Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII is the property of Square Enix. I do not own any of the characters except OCs.
The frigid water stabbed into Zana's body like a thousand daggers; the shock forced the air from her lungs and she stiffened in pain, instantly numb and weak. She tried to kick upward, but the demonic squid snatched her up in a viselike coil, pinning her arms to her sides and giving her no way to reach her sword. Above her, the water splashed as someone dove into the black depths. The lightning illuminated the silhouette, and she finally made out who was swimming toward her – Cloud.
"NO!" she screamed mentally, trying with all her might to will him back onto the ship as her lungs seared with the need for breath. "NO! Get out of here! Leave me!"
But Cloud, unaware of her mental pleadings, continued to swim toward her, slicing off the monster's limbs as it grabbed at him. Mere seconds later, he reached Zana and cut her free. He drew her face close to his and pressed their lips together tightly, giving her a breath of much-needed air. He wrapped his arm around her waist and began to swim upward, pulling her weak and nearly paralyzed body to the surface. Just a few more feet; the wait seemed unbearably long. With a small splash, the two of them finally breached the water's surface, gasping and coughing up water as they clung to each other for dear life.
"Huhl… Houhd…" Zana panted, so cold she couldn't even get Cloud's name out right. She shivered so violently she was afraid she would accidentally hit him. Cloud pulled her closer, letting her wrap her arms and legs around him as he kept them both afloat.
"J-j-jus-s-st hang – hang o-h-h-nn…" Cloud managed between tremors of his own. "W-we-'ll-l get t-th-through th-this-s-s…" Zana was too tired and cold to respond, so she just laid her head on his shoulder, curling up around him as tightly as she could without restricting his ability to swim.
A moment later, something sharp and shiny whizzed past their heads and into the water. Something long and smooth brushed against Zana's leg; a snake?! She sighed in relief when she realized it was just a rope. The two of them grabbed on and felt themselves being reeled back toward the ship. Above the deck, shining in the distance, was a ball of light unlike anything Zana could remember ever seeing before. As they drew closer, she could make out the figure of an old man floating in the center of the light. He was dressed in pure white robes, and his long white hair and beard looked as clean and pure as a fresh snowfall; even his wooden white-and-gold staff seemed to radiate a warm, heavenly light.
Not long after they had grabbed the rope, both of them were hauled out of the water and onto the deck by Yuffie and Tifa, who were both delighted that the idea of tying a rope to Yuffie's shuriken had worked so well. As soon as they were safely back aboard, the two women hastily stripped them down and wrapped them in thick, waterproof woolen blankets. The two huddled together as far out of the rain as they could, too cold to be bothered by the lack of clothing and unable to offer any further help for all the shivering they were doing.
As it turned out, their help wasn't needed anyway. Just as soon as she was sure Cloud and Zana were out of harm's way, Reina had turned her attention back to the Jenova spawn. Raising the crystal spear of the Novena high above her head, she closed her eyes and chanted in a rapid-fire mixture of Alethían and what sounded to Zana like speaking in tongues. She gasped quietly and her eyes shot open; they were glowing pure white, with no trace of her usual green irises to be seen. Her face was calm and tranquil; she scarcely seemed even to breathe. Her hands tightened around the Novena, and she turned her head skyward.
"Ramuh, God of Thunder!" she shouted, her voice oddly muted. It echoed as if several other people were speaking with her, and she enunciated each syllable perfectly, hiding almost every trace of her normal brogue. "I summon you now! Lend us your power – destroy this foul spawn of the enemy of the Planet! In the name of the almighty Covenant of Spirits, I command you!"
Ramuh opened his eyes wider and nodded at Reina. The tip of his staff began to crackle with electricity; his hair and robes billowed high in the air, lifted by the force of the static. The air hummed with tension as Ramuh lifted his staff high above his head. With a flash, the stored electricity shot up high into the clouds, illuminating the dark sea like daylight. The clouds above swelled dramatically, swirling above him like the eye of a hurricane.
With a hiss and a crack like a gunshot, a shower of lightning bolts rained down upon the monster. It screamed horribly as it was burned alive; when the lightning ceased, nothing remained of it but a filthy slick of charred, oily tissue floating atop the water. His job now completed, Ramuh faced Reina and bowed his head low. Reina returned the bow, bending all the way to her waist in a show of thanks and respect. The wizened god smiled softly at her and vanished in a flash of light, leaving nothing but glowing dust behind.
The group stared awestruck at Reina, silently watching the space where Ramuh had just been. Then all at once, most of them burst into cheers. Reno ran to her side and wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a quick peck on the cheek and beaming at her.
"Where'd you learn to do that, Babe?" he asked excitedly. "I mean, I always thought you needed a Summon Materia to do that, but… Wow! Just, wow!" Reina laid her hand against his cheek affectionately.
"Soon ye'll all learn it, lad. Very soon." She turned serious, then, looking to Tseng for direction as he surveyed the damage.
"Alright," he said hurriedly, kneeling beside Vincent, who was barely conscious and obviously in a great deal of pain. "Rude and Elena, help me get him down to the sickbay. Reno and Reina, I want you to go ahead of us and get any supplies ready that we might need."
"Let me come with you – I have healing materia," Yuffie said, taking one of Vincent's hands in hers and squeezing it reassuringly.
"Thank goodness for that," Tseng said, relief evident on his face. "Just don't use it until we've had the chance to set any broken bones; we don't want to regrow them if they're crooked. Cloud. Zana," he said as he and Rude carefully lifted the gunman between them. "Are you two going to be alright on your own for a bit?" The pair nodded, standing shakily and allowing themselves to be escorted down the hall by Reeve, who had come out onto the deck as soon as the chaos had quieted. "Alright, then, let's go." With that, the Turks disappeared down into the body of the ship, carrying Vincent as delicately as they could and hoping that Yuffie would be able to bring him some comfort while they worked on him. This was not going to be a pleasant experience.
An hour later, everyone in the party was gathered in some part of the sickbay or another, waiting to hear what Tseng had to say after calling them all there. Vincent was stretched out on one of the cots with Yuffie lying beside him; most of his body was covered by a thin sheet, and his usual red headscarf had been replaced by a tangle of white gauze. It had turned out to be very lucky that Yuffie had brought her curative materia along. When he had been thrown against the side of the ship's walls, the gunman had received several broken ribs, a shattered humerus and a crack in his left shoulder blade, and three broken spinal vertebrae. Chaos's powers would have enabled him to recover without the materia, but he would have been in excruciating pain for several days, as well as being unable to travel and thus slowing them down considerably. As it was now, however, his broken bones had already knitted, and he would be ready for light travel within only hours. For now he was lying still, pressed against Yuffie while he patiently awaited Tseng's words to the group.
"So," Tseng finally began, his voice hesitant as he tried to decide how best to phrase the question. "Reina."
"Yes, sir?"
"I take it that whatever that monster was, it was not a planned part of this trip?"
"Oh, no, not at all," Reina said, nervously twisting one of her red curls around a long finger. "I'm not even sure wha' that thing was, to be honest with ye." Tseng sighed, and a knowing look passed between him and Rufus before he spoke again.
"It's as I thought, then. I think Selph was probably aware that we would try to escape to Alethía, and left this remnant of Jenova waiting for us. I don't think she counted on us being able to take it down, though, and probably thought we would all be lying at the bottom of the ocean by now."
"Unless, maybe, she was just getting a feel for our strength," Vincent said darkly, his crimson eyes cold as he considered the possibilities. "After all, I'm sure someone with power rivaling Kadaj's wouldn't want to waste time on people who can't put up a fight."
"You could be right about that," Tifa said from a corner of the room, staring down at her hands as she thought it over. "But we beat that thing, so what does that mean for us now?"
"For now, it means absolutely nothin'," Reina said, her eyes bright and a confident smirk on her lips. "We'll be reachin' the port in just a few hours, and once we do we'll all be protected by the veil of magic that surrounds the entirety of Alethía. If the land considers someone a threat, there'll be no passage for them; not even someone of Sephiroth's strength could break through. Unless Selph figures out a way to dispel the magic – and knowin' her, it is very possible, but unlikely – we'll be completely safe from anything she might try to do. She won't even be able to sense our presence without our say-so."
"So what would be the best course of action?" Tseng asked, for once unsure of how to proceed next.
"One o' my old friends is going to meet us in town as soon as we dock," Reina answered calmly. "From there, he'll take us to my ol' home, and we'll be able to begin makin' up a plan for just how we want to take Selph down. My friend'll give ye more details once ye meet him, but suffice it to say we'll be lookin' into some forms of magic even Sephiroth barely knew how to use."
"Is that the type of magic you used to summon Ramuh earlier?" Reno asked, finally beginning to put two and two together.
"Aye. And if all goes according to plan, ye'll all soon be able to do the same, and then some."
"And what exactly is it that makes this magic so special?" Cloud asked curiously, turning a piece of materia around between his fingers as he spoke.
"The magic I was taught to use doesn't require any materia at all," Reina answered, letting a few sparks dance across her fingers to demonstrate. "It's a skill long forgotten by the people o' the Continent, and one that was very misunderstood by most o' the people involved with Shin-Ra." At this, Rufus looked down at his hands, knowing exactly what she was about to say and hating his part in it. "The ancient Alethíans had no name for themselves; they were all very simple folk, all livin' in harmony with the planet and harnessin' the power o' the Lifestream with unusual ease. They named their country with a word meanin' 'Truth,' and the name has remained to this day. And the 'true' way of harnessin' the energy of the planet is what I hope to teach ye here. For Alethía, friends, is the original birthplace o' the Cetra."
Author's Note: Phew! How's that for a first anniversary celebration? Several weeks of writing has finally paid off! This story is far from over, though, so don't worry. I'll be back with more updates as soon as I can, so please be patient until then.