Cloud was overcome with disgust as he approached his prey. Aerith was praying so intently she was oblivious to the danger. He tried to fight it, but the sword was suddenly in his hand as he inched closer.
"Cloud, NO!" Tifa screamed, but all he heard was the voice in his head.
A little to the left. Cloud paused, puzzled by the order.
"Look out!" Nanaki howled, and then Cloud understood. He dropped the sword and grabbed Aerith's hands, pulling her to his left. Only their hands remained where she had been praying, and they took the full brunt of Sephiroth's blade as he descended, impaling them to the ground.
Tifa and the others reached them just as Sephiroth ascended out of reach. "Better luck next time." he taunted them.
"You coward! Come back here and fight like the man you're not!" Barret yelled at Sephiroth as he disappeared into the sky.
"What's going on?" Aerith asked. One moment she was alone praying, then she was on the bloody ground surrounded by everyone, and she felt unaccountably weak.
"Barret, help Nanaki with bandaging Aerith's hands." Tifa told him as she tended Cloud.
"What's...what's happening?" Cloud asked, confused now that the voice had left him. "Did I hurt her?"
"You saved her life." Tifa reassured him. "You're our hero."
"Why did he say 'Better luck next time'?" Nanaki asked as he put a paw down on the end of the gauze strip so Barret could cut it off. "He's the one who failed."
"Ignore it. Cloud saved her, that's all we need to know." Tifa said firmly.
"Does that hurt?" Barret asked Aerith, unsure if he wrapped the bandages too tight for her or not.
Aerith stared down at her hands. "No, it doesn't hurt." she replied truthfully, because the only thing she felt was a horrific revulsion she couldn't explain. "I can't feel my hands!" she shrieked before the terror overcame her.
Barret checked her for a pulse. "She's alive, just unconscious." he told them.
"Let's get back to camp." Tifa suggested as soon as she finished bandaging Cloud's hands.
The smells of smoke and food finally roused Aerith from her nightmarish state. The first thing greeting her eyes were dancing shadows on the wall. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she yelled with the meager strength she had.
"Don't do that!" Barret exclaimed, nearly dropping his soup bowl into the campfire.
Aerith's eyes focused more and she realized it was just the flames making the shadows. She struggled to take some deep breaths to calm herself down, still feeling smothered by the presence that haunted her in her sleep. "I'm sorry." she said a few moments later, carefully sitting up.
"I can...uh...feed you if you want. It ain't easy havin' no hands, so..." Barret suddenly shut up, aware he was rambling instead of just apologizing for snapping at her. Marlene would be so angry if she knew.
"I'm feeding Cloud." Tifa said with a smile.
Their comments made Aerith look down at her bandaged hands, the sight of them making her feel ill. "I'm...I'm not hungry." she said.
"You're the last Cetra, you need to take care of yourself." Nanaki told her.
Eat. Aerith nearly collapsed again in shock as the voice reverbrated in her head with an unmistakable command.
"Aerith, can you hear me?" Cloud tried to get her attention.
"What?" she asked, surprised to find him standing over her, with a bowl of stew in his own bandages.
"I said Eat." he told her. "You need to be strong."
"Oh, that was you?" Aerith was confused until he put the bowl of stew firmly in her hands, and her hands started burning when his hands covered hers. "It...it was you!" she blurted out accusingly. "Why did you do this to me?"
"He had to." Tifa said, coming Cloud's defense. "If he hadn't, Sephiroth would have killed you. Your hands will heal and you'll be better in no time!"
"Better..." Aerith repeated that word oddly as the burning in her hands intensified. "Yes, I will be."
"Make him stop! Make him stop!" Aerrith screamed, waking everyone up to a starless sky overhead and terror in their midst. She was standing by the dying fire, clutching her head. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled, stopping everyone in their tracks as they rushed to her side. Dropping to her knees, she started pulling on her bandages. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"
"Don't hurt yourself!" Tifa exclaimed, helping Aerith get them off since they needed to be changed anyway. "Who's after you? Where are they?"
Aerith laughed maniacally. "Everywhere, you know that. We can't escape him." She looked at her hands and saw the ugliness spreading out from the wounds and up her arms, she started vomiting. Come to me. the voice said when she was reduced to dry heaves. Aerith crawled over to Cloud, grabbing at his boots. "Take me home." she begged. "You can end this. You're the only one who can. Save me!" The force of her plea took the last of her strength and she collapsed again, still holding onto his boots.
"It must be Sephiroth she's talking about." Nanaki said.
"What's wrong with her, Cloud?" Tifa asked. "You feel okay, don't you?"
"If this is Sephiroth's fault, let's take that SOB out!" Barret exclaimed.
"It must be him." Cloud replied, gently picking Aerith up. "We're going to settle this once and for all." Cloud told them. "We'll take her home to Icicle and then back to the northern crater to deal with Sephiroth." Tifa, Barret, and Nanaki enthusiastically agreed with his plan, while tears flowed down Aerith's face.
By the time they reached Icicle, Aerith was more dead than alive. She hadn't regained consciousness since that night, and she was suffering from an unbreakable high fever. They had quit trying to feed her, since her body rejected everything they gave her, so she was quickly becoming skin and only reason they still had hope is because she infrequently cried out, even if her words were unintelligible. Stopping in front of the inn, Tifa untied Aerith from the sled so Cloud could carry her. He had become oddly possessive of Aerith, getting almost violent anyone else tending to her. It worried Tifa more than it made her jealous, but since he gave no more signs of being controlled, she didn't confront him.
"How many rooms ya got?" Barret asked the innkeeper once they were all inside. "Hey, I'm talkin to ya!" Barret snapped when the innkeeper stared at Cloud and Aerith instead of answering him.
"She shouldn't be here." the innkeeper said.
"Where's the clinic?" Cloud asked.
"Hey, we need rooms! And some food!" Barret exclaimed.
"These are our best rooms." the innkeeper said distractedly, handing three keys to Barret. "We have an excellent cafe two doors down." He turned his attention back to Cloud and Aerith. "I'll show you where to take her."
"Stay here." Cloud ordered them as he followed the innkeeper out the door.
"We've been expecting you." the innkeeper told him once they were alone on the street.
"I know." Cloud replied.
Neither of them spoke again until they reached their destination, a small shack on the edge of town. The door opened before the innkeeper had a chance to knock. "You've come!" the man said joyously, kneeling in front of them so Cloud could see the numbered tattoo. "Long live the Queen!" he exclaimed before noticing the bandages on her hands. "Get inside!"
"Can you help her?" Cloud asked the man once they were inside.
"Yes." the man assured Cloud as he locked the door. "First we need to get these abominations off her." he said and proceeded to tear the bandages off her hands. The wounds hadn't healed, they only stopped bleeding. "That's better. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" He held her hands up to admire them before kissing each one.
"She needs your help. Now!" Cloud growled at the man.
"Oh yes, please forgive me. This is such a momentous day!" The man hurriedly retrieved a flask and forced the contents down Aerith's throat. Immediately her body started convulsing, and the three men smiled in relief. "That will only keep her until..."
"Then let's get moving." Cloud said as soon as Aerith went limp again.
"Right this way. Everyone is waiting for us!" The man led them out back to an extremely ornate sled. "Nothing but the best for her." He said as he quickly harnessed his dogs to the sled while Cloud carefully sat Aerith down next to him, covering her with the fur blankets before pulling her tight against him, so her head rested on his shoulder.
"It won't be much longer." he promised her as they took off, putting her hands together on her lap with his free hand. His hands had healed just fine, so he could take better care of her. "We're going home." he told her, resting his hand on top of hers, pleased to feel her shudder in anticipation.
"The food ain't half bad, but these people gimme the creeps." Barret said as they finished their meal at the cafe.
"It wasn't like this the first time we were here." Tifa admitted.
Just then, a man reeking of alcohol stumbled in the door. "Hey, what's everyone doing here? Ain't you supposed to be getting ready for the coronation banquet?" he blurted out as he tried to reach the bar.
"Shut up, Jack!" the manager snapped at him.
"What's the problem? Didn't you get invited?" Jack retorted before noticing the newcomers. "Hey, are you guys the main course?" he asked them.
"What's he talking about?" Barret demanded to know. "What coronation banquet?"
"Nothing, he's just drunk." the manager hurriedly replied. "He won't bother you anymore, I promise." He grabbed hold of Jack's arm. "Come on, let's get you back home." Unfortunately for him, manhandling Jack out the door exposed his numbered tattoo.
"You're one of them!" Tifa was struck to her core with fear. "Where's Cloud and Aerith? Red, go find them!"
"Stop them!" the manager commanded the other villagers, but he and Jack were the only ones in the doorway, and Barret easily shoved them out of the way with Tifa's help.
"They were here." Nanaki said, having followed Cloud and Aerith's scent to the shack. The flask was lying on the ground and he growled as he sniffed it. "Blood...but not theirs."
"There's sled tracks out back, heading towards the crater." Barret said, having finish his recon.
"Then that's where we're going." Tifa decided.
Aerith had never felt so tired. The voice alone wasn't so bad, she was used to listening to the Planet after all. But she couldn't hear the Planet anymore, only the voice. It was the presence that always accompanied the voice. It was obviously whoever was speaking to her, and so powerful it took her breath away. It took her strength away too, wearing her down with repeating the same command over and over again. Come to me. It seemed so benign, but it filled her with a paralyzing fear, which only served to make the voice louder. She had finally given in, or at least tried to. The voice was in her head, so she had retreated into her own mind to reach it. She only succeeded in trapping herself there, where the voice and the presence grew stronger. Her failure to first escape from it, and then to obey, crushed her spirit. All that was left for her was to endure the voice as it relentlessly continued repeating a demand she was incapable of doing.
Say my name. The new command jolted Aerith out of her despair, and she realized the presence was much stronger now.
"I don't know your name." Aerith muttered out loud, in the first intelligible statement she had made since her collapse.
"She's starting to wake up, are we there yet?" Cloud shouted to the sled driver.
"Almost!" he shouted back.
"Just hold on a little while longer, Aerith." Cloud told her, squeezing her hands.
The contact renewed Aerith's despair, it only reinforced the voice as it started repeating the new command, one she still couldn't follow. She sank into herself once more in shame.
"They're here! They're here!" one of the clones exclaimed as Cloud rushed in, carrying Aerith.
"Are you ready? There's not much time left!" Cloud said.
"Put her down on the altar." One of the other clones said, indicating a huge stone table the other clones were gathered around. They made room for him and he gently laid her down on it.
"She needs to be wearing the Transformation gown." the leader said, handing it to Cloud. All the clones looked down at the ground while he changed her into the black and red ball gown.
"Now do it!" he ordered them as he got off the altar as the clones started the Awakening ritual.
"Cloud! Aerith!" Tifa called out as she reached the cavern moments later, Barret and Nanaki in tow. "Are you alright?"
"Dammit!" Cloud swore as he leapt back onto the altar. "Stop them!" he ordered the clones as he knelt next to Aerith's still unconscious body. "I know you're in there, and I'm sorry we couldn't finish it. So you have to. You'll die if you don't. Do you hear me, Aerith? Save yourself!" He sat her up, grabbing hold of her shoulders and shaking her limp body. "You know what to do. Do it now!"
Aerith struggled to figure out what was happening. She had become accustomed to it being only her and the voice, but now she heard whispers of other voices. She was so weak, but they wouldn't let her rest. She only wanted to, she just needed to...suddenly she understood, and she burst with excitement.
"Cloud, what are you doing?" Tifa demanded to know as she fought through the clones to reach him.
"Go away!" he yelled at her, picking Aerith up protectively. "You're killing her!"
"Fight him Cloud, this isn't you!" Tifa yelled back.
"MASTER! HELP ME!" Aerith screamed with the last of her strength. Instantly a violent earthquake shook the cavern, flinging everyone to the ground as the cavern was torn apart.
Cloud covered Aerith's body with his, waiting for it to the tremors finally ceased, he carefully looked up, but there was a cloud of dust that made vision impossible, so he focused on making sure she wasn't hurt. "You did it, Aerith!" he congratulated her as the dust cleared. "Look!" He turned towards the center of the cavern, where Sephiroth's protective cocoon stood. Aerith's eyelids fluttered, but she didn't have the energy to speak. "Yes, I will." he told her and proudly carried her to the cocoon. Standing in front of it, he carefully pushed her hands through it until they touched Sephiroth's chest. The contact caused a burst of energy to radiate out from Sephiroth, knocking Cloud meters away, right next to Tifa's unconscious body. When he stood up, he saw Aerith safely inside the cocoon, Sephiroth's tentacles wrapped tightly around her torso.
Aerith now had the strength to open her eyes, and even though his eyes were still closed, she felt his piercing gaze just as much as her hands felt the raw power coursing through him. She had never seen anything as majestic as he was. Their physical contact was so insidiously enthralling that she never noticed an enlarged and misshapen tentacle slithering up her leg. Her screams of pure agony brought a smile to Sephiroth's face as he subjugated her completely to his will.
"The Transformation is starting!' the clone leader exclaimed eagerly as the cocoon darkened so no one could see what was happening. They could only listen to her terrified screams, and the abrupt silence was just as terrifying.
"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!" the clones started chanting as they bowed to the ground.
Soon the cocoon became translucent again, revealing Aerith floating on her own in front of Sephiroth. Her hair had turned white and her eyes were completely black. One of Sephiroth's tentacles had detached itself from his body and tightly encircled her neck like a choker. Her new appearance was complemented by the red and black ball gown she wore, and her hair almost matching Sephiroth's made her floating before him as beautiful as it was horrifying. When she opened her mouth to speak, her tentacle choker started glowing and it was Sephiroth's voice that came out of her mouth.
"I've finally achieved Mother's goal, purging the Cetra from this land. What you see before you is my perfect vessel, from which shall flow a new master race." Aerith gestured and Cloud was drawn up to her. "You exceeded my expectations. When you delivered her to me, you gave us a more perfect revenge than simply destroying the planet. Far better to corrupt what they hold most dear."
The choker dimmed as Aerith spoke for herself. "You can't imagine how blessed I feel to be His vessel. You honored me so much when you gave me your blood so Mother could feed on my cursed heritage." She took his hands in hers, the stab wounds still open. "Master let me keep them as a symbol of your devotion to us. You do love me, don't you?"
"Yes." Cloud answered adoringly, lost in her beautiful black eyes.
"A little to the left, Master." she said, and Tifa's still unconscious body joined them. Aerith let go of his hands and floated over to her, leaning in to kiss her. As their tips touched, Tifa's body aged and withered into dust as Aerith sucked flickers of light into herself. She brushed the dust off her lips and watched it dance in wind before turning her attention back to Cloud. "You loved her too, didn't you?"
"I..." Cloud wasn't sure he wanted to tell her.
Aerith smiled. "It's not disloyal to us if you loved her before we met. I know you loved us both, but she was too weak and I exist only for Him now. But I won't let you be alone." She took his hands again, this time putting them on her stomach. "Do you feel that?"
Cloud nodded as he felt her flesh quiver. "What..."
"Your wife." Aerith's smile deepened as she interrupted him. "I drained Tifa so she wouldn't return to the Lifestream. Instead, she will be reborn as my daughter. Master agreed to let me do this for you before I fulfill my purpose to him. Jenova will be a powerful sorceress and not only will she be the only one worthy of you, you can love her as you couldn't love me or Tifa. And you won't have to wait long." she added as Cloud felt the quivers increase in strength. "Only five years, for her growth will be extraordinary. We thank you for serving us so well." She pulled him closer to her and kissed him
Cloud was overwhelmed by it all, the foremost thought was that he had indeed been able to save Aerith, and in doing so, he fulfilled Zack's legacy. His struggle was finally over. Closing his eyes on the past, he let go of himself completely as he returned her kiss..The choker flickered as she and Sephiroth accepted his unconditional surrender.
"I knew you wouldn't let us down." Aerith told him as he opened eyes that were now as black as hers."You're family now." Just then, the clone leader signaled that the coronation banquet was ready. "Okay, perfect timing, Jenova is starving!" Cloud nodded, for his hands were still on her stomach and he could feel his wife's hunger. As Aerith floated down to the clone leader, Cloud turned to Sephiroth and bowed to him.
You have indeed done well. Sephiroth said, speaking to him directly for the first since they infected Aerith with Cloud's Jenova cells. I will accept nothing less as you begin your life's work.
"Master?" Cloud asked.
You are Knight Protector, with your only purpose in life being to guard the vessel. I will send you both out into the world, with her as my emissary and you to lay waste to all who threaten her or oppose me.
"It will be done, Master." Cloud swore.
Go to her.
Cloud found himself lowered back to the ground, happier than he had ever been. His new rank was so much more elite than Soldier First Class, he was the only one! His life's work was to be serving his hero and the woman he loved, who were now forever a part of him. In five years, he would have an exceptional wife, born of his two loves as a gift to him. Feeling blessed beyond measure, he smiled as he watched her devouring the rest of the clones to nourish Jenova. "Long live the Queen!"