Confusion
[Hikorai]
I awoke in a glass tank filled with a bizarre glowing green-colored liquid.
"I am awake… alive?" I thought in surprise, "But how?"
The possibility of being awake seemed severely strange to me because I remembered quite clearly that I had died. There was a strong smell of old plastic, which by then I'd realized was the smell of a breathing mask that was on my face.
"Something is wrong," I thought. I looked down and saw a human in a long, white coat. I assumed that he was probably the one responsible for my being in this tank.
"Something is very wrong," I concluded, "I must escape from here."
I felt my body begin to change shape, as if growing in size. It certainly seemed so since the tank was growing smaller. I could not see where the human went, but it mattered not to me. I only wanted to get out.
Whoever it was that kept me in the tank seemed to have released the restraints that were holding me in place in the tank. This made things easier for me. I ripped off all the laboratory equipment attached to me and smashed the glass in front of me with my bare fist.
I leapt out of the tank, growling ferociously. I then began looking around my surroundings to see if I could figure out where I was. The room was rather small for someone my size, I would have had to duck if I was to stand upright. I stayed on all fours because it was comfortable. I could hear panic in rooms nearby, and there was a slight scent of blood and adrenaline in the air. Something disastrous was happening here. But then I notice that I was in a room filled with machines I'd never seen before.
"What is all this?" I wondered in confusion, "The magic powering these machines does not feel familiar to me at all."
I looked around the room a moment until I finally spotted something that I recognized.
"Magecite," I thought.
I approached the magecite and the strange machine that it was attached to. It appeared to me as if the magecite was being used to power the machine, but then I remembered the strange feel of the magic in the machines. I therefore ruled out that possibility.
"What else could this magecite piece be for?" I wondered. I held my hand over the magecite piece to see if I could sense the spirit of the esper inside, but I felt nothing. The magecite piece was empty.
"How can this be?" I thought in confusion, "How can there be no spirit within this magecite?"
I then pressed a button next to the magecite piece, hoping to find an answer. An image appeared on the screen over the machine.
"Collected data opened," said the machine, "Opening file on esper in magecite."
I was shocked at what I saw next.
"No!" I thought in surprise, "It cannot be!"
But it was. The image showed a feline esper with long hair on its head and a tail that forked into three, each end with a different shape, showing either fire, ice, or lightning. The image on the screen was my own. I kept watching to see if it would show me something more. Then some text appeared on the screen.
"Displaying esper data."
I was in shock when I read the information, reading my own name, powers, and physical features.
"This can only mean that I have in fact died," I realized, "If this magecite was me, and this is what is left of my body… then whose…?"
As if to answer my question before I could finish, the screen showed a different image.
"Opening file of experimented specimen."
It showed the image of a young human girl in her early twenties. She had straight, shoulder-length drown hair and light green eyes. She looked like someone who was good on the battlefield.
"Moira Lenore: Shin-Ra Security Guard."
"How could this have happened?"
The computer then showed both of our images alongside each other. She was much smaller than I was. If I were to stand on my hind legs she would be little more then one third my height.
"Normal size for a human," I said to myself, "But my body size is enormous compared to hers, so how in the world am I this size now?"
The computer then showed some more text.
"DNA fusion successful," It said, "Experiment completed. File deletion in progress."
"Deletion?" I wondered.
"Files deleted. This experiment never happened. Have a nice day."
"What?!" I responded, "How can you say that this event never occurred?! I am here, among the living!"
I then sat down to ponder for a moment.
"And in another being's body. This machine was used to extract everything in my Magecite and place it into the DNA in this human girl's body."
I then noticed her presence in the back of my mind. Her mind seemed to be asleep. Perhaps she herself was still unconscious from what had happened.
"What twisted individual would do something like this?"
"Hojo…" answered a faint voice from deep within my mind. It gave me a shocked, but then I realized that it might've been this Moira person. I paused for a moment to see if this voice would say something else.
"Hojo!" It repeated, this time in an angry growled voice. I then felt a sudden surge of anger and thrust my claws into the machine in front of me. After I pulled my hand out, ripping out any wires that were in my way, I regained control, surprised at what I had just done. The anger seemed to come from nowhere.
"That was not me doing that…" I concluded.
"…what?" the voice said in confusion.
I then felt a great and sudden swelling of fear, but it was not my own. Moira, not understanding what was happening, started to panic in this confusion, and the panic was surging through the body.
"What's going on?!" she cried, "What did he do to me?!"
"Please calm down," I tried, but it only seemed to make things worse.
I then started to feel as if my mind was being flushed into a whirlpool, Moira's mind along with mine. I lost all control of the body, and it began rampaging through the room, destroying in sight.
When there was no more to destroy in the room, we burst through the door and into the hallway. We ran for what seemed like hours through blurred images of doors, machines, and humans both living and dead, mostly dead. The smell of blood was much stronger outside of the room, but I was barely able to notice it for some strange reason. I was having difficulty keeping up with what was happening. It was like my mind was being pushed back while another was trying to push forward to control the body.
After much running we tore through the wall, which led to the outside of the building. I then noticed that the building was merely the grand seventy-story centerpiece of a gigantic mechanical city on a round plate that was suspended above the ground. A section of the plate had fallen to the ground far below, and that was the section we were falling toward.
We landed on our feet on a large steel beam that stuck out of the twisted mass of metal. The landing was very painful, but I think the body was undamaged. After this my mind slipped into darkness.
******** ******** ********
[Bibble's P.O.V., A few minutes earlier]
I searched and I searched, but she wasn't anywhere in sight.
"Oh, where could she be, kupo?" I was getting worried. I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to find her.
I flew around the inside of the building, hoping to even pick up a trace of Miss Moira's mind. After going through one of the abandoned floors a huge blur zipped past in the hallway ahead.
"Huh?! What was that, kupo?!" I rushed over to see what it was, but the creature was already halfway down the hall by the time I got there. It ran on all fours and took up a little bit more than half the height and width of the hallway.
I flew after it, curious how a creature that size could be all the way up on the fifty-somethingth floor of the building. I didn't keep track of where I was because the only thing I worried about was finding Miss Moira. I still couldn't sense her thoughts, but there was something strangely familiar about this creature that I had to find out.
It kept running down all the halls and went down several sets of stairs. Passing through a large factory-looking room, it stopped at one point and stared at some machine for a moment before rushing off again.
I stopped and looked at the machine the creature was staring at.
"What's this?" I wondered, "Why are these people sleeping here like this, kupo? And why do they all look alike?"
There were four identical guys seemingly sleeping next to each other by this strange machine. One of them was actually connected to the machine. I looked around and found a label.
"Shinra Androids: X Edition." I read out loud. "Oh! They're machines. That makes sense, kupo."
Then I noticed the number labels on the Androids, in particular the one still connected to the machine.
"Android X-17…" I read, "Kupo, I wonder if this was what that creature was staring at. Hmm."
I looked over and noticed that I'd lost the creature completely.
"Oh, no! I have to catch up with it, kupo!" I rushed off to try and catch up with it.
After leaving the room I rushed down the hall, looking down every other hall I passed, but there was no sign of it.
"Oh dear, kupo," I sighed, "Now what am I gonna do?"
Then I saw the creature come from around the corner and rushing in my general direction. I panicked and covered my eyes, hoping this would help me hide from it.
Then I felt a rush of hot air in front of me. I opened my eyes, and saw the creatures face right in front of me.
It was staring at me with its savage eyes, growling softly as it did. I couldn't read an active mind in this monster. It was like it was operating on basic animal instinct and some mind was barely reaching from behind. It seemed to strangely recognize me at any rate.
"That's it!" I realized, "There's a mind sleeping inside! That's why I've been urged to follow this creature!"
It sniffed at me, as if thinking about whether it wanted to eat me or not. Not like it could. I could just teleport away. But there was something familiar about it, so I couldn't just leave it. I decided to reach my powers into this monster's mind to see if I could find something.
I looked inside, wondering what I'd end up finding. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It seemed like the mind was ripped in two. Both sides were very confused, but one side seemed to feel like a stranger while the other knew where she was and was trying to get out. They both were also struggling to control the body, like they were fighting over it or something. And neither of them were very aware of what was happening.
I looked in the stranger and found the mind of someone who had seen death and was upset at being resurrected. And then, when I looked in the other one, I saw a scared human girl trying to figure out what was going on. I realized then that she was what I'd been looking for this whole time.
"Miss Moira!!!" I called, hoping to somehow reach her. It just made the monster mad, because she roared loudly, turned around, and punched a hole in the wall. Then she kept punching and making the hole bigger and bigger until it was big enough and she jumped through it. Then I realized that the hole opened up to the outside, and we were still about fifty floors over the plate.
"Oh no! Miss Moira!" I screamed as I followed out the hole, and I followed her down in her fall. And to my horror we were also over what was left of Sector Seven, the sector of the plate that fell to the ground, which adds even more distance to the fall. I wished I could've slowed down her fall, but my powers were limited to reading minds and teleporting, so I was helpless.
I could only watch as she fell, hoping that the creature had enough strength to endure the fall. Then it landed on one of the huge steal beams that used to be part of the main pillar that held up the Sector Seven Plate. She looked roughed up, but not seriously hurt.
"Whew!" I sighed in relief, "That was close, kupo, but what's she doing now?"
She started running around the sector, tearing up things that used to be buildings, houses, and anything else she saw in her path.
There were lots of human bodies scattered all over the sector, some of which weren't even whole bodies. Sector Seven wasn't a pretty sight. It didn't seem like anything alive would ever dream of going near this place, but this huge creature was tearing through it like she didn't even notice the disturbing sight of the place. Any bodies she'd find in front of her she'd pick up and toss away like dollies.
I was afraid to go near her because I wasn't sure what would happen if I were to talk to her again. I was worried that if she recognized me, she might go even more crazy and end up hurting herself. So I helplessly watched as she tore through everything.
After a long while, she suddenly stopped her rampaging. She was looking down at something that was right in front of her. Her ears twitched around as she looked at it.
"What is she looking at?" I wondered and flew closer to get a better look. I saw that she was looking at a body. As I flew closer, I noticed that the body was still moving. He was crawling around on the ground, like he didn't know where he was or where he was going.
"What? A survivor?" I flew faster to see who this survivor was. But then I noticed that this person looked familiar. He was a young guy with really long and dark brown hair. His hair was messy and tangled, but it looked like it used to be in a braid. I gasped as I recognized who it was.
"It's Mr. Raven!" I thought as I slowed down, almost reaching Miss Moira.
She looked down at him, she looked like she was trying to figure out where she's seen him before. Then her face went stern and her ears lowered. She reached out her hand and gently picked him up.
"Rrrr…" She growled, "Rrraven."
I flew close enough for her to be able to see me.
"That's right, Miss Moira. It's Mr. Raven. You remember me, kupo?"
She looked at me, and all of a sudden she wasn't so scary. I guess finding Mr. Raven helped her calm down.
"Biiibble?" she growled. I was happy because then I was positive that she was gonna be ok.
"Ya, kupo," I answered, "Bibble. Don't worry, Miss Moira. Everything will be ok, kupo. But we have to get out of here first."
Then I flew off trying to find a way for her to get out. I could easily teleport out, but she was a large creature, and teleporting both her and Mr. Raven would be straining. If she was normal size, it wouldn't have been a problem. But since she was still way too big, I had to help find her an exit.
Then I heard a really loud snap far behind me. I looked back and saw some big piece of machinery falling from high up. It looked like it was on a machine that was still functional because it was sparking as it fell. Then I looked where it was gonna land, and I saw Miss Moira starting to look up as it fell towards her.
"Miss Moira! Look out, kupo!" I tried to rush over to save her, but I couldn't get there fast enough. The chunk of machine hit her right in the face as she barely noticed what was coming. She fell down and got knocked unconscious.
"Oh, no!" I got over to her, but there was nothing I could do. She was just laying there, unconscious with Mr. Raven right next to her.
"Oh, what am I gonna do, kupo?" I flew in fast and tiny circles in my panic, trying to figure out how to get her and Mr. Raven to a safe place. Then I noticed something was happening.
"Huh?" I said as I looked at Miss Moira, "She's shrinking."
She was changing shape. It looked like she was changing back to normal. But then her transformation stopped at a point. She was her regular size and shape, but she still had the look of the huge creature she was a while ago.
"Weird, kupo," I thought, "But now at least I can move these two to safety. But where to take them…?"
I searched through both their minds and found the perfect spot.
"Got it!"
I took both their hands and teleported them far away from Midgar.
******** ******** ********
[Moira]
I woke up with a splitting headache. I tried to remember what happened the last time I was awake, but nothing came up. It only succeeded in making my headache worse. I squeezed my eyes shut, wincing from the severe pain.
"Miss Moira?" called a small, familiar voice, "Are you ok, kupo?"
"Huh?" I grumbled, trying to figure out who was talking to me.
"Miss Moira, it's me! Open your eyes, kupo!"
I opened my eyes and saw a blurred image for a moment. When my eyes finally focused after a few long moments, I saw a familiar-looking moogle in front of me with a worried look on her face.
"Ugh…" I groaned, propping my upper body up on my elbows, still sort of laying down. "Bibble? Is that you?"
"Miss Moira! You're ok, kupo!" She flew up and hugged me, like she was excited that I was alive.
"Bibble, please get off me."
She got off and clapped her little moogle hands in excitement. She did a few twirls and flips in the air before she would look at me again.
"So, are you feeling ok now?" She asked.
"Ya, except for this headache," I said rubbing my head, "And I had the weirdest dream."
"That you were taken to a secret lab and turned into some monster that ended up rampaging all around Midgar?"
"I don't remember any rampaging, but that's the basic summary of it."
"Hang on a sec, kupo." Then she flew off and I got a chance to look at my surroundings. It looked like I was inside of one of the stalls in a chocobo stable. There was a solid wall behind me, wooden walls on either side of me, which were walls to other stalls, and in front of me was the door to the stall. I was laying on a pile of soft hay.
"What?" I wondered out loud, "Why am I in a chocobo stable?"
Then Bibble came back carrying a mirror.
"What's with the mirror?" I asked.
"Get ready for a shock, kupo." Then she flipped the mirror around so I could see my own reflection.
"AH!!!" I yelped in shock, "Please tell me that's not my reflection."
"Sorry, but it is, kupo," she answered.
"Then it wasn't a dream…" I realized out loud. "Everyone warned me, but I refused to hear it. So I guess I brought this upon myself. Good Lord! Look at these ears!"
I felt around my huge cat ears. They were at least five times the size of regular human ears. I also noticed that I was covered in fur. My nose had turned pink and my hair wasn't as straight and pulled down as before. I then looked down at my hands, which had become more bulky. My palms and fingers were thicker than usual, and I had claws on each of my fingers.
"This will take some getting used to," I said out loud. "This will take a lot of getting used to."
"That's ok, Miss Moira," Bibble responded, "We still love you, kupo."
"We?" I wondered out loud.
"That's right, we," answered a familiar old voice from out of sight. It was a voice I hadn't heard in over two years, but I remembered it like I'd only heard it yesterday.
"Will?" I got up on my knees and peeked over the door, and sure enough, there was Will, walking into the stable. He walked up to the stall I was in.
"Welcome home, Moira," Will said. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has," I answered.
"And quite a different look ya have there."
"Um, ya. You're not freaked by it?"
"I'll admit that it frightened me at first, but now that I look at it, it's not all that bad."
"I don't like it all that much. But that's mostly because it was forced upon me."
"Hey, look on the bright side. Cats have really good agility. Maybe you could incorporate that in your battles."
That's when I remembered that something was missing.
"Hey, wait a minute. Where's my scythe?"
"Um, it's still in Midgar, kupo," Bibble spoke up, "You lost it when Hojo captured you."
"Geez, that's just great!" I groaned.
"That's just awful," Will said, "And after all those years you were saving up for that scythe, too."
"Ya well," Then I decided to change the subject, "Hey, how are my parents doing?"
"Oh they've been fine," Will answered, "They miss ya like heck, but that's just what parents do. I didn't let them know you were here because I wasn't sure how they'd react to your new look."
"It's ok. I think it'd be better if they don't see me like this."
"But Miss Moira, don't you wanna see your mom and dad, kupo? You haven't seen them in over two years."
"Of course I do, Bibble, but I don't want them to see their daughter as a freak of nature."
"That and you don't want to tell them that you've been lying to them in your letters," she added.
"You know, if you would stop prying into my mind, things would be so much more pleasant for me."
I got up on my feet, stumbling a bit. Then I noticed that I was a few inches taller. I looked down and discovered that it was because my feet had grown larger and were nowhere near human anymore. They looked more like the hind feet…or rather paws, of some animal. I took a moment to find my footing.
"Doesn't look like I'll be needing shoes anymore," I said, still staring at my feet and finding my footing.
"Well, it's good to know yer still in somewhat good spirits, Moira," Will said, "Considering all the hell you've been through."
"What?" I was confused, "But how--?"
"Yer little moogle friend told me all about it," he answered before I could finish my question.
"I had to bring you somewhere safe and far away from Midgar, kupo," Bibble answered. "I remembered seeing Kalm in your mind, kupo, and that Will was one of your best friends here."
"I hafta admit, when she showed up in my stable with you in tow, I thought I was hallucinatin', seeing as though moogles are said to be nonexistent. And then when she told me what happened to you in Midgar, I was a little skeptical, but then I recognized yer pretty face under all that fur. So I put ya in one o' the chocobo stalls to rest until ya woke up. And besides, in all the stories I've heard, moogles are said to be happy, fun-lovin' creatures who only like to do good, so it wasn't too hard to believe her story."
"I'll be right back, kupo," Bibble announced as she rushed out of the stables.
"Ok bye," I answered.
I looked around the familiar scenery of the chocobo stable, but found that all the stalls were empty.
"What happened to all the chocobos?" I wondered.
"I released 'em," Will answered, "One by one, I released 'em all. Jamie was just the first. I was thinkin' of sellin' the stables and moving to my nephew's ranch. He says that one of his clients bred several different colored chocobos in his ranch, including a gold one. So I wanna go over there and see it for myself."
"I see," I replied, "So, how did Bibble get me here? I highly doubt she could carry me all the way from Midgar."
"No, she teleported ya over here," he answered, "She brought you here after it was safe to go near you."
"Safe to go near me?"
"Ya, she said that after you broke out of the lab, you were changed into some huge cat monster and was on a furious rampage. You broke through a good portion of the Shinra Tower and busted out the wall and into the sector that was already destroyed. And then after landing you continued rampaging until you were knocked unconscious when a large object hitcha over the head, and then you turned back into what you are now."
"I don't remember any of that," I said, "I guess that would explain my headache. Everything after being inside the tank in the lab is a blur."
"Well, then I guess you probably don't remember pickin' up a young man before passing out?"
"A young man?"
"Yup, a guy with long braided hair was brought along with you."
"Raven?!" I yelped in surprise, "Where is he? Is he ok? What happened to him?"
"Woah-Woah-Woah-Woah-Woah!!! Slow down! I can only handle so many questions at a time."
"I'm sorry, Will. I'm just so worried. I left him in Hojo's hands before…"
"I know," he said with a nod, "Ya did what you thought was right."
"Ya, only to find out too late that it was a huge mistake," I retorted.
"So leaving him alone in your apartment wondering if you'll ever come home would've been a better idea?"
"He wouldn't have gotten into Hojo's slimy grasp that way. While I was in that tank, I wondered what Hojo might've done to him."
"Well apparently, all he did was let him loose to wander Midgar."
"Well, that's good. At least Hojo didn't harm him even more."
A long moment of silence passed.
"So where is he now?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"Who? Hojo or the boy?"
"Will!" Him playing absent-minded didn't amuse me.
"Oh alright. We had him resting in my living room, but then when we had our backs turned, he up and disappeared."
"What?!" I blurted, "You mean to tell me that he's out in the wild all by himself?!"
"I never said he was in the wild," he answered, "I merely said that he disappeared. That's where Bibble went just now, to go look for 'im."
"Wait," I said as a thought hit me, "You kept him in your living room?"
"Yup. Snug as a bug in my couch."
"Then why did I have to be kept in the stables?" I asked.
"Safety reasons," he answered, "Don't get me wrong, Moira. I love ya to death, but if you were to transform into that huge monster thing in my house, you'd leave me homeless. Now here, I was plannin' on getting rid of this place anyway, so if you change and destroy this place it ain't such a big deal."
"That's not making me feel any better, Will," I grumbled.
"I'm just bein' honest here."
"Ya, I know," I sighed. "I just wish I could figure out what's going on with me."
"The answers will come eventually," He tried to comfort me, "In the meantime, ya just gotta go with it."
"Just go with turning into a giant out-of-control monster. Right. How can I figure out how something works if I don't even know when it happens. I don't remember ever transforming. I only remember being captured, being held in the lab in a tank, and after that I remember waking up in a chocobo stable. I don't see how I can get to it if I don't know why it happens. I might as well just sit in a cave in the middle of nowhere until the end of time so I won't have to worry about getting it under control."
"You won't get it under control with that kind of attitude," he spat, "The Moira I knew never gave up when it came to something that she thought needed done."
"Heh. Well, ok then, I'll just have to eventually figure this out," I chuckled.
"Now that's better."
"Thank you, Will."
"No problem."
Then Bibble came flying back with a happy look as she came.
"Ya found 'im?" Will asked.
"Yup, I found him, kupo!" She announced, "And I put him back in your living room."
"Alrighty then," Will opened the door to the stall I was standing in. "Let's go on over and see how he's doin', shall we?"
"Ok." I stepped out of the stall, and we started walking out of the stables.
Walking felt strange. I could tell it would take me a while to get used to these feet. It felt almost like walking on high-heeled shoes but without the shoes.
When I finally looked up away from my feet I noticed that the sky was jet black, and a huge bright red object was hovering. It looked like a moon, but a hundred times bigger and red. It also looked like it was on fire.
"What the hell is that?!" I screamed as I stopped and stared at the giant fireball in the sky.
"Oh, that's Meteor," Will answered with a worried tone in his voice.
"Meteor?" I replied skeptically, "The legendary magic summon spell that's supposed to destroy the world?"
"Ya, that's the one," he answered. "Bibble says that some guy named Sephiroth summoned it using the legendary Black Materia."
"So it does exist?" I pondered, "So this thing's gonna destroy the world sometime soon?"
"That's what the legends and stories all say," Will said, "but Bibble here seems to think otherwise."
"I keep telling you Miss Aeris will save us, kupo," Bibble whined.
"Wait, wasn't Aeris the girl that was in the prison cell by Hojo's lab?" I asked.
"Well, yes," Bibble answered, "But she's gonna save the world using her white materia, kupo. She's gonna summon Holy and stop Meteor from destroying the world."
"I don't know how you know all this, Bibble, and frankly I don't really want to know. Right now my only concern is Raven. So let's move on."
"Ok, kupo," We continued over to Will's house.
We didn't have to walk very far to get to Will's house. It was just around the corner from the chocobo stable. It was inside the town wall, but it was still isolated from the rest of the town. It looked like a simple one-story house. When we got there, Will stopped for a moment and turned around to look at me.
"Moira, yer not mad at me, are ya?"
"For what, Will?"
"Fer keepin' you in the barn and him in here?"
"Don't worry about it, Will. I'm over it. I probably would've done the same in your shoes."
"That's good to know." Then he turned around and opened the door.
We went through the front door, which opened directly into the living room. The living room took the space in front and to the right of the front door. There was a wall a few feet to the left that went on into the hallway that lead further back into the house. There were a few doors on that wall, but I couldn't guess where they led. The back wall of the living room was actually a counter that started at the wall on the far right and ended at the hallway to the left. On the other side of the counter was the kitchen.
I looked in the living room and found Raven lying quietly on the couch that was set by the front-side wall.
"Raven," I cried, rushing over to the couch. I knelt down next to him and got a better look at him.
His face just looked blank. It seemed like he was awake but not really aware of what was going on around him. His eyes didn't look like they were focused on anything at all, and the color kept flashing from the glowing green to a deep blue and back to glowing.
I felt my cat-like ears lower down as I felt a pain well up in my chest and tears in my eyes. I couldn't stand seeing Raven like that. I took his hand and held it.
"Raven," I sobbed, holding his hand to my face. "I'm so sorry."
"Miss Moira?" Bibble softly said as she floated up behind me, Will following close behind. "Are you ok?"
"Tell me, Bibble," I said between sobs, keeping my gaze at Raven, "What's going on in his head right now?"
She floated down to where she was hovering over Raven's face.
"It's hard to make out, kupo," she started, "There's lots of different voices in there, all saying the same thing. Lots of 'Jenova' and 'reunion' and some other things I can't make out, kupo."
"And where is he?" I looked up at Bibble. "His own conscious thoughts must be in there somewhere."
"They are, kupo. I just can't find them."
"J...Jenova," Raven whispered faintly. "Re...union..."
I felt his hand grab a hold of mine as I held it. My ears perked up as I looked back down at him. His eyes glowed green and still looked unfocused, but it looked like he was trying to see.
"He's been sayin' that the whole time he's been here," Will spoke up, There were a couple o' times he'd call your name, Moira, but they were very few."
"I think I found him, kupo," Bibble announced, "He's trying to push forward, but the voices keep pushing him back. He knows you're there, and he's trying to reach you. He wants to see you and hear you, kupo, but the voices won't let him."
"Moira..." Raven whispered as his grip on my hand tightened.
"Raven?" I moved closer to him to try to reach him, "Can you hear me?"
"He hears your voice, kupo, but he can't make out what you're saying. So he's trying harder to fight forward."
"Come on, Raven," I tried to encourage him as he lay there.
"Moira..." He called softly. His face started to look stressed. His eyes had started twitching and his nose was scrunching. His other hand reached up and grabbed mine.
"I'm here, Raven. I'm here," I called back.
"I think he might make it through, kupo." Bibble announced, "He's pushing through."
Raven turned his head in my direction, as if trying to look at me. His eyes looked like they were trying to focus while their color kept changing back and forth from deep blue to glowing green. He lifted his hand from my grasp and raised it to my face.
"AAHHHH!!!!" He screamed as he suddenly sat up, clutching his head in pain. Bibble reacted the same way. I jumped back, terrified at the sudden loud screaming.
"AH!" She flew back a few feet holding her head with her tiny hands.
"Raven!" I cried after I'd fallen backward from suddenly being scared half to death. I scrambled back to his side, kneeling next to the couch.
When he stopped screaming, he slowly put his hands down. That's when I saw that his eyes were actually focusing. He looked amazed, like he'd just seen the outside world for the very first time.
"Raven?" I called, wondering if he was going to recognize me.
He looked down at me, eyes wide with amazement.
"…Moira?" He answered, not sure that it was actually me. I nodded.
"Yes, It's me," I answered back, "Are you alright?"
"Is that really you?" He leaned closer, lifting his hand up, reaching for my face. He looked utterly shocked. His eyes shifted around my face, like he was examining me or something.
"Yes," I answered uneasily, "I know I look different, but it's still me."
He rested his hand on my cheek and rubbed my cheek with his thumb. I reached up and touched his hand.
"It is you…" He said softly, "What the hell did he do to you?"
"I don't want to talk about Hojo right now," I answered, "How do you feel?"
"Tired," His face relaxed at that moment. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, expressing that he was tired. He lifted his head back up and lowered his hand from my face. He laid back down on the couch.
"I think we should just leave you two alone now, kupo," Bibble spoke up.
"Yes, we'll just be in the next room over if ya need us, alright?" Will continued.
"Alright," I answered as they went off into the next room over.
"Who are they?" Raven asked, raising his head a bit.
"They're just friends of mine."
"Hmm…" He said, putting his head back down on the couch.
"Ooh, my head," He moaned.
"Do you need anything?" I asked.
"Nah, I'm just tired is all." He then looked at me and smiled. Seeing his tender look made me happy.
"It's amazing," he started.
"What's amazing?" I asked.
"Even after all that bastard's done to you, you're still so beautiful."
I lowered my head onto the couch, laying it close to him, lowering my ears as I went. He placed his hand on my head.
"I love you, Moira," he whispered, rubbing my hair with his fingers.
"I love you, too, Raven," I whispered back, drifting into comfort as he rubbed my head.
After a moment I found myself making a strange sound, like a very soft low growl, but not angry.
"Heh, you're purring," Raven laughed.
"So I am," I answered and continued.
And then he suddenly stopped petting me. I stopped purring and looked up for a moment, wondering what had happened and worried that it was something bad. He was completely motionless, which worried me. Then I saw that he was breathing, so I knew he wasn't dead, which was a huge relief for me. So I put my head back down and relaxed as I drifted into a peaceful sleep.
******** ******** ********
[Bibble's P.O.V.]
Miss Moira and Mr. Raven looked so cute together, I just had to watch them from the room across the hall. Will was right there, watching along with me.
"It's nice that Moira has someone to love who loves her back," Will said softly, "She was always such a lonely girl."
"And it got worse after she went to Midgar, kupo."
"Ya, I didn't figure that she was leadin' a very exciting life in Midgar."
"And she didn't have any friends, kupo. That's why I decided to start appearing for her. Because she was so lonely. I knew she didn't like me showing up when I did, but I felt like I had to make sure she didn't go insane from all the loneliness."
"Makes sense."
After a long moment, Will looked up at me with an eyebrow raised.
"So what was it that made 'im stop mumblin' 'Jenova' all of a sudden?"
"Huh?"
"Oh, come on! I highly doubt he actually managed to break up all the noise in his head all by himself."
"Well, you're right, kupo," I admitted.
"So what did it?" He asked impatiently.
"Jenova died, kupo," I answered, "So all of her cells died with her."
"So everything should be ok now, right?"
"I hope so, kupo."
[Moira]
All I could see all around me was pitch black. It seemed like I was floating through darkness. I tried to figure out exactly where I was, except I wasn't even standing in anything that resembled a real place. There was dark above me, below me, in front and behind, and to the sides. I looked down at my hands, and then at my feet, and they looked human.
"Is this a dream?" I thought to myself. "It feels like I'm actually here."
"It might be a dream," answered a voice from what seemed like everywhere. "After all, you are physically asleep."
"Who said that?" I
"I did," it said.
"And who are you?"
"I am someone who is trapped deep in the back of your mind. I was disturbed from my eternal slumber only to be thrown into someone else's mental torment. I have been lost in here for several weeks now."
"Weeks?" I though about that for a moment, "You mean you've been in my head since…?"
"Yes, ever since that madman took my essence, my power, and my soul out of my peaceful resting place and infused it into your DNA. The end product is what you look like now."
At that moment, a large figure appeared in front of me. She looked like an enormous cat walking on its hind legs. She was larger than any creature I'd ever seen. When she stopped in front of me, I found that as far as height was concerned, I only went up to her waist. She had human-looking arms and human-looking hair. Her hair was long, poofy, and somewhat spiky. She was a brownish-golden color, while her hair was a reddish brown color. She had a long tail that split into three at the end, each end with either a symbol of ice, fire, or lightning. She sat down so we could speak face to face.
"So, you are Moira," she said.
"Yes," I answered uneasily, "But I still don't know who you are. And how do you know my name?"
"My name is Hikorai," she answered, "I am an esper, or rather I was an esper."
"What do you mean by 'was an esper'?"
"I am not supposed to be among the living, for I have died and become magecite."
"Magecite? You mean the green stone Hojo had in his hand?"
"That was my magecite. He sucked it dry of every drop of the essence that was inside of it. He extracted everything that makes up who I am and squeezed it into you. So here I am, trapped in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar in time, and in an unfamiliar body. I awoke in a laboratory, broke out of the tank, and saw a file on the experiment. That is when I learned about you, and what had happened to us."
"And that transformation that Will was talking about… Did that really happen?"
"Yes. It is a slightly altered version of my true form. It happened when your mind attempted to gain control over the body. The clash of two conscious minds in the same body triggered an insane reaction, resulting in the mindless rampage."
"Why don't I remember it?"
"That I do not know, for my memory of the incident faded out soon after the rampage began."
We sat there for a moment, not really saying anything. We stared at each other for most of it. She was hunched over, arms resting on her crossed legs.
"You look tired," I pointed out.
"I am tired," she answered, "I was rudely awakened from death. I was meant to spend the rest of eternity resting peacefully in my magecite-form. And now who knows if I'll ever be able to."
"Ya, leave it to Hojo to wake up the dead and make the living absolutely miserable."
"I don't want to be a burden to you. Understand that this is your body, and that I don't have any right to live in it. I will try to stay as far back as possible, so as not to cause any trouble. I do not wish to repeat the chaos that happened before."
"I know it wasn't your fault. I'll try and see if I can help you get back to your resting place. I'll somehow find your magecite again, and I'll somehow find a way to get you back into it."
"Is that possible?"
"I'm pretty sure it is. I just don't know how yet, but when I do, I'll help you go back to your afterlife."
"I appreciate that." Then she stood up on all fours. She turned around and started to walk away.
"Wait!" I called to her, "Where are you going?"
"Back to waiting," she answered, still walking away, fading into the darkness.
"Will we get to talk to each other again?"
"Perhaps." She disappeared completely, and I was alone again.
"Until next time then," I said.
Then a huge bright light started shining in front of me. It got brighter and brighter until the white light filled everything. Then I opened my eyes and found myself back in Will's living room, kneeling next to the couch, with Raven still peacefully sleeping on it. I looked down at my hand, looking at the golden fur that covered it.
"And I thought my situation was sad," I thought to myself. "Poor Hikorai."
"Who's Hikorai?" Bibble asked as she flew into the room and in front of my face.
"What did I tell you about prying into my mind?" I asked, frustrated.
"I'm sorry, kupo. I couldn't help it. I rushed here so I could tell you something."
"What is it?"
"Meteor's almost here, kupo. And I wanna watch it when it comes down."
"You want a front seat view of our planet's destruction, eh?" I chuckled.
"Very funny, Miss Moira."
"So, seriously, why are you telling me this?"
"I wanted to know if you wanted to watch it with me."
I looked over at Raven, who was still sleeping. I didn't really want to leave his side, especially with the mental hell he just went through.
"Mr. Raven will be fine, kupo," she assured me, "The Jenova cells are dead now, so the voices are all gone. All he needs is rest."
"They're dead? How did that happen?"
"Jenova died, so her cells died with her."
"Are you sure, Bibble?"
"Trust me, kupo, I know. Besides, if anything get crazy with Mr. Raven, Will's still here to take care of him. So, will you come with me to watch Meteor?"
I stared at Raven for a moment. He was on his back, with his right foot lying on the arm of the couch and his left foot lying down on the cushion beside the arm. His right arm was on his chest, and his left arm was dangling off the edge of the couch. His head was on a pillow that was set leaning on the couch arm. His long braid hung off the edge of the couch with the very end of it lying on the floor.
"Ok, Bibble," I said finally, "I'll go with you."
"Kupo!" She flipped as she said that. "Let's go over behind the house, kupo. Will's waiting."
"Sure," I got up off the floor and followed Bibble through the hallway and to the back door of the house.
"So, ya ready to go?" Will asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.
"We're heading over to the Midgar area, kupo," Bibble answered.
"Midgar?" I spat back, "Why Midgar?"
"'Cuz that's where Meteor's going, kupo."
"How do you know all this?"
"Um... No reason..." There was an uneasy pause, "Can we go now?"
"How are we going to get from here to there?"
"Well, come 'ere, and I'll show ya," Will said turning around and walking off.
We followed until we got to a doorway on the side of the house with a door that only went up halfway. It looked like a stall in a chocobo stable.
When we got closer, a loud "wark" came out of the stall.
"A chocobo?" I wonder in thought. "I thought he said he got rid of all of them."
Will went up in front of the stall and looked inside.
"Hey, Jester," he greeted, "How's it goin'?"
"Wark!" squawked the chocobo in the stall as it popped its black, feathery head out of the stall and nuzzled Will.
"Black?!" I wondered out loud.
"Yup, bred this guy myself," Will answered, petting the black chocobo on the head. "His name is Jester."
I walked up to him and petted him on the head. He "warked" happily.
"Heh, I'm surprised he isn't freaked out by my appearance."
"Captive Chocobos can usually sense whether or not someone's a good person. It's the wild ones that don't trust anybody."
"Yup, and they don't really care what you look like, kupo. If they like you, they let you ride them."
"So we're taking this chocobo to Midgar?" I asked skeptically, "That'll take hours upon hours."
"That's where yer wrong, Moira," Will said shaking his pointer finger. "Jester here is more than twice as fast as yer average chocobo. I would know, I clocked 'im myself and compared it to the top speeds of all the other chocobos I had at the time."
"Ya, kupo, so the trip will only take a few hours, as opposed to the overnight flight that you did with Jamie."
"And besides," Will continued, "Yer only getting close enough to Midgar to get a good look at it."
"Alright then," I decided not to argue, "Let's get going then."
Will took Jester out of his little stable and saddled him up. I climbed up onto his back. It felt strange sitting on the back of a chocobo again. It didn't help that this one was an unusual color, but then I remember that the last chocobo I'd ridden before that was Jamie.
"This feels weird," I spoke up.
"Not used to a black chocobo, eh?" Will guessed.
"She misses Jamie, kupo," Bibble said.
"Ya," I replied, ignoring the fact that she pried into my mind, "After Jamie and I parted in Midgar I never got on another chocobo, though it was mostly because chocobos in Midgar were all either pulling carriages for Shinra or growing up in breeding farms."
"Well, I can assure you that Jester here will take good care of ya. And while yer out watchin' Meteor, I'll be watchin' yer boyfriend for ya."
"Heh, thanks Will."
"Not a problem."
"Well, let's go," Bibble rushed, bouncing around in the air.
"Ok, fine," I groaned as I started off on the chocobo, "Later, Will!"
"See ya later!" He called back, "Tell me all about it when ya get back!"
I rode off with Bibble flying slightly in front and to the right of me. Once again, I was on my way to Midgar.