Final Fantasy VII: The Story 2nd Instalment
Emerald Princess of Vernea
Chapter Three: Confidential
Daughter's Record: 10th Day After Birth
"What are you doing Profes…… I mean, honey?"
"Oh, I'm thinking of taping it on video," the professor replied absently. "But, the video's not working right…"
Ifalna walked into the room to find Professor Gast standing once more by his computer console. The Shinra scientist was leaning over the console and fiddling with some of the flashing lights. After a while he stood up and scratched his head thoughtfully, a puzzled frown on his normally smiling face.
The Ancient smiled as she watched him. It had been only two years since she and the professor had become lovers… only ten days since the birth of their daughter. Professor Gast never looked happier than he did the day his little girl was born in the village of Icicle Inn—except the day Ifalna had confessed her love for him.
The relationship spelled many changes in their lives. They had left Midgar and settled in Icicle Inn, where Gast recorded his reports and sent them to Shinra HQ back in Midgar. When Gast discovered Ifalna was pregnant with their first child, he stopped sending his periodic reports to Midgar. In fact he stopped contacting Shinra completely, focusing his attention solely on Ifalna and their unborn child. Now that the girl was born, Gast had returned to his console.
"What are you going to tape?" Ifalna asked him, a little disappointed that her husband had returned to work. "Is there still something I haven't mentioned?"
Gast shook his head, not turning to look at her. "No, that's not it," he said. He raised his head and sighed in satisfaction. "I'm going to record my beautiful daughter. And when she's sleeping, her face …looks like an angel."
"First, we have to figure out her name," said Ifalna. "We can take the video later!"
"I've already decided!" announced the professor, turning toward his wife. "If it's a girl, then it'll be Aeris. That's that."
Ifalna put her hands on her hips. "You are SO selfish!" she teased. "But Aeris is a good name!" She crossed her arms in thought for a moment, and then giggled helplessly. "Hee hee… it's a good name, considering it came out of that forgetful head of yours!"
"Right!?" exclaimed Gast, then stopped as he realised what she was giggling at. "Oh, the video tape……"
Daughter's Record: 20 Days After Birth
When Ifalna walked into the laboratory and saw Professor Gast yet again by his console, she could not help but scowl. It had only been a matter of hours since the professor's last recording session, in which he'd sat on the floor with their baby girl, playing with her and boasting about every little feature on her pretty face. Her short, thick brown hair, soft eyes, smooth skin… She was perfect, he kept saying.
"Video again?" Ifalna scolded him. "You just got through taping!"
Knowing he was in trouble, Gast shrunk back away from the console, a guilty look on his face. "……Please don't say it that way," he pleaded. He gestured to the stairs leading into the small lower rooms where their daughter slept. "It's our lovely daughter, both yours… and mine! Don't you want to capture her childhood on videotape?"
Putting her hands firmly on her hips, Ifalna shook her head. Gast's pride over his young daughter would never change. She could already imagine him filming every ounce of her young life. Her first words… her first steps… her first love… all of this he would record without a degree of shame.
"If you keep doting on her like that, she won't grow up to be strong…" she warned her love. She clasped her hands together in silent prayer and closed her eyes. "Aeris is different from the other children. I wonder what dangers await her…?"
Professor Gast turned away from Ifalna and walked across the room. "Never say that!" he snapped, making Ifalna jump. "I will protect you and Aeris no matter what!!" The scientist turned back to his beloved wife. "You and Aeris are my only treasures. I'll never let you go!!"
Love filled Ifalna's heart. Now she knew why she had fallen for the strange and peculiar Shinra scientist. Despite his peculiarities and the way he would often get lost in his explanations of past experiments, his favourite until recently being one involving the creature Ifalna had called 'Jenova'… the professor was a caring man whose sole priority was protecting those that he loved. He made her feel safe and secure… something she had rarely felt during her life as the last surviving Ancient on the Planet. Now she was not the last. There were two. Herself… and Aeris.
"I feel so much better now, darling," the Ancient woman replied. "If I hadn't met you, I…" She started to cry.
She stopped suddenly as a pair of hands touched her shoulders. Looking up, she saw Professor Gast standing before her. Their eyes met. Her green eyes stared, shaking, into Professor Gast's darker eyes. Ifalna threw her arms around him, rejoicing when she felt his strong arms wrap around her. She breathed in his scent—slightly metallic from all his work, but she loved it just the same. It was his scent.
They were interrupted from their embrace by a loud knock at the door. The two parted instantly and turned toward the door, surprised at the interruption.
"Who could that—I was just about to…" Professor Gast looked to his wife. "Damn!!" he cursed, slowly pushing his wife away. "How dare they intrude on our 'private time' together?"
"I'll send them away," said Ifalna. "Yes, at once!! Who the devil?"
Ifalna stormed toward the door, determined to send the people who interrupted her intimate moment with her husband away. When she reached the door and pulled it open, the scowl on her face vanished, turning into one of shock… and fear.
"It's, it's them!!"
Ifalna turned and fled from the door, running to hide behind her husband. The pair watched as two Shinra soldiers stormed into the house, kicking the door almost off its hinges even though Ifalna had left it open in her panic. The soldiers ran down the stairs and stopped at the bottom, drawing their rifles and pointing them at the two. Ifalna screamed and hid behind Gast, who stepped in front to shield her.
A flurry of wind and snow swept through the open door as a third figure entered the house. Gast cursed loudly. Ifalna wailed in despair. The man wore a long white coat over a thin frame, with short hair tied back in a single thin ponytail. His small eyes peered around the room with lack of interest, before settling on Gast and Ifalna. He laughed when he saw the two in the middle of the room, their faces pale with fright.
"Heh, heh, heh……" the man laughed mockingly. His laugh came close to a hysterical screech, as though revelling in victory. "I've been searching for you, Ifalna… or should I say, Cetra!" The man turned his gaze from Ifalna to her husband. "Long time no see, Professor Gast!"
"Hojo…" said Gast, spitting out the name as though it was a reviled curse. He did not move an inch from Ifalna's side. "How did you know?"
Professor Hojo stepped forward, glancing again around the room. He noted the computer consoles and piles of papers scattered about the room… and the tiny toys that told of the presence of a young infant. The start of a smirk touched his thin lips, and he turned to look back at the unsuspecting professor and his wife.
"Believe me, I had to turn over a stone or two to find you," he said. Gast sagged in dismay, cursing himself for not being more careful. Hojo turned away. "Two years I waited… That's how much I wanted this new sample…… Ha, ha, ha."
Ifalna suddenly gave a horrified cry before bursting into a sea of tears. Professor Gast put his hand on her shoulder and stared at Hojo in bafflement. Then the image of an innocent baby girl sleeping soundly in her crib flashed through his mind. The professor jumped back, startled, and shook his head.
"…New sample? You don't mean Aeris!?"
"Hmm, Aeris? What a nice name……" said Hojo. He laughed. "Ha, ha, ha."
Professor Gast stared, wondering if the younger scientist was truly serious in his intent to use his own daughter for his own research. Then Gast remembered the scientist's own son, the product of another experiment between him and Dr. Crescent, now a young member of Shinra's elite mercenary force, SOLDIER.
Anger swelled within Professor Gast. Not now. Not ever would Hojo take Ifalna and Aeris from him. Not while he lived. "That's it!" the professor snapped, standing firmly in front of Ifalna. "I'm severing all ties with the Shinra. Hojo, please leave."
The professor made to step forward and vehemently throw the impudent scientist out of his house, when Ifalna ran out from behind him and stood between him and Hojo. The tears had stopped flowing from Ifalna's face, replaced by the sorrowful resolution of the sacrifice she knew she must make. Before Gast could stop her, she knelt on her knees before Hojo and looked up at him through pleading green eyes.
"Please," the Ancient begged him, and grabbed onto Hojo's white lab coat, "Aeris has nothing to do with it! All you want is me, right?"
"Ifalna!" cried Gast. But Ifalna would not listen. She continued to hold onto Hojo's lab coat, gazing up at him intently. She didn't mind being Hojo's lab rat… so long as Aeris continued to remain safe from Shinra's clutch.
Hojo looked down at Ifalna with a look on his face that could almost be described as sympathy. Almost. That expression vanished instantly as hunger and the knowledge that he had the upper hand dominated the situation. He stepped back from Ifalna, who cried and let her hands fall to the floor in defeat.
"I need all of you for my experiment," the man replied simply, and turned to Gast. "You understand don't you, Professor Gast? We can change the future of the Planet!"
Ifalna cried. Professor Gast knelt beside her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. He moved the hair from her face and gently stroked her cheek. "Don't worry, Ifalna," he told her softly. "I'll take care of this!" He stood to face Hojo.
Seeing Professor Gast stand, Hojo sighed heavily. "Please don't put up a fight," he said, waving his hand dismissively. "I don't want any harm to come to my precious sample." Glancing around the room, he finally spotted the video camera in the corner of the ceiling. Its red light was flashing. "Mmm? What a funny looking camera?" He clicked his fingers to one of the soldiers. "Guard! Destroy it!"
The soldier complied, running forward and shooting at the camera. The device crackled and fizzled before exploding, shards of metal and sizzling wiring falling to the floor. There would be no recorded evidence of what was about to happen. The soldiers then began to advance on Gast and Ifalna. Gast stood in front of Ifalna, his arms spread to protect her.
"Be careful with her!!" Hojo warned as the soldiers advanced. There was a manic grin on his lean face. "Ha, ha, ha……"
The soldiers drew closer. One of them reached out and made to grab Ifalna from behind Gast. Crying out in rage, Professor Gast grabbed the soldier's arm and pulled him close, punching him hard in the stomach. The soldier grunted loudly, crumpling to the floor and clutching his midsection. His rifle dropped to the floor. Quickly Gast bent down to retrieve it.
Seeing the gun now in Gast's hand, Hojo began to retreat slowly toward the door. "Wh… what are you doing, Professor!?"
Professor Gast held the rifle in his hands. Turning, he grabbed Ifalna by the shoulder and shoved her to one side, toward the stairs and the room where their daughter still slept. "Ifalna!" he shouted as he pushed her. "Take Aeris and run!!" He turned to Hojo, but before he could take aim the other soldier fired his rifle. Professor Gast fell to the floor, blood leaking from a wound in his heart.
Seeing her dear husband lying dead on the floor, Ifalna screamed. "Eyaaaaaah… Darling……!!"
The two soldiers quickly ran forward and grabbed Ifalna by her arms. At first she did not react, her eyes fixated on the sight of her husband lying dead in a growing pool of blood. Then she started to struggle, kicking and screaming hysterically as the soldiers began to drag her from the house. Hojo watched, smiling, as the woman was taken out of the door.
"Oh, and uh…" Hojo began, suddenly remembering. "Don't forget the child!"
Hojo turned to gaze once more on the home of the late Professor Gast. At first he thought it all useless garbage—remnants of Professor Gast's machines before leaving Midgar. Then he spotted the video recorder, its computer left turned on from when the Professor began his recording. Curiously Hojo pressed a button and scanned the files.
"Hmm, a video?" he murmured. He scrolled down. "The Ancients… Weapon!? Heh, heh, heh… a mountain of treasure!"
Hojo laughed excitedly and glanced down at the dead body of the professor in the middle of the floor. The professor's eyes lay open, staring at him through lifeless pupils.
"Thank you Professor… Ha, ha, ha."
Emerald: And that is this bonus instalment done. I wanted to get it done before moving on. You should all be honoured… five chapters of stuff in one week. You don't see that from me very often! I don't know when this file will be updated again… possibly when I get to Lucrecia's Cave. Which will be some time next year.