Chapter One: What Does She Want?
"Why do stars fall down from the sky…" Barret hummed as he poured himself a glass of juice. He was visiting Tifa's bar in Sector 7 of Midgar, and the song, an old and unpopular love song, was playing on the radio.
"Jus' like me, they long to be…" he continued to hum, cursing himself if ever anybody catches him singing. He can't help it, the song, even though incredibly fluffy and love-sick, was catchy. Of course, at the moment, nobody was in the bar yet—Cloud was somewhere where they do not know… probably in the Church again. Tifa and Marlene went out to the drugstore to buy more bandages for Denzel, who was sound asleep in the bedrooms at the second floor of the bar. As for Barret, he was just waiting to see Marlene again before he went off again to find an alternate energy source to Mako—
He paused. The old radio began buzzing static before it turned off completely. And then… a phone began ringing.
"Landline's ringin'… guess I gotta answer it," he thought. "H'lo?" he asked. He didn't check out who was calling at the moment, though, and was surprised at the voice who answered back at him.
"Hello? Is this…7th Heaven Bar?"
Barret frowned slightly. "Yeah. This who I think it is?"
The voice at the other end paused for a brief second before replying, "This is President Rufus ShinRa. I would like to speak with Cloud Strife."
The ShinRa brat? What does he want with Cloud? "Well he ain't home. Dunno where he is." he answered cautiously.
"I see…" said the voice, with a tone that Barret thought was quite obnoxious. "Well, is there anybody else there who knows where he is? Miss Lockheart, perhaps? I really need to know where Cloud is."
"Nobody else knows, actually. How important is this anyway?" Barret asked impatiently. Rufus could be so stubborn.
"Very important.But… I mustn't leave things to you, Mr. Wallace… I must tell him this personally."
Barret's frown deepened. He didn't trust Rufus ShinRa before, and he still wouldn't trust the brat that once ordered his execution. What is he up to now, he wondered. "Well, tough luck, he ain't available now. Call later or I'll just tell him to call ya back, a'ight?"
"Fair enough." Rufus hung up. Barret glared at the phone in hopes of getting the message to the President, but afterwards, he just tossed the cordless nonchalantly on the table again and began chugging down his juice.
He stopped mid-gulp when he heard a polyphonic ringing tone in the room. The song wasn't anything he'd ever heard before, but it seemed familiar all the same… calm, therapeutic, and serene… but tragic at the same time. The first memory that triggered in his brain was the lake in the Ancient Capital… and he felt a slight twinge in his chest.
He snapped out of his trance and reminded himself that another phone was ringing. It certainly wasn't the landline, since the landline doesn't have any polyphonic ringing function… he searched the room for the source of the sound, but he didn't find or hear any other phone from any other point in the room but…
Wait. It was coming from his vest.
"The hell! That ain't my ringing tone…" he muttered in confusion as he took out his own phone from one of the pockets. He checked out the number flashing on the screen as the tone continued to play, but he barely had a glimpse of the number because the caller stopped calling. The screen now read, "1 Missed Call," but he still recognized the number. 03405566773
"My own number!" he frowned as he dialed the number of his voice mailbox. He put the phone against his ear and began listening to the automated computer voice.
"You have one new message dated December 10. Time: 18:18."
December 10… it was only December 9. At least, it was in Midgar, he didn't know about the time differences in the other areas of the planet. The recorded message of the caller began playing. And as he listened, his eyes widened in horror.
"Why do birds suddenly appear / Everytime you are near? Just like me they long to be / Close to you"
"I know that voice…" he said to himself, although he didn't want to believe it. The voice was gentle, all right—so gentle that it was creepy. He felt his hands begin to moisten with cold sweat.
"I'm home!"
Barret hung up and just placed his mobile phone beside the cordless phone on the table, just time when Tifa entered from the back door. "So you're here, Barret?" she asked curiously as she placed a plastic bag full of bandages, ointment and bottles of hydrogen peroxide and other antiseptics on the table. Marlene walked over to her father and gave him a hug, "Hello, Papa!" she greeted happily.
Barret just forced a smile and hugged his daughter back, "Hello, Marlene. Did you buy everything that Denzel needs?" he asked.
"Yes, Papa. Heehee!" Marlene said before rushing upstairs, "I'll go see him now." She said happily.
Barret just stood still, pondering on the call he just received. "I swear it was Aerith but… she's… dead! She can't be…" he thought silently, but was interrupted when Tifa spoke up, "You alright?"
He turned to her with a curious look on his face. "Huh?" he asked.
"Are you alright? You're so pale. It's like you're frightened or something…" she stated.
"Wha? I do?" he asked in disbelief before forcing a smile at Tifa.
She just stared curiously at his facial expression.
He shrugged and turned away. "Rufus called up." He said, wanting to change the subject. He would not want to make Tifa worry about Aerith.
She blinked. "Really?" she asked, smiling slightly before putting aside the plastic bag and saw that she had placed it on top of Barret's mobile phone. "Oh… sorry about your mobile phone. I didn't notice it there." She said apologetically.
Barret turned to his phone again, eyes widening for a second as he did so. Nervously, he waved it off, shrugged and looked elsewhere. Tifa noted his facial expression and looked at him questioningly. "Are you sure there isn't anything wrong?"
"Ah… s'alright. I just remembered… I need to load more gil into my phone. Heheh."
Tifa raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Well… okay, if you say so. What did Rufus want?" she asked as she began taking out some items from the bag.
"He's just lookin' for Cloud. Didn't wanna tell me what he wants 'im for, though. Sounded urgent and didn't wanna tell me anythin'," he explained. "I told him to call back later, though, so he might ring y'all later… or summin'."
"Oh… I see," Tifa paused. She turned to Barret. "He… didn't say anything else?"
Barret raised an eyebrow. "Nope."
Tifa nodded slowly. "Okay…" She got the supplies and carried them all to the counter and started organizing them in the cupboards.
He looked at her skeptically for a while, but his eyes fell on the old radio. "Yo, Teef, I think your radio's busted. It just stopped playing a moment ago."
Tifa blinked and walked over to the radio. She checked the back and frowned. "Are you joking me, Barret? It's switched off," she said before clicking it on.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, the time now is 18:18… or 6:18 in the evening for those of you who cannot understand military time… our next song is a well-loved classic entitled, Close to You, and is dedicated to…"
Barret paled. He cursed in his brain and stepped back.
The bartender was surprised at his sudden action. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.
As the song began playing, the chilling memory of Aerith's voice singing to him through the phone returned to him. He shook his head furiously. "Ah… nothing… nothing," he said through gritted teeth as he began walking out of the bar.
Tifa tilted her head in curiosity. "Barret? Why are you acting so strange?"
"Just need some air…" he answered uneasily as he stepped out.
She blinked and walked over to the table where his mobile phone lay harmlessly. "You left your phone!"
oOoOo
December 10; 18:00
Barret tapped his fingers restlessly on the armrest of the couch he was sitting on. Marlene watched his fingers tap in fascination. She turned to his face and frowned. "Papa? Why are you so panicky?" she asked.
He didn't answer and continued tapping his fingers on the armrest. Marlene frowned even deeper. Barret hadn't been eating at all ever since he came back yesterday from his walk. And that morning, they found him in the bar watching TV, as if he'd been there the whole night. And the whole day, he was either sitting outside, staring at the sunshine blankly or inside, fidgeting restlessly in his seat.
All in all… it had not been a peaceful day for Barret.
"Papa! Let's go watch TV!" said Marlene, hoping to cheer her foster father up. "It's almost time for the news!"
"Hm? Ah… I don't feel like watchin' the news tonight, kiddo," he replied, forcing a grin at her. She huffed and ran off to Tifa who was making dinner.
Man… what do I do? I jes' gotta tell somebody!... but who? If only I knew where Cloud was… In that instant, Barret had a bright idea. Wait. Maybe…
"Yo! Teef!" he called out as he stood up. Tifa turned to him questioningly. "I'm goin' out! Don't wait up, 'kay?" he said before walking briskly towards the front door.
"Hey! Where are you going?" she asked, but he didn't answer. She only heard the door close hastily. Tifa huffed, feeling insulted. "Well!" she said indignantly.
"I wonder what's wrong with Papa…" Marlene said.
"I don't know, but that isn't a reason to act impolite… well if he doesn't come home by dinner time, we're leaving the worst scraps for him," Tifa replied as she got back to cooking.
"That's nasty." Marlene remarked with a pout. Tifa laughed. "I'm just kidding, Marlene! I'm not that cruel!" she pointed out with a smirk before gathering the skins of the apples and threw them into the trashcan by the kitchen counter… and she froze. She took another look inside the trashcan and curiously stared at Barret's mobile phone that was resting there with wet garbage. "Oh my goodness!" she instantly picked it up and gaped unbelievably at it. "Your father threw away his mobile phone? And his is such an expensive model!" she exclaimed.
"Ew! You picked it up?" Marlene asked in disgust. Tifa examined the screen. It was broken. She realized that Barret must have destroyed it on purpose. "But why would he even destroy it?" she thought curiously before throwing it into the trash again and rushed to the sink to wash her hands.
"Maybe it's not working well anymore that's why papa threw it away." Marlene reasoned. Tifa just kept quiet, feeling disturbed.
oOoOo
He could not understand why, but he felt like someone was following him, although he could not really see anyone trailing behind him… and for some reason, the people were dispersing from the streets, while it was just early in the evening. "Everyone must be cold since it's December already…" he thought to himself before taking another look behind him.
No one was there. "Damn this feeling…" he muttered before turning towards the street leading to Sector 6 where he was planning to go. "Cloud is in the Church… I hope…" he thought to himself as he quickened his pace. In a nick of time, he was finally able to arrive in the Church's grounds. It looked creepier at night, especially since it was half-destroyed already.
Then, he froze a few meters away from the doorstep of the entrance when the Church bells just began to chime… and they seemed to be playing a tune…
Aerith's theme.
He looked up at the Church's clock tower and the time read 6:18, the time when he received the eerie call yesterday. His mouth dropped open when he saw the hour hand of the clock dangling and then it just came off… falling towards him with the tip facing him. He could not move away from his spot… and the next thing that passersby had seen was Barret Wallace being impaled by the hour hand of the clock.
oOoOo
Tifa just listened quietly to Marlene's sobs while staring at the closed coffin. "Papa… why did you leave me?" Marlene was crying helplessly as she remained clung to Vincent and crying her eyes out.
Vincent was just seated on one of the chairs inside the funeral home in Sector 7 where Barret's remains had been taken. It was a closed coffin and no one else had been allowed to see how he looked like inside, except for Tifa and Vincent. The way Barret's corpse looked like had left an indelible memory in them.
"It was… so sudden…" Yuffie stated flatly with a look of disbelief on her face as she sat on the chair behind Vincent and staring wide-eyed at the coffin.
Tifa took a deep breath, shaking lightly. She had been trying to suppress her tears inside because she just could not cry in front of Marlene. Someone needs to remain strong for the sake of the little girl, and when she saw Barret's corpse, she decided to act like a second mother to the child.
Cid Highwind watched as the last of the guests left for that evening. Only a day has passed after Barret died, but the atmosphere around him seemed to grow heavier with sorrow and misery instead of improving. "Well… can't blame 'em… this ! bear will be missed so much…" he thought as he approached them and sat down beside Tifa. "You should tell Marlene to rest." He advised.
Tifa could not move. She felt frozen in place.
Cid frowned and shook his head in disbelief. "Looks like you're also shaken, huh?" he asked with a glum look on his face. The whole room was quiet and only Marlene's sobs and cries could be heard.
Then, they all heard heavy footsteps coming from the entrance. They all turned to look at who had just entered. It was Cloud Strife.
Tifa looked away from him and turned back to Barret's coffin with a slight frown on her face even as Cloud walked past her and approached the coffin.
He wondered why it was closed but he did not dare ask.
"He was found dead outside the Sector 6 Church." Vincent told him.
Cloud blinked. "What?" he asked with a curious look on his face as he turned to look at Vincent.
"He died of a freak accident. The hour hand of the clock was somehow unscrewed… and it fell straight onto him… impaling him…" Vincent explained.
Marlene's sobs grew louder.
Tifa got up and grabbed the child away from Vincent, "Vincent, stop it! You're just making it worse for her!" she scolded in annoyance.
Vincent just sat still. "My apologies…" he mumbled under his breath.
Cloud just observed Marlene and then turned back to the coffin. "I'm … sorry about Barret… I didn't know until I was informed by some people selling flowers outside the Church…" he said softly.
"So you were there all along and you didn't know?" Tifa asked.
"I was not in the Church last night when it happened." Cloud pointed out.
"Well then where were you?" Tifa demanded.
Cloud opened his mouth to speak but he stopped himself. He just shook his head and swallowed the lump forming in his throat. With that, he decided to leave. "Cloud, Barret was on his way to see you! Why else would he be there by the Church when he died!" Tifa told him.
"Well I didn't know. He should've called before going there, then I could have met with him inside." Cloud told them with a frown on his face.
"His phone was… ruined." Tifa explained.
Cloud just ignored her and walked out of the funeral home, leaving all of them completely puzzled because of his behavior.
Yuffie just sighed heavily and leaned back against her seat, crossing her arms with a frustrated look on her face. "Pshaw! He's worse than a woman with PMS!" she remarked in annoyance.
And then they heard the sound of a polyphonic tone of a mobile phone…
"Whose is that?" Cid asked.
Tifa shook her head. "That is not my ringing tone." She told them.
Vincent just shrugged.
Cid checked his and said, "Nope. Not mine."
The music was eerily familiar… and it sounded so gentle and sweet…
Disturbed, Yuffie got her mobile phone and realized that it was still ringing… with her own number flashing on the screen. "What the!" she thought in shock.
"Why?" Tifa asked.
"It's my number… but this isn't my ringing tone! I don't even recall having this ringing tone in my settings!" Yuffie pointed out in confusion.
"What!" Cid asked in shock.
"Aren't you going to answer it?" Vincent asked.
Yuffie just stared horridly at her phone until it stopped ringing and the words "One missed call" appeared on the screen. She swallowed hard, dialed her voicemail number and set her phone to loudspeaker… They all listened to the computer-operated voice say, "You have one new voice message dated December 12; 10:45 pm."
"What!" Yuffie cried out in confusion. She felt her hairs rising as she shivered.
"It's only December 11!" Tifa pointed out.
And then an awfully-familiar voice began to sing from the call: "Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you… Why do stars fall down from the skies everytime you walk by? Just like me, they long to be close to you…"
Yuffie dropped her mobile phone on the ground and moved away from it with a look of horror on her face.
"It cannot be!" Red XIII reacted.
"Aer… Aerith?" Tifa whispered.
They were just quiet as they continued to listen, "On the day that you were born the angels got together, and decided to create a dream come true…"
Vincent rushed over to the phone and got it, staring at the screen. "…so they sprinkled moondust in your hair; of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue…"
He ended the call.
They were all silent for a few moments before Yuffie screeched, "OH MY GAWD!"
Silence.
"What was that all about?" Cid demanded in confusion.
"I don't… even know myself…" Tifa began with a nervous look on her face.
"But Aerith is dead, right?" Marlene asked softly.
"The last time I checked, yes!" Yuffie said.
Silence.
Vincent handed her back the phone but she just shook her head in protest. "GAWDS! Keep that thing away from me! I don't want it!" she screeched.
"Yuffie, calm down!" Tifa pointed out as she went to her aid. Yuffie began to cry. "I've a bad feeling about this! I don't like this feeling!" she told them in confusion as she sat down and covered her face.
"Well then go to a shrine and get yourself exorcised!" Cid told her with a mocking glare. "So what if that's her voice? It could just be a goddamn prank or something!" he snapped.
"The message is dated December 12, Cid. It's only December 11 now!" Yuffie pointed out in annoyance.
"There must be something wrong with the telecom service then." Vincent said softly, although he was beginning to get suspicious about the call. Whoever played the prank really has a dirty mind.
Tifa gave Yuffie a comforting hug. "Oh stop crying… it's alright. It's just a prank." She said with a hopeful look on her face.
"But… it's Aerith! It's her voice! I know her voice when I hear it!" Yuffie pointed out.
Marlene sniffed and wiped her tears away. "Maybe… maybe she's alive! And she wants us to know that!" she said with a smile on her face.
All eyes turned to her. "You think so?" Cid asked with a weak smile on his face, although he was being sarcastic.
Marlene just bowed down her head, her smile fading away. "Maybe she's back so that she could take care of me because Papa is gone…" she said sadly as tears fell from her eyes. Tifa sighed heavily as she got up and went to her, taking her in her arms. "Hush now, Marlene…" she said softly before turning to her friends. "I'd better take her home. She's had a rough day…" she told them.
"Yeah. You'd better do that." Cid said, crossing his arms. "I'll just stay here with Vincent. We'll guard the coffin." He told them.
"What time is the funeral tomorrow?" Vincent asked Tifa.
"Three in the afternoon. There's going to be a mass at 1:30 pm." She replied before she guided Marlene out of the room.
Yuffie sprinted after them, "I'm coming with you! I don't wanna stay here!" she told her.
For the rest of the night, Yuffie could not sleep or even relax. It was already bothering Tifa because she could hear Yuffie pacing back and forth in the other room.
Tifa just decided to sleep in the room where Marlene and Denzel sleep so that she could stand guard just in case the little girl gets nightmares. Around 3am, she heard Yuffie grumble, "AARGH! Why is this in my head!" Tifa instantly rushed to the other room where Yuffie was and saw her friend seated on the bed and clutching her head tightly. "Yuffie are you alright?" she asked.
"NO! I can't sleep! She keeps calling my name!" Yuffie snapped impatiently. Her eyes were already bloodshot and she looked like she really needed some sleep.
"Who keeps on calling your name?" Tifa asked as she sat down on the bed beside Yuffie.
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me!" Yuffie stated flatly with a fearful look on her face. Tifa had never seen her looking so afraid before and it made her worry about her condition. "Yuffie, I need to know… so that maybe… we could do something about it." Tifa replied with a kind smile on her face.
Yuffie just shook her head. "NO!" she protested, covering her ears as she began to cry.
Tifa swallowed hard. She felt like attending to a mental patient all of a sudden. Shaking her head in disbelief, Tifa just got up and went to the kitchen. Maybe Yuffie needed some tranquilizers to put her to sleep. She got a glass of water and a single tablet of tranquilizer and brought it back upstairs for her friend to take. "Here you go. Take this. Maybe this can help… hopefully," she said with a worried look on her face as she handed the glass of water and the tablet to Yuffie. Yuffie eagerly took it and Tifa made her lie down. "Why don't you tell me?" she asked.
Silence.
Yuffie just shook her head. "You wouldn't believe me… it's Aerith!" she said helplessly as she slowly began to feel drowsy after some minutes. Slowly, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Tifa just stared unbelievably at her friend. "Aerith?" she whispered softly in disbelief. Worrying about Yuffie and Aerith, she just decided to stay there. She lied down beside her friend, closed her eyes and in a little while, fell asleep.
oOoOo
Vincent, Tifa, Cid, Yuffie, Marlene, Denzel and Red XIII all watched as the coffin was being lowered into the dug soil of the cemetery behind the Church in Sector 3. They were the only ones present in the funeral, plus the priest. But after a while, the priest finally left them as they watched the gravediggers cover the coffin with soil that was already six feet under the ground.
To Tifa's wonder, Marlene was not crying anymore. Instead, she was holding a bouquet of flowers and just staring blankly ahead of her with a slight smile on her face.
"Well… shall we all go home?" Vincent asked softly.
Tifa nodded.
Just as they were on their way back to Sector 7, they met some ninjas along the way. They were the ninjas from Wutai, sent by Lord Godo to fetch Yuffie.
"You're leaving?" Cid asked her.
Yuffie blinked. "I… never expected this." She told them in confusion. "I thought I could still stay here for five more months?" she asked the ninjas.
"We're sorry, Lady Kisaragi, but we have been sent here by your father to fetch you and bring you back to the Pagoda. He just misses you so badly." One of the ninjas explained.
"C'mon, go with them. Don't wanna disappoint your old man, eh? Harharharhar!" Cid urged. Yuffie just shoved him aside and approached the ninjas. She still wasn't feeling well so she just decided to go. Maybe she could get herself exorcised by a priestess once she arrives in Wutai. "I'll go." She said without even saying goodbye to her friends.
Vincent and the others watched as she walked away with the Ninjas, but she stopped when she heard Marlene call out her name, "Yuffie!" and went after her. Yuffie slowly turned around to face the little girl, and when she did so, she thought she had seen Aerith running beside the child. She gasped and backed away. "What's wrong, Lady Yuffie?" one of the ninjas asked. She snapped back into her senses when Marlene finally reached her and was offering her the bouquet of flowers. She stared wide-eyed at the little girl and carefully took the bouquet. "This is for you, Yuffie. Heehee!" Marlene said sweetly before rushing back to Tifa. She turned back to Yuffie again and waved goodbye. "Have a safe trip!" she said.
Yuffie just swallowed hard and nodded, forcing a smile on her face. She smiled at Tifa and the rest and waved goodbye. With that, she turned and walked away.
"There's something weird about her." Cid pointed out.
"She seems shaken… did something happen to her?" asked someone from behind them. They all turned around and they saw Cloud standing there and staring curiously at Yuffie. "Cloud!" Tifa reacted in surprise.
"Where is she going?" Cloud asked.
"She's… going back to Wutai." Vincent replied.
And they all fell silent, staring hard at Cloud to see his reaction. Nobody else knew how to begin to tell him about Aerith and the call that Yuffie had received last night.
Vincent stared at Tifa, and then at Cid, then at Red XIII. They were all looking at him as if they're telling him to take the initiative to ask Cloud about Aerith. With that, he took a deep breath and said, "Do you mind me asking you a question…" he started, but Cloud walked away from them. "I'm in a hurry." And he left without saying another word.
They were all frozen in place as they watched him walk away from them.
"I'm hungry." Denzel said in a dull manner, interrupting the silence.
"Oh… alright. Let's go home… I'll order some pizza for all of us," Tifa said with a weak smile on her face.
oOoOo
It was already 10:44 in the evening but Yuffie was still on board a ship going back to Wutai. The trip took longer than expected and she was beginning to get impatient. To keep herself preoccupied, she went over to the deck and decided to think about Aerith and the call she received the other night. She was holding onto the bouquet of flowers, wanting to throw them overboard into the ocean because just looking at them gives her the heebie-jeebies. She took one last look at the flowers before throwing them off into the ocean.
She stared worriedly at the flower petals as they got crushed by the propellers. As she turned away, she thought, "Maybe now she'll stop bothering me…" she thought miserably… and she felt a pair of cold strong hands clutch her shoulders tightly. She froze on the spot as she was pulled towards the edge of the railing again and to her horror, she could hear someone singing in her ear, "On the day that you were born the angels got together and decided to create a dream come true…"
"Aerith!" she gasped out loud, enough for some of the guards to hear from their post… but when they reached the deck, the last thing they saw was Lady Kisaragi falling overboard and screaming…
oOoOo
Cid Highwind slowly opened his eyes when he heard the polyphonic tone from a mobile phone. It was the same tone they heard in Yuffie's phone the other night… and he began to feel disturbed when he heard it again. But when he checked, it was coming from his own phone this time. He got out of bed and went to the dresser to pick up his mobile phone, although he remembered switching it off before falling asleep. He looked at the number flashing on the screen… it was his own number. He shivered before looking at the time: "11:13"… and he answered the call. "What the fuck are you!" he demanded angrily in a loud growling voice.
Silence.
"Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you are near? Just like me-…" Cid hung up when he heard the voice singing the song.
"What's going on, Cid?" Tifa was knocking on his door from outside. She must have heard him growl that's why she was there.
Cid went to the door and opened it, showing his phone to Tifa. "Damn it, Teef! That fucking prankster just called up and… sang that old song again!" he said frantically; fear could clearly be seen in his eyes.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"I answered it. And she started singing that fucking song! Dammit, Teef! What is going on! Who is this person!" he panicked in annoyance.
Tifa could not answer. She just gaped at his phone. "I… don't really know how to explain that…" she said with a nervous look on her face.
Cid threw his mobile phone on the bed and began to pace back and forth. "This isn't a fucking funny joke! People shouldn't be messin' with dead people and… and start imitating their voices!" he told her angrily.
She just swallowed hard and bowed down her head. If only she knew what to do…
They both jerked in surprise when they heard the landline ringing from downstairs.
It took them a while before they regained composure and rushed downstairs. Tifa was staring strangely at the phone as if thinking whether to answer it or not. Cid frowned and pushed her aside, picking up the receiver and answered, "Yeah? Whaddya want?" he demanded from the other line.
Tifa observed the stern facial expression on his face while listening to the other person in the other line, "Yes, this is the house of Miss Lockheart. Who's this? Yeah she's here. I'm Cid Highwind."
Silence.
Cid's eyes widened and he felt his knees getting weak. He blinked in confusion as he sat down on the sofa. "When did this happen?" he demanded.
He turned to the clock hanging on the wall. "10:45?" he repeated after hearing it from the person on the other line.
"Cid, what is it?" Tifa asked in worry.
Cid shuddered, taking a deep breath as he put down the receiver and slowly looked up at Tifa. "What time did Yuffie receive the call last night?" he asked.
"I… forgot…" she replied.
Cid instantly got up and went upstairs. "Vincent!" he called out. Tifa ran after him, "Cid, what are you thinking? Who was that?" she called out, basically rousing the whole sleeping population of the house including the children.
Vincent opened his eyes and instantly sat up on his bed when he heard Cid and Tifa march inside his bedroom. "What's going on?" he asked sleepily.
"Where's Yuffie's mobile phone? Weren't you the last one who held it?" Cid demanded.
Vincent blinked, confused by Cid's sudden temper. "It's… over there by the dresser," he pointed towards the dresser by the window. Cid instantly grabbed it and switched it on. As soon as it was switched on, he dialed the voice mail and listened: "You have one voice message dated December 12; 10:45 pm" and then followed by the singing. Cid hung up, his eyes wide in terror as he put down the phone. He felt so numb and he could feel his palms excreting cold sweat as he faced Tifa and Vincent with a disturbed look on his face, "She died 10:45 today…" he said softly.
"Who?" Tifa asked.
"Yuffie!" Cid announced.
"What!" Vincent reacted in shock.
"You got to be kidding me! Stop giving us a fright, Cid, we've had enough stress for today and we can't think clearly right now!" Tifa pointed out in annoyance as she raised a hand at Cid to make him stop, but he protested, "No! I'm not kidding! It was her father who just called saying she fell overboard the ship to Wutai and drowned!" he pointed out.
Silence.
"Where's Barret's phone?" Cid asked.
"He destroyed it and threw it away," Tifa said with a dry tone.
"Damn! How can I verify what I'm thinking of!" Cid demanded as he went over to the window and looked outside as if searching for answers in the streets of Sector 7.
"What are you thinking of?" Tifa asked.
"I'm thinking that if you receive the call and hear Aerith's voice, you'll know the date and time you are going to die. It's…actually predicting your time and day of death… 24 hours after you've received the call!" Cid explained.
Vincent frowned. "What?" he asked in confusion.
"Cid, that is absurd! Why would you even die 24 hours after…" Tifa began, but Cid stomped his foot to make her shut up, "Tifa, I'm serious! I just received the call!" he approached them. "Yuffie received the call last night at 10:45, and at exactly 10:45 today, she's dead. Tomorrow evening, at 11:13, I'm also going to die!" he pointed out.
"You're out of your mind." Vincent muttered.
Cid just ignored him, "Tifa, I want you to tell me if Barret received the same call!" he told her insistently. She swallowed hard and shook her head, "N…no… I can't. I was out the whole afternoon… and I just returned around… near 6:30pm with Marlene because we had to buy some supplies for Denzel." She explained.
"Didn't the autopsy say what time he died?" Cid asked.
"The police investigated it… and it was 6:18pm… it was also what the passersby had mentioned." She replied uneasily, feeling so nervous and confused.
"When you arrived home, did you notice anything unusual about Barret?" Cid asked her.
"Well… he… seemed shaken… and he seems to be thinking of a lot of things," Tifa began.
"And you said he destroyed his phone!" Cid said.
"Yes, but…" she began. Cid turned away, "I knew it!" he told them.
"Cid, could you calm down a moment. You're panicking. What if you're just exaggerating everything; like it's just a coincidence that there's something wrong with the network that's why the date is a day in advance and the time is exactly the same time as you got the call?" Vincent pointed out.
Cid took a deep breath, staring nervously at the night sky outside. "I guess we'll just… have to find out tomorrow evening… at 11:13…" he muttered.
oOoOo
