11: Watching

-----

He had gone.

In total silence.

Other than a few muddled whispers.

His eyes, achingly human and sad, had strayed to mine, crusted half closed with light. They said nothing. They wouldn't. I smirked inside. There was no lying here, not in this moment of truth. He understood what he'd done in the name of possession.

He'd meant to tear this body apart. To show me the power he thought he had over me, over others. And he did a very good job at it.

I couldn't move. I didn't dare move.

So I watched the little black feather perched on a sea of folds beside me. It shined so strikingly. I wanted to know where it came from. But as soon as Sephiroth had vanished, it floated off in his wake and dropped to the floor.

A strange feather, that.

Then I blinked.

Maybe the cloud had become real. Something made of feathers, like wings. Black wings. It was a fancy thing to ponder. Sephiroth with wings. Like a real angel, a dark one, an evil one. Would he drift from his path? As if he hadn't already begun to do so... Aerith wouldn't be happy; Lucrecia would probably turn back to aching all alone on some far-off plane. Though he made progress, at times it was too little, maybe even too late. And Shinra seemed to haunt him no matter how far he'd get away, as the evil's source that tainted him.

Was he happy with this?

I couldn't sense him in the house anymore. I was all alone.

I croaked out a laugh. "Poor Sephiroth… We, we just don't know what to do with ourselves, huh... Is that why Aerith thought we'd be perfect together? You're all such silly people..."

Noises soon rose and fell in the living room.

Not one of them sounded like Sephiroth.

---

The beach rose up smoothly onto the horizon. Midmorning was one of few ideal moments to see the waters at their sparkling bests. They'd even managed to soothe Sephiroth's human eyes as they lulled upon the boundless blue. He clenched his fist over the mass he held, letting its black blood drip between his burning white fingers. He looked down and glowered. How had things come to this?

"So, Hojo's come to haunt me again?" he said. "But... where are you yourself? I know you were never one to depend on lackeys. Too much of a liability. Are you dead? I should hope so. But that man. He still followed you. Maybe he wants to finish your dirty work? Ha."

He threw the mass in the sand, watching the feathers fly and scatter.

"Mother, have you come back for me?" Sephiroth smiled. "I knew joy in your strength. But I find joy in Drana's strength, as well. She's what I truly sought to obtain. The Lifestream's power at my fingertips. The very life of the Planet. And she's mine. All mine..." His emerald eyes rolled up to the sky, spying the faded image of the daytime moon. It hung quietly towards the north while the sun continued to creep to its zenith from the east.

A once dream of space.

He shook his head. That had been ages ago. This was now.

"Damn you," he cursed musically. "Why should I have to feel guilty? You need only me, you want only me, you obey only me. I must do what I can to make sure you understand. Otherwise you'll fall into the wrong hands. His hands. I know what he wants. Those Shinra lab rats only ever want one thing. And they will destroy who and whatever they want to get it. Realize... this is only 'tough love'. For my dear treasure."

---

The noises didn't dare come any further than the bathroom. Were they afraid?

For the moment, I was crippled. I was profoundly easy prey.

Who or whatever they were, they had to know what I was. Either the spilt Lifestream invited them or kept them at bay. In any case, I laid in suspense, longing for these prowlers to show themselves. I wasn't going to be afraid. This had happened to me before. I was saved, then. Would it happen the same way again? With Sephiroth gone, I was alone. Staked in the middle of nowhere.

But I wasn't defenseless. So, why did I always act it? I wasn't sure.

"Come on," I mouthed, hoping I was heard even when I made no sound.

They slithered, they hovered, they chirruped like baby birds. Brilliant blues and greens with streaks of red cascaded into the bedroom. Weird little round bodied things with long whiplike tails and mouths like spiders. Huddling around my side of the bed, their flat forms pitched upwards, wanting, needing, trilling primal needs to me. Monsters. All at once, they seemed so sweet yet so deadly. Like children with knives. Dear, forsaken children. At one time men and now, beasts. Millennia ago.

I smiled a melancholy smile at the begging creatures.

With all my heart, I willed my arm over the edge of the bed.

"Wh, what do you want... ?" I asked. "Repast... or release?"

I nodded.

The gaping hole in my shoulder bled fresh, trickling down my arm to the floor. Some of the things flopped down against the hardwood, sucking up the liquid light. Others latched onto my arm. I sighed, feeling many tiny teeth dig in.

"Drana."

"Wh-wha-"

"Shh. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

For the first time in my life, tears brimmed in my eyes. Real tears. I wept. Softly, soundly, happily. I cried, "Aerith…"

"Aw, why the big tears? Did you miss me that much?"

She was no different than when I last saw her. It'd been a few days after our ordeal with Lucrecia. Only I saw her. She didn't speak. She only smiled, that smile like the usual heavenly beam. And then she vanished. And I didn't see her again for a long time. Until now. Those same big green eyes, flawless oval face, and long, pretty brown hair tied back in a pink ribbon, curls framing her cheeks. That pink dress almost down to her ankles, offset by the brown boots she wore, seeming more fit for garden work than simple daily footwear. And that short, short red jacket she wore, sleeves with metal cuffs stopping just below her armpits. String tied like a necklace around her neck. Plain yet functional metal bracelets. All veiled behind her being a ghost.

This was what I remembered and how she was now.

"He really did a number on you," she tsked. "Naughty man. This isn't what you do to someone who just wants to help. You should really give him a good scolding when he gets back."

"Aerith…" I reached up for her, though the parasites made it a painstaking task. But it was worth it. She lowered a hand to mine. And I could feel her, really feel her. So cool, so soothing. Like a mother's touch.

"You're too big to be my kid, you know? But that doesn't mean I don't care. I care, a lot."

"I, I've been lost," I confessed, burying my face in the soiled sheets, "without you..."

"Aw, sweetie." I felt her hand touch my hair, taking a moment to peel it from my cheek all caked with Lifestream. "Look, now you got materia crystallizing everywhere. And these things. Huh... I'm beginning to think that even the Planet makes mistakes just like her creations. Sometimes big ones. Something gets lost in translation when you two communicate. It means well, but it's still going about things the wrong way. And you go about things the wrong way. That's what I think. Monsters? The risk is crazy. Weapon was the only one closest to being a successful champion. And even that fails in... what's the word... implementation. Right? Your submission takes the cake, though."

I loved hearing her talk. She sounded so educated. When I heard her voice, all I wanted to do was listen and learn. She could have insulted me for all I cared.

She giggled. "Oh Drana, I don't know anymore than you do. Well, true, I've been around as a conscious being a bit longer than you have, but... If we all just listened to the Planet…

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," she murmured tenderly.

"He's... gone crazy. I saw something."

"You mean this?" With her other hand, Aerith reached down and picked up the fallen black feather. Already, it was starting to wither, turning gray and dusty around the edges. Her scrutiny of it was so blank as if she'd never seen a feather before in her entire ethereal life. "Hmm. This is a remnant of the Calamity. Maybe you've heard about it? He's finally begun shedding it. See this? You are making progress, slow progress but it's progress. Sephiroth's on the way to becoming a real boy, a real man. Human. I think you should pat yourself on the back. No one else has even dreamed of this happening. Not even Cloud. Never Cloud, unfortunately."

"Cloud…"

"Rest. There's still hurdles ahead. These things will help you heal. Release, right? Given the right incentive, they'll do it. Now close your eyes." She nodded encouragingly. I grinned tiredly, and then closed my eyes as I was told. "Sweet dreams. I know you'll figure this all out."

"Mm…"

---

"Jenna, Anton, Quelin, you're here, at last. I was starting to get a little worried. A little impatient, too, heh. I hope you've brought everything. We need to get set up right away in preparation for bagging the big one." Saristis laughed aloud, slapping his hands together and marching around the lobby like a parade marshal. Aridale and Emerson looked on with the exact same expression of scathing wonder, a first ever mutuality between the two. The closer their superior got to attaining his goal, the more the man acted like a loon. An enthusiastic loon. Telltale reaction of most scientists at this point in their journey.

Quelin only trembled.

He was hugged thusly by the smiling redhead who then endearingly asked, "Do you feel it? Can you? I hope to all that is science that you do. Are you alright?"

The twiggy man lifted a finger. It pointed to the western wall.

"Ah. I'm hoping close?"

Quelin nodded.

"Ah, good, good."

"Hey!" shouted the innkeeper. "I hope you ain't bringin' all that crap into my inn!"

"Listen," Emerson piped, "we'll pay extra for you to put us and our 'crap' up for a little while longer. Besides, I'm sure this is the most business you'll ever see again in years, so you better appreciate it. Sir."

"Humph!" The grizzly man stomped away into a back room.

Saristis directed Quelin back outside, to the wrought-iron arch harking the entrance to town. Quelin squatted suddenly on the limestone, quivering and pulling at his hair. He mumbled incoherently, whimpered and yipped quite like a frightened dog. His superior grinned, accustomed to and unfazed by the sad display of mental disability, as a finger pointed again to the west.

"Promised Land, here we come."

The two men walked back into the inn's lobby, where Saristis motioned to Emerson. "Methinks we should get a scout to search the west lands. Quelin definitely feels something is there."

"No more wild goose chasing?" he asked.

The redhead cackled. "Whole new ballgame, Anton."

"About time."

"Don't screw this up, Em," Aridale voiced from the far end of the room. The stocky man sneered and waddled out. She then approached her colleague, pressing her shoulder to his, a look of mirth on her sly face. "So, Sar... How was it? Was our beloved, ambitious boss impressed?"

"Oh, it's too early to comment on that just yet, my dear."

Pause.

"I nearly forgot. What about the Turks? Where are they?"

"Finishing up business in Wutai. They should be flying in in about a day or two. Or... paraphrasing what Mr. Reno said, whenever they feel like it."

"Aha."