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Chapter 7

The remaining flight to Howl's Summit was uneventful. The winds approaching their destination picked up but Meia skilfully flew the chopper in safely. The town itself was fairly large, as towns went. Mostly due to the mako reactor powering it. It was quiet though; Meia noticed people hurry to get inside at the sight of the helicopter approaching. Sephiroth had contacted the dock while they were still in the air and advised of the situation and another pilot was being flown out to retrieve their helicopter.

"We really are alone on this one, aren't we?" Meia remarked as they retrieved their stuff and set off on the short walk into the main township. Sephiroth simply gave her a look that said 'pretty much'.

Huddled behind a snowdrift, two figured camouflaged in white exchanged hushed words,

"The Shinra sent Him?"

"Yes, this is bad…"

"Hmmm…It will be fine. He may be powerful, but our Tiamat will prove his match. His colleague will most certainly die. Let the summit team know…."

"Yes sir! The Shin-Ra will pay; we will destroy their greatest warrior. Then they will have nothing"

Sephiroth and Meia had settled into the inn room that was waiting for them and were going over maps of the area and plans of the mako reactor. Meia was delighted and relived to find an espresso machine in their room and was currently on her second mug of coffee. She had offered to make one for her partner but he refused, and made himself some tea instead,

"It's far more refreshing than coffee" He simply stated haughtily. Meia shrugged; if she wanted refreshment she'd have water.

They sat side by side and studied the map of the surrounding mountains. The path to the reactor was quite a walk, the distance was roughly fifteen kilometres and the terrain wouldn't be a hike in the fields. Sephiroth pointed out a small outpost just over half way up the trail that was used by Shinra for reactor maintenance crews. Meia had to wonder why they hadn't sent any such crew with them,

"What happens if the reactor has been damaged by the enemy? Why haven't any engineer's been sent with us?" She asked after a mouthful of coffee.

"There is no need. Besides, it would be too dangerous for them" Sephiroth replied, in the process of taking an accurate reading of the distance.

"No need? I don't follow I'm afraid…" Meia gave him a puzzled look. He stopped what he was doing and peered at her a moment before replying,

"I've been with Shin-Ra a long time Meia. I can assess and repair minor reactor damage myself. If there is substantial damage however, a team will need to be called in later"

"Impressive, you're not just a skilled grunt after all…" The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them. She began to splutter an apology but his laughter cut her short. So she simply looked at him, slightly astonished that he was laughing openly and finding that she was quite taken with the sight,

"It would seem not. Another drink?" He managed eventually, his small fit of chuckling over. Meia composed herself and raked a hand through her hair, nodding a response to her companion.

"You're having tea this time" Sephiroth said matter of factly.

Meia didn't argue.

It was the early hours of the morning now and Meia couldn't sleep. She wished the thought of having tea had come to her earlier. But it seems the two mugs of strong coffee drank like they were mere water weren't going to let her get any peace for a while. Sighing, she swung her legs out of bed and put on a pair of slippers that were provided by the inn. It was freezing; the fire in the log burner had died down and wasn't enough to warm the room. She wrapped a long towel robe around her and crossed the floor quietly to stoke it again.

The moon was full, silver rays poured through the open curtains making it easy to see. She opened up the door and sifted around in the embers with a poker before squeezing a few logs in the metal chamber and sealing the door again. She shivered; the room wouldn't warm up any time soon so she grabbed one of the silken quilts from her bed and wrapped it about her shoulders.

She stood in front of the window that overlooked the town centre. The inn keeper had told them the townspeople were all on edge; that the Wutai troops had been hanging around for a while now. Several people had been attacked on the mountain path to the reactor and they were now too scared to leave the town's perimeter. It had taken quite some time for the town to send word due to supplies only being shipped in every month, plus the supply trucks were being attacked and any messages intercepted.

A soft ruffling of fabric met her ears; she turned to look over her left shoulder. The small shift in temperature had prompted Sephiroth to subconsciously push a layer of bedding off himself. Meia watched as he turned and settled down again. So, she mused, even the mighty Sephiroth needs sleep.

The Turk wouldn't have believed it unless she saw it with her own two eyes. She had retired before him, hoping the drowsiness that hit her suddenly would be enough to carry her to sleep. Kindly, a long folding screen had been supplied with the room to give her some privacy. So she wrapped herself up in bed and tried in vain to hold on to that sleepy feeling. But instead, she found her mind wandering to the day's events; to the sniper she'd killed and the men in the two trucks.

No one was left alive; she'd been informed once they were in the air again. And all of the deceased were Wutai operatives. This brought a small comfort to her soul; she wondered if Sephiroth was sure before he eliminated them. She wanted to think so, at least.

Collateral damage was one of Meia's biggest fears. Back when she was a junior Turk, witnessing death had disturbed her greatly. Guilt and regret would always manifest and cause her to question her being in this position. Why did she want a job that would kill people? She thought she'd never come to terms with it. It wasn't something you got used too, she remembered Verdot state in a lecture he gave to her and her group when they attained the rank of Turk, It was something you learned to accept. After that, it gradually got easier to live with herself if she, or a colleague, took a life. She still couldn't help sparing a thought for the victims though, as rarely was the damage confined to just the unfortunate person who perished.

After her restless mind was calmed, Meia vaguely remembered dropping off into a light sleep for a while before coming round. The lights were off and the fire was burning down, and she was unable to settle down again.

She watched the sleeping SOLDIER for a few moments before turning to look out the window once more. She didn't want to be rude.

They set out for the reactor first thing in the morning; conditions weren't much better than the previous day and they agreed that becoming trapped on the mountain wasn't something they would desire. Several townsfolk came out to wish them luck while a fair few watched from windows and doorways.

Both of them were dressed in warm gear, Meia more so than Sephiroth but even he was wearing extra protection. A hooded fur lined jacket, a scarf and glasses to protect his eyes from the bite of the wind and the glare from the snow, as well as gloves and studded boots. Meia had all that plus extra thermal layers to keep her unmodified body safe.

The path started out fine but it wasn't long before it started getting tough. The wind was howling all around, driving an evil biting force into their faces. The further up they went, the more visibility dropped until they had to slow right down to almost a crawl. Several times Meia simply couldn't see her footing and fell over, though mercifully she never hurt herself. Sephiroth always remained in front, he appeared far more able to remain upright and this steadied her growing nerves.

Sometime later, he brought them to a stop, appearing to be checking the cliff face somewhere in front of them. Meia stayed put and waited. Sephiroth appeared a few moments later and pulled down the scarf covering the lower half of his face,

"The path is partially blocked. We're going to have to be very careful" He called above the wind.

'We're' he said. She knew full well that meant her. His SOLDIER enhancements meant his perception and reaction time was way above hers, she hadn't seen him slip once yet. She nodded in response.

Meia felt her way forwards; Sephiroth seemed to be keeping close to her now. Sure enough, a small way ahead, a rock slide had blocked the path. She peered over the edge to the trees growing on the slope below. If either one of them fell, it would be a disaster. She was quickly realising that without the SOLDIER with her, this mission would be far more deadly. Meia looked at the rocks and boulders in their way. The slide looked quite fresh, and quite unnatural. She couldn't see the cliff face above them clearly but initial signs suggested sabotage.

Carefully they began to traverse their way over the landslide. Meia, for the first time that day, actually thanked the torrent of snow and ice for blocking her view of the drop beneath her. Sephiroth stayed ahead once again, testing every foothold and handhold thoroughly before applying his full weight to them. Once or twice Meia had come across a wobbly rock but so far it had been fairly easy.

Then a sound broke through the howling wind; a bellowing roar from somewhere in the distance. They stopped and listened but it didn't come again. They hurried to cross what was left of the slide, Sephiroth setting foot on the trail first and waiting for her to follow. Meia was almost there; just needed to put her foot down and she could jump to the ground below her.

But the roar sounded again, much louder this time, and the earth shook slightly. Meia pressed her body close to the rocks she was desperately clinging too but some smaller ones from the cliff far above her had been shook loose. They knocked and dislodged more as they fell around her, snowballing until a sizeable slide was making its way down the cliff towards her position.

"Meia jump, quickly" She heard Sephiroth call above the wind.

She realised immediately she had no choice. Quickly she glanced to her left, sighting the path as best she could, before letting go and leaping to safety. The rock slide crashed over where her body was not moments before, tumbling and smashing downwards into the trees below. Meia had slipped as she pushed away, the studs on her boots failing to catch on anything. She knew landing on her feet just wasn't going to happen and braced her body for a possible bone shattering crash into the floor.

Sephiroth saw her slip, so fast in fact he had moved underneath her before he saw her curl up and brace herself for an impact that wouldn't be coming.

Meia groaned as Sephiroth's arm caught her about the middle, knocking the wind out of her slightly but otherwise saving her from sliding across the ground on her face. The fall and the catch seemed to happen in slow motion and she sighed in relief as she was placed gently on her feet again. She turned and looked at the re-modelled rockslide; she wasn't looking forward to crossing it again.

They carried on at the same pace as before until Sephiroth reported he could see the technician's base somewhere ahead of them. As they got closer, they could tell it had been attacked and ransacked. Containers and vehicles lay wasted, stripped of parts and dismembered. A few buildings had been broken into by force, snow piling up inside through shattered windows and wasted walls.

Only one building was still fairly intact, either by accident or for some other reason. They were preparing to go on when the weather took a further turn for the worst.

The wind began to blow even stronger, yanking and tugging on their clothes and the temperature seemed to start dropping. Fast. Meia pulled her scarf right up underneath her snow goggles. This wasn't natural, how could the weather turn so quickly? The winds had changed direction and appeared to be coming straight down the path now, from the direction of the reactor. And Meia swore she heard the roaring again, though now it was hard to distinguish from the bellow of the winds.

She wrapped her arms about her tight; she was beginning to worry. They couldn't survive this without shelter for very long. Or at least she couldn't. She made her way to the surviving cabin and grasped the circular door handle but it wouldn't budge, it was frozen solid. It was their best hope though so she tried again, finding a foothold and pulling with all her might. It began to move but she quickly realised that it was due to Sephiroth joining in, standing behind her, arms encircling her body and pulling on the wheel too.

It started turning effortlessly now and she ducked out to allow him to open the door on his own. He hauled on it once the lock was released to force its hinges into submission. They quickly climbed inside and sealed the portal shut again, the whistling of the wind abruptly silencing, leaving a constant low thrum to remind them they were still in danger.

Meia pulled her hood down and loosened the scarf protecting her face, lastly removing the goggles from her eyes and looking around. The cabins function seemed to be a main office. Filling cabinets lined the walls at one end accompanied by a desk. The opposite end was home to a large log burner. Closer inspection revealed that the cabinets and desk had been emptied of all documents, nothing was left. Meia concluded that the office was also ransacked, but kept intact so it could still be used.

Although out of the relentless pummel of the winds, the temperature was still dropping, not as fast now but Meia was struggling to keep warm. Sephiroth felt it too, but thanks to his altered biology he could suffer far worse before he eventually succumb. It was still unpleasant, but he couldn't focus on that right now. He needed to get the burner going or Meia would be in trouble. He crouched down close to it; mercifully there was a fresh pile of logs ready to be used as fuel but it was so cold now starting a fire by usual means would be difficult. Luckily, he had a solution.

Meia stepped closer and watched Sephiroth place his hand over his right forearm and extract an orb of dark green materia. He held it in the middle of the log burner, under a pile of wood he'd arranged within and closed his eyes. She watched as a glow started to manifest from his closed fist, gradually getting brighter and whiter until the whole pile of wood had erupted in flames, engulfing his arm up to the elbow.

SOLDIER's using materia like this always alarmed her, but quickly she realised a barrier was protecting his body; the flames licked and caressed his arm but no damage was done. After a few moments he withdrew his hand, leaving the materia to serve as a core, ensuring the fire wouldn't go out.

They sat, huddled around the iron furnace, Meia opting to sit closer. She was feeling less cold now which was reassuring. Sephiroth sat staring at the flames for quite a while, seemingly thinking about the sudden change in conditions. Meia looked up at him,

"What happened out there…that wasn't natural, was it?" She asked quietly. Sephiroth shook his head,

"No. I'm starting to think the roars we heard were somehow connected as well…"

"You think something is up there?"

He looked at her, registering the flicker of fear that crossed her face, and nodded.

Meia looked away and swallowed. If something was causing this, it wouldn't be small. And it would most likely be dangerous. She huddled down and tried not to think about it, keeping the fear and anxiety that had begun to creep into the head in check.

Human beings was one thing, Meia had no trouble on missions dealing with people, human targets. But monsters was something else all together. She'd only accompanied a few SOLDIER's in her career with the Turks and only on one occasion did she have to deal with a creature that wasn't human. It wasn't even an animal. It was wrong somehow, as if it shouldn't have existed. It wasn't particularly powerful or dangerous but the image never left her mind. It haunted her.

Meia shivered again, though not from the cold. She was also aware that Sephiroth hadn't taken his eyes off her yet,

"Is this why you don't want to join SOLDIER? The fear?" He asked gently.

Despite his reputation, his imposing physique and his cool, steadfast personality, the way he had been speaking lately made her forget all of it. His voice betrayed great kindness and his eyes the same. She wondered if he was doing this intentionally or if it was simply natural. Was this how he behaved around his friends?

Meia waited a moment before replying. He had asked, after all, what was the harm in telling him?

"Partly yes" She began quietly "I'm afraid my fears will affect my ability to do my job, that i'll let people down…" She trailed off a moment, her eyes revealing some inner turmoil for a split second before she regained her composure, "It's happened before…and I can't let it happen again…"

Sephiroth thought about her reply for a moment, finding himself slightly surprised; Nothing she had done so far had revealed the basis of these fears or that they even existed. Her training with him was good; she showed determination and a desire to succeed. She had acted competently when they were attacked in the helicopter and gave her all on the way up here.

He did remember that she was good at containing her emotions, her fears. His were easy to contain because the confidence in his own abilities was such he never needed to fear. He couldn't think of a situation he would be out of his depth in. Therefore there was nothing to withhold,

"If you joined SOLDIER, your body would be enhanced. You would be able to do so much more, wouldn't that reassure you? He said after a while.

Meia shook her head,

"I'm scared of the procedure. Mako infusion? Injected with that awful stuff? Would I be myself anymore?" She looked at him, her eyebrows drawn together in a silent plea.

"Hmmm…knowing who you are…" Sephiroth began but trailed off.

"I'm sorry"

"Why?"

"I'm sorry if I said something to offend you" Meia replied.

Sephiroth laughed a little,

"You didn't. You made me think aloud, that is all. It's not something I do often. You need to stop apologising to me Meia" He finished, giving her a half smile.

"I'm sor…uh, I guess I just don't know how to be with you, that's all. You don't seem to suffer fools lightly, I already feel like I'm being babysat this mission…" She looked at him apologetically, "I don't want to be dead weight" She finished, flexing her toes to stimulate the circulation.

"Your right Meia, I don't tolerate fools. But, you're not a fool" He smiled again, "You remember our evening in sector eight? You owe me one don't you…"

She nodded.

"Well I'm asking you for that favour now…" He saw her grimace slightly… "Be yourself around me Meia. It's all I ask from my friends. Nothing more, nothing less"

She simply stared at him, stunned. Friends huh? She smiled and looked away. Friends…

…

"What happened to your necklace Meia?

"My…oh no, Granddaddy I'm sorry. I must have lost it!"

"Maybe you should ask the boy you met yesterday"

"Yes, I should do. I will just as soon as you're better Granddaddy"

"Mei Mei, my little angel…I will be joining your Grandmother very soon. You should look for it now. Don't fuss over me"

"But Granddaddy…"

"You look after your mother for me Meia. And always remember to have fun"

"I will Granddaddy. Granddaddy…?"

…

Meia felt her body being shaken gently, by the shoulder. The memory caused tears to well up inside of her. She squeezed her eyes shut, she wouldn't allow them out. Not now. The mist cleared from her mind and she sat up, Sephiroth standing at her side,

"You shouldn't drop off like that Meia" He stated before moving to the windows of the cabin.

"You're right, I'm sorry" She replied. Stretching her arms and legs, she looked around.

The howling wind and snow had appeared to have calmed right down, leaving a gentle snowfall in its wake. She stood up and joined Sephiroth as he looked outside,

"I didn't sleep very well last night, but it won't happen again" She told him. Sephiroth crossed his arms,

"I know you didn't. I'm burning the coffee when we get back" And he went to test the door. Meia's mouth curled into a smile and she shook her head.

The temperature was back to normal outside and there was virtually no wind. Just soft, gentle snowflakes falling from the sky. They carried on up the path. Meia checked her watch. It was 09:48. They hadn't lost much time but she had no desire to be caught in one of those snowstorms again. Without shelter…well, she didn't want to think about it.

They marched on until around noon, when the reactor became visible. Meia took a breather; it was a gargantuan mass of pipes and substructures. According to the report there was a substantial amount of mako deposited under these mountains and Shin-Ra had plans to expand the settlement here once the reactors output was tested thoroughly. But the entrance didn't look right, It looked vandalised. So the reports were true; it seems the enemy was using the reactor for something. She didn't dare think what.

Sephiroth led them inside. The smell of mako was nearly overwhelming. Meia rubbed her nose; it almost felt like the membranes in her nostrils were being burnt, like the sting from chemical vapours. They walked along a suspended gangway, the reactor delved deep into the ground beneath them spanning several floors. The descended each one by one, having to use the emergency ladders as the lift wasn't working.

The closer they got to the bottom layer, the more the size of the mako pool became apparent. It was huge. They were descending the last ladder when Sephiroth stopped and appeared to be looking at something on the opposite wall. Stopping just short of stepping on his head, Meia held on tight and looked as well. In the wall of the reactor, a gigantic hole had been blown away, essentially opening the reactor's innards and the mako pool up into a subterranean cavern beyond the walls.

They descended to the bottom layer and looked around. A crude walkway had been constructed, allowing access to the hole in the wall. They proceeded with caution; this definitely wasn't normal, as was the lack of enemy troops. They both found it odd that they'd met no resistance on the way here, especially as they were attacked in the helicopter.

The closer they got, the more Meia was certain she could hear a constant, low sighing sound. She placed her hand on Sephiroth's back to catch his attention and motioned him to be quiet. It was definitely there, they could hear it clearly now. Carefully they inched forward until they could see into the cavern clearly.

What Meia saw startled and terrified her; a huge, long bodied dragon was curled up, its tail hanging in the mako pool that had spread into the cavern from the reactor. Suddenly, the shape in the photo's made sense. As did the missing Shin-Ra scientist. The noise they could hear was the sound of its breathing, slow and steady. Carefully they backed away, onto the original walkway,

"What was that?" Meia hissed under her breath. Sephiroth shook his head,

"Looks like a dragon native to Wutai, I've seen their type before. But not like this…" He stared towards the hole, "This beast is far larger and mutated"

Meia sighed, "We have to kill it don't we…"

Sephiroth nodded. Meia sighed; poor creature was probably ripped away from its home and subjected to all kinds of atrocities, made to suffer in the name of war. And now its life would be taken. Though that may be a blessing now.

Sephiroth's plan was simple; they'd carefully make their way back to the sleeping dragon and hopefully kill it before it woke. He wasn't concerned about his safety but he wanted to avoid as much damage to the reactor as possible. There was also Meia, who was a lot more fragile than he was.

Before they could move off however, Sephiroth heard footsteps above them; someone else had entered the reactor core. They ducked quickly into a side door in the outer wall and waited. The intruder descended all the way to the bottom and through the crack in the doorframe they could see it was the missing scientist. Looking relatively unharmed and certainly in no distress.

A traitor.

Before he got to them, Sephiroth calmly stepped out in front of the man, blocking his path. The scientist merely stared, fear clearly manifesting on his face,

"For a kidnapped man you certainly have a lot of freedom" Sephiroth stated calmly.

Meia stepped out onto the walkway also, gun drawn and watching for any movement from the scientist.

"You may as well just kill me" The trapped man stuttered, "You may be terrifying Sephiroth but I'd be dead before I felt anything. I won't reveal anything so you may as well get it over with" He stated defiantly.

Meia calmly extracted a silencer from a pocket in her pants and screwed it on the barrel of her handgun. Sephiroth watched her, before addressing him again,

"That may be, but this woman is a Turk. I'm trained to kill. She's trained to extract information…" He stated.

The scientist took a few steps back before bolting. Meia aimed perfectly and shot him in the calf, the now silenced gun making nothing more than a soft, quick hiss and a thud as the bullet found its mark. Still, she glanced over her shoulder, double checking the slumbering beast was still asleep.

The man crashed to the ground, clutching his leg he started to wail but Sephiroth had closed the distance with lightning speed and held a gloved hand over his mouth to silence him,

"Talk now and your life will be spared. Why did you defect?" He said quietly but sternly.

Meia moved next to them as the scientist shook his head. She took aim at her preferred pressure point and cocked her gun. She let him fully grasp the consequences of being shot in the knee before she nodded for Sephiroth continue,

"I ask you again; why did you defect?"

the scientist began to speak so Sephiroth lifted his hand,

"Because Shin-Ra are monsters!" He spat, "I've witnessed first-hand what their scientists…what I had to do! Experiments? Genetic modification? I couldn't do it; it was a crime against Gaia herself. Do you ever wonder why you're so strong Sephiroth? Why you're 'special'?"

The SOLDIER remained unmoved, not about to let a ranting scientist unsettle him,

"Well I wanted no part of it, so I defected to the Wushang and helped them create a powerful weapon…"

Meia followed the scientist's gaze to the sleeping dragon,

"You hypocrite…" she hissed.

The man glared at her intently, madness flickering in his eyes before screaming at the top of his lungs. Sephiroth clamped his hand down again but the damage was done.

Meia spun around; the form of the dragon was visibly stirring, the sound waking it. Sephiroth looked at the scientist, fury burning in his eyes. An impact shook the reactor; the beast was thrashing its body about, spraying mako and rubble everywhere. It looked maddened. Meia pitied the creature. In the moment of distraction, the scientist tried to escape but was soon stopped by Meia with a clean shot in the head. The duo turned their attention to the larger problem.

It was quickly and mutually agreed that Sephiroth would kill it quickly before it could do any harm. It remained at the artificial mouth of the cavern, rearing and writhing in pain and madness. Meia gasped as she beheld the amount of materia embedded in its body; its skin was literally pulsating green. The air around it was freezing and the source of the abnormal weather conditions was now clear. This modified creature was the source of it all, the weapon the Wutai had been hiding.

It let out an almighty bellow; Meia clapped her hands to her ears, her head ringing, and watched as the beast dove into the mako pool. They stepped back from the edge of the walkway and watched for any movement, Sephiroth summoning his weapon and standing ready.

The reactor shook again with tremendous force, the beast seemingly ramming the walls deeper under the pool and they both stumbled. Before Meia could recover her footing, a gigantic claw swiped out of the pulsating green pool, catching her across her back and causing her to fall backwards. The incredible talons sliced and ripped through the walkway and guard rail like they were plastic. Another earth shaking ram and she couldn't right herself. She slipped and fell over the edge, but managed to cling to the ruined walkway to stop herself going under entirely.

Then the creature emerged but before it could do anything it was dead. Sephiroth sliced its head from its body cleanly with one swing, it's now lifeless corpse slid silently into the depths of the pool.

Sephiroth quickly moved to help Meia who was still holding onto the walkway but her body below her arms was submerged in mako. She was rapidly being poisoned. She struggled to remain conscious as she held on. She knew she was in big trouble, but the strength was leaving her so fast she could do nothing but hope Sephiroth would lift her out in time.

Sephiroth reached her before she let go, grasping her under the arms and effortlessly lifting her free and to the safety of the walkway. He laid her down and tried to get a response but her conscience was fading; she was slipping away. He looked at his gloves; they were drenched in her blood from the wound on her back, providing an easy inlet for the mako to infest her body.

Working quickly, he placed her on her side and slid his hands through her ruined clothes to the gash beneath. Even through his gloves he could feel how deep the damage was and he concentrated, using the restorative materia he had to help close the wound. He knew he couldn't heal it completely due to the mako, but he could stem most of the bleeding and prevent any more poison from entering her body.

When this was done he gently rolled her on her back and placed his hands on her chest over her heart. He shut his eyes and willed the restoring power of his materia to sustain her life. At least enough to stabilise her so she could be carried back to town, where she could be airlifted to a hospital.

Sephiroth had to fight back the feeling of regret and anger he felt building up inside him. Why wasn't he fast enough? Why didn't he save her from falling? He had to suppress them; the materia wouldn't work unless he concentrated. He prayed this would be enough. It had to be…

Last edit; 11/04/2016