Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Twenty-SixThe light was blinding. It filled every corner of Cloud's vision, leaving him as blind as if he were standing in darkness. He could see nothing but the endless plains of white around him; hear nothing but the loud pounding of his heart inside his chest. His head ached terribly. The endless buzz ringing in the back of his head was getting louder. He could not see the others standing beside him. He could not hear their voices speaking around him. He was completely alone in the vast white emptiness.
As if answering his silent prayers, the light around him began to dim and recede. Cloud was relieved to see the room emerge from the light, but he was surprised to find that it was no longer the room in which he had stood a moment ago. Strange, he hadn't felt his body move somewhere new. This was a new room he had never seen before, and yet the sight of it filled his heart with trepidation and awe.
Cloud now stood in the middle of what appeared to be a wide, vast hall. Tall walls of stone towered around him—thick walls, strong walls, to protect the room from intrusion. There was only one entry point—a large stone door at the back of the room. Many small wooden torches lined the walls. Every one of these was lit, lighting up the wall. The eerie shadows cast by the flames made the walls themselves appear to be on fire.
Through the dancing patterns of flames Cloud could see markings upon the wall. They were murals and there were many of them, painted across the stone in mixtures of ancient paint and stone carving. The pictures were strange and ancient, and though the light was dimming Cloud could not see the pictures clearly. But there were many of these murals, spreading the length and breadth of the walls.
"…What's going on?" Cloud said aloud.
His voice sounded so incredibly strange in the ghostly silence of the room. There was no echo to his voice, despite the walls gathered around him. The words just seemed to disappear right after leaving his mouth, almost as though they never existed. From somewhere beside him he heard Aeris's voice, faint and ghostly in the light.
"Wait! Look! It's showing us!"
People began to emerge from the light. There were two figures, dressed in dark blue suits and white shirts, standing in front of the murals, looking up at them. One was a tall man, with long black hair that hung around his shoulders. The other was a woman, shorter than the man, with short blonde hair and an anxious but eager expression. Cloud gasped in recognition.
Tseng and Elena of the Turks.
Before Cloud could say anything, Elena suddenly turned and ran over to Tseng.
"Tseng, what's this?" she asked, waving her hand towards the murals. "Can we find the Promised Land with this?"
Beside her, Tseng looked up at the murals. His eyes scanned the paintings, trying to make sense of them. He curled his lip and rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "…I wonder," he said, more to himself than to Elena. Shaking his head briefly, he glanced at Elena. "Anyway, we have to report to the President."
Elena nodded her head. Her gaze turned towards the murals. The main painting towered over her and Tseng. It was quite obviously the main painting—it was both the largest and the most terrifying of them all. She shuddered. She didn't like this Temple. Not one bit. It gave her a creepy feeling right through her body—from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She didn't want to leave Tseng alone in this horrible place, but orders were orders and she had to obey.
Giving Tseng a quick bow, Elena ran past him towards the open door. Before she even reached halfway she faltered and came to a stop. She clenched her fist tightly, almost drawing blood. She turned back to Tseng, suddenly uneasy.
"Be careful, Tseng," she said suddenly. She bit her lip hard and this time she did draw blood. Its sweet taste filled her mouth. She cursed herself, unable to say what she really wanted to say.
"Yeah…" Tseng replied absently, still focused on examining the murals in front of him. Elena was about to turn away and run towards the door, when Tseng suddenly took his gaze away from the murals and turned to face her. "Hey, Elena," he said. "How 'bout dinner after this job's over?"
Unable to believe what she had just heard, Elena almost choked and fainted right there and then. Tseng… wanted to have dinner… with her! Her heart leaped into her throat, her stomach leaping about like butterflies. It was only her training as a Turk that allowed her to quickly regain her composure and stop her from embarrassing herself. Even so she couldn't stop a faint tremor of happiness creeping into her voice.
"Th… Thank you very much," she said, her face flushing to a deep crimson. Her head felt dizzy and light as she gave another quick bow to her superior. "If I may be excused…" The Turk then turned and quickly darted off through the open door, wishing that the butterflies in her stomach would stop fluttering.
Tseng was now left alone in the mural room. He waited until Elena had shut the door behind her and then turned back towards the murals. He craned his neck back, looking up once more at the main mural that dominated most of the final wall. Looking up at this mural sent the same shiver down his spine. Was his mural they key to the story? He stepped closer to the wall, trying to figure it out.
"Is this the Promised Land?" he said aloud, talking to himself. "No, it can't be…"
While all this was going on, Cloud and the companions continued to watch from the back of the room. They heard the words spoken, had watched Elena turn and run from the room. They gazed up at the murals. Like Elena, they also felt that strange sliver of fear run down their backs. The murals bode great evil, and they all knew it.
A sudden draft of freezing cold air brushed past Cloud's shoulder. Cloud shuddered, the hair on the back of his neck pricking up as his shoulder went numb from the sudden cold. He exhaled and his breath came out as a puff of icy white smoke. It felt as though some cold, ghostly presence had walked past him, and its frozen aura had chilled him to the bone. Cloud turned his head and looked behind him, but saw nothing. He quickly glanced at the others. They had not noticed it.
He was beginning to think it was just his imagination, when a flash of white light filled the room and he heard Aeris cry out in horror. He turned back to the room, and when he saw what she saw his hand rushed to his sword.
Sephiroth was there, kneeling close to Tseng in front of the murals. His body glowed with an eerie, faint white aura, and he was semi-transparent, as though he wasn't really there. The masamune lay limp in his hand, the blade across the floor. Tseng could not see him. Another white flash filled the room and the aura disappeared, the translucency gone.
Tseng turned in surprise at the sight of the flash. When he saw Sephiroth kneeling beside him, his eyes opened wide in horror.
"Sephiroth!"
Slowly Sephiroth began to stand. His black overcoat unfurled around him as he stood; the strong leather creaking as he moved. The long lengths of silver hair fell about his face, shrouding it from view. His fist clenched tightly around the handle of the masamune, and he lifted the blade up from the floor. The edge of the blade glinted blood red in the firelight. When Sephiroth was standing he raised his head and looked at Tseng through his glowing eyes.
The sight of those fierce Mako eyes made Tseng's blood run cold. He knew he should grab the gun that he kept hidden beneath his blazer and shoot, but he couldn't move. His body refused to obey. All he could do was turn his eyes away from Sephiroth's face, to avoid looking into those cold, killing eyes.
A small smile touched Sephiroth's lips. He seemed almost amused by Tseng's fear of him. He took a step forward. "So you opened the door," he said, motioning with his hand the door behind them. His voice was so soft it was like a whisper. "Well done."
Tseng continued to avoid Sephiroth's gaze. Instead he looked up at the murals, trying hard to ignore the oppressive cold chill that had filled the room upon Sephiroth's arrival. "This place… What is it?" he asked. He couldn't hide the quiver in his voice as he spoke.
Again Sephiroth smiled, amused. He walked over and stood beside Tseng. "A lost treasure house of knowledge. The wisdom of the Ancients…" He looked almost lovingly at the main mural towering above them. His eyes seemed to glitter dangerously in the firelight. He spread his arms wide and gazed up at the ceiling. "I am becoming one with the Planet."
"One with the Planet?"
There was a white flash of light. Unbeknownst to Tseng, a second image of Sephiroth had appeared in the room. It was a flickering image, barely visible in the light of the room. It walked calmly away from the real Sephiroth and stood in the centre of the room, its arms spread wide in some holy gesture. Tseng could not see it, but it was very clearly visible to Cloud and his friends, watching from the back of the room.
The real Sephiroth lowered his arms and turned to face the mural again. Tseng swallowed and tried to take a deep breath. The air was getting thicker. "You stupid fools," Sephiroth said harshly. The smile was gone. "You have never even thought about it. All the spirit energy of this Planet. All its wisdom… knowledge… I will meld with it all. I will become one with it… It will become one with me."
"…You can do that?"
Slowly Sephiroth lowered his head and stared straight ahead, fingers flexing tightly around the handle of the masamune. When he spoke, it was an indistinct whisper. "The way… lies here."
Suddenly Sephiroth turned, gripping his sword in both hands. He dashed forward, moving so fast all Tseng could see was a dark blur coming straight towards him. A flash of silver swiped through the air and a small spray of blood splattered onto the walls. Tseng fell to his knees, cradling an open wound in his chest and stomach. Blood beat down steadily onto his hands, staining his shirt a deep red. He tried to look up at Sephiroth, but dizziness won and he fell to the floor at Sephiroth's feet.
"Only death awaits you all," Sephiroth said, as a blood red aura began to slowly seep into the room in front of Cloud and the others. "But do not fear. For it is through death that a new spirit energy is born. Soon, you will live again as a part of me."
He laughed. The echoes resounded off the walls of the chamber, growing thicker as the choking red aura grew deeper and darker. The spirit-like Sephiroth standing in the middle of the chamber lowered its sword and gazed directly in the direction of Cloud and the others, a chilling smile on its face. Then it leapt up and flew to the ceiling, disappearing within the red cloud. The last thing Cloud heard before the cloud closed in completely was Sephiroth's continuing evil laugh.
When the blood-red aura finally faded from sight, the companions found themselves back in the stone corridor. Ahead of them the pool of water shimmered coldly, as though chilled by its own horrific vision. Aeris turned to Cloud and the others, her face pale and hands shaking. "Did you see it?" she asked.
Tifa nodded nervously. "…I saw it," she replied, although she wished that she hadn't.
At the far side of the corridor, Vincent folded his arms and gazed at the pool. "An illusion that the Ancients showed…" he murmured softly.
Feeling a sudden wave of nausea from the pit of her stomach, Tifa slumped onto the floor. A cold chill swept across her body. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Sephiroth's words were echoing in the back of her mind. Tseng… She wished she could get the image of him lying injured outside the Temple out of her mind, but she couldn't blot it out. She hoped the Shinra had found him in time. Memories of her father lying in a pool of his own blood. Would that be their fate? Would they all…? Tifa squeezed her eyes shut.
She opened them again as she felt a small nuzzling at the back of her arm. Turning she saw Red XIII standing behind her, his furry head pressed against her arm. The hound looked up at her encouragingly, although Tifa could see the fear even in his calm and collected gaze. Forcing a brave smile on her face, Tifa patted the hound's shoulder, assuring him that she was okay. Red XIII stared at her intently for a few seconds more before settling back on his haunches and nodding silently. He didn't truly believe that she was all right, but he knew she would never admit to fear.
"…Where is this room with the pictures on the walls?" Cloud was asking Aeris as Tifa climbed back onto her feet. No one had noticed her fall and shake apart from Red XIII. If they others had seen it, they certainly didn't mention it.
"Almost there…" replied Aeris.
Cloud looked down at the floor, frowning thoughtfully. The others stood patiently, awaiting his decision. "Sephiroth is here, right?" he asked. Aeris nodded. Cloud looked down a moment longer, before he raised his gaze and looked at Aeris. "No matter what he thinks, it's going to end here. I'm taking him out!"
"You mean WE are, right?" said Barret, lifting his gun-arm high. A loud echoing click revealed that he had loaded the chamber with bullets.
"Don't forget about us," agreed Red XIII. Around him the others all nodded and commented in complete agreement with Barret and the hound. Even Tifa managed to nod, although her face was still pale and her hands were still trembling. But the same determination showed in her face. She wasn't about to let a little moment of self-doubt and fear stop her from continuing with Cloud and the others.
Cloud looked around at the group and smiled. They were a motley group, but they were certainly a spirited one. Although Vincent did not smile as the others did, Cloud knew that inside the mysterious man felt the same determination that the others shared. Even as Cloud watched, Vincent drew his gun from its holster and began loading new bullets, picked up from the weapon shop on the coast, into the chamber. When full Vincent twirled the gun loosely and slipped it back into the holster.
With everything settled, the companions headed off. Aeris took charge as she led them back up the corridor. No one was at all surprised to find the Ancient spirit they had been chasing waiting at the top. It seemed as though their very purpose was to guide the group through the maze.
The spirit smiled as Aeris approached. Its floating body moved bobbed up and down anxiously and it pointed to the right corridor. Aeris looked. The shadows enveloping the corridor began to clear. An open doorway was revealed from within the shadows where it had been hidden before. That was where they had to go next. Aeris took the spirit's cold, ghostly hands in her own, thanking him for his help.
She was about to walk away, but the spirit gripped her hand tighter and wouldn't let go. He began to mumble incoherently, his ghostly lips trying to form words he had long-since forgotten. Aeris tried hard to listen, but it was no use. It was like trying to understand a small child saying its first words. There were numbers… and words… but they were so messed up. Aeris really wished she could understand. "Nyum… nyum… six…" was all Aeris could make out of the inane babble.
The spirit released her. Aeris bowed in thanks and then hurried after the others, who were waiting for her by the door. Even beside the door the shadows were thick and heavy, and they could not see what lay beyond it. But that did not worry anyone. They were in high spirits now. They were confident that they could handle any dangers in their path, pass any trials the Temple threw at them. This level of confidence was probably only short-lived, and so they wanted to get moving before it dissipated. Cloud nodded at Aeris as she approached. Aeris nodded back, signalling that she was ready to move on. Cloud turned back to face the open door and stepped through the shadows…
…And nearly fell to his death.
There was no path on the other side of the door. It came to a very abrupt end—so abrupt that Cloud did not see it until he put his foot out and realised that there was nothing to stand on. Staggering, he waved his arms wildly, and almost fell over the edge. A large hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him safely back. Cloud glanced back at Barret in thanks.
The new room was circular and almost empty, except for open doors that were positioned around them. Each door had an ancient numeral carved above it, from I to XII. Standing alone in the centre of the room was a stone pedestal, glowing a calm, soothing blue. Three stone hands, like those on a clock, moved slowly around it. The hour hand stopped just ahead of their door, the X door.
Before Cloud could ask what they should do, the light on the pedestal began to glow brighter. It brightened and lifted from the pedestal, cloaking it in a light blue aura. A small, indistinct figure appeared in the centre, too faint to see clearly, but definitely there. Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but the figure spoke before him.
"I am the Time Guardian." The figure's voice was quiet and melodious, almost musical. It was as though the figure was speaking from somewhere far from where they were. "Ye who seek the knowledge of the Ancients. I control the time, select your path."
Cloud turned to the others. The other companions looked anxiously at one another and shrugged, not knowing what to answer. Every single one of those doors led somewhere, he knew, but there was no clue as to where. More parts of the maze? Hidden rooms containing treasure (that would make Yuffie happy!)? It was incredibly time-consuming to search them all. It was time they just didn't have. If Sephiroth found the black materia before they did…
Then, Aeris stepped forward and faced the Time Guardian. "We choose the time half past ten," she said, loudly and clearly for the Time Guardian to hear.
Almost instantaneously the hands began to move. A loud, ear-piercing grating sound echoed through the chamber as the minute hand shook free of its still prison and began to tick slowly around the clock. Each time it moved the pedestal shuddered, sending tiny pieces of rock and dust falling into the black abyss beneath it. The hand moved nearly a full half hour, before stopping in front of the door marked VI—six.
"…It is time… You may proceed," said the Time Guardian. Aeris bowed slightly in thanks. The Time Guardian began to fade as the light seeped from the pedestal and disperse into the shadows. When the Time Guardian was gone, all was dark once again. The path ahead was clear.
Aeris turned and faced the others, grinning cheerfully. Cloud and the others were looking at her questioningly. Barret opened his mouth and began to speak, but he quickly shut it again and shrugged his heavy shoulders. Why bother asking how she knew when he wouldn't understand it anyway?
They began to make their way across the clock. Aeris led the way again, being the first to make the short jump onto the hour hand hovering about half a metre away from the door. The hand shuddered and creaked loudly as she put her weight on it, but it did not break and held firm. Cautiously she began to walk across it, one foot slowly in front of the other, but with enough speed so that she could outrun the approaching second hand, which was still ticking steadily.
She reached the pedestal just as the second hand passed above the hour hand. It ticked harmlessly passed and Aeris quickly motioned for the others to cross before she crossed the minute hand to the sixth door. They had to move quickly, for the second hand was approaching the minute door. Yuffie and Cid ended up having to jump the last few feet to the door to avoid being swept off the hand and into the abyss. When they were all safely across, they stepped through the sixth door.
The companions were surprised when they entered the next chamber. It was large, but not so much large in size as it was in height. They had been incredibly surprised when they stepped out of the doorway and saw a sheer rock face staring back at them, blocking any routes ahead. Instead the route was down below, by the means of a number of jutting ledges, each with doors. They stood on the top ledge. The companions groaned. Did they have to choose a door again?
A gentle clicking sound made Aeris look to her right. There was a very large stone door directly in the centre of the top ledge and in front of it was an Ancient spirit, locking the door with an old steel key. Aeris tugged on Cloud's shirt and he looked. As if realising it was being watched the spirit looked up and saw the nine companions staring at it. It stared too, until it jumped up in a panic and ran away, disappearing inside one of the shadowy doors.
Aeris ran over to the door the Spirit had been guarding. The stone doors were big and thick and loomed over her. She leaned against the doors and pushed with all her might. They did not budge. "Hey! It's locked!" she moaned. The spirit had locked the door. She turned to the others. "No good! We'll have to catch it!"
The others wailed in dismay. Cloud called everyone together. After a brief discussion and a few sarcastic comments from Barret about spiky-headed ex-SOLDIERS the group split up, moving to their assigned positions on the ledges below and muttering quietly about how the black materia was more trouble than it was worth. When the others were out of earshot, Aeris turned to Cloud.
"You must be tired," she said to him.
Cloud took a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah," he admitted, smiling softly. Unknowingly he put his hand to his head and rubbed his temples. The headache was returning. "I want to go home."
Aeris covered her mouth and giggled. "Yeah. But it'll all be over soon! Just hang in there. Someday we'll look back at these hard times and laugh."
Cloud looked at her cheerful, smiling face and couldn't help but smile too. He was about to say that he hoped they could all laugh together someday. Perhaps someday they would all meet up again in Tifa's bar, the Seventh Heaven, and talk and laugh about their long journey together. The rises… and the falls… and Barret's sarcastic comments. Heck, he wouldn't even mind Cait being there right then. He was about to tell Aeris all this, but right then there was a loud cry from below.
The spirit had come out of its hiding place, thinking that the scary-looking intruders had gone. It had come out of one of the shadowy doors and came face-to-face with a tall, menacing looking figure with long dark hair and a flowing red cape. But before Vincent could grab the spirit it turned tail and fled back into the shadows. It emerged again just seconds later, right in front of Yuffie, who yelled loudly as she dived to grab the spirit.
The next few minutes looked like something out of a circus. The spirit dodged and dived, disappearing into the shadowy catacombs of the doors and reappearing just seconds later through another door. The nine companions worked hard to catch the spirit, but he was incredibly fast and managed to avoid all their lunges. Cid became incredibly confused when he tried to run through one of the doors and ended up stepping straight back onto the ledge—although it was a different ledge from the one he had started on.
Eventually, after numberless amounts of diving and lunging, they caught the panicking spirit. The spirit stood frozen, locked in the firm grips of Vincent and Cloud, who worked together to keep the terrified spirit under control until it calmed down. They were all sweating and covered in dust and dirt. But they had the spirit now and that was all that mattered.
They left it to Aeris to commune with the spirit, who, like the others, could only mumble certain words and they were disjointed and jumbled up. Somehow she got the spirit to understand that they weren't here to wreck the Temple. The spirit seemed to sigh in relief and handed out the steel key it used to lock the stone doors. Aeris said her thanks as Cloud and Vincent released the spirit, who floated off to the edge of the ledge to watch them.
The key in hand, Aeris walked over to the large set doors on the topmost ledge. She slid the key into the tiny lock on the front and turned it round. A loud, resonating click could be heard. The companions then worked together to push the large doors open. An eerie draft blew through the doors as they opened, but no one noticed. Then, when the doors were opened enough for people to slip through, they entered the next chamber.
Once inside, Aeris looked around. "This is the room with the murals…"
Cloud growled in his throat as he looked around the room.
"Where are you? Sephiroth!"
Emerald: Holy moly on a sour dough roley! An update! Yes, I know it's been a couple of months since my last update, but I've been on a break. I think with a fic this long, I deserve a break or two occasionally. What, you think I live and breathe FF7? Well, I do, but I also breathe Dragonlance, which I heart so much. You're a god, Raistlin Majere. –floaty hearts of mage-loving doom-