Musings of Emerald and Silver
By turtlerad17 I don't own Final Fantasy 7
Drabble 4: Homeward
He was tired, oh so tired. He had tried for godhood for what seemed countless times, bathing the planet in blood during each of his deadly crusades. How could one so powerful and mighty always be defeated by such a weak hearted puppet? It didn't make sense. He, Sephiroth, was faster, stronger, smarter, more agile and a better magic user than that pathetic puppet but somehow that scrawny SOLDIER reject always managed to get the best of him.
He was so sick of it. Even now he could still feel the aching wounds that covered his body as it floated helplessly in the Lifestream. His very presence there polluted and contaminated the life energies that swirled around him, turning them a sickly blackish purple. What use did the planet have for keeping him here when his presence only further corrupted the Lifestream? Why not just finally destroy his soul, scattering his essence to the winds? Gaia knows that he was weak enough for it to do just that.
A stray thought flickered across his mind. An image of a thin brunette in a pink dress covered in blood arouse before his eyes. Who was this girl? What did she mean to him? He knew that he should know who she is, as if they had known each other in their lives personally. Sephiroth tried to identify the feelings that arouse from his core that came along with the bloody image of this girl in pink.
A few he could easily identify, such feelings being constant companions for the majority of his existence. Emotions like hate, anger and scorn he recognized easily. But her image also brought up less experienced emotions such as sadness, wistfulness and regret as well. Who was this female that could inspire such soft emotions from the former demi-god?
Suddenly a name flashed in his mind to accompany the image of the girl; Aeris. And then he remembered who this female was and what she had been to him. At first when he saw her she was merely a nuisance, just another one of the puppet's tagalongs. Then his annoyance at her became intrigue when he learned that she was a Cetra. He had thought that he was the last one. Confusion had replaced curiosity at that. Why was one of the last rightful heirs to the planet traveling with this ragtag group, trying to stop him nonetheless?
Anger replaced confusion. Who was she to try and defy him? If she really was a true Cetra, should she not be by his side helping him to rid the planet of the filth known as humanity? Had she not suffered at the hands of the stupid apes just like he and Mother had? He was so angry and confused and had no idea why this mere slip of a girl belonging to an ancient race was helping these roaches. So he decided to try and find out some answers.
One night he had crept into the girl's dreams. What he found was not what he had been expecting. The moment he entered her sleeping mind he was bombarded by a million different voices, voices that both caressed him with love and attacked him with anger and hate. What on earth was this? How was it possible for so many different voices to be in this girl's mind without her going insane? Gaia knows that he was nothing close to sane and he only had the voice of Mother in his mind. Then he had heard her voice ring out above the rest as she conversed with one of the entities that swirled around him.
"Yes I know mother," the girl's clear bell-like voice spoke again.
"Oh Aeris how I wish that I could be with you for your coming ordeal," an older female voice answered her.
"I know mother, I know," Aeris replied, "but since I am the only one left, the responsibility of protecting our planet falls to me. No matter what it costs I will do my duty to Gaia."
"Aeris, the love you hold for our dear planet warms my heart," Ilfania murmured, "but dear, I'm worried about you. I can hear your soul silently aching in loneliness. Isn't there someone special for you to share your feelings with?"
"Mom, I'm surrounded by friends," Aeris chastised her, "I'm not lonely in the least bit. In fact I'm having the time of my life with AVALANCHE."
"But what about love?" Ilfania inquired, "a woman naturally seeks a partner to share her heart and hearth with. It is only more urgent that you find yourself a partner since you are Cetra. We who are constantly immersed in the loving presence of the planet need to find a physical source of love all the more because of it."
"The love my friends have for me is plenty," Aeris protested.
"But what about that blond with the spiky hair you seem so fond of? Tell me that there is not something going on between the two of you?" Ilfania relentlessly pursed the topic.
"Cloud," Aeris sighed, "true I am very fond of him and am more than attracted to him, but he belongs with Tifa. I can see the deeply buried feelings for each other swirling around the two. I have no right to get in between those who have mutual feelings for each other."
"Is there no one else that holds your heart, daughter mine?" Ilfania asked.
"I had thought that I had something serious going on with Zack all those years ago," Aeris wistfully recalled, "but one day he left on a mission and never returned. I was deeply saddened when I had learned that he had returned to the planet. I think that Zack was my one shot at happiness and now he's gone, already reborn from what the planet told me."
Aeris took a moment to collect herself.
"There is no one else out there for me," Aeris continued, "I guess that's just my stock in life."
"Oh Aeris, the truth is right in front of you and you don't even see it," Ilfania sadly murmured, "there is someone out there who understands what you are going through better than even you could fathom. Things could be much different for you if you found this person and realized what the two of you could have together."
Sephiroth by now had had enough of this sappy sentimental conversation between the Cetra and her dead mother. With a low snarl of disgust he left Aeris' slumbering mind and retreated back to his own body.
What a waste of time! he had thought, I now see that there is no reason for me to be worried about this girl. All she seems to be worried about is her love life. She acts too much like the humans around her to be worth my time.
After that he had mostly ignored her, his attention focused on the progress of the puppet. It was amusing really to watch the puppet try to figure everything out. The Cetra was of no consequence. For now all he had to do was watch the puppet and once in a while dangle a tantalizing hint to him about his past. He really did enjoy messing with the puppet's mind.
Sephiroth dearly came to regret his earlier discard of the Cetra's threat to his plans. He had thought that someone so weak and sentimental would never pose a challenge to his plans. Oh how wrong he had been.
He had belatedly realized what a true danger to everything he was working towards the Cetra was after she had entered the puppet's dream and told him that she had a way of fighting Meteor. Sephiroth had vastly underestimated the girl's strength of spirit and resourcefulness. It really was a shame that she was on the wrong side, she could have made Sephiroth's plans go much easier if she had helped him.
Now, with a very real threat to his plans in the form of the slender Cetra, Sephiroth had gone to great lengths to prevent her from interfering. His efforts had been in vain, for by releasing her from her mortal shell he had unlocked her true potential which had allowed her to call up the lifestream itself to fight against Meteor. What a fool he had been to believe that mere death would stop one of the heirs to the planet on their quest.
She had been the one, not the puppet, Sephiroth realized, that had put a stop to my attempts at godhood. And I'm sure that if I made another try, she would come back and using the puppet and her powers would easily crush any attempt that I would make.
But I can never give up! Sephiroth rallied, for as long as the humans walk on the surface of this planet, my vengeance will never be fulfilled and I will never be able to rest. Never will I give up on my mission, I will return to the surface as many times as it takes to get my revenge!
Sephiroth's fury soon left him. He simply was too exhausted to be able to sustain strong emotions for very long. All he could do now was rest and recover his strength before making another try at resurrecting. He could feel his eyes drifting downward as his weariness got the best of him. He fought the darkness to no avail and soon he succumbed to sleep.
The silver haired ex-general could feel a strangely familiar and warm presence close by. Stubbornly he fought against the last vestiges of his death-like slumber and blearily opened his eyes. When he saw who was nearby he mentally groaned. The last thing he needed was her presence!
"I know that you are awake," the Cetra told him.
"What do you want?" he bluntly asked.
"I've come to take you home," Aeris informed him.
"Home? I have no home, Cetra," Sephiroth sneered, "speaking of which why haven't you gone to your precious Promised Land already. Did they kick you out for being a sorry half-breed?"
"Rudeness and being nasty will get you nowhere," Aeris scolded.
"Humph, like I give a damn," Sephiroth snorted.
"You should, seeing as I am the one who is going to determine what happens to you," Aeris tartly announced.
"Excuse me? You deciding my fate? Ridiculous," he declared.
"Well FYI Mr. Megalomaniac," Aeris began angrily, "while you were getting your much needed beauty sleep, the planet and the Cetran Council finally came to a decision on what to do with you."
"Do tell," Sephiroth mocked.
"While it is considered an unforgivable sin of the greatest magnitude to destroy a soul, no matter how rotten or corrupt, by both the Cetra and the planet" Aeris explained snidely, "several of the council members were actually arguing for such a punishment for you for your crimes against the planet."
Aeris paused for a moment to let the information sink in.
"They were overruled of course," she continued, "the essence of life, no matter how corrupt is sacred and should never be destroyed. So after much debate, a decision was settled on and they gave me the task of carrying it out."
"What can you do to me, little girl?" Sephiroth sneered.
"More than you think, oh fallen one," Aeris loftily replied.
"Well, get on with it already. I don't have all day," Sephiroth sarcastically told her.
"Very well," Aeris solemnly replied, "Sephiroth, I hereby deliver your punishment for your crimes against the planet and its children as decided upon by the Cetran Council."
He started at her emotionlessly.
"You are to be purified and denied the rights that all other humans are given at the end of their lives," Aeris announced, "never will you be reborn. Never will you be able to wash away or forget all your hardships and suffering that you experienced during your life. You will be cut off from the solace of being one with the lifestream and never feel the joy at being part of the planet's collective energy.
Aeris paused to catch her breath.
"I pass your sentence now!" she yelled.
Sephiroth never got the chance to let out the hurtful remark that was on the tip of his tongue. For the moment after Aeris' declaration rang out, a blinding mass of energy burst from her form and came hurdling towards him. The moment it made contact, soul-searing pain filled his being. The purifying energies wrapped around him, blocking his writhing form from sight but doing nothing to muffle the screams that were coming from within. Aeris dispassionately watched the whole thing, her face devoid of any emotions.
Finally after what seemed like days, the energy dissipated and the pain slowly left his twitching body. Sephiroth couldn't believe that that bitch had the gall to do that to him! He reached down into his core to gather up the necessary energy to send a rudimentary but powerful blast of raw magic at her, but he found nothing.
"What have you done to me witch?!" he roared, slightly panicked.
"You have been purified of all traces of Jenova's presence along with all traces of humanity that was left in you," Aeris explained, "as you are now, you are nothing more than a formless spirit. No powers, no body, no life, no hope of returning. You have been stripped of all things but your mind and soul, any connection you had with the planet wiped out allowing for no chance of being reborn."
"So now what happens to me Cetra?" he demanded, looking a bit lost, "do I stay here, unable to communicate to the souls around me? Or do I get ejected from the Lifestream and be forced to float over the planet's surface for eternity unable to interact with any living thing?"
"No," Aeris simply answered.
"Well what then?!" he yelled with helpless fury.
"There is a reason why I haven't passed into the Promised Land yet," Aeris stated, referring to Sephiroth's earlier question.
"And this concerns me how?" he despondedly asked.
"Once a Cetra passed into the Promised Land, they can never return," Aeris explained, "I have been waiting for all this time to before joining my mother and ancestors. While the Cetran Council were the ones to choose your punishment, they left it up to me to decide what happens next."
"So, what section of Hell will you be sending me to?" Sephiroth wearily asked, all emotion and fight gone from him.
"Don't look so down," Aeris softly consoled him, "I am not one to seek retribution. I will show you mercy."
"How? Any decision you make will only lead me to an empty and lonely existence," Sephiroth spoke.
"I told you from the start what I intended to do with you," Aeris explained, "you are going home, with me. To the Promised Land, together."
"What? Why?" Sephiroth croaked.
"When I look at you, I don't see a murderous monster like others do," Aeris admitted, "I see a lonely little boy looking for some attention and love. No matter what someone does, they don't deserve to be alone."
Sephiroth stared at her in astonishment.
"I wouldn't wish such a fate on my worst enemy," she wryly concluded.
Sephiroth snorted at that.
Glad to know that he hasn't lost all of his spunk, Aeris thought, Oh mother was right all this time. I was so blind. Cloud was never the person who needed my help, he had Tifa for that. Sephiroth was the one who I should have been guiding all along.
"You really have gone through many of the same things I have," Aeris mused, "we are more alike than I'm sure than you would like to admit. You probably can understand me even better than I myself could, just like mother told me."
"What are you rambling about Cetra?" Sephiroth demanded, though his voice lacked any scorn.
"You should know," Aeris told him, "you were eavesdropping on that conversation. I'm not that unobservant to notice a foreign presence in my dreams."
Sephiroth had nothing to say in his defense against Aeris' accusation as he had been caught red-handed.
"So shall we get going?" she asked, offering him her hand.
Hesitantly he took her proffered invitation. The Lifestream started swirling around them as he curled his fingers around her tiny hand. Slowly everything faded away and Sephiroth knew no more.
Sephiroth woke up to warm sunshine and such a feeling of peace and tranquility that he never wanted to move. Distantly he could feel the cool softness against his back of the grass he was resting on. A soft hand brushed his bangs away from his face and he reached up to stall its movements. A soft giggle informed him of the owner of the hand he was holding and reluctantly he opened his eyes to glare at the amused female sitting next to him.
"It's more lovely and wonderful than I had ever imagined," Aeris murmured in awe.
"Yes, it truly is paradise," Sephiroth commented.
"Can you feel it? The presence of the planet welcoming us and surrounding us in its loving eternal embrace?" Aeris asked.
Sephiroth slightly nodded.
He could feel the energies of this place twinning around him, weaving its threads into his mind and meshing with his soul. The Promised Land was creating an unbreakable bond with him, securely anchoring him to this place. Sephiroth was in effect a prisoner in paradise. The energies of the place that were sinking into him would prevent him or anyone else for that matter who came here from leaving.
Not that they would want to leave, Sephiroth mused, for who would want to leave paradise?
"I commend you on your smart planning Aeris," Sephiroth began, instantly catching her attention with the his first use of her real name, "not only have you delivered a fitting punishment for one of my ilk, but you have also insured that I can do no further mischief to the planet or its inhabitants."
Aeris gave him a brilliant smile for his disguised praise.
"And you did it all without any trace of ill will or malice," he continued, "all the while carrying out your plan in a method that your rigid sense of morals wouldn't object to."
"I didn't do this entirely out of the goodness of my heart, you know, "Aeris informed him with a slight chuckle, "my decision was guided by a bit of selfishness on my behalf."
"You? The saintly martyr?" Sephiroth asked in mock astonishment.
"Yes, me. I'm far from perfect," she teased, "Ilfania was right. We are alike. Though I hardly know you, I feel that there is something between us. A bond of kindred souls, if you may."
"Interesting," Sephiroth stated, "do continue."
"Well, I was sort of hoping that you would stay with me," Aeris admitted with a slight blush, "I wish that we could at least be friends."
"Perhaps in time we could," Sephiroth offered.
"Perhaps so," Aeris mused, "perhaps it could develop into something more."
"Perhaps," Sephiroth stated.
Aeris smiled gently and lay down, pillowing her head on his shoulders. She let out a content sigh. Finally she had found her personal paradise, a paradise in her heart. After all this time and all her searching, she finally had found her Promised Land in the form of a silver haired man who was no more and no less than himself.
I know, this has been done many times before, but I just had to try my hand at this type of one-shot. I really did enjoy writing this and unlike many others of its type, this ficlit is much longer than some of the other short one-shots.
Be warned, don't expect any updates real soon. I came down with a lovely cold courtesy of my mother just as I started writing this fic. My throat is sore and achy and I'm about to go to bed. Leave me your thoughts and like always I welcome a challenge for the next drabble from a reviewer.