Chapter Thirty-Eight: Enemy's Emergence

Aralyn didn't show up for work.

At first Tifa shrugged it off. It wasn't unusual for a person to miss twenty minutes, even though it was an extreme rarity for the very punctual Aralyn. She was always at the door minutes early, sometimes eating her breakfast out of a napkin as she stood and waited for Tifa to come and retrieve her. Tifa was having a second key made so she could let herself in from the cold, but it wouldn't be finished for a few more days.

When it reached the point where Aralyn was absent for a full hour, Tifa allowed herself to worry.

"Vincent, have you seen Aralyn?" she asked.

Vincent shook his head. "Not since last night when she left."

"This isn't like her…"

"Aw, she's probably just sleeping in!" Yuffie offered. "I know I would."

"You're right," Tifa replied, sounding like she was trying very hard to convince herself. The uneasy look didn't leave her face. "She's just tired, and she deserves a break."

Two hours, then three passed, and even Yuffie had to admit that something wasn't right. Vincent was in the corner, staring out a window, not moving. He seemed even tenser than Tifa.

"You guys are overreacting!" Yuffie still insisted. "Look, let's settle this! Let's give her a call and see what's up!"

Vincent handed Yuffie his phone wordlessly. She scrolled through his phone book until she found Aralyn's name, and then put it on speakerphone and set it on the table so they all could share the conversation.

It was a long wait. Yuffie started counting the times it rang, but gave up when she ran out of fingers. "Hello?" They almost didn't recognize her voice when Aralyn finally picked up..

"Aralyn?" Tifa asked.

"Tifa? I'm so, so sorry…" She was speaking in barely more than a whisper, and her voice seemed unsteady and shaky.

"Hey, don't sweat it! What's wrong? We're worried about you. Are you sick? Is it acting up again?"

"No I just…Tifa, I need you to believe that I'm fine, but I need the day off. I'll work double hours tomorrow if you want but…I-I just can't come in today." There was silence as she turned away for a minute, muffled noises barely registering in their end.

"No, take it off! No penalty." Tifa assured her.

"…Thank you so much, Tifa."

Aralyn hung up abruptly, leaving everyone confused and startled.

It wasn't until that afternoon that Cloud burst through the door, his face drawn and his eyes angry. "Have you heard?" he asked.

"Heard what?" Tifa asked, concerned at the venom in his voice.

Cloud moved to a small television that was mounted on the wall for the customers to see. He picked up the remote from Marlene's side; changing the channel from the children's program she had been watching to the news.

"…Casualties still unknown, but are estimated to be extremely high," the newscaster began. "Shinra is dedicating all of the Turks to the task of finding out the details, and until we know the truth, it is encouraged that panic not be spread. They aren't one hundred percent certain that Sephiroth was behind this massacre but all evidence…"

Cloud turned off the TV, judging that his companions had heard enough.

"It was another Nibelheim!" he seethed. "I've never seen anything like it!" He roughly handed the remote back to Marlene, obviously distraught. "I don't need an exact count to know that at least twenty were killed, and untold more wounded! The city was leveled!"

Cloud's news was met with silence. No one spoke, and no one needed to. Tifa wordlessly moved to the front doors, locking them and posting a sign announcing that the Seventh Heaven was temporarily closed. She didn't want to be distracted right now. She knew that the rest of Avalanche would come as soon as they heard the news, and in preparation, she unlocked the back door.

"Why?" Yuffie finally asked. "Was Jenova there or something?"

"The Turks don't have a reason as of yet," Cloud confirmed. "Maybe…maybe there wasn't one."

Tifa turned to Vincent to find him still rigid in the corner. He hadn't moved, though he seemed greatly disturbed in his own quiet way. "What are you thinking?" she asked him.

"I'm thinking that Aralyn heard the news before we did."

Tifa paused, then nodded. "She's probably taking this pretty hard…"

"Why?" Yuffie countered. "She has no family, so she couldn't have had a loved one in that city. And she's not connected to Sephiroth like we are."

Tifa didn't miss the sight of Vincent's fist clenching.

"This is a dark day," Tifa said gently. "And you don't have to be connected to any of the dead to feel the sorrow of what's been done."

"Well I'm not saying that. I just think that it's no reason to have a breakdown…"

"A breakdown?" Vincent asked harshly. "You don't know anything, Yuffie."

Yuffie flinched back as if he had slapped her.

"Maybe someone should go and see her. If she's hurting this badly, she shouldn't be alone," Tifa offered. "Marlene and I could go."

"No," Vincent said. "She needs some time alone. Maybe later tonight, but for now, let's leave her be."

Tifa met his solemn eyes, knowing there was something in there that he wasn't revealing, and nodded. "If you think it will help…"

Kadaj flipped a golden brooch between his gloved fingers, a mad grin on his face. He seemed captivated by the way the moonlight seeping through the old rafters played over its smooth surface. When he tired of this, he flipped it into the air and caught it, laughing.

"What did you do?" Yazoo seethed as he walked into the chapel.

"Oh come on, brother. Lighten up and have some fun! There's probably still some spoils left if you're game for some digging through the ashes."

"Sephiroth's orders were to lie low! Now everyone is talking!" His voice was faster than usual, more urgent.

"Exactly! Everyone is talking. Won't this be so much more fun?"

"You traitor!"

The grin was wiped off Kadaj's face, and replaced with an angry grimace. He walked towards his older brother, slowly, making sure to grind the flowers beneath his feet with every single step.

"Mother will return soon. And when she does, I will be sure that every filthy mortal on this planet shows her the proper respect. Are you saying I'm betraying Mother? I am glorifying her! Giving them a taste of her power!""

Yazoo said nothing.

"Or are you more concerned about those little insects' deaths?" Kadaj sneered.

"What will you gain?" Yazoo asked simply.

"Mother will be—"

"Don't start that with me!" Yazoo cut across sharply. "That is not why you did this! You can't hide it from me."

Kadaj confirmed nothing, only grinned. It was all Yazoo needed to know.

He had crossed Sephiroth to challenge him. He was staging a mutiny.

And Kadaj would put Aralyn in the crossfire.