Chapter Ten: Setting Out
Aerith led them through the slums.
As they walked, Sephiroth halted only very briefly at Wall Market. A notable shopping center, he was able to purchase Aerith and Cloud some materia. An ice materia for Cloud, and some healing and fire materia for Aerith.
He certainly wasn't giving any to them.
Ignoring the invitations of several prostitutes, they left Wall Market. From there, they followed Aerith onward. Coming to a path, Sephiroth found himself walking into what seemed like another place. The house he saw was built near the edge of the plate, so a lot more of the sunlight came in. A river remained flowing freely into a waterfall by it, and a field of flowers were nearby.
Sephiroth had to wonder why Aerith ranked this. Then he remembered her heritage. The house they lived in was also very nice as well, with two stories and wallpaper. Courtesy of President Shinra, who wasn't one to alienate one he deemed necessary.
The door opened, and Aerith's mother looked through. Sephiroth didn't bother paying attention to her features; she wasn't important. He'd never see her again after they left anyway. "Oh, Aerith, there you are."
"Hello, Mother. I've had a vision from the planet," said Aerith, smiling.
The woman looked upset and conflicted suddenly. "Oh, have you.
"What... what did it say?"
"I need to prepare for a long journey, Mother," said Aerith. "I'll be away for a bit."
There was a pause as the women looked to Sephiroth and Cloud. "...Perhaps you should come inside and explain then, Aerith. Who are these?"
In they went into the sort of house one could never have purchased before Shinra. Aerith spoke, and Cloud looked uncomfortable. "Oh, this is Cloud; I've told you about him. And also Sephiroth, they've agreed to escort me."
"Sephiroth? What is..." the woman halted. "You're not joining SOLDIER, are you?"
"No, not at all," laughed Aerith. "Remember those mystics who came from Cosmo Canyon before? I'm planning to do something like that, except with the outside world. I want to tell people how they can resist Shinra nonviolently."
"Aerith that is..." The woman glanced around. "That is very dangerous. I know that you're always headstrong and don't usually listen to me, but... this isn't something you should do on a whim."
"It's not a whim, Mother. It's the will of the planet," said Aerith. "Cloud, Sephiroth, this is my mother, Elmyra."
"I'll get some tea for our guests," said Elmyra. "Aerith, perhaps you could let me speak with them."
"I need to go get ready anyway," said Aerith before heading upstairs.
There was a long silence, and Cloud probably thought it awkward. Sephiroth, however, didn't see any particular reason to be here. Nor did he see a reason for Elmyra to exist, save as backstory for Aerith. But it wasn't like she'd be important later.
"Did you talk her into this?" asked Elmyra.
"No, I had nothing to do with it," said Sephiroth. "I merely asked her some questions. She came to a decision on her own."
"Sephiroth, I think we should leave," said Cloud quickly. "We can't expect Aerith to go out on this?"
"She'll do it even without us," said Sephiroth with a shrug. "I've read her psychological profile. Hojo kept forcing me to read it when I was younger."
"You would, wouldn't you?" asked Elmyra, voice cold. "You were the reason for all those wars, after all, the reason my husband never came back."
"How are those wars my responsibility?" asked Sephiroth, not caring what her answer was.
"You, Genesis, and Angeal were the unstoppable SOLDIERS 1st class," said Elmyra. She poured some iced tea into glasses. "No one could stand up to you. If you hadn't been fighting for Shinra, they'd never have been so aggressive. But as long as you were on their side, they could conquer anyone."
"Most of my time is spent hunting monsters, in truth," said Sephiroth. "I am semi-retired from military service. As for Genesis and Angeal, they are now both traitors."
"You're quick to disregard your former friends, aren't you?" asked Elmyra, voice disapproving.
"I wouldn't call Genesis and Angeal friends per se," said Sephiroth. "Not real ones at any rate. Evidently, I never meant anything to them, or they'd have offered me a part of their treason. Any emotional investment I had in them has been betrayed.
"At the moment, I'm looking for replacements."
"Replacements? You can't replace people!" said Elmyra.
"I believe I just did," said Sephiroth. At the moment, he had nearly as much investment in Cloud and Aerith as he'd had Genesis and Angeal. Then again, that might be the novelty talking.
"That is so-" began Elmyra. "-nevermind."
"Excuse me, Ms. Elymyra, can I ask you something?" asked Cloud suddenly.
"Yes, what is it?" asked Elmyrya, handing him a glass.
"How did, well, are you an Ancient as well?" asked Cloud.
"No," said Elmyra, giving Sephiroth some iced tea. "Aerith she... she is my adopted daughter. Though sometimes, I feel as though she's far older than me. It was during one of the wars Shinra was fighting, I heard my husband was returning for leave. I waited at the train station every day; however, he never returned."
Sephiroth drank the tea. It was actually quite good, all things considered, though there was a bit too much sugar for his tastes.
"One day, I found Aerith and, well, her real mother," continued Elmyra. "Her name was Ifalna.
"She was seriously injured, and Aerith was just a young girl. She asked me to take her in, and I did. The only other alternative was sending her to one of those awful orphanages, and I had no one at home at all.
"But she was never a normal child, though I love her.
"One day, someone close to me had died, and I hadn't heard about it. But Aerith came downstairs and told me about it so I wouldn't be sad. A few days later, I received the word. I... I came to realize that Aerith was a very special child.
"And when Tseng came down here and offered her a place in SOLDIER..."
"Aerith was offered a place in SOLDIER?" asked Cloud. "Why?"
"There is a prophecy," said Elmyra. "That one day, an ancient will lead a chosen few to the Promised Land—a place of supreme happiness. President Shinra believes it, I guess, and he wants the place for himself.
"I don't know why."
"Isn't this part of his plan to create a race of gods?" asked Cloud.
"His plan is to put down Mako Reactors in heaven," said Sephiroth, who had been privy to the plans for Neo-Midgar. "He'll be able to make a great deal more money that way. I attended a meeting where he described his plan."
"...that's it?" asked Cloud. "I mean, I always assumed he had some kind of ritual or..."
"Is it really so hard to believe?" asked Sephiroth. "President Shinra is interested in three things. First, power, second, the praise of those around him, and is necessary for the future. His primary means of getting power is money through Mako. So the reactor follows naturally. And what greater achievement could a man of business make than to turn paradise into a product? No doubt, the sycophants would proclaim how meticulous he was. And as for necessity...
"If he succeeds, he'll control the gates to heaven. You can be sure he'll charge admission in it. Or make it a reward for people who work loyally for him. It'll become one more means of control, even as he runs the place into the ground."
"...That is the most horrific thing I've ever heard," said Elmyra.
"You get used to this kind of thing when you work in Shinra long enough," said Sephiroth.
"How can you serve such a monster?!" asked Elmyra.
"Aren't you taking his money to finance this home?" asked Sephiroth. "Or did a single, working-class woman really find the finances for this by herself? Why do you think it is no thugs ever bother you?
"Why has Don Corneo never paid you two a visit?"
"...Shinra," said Elmyra.
"And that's the problem," said Sephiroth. "Shinra is necessary for people who are living. They provide the food you buy. They produce the fuel you use to heat your house. They build the pipes which you get your water through. Every magazine is printed by Shinra. Even the opinion pieces that argue against them are but controlled opposition.
"When you see those deranged reporters talking bad about Shinra, they aren't taking a stand. They're providing a safety valve for Shinra to sidetrack and discredit their enemies.
"And no matter how much you hate the things they do, it is irrelevant. You need them, however much you hate them. And most of the world's population works for them whether they know it or not.
"I was trained to serve Shinra from the very beginning, so I know how far it extends. Many of the companies that compete with it are actually fronts. President Shinra plays his subordinates against one another to prevent stagnancy.
"Shinra isn't a corporation. It isn't a nation. Corporations and nations are merely the things that Shinra uses to enforce its will. Once, mankind cowered before the unknowable whims of powerful gods. Now they prostrate themselves before a corporation. The terror once reserved for things beyond comprehension is now given to a fat man in a red suit: him and his cadre of hedonists.
"And if President Shinra succeeds in taking control of the Promised Land, death will be no escape.
"They've got to be stopped." Sephiroth halted as he finished. He was speaking the words that had been welling beneath the surface for years. "...And I have to stop them."
Silence fell over the room. It was a simple, obvious truth. Sephiroth's trained detachment couldn't be maintained. He was going to have to put some work in for this.
"...Listen, we didn't mean to take Aerith away from you," said Cloud. "We could leave now if you-"
"There's no point," said Elmyra. "Aerith never lets something get in her way. She's been incredibly restless lately. And... well, I suppose I always knew this day would come.
"Where are you going?"
"For now?" asked Sephiroth. "To Kalm. It's relatively near and uses a great deal of Mako. However, our journey will probably be extended further than that."
Suddenly, Sephiroth's phone rang. Looking down to his pocket, he drew it out and saw Tseng on it. Walking outside, he looked at it as it rang, tempted to not answer it.
"Are you going to get that?" asked Cloud.
Sephiroth opened it and put it to his ear. He had to speak. "What is it, Tseng?"
"She's gone," said Tseng.
"What do you mean 'she's gone?'" asked Sephiroth.
"Princess Yuffie is gone," said Tseng. "She broke out of house arrest, stole the guard's wallets and their materia. Last we heard, she'd escaped into the slums."
"I see," said Sephiroth. "What do you want me to do about it?"
"I'm already en route to track down Genesis with Zack," said Tseng. "The mission is too important to put off. I have the Turks looking for her at the moment, but we need all the help we can get.
"Where are you?"
"In the slums," said Sephiroth.
"What are you doing there?" asked Tseng.
"Preparing for an extended journey through the Midgar wastes," said Sephiroth. His sense of professionalism demanded he find Yuffie.
"Sephiroth, what are you doing?" asked Tseng.
"Doing?" asked Sephiroth. "I just told you."
"We're in the middle of a war," said Tseng incredulously. "You can't just walk off when we might need you."
"How many decades of service have I provided Shinra, Tseng?" asked Sephiroth flatly. "I have been doing this job for far longer than you have even been in the service."
"Be that as it may, this is a crisis," said Tseng. "Could you at least remain within the bounds of Midgar?"
"How many vacation days have I taken in my career, Tseng?" asked Sephiroth.
Tseng paused. "Um... none."
"Right," said Sephiroth. "If you could save up vacation days, I could probably go on paid leave for years straight.
"I have done nothing but work for Shinra my entire life. All of my friends were associates of Shinra. My social interaction was wholly professional. I have no family to speak of, and the two people I thought were my closest friends walked out on me. They didn't even have the decency to offer me a place at their side.
"All that, and my legal guardian was Hojo of all people.
"I have earned the right to take a week or two off before going right back into the war."
"This isn't about you taking a week off, Sephiroth!" said Tseng. "Reno is in the hospital, and you're protecting Strife. This after you walked out on President Shinra. You humiliated him in front of his son. If you keep going like this, they might...
"Well, someone might do something stupid."
Sephiroth shrugged. And for a moment, he seriously considered just killing them all. It would be so easy. Just climb the plate to Shinra HQ and slaughter everyone inside. The Shinra High Command didn't deserve to live. And Lazard would be only too happy to take over.
But something held him back, telling him that this was not the way to save the planet. If the Shinra High Command were slaughtered, who knew what chaos it would cause. For the moment, Shinra remained necessary.
"You are correct, Tseng," said Sephiroth. "My actions have been erratic lately. And if President Shinra deems my behavior unacceptable, he can feel free to have me eliminated. I'd suggest using another SOLDIER 1st class.
"Oh wait, he can't.
"I'm the only one he has left."
"Sephiroth, even you can't take the entire Shinra military," said Tseng, sounding concerned.
"Maybe not," said Sephiroth. "But do you want your military cut in half killing the Great Sephiroth for taking leave? Especially with another war is on the horizon. That wouldn't be very good for morale, and I might win."
Tseng now realized he was on thin ice here. He'd always been the smartest of Shinra's goons. "...This is a moot point.
"Your behavior right now is irregular. Proper respect for the chain of command must be maintained-"
"I am taking a vacation, as is my contractual right," said Sephiroth. "And for all we know, the Genesis army was destroyed by Cloud. This may be my last chance to do anything for myself in a long time. How is taking a few weeks off unreasonable?
"You realize that I'm going to be killing monsters en masse as a hobby the whole way?
"Just spin it as a monster-hunting expedition. Then say that Shinra is putting its full focus on securing the outer regions. It'll be true, and what I'm doing is getting Cloud out of Shinra's hair at the same time. He can't spread conspiracy theories when he's fighting fiends."
"...I'll speak with President Shinra on your behalf," said Tseng. "With luck, we can get it approved as an undercover mission."
"Thank you," said Sephiroth before hanging up in disgust.
"What was that about?" asked Cloud.
"Princess Yuffie has escaped," said Sephiroth. "Also, we're, officially, on a Shinra secret mission to purge the fiends in the area."
"What?" said Cloud in concern. "Yuffie isn't in the slums, is she? She's a kid! We can't leave her out here!"
"We have no idea where she is, however-" began Sephiroth. And then there was a flash of smoke, and Yuffie landed, hurling a huge throwing star. On her face was a confident smirk. Sephiroth caught the weapon between two fingers. "-we appear to have found her!"
Yuffie was wielding two other ninja stars and spinning them dramatically. "Alright, Sephiroth! You may have defeated me once! But I am the Great Ninja Yuffie, and you will face defeat at my hands!"
"And what brings you to that conclusion?" asked Sephiroth, amused.
"You may be stronger than me, larger than me, have a wealth of much more powerful materia and far more experience!" said Yuffie. "But I was able to steal the wallets of a bunch of ordinary soldiers and-" She halted, and her smirk faded. "I think this wasn't such a good idea."
"I concur," said Sephiroth, before putting a hand to his sword.
"Are you... really going to bisect a child in front of my house?" asked Elmyra behind him.
Sephiroth sighed and looked up. "No, I was going to-," He halted. "Nevermind, once we bring her back to Shinra, we'll-" But Yuffie was gone.
"Where did she go?" said Cloud.
Then a long shadow was cast over them. Sephiroth looked up to see Yuffie standing triumphant on the roof. "You haven't seen the last of Yuffie Kisaragi! The first blow has already been struck! Vengeance shall be mine!"
There was a flash of smoke, and Yuffie vanished.
"...Well, that happened," said Elmyra.
At that moment, Aerith came back with staff and pack. "Okay, I'm prepared now. Mother, please take care. With luck, I'll be back in a week or two."
Elmyra kissed her on the cheek. "Take care, dear."
"I know," said Aerith. "We'd best go before we get second thoughts."
"Speak for yourself; I've had all I can take of Midgar," said Cloud.
"We'll be walking through the wastes," said Sephiroth.
"Why walk at all?" asked Elmyra. "There is mass transit."
"It will give me the opportunity to kill fiends," said Sephiroth. "Do you have everything you'll need?"
"Well, I've got a walking stick and a handkerchief, not to mention some supplies," said Aerith. "Um, Mr. Sephiroth?"
"Yes?" asked Sephiroth.
"Where's your Materia?" asked Aerith.
Sephiroth looked at Masamune and realized all the sockets were empty. Checking his pack, he found that all the Materia he'd spent decades developing were gone. Yuffie had robbed him blind. "...I've been robbed."
Yuffie Kisaragi would pay for this.