AN: Welcome to the story. This story is completely based on only Final Fantasy VII which perhaps a few references I took from Crisis Core to develop Zack and Aeris's character. This story is pre-wrote with a sequel in the process, and the beginning is a little hollow but I get more detailed as the story goes. Also a warning, like many of these resurrection stories it begins like several others, but I do promise it is radically different after the plot develops. Thanks! Enjoy.
P.S. Rated M for strong language and perhaps adult situations later.
Chapter 1
Her conscience sat alone for the longest time. Pure silence. She knew she was still of existence and she felt the presence of others like her. But it was peace, silence, utter oblivion. No communication ever occurred since her arrival, it was not needed, upon entering this realm nothing was needed, contentment was its gift. The only thing that kept these consciences unique and different was the memories each held from their previous existence, the one they had on Gaia with their living bodies. They only replayed their memories and thought contently to themselves. Which occurred rarely because nothing ever happened that required a thought to be sought by any of this powerful and extinct race.
But this moment was different.
"Aeris, a time has risen on my surface that is calling for saviors. I request your presence." The loud sexless message hailing from a powerful blue light rang through the space the consciences took up.
In surprise and astonishment Aeris felt herself going towards the light. She was curiously wondering what was happening. The previous feeling of contentment among the realm had turned to all sorts of anxiousness and curiosity from the others of her heritage. The planet was speaking to her, something that hadn't occurred for what felt like an eternity of now. The blue light was coming closer she felt herself being consumed and transferred to a different area.
She opened heavy eyes to see herself in a glass bubble like structure that was very large and contained only herself. Along the outside she saw shades of many colors like fire fading and exploding along the sides. She was in the life stream. She looked down at her familiar body from the past. Her long chestnut waves falling over her dress she last wore. Anxiety consumed her wondering what was going on to cause such an outrageous thing to disrupt her peace.
"Aeris, I need your assistance once again my daughter. Will you refuse?" the voice asked.
Aeris looked down knowing the planet already knew her answer. She was a Cetra and she loved the planet there was no way she could refuse. "I will do whatever I must to protect your safety Planet. What is needed of me, may I inquire?"
She saw the colors around her turn to dark shades of sadness and pain. "My daughter, I am being injured at a constant pace. The lifestream is not being altered like our previous crisis but I'm being directly harmed. That is all the information I know of my child, without any of your kind left I know longer have eyes or ears on the surface. That is what I need you for."
Aeris felt her own self fall in the pain the planet was portraying. "Whatever you need my planet. I mean not to be selfish, but may I ask what time it would be on the surface now?" desperately wondering if she could confirm her hopes of getting to see her friends again.
The planet chuckled, colors around her changing in vibrant shades of pink and orange for a few seconds. "Why yes my dear, your friends are alive and they will need to aid you in the extinguishing of this threat. Almost like before, but this time I'll ask of you to make a dramatic change." The planet's colors fell to even darker colors as it finished the statement.
"What is it?" Aeris asked with a new found happiness knowing no other information could take away from her, her happiness. She thought about her friends a lot in her promised land, the memories she made with them, thinking about what they would be doing now, wishing if she ever got a chance to go back she'd run back to them in a heartbeat.
"Aeris my dear, this new threat is many times stronger than Jenova and ShinRa ever could have been. Avalanche alone would stand no chance. I can feel it in the rate my life is being taken away. You need help from another source. A source stronger than anything the Lifestream could produce. I'm releasing Sephiroth from his current seal in the lifestream."
Aeris felt her body's heart nearly stop. "Sephiroth?" She whispered in a confused state. "But planet Cloud killed him!" She looked up towards the top of the bubble as if that's where the face that owned the speaking voice was at.
"What you speak is nearly true. Cloud only managed to subdue Sephiroth, the life stream was able to seal him away, like happened to Jenova years ago. Do not be selfish, he is a soul that has been manipulated and taken advantage of by his own heritage and mislead by the cruelties resulting in his existence. He is a being truly worthy of a second chance."
Still trying to let sink in the planet's wisdom Aeris continued, "If he's so strong and powerful how could Cloud manage to subdue him?"
"My daughter, a lot you are mislead by. In the Northern Crater Jenova began parting from her control over the warrior's mind to summon the Meteor, which gave Sephiroth the time to unravel things for himself. He let your friends finish Jenova's physical existence on this planet, and then he offered himself for Cloud to finish him personally so the summon of Meteor could not be complete. Without your life Holy could have never completely stopped Meteor, the only reason it was stopped before impact was due to Sephiroth's sacrifice."
Aeris let her fall gaze fall to her feet understanding what the planet was saying. She sat down on the glass floor.
"Sephiroth was fooled to thinking he was a direct son of mine like you are a daughter of mine. Though he's not mine by blood I proudly would accept him if I had a choice. He would prove to be a most powerful ally." The planet concluded.
Aeris sighed. The planet's wisdom was unarguable. "So he will be safe on the surface?"
"Sephiroth will be the man he was before Jenova pronouncedly came into his life. Perhaps a bit more confused and disappointed but the same man"
Aeris remembered hearing the stories of his heroism and reading bits of speeches he gave. The idol of every boy she ever met in the slums. The crush of every girl she ever met. The friend of the boy she had fallen for….
The planet chuckled again its colors rotating back to the more joyful colors. "Speaking of that one. I will also be sending him back. Not by choice mind you though."
Aeris threw her head up "Zack? He's coming back too?"
"Yes my daughter. I have no choice. His tampered spirit energy is now entangled with Sephiroth's. They share the same, Sephiroth's even more confusing and less organic, but both are unrecyclable. So to send one back to the surface I will need to send the other."
Aeris felt a smile creep upon her lips. How she spent so much time missing that boy. To see him again would be a blessing.
"Planet, thank you for this opportunity."
The planets colors warmed considerably "My daughter you are the one who needs gratitude. You have sacrificed so much, and come back so willingly to risk it all again."
Aeris smiled at the planet.
"No time to waste though. Now I will send you back. Giving you further direction when you arrive. Few there will be now though since I'm not strong enough to communicate as long and thoroughly as I used to."
Aeris nodded. "I'm ready then."
She saw her spiritual body fading away. Anticipating her arrival back on the surface.
Her eyes shot open. Air she needed air!
The flower girl splashed around at the bottom of the lake in the place where she was impaled by Sephiroth's legendary weapon. Her splashing wasn't helping though. Just causing a commotion she tried going towards where the water became shallower and led to dry land but it seemed so far away.
Vincent's ears awoke him from a slumber in a crevice of the City of Ancients. The sound of splashing. That was a very rare event for him. In fact he quickly acknowledged he had never heard of any waters in the area being anything but as smooth and calm as silk. He hurried to the closest source of water, the lake.
Upon his arrival he found splashing coming from beneath the water. An idea struck his head but he blocked it out quickly as unfathomable but ran to the water to investigate nonetheless. He saw a blur of pink and brown beneath struggling to get out of the water.
"Aeris?!?" He said as he dived in for the mass of struggle. He met the struggling body underwater which flinched harshly as it felt him grab a hold of it. He wrapped an arm around the waist of the being and used the other to swim to the top without thinking of looking back for further confirmation of his speculations. Upon reaching surface he heard the woman coughing and choking from the water in her chest. He was in shock but at the same time his instincts kicked in. He laid the body on the floor and took his hands on each side of her chest and pumped the fluid out of her lungs. The girl had a surprisingly small amount of fluid in her lungs so it didn't take long till she sprung up in a sitting position and gasped desperately for the much wanted oxygen. Vincent sat back and stared at the miracle sitting before him.
Once Aeris caught her breath she looked up jubilantly at the face of the quiet friend she had made back in her previous life. "Vincent!" she threw her arms around him in a tight brace.
"Aeris? …Why are you back? Are you okay?" He asked as a flood of questions filled his mind.
"Oh Vincent! I'm so happy to see you!" She exclaimed still tightly holding him. Ignoring his questions for the moment.
Vincent just felt a warmness of joy overtake him, a rare occurrence for his tired mind and soul. He gave the embrace back, "I've missed you Aeris, everybody has. It feels like its been forever now."
"Aeris, you need to find Sephiroth. He's at the Crater. Please Hurry."
Aeris quickly reacted to the statement in her mind. She released the embrace still with joy filled in her heart. She looked at Vincent. "Vincent are the others here?"
He released from her and looked back into the sweet girl's eyes. "No most of them are in Midgar, a few returned to their hometowns. I'm the only here because I pray for redemption here."
Aeris felt a bit of disappointment as she was anticipating her reunion with everybody as soon as possible but the planet's demands undoubtedly came first. "Vincent, I need to find Sephiroth. Can you take me to the Northern Crater?"
Slightly taken aback by the reasoning of the request he cocked his head and knitted his brows but in realization, he regained his composure and looked back at her. "Yes I can. A request from the planet I presume?"
Aeris nodded. "Thank you, we need to hurry though. I'll tell you what I know along the way. I promise!" She added a grin with the last part as she stood up.
Vincent stood up with her. "Your still soaking, you will freeze. Don't you want to change clothes?"
Aeris looked back still full of energy and anticpatiion she shook her head, "No, we don't have time, I'll dry off I'll be fine!"
Vincent shook his head. He told her to wait for a moment. He quickly jumped over some small rocks to where he had previously lay in slumber and brought back a thick leather coat of red he used to wear during his adventure with Avalanche.
"At least wear this for now, we finally have you back, lets try not to lose you again." He said with an foreign sense of positivity.
Aeris smiled and said "I suppose I can do that."
Sephiroth leaned against the back of a cave wall. Actually not a cave as he noticed the only entrance was about three cubic square feet. The rest of the opening had been closed in by falling rocks. He realized what was happening. He looked at his body, as he had left it. He was back and alive. But before he even had a moment to stand up he was forced into his mind by a deep need for slumber.
"I had no idea the planet was under attack again." Vincent admitted, wondering if perhaps his solitude had kept him from even knowing. They were walking at a fairly brisk pace, Aeris's joy had somewhat fallen as she realized she was going to be facing her own murderer in a few hours. But Vincent believed the information she said the planet had told her about Sephiroth to be true. It seemed to make sense and fit perfectly. Vincent honestly felt a part of him warm up at the thought of getting to meet Lucrecia's son, truly being himself. So much was happening so fast, Vincent could tell that neither of them would be prepared for the meeting. Standing at the top of the crater where the helicopter ride from Highwind Industries he managed to get for him and Aeris due to knowing the right people. Vincent knew they could probably manage to find the man before the day was over, with it still being midday. Many of the monsters had disappeared over the past years due to the lack of nutrition they simply began feeding off each other.
"Vincent I'm a little bit scared. What are we going to say?" Aeris said walking closely to the man.
"The only thing we can say to him. Hello. And then we'll explain to him what we know is happening. After that we have no control, but I have a feeling it won't be much to worry about." Vincent replied.
Aeris smiled at the positive attitude that this man rarely was able to have. "Do you think Cloud will be able to understand? And the others?"
Vincent looked to the sky as they were getting deeper into the crater. "I am sure they won't handle it well. But like the Planet said, Sephiroth is strong it will be difficult for them to do anything."
Aeris looked down and nodded knowing what Vincent was saying was most likely the truth.
"Vincent do you know what anybody else is doing now?" Aeris asked thinking of happier thoughts of reuniting with their friends.
"Not too many of them. As you can tell Cid started his own aviation company, quite successful, quite handy too. Reeve, Cloud, and Tifa are in Midgar which they were rebuilding to an extent which should be complete or near to it at this point. As for the others I simply believe they went back to their hometowns." Vincent replied. "I rid myself of that lousy PHS so I knew I wouldn't be interrupted in my prayers but right now I regret doing such a thing. I apologize."
Aeris smiled. Vincent was such a typical loner but at the same time very caring and fatherly over her. "It's fine, thanks to Cid I'm sure we could be to Midgar in no time."
Vincent nodded.
A few hours later they were entering caves which most weren't long and led to dead ends due to the collapse. They stopped in one that had led to a dead end for a break. They sat on boulders. Vincent looked around somewhat annoyed about not finding the warrior yet. "What if he's in an enclosed space?" Aeris inquired tired.
"He might be, and if he is, I don't know what we'll do." Vincent said truthfully.
Aeris sighed.
"Next to you."
Aeris looked up to Vincent. "Are you sure this is a dead end Vincent?"
"Seems to be no other entry ways. Did the planet speak to you?"
"It said he's next to us…" She said as she got up and started looking around.
"There behind you!" She said as she saw behind the boulder Vincent was sitting on, a small opening they'd have to crawl through but nonetheless an opening. Vincent somewhat annoyed that he missed the entrance was the first to go through followed by his female companion. They entered, it was dark the little light coming through the whole they crawled through. But they saw the reflection of the light from the man's light silver hair slumped against the hair in seemingly a deep slumber.
"He is sleeping?" Vincent said curiously honestly expecting a different kind of confrontation.
"Should I touch him?" Aeris said as she bent down and quickly poked a hand she saw laying on the ground beside him. The large, muscular man's body made several alarming twitches in response though his eyes had yet to open.
Aeris was ready to comment but she saw Sephiroth twitch his eyes open glowing green and pale. He looked around to his slightly familiar surroundings minus the two beings now accompanying him. He looked at the silhouettes of the people with him. He recognized them. One was the Cetra that he had slain which he slightly cringed at the thought of his deeds. The other was one whose name he did not know but traveled with Cloud Strife also. There was an ominous feeling filling up the small enclosure. He couldn't recall a time when he been in a stranger situation.
"I need some light." Sephiroth announced primarily to himself as he stood up and walked towards the wall with the opening on the ground. Aeris and Vincent watched him intently awaiting any wrong or suspicious move. Sephiroth faced the wall and threw one arm to the back of him and then pushed it forward causing some unseen force to tear the rocks that blocked the opening of the cave to crumble down forcing a flood of light to tear through the darkness.
Aeris felt her jaw slightly drop at how easy the man made it look. Sephiroth turned around to the two still standing there somewhat awe shocked. Sephiroth sighed, a truly awkward situation. "I suppose we still are in need of former introductions despite our vague acknowledgement of each other. I'm Sephiroth." He said, he himself eyeing the two suspiciously. He knew no explanation for why he was conscious, or why this girl had been brought back from the dead, but it seemed no foul intention have been displayed as of yet.
Vincent and Aeris were seemingly waiting for each other to go first. Vincent looked at her and recalled how she announced earlier she was fearful so he decided to take the first risk. He stood up to his full height, only a few inches shorter than the General, and met the man's piercing green eyes. "Hello, I would be Vincent Valentine." Sephiroth made a small nod in acknowledgement, his expression still looked suspicious of the famliar man and woman.
"Good to meet you, Vincent." Sephiroth said dryly. He turned to the small girl with an obvious look of fear on her face. Aeris was brave and followed Vincent's lead hoping for the same response. "I-I'm Aeris Gainsborough."
A slight cynical smirk tugged at Sephiroth's mouth noticing the girl's intimidation but fought it back, "Nice to meet you Aeris. I commemorate you for your bravery. Not to refer to an unpleasant time but your actions did reflect much courage and valor." He would be daft to not admit this woman, being a Cetra, was a very powerful being.
Aeris was honestly surprised on hearing compliments so soon from the man that the planet was right about. Was he tricking her? Was it a sick joke? "Th-Thank you."
Vincent looked at Aeris, proud of her in a special sort of way.
"I know I'm not standing here without purpose so I feel we should make our way out of here while I'm caught up to speed on the information regarding the situation." Sephiroth announced with stoic confidence.
Vincent turned to Aeris and she turned to him and he nodded at her telling her it was okay and she nodded back. They continued out the cave following Sephiroth who seemed like he knew the place well or more likely, he just had a good sense navigation.
"The Planet revived us to fight off an evil that is hurting it. I'm the planet's eyes and ears and your suppose to work with Avalanche to defeat the culprit." Aeris said trying to make it short and sweet.
Sephiroth lead them a few more meters before replying with little enthusiasm at this news. "I assume Avalanche stands for Cloud and his friends? Also do you know anything of this evil we are suppose to destroy?"
"Yes that is what we called ourselves. No that is why the planet wants me to be its eyes and ears." Aeris said behind him.
"Sounds fun." Sephiroth said with cold sarcasm. "So from here we are going to meet up with the rest of Avalanche and then track down the source of the problem and destroy it."
"Yes, so far that's what Vincent and I were planning on." Aeris confirmed. Sephiroth was definitely different than when they had chased him down years ago. Aeris couldn't help but be surprised at his lack of interest in discussing what happened then, it was almost like he wasn't aware of it at all. The planet was right, but his power still intimidated her.
Vincent had been staring holes into Sephiroth's back as soon as he confirmed in his mind that Aeris and him were safe following this man. All he could think about was only if Lucrecia could see her son and the leader he became. How unfair the world was to his love and also to her one and only son. He wished he could bear all the pain they had been undeservingly given.
"Vincent Valentine, what's your story?" Sephiroth asked. Aeris noted how he seemed like he was just trying to keep a conversation going, though he was being less than kind. It was interesting not what she expected at all. It was definitely calming but at the same time quite surprising. Maybe convincing the rest of her friends he was sane would be easy.
"It's a long story." Vincent replied knowing it might be unnerving to Sephiroth how they are connected in past. How Vincent could honestly say that he's meant Sephiroth before, just it was that he was a baby then.
"We have an hour or so more of hiking up this hill. I'm sure you can fit it in." Sephiroth replied with a small burst of impolite tone.
"If you insist." Vincent sighed. "I had a normal childhood. Then I joined the ShinRa and eventually climbed my way into the position of a Turk. Things were for the most part normal Turk jobs until I was assigned a mission to accompany a few scientists to the ShinRa mansion in Nibelheim." Sephiroth stopped walking and turned to face Vincent to check for honesty and better listen to the rest of this story. The rest also stopped. "There I was to make sure no outsiders got themselves involved with the doings of these scientists and make sure nothing was tampered with. I became a lot more involved with it than I planned on. I became rather close with one of those scientists, her name was Lucrecia. She told me about what they were doing all the time. She was so excited. The Jenova Project. To create simply a superhuman by manipulating the genetics involved in a normal conception and fertilization. She was the carrier of the child. But when one of the scientists, Hojo, got to the point of abusing Lucrecia for the success of their experiment I became more closely involved. I kept all my questioning of his motives only verbal until the day that child was born and Lucrecia was near death and wanting nothing more than to hold her only child which was ruthlessly taken from her by Hojo and she was left to die right there. I attempted to take my anger to the physical level with Hojo but he predicted everything. He caught me and made me a lab rat of his own for the longest time. When finished he locked me in a coffin right there in the ShinRa mansion where I slept to repent for my incapability to do anything for thirty years." Vincent finished sorrow very apparent in his voice remembering his love.
Sephiroth still staring the man down knowing he was truthfully honest and recalling some of the information in the books and documentation he read in the basement of the ShinRa mansion. Sephiroth felt like he should say more but decided at this point it was best to keep things simple with these new found acquaintances. "ShinRa hurt many people, particularly Professor Hojo."
Aeris and Vincent were both mildly surprised expecting a less simple and more uncontrolled reaction from the Soldier. Neither of them commented though as Sephiroth walked back to the lead of them to the top of the Crater.
"Vincent, how many years has it been since I summoned Meteor?" Sephiroth asked a few minutes later.
"Its only been 2." Vincent replied simply.
Sephiroth slightly snickered to himself.
That was it for conversation for the next hour or so until they reached the top where the helicopter had waited for them. Vincent spoke with pilot who agreed he could manage to fly them to the outskirts of Midgar. Once they secured themselves in the seats in the back Vincent urged Aeris she should sleep which she much obliged too tired from their journey today. Sephiroth scanned outside the window looking for a possible sign of what they were sent to destroy for the safety of the planet. Sephiroth had found himself focusing on this evil instead of reckoning it with the past since he knew there was guilt inside of him but he was also aware that there was nothing he could do to rid himself of it. He knew surely though it'd hit him hard when he had the rest of Cloud's friends hounding him about it.
Vincent sat there still thinking about Sephiroth. How they were so similar dealing with such a powerful guilt of something neither of them had much to deserve. Vincent felt like taking it upon himself to protect this man, or this boy, this boy that is Lucrecia's only son.
Meanwhile Outside of Midgar
"What the hell?" Zack Fair said to himself as he woke up in the middle of the plain where his last thoughts were that him and Cloud have to get out of there. He looked around now with no signs of anybody and most annoyingly no sign of his Buster Sword. He stood up which seemed kind of rough for him but he managed. He stretched out his limbs which felt great to his tired body. He looked around and saw some sandy beaches to his right and then green plains to his left. He turned around and saw what he thought should have been Midgar but was completely different. This town had one level and he couldn't see the ShinRa building anywhere.
"What the fuck? Where am I?" He said to himself wondering what he was going to do. He looked around for anything he could recognize but just found himself getting more and more confused. He decided his only course of action was to walk towards that mysterious town and ask what the hell's been going on and hopefully no monsters will approach him on his way because now he lacks a weapon of any sort.
Tifa loved feeling the wind blow through her hair. IT had been a long morning with Cloud unusually grumpy so she decided to take his motorbike for a ride herself. She usually didn't go this far out of town but she'd been around the outskirts so many times she knew it like the back of her hand so she thought she was ready for a little different terrain. She'd been gone for about an hour now thinking about heading back before Cloud decided he needed to get worried. Ever since Meteor he had always been getting worried almost in a paranoid way but she felt it was understandable after all the mental torture he endured during that journey.
As Tifa was turning the bike around to go back into town she saw a figure walking into town. This was honestly rare, since Meteor most people had quit traveling as much, especially by foot, despite the monsters being significally fewer and far between so she decided to go see who it must be. If it was a traveler they might need aid and if it was a townfolk she probably knew them since Midgar had been built dramatically smaller after Meteor. She decided to drive and check them out. Some of the former populants died while others decided it was a sign that they should move, either way the vast majority of Midgar left and now it was left for the few that stayed and well few of us from Avalanche.
Zack turned as he heard a loud engine behind him. He smiled at the image he saw. A good heartwarming image to raise his heart and hopes. Or something else. A very busty woman riding a motorbike his way. He decide he'd just smile and wait and maybe if he was lucky he could hitch a ride with this biker babe. As she got closer though Zack cocked his head thinking how familiar this woman looked though he couldn't quite remember who.
Tifa felt a sick feeling in her stomach as she got closer and recognize that familiar SOLDIER uniform with black spikey hair. She was trying to reason with her mind thinking its just somebody that looks similar but the closer she was getting by the second she knew she couldn't deny it.
She pulled up to the familiar Soldier. He looked like he was trying to recognize her from somewhere.
"Hey! I'm Soldier Zack Fair. And I'm sorry but you look familiar miss, do I know you?" Zack said with a genuine smile on his face.
Tifa felt her mind somewhat falling apart. She had to take him to Cloud. This man should not be here alive and well, something had to be up. "Yes, we've met before. Jump on, I have a friend you need to meet," Tifa commanded in an urgent way. Her mind was in disbelief, had she been dreaming? Was this a joke by somebody who knew more than they should? She shook her head slightly, it didn't matter she needed to take this man to Cloud.
Zack lost his grin and did as beckoned by this girl. She seemed somewhat confused so he figured he might as well jump behind her and wrap his arms around this attractive girl's waist and enjoy his time doing it. And find out what's going on with this crazy world. And it couldn't be too bad since women were still allowed to wear black belly shirts and tight jeans like this one was.
Vincent sat in a silence swimming through the flood of thoughts invading his conscience. So much had happened in this single day, it was coming to an end, already being dark and perhaps another hour or so to get to Midgar.
"You know you should probably contact Cloud before our arrival to give him somewhat of a headsup. I'm sure it will be quite a large shock to just show up at his door." Sephiroth suggested moving his head to Vincent from the window speaking in an almost tired sounding voice.
"I don't have any way of contacting him." Vincent admitted wishing he had planned for emergencies like this.
Sephiroth made a grunt that came with a grin. Almost a slight insult to Vincent but seemed to be more a humorous signal. Sephiroth unbuckled himself from his seat and walked a few short steps to the cockpit. He bent down and moved his head to the level of the pilot in a seat. The pilot had already been very intimidated upon his first sight of his silver haired passenger and Sephiroth could tell he was at this time also.
"Do you have a phone of any sort we could borrow?" Sephiroth inquired loudly to overtake the sound of the copters.
The man turned to Sephiroth but looked downwards in an attempt to avoid the General's piercing gaze. He moved his hand and shuffled in his pocket and grabbed a cell phone while keeping his other hand on the controls. He handed his phone shakily to Sephiroth.
"Thank you. It should be returned in the same condition in short time." He said almost sarcastically sounding very technical for amusement. He turned on his heels while bent down to avoid hitting his head on the roof of the aircraft and handed the phone to Vincent.
"Good use of resources." Vincent replied somewhat humored feeling embarrassed for not thinking of the action himself. He opened the phone and dialed for the operator and through a series of calls finally got the number of Cloud Strife. He dialed Cloud's number.
It rang for several minutes and then he got the sound of an answering machine, "Hi! You have reached the Strife residence, we're not present at the time so please leave a message and leave you name, number, and anything else and we'll try to get back to you soon!" Tifa's voice said pleasantly.
"Hello Cloud, Tifa this is Vincent Valentine. I called to tell you I'm on my way to Midgar with some…important findings…regarding the incident two years ago…" Vincent was about to continue but was interrupted with a click noise and a familiar voice saying "Vincent! Hey! We should talk." Cloud voice rang.
"Yes we need too." Vincent replied.
"Zack Fair, the Soldier I was captured with in the Nibelheim accident, we found him, alive and well with no idea what's happened the past 7 years. Something is happening we're summoning all the Avalanche members to meet back here." Cloud paused and then continued. "You were saying you found something? What is it?"
Vincent grimaced as he knew the information he was about to deliver would stir quite the reaction from Cloud. "I've found some people too."
Cloud already had a good idea about at least one of the people, "Aeris?!"
"Yes and somebody else too." Vincent said. Sephiroth was obviously listening as he slightly grinned knowing what was about to happen.
Cloud puzzedly said, "Who else…?"
"I have Sephiroth with me."
Cloud help a long silence on the phone. Vincent could tell he was having problems digesting the information.
"The planet revived them. Aeris told me so. Jenova's still gone too, so this is the actual Sephiroth. We'll explain more when we arrive. We're a little less than an hour away as you can probably here the helicopter through the phone." Vincent spoke urgently.
A silence still continued on the other side of the phone but was halted when Cloud recollected himself on the other end, "So the planet brought Sephiroth back too?"
"Yes."
"Vincent, watch him. I don't care if Holy brought him back he's not to be trusted by us. Make sure Aeris is careful. I'll meet you at the landing pad." Cloud announced his voice now powerful, and laced with anger. The phone clicked.
Vincent closed the phone and returned it to the pilot. "Cloud will meet us at the landing pad."
Sephiroth just turned his head back to the window. His hearing was able to make out the news about Zack Fair. The first good news about his arrival back to this planet. One person left he's still familiar with. Sephiroth's mind was full of questions he did not care to know the answers to.
'Does the rest of the world know about the happenings of before? Does every man on this planet loathe me? Do my former followers now turn against me in shame? What has happened? What's going to happen? Is there anything really left for me here? I know in time these answers will find me, but no point in rushing them by interrogating the others. I wonder how events will turn out when i tell the others I feel no need to apologize, the question would arise, should somebody with good intentions utilized by an untrustworthy power be punished? A question with no straight answer. To choose one answer yes is to think with only the mind and disregard the heart's feelings, the thing that makes me human, but to answer no would be too be naive. Maybe the fact that I feel no guilt for my decisions shows that I am very heartless and barely even human anymore. Or maybe I'm truly undeserving. I played as much of a part in dismantling Meteor as I did in creating it. In due time I suppose, all will be answered.'
About fifteen minutes till their landing Aeris woke up from sleeping. "Are we there yet?"
"No soon, you can see Midgar, or what's left of it, from here." Sephiroth said pointing out the window. Aeris moved to the window he was pointing at and witnessed this new town. It was pretty, steal buildings like before but only on one level with a lot less area. But it actually looked homely like people actually lived there while before she remembered it just looked like a home for machines and technology. It looked completely different. Aeris felt part of her almost thankful for it's dismantling by the Meteor. She then wondered what happened to her church. Wondering if they saved anything from it for her as a momento. She was so curious she couldn't wait to get reuinited with her friends and see what they have done to the city.
"How are we going to find Cloud and the others when we get there?" Aeris asked her companions?
"He's meeting us at the landing pad in the city." Vincent replied.
"Oh that's good." Aeris replied feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"Cloud said that he has a man named Zack fair with him." Vincent continued wondering if Aeris was familiar with this man.
"Really?! They beat us to him! That's good! I bet he's awfully confused!" Aeris exclaimed completely uplifted.
Sephiroth turned in his seat thoroughly surprised by this girl's recognition of his friend. "You're familiar with Zack?"
"Yes! I dated him for several months before he went on that mission." Aeris said still uplifted despite mentioning the painful event from the past.
Sephiroth raised his eyebrows even more surprised, this world was definitely rather small. "Interesting." Was all he could say to this new information.
Aeris talked with Vincent a bit more about what had happened when they contacted Cloud and she scolded him for not waking her up to talk to him but she was merciful in her good mood. And before long they found themselves above the landing pad slowly descending. Aeris got up close to the window and looked down looking for Cloud. When she spotted him she began yelling and waving frequently through the window but little did she knew they were tinted so she wasn't making much progress. Sephiroth leaned his head back in annoyance and Vincent only grinned at the girl's youthful behavior.