Inheritance (Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth)

꧁ XI ꧂

"...ot..."

"...Rot..."

"Poison...rot..."

"Corruption..."

"Death!"

Lailah flew up in her bed with a horrified gasp. The haunting images and the distorted voice that plagued her dream were gone now that she was wide awake. What had woken her from such a nightmare was the sound of the ship's alarm. She looked around at the other female first-class passengers to see how frightened they were.

Wondering what was happening, she climbed off her bed. At the same time, Captain Titov's voice was heard from the PA system. "Attention all passengers. We have an emergency on board. Return to your cabins and remain there for the duration. Military personnel are to report to the deck immediately."

Lailah wasn't military personnel, but she still could help. She told everyone in the room to remain inside, but she was stopped by a mother before she could leave. "Wait!"

The girl turned around to the distraught woman. "What's wrong?"

"M-My baby girl left a few minutes ago and hasn't returned. Please, could you find her for me and bring her back? Her name's Noella."

"All right. I'll find her, but you and the others must stay here."

"W-We will. Thank you so much!"

Lailah dashed out of the room, immediately closing the door behind her. She looked up and down the first-class corridor to see people rushing into cabins and closing the doors. She only saw a handful of children, but all of them were being dragged by who she assumed to be their parents. None of them were the little girl she was looking for.

Suddenly, she heard a high-pitched scream coming from the stairwell leading to the cargo hold. She didn't hesitate to run through the door that had been knocked off the heavy metal frame. She ran down the stairs and into the cargo hold.

Following the sounds of the scream, Lailah found a little girl surrounded by experimental varghidpolis. Summoning her spear, she tossed it at one of the monsters and sliced it in half. She then called back her spear and used it to cut down the second monster.

The shapeshifter looked around for any more monsters but couldn't find any. She believed the area to be clear for the time being and approached the little girl. Ridding herself of her spear, she squatted down to the child's height and offered her a calm and gentle smile. "You must be Noella. Your mother's really worried about you. Why did you come down here?"

Noella was wiping away her tears. "I-I heard a weird noise coming from down here and then I was chased by those monsters."

"Weird noise? Could you describe it to me?"

"It sounded like someone was laughing."

Lailah looked around. She quietly listened, but couldn't hear anything. She could tell from the child's face she wasn't lying. "It's too dangerous for you here. I'll take you back to your mother, okay?"

The little girl nodded and immediately grabbed Lailah's hand. The shapeshifter guided the child back to the first-class cabin where her mother was waiting. She received many "thank yous" from the woman before she left to return to the cargo hold.

By the time she returned to the cargo hold, she found the bodies of some of the sailors and could hear the sound of fighting coming from the engine room. At hearing voices mixed with echoes of battle, she knew it was Cloud, Tifa, and Barret. She was about to forget about the laughter Noella heard to aid her companions until she heard the same distorted chuckle when they first arrived topside in Junon. It had the same airy, warped tone as it did back then.