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AERIS LEGACY
Chapter Seven
Junon × Drunk × Apart
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Aeros talked to the guard at the end of the road. "Upper Junon?" The
man jerked his thumb behind him. "But you have to be from Shinra."
Aeros stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out
his ID. The guard's eyes went big. "Yeah, you can pass." He stopped Airis,
though. "Who's she?"
"My sister. I'm taking her to the other continent."
The guard released Airis.
In the elevator, Airis asked, "What made you say
that?"
"...Nothing. What, should I have said Grandma?"
Aeros teased. The elevator stopped and they stepped into a hall. A window
to the side showed them them the dark sky. They went through another door,
coming to a street.
"We should find a place to stay." Walking over to
a man standing by a door, Aeros asked. The man grinned and pointed.
"Up ahead."
"I'm going out for a while," Aeros told her. He left.
She flopped down and opened the book back to the page on Cloud. If Cloud's his dad, who's his mom? Airis wondered as she read up on AVALANCHE.
Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockheart, Barret Wallace, Aeris Gainsborough, a specimen named Red XII, Cait Sith, a pilot named Cid Highwind, the Wutaiian ninja Yuffie Kisaragi, and an ex-Turk named Vincent Valentine.
The picture of the one named Aeris seemed strange. Airis wondered why. She paced the room, and stared into a mirror. Mirror. Airis looked at her reflection and the picture of Aeris. They were the exact same. The hair colors were different, but the eyes were the same.
"So if this Aeris could be my mother, what about my father? None of these people have silver hair."
Airis turned out the lights and went to bed.
"What's this, your fifth?" The bartender asked. "Aren't you a bit young to be drinking this much?"
Aeros swore at the bartender.
"Whatever."
As he drank, his thoughts became cloudier (AN: Grr, that pun always keeps coming up!) and darker. Finally, Aeros left, leaving some Gil on the counter, which in truth was barely enough to cover half of what he drank.
He walked down the street and throught a tunnel. "You need a ride?" Someone asked him, and not knowing what, Aeros nodded.
It was morning, and she decided to go wake up Aeros.
In Aeros' room, everything seemed fine. But on second glance...
"AEROS!!" Airis shrieked.
But maybe... just maybe...
"Funny seeing you here." A hand on her shoulder.
Rufus.
"President Rufus! What are you doing here?"
"I came to check on this place, make sure there's nothing wrong. What were you running for?"
"I need to cross the sea."
The man thought a minute. "It left yesterday. But... I think I can get one to take you over." Rufus took out his cell phone. He dialed a number and spoke. After a while, he hung up. "This way." Airis followed him.
As they walked to the port, Airis asked, "What do you know about AVALANCHE?"
"The girls in the team are pretty."
"..."
"Nothing much these days. They nearly killed me, did you know?"
"Really?"
"Come to think of it, you look like one of them... what's her name...the flower girl?"
"Is it... Aeris?"
"Yeah, that's her. But according to Reeve, she's dead."
"Reeve? Is he AVALANCHE?"
"Sort of."
Airis tugged impatiently at Rufus' sleeve. "Tell me, how is Reeve 'sort of' AVALANCHE?" She stared at him. Rufus sighed. "Well?"
"Reeve has a computerized chip in his brain. That connects him to a robotic cat named Cait Sith. Cait Sith is part of AVALANCHE. So, basically Reeve is AVALANCHE, too."
They reached the port. The ship was there. "Thanks Rufus."
"No prob. You know my cell number, right? Call me if anything's wrong."
"'kay." Airis boarded the ship. She waved at Rufus, as the ship left Junon Harbor.
Obviously here, Cait/Reeve made no connection between Airis and Aeris.
