Shout-outs:
Faunalind: We'll start to see Zack and Genesis in action right now.
Guest: Everything happens for a reason, especially in fiction.
Badnephilim: You'll get your answer this chapter. And considering how much material crosses over between all the Final Fantasies(right now, I'm actually playing FF13…maybe I should have had her name herself 'Claire Farron' since Lightning can dress up like Aerith in the sequels), I couldn't resist, lol.
JazzQueen: Siblings, lovers…the creators seemed to be considering every angle before giving up and making them complete strangers. I guess killing your sister or one-sided crush would have been pushing things too far?
Ardwynna Morrigu: Just because there's no date doesn't mean there's no character development that'll push the two closer together. ;) It's just subtle, as you'll soon see.
Chapter 1: Collateral Damage
Elfé and Aerith stood at a gaming console in the Gold Saucer's arcade, playing a classic side-scroller. It had been a full day since they had left the truck at the garage.
Aerith's eyes were narrowed in concentration as she guided her character, a fat bearded construction worker through the level. He grabbed the magic onion, grew twice as big, and then jumped over a baddie…right off the edge of a cliff.
"Wow, you're so bad at this!" Elfé laughed.
"And that's all my lives if I still want to play ski-ball," Aerith sighed as she stepped back and pulled out the few tokens she had left.
"Well, I've still got four lives left," Elfé announced, "I'll come find you when I'm done."
"You're pretty good," Aerith remarked, "Do you usually go to arcades during your missions?"
Elfé's good humor faded slightly. "Someone taught me how to play when I was in Midgar a couple of years ago. Not all games…just old-school stuff like this."
"Well, if our journey takes us there, you think your friend could show me what to do?" Aerith giggled, "Because I'm hopeless."
Elfé's expression turned somber. "That won't be possible," she answered flatly.
Sensing the abrupt change in her friend's mood, Aerith decided to change the subject. "Do you want to go to the battle square and find out how Seph's doing once we're done here?"
"Actually, I'm thinking we could grab something at the bar and grill," Elfé suggested. She then smiled mischievously. "You know that the drinking age over here is eighteen, right?"
"Well…that's nice," Aerith said, "Maybe I'll come back next year and try a rum and cola."
"Why don't you try a rum and cola tonight, 'Terra Branford'?" Elfé chuckled, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Didn't you notice your new I.D. says you were born a year earlier?"
Aerith dug through the messenger bag she carried until she found her wallet. Opening it up, she examined her fake I.D. "Hey, you're right!" She shook her head, smiling sheepishly. "I hated the picture that your friend took, so I didn't really take a good look at the card."
"Nobody ever likes their I.D. photos," Elfé commented as she managed to get the fat bearded man's tall skinny brother to slide down a flagpole, signifying his victory. "Fake ones are no different, I imagine. Me, I never really cared one way or another about getting my picture taken.
"Anyway, I thought it might make things easier for you in general if you were 'of age', so to speak," Elfé explained, "We have a whole week to kill. If there's one thing that having a piece of materia draining my life away taught me, it's that one really should explore and appreciate all that life has to offer."
"And here my mom always thought you were such a good influence on me," Aerith chided her friend playfully.
"I doubt you having one drink makes me a bad influence," said Elfé defensively.
"If you say so," Aerith teased as she backed away and began to head for the ski-ball machines, hoping she would have better luck there.
Angeal looked around as he walked through the event square. Sephiroth was finally fighting his way through the battle square, and doing quite well, as expected. However, for Angeal, simply watching Sephiroth fight was rather boring. The fun lay in actually sparring with his old friend.
Thus, he had been compelled to see a show instead. After sitting through a silly improvisation sketch starring the 100th couple to walk into the theatre(two hapless teenagers that had been together on a date), he watched the play about the four "Warriors of Light", who had banded together to save the world from the four "Evil Fiends". It had been a very entertaining show, though he would have liked to have had someone join him. At least then, he could have had someone to discuss the play with afterwards. He would have asked the girls if they wanted to come, but his old cell phone had no reception inside the giant amusement center, and had been unable to locate them before the show would have started.
This was one of the times where he found himself missing Genesis. His oldest friend would have jumped at the chance to see a play, especially one that was put on by professionals, and not a local school performance at the Banora Harvest Festival.
Just as he arrived back at the wonder square(which was outdoors), he felt his phone vibrating. He quickly took it out, wondering if Elfé had tried calling, or if she had succeeded in finding a phone for Aerith, as their youngest companion still needed one. He opened it up and dialed the voicemail.
"Again? How many times do I have to tell you to get a new phone? I know you always blame the service provider, but having a phone that was made in the 90's isn't doing you any favors. I gave you plenty of money, didn't I? Anyway, here's the number you can reach me at…"
Angeal sighed as he listened to the new number, memorizing it instantly. He then began to dial.
"I can't talk too long," Genesis said as he walked through the streets of Corel, "You're lucky you reached me during the last few minutes of my break. Did you start your voyage yet?"
"We did," Angeal answered, "We're at the Gold Saucer."
Genesis stopped dead in his tracks, looking up at the amusement center, which could be seen from anywhere in Corel.
"Is that so?" he asked, waving jokingly at the Gold Saucer.
"My truck had some more issues, so we're stuck waiting for a new part to arrive. I'm hoping we can at least make it to Rocket Town before I might have to sell it. That truck just doesn't function properly for long distances, especially not in this dry weather."
"What happens when you get to Rocket Town?"
"We apparently bribe a pilot into flying us to the Northern Continent," Angeal answered.
"Pilot?" Genesis scowled. "You mean Cid Highwind?"
"How did you know?" Angeal sounded genuinely surprised.
"Well…he's been picked to go out into space by the Shinra. Are you sure that guy's really loyal? Seems like he's really excited about going into space from what I hear the woman in charge of weapons is saying. Plus, I was at a dinner for executives the other day, and that's all they were talking about. Sounds like this guy is loyal to the highest bidder. If you want him to choose you over going up into space, you'd better offer him the moon and the stars…oh…wait…the Shinra are already doing just that."
Genesis chuckled at his own wit.
"That's not funny," Angeal snapped, "If he won't take us to the Northern Continent, that could mean another few weeks until we get to the old city. That's another few more weeks of you getting worse."
"Then you need to figure out how to sweet-talk that guy into helping you," Genesis re-iterated, "I've gotta go. I'll be destroying this phone, but if you do get a new phone, make sure you keep the old number."
"Wait! I'll give you Elfé's number as well…"
"I don't know if this is an Ancient thing or what…" Elfé grunted as she dragged a nearly blacked-out Aerith back to the room they shared at the inn. "But you're way too friendly with strangers for someone who should have a healthy sense of paranoia. And you also get really carried away sometimes, you know that?"
Aerith hiccupped, and then moaned, clutching her head in pain.
"Wow, you are trashed," Elfé sighed as they arrived at the door to their room. She gently placed Aerith on the floor, leaning her against the wall while she dug in her pocket for the key. Locating it, she unlocked the door and opened it, just in time to grab Aerith as she began to tip over. Elfé hoisted the girl's arm around her shoulder, dragging her over to one of the two twin beds and laying her down on top of it.
Aerith mumbled something.
"I know you like to go make friends with new people, kid," Elfé said to her as she sat down on her own bed, "And I'll admit, it was fun to grab a couple drinks with those two college girls, at least until they started singing TV theme songs from twenty years ago. But…and I've been meaning to tell you this for a while now: you really need to drop that stubborn streak of yours where you stop listening to people. Because you really should have listened to me when I said no more than two drinks. You're seventeen and you've never drank before, and- HOLY SHIT!"
Elfé realized that Aerith was still wearing her materia bracelet, which housed a Fire materia among several restorative and supportive materia. Smoke was beginning to billow from the drunk girl's palms, which were touching the bed. Quickly, she ran over to Aerith and removed the bracelet, impulsively chucking it across the room.
"I've never heard of people casting unconsciously while drunk," Elfé said, shaking her head. "If Sephiroth finds out…" She sighed and shook her head again. "No…when he finds out what happened, I'm the one who he'll blame first, given how much he acts like a protective older brother."
Aerith began to whimper.
"Well, it is kinda my fault for not stopping you," Elfé reasoned, "But I know how stubborn you are, and I could see that look in your eyes that says you've made up your mind. Plus…it was so funny seeing you make that horrible face when you downed that shot of rum. I didn't realize you were going to take three more while I was using the bathroom, though!"
"Not my brother…!" Aerith mumbled into her pillow.
"Huh?" Elfé went over to the other girl's bed.
"He's not my brother!" Aerith mumbled again.
Elfé frowned. "Are you crying?"
"No!"
Elfé immediately rolled Aerith over, causing the younger girl to groan painfully as she covered her face with her hands.
"You are crying," Elfé stated. She knew from all the years of knowing Aerith that the girl always tried to hide her pain, and would always deny that anything was wrong, even if it was perfectly clear that something WAS wrong.
"No I'm not!" Aerith denied weakly.
"Great..." Elfé groaned, "You're a weepy drunk. Dear planet, don't let her be a pukey drunk as well..."
"So confused…!" Aerith sniffled.
"Are you going to spill your guts about something?" Elfé asked, laughing sadly. "Fine…just this once…and only because I like you."
"I kissed him and he didn't say anything after…!" Aerith rolled back over and mashed her face into her pillow.
Elfé frowned. "What was that? I didn't understand a word you just said."
Aerith didn't respond. Eventually, Elfé could hear her start to snore.
"Ah, Aerith…" Elfé sighed, moving Aerith's head so her pillow wouldn't suffocate her. "I turned my back on you for two minutes and you wind up getting plastered. And you wonder why you had a vision of your own death? You're too impulsive, kid."
She patted the younger girl's head affectionately.
"Hopefully this journey helps you learn how to stop doing that. I'd really like to bring you back home in one piece. You're the one with a family that loves you. Me, on the other hand…I'm the expendable one. Sometimes I feel like I've been groomed to die the inevitable martyr's death. Hell, if it weren't for your mother…I might be dead now."
She raised her hand, looking at the very faint white scar that followed one of her palm lines. One could barely notice it unless they looked very carefully.
"I guess I'll get some sleep too," Elfé said. She took one more look at Aerith, who was lying on her stomach, her head close to the edge of the bed. For extra measure, the swordswoman grabbed the waste basket, placing it as close to Aerith as possible. "Sweet dreams, little lightweight."
At least if the kid vomited now, she wouldn't make a mess…or choke. Now she knew why there was a small weighted trash bin near every bed.
Grimacing, Elfé began rummaging through her bag for her sleepwear.
Sephiroth trudged up the stairs of the Haunted Hotel, feeling tired, yet utterly satisfied. His bloodlust had been sated for the first time in days. One of the good things about traveling on the road was his opportunities to kill monsters. While harvesting various horns, claws, bones, feathers or meat was always lucrative, it was the killing itself that satisfied that primal urge inside of him…an urge that he blamed Hojo for putting in his brain in the first place.
At least he didn't need to kill people to satisfy his urges, not to mention that killing monsters even helped people by keeping them safe. Although this time, he really had managed to clean up. He hoped Angeal was still awake so that he could tell his friend the good news.
Finally, he reached the room that he and Angeal shared. Swiping his keycard, the door instantly opened, and he stepped inside.
Angeal was already in bed, but immediately turned over and looked up at Sephiroth.
"About time," Angeal kidded his friend, "You sure were out late."
"I don't think anyone has ever won the entire battle tournament," Sephiroth stated as he sat down on his bed, "You fight monster after monster until you collapse from exhaustion, I think. But I pushed through, and I won the grand prize."
Angeal sat up, curious. "Which was…?"
"A state-of-the-art buggy," Sephiroth answered proudly, "It only goes about 50 miles per hour, but it can travel over rivers and across sand, so we don't have to rely on roads. If anything, that could get us to Rocket Town much faster than your truck ever could. That also means we can leave sooner. All we'll have to do is make arrangements to sell the truck, or have it sent back to Cosmo Canyon for the time being."
Angeal nodded, suddenly feeling a bit sad. He had owned that truck since the age of sixteen, and had a lot of memories. Still, completing their mission and saving Genesis took priority over old sentiments. Sephiroth's prize may prove to be extremely useful.
"Speaking of Rocket Town," Angeal said, "Genesis contacted me again. He says that the pilot we're planning to see is the same man that the Shinra have picked to send into space. He's apparently co-operating fully with them. If that's the case, he might not be too eager to fly us up north."
"How did he find that out?" Sephiroth asked.
"Apparently, he's wining and dining with the Shinra elite now," Angeal muttered, wondering how much deeper Genesis was getting himself into with his brilliant "plan".
"Ugh…" Sephiroth groaned, lifting his hand up to his forehead, "That certainly does throw a wrench into our plans. Should we take the buggy to Lindblum Harbor instead?"
Lindblum Harbor was another independent port just north of Rocket Town.
"We should talk this over with Elfé in the morning," Angeal suggested, "She's the one who knows this guy personally. She'll be able to tell us if he's still worth talking to, or bypass him altogether. Also, Genesis told me one last thing before he hung up: they plan to launch the rocket at the end of the month. That gives us plenty of time to catch up with him."
"So we at least have a chance," Sephiroth reasoned.
"If he says no, we'll have to go to the harbor," Angeal said worriedly, "And ships come and go less frequently in smaller ports. We don't know just when a ship will travel to the Northern Continent."
Sephiroth nodded as he began taking off his boots. "Well," he said as he stood up and shed his coat, draping it over a nearby chair, "There's no sense worrying about it right now. Let's get some sleep, and talk about it with the others in the morning."
Angeal nodded as he slid back under the covers and rolled over.
Sephiroth got into bed as well, and after his intense workout, it didn't take long before sleep found him.
"So where did you run off to during your break?" Zack asked as he, Genesis, and a small regiment guarded the inn where Scarlet and her bodyguards slept that night.
"Just talking to some of the miners," Genesis lied smoothly, "It's rather fascinating how hung up this town has been on tradition. I imagine taking such a giant step as switching to mako power would be quite scary."
"Yeah," Zack agreed, "I remember hearing the grown-ups always arguing about it when they built the reactor in my hometown. But then, I also remember when we bought our first TV set just a few months after the reactor was complete. Then I started watching all those war movies, and TV dramas about people in SOLDIER. That was just more fuel to the fire as far as me joining SOLDIER went."
"I imagine real life wasn't quite as exciting as TV made it out to be," Genesis stated with some amusement.
"Well, you seem to be finding that out rather quickly yourself," Zack laughed, "This whole mission will probably be really uneventful. But, maybe if the higher-ups are happy enough, they'll give us a couple days off."
"Meaning a trip to the Gold Saucer?" Luxiere said hopefully.
"You know it," Zack said, grinning.
Genesis managed to keep his face even. What would happen if he were to run into Sephiroth now…?
"That was incredibly foolish of you," Sephiroth scolded Aerith the next morning.
The four of them sat in the girls' room in the Haunted Hotel. Sephiroth had informed them of the good news from last night, while Elfé had just told them the not-so-good news regarding Aerith.
Aerith said nothing, only hanging her head in shame.
"Hey, go easy on her," Elfé argued, "A lot of people misjudge their tolerance the first time they drink. Aerith isn't the first to do so, and how were we to know that we'd be able to leave today?"
"Need I remind you what happened the first time you went to the bar with Genesis and myself?" Angeal added.
Sephiroth immediately fell silent, causing Elfé to wonder what his first-time story was.
Aerith, too hung over to care, simply clutched her head.
"Just lie down while we drive, kid," Elfé comforted her, "You'll be back to normal tomorrow."
"Never drinking ever again…" Aerith mumbled, rubbing at her pounding temples.
Sephiroth sighed and stood up. "We can leave around five," he said, "That'll give Aerith seven more hours to rest up and hopefully feel a little better."
"I already cast 'Esuna' on her," Elfé added, "Hopefully that helps."
Sephiroth nodded, glancing back at Aerith, who couldn't even bring herself to look at him. No doubt she was completely ashamed. Suddenly, he felt a twinge of pity for her. Of course. No matter what shenanigans that girl pulled, he could never stay annoyed with her.
"We all make mistakes," he said gently, "What's important is that you learn from them. I'm guessing you've learned from this."
"Yes…" Aerith whimpered, unable to even nod for fear of aggravating her headache.
"Get some rest," Sephiroth said, trying not to chuckle at how pathetic she sounded. "In the end, there's no harm done."
He and Angeal headed for the door.
"You know, I just never tire of good old-fashioned diner food," Zack said as he, Genesis, Kunsel and Luxiere emerged from a small railcar known as "Sunny's Diner".
"Especially not the chili-dogs," Kunsel teased him.
"Yeah, keep me away from the blast radius!" Luxiere added, moving in front of Zack.
"You didn't eat much," Zack commented to Genesis as he ignored his friends' impertinent comments.
"Heavy food isn't very kind to my stomach these days," said Genesis, patting his abdomen, "I learned that the hard way the morning after that executive dinner I told you about."
"Yeah, being Shinra's honored guest is so tough," Zack teased, "Blah…back to guard duty, I suppose."
They were approaching the inn, where Scarlet stood on the deck, looking around distastefully. Nearby were the other members of the Shinra army troop.
"…Maybe they'll be able to do something about how dusty this place is," she was saying to one of her bodyguards, "They should just pave the whole place over!"
Suddenly, a gunshot was heard, just as Scarlet felt something whiz past her cheek. She lifted her hand to her face, looking slightly dazed. Then another shot was heard, and a bullet hole appeared in the side of the building, causing her to scream in terror and get down on the ground.
"Someone's shooting at her!" Zack shouted, "Look out for anyone with a gun, you guys!"
He and the other members of the army dropped low as they all armed themselves with their respective weapons and began glancing around in the direction of where the bullet had come from.
"There he goes!" a trooper exclaimed as he began to shoot at what looked to be a man holding a rifle.
The man took off running.
"You three, stay here!" Zack ordered the two troopers standing closest to Scarlet, "Everyone else, after him!"
Scarlet whirled around to face her bodyguards.
"How could you not see that coming?!" she screamed. She then took out her phone and began to dial. "It's Scarlet! Some bastard took a shot at me! Call in all the troops stationed in the desert and bring them here! I'll bet anything it's those goddamned eco-terrorists! No one would ever have the balls to try and take me out otherwise! …What do you mean 'take care of it myself'?! SHIT!" She hung up in frustration and howled at the sky: "Heidegger, you bastard!"
"So you mentioned something about this mission being really uneventful?" Genesis kidded as he and Zack ran through the streets, trying to catch up with Scarlet's would-be assassin, while Kunsel and Luxiere led their respective troopers through the others streets, hoping to close in on the perpetrator.
"Did I?" Zack joked, "Nah- must've been some other incredibly bad-ass SOLDIER…!"
"Anyone ever tell you that you're cocky?" Genesis huffed as they kept running.
"Maybe…" Zack said innocently.
"Well, we've got something in common, then." Genesis laughed.
He then stopped, seeing a rifle laying in the dirt before him. Zack also came to a stop.
"There we go," said Genesis, "That's probably the weapon."
"Yup," Zack said as he took the weapon in his gloved hands, "We'll bring this back and have it scanned for fingerprints. I hate to say it, but they'll probably put the entire town on lockdown until they find-,"
The two then jumped at the sound of a loud explosion.
"Oh god, they're not done!" Zack realized, "Let's go!"
He and Genesis took of running in the direction of the explosion.
"Don't just stand there!" Scarlet screamed at one of the troopers as she shoved a handful of grenades into his arms. "Go take out the other buildings!"
The wind began picking up as he took off, muttering "Yes, ma'am!". The warehouse that she had lobbed a grenade at herself had immediately caught fire, and the coal stored inside ensured that the fire would continue to burn. However, the warehouse stood next to another warehouse, and the wind blew the flames, causing that next building to catch fire as well.
The townspeople, alarmed, began rushing out of their homes with buckets of water, trying in vain to douse the inferno.
"Somebody get the hose ready!" someone shouted.
"I think not!" Scarlet said as she whirled the two remaining troopers. "Shoot them! Don't let them put out the fire! We're sending a message, do you understand?!"
The troopers reluctantly open-fired on the villagers, deliberately missing.
"Kya-ha-ha!" Scarlet laughed. Then she frowned. "Oh please! You can shoot all day and never hit them with aim like that!"
The troopers continued to shoot, still missing on purpose.
Scarlet growled and grabbed one of the trooper's rifles, shoving the man aside. "Stop playing around!" She began shooting, immediately hitting one of the villagers. "Cover me!" she ordered.
The woman's aim proved to be deadly accurate. Soon, the villagers were running away from the blaze while five people lay in a pool of their own blood.
"FOLLOW THEM!" Scarlet screamed. Before she could take off running, one of her bodyguards grabbed her arm.
"Ma'am! If we let you go and you get shot, the president will have our heads!" he spoke.
"If you don't let go of me, I'll have your heads!" Scarlet snarled.
"Sorry ma'am, but you'll thank us later," the other bodyguard said as he grabbed her other arm. The two of them proceeded to drag Scarlet away, who continued to curse and scream at them.
"I can't believe I saw that with my own two eyes!" Zack said as he and Genesis stood behind a building near the inn.
Indeed, when he heard the explosion, he had assumed that there was more the one culprit at work. He had been shocked and horrified to see Scarlet lobbing grenades with reckless abandon. What the hell kind of people were running the show at Shinra?!
"Will she really get away with that?" Genesis asked, recalling the newspaper headline that had caused him to take flight from Cosmo Canyon. That memory served to answer his own question, as the sickening realization hit him: she probably would get off scot-free.
"No way…" Zack said in utter disbelief. He couldn't allow himself to think that Scarlet would go unpunished for her actions.
"What do we do now?" Genesis asked as he watched Scarlet and her bodyguards finally go back inside the inn.
Zack looked at Genesis dead in the eye. "We stop this madness."
"Even if it's against orders?" Genesis challenged him.
"If saving innocent people is against orders," Zack said firmly, "then I resign right now…but not before I do what I can. Are you with me or not? I know you're Shinra's 'honored guest' and all..."
Genesis smirked. "Let's do it."
"What the hell is going on?!" Elfé exclaimed, shocked, as the buggy approached the town border.
"We should help!" Aerith exclaimed, having recovered somewhat from her hangover.
"I suppose you're right," Sephiroth muttered, not wanting to get involved, but not wanting to let innocent people die.
The group had finally set off from the bottom of the Gold Saucer to tie up loose ends with Angeal's truck. Angeal and Sephiroth had spent the afternoon learning how to maneuver the large craft, while Elfé looked after Aerith.
However, upon arriving at the town line, the four of them realized that Angeal's truck was the least of their worries, seeing several buildings engulfed in flames.
"Stay in the buggy!" Sephiroth ordered Aerith, who shook her head vehemently.
"I'm fine!" she insisted stubbornly, "You'll need a healer, anyway!"
"Let's go!" Elfé shouted before anyone could start to argue, and ran off into the town. The others followed.
Aerith pulled the top of her rash guard up over her nose in an attempt to filter out the smoke billowing from the engulfed buildings. She then spotted an old man lying on the ground and rushed over to him. She turned him over onto his back before realizing, to her horror, that the man was already dead.
"No…!" she whispered.
"I'm sorry, Aerith," Elfé said, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder, "There's nothing we can do for him now. Let's keep going and see if there's anyone else we can save!"
Aerith lingered for a few seconds, making a gesture with her hand indicating a bid for the man's safe migration to the Lifestream. Then she ran off again, with the others following behind her.
"I'm going on up ahead!" Sephiroth announced, "The rest of you, stay together!"
Before anyone could protest, he sped off.
"Wait!" Aerith raised her hand, "I hear someone!"
"Dyne!" a woman could be heard yelling, "Dyne, where are you?!"
Aerith, Elfé and Angeal took off, following the sound of the woman's voice. As they rounded the corner of one of the burning houses, they spotted a woman wandering around frantically, her hands clutching her swollen abdomen.
"She's pregnant!" Elfé realized.
Just then, the porch behind the woman collapsed. One of the wooden beams supporting it toppled over, bearing down on her.
Before anyone could react, a man in a 1st Class SOLDIER uniform dashed from seemingly out of nowhere, shoving the woman aside. She shrieked, but managed to maintain her footing.
"Eleanor!"
A dark-haired man dressed in a white sleeveless mining shirt came running up to the pregnant woman. "Let's go!" he said as he pulled her away.
"But that SOLDIER!" the woman protested.
"He's done for!" he could be heard saying as they ran off, leaving the SOLDIER, who took the blow from the falling beam and lay on the ground, apparently unconscious.
"We have to help him!" Aerith exclaimed as she ran over to the young man.
Elfé and Angeal followed her.
"Everybody, let's go!" Sephiroth called out to them, appearing from several feet away, "There's a bunch of people gathered up ahead, and it looks like they have the situation well in hand! There's nothing else we can do! All the other people I've encountered in the streets are already dead!"
"No!" Aerith protested as she recognized the young man, "That's him! He's the SOLDIER who died in my vision! I'm not going to let it come true if I can help it!"
Sephiroth was about to argue with her, but Elfé raised a hand in his direction and called out first: "Make it quick, Aerith! Let's get out of here the moment his wounds are closed."
"I have to make sure he'll wake up!" Aerith insisted as she cradled the SOLDIER's head in her lap, using her innate healing ability to close the gash on his forehead. She then tried to rouse him by shaking him gently, but to no avail. "He's not waking up!" Aerith coughed as the smoke began to blow in their direction.
"We need to get out of here before the smoke causes everyone to pass out!" Sephiroth insisted as he approached the others..
"Then I guess we've got no choice," said Angeal.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sephiroth asked as Angeal picked up the young man and hoisted him over his shoulder.
"Aerith says he's okay, and let's face it- the three of us saw him get injured protecting that woman and her unborn child. He acted in a way that every soldier should…protecting the lives of innocent people. The least we can do is take him somewhere safe to recover."
"He's not a lost puppy that we're bringing with us!" Sephiroth argued.
"Hmm…" Angeal chuckled as he patted the boy's spiky hair, "I beg to differ…"
He began walking off toward the buggy. Aerith and Elfé followed closely behind.
"It'll be okay," Aerith reassured everyone, "I hear the planet's song…it's kind of like its way of playing 'Hot and Cold'. If I'm doing something right, the planet sings."
"Everyone's lost their minds today…" Sephiroth growled as he trudged after them.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that…" Aerith said sharply.
"Ahh…" Scarlet breathed in the fresh air as she and her bodyguards stepped off the cable car, walking around the entrance to the Gold Saucer. "This is more like it. I can't believe I even considered spending another night in that dusty old town. Someone else can take care of the construction of the reactor."
"Do you honestly think the survivors will stand to have a reactor built after everything that's happened tonight, ma'am?" one of the bodyguards asked.
"Don't be stupid," Scarlet said arrogantly, "They won't dare try and stop us now that they've seen what we can do. And besides, we can use the incentive program to build more houses, like we did with both Gongaga and Nibelheim. More people will want to move there, and the town will thrive. This little incident is nothing as far as the big picture is concerned."
The bodyguards said nothing.
"Now let's get going!" she snapped, "I reek of smoke, and all I want right now is a nice hot shower…"
"In the end…you still took him away, Angeal…" Aerith said quietly, having finished explaining her vision to Angeal and Elfé. "Only…you're both alive."
"I actually did consider joining SOLDIER a very long time ago," said Angeal, "before Sephiroth told me what the Shinra were really like. Good to know his advice saved my life, from the looks of it."
The team had driven in the buggy for hours, all the while keeping an eye on the unconscious Zack. Finally, they stopped to camp out, deciding that they were far enough from Corel that any Shinra personnel involved in the fire would not encounter them. Angeal had also suggested that they bring Zack out and allow him to get some fresh air. The young man had been placed on an extra sleeping bag not far from the campfire, while everyone else sat nearby, warming themselves.
"Unnngh…Kunsel…"
Everyone turned to see the young SOLDIER stirring. Aerith immediately rushed over to him.
"Hey, are you okay?" she asked gently.
The young man opened his eyes, and stared vacantly.
Aerith scowled at his strange expression. "Uh…hellooooo…?" She waved at him, making sure he hadn't gone blind.
"Am I in heaven?" he asked, not moving.
"Uh…no," Aerith answered hesitantly.
"So you're not an angel?" he asked.
Angeal burst out laughing, while Sephiroth rolled his eyes in disgust.
"That's the worst pick-up line I've ever heard," Elfé said bluntly, "But, I guess if he's well enough to hit on you, I think he'll be okay."
Aerith looked away, blushing.
"Two angels…" the SOLDIER said, still sounding groggy.
Sephiroth immediately appeared in his line of sight, looking annoyed.
"Oh god…and an angel of death!" the SOLDIER whined.
"Enough about angels," Sephiroth said impatiently, "Can you stand?"
He extended his hand to the young man, who hesitated at first, but then grabbed it. Sephiroth yanked him up to a standing position.
"He's steady," said the silver-haired swordsman dismissively.
"No, I'm Zack," the SOLDIER joked, "Who are you guys? Citizens of Corel?"
"Travelers passing through," Angeal answered, "We've been driving for the past six hours."
"Don't you think we'd be a little more pissed off if we were residents of that fresh pile of rubble?" Elfé asked.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault!" Zack protested defensively.
"I know," Aerith interjected right away, "We saw you take the hit when that beam fell toward the pregnant woman. I know it had to be someone else who started the fire."
"It was Scarlet," Zack admitted, "the head of Shinra's weapons department. She was the one making the final negotiations for the town to allow a mako reactor to be built. An unknown assassin took a shot at her, and Genesis and I ran off after the suspect. But then, she went too far and started throwing bombs at one of the buildings. We got back with the assailant's weapon, and saw everything that happened. With the fierce winds going on, the fire soon spread, and when the villagers rushed to put out the blaze, she ordered the troopers to shoot them.
"She also grabbed a gun and started shooting at people herself, until her bodyguards convinced her to go back in the inn where it was too far away to catch fire. But some of those troopers…they really got into it. I was able to disarm them, but the fire managed to spread to even more buildings. That's when I saw that pregnant woman almost get hit by falling debris. I ran to save her, and I don't really remember anything after that."
"You got hit instead," Sephiroth said, "Angeal-," He pointed at the raven-haired swordsman. "-is the one who pulled you away from the blaze."
"I don't know what to say," Zack said solemnly as he nodded at Angeal, and then looked at everyone else, "You could have easily left me behind, where I would have probably been arrested for disobeying orders. But you took me with you where I'd have a chance to at least figure out where I'll run to next."
"Thank Aerith," Sephiroth said, "She's the one who begged us not to abandon you."
"I saw you save that poor woman," Aerith said, "Now she and her baby will get a second chance thanks to you. I figured you deserved the same."
"I don't know how I can possibly repay you…" Zack said, looking down at his feet.
"You can't help who you're assigned to take orders from," Aerith said, trying to comfort him.
"You can help signing up to take those orders in the first place," Sephiroth retorted.
Struck by his words, Zack sat back down, looking dejected.
"Seph!" Aerith scolded him, "Don't you think you're being a little harsh?"
"Well, you've pretty much summed up my feelings that have been building up these past five years," Zack muttered.
"You've been in the army for five years?" Elfé asked, stunned, "How old are you?"
"Eighteen," Zack replied.
"Fighting since he was thirteen," Sephiroth remarked partly to himself.
"Well, Gongaga had nothing going on for me, sadly," Zack laughed sadly.
Sephiroth did a double-take. He peered closely at the boy, and the sudden realization hit him. His photographic memory allowed him to see the little boy's face as clearly as if it were happening right now. His hair was longer, and carefully spiked…he then remembered the angry young woman.
"Zack…you get back here right this minute!"
Oh god…Sephiroth thought, don't tell me you joined because of me…
He was thankful that the hair dye was still fresh. They would definitely have to get rid of the boy before he realized who Sephiroth was. Though he had the feeling Zack would never rat out the person who had saved his life years back, the boy was just too much of a liability...
The sound of footsteps approaching made everyone leap to their feet and take out their weapons, however, everyone stopped and stared as they saw the familiar redhead approaching, with two 2nd Class SOLDIERS in tow.
"Well, well, well," Genesis said chuckling, "All of my friends are together. Isn't that an interesting twist?"
"Genesis?!" Aerith exclaimed, fitting her staff back in the holder strapped to her back.
"Who are those two?" Sephiroth asked suspiciously.
"They're with me," Zack said, jumping in front of Genesis, holding his hands out indicating that he meant no harm. He then turned back to Genesis. "Are you saying you know these people?"
Genesis smiled and nodded. "You've definitely proved to me which side you're on, so I suppose it's safe to tell you everything."
"Genesis!" Sephiroth barked, looking alarmed.
"Seph, it's okay!" Aerith insisted, "Trust me! Have my instincts ever been off?"
Sephiroth looked at Aerith, and then glanced back at Genesis, Kunsel, and Luxiere. Finally, he backed off.
Aerith turned to the new arrivals, regarding them warmly. "If none of you are injured, then maybe you might be hungry? We've got a surplus of food now that we can fit a lot more stuff in our new vehicle. I didn't even know that there was a gas station with a convenience store between Corel and the Gold Saucer, but we stopped there on the way back to Corel and loaded up."
"I'm absolutely famished right about now," Kunsel spoke politely, "I really appreciate that, miss."
"My name's Aerith," the teenager introduced herself, "Who are you two?"
"Kunsel Semenec," Kunsel answered.
"Luxiere Forrest."
"Well, you heard the young lady," Genesis urged, "It's going to be a long night, and we might as well have something to eat."
"It'll take the Shinra a while before they realize we're not among the dead bodies and start to hunt us down," said Zack.
"We're hostages of Avalanche," Genesis said, "They're the ones who took a shot at Scarlet. We were bewitched by the two women and now we suffer from 'captor's love'. Case closed."
Elfé grumbled, looking annoyed.
He then went over to the fire, sitting down between Angeal and Sephiroth.
"I missed you guys," Genesis said cheerfully.
Angeal relented and clapped a hand on his best friend's shoulder, while Sephiroth merely sighed.
"How did you guys catch up with us so quickly?" Zack could be heard asking, "It's after midnight, so we had to have been driving for at least six hours."
"Would you believe that Genesis can fly?" Luxiere answered, "He just happened to see your campfire."
"I still can't believe I was up in the air like that!" Kunsel exclaimed.
"You showed them your wing?!" Sephiroth was incredulous.
His friend shrugged.
Sephiroth pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Genesis seemed to be doing one foolish thing after another. He had flown off, letting himself be seen in the air. He had joined the Shinra as a double-agent of sorts. He had returned with two members of SOLDIER…the enemy. Yet, they were breaking bread with said enemy at the insistence of both Genesis and Aerith.
This trip was veering into surreal territory.
Barrett sat quietly outside of Corel's hospital, which had fortunately been untouched by the fire that had taken the lives of over a third of Corel's population.
A doctor had just informed him that Myrna had succumbed to smoke inhalation, having been trapped in their house too long before Barrett had broken down the door and gotten her out.
He had been too late.
"Hey."
Dyne stood outside the room that his wife now rested in.
"Is she all right?" Barrett asked, not looking up.
"Yeah, she and the baby are both okay," said Dyne, "She said a SOLDIER pushed her out of the way when part of a porch came falling down. I left him to die like the selfish bastard I am, but now that the smoke's literally clearing, I really hope that he didn't die…
"Anyway, she's sleeping now. It's mostly nerves and exhaustion. They're gonna keep her until the baby is born, since she's so close. How's Myrna?"
"She's gone…" Barrett whispered painfully, shutting his eyes tightly. It was a wonder that any tears managed to get out.
Myrna, who had been his wife of five years…who had wanted so badly to bear him a child…was dead.
Dyne said nothing, but walked over to the bench where Barrett sat, sitting down next to him. He stared at the floor, placing a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder while great sobs of grief began to wrack Barrett's giant frame.
A/N: I'm in a Dragonball state of mind, because the views on this story are "OVER 9000!" ^_^
So yeah, Corel hasn't been destroyed, but it's been hit pretty hard, which the residents won't be likely to forget. Whether they rebel or fall into quiet submission remains to be seen.
I'm having one of my productive periods. We'll see how long it lasts. :P