The City of the Ancients was not very large, although it certainly was awe-inspiring. Glass panels, like insects' wings, vaulted high in the air, surrounding a cluster of uninhabited, cylindrical, domed towers. The towers were not very tall, although each displayed craftsmanship unseen for untold ages. In the center was a pagoda, or a temple, which could only be reached by a series of stone pillars, rising out of a deep, tranquil pool of water.
Cloud, Cid, and Tifa walked along the columns in awe.
"This is where...where Aeris died, isn't it?" Tifa asked. "Where Sephiroth killed her?"
Cloud nodded, silently approaching the edge of the pool. He regarded it with his emotionless blue eyes for a moment then began removing the sword secured on his back, and then his gloves and boots. "You asked me two questions before. The answer to that second question, Tifa, is that we are going to revive Aeris Gainsborough."
Cid and Tifa froze, and then Cid laid down his spear-lance beside Cloud's sword.
"Let me help you," he said, removing his Aeronautic jacket. He pointed to the still water surrounding the pagoda. "Who knows how fricking deep it is, or what the hell's in it. Stay here, Tifa. Just in case." Soon his pants dropped to his ankles, and he stood unabashedly in front of her in only a pair of shorts.
Tifa turned to Cloud with pleading eyes. Don't do this, she thought, hoping he could understand her. This isn't necessary, Cloud.
Cloud, stripped to his waist, stared at Tifa silently, then followed the older man into the water.
Tifa watched as their heads submerged under the water, and then sighed. She took their clothes, and one by one folded them into neat little piles.
*****
Cold, ticklish bubbles billowed from Cloud's nostrils and streamed across his bare chest. Squinting through the fresh water, he could make Cid out far below him, kicking and stroking like an awkward frog. Slowly sinking deeper and deeper, darkness enclosed around them. This had to work, or lese he may never see Aeris again.
He got the idea from an ancient text in the Shin-Ra mansion. Materia, the special stones they used to give or supplement their weapons and themselves with magic-like traits, was once called "Magicite." Over the passing of presumably millennia, or even eons, they had become weakened and diluted in power. A level-three Firaga only did a percentage of what a pure Fire Materia could. Supposedly, if you could refine enough materia to its pure magicite form, you could summon its elemental form, like they did with Ramuh and Shiva and the like, except these had far greater powers. Who knew how many Elementals, or Espers, were lost to the world?
The black silk bag, with Tifa now, had a materia shard, the color of a rich aquamarine. Shin-Ra had refined it for him, surprisingly, using a horde of Curaga materia. No one, not even Shin-Ra's libraries, knew how to summon these Espers, but he had to try!
He swam deeper, his lungs burning for air. Soon, Cloud saw Cid, hovering over some inert mass, calling up to him. As he drew closer, the mass resolved into Aeris, her limp body perfectly preserved, her startling blue eyes wide and staring at him. As one, they took an arm each, and pushed off the floor, legs kicking furiously as they brought her shell of a body back to the surface.
As Cloud broke through the water, he thought he spotted Tifa in the tiny temple, praying on her knees. She got up and ran to the edge of the stone island as they swam to her, but Cloud recognized the position she was in; it was the same as Aeris', just before she had been killed. A chill ran through him.
Cloud, Cid, and Tifa walked along the columns in awe.
"This is where...where Aeris died, isn't it?" Tifa asked. "Where Sephiroth killed her?"
Cloud nodded, silently approaching the edge of the pool. He regarded it with his emotionless blue eyes for a moment then began removing the sword secured on his back, and then his gloves and boots. "You asked me two questions before. The answer to that second question, Tifa, is that we are going to revive Aeris Gainsborough."
Cid and Tifa froze, and then Cid laid down his spear-lance beside Cloud's sword.
"Let me help you," he said, removing his Aeronautic jacket. He pointed to the still water surrounding the pagoda. "Who knows how fricking deep it is, or what the hell's in it. Stay here, Tifa. Just in case." Soon his pants dropped to his ankles, and he stood unabashedly in front of her in only a pair of shorts.
Tifa turned to Cloud with pleading eyes. Don't do this, she thought, hoping he could understand her. This isn't necessary, Cloud.
Cloud, stripped to his waist, stared at Tifa silently, then followed the older man into the water.
Tifa watched as their heads submerged under the water, and then sighed. She took their clothes, and one by one folded them into neat little piles.
*****
Cold, ticklish bubbles billowed from Cloud's nostrils and streamed across his bare chest. Squinting through the fresh water, he could make Cid out far below him, kicking and stroking like an awkward frog. Slowly sinking deeper and deeper, darkness enclosed around them. This had to work, or lese he may never see Aeris again.
He got the idea from an ancient text in the Shin-Ra mansion. Materia, the special stones they used to give or supplement their weapons and themselves with magic-like traits, was once called "Magicite." Over the passing of presumably millennia, or even eons, they had become weakened and diluted in power. A level-three Firaga only did a percentage of what a pure Fire Materia could. Supposedly, if you could refine enough materia to its pure magicite form, you could summon its elemental form, like they did with Ramuh and Shiva and the like, except these had far greater powers. Who knew how many Elementals, or Espers, were lost to the world?
The black silk bag, with Tifa now, had a materia shard, the color of a rich aquamarine. Shin-Ra had refined it for him, surprisingly, using a horde of Curaga materia. No one, not even Shin-Ra's libraries, knew how to summon these Espers, but he had to try!
He swam deeper, his lungs burning for air. Soon, Cloud saw Cid, hovering over some inert mass, calling up to him. As he drew closer, the mass resolved into Aeris, her limp body perfectly preserved, her startling blue eyes wide and staring at him. As one, they took an arm each, and pushed off the floor, legs kicking furiously as they brought her shell of a body back to the surface.
As Cloud broke through the water, he thought he spotted Tifa in the tiny temple, praying on her knees. She got up and ran to the edge of the stone island as they swam to her, but Cloud recognized the position she was in; it was the same as Aeris', just before she had been killed. A chill ran through him.