Premonitions II: Crisis Core
Chapter 84: The Emerald Caves
The Emerald Cave began as a tunnel, and curved to the right. The green luster illuminated the cave, easing the passage through it for now. It was, indeed, a beautiful place, but nobody had time to admire it. Everyone had their mind on one thing, and one thing only.
"Everybody keep your guard up," Zack warned as they ventured around the curve. "Sephiroth should be close."
The tunnel then curved to the left.
All fourteen eyes were peeled for Sephiroth. There was nothing for him to hide behind; he could only be out in the open. Everyone focused all of their attention on the vanishing point on the horizon, waiting for him to appear. It seemed to be only a matter of time.
Zack was still committed to killing him, and he wondered how he should.
Should I beat him to death? he thought to himself. No, that's too risky. Sephiroth's no weakling. He'd put up a good fight.
The tunnel curved to the right again.
Decapitate him? his mind continued. No, that would be too quick. He needs to suffer.
Vincent had nearly has much anticipation as Zack had. Of course, he had different intentions. He also had different regrets; he he had spoken his mind when he had the opportunity, the entire situation might never had happened.
FLASHBACK...
Vincent Valentine stood in the small, dark room inside the Shinra Mansion in Nibelheim. Hojo was several feet away, sitting at a desk. He was the last person he had wanted to see, but, in this case, he needed to see him in hopes of achieving a peace of mind.
"Is it true?" Vincent asked.
He had heard the rumors. He had nearly vomited when he had first heard about them. The Lucrecia he had known and loved would never do such a thing.
Nobody he had known would do such a thing.
"Is what true?" Hojo replied in a sarcastic tone of voice.
Vincent knew the question would be less than welcome, but he could not care less.
He needed to know.
"That Lucrecia...that Dr. Crescent is to take part in this project?"
Hojo simply glared in his direction.
"It's true," Mrs. Hojo answered for him.
Vincent looked up to see her standing in the back of the room. The lighting was poor, and he could barely see her.
"Why are you so surpsied?" she continued as she approached him.
Her tone of voice seemed nearly as unfriendly as her husband's.
And he knew why; she had cheated on her fiancé with him on her wedding say. It was guilt.
"But using your own child for an experiment?!" Vincent questioned.
"I don't know what you're implying," Hojo cackled, "but both of us are scientists. We know what we are doing. You are the last person to have any work in this! Now, leave us at once, boy!"
The real Lucrecia would never allow it.
"But..." he objected.
He could not finish. He was at a complete loss.
"But what?" Lucrecia hissed.
The Lucrecia he had been assigned to protect; the sweet, gentle soul that he had known.
He did something to you, didn't he? Vincent thought.
"If you have something to say, say it!" she continued.
"Are you...are you sure this is what you really want?" Vincent asked.
Confront Hojo now, and God only knows what he'd do to you, Vincent realized.
"Am I sure?!" she snapped. "Am I sure?! If this only concerns me, then yes! I am sure!"
"Oh, I...I just..." Vincent stammered.
This isn't you, Lucrecia.
This isn't you at all.
...END FLASHBACK
The seven travelers continued down the tunnel, with their eyes still fixed on the horizon. Sephiroth had still not appeared over that horizon, but everyone remained alert. Every one of them had a weapon that, if used properly, could render him helpless without killing him. The problem, of course, was that not everyone would be content with rendering him helpless.
The tunnel turned yet another corner, and, to everyone's surprise, a chamber appeared in the distance.
Everyone stopped.
They all looked at each other.
They were all thinking the same thing.
"This could be it," Vincent said.
Zack drew his sword.
"Let's do this," he commanded.
Vincent drew his Death Penalty, intent on putting a bullet in each of Sephiroth's knee caps.
Barret cocked his gun-arm, with identical intentions.
Yuffie drew her Conformer.
The seven cautiously approached the chamber, slowly and carefully. When they reached it, Vincent carefully scanned the far corners that he could see. As soon as it was realized that they were clear, Yuffie and Barret quickly entered the chamber and spun around, each checking a remaining, near corner.
There was no sign of Sephiroth in the chamber.
"False alarm," Vincent sighed as he put the Death Penalty away.
The remaining four entered the chamber and, despite the lack of Sephiroth, they were all amazed at what they saw.
The walls in this chamber were the same as a regular cave, but that drew the least of their attention.
"Paintings?!" exclaimed Zack in surprise.
There were indeed paintings aligning the cave wall. They were colorful, and depicting scenes that seemed to be out of legend or a fantasy novel. Only one wall in the chamber had paintings, and they extended from one end of the chamber to the other.
"How many are in here?" Cait Sith asked in amazement.
"Seven," Red XIII answered as he scanned the wall from one end of the chamber to the other.
He noticed the the scenes in the paintings appeared more modern as they progressed to the right.
"Who painted these?" Jessie asked.
"God only knows," Zack replied. "One thing's for certain. Somebody's been here."
This was both exciting and troubling at the same time.
"What could they mean?" Yuffie asked.
"This looks like a history of our world," Vincent suggested.
Jessie scanned the first five paintings.
"Why do a lot of these paintings have crystals?" she asked.
"Dunno," Barret replied.
"I grew up hearing legends about crystals," Vincent added, "but I always took for granted that they were myths."
"Our recorded history isn't the best," Cait Sith pointed out. "There's a lot of gaps."
"It's a good thing Cid ain't here," Barret mentioned.
"Why?" Zack asked.
"Take a look at the fourth painting," Red XIII answered. "I guess he wasn't the first man in space after all. We've even been to the moon, it looks like!"
"Guys, look!" Yuffie exclaimed suddenly. "It's Meteor!"
The other six directed their attention to the final painting on the far right. It was indeed Meteor, complete with the Lifestream surrounding it.
"These paintings are recent," Cait Sith pointed out. "At least this one is."
"Could Sephiroth have painted these?" Jessie asked.
"He could have," Vincent replied. "Though I have no idea what would possess him to do so."
"In any event," Zack continued, "we can't stay here. If Sephiroth did paint these, he can't be too far off."
"Agreed," Yuffie added. "Art class always put me to sleep anyway."
The seven of them exited the chamber at the other end.
The emerald tunnel resumed, with the occasional left or right turn. All eyes were still focused on the horizon.
"How long is this tunnel?" Yuffie complained.
"Dunno," Barret replied. "Never been here."
One turn.
Then another.
"I wonder what's on the other side," Yuffie said out loud.
It was Zack who first saw the flash of gray hair over the horizon.
He immediately drew his sword.
Barret was the second to notice.
"It's him," he whispered.
"I suggest we charge," Vincent whispered.
"Charge?" Zack whispered back in surprise.
"There's one of him and seven of us," Vincent explained. "But if we approach him too slowly, he could turn and run."
Zack nodded.
"Okay then. On the count of three."
Vincent nodded back as he drew the Death Penalty.
"One."
Barret cocked his gun-arm.
"Two."
Zack gripped his buster sword.
"Three!"
All seven of them charged toward the gray hair over the horizon.
Zack aimed his sword; he would not stop until it pieced his body.
Vincent aimed his Death Penalty; he would wait until a non-vital part of him came into view.
Yuffie gripped her Conformer.
And then, she became the first to notice.
"Guys!" she called. "This isn't Sephiroth! It's an elephant's butt!"
"Not funny!" Barret snapped.
"Barret," Zack called as he saw what Yuffie had been referring to, "it is an elephant's butt!"
In a way, he was right. It was a creature's butt. The creature then turned around and glared. There was a trunk. There were tusks.
But it was not an elephant.
It was a mammoth, completely covered in gray hair.
"Oh, shit!" Barret exclaimed as he, and everyone else, skidded to a stop.
The mammoth kicked back its front left leg, and began to charge.
"Everyone, against the wall!" Vincent commanded.
Everyone stood back against the wall as far as they could.
The mammoth charged past them, and skidded to a stop.
"That was close," Jessie observed.
And then, the mammoth turned one hundred and eighty degrees.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" she exclaimed.
The mammoth charged again.
Everyone stood back against the wall like before.
Excepted for Zack, who stepped out into the mammoth's path.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" Barret exclaimed.
Zack stood in place as the mammoth drew closer. When the creature was two yards away, he knelt down to avoid the tusks it had been aiming at him. As the mammoth passed over him, Zack saw his chance, sprang up, and thrust his sword into the mammoth's chest.
The mammoth let out a hideous noise. Then it fell dead, causing the ground to shake.
"Jesus H. Christ!" Yuffie exclaimed. "What else is lurking down here?!"
Meanwhile, Jessie knelt down to inspect the mammoth. She was beyond fascinated, and could not pass up the opportunity.
And then, everyone heard a sound. And it was coming from the cave floor.
"I don't think this ground is stable!" Cait Sith exclaimed.
"I say we get the hell out of here!" Zack suggested.
Everyone turned to resume their trek through the tunnel.
And then, they heard the sound again.
This time, it was followed by a scream.
Jessie's scream.
Barret immediately spun around.
Jessie was there, but only her upper half was visible, surrounded by a gaping hole in the ground. The cave floor had collapsed under her. Her hands were still on the floor, but the surface was slippery; she was losing her grip quickly.
It appeared as if the hole was sucking her in.
"Shit!" she exclaimed.
"Jessie!" called Barret.
He ran over to her as fast as he could. He knelt down, and reached his hand out to her.
But he was too late.
The moment his hand stretched out, Jessie lost her grip, and, in less than a second, disappeared into the abyss below.
"No!" cried Barret as he crawled to the hole.
The other five looked on in horror.
"Jessie!" he called frantically into the hole.
There was no response.
Yuffie, meanwhile, ran to the hole and peered in.
"Can you see anything?" Barret asked in a shaky voice.
"I can't see the bottom," Yuffie replied.
Slowly, the realization came to him.
"She's gone," Barret whispered.
Everyone was silent.
There was nothing that anyone could say.
"The timeline reclaimed her," Barret lamented as he pounded his gun-arm against the ground. "She was always afraid that would happen, and it did!"
Everyone remained silent.
There was nothing that could comfort him.
There was nothing that could change what had happened.
Her great fear had come true after all.
"Well, fuck it," he finally said as he rose to his feet, attempting to keep his composure as best he could. "Staying here won't do is no good!"
He thus began to walk away from the hole without looking back.
The six survivors marched sadly on, where the tunnel continued. After one more turn, a light appeared.
At last, the tunnel came to an end.
They all stepped outside.
And they all beheld the light of day once more.