I wonder if something happened to him?
No, I'm sure his leave was just canceled.
I went to the station everyday.
Then, one day..........
Scene 25
- The Flower Girl - Origins -
(Cloud, Barret, and Tifa arrive at Aerith's house. Aerith's mother, Elmyra, is standing, facing the wall. They walk over to her.)
Elmyra
"Cloud...... wasn't
it?"
(She turns around.)
Elmyra
"It's about Aerith,
isn't it?"
(Cloud bows his head.)
Cloud
"...Sorry. The Shinra
have her."
Elmyra
"I know. They took
her from here."
Cloud
"They were here?"
Elmyra
"That's what Aerith
wanted..."
Cloud
"Why is Shinra after
Aerith?"
(Elmyra faces away.)
Elmyra
"Aerith is an Ancient.
The sole survivor."
Barret
"...What did you say?
But, aren't you her mother?"
Elmyra
"...Not her real mother.
Oh... it must have been 15 years ago..."
"...during the war.
My husband was sent to the front. Some far away place called Wutai."
(The camera pans up... Aerith's house disappears off the bottom of the screen, leaving only black.)
"One day, I went to the station because I got a letter saying he was coming home on leave."
(The screen goes white. A train whistle blows, and we see the Sector 7 train station. A train is pulling into the station. The door opens, and bright light fills the screen. We see various people getting off, greeted by their families... Elmyra stands near, watching the people getting off... Then the train door closes. She walks, afraid, to the conductor, who shakes his head. She sits forlornly on the steps to the platform.)
My husband never came
back.
I wonder if something
happened to him?
No, I'm sure his leave
was just canceled.
I went to the station
everyday.
Then, one day..........
(The screen goes white... then we see a woman lying on the steps to the platform. A young girl is running around her, crying. Elmyra runs over and kneels by the woman. The young girl runs to her.)
You used to see this
sort of thing a lot during the war.
Her last words were,
"Please take Aerith somewhere safe."
My husband never came
back. I had no child. I was probably lonely. So I decided to take her home
with me.
(A train whistle sounds... the screen goes white, then fades to black.)
"Aerith and I became close very quickly. That child loved to talk. She used to talk to me about everything."
(We are back at the living room, but some time past. Aerith as a young girl runs down the stairs, then trips on the rug. Elmyra rises from the table, helps her up, hugs her, then Aerith scampers out the front door. The living room disappears off the top of the screen.)
"She told me she escaped form some sort of research laboratory somewhere. And that her mother had already returned to the planet, so she wasn't lonely... and many other things."
(We are back at the living room, in the present.)
Barret
"Returned to the planet?"
Elmyra
"I didn't know what
she meant. I asked if she meant a star in the sky."
"But she said it was
this planet... She was a mysterious child in many ways."
Aerith
"Mom."
(Elmyra turns toward the stairs. The camera pans up, hiding Cloud and the others, then pans down again and they are gone. Aerith, as a young girl, runs down the stairs. Elmyra is speaking in the present.)
Aerith
"Please don't cry."
Elmyra
"Aerith just blurted
that out all of a sudden. When I asked her if something had happened..."
Aerith
"Someone dear to you
has just died."
"His spirit was coming
to see you, but he already returned to the planet."
Elmyra
"At that time I didn't
believe her."
(The living room disappears off the left side of the screen.)
Elmyra
"But..."
(It comes back, from the left. Elmyra is sitting at the table, holding her head in her hands. Her shoulders are hitching.)
Elmyra
"Several days later...
We received a notice saying my husband had died..."
(It disappears to the right.)
Elmyra
"...and that's how
it was."
"A lot had happened,
but we were happy. Until one day..."
(The living room reappears from the left. Tseng is in the living room with Elmyra.)
Tseng
"We want you to return
Aerith to us. We've been saerching for her for a long time."
(Aerith peeks out from behind Elmyra.)
Aerith
"No! Never!"
Tseng
"Aerith, you're a
very special child. You are of special blood."
"Your real mother
was an 'Ancient'."
Elmyra
"Of course I heard
it. That she was an Ancient."
Tseng
"The Ancients will
lead us to a land of supreme happiness."
"Aerith will be able
to bring happiness to all those in the slums."
"That is why Shinra
would like Aerith's cooperation......."
(Aerith comes out from behind Elmyra)
Aerith
"He's wrong! I'm not
an Ancient! I'm not!"
Tseng
"But Aerith, surely
you hear voices sometimes when you're all alone?"
Aerith
"No, I don't!"
(Aerith runs out the front door. The living room disappears off the top right.)
Elmyra
"But I knew. I knew
about her mysterious powers..."
"She tried so hard
to hide it, so I acted as though I never noticed."
(The living room, seen from the top down, comes back into view from the top.)
Cloud
"It's amazing how
she's avoided the Shinra for all these years..."
Elmyra
"The Shinra needed
her. So I guess they wouldn't harm her."
Tifa
"But, why now....."
Elmyra
"She brought a little
girl here with her."
"On the way here,
Tseng found them. She probably couldn't get away fast enough."
"She decided to go
to the Shinra in exchange for the little girl's safety."
Cloud
"Must be Marlene."
Barret
"Marlene!! Aerith
was caught because of Marlene!?"
"I'm sorry. Marlene's
my daughter. I'm ...really... sorry..."
Elmyra
"You're her father!?
How in the world could you ever leave a child alone like that!?"
Barret
"...please don't start
with that. I think about it all the time. What would happen to Marlene,
if I..."
"But you gotta understand
somethin'... ...I don't got an answer. I wanna be with Marlene... But I
gotta fight."
"'Cause if I don't...
the planet's gonna die."
"So I'm gonna keep
fightin'!"
"But, I'm worried
'bout Marlene. I really just wanna be with her... always."
"See? I'm goin' in
circles, now."
Elmyra
"I think I understand
what you're saying... She's upstairs asleep. Why don't you go and see her."
(Barret goes upstairs.)
Tifa
"It's my fault...
I was the one who got Aerith involved in this."
Elmyra
"Don't say that. Aerith
doesn't think that."
(Cloud goes upstairs, into the bedroom, where Barret is sitting with Marlene.)
Barret
"I'm so glad.......
I'm so glad you're all right..."
Marlene
"Daddy, don't cry.
Your whiskers hurt!"
(Cloud leaves the bedroom. Barret stands.)
Barret
"Cloud!"
(Cloud turns.)
Barret
"You gonna go help
Aerith, right? She's done so much for me...."
"If it's the Shinra
you're dealin' with, I can't just sit here! I"m comin', too!"
(Marlene runs around Barret to Cloud.)
Marlene
"Guess what? Guess
what? Aerith was asking me lots of questions."
"Like what kind of
person Cloud is. I bet she likes you, Cloud!"
<CHOICE>
I don't know
Let's hope so
***Cloud
I don't know
Marlene
"Stupid!"
***Cloud
Let's hope so
Marlene
"I won't tell Tifa."
<//>
(Cloud goes to leave.)
Tifa
"You're going after
Aerith, right?"
Cloud
"Yeah."
Tifa
"I'm going with you."
Cloud
"We're going right
into Shinra headquarters. ...You gotta be preapred for the worst."
Tifa
"I know."
"Right now, I feel
I have to push myself to the limit."
"If I stayed here...
I'll go crazy."
(Barret runs downstairs. He speaks to Elmyra.)
Barret
"Sorry, but can you
take care of Marlene a bit longer?"
Elmyra
"Yes, I don't mind."
Barret
"This place is dangerous
now. You better go somewhere else."
Elmyra
"...You're right. But promise me that you'll come back to her.
Don't get yourself killed."
(Cloud, Tifa, and Barret leave Aerith's house and stand in the yard.)
Tifa
"How do we get to
the Shinra Building?"
Barret
"There ain't no train
that goes up there anymore..." "....."
"Well, let's just
go to Wall Market. We might be able to find something there."
phoenixgenesis@game-developer.com
Continue to Part 3 Scene 26