Fountain of Memories
Chapter 9: Escape
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the FF7 characters, they are the property of Squaresoft and I'm not making any money from this.
Shadows crept down the dull corridor as the sun lowered behind the horizon, and the stars came out. The guard yawned tiredly, and peered at his watch for the fifteenth time, wondering where his replacement was. He walked down the corridor a short way, looking around the corner to see if he could see the relief guard.
The door behind made no noise when it opened just enough to allow a figure to emerge just as silently. With amazing speed, the figure was suddenly behind the guard with and arm around his neck and hand over mouth, there was the distinct crack of bone. The body slumped to the floor as Aurora walked silently on towards the armoury.
* * *
The delicately sweet smell of Mattholia Aerisia spread across the grounds of the ShinRa building as Cloud wandered through them aimlessly. Eventually he came to the place where the scent was at its strongest, and where the sound of gently trickling water could be heard. The memorial garden was artfully lit for night-time viewing. Cloud ignored the benches and went and stood in front of the fountain.
He inhaled the night air deeply, trying to stay on top of his emotions. Cloud knew he'd never been very good at coping with his problems or expressing how he felt. The only way he knew how to deal with things was to push them as far away as possible, to become cold and unaffected, or to run away. There was only one person he'd ever been able to talk to, and all that was left of her was memories and carved marble, and when she was the reason he was struggling, he had reacted by getting as far away from reminders of her as possible. Away from the friends they had both had, away from the places they'd been, away from the promises he'd never been able to keep. He'd climbed out of a window to get out here, rather than face people by walking through the building.
The lights of the garden lit the fountain to form small rainbows in the spray of water. The marble figure was softened in the light, seeming less like a block of stone, and more like a real person. Cloud had refused to spend more time than necessary in this garden. The kneeling figure brought back memories of the last time he had seen her alive, kneeling by the water, just as the statue did.
He could see her face just at the moment she looked up at him and he saw her sad eyes.
She knew what was going to happen. She knew Sephiroth was just above her…
And as the sword went through her body, she looked back up at him again and gave him a faint almost reassuring smile, before slowly falling forwards. The image of her death had stayed with him to this night, clear as the day it had happened, and through all of his worst times, her reassuring smile for him whilst she died, had kept him going.
Crouching down carefully, he plucked one of the flowers gently from the ground and examined briefly. He remembered that the flowers were often the same shade of pink as her dress. Keeping his face impassive, he opened his belt pouch and carefully put the flower inside. With one last glance he turned and began to walk away.
The world suddenly seemed to crystallise around him, as sounds sights and smells suddenly became acute. The sounds of many voices seemed to briefly echo through his head, and the world began to move in slow motion. The voices were screaming in pain, shouting for help , crying out in shock and surprise. The smells of blood, steel, fire and leather filled his nostrils as he turned drawing his sword in one swift movement.
The figure clad in black leather stood above Aeris, sword raised. Cloud could hear the shouts of his companions, and could hear the pounding of his heart as he ran towards her, knowing he couldn't reach her in time. Suddenly he realised he was close enough…
Cloud dived towards the leather clad figure, sending it flying backwards away from the statue. He landed, sprawling on the grass, but flipped to his feet as the black clad figure charged towards him, black cape flaring, white hair streaming. Cloud got his sword up just in time to prevent the Masamune from cleaving him in half. Leaping back Cloud managed to get a good look at his opponent.
Aurora smiled evilly at him, her green eyes glinting with a slight madness and zeal. She whipped the sword around and thrust it into the ground point first, resting her hands on the hilt. Almost immediately a pale green light began to grow around her, causing her clothes and hair to flap in an unreal wind. Cloud dodged and dived as she threw a barrage of flame at him. As he got close to her he swung his blade around in an arc, which Aurora dodged at the last minute bringing up the Masamune to guard herself. Cloud changed the direction of the swing and brought it down towards her head in a chopping motion, as she leapt away, the sword managed to lop off a lock of white hair which drifted gently to the ground. Seemingly mesmerised and unable to move, Cloud saw Aurora watch her hair fall to the ground, eyes incredulous. As she raised her eyes to his, the venom in her gaze forced him back a step, giving her all the time she needed to leap towards him and plant her right foot in his chest. Cloud felt the air whoosh from his lungs as he fell flat on his back.
The triumph in Aurora's eyes was unbearable as she lifted her sword above her head. The Masamune left a silver arc in the air as it fell towards him at speeds unreachable by someone who did not possess Jenova cells. The Masamune suddenly stopped it's descent a few inches away from his face. Just enough room to allow another sword to snake in and block it.
Cloud saw Aurora's face snap up and glare at the person standing over his head.
'You cannot stop me,' Aurora said, but her voice was alien sounding, with strange echoes. 'You couldn't do it before, and now I am stronger than ever.'
'Maybe I could not stop you before, Jenova,' said a male voice which Cloud almost seemed to recognise. 'And maybe I will never have the honour of destroying you, but I will not let you kill the one who could.'
Aurora half-snarled, half-hissed at the man standing over him whilst bringing the Masamune around in an upwards sweep which was easily blocked by the stranger, before she back-flipped away to stand, sword point in the ground, green glow flowing around her, she disappeared in a flash of green-white light.
Cloud got to his feet as quickly as his aching body would allow, and turned to face his saviour.
The man was wearing a dark brown trench-coat over dark clothing. His sword was as long as Cloud's own, the blade was straight and only a few inches across. Heavy enough to cleave through bone, but light enough to wield with speed and agility. Cloud's eyes only briefly passed over the weapon and came to rest on the man's face. His blonde hair was pulled back and tied away from his slightly angular face except few the few spiky strands that were hanging over one side of his face. His eyes were the exact same shade of blue as Cloud's own.
'You were the guy on the balcony on the night of the ball weren't you?' Cloud accused, suddenly realising where he'd heard that voice before. 'You said you had something to tell me…'
'There's no time to talk right now.' The man replied calmly, 'I must go after her, try and stop her from getting to the North Crater.'
'The North Crater? Why is Aurora travelling back there?' Cloud demanded, moving closer to the mysterious man. 'All the tunnels and caves were blocked up when we made our 'amazing escape' after the fight with Sephiroth.'
'Aurora isn't the one who's trying to get back there, Cloud.' The man sighed. 'Jenova has taken her over, just like she was controlling Sephiroth. He was not strong enough to withhold her, and you witnessed the results firsthand.'
'And what do you have to do with all this then?' Cloud edged closer to the man, who seemed not to notice.
'I once had a link with Sephiroth before he became a monster, but that is irrelevant. I must follow where Jenova leads and prevent her from doing what she plans for as long as I can.' Came the curt reply. 'You and you're companions must follow as quickly as possible. If you can catch up with me in the North then I will explain more to you.'
' How do I know I can trust you? I don't know who you are, I don't even know what your name is! Why should I do as you say?'
The older man looked him directly in the eye sternly and replied, 'Because if you don't, it will be too late to do anything, and you know as well as I do that the effects of being too late, can affect your whole life.'
His boots pounded across the marble as he ran towards her. He saw the sword slide through her slight body. Too late, just a moment too late. He heard someone scream her name. It was a moment before he realised it had been him.
Cloud fell to his knees clutching at his head, fighting the grief which threatened to burst from him uncontrollably. He heard the man's voice one more time before he vanished in a flash of light much as Aurora had.
'My name is Linus. See you in the North, Strife.'
Author's Notes: Ooh flashbacks galore, although I'm not sure if that chapter made much sense coz I'm totally spaced due to an evil ultra-important-life-or-death History exam earlier today, and waaay too much Diet Coke. Well I'm not sure that chapter revealed much more, but it was a good way of telling the characters where to go next ^_^ Nice reviews and Chapter 10 will be up in a jiffy. LOL :-D