Aerith woke with bleary-eyed confusion as her mother gently shook her awake. "Where is Cloud?"
She struggled to process the question, not understanding what her mom was asking. What did she mean, where was he? "He's not in his bedroom?"
"No. Did you hear anything, anything at all, in the middle of the night?"
Aerith was completely awake now, a spike of concern shooting through her as she shifted up into a sitting position. What was going on? Her mother was acting far more intense than she could remember seeing her in a very long time, almost to the point that it was scaring her. "Um, I did run into him at the top of the stairs when I went to get a drink of water, but he said he was just going to get an extra bite of dessert. What's going on?"
"Oh Gaia," was all her mother said in response, before turning and rushing out of the room in a swirl of skirts.
A sinking feeling filled Aerith's stomach. If Cloud wasn't in his bedroom and her mom didn't know where he was, then where was he? Had something happened while he was downstairs? Slipping out from under the sheets, she quickly changed out of her pajamas and into one of her dresses before tying her hair up with a red ribbon. Once dressed, she made a quick stop down the hallway, confirming for herself that Cloud's room was indeed empty and that the bed looked like it hadn't been slept in. Concern mounting, Aerith hurried to the stairs.
"—anything else?" she heard her mother ask as she reached the bottom step.
"No, just the one, thankfully. What do we do?" her dad said in reply.
"Where's Cloud? What's going on?" Aerith asked, looking between her parents.
"What can we do?" her mother asked, rubbing her temples with both hands. "He's long gone by now."
"Where. Is. Cloud?" Aerith repeated, raising her voice.
Both of her parents finally spun to look at her, mirrored expressions of dismay on their faces.
Her father walked over to her, dropping down so his face was level with hers. "Honey . . . I hate to say this, but Cloud betrayed our trust."
Aerith blinked several times, struggling to process the words. They didn't make sense, weren't possible. "What are you talking about? Cloud would never do that. He's my friend, he—"
"He broke into your father's office in the middle of the night and ran off with the Healing Materia," her mom said, cutting her off.
The words cut deep into Aerith, a sharp, stabbing pain that went directly for her heart. She wanted to deny it, to scream with all her might that Cloud wouldn't do something horrible like that, but she knew her mother wouldn't lie about something so serious. Cloud had been desperate, understandably so given what he'd said about his mother's condition, but Aerith hadn't imagined he wouldn't be willing to wait until morning and would instead resort to stealing from them.
Truthfully, the theft didn't bother her as much as it seemed it did her parents. The Materia could always be replaced easily enough, and if it allowed Cloud to save his mother then all the better. No, the part that Aerith couldn't stop thinking about was how he'd lied to her. Obviously, he couldn't have told her what he was planning on doing, but even still, it hurt. And all of it was because her mom had wanted to wait until morning.
"This is all your fault!" Aerith snapped, glaring at her mother. "If you'd just agreed to help him then none of this would have happened!"
"Don't speak to your mother like that, young lady!" her father scolded.
"Is it because they're humans?" she pressed, ignoring him. "Is that why you don't want to help them?"
"Of course not!" Her mother was looking at her in shock, presumably because this was the first time Aerith had ever confronted her like this. "I would never withhold healing if I had a choice, but you have to understand, this is more complicated than it seems!"
"How is saving a life complicated?! It's his mother! Of course he would do whatever it takes to help her! If I were in his shoes and you were the one in danger then I would have done exactly the same thing!" Aerith was breathing heavily as she finished, her hands clenched tightly into fists at her sides.
Her father reached out to place his hand on her shoulder, but Aerith moved out of the way. "Please, we all just need to take a breath and calm down," he said. "There's no reason for us to be fighting."
Aerith didn't want to calm down. Her parents had driven her first friend away and he probably blamed her for it as well. She needed to let him know that she understood why he'd done it, that she didn't blame him. Slipping past her dad, she ran for the front door, ignoring her parents' shouts behind her. She didn't care what they were saying, all she needed was to see Cloud.
"Aerith, come back! Give your mother a chance to explain!"
Not stopping, she ran directly for the nearby woods. It didn't seem like her parents were going to chase after her, but if they did try to then the tightly clustered trees in this section of the forest would make it more difficult for them. She headed directly for her special clearing, where she and Cloud had met for the first time. The Barrier had allowed him to pass through multiple times there, and even though she'd already tried once before and failed, maybe this time it would work.
Reaching the clearing without any signs of pursuit, Aerith slowed to a stop and leaned against a tree as she took several deeper breaths to help slow her racing heart. Once she felt ready, she cautiously walked into the center of the clearing and slowly turned in a full circle. Nothing seemed to change regardless of the direction she faced, no desert, no city, no Cloud—only trees and flowers as far as the eye could see.
Aerith collapsed to her knees, a sob breaking free from her lips. Closing her eyes tightly, she prayed to Gaia, begging the planet to grant her passage across the Barrier. All she wanted was one, small trip, just long enough to see Cloud again and let him know she supported him. Each time he'd left, they'd never gotten a chance to properly say farewell and she hated it.
Eventually, Aerith slowly opened her eyes, her heart dropping as she took in the clearing still surrounding her. "Why?" she shouted, startling a bird in a nearby tree. "Why won't you let me?" She slammed her fist down into an open patch of dirt, tears clouding her vision. "I just want to say goodbye, is that really so much to ask for?"
If the Planet heard her, it gave no sign of caring as she sat there, shaking.
Staggering back to her feet after several minutes had passed, Aerith rubbed the tears from her eyes and sniffed her nose to clear it. Maybe the Barrier hated her as well since she was a half-blood—it would certainly fit with how the rest of her life had gone. Not wanting to head back home and face the inevitable anger from her parents, she instead aimlessly wandered into the woods.
Aerith allowed her mind to drift as she walked, doing her best not to think of anything at all as she tried to allow the peaceful serenity of her surroundings to relax her. She stopped to explore a flower-filled clearing she'd never seen before, crossed over a babbling brook, and even caught sight of a deer family before they noticed her and cautiously moved away. Before long, she stepped out of the trees and into a large clearing she recognized, realizing she'd unintentionally arrived at her hideout.
She had no idea how long she'd been wandering for, although the sun was much higher in the sky now. Deciding she might as well take a break—strongly encouraged by her tired legs—Aerith made her way around the pond and entered the cave. As the Materia in the ceiling filled the interior with light, her eyes were immediately drawn to the still-standing blanket fort, and, just like that, Cloud was filling her head once again.
It had only been the other day that they'd been here together, laughing and having fun figuring out how to keep the fort standing. Dinner afterward had also been enjoyable, but her favorite memory by far was when they'd gone stargazing. And now her first—and only—friend was gone, and Aerith was all alone again. Unlike the previous times he'd left, this time she didn't think he'd ever be coming back.
Aerith was surprised at how much that realization hurt. They'd only had a few, small handfuls of time together, but even so, they'd quickly become some of her most treasured memories. Maybe that was why her mother had initially warned her not to get too attached, knowing that it would only lead to this kind of pain. Despite that, Aerith was glad she had met Cloud—even if this was the end result.
Crawling into the fort, she made her way into the bedroom and settled down on her bed, refraining from looking over at Cloud's. Tears ran down her cheeks as she curled up into a ball under the blanket, burrowing her head into the pillow. It wasn't long before a wave of exhaustion hit her, and Aerith surrendered to the fog of sleep, allowing it to sweep her away.
It was the middle of the night and yet it wasn't as dark as it should have been, thanks to the numerous lights of the massive city beneath her. Aerith had never seen anything like it before, but before she could move closer to get a better look at it, a small boy popped into existence directly below her, right outside the city. Dropping down to get a better look, she immediately recognized him as Cloud.
A surge of excitement filled her, but no matter how much she tried to call out to him, no sound escaped her lips. Instead, she could only watch as he seemed to tug against the very air itself before tumbling to the ground in a cloud of dust. In that instant, Aerith could faintly make out a ripple in the air—a massive wall of glistening energy that reminded her of the dome she'd seen the other night—before a shockingly loud cracking noise rang out and a giant fracture appeared along it.
Cloud seemed to have heard the noise as well as he frantically looked around, but she could tell from his reaction that he wasn't able to see the glowing wall. There was a faint pulse of green from his hand before he jumped to his feet and ran towards the city. Following above him, Aerith watched as he made his way through a gate and came out the other side. She almost didn't notice as someone else stepped out of the shadows of the gate behind Cloud, another boy although he was slightly older and had long, silver hair.
The second boy waved his arm, and at first, she thought he was trying to get Cloud's attention, except that didn't make any sense since he was behind him and hadn't called out. It was only then that Aerith noticed several other shapes moving in the darkness, all converging in on Cloud. Again she tried to call out to warn him that something was wrong and again found she couldn't. All she could do was watch helplessly as Cloud ran directly into one of the men who then struck him down with some kind of metal weapon.
Aerith screamed soundlessly, no longer able to move closer. The man who'd attacked Cloud whistled loudly, then dropped down and picked something up from the ground. Moments later, someone else stepped out from the shadows. This man was completely different from the others. He was wearing a long white coat and had small, circular glasses that hid his eyes. His mouth seemed to naturally form a frown, but as the other man handed him whatever he'd picked up from the ground, that frown warped into a twisted smile.
"It's a wonderful night, isn't it?" he said, turning his head up to look directly at Aerith.
Her heart felt like it had stopped, even though she knew this was just a dream and that there was no way he could actually see her. Even so, something inside her was screaming in terror.
Aerith jerked awake with a start—her heart racing. Her arms and legs were covered in goosebumps, and she was extremely thankful the white-robed man had only been a figment of her imagination. Taking a deep breath, she shifted into a sitting position, wondering why all of her dreams recently were so grim. Yes, Cloud had vanished across the Barrier, but there was no reason for him to be attacked by his own people, no matter how worried she was for him. She guessed that it probably had something to do with how stressed she'd felt lately.
Debating what she should do next, Aerith froze as the sound of a shoe scraping on the carpet outside the fort filled the air. Someone else had just entered the cave. There were only three other people who knew where the hideout was—her parents and Cloud—and the layers of magical protection her mother had placed over it made it impossible to find otherwise. While it was possible that her mother or father might have come to find her, the other option was far more exciting.
"Cloud!" she called out, crawling out of the fort as fast as she possibly could. "You came back!"
She came to an abrupt halt as soon as she saw who it actually was—the last person on the Planet she wanted to see.
"Just me, I'm afraid," Seoda replied, her eyes scanning the interior of the cave. "What a nice place you've got here, I never imagined you had something like this."
"Get. Out." This was Aerith's haven, her sacred space. Her worst nightmare was Seoda ruining it with her presence.
"Make me," Seoda said with a grin, stepping farther inside. "A blanket fort? That's cute, but don't you think you're a little old for something so childish? Or did you have fun playing House with your little pet?"
Aerith clenched her fists, her entire body trembling. "How did you even get here?"
"Hmm? Oh, I saw you run away from your house and was bored and mildly curious so I decided to follow you. After you spent so long in here I figured I'd come see what you were up to. Something happen at home? I can't remember seeing you fighting with your parents before. Did they force your pet away, is that why he's not here?"
She hadn't realized the protective magic could be thwarted so easily—simply by following her—but unfortunately, it made sense. The worst part was now that Seoda knew where the hideout was, she'd be able to return whenever she wanted. Ignoring the other girl's questions, Aerith wasn't sure what to do. There was no way she'd be able to force Seoda to leave, and running away to let her have free reign over the hideout left a bitter taste in Aerith's mouth.
"I asked you a question, Half. I expect an answer."
"Why do you care? He's gone, alright? Are you happy now, you mean jerk?"
Seoda's eyes hardened, and Aerith realized that in her anger she'd made a huge mistake. "Oh, you want mean? I'll give you mean." The other girl held her hand out in front of her, palm up, and a moment later an orb of pure fire appeared in the air above it. "Remember? I can do this, unlike you," she sneered, waving the fire through the air.
Aerith's breath caught in her lungs. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the flame, a paralyzing fear locking her in place as she dropped to her knees. "Please, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."
Seoda laughed brightly, a triumphant smile on her face. "I love the expression on your face right now. Do you finally understand your place now, you filthy Half?"
Nodding fervently, Aerith was ready to do whatever it took to save her hideout. Her eyes were still glued to the flame, a strange ripple moving through it that she'd never seen when her mother used fire magic. It was surprising Seoda could even produce a flame, considering it was a fairly advanced spell.
"Look at you, trembling like a leaf. You're so stupid. Did you seriously think I would actually set this place on fire? Your mother would drag me in front of the High Council if I did something so idiotic." With a final laugh, Seoda closed her fist to end the spell. Except the fire didn't vanish like it was supposed to. Instead, the ripple grew stronger, the ball of flame thrashing wildly in the air.
Seoda's eyes widened before she hastily took several steps back. "What's going on? Why isn't it stopping?"
Aerith had never before heard the other girl sound so scared. "I think the spell is going out of control, you should still be able to—"
A massive explosion rocked the cave, blasting Aerith backward. She crashed into the blanket fort, collapsing it under her. It took her a moment to disentangle herself from the pile she'd ended up in, but once she did and was able to see the rest of the cave again, she cried out in fear. The explosion had sent the fire raining all around the interior, small patches of it burning everywhere.
Looking around for Seoda, she saw the other girl crumpled on the ground next to the wall by the entrance. There was a trickle of blood running down her forehead and she wasn't moving. The fire was already beginning to spread, consuming the carpeted ground at an alarming speed. At this rate, it would only be a matter of moments before the entire cave was a blazing inferno.
Aerith stumbled to her feet, desperately trying to think if there was anything she could do to stop this, but nothing came to mind. For now, her top priority was making it out safely. Coughing from the smoke that was already filling the cave, she dropped back down under it and crawled toward the mouth of the cave as quickly as she could, avoiding the patches of fire in the way. The heat was oppressive, making it hard to breathe and sending sweat pouring down her face.
Finally reaching Seoda, Aerith shook her gently, but there was no response from the girl. Grabbing her under the arms, Aerith dragged her to the entrance which thankfully wasn't much farther. She gasped for breath as they emerged into the clearing, smoke billowing up into the sky behind her. There was no way she was going to be able to save anything inside any longer, but if she didn't act quickly then the fire might spread into the forest which would be a disaster.
After making sure Seoda was still breathing, Aerith left her at the edge of the pond where she should be safe before grabbing one of the spare pots that was still there and filling it with water. She couldn't put out the fire when it was so large—not with a single bucket all by herself—but she could make sure the ground outside the cave was soaking wet and hopefully prevent it from spreading.
A few minutes later, once she'd done all she could, Aerith dropped to the ground, breathing heavily. The fire was still raging inside the cave, destroying everything she'd had in there. All of that could be replaced, at least, and she and Seoda were alive. They were lucky Aerith hadn't also been knocked out in the explosion, otherwise, things would have ended up much worse. Not wanting to think about that, she slowly moved back to the pond to check on the other girl.
The cut on Seoda's head was fortunately fairly small and had already stopped bleeding, although she was still unconscious. Aerith wasn't sure what she should do next. Leaving the other girl here while she went for help didn't seem very safe, but she also didn't think she'd be able to carry her back to the village on her own. Since there were still several hours of daylight left, the best plan Aerith could come up with was to wait and see if Seoda would wake up on her own. If not, then she'd worry about what to do once the sun dipped below the trees.
Settling in to wait, she kept a close eye on the mouth of the cave, a bucket of water ready at her side.
"Aerith?!"
She jumped in surprise, spinning around to see her mother standing at the edge of the clearing looking disheveled. Aerith wasn't sure how long she'd been waiting, but it couldn't have been more than an hour. "Mom? Why are you here?"
"Someone in the village saw the smoke, and when I realized the direction it was coming from I feared the worst. What happened?"
A surge of sadness slammed into Aerith, and before she was even fully aware of it she'd run into her mom's embrace, sobbing into her chest. Once she'd calmed down enough to speak, she pulled back, rubbing the tears away. "It was an accident. Seoda was using magic, but she lost control of it and the rug caught fire. She got knocked out in the explosion and I wasn't sure how to get her back home."
Ifalna's brow rose as she looked over at the girl in question. "I see. Well, I'll certainly be having a long conversation with both her and her parents about using spells that are too powerful. I'm just glad you're both alright." Walking over, she placed her hand on Seoda's forehead. A moment later, a familiar green glow appeared before Seoda took a sharp breath.
"What happened?" The other girl sat up, her eyes widening as she saw Ifalna. "Wait, Elder?! Why are you here?"
"Be glad I am, and that my daughter saved your life." Her voice was stern. "Hopefully, this will teach you a lesson about using spells that are too advanced for you. We'll be having a much longer conversation with your parents, but for now, we should get back to the village before the sun sets."
Seoda looked down at the ground, nodding her head weakly as she got to her feet. "Yes, Elder. I'm deeply sorry."
Aerith was pretty sure it was the first time she'd ever heard the other girl apologize for anything, but Seoda had always done an excellent job at masking her true self when in the presence of Aerith's mother. Falling in step with her mom, Aerith took her hand and did her best to ignore the fact that Seoda was with them as they made their way through the forest back to the village. The trip passed in complete silence. Aerith snuck several glances at her mother's face while they were walking, but she didn't appear overly upset, just extremely tired.
Once the village came into view, her mom stopped and turned to look back at Seoda. "I have too much I need to take care of at home tonight to stop by your house, but I'll be visiting tomorrow. Make sure you tell your parents everything that happened and that I'll be dropping by, alright?"
Seoda nodded and ran off in the direction of her house without looking back. Aerith wondered how much she would tell her parents about what had actually happened and imagined it would presumably be almost nothing, especially not that she'd been threatening her with magic. She also hadn't missed what her mother had implied with what she'd said either and braced herself for the inevitable conversation that was rapidly approaching.
As they approached the house, her father was pacing back and forth outside the front door before coming to a stop when he saw them. "Oh, you found her! And it looks like everything is alright, thank the Planet."
"Yes, perfectly fine. She just burned the hideout to ashes," her mother replied dryly as they walked inside.
Gast's mouth fell open, his eyes wide in horror. "She did what?!"
"Mom! I did not! That wasn't my fault!"
Her mom let out a tired sigh. "I know, dearest. We can talk about that later. First things first, I want to clear up the confusion from last night and earlier this morning." She dropped down onto the sofa, patting the spot next to her.
Aerith slowly joined her, settling in next to her, but not cuddling up against her like she would have normally. She still hadn't forgiven her for what had happened with Cloud, although it sounded like she was at least about to get an explanation as to why. Her father sat down in the armchair across from them, a worried look on his face.
"What I'm about to tell you is a closely guarded secret, only known to a few of the strongest mages amongst us. I'm trusting you not to say a word of this to anyone, understand?"
A tingle ran down Aerith's body from head to toe. Her mother had never been this serious with her before. "I understand."
"While the Barrier doesn't expressly prohibit those with magic from crossing over, it is still much more challenging for a Cetra to cross than it is for a Human, especially so if they're more gifted in the magical arts. That's not why I couldn't help Cloud, although it is extremely unlikely that the Barrier would ever let me pass."
Her mother took a deep breath, turning to look at her. "The true problem arises from using magic on the other side of the Barrier. When it was created, its purpose was to separate our two realms by sealing off magic entirely on one side. If magic were to be introduced and used on the opposite side, then the Barrier's purpose would cease to exist. To be clear, this is largely speculation based on our understanding of ancient magics, but even the Archmage herself believes it to be true."
"Oh . . . But if Cloud took the Materia with him then . . ."
Her mother nodded gravely. "Yes, it means the more that he uses it, the more likely it is for the Barrier to vanish."
Aerith swallowed, understanding the full gravity of the situation now. She felt like she'd been torn in two. On the one hand, she wanted Cloud's mother to recover, but on the other . . . the Barrier collapsing was bad, even if it would mean she'd be able to see Cloud again. "What can we do?"
"Wait. And pray. I've already informed the High Council. Hopefully, everything will work out, but it's beyond our control now."
She nestled into her mother's side, appreciating the arm that curled around her and held her close. Aerith knew the stories of the ancient war—every Cetra child did—and while that had been a long, long time ago, the idea of life without the Barrier's protection was scary.
Back over to Aerith now, we get an explanation as to why Cloud's request was so complicated, as well as why her parents didn't want to talk about it with him around. Even sharing this with Aerith is a big deal, as this is very much classified information. There were only two real options here: 1). Get Claudia across the Barrier somehow, or more likely, 2). Reach out to the agent in Midgar and authorize them to heal her (also another secret, but Ifalna is aware of them). The latter approach is why they needed to wait to hear back from the Council. All of this is moot though, since Cloud did what he did.
For her part, Aerith has a pretty rough chapter as well, starting out with a fight with her mother. This might seem a bit surprising at first, but I felt like it was a fairly natural reaction for a kid to have. She's basically throwing a tantrum since she feels like her parents ruined her friendship with Cloud. Things get a bit stranger as she has yet another unusual dream, which ends up meaning far more to us as readers than it does to Aerith at this point in the story. This should hopefully stand out as a pretty important moment, but I'm not going to say anything more about it for now. Lastly, Seoda makes another appearance and we learn more about the weaknesses and dangers of magic.
I hope everyone is still enjoying the last bits of the childhood section of the story. We've only got three chapters left now until the first time skip into the teenage years. Up next is quite possibly the saddest chapter in the entire story though, so prepare yourselves.
Next Chapter: Gone