Fire had fascinated Aeris Gainsborough all her life; it was part of her, part of who she was and how she lived. Her obsession and maybe also a curse. Her earliest memories of it were uncomfortable reminders of her captivity and the ever present menace of Hojo. The man who watched, prodded and poked at her and her mother.
The first day she understood anything of the fire inside her was during a routine blood test. One of Hojo's many lackeys clamped a hand around her arm as he pushed the needle into her skin without grace or compassion. It hurt. It was no different to the pain from any previous test but this time something broke inside and Aeris retaliated. She meant to kick him but an intriguing other possibility surfaced. The knowledge seemed to bubble up out of the recesses of her mind. How to form the flame and make it appear- There.
The lab assistant flailed backwards in a panic as the sleeve of his lab-coat exuded a thin wisp of smoke and a tiny flame flared up. He let go of Aeris, unsure and wary of what to do. She took a hesitant step back and willed to get bigger. The flame sputtered and flared up, the assistant crying out in fear. Too little though; the man's cries attracted attention and with them fire blankets. All too soon they extinguished the flames.
She tried to ignite another flame on the guard as he dragged her back to her mother, but nothing came. Had she done it at all? She felt sure she had controlled the flame but how to do it now escaped her. But she wanted to know, needed to know how to call up the fire again.
Her mother swept her into an embrace as soon as they were alone. This was not unusual; her mother doted on her whenever they were together, but there was something different today. She spoke in a voice little above a whisper of how proud she was, how Aeris had awoken to her own unique skill. And how she should try to hide it. The incident would attract Hojo's attention but unless he could coax another response out of her he would not press the issue. Her mother made her promise no matter what Hojo did she would not cause a fire at his request. Not understanding – not yet – Aeris promised. It did not seem necessary to add she could not at present remember how she had achieved the effect.
Hojo wasted little time. The next day Aeris was placed within a glass tube as the man who haunted her nightmares leered at her. He was different; his hair matted down with a thick substance she would later discover was flame retardant. He now likewise coated his skin and changed from his typical lab coat into a non-flammable outfit. Nothing remained in the lab now save a small plinth containing a glass beaker filled with a colourless fluid. Water maybe?
Hojo made his offer; set the contents of the beaker alight and she would avoid testing for the next week. The concept of a week was an almost vague term to Aeris. Night and day mere concepts here, the passage of time more instinctive than measurable. But if a week was, as she suspected, seven periods awake, it was a tempting prize. Her mother's words echoed in her mind and despite the temptation she knew she needed to refuse. She shook her head and stared back at the man with defiance. Hojo smiled; a horrible sight, remarking she could do it before. He was toying with her; withdrawing the offer of a test free week in favour a new one: avoiding an immediate blood test. A nervous assistant with a needle approached her. He too was coated with the same gunk as Hojo.
Aeris backed away from the man, her eyes fixed on the needle. Usually this was only every few days, never this soon. Her mind reeled and there was the knowledge again. It was so simple, so easy. It would only make things worse though. Biting her lip she stepped back as the cylinder opened and did nothing. The assistant glanced at Hojo with nervous eyes, his superior gesturing to continue. The assistant licked his lips, sweat beading on his brow. Unlike the previous day, this man was gentle, delicate, and terrified of her. She watched his nervousness with a thrill of power. She was scaring him: their relationship had inverted. The needle pierced her arm with a sting but she still did nothing.
Hojo scowled as the assistant exited the tube and resealed it. He batted the proffered sample away, spilling warm red blood across the floor. Aeris hated the tests, but to waste the sample, to injure her and discard it. No! He was trying to make her react. She could not let him get to her. Hojo watched her and smiled, the sight chilling her. He grabbed the assistant and whispered something to him. The assistant was shocked, but nodded. As he scurried away, Hojo approached and made a new offer. Set the beaker on fire, and he would stop all his experiments today. A cheap offer now in light of the original. But she still refused. She had promised.
The lab door opened and Aeris gasped. Two Shinra guards entered along with her mother. Her frightened eyes took in the bare lab and her daughter sealed in a glass tube. She glanced with fear at the grinning scientist who stared back at her; his gaze flicking between mother and daughter.
"Last chance," he said; this directed at Aeris. Her mother who shook her head. Hojo sighed, muttering something about damaging a specimen. He told one of the guards to "Do it" and stared at Aeris once more. All her attention was on her mother as the guard slammed his fist into her stomach. Aeris started, hands pressed against the glass, as her mother cried out in pain. She slumped, the guard's arms catching her before she fell. "Again," the horrible man said and the guard repeated his action without a pause. "It would all stop if you would just set the beaker on fire," Hojo said with a smirk, never taking his eyes from her. Fury mounted within Aeris combining with her new knowledge; the range and intensity she would use. She could throw a flame onto the man's leg. That would stop him.
Her mother lifted her head to stare at her and mouthed "No." Hojo made another command and the trooper punched mother's face. Shock, fear, terror, rage coursed through her, and now it was too late. Her mother moaned, but Aeris's fingers had twitched and a flame flickered up the guard's trouser leg. He stumbled backwards in panic as Hojo grinned, chuckling as she screamed and erupted a new gout of flame onto the other trooper. The guard let her mother fall to the floor as he panicked with his flaming uniform. Hojo raised his voice and shouted something she could not make out. His assistant entered with a fire extinguisher, dousing the two terrified guards.
Hojo ignored it all, ignored the soft moans of her injured mother on the floor to step closer to her. "You can do it." And if she did not want this to happen again she would follow orders; the guards would not be vulnerable next time. Quivering with anger and guilt, Aeris could only stare at the floor as he appraised her. Mother and daughter dismissed for the day. Aeris sobbed and apologized to her wincing mother. Her mother cooed and stroked her hair, forgiving her everything. She confessed she did not anticipate Hojo reacting so fast or so callously. Just do as he asked was her new advice. But nothing more. Never reveal how far her skill could extend.
Aeris cooperated with Hojo, setting tiny fires at varying distances, wired up so he could see how her body responded. He noted her above average temperature, checked her brain waves from rest to pyrokinesis and back again. New inflammable garments replaced her old clothes. Following a series of unexplained fires, the surrounding floor had all flammable material removed. Time passed; every day another test or another blood sample, another measure of what she was and what she could do. No point in showing off to Hojo, but at the same time she felt constricted by holding back. She could do so much more with the fire, she wanted to let it loose, to enjoy its beauty and power. But she did not want to show Hojo.
The day she left Shinra's clutches and her mother died was a change to the norm; both mother and daughter in the lab together. Hojo demanded his regular test of her range and the intensity of the flame, but seemed distracted, soon turning his attentions to her mother. His words meant little to Aeris as a child, other than the nagging fear of how much they upset her mother. Years later she understood the terms and callous estimation of her mother's body, Hojo's words sickening.
Mother was still fertile Hojo stated, she was young, she was attractive. Had she thought of expanding her family again? Her mother stared at the scientist with cold, harsh eyes stating he knew full well her husband was dead. Hojo smiled, remarking she could find a new partner and produce a new child, a new specimen for him. While this one, he gestured towards Aeris, had skill with fire, the mother's skill seemed faded. He wanted another test case. Who was to say another child would exhibit the same skills? Her mother paled at the words asking what he meant in a stuttering voice.
Hojo's poker-face slipped into a smile as he made a crude offer, her mother's head twisting away from him in shock. She muttered no, the awful grin on Hojo's face only widening. If she continued with her attitude he would select a different mate for her. Maybe something exotic. Some species near extinction. A different type of hybrid would be so interesting. Years later Aeris would shiver when recalling his words, now recognising Hojo's stress on something instead of someone.
Aeris was roused from slumber later. Her mother whispered quick, quiet words asking Aeris to demonstrate the full extent of her power. Her mother had paid careful attention to the layout of the building, and once stood before President Shinra. She knew there was nothing flammable on this floor, but Hojo underestimated her daughter. He never considered the three-dimensional implications of her power. Her mother asked and Aeris complied. She concentrated, calling forth flames in a wide arc five meters above her. Then ten. Fifteen. Twenty. By twenty-five alarm bells began to sound through the building. Her mother told her to be ready to move.
Each time Aeris concentrated and felt a flame flicker into life. Each time she felt she could glimpse the area around it. She began to concentrate on paper, carpets, curtains and in some cases, clothes. Fire spread in an arc over her head and still the alarms wailed. Distant shouts and the feeling of movement. Finally the door to the cell was flung open. An ordinary guard, so flammable, stood breathing hard and shouting they had to get out. Her mother gathered Aeris into her arms and walked out of the cell. The building was in chaos. Employees forgot drills, stumbling with valuables and personal items. Her mother, Aeris and the trooper joined the crush of people filing into the emergency stairway.
They could not hope to blend in; the cuts, bruises and different clothing marked mother and daughter out from the other employees. Nervous twitches now ran through her mother as they approached street level. She had little doubt someone who understood what they were would be watching and waiting for their emergence. If not for the sudden fire and timing likely Hojo would have used a show of force to prevent the fire from spreading.
They reached ground-level and her mother stared upwards in shock. It was so bright out here, and Aeris followed her gaze. Fear constricted her as she gazed at the dizzying heights above her. Where before there was always a metal ceiling, now there was nothing but a blue infinity. She clutched at her mother in fear as the older woman whispered something, glancing around her. She pushed them both into the crowd, shuffling forward as Aeris tried to tear her eyes from the spectacle above.
Worried and uncaring employees pulled back from the woman and child with the fading injuries. Aeris heard mutterings about slum-dwellers making it up here again. They ought to beef up security. Shouts behind her as her mother kept pushing, following signs leading her towards the station. Another shout and the horrifying sound of readied weapons. Her mother pivoted on her heel, keeping her own body between them and Aeris.
She held her hand out palm open towards the troops. Surrender? They lowered their weapons in expectation, and she struck. Lightning arced from her palm to each of the troops, slamming them backward and frightening the rest. She threw another spark after the first, grabbed Aeris's hand and ran. The sector was in chaos, the upper floors of the Shinra building in flames, employees scattered over the streets. People rushed towards and away from the enormous building.
They ran, working off instinct now. Her mother knew they were off the ground at least, realized what the blue sky above them meant in this city. If nothing else getting to ground level would be essential in escaping the city. That meant going down to the slums and meant taking the train. She ran, not wasting time to see if the troops had recovered yet, backups called in or if she had somehow evaded them. They could not waste this opportunity. Reaching the station by chance they found no train waiting. Her mother's eyes flicked around the platform, pulse racing before making a decision. She leapt down onto the tracks and helped Aeris down after, running towards the tunnel entrance yawning wide ahead of them.
Calming in the tunnel; a comforting surface now above her head again. Her mother kept moving her forward, glancing back at a distant shout. She pushed her daughter ahead of her as a shot rang out and stumbled before continuing. Her breathing grew heavy and glancing around with anxious eyes, she pressed a hand to her side. She and Aeris hurried as the metal around them reverberated with the rumble of distant trains.
Aeris spotted the hatch; a narrow cramped passage leading down to another tunnel below. It would have to do. The sounds of a distant train grew louder as her mother ushered her down the ladder and followed. A swiftly train rounded the bend, blasting them with air as it rocketed past and towards the station. The noise was deafening in the echoing tunnels. Her mother's face twisted in agony and her mouth fell open as if in pain but Aeris heard nothing above the din. The train passed above them, and they began walking again. They were moving slower than before, her mother no longer capable of the frantic rush from before.
They walked for long hours in the cramped tunnels, clutching at walls as trains hurtled past them, feeling their way through darkened sections. They were still free her mother whispered with a pained smile; Shinra must have lost track of them. Tunnels like a maze, but her mother took the route sloping down. Aeris gasped when the tunnels ended and they stepped again into the open air on the central hub of Midgar.
The air was muggy and tinted with the faint odour of mako. There was an up above her; an up of astonishing size. Gigantic metal plates locked in place high above and a cave-like expanse of city-scape below the plate. The new ceiling provided a comfort. The effect marred slightly by the gaps running along the gigantic triangular plates.
Mother leaned against a support strut before heaving upright with effort. Mother and daughter walked hand in hand down the heavy mesh bordering the rails. Her mother's smile was becoming fixed as they descended and the mako stench of the slums was becoming unavoidable.
They followed the train-line.
The slum track system was open to the air and no further tunnels to navigate. Her mother selected a route leading towards the outer walls and freedom. As the sounds of trains faded and the mechanical switching system quietened they moved into Sector Five. Her mother pushed Aeris up and onto the station with a struggle heaved her own body up. She was wincing but still able to walk with quick uneven steps which lasted until the steps down onto the street. Her legs had threatened to give out before, but now she stumbled from the steps and dropped beside them. Mother struggled up and into a seated position, breathing hard.
Aeris reached out a nervous hand to her mother's again. Her eyes had closed now and she seemed to be resting. Nerves shook Aeris as she glanced around, huddling closer to her mother. She felt cold to the touch, and Aeris snuggled in tighter to try and keep her warm. New sights and smells kept catching her eye, maddening curiosity pulling her attention away. The floor below them was stone, covered in cracks and gashes; a far cry from the smooth metal of the labs. Discarded paper, empty bottles, and unidentifiable, organic remains littered the area. Distant rumbles came from the metal ceiling above her, strange whistling noises in the eddying air. It was warm here. So much warmer before. Why was her mother so cold?
They needed to move. They had gotten away from Hojo, but it could not last. She shook her mother, trying to coax her into waking. Her breathing continued uninterrupted, but she did not open her eyes. Aeris tried talking to her, but nothing seemed to work. Fear welled up within her and her eyes filled with tears. Her mother's breathing was becoming shallower, a definite wheeze now audible as she drew in each breath, her eyes shut tight.
A gentle voice sounded in her ears, and she raised her head, looking through bleary eyes at another woman. She rarely saw anyone like her mother. Hojo had few female assistants, and the ones she had seen did not have the gentle eyes and soft smile of the stranger standing near her. Brown braided hair flowed down the woman's back, a grubby apron around her waist. Her mother stirred, one final wheezing effort as she gasped out what would be her last words. It was a heartfelt request for this soft-spoken stranger to take care of her daughter.
The woman was confused and worried, but nodded as her mother's body lost its grip on the world. Relaxing forever, a faint smile remained on her lips as her chest stilled. Aeris started at her mother's stillness, blinking up at the woman. She smiled back, holding out one hand. Aeris took it, and pressed against the woman, seeking her warmth, grateful to feel her arms sliding around her. She felt safe.
The stranger checked her mother's words. Aeris confirmed her name was Aeris and the stranger asked the young girl to come home with her; she had promised her mother after all. Aeris did not know what to think until she heard a faint whispering from somewhere far away. She should go with this woman, and she would look after her in her mother's stead. She nodded at the stranger who gave her name as Elmyra Gainsborough.
Tears still trickling from her eyes Aeris held Elmyra's hand as they walked away from her mother and her past. As they turned the corner and away from the station, she glanced back, seeing her mother for the last time. A train pulled into the station, prompting a guard to approach. He forgot his duties as he noticed the slumped figure, rushing to her and calling out. He took her pulse, and sank back onto his haunches with a pained expression. The door of the train opened, shaking him from his reverie. He pulled his coat off and covered Aeris's mother.
A new wave of sadness welled up in the young girl and the the corner cut off all view of the station and she knew her mother was gone.