Another Chapter is here!
Enjoy!
Aerith couldn't keep pace as Argento ascended the stairs to question the man, after the rest of her unit rushed to the top of the ziggurat and forced him face-down onto the surface. The location was supposed to be isolated by the hostile landscape after all, so his presence was suspicious no matter what. The last of the Cetra naturally attempted to intervene before they could do him further harm, placing herself between the man and Argento. "Don't hurt him."
"Move her." The order was carried out by one of the troops grabbing and pulling Aerith to the side. Her path clear, the Tsviet addressed the man on the ground. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
"Black… Materia…" The man in the black cloak murmured, eyes dull and lifeless.
Argento's eye narrowed at that. "How do you know of that? Answer me."
"That man is a Sephiroth Clone!" Aerith said as she struggled against the firm grip around her arms futilely. That man was someone that had been made a victim, a resident of Cloud and Tifa's former home. He didn't deserve to be harmed when he wasn't in control of his actions. "He can't tell you anything!"
The words drew Argento's attention to her. "Explain."
Aerith took a deep breath. It seemed like she would at least listen to her. "Hojo took a bunch of people and injected them with cells from a being known as Jenova. It overtook their minds and has turned them into puppets, leaving them thralls of Sephiroth. You'll gain nothing from harming him."
"Then do you believe that this… thrall's presence means that Sephiroth has located this place?"
Aerith nodded reluctantly. "Even so, he can't reach it without the Keystone."
"Take her inside. I need to contact Heidegger about this." She took a communication device from her belt and pressed it to her ear. "This is Argento. We've encountered a complication in the retrieval of the Black Materia."
With a shove that was harder than necessary, the troop that grabbed her led Aerith inside of the temple. The room was small, shrouded in darkness until one of them set the two torches in the back ablaze. The orange flicker of the flames scared the shadows into hiding behind the support columns and corners, revealing the stone altar at the top of a platform.
Aerith found herself being pulled to it at the urging of the Keystone. A firm hand held her back. She frowned but said nothing until the sound of two rounds being fired caused her to whip her head around.
She spotted Argento walking through the entrance. One of the troops behind her had his gun pointed down, the barrel smoking. The poor man enthralled by Jenova was lying on the ground like a black lump in the midst of a slowly expanding pool of blood. "You executed him."
"Heidegger's orders." She turned to her unit that stood at attention and pointed to four of them. "Guard the entrance and use the radios if anyone else arrives. Rosso will be here shortly to shore up the defensive line. The rest of you follow us."
The troops did as told. Four of them took a defensive stance at the entrance, looking out at the jungle. That left the remaining three and Argento to escort Aerith up the platform.
The last of the Cetra took a deep breath as she stood in front of the altar. The feverish Keystone in her hands vibrated, urging her to return it where it belonged. She did as it wished and placed it into the last slot.
The Temple roused from its long slumber as the Keystone's energy flowed through the grooves etched into the stone, illuminating the traveled path with a blue glow. The pulsating hum gave way to a strong heartbeat that resonated through the ziggurat. Loose dust and small stones were shaken loose within the small room.
Time slowed to a crawl as a pulse surged through Aerith. Color disappeared from her perspective. Silhouettes that were once souls filled the chamber, whispering to her heart what was it that she—the last of their kind—desired?
To Aerith there were surprisingly many things she desired. She wanted to rescue her mother. She wanted return to her friends. But right now she needed to fulfill her duty as a Cetra to save the Planet, and that meant keeping the Black Materia from Sephiroth, Jenova, and those that would abuse it above all else.
The common consciousness responded. Her elongated perception of time and color returned to normal as the entire platform they were on became shrouded in shadows. They were all pulled into it in a heartbeat.
After a feeling of falling and then rising, Aerith then found herself within a maze of dreamy mist, gnarled ivy, and forgotten stone. In front of her stood a figure dressed in a purple robe, with a long gray beard and yellow hat obscuring its body beneath it. It beckoned her to follow it with its staff and unspoken words; though she managed to pick up that it was saying that she had much to learn and little time to do so as the last of their race…
[-oOo-]
Rosso found herself fixated on the flourishing jungle further ahead as the aircraft she was flying in drew closer to the landmass. Every second she had spent outside was nothing short of amusing, having experienced so much for the first time in her life. Having been born in Deepground, she had nothing more than a rudimentary, textbook understanding of the outside world until a day ago.
Of course, she couldn't help but think that the vivid green could be improved with a splash of blood or that the pristine beaches could do with corpses lining it. That was one of the best parts of her assignment. She got to travel to new places and kill new people.
The aircraft descended to the ground shortly after, landing next to the similar craft that belonged to the first unit. She exited it and set foot outside, where the breeze rustled her blood-red hair and carried the scent of the sea to her nose. It was a contrast to the dry and chill night air near the mountains where she had been previously, tinged with the familiar coppery scent from the freshly flowing lifeblood of the men that she had been sent to eliminate.
One of the two remaining troops approached her and saluted. "Ma'am, there has been a complication in the mission."
She listened with mild interest as he told her that they received notice of the possibility of an assault by Sephiroth. The thought of clashing blades with the supposed perfect SOLDIER left her ready for a fight and made her smile. She had less interest in the fact that they'd lost contact with her fellow Tsviet and the Ancient after they'd placed the Keystone into the altar.
That was when she spotted something in the air, in the corner of her eye. It was as small as a speck at that distance, easy enough to pass for a bird. However, given what she had been told of the Ancient's accomplices and Hojo's mention of another potential object of interest, her intuition told her that the chance to leave the beach lined with corpses had arisen.
"Gather the men," she ordered as she grabbed her weapon. "We have guests to entertain."
[-oOo-]
The Tiny Bronco had a slightly rough landing as Cid brought it down near the jungle, having been forced to turn away or run the risk of crashing due to strange turbulence. The group as a whole disembarked, with Yuffie immediately running off to vomit from her air sickness. Only Crimson and Cid remained inside the plane, the latter making sure that there was no damage to the plane and the former dealing with their hostage since the blonde-haired Turk had been woken from her sleep by the violent jostling.
Though they brought her along and stripped her of her weapons, Crimson didn't trust the girl getting out of her sight. So she made sure the bindings around her wrists were tight and gave her a warning. "Don't do anything stupid."
Even though she nodded, Elena didn't bother hiding the murderous glare she had on her face.
The morning sun beat down on the group as they took in the landscape, eying the distant stone peaking just over the jungle canopy. The wild-lands were teeming with life, a cacophony of clicking, chirping, and squawking resounding throughout the air. Everyone made sure that their weapons and materia were in place before they pressed ahead.
It was when they were halfway there that Nanaki stalled in his tracks and snarled. Cloud, standing at the vanguard, raised one arm to signal silently for the rest of them to do the same. Then he whipped his head around and threw himself at Crimson, blade drawn.
"Wha—" Her words of surprise were cut off as the heavy Buster Sword intercepted the metal slug that nearly punched through her skull. Memories of the night in Costa del Sol came unbidden and her breathing quickened with her racing pulse.
Cloud stood in front of her, eyes fixated on the scantily dressed woman in red who was pointing the center of what looked to be a dual-bladed sword in the shape of a bow. The barrel in the center was smoking, a cruel smile painted on her lips as she looked down at them from atop a thick tree branch. Then more troops appeared from the brush, surrounding them while armed.
Snapping out of her brief shock before they could fire, a jolt surged through Crimson's mind before the kill-box closed. She utilized a Barrier spell in combination with an All Materia to spread the effect to their group, Elena included, preventing instant death as bullets hammered away at them. The counter-attack began as spells began flying, and the woman dressed in red descended with her blade scything towards Cloud.
Triggering Sense, Crimson took in the chaos around her in time to avoid the knife aiming at the back of her neck. The flash of steel from her Rekka barely cut through the mako-tempered flesh, but it knocked the knife off its course. Bright, white lightning jumped from her favored elemental materia point-blank as a follow-up, sinking past the flesh to the vulnerable organs beneath it.
Heart stopped. Organs fail. Brain destroyed. Data from Sense poured into her mind and gave her a read-out on the damage done by the Bolt 3 spell. It was overkill for certain against a sole troop, even if they were more durable than the average human. As Kunsel had said before, they weren't the biggest threats.
No, the real one was the woman in red who was laughing as she fought with Cloud. The barrier that she'd placed on him had already been stripped away and his tempered flesh was leaking blood from slits cut into it. The woman wasn't stronger than Cloud, but she was faster than him to the extent of easily ducking or parrying his slashes before she sliced into him.
Her movements, her judgment, her reactions—Sense told Crimson that this woman had spent her lifetime training against opponents who were less durable than Cloud, but still above the average human in terms of strength. In a one-on-one fight, Cloud was the best choice to face her… in the sense that he'd simply take the longest to kill because of his enhancements.
At least while he was still polishing his swordsmanship up. Fortunately, they don't fight alone if they can help it and their handicaps could be compensated for that reason. Crimson looked around to see how the others were faring at a glance to do just that.
Tifa just finished breaking the neck of one female troop, while Nanaki hammered another with a Fire 2 spell. They were cleared. Yuffie barely avoided a blade going for her throat when Vincent opened fire with his large gun to buy her time to cast a Bio 2 spell. The poison did its work and Vincent moved in to finish with a double-tap. The other two weren't fairing as well, with Barret laying down cover-fire and Cid struggling to fend off one of the sword-wielding Deepground troops with his weapon.
"Vincent, heal Cloud! Lockhart, Yuffie, Nanaki, lock down her movements!" Crimson ordered before combining her All Materia with her Thunder Materia to release a Bolt 2 spell. Her mind jolted from the strain of using them both at the same time, but the resulting lightning that came crashing from the sky struck down their surviving foes.
The surge of lightning stilled the woman in red's movements by no more than maybe a second, but Cloud took the opening to bring down his sword. Even though she avoided the initial strike, Cloud triggered the Earth Materia and the resulting shockwave from the Quake spell forced her to leap away from the erupting earth that upturned the grass and nearby trees, lest the loss of balance leave her open for the decapitating follow-up strike.
The distance minimized the risk of friendly fire as Nanaki let loose a Fire 2 spell that scorched the dirt and set the nearest trees ablaze upon impact, hot wind billowing out from the force. A swift brandish of her dual-bladed weapon snuffed the flames and smoke in time for her to see that Yuffie was closing the distance. She took aim towards the younger kunoichi, but a ball of condensed blue and white frost slammed into the barrel. Plugged by the resulting thick ice, it was all but guaranteed that it would self-destruct if she pulled the trigger.
Yuffie swiped for her neck with the shuriken she brought from her homeland, only to miss as the woman turned her body. The distraction served its purpose as Tifa then body-checked her into a tree hard enough that the bark groaned and splinters flew free. Crimson finished with her Rekka circling the tree and the wire wrapping around her assailant once, before Cloud grabbed the weapon and pulled with all his might.
The wire went taut, binding the target in the center. Yuffie darted in to get her weapon while her arms were pinned into place. And, just to make sure she didn't break free, Tifa used another Ice spell that spread from her toes to her chest, binding her to the tree like a frozen cocoon.
Despite facing greater odds and being trapped, the woman in red chuckled like a child in amusement and flashed a matching smile. "Not bad." Her accent seemed to caress the words as they came out of her lips, along with her visible breath from the cold encasing her. "I haven't had this much fun in sometime."
Ignoring that, Crimson began a brief interrogation. "I take it you're one of the Tsviets?"
"Correct," she said. "I am Rosso the Crimson, one of the Tsviets of Deepground."
They must operate on a system where the strongest of them receive titles with colors to accentuate their prowess. Crimson mused in her head before turning to Vincent. "How does she compare to the other one?"
"Not as strong, but faster and skilled," Vincent answered while reloading his weapon. He had already finished healing Cloud. "The Cerulean Tsviet was simply hard to put down due to his strength and transformation. It wouldn't be wrong to call him more monster than man."
"I would not throw stones, Darling," Rosso said, a hint of affectionate in her voice. "After all, you are not so human yourself anymore. The Professor has mentioned his thoughts on how you became what you are, due to the one you coveted so dearly. Such a beautiful tragedy it is, I consider it my new favorite tale."
"You seem awfully cheery for someone at our mercy," Yuffie said pointedly to that, holding the deadly weapon that belonged to the giggling woman as she stood by Vincent's side.
"And you are quite bold for a flea that enjoys clinging to a corpse," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Yuffie, she's baiting you. Don't fall for it," Crimson told the kunoichi before she could get madder. She then turned back towards her captive. "What does Heidegger intend to do with the Huge Materia he's taken and the Black Materia?"
"I don't know or care." Tilting her head as she looked over the corpses and injuries, Rosso's eyes seemed to dance in delight at the blood and destruction wrought over the course of no more than a minute or two. "I merely go along with my orders because I take delight in the sight of the carnage that will follow."
"Broad's got a few screws loose," Cid muttered just beneath his breath. Barret let a low grunt to show he agreed.
Crimson was inclined to silently agree herself that something about this woman just wasn't right, but decided it didn't matter as she concentrated on her Thunder Materia. The woman was clearly answering only because she felt it amused her and they didn't have time for games. It was best to end it in a single Bolt 3 spell rather than drag it out like she did before.
Then Cloud fell to his knees with a pained groan, holding the sides of head. The familiar reaction drew all of their attention.
"Ah. It looks like Sephiroth has arrived," the Crimson Tsviet said with a smile as a blood-tinged miasma exploded out from her body with enough force that the ice shattered into a spray of frost and fragments. On reflex, Crimson covered her eyes and let loose the Bolt 3 spell that obliterated the tree she was bound to.
Then Yuffie screamed in a moment of pain and drew their eyes towards her, far to the right. She was lying on the ground, a path dug into the upturned dirt from where she had been sent skidding from. There was a bruise on her cheek and blood dripped from between her lips as her head lolled, knocked unconscious in a single backhand after being caught off-guard.
Another pained groan and the sound of metal clattering onto the dirt made them turn to see that Rosso, wreathed and swaddled in a crimson aura, was in front of Vincent. She had taken her weapon back, holding it with one clawed hand. The other was wedged into Vincent's chest.
"Ah, it would seem the Professor's theory was right." There was a wet, sickening sound as she jerked it free. Vincent fell to the ground as she stood over him, holding a large materia that they'd never seen before. "I will take the Protomateria, if you don't mind."