Chapter 1: The Awakening
So cold…
Where am I?
Didn't I… Die?
Lovely doe green eyes fluttered open lazily and the young girl shook her head slowly to rouse herself from what seemed to be… An eternal slumber. Raising a slender hand to her throbbing head, she felt a sharp tug on her tender skin that made her gasp in pain, resulting in a stream of bubbles escaping from her lips and bitter tasting liquid pouring into her mouth.
What the?
Didn't I… Die?
Where… Am I?
Quickly, she scanned her surroundings to find herself floating in a cryogenic tube, with wires and tubes attached to her arms and legs, her long honey brown hair floating and cloaking her naked form like an angel's halo. The tubes were filled with a glowing green liquid that seemed to pulsate as it coursed into her skin, somehow enabled her to breathe. The girl began to struggle, her eyes a torrent of emotion… Fear, confusion, longing.
Cloud…
She thought in pained longing, as salty tears escaped her eyes and disappeared in the transparent pale green fluid that held her captive. The lab she was in lay empty, with a lone scientist lying dead on the floor, his worn face a mask of sheer terror as he lay in a pool of his own blood. What had happened to him, she could not care less. The young girl sighed inwardly and touched the wires attached to her arm gently, closing her eyes and trying to recall what had happened to her.
Kissing Cloud's forehead as I left for the Forgotten City…
Feeling the fresh crunch of twigs and grass, and the sharp smell of pine as I ran through the silence of the sleeping forest…
Reverently walking past the abandoned houses, shaped like beautiful conch shells, uttering silent prayers for my dearly departed Ancient ancestors…
Kneeling before the altar, focusing all my hopes and magical power to summon Holy…
Hearing the soft pad of footsteps and opening my eyes to see Cloud, the man that haunted my dreams every night…
Smiling at him as I felt my summoning success…
Pain… So raw…
Looking down to see a long blade glinting through my abdomen, slickly red in my blood…
Another slicing pain, more painful and deliberate than the one before as I felt the blade slide out my back…
So cold… My body… So numb.
Looking up teary eyed at my fading vision of Cloud as my body went limp and falling into his arms… Dead…
A splitting migraine hit her temples, as she thrashed fiercely in the cryogenic tube
Why why why why why why why?
I want to see him.
Her eyes flashing with determination, she yanked the tubes and needles out of her arms and legs, the stinging pain and the crimson red of her blood floating through the green liquid fuelling her fire. The glowing green liquid escaped the tubes and flowed into the solution that surrounded her, and finally she heard the cry of souls. Lifestream…
No… The consistency was different… It was pained… So pained.
Mako!
Panicked, she pounded furiously against the thick glass. "Let me out!" she screamed, her cries muffled by an onslaught of bubbles gurgling from her mouth. An alarm sounded in the distance, red lights flashing from her rebellion against her prison, but there was no one there to respond to the shrill siren.
Dainty fists pounding relentlessly against the now cracked glass, her knuckles bled white. The once clear green fluid was turning red.
My Blood…
Oh Cloud…
It's inconsequential…
My injuries are of meagre import…
I will prevail…
Nothing undermines my resolve to attain my purpose…
Cloud… I'm searching for you… I want to see you again…
PAIN IS NEGLIGIBLE!
And with a final thrust, tears brimming her eyes from the pain, the thick glass sundered, followed by a rush of bloodied fluid as she tumbled forward, sprawled on the soaked floor. The girl lay there a while, her chest heaving from her exertions and slowly hauled herself up into a sitting position, her long legs skimming across the floor and folding gracefully.
My wounds… How?
Staring at her bloodied palms, she realised her injuries were already healing; the gashes and pierces of raw flesh were closing to form pink scars which flattened to smooth lightly tanned skin…
What happened to me?
Staggering forward, she limped towards the full length mirror leaning against the cold walls and gasped at the sight that invaded her eyes.
Her once green eyes, once the colour of nature's spring now held a queer glow. "Mako eyes" she whispered weakly, coughing slightly from her weakened state. Slender fingers trailed across the flat planes of her stomach along a long, clean scar. "My death… How?"
She wondered, wincing slightly at the sensitivity of the white gash.
Cloud…
Her long honey hair dripping, she raised her head to her reflection and leaned her flushed face against cool surface.
A second chance at life…
"I am Aeris Gainsborough…Child of the planet…"