A Pain That Won't Leave
By Soul Hunter
Part Nine
He definitely didn't like what he heard. And one slight glance around the restless surroundings of the now beleaguered aerie easily told him that there is something terrible something utterly gruesome, rapidly making its way towards them. Looking at his gun-wielding partner, the beast with one working eye roared his apprehension that was easily understood by the gunslinger. They trained their eyes up, only to witness the collapse of the Forgotten City's once coveted placidity.
The hair-raising vociferation echoed once more, further agitating the pair. If they could only do so, they would have already zeroed in on the source of the tortured wail. Inside the back of his mind, the gunslinger recalled a memory of the same resonance that assaulted his ears when he faced the creature coated with diamond.
But his reminiscing was abruptly interrupted by shrill cries echoing from behind. They turn and witness the terrifying form of a six-armed creature whose appearance seemed to suggest its origination from beyond the grave. The copper-coated predator groaned in exasperation, muttering under his breath that the last thing he needed right now is an encounter with a savage Zombie Dragon. Checking his accouterment of Materia, the proud creature turned to the cloaked warrior, as if waiting for a decision. He nodded back, as if giving a concurrence to their need to put up a fight.
Without warning, the beast lunged at the hostile monster, his claws fully extended and shimmering with its deadly splendor. Not used to being beaten at the first move, the monster reeled back in pain after multiple lacerations sliced through its decaying armored skin. And before the enemy could react, the one with the glowing tail hurled himself anew, this time sinking his sharp fangs into the startled dragon's neck. It hollered and shrieked in pain, ferociously swinging the whole of its body about in trying to shake his tormentor off him. One mighty heave met with success, and consequently hurled the four-legged warrior into the water.
Hissing fiercely, the Zombie Dragon then turned to the one wielding the rifle. But the red-cloaked stranger was quick, and promptly displayed his speed in one deft move that brought the muzzle of his gun in front of the charging monster's face. A loud explosion echoed, followed by a pitiful holler emanating from the hurting dragon with a bullet wedged deep inside its head. Flailing its arms about, the blinded creature then went crashing down on its face as the lion pounced on him from behind. But just as easily as he fell, the creature got up anew, again throwing off the copper-coated beast that slammed hard into his partner. Enraged, the dragon followed up with an Ultima attack, knocking the wind out from his two opponents.
Staggering back from the powerful spell, the gunslinger tried to fight off the nauseating concussion he was feeling, struggling hard to echo a command that subsequently called forth the wrath of the legendary sea serpent. Snarling and hissing ferociously, the water creature in turn called on to the destructive might of a gigantic tsunami that pummeled the Zombie Dragon with its aquatic malevolence. The summon attack was then followed by the lion beast's favorite assault: a hail of stellar matter that he conjured from the heavens to bombard the violent monster with non-elemental fury. Dazed from the damage it absorbed, the dragon then went the way uncharacteristic of its feral nature, and quickly fled from the battlefield.
But not by any means did it bring relief to the two warriors. For as sure as they were that the strange phenomenon besieging this hallowed ground is just beginning to unravel, they also know that the past encounter was merely the first in a series of battles they must weather if they wish to find the answer to the haunting mystery lying in front of them.
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She wouldn't have had it any other way. Looking back at the direction whence she came from, Tifa didn't know exactly what to feel with regards to her sudden decision to leave. Part of her was questioning herself if what she did was just an infantile reaction to hide the fact that she can't deal with the imminent defeat in the face of Cloud's harried behavior amidst the circumstances surrounding Aeris' return. Maybe in the back of her mind, Tifa knew better than to turn a face of naivete toward a possible occurrence that will cast a shadow of doubt to the possibility of spending a life with Cloud. She knew better than to continue on smugly, without any expectation of some event similar to this that will eventually jostle their otherwise quiet relationship.
And though the apparent resurrection of a deceased friend came as a big shock to her, in the end it merely equated to the one thing that had been bothering her ever since she started noticing her beau's troubled demeanor a few months back. Even in death, Tifa had no choice but to concede to the fact that she can never compete against Aeris. Yes, she knows that Cloud loves her. But she's also painfully aware of the different, and rather more potent nature of his feelings for the Ancient. This was something that Tifa learned to respect from the day she was rescued by the two from the clutches of a flesh-crazed Don Corneo. Looking back to that day one, she remembered how Cloud gazed at Aeris, and consequently was reminded of the chill she felt at that moment. Tifa just couldn't remember an instant when Cloud looked at her in the same manner.
From the start, she knew that she had already lost him to Aeris. And her death did not by any stretch of the imagination change that truth. Clutching her chest, Tifa silently wished that she was the one who had to give her life for the planet's survival.
But she was no Ancient. Only an Ancient could have the chance to make that noble a sacrifice. Only an Ancient equipped with that uncanny sensitivity to the quiet sobs of a hurting planet
Perhaps that's it! If she had been an Ancient, would Cloud love her the same way? Chuckling bitterly, Tifa shrugged in quickly dismissing that shallow theory. How silly can anyone get in thinking something as superficial as that?
Or maybe, she thought, maybe it's the fact that Aeris died. Not the act of dying itself, but rather the biting absence that naturally came after that. It's widely believed that only a person will only realize how important something is to him when that something goes away, never to return again. Maybe that's what hit Cloud, Aeris' absence.
She scoffed once more. Perhaps, now that she's left him, Cloud will now miss her. And perhaps, after that a day will come when he'll realize that he loves her more than he does Aeris. She had, after all, always been by his side ever since they reunited in Midgar just before that reactor sabotage job. Tifa had always been there for him, and never really gave him much of a chance to miss her at all. And thus given, this abrupt departure might just work to her advantage.
Silly. Stupid. Senile.
Stick to the plan, Tifa nagged herself. Adhere to the truth that the reason she left was the same, perennial reason why anyone would walk away after handing the victory trophy to their greatest rival and then turning their back in refusing to behold the celebration. It may be a bitter pill to swallow but that's the truth, she thought. She didn't want to be anywhere within one hundred miles of them once they got to the point of actually consummating their relationship. And in her mind, that is one thing that cannot be avoided.
Nevermind the innately noble appearance of making a sacrifice for the sake of one's true love. Of course, it's always a factor. She's always wanted Cloud to gain happiness, most of the time even at the expense of her own. And it's really no different in this situation, with the only exception being she doesn't think she'd be able to take seeing him happy in the arms of another woman, even though she may be her friend.
Then, there's always the ultimate test of one heart inclined on sacrifice. If you love someone, let him go. If he comes back to you, he's yours for the keeping. If not, he was never yours to start with.
Tifa could almost die in the dreadful price this test may cost her. But not only is this the soundest thing to do. Right now, this is also the only thing left to do.
What if it turned out the he was never hers in the first place?
For the umpteenth time, the raven-haired former bargirl struggled to keep her tears at bay. Almost misting in her melancholy, her eyes then happened on a glint in the near distance that caught her attention.
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"What do you mean Marlene's missing?" Cloud vehemently returned a question to Elmyra. "Have you tried looking for her?"
"Yes yes I have" the older woman replied, almost in tears. "I can't find her everywhere. My goodness, how am I gonna tell Barret about this?"
"Hey mom, don't worry." Aeris tenderly echoed while touching her adoptive mother's quivering hands. "I'm sure she's just around town somewhere Hey, your hands are shaking!"
"Aeris dear some people told me that they saw Marlene with four strange men wearing navy blue"
"What?!?" Cloud snapped out upon hearing the color description. "Navy blue? Could could they be Turks?"
"Why would the Turks abduct Marlene, Cloud?" Aeris said, eliciting a suspicious look from the spiky-haired warrior. "I thought Tifa said you guys have struck on some kind of a truce juts before Midgar fell."
"You of all people should know that we can never be certain of anything when the Turks are involved." He returned almost sarcastically, and with a voice that was definitely reeking with distrust. Aeris simply turned away in dejection, then opted to dismiss the knot in her throat as she turned her attention back to Elmyra.
"Mom, did they tell you where these men took Marlene?"
"They said they were heading in the direction of Mount Nibel, but that was almost an hour ago." Elmyra's broken voice came back. "Can't we do anything about this?"
"Of course we can, Elmyra." Cloud quipped back. "Just stay here, I'm gonna go look for her."
"Cloud, I'm coming with you."
He turned back to Aeris, his eyes squinting with even more cynicism as they bore into hers quizzically. But he almost regretted looking straight into her face again, with those familiar, green eyes that once enchanted his heart like no other's ever did. For a moment, as he gazed at her, his facial hue almost gave in to its familiarly soft look, the expression he always regarded the Aeris he once knew. And at the next moment, he felt his conviction warring once more.
Cloud shook his head in exasperation. This isn't the right time to be thinking about his dilemma. And he was just about to reject her offer when an idea came to mind.
He was the one who taught her most of what she knows in fighting. If there is any credibility at all to her claims of being the real Aeris, all it may take is one intense battle to prove or disprove her claim. Once he sees her in action, he will know.
"Alright. Gather your gear quickly. We leave in five minutes."
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His ears rang painfully, a cacophony of excruciating throes and throbs of high-pitched resonance that came from the sharp edge of mystically forged steel making up the length of an Iron Giant's sword. It missed him by mere inches, a negligible measure that would have spelled doom for the gunman had he been less alert of the unusual circumstances that brought forth this monster. He wanted to expend a second to wonder about the anomaly of the creature's presence. As far as he knows, malevolent entities like this abound only near the lower recesses of the planet's hollow shell. What is it doing up here, on the surface?
Rolling back to his battle stance, the mysterious gunslinger unloaded a Flare attack against the metallic behemoth to buy him some time for a temporary escape. Recoiling from the solar assault, the Iron Giant quickly retaliated with another deathly swing, only to find his target already a couple of feet away. Quickly cocking the Death Penalty, he then unloaded another round in between the iron-guarded foe's eyes. The bullet ricocheted off the tough metallic hide, but it was enough to create a knock-back effect that ruined its balance.
Complementing the gunslinger's maneuver, the snarling lion beast hurled himself hard against the giant's chest and used its paws in pounding on it with all his might. A loud crash emanated as the Iron Giant fell on its back hard, sending out a blunt shockwave that jostled the already chaotic environment. Quickly getting up on his feet, the raven-locked warrior once more regrouped with his feral comrade, preparing for the worst as they watched the enemy struggling to hoist itself up.
However, a darkened vortex suddenly opened in front of the armored monster. A Cimmerian maw that eventually spewed forth the vengeful figure of the mythical executioner. He briefly stared down at he enemy, as if mocking its efforts to hold its ground. Then with a mighty heave, the summoned helper launched his Gunge Lance into the air. It rose up, higher than any mortal eye could possibly see. In the process parting the thick clouds that lie in its path. Subsequently achieving the peak of its ascent, it then started its fall, tipping its sharp arrowhead down as it plummeted mercilessly toward the pinned adversary. The carnage culminated in an ear-splitting howl coming from a dying Iron Giant that was skewered by the vengeful spear.
Another battle has been won, but the war rages on. Drawing no respite from their victory, the pair then turned their attentions anew to the source of the tortured echoes, which by now have assumed the frightful pitch of a million agonizing souls desperately begging to be relieved of their pain. To their horror, the sound now seemed centered on the swirling maelstrom that was engulfing them earlier. Appearing like a natural tornado, the conflagration of spinning green energy has now affixed itself over the lake that was once so pristine and peaceful.
The lion beast groaned, as if in pain. His heightened sensitivity to the planet's ominous voice now coming to fore. And he didn't like what he heard: the night cries of a tormented and wounded world. His horror was already indescribable, and yet it still had to be aggravated by a separating resonance that clearly indicated the presence of an avenging spirit bent on exacting retribution for its parent-world. Sensing the second anomaly himself, the gunslinger's usually placid face likewise became awash with unheard of terror. The cries of the planet have now been joined with a roar promising unmerciful revenge.
At the center of the verdant vortex, a malevolent shape began to solidify. They never thought it possible. But now, it appears they are in for the fight of their lives as their horrified eyes witness the birth of a new Weapon.
End of Part Nine