Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Learning Curve Continuum ❯ Thunderstruck ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Definitely not mine; always returned to Square Enix after they’ve been thoroughly devastated.

A/N: The way Squeenix chose to do the sequencing of this arc in the game annoys the hell out of me, so this chapter is short in length but long on dramatic impact.  The entire team is present for all of the action and I’m fiddling with staging and scenery to suit myself.  I know Tifa’s Limit Breaks don’t work that way in the game, but I’m using artistic license.  

Pinching dialogue from Advent Children.

Warnings: Coarse language, violence and character death.  Here there be spoilers if you don’t know what happened to Aerith.

Bouquets to my wonderful betas, Kitsune13/TamLin and Ranuel.

Learning Curve Continuum
Chapter Twelve: Thunderstruck
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“This is incredible!” Yuffie whispered.  She kept a tight hold on Tifa’s harness as she gawked in all directions while they filed down the light-infused staircase into the bowels of the earth.  “To think that all of this is still here, after all those centuries…. it makes you wonder what the Planet would be like today, if Jenova had never arrived.”

“Less ShinRa,” Barret grunted.  “More peace.”

“It looks like a fairy-tale castle,” Tifa commented, waving her hand towards the turreted towers rising up to meet them.

“Watch your footing,” Nanaki called from below.  “The stairs are chipped in places, and the edges are very sharp.”

“Helluva long way down,” Cloud muttered.  “Only one way in or out, so it’d be easy to set a trap.”

Cid uneasily glanced over his shoulder at the length of the span they’d already covered. “Good point, boss.  Should someone stay up top as a guard?”

“Which one of us is strong enough to take on Sephiroth alone?” Cloud asked.

“That’d be you.”  Yuffie’s fingers tightened, almost throwing Tifa off-balance in mid-step.

“Ain’t leavin’ nobody behind,” Barret rumbled, and that was that.

When they finally reached the bottom, Nanaki led the way through a low, arched opening in the perimeter wall – Tifa and Barret had to duck – and into the fortress proper.  They turned right and followed the curving passageway between the walls, their boots loud on the pavement.  Yuffie stuck close to Tifa the entire way, apparently too intimidated to be acquisitive.  Skirting an inner building, up another flight of stairs, between two circular towers, and they were overlooking a courtyard completely filled by a crystalline spring.  Across the courtyard, raised up on a slender pedestal, was a circular platform enclosed within a clear, vase-shaped vessel… and kneeling on the platform in an attitude of prayer was Aerith.    

“What’s she doing?” Yuffie asked.  “That kinda looks like an altar.”

“Asking the Planet for guidance,” Nanaki replied.

“It hasn’t told her how to stop Sephiroth yet?” the teen incredulously demanded.  

Nanaki shook his head.  “It is apparently not an easy task.”

Tifa moved to the edge of the platform and inspected the two flights of stairs leading down towards the water’s surface, where Vincent stood on a stone pier.  His back was to them, facing Aerith’s perch, but the muzzle of his gun protruded beyond his arm.  He’s not taking any chances, if he’s keeping his weapon at the ready.  Beyond Vincent’s sentry post, a series of five round columns acted like vertiginous stepping stones up to a sixth column that flared to provide the base for an elegant staircase leading up to the circular platform; a single tower rose up out of the water beside it, overlooking the platform but seemingly lacking any connection to it or the rest of the fortifications.  That would’ve been the bastion of last resort; maybe a walkway once attached it to the altar.

“With Vincent’s long-range attacks and accuracy, he can easily cover Aerith from here,” Cloud noted before descending the stairs to the pier, Nanaki close behind.

“I’ll stay up here; more room to throw my shuriken.”

“Me, too,” Barret rumbled as he took the safety off his gun-arm and braced his back against one of the towers.  

Tifa peered across in Aerith’s direction, noting that her eyes remained closed as if she hadn’t heard their arrival.  She appears to be in a trance.  “Where do you want us, Cloud?” she asked.

He pointed at the altar.  “You and Cid take positions up there.  I’ll stay down here with Vincent.”

In the resulting shuffle, as they made their way down to the pier and Vincent stood aside to greet them, Cloud suddenly leapt up the columns, his weapon in his hand.  

“Spiky!”

“Cloud!  NO!” Tifa bolted after him, blind to everything except the desperate need to prevent a tragedy.  I’ll never forgive myself if he...!  

When he reached the top of the stairs, he swung the massive sword – and paused, wavering.  Tifa was close enough to hear Cloud grind out, “What’re you making me do...?” before she crashed into him.  At the same moment, the butt end of Cid’s lance slammed into the blade, knocking it away from Aerith.  Nanaki flung himself in front of the mage as the ringing sound of the collision reached far enough into her trance to rouse her; misty green eyes slowly blinked open in time to see Tifa pinning Cloud to the ground and Cid restraining his sword by standing on it.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“Aerith-sama! Urk ...!”

Time stopped.

Impaled in his turn by the three feet of honed steel protruding from Aerith’s body, Nanaki twisted and stared in horror at the bright red liquid dribbling down the mage’s chin as the light in her expression extinguished.  Something ‘plinked’ off the stone floor beside him; the pale materia she carried hidden in her hair bounced a couple more times before rolling towards the staircase and disappearing over the edge.  As a length of pink silk fluttered down to land in the rapidly-growing crimson puddle, he heard a distinct splash from far below.

Time snapped.

As the blade withdrew and she slumped forward, the coppery stench of their blood clogging his nostrils, Nanaki cushioned Aerith’s collapse as best he could.  Curling his lanky frame around her, he bared his teeth at the tall, black-garbed swordsman wearing the most impossibly satisfied expression he’d ever seen.

And then a scream of pure fury made his fur stand on end.  

Fists and body ablaze with destructive energy, Tifa threw herself at Sephiroth.  

Cloud crawled towards them; Nanaki tensed, ready to lash out, until the swordsman raised dulled eyes to meet his cautious gaze.  Touching Aerith’s cheek with trembling fingers, Cloud murmured raggedly, “This can’t be real.”

“Godammit, T!  Getcher ass away from that fucker!” Cid yelled, and they both looked up to see Sephiroth easily evading Tifa’s multiple blows, a cruel smile curving his lips.  His sword flashed and Yuffie screamed, but Tifa somehow kicked it away.  She wobbled as she landed, and that tiny, off-kilter moment allowed Cid to tackle her before she launched again.  “We ain’t losin’ you, too,” he hissed, forcefully shoving her down when she thrashed.

“So pathetic,” Sephiroth declared, flicking red droplets off his sword as he levitated higher above their heads.  “Do not weep for the girl; as part of the Lifestream, she will live on within me when I unite with the Planet.  You will envy her easy death when your time comes.”  Gesturing grandly, he announced, “My destiny awaits over the snowy fields!”  A burst of gunfire tore through his torso; Sephiroth merely shook himself and sent an amused glance in Vincent’s direction.

“You bastard,” Cloud seethed.  “You’re gonna pay long, hard and painfully for this!”

The silver head tilted.  “Why, Cloud… do you mean to tell me that you have feelings?”

Smearing at his wet cheeks while reaching for his sword, he snarled, “Of course I do!  Unlike you, I’m not a monster.”

Sephiroth sighed regretfully, rising higher into the air.  “Don’t pretend to be angry or sad, Cloud, because you are merely an empty puppet.”

“Wh-what?”

His pale eyes alight with malicious glee, Sephiroth tossed an object towards them and vanished as a horrible thing unfolded, expanded and showed every sign of using the small platform as a landing pad.  “Get the missy outta here!” Cid bellowed, diving to scoop up Nanaki.  Throwing his injured teammate over his shoulder, the pilot bounded down the columns to the pier and up the opposite staircase.  

Tifa scooped Aerith into her arms as Vincent arrived.  “Move quickly,” he murmured.  Reluctantly turning her back on the giant threat, the likes of which she hadn’t seen since the Cargo Ship, she retreated down, across and up to where Yuffie was already desperately working on Nanaki’s wounds under the protection of Barret’s gun barrels.  

“Tifa – here!”  

The case of Phoenix Down slid across the stone as she gently laid Aerith on the stone tiles; even as she reached for the restorative Item, Tifa bit her lip.  There’s something wrong – her body is already cold.  Wiping the blood off Aerith’s face, she neatly arranged her limbs before opening the case and selecting one of the gaudy feathers.  Laying it across the mage’s unmoving chest, Tifa crossed her fingers.   She looks so peaceful.  

“Why isn’t it working?  It always works!  C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!”  Yuffie pleaded, dropping to her knees beside Tifa, her hands tightly clasped, fixing the feather with a desperately hopeful gaze.

Nanaki padded over and laid down, his head on his paws, his nose almost touching Aerith’s throat.  After several long, slow sniffs, he sighed deeply and closed his eye.  “She is gone,” he declared heavily.

“No! She can’t be! No!” Yuffie protested, then broke down in tears.  Tifa wrapped her arms around the teen and pulled her close; Yuffie burrowed into her chest, sobbing hysterically, while over their heads, Barret let off a thunderous barrage of both bullets and profanity.

“Fucking asshole,” Cid muttered thickly.  Hefting his lance, he took a running jump, landed easily on the edge of the circular platform and then went air-borne.  “Fire in the hole!” he shouted before stabbing downwards; the resulting explosion blew off one of the monster’s deformed limbs just as a strange blue flame flickered.  While Vincent poured round after round into the creature, an arc of purple energy tracked Cloud’s ascent as he unleashed a ClimHazzard.  However, the bleeding creature spun on its trunk-like axis as a thick blue light blanketed the altar;  Cloud flew out of the obscuring fog and Tifa clearly heard his pained grunt as he collided with the freestanding tower.  Its attacks appear to be all water-based – darn it, I should’ve given this Water Ring to Cloud!
 
An equally unpleasant thought made her heart pound irregularly.  While we’re down here fighting this monster, Sephiroth could be up top blocking the exit!  “Yuffie... I have to go help the boys.  Will you stay here with Barret and protect Nanaki and Aerith?”

Huge, dark eyes, absolutely desolate in their expression, broke Tifa’s heart as the teen forced herself to nod bravely.  Wiping her eyes on the back of her glove, Yuffie stood up and marched over to where she’d dropped her shuriken, then took up a position behind Nanaki.  “We got this,” she said.  “Go kick the shit out of that thing.”

Tifa saluted and jumped down the steps to the pier.  Above her, Vincent was blasted with blue flame and knocked head over heels out into space... and then he abruptly, astonishingly, transformed into a bizarre purple beast.  A thick red mane bristled and a long tail lashed; roaring, he landed on one of the columns, his massive claws tearing off chunks of stone, and threw himself back into the fray.  There was more of that eerie blue light, followed by some unpleasant crunching, squelching sounds that Tifa really didn’t want to think about and then Cid hastily decamped to the narrow battlement on the freestanding tower.

She noted that Cloud was holding his ribs while watching the action on the altar.  Cid edged closer and spoke to the swordsman; Cloud nodded and Cid appeared to cast Cure on him.  I wonder what colour are his eyes?  He seems to be in control of himself... well, at least he isn’t attacking any of us.  She was considering the dangers of going to Vincent’s aid when Yuffie shrieked a warning.  A large object hurtled into the water scant inches from the pier she was standing on; without waiting to see what it was, she took advantage of the resulting geyser and rode its energy upwards.  “Cid!  Let’s go!”

“Fuck!  More fucking warnin’ woulda been good!”

“Next time!”

As soon as the explosion from Cid’s attack shook the altar, she somersaulted onto the platform, skidded in some alarmingly-coloured ooze, and charged towards her target to deliver a sweeping kick that directed a torrent of water at the monster and forced it backwards.  Pressing home her advantage, she dashed in and unleashed a killer uppercut.  The follow-through slammed into the monster like a water-cannon and sent it tottering.  It wasn’t finished yet; she was abruptly bathed in that strange blue light but found herself unaffected.  

“I got it!” Cloud hoarsely shouted, his sword raised high overhead as he pushed off of the tower and sliced the creature right down the middle.  It fell apart in a welter of gore, and he proceeded to hack it into very, very small pieces while Tifa fell back, mildly nauseated by the butchery.

“T!  Need some fucking help down here!”

“On it!”  Charging down the stepping-stone columns, she crouched next to Cid, who was struggling to haul an unconscious Vincent out of the water.  Reaching over the cursing pilot, she fisted a handful of slippery red cloth and yanked, then used the leverage to grab the gunslinger’s arm.  

“One... two... heave!”  

“Heavier than he fucking looks,” Cid commented, sounding a little short of breath as they dragged Vincent up onto the pier.  

“Lucky he didn’t sink, what with all his armour,” Tifa said. “Gimme a hand.”  Cid took hold of Vincent’s feet while she gripped his shoulders; between the two of them, they manhandled him up the open stairs.  Yuffie let out a little cry of dismay and helped lay him down a respectful distance from Aerith; with a mumbled apology, she took the inactivated Phoenix Down from the mage’s body and pressed it to Vincent’s chest.  When the feather disappeared and the gunslinger’s crimson eyes opened a few moments later, she again burst into tears.

“What is wrong?” he asked, apparently puzzled.

“It’s just... y’know... horrible... an’ Aerith, an’ you... an’....” she hiccupped, scrubbing at her eyes.

It was hard to tell who was more surprised when Vincent sat up and reached for Yuffie.  Cupping the back of her head, he pulled her in to press her forehead against his wet chest.  “It is all right,” he rumbled into her hair.  “I am unharmed.”

“What the hell was that thing you transformed inta?” Barret demanded, keeping his eye on the circular platform where Cloud was still reducing the monster to individual molecules.

Releasing a stunned Yuffie, who now had water dripping off her bangs and running down her cheeks, Vincent asked, “What did I look like?”

“Giant purple critter, with bright red hair an’ big-ass claws,” Barret answered.  “An’ a tail,” he added as an afterthought, as Yuffie wiped her nose.

Finally appearing to notice his sopping clothing, Vincent wrung out a corner of his cape. “I suppose that must have been the Galian Beast.”

“How many more did ya say ya got in there?”

“Three.”

“Hope they’re better lookin’.”

“Cloud-san approaches,” Nanaki warned.  “He appears to be in difficulty.”

As Cloud staggered up over the edge of the platform, coated in gore and his eyes flickering between green and blue, safeties were flicked off and projectiles readied.  The lack of his weapon was instantly noted, but Barret trained his gun-arm on Cloud anyways until he rasped, “T… help….”  From the strain on his face, it was obvious that he was fighting an intense inner battle.

As Tifa stood up, Yuffie latched onto her hand.  “Don’t hit him,” she implored.  “Do whatever the other thing is that makes the freaky eyes go away first... then hit him if you have to.”

Squeezing the teen’s fingers before letting go, Tifa strode towards Cloud.  “All of you – close your eyes,” she commanded.

“Close our eyes?  What the hell for… well, fuck.”  Cid hastily turned away as Tifa gripped Cloud’s face between her hands and hesitated only a moment before kissing him deeply and thoroughly.  The caress was brief; Cloud pulled free and raised a shaking hand to rub over his face.  Tifa didn’t move until he looked up at her with anguished blue eyes, then rested her hand on his shoulder in silent support as they approached Aerith’s body.

Kneeling beside the silent corpse, his shoulders slumping, Cloud simply looked at the mage’s dead face for a very long time.  “I’m sorry,” he finally whispered.  “I’m sorry I let you die.”

“We all failed her, Cloud-san,” Nanaki rumbled.  “Do not take this responsibility solely onto your own shoulders.”  After a pause, he added, “Let us return to the surface.”

“Should we leave Aerith’s body here?” Tifa asked.  “This is the heart of the Cetra homeland.”

“There are no flowers here,” Nanaki earnestly replied.  

“I’ll get my sword,” Cloud muttered and disappeared in the direction of the altar.  By the time he caught up, grim-faced but in full control, Barret was leading the impromptu funeral cortege up the crystal staircase with Yuffie close behind.  Nanaki led Tifa and Vincent in the second group; Tifa was carrying Aerith’s body with Vincent supplying tangible support in the form of a hand on her back to help brace her during the long ascent.

Cid was waiting for him at the base of the staircase.  “Puttin’ you last just in case Sephiroth thinks it’d be fucking cute to make you cause a cave-in or somethin’,” he said, clapping Cloud on the shoulder.

Acknowledging both the potential threat and the sensible solution with a curt nod, Cloud gestured for the pilot to precede him up the glowing staircase.

Once they reached the surface, relieved to not have encountered either Sephiroth or any other notable difficulties, they made their way to the lake at the entrance to the city.  Tifa stumbled a little from exhaustion; Vincent caught both of them and helped ease the mage’s limp form onto the sandy verge.

“Now what should we do?” Yuffie whispered, smoothing a stray hair off Aerith’s brow.  “We can’t just leave her here where animals could get at her.”

“Maybe a ledge or somethin’ up there?” Barret suggested, inspecting the shell-like structure overlooking the lake.

“She should be returned to the Planet,” Nanaki said.  “I suspect this lake is connected to the Lifestream, because the water smells the same as the spring down below.”

“Let me do it.”  Everyone looked at Cloud, who squared his shoulders.  “I was supposed to be her bodyguard... to keep her safe.  This is the least I can do for her.”

Nanaki nodded his assent, and the others followed his lead.  Ramming his sword into the earth, Cloud strode forward and carefully lifted Aerith into his arms; her head lolled most disconcertingly against his shoulder.  “I keep expecting her to open her eyes and smile, then give us all hell for making such a fuss over her,” he murmured before wading out towards a pale shaft of sunlight.  Lowering Aerith into the chilly water, after a moment he moved his hands away; her body briefly floated before she slipped beneath the surface and he watched her slide into the crystalline depths, her unbound hair flaring around her.

On the shore, Tifa abruptly sat down and buried her face in her hands; Yuffie immediately tucked herself up against Tifa’s side and made soothing noises.  Several minutes later, Cloud sloshed out of the lake and headed straight for them, water streaming from his clothing.  Holding out his hand, he ordered, “Come.”

Tifa numbly looked at the hand before raising her head to meet his piercing gaze, then slowly obeyed.  Heaving her upright, Cloud towed her behind him as he headed back towards the lake, now sparkling in the wintery sunlight.  When he waded into the water and it became obvious that he intended to haul her in as well, Tifa planted her boots in the sand and resisted.  “What’re you doing?”

Cloud gestured.  “Nanaki’s right – this lake is full of mako energy.  We can change you back.”

Pulling her hand free, Tifa shook her head.  “No... not here,” and backed up a couple of steps, her revulsion at the idea loud and clear.  “Not where Aerith... no.”

“We don’t know when we might have another chance,” he argued.

Clenching her hands, Tifa stubbornly shook her head again.  “Not here.”  Raising her fist, inspecting the way the leather of her glove pulled tight over her knuckles, she murmured, “This body is stronger, faster, more powerful, and I’ll use it to protect my loved ones.”

Cloud’s expression closed and he stalked out of the water towards her; Tifa squared up, not sure of his intentions.  Coming to a halt, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a wet, stained length of pink silk.  Looping it around Tifa’s wrist, right above the frayed blue ribbon hidden by her glove, he growled, “Just don’t forget who you really are,” as he rapidly tied a knot.

Covering the memento with her other hand, Tifa muttered, “I’ll never forget,” and the listeners weren’t entirely sure that she was referring only to herself.  Raising her voice, she said, “You broke his control again - maybe your resistance is getting stronger?”  

“He was trying to break you.”  As all eyes turned to Vincent, he continued, “Sephiroth first tried to force you into killing Aerith yourself, so her blood would be on your hands.  When you fought off his influence, he executed her himself – and made sure you witnessed the deed.  It’s you, Cloud – he wants to destroy you.”

“What did you do to him?” Yuffie whispered.

Cloud raked his fingers through his spikes.  “I don’t know.”

“Why’d the fucker wait until now to crawl out from under his rock?” Barret demanded.  “It’s been five fucking years, right?”

Tifa bit her lip and thought, until inspiration struck.  “Cloud had to be available – and he was locked up in a ShinRa lab until recently.”

“So it’s personal,” Cloud murmured.  “You’re all in danger because of your association with me – Tifa most of all.”

“It’s now personal for me, too,” Yuffie growled.  “Aerith was my friend, and Sephiroth’s gonna pay for what he did!”

Nodding, Cloud glanced at the others.  “Are you with us?”

Cid scratched his ear.  “Ain’t much difference ‘tween havin’ Sephiroth or ShinRa gunnin’ fer us, so I’m stayin’ the fucking course.”  Vincent also inclined his head, as did Nanaki.

“Ain’t sendin’ ya off t’ face th’ asshole alone,” Barret declared.  “Safety in numbers.”

“Thanks,” Cloud mumbled, his ear-tips flushing pink.

“I wonder if the Planet heard Aerith’s prayer?” Vincent mused.

“I wonder why we couldn’t revive her?” Yuffie said in a very small voice.  “Why didn’t the Phoenix Down work?  Was it something about Sephiroth’s sword?”

“Both Cloud and Nanaki were skewered by it, and they survived,” Tifa pointed out.

Nanaki cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with something.  “Since a sacrifice was required to gain the Black Materia, perhaps the Planet demanded one as well - as the price of stopping Meteor.”  

A chill passed over all of them, and then hope kindled.  

“Y’mean – Sephiroth may have accidentally fucked hisself by givin’ th’ Planet exactly what it needed to stop him?” Barret hoarsely demanded.

“It is only a theory,” Nanaki sighed, drooping.  “Or perhaps I wish to believe that her death was not in vain.”

“I approve of this theory,” Vincent said, and everyone else nodded.

“Awright – Spiky, where’s your Sephi-radar pointing?”

“North.”  Retrieving his sword and slapping it into place on his back, Cloud commanded, “Let’s mosey.”

A/N: I know that it was Jenova-LIFE who spoke the second half of the ‘puppet’ line, but since ‘she’ is Sephiroth anyways, I gave the complete line to him rather than breaking it up by the fight in between.




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