This story is from tracy123m@aol.com
Now here they were, on their way to Svenson Hills to find the "legendary Sage
Katrina." Tifa rolled her eyes. Would Cloud be doing all of this if she had
died instead of Aeris?
"Here we are." Vincent announced, breaking into Tifa's thoughts. He parked
the Jaguar outside the town.
When Tifa stepped out of the car, she understood why the nurse had wanted to
come someday. Lush green fields surrounded the medium-sized town. A small
reservoir was to left and beautfiul wildflowers grew on the hills behind the
town. It must be really beautiful when the sun sets, like Nancy thought,
Tifa's mind suggested as she followed Cloud and Vincent into the town.
"So, Cloud, where do you propose we start looking?" Tifa asked, gazing at the
town, which now seemed larger now that she had entered it.
"I guess the store owners would probably know her," Cloud suggested, though
it sounded like more of a question than a suggestion.
"Okay." Vincent and Tifa agreed in unison. Tifa agreed a little
half-heartedly, but Cloud didn't notice. He was already wrapped up in his
own little dreamworld, waiting for the day when he and Aeris would be
together again. Thus, the search for Sage Katrina began.
They had to wait awhile at the inn since another customer was booking a room.
The wait seemed like hours to Cloud, though it was less than five minutes in
reality. When the innkeeper had finished with the customer, Cloud stepped in
front of the desk. "Do you know where Sage Katrina is?" Cloud asked politely.
The innkeepers eyes dropped from Cloud's face almost instantly. His former
polite smile was replaced by one of grimness and confusion as he muttered a
hurried 'no'.
Cloud's expression was one of puzzlement as he walked back to Tifa and
Vincent.
The innkeeper, Tifa noticed, was now greeting another customer. Though his
polite smile was back on his face, his eyes revealed something else: that
question of why. The question that Tifa had seen in the soldier's face
before he had died. The wondering sensation of 'how and why did this happen
to me?' Tifa knew the feeling well. She had felt it when Cloud fell in love
with Aeris. But before she had any time to wonder why the question was in
the innkeeper's eyes, Cloud was dragging them off to an items shop.
But it turned out to be useless. They got the same answer from the woman who
worked at the items shop, the man at the weapons shop, and it just continued
in that process in each shop that they entered. Now they were heading
towards the last one. Before they could reach it, a girl stopped them.
"I hear you're looking for Sage Katrina. I may be able to help you." she
said casually.
Tifa looked the girl over. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and
emotionless blue eyes. She looked about nineteen and was clad entirely in
black leather. A black leather tank top and tight black shorts under a black
leather jacket with black knee-high boots was what she wore. Tifa wasn't
sure if this girl was worth trusting. She looked more like a hooker than
someone who would have information about Sage Katrina.
"Cloud, I..." Don't know if we should trust her, was what Tifa was going to
say, but it was too late. Cloud had already asked the girl if she could take
them to Sage Katrina.
"Sure." the girl answered, the beginning of a smile playing on her lips. "By
the way, my name is Pretticina Arnold, but everyone calls me Prett," she told
them. "Follow me.
Prett turned aroudn and started walking down a path on the hill. She didn't
look back to see if they would follow her. She knew intuitively that they
would. They always did.
Again, Tifa had doubts about whether or not they could believe the girl.
What if she wasn't telling the truth? But she knew that it would be useless
to dissuade Cloud.
Tifa became uneasy as Prett led them farther and farther away from the
village. They were following a path, but that nothing to calm Tifa's nerves.
She kept being reminded of those cheesy horror movies where the previews had
the line "Out here, no one can hear you scream." Somehow it seemed more
scary now than it ever had in those movies. But then again, it was happening
to her, not to some actors or actresses.
By now, Tifa could see that Cloud had fully put his trust into Prett.
Vincent, meanwhile, was too absorbed in eyeing her up. Men, Tifa thought and
rolled her eyes. If a girl showed too much skin, any guy would suddenly find
something interesting to stare at in her direction. Tifa knew that from
personal experience. So why couldn't Cloud just give up on Aeris and stare
at her for once?
She shook her head, and noticed something that turned her unease to downright
worry. Prett had taken them to a cemetery. Tifa looked up at the sign over
the Gothic-style arches to make sure, and, without much relief, saw that she
was right.
Why did she take us to a cemetery? Cloud thought anxiously in disbelief. By
now he had stopped walking, but Prett continued toward the gravestones. She
couldn't be...
"Sage Katrina is dead." Prett said emotionlessly. She leaned over to place a
bouquet of roses by a tombstone. "This is her final resting place."
Where did those come from? Cloud's mind screamed frantically. The logical
part of it managed to talk him into skeptically believing that Prett had been
carrying them all along and that the reason he hadn't been able to see them
was because he was too deep in his own thoughts at the moment. What else
could've happened? he mused.
Now Prett stood up and turned around. She flashed a winning smile at them,
but her blue eyes remained clear and vacant. "I'm the only living relation
of Sage Katrina as of now. I'm her daughter."
Prett waited to see the expressions on their faces-shock, disappointment,
doubt-before continuing. "I'm sure that you asked other people in this town.
They all told you that they never heard of her." Prett's mouth twisted into
a little snarl and her eyes now held emotion in them: cold hatred and bitter
contempt. "Let me tell you why.
"One day, three years ago, a child was found dead. Of an unnatural cause.
The next day a pup was born with two heads. The people suspected sorcery or
witchcraft and, naturally, all fingers pointed to my mother. They had her
hanged. I was only sixteen at the time. It's actually quite amazing that
they didn't run me out of town, too." Prett laughed, but it was humorless and
bitter.
"Maybe you can still help us," Cloud said uneasily, not meeting Prett's cold
gaze.
Cloud, no! Tifa felt like shrieking. What kind of an idiot are you? She's a
witch, Cloud! We can't trust her! But of course, Tifa held her tongue.
"You see-" Cloud began.
Prett cut him off with a wave of her hand. "If you want to talk, let's do it
at my house. This cemetery is a bit unsettling, don't you think?" She
flashed another pretty smile at them, but her eyes remained guarded. Tifa
had thought that Vincent was cold and distant, but this girl really took the
cake.
As Tifa thought all of this, Prett spun on her heel and began walking in the
direction opposite the town. They would probably still follow, she thought.
The blonde guy-Cloud, was it?-would most likely follow her. Something to do
with an 'Aeris' his mind kept summoning up. The other man-Vincent-had a
small crush on her, but would that be enough to make him come? She hoped so.
He seemed...interesting. But the girl-Tifa, her mind supplied-didn't trust
her. But they would all come if Cloud decided to. Prett sensed that he was
the leader of their little group.
An involuntary smile lit up her face and made her beautiful instead of just
merely pretty. Well, if they didn't come, they would definitely be safe.
From her, at least. She didn't know about the townspeople. But if they
followed her, Prett couldn't guarantee their safety.
Vincent took a quick look around. Prett wasn't following a path anymore,
though she seemed to know exactly where she was going. There seemed to be no
houses in sight, and this worried him. What a lace for a woman to be living,
he thought. Though if the townspeople were mad at her, she would probably
rather live far away from the town, making this location a perfect candidate.
Tifa was also surveying their surroundings nervously. Cloud, what have you
gotten us-correction, me-into? I can't believe this! Tifa brushed a
stubborn lock of hair off of her forehead and looked up. Night already? She
glanced down at her watch. 7:00 pm?! They had arrived here around 5:00 and
the sun had still been high in the sky. (Well, sort of.) When had it gotten
dark so suddenly? She shuddered and cast a sour glance at Prett. Maybe she
really was a witch. Actually, it was highly probable.
Before Tifa had a chance to dwell on these thoughts, Prett announced their
arrival.
The house was a Victorian-style two story building. It looked ancient and
had vines crawling up the sides of the walls. It had an abandoned look to it
and was surrounded in black slush that couldn't really pass for mud.
"Tha-that's where you live?" Vincent stammered increduously. There wasn't
even a mailbox! It didn't look as if there might be a telephone inside...or
electricity, for that matter. How did her friends reach her? Then it dawned
on him all at once. She probably had no friends. After all, according to
her story, she hated the townspeople and they didn't seem to want anything to
do with her. Because they thought that she was a witch, too.
"Well, are you coming or not?" Prett demanded as she opened the door. Seh
hoped that it turned out all right for them; she really did. She didn't want
to have to kill any of them, but, if they said or did anything wrong, she
wouldn't hesitate.
They walked into the house after Prett and looked around. Vincent had been
right about one thing; there was no telephone. Tifa was surprised that the
lights actually worked. How did you get electricity out here?
The inside of the place was just as bad as the outside. It looked as if it
hadn't been occupied in years. But that was exactly what Prett wanted,
right? No nosy neighbors poking around, no one knowing exactly where she
lived. Out here, NO one will be able to hear you scream. The voice came out
of the pit of Tifa's heart and filled her with fear. She should never have
watched those movies, she thought. What if Prett tried to kill them all with
a scythe or something?
Shut up, Tifa, the logical part of her mind replied. Why would she do that?
What exactly would her motive be? She doesn't even KNOW you. So answer
that, Little Miss-
But that part of Tifa's mind had no answer for what Tifa's eyes sent to it.
Prett was holding (with experienced ease, you might add) a semi-automatic
pistol. She had it pointed directly at Cloud's stomach, and didn't look as
if she would stop to think about using it if that was what it all came down
to after this conversation.
"Why did you want to see Sage Katrina?" Prett demanded coldly, but, as in the
short time that Tifa had known her, her eyes remained guarded and distant.
Cloud sighed. He didn't seem to be afraid even though at any given time, the
gun could fire and he could be killed. He slowly told Prett the story of how
Aeris was killed. He didn't tell her about killing Sephiroth, though, or
saving the planet; that just didn't seem important right now. But he did
tell her of how they had learned of Sage Katrina. "And so I figured that
Sage Katrina might've been able to help us," he finished, his eyes never
leaving Prett's.
Prett thoughtfully considered this story for awhile, then put the gun down.
"I may be able to help you," she said softly. "As I told you earlier, I'm
Katrina's daughter. She trained me in sorcery, and I know almost as much as
she does." Prett looked at them expectantly, daring them to contradict her.
"You...you can bring Aeris back?" Cloud asked, clearly astonished. "How soon
can you do it?"
"Tonight, if you wish. But where is this...woman, I assume?" Prett
questioned casually, as if she did this sort of thing every day.
Cloud's face fell. "Well, when she died, we dropped her into this lake.
That's where she must still be." He gazed at Prett sadly. "I should've
known it wouldn't be so easy..."
Prett's hearty laugh surprised them all. "Oh, but it is easy!" she exclaimed
honestly. "Do you have any pictures of her or anything? Because that would
make it even easier. She smiled with genuine amusement this time, and for
the first time in years, it reached her eyes.
It was at that moment that Vincent knew that he was in love with her. It
wasn't just because she was beautiful; he had seen many more women that made
Prett pale by comparison. He admired her attitude-she reminded him of
himself. He thought that her past must not have been easy either, and he
could sense that she was hiding something. Her eyes showed him that; he
could even see it in her smile; how she was not entirely letting her past go.
Prett's now-friendly attitude surprised him, though. She had been so cold
moments earlier, but now she was...smiling?
"How will you bring Aeris here?" Vincent asked.
"Hmm? Oh! Well, I've told you that I am a sorceress, right? I can bring
her here by teleportation." Prett explained confidently. "Then I can bring
her back to life."
Cloud mused over how easy it all was. "Teleportation?" he wondered out loud.
Surely it couldn't be that easy, could it? He supposed it could, but he
still had his doubts. He wouldn't believe it until he saw it, in other words.
Prett's voice interrupted his thoughts. "-a picture of her or anything that
belonged to her?"
"Yeah." Cloud replied as he took out his wallet. From there he produced a
small headshot of Aeris. His eyes brimmed with tears as he saw her
picture-her large green eyes filled with the happiness of earlier times. If
Prett was unable to do as she had promised, those eyes would never open
again. He wiped an arm across his face, but Prett seemed not to notice.
Either that, or she was pretending not to for his own benefit. Cloud
believed that it was the latter. He thought that it would be hard for you to
hide something from Prett.
Now Prett leaned forward and took the picture from Cloud. "Okay, now that
I've got a visual, it won't take too long. But first, we need to bringa
table or a bed in here." Prett told them.
"I'll help," Vincent offered, spying a table in a room nearby. Since when
had he gotten so friendly too, he wondered.
"What are you talking about?" Prett asked with genuine confusion.
It was now Vincent's turn to be confused. "Are you sure that you can move it
by yourself? It looks kind of heavy." At Prett's vigorous nod, Vincent
became even more confused. "But how?" he asked.
Prett shrugged. "It's easy. I suppose that you would call it telekinesis or
transportation." She didn't wait for a reply. Instead, she turned to the
table, stood staring at it, and concentrated on lifting it.
After a matter of seconds, the large redwood table floated and hovered in the
air. Using her mind, Prett turned the table lengthwise and floated in
through the narrow door in a move that was much easier than it looked. Once
she had it in its desired position, she slowly lowered it to the floor.
Why do I want to show off my powers? Prett wondered. Normally, she would
have asked for help, to make herself seem more normal. But there was
something about Vincent that made her want to impress him. Prett knew that
she didn't have time to waste on silly emotions that she would never be able
to fulfill. What would it all come to in the end? Either she would be
rejected or he would reject her. She knew that she couldn't go on this quest
with them; she didn't have the time for that. Besides, she needed to protect
herself. Mentally slapping herself, Prett pushed these emotions of love and
a wish to just be normal girl for once in her life out of her mind. She
tried to focus on the mission at hand. Once she completed it, she would
never see Vincent again. Then, perhaps, it would be easier to forget him.
She shook her head once, trying to clear her mind of these thoughts once and
for all. Now she looked towards Cloud. "Now to bring the one you call
Aeris." Prett said.
Cloud nodded solemnly. Truth be told, he didn't trust himself to speak. Now
he sincerely and wholly believed that if anyone could bring Aeris back, it
would have to be Prett. How many other people did he know that could lift
tables using only their minds?
Prett was studying the picture of Aeris, absorbing every tiny detail and
planting them piece by piece into her brain. When she felt that she had the
correct mental image, she closed her eyes and drew in deep breath. She
removed everything from her mind until all that remained was empty space.
She then allowed Aeris's face to flood her mind completely and fully. She
then visualized the table so that Aeris now occupied one half of her mind.
The table filled the other half. Now Prett knew taht she must concentrate on
bringing Aeris here and onto the table.
Beads of perspiration formed on Prett's forehead. Her muscles were tense
under her skin. Cloud began to wonder if he should stop her. Did she
actually know what she was doing? He glanced at the dusty table. It seemed
that there was a figure on it, at first very faint, but filling out
gradually. It was Aeris-he knew in his heart that it was her. Now he could
see her more clearly. Her arms were clasped serenely over her chest and,
even in death, a light smile played over her lips. Her sodden pink dress
clung lovingly to her body and her formerly neat hair hung in damp strings.
Cloud was aware of a faint dripping noise as water from her hair and her
dress dropped to the redwood table.
Almost there, Prett thought. If only she could hold out for just a little
longer. Now beads of perspiration clung to her arms under the black leather
jacket. Prett could feel streams of sweat cascading down her face, but she
ignored it. Her hair was wet and matted to her skull. Her muscled arms and
legs were taut under her clothing, but she would only need to concentrate for
just a little longer. She could sense that Aeris was almost here.
Vincent looked from Prett to Aeris in mute awe and disbelief. It was hard to
believe that Prett was actually teleporting Aeris here! He had to admit that
he admired and respected the girl. He locked his eyes onto Aeris. She
looked too real to be a holographic image, and Vincent knew that she was not,
but it was still hard to believe that Prett had teleported her here from
halfway across the world. Literally.
When Prett was completely sure that Aeris was indeed where she needed to be
(which was above the table), she lowered Aeris onto it and opened her eyes,
surveying her job. To her, it seemed a job well done.
"See?" Prett panted, running her fingers through her sweat-drenched hair.
That had been a lot harder than expected, but at least she had been able to
do it!
"So now you can bring her back to life?" Cloud asked, sounding both excited
and nervous at the same time.
Prett nodded resolutely as she took off her leather jacket. "What I have to
do now should be simple enough. It doesn't require as much concentration on
my part." She gave them a reassuring smile.
"What do you have to do now?" Vincent asked Prett curiously.
"Well, first we have to turn off the lights. Then you'll see," Prett replied
as she walked over to the light switch and flicked off the lights, one by one.
Prett now removed a tiny flask from a nearby cabinet. "Now everyone,
remember to be especially still and quiet and everything should go according
to plan." Prett took in a deep, shuddery breath. "Here goes nothing," she
murmured.
"Dark Father, I pray to you now to return this woman's soul to her body. I
offer you sacrifice in return for this favor." Prett poured the liquid from
the flask onto her fingers and sprinkled it around Aeris's still form. When
the liquid hit the table, it evaporated in thin wisps of blue smoke.
Tifa smelled the light coppery scent and instantly recognized it. Blood! her
mind shrieked, but Tifa remained perfectly still. She feared what would
happen to her if she didn't.
Prett was now chanting something in a different language-presumably Latin, by
the sound of it. Abruptly Prett stopped talking. Her head was a bit tilted
to her right, as if she were waiting for an answer.
The answer came in a strong gust of wind. All the doors in the house blew
open and a bright flash of light filled the room. Prett's hair billowed
insanely behind her.
Tifa resisted an urge to scream and run out of the house. Prett had said not
to move and she had no intention of disobeying that command. The rubber band
in her hair was long gone-a victim of the strong wind-and her hair now flew
freely.
At first Cloud had thought that the wind was just a cold, strong gust of
wind, but now he realized that wasn't all there was to it. The wind was of a
bluish color and in it he could see the white details of faces. Souls, his
mind told him unquestioningly.
Prett was scared out of her life. Though she had acted confident and
experienced earlier, she had never done anything like this before.
Nevertheless, she knew what this wind was doing-it was trying to match up
Aeris's soul to her body.
Tifa watched in silent wonder as the souls floated past Aeris's dead body.
Men, women, children-all were faces carried in the wind.
Eventually Aeris's face floated on the wind towards her body. The soul
hovered above Aeris's body for a while, as if it were having second thoughts
about returning, before it melted into her body.
The other souls shrieked and flew through the open back door, to return to
wherever they had come from. After the souls had left with the wind, all the
doors slammed shut.
Prett gasped at the doors shut, but at least she now knew exactly what she
was doing. "Now for the finale," she whispered. Prett bent over and took
her dagger from a sheath in her boot. WIth a quick slicing action, Prett
made a slit in the palm of her hand. She let the blood drip in a circle
around Aeris.
Once the circle was complete, Prett murmured another phrase in Latin, and
dropped to her knees. She indicated for the others to do the same, and,
again, they obeyed.
A force field of shining pink light was emitted from the circle of blood.
Once the light barrier fell, Prett stood up and muttered another short phrase
in Latin.
"It is done," Prett said softly as she flipped the lights back on. "All we
can do now is wait."
Cloud swiftly got to his feet. "So she's alive now?" he asked.
Prett gravely met his eyes. "I've done all I could do," she replied slowly
as she bandaged the gash on her hand.
"But she should be alive, right?" Cloud inquired impatiently.
As if in answer to his question, Aeris sat up and yawned. "What time is it?"
she asked as she stretched.
"Aeris! You're-you're alive!" Cloud rushed to her side. "I can't believe it
worked!" he exclaimed, all but jumping for joy.
"Who are you?" Aeris questioned, regarding Cloud with suspicion. "And what
are you doing in my room?" she demanded.
"Excuse me?" Prett demanded haughtily. "Your room? I bring you back to life
and everything, and this is the thanks I get? A girl who doesn't even know
that she's in my house?"
Then Prett's face suddenly drained of color. "Oh, no," was all she could say.
"Are you okay?" Tifa asked Prett hesitantly.
"Something went wrong." Prett whispered.
"What?" Vincent asked.
"Aeris-she...she should be able to remember-she shouldn't be like this,"
Prett replied, still speaking in a whisper.
Aeris cut in. "Who's Aeris?" she asked as she hopped off of the table.
"You are," Cloud replied.
"No, I'm not," Aeris told him, laughing. "I'm...ah, who am I again?" she
asked, clearly puzzled.
"You are Aeris Gainsborough," Cloud answered, also confused.
"What went wrong?!" Prett demanded angrily, interrupting their wonderful
little conversation. She began to pace around the room. "How could this
happen? I was so sure that I had it, so why?"
"What could go wrong?" Tifa asked curiously.
"I don't know! And that's the problem! It could be-it could be anything!"
Prett threw her hands up in exasperation. "I don't know! Was she killed
naturally? No! You already told me the answer to that one. Maybe she
committed suicide before Sephiroth killed her."
"Maybe it was because she was a Cetra?" Tifa suggested hopefully.
"No, no, no!" Prett paced frantically in an effort to think. Suddenly she
stopped pacing and snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Did you avenge her
death?"
"What?!" Tifa asked, not seeing the connection.
"Did you avenge her death? You know, kill the guy that killed her?" Prett
inquired quickly.
"Well, yeah, but what's that-"
"If you avenge the person's death, their soul must be guarded forever by the
one who killed them. As a sort of punishment. So, in other words, Aeris's
soul must be guarded by Sephiroth for all eternity," Prett replied seriously.
"Well, that would explain it," Vincent murmured, looking over at Aeris.
"How do we bring the real Aeris back?" Cloud asked.
"We have to battle Sephiroth for her soul," Prett said calmly. "But...I
don't know how to do that." For once, she did not look sure of herself.
Cloud's jaw dropped. "You don't? So how-?"
"However, I do know someone who does." Now Prett sighed. "But if I take you
to her, you'll have to let me stay with you guys. You see, if you let her
name slip, and if certain people find out where she lives, they'll kill her.
And I can't allow that to happen. Now do we have a deal?" She held out her
hand.
"Yes," Cloud replied, shaking her hand after he thought it over for a while.
"So who is this person that you are going to take us to?"
Prett looked at him for a while then replied: "My mother, Sage Katrina."
Awesome story Tracy.
if you have any more fanart please e-mail me.
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