the tiniest car she had ever seen. When he opened the driver's side door she laughed. "Are you sure you can even fit into this thing?"

He shot her a scowl. "Get in. We don't have time for this."

She didn't argue further, but she still laughed at the sight of him. It was lower to the ground than she had realized so he had more room for his legs than she thought, but it still looked uncomfortable. She could only imagine how Sephiroth would fit, or not as the case may be. Her musings were interrupted by the sight of the city as they emerged from the building. She couldn't get a very good look, unfortunately. He had made it onto an overpass and was headed to the outskirts of the city.