'Hey, Are you okay?'
It was the day before their great mission, the mission that was going to lead them to the dephts of the forest and Claire Farron was feeling more anxious than ever.
No matter how much she´d been looking forward to dispatch, with some of her pregnancy cramps kicking in again full force she wasn´t feeling much like going to the woods or anywhere else whatsoever.
She had been standing in front of the mirror in the guardian corps´ women´s locker room, and she had been looking at her belly again, considering whether or not she should take out her belly button piercing. With her abdomen growing like that, soon she would have to remove it anyway.
One of her hands unconsciously wandering down to the tiny bulge, she caught herself softly caressing her belly, caught herself wondering whether going on that mission was really the very best idea, caught herself worrying about the baby´s wellbeing. It´s safety really.
Maybe she should just say she was feeling ill. Should say she wasn´t up to it.
Considering her behavior those last few weeks surely none of the others would think it a big deal.
But no. No matter the number of babies growing in her womb, Lightning couldn´t just leave her comrades with a task like that, couldn´t leave him.
It was dangerous. She knew that. Was aware. And they relied on her. Needed her. Needed her abilities. She was aware of that too.
She was one of the best of them. One of the best warriors in existence, second only to Sephiroth and she wasn't even sure of that. Maybe she was better, or at least equal. They had never bothered to find out.
She couldn't just let down her comrades. Not in a situation like that. Coldn't have lived with that choice even if she wanted.
No there was no way that she would chicken out on them. Not like this.
She had been about to take out her piercing when suddenly Fang´s voice had rung out from somewhere behind her.
Shit... How come she hadn´t heard her enter?
'Hey are you okay?' the intruder asked in that fake caring voice of her´s Lightning had come to hate so much.
'Yes... Yes! I am fine!' she lied. Quickly pulling down the shirt of her uniform to hide her abdomen, the pink haired warrior put some effort into crafting her features into a marble mask before brushing off a few stray tears, she turned around to face Fang.
'I... I thought I heard a sob.' the annoying woman said as giving her a look of sympathy, the brunette approached her carefully.
That silly cow...
Who did she think she was?
Why couldn´t she just leave her alone?
It was her who had brought her into that mess in the first place, wasn´t she?
Well, part of the mess at least.
'Are you sure you are okay?' Oerba Yun Fang asked again, sounding much more concerned this time.
It made Lightning look up and stare dead into her eyes.
Shit. Had the woman noticed? The last thing Lightning needed now was for the stupid cow to uncover her dirty secret.
'Yeah. Sure. Just getting ready for the mission.' Lightning replied instantly before quickly brushing past the other, she made to pack her things.
'You're pregnant.' the brunette woman stated matter of factly.
There. It was no use.
'You should not go.'
It made Lightning freeze midaction.
Why. Why did the fates have to be so cruel on her?
Turning around carefully she made to look the woman in the eye once more.
Would Fang tell on her? Lightning wasn't sure. She had always tried to impress Sephiroth, had been hanging at the hem of his cloak all the time since her arrival. Surely she would leap at an opportunity like this in no time. And Lightning and her hadn't exactly been on best terms ever since she had arrived either. No there was no reason for Oerba Yun Fang to keep her secret. None at all.
And still...
'They need me.' Lightning said somewhat pleadingly, unable to keep another tear from escaping the fort of her eyelids.
It was only a second later that she collapsed on the bench behind her in a mess of shaking sobs.
All the fissures in her irrected walls weer cracking open, the damns breaking.
There was no way for her to hold herself together.
And in front of Fang too...
Oh, what a mess.
'Hey... It's okay...' Fang cood sympathetically as unexpectedly she plopped down somewhere next to her.
'No, it's not! ' Lightning exploded out of nowhere.
The woman next to her, she didn't even flinch.
The whole situation it was ridiculous.
Fang had been flirting non stop with Sephiroth. Had been undressing him with her eyes everytime they met, had wasted no opportunity to talk to him, to touch him even, still, suddenly she was here, strong comforting arms coming up around her, hugging her, soothing her.
Claire Farron couldn't help but relax into them.
All those tears, those worries, those secrets, that pain, pent up in her so long, suddenly she couldn't help it. She had to release them.
'It's a nightmare really.' the pink haired warrior sobbed uncontrollably. 'I don't know what to do.'
It was true.
She had no clue what to do at all, no plan, no idea, how to get out of this mess or what to do next.
Telling Fang all that, it was only the latest addition to a long sequence of endless fails she had commited in the past few weeks.
Suddenly it didn't even matter anymore.
'Well... You should take a break from dangerous missions as a starter.' the woman beside her suggested with a kind small smile.
'I can't.' Lightning answered truthfully.
'They need me. That thing in the woods... Without me they are screwed.'
Fang answered by stroking her back encouragingly, kept looking at the pink haired woman pensively.
'Is it his?' she finally dared to ask.
Lightning gave a tiny nod.
Of course it was his. Who else would it be?
'He loves you, you know.' Oerba Yun Fang said unexpectedly.
It made Lightning look up at her.
Made her slowly shake her head.
'He might have loved me once. I... I destroyed everything.' she muttered somewhat regrettingly.
The brunette woman beside her, she only furrowed her forhead.
'You really do believe that, do you?' she asked somewhat doubtfully.
It made Claire Farron look away again.
'Real love doens't break that easily.' Fang reassured her.
'He still loves you, sweet heart.' she added reassuringly.
It made Lightning's heart beat faster.
'He told you that?' she managed after a few moments of bated breath.
Fang only gave a knowing smile and a tiny confirmative nod.
'He cried.' she disclosed.
It made Claire Farrons eyebrows ride up all the way onto her forehead.
It was right then that the woman to her side got up and brushed out her sari.
'Don't worry. I will keep your secret.' she said as she made over to the door. 'But you have to talk to him.'
'I will.' Claire Farron promised.
'Good luck on that mission.' the other wished her with a sectretive wink.
It made Lightning give a tiny hopeful smile.
'Oh! And Fang!' she piped up just as the woman reached the door.
'Thank you.'
It made the brunette woman return her little smile.
'You're welcome.'
They´d been scouring the woods for two days without so much as a trace of a monster.
It was weird.
Just a few days ago Bodhum seemed to be bursting with them and now... Now suddenly they were nowhere to be seen.
And there wasn´t any wildlife either.
The woods that had been stuffed with rabbits and birds and deer when Lightning had been a child were oddly deserted now. There didn´t seem a living thing around for miles. But in it´s stead there was the eerie feeling of being watched, a creepy presence that made the pink haired first class´ skin crawl and her hair stand on end.
Yes. There was something in those woods. Something monstrous. She could sense it.
And she knew he sensed it too.
Sending furtive glances into the general´s direction now and then, Lightning found the silver haired first class deeply lost in thought.
Yes. He could sense it too.
She was sure of it.
And whatever it was, it made the silver haired general nervous. Very nervous. That much she sensed too.
The thought of it was creeping her out to no end.
Never had she seen the legendary war hero so uncertain, so insecure.
It was affecting the rest of the group too.
Their leader´s lack of confidence was leaping onto the others as well. They were sitting quietly around their campfires by night, sleeping bags huddled close together despite the damp heat of Bodhum´s all year summer nights.
There was no relaxed lounging, no jolly joking and no merry banter.
Everyones´ expresions were grave, faces turned towards the forest in constant vigilance. And Lightning was thankful for the general sleeping so close to her, close enough for her to hear him breathe, thankful to know he was there in case they were attacked. And maybe for a few other reasons too. Not the least of them being that the unruly beast in her womb seemed to sense his presence, miraculously stopped bothering her whenever he seemed close.
Still. The silver haired man´s presence did nothing to soothe her nerves. Nothing to diminish that hideous sense of foreboding she was carrying around in the pit of her stomach.
Whatever it was that was hiding out there in those forests, Lightning wasn´t sure she wanted to face it. And she had a feeling General Sephiroth Crescent felt exactly the same way.
It was the climax of the fourth day that they found some tracks.
Huge clawshaped prints, dented deep into the ground.
Whatever had left them had to be bigger than Lightning had imagined. And more importantly, it wasn´t alone.
There were two sets of prints to be exact.
Whatever they were, the beasts had appearantly met in that clearing and then parted ways again. One headed south, one headed north.
'Those tracks are leading straight upcountry.' Angeal pointed out, motioning towards the ones leading south.
'There are lots of tiny villages there. We should follow this one and keep it from doing more harm.' the burly first class stated matter-of-factly.
His combat boots buried ankle deep in mud, he carried his backpack in an upright posture. Only the sweat on his brow and the dark patches on his uniform betrayed the fact that he was exhausted. They all were. Even Sephiroth. Lightning was aware of that. And she didn't like it. Still. The world would sooner go up in flames than the silver haired first class would admit such a fact.
'Those are leading deeper into the forest.' the general observed somewhat pensively, studying the prints leading north.
Yes. That was what he had come for. To find the source of all this nonesense. To eradicate this problem from the roots. Not to hunt another monster running loose.
'They might lead us to the cause of all of this.' he added as an explanation.
Oh, they would. He was sure of it.
All the others only stared at him.
'But all those people... They are far more important, aren´t they?' Zack Fair piped up from somewhere behind.
There was worry, horror really, etched into his features.
To the pup the lives of civilians were clearly more important than anything that could be waiting for them at the heart of the forest. No matter what it was.
Zack Fair was naive. Had always been. It was his biggest weakness. One the silver haired general had never had.
Sure. Sephiroth did not exactly like it either. The thought of letting the second of those beasts run loose, wreaking havoc on those villages. But still. There were more pressing issues than that at the very moment.
Those monsters, they had come from somewhere. Their appearance was not a natural occurance. No, not all. That was as about as likely as Cloud Strife growing a proper spine.
The origin of their degenerations had to be investigated, had to be brought under control. Or more and more monsters would come, no matter how many they slayed.
And there was sothing else of course... That mysterious source of mako... It had to be somewhere close too.
If only he could get his hands on it...
'Whatever they are, we shouldn´t face them on our own. We don´t know what we´re dealing with.' Genesis Rhapsodos put in. 'We should send for reinforcements...'
Yes. It was typical for the redhead to go all cold feet again. Sephiroth hadn´t had anticipated any better from him anyway. He was prepared.
'No! Those tracks are the only clue we´ve found in days! If we let this opportuniy pass, we might not be able to pick up on any hints for days!' he swiftly cut in.
No way was he going to let those things get away. And no way was he going to pull any more people into this. People from the village. Civilians. Innocents. Fang.
No way.
This time there was no cavalry.
'We should follow the one headed towards those towns. People are relying on us!' Zack fair sounded slightly outraged.
It was the first time ever he had spoken up against his leader.
'I mean that´s exactly what we´re here for. To ensure people´s safety. Right?'
The silver haired general simply shook his head.
'More and more monsters will come, Zack. Maybe more than we can handle. The incident from last week, that was only the beginning. If we can´t grab this by the roots then, ...'
'Well... Sephiroth has a point there.' Genesis Rhapsodos suddenly said, voice melodious as always.
It made the rest of them stare at the redhead crazily. It was probably the first time he had agreed with the first class general. Like ever.
Angeal Hewley gave a long drawn sigh.
'No guys! We simply cannot do that! You want us to follow that thing into the forest and what? Let all those people die?!' Zack´s voice pierced the silence of the woods like a bloodcurdling scream.
It made the red haired first class cringe.
'We split up.' Claire Farron suddenly said out of nowhere.
It was her first contribution to that damned discussion and it was the only thing that did make sense.
This way Sephiroth could track that beast down to it´s lair and Zack and Angeal could save their innocents. A win win for everyone. Except Genesis maybe.
Well... He didn't really seem able to make up his mind anyway.
'Yeah, why not. Zack, Angeal and I take the one heading south. You and Lightning follow the tracks north.' the ginger quickly made up plans.
There was a moment of silence where the general´s eyes met his female comrade´s.
Mako green on icy blue.
Just a moment though. A tiny single second.
'No. Lightning goes with Zack and Angeal. You and I go north.' the silver haired general told them decidedly.
Lightning threw the man in front of her an accusing stare. But the general wasn´t looking at her anymore. He was sharing knowing glances with Angeal.
Of course. The pink haired female understood.
He wanted her to go with them to protect them.
Lightning didn´t disagree. Whatever it was that was hiding in there was dangerous, was strong, and he couldn´t leave the others on their own. But still. She didn´t feel comfortable leaving him either.
Maybe suggesting splitting up hadn´t been the best of ideas after all...
The others busy rummaging in their bags and splitting their ressources, Claire Farron slowly walked up to the first class general. He had come to a halt a few paces away, was staring into the thickets of the forest, gloved hands fingering Masamune´s hilt.
He wasn´t at all like the cool composed man Lightning did remember.
'Sephiroth. Wait. I... What happened... What I did... I... I´m sorry.'
She didn´t know where that had come from. She´d been meaning to say something else entirely, something about the monsters and Zack and Angeal, but the words seemed to bubble out of her nevertheless.
It wasn´t exactly the perfect place nor the time to do so, but suddenly she had the overwhelming urge to set things straight.
It was with a curious and somewhat startled look in his eyes that the silver haired general turned to look at her.
'I didn´t know what I was doing... I... I feel so ashamed of myself... I... I really need to talk to you.'
Her blue eyes pleading, the tall lean first class only stared at her.
Yes, they definitely needed to talk. He was aware. He´d been trying to do exactly that for what? Weeks? Months? But somehow she´d never let him. Why did she have to bring it up now?
Now, where there was no place, no time for this.
'Later. We´ll talk about it later.' the silver haired man promised, as quickly he turned away and picked up his stuff.
Claire Farron gave a long drawn sigh.
Was he punishing her for what she´d done when he´d visited her in her parent´s beach house?
Was he punishing her for running away?
Well... He seemed to be the one doing the running now.
The silver haired man making himself busy with preparing for the mission, Lightning turned to go back to Zack and Angeal when suddenly he caught her by her upper arm.
'I´ll catch up with you as soon as I can. Promise.' the silver haired first class said, his eyes sincere.
'I´ll find you.'
She knew he was referring to their Jenova connection again. That weird bond that allowed them to sense each others presence, that somehow eventually kept pulling them back together, kept pulling her back to him. It was his only means of locating her there in the forest once they would split up.
The thought of it made the pink haired female shiver.
It was creepy. Really was. But efficient. In it´s own way.
'Keep them safe.'
It was the last thing that he said before he turned away again. His eyes darting back to Zack and Angeal, Lightning gave a determined nod.
She would protect them with her life. She really would.
It was a day´s walk later that Lightning, Zack and Angeal set up camp near a tiny burbling creek. There was no trace of the beast they were following except the occassional clawprints and some snapped branches and unearthed bushes.
Still, they were catching up.
Lightning was sure of it.
The eerie feeling of being watched, of something lurking in those densly thickets, seeming to intensify with every step she took, it was almost as if she could feel it. Feel the beast ahead of them. Feel it getting closer.
It was weird really. And quite inexplicable too. But the feeling was too strong for it to be a fluke. It was almost as if part of her wanted her to find it, couldn´t wait to reach it in fact, was pulling her closer and closer, towards it. The deadly monster, hiding in the thickets.
Could the others feel that too? Lightning could only wonder.
There was water from the creek for dinner and a few stale crackers and dried meat. The last remnants of the rations they had brought from home, with not a single hint of a rabbit or bird or deer showing ever since they had entered the forest, this was really all that they had.
'I wonder whether the others found anything...' Zack Fair murmured over the neck of his almost empty bottle.
Claire and Angeal had taken turns staring into the fire and the usually cheery first class didn´t take well to the silence that engulfed the group ever since setting foot into that godforsaken forest.
Looking up at their comrade briefly, Angeal Hewley only shrugged his shoulders.
'We can´t be far from those villages anymore, Zack.' Lightning quickly pointed out. She hated seeing her comrade in such a gloomy mood.
'I´m sure we´re catching up on it.'
'What if we are too late?' her dark haired comrade asked, puppy eyes suddenly huge with worry.
'We won´t.' Angeal cut in decidedly.
'Yes. We won´t.' Lightning echoed. But only halfheartedly so.
Part of her wasn´t sure she wanted to arrive in time. But all the other parts were sure they would.
Claire Farron suspicions weren´t disappointed. They found the beast early the next day. Or rather it found them. The others lagging a little bit behind, pushing through an especially dense part of the thicket, the pink haired female emerged into a sunlit clearing already occupied.
It was a sight to behold.
Part three headed eagle, part giant scaly cat, the huge bulky beast studied her through three sets of huge red slitted eyes. Staring down three strangely curved horny beaks it had it´s five leathery wings spread wide, six legs pawing nervously, forked tail leashing.
Despite the three heads, Lightning found it didn´t look monstrous at all.
There was in fact a strange beauty radiating from it, a serene gracefulness, that made her want to study it, observe it, made her want to shed her sword.
That thing was huge, no doubt, and surely deadly. Those bladelike claws. Those pointed beaks. But still, there was a strange feeling of familiarity coming from it. It made the pink haired warrior feel as if she knew that she was facing a deadly monster ready to pull her apart, but at the same time had found a long lost friend.
It was a weird feeling. Lightning couldn´t quite place it.
What was going on with her?
The giant monster checking her out with interest, Claire Farron found it didn´t look ready to pounce, ready to attack her either.
Could it be the creature wasn´t ill-natured after all?
That maybe it wasn't a deadly killer machine like those dogsters but more like the poor thankful stray that curled happily up at your feet for a few bites to eat and a little patting behind the ears. Just ugly. And huge. And crazily deformed.
Her feet moving as if on their own accord, despite every logical thought in her head telling her to back away, to turn and bolt, to at least take out Blaze Edge and start hacking away, the pink head female found herself approaching. One step after the other. Until she was standing right in front of it.
The creature didn´t budge. Didn´t attack, pounce or rear up as she would have expected it to do. It simply looked at her. Looked at her with big red slitted knowing eyes.
The beast infront her slowly leaning down to meet her halfway, the pink haired woman found herself approaching further, her body somehow caught on autopilot, she only watched in horror as her hand came up to touch one of those deadly beaks.
It happened in a matter of moments.
Her surroundings, her thoughts, her self, suddenly reduced to a single tiny mass pushed away to the very far back of her mind, suddenly insignificant and small, Claire Farron felt the beast inside her stirr, felt it reaching out for it. The monstrousity that stood before her.
Her body gave a painful jolt.
Her hand burned like frozen fire.
And her vision went blank. Her mind numb.
The connection tingled through her fingers down her spine to the core of her very being. And then thay came.
Moments.
Blurs and flashes.
Pictures in her head.
Glass tubes.
Scalpels.
Needles.
Tanks.
Lightning felt the beast inside her roar, felt it clawing it´s way out of her.
High pitched laughter.
Testtubes.
Blood.
Dogsters and their friends. Monsters and abominations more satanic than Claire Farron could ever have imagined.
The beast inside her twisted, pushed and tore.
Stairs.
An eerie bluish sheen.
More tubes.
A dais.
A tank on a dais.
And then.
Her.
Lightning felt the beast inside her still.
There she was.
A grey skinned woman with a hole in her abdomen where a large ugly tube fed into her body. A stub of a wing protruding from her back, the woman only hung there, her long silver hair floating peacefully in the tank´s emulsions.
Lightning had never seen her before. Never heard a description, knew nothing of her except her name. And still. She knew exactly who she was. Knew it as certain as she knew she shared parts of her body.
Jenova.
It was all of a sudden that the woman´s lifeless body gave a jolt. That her hand came up to touch the glass and her scary red eye opened to take in her surroundings. To stare straight at her.
'NO!'
Feeling as though hit by an electric current, Claire Farron pulled away.
What the fuck had just happened?! What the fuck had she just seen?!
The wicked creature in front her staring at her knowingly, expectingly, Lightning felt her body shiver, felt cold sweat running down her back.
No. It couldn´t be. Or could it?
Looking up at the creature with curious blue eyes, Lightning extended her hand once more to touch the horny beak.
'J...Jenova?!' the words came out only reluctantly. Still. Lightning knew the answer before she would receive it.
The beast in front her screamed.
The creature suddenly rearing up on it´s hind legs, the pink haired female had no time to recover, to realize what was going on, before she felt herself roughly pushed to the side, heard Zack emit a battle cry, saw Angeal draw the buster sword from the corner of her eyes.
Her comrades´ attack, the monster´s counter strike, it all reached her through a muffled veil.
For a few moments she was frozen, shocked. Couldn´t move. Couldn´t think. Couldn't anything at all.
For a few moments she only stood and watched as the battle infront of her enfolded in slow motion.
And she saw it.
Saw the turn events would take.
Saw the strike aimed at Ageal the burly first class wouldn´t be able to parry, the vicious trample attack Zack wouldn´t be able to dodge.
Saw it before it even happened. As if she could read the creature´s mind. As if she was inside the creature's head. As if she somehow was the creature alltogether.
And suddenly she was there.
Blaze Edge out and ready to hack away, to stab, to slash, to kill, what had to have been part of her from the beginning.
There had been a promise. A promise she had made to Sephiroth. Had made to herself.
She would keep Angeal and Zack safe. Keep them safe no matter what.
Theres was nothing Angeal and Zack could have done.
The beast Lightning had identified as Jenova spawn moved violently and with incredible speed.
The blows of it´s paws came swiftly and with a force none of them had ever seen, none of them could have ever dreamed to match. Pushing Zack and Angeal back towards the thicket, the pink haired first class spent a good fifteen minutes just dodging attacks. And dodging was really all she could do.
Even with her genetically enhanced abilities she was barely up to it. It was only the lightness of her body, the agility of her limbs, the force behind her every stroke, the extraordinary strength inside her muscles bestowed upon her by the head of the science department of Shin-Ra that made her get out of the fight alive, if only even barely so.
She had faced deadly monsters during her carreer in SOLDIER. True. Vajradhara and Behemoths and even that weapon thing. Still. They´d just been monsters. Natural beings trained to oppose her. They might have been bigger, might have been stronger than her. But somehow she´d still been superior. Had been a step above them on the evolutionary ladder. But this. This was different. This time her opponent was not only stronger, bigger and faster than her. It was simply better. More advanced. Bred for the single reason to destroy her it seemed. And it almost succeeded too.
In the end she didn´t know how she´d done it. The thing that shared her cell abnormality finally coming down with a rumble that shook the entire forest, Lightning staggered towards her comrades with her muscles protesting in pain and her vision blurry.
It was only when she collapsed to her knees, the two of her comrades rushing towards her immediately, that she realized she was severely injured.
'Lightning!' Zack Fair´s body crashing into her side as he let his body drop down beside her, Claire Farron gave an agonized grunt. She didn´t even notice the pup taking out his healing materia, only marginally felt the touch of the device's smoot surface on her skin at his futile attempts at using it at her various injuries.
With blood oozing out of her body in various places and at least two of her rips stabbing at her lungs with every tiny breath she took, the pink haired female faintly remembered the beach of Costa del Sol.
It was funny how that time Sephiroth had been with her and how he´d been no use. Zack or Angeal could have helped her so much better back then than he had. And now that he was the only one who could have helped her, he was nowhere to be reached.
'Zack. Zack! Leave it, it is no use.' Angeal Hewley spoke from somewhere behind her.
Somehow her cheek had come to rest in the burly first class´s palm. She hadn´t even realized.
Kneeling down to inspect the extend of her injuries, the bigger man leaned down to carefully unbutton her blood drenched guardian corps uniform.
'What?! But! Why!?' Zack´s voice sounded panicked, sounded close to tears.
His former trainer didn´t answer. Didn´t say a word. Instead he continued to undress her.
Lightning felt the coarseness of his fingertips brush against her side as the experienced first class carefully exposed her skin.
It was an audible gasp from his part that told her she was screwed.
'Zack! Get some water from that creek! Will you?!' Angeal ordered the pup away before pulling off his shirt, he began slicing the fabric into lenghty strips.
'Don´t worry. We will stitch you up the classic way. That has to do until we reach him. You will be fine.' the stout built man tried to comfort her.
Lightning wasn´t fooled.
She was aware of the pool of blood that was building underneath her, aware of the giant gash there in her side, the one in her leg, the parts of broken ribs stabbing at her lungs, ready to tear her apart if she dared to move too much, making it almost impossible for her to even take a proper breath. There was no way she would survive this. Not without Sephiroth´s help. Not if she wouldn´t get it fast.
If only she had ever learned to heal herself like he could...
'Please... Please don´t tell Zack...' the pink haired female choked out between shallow gasps of air.
It was the last thing that she managed to think before the world around her spun into darkness.
It was in utter haste and the most agitated Genesis had ever seen him, that General Sephiroth Crescent cut his way through the waist high thicket, using Masamune to cut them a path south.
The redhead followed silently, obediently. Never had the silver haired first class seemed so nervous, seemed so what? Scared? Yes. He seemed scared shitless. And his ginger comrade couldn´t really blame him.
The thing they had encountered in the woods early that day had been nothing to joke about. It had been only with combined forces and extensive use of Genesis´ assortment of fire materias that they had made it out of that battle alive.
That encounter of the morning, it had scared the silver haired general shitless indeed.
The carcass of the cursed creature hadn´t had the time to hit the ground that he had already turned on his heels and hurried back the direction they had come from.
He was exhausted. True. There was sweat running down his forehead, down his chest, down his back, mingling with blood from the wounds he hadn´t had time nor strength to heal. He couldn´t remember the last time he´d felt this exhausted. It had probably been that horrible mission in that bunker where he´d fought against that mechanical materia guard all those years ago.
The truth was he was weak. Had become weaker than he could ever have imagined. Weaker than he would have thought. Withouth Genesis´ materia to back him up he would have been done for. That was for sure.
Yes.
The truth was he needed a mako shot. For real.
No matter how he put it he simply couldn´t deny it.
He was strong. Fast. Experienced. Much more so than any normal human being. But it had been the mako that had kept his performance at a peak. That was a truth he couldn´t deny now either.
When was the last time he had received a mako shot again?
Suddenly it did seem years.
It had to have been months... The night of meteor. That had been it.
Never had he gone so long without one. Never would he have dreamed he would.
But when exactly had he gotton so weak?
He honestly didn´t know. Could not remember.
Leaving Shin-Ra and the war, leaving SOLDIER behind and settling into the peaceful village of Bodhum with dogsters being the worst of enemies he´d fought for weeks, the silver haired first class hadn´t even noticed the severety of the decline of his abilities.
The truth was the battle that morning had worn him out, had pushed him to his limits and a giant bit further and it was only his fear now that was keeping him on his feet, was the thought of Lightning, Zack and Angeal that kept his legs moving his tired body forward.
Yes. What he had encountered there in those woods that morning had scared him. Had scared him more than anything else he´d ever seen and the only thing that scared him more was the thought of Lightning facing that thing on her own. Because yes. Zack and Angeal wouldn´t be much help. That was a fact. Angeal was a pretty decent healer and Zack might have been useful in a normal battle but none of them had a decent set of materia to fight with and none of them had the strength, speed and the stamina required for such battle.
No. Lightning was by herself. And it was that fact more than anything else that kept his body moving throught bushes and brambles, through mud and durt and thorns, the urge of his degenerated cells yearning to unite with her´s pulling him south, guiding him towards her with every step he took.
If only he could reach her in time.
If only he could find them before they´d had the time to track down their version of the beast.
If only he could make them turn around, make them regroup at Bodhum and gather the cavalry Genesis had been talking about from the beginning.
Yes, that was what he should have done from the beginning.
No matter what, he shouldn´t have let her go with Zack and Angeal, shouldn´t have sent her away.
Lightning...
If only she was going to be alright.
She would. Wouldn´t she?
True. She didn´t have Genesis with her. Didn´t have materia. But still. She was so much stronger than him. So much more advanced. And that was a fact too. What Hojo had done on her was a level above what had been done to him. Hojo had used the data he had gathered from him over years when he´d come up with the procedure he had used on Lightning and he´d included some nice little upgrades, Sephiroth was aware.
There was the fact that she never seemed to need a mako shot at all for a start and that was only scraping the surface, really.
Surely she was better equipped for the fight than he was. Maybe she´d be able to handle it all by herself. She´d had the best of teachers after all.
It was after sliding down a tiny slope that led straight into another set of thickets that suddenly the silver haired general stopped dead in his tracks so that his crimson clad comrade stumbled right into him.
'What the actual fuck?!'
Genesis´ voice echoed off the surrounding trees but General Sephiroth Crescent didn´t even hear.
He didn´t hear a thing in fact. Couldn´t breathe. Couldn´t feel his legs. His thorso. His arms.
The jenova connection that had steadily been leading him towards the others, towards her, was gone. Suddenly he couldn´t feel her anymore. Couldn´t feel a thing.
The heart in his chest seemed to stop beating all together. The blood in his veins seemed to turn to ice.
'LIGHTNING!'
It was the general´s voice this time that echoed off the trees and it was with her name on his lips that he broke into a run. Brambles and thorns and all forgotten.
Claire Farron found herself in a sea of light. A sea of blue-green light. Extending all around her. Over her. Through her.
There was no pain there in the sea of souls.
No worry.
No regrets.
Instead she felt light there.
Weightless.
Felt like floating.
And there were those voices.
Those soft inhuman bodyless voices. Whispering to her.
'Who are you?'
'What do you want here?'
'Go away.'
Feeling strangely out of place Lightning looked around, took in the light around her.
Was she dead? Was this what it felt like? Was she returning to the lifestream?
'You don´t belong here.'
'Go away!'
'You are none of us!'
Confused by those voices Lightning tried to move her legs, her arms, tried to move away from them really, but it was no use. She had no body in the sea of souls.
'What do you want here?' a strange voice asked again and suddenly the light took shape. A young pale woman materializing right infront of her.
It took her some time to realize it was herself. A younger version of herself really, staring back at her accusingly.
The Lightning from the past, she wore a torn SOLDIER first class uniform, drenched in blood.
'You shouldn´t be here! You are none of us! You don´t belong here!'
The other version of herself seemed to grow impatient fast.
There was blood pouring from gunshot wounds in her chest and belly and her pupils were still perfectly normal ovals.
'Who... Who are you?' The real Claire Farron asked her somewhat carefully.
The other gave an irratated snort.
'I am you of course. The real you. Or rather you are me. Or pretending to be at least. I am the real Lightning. The Lightning that died in Costa del Sol. You... You are barely a copy. An imposter! There is no place for you here!'
The lifestream version of her was becoming angry, Lightning could tell, but still she wasn´t getting what was going on, didn´t understand one thing.
'What are you talking about? I am the real Lightning...' she muttered somewhat confusedly.
The lifestream version only gave a laugh.
'You... You aren´t even human. You are just a body. A body taken over by something that has no right to wander Gaia in the first place. Least of all the lifestream.'
Claire Farron only stared.
'Go. Away.' The other woman adviced with a deadly stare.
'GO!'
'Cure... Cure... CURE!' Zack Fair´s cry reverberated from the trees surrounding the clearing but there were no birds to agitatedly take flight.
The forest was still empty. Silent. Dead. Just as it had been the day they´d entered.
Dead like his comrade was going to be if he couldn´t find a way to heal her.
Why had the stupid materia given up working?!
The dark haired first class didn´t understand.
He had cut his finger on purpose, twice, just trying to make sure, and healed it with cure just a second later.
Why wasn´t the materia working on her?!
Did it have somehing to do with the beast?!
Was there poison on those beaks, those claws, that rendered those wounds unsusceptible to materia?!
Then why wasn´t he able to mend her broken ribs either?! Those were internal injuries!
Zack Fair didn´t understand a thing.
'Don´t waste your strenght, Zack. It won´t do any good.' Angeal Hewley pointed out for what had to be the thousandth time.
The puppy eyed first class couldn´t hear it anymore.
'But why?! WHY?!'
Frustrated at the way events had taken, Zack Fair threw the glistening orb into the thickets.
Leaning down to dab his female comrade´s face with a cool wet cloth (which was really part of Angeal´s torn uniform) the young man cursed under his breath.
It had been a day since she´d been injured. A day she hadn´t even opened her eyes. Her wounds weren´t healing and fever was eating away at her. They were loosing her, Zack was aware. If only there were something he could do...
He had watched his former mentor take care of her wounds, clean them out with water from the creek and stitch them up with threads from their clothes to wrap them with pieces of their uniforms, had given the belt of his baggy soldier trousers for Angeal to turn into a tourniquet. And still. Still he knew it was no use.
'We have to get her back to the village Angeal! We should have tried that yesterday!'
'The village is a two days marche away at best, Zack. And in her current condition, I don´t think even lifting her would be a good idea.'
Yes. They hadn´t tried to move her. Had just left her where she had collapsed, had covered her with sleeping bags and blankets from their backpacks, but none of them had actually dared to lift her. As far as they could tell she had internal injuries and lifting her might have born risks none of them could have calculated.
'We can´t let her stay here either. Angeal. She´s dying.' The pup´s voice had gone uncharacteristically calm and Angeal could see fierce determination building in those usually soft blue eyes.
'I know.' The burly first class answered in a tired voice.
Yes. He knew. He knew quite well. But there was nothing he could do. There was no way they could get her back to the village alive and even if, he wasn´t sure people there would be able to help her.
If only...
'S... Sephiroth...' Their pink haired comrade´s voice made the both of them look up instantly.
It was nothing but the faintest whisper. Still, it was the first sign of life from her in almost twenty-four hours.
'Lightning!'
They were hunched over her crippled form in no time. Angeal Hewley cupping her pale hot cheeks, Zack Fair hopefully nudging her arm.
'Come on Lightning... Wake up...'
'Sephiroth...'
It was the only thing she said.
Her eyelids fluttering weakly, her lips moved only draggedly.
It was Angeal Hewley who mad to dab at her sweaty face this time.
'He´ll come. I know it. He´ll be here soon. Just hang in there a little longer... Okay? Just a little longer...'
Swallowing hard and letting out a long drawn sigh, the burly first class watched the woman in his arms go limb again, watched her eyelids shut and her chapped lips open loosedly.
'Water... We need to get some water into her...' He heard his comrade murmur, sensed him get up and make down to the river with tired hopeless steps.
If Sephiroth didn´t arrive soon they´d be shoveling her grave that time the next day. Angeal Hewley was sure.
It was late in the night and stars where shining down on them, illuminating the clearing with the monster carcass and bathing everyting down there in silvery lights.
Claire Farron hadn´t woken up again. Hadn´t said a single thing, hadn´t stirred, hadn't moved except for those horribly shallow drags of breath. They were painful to watch really.
Her fever had reached it´s all time high some hours ago and now her body felt eerily cold, felt lifeless.
If it weren´t for the tiny sporadic up and downs of her chest, the faint irregular pulse he felt at her neck from time to time, Angeal Hewley would have thought she was dead.
Fact was she was getting weaker and weaker. Fact was she was going to die. It was only a question of time. Hours. Maybe minutes.
Never before in his entire life had the burly built first class felt more helpless.
Twice her chest had stopped moving already, twice had Zack Fair given CPR, and it was with his eyes red from crying and his head hanging that the younger first class now sat beside his friend, lifeless hand clutched tightly in his own.
Angeal Hewley couldn´t bear to look at him. Look at her.
His eyes were set on the dark spot where the first rows of the trees surrounding the clearing gave way to a path, the path they had once come from what now felt a hundred years ago. The path leading north. And it was with his mind engaged in prayer that he listened hard for sounds, wished for the bushes to spill out the man they´d been waiting for all day. The man who might not come.
What would they do if Sephiroph wouldn´t arrive in time? Should they have tried to carry her to the village after all? Should they have tried to carry her north, towards him?
Angeal Hewley didn´t know. The only thing he knew was that they´d soon be burrying their comrade in the clearing next to the horrible beast that had brought them all that misery and he visibly shuddered at the thought of what they might find once they headed north to look for the others.
If that thing had almost managed to kill Lightning, what had it´s twin done to Genesis, to Sephiroth?
It was with his eyes swimming in tears, the dam of his lids ready to break any second that suddenly Angeal Hewley heard a voice. Heard a distant snapping of branches, cracking of dried leaves.
Hurried footsteps. Coming closer.
General Sephiroth Crescent broke through the last row of trees and thicket and into a clearing bathed in moonlight.
The jenova cell bond he´d thought he´d lost earlier that day, he had managed to pick it up again sometime in the afternoon, but only with difficulty. It had been only accidentally that he had realized it was still there, that he could still feel her, could still point out her direction, but only barely so. And it had gotten weaker and weaker as the day went on, so much that in the end he almost couldn´t feel it anymore, didn´t know whether he would be able to locate her at all. But there he was. Stepping into the moonlit clearing and feeling his tortured mind, his body, go numb.
He´d known something was off. Had already suspected what the sudden loss of the connection could have meant. But still. When he stepped into that clearing and saw the shadow of the beast with blaze edge still protruding from it´s head, Sephiroth knew something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
He´d taught her to always keep her weapon at her side, to always clear it of the juices in order for the blade to stay sharp, fine. He knew she´d never leave it like this. Never ever. Unless...
Realisation dawning on him, the silver haired man forced his tired muscles into a run once more.
'He´s coming Lightning. He´s coming. I can see him. Just hang in there a little longer... Just a tiny little longer...' Angeal Hewley pleaded with the unconscious woman next to him.
Holding her limp hand close to his chest, he had his eyes fixed on the tiny silver spot in the distance making it´s way up the clearing, making it´s way towards them.