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 Aeris
Gainsborough was the last surviving Ancient, or Cetra, as
originally called. Before her, there was her mother, Ifalna, who
had been a Cetra. Ifalna married Professor Gast, a man who was
researching the history of the Cetras. Soon, their child was
born, whom they named Aeris. Not too long after, their home in
Icicle Inn was attacked by ShinRa soldiers, led by Professor
Hojo, a scientist with a strong interest in the Cetra. They
killed Gast and took Ifalna and Aeris to the ShinRa headquarters
to do research on their kind. They stayed here for seven years
before Ifalna was able to escape with their child, but could
only go as far as the train station in the Sector 7 slums, where
Ifalna told a widow named Elmyra Gainsborough to take care of
Aeris. It was then that Ifalna died.
Aeris was continued to be chased by ShinRa, which continued to
want to do research on the ancients. But even as they came to
their home and explained the situation to Elmyra, Aeris denied
that she was different--that she was a Cetra. But Elmyra knew of
Aeris' abilities, such as being able to "speak" to the planet.
Aeris was indeed the last remaining Cetra.
ShinRa's hopes were that Aeris would lead them to the Promised Land,
a place, they say, is filled with endless Mako. But according to
Aeris, the Promised Land is said to be a land that promises
supreme happiness, and that she hoped to find her promised land someday. Either way, many were now on a search for the Promised Land, including ShinRa, and also Sephiroth as well. The gang travels to stop them, but all hope seems lost with Aeris' death. Sephiroth now formed plans to summon Meteor, which could be stopped with Holy. However, Holy was said to be summoned with the white materia, which Aeris had in her possession. Now that Aeris was dead, it seemed impossible to stop Meteor.
Later, the group discovers that all hope wasn't lost after all. Just before Aeris was killed, she had prayed at the altar in the City of Ancients to the planet for Holy to be summoned. It was then that Sephiroth came down and thrusted his sword through Aeris' back. As she fell to the ground, the white materia fell from her ribbon and dropped to the bottom of the lake. However, it was already glowing a pale green, the sign indicting the summon of Holy.
Later, after the group finishes Sephiroth off, as Meteor prepares to crash onto Midgar, Holy appears, and attempts to push Meteor away from the planet. However, Meteor's strength seems stronger than Holy and slowly manages to push on through it. Just as it seems that the planet is reaching its end, a small green glow is spotted from afar. Suddenly, green light rises from the earth and travels over to the collision of Meteor and Holy. Cloud then realizes that this is the Lifestream. This lifestream has been brought out by Aeris, and as it joins between Meteor and Holy, it manages the save the planet.
In the end, although Aeris was dead, it was her death that brought hope for the world. Being in the lifestream, she was able to use her powers as an ancient to rescue the planet before all was too late. Even in death, Aeris became the hope and helped to save the planet from its destruction. |
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