“I prepared myself as best I thought” Wil explained. "Brought with me items I’d picked up both in Mushroom World and during my short foray in Gaia; I also left a note explaining things to my sister, whom I lived with at the time, telling her that I would be away for a while but that I could take care of myself. She, of course, knew nothing about my little extradimensional trips, and naturally, thought that I was crazy and was verrrry pissed at me later, but I never let her stop me from fulfilling my ‘destiny’ as I saw it.
Anyway, when I felt I was ready, I focused on the Gaia Crystal again, and it brought me back to Gaia 7- but not the same place as before. You see, the connection between Earth and Gaia is more tenuous than the Warp Pipes that lead to Mushroom World; you never know exactly WHERE in Gaia you would materialize; also, there was always a dizziness I hated.
I saw stars spinning around me; as the images came into focus, I saw someone standing in front of me- a girl, facing away from me, towards a bed of flowers.
CC’s eyes flew wide. “A girl! Was she-?”
“Yes” Wil Nodded. “Aeris.”
“I don’t believe it!” CC gasped. “You teleported right in front of her??”
“Well, almost” Wil admitted. “And before you ask, no, I don’t know why I appeared next to her. Even today, I’m not sure why that happened; it might’ve been the place she was in at the time: An abandoned church. She said that it was a ‘holy place’ and that flowers grew there because of it. Maybe it was a focus for the planet’s natural magical energies… or, maybe it was her?” he pondered. “She did have that mysterious White Materia with her… but wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to Aeris…”
“Ok!” CC agreed.
But something was bothering Wil. “Before I continue- CC, why is it that you’re so- impressed- by Aeris?”
“Well” she responded, a bit sheepishly. “She was, well, the perfect girl. Everyone talks about how sweet she was, and pretty, and kind, and courageous, and… well, everything a girl dreams to be.”
Suddenly Wil began to giggle again.
“Wait! You’re not going to tell me all that was NOT true, are you??” CC snapped,
“Oh, it was true, all right” he said, stopping his giggles, “but that was not all she was about!”
“No?”
“Nope! CC, you gotta understand; people are NEVER ‘just this’ or ‘just that’. Human beings are VERY complex. We all have multiple sides to our personalities. It is true, Aeris was kind, and gentle, and oh yes, very pretty! But, she could also be mischievious when she wanted to.”
“…Mischievious?”
“Like the time she convinced Cloud to disguise himself as a woman so they could enter a lecherous criminal’s hideout! Man, too bad I missed that one!” he roared in laughter. “Then again, maybe it was good that I missed it!!”
“She was tough, too” he continued. “She had lived all her live in the slums, and she knew how to take care of herself, trust me!”
CC noticed the change in Wil’s attitude as he spoke; it was as if he were talking about some dear friend that he hadn’t seen in a long time.
“She was stubborn, too. When she made up her mind, nobody could get her to change it. In fact, that was what got her ki-”
Suddenly Wil froze, as if he had realized he was going to say something wrong. For a moment, he and CC exchanged gazes…
…Then he continued: “Er… anyway. I don’t want you to get the idea that Aeris was a bad girl; she was good, very good. But, she was human, and had flaws, like all of us. And that was a good thing.”
“It was?”
“Of course! Our flaws are what keep us grounded, Chrissy; they remind us that we are NOT perfect. Don’t be sad that your heroes aren’t perfect; be glad that they aren’t, so you can relate to them.”
“I… think I understand, Wil.”
“Good. Let’s continue the story, then:”
“Where was I? Oh yes, I had materialized next to Aeris. She didn’t notice, she wasn’t looking in my direction. But, she DID feel my presence; she quickly turned around. That was my first good look at her. Let me tell you, the legends do not exaggerate- she WAS beautiful, but in a girl-next-door kinda way; she wasn’t an utterly gorgeous supermodel, or anything. It was the whole package- her shiny green eyes, her long brown hair, which she always kept tied in a ponytail with a handkerchief- even the humble pink dresses she preffered, only added to her beauty.”
“Wow, Wil, you really were captivated by her, weren’t you?” CC asked, a bit mischieviously.
“WHAT? NO!” he quickly retorted. “Don’t get the wrong idea, CC. Aeris and I were FRIENDS, nothing more. I admired her, but I didn’t have a crush on her. Besides, I was always aware of her feelings of Cloud.”
“But didn’t you said that Cloud never was her boyfriend?”
“He never got the chance”
“No??”
“Hey, let me tell the story!”
“Whoops! Sorry!”
Wil took another deep breath, then continued:
“Naturaly, Aeris’ first reaction to me was to gasp in surprise; after all, she hadn’t heard me approach, and, it turns out, there were bad people looking for her at the time.”
“GASP!!”
‘Whoa! Sorry!! Didn’t mean to startle you, Ma’am!" I tried to explain. “I, uhh, just want directions”. Which was true, by the way.
She eyed me suspiciously. “…Where are you going?” she asked.
“Ah… Sector 8?” It was the name of the place where Barret had said to his teammates that they would reunite after splitting up the night before; I overheard it right before they split up on me.
“Oh” she said, calming down. “This is Sector 5, sir. To reach Sector 8, you’ll have to go all the way around the Pillar, to the left. The right side is closed.”
“Go AROUND the… Pillar? To the left?” I asked, puzzled. But, I realized that if I asked what she meant, she might get even more suspicious of me. So, I said, “Right. Got it. Thank you, miss” and turned around, and started to leave.
It was then that I got a good look at the place I was in. Everything was in ruins. “Good Lord! What happened here??”
“Nothing” she said, sounding amused. “This church has been abandoned for a long time now. I guess people just lost faith by living in here… I only come here to tend the flowers”
“Oh… Ok… well, thank you, miss” I said, then continued to exit.
Outside, I was greeted by an even more puzzling sight: The sky was obscured by a HUGE metal roof!"
“A roof?”
"Yes. It was like the Astrodome, but only reached partway thru the sky; it obscured the sun, so that the whole town around us was in permanent twilight. I followed the roof with my gaze, and saw that it sprouted from a HUGE structure- the “Pillar” that Aeris had mentioned.
I stood puzzled; what the HECK was this? This wasn’t the city I had been on last night!
“Is this your first time in Midgar?” Aeris, who had followed me from inside the church, said; it was more a statement than a question.
“Ah… yes” I said.
“If you want to go topside, you’ll have to take the train.” she explained.
Topside?
It was THEN that it hit me:
The City of Midgar was built ON A HUGE PLATAFORM, ABOVE several small towns, the so-called “sectors”!
“Huh? Why?”
“Well, I never found out the exact reason, but I assume it was because the Mako Reactors that powered the city polluted the ground around them; so, someone must’ve figured that the best thing to do, was to build a city that didn’t touch the ground- directly, that is.”
“Oh, I see.”
Wil continued to tell his story. “Um, no, I want Sector 8” I repeated to Aeris.
I also took a good look at the buildings around us.
Half of them were abandoned; all of them looked ruined.
This was a slum.
“Yeah, this is the city’s poor area” Aeris explained, before I even asked. “All the people with money live above.”
“So, the poor lived BELOW the rich?? What an appalling idea!” CC said, miffed.
“Yeah, I was bothered by it, too. I was starting to realize the injustices committed upon this World, CC- and all were Shinra’s fault.”
Aeris then continued to explain things ro me:
"To get to sector 8, all you have to do is follow the path AROUND the Central Pillar, going to the left. You’ll’ pass Sectors 6 and 7 on the way. However, I must warn you- Sector 6 is dangerous. There are monsters in the abandoned areas, and criminals in the inhabited ones."
“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself” I said to her, and I meant it. Sheesh, was I overconfident back then!
“I would guide you there myself, but I have errands to keep…”
“Don’t worry, lady” I told her. You’ve helped me enough already. Thank you."
I turned around, to begin my search for Avalanche, when she called me back:
“Sir!”
“Yes?”
“Forgive me, but… would you like to buy a flower?”
“A flower?” it was then I realized that she sold flowers for a living!
“Aeris was a Flower Girl?”
“Yes. Hey, at least it was an honest way of earning a living!”
“I guess…”
“Um, sure!” I said, out of impulse.
“It’s one Gil” she said.
Luckily, I had found one such coin in the streets last night. I gave it to her.
“Here you go!”
“Thank you, Sir!” she said, and flashed me one of those great smiles of hers.
But I stood there, staring stupidly at the flower.
“Sir?”
“Uh? Oh, sorry. It’s just that… what am I supposed to do with this?”
“Give it to your girlfriend!” she said, almost laughing at my naivete.
“I don’t have one.” I explained matter-of-factly.
“Well, you can always give it to your mother!” she said, giggling.
“My mother passed away.”
“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean-”
“I know, I know. Tell you what- why don’t YOU take it?”
“Huh? But I sold it to you!”
“So? Is there a law against giving flowers to Flower Girls?”
“Of course not!”
“Then please take it. It’s not a come-on line, I swear.”
That made her smile again. “Very well” she said, taking it. “But I warn you- I’ll just sell it to someone else.”
“That’s OK. Long as the flower doesn’t get wasted.”
We both smiled at each other.
Again, I turned around to leave, and again, she stopped me.
“Wait. Aren’t you going to tell me your name?”
“I told you- it’s not a trick to get you to like me!”
“I believe you. Still, when a gentleman gives a lady a flower, the least he can do is tell her his name.”
Again,we exchanged smiles, and I said:
“Wilfredo.”
“I am Aeris” she responded.
“Nice meeting you, Aeris.”
“Good day, Wilfredo.”
And then she walked back to the church…
(To be continued.)
I’m still reading.