--Chapter 2: Dreams of the Past and Future--
What am I thinking? Going off with a man I don't know to learn things I already know... Ifalna shook her head in irritation. She was going to leave Cosmo Canyon and go to the Capital with a scientist that worked for Shinra. Why had she agreed? I know more of the Cetra than he, but why did I agree to go? Why? I can't just cancel...
"I can trust him.." she whispered to herself as she sat on the small bed in her room. "I hope."
It had felt right in her mind when Michael Gast had offered it. The chance to go back to her birthplace, her home. She was the last of the Cetra, yet she had not seen her true home since her first wailing breath as a babe.
The back of Ifalna's neck tickled, and she smiled. The Planet was happy that she would return to the City. For the first time in years, it would be able to converse with its child freely. Soft tendrils of emotion curled into Ifalna's mind, telling her of the joy that would come of her visit. Maybe it is for the best.
Yawning, Ifalna undressed, pulling on an old T-shirt to sleep in. Muted voices, rising from Planet, caught her ear as she slipped into the sleep that was overtaking her. Goodnight, Ifalna.
Night, Daddy.
Her eyelids fluttered, finally closing. Ifalna's breathing slowed to a steady, rhythmic pace. As her father's voice left her mind, leaving behind a ethereal pace, Ifalna was deep asleep. And her dreams took her mind.
*
The sky was a darkened cauldron of thunder, lightning, and fat raindrops. The rain had been falling in steady torrents for days. It seemed as if this freak storm would never pass. Trees had been felled, belongings left outside swept away, and homes destroyed. And it looked as if this were the calm before the storm.
Ifalna had been sent to Gagonga a week earlier to buy supplies not found in the small village of Garner. The skies had been as blue as her mother's clear bright eyes, promising good weather for days to come. Her wild chocobo, had quickly taken her to the farming town, with the help of some greens given to her by her father.
Once arriving to Gagonga, the storm had passed over, leaving behind remnants of nature's fury. For nearly a week, Ifalna stayed behind, helping the people get back to their feet, unknowing that her own village was suffering worse. Using her limited Cetra abilities, she healed some of the sick, leaving her week.
A week had gone and past, taking her into another. Finally, drained and eager to be home, Ifalna purchased the original supplies she needed for her mother and father. After a long day's travel on her trouble-making chocobo, Ifalna arrived to the ruins of her village. The damn keeping the water from the area had broken over the water that had so suddenly come into it.
"Mom?! Daddy?!"
There had been only three survivors of the entire flood, herself not included. Her mother, father, and young brother had all drowned. Why couldn't the help tame the storm? she had asked herself, tears running down pale cheeks.
The ancient powers that the Cetra had possessed thousands of years ago had dwindled to nothing but meager healing abilities. For the first time in Ifalna's life, she became bitter, not trusting anything any longer. She was twenty-two years old, and she was very alone in the world.
*
Ifalna's eyes opened slowly, cold tears shining in her eyes. Sitting up, she fumbled for the lamp, nearly knocking it over. Squinting as the bright light hit her eyes, Ifalna fumbled for her watch on the nightstand. 4:23 AM.
"Great. I'll never..," she yawned, "Get to sleep.."
But, as if to defy her words, she lay back down, clearing her mind of her painful memories. So much loss happened to her in her life. Life is like that.. If you don't become stronger from it, then you'll be swept away.. Moments later, she fell into another bout of sleep, another dream winding its way into her subconscious...
*
There was nothing. The pitch darkness seemed to envelope her, caress her skin, and fill her nostrils with it sickly sweet fragrance. Soft echoes of dry, rasping laughter bounced off the walls, bombarding her ears with noise as it grew louder, louder, louder.. She couldn't hear anything, save that devilish laughter.
Was there no escape from this hovel of insanity in which she had been placed? Her mind strained for thought to enter, exerted itself trying to shut out the sound, and panted as the darkness became tangible, stroking her skin.
Then, all at once, all the sensory demons left her, fleeing to the recesses of the darkness, which faded away to nothingness. She shuddered violently, the memory of it enough to make her vomit. Slowly, a soft, ethereal light shone down into the room, its emerald hues almost revitalizing her. The beautiful tones darkened, transformed even, into a bloody crimson.
She felt a shiver of fear, ancient fear from thousands of years before, run up and down her spine, paralyzing her. The light.. That blood.. It was the color of blood... There was something.. Something evil, there..
"I have to get away!!" she yelled, panic seizing her heart.
The ruby beams pulsated, there light trying to tear open her mind, just as the other had done. She.. would not.. let it!
*
Ifalna awoke again, sitting up at a sickening wave of nausea overtook her body. She threw the coverlet off of her body, rushing to the restroom. For several minutes, she sat before the toilet, dry heaves racking her frame. After the sickness left her, Ifalna sat in a heap against the toilet, her forehead resting against the cool white ceramic.
Moments later, Ifalna heard a series of quick knocks on her door. She stood, holding the wall for support, and then made her way to the door, opening it up a crack. "Yes?"
The inn's receptionist waited outside her door. When Ifalna opened the door, she smiled brightly. "Good morning! I have a message for you, ma'am, from Professor Gast." The woman handed Ifalna the letter, leaving after a few moments of bright smiles.
Closing the door and leaning against it, Ifalna opened the unsealed envelope, quickly scanning the words.
Miss Ifalna,
Please join a friend and I for lunch today before we leave for the Ancient's City. It be past the Tiger Lily weapons shop at eleven forty-five sharp. You will probably enjoy her company. She knows much about the Cetra.
Sincerely,
M. Gast
Ifalna folded the letter, smiling. Thick-headed men and their chicken scrawl writing. It was amazing that she could eve read that. Nevertheless, Ifalna would go. A conversation about her people would be fun, especially since she knew more than pretty much anyone.
After checking her watch, which read eleven o'clock, Ifalna jumped into the shower. As the warm water ran through her hair and over her tired body, Ifalna thought aloud.
"What is with that dream I had? I guess it's from the alcohol on an empty stomach.."
After thirty minutes of getting ready, Ifalna left her room, walking through the city of Cosmo Canyon, towards the small restaurant called the Blue Moon Café. She stopped short when she saw who, rather what, was sitting beside the professor. What was that? A cat? Lion? Wolf?