Broken Wings - Chapter Sixteen
"Are you all right?"
Aralyn reached up, trying to feel her surroundings as her eyes were covered by something that blocked all of her vision. Metal…cold unfeeling metal…and the suffocating smell of antiseptic.
"Sephiroth!" she called, panicking as she considered the possibility that this was another experiment. "Sephiroth, help!"
"Hush," a feminine voice soothed her, warm fingers gripping her hand and squeezing encouragingly. "I'm here, see? I won't hurt you, I promise."
"What are you going to do to me?" she was genuinely afraid now, her voice rising in pitch and her breathing becoming faster and shallower.
"Nothing, honey. Oh baby, stop shaking, it's all right!"
"Lemme go!" She pleaded between the breaths that were coming through her lips in gasps.
"Aralyn." The voice was gentle and comforting, lulling her into serenity. "That's your name, isn't it? It's a beautiful name."
She was beginning to feel light headed, even though she was in the dark and lying down. Colored dots flickered on and off in the blackness.
"Lucrecia, her heart rate has to go down!" The voice was different from the first woman's.
"Aralyn, calm down," Lucrecia coaxed.
"No! Let me go!"
"What is this…?" the second asked.
"Oh, Hojo you monster…" Lucrecia breathed. "Get me a mild sedative," she muttered softly. "Quickly!"
"I don't want to go back to sleep! Please, don't make me!"
"Aralyn, honey, I don't have a choice." She sounded truly sorry too. "Thank you," she said to another. A cold, wet swab was rubbed just below her shoulder. "Just a little prick, okay? It will be over fast."
Lucrecia, true to her word, was very swift.
When the needle was withdrawn, Lucrecia's hands held hers. "There, you're finished."
"Dr. Crescent, Hojo wouldn't approve…"
Lucrecia ignored the nurse. A soft tissue was dabbed where tears had leaked from her eyes.
"You're…Dr. Crescent?" Aralyn asked, her breathing slurred.
"Yes," the woman assured her.
"Sephiroth said…you were nice. That you'd help us."
"Oh Sephiroth," the woman sighed, and it seemed to her that the woman was crying, though her tone was even and she couldn't see the tears. "How…how is he? What does he look like?"
Something wet fell on Aralyn's cheek. Lucrecia was crying.
"No," Lucrecia stopped herself. "Tell me what it is you need."
"Paints," she whispered.
"Paints?" Lucrecia asked. "Whatever for?"
But it was too dark, and her mind was working too slow to reply.
"…Paranoia, maybe some type of post-traumatic shock. Had to sedate her it got so out of control."
"Proposterous! Sephiroth handled it just fine and he was even conscious."
"Aralyn is not Sephiroth."
"So you want to abort the experiment, Lucrecia?"
"Look at what it's doing to her! You were in the operating room with me, you saw her reaction!" Lucrecia stopped, cutting off the other's reply before a second syllable could be spoken. "Aralyn?"
Aralyn dared to open her heavy eyes, knowing that she couldn't feign sleep any longer. A woman with long, brown hair and kind eyes stood above her. The ID on the lanyard around her neck identified her as Dr. Crescent.
"Hello," Aralyn whispered shyly.
Lucrecia smiled. "Good to see you." She turned to one of the assitants and motioned them away. Once they were gone, she looked at Aralyn for a long time. Her smile faded into a more melonchaly emotion.
"Aralyn, I need you to…do me a favor. It's about…him."
The name was not spoken, but Aralyn understood whom she was speaking of. "What?" she asked.
"I don't…" Lucrecia turned away, her shoulders were shaking. "I don't know…what Hojo has told him about what…who he is. But I can be certain…it's not the truth…"
Aralyn searched her memory. She couldn't remember if he had ever told her anything about his parentage.
"Did you know his parents?" Aralyn prodded after several long seconds.
"I thought I did." It was no more than the barest whisper. "Now, I'm not so sure."
"His mother," she continued, "loved his father…no, no, she never loved him…but she married him all the same. The man was kind to her, and she thought he understood. He asked one thing of her…just one thing. She was a foolish woman to agree…but she did. He was born…tainted…because of her mistake."
"Who was she?"Aralyn asked, afraid for some unexplained reason.
"Her name is of no importance. Someday…someday when he's old enough to understand, someone will tell him."
"Won't she come back? Doesn't she love him?"
Lucrecia raised her head, pausing for a long time. "His mother loves him more than anything, but she can't return. And that is what I need you to do…deliver his mother's final message to him."
"Is she…dead?"
Lucrecia ignored the question. "Tell him that his mother is…"
"Dr. Crescent!" Aralyn blanched on instinct; the voice had been Hojo's.
"Right away, sir," Lucrecia replied as she frantically gathered papers in her arms. She ran to the door, but before she opened it, she finished the message.
"Tell him to find Vincent Valentine."
A/N: I'm telling you, Vinnie holds a major role from here on out.
I'm not so sure if I portrayed Lucrecia accurately. She seemed easily flustered...so that's what I did. Maybe a little too much. I don't know, I'm not the most satisfied with it and it will probably be edited before too long.
Ruler of Dragons, here's your flashback. It wasn't supposed to put it in until after the next chapter...but I figured what the heck. Thank you all for reviewing, you really are the ones keeping me going here. To all of you, may you have a wondersul Thanksgiving with lots of delicious foodstuffs! I am baking a turkey and naming it Hojo...anyone want to help chop it into itty bitty pieces?