The walk back to Seventh Heaven was a blur of aching muscles and an almost dreamlike exhaustion.
Each step felt heavy, yet a strange lightness filled their chests. They had faced down something immense and won.
The air, usually thick with the scent of Mako and the distant hum of Midgar, felt different now—lighter, freer.
When they finally pushed open the door to Seventh Heaven, the familiar warmth and the scent of Tifa's cooking washed over them like a comforting wave.
The bar was bustling, a stark contrast to the grim silence they'd left behind in the pillar.
Folks were laughing, chatting, and the clinking of glasses was a sweet melody.
It was a normal night, a night that, in another reality, might never have happened.
Marlene, seeing Barret first, launched herself into his arms with a joyous cry.
Barret, for once, didn't growl or grumble. He simply hugged her tight, burying his face in her hair, a silent testament to the fear he'd carried and the relief he now felt.
Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge were there, too, their faces lit with relief as they saw Tifa and Cloudia.
Cheers erupted as word spread that the charges had been neutralized. The news, though not fully understood by everyone, was enough to spark a celebratory mood.
But as the initial jubilation died down, the more observant members of the Avalanche crew noticed the weariness etched on the faces of Arthur, Aerith, Tifa, Cloudia, and Barret.
There was a story behind their exhaustion, a deeper victory than just disarming bombs.
"What happened up there, truly?"
Jessie asked, her eyes sharp.
"We felt that tremor, and then the charges just... died. It wasn't just a simple disarming, was it?"
Arthur, still supporting a thoroughly drained Aerith, gently guided her to a chair.
He took a deep breath, the lingering scent of Mako and old blood still clinging to him.
He looked at Tifa, Barret, and Cloudia, who all were also curious.
It was finally the time to share his knowledge.
"It wasn't just Shinra we were fighting tonight,"
Arthur began, his voice hoarse but steady. He looked around the room, at the faces of Biggs, Wedge, Jessie, and the other Avalanche members.
"We were fighting against... well, against something that tried to control destiny itself."
A ripple of confusion spread through the bar. Control destiny? What was he talking about?
"There are entities,"
Arthur explained, choosing his words carefully,
"They tried to keep everything on a pre-determined path, a path they deemed 'correct.' They're called Whisperers."
He paused, letting the gravity of his words sink in.
"They were trying to force the Sector 7 plate to fall. They believed it was a 'necessary sacrifice' for the planet's Lifestream to 'correct itself.'"
He looked directly at Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge.
"In the original timeline, without our interference, that's exactly what happened. The plate fell. Thousands died."
A gasp went around the room. Biggs and Wedge exchanged horrified glances. Jessie's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
"And,"
Arthur continued, his gaze softening as he looked at Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge,
"In that timeline, all three of you... you died trying to protect people, trying to save the plate."
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the distant sounds of Midgar.
The celebratory mood had evaporated, replaced by a chilling realization.
Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge stared at Arthur, their faces pale.
The thought of their own deaths, so close, so real in another reality, was a heavy burden.
"But... but we're here,"
Wedge stammered, his usual jovial demeanor replaced by genuine fear.
"We're alive. How...?"
"Because of Arthur,"
Aerith said, her eyes meeting Arthur's with a grateful warmth. She was still weak, but her voice held a quiet strength.
"He knew what was meant to happen, and he refused to let it. He opened a new path."
Arthur nodded.
"When I came here…, I learned about the Whisperers. I also learned about the 'original timeline'—the one where Avalanche failed to stop Shinra, and the Sector 7 plate was destroyed. I knew what was coming. That's why I pushed so hard for us to be stronger, to be ready."
Tifa stepped forward, her voice firm.
She was always curious as to why he tried so hard. And everything fell in its places.
"Arthur saw things, felt things, that we couldn't. He kept pushing us, training us, making us stronger. He pushed us to save Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge earlier, to ensure they wouldn't be in the direct line of fire when those... Harbingers attacked."
"The Harbingers?"
Biggs asked, his brow furrowed.
Cloudia, who had been mostly silent, finally spoke.
"They're powerful Whisperers, made of raw Lifestream energy. They were the ones trying to stop us from disarming the charges, trying to force the plate to fall."
She gestured to her Buster Sword.
"Physical attacks don't work on them. You have to use pure spirit energy, or something like it."
Barret slammed his good hand on the table.
"They were trying to kill Arthur and Aerith in that Mako pipe chamber! Blasted spectral devils! They wanted that plate to fall! Can you believe the nerve?!"
Jessie, still reeling from the revelation of her own death, asked,
"So, you... you fought fate? And you won?"
Her voice was a mixture of disbelief and awe.
"It wasn't easy,"
Arthur admitted.
"Aerith's connection to the Lifestream, her pure spirit energy, was what truly pushed them back. She found a way to hit them, to hurt them. And Cloudia, Tifa, and Barret, they channeled their own spirit into their attacks to finish the job."
Aerith looked at Arthur, a knowing look in her eyes.
"And Arthur's power, his mana, allowed him to disrupt the Mako flow and short-circuit the charges. It was a combined effort. We all played a part."
"So, these Whisperers,"
Wedge said slowly, processing the information.
"They're like… time police? And we broke their rules?"
Arthur gave a weary smile.
"Something like that. They believe they are safeguarding the planet's destiny, but their methods are… rigid. They would sacrifice thousands of innocent lives to maintain what they see as the 'correct' path, even if that path leads to more suffering."
"But they're gone now?"
Jessie asked, hope flickering in her eyes.
"For now," Arthur clarified.
"The Harbingers, the powerful ones, they vowed to return. They said this was just a 'temporary divergence.' They won't give up easily."
A new unease settled over the room. They had won a battle, yes, but the war, it seemed, was far from over.
"So, we have to keep fighting them?"
Biggs asked, his hand instinctively going to the rifle slung over his back.
"We have to keep fighting for what's right,"
Arthur said, his gaze firm, encompassing everyone in the room.
"We proved tonight that destiny isn't set in stone. We have the power to change things, to make our own future. It's going to be harder now, because we've actively defied them, but we have to keep moving forward."
Barret grunted in agreement.
"Damn straight! No spectral weirdos gonna tell us how to live or die! We make our own damn path!"
Tifa, though exhausted, felt a renewed surge of determination.
"And we'll do it together. We always have."
Cloudia, for the first time, offered a small, almost imperceptible smile.
"Indeed."
The initial shock of the revelation slowly began to give way to a sense of empowerment.
They had faced down the unthinkable, defied fate, and saved their friends.
They were alive, and they had changed the future. It was a heavy burden, knowing what could have been, but it was also a powerful motivator.
As the night deepened, the conversations in Seventh Heaven slowly shifted.
The initial shock gave way to questions about the Whisperers, about this "original timeline," and about what lay ahead.
Arthur patiently answered as best he could, explaining the complexities of their new reality.
The air was still heavy with the unspoken fear of what the future might hold, of the battles yet to come.
But there was also a quiet resolve, a shared understanding that they had chosen a different path, a path of their own making.
They had saved their city, saved their friends, and in doing so, they had saved themselves from a fate they never knew they were destined for.
Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge, sitting together, shared a look of profound gratitude and a newfound appreciation for every breath they took.
They were alive. Because of Arthur.
Because they had defied fate.
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Craze: Please be ready to vote soon. Which world should be next from Tensura. Comments please.
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