Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/worlds depicted.
Recollection xii
Somehow, by some sort of miracle, we all survived. All of Avalanche, that is. Most of Sector Seven's residents were consumed. All because of us.
That was a guilt that wore me down for a long time.
The worst thing was, we knew that he was playing with us. He had shown that he could wipe out the whole of Midgar at any time he felt like doing so. Do you know how we had known? Not a single Dark creature had passed past Sector Seven's walls. Nowhere else in Midgar was touched. Sephiroth knew we were in there, and he had tried damn hard to ensure we perished there. Our only victory was that we survived.
Barret had shouted out when he saw me, wrapping me up in one of his rare bear hugs. Marlene sobbed as I held her. She had seen too much pain that no child her age should be witness too.
It was really only thanks to Vincent that I survived. He never accepted any thanks from me, though. When I tried too, he merely shook his head and walked away.
Cloud? He looked…relieved to see me alive, that is all I can say. For a moment he seemed like he wanted to say something to me, but didn't. All I got was a customary nod of acknowledgment.
That hurt, a little bit.
We had to hide out in the church with Aerith and the beast, Nanaki. All of Midgar was hunting us now. Sephiroth had launched a full-scale assault on Avalanche. He told the city that it was we that that summoned the Darkness. They even had photos of us. I don't know how they got those.
The thing was, they labeled Aerith and Red as being apart of Avalanche too. We were astounded at that. We were still in the church at that time, staring in shock at the wanted posters Vincent had brought in.
Barret had glared forcefully at both of them.
'Explain yer' selves real quick now.'
Aerith had looked down, as if she was humbled somehow. Of course, by now we had told them everything about us, it had been unavoidable.
Much to my own surprise, it had been Nanaki who had spoken next.
'We are from Radiant Garden. There were…rumors about your General Sephiroth, that he was aiding the Heartless. Aerith wanted to investigate. Being her guardian, I had no choice but to follow.'
Barret regarded them suspiciously, making the rumbling noise in his throat that he makes when he is considering something.
Vincent, who had remained mostly quiet until now, had looked at Aerith directly square in the eyes. He spoke smoothly and quietly.
'Why? What could you possibly hope to achieve, white mage?'
Nanaki raised his head from his paws and growled. I noticed Cloud stiffened a little at Vincent's words, which made me wonder…
Aerith met Vincent's piercing gaze with her own, gentle one.
'I hope to stop him.'
Her face was very solemn. Which made me later wonder if she had known her fate all along. Had she already chosen that path? Did she know what the consequences would be?
At that moment, the wail of sirens and the bustle of approaching people erupted. Guards began to storm the building. They had found us again, it appeared. And so, again we had to flee.
Authors note: Sorry about the short chapter, thats all I can really say. All will soon be revealled...
Now to all you nice readers out there, make me happy and review. Who knows, I may even hit the twenty reviews mark(its only three away, its not too much to ask, is it?)
Apoligies for whining. Happy reading.