CHAPTER XIV
The apartment was dark and completely silent. Mataea awoke on the couch, seeing that the television was off. Across the room, Vincent was leaning back in a suede lounge chair, his eyes closed peacefully. Her eyes felt extraordinarily tired. They urged her to close them and drift back to sleep, but she sensed something out of place.
Sitting up, her heart began to pound furiously. Her eyes began to dart around the room, a feeling of terror bursting through her without warning. She lunged from the couch towards Vincent, her eyes wide with fear; immediately, she knew.
“Vincent! Wake up!!”
As soon as Mataea watched his crimson eyes shoot open, there was an incredible crash from the hallway beyond. There were men screaming, shouting; she could hear the violence in their voices, an eagerness to find their prey.
Before she could react, she felt Vincent grab her arm and yank her into the den. She crouched down next to a cabinet and he locked eyes with her.
“Stay here,” he whispered sharply, pulling a triple-barrelled handgun from his cloak.
Mataea opened her mouth to protest and reached out to grab him, but then he was gone, back into the living room. Instantaneously, gunfire erupted behind the wall, and the shouting of the men became ear-piercingly loud. Her eyes nearly burst from her head as she sat there, frozen, the darkness enclosing her. She had to do something! She had to help Vincent!
Without thinking, she rose to her feet and charged for the door. As she reached the doorway, a solid body came crashing into her, bulldozing her body to the ground. Feeling around the wooden floor in the blackness, Mataea was blinded when a bright white light lit up the floor before her. Before she could stand up, a crushing metallic object smashed her in the back of the head.
She collapsed immediately, landing on her back. The gunfire was still raging in the next room. Above her, she could see the blurry outline of a man in a dark uniform, a smooth helmet covering his head and face. He leaned down next to her and shined the light in her face.
“Code 9,” she heard him say beneath his helmet. “I’ve got her.”
Suddenly, Mataea’s left arm lunged for the man before her. She grabbed his arm and squeezed as hard as she could. Her other arm shot upwards and grabbed the side of his helmet. With one swift motion, she pulled herself up using his weight, and then sent him flying into the wall directly across from her with a powerful push. She was on her feet.
“I need backup!” came the man’s shouts from across the room. “She’s on the move!”
Mataea saw his gun before her on the floor. She grabbed it swiftly and lurched forward into the next room. Her eyesight was clear now, her body on edge.
As she ran into the room, a ShinRa soldier turned to face her. She took aim at his shoulder blade, and fired as if she had done it a thousand times. At that same instant, there was a flash in front of her, and the deafening crack of a gun next to her head.
Falling to the floor, Mataea felt a rush of stinging hotness shoot through her skull. Her eyes compressed tightly, her mouth widened with anguish. The firing around her went silent, and all she could hear was her own blood-curdling scream. She collapsed to the floor, still screaming, her body weakening exponentially. Tears flooded her eyes and began to drain down her cheeks. Her mind was racing with memories of ShinRa, Rufus, Sephiroth... but she couldn’t concentrate; the stinging pain was engulfing her brain, and all she could do was scream until her vocal chords burned.
“Mataea! Mataea!!”
Who was calling for her?
Suddenly, she felt her body being rocked; it felt like someone was sitting her up and shaking her by the shoulders.
“Wake up!”
Unable to comprehend what was happening, Mataea tried to open her eyes. The pain felt like it was weakening for some reason. She heard the voice echoing in her mind as her body was still being shaken.
“Mataea!!”
Without warning, her eyes shot open with ease.
It took a few moments for her to realize where she was. Vincent was kneeling before her, his expression more worried than she’d ever seen it. Around her was complete silence, no chaos or gunfire. She was back on the couch, sitting completely upright, her body cold with sweat. She felt Vincen’t leathery gloves holding her by the shoulders. Her breathing was heavy and her body was shaking without any sign of stopping.
“My god, Mataea, are you all right?” he said. Some of the strain in his hands was released.
Mataea blinked, trying to focus her vision on him. “I...” But she couldn’t speak; after experiencing such a terrible, real nightmare, she could not simply dismiss it. It was so absolute... she felt like it had actually happened. The stinging in her head was gone, but it still throbbed.
“You were having a nightmare,” Vincent said assuredly. “Are you all right?” he asked again.
Mataea watched him unbuckle one of his black gloves from his hand. “Yes,” she finally managed to say. She saw him pull his strong hand from his glove and place it on her forehead; his palm felt like ice.
He didn’t seem pleased. Without saying anything, he stood up and strode into the kitchen. She sat still, watching for him to return. She had had nightmares like this before, but not this intense. Only the ones that felt real ever came true, but this one was unlike anything she’d had before; she rubbed her head where the stinging had shot through her like a needle, feeling for a bullet hole. She found nothing, but her head began to ache dully.
Vincent came back and crouched next to her. “Here.”
Mataea closed her eyes as he placed a frigid, damp cloth against her forehead. The coldness stung at first, but she became used to it quickly, her tense body finally beginning to relax. She still could not get those images out of her head. It was going to happen.
Opening her eyes, she saw Vincent watching her carefully. “ShinRa’s going to find me,” she said, realizing the truth of what she was saying.
He blinked with uncertainty before looking at her seriously. “Is that, what happened..?”
“Yes,” she said, almost feeling like she was going to cry. “They stormed through the door...” Mataea looked towards the hallway. “They came in, and we ran into the den... Then, you ran out and started shooting with your gun.” Mataea leaned forward and brushed his cape aside, not surprised to see the same triple-barrelled gun at his side.
Vincent watched her warily as she stared at his gun; he was starting to realize that this was serious. “What happened next?” he asked sternly, still holding the cloth against her head.
“I sat in the den for a bit, but then I couldn’t take it any longer... I ran into the doorway, but I crashed into a ShinRa soldier. He hit me on the head with his gun... and I fell.” Mataea paused, remembering the sheer amount of power that she’d felt at that moment. “I grabbed him by his helmet, and somehow I managed to shove him off of me... I stood up, grabbed his gun, and then... I got shot... I felt the pain, it was... so real... I started screaming, and fell to the floor again... Then I woke up,” she said in relief.
Vincent was silent for a moment. “... You think that it’s going to happen?” he said uneasily.
Mataea breathed deeply. “No... Not like that, at least.” She looked up at him. “Sometimes I have nightmares like that, and they warn about the future, but since I become aware of what may come... I can change what happens.”
“So you’re saying that if you stay here...”
“Yes... ShinRa will kill me.” She sighed deeply. “But, if I leave, they won’t,” she said, taking Vincent’s hand and removing the cloth from her head. “That nightmare felt so real... I think that means... it will happen soon; not tonight, but within the next couple days.”
Vincent folded the cloth in his hands. “Then we need to leave.”
Mataea nodded. “Yes... but the only trouble is, this has been my home for nearly two years now...” She glanced around the room, looking saddened. “I have nowhere else to go from here.”
“You can come with me. I have a house here in the city,” he said without hesitation. “You would be safe there.”
She swallowed her guilt; what other choice did she have? She did not want to burden Vincent, but she had no other place to go. It was hard for her to understand why he was being so selfless, but she could not ignore the security she felt with him around. She looked up at him again.
“You realize that if they find me... your head will be on the chopping block too.”
Vincent shifted his weight, still kneeling in front of her. “I know, but I have no doubt that what you saw would happen if you stayed here; ShinRa is ruthless. You cannot stay here.”
Mataea sighed, looking over at the large living room window. It was almost morning, and the sky was starting to lighten. Her head still throbbed slightly, but the pain was mostly gone. She’d never felt such tremendous pain before in a nightmare, and it had never, ever transferred into reality once she’d awoken; this time it had been different, and that had to be significant. Someone, or something, was trying to warn her; she wondered if it was the Jenova cells somehow protecting her, as evil as they had proven to be. Or was it something else... something good?
She finally turned to Vincent, her eyes meeting with his stark red orbs. More than anything she wished to run away, leave him, and never see him again, so that he wouldn’t need to worry about her, or getting himself killed for that matter; however, at the same time, she felt a desire to be with him at every moment. He had found her in Nibelheim, and had accompanied her all the way to the Gold Saucer; he had seen her wings, and he was the first person she had told about her past entirely. She’d only known him for a few weeks, but already she felt like she could trust him with her life... She wasn’t sure what to make of it; only once before had she ever felt this way... with Reno, all those years ago...
“Well?” came his voice, intruding on her memories.
Mataea blinked back to reality; she was still staring at him. She cast her eyes downwards immediately, embarrassed and guilty. “... I will never be able to thank you,” she stuttered.
Vincent stood, taking her reply as a yes. “Gather your important things. We should leave as soon as you’re ready.”
He suddenly looked downward, taking a cell phone from a pocket beneath his cloak. He flipped it open and read something off the screen, before quickly shutting it and placing it on the end table beside the couch. “Cloud’s being pretty persistent. I never should have bought that damn phone in the first place,” he muttered beneath his breath.
__________________________________
Cloud reluctantly closed his phone, sighing. Vincent wasn’t answering any of his calls or messages, and it was starting to bother him. He knew that he’d never liked his phone to begin with, but he wasn’t the type to ignore him either.
7th Heaven was empty that morning; Tifa was down at the bar cleaning up from last night, and Marlene and Denzel were at a friend’s house for the day. Cloud sat alone in the office upstairs, trying endlessly to call Vincent. Tifa was starting to get suspicious; he knew he would have to tell her about Rufus’s plan to find SOLDIER-02 eventually, but he didn’t want to just yet... He didn’t want her to worry.
He flipped through his menu again, chose Cid, and pressed Call. He pressed the speaker up to his ear.
It didn’t take long for an answer to come. “Who the hell is this?! I’m busy, damnit!”
"Cid, it’s Cloud... Don’t you have caller ID?”
“Caller what-now? Come on pal, don’t get cheeky with me! ... But all right, seriously, I’m a bit busy right now; I’m just tryin’ ta work out the kinks on one of my airships, and Shera’s been ridin’ my ass as usual, and not in a good way- Anyway, what do ya need, pal?”
Cloud didn’t feel any better about calling him now, but he figured he should just get it over with. He kicked his feet up onto the top of the desk. “Rufus ShinRa’s got a mission for us. There’s a new threat to the planet: her name is SOLDIER-02. Rufus says she’s working to resurrect Sephiroth. He wants to know if you’re in or not.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
“Let me get this straight... You want me to work for that bastard Rufus again?! And he’s after some girl?! Yeah, right, it sounds like a load of CRAP to me! Count me out!”
Cloud knew this wasn’t going to end well, but if anyone was going to convince Cid, it would have to be him. “I know how it sounds, Cid, but this girl... She’s apparently more powerful than Sephiroth.”
“BAHAHA! OH YEAH! GOOD ONE!” Cid screamed hysterically, laughing to himself for another few seconds. “Sheesh, Cloud, when did you become so damn funny?!”
Cloud sighed to himself; that didn’t go as planned.
“All right, all right,” Cid said, calming himself down. “Listen kid, I know that you’re tryin’ to be serious here, but I just can’t work for that bastard anymore. I’m workin’ for the WRO now; that’s keepin’ me busy enough, and if I started workin’ on ShinRa’s side again... well, that would be interestin’ now wouldn’t it? ‘Cause half the time the WRO’s cleanin’ up a mess that ShinRa made!”
“Yeah, I guess that would be interesting. I understand.”
“Yeah, but give Barret a call, see what he says. He might be down for it. Then again, I doubt it.”
“Thanks Cid,” said Cloud, trying not to cover up the sarcasm.
“No problemo, Cloud my boy. Now you take care now with your ShinRa business, Shera’s a-callin’. HEY, we should get together sometime! I’ll be in Edge next week! We’ll have some tea before my schedule fills up too bad!”
“Sounds good.”
“All right! See ya, delivery boy!”
Cloud hung up the phone in a hurry. He wasn’t surprised with Cid’s reaction.
He placed his phone down on the desk and glanced out the nearby window. It was hard for him to believe that something like this was starting up again, but he would do whatever he could to stop it, whether he was on Rufus’ side or not. As long as SOLDIER-02 was threatening the Planet, he would fight to stop her.
Cloud opened one of the desk drawers in front of him and took out the photo that Rufus had given him: a mug shot of SOLDIER-02, or ‘Mataea Linnaeus,’ her real name. As he looked down at the photo, he couldn’t help but question this entire investigation; the girl looked totally normal, kind even; he almost couldn’t imagine hunting her down. But then he remembered how he had looked up to Sephiroth when he was younger, how he had dreamed to be a SOLDIER like him... If anyone knew that looks could be deceiving, it was him. She just looked so innocent, it was hard for him to grasp; in a way, she even reminded him of... Aerith.
“Cloud?” came a soft voice from the doorway.
He shoved the photo back into the drawer and looked up, seeing Tifa eying him suspiciously. “Yeah?”
“Cloud... Is there something you want to tell me?” she asked sincerely, stepping into the room. Her deep brown eyes were somewhat sad.
“Tifa... Please, don’t ask me that.” His eyes looked away.
“So there is something... You’ve been acting so distant lately...” Tifa crossed her arms, standing in front of him. “Please, Cloud, you promised you would tell me when something was wrong.”
Cloud looked up at her calmly. “Tifa... I need you to give me a few days, please.”
She didn’t look pleased, and was silent for a long time as she stared at the wall. “Fine,” she finally said. “I understand... as unhappy as I am about it.” She forced a smile, looking into his oceanic eyes. “But promise me that you will tell me when you can?”
“I promise,” he said, looking back at her.
She smiled again, turned swiftly on the ball of her foot, and left to go back downstairs.
Cloud sighed a breath of relief and picked up his phone. He was happy to have such a close friend like Tifa; ever since Geostigma had been cured a year ago, she’d been more understanding. Looking down at his phone, he chose Vincent once again before pressing Call.
__________________________________
Tseng approached the colossal grey building in the middle of the city’s heart. On the front of the building was ‘EDGE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT’ written in giant capital letters. He stepped inside casually, a large briefcase in his hand.
After the receptionist had eagerly let him through with a flash of his ShinRa badge, Tseng made his way to the head of the department’s office, Chief of Police Blare Wolfram. He was let inside within seconds, and had a seat in front of the chief’s desk.
Wolfram was a rather tall burly man, with jet black hair and a face pricked with stubble. He wore an impressive black jacket and tie, with several badges and stripes lining his arms and chest.
“Welcome,” he said in a gruff voice, shaking Tseng’s hand. He was surprised by how cold it was. “I... understand you are here on behalf of Mr. ShinRa?” he said, caught slightly off guard.
“Sir,” Tseng said sternly, taking a seat. “I am afraid that I have strong evidence against President ShinRa that he may be at work with an extremely dangerous fugitive. This is... very difficult for me, but I understand that it is my duty to do what is right.” He frowned deeply.
Wolfram crossed his arms and leaned back in his luxurious chair. “Please, go on. Who is this fugitive?”
Tseng blinked and took a deep breath. “Her name is Mataea Linnaeus, also known as SOLDIER-02.” He took a photo of her from his pocket and slid it across the desk. “She was a ShinRa experiment many years ago, and we have reason to believe that she is planning on... bringing a very dangerous man back to life.” Tseng watched the chief pick up the photo and examine it closely. “Sir, it is important to ignore her seemingly innocent appearance. This photo was taken many years ago, but we expect that she looks similar to this now.”
Wolfram set down the picture slowly and looked across the desk at Tseng. “... And who is this ‘dangerous man’ that she is going to ‘bring back to life’?” he said suspiciously.
Tseng stopped himself from glaring at the doubtful chief. “Sephiroth.”
Studying Tseng for a moment, Wolfram was unsure of what to think. Deep in thought, he brought a worn hand up to his face and rubbed his rough chin. For some reason he doubted that Tseng was kidding around.
“I’m gonna need all of the information... on the girl, Sephiroth... everything,” he finally said, looking back at Tseng who was watching him carefully.
Tseng placed the briefcase on the desk in front of him. “I have absolutely everything you will need: case files, experiment data, detailed information on the Lifestream... all of it.” He took a breath, eying the chief seriously. “We are not entirely sure how she is planning on resurrecting him, but as past events have shown... it is indeed possible.”
Wolfram seemed less sceptical than before as he stared at the briefcase before him. He crossed her arms sternly. “Before I take a look at that... I’d like to see the evidence you have against Rufus ShinRa.”
Tseng reached into his pocket and place a single CD atop the briefcase.
“A video?” Wolfram asked, taking the disk.
He nodded, smiling a bit. “It’s incredible to witness it, especially once you know of what SOLDIER-02 is capable of...”
Now ridiculously curious, Wolfram stood from his chair. Slowly, he walked to the television against the wall on a shelf, and slide the disk into the player. He flicked on the screen and pushed Play before taking a seat on top of his desk.
Tseng could not contain himself as the image came to life on the screen. Rufus’ room was completely dark, but the large windows on the wall let in enough light, just enough to see...
Wolfram almost stopped breathing. There, on the screen before him, was a person... a person with wings: massive, greenish wings. They were flying, hovering just outside of the window. Before he knew what he was seeing, the person opened one of the large pieces of glass outwards and stepped inside. He could now see that it was the woman in the picture Tseng has shown him.
“Remarkable...” he whispered, his eyes wide with uncertainty.
The two watched the screen as Mataea stopped in the moonlight, staring straight ahead. Within a few seconds, a man stepped into view on the left, closer to the camera. The camera did not show his face, but it had to be Rufus ShinRa; it was in his private room, and his light blond hair was instantly recognizable. The two began to argue, but there was no sound.
“There’s no audio?” Wolfram asked over his shoulder.
“No.” Tseng was ready to answer this question. “I’m a bit distressed to say that I put the camera there without Mr. ShinRa’s knowledge. I am the only other person who knows the pass code to his room... In the middle of setting it up, I received an important call from one of the other Turks. I had to leave, and I didn’t manage to get back to finish. This was taken only two nights ago; if I’d had more time, I would have been able to... but I didn’t expect this so soon.”
Wolfram didn’t seem to question him as his eyes continued to watch the argument.
“The two continue to argue for a few minutes; SOLDIER-02 eventually leaves through the window again... What is deeply disturbing about this footage, sir, is that Mr. ShinRa himself told me that this woman is a dangerous threat to the Planet itself. Why he wouldn’t tell anyone that she came to visit him, I do not know... But I believe I have good reason to come to you with this. Perhaps after reading some of the files on her, you will share my concern.”
The chief shut off the video and turned to Tseng. His eyes looked deeply troubled. “You really believe that Sephiroth may live again if she remains at large?”
Tseng nodded. “I do. And President ShinRa clearly cannot be trusted.”
Wolfram sighed deeply before locking eyes with him. “Well then... let’s get started, Mr. Tseng.”
Sitting up, her heart began to pound furiously. Her eyes began to dart around the room, a feeling of terror bursting through her without warning. She lunged from the couch towards Vincent, her eyes wide with fear; immediately, she knew.
“Vincent! Wake up!!”
As soon as Mataea watched his crimson eyes shoot open, there was an incredible crash from the hallway beyond. There were men screaming, shouting; she could hear the violence in their voices, an eagerness to find their prey.
Before she could react, she felt Vincent grab her arm and yank her into the den. She crouched down next to a cabinet and he locked eyes with her.
“Stay here,” he whispered sharply, pulling a triple-barrelled handgun from his cloak.
Mataea opened her mouth to protest and reached out to grab him, but then he was gone, back into the living room. Instantaneously, gunfire erupted behind the wall, and the shouting of the men became ear-piercingly loud. Her eyes nearly burst from her head as she sat there, frozen, the darkness enclosing her. She had to do something! She had to help Vincent!
Without thinking, she rose to her feet and charged for the door. As she reached the doorway, a solid body came crashing into her, bulldozing her body to the ground. Feeling around the wooden floor in the blackness, Mataea was blinded when a bright white light lit up the floor before her. Before she could stand up, a crushing metallic object smashed her in the back of the head.
She collapsed immediately, landing on her back. The gunfire was still raging in the next room. Above her, she could see the blurry outline of a man in a dark uniform, a smooth helmet covering his head and face. He leaned down next to her and shined the light in her face.
“Code 9,” she heard him say beneath his helmet. “I’ve got her.”
Suddenly, Mataea’s left arm lunged for the man before her. She grabbed his arm and squeezed as hard as she could. Her other arm shot upwards and grabbed the side of his helmet. With one swift motion, she pulled herself up using his weight, and then sent him flying into the wall directly across from her with a powerful push. She was on her feet.
“I need backup!” came the man’s shouts from across the room. “She’s on the move!”
Mataea saw his gun before her on the floor. She grabbed it swiftly and lurched forward into the next room. Her eyesight was clear now, her body on edge.
As she ran into the room, a ShinRa soldier turned to face her. She took aim at his shoulder blade, and fired as if she had done it a thousand times. At that same instant, there was a flash in front of her, and the deafening crack of a gun next to her head.
Falling to the floor, Mataea felt a rush of stinging hotness shoot through her skull. Her eyes compressed tightly, her mouth widened with anguish. The firing around her went silent, and all she could hear was her own blood-curdling scream. She collapsed to the floor, still screaming, her body weakening exponentially. Tears flooded her eyes and began to drain down her cheeks. Her mind was racing with memories of ShinRa, Rufus, Sephiroth... but she couldn’t concentrate; the stinging pain was engulfing her brain, and all she could do was scream until her vocal chords burned.
“Mataea! Mataea!!”
Who was calling for her?
Suddenly, she felt her body being rocked; it felt like someone was sitting her up and shaking her by the shoulders.
“Wake up!”
Unable to comprehend what was happening, Mataea tried to open her eyes. The pain felt like it was weakening for some reason. She heard the voice echoing in her mind as her body was still being shaken.
“Mataea!!”
Without warning, her eyes shot open with ease.
It took a few moments for her to realize where she was. Vincent was kneeling before her, his expression more worried than she’d ever seen it. Around her was complete silence, no chaos or gunfire. She was back on the couch, sitting completely upright, her body cold with sweat. She felt Vincen’t leathery gloves holding her by the shoulders. Her breathing was heavy and her body was shaking without any sign of stopping.
“My god, Mataea, are you all right?” he said. Some of the strain in his hands was released.
Mataea blinked, trying to focus her vision on him. “I...” But she couldn’t speak; after experiencing such a terrible, real nightmare, she could not simply dismiss it. It was so absolute... she felt like it had actually happened. The stinging in her head was gone, but it still throbbed.
“You were having a nightmare,” Vincent said assuredly. “Are you all right?” he asked again.
Mataea watched him unbuckle one of his black gloves from his hand. “Yes,” she finally managed to say. She saw him pull his strong hand from his glove and place it on her forehead; his palm felt like ice.
He didn’t seem pleased. Without saying anything, he stood up and strode into the kitchen. She sat still, watching for him to return. She had had nightmares like this before, but not this intense. Only the ones that felt real ever came true, but this one was unlike anything she’d had before; she rubbed her head where the stinging had shot through her like a needle, feeling for a bullet hole. She found nothing, but her head began to ache dully.
Vincent came back and crouched next to her. “Here.”
Mataea closed her eyes as he placed a frigid, damp cloth against her forehead. The coldness stung at first, but she became used to it quickly, her tense body finally beginning to relax. She still could not get those images out of her head. It was going to happen.
Opening her eyes, she saw Vincent watching her carefully. “ShinRa’s going to find me,” she said, realizing the truth of what she was saying.
He blinked with uncertainty before looking at her seriously. “Is that, what happened..?”
“Yes,” she said, almost feeling like she was going to cry. “They stormed through the door...” Mataea looked towards the hallway. “They came in, and we ran into the den... Then, you ran out and started shooting with your gun.” Mataea leaned forward and brushed his cape aside, not surprised to see the same triple-barrelled gun at his side.
Vincent watched her warily as she stared at his gun; he was starting to realize that this was serious. “What happened next?” he asked sternly, still holding the cloth against her head.
“I sat in the den for a bit, but then I couldn’t take it any longer... I ran into the doorway, but I crashed into a ShinRa soldier. He hit me on the head with his gun... and I fell.” Mataea paused, remembering the sheer amount of power that she’d felt at that moment. “I grabbed him by his helmet, and somehow I managed to shove him off of me... I stood up, grabbed his gun, and then... I got shot... I felt the pain, it was... so real... I started screaming, and fell to the floor again... Then I woke up,” she said in relief.
Vincent was silent for a moment. “... You think that it’s going to happen?” he said uneasily.
Mataea breathed deeply. “No... Not like that, at least.” She looked up at him. “Sometimes I have nightmares like that, and they warn about the future, but since I become aware of what may come... I can change what happens.”
“So you’re saying that if you stay here...”
“Yes... ShinRa will kill me.” She sighed deeply. “But, if I leave, they won’t,” she said, taking Vincent’s hand and removing the cloth from her head. “That nightmare felt so real... I think that means... it will happen soon; not tonight, but within the next couple days.”
Vincent folded the cloth in his hands. “Then we need to leave.”
Mataea nodded. “Yes... but the only trouble is, this has been my home for nearly two years now...” She glanced around the room, looking saddened. “I have nowhere else to go from here.”
“You can come with me. I have a house here in the city,” he said without hesitation. “You would be safe there.”
She swallowed her guilt; what other choice did she have? She did not want to burden Vincent, but she had no other place to go. It was hard for her to understand why he was being so selfless, but she could not ignore the security she felt with him around. She looked up at him again.
“You realize that if they find me... your head will be on the chopping block too.”
Vincent shifted his weight, still kneeling in front of her. “I know, but I have no doubt that what you saw would happen if you stayed here; ShinRa is ruthless. You cannot stay here.”
Mataea sighed, looking over at the large living room window. It was almost morning, and the sky was starting to lighten. Her head still throbbed slightly, but the pain was mostly gone. She’d never felt such tremendous pain before in a nightmare, and it had never, ever transferred into reality once she’d awoken; this time it had been different, and that had to be significant. Someone, or something, was trying to warn her; she wondered if it was the Jenova cells somehow protecting her, as evil as they had proven to be. Or was it something else... something good?
She finally turned to Vincent, her eyes meeting with his stark red orbs. More than anything she wished to run away, leave him, and never see him again, so that he wouldn’t need to worry about her, or getting himself killed for that matter; however, at the same time, she felt a desire to be with him at every moment. He had found her in Nibelheim, and had accompanied her all the way to the Gold Saucer; he had seen her wings, and he was the first person she had told about her past entirely. She’d only known him for a few weeks, but already she felt like she could trust him with her life... She wasn’t sure what to make of it; only once before had she ever felt this way... with Reno, all those years ago...
“Well?” came his voice, intruding on her memories.
Mataea blinked back to reality; she was still staring at him. She cast her eyes downwards immediately, embarrassed and guilty. “... I will never be able to thank you,” she stuttered.
Vincent stood, taking her reply as a yes. “Gather your important things. We should leave as soon as you’re ready.”
He suddenly looked downward, taking a cell phone from a pocket beneath his cloak. He flipped it open and read something off the screen, before quickly shutting it and placing it on the end table beside the couch. “Cloud’s being pretty persistent. I never should have bought that damn phone in the first place,” he muttered beneath his breath.
__________________________________
Cloud reluctantly closed his phone, sighing. Vincent wasn’t answering any of his calls or messages, and it was starting to bother him. He knew that he’d never liked his phone to begin with, but he wasn’t the type to ignore him either.
7th Heaven was empty that morning; Tifa was down at the bar cleaning up from last night, and Marlene and Denzel were at a friend’s house for the day. Cloud sat alone in the office upstairs, trying endlessly to call Vincent. Tifa was starting to get suspicious; he knew he would have to tell her about Rufus’s plan to find SOLDIER-02 eventually, but he didn’t want to just yet... He didn’t want her to worry.
He flipped through his menu again, chose Cid, and pressed Call. He pressed the speaker up to his ear.
It didn’t take long for an answer to come. “Who the hell is this?! I’m busy, damnit!”
"Cid, it’s Cloud... Don’t you have caller ID?”
“Caller what-now? Come on pal, don’t get cheeky with me! ... But all right, seriously, I’m a bit busy right now; I’m just tryin’ ta work out the kinks on one of my airships, and Shera’s been ridin’ my ass as usual, and not in a good way- Anyway, what do ya need, pal?”
Cloud didn’t feel any better about calling him now, but he figured he should just get it over with. He kicked his feet up onto the top of the desk. “Rufus ShinRa’s got a mission for us. There’s a new threat to the planet: her name is SOLDIER-02. Rufus says she’s working to resurrect Sephiroth. He wants to know if you’re in or not.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
“Let me get this straight... You want me to work for that bastard Rufus again?! And he’s after some girl?! Yeah, right, it sounds like a load of CRAP to me! Count me out!”
Cloud knew this wasn’t going to end well, but if anyone was going to convince Cid, it would have to be him. “I know how it sounds, Cid, but this girl... She’s apparently more powerful than Sephiroth.”
“BAHAHA! OH YEAH! GOOD ONE!” Cid screamed hysterically, laughing to himself for another few seconds. “Sheesh, Cloud, when did you become so damn funny?!”
Cloud sighed to himself; that didn’t go as planned.
“All right, all right,” Cid said, calming himself down. “Listen kid, I know that you’re tryin’ to be serious here, but I just can’t work for that bastard anymore. I’m workin’ for the WRO now; that’s keepin’ me busy enough, and if I started workin’ on ShinRa’s side again... well, that would be interestin’ now wouldn’t it? ‘Cause half the time the WRO’s cleanin’ up a mess that ShinRa made!”
“Yeah, I guess that would be interesting. I understand.”
“Yeah, but give Barret a call, see what he says. He might be down for it. Then again, I doubt it.”
“Thanks Cid,” said Cloud, trying not to cover up the sarcasm.
“No problemo, Cloud my boy. Now you take care now with your ShinRa business, Shera’s a-callin’. HEY, we should get together sometime! I’ll be in Edge next week! We’ll have some tea before my schedule fills up too bad!”
“Sounds good.”
“All right! See ya, delivery boy!”
Cloud hung up the phone in a hurry. He wasn’t surprised with Cid’s reaction.
He placed his phone down on the desk and glanced out the nearby window. It was hard for him to believe that something like this was starting up again, but he would do whatever he could to stop it, whether he was on Rufus’ side or not. As long as SOLDIER-02 was threatening the Planet, he would fight to stop her.
Cloud opened one of the desk drawers in front of him and took out the photo that Rufus had given him: a mug shot of SOLDIER-02, or ‘Mataea Linnaeus,’ her real name. As he looked down at the photo, he couldn’t help but question this entire investigation; the girl looked totally normal, kind even; he almost couldn’t imagine hunting her down. But then he remembered how he had looked up to Sephiroth when he was younger, how he had dreamed to be a SOLDIER like him... If anyone knew that looks could be deceiving, it was him. She just looked so innocent, it was hard for him to grasp; in a way, she even reminded him of... Aerith.
“Cloud?” came a soft voice from the doorway.
He shoved the photo back into the drawer and looked up, seeing Tifa eying him suspiciously. “Yeah?”
“Cloud... Is there something you want to tell me?” she asked sincerely, stepping into the room. Her deep brown eyes were somewhat sad.
“Tifa... Please, don’t ask me that.” His eyes looked away.
“So there is something... You’ve been acting so distant lately...” Tifa crossed her arms, standing in front of him. “Please, Cloud, you promised you would tell me when something was wrong.”
Cloud looked up at her calmly. “Tifa... I need you to give me a few days, please.”
She didn’t look pleased, and was silent for a long time as she stared at the wall. “Fine,” she finally said. “I understand... as unhappy as I am about it.” She forced a smile, looking into his oceanic eyes. “But promise me that you will tell me when you can?”
“I promise,” he said, looking back at her.
She smiled again, turned swiftly on the ball of her foot, and left to go back downstairs.
Cloud sighed a breath of relief and picked up his phone. He was happy to have such a close friend like Tifa; ever since Geostigma had been cured a year ago, she’d been more understanding. Looking down at his phone, he chose Vincent once again before pressing Call.
__________________________________
Tseng approached the colossal grey building in the middle of the city’s heart. On the front of the building was ‘EDGE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT’ written in giant capital letters. He stepped inside casually, a large briefcase in his hand.
After the receptionist had eagerly let him through with a flash of his ShinRa badge, Tseng made his way to the head of the department’s office, Chief of Police Blare Wolfram. He was let inside within seconds, and had a seat in front of the chief’s desk.
Wolfram was a rather tall burly man, with jet black hair and a face pricked with stubble. He wore an impressive black jacket and tie, with several badges and stripes lining his arms and chest.
“Welcome,” he said in a gruff voice, shaking Tseng’s hand. He was surprised by how cold it was. “I... understand you are here on behalf of Mr. ShinRa?” he said, caught slightly off guard.
“Sir,” Tseng said sternly, taking a seat. “I am afraid that I have strong evidence against President ShinRa that he may be at work with an extremely dangerous fugitive. This is... very difficult for me, but I understand that it is my duty to do what is right.” He frowned deeply.
Wolfram crossed his arms and leaned back in his luxurious chair. “Please, go on. Who is this fugitive?”
Tseng blinked and took a deep breath. “Her name is Mataea Linnaeus, also known as SOLDIER-02.” He took a photo of her from his pocket and slid it across the desk. “She was a ShinRa experiment many years ago, and we have reason to believe that she is planning on... bringing a very dangerous man back to life.” Tseng watched the chief pick up the photo and examine it closely. “Sir, it is important to ignore her seemingly innocent appearance. This photo was taken many years ago, but we expect that she looks similar to this now.”
Wolfram set down the picture slowly and looked across the desk at Tseng. “... And who is this ‘dangerous man’ that she is going to ‘bring back to life’?” he said suspiciously.
Tseng stopped himself from glaring at the doubtful chief. “Sephiroth.”
Studying Tseng for a moment, Wolfram was unsure of what to think. Deep in thought, he brought a worn hand up to his face and rubbed his rough chin. For some reason he doubted that Tseng was kidding around.
“I’m gonna need all of the information... on the girl, Sephiroth... everything,” he finally said, looking back at Tseng who was watching him carefully.
Tseng placed the briefcase on the desk in front of him. “I have absolutely everything you will need: case files, experiment data, detailed information on the Lifestream... all of it.” He took a breath, eying the chief seriously. “We are not entirely sure how she is planning on resurrecting him, but as past events have shown... it is indeed possible.”
Wolfram seemed less sceptical than before as he stared at the briefcase before him. He crossed her arms sternly. “Before I take a look at that... I’d like to see the evidence you have against Rufus ShinRa.”
Tseng reached into his pocket and place a single CD atop the briefcase.
“A video?” Wolfram asked, taking the disk.
He nodded, smiling a bit. “It’s incredible to witness it, especially once you know of what SOLDIER-02 is capable of...”
Now ridiculously curious, Wolfram stood from his chair. Slowly, he walked to the television against the wall on a shelf, and slide the disk into the player. He flicked on the screen and pushed Play before taking a seat on top of his desk.
Tseng could not contain himself as the image came to life on the screen. Rufus’ room was completely dark, but the large windows on the wall let in enough light, just enough to see...
Wolfram almost stopped breathing. There, on the screen before him, was a person... a person with wings: massive, greenish wings. They were flying, hovering just outside of the window. Before he knew what he was seeing, the person opened one of the large pieces of glass outwards and stepped inside. He could now see that it was the woman in the picture Tseng has shown him.
“Remarkable...” he whispered, his eyes wide with uncertainty.
The two watched the screen as Mataea stopped in the moonlight, staring straight ahead. Within a few seconds, a man stepped into view on the left, closer to the camera. The camera did not show his face, but it had to be Rufus ShinRa; it was in his private room, and his light blond hair was instantly recognizable. The two began to argue, but there was no sound.
“There’s no audio?” Wolfram asked over his shoulder.
“No.” Tseng was ready to answer this question. “I’m a bit distressed to say that I put the camera there without Mr. ShinRa’s knowledge. I am the only other person who knows the pass code to his room... In the middle of setting it up, I received an important call from one of the other Turks. I had to leave, and I didn’t manage to get back to finish. This was taken only two nights ago; if I’d had more time, I would have been able to... but I didn’t expect this so soon.”
Wolfram didn’t seem to question him as his eyes continued to watch the argument.
“The two continue to argue for a few minutes; SOLDIER-02 eventually leaves through the window again... What is deeply disturbing about this footage, sir, is that Mr. ShinRa himself told me that this woman is a dangerous threat to the Planet itself. Why he wouldn’t tell anyone that she came to visit him, I do not know... But I believe I have good reason to come to you with this. Perhaps after reading some of the files on her, you will share my concern.”
The chief shut off the video and turned to Tseng. His eyes looked deeply troubled. “You really believe that Sephiroth may live again if she remains at large?”
Tseng nodded. “I do. And President ShinRa clearly cannot be trusted.”
Wolfram sighed deeply before locking eyes with him. “Well then... let’s get started, Mr. Tseng.”
Chapter Notes
[ Discuss Chapter 14 on the forum here. ]
