THUD!
The sound of massive metal hitting the concrete shattered the suffocating silence. The Dragon Slayer slipped from Johnny's grasp.
Johnny didn't stand. His knees gave out. His colossal frame collapsed, falling into a kneeling position. His broad back, usually so sturdy in bearing the weight of the world, now bowed in total ruin.
His body trembled violently, as if every muscle were at war with itself. The Berserk State was still active, but not as a combat force—it was a poison devouring his soul. Black steam hissed from his pores, mixing with cold sweat.
"CASCA... FORGIVE ME... AERITH... FORGIVE ME..."
Johnny's voice cracked, hoarse with tears held back for years. He buried his face in his trembling hands. Tears flowed freely from between his armored fingers, mingled with the dark aura.
"YOU WERE RAPED... YOU WERE SOLD AGAIN... THEY'RE GOING TO BURN YOU AGAIN..."
Johnny's eyes—now pitch black without pupils—stared at horrors invisible to anyone else. He didn't see the church. He saw hell. He saw the sacrificial bonfire.
"FORGIVE ME... FORGIVE ME... I FAILED... I ALWAYS FAIL..."
Johnny kept repeating the mantra of anguish, beating his own chest.
Aerith didn't run. She threw herself down in front of Johnny, disregarding the dirt on her dress or the black aura that might hurt her. She pulled Johnny's hands away from his face, then kissed his forehead gently but firmly.
"Johnny... I'm here," Aerith whispered, her voice shaking, holding back sobs. She pulled his head against her chest. "Come back to me, Johnny... Please, come back."
But Johnny was still trapped. "I failed, Aerith... I failed..."
Aerith turned toward the door, where Zack stood frozen, pale and filled with guilt. Zack's sword lay broken on the floor. The young man looked lost, never expecting his joke would shatter a person's soul this deeply.
"Do you know what you've done?!" Aerith snapped sharply.
"I-I didn't know... I was just joking..." Zack stammered, stepping forward to help.
"STAY BACK!" Aerith shrieked.
The scream made Zack recoil. It wasn't just anger; it was the ferocious cry of a mother protecting her wounded child.
"PLEASE, JUST LEAVE FOR A MOMENT!" Tears streamed down her face. "I HATE YOU... I HATE YOU SHINRA TROOPS OR SOLDIERS WHO DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"
The words slapped Zack harder than any physical blow. His shoulders slumped. He nodded weakly, picked up the hilt of his broken sword, and walked backward out of the church. He sat on the front steps, hanging his head in deep remorse.
Inside the church, silence fell, broken only by Johnny's heart-wrenching sobs.
Aerith wrapped her arms around Johnny's massive, convulsing body.
"Ivalera... Puck... Help me," Aerith whispered.
The two small fairies appeared. Their faces were wet with tears. Puck was no longer playful; he flew in front of Johnny's face, sprinkling glowing dust. Ivalera touched Johnny's shoulder.
Aerith closed her eyes, praying to the Planet. "Mother... Planet... please take away his nightmares. Lend me Your light."
The church floor vibrated softly. Not an earthquake, but the resonance of life. From the cracks in the wooden floor, from the Life Spring flowing beneath Sector 5, grains of green light—the Lifestream—began to rise.
The light was soft, warm, and soothing. The green particles swirled around them, forming a cocoon of light that drove away the black Berserk aura.
Aerith cupped Johnny's face with both hands. She stared straight into his pitch-black eyes.
"Johnny..."
Aerith kissed Johnny's left cheek, right over his scar.
"Johnny, I'm here. I'm safe. No one is being sold. No one is being burned."
Slowly, a miracle happened. Thanks to Aerith's sincere prayer and the Lifestream's resonance, the darkness in Johnny's eyes began to recede. The whites of his eyes returned. His pupils refocused. The black fog around his body faded, leaving behind only a tired, fragile human body.
However, his tears didn't stop.
"Aerith..." Johnny's voice sounded weak, like a lost child. "Forgive me... I failed... you were raped... you..."
"Shh..." Aerith placed a finger on Johnny's lips.
Aerith wiped the tears flooding Johnny's rough cheeks with her thumbs. She smiled, the saddest yet most beautiful smile Johnny had ever seen.
"Johnny, look around you. This isn't hell. We are still in the church," Aerith said softly.
With great effort, Aerith helped Johnny stand. His giant legs were still shaky as a fawn's. Aerith guided him to look at the bed of lilies surrounding them.
"Look at this, Johnny. Our lilies."
Aerith picked one yellow flower—slightly bent from being stepped on by Zack earlier—and placed it in Johnny's large palm.
"Smell it," Aerith commanded. "It's real. I am real."
Johnny stared at the flower. Its gentle scent pierced his nose, driving away the smell of blood and smoke from his memories. He looked at Aerith, standing bathed in the sunlight falling from the broken roof.
Aerith smiled, though her eyes were puffy. "See, Johnny? These are the flowers we tend every day. We are safe here."
Johnny's breathing began to regulate. Reality returned to him. There was no Eclipse. There was no Griffith. There was only an old church, lilies, and the flower girl who had just pulled him out of the mouth of hell.
Johnny dropped to his knees again, hugging Aerith's waist, and wept—this time not tears of madness, but tears of relief.
"Thank you..." he whispered hoarsely. "Thank you, Aerith."