Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

THIRTY-EIGHT

Jessie and I waited until the others had joined us on the small bluff outside Bugenhagen's observatory before going inside. He and Red—or Nanaki, that is—were already there. It was a modest home with a small kitchen and living area on the first floor and a bedroom on the second at the top of a ladder in one corner. A closed wooden door on the right led to what I figured was the actual laboratory.

Red introduced us again. "This is my grandfather, Bugenhagen. He is incredible, Cloud. He knows everything."

"Thank you again for looking after Nanaki here," Bugenhagen said, laughing heartily. "I'm certain it could not have been easy. He's actually quite young, you see. Barely more than a child."

"Grandfather, stop!" Red argued. "I'm forty-eight!"

Jessie gaped. "Huh? Really?"

Bugenhagen smiled. "Nanaki's tribe has remarkable longevity, you see. They can live for hundreds of years. So in human terms, he would really be perhaps only about fifteen or sixteen."

"A teenager?" I stared.

"Seriously!?" Yuffie grinned, doubling over in an uncontrollable fit of helpless laughter. "All this time, you had us thinking you were so old and wise, Red, but it turns out you're really just a kid!"

Barret chuckled. "Well, whaddya know..."

"I think it's cute!" Aerith giggled.

"As I'm sure you noticed, he's quiet and often serious," Bugenhagen explained. "Not bad traits, really, but I can see how that might've given you the impression he was older than he really is."

I had to agree. "Seemed that way."

Red sighed. "Grandfather, I'm almost an adult now. I really want to grow up so I can protect you and the village."

"No, Nanaki," Bugenhagen said, shaking his head. "Not yet. You're not quite ready. If you rush into it now, it will make things difficult for you in the long run. Better to take your time. When this planet is in its last days, you'll understand how little you know."

"When the planet dies?" I frowned.

Jessie folded her arms in front of her. "What do you mean?"

Bugenhagen went on. "It could be tomorrow, or perhaps a hundred years from now. But I sense it coming. It's not far."

"How?" I wondered.

"The cry of the planet," he explained. "I can hear it."

As we stood there, we could hear a low throbbing sound all around us, pulsing almost like a heartbeat. It went on, filling the house, and as I looked uncertainly at Jessie and the others, I couldn't help wondering what it was. I'd never heard anything like it before, outside or anywhere else, but here in Bugenhagen's observatory, it was clear.

Tifa blinked. "What's that?"

"The sound of the stars as they float high in the heavens above us," Bugenhagen said. "Normally, they can't be heard, but the equipment in my observatory has been designed to capture, analyze, and amplify this phenomenon so we can perceive it. While the stars burn and make this sound, planets are born, live, and eventually die."

Just then, a high, keening wail suddenly cut through the throbbing noise, and I winced involuntarily. Aerith did the same, and Jessie, Tifa, and the others didn't seem to care for it any more than we did. It felt as if something were crying out in pain. It seemed to come from above us at first, then all around us, as if it was everywhere.

"What is that?" Yuffie shuddered.

"A scream from this planet," Bugenhagen replied as he sat perched on his floating green orb. "A cry of pain and suffering."