Rose of Mideel Chapter 11

The Voice

By Chocobo Goddess

"You’re lucky I found you," Vincent said, just in case Sephiroth could hear him, "Or this could have ended differently." He had properly bandaged the other man’s wound, and now Sephiroth lay sleeping in one of the mansion’s extra bedrooms. It had taken hours to get him there, with a bit of trouble coming up the stairs, but eventually Vincent had managed. Satisfied that his patient was as comfortable as he could be, he sat down to wait.

Though Sephiroth seemed calm outwardly, his mind was anything but. Now that the initial shock of the injury had worn off, he raged against the walls of unconsciousness.

CLOUD STRIFE! He cried, I will pay you back for this insult!

HUSH, SEPHIROTH.

NO! I will NOT be quiet! Strife planned it! There was no black dragon. Faugh, how could I be such an idiot? I walked right into his trap. And Aerith…oh, gods, Aerith is still with him…

When it seemed his anger had given way to the beginnings of despair, the Planet curled about his mind and sent soft, blue comfort. AERITH IS SAFE. SAD, ANGRY, YES, BUT CLOUD WILL NOT HURT HER.

I know, he said miserably, but I need her. I feel like the farther she gets away from me, the less she will remember me.

Oh, yeah, right, like that’s gonna happen.

Sephiroth got the sensation that the Planet was not entirely pleased to hear the other voice. Who are you? he asked. I heard you just before we left, and again when I was attacked.

Geez, Seph, don’t you remember me?

You sound like someone I knew, but how could I be talking with you now?

It’s kind of a long explanation.

Tell me. I seem to have nothing but time.

True, true. Fine, then. You can hear the Planet, can’t you?

Yes. Another wave of despair threatened to wash over him. Aerith! She can’t hear it! What is she going to do? None of her friends know, except for Valentine.

SHE WILL BE ALL RIGHT FOR A WHILE, the Planet soothed. NOW LISTEN.

Thanks, Planet. The voice continued. Anyway, as I was saying, this has to do with the fact that you can hear the Planet. When you were re-created, your body was made from the Planet’s materials, but your soul is your own. So you’re of the Planet, yet not. Don’t ask me to go into more detail, because you get into theoreticals and metaphysics and stuff. Follow?

So far, yes. I fail to see what this has to do with Aerith and my current situation.

Okay, so it was the Cetra who brought you back. They worked the magic, because the Planet, while it can communicate with certain people, can not create anything. It can only tell if something hurts it, and where, or that there’s fertile soil someplace. Stuff like that. That’s why the Cetra are sometimes called the ‘Caretakers of the Planet’.

The Planet sighed. I MISS HAVING THEM. SO MUCH I USED TO TELL THEM THAT NOW GOES UNDONE.

The other voice sounded genuinely sorry. I wish it could be otherwise. But here’s the big thing. Somehow, during the actual casting of the spell, something went wrong. Putting someone’s soul back in their body is a delicate and dangerous task. It rarely gets done for that reason. In your case, not only was your soul being replaced, but your body was also being created. At the same time, Aerith’s was being put back in hers.

STUPID BOY CLOUD; WHERE DID HE GET THE IDEA TO PUT HER IN THE LAKE? HONESTLY.

I agree. Continue, Voice.

Ha! Nice, keep calling me that. I feel mysterious now. It chuckled. All right, so instead of Aerith being connected in the proper way to hear the Planet, the things that needed to be done were done to you. Think of it as, say, phyiscally hacking into a computer. You learned this in SOLDIER. Connect the wrong wires in a certain way, and you’ll get visual but no audio. Or, a terminal across the room will light up, while yours begins emitting sounds. Any combination of things can happen.

So you’re saying that what happened to Aerith and me is that someone didn’t ‘hook us up’ properly?

Essentially, well, yeah. Although, the Planet can still hear her, and you have a VERY clear signal to hear us as well as communicate back. No one here is coming forward to take responsibility, though.

Wait, someone did this on purpose? Why?

The voice and the Planet sighed in unison. There are some Cetra who are jealous of Aerith’s place in the Planet’s affections. It would be bad enough if she was full Cetra, but she’s only a half-breed as far as they’re concerned.

I remember. He thought back to the belligerent man, Derin. Some were very outspoken.

Well, they want to make her life as miserable as possible. It wasn’t so bad when she’d died the first time, and they figured she wouldn’t be able to bother them in the place they made for her. But when the Planet called her back…

It made some of them very upset, indeed.

And what's the worst thing anyone could possibly do to her? Besides kill her?

Of course...take away her connection to the Planet.

Right. They probably didn't count on you being so willing to help her. Good thing you are. The voice paused. And as far as my role is concerned, think of me as your, umm, guardian angel.

The Planet sent billowing orange and pink. HMPH. GUARDIAN DEVIL IS MORE LIKE IT.

Aw, Planet, don’t be that way. I really want to see them succeed, just as much as you do.

Why? Sephiroth asked.

The voice laughed. You still haven’t figured it out yet? C’mon, Seph, who in the world ever talked to you the way I do? Geez, one would think you’d recognize your best friend right away.

Z—Zack?

I knew you’d get it someday. Now that he thought about it, Sephiroth could nearly imagine the irreverent grin, the wild black hair, the careless pose…

But…you’re dead.

Really? I hadn’t noticed. Seph, Whoever played with your connections, they let you communicate with souls in the Lifestream. That’s the only reason you can hear me now. And I plan on taking advantage of that.

Meaning?

I am going to help you and Aerith. The Cetra who hate her are working on something, I feel it. Plus, there’s a problem happening with a couple of the Mako reactors. One advantage to being in the Lifestream is that I can watch the living. Someone is trying to start them back up again, in a big way…and that’s bad news for the Planet.

Very well. I understand that part. But I thought you used to be in love with Aerith. You were head-over-heels, in fact. Why would you want me to be with her?

Hey, I’m not the jealous type, not like Strife turned out to be, eh? Not like I can do much with her anyway, given my current status as ‘dead and in the Lifestream’. And I remember how you were when I pointed her out to you the first time. Man, if I ever feared you, it was then.

What are you talking about? Something tugged at the back of his mind. The Planet spoke up.

MORE TIME TO TALK LATER; YOU ARE WAKING NOW. BE WELL.

I—

We’ll talk later, like the Planet said. Don’t worry, Seph, I’ll still be here. Just remember that you’re not going through this alone. Okay?

I will. Zack?

He heard the voice fading a bit. Yeah?

It’s good to hear you again.

His friend laughed, a welcome, familiar sound. It was still echoing as he opened his eyes to see Vincent Valentine looking down at him, one brow arched.

"Well, now, that was an adventure. Feeling better, are we?"


Chapter 12

Final Fantasy 7 Fanfic