Author's Note: Okay, just to let you guys know that I'll try to update every single Sunday from now on. Not saying that university will let me, but there's a pretty good chance I'll keep the schedule, even if I need to make slightly smaller chapters. That said, enjoy, and as always, feedback IS important.
An Unending Struggle
Chapter Twenty-Six
Through the Eyes of a Warrior: Final Part
Denzel ran through the narrow passages of the alley he had brought Marlene to. The both of them had been separated from Terra's orphans just before all hell broke loose in Edge. He had no idea of what was going on, but he knew that that crystalline Sephiroth wasn't going to pet them. However, as fast as he was trying to run, the manikin was a copy of a trained warrior, it wasn't long until he trapped them in a dead end. "Don't worry Marlene, I'll protect you!" Denzel exclaimed in fake confidence. The Manikin seemed to still have a bit of Sephiroth in it as it kicked the boy down set his eyes on Marlene.
Just as the manikin prepared to strike the terrified girl another manikin came crashing down into it, transforming both into thousands of pieces of crystal. "Come on! Who's next?" Layle shouted as he looked around. The coast was clear. "C'mon, let's go find Cloud." He told the two kids, pulling Denzel up with his telekinesis.
As soon as they arrived at the main plaza they were greeted with a surprising sight. No manikins. The people of Edge were gathered there but seemed to be awfully relaxed.
"What happened?" Layle asked Crono who was just passing.
"All gone, the manikins retreated." He replied with a concerned tone.
"That's good… right?" Layle asked, confused by Crono's tone.
"It may look like it, but think. Why would they attack full force, and then retreat when we had barely touched their numbers?"
It was true, the number of manikins that had attacked Edge and Midgar was almost incomprehensible, it made the one that attacked Figaro seem like a scouting squadron. There was no way they could have already destroyed them all, especially since they didn't fight any Super battle pieces.
"Probably because… they didn't find what they were looking for." Rufus said as he came into the plaza, causing a huge uproar by the citizens.
"What do you mean?" Layle asked.
"Maybe they thought that there were crystals here. It's hardly surprising, Terra left with one just as they attacked." Rufus explained.
"That doesn't explain why they stayed here for three hours before leaving." Crono commented, crossing his arms, closing his eyes and leaning his head forward. It wouldn't take that long to figure out that Terra had left, if she had stayed she would likely be the first and the most noticeable to battle.
"Cloud!" Denzel exclaimed as he heard the distinct sound of the Fenrir close in. Sure enough the black motorcycle arrived at the plaza at full speed, making a drifting stop right in front of the group.
"They were looking for something." Cloud stated as he got of his bike.
"What do you mean?" Crono asked.
"I don't know how many you had to fight, but they were VERY insistent in getting in the church." Cloud replied. "After flooding the church, they kind of lost interest in it, then I saw them retreat from every place I passed on the way here."
"So something was on the church, but was taken away and the manikins retreated when they realized that… But where would they go now?" Layle asked.
"We need to find Cissnei!" Rufus exclaimed as if he just had a revelation. "Zack was the only one in the church except Cloud… he took it, whatever it was… and if I am right, they must have tracked him down already.
"Impossible, who did this?" Minerva blurted as she saw tendrils of Lifestream protect the duo. "Who dares to use the Lifestream against me?" She stopped as soon as he saw what was floating in front of Zack. "You…"
In front of the Soldier was an ethereal young woman. Dressed in a pink dress that spanned until her shin, a red, unbuttoned jacket that covered her shoulders, metal bracelets on her wrists and a long chocolate ponytail tied up with a pink ribbon. The materia that Zack was holding was shinning in the middle of her transparent body.
"AERITH!" Yuffie exclaimed as she arrived at the scene. Not one to contain excitement she jumped from the ledge she, Vincent and Lenna's company were in and tried to glomp her deceased friend, just to pass right through her. Yuffie's usually cheerful face darkened for the first time in months.
"I'm sorry Yuffie… I can't comeback." Aerith comforted in an angelic tone, turning to Minerva. "Minerva, look at what you've become!" She exclaimed determinedly.
"Silence! Who are you to question me?" That's all that Minerva could do now, talk. She had no energy left, it was a sad sight, her formerly perfect figure leaning against a wall, bloodied and beaten.
"The Lifestream's scared… I know you're scared too." Aerith continued as she "walked" in Minerva's direction.
"Stay away!" Minerva shouted, flinging her arms in an attempt to keep Aerith away, the difference was that Minerva could actually hit Aerith but that did little to stop her advance. Kneeling down, Aerith gently put her arms around the goddess in a comforting hug.
"It's okay to cry…" Aerith whispered.
"S-Silence!" Minerva whimpered, trying to shake Aerith off.
Shelke arrived just in time to see what was happening. Shalua was shocked but before Shelke could say anything her back started beeping. Pulling out Tron's computer she listened to what the artificial intelligence had to say.
"This is amazing! Shelke, there are THREE crystals here!" Tron exclaimed.
"Three? Where?" Shelke exclaimed.
"Terra has one, that man in the blue shirt has another one, and there's one floating inside that woman with the pink ribbon."
"Inside her, huh?" Edge asked with a grin on his face.
"PERVERT!" Rydia shouted, sending Edge plummeting off the ledge with a slap to the face.
"Jokes aside, that woman isn't alive." Shelke explained.
"Yeah, I noticed too, and I'd say that buffoon got it, but Edge had to be Edge…" Rydia said, shrugging. "We should probably get down there though, it looks like we missed a lot."
"Look at the ones that followed you Minerva, they are a testament of what you once were, do you remember what you did for them?" Aerith asked. "You stopped Genesis degradation, giving him a second chance at life. You took Weiss in and never blamed him. You even gave Shalua her body back. They trusted you, they were willing to give their life for you, but after what you did here, even their loyalty is shaking!"
"You lie…" Minerva replied weekly, stopping her resistance.
"Stop trying to fool yourself, Shalua was completely against this and only agreed to it out of respect, Weiss only did this because of Genesis and even him had doubts, you know it as well as I do, what you did here was wrong. Look at them now." Aerith said. Minerva complied only to receive apologetic looks from Genesis and Weiss.
"But… but I…"
"All that rage, that sadness, that fear… You have to let it go." Aerith comforted, tightening her hug.
At that moment Minerva was able to fully comprehend what she did and small droplets of mako ran down her cheeks. "I..."
"It's okay... it's okay."
"Well that's a sight I never expected to see." Zack commented in a low tone as he observed the situation.
"Hey Zack, what did you exactly do?" Shinryu asked.
"Well my good friend, I did what many people with an extensive repertoire of woman friends does, I asked my ex to solve my problems!" Zack joked. "Okay, I'll be serious, I brought Cloud's crystal with me."
"You did what?" Shinryu exclaimed.
"Relax dude, it's not like he needs it or anything, Aerith just asked to come with me that's all. I admit that I was surprised that she evaded the radar for so long."
"And how exactly is Aerith inside that crystal?" Terra asked as she washed her face with conjured water.
"She's not inside the crystal. You know how I told you that she could move in the Lifestream at will? Every crystal has a special propriety from their world, Cloud's crystal is the Holy materia from this world. In this world, Holy is serious business, only Ancients can use it and there's only one materia in the world. This is because the Holy materia is connected to the Lifestream itself and when used it mobilizes the Lifestream to its users will. Since the Holy materia is connected to the Lifestream, it acts as a "bridge" for Aerith. Got it?"
"Kinda…" Shinryu answered. "What's with all these complex explanations in only one day?" He thought before being put in a headlock.
"Good to have you back Bartz.. I mean..:"
"Shinryu." He replied.
"Oh yeah Shinry… WHAT?" Zack's jaw almost hit the floor at that revelation.
"Long story… What?" Shinryu asked as he heard a beeping sound.
"Sup Ciss." Zack answered his phone.
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Rufus's voice stated from the other side of the line.
"Y-yes sir! Sorry about the mistake!" Zack sutured at the voice of his "boss".
"In a more immediate purpose, have you found the crystal?" Rufus asked.
Over hearing the conversation Terra nodded and pointed in Bartz's direction.
"Yes sir."
"Good, then get out of here as fast as you can!" Rufus said with a distinct tone of urgency on his voice.
"Why?" Zack asked.
"Every single manikin on the city retreated, we have reasons to believe that they are after something you took from the church." Zack gulped at the mention of his "theft", he'd have to world REAL hard to keep his job now.
As if to answer his call quick walking sounds could be heard from the tunnels. Judging by the sound, there had to be hundreds, no, thousands of manikins coming.
"I'll call you back boss. Huh Aerith, we might have a problem." Zack said, quickly storing his phone.
"I know, but how do we get out?" She replied as she left the crying Minerva and went to taw Genesis.
"We can't…" Weiss said. "Can't you hear it? The sounds are coming from every single tunnel."
"Gilgamesh, what about the Rift?" Lenna suggested.
"The Rift does what it wants, I absolutely cannot open holes at will." Gilgamesh replied, flaying his arms in denial.
"Gilgamesh? GILG!" Bartz shouted, jumping on the red man's back. "You're alive man!"
"Not the best time Bartz…" Faris commented.
"Cid, what about you?" Shinryu asked, remembering how Cid had gotten inside.
"I have used too much energy, I can only warp myself now…"
"We have no choice but to stay our ground." Vincent said.
"How? Terra can barely move, I can't use summons without sending this whole area down, most of us aren't in top shape and Shin doesn't look like he's okay." Rydia replied. They had already endured a considerable amount burnout, they couldn't fight thousands or more manikins.
"We have to try!" Yuffie exclaimed.
"You might be right Rydia, I myself have only about thirty bullets left, but it's not like we have an alternative." Vincent added.
"I can send you out…" Minerva said.
"Huh?" They asked in unison.
"I may be beaten and bruised, but I can still do something that simple." She said matter-of-factly.
"Then it's settled, do it fast!" Zack exclaimed.
"I understand, just join in a circle." Minerva said.
Moments later they were all gathered up in front of Minerva including the chocobos. Only Genesis, Weiss and Shalua were still on Minerva's side.
"I'm going to trust you on this Minerva, if you're pulling a fast one on me, I'll kill you before the manikins get to you." Zack stated.
"She won't betray us Zack, I know it." Aerith stated, giving a small smile to Minerva.
"Even I did, you would not be able to have your revenge Zack, for I am not going with you." Minerva said.
"Why? You're going to die here!" Terra exclaimed, not even her wished something from a person, former enemy or not.
"I can only exist in places with enormous amounts of Lifestream, this is one of the only places left, it is my fate for bringing you all here."
"That is why we shall stay with our goddess." Genesis stated, giving Zack a powerful stare.
"I know that I won't change your mind about this so.. good luck Genesis, it was nice seeing you again." Zack replied, waving goodbye to his friend.
Shelke and Shalua avoided staring at eachother, not bearing another goodbye.
"Farewell, and may you find it in your hearts to forgive me." Minerva said as she waved her staff, causing the cave to be shrouded in green light.
Zack felt a strange tingling feeling take over his body as he was being materialized somewhere else. As soon as the light died down he opened his eyes to find himself inside the Sector Five church.
"She wasn't lying…" Zack commented before taking a look around. Everyone had reached their destination safely, and by everyone he meant everyone. Looking to the other side of the church, Zack spotted something that should not be there.
"What happened…" Genesis asked before realizing it. "No… NO! MINERVA!" He shouted, for the first time calling his goddess for her name.
Minerva struggled to walk down the hallway to the Light of Doom, her ankles burning and her knees creaking. It was hard to believe that a few hours ago she was so determined to kill the people she was doing this for now. Slowly but surely she arrived at the statue chamber. As she put her hand on the cold, pristine stone she remembered when Genesis came all the way back there just to rebuild her statue. It was then that she encountered him and his brother, it was then that they promised each other to rebuild the Planet…
"How did I go so wrong…?" She muttered as she reminisced about how hopeful was the future a year ago. It all appeared to be so far away now.
"Chanting your prayers?" A voice echoed from the distance.
Making a harsh turn Minerva found the entrance blocked by manikins, but they were just there… waiting. Someone was controlling them, and she knew just who.
"What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" The voice mocked, this time coming from above.
"I have nothing to say to you!" Minerva spat at the one winged man that towered above the statue.
"Now now Minerva, this isn't like you. First you help the humans get out and now this? Don't you think beings like us are more important than mortals?" Sephiroth asked.
"Sephiroth, you are not a god… and neither am I for that matter, we just called ourselves that to bolster our own ego. And, might I had, for a "god" you do not seem to be unscathed. Who was the mortal that did that to you now?" She mocked as she noticed Sephiroth's sorry state. The left part of his torso was still burned and a big part of his wing was featherless due to Edge's attack.
"Big words, for someone that's on her last moments." Sephiroth spat, trying to hide the humiliation that had taken over him.
"I am on my last moments on my own will Sephiroth, if I so desired, I could have escaped with them, but that would be just what you wanted, wouldn't it?" Minerva answered, falling to one knee as her lungs gave in to the internal injuries. Breathing heavily she cocked her head in the smirking Sephiroth's direction.
"Even if you found out my real intentions, you don't seem to be in condition to stop them." He said as he flew to the giant red orb in the statue's grasp. "But you were right in not escaping, once I have this orb lodged in my body, it's just a matter of time till your will is my will."
Disgusted by Sephiroth's words Minerva reached deep inside for strength as she pulled out just enough to create an arrow for her bow. Summoning all the remaining parts of her armor she slowly pointed her bow at the SOLDIER who merely laughed at her attempt to kill him.
"Come now Minerva, are you really that ignorant? What makes you think you have a chance to hit me with that?" He mocked. Minerva however had he complete opposite response that he thought she would have, as soon as he finished talking her mouth formed a small, yet strong grin.
"And what makes you think I am aiming for you?" She questioned as she pulled her arrow to the utmost extreme of her bow, changing her line of shot to the materia.
"You wouldn't…. the Goddess Materia IS you, are you really going to throw your life away?" Sephiroth shouted with an impossible to mask despair on his voice. He couldn't do anything if she shot. Trying to block her arrow would only result in his death and not blocking would cause the destruction of the materia, which would probably cause the whole cave to collapse on top of them.
"I'd rather die than serve you, and what better way to do so than taking you to the deeps of hell with me?" She shouted, releasing the arrow. Sephiroth could do nothing but watch as the arrow cut the air and impacted on the Goddess Materia, causing a massive eruption of energy, shaking the foundations of the cave. As the small shards of crystals started to fall, so did the foundations of the cave, which started to collapse, giant boulders crushing the manikin horde. Knowing that he had lost the battle, Sephiroth disappeared in a storm of black feathers, leaving Minerva to die. None of the boulders hit Minerva, for she was slowly fading away from existence. Looking back at all that she had witnessed and done, from saving Genesis to testing Zack and finally her actions on that day she let out a dire laugh as she realized that, deep inside, she was no different from a human. "Maybe this world doesn't need gods…" She mumbled as her body started to flicker. "Best of luck… Genesis… Zack… Cloud… and yes, even you… Shinryu." And with that she let out her final breath, her body turning into thousands of tiny green orbs of light, vanishing moments after. She had not gone back to the Lifestream, she had just… disappeared.
Sephiroth looked as the cave collapsed, cursing every second of it. Minerva had not only taken away from him power over the Lifestream, but she had also had him by making him think she wanted to kill him.
"You never intended to take me down with you… you just wanted to destroy the manikins with your materia... Damn you Minerva, damn you to hell!" Sephiroth yelled, quickly regaining his composure. "How am I going to explain to Mateus that thirty per cent of our manikins were destroyed?" He wondered as he opened a portal to the rift, disappearing into the endless darkness.
"Genesis…" Zack began, trying to comfort his kneeling friend.
"I know, what I was going to do was irrational, it's better this way but, I could have tried, why didn't she let me try?" Genesis asked, if he wasn't such a prideful man he would be bawling right now.
"She didn't want to be responsible for your deaths. I think… she finally regained her old self there." Aerith stated calmly. "I'm just sorry it had to end this way."
"It's hard to believe she was the same person that tried to kill us." Terra commented, feeling guilty of how she mercilessly tortured her.
"Well, I don't think she would want us to stand here and mope about it, let's go to the Shinra Building." Zack said. It was a bit crude, but after having that cave collapse, they had to get back fast before the others assumed the worst.
"I should be going then." Aerith commented." I don't think it's a good idea to show myself to Cloud like this, at least not now."
"Probably." Vincent replied. "Good to see you again Aerith."
"You too Vincent… and come here Yuffie, give me a hug!" She chirped in her crystalline voice. She couldn't touch Yuffie, but even an imaginary hug from her was reassuring.
"Just come and visit, okay?" Yuffie said, trying to hold back her tears.
"I'll try…" Aerith said, instantly masking her preoccupied look. "And you two, take care of Zack and Cloud for me okay?" She told Shinryu and Terra.
"Huh, why us?" Shinryu asked.
"Zack won't stop talking about you two, I think he never spoke of others like this since he met Cloud, so I guess you're the best ones to ask this." She said winking, causing every male in the room to swoon, Zack merely scratched the back of his head because of his ex's lack of trust in his behavior. Right after that she yawned, a tired look coming over her. "Anyway, I'm tired, maybe I'll see you guys in a while. Goodbye!" She exclaimed as she divided thousands of green energy spheres, each of them entering the Holy materia as it floated to Zack's hand.
"Okay then, let's give those guys at Shinra a surprise!" Zack exclaimed, pointing towards the exit of the church.
"Just a question…" Shelke interrupted. "What about him?" She said, pointing at Gilgamesh who was busy engaged in a verbal conflict with Faris, needless to say Faris was winning.
"Well… you're a meanie-face!" Gilgamesh exclaimed, running out of arguments. "I want to fight Bartz now!"
"Yeah, I want to fight Gilg now!" Bartz concurred.
"You two shut up before I deny you of your possibility to have kids!" Faris warned. Both men covered their groin and growled in defeat.
"I think we should keep him." Lenna suggested. "He did see other worlds."
"No problems with that, he seems a nice guy." Zack replied.
"Let's do it like this Gilgamesh, you help us, you get your rematch, okay?" Shinryu suggested.
"Okay!" Gilgamesh nodded enthusiastically." I waited for god knows how long already, it won't hurt to wait a bit longer."
"Okay then, now are we done?" Zack asked, receiving positive nods. "Follow me then!"
"Let my sister GO!" Kuja exclaimed as he struggled to break his chains.
"Make… it… stop…" The small, blonde girl begged as the cloaked man slowly pulled her hair while holding her head to the ground with his foot.
"You know how to make it stop, Kuja." The man said.
"Fine! I'll do it, just let her go." Kuja begged.
"Good to know, but I'll be taking her, just so I know I can trust you." The man replied, taking his foot of her head and forcefully pulling her up by her hair. "Now, be a good girl and don't get in your brothers way, okay?"
"Okay…" The blonde girl replied, tears falling down her cheeks.
"Okay then Kuja, lead the way." The man said as he cut through the bonds. Kuja groaned in displeasure but he still created a portal and leading the man through it.
"You two stay here, I'll deal with this myself." The man said as he went through the portal.
"Who told him I wanted to leave my lab? My other homunculi are on the brink of being ready for the infusion." Lezard commented.
"You are the single, sickest bastard I know Lezard. The way you made Kuja talk, priceless!" Kefka complimented. "I must admit, that was pure genius."
"The best part about it is, the experiment was a success!"
Next Chapter:
"Finally… a fighting chance!"
"Well, there is one more city to look."
"God, look at her."