The three Reincarnators from the "Dark Oath" squad stood at the edge of a cliff, watching Cloud fade into the distance until he was no more than a speck.
"Boss, looks like we missed the action," Goldspark said, glancing at the battlefield below, now carved with deep trenches. "The guy's already done fighting and probably headed home for a shower and some sleep. So what's next—do we go after Cloud, or chase down the Remnants?"
Magnor didn't respond, but Lady Night—currently inhabiting Flora's body—spoke up before he could. "If the story unfolds as expected, this skirmish marks the point where the Remnants split up. Loz, the musclehead who cries at the drop of a hat, will head to Cloud's hideout at the church. He'll run into Tifa there, injure her badly, and steal a crate of Materia Cloud had stashed away. Yazoo, the long-haired one, will start gathering children infected with Geostigma in the city and take them to the Forgotten City for a second-stage transformation, turning them into his minions. As for Kadaj, the leader, he'll go straight to Rufus Shinra, convinced that Shinra is hiding Jenova's head—though he doesn't know exactly where. That's why they've been playing this game of cat and mouse."
Goldspark's eyes lit up. "Then what are we waiting for? Boss, let's go grab that Materia! With spells like 'Stop Time,' 'Knights of the Round,' and 'Meteor,' we'd be unstoppable. We could take on anyone—gold-tier, here we come!"
Magnor shook his head, but Lady Night cut in sharply. "Are you out of your mind? You think loot from the Reincarnation Space is that easy to claim? If it were, gold-tier elites would be swarming the skies by now. Unless it's fused into your body or turned into a card stored in the Book of Reincarnation, you can't take anything with you."
Goldspark scratched his head. "Then what do you suggest?"
Lady Night smirked. "Simple. Let those three idiots pick out the best Materia and fuse it into themselves. Then we kill them. Sure, it'll make them stronger, but the rewards we get from slaying them will be top-tier. If the plot stays on track, they'll regroup tonight and equip the Materia. That's when we strike."
Goldspark turned to Magnor. "Boss, you agree?"
Magnor paused before answering. "There's another reason. If our mission is to stop Sephiroth from destroying the world, then the reverse mission is to ensure he does. That means Rime will be protecting the Remnants until Sephiroth returns. So anytime we try to kill them, we'll have to face him. Normally, we outmatch them, but if those three silver-tier Remnants join the fight, we might be outnumbered."
Goldspark considered this. "Then why not take them out one by one while they're split up?"
Magnor shook his head. "If we do that, we risk triggering unexpected changes. The Remnants aren't flesh and blood—their forms, outfits, and weapons are all energy constructs. If one dies, the others might change appearance or form. Finding them again would be nearly impossible. We need to take them all out at once. Tonight's our best chance. Jenova's head isn't in their possession yet, and though they'll regroup, Cloud and Vincent will be there too. Cloud's strength speaks for itself, and Vincent—the red-cloaked gunman—is the protagonist of the sequel Dirge of Cerberus. He's a modified super-soldier and the second strongest in the protagonist faction. With the two of them, plus us three, we can wipe out Rime and the Remnants. Lady Night, have you located the Forgotten City?"
Lady Night replied, "Don't worry, boss. I may not be able to deploy my puppet bat clones right now, but gathering intel is no problem."
"Good. Then we head to the Forgotten City."
Of course, the Remnants weren't the only ones drawing attention. Jack Harper had arrived even earlier than the Dark Oath squad. But despite mastering a new divine technique, he still wasn't confident enough to take on Flora's awakened form and Magnor's unfathomable power at once. With the enemy undivided, he had no choice but to retreat.
Since Lady Night was fully focused on controlling Flora's body, Jack Harper remained undetected, hiding in the distance. Only after the three veteran Reincarnators left did he step out.
"Hmph. Without the Strategist, their grasp of the big picture has clearly weakened. Otherwise, they'd have predicted my next move," Jack muttered to himself. Then he frowned. "Complete the mission… eliminate the enemy… rescue Flora… a three-pronged solution. Where is it?"
He pondered repeatedly, but couldn't find a perfect plan. Frustrated, he admitted that while his intellect was above average, it wasn't enough to play the role of a true strategist. "Forget it. Time to move on to the next target. Success or not, I have to try."
He summoned his black-armored Death Steed once more, mounted it, and rode off in the direction the Remnants had gone.
Meanwhile, the Remnants had already split up according to the plot. Loz headed to the ruins of Shinra City, Yazoo to the residential district, and Kadaj took a detour to pursue Cloud.
Jack Harper followed Kadaj from a distance.
An hour later, Cloud—unaware he was being tailed—arrived at his destination. But instead of a delivery client, he found Rufus Shinra, president of the Shinra Company. In the original Final Fantasy VII, Rufus was supposedly killed by a planetary weapon created by the Lifestream, marking the end of Shinra's tyranny. But in true anime fashion, unless a character is explicitly dismembered, even a nuclear blast can't guarantee death. So in Advent Children, Rufus returned with a new look and a "hero of justice" persona.
Rufus had summoned Cloud to deal with the threat posed by the Remnants. But true to his cunning nature, he concealed the fact that Shinra was hiding Jenova's head. Instead, he told Cloud the Remnants were trying to resurrect Sephiroth, and then subtly invited Cloud to rejoin Shinra.
Cloud, once a member of the anti-Shinra resistance, naturally refused. But like Sephiroth, his emotional intelligence wasn't high. Without realizing it, he fell into Rufus's logical trap and tacitly agreed to take on the Remnants.
After Cloud left, Rufus and his two bodyguards had just begun to relax when black mist seeped through the cracks of the sealed doors. Kadaj's voice echoed from outside:
"Found you."
Kadaj, the strongest of the three Remnants, was already mid-silver tier. Rufus's two bodyguards, though enhanced by Mako infusion, were merely low-bronze tier—better than average soldiers, but in a world of magic and monsters, they were little more than cannon fodder. Within seconds, they were knocked to the ground by a flurry of blows.
Rufus himself had never undergone any physical augmentation. Against a Remnant like Kadaj, his combat ability was effectively zero. But he hadn't come to fight. Instead, he presented himself as a severely injured invalid, seated in a wheelchair, his head and face covered by a thin blanket like a leper. He faced Kadaj calmly, relying not on strength, but on wit and nerve.
"I hate liars," Kadaj said coldly. He had clearly realized that Rufus's earlier claim—that Cloud was hiding Jenova's head—was a lie.
Rufus didn't flinch. He simply told another lie. "Apologies. This time, I'll be honest. When I escaped from you, Jenova's head fell from the plane. A regrettable loss."
"Is that so?" Kadaj narrowed his eyes, unconvinced.
But Rufus, ever the master manipulator, replied without hesitation, "I swear."
Kadaj's expression darkened. He tossed two bloodstained ID cards to the floor. "Then swear to them."
The cards belonged to the agents who had helped Rufus escape. If Kadaj had them, he clearly knew Jenova's head wasn't where Rufus claimed.
The room fell into a tense silence. Kadaj was certain Rufus had the head, but didn't know where it was hidden. Rufus, banking on that uncertainty, played the only card he had: "I'm injured and fragile—torture me and I'll die." It was just enough to keep the silver-haired youth from going too far.
After a moment, Rufus broke the silence. "What exactly are you planning?"
Kadaj answered without hesitation. "To reunite. Mother's cells are essential."
Though Sephiroth's biological mother had been Lucrecia, a Shinra scientist, he'd been told from birth that his mother was Jenova, who had died shortly after he was born. When he later learned the truth, he continued to refer to the ancient alien lifeform in the tank as "Mother." The Remnants inherited this belief.
Watching Advent Children, Jack Harper had always felt that the three Remnants embodied Sephiroth's buried childhood emotions. Loz, strong yet tearful, represented his lost innocence. Yazoo, cold and aloof, his loneliness. And Kadaj, expressive and volatile, his suppressed need for identity.
Kadaj loved to talk—about his feelings, his plans, even secrets. He didn't need prompting. Just one question from Rufus, and he was already spilling everything: his goals, his frustrations, his entire strategy.
Fortunately, despite his silver-tier strength, Rufus couldn't do much with the information. And Kadaj wasn't completely naïve—he still kept the final step of the plan, the method for summoning Sephiroth once Jenova's head was secured, to himself.
Then, he demonstrated the resonance power of Jenova's cells.
Kadaj stepped in front of Rufus's wheelchair, dropped to one knee, and slowly raised his head.
It was a simple motion, but it carried immense weight. As he lifted his gaze, the air around him began to ripple and boil. A massive, invisible wave pulsed outward from his body. In that instant, every Geostigma-infected person on the planet felt it. Vivid flashes of greenish cellular grids and fragmented memories surged through their minds like a carousel of pain. The Jenova cells within them stirred violently, reacting with euphoric frenzy. Many collapsed from the sudden agony.
Even Jack Harper, hidden outside, was affected. A searing pain shot from the Geostigma mark near his left eye straight into his brain, nearly forcing a groan from his lips.
"Damn it… If he hits me with that in battle, I'm dead. I need to neutralize this threat," Jack muttered, clutching his left eye.
Kadaj pressed Rufus with more questions, but interrogating a seasoned manipulator like him was like trying to cut through stone with a spoon. Rufus remained calm, evasive, and unreadable. Eventually, the silver-haired youth lost patience, stormed out of the room, and mounted his military-green motorcycle—equipped with four auto-cannons—before roaring off into the distance.
Rufus, despite his composed demeanor, had been under immense pressure. he'd gambled everything on bluff and nerve. Now that the storm had passed, even someone as cunning as Rufus couldn't help but exhale deeply, leaning back into his wheelchair.
"Whew… finally gone. Cloud, hurry and gather your allies. Only then can I…"
"…bring Sephiroth back to life?" came a cold voice from behind.
Thud. Thud.
The two bodyguards, still recovering from Kadaj's assault, moved to confront the mysterious figure who had appeared behind the president. But with a single gesture—a palm thrust into empty air—they were flung like rag dolls, crashing into the walls.
Rufus, ever composed, didn't flinch. Without turning around, he said calmly, "And which side are you on? A warrior trying to stop Sephiroth's resurrection, or a traitor hoping to help it?"
Jack Harper didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "I've always wondered—if you already have Jenova's head, why haven't you destroyed it?"
Rufus shook his head. "It can't be destroyed. Jenova's cells crossed billions of light-years through space, then crashed into the planet as a meteor. When it enters self-defense mode, no force can harm it. We've tried everything—extreme heat, near-absolute cold, lasers, electricity, acid, electromagnetic waves, radiation. Nothing worked. The only conclusion is that it can only be destroyed when it awakens into its infectious state."
"So that means…" Jack prompted.
"That means Sephiroth must return. Only then will Jenova's cells become vulnerable," Rufus confirmed. Then he added, "But before that happens, we must gather heroes strong enough to defeat him."
Jack Harper, standing behind him, let out a cold laugh. "Heroes? I thought Sephiroth was Shinra's hero."
Rufus didn't deny it. "That was our sin. Today's Shinra only hopes to atone through action."
Jack pressed further. "Atonement? And how do you plan to atone for what you did to Sephiroth? You created him when it suited you, made him a hero when it was convenient, called him insane when he lost control, and finally turned him into a villain. All of it—his entire fate—was decided before he was even born, wasn't it?"
Rufus fell silent.
Jack Harper sighed. "No reward for merit. No justice for sin… is that it?"