Leonora gasped out a breath. Then a second. Then a third.
Wind blew scrap and debris across the abandoned street and sent a chill down her spine. People stood about her, all scuffed and bruised and bleeding and stunned. Shock in their eyes and grime on the skin that showed the effort wrought by travelers across time.
But why were they here? Why now?
Lebreau broke the silence first, "Where'd they go?" There was no bite to her words like Leonora expected. Just disbelief.
"Hell, if I know," said Seifer. "Was gonna ask you all the same question."
Irvine nudged him with the butt his rifle. "We ride the same cart. I don't think any of us expected… whatever it was that happened."
"Screw you, Kinneas."
"Lost," whispered Fujin. "Wrong."
"I can…" Leonora struggled to her feet and found a painful throb in her leg from a deep cut. "I can… portal."
"Oh, yeah!" Lebreau ran to her side. "Do you have the energy? We can still chase this guy and corner him!"
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Paine. "He dropped his puppets and entered the freaking planet."
Leonora hesitated and used white magic to calm her leg. "He… the planet? He took the planet?"
"That's what it looked like to me. Question is, what does he have to gain from taking over a harmless world?"
Everyone exchanged looks.
Leonora cleared her throat. "I don't think I have enough power to get us off of here, but—"
The ground cracked below her, and Leonora yelped and scrambled away. Road gave way to a black sludge that trickled between the breaks and oozed onto the road like crushed candy. Only black. And very oily.
"What the hell?" Seifer danced away from the stuff. "Anyone know what this is?"
"I wouldn't let it touch you," Paine said.
Fujin pulled a shoe out. "Too late."
"Got our first test subject, then." Lebreau scooched away from her. "Don't touch me, you hear?"
"That's gonna be difficult if we stick around." Irvine gestured. "Let's find somewhere safe to rest and gather our bearings."
"No way in your life." Seifer took a long stride toward a section of untouched road. "I'm still gonna hunt this bastard down and teach him to disrespect his elders."
"I don't think that's feasible, given—"
"Shut up, Kinneas! If you think I'm just gonna let this thing get away, then you're damned wrong!"
Irvine gave a long sigh and followed. "I mean, I see where you're coming from, but I'd rather not lose you, too."
Seifer whirled on him. "You don't know where I'm coming from! I'll cut myself twice before I let you think that you have any idea what it's like!"
Irvine regained energy around Seifer, and Leonora remembered Palom and Porom. "Where'd Ace go?" she asked.
"Ace?" Lebreau asked. "Oh yeah, he was here! Must have gotten away before that last shockwave."
Paine shook her head. "This isn't going to get us anywhere. I'm with Irvine."
"Seifer," Fujin said.
Lebreau stayed near Leonora. "I'm with her."
"And I'm with all of you!" A guy with an x-shaped scar on his cheek materialized before them and Leonora shrieked before Lebreau caught her. "Hey, don't worry about me—I'm the least of your problems. In fact, I'm here to tell you that there is a safe place to get to."
"Who are you?" snapped Paine. "Another piece of Bhunivelze?"
"Oh, come on, would he say any of what I'm saying? Geeze. He uses words like some people use messaging systems. This guy's got a common enemy in all of us, so follow me if you want to live."
Fujin gravitated toward him. "Zack."
"Oh, hey! Fujin, right? Man, thanks for working with Aerith. For as long as it lasted. Do you have any traces left of Bhuni?"
"Unknown."
"Good enough. Who knew we'd have so much in common? Okay, all, let's get going before we find more trouble."
Irvine exchanged a look with Leonora, and she caught a lot of hesitation and uncertainty in that look. Leonora tried at a reassuring response, but doubted her own worry helped.
The distant sound of a helicopter whirred, and Elena remembered her first view of Midgar from the air.
"Elena."
She didn't sleep, but Rude's call woke her from the hazy realm of unconsciousness. She felt more tired than when she laid down, but that was par for the course. "What's up?"
"Visitors."
"I'll need my knives."
"Not zombies."
"… Oh." Elena stumbled toward the door. "Then who is it?"
"Tseng."
"Oh, shit!" She took the stairs two at a time and found Rude helping Tseng down the short hallway.
Tseng's appearance was harried and worn from what must have been an extensive trip. Dark circles showed under his eyes and the light exposed the shallowness of his skin. He stumbled forward, one hand on the wall for support and one eye squinted shut.
Elena rushed to the kitchen. Reno looked about them like a gust of wind blew something over.
"I went to Cosmo Canyon," Tseng rasped. "I saw Red XIII. And Aerith."
That got Reno's attention—he jumped to his feet and said, "You're kidding."
Tseng shook his head and Rude helped him to the couch. "They're both lost to whatever force it is that's taken the planet. I assume you all noticed the change."
Elena brought hot towels and the two of them cleaned off what they could of the grime on Tseng's skin and clothes. "Are they're what did this?" she asked, fighting to keep focused despite the glimpses she caught of him beneath his ruined shirt.
"Bite marks," Rude said. "Slashes. This was the dog's doing. What can Aerith do?"
Tseng hissed in pain. "I'm not sure. She acted… odd."
"Is she angry?" Elena asked.
"Not consciously. She's more… confused."
"She never forgot," Reno said. "She wasn't a complete idiot. How would corruption not make her into a witch?"
Tseng arched and Rude eased his cleaning. "This isn't a twisting of the mind," Tseng said. "It's a twisting of the connection. Spirits have been knocked loose and this will connect horribly with the monsters pervading our city. But the Strifes are out and…"
"Should you really be talking?" Elena asked. "You sound like hell."
"As much I've seen. But I discovered some things of import."
"Like?" Reno asked.
"Like the fact that the Canyon and other exposures like it should be our top priority. Proximity to its center lent Nanaki a strength beyond mortal capability and we'll have our best shot at getting to the center of this through those places. Our best shot at getting to him."
"Him?" Reno repeated. "Who's 'him?'"
"The enemy." Tseng hesitated, confused. "Oh. Of course. We never met Rufus' kidnapper and you wouldn't—Bhunivelze. A lost and frayed being has taken our planet from us by injecting his accursed being into the Lifestream itself."
"Oh." Elena stilled and forced herself to swallow. "I think Minwu told us about him."
"That he did."
"You two are nuts." Reno flung himself onto the couch. "Save the fairy tales for later."
Rude didn't bother correcting the man; Reno knew to believe the so-called tales, but sometimes he had more patience for work and sometimes he shut down and hid away. The latter seemed to grow in frequency.
"Ideas?" Elena asked.
Tseng leaned back and managed a wry smile. "Could just suck it out of the planet again."
"Don't joke about that," Elena said.
"It's not a joke."
"Focus," Rude said.
"Depends on our resources," Tseng said. "But I can't talk about it now. I—" He squinted his eyes shut and forced a breath. "It hurts."
"What did I say?" Elena muttered before she grabbed a blanket. "Gotta keep your body warm. Don't go to sleep, Tseng, don't you dare. I'll stab you if you do."
"Not planning to."
"Good."
A knock at the door and Elena said, "No one's home!"
Rude got up and went to the door anyway. Elena couldn't take her eyes off Tseng, who struggled to grip the blanket and every breath shuddered his frame. Tseng, their leader under Shinra, barely kept his eyes open. Elena put a hand on his arm, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Visitors," Rude said.
"How many?" Reno asked.
"Six."
"Send them away," Elena said. "We're… busy."
"Look like world travelers."
Reno got up to join Rude. "That sounds really good for us."
"Not necessarily," Elena hissed before she finished bandaging Tseng. "I really don't want visitors right now."
"Names and origin," Rude said through the door.
"I'm Irvine from… another world, I guess. These are my partners."
"Origins."
"Y'all know your planets' names?"
"Spira."
"Gaia IV."
"Eos, sort of. Pulse, sort of. Cocoon, sort of."
Two… four women and two men. Rude looked her way and Elena dropped her head. "Bring them in," she said.
"We're so sorry to bother you," a lady in a green and layered dress said, "but Zack told us you were our best bet for safe residence."
"Zack Fair," Rude said. "You met him."
"Sort of—he showed up for a brief and fantastic moment, then disappeared again with instructions to come here."
"You know what's happened around here?" asked a woman in leather and scars.
Rude planted himself between them and a narrow stairway. "Not the whole story."
"I doubt anyone knows that," said a girl in tight and suggestive black. "Come on, we just need to get what information we can so we can get off this world again. We kinda have a god to murder."
"Bhunivelze?" Rude asked.
"Sure," a man in a trenchcoat said. "Or maybe the entire realm of the dead. What's it to you?"
"You're not the only one."
"Rude," Elena said, "what do they want?"
"Visitors," deadpanned a silver-haired chick.
"Nothing else," the lady in the dress added. "We really didn't mean to invade your planet, but after Bhunivelze left, we were trapped. I can portal out eventually, but—"
Rude sniffed and moved toward the table in the dining room. Elena didn't move to match him or greet the newcomers, and neither Reno nor Tseng showed any inclination to do it instead, so Rude picked up the social slack. Elena steeled herself and listened in.
"Names," Rude said.
"Irvine Kinneas."
"Leonora. Pleased to meet you."
"Lebreau."
"Seifer. This is Fujin."
"Paine."
"Second things second," Irvine said. "Let's get our priorities straight: who here's out for blood and who wants to retrieve lost friends?"
"Ain't that the same thing?" Seifer asked.
"It kind of is," Paine said.
"Not to everyone." Leonora. "I just want to find Palom."
Lebreau huffed. "I suppose I can leave if I found my crew, but I'd prefer to get in a hit on this guy first."
"I'd rather not leave y'all," Irvine said. "Would you consider coming with me once I find a way off-planet?"
"No," Seifer said.
"If it helps," Reno said, "it's not that hard to leave once you know what you're doing. Things got complicated, but if the boss could leave, then anyone can."
"Our planet's corrupted," Rude said.
Reno groaned. "And if that's not just a kick where it hurts. But we know the plague started in Cosmo Canyon—that's where Tseng went before we lost communication. There's a good chance we'll find something there. That is, if you can get past the vengeful spirits in the way. There's this new tale of something called the 'Red Death…'"
"That pup has nothing to do with this," Elena muttered. "And open your eyes when you talk. You might as well speak to nobody."
Reno did so and put up a hand against the light. "Ugh. Did you put the frickin' sun on our ceiling?"
"It's a lightbulb."
"Doesn't seem like it."
Rude crossed his arms over his chest. "We need Shinra back."
Paine asked, "You know Shinra?"
"He's our boss," Elena said. "We know him better than anyone, I think."
"You have a kid for a boss?"
"No," Reno said, "he's about my age. I think. Give or take a decade? I don't remember. He's too tall to be a kid, anyway. Too much alcohol in him, too."
Paine furrowed her brow. "I really hope you're right."
"We're always right." Reno shut his eyes again. "Man. This room looks fuzzy. Turn up the focus."
Elena got back to the matter at hand. "Have you been to the Red Church yet?"
"Wait, wait, wait," Irvine said. "This started hours ago. How do you know all this already?"
"It's our job," Elena said with a dismissive wave. "Pay attention. Now, everyone agrees that the Red following seems kinda shady and convenient, but they're one of the only places that's kept out the plague. It's full of refugees and you might find some answers there."
"Unless we just go to Cosmo Canyon," Paine said. "You just said that's our best bet."
"If you want to brave Red and Aerith."
"Red as in the church?" Paine asked.
"No, Red as in the dog."
"I'm lost," Lebreau said. "Red is both a dog and a religion?"
"Yeah," Reno said. "To make it easy, we call the dog Red Death and the church Red Life. You know, because they're opposites."
"Right," Lebreau said. "This isn't going to get confusing at all."
"Not once you get used to it," Elena said. "But if you make it to Cosmo Canyon, it would be a huge favor if you can snap Aerith out of her funk. Might deal a big hit to the man downstairs, if you know what I mean."
"Could it be that easy?" Leonora asked.
"That isn't easy," Paine said. "I've never heard of returning spirits from vengeance outside of sending. And we don't have a summoner."
"What's a summoner?" Irvine asked.
"Oh," Leonora said, "it's someone that can call on the powers of eidolons and espers to aid in battle."
Paine said, "That's not all."
"That's… I thought that was what they did."
"It's gonna change between worlds."
Irvine said, "It's a pretty disorienting trip, ma'am. You'll get it."
"They send the dead back where they belong," Paine said. "And it looks like that's what we've got on our hands here."
"Depending on if that's how Bhunivelze works," Elena said. "I don't know if he makes them vengeful or just possesses them with his own influence. Either way, it warrants a trip west."
"A long trip," Reno said. "Do we even have the stuff to make it that far out? The ocean's not exactly a forgiving mistress."
"We'll make it work." Elena stood and rubbed at her eyes. "But first, I need a nap."
"No," Rude said. "We should get straight to work."
"But I don't want to—"
"We can't afford to dally," Tseng said. The newcomers started at his words and some peeked over the couch to see him. "Our planet cannot wait."
"You know what's caused it?" asked Leonora.
"In a sense," Tseng said.
"We have a starting place." Elena said. "And that starting place is Cosmo Canyon. If we can just get there and knock some sense into Red and Aerith, then we should be in good business."
"I doubt it'll be that easy," Tseng said, "but yes. That is the hope."
Reno stretched and said, "I'm up for it. Better than beating back these zombies that keep knocking at our door."
"Zombies," Irvine said. "Like the people that harassed us outside."
"Bingo," Reno said.
Rude placed his chin on clasped fingers. "In addition to the monsters swarming in from the artifact in Midgar."
"I thought they were the same thing," Lebreau said. "The monsters were just more advanced than the people zombies."
"We haven't lost ourselves that far," Elena said. "Not yet, anyway, and we don't plan to let it escalate. Oi, I'll need some coffee before I get going."
"And it looks like this party should rest," Rude said.
Irvine scoffed. "We don't need rest!"
"Yeah!" Leonora said.
"I'm bushed," Seifer said. "Screw you, I'm gonna take a nap before leaving again."
"Agreed," said Fujin.
Tseng groaned and tried to stand. "We can't waste time—"
"You of all people can't spout that nonsense," Reno said before forcing him down. "Sleep, dude. No point in throwing ourselves at something when no one's had a break in days."
"I don't need rest." Rude stood. "I'll take scout duty.
Reno said, "You do that for tonight and we'll start out in the morning."
"Lovely." Elena made her way upstairs. "See you all in the morning."
Discussion moved onto food and protection for the night, but Elena couldn't bring herself to follow. Her bed felt too good to hold onto consciousness long.
"You're looking better," Leonora said to Irvine as they drank what the Turks referred to as "canned soup."
"Am I?"
She nodded and held her steaming cup closer. It wasn't cold out, but after such a long day, she welcomed any comfort she found. "You seemed pretty upset when we first grouped up, but now you seem… comfortable. Ready to sleep like you've lived here all your life."
"I'm afraid I didn't notice."
Leonora pulled her knees up to her chest and inhaled the earthy savor of her soup. "I worried. That's kind of what I do. Most I work with don't take time to care for themselves, so it becomes my job to keep them from killing themselves. And each other."
"Sounds like they should take responsibility, shouldn't they?"
"That's what I tell them, but they're too busy. Honestly, I just like working with them. That's enough to get me through some of their childish antics."
"I never would have pegged you for the babysitter type."
"I'm full of surprises, I guess. What brings you to this side of the galaxy, then?"
Irvine looked at Paine, who conversed with Lebreau, Seifer, and Fujin in hushed tones. "Just a vague promise of getting home."
"You don't have anyone you're chasing? Not even Bhunivelze?"
"More the other way around. I want to get away from all this nonsense and settle back down at home with my friends. But I can't go back just yet, so I'd settle for staying away from the action. Yet here I am."
"Paine knew we would run into trouble. You didn't?"
"It's… more complicated than that."
"If you're sure." Leonora took a long sip of her soup and it warmed her on the way down. "It's a little exciting, isn't it?"
"A little too exciting if you ask me."
"Still." She imagined what Palom would say if he saw her. "I've changed a lot, you know. I've gotten a lot stronger than I was before I left and I can't imagine what I'd be doing if I wasn't here."
"Living a normal life, you mean?"
"Ugh, yes. It would suck."
"I would level the Gardens if I could live a normal life again."
Leonora laughed. "Leveling gardens wouldn't give you a normal life, silly!"
"No, it's a metaphor." Irvine finished his soup and shoved the cup away. "Forget it. These sayings never make it through y'all's understanding barrier."
"Funny how we speak the same words and yet can't understand each other."
"Very funny." Irvine yawned and made his way to the cleared space of what they called the "living room." "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of sleep to catch up on."
Leonora hummed to herself and turned her attention back to her soup. Would the twins still understand her when they reunited? Would they admire her for killing Bhunivelze?
Palom would, at least. If he ever returned to his right mind.
"Trap him?" Lebreau asked like she didn't understand Paine's question. Seifer knew her better than to assume her so stupid. "Paine, how could you possibly hold him down like that? He moves like water and you know what it's like to hold water!"
"That's why we're sticking him in a cup," Paine said. "And shooting the cup."
"That's not how it works," Lebreau muttered.
"Believe me. If he's stuck in a body that's killed, he goes with it."
"I'm down," Seifer said.
"Same," Fujin said.
"This may not be as satisfying," Paine said, "but it's the only way we know that'll work. I'll volunteer as the sacrifice so you all can go back to your homeworlds."
"No," Seifer said. "I'll do it."
"No," Fujin said. "I'll do it."
Lebreau looked between them like they stole her best trophy. "Fine. I also volunteer. No, let's swear that no matter what happens, we'll make sure he gets in one of us. And then we take out that person."
"I should do it," Paine said. "I don't have people waiting for me back home."
"Neither do the rest of us!" Lebreau said.
"Except Raijin," Seifer said to Fujin.
"He'll understand," she said.
Paine folded her arms. "I know all of two people that might have a fit, but that's about the method more than myself. I reserve the right to sacrifice myself since it's my idea and I want this bastard's blood on my hands."
"Only if we get some," Seifer said.
"That shouldn't be hard," Lebreau said. "But Paine, if it comes down to it, we're gonna take him ourselves. It's more important that we kill this thing than we get the right person stuck with him."
Fujin grabbed Seifer by the ear and yanked him close. "You're not doing this because you want to die, are you?"
"What the—? No!"
"Honestly."
"Maybe! But it's not any of your business, is it?"
"I'll be very disappointed if you go do it without me."
"There's no way I'm letting him get you!"
Fujin scowled and released him. "Stupid."
"It's not happening."
"Hey," Paine said. "Lebreau's right. We can work out the fine points of who gets to kill who later. For now, we need to decide if we're gonna stick with the rest of these guys."
"I don't see why not," Lebreau said. "The more the merrier."
"The more the slower," Seifer said.
"That," Fujin said.
Paine looked between them and Seifer knew their opinions meant nothing. She took charge and by so doing took away the meaning of their participation. "I agree with both of you," she said. "But if we get to the bottom of this, we'll need numbers."
"We also need to know how to get that thing trapped," Seifer said with a glance Leonora's way. "And I doubt these guys are gonna be much help with that."
Paine furrowed her brow in thought and Lebreau huffed. The unsaid question remained: if they couldn't get that information from these guys, then from who?
"Sleep," Fujin said before standing. She cast Seifer a look and he nodded, a promise to wake her when the time came.
They'd leave during the night.
