Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Seduction ❯ Chapter Sixteen ( Chapter 16 )

**************************

Path of Seduction

Chapter Sixteen

**************************

In a wide, curved room at the top of a stone tower, a young woman stirred in the early morning. Her hand trailed across soft sheets as she sought her lover. Her fingers found nothing but the edge of the thin mattress and the rough rope over the bed frame beyond it.

Aeris sat up, confused and blinking in the bright whiteness of the sun. Some instinct of modesty took over and she pulled the sheet up over her chest as she looked around the room.

It was empty. The rope ladder was still tucked up securely in its hold, but her lover was gone. Aeris stifled a fledgling burst of hysterical laughter. He was gone.

The cold light flooded its way across the light etchings on the floor, seeking to banish the dark shadows where anything could hide. It was more glare than heat at that hour. The room was beyond empty now. It was stark and bare and silent. The girl drew the sheets in closer around her.

Images of the previous night's madness came to her in flashes. It seemed so far away, so unreal, now. She wondered if she had not just dreamed the whole thing. She let the sheets slide down her nude form and whimpered as the cloth, fine as it was, stung her body. She looked down at herself.

Vivid red marks blossomed all over her pale skin. Her breasts were a mass of love bites and their bruised peaks protested the caress of cool air. Aeris could barely breathe. Her shoulders, her arms and even the skin at her hips all bore the tracks of her errant lover. There was more too, a distinct soreness between her thighs.

Aeris glanced at the doorway to reassure herself that nobody could enter. The robe she had shed the night before lay in a limp heap on the floor. Aeris gave a small cry at the pitiful sight. She rose ponderously from the bed to retrieve it. She put the thing on and tied it doubly tight, but still it did not come as high up around her throat as she would have liked. She clutched the deep neckline closed with one hand and bit back threatening sobs.

She stepped cautiously over the floor to the large window that overlooked the gorge. She leaned out cautiously, modesty forgotten as she gripped the stone's edge with both hands. The sight made her dizzy and she had to turn away quickly or risk a fall. In the brief glance she took, there was nothing unusual. She shook her head at herself. What had she expected to find?

Aeris turned and looked around the room. The only thing of note was a crushed flower on the floor. She stumbled over to the bed, desperate for a place to sit down. She froze at the edge and gripped the headboard. Her other hand unconsciously tightened its grip on her collar. She trembled as she stared.

There was a dark spot in the center of the bed, not very large, but irregularly shaped and ragged at the edges, as if it had tried but could spread no more. It was the burnt red shade of dried blood.

Aeris swallowed and passed a hand down her body, letting it rest below her navel. She had not realized that she had bled at all, last night. Her hands fell to her side and her trembling stilled. If she had any doubts left at all about her actions, here was proof enough to dispel them. The realization washed over her being like ice water and numbed her nerves to the shock that had come from waking alone.

She shook her head again as she stared. There was a spot on the sheets, evidence of what she had done for any and all to see. She had slept in someone else's room, had invited her lover to take her right there on that very bed and now everyone could see, would know instantly, what she had done.

She stole a glance at the pale sky through a side window. It was still early. Most of the community would still be abed, especially after the previous night's festivities. The tunnels would be empty and with luck, the lower halls would be deserted.

Aeris did not waste time thinking about what she did. She ripped the sheets off the bed and tossed them out the door. She did not even pause to watch them billow on their way down before she lowered the ladder. She descended hurriedly with no mind for how the ladder swayed. As soon as her foot touched ground again, she scooped up the soiled bedclothes and ran.

She met no one in the hallways, no one to question her destination or her motives, but she kept running as if the minions of hell themselves gave chase. There was no music to guide her steps now, no lilting Planetsong, only the cold silence of a cave's early morning and the sound of her bare feet on the stone.

She picked the routes that led further down, deeper into the Planet's belly, and slowed only when the air around her grew thick and moist. She hurried past the streaming water and barely spared a glance at the partly-hidden pools that served for bathing. She stopped only when she reached the shallow rivulet that was set aside for washing. She flung her arms out fiercely and let the sheets unfurl on their way down to the water.

Aeris stood breathless for a moment and contemplated the sodden white shape at her feet. The offending spot of dark was nearly hidden by the rippling water. The torches here were burning dim and low. It was some time before she could discern much more than the sheets. She glanced over her shoulder. There was no one around, behind or beside. If she hurried, she could make quick work of it and keep her secrets to herself.

She got to her knees and pulled the sheets in with the strength that comes from an anxious need. They were water-laden and heavy now but Aeris paid no mind. She leaned far out over the water to free the folds from rocks. Her sleeves were soaked and the front of her robe fell partly open, exposing the rose-colored marks on her skin. She did not care. There was work to be done.

She gathered up the stained portion of the sheet in her fists and scrubbed them together in the stream as best she could. She beat the offending mark against the flat rocks as she had seen the Canyon women do. The color seemed to fade a bit at first, but it soon grew stubborn and resistant.

Aeris lost track of time as she fought with it. She did not care that her hand grew as sore as the rest of her, or that her fingertips wrinkled like raisins under the constant stream of water. All she heard was the slap of wet cloth on stone and the racing thud of a guilty heart.

"Stubborn spot?"

Aeris jumped. She clutched the tell-tale mark tight in a poor attempt to hide it as she turned to seek the speaker.

The healer she had met before in the hallway stared down at her with a basket in his hands. His eyes did not leave her face and he did not say a word. Aeris felt time stretch unbearably. She did not move, was almost unable to, in fact, frozen by her own guilt at being caught. Under the man's smoke-green gaze, she grew aware of the little things she had previously brushed aside, the way her hands did not cover all of the incriminating stain, how her robe dipped deeply, baring ravished flesh. She swallowed.

The man took a breath and knelt beside her with a straight face. He looked aside for a moment to set his basket down. Aeris used the moment to look away. She ducked her head in a shame she could not explain.

"Did something happen?" The question barely rose above the rushing water.

Aeris breathed shallowly. Her throat seemed closed up, but there were no words she could think of to explain her behavior anyway. Only when she realized that there had been no sound but rippling water for some time did she dare to look up.

The young healer had not moved. His gaze was knowing, but not severe. He waited patiently for an answer and there was no judgment on his face. Aeris felt the resolve that had brought her down here crumple. It was easy to forget how this one had made her nervous before.

"He…he left me," she forced the words out. "Alone." She closed her eyes against the pain of that admission. The echo of her voice hung in the air and made it all brutally real.

"Did he now," the healer said, not really needing to ask. "Just up and left without a word?" Aeris nodded and let the wet cloth slip from her hands. She felt slender arms go around her shoulders and leaned willingly into them. A strangled sob escaped her, but there was no more.

"There now, shhhh," the dark-haired healer whispered. "It will be alright." Aeris felt a hand gently rubbing her back. He seemed frail and his embrace was not the one she had come to crave and even rely on, but it was comforting, and warm. Her shoulders hitched once as the memory of a cold awakening returned.

"Don't cry, little sister, don't cry," the man whispered. "Anyone who would abandon you is not worth your tears." His voice soothed her and she was able to pull away on her own.

"Better now?" the healer asked. She nodded. "Good," he said briskly. "Why don't you go take a warm bath before anyone else comes down and let me handle this, okay?" He indicated the sheets with a toss of his head.

Aeris blinked at him. "Are you sure?"

The healer nodded. "I know a thing or two about tough stains," he said, reaching for his own basket of linens and bandages. "Comes with the job. Go on, don't worry. I'll leave them here for you when I'm done."

Aeris smiled her gratitude at him and took a step towards the bathing areas. She paused under the weak torch and turned back. "Um, you won't tell anyone, will you?"

The healer smiled and shook his head. "Doctor-patient confidentiality."

--------------------------

Aeris thought about the healer's words as she sank up to her chin in the lukewarm water. Not worth her tears…That seemed about right. She had offered a precious part of herself to that silver-haired man, because she knew he had wanted it. It was something rare and valuable she had given him, something she had been taught all her life to guard. What had possibly come over her to make her forget such lessons? She had been warned about such trickery but still, after all his care and sweet words, all the gentle kisses and heated touches, she had been persuaded. She had actually thought he cared for her and would treasure her gift.

Instead, he had taken what he wanted and left her cold. Not a word or a kiss goodbye. It appeared that he had not even pulled the covers over her before he left. And there had been no reason to leave this morning. They had been safely hidden away from the rest of the world and plainly out of reach. It was not as if he had been surrounded or threatened. If he had proper reasons for leaving, they defied any logic she could see.

She rubbed her bruised skin lightly beneath the water, eager to wash all traces of his scent from her. She washed everywhere that he had touched and scrubbed herself free of any trace of him, heedless of how she aggravated her sore body.

The bites on her body could not be left to bear witness to his triumph over her womanhood. The florid bruises trailed all they way up her throat. There was no way she could cover them, not without drawing attention. Aeris' narrowed her eyes and grated her teeth at the thought of him gloating over what he had wrung from her. There would be none of that. She would never let him see how his leaving had wounded her. He had taken satisfaction enough from her already.

She felt her skin flush with some fierce emotion and had to fight against that torrent to sink into the clarity of focus she needed to heal the bites and bruises on her skin. She would not bear those reddened blotches as if she were a tree he had passed by and scored to mark his way. She drew the energy from deep inside her. One rush and her skin was even cream again, flawless and pale.

Not worth her tears. That was exactly right. Inside her, where there had been smothered hurt before, there was a fresh, bubbling rage. That glowing-eyed bastard was not worth her tears! She took a breath and threw her head back before she could stop herself.

"DAMN HIM!"

--------------------------

The healer paused over the laundry and glanced up at the ceiling as a wild, angry cry echoed down the hall. "Fiery, that one," he remarked to the overhanging rock and went back to his task.

--------------------------

Cloud tried not to look too openly pleased as he made his announcement. "They said they've finished fixing the buggy." He stood, itching to get behind the wheel again. "Shall we get going?" The rest of the group rose from the bonfire dais. Cloud thought he saw Yuffie rolling her eyes at him, but that did not matter. She was not driving.

Aeris brushed herself off and carefully hid the determination in her eyes. Her eyes sought out one of the group, one who would not be continuing with them. "So," she said, approaching her furry, friend, "this is it, Red XIII." At another time she might have asked him to reconsider, but everyone made plans according to their own agenda. She knew that now. The animal ducked his head shyly as she patted his nose. His fidgeting tail was his only response.

Barret approached the red beast from the side. "That's just the way it goes... You came in handy at times."

Cloud nodded sternly to Red XIII as he passed, his only concession to comradeship. The others fell in line, some more eagerly than others. Aeris noticed Tifa cover a yawn as she walked and guessed that the other woman had enjoyed the music she had been so eager to hear.

They were close to the carved stairway that led out of Cosmo Canyon when a voice stopped them. "Wait for me!" Red came bounding after them. "I'm coming too!"

"Huh?" Cloud scratched his head, confused by the sudden turn of events. He looked up to see Bugenhagen drifting serenely towards the group.

"Cloud, please look after Nanaki." The Elder stayed just long enough to see Cloud nod dumbly, though he threw a wink and a knowing smile Aeris' way when he turned. Aeris smiled back serenely, bolstered inside by a seething, invisible rage.

Cloud scratched his head and looked at Red XIII. "What happened?" Red's tongue lolled out the side of his mouth.

"I think I grew up a little. That's what happened!"

Aeris watched him bound down the stairway and turned for one last look at the high plateau of Cosmo before she followed. For better or for worse, she had grown up a little here too.

--------------------------

Cloud pressed back into his seat. His lips were pursed and his expression was grimly blank, as if he was trying to lose himself in the smooth purr of the motor. There was a tension in him that would not leave. Tifa read it in the lines of his body, the set of his eyes, his grip on the wheel. She felt it too, though she did not say a word. She kept her arms wrapped tight around herself and leaned to one side of the passenger seat. Things were at a critical point now. Their destination was the ruins of Nibelheim.

Tifa stole another glance at Cloud. She could think of no way to broach the subject, not now, after being silent for so long. What would it be like seeing that spiky yellow head moving through a field of blackened beams?

Cloud had spoken of it so knowingly. She could almost believe that he had really been there himself. But she had not seen him. No one had. It did not make sense. There was virtually no way he could know what he did if he had not been there himself. Shinra had never revealed the truth behind their Great SOLDIER's demise and Nibelheim had always been a secluded little town. Cloud might really have been there if he knew what had happened, but where had he hidden himself the whole time? What had happened to him that was so bad he could not remember it?

Tifa leaned against the door of the buggy and stared out the window. She caught herself nibbling the soft flesh of her inner cheek, a nervous habit she had had since childhood. She forced herself to stop and withheld a sigh. Tifa wished she understood Cloud's instinct for finding Sephiroth. They had no choice but to trust it the entire journey, and it undoubtedly worked, but that only made it more mysterious. Sometimes it seemed that they had done nothing but ask question after question since leaving Midgar. Cloud's instinct was leading them to Nibelheim now. Perhaps there would be answers there.

The buggy was unusually quiet on this trip. It seemed Cloud's tension had infected the entire group, or at least muffled the usual clamor. Barret could not argue over the map with Cloud if the blond was not speaking at all. Aeris gazed out a window and kept her own council. Even Yuffie was barely doing more than tapping her foot every now and then.

Tifa was infinitely grateful when Cloud stopped driving to let everyone out for some fresh air. The buggy's occupants rushed out like spilled wine, spreading quickly away from the center. The barmaid stretched up to the sky and worked out the kink in her back that had come from an odd sitting position. She felt her spine pop and rocked back on her heels in satisfaction before looking around.

Cloud had whipped his sword out and was making a few practice swings. Yuffie was wandering around rather aimlessly. Tifa was grateful that the girl was no longer intent on prodding Cait Sith. She really was not in the mood to deal with the complaints. The little toysaurus seemed to be keeping his own company some distance away. Tifa caught Barret watching the mechanical cat too.

Only Red seemed at peace. What he had learned in his desert home seemed to have put him at ease with himself. He was running in a wide circle in the grass, chasing butterflies, of all things. Tifa did sigh then. This field was so green and peaceful. It was hard to believe that it lay not far from the site of so much death and destruction.

Tifa rubbed her stomach without thinking. She felt the thin lines of an old scar and shivered. The madman they chased had almost cut her in two back then. By all rights, she should be dead. There was no reason that she should be standing outside what was left of her small mountain town now, healthy and hale. She thought of her father, lying dead in the reactor, to her, the symbol of all she had lost.

She knew he would not have asked for vengeance. He would have wanted her to live her life the best she could, but this was bigger than his shadow now, bigger than she was, even bigger than Shinra. It was hard to believe that Sephiroth was still alive and somehow, still walking around and as insane as ever. She had not truly believed it till they had seen him on the ship to Costa del Sol. She traced the old wound beneath her clothes with one hand. It was a long slope down. She could only hope she would fare better this time.

Cloud finished his drill with a flashy twirl of his sword and sheathed the thing at his back. Tifa watched him return determinedly to the buggy and began to walk back herself, ready to get moving again. Cloud got to the buggy before she did but surprisingly did not go to the driver's seat. He popped open the trunk and began searching around.

"Looking for something?" she asked as she neared him.

Cloud looked up. Tifa did not think she would ever get used to seeing those blue eyes luminous with a Mako glow. She held herself back as Cloud gave her a sad little stare. The beautiful glow could not hide the pain and hurt in those ocean-blue eyes.

"Tifa," he said softly, "I'm hungry. Where's the food?"

At first, she could only stare at him. Then she sighed and smiled as she reached for the pack in the trunk. "It's in here. There are fresh sandwiches from the Canyon, better get to them first." She sorted through the bag's contents, reaching for the bundles of fresh food, neatly wrapped in paper and mixed in with vacuum-sealed travel rations. She handed one to Cloud and dug around for the rest. Her smile became a grin at the way the blond looked up in gratitude as he wolfed down the first bite. Tifa called over her shoulder to the others. "Lunchtime!"

Yuffie perked up and ran. Barret and Red came in behind her. Cait Sith did not move, of course, but neither did Aeris. Tifa distributed the food before taking a sandwich herself. It was so easy to slip into her old hostess role.

Barret seemed to be racing with Cloud to finish eating first. Cloud won the first round and dug through the bag for another sandwich. "Got to hurry it up if we want to get where we're going by nightfall," he mumbled.

"Mmhmph," Barret made the sound with his mouth full. Tifa really could not understand men sometimes.

She called out as she unwrapped her package. "Aeris! Are you coming to eat?"

"In a minute," the girl called back. Aeris kept her back on her group and stared out across the field to the high mountain range not too far away. She did not need Cloud's instinct to tell her where to find a silver-haired swordsman.

She had been hurt by his leaving, but she would not admit it now, not to him, or anyone else. She knew the Cetra would likely be furious with her for her slip, but it was nothing compared to how angry she was with herself.

No, it was not her fault. He had spoken such sweet words to her, lies, all of them. Her degraded condition was his fault. He had deceived her, used her and cast her aside. She clenched her fists at her side as she stared unseeing at the mountains. Her anger became a wall to protect her from the pain.

She did not see how it isolated her from all she had held dear. She did not notice that the Planet's voice had dulled to a timid whisper and that she could not hear the voices of the Cetran Elders. It would not have mattered to her anyway. They had no words she wished to hear. All she knew was rage.

Avalanche would catch up to that marauder soon and she had every intention of confronting him. It did not matter who witnessed it or what they thought about it. This was none of their concern. She would get an explanation out of that green-eyed pirate if she had to beat it out of him with her staff. If he had reasons for his actions, she reflected, they had better be good. If they were not…

Her eyes glittered as she grated out a promise. "I'll strangle him!"

**************************

AN: Rather short chapter, but it says all I want to say right now. The last one was over ten thousand words even edited. It will be a while before I try to pull that off again. Feel free to spank Seph for lovin' and leavin' if you want.