Another chapter is here!
Enjoy!
The roof of the hangar, which was nestled on the surface level of the base that Reeve claimed and reconstructed over the course of these last few months, parted open as he stood at the entrance. The night sky hid the airship well as it closed in, until the lights around the bottom flared to life. From there it hovered over the opening and slowly lowered into the facility.
"She'd better be alright," said the red-haired woman standing next to him, adorned in a lab coat with her hands nestled within the pockets as she looked up through her glasses at the aircraft as it landed. Shalua Rui had been approached to act as a scientist for the organization he was building over the last few months. The base itself formerly belonged to a military unit that had been destroyed by Shinra during his rise to power, during the early years of the SOLDIER project, and all but forgotten once it had been stripped of any value.
Reeve had claimed the land for himself and began to renovate it for the sake of becoming the new headquarters for his organization. Because he needed to keep the operation rather quiet with Shinra and Heidegger being in their current states, he'd avoided expanding upwards and instead worked downward. The bottom had been tunneled out and expanded to contain the various rooms and facilities within the base. It was enough given how small his organization was at present, but if they expanded larger he'd have to consider relocating them somewhere more spacious.
As for Shalua's question, Reeve was frank with her. "While we've confirmed Miss Rui is onboard, and we have a doctor who will do what they can, she will have to remain sedated until we can ensure that she will not be a threat to herself or anyone else."
Shifting her gaze to meet Reeve's eyes, a frown formed on her face. "Shelke is a sweet girl, who loved working with computers and spending time with her family. She would never hurt someone willingly."
Reeve exhaled softly as he shook his head slowly. As much as she clung to the hope of her sister being alive, which panned out in a twisted sort of way, Shalua was also clinging to the past in the hopes that things could go back to how they were before. "The conditioning that she was put through was… thorough. To where she was willing to put the lives of thousands of people at risk, even when told that she would die as well. Hopefully we'll be able to do something about that in time, but she's in a delicate state at the moment."
A wind rolled through the hangar as the airship finished its descent and a boarding ramp descended. Elmyra's daughter then approached while helping the youngest of their number, who was slouched over and holding her mouth, down the ramp. Vincent followed, holding Shalua's sister in his arms.
"She really does look the same as the day they took her," Shalua said in disbelief as she looked at her sister's slender frame. She'd been informed of that much, but only after seeing it herself could she truly register it.
"Get her into the capsule," Reeve ordered the medical team, two of whom had a medical capsule which they could use to transfer the girl and get her into a mako-bath to preserve her life. Then he turned his attention Aerith, who had just finished helping Yuffie walk down the ramp and moving her to the side. "Is she hurt?"
"She suffering from severe motion sickness, unfortunately," Aerith said. "Now that we're on solid ground she should be able to recover soon enough. But she could use something for it in the future, if you have it."
"I'll have them bring medicine for that," he said. "Anyone else injured?"
"The fighting was intense, but I healed everyone as best I could. So physically we're all fine, but I think we're all tired and need to get some sleep."
"There are sleeping quarters on the fourth floor. You can all get some rest there."
"How are things with Heidegger and Rufus at the moment?" Crimson asked next, joining into the conversation with Cloud by her side. "Cid also asked me to check and see if you've got his plane?"
"Heidegger is throwing a tantrum, but he hasn't made any sort of planned actions against Rufus. Rufus' primary focus for the time being is to shore up their defenses to prevent another infiltration attempt. That has bought us some time before they enter open hostilities with one another. We've also retrieved the plane left behind and will have it brought to the facility shortly."
"Good. In that case, we'll take this time to make travelling arrangements to handle other issues and obligations before things start getting chaotic."
"I've given the authorization for you to be provided with whatever you need," Reeve stated as he looked over to see Barret talking with Shalua, while holding up his ruined weapon-arm. She gave him a brief nod before walking off with the medical team as they escorted the capsule into the medical area. "I'll keep you informed of any other developments as well."
"Then we'll head to the fourth floor and get some rest."
[-oOo-]
"Okay, what does everyone plan on doing?" Crimson asked a few minutes later, once they were all in the elevator and heading down to the fourth floor where the living quarters were. "We don't know when this thing with Heidegger will escalate but it's probably a smart idea if everyone makes most of their free time. I know for a fact that I need to return the Keystone to Dio and tell him about Kunsel's death."
"Until my new arm gets made, I'm outta commission," Barret said. "It'll take a bit accordin' to Shalua, so I'm headin' back to Cosmo Canyon to see Marlene."
"I'm going with him as well to have that Huge Materia locked away with the other one. Helping us or not, I'm not letting it be used as a weapon by leaving it here," Tifa said, turning to Nanaki. "What about you, Red?"
The leonine warrior bobbed his head. "I do wish to see Grandfather and my mate."
She supposed that made sense. They had the most ties there, whereas Crimson and Aerith's only ties were the fact that Zack's parents had taken up residence there. That left Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, and Vincent unaccounted for. She turned to them and asked, "What about the rest of you?"
"I'll go with you," Cloud said. "I can use the time to train with Odin, among other things."
"I'll be looking into Omega and Chaos with Crimson's group," Aerith said. "I'll also need to talk to you for a bit tonight, Vincent. I can use the information to search the Lifestream for a clue on where to go."
"Understood," Vincent said plainly.
"Well, Cid's taking me back home so I can get a decent weapon," Yuffie added, looking over her shoulder to him. The pilot was leaning against the back wall with his shoulders slumped, no doubt desiring nothing more than to sleep until he heard his name being brought up.
He straightened up. "When did I agree to that?"
Yuffie sported a grin that was anything but innocent. Good to see she was back to normal. "Well you did promise to fly us wherever we wanted if we got the Tiny Bronco fixed. And I did give you a nice and shiny weapon, along with the fact that I loaned your girlfriend my home."
"Mmm…You're a devious kid, know that?" He sighed in resignation. "Whatever, I should check up on Shera and make sure she hasn't burned the place down or something. But there's no point in going with just the two of us since that'll only be a waste of fuel."
Having gotten what she wanted, Yuffie nodded and then wheeled around towards Crimson and the others. "Dad will probably want to learn about all of this too, and there's few places that happen to be quite romant—"
"Okay then, we'll stop by the Golden Saucer and then back to Wutai." Crimson gave her a slight glare for where she was going with that, before turning to Aerith and giving her a sympathetic look. "We can also stop by to see your mother where she is. You must be worried about her, and it's only fair given that everyone else is seeing the people they care about."
"I… do want to see her," Aerith admitted with some hesitation. "But won't it be out of the way?"
"Nah," Cid said. "The Bronco can't run as fast as the Highwind, but it can make good time. Besides, you gotta learn to do things while you've got the time."
She considered his words and then nodded. "I see. Thank you then."
[-oOo-]
Inhale. Hold... Exhale.
Breathing in, holding her breath in her lungs, and then exhaling softly, Aerith concentrated on her descent. It was perhaps an hour after she'd talked to Vincent and relocated to one of the rooms that made up the living quarters. The room wasn't spacious, perhaps only slightly less than a room at the Inn and meant to be shared with one other person, though since the others had roomed together she had the last one to herself.
Inhale… Hold... Exhale…
Sitting on the bed, keeping her body relaxed, she turned her focus inwards in order to project her consciousness into the Planet. The memories of her Ancestors had shown her a more efficient way that simply communing with the Planet and waiting. It was a mediation technique that had been lost with time.
Falling… falling… falling… she visualized her consciousness falling into the black; a void with only a speck of light in the distance. Sinking beyond the dark, that speck of light in the distance grew longer and brighter, stretching from a mote into a ribbon; a ribbon into a stream of countless flowing streamers.
Exhaling a final time, Aerith found her astral form within the Planet and outside of the Lifestream. It was beautiful, an ever-flowing stream that contained all the knowledge of those that once lived, souls entwined into the spiritual energy of their world. From it life stemmed, and lives that came to an end would return to it.
Holding her hand out, she focused her thoughts on that which she learned from Vincent to search for the memories of Lucrecia Crescent. She recalled the woman he had affectionately described in detail, from the way she wore a ponytail of long-brown hair, bound in a yellow ribbon, to the depths of her honey-brown eyes that sparkled when in the search of knowledge, to the contrasting blue blouse she wore under her white lab-coat and her red heels. Every memory pulled from the current flowing beneath her, narrowing down the knowledge attached to.
From those who'd even heard of her name in passing to those who saw her beauty for themselves. From those who worked alongside of her to those who knew of Chaos. Every memory linked to one another until a single string unwove from the current and settled into the palm of her outstretched hand. Slender fingers coiled around the thread before Aerith cleared her mind and allowed the memories contained within to enter her.
Then she was there. Standing in an underground grotto where luminous crystals bloomed over the ground and pillars formed of the rock, a single one forming a fountain melding both to act as a vessel for Chaos to be born. There she watched as Lucrecia ran forward, eyes spanning her surroundings.
"This is the place you spoke of?" she asked.
"Yes," answered the mouth of the one whose memories she viewed, a man who was older for certain. "Deep within this grotto is where Chaos is destined to awake."
The answer spurred her to run forward, a joyful laugh slipping out of her mouth. "Come on, Doctor Valentine!"
From there they waited until the crystals were stained black, housing Chaos, and then relocated it within the lab. There Doctor Valentine watched over her, noticing her zeal as she poked, prodded, and recorded all the information that she could. She was too eager to prove those who laughed at her thesis wrong, stirring Chaos until it broke free of its container.
Doctor Valentine didn't hesitate to put himself in the way for her and was embedded with Chaos as a result. The dark taint violated his body, corroding it from within until it began to break apart into motes of light, not unlike what Aerith did to Kunsel's body, as Lucrecia begged for him not to die, not to fade away.
"Tell my son that… I'm… sorry…" were his final words before his body completely faded away and he returned to the Planet. But he held no fear within his heart, and only a single regret that he entrusted her to carry out. Thus he joined the great flow…
"So that was Vincent's father," Aerith said as the memory came to an end and she allowed them to slip through her fingers, returning to the flow that continued on beneath her. It was informational, but she wanted to trace them further to see how Vincent became infused with Chaos while it killed his father. "Now where are Lucrecia's memories?"
She concentrated on bringing them to the front, only for others to answer her, like fellow biotechnologists who had passed. But there was nothing from the woman herself. Her memories weren't there.
"Does that mean she's still alive?" Just as Aerith came to that conclusion, she felt an ominous presence looming over her. She turned around to catch the one person who shouldn't be there with his long sword chambered and ready to swing down. "Sephiro—"
Argent death closed in as he swung his sword around for her head before she could finish speaking. If it connected and her Astral Form was scattered within the Planet, she would never wake again. It was the same as dying.
KRRRSH! And was just as quickly as death closed in, it was repelled with a loud clash of steel-on-steel.
Aerith found herself staring at a familiar and broad back. Her eyes grew hot, stinging as they roamed upwards to find a bed of dark hair. The person then grunted as he pushed away her attacker and stood defensively with a large sword within his grasp, turning his head to the side just a bit to reveal an eye the color of the sky. The tears came out freely and her voice dropped as she called his name. "Zack…"
"Go back to your body!" he said in a firm tone before rushing forward to meet Sephiroth's next attack. The sword he possessed, a construct of the Buster Sword forged from his own memories, intercepted the slender blade and then rebuked it. "Now!"
"R…Right…" Snapping out of her surprised stupor, she concentrated on pulling her consciousness back into her body. It was much easier than the reverse and took only a moment before she found herself gasping and slouching over. Taking deep and heavy breaths, she rose to her feet and looked around the room. "Zack?"
Silence was all that answered her. Along and stalwart emptiness that seemed to stretch out with every slowing beat of her heart. It felt solid, like a weight on her shoulders that slumped them down and caused her expression to soften.
"I'm here, Aerith."
"Zack!" She almost started to cry again. It had been so long since she'd seen him that she was afraid that she'd forget his face at some point. That she would forget his smile; forget his voice; everything becoming hazy. But just hearing him was enough to keep the image of him vivid. "It really was you, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," he said. "Don't ask me why though. This isn't quite what I thought death would be like. I'm not exactly here, but not there. It's a bit weird."
"Were you unable to find peace?" she asked, a hint of worry lacing her voice. "Is that why you aren't part of the Lifestream?"
"I get the feeling that, if I wanted to I could. But it felt like I still had to look after everyone, so that's what I've been doing. Not all the time though. I mean, it'd be awkward if I looked in Crimson and Cloud getting closer and all." She felt a faint touch on her cheek, a tender caress of sorts. "But whenever you were in trouble or sad, I'd try to reach out or say something."
If she didn't concentrate, she probably wouldn't notice. But it was definitely there and definitely him. "You were there with me at the Golden Saucer, weren't you?"
"It's difficult just to do this much. But it helps at the right time, doesn't it?"
"It does," she agreed, only for his touch to fade. Then she recalled the end of that fiasco and her mood sobered. "Zack… about Kunsel…"
"It's okay," Zack said. "I escorted him myself. Same with Luxiere. I made sure they had no regrets. They only did what they thought was best."
"That's a relief." It didn't take away the sorrow she felt, but it did allow her feel grateful that he got to see Zack a final time. "Now the question is what Sephiroth was doing there."
"Not sure about that," he said. "I think he was doing something like you were. Not physically, but spiritually."
"But he's not a Cetra," Aerith said. "If anything, he's the opposite."
"Well, Cloud threw him over the edge of a reactor with his own sword. The reactors are connected to the Lifestream. There might be a connection there."
"I see…" She rubbed her forehead. "They never found his body, and he was born of a woman whose body was infused with Jenova's cells. There's no guarantee he could be taken in by the current. If that's the case, he could be in contact with it long enough to learn things like how to find the Temple of the Ancients."
"Sound…ood…"
Alarm ran down Aerith's spine when his voice flickered out for a moment. "Zack?"
"Ah… out… time…rry… "
"Zack!" Silence answered her once more, leaving her wondering if he passed on or if she had lost touch with him somehow. Then she felt the slight pressure of his touch. It served to ease her fears and uncertainty as she laid a hand over her heart. "Right, you're looking over me and want what's best, even when I can't see you…."
Taking that to heart, Aerith drifted off to sleep. She'd wait until morning came to tell the others of what she learned.