Emerald Crisis--Final Fantasy VII--Disc One, Mission 11

Edge: Seventh Heaven Bar\

            Daisy dropped Yuffie off at the bar before returning to the Lodge to rest.  Yuffie offered to let her stay but didn’t have the heart to argue when refused.  Instead, Yuffie shuffled inside as the sun climbed slowly over the buildings and glittered against the windows.  Marlene and Denzel were just waking as she entered and offered sleepy greetings that she didn’t remember returning.

            Yuffie slept deeply, forgetting for a time the aches and the bruises, both physical and emotional.  Her dreams were peaceful and faraway, memories dragged up in the wake of her battles.  She didn’t remember them clearly when she woke up, just lilies floating on the water and Wutai seen from a mountain top.  The sun was golden, and she had prayed to Leviathan before leaving home for good.

            Her phone work her when she saw that man again.  He was wearing a mask this time, but his eyes were dark like hers.  They were Wutai.

            “Hello?”

            “Yuffie Kisaragi.”

            Yuffie felt her face to make sure it was there and found it hurt to move her arms.  She groaned slowly as everything else began to hurt again, too.  “What?”

            “How are you?”

            “Sore and sleepy.”  She sat up, slowly, whining with each movement.  It wasn’t just pain anymore.  Her muscles felt dead.  She was sleeping so well and needed a bit more of it.  The world was blurry when she opened her eyes and a bit too bright.  She felt sick and had to take a few minutes to breathe through the nausea.  “Why are you calling?”

            “Ms. Daisy Gould returned without you.  I was just making sure you were well.”

            “Well enough,” Yuffie said.  She stretched her feet and toes and listened as they popped.  A breath, and it didn’t hurt so much to breathe anymore.  “We followed your lead to Shinra HQ and found some bad people up to bad things.”

            “Of course.”  Yuffie could hear the distraction in Shelke’s voice and imagined her in a dark room, lit only by the glow of her eyes and the holographic monitors that surrounded her on all sides.  “Did you find anything of value?”

            “Not really.  They’re looking for materia, it seems.”

            “We knew that already.”

            Yuffie pulled away from the phone long enough to blow a raspberry.  Then, she remembered the data she got from the hard drives and rose to dig through her clothes to find it.  She held up the thumb drive in the light.  “We got something for you, too.”

            “Good.  You should deliver it to me here.  I do not trust it going through the W.R.O.’s system.”

            Yuffie frowned and thought of Reed.  Then, she thought of Reeve, and her frown deepened. “Know what? Neither do I.  I’ll be there soon to see you in person.”

            “Good. I have something to tell you when you get here.”

Midgar Region: W.R.O.’s Hunter’s Lodge\

            Daisy was awake already when Yuffie called, and she arrived shortly after.  Yuffie hid out in her room and nursed her hurt.  When Daisy arrived, Yuffie offered a passing farewell to Tifa and the others before going outside.  She didn’t eat breakfast because it would just come back up during the car ride.

            Half an hour later they arrive at the Lodge.  The surface damage was mostly cleared.  Anti-air turrets broken in the assault had been repaired or patched.  Their remains stood, stunted, in the distance, their wiry insides tightly knotted or otherwise frayed, exposed like a fresh wound.

            Underneath the damage was still showing.  Walls were blackened from flame, cracked and fractured or otherwise collapsed entirely.  The workers there were tired and frightened.  They looked over their shoulders constantly, fearful of what might come.  The W.R.O.’s lingering suspicions helped nothing.

            Yuffie followed Daisy through the halls, holding her stomach and lamenting her decision to forego breakfast.  They got her some bread before going to Shelke’s office.  When the door opened, she greeted them without looking away from the glowing monitors in front of her.  Yuffie groans.

            “You’ve brought the data.”

            Another groan, and Yuffie handed off her thumb drive.

            Shelke turned it over in her hands and gave it a quick glance.  Then, she jammed it into a console on her left forearm and started sifting through the data.  Her eyes darted around from monitor to monitor.  “It’s encrypted.”

            “How long will it take you to break it,” Daisy asked.  She tried to follow along with Shelke’s work for a time but gave up after a few seconds.

            “I already have,” Shelke said.  “Now, I am compiling data and distilling it to the most important parts.  I have to be careful, though.  A dip in my productivity might arouse suspicion.”

            Daisy looked at Yuffie, who shrugged and said, “She’s always like this.”  Then, she moved forward, stuffing the last of the bread into her mouth and leaning against the wall.  Her stomach still felt raw, but she could breathe again.  “So, you said you had some other information for me?”

            Shelke nodded absently.  Her eyes glowed like the monitors.  It wasn’t reflection.  They produced their own light.  “Yes.  The Emerald Lotus didn’t just target Edge.  Reports of attacks all over the world have come in.  They struck many W.R.O. facilities alongside more public areas, and it seems they were looking for something.  A pattern points to something more than materia.”

            “Of course.” Yuffie scratched the back of her head and glanced at Daisy.  “Whatever it is, must be old Shinra, huh?”

            “Seems likely,” Daisy said.  “And they must think that either we’ve found it or that we know where to find it.”

            “Right.”  Yuffie returned her attention to Shelke.  “It’s been half a decade and Shinra is still kicking our asses.”

            “Somethings are hard to kill,” she said, fingers flying across a holographic keyboard.  “They’ve started many fires to keep us distracted.  Reeve will be leaving soon to deal with it.”

            “Probably.  How long until you’re done compiling?”

            “I will message you.”

            Yuffie nodded and pushed off the wall.  “Then I am going to get breakfast and digest it before we have to go anywhere.”  She passed Daisy on the way out and gave a wave over her shoulder.  “Happy hunting,” she said, and Daisy followed her.

            Shelke didn’t even look back to see them leave, but she did say goodbye before the door slid shut.

-Disc One-

            Yuffie ate a light lunch and then went outside to rest.  Her body still ached from the battle the day before, and she didn’t feel comfortable wasting energy on her cure materia.  After the surprise attack made by Reed, she didn’t feel comfortable wasting her energy on anything.  The halls were narrow now and dark, and everyone was jumping at shadows.

            Daisy kept her company.  They set out on the deck, watching the sky.  It was clear, devoid of cloud or smoke, and they could smell the sea again.  From where they were, they could see canyons in the distance and the dusty red landscape of wastes.  On the opposite side, they could see Edge and the ruins of Midgar rising behind it.

            Midgar, the city where it all began and, for her, where it all ended.  She didn’t get the chance to fight Sephiroth in the planet’s core, but she was branded a hero anyway.  When she was young, she always felt cheated being stuck with Reeve and Vincent at the meteor’s impact.  It was probably why she was so quick to join the W.R.O.

            During the Deep Ground crisis, she was on the front lines, fighting right alongside Vincent.  At the beginning it felt to her like she was making up for her inactivity during the final battle.  After the fight with Nero, however, she had a different perspective.  It was so dangerous, so deadly, and she was lucky to have survived.  Looking back, she isn’t so sure how she would have handled Sephiroth.  The thought still shook her sometimes.

            The Emerald Lotus attacks were beginning to feel the same way.  Yuffie could see something wrong, and she could see no one was taking steps to fix it, but she didn’t feel right fixing it herself.  The end of the world was a fight she had avoided twice already, and she wasn’t qualified to be in the middle of it now.

            Reeve cleared his throat beside her and drew her attention.  He was wearing a white vest and pants, with the vest buttoned up to his neck.  His beard was neatly trimmed and his hair styled, but he had bags under his eyes.  “You look distracted,” he said, and he leaned forward.  Yuffie glanced at Daisy, who was keeping her distance, and then returned her attention to Reeve.  “Care to talk about it?”

            “Nothing to talk about.”  Yuffie sat up, stretched.  “Just thinking about old battles.”

            Reeve nodded.  “I do the same sometimes.”  He grinned.  “It seemed simpler back then, didn’t it?  Back when the evil was so obvious.”

            “Wasn’t obvious to some people,” Yuffie said, and she gave her own grin.  “Some of us worked for them.”

            Reeve laughed.  “Some of us did.”  He adjusted his cuffs and looked her head on.  “Yuffie, we found a curious thing the other night.  A group of Lotus soldiers had infiltrated an old Shinra lab beneath Midgar.  By the time we mobilized and ended up on scene they were already neutralized.  Would you happen to know anything about that?”

            “Nope.  I was with Daisy all night last night.”

            Reeve glanced at Daisy, who stared resolutely out at the sea.  “Were you?  And what were you doing, exactly?”

            “Checking some leads on materia trade and keeping away from the Emerald Lotus, like you asked.”

            Reeve hummed and smoothed his suit.  “Fine.  If you want to be that way.”  He stands straight, towering over her like he does so many people. He really was tall.  Sometimes, when he spoke with her casually, she forgot about that.  When he looked at her like a disappointed parent, however, she could see it clearly.  “I know you won’t listen, but I am warning you as a friend.  Stay out of it, Yuffie.”

            “Stay out of what, sir?  We were just doing our jobs.”

            He frowned.  “Of course.”  He went to the door and left her there, alone with Daisy, who hazarded a glance back at Yuffie only after he left.

            “He knows.”

            “Of course he knows,” Yuffie said.  “We weren’t discreet.”

            “Should we be worried?”

            “Nah.  We go way back.”

            Daisy sighed.  “I don’t think that will protect you much longer.”

            “Maybe, but it will protect me for now.”  Yuffie’s phone chimed, and she pulled up a message from Shelke.  Then, she stood from her seat.  “That was fast. Come on, Shelke has gotten it ready.  Let’s go and see where we’re off to next.”

            Daisy sighed and nodded her agreement, and she followed Yuffie back inside.

-Disc One-

            Shelke doesn’t turn to greet them as they enter her room.  The door slid shut behind them, trapping them in darkness and the blue glow of the holographic monitors, which were suspended in the shadows.  Information flashes across each monitor in a blur, and Daisy has a hard time believing any of it is memorized.

            Yuffie moved forward and leaned on Shelke’s chair.  “A little birdy told us you had some information.”

            “Is the door closed?”

            Yuffie glanced back.  “Of course.  Do you see the light in here?”

            Shelke took the time to look around.  She returned to her work, fingers dancing across her keyboard with robotic precision.  “I hadn’t noticed.”  Code drifted across screens, looking to Yuffie like alien script. “I was able to access the files,” Shelke said.  “It was old and damaged.  Much of it is fragmented as a result.”

            “Of course it is.” Yuffie sighed toward Daisy, who gave a shrug.  “We can never get a break, huh?”

            “Was it all for nothing,” Daisy asked.  She had leaned against the door frame and watched from a distance.  Shelke frightened her, and Yuffie’s relationship with Shelke confused her.

            “No,” Shelke said absently.  She held out the thumb drive Yuffie had given her earlier, and Yuffie scooped it up.  “What was left on the drive gave me enough information to search in, and I find a direction.”

            “Oh?’  Yuffie glanced at the screens again but saw nothing.  There were personal notes kept in the corner, clipped phrases that meant nothing to the casual observer.  “And what direction is that?”

            “Project D,” Shelke said.  “Multiple files alluded to this Project D.”

            “Let me guess, a secret Shinra project?”

            Shelke nodded.  “It was run by Shinra’s Science Division many years ago.  Information is sparse, but drawing from other sources, I was able to ascertain the goal of the project: the creation of specialized, military grade, hyper powerful materia.”

            Yuffie frowned.  “Makes sense.  And that’s what Lotus is after?”

            “That I do not know.”

            “Right, right.”  Yuffie paced a small circle around the room, which was cluttered with cables and hardware.   She was careful to avoid them as she marched over around and scratched her head.  She stopped behind the holographic monitors and stared through them at the glowing faces of Shelke and Daisy.  Only Daisy seemed to look back.  “Well, that’s good, I guess, but we already knew they were after materia.”

            “There is more,” Shelke said.  She glanced at Yuffie with empty, glowing eyes.  “I cross-referenced the information on these files with information from the W.R.O. databases.”

            “And?”

            “And what I found was highly classified.  Even I didn’t have clearance.”

            “So you hacked it?”

            “So I hacked it,” Shelke said, allowing a ghost of a smile.  “The information was well-guarded, but it led me to an index showing the location of an isolated database that should have what we want.”

            “Isolate database?”

            “High level security.  Anything connected to the network can be accessed by anyone with enough time and skill.  To keep something truly private, you keep it isolated from the network, which is what any adequately run organization will do.  Even then, references to it are kept for practical use, but clearance must be given before the files can ever be accessed.  All of the details about Project D are hidden in the W.R.O.’s primary databases, beneath HQ.”

            Yuffie rubbed her chin.  “So, we already knew about all of this.”

            “It appears so,” Shelke said.  “It has never been secret that Shinra has facilities beneath Midgar.”

            “But they never made it public knowledge, either.”  Yuffie eyes went wide.  “There might be more facilities we don’t know about.  Which means if we access the database, then we can figure out Lotus’ next move.”

            Shelke nodded.

            Yuffie whooped and reached through the monitors to hug Shelke, who allowed it limply.  “Thank you, thank you so much you little brat!”   Then, she ruffled Shelke’s hair on the way to the door.  Daisy stood from the wall and waited.

            “Be careful, Yuffie Kisaragi.  This information isn’t meant to be seen by people of your clearance.  It will be dangerous, and it may lead to trouble.”

            Yuffie grinned.  “Then we’ll just have to keep from getting caught.”

-Disc One-

            Daisy remained silent as she followed Yuffie outside to the car.  They stopped beside it and stared back at the base.  The asphalt was still covered in soot from where the battle took place.  The air defense towers were shattered stalks of exposed circuitry and carnage.  Maintenance workers were taking a break in the hot sun.

            “A lot has happened,” Yuffie said, and then she met Daisy’s gaze.  “You’re worried.”

            Daisy looked at her and nodded.

            “About stealing from the W.R.O.?”

            Another nod.

            “You don’t have to come.”

            “I do.”

            Yuffie laughed and shook her head.  “Nah, Daze, you don’t.  Not there, not this,” she said.  “We’re partners and all, and I’m always happy to have you watch my back, but this is full-blown treason at this point.  Nothing dubious about it.  We’re stealing from our bosses.”

            “I know.”  Daisy chewed her cheek and kicked at the asphalt.  When she had been assigned to Yuffie, she was excited to see what type of person a hero of the Jenova War would be and, at first, was a little disappointed.  Yuffie was loud, impulsive, and disorganized.  She hardly seemed like someone who had saved the world.

            After everything that happened, Daisy had changed her mind.  It seemed like everyone else was the problem and Yuffie was the only solution.  The Emerald Lotus was a crisis on par with Deep Ground, and yet no one was organized.  There were no heroes taking to the streets, just two lone women being hobbled at every turn.

            The thought frightened Daisy.  More than that, it made her feel weak.  She liked working for the Hunters, and she liked working alongside Yuffie and Oliver.  It was a good life, hard work, but safe by comparison to what was recently started.  Yes, there was combat involved, but it wasn’t war, and what the Lotus brought with them was, and if they were to get caught it would be a front on both sides.

            “Seriously, Daisy,” Yuffie said now, all of the humor leaving her face.  In all their years working together, Daisy never saw Yuffie so sober.  She looked almost like an adult as she took Daisy’s hands and gave them a squeeze.  “I’ll be fine on my own.”

            “No,” Daisy said.

            “Sure, I will.  I mean, come on, I’m the great ninja Yuffie.”

            “That’s not what I mean,” Daisy said, and she was shaking.  “I’m scared, Yuffie.  This is big and it’s scary, and that’s why I know I can’t stay.  Something is going on out there.  A storm or something, and everyone here just has their heads buried in the sand.”  She squeezed Yuffie’s hands back.  “And that’s why I know this is where I should be.  I just don’t like it.”

            Yuffie laughed.  “Me neither,” she said, and she sighed.  Sobriety left her, and she smiled like an adolescent again.  “Well, then, I guess this will make us partners in crime.”

            Daisy laughed nervously.  “I guess, but we’re only doing this because it’s right.  Because it has to be done.”

            “Exactly,” Yuffie said.  “Betraying them to save them.”

            “How many people thought that way before they died, you think?”

            “Doesn’t matter, Daze, ‘cause we won’t die.  Now, come on.”  Yuffie grinned and pulled Daisy toward the car.  “I think it’s about time we went and broke some rules.”

Indigo: Abraham, Preceding the Storm 9th step...Pillow Talk

9^th step…Pillow Talk

            Shana came from a rich background.  Her family was good blood, smart, well-to-do, high class, and they had high expectations for her.  She was the oldest of two daughters, and she was the apple of her parents’ eyes.  Then Alex came into the picture, and Shana quickly became a problem.

            They disliked Alex from the moment they met her, but they never interfered directly.  Alex was allowed frequent visits and spent the night often, and she never heard a word of their complaints.  When she stepped into the Laeder house everyone was friendly with her, if a bit cold.

            More often than not, Alex spent most visits lazing in Shana’s bed.  Once Shana asked why, and Alex shrugged and did her best to explain.  “It feels safe, I guess.  Reminds me of a time when I was young.  I saw this spider, it was a big thing, size of my fist, at least, and I swear it was just staring at me.  I got so scared that I ran out of my room, went to Al’s room.  She came in to take care of it, and poof, it was gone.  She tried to put me back to bed, but I was a kid, and I was still scared, so she let me stay with her.  Slept there the entire week, and would’ve stayed longer if she hadn’t put her foot down.”

            As Alex spoke, she gifted Shana with a rare smile.  She often had them when remembering her sister, and they were always followed by a long, lingering melancholy.

            It had become habit for them, almost ritual.  Whenever Alex spent the night they curled up in bed early and watched movies or gossiped, and would lied together, side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, and they wasted the night away.  It was one of Shana’s favorite things, and she couldn’t imagine her life without it.

            When Alex went away to college these quiet moments together became infrequent.  They still spent time together, but it wasn’t the same.  Alex was distracted.  She had bigger things on her mind, and Shana felt out of place.

            They finally got the chance during Alex’s second semester.  It was shortly after Alex’s birthday, and it was a cold night, perfect for one of their slumber parties.  Shana rented movies but wasn’t even sure if they would watch them.  They gathered their blankets, dressed in jammies, and curled up on the bed.

            Halfway through the first movie Alex slumped over and rested her head on Shana’s shoulder.  They sat in silence as the movie played quietly in the background.  Shana combed her fingers gently through Alex’s hair.

            Alex was often distant, aloof, but Shana saw through it.  She looked through the mask of apathy and saw the way Alex shined and the potential she held.  The second semester left Alex looking exhausted and worn.  Earlier that night she had told Shana detailed stories about her big life on campus, detailed lies.  Shana saw through those, too, and felt hurt by each one.  Normally, Alex would confide in her, but something between them was changing.

            Shana wouldn’t let it.

            She waited Alex out, petting her hair.  They were alone in the safety of her room, in the comfort of her bed, and most importantly, they were together.  Shana wouldn’t pressure or pry.  She would wait; she had become a master over the years.

            Alex sighed, a hint of a smile playing across her face.  She leaned more heavily into Shana, and then the smile broke.  She shifted, falling into Shana’s bosom and sobbing uncontrollable.

            Shana held her and patted her back and kissed her forehead, and she whispered that it was all okay.  Eventually, Alex looked up her with big, dark eyes, wet with tears, and Shana tucked her hair back, smiled, and said, “Tell me about your day, dear.”

Emerald Crisis--Final Fantasy VII--Disc One, Mission 10

The Ruins of Midgar: Below Shinra HQ\

            Yuffie swayed and landed quietly, her footfalls silent from years of training.  Rising, she pinned herself to the wall and moved along its edges while Daisy came to a heavier landing beside her.  She switched the bracer-flashlight on, searching the area briefly, memorizing everything she saw before Daisy’s eyes had time to adjust.  Then, it was off.

            “Where are we,” Daisy asked while rubbing the ache from her arms.

            “The bottom,” Yuffie said, kneeling at the center of the elevator they stood on and flipping the hatch open.

            “And is this all it is?”

            Yufife stopped and looked up at Daisy.  She had her arms planted around the edges of the hatch and was just bout to lower herself in.  “Is this all what is?”

            “Adventures,” Daisy said.  “Are they just endless climbs.”

            “Mostly,” Yuffie said.  “And walking.  So much walking.”  She smiled.  “And somewhere in between, you manage to save the world.  Not at all like the movies make it, huh?”

            Daisy just sighed.

            “Okay, now quiet.  Time for game faces.”  Yuffie lowered herself into the elevator and landed lithely, going to the wall again.  This time, she drew her shuriken as they moved.  Daisy followed her in, nearly falling forward as she landed but being caught by Yuffie instead.  They took position beside the elevator doors, which were already worked open and partially folded inward.

            Yuffie peeked around the corner and into the room.  It was larger than she expected, two-story, with catwalks lining the walls and one bridging the walls into the center.  Expensive machinery lined the first-story walls.  Tables filled the interior, with a few more large, dusty machines spaced evenly across the floor.

            Lotus soldiers worked tirelessly.  One walked the catwalks above while others scurried about the floor. They had a vault on the left wall opened, a halo of soot showing where the explosives went off, and they were removing crate after crate of materia.  They took the crates to the tables in the center of the floor, where some of the soldiers were pulling each piece out, one by one, and making notes on nearby clipboards.

            Across the room, the wall was open.  An enormous, two-panel door had been pulled apart.  Yuffie could hardly see the tunnel beyond thedoors in the darkness, but she could make out a small tram car which waited there, presumably to haul their take away when they were done with the busy work.

            She kneeled back in the elevator with her back against the wall and pulled up the holographic interface on her bracer.  The signal was dead, which meant they were alone in enemy territory, surrounded on all sides by Lotus soldiers.  A cold sensation crept down her spine and settled in her gut.  For a moment, Yuffie thought it was fear, and then she thought it away entirely.

            She put on a weak smile.

            Daisy waited beside her, weapons drawn, safety off.  Yuffie gestured for her to wait and watch.  Daisy nodded in return and peeked out of the elevator doors.

            Sitting straight, Yuffie took a deep but quiet breath, and then ducked out into the facility.  She stopped beside one of the large machines and hid with her back to it.  The steel was old and cool to the touch.  She peeked over it, noting the movements of the sentries and the workers, and then moved on.  She wound a slow circle around the facility, stopping periodically to peek at the guards and adjust her course.

            As she approached the center, she kept a close watch on the guard on the catwalks.  If she were going to be caught, it would be by him.  Back to a machine, she peeked around the corner and caught sight of a middle-aged man with greying dark hair and a lined face.  He moved with a hunch and had glasses perched low on his long nose.  His voice was high and rough, and his manner manic but disinterested.  He spoke with a woman who was standing inside of the vault.  Her voice was deep and serious.

            “Doctor, we didn’t come here to find your pet project.”  He tone was calm on the surface but edged with malice.  Yuffie could tell from the way the woman spoke, she did not like the doctor.

            The doctor cackled.  “Perhaps, but we get what we get, darling.  Beside, I’m sure your Lotus won’t be so upset to have more powerful materia within their grasp.”

            “He isn’t looking for more materia, only a specific materia.”

            “Yes, yes,” the man said absently.  He stepped into the vault and Yuffie could hear something click.  There was a mechanical whine as a machine struggled to life.  “But you can’t outfit an army with only a single materia.”

            “If we get what we’re looking for, we won’t need an army.”  The woman moved.  Her footfalls were heavy and her gait wide.  Yuffie imagined her, tall and stocky, in her mind.  “Enough games.  Is it here?”

            “Who knows.  If not, then we will find it elsewhere.  There are files, dear, and they’re still here, I am sure.”

            The woman took a deep breath.  “You made us certain promises.”

            “The day hasn’t ended, dear.”

            “Don’t call me dear.”

            The doctor laughed again, this time more quietly.  “You just leave me to my job, to the materia.”  He stepped out of the vault.  His hands were inside of his pockets now.  The doctor was the only one who didn’t wear a Lotus uniform.  He had on slacks and a yellow-turtle neck sweater. “And you take care of your own job.  We have company.”

            Yuffie went stiff, she held her breath and ducked around the machine, her back pressed hard against the cold steel behind her.  The woman followed the doctor out of the fault.  She had drawn a weapon.  “Where?”

            “And here I thought you SOLDIERS were the elite.  Veterans.”  He chuckled again.  “The elevator, dear.”

            Yuffie cursed to herself and listened as the woman called over one of the lotuses and whispered an order into his ear.  Then, she heard a blade being drawn, a large, sharp one, and didn’t wait any longer.  Standing, she hurled her shuriken overhead, aiming for where she estimated the woman to be and rolled to take cover behind another machine.

            A flash of fire was followed by a cloud of dark smoke.  Flames surged across the floor, between the machinery, the heat of it forcing the steel to glow and bend.  Yuffie conjured a materia shell from her bracer to hold the flames at bay and waited for the flames to recede before lowering her arm.  The Lotus scrambled around her.

            “She’s here,” the woman shouted, and gunfire echoed across the room.  Yuffie moved around the other side of the machine again, to flank her enemy, and she finally caught sight of the woman.  She was tall, with glowing green eyes and curly blonde hair.  Yuffie recognized her from the rally.  She was the woman who stabbed Daisy through the stomach.

            More gunfire, this time from Daisy, who kept the Lotus at bay with well-placed shots.  The female SOLDIER took the doctor by the sweater and dragged him away, tipping a desk and dropping him behind it.  She shouted orders from her crouched position, ordering the Lotus soldiers above to cover their retreat.  A particularly stout male Lotus on the floor approached her to receive direct orders from her.

            “We’ve been compromised,” the SOLDIER said, and she glanced at Yuffie, who was handling a few ground soldiers while they spoke.  “If she’s here, then the W.R.O. won’t be far behind.  I’ll take the doctor and what materia we have and return.  You clean up and grab whatever you can before following after.”

            The Lotus nodded and turned to three others who were awaiting his command.  Yuffie was gone.  She had handled the two Lotus who got to her and knocked them unconscious, and she returned to moving along the walls, out of sight of those above.  She meant to cut off the SOLDIER’s retreat but didn’t move fast enough.  A sniper shot from the catwalk hit with enough force to knock her back even as the barrier stopped it.

            Daisy shot the sniper from below, and Yuffie made another effort to intercept the SOLDIER and the doctor as they made their way across the room.  This time, a Lotus soldier stepped in front of her.  She was a skinny thing carrying a big, dark automatic rifle, and she unloaded on Yuffie, who lifted her bracer and charged through the gunfire.  Yuffie leapt into the woman, feet-first.

            The woman fell back and rolled into a nearby materia canister, knocking materia across the floor.  Yuffie landed on her back and kicked up, planting both feet firmly on the steel and preparing her second assault.  The Lotus met her again, this time with a baton in hand.  It sparked whenever she pressed a button on the grip.

            The woman lunged and Yuffie pivoted.  She pushed away the woman’s arm and struck her in the face, cracking the ceramic of her mask.  The woman staggered back, and Yuffie rolled over a nearby table, meeting the woman on the other side with her foot.  The woman stumbled forward and caught herself on one of the machines.

            From her periphery, Yuffie noticed another Lotus approaching from behind her.  He had a gun in one hand, pointed at the floor, and a dagger up in the other.  The woman in front of her lunged again, aiming for Yuffie’s stomach.  Yuffie twirled around and threw the woman into the second Lotus.  The baton touched his chest and sent him rigid as electricity crawled through his form.

            The woman turned as Yuffie leaped off of a nearby machine.  They met, knee-to-face, and the woman’s mask shattered into pieces as she fell backward into another machine and slumped onto the ground.  The male Lotus fell beside her, gun discarded and knife clattering against the steel panel flooring.

            Another Lotus opened fired as Yuffie landed.  She lifted her barrier and caught the bullets before ducking behind a machine.  More gunfire and Yuffie hardly had time to react as bullets gathered around the floor.  She grabbed materia from the floor and focused her energies and ice formed around the Lotus’ gun.

            He discarded it and charged forward, reaching for the knife on the ground.  Yuffie met him part way, planting a kick to his chest and then again in his stomach.  As he staggered back, she conjured ice around him in a solid block that swallowed his body up to the neck.  His arms dangled from the sides.

            Another Lotus was taken down by precision shooting from the elevator, and Yuffie smiled and dropped the materia she held.  She turned and found the large Lotus from before making his charge.  He swung over head with both hands, and she caught it with her bracer and her legs gave out.  Daisy fired, but he took Yuffie by the arm and lifted her barrier to block the bullets.

            They danced together, spinning as they fought for control.  Yuffie tried to rip her arm free, to counter his movements.  She wove their legs together, struggled to get a firm grip on his neck or shoulders, to angle his body in a way that gave her leverage or exposed him to Daisy’s keen eye.

            He lifted her and slammed her down on the table.  Air rushed from her lungs and left her coughing as he kept a firm grip on her.  She parted her legs, clamped them around his head and rolled, bringing him face-first into the table.  His head bounced off and mask fractured, revealing one eye underneath.

            The grip he had on her loosened, and she stumbled back while she fell from the table and caught herself on the floor.  She scrambled away before his head cleared and took refuge out of sight of him, taking time to catch her breath while gunfire echoed around her.

            She peeked around the left of corner of the machine where she hid, where she left him, but saw nothing.  To the right she found him searching for her.  She pressed one hand to her side, where her body ached, and the cure materia in her bracer flared to life before she stood to charge him.

            They met, and she made a series of swift, precise strikes at his chest and face.  He dodged them, ducking and swaying with her movements before stepping in for his own attack.  Yuffie bent backward under it and then seized him by the arm.  Pushing off of the machine beside them, she used the momentum to carry her up and bring her knee up into his face.  He stumbled back but held his footing.

            She wiped sweat from her brow and smiled.  “You’re pretty good,” she said, and the Lotus smiled as another chunk of mask fell from his face.  He lifted a device and clicked the tip of it, and she felt the draw of her materia slowly fade away.  The faint glow of her barrier faded with it.  She glanced at her armguard.  “A jammer?”

            He nodded and dropped it beside him before drawing two large, curved knives and twirling them in hand.  He held them backhand and sunk into a low stance.  Yuffie frowned and unfastened her guard, leaving it on the floor and stretching her arm while hopping in place.  She felt winded, but she could fight.

            “Just so you can’t say I tricked you afterward, you know who I am, right?”

            “Yuffie Kisaragi of Wutai.”

            She smiled.  “That’s the Great Ninja Yuffie, the White Rose of Wutai, actually.”

            “Won’t be white for long,” the man said.  His knives gleamed.

            “Clever.”

            The Lotus grunted and lunged forward, and Yuffie ducked under the charge.  They met, him stabbing down at her and missing entirely as she rolled away.  His knife hit the steel flooring and left a thin scrape across its surface.  He turned to stab again, but she caught him by the back and drove her knee into his gut.  It knocked him to his side, but he barely seemed to feel the blow as he rolled back to his feet.

            She kept attacking, using her speed to her advantage.  Most swings landed, but he kept his arms up to soak the blows.  He fought carefully, conserving energy and taking quick, powerful strikes, holding his blades to in a way that left shallow gashes along the machines that flanked them.

            Yuffie avoided severe injuries by staying mobile.  Her barrier had left her drained to start and the use of the ice and cure materias found her fatigued.  Her knees buckled when they should have held, and she could feel her reaction slowing.  A few sweeps of his blades left thin gashes along her arms and shoulders.  One caught her in the cheek just before she could retreat.

            He caught her with a punch to the gut, the base of his knife knocking the air from her, and then jabbed down at her with the other blade.  Yuffie shuffled away, falling into a nearby table and rolling across its surface.  Materia spilled off around her, and she caught one as it fell and tried to cast as she stood but nothing happened.  The materia was inert in her palm, its light stolen by the nearby jammer.  So, she threw it at his chest and watched it fall harmlessly to the floor.

            He grinned bloodily.  “Looks like the legend ends today,” he said, sauntering forward and twirling his blades.  She could see blood on their polished surface, her blood.

            A bullet ricocheted nearby and drew the Lotus’ attention.  He ducked down and looked over his shoulder to find Daisy charging, guns up and cursing as she continued pulling the trigger.  Bullets bounced off around him harmlessly as he kept low, with his back to the steel machines.  He peeked around once to gauge her movement and then rose to hurl one dagger at her.

            The dagger spiraled through the air and caught Daisy in the shoulder.  She fell to the ground, holding the blade and cursing as blood gushed from the wound.  Both of her guns fell to the ground beside her, one empty and the other with its clip out as she was reloading.

            Yuffie took the opportunity to attack from behind.  She leaped onto him, pummeling him in the back of the head until he reached up and pulled her back down.  The machine caught her fall, and she bent over it, her spine straining.  Lifting her, he tossed her again, into the nearby table, which skidded backward and toppled as she fell onto the ground, groaning.

            He stood over her then, one big booted foot resting on her chest.  The world kept spinning as a deep ache spread through her.  She strained to focus on him, and he tapped her chin with his boot before pinning her face to the floor.  From his holster he pulled out a pistol and cocked it.  The mechanical sound focused her some, but she could only barely see him past his boot.

            “You know,” he said, chuckling as he pointed the gun at her head.  He moved his foot down to her chest so she could turn to face him.  “For all your boasting, I thought you would be better.  But, I guess even heroes have to die someday.”

            “Not the good ones,” she rasped, grabbing him by the ankle.  He smiled as she coughed up the blood pooling in her throat and closed her eyes.  It hurt, all of it hurt, her body and her pride.  She could taste the blood, feeling it congealing on her chin and lips, feel the swelling aches in her back and the broken bones.

            Then there was a pulse.  In the very core of her a light flashed into a spark of adrenaline and then something more.  She was desperate and tired, and she had no one to save her, so she would have to save herself.  It was hard for her to admit, but she was at her limit, and she had to break past it.

            With the last of her energy, she pushed his leg to the side and rose from the ground.  Something greater than herself filled her with endless force, endless energy, and she put all of it into one final, wild swing.  Her first coalesced with a shining blue light and caught him across the face and a gust of wind exploded around them, toppling tables and folding the steel panels of the machines around them in.

            Light and fire followed as he flew across the room, landing in a materia ben and knocking it backward underneath him.  It went skidding across the floor as he rolled to a stop against the far wall, materia scattered around him.

            Yuffie took a deep breath and folded, falling to her knees, and she panted for air.  On her hands and knees, she crawled through the debris to find the jammer and turn it off.  She dropped it into her pocket before returning for her guard and grabbing the cure materia from it.  On the way to Daisy, she mended her own wounds as best she could before helping to remove the dagger from her partner’s arm and healing her after.

            “I’m sorry,” Daisy said as she held her arm just below the gash.  She watched the skin folding shut beneath the blood.  The wound itched as it wove back together.

            Yuffie smiled weakly.  “Don’t be sorry.  You took out an entire army on your own.”  The materia stopped glowing, and Yuffie kneeled down beside her, exhausted and pale.  “Still,” she sighed, “I could have done without you missing that last shot.”

            “I crumbled under the pressure,” Daisy said, and they both laughed.  She felt light-headed, and her shoulder was still bruised, but she could move.  She reached for her guns and finished reloading them.  “Are you okay?”

            “Please.”  Yuffie wiped sweat from her forehead and blood from her lips.  “I’ve faced worse than the big guy.”  She pushed herself to standing after a few more deep breaths.  “No time to lick our wounds, though.  We’ve got a tram to catch.”

            Daisy nodded and slipped the clip into one of her guns with a definitive click. Then, she holstered both weapons before rising with Yuffie.  “Then lead the way.”

            Yuffie nodded and went to gather her shuriken before they left.

-Disc One-

            They followed the tram tunnels to an exit and could smell the sea in the distance before they saw it.  The tunnels were dark, and this darkness, combined with their fatigue, made the journey feel endless.  When they saw a light at the end, they ran forward to find the mountain ridges rising behind them, dark grey and stabbing the sky.  There was a beach to their right, pale sand being swallowed regularly by the shifting tides.

            Daisy paced the beach, kicking the sand, while Yuffie walked the high grasses nearby.  The stalks were flattened across a wide area and bent outward from a gust of wind.  An airship had landed there.  Grooves were worked into the soft dirt where it had touched ground.

            Yuffie joined Daisy at the beach.  They sat together, staring into the grey horizon.  A pink blush was forming at the rim of the sky.  The sun would be rising soon, and night was finally coming to an end.  They breathed and felt very tired suddenly.  All of the damage they accumulated came to life, and they really just wanted to rest.

            Daisy leaned into Yuffie and put her arms around her.  She held her close.  “You okay?”  Yuffie frowned, and Daisy shook her gently and squeezed her at the shoulder.  “Listen, this isn’t over.  We’ll get them later.”  She ruffled Yuffie’s hair and sat up straight.  “You’ll see.  We won’t stop, and they can’t hide forever.”

            The wind was cold but growing warmer.  The air smelled strongly of salt and wet.  They stayed there as the first rays of sunlight spread across the water.  Yuffie laid back, head in her hands, and she stared up at the sky, shivering as the cool air danced across her bare midriff.  Daisy stood and stretched and rubbed her arms for warmth.

            “Come on.”  She offered Yuffie her hand.  “We should go back and look around, see if we can find anything before the W.R.O. guys figure out where we went.”

            Yuffie opened her eyes.  She stared up Daisy’s arm, up into her dark eyes.  Both looked tired and beaten up, but Daisy had something that Yuffie was lacking.  There was vitality still there.  Yuffie kept replaying their failed battles in her head.  Even fighting that single soldier had been a challenge.  She wondered how many times the others saved her over the years, and then pushed those thoughts away so she could force herself to take Daisy’s hand.

            The walk back was long and quiet.  Neither was moving quickly and neither had the energy to care.  The soldiers were still unconscious.  Daisy set out to tying them and marking them for W.R.O. pick up, sending coordinates to Shelke while Yuffie searched the vaults and the files stored inside.  The facility still had power even after years of neglect.

            She found files and downloaded them to her personal database and then left through the tram tunnels.  It was a long walk back to Midgar, but Yuffie was happy for the exercise.  She needed to stretch the sores out of her and work out the nervous energy left over from the battle before she went to rest.  It also gave her time to look through the files.

            As they passed through the ruins toward Daisy’s car, they caught sight of a W.R.O. airship drifting overhead.  They would be arriving soon and start their search, and Yuffie wanted to make it back to Edge and get a few hours of rest before they came calling on her.

Indigo: Abraham, Preceding the Storm 8th step...Coup de Théâtre

8^th step…Coup de Théâtre

            Alex’s nineteenth birthday was a sad joke.  It started poorly and seemed determined to end with a flourish.  By nightfall she was alone in her room, lying in her bed in the dark, nursing a stomach ache, and all she could think was why she had to choose that specific day to be sick.

            The flu wasn’t her only problem though.  The night before had been plagued with awful dreams.  She heard strange voices calling out to her in the dark.  When she first woke it was in a fright.  Then the nausea set in.  Classes that day only made it worse.

            Carolyne, who should have been a high point, was instead the killing blow.   For a while they lounged in Carolyne’s room, in Carolyne’s bed, doing and talking about nothing.  Uncharacteristically, Carolyne petted Alex’s hair and almost seemed to worry over her.

            Then it hit.  Alex sat up, stumbled forward, and narrowly made it out of the room and into the bathroom before she spewed.  What came out of her mouth didn’t look natural and only made her feel worse.  She watched it swirl in the toilet as it drained away and then rested against the stall to steady her feet.

            After that Carolyne refused to open the door.  Apparently, she had a fear of vomiting, and so she would have nothing to do with it.  Thus, Alex was turned away from the last hope of a happy birthday and relegated to a night spent alone and in pain.

            After a few minutes she fell asleep, and she woke to the light coming on.  She thought to say something but was quickly silenced by Shana bounding into the room.  “Alex is going to be so surprised,” Ellen said as she closed the door.  “She hasn’t seen you for weeks.”

            Shana smiled and set her things on the floor.  “I’ve missed her.”  She glanced around the room.  “Think I should hide somewhere before you go get her?  That way it can be an even bigger surprised.”

            Though tickled by the situation, Alex couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

            “That’s a great idea.  You could probably squeeze in between the dressers beneath the bed,” Ellen said.  She grunted and yanked one to the side to create an opening.  “Right in here.   Okay, while you do that, I’ll go get Alex.”

            “Where do you think she is,” Shana asked.  She was already halfway into hiding.

            “With Carolyne, I assume.  You get comfortable, and I’ll be right back.”

            Ellen left the room with the light on, and Shana got situated.  Once the room had settled Alex found herself listening to Shana’s breathing.  A few seconds passed before Alex’s guilt got the better of her and she said, “Shana?”  Her guilt doubled when Shana hit her head on the bottom bunk.

            “…Alex?  You were here the entire time, weren’t you?”

            “Yeah…”

            Shana sighed heavily, and Alex could almost feel her frowning.  “Well, that sucks.”

            “No,” Alex said.  “No, seeing you is still a wonderful gift.”

            In that moment Alex knew Shana’s frown had immediately turned into a smile.  “Then, awesome!”

            The door opened and Ellen stepped back into the room. “Okay, I’m not going to lie, I couldn’t find her.  Carolyne said she left, and no one else has seen her.”

            Shana broke out into a fit of boisterous laughter, and even Alex managed a smile.