Return of the Turks Part 4
The Lifestream
By Brendan Rowan
The Highwind slammed into what was once the city of Mideel with a cataclysmic explosion. The few inhabitants that had remained after the ‘incident’ with Weapon were given only seconds of warning before the behemoth of metal, fire, and human flesh that was once the Highwind smashed into the already weakened earth. The second the great airship made contact the small layer of dirt all hell broke loose. The dirt and rock was only a film over the Lifestream which had burst into the town a little over a year ago. When the Highwind hit the ground the gleaming liquid of the Lifestream was sprayed high into the air and onto the inhabitants of the town. The force of the Lifestream tore down the small buildings that had been made and showered anyone still living with metal and wood. But they’d all live. Tifa and Barret were trapped inside the Highwind as it sank into the Lifestream!
The Lifestream smashed into what was left of the interior of the Highwind with a force a thousand times more powerful than the impact of the comet in Sephiroth’s Supernova spell. Barret was speechless as the wall of green smashed into him, but Tifa was out when it hit.
Tifa awoke surrounded by familiar surroundings. It was a place she could
never forget.
“Cloud’s conscience,” She mused. “But why?”
As if in answer to her question she suddenly saw things as Cloud did, she even knew his thoughts. What she saw was quite terrifying.
Cloud had been in the Nibleheim mansion for three days now and, disturbingly
similar to another man, hadn’t stopped reading in days. He read on and
on as if possessed, as if searching for an answer of some sort. He read
everything he could find on the Lifestream and was becoming deviously closer
to the one thing he desired most. Aeris. He knew there had to be some way
to get her back. So far he had discovered that Aeris’ soul was somewhere
in the Lifestream and that the Lifestream would come to help the planet if
it was wounded.
“If I wound the planet…” Cloud mused, “then Aeris will come to heal it and I can see her again. But how to wound it?”
After a second of thought Cloud said, “Meteor… meteor will wound the planet. Black Materia. Meteor…”
Cid walked over to where Red had been standing and started violently when
he didn’t see him.
“Red,” he called over his initial shock, “all that Sephiroth shit messed up my head, got me all jumpy, wonder where he went?”
“Hey Red, come ‘ere!”
It had been an hour and Cid naturally figured Red had gone somewhere. He
was headed back to the Tiny Bronco when he noticed a strange metallic feather
on the ground. He walked over to it and noticed several more colored feathers
and a drop or two of blood.
“Shit! Red!” Cid took off toward the Tiny Bronco praying it would stay in one piece long enough to help him reach the first person who came to mind. Cloud.