Chapter Eight
Combination of Metal and Bone
Geraslowly opened his eyes. At first, he didn't know where he was, but then recognized the room he was in, the Green Room again. He looked down on himself, seeing his shoulders were covered with bandages, some blood on them... he looked toward the wall, remembering how horribly he lost.... on how weak he really was... he then heard a shuffling next to him. He turned and saw Yuffie, sleeping in the chair next to him. He looked away again, knowing that, if he didn't knock her out where the dogs were, she would be dead, too... a door opened from the room over, a familiar voice talking gently.
"You're finally awake, Gera..."
He turned and saw Aerith with another tray, thankfully only having bandages on it. She quietly walked over to him and sat in another chair.
"Here..."
She took out a bottle of water and brought it to Gera's lips. He slowly drank about half of it, hating every second of this. She then helped him sit up slowly and began to replace his bandages with clean ones as he stared out in a gaze. Someone else walked into the room and spoke.
"So, the kid's awake..."
Gera turned to Leon, then looked away... his mind was on Mella... on how she was kill in front of him... and he was too weak to do anything about it... Leon closed his eyes as Yuffie jerked awake, hearing his voice.
"You're lucky to be alive. As soon as Yuffie woke up from you knocking her out, she dashed after you and saw... well..."
He motioned to his shoulders. Gera just nodded as Yuffie turned her head away.
"What happened, anyway? I haven't seen so much carnage before..."
As soon was Aerith was done, Gera layed back down on the bed, looking away.
Aerith turned to Leon, scolding him with strong eyes.
"Leon, not now. He needs to rest. He lost a lot of blood from his wounds."
"Was the girl there... dead...?"
Everyone jumped from Gera's voice. Leon slowly nodded.
"Yes... she was dead long before Yuffie found you."
Gera closed his eyes... now he was unable to fight, unable to defend himself... he felt so useless...
Cid came in the room.
"Ya! The Gender Bender's awake!"
Gera looked at him blankly, making him raise an eyebrow.
"What'cha giving me that look for? I'm going to give you the closest thing to arms as you can get!"
Leon seemed confused, crossing his arms.
"Closest thing to arms? What are you talking about?"
Cid patted his chest proudly about something.
"Well, this guy came in my store and taught me something, something which he said came from another dimension!"
With that, a man in familiar armor came in. Yuffie jumped to her feet and dashed at him with her giant shurikan. The man caught it in his fingers... it was Holy himself...
"Relax, little one... I am not Talon..."
"What do you want?"
Gera spoke blankly, looking away again. Holy gently let go of Yuffie's weapon, who was blushing a bit from attacking the wrong man.
"To help right a great wrong here."
He groaned, placing a hand on his heart. Leon had a slightly worried look on his face.
"Are you alright?"
Holy nodded.
"Y-yeah... we gods can feel the suffering of others in our hearts. And right now, Gera is suffering more then he let's on in the inside..."
"What do you want?"
Holy closed his eyes, knowing why he's being like this.
"To give you arms again, Gera."
He turned his head to him with a slightly shocked expression on his face. Holy spoke again, explaining.
"I have been to another dimension, one that has something called 'Auto-Mail.' It's as if you have your original arms, but... they are machine, and you can't feel much with them, but they are better then not having any arms at all..."
Gera slowly sat up Indian style.
"......... Arms that are machines....?"
Holy nodded.
"However, the operation for it... well, it's horrible, even for a god to go through..."
"I'll do it."
Everyone there was shocked from him saying that right after Holy said what he did. He continued.
"Gera... the operation is one where they CAN'T numb the pain, where you CAN'T be asleep for. You have to go through EVERYTHING for the Auto-Mail... now, are you sure."
Gera turned to Holy, his eyes blank.
"I have been through the worst pain a man could go through. What can be worse?"
Everyone was silent from that. Holy cleared his throat.
"It's your choice... the operation can be tomor-"
"Today."
"What?"
Gera looked blankly at Holy.
"I need it today..."
Holy was silent, watching him. He used his powers to see into his heart... and saw the pain and suffering he was already in...
"Cid, get ready. He's getting that surgery today..."
Holy turned around, but Leon stopped him.
"Wait. Do you think it's wise for him to do this, after his body and mind going through all of that trauma?"
He stopped, thinking about it. He then turned to Leon, staring at him with his large, blue eyes.
"He will be alright... he wants to get out of here before Talon comes back. Even all of your strength combined can't defeat him, even when he's using less then half of his power."
Gera closed his eyes... that meant that Talon was just playing with him when they were fighting.... and he fell for it, thinking he actually stood a chance against him... Cid rubbed his nose.
"I'll be gentle with him, don' worry, Leon."
He strolled out of the room, Leon sighing and following him out. Holy turned to Yuffie and Aerith.
"Come on, it's best if we left him alone for a bit.... Talon won't show when another god is near, in fear that I'll call the rest here."
He then left the room. Aerith stood up and grabbed the tray.
"Gera... be sure to rest while you can, o.k?"
"Yeah..."
She had a worried look on her face, then left... Yuffie stayed, though, sitting next to him on the bed. He looked up to her blankly, then started a bit.... there were tears in her eyes...
"You idiot... I told you I didn't want to see you with bandages..."
She then brought him into a tight hug, crying onto his chest.
"I TOLD you not to hurt yourself! You idiot! IDIOT!"
Gera slowly closed his eyes... his lip quivering. He began to cry silently with her...
Holy sat on the stairs, looking up at the night sky. He spoke as if someone was there.
"Uh huh.... uh huh... yeah... I know... he's getting bolder by the day..."
He sighed, looking down, rubbing his neck.
"I know, I know... when we banished him, we all thought he would never come back, but he's here, in this dimension, of all the countless ones out there, he ended up in this one..."
He shook his head, eyes closed.
"Hell of a jackpot for him, too..."
He looked back up at the sky, this time with a shocked look on his face.
"You... what?"
His eyes were wide.
"You have... never done that before, with a heart..."
He chuckled, smiling under his face mask.
"Yeah, I think Gera will be happy when he hears what you did with her heart... alright. I need to call Darkness for those arms. Yeah, it's too late for me to regrow them... but..."
He looked around, then continued.
"A unknown man came here... and defeated Talon like he was nothing!" Even I would be tired after facing him... you know!? You know!? Then how... hey, wait! Don't go yet, Father! He-I-him... ah, damn..."
He sighed again, shaking his head.
"You can come out out, Leon, I know you're there."
Leon walked down the steps, stopping behind him.
"Who were you just talking to?"
Holy chuckled.
"Oh... God."
Leon was confused for a moment, then stepped back.
"Wait... you mean... there's a God?"
He sighed, standing up and turning to Leon.
"Yes. There are three levels of being a god. The lowest level is the Lesser Gods. They are basicly the ones that are in Olympus. Then there are the Greater Gods, who rule the elements and other such things. I am a Greater God, myself, the God of Light. There's one of Darkness, Light, Destruction, Mystic, and Twi-......"
He closed his eyes, taking a second before he spoke again.
"........ Twilight and Dawn.... the god who had that had both elements, and was the strongest god...."
Leon crossed his arms at Holy.
"Wait, had? What happened to the god of that?"
Holy turned around, quiet for a minute.
"The God of Twilight and Dawn... is the Talon you've now know..."
Leon's eyes grew wide... if a person who was a god was after Gera...
"Talon was the strongest god!? Then how was he defeated?"
Holy walked forward, but spoke.
"The... highest ranking of the gods has only one being in it... that's God Himself. His word is absolute. If he says something happens, it happens, even if it something outrageous...."
He stopped in between the lamp posts, pausing before continuing.
"...... the Father took away Talon's powers and rights as a god. But, since he was a god, he was able to keep his some of his godly powers, like being immortal... what has me is... where is he getting his power?"
He looked up at the sky, seeing a comet fly across the sky.
"God has sworn not to watch us like he does to his other children, so we don't feel pressured under his gaze... he keeps his words, and since Talon was a god, and still basicly is... he cannot watch him..."
Before Leon could do anything, a portal made of darkness appeared in front of Holy. Jet walked out, his hands behind his back.
"Yo, Holy. I got the arms."
He made two arms appear. They were both fully mechanical and were all black. The casing on them was thick and, when under Gera's cloak, would look like he hadn't lost his arms at all. Holy took the arms, then walked toward the shop, past Leon. Jet followed him, but stopped beside Leon. He let Holy go in the shop, then spoke.
"Leon... you may have some mixed feelings for me, since I am the God of Darkness, but know this... I won't let this stand by and let Talon get away with this. We gods are... are all close. We have to be, since we are all immortal. Talon's betrayal took us all by surprise... and hurt us deeply... he was, and has been, the only god that has gone corrupt. So, don't worry. I will stop Talon myself if I have to."
The darkness on his face began to crawl off. There was a boy, about 16 of age by just looking at him, with bright green eyes.
"You have my word, Leon. You are safe from him."
The darkness crawled back onto his face as he disappeared. Leon was overwhelmed by everything at once. This has given him much food for thought...
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Three hours later, Gera's screams filled the shop, and was heard outside on the street. Gera was sitting up in a gown, Cid using a special needle and tools on his shoulders, attaching metal and gears... blood was dripping down his side.
"Yo, Gera. I know this hurts like a mother trucker, but you have to try to keep still. It ain't easy attaching wires to your nerves."
Gera grunted, teeth bared.
"Don't worry... this pain is nothing...."
Yuffie was Holy were standing outside of the door, listening in. Holy had his hands in his pockets, eyes closed, while Yuffie had a hand over her mouth. He spoke gently, slightly opening his eyes.
"He's a strong boy... even grown men would have cryed and passed out by now... where two hours has passed into the operation...."
Yuffie just nodded, not able to talk as she heard the loudest yell yet from Gera. She then jumped when she saw Holy slide down the wall, clutching his chest, panting heavily. She bent down next to him, worried. He looked up to her, his eyes slightly blood shot.
"S-sorry... I feel his pain in my heart, being a god and all... I'll be fine..."
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Gera was in a slight daze in the bed in the shop now... on his shoulders were what looked like metal casings. There was an opening on the sides of them for the arms to go in. Jet inserted the arms into them, and when he did Gera tried to move them.... they didn't budge.
"Why... aren't they moving...?"
Holy walked over to Gera, then held down his left side while Jet did with his right.
"We need to connect the nerves to the arms themselves... brace yourself, Gera. This isn't pleasent at all..."
They both took out 'L' shaped metal poles, then placed the bent sides into two holes on his shoulders. Both gods made sure they had a firm grip on him... the twisted them at the same time...
Gera screamed out in pain, the worst he had ever felt physically. His eyes rolled up to the back of his head as he shot back in the bed, his body squirming around. He continued to scream, which sounded like he was never going to stop. Yuffie quickly buried her face in Leon's jacket, eyes tightly closed... she couldn't stand his screams... Leon wrapped an arm around her to comfort her... this was almost too much for even him! Aerith let a few tears run down her cheek as she saw the pain on his face.
"This is too cruel... too cruel for any one to do..."
She then started when she saw Jet's and Holy's faces, full of pain themselves, feeling Gera's pain. It was bad enough where their hearts where shining faintly, showing themselves to everyone... At last, after ten minutes of screaming, Gera passed out, his body still as the joints where the arm and shoulder connected sparked a bit. Both of the gods let out a sigh of releaf.
"Good... this will give the brain time to send signals to the arms once again and... will let him have some peace for a while..."
Jet whipped his forheard from sweat.
"Alright... I'll go keep watch.... Holy, you best stay outside... now, come one, all of you."
Jet pushed everyone by Yuffie out of the room and closed the door behind him. Holy turned to her, still panting a bit.
"You should stay in here... you seem to be the closest one to him now..."
He then disappeared, leaving Yuffie there, blushing. She turned to Gera, his eyes closed... she went to him and whipped off some sweat off of his face.
He... seemed so strong when I first saw him... especially in his heart... but this was too much even for him...
She gently pushed some of his hair off of his face
This is unfair... he is a good guy... caring only for others...
Yuffie sat beside Gera, watching him... then slowly bent over, pulling her hair back with her hand, and kissed his forehead.
That will give you some comfort... I pray....
"Yu.... ffie..."
She began to blush when she looked where the voice came from... Gera's eyes were slightly open... something compelled her to do this. She gently brought his head over onto her lap, then began to run her hand through his hair. Gera slowly fell asleep, feeling safe and comfortable in her lap....
End of Chapter Eight...