Chapter Seven: Revelation
All turned to Yuffie as the white materia fell from her pocket and bounced to the floor, clanging loudly on the hard linoleum, and rolling off to the side.
"It was you!" Cloud accused her, standing. His eyes were wide in surprise, but they narrowed quickly into hatred.
Red XIII growled. "I should have known," he said, glaring at her.
"B-but, I-I didn't do it!" Yuffie protested, backing up to the other side of the room. She was just as astonished as the others. How had the white materia gotten there? Had she been framed? "I-I don't even know how it got there!"
Oh, but you do! a voice inside her head informed her. And suddenly she did know. She had sneaked into Cloud's home, late at night, murdered Aeris, and taken it from her, slipping it into her pocket. Why had she done such a horrible thing? Aeris had been a good friend!
Allow me to give you back your memory... the voice said to her. And then it all came flowing back.
After murdering Aeris, Yuffie had returned to her hotel room in the Gold Saucer to clean up. The next day she headed back for Nibelheim, packing a poisoned soda among her usual things. On the way, she encountered Cid heading determinedly for Nibelheim himself, obviously having figured out who had murdered Aeris. Yuffie had stopped him, murdered him too, and then travelled to Rocket Town to burn down his house and Shera, in case he should have told her. She returned again to her hotel room, to wash off the blood. Before she had the chance to get clean, however, Cait Sith had blundered in on her in her bloody state. Fearing he had seen the blood on her clothes, she hunted him down and slashed him to bits. As she was finishing off with him, Barret and his party had stumbled upon her. Vincent and Marlene got away as Barret foolishly sacrificed himself, and she used her mastered materia to cast a deadly ice spell on him before he could even get a shot. It was too late to go after the others, so she hoped they hadn't seen her and rushed back to her hotel room to clean up yet again. When she had finally arrived at Cloud's home, she lost all memory of these events and entered his house as her innocent self. She remembered only having watched the death of Aeris on the news, nothing more. She had had truly no idea the soda was poisoned when she handed it to Tifa, and had been properly horrified when she realised how narrowly she had escaped her own death. Then, just moments before hearing about Barret's death on the news, she had gone upstairs and locked Marlene in Tifa's room.
Now she remembered all of these events, and where it all began. She had been sitting in her hotel room in the Gold Saucer, in the middle of her well-deserved vacation, when she heard a voice. It sounded distinctly familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. It claimed to be a lost spirit and offered to tell her the location world's two most powerful materia if she would allow it to possess her and help it return to the planet. Like the greedy fool she was, she accepted. The instant the spirit began to fuse with her body she realised what a horrible mistake she had made. She screamed and tried to fight, but it was too late: Sephiroth had already possessed her.
Indeed I had! Sephiroth's voice proclaimed. Now, attack Vincent before he draws his gun.
Yuffie turned to see Vincent's hand reaching towards his holster, but her possessed body acted before it got there. Yuffie leaped at him, her strength, reflexes, and accuracy increased by a ten-fold from her possession, and knocked him roughly to the ground. She smashed his head into the cupboards, rendering him unconscious, or possibly dead. Blood trickled across his forehead. Red XIII lunged at her, snarling, but she kicked him out of the way as she got to her feet. She could have sworn she heard his ribs cracking.
Stop! she cried inwardly. Stop making me do this!
Hush, fool! Sephiroth retorted. He forced her to draw her Shuriken, equipped with several mastered materia, as Red shook himself off, then lunged at her again.
"Begone!" she cried, thus invoking the Remove spell from her Exit materia, and Red XIII vanished in mid-pounce. Cloud turned to run, but Yuffie intercepted him before he could take two steps. She threw him hard against the wall, pinning him there.
Excellent, Sephiroth congratulated her. Now demand the black materia from him.
"No!" Yuffie cried, momentarily gaining control of herself. She released Cloud, backing up a few paces.
Insignificant mortal! Sephiroth cried. I will do it myself! Yuffie tried to fight it, but Sephiroth took complete control of her body once again. He pointed her Shuriken directly at Cloud's heart.
"The black materia Cloud," he demanded, using Yuffie's lips. "Where is it?"
Cloud had been confused when Yuffie pinned him against the wall and then released him again, but now he knew. Her eyes were now cold, her voice harsh and deep, no longer her own.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud murmured. Sephiroth had possessed her. Now it all made sense. First he gained the only materia that could stop the meteor once summoned; now he wanted the black materia to summon it with.
The nearest point of the Shuriken touched his chest warningly.
"Speak up Cloud," Sephiroth demanded.
"Never," Cloud refused.
Sephiroth thrust Yuffie's weapon in harder. Cloud flinched painfully as the point dug into his flesh. Dark red blood soaked through his shirt, dribbling down his chest.
"Tell me where you've hidden the black materia," Sephiroth commanded again.
"Kill me if you must," Cloud told him, "but I will never reveal it to you!"
Sephiroth yelled angrily. He raised the Shuriken at Cloud, preparing to slash. Cloud closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain.
There was the sudden sound of shattering glass, and Yuffie turned, her super-reflexes spinning her around with surprising speed. Simultaneously, she felt the intense pain of the bullet ripping through her chest, and the sudden relief, as of a burden being lifted from her shoulders. Yuffie stumbled back and dropped her Shuriken, crumpling to her knees, clasping her hands to her heart. Blood welled out of her chest, seeping between her fingers, and dripped to the floor. She had been released. She had been released from Sephiroth's possession, and now her life would end.
Reeve busted in through the broken window, gun still in hand. He aimed it at her.
"Cloud, you ok?" he asked. "I got here as soon as I could."
"Yeah, you got here just in time," Cloud confirmed. "But Reeve, it's not Yuffie who killed everyone, it's-"
"I know," Reeve interrupted. "I tricked him into telling me before he slashed up my Cait Sith." He kept the gun aimed at Yuffie. "But he's still just as dangerous in this body."
"Cl-Cloud..." Yuffie croaked. Cloud knelt down next to her.
"Yuffie..." he said softly. "Is he gone?"
Yuffie nodded slowly. "Cloud... I'm... sorry... for everything..."
"Yuffie..? Yuffie!?"
With that Yuffie collapsed, her life spent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:
I did not want the murderer to be Yuffie. In fact, I had originally intended Yuffie to be the one to survive and discover the killer. However, I simply could not find good enough motives for anyone to murder all these people. Therefore, I eventually decided, killer she would be. I wrote the first chapter not knowing whom the murderer was going to be, then decided on Yuffie and wrote on. After finishing Chapter Five, I changed my mind and decided not to make it Yuffie after all... not exactly, anyway. I had really had no intentions of having Sephiroth in this fan fic, but that didn't turn out the way I expected either. Oh, and this isn't quite finished: there is an epilogue on the way, just as soon as I finish writing it. I hope you enjoyed this mystery, and if this one is well-liked, maybe I'll write another one sometime!
All turned to Yuffie as the white materia fell from her pocket and bounced to the floor, clanging loudly on the hard linoleum, and rolling off to the side.
"It was you!" Cloud accused her, standing. His eyes were wide in surprise, but they narrowed quickly into hatred.
Red XIII growled. "I should have known," he said, glaring at her.
"B-but, I-I didn't do it!" Yuffie protested, backing up to the other side of the room. She was just as astonished as the others. How had the white materia gotten there? Had she been framed? "I-I don't even know how it got there!"
Oh, but you do! a voice inside her head informed her. And suddenly she did know. She had sneaked into Cloud's home, late at night, murdered Aeris, and taken it from her, slipping it into her pocket. Why had she done such a horrible thing? Aeris had been a good friend!
Allow me to give you back your memory... the voice said to her. And then it all came flowing back.
After murdering Aeris, Yuffie had returned to her hotel room in the Gold Saucer to clean up. The next day she headed back for Nibelheim, packing a poisoned soda among her usual things. On the way, she encountered Cid heading determinedly for Nibelheim himself, obviously having figured out who had murdered Aeris. Yuffie had stopped him, murdered him too, and then travelled to Rocket Town to burn down his house and Shera, in case he should have told her. She returned again to her hotel room, to wash off the blood. Before she had the chance to get clean, however, Cait Sith had blundered in on her in her bloody state. Fearing he had seen the blood on her clothes, she hunted him down and slashed him to bits. As she was finishing off with him, Barret and his party had stumbled upon her. Vincent and Marlene got away as Barret foolishly sacrificed himself, and she used her mastered materia to cast a deadly ice spell on him before he could even get a shot. It was too late to go after the others, so she hoped they hadn't seen her and rushed back to her hotel room to clean up yet again. When she had finally arrived at Cloud's home, she lost all memory of these events and entered his house as her innocent self. She remembered only having watched the death of Aeris on the news, nothing more. She had had truly no idea the soda was poisoned when she handed it to Tifa, and had been properly horrified when she realised how narrowly she had escaped her own death. Then, just moments before hearing about Barret's death on the news, she had gone upstairs and locked Marlene in Tifa's room.
Now she remembered all of these events, and where it all began. She had been sitting in her hotel room in the Gold Saucer, in the middle of her well-deserved vacation, when she heard a voice. It sounded distinctly familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. It claimed to be a lost spirit and offered to tell her the location world's two most powerful materia if she would allow it to possess her and help it return to the planet. Like the greedy fool she was, she accepted. The instant the spirit began to fuse with her body she realised what a horrible mistake she had made. She screamed and tried to fight, but it was too late: Sephiroth had already possessed her.
Indeed I had! Sephiroth's voice proclaimed. Now, attack Vincent before he draws his gun.
Yuffie turned to see Vincent's hand reaching towards his holster, but her possessed body acted before it got there. Yuffie leaped at him, her strength, reflexes, and accuracy increased by a ten-fold from her possession, and knocked him roughly to the ground. She smashed his head into the cupboards, rendering him unconscious, or possibly dead. Blood trickled across his forehead. Red XIII lunged at her, snarling, but she kicked him out of the way as she got to her feet. She could have sworn she heard his ribs cracking.
Stop! she cried inwardly. Stop making me do this!
Hush, fool! Sephiroth retorted. He forced her to draw her Shuriken, equipped with several mastered materia, as Red shook himself off, then lunged at her again.
"Begone!" she cried, thus invoking the Remove spell from her Exit materia, and Red XIII vanished in mid-pounce. Cloud turned to run, but Yuffie intercepted him before he could take two steps. She threw him hard against the wall, pinning him there.
Excellent, Sephiroth congratulated her. Now demand the black materia from him.
"No!" Yuffie cried, momentarily gaining control of herself. She released Cloud, backing up a few paces.
Insignificant mortal! Sephiroth cried. I will do it myself! Yuffie tried to fight it, but Sephiroth took complete control of her body once again. He pointed her Shuriken directly at Cloud's heart.
"The black materia Cloud," he demanded, using Yuffie's lips. "Where is it?"
Cloud had been confused when Yuffie pinned him against the wall and then released him again, but now he knew. Her eyes were now cold, her voice harsh and deep, no longer her own.
"Sephiroth..." Cloud murmured. Sephiroth had possessed her. Now it all made sense. First he gained the only materia that could stop the meteor once summoned; now he wanted the black materia to summon it with.
The nearest point of the Shuriken touched his chest warningly.
"Speak up Cloud," Sephiroth demanded.
"Never," Cloud refused.
Sephiroth thrust Yuffie's weapon in harder. Cloud flinched painfully as the point dug into his flesh. Dark red blood soaked through his shirt, dribbling down his chest.
"Tell me where you've hidden the black materia," Sephiroth commanded again.
"Kill me if you must," Cloud told him, "but I will never reveal it to you!"
Sephiroth yelled angrily. He raised the Shuriken at Cloud, preparing to slash. Cloud closed his eyes, bracing himself for the pain.
There was the sudden sound of shattering glass, and Yuffie turned, her super-reflexes spinning her around with surprising speed. Simultaneously, she felt the intense pain of the bullet ripping through her chest, and the sudden relief, as of a burden being lifted from her shoulders. Yuffie stumbled back and dropped her Shuriken, crumpling to her knees, clasping her hands to her heart. Blood welled out of her chest, seeping between her fingers, and dripped to the floor. She had been released. She had been released from Sephiroth's possession, and now her life would end.
Reeve busted in through the broken window, gun still in hand. He aimed it at her.
"Cloud, you ok?" he asked. "I got here as soon as I could."
"Yeah, you got here just in time," Cloud confirmed. "But Reeve, it's not Yuffie who killed everyone, it's-"
"I know," Reeve interrupted. "I tricked him into telling me before he slashed up my Cait Sith." He kept the gun aimed at Yuffie. "But he's still just as dangerous in this body."
"Cl-Cloud..." Yuffie croaked. Cloud knelt down next to her.
"Yuffie..." he said softly. "Is he gone?"
Yuffie nodded slowly. "Cloud... I'm... sorry... for everything..."
"Yuffie..? Yuffie!?"
With that Yuffie collapsed, her life spent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note:
I did not want the murderer to be Yuffie. In fact, I had originally intended Yuffie to be the one to survive and discover the killer. However, I simply could not find good enough motives for anyone to murder all these people. Therefore, I eventually decided, killer she would be. I wrote the first chapter not knowing whom the murderer was going to be, then decided on Yuffie and wrote on. After finishing Chapter Five, I changed my mind and decided not to make it Yuffie after all... not exactly, anyway. I had really had no intentions of having Sephiroth in this fan fic, but that didn't turn out the way I expected either. Oh, and this isn't quite finished: there is an epilogue on the way, just as soon as I finish writing it. I hope you enjoyed this mystery, and if this one is well-liked, maybe I'll write another one sometime!