Aerith didn’t know how much time had passed on the surface. Had it been days since she met Jessie and the others, or was it just moments ago?

She wondered if their pain could be healed by themselves. As she asked herself that question, she continued to travel the underground world. She drifted in the Lifestream in the Planet’s Sea of Mako.

When she saw the next phantom, she held her breathe.

The point of a steel tube rose from a swirl of faint light. When she realized that it was an artificial hand linked to an arm, she thought that Barret too had left the world of the living. Aerith was sure that she had escaped Midgar with her mother Elmyra. Her heart tightened as she thought of Marlene.

“Marlene!”

Aerith’s waves of thoughts expanded and they reached the phantom. The full figure of a man with a gun attached to his arm rose from the Mako. The weapon emitted a cold glow from it but it was from his left arm. The gun was fearsome as if it was physically real and the man’s faint figure was stained in red.

“You’re…”

“A woman… Where have I seen you before? You even know Marlene’s name.”

“We’ve met haven’t we, Mr. Dyne.”

He was Dyne, the governor of Corel Prison, an exile land full of sand and scrap. He was also once Barret’s close friend. After what Shinra done to his hometown, his despair made him irrational and falling into a state of madness, he slaughtered many people.

“Ah, I see. You’re the girl that was with Barret. Then that means you must be dead too. What a pity.”

Not believing what he saw, Dyne laughed. “I can’t believe that after killing so many people, I would end up in the same place as an innocent girl like you after I die. This world truly is absurd. What a boring thing this Planet is. Everything really should be destroyed.”

“Is that what you still say?”

Aerith’s figure stood in contrast to Dyne’s. She raised her slender eyebrows.

“Even though you really care about Marlene?”

“Who cares. Girl, you-”

“I’m Aerith.”

“Heheh… You’re a strong one. My left arm is all that remains of my past life. Fine. I’ll call you by that name. You heard what I said that time, didn’t you? The words I had with Barret. When I was trying to destroy everything, I was going to take Marlene with me here too.”

“You’re lying. You were just bluffing.”

“I can’t lie here, right? I was seriously thinking about it at that time to say the least. Then I challenged Barret to a deathmatch and became enlightened.”

For a while, Dyne laughed out loudly because of how he had to pay it all back with his right arm and his body. “And I thank Barret for that. After all, I’ve been swallowed up by the very “world” I wanted to destroy. I didn’t want to end my own life. So instead, I wasted all those useless people that were scared in the exile land to free them and make them happy.”

“….”

“Do you see now, Aerith? Before you is the helpless, broken apparition of a man that even the Planet won’t accept. The Planet that my wife Eleanor has already returned to. And I’ve already entrusted Marlene to Barret. Whatever happens to the Planet afterwards has nothing to do with me.”

“….”

Looking at how silent Aerith had become, he laughed again at how he managed to make the cheeky little girl back down. Then he realized that it wasn’t funny and noticed that Aerith never took her eyes off him. He realized he didn’t manage to make her back down at all. There was a glow in the gaze of her jade green eyes that made the madness in him back down.

“…You have no guts.”

“What did you say?”

“I’ll say it again. You have no guts. You don’t have the courage to go back and start over. You’ve only been tumbling round and round where it’s the easiest going for you.”

As Aerith stared at Dyne, she took a step forward. Under the pressure of her powerful eyes, he hid his face with his gun and unconsciously stepped back.

“Barret also exchanged one of his arms for a gun. He said he would destroy the Shinra with his feelings of regret and hatred. That’s why he too had his hands stained with the blood of many people. But he didn’t fall apart. Besides taking on the burden, he’s really trying to save the Planet this time. He’s trying to protect the world that Marlene will live in without running away.”

“…Being able to change like that is that simpleton’s strength.”

“Is Barret special and you’re different?”

Dyne moaned at her question. He was waking from his intoxication. It was the thing he hated most of all… He had been intoxicated all this time so that he could forget about himself but, Aerith’s direct gaze scattered the mist of madness around him. The armour around his heart shattered.

“I reek of the blood of those I killed with my bare hands right to the very depths of my soul. Can’t you see? They’ve all been clinging onto me all this time. If I go back at all, I’ll be dragged back by them.”

The red mist that clouded around Dyne’s figure suddenly changed into a sticky substance. In the four years since Corel Town got destroyed, he didn’t care about how much hatred built up with his metal left arm and because of that, it was now drenched in blood. It was the lock of sin that made Dyne give up.

“Just how am I supposed to start over? All I could do was stay intoxicated. All I could do was hate everything and drown myself in madness! Was I wrong?”

“You’re wrong.”

She didn’t use coercion but instead, she approached Dyne gently. Extending out her hands, she touched the layer of blood that covered him.

“The blood that’s keeping you bound is something that your sense of guilt made. The lives you took away returned to the Lifestream long ago. You can’t forget about what you’ve done, but there’s no reason why you can’t start over. I guarantee it.”

“….”

From the point where Aerith touched, the blood dried up into tissue, detached from Dyne and wore away. Then, Dyne’s left arm started to fade away.

“…Will I be able to join the Planet someday?”

“I’m sure you will.”

“When Marlene reaches the end of her lifespan and comes here, will I be able to come out and greet her as part of the Planet…?”

Aerith looked up at Dyne’s face and nodded smiling.

“Because you’re starting all over again. It will be all right.”

Dyne’s faint face could now be seen clearly. It was different from the person she met in Corel Prison. It was the true face of someone who sincerely loved his family and hometown more than anyone else.

He could not return to the peaceful times when he would sweat in the mines of Corel before the tragedy happened. Both Dyne and Aerith knew that. Even so, the hearts of people can be rebuilt. They can stand up and face those sad painful memories. If they couldn’t then the absurdity would truly spread throughout the world.

“What can I do in this Sea of Mako? No, it’s what I must do… I’ll continue thinking about the ones I killed for a while. Until the day I can merge with the Planet.”

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea.”

“Aerith, I’m sorry how I treated you. I’m glad I met you.”

“You didn’t treat me bad at all.”

“You really are a stout-hearted one.”

For the first time, Dyne smiled from the bottom of his heart and quietly, his image faded away. The tip of the gun on his left arm disappeared.

“After dying and experiencing all that, I can finally stop turning my back against Barret and Marlene. Let me say my thanks…”

Just before he sunk into the Lifestream, Aerith saw it.

She saw Mako particles make their way towards Dyne and huddle together on him as if they had a will of their own. Dyne’s faint, surprised voice could be heard.

“Eleanor?”

And so, Aerith went back to her journey.

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