Nightmares of the Soul
A fanfic by Iridal & Kaitou
A Meeting of Kindred Spirits
The sky was long-since dark by the time Sephiroth and his unlikely companion reached the outer gates of Midgar. They were weary and dusty, but both had felt the need to press on and reach Midgar that night. It was almost as if something was calling them...
Tifa slammed the glass down on the bar inside Seventh Heaven, startling everyone. "I can't take it anymore! JENOVA is back, and all we are doing is sitting on our butts waiting for her to destroy everything!"
Cid frowned. "Woman, the *%&^% Dukes of Hazzard is on. Be quiet."
"No Cid!!! I will NOT be quiet!!!!" Tifa paced. "Vincent has been gone for days, not a word from him. He is KEY to beating JENOVA!"
Cloud looked up from his glass. "Well, dear, he'll be back. He always is."
Tifa rested her elbows on the bar. "I know, but..."
Barret finally spoke up. "Woman, be quiet! As soon as this crap Dukes of Hazzard is over, the A-team is comin' on! Mr. T is so ^&*&%( cool!"
Tifa clenched her fists angrily, and would have again spoken out, but she felt Cloud's arms wrap around her. Unseen to Tifa, he had crossed behind her, and now began whispering in her ear. "Darling, our tempers are all on edge. Everything will be fine, you'll see. Vincent will come home soon, and we will beat JENOVA as we have once before." Tilting his head downward slightly, he lightly kissed her neck. "So don't worry, I'm sure he'll..."
"VINCENT!" Tifa broke free of Cloud and ran towards the door, where the tall, dark man had just entered. She opened her mouth to begin barraging him with questions...but then she saw the girl right behind him. Moving aside, Vincent gently took the silver-haired woman by the arm and pulled her into 7th Heaven.
Ever since the Meteor Crisis had almost knocked ShinRa out of power, the gates to the outside world were always closed, but were never locked. A lone ShinRa soldier was standing guard, but was under no orders to stop any entrants.
Suddenly, as the two figures swept across his monitor, the soldier sat bolt upright in his chair. It couldn't be... His hands trembling, he picked up the phone and pressed 9, the number to call ShinRa headquarters in the heart of Midgar. After he had finished telling the first operator what he'd seen, she transferred him to another, who then transferred him to some executive or another, who finally transferred him higher. MUCH higher.
"H...hello?"
"Who is this? Name, rank, and station please."
"Gestalt, sir. Leo Gestalt. Sergeant. Station is Sector 7 Gateway."
"Fine, Gestalt. Hold on one minute." There was some scuffling in the background and voices Gestalt could not hear. Then, that voice came back on the line. "Ok, Gestalt. Tell me what you saw."
"Sir, could I please know whom I am speaking with? This is classified..."
A sudden burst of laughter followed. "You mean to tell me, you don't know who this IS?!"
Gestalt faltered. "I..I..."
"This is President Rufus Shinra."
"Oh gods! Yessir! I mean...what I saw sir, was this: A man fitting the description of Sephiroth entered the Sector 7 gates not more than 5 minutes ago, sir. He was accompanied by a young man."
"Young man? Give me a description."
"Well sir, from what I could see, the guy was about six foot, well-built, carrying a rather large sword. Looked pretty powerful. Red hair."
"Good, Gestalt. Where did they look like they were heading?"
"Well...the direction they headed would take them to the 7th Heaven bar, in the heart of Sector 7."
"Alright Gestalt. Good work tonight. Hey, when is your relief due in?"
"Umm..." Gestalt checked his watch. "Should be, 5-6 minutes."
"Good. Plenty of time. Goodbye, Gestalt." The phone line went dead.
Gestalt hung up the phone and collapsed into his chair. "Fresh air...that's what I need, some fresh air." He stood slowly and walked outside, leaning on the guardrail. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a rather husky male voice.
"Sergeant Gestalt? We need to speak with you. Inside."
Without turning, Gestalt said, "Not possible. On duty..." Suddenly his head was yanked back and he was pulled into his guardhouse, the door locking behind them. Groggily opening his eyes, he saw not one, but four pairs of feet. He looked up. "Holy...you're the...the..." A blow to the back of the neck silenced him forever.
The redhead smiled wanly. "The Turks."
The man with the long black hair turned toward the door, pausing long enough to speak once more to his comrades. "Come on, guys. Contrary to popular belief, it looks like the Turks are going to heaven."
Tifa stepped forward and offered her hand. "Hi, I'm Tifa Lockheart. Nice to meet you."
Gwyn hesitated slightly, then took Tifa's hand. "I'm...very pleased to meet you." Her eyes surveyed the other woman's less...discreet clothing. My...women sure have become more forward in the past centuries...
Vincent suppressed a small smile when he saw Gwyn's gaze sweep over Tifa's outfit. "Come, Gwyn...let me introduce you to my other friends." As they were introduced, each person smiled at Gwyn. "This is Cid, Barret, Yuffie - don't let her NEAR your materia - Cloud, and Red XIII, but his real name is..."
Gwyn cut him off in mid-sentence as she dropped to one knee. "Nanaki. I never got the chance to know you, but I was there when your mother found out she was carrying you. I am honored to know you."
Red XIII looked at Gwyn strangely for a moment, then seemed to understand. "You are one of the two human girls who protected Cosmo Canyon. Legend said you had disappeared after one of you betrayed us by attacking Bugenhagen, who was being protected by my father, Seto. She left after a draw and the other followed. Which are you?"
Gwyn smiled softly. "I was the follower. My friend Charis was the offender - but...it was not her doing."
Red XIII nodded. "Yes, we know that now. Is she also returned to the world?"
Gwyn winced. "I do not know. I wish I did."
Tifa, sensing the rising tension, interrupted. "Would anyone like some...." She was interrupted by a soft wark outside the door and the muffled thud of footsteps approaching the entry. Is he here already...? Gwyn, seeing the slightly expectant and guarded looks and following their line of sight, spun around as well.
There in the doorway stood a man. He was tall - taller than even Vincent - and had the lean, muscular build of a warrior, she noted. His hair was very long, and the same argent shade as her own; a brilliant color that was quite rare in her own time, if not unique. His bright green eyes scanned the group, reflecting both an unspoken challenge and a wary cautiousness, as if he expected to be either welcomed or attacked with equal likelihood.
It wasn't the expression in his eyes that caught her attention, however - it was the color. His verdant green eyes glowed...even brighter than the shining azure eyes of the silent blond fellow that stood so close to their hostess. A sure sign of JENOVA's touch, she mused. Is her reach so widespread in this time that I find not one, but three individuals with her mark upon them?
The tall warrior's formidable gaze was unwavering, meeting everyone's questioning or grim look fearlessly. A few in the room frowned, not even bothering to mask the suspicion they obviously felt...Vincent's expression was indiscernible.
Seeing that he was more or less welcome, he stepped aside to let his tall companion enter the bar...a person that, despite the layers of dun colored clothing, Gwyn readily recognized. "C-charis? Is it truly you?!"
The stranger froze. Pushing back the layers of scarves, the stranger uncovered a woman's face - a face wide-eyed in shock and disbelief at who was standing before her. "Oh gods...Gwyn..." She stepped forward and grabbed the mage into a bear hug. "Yes...yes, of course it's me!"
The two fiercely hugged for a moment or two, the tall lady warrior not noticing the large cat-like beast sprawled nearby. That is, until she happened to glance over her friend's shoulder and saw the red furred creature looking at her curiously...a creature whose race she knew all too well. Charis gasped and drew back from the mage, the facial expression one of equal parts shock and remorse. She visibly recoiled as Red rose to his feet and solemnly approached her.
"You needn't fear me, Charis..." he said as he crouched down on his haunches in front of her. "Or the anger of myself and the Canyon. We suspected possession afterwards, when we had time to further ponder the occurrence, and your companion has vouched for you. Together, this proves to me that you are quite innocent..."
Charis stopped her retreat, but a frown crept across her features and her gaze dropped to the floor. "I may be forgiven by Gwyn...and forgiven by everyone else I've ever hurt...but I can never forgive myself." Her voice was very quiet, filled with deep pain and a self-loathing that seemed to grow by the second. "And I'm anything but innocent. I have too much blood on my hands to ever bear that description again..."
The mage standing beside her frowned. "He's right, you know. It was not your fault...it was all JENOVA."
It seemed she was about to object further, but the scantily dressed barkeep, Tifa, smoothly interjected. "Which is why we're all here, Charis. To defeat her once again and make sure what happened to you - to ALL of us - will never happen again." She gestured to the others in the bar, who had been watching with a quiet yet piercing sort of curiosity. "All of us here have had our lives screwed up and changed by JENOVA...especially Sephiroth." Tifa nodded in the direction of the tall silver-haired warrior who had entered with Charis. Sephiroth scowled at the reference, but chose not to comment on it.
During the entire exchange, Vincent stood quietly in the corner, focusing his thoughts on the real issue...the one that prompted former enemies to join as allies. AVALANCHE had defeated the evil entity in her final - and most deadly - incarnation, or had they? "Tifa, why do you believe that JENOVA has revived?"
Yuffie, who had remained silent during the conversation and instead fiddled with a materia, spoke up. "'Cause that's what the Turks think. Or at least that's what Reno said."
One of Vincent's slender black eyebrows disappeared into his crimson bandana. "Reno told you this?"
Her mouth curved into a slight smirk at that. "Not by choice. I hadn't seen him in his usual dives around Midgar or the ShinRa building for a few days, and he said he was off on official Turk business." Yuffie's smirk fell from her face and she sighed. "He slipped up and mentioned how he and Rude investigating possible JENOVA-type occurrences. Something about Mako fluctuations..."
"The ShinRa have been keeping an eye on anything related to the whole Meteor incident," Cloud said. "If anyone would know first, it would be the Turks." It was obvious that Cloud was upset at the news. JENOVA and those under her influence had caused him a lot of pain and mental duress, and he wasn't about to let that happen again.
"I think that these 'Turk' fellows might be correct in their assumption," Gwyn said hesitantly. "Just the simple fact that Charis and I are here is evidence of her return. "I don't think our lives would have been restored otherwise, and I doubt the Lifestream would release our souls unless she was truly gone."
Tifa scanned the room, noting that her companions' expressions seemed collectively grim and dour. No, this is definitely not good news. Her gaze finally settled on Sephiroth. His face was not its normal haughty appearance, but had a bleak aspect not seen on him before. Could it be...fear? "Sephiroth, what about at the Crater? Have you seen any signs of JENOVA?"
"Yes..." The great general frowned a bit, as his wary sense of caution kicked in at the sight of so many of his former 'enemies' turning their direct attention to him. No matter how long we are allies, it will be an eternity before we can trust one another. "Dozens of little signs, almost unnoticeable to most, have begun to spring up there...even shortly after her defeat. Creatures that were created from her power and that should have died with her have become almost prolific there. And sometimes...I can feel her at the very brink of my consciousness...not as powerful or overwhelming as before, but the tiniest pull at the edge of my awareness, like catching a glimpse of something out of your peripheral vision."
"Goddammit!!" Cid swore from a barstool near the wall. "That #$@*(! headless freak is runnin' around loose again!"
Red gave a tolerant smile to his grizzled friend. "We're just assuming that. It could just be mere coincidence..."
"Not likely," Vincent said humorlessly. "We would be fools to not investigate and just hope that nothing's wrong. All signs seem to be pointing to JENOVA's existence."
The pilot bit down on his cigarette stub angrily. "Well what the hell do we do now!?!
"We defeat her, of course. This time for good."
The smooth sounding voice had come from a man standing in the doorway. His expensive white designer suit was immaculate, from his heavy outer coat and the waist length jacket to his crisp white pants, and he arrogantly flipped back the errant strands of stylishly cut blond hair that hung in his eyes. Three men and a woman gathered around him, all outfitted in neatly pressed blue suits...or at least three of them did. The cocky red head by his left shoulder had a slouching, rumpled look.
Barret stomped forward. "Rufus! What do you an' your $@(!$@ Turks want, foo'?!"
Yuffie meanwhile stalked over to the disheveled man. "Reno!! What are you and the other goons doing here!? This meeting is PRIVATE!" She reached out her hand and hit him upside the head.
"OW!! What'd you do THAT for?!"
"Because you're an idiot!"
"Stupid brat."
Rufus rolled his eyes and stepped forward, ignoring the pair as they bickered by the door. "We came to help. I believe you are going to need it."
"We don't need your goddamn help, pretty boy!!" the large man growled.
"Barret!! Stop it," Tifa admonished. "We need all the help we can get, and the Turks have access to all sorts of info from the world over!"
He crossed his arms and frowned. She could easily kick his ass if she got angry enough, but there was no way he could back down without losing face in front of the ShinRa. "Why the hell does he care anyway?" He returned his suspicious look back to the blond executive.
Rufus' brazen smirk wavered and the confident gaze lowered. "Last time I fought for my company, but that means nothing to me now. Let's just say I have something better to fight for now..."