Dark Confession

Dark Confession


Aeris Gainsbrough's amber hair gently swayed in the breeze as she stood in the cemetery in Gongaga. With sadness, anger, and regret playing in her brilliant, glowing emerald eyes, the half Cetra stood alone. Alone in which she felt in mind, body, and soul. Ever since that day... the day she lost her lover, her soulmate.
The scene in which he left played over and over in mind as she stood here, staring at her best friend's relatives. He had been close to his Aunt and Uncle and remember when he sat there, pouring his heart out to her. But it was not when her best friend left, but his friend and her lover had left.
The former Turk, Vincent Valentine, seemed to materialized behind her. His ebony hair hiding his eyes, hiding his pain, and what he felt as he stood near his friend. He knew Aeris better then anyone else. Vincent knew about dreams that didn't let her sleep, that haunted her eyes, and haunted her choices. Everyone else thought they weren't close, but when they were alone, the true selves came out.
Placing his good hand on the slender shoulder of the woman, the sorrowful man squeezed gently, wanting to know what she was thinking. Craving to know and help this female that he had grown close to in private. Crimson eyes meeting the Emerald Ones, he knew she would tell him; letting him inside her head once more.
"I loved him as a brother, but now I just feel so empty. I'm in eternal gratitude to him for introducing him to me, but sometimes I resent him for doing so," the delicate woman murmured in her breezy voice.
"This about Zack," Vincent stated.
Turning to her friend fully, Aeris smiled sadly, "yes. If it wasn't for Zack I wouldn't have met him. To love him, to be happy, yet suffer silently in my own hell."
Hiding his surprise, the ex-Turk wondered what and who she talked over. Arching an eyebrow, Vincent replied, "Who did Zack introduce you to?"
"Sephiroth. My lover, my soulmate, and my true love." Spinning carelessly in a circle, Aeris laughed lightly, almost without a care in the world.
"You were Sephiroth's lover?!" Vincent asked, surprised.
"Oh yes." Aeris placed her hands over her heart, a wistful look played on her features. "I loved him. That's one of the reasons Sephiroth killed everyone in Shinra when they re-captured me with Cloud and everyone. He did it for me."
Slightly disturbed by the woman's words, Vincent leaned on a near-by tree. "What makes you think that? What makes you so sure?"
Almost insanely, Aeris laughed. Waving a hand towards the graves, she replied, "I am his mirror, his reflection and he is mine. We are two sides of the same magic. Something older then the Cetra and Jenova bind us together. And he knows that. He freed me because it would be a pointless death, besides it wasn't my time."
Perplexed, Vincent inquired, "So that is why he helped you; helped Cloud. But why is it you hunt him now with Cloud? You know the others wish to destroy him, to kill him. Your goals are opposite, so what makes you travel with them? Why not go with Sephiroth?"
Walking up to Vincent, Aeris stared into his former blue eyes. Smiling mysteriously, Aeris whispered, "That is not the true Sephiroth. That is merely an illusion. And as for traveling with Cloud; Sephiroth needs him, so the blonde boy is necessary. He is merely a puppet to be used to reunite my Sephiroth and me."
"I thought you loved, or liked, Cloud. Why use him so cruelly and speak ill of him?" Vincent asked, shocked at the darker side of the former flower girl.
"I must admit, he reminds me Zack," Aeris replied nonchantey, her eyes darkening. Looking down, she went on, "but when I finally saw the real him, I know he was not him, so I must move on. I must go to the City of Ancients on my own and find my Sephiroth before Cloud gives the black materia to Jenova's Sephiroth."
Vincent shook his head, not understanding what Aeris was talking about. "I don't get it. Jenova's Sephiroth? Your Sephiroth? What is the difference and what is truly going on?"
Taking his hands in her smaller one, Aeris stared into Vincent's eyes, into his soul. In a voice not her own, she replied, "Jenova controls my lover like a puppet, like the way Sephiroth uses Cloud. I must set him free, I must stop the destruction of his soul and set him free. Only Holy can help me. I came on this quest with a selfish cause and I will leave with it."
"I can see what you are getting at. You wish to save him and not fail like I did with his mother," the emotionless voice clarified and Vincent removed his hands from Aeris'.
Nodding and folding her hands in front of her, Aeris spoke, "yes. So now I must go before Cloud awakes and play my role as the 'Innocent Flower Girl' once more in order to save him, to save our child."
Before he could ask or speak, Aeris walked away from Vincent, carrying her staff and head high. She would free her lover and reflection and finally set him free. The half Cetra knew the price and was willing to pay the price. With grim and selfish determination, she went to the City of the Ancients.


This story was just a another speculation of mine. Out of boredom, I wanted to add to Sadistic Love indirectly, so I wrote this. I wanted to make Aeris more human and darker, so here was the birth of Dark Confession. It makes you really question what was Aeris' true intentions in the game, making her not-so Saintly Flower Girl.

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Akira
akira@shinra-inc.com