Chapter Fifteen: All Dressed Up
Later, within the Shinra manor, Tifa had somewhat composed herself. She and Aerith were waiting in the entrance hall while Cloud and Sephiroth spoke to one side.
As she did, Aerith put a hand on her shoulder for some time. Little by little, however, Tifa gained control of herself. Looking through the eyes of some of the villagers, Tifa saw Cloud and Sephiroth speaking. But they were talking just out of earshot.
"So, Tifa, were you serious about what you said?" asked Aerith after a moment.
"About what?" asked Tifa, feeling all the more miserable.
"About becoming more of an individual for Cloud?" asked Aerith.
"I am an individual," said Tifa, feeling a bit offended. "Can you lift boulders!?"
"Well, I'm sure you are," said Aerith. "But Cloud obviously wants you to keep developing as a person. And I have a plan that might be able to help you with it."
"Um... okay," said Tifa, unsure if she should trust her.
"But for it to work, you have to do exactly as I say without any question," said Aerith. "Do you want to try it?"
Tifa paused, wondering what Aerith was getting at. "What is the plan?"
Aerith put a finger between her lips. "It has to be a secret."
Tifa nodded after a moment. "...Okay."
Aerith moved over to the office where Cloud and Sephiroth were speaking. "Cloud, Sephiroth, you hit the books. Tifa and I have to go look around."
Aerith led Tifa away through the various rooms. As she did, Tifa had to admit, she was not really sure how Cloud would want her to interact with Aerith. Like two sisters? Rivals fighting over him? Or just plain lovers? Should she think about what Cloud wanted?
"Hmm, no one looks to have cleaned up here in ages," said Aerith. "Dust is everywhere, but no sign of mice or anything."
"Um... this mansion is off-limits," said Tifa. "I'm not allowed to come here. No one except Cloud is ever allowed in here. As for the mice, they probably were all devoured. Mother controls a lot of things and this place she wants intact."
"Why aren't you allowed in here?" asked Aerith.
"I..." Tifa paused and remembered Dad. There had been a time when he had much more of a presence. But after dismissing Cloud, there had been a kind of resentment, and he'd never been the same. "It just never seemed right. President Shinra often did work here when Cloud and I were kids. Dad went in here once or twice."
"Your Father, is he like you?" asked Aerith.
"What do you mean 'like you?'" asked Tifa.
"Like Cloud's Mother," said Aerith.
Tifa paused. "No, he, well, he's sort of a paper pusher. Mother needed someone to handle all the paperwork that keeps the town on the books as normal. And he also handles negotiations and things."
"I see," said Aerith. "Has he ever thought about leaving?"
"Well, yes, but we have to stay here," said Tifa. "Mother has a use for him.
"Why are you asking me all these questions?"
"Well, why don't we look around here," said Aerith.
And look around, they did.
They ended up going into a room on the first floor filled with a lot of plants by the windows. They were all very large, though Aerith seemed very interested in them. "...Hmm, these plants are really healthy. Someone must have been tending to them all this time. Do you know who?"
"I um..." Tifa wondered if they needed tending. "No, I don't."
"...So Cloud used to come here?" asked Aerith.
"Yes, Cloud was always the center of the town," said Tifa. "President Shinra seemed to like him a lot before he left. The Shinra executives often met in here and now and then would arrive via helicopter. Then, one day, they relocated."
"I see," said Aerith. "Tifa, I need to ask you something. Why was your Mother interested in Cloud?"
"I already told you, she wanted to learn to understand life in this world," said Tifa. "Cloud was her success, as was I."
"But why?" asked Aerith. "Does she have some sort of plan?"
"I don't know," said Tifa.
Aerith paused, considering it. "Do you think she has some kind of plan?"
"I never had to think about that," admitted Tifa. "All I want is to be with Cloud."
"But Tifa, if Mother has a plan that hurts people, that could affect your ability to be with Cloud," said Aerith. "So, do you think she has a plan?"
Tifa thought about all she knew and wondered if Aerith was trying to get her to question her loyalty to Mother. She'd never do that. "Um... I know that, um... Sephiroth is important. I feel... strange when I look at his pictures, and his presence affects Mother. I was never told why, but Sephiroth is important."
"Does this have anything to do with Hojo?" asked Aerith.
Tifa paused, feeling the hatred. "Mother dislikes that name."
"Why?" asked Aerith.
"Hojo he..." Tifa paused. "Hojo has been trying to use her as a research specimen. He has tried to take parts of Mother away from her and put them into others. Mother does not like losing a piece of herself."
"Can you tell me more about Mother?" asked Aerith.
"No, now stop asking!" said Tifa. "These questions aren't important!
"Cloud is."
Aerith nodded. "...Well, let's see what we can find upstairs."
Tifa followed after Aerith, feeling increasingly resentful. Aerith's questions were disquieting her. Tifa didn't like having her faith in Mother shaken. Even so, Aerith didn't ask anymore and quickly led her into what seemed a dressing room. Aerith checked through them, noticing a long line of maid outfits designed to bare the legs.
Aerith smiled, and Tifa didn't like the smile at all. "Hmm, these outfits are nice and perfectly preserved."
"Well, yes," said Tifa. "Mother wants this mansion preserved. Though I've never been in here before now."
"So... how do you think this maid outfit would look on you?" asked Aerith.
"Um, I don't know," said Tifa. "Why does it matter?"
"I think you should wear it," said Aerith, smile now openly mischievous.
"Why?" asked Tifa.
"Well, I think Cloud might like how you look in it," said Aerith.
"Well, I..." Tifa halted. "Maybe, but he wanted me to be my own person."
"How does wearing a maid outfit interfere with you being your own person?" asked Aerith.
Tifa shifted, not really sure how to reply to that. "...Um, do you want me to wear it?"
Aerith took it off the rack and pressed it against Tifa's chest. Tifa noticed how close their faces were and shifted her gaze away from Aerith's eyes. "I think Cloud would like how you look in it."
Tifa found herself becoming flustered. Mentally she thought maybe Cloud would want her to go the threesome route. "Um, okay."
"Fine, let's get you into it then," said Aerith.
And so began a long, very uncomfortable period. Aerith helped Tifa get dressed into the frilly maid outfit and enjoyed doing it. She wasn't sure whether it was making Tifa uncomfortable that she liked. Or if it was something else. The stockings clung to her legs, leaving only her thighs bare and her skirt. The long gloves went up to her arms, and Aerith spent the time tying her hair up.
Tifa felt more like a doll than a person.
"You look beautiful," said Aerith. "Now, if you could just curl your hair-"
"I am not curling my hair," said Tifa hotly. She was sick of being treated like this.
Aerith smiled. "There, now you're your own person. You can't be your own person if you can't say no."
Tifa halted for a moment. "Fine. Let's just..."
"Aerith, Tifa, come quick!" said Cloud, barging into the room.
"What is it?" asked Aerith.
"We found something, Aerith," said Cloud. "A staircase leading down into the earth. Come on, we all need to be here for-" Cloud's voice trailed off as he saw how Tifa looked in the outfit. "Um... Tifa, that outfit..."
"Do you like it?" asked Tifa hopefully. She hoped he wouldn't make her change back quickly. It had taken a lot of time to get on.
"Yes, but... nevermind, let's just go," said Cloud.
Quickly, the three of them hurried after Cloud to the other side of the mansion. There they came to a side door leading into a library. And at the edge was an open door where a wall had been. Going into it, Tifa looked down into the depths and saw a spiral staircase leading down into the dark.
Cloud then stepped forward, raising his lightning materia to light the way. It illuminated a very, very, long fall. The air here was musty and ancient, with no real wind.
"Geeze, that's a long drop," said Aerith. "This thing is like something out of a horror movie."
"Just remain focused," said Sephiroth. He emerged from where he'd been sitting in the corner unseen. "Why is Ms. Lockhart here, Cloud?"
"I can fight," said Tifa.
"That is highly unlikely to be relevant," said Sephiroth.
"But Sephiroth," said Aerith. "We're not actually discussing anything."
Cloud began to walk down the staircase. Tifa followed behind him, feeling somewhat restricted in her maid outfit. She had the feeling there was something down there, and she wasn't sure she wanted to fight it. Not without a proper outfit anyway.
After her came Aerith, and Sephiroth walked behind her.
"Geeze, Cloud, this is like something out of a horror movie," said Aerith. "You think we're going to wake up some sort of monster in human form?"
"I believe we already did," muttered Sephiroth.
"I'm not a monster; I'm completely human," said Tifa. "I'm just part of Mother as well."
They got to the bottom at last and found only one way to go—a corridor of stone that looked to be a natural cave. Walking along with it, Tifa felt her skin was cold, and her high-heels were making it a hassle to walk. At least Cloud seemed to find it distracting and Aerith amusing.
Eventually, however, Cloud halted. "Two doors, one down there. Let's check this one."
He moved to the closer one, and as he did, Tifa felt a surge of fear. Something held her back from walking after him. As Cloud touched the knob, Tifa felt dread. She looked down at her feet and focused on looking seductive to distract herself.
"It's locked," said Cloud.
"Um... Mother doesn't want us to go into that door, Cloud," said Tifa. "Anyway, we should probably move on."
"Why doesn't she?" asked Cloud.
"I... I don't know, but isn't it reason enough?" asked Tifa.
"We base our decisions on reason," said Sephiroth simply. "And if Mother doesn't want it opened, I think we want to see what's on the other side."
"Now hang on a sec, Sephiroth. We don't even know if-" began Cloud.
And then there was a feral cry. Tifa looked up to see strange things lumbering down the corridor toward them. They were roughly in the shape of men, but they had parts that were Mother, but not quite Mother.
"Look out!" cried Aerith, raising her staff.
And then things got hectic. One of the creatures leaped at Tifa, who dodged it and kicked it against the wall. There was a crack, and dust fell down around them. Cloud cut one in half while Sephiroth sheathed his sword behind a bloody mist. Except even the things fell into pieces, their tendons reached out and tied together. They began to form back into themselves, but not into Mother.
Tifa attacked. She unleashed a flurry of punches into one of them, pulverizing it with her beatdown. Even as she did, another slashed at her, and she narrowly dodged away. She felt a claw rake her across the side. Yet even as she rebounded and roundhouse kicked it in half, Aerith raised her staff.
Healing energies soothed the pain, and Tifa rushed into battle.
Except there were always more of them.
They did not seem to be coming from any particular place. Tifa may have noticed one clambering out of the muck of the earth. Often they would be hit again and again, only for them to restore themselves.
Cloud began to send out waves of frost. As they hit the things, they hardened and shattered after he smashed them. But the tide of them continued regardless.
"Tifa, do you know what these things are?!" said Cloud.
"I think... I think they are Mothers, but not Mothers," said Tifa.
"What does that even mean?" asked Cloud.
"I can't explain it; they are hers, but not like her in Nibelheim," said Tifa.
And then there was a flash and an explosion of smoke. A girl, clad in a green belly shirt and short shorts, appeared. "And I am here! The Great Ninja Yuffie!"
"Yuffie," said Sephiroth.
The girl raised a red gem skyward. As she did, there was a flash, and a wave of fire surged through the creatures. In moments, all of them were reduced to ashes. Yuffie stood triumphant. "Aha! I am victorious, and I have saved you! Now hand over all your gil and-" Sephiroth picked her up by the collar. Then put a sword to her throat. "-and please don't kill me!"
"Give me back my materia," said Sephiroth.
"Never!" said Yuffie. "It's mine! With the power of this materia, I will liberate Wutai and-" Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "-on second thought, I really didn't need all this materia. I mean, when I tried to sell it, people called the police. And I can only really use them like, once, before I'm out of mana, so um... I'll just uh...
"Hand this back to you." She tossed the materia to him.
"Sephiroth, did you seriously just threaten to kill a twelve-year-old?" asked Aerith.
"I've been killing people since I was eight," said Sephiroth, dropping her.
"That is hardcore!" said Yuffie.
"Yuffie, what are you doing here?" asked Aerith.
"Well, obviously after I stole your materia, I made plans to destroy Shinra and liberate the world!" said Yuffie. "But, I had no idea where I was supposed to be going to get home. So I followed behind you and tore down all the papers you put up in those towns."
"Why?" asked Aerith.
"Because you are standing in the way of power and progress, obviously!" said Yuffie. "Midgar is amazing! In fact, I'm going to run the place once I establish my new Wutai Empire!"
"...Then why are you opposing Shinra?" asked Sephiroth.
"Because I want it to be a Wutai Empire. We'll have dragon statues instead of angels," said Yuffie. "I don't want to change anything. Just kill the whole Shinra High Command, put my Dad in charge, and keep things totally awesome!"
"You may believe what you will after I return you to President Shinra's custody," said Sephiroth.
"You really think I can't escape on my own?" asked Yuffie. "Those Turks are way too slow. I am the strongest warrior of Wutai!"
Aerith patted her on the head. "...Of course you are."
"Hey!" said Yuffie. "Stop treating me like a joke, Aerith! I beat Sephiroth and followed your helicopter all the way here!"
"How did you do that?" asked Tifa. Humans couldn't fly.
"I um... sort of stowed away in the cargo compartment," said Yuffie. "But none of that matters-
"Hey, where are you going?"
Sephiroth was already walking away toward the door. "Cloud, watch here.
"I'm going to get this door open."
"Now hang on," said Tifa. "We'll have to search the whole mansion for clues as to where we might find a key. And I'll bet the key will be locked in a safe or something with a lost number we have to find. And since Mother wants it hidden, there will be a monster we'll have to fight-"
Sephiroth raised a gem, and it glowed. There was a flash, an explosion, and then the door was blown right off its hinges. It spun through the air and splintered on the wall. Beyond was only a coffin in a drab room filled with spiderwebs.
"-or you could just blow it open," said Aerith.
"This is..." Tifa had that feeling. "We really should turn back here."
"You don't have to go in if you don't want to," said Cloud. "You could stay out here."
Tifa shifted and realized nothing she could do could stop them from going in. "...I want to stay by your side."
Together, they walked through the door.
And nothing was the same.