Beautiful girl, on top of the world,
Don't fall down, because an angel
Should never touch ground.
-Beautiful Girl, Broken Iris
Cissnei kept a few paces behind Reno, so she could safely keep an eye on him but was less likely to be seen herself. He walked forwards with a purposeful stride, but Cissnei knew him well enough to realise he could easily decide to double back without any warning. Her heart was pounding but she forced herself to keep her composure. She could not afford to panic.
Reno made a sudden movement and Cissnei tensed before realising he was just taking out his phone. That was close.
"Yo, Rude. Where are you?" There were a few moments pause, then Reno said, "Heading for the Pillar."
Cissnei narrowed her eyes. What could Reno want at the Pillar? Whatever it was, it couldn't be anything good. Cissnei considered for a brief moment calling AVALANCHE, but she realised she'd never taken any of their numbers. "Yeah, yeah, got it," Reno was saying. "You know you can count of me. Tell Tseng to chill out. I just wasn't expecting it, is all. Yes, of course I'm going to go through with it. I'm not a Turk for nothing, y'know."
Cissnei frowned. She couldn't miss the tension in Reno's voice. It took a lot to make him take something seriously. This is really bad. She was stuck there, unable to move without being noticed by Reno, unable to contact anyone. The only numbers she had were the Turks' - which would be counter-productive - and those of several other ShinRa employees - also useless.
"I know. But, orders are orders. You're not questioning it, right? Good. I'll see you there then. Hey, ya got a way to get us out of here once the plate falls?"
Cissnei's eyes widened, and she was once again glad for her training because it was all that kept her from gasping out loud. Worse than I thought. Did I... did I actually hear that right? No, she had. Of course. Why was she so shocked? Nothing ShinRa did could surprise her any more. She would be surprised if President ShinRa - or any of his staff, for that matter - knew the meaning of the word 'scruples'. They wanted something, so they threw force at it until they got it.
Which left her in a bad situation. Reno, she could probably fight. But if all the Turks were on this, her chance of stopping them was impossibly thin. Attempting it... would be suicidal.
Kind of like going up against the whole ShinRa infantry on your own, then, huh? But no, that had been different. Zack had been brave. Zack had been a hero. Zack had known how to save people. (Though, Cloud's dead now, anyways, right? So it was all pointless in the end.) She wasn't Zack, could never be like him. She was just Cissnei, ruthless, cynical, selfish Cissnei who watched others die rather than put her neck on the line. In other words, a Turk.
Not a Turk anymore. She wasn't naive enough to decide that meant she'd changed. She was still a coward. But she could at least try. For Zack's sake. For Cloud's. For everyone you didn't save and every innocent you've killed. Her throat felt dry. She could still turn back. If she followed this path, she'd most likely end up dying for nothing. But then... so what if I do? Right now, I'm living for nothing.
She still didn't want to do it. Her every instinct screamed at her to run away, but she knew her mind was made up. All that was left to do was go through with it, now. No. That's not quite true. I'm not just going to charge in blindly. That may be the SOLDIER way, but I'm not a SOLDIER. If I do this, I do it my way. That means care and caution. First, if at all possible, I should find someone to contact. Despite not having come up with any useful numbers she might have, she would check her contacts. Deusericus, Lazard - useless. Elena - useless. Fair, Zackary... why do I still have his number? She continued to scroll down until she found a number that caught her attention.
Gainsborough, Aerith. She'd taken down the girl's number in case Aerith got into trouble on her watch and she couldn't help directly, but she'd never actually intended to use it. She wouldn't be using it then, if she'd had any other options. Would Aerith even help? She had been like Zack in her general kindness, but then, Cissnei had never seen her in a truly critical situation. It was easy to be kind and helpful when you lived a sheltered life. In all honesty, Cissnei thought Aerith was weak. If she'd had any other option she would not be putting her friends' lives in the flower girl's fragile hands.
I may not trust her... but there must at least be some way to make sure she doesn't just brush off my message. She doesn't know me. Would she listen if I just asked?
When she thought about it, Cissnei realised she did have some hold over Aerith. Their one connection. Even though she hated being connected to Aerith through that, if it was the best thing she could come up with...
Her hands shook as typed out the message. The message didn't sound like something she would say. It was too frank. Her phone was on silent in all respects as a precautionary measure - any kind of beeping could give her away on a mission. She tried to push down her rising guilt. She'd done far uglier things than this for far flimsier reasons with the Turks. And in this situation she couldn't afford to be above emotional blackmail. Afterwards, she'd have another thing to add up to the long list of taints on her conscience, but for the moment she had to do whatever she could.
Zack would understand. Zack would forgive her for endangering his girlfriend like this. She hoped so. If she'd been religious, she would have prayed for it. Zack had been far too understanding, in life.
She pressed 'send'.
Cissnei hadn't returned yet. Tifa was beginning to think she should just go without waiting for her. She could have used Cissnei's help, but she couldn't afford to keep waiting, though she wanted to know where Cissnei was. She wasn't worried, exactly; she'd seen that Cissnei could look after herself probably better than she herself could. Her main concern was that Cissnei might simply decide not to return. From her conversation with Cloud and her observations of Cissnei herself, she'd begun to form doubts about Cissnei's mental stability. Not all that surprising, really. Considering some of the stories she'd heard about the Turks, Tifa doubted anyone could go through that undamaged unless their were complete psychopaths, which Tifa was quite sure Cissnei wasn't. Something of the... emptiness she'd heard in Cissnei's voice as she'd announced her intention to go on a short walk - that she still hadn't come back from - had gotten to Tifa. Please don't do anything too... rash, Cissnei.
For someone who she'd known for such a short time, Cissnei had seemed very affected by Cloud's death. Cloud might have sworn he didn't know her, but Tifa was just as certain that they had some kind of history. Just another one of my many questions about Cloud, that I will probably never get an answer to now. For someone who had grown up with him, Tifa knew very little about Cloud. She'd wanted to find out more. Too late, now.
Anyways, I'm not going to help Cissnei just by worrying about her. I'm going to go infiltrate Don Corneo's and if Cissnei comes back then she does, if she doesn't... she doesn't. It's her choice, in the end.
Taking a deep breath, Tifa smoothed down her blue dress. She was going into this alone, then. The thought was more than a little scary, but she pushed that fear down. No one had asked her to do this. It had been her decision, and she would keep to it. It was time she started doing more for AVALANCHE than just offering food and a headquaters. This mission wasn't more than she could handle.
"Barret, I'm leaving. Cissnei is taking far too long to get back, and I can't just keep standing around. If I'm not back in... say, by tomorrow morning, give me a call. If I don't answer... something's probably gone wrong." She tried hard to keep the nerves out of her voice. The possibility of that something would go wrong... well, she wasn't going to dwell on it.
Barret regarded her for a few moments. "Teef... ya sure about this?"
Deep breath. "Yeah. Sure."
"Well. Just make sure ya take care, then, ya hear me?"
"Got it, Barret."
Aerith Gainsborough,
I understand that you may be suspicious of a message from a stranger, but I cannot stress the urgency of this situation enough. I need you to listen to me. I don't know how much time I can buy.
The Turks are on their way to drop the Upper Plate on Sector Seven. I will try to stop them, but I don't like my chances. My friends are in Sector Seven, in a bar called Seventh Heaven. It's to the right of the train graveyard. Find a man named Barret, and tell him what I've told you.
I understand how much I'm asking of you, but I need you to do this. Please.
For Zack Fair's sake.
There was nothing else. Aerith refreshed her screen again and again, but there was nothing else. The mysterious sender hadn't signed off.
Her breath was caught in her throat and all she could do was stare, blankly, wide-eyed, at the screen.
For Zack Fair's sake.
Zack.
They know Zack. Maybe... maybe they know what happened to him. The Lifestream had said - it had never been wrong before, she trusted it, but - she was only half Ancient, maybe she still didn't really know how to interpret it, maybe it hadn't meant what it had seemed... maybe Zack was out there. With this mysterious stranger. Four years. I've moved on. I have.
But that didn't mean she wouldn't try to find him. If - if the sender really did know him, and -
"Aerith? What does the message say?"
Aerith's eyes snapped up and she slipped her phone back into her pocket. Cloud. She'd forgotten he was there. Didn't he say... he was going to Sector Seven? Well. It looks like we do have the same destination. Did they? She still wasn't sure she should go. The risk of being trapped under a falling plate - not that she was scared, of course not, but it would drive Elmyra crazy to lose her and - she shouldn't trust a strange message from a blocked number. It could so easily be a trick, maybe from a Turk. They'd watched her for years, who was to say they didn't have her number? And they'd have known Zack. Yes, that was probably it. A trap.
But... might it not be worth the risk?
Aerith felt a pang of guilt at the direction her thoughts were taking. The sender wanted her to save her friends. That should have been reason enough for Aerith to go, even without anything having been said about a boyfriend she'd given up hope of seeing again.
"...Aerith? Is everything okay?" Cloud was looking at her with rising concern, which only accentuated her guilt. Cloud might have friends in Sector Seven, too, she realised. Shouldn't she try to save them, if she believed the message? I'll just tell him. He'll understand. He should. He'll have some advice for me.
"...Cloud. There's something I have to do."
Fifty reviews! Oh yeah! -does happy dance-
I know what you're thinking: didn't she say she had exams? Well, yes I do. And yes, I should be studying. But my muse wouldn't leave me alone, so here's an update instead. Hope you enjoyed.
For those of you wondering: yes, Aerith's phone beeping in the last chapter was from Cissnei's message here. I am really, really, very sorry to have screwed with the timeline like that, but it was necessary for the pacing - otherwise I would've had too many scenes in this chapter, and not enough in the last. Please forgive me. Please? -puppy eyes-
Shade the Hero: I think we've all been there :)
Tayashia: Trouble indeed. Well, we'll have to see how this goes down. At the rate my muse is assaulting me, it shouldn't take too long to get the next few chapters out.
BurntMyChocolate: Ooh, another new reader :). Continue I shall. Thank you for the review and the support.
Irish-Brigid: Ah... I may have lied in my previous Author's Note, Tifa is going to Don Corneo's, but a little later than in the original. I hadn't actually intended it, but it happened when I was writing this chapter and it certainly helps mess up the situation a little more.
Well, gotta go. That study isn't going to do itself... unfortunately :(.