Chapter Five: The Plan
“Zexion. There’s something you should know.” Haru leapt out of her hug with Riku and faced me, her eyes wide. “It’s okay. You have the right to know this, my love.” Zexion tilted his head slightly, smiling. “What is it?” I smiled back at him, leaning out of bed slightly and hugging him tightly. “I have to die.” He fell back, the chair hitting the ground. “What?” I smiled back at him, not full of happiness but sorrow. A smile full of…resignation. “I have to die. Either Haru or you has to kill me. That’s what Haru was just talking about. That’s why she left. That’s why… you need to know…” I didn’t cry. I promised myself I wouldn’t, but as Zexion looked at me, his own eyes brimming with tears, it was hard to stop myself. “You can’t! You just can’t!” I ran my fingers through his hair. “It’s going to be alright. This has to happen, or everyone will die, myself included. One way or the other, I have to go. It wouldn’t have been right to go to the end and not telling you, my love.” He just shook his head, over and over, as he cried into his knees.
“You have to promise me something, darling.” I said, my hand on his knee. “Don’t forget me. But move on? I love you, very much, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have to die… There are other people out there, and the best way for you to move on after my death, is to become less attached in my life…” Zexion shot his head up. “No! How can you ask that of me? I could never let you go, I could never stop loving you, you mean the world to me, I just can’t-“ I placed a hand on his cheek. “You have to. It will be easier for you that way. I will never be the only one in your life. But you must understand. You must live, and to truly live you must move on.” He continued shaking his head. He’d understand soon enough. “So, we need to figure out the plan. First we need for Sephiro-” Zexion interrupted. “How can you do this? You speak as if you have no choice, as if life doesn’t even mean anything anymore! You speak as if… you’re already dead…” I smiled back at him, and kissed his hands. “I might as well be. The sooner, the better.”
I watched Zexion dissolve into shaking sobs, still shaking his head, and Gildas comforting him as best as he could. I couldn’t watch anymore, and burrowed my head into Riku’s shoulder. He put one arm around my shoulders, and I clung onto him as though nothing else existed. Gildas cleared his throat to speak, and I stepped back. Riku’s eyes were misty and slightly watery, but my own were dry. Was that bad? Did it mean something? I figured I should be crying at the fact that I was going to have to kill my best and first friend…But I pushed those thoughts away. I had to focus on the task at hand, and probing my thoughts wasn’t going to help my concentration.
“So anyway, the plan,” Gildas began. “What if we just killed Sephiroth?!” Zexion shot out, unable to control himself. Gildas shook his head. “It won’t work. He can’t die while I live. Please, understand that. I have to, and I know it would help me if you understood that, too.” Zexion shook his head again. “No, I won’t accept that; I can’t understand why you have to leave me! Besides, you’re making it sound as though you have to.”
“Don’t you realise?” I shouted angrily. “If it was you, how would you be feeling? Wouldn’t you want to live, seeing as he has so much to live for? This must have been so hard for Gildas to come to terms with – he’s never going to see you or Lindblum again! So clearly, he’s been thinking it over and over, and he’s realised that he has no choice! This is something he has to do, for the good of everyone else. So stop thinking about how this affects you, and consider for just one minute what Gildas must be feeling!” I was shocked by my sudden outburst, and fell into silence once more, sinking down to sit on the uncomfortable floor.
As Zexion began to cry once more, I began to speak for a third time. “Anyway, back to the matter at hand. We need to lure Sephiroth out, surprise him, I’ll use Neo Bahamut to stop him, Haru kills me (You might want to try Flare for that), then Haru finishes Sephiroth off. In my will, which I wrote as soon as I became Regent, it clearly states that Haru and Riku are to take over as King and Queen, and Zexion may stay as Chief Advisor if he wishes. All my personal earnings go to Zexion, all my belongings to him also, and all the Kingdom’s wealth remains in the vault, to be opened only by Haru or Riku. Any questions?” Haru shook her head gently, neither Riku nor Zexion spoke. “Good. Now, I have a question: How do we lure Sephiroth here? He has Blank and Misa, and probably Kairi, too. If I get harmed, he will have to come a rescue me. I’ve got it! Once everyone is ready, and I mean ready, we’ll only have one shot at this, please meet me where the dragon landed. The crater will be perfect.
Once Gildas had finished, he led Zexion away gently by the hand. Once the door snapped shut, I looked up at Riku. He was leaning against the wall, eyes closed, face blank, chest heaving. I stood up and walked over to him. He opened his eyes, but didn’t say anything to me. “I guess this is it, right?” I whispered. He nodded slightly, just one rocky jerk of the head. “What if I mess it all up?” I asked shakily. His green eyes sharpened on me, and I shuddered a little. “You won’t,” he said comfortingly, taking my hands. “I have faith in you.” I shook my head.
Riku started for the door, but I pulled him back. “Before we do this, I wanted to…apologise.” There it was again, that piercing stare he had, with a million silent questions. “The whole thing with Kairi. She and you were good friends, but I didn’t like her. Actually, that’s a bit mild. I hated her, more than I thought I could ever hate anyone. I tried to be friends with her, but it didn’t work…so obviously I didn’t try hard enough.” Riku waved his hand. “You think I care? I don’t mind at all. I don’t like Kairi that much.” I was stunned as Riku plonked himself down onto the bed.
“I don’t like Kairi, but she…she reminded me of the old days. When she and me and Sora would just mess around on the islands, carefree as possible. We were allowed to be kids, still. But now, after all that’s happened, we grew up too fast. I guess having Kairi around just made me think I didn’t have to be a grown-up again.” I smiled gently. “I should have trusted you,” I said quietly, but he shook his head. “I should have given you a reason to trust me.” He always knew just what to say to make me feel better. I hugged him quickly, and then pulled him up. We had a plan to put into action. He and I strode purposefully through Lindblum, and were at the crater before Gildas and Zexion.
“While we’re alone…” Riku said quietly. I looked into his green eyes, and smiled, as he leaned in to kiss me. I had missed him so much, but it was only now that I realised that…
I led Zexion like a crying child through the streets of Lindblum. He stumbled along, wiping his eyes as he went, and passers-by often made comments such as “Is that the Regent?” or “What happened to him?”. Upon reaching the castle, I flashed the Falcon's Claw as proof of my Regency, as my hair was a mess and my robes in tatters. Upon reaching the throne room, I called upon Artania. He entered the room swiftly, and bowed before me. “Your Majesty, everything is running smoothly.” I nodded. “Artania, your job will be over in a few days. Is everything in place?” Artania nodded. “Good. Haru and Riku will take over as King and Queen in the next few days. I need you to active Alpha-Six. Just trust me.” Artania nodded, and left. Zexion knew what I meant, as well. We left the Castle, and just as we did so, a small levitating pad lowered from the Laboratory a few floors up. I jumped on, pulling Zexion up, and entered the co-ordinates for the crash site. We would be there in minutes.
I gasped and clutched Riku’s arm, pointing up to the sky with my other hand. There, on a small electrical pad, were Gildas and Zexion, looking so comfortable that you would think they did this every day. Then again, they might for all I knew. They landed smoothly, and Gildas stepped off. Zexion stumbled off behind him, just managing to right himself before he tumbled to the ground. Maybe they didn’t do this every day after all. We all laughed, but Gildas coughed to command our attention.
“Right. The time to act is now,” Gildas began, staring around impressively. Since he had come back, he was acting more regally again. He had changed his robes, his posture was better, and his voice was harsh and blunt again, as though it was unused to laughing. And Zexion was left to hover in the background anxiously once more. We all stood silently, waiting for Gildas to divulge the finer details of his plan. “We shall need to lure Sephiroth to us,” he continued.
“We need to remember that Sephiroth will come on his own, without any help from us, but that may take a while, and he will be prepared. We need to force his hand, make him strike before he is ready. We’ll have to assume that Blank and Misa are dead,” here I threw up my hand, as Riku began to object, “And not expect any help. This will be Haru’s battle. Haru, I know you feel unprepared, I know you don’t think you’re ready for this but believe me, you are. If you need assistance, I’ve programmed Alpha-Six here to aid you.” The levitating pad twirled in mid-air. Haru looked as if she didn’t believe me. “What good will that do?” she asked, and I pulled her over to the control panel.
“This blue button marked ‘Activate’ will bring the other pieces of Alpha-Six to you, but you’ve got to give it a few minutes for them to arrive from the Castle. The green one marked ‘Assemble’ will combine the six parts of Alpha-Six together. Finally, the red one marked ‘Augment’ will open the cockpit, allowing you to sit inside, and control it manually.” Haru began to question me, “But what IS Alpha-Six?” I waved my hand. “We’ve no time. We have to call Sephiroth to us. Everyone get on!” The others jumped onto the pad and it lowered itself down. As we reached the bottom, Riku asked, “There’s one thing I still don’t understand. We were in Twilight Town, and then there was a bright light, and we suddenly appeared at Lindblum Inn. How did we get there?” Zexion shuffled slightly. I said it for him; “Zexion is a White Mage. He can use Holy, Cure and all the rest. One of the most basic White Mage spells is Teleport, which he used to get us back here. Teleport sends you back to a safe place, where you feel most at home. Naturally, the Castle is where I must be regal, which Zexion is unhappy with. The Inn, however, represents rest, sanctuary. A place to feel safe. Hence, Teleport.”
We jumped off, Haru holding Riku’s hand as she did so. “Here we make our stand. Haru, would you like the assistance of Alpha-Six?” She nodded. I pressed the button marked ‘Activate’ and we waited as I explained the plan. “Sephiroth needs me alive, unharmed in every possible way. Any way I become weaker, so does he. My plan is for Zexion to let out all his anger for me, all his annoyance at being left behind, and then, as soon as I begin to cry, Riku, that’s your cue to use your sword. As soon as the first tear leaves my eyes, cut off my left hand.” Riku and Zexion both shook their heads. “We haven’t the time! Sephiroth must be stopped, at any cost. He’s a hundred times worse than Ansem, and at least fifty times as strong. What would L say if he were here? He’d agree with me totally.” The other parts of Alpha-Six arrived, two arms, two legs and a head. Haru laughed. “A robot? That’s going to help me?” I shook my head. “No. You are going to use it to strike harder. It’s implanted with Elemental Technology to improve the skill and strength of your spells, like a rod. ‘Augment’ yourself with this, and you’ll be as strong as he is.”
“Haru. I know this is hard, hardest on you, but you have to do this. For everyone. Once my left hand is cut off, Sephiroth will feel the damage too great, and will appear down in the crater with us. Haru, here you must use Blizzaja to create an impenetrable dome of ice over the crater’s top, whilst I use Neo Bahamut’s strength to overpower Sephiroth. Knowing his logic, he will fake a stumble, trying to get us to strike, and use that as an advantage. On his SECOND fault, freeze him by any means necessary, be it Ice, Water or Lightning. Then, strike me down, kill me where I stand, and Sephiroth will be vulnerable. ‘Augment’, and strike. It’s the only way.” Haru stood quietly, gazing at the floor whilst I said this.
“Is everyone clear of the plan? Zexion, you’ve got to make me cry. You have to. Riku, then cut off my left hand (not my right, I’ll need that for Neo Bahamut). Haru, freeze Sephiroth, kill me, kill Sephiroth. Zexion and Riku, stay out of the way. Good luck you guys. Now, let’s go!”
