FINAL FANTASY VII: Judgment
DISCLAIMER: Final Fantasy VII is property of Square Enix, and not myself.
I. Innocence
She could feel it. Everything was coming full circle for her now; the cycle that had been set in motion several generations past was coming to a close. The lineage of her people and their entire legacy had been distilled into her very person, and now the time had come to finish her work.
Aerith could hardly have asked for a more awe-inspiring and profound setting. While the Temple of the Ancients had been flooded with the echoes of her Cetra ancestors, the Forgotten City was the true cradle of their civilization, a testament to their inexorable connection to the Planet and the aetheric streams of life which granted consciousness and movement to the existence of all things.
She continued to kneel at the center of its subterranean expanse, which was punctuated by the crystalline spiral leading to her place of peace. It was beautiful, to be sure, but Aerith's eyes were not open. She was wholly focused upon making the earnest pleas of her heart known to the Planet, and to the Lifestream in concert. Clutching the small white orb in her folded hands, she tried to pour her soul out, using the Holy Materia as the conduit for the salvation of the Planet.
Her deepest feelings and instincts told her she needn't fear, but she was unable to elude the doubt creeping in upon her. She hoped she was doing everything right, and that it would be enough. Being Cetra, she had always known she carried a special link to the Planet and its life force, and a particular burden with it. Still, she had not been raised within the nurturing embrace of her people, and so she had not been taught their ways as fully as she might have been. She had to rely upon trusting her feelings, thinking things through, and praying that her courage would not fail.
She knew that true empathy for her was beyond any other living being remaining in the world, but she wasn't bitter. She knotted her brow and tightened her grasp on the Materia as she thought of her friends who had braved so much at her side. She only hoped they could somehow come to understand why all this had to happen…especially him.
She hoped for Cloud the most, yet she already knew he would likely understand least of all. He would take it all upon himself and close himself off, just as he always did; then it would keep tearing him apart, as it always had.
Her eyes snapped open as her breath caught. She could feel the sudden interruption of the equilibrium in her solitude, violated by an implacable malignance. She could feel him. Sephiroth had come at last. She knew her time was very short now. Steadying her breath and the heaving of her chest, she resolved to continue giving her utmost until the end. It was all she could give. But now she could also sense the determined presences of her compatriots, descending through the translucent maze. Cloud's single-minded focus stood out as clearly as his shock of blond hair, and Aerith allowed herself a wry grin.
The footsteps were beginning to echo from on high, gradually rising in their volume and cadence. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't let herself break, as much as she wanted to in that instant. She would miss him—miss him in the flesh, of course. She wouldn't ever really leave him—or any of them—behind, but it would never be the same again. She realized her knees hurt and her body was stiff, compounding her turmoil. There was so much she wanted Cloud to know, but she took some comfort in knowing him: the real him, not the fragmented persona that created his incomplete veneer.
The gondola at the Gold Saucer. The seats were plush, and the cabin was amply comfortable despite being otherwise bare. The lights, sounds, and smells at the theme park and casino were overwhelming, but the low thrumming of the machinery took the two up to a height far enough removed from the resort to provide a peculiar peace. Cloud had balked at the prospect of a night out with her alone at first, and he was similarly transparent in his awkwardness here. His eyes darted about, away from her own, as if to search out some kind of threat in a corner of the enclosure.
Aerith smiled. Poor Cloud, she thought. Reaching out a hand, she tapped him on the knee. His eyes went wide as he started slightly, and she couldn't suppress a giggle.
"Cloud, look." She pointed outside, and they looked at the dramatic vista of the apparently precariously balanced ovoid structures stacked upon each other. It was impressive, as far as buildings went. Cloud seemed to be a little more at ease with something else to focus his attention towards. Aerith sighed. She honestly wished he would pay a little more attention to her, as juvenile as that might seem. She had never quite been able to understand why there was so much of Zack in his personality and behavior, but she saw so much that was unique. He didn't have his gregarious bearing or self-assurance; that was certain. This actually endeared him to her, because there was something delightfully naïve about him, for all his apparent coolness and tough exterior. She couldn't help but grin at his vulnerability, but still…
I wish he just felt safe with me…the way I learned how to feel before, she thought.
After seeing the chocobos and their jockeys flash by on the racetrack, Cloud's eyes finally met hers. Honesty was never an issue for Aerith, so she simply lent a voice to her thinking.
"…First off, it bothered me how you looked exactly alike. Two different people who happen to look so similar. The way you walk, gesture…I think I must have seen him again, in you." His eyes were aglow with not just Mako, but expression—confusion, in this case.
She shook her head and shifted her gaze downward, suddenly uneasy. "But you're different. Things are different. Cloud…I'm searching for you."
Now he looked utterly dumbfounded. "I want to meet you," she continued.
"But I'm right here," he replied as he cocked his head.
"I know, I know. What I mean is, I want to meet…you." Her voice had gone soft, almost to a whisper. She brushed aside a lock of hair as she looked him in the eyes once more. She realized that didn't sound all that different, but she hoped it had gotten through somehow.
The remainder of the gondola ride passed in lamentable silence, and then it was over almost as soon as it began. This is why I have to do what I'm doing, Cloud. I have to help save the Planet, yeah, but I want you to understand me, and for you to understand yourself.
Her eyes snapped open as her reverie was broken, and there he was in front of her. His sword was in hand, and she could hear his knuckles cracking from gripping it so hard, poised for a savage vertical blow. His body was trembling from unbearable tension, and his face was split in a feral grimace, but it was his eyes which shocked her the most. The wonderfully vibrant blues were grotesquely morphed into a fluctuating shade of sickly green, and riven by unholy slits as black as the abyss.
"CLOUD!" A voice cried out from a few meters away, and suddenly the horrifying beast masquerading as Cloud evaporated.
"Ugh…what are you making me do…?" he rasped, clutching his head.
Aerith looked up into Cloud's face. She smiled kindly, just one last time; the harbinger of death was descending.
SHUNK
She felt the blade slide effortlessly between her shoulder blades. She saw her blood spatter across the holy dais. Coughing, she slumped forward. …Cloud…please…find yourself…
Death was merciless yet strangely painless for this innocent one.
