Lost in the Shadows

Chapter 10 - Secrets Untold

Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 and its characters, settings or the like. These words, however, are mine.

The treacherous sun was gleaming so brightly and giving off such heat that one would think that global warming had certainly surpassed global warming. With nothing ahead of them to give them much hope, Aerith couldn't help but wonder if she was going to make it past this day. Sephiroth had insisted upon making them search the whole desert before heading off to the Ancient City.

Why? Why does he do this to me? And why oh why did Cloud send us here of all places? Surely the stupid fiends can't live in this weather…

Aerith moved to kick the sand when something popped out of it. She screamed and backed up, causing Sephiroth to turn around. She saw his mouth open before he saw what had come out of the sand.

With one slash of the Masamune, the creature was gone in an instant and Aerith blinked, trying to put a name to the creature. Why? Who knows...

Sephiroth rolled his eyes and turned back around, continuing forward. Aerith fumed. Who was he rolling his eyes at?

"Hey! What was that look for?"Aerith raged. She wasn't so sure why she was so grumpy today. Maybe it was because of Cloud waking them all up so early and the proceeding to drop them off the their respective destinations. But, she was so happy this morning…

It was the sun. There really was no otherexplanation for it.

Sephiroth turned to look at her.

"You were scared of that creature back there." Sephiroth said, though Aerith knew it was a question.

"I was just surprised. Why are we still here by the way?" Aerith asked.

"Because we need to check around for any signs of the fiends." Sephiroth clipped, as though it was the most obvious thing. Well... It was.

Aerith stopped where she was and put her hands on her hips. There was no way she was staying here any longer!

"HEY! I don't want to stand here and melt in the sun all day! What creature in their right mind would come here?" Aerith tossed back at him, a little surprised at the vehemence lacing her voice.

Sephiroth stopped and turned, arms covering his chest. He raised an eyebrow, an attempt at questioning her last statement, but to no avail. She still stood there, waiting for an answer.

"You did see that fiend back there right?" Sephiroth asked, annoyed at her behaviour.

"Well duh, thanks a lot for pointing that out for me." Aerith retaliated, just as annoyed as him.

Sephiroth blinked. He could tell it was going to be one of those days…

"Well, those creatures could be infected too. We can't rule out the possibility."

Aerith rolled her eyes.

"I don't want to stay here any longer! There are more important things to do, like going and getting Holy! The Planet says it's important and my head is starting to hurt again. Why are you so hard-headed?" Aerith asked, clearly venting her pent up frustration.

Sephiroth considered what she said. Aerith was right, getting Holy was more important than searching fruitlessly for fiends that may only exist in the forest near Bone Village. Sephiroth sighed internally. All this trouble with the fiends just brought up even more questions that Sephiroth didn't feel like thinking about so he decided to simply give in.

"Fine. But once we have Holy, you realize we have to come back?" Sephiroth clipped. This day was definitely not going the way he'd thought it would.

Aerith sent him a guilty glance. 'And if we don't come back…?' she wondered. Aerith simply walked over to him and held her gaze to something other then Sephiroth.

She heard him sigh in frustration before wrapping his arms around her in a crushing 'hug-death grip'. She couldn't think of any name more fitting…

The entire time they were airborne, they were silent. Neither wished to speak for fear of what might leave their mouths and they were eternally grateful when they were back on the ground with a reasonable distance between them.

Sephiroth landed just a little ways away from the lake. He noticed Aerith glancing around nervously while walking forward. She flinched a few times as well but Sephiroth passed it off as her head hurting.

'Or maybe… She just dislikes this place because of… This is where she died…' Sephiroth thought, guilt suddenly plaguing him.

They had reached the stairs leading down and Aerith was slowing her steps. Was there something she hadn't told him? If anything, the voices around here should at least be comforting. Sephiroth shook the thoughts off, reverting back to his earlier thoughts.

Sephiroth stopped at seeing the altar. Had they really gotten this far already? He hadn't been paying much attention… Even looking at the altar brought back the horrid memory of what he'd done to Aerith, who was now his only friend.

He glanced over at her to see her looking at the altar intently, shaking or nodding her head occasionally.

Now he was confused…

Aerith walked forward, motioning for him to come with her. She walked up to the edge and peered over, looking into the water. He saw her tense and turn to him.

"Do you think you could go in there and get Holy?" Aerith asked meekly.

Sephiroth briefly recalled their conversation in which he'd learned she was unable to swim while trying to figure out a way off that ungodly continent.

Sephiroth smiled.

"But don't you want to go in there yourself?" He teased.

She gave him a contemptuous glare before grinding out her next words.

"I told you before that I can't swim and besides, my head is really starting to hurt."

Sephiroth decided then to back off. He would have taken it further had it not been for the fact that Aerith was in… little or no pain. He really couldn't tell what all the flinching was for.

He took his trench coat off and jumped in the water.

'Why couldn't I get stuck with an easy job…' He complained discreetly. He searched for the gleaming ball of white and green on the ocean floor. It took no more then a few seconds to spot it. He grabbed it and swam to the top, breaking the surface in no time.

He found Aerith sitting on the edge, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger. She looked up when he started to swim back and grimaced at his hand.

'This can't be good…' Sephiroth thought.

He managed to get himself out of the water and sitting in front of her within the minute. He held his palm out to her and noticed that she once again grimaced. Her hand went straight to her head and she shut her eyes.

Okay. Something was wrong.

"Alright miss secretive. What's going on?" Sephiroth said, retracting his hand.

Aerith looked up at him, guilt and pain in her eyes. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at her and she shook her head, looking down at the floor. They sat there like that for a few minutes before Aerith held her palm out, although reluctantly.

Sephiroth was hesitant to give it back. By what she was doing earlier, Sephiroth could've sworn that Aerith was almost afraid of the tiny ball of sacred magic that she had once fought so hard to protect and understand.

"Wait. What is going on? First you make faces at it and now you're shaking as you hold out your hand for it." Sephiroth clipped.

Aerith sent him an annoyed look but her eyes softened when she saw the concern in his eyes.

'Now or never I suppose…' Aerith thought.

She sighed and looked at him for a moment before hastily looking away.

"The Planet said that something's going to happen when I touch Holy. It'll be painful for me," Aerith said, but noticing Sephiroth's look of slight alarm that he failed to cover she quickly added, "but only for a moment!"

Sephiroth didn't looked convinced.

"Sephiroth, it has to happen now or later and I think I want this over with now." Aerith sighed.

Sephiroth looked from her to Holy for a moment before reluctantly holding his hand out.

Closing her eyes, she took the white materia into her hands and stood, moving away from him quickly.

A bright white light enveloped her and she felt the need to scream when she felt a searing hot pain shot up her side. The materia had found it's way out of her hands and she opened her eyes slightly to find Sephiroth looking at her in shock. She looked down and saw the Holy materia trying to force it's way into her stomach. Clenching her eyes shut, she tensed and bit her lip, eventually tasting her own coppery blood.

The pain was excruciating but she wouldn't scream. No, she was going to be brave this time. She could feel tears prick at her eyes as the bright white light diminished in front of her eyes.

The last thing she saw was Sephiroth striding towards her hastily before she fell to the ground, exhausted.