Chapter Three: Aeons and Eidolons
Zexion winced in pain as he stood up, and soon I was staring at his face, looking down at me still, but with his hair hanging down, hiding his face from the others. He smiled sadly at me, knowing I was conscious but unable to move. He leant down and picked me up in his arms, holding me tight, my face to his chest. His heart was beating so fast as he carried me through the growing crowd. I could hear murmurs of worry, people whispering about my condition, if I was okay, and what had happened, I wasn’t watching.
I heard speedy footsteps, a closing door, and I was staring at the ceiling of Misa’s front room. Zexion looked worriedly at me. “My love… I know you can hear me. I need to head out to find Haru, maybe Holy can cure you again, but I will be a while. I love you, so very much… I’ll find Misa in the crowd, and she can come look after you. Blank and I will find Haru as soon as we can.” He kissed my forehead, stroking my cheek. “I love you…” he said, as he left my field on vision. I heard the door closing, and I was alone once more. What would happen if the Aeons reached the clock tower, and I wasn’t there?
I forced my eyes open. I was lying on my side on the cold, hard pavement, and pain was still shivering through me in waves. Looking around, I saw Riku only a few feet away with his sword drawn, brandishing it angrily at Sephiroth and shouting. I couldn’t hear what he was shouting though, so I tried to push myself up to my knees. But when I put pressure on my arm, it shook violently and I crashed back down, landing on my clearly injured arm and hurting it even more.
Watching Riku, I felt so helpless and lost, and couldn’t stop a few tears from dribbling out from my closed eyes. I blinked them away quickly, and swallowed hard. Then, I used my good arm to push myself up. Once I was standing, I swayed slightly, but kept my balance. However, I was too late; Sephiroth – smirking still – vanished in a cloud of dark smoke, and Riku sheathed his sword angrily. He flicked his hair out of his face aggressively, and stalked away a little. I saw him sigh, his shoulders slumping, and then he turned to face me.
How long had it been? Minutes? Hours? Days? I could see only the dark ceiling above me, my eyes unblinking as I lay in paralysis. Misa had not come, though I couldn’t be sure how long Zexion had been away for. She was probably on her way. Wasn’t she? Had she run off? Had she sided with Sephiroth, maybe she gave him the Death Note, maybe she killed Kai-No. No. No way. Misa wouldn’t. Would she? No. She wouldn’t? Stop it-but what if-STOP IT! Mentally close your eyes. Drift to sleep. Calm down.
When I saw Riku’s eyes swimming with tears, I knew I needed his support. How could I have ever been angry with him when I loved him so much? I felt more tears building up in my own eyes, but I pushed them away with my wrist, forgetting it was painful and gasping as it sent a shock up my arm. Riku rushed over, looking concerned, but I waved my uninjured hand at him. “I’m okay, I’m fine. I’m just so sorry, Riku. I love you more than anyone, and I’m sorry. Please don’t leave me. Please?” He looked at me, confused, and shook his head.
“Whatever it is you’re talking about, I love you too. I couldn’t ever bear to leave you. You should know that by now.” Riku hugged me tightly, and I smiled into his shoulder, truly happy for the first time in days. Eventually, I felt a few spatters of rain on my head and stepped back, gazing into the greying skies. “We should head back,” I whispered, and Riku nodded, putting one arm around my shoulders and used the other to cradle my hurt wrist. We walked down the road in comfortable silence, getting drenched by the now heavy downpour.
My patience was reaching its limit. Zexion had been gone… forever, ages, years I couldn’t tell but so, so long. My heart was aching for him. Was he having trouble finding Haru? Was she in the same predicament as I? My thoughts begun drifting. Lindblum… how was Artania running it for me? I prayed he was doing a good job. Sephiroth… had he found Haru? Or Misa? Or… Zexion… where was he? He was taking an age. Lord knows I’ll probably die of hunger before he gets back… Food. I needed food. I’m hungry. My stomach attempts a rumble, but cannot move. I realise that I’ve got a rather large amount of saliva at the back of my throat now, from not being able to swallow. THIS IS SO UNCOMFORTABLE! Come on Zexion… Where are you? And Misa is STILL not here. Does nobody care that I’m a vegetable?
I was so relieved when we reached Misa’s house. Riku pushed the door open and motioned for me to go in. We both collapsed into the warmth, laughing happily, and pulled off our soaked jackets. Mine had become like a second skin, it was so wet. Riku cluttered into the kitchen to look for a first aid kit, or some bandages, and I wandered into the living room, toppling onto the sofa with my eyes closed. I could hear Riku pottering about; it was a comforting sound, and I opened my eyes with a smile on my face.
That’s when I noticed him, lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. I shouted, it was the first thing I though to do. “Riku! Riku! Get in here, Riku, come on! Riku…” I gasped, dropping to the floor. He came running in, a small wooden box in his hands, looking panic-stricken. “Help him, please, do something!” I sobbed.. He dropped the box onto my recently vacated seat and fell to his knees beside me.
Riku thought to do all the practical stuff – he felt for a pulse, checked he was still breathing – and I just sat there next to him, clinging onto his arm with one hand, and fighting back the tears. “Okay, he’s alive. I don’t know what’s going on, but he is alive. I’m guessing someone knows something, so we just have to wait for Zexion or Misa or somebody to come back,” he said quietly. I nodded, and he stood up, dragging me with him. “Now, while we wait, I’ll patch up your wrist.” I sat down numbly and let him bandage my wrist, and he walked off to get us a drink. I had to close my eyes, I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t bear to see Gildas in this state. A sharp rapping on the door made me charge through the hallway, and I wrenched the door open. “Zexion!” I panted, before grabbing his arm and tugging him into the living room. “Zexion!” I repeated breathlessly.
Haru! At last she’d come! What had taken them so long? And, did I see a flash of blood as she held her hands above me? Was she hurt? I prayed that was just my imagination. Riku was here as well, thank god, he checked my pulse, my breathing, waved his hand over my face a few times… He really was a caring person. If things had been different, and he was… never mind. Zexion was my one and only, and that was how it would stay. I shouldn’t even be thinking this! I mentally slapped my head several times. That was better.
Wait, there was a rapping at the door, and I heard it being thrown open, sounded like it was raining outside. “Zexion!” Haru said, and the was some shuffling. Him trying to get in, perhaps? “Zexion!” she said again, and he spluttered. “Haru! I’ve been looking everywhere, where’ve you been? Wait, no. Tell me later, Gildas is-“ She interrupted him. “I know, we came back to find him lying on the floor. He isn’t moving Zexion, what’s wrong with him?” He rushed to my side, embracing me tightly. “Haru, try using Holy.” She started to interrupt, “JUST DO IT! Please!”
I couldn’t believe what I did in response; I shook my head. Zexion stared up at me in horror. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. I shook my head again, backing away. Riku was hovering in the doorway as I started to shriek. “No! No, I won’t do it! I can’t, I just can’t! Why do people always depend on me? I can’t understand it, I can’t do anything, I don’t even deserve to be alive and yet people always expect me to be able to do something, to save someone, to help a friend! But stop it, just stop it! I am so worthless, I can’t do anything right, can’t do anything on my own. I. Just. Can’t,” I bellowed, before charging out into the downpour without even stopping to pick up my coat.
I had sprinted down the road and couldn’t even see the house anymore before I began to slow down. I looked around helplessly, and walked on. The sky was dark, and as I gazed upwards thunder slashed down aggressively. I wiped my face, not sure whether I was wiping away tears or the rain, and kept moving. I couldn’t turn back, and yet I couldn’t shake Gildas’s blank face, empty of emotion, out of my head. My feet were dragging, my head was heavy, but I trudged on through the puddles. The water had soaked through my socks – I hadn’t even put shoes on – and I was shivering violently as I collapsed to the floor, tugging at my hair desperately and sobbing into the concrete pavement.
