As Cloud's group fought against the horde of the Jenova Spawn within their breeding ground, waiting for Minerva's light to break through the whirling maelstrom of energy that walled off their final confrontation, Crimson's group faced opposition of their own.
An electrified star cut through the air as it flew towards a winged Shadow Creeper that skirted around the side of a building, avoiding the hail of bullets that trailed after it. The monster beat its wings once as the shuriken neared, allowing it to pass underneath. Then it whirled around towards Crimson and sped up to take her out.
Before it could reach her, she made a jerking motion with her hand that traveled along the steel wire. It caused the Conformer to whiplash around and bury its sharpened point into the back of the monster's head. The beast with wings was sent sprawling to the earth, the skull-like mask pierced where the brain should be as the electrified steel sent currents flooding its body, until its prehensile tail managed to knock her weapon loose, allowing it to rise again—
"Gottcha, ya flyin' vermin!"
—when a steel halberd pierced it from above and Cid landed on top of the monster, pinning it to the ground. He then triggered the Ice Materia in his possession and the invasive frost consumed it from within until its entire body was frozen solid. A final stomp caused it to crumble beneath his weight as he tore the weapon out.
"Watch your back!" Crimson shouted, spotting a Shadow Creeper lunging for him.
He brought the shaft of his weapon around to act as a shield in time to avoid being disemboweled by the bone claws. But the hulking black mass still bowled him over to the ground. Its maw opened wide, ready to snap down into his throat with its dagger-sharp teeth, when twin streaks flashed as Shelke closed the distance and used her EM sabers to decapitate it with a practiced efficiency. Then she kicked the body off Cid, allowing a throbbing sphere of fire to finish it off.
Nanaki exhaled, wisps of flames leaving his mouth before he turned his head towards the flying monsters that were still loitering about, just out their reach as the storm of bullets from Barret ran out. The air around them subsequently thrummed and tremored before a column of intensified gravity slammed them into the ground hard enough to crater their landing spot, where Crimson took the liberty of finishing them off with a Bolt 2 spell.
"Hnnrr…" She set a hand on her head and stumbled back a step as the jolt to her mind was enough to leave static in its wake. That was the last spell could cast for the moment, judging by the fact that Sense deactivated. Fortunately, the fighting was over now, and everyone was still alive, if battered.
"Let's rest there for a moment while there are no more monsters forthcoming," Aerith said, gesturing over to a building that was relatively intact. "This time there were more of them than we'd expected, so I'm pretty sure we've pulled in all the ones in earshot."
Crimson wanted to say 'No' and then press ahead. Cloud's group should be near the top of the Gaea Cliffs, so they had to hurry if they were going to match up with them. But reason, not passion, was the basis she had to use in her judgement. And between the lesser copies of the Jenova Spawns and Shadow Creepers attacking them constantly, pushing ahead would increase the chances of a mistake being made that would slow them down more, or worse. They had to change their tactics up and that meant they would need to recover and think in peace.
"You're right," she said. "We'll rest for a minute."
As the others filed into the building, she took a final look at the landscape they'd crossed to reach this point. The signs of the war between them and the monsters, the agents of Jenova, were a microcosm of what may come about if they didn't put things to an end soon. They had to prevent that more than anything else—for the future.
Once she was sure they weren't spotted, Crimson slipped inside of the coral building. It was more spacious than she'd given it credit for, relatively unblemished despite the centuries of disuse. She chalked it up to magic again. After everything they'd been through to this point, she wouldn't be surprised if they literally pulled this place up from the bottom of the sea.
"See if you can get in contact with the others," she said to the Cait Sith doll, sitting on top of the animatronic moogle robot. Their first order of business was to get back on the same page with the other group. "Find out if they can extend the timeframe by another hour or so."
"On it," said the animated doll. Then its fluffy body went limp where it stood, lifeless. The robot remained rigid however, standing firm with the Huge Materia cases strapped to its back and the Goddess Materia in its arms.
The former Turk's legs then carried her as far as the bed's edge. Closing her eyes for the moment as she took a seat, deep breaths followed to calm her thundering heart. As the adrenaline settled, the raw, grating stress from the fighting that it had been pushing away began to gnaw away at her mind and body, leaving her feeling tired and worn down.
"Here." She heard Aerith's voice calling for her and opened her eyes to see there was an Elixir being extended to her. "Everyone else has had theirs already."
She accepted it, and the moment the sweet liquid touched her tongue she felt her lethargy melting away and clarity returning to her mind. The aches, the pains, the exhaustion were all gone as though they never existed. The only evidence remaining was the wet fabric beneath her coat clinging to her heated flesh. Unfortunately, she didn't even manage to finish the bottle before a dispute began to surface once more in the lull that peace brought about.
"Stealing from a ruin not even five minutes after arriving. How unsurprising of you."
"First off, it's not stealing if no one alive actually owns it. Second, you can't say that when the only reason you can even keep up with us is because you're using the materia that I gave you. Third, I wasn't taking it in the first place. I just found it and thought it was interesting."
Crimson sighed as she turned her attention to Shelke and Yuffie. The latter was holding onto some kind of crystal-shaped tablet, frowning as she faced the former that had an apathetic expression on her face. It wasn't the first time since they'd been in the presence of one another that this had happened, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
Thankfully, Aerith ran interference before they went any further. "Oh, you've found a journal."
"This thing's a journal?" Yuffie held it up to look at it. "Seems kind of a waste to write into something this pretty. Not to mention I can't read the characters."
"The tablet itself is made through magic, so it would be able to last throughout the ages. Let me see if I can translate it." She moved between the two and began reading, quelling the situation at the same time.
Crimson left her to that while observing the others. Cid was leaning against the wall on the second floor with a cigarette in his mouth and a grimace stretching across his lips as he ran his finger over his weapon's edge to inspect it. Barret was likewise inspecting his gun-arm, loading it up with additional ammunition. Nanaki was peering out of the window, paws resting on the windowsill and nose in the air to smell for any threat that came near them.
Everyone was on edge to an extent, given the severity of the situation. None of them were as strong as Cloud or Vincent or Tifa in terms of pure strength, meaning these monsters were dangerous and numerous enough that they couldn't progress any faster as things stood. Not as a single unit, anyway.
She eventually came to a conclusion and formed a plan. It took longer than she liked given how pressed for time they were, and it wasn't exactly a plan she was thrilled with. But it had to be done if they were going to get Aerith to the Lake Altar quick enough to match the other group as things stood. "We're going to have to divide our ranks to get there, depending on the circumstances."
"What do you mean?" asked Aerith, worried.
"I'm thinking if we have someone separate from the group to use one of the larger Summonings, they can draw the attention of the remainder of the monsters away from us. Then we have a group of three launch an assault on the strange Jenova Spawn and keep it distracted. That way we can have an escort get Cait Sith and Aerith inside of the Lake Altar with minimal interference," she explained.
"In other words, sacrifice everyone but the essential ones," Shelke said. Her tone was dispassionate enough that it could mask the negative implications of what being a sacrifice in this situation would entail. Even so, Crimson felt defensive despite that.
"I'm not sacrificing anyone, but everyone will be in more danger," she admitted. "The Summonings aren't weak and we can mitigate the risk for the first person somewhat if we have Cid on standby, so Phoenix can pick the summoner up and fly both of them towards the Lake Altar. But if they don't kill enough of the monsters and the second group can't kill the Jenova Spawn quickly enough, they'll be at risk of being swarmed."
It wasn't exactly ideal, but they didn't have lot of time. If they did she could probably come up with something else. But, right now, this was the best course of action that would expedite things, getting the priority targets to their proper place to fulfill their objective.
Regardless, Aerith objected given the risks. She didn't want to lose anyone or have them dying for her sake. "If we're going all-out, then I can just use Bahamut to clear them out instead."
Crimson shook her head. "That Summoning should be an absolute last resort since it has the most indiscriminate destructive power. Leaving out friendly fire potential, the blast radius would likely reach the Lake Altar. It'll be for nothing if we destroy the place where you need to go."
"The Lake Altar will be fine," Aerith assured her. "It's a bit complicated to explain but, like the Temple of Ancients, the part where we need to go is kept in a sort of pseudo-alternate plane of existence of its own. Collateral damage isn't something we need to worry about there, and I can shield us from the blast too."
"It still puts a strain on you that we shouldn't risk," Crimson insisted, recalling what happened at the Temple of the Ancients. Aerith claimed she hadn't been used to it at the time, but it was still too much of a risk to try given how important her presence was to the mission. "Besides, even if you did get rid of the majority, I'm not sure it would deal with that unfamiliar Jenova Spawn. Every time we've run into one that's a different color they've used some kind of trick that put us at a disadvantage because they've learned from the previous one, and we can't afford to have that slow us down here."
The ones that looked like the Cargo Ship spawn were still capable of unleashing a gas that was both flammable and could make someone lose themselves to rage. The Temple spawns were still capable of reflecting magic and absorbing water to heal themselves. It was natural to assume that the one they'd spied through binoculars blocking their way to the Lake Altar had probably been specifically made to obstruct them in the most effective way possible.
"Should I assume that I will be the one who remains behind to deal with the enemy forces?" Shelke asked, no doubt taking into consideration the mission over personal emotion. Since she had a greater capacity to handle mental strain, due to being able to perform an SND, they'd given her Kujata and Typhon to use. Tactically, she should be the one thrown to the Shadow Creepers to take as many as she could down.
But, at the same time, she looked the youngest. Her age and emotions were stunted by having the SOLDIER process forced onto her at an age it shouldn't have been. The thought of a literal child-soldier being torn into by bloodied fangs and viscera-covered claws was more than enough to make Crimson sick to her stomach.
Same went for Yuffie, who possessed Leviathan and could do a lot of damage quickly despite not being able to maintain the summoning for long. She had a bright future ahead of her as the leader of Wutai and Crimson found herself fond of the thief at this point, despite their shaky meeting. And, while she couldn't rule over a country if the world ended, she couldn't rule if she died here either.
The only other alternative was Barret since he had Titan. But he had limited ammunition and a daughter waiting at home in Cosmo Canyon. One who had already lost her birthparents. So, was it right to orphan her by putting him on the line?
Before Crimson could make her decision, Cait Sith sprang to life. "We have to move! Sephiroth has turned the North Crater into a breeding ground and Cloud states he's sent something this way!"
Surprise and shock that felt like a weight dropping from Crimson's throat into her stomach sent a chill up her spine. They were already at the top? Were they fighting already? She opened her mouth to ask, but before the words could pass through her lips, her mind came under assault. "Ahhhh!"
It was a mass Silence spell, and not a weak one either. It grated on their minds, severing their concentration to the point where standing upright became almost impossible. Crimson herself collapsed as the static became a tangible thing, worms writhing inside her skull, leaving her fingers to bury themselves in her hair as she struggled pull them out.
"…va…ere!?" Aerith said something, but whatever it was had been reduced to white-noise. She stretched out her hand to catch the Princess Guard as it shot from its resting place against the wall into her waiting grasp, and a powerful light flared from her body. Then she slammed the butt of her staff onto the ground and a purer, radiant light sprinkled down on them from above.
Crimson forced herself to her feet, freed from the sensation that had been robbing her of higher thought processes, and then went to the door to see what had assaulted them. That was a directed attack, no question about it. But before she could get to it Aerith's slender fingers pulled her back to the others.
"Stay back!" she said. "I'll handle Jenova myself!"
[-oOo-]
Aerith had hoped to kill Jenova with Holy rather than face off against it directly. But the fact that it was here now meant that wasn't an option. More so since she could feel the next attack that was coming for them, meant to wipe them out in a single blast.
She encapsulated herself and her friends behind a Shield spell, light woven into crystal shell. She managed to get it up just in time as everything outside the barrier vanished as far as they could see. Washed out of existence by an ocean of emerald light that came crashing down on them from out of nowhere.
But, while the barrier staved off the brute force of the spell, nothing could fully shield her from the strike directly against her mind. She'd expected it. Her ancestors knew of it along with how it infected and turned her people into monsters, deceiving them before slowly wiping them out. She'd braced her mind for it and was ready for it.
Or so she thought before the telepathic assault hit her mind like a train. The baleful mental assault itself was hatred. A raw, unadulterated hatred so pure that it manifested into a destructive force unmatched by anything they'd faced so far.
Her head snapped back, vision whited, and her concentration was nearly blown away entirely. It was only the fact that her ears heard the others calling for her that she didn't lose the connection entirely. Thus, she managed to regain her sight in time to see the cracks that had formed in the barrier that stood between her friends and certain death.
Not yet, she told herself as hot tears ran down her from her eyes, unwilling to let her companions die. If she fell here and now, in this moment, then the others would die as well. So, she steeled her mind and pushed back with conviction to keep the barrier up until the ancient grudge and Ultima spell alike both faltered and the world faded back into view.
Then she fell to her knees as the weight lifted, clinging to the staff with shaking arms and gasping for breath as the barrier shattered. Her mind felt like it was on fire, boiling in her skull. She wanted nothing more than to pass out but knew she couldn't stop now or they'd be wiped out in the next blast that was to come.
That in mind, Aerith forced herself up to go on the offense while she still had the means to do so nearby. There would be a price to pay for using that power prematurely. But that was fine as long as it worked out in the end. Taking a deep breath, she shouted out as her magic took shape, "BAHAMUT!"
[-oOo-]
Crimson was sent staggering back as dust and debris swirled around them the moment Aerith conjured forth an oppressive presence. Corded muscles and jet-black scales cast its shadow as the King of Dragons formed right on top of them, pinions stretched wide. Feral eyes glared towards the sky as they fixed onto their target.
There, in the sky at the edge of their vision, Crimson could make out what had attacked them. It looked like a human woman's torso attached to an opened flower blossom, with tentacles that wavered about. There was a larger mass behind it, round in shape like a ring that steadily grew vivid with the emerald glow that had attacked them before.
"The Huge Materia!?" Cait Sith said, drawing Crimson's eyes to the doll in time to see that the Blue Huge Matera had freed itself of its container. It floated over to Aerith as she held the Princess Guard up and then came undone when she thrust the staff into it, unmaking it and releasing its stored power in cerulean bands of light.
That light converged, flowing in sinuous streams around the King of Dragons and threading its form until it grew even larger. Taking in the excess power, using it to transition from its current form into a greater one, jet-black scales became metallic and two wings split into six that stretched out to touch the sky. Once the last of the light had sunken into its new form, Bahamut let loose a roar that shook every bone in Crimson's body as it reverberated throughout the entirety of the Forgotten Capital.
"Crimson!" Aerith called out as a powerful light began building up within the Ultimate Dragon's mouth. "Protect everyone!"
That was when Crimson realized what was about to happen. She recognized that Aerith wouldn't be able to shield them a second time against an attack of that magnitude and was going on the offense, devoting everything to that purpose. But to overpower an attack like what had struck them unaware before would likely blow them all away from the backlash, so it was up to her to cover them this time.
She grabbed Shelke's bangle that housed her Shield Materia. Then she grabbed the All Materia on Aerith's. Connecting her mind to the pair, an intense jolt shot through her skull as a protective shell formed around the group at the last minute as the Ultima spell was cast.
The emerald light of destruction came crashing down from the sky like a calamity for a second time. Its radiance was overbearing and sinister, a sickly glow painting the grey-colored sky as it came down to wipe them off the face of the Planet. The protection Crimson could string together wasn't remotely as powerful as Aerith's previous one, so it would succeed this time without a doubt if it connected.
Then the Ultimate Dragon let loose its attack. The hurricane winds and upturned earth that were born from the force of it left Crimson's mind strained to keep them from being blown away as collateral damage. But the Teraflare that was unleashed burned the entire sky with a blinding and brilliant blaze that swallowed everything up.
Crimson was forced to screw her eyes shut as the shadow cast by the Summoning provided little protection from the intense glare. Seconds passed, her heart pounding and ears ringing as the barrier she'd erected struggled to remain in existence. It was only when that light faded and the ringing in her ears subsided that she opened her eyes again to see that the threat hanging above them had been absolutely, utterly blown away with the somber clouds to reveal the bright sky that had been obscured by the imbalance in the north.
However, the Blue Huge Materia and Bahamut were gone. The Summoning Materia had been overcharged with power beyond what such a tiny vessel could contain, so its destruction was the natural consequences of what happened. But to lose one the Huge Materia when all four were meant to support Aerith in using the Goddess Materia to call forth Minerva was unthinkable.
Can she still succeed with only three? That was the question on Crimson's mind as Aerith collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut into her arms. Unconscious, but alive. And if she can, what will be the price?