Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Apotheosis ❯ Bloody Feet ( Chapter 3 )

Aeris is sick Aeris is hurt can't fix why why why

She sighed softly and turned her face into the coolness of the thin pillow, the sharp smell of disinfectant stinging her nostrils. The voice continued to hum in the back of her mind.

Wake Aeris rise Aeris danger here danger danger

But she couldn't wake… didn't want to. Her mind was a blur; she was barely able to string a coherent thought together. I met that young man on the way to the garden… I was afraid to jump… why did I need to jump?

Yes yes Aeris thinks Aeris remembers Aeris was chased Aeris was caught

I'm so tired, why can't you let me sleep? she thought piteously at the voice.

Sleep forever soon if Aeris doesn't wake Aeris doesn't run

She moaned softly, twisting her head back and forth. She couldn't remember! The young man… and the jump she hadn't made… long featureless hallways… the reek of antiseptic… and that sharp, crackling presence she had encountered.

Aeris isn't scared

But I could be… should be… am? She couldn't bring forth an image of who or what it was, but it had shocked her out of her daze for a few brief moments. A fierce, roiling energy that had almost reminded her of her mother, the only other of her kind she'd known… but yet so different. A buzzing, the taste of lemons, the acrid stench of burning leaves; not directed against her, not hostile, but awesome in its depth and unlike anything she had ever experienced.

Wicked

Not bad

Wickedwickedwicked

Sound. Movement. She turned her head and opened her eyes, fuzzily trying to focus on the door. A figured silhouetted in light, then darkness again as the door closed. Blinking, she was able to track the dark shape as it crossed the small room and crouched beside her bed. A leather-gloved hand pressed her chin upwards; she gasped at a rush of cold air and a sting at her throat.

Wickedwickedwicked

Not bad

"I have given you a stimulant," a low voice rumbled out of the darkness. "It will take effect in a few moments."

She frowned, trying to make sense of that simple statement, then winced as light flooded her vision. Blinking painfully, she struggled to make out the person looming over her. A thin wom--no, a man, met her muddled gaze expressionlessly, his green eyes oddly lambent. Those eyes were strangely familiar; she had seen them before, only they had been blazing, glowing emerald then…

"You're him!" she gasped, propping herself up on one elbow. "The one from the lab, the one who--"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he said coldly, fine features hardening into a glare. She could have bitten her tongue; surely they were being observed, and hadn't he--yes, he had asked her not to talk about what had happened. She didn't think she had until now, but why the secre--her train of thought abruptly derailed as she caught sight of the stylized S logo over the lockplate of the door.

Shinra.

She glanced around, quickly taking in her surroundings; she was in a sparsely appointed hospital room… with a Shinra logo on the door.

A laboratory. Shinra research.

Oh, no.

Her visitor had followed the direction of her gaze, then turned back to her. Rising, he stepped back from the bed. "Can you stand?"

Wickedwickedwicked

Aeris runs Aeris flees

The Planet spoke! Relief surged through her, and she found she could stand.

Of course of course love you Aeris stands Aeris flees

She felt a sudden rush of lightheadedness and swayed, almost falling; the man made no move to steady her. "Sit if you must," he said. "I won't carry you."

"No, I'm fine," she replied. "Just a little dizzy."

"Then come." He opened the door and gestured for her to proceed him through it.

They passed through so many coded doors and manned checkpoints she quickly lost count; her guide led her rapidly along, occasionally murmuring a few brief words to the guards they encountered, but otherwise silent. Aeris began to grow frightened; she realized she knew this man, even before their encounter in the lab. He was the captain of the Shinra headquarters' troop of S.O.L.D.I.E.R.s, and was often seen abroad in Midgar, alone or with his men. No one she knew had ever known his name or anything about him except he brutality; he was well known for his vicious and bloody response to insurrections.

The Angel of Death, he's called. And what is a S.O.L.D.I.E.R. doing in a lab, or taking me from one? I hope, I hope, I hope he's just taking me somewhere… maybe I can escape then… he can't want anything from me, please don't let him--

Stay safe stay safe stay safe

Wickedwickedwicked

Stay safe

Her anxiety and growing terror only increased when they exited the building entirely. Shinra's vast grounds spread out before them, harshly limned by the floodlights spaced out along the high brick walls surrounding the campus. Her captor took her elbow and guided her down one of the raked gravel paths dividing the neatly manicured lawns.

"You've seen the inside of the building. Each one of those towers contains a sniper equipped with night vision and a rifle powerful enough to destroy anything he can aim at," he rasped softly, his words barely audible. "Three of the four quadrants--the two front, and the rear to the south of us--are likewise equipped with motion sensors, which will trigger a siren and hidden banks of lights, which will bring you to the attention of the fellows up there." He pointed. "They've been left deactivated in this sector because it is a popular spot for the less affluent members of S.O.L.D.I.E.R. to become acquainted with their young ladies."

The night was warm, but Aeris shivered, pulling her rough gray hospital tunic closer. Please don't let him want-- "Why are you telling me this?" she asked tremulously. "I would never try to run from you."

They had reached a small iron bench, surrounded by ornamental rocks. He sank down onto one end, neatly folding his legs beneath him and resting his chin on his fists. He gestured for her to sit; heart in her throat she did, staying as far from him as she could.

"I tell you these things because you will need to fabricate a story if you are apprehended," he said frankly. "I have brought you here, where we will be unobserved, because I wish to offer you a bargain." His eyes sparked, giving an eerie cast to his delicate features. "If you answer my questions truthfully, I will walk you to a gate and release you as easily as I have taken you from the facility. If--"

SAFE

"--you do not, I will break your neck and return the corpse to your room."

Still safe stay safe

Wicked

Safe

Aeris let out the breath she had been holding in a ragged sound that was almost a sob. Safe, the Planet said; it had an interesting idea of what safe meant. "Wh-what do you want to know?"

He was silent for a long time. He looked like a statue of ebony and marble, except for the long silver hair that tossed in the soft breeze, tickling her legs. Finally he spoke. "Is Hojo right? Are you a Cetra?"

Truth truth truth

"Not entirely," she said slowly. "My mother was… and I take after her. But I am only half."

"Have you read what is written about your mother's people? How much of it is true?"

"Very little… and all of it." She told him of the Ancients, their stewardship and connection to all life, the Lifestream and her eventual duty to it, Shinra's plans to harvest and destroy it, the voice of the Planet--

He straightened. "It actually speaks to you? The planet itself? Verbally?"

"Not in a way others can hear, she explained. "It's a presence in my mind, always with me."

Love you

"And what does it talk about?" he asked, propping his chan back on his fists. "No, never mind, it's not important. And you will suicide to join with this voice--the Lifestream?"

"Not suicide," she said heatedly. "But yes, I will take my place in it when the time comes.

He was silent again. The glow slowly returned to his eyes, softer and more steady this time. Aeris shivered; even in a terrifyingly uncertain situation like this, she was struck by his odd, unearthly beauty. She had never before encountered a person like him; she didn't think she wished to in the future.

He looked up at her, capturing her gaze. "And… what am I?"

It was Aeris's turn to be silent, carefully considering her response. What did he expect her to know--what did he want to hear?

Truth truth truth

"I don't know," she finally admitted. "I've only known one other Ancient, my mother, and you're not like her--not much. There was never a shock like that between us. Nothing like that has ever happened before." She lowered her eyes. "But you're not human. No human has… energy like yours." She bit her lip and glanced up at him. "Please don't be angry."

His gaze had turned inward, his eyes smoldering. Paradoxically, she found she wished she had been able to tell him something else, not to buy her life with, but because he seemed so… depressed by her answer. It struck her that he was taking a terrible risk with her, and whatever information he'd hoped she knew must be very important to him. Why did her lack of knowledge distress him so?

Would he still keep his word?

The wind teased her with the tips of his mane for a long time. The glow in his eyes guttered out, and he straightened his legs beneath him. "Well," he murmured. "Well. I think you're too frightened to lie to me." She froze, uncertain of how to respond; he stood. "Come."

Aeris scrambled to her feet, noticing the pain of the small rocks digging into her thin cotton slippers for the first time. He turned and strode off deeper into the grounds, seemingly unconcerned whether or not she followed. She had to trot to keep up with him. The area he led her into was much darker, and she kept track of his progress mostly by the soft crunch of gravel and the snap of his coat in the wind.

They finally came to the gate he had spoken of; much smaller than the others she had seen, it was also unmanned, although the lenses attached to it seemed to be monitoring devices. He tapped numbers into the keypad, and it swung open silently.

SAFE

Aeris took a deep breath, staring out into the unrestricted night before her. He was really going to let her go! But where? She didn't know where she was, where Midgar was, where if friends were, if they were still free--

Aeris calms Aeris relaxes

"Aeris--"

She whirled, startled to hear her name spoken aloud. He had taken a silent step towards her, and stripped off one of his gloves as she watched. His eyes crackled green again, and he licked his lips. Slowly he reached towards her face.

He's going to touch me this time! she thought frantically, not entirely unexcited by the prospect.

She tilted her chin up for him, anticipating and fearing the contact--but his hand stopped and hovered a breath from her cheek for a long moment. Then he gestured to the open gate. "Go."

Silent and disturbed, she stepped through, then turned back to him. "What's your name?"

The corners of his mouth turned upwards in a sardonic smile. "Midgar is east," he said hoarsely, and shut the gate.

Wicked?