Inheritance (Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth)

꧁ IV ꧂

The party entered the mine. Cloud came to a stop as the others followed behind him. He stared into the dimly lit tunnel ahead. Red sauntered up next to him and asked, "He's here, isn't he?"

"I don't know," Cloud honestly answered.

Aerith was also gazing at the path that lay ahead of them. "Well, monsters sure are."

"No doubt," Tifa said.

"Monsters we can handle. We've dealt with worse," Cloud stated.

Aerith turned around to face him. "That's easy for you to say. You fought the worst for a living."

"Not us though," Tifa said, stretching her arms.

"Yeah, good point!" Barret chimed in before jabbing his thumb in Lailah's direction. "And who the hell knows what the little lady's fought."

That was when they noticed the shapeshifter's unblinking gaze as her eyes were focused on the mine ahead. She didn't move an inch, almost as if she was a statue.

"Uhhh, is she okay?" Barret asked.

Aerith glanced worriedly at the snowy-haired girl. "You don't think she's acting weird because of the injury she got from the midgardsormr, do you?"

This also worried Tifa. "I checked where she was bitten. She's completely healed, but maybe the bite's having an effect on her body because of the venom. Are midgardsormrs poisonous? Should we take Lailah back to the chocobo ranch and ask Bill if he knows a cure? Oh, this is all my fault..."

Cloud stepped forward in the shapeshifter's direction. Gently, he reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Lailah?"

She blinked a few times before turning to face him. "Sorry. Did you say something?"

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I thought I heard growling," she said. "It almost sounded like Hephaestus..."

"Why would an ancestral beast be in the mine?" Tifa asked.

"They do as they please," Lailah answered. "Because of the destruction of Tellus and the annihilation of my people, there is no place for them to belong. I didn't learn of their survival until they were already scattered across the world. Four of them were in Midgar yet I never discovered why. I...guess I forgot to ask," she laughed nervously.

"It's almost like they were leading you to all of us," Aerith smiled sweetly. "We should thank the next one we see."

"So, we might come across 'nother huge beast." Barret looked at the couple. "You and SOLDIER boy mind takin' the lead?"

Lailah and Cloud exchanged glances before saying in unison, "For two thousand."

Barret was flabbergasted while Tifa laughed.

"Enough for her Standard Course twice, right?" Aerith asked, looking at Cloud.

"Her what now?" Tifa asked, confused.

"Something about a standard course," Lailah said.

Aerith grinned. "Ask him."

"Cloud...?" Tifa called out to him, wanting to know what Aerith was talking about.

The boy looked away until he felt a finger jab into his side. He turned his head and met Lailah's curious gaze. Just before he could get lost in her golden eyes, he turned his gaze away from her. "Forget it. You guys need to focus."

Lailah grinned. "Right... Focus..." She decided to drop the subject for now.

Wasting no more time, the party proceeded into the mine.