Death…
Devastation…
Destruction…
These feelings were the ones floating uncontrollably around the lifestream, sending it and the Planet into a huge frenzy. A power that could make these plagues so easily should not have been able to come back—ever. Yet it has, and now the Planet needs to put a stop to this before it can be destroyed. It is still very vulnerable for it has not yet recovered from losing much of its Mako energy to that organization Shinra. It would have to send someone to stop it, and there was only one person who had the resources for such a thing.
Abruptly her eyes flashed open. She tried to take a breath, something she hasn't done in a long time, and water filled her lungs. She began to panic; she had to find a way out of here lest she die of asphyxiation and leave her mission uncompleted. She wasn't the immortal energy she used to be; now she had the ability to die.
She noticed light streaming down from the top of the small pond she was in. She did her best to swim up to the top, but her dress restricted her legs somewhat. Already, spots were starting to form in her eyes as lack of oxygen started to take its toll. She had better hurry.
All at once, she reached the top and threw her head up, taking in lung-full after lung-full of air. When she recovered, she swam till she could reach the ground then slowly walked out into the large domed entrance of the Forgotten City. She remembered passing through here on that fateful day so long ago.
Quickly, she gathered her brown hair and wrung it out till it was nearly dry. It was a shame she couldn't do the same with her clothes, but she did have to hurry to get to Cloud. She also noted that her staff was no longer with her. Oh well. She just hoped she didn't run into any monsters on the way to the village near here. What village was it again? She thought real hard and came up with Skeleton Village or something like that.
Slowly, she made her way out the entrance of the dome into a long narrow passage lined of blue rock. She never did like this passage; it gave her a sense of claustrophobia. She hurriedly passed through here until she emerged into the Forgotten Capital. A chill wind blew, making her shiver. Her wet dress only made the coldness worse.
She admired the works of the city: the shell houses and the intricate layout of the shell slabs making up the roads. As she passed through this region, she wondered how her old friends were doing and what they were doing. For all she knew, they went their separate ways after the death of Sephiroth. The only ones who probably stayed together were Tifa and Cloud; they were pretty close even though they never admitted it when she was alive.
All too soon, the pink-dressed figure came to the end of the Capital. Now she was at a valley with a winding stone path that led down. She had better be careful; monsters inhabited this region. It was hard enough to get to the Capital with a staff—it would be almost impossible to away from it without one.
After a short walk, she came to a hollowed out log that served as a bridge to join the opposite side of a somewhat deep crevasse. The log didn't look sturdy at all. When she stepped on it, the wood cracked and broke off, falling to the bottom of the fissure. She sighed. Things sure don't change much even though they seem like they do.
Carefully walking over the bridge, she made it to the other side and was just about to walk into a forest when she heard a sound she didn't want to hear: a hiss. She turned and saw a serpent coiled up ready to strike at her. Backing away toward the forest slowly, the lone figure put up her hands in surrender. But serpents don't pay attention to that and it leaped. Screaming, she threw up her right arm and felt the pain as the sharp fangs bit through her flesh. There was a soft burn that grew hotter and hotter as the poison she knew was circulating through her body now started taking effect. With her left hand, she hit it as hard as she could and just succeeded in stunning it.
But that was all she needed. She ran as fast as she could away from the snake and into the forest. By the time she reached the village, her vision was blurred and she started stumbling no matter how slowly she walked. She also attracted the attention of one of the villagers. That was a good thing for maybe he could help her.
"Ma'am, are you all right?" he asked. Concern was clear on his face and in his voice. He saw her stumble and quickly moved to her side before she fell.
All she could do was nod her head "no." As her knees suddenly gave out and fell she felt the arms of the villager as he kept her from falling. She could barely maintain consciousness. She coughed a little and felt warmth as blood trickled down her chin.
The villager guided her to some place that she couldn't see because due to blurred and spotty vision. "What's your name?" the villager asked.
"Aeris," was all she answered before unconsciousness hit her and forced her to sleep.
Cloud sighed and threw the report down on his desk. Just four months. Four months. He and the rest of the team have abolished the ways of the old Shinra and brought in the ways of the new Shinra. After a few months the citizens recognized Neo-Shinra as a legitimate government and started following its laws. One month after everything was all in order and people were getting back to their lives, this happens.
"Another one?" It was Tifa. She came up and sat down in the chair opposite his desk. He frowned and didn't look up from the report. After Sephiroth was beaten, he didn't know what was going to happen to them at all. He figured they would go back to their hometowns and live their lives like they did before they got caught up in Jenova's plan. He was wrong. Tifa suggested that in order to keep another corrupt government from taking power, they create a new one. And they did just that. Each member got to be the head of a different branch if they wanted while Cloud became president and Tifa vice-president. Sometimes, though, it seemed that becoming the head of Shinra was a bad idea. These were one of those times.
"Yeah. This time they got Junon. This is the second city that's been hit within two weeks. We don't even know what it is let alone how to stop it. I've sent Barret over to check out the damage." Barret was the head of the Emergency Department. Whenever something like this came up, Barret or one of his top employees went over to investigate it. Lately, though, his job has been getting tougher due to all of the destruction.
Tifa groaned. "If this keeps up, every city will be destroyed in just a few months and all the homeless people will be coming to Midgar to live. When they took Corel, all the extra room in Midgar—which wasn't that much to start out with—was filled up. Midgar just doesn't have the space to hold new people. We were lucky we could fit them in at all. If anymore cities go we'll have no where to put them."
"Who do you think is behind this? I mean, why would someone do this in the first place? Is this some kind of a twisted practical joke?" Cloud leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, thinking about who could do this. Not one person came to mind.
This time Tifa frowned. She hated seeing Cloud so stressed. These recent attacks have really been doing a number on him. "I have no idea who's doing this. I want to say it's a terrorist movement but they've not made any demands like most other terrorists. Even if it were one, no one we know has the skills or resources to pull something like that off. You would have to be really rich to buy bombs that could destroy cities like that."
Cloud got up and went to a filing cabinet and opened it to insert the report. When he finished, he locked it up and stuffed his ring of keys in his pocket. He walked over to his desk and stuffed some loose papers into his briefcase. "I have to go see if Red has any new news on these attacks. You want to come?"
"Might as well," she answered and got up to follow Cloud out. Before she left, she thought back to when AVALANCHE just started when Cloud only did anything for money. Now, he's doing it because if he doesn't, someone else will and they might screw up. He's never been a trusting person when it came to other people that weren't his friend. Still, a lot has changed him in the year or so that they've been fighting Old Shinra and Jenova. It's made him care more about other things that he originally wouldn't even have given a second about. She picked up her coat off her desk and followed Cloud out to elevator.
"Stupid elevator," Cloud was mumbling. He pushed the call button four or five more times before hitting it and walked down to the stairs. "Looks like we have still have to use the stairs. Stupid building is still not working from what Diamond Weapon did to it."
"Well, I'm glad you're pleasant today," Tifa kidded and followed him down the hall to the stairs.
He didn't comment. Instead he proceeded down the stairs to the science laboratories. About ten minutes later they reached the desired floor and walked into a room filled with beakers and computers. Red was in the middle of the room directing robots around to move bottles here and there.
"Hello, Cloud. Tifa," Red said and smiled when he noticed them walk in. He walked over and looked up at Cloud. He hated having to look up at people, but that was the way his body was constructed. One day he was going to make a hover platform that he could stand on so he could look every human in the eye.
Cloud looked down at him, trying his best to smile. He was just too stressed and tired to act very pleasant. "Hi, Red. I am about to leave and I wondered if you have anything on the recent attacks."
Red walked over to a computer and brought up a few files. "I don't know who's behind it or what they're using, but I do know what they're not using." He spoke a few commands and a graph came up. "Due to the unburned soil, the whoever's behind this is not using explosives. And, besides, any such explosive would cost the user a bundle of money. And, bombs with these capabilities aren't made any more. They died with Old Shinra."
"So, are using materia?" Tifa asked and peered closer at the graphs. She had no idea what she was looking at. That was the way Red worked: only he could understand what he looked at.
"I don't think it would be materia, either. All of the really powerful materia is with Yuffie and besides, if materia that strong was used, it would have attracted the attention of one of my sensors right away."
"So we don't know who's doing it or how they're doing it. Just great." Cloud sighed in exasperation. Ever since Corel was destroyed, he has been staying up really late reading damage reports, requests to live in Midgar, and everything else he really doesn't want to read.
"Thank you, Red," Tifa said and grabbed Cloud by the arm. "Excuse Cloud, he's been up really late for the past few weeks. He's going to get a good sleep tonight though," she finished and almost dragged Cloud back to the stairs.
Red smiled as they went. He remembered when Cloud suffered from Mako poisoning and Tifa stayed by his side. They were an inseparable couple. Turning back to his work, he barked a few more orders and started back to work on his computer.
"Come on," Tifa said when they were outside headquarters, "let's get something to eat. You haven't had a bite of food all day. And I know of a really good café that just opened up and serves the best coffee."
"Fine." Cloud unlocked his car and got in. Tifa joined him in the other seat. "Just tell me where it is."
By time they reached the café, it was dark outside. Cloud looked at the clock and it read 9:00. Once again he stayed in the office longer than he wanted to. The restaurant itself was a small building with a large window in front. It didn't have a sign, but then again, Cloud didn't care what it was called. He walked into the café and up to the counter.
"Can I help you, sir?" the man behind the counter asked. He was a small, lanky man with red hair.
Cloud looked up and read the board. He wasn't hungry at all so the only thing that looked good was a coffee. It was also the only other thing they sold. "Give me a mocha," he ordered a little gruffly.
"I'll take a small pizza," Tifa ordered in a much nicer tone and gave Cloud a dangerous look.
"That will be fifteen gil." The man behind the counter punched in their order as he received payment from Cloud.
They went to a small table out of the way of any stray ears. "I can't wait till we find the terrorists behind the attacks," Cloud said. "For a new government, this is not a good thing. If we can't find the people responsible, then all the people who have been hurt will lose faith in Shinra and we could have another Shinra vs. AVALANCHE type war—except bigger."
"That won't happen. We have our best and most trusted friends on the job. They're more competent than anyone else we've ever met is. They'll find out something sooner or later. I hope it is sooner though. I don't want to see every town destroyed and almost every life lost."
A lady came up and delivered Tifa's pizza and Cloud's mocha. "Thanks," Cloud said in as good of a voice as he could manage. The lady turned and walked away. He was glad that no one here recognized him. He liked it when everyone didn't know him. Now, going somewhere and having no one recognize you was something that her cherished.
"Barret will be back tomorrow so he can give his report then," Tifa stated. "I'm sure he's found out something by now."
"Wow," the person standing next to Barret remarked as she surveyed the damage of Junon.
"Got that right," Barret said. "Whoever did this must really like destroying things in the most bloody way." All around them Junon laid in ruins. Every building was destroyed and boards just littered the cracked streets. He tried not to look at the dead bodies lying strewn around the ground. He didn't like to see people die that way: having splinters of wood showing out of people's chests and chunks of concrete resting on top of crushed bodies. It just brought back too many unwanted memories of the times in AVALANCHE. The only survivors were standing in front of a medic truck getting treated. There weren't that many of them either.
"This is just like Corel," the woman named Jessica commented again. Names like that also brought back unpleasant memories. "The asphalt has similar cracks and not a single building is standing. Almost everyone is dead, too. There are only a few things that could do this. I want to say that they are—"
"Jenova or a Weapon," Barret finished. Those weren't the answers that she was going to say, but she knew better than to say so right now. Since Corel was destroyed, he's been in a really bad mood. Possibly because his hometown was destroyed and his job has made him stay up late working on possible solutions to how to keep the cities from being totally leveled. So far he's come up with none. "Take a few pictures of this." He turned and walked toward the medic truck. Anything to get him away from the carnage. And maybe, just maybe, he could get some answers from the survivors about who did this. Before he was out of earshot, he heard the click of a camera as the shutter opened and closed.
"Hey, Barret!" one of the doctor's called. "One of my patients has something you might want to hear. It's about the attack a few nights ago."
Instantly, Barret was interested. "What did he see?"
The doctor led him to a tent behind the truck and opened it. Sleeping in a small ball was a girl with blond hair. She had many cuts and bruises around her face and shoulders. "Amanda, wake up." The doctor shook her gently.
Almost instantly her eyes popped open. She sat up, holding the covers around her body. "What is it?"
"I've got someone hear to ask you a few questions. You don't mind, do you?" She shook her head. "Good. I'll leave you two alone."
Barret sat down as best he could in the tent. It was small and he was a large man. "The doctor said you had some information about the attack. What did you see?"
"Nothing." The girl looked down at the floor of the tent and inspected it even though there was nothing interesting about it. Barret was just about to lose his temper when she continued. "That night, there was a small earthquake—you could barely feel it. We didn't pay it much notice. Then it started to shake violently as if some large animal was walking toward us. We had all of our materia users and fighters outside along the street, ready to intercept the monster. It was a clear night and we had lights shining everywhere; yet no one saw a thing on the ground, in the air, or in the sea. Then the ground started to split and all the buildings fell to the ground. The ones on the streets were the first to die. As the shaking got worse and worse, the ground split more and opened like a large mouth, swallowing up most of the ones who didn't die on the street. The ones that weren't swallowed were more than likely killed by debris. By a stroke of luck, I survived." There were tears of sorrow in her eyes.
This was more interesting than he thought. "Thank you," he said and left Amanda alone in the tent. The information that she gave him will prove extremely useful. He will have someone investigate underground activity when he gets back. Outside, Jessica was standing, with a tape recorder in her hands. "You get the entire thing?"
"No, just the part about the attack. That's really interesting: we're facing a beast that sounds like it lives under ground. If it's even a monster at all. It could just be the Planet doing it."
"Yes," Barret agreed. He hoped this was a monster and it wasn't underground. If it were the planet itself, there would be no way to stop it. And to make things worse, Shinra didn't have a lot in the way of resources to build anything that could break through the ground let alone fight under the ground. "When we get back, I'll have someone investigate what all is going on under the crust of the planet. If something is under there, we'll find it."
"When do we leave?" Jessica took the tape out of the recorder and tucked it into her left breast pocket. She ran to catch up to Barret who was walking toward one of the tables with a cooler and sat down.
"We'll leave tomorrow and reach Midgar in two days." He pulled out a bag from the cooler and dumped its contents on the table. He had a bottle of water, a sandwich, and a piece of fruit. "We have to leave earlier than the rest of the excavation/rescue so I can get all of the pictures developed and understand what it is I'm looking at. That's why I had the two chocobos come to Junon with us. It will take an entire day of riding to get to Midgar. Lucky us the terrain is flat." Barret picked up his sandwich and ate it in two or three bites and drank the water in a few gulps. "They need to give us bigger meals."
"No, you just need to get smaller," she teased and got a glare from him. "Come now, I was only messing with you."
"I know. I just need to get some rest. I haven't had much sleep for the past week or so." He got up from the table and headed to his tent. "You might want to get some rest; we have to very long days coming up."
She watched him disappear into his tent. She retreated to her tent too, to get a good start on the day.
Everything was a blur as she opened her eyes. Her pounding headache didn't help her vision much, either. At first she couldn't make anything out, but then light reached her eyes and images formed spots of fuzz. In a few moments everything was starting to clear and then it sharpened out and she could see without a problem.
"Good morning," a voice greeted, startling her. She looked and saw a man walk into the tent carrying a plate of food. Good. She was starved. "I brought you some breakfast."
"Thank you," she replied, sitting up. She found she was in a silken gown. Her dress was hanging over a fire to dry. "What's your name?" she asked as she accepted the plate of eggs and toast. A simple breakfast, but one that looked good all the same.
"My name is Garone." He sat down by the fire and warmed his hands. "Aren't you that girl who came here about a year ago? You look kind of familiar."
Aeris nodded. "Yes. I guess the time really has gone by quickly. It didn't seem like nearly a year to me." When you're part of the lifestream, time doesn't seem to pass at all. She finished off her breakfast and set it down on the floor near her bed. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Oh, not long. Maybe a few hours. That poison was a trifle difficult to cure, but you seem to be better already. You shouldn't walk around without a weapon. Especially if you are walking through Coral Valley."
She already knew that, but didn't retort to it. No point in making him angry. So she decided to change the subject. "Do you know where a man named Cloud Strife lives?" Aeris asked.
"Cloud Strife? You have been out of it for a while. He's the new president of Shinra. He and the vice-president live in Midgar in a very largest mansion that overlooks the entire city. The people who have been up in it say it has a wonderful view of the evening sky."
Aeris was greatly relieved. Finding Cloud wouldn't be as hard as she thought. "Do you know when does the next boat for Junon leaves?"
At the mention of Junon Garone looked dismayed. "Junon was destroyed just a couple of days ago. The port is totally destroyed. If you want to get to Midgar, you will have to go to Kalm and walk the rest of the way."
Aeris felt sad for all the people who died in Junon. Now she knew what caused the large turmoil in the lifestream: it was from all of the people who were killed in Junon. But she knew something like this was going to happen with the reemerged threat to the planet. There was no way to stop it from happening. "When does that boat leave?"
Garone's face lit up a little bit. "You're in luck. The next boat leaves here in an hour. After you get dressed I'll take you to the dock." He got up, collected her plate, and left the small house to let her dress in privacy.
When he was gone, Aeris removed her gown and folded it up on her bed. As she walked over to her dress, she spied herself in the mirror. There, right below her ribcage was a two-inch long, pink scar from where Masamune punctured her body. She remembered that day all too well; Sephiroth came flying down from somewhere, sword drawn, and stabbed her right through the back. The moment Masamune pierced her body, she knew that she would no longer be of any help to her friends. And she was right. At least till now.
She better stop dreaming. She had to dress and catch her boat before it set sail. Quickly she put on her underclothes and wrapped her dress around her body. Warm, dry clothes felt good. As she stumbled outside, she noticed it was dark. She really was out for a while.
"Ready to go?" Garone stepped up to her and took her arm. She still hadn't gotten enough coordination to walk steady. He also wrapped a coat around her slim figure. "It'll be cold at the docks. I thought you might need the warmth." He guided her down a wooden bridge and almost instantly, the rocks became covered in snow. She was glad she had the coat.
"So, what's the new Shinra like? I mean, is it any different from the old Shinra?" Aeris asked as she was led down a path covered in snow.
"Is it ever! They are much different than Old Shinra. When Junon was destroyed, they sent some people to investigate. They weren't sent to keep up an act like Old Shinra did; they came because they truly were concerned about what was happening. It really is a great company now. Cloud really did a good job picking his team of executives. It's even been rumored that they were the same ones who beat Sephiroth.
"It took a few months," Garone went on, "for people to accept the new Shinra, but now everyone sees it as the main authority on the planet. If it weren't for these strange attacks taking out cities—or at least if Shinra knew what to do about it—people would like Shinra even more." Garone led her over another wooden bridge.
She gave an inward sigh of relief. At least all or most of her friends were still alive and were the people in charge. She knew that they wouldn't become corrupted like the old Shinra did. Everyone that played a part in saving the world all lost something due to the old Shinra; they wouldn't let it repeat itself. "How bad were the attacks?"
Garone whistled. "Oh boy, barely anyone survived from the attack on Junon. Out of a few hundred, only a handful survived. The populace of Corel survived much better. I guess they're used to stuff like that being right next to those mines. Although each city had every building destroyed. If it stood on the ground before the earthquakes, it fell after them. Nothing was left standing. Everyone says that it's a terrorist movement, but I think it's something in the planet or the planet itself." They made one more turn. "We're here."
Aeris looked. In front of her was the harbor and parked in one dock was a medium sized boat. It looked more like a ferry to her. Then she realized she didn't have a ticket and was about to say something when one was placed in her hands.
"I thought you might want to leave the continent, so I went ahead and bought you a ticket," Garone explained. "It's a short ride, but the room is pretty good. You better get on before it leaves."
She gave him a brief hug before replying: "Goodbye." She turned and walked onto the boat. Shortly after, it set sail for Kalm.
A week later, everyone sat in the Shinra meeting room around a circular table. On the left side closest to the door sat Yuffie, Head of Finance. Everyone hated Cloud giving her that job but she is just as trustworthy as annoying. After all, she holds all of their really powerful materia. Another reason why she got the position was because she was really good with money. It must come from being raised by Godo, basically the head of Wutai. She looked exhausted—probably because she had to stay up late balancing their checkbook after paying for the repairs that needed to be made to the destroyed cities.
Cid, Head of Aeronautics and Space sat next to her. He didn't look one bit pleased about his seating assignment. For some reason, Yuffie got a perverse pleasure in bugging him. He was probably the least tired of them all because his department wasn't involved in the problems that were occurring.
Barret, Head of Emergency, sat next to him. He was tired and had a wrapped bundle in front of him. It was probably pictures and maybe a sample or two of the debris that was strewn around Junon.
Then President Cloud sat facing the door. He was feeling rested. Tifa made sure that he got enough sleep for the past week.
On Cloud's left side sat Vincent, Head of—well, no one has come up with a name for his department. His job was to do the dirty work when necessary. Vincent's department wasn't used much and Cloud silently hoped that it was barely ever used.
Red who was the Head of Scientific Research sat next to him. He didn't exactly have a seat due to his anatomy, so he sat on the ground with his head just able to peer over the top of the table. Right now, he was doing just as much as Barret was, studying the demolished terrain, trying to see how exactly the towns and cities were being destroyed. Red also had a small package in front of him.
Cait Sith, Head of Diplomacy, sat to the left of Red. Cait Sith couldn't be tired because he was a creation after all, but he did his best to imitate the feeling. He was used a lot to try and soothe the fear stricken residents of the cities that haven't been attacked.
Then, to finish it off, Vice-president Tifa sat with her back to the door. Even the Turks were there. They really don't care what side won as long as they got paid. Rude and Elena stood guard at the door while Reno stood guard over Cloud, much to his annoyance.
"Now we can officially start this meeting," Cloud stated when everyone quieted down and gave him their attention. "As you know, Corel and Junon have been destroyed by an unknown enemy. Recently, Barret, bless his soul, has been working his butt off investigating these disturbances. He's put much time and effort into the past two weeks and we all hope he has some groundbreaking news."
Barret stood up and opened his package, dumping its contents consisting of many pictures and an audio tape. "As you know—oh forget all this formal stuff. I've spent three days putting this thing together and I don't want any criticism or disturbances while I talk. Now that that's over, here we go." He picked up a few pictures and passed them around. "These are the remains of the city of Corel. The stupid idiots, whoever they are, destroyed this city first. Luckily, there were very few casualties and most survived unharmed. I tried to get as much information as I could, but most wouldn't talk. The ones that did, were of no help."
Yuffie stuck her hand up with an evil grin. "I have a— "
"Shut up," Barret said. Yuffie really knew how to get on his nerves just as much as she knew how to annoy Cid. "Then a week ago, Junon was hit." He brought out some more photos and distributed them. "As you can see: Junon was destroyed similarly to Corel. The roads were turned to gravel, there were large cracks in the ground, and nothing was left standing." He picked up the tape and stuck it into a tape player in the table. "Unlike Corel, though, there was some useful information." He played the tape. After it finished talking about the people killed by debris, he stopped it. "Red and I teamed up for a while and came up with a theory about why the no one saw any evidence of the monster that caused this. Red will be glad to tell you." Barret hastily sat down, relieved. Even with his best friends, he didn't like to do any public speaking.
Red bit open his package and threw his forepaws on the table. "Barret's been keeping me working hard, too. But, I did find something that is interesting." He picked up a graph with his mouth. "As you can see," he said, doing his best to speak clearly through a semi-closed mouth, "that the terrain under each of the cities is tunneled as if someone is traveling under it. Then, directly in the center of each city, another tunnel branches off and comes up to the surface. I believe this is the epicenter to the destruction. It's as if the monster just barely stayed underground and used a very strong magic to wreak havoc to the citizens.
"Also," Red continued, "the same tunnel that goes to the surface also goes down into the heart of the planet. If you ask me, the only way to stop this beast is to follow it down into the planet, catch it, and kill it. In order to do that though, we will have to build a machine with underground maneuverability and fighting capabilities." Red concluded his little presentation and sat down again on his haunches.
"Red, how long do you think it will take for you to come up with a machine that meets your specifications?" Cloud asked once Red's talk settled into everyone else's heads.
"I couldn't do it alone. I would need the help of Cid; he has knowledge in that field." Cid gave a slight groan. He knew that his idleness wouldn't last very long. "To design the machine would take a couple of weeks and building it would take several more weeks after that."
"Hold it," Yuffie interjected. "How much is this going to cost?"
"You don't want to know," Cid said. Yuffie gave a groan.
"Well then," Cloud said, "you two get to work on that. Try to get it done in two weeks." Both of the two nodded understanding. "Barret, I want you to get some rest. The rest of you all get back to—"
"President?" a voice said over the intercom. "Someone is here to see you."
"We're in the middle of a meeting," he snapped. He said it a little harder than he should have. "If it's short of a nuclear explosion, don't bother me."
"She says it's important, sir," the voice persisted.
Cloud let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, tell me her name."
There was a brief pause, then: "Aeris Gainsborough."
The room became uncomfortably silent. Every single person had a frown on his or her face. They all knew the story of what had happened to Aeris. Cloud, Tifa, and Barret were frowning had an even larger frown. They were there. They saw Sephiroth stab Aeris. They saw her slump forward and die. They even buried her lifeless form. The real Aeris could not be alive. It has to be an imposter. And if it was…
"Send her in," Cloud ordered, trying his best to remain calm.
"Hey, man, I know—" Barret began, but was silenced by a hand wave from Cloud.
A few moments later, Aeris walked in. She looked like the Aeris that was killed at the Forgotten City. She had the same facial features, same dress, same brown hair, same everything that the old Aeris had. But those things could be made and he didn't believe that this was Aeris for one minute. She would have to prove herself. Cloud got up and walked toward her.
"Hello, Aeris," Cloud said in as friendly of a voice as he could manage. "Long time no see. So, how have you been for the past year or so?"
"Oh, I've been fine. Just floating around, talking to other people and maybe a rock or two when I couldn't find anyone else available." Aeris had known that Cloud might not believe her; after all, he was there when she was killed. She had not expected him to be this unbelieving.
"So, where were you hiding all this time?" Cloud asked again. If she just made one mistake, he would—well, he didn't know what he would do. All he knew is it wouldn't be pleasant.
"I've been staying in the Forgotten City taking a very long bath. And then, about a week or so ago, I decided it was getting boring, and I wanted to see my friends about certain events that may be taking place." Aeris just wanted Cloud to stop interrogating her. She wasn't a fake, no more fake than he was.
"Oh, and what caused you to take a very long bath?" Cloud inwardly cursed all of the cameras and microphones he had installed in the meeting room. Since so many people listened to and watched the tapes, he had to be careful what he asked, unless he wanted someone to know about Aeris' death. Which he didn't. Right now, only the ones in the room with him knew about her fate and that was the way it was going to stay.
"Something fell and hit me with a sharp object. My back and stomach were very sore after that. The only way to feel better was to take a bath." Aeris matched his cryptic phrasing better than he expected her to. He figured that she knew he wouldn't be talking unusually if there was no reason.
Cloud got out of his chair and walked over to Aeris. He gave her the hardest look he could work up. He threw his arms around her in a big hug and his complexion softened instantly. In his arms, he could feel her tense up and then relax. "Welcome back."