FF7 Heartstrings
Vincent Unleashed
by TacomaSquall
Part Twelve:
Marlene stood by the ruins of the old Corel Reactor. Gutted by the explosions from years ago, and the hasty withdrawal of ShinRa with the Huge Materia more than a year ago, only decaying and corroded girders stretched towards the sky. A shell of its former grandeur, the Mako Reactor had been scavenged for what useful part there were by the people who rebuilt Corel.
When she used the Exit Materia her father had given her, Marlene had appeared here. She had collapsed, sobbing in relief at her narrow escape. After a while to articulate her grief, she sniffled and pulled herself to her feet. She noted that she was not dressed for an adventure today, but she had little choice. Vincent was going to keep looking for her. She had to stay hidden until Barret arrived.
She looked around at her surroundings, and decided to hide in the Reactor's ruins. No one would look for her in there.
Unbeknownst to the young girl, a pair of eyes followed her progress from above. The eyes belonged to an eagle, which had had the misfortune of encountering a mouse that was not a mouse up on the North Glacier. Now, the eagle was the host of Jenova.
That child is my best chance to gain a human form quickly.
* * * * * *
In the hidden city of Nuavalan, the aged Sahugin storyteller, Tara, awakened from her slumber. In her dreams, she had been playing in the fields near the Temple of Life with her sisters. Somehow, she had known their fates, that they would die trying to stop Jenova. Her play was tinged with the sadness that she would outlive them all, trapped by a curse to be the witness of the final battle against the death that came from beyond the Planet.
Her eyes fluttered, and she sighed in sorrow. She could sense Jenova's growth, from a shapeless mass that had been all that remained after her defeat in the North Crater, to a mouse form, and now to an avian form. It was only a matter of time before Jenova found a human or Mako-twisted host to increase her stature to where it was so recently.
Perhaps there was something that the Frogmen could do to help fight Jenova. She rang a bell, and a young Frog darted into her chamber.
"What is it, Eldest?" The young Frog's voice quavered in eagerness to serve the most prestigious member of the Frogmen's community.
Maiji's daughter was such a help to the old Sahugin. It was such a shame that turning her into a Frog had been the only possible way to save the child's life. "Please ask Grennek to come to me, Nerise. The time has come for the Frogmen of the Apocalypse to reveal themselves."
* * * * * *
The Palmer surged out from the ShinRa Naval Base near Costa del Sol. Her supplies had been restocked, her depleted Materia cells replaced with new ones, and her crew given a short half-day of leave due to the unexpected beneficence of the Turks.
Belowdecks, the revitalized crew went about their tasks smartly, trusting that their Captain, Michael Townsend, knew exactly what they were doing. In the meantime, in the Officer's Stateroom, Captain Townsend was discovering exactly where it was his submarine was to go, and what they were going to do once they had arrived.
* * * * * *
"If I understand you correctly, we are going to go up the Gongaga River to the its source, in the southern end of the Corel Mountains. There we will surface, depositing you in a cavern there. If you haven't come back in an hour, we are supposed to fire enough cruise missiles into the mountain face to destroy Junon, much less seal the cave forever?" Captain Townsend was incredulous.
"Basically." Rude's voice was calm, as he tried to explain how they were going to arrive at their destination. "However, there are some minor details that need to be emphasized. The Gongaga River is not a true river, but is a canal, crafted to support riverine traffic. The source of the River is a natural reservoir that overflows into the canal way. There is no way that the Palmer can travel there through this waterway."
"How the hell do you expect us to get there, then?"
"Through this." Rude spread a chart out on the wardroom table. It showed the entirety of the underwater basin between Costa del Sol and Junon. To the north, the two continental masses tapered to a narrow strait. Near this strait was marked a subterranean corridor. The corridor stretched from the strait, underneath the plains, hills, and mountains of Corel, to the source of the Gongaga River. Scrawled alongside the entirety of the corridor were notations of depth and sonar readings.
Rude pointed out the corridor. "This corridor leads to a natural chimney. It had always baffled scientists why the Gongaga River's source didn't deposit more water into the rest of the river, with all of the snowmelt from the mountains flowing into the lake. More than a year ago, AVALANCHE discovered why."
Captain Townsend studied the markings on the map. "With these soundings, I should be able to navigate our passage through this channel. It is not going to be easy, though."
Rude smiled. "I'm not ordering you to make this easy. All you need to do is get us there in the next forty-eight hours."
"Yes, sir."
* * * * * *
"Whaddaya mean, set Sephiroth free?" Barret could not believe his ears.
"Yeah! We go all this way and defeat a damn Weapon, and you tell us that we are barking up the wrong tree?" Cid jabbed the Flayer into the ground to emphasize his point.
"My time is past. I gave my life to summon Holy and stop Sephiroth. In doing so, his soul and mine became linked. If I return to the land of the living, so can he." Aeris' voice dripped with the grief that shone in her tearing eyes. "As much as I wish to be reunited with my friends, I cannot stay with you."
Yuffie found herself nodding her head in agreement with Aeris' statement. Before she could speak, another voice spoke – the one she least expected to speak.
"She's right." Cloud looked at each of his companions in turn. "You guys know how much Aeris meant to me, and how much it would mean to me if she were somehow able to come back to life." His eyes met Tifa's, and he could see the hurt in them from his statement.
He gulped and continued. "In the last year, we have had to make our way through a world without Aeris. Each of us has tried and either failed or succeeded to come to terms with our loss. Now, in the face of a new crisis, we are threatening to reopen all of the old wounds by restoring her."
Nanaki added, "The Planet felt our attempt to break the Law of Death. That is why it created the Adamantine Weapon. Does it not follow that breaking this Law is bad for the world we are trying to save?"
Cloud nodded. "I didn't think it all the way through until just now, but we not only were going to open our own personal wounds, but we were going to do something that would damage the Lifestream itself." His voice grew more passionate. "The Planet's lifeforms flow into the Lifestream when they meet their end. If we draw a life back that has been absorbed into the Lifestream, don't we run the chance of inflicting just as bad of a wound on the Planet as Jenova did?"
Nanaki picked up where Cloud left off. "And if we broke the Law of Death, others could too. Imagine someone bringing back Rufus, Scarlet or Heidegger."
Tifa added, "Imagine someone bringing back HoJo." Her voice was grim.
"But, we need an Ancient to trap Chaos," Barret ventured gamely.
Cloud replied, "When the Mako-twisted were first trapped in Materia, it was a different age. The Cetra were dominant due to their harmony with the Planet. Instead of looking to return the world to the Age of the Cetra, we need to look at how we can defeat Chaos."
Cloud's voice gained conviction as he spoke. "We are AVALANCHE. Two years ago, we had the hubris to proclaim ourselves the protectors of the Planet. In this day, we stand in the stead of the Cetra. Our methods and weapons are not the same. Never will we be as in tune with the soul of the Planet. However, we defeated Sephiroth and Jenova. Somehow, we can and will defeat Chaos!"
Cloud turned to Phoenix. "Please keep Aeris here for a moment. There is someone who needs to say farewell to her." Tears in his eyes, Cloud turned to Yuffie. "We will wait for you at the Highwind, Yuffie. Take the time you need, and then release Aeris."
"But –" Yuffie tried to demur.
"You need to do this just as much as I did when I came here before the wedding." Cloud's tone was firm, brooking no argument. A tear ran down Yuffie's face, and she impulsively hugged the leader of AVALANCHE.
Cloud held Yuffie for a moment, and then turned his gaze to Aeris. "You will always be a part of us, even though we go on to face life without you by our side. The greatest gift I have known in my 23 years is the gift of your friendship. Farewell, my friend."
Cloud turned and led the other members of AVALANCHE away from Yuffie and Aeris. In his mind, he heard the soft voice of Phoenix. "Well done, brother."
* * * * * *
The ruins of the Corel Reactor. A sharp cry. The flash of talons and a burst of feathers. A long despairing scream that was smothered suddenly.
Marlene was no more.
End of Part Twelve