Last of the Cetra
Chapter 4: Reaching for the Forbidden
'Reports have been confirmed. 3
members of the band, 'sYnthetic blade', are
offically dead, with one missing, and another
coming back from a vaction,' stated a news
woman as she stared blankly at camera.
A picture of a woman with ebony hair
with purple makeup to contrast her dead-white
skin came up. 'Lulu Ricku, bass guitarist,'
Another photo came up of a girl up.
This time it was a blonde with creamy skin and
cold blue eyes. 'Quistis Trepe, drums,'
The final picture of another female,
but this female wore an exotic, crimson mask to
cover her features, but left her cat yellow
eyes exposed. 'and Edea Kramer, digital master, remixer,
and key board.
'All of which were killed last night in
a deadly car accident. The lead guitairist,
Yuffie Kisaragi, was away on vaction when this
happened.' Stated the woman emotionless. With
cooler inpassivement, she went on, 'Officals
have came to the conculsion that it was done by
Terrorist- anger by the fact the band was
signing a contract with Shinra Inc. Further
investigation is looking into this horrible
action...'
The camera switched views on the woman,
and she turned to the face the camera. Looking
slightly upset now, she spoke, 'Which leads us
into today's top story.
'The musical Diva of "sYnthetic blade"-
the Diva Butterfly, aka Aeris Gainsborough- is
missing. Last seen at the Club Revolutionair,
the musician was said to be last seen going
into the car with her band members. Only a few
hours later, the car was discovered, band
members dead, and the Diva missing.'
A photo came over the screen of the TV of a
woman with long golden brown hair, bright
emerald eyes laying naked in a bed of purple,
black, and silver roses. Her hair was covered
her breasts, while her legs were position in
manner to hide her nether region. Beautiful
silvery-cobalt wings of a butterfly adorned her
back as she laid there, with a matching mask
hiding her high cheek boned face.
'Shinra Officals, as well as local
law-enforcement, are waiting to recieve word
from the rebels since it does look like a
kidnapping.' Added the woman bluntly. 'But why
they killed the other band members remains
unknown-'
Tifa Lockheart turned off the TV with
disgust writen all over her beautiful face.
Ruby eyes with highlights of crimson narrowed
as she cracked her knuckles.
"Those bloody asses are attempting to
pin the blame on us!" The Valkyrie like woman
snarled at her friends.
Barret leaned back his chair, anger and
resentment written more boldly on his features
then the younger female. "'Dem foo's up at
Shinra sure are smart..."
Nodding, Cloud leaned against the back
of his chair. Looking thoughful, he added,
"but we can't be discouraged. Elmyra
Gainsborough is paying us to save Aeris- and we
have to, no matter what."
Setting down her shot of vodka, Jessie
interjected, "but why Cloud? You seem to know
more about what's going on... and until you
clue us in, no way are we going to rush head
first into this situation."
Watching the rest of the part nod in
agreement, the former Ex-SOLDIER sighed.
"Well, I guess you should know. Especially
since Shinra is placing the entire Planet in
danger..."
"Da whole Planet?" Exclaimed Barret
with disbelief.
"Yes, the whole Planet." Brushing his
wild, spikey hair, Cloud continued, "Ever since
I joined SOLDIER, I learned of Hojo's Quest to
find the last of the living Cetra."
Puzzled, Tifa asked, "What's a Cetra?
And what's so special about them that they had to
kidnap some singer and kill her band?"
"Alien beings that wandered from Planets to
Planets, caring for the Planets, and aiding the
species upon them in evolution. So that when
the Cetra left, the Species could take over,
protect and keep the Planet safe."
"But why would the Cetra wanna do
that?" Inquired Jessie.
"Well, according to Hojo from what he learned,
the Cetra lost their Planet to a Evil being in
the shape of a Meteor," Cloud replied. "So in
order to stop the same fate to other Planets
and stoping the Being from gaining power, the
surviving Cetra became Protectors of the
Universe in their journey to defeat this evil."
Tapping his foot, he added softly,
"they were also looking for a second home since
they lost their own. Among their Journey, they
came to our Planet to rest. After the Cetra
settled for a bit, the Planet became more
aware."
"Aware?" Barret asked.
"Yeah, 'aware'," Cloud eyes became
distant with memories. "Because of the Cetra
caring for the lifestream, the Planet 'woke up'
from the sleep after creating humans. Little
did the Cetra know by waking it up, it caught
the attention of the Meteor Being.
"It came hurling at our Planet with the
intent of killing it, absorbing its' energy,
and killing the Cetra." Frowning, the mako-eyed
man continued, "but a young Priestess combated
it with the powers of her people with energy of
Holy- a gem said to be formed from the tears of
compassion from angels.
"Meteor was defeated, but the Planet was
wounded. Feeling the pain, the Cetra began to
heal the Planet by surrendering their
life-force to Its own. The Planet wept for
sacrfice of the Alien Beings for Its' own sake.
"So the Planet asked the surviving Cetra to
make It their home and they did. Helping the
humans evolved, half of the Cetra remained,
while the rest went on..."
Rubbing the back of his head and giving
a blank look to the entralled audience, Cloud
announced, "that's all I know about the Cetra.
But with a Cetra, Shinra could use them to
enslave the very essence of the Planet!"
"Hot damn boy!" Exclaimed the bear-like
black man. "How in the hella Planet did ya
know so much?"
Advoiding his eyes he muttered, "a
friend..."
Tifa stood up and walked over to her
childhood friend's side and announced, "then we
have to save Aeris. If Aeris is really a
Cetra, then she is the last hope of Healing the
Planet- so it can be saved from Shinra!"
"Damn straight!" Laughed Barret, "With
the Planet on our side, Shinra won't stand a
chance!"
Floating between conscious and
unconscious. In and out of the lifeblood of
the Planet; Lifestream caressing her very
essence as she made her way to the Place in
Heaven for the Cetra that the Angels made-
Promise Land.
Reaching out star-tipped fingers, Aeris
thought, 'mother...'
A flutter of white and green surrounded
Aeris as a woman clothed in silver stood before
her. With shimmering gold eyes and deep carmel
hair like the girl's, the woman stood every
inch queen.
''Aerith... my daughter.. Amazing how you could
reach me this far in the Promise Land only being awaken for only a day...''
Eyes widening at the name, Aeris'
fingers brushed her mothers, 'mother... is that
my true name? All I can remember is Aeris.'
Shining gold eyes; 'yes... It was
sound your foster mother thought she heard from
my dying lips, so she thought it was your name.'
Nodding, the girl went on in which she made her
way here for, 'Mother, I'm scared. I feel like
I'm in dream now, a dream that lead me to
you... There are too many emotions now... I now feel the Planet pulling on my soul, but there is another tug on it; taking me
towards the Forbidden. What am I to do?'
Cocking her head sideways and letting
her hair stream about her, like feathers in the
wind, Aerith's mother studied her daughter.
Pointing a taper finger towards a distant glow
on the Planet, she replied, 'go North; go home.
Fly with humans towards your destiny. Be not
afriad. Holy is with you...'
Sharp pain split through Aeris' conscious
suddenly. 'Mommy! He's taking me away from here
already! I j-just learned to get here! What if
I forget! So many emotions, mommy! I don't want
to leave... he's going to hurt me!'
An inhuman cry arose from Ifalna's lips
as she reached for her daughter as Aeris was
dragged from the Promise Land and back to the
Planet. Anger and fear clear in the mother's
eyes as she shouted, 'fight Aerith! Go back,
it's not your time yet to be here, but fight
him Aerith! Use Holy if you must! It is the-'
Aeris was slammed back into her flesh
cage once more. Eye twitching, the girl felt
herself take control of her body as she
regained conscious.
"So you are awake, Aeris, or should I say
Cetra?" Crackled an insane voice above her.
Opening her eyes, Aeris looked towards
her kidnappers and a doctor as they stood on a
platform in the air before her glass cell.
Shivering under their gaze, the girl's eyes
narrowed.
"My name isn't Aeris nor may you call me Cetra."
Clapping his hands together, the doctor
laughed, "oh, come now! Let's not play that
game..."
"Foolish man! My name is Aerith," the
girl snarled, stressing the 'th' of her name.
"Not Aeris... Aeris merely a human verison of
my name."
The girl stood, spitting on the ground
as to clear the dirty word 'human' out her
mouth. She was scared, terrified, but it was
getting to her. Making her angry at what was
going on; angery at the fact that she was
scared and acting weak. Besides, she was the Butterfly
Diva, love and worshiped by millions. She feared nothing.
Especially some lowly, greasy old Scientist from Shinra!
"So you are claiming not to be human?"
Inquired a blonde woman that stood with the
greasy doctor.
"What I am is no concern of yours,"
replied Aerith sharply. "I doubt, even if it
was a concern of yours, you wouldn't even begin
to comperhend..."
"Oh, she is a fiesty one!" Laughed the
doctor. "So much like her mother before I
broke her."
Eyes narrowing, Aerith snarled, "my
mother? How could you-"
Meeting the girl's gaze head on, the
doctor whispered, "When I captured her again. I raped
her and cut her to make her suffer for escaping
me and making Gast betray me. Can not you
remember the wailings and screams of your
mother as a child, Aerith?"
Backing away from the man, the Cetra leaned
against the back of the cell. So much was
happening a such a short time; too much for
her. Too many emotions, surpressed and coming
out. Looking away, she shouted with the
emotions riding in her voice like a man with
vengance at hand, "You sick bastard! HOW COULD
YOU?"
"Very easily. Anything in the name of
science my dear," replied the scientist mildly
amused.
Before anything else could be exchanged, a
silvery hair man joined the party suddenly.
Without so much a look at the prize of the lab,
the man met the Doctor's gaze with hostility.
Tension and hatred spurred between the two in a
brief moment of eye contact.
"The President wants to see you- now." Hissed
the man in his low, throaty voice with a cold
commanding air. "He sent me, since he couldn't get a hold of you through the phone, Hojo."
Hojo laughed nervously, "Well, he
should have known I would be observing the
Cetra. AHEM, if you will excuse me,
Sephiroth."
Steping back, the ebony leather claded general
let the small man past. Looking over at the
rest of the group, he added with a sadistic
purr, "get the hell out of here, Turks. I will
not let you become minions of Hojo."
Startled at their boss' tone, the two
men and one lady fled from sight.
Icy mint eyes finally gazed down at the
girl when the lab was empty from minions and
spies. With no emotion showing now, he studied
the girl.
"Sephiroth... Tree of Life," the girl
whispered, looking at the man with hope on her
face.
Blinking in shock that the girl
knew his name meaning, the general asked,
"what?"
The girl looked down at her feet as she rubbed
one of her palms on the dirty nightgown that
covered her frail body, which was shivering in
fear and exhaustion. "Sephiroth... Tree of
Life. That is your name, perhaps even
reflecting who you are."
Laughing cruelly, Sephiroth spoke, "I
am no Tree of Life; I am on who takes it at a
whim. Life means nothing to me."
Approaching the side of the cell closer
to the man, Aerith placed her hands on the
wall. "Then why did you protect the children
of Nibelhiem from him?"
"How did you-"
"Help me!" The girl cried out, "take me
away from here! Can you not feel the Planet
die all around here, especially within this
building?"
A frown came upon the general's lips.
This girl was nothing like Jenova... nothing like him.
She was different; shimmering in innocence and
wisdom. The Planet's last hope?
"I'm sorry, I can not. It is against
my job," replied Sephiroth.
A small sob escaped the girls' throat.
Blinking back tears, the girl whispered, "will
you murder the Planet for this abusive Company?
How can you forget the destruction it has
caused?"
"What would some escaped experiment
know about ME? Know about Shinra and
destruction?" Screamed Sephiroth, "you've lived
in your pathetic little, sheltered home and had
a great life while I work to gain my position
so I could LIVE?
"FOOLISH GIRL! YOU KNOW NOTHING!"
Raged Sephiroth. Glaring at the girl, he saw
the girl fall to her knees in defeat.
"That is right. I know nothing," the
girl whispered. Crystalline tears fell from
her eyes, "but the Planet knows everything that
happens on it. It whispers to me and I know
you story, your past, your darkest secrets..."
Seeing the confused and anger look from
former-Lab experiment, Aerith added, "The
Planet offers you freedom to live without fear-
but why is it you rather kill it and die in
captivity?"
The girl's words chilled him to the
bone.
Three figures in navy suits lounged lazily
around a room of red furniture of the room.
Their weapons were carefully placed onto of a
pile of suit jackets, while everything else
seemed to be in shambles.
The blonde woman sighed loudly, gaining the
attention of her teamates, as she read a note.
Frowning, the woman looked up.
"What's wrong, Yrena?" Inquired the ebony hair
Turk, Tseng.
"Leno..." Yrena's brown eyes narrowed, "he's
back in Midgar. Most likely to do dirty work
from Rufus from looks and sound of things.
Especially since Scarlet is with him."
"With Scarlet?" Muttered Rude in surprise.
"Yeah... The Vice President's whore in all her
glory," Replied Yrena grimmly.
"Hmmm," Tseng's ebony eyes narrowed, "well,
Leno is still welcomed... He is still a Turk.
Just make sure not to get mixed up in his
buisiness."
"Yeah... even if I owe him, I won't even give
him advice about any issues dealing with it,"
Rude added softly with a hard glint in his
eyes.
"Hrmph." Yrena stood, brushing off her uniform
looked about and sighed, "we really need to
clean this pig pen up before he gets here, ya
know..."
Tseng grumbled softly and leaned deeper into
the leather sofa in Turk Office Lounge. His
hair covered his face, while the man pretended
to fall into a deep sleep. He saw Yrena
prowling his way, hell bent on making him help
clean.
"WELL! What do we have here?" Added a new voice
loud, obxiously, though in a fimiliar way.
"Speaking of the annoying twit, here he is."
The crimson hair man batted his eyes at the
bald man sweetly, "it's nice to see you too,
love. I know how much you really care with
every word that comes from your sweet lips."
Leaping into Rude's lap, the red hair man
kissed him on the lips with fake, staged passion. Nipping at his ear, he added, "I know how you enjoy me licking your bald head..."
Red-faced with embarassment, the older Turk
shoved Leno out of his lap and sprawling onto
the ground. "Licking? Hell no! That was once
and I thought it was Yrena!"
"ME?" Wailed the blonde woman on hearing this.
"Why ME?"
"YEAH! Why her? I'm a lot more cuter any how!"
"Go hell, Leno! Everyone knows I'm the cutest
Turk! Look at this face, this hair, these
beautiful eyes, this dazzling smile, and
perfect figure and body! Imagine how much more
accepting people would be if I was the poster
girl of the company! Marketing would be through
the roof!"
"Wait, wait, time out girlfriend! You're the
cutest Turk? Puhhh-leeze! Your hair is so last
season- three years ago! Those eyes remind me
of vomit after too much drinking, I've seen
prettier smiles on a toothless hobos, and what
figure? HA! Don't even get me start on your
face!"
Tseng whispered, "oh dear Planet..."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!!! At least my uniform
doesn't look like I've been sleeping greasy
pizza boxes for the last 4 years! And just look
at your hair! What lives in there? Chipmunks?
Rats? Wellll... probably for sure- LICE."
"OHHHHH! AHHOHHHH! You just ATTACKED
the hair! That is a No-No! WAIT! A major NO-NO!
No one ever insults the hair, let a lone
touches it! You're asking for it NOW,
girly-girly! You've just stepped-"
Rude added softly to Tseng's statement,
"their at it..."
"Yeah, I be steppin! At least I'm not a
lady-boy, or should I say girly-boy. No gender
confusion here, all feminine pride and beauty!
With real hair, lice free. I'm the beautiful
one, not someone rat faced ho!"
"Ohhh, ohhh! Say that to mah face,
bitch! I'll take you down so fast, your momma
will feel it!"
Tseng muttered, "...again."
"At least I got a momma!"
"... That was low, Yrena... you should
take that back."
"Hell no! This is war!" With that the
two lept into the air and met in an all out
bitch war.
___________________________________
Author's notes:
Sorry, I was feeling rather goofy at the end,
so one thing led to another and here's the
latest chapter!
Things will be rolling in full speed next
chapter as we learn who "he" is.
Besides, ya hafta admitt the bitch fight
between Yrena and Leno was damn funny...