All But One
Jenova's Will
Reno's hair ruffled violently under the spinning tantrum of the helicopter blades, the tips of his spikes poking against his skin, and his ponytail wriggling madly like a floating snake. He was the last to enter, so he shut the door behind him, and sighed as the thunderous noise of the chopper died down behind the hatch. Everyone was cramped inside, especially Barret, who had to lean his head to the side.
Vincent was sitting next to Rude, and holstered his gun. "Reeve. How did you—"
"I'll explain everything on the way. We've no time to waste." He turned his head towards Barret. "It's good to see you're alright, Barret."
"I'm fine, Reeve. But how the hell did you know we were here?"
The commissioner cleared his throat, twisting around and leaning towards the pilot. "If it wasn't for Shera, here, I'd never have found you guys."
Shera Highwind waved a hand slightly, but quickly returned to piloting the now-airborne chopper.
"Shera's here?! But she's pregnant!" Yuffie squealed, shoving Barret's massive arm from her shoulder.
Reeve nodded. "Yes, but apparently Cid's been taken by someone."
Barret flinched. Those bastards were just taking everyone one by one.
Tseng closed his eyes. "Reeve, tell us what you know."
The commissioner nodded. "A few hours ago, I saw Cloud and Cid heading out of the Shera. At first, I didn't know what was going on, but then this strange man followed behind them. He seemed to know who I was. That's when I caught a glimpse of the red glow in Cid's arm."
Yuffie's eyes widened. "They put it in Cid, too?! How many of those things do those materia do they have?!"
"I'll explain everything, Yuffie, just let me continue."
She nodded.
"The man summoned a rather hideous creature of sorts, and it attacked me. I managed to survive a near-fatal blow to my head thanks to Cait. He showed up with some materia, and we barely escaped alive." He grinned. "Remind me to help repair the damages done to Edge Turn Mall when all this is over. Anyways, shortly after, I received a call from Shera, asking if I knew what happened to Cid. Apparently, there was some kind of ruckus in Rocket Town."
Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, I remember hearing about that from when I was spying in the facility."
"Indeed. I've been having some strange thoughts lately about a series of incidents I never informed you of. If you can recall the events of Meteorfall four years ago, I said I'd take the civilians to a hidden underground shelter. My stay there was short, but I managed to find a couple of classified files that ShinRa had apparently been keeping secret."
Barret lowered his brows and clenched his fists. Why was he not surprised at the mention of more ShinRa secrets?
"According to these documents, Hojo's Jenova Reunion Theory did not end with the mere injection of Jenova cells into his subjects. No, it was beyond that."
"God damn it," Reno hissed. "I never liked that son of a bitch in the first place."
"He apparently went as far as mixing the cells with a small concentration of Mako, and condensed them into what he called the 'Blindsight materia.'"
"That's what Que'd's been using on Cloud and the others," Tseng interrupted.
Reeve nodded, "I only managed to find one of these Blindsight materia, but I took it with me, and later had my WRO Science Department study the strange specimen."
"Elena deciphered their properties with an MD," Reno said, "Apparently it like sucks out your damn emotions or something."
"Yes, and my team ended up with similar results." Reeve paused, brushing his thumb against his thickening goatee. "However, just a few months ago, one of the researchers made a rather…disturbing discovery."
"What?" Yuffie asked, resting her hands on her knees.
"Do you remember the Huge Materia we left with Bugenhagen four years ago?"
Vincent felt an unsettling chill go up his spine.
"Do you remember how one of our materia reacted to them?" Reeve asked, his voice low and soft. "One of my researchers took the Blindsight materia to the Huge Materia." Another pause. "It reacted."
Barret's eyes widened. "Well, what the hell happened?!"
Reeve turned his gaze towards him. "Where's Tifa?"
"She was taken by Que'd," Tseng answered.
"Who's Que'd?"
"He's the one who attacked you."
Reeve closed his eyes. "Tell me, what did he say before taking Tifa?"
"I read his mind, actually. I saw what his intentions were, how he wanted to have revenge for something from his past. His lover was killed in Sector Seven. But he said I was wrong. He said there was something else."
A cold line of sweat traced down Reeve's forehead. He began to shake his head, slowly. "Dear God," he muttered. "This is bad."
-xXx-
Tifa had put up quite a fight, but in the end, she had been overpowered. The shackles that had once held Cid Highwind were now securely wrapped around her wrists, and she could only wait in the darkness of the room as the airship continued to make towards its next destination, though Tifa didn't have the slightest clue of where that could be.
All she could think about was the eerie emptiness that had shrouded Cloud's eyes. The way they pierced through her, emotionless and cold, it robbed her of any hope she had left. They were once calm and warm, but now they sent shivers down her spine.
"Goodness! Watch where you're going, girl!" he yelled, stomping off. She lowered her head apologetically, and reached down for the bag when she saw another hand grab it. She looked up to see Cloud.
"Need a hand with these?" he asked, taking the bags from her hand and opening an umbrella to shield her from the downpour. She smiled.
"Thanks Cloud."
After all she and her companions had been through to save him, it had only ended up in betrayal. Cloud was no longer the man she once loved and cared for. He was only Cloud in appearance, nothing more than a heartless shell, obeying the orders of his new companion. Still, Tifa found it hard to grasp.
Tifa had been in love with the ocean ever since her childhood. She remembered the conversation she had with Cloud when they first began to settle down in Edge. He'd asked her what she would wish for if she could have anything in the world. She told him she wanted to live near the ocean.
There was a small tag hanging loosely from the corner of the tank. Tifa smiled as she read the note inside.
"To: Tifa
From: Cloud
Couldn't get you the ocean,
But I hope this'll suffice.
Happy Birthday, Tifa!"
Was this how it was going to end? Was this what they'd been fighting for this whole time? Just to be betrayed by the very people they'd been desperately trying to save? What about the promises he had made with her? What happened to the cocky Cloud that always told her it was going to be okay?
He'd always denied it, but to Tifa, Cloud was always the infallible hero, always there to stop trouble, always there to save his friends from harm. She had witnessed his victory over Sephiroth, she'd seen him overcome his own tormenting demons.
How could he lose to his own emotions?!
Tifa tugged hard at the shackles, wincing slightly as her skin pulled back against the metal rings.
There had only been one time when Cloud was not the infallible hero. But even then, even when he had been plagued by the Mako poisoning, she had been able to bring him back! She was able to help him!
Cloud frowned.
"Well I guess I'm gonna have to say this, then…" he said, his cheeks slowly reddening.
"The promise we made when we were young…I mean, not that we aren't young now, but—"
"Yeah, the promise. What about it?"
Cloud swallowed. "I promised you I'd be there for you, right?"
Tifa nodded.
"I want you to make that same promise for me."
Tifa's heart stopped.
Cloud got up from his seat, and knelt down, pulling out a small box from his pocket.
"Tifa Lockhart. Will you marry me?"
She heard the door creak open, and winced at the bright light that pierced through the crack. The woman who had captured her was standing in the light, fists resting on her hips.
"We're here," she said. "If you cooperate, your death will be quick."
Tifa spat to the side. "I'm not doing anything to help you."
Rosianna's lips curled up. "Don't worry, no one wants you to help anyone. All we need is for you to do is cooperate." She stepped forward and leaned over to release the chains from the wall, but Tifa was still unable to move, since her wrists and ankles were still shackled.
"Where are we?" she asked.
The woman regained her posture, raising a finger and signaling for her to follow. "We're in Cosmo Canyon."
-xXx-
"Shera! Can't this thing go any faster?! We need to—"
"Calm down, Reeve. Cid's specialties are airships, not helicopters. We're going as fast as it'll allow."
Reeve sighed.
"Yo, Tuetsi! You wanna tell us what the hell happened when it reacted?" Barret grunted, arms crossed.
Reeve turned back towards the group, sighing again. "Physically, the Lifestream is just a river of green ethereal energy, holding the lifeblood and even the spirit of the Planet. When an organism dies, all of its memories and consciousness are returned to the Planet in the form of the Lifestream, and so the memories of that individual live on through the Planet."
"I know all that! Will you just—"
"When the Lifestream is converted into Mako, and when the Mako is condensed into materia, all of the knowledge and memories are passed down and contained in the small crystallized orb. But in his experimentations with the Jenova Project, Hojo injected Jenova cells into these Mako energies, consequently mixing the will of Jenova with the memories of the Planet." He turned, gazing out at the darkness through the window. "The Huge Materia we left in Bugenhagen's house are highly refined and condensed Mako, and can even cause other materia to react. When Hojo's Blindsight materia was reacted with Huge Materia, it caused the Jenova cells to react violently."
He paused, and returned his gaze to the group. "We deciphered the new properties, and the results weren't pretty. Apparently, it became a summon materia, and was able to reanimate the Lifestream into an entity of the past."
Barret lowered his brow. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, it can summon people from the dead."
Tseng nodded.
It was all clear to him now. Que'd's intentions, his reasons in capturing Cloud and Rufus, his purpose in taking Tifa, they all made sense. While he kept Tseng and the others busy in their search for Cloud and Rufus, Que'd's intentions were to resurrect his lover through the reaction of the Blindsight materia. He needed Tifa to act as his hostage so he could get to the Huge Materia without much trouble. He had somehow learned about the Huge Materia, probably through some kind of leak in the WRO Database, or maybe even through one of his people.
"He's going to revive Lillia."
Yuffie and Elena frowned. "But that's—"
"It won't work," Reeve cut.
"Why not? You said it yourself, it'll act as a summon materia to bring back the—"
"It won't work because of Jenova's will. Don't you get it? The memories of the Lifestream are meant to stay with the Lifestream. When you die, let's say you end up in some kind of heaven, or paradise. Do you think you'd want to come back to this Planet? I don't."
Reno shrugged, tapping the rod against the sole of his shoes. "What're you saying, man?"
"I'm saying that only someone who wants to come back would respond to the materia's call."
There was a brief silence within the helicopter, and only the occasional beeps from Shera's control panels broke the quietness.
Reeve shook his head. "Who's the only person that would want to come back?"
Yuffie raised a finger slightly. "Aeris?"
"No," Reeve snapped. He turned his head and gazed out the window, watching as his breath fogged up against the glass.
"Sephiroth."