0011, Mountains, Nibel Area
"After that, both Sephiroth and the girl he spared, Ciara, went their separate ways. She kept her promise and wrote him letters all the time, more than he knew what to do with, which he then used to create an observation report. Through those he kept his promise to not hand her over to the scientists and repaid his debt. For almost six years they did not meet up. They lived apart, but they knew more about each other than I think anyone else. Sephiroth grew in fame for his prowess in battle until he rarely went out on simple missions like the ones that led him to Ciara any more. He was always doing highly dangerous Wutai suppression, or investigations for the President. First I then Genesis became SOLDIER 1st class as well. For a while we knew nothing about Ciara, but eventually, when he, the antisocial one, kept getting more mail than Genesis the solitary playboy, we asked. He was fairly willing to tell us about her then, though we were sworn to secrecy. We felt that he didn't want to carry the burden of protecting this girls life alone. We, naturally, made fun of him, as much as anyone could make fun of Sephiroth. Looking back on it now, those were the times that he was the most... human." Tifa finished reading the last page of the first half of the stack of papers and looked at the others.
Vincent was still leaning against the railing, though Yuffie had migrated to sit in front of him while she listened to the story being read to her. As she shifted about restlessly, unable to sit still, Vincent would move as well, to keep her from hurting herself or to block the wind, though very few in the group noticed his actions, especially not the young ninja he did them for. Cloud was beside Tifa, silent and still. Cid and Barrett were musing aloud what type of woman this Ciara had been while Nanaki and Reeve just waited for more information. At last, Cloud spoke.
"This account seems... surreal to me. The Sephiroth I have known was not like the one described by Angeal. Though, I remember Zack saying that occasionally he was allowed to see a side of Sephiroth that was almost human. But Zack never mentioned a woman named Ciara." The blonde finally said. Tifa sighed and rubbed her eyes.
"Well, no. But still... this is Angeal, Cloud, Zack's instructor. He wouldn't lie. Besides..." She hesitated,but then swallowed hard and kept talking. "Ifalna was Her mother's name." At the whispered words everyone fell silent as they all thought about what this meant. They knew the truth, that she had been the last Cetra on the planet, the only one capable of summoning the powerful magic holy to counteract the destruction Meteor that Sephiroth rained down on them four years ago. But if what the letters were saying was true then Ifalna had had a younger sister... who had been a full blooded Cetra of immense power. If this were true, why hadn't this woman helped them to stop Sephiroth when he tried to destroy the planet she was connected to? Why had she allowed so many to be killed? Why had she allowed her to die?
"Keep reading. The answer to this mystery must lie in Angeal's words." Vincent said softly. Tifa handed the papers to Cid, who had walked over to where she was. As the older man shuffled around and put out his cigarette, Tifa sat close to Cloud and linked her hand with his. Though the blonde didn't smile or nod appreciation for the gesture, he did squeeze her hand tighter and bring it to his chest briefly. Tifa smiled and then looked at Cid. The man cleared his throat and started in, snubbing out his cigarette before picking up a paper and scanning the first couple of lines. "Alright, ya peasants, pay attention. Says here... 'Though they were 'part for years, It's my belief that destiny was workin' on 'em and was what caused Ciara to come to Midgar years after their last meeting, looking fer Sephiroth..."
Midgar, 1998
Midgar was supposedly the most advanced and wondrous city in all of Gaia. Here in this city were the headquarters for the Shin Ra Electric Power Company and all the businesses associated with it. All advances in science and technology came from here. The brochures painted it as a lovely, bustling city of intelligence and beauty. I sighed and hopped over a puddle of refuse. People wandered listlessly around me, some scuttling cautiously from shadow to shadow while others walked as quickly as they could. I stood in the middle of the street, staring up at the huge metal plate above me. My heart sank. Midgar was not a place of hope. How could you have hope when you cannot see the sky? Someone bumped into me and sent me careening off to one side.
"Hey, watch it, crazy lady!" The man yelled as he walked by, cursing a few more times under his breath. I straightened myself and shook my head. People walking by gave me strange looks. Most of the residents of this slums area underneath the plate that separated the lower class from the privileged wore dark colors like black, hunter green, and gray. My sky blue skirt and white ruffled blouse did look rather out of place. Even so... I was wearing combat boots like everyone else. I grinned impishly as I jumped over another stinking puddle of stagnant water.
Midgar was built around a series of Mako reactors and as such, at the center of the town was a huge building that housed the electronic equipment that converted the Mako into energy to power the city. This building also served as the Shin Ra headquarters the higher up the building you went. No one really knew how deep into the planet the building went. I walked towards the central structure slowly, able to feel screams of torment and silent agony coming up from the depths of the planet, connected to the roots of the building in front of me. Something hideous was going on in the deep, underground parts of the Shin Ra company building. But what remained a mystery, though I felt with uncanny certainty that those dark mysteries would eventually be unleashed upon the unsuspecting people. I shook my head. Focus, Ciara. You have a mission to complete. I pulled a small data chip from my belt pocket and walked up to the Infantryman guarding the elevator to the upper level as well as the mail service device. He held up his hand a I approached.
"Halt. Authorized persons only allowed on the elevator." He said, sounding extremely frustrated and tired. Well, I guess if my job was to stand in a slum and keep desperate, hungry souls from going to where they could find relief, I'd be a little angry too. I smiled at him and shook my head.
"I know. I only wish to use the mail device. How many gil?" I asked, holding up my data chip. Or, actually, it wasn't mine. Well, it was mine in that it was coded for my information and responded only to my code, but I hadn't been the one to buy it. Or to program it. Or put any of the gil accounts on it. But hey, why look a gift chocobo in the beak, as they say. The man relaxed a little and held up five fingers. My eyes about bugged out of my head. Five gil? For a mail message? When I sent in paper mail from all over Gaia the most it cost was two gil, one for posting to Midgar and the other to pay the postmaster at wherever I happened to be. This was insane. Of course... I glanced around and sighed. The sad, starving, dirty people down here probably didn't know that. The way to keep oppressed people from revolting was to keep them in ignorance and depression. Five gil for mail would do that when a loaf of bread costs seven gil here. I'd seen the grocery stall earlier when I first arrived and... the prices were exuberant. Not to mention that the produce was maggoty. Sighing and shaking my head again, I walked up to the mail device and inserted my card into it.
As my information popped up on the display I reminded myself that I could not save everyone I met who was in misfortune. I had already bought the grocer out of his maggoty bread and given it to the children I'd seen begging for food earlier. And I'd gone ahead and given some away all the loose gil I had in my pocket to the elderly beggars. To do much more was impossible without causing trouble. A beep from the mail device brought me out of my thoughts. The prompt was telling me to input the recipient's mail information. Smiling a little, I punched in the code that I had memorized almost six years ago and hit enter. Usually I just wrote the code down and had the Postmaster send the letters off. A code was just a code and only the computer would know who the recipient was, or at least where they were living. But this time there was no human intermediary and the computer whirred as it went through the hundreds of thousands of codes to find the match for the one I had imputed. Once it did, the device dinged and a box opened for me to compose my message. At the top it said from Ciara, to Sephiroth in little letters. I shifted a little to hide the screen with my shoulder, knowing that people like to snoop to find out what a person was writing and to whom. Especially Shin Ra. I glanced at the infantryman, but he appeared to be asleep at his post. Nodding, I started writing.
'Savior 'O mine! I received your last letter and the prize that went with it. Though I don't know what you were doing in the Icicle Area, I love the gift. A Materia with no Lifestream or powers in it is indeed useless to you, but I think it's pretty! I'm using it as a hair ornament right now. Anyway, I was in the Woodlands Area when you sent the letter, so it has taken me awhile to receive it and get back. Sorry about that. I don't know if you want to report this or not but my abilities, as you call them, have manifested a new skill again. I'm an epic gardener now. I can grow the best produce and the prettiest flowers. When I was living in Gongaga that is how I made my living. There was a rather funny boy there. He idolized you and your friends in SOLDIER. He left a few months before I did, before the year changed, to go to Midgar to become one. We were never close, since I wasn't really welcome in the city all that much, but I'd recognize him if I saw him. You should totally watch out for the kid; I think you'd like him. Anyway, back on topic. I got your last letter. Why did you tell me that you had killed an entire Wutai unit while there? I don't like that senseless violence you do for President Shinra. And what about you? I know that you are not the kind of man who enjoys that violence! Sorry. I don't mean to lecture you. You're an adult and are free to pick your own path. That is the gift of life that we are given by this planet: Freedom. Or at least that is our belief... anyway. I wanted to return your letter so you wouldn't get in trouble or worry about me. And also... I wanted to let you know that I am in Midgar. I've never come to this city before in all my years of traveling but I wanted to at least see what it was like. Can't say I'm too impressed. The slums are awful and even though I have the money they won't let me travel above the plates because I'm not authorized. What does that even mean? I'm going to be here for awhile so, why don't we - Nevermind. It's not important. Stay safe. Ciara.'
I read the letter one more time and nodded, hitting send and stepping back as the digital letter was sent out. It was the first one I had ever sent. I always wrote on paper and sent the letters that way before. For the first few years, Sephiroth had returned my letters that way (And I had those letters stored in my safe place far from the reach of any person short of one who could fly), but shortly after his fame grew larger following his success at destroying my village, he started sending digital copies. I guess he lacked the time to hand write me letters anymore. Plus, paper trails are easy to follow and Sephiroth has always taken my safety seriously. My data chip popped out of the mail device and I tucked it safely back in my belt pocket. The Shin Ra Infantryman nodded to me as I stepped back and wandered deeper into the slums. I kept looking up, hoping to catch sight of the sky, but the endless twisting metal of the plate obscured my view. The planet's voice was weak here. All I heard were her cries as the Lifestream was directed and controlled by painful machines. It was distracting to me, that was for certain. I kept walking blindly, not really paying attention to where I was going or my surroundings until I blinked when I noticed that all the people had vanished and I was alone in the middle of a narrow, very dark street.
"Uh oh." I muttered when I heard a soft scuffling sound behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I whirled in time to see a big, ugly man lunge at me. He grabbed my wrists and forced them over my head, pinning them with one hand while with his other he held a knife against my throat. I glowered at him as he licked his puffy lips and panted while staring at me.
"Now now, pretty... be nice to me 'ere and I wont hurt 'cha." He muttered, pressing the knife harder against my skin. He leaned in and licked my chin, making me shuddered as my gorge rose. Since I've been on my own for almost six years, this is sadly not the first time this has happened, so I readied myself to fight for my virtue again. I cocked my knees and got ready to knock the man's pride into his sternum when I saw a glint of silver in the dim light behind my assailant. I blinked, confused, and then squeaked when a long, much more deadly silver blade tapped the man licking me on the shoulder. The idiot growled and twisted around, shouting, "Bugger off, ye can 'ave her once I'm finished!" Then his eyes landed on the blade appearing from darkness and he paled. I stared at it too, uncertain. No freakin' way... it couldn't be him.
"Your offer is kind, but I would prefer you release her now." A dark, deep and almost emotionless voice ordered. My savior stepped out of the shadows, cat-like green eyes colder than the frozen north and perfectly beautiful face a mask of death. He tilted his head to the left, long, flowing silver hair sliding to one side as he pressed that infamous blade harder against my assailants shoulder. He absently brushed long bangs out of his face with his free hand, though the fell into his eyes again as soon as he dropped his hand. His nonchalance was terrifying for the lie it presented. I knew that with a flick of his wrist, the idiot who attacked me would be chopped in two. The assailant knew it too. He let me go so abruptly that I fell to my butt and, screaming like a child, tried to run. The silver demon moved faster than my eye could follow and rammed the hilt of his weapon into the man's temple, causing him to crash into the ground, silent. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw his chest rise and fall. He was alive.
Then those powerful eyes were boring into mine and I swallowed hard. He was the same and yet different. His chest was packed with more lean muscles and he had grown much taller. His hair was longer, his face more beautiful and yet merciless. And his eyes... I stared hard into the green depths and saw them flicker, then thaw a little as his face softened and he shook his head slowly. There. That was the boy I had known, hiding beneath the cruel veneer of this strange warrior. A fear I hadn't known I was carrying inside vanished at seeing that he wasn't totally lost to the darkness threatening him yet.
"Ciara..." He muttered, my name in his deep, almost graven tones causing a shiver to run down my spine. I ignored the shiver and jumped to my feet, brushing dirt off my skirt and blouse before I put my hands on my hips and mock-glared at him.
"You jerk!" I shouted, making his eyes widen the tiniest fraction. "Last time we met, you were, like, one inch taller than me! Now you're...you're... how tall are you!?" I demanded. He seemed at a loss for words for a moment, then twisted his lips into a miniscule half smile and shook his head, turning to the man lying on the ground and easily picking him up with one hand while his weapon vanished in a shower of tainted Lifestream, not that I would tell him that. I wasn't supposed to know about or be able to sense such things, afterall. I trust him, but spies are everywhere and I didn't want to end up as Shin Ra's lab rat. Some weapons, especially those utilized by those associated with Shin Ra, are often made of or utilize corrupted lifestream, though. I, whenever I find someone using one, worm my way close enough to purify the weapon for the owner. Usually this actually increases the weapons power output, though they are never aware of the reason why they could suddenly use the full power of their weapon without feeling ill. I'll just do the same for Sephiroth's weapon when I get the chance. He turned and started to walk off, so I huffed out a breath and chased after him. "Hey, tell me!" I demanded.
"Six one." He answered shortly as he traversed the twisting back alleys of the slums easily. "Ciara, what are you doing here?" He asked as we stepped out into the main track of the city once again. Instantly, people around us froze and stared at the man next to me with abject terror or cautious delight. I noted that all movement stopped and that people who were in the way of where he was walking quickly removed themselves. I was gawking at the effect his appearance had on the people, but I felt when he looked at me again, so I turned and met his gaze evenly. The spirit and fire in his eyes took my breath away, and the flashes of pain and uncertainty I saw in him softened my heart. I hid the knowledge I gleaned from his eyes and just smiled softly at him.
"How'd you know I was here? I just sent that letter, like, five minutes ago." I countered his question with another one. I really didn't know the answer to his question. A few months ago, I had sudden had a dream of him being engulfed by flames. It had been terrifying and heartbreaking all at the same time, and I had suddenly known that I needed to see him once more...not again, but once more, which made it impossible to resist. The urge had been so strong that I knew it was from the planet. She was telling me where my destiny was to be found. For whatever reason, the mother goddess of our planet had seen fit to direct me to this haunted warrior. Maybe it was the possible darkness threatening to swallow him that frightened her. If so, I would do my part in vanquishing it before my true destiny called me away forever. Sephiroth started speaking, so I waved the painful thoughts away with the ease of long practice and listened to his mesmerizing voice.
"My mail is sent to my phone as well as my personal system. I was on my way out of HQ when I got your letter." He answered me as we approached the same infantryman who I had spoken to earlier. Sephiroth tossed the unconscious man to the soldier, the other man almost falling as he caught the dead weight of the pervert. "He was attacking and molesting this woman so deal with him appropriately." Sephiroth ordered, ignoring the gaping mouth and stuttering reply the young infantryman gave him. Free of his cargo, Sephiroth grabbed my wrist and turned to go when the elevator dinged and the silver doors slid open. I twisted around to see who was coming out of a Shin Ra personnel elevator as Sephiroth let out a sigh and covered his eyes with his hand. A pair of extremely handsome men came out of the elevator. One was dressed in a red trench coat and black leather, and had shorter, shoulder length flame hair. His unnaturally blue eyes were open and flirty, though he also presented an aloof air which kept others at a defined distance. Next to him was a man dressed all in black with shoved back, mid length black hair. His face appeared a little more worn than his redheaded companion, and was a lot more composed and kindly. Both men started when they saw Sephiroth, and the red head's jaw fell open when he saw me being held by the first class SOLDIER.
The black haired man crossed his arms and smiled. "Well now... I see why you ran off after getting that message, Sephiroth." He said, shaking his head and looking at me. "You wouldn't happen to be Ciara, would you?" He asked. I was a little confused. These men used a Shin Ra elevator and knew Sephiroth, and knew about me, but didn't look like they wanted to study me. Both men were armed, the red head with a crimson sword across his back and the other man had a large weapon strapped across his back. They didn't wear standard Shin Ra Infantry gear either. What was going on? I opened my mouth to answer but didn't get the chance to as the redhead was suddenly standing in front of me.
I squeaked when he suddenly pulled me free of Sephiroth's grip and brought my fingers to his lips. "You are beloved by the Goddess." He muttered as he kissed my fingers. I stared at the back of his head for a moment, then sighed and drew my hand away.
"Loveless, Act two." I told him, watching as a smile started across his face. Behind me, Sephiroth groaned. "But, you know that line is followed by, 'Dreams of the morrow hath the shattered soul, Pride is lost, Wings stripped away, the end is nigh.' It isn't exactly flattering to be called the goddess in that context." I said, making the raven haired man start laughing so hard he almost fell over. Sephiroth smoothly stepped between me and the flirty guy, using his forward motion to propel me behind the shelter of his larger body.
"Hey, Sephiroth!" I shrieked, annoyed. "I can handle him. No need to be all protective." It never sat well with me when men assumed that I needed their help and protection. After the destruction of my village and my rescue at Sephiroth's bloody hands, I had sworn to never depend on a man again. For six years I have upheld that belief and I wasn't about to start changing it now. Setting my face into the familiar stubborn lines, I grabbed two fist fulls of Sephiroth's silken silver hair (luxuriating in the feel of the soft strands between my fingers; did he use a special product on his hair or what?) and tugged with all my might and made the man bend back a little to stop from having his hair yanked out of his head.
A silence fraught with tension and fear that you could have chopped with a knife fell over the entire slum area. I felt the soft strands slide free of my grip as Sephiroth turned to face me. Behind him, the black haired man grinned while the redheaded one still wore a look of shock on his face from my earlier words. The infantry man by the elevator looked at me with horror, his face white as a sheet. Civilians either fell to their knees where they stood or turned and ran. And I just stared into those beguiling green eyes, hands on hips and eyes daring the man to say anything. After a heavy couple of seconds, he reached out and grabbed a handful of my own burnished gold hair, which I kept restrained in a high tail atop my head. Even through the leather of his glove, his touch electrified me. I felt my eyes widen and stared at him in question this time. He let the strands fall through his fingers and dropped his hand, barely grazing my cheek with his touch as he did so.
"You have grown beautiful, Ciara, but your attitude seems to have remain the same as it was six years ago." He finally said, turning with a swish of his hair and facing the others while I remained stunned into a momentary silence as I tried to figure out if I had been complimented or insulted. "Genesis, Angeal, as you can see I have something which requires my urgent attention so I will not be able to join you for a training session today. My apologies." He said, still in a soft, almost toneless voice. Almost being the key words. I could hear the suppressed humor in his voice, as well as the sarcasm and underlying tension. And apparently so could the other two men... no, other two SOLDIERS. I knew them since he had said their names. I had read much about them in Sephiroth's letters and knew they were his closest friends. Their names were always mentioned with Sephiroth's, and their skill in battle nearly as legendary as his. They looked at me curiously.
"She's very beautiful, and she's smart too, Sephiroth. Such a good woman is wasted on you." The man called Genesis, the SOLDIER with a fan club, finally said, turning to Angeal beside him. "And I think our training can wait in lieu of this much more interesting matter which has come up." At those words, Angeal smiled and crossed his arms.
"Certainly. I'd rather be here with you and the woman than training the new boys. With the exception of one from Gongaga the rest look to be hopeless." Angeal said. I finally unfroze from the shock of having Sephiroth call me beautiful and then insult me in the same breath, and growled, waving my hands about in frustration.
"Something? Interesting Matter? Woman? What do you guys think I am, property?" I demanded, stamping my foot. Before they could answer, I turned to Sephiroth and pointed at him. To his credited it he just lifted an eyebrow at me, though his arrogance was seriously gonna get him killed one of these days even as I found it unbearably attractive. Focus, Ciara...
"You are in trouble. See if I enhance your materia for you any more." I growled, stalking past him and grabbing Genesis by one arm and Angeal by the other. "You two, in payment for insulting me, be my escorts and show me around Midgar. Or, the parts of Midgar I will be allowed to see." I started walking off, giving the two SOLDIERs I held no choice but to walk with me since I had a hold of them. Sephiroth muttered something under his breath and then soon followed along behind.
The people in the slum stared at me with frightened eyes. I just smiled, satisfied. I had made the three strongest men in Midgar my personal lackeys for the day. Not bad for a runaway orphan with strange powers. After a few moments of awkwardness, Genesis thawed out and started to enjoy walking around the slum areas with me. He would point out areas of interest and Angeal would tell me about them while Sephiroth remained my silent bodyguard. And I had no doubt that was what he was doing; the man would sometimes disappear for a moment only to come back vanishing his sword a second later. Though my connection to the planet was weaker here than anywhere else in Gaia, I could still feel the pulse of human life. He never killed anyone, which made me happy. But the fact that he felt hat he had to protect me even while his friends were here was unusual. While we were in the Sector Seven slums, I suddenly felt the pulse of the lifestream very close to the surface, flowing freely and not being directed and drained by Shin Ra.
Excited, I unhooked my arms from Genesis and Angeal and ran, ignoring their shouts as I was completely focused on finding the sanctuary in all this despair. Soon enough a ruined church came into view, the only part of this entire slum where the plate wasn't completed, allowing the ruined building to be bathed in sunlight. As I stepped into the sun, I looked up at the sky and smiled, feeling all my stress melting away. I went to walk into the abandoned church, but was grabbed by my wrist. I whirled around and saw Sephiroth had a hold of me, pulling me back to him and his friends who were standing in the shadows still.
"Ciara, you shouldn't run off here. Midgar is dangerous, especially to you." He reminded me. I bit my lip and looked away, hand limp in his grasp. Sephiroth wouldn't understand why I had come to Midgar and why I had run here. I couldn't tell him, not just because he was from Shin Ra. That didn't matter to me. It was because I knew he wouldn't understand.
"Try, Ciara. Tell me." He ordered, making me snap my head around to stare at him. He knew? He knew that I was being drawn here? He... was trying to understand? My heart clenched painfully, then melted. He cares, though he doesn't exactly know how to show it.
I tugged gently, expecting him to let go of my hand. Instead, he shifted his grip so he wasn't holding my wrist and laced his fingers through with mine, stepping into the sunshine so that his silver hair glowed. He waited patiently and I smiled, tightening my hold on his hand and turning, headed straight for the church. Without complaint he followed me inside. Angeal and Genesis came as well, confused and intrigued by my behavior, and obviously flabbergasted at their friend's. His holding my hand was embarrassing and upsetting my equilibrium, despite the leather gloves separating our flesh. If I ever touched this man skin on skin I'd probably pass out or scream, or something even more embarrassing. The power he has over me is scary. So I just ignored it as I led Sephiroth to the front of the church where the floor had long ago degraded and empty earth stood. Releasing him, I knelt and sank my fingers into the soil.
"Sephiroth... you remember... how I saved your life, right?" I asked. The silver haired man knelt beside me and nodded, watching what I was doing. "And you know how I can enhance and maximize your materia to mastery level without having to go through the process of utilizing them in real life scenarios, too, right?" Again, he nodded. (That little skill of mine was actually something he liked using. He would send me new materia he had and have me master them for him and return them to him.) I took a deep breath and turned my face to him, meeting his eyes squarely. "That skill... is changing and I don't really know why. Do you... trust them?" I asked, flicking my eyes over to Genesis and Angeal, sitting in the front row pews and watching us closely, though respecting my privacy too. They're good men, though I felt from them the same wrongness I had felt in Sephiroth from the very beginning, just not as strongly.
The first class SOLDIER didn't even hesitate. "With my life. And yours." He said. Hearing the confidence and the comradery in his voice decided it for me. I nodded again and looked down at my hands, buried in the dirt. taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and focused. Flowing through this dirt was the lifestream, fertile and rich with life. Many things could be done with it, but what I loved to do the most when the lifestream was so close to the surface was to manifest it in a form that brought happiness and peace. I called the lifestream up and heard the three SOLDIERs gasp as the powerful energy burst out of the ground and coiled around me. It shied away from Sephiroth, fearing his darkness, but I just coaxed it closer to me and directed it to the ground I had my hands in. Then, I let my emotions flow out. My power, my skill, was connected to my heart and my feelings, an unstoppable force limited only by the physical restraints of my body. The joy I felt at finally seeing Sephiroth again, the happiness at knowing he had good friends and even the humor of the situation earlier all bubbled up and burst into life in a shower of lifestream that crystallized into the form of beautiful and fragrant, pure flowers. I opened my eyes and saw that the entire floor of the church that had been bare dirt earlier was now carpeted in flowers. I pulled my hands out of the soil and wiped them clean on my skirt, leaving brushes of dirt on the blue fabric. I looked over at Sephiroth, who was staring at the flowers hard, his face emotionless but his eyes flickering as he thought.
I smiled sadly, knowing the problem. As a SOLDIER working for Shin Ra, seeing what I had just done meant that he was obligated to turn me in to the research and development department so that Shin Ra would develop new and more powerful ways of controlling the lifestream. But at the same time, he owed me a life debt and I was something of a friend to him. He didn't want to turn me in. I had come to Midgar knowing I would have to show him this ability of mine. The dreams and visions the planet showed me when I was sleeping and awake, or when I meditated, were clear in my ability having something to do with saving the planet. And sometimes, the visions showed me using this skill to save Sephiroth from a darkness so complete and terrifying that my soul shivered to think of what it could be.
"Like I said, I'm an epic gardener now. I can do more than just enhance materia. Where there is a strong concentration of undiluted and free flowing lifestream my abilities are... out of control almost." I whispered, resting back on my haunches and staring at the beauty before me. "I've made these flowers burst into bloom sometimes just by laughing in areas like that. It's getting harder for me to control and I'm afraid I'll end up in a laboratory."
"If that is your fear, Ciara, then why show this to us?" Angeal's kind voice made me turn to look at him. He had stood and approached the bed of flowers cautiously, bending down to pluck on blossom and study it closely. The flower glowed a little in his hand, though in a few hours I knew that the magical light revealing how they came into being would fade and they would become normal flowers. Unless tended, they would also fade within a few days. But I didn't tell them that. I just watched the warrior smile absently at the flower in his hand before tucking it into his belt and meeting my eyes steadily.
"All three of us are Shin Ra SOLDIERs and obligated to report someone like you." I met his Mako blue gaze without flinching and smiled at him, causing the man to raise an eyebrow and take a step back.
"For all that you are, you are also three men bound by certain codes. Genesis follows the path of a warrior, fighting as a SOLDIER to protect Shin Ra and the people of Gaia. He won't turn me in because he knows how crazy the scientists are. Angeal, you follow the code of honor, and bound by this, you will not turn a woman over to men as cruel as Hojo and Hollander, not when it is clear that I am... special. And Sephiroth... he is bound by his own heart. As long as his heart and his mind remain his, pure and whole, I am safe with him." I answered them, standing and turning around fully, my skirts swishing out around me as I did so.
"I came here because I need help. I don't know where else to go. My abilities... I know about them, more than I can tell you, but I don't know where to get help. Normal people are terrified of me. Only SOLDIERs like yourself understand, since you as well might have the planet flowing through your veins." Even as I spoke, though, I knew that was wrong. They were infused with Mako, which was derived from the planets pain, and not from her gifts. And whatever it was that made them powerful and strong was not our goddesses gift. But I kept my council, knowing that sharing such words with them would do more harm than good. Sometimes, I curse my ability to sense the truth. I sighed and dropped my head, clasping my hands in front of me. Just keep talking, CIara. You have to get help.
"I abhor death and violence. I cannot stand Shin Ra for what it does to this planet and to the people, like the Wutai. But despite that, I know that the people of Shin Ra aren't all bad. So I try to help everyone. And despite what you may think I can help you. All I ask is that someone helps me, too. I'm at my limit. I can't control or hide this for much longer and I don't know what else to do." I said, feeling tears building in my eyes. My abilities were getting more and more powerful by the day, and the visions I saw more terrifying. Death and suffering, destruction, Chaos, it was all dancing across my mind without cease. It was like the planet knew something horrible was building up and getting ready to burst forth, and she needed her defenders strong. I didn't know, for certain, how many with the blood of my people in their hearts yet lived, so I didn't know how many the planet was calling upon to rescue her. But I knew that whomever was called up to do the saving would need help. I know that I would not be the one to save her; my destiny lied in providing the means to do so. I was the help the planet needed prepared, if the darkness was going to fall soon.
My sudden increase in power and the fear my visions inspired lead me to believe that it would. I know I will be vital to providing some sort of help to the one truly called upon to save Gaia. I know little of what I could do. Though I have strong healing powers, they were too strong to be used on people not directly infused with Mako. So, I could only heal and cure someone like Sephiroth or someone who, like me, was connected closely to the planet. I could control and direct the white holy power of this planet, but that power was too dangerous and uncontrollable to be used unless dire need prompted its release. It is an ability so rare that my ancestors whisper of it in the lifestream as a faint memory, nothing more. Yet I have the power, so the planet must know that I will be called upon to use it. She showed it to me when I was six and I have known and accepted my destiny since then. And even then... I shook my head. I would need warriors and people with pure hearts to do the actual saving. But until then, I needed help finding them and staying alive long enough to prepare them. And the only person I could think of to help me... was a person most people were terrified of.
I squeaked when I felt someone ruffle my hair and looked up to see Genesis and Angeal standing before me with little smirks on their faces, Angeal pulling his hand away from my head. "Keeping secrets from the company is fun. So of course we will help you. Plus, any friend of his is a friend of ours." Angeal said, jabbing his thumb at Sephiroth who had somehow moved up beside me silently without my knowing. I looked up into the SOLDIERs eyes. He nodded his head and put his hand on my shoulder.
"I have no problem with helping you, as long as it does not conflict with my regular mission as a SOLDIER for the president." He said, making me giggle a little as I shrugged his hand off me, not because I didn't like it, but because I did. And that disturbed me.
"Like keeping me a secret from Hojo isn't conflicting?" I asked lightly, lifting my arms and spinning in a circle in the middle of the flowers I had created. Already their radiance was fading a little. The three men chuckled a little at my words, all smiling as the sun painted them in gentle colors. It hit me suddenly, standing there. I looked at the companions and knew, painfully, that this moment of happiness would be one of the last the three were able to enjoy together. Like lightning in a storm, I saw flashes and flickers in my mind. The sorrow and pain in the eyes of Angeal, the utter hopelessness and sudden determination in Genesis'... and the light of kindness fading from Sephiroth's. I stopped twirling and fell to my knees, picking a faintly blue flower and bringing it to my nose.
"I fear that at the end... this will all be for nothing." I whispered, voice choked. Was failure to be my fate, was that why I saw such horrible things?
"Nonsense. We won't just hand you over to Hojo without a fight." Angeal said, misunderstanding my words. I glanced up at him and smiled. Nodding my head, I made a decision. Live for each moment. If our lives were destined to be brief or painful, then I would do my best to provide happiness and joy for the moments in them which I could. These men were not evil or power hungry. They were kind. I saw it inside of them, buried deep beyond the layers most people looked for humanity in. They deserve at least my kindness from me. I nodded and hopped back up to my feet.
"Genesis, allow me to enhance the fire materia in your sword." I said, holding out my hand to him. The redhead looked startled, then unsheathed his sword from his back and popped the fist sized red gem out of the gem slot, handing it to me. Smiling, I cupped both my hands around it and gently called the power out, causing strains of fire to swirl about me. The flames grew hotter and brighter until, suddenly, I covered the materia with my hand and made the power flow cease. The gem was very hot, almost burning, as I handed it back to Genesis, but he didn't seem bothered as he put it back in his weapon. After a moment, he swung the blade and smiled when fire rippled down the red surface. He smiled at me.
"Very nice, my goddess." He said, putting his arm behind his back as he swept me an elegant bow. "Sephiroth, can I have her? She's beautiful, smart, and useful." He said, humor twinkling in his eyes for a moment. Sephiroth sighed and put two fingers to his forehead as he softly shook his head at the man.
Genesis continued to try to bribe me out of Sephiroth's ownership - and I was very much going to have a talk with the man about this whole idea of ownership - when Angeal nudged me with his elbow. I dragged my gaze away from the silver haired devil (how does he command my attention so much when he hardly ever speaks?) and arched an eyebrow at the man. He stared at the flowers in front of us, and sighed.
"I know little about myths and legends in this world." He started, sounding a little self-deprecating. "Sephiroth is actually the most knowledgeable since he spends most of his free time reading." I snorted, not able to imagine the most feared and powerful SOLDIER in Gaia would step foot into a library, let alone open a book willingly.
Angeal nodded. "It's true, he's a total book worm. He has a fascination with knowledge that makes me wonder at why he was made a warrior when his mind is more suited to science. His quarters are so full of books that there isn't any space to sit, except on his bed. So when Genesis and I go there, we are usually left standing. But that's not what I wanted to talk about."
I stepped in front of the raven haired man and grabbed his hands, tilting my head back to meet his kind blue eyes. "I know, and I understand. This is dangerous for all of you. I won't do it again." I said, leaving the blue flower I had plucked in his hands. "They'll fade away in a few days anyway, unless tended. I certainly won't be coming back here to water them with lifestream." Angeal looked down at it with a soft smile and shook his head.
"Not what I was going to say, but I'm glad all the same for the reassurance. You're... special to Sephiroth, in a way I'm sure no other person alive in this world is." We both watched as Genesis got fed up with being ignored by Sephiroth and tried to shove him over, the two SOLDIER's starting a little scuffle. Even though they were just playing around, they were both deadly fast, especially Sephiroth - I almost couldn't follow his movements. But even as he played, his face remained mostly impassive, just the barest hint of a smile turning up the corner of his lips.
"Even with us he is distant, but you... Ciara, as soon as he got your letter he ran, ran down to greet you. Just, whatever you do, whatever he does, please don't leave him. His heart is so fragile, despite how strong people perceive him as, and I know he has entrusted the safety, the purity, the entire thing, to you." Angeal turned and stared me down, his eyes boring into my plain blue ones with an intensity that made me shiver. I could feel the love he had for the two men wrestling like boys across from us, and the sick knowledge in his heart that things were not as they should be in the world. I could hear his fear, beating against my soul, that the company they worked for wasn't pure, and the things they did would eventually tear them apart. And I had the knowledge in me... the planet's whispers, that he was right.
I looked away, unable to hold his stare any longer. With my power, with the knowledge the planet had shown me as a child, with what the ghosting words my sister had been able to decipher from our ancestors in the planet had told us about it, I would most likely not be able to keep the promise Angeal was asking me to give, and I didn't want to lie. However... the memory of the fire surrounding Sephiroth and his dead eyes rose in my mind again. I didn't want that either. Clenching my hands into fists, I locked my gaze onto the silver demon we were talking about. "I... Angeal, I promise just one thing. As long as he wants me, as long as he needs me, I will never leave him, no matter what may happen to me in the end." Sephiroth flipped Genesis and knocked him flat on his back, standing tall and glancing my way. Our eyes met. "After all, ours is a twisted fate." I muttered as he walked over to us, ignoring the whining and moaning friend behind him.
"You and I?" He asked, having heard the last part of my speech to Angeal. Laughing, I nodded and spun around again, slightly shifting myself away from the two SOLDIERs so that I was in the exact middle of the lifestream flowers. Despite the uncertainty of my own future and the futures of those around me, I was strangely happy. Sephiroth didn't seem all that bothered by my words and just watched me with his arms crossed while Angeal helped poor Genesis up, dusting the dirt of the red heads clothes for him. For this moment in time, we were all just young people enjoying life, ignoring the fragile balance we were balanced on which might send everything tumbling into darkness if pushed the wrong way.
The beeping of a phone had us all sobering up. All three SOLDIERs pulled their devices out, but it was Sephiroth's that was ringing. Face going completely blank upon seeing the number, he flipped it open and pressed the phone to his ear. "Yes?" He asked shortly, voice about as inviting as death. The person on the other end spoke, making Sephiroth close his eyes briefly. "No, I was not aware of this. Yes." Another pause. "I said no." He sighed, and now Genesis and Angela were gathered around, looking concerned. "Fine, I will handle the matter myself. Tell the president. I will go tonight." Without saying any more, he hung up. When he looked at me, his eyes were very grim. "Wutai sympathies have risen and created an anti-Shin Ra group, which is apparently lead by a 'Death God of the Battlefield.' They've been terrorizing weapons holds and stealing property. Apparently Veld has been told to handle this matter, but has lost the President's confidence. The job of hunting down the sympathizers and any Wutai has been given to me. I'll be heading to the Corel Area, leaving tonight. I won't be back until I'm done." Each word was a strike to my heart, and he knew it. But he never lies, or hides himself from me. So I just closed my eyes and clasped my hands together, silently praying for the purity of his soul to survive.
"But... what about Ciara?" Angeal spoke the words I'm sure we were all thinking. "She came here for protection. You can't just leave her! I would take her but I recently received new recruits for SOLDIER and I'm training from dusk until dawn. And Genesis will be leaving to go handle the faulty reactors in the Grasslands and their beasts with the engineer team tomorrow!"
I hunched my shoulders and gnawed on my lip. I was causing trouble for everyone. Genesis started into the conversation too, until he and Angeal were both yelling at the silent Sephiroth. This dissention, was it my fault? Their words melded and became a roar that threatened to overtake me.
"Take her with you!" Genesis's shout had silence falling and my eyes popping open.
I stared at him, as did Sephiroth. Genesis crossed his arms. "Just take her with you, then." He repeated, smiling at me. "Then you will be safe, he can be a hero, and we can do our jobs." His voice broke a little at the hero comment and he looked a little upset, but he covered it so quickly that I thought maybe I had imagined it.
Sephiroth shook his head, silver mane shimmering at the motion. "I can't. I will be killing many people and... I helped slay her entire village. I'd rather her not look at me in the midst of battle again." He said, making the other two shut up and look uncomfortable. My mouth twisted. Apparently they hadn't known about that aspect of our relationship. Sephiroth reached into his black leather clothes and pulled out a card key, handing it to me. Confused, I took it. Even when my fingers closed over the plastic, he didn't drop his hands, making me lift my eyes to his.
"That is the only key to my house on the upper plate. It's not on the Shin Ra compound, and no one from Shin Ra will even go there. I usually sleep at my SOLDIER quarters in the main building, so most know nothing of it. It's fully stocked. Stay there and do not leave until I return." He ordered, dropping his hand. His cat eyes flicked over to Angeal. "Take her there for me."
Then, without another word, he turned and slowly walked away, melting into the shadows of the slum area effortlessly, leaving a feeling of ice and pain behind. I clutched the card key to my chest, swallowing hard. Stupid tears burned my eyes. Why? He hadn't done anything wrong. Why was I being stupid? Rubbing my eyes hard, I spun on my heel and faced the remaining two SOLDIERs. "I'm sorry, for making you all argue. It wasn't my intention to cause dissention." I whispered. Genesis walked by me and waved one hand absently as he went.
"That's just the way he is, goddess. Though the 'morrow be barren of promises, nothing shall forestall my return." He said, quoting Loveless again, leaving me and Angeal alone. I peeked over at the other SOLDIER and saw him shaking his head, sighing. Seeing me looking, he just rubbed the back of his neck.
"Those two are totally devoted to their mission, their job. Not to mention their personalities make it rather difficult for others to get used to them and comfortable. So that's why I'm the only trainer for third and second class SOLDIERs. It's complicated. But... Ciara, I'll take you to Sephiroth's house. I didn't even know he had one, but I guess that explains where he vanishes to every once in a while. Let me see the card." I held it up and his eyes scanned it, eyebrows raising and a soft whistle escaping his lips. "Nice part of town. Come on." He grabbed my wrist and started walking.
I wasn't very comfortable with him holding me - with any man holding me actually - so I tugged my arm away and stepped up to his side, keeping pace with him. "Only Sephiroth?" He asked, making me blush. I didn't know why I wasn't bothered by it when it was Sephiroth; if I were to guess, it was probably because his honesty assured me that he was never going to harm me by trying to control my movements. Sephiroth, I knew, would tell me if ever a time came when he was going to kill me; he had assured me of that when we began our unusual relationship years ago. If the time came when my powers became of interest to Shin Ra, he has promised me to kill me himself. I knew Angeal would never hurt me either, but... I just couldn't handle it. He shook his head and smiled.
"I get it. We will have to sneak you up there, since you aren't really cleared. But that's easy. I know many different ways to get you there."
My eyebrows rose at that and he laughed. "All three of us are rather infamous and it is sometimes a hassle to be either swamped in fear or adoration, so we sneak into the upper levels of Midgar frequently. The house Sephiroth has is next to one of the waste vents for the upper plates. They have maintenance hatches next to them that smell something awful and are locked, but with a SOLDIERs clearance level, it's an easy obstacle to overcome. The stench is worse, but you'll safely come out right where we are going." Angeal kept up the commentary as he flirted around the back alley's of the Slums
It was kind of fun to be slipping around like a shadow with Angeal, but my heart was disturbed. Something wasn't right. If I were in a place where the lifestream flowed freely, I would easily be able to pinpoint the source of my unease and help, but here, in this city of steel and stagnant life, my abilities were just able to alert me to issues. It was getting to the point that I was having trouble concentrating from the planet trying to get my attention. She can be a bit bratty sometimes. Angeal stopped in front of a small grated door that was about three feet tall and pulled out his security pass, swiping it. The door beeped and the door opened.
"In here, Ciara. It's a tight fit but if Sephiroth can make it, so can you." He said, gesturing for me to go first. I took one last look around the slums, then drew in a deep breath and ducked into the tiny tunnel.
Angeal had lied about the stench. It wasn't bad. It was nauseating, excruciating, and revolting. The smell rolled over me as soon as I walked into the enclosed space. He worked on resetting the security grate and closing the door behind us while I glanced around. The maintenance tunnel was basically a tiny walkway suspended over the sewers. One wrong step and I'd be swimming in... I shuddered. The walkway was suspended a few short feet from the ceiling, so I was stooped over, and since it was hanging ,the stupid thing swung with every shift of my body. "I don't think I can imagine Sephiroth in here." I croaked as Angeal came back to my side.
He had a cloth pressed against his mouth and nose, handing me one as he shrugged. "He found these secret passages, actually. He grew up in the labs and was studied by Hojo and Gast, so he said he often ran and hid in the vents so that they wouldn't find him, to avoid getting poked and prodded by them for a few hours. Some of his books from his childhood still smell like this, because he dropped a couple." Angeal said, voice muffled. I placed the cloth over my mouth and nose, noticing the slight cologne scent on the fabric. It was definitely Angeal's handkerchief. Even though it reduced the smell, it didn't cancel it out. I groaned in frustration.
"That is it! The faster I'm out of here, the better." I snapped, turning and slowly creeping along the path, heading for the ladder I could see at the end of the way. Since we were going to the upper plates, I figured that was our goal and focused on it. In the middle of the suspended walkway, though, my heart suddenly seized and I fell to my knees, choking. Angeal rushed up and grabbed my shoulders, speaking to me, but I could no longer hear his words. I knew what this was.
When the planet wanted her servant to listen, she would just seize me and force me to heed her words. The pain that came along with having your consciousness lifted from your body was something my mother had told me we eventually got used to. This was the third time it happened, though, and I'm no more used to it than I was before. Back when my mother was still alive, she told me that my ability to hear the planet so clearly, to be able to actually talk to her, was something that hadn't been an ability of our people since the Calamity fell. She thought that the corruption brought to Gaia by the Calamity stripped us of some of our natural powers, and that I was actually the only true one of us left. When she said it that way, I had felt blessed. Until this happened for the first time when I was six, alerting me to the rise of Shin Ra power, my own abilities, and what it would mean for our people. The second time was a few years after my home was destroyed, and had informed me, along with a few other useful bites of information, to not go anywhere near the Nibel Area. It is a warning I have heeded, though I don't know why. But whenever I get close to Nibelheim, I feel... terrified. And now it was happening again. What could the planet have to tell me that was so important she would take me in front of someone? Never before had that happened; usually this type of thing would be done in private!
I bit my tongue hard enough to draw blood, the shock of iron filling my mouth briefly allowing me to croak out a few words to Angeal. "Get me...safe. Please. Fine... I'm..." But then the pull came back stronger and this time the pain ripped me away and I was falling, spiraling down into dank blackness, losing myself.
Then, with a burst of euphoria, ribbons and explosions of life wrapped around me, coiling through me, and came from me, lighting the darkness and feeding the planet with energy and warmth. I opened my eyes and sighed, looking around the shadows. As always, something malevolent was lurking in the purple darkness that my light could not penetrate. It was foul and disturbed, slinking away like evil does, biding its time and waiting for the moment to come and steal all my light from me. I was it's enemy and I knew that. I have been aware of it, whatever it was, since I first came here when I was six. And it has been aware of me, of my blood, and hated me more than anything. But this time, the darkness parted a little and I saw two eyes, filled with unfathomable malice and lust for destruction, glowing sickly eerie greenish yellow blue at me.
'It is almost time for the next game to begin. You stopped me all those ages ago, and here you are to stop me again. But I have the advantage this time. You are weak, the last, and alone. I have servants all over the planet who help me stop you, drain you, corrupt you. I will not be held back a second time. I will take the life of this world and make it my own.' I shuddered. That was the voice of pure, unadulterated evil.
"You are a fragment of shadow. You have no form with which to fight me. I am the planet and the planet is me. As long as one exists so do I. Though I may be alone, my power is enough. I can and will stop you." I shot back, the worlds bubbling forth from some place deep within me. Whenever I came here... I felt like Ciara was only a small part of my being, that I was actually someone else.
When I was six, the feeling of losing myself had terrified me and I had told my mother. But she had just held me and said that Ciara was just a part of me, that I was more than that, more than any of them. When I was born, she told me she heard two names called out from our ancestors who still lived in the lifestream. All of them, all those voices, had all called out two names. Ciara, she told me, was the last name they called and so that was what she chose to call me. I knew, in time, the other name would be revealed, as my destiny unfolded. Given what my powers are, I have some suspicion of what it could be, though I may be thinking too highly of myself. So I welcomed the other me that rose when I was inside the planet's heart. It made me strong enough to face this evil.
Hissing laughter came from the shadow. 'As long as a part of me lives, I survive and can be reborn. I live in others outside. Those foolish mortals on the surface have helped me so much by implanting me inside the body of one who is strong, inside warriors, but one stands above the others, and thus they have created a new self for me to use. That mind is still closed to me and so I am unable to take control of it, but all it will take is a moment of weakness and I will be able to slip inside. Then, when he reaches for me, I will be there to welcome him and control him. And not even you will be able to stop me then. I will destroy this world.' The darkness wrapped around the eyes again and faded, leaving me alone in the middle of the swirling lights. My heart ached.
"Who would be cruel enough to take anything from that monster and put it inside someone?" I whispered, hands clenched. The energy swirled around me, but I got no answer. Typical. I sighed and ran a hand back through my blond hair. The planet hadn't brought me here to talk to that evil which never faded. Or maybe it had. I frowned. The darkness had never spoken before. It has always just lurked and watched, wary. Never before had it contained a form or a voice. What was going on?
'Thousands of years ago, a Calamity fell into the paradise which used to be our homeland. Holy Minerva fought and managed to soften the impact, but the being had landed in our fertile land. Her corruption spread faster than our goddess could fight. Soon our world would be overtaken by the vile parasite. Thus Minerva gave up her body to the planet to allow for Holy to be released. In her sacrifice, the Calamity was sealed away in a Northern Cave, the flow of her corruption halted, squeezed to a trickle. But human greed released her, and Minerva was not yet reborn. Calamity, her body nearly gone but her spirit alive, tricked them into thinking she was us, our blood. So they experimented and created her anew, using her and in doing so giving her corruption places to grow. An innocent has lost his father to love, lost his mother to guilt, and became her child. While yet his mind remains strong, she cannot touch him, but if ever his heart is shaken she will be able to creep into his mind and slowly overtake him, until there is nothing left of him, only her will and her desire. Be strong. Destroy the vessel. Then release yourself to the planet once more, become one with Gaia and her Lifestream, and become our eternal guardian. Thus when Calamity tries to strike again, when darkness threatens us, you can be summoned by one with a pure heart and the true blood, sacrificing all to awaken you from your deep slumber inside the core so that Holy will flow once again.'
The voices of the past danced by, some of the most ancient of all our ancestors speaking to me. Never before had they spoken so directly or clearly about what my purpose was. And I wasn't stupid, I understood exactly what they were saying. Tears welled up in my eyes and rolled down my face, as the visions I had been seeing for the past few months finally clicked in my mind. The darkness I had just faced was no ordinary evil; it was what remained of the dark Calamity which had crashed into Gaia ages past, destroying our pure homeland and leading to the corruption of the lifestream. That she was able to talk and was aware again meant that the corruption had grown large enough to revive her. And she was getting help from humans, albeit unknowingly, as they put her darkness inside others, mistaking it for pure power born of Gaia. I reached up and covered my face with my hands. The planet wanted me to know my enemy.
This wasn't fair. I wasn't strong enough for this. Myself I am willing to destroy and sacrifice. I have always known the nature of my abilities and that eventually I would need to go back to the planet. That was my fate. But I would never want to willingly lose another. However, my power alone could not defeat her. Two would have to make the sacrifice. Me to power it and another unknown to summon that power forth. Even before that, though, I have to destroy a vessel? A person who has unwittingly become the biggest threat to Gaia. It... it's so unfair.
"Why would you make me do this?" I asked, broken. "The person chosen has no knowledge of this. It isn't their fault, and yet you want me to..." The spirits surged around me, encasing me in the loving warmth of my people.
'Never be afraid to face your destiny, Ciara.' My head jerked up. My mother's voice soothed my heart. She had never spoken to me here before, despite being a part of the planet now. I think it was probably because she wanted me to let go of her and the past, and live only for the future. Though we value our history well, my people have always lived solely for the future. So my past, my mother, or my sister, never spoke to me though I knew both of them to be living in the planet now. 'Remember to find love. If you love and protect that love with all your heart, the beauty of this world can be saved. No destiny is absolute. No future is without ability to change. Love, Ciara, is something the Calamity cannot comprehend. Even if her wishes succeed, if the one she wishes to use holds love, she will never totally be in control. And thus, she will be defeated. So go back, daughter. Go back, and love.'
I bit my lip, but nodded. That was something I could very easily do. "Alright. I'll try." I whispered as the beautiful energy rose up higher around me, cutting off the impending darkness from my view, and carrying me away with it. The pain of leaving my body was nothing compared to the pain of reentering it. With a wrench, my soul plunged back into my body, the pain of muscles that had seized and cramped making me cry out in agony, the blood rushing through cold limbs causing fire to spread throughout my body. But gentle hands grabbed my shoulders as I struggled, panting, to sit up.
"Ciara! I've got you, you're alright." Angeal...For some reason, I knew I could trust this man. Knowing I was safe, I allowed my pain filled brain to shut down and fell into blissful unconsciousness.