Chapter XVI
Double, Double
"None of your Jenova mind hanky-panky for me, if you please." - Rufus Shinra
Late the following evening, a freshly showered and very relaxed Tifa sat down at an oak table with Vincent, Cloud, and Nanaki. Cloud, she noticed, had managed to re-spike his hair, a welcome change from the wind blown, wet cat look he had acquired on the trip. Though they had washed off in streams along the way, when they arrived she had leapt from the carriage and marched into Hiro's inn chanting "Shower. Shower. Shower."
Nanaki took in the description of their run-in with Carmine near Lee's Camp. He seemed riveted by the report of the so-called invert mako.
"Ordinary mako," Nanaki said, "is harmless. Beneficial, in fact. You can't get mako poisoning from pure mako. It's like getting water poisoning from swimming in pure water. You can drown in water, sure. You can even overdose on it if you foolishly drink too much. But drinking pure water, within reason of course, is much like being exposed to pure mako. Harmless.
"Distilled water is also tasteless," Tifa said.
"True. Pure mako, the Lifestream of the Planet, is inactive. The impurities impart the flavor, if you will, much like impurities give the mineral corundum the deep red of rubies or the deep blue of sapphires. Likewise, materia," He tapped his exquisite tribal hairpiece, "derives its properties from trace impurities, either acquired in nature or deliberately added in mako reactors."
"I follow so far. What then is invert mako?"
"An unstable and destructive form. It is the agent that causes mako poisoning. Largely a byproduct of electrical generation inside a reactor, this waste product actually is the primary threat to the Planet's Lifestream, though mako depletion is a long term problem."
Cloud said, "So this evil mako, it's turning the Lifestream into what, a death stream?"
"It is simplistic to think of invert mako as evil. It merely exists. Natural processes also produce it in low quantities. It is destructive; the reactor explosion in Gongaga is thought to have occurred because the local mako deposits were tainted with too much invert mako. Likewise, reactor construction in Wutai was halted when the deposits there were found to be similarly contaminated."
"But, now Shinra has found a way to purify invert mako."
Tifa said, "And, surprise, surprise, they've made it into a weapon."
Nanaki pondered a moment. "According to Yuffie, Carmine tried to use invert mako against her group. Yuffie also described a mysterious base north of Da-Chao. Could it, perchance, be a factory for invert mako? Large scale production?"
"Looks like we need to take a trip to Wutai," Cloud said. "After we deal with my mother running amok." He sighed. "Where is John?"
"No one has seen him or Aeris for two days. A local sports shop caught them on video buying out the place. Climbing equipment mainly, though John bought a Mist materia, a spell so useless even Yuffie won't buy it."
"He does seem to walk around in a fog."
"He also seemed interested in women's clothes, if the arguments he had out loud with himself were any indication."
Cloud blushed. Tifa needled him in the ribs.
"He talked Aeris into a new climbing dress, and I quote, "something a bit darker, so you don't clash with the canyon walls. Sleeveless, cut low on the back, scoop neck, no ruffles, but a slight trim of lace along the hem.'"
"Well, that's more than you usually wear, Teef."
Tifa ignored him. "So they plan to do some climbing. That narrows it down to, what? Ninety percent of the local terrain?"
"If he uses the Mist materia," Vincent said. "It should be simple to spot him."
Cloud said, "I don't want to know what scheme that kid has cooked up. Still, we need to retrieve Aeris before heading to Wutai. You say Cid is nearly finished repairing the Highwind?"
Nanaki nodded.
"We could use it to search if need be. For now, I would like a watch placed at the far boundaries of Cosmo Canyon. I want to know as soon as the creature who is assuming the form of my mother appears."
"If Raine is attracted to John," Tifa said, "then it is good he is out of town. Less chance of innocents getting hurt."
"Fascinating," Nanaki said. "A mini-reunion. Looks like Hojo will miss this one."
"He's plenty busy catching flies with his forked tongue."
"Ho-ho-hoo!" Bugenhagen floated in, looking more perky than Tifa had ever seen him. Whatever vitamins he took clearly worked.
"I spotted them," Bugenhagen said. "All three of them. Hiking up Backridge peak, across the gulf from the Ancient Forest."
"Did you say, three of them?" Tifa said.
"Yes, ho-ho-hoo, Aeris, John, and Marlene. They make a cute party."
"Marlene is with them?"
"Elmyra told me Marlene said she was going to have a picnic with Aeris. Elmyra worried why it was taking so long so she had me use the scope to spot them. She will be relieved I've found her."
Cloud said, "Ah, yea. Worried. Okay. So John came back to town and took off with Marlene as well? Barret will blow a gasket. In fact, if the kid gets Aeris hurt, I'll thrash him myself."
"Relax," Tifa said. "Aeris has faced tougher dangers in her life than a picnic."
"We're talking John here."
"Cloud," Nanaki said. "Vincent and I will patrol the south canyon for any sign of your mother. Meanwhile, Grandfather will watch their progress from his observatory. By tomorrow, Cid will have the Highwind able to fly so he can airlift you to their party, should they need help. Is this acceptable?"
Cloud, though he looked reluctant, nodded. Tifa grabbed his hand.
"I know," she said. "I worry about her too. But Aeris is tougher than she looks."
"Ho-ho-hoo, I haven't had this much energy in decades. Why don't we all go up to my observatory and watch their progress ourselves? Maybe we can take a look at the stars for variety. There's a new nebula I've discovered and I'm dying to show you. Except I'm not dying. Get it?"
"Come on Cloud," Tifa giving Bugenhagen a look. "As Aeris would say, why not have a little fun?"
Cloud shrugged. "May as well. After all, I can always beg for Barret's forgiveness if John gets his daughter killed."
"How sweet it is," John said, "not to fall asleep six times between the kitchen and the bathroom."
"We're outside," Marlene said.
"I climbed this trail already as a zombie. I assure you, I'd nearly forgotten what it is like to stay awake for a full five minutes."
"I agree," said another voice from inside him. "How sweet it is to have working arms and legs without spikes in them."
"Spikes?" Aeris said.
"That was Zinnia again," Marlene said. "She told me all about spikes."
"Yes." John stopped at Aeris' puzzled look. He absently reached out and scratched Fluffy's head, glad the Persian lying sacked out in Marlene's arms did not feel compelled to rip his hand off. On days like this, what could possibly go wrong? "Yes. Marlene happened by when Zinnia was trying to, uh, merge with me. Her spirit and my body were pawing each other like first time lovers and she almost ended up trapped in Marlene's body."
"No almost about it," his inner Zinnia said. "For several seconds I did merge with the girl. But that told me I was trying too hard. Merging requires persuasion, not force."
"So it was you who persuaded me to get this new dress," Aeris said.
"Yea. You didn't think John had any fashion sense, did you?"
"How did you, merge?" Aeris looked uncomfortable.
"We weren't compatible," John said, "at least until I gave up on the idea of a peach wedding."
Zinnia broke in smoothly. "We were both afraid it would not work, but I sensed time running out."
"I mean, we hadn't even seen a counselor. But then Fluffy distracted me by biting me on the thigh."
"I left the girl Marlene and merged with John, though I believe Marlene has some of my memories, as I have some of hers."
Marlene nodded. "Bad Shinra. Kill them all."
John said, "That sounds like Barret. Anyway, Zinnia's essence has filled the void. I felt as if I were, rising from the dead."
"So did I," Zinnia said, "probably because I was rising from the dead."
John caught Aeris staring into his face, her green eyes trying to follow his back and forth with himself.
"Zinnia is an Ancient, Aunt Aeris," Marlene said.
"And now, I am inhabiting the body of our ancient enemy. How does that grab you for irony?"
John chuckled. "That whole metal skewer thing puts life in perspective, you know? So we skipped the usual 'eew, you're a Cetra; eew, you're a Jenova' part."
Aeris continued to stare. "Two people, in one? So, that's how you recovered so fast."
"I still have not realized my goal," John said. "I have yet to meet a living, breathing full Cetra. Not that you aren't a great person, Aeris, half-Cetra though you may be - "
"Still trying to prove I'm not the last of my kind?"
"That's it, yes. Your mother, a full Cetra, whom I have met several times now I might add, is sadly, not alive. And Zinnia - "
"Died on the mountaintop," Marlene said, looking sad.
"In a most unpleasant manner."
Zinnia put in, "My soul, my spirit, had other plans."
"Which meant dwelling on the past, reliving your death over and over again," John said.
"It does grow tiresome. And since it took me a full three days to die, I had a lot of material to cover."
"Did it hurt bad?" Marlene asked.
"So bad I stopped noticing it."
"Her spirit survived by pure pigheadedness," John said.
"You confuse me," Aeris said. "I don't know who is talking to me."
"It confuses us, too."
"What is that place over there?" Marlene said.
"Zinnia says it's the Ancient Forest, full of frogs and bugs. She gets cranky if you suggest it is full of Ancients."
"Can we go there? I like frogs."
"One wildcat scheme at a time," Aeris said. "John and Zinnia here need to see the place they met, I think."
"Actually, we had already met in the shower," John said. At Aeris' blank look, "Sorry. Long story."
Zinnia cut in. "I want to see the village. I need to see the village I failed to save."
"I would like to see it too," Aeris said. "Something of my people. Even though it will hurt."
"John here is the eternal optimist," Zinnia said with his voice. "Though he's pessimistic on the small stuff, he insists there are more of our people alive somewhere. As if he could will it. I - I saw what Carmine and Gregor did to those villages. I'm not so hopeful."
"We should move," John said, "before I have another breakdown."
Aeris did not argue. They climbed, the trail turning upward at a gentle slope, switching back now and again to climb the other direction. John tapped a gentle spell out of the new Mist materia, enough to keep himself shielded from direct sunlight but not so much they could get lost in fog. Marlene started to flag so Aeris hoisted her into a piggyback, Fluffy jumping lightly into John's arms.
"Fluffy likes you, Zinnia," John said.
"She shows good taste."
"Meow?" Fluffy began cleaning her fore paws.
The trail steepened for a few minutes before it leveled, reaching the place John had traveled in his vision. Having climbed high enough to find clumps of pine and cedar, the evergreen scent gave him a new surge of energy. Aeris barely broke a sweat, despite carrying Marlene. In amongst the pines grew gnarled fruit trees, some laden with a greenish gray fruit. The trees to John looked like haggard pilgrims struggling to the mountaintop, limbs thrust out, supplicants to the sun and wind.
"Yummy fruit?" Marlene said.
"Those are power pears," Zinnia said. "Don't try to eat one. They're rock hard and sour enough to pinch your face into a permanent frown. They make killer jam and heavenly tarts, especially when wrapped in a flaky crust. What is it, John? Why have we stopped?"
"I had a sudden thought. One of those deep revelations that could save the world if I only I could remember it."
"We'd better get going then. I feel a creepiness coming from you."
"Means he's normal," Aeris said. They continued their hike. Fluffy twitched in John's arms, though she quieted from a discreet head scratch. John's attention drifted to that dark green mound, the Ancient Forest, perched on its far mesa.
"You have a fascination for that clump of trees, don't you?" Zinnia said. "I did, too, for the longest time. Gazing at it those long months kept me sane. Do you cling to the belief there are Ancients living there?"
John nodded.
"I used to think the same thing. When my home village - the one near Junon - was destroyed, I traveled to Midgar, hoping to find one of the plains Cetra communities still intact. Small enclaves used to cluster about in what are now the slums, though when Shinra started building that elevated plate, many of the occupants fled. I heard rumors about stubborn ones who stayed but I could find no trace of them. Not even part-Cetra relatives. Only word I heard was that a large group of three or four extended families had fled to what is now Rocket Town, but then they disappeared without a trace."
"What happened to them?" Marlene said.
"No one knew. Not even Shinra, thankfully."
"Maybe they took off on a rocket?"
"That would be a sight. Don't think they had rockets yet, but Shinra isn't saying."
They continued walking. They had almost made the summit when John felt Zinnia's tension within.
"What did you do next? In Midgar?" Aeris asked.
John felt his gut tighten but allowed Zinnia to speak.
"I broke into a Shinra building. In the basement, they had files, a huge ledger in Gregor Granth's old office. It listed all the Cetra clans they had traced from census data. It was Gregor's personal ledger, filled with names. Gregor marked them through with a red pen when, when - by the Planet, Aeris, there were thousands of them!"
The group stopped. Aeris stood speechless, tears in her eyes. John wanted to comfort her but felt trapped riding Zinnia's fury. He settled for saying, "Did you destroy that book, Zinnia?"
"What good would it do? Shinra had its computer files and the operatives still had their orders. All it would accomplish would be to let Gregor know I was on to him. But yes, I destroyed it, burning the cursed thing along with the whole bleeding office building."
"You and Barret have something in common."
Aeris spoke in a whisper. "I hope, maybe, you slowed them down."
"I did, actually," Zinnia said. "Though not from loss of data. I became their new target. Ha-ha, the primary terrorist threat."
"A threat to company and profits," John said.
"I also knew their plans. Shinra had kept the Black Wind operation under wraps, not only to keep the Cetra off guard but also, Shinra had not yet bought control of all the media. It was unlikely a wildcat reporter would stir up public opinion, what with everyone reliant on mako power and all, but Shinra still didn't want to risk a backlash."
John added, "Service to the future, service to the company."
"As it happened, I didn't bother with the press. Instead, I found two areas where Black Wind had not yet touched. One was Wutai, where the war was on, and the other was here, Cosmo Canyon."
"The Gi attack," Aeris said.
"Yes. Shinra didn't want to assault Cosmo Canyon directly, not with the defector Bugenhagen to direct the defense and warrior Seto to lead the guards. So Carmine bribed the Gi tribe to raid through the Gi Caverns."
"The things we do for company value," John said.
"Gi," Zinnia said, "are loathsome creatures, at least their main tribe. I sent a warning message to Seto and I was returning to warn the mountain village to lay low, when . . . "
"They caught you?" Aeris said.
"Carmine. She wanted me, and bad, after what I did to Gregor's office."
They reached the summit, where they stopped to rest. The four weathered ash poles still stood, the cross-hatch at their tops still intact, but nothing else remained of the diabolic contraption except a rusty metal loop where the top timbers crossed. Below it, someone had cleared the debris and ringed the center with stones; perhaps a passing hunter had used the structure as a fire pit. A short ways off, clusters of bright white flowers bloomed, waving in the breezy sunlight.
"Zinnias," Aeris said. "White Zinnias. How beautiful."
"Guess we know who died here," John said.
"They look planted. And tended."
"Maybe your ghost slipped away for some gardening while you weren't, ahem, hanging out."
Marlene scampered to the flowers, bending down to sniffed.
"Mmm."
"Careful, honey," Aeris said. "Watch for bees."
John walked over to the hill's far edge and looked down. The path continued, steeper here, switching back and forth down the rocky, vine choked slope toward a level thicket of pines and a large number of those twisted pear trees, more of which bore a bounty of fruit. In the distance, the red canyons glowed in the setting sun.
"What are those bushes with the red berries?" John said to Zinnia.
"Coffee. Grows wild around here, though these plants look cultivated," Zinnia said.
"Was your village visible from here?"
"Used to be. Now there's nothing but those pine trees."
"Hmm. I wonder."
A shout from Aeris brought them to attention. She pointed upward, where the whup-whup-whup of helicopter blades announced an arrival from the canyon. But not from Cosmo city; John spotted the Shinra logo on the tail. The chopper paused, turned, finally settling to a landing in the clearing below Zinnia's ash pole scaffold. Aeris stood bracing Marlene behind her with one arm, both of them with their hair fluttering in the gusting wind.
The engine idled. A door opened and two Shinra blues stepped out, followed by a tall red-haired man in a pressed white suit leading a lanky black dog, its tail too long, as if crossbred with a giant possum. Two more blue suits dismounted after them.
"Rufus," Aeris said. "Mr. President." She spoke with a dash of insolence. "What brings you so far from your cozy Shinra tower?"
"Ah, the escaped Ancient. Fancy meeting you here. Could this mean your spiky haired leader is around somewhere? He wouldn't go off and leave you to the wolves, would he?" His doggy thing uttered a low growl.
Aeris tightened her grip on her staff, the Princess Guard. John could see the seven materia orbs glittering in the lazy sunlight. He also spotted her materia laden Wizard Bracelet. Aeris looked loaded for dragon.
"Let's not get testy, shall we?" Rufus said. He hefted his personal shotgun, careful not to aim it in Aeris' direction. "Ah, do I see Barret's little whelp with you?"
Marlene stepped to the side, doubled up her pudgy little fists and performed a few sweeping high kicks, complete with battle shrieks.
"Ooh, I'm frightened," Rufus said. One of the blue suits applauded.
"Why are you here, Mr. President?" Aeris said. "Playing king of the hill?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I am here to subdue and hopefully capture an escaped lab specimen."
Aeris growled.
"No, not you, Ancient, though you would make a nice bonus. No, before that idiot Hojo went totally bat-soup, he tried to re-animate a dead body with an infusion of Jenova cells and God knows what else. Turns out there was a freak electrical storm - or perhaps an earthquake - a few weeks back, right after that disaster in the North Crater with Sephiroth. In the aftermath his specimen escaped. Not that Hojo will do anything but catch flies at this point. More recently, his specimen ravaged an entire pig farm near Fulsom's Crossing."
"And you believe that creature is coming here?" John said. "You think it decided to go on a nature hike after a hard day of pig ravaging?"
"Do you see that mist on the valley floor?" Rufus pointed. "The creature is approaching."
"And you are here to defeat it?" John had to take a giggle break. "You, your bang toy, your four guards, and your overgrown puppy with the whip tail?"
"Not quite all," Rufus said with annoyance. He waved at the helicopter. A door opened, and a blue suited blonde woman - with frizzy, flyaway hair, as if her hairdryer broke and she tried drying her hair in the nearest microwave - leaped gracefully to the ground.
"You, ma'am, need to discover the power of hair spray."
"Oh no," the woman said, grabbing an unruly clump of hair lest it magnetize and suck the mistletoe out of the pear trees. "It's you."
"Elena," John said. "My favorite Turk, faintly damning praise though that may be."
"We aren't the Turks anymore. We are Xee. But the three of you need to leave now. This is no place for flower girls and children."
"I suppose you have a secret plan to deal with this creature? Ask it out to dinner, perchance?"
"Enough!" Elena snapped. "I'm not asking you again. Leave."
"Technically, you did just ask me again."
"Leave!"
"Turk." Zinnia spat the word out of John's mouth with venom. "Nothing but a murdering - "
John clamped a hand over his mouth in a move that had to look comical. He saw Aeris pull back, ordering Marlene to crouch behind her.
Zinnia wrenched his hand free with his other hand. "You're all a bunch of murdering Shinra bastards. You, Turk, are probably Gregor's handmaiden."
Elena looked puzzled. "Who is Gregor?"
"As if you didn't know. And you, President Chuckle-nuts, get the hell off my mountain. I didn't suffer all these years to have some wangless wonder drop a load of pus on it! Die, you sonofa - "
"Zinnia!" John forced her name through clenched teeth, jerking their shared body sideways.
"Burn in hell! All of you!" Zinnia lunged forward but John snaked out his hand to snag a protruding branch, planting their shared body in the dirt.
"Let go!" Zinnia used his other hand to pry at the clenched one. They fought for control, swearing at each other out loud until something like a steel whip cracked them across the chest.
Rufus' dog thing snarled, its tail winding up for another strike. John ducked, breaking off the branch with a snap. Zinnia held it up as a crude staff. The tail lashed again. When it caught the staff, it zipped a coil around the middle.
"Ha!" Zinnia said.
The dog jerked. John-Zinnia held on but the coiled tail snapped the wood in half. Zinnia kicked at the dog, catching only air.
"Don't," John said. "I can't fight."
The dog must have thought this fortunate because it opened its mouth and blasted them with a triple ice bolt.
John felt himself slam against the trunk of a pear tree, a knobby protrusion punching him square in the back. The dog stalked forward, growling deep in its throat.
Two minds in one body now united in anger. The Planet worked in mysterious ways; John gave it its due. Through red rage, the two minds reached for the sky, focusing their anger like a furnace. Its release showed up as a half a dozen balls of fire, streaking down from the sky to flatten the ice dog into a smoking grease spot.
John waved away the smell of burnt tar.
Zinnia said, "What kind of limit technique was that?"
"I don't understand limit breaks but they came in handy at times."
"Heck yea; that one was a doozy."
"Hell-bomb Burst. Only the second time I've used it but I'll say the dog days of summer are officially over." He kicked at the barbecued mutt.
Elena, looking shocked, stood her ground. Rufus swung his shotgun up in John's direction but Aeris already glowed red from her ChocoMog summon. Next thing John knew, Rufus and the blue suits went down under the speeding chicken, the gun spinning from Rufus' grasp to land at Elena's feet. The frizzy Turk/Xee stepped on the barrel, even as the giant chicken scooped up its fallen mog with its beak.
John said to Zinnia, "You know, we could do a cool trick if we could put Yuffie on that bird. Maybe she would steal some materia." But he could feel the inner Cetra's hatred rise again. His eyes, not all his own, scanned the world for threats before alighting on Elena. Zinnia reached down for a weapon, settling for a jagged rock, and advanced.
"Stop!" John said. "Everyone stop!"
Everyone did. Including himself. Even the Shinra drones paused their twitching.
"Zinnia?" John struggled to hold control. "Elena, is not, Carmine. Got it? This, is Elena. She's actually, kind of nice. Sort of. Sometimes."
John walked into the midst of Rufus and his guards to stand in front of Elena. "A case of mistaken identity. A sociopathic killer is not the same as a socially insecure bureaucrat."
"What?"
John laid his hand on Elena's shoulder. "The organization you work for? You should consider a different line of work."
Elena's eyes widened. "J-Jenova?"
"Geez, that's old news." Squinting his eyes, he punched the vision into her like an flu shot.
The images flashed, brief but powerful: the carnage at Zinnia's village he had glimpsed in Hiro's shower. Flashes of the Zinnia's hideous execution interspersed with the stony smile on Carmine's face. Lastly, Gregor's ledger swiveling through space, opening to show the rows of names, so many crossed out with crimson lines, crimson that melted and ran down the page and congealed in pools of blood.
Elena screamed.
"Sorry about that. Kind of." John stroked the cheek of Elena, who slumped against the chopper. "But one thing I can't stand is the whole 'I was just following orders' excuse."
Elena choked and nodded. "All of them?" Her throat sounded rusty. She stared into the red sunset. "How many? They told us Ifalna and Aeris were the last of the Ancients. So how - "
"Most of the, ah, exterminations happened a generation ago, when Gregor Granth ran the Turks or, Xee as you call it." John spoke flatly. Even Zinnia lay flaccid in his mind. "The Cetra finally killed him I believe, but more recently Carmine, who may or may not be a relation, started the blood bath again."
"How recently?"
Zinnia spoke sharply with John's voice. "A few years back. Near Junon, tiny enclaves of Cetra still lived. She used your Turks to slaughter them."
"I don't want to hear any more!" Elena grabbed her face with her hands, but to her credit, did not cover her ears. "I can't stand it!"
"That's quite a sob story," Rufus said after climbing to his feet. "You terrorists love to make up stories to discredit Shinra. But we will not let you terrorists win."
"Oh come on," Aeris said. "Are you saying Shinra had nothing to do with the collapse of Sector Seven?"
"That was Avalanche. Blowing up mako reactors was not enough. They needed an unmistakable act of destruction so they could stand up and get noticed."
"Your father," John said, "ordered the collapse of the plate. He told me, minutes before Sephiroth shish kabobbed him. Drop the plate, kill thousands, blame it on Avalanche, watch the lemmings rally around the flag. Old trick used by tyrants throughout history. If you weren't in on it, it's pathetic you fell for it."
"I've heard enough of this. Guards?"
A weak moan answered him.
"Seize them. Place them under arrest and prepare to transport to Gongaga for questioning. On the double."
Another guard moaned. His forearm raised, then dropped.
Elena coughed.
"What are you waiting for?" Rufus goose stepped toward Elena and snatched his fallen shotgun. He whirled, weapon ready.
"Oh, chill. For God's sake." John raised his hands.
"None of your Jenova mind hanky-panky for me, if you please?"
"You can stop bullets, right?" Zinnia said to John.
"I was counting on you."
"Don't you have special Jenova tricks?"
"Maybe against one bullet, but not a shotgun."
Rufus poked his gun into John's chest. "Are you finished ranting with yourself?"
"I need my meds. It looks like rain."
"What are you talking about?" Zinnia said. "This is a clear desert sky."
"Raine, with an 'e.' Cloud's mother, coming up behind Rufus."
Rufus laughed. "You think I'm daft enough to fall for that one? Oh sure. And there are three drunk rednecks sneaking up on you."
Aeris and Elena turned toward the south, toward the distant Ancient Forest, toward an oncoming figure shrouded in a veil of mist, strolling calmly toward them. Elena backed away. Aeris sent Marlene to take cover behind an old log.
Suddenly Rufus, eyes wide, almost dropped his shotgun.
"Hi," drawled a voice behind John. "I'm Larry; this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl."
Rufus swung his shotgun between targets.
"I personally don't cotton to the term redneck, Mr. President. Darryl here says it is a derogatory term for us rural folk used by city slickers who can't even skin and barbecue a nutria without a manual. But Darryl points out that when our cousin Jim-Bob and his wife Betty Lou blew the roof off their shed after letting their power-pear juice get too hot, the backs of their necks were indeed singed mighty red."
Rufus gaped so wide John thought him half fish. Noticing the oncoming mist figure for the first time, he backpedaled, almost tripping over a helicopter strut.
Larry continued. "What is the big chief revenuer doing out here, anyway? Darryl thinks you are trying to avoid responsibility, but Darryl claims you are simply too rock-brained stupid to know the danger you are in."
Raine stopped some twenty meters away, drawing her circling shroud of mist about her body like a gleaming ball gown. Leaves and loose twigs began to swirl about her in a gentle twister. Then John realized what caused the breeze: the revving of the helicopter blade.
"I'm going for reinforcements!" Rufus called over a loudspeaker. "Detain the creature, Elena!"
Elena leaped for a strut but the chopper had already lifted out of reach. She hit the ground hard and swore. She whirled and glared at the form of Raine, who had stopped her advance and whose mist now fully shrouded her form. Elena activated a pair of materia, showering the fallen Shinra minions with a green healing mist. After she kicked the nearest one, the four of them stood to meet the threat.
"Might I point out," John said, "Raine has taken no hostile action toward us?"
"You want to run? Go ahead. But I am a Xee. Xee never cut and run."
"Actually," Aeris said. "Reno and Rude flee every single time we meet them."
"Suit yourself. I have a creature to fight. Men! Fire at will!"
John threw himself back, pushing Aeris with him. The Shinra blues hefted their weapons and opened fire. Elena lofted a Fire spell, only to have it barely scatter on the curtain of mist.
The air hummed as Aeris threw up a magical barrier. It dimmed his sight, but John could tell the Shinra onslaught had little effect. Why did those idiots keep firing their guns when their bullets did nothing?
"Because they are idiots," Zinnia said with his voice.
Elena threw another ineffective Fire spell. Raine's glow brightened.
"I'm afraid we're about to be sucked into this," Aeris said, hefting her staff. Sure enough, Raine gestured with her hand, sending forth a blue spiral of energy on all sides, decking the four Shinra troops and shattering Aeris' barrier. Aeris whipped up a new one. When Elena tried something with lightning, Raine coughed out some kind of glowing three-headed snake that decked all three of them, Aeris landing across John's legs.
"I hate Ultima magic," Aeris said. "You can't dodge it."
Aeris managed to get off what John recognized as a Big Guard spell, which he felt surge within him, along with the energy from the snaky thing.
"What is happening to us?" Zinnia said. "I feel wired!"
Raine closed in, sending a barrage of sharp rocks against the barrier, followed by a strike at the ground, after which John found himself mired in mud, the air thick as Jell-O. After another of Raine's blue spirals, Aeris' barrier collapsed.
"Cripes she keeps us busy." John released his stored copy of Aeris' big guard spell. He smiled at Zinnia's amazement. It also popped their whole group loose from the mire.
"Knew you were good for something, kid," Elena said. "I've personally witnessed your catch and release trick. Can you do it with the creature's spells?"
"Only if I get caught outside these barriers. She likes that blue nova thing. Can't hold - "
Slam! A flash of green and next he knew he lay on his side trying to unpop his ears. His head buzzed like a burning beehive.
Aeris began shaking him. "I've managed to silence her for now," she said from far away. "You okay?"
"I think so." Beside them, Elena also pulled herself to her feet, shaking her head with fury.
"You might want to hold - "
Elena cut him off by spraying Raine with a hail of ineffective ice bolts.
"Or maybe not."
Elena flew into a rage, charging Raine with staff held high, only to bounce off the mist barrier.
"Two can play the barrier game," John mused, feeling giddy at unplugging an ear. "That last trick was some sort of vacuum attack and I took it right in the snoot."
John felt himself warmed by a Healing Wind but when he turned to thank Aeris, he found her busy trying to restrain Elena. "What the heck?" He said. "Zinnia, did you cast that Healing Wind?"
"I can't. Never was much good at it, even when I had a body."
"Then who?"
Elena said, "What's up with the creature? Is she overheating? Maybe she'll save us the trouble and self-destruct."
"Self dest - " John blinked. "Oh no! Everyone drop your materia! Now!"
Aeris let go of her staff and yanked off her armlet. Elena just stared at him.
"Are you crazy, kid? I'm not dropping - "
Raine glowed a blinding white. The indistinct body within the glowing fog contorted itself into impossible forms, head and shoulders almost separating from the rest, though John and Zinnia had no time to ponder it as the light seared its way into their shared skull and enveloped them in exquisite pain.
Numbness. Under that, agony, held at bay but bundled as if in a blanket, ready to burst out like an rabid cat.
Groan.
Coolness touched his cheek. He felt a stirring in his mind, now familiar. Zinnia.
More coolness, fingers stroked his face, his hair. Rougher - though still gentle - hands massaged his neck and shoulders. A new warmth began to spread, driving back the razor blades of pain. After a while, John felt brave enough to open his eyes, only to find his vision swathed in tendrils of emerald green. Zinnia closed his eyes with a surprised yelp.
Another cool cloth on his forehead. John smiled through another groan.
"May I open my eyes now?" he asked Zinnia.
"I didn't want you to see anything that would alarm you," Zinnia said.
"I'm obviously not dead, else you wouldn't be here to pester me."
"Don't be so sure of that. I've been dead for, how long?"
John opened his eyes. He found himself inside a cabin, complete with two deer heads mounted on either side of a stone fireplace. On all the wooden walls hung tools, pictures, pots and pans, all making way for the occasional round window. Near the fireplace lay Elena on another cot. Against the nearest wall stood a familiar trio.
"Hi. I'm Larry; this is my brother Darryl and this is my other brother Darryl."
"Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse," John said, closing his eyes.
"He's not asleep," the voice of Marlene said. "He's faking, Auntie Aeris."
John flopped back onto his back and stared back up at the group. Aeris and Marlene stood next to him, and behind them stood a another woman, dark hair and indeterminate age, her hands scented with something warm and spicy. Marlene's charming shape comprised the only one of those standing not swathed in that bright green glow.
Zinnia said, "I guess we know who here is not a Cetra."
"Huh?" John said.
Larry said, "Darryl thinks your aura perception will be heightened by your exposure to the reverse materia storm, but Darryl, on the other hand, simply thinks his brother is grateful you warned him to drop his shovel."
John said, "You know? I understood every word you said but I can't make a bit of sense out of it."
"Aire Tam Storm, the slang word for it," Larry said. "Turning the opponent's materia against them in a feedback charge. The effect, I hear, is highly unpleasant. Like laughing so hard you snort power pear juice out your nose. Very few people can do it. In fact, Darryl says he didn't know anyone could do it, until that mist lady appeared. Darryl, on the other hand, says it's just lucky he dropped the shovel."
"What's all this about a shovel?" John suppressed the urge to scream.
"Darryl's hot idea, an Earth materia built into the handle of his shovel. Darryl, on the other hand, insists his own invention is superior, an Ice materia in the bottom of his beer keg."
"Which," Zinnia said, "I trust he didn't take with him?"
"He was mooning for it, at least until his brother had to ditch the shovel."
"Does he sleep with that damned shovel?"
"No, but he's a bit scared of touching it with that mist lady around. Still, had to bury the revenuers."
"You killed them?"
"Your mist lady fried them. Nearly iced you too, though in a way it was lucky for us she did. She face-planted right after you went down."
"That's another thing," John said. "Why did I go down?"
Aeris lifted his arm. "See this armlet? See these pretty little gems in it? There's a green one, and a pink one, and a blue one and a yellow one."
"Oh. I forgot I had it on."
Aeris sighed. "If you're going to wear materia, why not wear something useful? After all, a Mist materia?"
"In keeps my skin moist."
"You bought Shinra Ding-Dongs because the storekeeper swore they were nutritious."
"No, I bought them because they reminded me of Hostess Ding-Dongs from another world. And they are decidedly not nutritious. Haven't you ever had a craving for chocolate coated cupcakes filled with whipped lard?"
Aeris grimaced. "Nor have I caught the urge to chow down on spiced grubs."
Larry said, "Don't dis Hiro's curried rock shrimp. He appreciates our business. Course, that could be because Darryl smacks so loud that Auntie Pamela wants to smack him."
The new woman spoke for the first time. "I'd tan his hide with my bare hands if I weren't such a sophisticated woman."
"She not only went to college, she won the coal carrying contest last year."
"Fancy Larry not even betting on me getting seventy kilos on my back."
"Seventy!" John said.
"Little Miss Wanda down the lane? All hoity-toity 'cause she says the Planet talks to her in a special accent? She tried to sneak in a strength potion and call it pear juice. Well, I made sure her pretend pear juice was the real live thing, and not just any old pear juice. I gave her a taste of Dolly Maisy's floor slappin' glow-juice. Little Miss hoity-toity tried chargin' up that hill, an oh my, she beaned right into Flouncy Flo, who only carried fifty kilos but claimed sixty, and darned if she didn't clip Wanda a shiny one with that mean left hook of hers."
"I never was the coal hauling type," Zinnia said.
Pamela dipped her cloth into a bowl and walked over to Elena. She soothed Elena's head until the blonde Turk/Xee groaned. Elena relaxed, head rolling sideways.
"She will sleep," Pamela said. "No sense having Shinra know our location. I hate moving."
"The whole village will drive off the revenuers," Larry said. "Darryl sets the coon dogs on 'em, while Darryl uses his shovel to trap 'em by the old gravel pit."
The two Darryls grinned and high fived.
"Let me get this straight," Aeris said, eyes shining. "All of you? You are all Cetra?"
"Protectors of the Planet, that's us," Larry said. "Darryl thinks the Planet's in a whole peck of trouble if we're all that's left, though Darryl thinks with enough power pears, we can conquer any problem."
"Anyway," Pam said, "we put your friend in the back room there." Pam motioned to a solid door, overhung by a tough netting set with dangling clay pots.
"She's here?" Zinnia said, reaching with John's free hand to yank off the armlet. "You brought that creature into your house?"
"Don't worry. Those walls held a black bear last year," Larry said.
"Course," Pamela said, "That was after Billy-Bob shot it."
A dull thump from the other room jerked them all to attention. Zinnia stood, wanting to look dignified, John made it hard by tangling his feet in a wicker chair, barking his shin on a stone coffee table. Aeris reached to steady him. The others arrayed themselves in a semicircle facing the door, Larry holding what looked like an undersized beer keg with extra nozzles, and Marlene sporting a fireplace poker in a batter-up stance.
"Careful with that, honey," Aeris said.
From behind the wall, another bump. A scrape. A whimper.
"I's afraid she would wake up when you did," Pam said.
"She doesn't sound so bad now," John said.
With a crash the door burst open and Raine stepped forth, mist already clinging about her. Just as she raised her hands to strike, her face registered surprise as the weighted net tumbled down and bore her to the floor. The Darryls high-fived again, while Larry sprayed something foamy over Raine's body.
"What is that?" Zinnia asked.
"Slow gel foam," Larry said. "Darryl once made a really bad batch of beer. He claims a dead pigeon fell into it, though Darryl points out dead pigeons rarely fly. Anyway, we soaked a Slow materia in the brew and here's the result. We've got barrels of the stuff out back. Mostly we just serve it to revenuers before we dump 'em in a trash bin down in Cosmo. Darryl says you've never known a hangover until you've tasted Darryl's dead pigeon brew."
"I think," John said, his tongue feeling heavy as bread dough, "you hit, me, with that, brew, though I don't, feel . . . wet."
Aeris grabbed Marlene before the girl could brain the immobilized woman on the floor.
"By the Planet," Zinnia slurred. "You are linked. You, and that creature."
"Raine," John said, feeling Aeris help him into a chair. "Not, a creature, exactly. I sense, an emptiness, a need, but not, malice."
"You boys are getting quite a collection here," Pamela said. "A Jenova, a Shinra assassin, and now a soul sucking mist maiden? So, boys, pray tell the Planet, what are you to do?"
Larry and the Darryls looked at each other and shrugged. "We could have a lard fight," Larry said. "Or a squirrel hunt."
"Don't hurt the poor squirrels!" Marlene looked shocked.
"Have you seen the squirrels around here?" Larry said. "Cruel, savage claws. Sharp, pointy teeth." Both the Darryls nodded, looking nervous. They looked up, as did everyone, when a low thrum-thrum-thrum came from outside. Larry and Aeris took turns peeping out the nearest round window.
"Aliens?" John said.
"No." Aeris smiled. "It's the Highwind. Cid must have repaired it."
Larry said, "Auntie Pam, looks like your problems are solved. Our friends will take them off your hands. Though Darryl says he would like to take on a real Jenova in a lard fight, if only for the symbolism, while Darryl says - "
"Zip it," Pamela said. "These people are here to help us. So we will help them."
"Right. Come on, Darryl. Let's fetch a couple buckboards from the shed and help load these varmints onto the airship. Then maybe they will take us for a little ride."