A/N: This is the remake of my first ever AeriSeph fic when I joined Fanfiction . net. I present to you "Echoes of Promises" the new face of "Chronicles".
Hope you'll all like this, reviews are very much appreciated, thank you all!
Disclaimer: FFVII is the sole propriety of Square Enix. Characters and everything related to the game has been used in this fic for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter 1 – A Shattered Soul
It has been three years after the events of the final battle with Sephiroth. Midgar was recuperating from the vast damage it endured from Meteor. A new city was built a little farther from the damaged parts of Midgar. The people christened the city "Edge", literally the Edge of Midgar.
The rubbles of old Midgar remained a distant memory for all who's trying to move on from the nightmare, while it serves as a continuous reminder to some. A reminder of a danger that once tread the Planet, a reminder of how lives were destroyed, how people suffered, how families were torn apart by deaths of loved ones all because of vengeance. But what was once a being filled with hatred for humanity and all things living, has now become nothing but a shattered soul.
"Would you like to buy some flowers? It's just a gil for each stem." A woman clad in a black cloak offers a young man passing by. She has her basket filled with lilies held in one hand, and a yellow lily occupies her other hand. The man simply refuses her offer politely and proceeded on his way. She offers a stem to another passerby, but was politely declined as well.
Exhaustion started to get the better of her, she sighed deeply. She clasps the flower close to her heart and closes her eyes before glancing towards a specific direction in a nearby alley. Her emerald gaze directed at the man in black coat with beautiful silver tresses. A man she knew so well, the man who caused so much despair when he was alive, the man who took away her future.
He was not looking back at her, instead his eyes were fixed on the sky, engulfed in his own world again, his hands were on his coat pocket, he was just standing there like a silent specter, cloaked in the shadows of the alley. Aside from some noticeable scars that marred his beautiful face, Aerith also noticed that he no longer possess the aura of a once prideful General of SOLDIER. Sephiroth, who was once revered the Hero of the Wutai War, fallen from grace and becomes the Calamity's son, has returned with her to the world of the living. But he's different, a whole lot different from the person he used to. He has become the opposite of his psychopathic self, upon their return he has become jaded, brooding and stoic. When he noticed her stare, he gives her an acknowledging look before he turns around and made his way through the dark alley, his gait still elegant as ever.
He was made to be perfect, he was expected to be… in all aspect. Aerith thought to herself as the object of her attention slowly fades into the darkness of the crumped up alley. She sighed again as she pull back her hood. It's time to go… better head home before night time. She placed her lily back on the basket and started walking back to the direction of her dilapidated church. As she was on her way home, her head drifts in the clouds, she didn't notice that she's found herself across the new Seventh Heaven Bar.
She tightens the hold on her cloak, the chilly autumn wind might blow it away, she can't risk being seen now. Not now, when they've finally moved on from all the pain. She retreats and started her way back to her home in Sector 5.
She remembered when she and Sephiroth were brought back from the Lifestream as themselves again, the first thing she wants to do was to see her friends. But as she was about to be reunited with them, she observed from the windows of the bar, how they're all celebrating the engagement between her best friend and her beloved. She felt weak all over, she couldn't even bring herself to knock and join them. Slowly, step by step, she retreated from that place, from her friends, from everything she knew before her life was taken away from her. And as she turned back, uncontrollable tears escaped from her emerald orbs. She ran away, covering her mouth as the pain in her chest starts to gnaw at her. She ran and ran until she arrived at the penguin park. She climbed at the top of the slide, good thing there was no one there except for her, and him.
He just simply looks at her as she cries her heart out, until he couldn't take it anymore and jumps at the top of the penguin slide. He placed a hand on her shoulders, a simple and silent gesture to let her know that he's there for her. When she looks up at him, she saw the sorrow in his wintry eyes, she clutch on the lapels of his coat and cried some more. He held her close as his free hand caresses her hair. They stayed like that for what felt like hours until she calmed down. Her cries subsided to soft sniffles, she was wiping tears from her eyes.
"I'm sorry you have to see me like that." She had said then, to the only companion she has upon her return.
"I… am the one who should apologize. I caused you great pain and suffering… it's entirely my fault." He said with remorse.
"What's done is done… there's no point in dwelling on your past transgressions, Sephiroth."
Aerith saw his hands clenched into fists, his eyes closed and brows furrowed as if trying to contemplate on what she just said. He looks at her and his gaze softens and before he left her on her own that night, his words hit right through her.
"I have taken away your life and with it… your future. The punishment you asked of the Planet to bestow upon me is just. I don't even deserve to return and be granted a wish, but you still showed me mercy. And for that, I shall forever be thankful."
He gave a sad smile then and somehow she felt guilty. He stands up and jumps down from the Penguin slide. He glances at her before continuing on his way, wherever he lurks, she has no idea and she never dared to ask. She was so surprise to see this side of him and she can't help but ponder that between them, she's in a much better shape. She remains exactly as she is, minus the fact that she, as per her decision, can no longer be with her friends, so as to give them peace to finally move on from all the pains of the past. While Sephiroth, though he was brought back with her, he returned and was punished with nary a choice at all.
When they were still in the Lifestream right after Sephiroth's attempt to destroy everything with his Geostigma, Aerith can still feel his anguish and hatred, oozing within the Lifestream . She needs to stop him, she has to so she can protect the Planet, protect the people, her friends and Cloud's fragile heart. Despite Sephiroth's strong determination, she can feel it, his darkness is no longer that powerful and she can easily maim him with the Planet's help.
She purified his essence and while doing so, deep in her heart she prayed for the Planet to bestow a punishment most suitable for him. As she performs the purification ritual, her thoughts were filled with his. She saw right through his soul, the past concealed to all except for him, and now she too was granted the privilege to delve into his past. She saw the life he was made to believe, the life he led, no more than a puppet on a string being pulled by many. And during all this, an unknown essence from the Lifestream engulfed them both. The remaining will of Professor Gast, a part of him which could not pass on because of the guilt he cannot fully let go.
The Professor apprised him with the "truth" he sought his entire life which as well surprised Aerith. For then, in the afterlife, the Professor also confessed that he was her father. With the professor finally able to tell them all this, his soul passed on and joined with the flow of life, ready to be reborn anew.
Shocked and surprised, with a new resolve, Sephiroth uttered just one wish which brought her to tears.
"I… just want to see my mother… till then I cannot rest in peace."
Aerith prayed to the Planet to grant him his last wish, in which Sephiroth vow to completely pass on in peace once the deed is done. Surprisingly, they were both granted the wish, she, to look after him in case he does incorrigible acts. And as a reward for her efforts and sacrifices, she was allowed to live freely thereafter. However, as for Sephiroth, the Planet was not all forgiving.
"Son, thou hath sinned against mine people and thy maker. However, due to mine child's frivolous pleas, I shall grant unto thee thy wish. Transgressions shall be paid in accordance to the weight of thy sins. Ye shall be stripped off thy inhumane power, thou shall walk the earth and feel its wrath, but shall never escape it through the salvation of death. Thou shall be misshapen according to your last duel. Lastly, thou shall no longer hath hold on the effects of materia nor matera shall take effect on ye."
"I am willing to face retribution." Sephiroth replied without hesitation. And with that they were both returned, two years after the threat of the Geostigma and a year after the threat of Omega.
They found themselves inside the dilapidated church of sector 5, Aerith was surprised to see Sephiroth, scarred physically and emotionally. She no longer sense any malice in him, however, she sensed him to be brooding and stoic. Sephiroth has also informed her that he can no longer sense his heightened abilities brought by the Jenova cells. All he can depend from now on, was his years of SOLDIER training. He's been stripped off his power of flight, speedy recovery as well as inhumane stamina and physical endurance.
After dawdling on all these thoughts, Aerith safely arrived in her old home in sector 5. The house is still in perfect order, except that it was locked down. Sephiroth had helped her fix all what needed to be straightened out from her home. She offered for him to stay with her while he's still looking for a place, but he just politely declined and went off his own. She appreciates the little things he does for her. Such as for her not to feel alone, he follows her while hiding in the shadows. Making sure that she gets home safe, staying with her whenever she needed someone to talk to as long as it's not inside her house. He mentioned that it's a sanctuary he must not enter, so mostly they stay in the church. Aerith understands this, Sephiroth is still a man, and she really appreciates the fact that he's respecting her privacy, more so respecting her as a woman. Somehow, these little acts of kindness bring a smile to her face always.
She promised to aid him in looking for his mother, such as looking for clues and asking around. Though she was careful not tell him that she knows Vincent can help, for she doesn't want to be involved with anyone from AVALANCHE. Pretty selfish yes, but he has to understand her reasons. For a whole month they've been like these, every single day is just the same. Same routines and yet, they're not even a step closer to finding Lucrecia's whereabouts. After eating dinner and washing the dishes thereafter, she decided to brush her teeth and wash her face. She sighed in front of the mirror, for how long is she going to keep up with this new life? And as for Sephiroth, he has to endure a lot, and somehow she feels guilty for stretching out his search for his mother, when she can easily just ask Vincent about Lucrecia.
She shakes her head lightly and thought to herself, I must never return to their lives. They're all happy, I must not complicate everything by returning into their lives. I know Sephiroth and I can manage by ourselves. Planet, please help us.