Butterfly Effect: Chapter 43
May. 28th, 2011 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bard_linnAuthors: Bard Linn and Kiraya
Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: ZackxSeph, OCxOC, Assorted Past
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Warnings: None this chapter.
Summary: They were going to bring Cloud home. Properly this time.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 43
One of the first things V. taught me was to always be careful of what you say and where you say it. You never know who is listening, or who they may talk to.
—Cloud’s journal, 12 November 469
Sephiroth’s statement stunned his companions into a moment of silence. “If that’s true—”
“—then this isn’t the place to discuss it,” Zack said firmly, cutting Aeris off. He glanced around. It didn’t appear anyone was watching, but in Midgar it was hard to tell sometimes. “We should go someplace more private.”
“The church,” Aeris suggested. “I’ll find Tifa — she’ll want to know.”
“I should find Valentine too.” Zack bit at his bottom lip. He wondered how Vincent would feel about their deductions. Because of his own experiences, he would surely accept that things beyond the obvious could happen, right? On the other hand, Turks tended to have a very final view of death…
“I’ll call Tseng and have him send Valentine down — it’d likely be easier,” Sephiroth said. “Why don’t we meet sometime this evening?”
“Seven, after supper?” Aeris offered. “Tifa doesn’t go in until nine tonight.”
“Seven it is, then.” With a decisive nod, Sephiroth rose. “Until then, we’d best go back, Zack.”
“Yeah.” Zack sighed. They had already made enough of a scene. “…Aeris” he said on a whim, “if you get a chance, could you possibly poke around a bit? See if Hojo is really dead?”
She paled, but nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
“Be careful,” he told her. “We’ll see you later.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On the one hand, ShinRa Company is very powerful, and an invaluable ally. On the other, it runs on paperwork and meetings, and things only get done very slowly. Sometimes it’s better to rely on someone on the outside to get things done in a hurry.
—Cloud’s journal, 2 July 470
Aeris clutched the documents Sephiroth had given her as she listened to the General outline their conclusions to Vincent and Tifa. Watching their faces was somewhat amusing, but she was more intrigued by what she held in her arms.
Evidence of her mother, and possibly also her father.
She loved her adopted mother with all of her heart, but part of her had always wanted to know. What had her birth mother really been like? She got impressions, sometimes, from the Lifestream, but it wasn’t the same as warm memories of her own. She couldn’t remember much that far back, except for fear and white walls and a terrifying escape of which she could only recall pieces; her father was a complete mystery. She had no idea what he had looked like, no idea what had drawn her mother to him… but the tapes in her hands, and the photocopies under them, might finally change that.
Aeris had never particularly liked Sephiroth. While she had been dating Zack she’d heard a lot about him, but she’d never been able to warm to him (or meet him, for that matter). Her Voices were always unsettled about him, moreso after Cloud had gone back to Nibelheim on his first mission. She couldn’t help but be grateful, though. He had given her a piece of her family, a treasure beyond price.
Thinking of some of the hints Zack had dropped about him, she wondered if he didn’t know that. Sephiroth, from her understanding, had been raised by the Company. Who knew if he even knew who his parents were? It made her feel a sudden kinship with him.
“…so we think it’s possible that Cloud’s still alive,” Zack concluded.
Tifa’s expression was a curious mix of hopeful and skeptical. “But they found his body—”
“There is substantial evidence that the Science Department under Hojo conducted extensive experiments in cloning,” Vincent noted. “We can’t know whether or not they had achieved the ability to produce a full human, but under the circumstances…”
“And I’ve been… consulting the Lifestream.” It was still hard to admit that aloud, and even if they were friends Aeris didn’t expect that to change anytime soon. “As far as I’ve been able to tell, Hojo hasn’t joined with it, though since I didn’t really know him I’m not sure how accurate that is.” She sighed. “As for Cloud, I’ve never been able to contact him, which is weird because I knew him a lot better.”
“Well, we obviously need to go look for him,” Tifa declared, one hand clenching into a fist. “There’s no way we can just leave him in the hands of that maniac.”
Zack nodded firmly, looking excited. “Yeah — we’ll leave tomorrow. We can pack tonight—”
But both Vincent and Sephiroth shook their heads. “We can’t just leave, Zack,” the latter pointed out. “We would need the President’s permission. This will unlikely be finished within a mere week or so, and even if we decided to use our vacation time, that requires prior approval.”
The group grew silent, all thinking of how well that would go over. Zack started snickering. “I can see the psych evaluations now. ‘Believe deceased friend to be speaking to and/or possessing them. Abnormal grief management possible sign of other issues.’” He shook his head. “Can you imagine? They’d lock us away for so long we’d probably go crazy for real. Though watching them deal without us might be fun…”
“My latest group of trainees will be done in two days,” Vincent put in. “I won’t renew my contract for the next cycle. If Hojo is alive, I will find him and bring Cloud home.”
“I'm coming with you!” Tifa glared at Zack as he opened his mouth to protest. “He killed my father,” she reminded them. “I’ll talk to Bill. He’ll understand.”
“I’ll come too,” Aeris said firmly. “Reeve will give me the time off. The gardens are doing fine and will be able to handle my absence for at least a few months. I should be able to find areas where the Lifestream is unsettled — if Hojo is performing experiments like what you found in Gongaga, it won’t like that.”
“Well, if nothing else we can buy supplies and give you some money.” Zack sighed. “Man, I’m going to feel so useless, just sitting here waiting for you to get back.”
“I would offer to send regular reports, but if Hojo is alive, someone may still be reporting to him.” Vincent frowned. “Speak to the Dennetts a week or so after we depart. They should be able to set up any necessary medical facilities for our return quietly, if they do so gradually.”
“And Morgan can talk to her dad off the record if we need help,” Zack added. “Good idea. I’ll have them use my room.” It wasn’t like he used it for much besides storing stuff these days. He’d just give it back, but that would force some kind of official acknowledgment of the not-quite-sanctioned relationship he was in, and while Sephiroth — and hey, maybe even himself — were valuable enough to the company that no disciplinary action might come of it, it was probably still better to play things safe.
Even if it seemed an awful lot of people already knew about it…
He shook his head. “Right. So, what do you think you’ll need? I’ll go out with some of the guys tonight and get some shopping done on the side. Not like I haven’t done that before.” Zack pulled out his planner and flipped to the notes pages in the back. As he wrote down their requests, he couldn’t help smiling. They were going to bring Cloud home. Properly this time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The worst part of missions is the traveling. I don’t really get motion sick anymore, but it can be very long and tedious. People have a tendency to start talking about anything after a while, and believe me, I really am not interested in what you and your girlfriend did for your “final farewell” or any of that nonsense.
Sex-crazed maniacs.
—Cloud’s journal, 8 June 470
Tifa forced herself not to bounce in her seat; she wasn’t a child anymore, but it was exciting to be leaving Midgar again. She enjoyed her life in the city much more than she had in Nibelheim, but it did get dreary, even with the carefully cultivated gardens springing up all over. The fresh air whipping through the window as they left Midgar behind them made her realize just how stagnant the city really was. Aeris sure had her work cut out for her, trying to enliven it. “So,” she began, “How are we going to do this? I think we should head over to Gongoga and see if we can pick up the trail—”
Vincent cut her off. “We investigated fully when Cloud was separated us and discovered no leads there. It’s most likely that they traveled by sea, which leaves us no trail to follow.”
“I can ask the Lifestream where the spirits are disturbed…” Aeris looked a bit uncertain. Vincent couldn’t blame her; she’d clearly spent most of her life hiding her abilities and heritage. Talking about it openly after so long must be incredibly difficult and unsettling. He had gone through a similar problem when he’d first begun training Cloud. It simply wasn’t the way of a solitary person to spill out their life story for others to pick apart.
“That seems to be the only lead we have, if you’re still unable to contact Cloud…” Vincent raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
Aeris shook her head. “I still can’t. But now that I know he’s alive… if he drifts this way, I’ll try. So, let’s pull over — I need to be on the ground for this.” When Vincent had brought them to a stop, Aeris disembarked from the small truck they’d rented and settled on the ground, folding her legs beneath her. Vincent watched her visibly calm herself, then begin a series of breathing exercises, most likely aimed at emptying her mind. While the Turks weren’t much into meditation in general, he had seen Tseng do it once or twice. It was actually more common among the SOLDIERs, as it apparently had positive effects on the adaptation process, or at least encouraged stability thereafter. Cloud seemed to have taken to it extremely well.
Green eyes snapped open. “There’s something that direction.”
Tifa gave her a look. “‘Something in that direction’?”
“That’s the best I can tell from here,” Aeris replied, defensive. “It might be easier when we’re closer.”
“Right. Sorry, that’s just… really vague.”
“We’ll get no closer by quibbling over it,” Vincent put in. “Let us continue. Ms. Gainsborough, let me know when we need to stop again.” Vincent climbed into the driver’s seat, restarting the car. Aeris’s intuition was all they had to go on. Tifa was a valuable fighter in the field; she had already shown her worth by defeating several Kalm fangs with minimal effort. Aeris had also demonstrated her mastery with both staff and materia. Vincent knew they would not be liabilities on this mission.
He couldn’t shake this impending sense of doom about the entire thing, though. Perhaps he would pick up some headache capsules at the next town they stopped at. He had the distinct feeling he’d need them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One of Zack’s more… interesting traits is his tendency to jump feet first into a situation. V. would have my head if I did that, of course, so I try not to follow his example. I can’t count the number of time Zack has said something and regretted it later. Not that it wasn’t true — especially in the moment — but things change. Zack is one who always seems to be changing, in some fashion or another.
Of course, in some things he’s as immovable as a mountain. Try talking him out of supporting Sephiroth sometime, if you feel suicidal. Let me know in advance, though, so I can sell tickets. I could use the gil. There’s a new shipment of materia coming in soon and I really want a Summon, if they have any.
—Cloud’s journal, 7 February 472
“Seph, I think we need to talk.” Zack propped himself up with a pillow, turning on the small light beside the bed. “About Cloud.”
Sephiroth turned over, looking at him. “I believe we’ve covered everything. Medical equipment is ready in your room, blackmail material to use on various subjects in order to keep their silence, Mrs. Dennett is working on counters for Mako poisoning, and—”
“Not that,” Zack interrupted, shaking his head. “I mean, yeah, that’s good we’ve got all the details worked out, but I wanted to talk about our relationship. The three of us.” Sephiroth settled into a pose that Zack knew meant he was going let him ramble until he got his thoughts into control. “We were really close — I mean, I saw Cloud in your office more than just about anyone else. But things are going to change. I don’t know what’s happened to Cloud these… almost three years, now, but I know we’ve changed. I’ve changed. Our relationship’s changed.” Zack privately thought it was for the better, as they seemed to be on a more equal footing, but a different dynamic would affect their friendship with others — already had. Again, usually for the better, but Cloud had been so close…
Shaking his head, he continued. “I… don’t like to think about what Hojo has probably been doing to him. I don’t want to think about his mental stability. I really don’t like thinking about what else Vincent and the ladies could find.” Hojo wasn’t the kind of guy to worry about things like safety measures and unreasonable stress levels. The body they found might not have been real, but Cloud could be dead by the time they found him, or horribly changed into something that wasn’t even their friend anymore.
“We’ll take it one day at a time, Zack,” Sephiroth murmured. “Sooner or later, Cloud will come back. And if he is not himself, I will take care of it.”
That scared Zack even more, the thought that Cloud would become the type of berserker monster SOLDIER that happened sometimes in the field. More often than not, Sephiroth was the one who had to put them down, as no one else had the muscle. “I will pray reverently it does not come to that.” Religion wasn’t something Zack thought about often, but if Sephiroth were forced to do that… It would kill him. “So,” he said, attempting to change the topic, “I know this is kind of out of left field, but I was thinking about what I said the night before he di— was kidnapped. You know, about the three of us getting together for a night or two.”
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. “Considering all of the potential problems here, I must point out such a course of action isn’t particularly wise at this time.”
Zack snorted. “Well, yeah. I doubt Cloud’s gonna be up for any kind of physical activity, much less hot SOLDIER threesomes.” He found himself blushing for some reason, though in all honesty, the idea still was rather appealing in his head. Though the fact that Cloud had apparently been in his head was something of a turn-off. He had no qualms about sharing the bed of a friend, but someone who had possibly seen those dark thoughts you didn’t want anyone to know? That could be awkward in the extreme.
Partially to distract himself, partially because his mouth had a horrible tendency to keep going when he was tired, he mused aloud, “Who knows? This whole thing might turn him off sex for the rest of his life.” A horrible thought crossed his mind. “Maybe… maybe Hojo castrated him. He always had weird ideas about who should ‘breed’ and who shouldn’t.” He shook his head. “Man, that would suck. He’d be stuck a virgin forever — maybe we should’ve jumped him that last night.”
Abruptly Zack felt horribly embarrassed, his cheeks reddening again. He had the distinct impression of someone yelling at him, though he couldn’t make out the exact words — but he got a sense of mild threat, along the lines of when I get my hands on you—
“Cloud?” he inquired, sitting up straight. “Seph, can you feel that?”
The other man nodded. “Cloud. We know you’re here.”
Surprise this time, and a bit of awkwardness. Zack could just picture the guy shuffling his feet, that embarrassed look from his trainee days abruptly clear in his mind’s eye.
“Thanks for your help, Cloud. We’ve appreciated it, even if it confused the hell out of us some days.” He paused. He didn’t want to send his friend away, but… “We know you’re alive. Vincent, Tifa, and Aeris are coming to look for you. I don’t know if you can, but see if you can get in contact with Aeris. She’s a Cetra, so she could probably talk to you, find out where you are or follow you back there. All right?”
Doubt, and a sense of Aeris lacking… something, but a willingness to try.
Zack smiled, noticing Sephiroth doing the same. “One way or another, we’re going to bring you home. Don’t you forget it.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One of the things they stressed in SOLDIER training was to plan, and then overplan. Chances are, you’ll need it.
Of course, Vincent was a lot better at getting that lesson pounded into me than SOLDIER ever was. And a good thing, too, because just when you aren’t expecting it, life comes around and bites you in the ass.
—Cloud’s journal, 26 November 471
From the area around Midgar, they had wandered in a northerly direction, stopping at Kalm for supplies before making the long trek east to the huge chocobo ranch where ShinRa stabled many of its cavalry mounts. There they had traded in the truck for some travel-birds, whose combination of warbird stamina with racer speed — and lack of dependence on gas, which had become increasingly harder to find the further they got from the city — promised to make the journey a little easier… once Vincent’s mount became accustomed to him, anyway.
It seemed as if that might be an impossible task, at this rate; when he’d approached it to mount on the morning of the second day, the chocobo had broken free of its tether and bolted, leading them on a merry chase for most of the morning. When they finally caught it at the edge of a huge swamp, Tifa wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, that smell is just awful.”
“You’d best become accustomed to it, Miss Lockhart,” said Vincent, “because we’re going this way next. The old mythril mines are on the other side.”
“What’s so special about the mines?”
“The area is high in Mako levels,” Vincent replied, “and coupled with mythril — and thus the mines — being largely abandoned some years ago in favor of the adamantine to be found in Wutai, they’d be a good location for our quarry to hide.”
“It may be easier to speak to the Planet underground, too,” Aeris mused, cinching the saddle on Vincent’s bird and giving it a reassuring pat.
“Well,” Tifa said decisively, “let’s get going, then. The sooner we get across, the sooner we can be away from this stench.”
“Indeed, but we need to be—”
::Behind!::
The former Turk whirled, his gun sliding free of his holster at Chaos’ hissed warning, safety clicking off as he looked for the danger. His companions exchanged a look, but wisely armed themselves also.
A moment later Vincent’s enhanced eye sight picked up the danger slithering through the sedge. “Watch out — it’s a Zolom!”
“A what?”
Vincent didn’t have a chance to reply as the enormous serpent suddenly reared up from among the marsh plants with a baleful hiss. He tracked the beast carefully, his body tense with anticipation. With its head above them an eyeshot would be nigh impossible, and the scales on the thing were cursedly strong, making it unlikely that his normal ammunition would pierce it. He wished he’d thought to bring some explosive rounds with him—
Aeris let off a Fire spell, and the giant snake roared. Tifa was rummaging through their bags, pulling out a few potions, ready to take the position of healer, her own bracer already glowing on her wrist. Vincent approved. As long as they could counter things before it used its Beta attack—
The only warning he has was a growl in the back of his mind before his body convulsed. Not now—!
Their mounts fled, warking in terror, and Aeris badly fumbled her next Fire spell, her eyes going wide as Vincent’s cape rippled in the wind before releasing a huge canine beast that leapt forward, its wicked claws digging into the serpent, tearing chunks of flesh from its massive body. She wrapped her arms close around herself, feeling queasy as she watched yet unable to take her eyes away as blood flew, armored skin splitting as easily as if it were merely tissue paper. Tifa yanked her away as a heavily-scaled hunk of serpent flew towards them, nearly landing in the place Aeris had been standing. Gaea, it’s… it’s almost like it’s dissecting it—. There was something so wrong with that demon, something that made her bones ache—
“Shit,” Tifa said, her tone oddly detached. “Cloud wasn’t kidding.”
“What? You knew about this?” Aeris turned to stare at her, shocked.
“Not exactly.” The brunette shrugged. “He just said Valentine has a lot of surprises.”
Aeris glared, angry that Tifa was taking this so calmly — then looked again, realizing that she wasn’t. She might be pretending not to be affected, but she was also shaking slightly, and she, too, seemed to be unable to tear her eyes from the massacre before her. Tifa might be playing it cool, but she clearly was also upset by Vincent’s… condition.
But she doesn’t feel it the way I do. The wrongness — no wonder his chocobo has been uneasy! Later, she would recall the feeling, not the same, but similar to the one she had gotten from both Zack and Sephiroth, and remember Vincent’s glowing eyes — yet another soul Hojo had poisoned—
For now, though, all she could do was watch the gruesome scene as the beast let out a howl, splitting the snake down the middle of its belly and launching a ball of flame into the exposed entrails, sending the nauseating smell of burning flesh into the air. How can we trust something like that?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aeris is so amazing — I wish she and Zack would settle their differences and just get back together, but she doesn’t want to talk about him and he doesn’t want to talk about her. I guess I’ll just have to leave it alone. It drives me crazy, but there isn’t much I can do about it, really. Zack said there were “fundamental differences” between them regarding his job. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen him regret being a SOLDIER.
—Cloud’s journal, 18 April 472
Reeve forced himself not to fidget, settling for taking detailed notes on Scarlet’s budget proposal for a new weapon she called the Sister Ray. Personally, Reeve thought the idea sounded like a quick way to cause a reactor explosion. Too many risks for too little benefit. As head of Urban Development he had known a lot about reactors before starting up the MMG Project; his knowledge had more than doubled since, particularly in the areas of their weaknesses. They could do a lot more with that money…
Not for the first time, Reeve ran through the list in his head of his fellow board members, wondering which one was the leak to Hojo. He had been suspicious when Hojo escaped; when Sephiroth’s party had walked into the trap that had cost Strife his life, he no longer was suspicious — he was sure.
He supposed that it could be an aide or a secretary, but the last mission had been highly classified. None of their aides were supposed to know — though whether the other heads of the departments had followed that directive was something else entirely. He had considered Scarlet for some time. She was very money-driven and completely amoral, as demonstrated by that horrible incident in Corel several years ago. But she was also very independent, and Hojo was infamously misogynist… Not to mention that under that all that blonde hair and makeup was a surprisingly quick mind. She surely knew well that Hojo would only use her until she was exhausted, then turn her into one of his experiments. No, Scarlet would never work for the man.
Tseng was out for the same reasons. As the head of the Turks, he knew the most about what had happened under Hojo’s command of the Science Department. He had lost people to the scientist, and the Turks were a closely-knit group. Putting them in danger by helping Hojo would be the ultimate betrayal, and that struck Reeve as something Tseng would never do.
Matheson was out as well, not only because he knew what his former boss was capable of, but Reeve knew him well enough by now to judge his character. The man was a humanitarian as well as a scientist. He seemed to enjoy working on the MMG Project, and was constantly trying to find ways to make SOLDIER adaptations not only more effective, but safer and more stable. How he had survived as long as he had under Hojo’s supervision with this sort of outlook was a miracle in and of itself.
Heidegger was at the top of the list. He didn’t like not having complete control over ShinRa’s security forces anymore; the Turks had begun answering only to the President when Tseng had taken control, and SOLDIER was all but an independent department (largely due to Sephiroth’s regular attendance at board meetings and insistence on being in the know about what was decided for his men. Reeve had sent a bottle of whiskey in sympathy — and no small admiration at the force of will it surely required. Sinclair had told him that he, at least, had enjoyed it — Sephiroth didn’t accept gifts from fellow employees because of the potential for bribes, unless they were from trusted friends). Heidegger wasn’t an idiot, but he did have a tendency to underestimate his foes, overestimate his invulnerability, and downplay the importance of politics.
There was also Palmer, the nominal head of the Space and Aeronautics Department. Reeve resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. The Space Department hardly did anything — certainly not enough for Palmer to be earning the salary he was. Yes, they had managed to launch one rocket, but since then the project had come to a near standstill, and Reeve privately thought they should just axe the entire operation. He doubted Palmer had the wit to be a successful spy — he hardly seemed as competent as his peers.
In any case, Reeve decided, he should bring out Cait Sith and see if he couldn’t gather any more information on any of his fellows. It wouldn’t hurt, and it might help Aeris’s quest to find her missing friend.
He felt a slight smile cross his face, and quickly suppressed it. It would look out of place while Scarlet described the “terrible foes” her new weapon could destroy. (Really, what would they need that for? They had SOLDIERs, after all. He couldn’t think of much that SOLDIERs couldn’t destroy that a particle-beam cannon would have a better shot at… unless perhaps those legendary Weapons awoke and tried to annihilate Midgar. Like that would happen.)
Thinking of Aeris always brought a smile to his face. He knew it was against company policy to date coworkers, and they had more or less kept things platonic between them. Privately, however, he could admit he was more than interested. When she returned from her trip to “study plant life indigenous to areas with high Mako concentration,” he planned to ask her out for a nice evening, just the two of them. They both were sufficiently well established by now that he thought they would be okay if they pushed the rules a bit, and if things went well… Well, there certainly wasn’t any reason they couldn’t still work together in that case.
“I will take your recommendation under consideration,” Rufus said gravely as Scarlet finished her presentation. (Reeve translated that as “no way in hell.”) “Now, Mr. Tuesti — an update on the situation in Sector Seven?”
Reeve rose to his feet, gathering his notes, and forced Aeris from his mind. Enough time for that when she returned from her trip.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tifa’s gotten a lot more laid back about things, but her temper still sometimes gets the best of her. This is especially true when she gets frustrated because she isn’t making progress. I remember one time she busted the fence of Aeris’s garden when she couldn’t get that Meteodrive maneuver to work. The good thing, though, is that beating someone up usually takes care of it. Note to self: next time Tifa gets mad, take her out to the Kalm area and let her take out her frustrations on assorted critters. Also, keep out of range of her fists.
—Cloud’s journal, 5 December 471
The silence was oppressive.
Tifa forced herself not to fidget. After their encounter with the Zolom (and their retrieval of their mounts), their little party had had noticable difficulty staying together. Aeris refused to even look at Vincent, and Tifa found herself in the odd position of being the peacemaker, a job that Aeris usually took. When Tifa was being a ‘peacekeeper’ at the Dragon, she usually smacked the offenders around a bit then chucked them out on their ear. She didn’t have to get a sulking former Turk, who had somehow managed to cultivate a literal aura of gloom about him, and a flower-growing Cetra who practically screamed terrified to work together.
Sometimes she really, really hated her life.
The only good thing was there were plenty of monsters to take her aggravation as oppose to her silent team mates. Exploring the mythril mines had been eerie; the walls grew crystals limned with Mako, lighting up the whole place faintly — like that materia cave in the Nibel mountains, but dimmer enough to make her jumpy.
They had found a few interesting pieces of materia in the caves, but no Cloud. Fort Condor, the next place Aeris had timidly suggested, had also borne no results when they’d finally gotten in. So now they were camped out in the hills east of Junon, the girls huddled next to the fire while Vincent hovered just within calling range. Aeris poked a stick in the fire, while Tifa’s shoulders twitched, feeling the stress between them.
Enough.
She stood, drawing Aeris’s gaze to her, before marching her way over to Vincent. “Look. I don’t care if you turn into a dog, a dragon, or a giant bunny rabbit—” She put her hands on her hips, ignoring Aeris’s sharp intake of breath behind her, as well as the trace of amusement in she thought she saw in Vincent’s eyes “—but you promised to help us find Cloud, and staying all the way out here and not talking to us isn’t being helpful or productive. So why don’t you come back over here and we’ll talk?” She paused for a moment, then added, “Though I’ll admit — if you have any more surprises under that cape, a bit of advance warning would be appreciated.”
“They… seem to have quieted, for now. I have been informed that my long stay in Midgar did not give them enough exercise.” Vincent stood, following Tifa back to the fire. He hesitated. “I… apologize for startling you, Ms. Gainsborough.”
Aeris was silent for a long moment. Tifa held her breath impatiently. If Aeris thought she’d just let her ignore that — it wasn’t like Vincent spoke, much less apologized, often—
“Accepted.”
Tifa exhaled, and settled down again. “So. What should we do now?”
“Mideel’s to the south. It’s supposed to have high Mako levels.”
Aeris tensed her shoulders. “I’m not really sensing anything that way. That area seems pure.”
Tifa, already frustrated by the long stretch of silence and stillness, snapped. “Not really? Can’t we get a definitive answer? Why don’t you just… home in on Cloud or something?” She would be much happier once she could go back to her regular jobs, extra experience aside.
“I’m not a bloodhound,” Aeris retorted. “It’s not like I’m trained in this or anything. I just get a sense of general wrongness.”
“Which is probably why this trip’s been like some thrice-damned Reactors of the World Tour, huh?” Tifa grumbled. “Why don’t we see if we can get a map of all ShinRa’s reactors, live or deactivated?”
“Assuming it is indeed Hojo who is behind Cloud’s disappearance, he could very well be at a reactor, or not far from one,” Vincent pointed out. Tifa’s idea was sound in theory, but it wouldn’t help them here. Their intense scrutiny of the failed reactor at Gongaga had shown that Hojo has been tapping some of the still-functioning systems to access the Mako he needed for his experiments. “I would suggest moving to the Western Continent.”
“Catch the ferry at Junon, then?”
Vincent nodded. “We’ll spend a few days in Costa del Sol. I will arrange transport.”
Tifa nodded, thinking. They had walked since that little battle at the swamp had scared their chocobos all the way back to the ranch, and she didn’t really look forward to doing the same once they’d crossed the ocean. There was no guarantee different birds would take better to Vincent, even assuming they could find chocobos on the Western Continent. An idea occurred to her. “Hey, doesn’t Don Corneo have operations over there?”
Vincent frowned. “It’s possible.”
Aeris looked at Tifa. “You aren’t thinking…”
“Well, he’s terrified of us after that one time.” Tifa didn’t look particularly repentant. “It isn’t like I couldn’t sneak in as a dancer and threaten to crush his nuts. Again.”
“I don’t know how well the same trick would work a second time,” Aeris muttered.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Vincent said firmly, and moved to bank the fire.
Taking that as the sign it was, Aeris reached for her sleeping bag. “For now, then, we should sleep.” The young woman was very much wearied by their constant searching. She had been stretching her Cetra abilities to her limits; the feelings the earth had given her, particularly in the tainted areas, had made it difficult for her to eat or sleep. Tifa made a point of insisting she eat a certain amount each day, and she and Vincent split the night shifts, letting Aeris rest as best she could.
“Good idea. I’ll take first shift, tonight.” Tifa stretched her muscles before settling on a stump, while Aeris and Vincent bedded down for a fitful sleep. She rubbed her fingers against the Ice materia in her bracer, one of Cloud’s gifts, and looked out over the landscape. She only hoped they’d find a clue on the Western Continent; she wasn’t sure they could stand much more of this without any sign.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Note to self: Sneaking up on Vincent is like asking ShinRa to be generous without kick-backs — impossible. Save yourself the time and trouble and just don’t.
—Cloud’s journal, 21 March 470
The ninja shifted her weight slightly, watching her prey.
They had come from Costa del Sol a few days back. At first she had no intention of even getting close — the man made her shiver just to look at him, and she had been a thief long enough to tell when someone was out of her league. But the women were alone now; their shadowy companion had departed a few hours ago, leaving them to set up camp. The dusk was quickly giving way into night, and she would be able to get close without being detected. Even better, the two women appeared to hold most of the materia in the party. She licked her lips, remembering the bracers she had seen, the glint on their weapons. There had even been the red glow of a Summon!
(Surely with a Summon, Wutai would have a chance…)
Moving out of her crouch, Yuffie Kisaragi moved into the gathering gloom to drop in on her victims, only to suddenly find herself hanging in thin air, held tight by the neck of her shirt, staring right into into glowing red eyes.
She screamed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Would you believe I caught three pickpockets targeting me today alone? You would think that word would get out not to try to rob the blond ShinRa guy with the crazy hair. I’m not much to look at, but I know how much it makes me stick out. I’m just glad V. taught me how to keep my stuff safe — I’d never hear the end of it from Zack if I got robbed.
—Cloud’s journal, 19 October 469
Vincent eyed the young woman squirming in his grasp, screaming her head off, with a mixed sense of amusement and irritation. The girl was loud, and her pitch would have irritated even non-enhanced hearing.
Still, the girl wasn’t talentless, her prodigious set of lungs aside. It had taken him nearly a day to figure out who exactly was tailing them, and another two to pin down her movements well enough to capture her. She had the look of a thief or an outlaw, unkempt and shabby, but her weapon was well cared for, and her each of materia was mastered to level two. An interesting dichotomy.
Vincent pinned the girl’s hands behind her back, and motioned for Tifa to bring one of their tent ropes. The woman obeyed, handing it over for Vincent to use to securely fasten the girl’s hands. He had to hide a smile. Once Tifa had had her say about the incident with the Galian Beast, she had settled back into the comfortable routine they had before his demons’ dramatic reveal. Despite not being related, Tifa and Cloud had some very similar characteristics. Both had been very innocent when they came to Midgar, but as they had grown up, they had become able to blatantly ignore complicated, unsettling realities to take care of important assignments or people they cared about. It was a good quality in any warrior.
It had certainly made this trip easier. If solely he and Ms. Gainsborough had been on this quest, they would likely have gone their separate ways at least half a dozen times. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he carried his captive back to camp.
“What are you doing?” Green eyes looked up at him, worried. He hadn’t actually heard Aeris — his hostage was still screaming at the top of her lungs — but the day a Turk forgot how to lip-read was the day they retired him.
“I want to ask her some questions.”
“Relax,” Tifa said, trying to soothe the girl a bit. “We won’t hurt you. We’re just going to talk to you.”
It took a while after Vincent dropped her for the girl to quiet; he was amused to see that she was using her screaming to distract them from her hands, which were busily working on her bindings. The girl was as devious as some of the recruits he trained — more than some. “Enough,” he said in his no-nonsense teaching tone. “Answer our questions and we’ll let you go. Continue and you’ll be in a more uncomfortable position.”
The Wutaian gave him a calculating look. “…fine.” She settled more comfortably. “What do you want?”
“You appear to be well-traveled. I want to know if you’ve seen a young man — in his twenties, blond hair, blue eyes—”
“Hair’s kind of pointy,” Tifa chimed in. “Gravity-defying, really — and he’s a SOLDIER, so his eyes would have that Mako glow.”
The girl considered this. “About five and a half feet?”
“Yes!” Tifa exclaimed, leaning forward in excitement. “You know where he is?”
“Saw someone of a similar description last time I was in Wutai — some people hauled him off a boat and carried him up into the mountains.” She shivered. “The guy who seemed to be in charge didn’t look… right.”
“Black hair, lab coat?” Tifa asked intently. The thief nodded. “It has to be Hojo!”
“Will you take us there?” Aeris asked eagerly.
“What’s in it for me? I’m not gonna do it for nothing.”
“Your freedom,” Vincent said dryly.
“Hmph.” The girl shifted a little, apparently considering. “…Well, even if I were interested, I don’t have money to get to Wutai right now.”
“You needn’t concern yourself over the cost.”
“Really.” She studied Vincent intently.
“Really.”
They stared at each other for a long time, until finally the younger looked away. “Fair enough, I suppose. Name’s Yuffie, by the way.”
One of the others stepped in to respond. “I’m Tifa, this is Aeris, and that’s Valentine.” Interesting that their captive didn’t give our her family name. Well, they could play by the same rules, though Tifa couldn’t imagine introducing Valentine as “Vincent.”
Nodding to Yuffie in greeting, Aeris pointed out, “Getting permits will be difficult. Travel to Wutai is still restricted.”
Vincent shook his head. “Too dangerous. We’d likely tip off our quarry’s spy, if he’s still in place. No, I have another idea — it will be a long trip, however.” He undid Yuffie’s bindings, then moved to bank the fire. “Sleep. We’ll head north at dawn.”
“Don’t suppose any of you have a Chocobo Lure?” Yuffie looked hopeful. “I’m not looking forward to walking all the way to wherever we’re going.”
“Chocobos don’t really agree with us,” Tifa said.
Don’t agree with me, that is. Vincent could hardly blame the birds, considering that they were for the most part peaceful herbivores. Sensing the creatures that lurked beneath his skin must be unsettling. “We will be heading west, then north — our goal is Rocket Town.” He allowed himself a tight smile. “Cloud has a friend there.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cid is an… interesting man. I don’t think I could ever forget him even if Mako messed with my memories. I’m pretty sure that there are no words that could really capture him, so I’ll just make a note here: if you’re ever in need of an airplane, head over to Rocket Town. Also, do not take Cid up on his offer for one of his hand-rolled cigs — they’re nasty as anything.
—Cloud’s journal, 28 June 470
Taking a deep breath, Vincent knocked.
Cloud had told them all about his trip to Rocket Town, and had mentioned Cid from time to time — apparently they wrote occasionally, and Cloud made a point of dropping by when he was in the area on a mission — mostly because of the man’s… interesting personality. He made for engaging conversation, and was a relatively neutral topic for any occasion. He just hoped the man had been honest when he’d said he would help Cloud out.
The door opened suddenly, though not without a squeak that indicated it needed some oiling. Behind it was a brunette woman in a lab coat — Vincent and Aeris both stiffened, but calmed a little as Tifa made a point of casually adjusting her gloves in their peripheral vision — who cocked her head at them in confusion. “Can I help you with something?”
“We’re looking for the pilot, Cid Highwind,” Tifa interjected. “Is he available?”
“Ah, yes,” the woman replied, nodding. “If you would be so kind as to come inside… Please, just wait here and he’ll be right in.” She gestured for them to seat themselves around the table, then started a kettle of water on the stove before stepping out through a back door.
Yuffie drummed her fingers on the table, then stood up, pacing around the room (putting her hands behind her back when Vincent shot her a warning glance). She stopped in front of one of the walls, staring intently. “So this is what the kid looks like up close, huh?”
“He’s no kid; he’s older than you,” Tifa muttered, but joined the rest of them as they came over to get a look at the photograph the ninja had found.
The picture looked to have been taken at the nearby launch pad, though that wasn’t its focus. A cockily grinning man stood in the middle, a cigarette clenched firmly between his teeth, one arm wrapped tightly around the waist of the woman who’d answered the door (she was blushing here, but seemed quite pleased), the other slung casually over the shoulders of a surprised-looking young SOLDIER Second Class with unruly blond hair.
“Yes, that’s him,” Vincent said softly, reaching out with gloved fingers to touch the young man’s face.
They all started when the back door suddenly slammed open, a grizzled blond man smoking a cigarette striding through it, wiping greasy hands on a rag. “So, Shera tells me you’re here looking for me? You look a bit odd to be ShinRa.”
All of them except Yuffie had to hide a smile at that. Cloud hadn’t exaggerated the pilot’s forthrightness at all. “We aren’t, exactly,” Tifa said. “We’re friends of Cloud Strife.”
A look of sorrow crossed Cid’s face. “I heard ‘bout the funeral. Wish I could’ve made it.”
Aeris took a deep breath. “That’s just it — we think his death may have been faked.” Cid’s eyebrows headed for his hairline. “Our sources have traced him to Wutai.”
“And getting travel permits might tip off the people who have kidnapped him,” Tifa added.
“So, what, you want my plane?” Cid shook his head. “No fucking way. I’m not letting any rank amateurs pilot the Bronc.” He took a drag on his cigarette. “I’ll just have to go with you.”
“It’s likely to be dangerous,” Vincent interjected.
Cid smirked, taking a well-worn spear down from the wall, checking the materia in the handle. “I’m part of the town militia — I can handle a little danger. ‘Sides, I owe that kid a hell of a lot, and I don’t want to see him in the hands of some— who has him, anyway?”
“An immoral, corrupt, former ShinRa scientist known for biological experimentation,” Vincent said flatly.
Cid raised an eyebrow. “An ex-ShinRa scientist? Didn’t think they existed.” He looked around at the group. “Hmm… We should just fit, if y’all don’t mind getting a little cozy. Stop by the shop and pick up anything you need, and I’ll check the radar. If the weather favors us, we’ll be gone in an hour.”
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Genre: General/Drama
Pairings: ZackxSeph, OCxOC, Assorted Past
Rating (Overall): PG-13
Warnings: None this chapter.
Summary: They were going to bring Cloud home. Properly this time.
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VII and all associated characters and symbols are the exclusive property of Square Enix and its associates. We’re just borrowing them for a while.
Chapter 43
One of the first things V. taught me was to always be careful of what you say and where you say it. You never know who is listening, or who they may talk to.
—Cloud’s journal, 12 November 469
Sephiroth’s statement stunned his companions into a moment of silence. “If that’s true—”
“—then this isn’t the place to discuss it,” Zack said firmly, cutting Aeris off. He glanced around. It didn’t appear anyone was watching, but in Midgar it was hard to tell sometimes. “We should go someplace more private.”
“The church,” Aeris suggested. “I’ll find Tifa — she’ll want to know.”
“I should find Valentine too.” Zack bit at his bottom lip. He wondered how Vincent would feel about their deductions. Because of his own experiences, he would surely accept that things beyond the obvious could happen, right? On the other hand, Turks tended to have a very final view of death…
“I’ll call Tseng and have him send Valentine down — it’d likely be easier,” Sephiroth said. “Why don’t we meet sometime this evening?”
“Seven, after supper?” Aeris offered. “Tifa doesn’t go in until nine tonight.”
“Seven it is, then.” With a decisive nod, Sephiroth rose. “Until then, we’d best go back, Zack.”
“Yeah.” Zack sighed. They had already made enough of a scene. “…Aeris” he said on a whim, “if you get a chance, could you possibly poke around a bit? See if Hojo is really dead?”
She paled, but nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
“Be careful,” he told her. “We’ll see you later.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
On the one hand, ShinRa Company is very powerful, and an invaluable ally. On the other, it runs on paperwork and meetings, and things only get done very slowly. Sometimes it’s better to rely on someone on the outside to get things done in a hurry.
—Cloud’s journal, 2 July 470
Aeris clutched the documents Sephiroth had given her as she listened to the General outline their conclusions to Vincent and Tifa. Watching their faces was somewhat amusing, but she was more intrigued by what she held in her arms.
Evidence of her mother, and possibly also her father.
She loved her adopted mother with all of her heart, but part of her had always wanted to know. What had her birth mother really been like? She got impressions, sometimes, from the Lifestream, but it wasn’t the same as warm memories of her own. She couldn’t remember much that far back, except for fear and white walls and a terrifying escape of which she could only recall pieces; her father was a complete mystery. She had no idea what he had looked like, no idea what had drawn her mother to him… but the tapes in her hands, and the photocopies under them, might finally change that.
Aeris had never particularly liked Sephiroth. While she had been dating Zack she’d heard a lot about him, but she’d never been able to warm to him (or meet him, for that matter). Her Voices were always unsettled about him, moreso after Cloud had gone back to Nibelheim on his first mission. She couldn’t help but be grateful, though. He had given her a piece of her family, a treasure beyond price.
Thinking of some of the hints Zack had dropped about him, she wondered if he didn’t know that. Sephiroth, from her understanding, had been raised by the Company. Who knew if he even knew who his parents were? It made her feel a sudden kinship with him.
“…so we think it’s possible that Cloud’s still alive,” Zack concluded.
Tifa’s expression was a curious mix of hopeful and skeptical. “But they found his body—”
“There is substantial evidence that the Science Department under Hojo conducted extensive experiments in cloning,” Vincent noted. “We can’t know whether or not they had achieved the ability to produce a full human, but under the circumstances…”
“And I’ve been… consulting the Lifestream.” It was still hard to admit that aloud, and even if they were friends Aeris didn’t expect that to change anytime soon. “As far as I’ve been able to tell, Hojo hasn’t joined with it, though since I didn’t really know him I’m not sure how accurate that is.” She sighed. “As for Cloud, I’ve never been able to contact him, which is weird because I knew him a lot better.”
“Well, we obviously need to go look for him,” Tifa declared, one hand clenching into a fist. “There’s no way we can just leave him in the hands of that maniac.”
Zack nodded firmly, looking excited. “Yeah — we’ll leave tomorrow. We can pack tonight—”
But both Vincent and Sephiroth shook their heads. “We can’t just leave, Zack,” the latter pointed out. “We would need the President’s permission. This will unlikely be finished within a mere week or so, and even if we decided to use our vacation time, that requires prior approval.”
The group grew silent, all thinking of how well that would go over. Zack started snickering. “I can see the psych evaluations now. ‘Believe deceased friend to be speaking to and/or possessing them. Abnormal grief management possible sign of other issues.’” He shook his head. “Can you imagine? They’d lock us away for so long we’d probably go crazy for real. Though watching them deal without us might be fun…”
“My latest group of trainees will be done in two days,” Vincent put in. “I won’t renew my contract for the next cycle. If Hojo is alive, I will find him and bring Cloud home.”
“I'm coming with you!” Tifa glared at Zack as he opened his mouth to protest. “He killed my father,” she reminded them. “I’ll talk to Bill. He’ll understand.”
“I’ll come too,” Aeris said firmly. “Reeve will give me the time off. The gardens are doing fine and will be able to handle my absence for at least a few months. I should be able to find areas where the Lifestream is unsettled — if Hojo is performing experiments like what you found in Gongaga, it won’t like that.”
“Well, if nothing else we can buy supplies and give you some money.” Zack sighed. “Man, I’m going to feel so useless, just sitting here waiting for you to get back.”
“I would offer to send regular reports, but if Hojo is alive, someone may still be reporting to him.” Vincent frowned. “Speak to the Dennetts a week or so after we depart. They should be able to set up any necessary medical facilities for our return quietly, if they do so gradually.”
“And Morgan can talk to her dad off the record if we need help,” Zack added. “Good idea. I’ll have them use my room.” It wasn’t like he used it for much besides storing stuff these days. He’d just give it back, but that would force some kind of official acknowledgment of the not-quite-sanctioned relationship he was in, and while Sephiroth — and hey, maybe even himself — were valuable enough to the company that no disciplinary action might come of it, it was probably still better to play things safe.
Even if it seemed an awful lot of people already knew about it…
He shook his head. “Right. So, what do you think you’ll need? I’ll go out with some of the guys tonight and get some shopping done on the side. Not like I haven’t done that before.” Zack pulled out his planner and flipped to the notes pages in the back. As he wrote down their requests, he couldn’t help smiling. They were going to bring Cloud home. Properly this time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The worst part of missions is the traveling. I don’t really get motion sick anymore, but it can be very long and tedious. People have a tendency to start talking about anything after a while, and believe me, I really am not interested in what you and your girlfriend did for your “final farewell” or any of that nonsense.
Sex-crazed maniacs.
—Cloud’s journal, 8 June 470
Tifa forced herself not to bounce in her seat; she wasn’t a child anymore, but it was exciting to be leaving Midgar again. She enjoyed her life in the city much more than she had in Nibelheim, but it did get dreary, even with the carefully cultivated gardens springing up all over. The fresh air whipping through the window as they left Midgar behind them made her realize just how stagnant the city really was. Aeris sure had her work cut out for her, trying to enliven it. “So,” she began, “How are we going to do this? I think we should head over to Gongoga and see if we can pick up the trail—”
Vincent cut her off. “We investigated fully when Cloud was separated us and discovered no leads there. It’s most likely that they traveled by sea, which leaves us no trail to follow.”
“I can ask the Lifestream where the spirits are disturbed…” Aeris looked a bit uncertain. Vincent couldn’t blame her; she’d clearly spent most of her life hiding her abilities and heritage. Talking about it openly after so long must be incredibly difficult and unsettling. He had gone through a similar problem when he’d first begun training Cloud. It simply wasn’t the way of a solitary person to spill out their life story for others to pick apart.
“That seems to be the only lead we have, if you’re still unable to contact Cloud…” Vincent raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
Aeris shook her head. “I still can’t. But now that I know he’s alive… if he drifts this way, I’ll try. So, let’s pull over — I need to be on the ground for this.” When Vincent had brought them to a stop, Aeris disembarked from the small truck they’d rented and settled on the ground, folding her legs beneath her. Vincent watched her visibly calm herself, then begin a series of breathing exercises, most likely aimed at emptying her mind. While the Turks weren’t much into meditation in general, he had seen Tseng do it once or twice. It was actually more common among the SOLDIERs, as it apparently had positive effects on the adaptation process, or at least encouraged stability thereafter. Cloud seemed to have taken to it extremely well.
Green eyes snapped open. “There’s something that direction.”
Tifa gave her a look. “‘Something in that direction’?”
“That’s the best I can tell from here,” Aeris replied, defensive. “It might be easier when we’re closer.”
“Right. Sorry, that’s just… really vague.”
“We’ll get no closer by quibbling over it,” Vincent put in. “Let us continue. Ms. Gainsborough, let me know when we need to stop again.” Vincent climbed into the driver’s seat, restarting the car. Aeris’s intuition was all they had to go on. Tifa was a valuable fighter in the field; she had already shown her worth by defeating several Kalm fangs with minimal effort. Aeris had also demonstrated her mastery with both staff and materia. Vincent knew they would not be liabilities on this mission.
He couldn’t shake this impending sense of doom about the entire thing, though. Perhaps he would pick up some headache capsules at the next town they stopped at. He had the distinct feeling he’d need them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One of Zack’s more… interesting traits is his tendency to jump feet first into a situation. V. would have my head if I did that, of course, so I try not to follow his example. I can’t count the number of time Zack has said something and regretted it later. Not that it wasn’t true — especially in the moment — but things change. Zack is one who always seems to be changing, in some fashion or another.
Of course, in some things he’s as immovable as a mountain. Try talking him out of supporting Sephiroth sometime, if you feel suicidal. Let me know in advance, though, so I can sell tickets. I could use the gil. There’s a new shipment of materia coming in soon and I really want a Summon, if they have any.
—Cloud’s journal, 7 February 472
“Seph, I think we need to talk.” Zack propped himself up with a pillow, turning on the small light beside the bed. “About Cloud.”
Sephiroth turned over, looking at him. “I believe we’ve covered everything. Medical equipment is ready in your room, blackmail material to use on various subjects in order to keep their silence, Mrs. Dennett is working on counters for Mako poisoning, and—”
“Not that,” Zack interrupted, shaking his head. “I mean, yeah, that’s good we’ve got all the details worked out, but I wanted to talk about our relationship. The three of us.” Sephiroth settled into a pose that Zack knew meant he was going let him ramble until he got his thoughts into control. “We were really close — I mean, I saw Cloud in your office more than just about anyone else. But things are going to change. I don’t know what’s happened to Cloud these… almost three years, now, but I know we’ve changed. I’ve changed. Our relationship’s changed.” Zack privately thought it was for the better, as they seemed to be on a more equal footing, but a different dynamic would affect their friendship with others — already had. Again, usually for the better, but Cloud had been so close…
Shaking his head, he continued. “I… don’t like to think about what Hojo has probably been doing to him. I don’t want to think about his mental stability. I really don’t like thinking about what else Vincent and the ladies could find.” Hojo wasn’t the kind of guy to worry about things like safety measures and unreasonable stress levels. The body they found might not have been real, but Cloud could be dead by the time they found him, or horribly changed into something that wasn’t even their friend anymore.
“We’ll take it one day at a time, Zack,” Sephiroth murmured. “Sooner or later, Cloud will come back. And if he is not himself, I will take care of it.”
That scared Zack even more, the thought that Cloud would become the type of berserker monster SOLDIER that happened sometimes in the field. More often than not, Sephiroth was the one who had to put them down, as no one else had the muscle. “I will pray reverently it does not come to that.” Religion wasn’t something Zack thought about often, but if Sephiroth were forced to do that… It would kill him. “So,” he said, attempting to change the topic, “I know this is kind of out of left field, but I was thinking about what I said the night before he di— was kidnapped. You know, about the three of us getting together for a night or two.”
Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. “Considering all of the potential problems here, I must point out such a course of action isn’t particularly wise at this time.”
Zack snorted. “Well, yeah. I doubt Cloud’s gonna be up for any kind of physical activity, much less hot SOLDIER threesomes.” He found himself blushing for some reason, though in all honesty, the idea still was rather appealing in his head. Though the fact that Cloud had apparently been in his head was something of a turn-off. He had no qualms about sharing the bed of a friend, but someone who had possibly seen those dark thoughts you didn’t want anyone to know? That could be awkward in the extreme.
Partially to distract himself, partially because his mouth had a horrible tendency to keep going when he was tired, he mused aloud, “Who knows? This whole thing might turn him off sex for the rest of his life.” A horrible thought crossed his mind. “Maybe… maybe Hojo castrated him. He always had weird ideas about who should ‘breed’ and who shouldn’t.” He shook his head. “Man, that would suck. He’d be stuck a virgin forever — maybe we should’ve jumped him that last night.”
Abruptly Zack felt horribly embarrassed, his cheeks reddening again. He had the distinct impression of someone yelling at him, though he couldn’t make out the exact words — but he got a sense of mild threat, along the lines of when I get my hands on you—
“Cloud?” he inquired, sitting up straight. “Seph, can you feel that?”
The other man nodded. “Cloud. We know you’re here.”
Surprise this time, and a bit of awkwardness. Zack could just picture the guy shuffling his feet, that embarrassed look from his trainee days abruptly clear in his mind’s eye.
“Thanks for your help, Cloud. We’ve appreciated it, even if it confused the hell out of us some days.” He paused. He didn’t want to send his friend away, but… “We know you’re alive. Vincent, Tifa, and Aeris are coming to look for you. I don’t know if you can, but see if you can get in contact with Aeris. She’s a Cetra, so she could probably talk to you, find out where you are or follow you back there. All right?”
Doubt, and a sense of Aeris lacking… something, but a willingness to try.
Zack smiled, noticing Sephiroth doing the same. “One way or another, we’re going to bring you home. Don’t you forget it.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
One of the things they stressed in SOLDIER training was to plan, and then overplan. Chances are, you’ll need it.
Of course, Vincent was a lot better at getting that lesson pounded into me than SOLDIER ever was. And a good thing, too, because just when you aren’t expecting it, life comes around and bites you in the ass.
—Cloud’s journal, 26 November 471
From the area around Midgar, they had wandered in a northerly direction, stopping at Kalm for supplies before making the long trek east to the huge chocobo ranch where ShinRa stabled many of its cavalry mounts. There they had traded in the truck for some travel-birds, whose combination of warbird stamina with racer speed — and lack of dependence on gas, which had become increasingly harder to find the further they got from the city — promised to make the journey a little easier… once Vincent’s mount became accustomed to him, anyway.
It seemed as if that might be an impossible task, at this rate; when he’d approached it to mount on the morning of the second day, the chocobo had broken free of its tether and bolted, leading them on a merry chase for most of the morning. When they finally caught it at the edge of a huge swamp, Tifa wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, that smell is just awful.”
“You’d best become accustomed to it, Miss Lockhart,” said Vincent, “because we’re going this way next. The old mythril mines are on the other side.”
“What’s so special about the mines?”
“The area is high in Mako levels,” Vincent replied, “and coupled with mythril — and thus the mines — being largely abandoned some years ago in favor of the adamantine to be found in Wutai, they’d be a good location for our quarry to hide.”
“It may be easier to speak to the Planet underground, too,” Aeris mused, cinching the saddle on Vincent’s bird and giving it a reassuring pat.
“Well,” Tifa said decisively, “let’s get going, then. The sooner we get across, the sooner we can be away from this stench.”
“Indeed, but we need to be—”
::Behind!::
The former Turk whirled, his gun sliding free of his holster at Chaos’ hissed warning, safety clicking off as he looked for the danger. His companions exchanged a look, but wisely armed themselves also.
A moment later Vincent’s enhanced eye sight picked up the danger slithering through the sedge. “Watch out — it’s a Zolom!”
“A what?”
Vincent didn’t have a chance to reply as the enormous serpent suddenly reared up from among the marsh plants with a baleful hiss. He tracked the beast carefully, his body tense with anticipation. With its head above them an eyeshot would be nigh impossible, and the scales on the thing were cursedly strong, making it unlikely that his normal ammunition would pierce it. He wished he’d thought to bring some explosive rounds with him—
Aeris let off a Fire spell, and the giant snake roared. Tifa was rummaging through their bags, pulling out a few potions, ready to take the position of healer, her own bracer already glowing on her wrist. Vincent approved. As long as they could counter things before it used its Beta attack—
The only warning he has was a growl in the back of his mind before his body convulsed. Not now—!
Their mounts fled, warking in terror, and Aeris badly fumbled her next Fire spell, her eyes going wide as Vincent’s cape rippled in the wind before releasing a huge canine beast that leapt forward, its wicked claws digging into the serpent, tearing chunks of flesh from its massive body. She wrapped her arms close around herself, feeling queasy as she watched yet unable to take her eyes away as blood flew, armored skin splitting as easily as if it were merely tissue paper. Tifa yanked her away as a heavily-scaled hunk of serpent flew towards them, nearly landing in the place Aeris had been standing. Gaea, it’s… it’s almost like it’s dissecting it—. There was something so wrong with that demon, something that made her bones ache—
“Shit,” Tifa said, her tone oddly detached. “Cloud wasn’t kidding.”
“What? You knew about this?” Aeris turned to stare at her, shocked.
“Not exactly.” The brunette shrugged. “He just said Valentine has a lot of surprises.”
Aeris glared, angry that Tifa was taking this so calmly — then looked again, realizing that she wasn’t. She might be pretending not to be affected, but she was also shaking slightly, and she, too, seemed to be unable to tear her eyes from the massacre before her. Tifa might be playing it cool, but she clearly was also upset by Vincent’s… condition.
But she doesn’t feel it the way I do. The wrongness — no wonder his chocobo has been uneasy! Later, she would recall the feeling, not the same, but similar to the one she had gotten from both Zack and Sephiroth, and remember Vincent’s glowing eyes — yet another soul Hojo had poisoned—
For now, though, all she could do was watch the gruesome scene as the beast let out a howl, splitting the snake down the middle of its belly and launching a ball of flame into the exposed entrails, sending the nauseating smell of burning flesh into the air. How can we trust something like that?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aeris is so amazing — I wish she and Zack would settle their differences and just get back together, but she doesn’t want to talk about him and he doesn’t want to talk about her. I guess I’ll just have to leave it alone. It drives me crazy, but there isn’t much I can do about it, really. Zack said there were “fundamental differences” between them regarding his job. It’s the only time I’ve ever seen him regret being a SOLDIER.
—Cloud’s journal, 18 April 472
Reeve forced himself not to fidget, settling for taking detailed notes on Scarlet’s budget proposal for a new weapon she called the Sister Ray. Personally, Reeve thought the idea sounded like a quick way to cause a reactor explosion. Too many risks for too little benefit. As head of Urban Development he had known a lot about reactors before starting up the MMG Project; his knowledge had more than doubled since, particularly in the areas of their weaknesses. They could do a lot more with that money…
Not for the first time, Reeve ran through the list in his head of his fellow board members, wondering which one was the leak to Hojo. He had been suspicious when Hojo escaped; when Sephiroth’s party had walked into the trap that had cost Strife his life, he no longer was suspicious — he was sure.
He supposed that it could be an aide or a secretary, but the last mission had been highly classified. None of their aides were supposed to know — though whether the other heads of the departments had followed that directive was something else entirely. He had considered Scarlet for some time. She was very money-driven and completely amoral, as demonstrated by that horrible incident in Corel several years ago. But she was also very independent, and Hojo was infamously misogynist… Not to mention that under that all that blonde hair and makeup was a surprisingly quick mind. She surely knew well that Hojo would only use her until she was exhausted, then turn her into one of his experiments. No, Scarlet would never work for the man.
Tseng was out for the same reasons. As the head of the Turks, he knew the most about what had happened under Hojo’s command of the Science Department. He had lost people to the scientist, and the Turks were a closely-knit group. Putting them in danger by helping Hojo would be the ultimate betrayal, and that struck Reeve as something Tseng would never do.
Matheson was out as well, not only because he knew what his former boss was capable of, but Reeve knew him well enough by now to judge his character. The man was a humanitarian as well as a scientist. He seemed to enjoy working on the MMG Project, and was constantly trying to find ways to make SOLDIER adaptations not only more effective, but safer and more stable. How he had survived as long as he had under Hojo’s supervision with this sort of outlook was a miracle in and of itself.
Heidegger was at the top of the list. He didn’t like not having complete control over ShinRa’s security forces anymore; the Turks had begun answering only to the President when Tseng had taken control, and SOLDIER was all but an independent department (largely due to Sephiroth’s regular attendance at board meetings and insistence on being in the know about what was decided for his men. Reeve had sent a bottle of whiskey in sympathy — and no small admiration at the force of will it surely required. Sinclair had told him that he, at least, had enjoyed it — Sephiroth didn’t accept gifts from fellow employees because of the potential for bribes, unless they were from trusted friends). Heidegger wasn’t an idiot, but he did have a tendency to underestimate his foes, overestimate his invulnerability, and downplay the importance of politics.
There was also Palmer, the nominal head of the Space and Aeronautics Department. Reeve resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. The Space Department hardly did anything — certainly not enough for Palmer to be earning the salary he was. Yes, they had managed to launch one rocket, but since then the project had come to a near standstill, and Reeve privately thought they should just axe the entire operation. He doubted Palmer had the wit to be a successful spy — he hardly seemed as competent as his peers.
In any case, Reeve decided, he should bring out Cait Sith and see if he couldn’t gather any more information on any of his fellows. It wouldn’t hurt, and it might help Aeris’s quest to find her missing friend.
He felt a slight smile cross his face, and quickly suppressed it. It would look out of place while Scarlet described the “terrible foes” her new weapon could destroy. (Really, what would they need that for? They had SOLDIERs, after all. He couldn’t think of much that SOLDIERs couldn’t destroy that a particle-beam cannon would have a better shot at… unless perhaps those legendary Weapons awoke and tried to annihilate Midgar. Like that would happen.)
Thinking of Aeris always brought a smile to his face. He knew it was against company policy to date coworkers, and they had more or less kept things platonic between them. Privately, however, he could admit he was more than interested. When she returned from her trip to “study plant life indigenous to areas with high Mako concentration,” he planned to ask her out for a nice evening, just the two of them. They both were sufficiently well established by now that he thought they would be okay if they pushed the rules a bit, and if things went well… Well, there certainly wasn’t any reason they couldn’t still work together in that case.
“I will take your recommendation under consideration,” Rufus said gravely as Scarlet finished her presentation. (Reeve translated that as “no way in hell.”) “Now, Mr. Tuesti — an update on the situation in Sector Seven?”
Reeve rose to his feet, gathering his notes, and forced Aeris from his mind. Enough time for that when she returned from her trip.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Tifa’s gotten a lot more laid back about things, but her temper still sometimes gets the best of her. This is especially true when she gets frustrated because she isn’t making progress. I remember one time she busted the fence of Aeris’s garden when she couldn’t get that Meteodrive maneuver to work. The good thing, though, is that beating someone up usually takes care of it. Note to self: next time Tifa gets mad, take her out to the Kalm area and let her take out her frustrations on assorted critters. Also, keep out of range of her fists.
—Cloud’s journal, 5 December 471
The silence was oppressive.
Tifa forced herself not to fidget. After their encounter with the Zolom (and their retrieval of their mounts), their little party had had noticable difficulty staying together. Aeris refused to even look at Vincent, and Tifa found herself in the odd position of being the peacemaker, a job that Aeris usually took. When Tifa was being a ‘peacekeeper’ at the Dragon, she usually smacked the offenders around a bit then chucked them out on their ear. She didn’t have to get a sulking former Turk, who had somehow managed to cultivate a literal aura of gloom about him, and a flower-growing Cetra who practically screamed terrified to work together.
Sometimes she really, really hated her life.
The only good thing was there were plenty of monsters to take her aggravation as oppose to her silent team mates. Exploring the mythril mines had been eerie; the walls grew crystals limned with Mako, lighting up the whole place faintly — like that materia cave in the Nibel mountains, but dimmer enough to make her jumpy.
They had found a few interesting pieces of materia in the caves, but no Cloud. Fort Condor, the next place Aeris had timidly suggested, had also borne no results when they’d finally gotten in. So now they were camped out in the hills east of Junon, the girls huddled next to the fire while Vincent hovered just within calling range. Aeris poked a stick in the fire, while Tifa’s shoulders twitched, feeling the stress between them.
Enough.
She stood, drawing Aeris’s gaze to her, before marching her way over to Vincent. “Look. I don’t care if you turn into a dog, a dragon, or a giant bunny rabbit—” She put her hands on her hips, ignoring Aeris’s sharp intake of breath behind her, as well as the trace of amusement in she thought she saw in Vincent’s eyes “—but you promised to help us find Cloud, and staying all the way out here and not talking to us isn’t being helpful or productive. So why don’t you come back over here and we’ll talk?” She paused for a moment, then added, “Though I’ll admit — if you have any more surprises under that cape, a bit of advance warning would be appreciated.”
“They… seem to have quieted, for now. I have been informed that my long stay in Midgar did not give them enough exercise.” Vincent stood, following Tifa back to the fire. He hesitated. “I… apologize for startling you, Ms. Gainsborough.”
Aeris was silent for a long moment. Tifa held her breath impatiently. If Aeris thought she’d just let her ignore that — it wasn’t like Vincent spoke, much less apologized, often—
“Accepted.”
Tifa exhaled, and settled down again. “So. What should we do now?”
“Mideel’s to the south. It’s supposed to have high Mako levels.”
Aeris tensed her shoulders. “I’m not really sensing anything that way. That area seems pure.”
Tifa, already frustrated by the long stretch of silence and stillness, snapped. “Not really? Can’t we get a definitive answer? Why don’t you just… home in on Cloud or something?” She would be much happier once she could go back to her regular jobs, extra experience aside.
“I’m not a bloodhound,” Aeris retorted. “It’s not like I’m trained in this or anything. I just get a sense of general wrongness.”
“Which is probably why this trip’s been like some thrice-damned Reactors of the World Tour, huh?” Tifa grumbled. “Why don’t we see if we can get a map of all ShinRa’s reactors, live or deactivated?”
“Assuming it is indeed Hojo who is behind Cloud’s disappearance, he could very well be at a reactor, or not far from one,” Vincent pointed out. Tifa’s idea was sound in theory, but it wouldn’t help them here. Their intense scrutiny of the failed reactor at Gongaga had shown that Hojo has been tapping some of the still-functioning systems to access the Mako he needed for his experiments. “I would suggest moving to the Western Continent.”
“Catch the ferry at Junon, then?”
Vincent nodded. “We’ll spend a few days in Costa del Sol. I will arrange transport.”
Tifa nodded, thinking. They had walked since that little battle at the swamp had scared their chocobos all the way back to the ranch, and she didn’t really look forward to doing the same once they’d crossed the ocean. There was no guarantee different birds would take better to Vincent, even assuming they could find chocobos on the Western Continent. An idea occurred to her. “Hey, doesn’t Don Corneo have operations over there?”
Vincent frowned. “It’s possible.”
Aeris looked at Tifa. “You aren’t thinking…”
“Well, he’s terrified of us after that one time.” Tifa didn’t look particularly repentant. “It isn’t like I couldn’t sneak in as a dancer and threaten to crush his nuts. Again.”
“I don’t know how well the same trick would work a second time,” Aeris muttered.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Vincent said firmly, and moved to bank the fire.
Taking that as the sign it was, Aeris reached for her sleeping bag. “For now, then, we should sleep.” The young woman was very much wearied by their constant searching. She had been stretching her Cetra abilities to her limits; the feelings the earth had given her, particularly in the tainted areas, had made it difficult for her to eat or sleep. Tifa made a point of insisting she eat a certain amount each day, and she and Vincent split the night shifts, letting Aeris rest as best she could.
“Good idea. I’ll take first shift, tonight.” Tifa stretched her muscles before settling on a stump, while Aeris and Vincent bedded down for a fitful sleep. She rubbed her fingers against the Ice materia in her bracer, one of Cloud’s gifts, and looked out over the landscape. She only hoped they’d find a clue on the Western Continent; she wasn’t sure they could stand much more of this without any sign.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Note to self: Sneaking up on Vincent is like asking ShinRa to be generous without kick-backs — impossible. Save yourself the time and trouble and just don’t.
—Cloud’s journal, 21 March 470
The ninja shifted her weight slightly, watching her prey.
They had come from Costa del Sol a few days back. At first she had no intention of even getting close — the man made her shiver just to look at him, and she had been a thief long enough to tell when someone was out of her league. But the women were alone now; their shadowy companion had departed a few hours ago, leaving them to set up camp. The dusk was quickly giving way into night, and she would be able to get close without being detected. Even better, the two women appeared to hold most of the materia in the party. She licked her lips, remembering the bracers she had seen, the glint on their weapons. There had even been the red glow of a Summon!
(Surely with a Summon, Wutai would have a chance…)
Moving out of her crouch, Yuffie Kisaragi moved into the gathering gloom to drop in on her victims, only to suddenly find herself hanging in thin air, held tight by the neck of her shirt, staring right into into glowing red eyes.
She screamed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Would you believe I caught three pickpockets targeting me today alone? You would think that word would get out not to try to rob the blond ShinRa guy with the crazy hair. I’m not much to look at, but I know how much it makes me stick out. I’m just glad V. taught me how to keep my stuff safe — I’d never hear the end of it from Zack if I got robbed.
—Cloud’s journal, 19 October 469
Vincent eyed the young woman squirming in his grasp, screaming her head off, with a mixed sense of amusement and irritation. The girl was loud, and her pitch would have irritated even non-enhanced hearing.
Still, the girl wasn’t talentless, her prodigious set of lungs aside. It had taken him nearly a day to figure out who exactly was tailing them, and another two to pin down her movements well enough to capture her. She had the look of a thief or an outlaw, unkempt and shabby, but her weapon was well cared for, and her each of materia was mastered to level two. An interesting dichotomy.
Vincent pinned the girl’s hands behind her back, and motioned for Tifa to bring one of their tent ropes. The woman obeyed, handing it over for Vincent to use to securely fasten the girl’s hands. He had to hide a smile. Once Tifa had had her say about the incident with the Galian Beast, she had settled back into the comfortable routine they had before his demons’ dramatic reveal. Despite not being related, Tifa and Cloud had some very similar characteristics. Both had been very innocent when they came to Midgar, but as they had grown up, they had become able to blatantly ignore complicated, unsettling realities to take care of important assignments or people they cared about. It was a good quality in any warrior.
It had certainly made this trip easier. If solely he and Ms. Gainsborough had been on this quest, they would likely have gone their separate ways at least half a dozen times. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he carried his captive back to camp.
“What are you doing?” Green eyes looked up at him, worried. He hadn’t actually heard Aeris — his hostage was still screaming at the top of her lungs — but the day a Turk forgot how to lip-read was the day they retired him.
“I want to ask her some questions.”
“Relax,” Tifa said, trying to soothe the girl a bit. “We won’t hurt you. We’re just going to talk to you.”
It took a while after Vincent dropped her for the girl to quiet; he was amused to see that she was using her screaming to distract them from her hands, which were busily working on her bindings. The girl was as devious as some of the recruits he trained — more than some. “Enough,” he said in his no-nonsense teaching tone. “Answer our questions and we’ll let you go. Continue and you’ll be in a more uncomfortable position.”
The Wutaian gave him a calculating look. “…fine.” She settled more comfortably. “What do you want?”
“You appear to be well-traveled. I want to know if you’ve seen a young man — in his twenties, blond hair, blue eyes—”
“Hair’s kind of pointy,” Tifa chimed in. “Gravity-defying, really — and he’s a SOLDIER, so his eyes would have that Mako glow.”
The girl considered this. “About five and a half feet?”
“Yes!” Tifa exclaimed, leaning forward in excitement. “You know where he is?”
“Saw someone of a similar description last time I was in Wutai — some people hauled him off a boat and carried him up into the mountains.” She shivered. “The guy who seemed to be in charge didn’t look… right.”
“Black hair, lab coat?” Tifa asked intently. The thief nodded. “It has to be Hojo!”
“Will you take us there?” Aeris asked eagerly.
“What’s in it for me? I’m not gonna do it for nothing.”
“Your freedom,” Vincent said dryly.
“Hmph.” The girl shifted a little, apparently considering. “…Well, even if I were interested, I don’t have money to get to Wutai right now.”
“You needn’t concern yourself over the cost.”
“Really.” She studied Vincent intently.
“Really.”
They stared at each other for a long time, until finally the younger looked away. “Fair enough, I suppose. Name’s Yuffie, by the way.”
One of the others stepped in to respond. “I’m Tifa, this is Aeris, and that’s Valentine.” Interesting that their captive didn’t give our her family name. Well, they could play by the same rules, though Tifa couldn’t imagine introducing Valentine as “Vincent.”
Nodding to Yuffie in greeting, Aeris pointed out, “Getting permits will be difficult. Travel to Wutai is still restricted.”
Vincent shook his head. “Too dangerous. We’d likely tip off our quarry’s spy, if he’s still in place. No, I have another idea — it will be a long trip, however.” He undid Yuffie’s bindings, then moved to bank the fire. “Sleep. We’ll head north at dawn.”
“Don’t suppose any of you have a Chocobo Lure?” Yuffie looked hopeful. “I’m not looking forward to walking all the way to wherever we’re going.”
“Chocobos don’t really agree with us,” Tifa said.
Don’t agree with me, that is. Vincent could hardly blame the birds, considering that they were for the most part peaceful herbivores. Sensing the creatures that lurked beneath his skin must be unsettling. “We will be heading west, then north — our goal is Rocket Town.” He allowed himself a tight smile. “Cloud has a friend there.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cid is an… interesting man. I don’t think I could ever forget him even if Mako messed with my memories. I’m pretty sure that there are no words that could really capture him, so I’ll just make a note here: if you’re ever in need of an airplane, head over to Rocket Town. Also, do not take Cid up on his offer for one of his hand-rolled cigs — they’re nasty as anything.
—Cloud’s journal, 28 June 470
Taking a deep breath, Vincent knocked.
Cloud had told them all about his trip to Rocket Town, and had mentioned Cid from time to time — apparently they wrote occasionally, and Cloud made a point of dropping by when he was in the area on a mission — mostly because of the man’s… interesting personality. He made for engaging conversation, and was a relatively neutral topic for any occasion. He just hoped the man had been honest when he’d said he would help Cloud out.
The door opened suddenly, though not without a squeak that indicated it needed some oiling. Behind it was a brunette woman in a lab coat — Vincent and Aeris both stiffened, but calmed a little as Tifa made a point of casually adjusting her gloves in their peripheral vision — who cocked her head at them in confusion. “Can I help you with something?”
“We’re looking for the pilot, Cid Highwind,” Tifa interjected. “Is he available?”
“Ah, yes,” the woman replied, nodding. “If you would be so kind as to come inside… Please, just wait here and he’ll be right in.” She gestured for them to seat themselves around the table, then started a kettle of water on the stove before stepping out through a back door.
Yuffie drummed her fingers on the table, then stood up, pacing around the room (putting her hands behind her back when Vincent shot her a warning glance). She stopped in front of one of the walls, staring intently. “So this is what the kid looks like up close, huh?”
“He’s no kid; he’s older than you,” Tifa muttered, but joined the rest of them as they came over to get a look at the photograph the ninja had found.
The picture looked to have been taken at the nearby launch pad, though that wasn’t its focus. A cockily grinning man stood in the middle, a cigarette clenched firmly between his teeth, one arm wrapped tightly around the waist of the woman who’d answered the door (she was blushing here, but seemed quite pleased), the other slung casually over the shoulders of a surprised-looking young SOLDIER Second Class with unruly blond hair.
“Yes, that’s him,” Vincent said softly, reaching out with gloved fingers to touch the young man’s face.
They all started when the back door suddenly slammed open, a grizzled blond man smoking a cigarette striding through it, wiping greasy hands on a rag. “So, Shera tells me you’re here looking for me? You look a bit odd to be ShinRa.”
All of them except Yuffie had to hide a smile at that. Cloud hadn’t exaggerated the pilot’s forthrightness at all. “We aren’t, exactly,” Tifa said. “We’re friends of Cloud Strife.”
A look of sorrow crossed Cid’s face. “I heard ‘bout the funeral. Wish I could’ve made it.”
Aeris took a deep breath. “That’s just it — we think his death may have been faked.” Cid’s eyebrows headed for his hairline. “Our sources have traced him to Wutai.”
“And getting travel permits might tip off the people who have kidnapped him,” Tifa added.
“So, what, you want my plane?” Cid shook his head. “No fucking way. I’m not letting any rank amateurs pilot the Bronc.” He took a drag on his cigarette. “I’ll just have to go with you.”
“It’s likely to be dangerous,” Vincent interjected.
Cid smirked, taking a well-worn spear down from the wall, checking the materia in the handle. “I’m part of the town militia — I can handle a little danger. ‘Sides, I owe that kid a hell of a lot, and I don’t want to see him in the hands of some— who has him, anyway?”
“An immoral, corrupt, former ShinRa scientist known for biological experimentation,” Vincent said flatly.
Cid raised an eyebrow. “An ex-ShinRa scientist? Didn’t think they existed.” He looked around at the group. “Hmm… We should just fit, if y’all don’t mind getting a little cozy. Stop by the shop and pick up anything you need, and I’ll check the radar. If the weather favors us, we’ll be gone in an hour.”
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