Another chapter is here!
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The door shut with a soft click as Crimson left out of the room that she had been intimate with Cloud in. She had cleaned herself up first in the bathroom. Now she was slipping away to return to the room she shared with the other women before anyone suspected anything, while Cloud cleaned himself up to do the same.
Her mind was still somewhat scrambled from the event. And her heart was still racing at the implication she had shown him a side of her that she normally kept in check. But she couldn't say that she regretted it.
Cloud was very important to her. More so than just about everyone she'd known over the last several years. She felt happy with him, grateful too for everything he'd done for her to this point and the change in her life that came about because of him.
Roughly midway to her destination, Crimson found Tifa in the hallway. The martial artist was leaning against the wall and looked pensive with her eyes closed but brows furrowed in thought. Once she heard the footfalls against the floor, she opened her eyes and stood up straight.
"I was waiting for you," she said without a prompt, preemptively answering the unasked question. "I was on my way back a little while ago with Red, searching for Cloud, when he picked up your scents not too far from here. I figured I would have a word with you while he went back."
Meaning they know, Crimson realized. Even after all the trouble she went through to arrange things, it was undone. She could only sigh. "Well, since you've waited this long, go ahead and ask what you want to."
Tifa did so promptly. "Since when were you and him a thing?"
Crimson straightened herself up and crossed her arms. "If you're referring to how long we've been in a relationship, then it'd be since we were in Kalm last. He's known about how I've felt since we originally split up after Rocket Town though, and this would be our first time being intimate with one another. Does it bother you?"
"Of course it does," she admitted without hesitation or shame. "But it's not out of jealousy or anything like that. Who Cloud chooses to be with is ultimately his decision in the end."
"Then it must be the fact that it's me of all people," Crimson figured. She waited for Tifa to confirm with a nod before continuing. "Even after all we've been through, we still aren't that fond of one another. We can fight and strive for the same goal easily enough, but we still don't mix."
The two women had simply rubbed one another the wrong way since the day they met. One was trained to believe that the Company had everyone's best interests in mind and excused their actions until she could no longer reconcile that belief with her own morals. One lost nearly everything to the Company and did what she could to fight back against them, even if said actions caught others in its wake. Though they fought alongside one another, treated the other as a capable combatant, respecting each other on some level, their differences prevented them from meshing as well as they did with the others.
"Which is why this bugs me so much," Tifa said. "Cloud's the last friend I grew up with who's still alive or not a Sephiroth Clone. Whether or not you were directly involved, even if you regret it, you were still a part of that system and covered it up. Even if I could forgive it, I can't forget it."
"I feel the same way about you and the others who roped him into bombing that reactor," Crimson said. "We've never exactly hidden that fact from one another, so I understand where you're coming from. But let me ask you this: Outside of our personal animosity, do you think it's going to be a problem with us going forward?"
"… Probably not," she said after giving it some thought. "Like it or not, he seems happy around you and I only want what's best for him. So, I don't feel that it'd be my place to say anything there just because I don't really like you. I just wanted to let you know I'm fully aware of it now, so if I think you're making a bad call and Cloud goes along with it, I'm going to assume that's playing a part in it and call you out on it."
"I think I'd prefer it that way to begin with," Crimson admitted. "It's better that we don't mix well together because that means it forces us to think and speak our minds, rather than simply going with the flow. It also means if something happens to one of us, the others will at least have some direction to go in once everything is said and done."
Tifa looked somewhat surprised by the admission. It only showed on her face for a brief moment before she schooled her features and changed the question. "Since you seem to have thought about it, how long do you think until we move?"
"Not long," Crimson said. "Ideally, we'll use that opportunity to slip in and take care of Heidegger and Hojo. Between that and destroying the baths the Deepground soldiers use as well, that'll force them to surrender since they need them to survive for prolonged periods."
"But that'll leave Rufus in charge of everything else," Tifa pointed out. "We don't need to hand him anymore things he can use against us."
"Reeve can use his part in the company to basically gut it to a great extent—if not take over it entirely if Scarlet and Rufus should happen to die in the process. Regardless, whoever gains control over it will have their work cut out for them in trying to salvage the Company's reputation. We'll be focusing on finding where Jenova and Sephiroth are since they're the bigger threats and finish them off for good."
"I guess that will have to do for now," Tifa said. "Either way, I've said what I needed to say. Just don't hurt Cloud after all of this, or else…"
"I won't do something cruel to him for no reason," Crimson assured her in lieu of the hanging threat. No relationship was devoid of problems all of the time, but she had every intention of doing her best with him. "All the same, I'd appreciate it if you could keep quiet about it. Yuffie and Aerith know to an extent, but I'd really prefer it not to get around when we're doing all of this."
"I don't want Cloud to feel pressured over this, so Red and I will keep our mouths shut unless it's necessary."
[-oOo-]
The next morning, the group as a whole set off for the location where Vincent's father and Lucrecia had originally found the Chaos that now dwelled within him through Aerith's magic.
The discussion with Aerith weighed heavily on him along the way, even if he didn't let the others know of it. He knew that something had happened between her and his father, but she never told him to what extent and it had been decades since he'd seen her last. But he thought of her, dreamed of her and the sin that was not stopping Sephiroth from being experimented on and becoming what he was today.
Sephiroth…
So he assumed that was why he heard Lucrecia's voice tickle his mind the moment they stepped into the mouth of the cavern behind the waterfall. At least until Cloud turned to the others and asked if they heard that. There were looks of uncertainty, but also nods.
"That sounded like Lucrecia," he said aloud, albeit reluctantly.
"Then that would explain why I'm sensing the faint presence of Jenova further ahead," Aerith said, clutching her staff. "She's here, alone from the feel of it."
Vincent walked forward at that, leaving the mouth of the cavern to go deeper within. Aerith had admitted she didn't find her in the Lifestream earlier, so Vincent had presumed she was likely still alive. But he didn't plan on finding her again before they had finished dealing with Hojo.
He stopped when he arrived in the chamber of the underground grotto, where crystals had overrun the back part. It was there he found her. She looked the same as he remembered, as if she hadn't aged at all—immortalized and preserved in the crystal. "Lucrecia."
Vincent…?
"Hold on." He moved closer. "We'll get you out of there."
No, stay back!
Her voice was louder, practically screaming in his head. He staggered backwards as his mind was bombarded with memories of the past—of her choice to be with Hojo, of his death at the mad scientist's hands, and of her saving him at the expense of his humanity. When he finally came back to the present, he was on the ground with Yuffie was standing over him while Aerith had a hand set on his head that was slightly aglow.
"What… what happened?" he asked as he sat up.
"She did something to you," Yuffie said, agitation thick in her voice. "You collapsed after whatever she did to you."
I'm so sorry, Vincent, Lucrecia said. I didn't want to hurt you… not again. I didn't want to hurt anyone else. That's why I came here. Since the Jenova cells in my body wouldn't let me die, I sealed myself away. But... I thought I felt my child.
"You mean Sephiroth?" Vincent asked cautiously.
Yes. It's strange, but… even though I was never his mother, never held him in my arms, and heard that he died five years ago… I've been dreaming of him lately. Then I sensed a presence and thought it was him.
"Most likely she accidentally projected her thoughts into you," Aerith said softly. "I think it's due to the substance of the crystal and the Jenova cells. That's also probably why she mistook Cloud for him, like when Jenova gets too close to him and he senses it."
Vincent, please tell me, Lucrecia said in a pleading mental voice. Is my child here? Is he still alive?
He turned his gaze towards Cloud. The swordsman's fists were balled since he was naturally unhappy to be compared to the man who had caused most of the problems he'd experienced to date. Not to mention what happened with the Sephiroth Clones, which was no doubt another button to be pressed.
Before he opened his mouth to say something, Vincent held his hand out to stop him. It wordlessly carried the message that he would do the talking to her. "That's not him. Sephiroth died five years ago in the line of duty."
Then why do I keep dreaming of him? Why do I keep dreaming of him doing horrible things, scheming with Hojo as of late?
"Jenova has been masquerading as him for the last few months," he lied. It was better that she didn't know the truth. She didn't need to know it, since it wouldn't make her happy. "Most likely, you're seeing what it's doing due to the cells in your body. Once we've destroy it, you shouldn't any more nightmares. But we need your help."
Every time I try to help, I only make things worse. I don't want that anymore. Since I can't die to atone for my sins, I just want to dream in peace without hurting anyone.
Vincent couldn't help but recall how he shared those same sentiments about himself for decades. He felt that he could only lock himself away for the sin of letting Hojo turn Sephiroth into the monster that he was today. The others told him that wouldn't resolve anything and so he sought to at least kill Hojo and atone for it.
Lucrecia had always been stubborn when it came to defending her ideals, even when her thesis was mocked, and pushed forward with the project for that reason. If she wouldn't budge now, then he wouldn't try to force her. But, if she could do something, that would at least give her a chance to feel relieved and take a weight off her shoulders.
"Lucrecia," he said softly. "Hojo stole the Protomateria that you placed inside of me. He intends to use it to awaken Omega prematurely."
No. Sincere fear crept into her mental voice. That's necessary to stabilize Chaos after I put it inside of you. If he's taken it then, you'll…
"We need your knowledge of Chaos and Omega, so that we can get it back and stop him and Jenova," Vincent continued. "Help me so that I can stop them from bringing this world to an end. Whatever you can tell us will be enough."
There was a haunting silence afterwards for a long and pregnant pause. Then the sound of crystals splintering reached his ears. They bubbled up from the ground, growing, stretching, and shaping themselves in an unnatural way. When it stopped, there was a pair of notebooks and a weapon that looked like a revolver merged with a hand-cannon, forming a cross design for the barrels.
This is all I can do for you now. The notebooks contain the information I knew on Chaos and Omega. And this weapon is the only thing I can give you if you choose to go after him.
"This is more than enough," he said, picking them up. Then he looked up to Lucrecia's face behind the crystal and found himself feeling a profound sense of somberness as he said, "I'll make it so that you can rest easy from now on."
I'm so sorry to keep burdening you like this, was all she said to that.
It was only on the way out, when they weren't likely to be overheard, that Tifa asked, "Aerith, out of curiosity, would you have been able to free her from inside of that? It looked like the sort of crystal you'd find in a natural mako spring."
"If things were different, I probably could," Aerith said. "However, she doesn't want to be freed and she'd fight me on it. I don't that would do her mental state much good, especially when we're hunting down her husband and child."
"That's a shame since her expertise would be useful," Crimson said, looking through the notebooks quickly. "But you're right. There's no point in freeing her from the prison she chose to put herself into while we're dealing with more active threats. She has to want the situation to change, but I don't think anyone outside of Vincent would be qualified to help her in that aspect."
"I'll visit her again once everything is over and try to help her," he said, holding the gun up to the light. No matter how long it took, he would see her happy again.
But first he had to put down Hojo and Jenova, the two responsible for the tragedy that was their lives.
[-oOo-]
Hojo continued to type calculation into the mainframe while locked into his laboratory. The plan to deal with Rufus had fallen through, meaning that Heidegger was now scrambling to prepare for an assault force. Of course, that was only after he'd let his displeasure being known by resorting to violence against him. The brute had used his meaty fist to strike him in the face multiple times, all while yelling in rage.
Not that it mattered. Heidegger wouldn't kill him. Not while he was backed into a corner.
His initial plan had been to kill Rufus and assume control of Shinra as a whole, grabbing their entire military. However, since Rufus had survived both attempts at his life, his coup resulted in being forced to take over Midgar by force. The standard military outnumbered Deepground, even if they were of lower quality, and every resource outside of Midgar was much harder to access as a result.
While Midgar was one of the most populated cities in the world, it was landlocked and surrounded by barren soil that could grow nothing. Their self-sufficiency was next to nothing when it came to food and agriculture. Rufus knew that as well, so he used his numbers to cut off the supply routes and chains.
The average person could go two weeks without food and three days without water. But they grew weaker and helpless over time, and death by starvation was long and drawn out. Heidegger had already gone through with confiscating as much supplies as he could from the civilians to keep his Deepground forces fed, leaving them angry, suffering, miserable, and terrified, but even that would barely last another two weeks.
He had to make a move soon, but he needed to ensure that the assault was successful and Rufus died once and for all. He would commit to it, and the conflict would be a part of the bloody key needed to start the program that was Omega and Chaos. The other part would come from the sacrifices being prepared above.
That just left himself. Hojo held no illusion that all life would be obliterated, returned to the Planet and then gathered up by Omega to be launched into space. Perhaps he had been too hasty to dismiss Lucrecia's theories initially after she bore his child, but now he could see the validity of it clearly. The only problem is that those native to the world wouldn't likely be able to maintain their consciousness within the Lifestream, leaving him with no way of perusing that wellspring of knowledge.
At least, not without the inclusion of Jenova cells into his body. He wasn't a physically viable candidate by far, a failing of the flesh that showed nature's imperfection. However, he had studied the implantation process and been responsible for doing so with Lucrecia. Between that and the process undergone in Deepground, he had enough material to work out how it could be implemented successfully.
Mind you, it was not without fault. Even now he could feel it working its way through his systems, invading and connecting him to the whole body of Jenova that remained intact. The process would be excruciating if he hadn't rigged the device that stopped his involuntary spasms to turn off his pain receptors. But as long as it allowed his consciousness to retain its sense of self even after his body stopped functioning, it would be enough.
His mind would persist even with the end of the world. It would not only survive, but allow him to merge with Omega when the time came as a part of Jenova. All the knowledge contained within this world would be his, and he would sail the stars to seek out other worlds and their knowledge.
Yes, he could think of nothing else that was more fitting for a man of science than to grasp the secrets of the cosmos as a whole…