A Broken World

Tifa lies on the ground among the wreckage as Cloud wakes her up. The Evergreen Park is littered with flaming rubble, Cloud, Tifa and Barret having fallen here after ziplining from the destroyed Sector 7 pillar. The two hear Barret calling out for survivors, and find him in front of the destroyed Sector 7 gate, yelling for Marlene, Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie, believing they have been crushed by the Sector 7 plate, as he cries and punches the wreckage.

Tifa blames herself and Avalanche for the incident, but Barret tells her to not think like that, as the Shinra Electric Power Company is to blame alone. Tifa clenches her fist, Barret instructing her to hold on to the anger. He hugs her as Cloud watches and after a while says Marlene is fine because Aerith found her. Barret asks if Aerith was the lady Shinra took, with Tifa confirming, explaining she had asked Aerith to take Marlene somewhere safe. Cloud begins to walk away as Barret chases after him, wanting to know more. Tifa gazes at the wreckage one more time before following after them.

The group runs the trail up ahead and see survivors wonder what just happened. Barret and Tifa catch up with Cloud who is heading to Aerith's house in the Sector 5 slums. Barret asks if Marlene is there, with Cloud hoping that she is. Barret says that even if she is not, he won't blame Cloud, but then contradicts by saying he would tear his head off if she is not there. Cloud asks if Tifa knows about the Ancients. She has heard of them and Barret says they come up in planetology books as the original stewards of the planet who can be commune with it. Cloud understands why the Turks want her, experiencing another headache.

Cloud recalls a time Sephiroth declared that his veins flowed with the blood of the Ancients, and that the planet was his birthright. Cloud sees Sephiroth appear is in front of him in the darkness, taunting Cloud for failing to save Sector 7. Cloud slowly moves away, doubting his eyes, as Tifa realizes something is wrong. She can't see Sephiroth, who approaches Cloud, saying that suffering will make Cloud strong. He touches Cloud's shoulder, asking if that is what he wants. Cloud turns around and watches Sephiroth walk away and disappear. Tifa asks if he is okay, but Cloud brushes it off.

The group passes through Wall Market, where Cloud can talk to Chocobo Sam, Madam M, and Andrea Rhodea about the plate collapse. Barret sees Shinra soldiers enter a hotel, Cloud telling him to ignore them and focus on seeing Marlene again. Barret asks if Tifa and Cloud saw Biggs and Jessie, and Tifa reveals they were in bad shape, but adds Wedge made it out. Barret wants to look for them. The group gets to the Sector 5 slums, Barret hurrying Cloud to go faster.

At Aerith's house Barret rushes in and asks Elmyra Gainsborough for Marlene, describing his daughter. Elmyra says Marlene is sleeping, and asks him to be quiet as Barret tiptoes up the stairs. Cloud and Tifa follow and witness Barret by Marlene's bedside, relieved that she is safe. Downstairs, Elmyra tells them Shinra has Aerith captive. Cloud apologizes, but Tifa takes the blame, saying she had asked Aerith to get Marlene, viewing it as taking advantage of Aerith's kindness. Elmyra denies it being Tifa's fault, knowing it was inevitable that Aerith would get captured. Cloud asks if Aerith is an Ancient, and Elmyra, believing that Aerith herself had trusted Cloud with this information, sits down to tell their story.

Aerith is probably the last living Ancient, as she is not Elmyra's biological daughter. About fifteen years ago, Elmyra's husband was deployed to fight on the front lines of the Wutai War. She received a letter of his visit to home, but on the day of his supposed arrival, he never showed. Elmyra thought the homecoming was delayed and visited the train station everyday, praying for him. One day, she found a young Aerith and her mother on the station grounds. She asked where they came from as the dying mother asked Elmyra to take Aerith somewhere safe. She passed away as Aerith cried. Because Elmyra's husband had been away for so long, she wanted to adopt and protect Aerith so the both of them would not be alone. The two of them felt like a family in no time, and Aerith told her strange stories about how she and her mom escaped from some facility, and that her mom returned to the planet. When Elmyra asked if the girl meant a planet on the night sky, Aerith had said she meant the planet they were living on.

One day, Aerith asked Elmyra not to be sad, saying a man Elmyra loved has returned to the planet. Elmyra at first didn't believe her, but soon received a notice of her husband having been killed in action. Elmyra and Aerith continued to live together in the slums, when one day there was a knock on their door. Aerith opened it and hid behind Elmyra when met by an imposing man in a dark suit, Tseng of the Turks, telling him to go away. Tseng said Aerith was not an ordinary girl, she was a descendant of the Ancients. Elmyra asked what an Ancient was, Tseng explaining they are the original stewards of the planet whose boundless wisdom will guide Shinra to the promised land. Though the promised land could be a myth or an allegory, Shinra believed it exists somewhere in the world and Tseng invited Aerith to help them find it to improve the lives of all people in the world. Aerith lied that she was not an Ancient, but Tseng said that when she was alone, she could hear voices whispering secrets. Aerith continued to lie, but Tseng and Elmyra knew it was true, Elmyra realizing Tseng knew who Aerith was.

Listening to Elmyra's story, Cloud asks why the Turks didn't just take Aerith away. Elmyra explains Aerith needs to go with them of her free will, or else it won't work. Elmyra thinks she is being treated like a guest, and wants to believe the Turks will return her once they learn the information they are after. Cloud doubts it and wants to go rescue Aerith, but Elmyra begs him not to, believing it would make things worse. Elmyra can't bear the thought of losing Aerith, and gets upset. Tifa agrees with Elmyra, as Barret wants the group to return to the ruins of Sector 7. With no one taking his side, Cloud reluctantly agrees to come along.

As the group heads back to Sector 7, Tifa wonders how they can get there since the gate is now blocked. Cloud says they can use the secret passageway in Evergreen Park that Aerith showed him before by going through the Collapsed Expressway. The group finds more of the route blocked, but another path has opened inside. As they get through, they beat up Beck, Burke, Butch and a grungy bandit when they pass through their territory.

They find survivors gathering at the Evergreen Park and spot Wymer emerge from the passageway, Barret being glad he is alive. He asks who else made it, but Wymer doesn't know. The group takes the passage underneath the playground structure to the Sector 7 slums, though the ground is unstable. They find Marle and a couple Neighborhood Watch Members helping out a resident stuck under the rubble. Marle is glad Tifa survived. Once they help the resident out, she thanks them, and goes with the Neighborhood Watch. Marle suggests they check out the bar, but they find it destroyed and Cloud saves Tifa from a falling container. Barret continues to clear the rubble from the bar when Tifa hears a cat meow: one of Wedge's cats.

The group follows the cat to a hole near to Wedge's home that leads to an underground test site where they find an unconscious Wedge. The ground underneath them collapses and they all fall inside and become separated. Barret awakes alone, making himself a path through the underground structure with his firearms. He finds Tifa under attack from bugaboos and destroys the monsters' nest to save her. Tifa asks for Cloud, but Barret says Cloud can handle himself.

The pair makes it back to the first floor and finds Wedge next to his meowing cat. Tifa says that he is okay, only unconscious. Barret is relieved to hear that as Tifa thanks Wedge's cat for leading them. Barret grabs Wedge as Tifa wonders where they are. The large door of the specimen testing area is closing. Barret puts Wedge down, and the still unconscious Wedge and his cat are left outside as Barret and Tifa lock themselves in the testing site. Unknown entities attack them, Barret realizing the mutants are coming from the air duct, and tells Tifa to close it. Tifa climbs the platform as a failed experiment appears. Barret and Tifa defeat all of the mutants and weaken the failed experiment, with Cloud showing up to incapacitate it, ordering Barret to finish it off. Barret decries that Cloud is late, but uses his limit break, Fire in the Hole, to defeat the experiment. Barret asks how Cloud found them, Cloud saying he followed the trail of bullet holes.

Barret fires at a cracked wall to break through, revealing a hidden a lab filled with test pods. Tifa and Barret wonder if the mutants inside the pods used to be people. Cloud knows Shinra would do this, recalling himself as part of an experiment and being held in a similar pod. Tifa asks if something is wrong, as a swarm of specters drags the group away from the lab.

The group finds themselves outside Wedge's destroyed home next to the hole, with Wedge and his cat also there. Barret wonders what was that all about, grabs Wedge, and puts him on his shoulder. Cloud gazes into the hole that leads to the test site, but Tifa tells him to get going, holding Wedge's cat. Barret wants Cloud and Tifa to take Wedge back to Aerith's house while he stays and searches for Biggs and Jessie. Cloud apologizes to Barret, saying he saw Biggs and Jessie badly hurt at the pillar. Barret says that it is okay. Tifa says Biggs and Jessie have returned to the planet, but this does not soothe Barret, who says that Biggs and Jessie were supposed to return to them. He says that if they give up their fight against Shinra, Biggs and Jessie will never let them live it down. He promises to carry that burden as the group begins to head back to Aerith's house with Wedge.