I Never Let Her Die! (Aerith x Male Gamer Reader)

Disk 01: Chapter 08: A Trio of Risks

"Look... You know I'm an ancient, a Cetra..."

"Right."

"But Sephiroth is also a Cetra. And if that Jenova thing is really his mother, and I see no reason to think otherwise, then it has to be a Cetra too..."

"Following you so far. Go on..."

"Don't you see the connection? Sephiroth is a Cetra, and Sephiroth is a genocidal madman... Jenova is a Cetra, and Jenova is a monster. A terrible, horrible monster... What does that say about me? How long 'til I go crazy like Sephiroth, or turn into something horrible like Jenova? That's why I want you all to stay away from me! I don't want to hurt you!" She buried her head in her arms and cried again.

The pieces fell into place now. No wonder the poor girl was upset, thinking like that. Of course, I knew that she wouldn't actually leave the group. Something would convince her to stay either way. But, sitting next to her, seeing someone I loved in so much pain, I just couldn't let it slide. I had already taken a risk in kissing her. I decided it was time to take another one. I put an arm around her shoulders and said "I understand why this is upsetting you so much now. And I'm glad you were willing to tell me, because I think I might be able to help you out."

"Help? I don't see how..."

"Just trust me. All I'm asking you to do is sit here and honestly answer three questions for me, then think about the answers. Okay?" Aerith didn't say anything, but she shook her head in agreement and looked directly at me as I asked "First question: Who told you Sephiroth is an ancient?"

Aerith' expression changed to a look of uncertainty. "Rufus Shinra?" She finally answered.

"Oh, a paragon of trustworthy reliable information." I replied as sarcastically as I could manage.

"But he..."

I held up one hand. "Hold on. Two more questions. Number two: If you pick up a history book and read it, what does it say about the Cetra? Does it speak well of them, or badly?"

"Usually very well. They always talk about how the Cetra worked together with the planet to keep ecosystems balanced and protect life everywhere."

"Exactly. Do you really think a human-written history book would speak well of a race of monsters?" I asked. "Third question: I know that If..." I stopped and pretended to need to clear my throat. I had almost said 'Ifalna' when Aerith had yet to speak of her birth mother by name. "I know that your mother was Cetra, but your father was human, right?"

"I don't know anything else about him, not even his name, but yes, that's right."

"Would a human man have married a monster?"

"So what? You're saying this Jenova thing might not be an ancient?"

"I'm saying you should at least consider the possibility that there's nothing terrible about you or your ancestors. History argues against it, your parent's relationship argues against it, you yourself argue against it... The only argument for it comes from a source I wouldn't trust if my life depended on it."

"I see what you're saying." Aerith said, nodding. "But... It was so powerful. What else could it be?"

Two risks down, one more to go: Possibly the biggest one in terms of it's potential to change things. But I had come this far, it was time to finish it up. I said "You know, I've been thinking about that. And there's actually one possibility... One frightening possibility... that comes to mind. Assume that I'm right and Jenova is NOT an ancient, okay?"

"Alright..."

"If it's not an ancient... What if it's the thing that destroyed them?"

I don't know if it was her own rationale, or women's intuition, or some aspect of the many special senses Aerith has inherited from her mother, but she knew . It hadn't occurred to her on it's own, but the moment the words were out of my mouth, she just knew that what I had said was right. Her eyes opened wide, her mouth dropped open, she stared at me in shock. "My god..." she whispered. "My god, Y/N... I'm sure you're right. That makes perfect sense. I mean, perfect sense... It explains everything..."

"Yeah, it does. Feeling better now?"

"Are you kidding?" She laughed. "I don't have to worry that I'm some kind of latent monster now. Thank you for this. For, well, for being as stubborn as me, I guess."

"You can expect that without fail."

"C'mon, we've gotta tell the others about this!" Aerith said. She started to turn and run back to the hideout, then stopped. She instead approached me and, wrapping both arms around my neck, said "Of course you understand, now that you've been this stubborn with me, I'm going to be all that much more stubborn about finding out just what you're hiding."

"It's nothing bad..." I started to say.

"I know. I can feel that much. But I'm still gonna find out." I was about to suggest that her attention might be better served trying to find out what the hell Red was hiding, but before I could speak she stretched up onto her toes and kissed me. "Now let's hurry." She said, holding tightly onto my arm and pulling me along in her wake...

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

"Jenova... The entity that attacked the Cetra centuries ago?" Tifa asked after Aerith had finished telling everyone else.

"They called it the 'Calamity from the Sky.'" Aerith confirmed, nodding. "I don't really know much about it... Mother never told me all that much, probably because I was so young. And then she was gone. But you can see the problem we've got..."

Shaking his head, Barrett said "Are you saying this makes things even worse? How?"

"Think about it Barrett." I answered. "The Ancients possessed powers over nature far beyond what we do. And there was an entire thriving species of them... Almost all wiped out by one... just ONE... being."

Red continued my thought "And now that being is still alive... And it's not alone anymore. Aerith and Y/N are correct. This is a potential apocalypse in the making."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Barrett demanded. "Just throw in the towel and wait to die? Hell no I'm not doin' that..."

"That's not what we're suggesting at all..." Aerith started to say, but Cloud spoke next.

"We can't do that. Even if it means I die, I'm going after Sephiroth..." he said. "But, maybe the rest of you should back down."

"Not a chance." Tifa disagreed.

Barrett had started pacing. "Well... Can't Aerith do anything? You say the Cetra are so powerful, and she is one..."

"Half." Aerith answered softly. "Half... I can control materia better than the rest of you, hear the planet's voice... kind of... I'll do what I can of course, but I'm not anywhere near the kind of power level a full Cetra would have been operating on. And even if I were..."

"Even if she was." I finished. "She's just one person. Jenova took out the entire civilization."

"Of course, Jenova spent hundreds of years buried deep underground, hanging onto life by the thinnest of threads. Even with the time it spent in the Nibel reactor, bathed in Mako, it's still probably not at full strength." Red said.

"This is true." Aerith conceded.

"Then that's the hope we need to cling to." Tifa said. "That we can take both her and Sephiroth down before she recovers any more."

"Then it's settled." Barrett decided. "We'll reach Costa del Sol in a few more days. We'll take a single day and night there to resupply and get our bearings, then we'll get back on the trail..."