By: Jenosavel
The defeat of Jenova had only been the beginning of the battle. When she fell, the people who'd transformed had become hostile, and only after they'd been dealt with had things quieted down. Unfortunately, dealt with didn't mean killed in this case. The creatures refused to die, no matter how much you mangled them, and in the end, they had all escaped. Those who couldn't move themselves were carried off by their fellows.
The few people left who had not mutated now gathered around the corpse of Jenova.
"I can't believe it came to this," one of them murmured, a deep sadness in his voice. The man had bright, clear eyes, and square shoulders. He called himself Solais and appeared to be the leader of the small group.
"You say that as though you have history with it," Piccolo commented dryly. He, like Cloud, had had enough of this and wanted to move on to their next target. Unfortunately, they couldn't just leave these people here at the mercy of those creatures who would surely return.
"She was our protector," Solais murmured. "Back on our home planet."
Cloud quirked an eyebrow, "Protector? Doesn't seem to me like she was interested in your well-being."
"That is entirely our fault," admitted a young girl who stood next to Solais. She seemed eager to place the blame on herself, and made Cloud shift his weight uneasily.
Solais put a hand on her shoulder, effectively silencing her, and glanced around as though searching for words.
"We don't usually speak of our history," he explained. "However, in this case it appears our history has caught up with us." The man paused, apparently struggling with himself over whether or not he should continue. When he went on, it was with obvious effort.
"Please, take a seat. There is much to tell."
Cloud glanced at the frozen ground and remained standing, despite the fact that several of the Cetra seated themselves and seemed quite comfortable.
"Long ago our people studied the stars," Solais began. "We talked with them and with the planets. In time, we even produced the means to travel among them, though few ever left our home soil. As tends to happen, our knowledge only served to make us thirst for more, and many began trying to devise a way to harness the power of the stars. Unfortunately, they were eventually successful. A thing called the Black Materia was created at this, the peak of our society."
The faces of the Cetra grew somber and the air heavy. Cloud himself grimaced, though he said nothing. Solais appeared not to notice, however, as he continued to recount his tale.
"The great power that the Materia brought corrupted the minds of our people, and divisions formed among us. These countries, as we came to call them, engaged in a constant struggle for power. Whichever side controlled the great Materia ruled with threats of its use and the only solution anyone could see to the problem was to own it themselves.
"It was only a matter of time before the weapon was used, and our planet realized this. In an effort to protect itself, it created Weapons with the ability to see into our minds and influence our thoughts as well as appearing as one of us. Though we knew this was the case and feared becoming mindless slaves, wherever our planet released a weapon, peace followed. Through their aid we were able to see our folly and return to the way we had once lived.
"Unfortunately it was too little, too late. There were many people, and few Weapons. Despite the way the Weapons' control could spread like wildfire, it simply was not enough. The great Black Materia fell into the wrong hands, and its power was used.
"No combination of our strengths would be enough to stop the meteor which had been called down upon us. In the final days, our planet reconciled itself to death. It sent us away, preserving at least a small portion of its spirit by doing so.
"Seeing the planet destroyed from the comforts of our technology in space was an event that forever changed our people.
"Most of us vowed to find other planets and heal them in order to atone for our sins. Those who had not felt the touch of a Weapon, however, vowed revenge. If they could not exact it upon those who had summoned Meteor, then they would choose someone else to punish. Guilty or not didn't matter.
They left us, taking the name of Saijin, and we do not know what became of them."
Vegeta started, but remained silent. Solais looked askance at him, but Vegeta's expression turned stony.
"Well on with it! Finish what you have to say!" he commanded.
Solais simply nodded and continued, "We continued to move from planet to planet, healing what wounds we could. However, on our last trip, our vessel saw a bit of damage and I fear it has taken all that it can. It rests now to the east and south. We will have to build a new one if we plan on continuing our journey."
Solais's face grew grim. "There are so few of us left now, however, that I do not know if we shall be able to do so. I, for one, do not remember the ancient arts that built the craft. Our experts were among the first... casualties of earlier today. The small encampment we have near the crash site will become a bit more than that now, I fear."
When it was apparent that Solais did not intend to say any more, Cloud threw his cloak over his shoulder. "What do you know of this beast which attacked you?"
"She is the descendant of one of the earliest weapons our planet created," Solais answered quickly, "a descendant of the Jenova line."
"So there are more out there?" Cloud asked disgustedly. The last thing he wanted to deal with where more of Jenova's kind.
"Yes, and no," Solais replied. "We have reason to believe that several of our planet's weapons survived Meteor. However, the nature of these creatures is unique. There is only one of any line alive at any time, and no line can end. One will not be able to die until it is succeeded by the next."
"So she's not dead?" Gohan demanded, uncharacteristically blunt, as he leapt away from what they'd thought was a corpse.
"Indeed," Solias nodded. "Though wounds such as these will take time for her to recover from. We had hoped that if again we met a Weapon it would be with the same joy as on our planet. It now seems, though, that this can never again be the case."
"We can't just leave her to attack you again!" Goku exclaimed.
"Of course not," Solais chuckled. "We have yet enough strength to contain her, I believe. Before she awakens, we will seal her within the wound she has created upon the planet. We should be safe then. You need not worry about us."
Cloud sat silently for a moment. There was apparently no way to kill this Jenova, if what Solais had said were true. She was dealt with for the time being. However, there was a Jenova in another time who was still wreaking havoc, and they may yet be able to do something about her.
"What about the others who escaped?" Gohan ventured. "What will happen to them?" The question held more fear than Gohan was able to hide. If Jenova could do that to them, what could she do to him when all was said and done?
"We may also be able to contain them as well," Solais responded. "It will be more difficult, since they know as much of the methods as we do. Keeping them from unraveling whatever we put in place will be difficult. However, if we were able to feed the seal from an outside energy source, it might be able to hold them. I'm not sure what we will find here to use, but I suppose a large enough flame might do the trick."
"Jenova," Cloud murmured. "She seems stronger than... I would have thought she should be." Indeed she had been. The Jenova he knew had been able to mutate and control people only through the weakness of their will, and it seemed unlikely that such a large number of Cetra were weak of will. "Is there any way to weaken her?"
Solais' face grew somber. "It is indeed a sad day when I would have to think of such things. The answer to your question is again both yes and no. You will not be able to weaken her, though she will reach a point in time when she is weakened. As I said, one of her kind can not die until it is succeeded by the next. Though, she will grow more feeble as the time of her division draws near, and after she has produced the one who will follow her, her power will be considerably reduced. It would be a dangerous time, though. For while she's at her weakest then, she will be her strongest when the child joins with her again, and there's no telling how quickly it will happen."
Something touching his leg jerked Cloud's attention from Solais, and when he looked down, he saw the kitten nuzzling him. Shaking his head he reached down and picked the thing up. How it had survived the previous mayhem was beyond him, but he was glad. He was starting to become attached to the little fur ball.
It was a small comfort in light of the circumstances. They had to defeat Jenova in order to defeat Sephiroth, and now it seemed as though Jenova was invincible. Of course, she wasn't, but she was close enough that it was starting to give Cloud a headache.
"I guess we should be going home ourselves and trying to make plans," Cloud murmured. "We still have a Jenova to defeat in our own time, and we'll have a lot of explaining to do when we get back."
Suddenly Cloud wished he hadn't left so many people at Capsule Corp. Explaining things was never his favorite thing to do.