SHERA
1.
Cade thought he was doomed.
Since they had took off from Wutai, Cid and Yuffie had engaged in an endless stream of conversation about family matters, war time stories, common friends not seen in ages plus a wide range of assorted topics. He could tell that the friendship between these twos dated back quite a long time ago.
Cade felt cut off for like five hours. At least he could get some sleep, although the seats in the cockpit of the Shera were not really that comfortable. Abandoning the two of them to retreat and lay down in a bunk would have been too rude, even if that meant staying away from the storm of words coming out from the ninja's mouth.
As he had slipped into a state of semi-conscience, he somehow found himself thinking of Yuffie. Sure the circumstances of their first encounter had been bizarre. She was not that bad, physically speaking. She was actually quite pretty. He concluded that, had she not had that nasty temperament and a fondness for useless chatter, he could have gotten along pretty well with the princess of Wutai. Anyway, that was a purely business-oriented partnership, a one off collaboration. Once the whole affair about the Mako Singularity would have been over, he would have forgot about her and be back to his own life. To his very own solitary and lonely life.
'And then' he added to himself 'the Princess of Wutai, meddling with someone like me? Unrealistic'
He quietly laughed at the absurd situation he had just envisioned in his mind
"Hey there, Morpheus!" Cid called at him "What's so funny? Care to make us laugh too?"
Cade slowly opened his eyes. He yawned stretching his limbs
"Goddamn you Cid!" he protested "I was having a great dream: I was in Costa del Sol, resting my poor, achy bones on a beach…"
"Surrounded by beautiful girls, I bet…" Yuffie added
"Yeah, but unlike you, they kept their mouth shut!"
Yuffie was caught by surprise. Cid laughed. She puffed in resignation "Oh Maker, there we go again!"
"Don't worry!" Cade assured her "Once we land on Edge, we'll have to behave like lovely husband-and-wife, for the sake of everyone"
"Shove it up your ass!" Yuffie exclaimed "I'm a professional, unlike you!"
"And that means…" Cade said
"And that means that I'll put business before everything else, even if that will mean having to partner to a fucking moth like you!"
"Ha!" Cade laughed "We're good to go, I see"
Cid opened his mouth in disbelief "Jeez, Yuffie! I though you had developed manners back in Wutai!" Cade cackled
Yuffie blushed "Well, there's nothing wrong with spitting a bad word or two every now and then…" she paused "Would you prefer me to disembowel him right away, maybe?"
Cid shook his head "Not really! Listen, I know you have your reason to be so quarrelsome to each other, but I'd suggest you to sign a truce. There will be matters to discuss on Edge, and they will be very, frigging important"
"Sounds a deal to me" Cade pondered
"Yeah, whatever…" Yuffie accepted
"See? Easiest thing in the world…" Cid turned to Cade "By the way Cade, you still have to tell me about the shootout…"
"Nope!" Cade swap a finger in the air "You're gonna tell it to Reeve and the old man is going to have a heartache! And lecture me about not messing up things when they are easy enough to be solved with a sweet talk"
"Sounds like you've been close to death again…" Cid examined
"I'll tell it to you when we'll get drunk. I promise!" Cade assured him
Cid laughed
Yuffie made herself comfortable on her seat. So there she was, again on the frontline to save the world. Although she was still oblivious about the details of her tasks ahead, she could sense the matter had to be of the utmost importance if Reeve had resorted to her help once again. Then again, she thought, if he had to send someone like Cade, his nephew as far as she had been told, the situation had to be desperate. She briefly paused her eyes on him. He was good-looking, overall, to be honest. But his recklessness was something that really did not resonate with her
'Oh, listen. Yuffie Kissaragi. The one who plans and thinks twice (not true, just being sarcastic…) before acting is despising someone for being too reckless… then what?' she thought. She sighed, as she realized that whatever she was going to be ordered to do by the WRO, chances were that she would have probably have to do it together with that guy. Better to do it soon and quickly then.
"How long to Edge, Cid?" Cade asked
"Two hours more" he replied
"Good news" he said, as he tried to slumber back in his seat
"Are you really going to sleep again?" Yuffie protested
"Not that I really slept back then" Cade noticed "You were stream-talking like a river!"
"Oh, sorry. I'll be quiet" she scoffed
"I had a couple of rough days, you know?" Cade explained "A bit more of sleep never really hurt anyone…"
Yuffie shrugged
"You seem to be at a loss, Yuffie" Cid observed
"Me?" Yuffie shifted her attention to the pilot "Well, no, not really. I'm just eager to know why Reeve needs me again"
Cid twisted his fingers, which cracked loudly
"Reeve ordered me not to give anything away… but since it is you…" he conceded
"Yep! C'mon. Tell me!" Yuffie spurred him
"According to our scientists" Cid explained "The world is about to end again!"
"The world is about to end? What do you mean?" Yuffie asked, puzzled by Cid's revelation
"Apparently, and this is what I've understood, the Mako in the atmosphere has been gathered in just one point in space and it's about to explode. That's it…"
"Gathered? By who?"
"Sorry, it's not like someone is amassing it. The whole things is happening apparently because of the way the universe works"
"What would that mean?" Yuffie further enquired
"It's happening because it's happening" Cid replied "No freaks or otherworldly assholes messing with us or the world, this time"
Yuffie hardly processed the information. So that was it, Gaia could not be left in peace. First it was Meteor, then the Geostigma Crisis and then the Deepground Conflict. Was it going to end somehow? Of course yes, if nobody did nothing. And Yuffie was probably being given the chance to do just that
"You don't seem too much worried, don't you?" Cid asked
"It's not the first time the world is about to end" the ninja quite calmly explained "And every time we stepped in it always ended up for good. That's something to take into account, I think"
Cid laughed "That's some kind of optimism!"
Yuffie smiled "But then the next question is: what can we do to prevent it?" she asked "I mean, what can I personally do? It's not like we're dealing with a monster here, as you said. It's something bigger than us…"
"Reeve has got his plans" Cid explained "Apparently you fit in them"
Yuffie grew perplexed
"But how long the WRO knew about the threat?"
"A couple of weeks, more or less…"
"Have they disclosed anything to the public?"
"Not yet"
"I have the feeling the will be forced to do it soon!" Cade voice came in. Yuffie turned towards the seat where he had last tried to fall asleep, but he wasn't there. He was standing next to a porthole and gazing outside
"What?" Yuffie asked
"See that for yourself" Cade told her. Yuffie watched outside through a window. She opened her mouth in awe.
The dark, night sky was criss-crossed by wide, spindled, bright green streaks that all seemed to converge in a point beyond the horizon..
Even Cid temporarily forgot about the airship to gaze at that spectacular sight.
Cade noticed that the streaks were not still, but they seemed to pulsate, like the line on the chunk of Mako he had found in the desert.
He and Cid exchanged a worried look
"What is that?" Yuffie managed to ask, still stuck to that vision
"The beginning of the end…" Cid muttered
"People are going to panic!" Cade murmured
"Goddamit! Can you explain me what that thing over there is?" Yuffie shouted
"It's the Mako in the atmosphere" Cade explained "It's reaching critic levels and now it's being sucked towards the Singularity"
"And what is this Singularity?" Yuffie asked again
"A point in space where the Mako is converging" Cade further explained
"You were paying attention during the briefing, huh?" Cid sarcastically remarked
"Remarkably yes, my attention spawn is growing longer…"
"It looks like the aurora" Yuffie noticed, still marvelling at that breath-taking yet dooming scenery.
The trio stood there watching the skies above them. An alarm on the head up display recalled Cid to his duties as a pilot.
"What is that?" Cade asked
"Apparently nothing" Cid replied "A faulty battery pack in the engine flow modulator. Maybe if I just exclude it…"
Cid could not even turn the switch that all the cockpit plunged into darkness.
The occupants could not even have time to express surprise because something more serious and even more noticeable happened.
The Shera fell silent and plunged to the ground. With the momentum it had gained because of its speed, it managed to stay afloat for a while but shortly afterwards its nose pointed downwards and started making a steep run towards the ocean
"Cid!" Cade shouted, while slipping next to him on the ground "You don't even remember which buttons you have to press on your ship?"
"It's not that!" Cid told him, while pulling the stick towards him, cursing and swearing but holding his jaw shut.
Yuffie quickly lost her balance and fell on the ground. She ended up legs in the air against a seat next to Cid
"We're going down!" she cried
"Don't worry!" Cid assured them, frantically trying to get the engines back in line "One day my ship will slightly kiss the ground, but that won't be today!"
At some point during the descent, lights came back in the cockpit. A thundering noised told everyone that Cid had managed to re-start the engine. The Shera slowly but finally levelled, coming to a stationary flight just metres above the ocean
"Are you all right?" Cid asked
"I guess…" Cade replied, getting back on his feet
"Argh…" Yuffie complained "I think my leg is stuck somewhere"
"Hold on" Cade reached to her as Cid ran through the displays on the dashboard to perform a diagnostic check on the airship.
He knelt beside her
"Uhm, wait a second…" he concluded, before pulling a lever and raising the seat enough to let Yuffie free her foot
"Thank the Maker you were still wearing your boots. These hardware are rusted…" Cade observed
"Hey, my ship doesn't have to win a beauty pageant, goddamit!" Cid protested
"It simply has to keep us afloat, right? What happened?" Cade asked, as he helped Yuffie get back on her feet
"Thank you" she uttered, still trying to get back in one peace after the shock of finding herself on a plunging ship in the sky
"Oh, you're welcome" Cade quietly replied, surprised by the fit of gratitude of the ninja princess
'She must have banged her head' he concluded
"Unbelievable" Cid thought out loud, surprised "It is like if the ship suddenly refused to be turned on. Damn Shera…"
"Oh, I see what you did there…" Cade joked
"That's not the time for joking around. We nearly plunged into the ocean" Yuffie protested
"Excuse me if we are still alive…" Cade surrendered
"And now everything seems to be nominal again. Like wife, like airship…" Cid grinned
"See? No point in being offended. He's the first to poke fun at that" Cade told Yuffie, who rolled her eyes upward
An alarm went off
"Now what?" Yuffie sighed
"Relax!" Cid told her "It's the Emergency Broadcasting Alert. There's a message right from the WRO Headquarters"
Cade stood at these words
"I have a bad feeling about this…" he suggested
Seconds later, a voice echoed through the cockpit
"People aboard the Shera, can you read me?" the voice asked
Cade and Yuffie both recognized it. It was the voice of Reeve Tuesti
"Yes Sir, Reeve!" Cid replied "Reading loud and clear!"
"Thank Heaven!" the voice sighed in relief "You will pardon me if I will be thorough this time but you must get back here in Edge as soon as you can!"
"Reeve, what's happening? Our airship nearly killed us in the middle of the ocean…" Cade stepped in
"Cade? Is that you? You sound fine. Godo Kissaragi told me you faltered on a nasty business back there in Wutai"
"Don't worry. I'm a diplomat in my spare time…"
Reeve laughed "Great to hear that! Anyway…" he continued "…here in Edge half of the population is on the streets after a blackout"
"A blackout?" the trio exclaimed altogether
"Of course, if you think that these events are a mere coincidence, you are free to do that but that won't help…"
"Wait a second Reeve!" Yuffie intervened
"Ah, Yuffie!" Reeve greeted her "It's nice to hear from you. Sorry, we'll have plenty of time to talk. Thanks in advance for joining us!"
"Your beloved nephew gave me no options…" she pointed out
Reeve shortly laughed at Yuffie's words "Well, as I said, we'll have plenty of time to talk about it together!"
"What a buddy-fucker" Cade shook his head
"So the blackout in Edge and our nearly avoided crash… are these events linked together?" Cid asked
"Yes. And there is way more. I'll tell you more here at the HQ. Be here fast!"
"Sure!" Cid replied, as the communication was cut "Have you heard? Let's get back on march!" he enthusiastically chimed, as he sat back on his station
"Are you going to get to sleep again?" Yuffie asked Cade
"Oh, no. I don't wanna die in my sleep!" Cade answered
"What difference does it make?"
"If I go to the Lifestream and my parents will ask me what was the last thing I saw… well, I can't omit the aghast face of Cid from my tale!" he answered, laughing out
Somehow Yuffie did not get the joke
Even Cid was surprised, rather than tickled by the pun
"What did you just said?" she enquired
"Oh, nothing" Cade dismissed her, realizing his faux pas "I think I'd better get some sleep anyhow" he concluded, trying to get asleep again under the curious look of Yuffie.