Premonitions: Uncut

Chapter 27: Control

IN THE WOODS…

Tseng was alone. He had left the temple, along with all of his antagonists, behind. He couldn't believe it. The phase materia had worked. The sword went right through his body without harming him. The blood had been fake, the trick of a few blood capsules he had bought in Costa del Sol. He had fooled Aerith, Cid, and Cait Sith. He took exceptional pride in fooling Cloud. He even fooled Sephiroth; a difficult feat to pull off.

But there was still one loose end he had failed to tie up. The premonitions. Where were they coming from? Why was he feeling them? Right now, he was simply relieved to be in one piece. Or so he thought…

"Hey you!" called a familiar voice.

Tseng turned to see Elena standing behind him with her arms folded. She looked cross.

"You were in there forever," Elena continued. "I thought something happened to you!"

"Me, too," Tseng said.

"Stop scaring me like that!" Elena complained.

"Sorry," Tseng apologized. "I'll make it up to you."

"Oh really?" asked Elena. "How so?"

Just then, her cell phone rang. She was about to reject the call when she saw whom it was coming from. Reluctantly, she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Elena, I need you back to Junon at once," Tseng heard Rufus' voice command. "We're all boarding the Shinra 2000 in forty-eight hours."

"Understood sir," Elena replied. "Where are we going?"

"Mind your cute little ass, missy," Rufus sneered before he hung up.

"Asshole," Elena muttered as she put her phone away. "Where were we?"

"I owe you a date, don't I?" suggested Tseng.

"That's right," Elena responded with a wink. "Tomorrow night at Junon. Don't be late!"

"I promise I won't," Tseng assured her.

"See you then," she said as she turned and headed back to base.

Tseng was left alone standing in the woods. He pulled a piece of materia out of his pocket. "Phase," he began, "you've served me well, but your services are no longer required. Because you can make me intangible, I didn't take the stabbing I was supposed to, so I don't need you anymore." He placed the phase materia on the ground. "May whoever finds you have as good of a fortune as I did."

Just then, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Tseng!" began Rufus. "Return to Junon immediately. Report to the Shinra 2000 in forty-eight hours."

"Roger that," Tseng replied. "I'll immediately return and…" He stopped. He had to decide how to say it.

"Well, what?" demanded Rufus impatiently.

"Well," continued Tseng, "I'll return and…fuck it, I quit."

He then ended the call.

OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE…

Cloud, Aerith, and Cid watched as the once majestic Temple was reduced to a pit in the ground. All that the pit contained as a dark, black, ominous orb at the center.

Cloud stated what everyone already knew. "That's the Black Materia." He then descended into the put to retrieve it.

"I'm gonna have a smoke out here!" Cid announced as he lit a cigarette and took a puff. "It's really something, having a smoke at a place like this."

Aerith began to follow Cloud down.

"I wonder how many times they've fucked already," Cid muttered to himself.

Cloud reached the bottom and picked up the Black Materia. "As long as we have this, Sephiroth won't be able to use Meteor."

"Nobody can," said Aerith. "You need great spiritual power to use it."

"You mean lots of spiritual energy?" asked Cloud.

"That's right," Aerith replied. "One person's power alone won't do it. Somewhere special. Where there's plenty of the Planet's energy. The Promised Land. But Sephiroth is different. He's not an Ancient. He shouldn't be able to find the Promised Land."

"Ah, but I have!" announced Sephiroth from seemingly nowhere.

Cloud and Aerith looked up to see him hovering above them.

"I'm far superior to the Ancients," Sephiroth continued. "I became a traveler of the Lifestream and gained the knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients. I also gained the knowledge and wisdom of those after the extinction of the Ancients. And soon, I will create the future. I will create it from the Promised Land, which lies beyond the Eternal Wind Barrier at the North Pole!"

"I won't let you do it!" Aerith protested. "The future is not only yours!"

"If you value your life," Sephiroth warned, "you will leave me be." He then joined them at the bottom of the pit.

Suddenly, Cloud dropped to his knees and began to cover his ears. "The noise!"

"What are you doing to him?!" demanded Aerith.

"There, Cloud," cooed Sephiroth. "Good boy." With that, he quickly snatched the Black Materia from Cloud's hands. "Well done," he said as he flew off.

Cloud was now in the fetal position. His body was trembling.

"Cloud, are you all right?" asked Aerith.

"I gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth?" he asked weakly. "What did I do? Tell me, Aerith!"

Aerith took Cloud in her arms and kissed him on the cheek. "My love, be strong, okay?"

"What have I done!?" he whimpered.

Aerith continued to kiss him over and over again. "Cloud, you haven't done anything.
It's not your fault."

Aerith looked up to see if Cid was looking over them. But instead, she saw another familiar face.

"Oops!" greeted the talking cat riding the giant white creature. "This looks like I came at a bad time! I'm Cait Sith Number Two. Right pleased to meet you all!"

Aerith looked down again. Cloud had passed out.

And then, Aerith began to cry. She made every effort to keep her sobbing soft, to keep Cait Sith and Cid from hearing. She briefly looked down on the unconscious Cloud. She briefly stroked his face before kissing him again.

"Cloud," she whispered. "I love you. Don't ever forget that." She solemnly pulled an envelope out of her pocket and placed it into his. "Please don't forget me."

The two above the pit were completely oblivious to what was going on. All they could see was Aerith hovering over Cloud.

"What's going on?" asked Cid.

"Dunno," replied Cait Sith. "Looks like Cloud passed out."

"Is that son of a bitch on drugs?" Cid muttered.

"Doubt it," Cait Sith replied.

And then, the ground began to rumble.

"What the hell's that?" asked Cait Sith as he looked into the sky.

Cid looked up in shock and awe, as did Aerith from the pit.

Above them, the Urchin drifted by.