unfinished history for that one app
Seriously, I don't think I am ever going to write a game application ever again. This one's completely sucked out my soul, and I've put in way too many research hours into this.
Word count for this segment alone: 3367
History: Canon History is here. History pre-Crucible can be found here and here.
When the string gate snapped her up and brought her to the Crucible, or rather the planet that the Crucible had crash landed on, she wandered Eos like a wraith in the night, her mutterings fueling the fears caused by something in the air. She tried to tell people not to listen to them, but no one heeded her. Aerith tried to warn them, but her words fell on deaf ears. Less than a month after her arrival, the black hole swallowed up the planet, and Aerith was sure she would die. Hoping for and yet terrified of the darkness and what it would mean for her Planet.
Only she didn't die. She awoke aboard the repaired Crucible in the depths of space. Without the murmurs of a planet nearby, Aerith panicked. Only with the aid of Vergil son of Sparda and his solemn patience did she calm down, and fell into a melancholy silence. The ship offered no comforts to her, most of the residents had either forgotten her with the reset or feared her in some way. Her voice gave even some of the most battle-hardened fighters shivers when she spoke, and it was difficult for her to find a place to fit in. To be needed.
Most of the strange occurrences on board the ship had little effect on her. When she didn't use her eyes to see, things like holosuite malfunctions were given little attention. She wandered the halls in a vague fog, occasionally offering insight or suggestions to those around her whether they asked for it or not. One of the first people that began to see past Aerith's cryptic speech and horrifying appearance was Riku. At first repulsed by her, it was his continued attempts at kindness that made her open up to him. Even if she knew things that no one was ever supposed to know, she felt comfortable and safe around Riku. It gave her an anchor for her mind, something to help keep her thoughts in order. Eventually it began to help make her a little more sane, her ramblings less desperate, as her conversations with him began to bring up little memories of home. Riku's presence had helped balance Aerith during her stay.
The last reset was the worst, as it began with the worst nightmares being repeated endlessly. There was nothing Aerith could do except be trapped in a repeating nightmare of Gaia's destruction, only to have her mind and body restored in the anomalies that followed. For the entire rest of her stay, Aerith was the girl she had once been, and was delighted in it. She treasured the time she spent with her friends, trying to help piece together the mystery behind what had happened to the ship. At several points she had even tried to help Ganymede himself, but there was nothing she could do. The damage done to his mind was beyond any repair that she could have made, and that failure haunted her almost as much as her coming return to Gaia. She was afraid to go home, knowing that the machines were set to the exact time, place and physical condition of the person they had brought in. The choice between her own health and mental welfare or the fate of an entire world lay in her hands, but it wasn't a decision she could make.
After saying her goodbyes, she stepped through the gate before she had enough time to let her fears set in.
It was for the best, as Aerith was back to the almost mindless walking she'd been doing before, following a call that was more felt than heard. She needed time and strength she didn't have, and she needed help. This wasn't a task that could be done with one broken mind alone, Aerith didn't have the means to travel the world in the way that would help her make it to the lost Holy Materia in time. The Planet heard her cries, her frantic, mumbled prayers in the night, and it led her to the last person living who knew her name. Reeve Tuesti had taken refuge in Fort Condor after the fall of ShinRa. Their meeting was not a pleasant one, as Reeve was horrified at what had happened to the girl that Hojo had experimented on. It was a meeting that did not go well at first. Once she had calmed down enough to speak, he slowly began to piece together her plea from the frantic words she told him. She needed help, and she needed to travel the Planet as fast as possible. There was only one man who could build vehicles fast enough for their needs, and from his files at ShinRa, Reeve knew exactly who it was. The only problem lay in convincing Cid to help.
On the way to Junon they picked up an attempted pick-pocket, as Aerith caught Yuffie in the act on sheer reflex alone. Startling the girl into submission, Yuffie's decision to follow them despite Aerith's knack for scaring her senseless is one the last Cetra never bothered to delve into. As long as her own objectives were met, she didn't care who followed or didn't. Even so, she knew that one more person would possibly mean the difference between success and failure. In Junon that adage was proven true, as the Sapphire WEAPON rose from the sea to lay waste to the town. Panic flooded the city as the local ShinRa presence was overwhelmed without an organized chain of command, and Sister Ray was not ready for use. Reeve and Yuffie watched in horror as Aerith abandoned them and moved to meet the creature before it could attack, calling to it in a language that had been considered dead for centuries. What happened next was hard to describe for those that witnessed it, as the wraith of a girl raised her hands towards the titan and the thing came to a halt.
For Aerith it was different. Using the Lifestream as a medium between herself and Sapphire, she latched onto its Lifestream and spoke to it. The words of her people filled her as she needed them, and she spoke the words of power and desperation to the WEAPON. Begging and pleading with it, she rocked on her feet as she slowly coaxed it into standing down. Yes, the humans were wounding the Planet, but there was a far greater enemy still. One that she needed Sapphire's help to defeat. She needed more time, she needed the rest of the WEAPONs, the time for their purpose had come. She needed them. Gaia needed them. The WEAPON was reluctant, but after much time and effort, it was convinced. Turning away from the city, it retreated into the depths of the ocean, awaiting her call to strike the northern crater with its brethren. As Reeve and Yuffie looked on in awe at the retreating form, Aerith collapsed, exhausted from the strain.
With their lives spared for another day, Reeve collected Aerith and took the fastest ship to Costa Del Sol. Even with Aerith unconscious, he knew she would be frantic unless they were drawing closer to their goal. Her sleep was restless and filled with nightmares of JENOVA and ShinRa labs, forcing Yuffie and Reeve to take turns watching over her so that she wouldn't injure herself or anyone else in her sleep. The moment the ship docked in the resort town's harbor Aerith was awake, still exhausted but trying to press on regardless of her body's rapidly declining health. To stop her from injuring herself further, Reeve acquired a car and followed Aerith's halting instructions onward.
Feeling the pull of a strong cluster of 'whispers' they come to the town of Nibelheim, where Aerith abandoned the car to follow the sounds. The town was almost overwhelming with the voices of the past, growing louder and louder as she approached the Shin-Ra Mansion. Ignoring any threats between her and her goal, Aerith pressed onward with Reeve and Yuffie following anxiously behind. With her ability to stop creatures dead in their tracks to aid them, they slipped deeper into the bowels of the mansion before uncovering the path to the basement. Feeling closer to the whispers with every step, Aerith followed them blindly until she nearly tripped over a lone coffin. Not heeding Yuffie or Reeve's warnings and reservations, she shoved the lid aside and awoke the sleeping figure that lay within. Vincent Valentine was less than pleased to be dragged back into the land of the living by the girl that hovered over him, but when he began to speak Aerith cut his words off short. There would be time for speeches later, the WEAPON was coming.
She left before anyone had time to react to her cryptic message, leaving them behind as she made her way back to the surface. The sound of Diamond WEAPON's distant roar shook the very foundation of the Mansion, and sent the others hurrying after Aerith with the newest and most begrudging member of the party in tow. Aerith had been muttering of Sephiroth and Hojo, and the Shin-Ra brand on the back of her left hand had been enough for Vincent to realize that Hojo's experiments had continued after Vincent had been locked away, and the desire for vengeance was what drove him to follow the sickly girl and her companions to the surface. When they made it, Aerith was already far ahead of them, slipping into another trance as she calmed the raging WEAPON. Again she spoke the words of power, praying and pleading with the beast as she had with Sapphire. Time stood still for her as the minutes slipped by with agonizing slowness for the others, yet once again, Aerith prevailed. In her mind she could feel Diamond seethe, could feel its need for its purpose to be fulfilled. Soon, she promised it, soon. She needed time to find the others, Holy needed to be found.
Diamond WEAPON retreated with a deafening cry, and Aerith felt it reaching out to find the white materia that had been lost with its own senses. They were running out of time. As Aerith collapsed, Reeve caught her and carried her to the car, explaining what little he knew to Vincent along the way. As much as they were loathe to admit it, the girl was the key to stopping everything from being destroyed, whether it was by Meteor or JENOVA or the fiery wrath of the WEAPONs themselves. It was a dangerous gamble, made worse by Aerith's continuously declining health. They made their way to Rocket City as fast as they dared, with Reeve and a reluctant Yuffie taking turns to care for Aerith and try to get her to eat and drink, or even accept a potion. It was a hard job made even harder by Aerith's fear of anything edible that she didn't get herself, but it became a little easier the more she began to trust them.
The path to the end was drawing closer with every mile, and with their arrival in Rocket Town Aerith began to show the first signs of hope breaking through her shattered speech. When Reeve approached Cid about gaining his help, things quickly began to go downhill until Aerith stepped in. In an odd moment of clarity, she explained what needed to be done and why she needed help. Admitting that it may not even work, she was unwavering in the knowledge that it needed to be done even if she had to walk the whole way herself. Meteor was coming, and no amount of running away or hiding was going to change that. Stunned into silence by her words, they couldn't help but stare as she walked out again. In that moment they all made a decision, they were going to help. Even if they did say so with no small amount of arguing or surly muttering involved.
With the aid of Cid and the Tiny Bronco they set out again, this time with Aerith leading them to the WEAPONS. Ruby WEAPON was next, and with it Aerith discovered that the white materia was still near what little remained of the Temple of the Ancients. Sephiroth, knowing that he could not destroy the materia itself, had flung it into the ocean. It was so deep that they would need the aid of Emerald, and to get to Emerald they would need to return to Junon. Stopping to collect the living doll Cait Sith along the way to Junon, they headed back to the port city. With the city still in confusion it was easy to slip in, and with Aerith edging closer into desperation she was not above knocking men unconscious so they could hijack a submarine. With three other WEAPONS already on their side, Emerald was more easily convinced to submit to the last Cetra guardian. With the last of her strength before she collapsed, Aerith begged Emerald to seek out the white materia that was just beyond her reach. Knowing what it was she asked of it, and how deeply the Planet itself needed the task done, Emerald went without protest, disappearing into the depths.
With the unconscious girl in hand, they returned to the surface, trading the Tiny Bronco for the airship Highwind as it suited their needs better. There Aerith began to recover as she was tended to while she rested, old injuries healing and a little weight gained. It wasn't enough, but it would last her a while longer. Long enough for Emerald to return with Holy tenderly grasped in its monsterous claws and for Aerith to break down sobbing with relief. It had been such a long and hard road, but now was the turning point. With this milestone reached, she could not delay any more. The rest of the WEAPONs needed summoning, and Sephiroth needed to be found.
The search for Ultimate WEAPON lead them all across the planet, with Aerith working as a living compass to point them in the direction of its restless Lifestream. Even in sleep her fingers would point toward it, with the Holy materia clutched tight in her grasp. Many times they met it, and Aerith would speak to it, explaining why they needed its help. Many times it flew away to the girl's frustration and growing anxiety, but on their last encounter, Aerith discovered why. Ultimate WEAPON had brought with it the last of the WEAPONs, and they would fight for the last Cetra and the Planet. Aerith had won the fight for humanity's survival in the Weapon's minds, convincing them that the humans had never realized what they were doing. As long as the reactors were no longer put to such uses like they had in Midgar and Nibelheim, the Weapons would leave the humans alone.
With the seven WEAPONs following Aerith's instructions, the group made for the Northern Continent. Time was of the essence now that they had what they needed, and Aerith returned to the land her people had once called home. The entire trip she prayed and pleaded, rocking over the pale materia in her hands after she had impressed upon Yuffie that she was not allowed to take it under any circumstances. Something was barring the Planet from summoning Holy, even though it could hear her cries for help. Sephiroth. Fury filled her as it never had before, realizing that with JENOVA's help he was stopping her from completing her task. Knowing that Sephiroth lay in the northern crater, Aerith lead the WEAPONs there and was ready to bid her new companions goodbye. She did not expect them to be ready to fight alongside her, and their vehement rejection of the idea would have moved her to happy tears had she been in full control of herself. Instead they dove deep into the crater, with Aerith using her powers to protect and restore them as they went, with heavy storm clouds brewing over the gaping hole in the earth.
It was a long and hard fight to the bottom, but harder still was the fight they faced in its depths. JENOVA and Sephiroth were set out to destroy Aerith and the white materia at all costs, but with the aid of the WEAPONs and the determination of the few that had promised to help Aerith, the battle was won. With Sephiroth and JENOVA both destroyed, the WEAPONs turned their attention to the skies as Holy was unleashed. The sacred word was spoken, but it wasn't enough. With a scream of pain and terror, echoing the myriad voices of the lifesteam itself, Aerith tapped into the power of the Planet and released the Lifestream, begging for its aid to strengthen the power of the spell. It still wasn't enough, but the WEAPONs had not been created for nothing. They rose up, and with their combined strength, Meteor was destroyed.
Beyond exhaustion, Aerith fell to the cold earth and slipped into a deep coma from the trauma of carrying the Lifestream itself to victory. Her mind was a broken place, shattered remains from being so exposed to the full of the Lifestream for so long. The Planet would not let her die after coming so far, but it would take much time for her to mend. Realizing she wasn't gone, she was lifted up by her companions and brought back to the safety of the Highwind. The WEAPONs, realizing their purpose had been fulfilled, returned to their places of rest until they were needed again. Aerith was watched over and tended to where she slept, as taking her to a proper hospital would only exacerbate her fragile mental state if she had woken up during her stay. The wounds she bore were mended, and she began to regain the weight she had lost. Yuffie event tried to untangle Aerith's matted hair while the older girl slept, no matter how frustrating the task was. While her friends put her physical body on the mend, the Lifestream worked to repair the damage it had done to her itself.
Even after a week, when Aerith awoke, she was still a frail shadow in body and spirit, but she was better. Without the roaring sound of the Lifestream filling her head, she found life more bearable. Quiet and subdued with much less outbreaks, the change was enough to surprise her friends. But Aerith still knew she was broken, fragments of her memory reminded her of who she once was, and she began to feel that she could never return to being that person. Despair filled her, and when the Highwind touched down near the Icicle Inn for supplies, Aerith slipped away to head to the Forgotten City. She wanted to find her Promised Land, and separate herself from the agony that filled her. Her body ached, and her mind was like sifting through a box of shattered glass with her bare hands. It was unbearable, and the cool water of the lake beneath the village with its white walls and the old memories of her people murmured to her felt like it called to her. It would be her last sanctuary, and she waded deeper into the water to find them, not realizing the voices she heard calling to her weren't in the Lifestream itself.
Vincent was the first to reach her and drag her screaming from the water, Reeve and Cid not far behind. Cid was the one that lectured her mercilessly for the stunt, while Reeve bundled her in a blanket to ward of the chill. Yuffie and Cait Sith watched on anxiously as the girl's broken sobs petered off into sullen silence. Their words etched into her mind, Aerith mumbled a promise not to try that again. Or make any other attempts to rejoin the Promised Land yet. Taking her back to their camp, Aerith was watched over by each member in turn keeping an eye on her to be sure she kept that promise. Through this she eventually grew to actually know the people who had helped her, learning about them through their actions and not simply the soft whispers of their Lifestreams.
Word count for this segment alone: 3367
History: Canon History is here. History pre-Crucible can be found here and here.
When the string gate snapped her up and brought her to the Crucible, or rather the planet that the Crucible had crash landed on, she wandered Eos like a wraith in the night, her mutterings fueling the fears caused by something in the air. She tried to tell people not to listen to them, but no one heeded her. Aerith tried to warn them, but her words fell on deaf ears. Less than a month after her arrival, the black hole swallowed up the planet, and Aerith was sure she would die. Hoping for and yet terrified of the darkness and what it would mean for her Planet.
Only she didn't die. She awoke aboard the repaired Crucible in the depths of space. Without the murmurs of a planet nearby, Aerith panicked. Only with the aid of Vergil son of Sparda and his solemn patience did she calm down, and fell into a melancholy silence. The ship offered no comforts to her, most of the residents had either forgotten her with the reset or feared her in some way. Her voice gave even some of the most battle-hardened fighters shivers when she spoke, and it was difficult for her to find a place to fit in. To be needed.
Most of the strange occurrences on board the ship had little effect on her. When she didn't use her eyes to see, things like holosuite malfunctions were given little attention. She wandered the halls in a vague fog, occasionally offering insight or suggestions to those around her whether they asked for it or not. One of the first people that began to see past Aerith's cryptic speech and horrifying appearance was Riku. At first repulsed by her, it was his continued attempts at kindness that made her open up to him. Even if she knew things that no one was ever supposed to know, she felt comfortable and safe around Riku. It gave her an anchor for her mind, something to help keep her thoughts in order. Eventually it began to help make her a little more sane, her ramblings less desperate, as her conversations with him began to bring up little memories of home. Riku's presence had helped balance Aerith during her stay.
The last reset was the worst, as it began with the worst nightmares being repeated endlessly. There was nothing Aerith could do except be trapped in a repeating nightmare of Gaia's destruction, only to have her mind and body restored in the anomalies that followed. For the entire rest of her stay, Aerith was the girl she had once been, and was delighted in it. She treasured the time she spent with her friends, trying to help piece together the mystery behind what had happened to the ship. At several points she had even tried to help Ganymede himself, but there was nothing she could do. The damage done to his mind was beyond any repair that she could have made, and that failure haunted her almost as much as her coming return to Gaia. She was afraid to go home, knowing that the machines were set to the exact time, place and physical condition of the person they had brought in. The choice between her own health and mental welfare or the fate of an entire world lay in her hands, but it wasn't a decision she could make.
After saying her goodbyes, she stepped through the gate before she had enough time to let her fears set in.
It was for the best, as Aerith was back to the almost mindless walking she'd been doing before, following a call that was more felt than heard. She needed time and strength she didn't have, and she needed help. This wasn't a task that could be done with one broken mind alone, Aerith didn't have the means to travel the world in the way that would help her make it to the lost Holy Materia in time. The Planet heard her cries, her frantic, mumbled prayers in the night, and it led her to the last person living who knew her name. Reeve Tuesti had taken refuge in Fort Condor after the fall of ShinRa. Their meeting was not a pleasant one, as Reeve was horrified at what had happened to the girl that Hojo had experimented on. It was a meeting that did not go well at first. Once she had calmed down enough to speak, he slowly began to piece together her plea from the frantic words she told him. She needed help, and she needed to travel the Planet as fast as possible. There was only one man who could build vehicles fast enough for their needs, and from his files at ShinRa, Reeve knew exactly who it was. The only problem lay in convincing Cid to help.
On the way to Junon they picked up an attempted pick-pocket, as Aerith caught Yuffie in the act on sheer reflex alone. Startling the girl into submission, Yuffie's decision to follow them despite Aerith's knack for scaring her senseless is one the last Cetra never bothered to delve into. As long as her own objectives were met, she didn't care who followed or didn't. Even so, she knew that one more person would possibly mean the difference between success and failure. In Junon that adage was proven true, as the Sapphire WEAPON rose from the sea to lay waste to the town. Panic flooded the city as the local ShinRa presence was overwhelmed without an organized chain of command, and Sister Ray was not ready for use. Reeve and Yuffie watched in horror as Aerith abandoned them and moved to meet the creature before it could attack, calling to it in a language that had been considered dead for centuries. What happened next was hard to describe for those that witnessed it, as the wraith of a girl raised her hands towards the titan and the thing came to a halt.
For Aerith it was different. Using the Lifestream as a medium between herself and Sapphire, she latched onto its Lifestream and spoke to it. The words of her people filled her as she needed them, and she spoke the words of power and desperation to the WEAPON. Begging and pleading with it, she rocked on her feet as she slowly coaxed it into standing down. Yes, the humans were wounding the Planet, but there was a far greater enemy still. One that she needed Sapphire's help to defeat. She needed more time, she needed the rest of the WEAPONs, the time for their purpose had come. She needed them. Gaia needed them. The WEAPON was reluctant, but after much time and effort, it was convinced. Turning away from the city, it retreated into the depths of the ocean, awaiting her call to strike the northern crater with its brethren. As Reeve and Yuffie looked on in awe at the retreating form, Aerith collapsed, exhausted from the strain.
With their lives spared for another day, Reeve collected Aerith and took the fastest ship to Costa Del Sol. Even with Aerith unconscious, he knew she would be frantic unless they were drawing closer to their goal. Her sleep was restless and filled with nightmares of JENOVA and ShinRa labs, forcing Yuffie and Reeve to take turns watching over her so that she wouldn't injure herself or anyone else in her sleep. The moment the ship docked in the resort town's harbor Aerith was awake, still exhausted but trying to press on regardless of her body's rapidly declining health. To stop her from injuring herself further, Reeve acquired a car and followed Aerith's halting instructions onward.
Feeling the pull of a strong cluster of 'whispers' they come to the town of Nibelheim, where Aerith abandoned the car to follow the sounds. The town was almost overwhelming with the voices of the past, growing louder and louder as she approached the Shin-Ra Mansion. Ignoring any threats between her and her goal, Aerith pressed onward with Reeve and Yuffie following anxiously behind. With her ability to stop creatures dead in their tracks to aid them, they slipped deeper into the bowels of the mansion before uncovering the path to the basement. Feeling closer to the whispers with every step, Aerith followed them blindly until she nearly tripped over a lone coffin. Not heeding Yuffie or Reeve's warnings and reservations, she shoved the lid aside and awoke the sleeping figure that lay within. Vincent Valentine was less than pleased to be dragged back into the land of the living by the girl that hovered over him, but when he began to speak Aerith cut his words off short. There would be time for speeches later, the WEAPON was coming.
She left before anyone had time to react to her cryptic message, leaving them behind as she made her way back to the surface. The sound of Diamond WEAPON's distant roar shook the very foundation of the Mansion, and sent the others hurrying after Aerith with the newest and most begrudging member of the party in tow. Aerith had been muttering of Sephiroth and Hojo, and the Shin-Ra brand on the back of her left hand had been enough for Vincent to realize that Hojo's experiments had continued after Vincent had been locked away, and the desire for vengeance was what drove him to follow the sickly girl and her companions to the surface. When they made it, Aerith was already far ahead of them, slipping into another trance as she calmed the raging WEAPON. Again she spoke the words of power, praying and pleading with the beast as she had with Sapphire. Time stood still for her as the minutes slipped by with agonizing slowness for the others, yet once again, Aerith prevailed. In her mind she could feel Diamond seethe, could feel its need for its purpose to be fulfilled. Soon, she promised it, soon. She needed time to find the others, Holy needed to be found.
Diamond WEAPON retreated with a deafening cry, and Aerith felt it reaching out to find the white materia that had been lost with its own senses. They were running out of time. As Aerith collapsed, Reeve caught her and carried her to the car, explaining what little he knew to Vincent along the way. As much as they were loathe to admit it, the girl was the key to stopping everything from being destroyed, whether it was by Meteor or JENOVA or the fiery wrath of the WEAPONs themselves. It was a dangerous gamble, made worse by Aerith's continuously declining health. They made their way to Rocket City as fast as they dared, with Reeve and a reluctant Yuffie taking turns to care for Aerith and try to get her to eat and drink, or even accept a potion. It was a hard job made even harder by Aerith's fear of anything edible that she didn't get herself, but it became a little easier the more she began to trust them.
The path to the end was drawing closer with every mile, and with their arrival in Rocket Town Aerith began to show the first signs of hope breaking through her shattered speech. When Reeve approached Cid about gaining his help, things quickly began to go downhill until Aerith stepped in. In an odd moment of clarity, she explained what needed to be done and why she needed help. Admitting that it may not even work, she was unwavering in the knowledge that it needed to be done even if she had to walk the whole way herself. Meteor was coming, and no amount of running away or hiding was going to change that. Stunned into silence by her words, they couldn't help but stare as she walked out again. In that moment they all made a decision, they were going to help. Even if they did say so with no small amount of arguing or surly muttering involved.
With the aid of Cid and the Tiny Bronco they set out again, this time with Aerith leading them to the WEAPONS. Ruby WEAPON was next, and with it Aerith discovered that the white materia was still near what little remained of the Temple of the Ancients. Sephiroth, knowing that he could not destroy the materia itself, had flung it into the ocean. It was so deep that they would need the aid of Emerald, and to get to Emerald they would need to return to Junon. Stopping to collect the living doll Cait Sith along the way to Junon, they headed back to the port city. With the city still in confusion it was easy to slip in, and with Aerith edging closer into desperation she was not above knocking men unconscious so they could hijack a submarine. With three other WEAPONS already on their side, Emerald was more easily convinced to submit to the last Cetra guardian. With the last of her strength before she collapsed, Aerith begged Emerald to seek out the white materia that was just beyond her reach. Knowing what it was she asked of it, and how deeply the Planet itself needed the task done, Emerald went without protest, disappearing into the depths.
With the unconscious girl in hand, they returned to the surface, trading the Tiny Bronco for the airship Highwind as it suited their needs better. There Aerith began to recover as she was tended to while she rested, old injuries healing and a little weight gained. It wasn't enough, but it would last her a while longer. Long enough for Emerald to return with Holy tenderly grasped in its monsterous claws and for Aerith to break down sobbing with relief. It had been such a long and hard road, but now was the turning point. With this milestone reached, she could not delay any more. The rest of the WEAPONs needed summoning, and Sephiroth needed to be found.
The search for Ultimate WEAPON lead them all across the planet, with Aerith working as a living compass to point them in the direction of its restless Lifestream. Even in sleep her fingers would point toward it, with the Holy materia clutched tight in her grasp. Many times they met it, and Aerith would speak to it, explaining why they needed its help. Many times it flew away to the girl's frustration and growing anxiety, but on their last encounter, Aerith discovered why. Ultimate WEAPON had brought with it the last of the WEAPONs, and they would fight for the last Cetra and the Planet. Aerith had won the fight for humanity's survival in the Weapon's minds, convincing them that the humans had never realized what they were doing. As long as the reactors were no longer put to such uses like they had in Midgar and Nibelheim, the Weapons would leave the humans alone.
With the seven WEAPONs following Aerith's instructions, the group made for the Northern Continent. Time was of the essence now that they had what they needed, and Aerith returned to the land her people had once called home. The entire trip she prayed and pleaded, rocking over the pale materia in her hands after she had impressed upon Yuffie that she was not allowed to take it under any circumstances. Something was barring the Planet from summoning Holy, even though it could hear her cries for help. Sephiroth. Fury filled her as it never had before, realizing that with JENOVA's help he was stopping her from completing her task. Knowing that Sephiroth lay in the northern crater, Aerith lead the WEAPONs there and was ready to bid her new companions goodbye. She did not expect them to be ready to fight alongside her, and their vehement rejection of the idea would have moved her to happy tears had she been in full control of herself. Instead they dove deep into the crater, with Aerith using her powers to protect and restore them as they went, with heavy storm clouds brewing over the gaping hole in the earth.
It was a long and hard fight to the bottom, but harder still was the fight they faced in its depths. JENOVA and Sephiroth were set out to destroy Aerith and the white materia at all costs, but with the aid of the WEAPONs and the determination of the few that had promised to help Aerith, the battle was won. With Sephiroth and JENOVA both destroyed, the WEAPONs turned their attention to the skies as Holy was unleashed. The sacred word was spoken, but it wasn't enough. With a scream of pain and terror, echoing the myriad voices of the lifesteam itself, Aerith tapped into the power of the Planet and released the Lifestream, begging for its aid to strengthen the power of the spell. It still wasn't enough, but the WEAPONs had not been created for nothing. They rose up, and with their combined strength, Meteor was destroyed.
Beyond exhaustion, Aerith fell to the cold earth and slipped into a deep coma from the trauma of carrying the Lifestream itself to victory. Her mind was a broken place, shattered remains from being so exposed to the full of the Lifestream for so long. The Planet would not let her die after coming so far, but it would take much time for her to mend. Realizing she wasn't gone, she was lifted up by her companions and brought back to the safety of the Highwind. The WEAPONs, realizing their purpose had been fulfilled, returned to their places of rest until they were needed again. Aerith was watched over and tended to where she slept, as taking her to a proper hospital would only exacerbate her fragile mental state if she had woken up during her stay. The wounds she bore were mended, and she began to regain the weight she had lost. Yuffie event tried to untangle Aerith's matted hair while the older girl slept, no matter how frustrating the task was. While her friends put her physical body on the mend, the Lifestream worked to repair the damage it had done to her itself.
Even after a week, when Aerith awoke, she was still a frail shadow in body and spirit, but she was better. Without the roaring sound of the Lifestream filling her head, she found life more bearable. Quiet and subdued with much less outbreaks, the change was enough to surprise her friends. But Aerith still knew she was broken, fragments of her memory reminded her of who she once was, and she began to feel that she could never return to being that person. Despair filled her, and when the Highwind touched down near the Icicle Inn for supplies, Aerith slipped away to head to the Forgotten City. She wanted to find her Promised Land, and separate herself from the agony that filled her. Her body ached, and her mind was like sifting through a box of shattered glass with her bare hands. It was unbearable, and the cool water of the lake beneath the village with its white walls and the old memories of her people murmured to her felt like it called to her. It would be her last sanctuary, and she waded deeper into the water to find them, not realizing the voices she heard calling to her weren't in the Lifestream itself.
Vincent was the first to reach her and drag her screaming from the water, Reeve and Cid not far behind. Cid was the one that lectured her mercilessly for the stunt, while Reeve bundled her in a blanket to ward of the chill. Yuffie and Cait Sith watched on anxiously as the girl's broken sobs petered off into sullen silence. Their words etched into her mind, Aerith mumbled a promise not to try that again. Or make any other attempts to rejoin the Promised Land yet. Taking her back to their camp, Aerith was watched over by each member in turn keeping an eye on her to be sure she kept that promise. Through this she eventually grew to actually know the people who had helped her, learning about them through their actions and not simply the soft whispers of their Lifestreams.