"If we succeed...if we win...we'll be changing ourselves..."
/Chapter 5: Aboard the Shinra-8, over the Meridian Ocean/
Aerith, for the first time since leaving Kalm, had finally released some of the nervous tension in her core. With Junon firmly behind them, they were in the clear when it came to Shinra's attention...for now.
Whilst Cloud, Barret, and Red XIII elected to briefly investigate the Shinra-8, she and Tifa remained behind in the cargo hold. As such, they had a bit more time to talk about...things. The possibility that the Turks would be pursuing them again—after the failed assassination of Rufus Shinra by Yuffie—had reminded Aerith of another duplicitous member of the company: the researcher who had arranged for her and Mom's escape from Hojo's care. Alas, his motivations for helping her and Ifalna escape had been...less than pure, in retrospect. (She didn't like to think about it, truly. Why think about awful things, when she could instead be focusing on more wholesome matters?)
"Ever see that Faz guy again?" asked a concerned Tifa.
Aerith shook her head, forcefully trying to ignore the impression of the researcher from her memory. (Faz had been large in a way similar to Barret; however, he had lacked the underlying softness and empathy that made Mr. Wallace so loveable.) "No, but there are times when I think I do—and I freeze up...till I realize it's someone else."
"I bet..." Tifa placed a hand on hers, instantly offering comfort without a second thought. "I'm here if you wanna talk."
Aerith nodded, knowing that it was quite possible she would in the future. (The future...) Intentionally ignoring the sensation of vague omens, she switched the subject. "Well, actually—I was hoping we could talk business."
"Uh...what kind of business...?" asked Tifa, sounding strangely worried.
"You know. Business." she emphasized with her pointer finger. When Tifa didn't get it, Aerith resisted the urge to giggle. (How strange that Tifa could be as dense about certain matters, albeit in a different way than Cloud was...maybe there had been something in the Nibelheim air, growing up?) "Boys." Specifically, their first loves. (Aerith had already talked so much about Zack; she was dying to know what experiences Tifa had in that department. And, deep down, she was sure it involved a blond friend of theirs...)
Tifa lightly laughed, looking somewhat relieved. "Oh, that kind." However, before she could say another word, the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard. Shushing at each other with an air of conspiracy, they prepared for a potential ambush...only to relax when Cloud announced his arrival. As they stepped around the corner of the cargo container, Tifa whispered, "Meeting adjourned—for now."
(Cloud's visible confusion at their interaction was honestly adorable.)
Although the coast was clear, and Barret reiterated his relief that they hadn't agreed to cooperate with Rufus Shinra, the announcement of a Queen's Blood tournament in the lounge over the ship's intercom brought to mind that they were on a cruise ship. That, more than anything else, inspired Aerith to suddenly ditch her borrowed infantry uniform and see the sights! "You heard the man. To the lounge!" She and Tifa gleefully led the way, exiting the cargo hold and ascending to the deck with the 2nd-class cabins. She and Tifa quickly ducked behind a bulkhead door, shutting tight so they could change clothes. "So, Tifa..."
"Yes?"
As Aerith went to unpack her dress and jacket from her satchel, she asked, "Did Cloud ever play cards? You know, back in Nibelheim?"
Tifa shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of..."
"Huh..." How curious.
"Why?"
"He just...seems pretty into it, that's all." At Kalm, Under Junon, and the Crow's Nest, Cloud had seemingly gone out of his way to duel other players during chance moments of free time. "He's kind of a card shark, don't you think?"
"...maybe," admitted Tifa, slipping on her white tank top and strapping suspenders to the waistline of her pleated skirt. "Maybe it's something he picked up in SOLDIER...?"
"...I bet we can beat him," she said with a grin.
Tifa laughed, finding the idea somewhat enticing. (Aerith had come to realize that, in light matters—where lives and livelihoods were not at stake—Tifa had one heck of a competitive streak. Then again, who liked losing?)
As such, with people lining up to join, she had to gauge Cloud's mentality. "A little friendly competition could be fun. And who knows—one of us might win it all!"
Cloud almost seemed offended by the idea. "Yeah right."
Some might of considered those words to be indicators of disinterest, or perhaps apathy. But given how often she had seen Cloud buying cards on the sly from merchants during their travels, she sincerely doubted that...which logically implied something else. Oh wow, he's REALLY competitive. (It was as if Cloud had mentally classified 'us' as 'every single player who's not me'.) "Well, you won't go far with that attitude," she playfully chided. "O ye of zero faith."
Cloud was definitely a card shark. And she literally called him out on it, to boot. "...and you can smell blood in the water," she said, looking directly into his face to gauge his reaction. When he turned away without another word, she and Tifa couldn't help but giggle.
(It was so...refreshing, to be in a situation where no lives were on the line. No monsters, no Turks, no Sephiroth...a shame that Nanaki wasn't allowed to play.)
And thus began the matches.
xx
/Round 1/
"Is...that a robot?" wondered Tifa with an arched eyebrow.
"I guess so," mused Aerith with surprise, looking at the other table wherein the metallic humanoid sat. He has a nice hat. "How long do you think it'll take Cloud to win?"
"Longer than it'll take for me to win," joked Tifa with a devilish grin. (Again: one heck of a competitive streak.)
"Oh-ho~" Aerith smirked at Tifa's challenging tone. "Then I challenge you to a duel!"
It...could have gone better.
"Tifa is on the verge of victory," said Captain Titov, commentating on the matches over the lounge speakers. "Can she bring it home? Aeris is in trouble. Will she survive?"
"It's Aerith, not Aeris," she grumbled under her breath, putting down her Queen Bee card to try and regain some territory...only for Tifa to reclaim the spot she had just opened up. I need a buff. Come on, Ignilisk...! She drew a Security Officer. Ugh!
The luck of the draw was against her, as Tifa added to her current points lead whilst blocking down the last remaining slots. "No more cards for you."
Aerith sighed, leaning back in her chair with a smile. "You beat me." Maybe Cloud's onto something. Glancing over at the other table, she noticed that Cloud had already left. Judging by the slumped posture of the robot, it had been a brutal defeat. "But, Cloud beat the robot quicker than you beat me~"
Tifa scoffed. "No way!"
"Way!"
They devolved into friendly laughter.
xx
/Round 2/
Cloud's card shark tendencies were cemented further by the fact that he had gone for the only other member of their group to have won in Round 1. (Alas, Chadley had not held back against poor old Barret.)
As Aerith played against a way less intense lady, she kept sneaking glances over to the table where Tifa now set; although the people crowding around the duels made it difficult to see, the competitive smile on Tifa and Cloud's faces was impossible to ignore.
(She wondered if she could have made Cloud smile like that.)
Right in the middle of her duel, she heard Captain Titov's voice echo out. "That's the match! It's looking like Cloud could be the dark horse in today's tourney."
Wow, that was quick!
She met up with Tifa shortly thereafter when reporting the results for Round 2. "So?"
"...definitely a card shark," said Tifa.
"Told ya!"
"I'm not seeing you challenge him," she pointed out.
"Do you think he'd go easy on little ol' me?" she asked, batting her eyelashes.
Tifa giggle-snorted, which said plenty enough as to what she thought of her chances.
(Strange, that something as innocuous as a card game could get Cloud so fired up. And yet, it fit so strangely well...)
xx
/Round 3/
"So...Wize 3.0, huh?" Aerith asked, looking the artificial construct in the eye as she placed down a card.
"AFFIRMATIVE," he robotically answered, putting down his own card.
"...whatever happened to 2.0 or 1.0?" Down went another card.
"DATA NOT FOUND." Another card.
"Aw, that's a shame." Aerith suddenly smiled, finally getting a good draw.
"That smile says it all, folks: Aerith knows she's winning this one!"
Aerith won in short order. As made her way back to the lounge, her eyes widened with delight at the sight of Cloud playing against Madam M. Ooh; is he getting his revenge?
She managed to hear just a bit of Madam M's words as she snuck by their table. "Healthy competition always gets the blood flowing," she remarked, flapping her fan with emphasis.
Before Cloud could retort, Aerith shouted, "So does the Standard Course!"
The look of utter betrayal in Cloud's eyes was so comedic that Aerith nearly collapsed with laughter upon entering the lounge.
(Then again, he proceeded to beat Madam M less than two minutes later, so maybe her words counted as encouragement?)
xx
/Round 4/
(...if so, Madam M had not appreciated it.)
"You're a troublesome little pissant, you know that?" the masseuse growled, anger ghosting over her face.
"Uh...sorry?" apologized Aerith with a nervous smile. "Just...trying to lighten the mood...?"
The Wall Market matron rolled her eyes. "I thought he was a SOLDIER, not a damn card shark!"
"You and me both," Aerith admitted, looking down at the deck; from her vantage point, she could see Cloud dueling Chadley, looking at the Queen's Blood board with intense focus. "You and me both..." she repeated with a quieter voice.
Madam M scoffed. "Hurry up and play a damn card, will you!?"
"Er, right!"
Madam M won relatively quickly, alas. However, based on the tournament results thus far, the only person to have made it past Round 4 without a loss was a girl by the name of Regina Konigin...which meant, by default, the winner of the bout between Cloud and Chadley would face her in the fifth and final round.
She had no doubt that it would be Cloud who won...
xx
/Round 5/
...and, lo and behold, Cloud advanced up the stairs as though he were a conquering hero, slowly walking towards the central table where Regina was waiting. As if that wasn't enough, the two started bantering.
Aerith had to cheer in order to keep from laughing. (Where had this side of Cloud come from? Tifa seemed adamant enough that he hadn't been like this in Nibelheim. She herself couldn't recall Zack telling any stories about SOLDIERs playing games like Queen's Blood...then again, he had always tried to spend time with her in Midgar, so it wasn't quite the same...)
Captain Titov's commentary was heated yet infectious, hyping up both competitors. Cloud and Regina thought long and hard with each move, neither one willing to give an inch.
Yet, in the end...the final result was as expected, as though it had been fated to be. "Can you believe it, folks? Cloud is our winner! It's the upset of the century! The crowd is going wild!"
The look of blatant pride in Cloud's eyes was unmistakable, even if he tried to hide it. You don't have to hide it, Aerith pondered. You did well. You should be happy, Cloud...
But before Captain Titov could crown Cloud as the tournament's champion...an interloper emerged. "Not so fast, good captain! I've yet to show my hand!"
xx
/Exhibition Round/
As Nanaki spun on his heels (in combat boots, no less), Aerith couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to fit into a Shinra infantryman's uniform. Did he borrow one of ours? In that case, they'd have to stitch the hole in the pants he'd made for his tail. Also, he was surprisingly dexterous on two legs. "...do you think Andrea would ask him to dance?" she asked Tifa, smiling at the flamboyant exaggerations in his movements.
Tifa muffled a chuckle.
After Red issued his challenge, Cloud put on a cool and tired display. "Yeah, hard pass. I've had enough cards for one night."
No you haven't, thought Aerith, resisting the urge to call him out on his blatant lie. You'd play all night if you could. Clearly, Cloud's more juvenile side needed some encouragement. "C'mon, Cloud! Kick his butt!" she cheered.
"You got this, Red!" exclaimed Tifa, eager to see if their other friend could put Cloud in his place.
"Oh yeah! It's on!" roared Barret with a grin.
"It appears that Cloud has agreed to play an exhibition match! One last time..." For added effect, Captain Titov raised his hand. "Get ready to shuffle!"
Even though Cloud shook his head with disbelief, the fact got into a battle-ready stance and threw a card at Red (as though it were a duelist's glove!) solidified just how much he was into all of this.
(Yet, it begged the question: why hide it? Why mask his obvious enjoyment? Everyone was cheering him on, so why did he bother pretending to be above it all?)
It was surprisingly close, all things considered; closer than the match between Cloud and Regina, in Aerith's opinion. Yet, as before, Cloud emerged victorious...and unlike his match with Regina, he wasted no time complimenting Red on his performance.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our champion: Cloud Strife!" exclaimed Captain Titov in to his mic, presenting a sparkling trophy to the victor.
(The moment Cloud raised the trophy above his head, Aerith could have sworn she heard him humming Barret's distinctive victory ditty. It wasn't her imagination, was it?)
xx
The tournament was over.
The sun was setting, and so was Aerith's adrenaline. (She had to have been tired, because she couldn't fathom not commenting on Nanaki's adorable shuffling as he tried to keep his balance when walking.)
As the group complimented Red's ingenious little ploy to participate in the card game, they seemed to collectively decide that it was time to turn in...because it had been a long day.
Even so, Aerith felt...refreshed. Invigorated. Alive. The past couple of hours had been a practical detour from their mission, but it had given her a glimpse into yet another side of Cloud. For that, she couldn't help but be grateful. (Was it selfish of her to want more? To have it last longer? To just float on the ocean, detached from the worries of the world: the tribulations of the Planet?)
(You know you can't do that.)
It could not—would not—last.
Aerith still hoped for the impossible, even as she sunk into her hammock within the 2nd-class cabins.
xx
/Later that Night/
Alas, the impossible remained impossible.
Alarms sounded. Captain Titov warned all passengers to return to their cabins, for fiends were swarming the Shinra-8.
And not just any fiends: creatures from Shinra R&D—creations of Hojo—that Aerith had not seen since leaving Midgar. Their very forms reeked of a familiar beast: a malicious and vile cancer, that sought only to consume and destroy everything she held dear.
(She is the source. Of everything.)
She could not ignore the looming dread as Cloud pursued the monsters flying through the lounge and into the ship; she and Nanaki would have to hold down the fort, to keep any more from sneaking by.
(There was something rancid that had gotten aboard the ship: she could feel it in her bones.)
They put down monster after monster, for what seemed like forever.
When no additional fiends snuck on board after two solid minutes of waiting, the duo promptly rushed back inside, seeking to deliver aid where they could...yet they were inexorably drawn to the cargo hold. "Can you feel that?" Aerith asked, grimacing at the rumbling emanating from deeper inside.
"I smell that," growled Red, warily eyeing the wreckage and the signs of battle all around...as well as the occasional unfortunate corpse amongst the wounded. "I could never forget that smell...let's hurry."
It was upon crossing the last bulkheads that Titov's familiar voice echoed over the intercom. "Good evening, everyone. This is your captain speaking. I'm happy to announce that the earlier disturbance has been resolved. All passengers are once again free to move about the vessel as they please." As he spoke those words, Aerith and Red entered the last hold, gazing at a relatively empty expanse wherein stood Cloud, Tifa, and Barret.
(The stench of living rot still lingered.)
As Cloud advanced up the stairs, he looked up at Aerith with a stern gaze. "It was Jenova...and Sephiroth."
(All of the fun and joy from earlier had evaporated from his face; all she could see now was the hardened mercenary. For that, she felt just a little bit more hate in her heart for Jenova and Sephiroth and Hojo and Shinra...even though she didn't want to.)
"We will be arriving as scheduled at Costa del Sol in the morning. On behalf of the entire Shinra-8 crew, we wish you a peaceful night's sleep, and hope you wake refreshed and ready for fun in the sun."
It almost felt like Captain Titov was mocking them, pretending as though nothing was wrong. I wish I could act like nothing was wrong...
(Perhaps that explained it: pretending was a cruel and self-destructive game to play, no matter how much of a balm it was...)
Alas, tomorrow was another day: she would have to take it one step at a time...because that was all she could do...
xxxx
THE UNKNOWN JOURNEY WILL CONTINUE...
xxxx
Author's Note: Just one chapter covered, this time. (Chapter 5 ended up being a bit longer than expected. Blame Cloud being a nerd for card games.)
And yes, Titov in the English dub distinctly says "**Aeris** is in trouble." Not Aerith; Aeris.
/it seriously sounds like Aeris
/also, Cloud's hair is spiky enough
/that he could qualify to be the protagonist of a Yu-Gi-Oh! spinoff