Final Fantasy

Eternal Silence

Chapter 7

"…fa…"

"…Tifa…"

"…Cloud?"

"Jenova…fight…"

"What…?"

"Fight…kill…"

"…me."

"Kill you…?"

"…Trust them…"

"They…save…"

"Trust who?"

"Cloud, don’t leave me…"

"…I love you…"

"…Cloud…"

"Hey, she’s waking up…"

Tifa opened her eyes and sat up slowly, disoriented. "Where am I…"

Aeris walked over to the cot and knelt at her side, "You’re in Sector Five, at an old church. We brought you here from the reactor."

Tifa blinked and looked at her, "Reactor…oh my God…did Cloud get out??"

Aeris looked down, feeling somewhat ashamed. "No…"

A twinge of pain began to eat at Tifa’s heart, but she felt numb from the shock of it all. "He’s dead…"

Her crimson eyes flooded with tears, "Dead…"

All Aeris could do was pat her shoulder and hand her a tissue…

~*~

Sephiroth paced the room.

The cries were getting louder.

But they killed off Jenova’s spawn, so everything should be all right, shouldn’t they?

Then why was the Planet screaming more than before…?

Aeris heard those cries too…

An agonizing cry, pleading for help, begging for the pain to cease.

But, what could be causing this pain? Didn’t they fix the problem?

Sephiroth walked to where Barret was situated. The cot slouched from his weight, nearly touching the floor. He eyed the piece of machinery on the man’s arm. A gun of some sort, he thought.

Either that, or some high-tech laser.

Unlikely for someone living in the slums.

Keeping Masamune close by, Sephiroth summoned Esuna to reverse the sleep spell. The black man stirred and awoke, as incoherent as any of the drunks on the streets.

Barret sat up and looked towards Sephiroth. He blinked for a few seconds, until recognition kicked in. He raised his gunarm, "You, you sonuvabitch! You da’ one who ambushed us, ain’t ya??"

Sephiroth stared coldly, "Hardly. We were only out to get rid of Jenova’s spawn. You just happened to be in our way."

"Jenovu wha? What da hell you talkin’ bout, foo?"

"That blonde man who was with you is the spawn of a monster. It was only a matter of time before he would try to kill this Planet, this whole universe even. My partner and I were on a mission from the Planet to kill that beast before he could."

Barret chuckled, "Huh, dat’s pretty damn farfetched. Ya’ll sound like Ancients or sumtin’."

Sephiroth looked him in the eye, "We are."

~*~

"Cloud was a monster?"

Aeris nodded, "Yes…I’m sorry…there just was no other way. It was either him or the Planet…"

Tifa looked down, "I understand…but, why are you two so concerned about the Planet?"

"Sephiroth and I are the last Cetra on this Planet. We’re children of Gaia, the Planet, as were our parents. We were told by Gaia about Cloud, and had no choice but to kill him before he killed Gaia."

Tifa put a hand to her forehead, "This is all so much…I…"

Aeris patted her shoulder, "Just lie down and get some rest. Sephiroth and I will explain the rest to you and Barret later."

"Barret’s safe too?"

Aeris nodded, "He’s in the other room with Sephiroth. Just relax."

Tifa nodded and laid down, looking towards the ceiling. Aeris turned and walked away, into the front of the church.

The church consisted of three rooms; the front, and two back rooms. It was terribly dilapidated; the floorboards creaked with each step taken, monsters lurked in the shadows, and there were holes in the ceiling. But light shone through those holes, mysteriously, and Aeris had taken advantage of that.

When she and Sephiroth were children, only about four and six years old, they had cracked open the floor in front of the altar, where the most light shone through, and spread flower seeds…

~*~

‘Sephy, do ya think they’ll grow?’

‘They gotta…we asked Gaia ta help, remember?’

‘Okies. I bet they’ll be purdy!’

‘Yep! And they’ll last fowever too, I bet!’

‘Yah and we can uwse dem at our weddin when we’re grown-ups!’

‘Weddin? What awe ya talkin about?’

‘When two peeple love each otha they get mawwied and stuff!’

‘Oh yah! I love yoo!’

‘I love yoo!’

‘We’re gonna be togetha fowever, right?’

‘Right!’

~*~

Aeris gently plucked one of the flowers, softly running her fingertips over the petals. Almost twenty years had passed since their parents died. The Planet had raised them since, giving them guidance, understanding the minds of small children. Gaia had even helped them grow these flowers so long ago.

Now Gaia needed help.

And her children would help her.

She and Sephiroth were determined to save Gaia, the being who had been with them when no one else had.

Even if it cost them their very lives…

But it didn’t matter. Once any living thing dies, their life energy returns to Gaia, and their spirit finds its way to the Promised Land, a place of supreme happiness, where one could live forever with the spirits of their loved ones who have also died.

Aeris knew that when she and Sephiroth died, they would live on forever with each other and their parents.

They just hoped that they could save Gaia before that happened.

They thought that they were finished once Cloud was dead, but now Gaia cried even louder…

Each cry brought sorrow and pain to Sephiroth and Aeris’ hearts as well. They were the Planet’s children, they felt her pain. They knew how she suffered, and they wanted to stop her suffering.

But what’s causing it?

Aeris sighed softly, standing up and walking into the back where Sephiroth was.

~*~

"Biggs, no one else is here…"

Jessie walked around the abandoned bar. "Marlene!! Sweetie, come out!"

Marlene peeked her head over the bar, "Auntie Jessie?"

Jessie sighed in relief, "Thank God…" She hugged the small girl and picked her up.

Biggs walked over, "Wonder why no one else showed up? I hope everything’s ok…"

Jessie swallowed, hard. "I hope so too…ShinRa’s gonna be hot on our asses after this one. If any of them get caught…"

"Nah, Tifa and Barret are too smart for that. And Cloud’s too tough. They’re probably just takin’ their time getting here. So’s they don’t risk getting caught."

"I hope you’re right."

~*~

"Secretary, send Reno in."

"Yes, sir."

Seconds later, a tall man walked into the room. His fiery red hair was tied into a messy ponytail, strands of it hanging in his face. Two scars ran down his cheekbones on either side; marks from previous fights. His blue eyes glowed with makou inside.

"You rang?"

President ShinRa puffed on his cigar, "New mission for you. You are to detonate the support system above the slums in Sector seven."

Hey, Chapter seven is finally here. What’d ya think? ^-^

I'm especially proud of the Chibi Seph and Aeris scene. I got that idea while writing and was just like, my GOD that would be so cool in a fic.

Next chapter: Seph and Aeris find out what’s hurting Gaia so much. Tifa and Barret are reunited with Jessie and Biggs. And someone betrays ShinRa. Guess who?