Aerith suddenly winced, letting in a powerful gasp of air.
Ragnar wheeled around to her immediately. However, he was the only one in the tower control room to notice this, due to proximity. The others were more preoccupied with their own consoles. Some of them were frowning. One was actually smacking their screen. Another was looking up curiously at the lights, certain that they were dimmer… Just a few moments ago, their radar and sonar screens had become weak. Some had gone out. They realized that something had rendered them blind. Quickly they put out calls to other towers and to the destroyers, only to find that the same effect had taken place. The searchlights themselves had gone out all together. With little option left, they were now asking personnel to simply go out on deck of their ships and try and look for something.
Ragnar himself had been concerned about this a moment ago. He had begun to wonder if he had been tricked…if the Turks were trying some new device on him to sneak in with some weapon. However, that was before Aerith had reacted. As he looked to her, he saw her blankly staring out at the dark window of the control tower. Her eyes had enlarged again, and her mouth hung open.
"What's the matter?" He asked her.
The Cetra paused a moment, but then turned and looked to him.
"…There's something not right here. Something very bad is happening."
In another second, Ragnar would have opened his mouth to further ask what this was. However…he was caught before that happened. His own senses, heightened by Bahamut's presence, picked up on it as well.
Something dark was near…very near. It stood out far greater than anything else on the shore. It seemed to almost radiate some black, wicked feeling…
Yet before Ragnar could think anymore about it…one of the people at the consoles turned to him.
"Sir, we have something!"
Ragnar snapped out of his momentary daze at this. Although he could still sense this feeling, he didn't focus on it. Instead, he turned back to the others in the room, and found himself looking to the communications officer.
"The Yamato reports an incoming small boat that had its floodlight on." The officer explained. "It just made landfall. We can't give anymore than that at this moment."
Aerith turned and looked to the officer as well here. Ragnar went on to inquire more. "What sector did they land in?"
"B-4, sir."
After hearing this, Ragnar immediately turned and began to go for the door to the stairway. Aerith turned toward him as he did so and quickly followed. While moving, he called behind him.
"Alert General Cloud and tell him to meet me in that sector. Place a call into the special forces unit and have a company arrive at sector C-4 but do not advance until I give the order."
Oh no…
Elena thought this as she stared up at her in a mixture of shock and terror. She was paralyzed at the moment, along with the others. They could only gape at what they were seeing. The worst possible scenario had happened…something that Elena had feared ever since she had first seen Krystea in her new body. No…this was worse than that. Subconsciously she had feared that she would turn into someone like Kadaj… But she had turned into something far more terrible…
She was his mate.
Sephiroth seemed to realize that none of them were going to make a move on him or her. With that, he calmly turned away and looked back to Aleron. Her own green gaze shifted and looked to him, keeping her smile. At this, he removed his bundle from his side, and then extended it to come over both of his hands. He held these up and out to her, presenting the bundle to the woman.
"I've waited long for you." He addressed her. "I've prepared a gift."
Aleron shifted her eyes down and looked at the bundle momentarily. Then, she reached out again, this time touching the edges of it. Very calmly, she unwrapped the bundle to reveal what was beneath it. The Turks watched until the last of it was taken off…and the dim morning light gleamed on what was beneath.
It was a scythe.
A rather fearsome looking one at that. The long curved blade on top of it seemed to snake out and enwrap the shaft with tendrils of metal, like nerves or blood vessels. A second gleaming spike was on the end, making that part a spear. Elena wasn't an expert on blades, but somehow she thought that this thing was rather deadly indeed.
Aleron seemed to be pleased with it. She traced her fingers along the blades for a moment, seeming to relish the sight of it. Then, her hand moved to the shaft and ran along it until it reached the middle. There, she enclosed her fingers around the staff and pulled it up. She twisted it around and brought it inward, and marveled over it as she did so. Her green eyes narrowed.
"…It's name?" She asked.
"Kokushibyou." Sephiroth answered.
"Appropriate." Aleron answered. Holding it in one hand, she removed her other and grasped the fold of the cloak that was now around her. With one easy pull, she removed it from her body in a flourish, casting it up into the wind and letting it carry it into the sea.
Elena saw that her attire had changed. She was now dressed mostly in black. She wore black pants and boots, and they extended up to her waist. Her top, however, consisted of a roll of cloth that acted as a top and bra, with black straps extended over her shoulders. Her hands also had black gloves on them, and both the cloth around her bosom and the pants were trimmed with what looked like the same silver steel as Sephiroth's armor. It also served to accent her muscles and flawless features. Aleron crossed the scythe in front of her next, and moved her other arm down to hold it further down.
Now…she truly looked like an angel of death.
Sephiroth's arms crossed as he beheld her. "That suits you."
Aleron looked up and back to his face with her same smile. "Thank you."
"I understand you had some trouble with the other."
"No longer." Aleron calmly answered. "My power is still developing. I've got a ways to go before I catch up to you. But I've suppressed her for the last time."
"Glad to hear it." Sephiroth answered with a nod.
"Where do we go from here?"
"We return north and see Mother. Then…we wait for the sign."
Aleron gave a nod. "You'll have to help me. I'm still far behind you."
"Of course."
With that, Aleron began to turn and face the ocean. Sephiroth kept turning as well and faced it. She shifted her scythe to one hand, and extended her other. Sephiroth reached out to take it. Elena saw this, and realized what was going to happen. He was going to teleport or fly away or something. And when he did…Krystea was going to be gone to them. He was taking her away to never return. Seeing this, coupled with them turning away from the Turks, she felt enough will and strength in her body to step forward and shout out.
"Krystea! Snap out of it! You're not like him!"
Sephiroth was moments from taking Aleron's hand…when she pulled it out of his grasp at the last moment. Both dark beings froze for a moment. For a moment, Elena and the rest of the Turks felt hopeful. Maybe she had heard them…
Then, Aleron slowly turned back around to face them. Her look had not changed in the least. Her hand returned to her side as Sephiroth began to turn as well.
"…I had nearly forgotten about you three ants." She cooed with a smile as she turned back to them. Elena's look blanched, and she suddenly stepped back again. However, Aleron herself soon began to walk forward toward them. When she did…all three felt colder. It was like the Reaper was coming for them.
"I really have to thank you." She spoke as she approached. "Had I not been with you, the New Shinra would have locked me up as a lab specimen long before I could complete my metamorphosis. They might even have devised a way to restrain me or control me. Then there was the fact you helped me get to the Eastern Continent. After I had transformed, they certainly would have tried to keep me sedated while I was struggling to master my body. Again, you helped me get out.
"But most of all…" She said as she drew to a halt about ten feet in front of them. The three were paralyzed again, staring at this fearsome new creature. "I have to thank you all for using your archaic, baseless, childish notions of friendship. A blind man with a cane should have realized that I couldn't come close to approaching the same personality type as that sickening clone. But you…you didn't care about that…because I was supposed to be your friend.
"You should have killed me. You should have put the clone out of its misery during the metamorphosis. You should have shot me the moment you saw me in the bathroom. You should have jumped me when I started showing my new taste for passion and death. Yet you didn't…thinking of me as your friend. In that sense…I am truly grateful to the clone for taking so long to be suppressed. It kept you from killing me long enough for me to reach this point."
Elena stared wide-eyed on at the woman. "Krystea…"
Aleron snapped to Elena at that, nearly making her recoil again. "I told you once that she was gone." She responded. "I am the only one here now."
"And who…" Reno spoke up, his own tone unsteady but a bit calmer, redirecting the attention of everyone to him. "Or what…are you?"
Aleron focused on him a moment in silence. But then, she cracked a smile and snickered.
"I was born the day that Hoeng's experiment took place." She replied. "I was small then. Only about ten cells of Jenova fused to ten cells of the clone…but it was enough. Then I was conceived. There I floated around within the clone, like a baby in a womb. But unlike a baby, I could not grow within her. I needed to become her. That was how my development was to take place.
"And so I reproduced. I proliferated. I moved out into the rest of her body, establishing totipotent stem cells at each point where they needed to be. As I grew, she began to use me. She saw how much better I made her, but I was powerless to do anything about it. At the time, I could only make her a bit more confident in her new abilities. Even when I began to divide…began to make the pluripotent cells…I could do little. However, I was free to begin to set up my 'assault'.
"And that's what I did one day. I began to reproduce more. I began to aggregate. I started to become a true being and not just a collection of cells. I built my body and devoured hers to make it so. It took a while to beat her down…but in the end I succeeded. I finished constructing my body within the shell of her own.
"Yet while this was happening, I began to exert my control. At first it was small. I could only take her over for a few seconds a day. Then it became minutes. Then hours. Once that happened, I started moving around…testing my abilities…"
Reno's face crooked at this. "What do you mean? You were being monitored. You-"
Aleron cut him off with a cold, icy laugh. "Fool… The New Shinra never told you that their cameras and monitoring devices were frozen for extended periods. I was the cause. I had to practice, you see, in anticipation for tonight…when I would render everyone blind to my arrival. I also tested my power early on by meeting up with the bastard Cetra. By then, I was able to manipulate objects not only electrical but mundane. I made a common broom handle as strong as steel and engaged him in battle. Only then did I realize that I was being too ambitious…that I had to lay low longer. Strong as I was becoming, I was still too weak. I had to complete my evolution."
Unseen by Aleron or Sephiroth or the Turks, Elena's brow furrowed.
Did she just refer to the Cetra as "him"?
"Once I emerged…I was more fully in control. Now, I was the dominant one, and the clone was the one who kept wresting control from me. I was able to keep it quiet for the most part. When I felt it coming on, I ducked into my room and held her down long enough for her to subside. But that wasn't possible at some points…such as when she left you the note, Reno."
Elena snapped to Reno at this. Rude did the same. "What is she talking about, Reno?"
The Turk hesitated for a moment, but then inhaled a deep breath and sighed.
"…I should have told you about this from the start, but I was afraid that if it was true that Krystea would have reacted." He darkly answered. "She left me a note the first night we camped out. I didn't know who it was from. All it said was 'help me'."
Rude's mouth hung open. Elena gaped at him. However…after a moment, her face twisted into an angry look. "You're damn right you should have told us! Maybe we could have stopped this from happening!"
"I assure you, that was impossible." Aleron calmly answered, directing everyone's attention back to her. "My assumption of her body was inevitable from the moment that my cells first came into being. If he had tried anything, I would have indeed killed you all without a second thought. Yet even then, I couldn't fully control her at first unless I gave in to some of her demands. I had to let at least her personality type have some say in my actions. Yet as she waned and I waxed, I was able to overcome that more and more."
That explains why she got worse… Elena thought.
"That brings us to the present." Aleron concluded. "I have destroyed the clone's personality. Now, only I remain. Now a new order begins not only for this world but for all worlds. Never before has Mother achieved what she has achieved here. In all honesty…it is due purely to the ambitions of mankind that it was possible. Thanks to certain key people…me and my mate exist in the first place."
"What exactly does your 'new order' consist of?" Reno asked.
Aleron kept her smile and let out a chuckle.
"…That is of little concern to those who will not be part of it." She simply answered. "Now…if you are done…farewell." With that, the woman turned around and began to walk back toward Sephiroth, who until now was patiently waiting and watching.
However, Elena's attention was gathered again, as well as Aleron's in the form of her stopping in her tracks, when a new sound broke the silence of the field.
The sound of electricity snapping as Reno pulled out his nightstick and aimed it right at Aleron.
"I don't buy your crap about Krystea being gone for a second." He snapped at the dark woman. "She's a Turk. Her personality isn't one that's going to get destroyed by some dumb bitch like you. Even if she wasn't…there's no way in hell I'm going to let you just walk away to do whatever it is you have planned. I didn't drive that boat all the way here tonight to just stand back and let you walk away. You're still coming with us, whether you like it or not."
Rude hesitated only a moment before raising his own fists. Elena was the most hesitant out of all of them, but in the end she too went for her sidearm and pulled up her gun. Hoping she wasn't making a fatal mistake, she took aim at the woman ahead of her…although she wasn't sure if she should shoot to wound or to kill…
For a few moments, the three of them stood motionless with weapons aimed at Aleron. Neither she nor Sephiroth made a move in reply. The cold wind continued to blow, and the air still seemed dead. Elena felt the hair on her spine raise, and more sweat begin to run down her brow as she waited for this standoff to end.
Finally, Sephiroth was the one who raised his head.
"…Shall I take care of them for you?"
"No need." Aleron calmly answered right away.
Again, she crossed her scythe in front of her.
"I need the practice."
It suddenly appeared as if Aleron had springs built under her feet, for she abruptly launched herself into the air like a rocket. The Turks gaped in surprise, for they hadn't even seen her squat down at all. Yet as they looked up and saw her go into the air, they also noticed that she was arching backward, and doing a jackknife as she went back through the sky. Her scythe was pulled inward as she spun around and twisted like a top on an axis, gracefully arched backward, behind the Turks, and came down feet first right behind them…
The moment she landed…the assault began.
Aleron lashed out with her scythe for Rude in the center. The man had barely enough time to see her even get behind them, let alone defend himself. The slash cut through the back of his suitcoat and shirt, nearly slicing him. In a panic move, he moved farther away. However, the other two Turks had enough time to spin around and recover. Yet just as Elena was raising her own weapon to shoot, Aleron twisted up the other end of her scythe to strike against it. Not only did the spiked end tear the gun from her grasp…but it also sliced into the barrel, effectively ruining it. Reno moved in to stab with his electropole…but Aleron calmly arched her back and let it shoot harmlessly beneath her. After doing so, she gracefully raised one leg up, and then swung it across Reno's face with such force that it shattered his goggles and sent him flying to the ground.
Elena turned to look after her gun, when Aleron gracefully twisted her body back, doing a somersault roundhouse before extending her other leg to smash across her face, sending her away as well. By now, however, Rude had recovered, and had spun around to move in on the woman. His first jab was easily countered by Aleron nimbly dodging her head to one side. The same with the next blow to the opposite side. She blocked the next blow to the body with the staff of her scythe. The fourth one she blocked by swinging upward on her staff, deflecting the blow upward. On doing so, she leapt into the air and brought both feet forward to smash into Rude's chest, making him give out a large grunt before flying back.
Reno was now recovered. Elena was still dazzled, but as she got up she began to look for her gun. As for the former, he was still on the ground when Aleron touched back down. He used that to his advantage and swung his leg out for hers in a tripping motion. Without even turning to him, she nimbly leapt over it. However, her pause to do so did allow him to have enough time to tuck his legs underneath him and shoot back at his feet. Like a chopping rapier, he advanced on Aleron, striking her over the head with his electropole three times. She raised her scythe and twisted each blow down, although she did back up with each chop. Once these blows were done, Reno dove forward and jabbed for her side again. She twisted easily away from the first blow. He jabbed again for her other side a moment later. She spun clockwise away from this one…but while she did she raised her own scythe up and out, so that on spinning forward she would slash through him… Now, Reno had to back up and quickly cross his own pole in front of him to block. Yet after doing so, he saw Aleron's back wide open. He quickly twisted his pole off and dove in for a jab. However…Aleron was still too fast. She simply spun the other way with such speed that she was able to swing her scythe in from the opposite direction to block it. Electricity snaked through the air.
Reno and Aleron continued to exchange blows for a few moments; the former sweating and struggling to keep up, with the latter calmly smiling. This gave enough time, however, for Rude to get up again. While Aleron and Reno clashed, he ran in from the side and prepared to give her a blow to the head. However, again, without even looking up, Aleron calmly tilted her torso and shot out one leg to the side as Rude came in…smashing him in the face and grounding him again. After that, she yanked Kokushibyou back and then drove the staff end with the scythe on it forward, right for Reno's head. The Turk backed up…and accidentally let his nightstick hover in front of him. Abruptly…Aleron cut her move short, shifted the end of her scythe down, and yanked it back so that the blade went to his pole. A moment later…and the end of the scythe sliced through the pole like a hot knife through butter. Reno paused in shock…because she had to have been electrocuted with the full voltage of his nightstick while doing that. And yet…she never even flinched. That stun, however, was all the time Aleron needed to advance again, shifting her grasp down to the spike end of her scythe, swinging it around in an arc. As it came around, the flat end of the scythe smashed Reno across the face with nearly enough force to break his jaw…and again he went to the ground.
Aleron wheeled around to Elena next. The woman was back up now, and although her gun was ruined she had recovered her fire materia from it. Moments later…she opened fire on the silver-haired woman. However, Aleron merely smiled in response. She began to twirl her scythe in a circle and approach her. Elena's first fireball was aimed true…but on striking the scythe the ball was deflected and thrown away to one side. It smashed against the ground a moment later and erupted far away from the fight. Elena fired again as Aleron kept approaching. This time, the ball was thrown into the ocean, and fizzled out on landing. Elena tensed, and was moments from firing again…when Aleron reached her. Abruptly, her spinning stopped, and she swung forward and smacked the materia from Elena's grasp with the hook of her scythe. Seconds afterward, she kept spinning down and brought her spike against Elena's forehead while the woman kept gasping. The spike hit…and immediately slashed into her scalp. Crying out in pain, Elena grasped her bleeding head and fell back.
Aleron didn't press her attack, however, but instead twisted to the side and drove the now bloody spike to her right. Again, her apparent heightened senses alerted her to Rude making another move. The man had to cut himself off to avoid being impaled. He dodged to the side…but was a moment too slow. The spike still sliced through his clothing and grazed the flesh of his side. He bit down and bore with it, but soon had to leap back as well as Aleron advanced on him, twisted Kokushibyou around, and sliced out for his middle. Again he barely dodged it, this time getting a slash across his middle.
The dark woman would have pressed the attack and continued…had it not been for Reno suddenly lunging forward from behind and leaping on her back with a superhuman effort. Immediately, his arms wrapped around her neck to put her into a sleeper hold. However, he had barely grabbed her when she seemed to forget about Rude, and unleashed a devastating chain of blows. First she drove both elbows back, hitting Reno hard in the stomach and snapping ribs on either side. This immediately made him loosen and gag…giving her enough time to swing her head back and smash it against his already broken nose. His body recoiled from this, allowing her to remove one hand from her scythe, make another elbow, and drive it behind her into his throat. His larynx was collapsed, making him gag on blood as he stumbled back. Yet he didn't have time to bring his hand to his throat before Aleron spun around one last time, and this time gave Reno a backhand so hard that part of his jaw did fracture. The hapless Turk went flying off, struck the ground, and slid back…nearly reaching the edge of the cliff.
Aleron spun back to Elena a moment after, who had got enough control of her pain to come for her with her own martial skills. Not only that, but Rude had recovered enough to come forward as well. Aleron stayed calm, however. As Rude approached and threw his first punch, she merely smacked it down with a deflection block. She did it two more times as Rude and Elena both advanced with jump kicks of their own, deflecting first one and then the other. She dodged two more times as they came in again with another set of blows. But after that…she began to get bored.
Abruptly, Aleron choked back on the scythe and swung the broad side of the blade up, smashing Rude under the chin as he was coming for another blow. This stunned him long enough for her to focus her full attention on Elena. The blond woman advanced with another punch first. This time…Aleron reached out and seized it, and then twisted her arm around so hard and fast that before Elena knew what was happening…her arm had been dislocated from its socket. Yet she hardly had time to cry out in pain from this before Aleron advanced and smashed a boot out for the side of Elena's leg. A loud crunch went out in response as her leg bent the wrong way, the rest of her weight falling on it to bend it even more. Elena began to go down, now beginning to vocalize…but Aleron again wouldn't let her. She shot out a hand, grabbed her collar, and then snapped Elena up and into her own skull so hard that it appeared her arm movement caused more of the pain that resulted rather than the headbutt. A sickening crack later…and Elena went limp as a new bloody wound burst forth from her head. She collapsed moments later.
Aleron turned to her last opponent here. Rude had recovered by now, and as he grit his teeth he advanced. While he did so, Aleron spun her weapon around so that the spiked end was up and the scythe was below. Rude swung two punches at her, but Aleron deflected them using her staff. However…she did something else this time. As Rude punched and she blocked…she quickly ran the length of her staff down along his hand so that the spike on the end impacted his flesh. The result was cutting a long bloody gash in response. Within seconds, both of Rude's hands were injured and crippled, and in pain his hands went to his sides.
That was all the dark woman wanted. Immediately, she stepped in…and then initiated a rapid pair of backflips in front of him. As she did, her boots lashed out and smashed Rude under the jaw. First one…then the other…then both again. But not satisfied with that…Aleron did more. After her first foot connected on each flip, she pulled it back and smashed it in his face before hitting him with the second foot. This rapid, seemingly impossible move served to smash both of his eyeglass lenses as well as leave him barely conscious. Once both flips were finished, Aleron iron palmed him in the chest to send him falling back, and then collapse and sprawl out on the ground.
Here…Aleron grinned rather wickedly. With one powerful flick of her arm, she tossed Kokushibyou high into the air. Her throw had surprising force, and soon it spun around itself in an arc as it sailed up into the sky. After that, Aleron crossed both of her arms in front of her, spread them out again, tilted her head back, squatted and leapt into the sky. Just as easily…she too shot high into the air, easily going up over a hundred feet with that simple gesture. Rude, weak and groaning, blinked through his shattered lenses and looked up to her.
When he did, he saw Aleron gracefully put her arms in front of her and spin forward…rather like a diver performing a move. But as her upward velocity terminated and her body swung around so that it was now facing headfirst for the ground…he saw her do something else. She crossed her arms in front of her, flattened her palms, and made an X across her chest. After that…she began to fall right down for Rude…in particular his neck.
The man's eyes widened as he recognized the move…but it was impossible to get out of the way. He could only stare and feebly try to get his body moving for a few moments before it was too late. She landed soon after…slamming the X shape right across Rude's neck…impacting so hard that her elbows left imprints in the ground.
Rude's eyes widened. His mouth opened, but nothing came out. Not even a gagging sound. His face was frozen in that grotesque position for a moment…before everything about him went limp.
At this point…Aleron was on top of his body in a perfect vertical position, only with her arms down balancing her on his neck like some sort of strange headstand. Once she saw Rude pass out…she cracked a grin and gave a small laugh. Then, pushing off of her arms, she launched herself off of the motionless Rude, arched back through the air, and landed on her feet right in front of him where she had been moments earlier. Without even looking up, she extended one arm to the side. Kokushibyou fell into it a moment later…and despite the fact that it was spinning her arm caught it easily, and right side up. She drew it into herself a moment later.
"Hmph." She said with a bored undertone. "Was that all? Was this the best that the Turks were capable of? I suppose I should feel happy that you simply lasted as long as you did. Small favors and all that."
Elena, from her position, could barely respond. She was in too much pain. Half of her body was so agonized that it felt nearly numb. One of her legs was compound fractured, and the arm on the same side was useless. Right now, most of her senses were dazzled. The world was spinning around her, and pain radiated through everything. However, as she groaned and writhed on the ground, struggling to get her bearings together, she was able to keep some grasp of what was going on. Though hazy…she could see Rude and Reno broken and beaten nearby, much like her. And standing over them all…brimming with that dark, cold feeling…was Aleron.
Elena moaned, and struggled to move…struggled to even look up. But she was in too much pain. She couldn't believe it…she was helpless again. She didn't like that feeling. She had hovered far too close to death when she had fought Kadaj's gang… Receiving a beating at the hands of a person like this bore a striking similarity to that time. Yet now…she was shocked. This thing still bore Krystea's resemblance. It had been her. It sounded like her…looked like her…and yet it had acted so cruel and pitiless. She hadn't hesitated to do this to her. It made her fear that what she had said was right…that Krystea was indeed gone…that there wasn't anything left in this monster to save…
The woman exhaled and turned her head again to Rude and Reno. She was out of this fight. She couldn't even defend herself now. She thought that the others might be better. However…Rude was barely breathing. She had still been too dazzled to see Aleron perform the flying X, but one look was all it took to tell her that he was in even worse shape than her. That left Reno. He was moving the most at the moment…but it too was all writhing. His face was beaten and swollen. He looked like he was on some sort of sedation, slow and fumbling as he was moving.
"I would let you live…at least for a bit longer." Aleron began again at last, getting Elena's attention again. "But it would be foolish of me at this point. You've interfered with Mother far too often. First in the Temple of the Ancients…then in the Great Northern Crater…then in Edge… Much of a waste of effort as it is, I'll simply kill you three right now."
Elena stiffened here, feeling her brow begin to sweat. Again, she struggled to move…but the slightest shift put her limbs in agony. And even elevating her head slightly made her dizzy. She continued to struggle momentarily anyway…until Aleron turned and looked to her. Once her burning green gaze was fixed on her body…the woman went rigid. Again, a feeling of coldness and fear gripped her heart and paralyzed her. For a moment, she was frozen under that gaze. She could only look back and shrink beneath the pale green eyes…
Aleron cracked a smile and snorted. "You're alert, but you won't be anymore trouble. So you won't be first." Here, she looked away…and Elena immediately gasped for air. It was as if her breathing had ceased while she had been staring at her.
The dark woman's eyes went to Rude next. "You'll be out for days, so you're no threat."
After that, she turned her head one more time…letting her eyes rest on Reno. By now, his writhing was ceasing. He was breathing slower now, and it looked as if he was recovering. He was still on his back at the moment though. Elena, on seeing Aleron look to him, stiffened. She realized she had made her choice. The woman soon turned her full attention to the Turk and began to walk toward him.
"Krystea…no…please!" Elena begged.
If Aleron heard, she didn't respond. She instead closed the distance to Reno's body, and then proceeded to straddle over him on arrival. The man continued to breathe slowly, but his beaten face turned and managed to look up to the woman. Aleron seemed to wait for this…wait until he could see her over him. Once he did…she raised Kokushibyou's spike and placed it on his chest.
"Before you die, little man," She spoke down to his fallen body. "I'm curious. Do you still think that something of the clone is left in me? Or have I convinced you that only I remain? After all…if the clone had any say in my behavior…would I be about to kill you?"
Reno's eyes were still swollen…but he managed to open them a bit more. He coughed up another few drops of blood as he stared on at her.
"You may be a bit better than I thought…" He croaked in response, his voice raspy from the blow inflicted on him. "But this only proved one thing to me. I know Krystea would never let a heartless bitch like you kick her out of her own body. She's got to still be in there."
"Or perhaps you're being ignorant…and not accepting the fact that she no longer exists, much less is in a position to stop me from doing anything." Aleron answered. "You humans and your foolish hope…"
"Hope's got nothing to do with it…" Reno croaked back. "It's my intuition. It's never let me down yet…"
"It did today." Aleron calmly answered.
Reno, however, grinned in response to this. "You know how else I know? For a woman whose threatening to kill me while I'm down…you're taking a mighty long time to-"
The Turk suddenly was cut off.
Aleron, in his mid-speech, drove the spike end of her scythe into his chest.
The color faded from Elena's face. "No!"
Reno's own eyes went wide the moment it happened. His cocky look faded into shock. His entire body, moving slowly before now, went rigid and quivered. His palms opened, and his fingers crooked and shook as the blade rested in his chest. As for Aleron…this action only made her smile more.
"You were saying?"
Elena continued to stare, frozen in horror. She couldn't say anything or move…just watch as Reno stayed rigid a bit longer…and then saw Aleron rip her blade back out of his chest. When that happened, he stiffened one last time…and then went limp. His eyes stayed wide open, and his mouth stayed lax and agape…but his body relaxed and came to a rest. His muscles went flaccid…and he moved no more.
The Turk couldn't believe it. She had done it. Any hope that Krystea was left vanished. But that was the least of it. Her eyes were focused on Reno…seeing how still he was…seeing him begin to turn pale… They argued a lot and she hated some of his passes…but he was her partner and friend. He was Krystea's too. She had just so easily stabbed him…enjoying it all the time. If there had been anything of Krystea still there, she never would have done it. But she felt no pity or love for them. There wasn't anything left of her friend in her. Only this monster…
Elena's horror vanished, and gave was to fear. Her gaze fell, and she began to feel tears coming on. The Turks were beaten. Reno was gone. Krystea was gone… She felt her chest tighten as the upright, bold, brave part of her eroded, giving way to her despair… She started to break down…
"…Krystea…"
Elena's head raised more at this. That had been a female voice…but it hadn't been Aleron's. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had been surprised by that. Leaving her spike over Reno's body, dripping his own blood on top of him, the dark woman looked up and to the source. Elena could barely move, but somehow she managed to twist her head behind her to see what had happened.
They were no longer alone.
Standing only about thirty feet away from their fallen bodies were two new arrivals. One was General Ragnar, girded with his sword and looking ready for action. However, he was hesitating right now, staring ahead at what had transpired, and in particular the woman astride Reno's body. Standing nearby but behind him was another person…one whose appearance nearly made Elena think that somehow Krystea had broken off from Aleron and had become separate…before she realized who it was.
It was Aerith.
She too had stopped, and was staring straight ahead at what was going on. Her eyes were wide and clearly full of shock…but not necessarily sadness or fear. Her mouth hung open slightly, no doubt due to what she was witnessing. It left it impossible for her to show any other emotion…just gape aghast and try to process what was taking place before her eyes. For a few moments…everyone was silent and motionless. Even Sephiroth didn't make a move on Aerith, or even speak out to her. He just watched this all with that dark smile on his face. Meanwhile…Aleron's burning green eyes, nearly cat-like, stared out into Aerith's own innocent green gaze. Elena had never noticed it…but now she saw the same eyes she had once seen in Krystea looking out from Aerith's face…and realized how beautiful they had been…
In the end, Aleron's corner of her mouth turned further up. She stepped off from over Reno and turned fully to Aerith. "Hmm…so my job is easier now." She spoke aloud as she saw them. "Both Cetra are right here."
Aerith seemed too stunned to realize what she had said…but Elena was not.
…Both?
Aerith blinked once in response as her face grew uneasier. "Krystea…what's happened to you?"
"You too seem to think that I'm the clone still." Aleron sneered with a chuckle. She began to step forward toward her. "Perhaps I can convince you otherwise…" She began to cross Kokushibyou in front of her again.
The Cetra seemed surprised at this too…and maybe even hurt to see that it was so…but she wasn't afraid. She saw Aleron actually approaching her with her weapon drawn…and looked up into her face with an incredulous stare. She placed her hand against her own chest.
"…Krystea, it's me. It's your sister…"
This actually did make Aleron stop…and laugh out loud. Elena cringed as she heard it. When the woman snapped her head back and let out her cold, biting, mocking laugh…even to one it wasn't directed to it turned insides into knots. It dipped into her own fears of having lost Krystea…and made tears begin to come to her eyes. She could only imagine what the Cetra was feeling… Yet as she looked back to her, she saw that although she now looked very hurt, and even a bit scared…she still wasn't tearing, and only now did she draw an arm toward her body and step back. The shock of it all still seemed to be impacting her more than anything.
"There's the supreme irony!" Aleron laughed. "You've actually been coddling this soulless imprint as your sister! You actually loved it!" She snickered a moment longer…but then calmed down and aimed her burning green eyes hungrily on Aerith again as he teeth barred in a grin. "You're a greater fool than she was. I can't believe something so sickeningly soft hearted actually gave my mate so much trouble…not once but twice now. I don't know how you crawled back out of hell, but I'll be glad to send you plunging headlong back that way."
With that, Aleron aimed her scythe down in front of her again, and curved the blade in front of her in a position to charge. She crouched and got ready to spring on the Cetra. Aerith took another step back, still staring in disbelief at the woman. Ragnar himself seemed to snap out of it, and went for his own blade…
But before either of them could react…a longer, darker blade suddenly came out from the side and placed itself near Aleron's throat.
"…How about fighting someone who's armed?"
Aleron's grin faded, but her smile remained. Her eyes flicked to the side to see where the blade had come from. Elena, having not noticed this person incoming, turned and looked as well. She soon saw that the blade was part of a much larger sword…and as she looked along it she eventually reached the gloves of its owner…and then looked up to see his face.
Cloud was there, and looking more steely and cold than any of them.
The woman merely snorted…and then, with utmost calm and care, slowly pulled Kokushibyou back until her hand was all the way to the scythe blade. Then, still moving calmly, she raised the end of the weapon up and hooked it around Cloud's own sword…before gently pushing it down and away. She took the moment to step back from him as she did so, although she fully turned her body to him now. Ragnar hesitated, looking at the two of them, before finishing drawing his own sword…which even in this black night seemed to radiate like a flame in the dim morning glow. He too began to cross that in front of him. But neither Cloud nor Aleron seemed to notice. They fixed their gazes entirely on each other.
"If it isn't my little brother…" Aleron sneered as she looked him over. "I was wondering when you'd show. Every time my mate has tried something…every move he has ever made for conquest…you're meddlesome, ungrateful flesh has been there to stand in his way…and through a mixture of luck and your own stubbornness to accept the inevitability of extinction…you've frustrated his plans."
She shifted her grip back down and tightened it.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you…almost as much as killing them."
"Aleron…that's enough."
All of the new arrivals as well as Elena and Aleron looked up to who had spoken. The Turk recognized the voice immediately. Sephiroth had spoken again for the first time in what seemed like hours. Now her eyes were fixed on him as he looked down to the dark woman with his arms crossed and his look calm, although his smile had faded.
"There's no need to wait." Aleron protested. "We can kill them all now and be rid of them."
"There's no need for that." Sephiroth calmly answered. "Besides, it is not yet time. And your ability still needs to mature. At this point, you're still inferior to him."
Aleron began to finally show anger at this, as she turned around and glared hatefully at Cloud. The man himself stayed cold and at the ready, and didn't look if he would let her leave or would make a move on her the moment she lowered her guard. Yet after they both stayed motionless for a time…Aleron slowly pulled her scythe back up and put it to her side at rest. After that, she turned and began to make for the side of the cliff instead of back to Sephiroth, although she did put herself away from the six others that were there.
Cloud kept his eyes on her a moment, and she looked back at him with her burning green gaze. She wouldn't look away from him for a little while, seeming to realize what Cloud was thinking. Aerith saw this as well, and Elena watched her look between the two of them before she began to advance by steps toward Cloud as well. Ragnar, on his part, looked away from Aleron for the moment, although his gaze kept looking back to Aerith, and tried to keep an eye on the calm Sephiroth.
At last, Aleron turned away and looked to the ground. The instant she did…Cloud tightened…and moved to spring on her.
Whether or not she would have stopped him or Sephiroth would have intervened was never known…for Aerith was the one who sprung first, reaching out and grabbing one of his arms and halting him. He kept his eyes on Aleron, but the sudden seize made him turn slightly behind to see who was hanging on him.
"Don't Cloud!" She warned. "She's Krystea! Don't kill her!"
Cloud's teeth grit, and he looked back ahead to Aleron. The dark woman ignored him, and calmly bent down to the ground to pick up something. Elena, on her part, didn't know whether to chime in with Aerith or yell at the Cetra to let him go and stop Aleron while he still could. She had seen how ruthless this thing was. There wasn't a shadow of Krystea in her. If anything…the woman probably would have wanted them to kill Aleron rather than let her use her body like this…
A moment later, Aleron stood again, now holding her scythe in one hand and an object in the other. Elena looked and saw…and to her surprise noticed that it was her fire materia. Holding this, Aleron turned, looking out to flash one more wicked smile at Aerith and Cloud alike, and then began to walk back toward Sephiroth. As she did so, the dark man himself looked out over the new arrivals…and zeroed in on Ragnar. A smile spread across his face.
"So your master put you back together even better than he indicated." He remarked as he saw him. "Do the smart thing this time, boy. Don't get in my way again. When the time is right, I'll send you back to the void…but if you don't resist I'll make it less painful than last time."
Ragnar tightened his jaw at this and nearly sneered at him.
"…Next time we meet…I'm going to wipe the floor with you." He uttered with dead seriousness.
Sephiroth kept his smile, and didn't react in the least to this.
"Why don't you challenge us now?" Cloud sounded out, not to Aleron but to Sephiroth. "What time are you waiting for?"
"Consider it a family meeting." Sephiroth calmly answered as Aleron reached his side. She immediately turned and faced them with that same wicked smile. "One that, sadly, you're not invited to. Don't worry Cloud…I haven't forgotten what I said to you on the beach. But at this point…to actually take time out to deal with you is, quite honestly, a waste of our time. There will be a better time in which killing you will actually serve a purpose."
Cloud's brow narrowed at this, as did Ragnar's. The latter seemed more reserved, but Cloud stepped forward once. "…What are you talking about?"
"Like he said…you aren't invited, Cloud." Aleron calmly responded. "You disowned your family, remember? So it doesn't really matter to you. However…now that our new family circle includes me, I've taken up my mate's tasks as well."
Aleron's green gaze narrowed as she grinned at Cloud again. Once more, the air seemed to get dark around her, and much colder. Elena felt her body shuddering and struggling to move back with what ability it still had as fear pervaded her.
"That means that I too have devoted myself to bringing you despair, Cloud." Aleron continued with a deadly edge. "And to that end…here is a first installment."
With that, Aleron raised the arm holding the fire materia…and activated it.
Cloud quickly crossed Event Horizon in front of him. Ragnar moved forward, shoving Aerith behind him as he did so, and brought up his sword to block. Neither of them were close enough to Elena, so she had to wince and pray. Her head was buried against the ground and she covered it with one arm…
However…nothing came. Elena heard the fire materia erupt…and actually sound like it was giving off a much larger ball of flame than she herself was capable of. In fact…it sounded like it was doing it multiple times. But she didn't feel hot, and the only glow she saw was over her hand. She held for a moment anyway…wondering if they were incinerating the others before moving on to her. Yet she was interrupted when she suddenly felt a pain stab her eardrums as a tremendous explosion went off far behind her. The ground rocked in its wake, and she felt heat and wind ripple over her from her back. Confused, she pulled down her arms and looked again.
Aleron…eyes full of sadism…was attacking. She was using the fire materia…but she was doing far more with it than Elena could do. It was erupting fireballs of a whole new magnitude, and firing them off in such rapid succession that it didn't look to be taxing Aleron's mind at all. Yet the fireballs weren't hitting her, and they weren't hitting Cloud, Ragnar, or Aerith. They were being fired over them. She looked to the new group, and watched as they too uncovered their bodies. Ragnar was the first to spin and look to see what they were firing at. She watched as his face turned pale.
"No!"
Elena turned a bit more…and saw the reason for this as a second massive explosion went off.
Aleron was using the fire materia to attack the destroyers in the bay. Even a high power fire materia shot should have barely damaged it…but not so with these. As she watched, one of the fireballs streaked out and lit up its surroundings as it traveled to one destroyer. Once it reached it, it impacted the side and melted its way through the hull. It vanished within a moment later…moments before the destroyer erupted into flame. Elena looked, and saw that every shot she fired was aimed at a destroyer. Each one that landed did so in the same spot, and soaked in to the craft before blowing up. It didn't take a second shot. She fired off again and again…until she had blown up no less than twelve of the ships…all in seconds.
Elena spun around back to Aleron…who merely grinned in delight. Once she was finished blowing up the ships, she pointed the fire materia into the sky. Elena looked back to Cloud, Ragnar, and Aerith, and saw them all aghast at how easily and sadistically Aleron was carrying this out. Each one of those destroyers had at least a hundred people on them… After a moment, Ragnar grit his teeth in anger and spun around to Aleron. Without a second hesitation, he charged right for her, bringing his own sword around to attack.
Aleron kept calm, and smiled at this. Keeping the materia above her, she fired off again. This time it was a flurry of six fireballs in rapid succession, which immediately began to rise into the sky. At the same time, her hand reached out and took Sephiroth's at last. The instant it did, both dark warriors took off into the sky like bullets. Ragnar ground to a halt some ten feet from them, and looked up in rage as they shot into the sky. Elena looked up after them too…but already they were vanishing into the darkness of the thunderheads filling the heavens. However…the six fireballs were still there. They continued to go straight up for a few moments…before suddenly arching sharply, nearly at a ninety degree turn, and then shot off in the direction of Midgar…
And Edge.
They streaked across the sky for a few moments...putting kilometers between the group and them in seconds. Soon...they were far in the distance, but almost over the city itself. As the shots reached this point, Elena noticed that they converged…as if they were headed for a specific point in that city. She didn't know the area well enough to know where…
But obviously, based on their reactions a moment later, Ragnar, Cloud, and Aerith did.
Aerith gasped and stepped toward the streams of fire, cupping her hands to her mouth.
"Oh no…" Ragnar nearly whispered aloud, his voice scared to death.
Cloud himself stared a moment longer…but then suddenly dropped his sword, seeming to forget it existed. He quickly went to his side, dove into his pocket, seemed to nearly rip his pants getting out his phone, and then opened it and autodialed. He slammed it against his ear. She heard him curse once or twice as he waited for the line to pick up.
But then, abruptly, he practically yelled into the phone.
"Get out of the house! Take the kids and get out! NOW!"
Even as Cloud said this, the others stiffened as they saw the fireballs suddenly dip down…like missiles that were headed for a target. They were all converging on a single area in Edge…
Then…all of the sudden…they made another ninety degree turn. This time, they shot back and away from Edge, and rose back up into the sky, leaving trails of fire behind them. Cloud froze in the middle of his yelling. Ragnar and Aerith stiffened and watched. Elena looked up, and she saw the fireballs spread out again as they sailed across the land. However…that was only for a few moments. Then they began to descend again…and Elena could see where. They were moving further back…toward Kalm instead. Once more they started to converge...
Elena watched as the trio suddenly stopped. For a moment…an air of calm or some sort of relief appeared to come over them. It seemed to make them pause and change their mood. Aerith removed her hands from her mouth, but kept watching. Ragnar was still as he looked on and Cloud held his breath a moment before exhaling and letting his phone topple from his grasp to the ground. Kalm was too far away to see from this shoreline, and already it was only because it was so dark and the flames so bright that they could see it from this far away. They saw the streams of fire shoot off and vanish over the horizon. After that…they saw only a small red glow. They couldn't make out anymore after that.
The trio along with Elena were quiet. The only sound now was burning in the harbor, as the flaming ruins of twelve destroyers slowly began to sink. The nearest destroyers that had been spared were beginning to mobilize. A moment later…the sound of a warning siren began to join the burning noise. As if right on schedule, the lights along the shore began to come back on. This included the searchlights, which immediately swiveled around toward the burning boats and the surrounding water, looking for a sign of what could have done this.
The two men stayed frozen, gazing out at the chaos that had been caused within seconds. Aerith herself turned her head away. Elena looked to her, though the Cetra didn't appear to be aware of it. She saw her look to the ground…and a faraway gaze filled her vision. Her mouth continued to hang open…and her expression was as it had been when she first met Aleron. Much seemed to suddenly be on her mind. It was as if she was thinking of things for the first time. Elena saw her fists tighten, and her face wince as she started to curl up on herself…
However…that didn't last. Aerith abruptly seemed to snap out of this. Her face was still downcast and troubled, but she looked over toward the fallen Turks. In particular…she looked to Reno. Elena saw this, and began to feel hopeful. The Cetra could heal people… She had seen it before. Maybe…
Aerith turned and began to rush over to the man. While she did, a radio began to blare loud static. Elena looked to this, and found herself staring back at Ragnar. The general didn't go for his radio, and Cloud didn't react either. As a result…the radio reports that came in were unhindered and unanswered, left for all to hear.
"General, what the hell is going on over there?"
"General! Twelve of the destroyers just went up in flames! We didn't even see anything on radar!"
"General, we're mobilizing the emergency boats…but I'm afraid it's too late. That explosion probably got anyone on deck…and that eruption was so bad I don't think there's anything salvageable… We're looking at 2,000 dead…"
"General! Report in from the Kalm station! The town's under siege! Four major explosions have gone off in the city! No…five now!"
"I count at least six, general. One of them hit a fertilizer plant…another a hospital…another the power company…and the other three hit major residential areas. I don't know how many casualties but it's not going to be pretty…"
"Five alarm fires in six separate zones! We need to call in teams from Midgar if we're going to have a chance at stopping this from taking half of the city!"
"Ragnar!" Aerith suddenly called up. This made Elena turn back, and she saw that the Cetra was now crouched down over Reno's bloody body. Her face was earnest. "He's still alive, but he could die at any moment! He has to be stabilized now!"
Elena felt a surge of excitement in her at this, and she quickly looked back to the generals. Neither of the men answered. They kept looking out at the ocean as the sirens grew louder. Early response fire boats arrived and vainly tried to put out the flames eating away at the ships. The glow on the horizon began to build…no doubt coming from Kalm. However…both men also frequently turned back to Midgar and Edge. They seemed to realize something that had happened that wasn't immediately obvious to Elena. At the moment she didn't care. She just wanted them to help Reno before he died. But still they held back.
Finally, Cloud uttered a curse and angrily kicked the ground, knocking out a large clod of dirt.
"Damn that bitch…"
Ragnar, on his part, reached to his side and pulled up his radio. He turned around here so that his face was toward Elena. She saw that his face was a mixture of irritation, worry, and frustration. He put the radio to his lips soon after.
"…Alpha Team…move in. We have two wounded and one seriously wounded. Pick them up and let's get back to Midgar. I need to see how badly we've been hit."
To be continued...
AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Kokushibyou" is a loose translation of the Japanese word for "Black Death".