Final Fantasy VII Web Novels

The Story

Cloud and the others found themselves in what appeared to be the sewers. Tifa said it was too late for them to stop Shinra now but Aeris wasn't going to give up hope. Hearing that, Tifa regains her confidence and they make their way to Sector Seven where the pillar is.

The fighting had already started. Barret and the rest of the Avalanche team was up there on the pillar defending it from the Shinra. A crowd had gathered just outside the fencing around the pillar. Just as Cloud and the others arrived, Wedge gets knocked off the pillar. Aeris is left to look after him and to get Marlene out of Seventh Heaven. Tifa asks everyone to evacuate out of Sector Seven as she and Cloud made their way up to help Barret. The other two members of Avalanche Biggs and Jessie were also heavily injured as they clung onto the stairs leading up to the top.

The Shinra were attacking from a helicopter. Barret was trying his best to fend them off. He was glad when he saw Tifa and Cloud arrive. Just then, the helicopter flew by as Reno dropped in by the control panel on the pillar. He activated the Emergency Plate Release System and wasn't going to let them stop it. No one was going to get in the way of the Turks.

Reno fights them long enough for the other Turks to do their jobs before leaving. Tifa runs over and tries to stop the system countdown but she couldn't. The helicopter swoops in again. It was Tseng, another member of the Turks and he had Aeris with him. He had finally completed their mission in capturing the last Ancient, Aeris but it wasn't before she could take Marlene to a safe place. Tseng flew away with Aeris on the helicopter.

Barret looks around the pillar to see how they could escape and finds a dangling wire from a crane. All three of them grabbed hold of the line as explosions occurred all over the pillar. The huge plate above comes crashing down just as they swing out of the Sector Seven gate. The Shinra president watched from the safety of his window high up at Shinra HQ.

It was a while before Cloud, Barret and Tifa steadied themselves. There was nothing beyond the gate in the playground now. Just a large pile of rubble. Barret cried out in fury and sorrow as he runs up to the rubble, shooting furiously everywhere. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie didn't make it. The Avalanche members were dead now. Fortunately, Aeris may have managed to save Marlene. Barret was still furious at how far the Shinra went to get at them. He started to feel that everyone who died in Sector Seven was their fault. But as he thought it over, it was really all the Shinra's fault. Their fault for draining the planet of its life so that they could fill their pockets with gold. There was no time. They had to move on. Cloud was the first to go away with Barret following close behind. With one last look at the rubble, Tifa follows after Cloud and Barret.

Cloud was going to help Aeris but before that, he wanted to find out about the Ancients. A voice came to mind again claiming he had the blood of the Ancients streaming in him. Cloud recognised it as Sephiroth's voice. He decided he would head back to Aeris' home and find out more from Elmyra, her mother. She already knew what happened to Aeris. The Shinra took her from the house. She goes on to explain that she wasn't Aeris' real mother. Aeris was the sole survivor of a race known as the Ancients.

Fifteen years ago, she had received a letter from her husband who was help fighitng in the war in Wutai. One day, a letter came saying that he was coming back on leave but he never did. Even so, Elmyra went to the station everyday until one day, she saw a women lying on the stairs with a little girl. Just before she died, she asked Elmyra to take her little girl, Aeris to a safe place. Since Elmyra had no children of her own and her husband wasn't coming back, she decided to take care of Aeris. They got along very well and talked about everything together. Elmyra learned how Aeris and her mother had escaped a research laboratory. Now her mother had returned to the planet. Elmyra didn't understand what she meant and thought she meant a star. It wasn't though and Aeris was referring to the planet they were on.

Not long after, Aeris said another odd thing to her. She told Elmyra not to cry and that someone dear to her had died, returning to the planet. Elmyra didn't believe her until one day, a notice arrived saying that her husband had died. But Elmyra was happy with their life. One day, one of the Turks Tseng arrived at their house wanting to take Aeris back. It was then that Elmyra learned Aeris was an Ancient. Although Tseng claimed she had special powers Aeris denied it. Aeris tried so hard to hide those powers that being the nice person Elmyra was, she pretended not to notice even though she knew it was true.

Cloud's amazed at how Aeris managed to avoid the Shinra for all these years. This time she was caught while trying to save Marlene, though. She agreed to go back with them in exchange for Marlene's safety. Knowing that, both Barret and Tifa felt it was their fault. After Barret went upstairs to see his daughter quickly, he came back down and asked Elmyra to take care of Marlene for a little longer. He was going to go help save Aeris after what she's done for him. Tifa was going to go too. First they had to find a way to Shinra HQ since there were no trains heading that way now. Tifa decided it was best if they went to the Wall Market. They would probably find something there.

Just outside Don's mansion, a group of kids was really excited about something. Cloud and the others follow them to find a large wire leading all the way to the top plate. Cloud thought it was crazy but Barret thought it was a line of hope. It was the only way they were going to save Aeris.

Climbing up the wire, they could see the ruins of Sector Seven. There was nothing but rubble apart from odd glow of flames. Many obstacles barred their way as they made their way up but they finally reached the Shinra HQ. They had to infiltrate the building and go through over sixty floors. It wasn't going to be an easy task with the kind of security they had in place.

Upon reaching the sixty-sixth floor, they overheard the employees that an executive meeting was taking place. Cloud and the others decided to sneak in through an airduct to see what it was all about.

Reeve was giving a report about the financial loss of Sector Seven but the president wasn't planning on rebuilding the town. He was planning to leave it as it was and restart their Neo-Midgar plan. Just then, a scientist by the name of Hojo entered. He was reporting about the specimen Aeris and how his research about her was going. At the moment, he was comparing her to her mother Infalna. She was part of the key in unlocking the way to the Promised Lands and the president was keen on getting it done soon.

As the meeting ended, Cloud and the others decided to follow Hojo. They were sure he would lead them to Aeris. Following him onto the next floor, Hojo stopped by another specimen, a lion-like creature trapped inside a glass chamber. He gave it a little inspection before he moved on. Something caught Cloud's attention at the side. There was another sphere shaped chamber that had a glass window on the door. It was glowing a vivid pink colour. It was labelled "Jenova". As Cloud peered in, the same pain he felt during the times he was near the reactors throbbed in his head. Barret had a look too. It looked a some kind of alien organism with its head gone. They decided to move on since Aeris wasn't anywhere to me found. An small elevator was nearby so they took it to the next floor.

On the next floor, they found Aeris inside the same glass chamber. Hojo wasn't surprised at all or feared the intruders. He ignored them and continued his experiment as the lion-like creature was raised into the chamber. Aeris cried out to Cloud for help as the creature growled at her. Barret stood in and shot at the glass with his gun. There was a sudden burst of gas in within the glass chamber as Hojo panicked at his precious specimens. He opened the door and got a surprise attack from the creature. Now was their chance to get Aeris out of there. As they made their way out, they were surprised when the creature talked introducing itself as Red XIII. It wasn't his real name but that's what he was named by Hojo. Red apologized to Aeris about his behaviour earlier on. He only did it to get Hojo off guard.

They were just about to escape on the elevator but it was too late. The Turks, Rude and Tseng along with a large number of soldiers already had them cornered. They were lead to see the president. All of them stood before the president apart from Aeris. The president explained how she was an Ancient, known as the Cetra long ago. They lived for thousands of years but were now forgotten. Red XIII seemed to know about the Cetra and was a little surprised that Aeris was one of them. She was going to be Shinra's key to the Promised Lands which is expected to be extremely fertile. A land where there is an abundant supply of Mako energy. This was where the president was planning on starting their Neo-Midgar project. That was the last thing they heard before being lead away by Rude to their cells.