Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or its characters. They belong to Square Enix. I do own my original characters and plots, however.
Author's Note: Apologies for the delay! Life continues to get in the way as well as writer's block. Well, as previously mentioned, Chapter 12 is not as lighthearted as previous chapters. The story gets more serious from here on as tension builds. I thank all my readers and reviewers for sticking with my 'fic as time goes on. I really do appreciate it! Thank you all. Enjoy.
Chapter 12: Advocating the Planet's KillerThe room was whirling… Everything was green… Her heart pounded in her ears… Her muscles jolted in spasms. She couldn't breathe; she was suffocating…
"Feeding time," said the familiar voice of the Shin-Ra nurse. Her rubber heels clicked quickly on the laboratory floor, but the footsteps droned and boomed in the girl's ears, echoing…echoing…
Aphrodite's eyes were only half-open, their lids immensely heavy. Still, she couldn't breathe, the cylinder suffocating her in this oppressive green gas…
She vaguely heard the nurse fumbling with the feeding tubes connected to the I.V. on Aphrodite's hand. The girl was youthfully senile; this green Mako gas polluted her brain…her mind…
She hardly felt the nutritional solution transfuse into her body, coarse in her veins…
"Destroy your cage…"
That inner voice…Jenova…Mother…?
Then a shriek of terror. The shattering of glass. Power… freedom… Power took her over. Aphrodite didn't realize she had destroyed the glass cylinder that kept her captive, the green Mako gas liquefying and flooding the floor like a river… She did not see the nurse dead on the floor, never to stir again. Aphrodite was half-conscious.
The laboratory was a blur… Was she alone?
A door slammed open.
"Aphrodite!"
Someone was calling her name… Who summoned her?
"Aphrodite! Are you all right?"
The girl looked up with a dangling head, as if it was too heavy for her neck. Her vision was blurred. She couldn't see. Aphrodite gazed straight ahead at the hazy figure standing before her.
"Sis! What happened? You're covered with that green stuff!"
Someone's hands were on her shoulders. She stared blankly at the tall, blurry figure before her. Trying to see clearly was like trying to navigate thick fog…
"Aphrodite! What's wrong with your eyes? Why are they red?"
The girl was still barely conscious as a pair of strong arms scooped up her small, weak figure. He ran like the wind out of this terrible place.
"Mother…"
"What did you say, sis?" Ares Hector de Travere glanced down at Aphrodite, trying to the best of his ability to dash up the hidden spiral staircase.
"I said, Mother…"
"I know you miss Mother and Father, Aphrodite. I do, too. But worry about yourself right now," said Ares, pausing as he reached the top of the stairs, bursting into the small bedroom that hid the staircase. "You look like a ghost."
Aphrodite mumbled gibberish that was absolutely impossible to understand.
Ares frowned. "You're so pale, sister. We have to get out of here…these people in the Shin-Ra Mansion are corrupt…"
"I wasn't talking about that Mother… I mean… my Mother… the Mother who…spoke to me when Hojo…"
"Oh, Aphrodite! What are you talking about?" Ares sighed, his face sinking in frustration. "We don't have time for that now. We'll get caught if we're not careful."
Aphrodite let her heavy eyelids droop, her head lolling uselessly. The horrid Mako energy still infested her brain, and the green substance stained her white, old-fashioned nightgown. "Wait… I want… to say 'goodbye'…"
Ares soft-shooed across the floor, creeping into the hallway. "'Goodbye' to whom?"
"To that nice…SOLDIER…"
Aphrodite could hardly see Ares's surprised look. "Sister, we can't say 'goodbye' to the SOLDIER. He'll turn us in."
"No I won't," said another voice, and Aphrodite had difficulty trying to decipher to whom the voice belonged.
Ares swiveled around, Aphrodite's weak frame still in her brother's arms. "You." His voice was icy.
"Don't worry. Just take your sister and get out while you can," said the voice. Aphrodite suddenly realized who it was. The SOLDIER! The one who had taken her hand before leading her to the Shin-Ra Mansion, the one who had silently reassured her before Hojo injected the Jenova cells. "I'll cover for you. Hojo's a crazy bastard."
"Hey, Nevada! Who are you talking to over there?" called the voice of the second SOLDIER. It sounded distant, his voice echoing down the hallway from a small room.
"Myself," replied the first SOLDIER. He then turned to face Ares and Aphrodite. "C'mon! Get out already! I'm on patrol; no one else's around but my partner, who's in the tearoom."
Aphrodite looked up hazily at Ares, and he…was smiling! A genuine smile lit up his ashen face, and his piercing blue eyes were twinkling like sapphires. "You have our heartfelt gratitude, good SOLDIER. You're a rare man…"
Aphrodite's curls hung limply as Ares held her in his arms. She turned to look at the SOLDIER, and for the first time in over a week, she smiled. Her glassy eyes became gray-green again, and now she could see clearly. She couldn't see the SOLDIER's face under his mask, but somehow, she knew he was smiling. "Thank you… I hope we meet again, Nevada, if that's your name…"
"Last name," corrected the SOLDIER. He began to distance himself from them, as if he were silently bidding them good-bye.
Ares nodded at him and turned into the Entrance Hall, but then Aphrodite spoke again.
"Wait, Ares…!" Her voice was hoarse. She tried to look over her shoulder. It was a difficult gesture because Ares held her so tightly it seemed as if he let go, she'd vanish. "Mr. Nevada?"
"What," said the young-sounding SOLDIER, returning to them. It sounded more like a statement than a question.
Ares gazed down at the girl inquisitively, cocking a brow.
"Mr. Nevada…do you think you could…escort us out? I'll feel safer…" Aphrodite chewed her lower lip and squirmed in her brother's arms, silently asking him to put her down. He reluctantly obeyed—his brows knitted in uncertainty—and set her down on the wooden floor. Aphrodite tried to stand upright, but missed a step, falling forwards.
"Woah! Watch out," said Mr. Nevada, catching her as she fell. Aphrodite felt like a toddler learning to walk as the tall SOLDIER helped steady her on her feet. "Well…all right. I'll take ya two as far as the stream half a mile away, on the path to Cosmo Canyon. You're on your own from there."
"You must be sent from above," praised Ares, bowing gallantly. Oh, silly big brother. He always chose the odd moments to act like a prince.
Mr. Nevada shrugged. "I don't like Hojo. Poor girl…"
Aphrodite felt rather small. She lowered her eyes, furrowing her brows.
The SOLDIER turned to Ares and shook his head. "You, Travere, have no idea how horrible it is to watch him inject Jenova cells into an innocent survivor."
-.-.-.
The incessant ringing of a telephone was Aphrodite's wake-up call the next morning.
The young woman grumbled incoherently, grabbing the phone receiver on the night table beside her bed. Reno's guest bedroom was dark, and Aphrodite could hardly see as she growled "Hello" into the receiver.
"Hello, is this Aphrodite Sorrows?" said an annoying, somewhat feminine voice.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Yes. What do you want?" She barked, sitting up in her bed.
"This is the magazine Sports Midgar," said the voice. "We want to know if you'd like to pose for our next swimsuit issue."
Aphrodite stared at the blank wall as if it were the bothersome voice speaking to her. Swimsuit issue? Good Lord! How did these people know about her? How crazy…
"Uh…well…" she trailed off, not sure what to say. "Wait a minute. How did you find out my name and location?"
"Well…" began the annoying voice. It gradually started to sound less feminine. What the Hell? "'Cause I live with you now, woman!"
Aphrodite at once recognized that suave voice.
"RENO!" She yelled into the phone, and burst out laughing. She rolled over in her bed, and found she was tangled in her sheets like a spider's prey in its web. "You asshole! You woke me up for nothing! What do you want?"
She could almost hear him grinning on the other line. "Oops, sorry, Sleeping Beauty," he snickered. "Actually, 'Dite, I'm over at Headquarters, prepping for my big mission. I jus' wanted to check on ya, to make sure you were all right."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, get real. You're not like that."
"You'd be surprised."
Aphrodite grinned and began to idly twirl the phone cord around her right index finger. "Sure you won't need my help?"
"No, 'Dite. I'll be fine," said Reno's smooth voice. "If you're going out, do me a favor and watch where you go."
Aphrodite frowned. He sounded a bit strange… "Reno, you sound worried. Are you going to be all right, dropping the plate by yourself?"
He sighed. "I won't do it alone; there'll be SOLDIERs to help out. Don't worry about me so much! You're not my damn wife."
Aphrodite shook her head. "Well, look who's talking… Fine then!" Reno always had to be so cocky! He never seemed to want her help… What, did she cramp his "style?" She furrowed her brows and ground her teeth, suddenly and deeply aggravated.
"'Dite, don't be like that," grumbled Reno. "I don't need or want your help."
She bit her lip. "Fine, go ahead, Reno. Why don't you ever want my help? What, do I embarrass you? You're such a cocky bastard!"
"Aphrodite, c'mon," sighed Reno. He sounded troubled and impatient. "I have to destroy a whole fucking sector. I'm going to lose my apartment, and if you don't get out of Sector 7, I'm gonna lose you, too. Cut me some slack."
"Cut you some slack my ass!" screamed Aphrodite, pounding her fist on the night table. Her other hand clutched the phone so tightly her knuckles were turning white. "Go and destroy your damn old hometown, without my help. Go and get yourself hurt! See if I care."
And with that, she slammed the receiver down on its cradle before Reno could respond. Damn him! He could be such a…such a… ergh! Aphrodite was so angry she couldn't find any cruel words to describe him with.
-.-.-.
Only thirty minutes later, Aphrodite found herself throwing on her cerulean Turk uniform. Her short curls were damp from the shower she had taken, just sprinkling her shoulders. She couldn't stay here, alone in his Sector 7 apartment. What if Reno was hurt? What if he did need her help? Sector 7 would perish once he destroyed the pillar, so that meant…
She had to get out of here!
Aphrodite instantly began to sweat in anxiety, but she forced herself not to panic. Why hadn't she realized this before, when Reno tried to tell her? Why did she have to be so stubborn and unwilling to listen and think clearly?
If she stayed here, she was going to die!
The Turk grabbed her gothic mace, equipped her materia, and holstered her gun, dashing for the doorway. Before she left, she took one last look of the apartment and bid it farewell: "…Goodbye."
Aphrodite didn't want to think about the aftermath of all this as she took Reno's dingy car, driving (even though she hated it) as recklessly as the redhead down below the plate.
-.-.-.
It was chaos. Gunfire boomed from above, and terrified slum-dwellers either bawled in one spot or ran around in panic. The air stunk of Shin-Ra.
Aphrodite ground her teeth as she dashed into Sector 7, firmly grasping her mace. She glanced behind her at the shabby car she had taken and bit her lip. One of two Shin-Ra SOLDIERS trying to comfort residents stared at the young woman, and she went over, turning away from the car.
"Excuse me, has Reno of the Turks arrived?" She asked the SOLDIER.
He shook his head, eyeing her uniform. He seemed to acknowledge her rank. "No, but AVALANCHE has. Some reinforcements are at the top of the tower, trying to get rid of them, but…"
"Thank you!" She interrupted him, nodding and making a beeline for the plate support tower. However, a portly man with graying hair and a cherry vest stopped her and offered her a potion and phoenix down for 150 gil.
How silly of her! Aphrodite had forgotten to stock up on potions and phoenix downs. She had a few ethers, though, so she saved some gil, since ethers were costly items.
After briefly thanking the man for the items, Aphrodite turned to the tower, but someone else caught her eye.
Standing almost in the shadows was a haggard-looking woman staring her down.
The first thing Aphrodite noticed about the woman was her limp strawberry-blonde hair, hanging in a short chop around her pale, thin face. She was perusing the female Turk with familiar blue-green eyes, and her skeletal frame almost frightened Aphrodite. The rags she wore filled the role of clothes, but they hardly emphasized her worn curves.
Something about that woman's shining eyes kept Aphrodite from ignoring her. The female Turk found herself coming to the woman and asking, "Is anything wrong?"
The poor woman stared at the blue "T" badge with the Shin-Ra logo on Aphrodite's left breast pocket. "You're a Turk, aren't you?"
She could only nod.
The woman's chapped lips tightened, but her turquoise eyes were smiling. "I won't be here much longer. I don't know your name, pretty, but I'd like to ask a favor of you."
Aphrodite fought the urge to tilt her head. "Quickly, please."
"This won't take long," reassured the woman. "But please take care of my son. That is all I ask."
Aphrodite didn't know what to say to this woman whose eyes twinkled so brightly. Her son? Who was that? Yet nevertheless, she knew she could waste no more time. The female Turk nodded: a brief incline of the head, and she smiled. "I will."
As she began to run up the stairs of the plate support tower, Aphrodite thought she heard a faint call of gratitude echo behind her.
-.-.-
She huffed and puffed as she ran up the stairs, grasping her mace.
But someone stopped her in her tracks.
"Get out of the way," snarled Aphrodite, narrowing her eyes. Her blocker, a young man with a red headband that reminded her of a street fighter, held up his gloved fists.
"No," he growled at her, narrowing his own eyes. "You dirty Turk. You're siding with the company that's—"
"Shut up!" Aphrodite gritted her teeth. "You don't know what you're talking about, terrorist." She took a step back, and in the blink of an eye she switched the mace to her right hand. The AVALANCHE crony—like Reno had once done—braced himself for a right-sided assault.
"Terrorist, huh?" Snarled the young man. "We're bombin' reactors to save the planet from you life-sucking Shin-Ra! It's for the good of the planet!"
"I told you to shut up!" Aphrodite dodged a punch the AVALANCHE member threw at her. Her eyes focused on the left side of his body. Completely vulnerable, the fool.
The fellow ground his teeth, his red headband swaying gently. "That's you Shin-Ra lapdogs can do: Tell us to shut up!"
Aphrodite's eyes narrowed to mere slits. She didn't even think about what she was about to do. Some kind of outside supernatural force influenced her body, and her voice sounded raspier…
"I'll teach you to be quiet, insolent fool." Right in mid-sentence, the female Turk switched her weapon to her left hand, lunged forward, and swung the mace at the AVALANCHE crony. A sickening crack signified a deadly blow to the head.
She hardly had time to recognize the strength of her new weapon, for the young man blindly kicked at her. With a stroke of misfortune the kick succeeded on her ribs, knocking the wind out of her.
The AVALANCHE crony could no longer fight. Immediately after his kick, his severely cracked head began to sway as if it were too heavy for his neck. A thin stream of blood trickled from his mouth, and he gazed at Aphrodite with glazed brown eyes.
"You…" whispered his choked, dying voice. "You… Shin-Ra lapdog… You've made… a mistake…advocating…the Planet's killer…"
Aphrodite watched him utter his last words before he collapsed, hanging over the rail like a sack of potatoes. She bit her lower lip and her eyes stung with oncoming tears of guilt.
No! She could not feel sorrow for him. She tried to remember what Reno and Heidegger had told her…not to let her feelings block the way…
"You don't let your ethics, beliefs, or emotions get in the way," she whispered to herself, wiping the tiny tears from her eyes. She gripped her mace with her left hand, ignoring the blood dripping from its spiky, gold-tipped head. Aphrodite resumed her scaling of the plate support tower.
Advocating the Planet's killer…? She thought about the AVALANCHE crony's last words to her as she stormed up the many flights of stairs. He had repeated the words of the spiritual voices from the energy. But what did all these things mean…? How could she be siding with the Planet's killer?
Shin-Ra was just an electric power company…right?