Blood & Sympathy (FFVII: Vincent x OC)

Ch21 - Salute to a Hero

Red seemed way too excited once they reached Bone Village. Well, it was no surprise. It was an archeological site that hid countless bones beneath the ground. The dog’s nose twitched as he sniffled whatever trace’s of Aerith he could find. He’d assured them that she had indeed come this way.

A bunch of people with shovels were digging in the site. A few ruins and bones were already on the surface, waiting to be further taken care of and taken into some museum.

Jocasta could see a massive forest spreading by the other side of the small village. Edge wasn’t far from there. She watched Cloud as he asked around for the Forgotten City. Jocasta hadn’t had the time to listen to the chatter when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Cid.

“How’s your wounds, kid?” he asked, before lighting another cigarette.

It was a pretty good question, considering she hadn’t even thought to check on them ever since they left Gongaga Village. But she felt no pain when making moves that were supposed to cause pain, and that was a good sign.

“It stopped hurting,” Jocasta shrugged.

“That’s some damn good news, kid,” Cid said, puffing out his cigarette. He sighed as he stared at Cloud and the others talking to the archaeologists that were spread around the digging site. “I gotta tell ya, when I joined this group, I wanted to kick some Shinra ass. Make ‘em bastards pay. But right now, we gotta save find that girl, I tell ya. No way she can fight Sephiroth on her own,”

Jocasta placed a hand on her waist, sighing “No, she can’t,” she agreed and started regretting letting her go in the first place.

“…they offered to dig for us and find the Lunar Harp,” Cloud’s voice came from behind, catching everybody’s attention.

Jocasta raised an eyebrow “For what in return?” she asked. There was no way they’d just do that for free.

“Yeah…” Cloud sighed “…we’ll… have to empty our pockets,”

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“Fuckin’ terrific,” Cid cursed for the hundredth time and Jocasta tried to hold back a chuckle.

They had finally unlocked the forest with the Lunar Harp that the archaeologists had dug out of the soil. Red moved ahead with his nose twitching, his tail perking around with the bright flame on the tip and that focused expression on his face as he tried to keep track of Aerith’s scent.

Cloud stuffed the Lunar Harp back in his bag, following the dog’s heightened instincts. They’d all indeed emptied their pockets, contributing to finding that harp and unlocking a goddamn forest. Jocasta rolled her eyes. Cetra cryptic bullshit.

If anything didn’t apply to the science she knew, it didn’t worth her time. She couldn’t believe that Lucrecia and Hojo and Gast had actually taken the time to study the Ancients’ Scriptures. There was always a scientific explanation for everything. Nothing ever just happened magically.

The more they walked within the forest, the trees had started becoming white and glistering. The amount of transparent Lifestream that flooded the air, was hard to ignore. Of course, this place would be filled with life, with all that Lifestream, but the City was empty and abandoned. White, stoned houses spread all around the place, constructed in an old architectural fashion.

Cloud stopped walking for a moment. Everybody turned at their leader as he took a few seconds. He could feel the presence of somebody even though there was no one around them anywhere. Tifa’s hand found his shoulder. The young ex-SOLDIER didn’t bulge for the next few seconds.