Chapter Nine: Deep Incursion
A column of black smoke ascended from the outskirts of Edge, barely noticeable in Tifa's periphery. If she turned her head about thirty degrees, she could make out a few wounded city blocks that were all but abandoned, some simply boarded up and condemned for neglect, and others heavily guarded and quarantined for clean-up. Behind her, towering above it all, there stood the ever-crumbling remains of Midgar, the headstone for the most colossal tomb on the face of Gaia.
Death and decay were all around, but the streets below still echoed with the sound of motor bikes and delivery trucks. In late afternoon, children still wandered up apartment stair wells and down short-cut alleyways, coming home from school or stealing away to secret hideouts with friends. At least, the ones whose parents were still willfully blind enough or in denial of the dangers lurking in every crevice of the city did. Tifa didn't blame them for not wanting to face the cold reality of the world, as it all but mandated fear for their very lives. Yet, she wouldn't dare to try to send Marlene to school, knowing that an infected, insane classmate might send her home much worse than merely bullied. Eden was too risky to try to send at all; he might not come home alive. Playing ignorant for comfort's sake would only make matters worse.
From the roof of Seventh Heaven, Tifa gazed at the least eventful horizon her eyes could find, trying to ignore the distant wail of emergency sirens, or the putrid retching from the window three or four houses down. She was trying to pretend that she was just enjoying a normal, quiet afternoon with the kids. Gaia played along, sending a soft breeze to flip her hair to one side, while a sparrow perched on a light pole in front of the building. The sky wasn't bleeding, and the ground wasn't shaking; gentle rays of sunlight flickered in and out from between puffy cumulus clouds overhead, careless of the bleak state of man's affairs. She had to question for a second if that's really how it was. Would it be advantageous for the Planet to forsake the life of humanity, and hoard its reserves of spirit energy for less intelligent, less potentially destructive life forms?
Tifa brushed her bangs out of her eyes and turned back to the kids. Eden and Marlene eagerly hovered over a small fire pit, clutching balsa wood skewers topped off with huge, fist-sized marshmallows. Impatiently, Eden stuffed an uncooked one into his mouth whole, while impaling two more onto his stick, shoving the one Tifa had put on for him further down. Marlene snorted and giggled at his overloaded face as he struggled to chew on it, eyeing the bag in thoughts of trying something similar, but she decided against it. The chocolate and grahams were her favorite part. Marshmallow melting was the most fun, though.
All they needed now was for Tifa to light the fire.
"Is everything okay, Tifa?" Marlene asked, wondering what could have drawn her attention away from them so abruptly.
"It's nothing, Marlene. Looks like there was a small fire on the other side of town, that's all," Tifa replied. There was so much more out of sorts; the scenery deteriorated every day, but still just slow enough to tell a child it was nothing to worry about.
"Mm. Okay," Marlene looked back at Eden, and found that his skewer was turning into a veritable marshmallow shish kebob, now sporting five of the puffy treats.
Of course, he retracted his hand from the bag when Tifa noticed his unfolding plan, knowing she'd probably not approve, but hoping she might be a little impressed. Much to his dismay, she only smiled at him wryly, and proceeded to deprive him of all but the first marshmallow, plucking them off one by one. "You'll burn yourself when they start to melt, silly. Save that for the chocolate."
Eden scowled, but accepted her answer after quickly reevaluating the size of the crackers. It really wouldn't work, and he hadn't thought of where he was going to put all of them. It was just too bad that she wasn't going to let his idea for a flaming marshmallow torch happen.
"Told you so," Marlene sang quietly, as Tifa busied herself with throwing lit matches into the pit. Eden rewarded her by prodding at her arm with his skewer's sharp end. "Oww! Hey! Tifa! Eden's poking me!"
"It's not my fault," he defended, pointing at the marshmallow bag. "Her dress makes her look like one of them."
"Edeeen!" Marlene wailed, red in the face with embarrassment. He'd finally done it. She prided herself on being a good, helpful, quiet girl, but she was screaming at the top of her lungs because of him!
Which, naturally, was exactly what he wanted, betrayed by a self-satisfied smirk that he failed to suppress. Tifa sighed and poked lightly at the center of his forehead with her pointer finger. "I know those bright little eyes of yours can tell the difference. Behave."
"Do I have to…?" Eden quietly mumbled, rolling his skewer between the palms of his hands.
"Yes, you do. If you don't, you might not get any marshmallows at all. Guess I'll just have to give all of yours to Yuffie this time," she calmly pronounced his punishment, knowing he'd sooner scrub every inch of the bar's kitchen before forsaking his beloved marshmallows, and especially to his junk food rival. Sometimes, Tifa couldn't believe the size of the sweet tooth the kid had, but it worked wonderfully as a trump card when he didn't really want to settle down.
As predicted, Eden shook his head in the negative, an almost frightened look on his face. Protectively, he hugged the soft, squishy bag. "Sorry Marlene. I'll try to be nice."
Marlene laughed, quickly forgetting her annoyance with him. Try as she might, it was impossible to stay mad at him.
Putting the finishing touches on the fire, Tifa offered them an approving smile, but she wasn't quite so amused. Although times like this weren't such a big deal, it was akin to what made her skin crawl the most, especially since the experience she'd had with Eden after cleaning out Cloud's desk. He mentally and emotionally disarmed those he could get close to with such incredible ease. She hadn't started looking for it until recently, but once she did, it was almost like his entire behavior pattern was coordinated toward doing exactly that from the very start. It might be paranoia in part, but Tifa could no longer overlook the fact that no matter what he said or did, he was always too scared, too forgetful, or even too adorable in the aftermath of his bizarre behavior for suspicion to stick very easily.
A tight little ball formed in the pit of Tifa's stomach for her uncertainty. If she watched only how he acted, she could almost see the strings attached to his every limb, leading down into a dark, murky pool of corrupt Lifestream. Yet, if she looked at him, at his form and his carriage, she saw a little boy with less than auspicious origins, pushed and pulled mercilessly between his current surroundings and love ones and the ceaseless beckon of a malicious entity fond of being called "Mother".
Either way, every time she started to let herself believe his connection to Sephiroth was fairly loose, he'd do or say something to remind her of the gut-wrenching truth. After last time, Tifa wasn't so sure she could forget; wasn't certain it was safe. Gaia, it was like knowing she was being spied on, but being forced to write it off because the spy's means of doing so were just so unbelievable! Because the possibility existed that it was all some stress-induced delusion, she always had to think twice, and never came up with any definite answers. Thus, her trust in Eden wilted away, all while her protectiveness of him increased exponentially.
But then, there was also Marlene. Smiling and humming and playing along with Eden, she barely registered the level of grief over her father's passing Tifa thought she would; that she should. It was as if after that first night, she'd just accepted it. There was nothing normal about that; no one in their right mind switches from raw bereavement back to normal, everyday living in the space of a single night.
Marlene was hardly depressed anymore at all. The only hint at a reason why had come that morning—
"Daddy's going to come back, Tifa. Eden says that everyone who was sick will come back together, as part of something amazing. I don't think I need to be sad…"
It was one thing that Eden was able to tear down Marlene's guard in play. All that meant was that he was a smart kid who knew how to instigate and manipulate. Tifa had already once or twice considered what heartbreaker he might turn out to be, once he came of age. But those were normal thoughts for the future, comfortable and sane. Then, Eden would do something like this, using candy-coated allusions to Sephiroth's Reunion to turn off Marlene's grieving cycle like a light switch. There was no way it could be healthy for her; Tifa was waiting for her to break down at any moment, struck anew with the realization of everything Eden had helped her bury.
A graham cracker, overflowing with melted chocolate and marshmallow suddenly hovered two inches in front of her face, summoning her away from her fretful thoughts. "Don't be mad," Eden whispered, offering the gooey, saccharine mass up to her.
Tifa sighed, and accepted the boy's sugary sacrifice, licking at the edges to keep it from dripping. "I'm not mad, Eden. I just have a little too much to think about."
Even as his latent Jenova abilities showed signs of awakening; even as his ties to Sephiroth grew more apparent, Eden still couldn't seem to stand the thought of disappointing her. He still spoke in soft, frightened tones when her face grew too serious. There were still relieving, innocent little moments like this, when he showed himself to be the same terrified child she'd brought home from the Kalm Orphanage. This was another part of him that was too hard to forget or ignore-the part that made her ever-insistent on trying to save him.
"Oohh! …I'll show you!" Yuffie barked, hurtling her shuriken back in Tifa's direction.
The wastes were quite blustery today, forcing the ninja woman to compensate for fickle wind shear. Tifa failed to deflect it this time, instead side-stepping and rolling out of its path as Yuffie landed gracefully behind her to intercept. If Tifa could say nothing else for herself, it was that her capacity to dodge and parry had improved significantly. For once, she got back up with the fusion swords still in hand.
"Talking to me, or the wind?" Tifa lightly provoked Yuffie, holding one blade out in front of her.
"How about both!" she exulted before pouncing backwards.
They clashed in friendly close combat, as Yuffie unleashed a series of small, sharp, rapid-fire cuts, each met with a stubborn, blocking clang from First Tsurugi. Just as she leapt into the air to deliver the move's final blow, Tifa brought the blade down hard on one end of shuriken's points, handily prying the weapon from Yuffie's grasp. Ceremoniously, Tifa thrust the sword outward, inches shy of her neck, ending the spar. If it had been for real, Yuffie would have been decapitated.
Yuffie huffed, laughing nervously at the sword's close proximity. She'd been impressed at how difficult Tifa had made it to best her, but this time she held nothing back, fighting as though she had every intention of completely obliterating her opponent. Slowly, when she was sure that Yuffie wasn't going to make any sudden moves, Tifa lowered the sword, rejoining it with the rest of the weapon, and sheathed it at her back.
"Sorry if I got carried away," Tifa apologized, seeing Yuffie tenderly feel the side of her neck, checking that her carotid artery was still intact.
Yuffie dropped hard onto the dusty ground then, stretching, and moping, "Oh man…I can't believe I actually lost! You seriously looked like you were ready to murder me! Guess I kinda forgot how scary you can get when you mean business! Geez…"
Tifa crouched down, dragging her fingers in the gravel. "I think that maybe…Cloud is helping a little," she confessed. "Usually, I feel so awkward trying to fight like that. So unbalanced, but sometimes everything just fits together." There was definitely something she sensed in this match, beyond the simple urgency to get better and stronger. Her hands and feet seemed to know intuitively what to do before her mind could process it. She felt a lightness in the fight too, an ethereal, invisible sense of comfort and encouragement. It quickly faded when the match was over, but it left a trace of memory; new understanding bestowed as though an expert had patiently trained her.
"Two on one isn't very fair, you know? But that's probably what you need to take me down anyway," Yuffie beamed knowingly, brushing herself off.
As much as the girl loved to sing her own praises, Tifa couldn't fault her. Unlike most of them, she'd never really been content to settle down to the point of letting her skills rust. By comparison, any time a new battle emerged, Yuffie had hardly any catching up to do before she was ready to tear whatever foe was asking for it a new one. Such was the life of one who chose espionage and general intelligence as a living, Tifa mused. Battle was always imminent.
But it seemed that way for everyone else too, anymore. With that in mind, the bittersweet training phenomenon also worried Tifa. She wanted so badly to keep holding onto him, but the fact that Cloud's spirit remained near in those times, not quite returned to the Planet, told her that trouble wasn't far off. Her mind instantly wandered to Eden, quite sure he was the cause. Cloud, of all people, would know she'd never have the heart to put him down as a child, even if it was the safest option. She worried that maybe the Planet had sent him to prepare her for the consequences. Tifa didn't want it to be like that; she'd never been in the military or genetically altered as Cloud had. She was just a lonely barkeeper trying to protect what was left of her family, Eden included. Even with extra help, she could never fight the way Cloud used to.
Tifa's heart sank, cold and deep. "Yuffie…has Eden ever done anything strange around you?" She didn't want to say exactly what she was thinking now; didn't want to have to be the one to suggest that the poor kid was being so directly used by Sephiroth. Worse, she was too ashamed to bring up how her mind had been invaded as evidence. Who the hell would believe her about something like that?
Standing on her tiptoes, Yuffie swatted more dust and gravel away from her back and butt. She then decided to empty her shoes of pebbles that had found their way in during the match. "Like what? He's kind of a weird kid already."
Tifa's head hurt; the conscious path beaten by her invader was throbbing to be known, to be told on. She was scared and so very humiliated by it, though. There were some things about Cloud's personal conflict with Sephiroth that differed from her own; things that she never wished to understand on this level. Wasn't this supposed to be restricted to those with Jenova's cells? The mental war was one aspect she was much more comfortable simply empathizing with, not actually experiencing. But the front door to her psyche had been ripped away by the hinges; it wasn't as though she could simply close it again, lock it down, and reinforce it.
She felt like he could walk right in again at any time he pleased, and she'd be completely defenseless to stop him. Him. Was it him? Tifa didn't want to know. She didn't want to think about it or look at it any closer.
"He…asked me if we could still be friends once he becomes 'whole'." Such a small part of the incident, but Tifa hoped it would be enough to clue Yuffie in. "And then, I guess there was something he told Marlene about Barret…Since then, she hasn't cried. She's been perfectly happy, like nothing's happened." Tifa cringed inside, knowing full well the latter hardly revealed anything. Internally, she was too busy berating herself for not watching closely enough again.
"Hmm…" Yuffie paced lazily, swinging her arms. "Well, we can't forget he does have the whole larva thing going on. It'll probably be a while before he gets it that he has to grow up like a normal kid. As for Marlene…I don't know, Tifa. She's seen a lot of crappy things for a kid. Maybe she just doesn't know what else to do?"
Tifa calmed marginally. She'd failed to consider that Marlene's behavior didn't necessarily have Eden to blame. Maybe the girl was just so used to sadness and loss that she thought she was supposed to move on in a day or two. It could also be the unfortunate fact that neither one of them would ever actually see Barret dead. A lack of closure might make it easy for her to pretend he wasn't really gone, at least for a short while. It still wasn't good for her, but it wasn't as dangerous as what Tifa was imagining. Eden may have unwittingly provided a crutch for Marlene not to accept it with his bizarre and suspect theories, but not much else.
"I guess…I'll just have to keep reminding him what he has," Tifa concluded, although her tone was nothing but doubtful.
"He's a happy kid," Yuffie agreed. "If he seriously thought he was going to lose you or Marlene, he'd throw a total fit. Screaming, kicking, hyperventilating-everything! Besides, it's all just stuff he says, right? He hasn't tried to run away, or mind-control anyone, or summon really ugly versions of Bahamut, or take a bunch of other kids hostage to use as meat shields, or, or…"
"I think I understand what you're saying," Tifa laughed softly, even though her blood had chilled slightly at the mention of mind control. It wasn't quite like that—more like the telepathic version of breaking and entering. But if she came clean about it, Yuffie would likely inform Reeve and Vincent, who'd in turn probably decide that Eden's time was up.
"Maybe you should just ask him how he's doing?" Yuffie offered.
"Yeah, I will."
She knew that analyzing the Eden's emotional state would probably lead to some disturbing comments on his part, but it was something that needed to be confronted. There was no way she could take proper care of him if she was constantly afraid of who or what might be hiding behind or inside of his unassuming child's shell. In the long run, she'd only wind up avoiding him, holding him at arm's length, and emotionally crippling him. The only way this was going to work was if she refused to back down; refused to be scared away.
Just this once, Tifa chose to let Eden and Marlene stay up late. It had been a long, long while since Marlene had been allowed to help out in the bar, for all the Geostigma-afflicted patrons who came in, oozing and lamenting their impending demise. Trying so hard to shelter the kids from the myriad of evils and scary things in the world was fast creating a prison of the building's second floor for them. So, once she'd closed up and found them disobeying their bedtime yet again, she cut them some slack, and let them come down.
Back in the kitchen, Marlene was happily scrubbing away at an endless pile of dishes. Tifa enjoyed the break from it but knew better than to believe her chore-enjoying phase would last forever. One day in the not-too distant future, the girl might even come to see Tifa as cruel, evil, and unfair for even suggesting she help clean.
Up front, Eden all but hid in the shadows of Tifa's legs, following her step for step as she reorganized the bottles of liquor, and took notes on the ones that were running low. Stepping back, she barely missed his little feet for the fourth or fifth time and groaned. Having had enough of that, Tifa turned around, and he let out a startled cry when she picked him up without warning, sitting him down on a stool.
"It's okay for you to watch, but I might accidentally squash your feet if you don't stay back, alright?" Tifa warned him, squeezing one of his big toes playfully.
Eden crossed his arms in a pretense of pouting but couldn't help the delighted smirk that played across his face. He could get on her last good nerve, but she'd never turn on him. Even when she scolded him, she always made sure he wasn't needlessly frightened by it. He could feel the gentle crack in her patience, quickly restored by care and understanding. The minuscule flow of consciousness came and went quickly as she released his foot and returned to the night's closing duties.
But on the very tail end of that signal, almost completely veiled, there was a hint of intense apprehension; something that bordered on sheer horror. Eden rolled that tiny bubble of her emotion around in his mind, curious, half wondering why, and half trying to bait his inner existence into responding to it. It fed off of things like this, he knew. It made something unspeakably awesome of things it could manipulate and control, given the chance.
Suddenly feeling quite numb, Eden's mind seized, floating on a backdrop of giddy euphoria. He felt his vocal cords react, speaking, although he never thought the words uttered.
"Am I…your nightmare, Tifa?" Calm, dripping, inquisitive, yet mildly accusatory, the words rolled out. His small, boyish timbre dampened their full effect and meaning, however, reducing the statement to something of day-dreamy confusion.
That didn't stop the woman from whipping around, eyes narrowed, disbelieving in what she'd heard. "Eden…" Tifa began cautiously, "What are you talking about, hmm?" A tiny tremor infiltrated her voice, but her question came out every bit as gentle and careful as she'd intended.
Hazy, Eden slowly blinked. He'd seen her turn and her mouth move when she'd addressed him but heard nothing. Flustered by his sudden space-out, Tifa lightly grabbed Eden by his shoulders when he failed to reply and gave him a small shake.
"Ti..fa?" he drawled, still partially hypnotized by a low buzzing in his ears. A jolt of scorching, panicked conscious energy passed from her through him, and the object of her fears reared his head, staring him down. Cyan eyes, fashioned much like his own, but sharper and slightly more slanted pierced him. "What is…?" the boy murmured, reaching forward. The beginning, the end, Mother's will and his final being, so very close. Eden was a willing slave, but soon, so soon… The time was drawing so very close, wasn't it?
"What is what? Eden? Come on, talk to me…" She grabbed the hand he'd randomly outstretched, trying to pull him back into waking reality, finding it cold and clammy.
The link between their minds strengthened and faded in uneven waves, and Eden relaxed, compelled to see Tifa do likewise. It wasn't safe to let her energy out in such irregular bursts; there needed to be a steady, constant stream, easy to navigate, and easy to read.
"Tifa…I was just thinking…" Eden yawned for effect, or at least, he understood that was the purpose. Right now, that inner being, that man held the reins, commanding caution, pushing small, apparently normal physical impulses upon his small body. Eden felt his free hand lift to rub at his eyes.
Remembering her discussion with Yuffie, Tifa decided it was now or never. Something was really bothering Eden.
"Eden, are you okay?" she quietly asked him, still holding his hand, pushing his hair back from his head to check for fever. Like his palms, it was cool. If anything, his temperature was running slightly low.
"Mmhmm…" he meekly replied, eliciting an audible sigh of relief from her. She'd been waiting for something else to happen, but it didn't. Her guard came down; she was ready to listen to whatever he had to say. Eden wondered what she'd been expecting, and he felt, almost heard, his inner existence laughing at her in dark amusement.
Sitting closer by, Tifa broke their contact. She hunched over somewhat, resting her face in the palms of her hands, studying him. "Are you sad, Eden? Or scared?"
Eden mimicked her position, staring back. A small smiled crept onto Tifa's face, but she remained focused on him. "I'm alright…"
His voice came out weak and uncertain in spite of his excusing response. "Are Marlene and I making you sad?" she gently pushed, presuming that he didn't want to worry or displease her. When he was fully aware of himself, Eden could be quite sensitive to others' feelings. Needless to say, Seventh Heaven had been a stressful abode as of late.
The boy's eyes suddenly grew wide; fearful, and he grabbed Tifa's hands from her face, startling her. "Please…I want to stay with you and Marlene! I do!"
Tifa frowned, disconcerted. After all this time, did he still fear that they'd reject him? For all she knew, Marlene might even have something of a puppy love crush on the kid. How did he think he got away with tormenting her so much? Then again, she had to guard him so closely from those in the outside world who'd do much worse than simply reject him. He had to have some sense of her unease around him as well. Sadly, his fears weren't entirely unfounded. For that, Tifa felt immensely guilty. "No one's going anywhere. We're all staying right here, okay?"
It happened too fast for her to react, because she was occupied with consoling a frightened child. Eden's pupils narrowed down to tiny, sharp slits; his eyes were literally glowing. In that tiniest of instants, every single mental defense she still had up simply crumbled. It wasn't just the proverbial front door that was missing now. The windows had been smashed in, and the walls were riddled with cracks and holes. If there had been a roof, it was missing. But she was held paralyzed emotionally and physically this time, yet at attention.
Tifa wanted to be afraid, but the presence that flooded her mind wouldn't permit it. She thought briefly of scolding Eden, of feigning motherly disappointment by telling him how rude it was to initiate uninvited mental contact, but her lips wouldn't move. And this truly felt nothing like the little boy sitting in front of her. Tifa knew damn well that Eden wasn't the one pouring into every crevice and unexplored niche of her conscious and subconscious mind, but all she was able to do was sit there, breathing slow and shallow, transfixed on him. She could hardly will herself to blink, making her eyes burn.
"I do want to stay with you and Marlene, and I will…But…I must find Mother….become whole..." Eden murmured slowly, softly, entranced.
Inside himself, Eden received a fascinating memory from Tifa. Two men fought, Tifa's dead friend, Cloud, and the one at the end of his quest for Mother. Cloud struggled miserably, stabbed repeatedly, but whatever he lacked in strength, he made up for in resolve, although he had to borrow much of it from others. Eden finally understood why Mother so hated him. He was a nuisance to her, getting in the way every time. But this was Tifa's memory. She had been there; she was a witness to the lost battle. There was but one way to correct that; one solution for vengeance.
Completely frozen, Tifa couldn't unlock her gaze from Eden's eyes. She couldn't budge an inch, and she'd lost track of time. Maybe only seconds had passed; perhaps minutes. She could only silently pray that her mental invader was finished with her before Marlene was done with the dishes. Tifa didn't want her caught up in this; paralyzed and mentally and spiritually probed while not fully comprehending why, relegated to throwing idle suspicions around.
Desperate, Tifa reached out to her uninvited guest in her thoughts, ordering it to leave. Eden's grasp on her hand tightened in response, coldly, almost painfully.
"I must…have…Reunion…" Eden stiffly pronounced.
Tifa's pulse increased sickeningly; that was the first time he'd referred to it that way. A silent gasp escaped her throat as she felt his tiny fingernails dig into her palms. Was he asking for her help, or was he actually trying to hurt her?
All coherent thought was then effectively eradicated from her mind when he spoke again, "I know you understand, Tifa."
Again, his voice was confident, dripping, and sinister.
But it was worse than just that. There were two voices.
Two very distinct voices, chiming in on the same retort. Eden's childish, quiet voice produced those words almost robotically, merely repeating what he'd heard. It was the deeper, somewhat melodic, disembodied voice that joined him who truly spoke, coolly gloating in his conquest.
Tifa wanted to scream.
Tifa wanted to take the upper hand, and kick that person out of her little boy, and out of her mind, and out of her life.
Tifa was allowed to do none of those things. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she fell limply to the floor, helpless and vomiting. But at that moment, she knew she'd been released. Gradually, horrified and quaking violently beyond her capability to control it, she crawled back up to the bar, and swiped a washcloth to wipe her mouth off.
Eden didn't pass out this time; he reappeared at her side with a glass of water, still looking very much possessed.
"Don't fight it, Tifa. You were chosen," he calmly advised, and she could only be glad, in her absolute mental exhaustion, that it was only Eden she heard this time. She could deal with what he said later.
Clutching the glass he'd offered, she chose to drench her face, rather than drink it. The water was bitterly cold, but right now, she welcomed anything that could remind and assure her that she still owned herself.