Every Now and Then
Chapter 5: Deeper into the Shadows
“…”
He kept his distance from the woman as she moved through the darkness with determination. He would simply watch over her from the shadows, rather than make his presence known… she would be less likely to try to lose him in the maze of hallways if she didn’t know he was there. Not to mention less likely to throw him through a wall. He wondered briefly if she could actually manage such a feat, before deciding that he preferred not to risk finding out first hand. Yes, it would be easier to protect her if he didn’t let her see him.
That, at least, was Rude’s main excuse. In the darkness of the lower level, he could just barely make out that graceful form that moved on just up ahead in search of Cloud, but in his mind he could clearly see every detail. The way she walked… sure-footed and with an air of such confidence that he couldn’t help but admire her. She was not some dependent doll of a woman… and yet she kept about her an aura of alluring femininity that held him entranced.
She was calling out to Strife now, in that determined voice that had become increasingly familiar to Rude, and he followed Tifa a bit more closely now, as she moved steadily away from the little bit of light from the stairwell.
———-
“Cloud?!” she called, “Cloud… Can you hear me?”
The only answer she received was the sound of her own voice echoing back from the empty tiled hallways. It was hard to see in the dim light, and every little sound she made seemed strangely loud to her ears. Her footsteps, even her breathing seemed too loud.
“Cloud, where are you?!”
She pushed aside a spiderweb, wondering, not for the first time, if she was even headed toward the place where Cloud had fallen. Suddenly, a soft glimmer of light just ahead caught her eye.
“Cloud?”
Tifa hurried toward the light, following its glow into a large chamber.
“Cloud!”
He stood, unresponsive to her voice, at the far end of the room, staring up at the source of the illumination. It was… well, Tifa could only describe it as a column. A column of light, silvery and breathtakingly beautiful, a radiating entity in the darkness. It pulsed rhythmically, like a beating heart, glowing intensely, then fading, then becoming bright again. The rhythm was hypnotically calming… eerily so. She felt herself being drawn toward it, and she slowly began to move forward… until she was shaken from her trance by Cloud’s voice.
He was speaking softly – too softly for her to make out the words – to… the light? Indeed, he seemed to be having a conversation with it, pausing at intervals as though it was giving a response. Tifa, however could hear nothing.
“Cloud?”
When he didn’t reply… didn’t so much as seem to notice her presence in the room… she began to move toward him again. And the closer she got, the harder it was to keep her mind from wandering back to the strange column of light.
There was a low groan from the wooden beams directly overhead, but it was quickly forgotten. She wanted to get closer to the light. No… That was wrong. She shook her head. Cloud. She wanted to get closer to Cloud.
A loud rumble that grew louder with each second brought her back to reality a second time, and a shrill scream from high above her alerted her to sudden danger, though dazed as she was, she couldn’t seem to make out what was happening. She thought to look up, toward the sound itself, just in time to see the ceiling crumbling… falling down on her.
A figure from the shadows seemed to fly at her, and Tifa felt herself lifted off her feet. The rumble turned to an ear-splitting crash, and a cloud of dust erupted from the debris that hit the floor as the ceiling collapsed. Tifa was thrown to the ground in a controlled fall, a heavy weight landing on top of her, shielding her from the splintered wood that rained down from above. She closed her eyes as the dust it raised choked her… blinded her… and then it stopped. A moment later, someone was guiding her to her feet again, guiding her away, back to the safety of the corridor she’d entered from. Coughing, and spitting out mouthfuls of dust with nearly every breath, she hurried to keep up with her savior. She could hear whoever it was coughing as well.
At last they stopped, and she dared to open her eyes, blinking away the painful bits of dust that stung at them. She looked around, her gaze finally coming to rest on the imposing figure that standing over her in the darkness, and she took a step back in alarm. It took her a moment, but as the dim light glinted dully off the dark plastic that hid his eyes, at last she recognized him.
“Rude?” she gasped in surprise, the stoic, silent Turk being the last person she’d expected to see. “I… You… You… saved me…”
“…”
Another thought suddenly clicked into place in her mind, taking the place of utter shock.
“Oh god… Cloud!”
She rushed past the Turk, back into through the door and into the room, clambering over debris, tossing some of it aside. Behind her, she could hear Rude following her lead.
“Cloud, where are you?!” she cried, “Answer me!”
———-
“What are you talking about, Elena?” Reno scoffed, “Tseng is dead. You know that as well as I do.”
“I… I know, but… But it was him, Reno! I swear, it was Tseng!”
“You’re seein’ things, ‘Lena…” Reno replied, though his tone had softened a bit. Of the three remaining Turks, Elena had taken Tseng’s death far harder than the others.
“No… I’m not!” Elena protested.
“Hey, Reno… Ya might not wanna dismiss things so quickly… Listen to this,” said Yuffie, who had been skimming over the first few pages of the notebook they had found upstairs…
———-
To: Energy Research Committee, Shinra Power Company, Midgar
From: Dr. Kionae Umeshi, Project Head, Kihl Island
Re: Mako Fountain Study, Week 10
Preliminary data shows this site to contain the largest and most productive known Mako fountain south of the Northern Crater. Uncontaminated deposits of crystalline Mako have been dated to range from approximately 200 million years in age in the oldest areas, to 1 year or less in the active vent. The local volcanic activity seems to be directly related to the flow of energy from the fountain, though a cause for this has not been determined. Volcanism and seismic events in the vicinity of the island seem to coincide with periods of decreased activity in the fountain, and visa versa. We have not yet found a noticeable cycle or pattern for the observed fluctuations in activity, suggesting that they are either random and chaotic, or that said pattern occurs over a larger time scale than we have been able to observe. Of note however, is that these fluctuations have been steadily increasing in frequency since construction of the main research facility began 8 weeks ago.
The island itself is fairly typical, with the exception of the fountain. Geologic studies have determined a tholeiitic basaltic composition for the bulk of the island, with alkalic eruptions from the volcano, suggesting that the island has entered the late Alkalic Stage (of note is a small, early Alkalic Stage seamount to the southeast, which indicates that our island is slowly moving roughly northeast, away from the magmatic plume of the local hot spot that formed it). It is not known at this time whether or not this natural migration will affect the fountain at some future date, though given the magnitude of the geologic time scale, it will likely not be of any concern to our research.
More detailed findings will be relayed to this committee when the facility is fully functional.
-end of report-
———-
Personal Log: Dr. Kionae Umeshi, Project Head, Kihl Island
Date: Week 10
I find myself behaving much more cautiously in the place than is normal for me. Perhaps it is the population of red dragons that nest near the volcano’s crater that makes me wary of roaming too far from our camp. Still, I can’t shake the nagging feeling that something is not quite right with this place, and I will feel much safer when the facility has been completed.
Construction has fallen nearly two weeks behind schedule at this point. Accidents have plagued the workers since we arrived. Everything from dragon attacks to equipment failures… Two days ago a man died. It was a horrible sight. But what disturbs me more is that no one who witnessed it could give a clear account of what happened. The man, a machinery operator, was found… Dear god, it looked as though he’d been ripped apart. I don’t think I will ever entirely rid my mind of that image. It appeared that he was caught by the backhoe, yet no one could say with any certainty what had happened. It was as though the entire crew that had been on duty had been distracted by something, but couldn’t remember what it was that had distracted them.
Rumors have been moving through the ranks ever since the accident. They are saying the island is haunted, the island is cursed. I will admit, the drab, depressing nature of the island certainly lends itself to the idea, but of course that is absurd. We will find a rational explanation soon enough, I’m sure. I just hope that we find it before any more accidents can occur. Could it have something to do with the huge amount of materia and Mako energy here? Effects of prolonged exposure to such levels of Mako have, after all, not been deeply researched. Yet no one on the island shows any sign of Mako poisoning. If not poisoning, then what? I feel a strange sense of foreboding that is becoming more and more difficult to ignore.
———-
“Riiiiight…” said Reno, “The island’s haunted…”
“Ok, maybe not haunted… but like this Dr. Umeshi says, maybe it’s the Mako that’s messin’ with us,” Yuffie replied, looking over at Elena.
“I was not imagining it!” Elena cried, “He was there!”
“Ok, ‘Lena… Just calm down. Think about it rationally,” said Reno, and Yuffie couldn’t help but notice how his attitude toward Elena had so suddenly changed, “First off… Are you really gonna tell me that you believe in ghosts? And second… even on the very remote possibility that they do exist, why would Tseng decide to haunt an island in the middle of nowhere?”
His hand rested sympathetically on the other Turk’s shoulder. Yuffie remained silent, not wanting to interfere. This was the side of Reno that she had almost convinced herself she had only imagined.
Reno glanced out at the gaping hole in the floor and fought back a shudder thinking about just how close Elena had come to falling as well. “We all miss him, ‘Lena…” Reno whispered, so softly that Yuffie hardly caught it.
———-
“So bright…”
The light was all around him, warm and constantly moving… a living sea of light.
“Where are we? Aeris?”
She didn’t answer him… simply held out her hand to him. Cloud could see nothing ahead of him… only the light. It all felt like a dream, and he feared that at any moment he might wake up and she would be gone again… and he would be back in the darkness of the lower level of the research center. But the warmth of Aeris’ hand was enough to reassure him that this was real… somehow, it was real.
She had appeared from the shadows, and called his name, and he had gone to her. Light had filled the space around him.
“Come with me,” she said, “Come with me, Cloud.”
And so, he took her hand and let her guide him.
———-
“Cloud! Where are you?!”
“Tifa!”
“… Yuffie?”
“Hey, Rude… You down there, too?”
“…”
Tifa gazed upward to see not only Yuffie, but Reno and Elena as well, looking down at the two of them from the floor above. The dust had mostly settled, and while a large portion of the ceiling was now on the floor, the side of the room Cloud had been on, much to Tifa’s relief, was more or less untouched. But where was Cloud now? He couldn’t have left, could he? He had simply… vanished.
“So… Find Strife yet?” Reno called down to them after a moment.
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