Beta's note: RLnera here again. Dream Kitten is still busy so I ended up posting this again. This has actually been written quite some time ago but I only recently finished correcting it.
This is a direct sequel to Beginner, and is the second installment of Betrayer. If you haven't read that one first this will make no sense. You have been warned.
When Zack awoke it was to a dry mouth that felt like he had been chewing sand and a strange weight atop his chest.
'I thought the Lifestream would be a bit more comfortable.' Zack thought, and for a brief moment he wanted to keep lying there until the raging headache that refused to be ignored finally abated. But he had always been a 'do first, think afterwards' kind of guy, so it was with a groan of pain that he opened his eyes.
He was greeted by a curtain of dark silver.
The events of what seemed like seconds ago came crashing back into his mind and he jerked up into a sitting position so fast he almost sent Nerina flying. Fighting down a strange sense of panic Zack looked around frantically, trying to take stock of his situation. Alright, familiar things first: his arm was still wrapped protectively around his rescuee's waist, she was still covered in blood that probably wasn't hers (which was a question Zack had too much on his plate to ask right now), she was still breathing, albeit unconscious and he was still alive and well, aside from his headache.
That was where the familiarity stopped. It was nighttime, so they had to have lost at least a couple of hours. It wouldn't have surprised Zack, certainly not as much as being alive in the first place, except they hadn't woken up in a lab, hospital, or even in Midgar.
They were in the middle of the Midgar desert, with the eerily glowing city miles ahead of them.
Zack's head spun again. How the goddamn fuck had they ended up outside of Midgar, much less in its surrounding deserts?! That thing was at least ten times bigger than the city itself, how did they end up here from the centre of Midgar?
This was so not helping his headache.
Mentally resigning himself to having to walk back to Midgar and carrying a comatose friend on top of it, had Zack been a lesser man he would have wept with relief when he spotted familiar ridiculously colored walls significantly closer to them than the gleaming city. Kalm may not have been an ideal pit stop but it had an inn and a working telephone line. Zack didn't have any money on him but he was a SOLDIER, he figured the innkeeper would at least let him use the phone. From there on, he planned to leave the negotiations to Angeal while he took Nerina to the doctor.
Speaking of the girl, Zack did a cursory check of her and didn't know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or start panicking again. There wasn't a scratch on her, and yet her stolen uniform was soaked completely through with dried and crusting blood. And Zack was desperately trying not to wonder whose.
"At least I won't have to Phoenix Down you." He breathed a sigh, and then promptly wrinkled his nose. "But you really need a shower. And, okay, so do I. Dunno about you but I don't feel like walking miles across the desert lugging you around and smelling like a bar fight. Right then, let's mosey!"
He hooked his other arm under her knees and stood up on shaky legs that thankfully didn't give out on him. Nerina hung limp in his arms, her arms and head awkwardly bobbing with Zack's steps. The young SOLDIER almost felt bad for her but was unwilling to risk dropping her just so she wouldn't get a crick in her neck. There was also the problem of her not waking up yet, even after they'd been out for hours.
Zack kept up a steady stream of chatter, more for his benefit than for his unconscious passenger. "Let's just hope they let us in, considering you look like a cadaver right now. And yes, I know what 'cadaver' means, you pretty much have to read the entire dictionary to understand half of what Genesis is saying half the friggin' time, and he sometimes rubs off on Angeal. …Figuratively I hope, or I'll have to start knocking, and I was never good at that. But speaking of relationships, did you see who Seph will end up with? It would have to be one Hell of a woman for the icy General to knock her up three times! I know Tseng said you can see the future and don't get me wrong, I'm all for mysterious or I wouldn't be dating Aerith, but that seems a little far-fetched even for a SOLDER like me. Still, if you really can, that'd be awesome. If you see a winning lottery number you tell me first, you hear? That would be a fair reward for lugging your hungover ass all the way across the desert. You're welcome by the way, I've already stated my fares."
Zack chattered and prattled all the way to Kalm, and the senseless noise did its job of keeping his mind off more dangerous matters. He would address them after a shower and a good night's rest. For now, finding the inn to recuperate in was more important.
Though Kalm was surrounded by walls Zack really failed to see the point of them as he simply walked through the gates into the main square with none of the residents being the wiser. Zack supposed he couldn't blame them, as most proper people were in their beds at home, and not lugging potential mass murderers across the desert.
Right, dangerous thought territory again.
The inn was exactly where he remembered it to be, back from that mission he and Angeal had done nearly a year ago. Zack pushed the door open with his shoulder, inwardly cringing at these people's carelessness. Okay, he got that these were all fair and honest folks, but shouldn't they at least worry about monsters sneaking in?
Still, the fact that they were all fair might go in his favor considering his… unusual burden. The reception was dimly lit, and just as empty as he expected it to be. Then Zack found himself with a dilemma: if he rang the bell, someone would probably come but they sure as hell weren't going to be cheery and since Zack didn't even have any Gil to help smooth things over things weren't really looking good, but his only other option was to stand in the middle of the hall looking like a murderer until some sleepy soul stumbled upon him and probably woke half the town screaming.
When in doubt, pick the lesser of two evils.
It took a bit of awkward maneuvering but Zack managed to press the ringer a few times. Nothing. Zack tried a few more times. Still nada. Even though he knew he was running headfirst into the territory of horrible first impressions Zack just kept ringing until somebody woke. Hopefully it would be Nerina. She was actually deceptively heavy for such a slip of a girl. Or maybe he was just exhausted. Even his SOLDIER strength had started giving out on him after a mile or two across the slippery desert sand.
"Goddamn, can't a man even enjoy his evening tea in peace anymore?!" Zack nearly jumped straight into the rafters when he heard the doors upstairs slam open. An angry blond man in a blue shirt descended the stairs, waving around a cigar like it was Buster Sword. "What's all the fucking racket all… about?" He stopped abruptly when he spotted the new arrivals. Zack had the feeling that if that cigar had been in his mouth it would have ended up on the floor, and his jaw would be hard pressed not to join it.
To his credit, he gathered his wits before Zack did. "What the fuck happened to you two?"
Well, he didn't accuse Zack of being a murderer like he assumed he would, so that was a plus. "Um, my name is Zack Fair. I'm a SOLDIER Second and I, uh, kind of got into a pretty bad situation on a mission, and accidentally dragged her into it." He nodded towards Nerina, as if he needed to point out who 'her' was. "I was hoping to crash here and call my superiors to come pick us up in the morning. But nobody was answering and she's getting kinda' heavy." He added, hoping to induce some sympathy.
The story had more holes than Swiss cheese, and the blond man was clearly not buying it. But he kept staring oddly between the two of them, as if he was weighting the pros and cons of pretending to believe him and maybe it was Zack's imagination but it seemed his gaze turned almost scrutinizing when it fell on the girl in his arms.
Before Zack even had time to worry, the man descended the rest of the stairs and without preamble went behind the reception desk and snatched a key form the cabinet. "Cm'on, I'll unlock the door fer ya, and maybe see if I have anything less bloody fer that dame of yours, but don't expect anythin' else form me, ya clear?"
"Uh, yeah, crystal." Okay, though it wasn't worded like one, this was clearly an order, and Zack was a SOLDIER, even half asleep he could follow orders. He hurried after the blond man. "And you are?"
"Cid Highwind, ShinRa's ex-space pilot." He shot back without turning around or halting his step. "But just a pilot now, and definitely not ShinRa's."
For a moment, Zack was confused. Sure, he didn't exactly follow up on every piece of gossip like Kunsel did, but last he heard ShinRa was going to launch a rocket into space in a month or two, once the situation with AVALANCHE calmed down a bit. Shit, was he replaced? No wonder the poor guy sounded so bitter.
"Sorry." Zack expressed his condolences but Cid just waved him off. "Ya got enough problems on yer hands kid, don't be stupid enough ta worry 'bout mine as well."
Zack supposed it was a rather crude way of saying 'don't worry about it'.
Cid came to stand in front of the room that bore the same number as the one on the key and unlocked it as if he owned it, switching on the lights. Zack followed him in carefully, trying not to bump Nerina's head on the doorframe.
"Tha shower's workin', an' there's towels in tha cupboard there." Cid gestured towards the furniture next to the bed. "Tha phone's on the desk down, but I figured ya'd want to wash up before ya get yer ass chewed out for screwin' up." Zack grimaced slightly at the reminder of the amount of trouble he was undoubtedly in.
Cid left right after that, leaving Zack alone to wonder what do next. He figured he might as well wake up Nerina. He went to the bathroom and set her down on the bathmat. She still showed no signs of waking. Zack sighed, seeing he had no other choice or alternate method to wake her up. He turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the stream.
"Sorry about this." He said sincerely before splashing the water in her face.
She felt like a buoy. Actually, she felt like that time during summer camp when their group went to the seaside and her crush was teaching her how to float on water without moving. And preferably not drowning in the process. The combination of water all around her and the excitement that she was actually hanging out with a guy she finally mustered the courage to talk to made her feel as if she was floating on clouds rather than water.
This feeling was similar. After such agonizing pain seconds ago it came as an indescribable relief to be so disconnected from her body. But alas, it lasted for barely two seconds before she was slammed back into corporeality. Strangely, the first thing that hit her wasn't pain but nausea. The I'm-gonna-barf-so-get-as-far-away-from-me-as-you-can kind of nauseous.
"Jebadga." She cursed softly. When she opened her eyes she realized she was in an interrogation room again, and she was lying like a corpse on the table, with her fingers interlaced on her chest and everything. Also, those fluorescent lights were doing their best to render her blind.
"Nngh…" Praying she wouldn't start throwing up for real she pushed herself into a sitting position. She crossed her legs and propped her elbows on her knees. Her head fell into her hands and she massaged her forehead, trying to keep her food down.
"Okay, I know the drill." She muttered to herself. "What's the last thing I remember?"
"Trying to become a splatter on the ground, perhaps?" A gut wrenchingly familiar voice sounded from her left, sending needles of fear down her spine.
Mind blank with disbelief and fear she turned to look at her left and tried not to hyperventilate. In the chair Tseng had sat in when he had questioned her was a woman she had never seen before, but she didn't need to recognize her voice to realize who she was.
Framed by silver strands, eyes identical to her own were staring at her in consideration.
Nerina didn't care how it was possible; she screamed and tried to scurry backwards, away from Jenova but she remembered too late she was on elevated ground. Her center of gravity was already on the table's edge when her hands found nothing but air, and she went sailing straight to the floor. She landed painfully on her back, her feet still somewhere above her but at least she didn't break her neck. It did make her nausea return tenfold, though.
"Foolish creature." Suddenly there were hands under her arms and they were pulling her upwards. She found herself sat on the edge of the table, the same hands that put her there wrapped tightly around her upper arms, preventing her escape. "If I wanted you harm you would not be here anymore."
Nerina almost told her it wasn't very reassuring. Through her nausea, her head trying to split itself in half and her heart doing its best to find a way out of her chest, she noted that Jenova looked strikingly like Sephiroth. Pale skin, straight nose, high cheekbones and prominent chin made her look almost regal. She was frowning in irritation at Nerina though, so she didn't have much attention to spare on describing her further.
Problem was, she had no idea how to get out of her tormentor's hold with her arms still attached to her body. She was trying her hardest not to hyperventilate, but she must have looked liked a deer in headlights because Jenova just frowned harder and tilted her head in question.
"What are you?" She asked tersely.
"What?" Nerina had no idea what she was talking about. The grip on her arms tightened to the point of pain, so that was the wrong answer. "W-what do you mean?"
Jenova's irritation turned to distain. "Do not try to fool me. I am inside your mind, the only reason I have not torn it apart yet is because I am curious. Do not test my patience though."
"My mind?" Nerina echoed. Wait, so this technically wasn't real? But the grip on her arms felt real enough. It would explain why Jenova suddenly had a body though. But just because it was in her head didn't mean it wasn't real apparently.
Jenova's hands tightened again in warning. "But I really don't know what you're talking about!" The elder's red eyes narrowed further and Nerina threw a wild guess at what she meant. "I'm not from this planet, true, but I'm human! The word just doesn't carry the same definition here."
Her explanation made no sense even to her, but apparently she hit the mark as Jenova loosened her hold. She was back to looking intrigued. "What planet are you from?"
Nerina considered lying, but there was no way Jenova would find her way to Earth and she didn't wish to see what she would do if she realized her lie. "Earth."
Jenova looked at her blankly for a moment. "That is the name of your planet?"
"I'm not lying!"
"No, but your species is certainly unimaginative then." Now she looked just plain unimpressed. Despite herself Nerina felt a bit offended. "Are all of your kind able to travel in such a way?"
Now it was Nerina's turn to stare blankly. "Travel?" Something clicked. "Oh, you mean like coming here? To… Gaia?" That was the name of the Planet, right?
Jenova raised an eyebrow. For an alien she was surprisingly well versed in non-verbal communication. "You possess an ability to travel over far distances in mere seconds, that I have witnessed myself. The knowledgeable human had said you were able to see events that had yet to happen, though I have not seen evidence of this. Are your kin capable of same?"
Nerina gaped. "What? I have absolutely idea how I got here! Last thing I remember is getting ready for bed when I suddenly fell out of a storage closet smack dab in the middle of the ShinRa tower! I thought I was dreaming for fuck's sake! How am I supposed to know if this happened before, much less who could do it?! If I knew, I would have gone home already!"
She realized she had been all but yelling straight in Jenova's face and had spilled far more information than she wanted in her little tirade. Again. She shut her mouth with an audible click and lowered her eyes. And accidentally noticed that even Jenova's attire was vaguely similar to Sephiroth's. Meaning she got an eyeful of leather-encased cleavage. Crap. What was it with Final Fantasy and every girl having water balloons strapped to their chests? She was going to get a complex at this rate.
"Hmm, it appears you are telling the truth." She snapped her head back up. Jenova was looking at her oddly again. "But the truth as you know it and truth as it is are not necessarily the same. It seems you are worth keeping, at least for now."
Nerina did not like the sound of that in the least. It certainly did not help the hysteria creeping up her spine. "So, you're not gonna kill me?" She asked, tentatively hopeful.
The smirk she got in return was nothing short of evil. "Not yet."
And then Jenova pushed her downward. But instead of hitting the cold metal of the table it felt like she fell into a pool. There was water in her face and she couldn't breathe but hands much larger than hers were keeping her underwater. She gripped them and tried to wrench them away but they were unyielding.
Somebody was yelling her name.
"Nerina! Ners, wake up!" Her eyes snapped open suddenly, and while her face still felt wet she was no longer drowning. The light above her was still too bright but instead of Jenova's malicious face she was staring into Zack's concerned one, his hands shaking her shoulders to try and snap her awake, and not the evil alien's keeping her underwater.
Her body, realizing it was finally free from danger, reminded her of her nausea.
As fast as she could she pushed Zack away from her and scrambled to the toilet bowl, finally emptying the contents of her stomach. Which wasn't too happy about it, as her last meal had been breakfast back at Sephiroth's apartment, God only knew how many hours ago. Zack cursed somewhere behind her and then her hair was held away from her face just in time for another round of retching to begin.
"Isusa mi Krista." She muttered once she was done, but didn't dare to lift her head for fear of vomiting on the floor. "What happened?"
Zack held her hair back with one hand and was rubbing her back with the other. She got the impression he had had practice at this. "I dunno. I was actually hoping you would have some idea. Last thing I remember was tumbling down the ShinRa tower and falling in water or something, and the next thing I know I woke up in the deserts. We're in Kalm now, and I can call Angeal to pick us up in the morning."
Nerina didn't hear a word past 'water'. She had felt the same thing. Right after- "Did you see the lightning too?"
Zack started behind her. "Yeah, I did. Do you know where it came from? What was it?"
"No idea." She finally gathered her courage to lift her head away from the shrine of the porcelain God. Zack let go of her just in time for her to make a beeline for the sink. She washed out her mouth, cursing softly when she tasted blood. If she was puking blood then she was in trouble, and there was no way she was going back to Hojo to fix her up. Death was a preferable option at this point. Then she made the mistake of looking up. And froze. Above the sink was, naturally, a mirror. And the mirror, unfortunately, did not know how to lie.
Her eyes were still red and her pupil slit. But this time the changes in her appearance were far more drastic. Her hair was fully silver, maybe a shade darker than Sephiroth's and she was splattered in blood.
No, actually, she was covered in it.
"Zack," she called meekly, her voice as shaky as her hands, "what happened before I passed out?"
Zack flinched behind her. He looked into her eyes through the mirror for less than a second before he couldn't stand it anymore. "I honestly can't be sure, but…" His face was pained. "We were all herded to the top floor. Angeal had sent SOLDIERs and troops to investigate what was happening but they either came back half dead or they didn't come back at all. Genesis went down there to… sort it out himself, I guess, and Sephiroth was really sick so I went after him, to try and stop him."
He paused, then finally looked back at her, their eyes meeting in the mirror. "I ran into you. You were covered in blood and screaming like you were being butchered. I thought you were fatally wounded, but then Genesis came and said something about it not being your blood. He tried to pull you away but you ran and… You crashed into a window."
"And I fell." Nerina finished. "Why did you jump after me? You could have died."
"You say that like you would have gotten away from it with barely a scratch." Zack gave a forced and tired laugh. "If it wasn't for whatever saved us we'd both be floating in the Lifestream right now."
If what Jenova had said was true, then maybe she would have gotten away with it. She seemed to imply that whatever happened was her fault somehow, and quite frankly, if she had come to the Final Fantasy world of her own power, cushioning the blow by teleporting them elsewhere didn't seem so farfetched anymore. If only she knew how.
Maybe it was better that she didn't know though. Jenova had been far too interested in it to amount to anything good.
"Can I shower first?" She asked finally.
"Sure." Zack moved to the door. "I'll try to see if there's anything you can wear, but there's a bathrobe on the rack." And with that he was gone.
Nerina looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't know where she had lost her bandage but she supposed it was too late to try and hide it. She was Jenova's host. She didn't know what that position exactly entailed but running away never did Cloud any good, why should it work for her?
She took a long and scalding shower, mind blank as she watched pink rivulets fall from her and go down the drain. Once the blood had cleared she noticed she had odd puncture-mark scars along her arms. They just served to depress her more. Now every time she looked at them she would be reminded of those horrible hours strapped to the operation table and screaming in pain.
With another sigh she turned the water off and dried herself off. The bathrobe was exactly where Zack said it would be so she wrapped it around herself and dumped the stolen uniform in the sink. Thankfully it was black so the bloodstains weren't visible after she scrubbed it with some soap, and the blood from the belt she managed to clear with just a couple of wet wipes. She wasn't too happy about having to wear it again but she didn't exactly have any other clothes.
She hung it on the curtain rod to dry and went into the bedroom.
Her eyes widened when she saw Cid of all people pushing a cup of tea towards Zack and telling him to calm down before he hyperventilated. Quite frankly, after throwing up everything she had in her stomach she wouldn't mind a cup herself.
Cid noticed her lurking in the entrance. "Hey, waddar'ya standin' there like an' idiot? Sit down and drink yer Goddamn tea!" Zack almost snorted the tea out his nose, but Nerina smiled. This at least was familiar territory. So she pulled up a chair, sat down and poured herself some tea. She had no idea why was Cid here as she vaguely recognized the inn in Kalm, but she certainly wasn't going to turn down his offer.
"Um," Zack began nervously, "I kinda need a shower myself, so, uh, can you stay here a minute?" Nerina nodded and Cid waved him off. Zack scampered away towards the bathroom and they soon heard the water running. For a few minutes both she and Cid sipped their respective teas in silence. Blessed silence. After so much screaming, both inside her head and out, this might as well have been heaven.
Except Cid was looking at her oddly. She guessed she couldn't blame him, considering how she looked like at the moment. But it was still a little unnerving.
"You're certainly a long way from home." He remarked casually. She furrowed her eyebrows. Since when was Cid for small talk? Still she replied, "You have no idea."
"Perhaps, perhaps not. But even I can see you're not supposed to be here." Cid continued. Now Nerina was outright confused. Where did his customary drawl go?
She was starting to have a sneaking suspicion and she didn't like it in the least. "And where am I supposed to be, oh wise one?"
"You tell me, you know how this story goes better than I do." Cid said casually, but there was a note of something in his voice that sent waves of trepidation down her spine. She looked him in the eyes warily. "What makes you think I would know anything?"
"I'm pretty sure you do." Cid leaned back and crossed his arms. "After all, I may be living it, but you're the one who played it."
Played.
Played.
He knew.
Her teacup fell and clattered on the ground, spilling the last dregs of the tea on the floor. She stood up abruptly from her chair and looked at Cid in growing horror. How had he known?! She hadn't told anyone anything except Jenova, but she was inside her head! How did Cid, who wasn't supposed to even be here, know?!
She was on the verge of hyperventilating herself when there was suddenly a hand on her shoulder. She jumped in fright and whirled around to see Zack looking at her worriedly. His hair was still dripping and it was obvious he hadn't dried himself properly before pulling on his pants. He must have heard her panic. He glared at Cid, correctly assuming he was the cause of her minor breakdown.
"Look, I'm really grateful you're helped us, but we've had a long day. Maybe we can continue our discussion tomorrow." It was a rather thinly veiled order for him to leave. Cid thankfully took the hint and rose up to leave.
"Sure thing kids. If ya need my help I'm right across from ya." And with that parting offer, Cid was gone. Zack turned to Nerina, "Hey, don't let his weird puzzles get to you. I guess that's just his way of getting back at us for interrupting his tea ceremony or something."
"What did he tell you?" She asked him, her voice miraculously not shaking. Zack scratched his head.
"Weird things. Something about being far from home, having played some game and a number for something called 'Final Fantasy'. I figured it was either a puzzle or a code for something but I don't know what it meant." Zack waved it off. "Come on, we got a long day ahead of us. We better catch some sleep."
Nerina nodded absently and did as she was told. Both hers and Zack's uniforms were still drying and there wasn't much they could change into. Nerina kept the bathrobe and Zack just stayed in his boxers. The room they were in actually had four beds so they just picked one each and pretty much collapsed into them. Zack was out like a light, having had to train himself to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. During the war sleep was a commodity so pretty much every SOLDIER had to learn to do it.
Nerina wasn't so lucky. She tossed and turned for a small eternity, trying to think of what to do. She considered her options: confront Cid and demand to know just how he could know what she was, or try and get some much needed rest and risk meeting Jenova again.
Well, when put like that, her choice seemed much easier.
She shuffled out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. Her uniform was still slightly damp but it was better than a bathrobe. The last thing she needed if she had to run away was accidentally flashing something. Granted, if Cid kept to his assigned characterization she doubted she would be put in a position she needed to run away from, but at this point she wasn't taking any chances. Nothing made sense anymore, why should this?
She secured the uniform with the SOLDIER belt and slowly crept out of the room on bare toes. Zack was still snoring softly on his bed so she made as little noise as possible and made sure the door did the same. Now came the hard part: actually knocking on Cid's door.
'Oh come on,' she mentally chided herself, 'you've faced Sephiroth, homicidal Genesis, Hojo at his worst and the Calamity from the Skies herself and lived. What could possibly Cid do that could be worse?'
Steeling her nerves, she knocked softly on the only door that still had a strip of light coming under it. She heard the scrape of a chair, then heavy footsteps getting progressively louder, a sharp click of the doorknob, and then she was faced with the pilot himself.
"The number is seven." She answered on the question he had asked Zack. "Final. Fantasy. Seven."
He didn't seem surprised at her question. Instead the only thing she could see on his face was resignation and… pity? "That's what I was afraid of." He opened the door wider and stepped out of the way. "You might as well come in. We have a long talk ahead of us."
Confused but slightly encouraged by his calm reaction she went in. Sure enough there was a pot of hot water on the table, long with a few teacups with teabags already in them. She sat down opposite of Cid. He poured them both water into their cups in silence.
Left with no other meaningless task to excuse his silence, he gave a sigh. "I guess it's my turn to explain, huh?"
"That would be greatly appreciated, yes." She took a sip of her own tea. Hmm, tasted slightly like darjeeling tea. "Starting by how do you know about it in the first place."
"Well I could be solely ashamed of myself if I didn't." Cid huffed a laugh. "Especially considering I was the one who programmed most of it."
This time the teacup stayed in her hand. Just barely, but it stayed.