Hello everyone! I'm uploading early again because I'm so nice :) And so I can work on the following chapters more - I want to make sure they are properly fine tuned...
My usual thanks to my regular readers and to new readers who have made it this far =D And to my reviewers, the usual massive thank you for letting me know you're reading and enjoying it and for keeping me going.
I listened to creepy music from You tube while writing this, you should look some up for reading ^,^ and read in a dark room. I do enjoy being freaked out, does that made me sadistic? o,O;;;
I do not own Sephiroth or any original places, characters or plot details. They are copyright of Square Enix and this is a work of fandom, not for profit. All i own is Meia, the odd OC and my original place names.
Chapter 24
They had been walking now for an hour or so, steadily following the maze of tunnels and passage ways as they led the two SOLDIER's deep into the planet. Meia had plucked a battery powered lamp from a supply silo when they entered. Its yellow tones illuminated and accented the craggy walls of the mine shafts, forming shapes that were all together sinister when viewed from the corner of one's eye. Sephiroth was leading, following the sound of machinery, as well as power cables and water pipes, in hopes that it would lead them to their destination, which logically they would.
As they walked, they passed more and more abandoned machinery. Tools lay scattered as with the town and the blood trail would vanish, only to re-appear again further in. Not a single body was found, the closest they came to finding any trace of the minors was helmets and the odd shoe, trapped in rails along the floor, seemingly lost when their owners tried desperately to flee whatever was causing this.
Slowly, the humming of machinery became louder. Meia noticed the smaller inhabitants of the mine, the rats, were running in the opposite direction they were heading in. She couldn't help but worry what was causing them to flee. Eventually, the duo emerged into a wide, deep shaft, easily big enough for several of Midgar's locomotives to run side by side. Its function was to carry mined ores and rock out of the mine using a large conveyer belt that ran up its middle. Several smaller shafts all joined this one but the story here was the same. Abandoned without a second thought. Another howling moan met their ears, but it was chillingly close this time. Meia swallowed and panned around slowly with her torch, Sephiroth listening with his head bowed,
"Where is that coming from…?" Meia breathed quietly. Her heart was pounding. The mine was frightening. Sephiroth didn't appear at all bothered, but he had been a SOLDIER far longer than she. He was probably confident that whatever happened, he could protect both of them. Meia tried to take strength from him, but it was impossible to shake off her fear entirely. Then a smell wafted into her nostrils, it was a different scent than what they had encountered so far. The musty, damp smell was tinged with rotting flesh. The hairs on Meia's neck prickled, warning her something was wrong. Subconsciously her hand drifted to the tanto strapped about her thigh, and a yellow glint told her Sephiroth had summoned Masamune. They stood back to back, listening, waiting, and barely breathing. The smell got stronger, gradually, until the rotting stench of putridity was all they could sense. Meia turned the lamp off quickly and they stood in total darkness, save a flickering glow cast from a mine shaft opposite them someway down from where they stood.
Then she saw it. A wisp of black smoke to the untrained eye, but it had form. It behaved like a creature, tumbling out of the lit mine shaft. Inching forward it tested its surroundings every now and then. It could be heard, sniffing, wailing…sobbing like a broken child. Sephiroth turned to face it silently and Meia watched, her heart hammering in her chest. She was terrified. This thing was paranormal; it wasn't a beast of flesh and bone. It was something else, something unknown. Sephiroth bent until his lips were brushing her ear,
"Back off Meia, slowly…as quiet as you can" He breathed into her ear. Nodding she obeyed, inching back until she was safely behind him. The Smokey thing suddenly appeared to stop and listen, the raspy breathing vanishing. To Meia's horror, two wispy red eyes formed and stared right at her and Sephiroth's position and she froze, not daring to move. Not even daring to breath. It lingered a moment, watching…searching, looking for what it had heard. Finally, the creature resumed its patrol, the red eyeballs looking up and down the shaft before crossing the conveyer belt and vanishing into a lit shaft opposite the one it emerged from. After a moment, Meia leant on the wall of the mine and breathed again, holding a hand to her hammering chest. Sephiroth dismissed Masamune and stepped back to join her, bowing his head to listen once more.
They stayed glued to the same spot for at least ten minutes before Sephiroth moved. Meia noticed the smell was gone, replaced with earthy damp again. Carefully they inched their way to the shaft the creature had vanished into, but there was no sign of it so Sephiroth led them into the opposite passage. A loose florescent lamp dangled and flickered overhead, Meia noticed a trail of them as they walked but they looked like they were put up in a hurry. After a while the shaft widened, meeting two other shafts as tracks on the floor converged to form three routs mining carts could take. All were now heading into the darkness in front of them, the strings of lamps having veered off down another shaft behind them. They pushed on. Meia had by now lost track of time, not having the faintest idea how long they had been down in the rank depths.
At last, the tell-tale pulsing hum of a mako reactor met their ears. More and more mine shafts were converging until they walked down one that was six tracks wide. They were defiantly close and mercifully, they hadn't encountered any more of the smoke creature from earlier. The tunnel ahead of them gradually became bathed in a green glow, they had found the reactor. It was occupying a massive vertical shaft that extended above and below them, the reactor itself jammed right down the middle like a sinister drill. Below them and over several levels, more conveyers could be seen spitting out ore and rock, only because there was no one to work the machinery anymore, it was simply amassing into large piles that were steadily cascading into the mako pool some fifty meters below them.
Sephiroth stepped away from the railing and looked up at the reactor, its metal façade illuminated by various lights of differing hues. His eyebrows were drawn in concern and confusion. A mine was a perfect cover for a reactor. Its presence could be completely innocent, simply serving as a power source for the large mine and the town beyond. But why was it not mentioned in any files? Any records? He found it hard to believe someone had forgotten to include it. Something this big couldn't simply be ignored. He noticed Meia was watching him, her usually placid featured marred by a worried frown,
"Why is this here…" He spoke quietly, looking once more at the reactors exterior. Meia shook her head,
"Officially to power the mine. I'm willing to bet there is an unofficial reason as well…" She murmured. Sephiroth nodded in silent agreement and together, they crossed the suspended walkway to the reactors entrance.
Once inside, the main door was jammed and slightly open, the control panel fried. Sephiroth had no problem forcing it back into the bulkhead to allow them access. An auxiliary control room was beyond the damaged portal, its lights humming and flickering every now and then. The door that led inside the reactor was sealed shut and provided no leverage this time to allow a forced entry. Sephiroth summoned his sword but Meia stopped him,
"This door may be sealed for a reason…we should find a way of opening it that won't damage it, in case we need to close the thing again" She whispered, her hand resting on his left forearm. He nodded to her. He had thought about that, but at this point he was ready to wrap the mission up and get back home. He was perfectly content with cutting the door open, along with anything they found inside. He stood back and watched as Meia examined the door's control panel, before searching the room for a small pad that interfaced with the hardware contained within the bulkhead. She plugged it in and began tapping away at the flat panel nestled in the crook of her arm. Sephiroth cocked his head, observing her as she worked.
He found himself thinking about the startling progress she had been making recently. If she carried on the way she was, she'd make First in no time. But this worried him. Why was she so good? Why did she have a remarkable capacity to learn and grow, almost on par with him? Was it linked to her injections? Was it all linked…She was fit and intelligent before Hojo got his filthy hands on her, was it simply due to this that was the reason for Meia's remarkable growth? Or was it more sinister. Like this reactor.
He smiled faintly. Despite the worry, the surge of feelings and emotions that she caused within him, He never once regretting meeting her. His only regret was that he failed to protect her that day at Howl's summit, and now thanks to that…she was forced into her worst nightmare. He found himself vowing, there and then, to never fail to protect her. Because Sephiroth knew that he, the most powerful human being alive, needed her to keep him sane…in this world that was slowly revealing itself to be one full of lies.
"And…were in" She quipped to herself, the door hissing open in response.
"That was fast…" Sephiroth commented quietly. Meia smirked,
"Would have been faster but some of the circuits were fried, had to find a way to bypass them" She replied, flashing him a slight grin. He gave her a small smile and a chuckle in response, before forging ahead once more into the reactors core.
Once inside, they began searching the semi-circular control rooms overlooking the main core, which was blacked out. The first room had nothing of interest in it, as was the same with the next few. The lower they descended, the more security was in place to lock the doors, each requiring slightly more of Meia's time to decipher. Beyond the fifth door, clues were emerging and starting to form a picture of what was going on. Shinra files lay scattered everywhere, but they were not on reactor function. Indeed, they showed nothing that mako reactors were usually associated with. Sephiroth scanned one such file, his eyebrows becoming tighter after each line of text he read. Meia had also found an interesting report,
"This reactor…was being used by the science department?" She said quietly, her glowing blue eyes flicking back and forth over the file in her hand. Sephiroth nodded and grunted softly in response. He was currently pacing slowly, reading with a hand to his chin and deep in thought. Meia placed her file to one side and approached the large glass window that separated them from the reactors inner core. It was pitch black; absolutely nothing could be made out beyond the glass. What she should be seeing is the reactors hollow inner core, with its central control system running down the hollow shaft like a brain stem. But a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach warned her that something else was there, just beyond her field of vision.
"Come Meia, we should keep descending" Sephiroth caused her to jump slightly, but she nodded and followed him. The next door was the toughest to open so far. Meia's mouth twisted in concentration until she finally managed to get the door to open for her. Inside, the control room had been gutted and replaced with equipment that wasn't of Shinra design…
"Wutain…" Sephiroth mumbled, gesturing to several symbols scrawled on the wall. Meia nodded her agreement before venturing in. But in here she was useless. All the files and paperwork were written in the language of the enemy. All she could make out from a report pinned to the wall were a few faded words,
I…erial….sw…rds
A.V.A.L…N.C….
"The Imperial swords…." Meia deciphered and repeated darkly. Sephiroth looked up at her from a tattered piece of paper he was reading from,
"Stay focused Meia, don't let it get to you" He coached quietly, before resuming his reading. She sighed and nodded turning and inspecting the hardware behind her. A little while later, Sephiroth joined her at the glass window she was still trying to peer out of,
"We may want to see about restoring the lighting in there. Most of the important reports have been taken, but a few suggest the core is being used for something…" He stated quietly. Meia nodded, but she couldn't do it from in here,
"I can't read Wutain, I can't operate these systems" She replied, frustration creeping into her voice.
"I can help you, just let me know what you need to find" He offered. Meia thought a moment before nodding. With Sephiroth's help, Meia quickly located the system that was tied into the reactor's core. Working with them, however, was a different matter. Sephiroth had to translate all the controls in front of her first and every system they accessed had vast lists of subsystems. Meia began muttering to herself how crude and pointless the design was. But eventually, they found the controls for the lighting and illuminated the core once more.
What they found beyond the glass was atrocious...and terrifying.
Shinra building, 49th floor
Zack Fair crossed his arms in a huff, almost visibly pouting. He had just been promoted to Third class rank 4, but for the fourth day running he couldn't find Meia. He tried her cell again but where ever she was, she was out of range. He jammed it back into his pocket and wondered how he could get hold of her.
Lately, Zack had been a little too obsessed with finding and telling Meia about everything. How his day had been, what he'd learnt. It was exciting for him to have a friend who was now a Second class SOLDIER.
He decided to wander around in the vain hope that he might find her, hidden in a trash can or something. He entered the briefing room and saw through the glass that Angeal and his First class companion were sitting in there. Genesis, if he recalled correctly. Shrugging, Zack entered, immediately forming a salute when Angeal looked up at him,
"Zack, Zack Fair…isn't it?" He asked with a smile. Zack nodded enthusiastically, "What brings you here?"
"Sir, I was wondering if you knew the whereabouts of Meia LeSait, Sir!" He said clearly. Genesis failed to contain a chuckle behind his copy of Loveless. Angeal leant back in his chair and crossed his ankles,
"She's away on a mission at the moment. Hopefully they'll return in a day or two"
"They, Sir?"
"Mmm, Sephiroth is leading the mission"
Zack scratched his head, a sound of dawning escaping his lips.
"Zack…" Angeal spoke again, "What do you know of the relationship those two share?" He continued carefully. Zack blinked and thought to himself. Sephiroth mentored Meia, that much he knew. Which he found hard to believe because according to records and personal accounts, Sephiroth never mentored anyone. But this just made Meia an even more exciting friend…
"Mentor and student, isn't it?" But Zack couldn't ignore the fact they were seen together more often than not. Angeal thought a moment, before uncrossing his legs and leaning forward on the table,
"That it is…" He addressed Zack, "If the science department should ask you the same question, 'professional only' is the best answer…" Angeal stared at him intently, "understand?"
Zack nodded slowly and dismissed himself. That was odd, why would the science department care about the relationship between two colleagues? Ahhh, of course, Zack thought to himself, inter-SOLDIER relationships were probably frowned on. Angeal just wants to make sure his friends aren't accused of having the wrong kind of relationship. Pleased with himself, Zack bounded off in the direction of the canteen.
Meia's lip quivered in barely contained disgust. Maybe she should be vomiting. Maybe she should at least be looking away. But she couldn't. Sephiroth folded his arms beside her and beheld the scene in stoic silence.
Once the cold blue lights were switched on, illuminating the reactor's core, they revealed a disturbing secret. A secret that at least solved their immediate mystery, but unlocked a great deal more…
"What is this…?" Meia breathed, stepping closer to the glass. On each level of the reactors core a new addition had been built, resembling a twisted industrial lab. Suspended from hooks on the levels above were specimen pods. Clear tubes, filled with mako. And inside, they both suspected, were the missing town's people. Sephiroth had located a dark doorway that wasn't visible until the lights were turned on, the blue glow above it indicating a way to access the core and the pods. He stepped through, followed closely by Meia. Some of the pods contents weren't even human anymore. Some contained remnants that once could have been human, torsos, legs from the hips down. The further in they went, the more disturbing it all became. Some of the pods were empty with no signs of damage. Maybe they once contained something…
"Estimating from the amount of pods, only half of the town's inhabitants are in here…" Sephiroth spoke out loud, craning his neck and looking up through the forest like gathering of glass and liquid above him. Meia swallowed as she beheld the remains of a child, mutilated and disfigured,
"So what happened to the other half…" She replied, stepping away and back towards Sephiroth. He fixed her with a confused, slightly sad stare,
"My guess is sustenance…" He peered at the closest specimen, "For whatever these things are" He concluded. It made sense, trails of blood all leading into the mine. But the brutal, animalistic way in which the people were killed suggested this experiment had got out of hand and was abandoned in a hurry.
"What do you think?" She asked him, "Is this something the Wutai were doing without the town knowing…or something Shinra was doing, with the Wutai's help…obviously whatever it was got out of hand"
Sephiroth exhaled through his nose, betraying an automatic annoyance at what she'd just said. But he couldn't ignore what she was getting at. There was every possibility that both scenarios could be true. And more. Was his loyalty so inbred to him? It made perfect sense in his logical mind. His highly intelligent brain was currently running through every conceivable possibility, at least half of them led to foul play on the company's behalf. So why was he still feeling a sense of duty and loyalty? He was sure that if any other member of the company had said what Meia just did, he would have disciplined them on the spot and reported them as soon as he arrived back in Midgar. Was he so blinded?
He looked at her, illuminated by the eerie green glow and cold blue lamps lighting the facility. She was as logical as he was; her advantage was her willingness to see the truth from all angles. Not just the ones that made the company look good…
"We can draw our own conclusions Meia, but ultimately our job is to report what we have found…and let the company decide what to do" He spoke to her softly. Meia gave him a look that was plain; that's not good enough. He pursed his lips and tilted his head, "It's frustrating, I know. But it's not our job to find out what was going on, only to report our findings…"
"Even if what's going on is potentially dangerous and wrong? These people once led lives, Sephiroth…and now all they are is festering, rotting corpses suspended in mako. What if, somehow…Shinra DID have a hand in this?"
"Then there was nothing we could do about it. These people are gone, Meia. Nothing can be done for them now"
"But what about the next town, and the next after that…"
"I think you're getting too involved, SOLDIER"
Meia stared at him, unblinking "Am I crossing a line, Sir?" She replied, a tone of defiance in her voice. Sephiroth tilted his head up and looked down his nose at her,
"Yes. As it's you though, I'll ignore it" He noticed her bristle at this remark and he sighed, stepping close to her and placing his hand on her shoulder, "I just don't want to see you worry yourself sick, Meia. I understand what you mean, but for now we do our job, alright?" He gave her a small smile and reluctantly, she nodded in submission.
The duo then headed back out the way they came, eager to escape the mine back into daylight, regardless of the weather. The smell of chemical filth was firmly wedged in Meia's nostrils and she rubbed them in a vain attempt to get rid of the smell. Sephiroth was, as usual, seemingly unaffected. Striding ahead confidently he led them back into the auxiliary control rooms but a sound caught their attention, both freezing to listen. At first, Meia's blood ran cold and she expected the smoke creature to appear. But the rank smell that preceded it was absent, only mako and electronics were detectable. Then they heard it again, a soft scraping of clothes against a dirty floor. Sephiroth tilted his head to the left, before bending to look behind one of the control consoles. Straight away a small figure darted away from him, making a break for the door but Sephiroth had somehow got there ahead of it and it crashed into his legs in a jumbled heap,
"Ow, hey…let me go, I only wanted a look at the place, is all…I swear!" It was a boy, still young and utterly filthy. His face was streaked with dirt and his clothes were so brown he would have been perfectly camouflaged out in the mine. He was currently looking between Meia and Sephiroth, obviously trying to work out how, if it were even possible, to escape the two…
"What are you doing down here in the mine?" Meia asked him. She was at a loss to understand why a child would be present in such an environment, especially with the situation as it was. The boy huffed and got to his feet, his head barely level with Sephiroth's belt,
"Live down 'ere" Was his prickly reply. Sephiroth arched an eyebrow and looked at Meia. She folded her arms,
"You live in the mine? I find that hard to believe" She challenged him, to which he stomped up to her and placed his fists on his hips,
"Well you better believe it, Lady! It's the safest place, what with the stupid grownups running the town"
"'Stupid grownups', eh?" She replied. Maybe the boy knew something…
"Uhuh. All the people in town are dead now 'cause they're so stupid. But not us, we're smart"
"I see. Why don't you show us where you live?"
The boy eyed her suspiciously, "Why should I…"
"Because. We're big and mean. And stronger than you" Meia replied with a smirk. For a moment the boy simply stared, before folding his arms and arching an eyebrow,
"I kinda like you, Lady; you're not stuck up like all the other grownups. Come on, we should move anyway 'for the Nero wisps come get us" And the boy marched back to Sephiroth and despite his tiny size compared to the latter, squared up to him,
"You look familiar," He began slowly, "Get out my way if you know what's good for yeh!"
Meia snorted softly, managing to pass it off as a sneeze. Sephiroth simply stared the child down, caught somewhere between annoyed irritation and bewildered amusement. But finally he stepped aside, allowing the boisterous child out. Meia moved beside him and watched the boy move carefully out of the reactor,
"Maybe he can tell us what's been going on here" She whispered to Sephiroth. He grunted,
"If I don't kill the brat first…" He growled softly. Meia smiled and patted him on the back, before heading out after the boy.
He led the two SOLDIER's back out across the suspended bridge and off to the right, where he disappeared into a dark tunnel. Meia retrieved her torch and clicked it on, but the boy was in front of her straight away, seizing it and turning it off,
"Are you mad? Light attracts the Nero! Do you wanna die?" He hissed, passing the now dim lamp back to her, "Hold on to this rope along the wall to find your way" He ordered, moving forward once again. Despite being uneasy they were now travelling in the dark, some part of Meia was humiliated by her earlier fear. If a child could run about in here she most certainly could…
"What are the Nero?" She asked after a few moments. The boy scoffed in the dark ahead of her,
"Demons. Real evil, they'll kill you 'for you even know they are there. Suck all your blood out, they will…" He answered, a little of his bravado gone.
"What do they look like?" Meia pressed,
"Like smoke, black smoke. They only take on solid form when they are 'bout to kill you. Turning right now, heads up"
They followed the rope as it fell away on the right, taking them down a sloping tunnel. Meia noticed Sephiroth was lingering close behind her and this gave her comfort. After a while the boy stopped and fumbled about in the dark, cursing and muttering under his breath. Finally, with a small cry of triumph, he pulled a hidden lever and a wooden door swung open in front of them. Straight away the tunnel was bathed in warm light, causing the SOLDIER's eye's to adjust quickly and painfully. Meia winced as she and Sephiroth was ushered in and the door shut behind them.
"'Ere we go. Home sweet home" The boy proclaimed, lacing his hands behind his head and strutting off ahead. The SOLDIER's followed slowly. They were in a vast cave, formed over thousands of years by, astonishingly, the lifestream. A river of it flowed through the cave, vanishing into a smaller tunnel that extended beyond their field of vision. Everywhere they looked, mako deposits had formed natural materia, and Sephiroth was immediately fascinated by a rather impressive sample and was currently studying it. Meia noticed bunks and crude furniture made from all sorts of discarded materials, just like the people of the slums would do. Other children were currently eyeballing the pair from beds and chairs. Meia looked around; no child appeared to be above fifteen, by her rough guess. The boisterous one who led them there turned to her,
"Like our place then, Lady?" Meia nodded her approval and continued studying, "We 'ave to live down 'ere now. It ain't safe up top anymore. We're ok in here, at least for now…"
Sephiroth re-joined Meia and the boy scowled at him, "You didn't take any of the treasure did you?" He asked him. Sephiroth shook his head,
"I was merely studying it. It's rare to see materia in its natural state"
"Dunno bout no materia, but the jewels sure are pretty. We don't touch 'em, brings bad luck…"
Sephiroth sighed his frustration at the boy's childish analogy. Meia brought her hand to her face,
"So…what happened to the town? Do you know?" She asked him. The boy sighed and hopped up to sit on a pile of sacks behind him,
"Yea…we know. One day a group of us snuck into the mine after a load of miners. We followed 'em until they reached that big metal thing you found me at. Didn't' have a clue what it was but some of the miners went inside" He sniffed and stuck a finger in his ear, "One day, some blokes went in…but never came out again. This would start happening all the time. Five blokes in, three blokes out. Four blokes in, one bloke out…" He continued. Meia noticed a few children were edging closer, listening to the boys story as well. She frowned,
"So only a few would come out again?" She mused out loud. The boy nodded. But that would mean at least the Shinra engineer's knew about the disappearances. She glanced at Sephiroth who was watching her. He knew what she was thinking…
"Then one day, few of us heard terrible noises coming from the metal building. Men screaming. Was a horrible sound. An after that people stopped going in altogether. Soon after, some of the people ran away, saying demons were being bred in the mine" The boy looked at Sephiroth, who folded his arms, "The something real bad happened. A bunch of us were watching from a shaft when a whole gang of Nero escaped the metal building and began eating the workers in the mine. They went for anyone who had a light, thas' how we know they attracted to light, see?"
Meia nodded grimly. The boy continued,
"So what we did after all the miners were eaten was hang a track of lights through the tunnels so the Nero would keep going round in circles, away from this cave. We always travel in the dark, always avoid that track. We've noticed less and less of them lately though, maybe they're all dying?" The boy scratched his head and thought to himself. Sephiroth took Meia aside and spoke to her quietly,
"We need to keep these children a secret from Shinra" He whispered. Meia looked at him in shock,
"After what you just lectured me on?"
"I know. Listen, Meia. We know that Shinra knew about the disappearances now. They only sent us to investigate after the situation got out of control…and if that's the case, what would happen to these kids if Shinra knew they were alive and living in the mine? And had seen everything?"
Realisation dawned on Meia and she nodded, her blood running cold. She approached the boy who was now chatting to a small girl,
"How do you guys survive down here? Do you have enough food or a way of getting it?"
"The boy snorted haughtily, "Sure do. See the long tunnel the green river runs down? It leads out the mountain…we nicked a couple of abandoned cars and we use 'em to get to nearby towns. We uh, acquire food from them"
"You steal it, you mean…"
"Hey! I thought you weren't stuck up?"
Meia held her hands up in defence. But at least she knew now that for the time being, the children here were safe. They may be a bunch of filthy street urchins, but it looked like they could take care of themselves.
The calm in the cavern was shattered suddenly as a high pitched scream filtered down from the tunnel that carried the lifestream away. The children jumped up and rushed to look, the SOLDIER's following. From the faintly illuminated passage came two children running as hard as they could, stumbling blind with tears streaming from their eyes,
"I-it got Maki! It got Maki!" One of them screamed. Meia stepped forwards and asked what happened. The terrified children simply pointed a shaky arm down the tunnel,
"The Nero" She sobbed.
"Nero…hey! I thought you said this cavern was safe?" Meia yelled to their guide. His eyes were wide with fear,
"It should be, it is…how did it get in?"
Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and he set off down the shaft, summoning Masamune as he did so. Most of the children gasped at the sight of the manifested sword glinting in the dull light. Meia set off after her superior with the boy in tow,
"Stay back, we'll take care of it for you. Stay where it's safe" She ordered him, but the boy shook his head,
"No. I need to see if Maki is ok!" And before Meia could protest he'd ran off after Sephiroth. They proceeded down the shaft, following the banks of the Lifestream River. After several hundred meters, a tunnel opened to their right, illuminated by soft lamps. Judging by the parked cars and supplies, it was the start of the tunnel that led out of the mine. Sephiroth stopped and listened. The smell was back, wafting in and out of the senses but defiantly there. The passage ahead wasn't lit at all, save from the glow of the lifestream than ran through it. He turned to the boy,
"What's up there?" He asked sternly.
"Just the river. I think it ends in a waterfall but…we're too scared to go any further than this"
"I see. Go back now"
"No! I…"
"I said go back" Sephiroth snapped. He had no desire to babysit any longer, "Don't make me repeat myself again"
The boy stared at him with fearful eyes and nodded, scampering back the way they'd came. Meia and Sephiroth pressed on, the latter relying on his unique eyes to help him see their way. Meia couldn't see anything beyond the glow of the lifestream and had to trust him completely to see them safely down the shaft. The more they walked, the stronger the smell. It was by now enough to turn Meia's stomach, they must be close. Sephiroth stopped to listen again and sure enough, they could make out soft wailing and raspy breathing.
They carried on slowly, noticing the tunnel was opening out and a soft green glow was pooling at the end of the shaft. But it was different from a mako haze, it was somehow clearer, clean, the sound of cascading liquid could be heard but it was soft rather than a crashing torrent. Soon they saw why, it was as the boy said. The lifestream cascaded over a rocky lip into a pool below where it disappeared into a subterranean river beneath the rocks.
As Meia drew her eyes up again, her heart leapt; she saw the Nero on the opposite bank. She took a step back but stumbled on something. Her expression twisted into sorrow and anger as the lifeless eyes of a young boy stared up at her, bodiless. He wore a terrified expression and she turned her attention back to the Nero. Sephiroth was observing it, and it Him. Neither moved. Sephiroth was aware there was nothing to cut down until it took solid form, but how to force it into such a state? The solution was simple but risky. Simply let it attack and he could destroy it, but what if it went for Meia? Could he destroy the creature without harming her? He would have to trust her to look after herself.
Meia had an idea and unhooked the lamp from her belt and cast a look at Sephiroth. He stared at her a moment before understanding. Reluctantly he nodded and Meia clicked the torch on,
"Hey! Over here!" She called, catching its attention right away. She braced herself as the wraith turned to her and began to move. The events that happened afterwards all happened at once, and with terrifying speed…
First, from out of the darkness came their guide. He'd ignored Sephiroth and doubled back on himself as soon as the SOLDIER's were out of sight. He dove in front of Meia with no thought to what was happening, simply crying his friends name as he beheld the bodiless head behind her. The wraith let out a horrid, bloodcurdling howl and took on solid form as it set foot on the bank in front of Meia and the boy. Meia swore loudly as the child was batted out the way by the wraith with such force he flew through the air wearing a look of shock.
But as soon as its form was solid, Sephiroth had aimed a deadly slice perfectly, severing the putrid inhuman body cleanly in two. He stared as it fell to the ground in a rotten pile, it truly was disgusting. But what Meia did next sent a chill down his spine and he watched in horror as she dashed after the boy, who by now had cleared the apex of the lifestream waterfall and was set to fall into the pool below.
Meia knew that no normal human could survive contact with the lifestream for very long. This child was doomed unless she did something. Not once did she think about the consequences of her actions as she dove off the rocks after him. If she could form a barrier around them both, she could hopefully stop contact with the green ichor of the planet before it did any fatal harm to him. And her…As she predicted, she caught him mid-air and focused all she could into her barrier magic and seconds later, they plunged into the green pool.
The current was strong, far stronger than Meia had predicted and it threatened to suck them both down in the dark depths of the planet but she fought with all her strength and pushed to the surface. The boy was clinging to her for his life so she used both arms and managed to surface, fighting the deadly sucking current and heading for the small banks around the edge of the pool. Finally she managed to set the boy up on the rocks, he looked at her with horror filled eyes and she managed a faint smile. The barrier she had erected wasn't working now as well as she hoped and the more the lifestream seeped in, the weaker she got. Before long she struggled to hold on to the side, losing her grip entirely she went under again.
Sephiroth had dived in as soon as Meia hit the surface of the green pool, and when she went under again, he sucked in a deep breath and went down after her. How could he let this happen? A steady stream of cursing was working through his mind as he struggled to see through the glow of the strange liquid he was currently fighting through. But he managed to find Meia and with several strong kicks caught hold of her. He felt her clutch weakly at his coat, grabbing her as her grip slipped. She couldn't hold on, she was too weak. It was up to him to get them out but they had already passed far underground, the current putting more and more distance between them and safety. He fought against it but to his horror, he was becoming weak as well. He could only use one arm and try as he might, he could no longer fight the current.
Sephiroth's eyes widened as he realised that deep beneath the planet, carried on its life blood, he may well die. He couldn't believe it. Never before had he been in such a position. Never before had he faced his own mortality. He didn't fear it; he only wondered why it was happening.
He stopped struggling after a while and looked down at the tousled black locks of hair swirling around his chest. It was because of her. Sephiroth held Meia close and tilted her head up so he could see her face. She was unconscious, he'd felt her body choke on the liquid that filled her lungs a short while ago and now she was at peace. As he held her, being ever swept by the raging current, a flood of regret invaded his mind. It couldn't end like this; there was so much he had to tell her, so much he wanted to experience with her. He pulled her closer and pushed his lips to her forehead, where he closed his eyes and lingered. He could feel his lungs start to heave, trying to force him to take a breath and he fought it as long as he could, defying it all for one more moment with Meia.
At last, unable to take it any longer, Sephiroth sucked in a lifestream soaked breath and he gagged, feeling it burn his lungs and throat. He grip on Meia never weakened as his world went dark, giving in to the peace of eternity…
Or so he thought…
O_O
What have I done! I've killed them!...or have I...*shifty eyes* Poor naieve Zack, I still love him though. Silly puppy...
Next chapter - :::error-0026698 - Unkown data - unable to display::: coming soon...
Please reveiw and let me know what you think If you have a spare moment ^^ x