A/N: After reading, let me know if I missed something!
Epilogue: Cleansing
Two weeks had passed since the day the red flower had appeared on the Memorial, and Ed was pacing as he waited for Genesis to meet him. They had finished the array they needed and the Cetra had been alerted to the fact that they now had to leave their cavern. Actually, they had stepped out into the light for the first time about a week ago, and had been the talk of the world since then, even as they had voluntarily separated using the excuse that they had a rather large, new world to learn about. Most were already in place, and knew the necessary arrays so they would all be able to link them together to form the complete system.
How they would know when to cast was, very simply, a useful trait of the Cetra being able to talk with Minerva. The harder part was alerting those who weren't Cetra or so minimally Cetra they couldn't hear her anymore. Lady Shinra had a plan for that, since most of those who would help activate the array system were either SOLDIERs or Turks, and for the first time, Ed actively acknowledged he trusted her to do her part. It had been a long time since he'd trusted someone the way he'd once trusted Al, or Winry, or even Teacher or Mustang.
Somehow, having that ability to trust again lifted a weight off him.
Of course, that didn't help him figure out how to deal with a sudden, rather bold kiss from Tseng, an action which still made him blush days later, and everyone else was just chuckling about it rather than doing anything. Kariya had pointedly asked what they were supposed to do about something which had to be Ed's decision, and because he had no answer, the blond was left floundering. He had no idea what he wanted to do about the interest the Wutain had shown, so had only been able to say it would take him a long time to decide, and to overcome past horrific memories. To his surprise, Tseng informed him he'd never expected a quick reply, but the sooner Ed was aware, the sooner he would be able to make a decision. Until then, the Wutain would wait.
A knock at the door had him going to it to open it, and Genesis was outside, looking far more bright-eyed than he had for the last few weeks, since the attack. "You're looking better," he commented as he let the man in.
Genesis gave a small chuckle and offered, "Well, I had Scarlet to help work me through it, and Angeal—and shockingly, even Sephiroth."
"What did you decide?" the blond asked curiously.
"What kept catching me up was that he was only thirteen. To me, that's a child. Then Sephiroth told me that was stupid because a person can become a monster at any age, and even if I'd waited until he was officially fourteen—nothing would have changed. That was when I realized he was right. Nero had made his choice, made it even before Deepground was let out into the world at large, and his age never actually mattered. By that definition, he wasn't really a boy, or a man, or even a monster. He was just a very legitimate threat which needed to be removed or there would very soon be no world for us to live on, or to save," Genesis explained.
Nodding, Ed agreed, "I haven't seen an exception, so yes, that's valid."
The SOLDIER's brow quirked and he asked, "And how are you doing now that you're living alone?"
Elicia chose that moment to jump onto the table and protest, "He's not alone! I'm here, too!"
Ed smiled fondly as Genesis chuckled, then said, "Yes, Elicia, you're here. But, you're not a human, and having humans around is different from just having a furry little companion."
"I'm fine, actually," Ed told him, lifting his shoulders in a shrug. "I had thought it would be harder to start standing on my own, but I guess...I'm really starting to believe I'll be okay this time, and it was more...freeing than frightening to move into my own apartment. Which worked out well so Yufi and Shelke could appropriate my old one next to Kariya's, even if that annoyed both Kariya and Shalua."
Genesis laughed out-right at that and agreed, "I heard about that from Kariya. I had to laugh at the girls taking over there, but hey—at least it gives them their own space so they don't drive him crazy."
"I sort of think he prefers the 'being driven crazy' part," Ed answered, chuckling.
After giving another laugh, the red haired man said, "Okay, so, my place and yours are actually the same place, just a few meters apart because we're anchoring the whole bloody thing." Ed nodded, so the Commander went on, "And we need to be there within the hour, meaning we should probably leave and make sure we have actual clear space to work with while we cast."
Blinking, the blond agreed, "That's a good point, and we probably should. The rest is in Minerva's and Lady Shinra's hands."
"That's about it," Genesis agreed. "So, let's head out."
"What about me?" Elicia asked with one ear down in a way Ed had learned to associate with a pout due to it not moving at all.
"You'll have to stay here for now, Elicia. Don't worry, we'll be back soon," the blond told her, giving her head an affectionate pat.
"Be careful!" she called after them as they headed to the balcony and stepped out onto it to call out their wings.
To Elicia's 'farewell', they took to the air, flying out over the Wastes in the general direction of Kalm. However, they were going to have to stay in the Wastes and turn south to take them a bit closer to the mountains. It was easy enough to find the location—a light in red had been put there to guide them to it. Not long after, they'd taken care of a few monsters nearby and checked the site for their actual locations. Once established, they still had a bit of free time, so did one more cursory check for nearby monsters, finding only one which was passing alongside the border of the area they'd marked off.
Leaving it be, they returned to their places and closed their eyes to focus on the arrays they would need, arrays the two had spent days' worth of time memorizing. It was just waiting for Minerva now. And as soon as Ed heard her tell him it was time, he opened his eyes and called out, "Now!"
Both of them activated the arrays, and watched in awe as a massive one lit under them, then as more and more arrays sprang up, creating a glow no one could ignore.
The shock came when the light crossed through Midgar—and sent pyreflies flying in all directions.
What?
FoWD
Minerva hummed gently to herself, ignoring the pain caused by the Reactors as she watched her little children activate the cleansing arrays. They had worked so hard to make sure they were perfect, and to be sure everyone could be in place. She could only alert so many of them, however, so had needed to rely on the Champion of Allpaths to do the rest in her stead. The woman had proven a capable leader and guide, and Minerva very much appreciated her survival in some of these dimensions.
So, when the appointed time came, she alerted her little children in the large 'city', then alerted the others of her people, the Cetra. Her Ancient Sentinel and her Judge reacted first, followed quickly by the other Cetra, then after a few moments (she hoped the passage of time on her planet had been the same as those few moments), the various Sentinels had joined them. It was enough, and the entire series of arrays had activated properly.
Once she was certain of that, she turned her gaze outward to observe the results, knowing this would be a hard blow for all her little children, the survivors especially.
First, she noticed Zirconaide's shards dissipate, then felt the remaining Jeh-nova Crystals similarly dissolving in their current locations. Most of those were in oceans, but some had been in places she was relieved to remove them from. Those last anchors being removed was the last thing she had required before speaking with her Beloved Child and the Dynamism. As they had always agreed previously to take the infant Jeh-nova, she had no fear they would refuse, though always gave them the option. If they did ever refuse, she would also honor it.
Then, her gaze turned to the people who were reduced to pyreflies. Some further Wutains. Some remaining members of various terrorist groups. All of the men in that location her Ancient Sentinel had told her was called Corneo's Mansion. Many scattered men, and some women, from all over the world who had a tendency to cause harm to others. A few more members of Deepground, and a few in SOLDIER. The only Turk who had been in danger of possibly being purged had already died, and the others who had been in such danger had realized their error and corrected it. Some in every part of Shinra, for that matter.
What surprised her more was who survived. Many good people had been lost this time, prior to the cleansing, but this was also the first time where certain people had survived such a cleansing. The scientist her Ancient Sentinel called Hojo. The engineer her Ancient Sentinel knew as Scarlet. The Crimson Warrior from the deep place. While they had on rare occasions been less negative and more helpful, a cleansing such as she had just had performed would have still eliminated them. This time, it did not.
Minerva suddenly had to smile and send out a wave of caring and hope to all of her little children, to let them know somehow that they would be able to change, and to live, and to grow into the wonderful beings she knew they could be.
Now, in this dimension, she was sure it would happen, and she wanted to see it do so. She was so glad her Champion of Allpaths had survived, and had helped her Ancient Sentinel heal. Now, he would have a chance to rejuvenate for future dimensions, and her world this time would have a chance to see a better future.
She had never been more happy.
Despite the losses early on, and at the very end, everything had turned out well. It would not be long before she would also be able to heal—her Champion of Allpaths and the Prodigal Son of the Star-Travelers had already seen to the start of those changes.
Time. That was all they needed now, and she loved them all so dearly for these moments when they realized and worked to fix those errors.
They had once again earned peace, and the future.
AND THAT'S ALL SHE WROTE!
For the record, though, if I had taken this 1000 years into the future, it would have come out very similar to the Salvation's Hands epilogue (just without the Felicia/Zironaide merging, which would have meant I'd have probably done it with Deneh and/or Nanaki joining Vincent), so I'd rather not bore people with a repeat. That's why I decided to use this as the epilogue instead. For anyone who hasn't read SH yet or wants to re-read that epilogue to finish up this story, feel free. Otherwise, here's where this particular branch of the CA series ends.
Questions, comments, suggestions, offers, whatever, feel free to send them to me, but I make no promises on adding any more to this already massive branch of CA (98 chapters + the Epilogue!). I'd have to get a whole lot of requests to create anything further based on this particular Dimensions line.
If anyone decides to write a fic of this or some sort of spin-off, please let me know so I can read it, too!
Okay, completely done now!
