Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Thirty-OneWhen Cloud finally came to, he found that he was no longer in the pit at the Temple of the Ancients. He was in a strange room that was covered in wood panelling that was charred in parts, although there was some evidence of someone trying to repair and polish the blackness from it. Standing over him were Tifa and Barret. Their faces were filled with concern as they looked down at him, although Barret's face had traces of annoyance as well.
Following the events at the Temple and their encounter with Sephiroth, the companions had left the area in haste. They ran swiftly through the Forest of Secrets toward the distant shore where they had parked the Tiny Bronco, carrying the unconscious Cloud with them. Cid piloted the tiny plane across the water, heading for the town of Gongaga on the other continent.
No one said anything during their trip across the ocean. No one apart from Cait, that is, who was busy regaling the group with tales of his adventures inside the Temple. Nobody paid any attention to him. They weren't interested in hearing his tales, nor were they at all curious as to ask how he had mysteriously survived the tests inside the Temple. They all remained silent, staring wordlessly at the passing ocean.
Aeris sat at the back of the plane. Sitting with her back to the others, she watched as the land and the Forest of Secrets disappeared into the horizon. Her cheeks were still red and sore. Yuffie tried to make small talk with her, but Aeris paid no attention. Her thoughts were somewhere else—a decision was forming in her mind. She had untied her hair and was letting it blow in the breeze, holding her pink ribbon and the small materia in her hands. Every so often she would glance at Cloud, but always her gaze returned to the ocean. Eventually Yuffie gave up.
The people of Gongaga had been very understanding of their situation. They took the group into their village without question, eager to help the 'poor young man' who had been injured. The innkeeper refused the money Tifa had offered him, even though he sorely needed the funds to keep his inn open. They all took turns watching Cloud, who tossed and turned restlessly in his sleep. When Cloud finally opened his eyes, Tifa sighed in relief.
"You look like you was havin' a nightmare," Barret said once Cloud had fully registered who they were. "How are you feeling?"
Not moving, Cloud considered the question. He felt stiff and sore, which he guessed to be because he had been lying motionless for a good while. His stomach felt a little sore. He vaguely remembered being punched there at one point, although he could not remember who it had been. He pictured dark hair… Vincent, perhaps, or Yuffie.
"I seem to be okay," he answered finally. His mouth felt dry.
As if sensing his thirst, Tifa picked up a small jug of water and poured some into a glass. She lifted his head off the pillow and helped him to drink some of the water. It was slightly warm, but it helped to moisturize Cloud's dry throat. Cloud downed the glass; thankful for the way it cleared the dense fog that clouded his mind. Tifa made to refill the glass, but Cloud waved her away.
Barret stared closely at Cloud, trying to see if the ex-SOLDIER was lying about him being okay. Satisfied that he was telling the truth, Barret leaned back on his feet and crossed his arms. "That's good. Man, I didn't know what was going to happen." Even though he tried to hide it, Barret had been more than a little worried about Cloud. More than once he had thought that Cloud wasn't going to wake up at all. Secretly, he was as relieved as Tifa was to see the young man awake again.
Putting the empty glass back on the table, Tifa looked at Cloud in concern. "You know, Cloud," she said softly. "Aeris is gone."
Barret frowned. "Everyone's out looking for Aeris," he said.
Slowly Cloud sat up, ignoring the hand that Tifa offered to him when he nearly lost his strength and fell back onto the bed. Somehow he wasn't surprised to learn that Aeris had gone. Deep down he already knew she had left. He had thought it was just a bad dream, but now he knew that it wasn't. And wherever the others were looking, they would not find her. He shook his head.
"……City of the Ancients. Aeris is headed there."
"By herself! Why did she go by herself!?" Barret roared angrily, raising his voice. In the next room, the poor innkeeper almost fell out of his chair at the sound of the man's bellowing voice. "Hey, we're goin' too!"
Memories of the dream flashed through Cloud's mind. Aeris's smile… her gentle eyes that made all his worries seem to disappear. He remembered her words. "Let me handle Sephiroth," she had told him. Aeris held the key to stopping Sephiroth. She was an Ancient. Her bloodline gave her more right to stopping him than Cloud did. All Cloud wanted was revenge for the pain Sephiroth had caused him. He shivered.
"Only the Ancients, only Aeris can save us from Meteor…" he said, hanging his head. It was Aeris's task alone to finish Sephiroth. Of all of them she had the best chance of stopping him. Whatever she was going to do in the City of the Ancients would prove that. Unfortunately, Tifa and Barret didn't seem to see it that way.
"Then we must go," said Tifa firmly, putting on her gloves. "What'll we do if something happens to her?" she replied when Cloud looked at her inquisitively. "If Sephiroth finds her, she's in trouble." She gave her gloves a tug—the soft leather creaking between her fingers. The metal spikes protruding from the knuckles had been freshly sharpened and looked lethal, while the diamonds seemed brighter.
Cloud stared at her in awe, and then lowered his head sadly. "Sephiroth… already knows," he whispered, remembering the rest of the dream. Sephiroth would already be tracking Aeris down, to stop her achieving her goal.
"Hey! Why are you still sittin' around?" Barret demanded, expecting Cloud to jump up and already be halfway out the door in pursuit of Aeris.
"Let's go, Cloud," said Tifa, standing up.
Cloud refused to look up at them. He wanted to go. He wanted to go and find Aeris—to protect her from Sephiroth. But memories of the Temple were running through his mind. Memories of what he did to Aeris… "No," he replied. "I might lose it again." He clutched at his head. "If Sephiroth comes near me, I might…"
"Yeah, goddammit!" Barret snapped. His patience was wearing thin. "It's cuz' of you that Sephiroth got the Black Materia in the first place. It's your damn fault!"
Cloud opened his eyes and looked at Barret. "My fault?"
Barret sighed heavily and tapped his foot against the floor. "I know you got problems… hell, we all do," he added, referring to his problems at North Corel. "But you don't even understand yourself. But you gotta understand that there ain't no gettin' offa this train we're on, till we get to the end of the line."
"Cloud,"—Tifa sat down beside Cloud and took his hand in hers, gazing into his eyes—"we came this far… Aren't you going to settle up with Sephiroth?"
Cloud pulled his hand away. "No…" he said. His voice was trembling. Holding his head in his hands again, he shook it vigorously as though he could shake the memories of Sephiroth from his mind. But they wouldn't go away. "I'm afraid," Cloud admitted. "If I keep this up, I may go crazy! I'm afraid…" He choked.
Barret's patience and sympathy finally wore out. "Just a damn jackass, that's what you are…" he said harshly. Ignoring Tifa's cross face, he continued, "You jes' think about it… How many people in this world do you think really understand themselves? People get depressed in life because they don't know what's up. But, they go on living. They don't run away… Isn't that how it is?" His speech made, Barret turned and walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.
"Cloud… you'll come with us, right?" asked Tifa, looking up at Cloud hopefully. When Cloud didn't reply she glanced at the floor. Then she looked up again, took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze before heading for the closed door. Standing in the doorway, she looked back at Cloud, who was still on the bed. "I believe in you," she said quietly. She silently slipped out of the room, leaving Cloud alone.
When all was quiet, Cloud let his gaze fall to the end of the bed. His sword was propped against the wall next to the bed. The metal blade was covered in scratches and discoloured blotches caused by magic cast by monsters. There was also blood across the blade, though the blood had turned brown now that it had dried. He would need another sword to fight with soon, he figured, eyeing up the damage. He would still use his old Buster Sword—it was important to him, after all—but he would need another sword just in case. That's if he continued to fight.
"What… am I supposed to do?" he asked aloud, his voice sounding meaningless in the quiet of the room. "Pull out of here?" He drew his legs up close to his chest. His dug his hands into the white sheets of the bed, clawing at the folds. "Pull out? …To where?"
The room answered his questions with silence.
Waiting at the entrance of the inn, Tifa and Barret looked back at the door that lead into Cloud's room. Though they could hear nothing from Cloud on this side, they could easily guess that Cloud was in turmoil, trying to figure out what he should do. Tifa was tempted to go back into the room and comfort her childhood friend, but she didn't know if going in was the right thing for her to do. She was afraid that her presence would make things worse for Cloud. Besides, she didn't know what to say.
"Cloud…" she said, her heart aching.
A hand touched her shoulder and she turned to look at Barret. "Wait a minute, Tifa," he said, more softly than she had anticipated. "Give him a little time. He has to decide this on his own. You believe in Cloud… right?"
Tifa nodded. Smiling, Barret squeezed her shoulder as gently as he could and then, suddenly aware that he was acting like a big softy, turned and walked out of the inn. Tifa waited a few moments longer, pausing to look back at the door. Barret was right, she realised. This isn't something I can help Cloud with. This has to be his decision and his decision alone. Her mind made up, she followed Barret outside.
Inside the bedroom, Cloud had moved to sit at the edge of the bed. His Buster Sword and the Yoshiyuki the old man had given him spread out on the bed. Cloud had almost forgotten about the other sword—it was much lighter than it looked. A closer examination proved the sword to be useless in a battle, however. The blade was too thin and worn, and there was a big crack in the base of the hilt where it joined with the blade. One good swing and it would break easily.
After a while Cloud had left the swords and sat on the edge of the bed, thinking hard about what he should do. His thoughts were centred on Sephiroth. Why was it that whenever Sephiroth was near, Cloud's blood seemed to boil. To one extent the answer was easy: Cloud hated Sephiroth more than anything on the Planet. Yet there was another answer: the one that Cloud could not find. And that answer would have something to do with the pain buzzing in his head and the voice that urged him to do things he didn't want to do. Like giving Sephiroth the Black Materia.
Remembering that made Cloud shiver. He wanted to know why he would do something like that. It didn't make any sense. He knew the Black Materia was dangerous, so why give it to the most dangerous man on the Planet? The more he thought about it, the more his mind recoiled.
"……I'm afraid to find out the truth…?" Cloud asked himself, shaking his head. His hands tightened around the empty glass. Droplets of water dripped down his face where he had splashed himself to clear his thoughts. "But……why?"
Cloud reached out and touched the Buster Sword. His fingers closed around the familiar grooves on the handle and he lifted it, feeling its comforting weight in his hands. Fighting was what brought him this far. If he were to run away now then he would never find the truth. Like Barret had said: the journey they were on was like a train. There was no stopping until it reached the end of the line.
His mind made up, Cloud hoisted the Buster Sword and slid it into its slot on his back. He went to pick up the Yoshiyuki, but then thought better of it and left the sword on the bed as he left the room. It was a nice sword, and would bring a fair penny to whoever sold it. Better the innkeeper used it to bring in some extra money if he ever needed it. It was the least Cloud could do to say thank you for their care.
The innkeeper smiled at him as he came out. He seemed a little surprised to see Cloud up and about, though. "You awake?" he said to Cloud. The young innkeeper nodded his head toward the exit. "Those people were so worried that they stayed by your side until you woke up. You sure do have good friends."
Cloud nodded in reply. Yes, he thought. He did have good friends. He wouldn't have gotten this far without Tifa, or Barret, or Vincent, or even Yuffie by his side.
Tifa and Barret jumped in surprise when the inn door opened and Cloud came out. They had not expected him to make up his mind that fast and were taken aback by the quickness of his decision. One look into Cloud's face showed that the young ex-SOLDIER was still unsure, even though he tried to look determined.
"Cloud…" Tifa began.
Barret interrupted her before she could get further. "Hey, how are you?" he asked. "I just wanna know, which is it gonna be? You wanna find out about yourself? Or are you afraid to find out? Either way, you stay here and all you can do is worry about it." He folded his arms and looked at Cloud sternly. "Even if you do go nuts again when you see Sephiroth… If it happens, it happens. I'll go upside your spiky white head and bring you back to normal."
Cloud didn't look too convinced.
"Cloud, it'll be all right," Tifa assured him, her hand on his arm. "We're all with you."
"But…" Cloud began.
Barret waved him off with his gun-arm. It was one of Barret's odder habits—like he still had his actual hand there. "If it happens, it happens," he repeated casually. "Don't worry about it."
Cloud bit his lip. How he wished he could share Barret's confidence. Although he had no doubt that Barret would carry out his threat of going inside his 'spiky white head' if he went nuts, Cloud hoped that it wouldn't come to that. Barret was right. There was no use in worrying about it. If it happened, it happened. And if it did, Cloud had his friends there to stop him. When did Barret get so wise?
"…You're… right," he said finally. He looked at Tifa. "……He's right, isn't he?"
Tifa nodded. She was glad Cloud had decided to come with them. "Come on," she said earnestly, taking Cloud's hand and beginning to drag him across the path, "let's go find Aeris."
"City of the Ancients?" Cid scratched his head with the butt of his cigarette. "What kind of damn place is that?"
"Maybe it's a storehouse where the Ancients kept all their materia!" said Yuffie excitedly, hopping from one foot to the other. She had spent too much time in Gongaga now, and she was bored. There was so little to do in the little forest town, and she had been here once before anyway. The thought of going somewhere new excited her. The materia she could find!
Vincent shook his head. "……Most likely it's the capital of the Ancients' homeland," he said softly, his voice only audible in the quiet of the forest. The enigmatic gunman was standing apart from the rest of the group, partially hidden behind a tree, keeping an eye out for any signs of the Shinra.
The group had left Gongaga now, and were standing in the middle of the forest that surrounded it. Once they were a good distance away from the village, Cloud called them to a halt to discuss where they had to go. Though some of them had heard of the City of the Ancients, no one really knew where it was.
"Didn't Aeris give you any clues as to where this place was?" asked Cait, lying leisurely on top of his Mog. He was on his back, his hands behind his head and balancing his megaphone on his feet, seemingly entranced by it.
Cloud paced through the centre of the group. "No," he answered finally, stopping in the middle of the group. "All she said was 'This forest leads to the City of the Ancients… and is called the Sleeping Forest.'"
"The Sleeping Forest…" Red XIII murmured, his tail twitching.
"You know it?" asked Tifa, surprised.
The hound settled back on his haunches and looked up at Tifa, squinting in the light. "Know of it," he replied. After scratching an itch on the back of his neck, he began to explain. "According to the elders in Cosmo Canyon, the Sleeping Forest guards the entrance to the City of the Ancients, or the Forgotten City. As its name shows, it is a forest that sleeps."
"How can that be?" asked Tifa, confused. "How can a forest be asleep?"
Red XIII shook his head. "That… I do not know. All I know is that it does. To be honest," he added, embarrassed, "I did not pay much attention to the elders when they taught me that. I… I think I fell asleep." Yuffie giggled, stopped giggling when she saw Red XIII growling at her. Even so, she had to fight to control her giggles.
"Do you remember where the forest is?" Cloud asked Red XIII.
"……" Red XIII lowered his head in thought, trying to remember back the fifteen or so years when he had been taught about the Cetra. He looked up and nodded. "Somewhere on the far northern continent," he replied. "Whereabouts exactly, I cannot be sure. But I am positive it is on that continent."
"Far northern continent!?" Barret roared, making everyone jump. "That damn place! The whole continent is covered in snow and ice! Not to mention #&$ mountain ranges! No damn forest can survive there!"
"Not everywhere on the continent is covered in ice," Tifa pointed out. "Forests and grass still grow on the southernmost point. Maybe the Sleeping Forest is there."
Cloud frowned. "Can we get there?" he wondered aloud.
"Don't you worry about that," said Cid, putting out his cigarette with the butt of his spear. "Good ol' Tiny Bronco can get you there, so long as we stay in the shallow bits of the water. Damn engine's startin' to leak with all this ferryin' here and there. She'll pack up completely soon," he added with a disappointed sigh.
Cloud nodded. "Then that's settled. We'll head north." He looked around at everyone. "It wouldn't hurt to make a quick trip to Cosmo Canyon to make sure we're heading in the right direction. And"—he added with a glance at Yuffie—"I'd like to visit that weapon store in Wutai again. There was a nice sword in there…"
Emerald: Yep, I think I've got my writing legs back now. Four chapters in three days. I haven't had a writing spell like this in a long time. And there's a nice piece of originality in there for you, too. I thought it was time Cloud had a replacement sword. Murasame, here we come! I just wonder if it would be all right for him to use two swords at once in this fic, or just leave that for Advent Children when we see him use two… Oh, and sorry for using this whole chapter for Gongaga, but I thought it pointless to do this bit and Bone Village in the same chapter. Hence the originality bit. I didn't make Cloud look too pathetic and emo, did I?
On a lighter note, I bought Dirge of Cerberus on Wednesday, so do expect to see a fic of that sometime in the future. Like, after this fic, and Advent Children. I may write Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus at the same time to save some… um… time. Heh. I will have to write faster if I want to do all these, otherwise you guys will be following me around forever. Not that I mind, like, but I wouldn't want you to get bored.