Child of the Mountain

Chapter 03 – Fairy Tale

         Zack blinked.

         Someone had brought a round little table, a few chairs and some tea(?!), and now he found himself sitting with Cait on his lap, while Aeris sipped tea and the old man smiled fondly at her.

         Aeris sat the cup back on its saucer and turned to Zack. “Now that we’re here, where do we begin?”

         The question took Zack by surprise, and he almost stammered. Almost. “Well, I don’t know, at the very beginning? Or maybe, at why you specifically involved me?”

         “She was talking to me,” piped Cait, from his lap.

         “So that means I don’t have a say,” said Zack, not even surprised by Cait anymore.

         “You’ll know in time,” said Cait, now using his ‘I’m not just a hyper plush toy’ tone.

         Zack had a hard time keeping himself from tossing the cat into mako.

         “We know that this area’s Holy Maiden was taken by Shin-ra,” Cait turned to the man, shrugging Zack off with feline indifference, “but maybe you, who witnessed the whole thing, could explain it better to these two. Also, your knowledge of the Fountains would be welcomed. Aeris here is a Holy Maiden, but not yet baptized, so her knowledge is sadly limited…”

         The old man nodded. “I’ll just start at the beginning, then,” he said, smiling to Zack. “My mother was this mountain’s Holy Maiden, so I got to learn many things about the maidens and the fountains from her.”

         He sipped from his tea, then settled back in his chair in that special way old people did when they were about to start a long, long story. “It’s widely known that the lifestream contains the knowledge and memory of the people who have died… but what most people don’t know is that the planet has memory and will of its own. And there are seven mountains around the world that serve as outposts of our planet’s will.”

         “These mountains receive the thoughts and knowledge of not only the dead, but the living people who dwell on their designated area, and from them choose someone who will receive the knowledge of the planet to protect their area from human harm. Humans are better equipped to fight other humans; and a holy maiden can feel the suffering of their area of the planet and those who live upon it, and can act in a way that will harmonize the wishes of both parties. These holy maidens are usually pious, understanding and merciful, and hold great power.”

         “How the Holy Maidens are chosen falls to each mountain’s will. It’s not abnormal that some may belong to the same line; however, it’s known that the prospect’s character and behavior are heavy on the final decision. They are usually chosen when their personalities and character have settled. This may happen when they are as young as toddlers, or as old as adults, but as long as this child has proven to have integrity and strength of character, not to other people, but to the mountain, then they are called by their respective mother Mountain to take the baptism. Before the baptism, the prospective maiden may already be able to connect to the planet and access some powers, but it’s only by taking the baptism that the maiden’s full potential is reached.”

         He sighed, shifting on his chair and sipping more of his tea, while Zack sipped some of his and wondered if it’d make him trip like that. He felt like he really needed some tripping. That stuff was totally trippy, like acid-trip trippy, and yet he had all the proof he needed right there – Aeris – and after seeing the majestic basin sitting a few feet away, he’d be hard-pressed to scoff at it.

         Well, those were the answers he’d been wanting, weren’t they? He quickly set his own cup down when the old man was done washing his throat.

         “The baptism…” he started, “the maiden must go to the fountain, touch the crystal, drink from the holy water and pray. After that, all the power and knowledge of the area they live in are at their service. That’s why the maidens are so carefully chosen, and…” he fisted his hands, “why having one in the hands of monsters such as Shin-ra is nothing short of a sacrilege…”

         “Shin-ra intends to find a way to control the Maiden or extract her powers,” said Cait. “And they intend to find more of her, either in case she can’t resist the experimenting or… in case the experimenting is a success.”

         “The Maidens can connect to each other once they have a certain amount of power,” continued the old man, who then turned to Aeris. “I… can only hope Priscilla warned you of the danger you were in.”

         Aeris nodded slowly. “Yes… though I can’t connect back to her. I haven’t been baptized, my mountain’s not anywhere around here.”

         “You don’t know its location?”

         Aeris just shook her head slowly. “I know I come from the north, and I had already been chosen the maiden by the time I was seven… however, I was kept from reaching the fountain and had to be moved away for my own safety. Then my mother died and I was adopted by a kind woman called Elmyra, who had a Maiden grandmother. It seems those related to Maidens inherit acute sensibilities and intuition… she immediately knew what I was, and protected me,” she shook her head again, and sighed.

         “The planet is weak around Midgar… Shin-ra has sucked too much power from it. It’s possible Priscilla’s voice only reached me, who was physically closer. Her voice has been quiet as of late, as well,” she looked around. “You seem to be trying to unobstruct the lifestream flow in the mountain, but I think the reactor has caused enough damage. This whole continent is weakened.”

         The old man chewed on his tongue, thoughtfully, while Zack drank more of his tea, feeling once again like his brain was being smacked by beer bottles. He decided to listen quietly for now and make sense of the information later, like he usually did in tactics meetings.

         “Isn’t there anything that can be done for Priscilla, then?” the man asked softly, looking down to his own hands.

         “I have contacts in Shin-ra,” said Cait. “But there’s only so much they can do. Priscilla caused a great deal of damage to the company, and the brass wants payback. They won’t listen to reason, and we can’t risk exposition or all our work will be lost,” the cat shook its head sadly. “Because of that, our plan is to warn however many maidens as possible, or at least find out whether they are awake or not and protect them if needed. My contacts have a long term plan to help Priscilla, but unfortunately I can’t give details.”

         The old man nodded, but his hardened eyes belayed the fact that he wasn’t satisfied with the excuses. Cait touched the man’s fist softly, giving a sad little smile – or maybe that was just the plush’s expression.

         “I’m sorry we can’t do much more for your granddaughter… but let me assure you that we’re doing what she asked us to do. We’re going to protect the other maidens from Shin-ra, and wake up those chosen who haven’t been called to baptism yet.”

         He motioned to Aeris. “That’s why she’s here. With her senses, she can find those equal to her and help them. And, if on our way, we find her Mother Mountain, so much the better. Don’t you know that the Maidens can do miracles? Didn’t you see your own granddaughter make wonders? Despite the weakened state of this continent, she fought off and protected this place from an army, and even without her presence the protection lingers strong and brings you safety. Trust her judgement.”

         Aeris nodded to that, and Zack followed suit even though he still wasn’t sure he knew what was going on. So this Priscilla girl had managed to fight off Shin-ra’s army? He wondered if the SOLDIERs would have been called to fight her, had she not been captured eventually. He tried to picture himself fighting a girl like Aeris.

         It felt silly.

         “Rest here for now,” said the old man, interrupting Zack’s thoughts. “We’ll provide supplies for your travel. It’s the least I can do…”

         Aeris turned to Zack. “Are you feeling any tired?” Zack shook his head, and she turned to the old man. “I thank you for the offer, but we should hurry. We met Turks on the way here, and I’m sure they know we’re headed for Junon by now. It’s the only way out of this continent.”

         The old man nodded, standing from his chair. “Take the supplies, then. You’ll need them, believe me.”

         “I’m sure they’ll be helpful,” Zack butted in, wanting to have a say in something, and fearing Aeris would refuse. He still cringed a little at how fake it sounded in his own ears.

         He glanced at the girl. Aeris had nodded to his words, but, when the old man walked away, she glanced at him with wounded eyes, quickly averting her gaze when she noticed his own.

         He felt like a bastard. Yes, sure, his life sucked right now, but he could at least defend himself. From what he understood, Aeris didn’t have powers, but half-powers, and it was worse than having none at all; they were all but useless, and a big bull’s eye on her ass at the same time. They interfered with her personal life, put mega conglomerates on her trail and apparently allowed other people to talk in her head. It must suck to be her.

         But he couldn’t get over the fact that it sucked to be him.

         I hope life also sucks for the damn cat, he thought to himself, but a glance at Cait’s smiley cat face dashed his hopes. Life as a plush cat did seem fine and dandy, and if danger loomed ahead he could just play dead and someone would think he was a dropped toy. Standing up from his chair along with Aeris, they followed the old man as he gave orders and made preparations, chewing on his tongue as he tried to think of a nice way to put his thoughts in words. He really had to talk to the girl, put the crux of the matter out in the clean, at least the one that related to him.

         He still didn’t know where he fit in the whole thing, after all.

         Leaving the apologies and thanks to Aeris, he retreated back into the closest he had to a sulky shell and followed her in silence as they stepped out of the fortress and into the night. The sky was clean and starry, the new moon barely shading any light. The mountain was dark.

         The grass made crunchy, loud noises under their feet, and they grated on Zack’s nerves at first; after a while, though, they started to bring back memories of crunching through wheat in Gongaga, usually carrying a basket on his back in which his father dumped the newly-cut stalls. The memory seemed intensely colorful in his mind, like an over-exposed picture, and he couldn’t help wondering – was his father still cutting wheat for a living? Who was helping him now? Who was the poor soul condemned to carry that heavy basket and hear him go on and on about how they didn’t have the handy electric cutter back in the day, and used scythes instead? Scythes sounded mighty cool, he always thought. They probably had a darn long reach.

         Damn, he wanted a scythe now. Maybe he could find a black cape somewhere and scare the poor souls in Junon, posing as Death… he made a mental note to find the necessary stuff till the next Halloween. Now what was it he had been thinking at first? Something he had to ask Aeris… oh, wait. Yeah, that.

         “Hey,” he called, and Aeris paused in her step, Cait dangling from her backpack as she turned. “Um, I wanted to know something…”

         She nodded, hesitantly, and his mouth suddenly felt like it was full of dust.

         “Uh, well, the geezer said… that Maidens can do some awesome stuff, even if they’re not, uh, haven’t been, well, baptized.”

         He felt horribly corny as he used those terms, like he was starring in a B-rated fantasy movie, but she just nodded for him to go on.

         “Well, I, I wanted to know… did – did you do something to me?” he squeaked, trying to get it out of his lips before he chickened out, and at her honestly stupefied look, he just felt like an idiot, like it was stupid to even come up with that in the first place, but…

         How – how could he trust what was going through his own mind? He was dealing with a girl full of them weird powers, wasn’t he?

         She was chucking now, an uneasy, but just slightly relieved chuckle, and he wanted to pull his hair off as he tried to elaborate. “I’m serious here! You have them weird powers, you kept the Zolom away, and you knew all that stuff about me, you roped me in this, and, and I…” he flailed his arm helplessly. “I should be pissed off, shouldn’t I? If anyone else had pulled me out of my life to go on a wild goose chase around the world after a bunch of girls that may or may not exist, I’d, I’d… go back home! Maybe drag you back to Shin-ra by your hair.”

         She was still chuckling, and he just felt sort of desperate. “You really did it, didn’t you? You did some mind-bendy mojo on me to make me follow you…” his voice cracked, and he fought off the urge to crouch down on the grass and sob, but she was shaking her head, and he felt a little hopeful, though what if she was lying? But he was calming down against his firm decision to get pissed off at her.

         She pressed her lips together, trying to control her laughter, and raised a hand in a calming motion. “No, no, nothing like that…” she shook her head again, and then sighed. “Maidens could affect someone’s mind and influence them, but…”

         “…but?” Zack held his breath.

         “Not you,” she said, smiling. “For… for some reason, you’re powerful against the Maidens. Your mind is strong. So that’s why it had to be you.”

         Zack blinked, and Aeris sighed again.

         “What we told that man in Condor… it wasn’t true. Priscilla won’t be saved in time…” she glanced at Cait’s dangling arm. “Cait’s position in Shin-ra is precarious as it is, and he can’t raise a finger without raising suspicions along with them. The same goes for Tseng. He has access to secret information not many could get to, and that means he’d be one of the main suspects if he acted in her behalf. Not only that, but Hojo holds a lot of sway in Shin-ra’s decisions, since he was the one who came up with SOLDIER. And it’s in his hands that Priscilla is now.”

         Zack felt his breath catch in his throat again, but for completely different reasons. “But… you mean you’ll just let her…”

         “She knew it was going to happen,” she continued, regretfully. “That’s why she contacted me and put me in your trail. Eventually her powers will be controlled and used by Shinra, and when that time comes, only people like you –” her eyes sharpened “will be able to fight her off.”

         Zack swallowed hard. “So you mean I’ll have to fight powers just like yours, someday?”

         She nodded, then smiled softly. “Don’t worry, though,” she squeezed his hand, and his breath was caught in his throat for the third time, “I’ll be fighting there too. I’m sure we can make a difference, between the two of us.”

         He nodded dumbly, surprised by the warmth he felt through his glove, and almost felt regret when she let go of his hand to continue on her way.

--------------------------------------------

         Veld held back a grimace when President Shin-ra finally slapped the report closed.

         President Shin-ra didn’t have the decorum to hold back his own.

         “So, two Turks defeated, two others avoided, and none in Condor Mountain,” started the President.

         “I have no excuses, sir,” Veld pursed his lips. He actually had a few, but he wasn’t about to state them. Turks were supposed to do their jobs against whatever odds. They were trained for that.

         “No, no, I concede we couldn’t allow more of them for this specific mission,” the President started, scratching his head informally as he sat the report on his table. “And the opponents were a SOLDIER and a woman whose specific abilities are as of yet unknown. Two Turks just weren’t enough, and they’d easily reach Condor by the time the extra two posted in Kalm arrived.”

         Veld thought that verbally beating his pride was horribly, horribly low.

         “Then there’s the fact Condor seems to have disappeared from its geographical position,” continued the President, “unless you aren’t actually trying to find it. The other three aren’t equipped to circumvent this kind of… distortion of reality? Oh, I don’t know.”

         The President reclined back into his chair; Veld shifted minimally.

         “At least we now know they do distort reality,” continued the President. “I wonder if Hojo has reached the same conclusion in his experiments. Have a copy of this report sent to him just in case he hasn’t yet,” he sighed, tiredly. “What more can they do, I wonder? That girl weakened our soldiers, rendered our weapons useless and cast magic without materia.”

         His eyes narrowed, and he leaned onto his elbows, staring ahead.

         “These so-called Holy Maidens are such terrifying battle weapons I’m honestly surprised they never tried to put their powers to use,” he muttered.

         “I’d say that’s why they are called Holy, President,” Veld half smiled when the President’s eyes turned to him. “And why they are chosen and not a hereditary position. If you had a weapon you couldn’t use and wouldn’t want being used, wouldn’t you leave it in the hands of someone who’d never think of profiting from it?”

         “People are always thinking about profits,” the President said with a half-smile. “Though not always monetary in nature. There may be logic to your thinking, Veld. Send a copy of the report to Hojo, as I said. Dismissed.”

         Veld bowed, then walked out of the office. President Shin-ra liked to have someone nearby to listen to his monologues, and it would be a boring post to be stationed in if his monologues weren’t so illustrative of the way his mind worked. He’d think out loud, pulling strands of thoughts to weave a nice pattern, and figure out a course of action from it.
         His only failing point was believing people had reasons.