Part 4
Chapter 15
The Reckoning
A Thief in the Night
Case woke up with a light dust covering him in an old chair after dozing off watching Edin working. The body had already formed with the mechanical components already implanted. Case thought to himself that Edin was a very fast worker for not really wanting to do this. "The body's in the process of forming to fit the DNA structure of her features," Edin told Case. "The mechanical components are in place to keep the body stable, but there are no more of the mechanical atoms for her hand or other parts."
"I don't care about that," Case told him. "I just want her back."
"Okay then, while the body forms I'm going to read some of the books in the back." Case nodded to Edin while he got up out of the chair going to the table. Edin walked into the back and picked up a book to read about experiments that went on in the basement. Case looked at the newly forming body in a pool of a clear liquid so that her body could be stable. The body was nearly done forming when Case called Edin to see if he tried something.
"You better not try anything funny like putting a control chip in her," Case threatened Edin.
"Don't worry, you kidnapped me so I don't have anything like that with me," Edin reassured Case and got back to work.
Cloud passed back and forth thinking of a way to get the other materia and find Sephiroth, but first, going to see what Case was up to. Cloud walked out on the deck to make a quick stop in Nibelheim to seek a peek at what Case was doing that was such a secret. Avonej saw Cloud walk out with a look of thought on his face. "Oh!" Cloud said, surprised to see that anyone was up. "Avonej, I didn't know that you were out here. I'll go."
"No...no it's fine. Come out and look at the stars," Avonej told Cloud. Cloud walked out and stood where Avonej was and looked up at the stars.
"Why're you out here?" Cloud asked.
"I couldn't sleep, knowing that I hold the one thing to end the life on all planets. I just couldn't bare it so I found relaxation under the stars. What about you?"
"Oh, I was just thinking 'bout where Sephiroth might be and a way to get those other materia back," Cloud lied. Avonej stared out into the midnight sky lit up by the glimmer of stars.
"Didn't Sephiroth always fly off to the north?" Cloud didn't know what to think of the question but pondered about it anyway.
"Yeah, I did notice that whenever Sephiroth left a fight he always flew off to the north or somewhere towards the northern mountains."
"That really isn't the reason you came out here though, is it Cloud?"
"Huh?"
Again Avonej said, "Sephiroth isn't the real reason you came out here is he?"
A look of nothing came over Cloud's face and he lied through his teeth, "No. Why?"
"Oh, I was just wondering." Avonej turned back around and started look at the stars once more. Avonej was a tall quiet person; his knowledge of the planet was astonishing and met with his knowledge of his mother...Jenova. There was one thing he was always good at, and that was knowing when somebody lied. "Come sit down with me Cloud. Looking at the stars is very relaxing for the spirit. To bad Sephiroth's out there somewhere because it sure is a nice night for flying."
"Why is Sephiroth stopping you?"
"Well, for one thing since we don't know where he is he could strike at any given time. The second is the materia. If I happen to have it while I'm flying and get in an unexpected attack by Sephiroth, we'll lose it and the planet."
"Well, why don't ya give me the materia then you can go out on your flight."
"I've thought about that Cloud and the answer is no. Even though I fight on your side I still don't know you all enough to even trust you. You might say to me that giving you the materia would help build my trust in you, but I would still say no." Cloud wished then that he'd never given the 'Pearl Materia' back to Avonej, and realized that there was no way Avonej was going to get off the deck. So he decided to just go back down to his bed and try to take a nap.
"Who wants omelets?!" Heather yelled from the kitchen.
"Eggs again?!" Barret complained. "Can't we jus' have some pancakes or somethin' else?"
"Fine," Heather pouted. "Next time we stop you can do the shopping. Okay?"
"Finally," Barret sighed in relief. "Time to get some good food."
"We all know what you're goin' ta git," Cid interrupted. "All junk food. I mean, even I like an occasional healthy meal." Barret frowned at him and turned around to eat his breakfast. Cloud walked in all groggy and confused then asked for some coffee.
"What the hell happened to you last night?" Vincent asked handing Cloud his coffee.
"Bad night," Cloud said like he got wasted. "Couldn't sleep well so went out to deck. When came down couldn't sleep more. Managed to get two hours sleep, so no more questions. Were breakfast?" Heather set a place for Cloud and he stumbled over like a zombie and ate the breakfast Heather made.
"Ah..." Avonej said cheerfully walking in. "It was a wonderful night last night wasn't it?"
Cloud looked up at him scornfully muttering, "I hate you," and fell back into eating his breakfast.
"Cloud now don't be a poor sport. Just because I don't need as much sleep as you do is no reason to be mad at me," Avonej tried reasoning with him.
"Oh...shut up. Can't ya see how tired I am?" Cloud argued. Avonej looked him over and agreed, then went and got his breakfast.
After everyone had eaten, the entire group met in the conference room. "So what are the plans for today?" Nanaki asked.
"We are goin' to try and locate Sephiroth and his little hide-away. Then after that we're goin' to try and steal the materia he already has," Cloud detailed. "Any other questions?"
"Yeah..." Avonej said raising his arm. "What about Case?"
"Well...I guess that he'll call whenever he's finished doin' what he's doin'," Cloud answered smoothly. "Ok, since there are no more questions we're goin' to be lookin' in the northern mountains for Sephiroth's hideout. We need the other destruction materia so that he'll have a less chance of destroying the planet." With that everyone walked back onto the bridge and set out for search mode.
Sephiroth woke up to find himself sitting on the floor of the cave he was at. He wiped the sleep from his eye and got up to check on the destruction materia to see if it was still there. He walked over to a little hole in the wall covered by a rock and pushed the rock out of the way. After he counted all the materia he pushed back the rock and walked to the mouth of the cave. He looked to the sky through his mechanical eyepiece and spotted the Highwind off in the far distance. He knew they'd be scanning the surface of the mountains for an opening of a cave. He split off a piece of his hand and made it form a holographic projector to cover the mouth of his cave.
"How's the surface scan goin' Cid?" asked Cloud.
"So far? Ain't been nuthin'," Cid grumbled. "Can't we send out patrols?"
"No, because if we DO find Sephiroth, we'll need to plan right away to get those other materia from him." Cloud was about to call it off when the scanner picked up a disturbing signal from one of the mountains. "What is it Cid?"
"There's an energy disturbance in one of the mountains," Cid told Cloud.
"You mean there's actual energy coming from one of the mountains?" Avonej asked.
"Apparently, that's what the monitor reads," Cid replied still checking the monitor.
"Which one is it Cid?" Cloud asked looking out the window.
Cid looked at the monitor and then out the bridge window and pointed, "That one with the crooked top that's next to the one next to Bone Village." Cloud looked closely then finally saw the mountain that Cid was talking about.
"Let's land at the City of the Ancients," Cloud told Cid. "Then we can plan for later."
"Case, it's getting dark, I need light to work," Edin said waking him up.
"Alright alright. If it's light you need it's light I'll give," Case replied bitterly. "Uh...how do I turn on the light?"
"Well you can't turn on the switch, I've already tried, it was fried by the shock from when Sephiroth was revived."
"Then there's only one way," Case said reaching for his sword. He mumbled a couple of word and stuck his sword in the ceiling. His 'Light Materia' started to glow and then shown brightly, lighting up the entire room. Aeris' body was nearly done forming with all the biomechanical part in place and hooked up ready to work. "She's lookin' good Edin. I'll pay you and take you back to Midgar after this is done."
"I don't need your petty cash, but I'll be more than happy to be taken back home," Edin replied harshly. "Now it's time to inject the blood for the body to take form of her features." Case pointed to the suitcase that Aeris' blood was in. "Good. This'll form the bone structure and organs needed for life. Then after they're done forming her body will need to be exposed to light to form the protective layer of skin. Then after that the body will need to be hardened and the Spirit Energy will need to be soaked in so she will have the memories of her life. It'll take about four more hours." Case agreed and went to the back room to see if there was any information on the Cetra so he could fine that chant. While he was going to the back Prof. Edin defrosted the blood and injected it into the newly forming body.
"No Tifa," Cloud said shaking his head. "That's a good plan but we need Avonej to go out alone, and at night."
"You mean, like I was talking about before? On the deck?"
"Exactly," Cloud answered. "You see, Avonej likes to fly at night. He will start flying in front of Sephiroth's cave so he can see Avonej, hopefully knowing that Avonej still has the 'Pearl Materia'. Then, Tifa, you and Yuffie will go into Sephiroth's hideout and take the other destruction materia."
"WAIT wait wait!" Yuffie complained. "Why does Tifa have to come along?!"
"Because," Cloud said a bit mad. "You can't be trusted...yet." Cloud pulled out a map of the area and continued with the plan. "Avonej you will be flying around here. Barret, Vincent, and Heather, you three will be placed here, here, and here. Since you three can shoot I'm placing you there to back up Avonej in case Sephiroth confronts him. Cait Sith and Nanaki, you two will be just below the mouth of the cave to backup Tifa and Yuffie. Cid you'll be in the Highwind ready to take-off at any time. Katlyn and myself will be waiting just outside the mouth of the cave to backup Cait Sith and Nanaki. Everyone got that?" The group all replied enthusiastically. "Good. Remember the plan and that it starts tonight. For now we can rest up or you can go to Bone Village or the City of the Ancients, but remember, this'll be a quick job."
Sephiroth poked his head out of the mouth of the cave to see where the Highwind landed. "Damn..." Sephiroth cursed to himself. "I wonder what Cloud's up to?" Sephiroth went back into his cave, not knowing the plan that Cloud had planned out, and started a plan of his own to take the 'Pearl Materia'. He planned to call upon Jenova to lure in Avonej and distract him until he could take the 'Pearl Materia' from Avonej. Also, as a backup system to his plan, he split off a piece of his hand to form a monster in case someone got inside and another one to form a wall of steel over the mouth of the cave if somebody ever got in. Sephiroth sat back and thought, securely, about what Jenova creature to summon while Cloud and the others rested.
Nightfall came and all of the group came to the Highwind to get ready to steal the materia. "Ok," Cloud said in readiness. "Is everyone ready for this, 'cause we only get one chance."
"I believe we're all ready," Avonej answered for everyone.
"Ok then...let's get to work," Cloud said. "We'll wait 'bout ten minutes then Avonej, you'll start to fly outside infront of Sephiroth's cave. By then we'll all be in position."
"I hope so," Avonej said uneasy. Cloud, Cait Sith, Nanaki, Katlyn, Tifa, and Yuffie all ran up the mountain towards the disturbance in the mountain while Barret, Heather, and Vincent ran more to the basin to cover Avonej. Avonej stood on the deck leaning on the rail thinking when Cid came out.
"Ya ready for this?" Cid asked.
"Maybe. I have a funny feeling that something will go horribly wrong, but...I'll do it anyway. I also feel a strange familiar force coming into the plan."
"Don't git worried Avonej. We'll all get through it. We always do."
"Avonej, Avonej! Come in!" yelled Cloud on the PHS over the static.
"Yeah Cloud?"
"It's time. Let's rock," Cloud finished. Avonej looked up at the sky and took off into the night sky filled with the stars. Cloud looked about and through the binoculars at all the others at their positions and ok-ed them. Avonej flew up and saw the part of the mountain that was lit up a bit more than the other parts. He looked carefully and then shot his 'Green Light' beam right on the surface of the cave. The shock surprised Sephiroth who sprang to his feet and shot off into the sky after Avonej. "Right! Tifa, Yuffie! Get into Sephiroth's cave and find that materia!" Tifa and Yuffie ran up and into the cave and began to search for the materia quickly. Barret, Heather, and Vincent spotted Sephiroth as he sped off to meet Avonej and saw him drop something. It was a piece of Jenova flesh and when it landed it started to form into a new Jenova, Jenova: Resurrect. Cloud, startled by the noise looked over to see Jenova fighting his three shooters. He started down the mountain to tell Cait Sith and Nanaki but Tifa called for help. "Katlyn, go help Tifa." Katlyn ran up into the cave and after she was in the mechanical device Sephiroth had put there shut the three in the cave behind steel. Alarmed by the sound, Cloud turned around to see a steel wall covering the mouth and hear Katlyn banging on it.
"Um...girls," Yuffie said nervously turning on a flashlight. "I don't think that we're alone in here." Just then the three turned around to see and hear the blips and flashes of a robot forming.
Cloud then looked up at Sephiroth and Avonej to see Avonej shooting his beam at Sephiroth and Sephiroth countering with his hand laser. His perfect plan had been totally screwed with. "SHIT!" Cloud yelled in rage. "How the hell are we going to get outta this fucking mess?!"
Chapter 16
An Angel's Return
"Well, the blood transfusion was a success and the skin has formed. Now all that's left is to let her Spirit Energy fill her mind with all the information she has," Edin explained lengthily. "Oh! Do you happen to have some Spirit Energy." Case opened up his coat and gave the glowing pouch to Edin. "I'm surprised you have some." Case shrugged his shoulders as Edin put the Spirit Energy onto the tray-table where Aeris' body was.
"And how long will that take?" Case asked impatiently. "Oh...about two more hours, I believe." Case sighed and got out the PHS to call Cid.
"Cait Sith! Go and try to break that wall!" Cloud yelled in frustration. "Nanaki! Go over to where Barret is and help them out!"
"Right," Nanaki said running down the mountain while Cait Sith climbed up to help the girls. Cloud looked up at Avonej and Sephiroth and thought of something to help. He darted back to the Highwind to go have a talk with Cid.
"Hello?" Cid said answering the PHS.
"Cid, it's Case."
"Case?! Hell boy, where the fuck have you been?"
"Um...in Nibelheim. Anyway I called 'cause I was concerned. Is Cloud okay?"
"Hell I don't know! They're off stealin' th....holy shit! Ya think they might be in trouble?!"
"I have no clue. I just had a chill go through me kinda sayin' that something was wrong."
Just then Cloud busted onto the bridge, "Cid!" he yelled out of breath. "We're in trouble."
"Hey Case, looks like you were right, call back at better time," Cid told him.
"Ok Cid. Good luck."
"Cloud what is it?" Cid asked helping him get his breath. "Sephiroth screwed up the plan. Do you have any "jetpack" type things?"
"Yeah..." Cid said uneasily getting it out. "But it's kind of a prototype."
"Well," Cloud said strapping it on. "Let's just call this the test drive." Cid told Cloud how to start it and maneuver the thing so he wouldn't crash. Cloud walked out onto the deck and started the jetpack. It cranked and started with a low hum, then fired Cloud up into the air. Cloud, not ready for the blast, screamed as he shot off towards the night sky. He quickly gained control of the steering and turned down the thrust on it, so he wouldn't fly into the side of a mountain. He quickly found Sephiroth and Avonej fighting each other and drew out his sword. Avonej and Sephiroth were locked in combat trying to overpower the other one.
"Y, you're a lot tougher...than the other Sephiroth I fought," Avonej complimented, pushing Sephiroth back.
"What can I say I am better than the original," Sephiroth said rushing back at Avonej. Before Sephiroth was able to reach, Cloud swooped up, slashing Sephiroth across the chest, knocking him back. "Damnit...That boy sure does have impeccable timing. Maybe too good." Sephiroth quickly raised his arm and morphed a mini rocket launcher to shoot Cloud with. Sephiroth took aim and was about to shoot when Avonej blinded him with his 'Green Light' and then struck him down with his tentacle arm.
"Vincent! Go for its head! Heather! Go for its legs! Try to get it off balance!" Barret said barking orders. The new Jenova swung at Barret, trying to knock him out. Barret dodged the oncoming attack and unloaded a round of ammo on the new Jenova. The shock from the bullets sent Jenova backwards but not to the ground. Heather pulled up her crossbow and shot it in the leg. Jenova screamed in pain and lashed out on Heather striking her left and right. Vincent then shot a round of bullets into Jenova's head hitting it dead on. Jenova's attention was redirected to Vincent while he motioned Barret to go help Heather.
"Well now," Vincent said standing in front of Jenova. "Let's see how you do against your own creations." He started to change into 'Chaos' but it was interrupted by the striking of Jenova's claw. Vincent was knocked back into the side of a rock, that was at the basin, and fell down. He got back up on his hands and knees to see that Jenova was about to strike again. Before it could Vincent gathered up all his rage and changed into a new beast that none of the others ever knew about. This new monster was unlike any other seen on the planet. Plated armor and scaly skin formed all over his body, and spikes protruded from all over his back. He screamed as two sets of wings morphed through his back skin and a tail came out and formed a spiked ball with spines extending from all over the tail. His neck grew out and his face became the face of Bahamut's, he became the 'ZeoBahamut Demon'. He flew up into the night sky, roaring all the way, and stared down at Jenova. He chuckled to himself and shot down a huge fireball down on Jenova. Barret and Heather sat there, amazed, shocked, stunned, and afraid of what this new creature might do as Nanaki came down. Jenova was sent sprawling to the ground from the burst of flames. Barret walked out and summoned Typhoon on Jenova. A flying pink demon, with two heads, appeared and "sneezed" down on Jenova, creating a tornado. Then it turned around, and with it's other head, turned the landscape upside-down for Jenova who was sent to the sky. The demon disappeared and Jenova was back down on the ground badly hurt. ZeoBahamut saw the chance to strike and flew down to kill Jenova. With all his energy he did the ultimate death combo on Jenova, 'Demon Rage'. ZeoBahamut literally dove on Jenova hitting it left and right with sharp slashes, fierce kicks, stinging tail whips, and burning wing cuts leaving Jenova only a pile of cuts and bruises. ZeoBahamut growled as he looked at the lifeless Jenova body. He turned his head and saw Barret tending to Heather. He started walking towards them getting ready to use 'Zeo Flare' on them. Barret looked up and saw ZeoBahamut coming straight for them.
"Vincent! Vincent...hey..." Barret said starting to worry. "It's us, your friends. It's me Barret, Vincent, remember. We're friends and you control the beast, it doesn't control you."
"Me? I'm Vincent..." the beast grabbed its head and it reverted back into Vincent. "I'm sorry Barret, Heather, I guess the demon got the best of me. It won't happen again." He picked up his gun and walked away looking at the dead Jenova, very calm.
"What was that?! And what happened to Vincent?" Nanaki asked as he came to where Barret was helping Heather up.
"I don't know. I jus' hope that he don't let that demon thing get control of him again." He got up and followed Vincent as Heather looked at the destruction that the demon caused.
Yuffie quickly looked around in the cave and saw the rock that hid the other materia. She handed the flashlight to Tifa, who was still staring at the robot, and ran over to move the rock. "Get back!" the robot ordered knocking Yuffie to the ground. "I can't let you have these." Tifa pointed up the light so she could view the robot clear.
"What?" she said almost dropping the flashlight. "A mechanical Sephiroth?"
"Yeah, aren't I a genius," the robot clone said.
"It's time for you to short out buddy!" Yuffie threatened getting ready to do 'Bolt3' on the clone.
"Bring it on!" he threatened right back. Yuffie stepped forward and concentrated on her materia then cast 'Bolt3' on the clone.
The clone quickly separated and reformed in a different place, easily dodging the attack. "Heh heh, now it's my turn." He didn't have much room to fight, but he didn't really need any. Instead of rushing he morphed both of his hands into huge laser cannons and warmed them up. Tifa frantically looked around for a place to cover but couldn't find any. With the clone's laser almost about to fire Tifa did the only thing she knew she could do.
"Big Guard!" Tifa shouted as a protective shield covered the three and hastened them.
"Regen!" Katlyn shouted to heal their wounds.
"Katlyn?" Yuffie said searching through her pockets. "Do you happen to have a 'Lightning Materia'?"
"No."
"Then here," Yuffie said handing her one. "I want it back after the battle." Katlyn agreed and they all prepared for the worst.
"Fire..." the clone said with an evil tone. The energy gathered in front of the two lasers and unleashed a power beam on the girls. The beam bounced off of some parts of the girls' barrier but most of it hit them pretty rough.
"Hey. Hey!" Cait Sith yelled banging on the steel wall. "You girls okay in there?" Cait Sith backed up to try and run into the wall to bash it down. He was just about to start running when he was met by the laser shot from the clone. The girls flew out of the cave and landed on top of Cait Sith. Soon after, the clone stepped out of the cave and looked at the remains of the wall that covered it.
"Umm..." Cait Sith said struggling to get up. "I know that you know I'm just a mechanical body, but would you gals mind getting off of me so I can move!"
"Oh boo-hoo," Yuffie complained. "I didn't see you gettin' shot out of a cave." The three got up with the help of 'Regen' and started after the clone. Tifa got up to it first and did 'Trine' on it. The shock from the spell stunned the clone and sent it to the ground. Yuffie sneaked into the cave, forgetting about the rock, during the commotion and peered in to take a closer look but there was nothing there. Cait Sith cast 'Flare' on the clone to finish it of. There was a bright flash and intense heat everywhere which soon melted the clone. Yuffie came out of the cave looking confused. "They're not there."
"Huh?" Tifa asked confused as well. "You mean the other destruction materia?" Yuffie nodded. "That must mean...Sephiroth has them." She turned around and looked up at the sky to where Sephiroth was.
Sephiroth looked down and about to see that Jenova and the clone were dead. "Well Sephiroth, looks like you lost," Cloud said confidently.
"It's time to finish it," Avonej said reaching into his belt. "We might as well use this." He pulled out a white materia and started to concentrate on it. Millions of strange thoughts passed through his mind telling him about the materia and it's content. He finally looked up, and with energy flowing through his eyes Avonej yelled. "Pearl Nova!" Pure white energy condensed around Sephiroth and then grew dark, stunning him. A ball of white, that looked like a pearl, flew down from the sky and collided with the energy around Sephiroth. It was quiet for a moment, but the silence was soon broken by a loud violent explosion from where the pearl ball hit. The explosion was so large that it lit up the entire sky over the planet. Cloud opened his eyes after the flash was gone to see Sephiroth falling to the ground. Cloud flew down after him while Avonej stuffed the 'Pearl Materia' back into his belt. Cloud grabbed a hold of him and set him down on the ground as the Highwind flew in. Sephiroth came to just as he hit the land and looked up to see everyone in the group standing around him.
"Where are they?" Yuffie protested.
"Where are what you little brat?" Sephiroth asked her back rubbing his head.
"Why you...I outta..." Yuffie said walking towards him but was held back by Tifa.
"The destruction materia," Katlyn said. "They weren't in the cave so you must have them."
"Fork'em over," Barret cut in. "'Cause you're finished."
"Damn..." Sephiroth muttered. "This is a shitty development. If they aren't in there...somebody has them."
"What?!" Cloud practically screamed. "But...who would want them."
"Beats me," Sephiroth continued. "Now this makes my job twice as hard to do. Ah well, it's been fun to play with you but." Sephiroth stopped and emitted an energy blast that sent them all to the ground then flew off into the sky.
"What now Cloud?" Nanaki asked getting up. "How are we going to find the materia if soneone else has it?"
"I don't know. Let's go back to the Highwind and rest. Then we're going to Nibelheim to get Case."
Cid landed the Highwind in the flattest spot he could and saw Cloud and the others walking over to board. "I wonder what the fuck happened here," Cid said with a puzzled look on his face as he continued to land.
"She's almost complete, but there's one thing I can't figure out?" Edin said checking the clone over again and again.
"What's that?" Case said looking at Aeris. Her body had been formed and her Spirit Energy was almost completely in.
"The right amount of Spirit Energy is in there, but I don't know why there's still some left or why she's not back. I'm sure I did everything right. Am I missing something?" Edin looked over the body again and checked every procedure over.
"I know what it is. Could you leave the room for a moment." Case stood by the table and motioned Edin to leave. Edin shrugged his shoulders and started out the door to go upstairs. Case walked over to Aeris and looked at her a bit. She had no mechanical parts showing because they were all implanted under the skin. The body was complete with the hair and everything as Case looked at her closed eyes. "How am I supposed to know the chant? I want to bring you back but I just don't know it." Case started to lean on the table when the Spirit Energy started to flow through the air. It formed a stream and hovered around Case until the rest of it that was left on the table was floating in the air. Then, it unexpectedly started flowing into Case filling his consciousness of the information to bring her back. He realized that his 'Light Materia' has a special task to it, a spell called 'Reborn'. He grabbed his sword from the ceiling and focused his energy on the materia. "Noktun octavi ungar tekkor." The words flowed out of him as if he knew them by heart. That was the chant to activate that special spell on his materia. "Aeris...come back, please." The 'Light Materia' emitted a brilliant light as its energy flowed to Aeris' body and sank inside it. Case held his head back and closed his eyes until the light was gone. A minute or two passed by until the light was gone and it was safe to look. Case anxiously ran over to the table and looked at her again. There was still no new sign of life. "I was a fool to think this'd work." Case closed his eyes and bowed his head as he leaned on the table. He suddenly jerked his head when he felt a hand touch his arm.
"Some fool," Aeris said as her voice flowed from her mouth. She opened her eyes and saw a tear roll down Case's face. "When I told you that the chant would come to you in time I wasn't lying was I?" Case shook his head and helped Aeris off of the table. "Now where am I and what are these clothes on me?" She looked around then at the old coat and pants that she had on.
"Well, we're under the Shinra Mansion, and I found those and put them on you so you'd feel more...comfortable."
"Hmm...not the best place to be brought back, but anyway, about the clothes." She closed her eyes and started to mumble when a green glow surrounded her. Case covered his eyes until he noticed that the glowing stopped. He looked up to see Aeris in a new outfit. "So, how do you like it?" She turned around as if modeling and showed Case her outfit that she wore two years ago.
"Looks, good. C'mon let's go find Edin." Case said walking to the door.
"Edin? Looks like I have some catching up to do." She ran after him as they both walked out of the lab.
"Did you get them?" Edin asked a man over the phone.
"Yeah, I got'em," the man said. "But it wasn't easy to get in that cave, with that crazy white haired guy trying to booby-trap it."
"Hmm...yes. Anyway you did a good job...um, what was your name again?" Edin asked scratching his head.
"It's Drako, and I better be paid in full," Drako said as he polished his dirk.
"Don't worry about that. I have it all taken care of. Listen, someone's coming so I'll meet you at the drop-off point at two in the morning." Edin hung up the phone without even waiting for Drako to reply. He turned around to see Case and Aeris walking down the hall. "She's alive?! It worked?! I'm a GENIUS!"
"But.." Aeris said looking at Case knowing that he actually brought her back.
"Shh," Case said stopped Aeris. "Let him have this one." Case walked up to Edin and handed him a pouch. "There's sixteen hundred gil in there. I hope it'll do."
Edin looked at the pouch for a moment and gave it back to Case. "I said I don't need your money, I just want to get back to Midgar."
Case didn't ask as Edin walked into a room with an open safe in it. He turned around and walked Aeris out of the mansion. "He's hiding something, I can feel it."
Aeris looked at him with a look of understanding on her face. "I feel it too. That man's up to no good." They walked along to Cloud's house and walked inside to rest and so Aeris would know what exactly was going on.
"Well, did you get a signal lock?" Elena asked impatiently. Rude didn't reply, instead he stared at the little tacking device the Turks were using to find Edin. "...He's at Nibelheim..." Rude got up from the device and turned to Reno. "...But the other signal....it looks like it was scrambled, but from the north..."
Reno looked at Rude and brushed his hair to the side as he turned around. "Nibelheim's closer isn't it?"
"...Yeah....for right now at least..." Rude said as he was putting up the tracker.
"Then I guess we're going after a doctor," Reno said as he started for Nibelheim.
"I thought that's what you were suppose to do in the first place," Elena said knowing that it would annoy Reno. "Besides I thought you were a pro."
Reno turned around and started for her. "Don't get me wrong, I hate to work. I mean you look at yourself and then look at me, I'm a slob. But...if it'll roll in the money to look after some quack, I'll do it." Elena didn't say anything as Reno and Rude walked off for Nibelheim and then she realized she was being left behind.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Drako looked out his tent to see the Highwind landing in the valley. He paid no attention to it and went back to polishing his dirks. He looked up from his polishing and saw the three materia he stole from Sephiroth's cave. "These are what I'm getting paid ten thousand gil, each, to steal? I love my work." He knelt down and picked up the 'Krypt Materia'; his mind was flooded with strange thoughts about the materia and Jenova itself. Frightened, he threw down the materia that rolled next to the other two, as if it were drawn to them. He shook his head, trying to remember what he was doing, and then started to pack. He took off the trace-scrambler from the phone and got ready to go to Kalm.
"So, how'd the prototype work?" Cid asked as Cloud flew down to the deck.
"We got problems," Cloud told him, ignoring his question.
"Damn, I guess I'll ask later." Cid helped Cloud with getting off the jetpack as the rest of the group started up the ladder.
Yuffie sat on the ground and started thinking about the missing materia. "How?! I mean, where could they go to?" She kicked the dirt as Barret started to the ladder.
"What's your problem?"
"It's the materia. When I went in and looked around it was gone, GONE!"
"No need to pitch a fit. You the damn materia thief, so why don't ya go back an' look again, 'cept this time, more carefully."
"Your right old man! I need to go back and turn over every stone." Yuffie got out her flashlight and ran to the cave as Barret, controlling his anger, went up the ladder. She walked up to the mouth and peered inside, being careful not to cut herself on the burnt steel that was still on it. She turned on the flashlight and flashed it around the cave as she started to comb the surface. She found nothing on the floor and was about to search the walls when she remembered that rock that looked out of place. She blew off all the dust and looked for an opening of some kind. She was about to give up when she found a crack between the wall and rock. She quickly got out her Conformer and pried the rock away from the wall to look inside. After the rock fell from the little ledge, she pointed the flashlight inside and saw three materia orbs. "Oh, they were in here." She scratched her head and picked up one of the materia that suddenly shattered in her hand. "Wha?!" She tried to pick up another one, which shattered as well. She looked at the third one and tapped it. The orbs suddenly crack and fell apart in the little hole. Before she left she noticed that there was something else in the hole, and she picked it up. It was a marble, about half the size of a normal materia orb, and it had a dragon on it. She quickly pocketed it and ran off to the Highwind before it took off.
"Ya mean, the damn materia ain't here?!" Cid yelled when Cloud told him what had happened.
"That's right. Yuffie came out of the cave saying that they weren't in there." Cloud thought about what he had just said and walked out of the bridge. "Yuffie! Where are you?" Cloud had wondered if she just lied to them just to keep the materia for herself.
"Cloud! Cloud! I've got something to tell..." Yuffie ran straight into Cloud's chest as he stood behind the door to the deck.
"Yes, what is it Yuffie? Did you find something?" He helped her up from the deck giving her a scornful look.
"What?! What did I do?"
"Obviously something if you needed to find me so fast."
"Yeah...we ARE in trouble. I know who has the materia."
"This isn't one of your tricks, is it?"
"No, honest, cross my heart." Cloud looked at her and then decided that there was no other way. He called everyone into the conference room to find what Yuffie knew.
"What is this all about?" Nanaki asked.
"Yeah...this damn thief hasn't done us any good," Cid said stubbornly.
"Go on Yuffie," Tifa said, nudging her to step forward.
"Alright." Yuffie got up in front of the table and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "You all know that I came running out of the cave saying that the materia wasn't in there. Well, I was mad at myself 'cause I was sure of it that they were in there. So before everyone got onboard, Barret suggested that I go back and search more carefully. I did. I found a little hole in the wall with three shining materia, so I picked one up. To my surprise, it shattered, as did the other two. Then I found this." She reached in her pocket to pulled out the marble, with the dragon on it, and set it on the table.
"What's this?" Cloud asked picking up the marble and looking at it.
"A calling card, from Drako," Yuffie said shaking her head.
"Are you ready doc?" Case asked getting ready to call the Highwind.
"Yes, I just finished packing the clone kit," Edin replied carrying his kit out from the basement.
"Good, let's go," Aeris said impatiently. The three walked out of the mansion and started to head outside the town when Edin saw three blue suits.
"It's them! They're after me," Edin said quickly hiding behind a tree. Case and Aeris ducked behind the gate wall when Edin had startled them.
Case poked his head out to look through the gate, not to be seen, and saw the Reno, Rude, and Elena walking into town. "Who are they?" Aeris looked up and saw the three at the entrance of the town.
"It's the Turks," she said ducking back down. "They're a bad group. They kidnap people, covert stuff like that. Or at least they used to, I have no idea what they do now since Reeve's in charge."
"I'll tell you what they do," Edin said running to the wall for better cover. "They look after me. Ever since I brought back Sephiroth, I've been watched by these guys."
"Well, if you do something as dumb as that, you deserve it," Aeris said looking again. Case looked through the gate and saw the three stop at the well so he decided to go over to them. "Case! What're you doing?"
"I'll be a distraction, then you two get inside Cloud's house." Aeris nodded and waited for Case. He walked up to the well and tried to act like a figure. "Wow! The Turks, here?!"
"Huh?" Reno said stupidly as he turned around. "Who're you?"
"Me?" Case asked trying to think quickly. "Me, I'm your biggest fan. I wanna be with the Turks and do the cool stuff you do."
"...It's Case..." Rude said surprising Case.
"Who? Him? This is the other Ancient? How is he so special then?" Reno asked practically laughing.
"It doesn't matter," Elena said butting in. "Tell us where Edin is or you'll have to take on all three of us."
"Elena...how many times have I told you..." Reno said slapping his head. "You don't have to talk all the time. Now you just told him why we're here." Reno got frustrated and started to bang his head on the well while Elena walked away quietly.
"Sorry Reno..." she said trying to get him to stop hitting his head.
"It, it's ok...just make the dizziness stop," he replied kind of going around in a circle. Elena gave him a Potion, which he drank then sat down.
"So you're here for Edin," Case said motioning for Aeris to come out. She stopped in Cloud's house but then quickly came out when she saw that Edin hadn't followed her. "I don't think he's here but I do know somebody you might want to meet. It's my sister."
"Sister?!" Reno asked starting to get up. "I thought this kid was alone."
"Yeah...I think you've met before. I'd like you to meet Aeris, my sister." Case stepped back as Aeris walked up to them and waved. Reno and Elena nearly collapsed while Rude stood there in silence.
"I thought...that..she.." Reno started to say.
"Died?" Aeris said finishing his sentence. "Yeah, you thought that Sephiroth had died to, but he's back."
"...He's there..." Rude said pointing to the wall. "...Edin's behind that wall..."
"Then let's get this over with," Reno said getting up. "Aeris, Case, we shall be collecting what we came for."
"Not without a fight," Case said arming himself. "Aeris...(I thought Edin was supposed to follow you)." He looked over to see Aeris holding a staff, the Princess Guard. "And where'd you get that staff?"
"(I thought he was to but when I saw he wasn't I decided I might as well arm myself)," Aeris explained. "I just happened to find this in one of Cloud's closets."
"Ok, ok...enough sentimental crap, you wanted to fight or not?" Reno asked getting out his Electro-Mag rod and flicking it out all the way.
"Drako? Who's Drako?" Cloud asked Yuffie.
"Only the most notorious thief known on the planet," Yuffie said, shocked that Cloud didn't know about him.
"Then, why don't anyone know him?" Barret asked.
"Because," Vincent said sitting down on the table. "He didn't always use to be a thief. He was a member of the Turks, the best one at that, he was my idol. He came from Wutai and was very tricky and crafty, the fact was, he always had a trick up his sleeve. He was also the youngest person to become of the Turks, at thirteen. He quickly surprised Heidegger with his sly skills, but then The Great War started. Because of his heritage, he refused to fight in the War. Shinra didn't take that very well, and after the War he hardly worked, then one day he just...disappeared. Shinra covered it up by saying he died in a job when knowing in full that he was just gone. Then, when I had made it to the Turks there were many jobs I took because some equipment was stolen and there was always that marble there. Later on, before my Nibelheim accident, I found out that he'd even put a marble with a dragon on it at the site of a Turk's job. I guess, that's how he wanted to be remembered."
"So now we're dealing with another thief?" Cait Sith asked.
"Hey!" Yuffie shouted, getting ready to pulverize the cat. "Take that back, SPY!"
"Ouch, harsh..." Cait Sith replied hopping around. "At least I didn't steal the team's materia."
"You two, shut up!" Tifa shouted getting up to hold back Yuffie. Cloud stood in the room with his back turned to the rest. "Cloud, what are we going to do? If someone else has the materia then what'll keep Sephiroth from trying to take it from him?"
"I don't know," Cloud said not turning around. "We need to get Case back. I'm tired of his hiding." Cloud walked over to Cid, who was asleep in his chair, and woke him up. "I thought you said 'No more sleeping for me'."
"Huh?" Cid said, baffled. "So what? I haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time since I've been with you. Now, what'd you want?"
"I want to get to Nibelheim as fast as you can make this ship fly," Cloud said. Cid agreed and headed out to the bridge as Cloud and Cait Sith followed. "Why are you coming along?"
"If this Drako guy has the materia I need to get some of my people on this," Cait Sith said hopping onto the bridge. Reeve turned him off and phoned Reno.
"Do we really need to fight them?" Elena asked putting her hand on Reno's Shoulder. "They're just getting in the way. And maybe I said a bit too much but don't we still need to find Edin." Reno looked at her and then looked at Case and Aeris when his phone rang.
"Yes?" Reno asked picking it up.
"Reno, it's Reeve. There's a new problem. The materia's been stolen, by an ex-Turk called Drako who's turned into a thief."
"Drako?! I thought he had died?"
"Apparently not," Reeve explained. "Shinra covered it up when he just left one day. So forget about Edin, even though he's with Case, because I have a feeling that Edin hired Drako."
"But if he's with Case, and Case is here then...Ok Reeve, I'll get right on it." Reno hung up the phone and looked at Case with his sword still drawn. "Sorry kids, but we've got a bigger problem. We still need Edin, but I guess you can take care of that."
"What happened?" Aeris asked lowering her staff.
"We got a new job to do, and, as much as I'd hate to say it but, Elena's right. Fighting you two would be a waste of time."
"So what?! You think we're not good enough to take you on?" Case asked stubbornly. Aeris started to shake her head like Reno did and walked over to calm him down.
"Case, if they don't want to fight, they won't. Believe me, I used to get tangled with these guys all the time."
"...She's got a point..." Rude said cracking his knuckles. Edin was standing at this time and started to make his escape. "..Edin is trying to leave..."
"I'll get him," Elena said running after him. Edin frantically opened the gate, dropping his clone kit to lessen his weight, and started for the mountains. Elena reached in her coat and pulled out a bola. She swung it over her head and threw it at Edin who turned around to see it swinging towards him. He quickly started running away when his face met the cold metal of the lamppost. He was knocked unconscious as the bola swung at him and quickly tied him to the post.
"Nice work," Reno said walking to the unconscious doctor. "He looks hurt, but not too much."
"How caring..." Case said crossing his arms.
"Hey!" Reno said, offended. "It was his fault." Case shrugged his shoulders as the Highwind flew overhead. "Looks like Cloud's here. Maybe, if we're nice, he'll give us a ride."
"Doubtful," Case said picking up the clone kit. Elena and Rude untied Edin from the post and dragged him along the ground to where the Highwind was landing. Aeris hid behind the well to surprise Cloud when he came down. Case walked by Aeris, following Reno, not knowing or asking why she was hiding. The four walked into the pasture to where the Highwind had landed and were met by Cloud.
"The Turks?!" Cloud exclaimed getting ready to draw his sword. "Why're you guys here?"
"You're looking at him," Elena said trying to keep Edin up.
"Then why're you here Case?" Cloud asked letting go of his sword.
"Because," Aeris said walking out from behind the well. "He wanted to surprise you." Cloud didn't say a word, he didn't even move. He stood there in shock to see Aeris' beautiful face again, which he thought he'd never see again.
"Aeris? Is that really you?" Cloud asked with a quivering in his voice. She nodded. Cloud ran up to her and looked deeply into her eyes. "I, I gave up all hope that I'd see you again. I never thought." Tifa slid down the ladder to see what was going on, instead she saw Cloud hugging Aeris like he had done with her. She was in complete shock, the thing that haunted her the most came true, Aeris was back. She thought of the conversation she and Cloud had and nearly broke down right there but kept her feelings from showing. Cloud and Aeris walked in the town until they got to his house, and went inside.
"Tifa. Tifa! Hey, you awake!?" Case yelled at Tifa. She blinked a couple of times and noticed that she was staring Cloud with Aeris.
"Uh, yeah," Tifa said redirecting her attention to Case. "What did you want Case?"
"Well, since Cloud's...occupied I think you're in charge. Should we take the Turks with us?"
"Yeah," she replied still looking at Cloud's house. "I guess we have no choice." She walked over to the well, leaving the other five behind at the hovering Highwind.
"...So how are we going to get the doc up in the ship...", Rude asked still helping Elena hold him up.
"I was just thinking about that," Reno replied looking up at the towering ship. "It sure is a long way up."
"I'll handle it," Case said pulling out his rope. "I'll climb up to the deck and throw down the rope."
"I see," Reno said rubbing his chin. "Then we tie up the doc here and haul him up to the deck." Case nodded and started up the ladder.
"You think he might trick us?" Elena asked Reno starting to drop Edin.
"He's good, I think we can trust him. If he trusts us is another thing." Case got up to the deck and tossed down the rope. The rope hit the ground with very little left to tie around Edin. Elena and Rude got the rope and tied it around Edin, who was still knocked out. Reno started up the ladder while Rude followed and Elena tightened the knot on the rope.
Sephiroth flew around the old campsite that Drako was last at. He had noticed it earlier but paid no heed to it since it was out of his way. He touched down softly and started to look around for any trace of a trail left by Drako. He looked through his eyepiece and zoomed in to the ground and saw a marble on a note. He picked up the marble and crushed it and then read the note.
"To Sephiroth,
I never thought I'd be stealing from you. If you're reading this then you must know that materia you rightfully stole was rightfully stolen by me. Believe me, coming up with fake materia and getting in and out of your cave, it was not easy. I remember the "Great Sephiroth", but you are different. For one, you're part mechanical, second, well I don't know much about you. Anyway you won't find me for a while and I'm glad to have stolen from you. Take care, because there are a lot more dangers on this planet than you will ever dream of.
Your thief,
Drako"
Sephiroth crumpled up the paper and sat down to think. He started rubbing his head when he felt a sudden pain in it. He got up, stumbling around, then fell to his knees and grabbed his head. "What the hell?! What are you doing?!" Sephiroth felt like dying and fell unconscious on the ground.
"Cloud what's wrong?" Aeris asked as Cloud held his head. He got up and rampaged out the door. He tumbled outside and fell next to Tifa's feet with an expression of pain on his face, mixed with terror. He reached out to her and then went limp; Tifa almost started to panic.
"What happened?" Tifa asked Aeris. Tifa quickly went to Cloud's side and tried to get him up.
"I don't know," Aeris replied helping Tifa. "He just grabbed his head and started saying 'Not again' and 'Why are you doing this'. Just like old times." They picked Cloud up and carried him to the Highwind as Case, Reno, Rude, and Elena hauled up Edin. Inside, Vincent and Avonej were doing the same thing as Cloud was.
"It's tearing me up inside!" Avonej said grabbing his head.
"I feel that....that I'm not...in control...of, of myself.." Vincent said in terrible pain. They had been moved into the conference room and where being watched by Heather. She tried everything from 'Esuna' to 'Cure 3' and 'Regen', but nothing seemed to help them. When she thought she could do no more they became silent and unmoving. Aeris climbed up the ladder to tell Case and the Turks to get Cloud up. She got up just as they untied Edin, she grabbed the rope from them and threw it to Tifa. Down on the ground, Tifa could hear them arguing up on the deck but she ignored it and quickly tied the rope around Cloud. She tugged on the rope twice to signal them and saw Cloud moving up slowly. She grabbed a hold of the ladder and climbed up as fast as she could, so she would be able to help Cloud when he got to the deck. They got Cloud up and untied him so he could try to be helped like Avonej and Vincent. Tifa rushed in, dragging Cloud, to the emergency room to get him to lie down. Barret and Nanaki just got done helping Avonej and Vincent to the room and started for the bridge.
"What the hell is goin' on?!" Barret yelled waving his arms in the air. "First Vincent and that Avonej guy go crazy and now Cloud?!"
"It seems to be Jenova," Nanaki said as they continued to the bridge. "It looks like everyone that has anything to do with Jenova is being affected. Which would mean Sephiroth too and who knows how many more."
"So why aren't you affected?" Aeris asked walking in from the deck and looking around. "Don't you have a tattoo as well?"
"Well," Nanaki said turning around trying to remember that voice. "I was...what?! Aeris? How in the world did you?" Barret and Nanaki sat there with their mouths wide open in shock when Case rushed in.
"It's a long story," Case said running by to the bridge. "Let's get everyone to the conference room, there's something that needs to be discussed." Case disappeared into the bridge while the Turks walked down to take a look around.
"What're THEY doin' here?!" Barret yelled getting ready to load his gun. Nanaki readied himself and emitted a low growl.
Aeris ran over to stop them and sighed, "Like Case said, it's a long story."
Chapter 17
Mother's Children
"Cloud, Cloud talk to me," Tifa said trying to wake up Cloud. The three had been left in the emergency room with monitors hooked up to them to watch their vital signs and report any changes. None since their blackouts. "Cloud you have to wake up. Its not like you have mako poisoning again." She tried to say that with a smile, but no smile presented itself. She pulled up a chair and sat beside Cloud to watch over him. Aeris stood just outside the room to see the entire thing.
"I hope, I didn't have anything to do with it," Aeris said walking in and startling Tifa. Tifa started to get jealous because she remembered how Cloud "flew" to her when he first saw her again, but she couldn't blame him. Aeris was always kind, humorous, and caring. Tifa knew she could never compete with that. She couldn't even remember when she had made Cloud laugh, or smile. It seemed that when Aeris talked to him or did anything with him, he was a completely different person. None of that mattered now anyway so she decided not to hold a grudge against her.
"I'm sure you didn't," Tifa finally said grabbing a hold of Cloud's hand. "Nanaki said that it might be Jenova, and I think he's right. I mean it got to Vincent and Avonej too."
Aeris looked at Avonej and just stared at him for a moment. "What is it?"
"He," Tifa corrected. "He is another tortured soul that Hojo made. The actual hybrid crossing of a human and Jenova. But this is the first real time that I've seen him in pain because normally he's very quiet." Aeris walked over to Avonej's table and examined him more. His vital signs were okay, as were the rest of them, but she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he was Jenova himself. "We found him fighting a new WEAPON. He even struck down Sephiroth, and continued to fight WEAPON. Do you know anything about this WEAPON?"
Aeris looked at her, confused about the question, and then realized what she had meant. "Well, I tried to reason with the planet, but it didn't listen to me. I tried to tell it that Cloud would take care of it but it created WEAPON anyway. It said that it overlooked another threat and the old one must perish this time. I tell you, trying to reason with the planet is difficult. But, other than that, I only know that there are four." Tifa just sighed and continued to tend to Cloud while Aeris went and explored the ship.
"Like Aeris asked before, why aren't you affected?" Barret asked Nanaki.
"You remember that all the clones had a tattoo number on them. As did I." Barret nodded. "I was afraid that I might go crazy like Cloud did, so after Meteor, I went back to Cosmo Canyon to get a diagnostic. After I was scanned, it appeared that I was never injected with Jenova cells. I never remembered being injected with them when I was in Hojo's lab but I remember him saying something about Jenova. It was something like when a creature is injected with Jenova cells it might reject them or not. If they do settle, Jenova would have control over the creature, but if they spread...the creature might actually become Jenova." Barret scratched his head and sat down in a nearby chair. Aeris walked in just to here enough to answer her previous question.
"So what now?" she asked. "If Cloud, Vincent, and Avonej are going crazy, who knows how many more people are affected."
Nanaki sat and thought about if there were more and if so, where was the source of the controlling. "Cid," he said trying to wake Cid up. "Cid, wake up!"
"Huh, what? Oh Nanaki, what do ya want?"
"We need to get back to the last battle site. There was a Jenova creature there and it might be affecting them."
"I'll try anything to get those numbskulls back to normal." Cid walked out the room, lighting a cigarette, to the bridge while Reno walked over to Cait Sith.
"Hey Reeve," Reno whispered to the cat. "We need to talk." Reno walked out of the room as Cait followed to see what was so important. Reno stopped just outside the room and took a big sigh before letting it out. "Reeve, I think the Turks should leave Shinra." Cait Sith was shocked to hear this out of Reno.
"You mean, leave, as in leave for good?" Cait Sith asked to make sure.
"Yeah, leave. I mean working for you is ok, but things are different now. Heidegger's dead, Rufus' dead, I mean you're the only original staff member left since old fat man Palmer died from that heart-attack. There's nothing left for us to do."
"Well what about the Drako job I told you guys about?"
Reno shook his head. "Then what after that job? I want to make this team into something. Not just a group of three pawns."
Cait Sith thought about Reno's reasoning and then finally came up with a solution. "Tell you what. You can become a detective group. You don't have to work WITH Shinra, you'll just have the support from Shinra."
"Detective....like private investigator's and stuff like that?" Cait Sith nodded. "Hell yeah! Oh man, I could have booze when I want it, and girls too. This'll be sweet, just like in those old movies. Can we have our own offices?"
"Hold on there Dick Tracy, I think I can arrange that, but! You have to do SOME work or you're either fired or back completely with Shinra." Reno wiped the smile off of his face and gave Cait a serious look, saluting him. "Damnit Reno, stop being a jackass. A handshake'll do just fine." Reno got out of his stupid position and shook Cait's hand.
"Hey!" Reno exclaimed as he started back for the conference room. "I already have a first assignment, this Drako mission." Reno looked back with a sly smiled and quickly went inside the room to tell Rude and Elena as Cait Sith shook his head.
"I sure hope this was the right thing to do."
Cloud looked around him and saw nothing but white. "...Fight it..." a voice said in the distance.
"What is going on? Why does my body ache so much?" Cloud asked not even knowing if anything heard him.
"...My children. Come to me. Aid me in the search to destroy the planet..." the voice said. There was something strange about the second voice, it was harsh, disturbing, and definitely closer. It was the voice of Jenova.
"I won't help you! I'm not your puppet!" Cloud yelled trying to fight back. Just then he was transported to a black void where he met Jenova. He quickly unsheathed his sword and got ready to attack.
"Oh but you are my puppet. You can't fight it or it'll destroy you. I am ever a part of you, just like your Spirit Energy or your blood. Go to the north, and don't be followed by WEAPON or your Cetra friends."
"What did you do to me?" Cloud asked restraining himself from rushing forward and dicing up Jenova.
"...I activated you..." Cloud gritted his teeth and started shaking all over from being tensed up. That phrase was the last straw, Cloud broke his silence and lashed out on Jenova in all his rage. Jenova easily dodged most of Cloud slashes and struck him down many times with its tentacles. Then Jenova focused its energies and started to hurt Cloud from within. He fell down on his hands and knees, and he felt like dying, which he was.
"Cloud!" Tifa yelled out as she rushed to him. He had started to scream in pain and lash out at the air before he calmed down. She checked his vital signs on the monitor and saw that he was dying, fast. She grabbed a hold of him and tried to get him to wake up. "C'mon Cloud. You can't die on me now. Not when I need you." She looked at the monitor once more and saw that it wasn't helping, she didn't think what else to do so she slapped him. His head turned to the side from Tifa's hit and he laid there for a moment or so. She pulled of the sensor pads and turned off the monitor. She covered her mouth and started to cry thinking what she had done. She didn't want her last thoughts of him to be her slapping him. She slumped down in the chair and cried a bit more when Cloud opened his eyes.
"W, what's wrong...Tifa?" Cloud asked in a weak tone. Hearing his voice, she quickly tried to dry her eyes and looked at him with a worried smile on her face. "What happened?"
"You collapsed," she told him putting her hand on his arm. "I brought you in here when you started to yelling and striking the air, in pain. You were dying, so I did the only thing I thought of. I slapped you to try and wake you up."
"That explains my cheek," he said rubbing it. "You always did pack a punch, even if it is a slap." He looked at her, smiling, and she blushed but smiled as well. "But why do I hurt all over?"
Tifa looked surprised because she had no idea that he was hurting anywhere else. "I don't know. Nanaki thinks it might be Jenova."
"Jenova!" Cloud sat up and said it the same time Tifa had said it. "It told me to go north, and I don't think I have a choice."
"It told you?"
"I had a...sort of a dream. I...fought Jenova, I guess that's why I hurt. Like I said, it told me to go north and not bring anyone with me." Tifa said nothing and looked at him confused. He was the first one of the three to regain consciousness and she wasn't sure if she'd have to slap them as well. He sat up and she helped him off of the table onto the floor. He stumbled around and then got his balance back on track. "I had another dream, or at least I think it was."
Tifa glanced at him and helped him to the door. "Oh? What was it?"
"It was about Aeris...she, she was back. Alive."
"She is." After Tifa said that, Cloud nearly dropped to the floor again.
"So, I wasn't dreaming?"
"Why don't you go talk to her. You look like you can walk by yourself again." Tifa let go of him and watched him stumble a bit but quickly catch his footing. Cloud looked back and gave her a sympathetic smile and staggered to the bridge. Tifa looked back into the room and watched as Vincent and Avonej started moving around.
Heather came up behind her and peered into the room. "How's Vincent doing?" she asked, also startling Tifa.
"Oh, Heather. You scared me for a minute there. What did you say?"
"I was wondering how Vincent was doing."
Tifa waited a moment before answering. "Go take a look. I was here to watch Cloud, and now he's left. So you can go ahead and look after Vincent." Tifa realized Heather must have gotten a thing for Vincent. She didn't understand why nor did she want to. She always felt sorry for him because of the way Hojo had tormented him and turned into something, not human. Heather smiled back at her and went inside over to the table where Vincent laid as Tifa walked off, through the Highwind.
"Where the hell am I?" Sephiroth asked awakening from his blackout. He looked around and saw that he was in a meadow with a canopy shading him from the sunlight. He then looked up in front of him to see a Jenova creature stand above him. He recognized it immediately as the Jenova he summoned during his previous battle, Jenova: Resurrect.
"You do not need to know where you are," Jenova said. Its voice surprisingly boomed loudly throughout the forest as birds flew from their branches. "You will aid me in destroying this planet along with all the rest."
"I'm only one biomechanically altered clone of a man," Sephiroth said getting up. "How will I be of much help to you?"
"You two are only the first of my puppets that will come to aid me."
"Two?" Sephiroth looked around and saw no one else for miles. He heard a rustling behind Jenova and saw a shadow move out into the light, even though it was still shadowed. It had spiky hair. "Cloud!" The shadowed person moved into more visible light and Sephiroth saw that it couldn't have been Cloud, since his man had dark hair.
Drako walked around looking at all the different people and noticing how much bigger the city's gotten. He stopped in front of a building and read the sign. "Tifa's Haven. Hmm, must be the local bar. I think I'll wet my whistle." When he walked in he was shocked to see staff members running around frantically to help the customers. He decided to get out of their way and went to sit at a table in the corner. He set down his pack and leaned back in the chair, enjoying the view when a waitress came up to him.
"Hi sir and welcome to Tifa's Haven, bar and grill. Now what'll it be?" the waitress lengthily said.
"Just a beer please. And it's ok, you can take your time."
"Thank you sir. Ever since Tifa's left, things have been hectic. I'll get your beer and that be three gil."
"Here's ten." Drako handed her the gil. She smiled and went to go get his beer. Later his table was strewn with beer bottles, yet he had not gotten drunk that night. He watched as people came in and went out, but Edin never came. By midnight his table had at least thirty beer bottles on it, and it had slowed down greatly since it was so late. He continued to sit at his table as the regular night people came in. He looked up and noticed that some of the staff members were talking and looking over in his direction. One of them, he noticed, was the young lady that had served him when he first came. She started to shake her head and walked away from the rest of them. Even though he couldn't hear them he had figured she must've said something like, 'He's not doing any harm.' or something like that. He continued to sit at his table and watch all the people, waiting for Edin.
Cloud stumbled onto the bridge to see that they had already started to move. "Where are we headed?"
Nanaki looked back in surprise and quickly went to Cloud. "We're heading north. Jenova has something to do with this, I'm sure of it."
"You're all in danger. Jenova is doing this and if it finds out that all of you are coming along...it won't be pleased." Nanaki looked at Cloud for the longest time before replying.
"So you just want to be dropped off?"
"I'll tell Cid where to stop and then I'll take the jetpack a and go down to face Jenova. Only us three can do it."
"So you're saying that only you, Vincent, and Avonej can stop this thing." Cloud nodded. "Then what'll we do in the meantime."
"We can go after Drako," Reno said walking onto the bridge. "I overheard the entire thing. While you three take out the alien, we can locate Drako and get those destruction materia." Cloud and Nanaki looked at him and then exchanged glances.
"He's right," Nanaki finally said. "If we get those other materia there would be no way Sephiroth or Jenova could take them from us."
Cloud looked up and at his unlikely ally. "Reno, I hope you do a good job. It looks like you're stuck with us for a while."
"Well, considering since we're not officially with Shinra, I guess we could let you tag along with us," Reno said with a smile.
"Huh?"
"Now, we're the detective group, the Turks. I talked with Reeve and he told us we could. So, I guess we're not enemies anymore." Nanaki growled under his breath but Cloud stopped him. It seemed strange to be working with the Turks after all they did in the past. That was the thing, it was in the past, and Shinra was different then.
Cloud sighed. "I guess this is the beginning of something, how should I put it. Different." The two shook hands and Cloud guess that their skills would come in handy in a tight bind. Cloud walked over to the window, walking a bit better, and saw them coming upon Bone Village. "Cid, stop!" Cid turned down the throttle as Vincent and Avonej stumbled into the room.
"Are we here already?" Avonej asked going up to Cloud. He nodded.
"What's this all 'bout?" Cid asked as the Highwind came to a stop.
"Jenova's calling," Vincent answered grimly. "We must go down there. If we don't, Jenova will take control of us and we won't be responsible for our actions." Cloud looked at him and agreed strapping on the jetpack. Cloud started up to the deck when he heard Tifa calling for him.
"Cloud, Cloud!" She ran up to him and caught her breath before she started talking. "Cloud are you just going to leave without saying bye?" He looked her over and suddenly found himself realizing how beautiful she was, and how dense he had been to overlook her in the past.
"Uh...sorry Tifa. I just want to get this thing over with as soon a possible."
"Just promise me you'll come back, alive."
"I promise." Cloud gave her hug as Vincent and Avonej walked out to the deck. He let go finally and she waved to them as they were about to go down when Yuffie popped out from behind the door.
"Cloud hey Cloud!" Cloud looked back and waited for her to catch up. "Hey, if you find any materia down there...can I have it?"
Cloud shook his head in frustration. "No, but if you can steal it from me I might let you have any I find."
"Hmph! Fine, I'll just do it the hard way." Yuffie walk into the Highwind, pouting all the way. Cloud looked over the rail at the dark forest below, the Sleeping Forest.
"Ok...are you two ready for this?" Vincent and Avonej both nodded in a grim approval. Cloud looked for an opening in the forest so they could land. "We'll land right over there." Cloud pointed to a small opening in the canopy that looked big enough for the three to fit through. "Avonej, you carry Vincent down there since you are stronger than I am. When we hit dirt, we may finally get this over with, once and for all." He started up the jetpack and jumped into the air to get it in hover mode. Vincent took a hold of Avonej's wrist as Avonej flew off the deck. Cloud took one last look below, at the hole in the canopy, and then started lessening the thrust on the jetpack. Avonej followed Cloud, having no trouble holding onto Vincent, as he got lower and lower to the ground. The three soon found themselves among the trees and then, land. Cloud landed first and started to walk off over to the east when Vincent dropped down. He had let go earlier when it was a safe distance to the ground, a good twenty or thirty foot drop. Vincent looked around and saw Cloud moving to the east. He didn't know where Cloud was going so he started off to the northeast. Avonej had gotten down to the ground to see Vincent heading northeast and Cloud to the east. He didn't know what to think so he followed Cloud to the east. Vincent looked over and saw he was right next to Cloud so he went and joined him.
"What do you think we'll find?" Vincent asked Cloud as he came out from behind the bushes.
Cloud had his sword ready to slash at the thing that turned out to be Vincent. "Damnit, could you be a little less sudden?" Vincent looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. "I think we'll find Jenova, but as to who else might be here...I have no clue." They turned back to see Avonej walking up silently.
"What?" Avonej asked as the two stared at him.
"Nothing," Cloud replied putting back his sword. "There's a meadow to the east. Jenova will be there, as will Sephiroth. Let's get going."
It was almost turning two o'clock when Drako woke up to find all of his beer bottles off the table. He didn't remember how vast the bill was but he remembered that he paid it. He searched the room and found the waitress who served him the first time standing over him. "Sir, sir. It's almost closing time. The staff is waiting for you to leave."
He cupped his hand over his face and then sighed. He picked up his pack and searched through it to make sure everything was there. Soon after, he got up and turned to the waitress. "Is there any place in town were I could stay?"
"Yes, there's Kalm Inn right at the entrance of town. I think they aren't booked, but if they are there's another inn about a block from here. It's called Eagle Eye Inn, you can't miss the sign."
"Thanks." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pouch. "Here's two hundred gil. Sorry for my inconvenience."
"N, no problem at all sir. Thank you very much." She pocketed the pouch and saw him out. "Come back again soon, and don't forget to tell your friends to come to Tifa's Haven! Tell them to ask for Kara!" He looked back and waved her goodbye then started for Kalm Inn.
"Friends?" he muttered. "This is my only friend." He pulled out a dirk and wiped the dust off of it with his pants' leg. He came to the edge of town and saw Kalm Inn just like that girl told him. He was surprised he didn't notice this when he first came into town. It looked like there were probably two to four rooms left from the keys he saw behind the front desk. He rang the bell and waited anxiously for a soft bed to sleep on.
A man stepped out of the back room and went up to the desk. "May I help you sir?"
"Yeah, I'd like a room, a suite if possible."
"There is one suite left, but I must warn you, the price is high. I wouldn't be able to afford it on my salary."
"How much?"
"Six hundred gil."
"That's it?" Drako pulled out a small satchel and dumped it on the table. "That should be enough. If there's more, take it as a tip." The man opened it up and counted the money. He looked back up, with a big smile on his face and went and got the key.
"It's on the fifth floor, room five sixteen. You can use the keys or the keycard, that's a new developement, to open your door. Thank you and enjoy your stay." Drako walked over to the elevator while he saw the man go back into the other room with the satchel. He waited until the elevator stopped on the ground floor with a 'ding'. The door opened up and he got in. He looked at the panel and pressed the button for floor five, which happened to be the top floor. It seemed like the elevator got up there quickly because the stop was abrupt. The door opened up again and he got off to see he was in front of room five o'four. He looked down the hall to his right and saw that the numbers were ascending, so he started down the hall to his right. He came to a stop, just outside his door, and pulled out a keycard that was attached to his keys. He slipped it in the slot and pulled it out quickly. The little light turned green and he opened the door to his suite. He whistled as door swung open; there was a king size bed, a mini-fridge, a microwave, a TV, and much more. He shut the door as he walked in and threw his pack on the bed. He went into the bathroom and got cleaned up to go to bed.
"It's nearly two o'clock Cid, can't we get some sleep?" Barret said getting really tired.
"Yeah, I was thinkin' the same thing." Cid had steered the Highwind away from the forest where they left Cloud, Avonej, and Vincent. They were coming up to Kalm when Cid slowed down to a stop as Cid put out his cigarette. "We'll land just outside of Kalm. You can rest in the bunkers here. Or pay to sleep in a hotel room." Most of the group stayed in the bunker, but Tifa wanted to check on her bar. She didn't really want to leave Kara in charge, but she had been her assistant for quite some time now so Tifa thought she'd be okay.
Edin had plans of his own at the time. He had still been tied up but not his legs, so he was free to move around. Elena had the night shift to watch the professor, but she had fallen asleep on the job. Edin saw this as the perfect time to go meet Drako at the drop-off point. He silently got up and started to sneak out of the room, careful not to wake up Elena. He was just about to go up to the deck when Reno got in his way. "My my," Reno said leaning on the doorframe, blocking Edin. "Now why would the good ol' professor be walking around at two in the morning? Out for a breath of fresh air or am I wrong?"
"I, I have my reasons." Edin started to back up when he bumped into something. He didn't need to look behind him to know it was Rude.
"...Out for a stroll?" Rude crossed his arms as Edin turned around and backed up into Reno. Reno pushed him down to the ground and loomed over him with his Electro-Mag rod ready to shock.
"If you do this, I'll report to Shinra." Edin looked up at Reno who suddenly busted out laughing. Edin then looked at Rude who was actually smiling.
"You idiot! And you call yourself a professor. We're not with Shinra anymore, so crying to them would do you no good." Rude bent over and picked up Edin, standing him up. "Now. Why were you going out?" Reno pulled his nightstick up to Edin's neck and charged it. Sparks started to fly as the rod got closer to Edin who finally gave in.
"Alright! Alright I'll tell!"
Reno pulled away his nightstick and latched it to his belt. "See, he can listen to reason." Rude smiled, still holding Edin. "Now, why were you going out to the deck, and you'd better not say to get a breath of fresh air."
Edin looked at him then looked back at his nightstick and sighed. "I was going to see if I could meet Drako, and get the materia."
"...Wasn't that the assignment Reeve gave us before we left?" Rude asked still holding Edin by his shoulders. Reno nodded.
Edin continued without having Reno ask anymore questions. "I called him back at Nibelheim, right before you guys came. I told him to meet me at the drop-off point in Kalm, outside a bar. I don't even know if he's even there now." Rude let go of him and he quickly got out of their way. "I know you two will go and look for him so I'll just go back into the conference room. Goodnight to you both."
"...How'd you know that Elena would fall asleep?" Rude asked starting up the deck.
"Eh, she was tired and plus, she's weak remember?" Reno followed him up to the deck, then down the ladder. "You think that Drako guy's even there?"
"...Don't know, but, didn't Edin say he would be waiting outside a bar?"
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"...Booze?"
"Exactly. Let's hurry up and get to some serious drinking." Rude hit the ground first, then Reno followed as they walked into the silent town. In the night it seemed like they walked and walked along thousands of buildings before they saw one with the lights on inside. Reno could barely make out the name of it. "It looks like...Tifa's Haven. Tifa's Haven?"
"Tifa?!" they shouted at the same time. They ran to the door and Reno politely knocked before he barged in.
"What is it?" Tifa asked answering the door. "Reno? Rude? What are you two doing here in the middle of the night?"
"We'll tell you later," Reno said going inside. Rude waited for Tifa to get out of the doorway before he went in. "Why're you in town?"
"I was coming to check on my bar," Tifa said getting behind the counter as Reno and Rude took a seat. "That still doesn't explain why you're here."
"We know were Drako is," Reno said leaning on the counter. "So, we decided to have a drink to celebrate. Two beers please."
"It's after the normal store hours," Tifa said opening a liquor cabinet. Reno almost drooled at the sight of all that alcohol. "But, I'll give you some only if you tell me where Drako is."
"Damn," Reno said sitting up when she shut the cabinet door. "You're more clever than I thought." Reno thought about their predicament, and just decided to tell her since there was no other way to get the booze. "We squeezed some info from Edin. He had hired Drako to steal the materia and meet him here, outside your bar for the exchange. Now, can we have our booze?" Tifa got out two glasses and mixed them each a tequila sunrise. "Ah...it's been a while since I've have a good drink. Now that I think 'bout it, I've been mostly sober this entire adventure with you characters."
"You said, that Drako was suppose to meet Edin outside my bar?" Tifa asked giving them each a shot of whiskey.
"Yep, at least that's what Edin said," Reno replied finishing off the whiskey. "Smooth."
"It's past two already. I wonder if he's already been here?" Tifa asked setting some beers on the table to keep Reno and Rude busy. She walked into the back room and looked on some index cards while the two, out front, kept drinking. "Ah, here it is." She picked up an index card and went to the phone and dialed a number on the card. It must've rang about ten times before someone picked up.
"Hello?" a woman said in a groggy voice.
"Kara? It's Tifa."
"Tifa!? Oh, sorry boss. Uh...did you need something?"
"Yeah, did a man come into the bar close to two o'clock?"
"Not really, but there was one guy that I served that was here 'til two."
"Where'd he go?"
"I think he went to Kalm Inn. Do you know he had about forty beers and all he did was go to sleep? He also gave me a two hundred gil tip. It was so cool."
"Forty?!" Tifa tried not to yell to loud in case Reno or Rude heard her. Forty beers was a lot, and their limit was twenty. "All he did was fall asleep?"
"Uh-huh, at a table in the back corner. Yes, I know the limit was twenty, but he just kept asking for more. He didn't get violent or anything, he just...slept 'til two."
"So you guess this man's at Kalm Inn."
"Yeah."
"Thanks Kara, I'm at the bar, but I'll be leaving tomorrow. So take good care of the bar, and remember the limit."
"Yes ma'am. Goodnight Tifa."
"Goodnight Kara." Tifa hung up the phone when she heard Reno yell.
"Hey! Barlady! I can feel myself getting sober!" Reno started to crack up when Tifa finally came out from the back.
"I thought you could hold more liquor than that," Tifa said getting back behind the counter.
"Hey!" Reno sat up straight when he heard the insult. "I was just trying to liven up the place."
"Well I don't think the place needs your help." Tifa cleaned the counter of their empty glasses and cleaned them. "I know something that may help you."
"How could you help us? We're the ones that told you about Drako." Reno looked at her smugly and waited for her response.
"He was here, but he left." Tifa turned around and put the dirty glasses in the dishwasher. When she faced Reno again he had his eyebrow raised.
"Tifa, I take back all the mean things I've said to you. You are very impressive." She blushed, but quickly turned around to clean up some more. "Now, down to business, where's Drako?"
"It's just beyond this hill," Cloud said leading Vincent and Avonej though the dark forest. Cloud had pulled out a flashlight from the jetpack when it got dark.
"It seems like we've been walking forever," Vincent said following Cloud. The other two agreed when Sephiroth flew down from the sky to meet them.
"Sephiroth?!" they all shouted.
"Yes, it's me. Now follow, mother's waiting." Sephiroth started off to the east beyond the hill, that seemed lighter than the rest of the forest.
"Mother?" Avonej said as Vincent and Cloud followed Sephiroth. He ran up to them so he wouldn't be left behind. The four of them cleared the last hill and came upon the meadow that Sephiroth was at the time before.
"It's down there," Sephiroth said pointing to the valley. "Go down, I'll follow you." By that time Cloud had already started to walk down to where Jenova was. Cloud looked all around him to try and find the source of the light. When he looked up he saw he was face to face with Jenova: Resurrect, and a man standing behind it.
"Welcome, my children." Jenova towered over them and stared down at the four of them. "My sons." It looked at Cloud and Avonej and then turned its head to look at Sephiroth and Vincent. "You two have proven the most worthy, even though you two disobey me." It then turned to Sephiroth. "You were a disappointment, Sephiroth. You failed me and now you will carry the burden on your shoulders for as long as you shall live. And you, Vincent, you mutate. You have never done anything for me and then you try to destroy me. That is why I had you try to destroy your friends but they, and you, proved to have too much will power." Vincent said nothing and stared at Jenova with a cold, deathly grim look with his red eyes. "You all are not worthy to serve for me and now I will destroy you all. That is also why I've chosen my special child to get back my materia. Auctainius, come!" A man stepped out from behind Jenova and stood in the light.
"What?!" Cloud shouted taking steps back. "This can't be real! Zack?!"
Chapter 18
Twisted Minds
"It's two thirty in the morning," Reeve said looking at his clock. "What kind of activity could be so urgent for me to be woken up at all hours of the morning? Did you say BELOW the tower?"
"Yes sir."
"I've worked as the urban developer and now the president of this company. I've never heard of a basement to this place. How did you find this out?"
"Sensors in the building picked up energy below the first floor," the man said as Reeve sat up and went to go get dressed. "Do you want the guards to go check it out?"
"No, I'm going down there. I want to see this for myself." The man nodded and left Reeve's room. Reeve came out from the back room, putting on his jacket. He had a very bad feeling about this, but he he wanted to see this "activity" for himself. He walked out of his room and went over to the tube elevator. He looked out the glass casing onto Midgar, his city. He always thought about getting out some more, since Domino was really acting as mayor, and maybe going with Cloud in person. As he traveled down the glass tube he thought about the future of Midgar, and himself.
The elevator came to a slow stop and Reeve walked out to the first floor. He looked around the huge ground floor and wondered how he was going to be able to find a way to a basement in such a big room. He started underneath the balcony when something stopped him, a faint low humming noise. It was coming from his left so he turned and pressed his ear against the wall. He found myself moving down the wall feeling for a crack in it and listening for the sound to get louder. He suddenly stopped and felt the wall, then he looked to see a slim crack outlining what looked like a door. Taking a couple steps back, he looked at the outline and wondered how to open it. Who ever put it there certainly didn't want anyone else to find it. That's when he saw it, a flier that had been placed on the wall, away from all the others. He practically ran over to it and felt for a button or switch of some kind. He pressed against the flier carefully, so he wouldn't tear it, and found an indention in the paper. He torn it off the wall and saw a panel button underneath it, so he pushed it. There was a beep, and then the wall moved back, then lifted up to reveal a passage.
Reeve looked into the dark corridor and could barely make out some steps going down. He looked on the side of the entrance walls and saw no switches, so he pulled out his lighter. The stairs seemed to go on forever until Reeve saw a floor leading into a room with lights flashing. He turned off his lighter, which was getting pretty hot, and made his way into the room. In front of him was a generator type machine that had been turned on, recently, and glass chambers lining up along each side of the wall. It looked like there were about seven chambers on each side, all of them covered in frost. He carefully walked over to one of the chambers and looked it over. There was a panel that was near the bottom, covered thick with frost. He knelt down to take a look at what it said, but he couldn't make it out so he stood back up and stared into the chamber. He wiped the frost from the glass and looked inside, at himself.
"Come on, tell us. You know how much I hate to grovel," Reno pleaded to Tifa. She looked at him with disgust, just loving the fact that this was killing him to know what she knew. Rude looked at Reno, who was now had in hands clenched together with his head on the counter. He thought to himself that Reno maybe had a bit too much to drink.
"Are you drunk?" Rude asked. Reno glared up at him and suddenly smiled.
"Hell yeah!" he shouted, being proud of himself. "Tifa, you make the best drinks. There was my compliment to you, now tell me where Drako is."
"You think I'm going to buy that?!" Tifa said taking their gil for the drinks. She put the gil in the register and came back to the counter where Reno was now laying his head on it. "You are the worst." Reno looked up and smiled. "I'll tell you on one condition."
"I'm game," Reno said, perking right up.
"IF we find him, we get the materia. And no, absolutely NO tricks."
"Hey I give you my word as a Turk. Now, where is he?" Tifa looked at him and figured that one person against a professional thief wouldn't be good odds.
"He might be at Kalm Inn," Tifa said. Reno jumped up out of his seat and started for the door.
"Let's go!" He stopped and turned around. "Where's that?"
"Maybe we should have Tifa show us," Rude suggested as he got up off the barstool. Tifa looked at them both and shrugged.
"Wouldn't hurt. Just let me close up the bar first." Reno and Rude went outside and waited by the door, for Tifa to close up the place. Tifa walked out, a while later, and locked the door. "I'm ready." She tucked the keys under her belt and tightened her glove. "Kalm Inn is at the edge of town, right when you enter. If you know where it is you can't miss it." The three continued walking down the night town saying nothing else the entire way.
"Zack?" the man said. "I am Auctainius, son of Jenova."
Cloud looked at him and shook his head. "You are Zack, of Gongaga, SOLDIER first-class. I recognize you from when you went with me to Nibelheim, seven years ago."
"How dare you lie!" Auctainius brought up his sword and started towards Cloud when Jenova stopped him.
"No my son. You go after the thief, I'll deal with these pathetic creatures."
"Yes mother." Auctainius walked past the four others and gave Cloud an evil glare before he disappeared into the forest. Cloud looked at Jenova, who seemed like it was growing bigger, and he looked at Sephiroth.
"Looks like we're going to be allies for a while."
"Yes, it seems that way," Sephiroth said bringing out the Masamune. "But after this is over we go our separate ways again."
"Fine by me," Cloud said pulling his sword from his sheath. "I have no intention of fighting with you more than I have to. Vincent, Avonej?" Cloud looked at them and saw them poised for battle.
"I'll enjoy this, a lot," Vincent said pulling out the Death Penalty. He unbuttoned his holster and got the Outsider ready in case he lost Death Penalty. Cloud looked over at Avonej who got himself ready with whatever weapon he used.
"I am not your son," Avonej said calmly. "I am Avonej, and we will destroy you." Jenova rose up into the air and raised its arms. There was a brilliant flash of light as four figures appeared by Jenova. They stepped forward to reveal themselves. They were copies of Cloud, Vincent, Avonej, and Sephiroth.
"A mirror attack," Jenova said floating back down. "Let's see how you do against yourselves." The four copies ran towards their own image and started battling them. "Heh heh heh. You will never leave this forest alive." Cloud looked at the copy as it slash down on him in surprising strength. Cloud pushed out to make the copy back off. He looked at the other three to see they were all having trouble with their copy when he thought of something. If they all traded copies that it might be easier to destroy them.
"Sephiroth, Avonej, Vincent! Trade your copies! They have the same strengths as us so if we mix'em up..."
"We might be able to take them out," Vincent said as he pushed his copy to Sephiroth. "Good." He took out the Outsider and shot Avonej's copy in the back. Avonej flew over and pushed Cloud's copy to the ground while Cloud ran up to Sephiroth's copy. He slashed down at the Sephiroth copy's legs and knocked it down to the ground. Sephiroth dodged the oncoming bullets from Vincent's copy and dashed up to it. Vincent's copy then slashed at him and tore off a piece of his sleeve. Sephiroth quickly brought up his sword and cut the metallic arm from Vincent's copy. He formed his hand into a spike and impaled the copy with it.
Cloud gritted his teeth and stared straight into Sephiroth's face. Remembering a move that Tifa had taught him, he brought his leg out and did a sweep kick at the copy's legs. Sephiroth's copy fell to the ground, as Cloud turned back around and shoved his sword into the copy's chest. Vincent put up the Death Penalty and used the Outsider to shoot at Avonej's copy some more. The copy dodged the bullets from Vincent and struck at him with its tentacle arm. Vincent immediately ducked out of the way and grabbed the copy's tentacle. Holding the arm back, he ran up to the copy and gave it an evil smile. He pulled the trigger time after time as the bullets flew out of the copy's back. Avonej flew up into the air as Cloud's copy dashed at him with his sword ready to split him open. Avonej flew back down and shot at Cloud with his green light. The copy looked back and started to rush Avonej again. Avonej just stood in its way until it was about ten feet away from him. He dodged to the side and wrapped his tentacle around the copy's neck. He pulled his arm back as hard as he could, easily breaking its neck. The four of the got up from their individual battles and walked over to face Jenova.
"This is Kalm Inn?" Reno asked looking up at the sign.
"That's what it says," Tifa said walking past him. "Now do you want to find Drako or not." Reno sneered at her and walked into the hotel.
"..It doesn't look like much," Rude said as the three of them looked around the lobby. "...Not even a bar..."
"It may not look like much, but it has the best suites in town." Tifa walked up to the front desk and rang the bell as Reno strode up to her with coy look on his face.
"How's 'bout me and you check out one of these "famous" suites."
Tifa returned his comment with a disgusted look on her face. "Don't make me hurt you." She clenched her fist as a man walked out from a back room.
"Yes...may I help you?" he asked as he saw Tifa who was about ready to punch Reno in the face.
"Yes," she said smiling and blushing. She let go of Reno's collar and turned to face the man behind the counter. "We were wondering if a man came in here not too long ago."
"He's a friend of ours," Reno butted in. "We were suppose to meet him here but I guess the bum couldn't wait a couple of thirty minutes or so. He's a materia trader so he would've had a pretty good sized pack with him." The man looked at Reno in confusion but finally remembered that when Drako came in, he was carrying a large pack.
"Yeah, I remember that guy. He gave me quite a large tip." The man then got out a book and checked to see which room Drako was in. "Your friend's in room five sixteen, it's on the top floor."
"Thank you," Reno said already starting for the elevator with Rude following. Tifa smiled and thanked the man for his help and went to catch up with the other two.
"What the hell was that back there?!" Tifa asked hitting Reno on the back of his head. "Oh yeah, he's our friend we were waiting for him."
Reno rubbed his head and looked at her as the elevator door opened. "Are you done mocking me?"
"I dunno."
"With the rate you were going at, that guy would've told us that he COULDN'T say if he was staying here. Since I described him a little, that guy thought it must've been okay to tell where he was." Reno walked in the elevator resisting the urge to smack Tifa with his nightstick. "Are you coming?" Tifa realized she wasn't in the elevator and darted inside before the door closed. "Hmm, five floors. Think five sixteen's on the top?"
"Just hurry up and push the button," Tifa said impatiently. Reno looked at her, getting really tired of her attitude. He would rather have Elena with them instead of her, at least Elena knew how they worked.
"...We're on the top you two..." Rude said, breaking the silence. They all got out of the elevator and looked both ways down the narrow hall. "..It'll be that way..." Rude lead the way as Reno followed him and Tifa silently walked at the back. They stopped in front of the door and just stood there.
"Tifa," Reno said pushing her out of the way. "No offense but, let us handle this. You can stay by the elevator in case he tries to escape." She ran back to the elevator, mad because of the way they were treating her. She thought they were probably right anyway, since, they were professionals. Reno and Rude looked at each other and sighed before Reno knocked on the door.
Case sat down on the railing and looked up at the starry sky. He thought to himself about how nice it was to have Aeris back and to be with Katlyn again. Yet he couldn't help to feel that if he hadn't run off, like he did, that they wouldn't be in the mess that they were already in. He got up and started in when he felt something coming close. A force, a strange force, that of Jenova's. He ran over to the edge of the deck a strained to see a figure, that looked human, approaching Kalm. "Uh-oh." He went to the ladder and slid down to the ground to see the figure reaching the edge of town. He didn't have time to think so he just ran to Kalm, after the dark figure.
Reeve stood in front of the capsule with a blank stare on his face. He wiped off more of the frost to see his entire self confined within the glass chamber. He looked at the glass tube next to it and wiped the frost from it. He gazed into the chamber to see that Heidegger was inside. "What? Heidegger?" He walked over to a different capsule and looked at the panel on that one. He wiped the frost from it and carefully worded out what was on it. "H..o..j..o.." He got back up and walked to the generator, in the middle of the room. There was a panel on that machine as well as the capsules, so he decided to read it. "In case of the death or destruction of Shinra, press the red button on this machine. Inside these capsules are clones of all the Shinra department heads and some other people as well. The Turks, Sephiroth, Prof. Gast, and Lucrecia. The red button will revive all of them and they will be able to continue running Shinra as if they never died. Signed Hojo." Reeve didn't say nor do anything as he turned around and started out of the room.
"All of you can't stop me," Jenova said after the copies it formed, died. "You are my children, I can do with you whatever I want." "You may be able to give us bad headaches," Cloud said ready to kill it. "But we came here because you told us to, not because you control us."
"That's the last time I use you in a battle," Sephiroth said. "You used me and now you will pay for that crime."
"I am no longer your son," Avonej said wiping the blood from his mouth. "I am my own being, and I will show the planet that I am."
"Your sins, are the worst possible," Vincent said reloading his guns. "For them, you will sleep for eternity and never wake." The four of them walked towards Jenova, ready to strike, when it started speaking again.
"You fools," it bellowed. "Why do you think I told you not to bring along your Cetra friends? What promises that I will die this battle? I am Jenova: Resurrect!"
"Damnit Sephiroth," Cloud muttered. "Why the hell did you choose THIS one?" Sephiroth shrugged his shoulders and walked to Jenova.
"There is only one way to destroy me and the secret lies within the Cetra children," Jenova said taking of into the air. "If they ever find the way to themselves." It shot off into the night sky as the four ran to where it was standing. With Vincent shooting blindly into the sky Avonej started to fly up after Jenova.
"No Avonej," Cloud said stopping him. "Let it go. It'll do us no good to try and kill it if we don't know how."
Avonej stared at Cloud, deep in thought, before replying. "You're right we'd be wasting energy trying to chase it down."
"We should rest," Cloud said sitting up next to a tree trunk. "We can meet with Cid in the morning." Vincent agreed and sat down on a rock, reloading his gun, as Avonej rested up against a tree. Sephiroth stayed standing in the spot where Jenova took off. "What about you?"
"I don't have to listen to you," Sephiroth said coldly. Cloud expected as much from him. "I'm going after that thing even if I can't kill it myself. I still might be able to capture it. I just hope that Auctainius character hasn't gotten the materia yet. 'Cause if he did that would mean Jenova would have it soon." Sephiroth turned around and gave Cloud one last look before taking off. "Be careful out here. Monster are appearing from somewhere, and I don't want to lose a worthy opponent unless I do the killing." Sephiroth gave Cloud an evil smile and flew off after Jenova. Cloud took the jetpack off and used it as a pillow, and not a very soft one. Vincent had already fallen asleep with his back propped up against the rock he was by. As for Avonej, he was still awake and against the tree. Cloud thought nothing of it and figured if something happened, that he'd wake them up. Cloud felt his eyelids getting heavy and soon after, he was asleep.
Drako sat up in his bed and heard a knocking on his door. "What the hell?" He rolled over, on the bed, and fell off the edge to meet the floor. He pulled himself up and walked clumsily to the door. He looked out the eyehole and saw Reno and Rude at the door. "The Turks?" He scratched his chin and looked through the eyehole again. "Yes? What do you want?"
"Mr. Drako sir?" Reno asked leaning up against the door.
"Get on with it," Drako said impatiently.
"Your contact, one Prof. Edin, wasn't able to make it to the drop-off point due to work. So he sent us to retrieve the bounty you have with you. Don't worry about Shinra either. Edin paid us nicely to not tell Shinra about this." Drako thought why would Edin let work get in the way of this. He finally realized that it was a trap and started to get dressed.
"Ok," Drako said packing up his stuff. "I'll bring the materia to the door." When he had everything together, he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small black ball. He pushed a button on the top and placed it on the ground, close to the door but out of its way. "I'm opening the door." He took one last look outside to see how Reno and Rude were positioned before he opened the door. He swung the door open and quickly kicked Rude in his gut. The little black ball, that Drako had set on the ground, beeped and started to emit smoke to fog the hallway. Reno drew out his nightstick but was too late. Drako's foot spun around and met with Reno's face as he completed the roundhouse. Tifa turned and looked down the hall to see dark smoke coming towards her.
"Tifa...watch out...Drako's..." Reno said coughing most of the time. Tifa wanted to go help them but thought that Drako would probably be coming to the elevator. Sure enough, Drako ran out of the smoke and dashed at Tifa with a dirk in his hand. Tifa stood at the elevator and waited for Drako's first move. He didn't try anything as he just ran up to her and stopped.
"So," Drako said pressing the elevator button. "You're the Tifa that Zangan talked so highly about." Tifa stared blankly at him as the elevator started up for the top floor. "I was a student of his in Wutai, but now times have changed." The elevator door opened up and Drako started in but Tifa's leg stopped him. She had kicked when he started in the elevator and got him in his gut. The dirk flew from his hand and he quickly realized he wouldn't have much time before the door closed. He grabbed Tifa's foot and spun around, twisting her leg above his head and getting her off balance. She hit the hard carpeted floor and turned her head to see Drako going down in the elevator.
Case walked up to Kalm Inn and stopped to look around. The figure he had followed into town just seemed to disappear. Case started back for the Highwind just convincing himself that it was just his imagination when someone came up behind him. He stopped as a sword came up and pressed up slightly against his neck. "Hello there, Cetra."
"What are you?" Case asked not even daring to move.
"Why, I'm Auctainius," he replied harshly. "Mother will not be pleased if you try to stop me, but, I will not kill you...yet. The thief is coming and I shall take his head." Auctainius threw Case to the ground and ran inside the hotel.
Drako ran out of the elevator and saw the second one coming down to the first floor as well. He darted through the lobby to see Auctainius coming in the front door. "Holy shit...Gotta find a way out." Drako looked all about and then ran behind the front counter. Auctainius saw him and started towards the desk. Drako pulled out another small black ball, from his pack, and threw it to the middle of the room. Smoke filled the room but that didn't stop Auctainius. The second elevator came to a stop as Rude and Tifa held up Reno.
"Ugh...damn that, thief," Reno said struggling to stay up.
"When we get back to the Highwind you should put ice on that," Tifa said as she walked along with a limp in her step. Case opened the front door and was greeted by black smoke filtering out. He pulled off his coat and used it to blow away what smoke he could.
"Yo! Auctainius," Case yelled throwing his coat back on. "You think your idle threats are going to stop me? Guess again!"
"Damn Cetra," Auctainius said turning from the counter. "I should've killed you when I had the chance." Auctainius raised his hand and a burst of energy was sent out, that knocked Case into the wall. Case knelt down and pulled out three daggers from his coat then got back up.
"Shock Net!" Case said as he threw the daggers at Auctainius. They flew in a perfect triangle formation and started producing electricity between them. Auctainius drew out his sword but was too late, the daggers wrapped around him. Electricity flew out everywhere, clearing out the smoke, then stopped as Auctainius fell to the ground. Drako saw this as a chance to leave and started from behind the counter. He was almost out when Rude stood up right in his way and punched him square in the face. Drako flew backwards and knocked the back of his head against a set of shelves on the wall. He became limp as Rude loomed over him, cracking his knuckles. Case ran up to Tifa to help with Reno.
"Case?!" Tifa said in shock. "What're you doing here?"
"I should ask the same, but anyway, I saw that guy over there coming into town." He pointed over at Auctainius' body, which was slumped on the floor with the three daggers scattered on the floor. "He had a strange aura so I followed him here. Now it's your turn."
Tifa set Reno down on a chair and gave him a potion. She turned around as Reno took the opportunity and slapped her, right on her butt. "Thanks barkeep!" Tifa immediately turned around and hit him in his gut.
"Pig," she retorted. "I don't care if Drako did kick you."
"Drako?" Case asked. "He was here? That's why you guys were here?"
"...Yep," Rude said walking over, dragging Drako along with him. "...There's our thief.." He threw him up against the rest of the chairs and helped Reno up.
"I guess we take'em both back to the Highwind," Tifa said thinking of no other option to use.
"How will we get them in though?" Case asked thinking about the ladder.
"Cid put in this elevator device at the lowest point of the airship," Tifa explained. "If we use it, we could get the two unconscious guys up in the ship in no time." Tifa and Case walked over and picked up Auctainius while Rude and Reno got Drako. "Doesn't he look rather familiar? What did you say his name was?"
Case looked up at her and collected his last dagger. "Didn't. He said it was Auctainius." Case walked over and helped Tifa get him up. "I think he might be a part of Jenova 'cause when he talked to me he something about 'Mother'."
"Mother?" Tifa asked as they made their way to the Highwind with Reno and Rude following close by.
"Yeah," Case said looking at the night sky. "I thought it might be Jenova 'cause of how the old Sephiroth acted. Always calling Jenova, Mother." They four of them reached the airship, finally, and Tifa showed them where the elevator was.
"...Reno," Rude said as Tifa pushed the button for the elevator.
"Yeah Rude?"
"I was thinkin'...do you think we should help'em now?"
"We got the materia Reeve was talkin' about, but they are up against some tough odds. I think they would need our help. Besides, we can rest in their airship until Reeve has those offices or ours ready."
"...Nice thinkin'..."
"Would you two come on before the elevator goes up." The two looked up to see Tifa calling for them and they dragged Drako to the elevator.
"Jenova...Cloud, Avonej, and Vincent? It doesn't make sense." Nanaki paced up and down the bridge thinking about how Jenova could still hurt them. He saw with his very eyes how Vincent, or the creature that Vincent became, literally mutilated Jenova. It didn't make any sense, no matter how he pieced it together. "The Hall of Recordings!" He darted out of the bridge and ran down to the bunkers as the elevator came to a stop in the lobby. He searched all the beds until he found Cid. "Cid. Cid! Wake up."
"What the fuck?" Cid asked confused. "Who...Nanaki...What do ya want man and what is the goddamn time?"
"Cid, it's almost three. But no time for that we need to go to Cosmo Canyon."
"Why the hell do we need to go to Cosmo Canyon?"
"Because it might be our only why of stopping Jenova."
"But can't it wait until mornin'?"
"No!" Nanaki nearly roared when he said that. Cid sat up straight in his bed and quickly got up, afraid to argue anymore tonight. They both walked out of the bunkers and met Tifa, Case, Reno, and Rude in the lobby, along with Auctainius and Drako.
"Cid?" Tifa asked, a bit surprised that he was even awake but then she saw Nanaki with him. "Do you have holding cells where we could put these guys?"
"Sure, it's beyond the bunkers and take a right and the first turn point. The cells are in that hallway." Cid and Nanaki continued on to the bridge as the other four headed to the cells. Reno slapped his head, which was already hurting, and looked at Rude.
"We could've put Edin in one of these cells."
"...Yeah," Rude replied. "But if we had done that...Edin would've never tried to escape and we wouldn't have known where Drako was..."
"You're right. We're geniuses." Reno smiled as they followed Tifa and Case to the cells. Cid took the Highwind out of hover and started to Cosmo Canyon.
"When we get there I'll be at the Hall of Recordings finding out about Jenova," Nanaki said as Cid paid no attention. "I'll also get you all free stays at the Cosmo Canyon Inn."
"Now your talkin'!" Cid said, flying them over the ocean. Cid felt a bit better to hear that and he kept on flying. "We're coming up. Get ready to land." It came up as fast as light and Cid didn't even have the time to react. The gigantic creature grabbed a hold of the Highwind and made it shake violently. It moved the airship so it would be facing it and Nanaki got a good look at it.
"Dear god. It's Jade WEAPON, I forgot about this one." Jade WEAPON kept it view on the Highwind and spoke.
"You," it said in a thundering voice. "You were the ones who destroyed my brethren, and now you shall die."
Cid looked out the window, of the bridge, as Jade WEAPON charged up a laser to shoot them with. He took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, lighting it. "Aw shit. Just when I had this ship rebuilt."
Chapter 19
Unanswered Questions
"Shit," Cid said as Jade WEAPON prepared to fire. "So this is the fucking end. I won't get to marry Shera, have a kid...teach him to fly..." While Cid rambled on Nanaki looked around quickly to see if he couldn't distract WEAPON. He finally saw his only chance and leapt though the air to the intercom system.
"WAIT JADE!" Nanaki yelled as he turned on the system. He had figured that since WEAPON talked that maybe, just maybe, he could reason with it. "We didn't destroy your brethren. It was the work of someone else!"
Jade WEAPON charged down its laser and laughed. "You think I can be fooled that easily. I know all from the planet and it told me that you were definitely the ones. Plus I saw your ship at all of their deaths."
"But they had to be killed for the safety of the planet," Nanaki said still trying to reason.
"Safety? Safety?! They were protecting the planet from evil beings such as yourselves!"
"If you only knew...I am not one of these beings. I live at Cosmo Canyon, not far from here, and I was searching for a way to help the planet. I was also going to have help from my two Cetra friends, but if you destroy us it will never happen."
"Cetra?" Jade WEAPON lowered his head and emitted a glow to see through the bridge window. He saw Nanaki clearly but he could only make out Cid's figure. "You're kind...Your species was around when the Cetra were the lords of the land, protectors of the planet." Jade eased up on his grip from the Highwind and thought about this situation. "This, Cosmo Canyon. Take me there."
"I would be glad to." Nanaki turned around and walked up to Cid who was shocked at what just happened. "I think we shall be continuing to my home."
"...Uh-huh.." Cid said lighting up another cigarette. Cid got behind the wheel as Jade easily let go and followed them to Cosmo Canyon.
Drako woke up to find himself in a solid steel cell, with none of his equipment. Everything was a blur at first but his eyes soon focused and soon he realized what had happened, the uncatchable Drako was finally caught. He double-checked his pockets to see if they had take everything out including the materia, they did. Next, he checked the walls and door, but still found no way to get out. He was just about to sit down when he heard someone coming down the hallway. "Hey! Don't I at least get a phone call?"
"Not with what you did to me," Reno said with an icepack on his head.
"Stop whining," Drako replied looking at Reno through the small door window. "It was just a simple roundhouse kick."
"Oh, it was just a little roundhouse...." Reno said mocking him. He ignored Drako and went to check on Auctainius. "Hey! Jenova's boy, you alive?"
"When the time comes, I'll be stuffing those crude remarks down your throat," Auctainius said sitting down in the middle of his cell. "Mother will come for me."
"Whatever you think...It's none of my business," Reno said as he starting walking to the bridge.
"What was that damn mess 'bout?!" Barret screamed charging on the bridge.
"It was Jade WEAPON," Nanaki said trying to calm him down.
"Then why ain't we dead?"
"This one's different," Nanaki said looking out the bridge window to Cosmo Canyon. "It doesn't just destroy things. It has thoughts, and feelings. That's why it attacked us, because it knew we destroyed the other WEAPON or its brethren as it called them. It can reason, and just imagine all the knowledge it possesses from the planet."
"Maybe we can finally get answers to alotta these questions we all got," Cid said as he looked for a good place to land. With this new Highwind, Cid had remodeled it to be able to land on any type of terrain as long as it was stable.
"Well I'll just say one thing," Barret said going back to the bunkers. "This is an unlikely turn of events." Cid and Nanaki looked at each other as Barret went on back to sleep.
As soon as the Highwind was well docked, on the ground, Nanaki took off to his home. Jade WEAPON had followed them, keeping a close watch for anything that looked suspicious or out of place, and stood outside of Cosmo Canyon. "This, is Cosmo Canyon?"
"Yes," Nanaki replied as Jade leaned in to hear him. "Just wait right here. I'm going to get some books out." Jade nodded and Nanaki ran into the Hall of Recordings, a new building that was added to record all the information of the planet and some of Jenova. Jade waited by the cliffside for Nanaki to come back and looked at the canyon. It realized that not all of the human species were into destruction, but that some of them just wanted to live out life and survive all odds. Nanaki came back with three good-sized books in his mouth and two in a pouch hanging around his neck. He ran over to the Cosmo Candle and set down the books. Then with lightning speed, he took off towards the Highwind. Jade watched him as he jumped in the elevator and went up into the ship. Jade looked down at the books and carefully picked one up to look at its contents. He opened up the book, using his telekinesis, and looked at the pages. The book was full of information about Jenova and all the Jenova creatures that were used in the past. He looked at the pages carefully because as the information got older, the writing changed to ancient script. He continued to read when he was disturbed by sounds of footsteps.
"I was just trying to get some sleep," Case said stumbling to the Cosmo Canyon. "What's the big deal anyway?"
"It might be our only hope to completely destroy Jenova," Nanaki replied pushing Case along.
Aeris walked along silently until they reached the fire. "What is that Nanaki?" she asked looking up at Jade.
"It, he, is Jade WEAPON."
"WEAPON?!" Case said waking up. "Isn't that the one that attacked us?"
"Yes, but he is different. I don't know why, but the planet let him have the ability to reason."
"Reason?" Aeris asked looking at the pile of books. "You mean like you?"
"You could put it that way, but it is astonishing. Jade!" Jade reverted his attention to Nanaki. "These are the Cetra that I told you about." Jade put down the book and leaned in to get a good view of Aeris and Case.
"Hmm..." Jade muttered. "And these two are all that is left of them?"
"Sadly yes," Nanaki said nodding his head.
Jade emitted a low light and stared at them, what seemed like for minutes. "She is the one." He pointed at Aeris and scanned her. "This girl is the one that can destroy the Jenova creature." A look of surprise came over her face and she couldn't find any words to say. "Yet, she has mechanical components inside her." He stopped and scanned her again. "But not enough to keep her from using her full power to destroy Jenova."
"Me?" Aeris said sitting down by the fire. "I've been back not even a day and I find out that I'm suppose to kill Jenova. What am I suppose to do?"
"I don't know," Jade said scratching his chin. "All I remember from the planet is that it said 'The fore-coming of an angel will bring upon the death of the crisis,' and I know Sephiroth wasn't that angel."
"You know of the One-Winged Angel?" Nanaki asked in shock.
"I know possibly more so than even you could imagine, even for your species." Jade looked out into the night sky and sighed. "It's out there, floating in the sky like a snake on its belly, waiting for the prophecy to fulfill itself."
"Prophecy?" Aeris asked even more puzzled than before.
"The planet...it prophesized the death of the Jenova beast when it crashed here."
"That takes me to another question Jade," Nanaki said as Jade turned back around. "What is the Unknown Materia?" Jade looked puzzled for a moment.
"Oh," Jade said beginning to realize what Nanaki was talking about. "You people have not come to classify it in your language have you?" Nanaki shook his head. "Well then, what you call the Unknown Materia is...how can I put it in you tongue....the Apocalypse Materia."
"Hm.." Case muttered. "Then it's kinda fitting that it has four pieces to activate it."
"How do you mean?" Nanaki asked.
"That the pieces could symbolize the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Which is why it's kinda fitting, the name I mean."
"Point taken," Nanaki said opening up one of the books. "Another question, why can you reason?"
Jade sat back and thought hard about this then finally came up with an answer. "The planet wanted to try something, make WEAPON not just as an ultimate destroying weapon, but with the knowledge of the planet. To be able to reason but not beyond what WEAPON was "programmed" to do, which is annihilate everything on the planet. I have strayed from doing so for a while now but if I do more than that, the planet might.........terminate me."
Case lifted his head up from a book, "Terminate you, how?"
"By shutting down my Life Power, or what you call Spirit Energy, it can stop my body's functioning and let it sit and rot. That is why I can't turn against the planet. A small price to pay to become a being of intelligence."
"Some small price," Aeris said looking at one of the books. "I still don't get it though. If I'm the one that's going to stop Jenova, why did I die first and then hear about it now? Why didn't the planet tell me before?"
"It has its reasons," Jade commented, picking up another book. "Maybe because at the time, the planet was too worried about Sephiroth and the entire ordeal with him, to realize that you were "the one". But, fate has a way of working things through for the best. You're here again and Jenova's weak, I feel it."
"What Jenova are we fighting?" Nanaki asked before heading back to the hall.
"I cannot tell. Since Jenova is not of the planet, the planet cannot classify it as a residential species enough it knows a lot of information about it. If you maybe could remember what it looked like and what its name was I might now exactly what Jenova we're up against."
"I was just about to go get the Jenova Records." Nanaki sped off as Case and Aeris dug their noses deeper and deeper into the books Nanaki had already brought out. Jade looked at Case and scanned him like he did Aeris.
"You have it too. How can the be?"
"Huh?" Case asked dumbfounded.
"You have the power to destroy Jenova just like she does. Yet, your power is not as strong as hers."
"Oh, that's because we're brother and sister. I'm not really as "advanced" a Cetra as I should be. That's why I'm studying these books Nanaki brought out." Jade muttered in agreement as Case went back to his book, then Aeris spoke out.
"What happens when Jenova is destroyed?"
"If that is possible," Jade doubtfully said.
"Why say that?"
"Because Jenova can live on, in many different forms. The smallest way for it to live is through cells. Millions of them can pass through a body with just one injection, sometimes spreading every step of the way. The person can become Jenova themselves if they get an overdose."
"Is there a way to stop it?" Case asked recalling the way Auctainius acted.
"The destruction of the Jenova-being is the only way. It also depends on the Jenova as well."
"The...Jenova?"
"Yes, the Jenova. If I can recall, there are about three separate Jenova beings. One is Jenova itself, but the other two are different." Jade was interrupted when Nanaki came running back with yet another book in his mouth. It was about four to five inches thick and lowered his head as he ran back to the fire.
"I think that's all that we need," Nanaki said after he added the book to the pile. "I saw what that Jenova looked like so I'll check to see if its record is in here." Jade nodded in reply as Nanaki started flipping the pages with his paw.
"What are the other two?" Aeris asked Jade, still waiting for a reply.
"Two? Oh yes, the other Jenovas. Well, you already know of the first, main, Jenova, but the other two are nothing like it. One of others is Jenova's, half-sister to which I don't know the name of. The last one is none the less, Jenova's half-brother. Each Jenova has its own distinctive power to which it can control whatever it infects. But on the bad side, it can also influence what or whoever the other Jenova types infected."
"Here it is!" Nanaki yelled from the silence. "I'd recognize this sketch of it even if it is old." He stopped and read the script below the drawing. "It is said to have called itself, Jenova: Resurrect and the books says it has been dormant for...nine hundred and forty-seven years. I can't go on, my translation skills are still not mastered."
"Nine hundred and forty-seven!?" Case blurted out.
"I'll take a look at that," Jade said using his telekinesis to lift the book. He studied the pages for what seemed like hours as the others waited for his response. "Ah yes..it seems that Jenova brought this one and Jenova: Pestilence, the half-brother, along with it for its conquest for the planet. Jenova: Pestilence was active for a while but then Jenova bonded it for some reason. Jenova: Resurrect abided to Jenova's will but it the link between them soon diminished and Jenova: Resurrect strayed from Jenova. She even tried plotting the death of Jenova."
"So it wasn't just the one Jenova that killed most of the Cetra race," Aeris stated.
"No," Jade continued. "Jenova needed all the help it could get, and it would soon realize that it had to infect people. This would make them followers of Jenova. Most of the Cetra who were infected died from refusal of the virus. By that time Jenova: Pestilence was already entrapped to Jenova and put to eternal sleep. The Cetra soon stopped Jenova and bound it in time so that its harm should never rise again. It was at that time when Jenova: Resurrect suddenly disappeared as well. Some say she killed herself since she could not live without Jenova. Others say that Jenova called her back with its last ounce of strength and sealed her with itself in eternal sleep." Jade paused for a moment before looking at the three. "This was the last entry from elder Kytora."
"Nanaki, why would elders write down the history of Jenova?" Aeris queried.
"I'm not sure," he replied, somewhat mesmerized from what Jade read out of the book. "It's not like an elder to study Jenova but there was a saying in the canyon, some time ago. It went 'Know thine land and thine ally, but also know thine enemy'. I guess this elder knew his enemy well."
"So now that we know what we are dealing with..how do we deal with it?" Case asked a bit agitated. "If Nanaki saw this creature torn apart by Vincent and now its back alive, how can me and Aeris stop it?"
"With this," Jade said as he moved the armor plating and showed them a staff. "This is the Jade Staff. It is the key to kill Jenova for good." Case looked at him awkwardly.
"How is this the key?"
"It holds mysteries from the planet that would tear the creature apart. There is a problem though, to completely destroy the Jenova creatures you must strike them with a blow to the head. Only then will the staff be fully effective." Jade took out the staff and lowered it to them and Case took it.
"Aeris, you have more power than I do and you're more experienced with a staff, you take it." Aeris walked over to Case and took the staff, its power flowed through her and overwhelmed her.
"It has so much capabilities," she said.
"The staff knows you're the one, but this is the crucial part to the plan," Jade told her. "Before the strike to the head you must chant this phrase. Tekkor parum decite. If you fail to strike the head the staff takes twenty four hours to regain its power."
"How will I know when the staff is active?"
"It will glow a pale green and somewhat hum. But if the power is not released within ten minutes, the staff will shatter and all hope will be lost."
"But couldn't you produce a new one?" Case asked.
"No, it would take too long. To produce a staff or weapon like that, takes the birth of a new WEAPON."
"Exactly how long is the cycle for creating a new WEAPON," Nanaki queried.
"Two cycle years," Jade said. "But that is just two weeks in your time."
"Just two weeks?!" Case said astonished by how short a creature of destruction could be built. "So that means you know about the problem at hand way before we do."
Jade nodded. "The planet knows all that happens on it from the surface to within. The dawn should be coming soon, your friends will need you. I came to deliver what was coming to you. If you forget the chant, it scribed on the staff. Now I must go, but I must say...it was very intriguing talking with you three." Jade stood up and faced away from the canyon. He walked through the cliffs and forest before tearing into the star-filled sky.
"How's 'bout we get some good sleep?" Case asked putting up some of the books Nanaki got out.
"It sounds reasonable," Nanaki replied gathering books as well. "What about you Aeris?"
She didn't even respond for about a second or two. The thought of Jenova's death resting upon her was overwhelming at the time. The lack of sleep didn't help that factor either. "Huh?" She finally turned around and saw Nanaki looking at her for a reply. "I'm sorry, I was just...thinking.."
"It's okay Aeris," he reassured her. "This is a tremendous task that may turn into a burden. Remember, you have to keep a high spirit. You were the one that gave us all hope, even after you died."
"Well," she said chuckling. "Being tired doesn't help me at all."
"Why don't you two get a room at the inn and I can take these books back to the hall then I'll meet you there."
"That's the best idea I've heard tonight," Case chimed in. He gave the books he was carrying to Nanaki and walked, with Aeris to the inn. "Will you be alright with this?"
"You mean the staff? Sure, I can handle it. Besides, I have high spirit remember?" She chuckled as they got inside the inn to get some sleep.
Chapter 20
The New Dawning
Running through trees got confusing but he soon heard the sounds of voices. He finally made his way to a clearing where he saw Vincent pointing his gun to the trees as Avonej stood quietly, posed for battle. It almost looked as if they were hunting. "Quiet," Vincent calmly said, "it's not far." Avonej didn't even turn to look at him, but just focused on the trees. Cloud had not moved from his position since Vincent spoke when he heard a rustling in the trees to his left. He turned to see a blur go by him and head toward Vincent, who reacted by looking at the creature, aiming his gun, and firing. The wolf was down by the first shot and Avonej went to go make sure.
"It's dead."
"So," Vincent said turning to Cloud, "ready for breakfast?"
Cloud looked at the wolf and then Vincent. "A bit harsh, don't you think?"
"We have to survive don't we?" he bluntly replied. Cloud nodded slowly. "Then I suggest we eat."
"I'll build a fire pit," Avonej said grabbing some stones.
"I guess we have no other alternative," Cloud complied, helping Avonej with the rocks. Vincent walked away from the dead body and gathered some dry branches for firewood. He was just about to go back to the others when he heard a rustling in the trees. He stopped and stood there for a minute or two, and then went back when he heard Cloud calling.
"Vincent, what took you?"
"Sorry, I was...preoccupied."
"Bring the wood if you want to eat." Vincent slowly walked over to where the fire was going to be, watching the trees carefully. "What's wrong with you? You look like we're being stalked."
"We are," he responded in a cold tone.
"I can't sense anything unusual," Avonej said, taking a close look at the trees. "We are the only ones here."
"Call it a, sick sense," Vincent replied, eyeing the trees carefully. "We are being watched by someone." Cloud and Avonej just shrugged and went to go get the body of the wolf. As Vincent was setting down the wood he heard the rustling again, from Cloud's direction. "Get down!" Cloud and Avonej didn't even think and did as Vincent commanded. Vincent brought his gun up and aimed it at one of the trees and fired off five shots. There was the sound of leaves falling from one of the trees, then a sudden crack. The branch fell first and then a person afterwards. "See? We were being watched."
"I'm impressed," Avonej complimented as Cloud examined the fallen person.
"It's a woman," he said taking a look at her face.
Her body looked small from its appearance but her strength was something else. She opened her eyes quickly and punched Cloud straight in his chest, knocking him off of her. She immediately placed her hands on the ground and did a back flip to her feet. She was about medium height, five foot six, and limber as could be. She wore a skin tight suit that almost covered her entire body, which was all tensed up. Her face was something else all together. It was tender and soft with emerald green eyes and dark brown hair, almost black, that was tied up in the back and stretching to just below her back. To her side, on her belt, was the sheath of her sword, which was not in. She clenched up her fists and waited for someone to throw the first punch.
"We aren't going to hurt you," Cloud said trying to comfort her.
"Bullshit," she quickly responded in a monotone.
"Why were you stalking us?" Vincent asked as he put away his gun to make her feel more relaxed. It didn't help much.
"I needed food so I was going to steal yours." She eyed the wolf's body and soon saw Avonej standing in front of it. "I need some food, please." She got down on her knees and started to beg. "I got lost from my caravan and I've had to eat bugs for the past two days. I lost my sword and that's why I'm not able to fight a wolf like that one." She stopped and started to cry at Cloud's feet.
Cloud kind of backed off for a second but then started to feel some remorse for her. "Listen, if you want some food all you had to do was come up and ask."
"Thank you, you're so kind." She stopped crying and didn't say anything for a while. Her foot suddenly came out and Cloud was dropped to the ground. She looked up at Vincent and Avonej and hurled some bolas at them. At the same time, she threw out a smoke bomb that went off soon after Vincent and Avonej were tied up. In the darkness of the smoke she kicked Avonej down but couldn't find Vincent. She didn't care and picked up the wolf's body, and then ran off into the forest. When the smoke cleared all that was left was a fire pit with some wood in it.
"Damn," Cloud said stumbling up. "I can't believe I let my guard down!" He walked over to Avonej to help him up.
"Don't consider it your fault. We were all mistaken by her."
"Hey, where's Vincent?" Cloud looked down on the ground next to Avonej and saw a shredded bola.
"He must be after her." Avonej turned to the forest as Cloud dashed ahead of him. Avonej reached out and grabbed Cloud shoulder, stopping him. "Let him take care of this. He seems to be the only one of us without feeling. Besides, he will come back." Cloud looked at him for a moment, then to the trees and started back to the pit.
"I hope you're right. Let's get a fire started."
"Stupid men," the woman thought. "Always get so damn emotional when a lady cries." She stopped running when she thought she was far enough away and rested up against a tree with a leather trenchcoat hanging from it. She looked at the side of it and pulled out her sword which was embedded in the vines. She raised it up and caught the sunshine at a perfect angle that gave away her position to Vincent. She did not pay any heed to this, but before she could lower her sword it was knocked from her hand. It flew away and stuck into a nearby tree. Vincent carefully stalked up to her as he detached the silencer from his gun. In the confusion, she didn't know whether to guard the wolf, her sword, or herself. She was about to get her sword when Vincent rose up from out of the long forest grass in front of her. "How did you?"
Vincent raised his claw and scratched off the bark of a nearby tree. "Want any further demonstrations?" He leveled his gun to her head. "The wolf, now."
"You wouldn't dare shoot a lady."
"My dear, you have no clue as to what I'm capable of." He snapped back the hammer to his pistol.
"You won't even feel pity?"
"Not one bit."
"Compassion?"
"The last of my compassion died underneath the waterfall." He started to squeeze the trigger.
"Wait! Let's make a deal."
"A deal?"
"Yes. If I can have just one leg of that wolf, I'll leave your little group alone."
Vincent looked at her, as if he was trying to break into her mind. He lowered his pistol. "Alright, one leg."
"Just let me get my sword, and then I'll be on my way." She pulled her sword from the tree and cut off a leg and then turned to him. She took a glance into his deathly red eyes and almost froze from shock. Never had she seen a man, or anyone like him before. She knew she had killed her emotions as a child, but, something about him gave her a strange feeling inside.
"Are you going to go then?" Vincent stood there and waited for her to move along.
"I'll go when I have to." She started walking off to stay clear of his way but then turned around. "Just make sure you don't cross the path of Talia Hethron again!" Vincent just watched as she ran off into a dense region of the forest.
"Talia..I'll have to remember that name." Vincent grabbed the carcass of the wolf and headed back to the clearing where Cloud and Avonej had already started a fire.
Back at Cosmo Canyon, morning had come too early for Case. The bright shine of sun was warming, but not welcoming. He tossed and turned until he couldn't bare it any longer. "I need some coffee." After the short night's sleep, his voice had become raspy and hoarse. He basically looked like crap. Getting out of bed was a struggle on the other hand. Even though he could not sleep, it was comfortable just lying on that bed. Somehow he managed to pull himself up from the comforting force of the bed, and stand up on both feet, almost. On his first step, he fumbled and nearly fell to the ground. But with the help of an in-table, he was able to catch his balance and remain standing. He stretched out the sheets, before he went down to the breakfast room, so that the maid wouldn't have to do so much work.
"Mornin' all." Case tried to sound cheerful but the words just didn't come out right. Aeris, Cid, and Barret looked up from their table to see Case walking down, and looking like crap. Case immediately noticed that the Turks were all sitting at the bar with no one else around. He almost kind of felt sorry for them, since the original group of AVALANCHE didn't want anything to do with them. He looked around the room again. This time his eyes were set for Katlyn. "Have you guys seen Katlyn?"
"I just got up," Aeris explained.
"Leave me the hell alone," Cid cheerfully said. It was painfully obvious that Cid was still pissed about the WEAPON ordeal.
"I think I saw her in the bunkers before I left," Barret told Case. "But, she could be out somewhere too, I jus' don't know."
Case listened to Barret's suggestion, seeing as it was the only liable one at the table. He walked out of the inn, after grabbing a cup of coffee, and was greeted by the fresh air. The streets were already full of people, some of which who were going to work in the mines and others who were off to learn. The canyon had grown since two years and now stretched over the entire cliff-side. The elders had found a mine abundant in coal, platinum, and other rich minerals so they decided to take after Corel. The canyon now became a city of knowledge and mining. But with the expansion came more duties, especially with Nanaki. Protecting a small town was okay, but when the town grew into a city there was more protecting to do. He longed for some companionship, some help from his own kind. He was all alone in a city that was growing.
The first place Case went to go check, was the Cosmo Candle. Even in the sun the flame burned brightly, but showed no sign of Katlyn. He was about to leave when he saw her. She was sitting close to the ledge of the canyon, just staring down at the forest below. Case walked up to her slowly, as to not startle her, and sat down next to her. "Hey babe." She turned to look at his rugged face. He hadn't shaved since this whole thing started and it showed. She gave him a sympathetic smile and turn back to the forest. "What's wrong? I haven't done anything wrong have I?"
"No, you haven't. I'm just feeling strange."
"Strange, how?"
"I never thought that all this would happen when I offered to help Cloud back in Midgar. I was just happy being the flower girl, and now I'm on a different continent. My parents don't even where I am, I haven't been able to call them at all. I don't think this is the life I had planned." She paused for a while and then turned to Case. "I want a family, of my own. I want to get married. I want to settle down and live a normal life without any "unusual" problems." She started to cry when Case took her and held her tightly.
"I know, I know. Those thoughts have been running through my mind as well. You know, a family, normal job, even a place to live. I've thought about it all." He moved her head to face him, just a couple of inches away. "I've known you since we were ten and I fell in love with you at the first site. Even when I went to work with Barret, all I thought about was you and this question. I wanted to ask you at the right moment but this is close enough." He took a hold of her hands and squeezed them gently, looking deep into her rich blue eyes. "Katlyn...will you..marry me?" She looked at him with a shocked expression on her face and then a tear rolled from her eye. She nodded slowly as a smile formed. Case smiled as well as they kissed in the morning setting. Nanaki saw the entire conversation as Case and Katlyn stopped kissing and watched the view.
"I suppose, congratulations are in order."
They both turned their heads to see him. "Nanaki!"
"I saw the entire discussion. I must say it was very, poetic. Do not worry Katlyn, you shall lead a normal life. Just think. If you did not help Cloud before, you and Case would have never meet again."
"You're right." She looked at Case and held his hand tighter. "I would've probably hated the dull life anyway."
Nanaki smiled and sat down, on his haunches, next to Case. "The view is very beautiful. You could not have picked a better spot to ask that question."
Case looked at him and then frowned. "Are you okay?"
"I am lonely in this world. Knowing that there are no more of my kind leaves me sitting out here at times during the night. It is relaxing and connects me to the planet." He lowered his head. "It's just hard sometimes, realizing that there are no more. Cetra and my species."
"Don't look on the bad side of things." Katlyn leaned forward to look at Nanaki. "There's someone for everyone."
"Do you really believe that?"
"Sure I do! I found my someone, around ten years ago too."
Nanaki looked forward, to the rising sun and found a new hope. A hope that another, like him, is out there and waiting. He raised his head and let out a mighty howl that seemed to wake up all life in the valley below. It startled Case and Katlyn and seemed to last for a while when he stopped and looked at the two. "You are right. There has to be more of my kind out there on the planet. That shall be my new mission. I will not rest until I've found another one of my kind." He got up and started for the inn, where everyone now was. "Are you two going to come along as well?"
They looked at each other before Case got up. "Sure. I think I could use some breakfast." He helped Katlyn up and walked her into the inn. The three breezed through the door as the entire group looked up to see them. "Should I?"
Katlyn looked at him and shook her head. "Not now. Let's wait for this thing to blow over. Then we'll talk." Case gulped as she walked up to the breakfast bar, he soon followed her.
The fire had gone out, by now, and the three men sat there thinking of a way to get to the main land. "I still have the jetpack. Avonej and I could just grab a hold of your wrists and carry you to Kalm."
Vincent stood and thought about Cloud's suggestion, and he came to realize that it was probably the only one available at the time. "I guess it would do for now."
Avonej stood up and looked to the south. "Are you sure? That's well over fifty miles."
Cloud looked in Avonej's direction. "There are islands on the way. We could stop on those and rest up. Kinda like island hopping."
Vincent walked over to Avonej and Cloud, and pulled out his PHS. "We should call them before we go. To tell them to meet us at Kalm." Cloud nodded and took the phone.
Amongst the noise of the lobby, Barret was lucky enough to hear his phone ring. He picked it up as soon as he heard it. "Hello!?"
"Barret? This is Cloud. Where are you guys?" "Huh? Cloud? Aw hell spike, we're at the inn at Cosmo Canyon."
"Cosmo Canyon? Then what's all that noise in the background?"
"What? Oh. We're in the lobby. I think Reno's picking a fight or somethin'. What d'ya want?"
"Jenova's out there somewhere and we're going to head back to the main land. Probably at Tifa's bar."
"The main land? How the hell are ya gettin' there? Never mind, I don't wanna know. So what about it?"
"I want you guys to meet us there."
"Alright. Done and done. See ya there."
"Right, bye."
Barret hung up the phone and saw Reno being escorted out of the inn by some security guards. He slapped his head in frustration and went to go find Cid. He looked around the lobby to find Cid but didn't have any luck. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw what he needed to see, smoke. He got up from his table and followed the trail of smoke to a single table. Cid had a cigarette in his mouth and a beer in his hand. Barret wasn't sure whether to say anything because from the looks of it, it seemed like Cid was asleep. "Hey Cid!"
Cid didn't even look up. "Yeah?"
"Cloud just called and him and the other two are going to go to Kalm."
"Kalm? How?"
"I didn't ask. I jus' know they're goin' ta be there. An' we need to meet them there."
"Cloud's probably using the jetpack. All right, get everyone in by...noon."
Barret nodded and walked off to gather the gang. Cid sat at his table and sighed. He looked at the many watches he had for each time zone there was. If they got in the Highwind by noon they would be at Kalm by seven, standard Midgar time. He looked at his watches and put out his cigarette. "I need some sleep." He got up and went to the Highwind.
Reno sat on the curb with his head in his hands. "Damn hotel security guards." He didn't even get a chance to finish his cocktail drink. The only amusement he had now was to shock the bugs, with his nightstick, as they went by. Elena and Rude came out from the inn to give him some company. He didn't mind Rude, but he could have done without Elena.
"So, boss, what'll we do for now?" Elena questioned.
Reno looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "Boss? That sounds nice. But for now, we go with them." He pointed back at the inn. "I'm bored of this place. Let's go back to the ship and ask the Ex-Turk some questions." Reno got up and the three went back to the Highwind.
Tifa sat by herself as a crowd walked by. She didn't even react when a man, in that crowd, whistled at her. Her mind was set on Cloud. Is he okay? Will he come back? What if he's... "No," she thought, "Cloud's stronger than that. He's alive." She rested her head on her hand and stirred her tea with the other.
"Tifa, Tifa!" Barret tried to get her attention but the background noise overwhelmed his voice. He had to basically shove people out of his way just to get to her. "Tifa!" She finally looked up.
"Hi Barret."
"What's tha matter wit' you?"
"Nothing, just thinking."
"Better do that thinkin' back on the Highwind. We're goin' to get Cloud, Vincent, and Avonej."
"Cloud? Is he all right?"
"Yeah, he's fine. Just get to the airship by noon."
"Okay, thanks Barret." He walked off to find others and Tifa went back to stirring her drink. This time, there was a smile on her face.
Nanaki, Yuffie, Aeris, and Heather were sitting at one table eating their own breakfast when Barret spotted them. Yuffie couldn't help but stare at the glowing green staff. "Hey Aeris, what's that?"
"It's the Jade Staff and don't bother trying to take it, it's probably worth nothing."
"Then why would you need it if it's worthless?"
Aeris was beginning to get annoyed. "Because it's the only thing that can kill Jenova, permanently."
"What about when Jenova is dead? Will you still keep it?"
Aeris was very annoyed by now. "Yes I will keep it and if you don't stop talking soon. You and this staff will become better acquainted, if you get the point."
"Jeez, you don't have to be grouchy about it. I was just asking a few questions."
"Leave her alone Yuffie," Nanaki said, stopping Aeris from talking again. "She has a great task that only she can do, and you asking her all these questions will not help her."
"Gawd. Since when did you become mister kno-" She would've gone on talking but she heard Nanaki growling at her. "Never mind." Heather looked at them both and chuckled as Barret came up.
"Hey! We're goin' to meet Cloud so get ready and to the Highwind by noon."
"Right Barret," Nanaki said as Barret walked off. "Yuffie, don't even speak." Yuffie sat there with her mouth open as if she were a fish out of water. The closed her mouth and pouted as Heather chuckled loudly.
Barret found Katlyn and Case sharing each other's breakfast at a private table in a far corner. "Hey! Lovebirds!" They both looked up as Katlyn blushed from what Barret said. "We're going to meet with Cloud in Kalm. Get to the Highwind by noon." Case looked at his watch and then up at Barret.
"Okay Barret, see ya there."
With everyone taken care of, Barret finally got a chance to make it outside and look upon the lush green valley. He breathed in some of the fresh air and made his way to the Highwind.
As Cloud and Avonej flew over the water, they came upon the last of the islands. "Let's stop here and rest."
Avonej looked over at him and then down at Vincent, who hung from their wrists. "Agreed." Cloud and Avonej lowered themselves as Vincent looked beneath him to see when it was safe to jump down. All of the landscape was just plains so there was no danger of landing in or on trees. There was about a twenty-foot drop when Vincent let go and landed to the ground.
Cloud went down further and Avonej followed. When Cloud landed he saw Vincent and walked over to him. "I wish you wouldn't do that." Vincent just looked at him and shrugged his shoulders. "Let's rest up right here. Then we'll go to the main land."
Back in the Highwind, Cid was about to take off. "Everyone here!?" In reply, they all yelled back at him to go. "Shit, no need to get anal 'bout it." He pulled in the landing gears and started the ship in hover. The hum was the only thing Cid found relax, that and smoking. He pulled up on the controls and the Highwind was air-born. He double-checked his coordinates and then the group was off to meet back with the other three.
Meanwhile, the Turks had Drako in his cell, asking him some questions. Reno loomed over him like a shadow but didn't have any affect of drawing fear to the thief. "So, Drako. Why would do this job? Especially for Edin."
"I was running low on money. Then this creep walks up to me and tells me to watch this guy for him. I had no clue it was Sephiroth 'cause I thought the man was dead. But this guy tells me to watch him and if he had four materia with him to steal them. He didn't have four materia but the price per materia was enough to only steal three. Does that answer you question?" Reno looked at him and blinked in confusion.
"Uh, yeah...Our job's done, let's go." Elena walked out with Reno with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Is that it? Is THAT all you're going to do?" Reno ignored her and went straight to Rude who was packing up something.
"Did you get it all?"
Rude smiled. "..Every single word."
"Great. Now we can bust this guy and call it our first case. I think that means we should celebrate."
"Is that all you two ever think about? What about work?"
"Elena, please, for once get this straight. We work for ourselves now, there IS a such thing as overworking, and I can fire you if I want to." Elena stood there with a frozen expression of shock on her face. "But, as much as I'd hate to say it, I can't. You are annoying, a workaholic, but without you we probably wouldn't get a lot done."
"Do you mean it?"
He turned around and started getting annoyed. "Of course I mean it! Now hurry up and let's go before I change my mind." Reno and Rude walked off to the bridge as Elena ran after them to catch up. On the bridge, Tifa stared out the window and anxiously waited to see Cloud. Cid watched his screen carefully to make sure nothing was approaching them, it was clear. He was finally glad to fly in his sky without any creature bumping into them or trying to destroy them. But today the sky was unusually calm. The entire group was on the bridge, waiting to get to Kalm to find out what the next plan was: trying to stop Sephiroth, Jenova, or WEAPON.
Cloud, Avonej, and Vincent looked up to see that they were approaching Kalm. Vincent looked off to the far side of the sky and saw the Highwind glimmering in the sun. "Cid's on the way." Cloud looked at the horizon until he saw it.
"It'll be good not to have to carry someone around for a while."
Avonej looked at him and laughed. "On the contrary, I believe a personal flight does wonders for the soul. But the luggage I could do without, although it's a great workout."
"Even with being mako-enhanced, I still find it hard to hold a man."
"Then are you saying I'm too heavy for you?"
"What does it matter? I'm just saying I wouldn't do this on a normal basis. Luckily for Avonej he has unnatural strength."
Avonej looked at Cloud with a grim face. "Well, when you're like I am it grows on you." After that no one said a word until they got to Kalm. Vincent let go about twenty feet up, as usual, and walked up to Kalm as he waited for Cloud and Avonej. When they landed the three of them could see the Highwind clearly now and decided to head towards Tifa's bar.
Tifa looked from the Highwind as it lowered to the ground. She could see the familiar blonde spiky hair entering the town. "He's here!" From there, she sprinted to the deck where she could get off of the airship once again. It came to a complete stop as she threw down the ladder and slid down. The ground came a lot faster than she expected and fell down from the impact. She coughed as the dust lifted away, stood up, and ran into the crowded streets of Kalm.
In town, Avonej started growing weary of the prying eyes of every person that passed them. "Cloud, let's hurry up and get to Tifa's bar. I don't want to seem too...conspicuous to these people." Vincent started feeling the same way.
"It's around this corner. I to want to escape from the people's eyes." Even though Vincent looked nothing like Avonej, he still acted cautious around a large group of people. Mostly, his eyes were what people stared at. The fiery redness glaring in the day and more in the night, almost made him seem like an animal. Everyone was mostly drawn to his eyes but others noticed his claw. The shimmering of the golden metal caught the attention of some and put fear into them, thinking that they would be slashed by it. They hurried along, ignoring the gawkers, when they finally saw the bar. They came up to the bar and breezed through the door, it was very busy. They all stood there as a waitress rushed by them, yelling to the back kitchen.
"Two BBQ plates and a rack of ribs!"
Cloud looked at both of them and started for the bar. "Let's just go to the counter and wait for Tifa and the rest." Avonej and Vincent looked at each other and followed Cloud to the bar counter. There just happened to be three empty seats as a waitress came up to them, not even noticing Avonej and Vincent's appearance.
"Hi there, I'm Kara and welcome to Tifa's Haven, bar and grill. Now, what'll you boys have?" Before anyone could answer, Vincent interrupted.
"Kara? You still work here?"
She looked up from her pen and pad and saw Vincent. "Vince?! I haven't seen you in what, a year?"
"Please don't call me Vince."
"Eh, you always kid. But you, I could never forget our bouncer. Or at least one like you."
"So what happened to you? It looks like you run the place."
"I do, or at least when Tifa's not here. But lately we've been getting some strange people in here." She looked around and saw Avonej then blushed. "Oh, I'm so sorry sir. I didn't mean t-"
"No offense taken my dear. Now, weren't you going to ask us if we wanted something?"
"Right. I'll start with you Vince."
"Don't call me Vince and I'll have plain water."
She pointed to Cloud. "I'll have a shot of whiskey."
She turned to Avonej last. "I'll have some tea."
"Okay, that's water, whiskey, and tea. I'll be right back with your drinks." After she left they all relaxed and stopped thinking about all their problems. Cloud looked at Vincent and raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Vince?"
"Don't start with that. She always called me that and I'm not sure she'll stop."
"Whatever." Kara came back and handed them their drinks and rushed off to help someone else.
"Well," Cloud said raising his glass. "Bottom's up."
"You'd better pay for those," Tifa said taking Cloud's drink. "And I need to see some ID."
"What? Tifa you've me since we were five!"
"ID please." Cloud grumbled and took out his wallet. He shuffled around in it before producing an ID. "That'll do, for now." She handed him back his drink and went around to behind the counter.
"Tifa," Cloud started. "You have no idea how much hell we've been through." She leaned off of the counter to listen. "That shit head Sephiroth has no clue what he brought with him." He would've gone on but Tifa suddenly stopped him.
"Cloud Strife! I have never heard you use language like that!"
He looked around, confused, and then smiled. "I guess I learned a thing or two from Cid. Anyway, we're in trouble. Jenova's on the loose and I'm not sure we can kill it."
"There is a way," she interrupted. The three guys came in closer to hear her better. "Nanaki told everyone about it on the way here. It's best if he explains it to you. Now come on and finish your drinks. We need to find Jenova."
Cloud, Tifa, Avonej, and Vincent came out of Kalm soon after what Tifa told them. She had told Kara to keep up the good work and that she'd be back in while. It would be longer than she would expect. The ladder rose up as Cloud pulled it to the deck. The four of them walked into the Highwind and met with Nanaki. "I'm glad to see you three safe."
"Thanks," Cloud said quickly changing the subject. "Now, how do we kill Jenova?" Nanaki explained the entire conversation with Jade to Cloud. After the long speech, Cloud was left staring at the wall. "You mean, Aeris...is suppose to, kill Jenova?"
Nanaki nodded. "It seems that the Cetra hold the capability to destroy the creature." Cloud shook his head in frustration. It just didn't seem possible that Aeris would have to risk her life AGAIN to save the planet. Who knows what this new Jenova was capable of and she was willing to do it all over again. Even when she's only been back for only a couple of days. "I'm sorry Cloud but it seems to be the only way."
"Wait, what about Case?"
"He does hold the power but it is not as strong as Aeris'. Cloud, she has to be the one." Cloud rushed off to the bridge leaving Nanaki behind. "It's hard for all of us." Nanaki walked along the cold steel floor, up to the deck, trying to sort things out.
"Aeris, can I see you in the conference room please?" She nodded as Cloud walked off of the bridge. She had to run up to him just to catch up and he was still going faster than she was.
"Cloud," she said still trying to keep up with him. "Cloud, what is this all about?" He didn't reply and kept his course for the conference room. "Is this about Jenova? Or Tifa?" He stopped and looked at her with a strange expression.
"What do you mean by 'or Tifa'?"
"Stop playing games." She sat down on a nearby bench. "I know you like her...love her."
He sat down beside her. "What does this have to do with anything?"
"They say that a person's judgement is shrouded when they don't know about themselves." Cloud looked at her and she stared right back at him with her green eyes. "Don't you see. Since you can't let your emotions come out, you aren't able to think straight."
He blinked and leaned his head back against the wall. "I love you too ya know." She nodded. "But I don't know you. I've been with Tifa all my life basically and I've always wanted to be with her. Even when she didn't know that I existed. Why can't I tell her that Aeris?"
"I know from the past that you always confined your emotions. Maybe you still think you're weak and not strong enough for her. I still remember when you two were in the Lifestream."
"But I thought that happened after you were killed."
"It did, but I was one with the Lifestream and saw everything that happened. You were lucky to have her and she you. She holds these same feelings and has the same problem as you do. You both think that you're not strong enough for the other. A fatal flaw in an otherwise perfect plan to get you two together." There was a long pause before Cloud spoke out.
"You always know what to say." She blushed. "That wasn't what I was going to talk about, but that how it always has been. I'm just no good for her. Everything she does, says, does...is perfect. I can't match up to her standards."
"Her standards? Cloud, she loves you! Are you so naïve to see that? If you can't see that on your own, then you will never truly love her." She got up and started for the deck. "And you don't have to be so concerned for me. I've lived enough to not fear death anymore." She walked up the stairs as Cloud stayed seated.
"But if you die again," Cloud said cupping his face, "I'm not sure if I can bare it. I still need your help."
Cid flew in the calm sky when a blip on the scanner caught his eye. "What the hell?" He looked at a monitor that read, "Outside Camera", and saw two figure fighting in a field. He steered the ship to follow the images and get a closer view. He focused the camera and got a clear shot of what was fighting. His mouth dropped open and his cigarette fell out. "Holy shit. WEAPON and Jenova are fighting!!" Everyone seemed to rush to the window to see if it was true, and it was. Jade and Jenova were posed for battle. Jade held, in his hands, a massive sword that was soon locked with one of Jenova's tentacles, after he had swung it down for a chance to kill the alien.
Barret was impressed with the way Jade stood his ground. "Damn, look at the size of that sword. I bet it could cut through anythin'."
"I'm just interested as to how Jenova got to be that big," Nanaki questioned.
The Highwind soared down to the ground and then ascended to the sky. Cid took it into an orbiting position around the two giants. Neither of them were disturbed by the extraneous noise of the engines and stayed on their own task at hand. Jenova gleamed as it shot a energy beam at Jade's eyes. Jade stumbled back and caught a glimpse of Jenova before its arm came straight for him. Jade raised his arm quickly and caught the blow from Jenova's tentacle. Tremendous pain filled him but he ignored it and used his telekinesis to throw Jenova away from him. Jenova flew through the sky but quickly caught itself and flew to the waiting WEAPON. Jade narrowed his eyes and charged up his lasers. Two cannons rose up from behind Jade's shoulders and took aim at Jenova. There was a brief pause when time seemed to stand still, as Jade waited and Jenova charged. The shot from Jade's lasers echoed across the planet and the beam of light collided with Jenova. The alien was torn from the sky and fell down to the land, unconscious.
Aeris had been watching the entire time from the deck, alone. The way Jade fought, to protect the planet, made her realize that she was not alone in her job to protect the planet. She almost felt like cheering when Jenova lay there on the ground, unmoving. Then it came to her, Jenova: Resurrect could not be destroyed unless a Cetra did it. She knew then that this was a trap for Jade, who was walking over to the creature to observe it. She ran down to the bridge as fast as she could to warn everyone. Amongst all the confusion with Jade and Resurrect, no one aboard the Highwind realized that Sephiroth had latched himself to the hull of the ship.
"Cid!" Aeris came running onto the bridge with a concerned look on her face.
"What is it?"
"We need to land. Jade is in grave danger." Cid looked at her and shrugged, but landed the Highwind. Only then did Nanaki realize what she had meant and ran after her when Cid landed. It took her a while but Aeris finally made it to the ground with the Jade Staff in her hand. "Jade! Jade!" She ran to him as fast as she could waving and trying to make as must commotion as she could. By then Nanaki was on the ground and the entire crew was on the deck watching Jade.
"Aeris," Nanaki said as he ran through the field. "Wait."
Jade finally heard the soothing sound of Aeris' voice and turned to see her. "It's done. Now all you have to do is to strike it with the staff and this nightmare will almost be over." He smiled as she got closer but frowned when a look of fear came over her face.
"Jade, look out!" she shouted at the top of her voice, but it was too late.
Jenova: Resurrect had produced a tentacle with the end of it encased in a hard metal. It smiled sadistically as the tentacle drove through Jade and came out the other side. A look of fear and surprise came over Jade as the tentacle stayed inside him. Nanaki sped up and came up beside Aeris when Jade started to go limp. Jenova stood up and withdrew the tentacle for Jade then started walking to Nanaki and Aeris. Nanaki stood ground, posed for battle, even though he knew it would be hopeless. Jenova came closer but stopped has it started to shrink. Its energy was fading. "I am Jenova: Resurrect!" It pointed to Jade's slumped-over body. "Let this be a lesson that my vengeance knows no boundaries." It flew off, seeming to get smaller and smaller until it was about the normal size for Jenova.
Nanaki rushed over to Jade as Aeris sat down and tears started to form. "Jade..." There was a long pause. "I will avenge you."
Jade opened his eyes and looked at Nanaki and smiled. "Don't worry about me. I will be going to a better place and will not have to worry about the troubles of my life. But, before I go. There is something you should know." Nanaki came in just a bit closer to hear him. "There is an island, south of Mideel and north of the Round Island. Your species is there. Some still survive, unknown to the world. Find them and..." Jade stopped talking and closed his eyes. The hand of death had taken another life from the planet to the Lifestream. Nanaki let out a sorrowful howl and waited by the lifeless body. The group had already picked up Aeris as Cloud walked up to Nanaki.
"Nanaki..are you okay?"
"Cloud, this creature. No, this being, could have taught us things we would have never dreamt of before. I know now that I am not alone on this planet and I am not going to let Jenova, or Sephiroth, or anyone take that away from me. Let's go after it." Cloud nodded and they both went back to the Highwind.
Inside, Tifa and Case were comforting Aeris. "It's all my fault. If I didn't call out to him."
"Don't say that," Tifa said giving her a handkerchief. "You didn't know that Jenova was still conscious."
"But I'm suppose to protect not hurt." She wiped her face with the handkerchief.
"Sis, a lot of people in the world are hurting. You can't expect to be there all at once. Besides, it wasn't your choice for Jade to turn around." Case looked at her with deep concern. She smiled and looked at him. His eyes were just like hers, deep green, like the Lifestream. Yet there was a tint of light mako blue, from Sephiroth, but not enough to give him a cold look.
"Thank you both. It's just that this was a sudden shock to me. I must be strong, this isn't over yet."
Cloud marched onto the bridge and stood up front. "Cid. Let's go stop this thing."
"All right! Time for some action!" He lit up a cigarette and took control of the wheel. The Highwind lifted slowly off the ground and blasted into the sky. They followed in the direction that Jenova took and waited to see a sign of it. When all seemed hopeless a target came up on the scanner. "Got ya now bitch!" Cloud saw it from the window and turned to Cid.
"Is the Materia-Ray charged?"
"As charged as it's ever gonna be."
"Then let's get this thing out of the sky."
Cid took a big puff before pushing the yellow button. There was a whizzing sound from the turret and then a sound of it locking in place. Cid pushed the green button to the left and waited. There a low hum at first but soon became louder. The green button flashed repeatedly as Cid pushed it again. "See ya in hell, bitch." The cannon fired a fiery green light of energy and took Jenova right out of the sky.
"Quick," Vincent said loading his gun, "we need to stop it as soon as we can."
"Agreed," Cloud said readying his sword. "You coming Cid?"
"You know it." He opened up a closet door and pulled out the Venus Gospel with his materia still inside. "I've been waiting to use this again." They ran off the bridge as the Highwind landed and were met with other members as they ran to the elevator. The Turks, Cid, Case, Katlyn, Avonej, and Vincent went to the deck and put down the ladder. Cid turned and looked at the Turks who were looking at Jenova. "You know, you guys don't have to help us if you're afraid."
Reno looked at him and laughed. "You're one to talk, old man. You people need our help all the time."
"Old man?!" Cid's face started to turn red from anger. "You little dipshit, you won't stand a chance against that thing all by yourself."
Reno gave him a sour look in return. "Just wait and see." The eight of them met the others on the ground. Aeris was in front, waiting to the staff at the right time. Cloud came up to them all for the charge.
"No telling what this thing might try. Just be on your best guard." They all started towards the fallen Jenova as it moved around. It got up and saw the entire group coming toward it. It didn't have much time to think so it summed up all its energy and raised its arms. By that time Cloud and the others were running to get to Jenova: Resurrect as the ground began to shake. Undead creatures rose up from the dirt and started to swarm around Resurrect. "Aeris! Heather! Tifa! Come with me." The four of them plowed through the creatures like grass. Cloud swung his sword left and right. Circling around to tear some to shreds and thrusting to rip them apart. Tifa threw fierce punches and deadly kicks, knocking most of the creatures down. Aeris jabbed and slapped plenty of monsters away with her staff to clear the path. Heather used the butt of her crossbow to knock away some of the creatures. She switched her crossbow to "automatic mode" and sprayed a clip of arrows into some unsuspecting monsters.
The four of them finally made it through the mass of monsters to find Resurrect all by itself. Cloud could hear the others behind him but could not see them. The horde seemed to grow larger and larger in quantity, yet it did not move back. "Welcome...humans." Jenova unfolded its tentacles from across its face, revealing it. "I'm surprised you even had the courage to face me. But I'm not sure if it's courage you're feeling, or stupidity."
"I just want you dead and out of my life," Cloud threatened.
"Your tyranny ends here," Aeris said with the staff ready.
"You will no longer hurt people we care about," Tifa said with a tremble in her voice.
"I don't know these people too well," Heather said nervously reloading her crossbow, "but I'll help them no matter what."
Resurrect shrieked and emitted an energy burst that sent the four to the ground. Cloud was the first up and dashed towards it with his sword ready. He managed to get a few cuts and slashes on it before Resurrect lashed out a tentacle and sent Cloud to the back.
Tifa concentrated on the materia in her glove and did 'Big Guard' on the group. Aeris followed by doing 'Regen' to heal the wounds. Heather focused on her materia and cast 'Slow' on Resurrect, it didn't take the affect. Cloud lowered his head and then cast 'Ultima' on Resurrect. The intense heat of the flames gave it some minor burns. It countered by using 'White Light', one of its special attacks. The eruption of energy knocked the four back, closer to the horde of creatures.
Back at the front line, Cid and the rest were taking care of monster after monster. Katlyn and Barret were healing everyone as the battle raged on. Yuffie started summoning different creatures to take care of the monsters. Cid and Case were blazing in battle as Vincent unloaded clip after clip into the growing mass of creatures. Reno extended out his nightstick and let the sparks fly out this way and that.
"Hey!" he shouted. "I haven't had this much fun since I last tangled with you guys!" He spun around as the end of his nightstick caught the head of a nearby creature.
"Glad to see you're havin' a nice time," Cid said throwing a creature from off of his back. He gritted his teeth around his cigarette and pulled out a radio. "Highwind, this is Cid! Give me all the fuckin' artillery ya got!"
"Right Captain!"
Cid put up the radio and waited for the Highwind to come. Nanaki was doing the best he could to hold down the monsters. Rude and Elena were by his side as well. Rude kept the from going past by punching and tossing them into the horde. Elena had taken out a mako-gun and started shooting at creatures left and right. Nanaki took a quick look around to see everyone was preoccupied with some creature. He knew there was nothing he could do for the four up front.
Resurrect gleamed with happiness at the destruction the horde was causing. "Now is the time for you all to die." Tifa ran up to it and started to do a roundhouse kick when whipped her away with one of its tentacles. That pissed Cloud off to some extent. He came charging up when Resurrect focused its mind on him. He slowed down and fell to the ground, grabbing his head.
"No!" Aeris shouted stepping forward. "You can't do this!" She was about to attack when Resurrect wrapped one of its tentacles around her and pulled her up to its head level.
"In the words of a mad man, 'But what fun is destruction if no "precious" lives are lost'!" It started to squeeze her tightly when Heather took aim and shot a clip of arrows into Resurrect's chest. It screamed in pain and looked menacingly down at Heather. She looked up and despair came over her face. It only took a split second for the spike to find home in her body. She looked down, her mouth open wide, and dropped her crossbow.
Aeris looked down at her and her rage started to grow. "No!" She pulled back the staff and closed her eyes. "Tekkor parum decite!" She opened her eyes as energy flowed from them. The staff started to vibrate and energy pulsed everywhere now. Resurrect looked up in shock as Aeris swung down the staff with all her strength. There was a brief pause before the staff found home with Jenova: Resurrect's head. There was a scar where it had struck and then something happened to Resurrect. It started to bubble and melt, the massive horde started to melt away as well. Soon, there was nothing left but the chirping of birds in the trees, far away. Aeris, Cloud, and Tifa ran up to Heather who was on the ground now.
Heather looked up to see the three familiar faces. "I know I'm dying."
"Don't say that," Aeris said trying to comfort her.
She shook her head. "All..I ask, is one last chance to sp..speak with Vincent." Cloud got up and ran to Vincent.
"Vincent," Cloud said running up to him. "Heather's been badly hurt, and wants to see you." Vincent said nothing but took off to the group of girls.
Vincent came over her and saw the wound. He knew she wouldn't make it. "I'm here."
She looked up at him and then to Aeris and Tifa. "Leave us." "But-" Tifa started.
"Leave!" She winced in pain. "Please..I don't have much time." The two girls left, both in the brink of tears. "Vincent, I knew it was you." His expression didn't change from the way it was. "You always had to, to be mister tough guy. Ever since we were little. I wasn't sure at first if it really was you, but I knew no one else had a face like that."
"Heather?" He took a closer look and recognized the sister he had from before he was a Turk.
"I thought you'd remember...sooner..or, later." Her eyes closed and for one moment Vincent felt something he hadn't felt in a long time, sorrow.
"Heather?"
"There...there's not much t, time left. Take, good care..of yourself. And find someone to care, for you. I love you Vincent."
A tear almost formed in his eye. "I, love you too." He took her in his arms as her body became limp in them. Vincent did nothing, but stare at her. Cloud and all the others gathered around to see the two on the ground. He looked up at them. "We should hold a proper burial." Cloud nodded. The Highwind had landed nearby and the crew was up on the deck watching the entire thing.
"Horrifying.." one of the crew said.
"Let's get the stuff ready," another one said. "I'm pretty sure that they'll want a funeral for her. So let's get one ready." The other crew agreed and prepared everything they needed. By the time Cloud, Case, Barret, Cid, Reno, and Rude came up to the ship, everything they needed was there.
It was starting to turn dusk when the grave was finished. Vincent had already carved out a headstone for her and wrapped her up in chiffon. Vincent took her, by himself and put her to rest in the newly dug grave. It was all ready dark by the time they were completely finished and back in the Highwind for the night.
Vincent stood out by the grave, letting the moonlight reflect off of his claw. Her grave rested on top of a hill that overlooked the valley below. He looked down on it and at the headstone as well. It read:
The wind whipped through his crimson red cape, making it dance in the night wind. He truly had no more emotions left for anyone now, but he would never forget her last words. "Find someone to care, for you." The scene was very lugubrious as his figure stood in front of the moon.
Sephiroth looked at gloomy picture Vincent's shadowed figure
made. He still had been clinging on to the hull of the ship, waiting
for the right time. "Tonight," he said starting for the deck. "Tonight
will be the perfect night and I shall reclaim what is mine."