Final Fantasy Main Story RP Arc IX

"Hmm." That was all Reno said as he stood and stretched, eyeing the President before smoothing out his suit and inclining his head towards the building. "Then in the interests of keeping you alive and well, I think we need to eat. You need to eat. Fuck it, I'm hungry - we're eating."

He grinned and gave the President a light nudge to head down the cliff. "So, what do you feel like - breakfast, lunch or dinner? We should have all kinds of food there by now - and if we don't then we'll fire whoever is meant to do that. Unless it's me, then we don't fire me."

"How about we see what we have and then decide?" Reno laughed with a shake of his head. "I should have remembered you're not going to eat much - Dark Nation isn't here." He gave a kindly smile - he knew just how much the hound meant to Rufus. He had heard the stories about how inseparable the pair were (true or not he couldn't tell but it all conjured cute images) and he definitely remembered when the hound was killed. "I miss the big bastard too - he'll be back soon though. It's a shame they're so expensive, I'd be tempted to get one - then again, I can keep borrowing yours."

He opened the door and waited for Rufus to step in first, smiling a little at the thought that Rufus couldn't fire him because of Tseng. "Yeah, well make sure when he's pissed at me you don't listen to him when he begs you to shoot me," he chuckled, heading in after him.

Yazoo frowned slightly, listening to Nero's words.I shall have to consult with my brother on this, the choice is not mine alone what our family does. He explained, looking over at Loz with a 'we might have company soon' look.

If I remember correctly you can move pretty fast, come to the Hidden Village in the Ancient Forest and we can talk more, we will be waiting for you there.

He sighed softly and looked towards Loz. "Nero will be coming to talk to us, brother. No not attack him yet, I want to hear what he has to say first."

As the injured began to come in Kunsel dropped his pack and headed towards the entrance. He moved towards one of the inured and let the man lean heavily upon him as an arm slid around his waist. The ex-SOLDIER glanced back towards the man as a sigh escaped. He had come after the attack and even if he had come back before there was nothing he could have done.

The idea of hunting down Kadaj however didn't rest easily on his mind. There was still the fact that the lifestream was within the teen and Zack had said they needed to keep him away from ShinRa. He had lied to Rufus about what he knew and now they were pursuing Kadaj.

The first one was placed into a bed as he reached up and fingers dragged through the short hair as he headed back for the next of the injured.

The scream stopped as Aerith realized that it was just a dream, a dream that had happened to her but now was quickly becoming a fading memory. The memories of her love, her friends, even of her sacrifice to the lifestream, now was something that seemed like a forgotten childhood story as if it never happened to her.

Aerith tried to get off the bed, but her legs gave way as she had not used them in the lifestream that she had spent years in. Slowly Aerith picked herself up and stumbled into another room. A room where stood a man with long unkempt black hair.

"Where am I and who are you?" Aerith asked.

Reno chuckled and started to go through the cupboards and fridge, trying to think of something that he could rustle up with what they had. "Well, remind me to play the 'You need the exercise too, sir' card now and then so you can chase the lummox with his ball - seriously, that hound is exhausting, yo."

He glanced up from the fridge with a warm smile at Rufus' words. "Yeah, well when you're the one with the gun to my head I'll remind you that you just pretty much promised you're not going to be the one killing me," he grinned. "And I won't tell Tseng you theoretically threatened his sanity - it'll stop him going insane."

He gave a bigger grin and started grabbing various ingredients from the fridge. "Hey, if you have trouble eating it all I can sit on the floor with my head on your thigh so you can feed me the scraps," he teased lightly. "I can always go for seconds, and I might be a poor substitute but hey, you take what you can get."

((time skip to next morning because we can only be silenced for so long))

The morning sun came bright, it shone down through the curtains and despite actually having rest the instinct was to roll back over and pull the pillow up to block the light. Sephiroth shifted slightly then stopped when he felt the other figure in the bed and it all came back very quickly. Eyes shut again in order to force the light out though sleep would not be an option now.

More awake the memories were quickly there in the forefront of his mind as he allowed his head to drop back to the pillows. There was no intention to move, not at the moment, and not with Zack so close. A breath was drawn in as the light continued to stream in. Sephiroth blindly reached down in search of his clothing before eyes flickered towards the floor.

Out of reach...

As you consult your brother, I will consult my own party. Nero 'spoke' politely before turning towards Rosso. "She's awake." He looked at Aerith and offered a small smile. "My name is Nero the Sable, and this is Rosso the Crimson. Cetra, tell me, do you feel the Negative Lifestream in your veins? Do you feel the desire to destroy and overtake the Lifestream that once birthed you?" He leaned over and chuckled.

"Tell me dear, dear, Cetra. Are you still the person you once were, or something far more monstrous now?"

Aerith's head tilted slightly as if by moving her head to the side would help her understand the strange man. "Nero the Sable." Aerith said almost perfectly echoing the man, almost as if she was tasting the name, hoping upon hope that it would bring back something she could remember.

Unfortunately it didn't.

When Nero had introduce the woman as Rosso the Crimson, Aerith could feel an instant dislike towards the other woman, as if she had felt this woman before. Narrowing her eyes at the other woman, Aerith nodded her head in respect as she knew it was the polite, but to her, not right thing to do.

"A desire to destroy?" Aerith repeated slowly. Her mind seemed to jump place to place and move sluggishly. However she knew that she didn't wish to destroy anything that couldn't defend itself. But she could feel in her veins, no her soul something that could only be describe as Hunger.

Her eyes wandered to Rosso, almost admiring the deep red that clothed the woman and then snapped back to Nero, staring him straight in the eyes.

"My Name is Aerith Gainsborough, not Cetra. I don't remember the person I once was, but I'll never be a monster." Aerith cried out, turning away from the two people who possibly could be the closest thing to be called her friends.

Aerith felt an energy form in her hand, she brought it closer to her chest almost as if she was nurturing the Negative Lifestream into existence. This was...this felt so familiar, it was like she had done this a hundred, no a thousand times.

"What is this?" Aerith asked as she turned holding out her hand to Nero, allowing the energy flow from her hand as if it was rain.