Aerith sighed heavily as they stepped into the clearing surrounding the capital. It wasn't the reaction she wanted to have, but seeing the gleaming walls of the city only further served to remind her of how poorly she'd done on her mission. She was very much aware that there wasn't anything more she could have done, but even so, it felt like she'd failed the Council. A part of her was dreading standing before them once again and seeing the inevitable disappointment in their eyes. She could already hear the Archmage's mocking words in her head, scornfully saying that of course a Half could never be trusted with anything important.
"Hey, you okay?" Cloud asked at her side, pulling Aerith out of the darkness of her thoughts and back into the warm, sunlit clearing. His brow was furrowed in concern, and just seeing his worried expression was enough to push her fears away and cause her to give him a reassuring smile.
"Yup, all good here!" she said, forcing some cheer into her voice. "Just a bit tired from all the running around we've been doing lately." The last part was mostly a lie, but she didn't want him worrying about her. If anything, she was a little surprised he'd noticed anything wrong in the first place.
Her father frowned, also giving her a look. "Maybe we should take some time to find an inn before going to see the Council. Surely a few hours to rest and recover ourselves wouldn't hurt anything."
Vincent looked like he was about to speak up, but before he could, Aerith shook her head firmly. "No, really, I'm fine. We need to let the Council know everything that's happened. There will be plenty of time afterward for us to take a small break."
Thankfully, both Cloud and her father dropped the subject as they made their way across the clearing and to the nearest gate, although she did catch them sharing a look. Once they reached the base of the marble wall, Vincent's presence was enough for the guards to quickly usher them into the city. It was certainly a nice change of pace from the previous visit, especially since there was no forced escort with a member of the Council present. Vincent even had to go so far as to firmly tell the guards that he was quite familiar with the city and didn't need help finding the massive tree that was impossible to miss.
Unlike when she'd last been in the capital with Zack, this time Aerith found herself wishing they weren't so busy so she and Cloud could spend some time sightseeing. It was a silly thought, of course. They had far more important things to do, not to mention that he probably wouldn't be interested in the first place. Even so, she couldn't help but smile at his reactions as they made their way through the streets of the city, so similar to Zack's.
"Midgar must have felt so . . . backward to you," he murmured, glancing over at her.
Aerith laughed softly and shook her head. "Not at all. I'd never been to the capital before I went to visit you, so Midgar was the biggest city I'd ever seen at the time. It certainly has its own, unique appeal, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't prefer it here."
"Is it bad if I think I might too?" he asked with an amused chuckle. "Even though they seem close in size, this city is so much more . . . alive."
It was easy to understand what he meant. Beyond the easy comparison of the natural materials, the people going about their everyday lives were brighter and happier than those she'd seen in Midgar. That glow was slightly diminished from the last time she'd been here, though, likely thanks to their magic being cut off. It served as another reminder that they needed to find a solution, so they could bring the missing cheer back to everyone's faces.
Before long they reached their destination—the base of the great tree—and Vincent led them inside the natural structure. Unlike her previous visit, this time they went directly to the Council chambers. It was a welcome change, although if she were being entirely honest, she did look back on her stay in the cell with Zack in a surprisingly positive light. He'd helped broaden her horizons and shown her that Cloud wasn't alone in wanting to do what was right.
Vincent brought them to a halt outside the entrance to the chambers where a woman was standing guard. "Please inform Eola of our arrival," he said firmly, but politely. "We bring news from the peace talks with the Humans, in addition to the threat of a Weapon."
Oddly enough, she didn't seem at all surprised by the mention of the Weapon. "The Head of the Council was notified of your arrival the moment you passed through the city gates," the guard explained. "An emergency session was called and they already await you and your guests inside." She bowed and gestured with her arms to the gap in the massive stone doors behind her.
Aerith's stomach flip-flopped at the news. She'd been hoping for a bit more time to gather her thoughts in order to decide on what she wanted to say, but if the Council was already waiting on them then that was no longer an option. Swallowing nervously, she followed Vincent through the doors with Cloud and her father close behind her.
As they approached the crystalline thrones and the people seated in them on the opposite side of the room, Aerith found herself holding her breath—waiting nervously to see if the strange magical presence from last time made another appearance.
It didn't.
She breathed out heavily as they came to a halt before the Council, drawing both a frown and yet another worried look from Cloud. Gently shaking her head to tell him not to worry about it, she focused her attention on Eola as the elderly woman rose to her feet.
"Welcome back. Warmaster, if you'll take your seat? We have much to discuss and I see you've brought some new guests, one of whom I at least recognize and assume is an encouraging sign."
Vincent gave them a brief look before moving to one of the vacant thrones. There were a few of them, Aerith noticed, unlike the last time. She wasn't sure what that meant—why there would be unfilled seats. On a more positive note, she was thankful to not see the Archmage in attendance, although there was a different woman in her seat now—one who was giving Vincent a look that was a mixture of both concern and affection.
"Gast," Eola continued, her gaze fixing on Aerith's father with an uncomfortably stern look. "We've never met prior, but you've been a common topic in the Council ever since the war began. I have one question for you. Did you provide the Humans with the ability to make Materia?"
Aerith bit her lip, her hands clenching tightly as she struggled not to jump to his defense at this completely unfair question. Of course he hadn't!
Her father firmly shook his head. "I did not. Hojo came up with his own ways to make mockeries of them. His approach is barbaric and the results are dangerously unstable, as I'm sure you're well aware of from their use in battle. I understand your concerns, but I refused to assist them in any way and they had no leverage to force me." He glanced over at her. "I'll admit that changed after they captured Aerith, but fortunately we were both rescued before things had a chance to spiral out of control."
Eola's brow rose as she turned her attention over to Aerith. "Captured?"
"Yes," Aerith said with a slight wince. "We met with the President as planned to discuss a path toward peace, but he had no interest in the matter. His soldiers stabbed Vincent and assaulted me when I tried to heal him. Thankfully, Cloud here was able to organize a part of the Human resistance to come and save us shortly after."
When she mentioned Vincent being stabbed, it was impossible for Aerith not to notice the woman who'd been looking at him jump to her feet, rage burning in her eyes.
"Calm yourself, Archmage," Eola said, her voice stern as she kept her gaze on Aerith. "Your husband is alive and well, safely returned to us despite this . . . grotesque breach of trust." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What exactly do you mean when you say you tried to heal him?"
Archmage? Did that mean the role had changed to someone else since the last time she'd been here? Quickly glancing around the room once again, Aerith verified that she couldn't see the previous Archmage anywhere in sight. Deciding that she would share her secret without that horrible woman being present, she nodded her head.
"Well . . . to be precise, I was using the spell Curaga to stop the bleeding. I didn't reveal this to the Council during my previous visit, but I learned that I was a Seer shortly after my mother's passing."
By this point, Aerith was quite used to the commotion caused by revealing this information. Despite that, it was still amusing to see the exact same result, even with the members of the Council itself. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, shouting questions and jumping to their feet while gesturing wildly. She kept her focus on the Archmage, who was one of the few members still seated although her attention was very much fixed on Aerith now and not Vincent.
"Order!" shouted Eola, but it was almost completely drowned out in the commotion. "Enough!" This time, her magically enhanced voice echoed through the chamber and managed to cut through the chaos. Looking mildly embarrassed, the members who'd stood up quickly returned to their places, although several of them were still whispering excitedly to each other.
For some reason, the elderly woman looked extremely tired as she turned back to Aerith. "This is a very serious claim to make, child, as I am sure you are aware. While it is uncommon, there have been those in the past who've tried to seize power by falsely claiming to be a Seer. I have no reason to believe this is the case, but I hope you'll understand that we can't just take you at your word when it comes to something like this."
"I will do anything I can to provide proof, but I'm not sure what else I can do other than this," she said, before sending a strong gust of wind swirling through the chamber. It was only enough to loosely flap some robes and ruffle some hair, but even so, it caused the continuing whispers to rise in volume. "Given who my parents are, not to mention the presence of the Weapon and its effect on magic, I hope this helps to support my claim."
Eola glanced over to the Archmage who slowly rose to her feet.
"Indeed it does, daughter of Ifalna. We have much to discuss, you and I, as well as there being some tests I can use to verify if you truly are a Seer. More pressingly, how are you aware of the Weapon's presence? It's in completely the opposite direction from where you would have come from. A vision, perhaps?"
A chill ran down Aerith's arms. "We briefly fought against the Weapon before it destroyed the huge reactor that has been the center point of the war. Shortly after, it also wiped out the village of Thorntide. How are you aware of it, I was positive we would have outpaced any other word of it."
The room abruptly went completely silent.
"Thorntide . . . was destroyed? By a Weapon? Impossible . . ." It was the first time Aerith had seen Eola look shaken.
"I wish it wasn't the case, but she speaks the truth," Vincent said. "I wasn't part of the fight against the monster, but I was there for the evacuation of the village."
His words settled over the room like a heavy blanket. Several members of the Council looked like they were on the verge of throwing up, which, while understandable, wasn't the reaction Aerith had been expecting. At her side, Cloud looked equally confused.
"This Weapon you fought, it was a giant in silver armor with massive shoulders?" Eola asked.
Aerith frowned at the strange description that was completely and utterly wrong. "No, it was a black and purple dragon, with a powerful beam weapon on its chest."
"Then there are two of them . . ." the older woman whispered, her face going pale. "Gaia protect us all."
Everyone's reactions suddenly made a lot more sense as Aerith struggled to keep her own stomach under control. Two of them? One was already an impossible challenge, how were they supposed to deal with two? The stories had spoken of five in total, but she'd hoped that was part of the myth. Were there still three others out there then, wreaking havoc that no one was aware of yet?
"Well, that's . . . something." Eola rubbed her eyes with both hands before sighing deeply. "We certainly have much to consider. Master Ranger, I want all of your scouts dispatched immediately. We need to keep tabs on the two Weapons we're aware of and make sure there aren't anymore." She turned to the Archmage. "I want you to take our newfound Seer and do everything in your power to help her. Her appearance now is no coincidence, I have faith that Gaia has blessed her to save us in our hour of need."
If she hadn't felt sick before, Aerith certainly did now. The head of the Council itself was counting on her to save everyone? The concept was so ridiculous it made her want to break down in hysterical laughter.
Rising to her feet, Eola clapped her hands. "This emergency session is now closed. Be prepared for an all-day meeting tomorrow, I expect everyone to be thinking of ways for us to get out of this mess. Dismissed."
The chamber began to empty around them as Vincent and the Archmage walked over to join her and Cloud. "Well, Aerith and I need to have some alone time to talk," the Archmage said. "Can I ask you to keep her friend company, dear?" she asked Vincent.
"Is that really necessary?" Aerith asked. "I trust Cloud, he can hear whatever you need to say to me."
Before the Archmage could respond, Cloud lightly shook his head. "No, it's perfectly alright." He looked over to Vincent. "Maybe now would be a good time to take care of that favor I asked you about earlier?"
"Hmm?" The other man looked lost before a spark of remembrance lit his eyes. "Ah, that. Very well, we can go have a chat with Irian. I'm sure he'll appreciate being able to focus on something other than our impending demise."
"Irian?" Aerith asked the Archmage as the two men walked off—her eyes following Cloud until he was out of sight.
"A master Tailor, and member of the Council," she replied, looking mildly perplexed. "I have to admit, I'm curious what your friend needs with him. Like my husband, he doesn't appear to be someone I would normally associate with an interest in clothing. But enough of that. First things first, I want to give my condolences for the loss of your mother. The news was awful for me to hear, I can only imagine how it must have impacted you."
Aerith blinked, her mouth falling open slightly as she followed the other woman out of the room. "You knew my mother?"
The Archmage gave her a puzzled look. "I did, very well, in fact. I'm . . . surprised she never mentioned me."
"She mentioned an Archmage, but—I'm sorry, I must be confused. Last time I was here the Archmage was someone else and they were . . . kind of awful."
"Oh." The other woman's nose wrinkled slightly. "You must be referring to Raena. I can only imagine she had a field day with you. I'm sorry you had to deal with that. There was some . . . turmoil in the Council at the time and she'd forced her way into my position."
A surge of excitement bubbled up inside of Aerith. This was the woman her mother had told her stories of, the strongest living Cetra mage. She'd dreamed of this moment as a child and now, by some strange twist of fate, it was actually happening.
"There's so much I want to ask you, about magic in particular, but you mentioned there was some kind of test to prove that I'm actually a Seer? I'll do whatever you ask of me, Archmage."
"Please, just Lucrecia is fine. As for that . . . it was all just bullshit to placate the rest of the Council. So little is known about Seers that a test to find one would be all but impossible. The fact of the matter is, you're a half-blood, capable of using magic more powerfully than I currently can. That alone is enough for me, although I assume you've also had dreams that have come true as well?"
Aerith nodded.
"Then congratulations, you're a Seer. I'm sorry."
"Sorry? Why?"
"Because while it's a title that certainly brings with it an immense amount of power, it also comes with a mountain of responsibility. I imagine you're already beginning to feel the weight of other people's expectations, especially given the current state of things. It's unfair for us as your elders to place such a heavy burden on your shoulders, but"—she sighed—"that's unfortunately where we're at."
They arrived at a house, set apart a fair ways from the ones around it and with a little pond off to the side. It was incredibly cute, and somewhere Aerith could imagine herself living quite happily. Lucrecia beckoned her inside and led her to a cozily small living room.
"Please, have a seat and you mentioned having questions. Ask away."
It was almost paralyzing to have the freedom to ask whatever questions she wanted from a woman she admired so much. Taking a seat on one of the plushy chairs, Aerith wracked her brain for what to ask first.
"How does magic work? For you, I mean," she hurried to add. "I feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark and making everything up as I go, is that . . . normal?"
The corner of Lucrecia's lip curled upward as she took the seat opposite Aerith. "I'm not entirely sure what you mean. If I want to cast a fireball spell then I focus specifically on the fire element and invoke the spell as it was taught to me. When you say that you're making it up, can you give me an example?"
"Well, I—" She cut off, realizing how difficult this was to explain. "If I wanted to make a fireball, then I'd imagine a ball of fire hanging in the air in front of me and then it just . . . happens. Back in the Council, I thought about a breeze of air blowing through the room. You say that you invoke the spell, but I don't know what that means."
"Fascinating. I can only theorize that since you never had any official training and were forced to learn on your own, you've somehow managed to tap into the Lifestream in a completely separate way. If so, that might partially explain why your magic is unaffected by the presence of the Weapons. I almost wonder if I shouldn't be taking lessons from you," she finished with a laugh.
Aerith frowned. "But what if I'm doing it wrong?"
"There is no right or wrong," Lucrecia responded, smiling softly. "Magic is a tool, the same as any other. As long as you believe in yourself and you're able to get it to do what you want, then that's all that truly matters."
It wasn't exactly what she'd hoped to hear, but Aerith couldn't deny the wisdom in the words. Realizing that any type of lesson was unlikely to be productive thanks to the Weapon's dampening effect, she decided to try another line of inquiry. "What do you know about Seers?"
A wistful look passed across Lucrecia's face. "I dreamed of being one, years and years ago. It's part of what led me to ultimately join the Council as the Archmage. Back when I was around your age, Raena and I were still good friends. We'd heard the same stories everyone does but wanted to know more. I focused on learning everything I could about magic, while she directed her attention to the ancient records. I think that's where things took a turn for us," she said sadly.
"Raena made far more progress than I did in learning about the Seers—understandably so since she was doing actual research. I think a part of me recognized it was only ever going to be a dream, so, over time, my attention shifted to becoming a true master of magic, the next best thing to a Seer in my mind. She held that against me, said that I'd abandoned her, that I'd intentionally left her behind . . ." Lucrecia swallowed, looking down at her hands in her lap.
"But I'm getting off-topic. The little she did share with me before our relationship soured too much was interesting. She couldn't find solid evidence for it, but one of her main theories as to why Seers were so rare was because they were half-blooded. Obviously, with the Barrier in place, that became far less common than before the war, and since not all half-bloods are Seers, it was a compelling explanation for the scarcity of knowledge. I think that might have been what changed her, the seed that grew into an angry bramble, trapping her within. Because if her theory was right, then it meant she could never become what she so desired."
"Meaning if she found out about me, she'd hate me even more than she already does," Aerith said with a wince.
Lucrecia grimaced. "Indeed. Thankfully, that seems unlikely these days since she's holed herself away, but enough about her. I feel like I haven't been terribly helpful, but there is one thing I believe I can assist with."
Perking up in her chair, Aerith brushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. She really needed to find a new ribbon, sooner than later.
"One of the few things I did learn regarding Seers was a spell that supposedly assisted with having dreams. I've obviously never been able to try it out, but I believe I still have enough power left to use it on you if you'd like to try?"
Aerith nearly jumped to her feet. "Yes! Yes, please, that sounds perfect. I have no control over them whatsoever and they've almost always been helpful in the past. If we can learn anything at all about what might be coming, that seems like it would be invaluable."
"Well then," Lucrecia said with a smile, "let's give it a shot, shall we? Come over here and lay down on the sofa."
Swapping places with the other woman, Aerith settled down onto the sofa on her back, her head comfortably cushioned on a small lap pillow. With the excitement coursing through her, she didn't think there was any way she'd be able to fall asleep, but hopefully, that wouldn't be the case.
The Archmage took a seat directly on the coffee table next to her before holding her hands out to hang in the air above Aerith's head. She interlaced her fingers together at an angle, forming a triangular weave. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. "Alright. First things first, you should close your eyes as well. Try to empty your thoughts as much as possible and just sink into the darkness."
Aerith felt like that was far easier to say than for her to actually do, but she followed the instructions and tried her best. Of course, being told not to think of anything made her focus on how she was still thinking of things, such as the favor Cloud had mentioned to Vincent. What in the world could they possibly be doing with a tailor? Was Cloud getting a new outfit made for himself? She had to bite back a laugh. Imagining him in Cetra clothing was just too much.
"Clear your mind," Lucrecia said softly, and Aerith banished her mental image of Cloud in robes—but only after one final, long look. Huh, he actually looked pretty good in them.
Doing her best to follow the instructions, she floated in the pitch-blackness of her mind. Slowly, the feeling of her back pressed into the sofa faded away, as did the soft sounds of the wind rustling the leaves outside and even the sound of both of their breathing. It was isolating, but not in a bad way. She felt free, and open, like anything was possible.
"Good. Now, focus on your connection to the planet, to Gaia. It's there, like it always is, warm and comforting. Open yourself to it, let it flow through you, like a gentle creek flowing through a clearing. Feel the current slowly grow in intensity, not like a river, but rather as a stream. A stream of life. Embrace it, and let it carry you downstream to show you what you need to see . . ."
Lucrecia's voice faded away into the distance as light grew behind Aerith's closed eyelids. Opening them, she found herself not in the living room she'd been in, but instead sitting on one of the branches of the Originator Tree, far, far above the tiny city below. A warm, comforting presence surrounded her, almost like being snuggly cocooned in a warm blanket on a cold winter's day.
Despite recognizing this as a dream, she was unable to do anything other than watch as she slowly got to her feet and jumped out into the open air. Rather than plummeting to the ground, she floated midair for a brief moment before flying away from the tree. It took Aerith a moment to fully orient herself, but by the time she passed over the marble wall marking the edge of the city, she was fairly confident that the direction she was heading in would eventually bring her to Midgar.
Only a few seconds later, the Human's city appeared on the horizon, rapidly approaching even though she wasn't flying all that fast—only, something wasn't quite right. It was an odd sensation. She was far from familiar with the city, and yet, somehow, she could tell that something about it was off. As she drew closer, it became immediately apparent what had changed. A colossal cannon had been mounted on the city walls, pointed roughly in the direction she was flying from. The sheer scale of the weapon was shocking. And terrifying.
Even closer still, she could see people frantically running around, presumably preparing it to fire, although she couldn't tell for sure. The reason for their panic rapidly became apparent as a loud, familiar, roar filled the air. Turning, she saw the draconic Weapon approaching the city. Its progress seemed oddly haphazard until she flew closer and saw that a small group of people were trying to slow it down. The members of Avalanche—herself included—weren't overly surprising to see, but she was caught off guard by the presence of Seoda and the other Cetra medics alongside several other Cetra warriors. Like the first battle, they didn't appear to be making much headway despite clearly trying to do everything they could to slow it down.
A low humming noise began to fill the air, swiftly picking up in intensity and she spun back around to see the cannon glowing brightly. A feeling of dread that didn't belong to her settled over Aerith. Far off in the distance, she could hear a voice screaming. The raw panic in it was terrifying—as if the source was in a life-or-death situation. Aerith didn't understand what any of it meant, but she knew she needed to make it stop.
Everything went silent for a split second before a piercing white light shot out of the cannon. At the exact same time, a matching blue beam came from the Weapon's chest to meet it. There was a massive explosion that left her ears ringing and then everything vanished as the screaming abruptly cut off.
Aerith woke with a start, jerking upward off the sofa, and narrowly managed to avoid smashing her head directly into Lucrecia's. "We have to go back," she gasped.
It's been a long time coming, but Aerith finally gets to meet Lucrecia! Since this is the first time we've had two mages together talking about magic, there's a bit of an explanation as to how this whole thing works, at least to some extent. I'm pulling from a bunch of different systems here, but I also didn't want it to be a fully explainable system either. It's magic! With Lucrecia's help, Aerith is even able to have another vision of the future and things aren't looking so great.
Then we've got the little twist that the Weapons from the past two chapters aren't actually the same one and that both Ultimate and Diamond are active. There were some hints to point to this, but I'm wondering if readers were as caught off guard as our story members. As if one Weapon wasn't a problem enough, now they have to deal with two of them at once, each one heading for the two major cities on this continent. Oh boy...
Meanwhile, Cloud and Vincent are off doing something with Irian? Huh, I wonder what that's all about, maybe it has something to do with the theme of the next chapter?
Next Chapter: Date