Premonitions: Uncut | By : Hippo_and_Friends_with_Benefits Category: Final Fantasy VII > General Views: 3901 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VII, and I am not making any money of of this writing. |
Chapter 70: Deeper into the Woods
Sephiroth continued to travel south. He had left Icicle Inn, and was now heading downhill on the snowy path south of town. He was ready to leave the continent; his destination would be to the east. He was on his own clock to race against; he needed to even the odds before he was confronted.
Soon, he was in the abandoned mines. Even he did not know who once lived and worked here, but he paid no heed. His goal was getting to the Eastern Continent. It was somewhat a relief that the mine was abandoned, as nobody could get in his way. He could ponder what happened to the miners once the odds were even.
It was when he reached the Forgotten Capital that he began to mind his surroundings. Sephiroth recalled, quite well, the time he stabbed Aerith. He recalled watching her pray on the altar from above. He no doubt felt the urge to kill her, yet it was not because she was threatening his plans. He could not tell where the urge was coming from, but it was a stronger urge than he had expected to feel.
He recalled watching Cloud approach her and draw his sword, as if he was about to slice her in two. He aimed the sword at her head, and then, barely successfully, stopped himself. He also recalled listening to Cloud shout for him, demanding to know why he was controlling him like that.
But Sephiroth was not controlling him. He was watching from above, but he recalled not controlling him. He was even somewhat baffled; it seemed to him that Cloud had feelings for Aerith, and why he would think of killing her was beyond him. He thus concluded that Cloud's urge to kill Aerith had seemed to be coming from somewhere else; perhaps the same place Sephiroth's was coming from.
Unknown to Cloud, Sephiroth had witnessed the burial. He had been hiding in the shadows as Cloud laid Aerith to rest in the pond. He watched as her lifeless body disappeared below the waters and sank to its final resting place. He felt no remorse; she was not the first life he had taken, and, in his eyes, she was anything but innocent.
As he was reminiscing this, Sephiroth happened upon the very pond that entombed the last Cetra. He suddenly felt eager to look into the pond, to view her dead body and take pride in his accomplishment one last time. The pond was deep, but Sephiroth had excellent eyesight; he would be able to see the body, which was by now likely decaying, and look upon it with pride. His only regret about killing Aerith was that only eight people saw it. If the whole world saw, then the whole world would know exactly what happened to those who would get into his way. He approached the pond and peered inside.
He was the fish swimming about, with rocks laying still on the ocean floor. He also saw aquatic plants growing from the bottom, and sunlight reflected on the surface. Nothing else.
There was no body. Sephiroth looked at the bottom a hundred times, but there was no body.
Unlike Cloud, Sephiroth did not speculate. He quickly deduced the truth in a matter of moments.
"She's alive," he said to himself.
There was no body there. It would not decompose so fast, and nobody would have any reason to steal it. It was the only reasonable conclusion.
"She's alive!" he angrily repeated. "She cheated me! How could she possibly still be alive?!"
It did not take Sephiroth long to realize it. She had been having the same premonitions that he had. How she survived the stabbing was no longer relevant. As far as Sephiroth knew, the spell had been cast. He knew Holy would pose a threat to his plan, but he took comfort in the fact that his real body was deep inside, preventing Holy from moving.
Still, there were the premonitions. He felt that Cloud and the others would kill him. It was then that he realized that he needed to continue on his way. The best thing about his premonitions was that he could sense what had happened after he died, and how his influence had remained in the world.
Before he left the ruins, he thought of Aerith one last time. She had cheated him. She had humiliated him. Worst of all, if the world learned of the situation, then the world would know that it would be possible to survive standing up against him.
He had his top priority to deal with. But he knew exactly what he would do next.
"I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!" he shouted, loud enough to echo through the entire Forgotten Capital.
MEANWHILE….
Fortunately, Aerith was nowhere near Sephiroth. She was with Cloud and Vincent, deep inside the Ancient Forest. The three of them were continuing their quest for the Quadra Magic, hoping to even the odds in their own way.
The three of them saw two more pitcher plants dangling from above.
"That has to be a horrible way to die," Vincent said to himself. "To be digested alive..."
"Do you mind?" Aerith protested.
Putting theory into practice, Cloud fed both pitcher plants and hopped up. Beyond the plants was a pink vine. Without saying anything, he grasped the vine and climbed up.
"Cloud!" Aerith exclaimed. "Where are you going?!"
"Up!" called his voice from above.
At the top of the vine, Cloud could perceive and endless labyrinth of thick branches. There were no vines, nor any pitcher plants. Just branches.
Realizing that he might have made a mistake, Cloud turned to descend the vine. Instead, he found Aerith and Vincent standing on the branch, causing him do nearly lose his balance and fall.
"You're up here?!" Cloud exclaimed.
"We are," Vincent replied.
"What brought you up?" Cloud asked.
"We had an obstacle," Vincent answered.
"Another big-assed flytrap, to be exact," Aerith added.
"And it therefore looks like the branches are the only safe way," Vincent finished.
The three of them hopped from branch to branch, moving deeper into the forest.
"Hey, Cloud," Aerith began as they continued to hop, "doesn't this remind you of something?"
"The Sleeping Forest?" he asked.
"No, babe," she replied. "Remember how we were hopping the rooftops when we first met?"
"Oh, yeah!" Cloud exclaimed.
"It's funny, isn't it?" Aerith said.
"What?" asked Cloud as he leaped to another branch.
"How just a few weeks ago we never even knew the other person existed, and now we live together."
"You live together?" Vincent asked.
"We do," Cloud replied. "We bought the old summer mansion in Costa del Sol."
"And now we're talking about getting married!" Aerith exclaimed happily.
"You think about all that stuff at a time like this?" Vincent asked in the middle of a jump.
"We do," Cloud answered.
"We have to think positive, don't we?" Aerith added.
"Sure," Vincent said, in a monotone voice.
"You are happy for us, aren't you?" Aerith asked him.
"Sure," Vincent replied, in the same monotone.
That did not sound right to Cloud, but it was not a surprise. Vincent did not seem happy that he and Aerith were together from the start. He was not certain why. It could have been because he was jealous that Cloud had a relationship while Lucretia rejected him, but Vincent had seemed over her, so that could not be it. Cloud was also beginning to wonder if Vincent had a crush on Aerith. He realized that would be grossly unlikely, as Vincent did not show any remote affection for her. There had to be something else.
Just then, as Cloud landed on a branch, Aerith landed beside him, and drew her mouth to his ear.
"Hey Cloud," she whispered. "If we find a spot where there's no bugs, frogs, or flytraps, want to do it in the forest?"
The two exchanged naughty smirks as Vincent landed beside them.
"Come on, you two," he commanded. "The Quadra Magic can't be far."
At the end of the next branch were three vines, each a yard or two apart from each other.
"This is a challenge," Vincent said.
"They keep getting harder and harder," Aerith added. "I think I know what that means."
"That it's a lost cause?" Vincent suggested.
"No, it means we're close," Aerith clarified. She then took a brief look at the three vines before jumping. "Jungle girl!" she shouted mid-air before grabbing the first vine. She then pumped her legs and began to swing, eventually capturing the second vine. She did the same on the second and third vines, allowing her to easily reach the far branch. She then turned and placed her hands on her hips, making eye-contact with her companions.
"If you boys are done enjoying the show, you can come over and join me," she said.
Cloud was the first to make the trip, followed by Vincent.
When all three were on the branch, they noticed that it was connected to a slanted tree. The tree remained slanted all the way to the ground, allowing the three to safely descend there.
"That was easy," Aerith said cheerfully.
A few feet ahead of them, there was one last gap before the mouth of a cave.
"Guys," Aerith continued, "I think we've made it!"
Above the gap was a pitcher plant.
"Mostly," she added.
Cloud knew what to do. He caught a giant bug and fed it to the pitcher plant.
The three of them then safely made their way across the now-sealed plant and across the gap.
Inside the cave, the three of them were greeted by a sight that made it obvious that they had found their prize. In front of them was a small set of stone stairs. At the top of those stairs was what appeared to be a golden box.
Cloud, Aerith, and Vincent climbed the stairs until they reached the top, stopping only a few inches away from the box.
"It's in there," Aerith said. "It has to be."
"What if it's not?" asked Vincent.
"Think positive," Cloud insisted.
With that, Cloud cautiously gripped the lid of the box and pulled it off. Inside, there was a blue, spherical object. He slowly lifted it, for the other two to see.
"Definitely the Quadra Magic," Aerith said.
"You win," Vincent admitted in a monotone. "What now?"
"Now we need to test it," Cloud replied.
"On what?" asked Vincent.
"Ultima Weapon's pretty dead," Cloud answered. "I think it's time we paid Emerald Weapon a visit."
"You mean that green creature floating around in the ocean?"
"Yeah," Cloud affirmed. "That's the one."
"Forget about it," Vincent dismissed. "That thing's underwater. Even if had both the Quadra Magic and the Knights of the Round, you would pass out from the lack of air sometime during the third summoning. Eight minutes later, you're dead." He then turned to Aerith. "Cetra don't have gills, do they?"
"No, we don't," Aerith replied as she shook her head.
"I rest my case," Vincent said.
"What about Ruby Weapon?" Cloud suggested.
"Ruby Weapon's out in the middle of the desert," Vincent dismissed. "And it's suicide to cross."
"We always find a way," Cloud said. "We'll figure out a way to breathe under water."
"In any event," added Aerith, "there's one question we need to answer first: how to get out of this dreadful forest?"
Cloud and Vincent looked at each other.
"I guess the way we came?" the former suggested.
The three of them descended the steps to see two exits to the cave.
"Which one did we come in?" Cloud asked aloud.
Neither of his companions responded.
"I'll guess the one on the right," he continued.
"One way to find out," Vincent said.
The three of them left through the right exit, hoping to find a way out.
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