Kei: Glad to hear it :) Thanks! I love Eden en Vince together, and I think Eden needed some time away from everything, if only for her peace of mind. Your words are too kind 3 I like to stay true to the story, and to the characters. I'm happy to know that you think I succeeded with that! You know what they say, if it fits, it sits! haha. Onward!
Chapter 194
I was pulled along, my body screaming in pain, but I had to make it out of there. Vincent was hurt, possibly even dying, and I was no match for Rosso. Right now, neither of us were. Outside, the chopper we had arrived in stood ablaze, and I groaned at the sight, knowing Reno was going to lose his marbles if he found out. Fortunately, the person I now identified as Yuffie, had come with alternative transport. The same large truck that had been parked outside my house in Whiterun, now stood waiting for us right outside the gate. Yuffie conjured up a grenade from inside her cloak and flung it at the entrance. With a loud bang and a cascade of rubble, part of the grand mansion collapsed in on itself, hopefully buying us some time.
"We'd better hurry before this old hag catches us," Yuffie said as she started dragging Vincent along by his arm through the dirt. "Help me, will you?!" I stumbled along, picking up Vincent's claw and trying my best to use some effort. I bit down on my tongue to keep the pain at bay. Together, we made it to the truck fairly fast, and hauled Vincent's dead weight inside and placed him on the cot. I collapsed on the cold metal floor, leaving Yuffie to close the door as the truck took off towards safety. "Stop being a baby!" She snapped at me as she hefted me off the floor. The very shaking and swaying of the truck hurt me, every breath felt like a cut with a blade.
"Shut up, you little wench." I shot back, but still let her guide me over to a seat. "Will he be okay?" I asked her after she'd set me down and my gaze fell on Vincent. I wanted to go over to him, to make sure he was still alive, but it was better not to move.
"He's alive," She said after feeling his pulse. "Looks like he's already healing up nicely. And a little appreciation wouldn't hurt, by the way! Also, I never found those goats you told me about. I'm pretty sure you were lying to me. Go on, tell me the truth! There are no goats are there?"
I stared at her in astonishment, amazed by her capacity to be so lively all the time. "..I said ghosts..." I declared, making her freeze in her ramblings.
"Well, didn't see any of those either! I did see that Turk boy grinning like a maniac when I mentioned it. He keeps sneaking glances at you when you're not looking, did you know that?! Oh, everyone's so oblivious! But I notice these things, because I am Yuffie Kisaragi! I also noticed you have no materia at all at your house. What kind of warrior are you? I went through your wardrobe, -I love your lingerie by the way- but you don't even own a bangle or anything. Don't you know you need an accessory to place materia in? Not to mention your weapons, they're all plain guns. You don't own any other Sais, you've just got the one pair. Did you know Sais originate from Wutai? There's a legend-.." Had I been at the top of my game, I might have scolded her for going through my stuff, but it didn't surprise me in the least. She kept talking and talking, and after some time, I fell asleep in my seat. My body and mind finally gave up after this exhausting day, unable to listen to her ramblings any longer.
I had no idea what year it was when I awoke, but I found Vincent sitting up across from me. Memories came flooding back to me in a tidal wave, along with the stabbing pain in my torso when I tried to sit up. I gasped and clutched my chest, having forgotten about the injury. I glared at Vincent, who seemed to have made a miraculous recovery.
"Morning!" Yuffie said happily. "Although you were totally rude for falling asleep while I was talking, and I'm a little bit angry with you."
I ignored her sharp voice. "Vincent, are you all right?"
"I should be more worried about you," He replied. "I didn't realize you were still hurt...Would you like me to heal you?"
"She doesn't even have materia," Yuffie shook her head. "Some SOLDIER she is!"
"Yes, in a minute," I replied, groaning when I took a breath in between words. "How is it you're sitting up? How are you even alive without cure?"
"Hmpf..." He looked at the floor, avoiding my eyes. "Because I'm...different." I noted the weight in his words, the fact that it still pained him what had happened to him.
Yuffie stood twirling between us, seemingly happy that we were both all right. "He healed right up! Now it's your turn. That was a nasty gash you had on your back. Vincent already healed that up for you. We didn't realize you had more injuries."
Then I remembered my failure in fighting Rosso and how it had led to Vincent getting hurt. Or maybe worse, the Protomateria being taken. "I'm sorry for screwing up with Rosso," I said to Vincent. I hated losing a fight, especially one that was a matter of life or death. Or could mean the end of the world. "She was...She was too strong."
"There is nothing to apologize for," Vincent shook his head at me. Always understanding, always kind. "We've contacted Reeve. He has infiltrated Midgar using Cait. Deepground will summon Omega from there. We can't let that happen. We are on our way to WRO now. Reeve is gathering allies for an offensive." I nodded, stilling feeling ashamed about my defeat. If only I'd managed to kill her, then we would have been one step closer to protecting everyone. Now, it meant we'd taken about ten steps back. "Let me cure your injuries, Eden." He then said, getting up from his bunk and sitting down beside me. He raised his hand and placed it on my back, albeit a little awkwardly. A pleasant, warm feeling radiated from his palm, spreading across my skin and through my body. I felt my ribs pop back into shape, realigning themselves within my chest. I winced a few times, but soon, the pain faded, and I was healed. I felt completely refreshed and ready to fight. Although, hopefully not with Rosso any time soon. I wondered how these Tsviets managed to locate Vincent each and every time. How had they known he'd be in Nibelheim? I was about to ask Vincent about this when my phone rang. After digging it up from my pocket, I frowned at the name on my screen. As far as I could remember this was the first time I had ever received a call from Tseng. I made sure to thank Vincent before answering the call."Tseng?"
"Eden," He acknowledged me. "Have you found anything of use yet?"
I glanced at Vincent, who sat watching the conversation with mild interest. He must have seen the question in my eyes, because he nodded at me curtly, giving me permission to share our findings with the Turks. "We've found some sort of disc inside the Shinra Mansion, down in the basement lab. It contains information about the Protomateria, and Omega."
"Omega?" Tseng didn't bother to hide his surprise. "But..that is only a legend. In Wutai, it is believed that Omega is a destroyer of worlds. Surely it is only a myth." It didn't sound as if he were asking a question, merely making a statement. I couldn't help him with either.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Reeve has found evidence to the contrary," There was a strange echo to my voice and I realized he'd put me on speaker. "Now the good news is, we found the Protomateria in Nibelheim."
"You have it?" Rufus asked from somewhere in the background. I closed my eyes in annoyance. Why did he have to be there? Were they all there with him?
"The bad news is," I continued as if Rufus didn't exist. "Rosso took it, from inside Vincent's chest. She plunged her hand in there and ripped it from his living body. If I get my hands on the bitch, her beating heart is mine."
"Is he all right?" Tseng asked, his tone laced with concern. His concern was much appreciated. "And are you?"
"He had a hole in his chest the size of a fist. Define 'all right'," I mused and looked at the mostly healed Vincent, who sent me a small, crooked smile in appreciation. "He'll be fine. So will I. We're on our way to WRO with the data. Reeve is gathering forces for an assault on Midgar. That's Deepground's base."
"Eden," He continued, and I didn't fail to note the sense of urgency that came with my name. "We need to see this information. Can we retrieve it from you?" What would they need it for? We were in this together, that's what he'd said from the very beginning. We would be taking this data to Reeve, end of story.
"So you can steal it and use it for your own good? I don't think so, Tseng. Sorry, but I don't trust you that much." I knew it was a mean thing to say, but I also knew that Vincent was with me on this, there was no need for me to even look at him for confirmation.
"We're specialized in this sort of thing, Eden, you know that," Tseng pressed, seemingly unfazed by my unwillingness to cooperate with them. "We need to work together in this, that is of the utmost importance." He fell silent for a moment, and I could almost see the looks that passed between him and his team in silent conversation. "I could..." He then continued, a sense of hesitance in his next words. "...Send Reno over there to collect it from you? I swear on my honor that we won't keep any information from you." I couldn't believe my ears. He was actually trying to play it like this?
"Are you seriously trying to entice me, Tseng? What kind of lovestruck fool do you take me for? We're taking the disc to the WRO, so Reeve can take a look at it. If you want to see it, that's where it'll be. Eden out." I hung up on him before he could utter a single protest. That wasn't the first time they'd tried to use Reno against me like this. They had tried that trick back at Fort Condor, only, Reno hadn't agreed to comply with it for some reason. It only showed that Shinra would do anything to get their hands on things they had set their sights on. Besides, last thing I knew, they were heading towards WRO themselves, so what was the problem? My phone rang again, seeing Tseng's name flash across the screen a second time. I chose to ignore it, and the third time, making me groan in irritation.
"Perhaps you should answer it." Vincent suggested when it rang a fourth time, a hint of sarcasm in his tones. I scoffed at him in disbelief, thinking he really was becoming more human by the day.
"Why?" I got up while waving the phone around. "It's only Tseng. Oh," I added when I looked at the screen. "It's not." It was Reno. Goddammit they'd made him call me. What the hell was so important? "Hey," I answered, trying to at least be nice. "You realize they're pimpin' you out, right?"
"Are you hurt?" I noted the demanding tone in which he asked me that, and the way he ignored my remark. Any other time, he would have found that funny, but now his voice seemed detached, which made it difficult for me to zoom in on his mood. He'd been great with me over the passed two days, but he had seemed more than upset when they took off this morning. I wasn't sure I could deal with neutral. I'd have him happy or moody, but neutral was just boring.
"It's just a scratch." I waved it off, which was basically my answer to any type of injury. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"Uhuh, with you, a scratch means you probably got your liver pierced," He said and I chortled, but he didn't seem amused. "Damn it, Eden, when are ya gonna learn to take some materia with you, huh? You think I took the effort to teach you how to use it, because I had too much time on my hands?" No, that wasn't what I thought. I remembered all too well how he had begged me not to go and face Sephiroth, how he had begged me to stay with him. He'd told me he wanted to teach me how to use materia so that I could be a little bit safer. He'd asked me to do it for him. I remember thinking it was the sweetest thing I had ever heard.
"I'm sorry," I admitted, knowing I'd wasted his gift to me. "You're right, okay?" He remained silent, but I could almost see him scowling at me. "Was that what you were calling me for?"
"Tseng wasn't done talking when you hung up on him." He said, still sounding too moody for my liking.
"Yes, I'm aware," I replied. "That would be the point of hanging up on somebody." Still nothing? "Anyway," I continued, feeling a little awkward at his silence. "I thought you were already at the WRO, so what's the problem?"
"We ain't there," He said, before his voice fell away for a moment, as if he'd covered his phone to prevent me from hearing what he said next. I could hear Tseng's voice faintly before Reno's returned. "We've found Genesis."
"What?" I asked, dumbfounded that they'd found him so quickly. "Where?"
"Banora Village," I knew the place to be Genesis' hometown, located in the Mideel area. Not too far from Incra, the small town where I had found Charly. The Turks' search had paid off, and fast.
"Seriously? He just went home? Is he with us?" That last question was the most important one. We could really use someone like him in the field. Even though he still made my skin scrawl a little bit, he was a strong SOLDIER and deep down, a good man. Since Sephiroth had gone bat-shit crazy on the Planet, Genesis seemed like a lost puppy in comparison.
"Nope." Reno replied, still sounding all business. "But he ain't against us either. He said he knows these guys personally and won't interfere with them or harm them." Genesis had been locked up with Deepground for a few years, so him having befriended them didn't come as a surprise. However, he'd told me he'd changed, so now was the time to prove it.
"He'd better be with us," I replied. "He owes me that much after everything he did. You tell him that."
"You tell him." He shot back.
"I don't want to talk to him." Truthfully, the thought didn't bother me as much as it once had, but I already knew that nothing good would come of it. Talking with Genesis was like talking to a wall. He simply didn't listen.
"Actually," Reno started. "The Chief thinks it's a great idea for you to talk to him. Maybe you could persuade him to join us. Ya know, with your history and all." So, first it was Reno and now it was me? Had they no shame at all? They'd already used me like this against Kadaj and his gang, and since that had worked out so perfectly, they wanted me to do it again? Instead of yelling at him that I wasn't a hooker, regardless of what he thought, I decided to try and prevent things from getting worse between us again.
"Talking doesn't work with Genesis." I argued, hoping they would find another way.
"You could always try and bond with him a little." There was such venom in that one word that it stopped me dead in my pacing, making Vincent look up to see what was wrong. For a moment, I imagined I'd heard Reno wrong, but I knew I hadn't. Backstabbing and throwing things in someone's face had always been one of his traits, and it had hurt me deeply before. It still shocked me that he could do such things so unabashedly. Things like these had lead to fights in the past, mostly because I didn't take shit from anyone, not even him. Or maybe especially not him. I'd known that Rufus had said it like that deliberately, trying to provoke a reaction from us, but where I was one to react right away, Reno absorbed such things to use against someone at a later time. Now was obviously later.
"I'm hanging up now," I replied through a set jaw, for once not saying the things that were on the tip of my tongue, dying to be spit out. The disillusionment in my voice surprised even myself. "I'll see you at the WRO. Or not." I hung up and set my phone to silent before stuffing it into my pocket. "Told you." I pointed out to Vincent. He didn't even bother to try and prove me wrong. "They've located Genesis and want me to try and persuade him to join our ranks."
"Will you?" Vincent asked me in all earnest. I bit my lip and thought about it for a minute. This was exactly what I had been afraid of the first time I'd found out that Genesis had resurfaced. After warning the Turks that their lives may very well be in danger because of it, Reno had addressed me about that. Essentially, he was the one I worried for most, if Genesis ever lost it again. His jealousy of Sephiroth was elemental in the happenings of eight years ago. If he hadn't gotten over me yet, still saw me as something he needed to rival over, then him finding out about my feelings for Reno was dangerous to say the least. The last thing I wanted, was for Reno to get his throat slit over me.
"Let me think about it," I finally said to Vincent. "My decision in this may be more consequential than we realize."
"You're concerned for what he will do if he finds out." Vincent stated, making sure to leave out any names. I appreciated this in him. There was no doubt that everyone sort of knew what was going on between Reno and myself, but he was still being subtle about it.
"Finds out about what?" Yuffie asked, looking from Vincent to myself.
"Nothing, Yuffie." Vincent said to her kindly. She huffed and crossed her arms.
"Yes," I nodded. "Genesis is capable of anything in his fits of envy. I'll have to be very careful if I even consider this."
"I don't understand any of it," Yuffie chimed in. "But here's my motto; never think too much on anything! Just go with the flow, take any challenge and opportunity thrown at ya."
We continued our journey in silence. Yuffie had finally gone quiet, having rambled on and on about the adventures she'd been on the past weeks. After about an hour, she finally seemed to have realized that Vincent and I needed a little more rest. I'd noticed the way Vincent treated her, with more affection than he treated most others. Something told me he'd grown attached to the little ninja. She wasn't so bad, come to think of it, only very annoying. Maybe Vincent had a higher tolerance level than I did. As I lay staring at the wall, my back turned towards the other two, the phone conversation I had just had kept going through my mind. Apart from the fact that I hated it when Reno was upset with me -and hated it even more to fight with him-, my thoughts kept wandering back to Genesis and the amount of valuable information he could give us. The thought of being used as leverage against him didn't sit right with me, since the last time I had done so had ended in utter disaster. But the longer I thought about it, the more sense it made to get him on our side. Maybe if I were honest with him and he'd really changed, he'd listen to me. Maybe there would be no reason to lie and pretend this time. Hopefully, he would never find out about Reno and me. I had better get this over with then. After fishing my phone from my pocket, and ignoring the sense of Yuffie's curious eyes burning into me, I sent Reno a message.
Fine have it your way. Tell me how to contact him. If this blows up in our face, that's on you guys.
It took a while for him to reply, and I imagined he had other things to do than wait for my sorry ass to get in touch. I'd fallen asleep again by the time he did.
It won't, since you're so great at bonding apparently. Here's the info. Good luck.
An affronted sound pushed its way passed my lips, making Yuffie frown at me with interest. He was insufferable! We were in the middle of war here, and possibly on the brink of the end of all life, and he was sulking over something Rufus had said. Why were men always so immature? I understood he was angry with the situation, maybe even with Rufus, but there was no need to take it out on me. Although, this wasn't entirely new for him. Maybe I should have expected this much. My fingers danced over the buttons feverishly.
How about you stop jumping to easy conclusions? Nothing happened with Rufus. If it bothers you so much, you could have just asked.
His reply was far from comforting.
See you at Reeve's. Headed there now.
Was it too much to ask to at least apologize to me? I knew I hadn't done much apologizing to him in the past, even though he had clearly deserved it, but still. He didn't want to have any smalltalk with me anymore. Talk about dedication to your boss. It was infuriating, these mixed signals he kept giving me. One moment we were fine and yes, bonding, and the next he was drifting away from me, acting all indifferent. Did he even understand what the hell he was doing? I sighed and copied the phone number in Reno's message, and added it to the contact list under the name 'Genesis'. Maybe I should register him under something else, like 'stuck up gingerbread-man', which was what I had called him the first time we met. But with all that was going on around me, the weight that I had felt pushing on my shoulders lately, I wasn't in the mood to joke around. What had happened to me? Would I end up all grumpy and moody because of all this? I sincerely hoped not. I inwardly sighed, preparing for a conversation I wasn't looking forward to in the least. My eyes fell on Yuffie, who was still looking at me, a sparkle in her eyes.
"What's with you?" I asked her.
"Hm, nothing." She hummed airily, making me frown at her.
"Well, go do nothing somewhere else," I replied moodily. "I have a call to make. In private."
She clenched her fists and fumed. "Oh you! We're in a truck together, where do you expect me to go? If you want to make booty-calls to your Turk boy, then go outside!" I gasped at her in exasperation, shocked that a teenager who shouldn't even know what it meant, was throwing around words like 'booty-call'. Not to mention she was way too young for boys. She needed to wait at least... at least ten years.
"What is a booty-call?" Vincent asked obliviously, this having been the second time he'd heard the word. I almost groaned in embarrassment.
"Eden's about to make one," Yuffie said mischievously. "Watch and learn."
"I'm not!" I snapped. "And you're way too young to even know what that means."
"Hey!" Yuffie whined. "I'm an adult!" Vincent finally appeared to be getting the gist of the issue, since I could have sworn I saw him blush. I never knew he could do that. He looked away from us, not wanting to meet our eyes.
"Whatever," I grumbled and dialed the number. I hadn't heard his voice in over three years. The last time I had ever seen him, I had forgiven him for what he had done, but he still wasn't my favorite person. I could already see where the conversation was going before it had even initiated. The phone rang and rang, seemingly endlessly. I hung up and tried again and again, until finally, there was a reply.
"Yes..?" I almost hung up on him, but managed to suppress the urge.
"..Genesis?"
"Yes..?"
I closed my eyes to calm myself, feeling the stress already build up inside of me. "It's... It's Eden." There was a long silence on the other end, and all I could hear was my own heart beating in my ear.
"...Eden? Is this a dream?"
"No dream," I reassured him, feeling I was the one who needed reassuring. "I need to-" The words 'see you' almost escaped me, but I caught myself in time. The last thing I wanted was to sound desperate. He might take it the wrong way. "Talk to you."
"I'll come find you," Genesis said, eagerness already dripping from his words. "Where are you? I'll come meet you." I feared he was already taking it the wrong way, but there was nothing I could do about that now. All I could do, was be honest with him and hope that he would aid us.
"We're on our way to the WRO Headquarters," I explained. "We've retrieved some data...Genesis... I'm sure that Shinra told you about what's going on? Deepground is trying to summon Omega. All life will be lost if we don't stop them."
"I want to see you. We'll talk at your destination. Where can I find it?" Already the point of me contacting him seemed to have gone over his head, but I couldn't give up now.
"It's at the foot of the Forked Mountains near Fort Condor."
"Please wait for me there, Eden. Please, I'm on my way." His pleading almost got to me, and I wondered why he chose to torment himself this way. Then again, was I any different? I hadn't resorted to this kind of begging yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if I'd cast aside all pride and fell to my knees eventually.
"I'll be there." I whispered before hanging up. I already regretted making the call.
