Sorry for the awaited update. I was on vacation and had started the next chapter on my little Proscan tablet that my husband stepped on while on vacay which cracked the screen. And then when we got home I tried turning the dang thing on and it's busted. So I had to rewrite the chapter, or at least the beginning of it. Thanks for all the continued support and wonderful reviews!
Morning came quickly and the groggy soon-to-be SOLDIER didn't want to rise. Ari managed to sleep well for her first night in a foreign environment. Grudgingly she pulled herself up and out. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, and surprised herself with wild hair that looked like it was going to be fun to fix. Into the bathroom she went through her normal routine of shower and managing her face.
The conditioner from the shower helped with her rats nest hair but still hurt like hell getting the knots and tangles out. She finalized the morning with brushing her teeth then headed out as a knock came to her door.
Angeal greeted her with a warm smile before they headed off to the debriefing room. The glow of soft blue could be seen through the door and as the door swished open, Ari and Angeal were greeted with Sephiroth and Lazard already waiting for them.
Her test would be here already to see what she could be capable of for SOLDIER as Lazard explained about some distant mountain village that had sent several requests for help.
"So this requires two of your top warriors?" Lazard shook his head.
"No, Sephiroth and Angeal will come along to assess your abilities." Ari said nothing else as she chided in her head about the situation.
They were dismissed and headed up to the roof. Huge metal doors creaked as Sephiroth pushed through. The copter looked exactly like it did in Advent Children and the propellars slowly twirled. The high pitched humming was starting signaling that the copter was readying for flight. Waves of wind pushed against her and Tseng awaited them by the air vehicle.
Tseng and Sephiroth exchanged words before the black haired Turk took off into the building. One by one, they boarded the helicopter and took their seats. Ari sat closest to the cock pit while Angeal and Sephiroth took the seats across from her. It was quiet until a red head popped out from the pit.
"Well hello ladies and gents! I'm Reno and I'll be yall's pilot! If ya need anything, jus' let me know!" He winked at Ari before returning to his seat up from. The befuddled look on her face earned a chuckle from the men accompanying her on the mission. Ari glared before gazing out the side and watched as the ground shrunk below them.
It was the only way for her to pass time, watching the landscape below her. Reminded her of home and traveling to go see family out of state. The thought made her heart sink. Who knows when she could see her mother's face again...
Mother...
Without turning her head, Ari gazed over to Sephiroth. She knew exactly who he was...or at least who was going to become. Without missing a beat he gazed over to her to which Ari returned her eyes to the ground.
What am I going to do? I have no idea how to get back home...but there has to be a way back from the source...I wonder if Natalie and Kaylie are working to get me back? Kore has to have a way to get people back...
"Ari." Her head twitched over. Sephiroth glued her in his gaze. "This village we're going to keeps saying about monsters attacking randomly. We will land outside the village and keep watch until a monster comes out." She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Really, just sit there an wait? I can understand the tactic, but in this instance shouldn't we gather intel from the villagers?" He shook his head.
"This time no." Her eyebrows knitted together processing what he just said.
"Are you thinking someone is behind the attacks?" Both men nodded.
"The instances are specific and keep attacking the same families." So revenge...or hate. Whichever. She nodded in acknowledgment and the copter began descending.
Her limbs stretched high into the air as Ari climbed out of the vehicle. She had only flown a couple of times but never in a helicopter let alone a military one. Ahead of the boys, she went over to the closest cliffside and gazed over a gorgeous view.
Below was the village surrounded by dense forest and a lake only a few minutes from the quaint town. The water glimmered gorgeously in the midday sun. She took in a breath and caught all kinds of wonderful smells. Dark pine, fresh grass and mostly that water. This area was healthy and full of life. Angeal came up next to her and took in the scene.
"It's beautiful." He nodded in agreement. "So now we just sit here and wait, right?" Sephiroth chimed in from behind agreeing with her statement. Ari gazed about for a bit before taking watch over the town.
\ \ \
It was kinda fun watching these people. Despite being so high up, she could see each individual person. Sunset was approaching and the people below were hustling to finish everything. There were a few houses that Ari could tell belonged to some of the richer folks of the town but really none of them stood out as absurdly poor. Things were calm until Ari noticed slight movement about twenty feet behind the village.
"Huh?" Immediately the boys turned away from their conversation and came to her side. "Over there, behind the village. It looks like someone has a secret door?" She pointed over and the boys 'huh'd as well. She narrowed her eyes to focus in on the scene. A middle aged man, followed by a woman, emerged from a trap door. The woman carried glowing orbs.
"There's a man and a woman. Perhaps a couple? Anyway, she's carrying glowing orbs...they're talking about something..." She relayed what she was seeing. "Now she's handing him a...what is he doing? He absorbed it?" Sephiroth chuffed.
"He's summoning." That's right. Kadaj did that to summon Bahamut SIN in the movie. The whole situation was becoming surreal for the cyan haired girl. The materia absorbed blasted off to the side. Runes glowed and slowly out emerged a monster.
"Holy crap...that things huge. Its gonna destroy the town if we don't hurry." She turned to Sephiroth waiting for a response. He nodded and she thrust forward from the cliffside. Ari heard the boys shortly after and after a couple more jumps she landed not to far from the town.
The beast closed in on the town quickly, and Ari didn't think twice. Screams of terror echoed as she heard people yelling various "not again" statements. Evading oncoming traffic, Ari deftly dodged through, running as fast as she could. She noticed the beast had raised its claws readying for its first strike.
Nope! Not today! With ease and grace, she leaped into the sky and drew her blade. The steel clashed against the beasts scaly hands creating sparks. It howled angrily and used its other hand to swing at her. She maneuvered around feeling the swoosh of wind from the missed attack. Landing atop its hand she glared up and it glared down.
The beast looked like a mix of canine and dragon, body like a dog and scales to match the dragon. Growling the beast began to build fire in its mouth. Moving once more, Ari took her blade and shoved it down the muzzle. Red hues died and the beast swung violently trying to shake off the warrior and her blade.
Ari grabbed her sword and violently ripped it out and landed away from the angry beast and away from the town. It's red eyes followed her and howled. Without missing a step, she turned and ran, keeping the beast in tow. It was easy, until another circle rune popped into the sky. Making a sharp turnaround, Ari jumped straight at the beast and sliced through its neck, mercilessly killing it.
Blood sprayed and pooled around her. She stuck her tongue out in disgust but turned to the sky. Another clawed hand came through the portal and then horns. Her stomach dropped as the next beast emerged. She hurried back to the village and found the boys watching as well.
"The first one is dead. What are they summoning now." Angeal scowled.
"Bahamut." Acting in confusion, she turned to the sky and watched. She shook her head.
"Do you suppose that this is happening because those two knew we'd be coming or is it coincidence that we're here to protect the village from a serious attack today?" Sephiroth shook his head this time.
"Either way, we needed to be here." The beast fully emerged, screamed and dove to the village. Ari heard a whimper and turned around finding a child watching the scene out in the open. She hurried over to the little girl and knelt down.
"Sweetie, what are you doing? Go home!" She whimpered more and began to cry.
"Mommy and daddy are gone!"
"ARI!" She grabbed the child and shoved the two of them out of the way. Bahamuts fore foot missed her, slamming the ground with devastating force. The windows shattered on each house from the aftershocks of the landing. Gaining her balance again, Ari glared up at the monster and turned to the boys.
"I'm gonna get her to a safe place before -" said child shrieked in terror.
"No! Don't leave me! Those bad people are going to come and get me!" Sephiroth came over leaving Angeal to fend off Bahamut for a moment. Ari turned to the silver haired man.
"What should I do? I could try to leave her with a neighbor?" He was about to say something when a young woman screamed from her window.
"SOLDIER! Leave Tanya over here!" Ari looked to the little girl.
"Is she okay to leave you with?" She nodded.
"Amaya is nice..." Sephiroth returned to his friends side and snuck around Bahamut to the small house. The door opened with Amaya ushering in Tanya. Tanya took one last glance at Ari and it almost broke her heart. Those eyes...broken and terrified. Ari nodded to Amaya and returned to the battlefield.
She turned in time to watch Bahamut backhand her two companions and both slamming into the ground with a loud crash. It took its spare hand and began to slam it down onto Sephiroth. Everything happened so quickly...
\ \ \
All he could hear was a high pitch ring and sudden stillness. The silver haired SOLDIER groaned and rose up on his elbows. Dust began to clear and cyan invaded his vision. Before him was Ari with her blade risen against Bahamut's palm. Blood began to drip and stained her bright colors. A growl escaped her lips as she pushed back against the monster. Letting out a small scream she shoved its hand away slicing it wide open and the monster howling in utter pain.
She turned to him, a large gash across her face. What surprised him was watching the wound heal in a matter of seconds. Her hand extended out to him and he took it; she helped him back to his feet and proceeded over to Angeal. With all three back up, Ari turned back to the monster, who was getting back up on its feet, and clenched her fists. She was going to kill this beast herself.
Calmly she took the lead, Sephiroth and Angeal followed close by. She held out a hand to stop them.
"Ari, you can't handle Bahamut on your own." Her cyan eyes glared over to Angeal.
"Just watch me." Bahamut's roar signaled the fight. She bolted off, blade in tow and listening to her heart beat.
Thu-thud. Thu-thud. Thu-thud. It's beautiful beat stayed calm and steady despite her exertion. The world around her became clear and Bahamut's details shone through. Those bright eyes, born of the Lifestream, and the exquisite detailing of its natural armor.
Jump. Jump. She glided through the air reaching higher more vulnerable places on her target.
Chink. Chink. Her blade gouged out skin and armor.
Dodge. Bahamut was not happy with her. Screaming in anger and swinging violently.
Now. Exhaling a calming breath, she narrowed her focus and Ari bolted off to higher speeds. The fury of her blade surprised Sephiroth and Angeal as they took a glance to one another before resuming to the battle. Ari was here, then there in a matter of milliseconds. What exactly was she?
"This may be a bad time to say this...but I think she would be a great asset to the company."
Or one of its greatest threats. Sephiroth kept the thought to himself. Angeal may be right but they have to keep her on their side.
Suddenly she landed before them, blade extended and crouched. Panting could be heard and surprisingly it was not coming from the new girl. Sephiroth gazed up to see Bahamut struggling to stay standing. There was a flash and both men saw Ari on the other side of the summon blood across her blade. Both turned to the monster and slowly the beasts head slid down and fell to the ground. Head and body fell to the ground shaking the earth but seconds later, everything was calm once more.
Sephiroth turned to the girl who approached them calm and collected. Despite her good act he could see that she had used up quite a bit of energy and was hiding exhaustion. She cocked her head up at him, curious at his expression. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"That was reckless. Taking down a high level summon like that on your own." She chuckeld at him.
"Awww, you actually do care!" Ari brushed his hand away and turned to the villagers gathering around them. Angeal chuckled at Sephiroth and stood next to Ari. The silver haired man turned with his companions and watched as all the scared towns people gathered around them in both fear and awe. Tanya bolted through the crowd and hugged Ari's waist, face buried in her stomach. Taken aback for a moment, she stood there unsure what to do. Slowly her hands came down and hugged the little girl back. Little sobs muffled through clothing caught Ari's attention.
"Are you sad for your mom and dad?" She stroked the little girl's back. Tanya nodded and cried harder. "Shhhh...it's okay sweetheart." In one swoop Ari picked the crying child up and held her close. She let Tanya cry and sob, and after a few minutes her crying slowed to hiccups. Ari felt Sephiroth's gaze on her to which she gazed back up to the General. His stoic gaze warranted him an eyebrow quirk, daring him to say something. He turned away and examined the crown. She did the same and saw the two culprits in the back.
"Sephiroth..." He nodded, obviously he saw them too. His presence made the crowd split as he came forward. The last rays of sun glowed beautifully on Sephiroth's hair and Ari became transfixed.
"You do have a thing for him don't you?" She turned over to Angeal.
"No, I just noticed how his hair reflected the sunset. I thought it was beautiful was all...I can't afford to build any kind of future here..." She turned away from him and away from Sephiroth. Angeal frowned at her last statement.
Sephiroth returned with the couple and shoved them to the ground. They looked up to the three with terrified expressions.
"What's the meaning of this!?" The man's face was an odd mix of fear and anger. Ari cocked her eyebrow.
"You two are the ones who summoned the monsters today. And I'm going on a pretty strong hunch that you've been doing this for some time too. Enough to have your village leader send out S.O.S's to ShinRa." Tanya turned around and look down.
"Ari...them..." She turned her face to the little girl. Ari's heart broke, this little girl she had already bonded with, was broken. Tany's face held no expression...just an aura of loneliness. She nodded and glared down at the two.
"And it seems you've killed Tanya's parents as well." The man shook his head.
"We did no such thing!" Ari turned to the townspeople.
"Someone show my comrade their house so he may search for any evidence!" Amaya came forward and lead Angeal off to a decent little home. Everyone began to chat amongst themselves and Ari gazed off into the distance.
"You can't keep her." Ari blinked a few times before refocusing on slit mako eyes. Tanya's dark brown eyes locked with his.
"But...I don' wanna loose her..." Ari placed a hand on the side of the little girls head and stroked her hair.
"Shhh...don't listen to the mean ol' General." Sephiroth twitched at the name. She shot off a glare to him when Angeal arrived with a box of summoning materia.
"This was found in their bedroom along with some maps of the town with 'X's over houses." Sephiroth cuffed both people and brought them back to their feet. Amaya came over to Ari. Ari gazed away sadly.
"Thank you...for everything." Ari shook her head.
"Don't thank me. I'm not a miracle worker." While Angeal lead the prisoners away to the copter Sephiroth came over.
"Ari..." The blue haired woman began to let Tanya down to which the girl began to shriek in terror. She bent down and gazed at Tanya right in the eye, sad as well.
"Sweetie...I can't let you come with me. ShinRa is dangerous for you...and I can't promise I'll be able to protect you at all times..." Tears streamed down her beautiful dark skin.
"But...I'm not safe here either...you came to protect us! Why can't I come! Why is it so dangerous!?" Ari's gloved hand began to stroke her long kinky hair.
"Because...there are people there that have no morals and will do things to you. I want you to be as safe as possible..." Tanya looked hard at Ari and saw how sad she was as well. The little girl hugged her savior and squeezed as tight as her little arms could do. Ari returned the gesture, wishing never to part with this little girl. When they separated, she smiled at Tanya.
"Tell ya what, I'll write to you okay? We'll be pen pals! Don't forget to tell me how you're growing, okay?" A smile ghosted on Tanya's little face as she nodded.
Ari got up and began towards the heli. Sephiroth stood there and watched her sulk off. Tanya gazed up to the man and pulled on his trench coat. He turned back to her curious at the little girl.
"Take care of her please? She's sad and lost...like me." Unsure of how to answer her, he nodded and began back to the copter.
\ \ \
Everyone was quiet loading up the copter. Ari's body began to ache, not from physical exhaustion but emotional baggage. Once again she failed to protect everyone. Memories of home invaded her mind making it harder to concentrate.
Finally, everything was loaded and the three took their seats. She kept her eyes outside watching the mountains fade away back to open plains. Her mind wandered back to Tanya. How lost that little girl must be right now.
"Ari." Cyan orbs glided over to make green ones. "There was nothing you could do." Her eyebrows knitted together.
"Is that your way of comforting someone? Cause it's terrible."
"I'm not trying to comfort you. I'm trying to make you realize what was and wasn't possible." Her blood began to boil.
"Excuse you?" She began a defensive stance with him. He raised his head slightly trying to exert his dominance. He really wanted to push her buttons. Her voice became dark. "You want to try that again, General?" Just because he was something special doesn't mean she'll let him push her over.
"Watch your tone, SOLDIER." She grit and bared her teeth at him. Standing up, she stared him down.
"Watch yours Sephiroth." He stood while she was threatening him. Sparks flew as he entered her personal space, his body nearly touching hers.
"Stand down." She chuffed at him.
"What? Is big bad Sephiroth afraid of a little girl? Can't handle one person?" Angeal stood but Sephiroth raised a hand to him. The poor man sat back down.
"You need to calm down SOLDIER." She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back.
"For one, you don't ever tell a woman to calm down! Second of all, you've never suffered loss! Do you have the blood of innocents on your hands!?" He raised his head in curiosity.
"Oh, you've killed innocents have you?"
"NO! They're blood is on my hands because I wasn't there in time to save them! Tanya's parents should still be alive right now! Had you let us gone to the damn village earlier they would be alive and she would have her livelihood still! Now their blood is on my hands because I couldn't do a damn thing!" He shook his head.
"It still was out of your hands and nothing you could do."
"YOU GODDAMN HEARTLESS BASTARD!" She shoved past him and stormed to the back of the copter. In her corner she let the tears stream down as the memories of those fallen in her hands thank her for being with them in their last moments.
"Dammit..." Ari hung her head in shame as the memories bombarded her for the remainder of the trip.