Faithless Memories

Facing the Beast

Chapter 81

Vincent fell back to join the rest, though it was plain to see he was not happy about letting Hojo out of sight. For the moment, they had other things to worry about. Nero had conjured more shadows to surround them. He knew at least a couple of the group could survive, but not all of them.

The Tsviets each took up a spot around the perimeter. The group inside formed a loose circle and pushed Kris to the center of it. Rufus had already seen enough to realize that it would be prudent to protect her. Veld followed his lead, and the rest already had a reason to keep her from harm.

Kris wasn't thrilled with the situation, but she could feel movement in her abdomen. It served as a reminder that she had plenty of reasons to let them keep her safe. Under different circumstances, she would have been giddy at the feel of her child moving inside her, but now was not the time. She cursed Hojo and his manipulations.

Neither group attacked right away. Part of it was the shifting shadows. Nero kept them moving, so it was difficult for the team circled by them to anticipate where the others would be coming from. The silence was finally broken by a feminine voice. "Brother, you should lay down your arms and join us. Bring us the girl, and I am sure the Professor could be convinced to let you live."

Sephiroth was quick to speak up. "Kris will be staying here. There is no way I will allow Hojo to have her. I have no need for his validation anymore."

There was a chuckle from Weiss. "Maybe not, but she wasn't talking to you. The Professor has plans for you too, but we were addressing our brother. The Crimson Commander, Genesis Rhapsodos." He then paused, and the shadows parted just enough for him to walk through.

The boy held two blades loosely in front of himself as he smirked at them all. "I would be happy to kill you all and take the girl, but I know the professor wants you at least breathing. Let's see how interesting you can make it."

He then lunged forward at Sephiroth. None of the others had a chance to interfere as a rain of bullets seemed to be coming from all the shadows at once. Genesis threw up a barrier to stop most of them, but the others were hard-pressed to dodge. Especially when Rosso joined the fray and immediately went after Genesis.

Zack had moved to join Genesis, while Vincent moved to help the Turks. Nero kept bouncing in and out of the shadows. Sephiroth was still dealing with Weiss. He was shocked at the fact that the silver-haired boy was able to keep up.

Kris watched with growing horror as the group of men struggled with the three teenagers. At least until a loud growl came from Vincent. She nearly fell over when he threw his head back and roared. When he looked back down, his eyes were golden. She watched in horror as he seemed to be in pain. He let out another roar as he transformed in front of them. Every eye was on the gunman. At least until Nero ducked back into the shadows once more, and Vincent, or rather Chaos, followed.

It was only a matter of moments later that the shadows disappeared entirely with no sign of Nero or Vincent. The silence didn't last long. The two remaining Tsviets jumped back into the fray with renewed vigor. However, the defenders were more than capable of handling them without the shadows interfering.

It was only a matter of minutes later that both teenagers were knocked out. Kris was glad to see they had not been killed, but she also doubted they would stay out for long. They were just as hardy as any of the Soldiers.

Once the two were down, several of them turned to Kris to make sure she was alright. Though their attention was drawn to the groans from the two that they just knocked out. Rufus made a disgusted noise as they turned to corral the teens once more. However, no one was able to make a move before everyone's attention was drawn back to Kris. She had let out a sharp scream that was cut off almost as soon as it came out.