Final Fantasy 7

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Sixteen

Eventually the dust began to settle in the Sector 6 Park, and a deadly silence fell upon the area. All the dirt that had covered the ground had been blown up and now was spread across the floor. Debris was scattered everywhere, and some had smashed their way through some of the park toys as they landed. The swings had been torn from their hinges and, and the slide had a large hole in it where one chunk of metal landed and had ripped through the slide as though it were just paper.

The doors that led into Sector 7 had been burst apart as the Plate landed on the sector, with the broken doors lying dented and shattered at the sides. Now what was visible through the door was the broken Plate along with other crushed pieces of metal. Parts of the metal were a deep red- orange colour as fires burned deep within them, slowly beginning to burn through. The only sounds coming from the sector were slow, deep creaks coming from the Plate as it settled into place in its new home. There were no sounds of life coming from the sector, and no movements of people beyond. It was impossible to see through the wreckage, not that there was anything left to see.

The only survivors from the wreckage were lying scattered on the floor of the park, their bodies charred and aching from their rough landing after swinging through the sector. They had lost hold of the cable as the Plate finally crashed, and had landed in the park along with the wreckage where they remained frozen, too afraid to move until everything had fallen silent once more.

Slowly, one by one, the three opened their eyes and gradually began to climb to their feet, the dirt and small pieces of metal falling from their bodies. They ached heavily as they stood up – they had taken quite a beating in their fall. As they stood up they turned towards the door of Sector 7 and walked slowly towards it, their eyes seeing the overall devastation for the very first time. Barret came to a stop in the middle of the park, his eyes opening wide as he saw what was left of Sector 7.

"Marlene! MARLENE!!" he shouted.

Tifa and Cloud watched sadly as Barret ran up to the wreckage blocking the sector's entrance. Barret stopped at the wreckage and began to look around frantically, desperately trying to find some way into the sector through the mounds of metal blocking his path.

"MAR---LE---NE!!" he yelled, even though inside he knew that Marlene would not be able to answer him. Desperately he ran down the side of the door, constantly searching for a way in. "Biggs!" He ran down the other side, trying to peer through the metal. "Wedge!!" He ran back to the middle and shouted to the sky. "Jessie!! Dammit! Goddamit! Goddamit all to hell!! What the hell's it all for!?"

In his mind's eye he could picture Marlene, sitting alone in the 7th Heaven anxiously waiting for him to return. She would have had no idea what was going on, or know why people were running around and screaming. Only at the last minute when she looked out of the window would she realise what was happening, and she would call out for Barret.

"ARGGHHHH!!!" Barret bellowed angrily, and he began to hit the metal in his anger. His pounds were pointless, but he continued to hit them in his desperation and his rage.

"Hey, Barret!" Cloud called out to him.

"Barret!" said Tifa.

Barret didn't listen. "ARGGHHHH!!!" he roared.

"Hey!"

"Barret, stop..." Tifa pleaded, her voice falling to almost a whisper. "Please stop, Barret."

"URGHHHH!!!" Barret raged one last time. He stopped hitting the wall of metal and stepped back, raising his gun-arm and firing dozens and dozens of bullets into the metal. The bullets hit and rebounded away from the wall, causing no damage at all. After a moment or two Barret stopped firing his gun and fell sadly onto his knees, the last of his rage burned out at long last. With the last of his energy he raised his fist and hit the door one last time, although it was a weak, pathetic punch. "God damn..." he whispered, his voice gone, and behind him Tifa and Cloud slowly looked away.


A little while later, Barret had finally moved away from the wreckage blocking the entrance and was sat on the ground near to the broken slide in silence. Tifa and Cloud were stood around him also in silence, unsure of what to say to comfort the heartbroken man. All of the rage had completely burned out of Barret now, and now all he could so was sit by the slide and try to fight the overwhelming tears that were growing in his eyes over his loss of Marlene.

Cloud and Tifa were also in shock over what had just happened. Tifa's mind was focused still on all of the people who had been in the slums at the time. Even though she had warned them and told them to leave, many of them had remained in the slums. There would have been no time for them to leave when the Plate began to fall. Now they were all dead, buried forever in the wreckage of the sector. Cloud on the other hand, had his mind on something else.

"Marlene..." Barret whispered.

Tifa thought silently for a moment, before she finally looked up at Barret.

"......Barret......? Marlene is... I think Marlene is safe."

Barret stopped and looked up at Tifa, his eyes hopeful. "......Huh?"

Tifa folded her arms, thinking back to the moments before the Plate fell. "Right before they took Aeris, she said, 'Don't worry, she's all right'. She was probably talking about Marlene."

"R, really!?"

Tifa lowered her eyes. "But...

Barret also looked at the ground. "Biggs... Wedge... Jessie..."

"All three of them were in the pillar," stated Cloud.

"Think I don't know that?" Barret demanded, jumping to his feet angrily. His fists shook as he spoke. "But... we, all of us fought together. I don't wanna think of them as dead!"

"...And the other people in Sector 7," said Tifa.

"This is all screwed up!" Barret shouted, shaking his fists. "They destroyed an entire village just to get to us! They killed so many people..."

Tifa looked at him. "...Are you saying it's our fault?" she asked him, her voice choking slightly. "Because AVALANCHE was here? Innocent people lost their lives because of us?"

"No, Tifa! That ain't it!" Barret said to her, the rage rising in him again. "Hell no!! It ain't us! It's the damn Shinra! It's the damn Shinra! It's never been nobody but the Shinra!" Tifa folded her arms and looked down in thought as Barret continued. "They're evil and destroyin' our planet just to... build their power and line their own damn pockets with gold! If we don't get rid of them, they're gonna kill this planet! Our fight ain't never gonna be over until we get rid of them!!"

"...I don't know."

"What don't you know?" Barret asked of her. "You don't believe me?"

Tifa shook her head. "It's not that," she said. "I'm not sure about... me. My feelings."

Barret glared at Tifa for a moment, before he turned sharply to Cloud.

"An' what about you?" he asked.

Cloud had turned away during Barret's length speech about his hatred for the Shinra, and had even walked a few steps away as well. He seemed to have something else on his mind, and as Barret spoke to him he looked up towards the Sector 6 plate.

"......" was all he said, before he walked away from them and headed off into the winding truck graveyards that led the way to Sector 5.

"Yo!" Barret called after him. Cloud didn't answer him and just walked away. Barret turned to Tifa. "Where's he think he's going?"

Tifa jumped as she remembered. "Oh! Aeris!"

"Oh yeah, that girl," said Barret thoughtfully. "What's up with her?"

Tifa shook her head. "...I don't really know," she admitted. "But she's the one I left Marlene with."

"Damn! Marlene!" Barret shouted. He ran towards the gate of the park to follow Cloud to Sector 5. He stopped suddenly beside the gate, and turned back to Tifa. "Tifa. There ain't no turnin' back now."

With that he ran off after Cloud. Tifa remained in the park for a few moments more as she looked back towards the wreckage that was Sector 7, where the glowing red fires were still burning fiercely deep inside. In that wreckage were three of her friends, along with the rest of Sector 7. But Barret was right – it was because of Shinra that those people had died. So she took a breath to let go of her grief, and then walked away leaving Sector 7 behind her.

Cloud meanwhile was slowly walking through the truck graveyard that joined Sectors 5 and 6 together. He was silent as he walked, for his mind was only thinking of Aeris at that point.

He blamed himself for her being captured by the Turks. She was another innocent who had been caught up in the tragedy, and it was because of him that she had been captured. He could have been more firm with her and insisted that she went home where she would be safe from them, but her cheerful and light-hearted personality had made him succumb to that. Aeris was very insistent, and even though she knew the danger she was putting herself in she still came along with him and Tifa, regardless. That still didn't make Cloud feel any less guilty, and he knew he had to go back to Aeris's house to let her mother know.

"Cloud!"

Cloud stopped and turned as Barret ran up towards him, followed closely by Tifa. The two stopped beside him, and Barret stepped up close to him.

"Take me to Marlene," he said simply to Cloud.

"Are you going to help Aeris?" asked Tifa.

Cloud slowly nodded his head. "Yeah..." he replied. "But before that, there's something I want to know."

"What's that?" asked Tifa.

The young man in front of them turned away and looked up towards the Plate above them. From where they were they could see the pillar of Sector 5, standing firm and secure and holding up the Plate.

"...It's about the Ancients," said Cloud.

As he looked up towards the Plate, a fairly family cold wave began to run through his veins, making Cloud space out a little. His eyes flickered until they were shut, and a strange voice began to speak in his mind.

In my veins courses the blood of the Ancients.
I am one of the rightful heirs to this planet!


Cloud blinked and held his head in his hands. He shook it until the faint ringing in his head faded.

"Sephiroth...?" he whispered, and fell down onto his knees.

"Are you all right?" asked Tifa.

"Pull it together, man!" Barret said unsympathetically.

Cloud pushed himself to his feet, giving his head a final shake before turning to Tifa and Barret. Tifa was looking at him with a look of concern, while Barret had his head tilted to the side as he looked at Cloud with a puzzled look on his face. Cloud didn't say anything and simply turned away, beginning to walk on through the dirty alleyways as though nothing had ever happened. Barret and Tifa followed close behind, walking silence as they headed on to Sector 5.

Even though it was nighttime, there were many people out and about in Sector 5. They had all been woken up by the sound of the Sector 7 Plate crashing, and many children were crying in their beds while the adults were running around trying to find out what was going on. They ignored Cloud and his friends as they entered the sector, too busy with their own affairs to care.

The only quiet place was at Aeris's house, which was still just as quiet and as calm as it was when Cloud left it earlier that night. He was surprised to find that the door was ajar as he approached, and walked straight into the house with Barret and Tifa behind him.

Elmyra was standing in the living room with her back to them as they entered. She neither flinched nor looked up as she heard the door open and close behind her, for she knew immediately who had just walked in.

"Cloud... wasn't it?" she asked. She slowly turned to Cloud and his friends, her face sombre and red as though she had been crying. "It's about Aeris, isn't it?"

Seeing the sight of the woman's heartbroken face made Cloud feel even guiltier. "...Sorry," he apologised sincerely. "The Shinra have her."

The news didn't seem to come as a surprise to Elmyra. Her eyes filled up again, and a single tear ran down her old face. She turned away from the group and walked away from them towards the kitchen.

"I know," she said finally. "They took her from here."

"They were here?" Cloud asked in surprise.

Elmyra turned back to him. "That's what Aeris wanted......"

"Why is the Shinra after Aeris?" Cloud asked, a question that had been burning inside of him since he met Aeris in the church.

Once again Elmyra turned away from them. "Aeris is an Ancient," she answered. "The sole survivor."

"...What did you say?" asked Barret in surprise. "But, aren't you her mother?"

"...Not her real mother," Elmyra replied. She lifted her apron and wiped a tear from her eye, swallowing hard for a few moments to gather herself. When she'd finished she looked up. "Oh.. it must have been 15 years ago... during the war. My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai. One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave."


Elmyra walked up to the Sector 5 train station, her heart beating excitedly at the thought of seeing her husband after so long. The train had just pulled in when she arrived, and already the passengers were beginning to pile off the train.

A strong young man stepped off first, where hi fiancé immediately ran to him from the platform. They embraced as they met, and he lifted her up in his arms and spun her around before they headed off home together. An elderly man, who had not returned from the war, was the next to step off. His wife ran to him also, but instead of him lifting her, she lifted him, and together they also walked off towards the sector.

Elmyra waited patiently as the rest of the passengers descended from the train. She began to feel a little desperate as more stepped off, but not one of them was her husband. Eventually the crowds began to thin, until eventually there was no one left on the platform except for her. The train door closed, and Elmyra quickly ran to the station guard and asked if there was anyone else on board. Regretfully the guard shook his head, and Elmyra sadly turned away. She walked down the stairs of the platform and stopped at the bottom, staring at the floor in sadness.


"My husband never came back. I wonder if something happened to him? No, I'm sure his leave was just cancelled. I went to the station everyday. Then, one day......"


On the fifth day Elmyra returned to the station once more, praying with all her heart that this would be the day that her husband returned home to her.

She was surprised to find that there were very few people gathered around the station on that particular day. In fact there were only two people on the platform that day, and as Elmyra set her eyes on them she immediately gasped and ran quickly towards them.

It was a mother and a child. The mother, a beautiful woman with luxurious long brown hair, had collapsed on the stairs of the platform with sheer exhaustion. Her daughter looked to be only seven years old, and looked so much like her mother it was uncanny. She had the same long, wavy brown hair and gentle brown eyes. She was kneeling beside her mother with tears in her eyes, begging her mother to get up.

Elmyra ran to the two and knelt down beside the girl's mother. The young girl ran around to Elmyra and pleaded with her to make her mother better again. Elmyra looked at the girl's desperate face, which was full of tears.

Slowly, the girl's mother turned her head to look up at Elmyra. She opened her mouth to speak and slowly whispered something in Elmyra's ear. When she finished she lay back and closed her eyes, and her body fell limp as she gave in to her exhaustion and died in front of Elmyra and her daughter. The young girl immediately burst into tears and threw her arms around Elmyra, who wrapped her up and held her tightly, letting the girl cry.


Elmyra closed her eyes as she remembered. "You used to see this sort of thing a lot during the war. Her last words were, 'Please take Aeris somewhere safe.' My husband never came back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So I decided to take her home with me. Aeris and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything."

The elderly woman smiled as she remembered some of the happy times she had with Aeris when she was a young child. One of her fondest memories, strange though it was, was Aeris running down the stairs towards the living room and falling over. She had helped the young girl get up, and Aeris immediately ran outside to the garden. Seeing that continued to reminded Elmyra of Aeris's determinism and inability to give up.

"She told me escaped from some kind of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely... and many other things."

"Returned to the planet?" Barret asked.

Elmyra shook her head. "I didn't know what she meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky, but she said it was this planet... She was a mysterious child in many ways."


Aeris walked calmly down the stairs towards Elmyra as she stood waiting in the living room. As she looked up Elmyra could see that the young girl had a rather serious expression on her face, and a look of sadness.

"Mom," she said, her voice gentle. "Please don't cry."


"Aeris just blurted that out all of a sudden. When I asked her if something happened..."


Aeris hung her head sadly. "Someone dear to you has just died," she said. "His spirit was coming to see you, but he has already returned to the planet."


Elmyra shook her head again at the memory. "At that time I didn't believe her. But... Several days later... We received a notice saying my husband died..." She closed her eyes as she remembered the grief she had felt when she read that notice from the Shinra. "...And that's how it was. A lot had happened, but we were happy. Until one day..."


Aeris stood as close to Elmyra as she could as they both looked at the man who had just entered the house. Tseng of the Turks was standing in the doorway, looking at Elmyra.

"We want you to return Aeris to us," Tseng was saying to her. "We've been searching for her for a very long time."

"No!" Aeris shouted defiantly from behind Elmyra, clutching onto her apron. She shook her head vigorously. "Never!"

Tseng looked at Aeris. "Aeris, you're a very special child," he said to her, speaking in a soft, gentle voice so as to encourage her. "You are of special blood. Your real mother was an 'Ancient'."


"Of course I heard it. That she was an Ancient."


"The Ancients will lead us to a land of supreme happiness," said Tseng. "Aeris will be able to bring happiness to all those in the slums. That is why Shinra would like Aeris's cooperation."

"He's wrong!" Aeris shouted again. She ran out from behind Elmyra and continued to shake her head in defiance. "I'm not an Ancient! I'm not!"

"But Aeris," Tseng said reasonably. "Surely you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"

Again Aeris shook her head. "No, I don't!"

And with that Aeris ran forward, brushing rudely past Tseng and out into the garden to hide so she couldn't be found and taken away from her new home. Tseng looked on almost sadly as the young girl ran off.


"But I knew," said Elmyra, opening her eyes. "I knew about her mysterious powers... She tried so hard to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."

Cloud folded his arms. "It's amazing how she's avoided the Shinra for all these years..."

"The Shinra needed her, so I guess they wouldn't harm her," said Elmyra.

"But why now......" muttered Tifa.

"She brought a little girl here with her," said Elmyra. "On the way here, Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough. She decided to go to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."

"Must be Marlene," Cloud assumed.

"Marlene!!" shouted Barret. "Aeris was caught because of Marlene!?" He ran past Cloud to Elmyra. "I'm sorry. Marlene's my daughter. I'm... really... sorry..."

Elmyra's eyes flashed at him angrily. "You're her father!?" she shouted, sounding disgusted. "How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that!?"

Barret held his head and shook it. "...Please don't start with that," he begged of her. "I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene, if..." He swallowed hard, trying to convey his true feelings. "But you gotta understand somethin'... ...I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene... But I gotta fight. 'Cause if I don't... the planet's gonna die. So I'm gonna keep fightin'! But, I'm worried 'bout Marlene. I really just wanna be with her... always. See? I'm goin' in circles, now."

Elmyra looked at Barret closely. Gradually the harsh look in her eyes softened as she believed that Barret's words were sincere.

"...I think I understand what you're saying..." she said. "She's upstairs asleep. Why don't you go and see her?"

Barret smiled gladly and immediately ran upstairs towards Aeris's bedroom where little Marlene was waiting for him. Once he was gone Tifa sighed heavily.

"It's my fault," she whispered sadly. "I was the one who got Tifa involved in this."

"Don't say that," said Elmyra. "Aeris doesn't think that."

Tifa still didn't look any better. Cloud decided to leave her to Elmyra while he walked upstairs towards Aeris's room. The door to her bedroom was open, and he could hear Barret and Elmyra inside. He could mostly hear Barret's voice, and as he peeked into Aeris's room he saw Barret standing inside, with Marlene wrapped up in his arms.

"I'm so glad... I'm so glad you're all right..." he was saying.

Marlene was struggling hard to get away from him. "Daddy, don't cry. Your whiskers hurt!"

Cloud smiled a little, and turned to leave them to it. He must have made some kind of noise, for as he turned Barret put Marlene down on the ground and turned to Cloud.

"Cloud!" Cloud stopped and turned to Barret. "You're gonna go help Aeris, right? She's done so much for me... If it's the Shinra you're dealin' with, I can't just sit here! I'm comin', too!"

Cloud smiled. He figured Barret would do that. Marlene squeezed past her father and ran to Cloud.

"Guess what? Guess what?" the little girl asked him excitedly. Cloud knelt down beside her to listen. "Aeris was asking me lots of questions. Like what kind of person Cloud is. I bet she likes you, Cloud!"

"Let's hope so," he said, his face turning red a little.

Marlene instantly covered her mouth and giggled. She glanced back at Barret, before leaning in closer to Cloud and whispering in his ear.

"I won't tell Tifa," she promised.

Cloud sighed heavily. He then left Barret and Marlene alone and went back downstairs to where Tifa was still waiting with Elmyra. Tifa looked a little calmer now, so he figured that Elmyra's words of encouragement had helped in cheering the poor girl up. He walked right past Tifa, his mind made up, and headed towards the door.

"You're going after Aeris, right?"

Cloud stopped beside the door, and turned to Tifa. "Yeah," he said. He didn't mention that he was still effectively being hired as her bodyguard, and he had a responsibility to protect her.

Tifa nodded. "I'm coming with you," she said.

"We're going right into Shinra Headquarters," Cloud warned her. "...You gotta be prepared for the worst."

"I know," said Tifa. "Right now, I feel I have to push myself to the limit. If I stayed here... I'll go crazy." A loud rumble came from the stairs as Barret tore down towards them, and came to a stop in front of Elmyra.

"Sorry, but can you take care of Marlene a bit longer?" he asked her.

Elmyra nodded. "Yes, I don't mind," she said.

"This place is dangerous now," he said. "You better go somewhere else."

"...You're right," Elmyra agreed gravely. She looked up at Barret. "But promise me that you'll come back to her. Don't get yourself killed."

Barret turned to Tifa and Cloud, who were looking back at him. They all nodded together in agreement, and then ran out of Elmyra's house, ready to begin their mission to rescue Aeris.