Gaia. We emerged from the far end of the portal Aerith had opened into a wide-open field of grasses and wildflowers. A warm breeze blew the grass back and forth. Ignoring Yuffie's whining over having been shoved through the portal, I tilted my head back and gazed up at the cloudless sky. The sun was low, it seemed to be early morning here as well, but what drew my attention was what didn't belong; the dark crimson-swathed form of Meteor.
"Freaky, isn't it?" Yuffie asked.
"I'd say 'freaky' doesn't begin to describe that thing." I agreed.
Looking to Aerith, Yuffie said "So, did you finish what you were trying to do when Sephiroth attacked you?"
Aerith nodded. "Yeah. Holy is active. As soon as Sephiroth and Jenova are out of the way, it'll take care of Meteor for us."
"That's a relief."
"No kidding." I agreed. "So, Yuff, do you still have you phone? We need to stop Cid from scattering everyone around, get them back here... And where is here anyway?"
Pointing past me, Aerith said "Take a look. We're just outside Kalm. Seemed like a good place to bring us. Maybe you can find a new weapon in town while we're waiting for the others."
"Good thinking. Yuff, phone?"
"Right here!" Yuffie announced. She was already dialing as she spoke, so I stepped in close and listened. "Cid! Cid it's Yuffie! Listen, have you dropped anyone else off yet?"
"Hell no, not yet!" Came Cid's reply. "Red's my first stop, we're almost to Cosmo Canyon now."
"Okay good, look, I'm at Kalm. Don't drop off Red. Turn around, come here right now!"
"What the hell you talkin' about!? It's over!"
"No it's not! I've found something big! We've still got a chance!"
"Look you little spoiled brat, I'm not wasting time..." Cid started to argue. I grabbed the phone from Yuffie hand.
"Cid, this is Y/N! Get your butt here right now!" I shouted into the receiver.
There was a long silent pause. Then, "Y/N? What the hell!? What happened to you anyway? Where the hell have you been?" As Cid spoke, as soon as he said my name, I also heard other voices Vie behind him in the background.
"Never mind that right now. I'll explain everything when you're all here. There's still a chance, we're not beaten yet, but we've got to hurry. Will you come?"
"Yeah. Yeah we're turnin' the ship around now. Kalm right?"
"Right. How long 'til you arrive?" I asked.
"Give us four hours."
"Alright, see you then." I hung up, tossed the phone back to Yuffie. "Four hours." I said. "Time enough to run into town, buy a new blade, maybe new phones for Aer and I."
"That... And, there's one other thing I'd like to do while we're here." Aerith said.
Knowing what she was thinking of, I said "Alright. But if you're coming into town with me you'll need a disguise. We don't want word getting back to Shinra that you were here."
"I've got it covered." Aerith answered. Digging into her supply satchel, she produced a large hooded robe and put it on. With the hood pulled up, face deep in shadow, she was unrecognizable. Leaving Yuffie to watch for Cid in case we were delayed, we proceeded into the town...
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In town, we asked around at various inns and hotels until we found the information needed to take care of the concern Aerith had mentioned. Following the leads, we ended up across the street from a small but well-maintained older home with wooden walls painted blue and a large porch crowded with potted flowers. "Let's go." Aerith said, but I held her back.
"It's still really early morning and we should wait until she's alone." I said. So we waited perhaps ten minutes, until the front door opened and a young brunette rushed out carrying a heavy bag of school textbooks and ran off down the road. Ten minutes more to be sure the girl hadn't forgotten anything she might return for, and I said "Alright, we should be good now."
"Like we discussed?" Aerith asked.
"Yeah."
Together we approached the house, climbed onto the porch, and stood before the door. I knocked twice and waited. After less than a minute a plump elderly woman answered. "Yes?" she asked, glancing back and forth between us.
I cleared my throat and asked "Elmyra Gainsborough?"
The woman eyed me warily, clearly concerned that I might be a threat. Yet it seemed as if she had all but given up on life after being told her daughter had died. She was weary, holding together only for Marlene's sake, and with Marlene gone for the day, well... "Yes that's me. Can I help you?"
"You don't know me ma'am, but I have some very important news for you. Well, more precisely my companion here does." I nodded towards the still disguised Aerith. "If you insist, we can handle this out here. But this is very sensitive information, best kept secret for now. If you'll trust us, we'd like to come inside."
"Did Mr. Tuesti send you?"
"No ma'am, though I do know of him."
Elmyra seemed to waver on her decision for a moment, then waved us in. Inside, we found a cozy well-appointed home. "Mr. Tuesti provided for my needs until I was able to get back on my own feet." She explained. "And yet in my heart I find anger toward him. I know it's wrong. But he was the one who bought me the news... ...About my little girl..." She shook her head, fighting away the tears. "We're inside. What's your news?"
I looked to Aerith, who pulled back the hood over her head. "Hi mom." She whispered.
In seconds, mother and adopted-daughter were in each other's arms, embracing tightly, Elmyra's formerly restrained tears flowing freely. When they finally pulled back from each other, Elmyra asked "But how...? Reeve said that that Sephiroth man, that he had..." she couldn't finish the sentence, instead asking "Why would he lie to me?"
"He didn't actually lie mom." Aerith explained. "I... The truth is that I really was hurt, badly, and it's a long story what happened next but Reeve had a good reason to think I really was dead. In fact, he still thinks I am, though that's going to change in a few hours."
Elmyra nodded curtly. "You're not staying then, I take it?"
"We can't. As dangerous as it is, Sephiroth is still a danger and we're the only ones who can do anything about it."
"I understand..." Elmyra looked to me. "And you are?"
As I introduced myself, Aerith said "We met just outside Midgar... Y/N's the reason I survived Sephiroth's attack."
Hugging me tightly at this news, Elmyra said "Then I owe you more than I can ever repay... Listen, I know you have to go soon, but do you have time for tea?"
"Of course." Aerith said. "I really want to catch up while we can."
"I'd like to stay ma'am." I said, "But this seems like a time for just the two of you. And besides that I need to check on something else." To Aerith I said "Gonna check out the Weaponsellers, see if I can find a new blade. Be back in an hour or so."
As I walked away, I heard a confused Elmyra asking "He lost his weapon?"
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Closing the door behind me, I stood on the porch and thought back to our first visit to Kalm, trying to remember the location of the weapon stores. As I thought, I suddenly heard an unexpected voice from behind. "You require a weapon?" I turned and saw a tall regal woman in golden armor.
"Minerva, I presume?" I asked after recovering from the surprise.
"Indeed. I have a gift for you." She held out a katana unlike any I had seen. At first, all I could see was the handle, with a series of eight paired Materia slots. As I took it in my hand, though, the blade appeared as if out of thin air, shimmering slightly as if illuminated faintly from within. "This is Desperado," Minerva said, "Newly forged to aid in your quest. Much magic has been imbued within; for example the blade was not just invisible, but also intangible. You can place it in that form at will."
"A good 'stealth' mode then."
"The idea precisely. Perhaps of greater importance is this: Do you recall the sword-magic maneuver you attempted against the Materia Keeper?"
I nodded. "I remember that it didn't work as well as I hoped. Aerith exhausted herself to keep the spell energy flowing."
"This blade will not have that problem. It will 'hold' spell energy much longer than other weapons can." Minerva said.
"That could come in handy..." I concentrated on the sword, and as Minerva had said the blade vanished. I cautiously waved a hand through the space the blade would occupy, but as promised it was indeed intangible as well. Fastening the weapon to my belt, I said "Minerva, thank you. This is a perfect gift, and perfectly timed as well."
"I am glad you are pleased."
Thinking of another concern, I said "As long as you're here, may I ask a question? When Aerith closed Sephiroth's portal, a big chunk of Masamune got sheared off and left behind. I took it home for safekeeping, but it vanished..."
"I took the artifact away." Minerva explained. "I had use of it."
"Use?" I asked, still not understanding.
"The fragment was re-forged into a new weapon."
I understood. "This!? That's what you've given me!?"
"You are upset. I apologize if the blade's provenance is unsettling."
"Unsettling? That's an understatement. I mean, my god, he hadn't even washed her blood off of it. All that time later and it was still on there. We're talking about the weapon that nearly took her away from me, and you're asking me to use it?"
"Yes, I am." Minerva answered dispassionately. "The weapon itself is neither good nor evil. No inanimate object is. All depends on how it is used. Consider this, and consider also the ultimate irony, the poetic justice, of delivering to Sephiroth defeat courtesy of the very tool with which he sought his ultimate triumph..."
I turned, intending to reply, but Minerva was gone. Sitting on the porch stoop, I took her advice to consider the things she had said...
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Two hours later, I still sat thinking when Aerith joined me. Sitting at my side she asked if I had been there all along and I told her what had happened. Intrigued, she said "Well, if nothing else, Minerva is right about the whole poetic justice aspect..."
"I suppose so."
"I know so... Let me see it."
I removed the weapon from my belt and activated the blade. "Wow." Aerith said, looking it up and down, "That's impressive. I can actually feel the magic stored up inside."
"Knowing what this is, you think I should use it?"
"Under the circumstances, I think it'd be foolish not to."
Nodding, I finally said "Yeah... Yeah I guess so."
I stood and helped Aerith up, and we started back towards where Yuffie was waiting. As we walked I asked "So how was the family reunion?"
"Good. It's been so long since I saw her, we had so much to catch up on... I could've stayed all day and barely scratched the surface. I'm glad to see her happy again, you could tell how bad she seemed to be before. She agreed not to tell even Marlene, though there's no way the girl won't know something's up just from her mood."
I chuckled and asked "Did you tell her about us?"
"Are you kidding? No, I think one big piece of news at a time is enough."
"You're probably right there.
"Totally."
As we reached the edge of town, Aerith removed the disguise she had wore and we continued on to where Yuffie was waiting. "Good timing." The ninja said. "Cid's a little early." She pointed and looking in that direction I saw, in the distance, the approaching Highwind.
I reached out and Aerith took my hand. "Here we go..."