I blame Final Fantasy XV for how long this chapter took to finish.
I'm gonna say we're like a half to two thirds of the way through FF7 events now. Not much action this chapter but its coming. Lots of action is coming.
Please enjoy this chapter.
No one had spoken in nearly twenty hours. Everyone had been far too sullen and unable to think of what to say. Cloud had been lost in thought and endlessly pacing through the the ancient house the group had made camp in, occasionally venturing out to peer into the pond. Tifa had no idea how to console her friend and after witnessing the same thing she had, Serah did not blame her for being speechless. Those that had gone down after Cloud had seen how he looked ready, how he had been a second away from cleaving Aerith in half. But then Sephiroth came down, stabbed Aerith and delivered a confidence shattering speech. Serah could sense it radiating from everyone in the large group, no one trusted Cloud anymore. Not through any fault of his own but because of Sephiroth, he had them convinced he could influence if not outright control their leader.
A soft groan pulled Serah out of her inner dialogue, the one she had been repeating in her head the entire time she had been sitting beside this bed. She looked down and gently took the pale hand of the flower girl. Fortunately (a word those less familiar with Sephiroth had thrown around), the stabbing from the Masamune had not been fatal but it had done irreparable damage. It had gone right through the flower girl's spine and Aerith had yet to wake up from the shock so there was no way of knowing how bad the damage truly was.
"Aerith?" Serah whispered. She was not able to get her voice to do anymore. The young woman in question groaned again and opened her bright green eyes, offering a smile to the pinkette.
"Oh, hey Serah." Aerith's voice just as soft, friendly, and sweet as it always was "Are you okay?"
The pinkette could not stop the weak chuckle that came up. Only Aerith would ask someone else how they're doing after being victim to a horrible event "I'm fine Aerith. How are you feeling?"
The brunette gave a shrug and mulled over her response "Kinda hungry, actually."
"I'll go get you something. Be back real quick." Serah left Aerith on the bed and as she searched for some food and water for the flower girl, noticed the house was empty of the other group members but chose to focus on the wounded Cetra.
Upon returning to the wounded woman Serah saw her sitting up and massaging her legs. The pinkette placed the rations and water bottle on the bed with Aerith and resumed sitting beside her. She merely watched as the brunette tore into the food and downed the water. Aerith gave a content sigh as she finished eating then gave Serah a sheepish smile and apologized for eating like a pig. They started up an idle conversation while the Cetra began releasing her braid and setting into remaking the braid. It had become rather messy in the past few days. While she was focused on her hair Serah had a strange thought creep into her head relating to the stab wound Aerith had received. The pinkette reached over and pinched the Cetra's leg. No reaction. So Serah gave another pinch but much harder and still no reaction.
"Aerith," Serah started quietly getting a soft him in response "You can't feel your legs, can you?" Aerith halted her work on her hair.
"I can't feel anything from here," Aerith pointed to the spot just above where the Masamune had pierced her front, where her ribs met "down. Sephiroth has made me a burden for the rest of you." She sounded no different from her usual self but Serah could see the sadness in her posture, how she wouldn't meet the pinkette's gaze.
"Do you want to talk to the others?" Serah did not know what else to say.
"Not right now. But you should. Looks like you need to stretch out." Aerith said with a smile and waved her hands in a way to shoo Serah out.
The pinkette returned a weak smile and left the Cetra alone. She knew Aerith was masking her sadness since she had become the moral core of this assorted team. She understood the want and need to grieve alone over the permanent wound. Everyone already felt defeated that they were unable to properly protect one of their own and would only be crushed by her sorrow. Serah could not begin to imagine how much worse things could be if Aerith had been killed. But once outside she saw how low the group's confidence had fallen. Everyone was scattered around the area just outside the house that looked like a giant seashell, all within earshot. However Cloud was alone by the small lake and more than half them people present were watching him.
"Hey guys?" Serah said to get their attention "Aerith woke up." There was a collective sigh of relief and the tension in the air drastically lessened but still hung there.
"How is she?" Tifa asked softly from her place on the ground near the door. More members of the large group were listening in.
"She's…" Serah wanted to be as gentle as possible with this news "She won't be able to keep going with us."
"What do you mean?" Yuj asked back.
"Just spit it out, pinky." Cid commanded, though with his accent and complete lack of anger behind it, it was hardly intimidating.
"She can't walk anymore." The news clearly hit everyone hard, Serah's Turk trained eyes could not miss that. Vincent though muttered something Serah missed to himself.
"Somethin' you wanna say?" Barret growled at the man.
"It was expected." Vincent repeated so he could be heard and immediately there were many glares on him "If she had been killed it would add vengeance to your motivations, making us pursue even harder. By crippling her he has maximized his damage." Serah saw the truth in his words, as much as it hurt "A living reminder to our failure to protect our own and forcing us into an unwanted situation. We have to split up."
"What! Who the hell says we have to split up?" Gadot yelled, Snow held him back from marching towards the gunslinger.
"We can't carry her through the northern terrain. Its perilous even for those in peak physical condition and not hindered." Vincent stated. Everyone was getting upset but remained in check since he had only ever been honest and wise "So some of us have to take her back to Bone Village while the rest of us continue our pursuit north."
Cloud stood and placed the Buster Sword on his back and turned to the group. The movement attracted the attention and everyone had their eyes on their leader that no one truly trusted anymore. He looked from person to person meeting each of their gazes, his own mako blue eyes holding some newfound determination.
"I am continuing north." The blond stated adamantly "I can't ask any of you to trust me anymore or to even head in the same direction. But Sephiroth needs to be stopped. I have no idea what he's planning to do but he is heading north and whatever he is looking for up there cannot be good for any of us on Gran Pulse.
"I'm going with Cloud." Tifa said next "Sephiroth has to answer for what he's done."
"I will head north as well." Nanaki announced "I will be able to greatly assist with advancing through the treacherous terrain."
"I'm gonna protect Aerith." Yuffie said quietly "I want to help you guys fight Sephiroth but he scares me way too much." No one could blame the young ninja for that.
On it went in that fashion. Each coming forward with their own reason to continue north or stay with Aerith. It came down to team NORA and Yuffie deciding to take Aerith back to bone village and Avalanche, as well as Serah and Snow, opting to head north. Serah justified her choice by saying a Cetra weapon had chosen her and it only made sense to use it to fight the spawn of Jenova. And then came the discussion of how to divvy up the remaining supplies and the communal stash of materia. During that Serah slipped back inside and found the moogle, her Cetra weapon, chatting with Aerith and making her laugh. It was quite obvious that Aerith had been crying, the evidence was literally on her face. Instead of acknowledging it though the undercover Turk went to her pack and dug out her phone while carefully thinking over what she was about to ask.
"Hey Aerith."
"Oh, hey again Serah." The brunette reply while stifling some giggles "What's up?"
"The group is splitting up." Being blunt was the best way to do this "Some of us are heading north after Sephiroth and the others are heading back to Bone Village with you." Aerith nodded solemnly, clearly having been expecting the turn of events "But I want you to take my phone," Serah handed over her Turk phone as she spoke "If you dial eight eight seven five Tseng will come pick you up."
Aerith opened the phone and stared at it while repeating the four numbers silently and then started to laugh softly thoroughly confusing Serah "Oh Tseng, your lack of imagination is so funny." She said between laughs and flipped the phone closed.
"What's so funny?"
"The secret code for your phone? Eight eight seven five? It spells Turk." Aerith was having trouble stifling her giggles again and Serah face palmed. Mostly because Serah herself hadn't noticed what the four numbers spelled on the keypad.
"So you are fine with this? You trust me and Tseng?" Aerith nodded to the pinkette.
"Just promise me you'll keep an eye on the others."
"I'll do my best."
Everyone said their farewells to those in the other group and then they departed. Avalanche heading north, NORA with Yuffie and Aerith heading south. Cloud was once more leading Avalanche though the others kept a safe distance and a watchful eye. The blond would pause every so often and look into the distance as if tracking something only he could see. He mentioned it to himself a few times and that only set the group on edge. As the land got increasingly wild Vincent and Nanaki took the lead, scouting ahead for the best climbing path for the others while Cloud acted as the compass.
The temperature dropped rapidly once they made it out of the Forgotten City making them guess that the comfortable atmosphere of the Cetra city must have been maintained through some form of magic they had been blissfully unaware of. While no one was prepared for the frigid weather the least affected were the Cosmo Canyon native and the mysterious cloaked man while the most miserable were Serah and Tifa. The sight of snow blanketing their path did not help at all and neither did an ambush of wolves although the fight with the pack of hunters did get their blood pumping. Did let them know that Icicle Inn was not too much further ahead but that did little to comfort the freezing party. The snow fell harder as they progressed and the clouded sky made it hard to tell how much daylight they had left but they pressed on. They used fire materia to warm up when they felt the cold becoming too much to handle but they never stopped. Vincent pointed out a kind of road running through the snow and suggested they keep on it as it looked well used and might be lucky enough to get a ride. Not much later, a large van looking vehicle with snow treads in place of wheels came down the road and hard stopped beside them, sliding a short distance.
The side of the van had a large red cross on it, the universal symbol for medical assets. The cabin doors flew open and two people in heavy winter gear raced out. Worried questions and statements were thrown their way as the two EMTs opened up the carrier and began ushering Avalanche inside and handing out thermal blankets. One returned to the cab to drive while the other remained in the back with Avalanche to help them fight off hypothermia. Most of Avalanche thanked the EMT for stopping and helping and they merely smiled and proudly stated it was their job to help. Avalanche was more than happy for the help and glad they didn't ask about or mind Nanaki. Within the next hour the group was inside an emergency shelter and getting examined by nurses, a doctor, and a vet for Nanaki. Vincent refused to shed any clothing for the examination. They were more or less forced to spend the night in the shelter while they recovered and there was little objection from Cid and Barret.
In the morning Vincent and Nanaki set out to purchase winter gear for the crew while the rest of them checked out of the shelter and found a hotel, motel, or inn to stay in while the preparations for heading further north were sorted out. By noon everyone had a set of winter clothes to call their own, and a bed to spend the next few nights in. And then they split up to shop for supplies and gather information about both the terrain they'll be facing and if Sephiroth had passed through Icicle Inn. Tifa suggested she and Serah ask around bars for information.
"What can I get for you ladies?" The tall dark haired bartender with a short and well kept beard asked Tifa and Serah as they sat down.
"Some hot coffee would be great." Serah reply.
"Coffee and Kahlua." Was Tifa's order and the bartender stepped away to prepare their drinks.
"Can't argue with your choice of drink." Serah commented.
"It's been a hard journey." The martial artist's tone was quite somber "I figure I'm allowed to have at least one drink." Serah merely nodded.
It was not long before the bartender returned with their drinks and a small plate with a handful of cream cups and sugar packets. The Turk and the martial artist gladly took and held their drinks, Serah added two shots of cream and a sugar packet. The barkeep went to fill another order but soon returned to the two women.
"So you two here with friends or is it just you?" He asked in a friendly tone Tifa recognized as one she used in her bar.
"Here with a group. But stopped in for a drink." Tifa reply with the same professional friendly tone.
"Is it business or pleasure that has you at the top of the world?" He asked, just idle chatter.
"Business, unfortunately." Serah commented. The bartender laughed softly.
"Well its better than starting a vacation by wandering through the snow without proper gear."
"You know about-" Tifa started but was cut off.
"The actual population of Icicle Inn isn't very big. But we're a friendly group and keep each other up to date on things and finding your group on the side of the road was quite a surprise." Both women nodded to the man "So if you don't mind me asking, at business brought you here?"
"We're tracking a dangerous man." Tifa answered calmly.
"He matches the description of Sephiroth pretty closely." Serah added.
"Ah, Shinra's poster boy. Hard to believe he's been dead for five years now." The barkeep commented "But yeah, someone matching that description came through town and continued north, against every warning, mind you. And you're not the only people that have asked me about him." Tifa and Serah shared a worried look then looked back to the man "It was another woman. Black hair and- oh. She's right over there." He pointed to a far corner of the bar and by tracking the direction both Serah and Tifa saw a woman with messy black hair, tan skin, heavy winter gear, a blue fabric wrapped around her body outside the winter gear, and tall red double ended weapon leaning against the booth she was sharing with a similarly dressed redheaded woman, but without the blue fabric.
"Thanks." Both martial artist and Turk said as they grabbed their drinks and stood to find out who else was tracking Sephiroth and why.
Claire knocked softly on the door to the room the guys of the group were sharing, knowing only Zack was in there. She heard him call out and entered the room. Unsurprisingly it was almost identical to the room her and the other three women were sharing. The only difference was the room was mirrored from hers. The bathroom door opened to reveal lots of steam and a shirtless Zack with his hair flat from the moisture.
Claire swept her gaze over those well defined and heavily scarred muscles, gleaming from the steam of the shower he had just finished. She could only imagine how firm his muscles were and wanted to find out. Her mind conjured images of her running her hands over his chest to his back then up to his shoulders. Pulling herself close to feel herself pressed against his broad chest, imagining what his scent was like and leaning in to smell it in his hair as she kissed and nipped at his neck. Images and simulated sensations of his hands roaming down her sides and up her back came forward along with him pulling her jacket off and-
"Lightning!" Zack called, pulling her away from the very unwelcome thoughts "Gran Pulse to Lightning! Blink if you need help!" His tone was between playful and worried.
Claire shook her head to make sure it was clear "Sorry, sorry. Got lost in a thought for a moment." She could feel her face burning as she once again looked at his chest.
"Yeah, no kidding." He commented "You're also blushing like crazy."
The pinkette was not happy to hear that "Yeah, that kind of relates to what I wanted to talk about." Twice during that sentence her voice threatened to hitch. Claire was starting to really hate how she acting like some in love teenager "Have you noticed some uh…" she growled in response to her words failing her "Strange feelings? Like the more north we go…" Claire wanted to shoot herself.
"Now that you mention it, yeah. I'll come right out and say it, I've been seriously attracted to you since we got here. Which is weird. I've never thought about you that way before." Claire was amazed Zack could be so casual about this situation "I'm guessing it's hitting you too."
Claire looked away and nodded. She felt her left arm rise and take hold of her right arm. And once again her mind summoned unwanted images of Zack. This time he was above her and leaning in to kiss her neck while his hands slid down her body to take hold of her belt… That thought was quickly ended by the feeling of her face stinging horribly and her gaze being roughly snapped away from Zack. The black haired ex-SOLDIER had a fearful look on his face as Claire pieced together what happened.
"Sorry! You just had this really weird look on your face and I panicked!" Zack sputtered quickly.
"No, no." Claire said as she rubbed her tender cheek "Its good you slapped me there. Brought me back to normal." Zack gave a relieved breath, having been expecting Claire to attack him back "We need to figure out how to manage this weird effect."
"Well Lightning, I'm sure the need to survive as we head further north will keep us busy enough to not notice the attraction." Zack clearly had a better handle on this situation than she did. But Claire wanted to know what was causing this strange effect. Zack moved to finish getting dressed as Claire mulled over tactical thoughts.
"What do you think is causing this?"
"Sephiroth." Zack reply immediately.
"How? And why would be trying to make us love each other?" She decided to avoid detailing just how deep her thoughts went.
"No idea how. But maybe he's hoping to distract us from our goal? Make us vulnerable?"
"You do make a good point." The pinkette met Zack's gaze once more, mako blue eyes staring into mako blue eyes "I'm going to track down Fang. See what she has managed to find out about Sephiroth."
Claire quickly left the room without waiting for Zack's response wanting to avoid the possibility of those unwanted thoughts coming up again. She descended the stairs of the hotel at a hurried but calm pace trying to remain casual and wanting to get far away from Zack at the moment. Yet she felt a strange compulsion to turn around and go back to his room. The compulsion was ignored on every level. As her feet found the bottom floor she scanned the lobby/cafe of the hotel and took note of a person with messy long black hair, dressed in black, and wore a long red cape that was beyond tattered at the bottom. They were at a table chatting with a man with sandy blond hair in a white T-shirt. She couldn't see more due to the angle but ignored them as she went outside and folded up the collar of her jacket. The collar belong to the Guardian Corps jacket she still wore but it was underneath a thick long sleeved winter jacket. She sent a text to the dark haired warrior woman as she began walking down the street and was glad Fang reply quickly. Claire made a quick search on her map application and corrected her course through the arctic town.
The pinkette found her way to the bar Fang was at, Jack Frost, in a short time and gave the place a once over before crossing the street. It seemed to be a classy place, if the appearance of the front was any indicator, instead of a sleazy dive bar that one often found in a Shinra town like Midgar. Although Jack Frost did not have any windows likely just to conserve heat in this absolutely frigid climate. Just as Claire reached the front door a large built man with a burly body, merely amplified by his winter clothing also reached the door. Being polite Claire motioned to the door, allowing the man to go first but he insisted the ladies go first. She looked up to thank him and came face to face with a familiar beard, brown eyes, and stern expression on his dark toned face. Barret Wallace. They stood staring at each other for a few long seconds.
Their previous encounters flashed through Claire's mind. The highway leading out of Midgar. The President's office. The sector seven pillar. It took Barret longer but recognition flashed across his face and his expression morphed into hatred and blood lust.
"You…" he was controlling himself for now. Maybe she could disarm this situation.
"I'm not-" Claire was cut off by his right arm rising and spitting bullets at her. She shoved him as hard as possible and leaped away but she felt a couple of rounds tear through her left side. People in the area screamed, ran, and dived into cover at the sound of gunfire.
"You fucking bitch!" Barret roared as he regained his footing and fired more rounds. The pinkette continued to put more space between her and the gun-armed man, dodging as best she could and eventually having to duck behind a concrete barrier.
The doors of the bar flew open and out came two brunettes, a redhead, and a pinkette. Tifa and Serah ran to their enraged comrade to halt his barrage while Fang and Vanille went the other way to the bullet ridden barrier to help whoever was being shot at. Tifa and Serah were quite upset with the burly man for opening fire in a civilian area.
"Barret what the hell are you doing!?" Tifa shouted at him as she forced his arm down.
"Tifa, that woman," Barret stumbled through his rage "That bitch from Midgar. The one that killed Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse…" Serah saw tears well up in his eyes "She's here! I was shooting at that murdering bitch!"
"You mean…" Tifa trailed off her thought but Serah noticed a shift in her behavior. The martial artist released Barret and began walking down the street towards the concrete barrier with Barret on her heels. Serah followed.
Not long after the rest of Avalanche arrived on the scene as well as some other people. Cloud asked Tifa and Barret what was happening and they informed the blond, the pinkette was still in the dark about what was happening. A woman with incredibly long blonde hair intercepted Avalanche and leveled a glare upon the group, giving Cloud a once over before speaking.
"Jihl Nabaat, commander of PSICOM," the blonde woman stated "You Shinra flunkies had better have a damn good reason for opening fire in a civilian area. Of the neutral city state no less."
Serah could feel the entirety of Avalanche burn with anger at her words "Don't fuckin' call us Shinra you bitch!" Barret roared at her "That pink haired bitch yer protectin' is a SOLDIER and killed my friends! And helped drop Sector Seven!" The blonde raised one slender eyebrow, clearly not at all threatened by Barret even if he was twice her size. Serah thought that if Barret was correct then the only possibility of who the pink haired SOLDIER is, is Claire.
"You're not Shinra?" She asked "So you are gun happy civilians that decided to shoot at, and wound, one of my best soldiers merely because she happens to look like someone that crossed you?" Jihl drew her rapier baton and pointed it at Barret "By the laws of Icicle Inn and the Northern Accords, you are under arrest by order of PSICOM." Serah noticed the members of Avalanche not from Midgar take a step back.
"Bullshit!" Barret roared "That bitch has mako eyes! She ain't one of yers unless Shinra bent Cocoon over and fucked it over just like they have everyone else!" Jihl took great offense to that statement.
Cloud moved past Jihl and everyone had their eyes on him, anger forgotten. Jihl shouted at him to halt but it fell on deaf ears. Tracking where the blond SOLDIER was going the group spotted a young man with medium length silver hair, bright green eyes, and an assault rifle slung over his shoulder, standing next to the concrete barrier. Cloud walked up next to him and merely stared at the young man for a while before heading back to Avalanche. Most still watching him with no small amount of confusion.
"Cloud?" Tifa asked with concern thick in her voice.
"We need to get ready to move out at dawn." The blond man said with no emotion as he walked by.
"I'm not-" Barret shouted but was silenced by a glare Cloud threw his way.
"Finding Sephiroth is more important, Barret. One person or the entire planet." Cloud said with the same flat tone but the glare still in his was fuming horribly but decided to turn away from the blonde with the rapier baton.
"You are still under arrest." Jihl commanded.
"Go ahead and try." Barret said over his shoulder and the blonde remain still.
Serah looked back and saw the dark haired woman from the bar helping a pink haired woman to her feet. Serah and the woman made eye contact and the instant she saw those mako eyes, Serah was racing down the road. The eyes and expression of her sister lit up as she realized who was racing toward her. Claire pulled away from Fang and began hobbling towards Serah ignoring her pain. Vanille did heal her with materia but her side still screamed in agony from where the bullets ripped through. The pinkette sisters met in an embrace fueled by ages of separation and feeling alone for so long.
"Serah, I'm so sorry for what I did in Midgar." Serah heard her sister's voice catch as a sob rolled out.
Serah gently rubbed her sister's back in an attempt to calm her "Shh, shh, shh. Its okay Claire. I'm fine. I'm so happy to see you."
Both sisters heard others approaching and Serah looked up from Claire's shoulder to see the two women from the bar, the blonde woman, the young man with silver hair, a man with an afro and a beard, and Zack of all people who just arrived. Claire looked up from Serah's shoulder and spotted the man with the red cape from the hotel lobby and an animal with orange and red fur. The sisters pulled apart and looked back at their respective comrades.
"I guess we have some explaining to do." Serah said an awkward smile.
"We'll do so with everyone present." Vincent told them.
"Vincent and I will keep the more emotional members of Avalanche in check to prevent any undue violence." Nanaki added.
"That dog just talked." Zack sputtered.
"Really kid?" Sazh asked in disbelief "After everything we've seen, this is where you draw the line?"
Zack merely shrugged and laughed "What kid doesn't dream of having a talking dog best friend?" Serah swore she heard Nanaki chuckle as he walked away.
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