Epilogue Four
Rufus
Rufus stood at the window of his office in Junon, overlooking the sea. The past two months had changed everything in his life. He had gone from the wealthy son of the world's most powerful man, to becoming the world's most powerful man, to nothing better than a gutter rat, to the Emperor of a Corporate Empire, and lastly, to a make-shift Cetra warrior.
That last bothered him the most.
In the wake of Diamond Weapon's attack, he had been consumed with revenge, wanting to destroy all remains of the Weapons. But with Diamond itself destroyed, as well as Ultima, Emerald and Ruby, Rufus had found little to hope for except rebuilding his powerbase. When Obsidian had appeared, it looked like there was a way at last to get some form of vengeance, of vindication. Some way to reclaim the pride he had lost.
He had known from the moment he had seen Obsidian Weapon that in some way it was the Cetra, Aeris. And in some measure he had wanted to destroy her for being associated with the Weapon, for giving it life, for being a part of it.
So he had looked to his resources and cultivated everything he could muster, from Proud Clod, to the Shin Bahamut Summon Materia, to the Mako-enhancement Soldier process. And it had been that process that had begun the change, the forcing of Cetra ideals into his mind.
Afterwards, he had been thrilled at the new power, excited at the prospects. He hadn't realized what it all meant.
Upon seeing Aeris, something inside of him had ... reacted. A type of mental reflex, triggering his mind and body towards one goal. Something that consumed his desire to obliterate Obsidian Weapon, even his desire to control everything.
He had once been pleased at the idea of inheriting Shinra Incorporated and turning it into a weapon of fear, a way to control the world and make it his.
But now the dream brought nothing but a foul taste to his mouth. Something inside of him was changing, and he didn't like it.
He was becoming Cetra, whatever that meant, and he both longed for it and feared it. What was he going to do? How was he being influenced?
He turned from the window, ripping his gaze away from the beautiful ocean. Never before had he been so taken in by the sight of nature, by something so timeless and enduring. He had always hated being reminded that even after he died, something would forever out-live him, and know that he was but a speck of dust in the grand scheme of the world. Now, he realized, that the timelessness of the Planet made it sacred, and that he would have to protect it, and make sure that its timelessness would endure.
He turned to his desk, and frowned.
His Empire was built on wealth. It required revenues from people paying for power. Mako power. But now, he knew, that the use of Mako power was harmful to the Planet, would kill it in time. He looked down to the two pieces of paper on his desk.
On one was the designs for Neo Midgar, a city built to collect and use an abundant amount of Mako energy. It would make man's life easier, giving him all the luxuries he could ever need, and would make Shinra the financial power of the world for centuries to come. But, if those plans were followed, at best, the Planet would only have centuries. Probably much less.
Personal gain. Protecting the Planet.
For more than twenty years Rufus Shinra had been raised to put money above all else.
But in a single moment and the injection of a needle, the innate desire to protect the Planet had consumed him.
On the other paper was a schematic for alternative power sources, all rough drafts. They were primitive, and polluted, and weren't very efficient, but they didn't require Mako, the lifeblood of the Planet itself.
Sitting down in the chair at his desk, Rufus realized that soon he would have to make a decision. But first things first.
He leaned over and picked up his phone, and pushed the button labeled 'Reeve.' It rang once, then was immediately picked up.
"Hello?" the Vice President of Shinra's voice sounded wary.
"Reeve, this is Rufus. Come to my office immediately. I have something important to discuss with you. It involves your past."
Hanging up the phone, Rufus looked down at the two sheets of paper again, and sighed. Soon, he would have to make a decision.
Author's Note:
That's it, folks. I threw a minor cliffhanger that could be left up to the audience's imagination at the end there. I've really enjoyed writing this story. I may end up writing a sequel. I'm debating it. I don't have any plot ideas, I just have the characters and the current situation.
If you have a particular view on whether or not I should sequal this, then send me a line to nargsmash (Stupid "at" sign not working. You're smart people. You figure out what the e-mail is)
A few interesting notes that changed from what was originally planned.
1) Cid was originally supposed to live. Lucrecia's plan was entirely made up, however, after breaking into Shinra headquarters at the end of the story, they find the Soldier process and give Cid a temporary Mako boost that way, allowing for surgery by Cloud, directed by Red XIII.
2) Reno was supposed to die. There would have been a funeral sequence in which Elena and Rude said goodbye, and Barret would leave a bottle of expensive brandy in his coffin, saying that "Drinks are on me. You won."
3) Rufus was supposed to kidnap Aeris at the end, and take her to Shinra HQ. I figured this would be too reminiscient of the other time Aeris was kidnaped, though, so wrote it out.
4) Rufus, torn between obsession to destroy Obsidian Weapon and to possess Aeris himself, is about to kill Cloud. At which point, Reeve enters, sees Aeris, and gets a flashback of her death. He hesitates for a moment, then draws the gun that Rufus gave to him as a prize for loyalty, and shoots Rufus from behind.
5) Reeve, haunted by what he did, takes it upon himself to rebuild Shinra into a tool for good, but then realizes that Shinra needs money in order to achieve his goals. Thus, as the end, he is the one torn over plans of Neo Midgar and older, 'cleaner' power sources.
Also, as a writer, I feel I have to apologize for the little use I made of Yuffie and Red XIII. Red was just a stale character that only seemed to be there because he was in the games, and I regret that I failed to make Yuffie interesting. A lot of people agree that Cait Sith was really annoying, and displayed their shock that by portraying him through Reeve, I was actually able to turn him into a sympathetic character. Sadly, I couldn't do this with Yuffie. She annoyed me too much.
Although I have to say, breaking her jaw in the beginning just to shut her up was fun.
That's it for now, folks. Search For the Promised One is finished. If you really want to read something else of mine... well, I'm working on a FF8 fic called "Fallen Knight", and shortly I will be working on a rather large Final Fantasy crossover, combining FF V - X-2.
It's been fun. Adios.