Promises and Smiles
by Ruff Collie
Chapter Four - Articulus (Crisis)
Come...come to me...
"Who's there?"
Only me...and my daughter...
"That doesn't explain anything!"
Hush, child...she wishes for you to join us.
"Who?"
My daughter, this Planet's daughter...
"...are you talking about Aeris?"
Yes, my dear...
"You're lying. She's dead."
No, no...she's very much alive.
"...how?"
...she was saved...she wants you to join us...
"I can't trust you."
Would my daughter ever wish to harm anyone or anything?
"No..."
I know you've missed her...
"I..."
Come, now...
"...all right."
Shadows cloaked Nanaki's shining crimson coat as he padded out of the inn as quietly as he could manage. Eerie, cold moonlight bathed him, turning every strand of fur on his body an incadescent silver. His thick pelt kept the freezing needles of winter from piercing his skin, and the everlasting flame on his tail burned brighty; it was creating a path to walk in the darkness. Bits of the startling mental conversation he had taken part in a few minutes prior to his departure were recalled as he pondered. One of the consequences of being part of Hojo's experiments was that he liked to mix DNA. Nanaki had quickly caught on to the fact that he was talking to Jenova, but what he didn't realize was his mental vulnerability after losing Aeris. If nothing had happened to her, he definitely would not have followed.
Something was tugging at his soul, pulling him along with an enticing melody. Notes flowed around the edges of Nanaki's subconcious, and it was almost as if the Planet itself was singing joyfully. Shaking his head, the creature smiled. The Planet was in pain, so of course would not be wasting its time with silly little amusements. It had to be someone or something else, and he was absolutely positive that whatever was making the music was as beautiful as their song.
Miles passed underneath his great paws, but it seemed as if he had only passed a few feet. Rivers of sound caressed his mind as his body flowed along the barren wilderness, and days continued to pass. Rest was not quite as important as it used to be; Nanaki found he could travel for a much longer period of time without a break. After a few days, he had arrived at the base of the Northern Crater, the source of the song. Lulled into a daze, he slowly sank to the earth and blinked up at the towering walls.
Without warning, a small hand came to rest upon his snow dampened mane. Too hazy to even growl, Nanaki simply stared up with as much shock as he could muster; Aeris was hovering over him, a slight smile painted on her face.
"Aeris..." he whispered, touching his cold nose to the palm of her hand. She giggled.
"I'm sorry you're so tired, Red. Mother was lending you her strength until now, which is why you're so weak."
"I have a question," Nanaki sighed, shaking out his fur a tiny bit. "How do you know we can trust her?"
"You haven't heard Mother's wonderful plan yet!" the Cetra grinned broadly and clasped her hands together, excited. "Meteor really isn't a bad thing, even if we have to hurt the Planet a lot in summoning it. See, the Lifestream will gather where it strikes. I wish I had known about this before!"
"But I thought that was a bad thing," murmered Red, fighting to stay awake.
"No, it's not," Aeris replied patiently, stroking his fur carefully. "It will not only heal that wound, but every single one the Planet has gained over its lifetime. We're helping the Planet."
"But...what about all the people?" Red struggled to stay awake; he was rapidly slipping into unconsciousness.
"That's the only bad part," she sighed sadly, staring up at the crater with a wavering gaze. "All those people...but the Planet always creates new life! All those people? They'll live again in a happier time! No more Shinra! And us..." She leaned in slowly to speak the last thing he heard before slipping off into the land of dreams.
"With the power of the Lifestream coursing through us, we'll live forever as guardians of this Planet!"
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Harsh needles of sunlight made Sephiroth squint up at the looming mountain in front of him. After a week of searching for Aeris, he had almost lost hope. With each passing day his desperation grew, and he wanted to believe that she was still alive; however, the chances of her survival in the snowy wilderness were slim. It seemed like the last place to search would be the Planet's great wound, the Northern Crater.
Strangely enough, when Sephiroth had awakened to find Aeris gone, he noticed that the Black Materia was missing as well. The thought crossed his mind that she had not trusted him enough to let him carry it. With a sigh, he realized that she was perfectly correct in taking it, especially with his past. All he wanted to know was why she left and if it was of her own accord. If someone was hurting his beloved Cetra, he'd make them suffer a long, painful death.
Sephiroth's grip tightened around Masamune's hilt as he forced himself to calm down. Anger was best saved until it was needed and when he could actually act upon it. An explosion of feelings he had not felt in nearly half a decade had encompassed him lately, and he needed to revert back to his tactful mind if he wished to make sound decisions. A mind in distress could very well lead him to his death, which he did not want to try and test. With the whole world opened up to him now, he honestly wanted to live and make up for all the lost years with Aeris if he had the chance. Shaking his mind out of his thoughts, Sephiroth steeled himself for the climb ahead.
"All right, Mr. Glacier," he mumbled, gripping an ice-covered rock with a grimace. At least he had his wonderful gloves. "No tricks. Just let me climb."
Two hours later...
Panting heavily, Sephiroth grinned widely as soon as he reached the top of his obstacle. A short, barking laugh of triumph resounded through the thin air. Sephiroth waved the Masamune through the air victoriously, quite pleased with himself for being able to make it to the top of the Northern Crater. Now all that was left was the descent; he was sure that climb would be much easier, but he had liked the challenge the upwards scale had presented him with. Glancing downward, Sephiroth mentally calculated how deep the crater was; it seemed to go pretty far down and would take him a bit of time to travel, not to mention all the monsters that made their residence here. He'd have to watch out for Tonberries.
An eerie green glow was pulsating in the center of the wound, something Sephiroth noticed as he climbed deeper. After searching his mind for a possible reason, the ex-General came to the conclusion that the Lifestream ran free here and was slowly healing the Planet. With a slight smile, he stared down at it for a bit. It really was a beautiful thing to watch, just like the Planet's cycle of death and rebirth. Souls existed as long as their matter was left undisturbed, something Shinra obviously did not realize or simply did not care about. Either way, all of the top executives would someday become part of the Planet's healing flow, and Sephiroth was almost entirely sure that they would not want to be sucked up and burned to create energy for those still living.
What was odd was that Sephiroth faced no opposition as he descended, a fact that troubled him deeply. Something was definitely going on down there, and it was most likely not a very good something. It seemed like the monsters had been scared away by something or had obeyed someone's call; none of those would bode well for him.
As Sephiroth reached what appeared to be the bottom of the abyss after countless hours, he noticed a fuzzy, dark figure kneeling in front of the great fountain of mako spraying out from within the Planet. Cautiously, he lifted the Masamune to a guarded position while edging quietly forward, keeping on the lookout for any sign of movement from the figure. Moving closer, Sephiroth strained his eyes to see who or what it was; what he saw made him nearly drop his sword.
Curled up in front of the mako geyser was Aeris with lightly closed eyes and a small smile planted on her slightly pursed lips. Neon light from the Lifestream illuminated her face, creating strange shadows and masking a few features. Sephiroth approached her slowly as if she was some sort of fabled apparation that would disappear if he placed a single finger on her. It appeared as if she had not noticed him yet, so he reached out to touch her shoulder and cleared his dry throat to speak.
"Aeris..."
Immediately, the Cetra's form tensed as her eyes fluttered open and she sucked in a breath. Gradually, she got to her feet and turned around, a haunting look in her eyes. Sephiroth was bewildered when she hissed angrily and glared at him with deep accusation stamped on to her fair features. A single slap sent his hand back to his side as the ex-General stared at her in confusion.
"Aeris...?"
"Bastard!" she snarled, almost shaking in fury. "Why did you start to hurt the Planet?"
"Aeris," Sephiroth addressed her calmly, wondering what in Ifrit's name she was going on about, "I haven't hurt the Planet in any way..."
"You're only hurting it!" Aeris shot back, pointing an accusing finger at his chest. "Mother knows what is best, and that's Meteor! You've turned your back on helping this Planet and me!"
"Mother?" Sephiroth felt his blood run cold at the word. "Aeris, no! Jenova's just using you! Why is she even speaking to you?"
"She's not using me! I was gifted with her cells as a child!" growled the Cetra. "YOU were using me! Meteor will gather the Lifestream to heal the Planet! Don't you understand?"
The hard glint in her eyes softened somewhat as Aeris looked her lover over, then suddenly, she embraced him warmly. Shocked silence blared throughtout the crater as she stared up at Sephiroth lovingly, reaching up to stroke his cheek gently with a chilled hand. He winced.
"Oh, sweetie, Mother didn't tell you about her wonderful plans," she smiled, stroking his brilliant hair lovingly. "No wonder you're so confused..."
"Aeris..." Sephiroth untangled himself from Aeris' arms and averted his eyes to Masamune. "I understand enough to know that Jenova is feeding you lies, like she has done to me throughout the whole of my life."
"You haven't even heard it yet," Aeris murmered, tears shining in her eyes as she fixed her gaze on Sephiroth. "Mother told me that Meteor is good! The Planet's just confused. The Lifestream, pooled in a single place, will be under my command. I'll heal all of Gaea's wounds!"
Feeling somewhat upset for making Aeris cry, Sephiroth sighed in frustration and stalked over to pull her against him warmly.
"How can you even be sure this is true?"
Aeris faltered a bit, burying her face in his chest to hide her eyes. "It makes a lot of sense, Seph. I can hear the Planet crying, and I want so desperately to save it..."
"Aeris, don't listen to him!"
Startled, Sephiroth immediately brandished Masamune in the direction from which the voice had emeraged. A hissing cat-like creature stalked out of the shadows, bright red fur standing on end. Flame-tipped tail swishing, he growled lowly as Aeris disengaged herself from Sephiroth's grasp and ran over to hide behind the creature.
"He has not listened to Mother, so he is useless to us," he said, glaring at Sephiroth through his one eye.
"But Nanaki..." Aeris hesitated. "He has Mother's cells in him...can't we still change his mind?"
"He's too far gone," the creature known as Nanaki nuzzled her leg gently. "We can't afford any more opposition like this. Cloud and the others will be here soon. It's time."
"Do you think I can do it?" Aeris uttered excitedly, fishing around in her pocket for something. It was as if she had completely forgotten Sephiroth in her fervor.
"Of course, Aer," Nanaki purred, smiling at her. At the sound of his nickname for Aeris, Sephiroth felt his control on his temper slip even further. "You have the blood of the Cetra flowing through your veins. This is what you were meant to do in protecting the Planet."
"All right, then," she whispered, pulling the Black Materia out of her pocket with an eerie smirk that reminded Sephiroth of himself years ago. Realizing he could not let her summon Meteor, he rushed forward in an attempt to take it from her. Aeris watched in cruel amusement as he cried out from the impact of a barrier she had placed around herself.
"I loved you," the Cetra sighed, staring down at Sephiroth in pity. "It's too bad you don't want to help. Oh, well. You'll come around once you see the work I've done for Gaea. If you wish to join us after it's all over, I'll be where Midgar used to be. For now, I'll stay in Wutai."
Dark spears of light began to flash out of the Black Materia as Aeris focused her power on the destructive magic. In the energetic wind that began to flow, her long hair became unbraided and stung her face like tiny whips. Apparently, the Cetra did not mind because her eyes were closed and she appeared very undisturbed. No matter how badly he wanted to rush forward and stop her, Sephiroth could only stand back and watch in horror as his beloved Aeris began to pulsate with unprescedented power. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open; they were still green but possessed the sharp light of mako within the irises. With a serene smile, she lifted the materia about her head and stared up at it calmly.
"Summon Meteor!"
Boulders began to crumble as the earth began to shake violently in its task to pull Meteor towards it. Nearly losing his balance, Sephiroth stumbled towards Aeris and attempted to grab on to her. She only smiled mysteriously at him before rapidly taking Nanaki and alighting to the air, obviously a recently discovered benefit that the Jenova cells had gifted her with. When Sephiroth finally had the oppertunity to give chase, he discovered that in the confusion the Ancient and her feline friend had disappeared.
"Aeris!" he screamed, then shook his head violently. It wasn't her fault for getting decieved. "No! Jenova! I will rip apart your miserable body tentacle by tentacle once I find you! You'll never manipulate me or someone I love again!"
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With a yelp, Tifa shielded herself from impact as the snow covered ground began to groan and shake; the impact never came. Instead, Cloud had caught her and was wildly taking in their surroundings as snow was sent up into the air as whirling flurries. After discovering that Red had disappeared some time in the night, the group had made a slow trek towards the Northern Crater where his paw prints seemed to lead. It was most likely where Aeris had headed as well, so they were filled with hope that Red may have sensed her and run after her into the wilderness.
"What's going on?" Cloud yelled over the noise, not setting his eyes on his friends.
"I don't know, but I don't think it's good!" Cait yipped back, bouncing on the ground in a way that would have been painful if he had been real.
"Damnit!" cursed Barret, the only one able to keep his balance decently. "What da hell? I sure hope Aeris and Red are okay!"
Already sick from the tumultuous motion, Yuffie could only hang limply in Vincent's arms and moan loudly. Vincent, however, was fully alert with his gun completely ready. Crimson eyes were narrowed and calculating as all the possible explanations for the earthquake. Someone let out an ear-splitting scream; everyone turned towards Tifa who was as white as a sheet and was staring up at the sky in terror. Cloud, along with his friends, slowly turned his gaze to the heavens.
It hovered over the Planet in a dreadful prescense as a terrible reminder of their fate; Meteor, the product of the ultimate black magic materia, had been summoned.
"Look!" shrieked Yuffie, weakly pointing towards the sky. For some reason, Aeris was hovering over them with Red held tightly in her arms. Her dark hair was completely unbound, and her eyes were filled with a cold, arrogant light. Shouts and calls pulled her gaze towards the group.
"Aeris! Red! Get yer dead asses down here!" Cid hollered, taking a long drag of his cigarette after blinking and shaking his head.
"No," she replied softly, but loud enough for the group to hear. They looked at each other, puzzled.
"Why, Aeris?" asked Cloud, worry creeping into his already strained voice.
"You tried to trick me into destroying the Planet," the Cetra replied coolly, crossing her arms over her chest. "But it doesn't matter now. I have summoned Meteor, and soon the Planet will be singing with joy as I heal it."
"Wait! Ya mean ta tell me dat ya called dat giant space rock?" Barret questioned increduously. "Wait, does dat mean ya boy Sephiroth helped ya too?"
"No!" spat Aeris, looking away as a brief expression of pain flashed over her face. "He betrayed Mother in supposedly returning to me! He's on YOUR side now, refusing to take part in the glorious renewal of the Planet!"
"Sorry to ask, but Red? Why?" Cait said anxiously, peeping out from his hiding spot behind his mog.
"I was gifted with Mother's cells from Hojo," Nanaki replied quietly, swishing his tail idly. "I trust her and Aeris alone."
"We must go," Aeris said suddenly, panic crossing her face for a brief second. "Mother calls me."
"Wait!" Cloud called, desperately reaching out for her. However, all he could grasp was empty air and doomed snowflakes which had begun to descend from the weeping heavens. Wind swirled where Red and Aeris had once been as if they never really existed at all except in the conjurations of wandering minds. Silence held a tyrannical reign over the group as they sorted out what to say. Without Holy, the demise of Gaea was completely locked in. The battle already seemed lost.
Like death itself, Sephiroth suddenly shot into the party's line of vision as he glided swiftly towards where Aeris had come from. Seeing who he onced considered enemies on the ground, he slowed his pace and addressed them.
"She's headed towards Wutai!" he called to them. "She plans on destroying Midgar!"
Angered, Tifa wrenched herself out of Cloud's grasp to point an accusing finger towards Sephiroth who was watching her rather calmly.
"Why should we trust you?" she screeched loudly, turning red from her fury. Tears pooled around the corners of her eyes; the martial artist fought them valiantly. She would not let her memories of that night get in her way.
"Because I am the only source you have for this information!" snapped Sephiroth, loosing his patience for a split second. "You can either trust me or watch millions of people perish in a few seconds! What we need to focus on is freeing Aeris from Jenova's control so that she can summon Holy to stop Meteor!"
"Why do you even care?" Yuffie asked quietly, shaking from the rage building inside of her. "You destroyed my hometown, and now you want to save it? None of this makes any sense! Why are you even helping us?"
"I've made some changes, which you can believe or not!" the ex-General hissed, turning in mid-air impatiently. "I must go. If you won't stop her, then I will. Choose what you want."
With that, Sephiroth was gone as he raced after whom was once the Planet's greatest ally, but had turned into its greatest adversary. The irony of their switched positions of good and evil was taunting and overwhelming; he needed to clear his mind of anything but his motives and mission. In this situation, however, it was terribly difficult.
So he continued the chase of cat and mouse with Aeris, growing ever closer to Wutai; all the while, Meteor burned in the sky as a taunting reminder of his race against time.
The Doomed—regard the Sunrise
With different Delight—
Because—when next it burns abroad
They doubt to witness it—
The Man—to die—tomorrow—
Harks for the Meadow Bird—
Because its Music stirs the Axe
That clamors for his head—
Joyful—to whom the Sunrise
Precedes Enamored—Day—
Joyful—for whom the Meadow Bird
Has ought but Elegy!
-Emily Dickinson
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A/N: I've decided on the ending of this. Not dropping any hints, though. I believe this has a few more chapters in it, so review and stay tuned!