Chapters VII--VIII

Chapter VII: Endless rain sonata.

Witold came into the room holding a tray with fresh bandages and some medicine. Aleksandr laid asleep on the bed, Nessa sat beside him, asleep as well with her head over her arms on the bed. Witold chuckled as he saw her asleep.

He put the tray on the nearby table and went to her side and gently nudged her awake,
she stirred slightly and groggily pried her eyes open.

-"Witek...is he awake yet?" she asked yawning slightly.

-"He was some hours ago, but he begged me to let you sleep..." he said laughing slightly, she grumbled in a low voice, cursing possibly.

-"As if he were in charge..." Witold laughed heartily at this as he went for the tray to change Aaleksandr's bandages.

-"Mom should be proud, she always wanted a doctor..." he said jokingly.

-"You have an amazing gift..." she said stretching her legs and arms a little.

-"Which you seem to exploit, now young lady you have to stop getting so badly injured..." he said mocking a fatherly tone.

-"How else I'm going to see you?" she played along, laughing a little.

Suddenly the air turned a bit gloomy, silence came upon them, as if remembering something that happened long ago, something bittersweet.

-"Ne, Nessa?" Witold said softly as he sat on Aleksandr's bed and started taking of his bandages.

-"Yeah?"

-"What happened at the church? what happened really?" he asked softly and slowly, as if choosing his words carefully.

-"Samael...that is what happened..." she said in a monotone voice, a voice she used when 'business' was being spoken.

-"No...I mean, what happened really?"

-"Samael appeared, I do not why yet, possibly wants to kill us, funny thing is that when Yevgeni got there, he wasn't a target, I was by myself the sole target....I do not know more...I was hoping you would tell me since now you seem to spend your time with Richard more than usual not sharing knowledge..." she said nonchalantly, still in the monotone voice.

-"..." he said as he finished changing the bandages on aleksandr's stomach.

-"Won't you tell me what is going on? or do I have to ask the dead again?" she said suddenly.

-"I suppose Richard will fill us in when he knows more..." he said softly

-They both sat in silence in the room. Something tapped the window slightly, they both looked up to see it was starting to rain.

-"Alexei is going to stay at Yevgeni's..." Witold said suddenly.

-"I should go see him for a while..."

-"You do know he is 16 and that he is old enough to be 'ok' on his own, right?"

-"Da, but that doesn't mean I can't show my face over at Yev's and check on him. Call me if he wakes up before I come back? I thank you in advance" she said getting up from the chair slowly, finishing her stretching her back. She looked at Aleksandr and smiled, he slept peacefully, with a smile on his face. She reached to move a strand of hair from his face and kissed his forehead gently, then turned toward the door.

-"Nessa..." Witold whispered.

-"Yeah?" she said turning toward him from the door.

-"Take care..." 

-"Will do.." she said with a smile as she headed out the door.

Witold smiled softly and looked at Aleksandr.

-"I suppose you know something I don't my friend...I hope you tell me what it is, before it is too late..." He said as the rain came pouring doing in lovely small drops that filled the view from the window.

______End of part I_______

The week went by quickly, but the rain hasn't as of yet... It has been raining for a week, some parts of the outskirts of the city have been flooded mildly, but that haven't stopped anybody to keep on with their busy lives.

-"Oyyyyyy this rain is cramping my style..." said Joe fixing his hair under the comfort and protection of his umbrella.

-"Joe man I swear, you complain one more time and I'll throw away your phone..." Yevgeny said looking at the time on his watch while they waited for the crossing light to change in Shibuya.

-"(fake gasp) You wouldn't dare..." Joe said jokingly protecting his phone. 

-"Oh don't tempt me..." Yevgeny said looking around as they walked to the other side of the street. 

-"Where is the kid? he is late...again." Joe said sighing in frustration. 

-"Maybe he got eaten by the ATM machine...like last time" Yevgeny chuckled 

-"Dude, he has got to learn to use those things...at what time is the movie?" 

-"20 minutes from now..."


In another part of town, Nessa swung her dagger back and forth, training with spirits in the cemetery.

-"Nice...can you do any better tho?" the spirit said dodging a slice of the dagger. 

-"Sure...I'm just getting warmed up!" she said with a smile, wiping the rain from her face with her shirt.

Charles Daniel watched from a nearby tombstone with some other spirits with a smile on his face. He suddenly looked to his side to find Aleksandr walking toward him fighting a little with an umbrella, Charles chuckled at this and turned his eyes toward Nessa again. Aleksandr watched near Charles Daniel as Nessa fought the spirit, Charles smiled as he saw Aleksandr look over Nessa. 

-"Ne, Nessa dear! you've got a visitor!" Charles yelled laughing a little. Nessa turned around and fell dodging a mock attack from the spirit. Aleksandr went to help her stand up again and Charles laughed heartily. 

-"Very funny Charles! (she then looked at Aleksandr) thank you" she said blushing lightly as she stood up. 

-"Charles is here?" Aleksandr asked with a smile.

-"Yeah, he helps with the spirits for me to train...what are you doing here?" she said arranging her drenched clothes. 

-"Well I figured, since I got off my responsabilities early, that you were here so I came on by..." He said with a smile.

-"Ne, we may ask his opinion on your arm swing with that dagger, his wushu is amazing..." Charles said from his tombstone laughing a little. Nessa glared at him. 

-"What is Charles up to?" Aleksandr said smiling as he could not see or hear spirits himself. 

-"He wants to know your opinion on my training..." Nessa said blushing looking at Charles with a glare. Aleksandr chuckled. 

-"You need to see more than to act recklessly...specially with a weapon..." Aleksandr said with a smile.

-"See? and u call me crazy, death hasn't affected my appreciations!" Charles said waving his hand in the air happily as he returned to his previous sitting place.


Richard smoked while reading a book in a cafe near the Koba Building, Henry's. He was reading a horror storybook, those of the like of Stephen King or Richard Preston, from time to time he looked through the windowed walls of the cafe and watched the rain pour onto the streets.

He sighed, nor happy nor sad, he just sighed and inhaled a bit of his cigarette, Harry's was the only cafe in town that allowed him to smoke inside the premises.

Witold came in the cafe and waved in salute toward the owner that sat on the bar, he approached Richard and lifted an eyebrow at his choice of reading.

-"Research?" Witold asked laughing a little.

-"Maybe, who knows?" Richard answered with a smile and motioned him to sit down.

-"Seems peaceful ne?" Witold said looking through the windows.

-"Yup...a bit weird since it has been raining for days now, but peaceful indeed...kinda makes me hopeful even..." Richard said not taking his eyes off the book, turning the page.

-"About getting a definite break on the 'wars'?"

-"Yes...no activity has been read these days, I'm starting to think the rain has got something to do with it."

-"Washing the battlefield before the big one..."

-"Could be" Richard said lifting his eyes off the book for a moment to ask the nearest waiter to bring some coffee to the table.

-"Aleksandr hasn't told you anything on the matter?" the waiter server coffee for two and quickly left.

-"No...nothing relevant, so that is why I'm not worried this time around. I suppose we are being left in bigger hands this time...don't you think?"

-"Chance, you say?"

-"Nay..."

-"The rain stopped..." Witold said absentminded

-"Indeed it has..." Richard said sipping his coffee looking through the windows with a smile.


----------End of Chapter VII--------------

Chapter VIII: Coma.


After a couple of weeks of relaxation and living their lives as regular Joes, the Koba Crew has called a meeting in HQ in the hours of afternoon to report and review the steps ahead, let us not forget my friends that those who fight against them still lurk in the shadows, still want their blood. But that morning though, something happened.

Alexei Kovalev Koba, adopted by Mr. Koba when he was younger, walked toward his school in the Jubangai district. The city bus left him a few blocks near the school and he walked lazily toward it.

He walked checking the lunch Nessa had packed that morning before leaving:

-"Thermus of Nestea Lemon flavor, of course...check!, Chocolate chip cookies...check!...and what the heck is my lunch? (he stopped to check throughly) awww man!!! not salad and with my meat and mushrooms! why salad? whyyyyy???" he screamed putting his arms in the air for dramatic effect.

He sighed in frustration and he resumed walking, even more lazily now and muttering to himself. He then heard the bells of the school saying that the time to go into class was about.

-"Oyyy! I'm late!!!" He yelled as he ran toward the school, luckily it was only two blocks away. At the doors of the school grounds he stopped suddenly, looking above his shoulder slightly, he felt a presence near him.

His eyes went white suddenly and everything paused around him.

-"Oh no..." He said out loud. There was no response.

-"Who is doing this?" He said again louder, opening his hand in front of him and a sword appeared.

Someone walked toward him, slowly, as if in slow motion. He could not make out who it was. In his eyes now he only saw what was inside, good or bad, evil or holy, shades of souls, different mirrors.

In his eyes now he saw that the person was holy, not evil, a soul he had seen before.

-"Set...suna?" he whispered dumbfounded as his eyes suddenly went back to their normal color, and eveything around him resumed its motion, his sword hidden.

A girl with black hair passed walking beside him, and crossed to the other sidewalk, she skipped happily as if not caring about the cars that passed through. His eyes almost went out of its sockets, he felt dazed, confused, scared.

Then she was gone, as quick as she came...that's when he decided to pick up his mobile as time flowed back as it were before.


Richard lazily picked up his mobile and answered sipping slightly a cup of coffee.

-"You rang Alexei?" 

-"Mate...dude..." Alexei could not speak at all, he was still in shock.

-"What is the matter Alex...talk to me, breathe..." Richard said frowning, a bit annoyed, thinking Alexei may be pulling a prank.

-"Set...suna..." Alexei finally blurted out.

-"Alexei, what are you talking about?"

-"She...is...alive" He said gasping and breathing between words.

Richard fell to his chair dumbfounded, his eyes in disbelief.

-"If you are pulling a sick prank I will have you sent to Siberia to train with the wolves!" He said suddenly, angry.

-"No joke (breathe) she passed right by me (breathe) at least her soul did..." he breathed easier now, shock subsiding, his voice hinting confusion.

-"Get in here...now!"

-"But Makki-sensei will kill me if I miss school today, not to mention Nessa-mama will have my head..." He started going on and on about weird punishments and exagerations, the shock apparently gone.

-"After school then...and don't tell anybody about the incident before you get here!" Richard said cutting the call short slightly annoyed. He still sat in his chair and looked at a picture he had on his desk of Setsuna. He smiled sadly, looking toward his phone and then to the picture again. He loved that picture, he had taken it in one of the training sessions of the team, somehow he relished on taking pictures of the team's form and sort of choreography in their training.

Setsuna waved at him in the picture smiling like a child as she always did, in the background Alexei was running away from an ice figure made by Yevgeni, who laughed on the ground heartily. It was one of those moments where the team was at ease in times of war.

For the first time in a long time...Richard cried.



____End of part I______

As if in a dream, Nessa walked through the woods of what appeared to be a park.

Her clothes were torn, and some rain had started to fall as she went along the mock pass among the trees wetting her hair and her clothes little by little.

She moves part of her hair from her face slowly with her hand as the rain continued to fall, a bit more strongly now. She started to walk a bit more slowly, as if arriving to her destination.

She sniffled as she approached the body of a fallen friend, Yevgeni laid on the ground lifeless, his weapon scattered on his side. She knelt beside him and caressed his hair, as if trying to awake him with the gesture.

-"Brother?...."

Standing up from the ground shaking with grief, she started to walk again finding now the body of Joe Armand, his eyes facing toward the sky, without light.

She knelt beside him as she did beside Yevgeni and closed his eyes whispering yet another 'Brother?' and resumed her walk in what appeared to be, the road of death.

She broke down in tears as she knelt beside Alexei, she caressed his hair and face as she cried hard now. Alexei was her 'son', her brother, the child she had helped raise amidst the wars and hardships. Her 'son' laid dead now in the ground, and she crumbled in pain.

She slowly stood up, fixing Alexei's jacket as if tucking him into sleep, she fixed his hair as well and said some things into his ear. She resumed her walk along that road, crying soundly now.

She walked up to some stone steps that appeared suddenly before her, she went up slowly, almost falling with each step, the rain still fell over her. When she finally got to the top, she saw the beginning of this great hallway, dark, alone, silent. She walked toward it, as if called from within. When she reached the end, she saw two more bodies laying on the ground.

She shook violently, bracing herself on the nearby wall to not fall on the ground, she cried even more now as she slid opposite the wall toward the ground.

There lay the bodies of Witold and Aleksandr, her heart broke as she saw them lifeless in the ground, she yelled in her grief as she fought to rise from the floor and walked over to them, but she fell near them, and with her hand she grabbed Aleksandr's lifeless hand, with the other she grabbed Witold's nearby arm. She stayed like that for what seemed hours, holding on as if for dear life, a life which she saw was leaving her, extinct, pointless.

In her tears, words came out from her mouth, but inaudible, in her tears she grabbed Witold's nearby sword, still the other hand grabbed Aleksandr's hand.

With a swift stroke she cut her neck, bleeding profusely, falling to her death beside Aleksandr and Witold. The life of her eyes cut short, becoming grey from her deep blue.


Aleksandr yelled as he awoke from his dream, shaking wildly, feeling his tears on his face, he cried then hiding his eyes with his hands, almost not being capable of breathing. When he finally was able to calm himself, he saw the time in his bedside clock, it was two in the afternoon,well after his usual nap after a well prepared lunch.

-"It was just a nightmare...(he said to himself to ease his mind) too much tranquility can often lead to that, remember that Aleksandr...remember..." he said shaking the bad feelings away from his mind, away from his soul.

But the problem was not that it was a nightmare, when Aleksandr is concerned nightmares and dreams sometimes are the same, nightmares can become premonitions, dreams can become reality, so in his heart he could only hope that this was indeed fiction.

____End of part II____

Nessa entered the empty meeting room. She looked at the clock on the wall and her wristwatch to make sure the times were right, a gesture she had picked up during her numerous time zones changes over the years.

She grabbed a chair and moved it toward the windowed wall to look at the city skyline. After some minutes the door opened, revealing Aleksandr walking tiredly inside the room, Nessa smiled and playfully greeted him.

-"You look like hell..." she smiled as she waved him 'hello'.

-"Oh...(he blushed slightly) bad nap, how are you?" he said putting his coat over a chair.

-"I'm doing o.k. today..." she said looking again at the skyline before her.

-"Mind if I sit down with you and wait?" He said pulling a chair beside her and sitting down.

-"Not at all, you may sit" she said smiling still.

-"Ever had a feeling that you just want to grab the world, shake it and just rearrange it how you want it to be?" he asked staring into the skyline.

-"All the time..." she said with a smile looking at him.

The door opened to reveal Yevgeni, he waved 'hello' to Nessa and Aleksandr and left his things on the table and sighed.

-"Long day at the office, how was that assignment Nessa?" Yevgeni asked smiling a little.

-"A breeze, nothing like a good troubleshooting to boost the spirit" she said with a little laugh.

-"You could make that the catchphrase of the week" Yevgeni said stretching a little.
Richard entered the room seeming altered, Nessa and Aleksandr stood up seeing this and Yevgeni almost his under the table as a response.

-"What's wrong??" Nessa said alarmed, walking toward him.

-"The child, is he here yet?" Richard said disregarding her question.

-"He should be on his way, he got out of school a bit ago, what is wrong?" she said concerned, Aleksandr went toward Richard's side.

-"Where is the rest?" Richard asked suddenly looking at the room.

-"Joe was on a meeting, he said he'll catch a debriefing from you later on, Witold was on his way" Yevgeni said cautiously.

-"O.k. (Richard said sitting down on a nearby chair, all eyes on him, worried, uncertain) Sorry Nessa dear, maybe I'm just freaking out on some exageration, even more so that Intel cannot indentify the finding...the kid may have encountered Setsuna's spirit" He said passing a hand through his hair. The rest of the room fell silent.
Witold entered the room alongside Alexei, the child went toward Nessa and hugged her, she hugged him back.

-"Well, now that we are here...I need some answers Alexei, tell me what happened, tell us in detail..." Richard said putting on his 'business mode'. Alexei started his tale, dramatizing it on the way, the room was silent, intendly listening to what he was saying.

-"The relief I got is that I didn't see it black, and that it didn't notice me..." Alexei said ending his tale .

-"Is that possible Nessa, for a soul after it dies to just appear as it was?" Richard asked Nessa with a hint of concern.

-"Some religions call it re-encarnation, the soul finds a host after it dies and lives within the host until it dies and so on, that is the PG version anyway..." Nessa said sitting down beside Richard.

-"And when it finds the host, what does it do exactly?" 

-"Nothing, the soul doesn't carry memories of its past life, some personality traits remain sure enough, but no memories, that is why Alexei could see that it was Setsuna, in a sense." Nessa said receiving the child again in her arms.

-"So that means no one is pulling a Sephiroth with Setsuna?" Yevgeni asked with a significant sign of relief.

-"No, it doesn't appear to be that way" Nessa said calmly.

-"What about Charles?" Aleksandr asked suddenly.

-"What about him?" Witold asked somewhat defensively.

-"He remains a 'ghost' how come he hasn't found a host like Setsuna did?" 

-"Some find it sooner than others, some do not find it at all...Charles says as a joke that his job is not done, ergo he stays..." Nessa said with a small smile.

-"Truth is that he is bound to Nessa in some way...that I do not know" Witold said, somewhat bitterly.

-"In a sense...you could say that." Nessa said somewhat becoming sad. Aleksandr took notice and smiled at her to cheer her up. Witold looked away.

-"So...she does not...remember us..." Richard said slowly.

-"No Richard, it is as she was born right now, only that Alexei can see who it is inside..." Nessa said, grabbing Richard's hand in a comforting manner.

-"Gomen ne, Richard-papa" said Alexei, hugging Richard suddenly.

-"It is fine Alexei, I thank you...(Richard said smiling a little) guys I need you to be on the lookout, somehow I feel this is the beginning of something...be on your guard the whole time. You guys do not mind if we meet later for the real reason of the meeting right?" they responded in an unified 'No' and left the room, except for Nessa, who stayed behind still sitting on the chair.

-"You thought that she would be back?" She said suddenly.

-"No...I'm actually relieved that she is another person, with no memories of the past life..." He said smiling sadly.

-"Well the only way that I know of that she could 'remember' is through hypnosis or something or the sort...but it is a slim chance that the girl that she is now would do that..." Nessa said nonchalantly.

-"Brian Weiss sort of thing?" Richard chuckled.

-"Yes... (Nessa said getting up from her chair, walking toward the door not before giving a small kiss to Richard on his cheek) you know, if by one of those life chances people cannot explain sometimes you do meet this girl, please ask her out on a date...maybe it means that this is your second chance..." she said waving 'bye' and leaving the room.

Richard smiled a little while he stayed glued to the chair in the meeting room.

-"Maybe it is..." He said still smiling.


_____End of part III________


At Koba building, Yevgeni leaned back on his chair with a pencil between his mouth and nose, balancing it skillfully, deep in thought.

Joe Armand appeared in the room unnoticed, he laughed to himself seeing Yevgeni concentrating looking at his computer screen. Joe Armand closed the door as loud as he could making Yevgeni fall to the floor with a 'bang', Joe laughed as hard as he could seeing the face that Yevgeni had as he muttered bad words in Russian.

-"Dude, so classic!" Joe Armand said still laughing a little.

-"Not funny..."

-"So whazzap? I thought you would be longer at the meeting..." Joe Armand said sitting in the chair in front of Yevgeni's desk.

-"Something came up with the kid, Richard said to meet later..." Yevgeni said picking up his chair from the floor.

-"What kind of thing with the kid, he alright?" Joe Armand said with a hint of concern.

-"Da, but he had an encounter with the re-encarnation, so to speak, of Setsuna..." Yevgeni said checking if his head had any bumps on the window.

-"What?!" Joe Armand almost feel off the chair.

-"What you heard" Yevgeni said still looking for a bump on his head.

-"And why the hell are you so calm about it?!" Joe Armand said with obvious confusion.

-"Because it is not a 'Sephiroth' being pulled out, Setsuna found a host to live on..." Yevgeni said sitting back on his chair.

-"Oh...(he looked down at the floor) poor Richard..."

-"Da..." Agreed Yevgeni also looking down at the floor.



For a while you could see that sky turn with colors as the day died in the city, Aleksandr walked the streets with a small smile on his face. Alongside him walked Witold, it was not strange that the two would do that, sometimes they would discuss life, sports, politics, whatever came into mind,but today somehow the air had changed and neither said a word, they just walked.

They arrived at Henry's the usual settlement for them after a day's work or play. The sat at their usual table, waved 'hello' slightly at the bartender and just stared into the windowed wall of the place.

After a while it was Witold who broke the silence.

-"I didn't know that you had no clue as to why Charles was still around..." he said with a mix of curiosity and disbelief.

-"I suppose I thought that he just had unfinished business as the rest of the 'ghosts' that lurk the earth, but since I cannot see him or talk to him..." Aleksandr said absentmindedly.

-"Oh I see...do you still keep Nessa's ring then I gather..." Witold said with a hint of defeat.

-"I wouldn't take it off...never" Aleksandr said with a faint genuine smile.

The waiter got them their usual, it was customary by now that the waiters got them their usual without even them asking for it. They thank him bowing slightly.

-"You worry about something...." Witold said smiling a little.

-"I'm sorry if it offended you that I asked about Charles at the meeting..." Aleksandr said looking at Witold now.

-"Not at all...you know I still get sort of touchy about it, he was my best friend alongside Richard, had been with me since the beginning of 'this'..." he said smiling slightly again.

-"He was our friend too..."

-"Yeah..." he said sipping his drink a little.

-"And you worry about Nessa" Aleksandr said sipping his drink.

-"Is that wrong?" Witold said lifting his eyebrow.

-"Should I think it is? (chuckles) the answer you won't find it by rummaging through my thoughts on the matter by the way" he said taking another sip from his drink. Witold smiled at his friend.

-"But you share my concern...that I can see..." Witold said with a smile, somewhat feeling triumphant.


Nessa sat on a tombstone on the cemetery in which Charles Daniel rests. She watched how the sky played with the colors, deep in thought it seems.

-"Lovely day isn't it?" Charles said suddenly appearing beside her, she smiled brightly looking at him.

-"Indeed..."

-"You needed to see me?"

-"I need to ask you something, but this is not a mere 'business meeting', I have come here to rest as well..." She said with a smile.

-"Shoot, what is on your mind?" He said sitting beside her on the grass.

-"You knew that Setsuna found a host?"

-"Aye..."

-"Somebody helped her?"

-"No"

-"So it is safe to say that it was a 'normal procedure'"

-"Aye"

She sighed in relief and smiled as she looked again toward the sky. Charles stared at her a little, smiling himself.

-"Are you happy the way you are, do you want to find a host? Have you felt you need to break free?" she said out of the blue. He laughed heartily.

-"No, not at all. I have my place in the world Nessa and it is with you guys, even though some of you cannot see me or hear me, my place is here..." He said smiling broadly.

-"Witold made it sound so sad today at the meeting..."

-"The man has issues..." he said laughing a little.

-"Still...sometimes I gather that even if our abilities gives us the pleasure of playing with death and life,I abuse them...or have abused them..."

-"You tried to save Setsuna as well, you couldn't, none of us could and she wouldn't have let you bind her anyway, there was no point, Richard cannot see or hear us dead people..."

-"You should have seen his face when I told him that this person was not really her, he was so devastated..." she said looking down at the grass.

-"Richard is a strong fellow, he has a kind heart and a great mind...he understands this better than you give him credit for"

-"He told me he felt relieved actually...but he was still devastated..."

-"She died a horrible death..."

-"So did you..." she said looking at him.

-"And we were all left in a coma..." Said Charles looking at the sky with a sad smile.


------------End of Chapter VIII-----------