Final Fantasy VII [3rd Instalment]

Emerald Princess of Vernea

Chapter Six

Barret shut the hospital door and sighed heavily, his thoughts on Tifa. He knew that by now she would be crying, alone in that room, with the one person who could make her smile again unable to help her. The thought angered him, and he clenched his fist tightly, wanting to slam it against the wooden door with all his might. Damn him for making her feel this way! he thought. Damn it all!

Opening his eyes, he saw the others were on the street, gathered around the doctor and the young nurse. This was no time for him to lose his temper. There were things to be done, things to sort out. Barret swallowed his anger as best he could before pushing himself away from the door, going to stand with the others.

Red XIII looked up at the doctor. "Tell me, doctor, is Cloud all right?" he asked softly, his bright eyes looking at the elder man hopefully. "I mean will he heal?"

"I'll say it again," the doctor said patiently, "he's got Mako poisoning. I've never seen a case this bad… An immense amount of Mako-drenched knowledge was put into his brain all at once…… No normal human could have survived it…… It's a miracle he did!"

"No wonder……" muttered Barret. "After fallin' in the Lifestream an' bein' washed up here……" And not bein' a normal human himself, he added silently.

"But remember, the light of hope can be found anywhere," said the doctor, looking around at each member of the group, taking in their grim, worn, tired faces. "Listen," he said to them, his voice low, "if you give up hope…"—he gestured to the hospital—"What will happen to him?"

There was a moment's silence as everyone considered his words. Cid scratched his head thoughtfully, unsure of what the old man meant. Yuffie, her brain hurting from all this thinking, dropped down and drew in the dirt with the edge of her razor ring, wishing someone would decide already so they could get moving. Vincent closed his eyes; Cait twisted his feline head back and forth, troubled.

Red XIII, his head lowered, pawed at the ground with his claws for a moment, lost in deep thought. He closed his eyes. His claws extended, feeling the dirt scrape beneath them. Finally he nodded and raised his head. "Hmm, I know he'll recover!" he announced confidently, as everyone's eyes turned to him. "Cloud was a strong member of SOLDIER."

At this, Barret turned away and crossed his arms. Red XIII seemed very confident, and his words seemed to strike a chord with the rest of the party. But he… for some reason… just could not shake off a niggling doubt. Memories of the events in the Northern Cave flooded to his mind… Sephiroth… Shinra……

……Cloud giving Sephiroth the Black Materia……

"……Hope……" he mumbled quietly. "Hey, but honestly, man…… Do I really want him to come back?" he asked himself. "What did he do for the world? What can he do for us from here on out? He may be nothing more than Sephiroth's shadow……"

"Is something wrong?" asked the doctor, looking at him. The others were looking at him, as well.

Barret turned back. "No, nothin'. Nothin' at all, doc."

The door then opened, and Tifa stepped out. Everyone turned. Tifa's face was pale and drawn, and if she had been crying it didn't show, for her face was still damp from when she had washed it before coming out. Seeing the multitude of worried faces looking at her, she tried to force a brave smile onto her face. She would have succeeded, if it weren't for her eyes showing a different story.

"You okay?" Barret asked her.

Tifa looked over at him, her dark eyes saddened. "Yes……" she answered simply. Then she turned her eyes toward everyone. "I'm sorry I had you all worried," she apologised. "And I have something I want to tell you all……"

Tifa turned and walked back inside the hospital. Barret and all the others followed her, until they were all gathered once more in the ward where Cloud still sat, slumped, in the wheelchair. Tifa had opened the window in their absence, and a cool draft now blew throughout the room. The fighter stood beside Cloud, facing her friends with a sad, though determined, expression on her face.

"I don't care about anything else," she told them, "only Cloud…… I…… I want to be by his side……"

No looks of surprise crossed the faces of her friends. If they were honest, they had suspected this ever since they saw the state Cloud was in. They knew that Tifa could never willingly walk away and leave her friend like this. "You gotta do it then," Yuffie told her. "You gotta live true to yourself."

"Yeah, that's probably best……" Barret agreed. "For Cloud…… an' for you……"

One by one the others nodded their agreement and approval. Touched by their sentiment, Tifa lowered her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry, everyone… At a time like this……" Lifting her eyes, she looked at everyone.

"No big, no big," said Yuffie, forcing a smile and hefting her razor ring up onto her shoulder, its razor-sharp blade glinting in the sunlight streaming in from the open window. "I'll pop in again later."

"You take care now, Tifa," Barret said, somewhat sternly. "And take care of Cloud."

Tifa glanced over her shoulder. Cloud had managed to lift his head from his chest and was resting it against the back of the wheelchair. He had tilted his head to one side and was staring out the window, where the sky was tinged slightly red from Meteor's presence. The light touching his pale face, therefore, was also tinged red, giving him a fevered complexion. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

Tifa turned back. "Right……" she said.

Barret then turned away, intending to leave the hospital and head back to the airship. But he hesitated. The question he had been dying to ask Tifa ever since Junon burned on his tongue. He couldn't leave without knowing the answer to that question. Or, at least, hear Tifa's answer.

"Oh, and uh, Tifa…" he began hesitantly, tilting his head slightly. "I don't like askin' this but…… Is he really your childhood friend? And not Sephiroth's shadow?"

"Huh!?" Tifa seemed startled by the question. "Well… that is……" Once more, she glanced over her shoulder. When she looked back, her face was determined. She shook her head. "No, I'm sure of it!"

"Yeah……?" said Barret, turning to meet her gaze. He looked deep into her eyes, trying to see if she was telling the truth. There was no deception in her eyes—she truly believed what she said. Barret sighed. "Okay then…… Sorry for askin' that."

The two continued to stare at each other awkwardly, as neither could think of anything more to say to comfort or reassure the other. As they looked at each other, Yuffie leaned over and nudged Cait in his furry ribs.

"Hey, shouldn't we be getting back to the Highwind?"

Within the hour, the party arrived back at the Highwind, one down now that they had to leave Tifa behind in Mideel. The doctor had said it would be no problem if Tifa stayed—in fact, it would be good for the patient to have a familiar face around, and left him and the nurse free to take care of other pressing matters.

Once on the Highwind, the pilots, now much more confident in their flying ability, took the ship to the air and sped off across the shores of Mideel, following the island's coast until they were given their next destination. The Highwind flew low along the coast, the air stream from the engines skimming the calm ocean's surface and creating a stream of white spray behind them.

The mood on deck, however, was far from calm.

"What're we gonna do now!" shouted Barret angrily, half-deafening those unlucky enough to be in close proximity. "What CAN we do?" he demanded, spinning around to face the others and looking at them expectantly. "Huh? Ain't there nothin' that we can do? An' don't go tellin' us to wait for Cloud to get better," he warned, shaking his gun-arm menacingly.

Around him, the others were silent. Vincent shrugged; Red XIII's tail moved uneasily across the deck, and he shook his maned head regretfully. Yuffie, upon her return to the airship, had taken up her usual residence away from the deck, pale and sickly. Cait stayed at the back of the group, his back to the group, still and seemingly preoccupied. Cid, worn out from the long walk back to the airship, had sat down next to the piloting controls to catch his breath but had, at some point, ended up drifting off into a light sleep. This was where he lay even now, snoring softly, oblivious to Barret's angry rants and raves.

Barret, looking around at his silent companions, felt himself grow angrier at this lack of activity. He needed to DO something! They had wasted enough time already, flying back and forth across the continent in search of Cloud, and then when they did find him, he was in no state to help them out! What were Shinra up to, that's what he wanted to know! They could be plotting anything, and they were here, in a backwater part of the world, wasting time!

Suddenly, Cait seemed to come back to life at that point, as he suddenly stood up, turned his robotic Mog around, and moved it forward to rejoin the group. "Oh, I've got some news," he announced cheerfully.

Barret narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, what? That you a spy?" he sneered.

Cait came to a stop and fixed his feline face on Barret. "Yeah…… I already told you I was." Sitting himself more comfortably on the Mog's head, he winked at Barret. "Both gya ha ha and kya ha ha are up to something. Wanna eavesdrop?"

A number of miles away from where the Highwind skimmed the ocean shores of Mideel, an emergency meeting was being held in Shinra Headquarters in Midgar. Rufus stood at the head of the meeting, his face grave as he thought long and hard about the problems that faced him and his company.

Before him, his highest level employees looked just as nervous. Palmer, Head of the Space Program, sat fidgeting in his seat, his pudgy face creased in growing anxiety. Over to one side, Reeve Tuesti, Head of Urban Development, was lost in thought, his fingers playing absently with the sleeve of his white shirt. Only Heidegger looked nonchalant, seemingly unaffected by his fellow employee's nervousness. He sat beside Palmer, tapping his fingers impatiently against the table, waiting for the president to begin.

Rufus checked his watch. It was time to begin. "Now then……" he began, coming to stand before his employees, who looked up at him as he spoke. "We're faced with two issues. One: Destroy Meteor. Two: Remove the barrier around the North Cave and defeat Sephiroth." The president looked around. "Any ideas?"

Heidegger laughed his 'gya, ha, ha' laugh, the one that earned him the not-so-affectionate nickname of 'gya, ha, ha' from Cait Sith.

"We already solved the first problem!" Heidegger boasted, his black beard bristling with confidence. "Meteor will soon be smashed to bits! The plan has already been put into motion. Namely, to collect the Huge Materia from each region." He sat back, large arms crossed across his belly, grinning widely.

Rufus stared at him blankly. "Well……" he began.

The door behind him opened and Scarlet strolled casually in, not seeming to be aware that she was late for this important meeting. Though she had tried to hide the marks with make-up, the evidence of her slap-fight with the escaped Tifa Lockhart was still visible on her face, though none dared to mention it. Passing the Shinra president, she began to explain to him the basics of hers and Heidegger's plans.

"Huge Materia is a high density special type of materia made by a special compression process in Mako reactors," she said, stopping at the edge of the table. "The energy extracted from it is 330 times the strength of normal materia. Ha, ha, ha! How about that!?" she asked, spreading her hands. "We will gather all the Huge Materia together and ram it into Meteor. That will cause a huge explosion!! Reducing Meteor literally to bits."

Rufus's eyes opened wide. "You're going to ram Meteor?" he asked sceptically. He ran the idea over in his mind. Thinking it over, he looked up at Scarlet. "Do you think we have the technology to do it?"

"Don't worry about that!" Scarlet assured him. "More importantly, we've got to collect Huge Materia from each area."

"We've already collected materia from Nibelheim," Heidegger added. "All that's left is 'Corel' and 'Fort Condor'. I've already dispatched troops to Corel." He laughed loudly.

"Corel!" shouted Barret as Cait cut off the connection between the airship and Shinra HQ. Spinning around, he shook his fists angrily. "What else can they do to Corel!?"

"And the Huge Materia……" Red XIII tilted his head to look up at Cait, who sat with his legs dangling on the Mog. "You mean the Huge Materia, don't you? I've heard about it. When our small materia nears the larger one, something should happen. I'm certain of it. That's why we're using the power of materia in our fight……"

Barret cursed under his breath. "Can't let Shinra get a hold of the Huge Materia!" he said through gritted teeth. "Besides, when Cloud gets back, I wanna show him this Huge Materia. He's gonna be shocked."

Cait raised an eyebrow and leaned forward, resting his chin on the rim of his megaphone.

"So, what are you saying, Barret?" the cat asked him curiously, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Even though you're always knocking him, you really want Cloud to return."

For a few moments Barret said nothing. Firstly he glared at Cait Sith with an expression of impotent fury upon his dark face. Then, half-spluttering with rage, he turned away and kept his back to them. Finally, he spun back to face the cat, eyes narrowed in sheer anger.

"I ain't sayin' nothin' 'bout nothin'!" he snapped. "You just… shut your face!" Ignoring the smug look on the cat's face, Barret turned to face Vincent and Red XIII, his gun-arm shaking in anger. "Every group's gotta have a leader. An' that's me!" He shook his gun-arm a moment more, and then looked at it silently. "Or at least I wanna be…" he added, letting the arm fall to his side. "But I ain't cut out to be no leader. I never knew that till lately." The big man sighed heavily. "An' that's what is……"

There came a deep snore, followed by a snort and a cough. All eyes turned toward Cid, who was just waking up. The ex-Shinra pilot opened his eyes sleepily, peering out in confusion at his blurred surroundings. He rubbed his eyes with his leather gloves, trying to clear the sleep from them.

"……Hmph?" he muttered, looking around. He blinked again, this time more clearly, and saw a pair of gold-plated, pointed shoes surrounded by a frayed red cape, and the feet of a large, red hound nearby. Raising his eyes, he saw the faces of Vincent and Red XIII, owners of the said pointed shoes and large feet, looking down at him with expressions of mild amusement (as much as amusement could be discerned from the face of Red XIII). Shaking his head, Cid clambered to his feet. "Wha?" he asked, confused. "What's going on?"

Barret pointed at him. "You been chosen to be the new leader," he declared.

Cid stared at him in disbelief, then scowled and spat on the floor. "Pain in the ass. Forget it."

Barret half-expected this protest. The pilot was caught up in their troubles by chance, because it was a choice of either join them and fight against the Shinra, or go back to a town of broken dreams and bitter memories. That didn't mean that Cid wanted to take a prominent role in the Shinra's downfall. But though Barret was not, by his own admission, cut out to be a leader, he was still cunning enough to know how to manipulate this middle-aged pilot into taking the role.

"But for us to fight, we gotta have the Highwind, and you," the big man said placidly, almost casually, as though what he was saying was common knowledge. "We need to save the Planet. An' who's runnin' this ship? You! That's why you're our new leader. Ain't no one else can."

Cid mulled this over in his mind, thinking hard. "Hm…… this ship's gonna save the Planet, huh?" he repeated, rubbing his stubbled chin thoughtfully. He looked at Barret suspiciously. "Ain't that gonna be a little tough?" He tapped his head, a habit he had developed when he was thinking. Finally, the lines of suspicion smoothed from his face and he raised his face, a wide grin on his face. "Oh man, that went straight to my heart. I'm a man, too! Okay, I'll do it! Everyone, follow me!"

Satisfied, Barret nodded. That was one problem sorted, at least. "Awright, now here's the first job," he said. "The Operation Room's waiting for you!"

"Yeah!!" Cid replied, jumping up from where he was and running across the bridge toward the lower decks, leaving the bewildered and amused party and airship crew behind. He almost leaped down the stairs leading to the bridge, where Yuffie was stood keeling over, still feeling nauseous. Cid was just running across the bridge when Barret's voice boomed down after him.

"Yo, Cid! When you're ready, we're headin' for the Corel Reactor. C'mon, Mr. Leader, you'd better hurry."

Hearing this, Yuffie slowly lifted her head. "Cid……?" she asked miserably, looking at Cid as he charged past her at high speed toward the Operation Room. She didn't bother to ask why Cid had been called 'Leader', instead just shrugging her shoulders and returning to her sickly vigil.

Cid, meanwhile, went to the Operation Room to consult the map on the large wall. He didn't really know what he was looking for, but it made him feel important to consult it. It was something a leader ought to do—check the map to make sure of their destination.

He placed a pin over the spot marked 'North Corel' and nodded in satisfaction. With the airship, they would get there in a matter of hours, less if they really pushed the engines into it. Feeling his job here was done, he headed back toward the bridge.

Cait Sith was talking to himself as Cid walked on deck. "Hmmm, the Huge Materia is at Corel, Fort Condor……" He lifted his crown and scratched his furry head. "I'm sure there was another place that had it. Where was that……?"

Seeing Cid walking back onto the bridge, Barret turned and waved sharply. "Yo, Mr. Leader! Get your pilot ass up here!"

Ignoring Barret, Cid took his time strolling up onto the main deck, coming to stand beside the airship's pilot. The young apprentice he had been schooling since leaving Junon now stood confidently by the controls, guiding the ship with ease over the ocean waters. All trace of nervousness was gone from the young man's face, and he looked at Cid with pride and excitement.

"Yeah! Shall we take off?" he asked eagerly.

Cid nodded. "Yes."

The pilot grinned. "Yeah! We're taking off!"

Pulling on the joystick, the airship made a sharp lift upward, rising away from the ocean shore and up into the blue skies. After receiving directions from Cid, the airship then turned steadily around and began to fly at high speed toward the west, heading for the western continent and the town of North Corel.

[End of Part 10]

[Part Eleven: The Hunt for the Huge Materia]

[A Note from the Authoress]

There you go: two chapters in one day. A nice little boost to keep you all occupied.

One thing that people have asked me recently is why I refer to Red XIII as a hound. Well, I refer to him as a hound because that's what he appears as to me. To me, he is a canine-creature. I know some people prefer to think of him as some sort of lion-like creature, or at least feline-based, but I prefer to think of him as a hound. After all, he howls, and some of his limit breaks are influenced by the moon, which to me suggests werewolf, and therefore, makes him canine. But it's all a matter of preference. So there you go. Question answered.