Aftermath (Part 2)
They sat at the bar in Kalm, drinking. Well, two of them were. The third merely watched, her blue eyes sad. They had been through a lot together. All three had survived working for ShinRa, and that in itself was a miracle.
"Now what?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.
"There's nothing now, Elena. Nothing for people like us." Reno shrugged.
"...Move on." Rude drained his beer and motioned to the bartender for a refill.
"I can't believe it..."
"Believe it." Reno turned in his seat to look at her. "We searched the ruins. No one else is left. It's just us. Go, start a new life. Don't stick around and waste your time living in the past."
"What about you two?"
"Rude and I'll be fine. We always have been."
Elena stood. "If you're sure..."
"Go on. You're still young enough to start over."
She looked at them sadly, then stepped out the door. Before she closed it, she gasped. "Reno! Rude!"
By long-ingrained habit, they jumped up and ran to her side. "What is it?"
"Look!" She pointed towards the north, to the beam of light shooting straight up into the sky.
"What the hell...?"
~~~
Nanaki watched the light shooting out of the northern continent with growing horror. Was this what the Planet had felt, what the cries of pain had been about? What was it, anyway?
He stood and moved away from the fire, eyes locked on the energy column. Sephiroth? But... no, Sephiroth was dead. Nanaki had seen him die, dissolving into the air after the final blow. Cloud had seen his essence dissipating into the Lifestream... But nothing else had ever caused the Planet such pain.
He ran up the steps, headed for the observatory.
~~~
His own laughter filled his ears, echoing with the force of the energy he had unleashed. Head tilted back, silver hair flowing with the wind that swirled through the crater. His dream had been reality. He had seen them die, and they were dead.
Cloud, the MP who was too weak to be a SOLDIER, who was too weak to be the hero he wanted to be, to weak to save those he loved...
Tifa, who had been one of Cloud's only reasons for striving forward, for continuing to the end...
Aerith, the Ancient who dared try and stop him... That had been no dream, he had seen her death firsthand, watched as she fell...
Vincent, the man who, if he had tried, would have been the only one who could have stopped Sephiroth with words alone.
The strongest of his opponents were dead, and those that remained had no idea of what was about to happen.
Sephiroth laughed again, rising into the air on the column of energy.
~~~
"Reeve!! Open up!"
The former ShinRa Executive moved to the door at the insistent pounding. He opened it, and found himself face-to-face with a panicked Elena, a slightly disturbed Reno, and a stone-faced Rude. "What is it?"
"Look at that!!" Elena pointed, and Reeve followed her gaze to the north, to the beam of energy and light that streamed from horizon.
"The Crater... Sephiroth?"
"We don't know. Whatever it is, it's big." Reno's voice was grim.
"Hang on just a minute." Reeve closed the door and went back into the house, heading for his room to put on clothes he could actually leave the house in.
Wearing jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved shirt, he returned a moment later. "What do you expect me to do about it?" he asked the Turks as he stepped out of the house, locking the door behind him.
"Well..." Elena blinked a few times and shuffled her foot. "We don't know... But you fought with them before, right? When you all beat him..."
"It wasn't me. It was Cait Sith..."
"But you were controlling it! You heard everything!"
Reeve sighed. "I suppose we could go to Cosmo Canyon. Nanaki might know what's going on."
"Come on, then. We've got the helicopter we used to get out of Midgar. We can use that." Reno jerked his head in that direction.
"Alright."
~~~
"My best guess would be that this is, in fact, Sephiroth," Nanaki said, looking at the Turks and Reeve.
"But how? Didn't we kill him?" Reeve shrugged slightly.
"Yes, but if you'll remember, before the Weapons were released, Sephiroth was in a case of crystallized mako, or Materia if you'd like to refer to it as such, although it would not have been usable as the Materia we have. Sephiroth was sleeping inside of this case, but his body was only half-formed."
"What exactly are you saying?"
"My theory is that Sephiroth was in actuality creating another body for himself, in case all of the clones were destroyed."
"That's what we did, right? We destroyed all the clones he was using to get around?"
"Right. When Sephiroth was finally destroyed, his essence, his spirit, went into the Lifestream. The Lifestream is still flowing through the Crater..."
"So, Sephiroth's mind got into this body where it fell?"
"That's my theory."
Reno let out a low whistle. "This is heavy stuff. What can we do?"
Nanaki looked at him. "You want to help?"
"Hell yeah! It's our planet too, isn't it? If Sephiroth wins this time, we all die. There's no reason for us not to help. We've got the firepower, don't we?"
"That's right! We did our part in hurting the planet before... We can make up for it now and save the planet!" Elena grinned.
"Don't get too excited," Rude said in a low voice. The others looked at him. "Sephiroth would be stronger now than he was before."
"We had trouble defeating him as he was," Reeve said, troubled. "If he's stronger..."
"We need to find everyone. This is going to take all of our strength." Nanaki stood. "Cloud and Tifa went to Nibelheim. Yuffie went back to Wutai. Cid went to Rocket Town and I don't know where Vincent went."
"Barret took Marlene to North Corel." Reeve ran a hand over his goatee in thought. "I'll call around and try and find everyone."
"We'll work on a plan of action." Reno combed his fingers through his hair. "We'll be right here when you get back."
"Alright. The helicopter has a power source I can plug into, right?"
"Of course."
"Great." Reeve walked out of the observatory.
~~~
He dialed the Nibelheim Inn on his cellular phone for the third time, a frown crossing his face as it continued to beep. The line seemed to be busy, or the phone could have been off the hook. Maybe it just wasn't getting the signal?
Reeve hung up and dialed the North Corel City Hall number.
"Mayor Wallace's office," a soft, female voice answered on the second ring.
"Hello? I need to speak with Mayor Wallace."
"Who is speaking?"
"Tell him it's Reeve."
"One moment please."
The line began ringing again.
"Wallace," Barret's gruff voice answered.
"Barret, it's Reeve. We've got a problem."
~~~
Elmyra Gainsborough stood from her cross-stitching at the insistent pounding on her door. She opened it, and smiled as Marlene Wallace bounced in. Barret stood in the doorway.
"Miz Elmyra, I need to ask you to look after Marlene for me again."
She frowned slightly at the expression on his face, the tone of his voice. "What's wrong?"
"It seems Sephiroth's back... And Reeve can't get in touch with Tifa and Cloud. I have to go look for them, and then we have to go and see what's going on."
"Oh dear... I'll be glad to watch her. Take care of yourself."
"You too..." Barret turned and walked off. It was then that Elmyra noticed the gun that had replaced his prosthetic right hand.
~~~
He was not too proud to cry.
As he moved through the burnt rubble of what had been Nibelheim, a few tears slid down his cheeks. The two charred skeletons were lying next to each other, huddled close together against the death that surrounded them. One was Tifa, the metal of her Premium Heart glove only slightly melted. The large sword melded to the spine of the other skeleton identified it as Cloud.
Barret walked out of the town, past the burnt grass, and leaned his forehead against the hood of his car. Aside from those few silent tears, his emotions were locked up within him. Tifa, Cloud... After all they'd been through together, he couldn't make himself believe they were gone.
He hit the top of the car with his gun arm. There was nothing he could do now... But they had been so close, and now... Beyond reach.
~~~
Reeve could tell something was wrong from the way Barret walked up the steps to Cosmo Canyon. The big man's shoulders were slumped, there were streaks in the red dirt that the wind had whipped onto his face.
"Barret?"
"They're gone," the other man replied.
"Gone?"
"Cloud and Tifa. Nibelheim burned..."
"...Damn..."
"Yeah." Barret drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. "What about the others?"
"I left a message with Shera for Cid... she didn't sound too happy about it."
"Of course she ain't gonna be happy about it. Sephiroth tried to kill us all."
"Yeah... Anyway, Yuffie's on her way. She said she was going stir crazy."
Barret snorted. "What'd you bribe her with?"
"Surprisingly, nothing. I was prepared to offer her a large amount of various... ahem. She accepted before I offered her anything."
"That's a surprise. Maybe she's grown up."
"Maybe."
"Reeve!!" Reeve turned as Elena came running down the stairs from the observatory, calling his name.
"What is it?"
"The hell is this about!?" Barret glared at Elena; she glared back.
"We're helping too. It's our planet, not just yours. We'd be killed if Sephiroth wins, so we're going to stop him!"
Barret grumbled under his breath.
"Elena, what's up?"
"We just got a phone call. I think we're in trouble..."
"What?"
~~
Reeve exhaled a slow breath as he listened to the recording of the call that had come in on Reno's cellular phone. "This.. really isn't possible."
"Tell him that." Reno shook his head. "Look, if he's alive, then we've got problems coming at us from all sides."
"We still don't know the motives of any of these revenants," Nanaki interjected.
"Judging from who they are, we can be sure their motives are not good." Reeve sighed.
"Don't be too hasty to judge. People change."
"Not these people."
Reeve paced the room, occasionally running a hand through his hair. "What to do... What to do..."
"Calm down, Reeve," Elena said quietly. "You'll give yourself an ulcer."
He stopped with a sigh. "There has to be something we can do..."
"You have been up for two days. Get some rest, then you will be able to think clearly."
Reeve and the others nodded. Then, all but Barret and Nanaki headed off to their rooms for the night.
~~
Eyes opened in the darkness... then closed to protect themselves against the falling dust. Blindly, a hand pushed at the pile of debris above, with no results other than to send another shower of dirt raining down.
Coughing, the trapped figure pushed a hand forward, trying to find the end of the building that had been there a few hours ago. Shards of bone and metal tore at the bare skin of the fingers as the hand pushed into the pile, and emerged into the cool, clean outside air.
A mind driven half-crazy by thirst and a body weak from hunger tried to escape. The second hand joined the first, and together they tried to drag the wounded body from beneath the collapsed house. The muscles tensed, strained... then went limp.
Head dropped to the dirt below, gasping for breath. A leg was pinned beneath the bureau that had fallen... It didn't hurt much until removal was attempted. A low moan escaped the parched mouth.
~~
Piles of junk... He felt like he was walking through an overflowed landfill. One booted foot kicked at a pile... He nudged into the debris with the tip of the Masamune. A low moan from nearby reached his ears, piercing straight to his mind... straight to his heart.
Sephiroth froze.
~~
"Sephiroth? Sephiroth, listen to me!"
He shook his head, snapping out of the reverie he'd fallen into. "I am listening."
"No you weren't..." She shook her head with a grin. "Oh, look at you... you're a terrible mess."
"Kally, I'm fine." Sephiroth shrugged. "It's all routine..."
"I don't like these routines. Hojo and the rest expect you to join SOLDIER next year, but they keep up with these stupid tests... They're messing you up, Sephy..."
"...Anyone but you would not be alive right now."
"Oh, stop it. You're not that strong yet, you know it."
"I will be."
~~
"Congratulations, Sephiroth." Her smile was a welcome relief. "You're a hero."
"I didn't do anything that important..."
"You helped end the war. It would have gone on for years more."
Sephiroth shrugged. "It's not that big a deal..."
"Don't be so modest, Sephy!"
"Kally, please stop calling me that."
~~
His mind focused on the present again... It was a slight shock to realize he was surrounded by what was left of Bone Village again.
It had been five years - six? - since he'd last seen or thought of Kally. They'd grown up together... She was Professor Gast's niece, and had moved in with Sephiroth and his guardian when her uncle had disappeared.
He moved towards the slight movement he saw. Two bleeding, lacerated hands were digging their fingers into the dirt and trying to pull... Then they would relax for a moment before trying again.
Sephiroth knelt next to the opening and picked up a piece of the collapsed building. Two arms clad in a torn work shirt were revealed, and a questioning, wordless sound came from beneath the debris. A few moments later, Sephiroth had removed the rest of the fallen house from the body.
Her eyes shut against the light, face pressing into the dirt. The bureau was lifted from her leg, and Sephiroth carefully touched the swollen limb.
"Aaah!"
Sephiroth stood and walked to the woman's head, leaning down to brush her cheek with ungloved fingers. She froze, breath catching. She tilted her face up, green eyes squinting against the light. She grabbed the hand before it could escape, staring quizzically at the shadowed face above her.
"Who...?"
With his help, she stood, carefully keeping her weight off of her injured left leg. She forced her eyes to focus, and moved her face so that the sun wasn't directly behind his head.
"Sephiroth...? You're... you're alive...?" Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh my god..." Ignoring her wounds and the emotionless expression on his face, she threw her arms around his neck. "Oh my god... They said you were dead... They told me you were dead..."
Slightly uncomfortable and unsure, Sephiroth put his arms around her. "Kally..."
"Oh... Sephiroth... Where have you been?"
"...You're hurt."
"You cared to notice. Yes, I am... I'll live. Where have you been!?"
Sephiroth winced slightly. Six years and she hadn't changed a bit. "Kally..."
"How did you find me?"
"...Accident."
"...Oh, wonderful. You're a great knight." The sarcasm was heavy in her voice. Then she paused. "Sorry," she said softly. "Thank you, Sephiroth."
His eyes went wide at the kiss.
~~~
The girl swallowed another tranquilizer, earning odd looks from the people around her. They'd noticed the way she'd been taking them like candy.
She knew, though, that they'd be much more disturbed by the results if she *didn't* take them. She grinned inwardly, imagining the looks on their faces if she happened to puke all over their expensive, real leather shoes.
Snooty business men, all of them. Yuffie looked around through slitted eyes. Oblivious, too. She could rob them clean and they wouldn't even realize it. A roll of the ship across a wave diverted her thoughts towards her stomach again.
"Urk..." She stumbled away from the railing and headed below deck, where she could pretend she was sleeping on a water bed. Her eyes went wide as the ship tilted threateningly, and her hands wrapped tightly around the railing.
"Not that far to Costa del Sol Not that far to Costa del Sol..."
~~
Reno sat on the edge of the helipad, watching the ship approaching on the horizon. He lowered his sunglasses, blocking most of the glare from the sun overhead.
A smirk twisted his face. He was actually waiting for that brat... he couldn't believe it. Things had twisted so much...
"Reno."
He looked over his shoulder at Rude.
"Five minutes."
"Got it." Reno picked up the canned soda beside him and took a drink. Reeve had told them that to be in good shape they had to stop drinking... Reno had the feeling that they would be too sick from withdrawal to be any use. Reeve was a former executive, though, and he was most likely the most intelligent of the ShinRa executives... the most intelligent sane executive, that was.
Reno sighed. This was really ridiculous...
The horn on the ship blared, announcing its arrival. Reno sighed again, then stood and walked towards the ramp the passengers would be coming down. The one he was looking for was fairly visible, stumbling the way she was combined with the peculiar green shade of her face.
The green turned to a bright red when Yuffie tripped and landed in Reno's arms. He smirked as she swung her spindly limbs to get out of his grip. He let her go, and she stood a few steps away in a defensive stance.
"What do you want?" She bounced a bit, looking like an amateur boxer.
"Barret and Nanaki were busy. They sent Rude and myself to pick you up."
"We're working with you guys!? Oh man...."
~~
"It's not fair," Yuffie whined.
"Shut up." Barret jammed the crowbar into the tiny crack between the doors.
"Why do we have to work with the Turks?"
"Please be quiet, Yuffie." Nanaki scanned Bugenhagen's diaries for the secret to the doors.
"But...!"
Reeve clamped his hands over her mouth. "If you're not going to be helpful, you need to leave."
"Mmph!!"
He unceremoniously dropped her thin form down the stairs. Yuffie bounced a few times before landing on her rump on the bottom step. She half-turned to glare up at him, then jumped to her feet and ran off.
Reeve sighed. "Maybe it was a mistake asking her to help us."
"Damn right," Barret grumbled, trying to lever the doors apart.
"She may seem selfish and immature, but when it comes down to it, she's always a big help," Nanaki reasoned.
"I hope it's sooner rather than later..." Reeve ran a hand through his hair. "We need all the help we can get."
~~
"Oww..." Kally squeezed her eyes shut. "That hurts..."
"Hold still," Sephiroth said, wrapping the splint against her leg.
She bit her lip, but still winced when he tugged the bandage tight. "Sephiroth... what happened? There was an earthquake..."
"The Planet... crying out in pain." He taped the end of the bandage off.
"Ow!"
"...Heh."
"It's not funny. Where have you been? What happened to you?"
"I don't know, Kally. I really don't."
"I don't believe you... but I won't push it." She rested her hand against his face. "It's been too long... Why did you leave me?"
"I didn't have a choice." He placed his hand on top of hers.
"Well, let's start over now. It's so secluded up here... We can start our own life away from whatever took you away from me. Away from what's left of the ShinRa, too."
"Kally..."
"Sephiroth, I'm serious. I don't want you to go again. I don't want to keep losing you."
"Come with me, then."
"Like this?" She pointed to her bandaged leg. "Stay here until I heal, at least. Then I'll go with you."
He stood and easily lifted her to her feet with an arm around her waist. "Not here. I know somewhere safe, though."
She looked at him questioningly, and he responded only with a faint smile.
~~
After leaving Cosmo Canyon, Yuffie eventually made her way to banks of the river a few miles away. From a certain angle, she could barely see the Gold Saucer rising from the desert on the other side; from another angle she could see the way to the lagoon that was home to the cave they'd found Lucrecia in. Yuffie sat with her feet in the water and sighed. She still felt under-appreciated... just because she was young, they thought she always got in the way!
"Hmph," she said aloud, her voice breaking the near-silence. She looked at the water, and a strange look twisted across her features. Something was moving...? She stretched out on her stomach and flailed her hand towards what she saw. Probably just some plants or something...
Her fingers tangled in the black strands, and she pulled... then screamed.
~~
"Oh my god," Kally breathed, looking around the clearing, the white sunlight pouring in through the openings in the trees above, spotlighting the large shell structure. With Sephiroth's help, she moved to the edge of the crystal lake and looked down into the water. It was so blue, so deep... She couldn't even see the bottom.
"Well?"
"It's beautiful..."
"There's more."
She looked at him, surprised.
He led her into the shell house, up the spiral ramp that led to higher parts of it. Halfway up, he stopped and touched the statue of a fish that stood there. Kally's eyes widened as the fish faded away. Sephiroth picked her up and carried her through the seaweed and down the crystal-clear steps.
The gasp of indrawn breath told Sephiroth exactly what she thought of the old, underground city. Untouched by the earthquakes, it seemed to be simultaneously lit from above and below, the gold and bronze buildings gleaming softly in the light.
"Oh..."
He smiled slightly. "This is the safest place on the planet. We can stay here for a while... not forever, though."
They finished descending the spiral staircase into one of the buildings. A small walkway led to another building, which contained only a small room with a bed. Sephiroth gently lowered her to the bed, then sat next to her.
"It's so pretty... and peaceful. I feel... there's a lot of love here." Kally lay back, a drowsy smile on her face. "Thank you, Sephiroth..." She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
He sat there for a moment, watching her sleep. His fingers lightly brushed the hair from her face, then he stretched out beside her. Strange... he felt tired... He almost didn't remember the feeling. His eyes fell shut, almost against his will, as he pulled Kally close.
~~
Drifting... The cold darkness, emotionless... Warm tendrils of green energy spiraling around, embracing... A sudden sharp pain lancing through the mind!
The eyes snapped open, and found themselves staring at a blue sky. A gasped lungful of air, followed by a choking, coughing expellation of water. The waterlogged form turned over and pushed itself up, hands braced against the dirt and grass, retching cold liquid.
When nothing but air was left in the lungs, the head whipped back, long, dark strands streaking through the air to hit with a soft splat against the wet material against the back.
"Ohmigawd..."
The eyes turned towards the voice, and a sorrowful pain lanced through as Vincent remembered.
~~
Elena hummed to herself, adding seasonings to the meat cooking in the pan. She had commandeered the kitchen, having no work to do while the guys tried to get the Gi Cave open. She had looked for Yuffie to ask her to help, but with no luck.
Reno stepped in, sniffing the air. "My god, it actually smells edible."
"Oh, stuff it. I am actually an excellent cook."
"Have you seen Yuffie?"
"No. I looked for her, I thought she'd like to help make dinner."
"...Yeah, right. Well, Reeve through her down the stairs and she stormed off. Nanaki's trying to round everyone up for a meeting."
"Sorry, I haven't seen her."
"Hm..."
"Reno!" Rude came in, moving a bit faster than he usually did. "She's down at the gate... And there's someone with her."
"What?" Reno eyed his partner skeptically. "Who'd stand to be alone with that brat for more than a minute or two?"
Rude shrugged. "Come on." He turned and left the kitchen, moving a bit slower now.
~~
Yuffie had to admit that the water that dripped from Vincent's clothes and onto her had made the trip back through the plateaus a bit more bearable. The sun was high and hot, but since Vincent was carrying a few gallons of water around with him, they'd not gotten the chance to become dehydrated.
He stood beside her now, dull red eyes glaring at the Canyon guard who'd refused to let them pass without the permission of someone inside.
Yuffie looked past the guard to the three blue-suited forms coming down the stairs. The Turks... Just great. She gritted her teeth.
"Yuffie!" Elena said when she was close. "Where have you been?"
That woman was starting to sound too motherly. "I went for a walk, okay? Is it a crime to like, get some space around here? Gawd!" She stomped her foot.
"Vincent?" Rude's mouth was hanging open... Yuffie stifled a grin as she imagined his jaw falling off and hitting the ground.
"Yeah, it's Vincent, now let us through!" Yuffie grabbed the metal claw and pulled Vincent past the guard and the Turks.
~~
^Something was strange about the room... Kally looked around and frowned. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something wasn't as it should be. Sephiroth was sleeping silently beside her, his breathing deep and even.
^Kally looked to the end of the bed, and suddenly saw the faint refraction of light. That was what had seemed out of place... She leaned forward, watching as the light turned to something almost human in shape. A light laugh reached her ears before the light dissipated.
Kally sat up, looking around and blinking. It was here, wasn't it? Now it wasn't... How odd. She tilted her head and looked at the spot that the light had been. Just a dream? ...Probably. She looked down at Sephiroth... Still asleep. He looked so cute, so innocent when he was sleeping. Like a child again.
She leaned down and brushed her lips against his forehead, then lay down and returned to sleep.
~~
He watched the apparition without emotion as it approached him. His eyes were cold; he didn't care what the specter was oozing - love, hate, or Mako, it was all the same to him.
A cold brush of air touched his cheek. He swatted the ghostly hand away, then stood. Her translucent face transformed slightly with sadness, but he didn't care. No, no, he was good as dead already, he almost had been.
Had been? Almost? He laughed quietly to himself. Hell, he was dead. If he just kept thinking like that, he could do anything he wanted to.
"Beware the man who has nothing to lose..." He muttered to himself. One last glance at the phone, and a remembrance of the Turk's fear, made him grin. This was going to be... fun.
And the ghost faded away...
~~
~cont~
o.o;; Be nice in your reviews. Constructive criticism, please.
I know some parts of it are irritatingly cryptic; I meant it to be that way. If they're not... oops.