Elena: Under the Throne, the Snake
Elena gritted her teeth against a wave of nausea. Damn. Never got airsick before. She closed her eyes and refused to look down at the very rapidly moving landscape below. The nausea receded a bit, and she relaxed. Maybe it was last night's dinner; she'd felt nauseous this morning, too. Should know better than to buy food from street vendors. The plane hit a pocket of turbulence; she swallowed hard to keep from vomiting and clapped a hand over her mouth.
Wake up, Elena, Reno said, poking her with his nightstick. Can't sleep on duty, y'know.
Only drink on duty, huh? she grumbled, opening her eyes and refusing to look out the window. How much further to Rocket Town? Her stomach settled and she dropped her hand back onto the armrest. Rude, sitting next to her, seemed to be dozing.
About another fifteen minutes, Reno replied, leaning back in his seat. No word from Reeve about Strife's crew.
Elena suspected Reeve was playing both sides with Cait Sith. More power to you, Reeve, she thought. They'll probably show up. Am I running interference this time?
Reno shook his head at her. No, you an' me got a different job this time. Since the Temple's trashed -- He stopped at the look on her face. Damn. Sorry, Elena.
She shook her head, refusing to think about Tseng, or how close she'd come to being able to save him. If she hadn't been attacked by two of those sphinx-like things, she would have made it. What's the job, Reno?
Rude stirred and looked at her with an expression she couldn't interpret. Hojo wants to go to the City of the Ancients.
He thinks he can find out something about Meteor. Or maybe he's just looking for things to experiment on, Reno added. He poked her with his stick again and leered at her. Just you and me ... and an inconvenient mad scientist.
Which one of you am I supposed to be more disgusted with? Elena asked. A grin flickered across Rude's face and Reno rolled his eyes.
Oh, Elena, you know I love ya, Reno said, pouting in an attempt to look heartbroken. You're gonna break my heart.
The only person you love is yourself, Reno, she laughed, and heard Rude's rumbling laugh. He rarely ... none of them had laughed much since the Temple. So close ... she'd almost been in time. She shook her head, and asked, So where's Hojo?
Ah, you know you love it, Elena. He leaned his nightstick up against his seat. He's in the back with his damn files and his sample tubes. Gives me the fucking creeps.
Makes two of us, Elena said, then clamped her hand over her mouth again as the plane descended toward Rocket Town. Hojo looked at her the way he did one of his prized specimens, which was not unlike the way men who didn't know better looked at Scarlet. But if she wasn't on this job, she'd be back at Headquarters with Rufus, and that didn't bear thinking about either. The landing was rough, and Elena concentrated on not losing her breakfast.
After the plane finally stopped moving, the pilot announced a half-hour layover for repairs. Reno slouched off, bitching about planes, pilots and the universe in general, to inform Hojo. Elena stood up, then swallowed hard as the world spun around her, clutching at the seat to keep her feet.
Rude shook his head, though she couldn't tell if at her or at Reno, then stood. Fresh air will help, Elena.
She shrugged dubiously, then followed him out of the plane, standing next to him near a small copse. Sunlight warmed her skin, and the breeze smelled of wet earth. She took several deep breaths, and the nausea receded enough for her to look at her surroundings. Wow. Can that thing really fly? she asked, staring at the tilted, rusting rocket.
Dr. Stargazer says it is still in good condition. He shrugged, leaf-shadows flickering across his skin, and tilted his face into the sun.
Dr. Stargazer? Wasn't she one of the crew that designed it? Elena asked, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets against the chill on the breeze. She'd read about the abortive Space Program once, when she was a child, but it had been a long time. Dr. Shera Stargazer and Captain Cid Highwind ... the same Cid now with Strife's crew? She couldn't remember.
She designed most of the life support systems, he replied, turning his head to look at her. He said nothing for a few minutes; Elena, accustomed to his silences, enjoyed the sunlight and the fresh air, breathing deeply to counter the nausea. I do not like this, he said abruptly.
Rufus' plan? Elena didn't understand any of the science behind the plan, and was rather dubious anyway. Even if it blew up, there would still be all the pieces of it, wouldn't there? This was one of the many times she wished she hadn't dropped out of school to sign up. Maybe she could get Reeve to explain after this job was over.
He shook his head. Splitting up. Especially with Hojo involved.
Elena hunched her shoulders against the rising wind. I'm not thrilled either. Hojo gives me the creeps.
Rude moved to stand against the wind and give her a bit of shelter, turning to face her. Hojo asked specifically for you, he said, his words colored with distaste.
Elena shivered from something other than cold, her stomach roiling briefly before settling down. Lucky me. What for?
Rude frowned, looking up at the storm clouds rolling in, then looked at her. I don't know. Rufus' plan was to send me and Reno here and you alone with Hojo.
Being alone with Hojo in a ruined city sounded like a cheap slasher flick at best, and ... no, she wanted to keep her breakfast in her stomach. She was not going to think about at worst. It might even make being stuck with Rufus in his most arrogant and obnoxious mood seem pleasant. Elena shuddered. So what happened?
He was overruled, Rude said, with some satisfaction. Rufus cannot take Tseng's place, no matter what he thinks.
Elena sighed. Tell me about it. Rufus treated her like a glorified secretary at best; she'd slugged him once (he'd more than deserved it, in her eyes), and the sheer disbelief on his face as blood streamed from his nose had been more than worth docked pay and the threat of losing her job.
There was a different quality to Rude's silence this time.
I ... never mind, Rude. She looked away, ashamed.
He clasped her shoulder with one broad, strong hand. What did he say in that meeting? After Tseng's death, Rufus had summoned each Turk, separately, for a meeting. Reno and Rude had never said what he'd told them, but neither of them had looked pleased.
She bowed her head in humiliation. He ... compared me to Scarlet. That Rufus had never really believed she had what it took to be a Turk had been obvious from the beginning, but he'd never said anything when Tseng was alive. Now that Tseng was dead, he had said that she ... that the only reason she was a Turk ... that she had been Tseng's mistress. Whatever he might or might not have felt for her, Tseng would not have tolerated even Rufus talking about a Turk in such a manner. It was why she'd slugged him.
Rude was silent for a minute, hand still resting on her shoulder. Rufus is a fool.
Not that I'm arguing, but what's our esteemed President done now? Reno asked, joining them, slouching against a tree with his hands in his pockets.
Rufus disagrees with Tseng's hiring practices, Rude replied. Elena said nothing; Reno would never let her hear the end of it if he found out.
Reno rolled his eyes. Aw, man, if I have to listen to him bitch about my smoking in his office one more time, I'm gonna ... anyway, I hate to break up this little tête-à-tête, he said, smirking, but time to go, Elena.
She nodded and started to follow him as he slouched off. Rude's hand tightened on her shoulder, and she paused to look back at him.
Be careful, Elena. Reno is ... unreliable. Rude shook his head as Reno stopped to argue with the pilot.
He's gotten worse. Reno had gotten blind drunk for two days running after Tseng died; Elena had been in the medical center for three days, healing from the injuries the sphinx-like creatures had inflicted on her, or she might have been tempted to join him. As it was, Rude had been sitting next to her bed when she woke up, to tell her that they had to go back to work.
Rude nodded. I would rather you were with me, but Rufus insisted. His hand tightened almost painfully on her shoulder, then he released her. See you back at headquarters.
Yeah. Headquarters. Watch yourself, Rude. She hurried to catch up with Reno and boarded the plane, only to find that Hojo had taken her seat. She took Reno's and left him to sit next to Hojo. Of course, that meant Hojo could stare at her breasts, but at least he couldn't try to touch her or make much conversation. It didn't matter for long; the turbulence from the storm front sent her to the bathroom to retch the remainder of the flight.
What happened here? she asked.
Hojo braced himself on her shoulder. A virus that drove the Ancients mad, he said. They destroyed each other quite effectively. He peered down as she shrugged his hand off and stepped to the side. If the information relayed is correct, there's a reasonably intact house on the far side that will do for a base of operations. He gestured for her to go ahead; Elena felt his eyes on her rear the entire way down, and wished Reno had gone in front instead.
The dust was thick on the abandoned streets, and Elena could make out several sets of prints. The SOLDIER boots no doubt belonged to Strife; the big blurred prints were probably Cait Sith, or maybe ... no, the shape was all wrong for the big cat-wolf. They had to be Cait's prints. There was a second pair of SOLDIER boot prints; one of the sets belonged to Sephiroth. One of the two other sets of prints probably belonged to Aeris, and the other to Tifa or Yuffie; not large enough to be Barrett or Vincent, and human, not ... whatever exactly the big cat-wolf thing was. She didn't blame it ... him? ... for taking the first opportunity to get out of Hojo's lab.
Reno, from Reeve's information, led them to the most intact house. A few crates blocked the rear door; Elena scouted around the back of the house, and determined that it led out, not into a storeroom. A short ladder led up to a sleeping area with three cots; army-issue blankets were folded neatly on each cot. No doubt Strife's crew had left them, and she wondered if they'd intended to come back. There was a glowing crystal by the door; Hojo rapped it with his knuckles and drew them back with a sharp hiss. There was an oozing burn across the back of his hand.
Hojo began searching through the crates, muttering to himself. The crates yielded nothing but rotting tables mice had made nests of, the mice themselves (squeaking angrily and trying to bite), and copious quantities of dust. Elena sneezed and Reno coughed alarmingly.
The other houses may yield more information, Hojo declared, and stalked out of the house. They shrugged, Reno fighting down a final burst of coughing, and followed him across the city as he searched each house in turn, growing more and more frustrated as he found only more mice, more dust, and collections of broken crockery. In the last house, he found a single mouse-chewed book that crumbled into dust in his hands. Hojo swore volubly in Wutai, wiped dust from his hands on his ever-present lab coat, and stalked back, muttering incomprehensibly, to the house with the cots.
We will examine the temple and the altar-room tomorrow, Hojo ordered. We'll begin at dawn. He stretched out on his cot with his back to them; Elena and Reno climbed down the ladder to the first level and took up sentry position by the door. They could hear him tossing restlessly.
Reno pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered it to Elena.
Reno, you know I don't smoke.
He shrugged and pulled out a cigarette, then shoved the package back in his pocket. You need some bad habits, he replied, lighting the cigarette and taking a deep drag.
She rolled her eyes. What, putting up with you doesn't count? You could lay off those things, you know. You'll hack up a lung one of these days.
Reno grinned around his cigarette. Aw, that's so sweet, Leney, you being all concerned about my health. He sidled up to her and snaked an arm around her waist. Why don't we lose the mad scientist for a few hours and ...
She jabbed him in the side with her elbow and stepped away. Finish that sentence and I'm gonna ... she said, folding her arms over her chest and glowering at him, trying not to laugh. You fall over here and I'm stuck alone with Hojo.
Aw, is that all I mean to you? Reno sighed hugely. You're gonna be the death of me, Elena. He took another drag off his cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke in her direction. Rude tell you he asked for you?
Elena shook her head. Don't wanna think about it ... this place is creepy enough as it is. She stretched, and her hand brushed across the crystal. It was pleasantly warm, and touching it reminded her of listening to nuns at prayer, that sense of a conversation half-heard and not understood. She rested her open hand on it. What are these things?
Wasn't ... never mind. Reno shrugged and stared at her hand resting on the crystal. Beats the hell out of me. Jeez, how can you do that after the way it burned Hojo?
It's not hot, just warm, she said, taking her hand away from the crystal. The sensation faded into a murmur, and then it was gone. Kinda nice, it's cold around here.
Cold? Feels fine to me, Reno said. He started to say something, then changed his mind. Get some sleep. I'll take first watch.
Elena nodded, climbed up the ladder, and fell asleep on the cot furthest from Hojo's. The sense of half-heard conversation haunted her, echoing through the shadow-haunted city in her dreams until Reno woke her for her turn at watch. The crystal was glowing brighter now, too hot to touch; the warmth was more than welcome in the cool night air. She wondered, walking up and down the short hall to keep awake, what Strife and his crew had come here for in the first place. Maybe they'd had the same idea Hojo had, that there might be some solution to Meteor here. If there ever was, they'd taken it away with them, and she suspected they'd find nothing on that altar but bloodstains. Reeve had been broken up over Aeris's death, as if it was his fault; Hojo had been angry that his precious specimen was dead. Tseng ... Tseng might have cared. But Tseng had already been dead. She'd failed. The most important job of her life, and she'd failed. Tseng ...
She shook her head at the useless thoughts, forcing it all back down in the bottom of her mind. But none of the local monsters seemed interested in the city, and Strife's crew was probably headed for Rocket Town. She stopped near the crystal to soak up the warmth, and felt the same sensation of half-heard conversation; it reminded her of listening to the nuns at night prayers from the orphanage dormitory. Her cell phone went off; she jumped, then answered it. Elena? Reeve-san? Yes, right away, sir. She climbed back up the ladder and woke Reno. Over Hojo' voluminous complaints, they left immediately to retrieve a severely wounded Rude from Rocket Town.
Now we are come to our Kingdom,
And the Crown is ours to take–
With a naked sword at the Council board,
And under the throne the snake.
Now we are come to our Kingdom! '
– Rudyard Kipling, The Kingdom'
Kipling may have been an imperialist, but the man wrote damn fine poetry. Shinra and Hojo both in this poem, and maybe even the Cetra, depending on how you think they died. I couldn't find a correct version of it online, sorry.