Chapter 39 – Insanity
Tifa lay on the bed with her eyes closed, trying to relax her body. She felt the cold liquid flush through her arm and into her heart. She watched as her heart pushed the drug around her body. She could see each drop of blood and the strands of foreign DNA they contained spinning and swirling around her system.
Tifa turned her mind inwards towards her daughter. She saw her suspended in her womb, sucking her thumb. Her eyes were closed; she was sleeping. Tifa watched her baby in amazement. The child had grown to almost her full birth weight. She was perfectly formed and had a tuft of blonde hair growing on her head. A red light glowed bright from her chest, pulsating in time with her heartbeat. Her face reminded Tifa of her own; a heart-shaped face with cupid bow lips and arched brows. Her long elegant fingers curled up into tiny fists. The baby hiccuped as she slept and Tifa felt a flutter in her stomach. It was a strange sensation, both seeing and feeling something going on inside her.
As she watched she felt rather than heard Jenova behind her. She turned to face her enemy, steeling herself for the battle to come.
As she turned, she was blinded by a white light that flashed all around her. When it faded she saw Jenova standing before her. Her long white hair flowed gently around her face and shoulders. She stood tall, over 6', wearing a tight fitting silver robe that revealed her muscular and slender body. She held her hands, palms up, by her side. Her head was bowed and she looked at Tifa through hooded pale cats eyes. She smiled knowingly at her and said "Welcome, Tifa."
Tifa stood silently, watching and waiting. Behind her, Tifa's daughter opened her eyes and watched both of her mothers.
"You can't have her, Jenova. She's my baby. Mine and Clouds," said Tifa.
"Look at her, Tifa. Look at her eyes. She knows!"
Tifa turned to look at her daughter and groaned in despair as she saw that her baby did indeed know. She looked into the girls' eyes and saw recognition there. Knowledge of herself and of the Others and of Jenova!
"No," she whimpered. "Oh no." Tifa felt a wave of incredible sadness wash over her. The growing howl of the Others reaching up from the depths of her consciousness flooded over her in a wave of despair.
Cloud and the other men watched Tifa drift into unconsciousness as the drug took hold. He watched as she whimpered and wept, her fists clenched, straining on her bonds. He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and whispered her name. "Tifa, stay with me."
Cloud's voice and touch brought her out of her despair. She fought against the voices and the visions, trying to clear her mind of their intrusions. She knew that she would only be able to fight Jenova and the Others if she didn't allow them to take her too deep. She pushed them away with the last remnants of sanity she could muster and turned back to face Jenova.
"You can't have her," she repeated.
"Tifa, you are the birth-mother of a God. You will be worshipped and revered. You will rule over a bright new planet and together we will raise our daughter to fulfill her destiny as the One in all the universe," said Jenova, pacing around her. The light radiating from Jenova filled her mind until all else was obliterated.
"And what's in it for you, Jenova? What do you get out of this?" asked Tifa, her eyes locked on the glowing form circling her.
Jenova threw back her head and laughed. The laugh sounded like breaking glass and it shattered her mind. Tifa was drowning, suffocated by hundreds of hands covering her mouth and nose, blocking off her airways, pushing her down into the abyss. Visions of splintered minds caught in the swirling blackness circled her, pulling her down.
"I get to live again!" Jenova sneered at the terrified girl.
Tifa felt a rush of wind pass through her. She could no longer feel Cloud's touch or his breath on her face. She could feel nothing. She could see nothing. She was alone in the silent, black, cold wastes of her insanity. She was only dimly aware that Jenova now possessed not only her body, but also her baby.