We set out the next morning, just as we'd planned, the six of us on the road to Wall Market. I limped along as best I could, with one friend or another supporting me at times. I didn't like having to lean on them so much, but I didn't really have a choice. Although the stab wound in my left thigh had healed pretty well for the most part, the leg itself was still a little weak from the trauma and loss of blood. My sprained right ankle was a lot better now than it had been, but it was still tender and I couldn't put my full weight on it yet for very long.
As for my right arm, it was a little stiff, but I could move it around a bit more now, though I wasn't ready to do anything strenuous with it like swinging a weapon. The rest of my injuries were healing nicely, so I didn't give them much thought as we made our way steadily through the narrow streets of the Sector 5 slums and into the outskirts. It was a bright, warm day—although it was actually winter, Midgar didn't have any real seasons. Part of being the middle of the badlands, I suppose. It was always warm here and often dry.
We didn't see too many monsters, just some eaters, wererats, and a few hedgehog pies. Lena and the guys took them out easily enough, so they didn't give us any problems, and Marissa patched up the few cuts, scratches, and bruises the others did get—she'd brought her first aid kit with her when she'd come back from the plate with Kunsel, and Elmyra had given us a handful of potions as well. And since I couldn't fight, at least for now, I helped Marissa instead.
We were about halfway there, heading down the winding dirt trail between the rows of abandoned shacks and mounds of junk and scrap metal, when it happened. I'd stopped to rest for a few minutes—well, it was more Kunsel and the others making me do it despite my insistence that I didn't need a break—and was just getting up from where I'd been sitting on the ground when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck start to stand up. Everything went eerily still and quiet, as if time had frozen somehow, and the others were like statues.
Then I gasped, winced, and grabbed the right side of my head as a searing bolt of pain suddenly slammed into it as if I'd just been hit by a heavy hammer or lead pipe. It hurt like hell, worse than the first attack I'd had back in Sector 7, and I doubled over, wondering what was going on. When I slowly straightened and looked up a moment later, my eyes widened and my blood went ice cold.
Standing a few yards in front of me was Sephiroth.
"It's been a long time, Jessie," he smirked.
"Not nearly long enough," I muttered, letting go of my head to gaze defiantly back at him. "What do you want?"
Sephiroth held out his hand. "Your help. To change fate."
"What do you mean?" I demanded.
"This world... this story... it's all happened before," he answered as he walked slowly around me. "And always, the end is the same. For you and for me. Only now, things are different."
I knew why. "Because I'm alive when I wasn't before."
"Correct," Sephiroth whispered. "With one change comes another, and another, and another. Small at first, but then larger, until the future itself diverges from the path it was meant to follow. If your destiny can be changed, Jessie, then so too can mine."
"And how do you know all this?" I wondered.
He smiled coldly. "The lifestream is full of knowledge beyond what you can possibly imagine, not just of this planet and the souls within it, but also of all those that came before. Memories upon memories, and I have basked in all of them, absorbed their knowledge. And with them, you and I will change the course of the future."
I shuddered. "How?"
"All in good time, Jessie..." he chuckled softly, closing the distance between us. "All in good time. Mother's legacy now flows through your veins. I'm a part of you. Don't fight me."
"Go to hell," I spat.
Sephiroth stretched his hand toward me, palm outward. "I've been there already. And you'll help me whether you like it or not. Allow me to provide you with a demonstration..."
Suddenly I lurched backward, my blood burning, and felt my mind yanked almost violently aside. I watched, a helpless spectator inside my own body, as my right arm rose up in front of me on its own, my hand squeezing shut so tightly my nails dug into my palm. My wrist, already sore from my injuries and how hard I'd been pushing myself, started to hurt as well. My whole forearm quivered, and as much as I tried, I just couldn't lower it or move it so much as an inch.
Then, Sephiroth lowered his hand, and I felt in control of my mind again. I instantly dropped my arm to my side, rubbing it with my other hand as I unclenched my fist. I winced in pain when I saw blood. And as I stared at the red gouges in my palm, I shivered, afraid not only for myself, but for my friends, too. Because if Sephiroth could force me to hurt myself like that, what could he make me to do them? I couldn't let it happen, but I didn't know how to stop it.
"Do you understand now?" he said. "I own you."
I glared at him. "The hell you do! I won't be your puppet!"
Sephiroth sneered. "You already are."
"Tell me something," I went on. "What did you mean the other day when you called me your agent of chaos?"
He walked around me again, his boots not leaving any tracks in the dirt. "Think of a pond, its waters still and unmoving. Unchanging, day after day. But if a pebble is thrown into it, there is a splash, and a ripple sweeps across the water, changing all in its path."
"What are you saying?" I frowned.
Sephiroth bent close to my ear. "You are the ripple."
I backed away from him. "What...?"
"You should be dead, buried beneath mountains of rubble, and yet you live," he explained, his pale green eyes tearing into me. "It was your fate. A life cut short before it could even begin. But no longer. You have a new path now, a second chance. For a time."
"What do you mean by that?" I asked, suddenly afraid.
Sephiroth pointed at my heart. "Mother's legacy will consume you in the end, Jessie. Did you really believe you could change fate without a price? Your body doesn't have the strength to contain her. One day, it will simply... stop. But in the meantime, the very fact that you live will change many things. It's already begun."
I clutched my chest as a sliver of pain suddenly stabbed through it. Was he right? Was there really something else inside me, something in my blood that Cloud had unintentionally passed along which could be slowly killing me? I didn't know. Aerith hadn't found anything unusual when she'd looked me over the other day with those strange abilities of hers, but she hadn't searched too deeply, either. So she might've missed it. I didn't wanna believe Sephiroth, though.
"And how does all that help you?" I wondered.
"Because you now live when the will of the planet says you should not, you have the capacity to change how this story unfolds," Sephiroth said. "And that makes you most useful indeed."
Now I finally understood. "Cloud always beat you before, and you wanna use me to make sure that doesn't happen this time. And because he cares for me, making me turn against him and the others'll twist the knife and cause him to suffer even more."
"I see your mind is as keen as ever," Sephiroth smiled icily. "You've pieced everything together quite well."
"Not gonna happen!" I swore, my blood boiling.
He stood before me, a cold smirk on his face. "Oh, but it will. It's in your blood. Embrace what you are, Jessie. Mother's power eats away at you every second, but it need not claim your life. I alone can stop it. All you have to do is help me, and I will."
In spite of the pain, I flipped him the bird with my wounded hand, the one he'd made bleed. "Fuck. You."
"Colorful, but expected," Sephiroth laughed coldly. "It matters not. We'll let this story play out as planned for the time being. But when the time comes, Jessie, you'll awaken. And when you do, you'll deliver this planet to me with your own hands."
And then, suddenly, I was falling, and everything went dark. When I woke up, I was laying on my back on the ground, the others standing over me in a circle and looking at me with concern. It was still daytime, the ugly underside of the plate looming high above us as it blocked out the sky. Everything was back to normal, just as it should've been, and I was really tempted to dismiss the whole crazy incident as some kind of really bad mako-induced hallucination. But when I looked at my palm and the cuts from my nails, I knew I couldn't.
"Jessie!" Kunsel said, kneeling next to me. "You okay?"
I slowly sat up. "I think so. What happened?"
Biggs crouched on my other side. "Soon as we started getting ready to move again, you got to your feet and then just kinda collapsed all of a sudden. Scared the hell outta us."
"I did?" I blinked. "How long was I out?"
Marissa looked me over. "Just a few minutes. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong that I can see. Maybe you were just tired. You have been pushing yourself a lot lately, after all."
I had, but I knew that what I'd seen had been real. But as I thought about it, I decided that until I knew more, I'd keep it to myself. I didn't wanna worry the others, and I was scared of what Sephiroth would do or make me do if I said anything. I had to find a way to break that hold he had over me and stop him, and that meant reaching Cloud as fast as I could and figuring out what really happened to him in Nibelheim all those years ago. Both for my sake and for his.
"I'll try to go a bit slower, Marissa," I promised.
She nodded. "Are you ready to get moving? Or do you need a little more time to rest? We're fine either way."
I held out my arms, and Biggs and Kunsel helped me up. "I'm good to go. I wanna get to Wall Market as soon as I can. And don't worry, I'll take another breather when we get there."
"Evergreen Park," Kunsel insisted. "You'll rest there for a bit, Jessie. Then we'll go on to Wall Market."
"Fair enough," I agreed.
The pain in my head was gone, and after tending to my hand with a potion and a cloth, I limped down the path again with the others and let one of them support me when I needed it. They all took turns, and I was holding lightly onto Lena when we finally reached Evergreen Park about half an hour later. There were still a bunch of survivors from the Sector 7 ruins milling about here, and we greeted those we knew as we took a break for a few minutes. I pointedly avoided looking at the huge pile of rubble past the broken gates, though.
When I felt rested and ready, we got going again on the last part of our trip. We headed down the trail leading further into Sector 6, and in just a little while, I saw the outskirts of Wall Market in the distance. As we approached Sam's chocobo stables near main gate, I caught sight of him brushing down one of those big, adorable yellow birds and smiled happily, waving at him when he noticed me.
"Hi, Sam!" I called.
He grinned. "Jessie! Knew you'd pull through!"
I took the baby chocobo feather he'd given me years ago out of my pocket, held it up, and winked. "Yeah, I'm still kickin'! Had some good luck. And a lot of really good friends."
"I reckon you did," Sam laughed. "Girl tough as you ain't gonna die easy. Told ya that feather works, didn't I?"
I chuckled. "Oh, you did, alright. I'm totally a believer now! And it worked for someone special to me, too. Gave it to him when we had to be apart and it brought him back to me. Then he let me have it back so I'd still have the luck, too. Kept me alive."
Sam nodded. "That's the way it goes, Jessie. I figure you'll be seein' Andrea now that you're back. That right?"
"Yeah," I answered. "Can you let him know I'm here?"
He tipped his wide-brimmed wrangler's hat to me. "Not a problem. Might wanna pay M a visit too while you're at it."
Wedge blinked. "M? Who's that?"
"An old friend," I explained. "She's the one who can help me get the rest of my strength back and finish my recovery. But you might wanna watch yourself around her. She's... got a temper."
"Hell of an understatement," Sam agreed with a grin.
Wedge gulped. "Uh-oh..."
Biggs clapped him on the shoulder. "Relax, buddy. It can't be worse than Jessie when she gets pissed."
"Hey!" I glared at them. "I heard that!"
"See what I mean?" he said.
I couldn't help smirking amidst my friends' laughter, and once we'd taken our leave of Sam, we headed into Wall Market. It was bustling as always, people coming and going through the maze of narrow streets. I knew where Marcus' shop was thanks to Cloud, so I told Kunsel where to find it along with the inn. We'd be able to get things moving faster if we split up, so we decided to go in two groups.
Kunsel, Marissa, and Lena would get us all rooms at the inn—we'd be in town for a while, at least a week, although I planned to sneak into Shinra Headquarters in the next few days if I could. They'd also go and see Marcus to get to work on the portable battle simulator and the new fake ID's for Lena and the guys. I meant to stop by and visit him myself later, but there were other things I had to get done first. So after Kunsel and the girls had left, I headed with Biggs and Wedge to the lower right section of town and the Honeybee Inn.
It was just as vibrant and glitzy as I remembered from the last time I'd been here, the neon lights shining above the entrance. It was early in the day, but the line was still pretty long. Mostly guys, of course. And I knew if I'd been alone I'd have gotten plenty of attention—I smirked at the sight of Biggs scowling darkly at some of the hungry and interested looks they gave me. Fortunately, that was as far as it got. He and Wedge being there kept them from trying anything. Which, of course, was one of the reasons I'd brought them with me.
"No way in hell I'm gonna let you go anywhere alone in this town, Jessie," Biggs muttered, his eyes on the crowd.
I smirked. "Going all big brother on me? I'm touched."
He nodded. "Bet your ass I am."
"We're just looking out for ya, that's all," Wedge added. "You're like our sister, you know. Always have been."
I smiled. "Good to know you've got my back."
Biggs gave me a thumbs up. "Always."
"You bet!" Wedge grinned.
When the bouncer saw me, he quickly ushered us inside, no doubt on Andrea's instructions. The glances from the other guys turned from lustful longing to irritation and annoyance when they saw me cut past them, and I found that very satisfying as my friends and I went into the lobby. Wedge's eyes just about bulged outta their sockets when he saw a pair of Honeygirls in their skimpy black and gold leotards, dark netted stockings, high heels, and plastic wings flitting about nearby. They saw him and Biggs and went right to them.
"Hi, big guy..." one of them purred, eying Wedge.
"Hi, dream..." the other looked eagerly at Biggs. "You boys here to have a little fun today? We like to pollinate."
Wedge stared blankly at them. "Uh, what's that?"
"Oh, aren't you just so adorable!" the first Honeygirl giggled.
"We can show you, sweetie," the second one said.
I quickly drove my elbow into Wedge's side before he could put his foot even further into his mouth. "No, Wedge. Unless you want to have Lena kick your ass later. Understand?"
"Ow!" he flinched. "Of course! I was just, uh..."
Biggs took him by the arm. "They aren't just being friendly, buddy. Gotta keep your guard up in a place like this."
"He's taken, ladies," I told the girls. "They both are."
They huffed and pouted and walked away while Biggs took Wedge aside and quietly explained to him what they'd really been after. When the light bulb finally went off in his head, he blushed so deeply red that he looked like one of the tomatoes I used to buy off the produce wagon back home in Sector 7. I couldn't help chuckling a little at the sight as I hobbled over to the main desk to see the receptionist. Once I'd let him know I was there, I rejoined my friends.
"Sorry, guys," I apologized. "I should've warned ya about this place. About the whole town, really. My bad."
"No problem, Jessie," Biggs waved it off.
Wedge sighed. "Still can't believe I almost, well..."
"You didn't, though," I reminded him. "And that's what's important. Don't worry, Wedge. We'll look out for ya."
"You won't tell Lena, will you?" he wondered.
I shook my head as we all sat down together. "Nope. What happens between the three of us stays between us."
"Always has, buddy," Biggs added. "You know that."
"Thanks, guys," Wedge sighed in relief.
We didn't have to wait long. The receptionist motioned to us just a few minutes later, and we followed him upstairs into a long hallway. I'd been here before, two years ago, and I saw that it hadn't really changed much. Andrea's office was still in the same place, last door on the left. I gently pushed it open and limped inside, Biggs and Wedge just behind me as the receptionist went back downstairs.
"Jessie," Andrea smiled, greeting me with a graceful, sweeping bow. "I'm relieved to see you alive and well."
I went over and hugged him. "I've got you, among others, to thank for that, Andi. Cloud told me what you did, how you sent Jules and his friends over to Sector 7 to help me and others."
He nodded. "You're quite welcome, my friend. After all you did for us, it was the least I could do in return. And besides, it would've been a shame for your story to have ended there."
"I hear I've got a nickname in this town," I smirked.
Andrea chuckled as he had us take a seat across from him in a few cushioned chairs. "That you do, Jessie. One you more than earned that night. I assume you know by now what it's come to mean to the people here. Sam, Madam M, and I did play a small part in that, but over time, it eventually took on a life of its own."
I rubbed my left leg, which ached with all the walking and limping that I'd been doing. "Don't really feel like a legend today, though. Still a bit banged up. It's part of why I'm here."
"Yes, I noticed you were still wounded," he said. "I suspect you will want to visit Madam M, then. She will surely assist you in your quest to become whole and healed once more."
"That's gonna be my next stop," I assured him.
Andrea rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Then I won't keep you long. However, if you wish, there is something else you can do to aid in your recovery. Go see my brother Jules in the gym. He can help you get back into fighting form. Tell him I sent you."
I grinned. "Thanks! I'll definitely stop by and see him."
"Excellent," he went on. "Oh, and one other thing before you leave. As you may or may not know, Jessie, Don Corneo would at times hold fighting tournaments in an underground coliseum, with many rewards for the winners and their sponsors. And of course, there was always the gambling as well. It was called the Corneo Cup."
I wasn't surprised, though I did wonder what it had to do with me. "With him gone, it must've put a damper on things."
Andrea nodded. "It did, at least at first. But Sam, Madam M, and I have since taken over management of the contest in the Don's absence. Now it is called the Trio's Tournament, and the next one will be held in two and a half weeks. A hundred thousand gil prize goes to the winner. Along with the fame of being the champion."
"Andi, are you saying what I think you're saying?" I murmured, my eyes wide as I realized what he meant.
He gave me a sly little smirk. "Interested?"
"Fight in the tournament?" I grinned. "Oh, hell yeah!"
"You sure about this?" Biggs asked.
I nodded. "Positive. I wanna do this—no, I need to do it. Because if I can win this thing, I'll know I can hold my own alongside Cloud and the others when I leave Midgar. The world out there's bound to be full of danger, Biggs. I need to know I can handle it."
He sighed. "Well, since there's no way we can talk you out of it, me an' Wedge'll just have to back you up."
"No," I told him. "I've gotta do this alone."
Wedge's jaw dropped. "Huh!? Why?"
"It's kinda hard to explain..." I replied. "I just know I need to fight in this thing by myself. It's sorta personal..."
Andrea gazed thoughtfully at me. "You wish to be strong, to know you have what's necessary to protect yourself and those you care about. To not simply recover from your injuries, but to grow even further and become much more than you once were."
He was right, I realized. I didn't wanna just recover and get back to how I was before. I wanted to be more, needed to be more, especially if I was gonna stop Sephiroth from somehow using me to change his fate and destroy the world. Although I felt alright aside from the little aches that still bothered me where I'd been hurt in the plate collapse, I hadn't forgotten what he'd said, that something in my blood, some dark thing that Cloud had unknowingly passed along, was steadily eating away at me bit by bit, chipping away at my life.
And there was something else, too. "That's it, Andi. I've gotta know I can survive outside Midgar. And I wanna grow stronger, just like you said, so I can protect everyone. But there's more to it than that. Tell me something—can you broadcast this tournament?"
"Of course, Jessie. Don Corneo always made sure that it was shown all over Wall Market," Andrea answered. "Doing so was quite profitable for him. And we intend to do the same."
I'd figured as much. "I was hoping you'd say that. But can you show it across the rest of the city as well?"
He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his chin. "Perhaps. It won't be easy, but it can be done. Shinra owns the airwaves, of course, but we have some influence even on the plate. I can arrange for this to be done if you wish, Jessie, but might I ask why?"
"Well, I am an entertainer," I smirked. "And I wanna make my exit from Midgar with a bit of flash and style."
Andrea smiled. "Indeed you are, my friend. And you will."
"In more ways than one," I added.
"What you mean by that?" Wedge asked.
It was something I'd only just thought of as we'd been talking, but I knew it was right. Andrea and the guys listened closely as I laid out my plan for something else to go along with the tournament, an additional act to follow the final fight if I won. And I had every intention of doing just that. For me and for those it would help.
Andrea gazed approvingly at me when I was finished. "It's a daring plan, Jessie, but one which will ensure that you and this contest will be remembered for a long time to come."
"If you do this, you can bet your father'll hear about it," Biggs said. "Thought you were trying to hide from him."
I felt my blood boil with that familiar rage when he mentioned my father, only now it burned hotter with the knowledge of what he'd done to Sector 7. Nearly killing me again was beside the point. He'd hurt too many others, and it had gone on long enough.
My eyes narrowed dangerously. "No, Biggs. I want him to find out. I want him to know I'm alive. Winning the tournament's a message for him. That no matter what he does or how many times he tries, he can't kill me or stop me. And that I'm coming for him."
"You're serious about this, aren'tcha?" he murmured.
"Damn right I am," I said. "I've been running from him for way too long. And I've gotta face him and end this."
He nodded. "I guess you do."
I looked back at Andrea. "In order to do that, though—and fight in the tournament—I'll be stealing something from Shinra Headquarters as soon as I'm in good enough shape to do it. But I'll need help getting it to fit, if you wouldn't mind. And to make a few adjustments. I'm not too keen on sporting the Shinra logo, after all."
"Of course," he agreed. "Some kind of new attire, I presume? More than mere clothing if you're willing to risk infiltrating the very heart of Shinra to get it. Can you tell me what it is?"
I took out the tablet Kunsel had given me, brought up the readouts for the new gear, and handed it to him. "It's something that Scarlet and I came up with. An experimental mako-powered battle suit specifically designed for use by female SOLDIERs."
"But there aren't any," Biggs said, blinking and scratching his head. "At least, not that I've ever heard about."
"That's right, but Scarlet planned for there to be. I liked the idea as well, although I didn't know back then how SOLDIERs got their power. Only that the mako helped them somehow. Anyway, Scarlet wanted an entire unit made up only of women, to be used for certain missions she felt would be more suitable for them."
He frowned darkly. "What kinda missions?"
I went on. "Normal SOLDIERs typically fight head-on, and Shinra uses them as muscle to back up the regular troops as well. But Scarlet's female SOLDIERs would've been different, relying more on stealth and speed than raw strength like the men. They'd have been deployed more as elite scouts, spies... and, I realize now, assassins. Taking out Shinra's enemies quietly, behind the scenes."
"Whoa..." Wedge breathed. "So what happened?"
"Scarlet's got a prototype of the suit made and ready to go, but with the old president being killed, the whole project's been put on hold for now until further notice," I explained.
Biggs nodded. "So what's this thing do?"
I pointed at the tablet. "It's not big and bulky like the suits that the armored grunts up in the Shinra Building use. This baby's form-fitting, tight and sexy. Also partly resistant to impacts and the elements. And it has several built-in functions as well."
"Like what?" he asked.
"Things to complement a faster, more agility-based fighting style. I don't have Cloud's strength, as much martial arts training as Tifa, Red's natural defenses, Aerith's magical abilities, or Barret's gun-arm. So I've gotta find my own way to stand up in battle."
Wedge glanced at me. "And this suit can help you do it?"
"That and what goes with it," I answered. "The FEX-01's functions run on mako and eat up a lot of power, so I'd only be able to use one at a time, but they're more than worth it, believe me. Increased speed, an energy barrier to deflect damage, and even invisibility. The effects only last for a little while, a minute at most, but in the midst of a fight, that's all I'd need. And they recharge over time."
"Awesome!" he said.
I continued. "Of course, it's not just the suit. There's the weapons as well. Not a big sword like what SOLDIERs usually use. Something a bit smaller and a lot more hi-tech. Twin light daggers—energy blades that hit hard, fast, and can cut through just about anything. Kunsel's gonna get me up to speed on how to use them."
Biggs whistled. "Now I know why you wanna sneak into the Shinra Building to get this stuff. You'll kick ass!"
"Exactly!" I smirked.
"I think I may have an idea of how to tailor your suit to your needs and make it truly your own, Jessie," Andrea said. "A motif that fits your trials and experiences quite well. But we'll speak of that later. For now, I'm certain you still have much to do."
I nodded. "Yeah. And about my other idea..."
He stood up. "Donating a portion of the tournament's profits to aid the Sector 7 survivors? I think we can do that and more. If you win, my friend, we'll gladly double the money."
"Deal!" I grinned.
Between that and the little performance I had planned for after the final fight, the survivors would surely get a lot of help. And I'd give the whole city a surprise they'd never forget. The coliseum wasn't really the kind of stage I was used to, but in a way, I thought it would make Jessie Jae's return to the limelight even more memorable. So it looked like I'd have to find time to practice my singing amidst all the other stuff I'd be doing. And I was really looking forward to it.
As I got unsteadily to my feet and shook Andrea's hand, I couldn't help feeling excited about what was ahead of me in Wall Market. And I didn't have a doubt in my mind that I could win the tournament. I was gonna have to be here in town a bit longer than I'd planned, but I didn't mind. I'd have plenty to do, and it would give me more time to recover, train, and get used to my new gear. After saying goodbye to Andrea for now, the guys and I left the Honeybee Inn.
It was time for me to pay a visit to Madam M.