Chapter 18: Holy Warrior

Aeris sat quietly in the back of an old truck, watching the scenery pass her by.

"I have to admit," the driver said to her, "I don't pick up many girls about your age. Then again, I don't see many girls carrying a sword around. You're probably safer than the average female hitchhiker…if you really know how to use that thing,"

"I normally wouldn't do something so extreme," Aeris admitted, "But this is kind of an emergency,"

"Where are you headed after you reach Costa Del Sol?"

"To save the world," Aeris giggled. It was true, after all. Still, saying it out loud never failed to amuse her.

The driver chuckled. "Gonna go blow up the Shinra building, then?"

Aeris laughed nervously. "No, nothing quite so drastic as that. Just need to speak with…some distant relatives of mine. They're gonna help me out, and I need to…well, meet them at a certain place,"

It was, in essence, the truth. Aeris knew her ancestors would be able to speak to her easily in the former capital of her people. The temple was the first time she could hear them above the murmur they had always been in the past. And even then, all she could make out were various riddles and hints.

"I see…" the man said, "Well, just hang tight. We'll be at the docks in a couple hours…"

"Is this really the right thing to do?" Jessie asked Vincent as they stood on the deck of the Highwind.

"I'm only going with what Sephiroth said," Vincent told her, "He's sure that he can track Aeris down on his own. If we can do our part and eventually meet the two of them at the Northern Crater, then so be it,"

Jessie shook her head. "What the hell was she thinking? I mean, I know she was down about Jenova getting the black materia, but the insane idea of stopping Meteor by herself? I know she's got special powers and all, but there's no way she can go up against Jenova herself,"

"According to Sephiroth before he left, she didn't say anything about facing Jenova," said Vincent, "She only mentioned Meteor,"
"Still…" Jessie looked worried. "I don't like this. Our strongest fighter and our best healer are both missing. If we didn't still have Medea with us, I wouldn't know what to think,"

"As it is, Medea was not happy about Sephiroth's decision to go off on his own," Vincent recalled.

"I know. Was the first time I ever saw her get pissed about anything. So what's next?"

"We should be reaching the city in half a day," Vincent told her, "I'd suggest you get some rest in the meantime,"

Costa Del Sol was typically a lively resort, especially in the winter. The same could not be said for the city in late July. The already unbearable weather had been made worse by a prolonged heat wave.

Aeris groaned uncomfortably as she noticed the chair she sat in on the beach was beginning to stick to her. Had she the time and the money, she would be sitting inside an air-conditioned hotel room, instead of sweating it out on a lawn chair in the shade on the beach. However, she only had a couple of hours before the boat heading to the shores near Bone Village was set to depart.

Stealth had, over time, become one of Aeris' stronger points, thanks to Sephiroth's teachings. She was confident that she would be able to stow away without any problems. Even if she was found, who would toss a pretty girl off a boat?

Aeris stood up, noting that her arms and legs now had red lines on them from peeling herself off the vinyl.

Maybe I'll get some lemonade or something…

She was about to head back to the main part of town when she felt a hand grab the back of her shirt, stopping her.

Aeris' fighting instincts came alive instantly. She grabbed the hand, preparing to twist it behind her assailant's back and pin them to the ground. However, the person had anticipated that somehow, grabbing her arm with the other hand, and spinning her around to face…

"Sephiroth?"

The silver-haired warrior glared at her before releasing her. "You've got a lot of nerve to disrupt everyone's plans, and make them worry about you,"

"How did you find me?" Aeris asked.

"The only way you could possibly get to where I think you're going, is to get on a boat coming from here. Which reminds me: how did you intend to pay for a ticket to the Northern Continent?"

Aeris looked away.

"Brilliant, Aeris," Sephiroth said sarcastically, "So you were going to stow away on some ship? And what if one of the workers found you and threw you overboard!"

"Oh, they'd never do something like that to cute little old me," Aeris giggled.

"Hmm…you're probably right," Sephiroth deadpanned, "They'd just drag you to the boiler room and have their way with you right then and there. That's what being 'cute' will get you. Can you fend off ten lecherous sailors?"

"I've got a sword!"
"So would they…" Sephiroth muttered.

"Do you have to be so graphic?"

"Do you have to be so naïve?"

"You sound like Jessie," Aeris grumbled.

"Your recklessness will get you into trouble…" Sephiroth sighed.

Aeris turned away and looked at her feet. "So are you going to keep me here until the others show up?"

"No,"

Aeris looked up at Sephiroth, surprised.

"You may be reckless, but you don't act without good reason," Sephiroth admitted, "So why don't we go get a drink, and you can tell me all about your crazy scheme,"

Aeris clapped her hands delightedly. "You're the best, Sephy! I'd hug you, but I might die from the heat. Let's go!"

"White Materia?"

Aeris swallowed the last of her frozen drink and nodded. "Yeah. I could see it clearly. They tend to communicate through visual images,"

"And this white materia is…?"

She popped her mother's orb out of its holding place in her hair ribbon. "That's what they showed me. Good for nothing…hah. Good for nothing ordinary, maybe. This isn't meant to be used except for the most dire of circumstances. I'd imagine that long ago, people of absolute authority were charged with keeping this safe. But, I'm the only one left now, so I suppose it'll have to make do with me,"

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "And you would have taken it on all by yourself? You should at least have told the others. They would have been glad to protect you on your journey. It's right on the way to the northern crater,"

"I don't think so," said Aeris, "Would they have taken a claim that I can stop Meteor seriously? You didn't when I first told you. What can some kid like me do, right? I can see how the others look at me. They thought I was acting like a freak in the temple,"

"I apologize," Sephiroth said to her, "I was…not in a good place yesterday,"

Aeris looked sympathetic. "I know,"

"Aeris…" Sephiroth looked uncomfortable, "I will help you get to the Ancient city, and I will support you in what you need to do. But I have to warn you. Jenova may be insane, but she's coherent enough to see you as a threat. You know that I would never do anything to hurt you, but…as my prior behavior shows, I have lost control at times. I don't trust myself. So I'll say this now: if Jenova does appear…I want you to run. Run as fast as you possibly can, and don't worry about me. You're the one she wants dead,"

Aeris looked discouraged. "Well, being the last descendant of the Cetra who sealed her, I guess that makes sense,"

"Promise me," Sephiroth insisted.

"…I promise," Aeris said finally.

"Good. Now as for getting up north…are you up for an alternative method of travel…?"

"There it is…" Cid stated as he pointed ahead of him, "The northern crater,"

"The Planet willing, this will all end soon," Medea said.

Suddenly, the entire ship began to shake violently.

"Holy shit!" Cid yelled, "The hell's going on?!"
Medea struggled to maintain her footing. "It's some kind of energy field," she said above the noise, "Turn away! There's no way this thing can get through without crashing!"

"You think it's Jenova?" Vincent asked as he held onto one of the steering wheels.

"I think she's spotted us, yes," Medea answered, "And she probably knows we don't have Sephiroth! Turn this thing around now or we'll get killed!"

Vincent and Cid looked at each other, and nodded. The two both jerked the steering wheels to the right and held on tightly.

"Oof!!" Tifa's body was slammed against the wall in the meeting room.

"Shit!" Zack tried in vain to grab his playing cards. Half of them spilled all over the floor.

"What the hell is that??" Jessie exclaimed as she felt herself being pushed against the wall.

"May I have your freakin' attention!!" Cid's voice came on from the intercom, "Your little friend Jenova supposedly pulled a fast one over us, and now we have to turn around, or crash. Sorry for the goddamn inconvenience. Have a freakin' peachy day,"

"That guy needs his own stewardess," Tifa muttered. "You okay, Cloud?"

"Yeah," Cloud picked himself up off the floor. "Wonder what he was talking about?"

"May I have your attention, please," Medea's voice came on, "What our pilot also meant to tell you is that we will be re-routing our flight to Icicle Inn for now…and have a…peachy day,"

"This just keep's getting more and more complicated," Cloud sighed.

"Do you think Sephiroth's already there?" Tifa wondered.

Jessie shook her head. "No way. He's not gonna do anything else until he finds Aeris,"

"Maybe he did," Cloud suggested.

"He'd have called us," Jessie pointed out, "Personally, I don't know what the hell Aeris was thinking running off like that, but maybe it's for the best as far as those two go,"

"What do you mean?" Zack asked.

Jessie flashed him a sympathetic look. "I think you'd better find another girl to chase after, Zack,"

The soldier stared blankly at Jessie.

"God, do I need to spell it out for you?" Jessie snapped, "Aeris is totally stuck on Sephiroth! I've seen for weeks now how those two act around each other! It's kind of hard to make it out at first, because he really does act like some protective older brother. But it's actually just his weird brand of chivalry. And to Aeris, he's some kind of god, even though she'd rather die than admit it, and I think time alone would be good for them to finally face the facts!"

Zack continued to stare, as if contemplating all that Jessie had told him.

"Tough break, huh?" Cloud said as he put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "Finally met the one who got away,"

"Cloud! Don't tease him on top of everything else!" Tifa scolded. She went up to Zack. "…You really liked her, huh?"

"Hey- no prob!" Zack forced a smile, "Plenty of fish in the sea, right? I…hey, it's cool. She wants to hook up with the cool, enigmatic warrior, I guess I can't blame her. And I guess Sephiroth's issues with me hanging out with her were more than just him being protective. Heh- how about that?"

Jessie sighed. Poor guy…

"I…um…I'm kinda tired," Zack said as he backed toward the door, "You guys feel free to keep playing with my cards. Cloud- make sure they don't get lost, alright, buddy?"

He left.

Tifa glared at Jessie. "Did you have to thrust it in his face like that?"

Jessie sighed. "I guess I could've broke it to him more gently. Ugh- I don't know. I'm just so sick of seeing so many people who don't know what's right in front of them. People really confuse me sometimes,"

She was met by blank stares.

"Bah! Kids…" Jessie picked up Zack's deck of cards and began to shuffle them. "You guys up for another round of War…?"

"Get up,"

Aeris didn't move. The ground is my friend…she thought as she clutched two handfuls of sand.

She didn't know how much time had been spent being carried across the ocean mid-air by Sephiroth, but it had been one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. Upon landing on the beach, Aeris had dropped to the ground, knowing she had taken such a wonderful thing for granted.

"Going to stop Meteor with your hands buried in the sand?" Sephiroth asked dryly, "Should I get you a pillow while you're at it?"

"You're mean!" Aeris grumbled as she got to her feet.

"And you're covered in sand," Sephiroth observed, "Shall we get going?"

The two began walking through the forest that stood just ahead of the icy shore they'd landed on. Finding a worn trail to travel on, they continued for a good ten minutes until they reached a clearing.

Before them stood a modest-sized building, where several men were going in and out of. Up ahead, on a hill, next to what looked like a crashed plane, was a large teepee. Scattered all over the area, were a few young men with shovels, hard at work digging up the ground.

"This must be Bone Village," Sephiroth remarked.

"That's where the keystone was found, wasn't it?"

Sephiroth nodded. "I believe the Sleeping Forest lies just beyond here. Do you want to rest here for a while, or shall we keep going?"

"Let's keep going," Aeris decided. "We've got enough rations to last us a couple days, and it shouldn't be too far from here anyway,"

They continued through the small town, climbing up the hill and heading to an opening in the thicket behind the teepee.

"Whoa, now!"

Aeris and Sephiroth turned to see one of the miners frowning at them.

"Something wrong, sir?" Aeris asked him.

"You were about to enter the Sleeping Forest," the man said, shaking his head. "So long as that forest is asleep, you're not gonna get far traveling through there. Hell- you two might not even come back! Something about that place that makes it impossible to navigate through unless you have the Lunar Harp,"

"So what's the Lunar Harp?" Aeris wanted to know.

The man shrugged. "It's said to open a road for you in the forest. You really shouldn't go in there without it, though. One of our men went in there a couple years ago, but never came back. On the other hand, ten years ago, four strangers came through here, bought a Lunar Harp, but never came back either…unless they went to Icicle Inn or something,"

"If this is some kind of trick to get me to buy some useless trinket…" Sephiroth warned the man.

The excavator gulped nervously. "No trick, sir! They're not even that expensive! No one ever bothers to go to the Ancient city via that route. Most people just travel there by air, and that's only the occasional archaeologist. Though Shinra totally raided the place around the time those four people came in,"
"Show me where the Lunar Harp is," Aeris said to the man.

Sephiroth peered curiously at her.

"I don't think it's a scam," Aeris told him, "If it is, you can come back and slit everyone's throat later,"

"Right this way," the man nervously beckoned the two to follow.

"Hey, I was only joking…"

Vincent gazed at the abandoned house before him. He'd been told by one of the villagers that no one had lived there for the past seventeen years.

There was no way that the inn could fit eleven people without drawing attention, and as it was, he'd found himself wary of the idea of someone recognizing Rufus. As it was, the young VP had willingly gotten rid of his old clothes, in favor of something less obvious than his traditional white suit.

"We'll be staying here," Vincent announced to the party. "Everyone get inside. I'll catch up with you later,"

The rest of the group entered the large house.

"How long are we supposed to stay here again?" Biggs asked as he stared at several cobwebs in the corner of the room.

"Guess we should clean up the place," said Jessie.

Reno held up a video tape he'd found. "Or we could watch TV," he said, "Think they got any porn?"

"Reno, put that down," Rufus said wearily.

"Aww, I just wanna see what's on it!" Reno whined as he popped the tape inside the VCR and turned the TV on.

The sound of a female screaming jolted everyone. On the screen, there was a blurry image of a woman on a bed.

"Hah!" Reno exclaimed, "It is a porno!"

The picture focused, and the group could see a close-up of a vaguely familiar-looking woman, her face contorted in utter agony.

"Shit- that lady looks like Aeris!" Biggs exclaimed.

"You're doing so well, sweetheart!" a man's voice said excitedly.

"IT HURTS!!!!!" the woman screamed.

"I know, honey-!"

"NO YOU DON'T!!!" the woman snarled as the man went up to the bed, "DON'T EVER SAY YOU KNOW, BECAUSE YOU DON'T!!! YOU WILL NEVER KNOW!!! EVER!!!!"

"All right, I don't know," the man conceded.

Barrett stared at the screen in disbelief. It was all starting to make sense…

"You're almost there! Just a little more…! Keep pushing! So close…!"

There was another scream.

"This is bullshit," Reno went to turn off the TV, only to have Barrett grab his hand and shove the boy out of the way.

"One more! One more, honey!"

There was one more ear-piercing scream.

"Who'd 'a thought?" Barrett said softly.

Jessie looked up at the muscle-bound man curiously. "Huh?"

Barrett scratched his head. "Aeris said she was born in this town, but I didn't think I'd be seeing no home movies of the event,"

Jessie's eyes widened. "You mean…?"

"Aeris…meet your mother,"

Everyone's jaw dropped.

"So that's Aeris' family," Jessie remarked.

"Should we tell Sephiroth it's all right to come down?"

Everyone nearly fell to the floor.

A small, silver-haired child slowly walked over to the bed, only continuing forward at the woman's encouraging words.

"Oh, he was so cute!" Tifa squealed.

"Hello, Aeris," he said softly.

"Awww!!" nearly everyone chorused.

Somewhere in the Sleeping Forest, two people sneezed at the same time.

"Hah- jinx!" Aeris laughed as she wiped her nose.

"Let's keep going," Sephiroth said, "I can see a clearing up ahead,"

"Then I guess this thing really does work," Aeris said. She held up the Lunar Harp, and clumsily plucked at the strings.

"I suppose the Sleeping Forest isn't that particular as far as its taste in music goes," Sephiroth commented.

"Oh, like you could do better?" Aeris retorted.

Sephiroth walked toward the clearing.

"Hey- don't you walk away from me, mister…!" Aeris called after him as she ran to catch up.