Chapter XII
Stone House
"Let's ask if anyone in a torn white dress came by to euthanize some cows." - Cloud
"Someone was here," Cloud said. "Made a bed here in the grass covered with branches."
Tifa peered around the ruined rock wall, most of its stones scattered in heaps. A solid archway remained intact. "Peaceful here," she said.
Birds chirped in nearby trees. The vegetation grew lush, in contrast to the arid hillsides and parched valley.
"I found Ryanne's herb garden."
Tifa walked around a broken column to find Cloud staring down at rows and rows of different leafy plants, some of which had flowered. A heady scent hung in the air.
"Makes me want to stretch out and relax, maybe read a good book," Tifa said.
"Tempting." He brushed past her, his hand sliding over her bare shoulder.
Tifa felt a thrill, followed by the same old letdown. She shook her head as she watched Cloud saunter away without a second glance. She followed.
Cloud picked loose a strip of white cloth from a bramble bush. Tifa guessed the plant had once formed part of an ornamental hedge.
"Someone pushed through here in a hurry," he said.
Farther on, Tifa saw another swatch of cloth. She tried to slip through the broken opening, but drew back when thorns pierced her arms and legs.
"Ow. Let's go around." She extracted herself, prying the clinging branches away with care. "I will give my full respects to the next hedge trimmer I meet."
Cloud reached for his sword, but Tifa stopped him. "Better not. This is a sacred place."
Together they circled the hedge, which seemed to thrive on the rocky hill soil, forming a dense triangular colony that proved bigger than it had looked. After a rough, stumbling, knee scraping, shin gouging climb, they looked down onto the gray green mat surrounding and a broken stone structure, possibly a chimney. Over a jagged portion of this hovered Vincent's red-caped form.
"Smart aleck," Tifa said.
Vincent looked up at them, then drifted forward. He held a thin metal instrument in his good hand and Tifa spotted ear buds in his ears.
"Opening, under the brambles," Vincent said, "but Ryanne is correct. It is blocked by a cave-in. However," He raised his metal wand and traced part way up the mountain. "A tunnel, now collapsed. A plausible escape route at one time."
Cloud frowned, gazing into the distance. he turned as Vincent drifted up to them.
"We have a problem, Vincent. Do you have your spyglass? Look off in that direction."
Vincent drew out his metal binoculars and peered. He remained still for several minutes. Tifa grew impatient and scuffed her boot against the dirt. Finally, he lowered the glass and said, "She's feeding again."
Cloud slumped. Clutching his face in both hands, he sat down on the hillside and shuddered. Tifa knelt close and laid an arm across his shoulder.
He said, "Just when I thought - "
"Cloud." Tifa pitched her voice low. "We don't know what made her start to feed again. She probably just got hungry or something."
"This is all a sick joke. How could she came back? Just to taunt me?"
"When I saw her at the junction, she looked like she wanted to say something. Did she recognize us? She didn't look like a runaway killing machine. Perhaps we can still reach her."
"Might I remind you," Vincent spoke up, "we have no proof she has killed anyone. Assuming she needs to act like a psychic vampire to survive, perhaps she can hone the power to make it less virulent."
"We have to stop her," Cloud said. "One way or another." He stood up. "But I don't want to hurt her. If we kill her, I couldn't live with myself."
"If there is a way," Tifa said, "I promise we'll find it. I bet Nanaki or Aeris will have an idea."
Vincent folded away his equipment. "The collapse of the tunnel occurred well after the house burned. It is possible some or all the occupants escaped, though I also suspect some did die here. This place has the feel of death around it."
"Death amidst life," Tifa said. "Ironic isn't it?"
"I am reminded of Aeris' description of the burial mounds at Pebble Creek," Vincent said. "Flowers blooming in the frozen north."
"Or Aeris' church in Midgar," Cloud said.
Tifa shuddered.
Cloud stood up with purpose. "Let's catch up with her. We can reason with her or not. In either case, we need to find her before Shinra does."
"If Carmine captures her, Shinra will exploit her as a weapon," Vincent said. "I'll prepare the chocobo carriage."
"Good." Cloud pulled out his PHS phone. "I'll check in with Nanaki."
Cloud had no luck getting a connection. While the PHS used a satellite system, something here blocked the signal. Tifa guessed mineral deposits. She idly wondered where the disused tunnel led. A hidden valley behind the mountain?
Cloud gave up and trotted after Vincent. Tifa followed.
Back at the carriage, Vincent said, "One of you should drive. I need to work on my weapon. I want to rig something to take Raine out without harming her."
"Take the reins, Teef," Cloud said. "I'll keep trying the PHS."
She nodded and they set off.
They encountered light traffic as their carriage breezed down the road. Cloud still had no luck with the PHS.
"We should try to breed some chocobos," he said. "I've heard the finer purebred birds can clock speeds as high as 160 kph."
"Can they pull a carriage that fast?"
"I doubt it. Not very far at least."
Their chocobo trotted at a fast enough clip. Tifa couldn't complain.
"That way. The road branches. We want to head towards the flats." Cloud consulted a map. "A town called Fulsom's Crossing."
"Is that a dead cow up there?" Tifa said. "No, it's three of them. And creatures feeding on them."
"Looks like she came by," Cloud said.
"So much for not killing anything."
Vincent said, "The effect simply left them helpless to predators."
"Look, a way-station. Shall I stop?"
"Let's ask if anyone in a torn white dress came by to euthanize some cows." Cloud sounded on edge. Aeris would predict a breakdown.
The station consisted of a house, a general store with a pair of fuel pumps, a garage, and a fruit stand. All stood unattended.
Vincent stayed in the carriage while Cloud and Tifa dismounted. They found the lot deserted but the store unlocked. Cloud shouted a hello inside. No answer. Tifa got the same from the garage, a half dismantled automobile as the only occupant.
"I'll try the house," Cloud said.
Tifa peeked in the lean-to beside the garage. No one. Ditto at the fruit stand. Behind it stood a fenced pen containing several fruit trees. She turned away when a voice called out.
"Take anything you want. Just leave us be."
Tifa looked back. She pulled herself over the wooden fence.
"Just take it all. It's only my life. Dirty Shinra bastards will take the rest."
The man sat leaning against a cherry tree, a black hound passed out in his lap.
"Demons," he said. "Day devils, wrapped in mist."
Tifa dropped to the ground and hurried to his side. He smiled.
"An angel? Gonna carry me to that damn Promised Land?"
"What happened here?" Tifa asked.
"My angel. I couldn't ask for more. The mist devil took my truck so you'll have to take my soul instead. Not that it's much of one as souls go. That what you're here for, angel dear? My, but you're a cutie."
"This devil took your truck?"
"Reunion, she said. I say, go kill those Shinra bastards. Ain't no decent business here after that mess in Corel. Everyone turned to sheep, yes they did." He spat. "The she-devil took my truck. Look at what she done to my Mootsie." He patted the sleeping dog's head. "Old gal never hurt a thing."
Tifa powered up a pair of Cure spells, one for the man and one for the dog. Mootsie snuffled and yelped in response.
"You really are an angel." The man sat up higher, appearing more lucid. Mootsie whined, licked his face, and lay back to sleep. Still, the sleep appeared more restful.
"This devil. Did you see which way she went?"
"She said, reunion and desert. Only two words she spoke."
Desert. Towards the Gold Saucer then. Tifa had a sinking thought. Reunion. Hojo, imprisoned in that desert. Raine had headed toward Hojo. So, that lunatic caused this after all.
"Thank you," Tifa said. "I have a couple of potions for you. Rest up. From what I've heard, the effects wear off in a day or two."
"Much obliged, my angel."
Tifa swung back over the fence and met Cloud.
"We have trouble," she said. "Raine was here and she stole a truck. I think she is heading toward Hojo. The guy back there mentioned two words, reunion and desert."
Cloud flinched at the mention of "reunion," likely recalling his meeting with Hojo and Sephiroth at the North Crater. He cupped his hand to his forehead, gazing off into the dry heat. The desert lay out there, surrounding the garish, over the top Gold Saucer. Tifa could just see the top of the elevated theme park from here. With Raine's head start, she might reach Hojo in a few hours.
"Let's mosey," he said.
John did not sleep as much as drift. The world phased in and out, visitors dropping by to lay flowers or bow their heads, or ask tear-filled entreaties. One young girl snipped a piece of his blanket as a souvenir. Hiro offered to move him into a bed but he had refused. Later, he found someone had strung velvet ropes around his tent. A carnival barker announced all comers could pay twenty gil to view an authentic Jenova. John felt a twinge of empathy for that first Jenova, two thousand years ago. Had she snapped and decided to wipe out the gawkers with her diabolic virus?
Even so, he possessed something she did not: a sense of humor. John, a performer by trade (when he could stand unassisted) chuckled at drawing as great a crowd as a half-ton pig at a county fair.
He moved his hand and found the soft form of Fluffy curled in the crook of his elbow. Though expecting claws or teeth, he stroked between her ears. The white doughnut began to purr.
At least now he knew why no one had tried to yank out a lock of his hair.
"Hi."
John rolled his head like a rusted toggle switch. His vision drew into focus, showing him - he frowned.
"Hi. I'm Larry; this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl."
John let his vision drift back out of focus.
"We came when we heard you had performed the miracle on the old man Bugenhagen."
"I guess, he can call himself, born again."
"Darryl thought at first, Bugenhagen hadn't been dead, that you had revived him with mouth-to-mouth."
The blond man puckered his lips.
"Darryl, on the other hand, explained how the Planet's energy channeled itself through you, allowing you to donate some or, as it now appears, most of your life essence to revive the old man."
The third man nodded once.
"So, given your current pallor and given the old man spinning around like Darryl's hound in heat, I'm inclined to believe Darryl."
John grunted and looked away.
"Come on Darryl, we've tired him out. Let's open up your special stash of pear juice. But keep it away from the flame. Ed's Pa is still picking bricks out of his pear trees."
The three of them filed out of the tent. John breathed deep and allowed his eyes to close.
"Pleasant enough fellows."
John opened his eyes to see Aeris smiling down at him.
"Who hates me today?" he asked.
"You do have a problem with your self-esteem."
"I've been thinking. One day I found my sister dead in her upstairs bedroom, dead eyes staring up at those horrid peach curtains. My mother - if you can call her that - sat downstairs on her couch, necking with her newest boyfriend. And after all this time." He paused, swallowed. "After all this time, I find out I can raise the dead. Ironic, isn't it? Pathetic, more like."
"John, if they selected world leaders on the basis of self pity, you would rule for centuries."
John did not argue the point.
"Nanaki and the elders are working on a permanent cure to your problem. In the meantime, I brought you something to help you sleep." Aeris lifted an iron goblet, large enough to require the use of both of her hands.
"Wow. You found the holy grail. What is your favorite color?"
"Can you sit up?"
John tried. "I can barely raise my head."
She set down the goblet and lifted him up, propping pillows behind him. Once seated, he rolled his eyes and slumped forward. Aeris clucked her tongue, put an arm around his middle and hauled him back. She lifted the goblet to his lips.
John frowned at the green liquid. "Let me guess. Courage?"
"Yes."
"Cool." He grabbed the cup. With her help he drained all of the fruity yet pungent liquid. Afterward Aeris lay him back down, pulled up his blanket, and brushed his forehead with a kiss. He smiled.
"Now sleep tight," she said. "I have to say, it felt great telling Tifa that Bugenhagen was alive again. Then Cloud demanded that we perform that ritual again. He seemed stressed. Poor guy."
"Wow. And to think when I first met Cloud, he wanted to cleave me with his sword."
"You're not still stuck on that, are you? Oh. He and Tifa are on the trail of Cloud's mother, who seems to be heading toward Hojo for a reunion."
"Sounds like you started a trend. Coming back from the dead, that is." John's head began to buzz. Relaxed, very relaxed, he began to melt into his blankets. He fought the urge to begin every sentence with "dude."
"I didn't come back from the dead, technically. At least, I don't remember dying, except - " She looked down and laid her hands over her abdomen.
"Except that little bit about Sephiroth's sword sticking out of your stomach?"
"I get, ghost flashes. Nanaki calls it an 'alternate reality slippage.'"
"Babe, drink some of that green moose juice and you too can live your life in chaos theory."
"Did you just call me babe?"
"Chaos theory. That's, that's what the fuzzy dude was trying to describe. He makes it, too complicated. If you just hang out with me, babe, your life goes, hey, into chaos. See? Wow. That, whoa, dude. Potent, whacked out, moose juice."
Aeris looked concerned; John felt merely curious. He didn't remember her having so many twins.
"The elders said it will knock you out. It is an ancient recipe."
"Pun in-intended? C-Cetra joy juice? Babe, you oughta try some."
Aeris shrugged. "Possibly."
"Anything, to keep me, from raising the dead."
"Correct. Repeating the ritual will give you a surge of energy, which you will find tempted to release. Bugenhagen's theory, at least."
"But, it would be, one long, long, groovy party. Heh, heh. Night of the living dead. Ha. Get it? Night of the - "
"Shh."
The Aeris images briefly coalesced before subdividing again. She talked on but he lost the ability to concentrate.
"Aeris?"
"Yes?"
"You are, the best looking zombie, I've ever, you know, seen." He squinted, head lolling, willing her images to merge. He gave up. "And I love you."
She snapped into focus. This time, he saw a ghostly double next to her. Her mother, Ifalna.
"I see, dead people . . ."
John's mind collapsed in a silver haze.