When Cloud picked up his PHS, Reeve told him that he would go inside the Temple of the Ancients and sacrifice himself, so the party could retrieve the Black Materia. Cloud was taken aback, needless to say, but after some convincing, he agreed to the plan.
       Eager to do something right for the first time since joining Cloud and his friends, Reeve walked toward the Temple doors. He stopped. Something was wrong.
       What am I doing here? Where is Cait Sith?
       He took a deep breath. This was no time for him to turn back on a promise, even one that left butterflies in the pit of his stomach. He opened the doors. Before him stood Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa; the young man still wore a suspicious glare, but Tifa's head was bowed, and Aeris' eyes were misting over. Reeve walked past them, trying to avoid the emotional scene.
       "Get out of here, you guys."
       "Hey Cait," Cloud called. "You going to be all right?"
       "Yeah. Don't worry about me. I want to do this."
       As he heard the others' footsteps reluctantly retreat, Reeve stopped and wiped his jacket sleeve across his face. Whether it was tears or sweat that he was compelled to wipe away he couldn't be certain. He took another deep breath and continued on to the Temple's altar room. As he stood before the small black hologram hovering above the altar, he murmured, "Just… don't forget me…"

       "…Don't forget me… even if another Cait Sith comes along."

*****

       Welcome to the Electronic Field Agent system
       Brought to you by the BlueJay Nexus

       Connecting to Nexus.............. .... ........ link made.

       2 items uploaded

       BLUE SHINRA INVADES WUTAI: We left, but were never really gone. As we watched and waited, conflict arose, and we felt compelled to return. Yesterday, Reeve and his Blue Shinra forces pulled a surprise attack on Wutai village; Nexus agents have a theory as to Reeve's motives, but do not wish to announce it at this time. Blue Shinra was hampered by the efforts of Wutai's ninja, as well as Sephiroth, who had been vacationing on the island. In response to Blue Shinra's surprise attack, the BlueJay Nexus quietly declared war on Blue Shinra. Our agents were on the scene as soon as possible, but not before Reeve assassinated Lord Godo. Not long after, Reeve was shot to death by one of our top damage-control specialists. Blue Shinra forces retreated once they got word of their leader's demise. The political situation remains a shaky one. Wutai and Blue Shinra's alliance has been shattered, and Blue Shinra is leaderless; as Reeve's unofficial second-in-command, Reno, would have become the company's new President, but he was reported missing during the attack on Wutai and is currently believed to be dead. At the moment, either Elena or Baker is favored for the Blue Shinra Presidency. In Wutai, Godo Kisaragi's heir, Yuffie, has taken her father's place.
       VINCENT SIGHTING: Some of our agents in Rocket Town have spotted a tall man in a dark Turk suit who bears a striking resemblance to Vincent Valentine, who was the only member of the Highwind's crew who hasn't officially been found. The man's actual identity has not yet been confirmed. Our agents are investigating this matter further.

       In the captain's chair of the airship BlueWing, a tall man with straight blue hair and a lean face was going over the message he had just posted to the EFA. BlueJay nodded to himself; the update was satisfactory. From behind him, the bridge doors opened, and another man walked in. It was his brother Robin, who, aside from the slightly different hairstyle and the scars under his eyes, was the spitting image of his older sibling. BlueJay and Robin exchanged thin, exhausted smiles before the latter turned to the ship's navigator.
       "Set a course for headquarters. It's been a long day."
       The navigator nodded and calculated the coordinates. Soon, the airship turned and accelerated, leaving a blue streak splayed across the sky.

*****

       Vincent shielded his eyes from the sun with the back of his hand. It was a bright, sunny morning, and here in the Forgotten City, the air was crisp and cool. He looked back at his companions; Zack's expression was calm, Tseng's stoic, and Cloud's determined. Vincent himself was ponderous; constantly replaying in his mind last night's argument with Tseng. What the Wutaiese Turk had to say was a bit of a shock, but in retrospect, they were the very words that Vincent had desperately needed to hear if he was to have the strength to carry out today's mission.
       "I never thought that all those crazy dreams I've been having would lead me here," Zack murmured as he gazed over the landscape of shells and coral.
       "Where else would they lead us?" Tseng said. "By the way, did anyone dream of anything last night?"
       "I did," Cloud replied. "I dreamed that Reeve died retrieving the Black Materia at the Temple of the Ancients."
       "You mean Cait Sith, right?" Zack said.
       "No, he means Reeve," Vincent cut in, a cryptic glint in his eyes. "Someone else had that dream recently as well… it was to be his last dream…"
       The four men were silent for a moment. Finally, Vincent adjusted his red cloak and started down the path. The three in the white cloaks looked at Vincent, then at each other, before following him.

       Soon, they were inside of the central Citadel, before a deep pool. Cloud lowered his head and walked toward the water. Zack called after him, "Hey Cloud, where're you--" but was halted by Vincent, who turned to watch Cloud by the lake. Tseng and Zack followed his lead, and were stunned by what they saw.
       Cloud held his foot over the lake's surface and brought it down, but there was no splash. Instead, the foot came to rest on the surface, small ripples radiating out from the point of impact. Cloud lifted his other foot and repeated the procedure. Again, and again he stepped across the surface, until he was standing in the middle of the lake. He drew his hood back and held his hands out to his companions. His Mako-tinted corneas seemed to glow a faint white.
       Zack pushed Vincent aside and walked out to meet Cloud, then Tseng did. The three men stood in a circle, hoods removed, as they joined hands. Vincent closed his eyes and murmured, "Darling, you know I don't want to see you go, but I have been called to a greater purpose… she has made me the harbinger of her finest hour, and I must not fail her.
       "Goodbye, Lucrecia. Despite whatever feelings you may have for me, I'll always love you."
       He walked toward the lake, taking off his cloak, jacket, tie, and shirt as he did so. His left arm was still purple, and becoming more deformed by the moment; in the meantime, two massive, symmetrical bulges formed in his back, finally emerging as black wings. At the edge of the lake, he slipped off his shoes and socks and stepped into the water. The surface tension broke on his touch, and he waded deep into the lake, until he was completely covered up.
       The three men left on the lake's surface stood silent, all deep in a meditative trance. The still waters shone with a white light, and they could all hear her voice, giggling, teasing, her tongue and lips dancing over words like the bells in a church flit over notes. They squeezed each other's hands tighter as they felt their magic, stirred up by the Mako their bodies had been poisoned with, well up inside of them and overflow into the waters beneath their feet. They were two knights and a samurai, but at this moment their love for her transformed them into white mages, healers of the most powerful order. Not once did it occur to them that ordinarily, they'd be competing for her affections; they were only focused on the one thing their hearts yearned for. For the moment, they were brothers of mind and spirit, bound by the memory of her lively presence.
       Their trance was broken when they heard a splash and a gasp come from the edge of the lake. Cloud, Zack, and Tseng turned their heads in the direction of the sound. Sitting at the lake's edge was Vincent, his wings gone, and his left arm looking as ordinary as his right. Small strands of gray broke the uniformity of his black hair, but his irises were a churning storm of red and light brown, each color fighting against the other for dominance. He unclenched his left fist, revealing a small white sphere sitting in his palm; it was glowing a faint green. He set the sphere before the figure in the pink dress that was lying next to him.
       Her lips moved as she drew a breath.
       The green glow emanating from the white sphere grew tremendously bright.

*****

       Nanaki's eye never stopped roving as he strolled through the remains of Nibelheim. Ever since the Lifestream rose up again five years ago, the very day after Blue Shinra's attack on Wutai, the world had become a lonely place. There weren't many people left, and many of the Planet's towns had become ruins; Nibelheim was just another victim of the Planet's purge.
       After he had toured the town square, he came before the Shinra Mansion. Last year's fierce summer storm had torn most of the building's roof off, and vines had practically taken over the walls. Nanaki nudged the rusted fence open with his snout and walked through the garden. He jumped through a broken window into the Mansion's massive ballroom. The grand piano was still there, as were a few couches and armchairs. On the window bench, a black nightstick lay next to a manila folder marked "Expense Reports- Nibel Reactor Conversion". On the closed lid of the piano, there was a cracked highball glass and a small stack of photographs. Nanaki leaped on top of the instrument to get a better look at the photos.
       The first one was of Sephiroth and Cloud in tuxedos. Even though he wasn't present, Nanaki recognized the image as one taken at the formal party held to celebrate Shinra and Blue Shinra's partnership in rebuilding the Gold Saucer. He spread the other photos across the piano's lid, finding that they were also from that party-- Yuffie and Reno mugging for the camera, President Shinra and Lord Godo engaging in pleasant conversation, Cloud sitting at the piano with Marlene, Reeve dancing with Elena. Nanaki shook his head sadly. Most of the people in these pictures were gone now.
       Nanaki left the ballroom and wandered through the other rooms, soon finding himself at the top of the stairwell that led to the basement. Using the flame at the end of his tail as a guiding light, he carefully descended the wooden stairs, surprised to see that most of them had neither splintered nor rotted away. Finally he reached the bottom of the steps. The corridor ahead of him was pitch dark, but in one corner, Nanaki made out a large round shape. He walked toward it slowly, his steps quickening once he realized what it was.
       It was Cait Sith.
       Nanaki smiled. The old device was completely covered with dust and cobwebs, but was otherwise perfectly preserved. On the cat's face, his usual friendly smile was plastered, as though even death could not prevent his happiness. Nanaki bowed his head and rubbed up against the Moogle's large belly as tears began to stream down his face. All of these objects, all of these memories… it was all far too overwhelming.
       As he pressed harder against the Moogle, one of its arms shifted with Nanaki's weight, dislodging a slip of paper from its thumb and forefinger. Curious, Nanaki flipped it over and read the message it contained, neatly printed in familiar handwriting:
       "You will find her there."

The End

---

Completed January 2003 | Copyright 2003, The Blue Shinra Project.

A big and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who stuck with me through this project, especially Cyrus Dogstar (editor #1), Darwin Delantri (editor #2), Ambigore and ChibiTaryn at the FF7 Citadel, the original Post-Meteor roleplayers, and YOU, the reader! I hope you all enjoyed reading Blue Shinra as much as I enjoyed writing/compiling it ^_^

< Previous Chapter