Disclaimer: Anything from the game is not mine.
Chapter 13: The Sea Sprite's Enchantments II and Aftermath
Kreutz looked at the Sea Sprite. "Uhh, Tifa, I have some good and bad news."
'Say the good news first,' Tifa thought.
"Well, the good news is that the Wyrm of Iraiah is one of the spawns of a particular type of water dragon that is relatively easy to defeat. Unfortunately, the Chimera is supposedly invincible. The only way we'll be able to tell which one the sprite is more like is if you actually summon us."
"Which, I'm sure that Kreutz here has emphasized, is very, very, VERY difficult," Jess added in.
"Right." Tifa suddenly stopped sensing Kreutz. "But I think that she's up to it. She's definitely more powerful than she thinks, and possibly more powerful than we think. Plus she's a quick learner." Jess also disappeared.
"Yeah, but what if it's the Chimera? What then?"
"Well, I guess we can only hope that it's the Wyrm. If not..." Kreutz trailed.
"If not, then we are ALL beef jerky." Jess finished. Both dragons reappeared.
'Well?' Tifa thought.
"Well, We'll give it a shot," Jess said.
"You just do the focus thingy while Jess and I do the rest," Kreutz informed.
'Alright,' Tifa thought back. She started to do the "focus thingy" and she felt something that started in her stomach and was going out in all directions. Finally, it erupted, and she saw the dragons.
'Oh, shhh..." Jess yelled in a panicked voice.
'Huh, what?' Tifa asked him before he could finish the word.
'It's the Chimera,' Kreutz said sadly. 'Oh well, let's just see what happens when we cast twin flames.'
'Futile, futile I say!' However, Jess complied. Kreutz floated up in the air a little and landed on Jess' shoulders. Both of them had their color fireball charging in their mouths, and when they unleashed the flames, a yellow colored light surrounded it and all three shot straight through the Sprite/Chimera, who gave a painful sounding scream.
'What in the...' Jess trailed, too shocked to say anything else.
'Isn't she invincible?' Kreutz asked.
"Looks like I came in time," a voice said from the doors. Tifa and Maverick's heads shot towards the doors. Sure enough, Melody was casually leaning against the wall directly next to the doors. "It seems like you missed me, eh?" She seemed completely relaxed. She looked at her nails before casually snapping her fingers, which caused the Sprite to disappear and the bridge to be clean. She stood up straighter. She started skipping towards Tifa. "Look at what I got!" She jumped, landing in front of Tifa and held up a gold colored stone in her right hand. In her left hand, she made a V sign. "V for Victory! Well, aren't you gonna give me a congratulatory hug?" She held her arms out to Tifa, and they hugged like long lost friends.
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"I bet you wanna know what happened to me, right?" Melody asked Tifa and Yuffie. The trio was in the latter two's bedroom. "As you no doubt heard, I went after the golden rune. We, and when I say we I mean Nellie and I, stopped at what wound up being Pearl's island and we learned a few things."
"Like what?" Yuffie asked.
"The golden rune is used for strictly resurrecting, although it also harnesses a power that strengthens the wielder. If I were against the Sea Sprite by myself, I wouldn't have been able to defeat her. But then again, if I hadn't been there, what would have happened to everyone on the ship? I would've become devastated, and that's pretty difficult for me to say. Everyone, and I mean everyone, that I care about nowadays would have been gone. Anyway, on a brighter topic, the good news is that I could heal Cloud now."
"Really?" She had both girls' attention now. They were leaning forward.
"Really, really. But, I can't concentrate with people there. So I should get going and hurry up and sneak in there, since the healing people are on lunch. See ya!" Melody disappeared in a flash of bright light.
"That must be how she got on the ship in the first place," Yuffie said. "So what's gonna happen to Cloud?"
"What do you mean what's gonna happen to him? Melody is going to heal him and then he will go back to Midgar."
"But what about you?" Yuffie asked. "I know that you are in love with that Maverick guy and whatever, but what's gonna happen to you?"
Tifa paused, unable to answer that question.
"See? Are you gonna stay with him or, are you going back to Kalm, or what?" Yuffie stood up. "Subconsciously, we have a big problem on our hands. When Cloud wakes up in a few, do we just go back and forget everything that's happened? Does anyone else worry about this stuff?"
"You know Yuffie, what happened to you after the war? You seem a lot different, a lot more mature..."
"Yeah, well, just because I was a thieving rat doesn't mean that I still am." Yuffie paused. "Okay, maybe I still steal a little, but I remember trying to steal from this one guy. He certainly looked rich, and believe me, I later found out that he was, but he was like, psychic or something. Just as I was reaching his gil pouch from behind, he grabbed my hand."
Flashback...
"What are you, a little thief?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow, her wrist still in his powerful grip. He examined her face, and in his scrutiny she looked down. "Hmm...Wutanese, large materia pouch, travelling clothes, you must be Yuffie Kisaragi, aren't you?"
Yuffie looked up at him in surprise. She was even more shocked when he let go of her arm.
"Listen, little girl, you go and steal from people that have too much money to know what to do with it. This money needs to be for something else." He rummaged through the pocket of his loose jeans. "You can use this." He pulled out a 100,000 gil note out of his pocket and held it out to her. She just stared at it. "What, so you don't want to use it? Okay then." He moved his hand to put the note back into his pocket but she stopped him.
"No, no, I could use it...as long as it isn't out of pity," she said casually. The man's dark eyebrows were raised and his golden colored eyes flashed as he grinned.
"Don't worry, Miss Kisaragi, I can assure you it's not out of pity. It's just to help finance. If you need any more help with finances, then be sure to call the Turks and ask for Auron." He laughed as he walked away.
End flashback...
"The Turks?" Tifa asked.
"Yeah, the Turks. They actually have a nice person working for the Turks," Yuffie replied.
"What do they do nowadays?"
"I dunno, I think they're kinda like mercenaries now. You know, anything for the right price."
"Do you think that that Auron person exists for real?" Tifa asked suddenly. She had a crafty smile on her face. Yuffie pulled out her PHS.
"Let's check." Both girls burst out laughing.
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Melody reappeared in the lab/clinic in a golden bubble. She smiled. Empty, just as expected. She went to the bed that Cloud was on. Of course, his hair was messy and the front half was drenched in sweat. She concentrated.
She felt the tingle, and when it escaped, she opened her eyes. She saw something that looked like a glowing seed enter Cloud's body, and when it did, he screamed in pain.
"Relax, buddy," Melody muttered. He stopped screaming and then he opened his eyes carefully.
"T-Tifa?" He asked, his voice and eyes a bit unfocused.
"No, not her. The name's Melody, Melody Solheart." Gradually, his eyes became focused. She smiled as she pushed some of his hair off of his face.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"You are in Uriah, the capitol of the Cetra's land." Cloud tried to sit up.
"Cetra?" He struggled to sit up.
"Woah, relax, buddy. You've been out of it for a long time, you don't need to move more than you have to." Melody gently pushed him back down by his shoulders. "Listen, I have to go now. You be a good patient for my big sis, alright?"
"Okay," Cloud replied, closing his eyes. Melody smiled to herself as she teleported away.
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A blonde woman with blue eyes raised her eyebrows as the Turks' phone rang. She answered, wondering who would call this early in the morning. "The Turk's Headquarters, Heather speaking."
"Hi, mah name is Ruby and ah'm lookin' for a boy named Auron," a country person said on the other line.
"Alright, Miss Ruby, I'll get him on the phone." Heather walked upstairs to Auron's room. Luckily, he wakes up even earlier than herself. She knocked on the door.
"What?" he asked.
"Yo Auron, some chick named Ruby's calling for ya!" Auron opened the door, and Heather was (again) struck by how drop dead gorgeous the guy is.
"Alright." He took the phone from Heather and walked into his room. "Hello?"
"Hello, Mr. Auron, my name is Tifa Lockheart."
"Okay, and what may I ask is the reason for this phone call?"
"A friend of mine named Yuffie was wondering if you'd meet her one day to talk about your business proposal together...?"
"Actually, this week's not a good time, since we have a huge job. Maybe next week, or the week after that."
"Okay. That would be fine."
"Oh, and Tifa?"
"Yes?"
"It's just Auron, not Mr., okay?"
"Okay." Tifa grinned. "Have a nice day, Auron."
"Same to you." Auron looked at the phone curiously.
---
Tifa laughed as she hung up the phone. Soon Yuffie joined in.
"Oh... my... gawd!" Yuffie said between laughter.
When things finally calmed down, Tifa was the first to speak. "I guess your mystery man's still interested." She grinned at Yuffie cheekily. "If his face is as good as his voice, he must be a hottie to an extreme level." To her surprise, Yuffie's face flushed.
"You can say that."
"Oooh... Yuffie has a crush, Yuffie has a crush!" Tifa sang. She laughed some more. "Well, Yuffie, I'm glad that you found a guy worth having a crush on." At this, Yuffie laughed.
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Melody reappeared right outside of Maverick's room. She knocked on the door.
"Come in," he called. She entered.
"Mavy, old buddy, I need to ask you a big, big favor." He paused.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeppers. I need to see that Aeris chick." Maverick turned and raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Please, pretty please?" Melody asked, her face instantly transforming to an innocent puppy face.
"Fine."
"Did I mention that I have to see her alone?" Maverick raised both of his eyebrows.
"I probably shouldn't let you, but I'm gonna anyway. Just go into that elevator, and go down."
"Okay." Melody skipped to the elevator and rode down. "Aeris, oh Aeris!" she called.
"Yes?" Aeris asked as she appeared.
"My name's Melody, and I'm here to give you a new lease on life!" Melody held up the Golden Rune and closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she put her arm in Aeris' arm and walked towards the elevator. "Just call me your fairy godmother!" Melody exclaimed as they went up.
A/N: Well, I guess this ends this story. I'm going to write a sequel, though, called The Angle. Should I write it about the Turks, continue with a little bit more Tifa and Yuffie (but more Yuffie) or write it about Vincent? Please answer in your review. I want to know if I am a good enough writer to write a sequel. I'm gonna have to be motivated, though. Plus school starts on August 9, so I don't have much summer vacation time. Stay tuned for more.