The Aftermath
A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic
By Susycreamcheese
The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft
Rated R
Chapter Seven
Nanaki set about searching the sectors which had not yet been investigated. Depending on who he spoke with, he heard many conflicting rumors. It was as if all of Midgar had become an urban legend. He even heard a ludicrous tale that Aeris could be restored to life.
In fact, there were several versions of this ridiculous story; the worse one being in his opinion, the tale of a special cure or phoenix materia that would restore her to life. He certainly hoped that Cloud had never heard any of this. He appeared to be having a difficult time accepting her death as it was.
Of course it didn't help that Cloud blamed himself for her death and still felt so guilty over it. Most of this wild speculation was fueled by people believing they could see Aeris in the old church where she had once had her flower garden. And yet they also say if they attempted to approach her, she would disappear.
Rightfully so, Nanaki snorted. All victims of mass hypnotism, he thought. He, himself, had gone into the church to look and he hadn't seen anything except for two small children tending to the flowers. What Nanaki didn't realize was he saw what he expected to see. That was the magic of the church. It was why Aeris had been able to grow flowers there in the first place.
It was a sacred place. It displayed to people what they wanted to see deep within their hearts. Contrary to popular opinion, Cosmo Canyon where Nanaki grew up was not a mysterious place steeped in mysticism, but was totally based on science. People tended to overlook or never knew that Bugenhagen had once been an esteemed Shin-Ra scientist and had much of his equipment installed from those days.
On his morning travels Nanaki did manage to meet an old friend of Tifa's, who told him that Tifa had been fairly disturbed the last time the two of them had spoken.
The woman had long red hair and freckles across an open friendly appearing face. She stood about five feet, six inches tall and said that Tifa had reported that Cloud had been very preoccupied and away quite a bit. Tifa had never said where Cloud had been spending his time.
No, she hadn't spoken to Tifa for a couple of weeks. Nanaki was quickly drawing the conclusion that Tifa was no longer in Midgar.
……….
Cloud exclaimed, "Cid Highwind, how are you and what the heck are you doing here?"
Cid appeared to be standing stunned for a few seconds but, in actuality, he was hoping to see Tifa enter the room after Cloud. Instead of answering Cloud's question, Cid asked, "Where's Tifa?"
Confusion crossed Cloud's features. "What'd you mean where's Tifa? She's probably sleeping right now in her bed."
"No, she ain't," retorted Cid. "Right now Vincent is sleeping in her bed."
"Vincent!" Cloud exploded, his face flush with red. "What's Vincent doing there and what's been going on behind my back?!"
President Reeve stood completely bewildered wondering what had happened to his strategy meeting. "Calm down everyone," the President suggested. "Cloud take a seat, I'm certain we can straighten this out easily enough."
Cloud ignored Reeve completely and stood staring daggers at Cid. "I don't know what happened," the veteran pilot admitted. "Nanaki paid me a visit to tell me that he had discovered you and Tifa were missing. So I volunteered to help him search for you guys. We went to Nibelheim thinking you all might have gone there for a visit and we ran into Vincent. He offered to help too and we returned to Midgar to continue searching for you two."
"Well all I know is," Cloud angrily interrupted, "she was there a week ago when I left."
"Wait, there's more," Cid elaborated. "Vincent broke into Don Corneo's broken down old mansion and not only did he discover evidence that people had been living in there and had turned on the power. He also found Tifa's outfit!"
At Cid's last words it fell deadly quiet in the office. Reeve, who had been waiting patiently to speak so he could get on with the meeting, suddenly lost his voice at this distressing news. Even through his long distance monitoring by his Toysaurus, he had come to greatly appreciate the young woman. Bosley sat silently not really understanding a bit of it, but realizing something insidious had been going on again, possibly involving something to do with a resurrected Shin-Ra.
Images from the past horrors swam in front of Cloud's mako drenched eyes and he suddenly felt lightheaded. He quickly took the chair Reeve had been proffering all along.
……….
After Nanaki left the house for the day, Vincent quickly washed, dried, and replaced the two coffee cups and the cereal bowl in the kitchen cabinet. Looking around and not locating a hand towel, he dried his hands on his cloak.
Vincent left the kitchen and moved to the small downstairs bathroom. He unlatched the rather smallish window, preferring to leave it open rather than the front door. Vincent regretted not remembering to inform Nanaki that he was going to do that, but he realized if his friend returned first he would wait for either Vincent to return or Cid, who had the house key.
The dark-haired man remembered, at the last moment, to take the PHS with him. Vincent left the house making certain the front door was locked and stepped into the street. He had another agenda in mind on this day than the one he had described to his comrades. Vincent still held his cards close to his chest.
He realized he had no real understanding of why he continued to not trust others, even those who had proven themselves trustworthy. Vincent knew on an intellectual basis that Nanaki and even Cid would never do anything intentionally to harm him, but his life experiences had left him so scarred he hadn't been able to push through his fears.
Maybe that's why I'm so desperately looking for Lucrecia, Vincent realized. I know I can trust her.
Unlike what he had explained to Cid and Nanaki, Vincent wasn't going to the topless bars first. He was going to get into the Honeybee Inn by hook or by crook. For one thing, it rankled Vincent that he had been denied admittance and for another thing, he figured there was more of a chance of discovering some information pertinent to the disappearance of Tifa there then in most of the topless bars in the area due to them being mostly institutions of mere sleaziness. Certainly not the type of places that would go to the trouble, not to mention the risk, of kidnapping a beautiful woman who was well known in the area.
Vincent walked gently attempting to be surreptitious and yet keep a watchful eye out at all times. He had done this for so many years as a Turk that it was second nature to him. He certainly was never a typical personality of the Shin-Ra arm of espionage and enforcement. Most of them swaggered through life and then wondered why they were cut down in one way or another.
Reno was the only one he knew of that ilk, who had continued his blustering ways all the way through the complete destruction of his parent organization. Of course Reno and Rude weren't with the Turks that Vincent worked with. They were well after his time. He had run into Reno and Rude at a bar in Wutai one time shortly after the destruction of Sephiroth and Meteor.
Man, those guys sure could drink, Vincent remembered. It's a wonder they don't have one liver left between the two of them. During the course of the afternoon Reno had become rather maudlin. Rude, on the other hand, was always Rude. It didn't matter how much he drank. A person would have a difficult time knowing when Rude was in his cups.
Of course maudlin for Reno was just normal for most people. The more intoxicated he became, the more he waxed philosophic over all the Turks that had never completed their tour of duty because of being killed. All of them were the kind of arrogant son-of-a-bitch that Vincent himself had always tended to avoid.
Walking back through the newly rebuilt playground, Vincent suddenly was swept by nostalgia as he remembered the carefree days of his youth and playing often on such a playground. Vincent shook his head to clear his thoughts. I have to get serious here, he mentally chastised himself.
Walking into Wall Market, Vincent suddenly realized he had been avoiding formulating any plan for his endeavor. Hmm, let's see, he thought to himself.
………..
After wolfing down a couple of hot dogs for lunch, Nanaki realized he had no idea what he should do next.. He wandered slowly through the remaining sectors looking for anyone who he might know or for any sort of a clue that might help him in his quest.
Finally returning to Sector 7, he was headed in the direction of Tifa and Cloud's bar when he was suddenly accosted by two small boys. "Hey mister," one little towheaded male child of an indiscriminate age that lay somewhere between the ages of six to eight asked. "Do you know when Cloud's getting back?"
Nanaki had already shaken his head in the negative before he realized that these children knew that Cloud had gone somewhere. I should have known, he castigated himself. Of course, the children would know him, the hero who saved the entire planet. And Cloud with his wide open raw emotions and lack of sophistication would be more comfortable with children.
"Do you know where he went?" Nanaki asked.
"Sure," the small blond haired child responded, "He said he was going to look for his girlfriend. What's her name again?"
"Aerith," his small companion, a dark-haired youth who was slightly shorter replied.
"No, you're wrong. You're lisping again. It's Aeris," the first boy insisted.
When the dark-haired youth began to protest, Nanaki interrupted. "Please, this is important. Did he ever say where he was going?"
"Just somewhere up North, I think," the dark-haired boy answered. As they began to turn away to race up the street to another adventure that only small boys are allowed to participate in, Nanaki asked, "Do either of you know anything about Tifa's disappearance?"
The blond child replied, "Only that she was gone one day after Cloud had left. We figgered maybe she had gone to be with him."
Oh my Lord, Nanaki thought, as the two children raced up the street. He's out looking for Aeris still; the poor man – and ever worse, poor Tifa. But at least this might be good news. Although if she had gone to be with Cloud, wouldn't she have gotten someone to run the bar? Maybe it was an emergency and she had to leave in a hurry. But then why would her outfit have been in Don Corneo's old mansion?
His mind beginning to spin in confusion, Nanaki thought, I'd better wait until Vincent and Cid return so I can tell them what I have learned and discover what they might have uncovered before I attempt to draw any more conclusions. I wonder if Cid will be okay and when he might be back.
……….
Cid asked, "What did you see in the North Cave that made you so suspicious of something, Cloud?"
The pilot was hoping to help Cloud pull himself together by demanding of him to be involved with this morning's business, unless plans had suddenly changed and he wasn't to go with them.
Cloud glanced up at Cid and he still appeared somewhat shocked. "I saw huge deposits of mako that weren't there before and would never occur naturally in that environment," he said softly. "It looked to me as if someone were gathering it to use in a reactor."
Cloud paused for a long second before speaking again. Cid appeared not at all surprised, while Bosley looked on shocked. Before the blond man could begin again, the receptionist buzzed Reeve's phone again. Reeve hit the conference call button.
"Excuse me, President Reeve. Crowley and Jackson are here for the meeting."
"Well, send them in immediately," Reeve replied testily, a little exasperated that his receptionist had no initiative. After the two pilots had entered the room and seated themselves, Reeve explained to them what had happened so far and then asked Cloud to resume.
"Seeing the mako and suspecting why it was there, I was naturally suspicious. I started searching further down and found evidence that people had been living down there for several days at a time. So I thought maybe Shin-Ra or the Turks are trying to resurrect Sephiroth."
Hearing the word resurrect triggered Cid, who glanced at Cloud shrewdly. "Cloud," the blond haired man asked, "What exactly were you doing down there anyway?"
Cloud's normally pale features heavily flushed, but he remained silent. That was all the answer Cid needed.
Aeris! I should have known. He's still screwed up over her. Well, women – you can't live with 'em and you can't live with 'em.
The President using the lull in the conversation to his advantage outlined to the party what he was hoping they could accomplish while they were in the North Cave. He concluded, "Now don't put yourself at risk any more than absolutely necessary. I want everyone back safe and sound. If you run into anyone wanting to fight I expect the three of you pilots to remain out of the way and let Cloud and Cid handle it. Cid, were you able to bring your weapon with you?" the President asked.
Cid looked at Reeve as though he was observing a mindless vegetable. The very idea that he would ever consider going down into the North Cave without his weapon was ludicrous.
"So what exactly are we looking for down there?" asked Jackie Jackson, the youngest pilot.
"We're looking for Sephiroth," Cloud spoke harshly. He wanted badly to get out of this small office filled to the brim with people. He was feeling claustrophobic because of his increasing anxiety over what could have happened to Tifa.
We're looking for Aeris, don't you mean? Cid thought cynically. The Captain had a soft spot himself for the pretty Ancient with the reddish-brunette hair, but at the same time, he also realized that no matter how painful it might be to admit, Aeris was dead. The whole thing caused him to feel a great deal of anger toward Cloud. Not only had his wrong-headedness caused Tifa sadness but, now possibly by deserting her, it may have cost her a lot more than that.
"Cid!" Bosley whispered loudly, while digging his elbow lightly into his companion's ribs. "Come on," Bosley stated. "We're leaving."
As they followed after the rest of the party, Thomas asked, "Who were you hating? I've never seen such a look of contempt on your face."
"Huh…um…no it was just some indigestion."
"No, Cid," Bosley contradicted. "I know you and that wasn't the result of something you ate. That was something eating you."
……….
Vincent worked his way through the side streets until he arrived in the back of the Honeybee Inn. Glancing around he was gratified to see there was no one in the immediate area watching him. Vincent positioned himself under the fire escape ladder, which was folded in the traditional manner in the air.
He jumped extremely lightly for a man of his size and snared the ladder easily. Vincent brought it down carefully so as to not cause any unnecessary noise. Looking around one more time he climbed up. He knew there would be a fire escape; not because of a threat of fire, but because of a threat of a legal raid in the old days when the Inn was first being established and before all the local authorities had been bought off.
The plan would have been to race up to the second floor as soon as the powers-that-be arrived at the front door and then scurry down the fire escape, because no one would expect them to have one. The second floor was basically empty for that reason.
The dark-haired man lifted up the window carefully from the outside and stepped through it onto the second floor. He was immediately accosted by the sight of a completely nude woman standing with her back to him. Hearing some noise, she quickly turned to face him and demanded, "Who the hell are you?"
Vincent's vision swam and he felt as though he was going to pass out. It was Lucrecia!