Fain could not get away from her. He tried to tell Barret that she just suddenly attacked him and then hugged him and started calling him her boyfriend, but as soon as she said she wanted to fight Shinra and accepted joining AVALANCHE to do it he wouldn't help him. Fain's fate was sealed. He was doomed.
And even now he was running away from her. But she was as fast as he was... But he had an idea. An insane idea. He stopped and hit himself with his lightning magic which startled everyone. It had been so unexpected. He struck himself again. Yuffie looked like she was considering dashing and shoving him out of the way of the next lightning strike. He struck himself, this time he felt his 'Limit Break'... " Aegis!" Fain cried out and dashed off faster than he normally could. Yuffie stood in shock. She looked at Cloud, Tifa, and Barret. Cloud and Barret seemed to share an understanding while Tifa at first looked shocked, then worried. " Wh-what did he just do?" Yuffie asked not understanding.
" He activated his limit break. I guess he did it to make himself faster. Don't worry. Among the boosts I noticed him getting, haste and regen is definitely among them." Cloud said calmly. " But that HAD to hurt. " And it did. Fain was later found sitting on a rock with a number of Neros electrocuted around him. He apparently was still recovering but the damage he self inflicted was noticeable, but slowly healing. Yuffie stared at him for a moment when she arrived, then she glomped him. " You are so cool!" She said excitedly. Aerith sighed after shortly arriving and pulled Fain's hat off.
Yuffie looked at his pointy red ears in shock at first, but then her eyes brightened up and her face looked of a little girl who just seen a box of adorable kittens. She started playing with his ears. Fain simply had a 'why me?' face while Aerith gave him a, 'it was worth a try' look in return.
Yuffie had given the group the suggestion of heading directly south and following the coastline to Junon. It was not a bad idea. But that meant a detour. A place called Fort Condor. Aptly named, because the place was a fortress with a massive Condor guarding its egg on top of a Mako Reactor. They also were wanting to fight Shinra and were willing to let them all lodge and stock up on supplies. Tifa and the others made Fain rest. After his desperate stunt, his speed was noticeably slower and he was making the group lag. Everyone left went to go help the people at the fort prepare for a battle against several mercenaries that Shinra had hired to take the Fort.
Fain was just happy he was not being hugged and hung all over on by some strange and crazy girl he didn't even know. He hugged his tail and fell asleep glad he could rest as soon as he climbed in bed. What he probably didn't want to know was that his 'girlfriend' happily 'made sure' he didn't get out of bed. Tifa and Aerith were arguing with Cloud for enabling Yuffie when the 'poor kid' was obviously trying to get away from Yuffie. Red XII looked at Tifa confused. " Why would he try to get away from a potential mate?" The wolf lion beast asked. Tifa stopped to think about it for a moment. " Red, do you want me to show you?" She asked. The Lion Wolf looked at her cautiously but his curiosity made him nod.
" Then let me hug you." She said. Red XIII let the human woman hug him. At first it was pleasant and Red XIII didn't mind. But then they sat there like that for minutes and the Wolf Lion was becoming uncomfortable. But when he tried to pull away her hug started to close on him only more and more until Tifa was suffocating him. It was only before he was on the verge of passing out that Tifa let him go. She stood there watching him try to catch his breath and begin growling at her before he realized the situation Fain was in. Yuffie was suffocating him. Maybe not literally, but all the same. And unlike Tifa, Yuffie was someone Fain barely even knew. Understanding began to dawn on the wolf lion as to why Fain went to such extremes.
He was like a Kalm Fang with its paw in a trap and he was trying to gnaw his arm off. Red XIII sighed, feeling sorry for his rival's predicament. Then something caught Red XIII's attention. " Tifa, what exactly is Fain's Limit Break?" The wolf lion asked. Tifa paused to think about it. " Aegis." Aerith said calmly. " It acts as a shield to stop all incoming damage for a short period of time and and has helpful status effects that act as temporary boons. I think he overestimated his limit break and thought it would heal him enough to counter the damage he self inflicted on him." Aerith sat at a table looking down towards the hole that lead to the beds where they would be sleeping at. Tifa frowned. " It was the only one he ever used. I have two right now." Tifa said calmly. Aerith nodded knowing she had Healing Winds and Sealing Evil. Everyone seemed to have a number of Limit Breaks they were practicing or trying to unlock. But Fain only had one. Aegis.
Red XIII scoffed. " We can't have him chewing his arm off. We won't have a Black Mage for long if he does." the beast said. Tifa looked confused. "A what?" She asked. Aerith giggled. " Cloud has been categorizing each of us by our fighting styles. You are a Brawler, Barret is a Gunner, Yuffie is a Ninja, Red XIII is a close ranged beast fighter, and I am a White Mage, because I focus more on healing. Fain is a Black Mage because he seems to focus almost solely on offensive magic. Aegis is his only means of defense." Aerith said.
Tifa shook her head. " I think Cloud needs to re-work his categorizing, but no... Fain used Ice Magic to shield himself too... And what about his scythe?" Tifa asked. Aerith simply giggled. " What about it? I have a staff, he has a scythe. Cloud has a sword and Barret has his gun. But maybe you are right." Aerith said and left to check on Fain and Yuffie. Tifa wondered what category Cloud put himself in.
Aerith at first looked worried. The girl was sitting in a chair looking intently at Fain. But when Aerith opened her mouth to speak the girl put a finger to her lips got out of the chair and beckoned for Aerith to follow her back up the ladder. Once they were back up above the sleeping area Yuffie sighed. " I pushed him a little too much. I wanted to see how strong he was and he... I made him become desperate." Yuffie said looking away. Aerith frowned. It was good that the girl before her realized what she did... But what was worse was that she had ulterior motives to her 'affection...'
"Do you really care about him?" Aerith asked in which the girl nodded. "Then please give him some space. Fain... Has had a difficult life. And he's not exactly accustomed to being so close to humans. From what it sounds like, he never was too close to any human being after... A certain incident." Yuffie looked at her curiously. Aerith shook her head and waved for her to have a seat at a empty table. In a hushed tone she explained what she had heard about Fain's early childhood. Because he wasn't human, he was turned over to Shinra's custody and a scientist tried to experiment on him. After that, he was never quick to trust humans. He was still very independent and didn't enjoy people trying to smother him with attention. At least not like she tried to. Yuffie sighed. " Fine. I'll give the guy some space." She relented and with that Aerith gave her a warm smile.
When Fain finally woke up in a the sleeping area of Fort Condor he saw that he was alone. He began to groom his tail and hair until Cloud came down the ladder to check on him. " Good, you're awake. Get ready and come with me. We are about to go over battle plans." Cloud said firmly as he climbed back up the ladder. Fain sighed. He put his hat and coat on, buckled the collar of his coat up and climbed up the ladder.
He looked around. He stood in a room much like a rabbit burrow. One main area leading to other smaller areas and exits. One was an exit they had entered from via a rope. Fain didn't remember climbing it. Then there was a store room that would sell things to travelers. The fort must have been open to travelers before Shinra announced it was trying to get rid of the condor. There was also a small dining area with wooden tables and benches.
"Fain, hurry up!" Cloud called out. Fain sighed and followed Cloud to the entrance of a shack where a table with a map of the fort was laid out.
" Okay. Now that everyone is here. We are being divided into teams. Fain, Yuffie, and Red XIII, you are the fastest members in our group, you are needed to dish out as much damage as possible and retreat before you get overwhelmed. Me, Tifa and Barret are taking middle positions here." Cloud said pointing at a hillside that allowed for easy access to the reactor. " We will be attacking from a distance until they reach our position where we will engage up close if we have to. When that happens Fain, you will head to the rear and act as magic support. Yuffie and Red XIII will be joining my group. If we get pushed back to the rear, we will deploy the turrets that the defenders have installed while they give us cover fire. We can not let them reach the shack, is that understood?" Everyone nodded. " Aerith, you are to remain in between the rear guard and the middle group. We need your heal support and magic offense. You should have a pretty good view of the battle as well, but keep your head down encase of snipers." Cloud said finishing up. Aerith gave him a nod in acknowledgment.
Now, they waited. Once Shinra's mercenaries were spotted the entrances were sealed off, forcing them to have to take the hillside. Fain, Yuffie, and Red XIII rushed down to their positions where they waited to ambush. Fain didn't want to make eye contact with either his rival or the crazy ninja girl. He simply waited until the enemy mercenaries were in position. Fain was startled when his hat was ripped of his head and practically reduced to scraps. A loud bang could be heard in the distance. A sniper. A loud bang from up on top of the hill could be heard where their counter sniper fired back. Fain looked down to see his chocobo feather laying on the ground. It had revealed his location perhaps, but saved his life. He grabbed it and 'dequipped' before using his magic to drop ice shards on the mercenaries that had just passed their positions without noticing their presence. Even despite the sniper. With the ice magic raining down on them they were forced to take cover... But the cover they found was a trap made by the ambush party.
Fain used his scythe to quickly make short work of the melee oriented mercenaries before taking cover and running away when the ranged oriented mercenaries started to attack. Yuffie and Red XIII attacked them, having finished off their groups. Fain used magic to try and cover the two but it wasn't enough. Their were mercenaries wearing heavier armor acting as shields for their lighter comrades. Even lightning didn't seem to effect them. It was time to retreat. Fain used earth magic to hamper the enemies movement and ice magic to act as a shield to cover their retreat.
Fain noticed Cloud giving them a nod before he readied his sword. He used it to shield himself from a hail of bullets while Barret popped up every now and again to spread counter fire and Tifa used magic.
Once Yuffie, Fain and Red XIII were in positions they started to use magic to rain down on the enemy. Cloud waited until they were reloading to start slicing and dicing. The defender type mercenaries stood up longer than the others, but not for much longer. But it didn't matter. They were wave one. The second wave came soon behind the other and they didn't have an ambush to impede them. Or so Fain thought. Yuffie had this weird smile on her face before she pulled out a remote control and pushed a red button. There was a loud explosion that caught the second wave off guard, killing a large amount of them. Cloud Barret and Tifa had little problems dealing with the remainder of the second wave. It was the third that pushed them back. These were headed by defenders carrying heavy shields. And no one had attacks that would work.
Aerith sighed and looked at the red materia in her bangle. She looked at the heavy defenders in front of the third wave and focused on the summoning materia. A large fat chocobo fell out of the sky and slammed on top of the defenders, flattening them. Fain laughed. He couldn't help it. The absurdity of it all.
But it didn't do enough. All of them were pushed to the rear line. The mercenaries third wave comprised of several lines of heavy defenders with shields. Aerith had taken out the first line while three more with a line of light ranged fighters were in the rear. The defenders were even persisting under turret fire. They didn't have anything that would do enough damage to them. Fain tried to think about it. Earth magic wouldn't be effective here because it would end up damaging the reactor which would harm the condor and its egg. He didn't have a magic strong enough that would effect them among his fire, lightning and ice...
"I'll take over from here." Fain heard Chol's voice. It was strange. Like he and she had completely switched places. Because where he and his body had stood now stood a woman about Tifa or Aerith's height. A woman who had long white hair and golden eyes. Her body was completely covered by silvery shining armor from her shoulders down and in left hand was a large round shield that she used to block the gun fire while she stepped from behind her cover while in her right hand was a large three pointed spear with the middle point being the largest. She walked with purpose down the hill with a white cape fluttering behind her. The defenders did not stop their march until she thrusted her spear through one of their shields and impaled the defender through his armor. She lifted her spear screaming man and all and flicked the dying man into his brethren. The woman known as Chol smiled maliciously as the men before her halted but she did not halt her advance.
In fact she slashed at their shields, slicing some and leaving others with a enormous gash. Those who were too close to her ark fell down dead, their armor doing nothing to protect them. The men backed away. Some, who tried to grab their fallen or their injured she ignored while others who tried to attack her she did not spare. She walked with a purpose right through their line destroying all she pleased before stopping in their center and running her spear right through a red Grand Horn. A beast that stood on two legs with massive clawed arms that were covered in spikes and shorter legs that were also clawed and covered in spikes. Its large bull horned head bared its fangs at her before she gave her spear a twist and was rewarded with a dying grunt. She pulled her spear out of the beast and let it fall dying to the ground as its body tumbled down hill.
"This is the part where you all yell retreat." She said as she turned her head to the remaining mercenaries. They were too afraid to speak as they dragged their dead and wounded away. She sighed and walked back up hill where she began to pass a dying man who held up a gun and shot at her head. She jerked her head to the side just in time for it to grace her cheek. She glared at the man and beheaded him with a spear before continuing her ascent. She sat on a rock and watched the invading force leave, slashing her spear through the air to cause shock wave that struck an attack helicopter that was approaching. It was nearly knocked out of the air as it rapidly plummeted towards the ground before regaining altitude and making its retreat. She turned to cloud and his group stabbed her spear into the ground and strapped her shield onto her back. "Get stronger." She said very firmly as she laid her hands on her side looking at them all like they were some kids she had just defended from a bunch of bullies. Her eyes lingered on where Fain as a cyan spirit stood before she became transparent and disappeared altogether.
With that Fain became substantial again and collapsed. His body laid on the ground as he felt his conscious slip into a deep slumber. Cloud stared down at the boy who reappeared and joined everyone's gaze upon the destruction Chol had wrought. It was like a force of nature had come down to blow their enemies away. Cloud returned his gaze down upon the unconscious Fain. " I guess it was like a summoning for him." Cloud said picking him up and carrying him inside. Tifa looked at all the dead bodies, shattered rocks and a large rent in the clouds that had been in the way of her swing. She understood one thing in particular. If she was Fain's predecessor she would hate to have seen how strong Sage had been. But she wondered... Why was Fain so much weaker physically?
It was a few moments before everyone sat down in the sleeping area to discuss the battle. They had taken no casualties and used up little resources. The Condor and egg were fine and no one was injured. Fain seemed to have used up too much energy to 'summon' Chol. At least, that was who they guessed she was because Fain had explained that every generation of guardians interchanged between warriors and magic users. It seemed warriors had impossibly human strength. So did that mean mages had equally strong magic? Aerith shook her head. " I think, it is because Fain is still young. Cloud, how old was Sage? Was that his name?" Aerith asked.
Cloud nodded. " Official reports say he was in his eighties. It was also said that he could not be taken down by any number of SOLDIER 1rst class operatives. It seemed he simply died from the elements that were present in the Northern Continent. Otherwise, anyone who stood before him was lucky to be alive." Cloud said calmly. Barret sat on a bed with his arms crossed. " Could someone like Sephiroth beat him?" Barret asked looking at the kid with disappointment. He would probably had loved to have someone with that strength on their side. Tifa looked at Cloud but it was Red XIII that answered. " No, Sephiroth had fought him before in Cosmo canyon and lost. I felt like Sage chose to spare the then young man. That old man was far from human. I could feel the pressure he exerted from my village. He was a monster that had no equal in his time and age." The beast said. "But he was a dying old wolf I suppose. Too tired to carry on."
"And bitter that no one in this world but Gaia herself could bring me the honor and relief of death." Sage said to Fain as the kid looked down at his body. It was strange. There he was sleeping. But Beanna explained that Fain, like her was able to use Astro Projection. While he was still alive at least. "You did not say you were eighty you old fart!" Chol said bitterly. The old gray haired man laughed. " Do I look it?" He asked towards Fain, obviously ignoring Chol. Fain shook his head. " You look like you are fifty... Are you in the habit of deceiving and lying?" Fain asked looking at Sage with annoyance. The old man looked at Fain a bit hurt. But he sighed and nodded before laughing. " At least I died with all my death intact!" the old knight said laughing. Fain sighed. " So, when I get older will I be as strong as any of you?" Fain asked.
Beanna shook her head. " Physically no. Magically you might surpass me. But mages generally do not have the power a warrior does. Even magically. We are meant to heal this planet and cultivate it. That is the reason why Mages generally borrow the power of their warrior predecessors. We were never meant for wars and battle." Beanna said sadly. Fain felt a crushing weight come down on top of him. "So I am always going to be weak?" He asked Beanna. Chol glared at her. " No. You will not. And YOU can not. You will learn magic from this world and get stronger that way. Because that is something you CAN do and better than your gaian comrades. You haven't noticed have you? They get weaker, the more materia they use. The more they use the more magic they can use, but the weaker their aegis becomes."
Fain looked at Chol who turned her eyes to Sage. "TELL HIM" Chol demanded. Sage looked at her bitterly before sighing. " I studied and did my best to become a master of the varying kinds of Aegises out there. Those that different kinds of bangles we can wear strengthen. Those that can only strength through battle experience and practice. Unlike Gaians, we Terans do not learn secret fighting techniques that are specific to what is called, 'The Limit Break' our Aegis is all we have. And Unlike a Gaian's Aegis we can change ours. We can freely manipulate it as we learn more about it. But, the boons your spell 'Aegis' is only activated when your Aegis is weakened enough. It is your way of your Aegis trying to repair itself. It is your way of your Aegis trying to save your life. And you realized how those boons are very temporary. So you intentionally damaging yourself is idiocy if not suicidal." The old man said very firmly.
Chol walked over to the man and punched him in the sighed, giving him a 'go on!' look. Sage gritted his teeth. " There are kinds of magic that I can teach you that can also strengthen and expand your Aegis... But to repair it and to gain 'haste' will require you to learn magics from the materia of this world." Sage said calmly. Chol nodded satisfied. Beanna looked down at her feet in regret. Sage sighed. " Ol' Beanna. If you had not died I could not have fought the war you had no ability to prevent. It had to happen. You did everything you could to help the planet and her people. It was my time." He said calmly. Chol slapped him upside the head. " You, old man know nothing about women. It was always your duty that came first!" Chol said while Beanna sat in the corner of the room looking depressed. Fain looked confused for a moment before realization came to mind. Sage seemed to be the denser of them all.
Fain sighed and walked over to Beanna who was crying. He did something he wasn't exactly comfortable doing. He hugged her. "I'm sorry things did not work out. And thank you so very much for helping me." Fain said. Sage just frowned before realization finally dawned on him. Chol sighed and walked over to Fain and Beanna. " I am sorry but it is time for you to go to dream land while we adults have a private conversation. Bye for now brat." Chol said dragging Fain back to his body. He saw Beanna giving him a thankful look before he was shoved back into his body again. His dreams turning to nightmares of Yuffie chasing him on the back of a giant Red XIII and fat chocobos raining from the sky.