Chapter 14
No smiles, no crawling, no playing...nothing but dirty diapers and feedings. Conversation certainly wasn't an option.
Sephiroth hated to admit it, but the fact was that his son was downright...boring sometimes. Two months into fatherhood, and the name of the game was: what do we do today to keep the kid from crying?
Aeris was finally cleared to enter the anti-gravity chamber, so it was Sephiroth's turn to appease the infant. As the weeks went by, Sephiroth got more and more used to little Keter's presence. There were still four more months until they reached land, but that couldn't be helped.
Suddenly, the ship jerked, causing Sephiroth to stumble slightly. Keter immediately began to cry. Maybe I should have the pilot calm him down...Sephiroth thought as he went to pick up his son.
"Why is it that bouncing you calms you down?" Sephiroth asked as he rocked the baby, "I would think it would get you all wound up. People don't make sense sometimes,"
Sephiroth then tensed as he heard a distant screech growing louder. Rakael. Every time that Keter's needs were stressing him out, he reminded himself that while Keter was a handful, he wasn't the banshee that was his aunt, who had been born one week after him. Soon, the screaming faded.
"More turbulence than usual," Sephiroth admitted, "No wonder you and Rakael are both in foul moods. At this rate, someone's going to get injured with all this shaking,"
As if on cue, the ship began to shake again. "Oh, for the love of-!" Sephiroth began to say.
Just then, the intercom crackled to life. "All hands on deck!" the pilot's voice seemed frantic, "Clear out all areas and prepare for lockdown!"
Sephiroth left the room, making a beeline for the cockpit. "What's going on?" he asked a crew member.
"Don't panic, Mr. Crescent-Valentine," the woman said quickly as she hurried away.
This is like when I first met Medea…Sephiroth thought impatiently, Telling a person not to panic before they even know what's going on…how counter-productive can one get?
"Seph?" Sephiroth turned around to see Aeris standing behind him, still dressed in the anti-gravity suit. "They made us all clear out of the anti-gravity room. What's going on?" she asked.
"I'm trying to figure that out myself," Sephiroth growled.
Another jolt sent Aeris and Sephiroth crashing into the wall. Sephiroth had managed to twist around, protecting Keter from the impact.
"We've got to put him back in the safe-pod!" said Aeris, "I'll watch him while you try to find out what's going on!"
"I'm coming with you," Sephiroth insisted, "I don't need you smacking your head against a wall and getting a concussion!"
"There you are!" Ifalna stumbled over to her daughter and son-in-law, still clutching the inconsolable Rakael.
"We need to put the babies in the safe-pods!" said Aeris, "Where's Papa?" "I don't know!" Ifalna admitted worriedly.
"First thing's first!" Sephiroth insisted, "Get the babies to safety!"
"Right," Ifalna agreed.
Another crew member was rushing by, but stopped. "Please, get the babies to the safety pods, and strap yourselves into any seats in that room!" he pleaded.
"But what's going on?!" Aeris asked as he ran away.
The ship jolted again, but they managed to brace themselves and protect the babies once more. "Now!" he ordered as the three began stumbling toward the room down the hall. The sound of several crew members screaming bloody murder made everyone freeze. However, they barely had any time to react before a bright light blinded everybody. That was the last that Sephiroth could remember.
The sound of Rakael and Keter's piercing cries woke Sephiroth up. He immediately sat up and surveyed the area around him. They were still in the ship for all he knew, though it was completely dark. The faint hum of the engine was silent. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness, and spotted Keter, lying on top of Aeris. Quickly, he picked up the infant with one hand, and began nudging Aeris with the other. "Wake up, Aeris!" he said, "We're still alive!"
He then heard the maniacal laughter of the pilot coming from the next room. Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing sunlight. "Wormhole!" the pilot giggled hysterically, "We're not dead! I don't know where the hell we are, but wherever it is, we're alive, and the readings outside are good! AHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Unnngh…" Aeris groaned as she sat up.
"Are you all right?" Sephiroth asked her.
"We're still alive…?" Aeris asked, looking around. The pilot went over to the escape hatch and slowly worked the door open. "Mama?" Aeris called out, "Papa?"
"It might take a few minutes for everyone to come around," the pilot explained, "Aeris, can you help check on everyone else? We can use a mage right now,"
"I'll look after Keter," Sephiroth offered.
"Oh, Rockie!" Aeris exclaimed as she followed her baby sister's cries, "Hang on, big sister's coming! Mama? Papa?"
"AUGH!" Professor Gast grunted loudly.
"Oh, sorry, Papa!" Aeris apologized, "Are you alright?"
"Can't breathe!" Gast wheezed, "Solar plexus…!" Aeris then cried out as she fell.
"Aeris?" Sephiroth sounded alarmed.
"Rakael? Oh- here you are!" Ifalna exclaimed.
"Aeris- what in the world are those boots made of?!" Gast groaned.
"I just tripped over Mama," Aeris announced, "She's holding Rakael…Papa's awake; I accidentally stepped on him…where's all of the crew?"
As if on cue, the door to the second corridor opened, and two crew members and a white mage stumbled in.
"All right," the pilot said, having regained his composure, "First thing we need to do is-!"
"The first thing you need to do is tell your passengers where the hell we are, and what the hell happened in the first place!" Ifalna said angrily.
"Agreed," Sephiroth stated, "Why did we crash?"
"It was a black hole," the pilot said, "However, a wormhole managed to pull us through before we could even try to steer away. I apologize for that. Perhaps now you know why we prefer to use gates than wander through outer space,"
"Yep, we're just a bunch of suicidal thrill-seekers!" one crewman laughed.
"First thing we need to do is check up on everyone else here," said the pilot, "Round everyone up and bring them here. We'll tend to any injuries here, and we can brainstorm about exploring our surroundings. We'll have to see what the terrain has to offer us. We also need to consult the charts and find out exactly where we are. Then we set to building the gateway, and-,"
"Wait- what?" Aeris interrupted.
"I'm sorry, but this mission has officially failed," the pilot told her, "We're lucky we still have the means to return to civilization,"
"Can't you repair the ship's engine?" Aeris begged, "We've come so close!"
"Follow me, Aeris," the pilot instructed. Aeris walked with him into the cockpit, still carrying Keter.
"See that?" he pointed outside the window. The bow of the ship was completely crushed against the side of a mountain.
"No…" Aeris whimpered, "Why now?"
"I'm sorry," Sephiroth said as he came into the room, "Maybe…we should just accept it. We've put a lot on hold for this, and maybe it's not worth it-,"
"That's my home we're talking about!" Aeris snapped. Keter began to cry again. "Oh no…Keter, I'm sorry…" Aeris held the baby closer, fighting off tears herself.
"Here…" Sephiroth took their son and began stroking the boy's head gently.
"I understand your frustration," said the pilot, "But right now, we have a job to do. I need everyone's cooperation so that we can get to safety soon…"
The climate of the planet was a tropical one. All of the Cetra had described its spirit as jovial and welcoming, though primitive.
"One can tell what kind of life exists on a planet simply by conversing with it," one of the mages had explained to Sephiroth as they looked for water, "You really don't need all sorts of crazy expeditions to find out. Just bring a Cetra along and you save endless amounts of money!"
"What kind of life exists here, then?" Sephiroth had asked.
"Possibly intelligent, but likely primitive. We certainly shouldn't count on stumbling upon a sprawling metropolis,"
"A tribe of headhunters?" Sephiroth half-joked.
"Heh…" the mage laughed nervously, "That's what the materia we've been armed with is for, isn't it? There's a chance whoever lives here hasn't even the foggiest idea of what magic is,"
"I find that hard to believe,"
"Oh, it's happened before. Civilizations go through unnecessary 'dark ages' because of it. What's worse, they believe it exists, but attribute it to things that happen naturally. Like thunder. Some old man points at the sky, thunder happens. Total coincidence, but the people are gullible enough to believe it's true. Then they develop technology, which is just such a long time. They end up polluting the environment, people get sick with lung diseases. Then eventually, it all balances out. You really need to balance magic and technology to truly please the Planets…"
Sephiroth looked around, only paying partial attention to the man's lecture. Suddenly, a bear crawled out of the brush. Spotting the two men, it stood up on its hind legs and let out a mighty roar. Sephiroth said nothing, but held up his wrist, with a Water materia (exclusively from Deux Terre).
"Watega," he said simply.
The bear was suddenly drenched from a sudden downward blast of water. Sephiroth and the mage stepped back to avoid being splashed. Growling, the bear ran off, likely thinking it had been caught in some hidden waterfall.
"No mutations…" the mage noted, "But that's the first living thing, excluding surrounding flora, that we've seen,"
"Eat something," Ifalna pleaded.
"I'm not hungry, Mama," Aeris said dully, "I'm not going to collapse just because I don't want lunch,"
"You're still nursing," Ifalna argued, "You need to keep your strength up so Keter can too. Come on, there's plenty of fruit outside that has already been deemed safe to eat. I'm going to have some right now," She got up from the bench she and Aeris were sitting on, and opened the hatch.
Aeris continued to sit. Everything they had worked for…all the effort they'd put into this…and it was all destroyed by a wormhole. Were those things even supposed to exist?
Would you rather have been stretched to spaghetti by a black hole? A voice in the back of Aeris' mind asked sarcastically. No, Aeris was grateful to be alive, but it was these near brushes with death that had kept screwing everything up. If she hadn't been infected, Reidmar wouldn't have risked everything to open the portal during Meteorfall, which had likely destroyed it, barring their way back home.
"Mmmm…this is sooooo tasty," Ifalna said, her mouth still full as she carried two purple, egg-shaped fruits into the escape hatch. She swallowed. "Aeris, you have to try this! Everyone with a pulse has to!"
"I'll do it later," Aeris said irritably.
"Feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to change a thing," Ifalna pointed out impatiently.
"I'm not feeling sorry for myself!" Aeris lied.
"We'll find another way," Ifalna promised. "When?" Aeris snapped, "When I'm a grandmother?"
"Considering our crazy family, that could be five years from now," Ifalna joked.
"Oh, ha ha ha ha!" Aeris fake-laughed.
Ifalna glared at her daughter. "You're acting like a child," she said.
"Maybe because in your eyes, I'm only ten, instead of twenty?" Aeris sulked.
"Well, if you're only ten, then go to your room!" Ifalna snapped.
Aeris stared at her mother for a moment. "My room looks like an accordion right now," Aeris quietly reminded her mother.
"You're even more stubborn now than you were when you were seven," Ifalna remarked.
"I learned it from my parents," Aeris pointed out.
"Ah, yes…" Ifalna recalled, "Now eat something. She shoved the fruit in her daughter's face.
"Fine," Aeris said grudgingly as she took one of the fruit.