The Aftermath
A Final Fantasy VII Fanfic
By Susycreamcheese
The game of Final Fantasy VII is owned by SquareSoft
Rated M
Chapter Nine
Tifa sat shivering, cold and lonely, in a subterranean cell that was just one of many along a lengthy cell block. As she idly glanced around her cell for the umpteenth time, which only consisted of a metal bunk built into the wall, a sink, and a toilet bowl with no lid, Tifa wondered why her clothes had needed to be removed and taken from her.
Are they just perverts or was it to possibly make my attempts at escape more difficult?
Tifa only knew it was very embarrassing and humiliating to stand in front of her cell door in only her bra and panties when the male guards came in to deliver her meals. Their gaze always swept her nearly naked form with lust and they always wore a smirk, as they thrust the tray of almost uneatable slop through the slot in her cell door.
She had been shocked to discover the guards had been attired in the old uniforms of Shin-Ra and decided that the rumors of the reemergence of Shin-Ra hadn't been a urban legend after all. Tifa had no way of knowing that her apparel had been removed and left behind hopefully for Cloud to discover them in his search for Tifa. Inefficiently her kidnappers had not realized at the time that Cloud was presently out of town.
She had questioned her guards constantly and they always just stared back at her blankly without responding in the least. They're probably just flunkies anyway and don't know anything about why I'm here, Tifa reasoned at last.
She kicked herself mentally over and over for falling for the oldest trick in the book. But it had looked like Cloud's writing! Tifa lamented. How was I to know?
The day after Cloud informed her that he was returning to the North Cave, because of his suspicions concerning the attempts of someone to restore Sephiroth to the land of the living, Tifa had awoke to discover a note on the kitchen table.
It appeared written in Cloud's almost illegible scrawl and asked her to meet him at Don Corneo's old mansion. Since Tifa was used to strange requests from Cloud and also that the note had been lying on the table in her locked house, she automatically assumed the note was genuine.
Tifa hurried to get dressed and rushed off on her mission, because the note had demanded that she meet with him in thirty minutes hence. At least one of her abductors must have been hidden outside the mansion, because as soon as Tifa pushed open the front door, someone stepped up behind her and pressed a chloroformed soaked cloth over her face.
And that was all she wrote, Tifa thought ruefully. The next she knew, the dark-haired young woman regained consciousness in the locked cell, minus her outer clothing.
What am I doing here? What do they want from me? And where is Cloud?
At that particular moment, Cloud and Cid were standing in front of the helicopter pilots, who were waiting further instructions. The group of five had already scrambled down the short slope to the entrance of the North Cave.
As Cid stood waiting for Cloud to explain his plans, he realized he had serious misgivings about his former flying cohorts accompanying them; although he realized he had no real say in the matter. Reeve had ordered them to investigate the area and after all he was only along for the ride. Cid just hoped that they didn't get injured or, worse, get in Cloud's and his way in case of a fight.
Cloud finally spoke, as if he had been thinking heavily of what he was to say, although Cid realized he was just being his usual shy self in front of strangers. "Okay, from here on out, it's extremely dangerous."
Good, Cid thought, as he observed the group of pilots stiffened considerably in their body postures at the sound of Cloud's warning.
"We could be ambushed by whoever has been down here or attacked by monsters at any time. In case of a fight, attempt to take cover and let me and Cid handle it. I'll go point and Cid will bring us up from the rear. Is that okay?" he asked, looking at Cid.
As Cid nodded in the affirmative, Cloud asked him, "Do you have any materia?"
"Are you kidding? I haven't any need for that stuff for two years."
"Here," Cloud said, flipping Cid a mastered Wall materia. "I'll take Restore."
After Cloud had popped the materia into his armor, he lead the group down the rocks leading to the entrance. They hurried past the first few pairs of Gargoyles that were usually encountered at the beginning of the crater. The Gargoyles were totally defended against attack, both physical and magical, until they sprang to 'life.' Both Cloud and Cid realized it was totally useless to waste any time or energy on them. The pop-eyed appearance of the pilots as Cloud glanced backwards was not wasted on him. He knew they would probably be next to useless if it came to a battle with monsters. It suddenly occurred to him that their presence could turn out to be a heavy price to pay just to have transportation there.
Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut and tried to handle it on my own.
"By the way," Cloud said. "If we see any Master Tonberrys, we're going to run from them. They're pretty slow, but extremely dangerous to mess with."
Cid noticed from his position at the very back of the party that Jackie Jackson, the youngest of the three pilots, had shivered slightly at Cloud's latest warning.
He ain't talking so loud now, is he? Cid thought sardonically, remembering the young man's rather bold manner while in the bar on the previous day.
Thirty minutes later, the party of five were standing on a much lower level. To travel any further would be to enter the place where they had fought Sephiroth in their final battle. On their passage downwards, Cid was astonished to observe that massive construction had been completed within the deeper recesses in the form of staircases and concrete flooring.
"Damn, what's been going on here?" Cid muttered.
Cloud slightly nodded at the former Captain in acknowledgement that he had heard his rhetorical question and then he pointed to his right and spoke, "There's the mako I was telling you about."
Cid, along with the other three pilots, turned in the direction that the spiky-haired young man was pointing. Upon observing the bright crystalline beauty of the mako, Cid was struck by the irony that something that appeared so pretty and could be so beneficial to mankind could leave such a path of death and destruction in its wake.
"From what you said Cloud, it looks as if they've built some more of the reactor," Bosley Thomas pointed out.
"Yeah," Cloud agreed, while stepping over towards it. "They've made good progress since I was here last."
"What the hell are they trying to do, do you think, Cloud?" Cid asked boisterously. "Are they really thinking they can resurrect Sephiroth?"
"Well, remember, we don't really know what happened to Sephiroth," Cloud replied thoughtfully. "I mean I'm certain I killed him, but we never had the chance to find his dead body. I guess if Shin-Ra has proved anything in the past, it's that as far as they're concerned, they can pull off some pretty amazing stuff."
"I doubt they went to all this trouble to try to resurrect Aeris, for instance," Bosley Thomas suddenly spoke sarcastically.
Cid couldn't miss that the off hand comment caused Cloud to flinch momentarily and his eyes narrowed in fury. Fearing one of Cloud's schizy attacks, Cid quickly turned to Bosley and shook his head sharply at him.
Catching his longtime friend's drift immediately, Bosley murmured, "Sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect."
Cloud nodded, but didn't respond verbally to the apology. Instead he turned and ordered tersely, "Come on, let's go look around."
After fanning out and investigating an adjacent area, the group immediately observed what Cloud had already mentioned. There was ample evidence that somebody had been living there. Although there was presently no sign of any tents or sleeping bags, there were remains of many soda cans, empty pizza boxes and empty containers of field army fare.
"Wow!" Jackie Jensen softly exclaimed. "Someone has certainly been living here for an extended period." Suddenly realizing they could still be around, he glanced nervously all around the perimeter of the camp site.
Cid wandered idly over to one of the field rations and picked it up for a closer inspection. "Shin-Ra," he read aloud.
That one word caught everyone's attention. Cloud had wandered away unnoticed in his search for further clues.
"Shin-Ra!" Jackie echoed, with fear in his voice.
Cid glanced around to evaluate Cloud's reaction and it was then that he noticed his former comrade had disappeared. "Where's Cloud?" he loudly asked.
"I saw him go over there," Bosley answered, pointing to some large volcanic rock formations.
"Everybody, follow me," Cid ordered. "We don't want to become separated down here."
The former pilot led the rest of the party quickly around Cloud's last seen location and were stunned to observe Cloud leaning over and digging through rubble with his bare hands finally emerging with a huge sword. Cloud straightened up and held the sword up in front of his face and his eyes suddenly clouded over indicating he was no longer in touch with his immediate reality. The young blond haired man was shaking violently.
That's Sephiroth's sword! Cid thought. The Masamune. Fearing for the spiky haired man's safety and more importantly his sanity, Cid cried out, "Cloud! Put that down – now!"
Cloud's behavior indicated that he hadn't understood or even heard Cid's command, but instead just stood there dreamily until Cid ripped the weapon from Cloud's grasp and threw it onto the ground. Cloud immediately woke up from his trance and glanced around confusedly.
Cid pointed to the sword lying at his former comrade's feet. "Sephiroth's," is all the former pilot said.
Cloud knelt down by it and examined it as closely as he could without actually touching it. "This appears brand new," he spoke. "Not a nick or tarnish on it."
"How is this possible?" Bosley asked in some panic. "What would it be doing here?"
Cloud glanced up at the frightened helicopter pilot before he spoke. "Sephiroth used to leave these around as if they were his personal calling cards. Although I have to admit, even if it was left here from when we fought him, I don't know why it would look so new."
Cid, correctly reading the feelings of disquietude that had swept over the trio of helicopter pilots, suggested, "Shouldn't we go back and report to Reeve? Personally, I'm gettin' the creeps."
Cloud stood and offered a rare smile. "Yeah, let's go."
After the party had left the immediate area, a lone figure stood up from his hiding place. He smiled at the thought that things were continuing to develop nicely. He took out his PHS and after a few seconds began to speak into it.
In the Honeybee Inn front lobby, Vincent treaded lightly on the balls of his feet over to the door. With his heart in his throat, he pressed his ear closely to the door. The voices speaking within were muffled, but the dark-haired man was able to make out most of the main points.
"How is the building of the reactor proceeding?"
"They appear to be right on schedule, but I'm adding another work crew regardless."
"Good," the first voice said. "And Cloud? Are we still maintaining a close watch on him?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I just received word that he was in the North Cave today with some of Reeve's helicopter pilots."
"What!" the first voice exclaimed. "Is that wise? We're not ready to proceed yet."
"Relax, they were monitored every second. In fact, they've already left. But we have another problem. Someone said Vincent has been spotted in Wall Market asking around for Tifa."
"What? Is that freak still around?" a new voice spoke harshly. "Well, never mind. I'll take care of him myself."
Vincent immediately recognized the speaker as Reno. I'd know that voice anywhere. So the Turks are involved in this. I should have known.
The first voice cautioned, "Now don't go off half-cocked, Reno. Use some discretion. We don't want anyone to get wind of this before we're ready to put our plans into operation."
"What'd you mean by that, Corneo? I'm always careful," Reno angrily retorted.
Corneo! Alive! How is that possible? Vincent wondered. I saw him shot and then he plunged off the cliff.
"Now, now, Reno," Don Corneo attempted to placate the angry former Turk. "I didn't mean to imply that you're not. It's just that my benefactor is certain we will make our move in less than a week's time and we surely don't want to do anything that will upset the apple cart."
"And that's another thing," Reno said. "When are we going to meet this mysterious boss of yours?"
"When the time is right," Don Corneo answered. "I'm assuring you, all will be complete within a week's time."
"It damn well better be," Reno muttered. "I'm getting sick and tired of all this hiding out and waiting around."
Apparently, Vincent realized, Don Corneo was not going to be drawn into any further argument with Reno as the dark-haired man heard Corneo say, "This meeting is adjourned unless someone has a pressing need to share new information. I have a scrumptious little honey waiting for me upstairs."
Vincent automatically winced, knowing fully well of Corneo's sexual peccadilloes, particularly in the area of pedophilia with young girls. And then, God forgive him, he found himself hoping it was some underage teenage baggage rather than his beloved Lucrecia.
The former freedom fighter stood frozen with that horrible thought roaring through his consciousness until he belatedly realized from the sounds of chairs being pushed back that the inhabitants of the room were preparing to leave.
I've got to get the hell out of here! Vincent realized. He literally jumped the staircase down to the entrance floor in two bounds and was just darting through the door when he heard Don Corneo exclaim, "Hey, where's Tony? He's supposed to be watching out here."