The FF7 Experience: (Chapter 12: First Meeting)
Author stuff: I’ve been forgetting to do this at the start of each chapter…I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any or if characters. Also, thank Frankto for his betaing and proofreading skillZ.
This chapter has been fully beta’d. A proofread one will be up sometime in the future.
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This new girl, Erika, maintained the close contact, waiting for some kind of response. Something to suggest the name rang a bell or struck an emotional cord deep within my soul.
But it didn’t. The name meant nothing to me. It invoked no memories and did nothing to stir my insides.
As if sensing this, the girl looked away and closed her eyes, releasing her hold on me.
“Grant, what happened to you…?” she said, more to herself than me. I really couldn’t tell her.
What had I been to this girl? Was I her best friend? Were we something more than friends? Maybe we were brother and sister here?
The citizens of Junon continued walking, mindlessly peaceful, while I was left with an unknown element in my midst. Her behavior would make her appear harmless, but I remembered. I remembered the spattered and hazy images of the two of us hacking down bodies that stood in our path without a note of hesitation or regret. It was for this reason, I felt apprehensive more than empathic when I observed this girl weep before me.
“How far back can you recall? What have you been doing all this time?” she questioned. Her voice was elevating. She was becoming overly emotional.
I glanced past her for a moment at the harbor in the distance. I could still see the ship, and workers were still moving about with equipment. I could also make out a few Shinra soldiers standing near by as the others worked. Cloud had likely already performed the send off, and now all that was left was for the ship to be repaired.
I looked back at Erika and sighed.
I could probably spare some time. If the ship leaves without me, I’ll catch a commercial one the next day and catch up with them if need be. I do know all the places they’ll be going, after all.
I broke eye contact with her again and scanned the immediate area for somewhere to sit and talk this out.
“…Grant?” she ushered, trying to be patient.
I noticed a small wooden bench with an ad saying ‘be a Shinra soldier today!’ near by.
I lifted my hand and pointed to it, and she followed my fingers projected path.
Erika nodded and together, we took a seat. She placed her hands in her lap, took a deep breath, and waited for me to answer her previous question.
I had gauged all the possible responses in my head briefly and concluded that I may as well tell her a little bit, since she would potentially play an important part in the recovery of my memories.
“About 13 months.” I said. I looked away from her and instead focused on near by happenings. “I remember being in a field near Kalm. From there, I made my way to the town and started making a living there killing monsters are the like. Then I joined AVALANCHE.”
Following my lead, Erika instead focused on the surroundings as well. When she spoke, her voice sounded much more solid than it had been before. She must have regained control of her emotions, because where there had been fear, surprise, and uncertainty, there was now the voice of a cool and collected young woman.
“That’s all you’ve been doing this time? Have you never thought of trying to regain your memory?”
I shook me head. “Somehow, I thought I knew everything I was supposed to.”, because I really and truly did until about 15 minutes ago.
Erika shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure myself. It wasn’t until I started having memories that I wondered. My most recent one was like an hour ago. I was fighting two people. They talked really weird, like ‘Most persistent, he is’ or something. Maybe they’re responsible for this apparent memory loss?”
“It is memory loss.” Erika insisted. “My eyes, they can see a person’s bodily flow of magic when I concentrate. You and I are…special. Our magic is special. You have the same flow I’ve always remembers but…” she trailed off.
I glanced at her for a moment. “What?”
“It’s weaker now. It looks the same and moves the same, but there’s a lot less of it now.”
“Hm…”
A pause.
“Those two you spoke of, the voices. If I were to guess, I would say they belonged to Zorn and Thorn.”
Oh damn, I remember them. They’re from Final Fantasy IX and they’re annoying little ass wipes.
“Whatever happened to you…” Erika continued, “I don’t believe it could have been them alone. You were much too strong to lose to the likes of them.”
When I heard her say that last part, about how I had been strong…I caught something in her voice. It sounded like pride and possibly affection of some sort.
“Erika, how did I know you before?” I asked slowly.
“…”
And rather than respond, she stood from the bench and took a few small paces forward. She straitened her sun glasses out and slipped her hands into the pockets of her white trench coat.
I folded my arms and waited.
“It’s a long and complicated story, Grant. And I think before you believe me, you’ll have to see and remember a few things for yourself.” Erika affirmed.
She turned around and reached inside of her coat, pulled something out, which remained hidden in her hand, and continued.
“I’m looking for something right now. Something you and I had spent a long time looking for.”
“Master Materia?” I questioned.
She shook her head. “No. That would have been an asset, but this is something vital.”
‘Would have been’…which means I had failed. I remember in the game, an old traveler in Kalm had the Master Materia. That means that either he’s gone now and took it with him, or someone else took it from him, possibly by violent means.
She stepped towards me and knelt slightly, gently taking up my arm in hers.
Erika slowly placed a small black cell phone in the palm of my hand, closed it, and took a step back. Her hands retreated back into her pockets and her face took on a complacent and professional appearance. Whatever she was feeling on the inside right now was completely undetectable, even to someone like myself that prided himself on being able to read people well.
I looked down and examined the device, then glanced back up at her for some kind of explanation.
“I’m glad you are alive Grant…so glad. Even if you don’t remember, I’m going to help you out as much as I can. Hang on to that, okay? I’ll get a new one and call you soon.”
Her facial expression flickered for an instant, so she could offer me a weak but hopeful smile, and then, it reverted back to its controlled state.
“This is a lot for me to take in, as I’m sure it is for you…and I don’t want to rush you, because there is a lot for you to remember. Please trust me, Grant. I’ll make this all work out.”
I wanted her to stay. I wanted her to tell me anything and everything. But at the same time, I had only just met her. If I don’t remember it for myself, how can I know what’s real and what she is making up? If I can’t understand the feelings or thoughts I had at the time, I can’t have a complete picture. So it sucks, but it makes sense. I need to remember some things before we sit down and talk everything out.
I looked down at the cell phone and closed my hands, slipping it away into my jacket pocket.
“I’d like to say I trust you, Erika, but I really don’t know anything about you.” I said a little more harshly than intended. Still, my point was valid.
Erika’s shoulders slumped slightly, but she was quick to recover. “I guess that’s to be expected…still, I’m going to help you.”
“Right.” I said dismissively. “By the way, I have one question.”
“Yes?”
“Whatever it is we were looking for, was it intended to be used for, you know, villain stuff?”
Erika tilted her head, appearing somewhat perplexed. “Villain stuff?”
“Er…you know, like destroying the planet or something.” I explained.
Her mouth opened slightly in shock, “Of course not.”
I held my hands up, “Hey, just making sure.”
She turned herself away, now facing the road opposite of where I was heading. Whatever she was looking for, it must have been on this continent.
“I’ll call you soon. Please don’t lose that phone. And…” her face showed visible signs of worry here, “Be careful. I don’t know if your memory loss was intentional or not, but it’s possible that there will be people after you. Please take care of yourself.”
I shrugged like it was nothing, but really; the thought of this unknown enemy scared the hell out of me.
“I’ll be fine. I have AVALANCHE with me, after all.”
“Right.” She nodded, “Then I’ll talk to you soon.”
Just like that, she moved. Her pace was far quicker than it had been before our meeting. Maybe she wanted to get away from me quickly. I’m not sure how we knew each other, though I can speculate, but I get the feeling she was showing an exceptional amount of emotional restraint. In fact, the only time she left herself open and exposed was in the initial minute or two. I guess seeing someone you thought was dead will do that to you.
I stood up from the bench and glanced at her rapidly shrinking form in the distance. With a sigh, I turned to the harbor, thankful to find that the ship was still there. Whatever Walter did, it sure set them back.
At this point, I waded through citizens on my way to the harbor, conscious for any soldiers and sailors, since I still did need a feasible way onto that ship.
But I was largely distracted, I must admit. I have a lot of questions and am feeling rather impatient about getting answers.
Before I even listen to that girl, I should probably decide how much I trust her. She appeared quite genuine when I first saw her before slipping into that calm mask of hers. When it comes to trusting people, there have been times where I’ve made mistakes.
When I think about it, I’m leaning towards trusting her, at least to some extent, for one simple reason: she isn’t pressuring me. She is letting me remember myself so I can draw my own conclusions.
She’s hot too.
Moving on, the idea of this third branch is still basically unknown other than a few basic facts. One, they are apparently out to get me. Two, Erika and I had and possibly still have some kind of connection to them. Three, Zorn and Thorn are a part of this branch. I’ve thought of including that they have the master materia, but that would be jumping to conclusions. A number of things could have happened to it.
But I could probably come up with an endless stream of questions if given enough time. For now, all I can do is focus on the present and wait for more developments with regards to the third branch.
As I slip closer to the harbor by traveling along the wide city road, I find a number of workers leaving, and a few in the process of packing up. I utter a silent curse and pick up the pace, now in a full run towards the harbor. It likely is not possible to slip in with a disguise, which means I’ll have to pray to…something…that this works out.
Some of the workers glance at me for a moment as I run by.
I blitz towards the craft as the large steel door begins closing. There is a single soldier standing near by, and he’s apparently caught sight of me.
I lift one hand up and extend two snakes outward, having one snap at the man’s face while the other wraps around his arm so he can’t fire.
The heavy magical power I funneled into the snakes created very potent venom, which dropped the man quickly.
My snakes retract back into their dwellings within my body and I ignore the thud the soldier made hitting the ground, hoping it went unnoticed.
With one last burst of speed, I dove into the ship, rolled to the side behind some crates, and let out a quiet but relieved breath.
The door shuts tightly, sending a loud metallic clank echoing through the large cargo hold.
At this point, I have no idea how many soldiers there are, but I know that not all of them are hostile. Among them are the other members of AVALANCHE.
I edge towards the end of the crate and peek around, finding that there is only a single soldier in this section of the ship, and her posture suggests femininity.
I shuffle to the other side of the crate and peek. On the right side, nothing but even more creates of varying sizes and composition.
The most ideal position would be in between a number of creates so I could remain hidden, unless someone specifically looked between them. I don’t need to worry much about noise right now since the only ‘soldiers’ in this area are all AVALANCHE.
After a few minutes, I’m pulled from my thoughts by a sudden groaning from near by.
I wry grin slowly began forming on my face. Yuffie hung around this area in the game and she absolutely hates boats and airships.
Being as quiet as I could, I maneuvered around the crates until I found the girl keeled over near a crate holding her gut. She was dressed in a white sailor uniform complete with hat and red tie. Her face looked pale, bordering hospital bed sheet white. At her feet was her Four-point shuriken. How she managed to carry that around without arousing suspicion is beyond me.
I slowly made my way towards her, and as I listened to another pained groan, I had to wonder if this was really such a good idea.
It didn’t take long before I was standing directly behind her. Poor girl. She’s so sick she didn’t even hear me sneak up on her.
I lifted me hand sup, preparing to put them on her shoulders and shake her around violently, but I couldn’t. It would feel low given what a mess she is.
So, instead I smiled and alerted her as to my presence.
“Hey Yuff Yuff.” I said calmly.
Her head perked up for a moment and she half turned, before she clutched her stomach again.
“Ugh...” she moaned.
I tilted my head and examined her face more closely. Her eyes were clenched shut and while her face was white, her cheeks were somewhat red.
“Woah, you really are sick. Maybe you should sit down or something?” I suggested.
She groaned again, “No. This is the best position for hurling.” She insisted. “Ooohh…do you have any tranquilizer?”
I hummed to myself and checked my pouch. Sure enough, there was a lone tranquilizer beneath my other more important items.
I pulled the item and held it out for her to take.
“Here.”
But she didn’t move. Did she not here me?
“Here.” I said again.
There was nothing but a choked up sound, like she was fighting against vomit crawling up from the back of her throat.
“Yuffie…” I said again, slightly impatient. To illustrate I was talking to her, I put my hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly, and doing exactly what I told myself I wouldn’t.
And the result was immediate.
Yuffie clutched her stomach tight, bent over forwards more, and let loose a blob of multi colored vomit onto the floor with such sick sound effect to follow that anyone within ear shot probably made a face. I know I did. It almost made me want to puke.
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!” I pleaded with her.
The ninja girl breathed heavily, but stood herself up and wiped her mouth clean with a piece of cloth from her pocket.
“If I weren’t so sick, I’d kick your ass for that.” She grumbled bitterly.
I looked down guiltily at the floor. “Sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Whatever just don’t do it-“and before she could finish, she felt another surge of sickness.
I thought it best to leave her alone to combat her sickness, so I slid the tranquilizer carefully into her shirt pocket and tip toed back to my spot amongst the crates.
I wasn’t sure how long the boat trip would be. In the game, it takes about 10 seconds for the boat on the world map to get half way there, and then depending on how fast you are, 10 minutes maybe to get in some fights, make it to Cos Del Sol, and disembark. It stands to reason however, that because we are crossing an ocean, it will take just a little bit longer.
Due to the fact that I have nothing to do other than talk to Yuffie, whom is too sick, or hide since I have no disguise, I figure I can rest a bit. They do give a loud com announcement when there’s trouble anyways. But, best not to do it in the open lest a soldier comes around for some reason and sees me.
I opened a near by wooden crate and examined its contents. What did I find; weapons, specifically, Cloud’s sword, Aeris’s rod, and Yuffie’s big arm guard. Yuffie must have put her weapon in here and retrieved it after she was on board.
Since the two weapons didn’t take up all that much room and the wooden rate was fairly sized, I hopped in and slid the lid almost completely closed, though I left some room for air and light. I slid the weapons along with my scythe to the opposite end, and then lay down on my side. It wasn’t all that comfortable, but it would do.
I sat just staring for a while. It was mostly quite with the exception of Yuffie’s murmurs from near by.
I’ve been giving some thought to my next technique. For a while now, I thought of choosing the Chakra Scalpel, which would allow me to cut the bones and ligaments in theory, should I be fighting hand to hand. However, it’s come to my attention that this is only possible in theory, and in Naruto, even an elite jounin level ninja had trouble actually making the scalpel long enough to cut things, never mind make it lethal.
There is one technique I’ve decided to learn though. It’s not really intended entirely for battle purposes, though it would have its uses in certain situations inside of battle. At any rate, I’m only one level away from learning it.
As time passed, I cleared my mind and thought of nothing. Nothing at all. With everything that had been going on, I forgot how nice it was to just not think. And as I stared at nothing, thought of nothing, and did nothing, I slowly found my eyes closing. It was reckless, but I couldn’t help it. I had fallen asleep.
…
…
My eyes slowly open.
Through blurry and distorted images I make out…
The inside of a laboratory,
Strangely bright lighting,
Smooth metallic instruments,
A long table with many tools sits in the center of the room.
…
My vision focuses.
“Grant, can you take a seat please?” comes a voice.
I slowly nodded and glanced around the room.
Two chairs could be made out to my right, one of which was already occupied by a young girl with brown hair.
Erika. She’s young, 11 or 12 years old, based on appearance.
I take a seat next and make eye contact with Erika for a moment before turning to the man whom had previously spoken.
A short, older man dressed in a white lab coat. He has a pair of glasses on and white aged hair, balding in some areas. It was an average appearance.
The man draws blood from my arm with a needle, and I watch.
“I’d like to check for any changes in your blood. We can also gauge general changes in magic composition using a specialized mako tool.” The man explained for me.
He placed the sample on a table in the corner of the room, and approached Erika, drawing blood using the same method.
A mechanical whirl sounds as the laboratory doors slide open. A middle aged dark haired woman with glasses and similar lab attire enters.
The man turns his head and greets her with a wave.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning, professor.” Came the sophisticated and highly intelligent sounding voice.
The woman took a few steps further in, her high heels clanking loudly on the floor, before turning to Erika and I. She adjusted her glasses absentmindedly.
“How have things been proceeding, professor?” the woman asked.
The man placed the first blood sample into a small square machine. A flash followed as fog began filling the chamber, flickering white every few seconds.
He turned around and crossed his arms, smiling proudly.
“So far so good. As expected, magic output is increasing. If we keep at it, they’ll have magic capable of matching a full blooded Cetra.”
“I see. But, we still have a ways to go, do we not?”
The man sighed. “We do. How about your end?”
The woman nodded and pulled a small disk from her lab jacket, holding it out for the man to see.
“I’ve made this hard copy of all the relevant information contained within the Nibelheim mansion.”
“Good work, Lucretia.” The man smiled happily.
…
…
…
My eyes fluttered open and I sprang up.
Only to hit my head on the top of the crate and fall back down.
“Ow!” I cried. “And what the fuck?”
I rubbed my head as I contemplated my most recent flashback.
Lucretia, as in; Sephiroth’s mother, Vincent’s former love, and the scientist that helped in project Jenova. I thought she was supposed to be bound to a bunch of mako near the Junon waterfall or something? It’s possible she went there only recently, but more importantly, what could the project have possibly been about?
Sephiroth is about 35 or so years old from what I remember. Prior to Sephiroth’s birth, Project Jenova was still in the works from what I recall. Erika is a little older than me I think, so I was probably about 10 at the time. I went to Kalm at 14. So doing the math, this means that 30 years after Sephiroth was born but 5 years before now, Lucretia was helping with some other project. Why the fuck would she do that? What has changed? Does she know about Sephiroth now?
A number of questions arise from this latest twist. I get the feeling as well, that none of the implications of this will be good.
Another interesting question; what the fuck is Vincent gonna do when he finds out?
Of course, I have little time to deliberate on such issues, for one simple reason:
“WARNING! SUSPICIOUS INDIVIDUAL HAS BEEN SIGHTED ON BOARD! REPEAT: SUSPICIOUS INDIVIDUAL HAS BEEN SIGHTED ON BOARD!” The marginally distorted voice stated through the various intercoms on the ship.
I groan and reach for my scythe. Just how long had I been sleeping for?
Now that poop has already hit the fan, I think it’s safe for me to come out of hiding and met up with the others. If I don’t, they may end up thinking I was the suspicious individual.
I raised the lid to my crate slightly and tried to peer out and examine my surroundings, such as if there are any soldiers or who is in this area. Unfortunately, my view was completely obstructed.
I hopped out of the crate and quietly slid the lid closed, leaving the party’s weapons inside.
I took several experiments steps forward, feeling this uneasy sensation in the pit of my stomach. The air felt heavier now, and my body felt shaky, like I knew something bad was coming.
I watch a sickly looking female sailor run up the stairs on the right followed by the female Shinra soldier. Aeris and Yuffie had made their way to the deck.
I shook off the uneasy feeling and picked up my pace, leaving my hiding spot and moving towards the metal stairway.
I glanced from side to side as I moved, weary for any soldiers. And then I stopped.
A sudden and surprised yelp of pain caught my attention. My eyes immediately shot towards the left set of stairs on the opposite side of the room. The body of a Shinra soldier was thrown down the stairs with amazing force. It hit the steel wall with a loud thud and dropped to the ground lifelessly as its open gash spilt blood all over the floor. Then, slow and calm foot steps made their way down the stairs.
I knew I should move, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in place, held back by my own ever growing fear.
I watched.
Dark boots, trailing black cape, silver shoulder pads, long platinum silver hair, impossibly long and curved blade. Sephiroth.
The former general leisurely made his way down the stairs, giving his blade a flick to help remove some of the blood. He made his way to this level, standing on the same floor as I, though some distance away, and even from across the room I could note the eerie green glow his eyes gave off. Even from this far away, he scared me more than any battle I’ve seen up until this point.
He strolled over to the large square door in the center of the room between both sets of stairs.
Now beginning to pull myself together, I peered over my shoulder at the section I had just come from and slowly stepped back, trying to take sanctuary within the squared boxes of metal and wood, praying Sephiroth wouldn’t notice me, or simply wouldn’t care.
Loud and collective footsteps echoed from the left as blue uniformed Shinra soldiers rushed down the stairs with guns raised. They spread out along the stairs, spaced diagonally apart. The lead soldier cried out;
“Open fire!”
Sephiroth, who had been conscious of their presence the entire time, merely let out a deep grunt.
Faster than the soldiers could even begin to aim and fire, Sephiroth drew his sword, spun around, and swung his blade diagonally in a blur of inhuman speed, sending out a massive line of fire. In mere seconds, the attack and ripped away and melted the metal structure of the stairs to pieces and had shredded the bodies of each and every soldier in half whilst burning the body parts into nothing more than charred meat. The soldiers didn’t even scream. They probably didn’t even know what hit them, because many seconds after the fact, my brain was still processing what had just happened.
After the act was done, the former SOLDIER didn’t even skip a beat. He emotionlessly returned his sword to his back and turned around, placing his hand on the handle of the engine room door.
I would later wonder why he was going for the engine room. They already know he’s here, what with the dead bodies and all. There’s nothing of worth in that room. But he is insane, so I shouldn’t assume he’d do rational things.
He opened the door, paused, and craned his head around, gazing at directly at my position. I gulped. I hadn’t made it behind anything yet, what with the fear and then the soldiers coming. I was completely exposed and directly in his line of sight.
My body trembled. My mind drew blanks. Various instincts wanted to kick in. Some told me to run, as if I could get away. Some told me to attack, as though it was even possible for me to win. But in the end, I was trapped and utterly defenseless. My knees had already started shaking some time ago. I had no idea seeing him would be this bad.
But he turned back ahead, went inside the engine room, and closed the door behind him. Sephiroth did nothing, but look at me. Maybe to let me know, he knew I was there and could have killed me. Perhaps he just didn’t see me as a threat? There were a number of times when Sephiroth saw Cloud and his party without attacking them.
Whatever his reasons were, I didn’t care. My legs gave out and I fell to the floor, nearly hyperventilating. The raw power that man has, and the cold and calculating way he uses it chills me to the bone.
I looked towards the stairs on the right. The group had yet to come down. They must be getting worried about me.
I stood up and took several deep breaths in an effort to calm myself before moving on.
I climbed the stairs as quickly as I could until I reached the deck.
I squinted as the sudden bright light stung my eyes and swirled around the corner of the door.
4 Shinra soldiers and 2 sailors were gathered around in a circle in the center of the deck. I already knew it was AVALANCHE.
One of the ‘Shinra soldiers’ whom had been keeping an eye on the entrance to the deck I had just appeared from noticed my presence and waved at me to catch my attention.
“Grant, over here!” Aeris jumped.
All others present glanced over at me as I joined them, filling an empty spot in the circle they had no doubt left for me to fill.
I gazed around at all of them. Cloud took his usual leader spot dressed in a Shinra uniform. I could make out his wild blond hair sticking out at places underneath his hat. Barret, who was dressed in a large sailor suit, had his massive arms crossed, waiting direction. Aeris smiled, as did Tifa although she looked unhappy at having to be dressed as a soldier. Red stood awkwardly on his hind legs, trying to steady himself and remain bipedal while dressed as a Shinra. And Yuffie…Yuffie was still violently ill, leaning on Tifa’s shoulder for support as she clutched her stomach tightly.
“Somethin’ happen, Grant? You look like you jus saw a ghost or somethin’.” Barret observed.
“I saw Sephiroth.” I replied with a bit of fluctuation in my voice. Everyone tensed specifically Cloud and Tifa. “He is…so fucking freaky. My god.”
Cloud took a step forward, “You saw him? You’re sure?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He killed like 8 soldiers with one swipe of his sword…and he saw me…but he didn’t do anything.” I rambled on.
Cloud put his hands on my shoulders and looked down at me. “Where did he go?”
“The engine room. I get the feeling he’s waiting for us there.”
Cloud nodded and turned to the group. “Then let’s not keep him waiting. Everyone, we’ll retrieve our weapons and then we’ll confront him.”
Tifa rubbed her arm, shifting her eyes uncertainly. “Do you think we’re ready for him?”
“I don’t know, but either way I want to end this today.” Cloud resolved.
Finally tired of trying to stand on both legs, Red fell forward and held his normal feline position. I noticed his tail sticking out of the back of his pants, swaying lightly. It’s surprising no one noticed him.
“We must be cautious. There are still Shinra soldiers on board.” Red warned.
“Ugh…” Yuffie groaned, fidgeting as Tifa held the ill girl up on her feet. “I don’t wanna go…”
“Like you’d be any help like that.” Barret scoffed.
As Barret was saying this, Cloud was in the process of slipping his Shinra soldier outfit off. He pulled the head piece off and tossed it on the ground, where it landed at my feet. Next came the blue shirt. When he pulled it off, it was revealed that he just put the outfit over his usual clothes. He threw the Shinra shirt off, where again it landed at my feet. Then the machine gun issued to Shinra soldiers followed. Finally came the pants. Guess where they landed? At my feet. I was sensing a pattern.
Cloud glanced at Yuffie, “Barret’s right. You’d only be a burden right now, Yuffie. Just stay here and we’ll take care of Sephiroth.”
Following Cloud’s lead all too eagerly, Tifa ripped her own Shinra clothes off scornfully, and instead of leaving them at my feet, whipped them over board and stretched.
“Glad to get out of that thing.”
“Um…should we be leaving Yuffie alone, Cloud?” Aeris asked.
Silence. Cloud looked at me. I looked down at the clothes he had thrown at my feet. I sighed.
“God damn it, Cloud…”
“Hey.” He cut in. “Aeris is right, we can’t leave her alone, but we have to move. You’ve already seen him, and I doubt it’ll be any different this time. Just leave him to us and look after her.” He said, pointing to her.
Yuffie looked between Cloud and I awkwardly, probably feeling like a useless bump on a log right now.
The rest of the group had already discarded their disguises, minus Yuffie who was too sick, and Barret who kept his on, seemingly content with being ‘the sailor’.
“Cloud, I’ll be fine this time.” Considering we won’t be fighting Sephiroth and all.
Cloud shook his head, losing his patience. “Someone has to stay with her and of all of us; it makes the most sense for it to be you.”
“I’ll be fine on my own.” Yuffie insisted. To demonstrate, she relinquished her hold on Tifa and twirled around on her foot before striking a pose. She held it for about 3 seconds before hurling over the edge of the ship.
I sighed. “Alright Cloud. I’ll do what you say.”
He smiled lightly. “Thank you.”
He nodded to the others and ran past ninja girl and me, heading towards the stairs.
“We’ll be back, just sit tight.” Tifa assured me before turning to follow the others.
I watched everyone make their way down to the lower level.
The expression Cloud wore was something fierce. He really did want this to end today. But sadly, this would be a long and drawn out adventure for us all.
Aeris hung near Cloud’s side, not as certain but never the less ready.
Tifa seemed to have shaken her earlier doubts and now wore an expression of fierce determination. Her eyes were narrowed, her fists were tightened, and she was deadly serious.
I watched Barret pump his chest and say something like ‘Fuck yeah!’ to psyche himself up.
And Red was…well, Red.
I put my scythe down on the deck floor and began putting the soldier gear over my clothing. It was a little bit big, but if Red can sway back and forth on his hind legs and keep his tail hidden, I think a slightly big suit can go over looked.
I put the last piece over my clothes, and tugged at the fabric lightly. It was hot wearing all this shit.
I picked up my scythe and placed it on my back where the Shinra machine gun would normally be positioned on the suit as I made my way to the edge of the ship where Yuffie was hanging her head overboard in case she felt any more sickly urges.
Another sailor joined us after about a minute, standing a few metered to my right.
I cleared my throat, and spoke.
“Boy am I tired. If only they had coffee on board…or energy drinks.” I commented.
The sailor turned to me and smiled, “Well I have just the thing for you.” He reached into the small bag at his side and pulled a small can of something labeled ‘Super Sailor Juice’ or something of the like and held it out. “Super Sailor Juice is jam packed with vitamins and minerals as well as a few secret ingredients. The mixture of energy and taste will create a powerful burst of vigor within your body! And all for the low low price of 200 gil a can!”
I smirked and dug around in my pouch. “That sales pitch was so impressive; I’d like to buy two.”
“Two?”
“One for this one.” I said, jerking my thumb back towards Yuffie. “I’m hoping the taste explosion will help.”
“Ah.”
I held out four 100 gil coins and held them out. The sailor took them and handed me two canned beverages.
With our transaction complete, I waved for him to get lost. I know it was mean, but I didn’t want him hearing any AVALANCHE related things Yuffie and I might say.
The sailor frowned and simpered off.
So, with the two energy drinks in hand, I joined Yuffie.
She lifted her head up and glanced at the drink I slid across the flat railing towards her.
“Nuh uh, I’m gonna hurl if I drink that.” She declined.
“How is what any different from what you’ve been doing up until now?” I insisted.
She groaned and took the drink finally, cracking it open and taking a brief sip. I listened to her swish it around in her mouth. When she swallowed, she appeared to be concentrating, deciding on whether it was something she liked or not. Finally, she just shrugged and took another sip.
“Sorry you got stuck looking after me. Cloud’s crazy, thinking I need to be babysat.” Yuffie complained.
I placed my arms on the railing and leaned forward, watching the slowly moving ocean and listening to the seagulls above.
I wonder how many soldiers Sephiroth killed on the way to the engine room? It’s pretty damn quiet on this part of the ship. I would have figured people would be scrambling about shouting orders and such.
“I can understand his decision I guess. You do look like crap and all.” I said casually.
Yuffie’s mouth opened angrily. The ninja brought her fist back and punched my shoulder hard. “Ass, I do not look like…” and she just stopped. Slowly, she moved her hands towards her stomach and closed her eyes.
“Urk…” she sputtered, holding her mouth closed.
I popped open my drink and took a mouthful. It wasn’t great, but it’s good for restoring stamina so whatever.
“…ghh” came another sound.
“If you want to throw up, just toss it all overboard.” I said.
She shook her head frantically.
I took another sip of my drink and watched, curious to see how long she’d hold out.
I have to say, this drink really is magical. I can feel myself becoming more and more energetic.
I glance down at the floor and notice Yuffie’s four-point shuriken near her feet. It has the throw materia in it plus one other magic type, but there’s still one more slot open.
Yuffie swallowed a lump in her throat and did her best to look energetic.
“See? No problem.” She smirked, giving me the thumbs up.
I nodded distractedly as I fumbled my hand around in my item pouch.
She tilted her head and watched curiously to see what I was looking for.
Finally clasping my hands around the solid glassy orb, I pulled it from my pouch and out in the open. The sun shined on the materia, giving it a kind of red gleam.
Yuffie’s eyes went wide.
“Woah, summon materia! Which one is it? Ramuh? Titan? Bahamut!” she exclaimed excitedly. I figured that would take her mind off her sickness, at least for a bit.
“Shiva.” I answered. “The little girl we saved in Junon gave it to me because I was so cool and all.” I said with a wink.
“No fair! Why did you get it, huh? I’m cool too.”
I chuckled, “Keep telling yourself that.”
The girl stared at the materia during the passing silence. Then she sighed.
“Well, Shiva is good. Take care of that if it was a gift.”
I raised an eyebrow. Take care of it? And what will you say after you steal it later?
Course, she won’t be stealing it from me later.
I nodded at her, “Yeah. It was nice of her but I’m not really interested in any summon materia. It drains my strength like a mofo and I’d rather just rely on Enemy skill as attacking materia. So…” I extended my hand, offering her the sphere. “You have it.”
Yuffie looked at it with a lot less interest than I had expected.
“Even if you don’t use it, you should keep it, stupid. It was a thank you gift for saving someone’s life.”
I looked down at the Shiva materia and rolled it around in my open hand thoughtfully. Maybe it wasn’t such a keen idea. Pricilla would probably be pretty upset if by some chance she found out. And what is more, in the game Shiva didn’t drain stats THAT much. I suppose making an exception as I had done with Glen’s ‘heal’ materia would be okay.
I looked back up at Yuffie, whose face was slightly less pale but still visibly ailing. She was definitely morally opposed to taking this from me…and I still couldn’t get over the irony.
I smiled. “Alright. Maybe I can find a use for this.”
I slid the sleeve of both shirts back slightly and examined the last remaining slot open in my armlet. I popped the red orb inside and brought my sleeve back down over it.
Yuffie picked up the drink she had left on the railing and took another sip.
“This energy drink helps, I think.”
“Hmm…now that I think about it though, I wonder if it was a good idea for me to give it to you? I mean, the tranquilizer combined with whatever the fuck is in these drinks…”
“Oh, about that…I broke it. I was going to take it before, but I got this sudden gross urge and dropped it.”
I shrugged non-caringly and finished off the rest of my drink, tossing the emptied can somewhere near by.
“-that many? Who is this guy?” came an approaching voice.
Yuffie and I watched a small walkway between the edge of the ship and one of the cabins, where the voice had come from. Two soldiers walked into view followed by the loud clanking walk of the machine behind them.
“Not sure. Heidegger hasn’t said anything. Our orders are to just ‘find and eliminate any and all intruders’.” The soldier on the left answered.
“But what can we really do?”
“Nothing. That’s what this is for.” The second said, referring to the lumbering mechanical instrument behind him.
The machine was a good two feet taller than myself. Its body was nothing more than a large blue sphere, about an arm spread in length, with various designs on it including the Shinra logo. Its arms were long silvery and swayed fluidly as the machine walked, with large rust colored hands at the end. Its legs were similar to its arms in composition. Lastly, the creature’s face, which stuck out of its midsection, appeared like a silvery mask with glowing electronic eyes. I recognized it.
“Oh, it’s one of those special “Techno-SOLDIER’s”, right? The ‘Gesper’, was it?”
Walter you utter bastard. It seems we have another Final Fantasy VIII monster (or machine, rather).
The two soldiers made their way across the deck and towards the stairs, likely intending on sending the machine down on its own to take care of the intruder, but they stopped in the center of the deck to look at Yuffie and I.
“Hey, what are you doing?” the first asked angrily.
I felt myself slowly starting to sweat. My mind raced, trying to think of all kinds of ways out of this situation, saving ‘kill them’ as a last resort.
“…”
“You’re supposed to be looking for the intruder!” the first soldier shouted.
I took a silent breath and nodded, mustering up a more confident and older sounding voice.
“I’m checking with crew to see if they’ve seen or heard anything unusual.” I said coolly.
“And? Anything?” the second soldier said a little more calmly.
Should I tell them yes and let them interfere with whatever was going on in the engine room? Or should I say no and see what they do?
An almost inaudible choking sound came from Yuffie’s direction.
Please don’t let her throw up now.
I felt my face getting hot as the two soldiers stared, awaiting a response.
“…Yes. Apparently, a man dressed in a black cape with long silver hair and a large 7 foot sword was seen on the deck below.” I responded.
My reasoning was they were already going to check out the lower level so telling them this much wouldn’t change anything.
The first took a deep breath. “Silver hair and a long sword? You’re shitting me…so the rumors are true.”
Suddenly, Yuffie lurched forward and hurled all over the deck. The soldiers made disgusted faces as the chunks hit the floor. In the process, Yuffie’s sailor hat fell off, exposing her feminine face.
The second soldier eyed her face and then examined her body. Noticing that there were indeed breasts there, his eyes narrowed.
“A female sailor, huh?” he glanced at me. “And you…what’s your ID number? Every Shinra soldier memorizes their assigned number.”
Yuffie straightened herself out and lowered her eyes to the shuriken near her feet.
I sighed. There’s pretty much no avoiding a confrontation now.
“Identification number…Shadow Snake Hands!” I shouted suddenly, bringing my arms up.
Two snakes shot out of the twin sleeves on each of my arms.
The Shinra soldiers reached for their guns, but the snakes moved quickly enough to bite into their necks and gun arms before they could open fire. I continued pumping magic into the snakes…
The Gesper behind the two men lifted its own arms out, shifting into battle mode now that a threat had presented itself.
But whatever it had planned on doing, its plans were halted as Yuffie’s shuriken sailed through the air towards it. The metal star clashed against the steel of the Techno-SOLDIER’s armor and harmlessly bounded off.
Using her ‘Throw’ materia, Yuffie called the weapon back to her, fighting against the growing sickness caused by her movements.
The two soldiers dropped to the ground dead and my snakes returned to my arms.
I growled, seeing that the Gesper had involved itself in the confrontation.
I reached for the scythe on my back and pulled it out, shifting into a defensive posture since the likely hood of my weapon piecing the thick steel core of its body was minimal.
The Gesper bumbled forward, throwing its arm forward in a punching motion despite the fair distance between us.
Unexpectedly, its arm extended towards me, quickly closing the gap.
I dashed to the side as its arm passed by and prepared to swing my scythe down to sever the metallic limb from its body.
As my swing came, it retracted its arm back faster than I had anticipated. My scythe hit nothing but air.
“Hya!” Yuffie cried as she tossed her shuriken at the Gesper’s lower extremities.
Unknown to us, a series of fast mathematical calculations ran through the SOLDIER’s head. It calculated the speed, angle, and projected point of Yuffie’s weapon.
With its calculations complete, the Gesper extended its arm once more, and with remarkable precision, placed its thick mechanical finger through the hole in the center of Yuffie’s shuriken, and twirled it around back at Yuffie.
Yuffie gasped and tried to dart to the side, but one of the points cut into her side, shredding off some of the white fabric of her sailor suit. She grunted but focused with her materia once more; commanding the weapons returns while it was still in the air.
“Flame Thrower!” I shouted.
As the blast of searing heat flew from my mouth, the Gesper began retracting its body parts, tucking its arms, legs, and head inside the large blue sphere of its body.
The flames made contact dead on, and as I noted its impact, I used more and more magic to increase the yield of fire.
Suddenly, the Gesper rolled forward through the flames completely unaffected.
I canceled my spell and threw my weapon as I rolled to the side. After landing, I picked it back up and backed away, wary of its next move.
The Gesper crashed into the outer wall of one of the ship's watch towers. It rolled back from the dented steel wall and brought its body parts out once more, going to work right away.
One hand shot at Yuffie while the other came towards me.
I moved to the side again, but its arm swayed in my direction hard, knocking me off of my feet.
Yuffie leapt up into the air and tried her shuriken once more. Once it left her hands, she formed hand seals and called out;
“Shadow Shuriken!”
From the lone star appeared 2 others, each spread out and aimed at different portions of the machine’s body.
Once again seeing the attack, it ran the calculations through its head, and used the results to formulate its next maneuver.
Gesper hunched down and extended its own legs, pushing itself forward suddenly. As a result, the first shuriken hit the deck harmlessly. Then, he extended his arm and caught the second, using it to bat the third strait towards me.
“Fuck…!” I murmured.
I shot down to the floor just in time as the star indented itself in the wall behind me, and only a few inches above me.
I looked up and my eyes widened. The second shuriken was heading directly towards me.
And then it turned unexpectedly, and made its way towards Yuffie.
The small ninja girl caught it in her arm and twirled it around with a smirk.
Ah, the ‘throw materia’. The last one must have been the original weapon.
Yuffie stopped twirling the weapon and placed it on her back, now realizing that throwing her weapon without a plan could prove fatal.
“Ice!” She chanted, utilizing her new materia.
The moment the words left her lips, the Gesper brought its own hands out, and in a very distorted and echoing voice, responded; “MAGIC BARRIER.”
The sudden rush of frozen blades met with a glowing rainbow colored shield of light. The blades tried to force their way through, but could not make it even an inch through. Finally, the attack was absorbed into the barrier.
A faint pinkish light surrounded the Gesper now, likely the effects of its spell. It was unknown to me how long it would last, but a more pertinent question would be; how the hell did a machine use magic?
“Oh gawd, no way!” the still pale Yuffie shouted in disbelief.
“Yuffie.” I said. “I’m going to try fighting it up close. Look for an opening, okay?”
“Got it. Don’t get yourself killed.”
My reasoning here was that this thing could already fight us at long range, and I was more of a mid to close range fighter. So if I stuck to that, Yuffie could take long, and with any luck, we’d manage to damage the fucker.
I ran forward with my scythe gripped tightly, watching its arms carefully.
But instead of launching them at me, it brought its hands up to its head and clasped its hands together. A loud whirring noise sounded came from the creatures inside as the air around its hands seemed to distort.
While I knew something was up, seeing little more than distorted air wasn’t enough of a basis to change my tactics yet, in my mind.
Once I was within range, I swerved to the outside of his body, expecting him to use that distorted energy in some kind of frontal assault.
Once at his side, I swung my blade at his lower leg.
The blade of my scythe stopped inches before hitting as the entire air surrounding the Gesper began hazing. The whirring inside its body picked up both in speed and intensity, until a sudden telekinetic blast sent me flying back.
I lost hold of my scythe and it slid away along the floor as I continued flying backwards. My back struck the railing on the edge of the ship hard. I fell on to my arse and slumped forward with an aching body. I forgot, it had telekinetic powers in FF8.
The internal whirring ceased and the SOLDIER turned to face me, preparing to hurl its long arms at me.
From behind, Yuffie disobeyed my plan and leapt towards the Gesper’s back with her shuriken in hand. Because throwing it had always proved futile and magic wouldn’t work at the moment, she went in with the intention of fighting at close range.
She landed behind it, and the sudden sound of feet impacting the floor caused it to spin around with a back hand.
Because of the machine’s size, it was slow to turn and Yuffie was long into the process of dodging its sluggish attack. She ducked down and rolled low to the right side, jabbing the point of her shuriken into the SOLDIER’s left knee joint.
The Gesper’s leg gave away as it slumped down. As it fell, it threw what would be the equivalent of an elbow sharply into Yuffie’s back.
The sudden motion sent Yuffie stumbling forward. She fell to her knees and threw up, letting loose the sickness that stirred in the pit of her stomach since the battle had began.
Gesper extended its left arm and used it for support since its leg was now immobile. It used its leg and arm to hop up and turn itself around, facing Yuffie and I.
Seeing the girl was completely open, I was quick to act.
I ran forward with my hands brought together.
“Shadow Replication!”
I formed 2 clones and spread us apart to attack the machine at different angles. My hope was that when faced with one puking girl and three approaching threats, it would focus on us first.
But the Gesper’s AI had already determined that the loss of its leg and the addition of 2 Grant’s put it at a disadvantage. It brought its arms, legs, and head back inside its large blue body moments before my clones and I swung.
There was a loud clang as all of our blades connected with the dense blue armor, and bounced off, making only small scratches. Its body was amazingly resistant to many forms of attack.
The Gesper took off, rolling towards one of my clones. It was careful to stay avoid rolling at any clones close to the edge of the ship because of the probability of rolling off the edge of the ship.
The first clone tried to evade the rolling mass of metal, but it swerved quickly, and demolished my first replication with ease before rounding, and targeting second clone.
While this was taking place, I was trying to help Yuffie.
“Hey, are you alright?” I said, while watching my remaining clone avoid certain doom.
Yuffie swallowed and stood up strait, shaking her self. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”
She pulled a potion from her item pouch and dumped the green liquid onto the earlier cut she had received, then tossed the bottle aside.
She really is sick. It’s been affecting her performance, but she has been doing her best still. I can’t hold it against her.
“No worries.” I tried to tell her assuringly. “We can take this dude no problem.”
POP! My clone had just been killed.
“…I’ve noticed the barrier hasn’t disappeared yet.” I commented.
“Yeah. Magic Barriers can last a long time usually. But if you force them to absorb enough magic, they’ll disappear quicker.” She explained.
The Gesper’s current strategy seemed to be to roll around chasing us until we got tired and slipped up, or until it became to his advantage to come out of his shell again. At the moment, we had no way of combating him. He rolled through my flames before and I don’t know if ice would be any different. My snakes can’t poison him either, and I can’t use shadow imitation on something that has no will. I can’t use Beta yet either, and an attack on that scale could potentially destroy this ship. Sadly, I have no idea how to use the summon materia I have equipped yet either, and it’s doubtful Yuffie could muster the concentration in her current state. Even if we brought down its magic barrier, it could always bring it back up again too…of course, there would be an opening if he did so…but again, if we can’t even hurt it when it’s rolling, then it wouldn’t see any reason to do so.
The Gesper turned and made its way towards us, rolling far slower than it previously had.
Yuffie shifted, preparing to move, when I stopped her with my hands.
“Wait.”
“What? Why?”
I pointed at the Gesper, whose speed had now sharply decreased.
“We’re standing close to the edge. That thing knows it if charges at us like this, we’ll jump out of the way and it’ll roll off. It wants us to move.” I explained.
And as I suspected, the Gesper stopped, realizing we weren’t going to budge. It rolled back quickly, using its full speed, until it was on the opposite side of the deck.
“I get it. It’s gonna come out now, huh?” Yuffie whispered.
I nodded.
Gesper revealed its once hidden body parts, and leaned backwards in a sitting position. From there, the machine brought its hands together.
Hearing that same whirring sound, I realized its new strategy was to nail us off with a telekinetic blast.
Acting on impulse, I ran forward and clasped my hands together. Yuffie charged at my side making seals of her own, and holding the last, as if waiting for something.
“Shadow Replication!” I shouted, creating a single copy.
As my clone charged forward, I tried to make distance, hoping it would hit my clone instead of me.
The whirring picked up substantially, meaning its attack was only seconds away.
Yuffie and my clone both swung their weapons just in time to meet the Gesper’s counter. The abstract air pulsed, and shot a single wave towards Yuffie and my clone.
There was a loud pop, and my clone vanished into smoke.
But where Yuffie should have been, the body of one of the Shinra soldiers was. The limp body flew with such verbosity, that it was sent completely overboard.
A sudden flash of red caught my eye.
Yuffie twirled her shuriken as her rage empowered her; “Greased Lightning!”
Gesper launched its arm forward, but Yuffie limit increased her speed enough that she angled herself away from the attack and launched forward, shuriken raised.
The Gesper threw itself to the side as Yuffie’s swiping motion was made. The sudden rush of pressure severed the machine’s left arm, making that entire side of its body virtually useless.
With its other hand, it sent a sudden hard strait at Yuffie, knocking her into a wall.
She laid on the ship’s deck trying to catch the wind that had been so violently knocked out of her.
I gripped my scythe tightly, realizing Yuffie would be down for another minute or so.
Wanna hear something cool? My shadow clones are linked to me. That’s why when I have a plan, they know what it is before I even say anything. Even better, when one of them is destroyed, it adds to my limit, though only slightly. But it was enough.
I closed my eyes, and felt my adrenaline and instinct kick in. A red aura surrounded me, and I brought my scythe back as I charged forward.
“Shooting Star!” I cried.
The Gesper was in the process of retreating back into its body, but both the increase in speed from my limit and the fact that retracting damaged limbs seemed to take longer helped me to reach it before it could move.
I swung my weapon hard, striking the center of the spherical shape.
First, a tear opened up in the Gesper’s body. From the tear, something small and glassy rolled out and onto the deck. Then, the sudden wave of force followed, blasting out from my weapon following the initial swing.
The Gesper’s circular shape was shot back, breaking apart the railing directly behind it. It continued moving for several more yards until it gave off a loud plunk and descended beneath the surface of the water.
A heavy and damaged machine like that wouldn’t be able to swim. I think it’s safe to say this battle is over.
Just to make sure he wouldn’t somehow fly out from the water and land on the ship, I glanced overboard. The waves were tranquil and hardly out of the ordinary. That damn thing must have sunk like a rock.
Following the battle, not only do I receive my second level 2 limit break, but I reach level 20, meaning a new technique is in order.
I hear a murmur in Yuffie’s direction and glance over. The said ninja girl rose to her feet, still holding her chest uncomfortably.
“Is it gone?”
“Yes. It appears we killed it so much that it died.” I said, realizing my words made little sense.
“Well good.”
I looked down at her mid section. I’m guessing beneath her white shirt is a massive bruise.
Feeling a bit tired, I plopped down on to my ass and sat cross legged in the center of the deck.
That Gesper was pretty tough considering it was only a normal enemy in Final Fantasy VIII. Then again, because of how the level up system in that game works, in theory, it’s possible to fight a Gesper stronger than a number of the game’s bosses.
“Hey, do you want me to look at that?”
Yuffie shook her head and made her way over, sitting near by.
“I’ll just pour potion on it.”
“Potion sucks. My healing hands are a hundred times better. Who knows? Maybe it’ll cure your sea sickness too?”
“Whatever, go nuts.” Yuffie replied.
She yanked her shirt up in one fast and surprising motion. Her upper body was thankfully covered by the sleeveless green shirt she had worn beneath the disguise.
On her exposed midsection, I could quite easily make out a large purple circular bruise, slightly bigger than a basketball.
“Ouch.” I held my hands closer to the bruise, but was careful not to touch it. “Healing Hands!”
And we sat for the next minute or so, as I channeled green healing magic from my hands and into her stomach. I worked on not only removing the damaged cells, but also on the rest of her body, hoping the green light would cure her sickness, or at least curb it some.
“Nice job using replacement by the way.” I complimented.
“Yeah I know.” She grinned proudly.
I pulled my hands back and examined her stomach once again. The bruise had vanished completely and left no evidence of its presence.
Yuffie slid her sailor shirt down and poked where the bruise had been through the fabric with her index finger.
“Geez, doesn’t even hurt anymore.”
“And the sickness? How’s that?” I inquired.
She blinked a few times and stood up, taking a few steps back and forth. Then, realizing she didn’t feel like throwing up, she did a spin on one foot.
“Yes! I don’t wanna hurl anymore, thank gawd!” she cheered.
I stood up and ran my glowing hand along my own body to help relieve the pain from the blows I had taken. It was much faster than Yuffie’s treatment because my injuries were smaller and I wasn’t trying to cure sea sickness.
When I finished, the green around my hands faded.
I’m pretty sure that does it for my magic power at the moment. Using so many techniques is also making me kind of sluggish, but it isn’t nearly as bad as it would have been if this were a week or so ago.
“So why didn’t you just summon Shiva and kick that things ass, huh?” Yuffie scolded me suddenly.
“I kind of…don’t know how to use it.” I admitted.
Yuffie rolled her eyes, “Gawd Grant. You have Beta, but you can’t use it. You have advanced ninja techniques, and yet you stink in every single other area as a ninja. You have an awesome summon, and you don’t even know how use it. You suck.” She stuck her tongue out for good measure.
“Hey!” I protested, “Did I not just make you feel better? How about some gratitude, hm?”
“I’m glad.” Yuffie nodded, “…but you still suck.”
I sighed. If I weren’t out of magic power at the moment, I’d whip out my new move to shut her up.
I remembered hearing something come out of the Gesper before it was blasted away. I scanned the ground and caught sight of a small green orb on the ground.
I knelt down and picked it up, and Yuffie watched me curiously.
“What?”
“This is the Barrier materia the Techno-SOLDIER used.” I answered. “And just how it used it is beyond me…”
Yuffie shrugged. “Must be a new Shinra model or something.”
Hm. I’ll bet Cait Sith uses the same technology. That must be how he’ll be able to use magic later on.
Yuffie cleared her throat. “Ahem…dibs.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“I said ‘dibs’. You didn’t call it, and we both beat that thing together.” Yuffie reasoned.
I could probably point out a flaw in her position, but I really didn’t care. I stood back up with the materia In hand and placed held it out for her to take. She plucked it happily from my hand.
“Thanks!” the ninja beamed.
“ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS: WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT COS DEL SOL IN A FEW MINUTES. REPEAT: WE WILL BE ARRIVING AT COS DEL SOL IN A FEW MINUTES.” The scattered intercoms indicated.
I’m really hoping Cloud and the other finished up with Jenova-Birth, because if they didn’t, there might be a few problems.
I made my way towards the stairs that would lead us to the lower level, gesturing for sailor ninja Yuffie to follow.
She hopped to my side and together we walked down the long stairs.
As we made our way to the lower level, I glanced at the door leading to the engine room, hoping to some kind of god-like being that I wouldn’t open it and find the freaky monstrosity that was ‘Jenova-Birth’ shooting lasers all about in a mad frenzy.
You know what? I say Cloud and the others had it easy. Their enemy was freaking huge, and it didn’t even have legs. How mobile could it be?
Yuffie and I approached the door, but I was now too lost in thought to worry about what was on the other side.
If they were fighting in the engine room, how much room did the have? When you enter the room in FF7 and see it in the non battle window, Jenova alone would take up most of the room.
I jumped suddenly as the door began opening. I stepped back with Yuffie and waited to see who would come out. I knew it would be them, so I didn’t reach for my weapon, but Yuffie yanked hers and got into a battle stance in quite the hurry.
Cloud jumped for a second, surprised to see us standing right outside. He regained his composure quickly and sighed tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“What are you two doing here?” he asked.
“Didn’t you hear the announcement? We came down here to see how your ‘epic battle’ was going.” I answered.
“He got away.” Cloud answered painfully. From his face and tone, I knew that had set him in a foul mood.
I stared past him and found that the engine room had in fact been much larger than it was in the game. While not quite as great as the cargo room I had spent my resting hours in, the engine room was easily 150 meters in length and width. Along the sides of the room were various walkways and platforms leading to different devices, all apparently having some relation to the towering mass of steel and steam that as, this ships engine.
Of course, quite a number had been done on this room. I watched the remaining members of AVALANCHE collect themselves, whether it be by trying to stand them selves up or by dousing their open wounds with restorative items.
Several of the platforms had been cut through with something small and thin, like a laser, and the walkways had great gaping holes. The engine room floor was also full of laser burns, craters of varying size, and blood, some red and some a sickly light green, presumably Jenova-Birth’s.
For several minutes, Cloud, Yuffie, and I stood at the door way, waiting for the remaining members to treat themselves.
“What happened?” I asked.
I watched Tifa pour a Hi-potion on Barret’s body and pat it lightly with a cloth. Barret closed his eyes and grunted as the cool blue liquid made contact with his skin.
Aeris just finished casting a ‘Cure2’ spell on herself and leaned against a wall tiredly upon the spells completion.
Yuffie saw this too and pushed past Cloud and I to offer the weakened flower girl some assistance.
Cloud glanced back at the others, specifically Barret and Aeris, the two that appeared to have been injured the most.
“You were right. Sephiroth was here. But he disappeared and left behind a piece of Jenova.” He paused. “Aeris was hurt badly, and we almost lost Barret.”
His voice made it sound like he blamed himself, but from the looks of this room, the battle they had fought was something else. Jenova-Birth must have been substantially stronger than it had been in the game.
“Well, everyone’s okay. At least there’s that much to be thankful for, right?” I offered.
He nodded, “Yeah. So what happened with you two? You look a little bushed yourselves.”
“SOLDIER.” I answered. “Or rather, a Techno-SOLDIER. They had one on this ship. Quite the pain in the ass it was.”
Cloud’s eyes opened a little wider, “A Techno-SOLDIER? Like the ‘Air Buster’?”
“Not really. This thing was smaller and far more mobile. Not only that but its AI was significantly more advanced. The bastard was actually strategizing. And to add to matters, it could use materia and limited telekinetic abilities.”
Our conversation was halted as one final announcement was made over the intercom.
“ATTENTION: WE HAVE ARRIVED AT COS DEL SOL. ALL PASSENGERS PLEASE DISEMBARK.”
Cloud turned to the group. “Everyone ready?”
Barret, now on his own two feet, nodded. “Yeah, I’m good to go, spike ass.”
The large door at back of the cargo room opened loudly, bringing bright sunlight into ships cargo hold. The sudden view seemed to lift everyone’s spirits.
We were sure to leave the ship quickly, so as not to be found by Rufus and any guards he may have had near by.
Aeris had leaned on Yuffie slightly for support. Her highly concentrated healing seemed to cure all of her problems but the physical exhaustion she felt. Out of all of us, she likely had the least stamina and physical combat ability.
Barret walked on his own, insistent on not having any further help. He was stubborn, but he survived, and for that I was grateful. But sadly for him, the sailor suit he seemed to love lay torn at the ground.
After we left Rufus’s ship, we formed the usual group circle on the dock of Cos Del Sol, minus Yuffie who immediately threw off all the pieces of her sailor disguise and was presently jumping around happily and doing cartwheels. She hated that ship with a passion.
The climate here was nice in my opinion, although the humidity seemed to have Red panting like I’ve never seen him before. Most of the citizens I could see wandering around the dock and talking were shirtless or in swim suits, wearing the bare minimum amount of clothing needed. It figured for a place such as this. It was most definitely a large tourist attraction, where people from all walks of life would come to take a load off.
“Alright, I’ll make this quick, we can’t stick around this dock much longer.” Cloud started. “At the moment, we don’t have a lot of information on Sephiroth and I’m sure everyone could use some time to rest. We’ll spent the night here and leave early in the morning.”
“Great!” Aeris clapped her hands together with a smile.
“I wanna go swimming!” Tifa declared, as she started off towards the town.
“Oooh…me too!” Aeris followed.
I watched the two women run off joyously. I thought they were tired? But then, it isn’t often we get to take a load off. They probably want to enjoy all the free time they can before going to sleep for the night. I know I do too.
Red stepped forward, still panting, with his tail between his legs.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to find some place cool. This heat is drying out my nose.”
Yuffie finished her last cartwheel and placed her hand on her hip, “Mine too! See you in town!” she said in a sing song voice as she ran off.
“Bah.” Barret rumbled, “I’m gettin’ a drink.”
As the former AVALANCHE leader marched off, I glanced at Cloud, already fairly certain I knew what he would do.
“You’re going to ask around about Sephiroth, right?”
He nodded. “Someone must have seen him if he came here. He’s a hard person to miss.”
“Hm. I think I’ll-“
An abrupt ringing sounded from within my jacket pocket. I glanced down at it, face suddenly becoming serious.
It rang once more.
I looked back up at Cloud.
“Excuse me.”
He shrugged, “Go ahead.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled the phone as I walked towards the stairs that would lead me into Cos Del Sol. Cloud followed somewhat close, but knew enough to go his own separate way as soon as possible, so as not to intrude on my conversation.
The phone gave another ring. I flipped it open and pushed the talk button, while scanning for a good place to carry out whatever conversation might be taking place.
“Hello.” I spoke into the phone.
“Hello Grant.” Came Erika’s voice. “Did I call at a bad time?”
------------------------------END OF CHAPTER--------------------------
By the way, Yuffie’s “Shadow Shuriken” is actually “Shuriken Kage Bunshin” or “Shuriken Shadow Replication” in the Naruto anime. I changed it to “Shadow Shuriken” which is an entirely different move really, because I think “Shuriken Shadow Replication” sounds too much like one of my moves and just sounds kind of lame.