Chapter II: A Godsend
Silence. I sat there, dumbfounded because our journey now seemed to be over. We had completed our mission, and now for the first time in months I had the chance to think about all that had happened up to that point. Death is all that entered my mind. How many people have died!? Think of all the men and women that were killed at the hands of Sephiroth! And... think of all those who we had to kill when they stood up to us... too many deaths. Suddenly everything around me began to move, and flowing strands of green energy circled around me. The Lifestream! As they collected in a spot above my head I noticed some strands of Lifestream were red, the same that had come out of Sephiroth at his death. What? Could it be? No, even if that is his spirit or energy or whatever, I killed him! Both in mind and body! ...what's left?
"Cloud!" I heard someone yell softly. Looking up to where the strands of energy were leading, a hand was reaching out to me through a plate of light. That hand... Aeris? My vision began to blur, and I felt dizzy...
"Cloud! Grab my hand, you're going to fall!" screamed Tifa. Looking down, I saw the ground cracking between my feet. I was back out of the Lifestream, back in the crater!
'Oh shit!' I thought to myself, as the rock crumbled around me. Looking up at Tifa, who was kneeling, calling for me on an outcrop on the wall of the cave, I watched as a rock hit the outcrop and sent it and Tifa falling toward the ground. Sprinting to where she was, I grabbed her and jumped to hang on to an edge for dear life. The quake then subsided.
"I think I'm beginning to understand..." I said softly, tears forming in my eyes.
"What?"
"An answer from the Planet... the Promised Land... I think I can meet her... there."
"Yeah, let's go meet her." Tifa responded kindly, tucking her head into my chest as I pulled us back up on to the outcrop from which she had fell. Tossing her up on to it and then following her by lifting myself up, we sat on the rocky outcrop breathing heavily. Suddenly the Lifestream pool that I had just been in back down at the bottom of the crater lit up, and changed from a green to a bright blue. Holy was activating now that Jenova and Sephiroth were dead.
"Hey, where is everyone?" I asked.
"Heeeey!" barked Barrett, as I turned around to see the rest of the loyal party waving back at us from another outcrop across the crater.
"I'm glad you're all safe!" Tifa yelled back.
"They all seem to be safe, too." said Barrett quietly to Cid. "But, now what're we going to do?"
"Holy should be moving soon." advised Nanaki, looking grim. "and that means this place will..."
"Oh, Lady Luck don't fail me now..." Cid prayed, interrupting Nanaki. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake again, and as Cid stared up the cigarette dropped from his mouth. Here came the Highwind down the narrow crater hole! "Everyone get in! Quick! We gotta get outta here!"
Several minutes later, as the Highwind again attempted to escape from the crevasses of the North Crater, I heard an insanely loud roar from behind. "OH BOY! GET MOVING! HOLY IS ON ITS WAY! HANG OOOOONNN!" I screamed as the giant blue ball of energy pounded into us, sending the Highwind miles high up, still with no power. Shoving us out of its way as everyone on deck continued to shake and fall everywhere, Holy continued upwards as the Highwind plummeted back to Earth, metal plating and engines all being ripped off as the airship spiraled out of control.
"$#@%!" cursed Cid, not willing to lose the ship that he so loved. Pulling on a big red handle labeled 'emergency', the Highwind suddenly exploded in a massive fire-ball and from the smoke the prototype escape module flew off at high speeds. Safe now, the real wait began, the fate of Earth was now out of our hands.
As the new version of the Highwind circled around Midgar, the team and I hoped and prayed Holy would be there soon to stop Meteor. As Meteor got closer and closer, the ground and sky around it began to turn red, and massive red tornadoes, jolting with high energy, formed, connecting the city of Midgar to Meteor, and tearing everything on the ground apart. Lightning struck everywhere in quick succession. Meteor was truly of massive energy. Flashing brightly twice in the north, the team then noticed the approach of Holy. It was going straight for Midgar and the Meteor! Blasting through the tornadoes, the blue energy stopped the destruction of Midgar, if only temporarily, and began holding Meteor in place, ... but it was too late. Meteor was too close to the city and began to cut through Holy, once again wreaking havoc on Midgar.
"Wait a damn minute!" Barrett said angrily. "What's going to happen to Midgar!? We can't let that happen!"
"I had everyone take refuge in the slums, but the way things are now..." reported Cait-Sith, actually a head executive of the now defunct Shin-Ra corporation. Approaching the gigantic window, looking very concerned, Nanaki began to speak wisely:
"It's too late for Holy." he said, shocking everyone on board. "Meteor is approaching the Planet. Holy is having the opposite effect. Forget Midgar, we've gotta worry about the Planet!"
As the hours ticked by and Meteor slowly got nearer and nearer to destroying Earth, all the while destroying Midgar, we sat on the bridge of the airship, waiting and watching silently. Looking out to the side, Tifa abruptly shouted:
"What's that!?" Everyone rushed over. A green light was glowing on the side of a mountain. It began to grow, much like a vine, out of the ground, and then other lights sprouted out as well. Soon, all over, these glowing, growing energies were reaching up out of the Earth.
"What the hell IS that ..... ?" Barrett yelled impatiently, obviously on edge.
"... Lifestream." I answered. Flowing together, the lifestream energies began to head towards Midgar. Thousands of them now, across the world, seen by everyone.
"It is coming..."
Surrounding Midgar and Meteor, the Lifestreams lit up even brighter, speeding up and rushing into the devastated area. The Earth was defending itself, the Earth was healing itself.
A flash again, and evil was banished. I had the strange feeling that Aeris was next to me, thanking me. Tired... so tired. I need a sleep back at our condo... back in Costa Del Sol. Yeah....
Silence. I sat there, dumbfounded because our journey now seemed to be over. We had completed our mission, and now for the first time in months I had the chance to think about all that had happened up to that point. Death is all that entered my mind. How many people have died!? Think of all the men and women that were killed at the hands of Sephiroth! And... think of all those who we had to kill when they stood up to us... too many deaths. Suddenly everything around me began to move, and flowing strands of green energy circled around me. The Lifestream! As they collected in a spot above my head I noticed some strands of Lifestream were red, the same that had come out of Sephiroth at his death. What? Could it be? No, even if that is his spirit or energy or whatever, I killed him! Both in mind and body! ...what's left?
"Cloud!" I heard someone yell softly. Looking up to where the strands of energy were leading, a hand was reaching out to me through a plate of light. That hand... Aeris? My vision began to blur, and I felt dizzy...
"Cloud! Grab my hand, you're going to fall!" screamed Tifa. Looking down, I saw the ground cracking between my feet. I was back out of the Lifestream, back in the crater!
'Oh shit!' I thought to myself, as the rock crumbled around me. Looking up at Tifa, who was kneeling, calling for me on an outcrop on the wall of the cave, I watched as a rock hit the outcrop and sent it and Tifa falling toward the ground. Sprinting to where she was, I grabbed her and jumped to hang on to an edge for dear life. The quake then subsided.
"I think I'm beginning to understand..." I said softly, tears forming in my eyes.
"What?"
"An answer from the Planet... the Promised Land... I think I can meet her... there."
"Yeah, let's go meet her." Tifa responded kindly, tucking her head into my chest as I pulled us back up on to the outcrop from which she had fell. Tossing her up on to it and then following her by lifting myself up, we sat on the rocky outcrop breathing heavily. Suddenly the Lifestream pool that I had just been in back down at the bottom of the crater lit up, and changed from a green to a bright blue. Holy was activating now that Jenova and Sephiroth were dead.
"Hey, where is everyone?" I asked.
"Heeeey!" barked Barrett, as I turned around to see the rest of the loyal party waving back at us from another outcrop across the crater.
"I'm glad you're all safe!" Tifa yelled back.
"They all seem to be safe, too." said Barrett quietly to Cid. "But, now what're we going to do?"
"Holy should be moving soon." advised Nanaki, looking grim. "and that means this place will..."
"Oh, Lady Luck don't fail me now..." Cid prayed, interrupting Nanaki. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake again, and as Cid stared up the cigarette dropped from his mouth. Here came the Highwind down the narrow crater hole! "Everyone get in! Quick! We gotta get outta here!"
Several minutes later, as the Highwind again attempted to escape from the crevasses of the North Crater, I heard an insanely loud roar from behind. "OH BOY! GET MOVING! HOLY IS ON ITS WAY! HANG OOOOONNN!" I screamed as the giant blue ball of energy pounded into us, sending the Highwind miles high up, still with no power. Shoving us out of its way as everyone on deck continued to shake and fall everywhere, Holy continued upwards as the Highwind plummeted back to Earth, metal plating and engines all being ripped off as the airship spiraled out of control.
"$#@%!" cursed Cid, not willing to lose the ship that he so loved. Pulling on a big red handle labeled 'emergency', the Highwind suddenly exploded in a massive fire-ball and from the smoke the prototype escape module flew off at high speeds. Safe now, the real wait began, the fate of Earth was now out of our hands.
As the new version of the Highwind circled around Midgar, the team and I hoped and prayed Holy would be there soon to stop Meteor. As Meteor got closer and closer, the ground and sky around it began to turn red, and massive red tornadoes, jolting with high energy, formed, connecting the city of Midgar to Meteor, and tearing everything on the ground apart. Lightning struck everywhere in quick succession. Meteor was truly of massive energy. Flashing brightly twice in the north, the team then noticed the approach of Holy. It was going straight for Midgar and the Meteor! Blasting through the tornadoes, the blue energy stopped the destruction of Midgar, if only temporarily, and began holding Meteor in place, ... but it was too late. Meteor was too close to the city and began to cut through Holy, once again wreaking havoc on Midgar.
"Wait a damn minute!" Barrett said angrily. "What's going to happen to Midgar!? We can't let that happen!"
"I had everyone take refuge in the slums, but the way things are now..." reported Cait-Sith, actually a head executive of the now defunct Shin-Ra corporation. Approaching the gigantic window, looking very concerned, Nanaki began to speak wisely:
"It's too late for Holy." he said, shocking everyone on board. "Meteor is approaching the Planet. Holy is having the opposite effect. Forget Midgar, we've gotta worry about the Planet!"
As the hours ticked by and Meteor slowly got nearer and nearer to destroying Earth, all the while destroying Midgar, we sat on the bridge of the airship, waiting and watching silently. Looking out to the side, Tifa abruptly shouted:
"What's that!?" Everyone rushed over. A green light was glowing on the side of a mountain. It began to grow, much like a vine, out of the ground, and then other lights sprouted out as well. Soon, all over, these glowing, growing energies were reaching up out of the Earth.
"What the hell IS that ..... ?" Barrett yelled impatiently, obviously on edge.
"... Lifestream." I answered. Flowing together, the lifestream energies began to head towards Midgar. Thousands of them now, across the world, seen by everyone.
"It is coming..."
Surrounding Midgar and Meteor, the Lifestreams lit up even brighter, speeding up and rushing into the devastated area. The Earth was defending itself, the Earth was healing itself.
A flash again, and evil was banished. I had the strange feeling that Aeris was next to me, thanking me. Tired... so tired. I need a sleep back at our condo... back in Costa Del Sol. Yeah....