Guardian of Gaia

Chapter 10

"...don't know what happened...fever..."

I scrunched my eyes as I heard voices. I felt hot, way too hot. But I also felt cold, way too cold. What was wrong with me? The last thing I remembered was going to the Forgotten City and...seeing those images...

I felt a cool hand touch my forehead gently, brushing my dark locks away from my face. I groaned softly and opened my eyes a bit, blinking rapidly. I glanced over at whoever had their hand on my forehead and saw those warm, green eyes of Lucrecia staring down at me with concern.

"Hello." She said softly.

"What happened?" I mumbled.

"You passed out sweetie. How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

"Disoriented." I replied, trying not to move much since my head was killing me.

"You have a fever and probably a headache." Lucrecia said. "You get some rest and I'll check on you later."

I gave a brief nod and closed my eyes as she kissed my forehead. It didn't take me long to fall back asleep. When I woke up again, it was morning and I was feeling better. I sat up slowly and rubbed my head, letting out a soft groan. The fever was gone along with the headache, but I still felt weird. I sighed softly and got out of bed, leaving my room. I didn't hear any voices, so everyone must've still been asleep. I used the quiet time to take a shower, knowing Marlene and Denzel were at school.

After taking my shower, I decided to pick out an official outfit since everyone else had one. I picked out dark blue jeans that were baggy (almost like Cloud's) and a white tank top with a short sleeve black zip-up shirt with the collar reaching my neck and I only zipped it up to my stomach. I put my sword holder on my back, connecting to my belt with belts to keep the holder in place. I also wore heavy boots and black gloves on my hands. I sighed and grabbed my bag, making sure it had everything in it. Both the Black Materia and the White Materia were in it. I picked up an armor and put some Materia in the slots, then put some in the Force Stealer as well.

I had to speak with Rufus.

I grabbed my keys for my motorcycle (which I had bought myself) and headed out to it quietly. Night meowed and followed me. Cloud had designed a special seat for her right behind my seat. It would allow her to stay on safely. I made sure to grab my goggles on the way. I didn't want the wind whipping my hair in my face. I put my goggles on my face and got on my motorcycle, driving off. I don't know why...

But something felt wrong with Shinra. Like they were in danger, or they were the ones causing the danger. I could only suspect Rufus was behind it. It took me about a half hour to get to Healen Lodge and I parked outside, turning the vehicle off. I put the keys in my pocket and walked up the stairs to the Shinra cabin. I knocked on the door and was surprised when it opened slightly.

I pulled my goggles off and put them in my pocket, before slowly opening the door. To my complete surprise, the Turks were all on the ground, unconscious and bleeding from various places. I gasped and went over to the nearest one, which was Reno. Night meowed in surprised and hurried over to him, licking his face gently.

"Reno!" I went to his side and pulled him onto his back. I grimaced when I saw a deep gash in his chest. "Reno, wake up!"

The red-headed Turk stirred and his eyes opened, landing on me. "H-hey, toots..."

"Reno, what happened? Where's Rufus?" I asked.

"H-he was taken by...by someone...I-I don't know-AGH, GOD!" He cried out when he had tried to sit up.

I quickly brought out my Restore Materia and did a Cure All on all four Turks. It was enough to heal their wounds completely. "Did this guy say anything about where he was going?"

"Shinra." Reno groaned as he sat up.

I rushed out of the cabin, hurrying down to my bike. Night followed me, hopping in her seat as I quickly called Cloud. It took a few tries, but he finally answered. "Shell, what's wrong?"

"Rufus Shinra has been kidnapped." I blurted out.

"Kidnapped? Where? Where are you?" he asked, his tone becoming serious.

"Yes, Reno said to Shinra and I'm heading there now. Gather everyone and meet me at the Shinra Building."

"No, it's too dangerous for you to go. You need to come-."

"Cloud, this is probably a matter of life or death! Look, Rufus isn't exactly a good guy and rich and pompous and shit, but whoever's got him is probably going to kill him. And...I can't let that happen. I'm the Guardian, remember?"

There was silence for a long moment before Cloud sighed softly. "Alright, we'll meet you there. Please be careful. Lucrecia will have my head if something happens to you."

"Got it. I'll be alright." I said and hung up, then hopped on as I put my goggles on. I drove off, speeding to get to Shinra. I knew something was wrong. I could fucking feel it. I didn't exactly like Rufus Shinra and I didn't even like Shinra itself, but that man doesn't deserve to die. Something was going on and I didn't like it, at all.

When I reached Shinra, I parked my bike and Night jumped off, sniffing around. She meowed at me. "Did you catch his scent, girl?" I asked her.

She answered me by darting off towards one of the sectors, having me quickly follow her. We went deep into the sector and Night went over to a door that was locked with chains. I brought out my sword and swung at the chains, cutting them away from the door. I kept my sword in my hand and opened the door, my eyes narrowing when I saw a flight of stairs that descended into darkness. Night yowled at me softly.

"I know, but we gotta find him." I said.

We headed down the stairs slowly, Night letting out a meow every once in a while. We followed the stairs down for a while, before finally coming to an empty room, with a door and another flight of stairs. Night sniffed around and went to the door, yowling at me. I nodded and went over to the door, slowly opening it. The room that was beyond the room was a hallway, with two doors on each side. I frowned, not knowing which door to take.

Night sniffed around the entire hallway and stopped at the first door on the right. I trusted her, so I went over to the door and pressed my ear against it. I heard voices from inside. There had to be a vent or something to hear what the voices were saying. I checked the other doors, glad that the second one on the right was a bathroom. And one of the stalls had a vent above it.

"Bingo." I said.

I helped Night up first, then I climbed up and shut the vent. The voices were coming from behind us. We quietly crawled to the source of the voices and came to a vent, where Rufus was tied to a chair, sitting under a single, swinging light. His hands were tied behind his back with rope and he had more rope around his waist and torso. Hell, even his legs were tied to the legs of the chair. I could see blood and dirt matted in his strawberry, blonde hair.

His suit was bloodied and torn in places. Jesus.

"I'm going to ask you again, Shinra. Where is he?" A voice asked. It sounded deep, and had a distorted tone to it.

"Where is who?" Rufus asked.

"Don't play dumb with me, Shinra." The voice hissed.

"I have no idea what you're-" Before he could finish, Rufus let out a choked yelp as his wrist twisted the other side. I flinched, hearing the bone breaking. Fuck, I could even see the bone sticking out of his skin a bit and blood beginning to seep from the open wound.

"I think you do." The voice said and a cloaked man came into view. He wore a cloak that covered his entire body, even his feet. He wore gloves on his hands to conceal his hands. "So I'll ask you another question. Where's the Guardian?"

"Guardian?" Rufus asked.

"Yes. I've seen her with you. A brunette, young woman with hazel eyes."

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific. I know a good amount of women with brown hair and hazel eyes." Rufus said.

The man raised his hand and I jumped slightly when the hand landed across the President's face, snapping his head to the side. Rufus merely moved his head again and spat out blood. The man seemed to shake his head and waved his hand, summoning a long knife with a very sharp blade.

Oh shit. I thought.

I covered my mouth when the blonde-haired man let out a choked scream as the knife dug into his side painfully. The man twisted the knife, slicing through what probably was muscles and tendons. Before he could take the knife out, another cloaked person swung open the door and ran inside.

"Sir! She's here! The Guardian is here!"

The man growled, keeping the knife in Rufus' side. "Find her. Is Sephiroth, or the Remnants with her?"

"No, sir. Just her and her pet."

"Find her! NOW!" The man roared, leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind him. Rufus trembled in the chair he was tied to, spitting out more blood. I opened the grate and jumped down in front of him, Night following me.

Rufus glanced up at me and I saw him scowl. "Y-you shouldn't be here."

"Well, I am. Now shut up." I said and knelt down in front of him. "This is gonna hurt." I said and yanked the knife out. Blood immediately began gushing from the wound and Rufus groaned, his head beginning to hang a bit. "Nuh-uh!" I said, grabbing his head and forcing him to look at me. He looked at me with dull, blue eyes, instead of the normally piercing blue ones they usually were. Both of his eyes were already turning black and blue and his lip was split badly. "Gotta stay awake, Rufus. Don't fall asleep on me. You might not wake up."

"Dully noted..." He mumbled.

I cut his bonds with the bloodied knife and tossed it away from me. I searched for my Cure Materia, then paled.

I left it with Reno.

"Fuck." I muttered and quickly called Reno.

"Shell! Did you find him?!" Reno's voice shouted.

"Yes and listen carefully. He's badly hurt and I need you guys to have a stretcher ready to go. Warn Cloud and the others. A guy covered in a cloak is after Sephiroth and the Remnants, keep them safe at all cost." I said as quickly as I could.

"What about you?" Reno asked.

"We'll worry about me later. Just get the stretcher ready." I said and hung up. "Alright, come on, Rufus. We gotta get you out of here." I grabbed his arm and swung it over my shoulder. His hand held onto his wounded side, trying to stop the bleeding. We quickly left the room and to my surprise, we were able to get up the stairs and out of there quickly. I looked up as both a Shinra helicopter and the Shera descended to where my bike was, but didn't land.

Rude opened the chopper door, quickly jumping out and running over to help. "Medical attention, now." I said and helped Rude carry Rufus to the chopper. Rude got him inside and onto the stretcher, strapping him in. I glanced at Rufus as he looked at me, shakily reaching a hand out. "You're gonna be alright."

"W-wait..." He began.

I shut the chopper door before he could say anything else and Reno quickly flew off to the hospital. I sighed softly and glanced at my clothes, seeing blood on them. Night meowed at me. "I'm fine, it's Rufus' blood, not mine."

Cloud jumped off the Shera, coming towards me. "What happened to Rufus?"

"Some guy was torturing him for information on Sephiroth and the Remnants...and me." I replied.

Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but then he looked above my head and his eyes narrowed a bit. I turned around and immediately groaned. "You've got to be kidding me."

A barrage of flying monsters was coming from the sky above Edge. I could hear the screams of the civilians from the city. I sighed and went over to my motorcycle. "This is going to be exciting." I said, letting Night hop on in her seat and I drove off as Cloud got back onto the Shera. We headed towards my first battle.