FF7 Heartstrings
Vincent Unleashed
by TacomaSquall
Part Fourteen:
In the stygian darkness of the Glooms, Tenebrius paced in his suite. I have loyally served Lord Tenarrus for centuries, and what is my reward? To be the butt of Coyote's japes? To watch as that hoyden, Inanna, seizes control of my master's court? To stand and allow Uragi's insults to unpunished?
His Lord was becoming shortsighted, and was allowing Inanna's scheming to take control of his court. It was only a matter of time before she attempts to seal her control over the court. Once that happened, his days were numbered, and Tenebrius knew it.
He walked to the darkling wall of his chamber, bearing his accouterments of warfare. From the stand that kept it arranged neatly, he removed and donned his armor. A tunic of padding that stretched from neck to mid-thigh was donned first. A mesh vest of interlocking rings was pulled on over this padded tunic.
As Tenebrius took down his breastplate, he realized he was not alone in his suite. His breathing grew harsh. "Reveal yourself," he commanded.
Lord Chaos stepped into the vivid dark of the room. "I came to speak with you, most puissant of generals."
"I care nothing for your flattery, demon." Tenebrius still rankled at Chaos' infrequent presence in the Glooms. "State your reason for coming into my chambers without invitation." He reached to a rack on the wall, and pulled Rimewand forth. "It had better be good, or else your head will soon be looking for a new place to rest."
"If a humble servant may make an observation?" Chaos bowed deeply to Tenebrius.
"Go on."
Chaos nodded and stood upright, his eyes still downcast but standing straight. "You seem to have, shall we say, problems, with your fellow horsemen."
Tenebrius growled, "So much is obvious. They have not served Lord Tenarrus as long, or as loyally, as I have!" He slammed the hilt of Rimewand against the table that stood besides his armor stand. The table shattered under the force of his blow.
Chaos continued. "I know of a way that they could be cut out of the conquest of the Planet, while allowing you to gain appropriate glory for achieving its subjugation on your own." The Mako-twisted demon laughed. "After all, those fools from AVALANCHE are only mere mortals. What danger could they be to the greatest of Tenarrus' lords?"
"I will not disobey my Master's command." Tenebrius' voice was firm.
"Ahhh, but Lord Tenebrius," Chaos purred, "I wasn't included in that command against intrigues. I am sure I can figure out some way to modify the portal to the Planet so that it is no longer functional once you and I have departed for Mount Nibel to face AVALANCHE."
Tenebrius nodded thoughtfully. He inquired, suspiciously, "What do you gain from this, demon?"
Chaos stepped into the gloom of the chamber. He indicated a rent in one of his wings. "When I faced Coyote's daughter alongside AVALANCHE, she hurt me. In fact, she dealt to me a greater injury than any I had ever sustained. Even now, more than a year later, the wound troubles me." Chaos grimaced. "She died a year ago, in the North Crater. I want her father to hurt as badly as she hurt me."
Tenebrius nodded. Revenge, he could understand. "Do what you will, demon. It is better that I not know the details of what you plan."
Chaos bowed deeply and started to leave. "One last thing, demon," Tenebrius commanded. Chaos paused. "Never enter my quarters uninvited again. The fate you plan for Coyote would be kinder than what will happen to you, if you return without my leave."
Chaos bowed deeper and flowed out of the chamber. As the Mako-twisted avatar of randomness sped towards the chamber of the Portal, he was filled with glee. The proud fool fell for it! The time for my revenge is coming, Lord Tenarrus!
* * * * * *
The Highwind sped towards the Barrier. There was no time to slow down to make the transition easier for the passengers of the airship. If they were going to have any chance of reaching Mideel in time to stop Chaos, they were going to need to hit the Barrier at full speed.
The massive engines of the airship strained, as Cid's expert hands coaxed a few more miles per hour out of the Highwind. The speedometer edged above 100 miles an hour. All the members of AVALANCHE were safely belowdecks, excluding the grizzled pilot and his newfound Frog friend. They stood on the airship's deck, lashed into place, their bodies shaking with the constant impact of the racing winds upon them.
The airship drew closer and closer to the Barrier. As always before, there were the usual queasy-making effects of the Barrier – the waves that ran into the Barrier and were not present on the other side; the sudden change of weather patterns; the difference in the intensity of sunlight from one side of the Barrier to the other. Energies swirled visibly around the invisible line that bridged the gap between the north of the Planet and the south. Cid had never seen such disturbances around the Barrier before.
"That's the Barrier?" Yager asked.
"That's the damn thing," Cid agreed. What was happening, and was it connected to Chaos being loosed?
The Highwind streaked into the Barrier and plowed through the choruscating energies. Arcs of electricity flowed from the Barrier, into the airship and its two unprotected passengers. The electricity flowed through them both and into the hull of the Airship. Capacitors designed to help deal with lightning strikes drained the energies into the batteries of the airship, adding extra energy to the Highwind's reserves.
The shock of the electrical strike swept both Cid and Yager towards unconsciousness. As the tide of nothingness engulfed Cid, he slapped on the airship's autopilot.
* * * * * *
Yuffie noticed that she could no longer feel the airship moving. She lay in her customary space belowdecks, where she could be reassured by the metallic bulk of the airship, bringing a measure of stability to combat her ever-present airsickness.
The ninja looked terrible. She had cleaned up and changed her clothes after the tremendous bout of nausea caused by the rough ride through the Barrier, but she was still wide-eyed, and a little green at the gills, as the saying went. She stood up unsteadily, and tottered over to the cabin that was assigned to her during AVALANCHE's journey to stop Sephiroth.
As she reached for the door, she heard a door open within the cabin. She paused and listened. The door within the cabin closed, and she heard the muffled sound of running water. She slowly turned the handle to open the cabin door, and softly walked in.
The cabin was lit by a single lamp by the bed. The bedcovers were thrown back, and there were specks of blood on the sheets. On the ground next to the bed lay the pair of studded gauntlets that Tifa loved to wear – God's Hand.
She hear the sound of running water stop, and waited quietly. A few moments later, Tifa walked out of the cabin's bathroom. Tifa's body was beginning to show slight signs of the baby she was carrying, Yuffie noted. Tifa's clothes seemed a little tight around the abdomen, and Tifa looked as green as Yuffie figured she herself did. Blood spotting… oh no!
Tifa saw Yuffie look at the bed, and saw the panic bloom in the ninja's expression. "Yuffie, please. I'm alright, and I think the baby is too. It is normal for there to be a little spotting of blood during a pregnancy, especially if the mother is active."
"But –"
"Don't tell Cloud. I need to be here with you guys, not sitting back someplace safe while the rest of you risk your lives." Tifa spoke with the passion of the young woman who joined AVALANCHE to stop ShinRa's plundering of the Planet. Gone was the hesitancy that Yuffie remembered ever since Tifa discovered that she was carrying Cloud's daughter. "My daughter would never forgive me if I sat aside while her father risked his life to stop Chaos."
Yuffie nodded. "I won't tell Cloud." She looked over at the chest that she kept her clothes in while she was on-board the airship. "I need to change out of these clothes and wash up."
As she strode over to the chest, the airship's intercom crackled. "Ummmm, guys, you might want to come topside and look at this." Yager's voice was bleak. Gone completely was the Frogman's usual ebullience.
* * * * * *
The members of AVALANCHE gathered on the flight deck of the Highwind. Yager stood at the ship's rail, while Cid shook his head groggily. "Look down below," the Frog suggested. His voice was shaking with horror.
Tifa walked to the railing, her companions and friends striding alongside her. I am glad Yuffie didn't tell Cloud. He has enough to worry about already.
As one, AVALANCHE's members looked over the side. What they saw below chilled them to their very bones.
The tropical island that Mideel was situated upon was half-covered in jungle, they remembered from more than a year before. Not anymore. Much of the jungle was burned and scorched, uprooted by titanic forces. Fires still burned in some areas of the jungle, where the usually-oppressive moisture had been driven away. From above, they could make out the impact sites for numerous Comet and Comet2 spells, along with Flares and Fire4s.
When the friends gazed at the former site of Mideel, however, their blood ran cold. The ruins of the town had vanished. Covering the Pool of Souls, the upwelling of the Lifestream that Cloud and Tifa had fallen into more than a year ago, was a lattice of a white material.
In Junon, Reeve, looking through Cait Sith's eyes, flipped a switch. The stuffed moogle's ocular instrumentation narrowed its aperture, and the retinal surface was moved backwards. With the modifications made to the moogle's visual equipment, Reeve was able to see…
"The lattice is made of bones. Human bones." Cait Sith's voice was tinged with horror. "And, Cloud, Chaos left a message for us…"
End of Part Fourteen