Tainted Souls
Chapter XII
"I Must Continue!"
"He was a great guy, huh? You really loved him, I'm guessing." Vincent watched as Aeris placed some flowers on a memorial made for the fallen Sesshomaru. The town's people were forever in his debt.
"Yeah, I did," Aeris dried her eyes and looked down at the memorial. She was filled with sadness when she saw the words Sesshomaru, He will always be missed. Aeris thought about when she first met Sesshomaru, the time he saved her from those men from Shinra, when he fought that fake Sephiroth, and when he kissed her tenderly for the first of many times in that forest. He was truly a great person, or demon, it didn't matter what he was. To Aeris he was simply Sesshomaru.
"So, the demon was dispatched by the hands of that Cetra. Interesting. Mother, I told you not to worry. He's dead, I can sense him in the life stream." Sephiroth walked back inside the temple. As he reached the door he looked towards the south and smiled. He had finally killed Sesshomaru.
Aeris walked slower and slower by the second. She could help but think that their was something she was meant to do. Called for Vincent to wait up an ran toward him. Vincent had been acting pretty strange lately. He was troubled, confused. He sometimes reverted back to his old self and talked about redemption and suffering. Maybe it was Sesshomaru dying or something else, but Aeris was worried. He continuously clutched at his hip. She thought that he was grabbing his guns until she realized his gun was always drawn when he did this. It was weird.
"Hey, Aeris, you okay?"
"I guess," the two sat down on a nearby rock and stared at the sky for a while. Vincent was holding his side as he was sitting, every once in a while he would wince or grunt. "Hey, so did you ever find anything of his."
"Uh, no, nothing." Vincent squeezed his cloak harder now and pulled it over his body. "It was probably all lost."
"Hey thanks for putting up with me while I was adjusting. It really meant a lot." Aeris looked at Vincent and stared into his burning red eyes. They were extremely tired and blood shot. What was happening to him. "What's going on with you lately, you look awful. Why are you always grabbing your side, you're not hurt are you?"
"Uhh, yeah that's it, I'm hurt. I got shot back at the village." He said loosening his grip on the cloak.
"Here, let me take a look." she pulled on the cloak trying to find the wound. Vincent tugged on the cloth and trued desperately to keep covered.
"No, really, I'm fine, just leave me alone." he protested.
Sesshomaru's blades must have some effect on me because of my augmentations. Vincent reached into his cloak and moved the blades a little farther away from his heart.
"Just let me help you, god your stubborn." she finally removed the cloak and gasped as she found the Tokijin and Tensaiga tuck into Vincent's belt.
"You said you didn't find anything. You fucking liar." Aeris grabbed the blades and ran off crying. Vincent tried to stop her but let her go. She needed to be alone.
"Bastard…bastard…bastard, Why didn't he tell me?" Aeris managed the words in between sobs. What a strange look you get when you combine anger and sadness. Aeris broke down, she held the blades close to her heart and cried uncontrollably. "WHY!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed for miles. It was only did her more damage that she didn't have something to remember him by, and the swords were the best thing to remember her Sesshomaru with. She could finally be at peace, she knew he was dead, and not just wandering around, suffering, looking for them.
"Aeris, I'm sorry, I thought I was doing you some good." Vincent appeared behind the flower girl.
"Get lost, freak." she screamed as Vincent tried to place a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I'm just a little upset," Aeris looked at Vincent and smiled. "Sesshomaru would have wanted us to keep going. So that's what we gotta do."
"This probably isn't the best time but, I found something else with the blades. A locket." upon hearing this Aeris' eyes grew large. She jumped up and snatched the locket from Vincent's hand.
"He promised never to take it off. He promised me…he promised. He wouldn't just throw it away! Would he?" Aeris held the locket tight in her hands. He cried as she thought of what finding the locket meant.
"Finally the time has come. I shall summon Meteor and cleanse the planet. The promised land awaits us, Mother." Sesshomaru reached inside his coat and pulled out a small black sphere about the size of a golf ball. He placed the Black Materia on his arm and it disappeared into his flesh. A black light shown from where the Materia was implanted as he channeled the Materia's power. Sephiroth rose his hand in the air and pointed out into space. "I call upon you, Meteor. Come forth and cleanse this planet of it's filth, show me the promised land."
The air around Sephiroth became energized, the sky became dark with clouds as Sephiroth summed forth the ultimate black magic.
The howls of Snow Wolves filled the winter air. Vincent looked in the direction of the howls almost as if he understood the calls.
"What's up?" Aeris asked. She now wore the Tensaiga under her belt.
"A lament for Sesshomaru. The wolves are sad," Vincent was unsure what this meant, but it was either extremely good or could mean the end of the world. "The animals are acting strangely. Something's amidst."
"Well what ever it is, we can stop it, right? I mean, Sesshomaru's bound to be watching over us and keeping us safe. Besides if he wasn't how could I hold the Tensaiga." she looked at the blade, patting the hilt. She smiled as she stared at the blade.
"Yeah, your right." Vincent started walking faster and overtook Aeris.
"Hey, wait up!" Aeris trudged through the snow trying to keep up with the now levitating Vincent.
"We have to hurry. The animals are gathering for some reason, I want to know why." Vincent leapt to the top of a hill where the animals were congregating. "What's going on?"
A red haired dog-like creature with a flaming tale walked up to Vincent.
"The dark skies over the temple signify the end. It seems the one known as Sephiroth has finally summoned Meteor." the dog spoke perfect English, Vincent didn't seem amazed. Aeris reached the top of the hill, panting for breath. She looked at the dog talking to Vincent and stared in confusion.
"What's going on?" she asked the dog, she felt rather silly talking to the creature.
"The Meteor has been summoned, Aeris." when the dog finished speaking he stared at Aeris, who's mouth was wide open in amazement.
"How do you know my name?" she asked the dog.
"I was held in the Shinra headquarters for experimentation. I escaped and came here. I heard a lot about you, Sesshomaru, and even Vincent a few times. He's actually quite angry that you awoke Vincent. Ph, I'm sorry, my name is Nanaki, but everyone calls me Red XIII." Nanaki did what looked like a bow after his introduction. "I'll help you in anyway to stop Meteor, take a look." he thrust his head in the direction of the temple.
There was what looked like a large spiral of dark energy and cloud revolving around the temple skies. A black beam shot into the air and the skies cleared.
"We better hurry." Aeris said running if with her new found companion.
"It's complete." Sephiroth looked on in amazement as Meteor appeared in the sky, it slowly made it's approach to the planet. "only a few days left until we see the planet cleansed. Mother, this is it."
Sephiroth turned around and faced what had been controlling him all along. Jenova, he smiled as he looked upon his mother.
Red XIII easily over took both Aeris and Vincent, his four feet seemed to hit the snow and not even leave any indentations. Aeris slowed to a stop as she tried to catch her breath. She collapsed into the freezing snow.
"Wait." Red XIII screamed at Vincent.
"She's exhausted. She needs some rest, we all do." Vincent said sitting on a small stump. That was sticking out of the snow. "What are you looking at?" He asked Red XIII, who was squinting at something in the distance.
"It looks like a shed. Let's check it out."
What they thought was a shed was actually a rather nice sized cottage. They laid Aeris on a bed near the fire place. Vincent placed a few logs next to Red XIII's tail and they almost immediately lit on fire. The cottage was filled with a warm glow and the trio was glad they had found this place.
They managed to sleep for a while, taking shifts and keeping watch. As Aeris watched over the cottage she noticed a strange noise coming from the room next to them. She grabbed the Tensaiga and her staff and walked into the room slowly. She held the staff in both hands firmly, ready for an attack.
She surveyed the area and found nothing. She was about to turn back when the door flew shut. Nothing was in the cottage besides them, they checked.
"Okay, Vincent, stop playing jokes." she screamed. No one replied. She looked around the room and felt an icy chill run up her spine. The hairs on the back of her neck, stood on ends. An icy cold hand touched her shoulder.
Sesshomaru! She thought, she turned around and instead of her night in shining armor standing there, it was the exact opposite, Sephiroth.
Sephiroth stood there, holding Aeris by the neck, sword in hand. He brought the blade back and thrust it forward. A deafening report filled the room as the deadly blow was diverted by one of Vincent's .454 Casull rounds. Sephiroth turned and faced the shooter and walked slowly towards his target. Vincent fired his other five shots at his approaching target. He reloaded when his six shots were spent. This was when Sephiroth made his move. He dashed forward and planted the blade into Vincent's shoulder. The gun fell from the shooter's hand as blood flowed from the wound and flowed onto the blade
Red XIII pounced at Sephiroth and bite at the man's neck. Sephiroth grabbed the dog by the nape of his neck and pulled him off, raising the creature so that they were eye-to-eye, he said "Bad dog."
Red XIII cast Ultima at close range, destroying half the room. When the smoke cleared Red XIII, Vincent, and Aeris lay on the ground. Sephiroth was leaning on his sword. He walked over to Aeris and raised the sword over his head. He brought the blade own at an amazing speed. The blade came down and the weapon thrust through Aeris's chest. Aeris didn't scream as the blade was pulled from her body. Sephiroth laughed at the girl's fate.
Didn't see that coming! Will have more soon don't worry -KKO-