Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or anything related
Chapter 9
Jenova woke up and rubbed her eyes. She felt a little better, but was still in pain. She sat up and blinked, trying to remember exactly where she was. Oh yeah, the hotel room. They had to meet Cloud and tell them about what she caused. She sighed and stood up, heading to the bathroom to wash some of the blood off of herself.
She entered the bathroom and saw her outfit hanging up, she was shocked to say the least. When she'd gone to bed she was wearing her clothes and now she was… Jenova looked down at herself. She was wearing a bikini. She saw Minerva's clothes hanging next to hers, they looked pretty dry so maybe she could take a shower and change. She peeked out of the bathroom and saw Zack was gone.
Jenova closed the door and started the shower. In a few minutes the bathroom was filled with steam and Jenova was enjoying her first shower since The Gold Saucer. Of course her shower time was cut short when Minerva entered the bathroom. "Oh, hey I didn't;t know you were in here." she muttered.
"Um yeah… now go away." Jenova said.
"But I have to pee." Minerva said sleepily, "I won't look at you."
"You've been looking at me this whole time." Jenova said. Although she was hidden behind a shower curtain she could just tell Minerva was staring at her.
"No I'm not…" Minerva sat down on the toilet and started to pee, "I can't find Zack, I figured he'd be back by now."
"Who cares?" Jenova muttered, "I'd like to push back meeting Cloud as long as I can." The toilet flushed and the water turned cold, "Goddamit Minerva! Why'd you do that?" Jenova turned off the shower and glared at Minerva, "Why are you still in here?"
"Oh well I woke up naked and you were gone. So I got worried and thought someone touched us and took you or that you ran away. But now that I found you I want to know why I'm naked." Minerva said.
"I have no idea why you're naked." Jenova muttered. She reached for her clothes and pulled them into the shower, "But someone washed our clothes." She slipped them on and stepped out of the shower.
"Your hair is really straight when it's wet." Minerva said.
"What's wrong with you?" Jenova asked, she stared deep into Minerva's eyes and saw they were glossy, "Oh my god… you've been drinking? Virtuous Minerva has been drinking?" She broke out laughing, "How many did you have?"
"Just 2, I'm not even drunk." she said.
"Oh shut up, you totally are!" Jenova said, "Wait until Zack finds out." Jenova opened the door and stepped out, "Oh and you should shower." Jenova closed the door and sat down on the bed, where did Minerva even get alcohol? She couldn't have left the room, and from the looks of things there was none in here. She searched her bags for something to eat before collapsing back onto the bed. She felt a little better but she still wanted to sleep forever. She closed her eyes and the door opened.
"Jenova, you're awake." Zack said, "Minerva's in the shower?"
"Uh huh." Jenova mumbled.
"Well, as soon as she's out we'll go to Cloud's, I explained to Tifa your situation." Zack said, "She doesn't believe me, but you can change her mind right?"
"I guess." Jenova said, she lifted her head and saw Zack and Aerith, "Oh, I know you. Sephiroth impaled you on his sword."
Aerith flinched at the thought, "Yes, he did…" she said.
"Um, let's not bring that up Jenova." Zack said, "Let's talk about the problem here."
"Without Minerva?" Jenova said, "Who's going to keep me focused? Oh and guess what, she'd drunk!"
"Drunk? On what?" Zack said, "There's no beer here."
"There must be, she said she had two of them." Jenova said, "But I think those were her first ones ever so she's going to have one hell of a hangover."
"You have to be lying, I don't think Minerva is the type to drink. She's too… you know, serious for that kind of stuff." Zack said. The shower turned on and Zack sighed, "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, have I ever lied to you?" Jenova said.
"Yes… wait…No, you haven't but we've only been together a few weeks." Zack said. Jenova rolled her eyes and let her head fall back onto the bed.
"Wake me up when it's time to go." she muttered. She squeezed her eyes shut but couldn't get to sleep. There was something in here keeping her awake. She reasoned it must have been Aerith.
"I don't believe she's completely changed. It's obvious that she has a lot of Jenova'ss influence in her." Aerith said quietly.
"Yeah, I know but… well she hasn't proved me wrong yet. The moment she does, we'll throw her to the WRO." Zack said.
"Yes, we should do that
"Wait, what's the WRO?" Jenova asked, lifting her head again.
"The World Regenesis Organization. They'll handle you." Zack said.
"How?" she asked
"I guess they'd put you in jail? I don't know, you'll have to face what you did eventually. You can't just get away with all that you've done." Zack said. Jenova gulped and looked down, all she'd done… all the old her had done. If they didn't kill her, how could they make her pay for all she'd done? Her body shook violently at the thought. She smashed her face into the bed and grabbed the sheets. She knew what was happening, she was flying into another frenzy. "Jenova? Are you okay?" Zack asked.
"What's happening?" Aerith asked.
"I don't know…" Zack said. They watched her and waited, she continued to shake. Zack walked over and lifted her head, her eyes were closed and she was sweating uncontrollably, "I think we scared her… she probably started thinking of her past…" he said, "I mean she did this before."
"Did what?"
"Well I can't explain it, I say something and all of a sudden she passes out and starts reliving a bunch of memories." Zack said, "I guess the thought of her being locked up triggered it."
"Maybe it was the punishment part…" Aerith said, "We could try to stop this, she needs to see Cloud." Aerith walked over and sat down on the bed. She pulled Jenova's head onto her lap and stared down at her.
"What are you going to do?" Zack asked.
"I think I can calm her down, that's it though." Aerith said. She brushed some hair off of her forehead, "Jenova? Are you alright?"
"No…" Jenova snapped, "It hurts…"
"Just calm down, clear your mind, it should go away." Aerith said. Jenova shook and eventually stopped moving, eyes snapping open. "Did it stop?" Aerith asked.
"No… it didn't I can still here it. I just can't see it." she said, "It still hurts too."
"It'll be fine, just stop thinking about it." Aerith said.
"Oh you're really helpful! Don't you think I've been trying?" Jenova snapped.
"Jenova," Zack warned, "She's trying to help." Jenova shot up and rolled off of her lap.
"I'll be fine…
"What set it off?" Zack asked.
"Nothing." Jenova muttered. The shower turned off and a little later Minerva came out.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Jenova almost had one of those crazy memory things." Zack said, "But Aerith sort of calmed her down."
"Yeah, sort of." Jenova mumbled, "I'm fine now, let's go." She sat up and wiped her forehead, "How far is Cloud's house?"
"A couple miles." Zack said. Jenova groaned and stood up. Everyone else followed suit. They walked out of the room and Zack led the way to Tifa's bar. His mind was still on Jenova, he didn't know if she would be okay. He probably shouldn't have told her about the WRO, if she acted like this before even seeing them, how would she act when they took her? If they took her that it, Zack never talked it through with Minerva and he had a feeling she wouldn't let her friend get locked up.
"Did you explain it to them?" Minerva asked.
"Yeah, but they want to see for themselves. Then we'll split into groups and hunt down the remaining weapons." Zack said.
"And after that?" Minerva asked.
"Uh, I don't know. They'll definitely want to do something about Jenova." Zack mumbled.
"But maybe if she helped enough they'll let her go." Minerva said.
"I don't think they'll let someone who killed all the Cetra go." Aerith said with a hint of bitterness in her tone.
Minerva bit her lip and kept walking. What was she supposed to do? The last thing she wanted was for Jenova to go to jail, but there wasn't anything she could do. She was just a teenager. They could run away, but they'd eventually be found. "We'll have to work something out." she muttered.
They exited the hotel and started for the bar, Jenova's head pounded with voices. How far could she go like this? The voices were really starting to freak her out, she felt like she was going crazy. She figured this was how Sephiroth felt when she was poking around his mind. She kind of regretted it now that she knew what it felt like. You're really going to Cloud?
Jenova looked around for the source of the voice, hoping that it wasn't who she thought it was. Don't ignore me, Jenova, I'm in your head. Jenova closed her eyes and shook her head, she was not going to do this. Not now, she'd look to creepy. So you are going? Do you really think they'll let you walk away after this? You are a calamity in human form, someone like you doesn't need to be walking around. They'll take you and you know very well what they'll do to you.
Yeah, she had an idea what would happen. Of course these were humans. They weren't like the people on her home planet, they weren't completely evil. They wouldn't do that kind of stuff to her, at least she hoped not. Do you really believe that? You'll be tortured, they have to make you pay somehow. You killed thousands, an entire race is extinct because of you! Yes, an entire race was extinct, but that wasn't technically her fault. She wasn't herself when that happened. Your life will be over before it started, you might as well do what you came here to do. If you can destroy the weapons, you can take over the world like planned.
Jenova opened her eyes and tried to ignore Jenova, she wanted to prove she'd changed. Her goals were different, maybe it was her becoming human that changed them but all she wanted to do now was… be normal. She'd never gotten that, maybe both her and Minerva could settle down and be best friends again. After all this was over that is. "Are we almost there?" Jenova asked.
"Yes." Zack said, "It's right around the corner." Jenova was willing to bet that several vans were waiting to take her away. She didn't mind, they'd keep her safe from the weapons. But she was still a little scared, every step they took brought her closer to the bar. She looked at Minerva, she looked just as worried.
They stopped in front of the bar and Jenova and Minerva locked eyes. It was time. All the voices in Jenova's mind shut down as she stared at the building, heart pounding in fear. Zack stepped forward, opening the door.
0.o.0.o.0
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