Last Exit for the Lost Chapter 37
Surprises
By Damodred
Impetuous, isn't he? observed Sephiroth wryly, striding to keep up
with the blond SOLDIER. Well at least he hasn't changed in that
aspect, replied Aerith, following. Yuffie brought up the rear, still
fuming silently. As she strode through the door, she noted with satisfaction
that the Turks looked distinctly uneasy even after recovering from their
initial startlement.
Cid recovered his wits first and addressed the blond, statue-like SOLDIER
before him. "Er." He realized that Strife would probably not be in the mood
for apologies for past 'misunderstandings' and floundered. Much to his surprise,
Rude came to his rescue. "You're looking better, Strife," the bald man rumbled,
"Rufus wants to talk to you." Then the tall man clamped up, having said more
than his usual quota for the day. His efforts went unrewarded as Strife kept
staring blankly through Cid. Suddenly he looked up and said, emotionlessly
"There is a foul presence here." Reno exchanged glances with Cid, wondering
if the SOLDIER was truly recovered but said nothing. Feeling that the situation
was getting really strange, Aerith asked Cid "What does Rufus want with us?
And what presence?" directing the last question to Cloud. Cid glanced at
Cloud but the SOLDIER volunteered no further information, retreating again
into the passionless shell that protected him from grief. Cid looked away,
disturbed, and said "I think it has to do with Chaos and that thing up in
the sky, what else would it be nowadays? Also, I think he has a couple of
surprises for you." Catching Sephiroth's frown, he hastened to add, "I don't
know what they are, but he assured me you'd be pleased." Ignoring Yuffie's
muttered, "I hate surprises," Aerith turned to Sephiroth and communed with
him briefly. Cloud's face hadn't changed, but something in his stance indicated
that his thoughts were now turned inward, toward the thoughts of the Planet
and those around him. Reno shuffled his feet, impatient and somewhat
uncomfortable with this medium of information exchange, but there was nothing
he could do.
Cid heaved a sigh of relief at the quad's assent to a brief visit to Rufus's
study; he was quite certain he couldn't coerce them into going and he didn't
particularly relish going back to his boss empty-handed. He wasn't certain
why they decided to go, and he was getting really worried about the 'foul
presence' that Cloud had mentioned. As they started towards the elevators,
he dropped back to walk with Aerith and asked in a low voice, "How's Shera?"
The Ancient shot him an amused look and said, simply, "Fine." Cid nodded,
satisfied with that and knowing that the woman would tell him more if it
was necessary. He stepped up his pace and led the group towards the elevators
and a strange group it was indeed. Himself in his still stained flight jacket
from his expedition to Junon and supervision of the cannon's installation,
his two Turks in their blue suits, one immaculate and the other looking like
he slept in it (which he probably had), two SOLDIERS, both seemingly relaxed
yet coiled in some uncanny way, a short ninja girl with one hand on her shuriken,
her mischievous eyes darting about searchingly and the serene Ancient in
her dark blue robe, striding with a steady, confident pace. He shook his
head as they reached the elevators, wondering how he got in this situation.
When they entered Rufus' office, they were immediately struck by his bedraggled
appearance; the man hadn't slept in days and sustained himself with various
medications from ShinRa's immense pharmacological experiments. The result
was pathetic; his once white cloak was wadded in the corner and stained,
his business shirt and white pants also bore marks of hard use. He greeted
them with an exhausted whisper and bid them sit, staring at them blankly
for a while through bloodshot eyes. The bristle growing on his chin was added
testament to the ruin that the previously fanatically kempt man had become.
Cid noticed Aerith's eyes becoming slightly glazed, and then Rufus sat up,
looking more alert than he had in a good few days.
The president of ShinRa nodded brief thanks to the Ancient and she smiled
politely. Cid knew that her hatred of Shinra was eclipsed only by her common
sense, and the key to ending this interview quickly was Rufus' lucidity;
thus she acted out of expedience and not compassion. Nevertheless, he was
grateful and told himself to thank her later. He turned his attention to
his boss.
Rufus spoke briskly, knowing that this bout of clear-headedness was a short-lived
boon. He could hide his sorrow until later, when he could finally rest and
mourn in private. "My request is simple. I want you to sanction Chaos and
I want to aid you in this task. My dream of owning the world is now meaningless
and only revenge keeps me going. Without Scarlet, nothing matters anymore."
His voice cracked dangerously and he firmed it, ruthlessly stamping out his
pain. He knew that he had an audience, noting the pain in Strife's eyes and
discomfort in Highwind's. Finding out that his boss was human was tough on
the ex-pilot. Rufus shrugged mentally and continued, "You may not know this,
but...
They gathered around the monitor which showed the satellite view of North
Crater. Meteor was beginning to interfere with communications and the picture
was grainy, but the blue dome around the crater was undeniably there and
distressingly solid. Aerith's eyes widened a bit and she whispered, "The
power...it's monstrous." Sephiroth nodded to himself; a shield of that diameter
erected on such short notice indicated vast amounts of power at Chaos' disposal.
He quelled down a brief pang of unease and wondered if the shield was the
reason for the Cannon's transfer to Midgar. From where they were standing,
high on top of one of the observation towers where Midgar's electromagnetic
field no longer reached, the Cannon looked immense, dwarfing the city around
it. They were clustered around the screen staring fretfully at the shield,
but now Cloud moved away from the group and walked to the railing. He leaned
on it and stared out at the city where he and Tifa had made their life. He
knew the life they lived was dangerous, skirmishing with ShinRa troops every
other week, but he always envisioned their death to be simultaneous, in an
ambush somewhere, with others to carry on their work. Never this...loneliness.
He squeezed his eyes, suddenly hot and stinging. It was only the wind, strong
at this altitude, he told himself. He started as a heavy hand landed on his
left shoulder and a heavy, low voice rumbled, "Sorry to hear about your woman,
Cloud. She was as fine a woman as I have ever known." Cloud answered
half-absently, wiping away the last traces of moisture from his eyes, "Oh,
I can still feel..." He stopped as the familiarity of the voice penetrated.
He spun around, almost gawping at the huge black man behind him. "Barret?"
he whispered, incredulously. The ex-miner grinned slightly, exposing pearly
white teeth, "Who did ya think it was? You didn't think I was gonna let you
tackle that," he motioned to the screen, "by yourself, eh?" "Leave some for
me, too!" a strong, younger voice called out from the elevator as a man dressed
in loose, serviceable black emerged, a huge sword on his back. He was grinning
unabashedly, glad to see his friends again. His grin faded as he approached
Cloud and in a more somber tone he offered his condolences as well. He leaned
closer and whispered, "We'll get him, Cloud." Pulling away, he grinned again
and slapped Cloud on the back "Just like old times in training, eh?" Cloud,
who up to now was unable to get in a word from sheer incredulity, finally
burst out, "Where did you two come from?" He hastened to add as the two glared,
"I mean, I'm glad to see you and everything, but..." Barret and Zack burst
out laughing, the somber mood dispelled for now. "Nothing ever changes, does
it?" said Barret, still chortling. Zack shook his head, "Nope. Still the
same polite Cloud I remember."
Standing by the monitor but her attention on the little scenario unfolding
around Cloud, Aerith smiled softly to herself. This was the best thing possible
to happen to Cloud. His physical recovery took place around strangers; Yuffie
and Shera he had never met, Aerith was ShinRa's weapons scientist turned
rebel and Sephiroth had been his commanding officer. Not exactly the best
environment to recuperate in. She now knew that Chaos was at North Crater
and not Midgar but was extremely glad they had made this stop. While the
surroundings may have sent Cloud into deeper despair, his friends (or at
least people closer to him; Wallace he had dealt with before and Zack was
his roommate for a while in ShinRa's war academy at Junon) had obviously
sent him out of it. He was more human now and his grief, while not forgotten,
had purged itself at least a bit and receded. It would return, but perhaps
Cloud would be able to deal with it better then. She frowned momentarily,
wondering what he meant when he said he could still feel. She assumed it
was Tifa he was talking about. Opening herself up to the Planet, she searched
the currents yet could find no trace of the woman's presence. Ruefully she
admitted that Chaos' manipulation of Cloud may have altered his mind to such
a degree that he was attuned to the Planet much better than even herself.
While not likely, the idea bore watching as Cloud had exhibited behavior
that was extremely impressive and awe-inspiring. With that idea in mind,
she returned to herself and continued to watch the friends reunited.
Yuffie noted the return of the black-haired SOLDIER with mixed feelings;
she was new to this game where she actually had to care about someone else's
welfare. Up to now it was only her, her shuriken and her materia. Now it
seemed that things changed for she realized that the strange feeling she
had ever since Zack showed up again was relief. Relief at seeing him again
and whole, unharmed. She chewed at her lip worryingly, completely missing
the arrival of the rest of the Turks.
"So Elena and Tseng found you, eh?" wondered Cloud. "Well, more like picked
me up. It was raining hard and they kinda snuck up on me," confessed Zack
ruefully. "Hey, here they are now." He said, turning towards the blue-suited
couple. Elena looked somber, still trying to get over Tifa's death; she knew
that they possibly might have been friends, given different circumstances
and a little time. Tseng, as always, kept his thoughts close to himself and
his face was carefully composed. Rude hovered in the back with Cid while
Reno struck up a conversation with Yuffie, his old partner-in-spying. Sephiroth
and Aerith were at the railing, gazing out at Midgar's lights and talking
softly. Cloud turned his attention again to Barret's hand, gleaming metallically
in the soft lighting. "So, what's the story on that thing?" he asked. The
big man grinned and flexed his metal digits, "Well, after we struck it rich
I found myself with too much money and nuffin' to spend it on. So I had me
this bright idea that if I can still operate simple machines like guns with
the nerve endings left in my arm, I can probably operate a hand too. I hired
some robotics fanatics, gave them some time and this 'intriguing problem',"
Barret mimicked a sophisticated, snobby scientists' voice quite well, "and
they came up with this. It wasn't as easy as I made it sound but I had to
talk to those geeks and they told me entirely more than I wanted to know.
Bottom line, it works." The blonde SOLDIER nodded, and his expression clouded
for a moment. "Speaking of scientists..." He broke off, unwilling to ruin
the mood and waved away his friends' inquiring expressions. "Later," he said,
smiling again. "Now let's see what 'assistance' Rufus has in mind for us."
Author's note: His expression 'clouded'!!! Bwhahahahahhaah I slay myself.
.