Chapter 13

SCARS OF THE PAST

"Here we are…Mideel !", Vic exclaims while pulling the rudder to stop his chocobo. Not until a second later, Aeris reaches a spot next to him. They just reached Mideel. Aeris looks at her surrounding for some seconds, she then looks above, to the sky.

"What's up ?", Vic inquiries her action while fixing his sunglass position. Aeris replies, "We departed this morning, and we reach Mideel at dusk…Pheww…I never know your chocobos can run very fast. They also need only a little rest. Meanwhile, it'll take more than a day if we use common golden chocobo". An astonished tone paints her voice. With gentle motion, she caresses her chocobo lovingly. Vic grins at her and speaks calmly yet meaningfully, "It took whole patience to breed these multi-breed golden chocobos !". Aeris smiles back at him. "Now what ?", she asks for next thing to do.

"Look at that direction", Vic replies with his finger pointing to a particular direction. Not so far from them, there is a shimmering green pool that will distract everyone who reaches the small village. That green pool looks very interesting to foreigner and also…so mysterious that nobody will think more than twice to dive in it.

"There…that's Lifestream lake…we should go there !", Vic tells Aeris and runs his chocobo toward the direction. Being left without further notice, Aeris shouts to him. "Hey Viccie…wait for meee !!", she quickly runs her chocobo to catch Vic who is already moving with his chocobo.

After they both reach Mideel Lifestream lake's edge, Vic jumps down from his chocobo, followed by Aeris. His eyes stick to the green things in front of him. Slowly, Aeris approaches him. She studies the sparkling lake for a moment as some thoughts come to her brain, trying to guess what they would do next.

"What's next ? Dive to that lake ?", Aeris asks Vic with uncertain tone, actually she does not have any idea whether they will be able to roam around Lifestream from this green pool. This is Lifestream lake after all, not just an ordinary one.

"Yes, but much in different way", Vic responds. Predictable enough, Aeris responds with light 'huh' mumble. "Prepare your Princess Guard, just in case something bad happened", Vic advises her. "Let's waste no more time, Aeris !". Without waiting for Aeris regaining her composure, Vic throws himself to the Lifestream lake.

"Viccie…wait !!", Aeris suddenly realizes that she is alone now and tries to hold Vic by shouting at him, but Vic has dove right through the lake. Realizing that she has no other choice but to follow him, Aeris immediately grabs her staff and jumps into the lake. At some moment before she touches the sparkling Lifestream, she ever thinks whether this is the right thing to do, but at second thought she thinks she must trust Vic.

Unlike ordinary water which will splash when an object falls into it, Lifestream lake just splashed a little. Aeris becomes a bit curious, but her thought is quickly drifted into another phenomenon that now happens right in front of her very eyes. Physically she is diving into Lifestream lake, but she can breath freely as if she is on the open air. Surrounding her are mysterious sparkling green strands moving randomly and freely like streams.

This is just like…when I was inside Lifestream…but this is a bit different…Aeris lets her thought for a moment.

"Here we are, inside Lifestream…", Vic's voice greets her as she finds him next to her. His tone sounds so excited. Something must make him very anxious. Nodding her head as agreement, Aeris then responds, "Yes…I've ever been here before…but at another dimension I guess…Now where to go ?". Just after Aeris finished her question, a vibrant voice comes to their mind.

Cetra….

Vic and Aeris look at each other. They both know Planet is contacting them.

Hurry up…Planet needs you….After the last sentence, Planet's voice gradually fades out from these Cetras' minds. Aeris gives Vic a questioning look, demanding an explanation from him. This time, Vic shakes his head. "I'm not really sure this time".

Aeris' eyebrow raises. "What ??", she blurts out almost in disbelief. She relied on him very much, but now he gives a hint that he has no idea. Vic responds quickly, "There are some things I know more than you do about Cetra…though you also need to find out yourself more knowledge, it's just…something natural. You could do it. Now, I only sense there is disturbance comes from here…but more about it, I can't figure it out right now. It's something we must seek together".

Aeris remains silent for a moment after listening to Vic's explanation. "So…what's your best suggestion ?", she finally asks. "Well…", Vic answers rather hesitantly, "We'll dive around this Lifestream until we find what kind of disturbance is. I know this is very large area, so I'll use my sense to find what we're looking for". Vic pauses for a while, Aeris keeps her attention to him. "Aeris, you can follow me, use your sense to feel more about Planet…I know you can do it. Whenever you sense that I go to wrong direction, just tell me. Deal ?".

Biting her lips a sign that she is thinking, Aeris finds no reason to refuse Vic's suggestion even though his idea is not the brightest one. Planet is still suffering, and they have been far until reaches this Lifestream, surely not for nothing. "I got it. You can lead the way", finally she responds.

Vic leaves his spot, flying around inside Lifestream. Aeris follows him, she tries to open her mind to sense even a little sign from Planet or their surrounding. For several minutes, they only find nothing but mysterious green strands. The deeper they dive, the thicker green strands around them. Eventually, Aeris stops at her spot, frozen. She feels a strange feeling inside her mind. Vic notices her action and turns his face to her.

"I feel…I hear moan and cry…", Aeris mumbles, a bit of fear crawls her spine slowly. "Could it be…Planet ?". Stuttered, she looks at Vic, "it sounds so…clear….I never heard Planet like this before…", she finishes her words in whisper. Vic nods his head as agreement. He can also hear the sound Aeris talked about, but he feels there is more about it. "Looks like we're closer to what we're looking for…", Vic mutters to himself, a nervous tone paints his voice.

Suddenly, coming from an unknown direction, a very bright green light appears and quickly swallows green tendrils surrounding Aeris and Vic. Those two Cetras gasp in unison to see the abrupt change happened over them. Before they can react, the strange light starts to envelope them, sealing from Lifestream. Vic's face shows a very shocked expression as he recognizes the bright light, meanwhile Aeris just stares at it with mouth opened.

Goddamn it…this light…this is the light in my last night's vision ! He shuts his jaw tightly, clenching his teeth. Suddenly, a realization hits his brain when his memory serves him something nasty about his vision regarding this bright light. His instinct tells him to run away from this strange bright, but he must save Aeris first, and at all costs. She is his reason that he has gone so far. "Aeris ! Run !!!". Vic shouts at Aeris with top of his voice and is about to push her away from harm.

"No !". Aeris suddenly cuts him off with sure tone and stands still on her position. Vic's expression changes all of a sudden to hear her response, he stops his action all of a sudden. "What ??!!!", he cannot hide his very surprised expression and jumps back a little. "Aeris ! What the…". Before he finishes, Aeris already pipes up, her tone sounds so calm. She gazes at Vic with meaningful look. "I know what you're thinking…and I know this strange light may harm us, but if this is what we're looking for, then we don't need to find at another place".

Vic shakes his head rudely as if he wants to make sure he faces the reality. He cannot understand it. He cannot understand why Aeris chose that risky decision. He then looks at Aeris' feature for a moment and finds how her tranquility wraps her with unseen yet strong confidence. However, as much as Vic wants to push her away, he must admit the idea behind Aeris' words.

"You're right…let's just face it…", he mutters, finally deciding that he should be by Aeris' side.

The bright light is now completely swallowing Lifestream's green tendrils, thus sealing Aeris and Vic from their previous environment. They grab their weapon tighter to face the worst, until another blinding flashlight suddenly emitted again, forcing them to shield their eyes with their hands. With her reflex, Aeris steps back, and Vic does too. For a second, the blinding radiance makes them unable to see their surrounding. After it fades out gradually, Vic and Aeris gradually lower their hands to see what happened.

What happens next ? This was too much like my vision…Vic feels thrill captures his heart. He does not like it at all.

"Be careful…", he tells Aeris, but she seems rather distracted to what she sees right now instead of noticing Vic's advise. Right in front of them, a ghostly yet clear image of someone stands in front of them. A tall man figure, dressed in priest robe with long white hair and haggard visage, this mysterious person greets them with a smile, but both Vic and Aeris see it much more like a scornful grin. The two Cetras stare at the person suspiciously, they cannot find a warm welcome from him.

"So here you are…welcome to the Dark Ancient area", the man greets them. His voice is deep and hoarse. Aeris' eyes go wide to hear his words. "Dark…Ancient ? What do you mean ?", she asks nervously, and then looks at Vic, requesting for his response. The man in priest robe nods his head, his smile still sticks on his face. "Yes, and I'm Serras…the high priest of the tribe once called Dark Ancient". His ghostly image then flickers a while, forming a more solid flesh.

"Your name sounds so…ancient…", Vic finally lets his words out, "…you called yourself a Dark Ancient…so…that legend was true…". Aeris quickly looks at Vic, she becomes more confused that he knows a lot more than she does. Noticing Aeris look, Vic responds, "I only know its name…as my…mother told me they were dangerous".

"Dangerous ???", the figure, Serras, suddenly cuts Vic off. His smile goes broader, "Well…if you said it from your point of view, Cetra…".He then laughs a little, but his voice is so irritating.

"Stop your babbling mouth and tell us what happened !", Aeris says with top of her voice, she points Princess Guard's tip to Serras. It is not usual that Aeris acted harshly, but something inside her heart tells something fishy is going on. Slowly, Serras' chuckle fades out, he then looks at Vic and Aeris with glaring eyes. At a moment, Vic and Aeris are so startled to see his eyes…they are not like ordinary eyes, instead they flash a strange light.

"Explanation ? So you want it ? All right…", he finally responds. "Actually I have other intention to this young Cetra woman, but I'll let you know. Now listen to me carefully, Cetras…I'm Serras, the high priest of Dark Ancient. We are a past long forgotten race…Hundreds years ago, there were several tribes of Ancients, they were people who had ability to communicate with Planet, as you already know it. The most glorious one was the tribe called Cetra…that's your race, but…actually there was a tribe, and because of its hidden and introvert nature, not so many people knew about that race, although it had enormous power, strongest among the others. That race was called Dark Ancient, named by its secrecy. We, Dark Ancient, preferred to keep ourselves away from the others because we prepared everything to succeed our destiny…that was to be the one in Planet. We believed it, that was why we existed…until one day, our plan was accidentally heard by the others, and it made us being blamed and suspected. The Cetras, at that time, took an initiative to punish us…We had no choice but to fight, to defend our destiny…We even matched Cetra in term of power, but because we hadn't prepared well at that time…finally we lose…and were dissipated into Lifestream. I was the leader of Dark Ancient when we were banished into Lifestream…and I swore before my body gone, that I would wake up someday to take over what we deserved by the fate, to rule Planet !".

For a short moment, Serras' eyes glare with strange light again, making Aeris grows afraid a bit. He then continues, "So we were banished into void inside Lifestream, but we were told that we were the true ruler of Planet, and with that, we regained our power again. Although Lifestream swallowed us, it didn't also mean it swallowed our soul, and mostly, our belief. In our spirit form, we wandered around Lifestream, and because our will was so strong, we could gather up again here and created a separate area we called The Barrier which sealed us from Lifestream. We could do that because we were Dark Ancients after all, and we had…let's just call it unique ability that other Ancients didn't…and here you passed The Barrier, thus entered our area". Again, his body flickers, along with his smile.

"So that's why there is another strange phenomenon happened here…", Vic comments out, "what are you doing here ?". His eyes give Serras a sharp look. Aeris adds, "You said that Cetra was your enemy…and you know we're Cetras…what will you do then ? And what did you do to Planet ?".

Serras laughs cynically, he then replies, "Youngsters…never have enough patience…We come into that part now. I told you even our extinction could not eliminate our wish to fill up our written destiny to rule Planet ! Here, inside The Barrier, we gathered up the lost spirits of Dark Ancient and formed our power, waiting patiently until our Incarnation Day comes…".

"Incarnation Day ?", Aeris raises her left eyebrow, something tells her heart this is not going to be fine.

"Yes, it is our prophecy, Incarnation Day…", Serras continues. "It is a day in my foreseen vision. When the day comes, we, Dark Ancients will rise up again from our long death. We'll break up The Barrier, and Lifestream as well…to come to surface and regain what we deserved since the past….".

"You already have such sinister plan…", Vic cuts him off, "but what if your prophecy was false ? What if Incarnation Day never come ?".

"Silence !!", suddenly Serras shouts to Vic harshly. "You Cetra always underestimate us ! You don't realize the power of Dark Ancients !". He chuckles again, now sounds more irritating. "Let me tell you there are several signs of Incarnation Day. The first sign is when Planet is in danger, so it needs protection from Holy…and Lifestream, the second sign is when there is a great evil for mankind is swallowed by Lifestream, along with the strange power that does not belong to Planet…and it will happen twice…".

Aeris is stunned on her spot. She feels her body is frozen to hear Serras' explanation. Everything about Incarnation Day he explained strikes a realization into her mind. Every sign of Incarnation Day is perfectly matched to what happened lately. The first sign was when Sephiroth summoned Meteor and she called Holy and Lifestream, the second sign was when Sephiroth was defeated by Cloud and dissipated into Lifestream along with his Jenova cells. It happened twice, since Sephiroth was brought back to live again, and was defeated again (Author : this happened in previous sequel, Lasting For An Eternity ^_^). She bites her lips to suppress her worried feeling, but she just cannot ignore what Serras said.

"But there is the third sign, and this relates to the first sign…", Serras continues. He smiles meaningfully to Aeris as he speaks his words. "That is when there is a female person who bears a sign as the last Cetra saves the world, in relation with the first and second sign, but this person was sacrificed to save Planet. Later, this person is revived but actually leaves a flaw within Planet, thus making Planet weaker…".

Aeris holds her breath, so does Vic. They know where Serras' explanation will be heading, at least they think so. Noticing this change, Serras pipes up, "With this flaw, Dark Ancients can use and exploit Planet's weakness to break Lifestream, but eventually this person realizes it and gives her life essence to Planet to cover its flaw so Dark Ancients cannot rise…temporarily. Unfortunately for her, the second sacrifice will drain energy from her body slowly, maybe in years, and after her energy is completely depleted she will be deceased, and then there won't be anyone who can support Planet again…and that is when Incarnation Day arrives ! Hahahahahaaa….!". Serras laughs hysterically when he finishes his long explanation. Aeris and Vic just look at each other with worried look. "You are the last Cetra mentioned in our prophecy, woman ! I can see it through your soul", Serras speaks in middle of his laughter, "It's very sad…once your race overpowered us, but then it will be you, the last Cetra who will set us free…Pathetic, isn't it ?". Serras laughs again.

Aeris forms a smile on her face, she then speaks up, "I never know you know a lot…but…your prophecy has a flaw too…". Abruptly, Serras stops laughing. His image flickers again. "What do you mean, Cetra ?", he asks with anger tone. With cool tone, she gives the answer, "You're right on several things, but you're wrong to call me the last Cetra, since I am not being a lonely one, there is another Cetra stands next to me, so your prophecy is not right after all". Unexpected to her, Serras laughs again. "Our prophecy has proven right things for hundreds years ! You are the last Cetra at your time…and about this young Cetra man….", Serras pauses for a moment and studies Vic's feature for a while. "He…is truly a Cetra too…how couldn't I recognize my race enemy ? But…I sense there is something about this young man that he wants to cover…but I don't care about it !".

Listening to Serras' answer triggers a big question inside Aeris' mind. She must agree with him that Vic is very mysterious, even Serras cannot figure it out. If Serras is right that she is the last Cetra, then, if Vic is the Cetra too, doesn't it mean a contradiction ? Aeris knows she must also find out what Vic hides from her. Everything becomes too fishy for her.

"What do you want now, Serras ?", Vic asks him with sharp tone. Grinning to his enemies, Serras replies, "I don't know how you ended up here, maybe Planet guided you to find us…but if the Cetra in Incarnation Day's third sign now appears in front of me, why should we wait longer ? Two signs of Incarnation Day has come, and the final sign is just about a time, but if we can make it shorter, why not ?". Serras laughs hysterically again.

"Aeris, he's gonna eliminate us !", Vic tells Aeris as he concludes what will happen next. She nods her head as agreement. "What are we supposed to do now ?", she asks Vic.

She is right…Vic thinks. If we have to fight in this place, we don't know our chance to win…I must find another way…

"Prepare yourself !!". Serras cries out and his body flickers rapidly. Without hesitation, Vic draws his Final Glitter quickly, and Aeris prepares her fighting stance with Princess Guard.

"Fool !! You are on our territory, you won't have chance to win !!". Serras' body then fades out, and replaced by a huge monster. Aeris and Vic's mouth are opened as they step back quickly. The monster is about twelve feet tall, its shape is like a dragon, with claws longer than Vic's sword. From its appearance, this nasty creature will surely deliver a great pain.

At first thought, Aeris thinks it is impossible to defeat this monster, but she removes that thought quickly. Vic quickly opens an attack, he leaps forward to deliver his first blow, but suddenly the monster drops its claw to him, forcing him to step back. Knowing that his attack fails, Vic then jumps highly in the air, trying to attack the torso. Meanwhile Aeris stabs her staff into the monster's stomach and finds a hard flesh on the tip of her Princess Guard. While in the air, Vic slashes his masamune quickly and this time he does it. The monster roars angrily in pain and sends its claw to Vic for counter attack. As he has anticipated this attack, Vic blocks the claw with the sheath. He is very surprised to feel a huge energy from his enemy, thus throwing him away. With his agile motion, Vic lands safely on the ground.

"It's very damn tough !", Vic curses nervously. "We can't just rely on physical attack ! We need magic…Materia ! Will it work here ?". Another blow comes to them, but Vic and Aeris avoid it successfully. Aeris then closes her eyes, concentrating. Vic looks at her confusedly, "What are you doing ?". Aeris remains concentrating her mind. Vic now understands, Aeris is trying to contact Planet, perhaps to seek guidance.

Cetra…the way to the surface will be opened…but can't last long….Suddenly a familiar voice comes into Aeris' mind. Opening her eyes, Aeris whispers, "Thank you, Planet…". She then lifts up her head and sees a sparkling light. Slowly, the light turns into a hole that Aeris can see familiar green tendrils outside.

"That's it ! We must escape from here first !", Aeris shouts at Vic while pointing her finger to the hole above them. Vic lifts up his head and sees familiar Lifestream green strands. Aeris is right. They will suffer total defeat if they just fight here, they need to go surface and think about this matter again. Vic grabs Aeris' wrist. "Now, trust me, I'll take you outta here !".  Just as he finished his words, another attack comes to them, now in form of tail swing. With all of their might, Aeris and Vic jump upward to reach the hole, but it is still far from them. Meanwhile, the hole has reached its peak and starts to shrink slowly. Vic and Aeris land again on the ground and look at each other.

"The hole is very high ! We need to find another way to reach it !", Aeris says nervously to see the hole gets smaller. Vic does not care what Aeris said, he closes his eyes, concentrating. Suddenly he opens his eyes and yells,

"Dragon reaches the sky !!!".

He then jumps upward, pulling Aeris, but this time he jumps farther and farther. Aeris gasps a little to see that they leave the ground quickly, and they are still going upward. When they are about to reach the hole, suddenly Vic throws Aeris toward the hole. "You get out first ! I'll follow you !". Aeris is not yet ready for such action, she just gasps again and when she regains her composure a little, she realizes that she has passed the hole and now she is back to Lifestream again. Below her, she finds out that the hole is getting smaller and smaller, and finally she finds Vic is getting out from the hole with struggle. After he is completely out, the hole quickly shuts. Vic is running out of breath, but his face looks relieved to see that they are away from danger. Aeris lets out her sigh, also relieved.

"Pheww…that was tough time…that monster almost caught my leg…Now, let's go to surface !", he says. "Sure", Aeris responds, smiling. Both Aeris and Vic know they still have an important thing to solve, but at this time, they need time to think and decide what to do next. They both then proceed toward surface, when Aeris' hand reaches surface, suddenly she cries out to feel something grabs her wrist from surface. Quickly she manages herself to pop up to the surface quickly to see what is going on.

"Aeris ! It's really you !! You're safe !!".

Aeris cannot hide her surprised expression to see Cloud is grabbing her hand from lake edge. He looks so relieved to see her back, alive. Behind him, the rest of Avalanche are standing near the lake edge.

AUTHOR'S POST-CHAPTER NOTE :

Well…there's no romance in this chapter, however this fanfic's genre is romance/action/adventure, and this chapter was intended for action/adventure part.

How about idea about Dark Ancient ? That was my original idea, is it cool enough ? I spent a lot of time constructing a better plot for this fanfic…well maybe there was another fanfic which provided the same or closer idea as mine, but I hope I still could serve you a nice fanfic ^_^.

So, even Serras couldn't figure out who Vic is. Well…I'll reveal more about Vic on next chapters, but if you could guess who Vic is by now, let me congratulate you ^_^.

Also, kindly, please drop me review so I know how your opinion is after reading my fanfic. Tata for now….^_^