Because there were no more sparks flashing in the darkness, no strange winds howling, and no metallic sounds of clashing weapons.
At that moment, the night was terrifyingly black and unnervingly quiet.
Even though Aerith had seen the future, her heart still rose into her throat.
Suddenly, with a sharp bang, a slightly dazzling light shot into the sky. It was a flare Yuffie had fired.
Under the flare's light, two figures came into view.
"That was an enjoyable battle. You truly are stronger than I am. One last thing—if you can, release that poor, pitiful, and hateful woman. Let her live on beneath the weight of her sins."
The voice belonged to Sephiroth, and Aerith knew who he meant.
Sephiroth's birth mother—Lucrecia.
Because of Jenova, Lucrecia's body had developed severe problems, and she had sealed herself inside crystal. In truth, that act had also been a form of running away, an irresponsible escape.
It could be said that she, too, was one of the undeniable causes of Sephiroth's tragedy.
Aerith could sense the complex emotions behind Sephiroth's request.
Part of him wanted revenge. Another part of him still wanted his birth mother to live.
After those words fell, Sephiroth's body began to turn to ash and vanish.
Jenova should have been purged as well.
In truth, if Jenova's destruction of this planet had pushed the world into genuine desperation, then the planet itself would have taken action to destroy all life.
The will of the planet would summon Omega, and born alongside it would be Chaos, a being formed from the Lifestream polluted by the vast amount of negative emotions on the planet—an entity powerful enough to destroy all life on its surface.
After Chaos destroyed every living being, their spiritual energy would return to the Lifestream, and Omega would carry it away from the current planet to seek out the next world.
So when it came to Jenova's invasion, Aerith had her own suspicion.
Jenova was very likely the Omega of some other planet in the cosmos, invading this world in search of a new planet to inhabit.
Aerith had learned the information regarding Omega and Chaos after going to the Temple of the Ancients.
And Hojo, that wicked, mad scientist, had also sensed the existence of Chaos.
Given enough time to research it, he might well have summoned that thing and destroyed the world.
In that case, the threats inside this planet had finally been more or less dealt with.
But that did not mean they could relax completely.
For all they knew, another thing like Jenova might descend upon them someday.
"Be careful, Yuffie!"
That girl really was impatient. She immediately sprinted over.
"Tifa, let's go. Time to welcome our hero back."
"Right."
In the blink of an eye, the hero was fast asleep—and sleeping quite soundly.
Perhaps the atmosphere felt warm and safe, allowing him to rest without worry.
This was Aerith's room in her home in Sector 5. They had already returned.
Inside the room, Yuffie was glaring furiously, her lips making muffled whining sounds.
The reason she could not make herself clearly heard was because her mouth had been blocked.
She herself had been tied to a chair, almost completely unable to move.
The ones who had bound her were none other than Aerith and Tifa.
Yuffie had wanted to carry out her earlier plan, only to be subdued by the two of them instead.
Of course, she had expected the two of them would definitely stay by the sleeping man's side. That was why Yuffie had very kindly brought them a meal, supposedly so they could take better care of him without leaving.
It looked thoughtful on the surface, but in reality, it was her scheme. She had secretly slipped a sedative into the food, enough to make the two of them sleep for quite a while.
And to deceive them, she had eaten with them as well. However, she had an antidote and had taken it in advance.
After watching the two of them fall asleep, Yuffie thought she had succeeded. She was just about to carry out an overly bold prank when the two of them suddenly appeared and pinned her down.
Clearly, the two of them had seen through her intentions long ago. Yuffie just did not know how they had avoided the sedative's effects.
Maybe it was some kind of magic from Aerith. After all, Aerith had obtained some magical knowledge from the Temple of the Ancients.
Afterward, the two of them dressed Yuffie in a strange outfit, tied her to the chair like this, and gagged her.
As for Aerith and Tifa, they were wearing outfits in the same style as hers.
Christmas outfits.
Then they brought over two cardboard boxes.
One was extremely plain. They placed that one over Yuffie, leaving only a small hole so she could see what was happening outside.
The other was a large cardboard box that looked exactly like an oversized gift box.
Aerith and Tifa hid themselves inside that box, then closed the lid.
What were they doing?
"Aerith, about this…"
"Tifa, you still think it would be better to kick Yuffie out, don't you?"
"Ah, that's not what I meant."
"Or are you embarrassed because Yuffie is watching? Don't worry, I'm embarrassed too. Consider it Yuffie's punishment."
How dare she drug them and try to make the first move before they did? Aerith was petty enough to take revenge on Yuffie for that.
"Shh."
Just as Tifa was about to say something, Aerith suddenly gestured for silence.
Because the man who had slept for an entire day was about to wake up.
...
The battle with Sephiroth had felt like fighting a world boss in an online game, one with an absurdly thick health bar.
To deal with that kind of opponent, you had to bring enough red and blue potions, then brute-force the fight by drinking potions until the other side's health bar was finally ground down.
So this was also the first time Kain had ever fought for so long.
He opened his eyes. After a solid sleep, he sat up.
The layout of the room before him told him that he had been brought to Aerith's room.
Of course, he had not collapsed right after the battle ended.
On the way back, Aerith had given him a lap pillow and told him to rest properly. When he woke up, there would be a surprise waiting for him.
Once his head rested on her thighs, that gentle warmth had made him lower every guard and close his eyes.
Now that he was awake, was the surprise she mentioned the large gift box in front of him?
With how sharp his senses were, he could tell there were two sets of breathing inside the large gift box, both slightly quickened.
Behind the large gift box, against the wall, there was another box. A very crude-looking one. There was breathing inside that one too, along with a faint muffled whine.
What kind of surprise was Aerith trying to play on him?
He stepped up to the large gift box. Beside the huge bow tied around it was a heart-shaped note.
The words written on it made him pause.
This is a Christmas gift for Mr. Kain. We hope you'll like it.
This really was an unexpected surprise.
It felt like the kind of scene that should only happen in a story.
He opened the box.
Inside were two blushing girls in Christmas outfits, both looking shy enough to make the moment feel almost unreal.
"Mr. Kain," Aerith said with a playful note in her voice, "next, we're going to make one of your daydreams come true."
"We mean the Christmas scenario from the footage you collected," Tifa added, her voice full of embarrassment. "The one with 'Aerith' and 'Tifa' using stand-ins."
"The difference is that we're real," the two of them said together. "And you're responsible for providing the real response."
That really was a fantasy he had once imagined, and despite himself, his face warmed slightly.
It felt like a dream.
But this was reality.
A fantasy had truly stepped into the real world.
(End of Chapter)
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