As everything begins to rumble and shake, tifa was blown back into you as you catch her. "You alright?!" You ask as she nods "y-yea!" Cloud looks at you two as Barret start to run. "Cmon! We gotta get out of here! Move it!" Barret shouts as cloud turns to run. Barret and cloud head for the ladder as the reactor begins to blow up.
Tifa runs to as you follow. The walkways above begin to fall as they land in the ground and the energy pool. Explosions ring about in the complex as the civilians working and the shinra guards start to evacuate.
And everything starts to fall apart, you 4 reach the walkway you entered on as Barret leads the way. "We take the express elevator! It will take us up and out!" He shouts. Tifa speeds up as she runs past cloud and stays with Barret as cloud is with you.
But then the railing shakes as it breaks. Cloud jumps and makes it but you miss and fall. "Woa!" You shout as land in the ground below.
"Y/n! You alright?!" Cloud calls down "yea I'm fine! Go ahead I'll catch up!" Cloud waits for a second before he looks up and steps back to evade a falling piece of metal before he turns to start running.
You look around for an exit as you see an opening in the wall not too high up. You focus as you glow blue and flowmotion up to the opening as you grab the side and slip through. The opening lead to the first floor as you saw the doors fall and close.
"They are locking us in!" You turn and see another exit down the way. You start running.
The building shakes as debris falls everywhere. You crouch as you step right to avoid a falling beam as you stand back up straight. You feel the floor begin to collapse as you stumble and fall as you slide down the floor as it leads into a maintenance shaft. When you land you jump and roll as you keep going forward. You vault over a limo of debris before you jump and grab a pole that broke out and swing over more flaming rubble.
You land and keep going as you see electricity all of the floor as it covered where the wires broke. You run left and jump as you put your hand on the wall and run along it. You then jump as you land on the ground and run. You duck low and slide over a fallen beam before you reach a small elevator shaft.
You reach it and jump as you climb on top of the elevator. You then start running up the wall as you glow blue. You see the exit of the shaft getting closer as the elevator begins to fall. It crashes and causes and explosion below you as flames rise quickly. You jump and front flip over the ledge as you roll and start running down the hall. Flames leave the exit you just left as you trip and fall. Quickly climbing to your feet as you shove a shinra guard aside. You look left and see civilians in an office running about as an explosion happens and flames swallow the room.
You whine as you look forward. You then get close to the exit as you reach for it. But then an explosion happens beside you as your flung into the wall to your left as you break through it. You roll as the way beside you gets blocked by debris.
"Damn!" You look up and see a hole in the ceiling caused by debris as you throw your keyblade up as it spins before you reappear next to it as you spin and run up the wall. Seeing another elevator falling towards you, you point your keyblade forward as the bottom of the elevator opens and the hatch on top does the same.
You then jump and spin as you fly straight through it like threading a needle. You grab the wire supporting the elevator as it flies up as the elevator falls.
When it reaches the top you swing and enter the next room.
This time another exit is right in front of you as you sprint. Shinra guards open fire as they back out of the door. You spin your keyblade like a propeller as you deflect the bullets. And then you reach the exit as everything goes slow motion.
You recall your Keyblade as you slowly get closer to the door. You slide to avoid a falling wall and then you stand up as you jump and reach for the exit.
One last explosion happens as the blast throws you forward as you fly through the exit and slam into a few of the shinra guards.
You then roll as you stand up and back away as you look at the complex as the tower at the top collapses and falls onto the rest of the building and some explosions blow the ground open as the reactor detonated.
Even the shinra guards were distracted by the destruction as you take the chance to turn and run as you disappear into the back alleys.
You get far away enough from the main complex as you got deeper into the city. You were tired as you slowed down and slumped against a wall. You turn your head and see the massive fire in the distance as many utility trucks and emergency vehicles race past you towards the scene.
You feel exhausted as you slowly slide down and sit against the wall as you lean back against it.
You see the night sky above as you raise your hand and reach for the stars. "Guys. I promise I'll be home soon"
You then feel the exhaustion overcome you as you close your eyes and drop your arm as you fall asleep.
///
You groan as you open your eyes. Your laying in a bed. You hold your head as you yawn and sit up. Rubbing your eyes you look over and see that your armor has been removed. Your gauntlet was sitting in a table. And the chest plate you wore underneath your regular clothes was sitting beside it.
You noticed you had no shirt on as well. You sighed as you swing your legs over the side of the bed and stood up "Where am I?" You ask yourself.
You look over and see your shirt and jacket laying over the side of the headboard. You grab them and put them in one at a time. Then you look at your armor as it vanished in shimmers of light. Your chest plate and gauntlet appear on you as yiu reequip them.
Then you grab your right shoulder and flex it a little a it's sore.
"Who's how am I in?" You say as you turn and approached the door as you turn the knob and exit the room.
You saw you were in a house. That much was obvious. Across the hall was another door and you held out your hand to grab the railing for the stairs.
You then started walking down them. Your footsteps were somber and heavy. When you reach the bottom of the stairs, you see 2 women.
One of them is an older woman as she sits at the table and reads. The second is "Aerith?" You ask.
She perks up and turns around from the stove as she smiles at you "Good Morning~" she says with a singsong tone.
You smile and wave "h-hey" the woman at the Table turns her head to look at you. It's like she's studying you. Intensely. You look at her and rub your neck "Oh uh, Good morning, Ma'am"
The woman remains silent as she turns back to her book. You then step forward as you look out the window and see it's morning. Then you turn back to Aerith.
"Did you bring me back here?" You ask as she Nids "uh hmm!" She Hums "I was selling flowers in the city and saw that explosion. And then, not too long after I saw you collapse in the Alley. So I brought you back to my home."
You chuckle "thanks" you say. Then Aerith keeps cooking as you pull out a chair and sit down. "I haven't seen you since Hollow Bastion. And it's been a year or two. I thought the two of us could catch up"
You nod "yea, that sounds like a good idea" the woman who you assume is her mother looks back to you as she sees the armor you wear. "That armor" she says as you look at her "what about it?" You ask.
"Are you a Soldier?" She asks you. With a distrusting tone. You shrug "Kinda. I'm
Not really a soldier, but I do fight" she scowls as she looks back to her book. "Don't mind my mom. She has trouble trusting boys"
You smile and shake your head "I understand I'm sure if the first impression I made was getting carried in while I was passed out wasn't a good one"
Aerith then turns back to you "How do you like your eggs?" You go to reply but her mom cuts you off "so, your not a soldier yet you wear armor and fight. What makes you different?"
You rub your head "How do I put this..." you take a breath and then look back to her "Basically, I'm not really from around here. My home was destroyed over 12 years ago by monsters. And my best friends became Evil, I guess you would say. I ended up somewhere else and made new friends. They were training to fight those monsters. And I joined them. I fight monsters so nobody else loses their home. Or at least if they do, then they go down swinging"
Her mother seems actually impressed by that answer as she looks away once more. Then Aerith sets a plate down in front of you, followed by her mother and herself.
"Thank you" you say to her. She smiles at you "Of course" as the 3 of you begin to enjoy the breakfast, you get another pain in your head as you grunt "tch!" You raise your hand and hold it as you lean forward "y/n?!" Aerith Assad as she reaches for you.
A memory flashes through your mind as you see it. It was when you met Aerith back in traverse town. She found you after you fell unconscious after arriving and she brought you to her room. Then she stayed with you until you woke up. When you did, you explained you were searching for Merlin. She said that she hasn't seen him. And then she fed you and helped you get better. Then the heartless attacked and that's when you met sora, Squal and Yuffie. But Aerith was your first friend in a very long time.
As the memory ends you raise your head and look at Aerith as she seems worried. "Y/n?" She asks again. You shake your head "Sorry, I had a headache for a second" she nods as she slowly moves back to her seat "I understand, who knows what you went through before I found you"
You chuckle "Yea, I was pretty tired I'll say." Just then Aeriths mother checks the clock "Oh, Aerith, your going to be late!"
Aerith looks at her and then the clock before she gasps "Oh your right!" She looks at you "y/n! Come on let's get going!" You hood up your hand "wait what's going on?" She stand sup and scoots her chair in "I have to deliver flowers to the orphanage in town! And I'm already behind! I lost track of time"
You stand up "let me help you" she smiles "yes! Thank you!"
///
Aerith holds out a basket as she smiles "This one is for you" you smile back and take the basket "Thanks" she then backs up as you look around her massive garden "So, what kind of flowers do we pick?" She giggles "Choose any, follow your heart"
You chuckle as you point to her "Your telling me to let my heart be my guiding key?" She nods with s cute laugh "exactly" you turn around and see a patch of sunflowers, dandelions and white flowers.
"Hmm. These look good" you crouch down and grab a few tufts of the white plants, and then a few dandelions. Then you stand back up. You turn around as you see Aerith is right in your face "Hey- Woa!" You jump as she surprises you. "Jesus" you mumble as she giggles with her eyes closed before she open them "I scared you" you nod "yea you did" she then starts walking away "funny to think out of all the monsters you've Fought I'm the one who scared you"
You shrug as you walk with her "You had the element of surprise" Aerith remains silent as she walks down the path from her home. You following beside her "so where exactly are we going?" You ask as she points forward "there's an orphanage just down the road here, I give the children flowers and supplies. I also stop and visit most days"
You nod as you shrug "fair enough I suppose" as you follow Aerith she points forward "We are going to turn down that path and the road leads is straight to the orphanage"
You smile as you nod "Right, following your lead" Aerith giggles as she starts to just ahead "Well come on! We don't wanna be late!" You chuckle as you start to run with her to the Orphanage.
///
You stand outside as Aerith takes the flowers inside for the kids. When they first saw you they didn't trust you. They were obviously very protective over her. You didn't blame them you learned early on that Aerith was definitely a girl worth fighting for. And as you think about Aerith you look down at aquas Wayfinder.
You already had your own Aerith. And she was back home waiting for you. You knew it, believed it. "Ready to go?" You turn around as Aerith greets you as she walks over. You nod "yea, where to next?" She crosses her arms "you know, I have to gather a few things from around town. Wanna join me?" You hood out your hand "after you milady"
She smiles as she takes your hand you and her then start walking towards the center of town. And as you walk awrith looks as she lets go and moves over to something. "What is it?" You ask. She turns her head to talk as she bends over in front of a small pile of discarded items "you'd be surprised how many valuables people throw out. I like to dig around and find things. Sometimes you can find nifty little items"
You cross your arms "your a dumpster diver?" She shakes her head "no silly, I'm a recycler" you chuckle "there's no difference"
As she waves you over you approached as she points to another pile "See what you can find, we can use something" you sigh as you walk forward and get down to reach for something. But You go to grab the item from the pile as suddenly you hear a noise and turn around.
Multiple heartless spawn behind you as you turn and stand in front of Aerith. Holding your arm in front of her to protect her.
As the heartless watch you, you summon your keyblade and enter your combat stance "stay back Aerith! This might get ugly!"
She then steps aside as she puts her hands on her hips. "Hey! I'm not defenseless!" She then pulls a rod from her jacket and spins it as it extended into a staff.
You look at her as she holds it with a smile. You then chuckle "alright then, it's you and me sweetheart!"
"Right!"
You and Aerith stand together as multiple heartless appear. Your turn is first as you throw a lob of Fire at your target and deal damage. Aerith attacks next as she swings her rod and sends 3 magic orbs towards the enemy for little damage.
The heartless attack next as they take turns. First targeting you, then the second heartless attacks Aerith and the third heartless sinks into the ground.
You attack next as you lunge forward and perform your basic 3 attack combo. As you finish the combo the first heartless dies as Aerith takes her turn. She stabs her staff into the ground as thunder strikes and finishes the second heartless.
The third heartless rises from the ground as it attacks Aerith and deals more damage.
When you take your turn you perform strike raid as you throw your keyblade as it flies forward and hits the heartless twice. Once as it flies past it, and a second time as it returns to you.
The heartless is weak as Aerith uses blizzard to cast ice and finish it off.
Just then, more heartless spawn as you look at her "it's not over yet!" She gets closer to you as you see more spawn on your left, you then look at her as you and her nod to each other.
Aerith spins her rod above her as she creates a small windstorm as the heartless rise. "Aroga!" She shouts.
You then jump and spin slash all the heartless that we're above you for multiple hits.
When you land the heartless are weak as Aerith castes water and soaks them. Then you hood your keyblade up as you use Thundaga and electrocute the heartless as they all die.
You and Aerith high five before you turn around as more spawn. You sigh "just can't escape these things!"
Aerith then collapses her staff as she grabs your hand "Run! Come one they will just keep coming!"
You look at her as you nod and recall your keyblade as you turn and run with her. Heading back into town.
As Aerith basically drags you behind her you look back behind you as you see the heartless vanish. And then you think to yourself "Zip. Tap. Just what are you two planning..."
Checkpoint Reached. Will resume when you return