Memories

[cetrary]

[ Aerith is in her garden tending to leaves when a few of them fall down. Memories. Well, she kinda expected it'd happen to her eventually too. So, she's not...entirely surprised. Still...the memories distract her enough to get caught up in the garden and her thoughts. ]

Bodyguard hiring is in session.

Hojo is a psycho. He's gross, disgusting, and a terrible person. Talks about dissecting her mother and just being generally creepy.

Aerith in a dress and Cloud is a loser.

Childhood captivity with Shinra. Content warning: attempted murder of a child.

Comments

[cetrary]

[ Her eyes don't widen when he says that, in fact if anything her expression drops just a tiny bit at the admission. ] Ah, that's why you've asked about him before. [ It explained a lot. ]

They don't mean any harm, it's not their fault they ended up that way. I guess, in a way, it's kind of mine. But...he can control them. [ And that makes everything more complicated. She puts her hands together and looks back at her flowers. ] I think he really hates you. But...he also just hates everything. There's so much anger and hate in him...[ She shakes her head. ] It makes ShinRa seem like nothing.

[mostlycloudy]

But...why me?

[A part of him knew, deep down. Sephiroth could control them, could speak through them, and sometimes, he'd tried to do the same thing to Cloud, and he'd failed. Maybe it was that simple.]

And why do you think it's your fault?

[cetrary]

That's...well, that's very complicated. [ And not something she was entirely certain she knew how to explain. She swallowed hard and looked away from him for a moment. ]

I don't know. I guess because it kind of was. My drawings gave them the locations and the locations ended up giving them mako poisoning.

[mostlycloudy]

Complicated? [That suggested she knew, but either didn't want to explain or felt he shouldn't know. He didn't know which he hoped it was.]

Locations of what?

[cetrary]

[ And in typical Aerith fashion, she just ignores that he asked anything. ]

Large mako reserves.

[mostlycloudy]

[She knew. She knew why Sephiroth was so fixated on him, and she wasn't saying.]

I don't need you to protect me.

[Even if he was wrong, she shouldn't be the one to do it.]

Is that what they were using you for?

[cetrary]

I know. [ Maybe. She might disagree with that a tiny bit.

She frowned and then nodded, slowly. ]

Yeah, that's why they kept us there. They thought we could lead them to the Promised Land. That's what they were hoping I'd draw, but they settled for the locations of Mako. I guess, we just know them innately.

[mostlycloudy]

[Instead of arguing further, he just let it pass. Aerith kept her secrets close and her sadness closer, and no one was going to learn about it until she was ready.]

So, all those guys with the weird tattoos...they're people you sent to Mako locations?

[cetrary]

[ She pauses and then shrugs her shoulders. ]

Some of them might be. Now though? I think....they're all connected to him.

[mostlycloudy]

[His brow lowered at that.]

To Sephiroth.

[So many unanswered questions.]

But how? What does mako poisoning have to do with him?

[cetrary]

Sephiroth is like a poison. He poisons the planet and everything he touches. [ Everything. Everything everywhere. ]

[mostlycloudy]

Wait. [He's really trying to understand this, Aerith. Really.]

...So Mako poisoning is Sephiroth's fault?

[cetrary]

No, but I think it has something to do with letting him control them. [ Why is this so difficult? It's not as though she has all the answers, she has some, but some things are hidden even to her. Even more so now that they'd actually fought fate and destroyed it. Now she didn't even have those clues. It all felt so overwhelming, so very much. ]

I think he can control people like them. Take them over completely and make them puppets. And...[ he can do that with you. But is that really her place to say? Does it matter here? Was it even fair for her to decide that for him? ] you too. I think he wants to do that to you too.

[mostlycloudy]

[He doesn't say anything for a moment, crossing his arms and looking down. He remembers the feeling, the searing pain in his head, the voice, seeing him even when no one else could.

And he remembers shoving him out.]

He tried. More than once. [He pauses again, wheels turning, connecting pieces that hadn't quite fit before.] That's what Hojo did to me, isn't it?

...I'm not a SOLDIER. He made me like him.

[cetrary]

I thought he was. [ But she hadn't been sure if she should say anything or not. Or how you say anything. How did someone say anything at all about something like that? ] I'm glad you fought back.

[ Her head dropped down at that and then she slowly nods. ] I think so. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[mostlycloudy]

[He stepped closer to her, reaching out and hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder.]

Don't. Aerith, it's not your fault.

[cetrary]

It's not your fault either. It's his.

[mostlycloudy]

Yeah.

[He gives her shoulder a gentle squeeze.]

And we'll stop him. Who else will?

[cetrary]

[ She nods solemnly. ]Yeah... we have to.

[mostlycloudy]

We will.

[He doesn't know how he knows that. Maybe he doesn't, really. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but it had gotten them this far.]

I know we will.