Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VII: Reverie ❯ Trouble in Wutai (Part 2) The Fall Of Mae Mae...or was that Tsing Mae?! ( Chapter 3 )

Leira could not believe her general had trusted her with the formalities. Where was she again…Mae Mae or Tsing Mae? As she tried to remember where she was, she also tried to place the delegate’s accent. She had wished that they had not started with basic for their introduction. It was common procedure for the delegates to speak first in their language than the Shinra parties, out of courtesy, were to speak in the tongue of the delegates. Leira was fluent with the languages but she never met any of the native people in their own environment. It suddenly became apparent to her that the two countries (Mae Mae and Tsing Mae) were at war with each other and had no idea that the Shinra had been dealing weapons to both sides.

Sephiroth eyed her curiously, as she played "eenie-meenie" in the back of her mind. He was becoming increasingly uneasy by her silence.

"We are ready to proceed with our prearranged dealings." She said at last in one of the dialects.

The officers around her dropped their jaws while Sephiroth closed his eyes and slapped a hand over his face. The delegate's faces went from shock to anger in mere seconds.

The poor officer stood there looking at everyone curiously. "Was it something I said?"

"I'm not even going to tell you what you just said to them!" Sephiroth growled.

"You said what about our ancestors?" shouted one of the three delegates.

"They speak in the language of our enemy!" another shouted.

In mere seconds, guns were drawn and shots fired. A bullet bounced of Leira's helmet and two shots hit Zack in the right shoulder. Sephiroth had not been so lucky he suffered seven shots to the chest and was down. The youngest SOLDIER shot in the left elbow. The sixteen year old cried out in pain as Zack began to push her into a run.

"Ecka, we've got to keep moving!”

"Run!" shouted one of the other officers. The Shinra began to break rank and retreat. Leira and one of the officers hoisted Sephiroth's unconscious body to his feet and started off. Zack rushed to the front to provide cover fire for Leira and the others. Ecka caught Zack's movement and went back to join him. She did not need both arms to support her weapon. The both of them provided cover for the other retreating members.

"He's bleeding heavily!" the officer yelled to Leira as they ran. "We've got to set him down soon!"

Leira just nodded at him. Her guilt was beginning to overwhelm her. She had not meant for the mission to be screwed up but she had to admit to herself that it was somewhat funny. In her heart, she knew once they found a place to set their general down and patched him up; he was not going to be happy.

"They're coming, they're coming!" came the sound of Zack's voice. The six Shinra kept up their hurried pace until they came to a large metal shed. Leira assumed it was the ammo shed where they kept all of their gifts from Shinra. The door was made of metal and very heavy. Zack, Leira and two of the officers shut the large door. Once it was shut Leira and one of the officers sat down next to the fading Sephiroth the others posted guard.

"How far behind you were they?" Leira asked as she tried to think of a way to heal her general.

Voices were shouting in the distance and they were not friendly. "Uhm, not too far!" said Zack.

"Anyone have a restore materia?" asked an officer. Everyone searched their bracelets and weapons.

"Nope," came the replies, "not on me."

Leira searched around Sephiroth's person as she removed his long black coat. "He does!" she yelled excitedly.

"Are you out of your mind?" yelled Zack.

"Why?" asked Leira.

"Uhm, ma'am," said Ecka, "his materia is mastered. We were always taught to leave another SOLDIER's materia alone especially if it's mastered."

"Uhm, Zack." Leira said pointedly, “He’s dying!” She quickly took his wrist in her hand grabbed his bracelet. She whispered the incantations to activate the little green gem. Everyone watched in awe as Sephiroth's body began to heal itself. Leira smiled as all his life signs restored. The SOLDIER moved his head a little and opened his eyes. "Where are we?" he asked.

"We're in trouble!" hollered SOLDIER First Class Zack. The locals had reached the shed and began pounding on the door.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" asked Sephiroth as he eyed Leira.

"I've got an idea!" yelled an officer. "Zack your fire materia use it! Aim it at the door!"

The SOLDIER smiled at his friend and began the words that would activate his materia. A huge ball of fire shot through the room and traveled straight through the door tearing it off its hinges. After the door was blown away, the officer ran up to the door to get a glimpse of what was left. There were still more soldiers on the way. "Now what?" he asked.

"Sir, can you walk?" asked Zack.

"I'm alright." Sephiroth said as he got to his feet and put his coat back on. "It's pretty bad isn't it?"

"Oh, just a couple thousand or so!" muttered SOLDIER first class Ecka.

The Great Sephiroth leaned against the wall next to Zack and glanced out. He had hoped that he would have lived longer than this. He had been in some tight squeezes before but there was so much in life he wanted to experience. He was very upset with the young woman that had saved his life but he still had feelings for her. There was so much he wanted to tell her. He looked over at Leira and was suddenly fearful.

Zack looked over at Sephiroth and followed his gaze. "Something wrong, sir?"

Leira was busily reciting an incantation of her own. She sat on the ground cross-legged with her helmet beside her, eyes closed deep in thought.

"Uhm. What's she doing?" asked the SOLDIER.

"She might just be trying to kill us all." Sephiroth responded flatly. "I just hope she worked a bit harder on her summoning."

"Summoning who's she going to call on?" As if in response to his question, the sky started to darken and a large creature was now floating outside of the shed. "That's Hades!" yelped Zack. "Does she know how to control him?"

"Not very well!" Sephiroth said back.

Outside the shed, the scene was chaotic. Soldiers were running around all over the place. They had fired shots at this new being but nothing stopped it. Hades was now doing his own summoning. He was about to release his cauldron spell.

Inside the shed, the Shinra had huddled around Leira. The last time she had summoned Hades she had accidentally ended up poisoning everyone who had gathered for a materia training session including Sephiroth and her uncle. Only Leira was spared the agony of being sick and bedridden for weeks.