Another chapter is here!
Kazeshuriken: Thank you!
Enjoy!
Red XIII listened silently as the Cargo Ship groaned, signifying that the battle had taken an immense toll on the vessel. The shamaness went through the motions of casting another wide healing spell to ensure that everyone was unharmed, while the thief went through the boxes that had been broken open and unashamedly claimed a White Cape for herself. As for the tactician, she seemed quiet now that her battle-frenzy had come to an end.
He trotted over to the broken crates that had been victim to the swordsman's blade when it fell, intent on returning it to him while he seemed preoccupied. However, Red XIII stumbled upon a red materia that immediately drew his eyes. It was another Summon Materia.
For all their scarcity, it seemed as though they were destined to end up in the group's grasp. Or was it the work of the Goddess mentioned before? He picked it up and brought it to the shamaness, who had taken a seat to rest her mind after healing their bodies.
"This was here?" She accepted the materia and held it between her palms. Her eyes closed and she seemed to be at peace as she listened to it. "I see. Jenova's presence hindered my ability to hear you. I'm sorry."
The one-sided conversation between the summoning within the materia and the shamaness was interrupted when the tactician abruptly yelled, "What do you mean they're getting ready to launch a missile at the ship!?"
Red XIII turned to see she was on the PHS, pacing back and forth. It seemed their reprieve after the battle was coming to an end. He fetched the sword and returned it to the swordsman as they made to move.
[-oOo-]
Kunsel sat on an overlook that edged the sea of Costa del Sol, far enough away from the main beach to go unspotted. He was observing the ship Crimson's group were out on using a pair of binoculars that had an advanced zoom feature, among other things. At the same time, he was listening to a bug that he managed to get into the Shinra base through an earpiece attached to his left ear, while he held the PHS to his right one.
The former Second-Class had been observing movement in the base when he had seen Rufus come in using a lifeboat and overheard what was being said. Sephiroth had shown up on-board the ship that Crimson told him they would be on earlier. What were the chances? It didn't matter now considering they were making the final preparations to blow it to smithereens.
"You've got two minutes," he told Crimson over the line. "They've got a single missile locked on now and the coordinates are set."
"That soon?" It sounded like there was movement on the other end as she spoke. He hoped that meant they were running. "That's not nearly enough time to get out of the blast radius by boat or swimming."
There was nothing he could do on his end either. The base was too far away and security had increased since Rufus' arrival. He couldn't stop the launch. After another minute passed, with no sign of movement on the boat he could see, he gave a final warning. "Crimson, you're out of time. What are you doing?"
"We think we've got a plan to get out safely."
"What do you mean you 'think'?"
"Well, it's not like we had a lot of warning before—" Her retort was cut off when the missile was fired from the shore towards the boat that had come to a standstill on the water. The path was outlined by the smoke trail as it rose into the air and then curved back down. It connected with the deck of the ship as Crimson's end of the line went dead.
The blast was thunderous enough that he could hear it from the shoreline overlook where he was perched. The force of the blast rankled the surface of the water into fierce waves as the fiery explosion bloomed into a mushroom of white smoke, rising up high and spread itself wide. Bits and pieces of metal rained down after being torn asunder from the blast.
Kunsel's heart hammered in his chest as he scoured the water with his binoculars. He didn't know what he expected to find, but somehow he hoped that that they made it out. His vision was obscured by the smoke, so he switched them to thermal mode. That was when he noticed there was a moving patch of what could only be described as compressed cold drifting towards the northern shore.
It was a hunch, but he was desperate for one at the moment. He estimated the location it would make shore and grabbed the musician's case that he used to house his sword. Then he took off, jumping down the steep slope with relative ease.
The northern end of the shore was too rocky to be used as a tourist attraction. Seagulls were constantly loitering, content with picking at the different shellfish and fish that washed onto the shore. They took off as his boots crunched the stone underfoot, leaving his figure obscured by the dozens of startled birds as he kept going until he came to a sliding stop.
In front of him was a sphere of ice twice his height. An unearthly chill wafted off of it and left his bare arms feeling the frosty sting. He used the thermal mode of his binoculars to see the warm signatures huddled inside. It was them.
He tried to break it open with his fist, but it proved to be too dense. Plan B then. The former Second-Class opened his case to reveal his sword and the materia that were stored inside. Luxiere had been the stronger of the two but Kunsel was good with using materia and, as much as he loathed it at the time, his fighting style was more comparable with Genesis' than Zack's.
Kunsel slotted the Gravity Materia he mastered into his sword and imbued the magic into the blade. Shrouded in a coat of dark violent, the blade felt heavier as it descended and managed to stab into ice sphere, far enough away from where it could hit any of them. He then twisted it, widening the hole just enough to see them as Cloud reached for the Buster Sword.
The Buster Sword's point pierced through the gap he made. The blade was heavier and sturdier than Kunsel's blade, and Cloud was stronger than him if Crimson's word was anything to go by. It gave the blond-haired swordsman just enough leverage to wrench the ice apart and free the others.
They were all pale from the cold, but ultimately unharmed. Kunsel breathed easier and extended a hand to help Crimson onto her feet. "That's one way to get out."
"I-I-It w-worked," Crimson chattered through pale-blue lips as she stood up. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "I-it was the b-b-best we could do on short n-n-n-notice…."
"I'm sure." He adjusted his shades. "Anyway, I've gotten rooms prepared at an motel that's out of the way. You can warm up there."
"L-Lead th-the w-w-way."
[-oOo-]
Hours later, after a hot shower and change of clothes, Crimson sat on the bed of the motel room. It wasn't anything like the resort that she had stayed in the last time she visited, an all-expense paid trip courtesy of the Company to watch over Zack. But the place was decent and far enough to keep them out of Shinra's view while they recovered and Kunsel kept an ear out for any new developments.
Right now, Rufus and Heidegger were having their men scour the area where the blast was, hoping to find any sign that Sephiroth had been killed while scavenging anything that was still in one piece from the blast. With that occupying their schedule for the next day or so, Crimson didn't need to keep her guard up. Unfortunately, it also gave her time to think to herself and all the things she compartmentalized out of necessity flooded her mind.
She sighed as she fell back, letting the mattress shape itself around her as her head found the pillow. It was a close thing. They had nearly been killed during an attack that wasn't even meant for them. That was both embarrassing and terrifying.
If Aerith hadn't called out Shiva again to encase them in an air-tight sphere, and then used her control of it to fling them out of the blast-zone before the missile hit, they would have been goners. Even then, the cold had been too much to weather. Their bodies had been starting to shut down.
The more time went on, the more they kept finding themselves in dangerous situations. It was just one thing after another. And then there was what happened during the fight….
Knock. Knock. Knock. Someone rapped against the door lightly.
Crimson sat up, wondering if Aerith had left her key behind. They were sharing a room together, leaving the other two women of the group nicely isolated away from her. Cloud and Kunsel had a room themselves, though Red XIII lounged on the balcony that was surrounded by local trees and largely out-of-sight.
She was halfway towards the door when she froze at the voice on the other end. It was Cloud's. "Crimson? Can I come in?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Aerith told me to check on you," he admitted. Though he was quick to add, "I was planning on doing that anyway, but I wasn't exactly sure whether or not you'd want me to."
Crimson sighed and opened the door for him to enter. "I'm better now."
"Are you sure?" Cloud walked in and shut the door behind him softly. "I mean, after being under that status effect—"
"Call it what was." She sat back down on the bed and tucked her knees in, curling up. "I… I snapped, Cloud. You can say I was under Fury, but I call that an excuse. I'm trained to never lose my composure, and yet I went completely off the handle. You have no idea what that's like."
"Then tell me." He took a seat at the edge of the bed. "Maybe… maybe talking about it will help. I'm not exactly the best person when it comes to these things, but I want to help you if I can."
"… Everything was in a maddening, red haze for me," she confessed. "I was lucid enough to recognize everyone, but angry. At the same time I felt so… liberated. As long as I had a target to take my aggression out on, I felt I could just shove everything bad onto it and kill it—as if that would take care of everything and be cathartic. I didn't have to think about anything else."
"Is it so bad to want that?" he asked. "To not have to think about everything that's happened? To just… let it all go?"
"I don't have that luxury, Cloud." She unfurled her legs and scooted to the edge of the bed, so that she was next to him. "We still have to get Hojo before that slippery worm gets beyond our reach. And, even after we get answers out of him, you and Lockhart aren't going to stop chasing Sephiroth, and I'm not going to leave you alone after everything to this point. Aerith is apparently on a mission from a Goddess and the Planet itself or something if I'm reading everything right, and Sephiroth is involved in that considering what just happened on the ship. Red XIII just wants to get home, and the little thief… well, actually, I'm not sure why we're still bringing her along."
"She made fairly decent points," Cloud said. "And she was helpful."
"The point I'm making is that I have to work on keeping everyone safe and seeing all of these things through to the end. It's still so much work, and who knows what's coming next. I can't afford to let myself slip up by letting go of my responsibility. The only reason Shinra hasn't come down on us harder already is because they literally cannot afford to send an army after us, and they're afraid of you too."
His head turned in her direction at that, confusion present on his face by the way his mako-colored eyes furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"It took me longer than it should have to figure out after we ran into Reno and Rude, but Zack—" Cloud winced at the mention. "Sorry about that. I'm slipping because I'm tired. But what he went through, along with his training, made him capable of decimating half their army. Sephiroth took out the rest in Midgar, and Hojo was responsible for him as well. They know you went through the same process, so naturally they don't want to risk losing anymore personnel. That's why they need him—so they aren't going in blind against both you and Sephiroth."
"And the longer they wait, they greater the chance that one of us will kill the other and weaken ourselves," Cloud gathered. "Like you said after the mines."
"Mm-hmm…" Maybe it was because she was tired after everything, but Crimson found it difficult to keep her head up. She leaned it against Cloud's shoulder and found comfort in how broad it was. "Did you ever think that things would get this complicated when we set out?"
"…Are you regretting it?" Cloud asked. His hands had tightened into fists on his lap.
She placed her hands on top of them and lightly squeezed. "We've already had this discussion before in the Church. I won't abandon you, Cloud. We'll get your memories back and everything will work out. Just… let me rest like this for a minute, and I'll be as good as new."
Cloud unfurled his fists and turned his hands upwards, so they were hand-in-hand. He wasn't sure why, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. "Take all the time you need."
[-oOo-]
Yuffie was traveling with a bunch of weird people. They were strong though, she'd admit that after they dealt with Bottomswell. In fact, her opinion of how strong they were only grew after learning that thing they fought on the ship was just the latest in a long line freaky monsters. But they were still weird—not in a bad way, but sort of a fun way.
Right now, she was watching as Tifa did sit-ups in her bed. Aerith had borrowed their balcony to listen to the wind, saying that the Planet was relieved at being cleansed of a portion of the parasite or something else. Just watching her going for over three-hundred reps made Yuffie's abs hurt to the point that she may as well have been the one doing the workout.
Knock. Knock. Knock. They both turned at the sound of someone knocking on the door, while Aerith stepped into the room from the balcony. "It's Kunsel. May I enter?"
The girls looked to one another before Tifa shrugged and gestured for Yuffie to open the door. The kunoichi did so and in stepped the guy who had gotten them free of the ice at the beach. He wore a pair of shorts that went down to his knees, a sleeveless shirt that revealed he was surprisingly muscular, and a pair of shades.
And he was carrying boxes. "Good evening, everyone. I trust you've recovered?"
"For the most part," Aerith said. Out of all of them, Yuffie noted that she seemed to be the least guarded around him. Were they familiar with one another? "Have you learned anything new?"
He nodded once. "I'll explain once Cloud and Crimson join us. Red XIII has saw fit to retrieve them."
"What's in the boxes?" Yuffie asked.
"Some last minute purchases," he said as Crimson, Cloud, and Red XIII finally entered. Yuffie noticed the first two looked a little flustered and were actively looking away from one another, while Red XIII merely took a seat at the foot of Tifa's bed. "Everyone's here then."
"Yeah," Crimson said. "What have you learned?"
"Heidegger and Rufus plan to confront Hojo the day after tomorrow, in order to proposition Hojo to return to Midgar. Until then, he remains under heavy guard with few chances to extract him. However, there is an opportunity to do so during his nightly visit to a local beachside restaurant. We can exploit this by getting him tomorrow night. You'll spend the day on the beach around the building, gathering information and planning an escape route."
"We'll also need to disable or silence the soldiers around him," Crimson pointed out. "If they're aware he's gone missing, we'll have Shinra breathing down our necks too soon. And we need to case the building beforehand."
"Don't forget our faces are recognizable to them," Cloud added. "While most people won't notice, I doubt that the disguised soldiers wouldn't have been given a photo to keep a lookout for us. We'd never get close."
Yuffie stuck her hand up at that. "Leave that to me. I'm good with making disguises. It's practically an art where I come from."
Crimson frowned but considered it. Wutai's ninja and kunoichi were good at stealth and disguises during the war. "Even if that's the case, we'd need swimsuits for the beach to avoid sticking out and going shopping for them still presents the same problem if we end up getting spotted. I suppose we could send you since you're new, but—"
"Already done." Kunsel gestured towards the boxes. "I think you'll find these to be fitting for the purpose of this mission."
Yuffie took that as her cue to open one of them and found a bikini. It was cute, but it wasn't what she was expecting. The rest thought the same, judging by how their brows arched in curiosity as they opened the other ones. Then she took a closer look at it and was put on edge. "This is in my exact size."
"Mine too," Aerith noted, sounding more amused than anything else. "But I think it looks lovely."
Crimson and Tifa both lifted what she presumed were theirs and immediately shot him a look. Though it was the former who asked, "Leaving aside what you picked, how did you know our sizes when you didn't ask?"
Kunsel merely adjusted his shades. "It's me. That should explain enough."
In the end, as she watched the pair try futilely to get him to go back and pick different swimsuits, Yuffie decided that she would definitely have a lot of fun traveling with them. That would make it even more bittersweet when she took their materia back to her home. She hadn't forgotten why she had started stealing in the first place—for the sake of Wutai.
But, until then, she would enjoy it while she could.