Final Fantasy VII: The Dark Ancestor
Chapter 13: The Search Begins

Faith flew her way back to Edge, knowing that Tifa was gone, Denzel would need someone to care for him. Just another problem added to the list of already existing problems. Denzel was a young boy, just about old enough to take care of himself. At the age of 12, he was very responsible boy for his age. Able to cook for himself, clean up the home if he needed to, he even knew how to mend clothing. Living with so many caretakers- his mother and father, his father's assistant, Reeve's mother and now Cloud and Tifa- he had learned how to take care of himself. Especially, walking for so long into the slums, watching many inflicted with the Geostigma illness fall and die as they wandered down the destroyed train tracks. A girl that with a backpack that had a chocobo on it died by the illness. He found her backpack and ate a cookie that was inside, with nothing else to eat on his trek.
Faith came to the Seventh Heaven and opened the door. No one was in the bar area, since a closed sign was hung on the door. Faith walked up to the first step of the stairs and called, "Denzel! Are you here?"
"He's fine." Said a mysterious familiar voice from behind her. She jumped up with a yelp and turned to Vincent. "I put him to bed."
"Thank you, Vincent. I just came to check on him, make sure he's okay."
"How thoughtful..."
"Cloud and Tifa won't be coming back for a while."
"I know."
"Y-you know? O-of course you know."
"Reeve told me. They've all been captured by an evil entity of an Ancient. And it's planning to resurrect Sephiroth as well."
"You know, I always liked it how I never have to explain anything to you. There was always something special about you...But I can never put my finger on it." She said putting her finger to her chin.
"So, what are you going to do about this?"
"Oh, and I thought you knew everything!" Faith said sitting on the steps. "To be honest, I don't really know. I usually have Cloud or Zack here to guide me...but they're not here this time."
Vincent sighed and sat down next to her on the steps. "I'm not sure if I can help with that. But...I'm sure they would say something like, 'do the best you can do'."
Faith looked at the group picture taken the week prior. Even though Zack and Cloud were in the picture, her gaze always turned to Sephiroth and Lucrecia for some reason. Her photo was the only one that showed those two in it. No one else's copy did. As if it was a spiritual reason.
She put it back in her pocket and stood up. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Vincent." She held her raven necklace in her hand that Zack gave her so long ago. It glowed as she began to change form. "Don't get Barret, Yuffie, Cid or RedXIII involved, okay? This is a problem with myself that I have to take care of." Her face bulged out in the form of a muzzle, her eyes squinted to canine eyes. Her ears moved to the top of her head as fur sprouted from her skin.
"I understand." Vincent nodded.
Faith's fingers merged to paws and claws protruded from the tips. Her bones and organs rearanged and her tail sprouted from her tail bone, her spine formed where she couldn't stand humanly anymore. Her teeth grew sharp and bigger, her long silver hair smoothed out to become the fur on her back as the ribbons that hung in it tied themselves behind her ears, and her necklace's light faded as the transformation was complete.
"Please stay and watch after Denzel for me, Vincent." She said with her wolf mouth making human words. "I'm his older sister and I need to make sure he has a sitter."
"But I'm not a little kid anymore!" Denzel said at the top of the stairs.
"I know you're old enough to take care of yourself, but I can't take any chances with Raven running around. I'm leaving Vincent here with you, Denzel."
"I'm 12 years old, I don't need a baby sitter! I bet he's not that good at it!"
"Vincent was a Turk a long time ago, protecting people and watching over them used to be his job. You don't know how wrong that statement is."
"Fine." Denzel huffed. "But I'm going with you."
Faith and Vincent just stared at him in silence. Faith let out a low growl. She knew that it would be difficult to change his mind once he made it up. But she thought she'd try one more time. "I'm your older sister, and you do what I tell you."
"But Cloud and Tifa are just as important to me as they are to you!"
Faith's ears fell back to her head, and her eyes calmed. He had made a very valid point. Faith remembered how Zack told her not to follow him into the reactor after Sephiroth because it was too dangerous. But she did anyway. And if she hadn't, Zack would've fallen into the abyss of mako and died there.
Faith saw Denzel standing in her place so long ago. Remembering how she felt for Zack's safety. And even though Zack was the responsible adult, he still needed help from her. Faith's ears perked up and she nodded solemly.
Denzel's face brightened, happy that she trusted him.
Faith seemed to grow slightly bigger as she spread only her two black wings instead of all three. She stepped gracefully in her wolf body to the bottom step, and Vincent helped Denzel onto her back. Faith had grown bigger, to hold Denzel's weight enough to be as fast as she normally would be. But since he was only a kid, she didn't have to grow anywhere near horse hieght like she did for Zack.
"Looks like you're going to be watching the bar, Vincent." she said turning her head to him.
He nodded and said, "I trust you to be careful; both of you."
"Yes, dad!" She kidded. "Don't worry, we will."
She trotted to the door and stood outside on the front steps. "Now, Denzel, hold on tight."
"Okay!" He held around her neck like someone would to thier horse without riegns. And with that, Faith ran faster than Denzel imagined she would. She didn't gallop or trot like a normal wolf, she did more or a leap with each step. To someone watching her go by, it would seem so graceful as if she was walking water. But to Denzel, it was the ride of his life! "Whoo!!"
"You having fun back there?"
"Oh, yeah! I've never gone so fast before!"
"I hope you've never flown before, either."
"Uh, flown!?"
"You said you wanted to be in the WRO one day? Not with that attitude!"
She made it to the town square and ran litterally on the side of buildings, gaining speed as she went higher and higher upon the side of them. She kicked off and in no time, they were air born!
"Whoa!"
"Don't worry, just don't look down."
Denzel couldn't help his curiosity and his eyes gazed over the side. "Ahh!"
"Didn't I say not to look down? Ah, new-flyers."
Faith and Denzel made it hundreds of feet in the air above edge. She stopped in mid air. Denzel whimpered at the hieght and how all the people milling and walking about looked like ants.
Faith's necklace glowed again and she let out a majestic howl. She started to sniff the air, searching for something.
"Uh, Faith? What're you doing?"
"I released spritual traces of Zack, Cloud and the others. I can follow the trail with my nose and I should be able to find them." She said sniffing about as she talked. "Aha!"
She dove down with her wings to her side. Denzel couldn't decide if he was having fun or being scared half to death. She went through a whole in Midgar's worn out plate and to a wrecked house in the slums. She troted down the basement of the bleak house and up to a door. She commanded for Denzel to demount her, as she stood on her hind legs and opened the door.
Inside were computers and medical containers to heal people. A two-way glass window was on the side leading down a hallway with a door leading into the room with the two-way glass window.
"Where are we?"
"Shelke's laboratory."
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry, Denzel. But this is where I leave you." She trotted over to a glass case and opened the door. She picked up a small chip in her mouth and had Denzel place it behind her ear. "This is a spy probe. It allows you to see and hear the events of what is going on with me on that monitor." She pointed to a large computer screen. "If anything happens to me, call Vincent and tell him to get the others, understand?"
"But Faith..."
"Listen to me this time." She said putting her front paws on his cheeks, "I don't know what will happen. I don't know what she has done to Cloud and the others. If anything were to happen to you there, I couldn't forgive myself."
Now she knew how Zack and Cloud felt trying to protect her. How much they cared for her.
"Now stay here, alright? I'll be right back...maybe."
With that, she gracefully leaped out of the room, leaving Denzel alone with nothing to do, but watch the monitor and hope nothing happens.